Ras Tanura, port on the Persian Gulf, in eastern Saudi Arabia, at the tip of a small peninsula. Developed by the Arabian American Oil Company (now Saudi Aramco) after the discovery of nearby petroleum deposits in the 1930s, it is now a principal Persian Gulf terminal of the pipelines and has a

Ras Tanura, port on the Persian Gulf, in eastern Saudi Arabia, at the tip of a small peninsula. Developed by the Arabian American Oil Company (now Saudi Aramco) after the discovery of nearby petroleum deposits in the 1930s, it is now a principal Persian Gulf terminal of the pipelines and has a

rasa, Indian concept of aesthetic flavour, an essential element of any work of visual, literary, or performing art that can only be suggested, not described. It is a kind of contemplative abstraction in which the inwardness of human feelings suffuses the surrounding world of embodied forms. The

alchemy: Indian alchemy: …alchemical (such as the 12th-century Rasārṇava, or “Treatise on Metallic Preparations”).

Arabic literature: Varieties of adab: compilations, anthologies, and manuals: There were also rasāʾil (essays) devoted to particular topics. In addition to his works on animals and misers, for example, al-Jāḥiẓ also took singing girls as his topic in Risālat al-qiyān (The Epistle on Singing-Girls of Jāḥiẓ). Other topics ranged from complex discussions of theology and philosophy to…

encyclopaedia: The Arab world: …the 10th century, published the Rasāʾil Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ wa khillān al-wafāʾ (“Epistles of the Brethren of Purity and Loyal Friends”), a remarkable work that consisted of 52 pamphlets written by five authors, comprising all the knowledge available in their milieu. The work included (1) mathematics, geography, music, logic, and ethics;…

rasbora, (genus Rasbora), any of a group of about 45 species of schooling freshwater tropical fishes in the carp family, Cyprinidae. Most species are found in Southeast Asia, but a few are native to Africa. The fishes are active, generally slender, and have a protruding lower jaw. Several species

rasbora, (genus Rasbora), any of a group of about 45 species of schooling freshwater tropical fishes in the carp family, Cyprinidae. Most species are found in Southeast Asia, but a few are native to Africa. The fishes are active, generally slender, and have a protruding lower jaw. Several species

rasbora: …the most popular being the harlequin fish, or rasbora (R. heteromorpha), a reddish fish 4–5 cm (1.5–2 inches) long with a wedge-shaped black spot on each side.

Rascal Flatts, American country music trio that achieved success with a crossover sound that appealed to the pop market. The members were lead vocalist Gary LeVox (original name Gary Wayne Vernon, Jr.; b. July 10, 1970, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.), bassist Jay DeMarcus (in full Stanley Wayne DeMarcus,

the Rascals, American pop group who, along with the Righteous Brothers, were the preeminent practitioners in the 1960s of blue-eyed soul (music created by white recording artists who faithfully imitated soul music). The Rascals’ music was an eclectic mix of influences and styles, including soul,

Albertina Rasch was an Austrian-born American dancer, choreographer, and teacher whose troupes became well known during the 1920s and ’30s for their appearances in Broadway musicals and Hollywood films. Rasch, a student of the Vienna Opera ballet school, became leading ballerina at the Hippodrome

knitting: Raschel knits have a lacelike, open construction, with a heavy, textured yarn held in place by a much finer yarn. Raschels can be made in a variety of types, ranging from fragile to coarse, and usually have limited stretch. Milanese is made with two sets…

textile: Raschel: Coarser yarns are generally used for raschel knitting, and there has recently been interest in knitting staple yarns on these machines. In the Raschel machine, the needles move in a ground steel plate, called the trick plate. The top of this plate, the verge,…

ammonia: Hydrazine: …is best prepared by the Raschig process, which involves the reaction of an aqueous alkaline ammonia solution with sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl). 2NH3 + NaOCl → N2H4 + NaCl + H2O This reaction is known to occur in two main steps. Ammonia reacts rapidly and quantitatively with the hypochlorite ion, OCl−,…

Romanian literature: Between the wars: …redistribution of land; Răscoala (1932; The Uprising) described the Romanian peasant uprising of 1907. His best work, Pădurea spînzuraƫilor (1922; The Forest of the Hanged), was inspired by his brother’s fate during World War I. In it, he describes the tragedy of a Romanian soldier forced to turn against his…

Etruscan, member of an ancient people of Etruria, Italy, between the Tiber and Arno rivers west and south of the Apennines, whose urban civilization reached its height in the 6th century bce. Many features of Etruscan culture were adopted by the Romans, their successors to power in the peninsula. A

Razgrad, town, northeastern Bulgaria, on the Beli Lom River. It is the largest producer of antibiotics in Bulgaria and also manufactures concrete, porcelain, and glass and is an agricultural centre for grain, vegetables, and timber. Between the 15th and the 19th century, Razgrad was Turkish.

herpangina: …most distinctive symptom is a rash on the mucous membranes inside the mouth. The lesions in the mouth are round macules (non-raised spots) about 2 mm (0.1 inch) in diameter, occurring predominantly on the soft palate and tonsils. Herpangina is related to hand, foot, and mouth disease, which is caused…

Phylicia Rashad is an American actress who first gained fame for her work in the television series The Cosby Show (1984–92) and later became the first African American woman to win (2004) a Tony Award for best actress; she won the honour for her performance in the play A Raisin in the Sun. Allen

Eritrea: Ethnic groups and languages: The Rashaida are a group of Arabic-speaking nomads who traverse the northern hills. On the southern part of the coastal region live Afar nomads. The Afars—who also live across the borders in Djibouti and Ethiopia—are known to surrounding peoples as the Danakil, after the region that…

Solomon ben Abraham Adret was an outstanding spiritual leader of Spanish Jewry of his time (known as El Rab de España [the Rabbi of Spain]); he is remembered partly for his controversial decree of 1305 threatening to excommunicate all Jews less than 25 years old (except medical students) who

Simeon ben Zemah Duran was the first Spanish Jewish rabbi to be paid a regular salary by the community and author of an important commentary on Avot (“Fathers”), a popular ethical tractate in the Talmud, the rabbinical compendium of law, lore, and commentary. Before the 14th century, the rabbinical

rationalism: Ethical rationalism: utilitarianism of the British moralists Hastings Rashdall (1858–1924) and G.E. Moore (1873–1958). Both were teleologists (from the Greek telos, “end”) inasmuch as they held that what makes an act objectively right is its results (or end) in intrinsic goods or evils. To determine what is right, reason is required in…

Rashi was a renowned medieval French commentator on the Bible and the Talmud (the authoritative Jewish compendium of law, lore, and commentary). Rashi combined the two basic methods of interpretation, literal and nonliteral, in his influential Bible commentary. His commentary on the Talmud was a

Rosetta, town, northern Al-Buḥayrah muḥāfaẓah (governorate), in the northwestern Nile River delta, Lower Egypt. It lies on the left bank of the Rosetta (ancient Bolbitinic) Branch of the Nile River, 8 miles (13 km) southeast of its entrance into the Mediterranean and 35 miles (56 km) northeast of

Rashīd ad-Dīn was the leader of the Syrian branch of the Assassins (an Ismāʿīlī Shīʿī Muslim sect) at the time of the Third Crusade. He had his headquarters at a fortress in Maşyāf, in northern Syria, and was known to Westerners as the Old Man of the Mountain. Feared for his practice of sending his

Rashīd ad-Dīn was the leader of the Syrian branch of the Assassins (an Ismāʿīlī Shīʿī Muslim sect) at the time of the Third Crusade. He had his headquarters at a fortress in Maşyāf, in northern Syria, and was known to Westerners as the Old Man of the Mountain. Feared for his practice of sending his

Rashīd al-Dīn was a Persian statesman and historian who was the author of a universal history, Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh (“Collector of Chronicles”). Rashīd al-Dīn belonged to a Jewish family of Hamadan, but he was converted to Islam and, as a physician, joined the court of the Mongol ruler of Persia, the

Saudi Arabia: The Rashīdīs: Saud II died in 1875, and, after a brief interval of chaos, ʿAbd Allāh (as ʿAbd Allāh II) returned to the throne the following year only to find himself powerless against the Rashīdī emirs of Jabal Shammar, with their capital at Ḥāʾil. The Rashīdīs…

Rashīd Riḍā was an Islamic scholar who formulated an intellectual response to the pressures of the modern Western world on traditional Islam. Rashīd Riḍā was educated according to traditional forms of Muslim learning—the sciences of the Islamic religion and the Arabic language. He was profoundly

Rashīd Riḍā was an Islamic scholar who formulated an intellectual response to the pressures of the modern Western world on traditional Islam. Rashīd Riḍā was educated according to traditional forms of Muslim learning—the sciences of the Islamic religion and the Arabic language. He was profoundly

Baghdad: Districts: Rashīd Street in downtown Baghdad is the heart of this area and contains the city’s financial district, many government buildings, and the copper, textile, and gold bazaars. South of Rashīd Street a commercial area with shops, cinemas, and business offices has spread along Saʿdūn Street.…

Al-Raqqah, town, northern Syria, on the Euphrates River just west of its confluence with the Balīkh River. Al-Raqqah is on the site of an ancient Greek city, Nicephorium, and a later Roman fortress and market town, Callinicus. It flourished again in early Arab times when the ʿAbbāsid caliph Hārūn

al-Rashīd was the founder (1666) of the reigning ʿAlawī (Filālī) dynasty of Morocco. By force of arms he filled a power vacuum that, with the collapse of the Saʿdī dynasty, had allowed half a century of provincial and religious warfare between rival Sufi (see Sufism) marabouts, or holy men, and the

Hārūn al-Rashīd was the fifth caliph of the ʿAbbāsid dynasty (786–809), who ruled Islam at the zenith of its empire with a luxury in Baghdad memorialized in The Thousand and One Nights (The Arabian Nights Entertainment). Hārūn al-Rashīd was the son of al-Mahdī, the third ʿAbbāsid caliph (ruled

Hārūn al-Rashīd was the fifth caliph of the ʿAbbāsid dynasty (786–809), who ruled Islam at the zenith of its empire with a luxury in Baghdad memorialized in The Thousand and One Nights (The Arabian Nights Entertainment). Hārūn al-Rashīd was the son of al-Mahdī, the third ʿAbbāsid caliph (ruled

Ibn Saud: The young leader: …out by their rivals, the Rashīds, became penniless exiles in Kuwait. In 1901 Ibn Saud, then 21, set out from Kuwait with 40 camel men in a bold attempt to regain his family’s lands.

Saudi Arabia: The Rashīdīs: Saud II died in 1875, and, after a brief interval of chaos, ʿAbd Allāh (as ʿAbd Allāh II) returned to the throne the following year only to find himself powerless against the Rashīdī emirs of Jabal Shammar, with their capital at Ḥāʾil. The Rashīdīs…

Islamic arts: Mongol Iran: Il-Khanid and Timurid periods: At Tabrīz, for example, the Rashīdīyeh (a sort of academy of sciences and arts to which books, scholars, and ideas from all over the world were collected) was established in the early 14th century.

Rashidun, (Arabic: “Rightly Guided,” or “Perfect”), the first four caliphs of the Islamic community, known in Muslim history as the orthodox or patriarchal caliphs: Abū Bakr (reigned 632–634), ʿUmar (reigned 634–644), ʿUthmān (reigned 644–656), and ʿAlī (reigned 656–661). The 29-year rule of the

Novi Pazar, town, southwestern Serbia. It lies in the Raška River valley, in rough and hilly country near the site of Ras, which was the capital city of the medieval Serbian state in the 12th–14th century. Roman baths are in the vicinity of the town, as is the Church of St. Peter (7th or 8th

Rashnu, in Zoroastrianism, the deity of justice, who with Mithra, the god of truth, and Sraosha, the god of religious obedience, determines the fates of the souls of the dead. Rashnu is praised in a yasht, or hymn, of the Avesta, the sacred book of Zoroastrianism; the 18th day of the month is

Rashōmon, short story by Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, published in Japanese in 1915 in a university literary magazine. The story, set in 12th-century Kyōto, reveals in spare and elegant language the thoughts of a man on the edge of a life of crime and the incident that pushes him over the brink. Combined

Rashōmon: …director Kurosawa Akira’s classic film Rashōmon (1950).

Rasht, city, capital of Gīlān province, north-central Iran. It lies about 15 miles (24 km) south of the Caspian Sea on a branch of the Sefīd River, where the higher ground merges into the marshlands fringing the Mordāb, or Anzalī (formerly Pahlavī), lagoon. Rasht’s importance as the main city of

Rashtrakuta dynasty, Hindu dynasty that ruled the Deccan and neighbouring areas of India from about 755 to 975 ce. Probably originally Dravidian farmers, they were the royal family of Lattalur (Latur, near Osmanabad). They spoke Kannada but also knew the northern Deccan language. Under Rashtrakuta,

Rashtrapati Bhavan, official residence of the president of India. Located in New Delhi, it was designed by architect Sir Edwin Lutyens and constructed 1912–29. When Rashtrapati Bhavan was built, it was known as the Viceroy’s House, derived from the British viceroys who ruled India in the final

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), regional political party in Bihar state, eastern India. It also had a presence in national politics in New Delhi. The RJD was formed in July 1997 in New Delhi by Lalu Prasad Yadav, who had broken away from the Janata Dal (People’s Party). Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), organization founded in 1925 by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar (1889–1940), a physician living in the Maharashtra region of India, as part of the movement against British rule and as a response to rioting between Hindus and Muslims. Hedgewar was heavily influenced by the

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), organization founded in 1925 by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar (1889–1940), a physician living in the Maharashtra region of India, as part of the movement against British rule and as a response to rioting between Hindus and Muslims. Hedgewar was heavily influenced by the

Indo-Aryan literature: The Rasikapriya (“Beloved of the Connoisseur”) of Keshavadasa is a good example of this kind of tour de force.

Alois Rašín was a Czech statesman, one of the founders and first finance minister of the Republic of Czechoslovakia. A leader of the Czech revolutionary organization Omladina, Rašín was arrested and imprisoned for conspiring against the Austrian authorities after nationalistic rioting in Prague in

Rasmus Rask was a Danish language scholar and a principal founder of the science of comparative linguistics. In 1818, he first showed that, in their consonant sounds, words in the Germanic languages vary with a certain regularity from their equivalents in the other Indo-European languages, e.g.,

Rasmus Rask was a Danish language scholar and a principal founder of the science of comparative linguistics. In 1818, he first showed that, in their consonant sounds, words in the Germanic languages vary with a certain regularity from their equivalents in the other Indo-European languages, e.g.,

Boston Bruins: …Blues) behind outstanding goaltending by Tuukka Rask.

Nemanjić Dynasty: …century developed the principality of Raška into a large empire.

Novi Pazar, town, southwestern Serbia. It lies in the Raška River valley, in rough and hilly country near the site of Ras, which was the capital city of the medieval Serbian state in the 12th–14th century. Roman baths are in the vicinity of the town, as is the Church of St. Peter (7th or 8th

Serbia: The Golden Age: The frescoes of the Raška school, in particular, are known for their capacity to blend secular authority with a deep sense of devotion. Literary work extended beyond copying manuscripts to include pieces of independent creative merit, such as the biography of Stefan Nemanja prepared by St. Sava and his…

John Jakob Raskob was an American financier who played a major role in the early 20th-century expansion of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. and of General Motors Corporation. From 1898 to 1900, Raskob served as secretary in three firms, ending up serving Pierre Samuel du Pont, president of Johnson

Raskol, division in the Russian Orthodox Church in the 17th century over reforms in liturgy and forms of worship. Over the centuries, many features of Russian religious practice had been inadvertently altered by unlettered priests and laity, removing Russian Orthodoxy ever further from its Greek

Old Believer, member of a group of Russian religious dissenters who refused to accept the liturgical reforms imposed upon the Russian Orthodox Church by the patriarch of Moscow Nikon (1652–58). Numbering millions of faithful in the 17th century, the Old Believers split into a number of different

Rodion Raskolnikov, fictional character who is the protagonist of the novel Crime and Punishment (1866) by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. An impoverished student who murders a pawnbroker and her stepsister, Raskolnikov embodies the author’s belief that salvation is possible only through

rāslīlā, folk dance drama of northern India, mainly Uttar Pradesh, based on scenes from the life of Krishna. Solo and group dancing are combined with singing, chanted recitation, and instrumental accompaniment. The audience joins in singing refrains and marks the beat by clapping hands. The

Anders Rasmussen is a Danish politician who served as prime minister of Denmark (2001–09), leader of the country’s Liberal Party (1998–2009), and secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (2009–14). Rasmussen became involved with Denmark’s Liberal Party at an early age, founding

Anders Rasmussen is a Danish politician who served as prime minister of Denmark (2001–09), leader of the country’s Liberal Party (1998–2009), and secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (2009–14). Rasmussen became involved with Denmark’s Liberal Party at an early age, founding

Halfdan Rasmussen was a Danish poet of social protest, as well as an excellent writer of nonsense verse. Rasmussen belonged to the generation of the 1940s. In his early poetry, Soldat eller menneske (1941; “Soldier or Human Being”) and Digte under Besaettelsen (1945; “Poems During the Occupation”),

Knud Rasmussen was a Danish-Inuit explorer and ethnologist who, in the course of completing the longest dog-sledge journey to that time, across the American Arctic, made a scientific study of virtually every tribe in that vast region. Partly of Inuit descent himself and equipped with a thorough

Knud Rasmussen was a Danish-Inuit explorer and ethnologist who, in the course of completing the longest dog-sledge journey to that time, across the American Arctic, made a scientific study of virtually every tribe in that vast region. Partly of Inuit descent himself and equipped with a thorough

Anders Rasmussen: …minister; he was succeeded by Lars Løkke Rasmussen (no relation) of the Liberal Party. Anders Rasmussen assumed his post at NATO in August 2009; he served as secretary-general until 2014.

Poul Nyrup Rasmussen is a Danish economist and politician, leader of the Social Democrats from 1992 to 2002, who was prime minister of Denmark from 1993 to 2001. After receiving a degree in economics from the University of Copenhagen in 1971, Rasmussen worked for the Danish Trade Union Council

ESPN, Inc.: William Rasmussen founded ESPN to broadcast New England Whalers hockey games and University of Connecticut sports events. It was purchased by the Getty Oil Company before it began broadcasting in 1979, the year it began signing large advertising contracts. In 1984 it was sold to…

Cabo Verde: Land: …together with the islets of Raso and Branco. The Sotavento Islands include Maio, Santiago, Fogo, and Brava and the three islets called the Rombos—Grande, Luís

Barney Ross was an American professional boxer, world lightweight (135 pounds), junior welterweight (140 pounds), and welterweight (147 pounds) champion during the 1930s. (Read Gene Tunney’s 1929 Britannica essay on boxing.) Two years after Ross was born, his family moved to Chicago’s Maxwell

Barney Ross was an American professional boxer, world lightweight (135 pounds), junior welterweight (140 pounds), and welterweight (147 pounds) champion during the 1930s. (Read Gene Tunney’s 1929 Britannica essay on boxing.) Two years after Ross was born, his family moved to Chicago’s Maxwell

Barney Ross was an American professional boxer, world lightweight (135 pounds), junior welterweight (140 pounds), and welterweight (147 pounds) champion during the 1930s. (Read Gene Tunney’s 1929 Britannica essay on boxing.) Two years after Ross was born, his family moved to Chicago’s Maxwell

kernite, borate mineral, hydrated sodium borate (Na2B4O7·4H2O), that was formerly the chief source of borax (q.v.). It forms very large crystals, often 60 to 90 centimetres (2 to 3 feet) thick; the largest observed measured 240 by 90 cm. The crystals are colourless and transparent but are usually

file: Rasp teeth are disconnected and round on top; they are formed by raising small pieces of material from the surface of the file with a punch. Rasp files, or rasps, are usually very coarse and are used primarily on wood and soft materials.

Australia: The economy: …proved richest, and in 1883 Charles Rasp, a German migrant, first glimpsed the varied riches of Broken Hill. The silver, lead, and zinc ores found there were to make that city almost fabulous and to prompt the establishment of Broken Hill Proprietary Company Ltd.—in time, Australia’s largest private enterprise. Also…

file: Rasp teeth are disconnected and round on top; they are formed by raising small pieces of material from the surface of the file with a punch. Rasp files, or rasps, are usually very coarse and are used primarily on wood and soft materials.

the Hollies: …of them American, such as the Raspberries and the Rubinoos. Unlike most groups of their vintage, the Hollies had their greatest successes in the 1970s, with “Long Cool Woman (in a Black Dress)” (1972) and “The Air That I Breathe” (1974). The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll…

raspberry, bramble fruit of the genus Rubus (family Rosaceae). Raspberries are an economically significant crop throughout much of northern Europe, as well as in the United States and Canada, and are thought to have evolved in eastern Asia. Raspberry fruits contain iron, vitamin C, and antioxidants

clearwing moth: The raspberry crown borer (Pennisetia) bores into the roots and canes of raspberry and blackberry plants. The larvae hibernate beneath the plant bark near ground level and tunnel upward in spring. The plant wilts, breaks, and dies, leaving a stump in which the borers pupate. The…

fruitworm beetle: …hairy, oval beetles is the raspberry fruitworm (Byturus rubi). The small, pale larva, which is covered with short fine hairs, attacks the raspberry fruit. The adult, which ranges in colour from reddish yellow to black, is about 4 mm (0.16 inch) long. It feeds on the flowers and leaves of…

Henry Raspe was the landgrave of Thuringia (1227–47) and German anti-king (1246–47) who was used by Pope Innocent IV in an attempt to oust the Hohenstaufen dynasty from Germany. On the death of his elder brother Landgrave Louis IV, in 1227, Henry seized power (thus excluding his nephew Hermann II

Rudolf Erich Raspe was a German scholar and adventurer best remembered as the author of the popular tall tales The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. After having studied natural sciences and philology at Göttingen and Leipzig, Raspe worked in several university libraries before being appointed

Gérard Depardieu: about Alexandre Dumas père, and Rasputin (2011). Other movies included Mammuth (2010), Valley of Love (2015), Un Beau Soleil intérieur (2017; Let the Sunshine In), and Mon cochon et moi (2018; Saving My Pig). From 2016 to 2018 Depardieu appeared in the Netflix TV series Marseille, a

Gérard Depardieu: about Alexandre Dumas père, and Rasputin (2011). Other movies included Mammuth (2010), Valley of Love (2015), Un Beau Soleil intérieur (2017; Let the Sunshine In), and Mon cochon et moi (2018; Saving My Pig). From 2016 to 2018 Depardieu appeared in the Netflix TV series Marseille, a

Richard Boleslavsky: …Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) specifically to direct Rasputin and the Empress (1932), which depicts the intrigue at the court of the last Russian tsar, Nicholas II. John Barrymore was Prince Chegodieff (a renamed Prince Feliks Yusupov, whose wife, Princess Irina, later successfully sued MGM for libel over the film’s depiction of her…

Grigori Rasputin was a Siberian peasant and mystic whose ability to improve the condition of Aleksey Nikolayevich, the hemophiliac heir to the Russian throne, made him an influential favorite at the court of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra. Although he attended school, Grigori Rasputin

Grigori Rasputin was a Siberian peasant and mystic whose ability to improve the condition of Aleksey Nikolayevich, the hemophiliac heir to the Russian throne, made him an influential favorite at the court of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra. Although he attended school, Grigori Rasputin

Grigori Rasputin was a Siberian peasant and mystic whose ability to improve the condition of Aleksey Nikolayevich, the hemophiliac heir to the Russian throne, made him an influential favorite at the court of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra. Although he attended school, Grigori Rasputin

Russia: The 20th century: …this group were the novelist Valentin Rasputin and the short-story writer Vasily Shukshin. The morally complex fiction of Yury Trifonov, staged in an urban setting (e.g., The House on the Embankment [1976]), stands somewhat apart from the works of Rasputin and Shukshin that praise Russian rural simplicity. Nevertheless, as in…

raspy cricket, any of a group of insects in the subfamily Gryllacridinae (order Orthoptera) that possess features similar to both crickets and katydids but are distinguished by the “raspy” noise that they produce as a defense response. Raspy crickets, along with the leaf-rolling grasshoppers (or

Hormuzd Rassam was an Assyriologist who excavated some of the finest Assyrian and Babylonian antiquities that are now in the possession of the British Museum and found vast numbers of cuneiform tablets at Nineveh (Nīnawā, Iraq) and Sippar (Abū Ḥabbah, Iraq), including the earliest known record of

rasse, small Asiatic mammal, a species of civet

Rasselas, philosophical romance by Samuel Johnson published in 1759 as The Prince of Abissinia. Supposedly written in the space of a week, with the impending expenses of Johnson’s mother’s funeral in mind, Rasselas explores and exposes the vanity of the human search for happiness. The work is

Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD), Tunisian political party that led the movement for independence from France (1956) and ruled Tunisia until 2011. The Neo-Destour was formed in 1934 by discontented young members of the more conservative Destour. After a bitter struggle with the parent

flag of Benin: …had been used by the African Democratic Rally—i.e., the legislators in the French National Assembly who represented French West Africa following World War II. The colours were also associated with Ethiopia, the oldest independent African state, and with the flags of contemporaneously independent Ghana (1957 flag design), Cameroon (1957), and…

Rally for the Republic: …when de Gaulle organized the Rally of the French People (Rassemblement du Peuple Français; RPF), originally conceived as a means by which de Gaulle might regain office without having to participate in party politics. It was thus at first organized as an extraparliamentary body in the hope that it might…