cake urchin: …is the yellow or purple sea pancake (Echinodiscus auritus) of the East African coast.

sea pansy, any of certain colonial marine animals of the sea pen (q.v.) group (order Pennatulacea, phylum Cnidaria). Unlike true sea pens, sea pansies lie flat on the

puffin, any of three species of diving birds that belong to the auk family, Alcidae (order Charadriiformes). They are distinguished by their large, brightly coloured, triangular beaks. Puffins nest in large colonies on seaside and island cliffs, usually laying only one egg, in a burrow dug one or

beach pea, (Lathyrus japonicus), sprawling perennial plant in the pea family (Fabaceae). It occurs on gravelly and sandy coastal areas throughout the North Temperate Zone. The seeds of beach pea and other members of the genus Lathyrus can cause a paralysis known as lathyrism if eaten in large

sea pen, any of the 300 species of the order Pennatulacea, colonial invertebrate marine animals of the class Anthozoa (phylum Cnidaria). The name sea pen derives from their resemblance to quill pens. They occur in shallow and deep waters from polar seas to the tropics. The central stalk of the

Sea People, any of the groups of aggressive seafarers who invaded eastern Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, Cyprus, and Egypt toward the end of the Bronze Age, especially in the 13th century bce. They are held responsible for the destruction of old powers such as the Hittite empire. Because of the abrupt

poacher, (family Agonidae), any of the marine fishes of the family Agonidae (order Scorpaeniformes), a group of approximately 50 species that also includes alligatorfishes, sea poachers, and starsnouts. Poachers live in cold water, on the bottom, and are found mainly in the northern Pacific Ocean.

physical poetry: …things, as in the poem “Sea Poppies” (1916) by Hilda Doolittle (H.D.):

horned poppy, (genus Glaucium), genus of approximately 25 species of plants of the poppy family (Papaveraceae), native to Eurasia and northern Africa. Horned poppies are often salt-tolerant and have been used to anchor beach sand. Some species are grown as ornamentals in beach gardens. Horned

sea power, means by which a nation extends its military power onto the seas. Measured in terms of a nation’s capacity to use the seas in defiance of rivals and competitors, it consists of such diverse elements as combat craft and weapons, auxiliary craft, commercial shipping, bases, and trained

Khaled Hosseini: …work, the illustrated short story Sea Prayer (2018), Hosseini drew on the highly publicized death of a three-year-old Syrian refugee who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea in 2015. In the book a father reflects on his life as he and his son wait to depart war-torn Syria.

sculpin: Some, such as the sea raven (Hemitripterus americanus), are of use as bait for lobster pots, and some are of negative importance as consumers of valuable shrimp and young salmon and trout.

beach grass: European beach grass (A. arenaria) is native to temperate coasts in Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia and has been introduced in many places as a dune stabilizer. While native beach grass is protected by law in some areas, both species are considered invasive species…

sea robin, any of the slim bottom-dwelling fish of the family Triglidae, found in warm and temperate seas of the world. Sea robins are elongated fish with armoured bony heads and two dorsal fins. Their pectoral fins are fan-shaped, with the bottom few rays each forming separate feelers. These

sea rocket, (genus Cakile), genus of about seven species of plants in the mustard family (Brassicaceae). Sea rockets are native to seashore regions of North America, Eurasia, western Asia, and Australia as well as to central Arabian deserts. The plants are considered edible and have a hot pungent

Atlantic Ocean: Minerals from seawater: Sea salt (sodium chloride and other salts) has been obtained (mostly by solar evaporation) from the waters of the Atlantic and its marginal seas for millennia. Ancient coastal salt pans along the Mediterranean are still in operation, while the production capacity at Manaure, Colombia, is…

giant water scorpion, any member of the extinct subclass Eurypterida of the arthropod group Merostomata, a lineage of large, scorpion-like, aquatic invertebrates that flourished during the Silurian Period (444 to 416 million years ago). Well over 200 species have been identified and divided into 18

sculpin, any of the numerous, usually small fish of the family Cottidae (order Scorpaeniformes), found in both salt water and fresh water, principally in northern regions of the world. Sculpins are elongated, tapered fish, usually with wide, heavy heads. The gill covers have one or more spines, the

sea serpent, mythological and legendary marine animal that traditionally resembles an enormous snake. The belief in huge creatures that inhabited the deep was widespread throughout the ancient world. In the Old Testament there are several allusions to a primordial combat between God and a monstrous

seashell, hard exoskeleton of marine mollusks such as snails, bivalves, and chitons that serves to protect and support their bodies. It is composed largely of calcium carbonate secreted by the mantle, a skinlike tissue in the mollusk’s body wall. Seashells are usually made up of several layers of

Bob Barker: Animal advocacy: …donated $5 million to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a group especially known for its antiwhaling efforts. The donation was used to purchase a ship, which was named after Barker (see Paul Watson).

rocket and missile system: Antiship: In that conflict the British Sea Skua, a small, rocket-powered, sea-skimming missile with semiactive radar homing, weighing about 325 pounds, was fired successfully from helicopters, while the Argentines sank a destroyer and a containership and damaged another destroyer with the solid-rocket-powered, active radar-homing French Exocet, fired from both aircraft and…

opisthobranch, any marine gastropod of the approximately 2,000 species of the subclass Opisthobranchia. These gastropods, sometimes called sea slugs and sea hares, breathe either through gills, which are located behind the heart, or through the body surface. The shell and mantle cavity are reduced

nudibranch, any of the marine gastropods that constitute the order Nudibranchia (subclass Opisthobranchia of the class Gastropoda). Nudibranchs possess a radular feeding organ, but they characteristically lack a shell, gills, and mantle cavity typical of other mollusks. The delicately coloured body

snailfish: Some, such as the sea snail (Liparis liparis) of the North Atlantic, live in shore waters; others, such as the pink-coloured species of the genus Careproctus, inhabit the deep sea.

snailfish, any of about 115 species of marine fish often placed with the lumpsuckers in the family Cyclopteridae, but sometimes separated as a distinct family, Liparidae (order Scorpaeniformes). Snailfish are small, growing to a maximum length of about 30 centimetres (12 inches). They are

sea snake, any of more than 60 species of highly venomous marine snakes of the cobra family (Elapidae). There are two independently evolved groups: the true sea snakes (subfamily Hydrophiinae), which are related to Australian terrestrial elapids, and the sea kraits (subfamily Laticaudinae), which

marine bioluminescence: notably the microscopic dinoflagellate Noctiluca scintillans, as well as some jellyfish. Many small crustaceans, such as the Vargula hilgendorfi (also known as Cypridina hilgendorfii), which is 3 to 4 mm (about 16 inch) long, become bioluminescent when disturbed. Many squids emit luminous clouds when threatened. Some species of fish…

murrelet, any of six species of small diving birds belonging to the auk family, Alcidae (order Charadriiformes). Murrelets are about 20 cm (8 inches) long, thin billed and, in winter, plain plumaged. They are sometimes called sea sparrows, as are auklets. In some species the young go to sea when

auklet, any of six species of small seabirds of the family Alcidae (order Charadriiformes). They breed primarily in the Bering Sea and the North Pacific; some winter as far south as Japan and Mexico. Auklets in breeding plumage differ from the related murrelets in having plumes and other head

sea spider, any of the spiderlike marine animals comprising the class Pycnogonida (also called Pantopoda) of the phylum Arthropoda. Sea spiders walk about on the ocean bottom on their slender legs or crawl among plants and animals; some may tread water. Most pycnogonids have four pairs of long legs

sea squirt, any member of the invertebrate class Ascidiacea (subphylum Urochordata, also called Tunicata), marine animals with some primitive vertebrate features. Sea squirts are primarily sessile (permanently fixed to a surface), potato-shaped organisms found in all seas, from the intertidal zone

coastal landforms: Sea stacks: Erosion along rocky coasts occurs at various rates and is dependent both on the rock type and on the wave energy at a particular site. As a result of the above-mentioned conditions, wave-cut platforms may be incomplete, with erosional remnants on the horizontal…

sea star, any marine invertebrate of the class Asteroidea (phylum Echinodermata) having rays, or arms, surrounding an indistinct central disk. Despite their older common name, they are not fishes. The roughly 1,600 living species of sea stars occur in all oceans; the northern Pacific has the

stock: Gillyflowers, or common stock (Matthiola incana), are biennials native to southwestern Europe and western Asia. It is one of the most important species used by the floral and horticultural industries. The plants feature narrowly oval deep green leaves and produce 60- to 80-cm (25- to 30-inch) spikes…

Wallace Stevens: Harmonium also contained “Sea Surface Full of Clouds,” in which waves are described in terms of such unlikely equivalents as umbrellas, French phrases, and varieties of chocolate, and “The Comedian as the Letter C,” in which he examines the relation of the poet, or man of imagination, to…

tern, any of about 40 species of slender, graceful water birds that constitute the subfamily Sterninae, of the family Laridae, which also includes the gulls. Terns inhabit seacoasts and inland waters and are nearly worldwide in distribution. The largest number of species is found in the Pacific

weakfish, (genus Cynoscion), any member of a group of fishes in the croaker family, Sciaenidae (order Perciformes). A half dozen species inhabit the coastal regions of North America. The weakfish (Cynoscion regalis) is a marine sport fish but is usually less than 60 cm (2 feet) long. Much larger

brown trout, prized and wary European game fish favoured for the table. The brown trout, which includes several varieties such as the Loch Leven trout of Great Britain, is of the family Salmonidae. It has been introduced to many other areas of the world and is recognized by the light-ringed black

sea turtle, any of seven species of marine turtles belonging to the families Dermochelyidae (leatherback sea turtles) and Cheloniidae (green turtles, flatback sea turtles, loggerhead sea turtles, hawksbills, and ridleys). Both families are highly aquatic, and most species only appear on coastal

sea urchin, any of about 950 living species of spiny marine invertebrate animals (class Echinoidea, phylum Echinodermata) with a globular body and a radial arrangement of organs, shown by five bands of pores running from mouth to anus over the test (internal skeleton). The pores accommodate tube

Marguerite Duras: …Barrage contre le Pacifique (1950; The Sea Wall), her third published novel and first success, dealt semiautobiographically with a poor French family in Indochina. Her next successes, Le Marin de Gibraltar (1952; The Sailor from Gibraltar) and Moderato cantabile (1958), were more lyrical and complex and more given to dialogue.

Isabelle Huppert: Versatility in the 1990s and 2000s: …Barrage contre le Pacifique (2008; The Sea Wall), an adaptation of Marguerite Duras’s novel of the same name. She was at the center of another exploration of colonialism’s effects in White Material (2009), in which she portrayed a French farmer defending her coffee plantation from rebels in an unnamed African…

sea walnut, any member of a common genus (Mnemiopsis) of gelatinous, planktonic marine invertebrates of the order Lobata (class Tentaculata, phylum Ctenophora). The sea walnut resembles the sea gooseberry morphologically, but adults lack conspicuous tentacles, and the body is prolonged into eight

cnidarian: Size range and diversity of structure: …Asia, and include the so-called sea wasps. The polyp is tiny and inconspicuous.

seawater, water that makes up the oceans and seas, covering more than 70 percent of Earth’s surface. Seawater is a complex mixture of 96.5 percent water, 2.5 percent salts, and smaller amounts of other substances, including dissolved inorganic and organic materials, particulates, and a few

sea whip, any of several genera of corals of the order Gorgonacea (phylum Cnidaria), characterized by a long, whiplike growth and a variety of bright colours. The “whip” consists of a colony of tiny polyps (cylindrical, stalklike forms with a mouth and eight tentacles at the upper, or free, end)

John Garfield: …Castle on the Hudson (1940), The Sea Wolf (1941), and Tortilla Flat (1942). A mild heart attack kept the actor from military service during World War II; fully recovered, he entertained troops and appeared in several war-themed films, the best of which was Pride of the Marines (1945).

harbours and sea works: The construction of harbours and sea works offers some of the most unusual problems and challenges in civil engineering. The continuous and immediate presence of the sea provides the engineer with an adversary certain to discover any weakness in the structure built to resist it.

lake, any relatively large body of slowly moving or standing water that occupies an inland basin of appreciable size. Definitions that precisely distinguish lakes, ponds, swamps, and even rivers and other bodies of nonoceanic water are not well established. It may be said, however, that rivers and

lake, any relatively large body of slowly moving or standing water that occupies an inland basin of appreciable size. Definitions that precisely distinguish lakes, ponds, swamps, and even rivers and other bodies of nonoceanic water are not well established. It may be said, however, that rivers and

Law of the Sea, branch of international law concerned with public order at sea. Much of this law is codified in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, signed Dec. 10, 1982. The convention, described as a “constitution for the oceans,” represents an attempt to codify international law

John Banville: Fiction: The Sea (2005), which was awarded the Booker Prize, tells the story of a widowed art historian who revisits a childhood destination on the sea. The Infinities (2009) is an eccentric work that relates a domestic drama that takes place in a parallel reality through…

Iris Murdoch: … (1973), Henry and Cato (1976), The Sea, the Sea (1978, Booker Prize), The Philosopher’s Pupil (1983), The Good Apprentice (1985), The Book and the Brotherhood (1987), The Message to the Planet (1989), and The Green Knight (1993). Murdoch’s last novel, Jackson’s Dilemma

air-sea interface, boundary between the atmosphere and the ocean waters. The air-sea interface is one of the most physically and chemically active environments on Earth. Its neighbourhood supports most marine life. The atmosphere gains much of its heat at the interface in tropical latitudes by back

undersea exploration: Exploration of the seafloor and the Earth’s crust: The ocean floor has the same general character as the land areas of the world: mountains, plains, channels, canyons, exposed rocks, and sediment-covered areas. The lack of weathering and erosion in most areas, however, allows geological processes to be seen more clearly on the seafloor than…

undersea exploration: Exploration of the seafloor and the Earth’s crust: The ocean floor has the same general character as the land areas of the world: mountains, plains, channels, canyons, exposed rocks, and sediment-covered areas. The lack of weathering and erosion in most areas, however, allows geological processes to be seen more clearly on the seafloor than…

Mertensia: Northern shorewort, oyster plant, or sea-lungwort (M. maritima), a fleshy, grayish-leaved plant, is about the same height as Virginia bluebell but has smaller flowers that bloom in summer. It grows along pebbly coasts of northern North America and northern Europe. Languid ladies (M. paniculata), from…

Djibouti: Transportation and telecommunications: …East Asia–Middle East–Western Europe–3 (SEA-ME-WE-3) telecommunications system.

East Asian mathematics: Theory of root extraction and equations: …and his Ceyuan haijing (“Sea Mirror of Circle Measurements”), written only one year after Qin completed his book, takes the search for the root of equations for granted. Li lived in North China, while Qin lived in the South, and is thought to have worked without knowing Qin’s achievements.…

rainbow trout, (Oncorhynchus mykiss), game fish of the family Salmonidae noted for its spectacular leaps and hard fighting when hooked. It has been introduced from western North America to many other countries. A brightly coloured fish of lakes and swift streams, it is covered with small black

Allen Toussaint: …man Marshall Sehorn set up Sea-Saint Studios in the mid-1960s, a new group of session musicians emerged, including Art Neville on organ, Leo Nocentelli on guitar, George Porter on bass, and Joseph Modeliste on drums. These musicians evolved a new variation of New Orleans’s famous “second line” rhythm (distinctive accents…

climate change: Decadal variation: …Variability (PDV), which involves changing sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the North Pacific Ocean. The SSTs influence the strength and position of the Aleutian Low, which in turn strongly affects precipitation patterns along the Pacific Coast of North America. PDO variation consists of an alternation between “cool-phase” periods, when coastal…

Seattle: Transportation: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac), 13 miles (21 km) south of the city center, is a major gateway connecting Asia, Europe, and North America and is among the leading U.S. airports in international passenger travel. It is served by dozens of airlines (including Alaska Airlines, headquartered…

sea-urchin cactus, (genus Echinopsis), large genus of more than 100 species of cacti (family Cactaceae). Sea-urchin cacti are native to South America at medium elevations in desert shrublands or grasslands. Several species, but most especially the Easter lily cactus (Echinopsis oxygona), are valued

sea-urchin cactus: Coryphantha echinus, native to Texas and parts of Mexico, is also known as sea-urchin cactus.

The Sea-Wolf, novel by Jack London, published in 1904. This highly popular novel combines elements of naturalism and romantic adventure. The story concerns Humphrey Van Weyden, a refined castaway who is put to work on the motley schooner Ghost. The ship is run by brutal Wolf Larsen, who, despite

undersea exploration: Exploration of the seafloor and the Earth’s crust: …techniques as those that employ Seabeam and Gloria (Geological Long-Range Inclined Asdic) permit mapping two-dimensional swaths with great accuracy from a single ship. These methods are widely used to ascertain the major features of the seafloor. The Gloria system, for example, can produce a picture of the morphology of a…

undersea exploration: Exploration of the seafloor and the Earth’s crust: The ocean floor has the same general character as the land areas of the world: mountains, plains, channels, canyons, exposed rocks, and sediment-covered areas. The lack of weathering and erosion in most areas, however, allows geological processes to be seen more clearly on the seafloor than…

law of war: Prohibited areas of combat: …placed on the seabed (the Seabed Treaty of 1971).

Arctic: Marine fauna: Marine birds are abundant in summer, all of them migrants except, apparently, for a small proportion of the black guillemot population that winters in the Arctic, using the open water, such as the polynyas, for feeding areas. The seabirds in the true Arctic zone are…

Jeff Bridges: His subsequent films include Seabiscuit (2003), Stick It (2006), and Iron Man (2008), which was based on the Marvel Comics comic strip. In 2009 Bridges starred with George Clooney in The Men Who Stare at Goats, a comedy that centres on a secret U.S. Army unit trained to use…

Seabiscuit, (foaled 1933), American racehorse (Thoroughbred) that in six seasons (1935–40) won 33 of 89 races and a total of $437,730, a record for American Thoroughbreds (broken 1942). His unlikely success proved a welcome diversion to millions during the Great Depression, and he became a national

Glenn T. Seaborg was an American nuclear chemist best known for his work on isolating and identifying transuranium elements (those heavier than uranium). He shared the 1951 Nobel Prize for Chemistry with Edwin Mattison McMillan for their independent discoveries of transuranium elements. Seaborgium

Glenn T. Seaborg was an American nuclear chemist best known for his work on isolating and identifying transuranium elements (those heavier than uranium). He shared the 1951 Nobel Prize for Chemistry with Edwin Mattison McMillan for their independent discoveries of transuranium elements. Seaborgium

seaborgium (Sg), an artificially produced radioactive element in Group VIb of the periodic table, atomic number 106. In June 1974, Georgy N. Flerov of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research at Dubna, Russia, U.S.S.R., announced that his team of investigators had synthesized and identified element

Samuel Seabury was the first bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. Seabury was educated in medicine at Yale University and the University of Edinburgh. After he became an Anglican priest in 1753, he served parishes in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in Jamaica, New York, and in

World War II: Burma, autumn 1942–summer 1943: …appointed supreme commander of the South East Asia Command (SEAC), and Stilwell was appointed deputy to Mountbatten. Stilwell at the same time was chief of staff to Chiang Kai-shek. The British–Indian forces destined for Burma meanwhile constituted the 14th Army, under Lieutenant General William Slim, whose operational control Stilwell agreed…

Raymond Deane: …2001 when his 1993 piece Seachanges (with Danse Macabre) was chosen as mandatory learning for the Leaving Certificate music curriculum, a graduation requirement for secondary-school students in Ireland. He was also chosen as the artistic director for the first two RTÉ (Radio Television Ireland) Living Music festivals in Dublin (2002…

Mary Seacole was a Jamaican businesswoman who provided sustenance and care for British soldiers at the battlefront during the Crimean War. Her father was a Scottish soldier, and her mother was a free black Jamaican woman and “doctress” skilled in traditional medicine who provided care for invalids

Ryan Seacrest is an American radio and television personality and producer who hosted the popular radio shows On Air with Ryan Seacrest and American Top 40 and appeared on numerous TV programs, most notably American Idol. During high school Seacrest worked at a hometown radio station. He left the

English literature: Elegiac and heroic verse: “The Seafarer” is similar, but its journey motif more explicitly symbolizes the speaker’s spiritual yearnings. Several others have similar themes, and three elegies—“The Husband’s Message,” “The Wife’s Lament,” and “Wulf and Eadwacer”—describe what appears to be a conventional situation: the separation of husband and wife…

prosody: The personal element: …the old English poem “The Seafarer” (1912):

undersea exploration: Exploration of the seafloor and the Earth’s crust: The ocean floor has the same general character as the land areas of the world: mountains, plains, channels, canyons, exposed rocks, and sediment-covered areas. The lack of weathering and erosion in most areas, however, allows geological processes to be seen more clearly on the seafloor than…

seafloor spreading, theory that oceanic crust forms along submarine mountain zones, known collectively as the mid-ocean ridge system, and spreads out laterally away from them. This idea played a pivotal role in the development of the theory of plate tectonics, which revolutionized geologic thought

spreading centre, in oceanography and geology, the linear boundary between two diverging lithospheric plates on the ocean floor. As the two plates move apart from each other, which often occurs at a rate of several centimetres per year, molten rock wells up from the underlying mantle into the gap

seafloor spreading, theory that oceanic crust forms along submarine mountain zones, known collectively as the mid-ocean ridge system, and spreads out laterally away from them. This idea played a pivotal role in the development of the theory of plate tectonics, which revolutionized geologic thought

seafood, edible aquatic animals, excluding mammals, but including both freshwater and ocean creatures. Most nontoxic aquatic species are exploited for food by humans. Even those with toxic properties, such as certain blowfish, can be prepared so as to circumvent harm to the consumer. Fish and other

Jamaica: The independent country: …elections of 1980 by the Edward Seaga-led JLP.

Texas Rangers: …the strong play of shortstop Corey Seager. With a regular season record of 90–72, the team returned to the playoffs, and in the AL Championship Series, the Rangers defeated the Astros, 4–3, to advance to the World Series. There Texas defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks, 4–1, to win the franchise’s first…

Seagram Building, high-rise office building in New York City (1958). Designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson, this sleek Park Avenue skyscraper is a pure example of a rectilinear prism sheathed in glass and bronze. It took the International Style to its zenith. Despite its austere

Seagram Company Ltd., former Canadian corporation that was the world’s largest producer and distributor of distilled spirits. The company began when Distillers Corp., Ltd., a Montreal distillery owned by Samuel Bronfman, acquired Joseph E. Seagram & Sons in 1928. The new company, named Distillers

The Seagull, drama in four acts by Anton Chekhov, performed in 1896 and published in Russian the following year as Chayka. A revised edition was published in 1904. The play deals with lost opportunities and the clash between generations. The main characters, all artists, are guests at a country

Fernán Caballero: …best-known novel, La gaviota (1849; The Seagull), was an immediate success with the public. No other Spanish book of the 19th century obtained such instant and universal recognition. It describes the career of a fisherman’s daughter who marries a German physician, deserts her husband to become an opera singer, falls…

Annette Bening: Career: …adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s play The Seagull. Bening later portrayed Senator Dianne Feinstein in The Report (2019), about the investigation into the U.S. government torture program in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, and she was cast in the superhero movie Captain Marvel

Easington: Seaham, founded in 1828, is the area’s port. The new town of Peterlee was established in central Easington in 1948. Its original purpose was to replace the typical 19th-century housing of the nearby scattered mining villages and to create recreational and service facilities for the…

seahorse, (genus Hippocampus), any of about 50 species of marine fishes allied to pipefishes in the family Syngnathidae (order Gasterosteiformes). Seahorses are found in shallow coastal waters in latitudes from about 52° N to 45° S. Their habitats include coral reefs, mangroves, sea grass beds, and

Seal is a British singer known for his rich original blend of Motown, British glam rock, and Chicago house music, which earned him critical and popular acclaim, multiple Grammy Awards, and millions of dollars in sales. Seal’s dense rhythms and soulful melodies have been compared to those of such

seal, any of 32 species of web-footed aquatic mammals that live chiefly in cold seas and whose body shape, round at the middle and tapered at the ends, is adapted to swift and graceful swimming. There are two types of seals: the earless, or true, seals (family Phocidae); and the eared seals (family

seal, in documentation, an impression made by the impact of a hard engraved surface on a softer material such as wax or clay, producing a device in relief. Seals have been used since remote antiquity to authenticate documents. The study of seals, known as sigillography, is a major historical