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  • Nastase, Adrian (prime minister of Romania)
    ...sq km (92,043 sq mi) | Population (2004 est.): 21,549,000 | Capital: Bucharest | Chief of state: Presidents Ion Iliescu and, from December 20, Traian Basescu | Head of government: Prime Ministers Adrian Nastase, Eugen Bejinariu (acting) from December 21, and, from December 29, Calin Popescu-Tariceanu | ...
  • Nastase, Ilie (Romanian tennis player)
    Romanian tennis player known for his on-court histrionics and outstanding Davis Cup play. He was the first European to surpass $1 million in career prize money and was ranked number one in the world in 1973....
  • nāstika (Indian philosophy)
    ...systems, namely, the Nyāya, Vaiśeṣika, Sāṃkhya, Yoga, Pūrva-mīmāṃsā, and Vedānta schools of philosophy, and unorthodox (nāstika) systems, such as Buddhism and Jainism. Indian thought has been concerned with various philosophical problems, significant among them the nature of the world (cosmology), the nat...
  • Náströnd (Norse mythology)
    ...trickster god Loki, and her kingdom was said to lie downward and northward. It was called Niflheim, or the World of Darkness, and appears to have been divided into several sections, one of which was Náströnd, the shore of corpses. There stood a castle facing north; it was filled with the venom of serpents, in which murderers, adulterers, and perjurers suffered torment, while the.....
  • nasturtium (Tropaeolum genus)
    any of various annual plants of the genus Tropaeolum, in the family Tropaeolaceae, native to Mexico, Central America, and northern South America and introduced into other regions as cultivated garden plants. Nasturtium is also a genus of aquatic herbs of the family Cruciferae (see watercress)....
  • nasturtium family (plant family)
    Akaniaceae and Tropaeolaceae both have large zygomorphic flowers with eight stamens and an ovary with three compartments, with the ovules at the apex of each. Geographically and morphologically they might otherwise seem an unlikely pair....
  • Nasturtium officinale (plant)
    (Nasturtium officinale), perennial plant, of the mustard family (Brassicaceae), native to Eurasia and naturalized throughout North America in cool, flowing streams where it grows submerged, floating on the water, or spread over mud surfaces. Watercress often is cultivated in tanks for its young shoots, which are used in salads. The plant bears four-petalled, white flowers and delicate, lig...
  • Nasturtium palustre (plant)
    ...species of the genus Rorippa of the mustard family (Brassicaceae). Most members of the genus are found in the Northern Hemisphere. Rorippa includes the former genus Nasturtium. Iceland watercress, or marsh yellow cress (R. islandica, formerly N. palustre), grows, like others of the genus, in marshy ground. It bears small, four-petaled, yellow flowers in......
  • Nasty Nas (American rapper and songwriter)
    American rapper and songwriter who became a dominant voice in 1990s East Coast hip-hop. Nas built a reputation as an articulate chronicler of inner-city street life....
  • Nasua (mammal)
    any of three species of omnivore related to raccoons (family Procyonidae). Coatis are found in wooded regions from the southwestern United States through South America....
  • Nasua narica (mammal)
    any of three species of omnivore related to raccoons (family Procyonidae). Coatis are found in wooded regions from the southwestern United States through South America.......
  • Nasution, Abdul (Indonesian politician)
    Indonesian politician (b. Dec. 3, 1918, Kotanopan, North Sumatra, Dutch East Indies—d. Sept. 6, 2000, Jakarta, Indon.), was a leader in winning (1949) Indonesian independence from The Netherlands and thereafter served in a number of capacities, including defense minister (1959–66). He missed an opportunity to seize power when he was the only survivor among a group of seven generals t...
  • nat (Burmese religion)
    in Burmese folk religion, any of a group of spirits that are the objects of an extensive, probably pre-Buddhist cult; in Thailand a similar spirit is called phi. Most important of the nats are a group collectively called the “thirty-seven,” made up of spirits of human beings who have died violent deaths. They are capable of protecting the believer when kept properly pr...
  • Nat King Cole Show, The (American television program)
    Cole’s popularity allowed him to become the first African American to host a network variety program, The Nat King Cole Show, which debuted on NBC television in 1956. The show fell victim to the bigotry of the times, however, and was canceled after one season; few sponsors were willing to be associated with a black entertainer. Cole had greater success with concer...
  • nāṭaka (Indian epic)
    ...at any of the poetic moments characteristic of the strophic lyric—the author reverts to verse, sometimes in mid-sentence. Two principal types of play are distinguished: the nāṭaka, which is based on epic material, and the prakaraṇa, which is of the author’s invention, though often borrowed from narrative literature....
  • Natal (historical province, South Africa)
    former province of South Africa. It was the smallest of the four traditional provinces and occupied the southeastern part of the country....
  • Natal (Brazil)
    city, capital of Rio Grande do Norte estado (state), northeastern Brazil, situated near the mouth of the Potengi River, or Rio Grande do Norte, on the Atlantic coast. Founded by the Portuguese in 1597 near the site of a fort (Tres Reis Magos, or “The Three Magi”), Natal was given town status in 1611; its cathedral dates to 16...
  • Natal Drakensberg (mountains, Africa)
    plateau edge of southern Africa that separates the region’s highland interior plateau from the fairly narrow coastal strip. It lies predominantly within the Republic of South Africa and Lesotho but extends northeastward into eastern Zimbabwe (where it separates much of that country from Mozambique) and northwestward into Namibia and Angola (where it separates the central plateaus of those ...
  • Natal grass (plant)
    any of several southern African grasses of the family Poaceae, and species Rhynchelytrum repens (formerly Tricholaena rosea), which in some areas is known as Natal red top. It is a tufted, perennial with glossy, purple or pink hairs on the seed heads. Natal grass is found on disturbed soils in tropical America and Australia and is cultivated as a forage and ornamental grass in parts...
  • Natal Indian Congress (South African history)
    ...and the press in Natal, India, and England to the Natal Indians’ grievances. He was persuaded to settle down in Durban to practice law and to organize the Indian community. In 1894, he founded the Natal Indian Congress of which he himself became the indefatigable secretary. Through this common political organization, he infused a spirit of solidarity in the heterogeneous Indian community...
  • Natal red top (plant)
    any of several southern African grasses of the family Poaceae, and species Rhynchelytrum repens (formerly Tricholaena rosea), which in some areas is known as Natal red top. It is a tufted, perennial with glossy, purple or pink hairs on the seed heads. Natal grass is found on disturbed soils in tropical America and Australia and is cultivated as a forage and ornamental grass in......
  • natal river (biology)
    ...move down rivers toward the sea. Juveniles (parr) grow into larger fish (smolt) that convene near the ocean. When the adult fish are ready to spawn, they return to the river in which they were born (natal river), using a variety of environmental cues, including the Earth’s magnetic field, the Sun, and water chemistry. It is believed that the thyroid gland has a role in imprinting the wat...
  • Natal, University of (university, South Africa)
    ...and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. Historically, most blacks with postsecondary degrees earned them through UNISA or Fort Hare, but the English-language institutions—including the University of Natal (Pietermaritzburg and Durban) and Rhodes University—admitted a few black students until 1959, when their ability to do so was restricted by apartheid legislation that they......
  • Natalia, Republic of (historical republic, South Africa)
    The establishment of trekker republics in Natal and on the Highveld greatly expanded the frontiers of white settlement. The Voortrekkers, however, did not display any sense of national unity, and the parties soon fell out and set off in different directions. The trekkers enjoyed some spectacular successes as a result of their firearms, horses, and use of ox-wagons to form laagers (protected......
  • Natalidae (mammal)
    ...bat (Lavia frons) is at least partly diurnal and roosts in trees in the savanna and open forest. Family Natalidae (funnel-eared bats)8 species of small, slenderly built bats in 3 genera (Natalus) of Central America, northern South America, and the West Indies. Thick g...
  • Natalis, Alexander (French theologian and historian)
    controversial theologian and ecclesiastical historian who clashed with Rome for expressing Gallicanism, a French position advocating restriction of papal power, and for defending Jansenism, a religious movement of nonorthodox tendencies in France....
  • natality (statistics)
    frequency of live births in a given population, conventionally calculated as the annual number of live births per 1,000 inhabitants. See vital rates....
  • natamycin (preservative)
    ...in cured meat products (e.g., ham and bacon). Sulfur dioxide and sulfites are used to control the growth of spoilage microorganisms in dried fruits, fruit juices, and wines. Nisin and natamycin are preservatives produced by microorganisms. Nisin inhibits the growth of some bacteria while natamycin is active against molds and yeasts....
  • Natantia (crustacean)
    any of the approximately 2,000 species of the suborder Natantia (order Decapoda of the class Crustacea). Close relatives include crabs, crayfish, and lobsters. Shrimps are characterized by a semitransparent body flattened from side to side and a flexible abdomen terminating in a fanlike tail. The appendages are modified for swimming, and the antennae are long and whiplike. Shrimps occur in all oc...
  • Natanya (Israel)
    city, west-central Israel. It lies on the Mediterranean coast, 19 miles (30 km) north of Tel Aviv–Yafo. Because of its proximity to the West Bank, the city was a frequent target of bombings by Palestinian terrorists at the beginning of the 21st century....
  • Nataraja (Hindu mythology)
    the Hindu god Shiva in his form as the cosmic dancer, represented in metal or stone in most Shaiva temples of South India....
  • NATAS (American organization)
    The Emmy Awards are made by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Only members of the academy may vote for the awards, and members vote only within their own discipline—actors voting for actors, writers for writers, and so on. Categories in which awards are granted include dramatic series, comedy series, special drama, limited series, and variety, music, or comedy. Within......
  • Natator depressa (turtle)
    ...hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) is largely tropical and common in coral reef habitats, where it feeds on sponges and a variety of other invertebrates. The flatback sea turtle (Natator depressa) occurs in the seas between Australia and New Guinea; it also feeds on a variety of invertebrates. The shells of adults of both......
  • Natchez (American steamboat)
    ...revival in river traffic. New and faster steamboats were built and operated, often in rivalry to one another, a rivalry made famous by the three-day race, commencing June 30, 1870, between the Natchez and the Robert E. Lee (see photograph). The latter won by dint of stripping out all unnecessary superstructure and taking on extra fuel supplies from tenders while steaming......
  • Natchez (Mississippi, United States)
    city, seat (1817) of Adams county, southwestern Mississippi, U.S., on the Mississippi River (there bridged to Vidalia, Louisiana), about 70 miles (110 km) southwest of Vicksburg. Established in 1716 as Fort Rosalie by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, it survived a massacre (1729) by Natchez Indians f...
  • Natchez (people)
    North American Indian tribe of the Macro-Algonquian linguistic phylum that inhabited the east side of the lower Mississippi River. When French colonizers first interacted with the Natchez in the early 18th century, the tribal population comprised about 6,000 individuals living in nine villages between the Yazoo and Pearl rivers near the site of the present-day...
  • Natchez Pilgrimage (American festival)
    ...of leisure in the state. Mississippi maintains a system of state parks, and the U.S. Department of the Interior maintains the Vicksburg National Military Park and the Natchez Trace Parkway. The Natchez Pilgrimage is the best known of several festivals featuring antebellum homes and gardens....
  • Natchez Trace Parkway (highway, United States)
    scenic and historic roadway, extending 444 miles (715 km) through Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee, U.S. It begins in Natchez, Mississippi, and, generally following a Native American trail in a northeasterly direction, ends near Nashville, Tennessee. It passes through the Mississippi cities of ...
  • Natchitoches (Louisiana, United States)
    city, seat (1807) of Natchitoches parish, west-central Louisiana, U.S., on Cane River Lake, 68 miles (109 km) southeast of Shreveport. The oldest permanent settlement in the Louisiana Purchase territory, it was founded about 1714 as Fort St. Jean Baptiste by the French-Canadian explorer and soldier Louis Juchereau de Saint-Denis...
  • Natewa Bay (bay, Vanua Levu Island, Fiji)
    ...2,145 square miles (5,556 square km). The central mountain range, culminating at Nasorolevu (3,386 feet [1,032 metres]), divides the island into wet (southeastern) and dry (northwestern) sections. Natewa Bay, on the east coast, cuts deeply into the island to make a peninsula of its southeastern corner, while the south coast is indented by the broad Savusavu and Wainunu bays....
  • Natha (Indian religious sect)
    religious movement of India whose members strive for immortality by transforming the human body into an imperishable divine body. It combines esoteric traditions drawn from Buddhism, Shaivism, and Hatha Yoga. The term is derived from the names of the nine traditional masters, all of which end in the word natha...
  • Nāthamuni (Hindu teacher)
    ...Bodhāyana, the Vākyakāra (to whom he referred but whose identity is not established except that he advocated a theory of real modification of Brahman), Nāthamuni (c. 1000), and his own teachers’ teacher Yāmunācārya (c. 1050)....
  • Nathan (biblical figure)
    ...in the position to know, and with a duty to act, were expected to speak out and were, in effect, licensed to do so, however cautiously they were obliged to proceed on occasion. Thus, the prophet Nathan dared to challenge King David himself for what he had done to secure Bathsheba for his wife (II Sam. 12:1–24). On an earlier, perhaps even more striking, occasion, the patriarch Abraham......
  • Nathan, Annie Florance (American writer, educator, and antisuffragist)
    American writer, educator, and antisuffragist, remembered as the moving force behind the founding of Barnard College, New York City....
  • Nathan ben Yehiel (Italian scholar)
    ...and Josippon, a revision of Josephus’ Antiquities filled with legendary incidents—this last-named book was popular until modern times and was translated into many languages. Nathan ben Yehiel completed in 1101 at Rome a dictionary of Talmudic Aramaic and Hebrew, the ʿArukh, which is still used....
  • Nathan, Daniel (American author)
    American cousins who were coauthors of a series of more than 35 detective novels featuring a character named Ellery Queen....
  • “Nathan der Weise” (play by Lessing)
    ...will forget or ignore it. Thus, the several positive religions can help men achieve more complete awareness of the perfect religion than could ever be attained by any individual mind. Lessing’s Nathan der Weise (1779; “Nathan the Sage”) was noteworthy for the introduction of the Deist spirit of religion into the drama; in the famous parable of the three rings, the ma...
  • Nathan, George Jean (American writer)
    American author, editor, and drama critic, who is credited with raising the standards of play producers and playgoers alike....
  • Nathan, Maud (American social leader)
    American social welfare leader who helped to found the National Consumers League....
  • Nathan of Gaza (Jewish Kabbalist)
    With a retinue of believers and assured of financial backing, Shabbetai triumphantly returned to Jerusalem. There, a 20-year-old student known as Nathan of Gaza assumed the role of a modern Elijah, in his traditional role of forerunner of the messiah. Nathan ecstatically prophesied the imminent restoration of Israel and world salvation through the bloodless victory of Shabbetai, riding on a......
  • Nathan, S. R. (president of Singapore)
    With a retinue of believers and assured of financial backing, Shabbetai triumphantly returned to Jerusalem. There, a 20-year-old student known as Nathan of Gaza assumed the role of a modern Elijah, in his traditional role of forerunner of the messiah. Nathan ecstatically prophesied the imminent restoration of Israel and world salvation through the bloodless victory of Shabbetai, riding on a.........
  • Nathan the Wise (play by Lessing)
    ...will forget or ignore it. Thus, the several positive religions can help men achieve more complete awareness of the perfect religion than could ever be attained by any individual mind. Lessing’s Nathan der Weise (1779; “Nathan the Sage”) was noteworthy for the introduction of the Deist spirit of religion into the drama; in the famous parable of the three rings, the ma...
  • Nathanael (biblical figure)
    ...so he may have had another personal name. For that reason and because he was always associated with the Apostle St. Philip in the Gospel lists, a 9th-century tradition identified him with Nathanael, who, according to John 1:43–51, was called with Philip by Jesus. Upon seeing Nathanael, Jesus said, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” This......
  • Nathans, Daniel (American biologist)
    American microbiologist who was corecipient, with Hamilton Othanel Smith of the United States and Werner Arber of Switzerland, of the 1978 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. The three scientists were cited for their discovery and application of restriction enzymes that break the giant molecules of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) into fragme...
  • Nāthapanthīs (Hindu ascetic)
    member of an order of religious ascetics in India that venerates the Hindu deity Lord Śiva. Kānphaṭa Yogis are distinguished by the large earrings they wear in the hollows of their ears (kān-phaṭa, “ear split”). They are sometimes referred to as tantric (esoteric) sannyāsins (ascetics), bec...
  • Nathdwara (India)
    town, southern Rājasthān state, northwestern India, just south of the Banās River. Connected by road with Udaipur and close to the Malvi rail junction, Nāthdwāra is a place of Hindu pilgrimage; it contains a 17th-century Vaishnavite shrine that is one of the most famous in India. Within the temple is a celebrated image of the god Krishna, popu...
  • Natica (snail)
    ...attacks an oyster by stealth: waiting until the valves open, it thrusts its shell between the valves and pushes its tubular feeding organ, or proboscis, into the soft parts. Another snail, Natica, supports the scraping action of a filelike structure called a radula with chemical dissolution by sulfuric acid, which is secreted by a gland on the proboscis, and drills a neat hole in a......
  • Naticacea (gastropod superfamily)
    ...of group suddenly withdraw, the change in colour serving to confuse predators; common in shallow tropical oceans, some species in cooler waters.Superfamily NaticaceaMoon shells (Naticidae) medium-sized, globular predators on burrowing bivalves: bore a hole in the clamshell using acid secretions, then insert the radula to ...
  • naticid (gastropod)
    ...the change in colour serving to confuse predators; common in shallow tropical oceans, some species in cooler waters.Superfamily NaticaceaMoon shells (Naticidae) medium-sized, globular predators on burrowing bivalves: bore a hole in the clamshell using acid secretions, then insert the radula to feed; common in most......
  • Naticidae (gastropod)
    ...the change in colour serving to confuse predators; common in shallow tropical oceans, some species in cooler waters.Superfamily NaticaceaMoon shells (Naticidae) medium-sized, globular predators on burrowing bivalves: bore a hole in the clamshell using acid secretions, then insert the radula to feed; common in most......
  • Natick (Massachusetts, United States)
    town (township), Middlesex county, eastern Massachusetts, U.S., 18 miles (29 km) southwest of Boston. The first recorded settlement there was made in 1650, when the missionary John Eliot was granted the land for use as a plantation for his “praying Indians.” In 1663 Eliot published an Algonquian-language translation of the Bibl...
  • nation (medieval university group)
    in medieval education, the basic organizational form of early European universities. A nation was formed when groups of students from a particular region or country banded together for mutual protection and welfare in a strange land. In some universities nations were responsible for educating and examining students. Each one was governed by its own proctor, who was elected for terms varying from o...
  • Nation, Carry (American temperance leader)
    American temperance advocate famous for using a hatchet to demolish barrooms....
  • Nation, Carry Amelia (American temperance leader)
    American temperance advocate famous for using a hatchet to demolish barrooms....
  • Nation, Palace of the (building, Brussels, Belgium)
    The upper town is the remaining eastern area of the inner city. It is crossed from southwest to northeast by a major thoroughfare, on which stand the Royal Palace and the Palace of the Nation. The latter was erected (1779–83) by the Austrian governors and after independence became the home of the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives. It stands at the intersection of the rue Royale......
  • Nation Party (political party, The Sudan)
    ...won control of the Congress and organized the Ashiqqāʾ (Brothers), the first genuine political party in the Sudan. Seeing the initiative pass to the militants, the moderates formed the Ummah (Nation) Party under the patronage of Sayyid ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Mahdī, the posthumous son of the Mahdī, with the intention of cooperating with the British tow...
  • Nation Party (political party, Turkey)
    ...survived only until June 1962, when it broke up over the question of an amnesty for the imprisoned Democrats. After some delay and splits within the parties, which led to the formation of the Nation Party by dissidents who withdrew from the Republican Peasants’ Nation Party, the CHP formed a coalition with the two smaller parties. This accelerated the tendency for former Democrat voters....
  • Nation, The (American journal)
    American weekly journal of opinion, the oldest such continuously published periodical still extant. It is generally considered the leading liberal magazine of its kind. It was founded in 1865 by Edwin L. Godkin at the urging of Frederick Law Olmsted....
  • Nation, The (Irish newspaper)
    An Irish patriot, McGee was associated with The Nation (1846–48), the literary organ of the Young Ireland political movement (which called for the study of Irish history and the revival of the Irish language). He was implicated in the abortive Irish rebellion of 1848 and fled to the United States, where he established two newspapers, the New York Nation and the American......
  • nation-state (politics)
    The term nation-state is used so commonly and yet defined so variously that it will be necessary to indicate its usage in this article with some precision and to give historical and contemporary examples of nation-states. To begin with, there is no single basis upon which such systems are established. Many states were formed at a point in time when a people sharing a common history, culture,......
  • Nationa Union of Mine Workers (labour union, South Africa)
    ...of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), which maintains a formal political alliance with the ANC and is a nonracial but mainly black body that includes the country’s largest unions, among them the National Union of Mineworkers. Other federations include the black consciousness-rooted National Council of Trade Unions and the mainly white Federation of South African Labour....
  • National Aboriginal Conference (Australian political organization)
    The Whitlam government in particular encouraged a variety of ethnic organizations, most importantly the National Aboriginal Consultative Committee (founded in 1973, from 1977 renamed the National Aboriginal Conference). These organizations contributed to a growing strength and pride in Aboriginality. Early in the period Aboriginals became known for their contributions to sport (boxer Lionel......
  • National Aboriginal Consultative Committee (Australian political organization)
    The Whitlam government in particular encouraged a variety of ethnic organizations, most importantly the National Aboriginal Consultative Committee (founded in 1973, from 1977 renamed the National Aboriginal Conference). These organizations contributed to a growing strength and pride in Aboriginality. Early in the period Aboriginals became known for their contributions to sport (boxer Lionel......
  • National Abortion Rights Action League (American organization)
    American organization, founded in 1969 to centralize state abortion-rights efforts and continuing its mission thereafter to protect and promote reproductive freedom. The organization consists of three related entities: NARAL Pro-Choice America, Inc., a nonprofit organization that focuses on defending abortion rights and on making abortions less necessary; NARA...
  • National Academy (ancient academy, China)
    elite scholarly institution founded in the 8th century ad in China to perform secretarial, archival, and literary tasks for the court and to establish the official interpretation of the Confucian Classics, which were the basis of the civil-service examinations necessary for entrance into the upper levels of the official bureaucracy. The academy lasted until 1911....
  • National Academy of Design (American organization)
    ...the licentiousness of the theatre, he helped launch, in 1827, the New York Journal of Commerce, which refused theatre advertisements. He also was a founder of the National Academy of Design, organized to increase U.S. respect for painters, and was its first president from 1826 to 1845....
  • National Academy of Engineering (American organization)
    ...industry, and government; the council issues many publications and awards a number of postdoctoral fellowships. In 1950 the Academy and the Council were administratively joined. In 1964 the National Academy of Engineering was organized under the 1963 charter. An Institute of Medicine was created to advise nationally on medicine and public health. The academy has organized U.S.......
  • National Academy of Lincei (Italian organization)
    ...as the Academy of Arts of Design in 1563, and the academy of Perugia dates to 1573. Rome’s Academy of San Luca was a guild of painters, founded in 1577. Italy’s most famous learned society is the National Academy of Lincei, of which Galileo was once a member. The most distinguished literary society is the Academy of Crusca, founded in Florence in 1582. There are also many historic...
  • National Academy of Music (French opera company)
    opera company in Paris that for more than two centuries was the chief performer of serious operas and musical dramas in the French language. It is one of the most venerable operatic institutions in the world....
  • National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (American organization)
    any of a series of awards presented annually in the United States by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS; commonly called the Recording Academy) to recognize achievement in the music industry. Winners are selected from more than 25 fields, which cover such genres as pop, rock, country, reggae, classical, and jazz, as well as production and post-production work,......
  • National Academy of Sciences (American organization)
    nongovernmental American organization of scientists and engineers, established March 3, 1863, by act of Congress to serve as an official adviser to the government in all matters of science and technology. It is a self-perpetuating body of limited membership; new members are co-opted on the basis of distinguished contributions to research....
  • National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (American organization)
    The Emmy Awards are made by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Only members of the academy may vote for the awards, and members vote only within their own discipline—actors voting for actors, writers for writers, and so on. Categories in which awards are granted include dramatic series, comedy series, special drama, limited series, and variety, music, or comedy. Within......
  • National Accelerator Laboratory, Fermi (laboratory, Batavia, Illinois, United States)
    U.S. national particle-accelerator laboratory and centre for particle-physics research, located in Batavia, Illinois, about 43 km (27 miles) west of Chicago. The facility is operated for the U.S. Department of Energy by the Universities Research Association, a consortium of 85 research universities in the United States and 4 universities rep...
  • National Action Bloc (political party, Morocco)
    first Moroccan political party, founded in 1934 to counteract mounting French domination of Morocco and to secure recognition of the equality of Moroccans and Frenchmen under the French protectorate....
  • National Action Charter (2001, Bahrain)
    ...dissidents and other individuals later that year in a bid to ease tensions. These changes led in 2001 to a referendum—overwhelmingly supported by Bahrainis—that ratified the National Action Charter. The charter was followed in 2002 with the promulgation of a new constitution that established a constitutional monarchy in Bahrain, called for equality between Sunnis and......
  • National Action Network (American organization)
    ...African American community, he embarked upon controversial protests that gained wide coverage in the national media and sometimes precipitated confrontations with police. In 1991 Sharpton formed the National Action Network, a civil rights organization that promoted progressive policies, including affirmative action and reparations for African Americans for the enslavement of their ancestors. In...
  • National Action Party (political party, Mexico)
    conservative Mexican political party with close ties to the Roman Catholic church. It generally supports minimal government intervention in the economy....
  • National Action Party (political party, Turkey)
    ...and their followers, particularly in the universities, often supported them by violent action. The violence of the left was opposed by that of right-wing groups, of which the most prominent was the National Action Party (NAP), created in 1963 from the former Republican Peasants’ Nation Party and led by an ex-officer, Alparslan Türkeş. The NAP’s agenda combined Islam ...
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (United States space agency)
    independent U.S. governmental agency established in 1958 for the research and development of vehicles and activities for the exploration of space within and outside of Earth’s atmosphere....
  • National African Company (British company)
    19th-century British mercantile company that operated in the lower valley of the Niger River in West Africa. It extended British influence in what later became Nigeria....
  • National African Party (political party, Chad)
    ...Tombalbaye, a southern trade union leader, who became the first president of the republic. In March 1961 Tombalbaye achieved a fusion of the PPT with the principal opposition party, the National African Party (PNA), to form a new Union for the Progress of Chad. An alleged conspiracy by Muslim elements, however, led in 1963 to the dissolution of the National Assembly, a brief state......
  • National Agency of Jews in Germany
    In 1933 German Jewry’s organizations united in the Reichsvertretung der Juden in Deutschland (National Agency of Jews in Germany) under Leo Baeck and Otto Hirsch (1885–1941), the jurist and community leader who was killed in the Mauthausen concentration camp. Under constant attack, this group took charge of Jewish life in Germany. Millions of dollars were spent annually in clearly de...
  • National Agricultural Labourers’ Union (political union, United Kingdom)
    ...Methodist preacher to good effect in the early 1870s when farm labourers in the south and central areas of England began to protest against low wages and harsh living conditions. Arch founded the National Agricultural Labourers’ Union in 1872 and served as its president until it was dissolved in 1896....
  • National Air and Space Museum (museum, Washington, District of Columbia, United States)
    American museum of aviation and space exploration, part of the Smithsonian Institution, housed in two facilities in Washington, D.C....
  • National Air Museum (museum, Washington, District of Columbia, United States)
    American museum of aviation and space exploration, part of the Smithsonian Institution, housed in two facilities in Washington, D.C....
  • National Airlines, Inc. (American corporation)
    In the 1960s and ’70s the company suffered financial reverses but sought regrowth by the purchase, in 1980, of National Airlines, thereby securing an extensive network of routes along the eastern U.S. seaboard and points west. National had been formed in 1929, when founder George Theodore Baker (1900–63) began the National Airlines Air Taxi System in Chicago. He moved the company to....
  • National Allegory (mural by Orozco)
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