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  • Odessa (Ukraine)
    seaport, southwestern Ukraine. It stands on a shallow indentation of the Black Sea coast at a point approximately 19 miles (31 km) north of the Dniester River estuary and about 275 miles (443 km) south of Kiev. Although a settlement existed on the site in ancient times, the history of the modern city began in the 14th century when the Tatar fortress of Khadzhibey was established...
  • Odessa Meteor Crater (crater, Texas, United States)
    shallow, cone-shaped impact crater in the High Plains just southwest of Odessa, Texas, U.S., produced by a meteorite. It is about 17 feet (5 metres) deep and 560 feet (170 metres) in diameter; its rim rises only 2 to 3 feet (less than a metre) above the surrounding area. In 1939 nearly 1,500 nickel-iron meteorite fragments were collected from the ground around the crater and on ...
  • Odessa State University (university, Odessa, Ukraine)
    ...was established in 1805 at Kharkiv, and for 30 years Sloboda Ukraine was the major centre for Ukrainian scholarship and publishing activities. In 1834 a university was founded in Kiev and in 1865 at Odessa. Though Russian institutions, they did much to promote the study of local history and ethnography, which in turn had a stimulative effect on the Ukrainian national movement....
  • Odesskiye rasskazy (work by Babel)
    Born into a Jewish family, Babel grew up in an atmosphere of persecution that is reflected in the sensitivity, pessimism, and morbidity of his stories. His first works, later included in his Odesskiye rasskazy (“Odessa Tales”), were published in 1916 in St. Petersburg in a monthly edited by Maksim Gorky; but the tsarist censors considered them crude and obscene. Gorky praised....
  • Odessos (ancient colony, Ukraine)
    ...ceded to Russia in 1792. A new fortress was built in 1792–93, and in 1794 a naval base and commercial quay were added. In 1795 the new port was named Odessa for the ancient Greek colony of Odessos, the site of which was believed to be in the vicinity....
  • Odessus (Bulgaria)
    seaport and third largest city in Bulgaria. Lying on the north shore of Varna Bay on the Black Sea coast, the city is sheltered by the Dobrudzhansko plateau, which rises to more than 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea level. A narrow canal (1907) links Varna Lake—a drowned valley into which the Provadiyska River flows—to the Black Sea. The city is an important administra...
  • Odets, Clifford (American dramatist)
    leading dramatist of the theatre of social protest in the United States during the 1930s. His important affiliation with the celebrated Group Theatre contributed to that company’s considerable influence on the American stage....
  • odeum (theatre)
    (Latin: “concert hall,” from Greek ōideion, “school of music”), comparatively small theatre of ancient Greece and Rome, in which musicians and orators performed and competed. It has been suggested that these theatres were originated because early Greek musical instruments could not be heard in the vast open amphitheatres in which dramat...
  • Odhiambo, Thomas Risley (Kenyan entomologist)
    Kenyan entomologist (b. Feb. 4, 1931, Alego, Nyanza province, Kenya Colony—d. May 26, 2003, Nairobi, Kenya), was one of Africa’s foremost scientists; he was renowned for his research into nonchemical methods of agricultural insect control and was a pioneer in the promotion of indigenous African scientific education and research. Odhiambo studied at Makerere (Uganda) University Colleg...
  • Odi (work by Parini)
    ...wealth and nobility, he describes a day in the life of a young Milanese patrician and reveals with masterly irony the irresponsibility and futility of a whole way of life. His Odi (1795; “Odes”), which are imbued with the same spirit of moral and social reform, are among the classics of Italian poetry....
  • “Odi barbare” (work by Carducci)
    Rime nuove (1887; The New Lyrics) and Odi barbare (1877; The Barbarian Odes) contain the best of Carducci’s poetry: the evocations of the Maremma landscape and the memories of childhood; the lament for the loss of his only son; the representation of great historical events; and the ambitious attempts to recall the glory of Roman history and the pagan happiness of...
  • Odienné (Côte d’Ivoire)
    town, northwestern Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), at the intersection of roads from Mali, Guinea, and the Ivoirian towns of Korhogo and Man. A traditional trading centre (yams, cassava, cattle, and sheep) among the Muslim Malinke people, it was part of the greater Mali (Malinke) Empire in the 14th century. The town is the site of a rice-processing plant and still the...
  • Odiham (market parish, Hart, England, United Kingdom)
    ...km) northeast. The district is primarily agricultural and produces cereals, dairy products, and lettuce. It has little industry except for motor-vehicle and textile plants in the locality of Fleet. Odiham is a historic market parish with the 13th–14th-century Church of All Saints and Georgian homes. Northwest of Odiham is the ruins of an octagonal Norman castle. Hook and Hartley Wintney....
  • Odin (Norse deity)
    one of the principal gods in Norse mythology. His exact nature and role, however, are difficult to determine because of the complex picture of him given by the wealth of archaeological and literary sources. The Roman historian Tacitus stated that the Teutons worshiped Mercury; and because dies Mercurii (“Mercury’s day”) was identified with Wednesday (...
  • “Odin den iz zhizni Ivana Denisovicha” (novel by Solzhenitsyn)
    ...of Soviet avant-garde artists recalled Stalin’s intolerance in cultural matters. On the other hand, Khrushchev permitted the 1962 publication of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, with its sweeping denunciation of Stalinist repression. Other similar works of protest followed, creating what the historian Martin Malia calls ...
  • Odin Theater (theatre, Holstebro, Denmark)
    ...possible effect from the least possible means.” The internationalism of the theatre is now such that groups modeled on Grotowski’s have appeared throughout the world. Eugenio Barba, of Odin Theater in Holstebro, Den., a pupil of Grotowski, has formulated the ideological position of these theatres under the term third theatre. His book The Floating Islands (1979) examines a....
  • Odinga, Jaramogi Ajuma Oginga (vice president of Kenya)
    African nationalist politician who was a leader in the opposition against the single-party rule of Jomo Kenyatta and his successor Daniel arap Moi....
  • Odinga, Oginga (vice president of Kenya)
    African nationalist politician who was a leader in the opposition against the single-party rule of Jomo Kenyatta and his successor Daniel arap Moi....
  • Odinga, Raila (prime minister of Kenya)
    ...was one of the closest in Kenya’s history and boasted a record-high voter turnout. After a delay in the release of the final election results, Kibaki was declared the winner, narrowly defeating Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). Odinga immediately disputed the outcome, and international observers questioned the validity of the final results. Widespread protests ensued....
  • Odissea (translation by Pindemonte)
    In 1805 Pindemonte began his translation of the Odyssey; it was published as Odissea (1822). Pindemonte also wrote two tragedies and some moralistic letters and sermons....
  • odissi (dance)
    one of the principal classical dance styles of India; others include bhārata-nāṭya, kuchipudi, kathak, kathākali, and manipuri. It is indigenous to Orissa, eastern India, and follows the principles of the Nāṭya-śāstra. Its close replication of poses found on classical temple sculptures suggests great a...
  • ODJB (American musical group)
    ...had converted almost entirely to ragtime. Nick La Rocca, one of the many musicians who apprenticed with Laine, incorporated the sound, and much of the repertoire, of Laine’s band when forming the Original Dixieland Jazz (originally “Jass”) Band (ODJB) in 1916. A highly influential group, the ODJB also borrowed from the marching band tradition in employing the trumpet (or co...
  • Odle, Dorothy (British novelist)
    English novelist, an often neglected pioneer in stream-of-consciousness fiction....
  • Odlum, Jacqueline Cochran (American pilot)
    American pilot who held more speed, distance, and altitude records than any other flyer during her career. In 1964 she flew an aircraft faster than any woman had before....
  • ODM (political party, Kenya)
    ...in a national referendum; the defeat was largely perceived as protest against Kibaki’s administration. The debate over the constitution spawned a powerful new coalition of political parties, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), which included KANU. In 2007 dissension caused a rift within ODM, resulting in the formation of an additional coalition group, the Orange Democratic......
  • ODM–K (political party, Kenya)
    ...of political parties, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), which included KANU. In 2007 dissension caused a rift within ODM, resulting in the formation of an additional coalition group, the Orange Democratic Movement–Kenya (ODM-K)....
  • Odnoyetazhnaya Amerika (work by Ilf and Petrov)
    In 1936, following a tour of the United States, Ilf and Petrov wrote Odnoyetazhnaya Amerika (“One-Storied America”), a witty account of their automobile trip across that country. In large part an exposé of the materialistic and uncultured character of American life, the work nevertheless indicates that many aspects of capitalist society appealed to the authors. A kind.....
  • Odo (king of Franks)
    count of Paris and the first king of the West Franks (France) who was not of Merovingian or Carolingian blood....
  • Odo of Bayeux (Norman noble)
    half brother of William the Conqueror and bishop of Bayeux, Normandy. He probably commissioned the famed Bayeux tapestry, which pictures the Norman Conquest of England, for the dedication of his cathedral (1077)....
  • Odo of Châtillon-sur-Marne (pope)
    head of the Roman Catholic church (1088–99) who developed ecclesiastical reforms begun by Pope Gregory VII, launched the Crusade movement, and strengthened the papacy as a political entity....
  • Odo of Cluny, Saint (French abbot)
    second abbot of Cluny (927–942) and an important monastic reformer....
  • Odo of Lagery (pope)
    head of the Roman Catholic church (1088–99) who developed ecclesiastical reforms begun by Pope Gregory VII, launched the Crusade movement, and strengthened the papacy as a political entity....
  • Odo of Lagny (pope)
    head of the Roman Catholic church (1088–99) who developed ecclesiastical reforms begun by Pope Gregory VII, launched the Crusade movement, and strengthened the papacy as a political entity....
  • Odo of Metz (Frankish architect)
    Constructed on the site of an earlier, smaller house of worship dating from the 780s and 790s, the Palatine Chapel was consecrated in 805 to serve as the imperial church. It was designed by Odo of Metz, who modeled it after the Byzantine-style church of San Vitale (consecrated 547) in Ravenna, Italy. The most important surviving examples of Carolingian architecture are exhibited in the chapel.......
  • Odoacer (king of Italy)
    first barbarian king of Italy. The date on which he assumed power, 476, is traditionally considered the end of the Western Roman Empire....
  • Odobenidae (mammal family)
    ...(mongooses), Viverridae (civets, genets, and related species), and Hyaenidae (hyenas). There are three aquatic families: Otariidae (sea lions and fur seals), Phocidae (true, or earless, seals), and Odobenidae (the walrus). These aquatic families are referred to as pinnipeds....
  • Odobenus rosmarus (mammal)
    huge, seal-like mammal found in Arctic seas. There are two subspecies: the Atlantic walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) and the Pacific walrus (O. rosmarus divergens). Male Pacific walrus are slightly larger, with longer tusks....
  • Odobenus rosmarus divergens (mammal)
    huge, seal-like mammal found in Arctic seas. There are two subspecies: the Atlantic walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) and the Pacific walrus (O. rosmarus divergens). Male Pacific walrus are slightly larger, with longer tusks....
  • Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus (walrus)
    huge, seal-like mammal found in Arctic seas. There are two subspecies: the Atlantic walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) and the Pacific walrus (O. rosmarus divergens). Male Pacific walrus are slightly larger, with longer tusks....
  • Odocoileus hemionus (mammal)
    (species Odocoileus hemionus), large-eared deer, family Cervidae (order Artiodactyla), found in western North America from Alaska to Mexico. A valued game animal, prized for its flesh, hide, and antlers, the mule deer lives alone or in small groups, sometimes gathering in larger herds in winter, in rough, mountainous terrain, and also in desert regions. The mule deer is migratory; it seeks...
  • Odocoileus hemionus columbianus (mammal)
    Pacific Northwest subspecies of the mule deer....
  • Odocoileus virginianus (mammal)
    (Odocoileus virginianus), common woodland deer, family Cervidae (order Artiodactyla), ranging from southern Canada to South America. “White-tailed deer” refers to the white underside of the tail, which is held aloft like a signaling flag when the animal is alarmed or running. An important game animal, the white-tailed deer generally lives alone or in small groups; in winter, ...
  • odometer (instrument)
    instrument that indicates the speed of a vehicle, usually combined with a device known as an odometer that records the distance traveled....
  • Odon de Bayeux (Norman noble)
    half brother of William the Conqueror and bishop of Bayeux, Normandy. He probably commissioned the famed Bayeux tapestry, which pictures the Norman Conquest of England, for the dedication of his cathedral (1077)....
  • Odon de Châtillon-sur-Marne (pope)
    head of the Roman Catholic church (1088–99) who developed ecclesiastical reforms begun by Pope Gregory VII, launched the Crusade movement, and strengthened the papacy as a political entity....
  • Odon de Cluny, Saint (French abbot)
    second abbot of Cluny (927–942) and an important monastic reformer....
  • Odon de Lagery (pope)
    head of the Roman Catholic church (1088–99) who developed ecclesiastical reforms begun by Pope Gregory VII, launched the Crusade movement, and strengthened the papacy as a political entity....
  • Odon de Lagny (pope)
    head of the Roman Catholic church (1088–99) who developed ecclesiastical reforms begun by Pope Gregory VII, launched the Crusade movement, and strengthened the papacy as a political entity....
  • Odonata (insect order)
    insect order comprising the dragonflies (suborder Anisoptera) and the damselflies (suborder Zygoptera). The adults are easily recognized by their two pairs of narrow, transparent wings, sloping thorax, and long, usually slender body; the abdomen is almost always longer than any of the wings. Large, active by day, and often strikingly coloured, they are usually...
  • odonate (insect order)
    insect order comprising the dragonflies (suborder Anisoptera) and the damselflies (suborder Zygoptera). The adults are easily recognized by their two pairs of narrow, transparent wings, sloping thorax, and long, usually slender body; the abdomen is almost always longer than any of the wings. Large, active by day, and often strikingly coloured, they are usually...
  • O’Donnell, Calvagh (Irish lord)
    Irish lord of Tyrconnell, foe and captive of the celebrated Shane O’Neill....
  • O’Donnell, Hugh (Irish chieftain)
    lord of Tyrconnell, Irish chieftain of the O’Donnells....
  • O’Donnell, Hugh Roe (king of Ireland)
    last of the old Gaelic kings of Ireland....
  • O’Donnell, Joe (American photographer)
    American photographer who documented the effects of the nuclear bombing in 1945 of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in images that conveyed the widespread devastation. O’Donnell’s official photographs were taken for the U.S. Marines, but he also amassed a private collection that was shown in Japan in 1995 and appeared in Japan 1945: A U.S. Marine’s Photos from ...
  • O’Donnell, Joseph Roger (American photographer)
    American photographer who documented the effects of the nuclear bombing in 1945 of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in images that conveyed the widespread devastation. O’Donnell’s official photographs were taken for the U.S. Marines, but he also amassed a private collection that was shown in Japan in 1995 and appeared in Japan 1945: A U.S. Marine’s Photos from ...
  • O’Donnell, Leopoldo, duque de Tetuán (prime minister of Spain)
    Spanish soldier-politician who played a prominent role in the successful Spanish military insurrections of 1843 and 1854 and headed the Spanish government three times between 1856 and 1866. Though he lacked a coherent political program, he was a staunch supporter of Queen Isabella II (reigned 1833–68) and pursued conservative policies while in office....
  • O’Donnell, Manus (Irish lord)
    the first great Irish lord of Tyrconnell, whose career was marked by wars with the O’Neills and by family quarrels with his father and his son....
  • O’Donnell, May (American dancer)
    American dancer and choreographer (b. 1906, Sacramento, Calif.—d. Feb. 1, 2004, New York, N.Y.), performed with the Martha Graham and José Limón dance companies, creating a number of notable roles, including the Pioneer Woman in Graham’s Appalachian Spring (1944). She also taught dance all over the U.S., had a choreographic career that spanned more than half a ce...
  • O’Donnell, Roderick (Irish chieftain)
    Irish chieftain who rebelled against the English and died in exile....
  • O’Donnell, Rory (Irish chieftain)
    Irish chieftain who rebelled against the English and died in exile....
  • O’Donnell, Rosie (American entertainer)
    Rosie O’Donnell rattled daytime television in 1997, threatening to dethrone the top-rated, feel-good talk show, "The Oprah Winfrey Show," with her own celebrity-studded talk-variety program. In the midst of sexually suggestive talk shows and soap operas, "The Rosie O’Donnell Show" exploded onto the daytime scene with fresh humour and optimism, debuting on June 10, 1996, with the high...
  • O’Donnell, Sir Niall Garve (Irish chieftain)
    Irish chieftain, alternately an ally of and rebel against the English....
  • O’Donojú, Juan (Spanish army officer)
    United as the Army of the Three Guarantees (independence, union, preservation of Roman Catholicism), the combined troops of Iturbide and Guerrero gained control of most of Mexico by the time Juan O’Donojú, appointed Spanish captain general, arrived in the viceregal capital. Without money, provisions, or troops, O’Donojú felt himself compelled to sign the Treaty of C...
  • Odonotornith (paleontology)
    The other major group of toothed Cretaceous birds, the Odonotornithes, included one of the best-known groups of fossil birds, Hesperornis and its relatives. These birds were highly specialized foot-propelled divers of the Late Cretaceous. Hesperornis was up to 1.8 metres (6 feet) long and had completely lost the power of flight. The sternum lacked a keel, the humerus was small and......
  • O’Donovan, Edwin (art director)
    ...Nancy Dowd, Waldo Salt, Robert C. Jones for Coming HomeAdapted Screenplay: Oliver Stone for Midnight ExpressCinematography: Nestor Almendros for Days of HeavenArt Direction: Edwin O’Donovan and Paul Sylbert for Heaven Can WaitAdaptation Score: Joe Renzetti for The Buddy Holly StoryOriginal Score: Giorgio Moroder for Midnight......
  • O’Donovan, Michael (Irish author)
    Irish playwright, novelist, and short-story writer who, as a critic and as a translator of Gaelic works from the 9th to the 20th century, served as an interpreter of Irish life and literature to the English-speaking world....
  • Odontaspis (fish)
    any of about three species of sharks of the genera Carcharias and Odontaspis in the family Odontaspididae. Sand sharks are found in shallow water, usually at or near the bottom, along tropical and temperate coastlines of all oceans. They range from about 3 to 6 metres (10 to 20 feet) in length and are brown or gray above, paler below. Voracious, but generally sluggish, they have long...
  • Odontaspis ferox (fish)
    The ragged-tooth sharks, O. ferox and O. noronhai, are largely deep-water species and are infrequently encountered....
  • Odontaspis noronhai (fish)
    The ragged-tooth sharks, O. ferox and O. noronhai, are largely deep-water species and are infrequently encountered....
  • odontoblast (anatomy)
    ...deep layers of the epidermis that contain pigment and are responsible for skin coloration. In the head region the neural crest cells contribute significantly to the formation of the facial bones. Odontoblasts, the cells that give rise to the dentine of the teeth, have their origin in the neural crest, as do many of the cranial nerve cells. The neural crest also contributes to the formation of.....
  • Odontoceti (suborder of mammals)
    any of the odontocete cetaceans, including the oceanic dolphins, river dolphins, porpoises, pilot whales, beaked whales, and bottlenose whales, as well as the killer whale, sperm whale, narwhal, and be...
  • Odontoglossum (plant genus)
    genus embracing some 150 species of orchids, family Orchidaceae, that are primarily native to mountainous areas of tropical America. Many orchids of other genera have been crossed with species of Odontoglossum to obtain beautiful hybrid flowers. Thousands of hybrids also have been obtained by crossing species within the genus....
  • odontolite (geology)
    fossil bone or tooth that consists of the phosphate mineral apatite coloured blue by vivianite. It resembles turquoise but may be distinguished chemically. ...
  • Odontological Society (British dental organization)
    In Britain, dentistry was also coming of age. In 1856 English dentist Sir John Tomes led the formation of the first dental organization in England, the Odontological Society. It was through the activity of this group that the Royal Dental Hospital of London was established in 1858. In opposition to the Odontological Society, a group of dental professionals formed the College of Dentists of......
  • odontophore (mollusk anatomy)
    As in all molluscan groups except the bivalves, gastropods have an odontophore at the anterior end of the digestive tract. Generally, this organ forms a broad ribbon (radula) covered with a few to many thousand “teeth” (denticles). The radula is used in feeding: muscles extrude the radula from the mouth, spread it out, and then pull it back into the mouth, carrying particles or......
  • Odontophorus (bird)
    ...of Central America, has a musical call. The tree quail, or long-tailed partridge (Dendrortyx macroura), of Mexico, is a 33-centimetre (13-inch) bird of almost grouselike proportions. Wood quail—large birds of the genus Odontophorus—are the only phasianids widely distributed in South America; they are forest dwellers....
  • Odontostomatida (protist)
    any member of the protistan order Odontostomatida. These small, wedge-shaped, ciliated protozoans were called Ctenostomatida until the name was found also to designate a bryozoan order. Odontostomes are usually found solely in fresh water with a high rate of organic decomposition. Their semicircular, or arc-shaped, back and the sides are covered with firm plates that form a carapace. These organi...
  • odontostome (protist)
    any member of the protistan order Odontostomatida. These small, wedge-shaped, ciliated protozoans were called Ctenostomatida until the name was found also to designate a bryozoan order. Odontostomes are usually found solely in fresh water with a high rate of organic decomposition. Their semicircular, or arc-shaped, back and the sides are covered with firm plates that form a carapace. These organi...
  • Odontosyllis (worm)
    Among annelids, marine worms and earthworms both contain luminous forms. Odontosyllis, the fire worm of Bermuda, swarms in great numbers a few days after the full moon. Female worms, about 2 cm (almost 1 inch) in length, rise to the surface shortly after sunset and swim in circles while ejecting a luminous secretion. Smaller male worms swim to where the females are circling and mate. The......
  • odor
    the property of certain substances, in very small concentrations, to stimulate chemical sense receptors that sample the air or water surrounding an animal. In insects and other invertebrates and in aquatic animals, the perception of small chemical concentrations often merges with perception via contact of heavy concentrations (taste), and with other chemoreceptive specialization...
  • odori-ji (Japanese dance)
    ...a form of romantic music and is used here for the most lyrical section, in which the percussion is seldom heard. The monogatari (story) relates to the specific plot of the dance, and the odori ji is the main dance section, rather like the kuse or mai of the previous nō form. During this section, the bamboo flute may appear for contrast and, in nō style,...
  • Odoric of Pordenone (Franciscan friar)
    Franciscan friar and traveler, whose account of his journey to China enjoyed wide popularity and appears to have been plagiarized in the 14th-century English work The Voyage and Travels of Sir John Mandeville, Knight, generally known as Mandeville’s Travels....
  • odorinembutsu (Buddhism)
    ...of Bon, two altars are constructed, one to make offerings to the spirits of dead ancestors and the other to make offerings to the souls of those dead who have no peace. Odorinembutsu (the chanting of invocations accompanied by dancing and singing) and invocations to Amida are features of the Bon celebrations....
  • Odoru Shūkyō (Japanese religion)
    (“Dancing Religion”), one of the “new religions” of Japan that have emerged in the post-World War II period. It was founded by Kitamura Sayo (1900–67), a peasant of Yamaguchi Prefecture, whose charismatic preaching took the form of rhythmic singing and dancing. She had a revelation in 1945 that she was possessed by a Shintō deity, Tenshō-Kōt...
  • odour
    the property of certain substances, in very small concentrations, to stimulate chemical sense receptors that sample the air or water surrounding an animal. In insects and other invertebrates and in aquatic animals, the perception of small chemical concentrations often merges with perception via contact of heavy concentrations (taste), and with other chemoreceptive specialization...
  • odour receptor (anatomy)
    ...which are clustered within a small area in the back of the nasal cavity. The two scientists then explained how the olfactory system works by showing that each receptor cell has only one type of odour receptor, which is specialized to recognize a limited number of odours. After odorant molecules bind to receptors, the receptor cells send electrical signals to the olfactory bulb in the brain.......
  • Odovacar (king of Italy)
    first barbarian king of Italy. The date on which he assumed power, 476, is traditionally considered the end of the Western Roman Empire....
  • Odovakar (king of Italy)
    first barbarian king of Italy. The date on which he assumed power, 476, is traditionally considered the end of the Western Roman Empire....
  • O’Dowd, Bernard Patrick (Australian poet)
    poet who gave Australian poetry a more philosophical tone, supplanting the old bush ballads that had dominated for many years....
  • ODP (international scientific effort)
    Internationally funded drilling operations began in 1985 with the Ocean Drilling Program, using the new drilling vessel JOIDES Resolution to expand earlier Glomar Challenger studies. Studies in the Weddell Sea (1986–87) suggested that surface waters were warm during Late Cretaceous to early Cenozoic time and that the West Antarctic Ice......
  • “Odprawa posłów greckich” (work by Kochanowski)
    ...of his beloved daughter, Urszula. Kochanowski was also the author of the first Polish Renaissance tragedy, Odprawa posłów greckich (1578; The Dismissal of the Grecian Envoys). With a plot from Homer’s Iliad and written in blank verse, it was performed at the royal court in Ujazdów near War...
  • Oḍra Deśa (state, India)
    state of India. It is located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bounded by the Bay of Bengal in the east and by the states of West Bengal in the northeast, Bihar in the north, Madhya Pradesh in the west, and Andhra Pradesh in the south. Its area is 60,119 square miles (155,707 square kilometres). Before India became independent in 1947, Orissa’s capital was at Cuttack. The pres...
  • Odra River (river, Europe)
    river of east-central Europe. It is one of the most significant rivers in the catchment basin of the Baltic Sea, second only to the Vistula in discharge and length. For the first 70 miles (112 kilometres) from its source, it passes through the Czech Republic. For a distance of 116 miles in its middle reach, it constitutes the boundary between Poland and ...
  • Odría, Manuel A. (president of Peru)
    president of Peru from 1948 to 1956....
  • Odrysian kingdom
    ...a persistent phenomenon in Balkan history, unity was brought about mostly by external pressure. The Persian invasions of the 6th and 5th centuries bc brought the Thracian tribes together in the Odrysian kingdom, which fell under Macedonian influence in the 4th century bc. The Illyrians, ethnically akin to the Thracians, originally inhabited a large area from the Istr...
  • Odsal Stadium (stadium, Bradford, England, United Kingdom)
    ...for football (soccer) games. Other stadiums built to accommodate in excess of 100,000 people include Melbourne Cricket Ground, in Melbourne (100,000); Tsentraly (Lenin) Stadium, in Moscow (103,000); Odsal Stadium, in Bradford, England (102,500); Aztec Stadium, in Mexico City (115,000); the Rose Bowl, in Pasadena, California, U.S. (104,091); and Michigan Stadium, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.......
  • Oduber Quirós, Daniel (Costa Rican politician)
    president of Costa Rica (1974–78), member of the founding junta of its Second Republic (1948), and a founder of the National Liberation Party (PLN)....
  • Oduduwa (African hero)
    According to traditions, Oyo derived from a great Yoruba ancestor and hero, Oduduwa, who came from the east to settle at Ile-Ife and whose son became the first alafin, or ruler, of Oyo. Linguistic evidence suggests that two waves of immigrants came into Yorubaland between 700 and 1000, the second settling at Oyo in the open country north of the Guinea forest. This second state became......
  • O’Duffy, Eoin (Irish military leader)
    Irish nationalist military leader and popular conservative head of the United Ireland Party who played a significant role in the development of the Irish armed forces and police. His support of fascism in the 1930s, however, cost him much of his public support....
  • Odul (people)
    remnant of an ancient human population of the tundra and taiga zones of Arctic Siberia east of the Lena River in Russia, an area with one of the most severe climates in the inhabited world. Brought close to extinction by privation, encroachment, and diseases introduced by other groups, they numbered some 1,100 in the late 20th century. Although they still generally inhabit the upper valley of the ...
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