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  • calf’s liver (food)
    ...cooking, which rendered the otherwise indigestible animal parts edible. In nutritional terms, several variety meats are richer in certain vitamins, minerals, and forms of protein than muscle tissue; calf’s liver, for example, is a major dietary source of iron, and sweetbread (thymus) is considerably higher in the water-soluble protein albumin than is beef....
  • Calgary (Alberta, Canada)
    city, southern Alberta, Canada. It lies on the western edge of the Great Plains, at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow rivers, 185 miles (298 km) south of Edmonton. It was founded in 1875 as the North West Mounted Police post of Fort Brisebois, which was renamed Fort Calgary in 1876 for a location on the Isle of Mull, Scotland. The arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1883 aided the communi...
  • Calgary Olympics (1988)
    The city of Calgary first organized a bidding committee for the Winter Olympics in 1957; 24 years later it was awarded the 15th Winter Games. The influence of television on the Games spread even deeper. The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) paid $309 million for the television rights, and advertisers were able to influence the starting times of events to maximize their products’ exposure....
  • Calgary Stampede (festival, Calgary, Alberta, Canada)
    The Calgary Stampede is a world-famous annual exhibition and stampede (rodeo). It was founded in 1912 by Guy Weadick, a former Wyoming cowboy, with the backing of major Alberta cattlemen. The oldest such event in Canada, it has been held annually since 1923. It is a colourful celebration of the Old West, lasting several days, with citizens in Western costume, shows, dancing in the streets, and......
  • Calgary Stampeders (Canadian football team)
    The CFL consists of two divisions. In the CFL West Division are the British Columbia Lions, Calgary Stampeders, Edmonton Eskimos, and Saskatchewan Roughriders. In the East Division are the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Montreal Alouettes, Toronto Argonauts, and......
  • Calgary, University of (university, Calgary, Alberta, Canada)
    The CFL consists of two divisions. In the CFL West Division are the British Columbia Lions, Calgary Stampeders, Edmonton Eskimos, and Saskatchewan Roughriders. In the East Division are the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Montreal Alouettes, Toronto Argonauts, and.........
  • Calheta, Luiz de Vasconcelos e Sousa, 6o conde da (Portuguese statesman)
    Portuguese royal favourite who, as effective governor of Portugal from 1662 to 1667 during the reign of Afonso VI, was responsible for the successful prosecution of the war against Spain, which led, in 1668, to Spanish recognition of Portugal’s independence....
  • Calhoun (county, Texas, United States)
    Portuguese royal favourite who, as effective governor of Portugal from 1662 to 1667 during the reign of Afonso VI, was responsible for the successful prosecution of the war against Spain, which led, in 1668, to Spanish recognition of Portugal’s independence.......
  • Calhoun (Illinois, United States)
    city, seat (1821) of Sangamon county and capital of Illinois, U.S. Lying along the Sangamon River in the central part of the state, Springfield is situated about 100 miles (160 km) northeast of St. Louis, Missouri, and some 185 miles (300 km) southwest of Chicago....
  • Calhoun (Georgia, United States)
    city, seat of Gordon county, northwestern Georgia, U.S. It lies near the Oostanaula River, 21 miles (34 km) northeast of Rome. Known formerly as Oothcaloga (“Place of the Beaver Dams”) and, later, as Dawsonville, the town was renamed in 1850 to honour the South Carolina statesman John C. Calhoun. The town was nearly destroyed d...
  • Calhoun (county, South Carolina, United States)
    county, central South Carolina, U.S. It consists of a low-lying Coastal Plain region south of Columbia. At the southeastern extremity is Lake Marion, and the Congaree River forms the northeastern border. More than half the county is wooded, with pine forests predominant....
  • Calhoun, John C. (vice president of United States)
    American political leader who was a congressman, secretary of war, seventh vice president (1825–32), senator, and secretary of state. He championed states’ rights and slavery and was a symbol of the Old South....
  • Calhoun, John Caldwell (vice president of United States)
    American political leader who was a congressman, secretary of war, seventh vice president (1825–32), senator, and secretary of state. He championed states’ rights and slavery and was a symbol of the Old South....
  • Calhoun, Lee (American athlete)
    American athlete, the first to win successive gold medals in the Olympics for the 110-metre hurdles....
  • Calhoun, Rory (American actor)
    American actor whose chance meeting with actor Alan Ladd led him to a career as the rugged hero of a number of B westerns in the 1950s; he also starred in the television series The Texan in 1958–60 and appeared on the soap opera Capitol from 1982 to 1987 (b. Aug. 8, 1922, Los Angeles, Calif.—d. April 28, 1999, Burbank, Calif.)....
  • Cali (Colombia)
    city, capital of Valle del Cauca departamento, western Colombia, on both sides of the Cali River at an elevation of 3,327 feet (1,014 m). The city, set in the intermontane subtropical Cauca Valley of southwestern Colombia, was founded on July 25, 1536, by Sebastián de Belalcázar. Cali did not develop economically until the 1950s because of...
  • Cali Mahdi Maxamed (Somalian warlord)
    ...triggered a bitter feud between rival Hawiye clan factions. The forces of the two rival warlords, General Maxamed Farax Caydiid (Muhammad Farah Aydid) of the Somali National Alliance (SNA) and Cali Mahdi Maxamed (Ali Mahdi Muhammad) of the Somali Salvation Alliance (SSA), tore the capital apart and battled with Siyaad’s regrouped clan militia, the Somali National Front, for control of th...
  • Cali Xuseen Xirsi (Somalian writer)
    ...(“Reconnaissance”) and Horseed (“Vanguard”), fostered Somali writing in the 1960s. The first poet to commit his poems to writing was Cali Xuseen Xirsi. Two of his poems appeared in Sahan and Horseed, although most reached the public in oral form. Cali wrote often on......
  • Caliari, Paolo (Italian painter)
    one of the major painters of the 16th-century Venetian school. His works usually are huge, vastly peopled canvases depicting allegorical, biblical, or historical subjects in splendid colour and set in a framework of classicizing Renaissance architecture. A master of the use of colour, he also excelled at illusionary compositions that extend the eye beyond the actual confines of ...
  • Caliban (work by Renan)
    ...about death and the hereafter. His more superficial side is illustrated in the “philosophic dramas” (collected edition 1888), which trace his acceptance of the Republic, especially Caliban (written 1877) and L’Eau de jouvence (written 1879; “The Water of Youth”). In the former, the aristocracy (Prospero and Ariel) loses to democracy (Caliban) bec...
  • Caliban (fictional character)
    a feral, sullen, misshapen creature in Shakespeare’s The Tempest. The son of the sorceress Sycorax, Caliban is the sole inhabitant of his island (excluding the imprisoned Ariel) until Prospero and his infant daughter Miranda are cast ashore. Shakespeare gives Caliban some complexity, with the result that the c...
  • Calibán (work by Fernández Retamar)
    His best-known work is a study of culture in Latin America, Calibán (1971), which refutes the ideas of the Uruguayan writer José Enrique Rodó. He also wrote such works of criticism as La Poesía contemporánea en Cuba (1927–1953) (1954) and Para una teoría de la literatura hispanoamericana y otras......
  • caliber (firearms measurement)
    in firearms, unit of measure indicating the interior, or bore, diameter of a gun barrel and the diameter of the gun’s ammunition; or the length of a gun expressed in relation to its interior diameter (now used only of naval and coastal defense guns). See bore....
  • calibration (measurement)
    ...reference signal of known quantity that has been subdivided or multiplied to suit the range of measurement required. The reference signal is derived from objects of known quantity by a process called calibration. The comparison may be an analog process in which signals in a continuous dimension are brought to equality. An alternative comparison process is quantization by counting, i.e., dividin...
  • calibre (firearms measurement)
    in firearms, unit of measure indicating the interior, or bore, diameter of a gun barrel and the diameter of the gun’s ammunition; or the length of a gun expressed in relation to its interior diameter (now used only of naval and coastal defense guns). See bore....
  • Calicalicus (bird)
    any of the 12 species of Madagascan birds constituting the bird family Vangidae (order Passeriformes). The coral-billed nuthatch is sometimes included. They are 13 to 30 cm (5 to 12 inches) long, with wings and tails of moderate length. The hook-tipped bill is stout and of remarkably variable shape and length, much like the variability among Darwin’s finches, which are similarly isolated. M...
  • Calicalicus madagascarensis (bird)
    ...(sexes similar). They make cup nests in trees or brush. The hook-billed vanga-shrike (Vanga curvirostris) is a big-billed form that catches tree frogs and lizards. The smallest species is the red-tailed vanga-shrike, or tit-shrike (Calicalicus madagascariensis). ...
  • Calicalicus madagascariensis (bird)
    ...(sexes similar). They make cup nests in trees or brush. The hook-billed vanga-shrike (Vanga curvirostris) is a big-billed form that catches tree frogs and lizards. The smallest species is the red-tailed vanga-shrike, or tit-shrike (Calicalicus madagascariensis). ...
  • caliche (geology)
    calcium-rich duricrust, a hardened layer in or on a soil. It is formed on calcareous materials as a result of climatic fluctuations in arid and semiarid regions. Calcite is dissolved in groundwater and, under drying conditions, is precipitated as the water evaporates at the surface. Rainwater saturated with carbon dioxide acts as an acid and also dissolves calcite and then redeposits it as a preci...
  • calichimicin (drug)
    Calichimicin (esperamicin) is a highly potent antitumour agent produced by bacteria of the Actinomycetales order and containing a pendant methyl trisulfide component (CH3SSS−). Acting much like a molecular “mouse trap,” cleavage of the sulfur-sulfur bond is thought to trigger a chain of events culminating in formation of a phenylene diradical, which removes......
  • Caliciviridae (virus group)
    ...Coxsackie viruses, echoviruses), cardioviruses, rhinoviruses (common cold viruses), and aphthoviruses (foot-and-mouth disease virus of cattle).Family CaliciviridaeIcosahedral, nonenveloped virions about 38 nm in diameter, composed of 32 capsomeres and 180 molecules of a single capsid protein. The genome consists of single...
  • calicivirus (virus group)
    ...Coxsackie viruses, echoviruses), cardioviruses, rhinoviruses (common cold viruses), and aphthoviruses (foot-and-mouth disease virus of cattle).Family CaliciviridaeIcosahedral, nonenveloped virions about 38 nm in diameter, composed of 32 capsomeres and 180 molecules of a single capsid protein. The genome consists of single...
  • calico (textile)
    all-cotton fabric woven in plain, or tabby, weave and printed with simple designs in one or more colours. Calico originated in Calicut, India, by the 11th century, if not earlier, and in the 17th and 18th centuries calicoes were an important commodity traded between India and Europe....
  • Calico Act (Great Britain [1791])
    ...poorer classes, though dainty fabrics for the wealthy also paid well. Imports of calicoes (inexpensive cotton fabrics from Calicut) to England grew so large that in 1721 Parliament passed the Calico Act to protect English manufacturers, forbidding the use of calico in England for apparel or for domestic purposes (repeal of the act in 1774 coincided with inventions of mechanical devices......
  • calico back (insect)
    a species of insect in the stinkbug family, Pentatomidae (order Heteroptera), that sucks sap and chlorophyll from crops, such as cabbage, causing them to wilt and die. Though of tropical or subtropical origin, this insect now ranges from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean in North America. The harlequin cabbage bug is shield-shaped, about 1.25 centimetres (0.5 inch) long, and brilliantly colo...
  • calico bass (fish)
    The white crappie (P. annularis) generally inhabits rather warm, silty lakes and rivers. Silvery, with irregular dark markings, it is usually lighter in colour than the similar black crappie, or calico bass (P. nigromaculatus), which tends to frequent clear lakes and streams....
  • calico bush (shrub)
    ...pollen onto the insect’s body. Three species are particularly well known: K. angustifolia, sometimes called sheep laurel, dwarf laurel, and pig laurel; K. latifolia, sometimes called mountain laurel, American laurel, calico bush, and spoonwood; and K. polifolia, sometimes called pale laurel, bog laurel, or bog kalmia....
  • calico cat (domestic cat)
    ...
  • Calico horse (breed of horse)
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  • calico salmon (fish)
    (Oncorhynchus keta), lightly speckled North Pacific fish, family Salmonidae, weighing up to 15 kg (33 pounds). During the spawning season in autumn, it may swim more than 3,200 km (2,000 miles) up the Yukon River. (See also salmon.)...
  • Calicut (India)
    city, northern Kerala state, southwestern India. It is situated on the Malabar Coast, 414 miles (666 km) west-southwest of Madras by rail. A once-famous cotton-weaving centre, it is remembered as the place of origin of calico, to which it gave its name (i.e., Calicut). The place was an early focus for Arab traders, who first settled there in the 7th century. Vasco da Gama...
  • Calidris (bird genus)
    bird genus in the family Scolopacidae (order Charadriiformes), which includes the shorebirds known as dunlin, knot, and sanderling. Some sandpipers are also classified as Calidris (see sandpiper)....
  • Calidris alba (bird)
    (Calidris alba; sometimes Crocethia alba), abundant shorebird, a worldwide species of sandpiper belonging to the family Scolopacidae (order Charadriiformes). Sanderlings nest on barrens near the sea around the North Pole, and they winter on sandy beaches virtually everywhere. About 20 cm (8 inches) long, sanderlings are rusty-backed in summer but are the whitest of sandpipers in win...
  • Calidris alpina (bird)
    one of the most common and sociable birds of the sandpiper group. The dunlin is a member of the family Scolopacidae (order Charadriiformes). It is about 20 cm (8 inches) long and has a bill curved downward at the tip. In breeding season, its plumage is brightly coloured, with its belly black and its back reddish (or dun-coloured, hence the n...
  • Calidris canutus (bird)
    in zoology, any of several large, plump sandpiper birds in the genus Calidris of the subfamily Calidritinae (family Scolopacidae). The common knot (C. canutus), about 25 cm (10 inches) long including the bill, has a reddish breast in breeding plumage (hence another name, robin sandpiper); in winter it is plain gray. It breeds on dry, stony Arctic tundra and migrates great......
  • Calidris fuscicollis (bird)
    ...is easily approached in the field. Another Old World species is the rufous-necked sandpiper (C. ruficollis), which breeds in Siberia and winters as far south as New Zealand and Tasmania. The white-rumped sandpiper (C. fuscicollis; see photograph), which breeds in Arctic North America and winters in southern South America, is rust-coloured in breeding season but gray otherwise. The...
  • Calidris maritima (bird)
    ...sandpiper. Sometimes called the American stint, it is abundant in Alaska and across sub-Arctic Canada to Nova Scotia. It winters on coasts from Oregon and North Carolina to South America. The purple sandpiper (C. maritima) breeds in foggy Arctic highlands, chiefly in eastern North America and northern Europe, and winters as far north as Greenland and Great Britain. It is grayish......
  • Calidris minutilla (bird)
    ...many birds known as sandpipers, along with others such as the knot and the sanderling (qq.v.) and the dunlin (q.v.)—which is sometimes called the red-backed sandpiper. The least sandpiper (C. minutilla), less than 15 cm in length, is the smallest sandpiper. Sometimes called the American stint, it is abundant in Alaska and across sub-Arctic Canada to Nova Scotia.......
  • Calidris ruficollis (bird)
    ...America and northern Europe, and winters as far north as Greenland and Great Britain. It is grayish with yellow legs and bill and is easily approached in the field. Another Old World species is the rufous-necked sandpiper (C. ruficollis), which breeds in Siberia and winters as far south as New Zealand and Tasmania. The white-rumped sandpiper (C. fuscicollis; see photograph), which...
  • Calidris tenuirostris (bird)
    ...coasts of all continents; some winter as far south as Australia and New Zealand. Knots are highly sociable and stand almost body-to-body on the shore, moving like a carpet of birds as they feed. The great, or Asiatic, knot (C. tenuirostris) is a rare species in Siberia....
  • Calidritinae (bird subfamily)
    in zoology, Old World bird of the sandpiper subfamily Calidritinae (family Scolopacidae, order Charadriiformes) remarkable for its unusual courtship plumage and behaviour. The name ruff applies to the species or may be applied to the male only. In spring the 30-cm (12-inch) male acquires a double crest (“cape”) and a collar (“ruff”); these may contain reddish, brown,......
  • calif (Islamic title)
    (“successor”), ruler of the Muslim community. When Muḥammad died (June 8, 632), Abū Bakr succeeded to his political and administrative functions as khalīfah rasūl Allāh, or “successor of the Messenger of God,” but it was probably under ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, the s...
  • California (state, United States)
    constituent state of the United States of America. It was admitted as the 31st state of the Union on Sept. 9, 1850, and by the early 1960s it was the most populous U.S. state. No version of the origin of California’s name has been fully accepted, but there is wide support for the contention that it derived from an early 16th-century Spanish novel, Las se...
  • California Academy of Sciences (institution, San Francisco, California, United States)
    in San Francisco, oldest scientific institution in the western United States (incorporated 1853). The academy is situated in Golden Gate Park. Since the building’s redesign (completed 2008) by the Italian architect Renzo Piano, it includes a number of museums under one roof—the Living Roof, covered with native California plants and complete with ...
  • California allspice (plant)
    one of two species of small ornamental trees of the family Calycanthaceae, with aromatic bark and sweet-scented flowers, both native to North America....
  • “California and Oregon Trail, The” (book by Parkman)
    ...had ventured nowhere near California. He keenly regretted the “publisher’s trick” of the mention of California as a stimulus to better sales. The book, in later editions called The Oregon Trail; Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life, became one of the best-selling personal narratives of the 19th century....
  • California Angels (American baseball team)
    American professional baseball team based in Anaheim, Calif., that plays in the American League (AL). The Angels won a World Series title in 2002, their first appearance in the “Fall Classic.”...
  • California Aqueduct (water works, California, United States)
    principal water-conveyance structure of the California State Water Project, U.S. From the Sacramento River delta east of San Francisco, it runs south through the San Joaquin Valley and over the summit of the Tehachapi Mountains, a distance of 273 miles (440 km). At this point it divides into east and west branches, the for...
  • California at Berkeley, University of (university, California, United States)
    SETI searches for light pulses are also under way at a number of institutions, including the University of California at Berkeley as well as Lick Observatory and Harvard University. The Berkeley and Lick experiments investigate nearby star systems, and the Harvard effort scans all the sky that is visible from Massachusetts. Sensitive photomultiplier tubes are affixed to conventional mirror......
  • California bayberry (plant)
    ...in the bayberry family (Myricaceae), but especially M. pennsylvanica, also called candleberry, whose grayish waxy berries, upon boiling, yield the wax used in making bayberry candles. The California bayberry, or California wax myrtle (M. californica), is used as an ornamental on sandy soils in warm climates. ...
  • California black oak (plant)
    The California black oak (Q. kelloggii), a deciduous tree native to western North America, is occasionally 30 m tall. It grows at altitudes as high as 2,440 m above sea level, where its size is reduced to that of a small shrub; it often has a crooked trunk....
  • California bluebell (plant)
    ...slopes of southern California, bears blue, five-lobed blooms in loose sprays over the dark green, toothed, oval leaves on plants about 23 cm (9 inches) tall. From similar areas the closely related California bluebell, or wild Canterbury bell (P. whitlavia), has urn-shaped blooms....
  • California chaparral (ecosystem)
    ...slopes of southern California, bears blue, five-lobed blooms in loose sprays over the dark green, toothed, oval leaves on plants about 23 cm (9 inches) tall. From similar areas the closely related California bluebell, or wild Canterbury bell (P. whitlavia), has urn-shaped blooms.......
  • California Civil Rights Initiative (law, California, United States)
    Opposition to affirmative action in California culminated in the passage in 1996 of the California Civil Rights Initiative (Proposition 209), which prohibited all government agencies and institutions from giving preferential treatment to individuals based on their race or sex. The Supreme Court effectively upheld the constitutionality of Proposition 209 in November 1997 by refusing to hear a......
  • California condor (bird)
    Adult California condors are mostly black, with bold white wing linings, and bare red-to-orange head, neck, and crop. Young birds have dark heads that gradually become red as they near adulthood at about six years of age. They forage in open country and feed exclusively on carrion. California condors nest in cliffs, under large rocks, or in other natural cavities, including holes in redwood......
  • California Current (ocean current)
    surface oceanic current, southward-flowing continuation of the Aleutian Current along the west coast of North America between latitudes 48° N and 23° N. The California Current’s surface velocity is commonly less than 10 in. (25 cm) per second, transporting about 390,000,000 cu ft (11,000,000 cu m) of water per second above 3,300 ft (1,000 m)....
  • California Desert Protection Act (United States [1994])
    ...national monument. The national monument was expanded several times, including in 1937 and in 1952, when Devils Hole, located in Nevada’s Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, was added. In 1994 the California Desert Protection Act added more than 2,000 square miles (5,100 square km) and redesignated it a national park, the largest in the 48 conterminous U.S. states....
  • California, flag of (United States state flag)
    ...
  • California flying fish (fish)
    ...winglike, rigid fins and an unevenly forked tail. Some species, such as the widely distributed Exocoetus volitans, are two-winged, with only the pectoral fins enlarged; others, such as the California flying fish (Cheilopogon), are four-winged, with both the pectoral and pelvic (posterior) fins enlarged....
  • California Fruit Canners Association (American company)
    In the 1870s and ’80s California became a major producer of fruits and vegetables; and, in 1899, 11 of the state’s biggest canners merged under the name California Fruit Canners Association. In 1916 CFCA drew in two more canners and a food brokerage house, incorporated itself as California Packing Corporation, or Calpak, and began marketing its products under the Del Monte brand. The...
  • California Gold Rush (United States history)
    The Gold Rush hastened statehood in 1850 (as a part of the Compromise of 1850); and, though the Gold Rush peaked in 1852, the momentum of settlement did not subside. Nearly $2 billion in gold was extracted from the earth before mining became virtually dormant....
  • California, Golfo de (gulf, Mexico)
    large inlet of the eastern Pacific Ocean along the northwestern coast of Mexico. It is enclosed by the Mexican mainland to the east and by the mountainous peninsula of Baja California to the west. There are two schools of thought as to the origin of the gulf. One holds that it is structurally a part of the Pacific Ocean; the other is that Baja California is sl...
  • California ground squirrel (rodent)
    The woodchuck, the dormouse, and the California ground squirrel enter hibernation in successive stages, with a complete or nearly complete awakening between each one. In the woodchuck, an initial decline in temperature is followed by an arousal. During the second decline there is a lower and more pronounced fall in body temperature, followed by a less pronounced rise. This process continues......
  • California grunion (fish)
    (species Leuresthes tenuis), small Pacific fish of the family Atherinidae (order Atheriniformes). The species is found in the Pacific Ocean along the western coast of the United States. A unique feature of the grunion’s breeding biology results in its spawning on particular nights during the warm months, just after the highest tide. The eggs are actually laid in the sand on the beac...
  • California, Gulf of (gulf, Mexico)
    large inlet of the eastern Pacific Ocean along the northwestern coast of Mexico. It is enclosed by the Mexican mainland to the east and by the mountainous peninsula of Baja California to the west. There are two schools of thought as to the origin of the gulf. One holds that it is structurally a part of the Pacific Ocean; the other is that Baja California is sl...
  • California gull (bird)
    ...has a black head and bill, a gray mantle, and pinkish to reddish legs. It builds a stick nest in trees and hunts for insects over ponds. In the winter, it may plunge into the sea for fish. The California gull (L. californicus) of North America breeds inland and winters on the Pacific coast. This species is credited with having saved the crops of early Mormon settlers in the Salt......
  • California Indian (people)
    member of any of the Native American peoples who have traditionally resided in the area roughly corresponding to the present states of California (U.S.) and northern Baja California (Mex.)....
  • California Institute of Technology (university, Pasadena, California, United States)
    private coeducational university and research institute in Pasadena, California, U.S., emphasizing graduate and undergraduate instruction and research in pure and applied science and engineering. The institute comprises six divisions: biology; chemistry and chemical engineering; engineering and applied science; geologic and planetary sciences; humanities and s...
  • California Institute of the Arts (university, Valencia, California, United States)
    private coeducational institution of higher learning in Valencia, California, U.S., dedicated to the visual and performing arts. It consists of six schools: art, critical studies, dance, film/video, music, and theatre. An integrated media program provides graduate study in digital media. Bachelor and master of fine arts degrees are awarded. Special programs—including worl...
  • California king snake (snake)
    ...seven subspecies) is found throughout the United States and northern Mexico. It is variable in pattern and may be black or dark brown, with yellow or white stripes, rings, crossbars, or spots. The California king snake (Lampropeltis getula californiae) exhibits two pattern types, the common ringed pattern and a rarer striped form; both patterns can appear from a......
  • California laurel (tree)
    aromatic evergreen tree of the laurel family (Lauraceae). It occurs on the Pacific coast of North America from Oregon to California and grows about 15 to 25 metres (50 to 80 feet) tall. A handsome tree, it is often grown in gardens and along avenues. The alternate, short-stalked, smooth-edged leaves are oblong or oval and 7.5–12.5 centimetres (3–5 inches) long. When crushed, the leav...
  • California live oak (plant)
    California live oak (Q. agrifolia) and interior live oak (Q. wislizenii), native to western North America, have holly-like leaves. They are usually shrubby but may reach 15 to 25 m or more; the California live oak is planted as an ornamental in other areas of the world for its rounded shape....
  • California Missions (missions, California, United States)
    ...of Alta California (present-day California), Serra joined the expedition’s commander, Gaspar de Portolá. On July 16, 1769, he founded Mission San Diego, the first within the present state of California. From 1770 to 1782 he founded eight more Californian missions: Carmel, his headquarters, at Monterey, in 1770; San Antonio and San Gabriel (near Los Angeles), 1771; San Luis Obispo,...
  • California mussel (mollusk)
    The starfish Pisaster ochraceus is a keystone species in the rocky marine intertidal communities off the northwest coast of North America. This predatory starfish feeds on the mussel Mytilus californianus and is responsible for maintaining much of the local diversity of species within certain communities. When the starfish have been removed experimentally, the mussel populations......
  • California nutmeg (plant)
    (Torreya californica), an ornamental evergreen tree of the yew family (Taxaceae), found naturally only in California. Growing to a height of 24 m (about 79 feet) or more, the tree bears spreading, slightly drooping branches. Although pyramidal in shape when young, it may be round-topped in old age. The fissured bark is grayish brown in colour, with orange streaks showing through. The dark-...
  • California Packing Corporation (American company)
    ...and, in 1899, 11 of the state’s biggest canners merged under the name California Fruit Canners Association. In 1916 CFCA drew in two more canners and a food brokerage house, incorporated itself as California Packing Corporation, or Calpak, and began marketing its products under the Del Monte brand. The new company then operated more than 60 canneries, some in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, a...
  • California pitcher plant (genus Darlingtonia)
    the only species of the genus Darlingtonia of the pitcher-plant family (Sarraceniaceae) native to swamps in mountain areas of northern California and southern Oregon. The red-veined, yellowish green, hoodlike leaf has a purple-spotted appendage resembling a snake’s tongue. The entire plant has the appearance of a striking cobra. The stalkless leaf springs from the rootstalk and is 40...
  • California poppy (plant)
    (Eschscholzia californica), annual garden plant of the poppy family (Papaveraceae) native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It has become naturalized in parts of southern Europe, Asia, and Australia. The flowers, borne on stems 20 to 30 centimetres (8 to 12 inches) long, are usually pale yellow, orange, or cream in the wild, but in cultivation whites and various shades ...
  • California privet (plant)
    ...It has 25-centimetre (10-inch) flower clusters in summer. Japanese privet (L. japonicum), about 4.7 m tall, has very glossy leaves. It also requires mild winters, as does the smaller leaved California privet (L. ovalifolium) from Japan, commonly grown as a hedge plant. All four species have variegated forms....
  • California Psychological Inventory (psychology)
    ...a number of important problems confronting those who attempt to assess personality characteristics. Many other omnibus personality inventories are also used in applied settings and in research. The California Psychological Inventory (CPI), for example, is keyed for several personality variables that include sociability, self-control, flexibility, and tolerance. Unlike the MMPI, it was developed...
  • California quail (bird)
    ...to Guatemala. Its name is suggestive of its call. Other than the bobwhite, North American quail include two important game birds introduced widely elsewhere: the California, or valley, quail (Callipepla californica; see photograph) and Gambel’s, or desert, quail (Lophortyx gambelii). Both species have a head plume (larger in males) curling forward....
  • California School of Fine Arts (school, San Francisco, California, United States)
    ...photography as a fine art. In 1940 he helped found the first curatorial department devoted to photography as an art form at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. In 1946 he established at the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco the first academic department to teach photography as a profession. He also revived the idea of the original (chemical) photographic print as an......
  • California Science Center (museum, Los Angeles, California, United States)
    ...photography as a fine art. In 1940 he helped found the first curatorial department devoted to photography as an art form at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. In 1946 he established at the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco the first academic department to teach photography as a profession. He also revived the idea of the original (chemical) photographic print as an.........
  • California scrub oak (plant)
    ...as bear oak, native to the eastern United States. It is an intricately branched ornamental shrub, about 6 m (20 feet) tall, with hollylike leaves and many small, striped acorns. In the west are the California scrub oak (Q. dumosa), an evergreen shrub about 2.5 m (8 feet) tall, with leaves 2.5 cm (1 inch) long, and the Rocky Mountain scrub oak (Q. undulata), up to 9 m (30 feet)......
  • California sea lion (mammal)
    The California sea lion, found along the coasts of California (including Baja California, Mexico), the Galapagos Islands, and Japan, is the trained seal commonly seen in animal acts and zoos. Large-eyed and playful, it is pale to dark brown but appears black when wet. The male reaches a maximum length of about 2.5 metres (8 feet) and a weight of 400 kg (880 pounds); the female grows to about......
  • California State Teachers College (university, California, Pennsylvania, United States)
    public, coeducational institution of higher learning in California, Pennsylvania, U.S. It is one of 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. The university is composed of colleges of liberal arts, science and technology, and education and human services, and it offers both bachelor’s and master’s degree programs, the latter through its School of Graduate ...
  • California State University (university system, California, United States)
    extensive system of public institutions of higher education in California, U.S., one of the largest such systems in the country. It has campuses at Bakersfield, Channel Islands (at Camarillo), Chico, Dominguez Hills (at Carson), East Bay, Fresno, Fullerton, Long Beach, Los Ang...
  • California State Water Project (system, California, United States)
    ...balance. The Colorado River Aqueduct at the Arizona border carries water from that river across the southern California desert and mountains to serve the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The California State Water Project, launched in 1960, is the largest water-transfer system ever undertaken. It is designed to deliver water daily from the Feather River (a tributary of the Sacramento......
  • California Suite (film by Ross [1978])
    Other Nominees...
  • California sycamore (plant)
    ...characteristics of both in varying degrees. It is a little shorter and more squat than the American tree and usually has bristly, paired seedballs. There are variegated forms of London plane. The California sycamore (P. racemosa), about 25 m (80 feet) tall, has contorted branches, thick leaves, and bristly seedballs in groups of two to seven....
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