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  • Fajans, Kasimir (American chemist)
    Polish-American physical chemist who discovered the radioactive displacement law simultaneously with Frederick Soddy of Great Britain. According to this law, when a radioactive atom decays by emitting an alpha particle, the atomic number of the resulting atom is two fewer than that of the parent atom. When a beta particle is emitted, the atomic number is one greater....
  • Fajardo (Puerto Rico)
    town, eastern Puerto Rico, on the Fajardo River lowlands. Founded in 1760, it was the scene of fighting during the Spanish-American War (1898). Its principal manufactures are cigars, furniture, and metal and electronic components. It is linked by a modern highway to San Juan and lies about 2 miles (3 km) from its port, Playa de Fajardo. The town is a tourist centre. The ...
  • Fajardo, Francisco (Spanish explorer)
    The settlement of Caracas occurred more than 40 years after that of Cumaná (1523), to the east, and Coro (1527), to the west. A ranch was established in the valley in 1557 by Francisco Fajardo, the son of a Spanish captain and an Indian chief’s daughter, and in 1561 Juan Rodríguez Suárez founded a town on the site of the ranch; but the town was soon destroyed by Indian....
  • Fajia (Chinese philosophy)
    school of Chinese philosophy that attained prominence during the turbulent Warring States era (475–221 bce) and, through the influence of the philosophers Shang Yang, Li Si, and Hanfeizi, formed the ideological basis of China’s first imperial dynasty, the Qin (221–207 bce)....
  • Fakaofo (atoll, Tokelau, New Zealand)
    coral atoll of Tokelau, a dependency of New Zealand in the South Pacific Ocean. Its 61 islets rise to 10 feet (3 metres) above sea level and encircle a closed lagoon that measures 7.3 miles (11.7 km) by 5.5 miles (8.9 km). Discovered (1835) by whalers, the atoll possesses fresh water. The inhabitants cultivate coconuts, breadfruits, taros, pandanus, and bananas. Local administra...
  • Fakhr ad-Dīn ar-Rāzī (Muslim theologian)
    Muslim theologian and scholar, author of one of the most authoritative commentaries on the Qurʾān in the history of Islām. His aggressiveness and vengefulness created many enemies and involved him in numerous intrigues. His intellectual brilliance, however, was universally acclaimed and attested by such works as Mafāṭīḥ al-ghayb or Kit...
  • Fakhr ad-Dīn II (Lebanese leader)
    Lebanese ruler (1593–1633) who for the first time united the Druze and Maronite districts of the Lebanon Mountains under his personal rule; he is frequently regarded as the father of modern Lebanon....
  • Fakhr al-Dīn Ibrāhīm ʿIrāqī Hamadānī (Persian poet)
    one of the most outstanding poets of 13th-century Persia....
  • Fakhr od-Dīn Gorgānī (Persian author)
    ...Poetical romances were also being written at this time; they include the tale of Varqeh o-Golshāh by ʿEyyūqī (11th century) and Vīs o-Rāmīn by Fakhr od-Dīn Gorgānī (died after 1055), which has parallels with the Tristan story of medieval romance. These were soon superseded, however, by the great romantic epics o...
  • Fakhruddin, Moḥammad (sultan of Jambi)
    ...(ruled 1607–36) of Aceh, later refused to accept suzerainty of the Mataram state of Java, and cooperated with the Dutch (who had entered the region in the early 17th century) against Mataram. Moḥammad Fakhruddin, who ruled Jambi 1833–41, invaded Palembang in 1833 but was defeated by the Dutch and recognized Dutch suzerainty. Dutch colonial rule was firmly established by the...
  • fakir (Islam and Hinduism)
    originally, a mendicant dervish. In mystical usage, the word fakir refers to man’s spiritual need for God, who alone is self-sufficient. Although of Muslim origin, the term has come to be applied in India to Hindus as well, largely replacing gosvāmin, sadhu, bhikku, and other designations. Fakirs are generally regarded as holy men who are possessed of miracu...
  • Fakir, Abdul (American singer)
    ...June 14, 1936Detroit, Michigan, U.S.—d. July 1, 2005Detroit), Abdul (“Duke”) Fakir (b. December 26, 1935Detroit),...
  • Fakkān (United Arab Emirates)
    exclave and port town located in Al-Shāriqah emirate, United Arab Emirates. It is on the east coast of the Musandam Peninsula, facing the Gulf of Oman; the port and its hinterland divide the emirate of Al-Fujayrah into its two major portions....
  • Faku (Mpondo chief)
    ...changes to the Mpondo in the 1820s. In 1828 the Zulu defeated them, and they fled as refugees across the Mzimvubu River, losing their cattle and their lands. Under the leadership of their chief, Faku, however, the Mpondo reorganized themselves. Faku established an army on the Zulu model and organized production of grain for sale to facilitate the rebuilding of their cattle herds. By the......
  • falafel (food)
    Fūl, falafel, and hummus are the cornerstones of Kuwaiti cuisine, though Western fast-food restaurants abound in Kuwait city. Fūl is a paste based on fava beans, with garlic and lemon added. Formed from fried balls of chickpeas and spices, falafel is often served in unleavened bread (......
  • Falaise (France)
    market town of Calvados département, Basse-Normandie région, northwestern France. It lies on the Ante River, about 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Caen. The town was the birthplace of William the Conqueror, first of the Norman kings of England. The castle (12th–13th century), which overlooks the town from a high crag, was formerly the seat of the dukes of Normandy...
  • Falaise de Banfora (escarpment, Burkina Faso)
    ...converge in Ghana to the south to form the Volta River. The Oti, another tributary of the Volta, rises in southeastern Burkina Faso. In the southwest there are sandstone plateaus bordered by the Banfora Escarpment, which is about 500 feet (150 metres) high and faces southeast. The country is generally dry and the soil infertile. Great seasonal variation occurs in the flow of the rivers, and......
  • Falaise, Treaty of (England-Scotland [1174])
    ...1165–1214), subdued much of the north and established royal castles there. After his capture on a raid into England, he was forced to become feudally subject to the English king by the Treaty of Falaise (1174); he was able, however, to buy back his kingdom’s independence by the Quitclaim of Canterbury (1189), though it should be emphasized that this document disposed of the Treaty...
  • falaj (water channel)
    ...is sparse except where there is irrigation, which is provided by an ancient system of water channels known as aflāj (singular: falaj). The channels often run underground and originate in wells near mountain bases. The aflāj collectively were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site ...
  • Falaj al-Muʿallá (United Arab Emirates)
    Umm al-Qaywayn town is connected by paved road with Raʾs al-Khaymah city and Abu Dhabi. About 20 miles (32 km) inland from the capital is the oasis of Falaj al-Muʿallá, with extensive plantations of date palms. Otherwise, the emirate is almost entirely uninhabited desert. In 1964–72 a large portion of its revenues came from the sale of postage stamps, printed abroad not...
  • Falange (political organization, Spain)
    (“Traditionalist Spanish Phalanx of the Juntas of the National Syndicalist Offensive”), extreme nationalist political group founded in Spain in 1933 by José Antonio Primo de Rivera, son of the former dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera. Influenced by Italian fascism, the Falange joined forces (February 1934) with a like-minded group, Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional...
  • Falange Española (political organization, Spain)
    (“Traditionalist Spanish Phalanx of the Juntas of the National Syndicalist Offensive”), extreme nationalist political group founded in Spain in 1933 by José Antonio Primo de Rivera, son of the former dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera. Influenced by Italian fascism, the Falange joined forces (February 1934) with a like-minded group, Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional...
  • Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (political organization, Spain)
    (“Traditionalist Spanish Phalanx of the Juntas of the National Syndicalist Offensive”), extreme nationalist political group founded in Spain in 1933 by José Antonio Primo de Rivera, son of the former dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera. Influenced by Italian fascism, the Falange joined forces (February 1934) with a like-minded group, Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional...
  • Falange Nacional (political party, Chile)
    ...9 percent in 1957 to 15 percent in 1961. The Christian Democratic Party grew out of the Conservative Party. In 1938 a group of young conservatives had left their party to form the National Falange (Falange Nacional). In 1957 the National Falange fused with the Social Christian Party (which had also seceded from the Conservatives) to form the Christian Democratic Party, whose......
  • Falasha (people)
    an Ethiopian of Jewish faith. The Falasha call themselves House of Israel (Beta Israel) and claim descent from Menilek I, traditionally the son of the Queen of Sheba (Makeda) and King Solomon. Their ancestors, however, were probably local Agew peoples in Ethiopia who were converted by Jews living in southern Arabia in the centuries before and after the start o...
  • Falca, Pietro (Venetian artist)
    painter of the Rococo period known for his small scenes of Venetian social and domestic life....
  • Falcao, Jose (Portuguese translator)
    ...1926; an authorized edition in modernized orthography was published by the Bible Society of Brazil (New Testament, 1951; Old Testament, 1958). A new translation of the New Testament from Greek by José Falcão came out in Lisbon (1956–65)....
  • falciparum malaria (disease)
    ...organ responsible for ridding the body of degenerate red blood cells), and general weakness and debility. Infections due to P. falciparum are by far the most dangerous. Victims of this “malignant tertian” form of the disease may deteriorate rapidly from mild symptoms to coma and death unless they are diagnosed and treated promptly and properly. The greater virulence of P...
  • Falckner, Justus (American clergyman)
    In 1703 three pastors from New Sweden on the Delaware River ordained Justus Falckner, a Halle-educated Pietist, for service among the mostly Pietistic Dutch Lutherans in New York. Many German Pietists emigrated to North America—often traveling through London, where they were helped by the Pietist court chaplain M. Ziegenhagen—including those from the Rhineland and southern Germany......
  • Falco (bird genus)
    any of nearly 60 species of hawks of the family Falconidae (order Falconiformes), diurnal birds of prey characterized by long, pointed wings and swift, powerful flight. The name is applied in a restricted sense, as true falcons, to the genus Falco, which numbers more than 35 species. Falcons occur virtually worldwide. They range in size from about 15 cm (6 inches) long in the......
  • Falco (Austrian singer and songwriter)
    Austrian rock singer and songwriter who was the number one national pop star and achieved international fame in the 1980s with the hits "Der Kommissar" and "Rock Me Amadeus" (b. Feb. 19, 1957, Vienna, Austria--d. Feb. 6, 1998, Puerto Plata, Dom. Rep.)....
  • Falco albigularis (bird)
    The bat falcon (F. albigularis) of Mexico and Central and South America is a little bird with a dark back, white throat, barred black-and-white breast, and reddish belly. It preys upon birds. The forest falcon (Micrastur semitorquatus) of tropical America hunts birds and reptiles in the jungles. The laughing falcon......
  • Falco columbarius (bird)
    small falcon found at high latitudes throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Adult males have slate-blue backs with finely streaked underparts; females and immature birds have brown backs; all have a tail with narrow white bands....
  • Falco concolor (bird)
    small falcon found at high latitudes throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Adult males have slate-blue backs with finely streaked underparts; females and immature birds have brown backs; all have a tail with narrow white bands.......
  • Falco mexicanus (bird)
    ...hunts birds and reptiles in the jungles. The laughing falcon (Herpetotheres cachinnans) of the wooded lowlands of Central and South America is a noisy brown bird that eats snakes. The prairie falcon (F. mexicanus), a desert falcon, inhabits canyon and scrub country in western North America....
  • Falco peregrinus (bird)
    the most widely distributed bird of prey species, with breeding populations on every continent and many oceanic islands. Sixteen subspecies are recognized....
  • Falco peregrinus anatum (bird)
    The American peregrine falcon (F. peregrinus anatum), which once bred from Hudson Bay to the southern United States, was formerly an endangered species. It had completely vanished from the eastern United States and eastern boreal Canada by the late 1960s. After Canada had banned DDT use by 1969 and the United States by 1972, vigorous captive breeding and reintroduction programs......
  • Falco rusticolus (bird)
    (Falco rusticolus), Arctic bird of prey of the family Falconidae, the world’s largest falcon. The gyrfalcon may reach 60 cm (2 feet) in length. Confined as a breeder to the circumpolar region except for isolated populations in Central Asian highlands, it is sometimes seen at lower latitudes in winters when food is scarce. The gyrfalcon varies from pure white with ...
  • Falco sparverius (bird)
    ...prey on large insects, birds, and small mammals. They exhibit sexual colour dimorphism, rare among hawks: the male is the more colourful. Kestrels are mainly Old World birds, but one species, the American kestrel (F. sparverius), called sparrow hawk in the United States, is common throughout the Americas. The American kestrel is about 30 cm (12 inches) long, white or yellowish below,......
  • Falco subbuteo (bird)
    any of certain birds of prey of the genus Falco (primarily F. subbuteo) that are intermediate in size and strength between the merlin and the peregrine. F. subbuteo is about 33 cm (13 inches) long and is dark bluish brown above and white below, with dark streaking and reddish leg feathering. It breeds in Europe, northwestern Africa, the Middle East except Arabia, and all......
  • Falco tinnunculus (bird)
    The common kestrel (F. tinnunculus; see photograph), ranging over most of the Old World and sometimes called the Old World, Eurasian, or European kestrel, is slightly larger than the American kestrel but less colourful. It is the only kestrel in Britain, where it is called “windhover” from its habit of hovering while heading into the wind, watching the ground for prey. The......
  • Falcomonas (algae genus)
    ...may represent reduced nucleus of symbiotic organism; approximately 200 described species; Chilomonas, Cryptomonas, Falcomonas, and Rhinomonas.Division Pyrrophyta (Dinoflagellata)Predominantl...
  • Falcón (state, Venezuela)
    estado (state), northwestern Venezuela. It is bounded on the north by the Caribbean Sea, west by the Gulf of Venezuela, northwest by Zulia state, and south by Lara and Yaracuy states; it includes the Paraguaná Peninsula. The coastal region was first explored and mapped in 1499 by Juan de la Cosa and Amerigo Vespucci, who were part of the expedition led by Alonso de...
  • falcon (bird)
    any of nearly 60 species of hawks of the family Falconidae (order Falconiformes), diurnal birds of prey characterized by long, pointed wings and swift, powerful flight. The name is applied in a restricted sense, as true falcons, to the genus Falco, which numbers more than 35 species. Falcons occur virtually worldwide. They range in size from abo...
  • Falcon (missile)
    ...the radar-guided, subsonic Firebird was the first U.S. guided air-to-air missile. It was rendered obsolete within a few years by supersonic missiles such as the AIM-4 (for air-intercept missile) Falcon, the AIM-9 Sidewinder, and the AIM-7 Sparrow. The widely imitated Sidewinder was particularly influential. Early versions, which homed onto the infrared emissions from jet engine tailpipes,......
  • Falcon (launch vehicle)
    ...First launched in 1994, a version of Pegasus known as Taurus lifts off from the ground, using a converted ICBM as a first stage and Pegasus as a second stage. A new small launch vehicle called Falcon was first tested in 2006. It was developed on the basis of private investment rather than being funded by government contracts and is intended to be the first in a new, lower-cost family of......
  • Falcon Island (island, Tonga)
    ...km]) is a volcanic cone rising to 3,389 feet (1,033 metres) to form the highest point in Tonga. Nomuka is the centre of a small island cluster of the same name within the larger Haʿapai Group. Fonuafoʿou (Falcon Island), 19 miles (30 km) west of Nomuka, is the peak of a submarine volcano, the emergent portion of which is alternately raised by eruptions and completely eroded by wav...
  • Falcón, Juan (Venezuelan politician)
    ...government changed hands several times. General Páez returned in 1861 to restore Conservative hegemony for two years, but in 1863 final victory went to the Liberals, led by the generals Juan Falcón and Antonio Guzmán Blanco....
  • falconer (person)
    ...on the protected list had a profound effect on the sport after World War II. All British birds of prey came under the protection of the law, and a license was required from the Home Office before a falconer could take a young hawk for falconry....
  • Falconer (work by Cheever)
    ...America’s urban homosexual subculture in City of Night (1963). As literary and social mores were liberalized, Cheever himself dealt with homosexuality in his prison novel Falconer (1977) and even more explicitly in his personal journals, published posthumously in 1991....
  • Falconer, Charles Leslie (British politician)
    On June 12, 2003, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, a longtime friend and political ally of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, took on what was likely to be the most challenging job of his career when Blair named him lord high chancellor and keeper of the great seal. On the same day, Blair announced the abolition of this position (first created in 605), and Falconer, the 259th and last lord chancellor, w...
  • Falconer, Martha Platt (American social worker)
    American social worker who helped transform U.S. institutions for delinquent or displaced and homeless young women from fundamentally a system of incarceration to one based on rehabilitation....
  • Falconer of Thoroton, Lord (British politician)
    On June 12, 2003, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, a longtime friend and political ally of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, took on what was likely to be the most challenging job of his career when Blair named him lord high chancellor and keeper of the great seal. On the same day, Blair announced the abolition of this position (first created in 605), and Falconer, the 259th and last lord chancellor, w...
  • falconet (bird)
    ...sense, as true falcons, to the genus Falco, which numbers more than 35 species. Falcons occur virtually worldwide. They range in size from about 15 cm (6 inches) long in the falconets (Microhierax) to about 60 cm (24 inches) in the gyrfalcon, an Arctic species. In true falcons the female is the larger and bolder of the sexes and is preferred for the sport......
  • Falconet, Étienne-Maurice (French sculptor)
    sculptor who adapted the classical style of the French Baroque to an intimate and decorative Rococo ideal. He was patronized by Mme de Pompadour and is best known for his small sculptures on mythological and genre themes and for the designs he made for the Sèvres porcelain factory....
  • Falconetto, Gian Maria (Italian painter and architect)
    Italian painter and architect. His father, Giacomo Falconetto, a brother, Giovanni Falconetto, and a great uncle, Stefano de Verona, also were noted painters....
  • Falconetto, Giovanni Maria (Italian painter and architect)
    Italian painter and architect. His father, Giacomo Falconetto, a brother, Giovanni Falconetto, and a great uncle, Stefano de Verona, also were noted painters....
  • Falconidae (bird)
    any of nearly 60 species of hawks of the family Falconidae (order Falconiformes), diurnal birds of prey characterized by long, pointed wings and swift, powerful flight. The name is applied in a restricted sense, as true falcons, to the genus Falco, which numbers more than 35 species. Falcons occur virtually worldwide. They range in size from abo...
  • Falconieri, Saint Alexis (Italian friar)
    saints Bonfilius, Alexis Falconieri, John Bonagiunta, Benedict dell’Antella, Bartholomew Amidei, Gerard Sostegni, and Ricoverus Uguccione, who founded the Ordo Fratrum Servorum Sanctae Mariae (“Order of Friar Servants of St. Mary”). Popularly called Servites, the order is a Roman Catholic congregation of mendicant friars dedicated to apostolic work....
  • falconiform (bird order)
    any of the group of swift, graceful birds known for their predatory skill as raptors. Included are eagles, condors, buzzards, kites, caracaras, ospreys, harriers, accipiters, vultures, ...
  • Falconiformes (bird order)
    any of the group of swift, graceful birds known for their predatory skill as raptors. Included are eagles, condors, buzzards, kites, caracaras, ospreys, harriers, accipiters, vultures, ...
  • falconry
    the sport of employing falcons, true hawks, and sometimes eagles or buzzards in hunting game....
  • faldstool (furniture)
    a folding stool used by a Roman Catholic bishop when not occupying his throne in his own cathedral church, or when he is officiating outside his own church. Because the stool has no back, it can be used both for sitting and for kneeling when in prayer. By extension, the term came to mean any movable folding stool used for kneeling. A faldstool is commonly composed of two pairs o...
  • fale (Oceanic architecture)
    The majority of the population lives in villages. Traditional structures are called fale; they are rectangular in shape and have thatched or corrugated tin roofs and sides made of woven coconut leaves, reeds, or timber. Some Tongans reside in South Seas colonial-style wooden homes with gingerbread trim and exterior walls in pastel shades....
  • Faleiro, Rui (Portuguese cosmographer)
    Magellan therefore went to Spain, reaching Sevilla (Seville) on October 20, 1517. He was joined by the Portuguese cosmographer Rui Faleiro, and together they journeyed to the court at Valladolid. There, having renounced their nationality, the two men offered their services to King Charles I (later, Emperor Charles V). Magalhães henceforward became known by the Spanish version of his......
  • Falémé River (river, Africa)
    river in western Africa, rising in the uplands of northern Guinea, east of the Fouta Djallon massif, and flowing roughly north-northeast to enter Mali. It then turns northwest to form the Mali–Senegal border for the rest of its course to the Sénégal River, except for a slight detour across a corner of western Senegal. It is approximately 250 miles (400 km) long and, although ...
  • Fali (people)
    a people who inhabit the rocky plateaus ringed by the northernmost peaks of the Adamawa mountains of northern Cameroon. “Fali” is from a Fulani (Peul) word meaning “perched” and describes the appearance of Fali family compounds on the sides of mountains....
  • Falier, Marin (doge of Venice)
    leading official in Venice and doge from 1354 to 1355, who was executed for having led a plot against the ruling patricians. His tragic story has inspired several important literary works, including the tragedy Marino Faliero: Doge of Venice (1821) by the English Romantic poet Lord Byron....
  • Faliscan (people)
    ancient people of southern Etruria in Italy who, though Latin in nationality, were culturally closer to the Etruscans. The Greek geographer Strabo mentions them and their “special language,” which was closely related to Latin. They occupied the region between the Tiber River and Mt. Ciminus, with Falerii Veteres (present-day Civita Castellana) as their capital. Resistance of the Fali...
  • Faliscan language
    an Italic language closely related to Latin and more distantly related to Oscan and Umbrian languages. Faliscan was spoken by the Falisci in central Italy in a small region northwest of the Tiber River. Falerii, the Faliscan capital, was destroyed by the Romans in 241 bc, and it is likely that the Faliscan language was completely displaced by La...
  • Falisci (people)
    ancient people of southern Etruria in Italy who, though Latin in nationality, were culturally closer to the Etruscans. The Greek geographer Strabo mentions them and their “special language,” which was closely related to Latin. They occupied the region between the Tiber River and Mt. Ciminus, with Falerii Veteres (present-day Civita Castellana) as their capital. Resistance of the Fali...
  • Falk, Adalbert (Prussian official)
    Prussian bureaucrat who as state minister of ecclesiastical affairs in the 1870s aggressively headed German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck’s Kulturkampf against the Roman Catholic Church....
  • Falk, Lee (American comic-strip writer)
    American comic-strip writer who created the Mandrake the Magician (1934) and The Phantom (1936) strips and wrote them until a short time before his death; he also wrote, produced, and directed numerous plays (b. April 28, 1911?, St. Louis, Mo.—d. March 13, 1999, New York, N.Y.)....
  • Falk, Leon (American comic-strip writer)
    American comic-strip writer who created the Mandrake the Magician (1934) and The Phantom (1936) strips and wrote them until a short time before his death; he also wrote, produced, and directed numerous plays (b. April 28, 1911?, St. Louis, Mo.—d. March 13, 1999, New York, N.Y.)....
  • Falk, Paul Ludwig Adalbert (Prussian official)
    Prussian bureaucrat who as state minister of ecclesiastical affairs in the 1870s aggressively headed German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck’s Kulturkampf against the Roman Catholic Church....
  • Falk, Robert (Russian painter)
    ...Lhote; other paintings were exhibited by Wassily Kandinsky and Alexey von Jawlensky, both Russian artists then living in Germany. The Russian members of the group themselves—Robert Falk, Aristarkh Lentulov, Pyotr Konchalovsky, and Ilya Mashkov—displayed portraits and still lifes that were strongly influenced by the French artists Paul Cézanne and Henri Matisse.......
  • Falkberget, Johan Petter (Norwegian novelist)
    regional novelist of life in the east-central mountains of Norway....
  • Falke, Gustav (German author)
    German poet and novelist prominent among the new lyric poets of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His verses were influenced by folk songs and the Romantic poets and celebrated simple domestic pleasures....
  • Falkenberg, Captain (legendary figure)
    Another legend depicts a Captain Falkenberg sailing forever through the North Sea, playing at dice for his soul with the devil. The dice-game motif recurs in the Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798) by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge; the mariner sights a phantom ship on which Death and Life in Death play dice to win him. The Scottish writer......
  • Falkenburg, Eugenia Lincoln (American model and actress)
    American model and actress (b. Jan. 21, 1919, Barcelona, Spain—d. Aug. 27, 2003, Manhasset, N.Y.), had an all-American-girl quality that helped her become one of the highest-paid cover girls during World War II. She appeared in a number of movies, most notably Cover Girl (1944), and later—with her husband, Tex McCrary—went into radio and television broadcasting and jour...
  • Falkenburg, Jinx (American model and actress)
    American model and actress (b. Jan. 21, 1919, Barcelona, Spain—d. Aug. 27, 2003, Manhasset, N.Y.), had an all-American-girl quality that helped her become one of the highest-paid cover girls during World War II. She appeared in a number of movies, most notably Cover Girl (1944), and later—with her husband, Tex McCrary—went into radio and television broadcasting and jour...
  • Falkenhayn, Erich Georg Anton Sebastian von (German general)
    Prussian minister of war and chief of the imperial German General Staff early in World War I....
  • Falkenlust (castle, Brühl,, Germany)
    ...1285 onward, and its Baroque Augustusburg Castle (1725), with extensive gardens and a famous staircase by Balthasar Neumann, was their summer residence. Within Augustusburg’s gardens is the smaller Falkenlust (1733), a hunting lodge by François de Cuvilliés. The castles were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1984....
  • Falkirk (Scotland, United Kingdom)
    royal burgh (town) and important industrial centre in Falkirk council area, historic county of Stirlingshire, Scotland. It lies midway between the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow. Grangemouth, the site of Scotland’s main container port and petrochemical complex, lies 3 miles (5 km) northeast on the River Forth estuary....
  • Falkirk (council area, Scotland, United Kingdom)
    council area, east-central Scotland, encompassing a mostly low-lying area extending inland from the south bank of the River Forth estuary. It lies about midway between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Most of the council area lies within the historic county of Stirlingshire, but its eastern portion, around Bo’ness, belongs to the historic county of West ...
  • Falkland (Scotland, United Kingdom)
    small royal burgh (town) and former royal residence in Fife council area and historic county, eastern Scotland. It sits at the northern base of the East Lomond Hill, which has an elevation of 1,471 feet (448 metres). The burgh’s 12th-century castle was replaced by the present Falkland Palace, which from the 16th century became a favourite seat of the Scottish court. Falkl...
  • Falkland Current (ocean current, Atlantic Ocean)
    branch of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current in the Southern Hemisphere, flowing northward in the South Atlantic Ocean along the east coast of Argentina to about latitude 30° to 40° S, where it is deflected eastward after meeting the southward-flowing Brazil Current. Characterized by cold temperatures varying from 41° to 66° F (5° to 19° C), the current ha...
  • Falkland Island Dependencies (territory, United Kingdom)
    a territory of the United Kingdom lying southeast of South America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean on the east to the Pacific Ocean on the west. Triangular in shape, it has an area (mostly ocean) of 2,095,000 square miles (5,425,000 square km), bounded by the South Pole (south), latitude 60° S (north), and by longitudes 20° W (east) and 80° W (west). It includes all land ar...
  • Falkland Island wolf (mammal)
    Other foxlike canines of South America are the bush dog, the crab-eating fox, the maned wolf, the small-eared zorro (Atelocynus microtis), and the Falkland Island, or Antarctic, wolf (Dusicyon australis), which was hunted to extinction in the late 1800s....
  • Falkland Islands (islands and British colony, Atlantic Ocean)
    internally self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom in the South Atlantic Ocean. It lies about 300 miles (480 km) northeast of the southern tip of South America and a similar distance east of the Strait of Magellan. The capital and only town is Stanley, on East Falkland, but there are several small, scattered settlements. In South America the islands are generally...
  • Falkland Islands War (Argentina-United Kingdom)
    a brief, undeclared war fought between Argentina and Great Britain in 1982 over the control of the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and associated island dependencies....
  • Falkland, Lucius Cary, 2nd Viscount of, Lord Carye (English noble)
    English royalist who attempted to exercise a moderating influence in the struggles that preceded the English Civil Wars (1642–51) between the royalists and the Parliamentarians. He is remembered chiefly as a prominent figure in the History of the Rebellion by his close friend Edward Hyde (afterward Earl of Clarendon)....
  • Falkland, Samuel (Dutch author)
    Dutch author and playwright, both naturalistic and didactic, who in his work attacked all aspects of bourgeois hypocrisy....
  • Falkland Sound (strait, Atlantic Ocean)
    strait in the South Atlantic Ocean, separating East and West Falkland (islands). It extends from northeast to southwest for 50 miles (80 km) and is 1 12 miles (in its narrowest passages) to 20 miles (2 km to 32 km) wide. Many small islands lie in the sound....
  • Falklands War (Argentina-United Kingdom)
    a brief, undeclared war fought between Argentina and Great Britain in 1982 over the control of the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and associated island dependencies....
  • Falkner, William Cuthbert (American author)
    American novelist and short-story writer who was awarded the 1949 Nobel Prize for Literature....
  • fall (geology)
    Earth materials can become detached from a steep slope without significant shearing, fall freely under gravity, and land on a surface from which they bounce and fall farther. Falls of large volume can trap enough air to facilitate the very rapid flow of rock or debris, forming rock avalanches and debris avalanches, respectively. Entrapped snow and ice may also help mobilize such flows, but the......
  • fall (wrestling)
    The bout is supervised by a referee on the mat, a mat chairman, a judge, and a timekeeper. A fall is awarded when one contestant holds both of his opponent’s shoulders to the mat for one second. The referee signals a fall by striking the mat with his hand. If no fall takes place, the bout is decided on points awarded by the judges for maneuvers leading toward a fall....
  • fall (season)
    season of the year between summer and winter during which temperatures gradually decrease. It is often called fall in the United States because leaves fall from the trees at that time. Autumn is usually defined in the Northern Hemisphere as the period between the autumnal equinox (day and night equal in length), September 22 or 23, and the winter solstice (year’s shortest...
  • Fall, Albert Bacon (United States secretary of the interior)
    U.S. secretary of the interior under President Warren G. Harding; he was the first American to be convicted of a felony committed while holding a Cabinet post....
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