Copy of `The History Channel - Encyclopedia`

The wordlist doesn't exist anymore, or, the website doesn't exist anymore. On this page you can find a copy of the original information. The information may have been taken offline because it is outdated.

The History Channel - Encyclopedia Category: History and Culture > History Date & country: 02/12/2007, UK Words: 25833

Shimazaki, Toson
(1872-1943) Japanese poet and novelist. His work explores the clash of old and new values in rapidly modernizing Japan. He published romantic poetry in the 1890s and Hakai/Broken Commandment 1906, the first...

Shimonoseki, Treaty of
Peace agreement 1895 ending the First Sino-Japanese War, under which Japan received from China the Pescadores Islands, Taiwan, and the Liaodong peninsula. ...

Shin Bet
In Israel, the counter-intelligence and internal security service. Shin Bet operates under the supervision of Israel's prime minister and a parliamentary subcommittee. One of Shin Bet's principal...

Shinawatra, Thaksin
(1949) Thai businessman and politician, prime minister of Thailand 2001-06. A telecommunications billionaire, Shinawatra's populist Thai Rak Thai (TRT; Thais Love Thais) party, formed in 1988, swept to...

Shingon
Japanese school of esoteric Buddhism, one of the main Buddhist traditions of Japan. It emphasizes the gradual path to enlightenment through meditation and reflection. It was introduced to Japan from...

Shining Path
English name of Sendero Luminoso, Peruvian guerrilla organization. ...

Shinn, Everett
(1876-1953) US painter and illustrator. Shinn worked as an illustrator for various periodicals, and in 1901 he begun to paint theatre scenes and set designs, usually in pastels. He was among the founders of the...

Shinto
The indigenous religion of Japan. It combines an empathetic oneness with natural forces and loyalty to the reigning dynasty as descendants of the Sun goddess, Amaterasu-Omikami. An aggressive...

Shinwell, Emmanuel
(1884-1986) British Labour politician. In 1935 he defeated Ramsay MacDonald at Seaham Harbour, Durham, in one of the most bitterly contested British election battles of modern times. From 1942 he was chair of...

ship money
Tax for support of the navy, levied on the coastal districts of England in the Middle Ages. Ship money was declared illegal by Parliament in 1641. Charles I's attempts to levy it on the whole...

Shipley, Jenny
(1952) New Zealand right-of-centre politician, prime minister 1997-99. She joined the conservative National Party at the age of 23 and, after a spell as a local councillor, was elected to the House...

Shipman, Ellen
(1870-1950) US landscape architect and feminist. Overcoming resistance to women in her profession, Shipman designed gardens for private clients, and employed an all-female staff in her New York City and...

Shipstead, Henrik
(1881-1960) US senator. A dentist, Shipstead was elected to the US Senate in 1923. A supporter of La Follette and of the New Deal, he was also an isolationist concerning international affairs. As a member of...

Shipton, Mother
(1488-1561) English prophet. She acquired a large reputation in her native Yorkshire for correctly foretelling the future. She also made predictions, composed in verse, about succeeding centuries. ...

Shiras, George, Jr
(1832-1924) US Supreme Court justice. Shiras spent 25 years at a private Pittsburgh law firm before President Benjamin Harrison called him to the US Supreme Court in 1892. ...

shire
Administrative area formed in Britain for the purpose of raising taxes in Anglo-Saxon times. By AD 1000 most of southern England had been divided into shires with fortified strongholds at their...

Shirer, William L(awrence)
(1904-1993) US journalist and historian. A columnist and commentator for the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), from 1937 to 1941 he covered the events leading up to World War II. He remained with CBS until...

Shirlaw, Walter
(1838-1909) Scottish painter. Shirlaw emigrated to the USA in 1841. He was a bank-note engraver until 1870 when the went to study in Munich. On his return to the USA in 1877 he was one of the founders of the...

Shirley, James
(1596-1666) English dramatist and poet. His plays were derivative and reflected the tastes of Charles I's court, but his more interesting comedies anticipated Restoration comedy. They include The Witty Fair One...

Shirley, William
(1694-1771) English-born US colonial governor. Shirley travelled to America in 1731 and served as judge of admiralty and then advocate general before becoming governor of the colony in 1741. In 1755 he was...

Shiva
In Hinduism, the third chief god (with Brahma and Vishnu) making up the Trimurti. As Mahadeva (great lord), he is the creator, symbolized by the phallic lingam, who restores what as Mahakala he...

Shivaratri
Hindu festival of devotion to the creator Shiva, occurring in February/March. Devotees will rise and bathe, then either set up a lingam (a phallic symbol of generative energy) at home, or visit the...

Shmidt, Otto Yul'yevich
(1891-1956) Soviet expedition leader, scientist, and administrator. He made his first Arctic expedition to Franz Josef Land in 1929. The following year he became director of the Arctic Institute, Leningrad (now...

shofar
In Judaism, a ram's horn blown in the synagogue as a call to repentance at the New Year festivals of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the Jewish high holy days or `days of awe`. The shofar is...

shogun
Japanese term for military dictator and abbreviation for `seii tai shogun`-`great barbarian-conquering general`. Technically an imperial appointment, the office was treated as hereditary...

Sholes, Christopher Latham
(1819-1890) American printer and newspaper editor who, in 1867, invented the first practicable typewriter in association with Carlos Glidden and Samuel Soulé. In 1873, they sold their patents to Remington &...

Sholokhov, Mikhail Aleksandrovich
(1905-1984) Russian novelist. His And Quiet Flows the Don (1926-40), hailed in the Soviet Union as a masterpiece of socialist realism, depicts the Don Cossacks through World War I and the Russian Revolution....

Shona
A Bantu-speaking people of South Africa, comprising approximately 80% of the population of Zimbabwe. They also occupy the land between the Save and Pungure rivers in Mozambique, and smaller groups...

Shootings of May 3rd 1808, The
Oil painting by Francisco de ...

shop
Building or part of a building used for the retail sale of goods. Roman stoae were market stalls enclosed by an arcaded walkway; shops changed little from ancient times until the latter part of the...

shop steward
Trade-union representative in a `shop`, or department of a factory, elected by his or her fellow workers. Shop stewards are unpaid and usually conduct union business in their own time. They...

Shore, Jane
(died c. 1527) Englishwoman who was mistress of Edward IV from about 1470. After the king's death she was accused by Richard III of sorcery and compelled to do penance 1483. She died in poverty. ...

Shore, Peter David
(1924-2001) British Labour politician. Member of Parliament for Stepney 1964-97, he was parliamentary private secretary to Harold Wilson, and held several government posts, including secretary of state for...

Shores, Louis
(1904-1981) US librarian. In 1933 Shores became dean of the library school at George Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville, Tennessee, where he received his PhD and pioneered courses in audio-visual...

Shorian
Member of a minority Turkic-speaking people living in southern Siberia, Russia, in the south of the Kuznetsk Basin. Traditionally hunters and cedar-nut collectors, today they also farm. ...

Short
British aircraft manufacturers. The Type 184 seaplane in 1914 was the first aircraft to carry a torpedo and, during the World War I Gallipoli campaign, was the first aircraft to sink an enemy ship...

Short Parliament
English Parliament summoned by Charles I on 13 April 1640 to raise funds for his war against the Scots. It was succeeded later in the year by the short story
Short work of prose fiction, usually consisting of between 500 and 10,000 words, which typically either sets up and resolves a single narrative point or depicts...

Short, Clare
(1946) British Labour politician, secretary of state for international development 1997-2003. Popular with the public because of her frankness and strong social conscience, as international development...

Short, Walter Campbell
(1880-1949) US soldier. Between the World Wars Short rose in rank and reputation and in February 1941 was named commander of the US Army's Hawaiian Department. He was relieved of command for failing to take...

Shorter, Clement King
(1857-1926) British journalist and critic. He was an important influence on the English pictorial press. In 1891 he became editor of the Illustrated London News. In 1893 he founded and edited the Sketch, and...

Shorthouse, Joseph Henry
(1834-1903) English novelist. His historical novel John Inglesant, A Romance 1881 captured the High Church feeling of the day. Later novels, including...

Shoshone
Member of an American Indian people who inhabited the Great Basin region (Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada). Their language belongs to the Central Numic (Shoshonean) branch of the Uto-Aztecan...

Shoshoni
Alternative name for a member of the American Indian Shoshone people. ...

Shotwell, James Thomson
(1874-1965) Canadian historian and internationalist. Shotwell was an adviser to President Woodrow Wilson at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. He went on to become president of the League of Nations Associates,...

Shou-hsing
Chinese god of Long Life. He is one of a group of three gods of happiness, the other two being the god of Happiness, Fu-hsing, and the god of Salaries, Lu-hsing. Shou-hsing is the best known...

Shoup, George Laird
(1836-1904) US governor and senator. Shoup led to statehood, becoming Republican governor, 1889-90. In the US Senate, he chaired the Committee on the Territories 1891-1901,...

Shouse, Jouett
(1879-1968) US representative; . Shouse served in the Kansas state legislature before going to the US House of Representatives in 1915-19. In 1929 he became chairman of the Democratic National Committee,...

Shovell, Cloudesley
(1650-1707) English admiral who took part, with George Rooke (1650-1709), in the capture of Gibraltar 1704. In 1707 his flagship Association was wrecked off the Isles of Scilly and he was strangled for his...

show trial
Public and well-reported trial of people accused of crimes against the state. In the USSR in the 1930s and 1940s, Stalin carried out show-trial purges against economic saboteurs, Communist Party...

Shrapnel, Henry
(1761-1842) British army officer who invented shells containing bullets, to increase the spread of casualties, first used in 1804; hence the word shrapnel to describe shell fragments. Shrapnel was born in...

Shrewsbury, Battle of
Decisive royal victory 21 July 1403 over rebels led by Sir Henry `Hotspur` Percy north of Shrewsbury, England. The rebellion was crushed and Henry IV promoted the Neville family in the North to...

Shrewsbury, Earl of
Title in the peerage of England, held by the family of Talbot since 1442. It is the premier earldom of England. ...

shrine
Place regarded as holy due to an association with a divine figure, relic, or event. Shrines are important places in most religions, and are often a focus of worship or meditation. Buddhist shrines...

shroud of Turin
Christian relic; see Turin shroud. ...

Shrove Tuesday
In the Christian calendar, the day before the beginning of Lent (Ash Wednesday). It is also known as Mardi Gras. In the UK, Shrove Tuesday is known as Pancake Day, when people eat pancakes made from...

Shu
In Egyptian mythology, god personifying the life-giving air. Created by Atum, a sun god of Heliopolis, Shu was the father of Geb, the earth, and Nut, the sky. ...

Shubert, Lee
(c. 1873-1953) US producer and theatre manager. Shubert and his brothers Sam and Jacob broke the Theatrical Syndicate's monopoly in New York City to become the nation's biggest theatre owners and producers. ...

Shubrick, William Branford
(1790-1874) US naval officer. Shubrick served as a naval lieutenant during the War of 1812 and on the Pacific coast during the Mexican War. He refused to support the Confederate cause and retired in 1861. ...

Shugborough
House in Staffordshire, England, 9 km/6 mi southeast of Stafford. It has been the home of the Anson family, later to become Earls of Lichfield, from 1624 until the present day. The present late...

Shultz, George Pratt
(1920) US Republican politician, economics adviser to President Reagan 1980-82, and secretary of state 1982-89. Shultz taught as a labour economist at the University of Chicago before serving in the...

Shushkevich, Stanislav
(1934) Belorussian politician, president 1991-94. He was elected to parliament as a nationalist `reform communist` in 1990 and played a key role in the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent...

Shuster, Joe (Joseph)
(1914-1992) Canadian-born US cartoonist who, with the writer Jerry Siegel, created the world's first comic-strip superhero, Superman, 1938. It spawned 44 different comic-book series, radio shows, film...

Shute, Nevil
(1899-1960) English novelist. Among his books are A Town Like Alice 1949 and On the Beach 1957. He settled in Australia 1950, having previously flown his own plane to Australia 1948-49 to research material...

shuttle diplomacy
In international relations, the efforts of an independent mediator to achieve a compromise solution between belligerent parties, travelling back and forth from one to the other. The term came into...

Siad Barre, Mohamed
(1921-1995) Somalian soldier and politician, president of Somalia 1969-91. Seizing power in a bloodless coup, with promises to solve clan rivalries and regenerate his country through a policy of `scientific...

Siam
Former name (until 1939 and again 1945-49) of Thailand. ...

SIB
Abbreviation for Securities and Investments Board, UK regulating body. ...

Siberechts, Jan
(1627-1703) Flemish painter. He went to London 1672 and settled in England. He specialized in landscapes with rustic figures and animals, and has a place among the forerunners...

Sibiu
Capital of Sibiu county, central Romania; population (1998 est) 171,400. The present city was founded by 12th century German colonists on the site of...

Sibley, Henry Hastings
(1811-1891) US public official. Sibley was the first governor of Minnesota state, 1858-60. He commanded expeditions against the Sioux, 1862-64, and acted as a peace commissioner, 1865-66. ...

SIBOR
Acronym for Singapore Interbank Offer Rate, the interest charged among banks in the Singapore interbank market. It operates in a similar way to LIBOR. ...

Sibyl
In Roman mythology, one of many priestesses who prophesied under a deity's direct inspiration; most notably the Sibyl of Cumae, near Naples. A priestess of Apollo, she guided Aeneas to Hades, and...

Sicán
Peruvian culture that flourished from the 8th to14th centuries, centred in Batán Grande, in the Lambayeque valley of northern Peru. The Middle Sicán era, 900-1100, produced enormous quantities...

Sicherheitsdienst
Security arm of the SS established 1931 to hunt down political enemies and dissenters within the Nazi party. This function was gradually taken over by the Gestapo and the SD became the party's...

Sicilian Business
In English history, Henry III's campaign in Sicily 1254-58. Henry joined the crusades 1250 but became involved in Sicily 1254 when the pope decreed that he could fulfil his crusading vows by...

Sickert, Walter Richard
(1860-1942) English artist. His works, broadly Impressionist in style, capture subtleties of tone and light, often with a melancholic atmosphere, their most familiar subjects being the rather shabby cityscapes...

Sickingen, Franz von
(1481-1523) German knight. He took part in several wars and feuds and became a popular hero. Having embraced the Reformation, he led the knights of south-west Germany against...

Sickles, Daniel (Edgar)
(1825-1914) US soldier and representative. Sickles was a brigadier general during the Civil War, leading several campaigns and battles, and he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. After the war he...

Siddons, Sarah
(1755-1831) English actor. Her majestic presence made her suited to tragic and heroic roles such as Lady Macbeth, Zara in Congreve's The Mourning Bride, and Constance in King John. She toured the provinces with...

Sidgwick, Henry
(1838-1900) British philosopher. His theory of ethics is presented in his most important book, Methods of Ethics (1874). The basic moral principle (which is not reducible to non-moral terms) rests on our...

Sidky, Ismail
(1875-1950) Egyptian statesman. He joined Zaghlul Pasha and the Wafd in the struggle for Egyptian independence. With Zaghlul and others he was deported by the British to Malta, but released at Edmund Allenby's...

Sidmouth, Viscount
Title of Henry Addington, British Tory prime minister 1801-04. ...

Sidney, Algernon
(1622-1683) English Republican politician, He was a cavalry officer in the Civil War on the Parliamentary side, and was wounded at the Battle of Marston Moor 1644. He was elected to the Long Parliament 1646,...

Sidney, Margaret
US writer; see Harriet Mulford Lothrop. ...

Sidney, Philip
(1554-1586) English poet and incompetent soldier. He wrote the sonnet sequence Astrophel and Stella (1591), Arcadia (1590), a prose romance, and Apologie for Poetrie (1595). Politically, Sidney became a...

Sidonius Apollinaris, Gaius Sollius
(c. 431-c. 488) Gallo-Roman poet and bishop. He was made a senator in Rome by Avitus, Emperor of the West, whose daughter he had married, and was later raised to patrician rank. In 469 he returned to Gaul and was...

Sieber, Al(bert)
(1844-1907) German-born US Army scout. Sieber emigrated to the USA as a child. In 1871 he became an army scout for Colonel George Crook, commanding the Apache scouts who served with the US Army against...

Siegel, Jerry
(1914-1996) US cartoonist. Siegel and Joe Shuster, his childhood friend, created cartoons and comic strips while at high school. They had their first professional success in 1935 with `Slam Bradley` for...

Siegfried
Legendary Germanic and Norse hero. His story, which may contain some historical elements, occurs in the German Nibelungenlied/Song of the Nibelung and in the Norse Elder or PoeticEdda and the prose...

Siegfried, André
(1875-1959) French writer and economist. His many published works include La Crise britannique au XXe siècle/The British Crisis in the 20th Century (1931), Mon père et son temps/My Father and His Times...

Sienkiewicz, Henryk Adam Alexander
(1846-1916) Polish author. His books include Quo Vadis? (1895), set in Rome at the time of Nero, and the 17th-century historical trilogy With Fire and Sword, The Deluge, and Pan Michael (1890-93). Quo...

Sierra Club
US environmental organization, founded in 1892. Its mission is to protect the environment through congressional lobbying, direct action, and education. Campaigns have been run on US issues such as...

Sierra Leone
Country in West Africa, on the Atlantic Ocean, bounded north and east by Guinea and southeast by Liberia. Government Sierra Leone has a directly-elected presidential executive. Its 1991...

Sierra, Gregorio Martínez
(1881-1947) Spanish dramatist and novelist. His plays include the comedy Canción de cuna/The Cradle Song 1911 and character studies reflecting the worth...

Sieyès, Emmanuel-Joseph
(1748-1836) French cleric and constitutional theorist who led the bourgeois attack on royal and aristocratic privilege in the States General (parliament) 1788-89. Active in the early years of the French...

Sigebert, St
(died 635) King of East Anglia. He introduced Christianity into his kingdom, with the help of SS Felix and Fursey. He was killed leading his subjects against the pagan king Penda of Mercia. His feast...

Siger of Brabant
(c. 1240-c. 1282) Netherlandish philosopher, a follower of Averroës, who taught at the University of Paris, and whose distinguishing between reason and Christian faith led to his works being condemned as heretical...

Sigerson, Dora
(1866-1918) Irish poet. Her Collected Poems 1907 and New Poems 1912 reflected her interest in the ballad form and in Celtic lore. The Sad Years 1918 and Sixteen Dead Men and Other Ballads of Easter Week 1919...

Sigfrid, St
(died c. 1045) English priest and monk, probably of Glastonbury. He was invited to visit Norway, and achieved great success as a missionary. Among his converts was Olaf, King of Sweden. His feast...