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The C.I.D. (Criminal Investigation Department) is the detective section of the British police force. It was established in 1878 by E Howard Vincent. A ' Special Branch' was founded in 1883 to deal with the Fenian troubles, it now deals with the protection of high-ranking individuals and protection of the state, such as harassing members of the Communist Party.
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CO53 is the codename for the 'South East Region Police Air Support Unit' which is staffed jointly by Metropolitan and Surrey police officers, and has two bases - one in northeast London and one in Surrey.
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CP (corporal punishment) is a sexual activity forming a mild form of SM (sado-masochism) in which one or both partners typically spank the bottom of the other. variations include the use of slippers, belts, riding crops, spoons, hair brushes and other instruments in place of the usual flat of the hand. The positions may also be varied, though typically one partner sits and takes the other across their knee.
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A cabaret is a type of theatre that emphasises skits, songs, magic and comedy acts, often performed in a somewhat intimate setting.
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The term cable's length refers to a length or distance of 100 fathoms.
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A cabriolet (cab) was a vehicle similar to a hackney-carriage with two or four wheels, originally drawn by a single horse but later by a motor. The original cabriolets were for a single passenger beside the driver and were a kind of hooded chaise. In the beginning of the 19th century an effort was made to introduce cabriolets into Britain, to supersede hackney carriages. It was not until 1823, however, that licences were obtained for cabriolets. At first their number was limited to twelve. These were of an improved pattern, with a folding hood, and seated two passengers, the driver being separated from them by a partition. In 1832 all restrictions were removed, and cabriolets came into popular favour. In 1836 a cabriolet on four wheels, the precursor of the brougham, was introduced, and from this the clarence evolved. In 1834 a patent was taken out for an improved, two-wheeled safety cab by Hansom, the architect of Birmingham town hall. The safety consisted in an arrangement of the framework which prevented the cab tilting backwards
or forwards in case of accident. These cabriolets had a small body, hung between wheels of over seven feet diameter. Two years later a fresh patent was obtained for an improved Hansom. Motor cabs were first introduced in 1897, but failed to pay and were phased out, only to start to reappear in London around 1905.
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A cachecope bell was a bell formerly rung at funerals, the pall being thrown over the coffin.
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A cade was a British measurement for herrings equal to 500 fish.
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The Cadillac Eldorado Brougham was an American two-door sedan car produced from 1957 to 1958 and developed from the earlier 1954 Cadillac Park Avenue. The
Cadillac Eldorado Brougham was powered by a 6384 cc V-eight engine rated at 325 bhp which provided a top speed of 190 kmh.
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A caduceus was originally an enchanters wand, and later a herald's staff. It is most familiar in the hands of Hermes. Its first form was three shoots, of which two were intertwined, while the third formed the handle. The fully- developed form has, besides the rod itself, a pair of wings either at the top or in the middle, and two serpents intertwined.
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The term cafeteria originates in Spanish where it refers to a coffee-shop, its English meaning as a self-service or small restaurant originates from New York in the 1880s and became popular in England (often abbreviated to cafe) since 1923.
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In Scottish archaeology, a cairn is a mound of stones raised over a prehistoric grave, like an English barrow. Ancient cairns are of two types - chambered from the stone age and unchambered from the bronze age. Chambered
cairns are again found in two forms; long cairns and horned cairns.
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A calash was a light pleasure or travelling carriage, with low wheels, a removable top or hood and driven by the traveller himself, rather than a separate driver.
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The Caldecott Medal, named after Randolph Caldecott, is an annual award given since 1938 to the best US artist-illustrator of children's books.
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Calends was the first day of the Roman calendar month.
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Calico-Printing is the art of applying colours to woven fabric, usually calico. It was first introduced to Britain from India in 1676, and was originally accomplished with hand-blocks made of wood.
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Calisthenics are physical exercises designed and practised to give grace and strength to the body.
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A calumet is a kind of pipe used by the American Indians for smoking tobacco. Its bowl is usually of soft red soapstone, and the tube a long reed ornamented with feathers. The calumet was used in the ratification of all solemn engagements, both of war and peace. To accept the calumet was to accept the proposed agreement, and to reject it was to reject the agreement.
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The Calves' head club was instituted in ridicule of Charles I. The great annual banquet was held on the 30th of January, and consisted of a cod's head, to represent the person of Charles Stuart independent of his kingly office; a pike with little ones in its mouth, an emblem of tyranny; a boar's head with an apple in its mouth to represent the king preying on his subjects; and calves' heads dressed in sundry ways to represent Charles in his regal capacity. After the banquet the king's book (Icon Basilike) was burnt and the parting toast was 'To those worthy patriots who killed the tyrant'.
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A camaieu is a monochrome drawing or painting with a single colour, varied only by graduation of the single colour in terms of light and dark.
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Camel hair is the name given to brushes made of the hair from squirrel's tails. Camel hair brushes are very soft, and when wet have no springiness at all, making them useless to artists, but valuable for glass work and the application of gold leaf.
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Camelot was the castle of King Arthur.
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A cameo is a small relief carving.
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The campos are the open grassy plains of South America.
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The Canada Company was a company formed by Sir William Alexander in 1621. On September the 21st James I granted to the Canada Company an enormous territory in America, covering a large part of what is now the USA and the whole of Canada. Sir William Alexander and his associate, David Kirke, endeavoured to sell the land as baronetcies, but the scheme failed and the Canada Company was dissolved.
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A canaster (canister) was a rush basket in which South American tobacco was packed.
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Candaulism is sexual arousal through watching two people having sex, particularly one's partner with another.
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A candelabrum is a large candlestick.
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Candlemas day is a Christian feast of the purification of the Virgin Mary. The celebration is held on February the 2nd and involves a candle procession to consecrate all the candles which will be needed in the church during the year.
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The candy is an eastern measurement of weight varying from 560 lbs upwards.
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The Cane Ridge Revival was a religious revival that occurred in 1799 and 1800 in the USA, and was the first famous religious revival in the United States after the 'Great Awakening', along the western frontier, particularly in Kentucky. It was begun by the inspired preaching of two brothers from Ohio, who addressed a camp meeting on the Red River, and made numerous enthusiastic converts. At the Cane Ridge camp meeting of 1800, the religious enthusiasm was intense. Converts were made by hundreds.
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A cang was a Chinese instrument for the punishment of trifling offences. It was a kind of wooden cage fitting closely around the neck, with the weight proportioned to the nature of the offence, but so constructed that the culprit couldn't lie down nor feed himself. The cang was not removed during the period of punishment which lasted two or three months. Inscribed on the cang was the nature of the offence and the name of the criminal who was generally left exposed at the city gates.
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In paint brush making, cannoning is a process whereby the brush is given a bevel to that it is shaped ready for immediate use without having to be broken in.
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In geography, a canon is a deep ravine or valley with precipitous sides made by the rapid flow of a river and the action of denudation.
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A cant hook is a wooden lever with a movable iron hook near the end used for canting or turning over heavy logs, etc, particularly in the USA.
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The cantaro is a measure of weight and capacity used in the past in the Mediterranean countries. In Turkey it was 125 lb, in Egypt 99 lb, in Malta 175 lb and in Spain to measure wine it was about 3.5 gallons.
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A canticoy is a social gathering; usually, one for dancing.
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Canvas is a coarse, unbleached cloth made from hemp or flax.
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In geography a canyon is a narrow, deep gorge, with steep sides, cut by a river through soft rock in a dry region. The biggest and best known is the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, USA.
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Canzone is an Italian and Provencal form of poetry, used chiefly for love themes, though religious and other subjects were not entirely excluded. the earliest Provencal specimens date from the 12th century, those in Italian from the 13th. The number of stanzas varies, five or six being the most common, and the last stanza was invariably shorter than the others.
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In geography a cape is a headland or piece of land jutting out into the sea.
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Capital punishment is punishment by death. Capital punishment is retained in 92 countries and territories, including the 37 states of the USA, China, and Islamic countries. It was abolished in the UK in 1965 for all crimes except treason - in 1998 the death penalty for treason was finally abolished in the United Kingdom. Methods of execution include electrocution, lethal gas, hanging, shooting, lethal injection, garrotting, and decapitation. In Britain, the number of capital offences was reduced from over 200 at the end of the 18th century, until capital punishment was abolished in 1866 for all crimes except murder, treason, piracy, and certain arson attacks. Its use was subject to the royal prerogative of mercy. The punishment was carried out by hanging (in public until 1866).
Capital punishment for murder was abolished in the United Kingdom in 1965 but still exists for treason, and during the 1980's it was revealed that the police had a shoot-to-kill and summary execution policy for those suspected of being terrorists. In 2005 a 27 year old Brazilian man was executed by being shot seven times in the head and once in the shoulder after being tackled to the ground by plain clothed police officers who mistakenly believed him to be a suicide bomber.
In 1990, Ireland abolished the death penalty for all offences. In Saudi Arabia execution is by beheading in public. Countries that have abolished the death penalty fall into three categories: those that have abolished it for all crimes (44 countries); those that retain it only for exceptional crimes such as war crimes (17 countries); and those that retain the death penalty for ordinary crimes but have not executed anyone since 1980 (25 countries and territories).
The first country in Europe to abolish the death penalty was Portugal in 1867. In the USA, the Supreme Court declared capital punishment unconstitutional in 1972, as a cruel and unusual punishment, but decided in 1976 that this was not so in all circumstances. It was therefore reintroduced in some states. Many countries use capital punishment for crimes other than murder, such as drug offences (in Malaysia and elsewhere). In 1977 the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ruled out imposition of the death penalty on those under the age of 18. The covenant was signed by President Carter on behalf of the USA, but in 1989 the US Supreme Court decided that it could be imposed from the age of 16 for murder, and that the mentally retarded could also face the death penalty.
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Capnolagnia is sexual arousal from watching others smoke.
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Capnomancy is divination by observation of smoke from incense or a sacrifice.
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Capricorn is a sign of the zodiac symbolised by a goat.
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A caracole is the term used to describe the half turn which a horseman makes, either to the right or the left.
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Carat is the unit of measurement of gold purity - the proportion of gold to other metals in the alloy, expressed in 24ths. Coinage contains 22 parts of gold and is therefore described as 22 carat. The carat is also a unit of weight used in the weighing of precious stones.
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Carbonado is a powdered form of diamond.
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Cardboard is a kind of stiff paper or pasteboard made by sticking together several sheets of paper.
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A cardinal number is an ordinary, positive whole number such as 1,2,3 etc.
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A caret (from the Latin meaning something is missing) is a writer's mark indicating that something should be inserted at this point, usually an omitted word or phrase.
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The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is an organisation made up of former British colonies in the Caribbean whose aim is to promote cooperation in economic, cultural and technological matters, as well as coordinating a common foreign policy. The Caribbean Community was founded in 1973.
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A cariole was a small and light open carriage, somewhat resembling a calash, but having only one seat and drawn by one horse.
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The Carlton Club was a famous political club in Pall Mall, London. It was the recognised headquarters of the Conservative Party, and was founded in 1832 by the Duke of Wellington.
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Carpet is a thick fabric, often made of wool, used for covering a floor. It is made by knotting short lengths of yarn to the warp threads during weaving.
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Carpet Baggers was a name first given to American Northern state politicians who sought temporary homes in the Southern States in order to obtain qualifications for admission to Congress from these Southern States. After 1865 the name was given to Northern Republicans who settled in the South and later to all whites who endeavoured to control the coloured vote. Today the term carpet bagger refers to a person seeking to achieve political success or private gain in a place with which he is unconnected.
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In the USA, during the period between 1865 and 1870 the government of a majority of the Southern States of America was controlled by unscrupulous adventurers, who excluded the better class of whites from voting and controlled elections by Negro majorities. Fraudulent taxes were levied and enormous State debts were rolled up. These governments were known as Carpet-bag Governments'.
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Carpolite is a term applied to fossils of fruits.
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In Victorian London the public were plagued by petty criminals known as carriage thieves. Writing in 1888, Dickens reports:
'Among the many thieves who infest the London streets none ar more artful or more active =than the carriage thieves. No vehicle should ever be left with open windows; and valuable rugs in victorias, etc should always be secured to the carriage by a strap or other fastening. Ladies should be especially careful of officious persons volunteering to open or close carriage-doors. In nine cases out of ten these men and boys are expert pickpockets.'
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Carse is the name given in Scotland to a wide fertile valley.
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A cart is a strong two or four wheeled vehicle used in farming and for carrying heavy goods.
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A Carte-Blanche is a blank piece of white paper, signed and sealed and given to a person to fill-up as he pleases, thus giving unlimited power to decide.
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A cartel is a written agreement for the exchange or ransom of prisoners.
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A carton is a light box or case for holding goods.
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Cartridge-paper is a thick paper. It is so named because it was originally used to make soldiers' cartridges.
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A carucate was formerly as much land as one team could plough in one year. The size varied according to the nature of the soil and the practice of husbandry in different districts.
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In 1705, Thomas Cary, then Deputy Governor of North Carolina, was deposed at the solicitation of the Quakers for disfranchising them through the requirements of the Test Act. He endeavoured to usurp the government during several years. Finally, in 1711 he endeavoured to capture Governor Hyde by force. Governor Spotswood, of Virginia, sent a troop to Hyde's assistance. Cary was forced into submission.
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Casale Media is a Canadian interactive marketing and technology company that operates an online advertising network launched in September 2003 by Joe Casale. Within a year of its launch, Casale Media was ranked the second largest online advertising network by comScore Media Metrix. Key features of the Casale Media network are: campaign statistics that are updated and delivered in real-time; both advertisers and publishers can pause or make changes to campaigns at any time of the day or night instantly, without delay; advertisers only pay for the CPM inventory they buy; publishers receive the industry's highest payouts - 70% of the gross revenue; adverts can be precisely targeted to specific markets using a variety of targeting filters including sixteen content categories that include time-of-day targeting, geo-targeting (down to individual cities) and capping the frequency with which end users will be delivered the same advert; no minimum spend for advertisers, which makes Casale Media accessible to smaller businesses.
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A case was a British measurement of annatto equivalent to about 2.25 hundred weight, in use during the 19th century.
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A cask was a British unit of measurement of arsenic equivalent to about 4 hundred weight, in use during the 19th century.
A cask was a British measure of cocoa equivalent to 1.25 hundred weight, in use during the 19th century.
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Cassier's Magazine was a magazine founded in 1891 by Louis Cassier, and published in New York as the first monthly publication devoted to purely engineering and scientific subjects. It was particularly noted for its illustrations.
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Cassina are an Italian furniture-making company. They were established in 1923 in Meda, Italy.
Cassina moved from craft to mass production after 1945 and successfully sold modern design to a sophisticated international niche market, using designers such as Franco Albini, Gio Ponti and Vico Magistretti. Ponti's 'Superleggera' chair of 1957 was among the most successful of Cassina's products.
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Cassiopeia is a constellation in the northern hemisphere situated next to Cephus. It contains fifty-five stars.
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Caste is an Indian hereditary class system with members socially equal, united in religion and usually following the same trade. A member of one caste has no social intercourse with a member of any other caste except their own. There are four main groups: Brahmans (priests), Kshatriyas (nobles and warriors), Vaisyas (traders and farmers) , and Sudras (servants); plus a fifth group, Harijan (untouchables) with hundreds of subdivisions existing within each caste. No upward or downward mobility exists, as in socially classed societies.
The system of caste dates from ancient times, and there are more than 3,000 subdivisions. In Hindu tradition, the four main castes are said to have originated from the head, arms, thighs, and feet respectively of Brahma, the creator; the members of the fifth were probably the aboriginal inhabitants of the country, known variously as Scheduled Castes, Oppressed Classes, Untouchables, or Harijan (a name ironically coined by Gandhi meaning 'children of God' - ironically because Ghandi suppressed the Untouchable uprising which was demanding equality and actively promoted the continued abuse of the Untouchables). This lowest caste handles animal products, rubbish, and human wastes and are considered to be polluting by touch, or even by sight, to others. Discrimination against them was supposedly made illegal 1947 when India became independent, but persists, with millions of Untouchables being treated inhumanely and as virtual slaves, being beaten, raped and murdered should they 'forget their place' and perhaps use a village well reserved for all other castes. Members of the Untouchable caste are segregated from the rest of society, and forced to live in appalling conditions, some scratching a living by cleaning the sewers, others by foraging for food scraps from rubbish bins.
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Castile soap is a type of hard, white soap made from olive oil sometimes including iron rust matter.
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Castor is a star (Alpha Geminorum) of magnitude 1.6, the fainter star of the zodiacal constellation Gemini, or the Twins. In 1719 it was discovered to be a visual binary star, with components of magnitudes 2.8 and 2.0 separated by 6 seconds of arc and revolving around each other in about 350 years. Each of these components has been found to be a spectroscopic binary. In addition, a faint companion, separated from the other two by 72 sec of arc, has been discovered. This star is also a spectroscopic binary, the two components of which revolve around each other in about one day. Hence, the entire system of the star Castor contains at least six stars. Its distance is about 45 light- years from the earth.
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Casuistry is the science which deals with difficult cases of conscience - i.e. which undertakes to apply acknowledged principles of conduct to doubtful cases, or cases where there seems to be a conflict of duties. The science was developed systematically by the medieval church in the 14th and 15th centuries.
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A cat burglar is a burglar characterised by climbing buildings so as to enter through the upper levels, as distinct from a common burglar who breaks in through any convenient point.
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The cat and fiddle is a popular British public house sign. The sign owes its origins to being a corruption of Caton le fidele which actually means Caton, governor of Calais, and not the cat and the fiddle!
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Catacombs are subterranean cemeteries.
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A catafalque is a temporary and ornamental structure, representing a tomb, placed over the coffin of a distinguished person or over a grave.
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A catamite is a young boy kept for homosexual sex by an older man. The practice occurred in ancient Greece, where older men would take boys with the parents permission as homosexual lovers, and in return ensured the boy received an education, thereby relieving the parents of the financial burden of paying for the boy's education. The ancient Mayas provided single young men with a slave boy for sex, so as to protect other men's wives and the women from the attentions of overly-anxious young single men.
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In geography a cataract is a large waterfall, or series of waterfalls.
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A catechism is an elementary book containing a number of principles in any science or art, but originally particularly in religion, reduced to the form of questions and answers. Catechisms were quite rare, until the format was adopted by the computer industry in the form of the FAQ (frequently asked questions).
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Catheterophilia is sexual arousal from catheters.
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The Cato Street Conspiracy was a plot to murder British ministers in 1820. Arthur Thistlewood, who had already been mixed up with revolutionary projects, conceived a plan for assassinating Lord Castlereagh and his ministerial colleagues at a dinner in Grosvenor Square, London on February 23rd. Arms were collected in a hired rendezvous in the neighbouring Cato Street. The plot was discovered, and Thistlewood and his colleagues (Brunt, Davidson, Harrison, Ings, Monument, Tidd and Wilson) were arrested (Arthur Thistlewood escaped at the time, but was arrested the next day). All eight were sent to the Tower of London and Thistlewood and four others were hanged for high treason on May the 1st 1820.
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Catoptromancy is divination by means of mirrors.
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The catty was a Chinese unit of weight equivalent to 1.5 lbs.
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A cauldron is a large boiling vessel, usually of a deep basin shape with a hoop handle and a removable lid.
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A causeway is a raised road across a low or wet piece of land.
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A cavalcade is a procession of riders on horse-back.
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A cave is a deep hollow place under ground.
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Cavendish is softened tobacco which has been sweetened with molasses and then pressed into cakes. Cavendish was first manufactured in the USA by a company called Cavendish.
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Cavo-Rilievo is a form of sculpture in which the highest surface of the relief is only level with that of the original stone.
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A cedilla is a mark made under the letter c, especially in French, to indicate that it is to be pronounced like the English s.
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A ceilidh is a Gaelic festival of singing and dancing held in Scotland and Ireland.
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A cellaret is a receptacle, usually in a dining room, for a few bottles of wine or liquor, made in the form of a chest or coffer, or a deep drawer in a sideboard, and usually lined with metal.
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Cement is a mixture of chalk and clay used for building.
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A cenotaph is a monument erected in honour of a deceased person, but not containing his body. The Greeks erected cenotaphs, and a number were built in England after the Great War, the most famous is in Whitehall, London which was designed by Sir E Luytens and unveiled by the King on Armistice Day (11th November 1920).
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Censorship of books is the supervision of books by some authority so as to settle what may be published. After the invention of printing the rapid diffusion of opinions by means of books induced the governments in all countries to assume certain powers of supervision and regulation with regard to printed matter. The popes were the first to institute a regular censorship. By a bull of Leo X. in 1515 the bishops and inquisitors were required to examine all works before they were printed, with a view to prevent the publication of heretical opinions. As this decree could not be carried out in countries which had accepted the reformed religion, they prepared a list of prohibited books (known as the Index Librorum Prohibitorum), books, that is, which nobody was allowed to read under penalty of the censure of the church. This index continued to be reprinted and revised as late as 1906, as well as another index commonly called the Index Expurgatorius, containing the works which may be read if certain expurgations have been made.
In England the censorship was established by act of parliament in 1662, but before that both the well-known Star-chamber and the parliament itself had virtually performed the functions. In 1694 the censorship in England ceased entirely. In France the censorship, like so many other institutions, was annihilated by the revolution. During the republic there was no formal censorship, but the supervision of the directory virtually took its place, and at length in 1810 Napoleon openly restored it under another name (Direction de rimprimerie). After the restoration it underwent various changes, and was re-established by Napoleon III, but again abolished. In the old German empire the diet of 1530 instituted a severe superintendence of the press, but in the particular German states the censure was very differently applied, and in Protestant states especially it was never difficult for individual authors to obtain exemption. In 1849 the censorial laws were repealed, but were again gradually introduced, and still existed in a modified form in most of the German states in 1906. The censorship was abolished in Denmark in 1770, in Sweden in 1809, in the Netherlands in 1815.
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The census is a questionnaire issued every ten years in Britain which gathers detailed figures concerning the population, classified according to sex, age, occupation, size of families and geographical distribution.
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The cental was a weight of 100 pounds legal in Britain since 1879 and used primarily for corn. The term was invented by Danson, a barrister, in order to meet the need for a uniform measure in the Liverpool corn trade. It was first introduced in February 1859, and legalised twenty years later.
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Centaurus (the Centaur) is a southern constellation, which is visible chiefly south of the equator. The brightest star in this constellation, Alpha Centauri, is also the third brightest star in the sky. It is about 4.3 light-years from the earth and is the closest visible star to the earth's solar system. The star is actually a double star, with a third star, Proxima Centauri, revolving around the others.
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The Centennial Exhibition was an international exhibition of arts, manufactures and products of the soil and mines held at Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, during the summer of 1876. It was the first international exhibition held in the USA, and was also an anniversary exhibition of the world's progress in the hundredth year of the existence of the USA. The exhibition was proposed by the citizens of Philadelphia in 1870. In 1872 Congress permitted the appointment of a Board of Finance. This board raised a capital stock of $10,000,000 from among the citizens of Philadelphia. Congress afterward appropriated $2,000,000 as a loan; the State of Pennsylvania $1,000,000, and Philadelphia $1,500,000. Many European and other foreign countries sent exhibits, which were admitted free of duty under bond. The exhibition was open from May the 10th until November the 10th. The paid admissions numbered 8,000,000.
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A centiare is a French measurement, the hundredth part of an are.
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A centner is a European name for a hundred-weight.
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A cento is a poem formed out of verses taken from one or more poets, so arranged as to form a distinct poem. CENTO (Central Treaty Organisation) was a defensive union of the 1950s to 1970s comprising the member states of the USA, UK, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and Turkey with the aim of meeting a Communist attack on one of the member states. Iraq withdrew in 1958 and Pakistan in 1972 before the organisation was dissolved.
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The Central Criminal Court was set up in 1834 in the Old Bailey, which stands on the site of old Newgate Prison. Here serious criminal cases from London and the surrounding areas are heard.
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Ceramics are brittle materials made from the strong heating of clay, such as pottery and china.
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Ceres is a planet with a diameter of 256 km which was discovered on the 1st of January 1801 by Giuseppe Piazzi at Palermo. It was named Ceres after the goddess Ceres who was so highly esteemed by the ancient Sicilians.
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A chafing-dish was a portable grate for coals, used for heating objects.
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The chain is a unit of the imperial scale of measurement of length equivalent to 22 yards or 20.168 metres. A chain is comprised of 100 links, each 7.92 inches long. 10 chains equal one furlong, and 10 square chains equal one acre.
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In arithmetic, a chain rule is a theorem for solving numerical problems by the composition of ratios, or compound proportion, by which, when several ratios of equality are given, the consequent of each being the same as the antecedent of the next, the relation between the first antecedent and the last consequent is discovered.
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The chalder was a Scottish dry measure containing 16 bolls, equivalent to 12 imperial quarters. It was originally used in weighing grain.
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The chaldron is an old English unit of capacity measurement equivalent to 36 bushels. It was used as a measure of coal in England, equal to 6,800 lbs.
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A chalice is a ceremonial cup.
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The Chamberlain's Men were an Elizabethan stage troupe. It's most famous member was the young William Shakespeare.
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In legal talk, chambers are the rooms where barristers do their work before appearing in court.
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The chambre a crucer was an old tortuous method of execution in which the victim was packed in a heavy chest together with numerous sharp stones before being buried alive.
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Chance-Medley is a now obsolete legal term which has been replaced by the term 'manslaughter'. It described a homicide which occurred either in self- defence, on a sudden quarrel, or in the commission of an unlawful act without any deliberate intention of doing mischief.
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A changeling is a child substituted for another, usually at birth. There was formerly a belief that weak or peevish children were changelings, perhaps swapped by fairies or other evil spirits.
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Chap-Books were a type of cheap literature sold cheaply by chapmen and peddlers who hawked them from district to district. They contained stories and biographies of a generally popular nature and were the fore runners of modern periodicals.
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Chapadmalal is a world famous stud-horse farm in Argentina.
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A chaperon was a device placed on the foreheads of horses drawing a hearse.
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A chaplet is a string of beads used by Roman Catholics to count the number of their prayers. A chaplet is a third of a rosary, and usually consists of fifty-five beads.
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A chariot was a two wheeled vehicle used in ancient warfare.
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The Charles River Bridge Case was an important American Supreme Court case. In 1785 the Legislature of Massachusetts incorporated a company to build a bridge over the Charles River from Charlestown to Boston, granting tolls. In 1828 the Legislature granted the incorporation of another company to build what is known as the Warren Bridge, which was eventually to be free. The first company brought suit in the Supreme Court of Massachusetts for an injunction to prevent the erection of the Warren Bridge, stating that the act of the Legislature incorporating the second company impaired the obligations of a contract made with the first company and was therefore repugnant to the National Constitution.
The Supreme Court of Massachusetts found judgment for the defendant, and this decision was confirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1837, on the ground that a State law may be retrospective and may divest vested rights, without impairing contract. This was a limitation of the decision given in the Dartmouth College case.
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Charterhouse is a celebrated school and charitable foundation in the city of London. It was built in 1371 as a priory for Carthusian monks by Sir Walter Manny. After the dissolution of the monasteries it passed through several hands until it came to Thomas Sutton who converted it into a hospital and school. In 1872 it was moved to Godalming and the premises in London sold to the Merchant Taylors' School. New buildings were erected at the original site in 1875.
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In Norman times, a chase (or chace) was a hunting ground stocked with beasts and under private, rather than royal ownership which was called a forest. A chase was protected only by common law.
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Chasing is the art of working decorative forms in low-relief in gold, silver or other metals.
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The Chatham Chest (later Greenwich Chest) was a fund established in 1590 on the recommendation of Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Hawkins for the relief of sick and wounded seamen. The deduction of money from seamen's pay to the fund ceased in 1829 by which time the fund was practically merged in the general relief funds of the Greenwich Hospital.
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Chauvinism is fanatical devotion to a cause, especially patriotism. The term comes from Nicholas Chauvin who was a soldier so enthusiastically devoted to Napoleon that his comrades ridiculed him.
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The Cherokee Nation v Georgia was an important case heard before the US Supreme Court, and decided in 1831. By the Hopewell treaty of 1785 the United States recognized the Cherokees as a nation capable of making peace and war, of governing its citizens and of owning and governing its lands. About 1826 the Georgia Legislature through Governor Troup declared these treaties not. binding upon the State, on the ground that Georgia and the Federal Government were equal and independent powers, and that disputes between them could not be decided by the Supreme Court, but by negotiation.
In 1830 an act was passed by the Georgia Legislature authorizing a survey and apportionment of the Cherokee lands within the State, their gold mines were seized and they were considered under the Slaters dominion, thus ousting the Cherokees from the lands solemnly guaranteed by the United States. The Cherokees. applied to President Jackson without success. Then they tried the Supreme Court. This court decided them not a foreign State, capable of maintaining an action in the court, but a domestic, dependent nation. The injunction was refused and the Cherokees relegated to the mercy of Georgia. Later, in the case of Worcester v Georgia, State authority in such matters was denied by the Supreme Court, Federal treaties being declared to have precedence.
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On December the 10th 1778, the village of Cherry Valley in Central New York was destroyed by 700 Tories (supporters of the English king) and Indians. About fifty inhabitants were murdered without regard to age or sex. The massacre was typical of British methods against the colonists and further encouraged the American colonists desire to break away from British rule.
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In 1807 three Negro sailors deserted from the British man-of-war 'Melampus' and enlisted on the United States ship 'Chesapeake'. The British squadron was then just within the Virginia capes. The British admiral demanded a surrender of the sailors. This was refused by the US Government. Accordingly, on June the 22nd, as the 'Chesapeake', in a half-prepared condition, was sailing out from Hampton Roads, a lieutenant from the British ship 'Leopard' boarded her and again demanded the deserters. Upon being refused, Captain Humphrey immediately opened fire upon the 'Chesapeake' which Commodore Barron, who was wholly unprepared, was compelled to surrender without firing a gun.
President Jefferson at once issued a proclamation demanding a disavowal of the act, the restoration of the captured sailors and the recall of Admiral Berkeley. Though some tardy reparation was made, the affair greatly exasperated American opinion against the British, and contributed to bring on the War of 1812.
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The term 'grinning like a Cheshire cat' is coined to describe a wide cheesy smile. The term originates from olden times when cheese was made in the form of cats in Cheshire, and hence the term provides the allusion to a cheesy grin. The phrase was popularised in the book 'Alice in Wonderland' where the character of the Cheshire cat, a cat with a persistent wide smile, occurs.
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A chest was a British measurement of tea ranging from 80 to 84 lbs.
A chest was a British measure of clover equivalent to 200 lbs, in use during the 19th century.
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The Chevrolet Corvair was an American low-priced economy car produced from 1959 to 1969 in response to imports of European economy cars. The Chevrolet Corvair was produced in various models, including a four-door saloon and a convertible. They were powered by either a 2377 or 2684 cc air-cooled flat six engine rated at between 80 and 180 bhp providing a top speed of between 140 and 170 kmh.
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The Chevrolet Corvette Stingray was an American sports car produced between 1963 and 1967. The Chevrolet Corvette Stingray was powered by a V-eight engine, varying in capacity between 5365 and 7000 cc and providing between 250 and 560 bhp, and a top speed of between 190 and 235 kmh depending upon engine.
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Chiaroscuro is a style of painting in black-and-white, representing light in shadow and shadow in light so that the parts represented in shadow still have the clearness and warmth of those in light.
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A chibouk or chibouque is a long Turkish smoking-pipe used for smoking tobacco. Similar pipes are used in North Africa for smoking hashish.
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The University of Chicago was first founded in 1857, but closed 1886 through financial troubles. In 1890 it was entirely reorganized, largely through the gifts of John D Rockefeller.
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The Chickasaw Case was a famous American court case in the anti-slavery campaign. In 1836 a writ of habeas corpus was served against Captain Eldridge of the brig 'Chickasaw' for holding two black women with the intent of carrying them South. The women were ordered discharged on their presenting free papers. This action against Eldridge resulted from the efforts of Northern people in organizing vigilance committees against kidnapping.
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The Children of God is a religious movement, or more properly cult, founded by the late David Berg in 1969 after supposedly receiving a revelation from God that California was about to be devastated by an earth quake. The cult uses David Berg's own interpretation of the bible and insists that all new members sever all ties with their families and surrender their worldly belongings to the group and become full time evangelists. Berg introduced free consensual sexual activity among the membership encouraging fornication, adultery, lesbianism and incest with children as young as 18-months being sexually abused, with the approval of the cult.
In 1985, David Berg's daughter Deborah Davis published the book 'The Children of God: The Inside Story' in which she described how she and her sister had been sexually abused by their Father, and revealed some home truths about the cult. Cult members are forbidden to read the book, but many have and subsequently left the cult. Other strange ideas among the cult are that children are raised in groups by foster parents, the man being referred to as the 'shepherd', and the female children being encouraged to regularly perform oral sex on him. Women in the cult are forbidden to shave any part of their body, and all members are limited to three minutes shower time. Members are severely restricted in the possession of money, and denied access to newspapers, and television with occasional video rentals limited to 'approved' films. Members failing to speak in tongues are punished, leading many to learn gobbledegook and pretend to speak in tongues.
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Chimney money or hearth money was a former tax imposed on every fireplace in a house during the 17th century. The tax was repealed by William and Mary.
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The China League was founded in Britain in 1900 by members of parliament and others to promote intercourse with China and neighbouring countries, and bring these together in the interests of commerce and national development.
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Chinaware is a name given to porcelain (pottery made from kaolin), so called from China being the first country to supply it to Europeans. It is thought that the Chinese produced porcelain from ancient times, but it wasn't until around 500 AD that they perfected the art. Chinaware first came to Europe in the beginning of the 16th century and won immediate popularity for its beauty and novelty.
The European consumers thought it impossible to match the whiteness of Chinaware, until John Frederick of Saxony, an alchemist, discovered a means of producing a porcelain equal in whiteness to the Chinaware. This led to the establishment by the Government of a factory at Meissen which started to produce porcelain rivalling the Chinaware in beauty and quality. Chinaware, when broken, presents a granular surface with a compact, dense, firm, hard, vitreous and durable texture. It is semi-transparent, with a covering of white glaze, clear, smooth, unaffected by all acids except hydroflouric acid, and able to withstand sudden changes of temperature.
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Chinese blue is a blue pigment. It is a refined form of Prussian blue with a good colour and a fine bronze lustre.
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The Chinese Exclusion Acts were several acts of the US government forbidding the immigration of Chinese labourers into the United States. The original act of 1882 forbade the immigration from 1882 to 1892. In 1892 another act was passed extending the ban until 1902, and again in1902 another act was passed further forbidding the immigration of Chinese labourers.
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Chinese red (also known as American vermillion, chrome red, Derby red and Persian red) is a red pigment comprised of chromate of lead.
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Chinese white is a pigment comprising white zinc oxide, introduced into the arts as a non-toxic substitute for white lead.
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The chinook is the warm dry wind at the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains, and presents the same features as the fohn winds of Switzerland. The chinook winds descend from the Rockies, and while they are chiefly found in Montana and Wyoming, they also extend from the southern part of Colorado up into Canada as far as the Arctic circle. The high temperatures are confined to the valleys, and occur in streaks or pockets so that a traveller frequently passes suddenly from a very warm to a very cold atmosphere.
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Chiromancy is divination by inspection of the hands (popularly known as palmistry).
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The Chisholm Case was a legal proceeding in the USA that eventually led, through the enactment of the 11th Amendment to the US. Constitution, to a limitation on the jurisdiction of the federal courts. Decided in 1793 by the US. Supreme Court, the case of Chisholm v. Georgia (2 Dallas 419) was brought against the state of Georgia by Alexander Chisholm, a citizen of South Carolina, regarding an inheritance of which he was the legatee. The Supreme Court took jurisdiction under Article III, Section 2, of the Constitution, which confers jurisdiction on the federal courts in cases between a state and citizens of another state. Georgia challenged both the right of citizens to sue state governments and the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in such cases. The Supreme Court ruling affirmed the jurisdiction of the courts.
On March the 5th, 1794, Congress passed the 11th Amendment, which was ratified on February the 7th, 1795. It removed from the jurisdiction of the federal courts cases in which a citizen of one state is the plaintiff and the government of another state is the defendant; it limited the jurisdiction of the federal courts to cases in which the government of a state is the plaintiff and the citizen of another state is the defendant.
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A choir is a band or organised company of singers, especially in church service. The term is also used to describe that part of a church appropriated to the singers.
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A chondrite is a stony meteorite that contains tiny, more or less spherical inclusions, called chondrules, formed by rapid cooling of molten materials. The chondrules consist of minerals such as pyroxene as well as various iron minerals. Such meteorites are of scientific importance because many are thought to represent a record of conditions in the earliest days of the solar system.
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In geometry, a chord is a line joining the extremities of an arc.
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Choreophilia is sexual arousal from dancing.
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Chrematistophilia is sexual arousal from paying for, or being robbed, for sex.
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Christie's is a famous fine art auction house in London founded in 1766.
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Christmas is the Christian celebration of the birth of their saviour, Jesus Christ. The festival we now call Christmas was adopted from earlier pagan winter solstice celebrations celebrating the sun, including the Roman festival of Saturnalia celebrated from December the 17th to the 24th; Celtic Yuletide which was a twelve-day long festival of feasting around November/December; the Roman New Year celebrated on January the first when lights and greenery were used to decorate houses in celebration of the birth of the undying sun, and presents were given to children and the poor. Other elements of modern Christmas celebrations are also adopted from earlier pagan celebrations: the Christmas tree as a fir tree originates with the Oak tree that was sacred to Odin in Norse and Germanic tradition, and which was replaced by the fir tree declared to be sacred to Jesus by St Boniface in Germany in the 8th century. Mistletoe and holly were sacred to the Druids who used them as decorations in their winter solstice celebrations to the sun around mid-December.
Christmas was first celebrated around the 2nd century on two dates depending upon church; the Roman catholic church adopting December the 25th and some other churches adopting January the 6th which around the 5th century became Epiphany. Christmas day was officially transferred to the 25th of December by Julius I, who died in 352. The Puritans suppressed Christmas celebrations in Britain and America on the justifiable grounds of their pagan origins, however since the 18th century when the first Christmas cards were produced by the company of Goodall of London in 1862, peoples of many cultures, including Jews have celebrated Christmas in a variety of religious, pagan and other ways, with today the Jehova's Witnesses being the only major Christian objectors to the celebration of Christmas - on the perfectly correct grounds that it is a pagan festival, and the irrefutable evidence suggests that Jesus was not born on December the 25th or even in the month of December.
Complaints about the commercialisation of Christmas are not new. In the 19th century Charles Dickens character 'Ebeneazer Scrooge' in the novel 'A Christmas Carol' complains that Christmas is a 'humbug' or in other words a con or a rip off, a sentiment widely echoed by shoppers in Britain at the end of the 20th century.
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Chrome green is a composite pigment made by combining a small amount of Prussian blue with pale yellow chrome. Chrome green comes in various shades, all of which are opaque with good staining ability. Chrome green is fairly permanent, but tends to turn blue under the influence of weathering, and discolour upon contact with sulphur and alkalis. Chrome green darkens as it dries, making it a difficult pigment to colour match.
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The Chubut was a government of the Argentine Republic with Rawson as its capital founded in 1865 by Welsh settlers. It was a chiefly cattle raising community comprised of Argentines, Italians, Welsh and native Indians.
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Church ales were important social and money-raising functions in the Tudor and Stuart periods in England. The churchwardens at this time sold, or distributed free of charge, ale and food, sometimes in the church house or in a barn or in the church itself, with the purpose of attracting local residents where they might then be induced to pay the parish rates.
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In America, in 1631 a law was enacted by the Massachusetts Assembly, providing that no man should be a freeman of the colony unless he became a member of some church. This requirement was abolished under the charter of 1691. A similar rule prevailed in the New Haven colony between 1639 and 1662.
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A churchwarden was a long clay pipe, as smoked by churchwardens when they met up in the parish tavern after work.
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A churn is a vessel in which milk or cream is agitated or beaten in order to separate the liquid from the solids, thereby leaving butter. Originally churns consisted of an upright wooden vessel in which the milk was agitated by a pole with a wooden disk at the lower end (known as a dasher). By the late 19th century churns were being made of metal, and were generally circular and fitted with rods inside known as dashers. Two methods of agitation were employed, sometimes the vessel was turned by way of a handle, and sometimes the dashers inside were turned by way of a handle.
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In the Roman Catholic church ciborium is the name given to the coffer or case in which the host is kept; the pyx.
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A cinch is a strong saddle girth, usually of canvas, formerly popular in the western USA.
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Cinderella is a fairy story about an abused scullery girl who lives with her wicked step-mother and two ugly step-sisters; who is invited to a royal ball, provided with a temporary enchantment of rich costume and coach and horses by a fairy god mother, while at the ball dances with the prince who falls in love with her, but leaving quickly before the enchantment wears off she leaves behind one of her slippers. The prince then endeavours to locate his love, which he does by having the girls of the neighbourhood try on the slipper until he finds the one girl the slipper fits. In English the slipper is referred to as a glass slipper, but this is a mistake in the story's translation. It should actually be a sable slipper, which were only worn by royalty - hence the fairy god mother gave the heroine of the story a pair of royal slippers to wear.
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The Cinematograph Films Act of 1927 was a British act of Parliament which came into force on April 1st 1928 for a ten year period until March 31st 1938. The act required that British renters of films included in their output a certain proportion of films made in the British Empire. Exhibitors of films were also required to show a proportion of British films. The proportions were on a sliding scale, gradually increasing over the ten year period.
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Ciric-Sceat or Church Scot was an ecclesiastical tax paid chiefly in corn during the reign of Canute and there abouts. The tax was paid on St Martin's day.
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The ancient Greeks and Romans called the coffers they used for the remains of the dead a cist. The Greek and Roman cists were cylindrical and made of wickerwork. The cicts used in the rites of ceres were made of bronze.
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In ancient times and hence in the bible, a city was a large town with walls and gates. In Britain the term city refers to a large town with a corporation and a cathedral.
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City Lights was a British situation comedy television show starring Gerard Kelly, Andy Gray and Jan Wilson in a story about a Scottish bank clerk determined to make it as a novelist. City Lights was written by Bob Black and screened by BBC from 1987 to 1991.
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The City and Guilds of London Institute is an association established by the Corporation and Livery Companies of the City of London for the promotion of technical education in all its branches. It was founded in 1878, and incorporated by royal charter.
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The American Civil Rights Act was an act passed by Congress over President Johnson's veto on April the 9th 1866, aiming to place the Negro on the same civil footing as the whites. Its principal section provided that all persons born in the United States, and not subjected to any foreign power, excluding Indians not taxed, were to be recognized as citizens of the United States. The violation of this act was made a misdemeanour to be considered by the Federal courts alone. The President was given power to enforce the act by special or military force. The controversy over the constitutionality of the act led to the framing of the Fourteenth Amendment, passed June the 13th, 1866. After this a more stringent act to secure the civil rights of the Negro was passed in 1875. But the Supreme Court in 1883 declared its most important sections unconstitutional.
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A clack dish is a dish or basin with a movable lid. During the Elizabethan times beggars proclaimed their want by clacking the lid of a wooden dish.
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The Claim of Right was a document agreed to by the Scottish Convention parliament at Edinburgh asserting the constitutional liberties of the kingdom, accepted by King William III and Queen Mary II at Whitehall on May the 11th 1689.
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A claque was a body of men and women (known as claqueurs) hired to applaud, laugh and weep as appropriate in theatres with the intention of making the show a success. It originated in France around 1760 and ceased around 1878.
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The Clarendon Press was the name formerly given to the press at the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1672 and the printing house erected in 1711 to 1713 with profits from the sale of Lord Clarendon's 'History of the Rebellion', the copyright of which was given to the university by his son. Since 1830 the press has been known as the Oxford University Press.
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In linguistics, a clause is a sentence or sentence-like construction included within another sentence. For example, within the sentence 'I did it because I wanted to.' The sub-part 'because I wanted to' is a clause.
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The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty was a treaty drawn up between the USA and Great Britain in 1850, and named after the negotiators, John M Clayton and Sir H Lytton Bulwer, under the treaty neither power was to obtain exclusive control over any canal across the Central American Isthmus, but all such communications by canal or railway were to be neutral. The treaty was superseded by the 1901 Hay-Pauncefote Treaty.
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A cleat is a piece of wood or metal with two projecting ends around which ropes are belayed.
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Cleromancy is divination by means of lots, or by dice.
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Click is a peculiar variety of speech which occurs in the Bushman and Hottentot languages. The sounds are produced by pressing the tongue against some portion of the teeth-ridge or palate, and then quickly withdrawing it so as to produce an implosive click.
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It was once believed that 7 and 9, with their multiples, were critical points in life; and 63, produced by multiplying 7 and 9 together, was termed the grand climacteric, which few people succeeded in outliving.
Climacteric years are the seventh and ninth, with their multiples by the odd numbers 3, 5, 7 and 9 - that is 7, 9, 21, 27, 35, 45, 49, 63 and 81 - over which astrologers declare that the planet Saturn presides.
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The Clinton Bridge Case was an important litigation in the United States Supreme Court, 1870, which established the doctrine by which railroad bridges may be said to have gained clear recognition of their rights of way in preference to the navigable waters crossed by them, through the power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce.
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Clitorilingus is sex involving contact between the mouth and the clitoris.
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A clock is a timepiece that chimes, though the term is frequently, and incorrectly, applied to the non-chiming instruments for measuring time, a timepiece.
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The clog almanac was a square piece of wood, brass or bone about eight inches long which could be hung up in a room or fixed into a walking stick. It was a perpetual almanac showing the Sundays and other fixed festivals.
Clog almanacs were introduced into England by the Danes.
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Cloisonne is a form of decorative enamel.
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The term cloister is applied to a monastic establishment; a place for retirement from the world for religious duties.
Cloister is a generic term, and denotes a place of seclusion from the world for persons who devote their lives to religious purposes. It differs from a convent in that the distinctive idea of a cloister is that of seclusion from the world, while that of a convent is a community of living. Both terms denote houses for recluses of either sex.
A cloister or convent for monks is called a monastery; for nuns, a nunnery. An abbey is a convent or monastic institution governed by an abbot or an abbess; a priory is one governed by a prior or a prioress, and is usually affiliated to an abbey.
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The clove hitch is a knot. Formerly in scaffolding the poles were lashed, and a clove hitch started the lashing.
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Clubmen were associations founded in the southern and western counties of England, to restrain the excesses of the armies during the civil wars of 1642 - 1649. They professed neutrality, but inclined towards the king, and were considered enemies by his opponents.
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Co-education is the education of the two sexes together, not only in the same institution, but also in the same classes. The idea is coincident with the belief that the mental capacities of boys and girls are equal, and that their roles should to a large extent be interchangeable.
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A co-respondent is the person charged with adultery jointly with the defendant spouse on a divorce petition, or a joint defendant to an appeal.
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A coalition is an alliance of States or political parties for common action on a specified policy.
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In geography, the coast is the edge of land in contact with the sea.
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The Cobden Club was an institution formed to sp | 
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