Apatosaurus - also known as Brontosaurus - was a huge, plant-eating dinosaur, of the suborder Sauropoda, that lived in the Late Jurassic period, more than 140 million years ago. The name Brontosaur comes from the Greek bronte, 'thunder' and sauros, 'lizard', and implies that the animal shook the ground when it walked. It was about 21 metres long and weighed up to 30 metric tons. Its body was relatively short and thick, the neck long and slender, the tail large and strong, and the four limbs massive and of nearly equal length. The first brontosaurus skeleton was discovered in 1879 in Colorado by the American palaeontologist Othniel Charles Marsh. It lacked a skull, so Marsh gave it a blunt, small skull found nearby. Scientists confirmed in 1979 that the skull was that of another sauropod, Camarasaurus. The Apatosaurus true skull was found to have a longer snout and longer, finer teeth. Research Apatosaurus
The augurs were a board or college of diviners who, amongst the Romans, predicted future events and announced the will of the gods from the occurrence of certain signs. These consisted of signs in the sky, especially thunder and lightning; signs from the flight and cries of birds; from the feeding of the sacred chickens; from the course taken or sounds uttered by various quadrupeds or by serpents; from accidents or occurrences, such as spilling the salt, sneezing, etc. The answers of the augurs as well as the signs by which they were governed were called auguries, but bird-predictions were properly termed auspices. Nothing of consequence could be undertaken without consulting the augurs, and by the mere utterance of the words alio die ('meet on another day') they could dissolve the assembly of the people and annul all decrees passed at the meeting. Research Augurs
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus often called simply Marcus Aurelius was Roman emperor and philosopher. He was born in 121 AD and died in 180 AD. He was the son-in-law, adopted son, and successor of Antoninus Pius. He succeeded to the throne in 161. His name originally was Marcus Annius Verus. He voluntarily shared the government with Lucius Verus, whom Antoninus Pius had also adopted. Brought up and instructed by Plutarch's nephew, Sextus, the orator Herodes Atticus, and Volusius Mecianus, the jurist, he had become acquainted with learned men, and formed a particular love for the Stoic philosophy. A war with Parthia broke out in the year of his accession, and did not terminate until 166.
A confederacy of the northern tribes now threatened Italy, while a frightful pestilence, brought from the East with the army, raged in Rome itself. Both emperors set out in person against the rebellious tribes. In 169 Verus died, and the sole command of the war devolved on Marcus Aurelius, who prosecuted it with the utmost rigour, and nearly exterminated the Marcomanni. His victory over the Quadi in 174 is connected with a famous legend. Dion Cassius tells us that the twelfthlegion of the Roman army was shut up in a defile, and reduced to great straits for want of water, when a body of Christians enrolled in the legion prayed for relief. Not only was rain sent, which enabled the Romans to quench their thirst, but a fierce storm of hail beat upon the enemy, accompanied by thunder and lightning, which so terrified them that a complete victory was obtained, and the legion was ever after called 'The Thundering Legion'. After this victory the Marcomanni, the Quadi, as well as the rest of the barbarians, sued for peace. The sedition of the Syrian governor Avidius Cassius, with whom Faustina, the empress, was in treasonable communication, called off the emperor from his conquests, but before he reached Asia the rebel was assassinated. Aurelius returned to Rome, after visiting Egypt and Greece, but soon new incursions of the Marcomanni compelled him once more to take the field. He defeated the enemy several times, but was taken sick at Sirmium, and died at Vindobona (Vienna) in 180.
His only extant work is the Meditations, written in Greek, and which has been translated into most modern languages. This may be regarded as a manual of practical morality, in which wisdom, gentleness, and benevolence are combined in the most fascinating manner. Many believe it to have been intended for the instruction of his son Commodus. Aurelius was one of the best emperors ever Rome saw, although his philosophy and the magnanimity of his character did not restrain him from the persecution of the Christians, whose religious doctrines he was led to believe - perhaps with good reason - were subversive of good government. Research Aurelius Antoninus
John Dennis was an English critic. He was born in 1657 at London and died in 1734. He was, to begin with, a man of independent means, and devoting himself to literature wrote some dramatic pieces and poems, and at length settled down to criticism. His irritability and rancorous criticisms involved him in perpetual broils. He was best known for his quarrels with Alexander Pope. He wrote a stage tragedy for which he devised a form of stage thunder which was later used in a production of Macbeth, in response to which Dennis complained that they had stolen his thunder. Hence the origin of the term to steal one's thunder. Research John Dennis
The Aesir were the principal gods in Norse mythology. They lived in Asgard. Four of the gods were common to the Germanic nations: Odin, chief of the Aesir; Frigg Odin's wife; Tyr the god of war; and Thor the god of thunder. Some of the other important Aesir were Balder, Jord, Heimdall, and Loki. Research Aesir
In Japanese mythology, Ajisukitakahikone was the chief of many thunder- spirits, and the father of Takitsuhiko, the lord of pouring rain. When he was a baby he was so noisy that his nurses carried him up and down a flight of steps to soothe him, and then put him in a boat to sail endlessly round and around Japan, and this is why the sound of thunder is heard to approach and then recede. Research Ajisukitakahikone
In North American Indian mythology Enumclaw and Kapoonis were two mortal twins who sought spirit servants to give them powers over other mortals. Enumclaw tamed a fire spirit and learned how to toss fragments of fire, Kapoonis tamed a rock spirit and learned how to toss boulders. They then terrorised civilization until Father Sky, so alarmed took them into his kingdom and made them spirits, Enumclaw becoming lightning, and Kapoonis thunder. Research Enumclaw and Kapoonis
In Christian mythology, Gabriel is the angel who announced to Zacharias the birth of John, and to Mary the birth of Jesus.
In Jewish mythology he is one of the seven archangels. The rabbins say he is the angel of death for the Israelites, and according to the Talmud he is a prince of fire, who presides over thunder and the ripening of fruits.
In Islamic mythology he is one of the four angels employed in writing the divine decrees, and the angel of revelation, in which capacity he dictated the Koran to Mohammed. Research Gabriel
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Apatosaurus
