Any of certain economically important and usually single-celled fungi (&see; fungus), most of which are classified as ascomycetes. Found worldwide in soils and on plant surfaces, yeasts are especially abundant in sugary mediums such as flo...

The Spanish Hebrew poet and religious thinker Judah Halevi (ca. 1085-ca. 1150) taught that God had revealed Himself primarily through the people of Israel. Few definite facts are known about Judah Halevi. He was born in Toledo, Castile, to...

acute infectious disease, one of the great epidemic diseases of the tropical world, though it sometimes has occurred in temperate zones as well. The disease, caused by a flavivirus, infects humans, all species of monkeys, and certain other...

River, northern, central, and eastern China. The second longest river in China and one of the world's longest, it flows 3,395 mi (5,464 km) from the Plateau of Tibet generally east to the Yellow Sea (Huang Hai). In its lower reaches it has...

Through a woman's perspective of assumed insanity, Charlotte Perkins Gilman comments on the role of the female in the late nineteenth century society in relation to her male counterpart in her short story "The Yellow Wallpaper." Gilman us...

the oldest, one of the largest, and probably the best-known national park in the United States. It is situated in northwestern Wyoming and partly in southern Montana and eastern Idaho and includes the greatest concentration of geothermal f...

"Yentl, the Yeshiva Boy" by Isaac Bashevis Singer Isaac Bashevis Singer, the son of Pinchas Mendel Singer and Bathsheba Zylberman, was born in 1904 in the Polish village of Leoncin. His father, an impoverished Hasidic Rabbi, proudly claimed...

(died Aug. 6, 1584/85, Siberia) Cossack leader. In 1579 he was enlisted by the merchant Stroganov family to defend its possessions against attacks by Siberian tribesmen. He set out with an expeditionary force of 840 Cossacks and reached th...

British progressive rock band known for its extended compositions and virtuoso musicianship. Its principal members were Jon Anderson (b. Oct. 25, 1944, Accrington, Lancashire, Eng.), Chris Squire (b. March 4, 1948, London, Eng.), Steve How...

any of numerous Jewish academies of Talmudic learning, whose biblical and legal exegesis and application of Scripture have defined and regulated Jewish religious life for centuries. The early history of the yeshiva as an institution is kno...

ethnic group of Austroasiatic origin living largely in the mountains of southwest China and speaking a Tibeto-Burman language. The Yi people numbered more than 7.5 million in the early 21st century. Their principal concentrations were in Y...

YI YULGOK, pen name of Yi I (1536–1584), Korean Neo-Confucian thinker whose stature in the tradition is equalled only by that of Yi T'oegye. Yulgok is credited with having established the Kiho ("material force")...

Yi Sunsin (1545-1598) was a Korean military strategist and naval hero. His victories during the Japanese invasions of Korea are remembered by modern Koreans as among the most heroic feats in their history. Yi Sunsin was born in Seoul on Ap...

KAGAN, YISRAʾEL MEʾIR (c. 1838–1933), also known as Ḥafets Ḥayyim, was a rabbi, ethical writer, and Talmudist. Born in Zhetel, Poland, Yisraʾel Meʾir Kagan (or ha-Kohen) revealed his scholar...

(1937–1984), Turkish director and actor. YKlmaz Guney, also known as Cirkin Kral (Ugly King), was one of the most popular directors and actors of Turkish cinema. Born as YKlmaz Putin in rural Adana (Turkey) to poor Kurdish parents, ...

The Jewish teacher Johanan ben Zakkai (active ca. AD 70) was the leading expounder of Jewish law of his time. He founded an important academy at Yavneh. Johanan ben Zakkai was the youngest among the numerous disciples of the great Hillel a...

Semisolid, fermented, often flavoured milk food. Yogurt is known and consumed in almost all parts of the world. It is traditionally made by adding common strains of Streptococcus and Lactobacillus bacteria to raw milk. The culture is produ...

(born May 12, 1925, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.) American professional baseball player, manager, and coach who established records (all since broken) for catchers of his era; he held the records for most home runs hit while playing in the po...

Japanese mathematician who in 1988 developed the outline of a proof of Fermat's last theorem, a problem that had bedeviled mathematicians for over 300 years. This theorem, inspired by the Pythagorean theorem for determining the leng...

DJAN'KAWU. The name Djan'kawu (also spelled as Djang'kawu or Djanggawul) refers to ancestral beings described in the mythology of the Dhuwa moiety, or descent group, of the Yolngu people, who live in northeast Arnhem L...

In Hinduism, a representation of the female sexual organ and feminine generative power, the symbol of the goddess Shakti (&see; shakti). The yoni is often associated with the phallic linga, the symbol of the god Shiva. The linga is depicte...

The Jewish codifier Joseph ben Ephraim Caro (1488-1575) is the most universally recognized authority on Jewish law and practice. Joseph Caro was born in Spain or Portugal. His family was expelled from Spain in 1492 and then continued eastw...

(born Sept. 20, 1830, Nagato province, Japan—died Nov. 21, 1859, Edo) Japanese teacher of military tactics in the domain of Chōshū. He studied “Dutch learning” (European studies) in Nagasaki and Edo (modern To...

When The Young and the Restless premiered on March 26, 1973, it revolutionized the entire concept of the "soap opera." Historically, the format reflected its roots in radio and, despite its jump to television, was still an au...

“The Youngest Doll” by Rosario Ferré Born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, in 1942 to a sugar industrialist family, Rosario Ferré grew up in a politically charged household. Her father, Luis, an engineer by trade, was one ...