Sussex IncidentThe French passenger steamer Sussex at Boulogne, France, after being torpedoed by a German U-boat on March 24, 1916.(more)Sussex pledge, agreement by the German government during World War I to stop the indiscriminate sinking of nonmilitary ships. The pledge followed the torpedoing of the French passenger steamer Sussex in the English Channel by a German submarine on March...

　　territorial disputes in the South China Sea, series of conflicts arising from the overlapping territorial claims of several countries that border the South China Sea. In recent decades China has been widely seen as the conflicts’ primary driver. While countries have long disagreed on the sea’s precise international demarcations, China has moved ever closer to demanding exclusive economic and military...

　　 　　Camille Pissarro: The Boulevard Montmartre on a Winter MorningThe Boulevard Montmartre on a Winter Morning, oil on canvas by Camille Pissarro, 1897; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. 64.8 × 81.3 cm.(more)The Boulevard Montmartre on a Winter Morning, one of fourteen oil-on-canvas paintings by French artist Camille Pissarro of Boulevard Montmartre, one of Paris’s grandest thoroughfares....

　　 　　The Blair Witch ProjectHeather Donahue in The Blair Witch Project (1999).(more)The Blair Witch Project, American horror film, released in 1999, that popularized “found footage”—a cinematic technique in which some or all of a narrative film’s shots are presented as if they were recordings of nonfiction events. The film was written and directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, who...

　　 　　Robert De Niro in Taxi DriverRobert De Niro as Travis Bickle in the film Taxi Driver (1976), directed by Martin Scorsese.(more)Taxi Driver, American neo-noir film, released in 1976, that was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. It is considered one of the greatest and most controversial films in history. Set in New York City, it follows...

　　 　　Gustav MahlerSymphony No. 1 in D Major, symphony by composer Gustav Mahler, also known as Titan. Begun in Leipzig while Mahler was serving as second conductor of the Stadttheater and drafted in about six weeks, it premiered in Budapest November 20, 1889, after Mahler assumed the post of musical director of the Royal Hungarian Opera. The work was considered...

　　 　　Spotify logoSmartphone displaying the Spotify logo. Spotify is an audio streaming service that offers users access to multiple forms of streaming media, including music, podcasts, and audiobooks.(more)Spotify, audio streaming service that offers users access to music tracks, podcasts, and other media through a subscription model. It is a publicly traded company that was founded by Swedish entrepreneurs Daniel Ek...

　　 　　Claude Monet: Stacks of Wheat (End of Summer)Stacks of Wheat (End of Summer), oil on canvas by Claude Monet, 1890/91; in the Art Institute of Chicago.(more)Impressionism is known for its interest in depicting scenes of modern life as well as its aim to render the effects of light as the eye sees them, frequently by using relative colors. An...

　　supreme leader of Iran, head of state in Iran, overseeing virtually all functions of government either directly or indirectly. The post was instituted as rahbar (“leader”) in 1979 with the creation of Iran’s Islamic Republic, which blends democratic elements with theocratic oversight from Islamic clerics of the Twelver Shiʿi sect. Although Iran’s president and legislature are directly elected by the...

　　 　　Ludwig van BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven, portrait by Josef Karl Stieler.(more)Symphony No. 6 in F Major, symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven. Premiering in Vienna December 22, 1808, on the same concert that offered the premiere of his Symphony No. 5, this work is distinct from that one in part due to its generally optimistic character, but also by the presence...

　　Mozart, Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, K. 550First movement, “Molto allegro,” of Mozart's Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, K. 550; from a 1953 recording by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Eugen Jochum.(more)Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, K. 550, symphony by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, sometimes known as the Great G Minor Symphony. Composed in the summer...

　　 　　Ludwig van BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven, portrait by Josef Karl Stieler.(more)Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92, symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven. Premiering in Vienna on December 8, 1813, the work is considered a notable example of the more ebullient side of Beethoven’s compositional personality and evidence that even after the onset of deafness, he yet found cause for...