Paleozoic V.pa-le-o-'zo-ikV Era or Palaeozoic Era Major interval of geologic time, c. 543-248 million years ago. From the Greek for “ancient life,” it is the first era of the Phanerozoic Eon and is followed by the Mesozoic Era. It is divided into six periods: (from oldest to youngest) the Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian. Dur¬ ing the early Paleozoic, much of North America was covered by a warm, shallow sea with many coral reefs. Fossils from this time include marine
invertebrates and primitive fish; the plants were predominantly algae, with some mosses and ferns. During the late Paleozoic, huge, swampy forest regions covered much of the northern continents. Plant and animal life flourished. Amphibians left the oceans to live on land, reptiles evolved as fully terrestrial life forms, and insect life began. Ferns grew to tree size, and precursors of the conifers appeared.
Palermo ancient Panormus City (pop., 2001: 686,722), seaport, and capital of Sicily. Located on the Bay of Palermo, the city was founded by Phoenician traders in the 8th century bc; it was later a Carthaginian settle¬ ment. It was taken by the Romans in 254 bc. Conquered by the Arab troops of the Aghlabid dynasty in 831, it flourished as a centre of trade with North Africa. Palermo was thus quite prosperous when it fell to the Norman adventurers Roger I and Robert Guiscard in 1072. The ensuing era of Nor¬ man rule (1072-1194) was Palermo’s golden age, particularly after the founding of the Norman kingdom of Sicily in 1130 by Roger II. In 1194 Germany’s Hohenstaufen ruler, Frederick II, took over. Palermo was con¬ quered by the French under Charles of Anjou in 1266, but Angevin oppres¬ sion was ended in 1282 by a popular uprising called the Sicilian Vespers. After 1412 the crown of Sicily was united with that of Aragon and sub¬ sequently with that of Spain. Palermo declined during this long period of Spanish rule. The city was taken by Italian patriot Giuseppe de Garibaldi in 1860 and made part of the kingdom of Italy. Heavily bombed during World War II, it was captured by Allied forces in 1943. Notable build¬ ings from the Norman and later periods include the cathedral that con¬ tains the tombs of Roger II and Frederick II. Palermo is Sicily’s chief port, and ship repair is an important industry.
Palestine biblical Canaan Region, at the eastern end of the Mediter¬ ranean Sea. It extends east to the Jordan River, north to the border between Israel and Lebanon, west to the Mediterranean, and south to the Negev desert, reaching the Gulf of Aqaba. The political status and geographic area designated by the term have changed considerably over the course of three millennia. The eastern boundary has been particularly fluid, often under¬ stood as lying east of the Jordan and extending at times to the edge of the Arabian Desert. A land of sharp contrasts, Palestine includes the Dead Sea, the lowest natural point of elevation on Earth, and mountain peaks higher than 2,000 ft (610 m) above sea level. In the 20th and 21st centuries it has been the object of conflicting claims by Jewish and Arab national move¬ ments. The region is sacred to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Settled since early prehistoric times, mainly by Semitic groups, it was occupied in biblical times by the kingdoms of Israel, Judah, and Judaea. It was subse¬ quently held by virtually every power of the Middle East, including the Assyrians, Persians, Romans, Byzantines, Crusaders, and Ottomans. It was governed by Britain under a League of Nations mandate from the end of World War I (1914-18) until 1948, when the State of Israel was proclaimed. Armies from Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, and Iraq attacked the next day. They were defeated by the Israeli army. See Israel, Jordan, West Bank, and Gaza Strip for the later history of the region.
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Arabic Munazzamat al-Tahrir al-Filastmiyyah Umbrella political orga¬ nization representing the Palestinian people in their drive for a Palestin¬ ian state. It was formed in 1964 to centralize the leadership of various groups. After the Six-Day War of 1967, the PLO promoted a distinctively Palestinian agenda. In 1969 Yasir ‘Arafat, leader of Fatah, the PLO’s larg¬ est faction, became its chairman. From the late 1960s the PLO engaged in guerrilla attacks on Israel from bases in Jordan, from which it was expelled in 1971. PLO headquarters moved to Lebanon. In 1974 'Arafat advocated limiting PLO activity to direct attacks against Israel, and the Arab community recognized the PLO as the sole legitimate representa¬ tive of all Palestinians. It was admitted to the Arab League in 1976. In 1982 Israel invaded Lebanon and expelled PLO forces based there. In 1988 the PLO leadership, then based in Tunis, declared a Palestinian state and the following year elected 'Arafat its president. It also recognized Israel’s right to exist, though several militant factions dissented. In 1993 Israel recognized the PLO by signing an agreement with it granting Pal¬ estinian self-rule in parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The PLO became an integral part of the Palestinian National Authority. See also Palestine; Lebanese civil war; Hamas; intifadah.
Palestinian Talmud See Talmud Palestrina See Praeneste
Palestrina \ 1 pa-b- , stre-n9\ / Giovanni Pierluigi da (b. c. 1525, Pal¬ estrina, near Rome—d. Feb. 2, 1594, Rome) Italian composer. He sang
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Paley ► Palm Springs I 1437
in Rome as a choirboy, then worked as an organist in his nearby home¬ town of Palestrina. He was appointed director of the Vatican’s Cappella Giulia by Pope Julius II in 1551, and he later worked at the other great Roman churches. He worked for the d’Este family in Tivoli for four years but returned to the Cappella Giulia in 1571 and remained there the rest of his life. Pope Gregory XIII commissioned Palestrina to restore the plainchant (a traditional liturgical chant sung in unison) to a more authen¬ tic form. The task proved too great, and his editorial work gave way to a flow of creative music, including volumes of masses, motets, and mad¬ rigals. After his death, his superbly balanced and serene music was pro¬ claimed as a model for composers in the Roman Catholic church. The modern study of counterpoint dates from the codification of his practice in the 18th century.
Paley, Grace orig. Grace Goodside (b. Dec. 11, 1922, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. short-story writer and poet. Paley’s first languages were Russian and Yiddish, a circumstance that may have some bearing on her ability to vividly reproduce in her fiction a variety of accents and speech mannerisms. She was active in the opposition to the Vietnam War in the 1960s and continued her political activism after the war ended. Her sto¬ ries, compassionate and often comic explorations of family and neigh¬ bourhood life and of individuals struggling against loneliness, are collected in The Little Disturbances of Man (1959), Enormous Changes at the Last Minute (1974), and Later the Same Day (1985). Her poetry appears in Leaning Forward (1985) and Begin Again (1992).
Paley, William S(amuel) (b. Sept. 28, 1901, Chicago, Ill., U.S.—d. Oct. 26, 1990, New York, N.Y.) U.S. broadcaster. He worked in his fami¬ ly’s cigar business from 1922. His success at increasing sales through radio advertisements sparked his interest in the medium. He invested in a small radio network, Columbia Phonographic Broadcasting System, becoming its president in 1928 and rapidly adding member stations. He built CBS into one of the world’s leading radio and television networks, serving as president (1928-46) and chairman of the board (1946-90). He launched CBS News in 1933 and built its outstanding staff, including Edward R. Murrow.
Palgrave, Francis Turner (b. Sept. 28, 1824, Great Yarmouth, Nor¬ folk, Eng.—d. Oct. 24, 1897, London) English critic and poet. He spent many years in the civil service’s education department and taught poetry at Oxford. His Golden Treasury of English Songs and Lyrics (1861), a comprehensive, well-chosen, and carefully arranged lyric anthology, influenced the poetic taste of several generations and was important in popularizing the works of William Wordsworth.