pesticide Any toxic substance used to kill animals or plants that dam¬ age crops or ornamental plants or that are hazardous to the health of domestic animals or humans. All pesticides act by interfering with the target species’ normal metabolism. They are often classified by the type of organism they are intended to control (e.g., insecticide, herbicide, fungicide).
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1480 I pet ► Peter Damian
Some inadvertently affect other organisms in the environment, either directly by their toxic effects or via elimination of the target organism.
pet Any animal kept by humans for companionship or pleasure rather than for utility. The main distinction between pets and domesticated live¬ stock is the degree of contact between owner and animal. Another dis¬ tinction is the owner’s affection for the animal, which is often returned. Dogs are known to have been kept as pets since prehistoric times; cats, since the 16th century bc; and horses, since at least 2000 bc. Other com¬ mon pets include birds, rabbits, rodents, raccoons, reptiles, amphibians, and even insects. The trend toward making pets of exotic animals (e.g., monkeys and ocelots) is worrisome because owners can rarely provide for their needs, and the animals’ already precarious populations are fur¬ ther depleted when members are sold for pets.
PET See positron emission tomography
Petain \pa-'ta n \, (Henri-) Philippe (b. April 24, 1856, Cauchy-a-la- Tour, France—d. July 23, 1951, lie d’Yeu) French general. He served in the French army from 1876 and later taught at the war college. His suc¬ cessful defense in the Battle of Verdun (1916) made him a national hero, and in 1918 he became commander in chief and a marshal of France. After the war he was appointed vice president of the Supreme War Council (1920-30) and minister of war (1934). After the German invasion of France (1940), Petain was appointed premier at age 84. He concluded an armistice with Germany, and as head of Vichy France he attempted to obtain concessions by cooperating with the Germans. In 1942 the Ger¬ mans forced him to accept Pierre Laval as premier and he withdrew to a nominal role as head of state. After the Allied invasion of France, he fled to Germany. In 1945 he was tried and condemned to death; the sentence was commuted to life in prison, where he died at age 95.
Peten Itza \pe-,ten-et-'sa\, Lake Lake, northern Guatemala. It is about 22 mi (35 km) long and covers an area of about 40 sq mi (100 sq km). The region was a stronghold of the Maya Itza Indians, who were not con¬ quered by the Spanish until 1697. The lakeshore is now dotted with towns such as Flores and San Benito. Much of the surrounding land is covered with dense rainforest, but there is some cultivation of cacao, sugarcane, and tropical fruits around Flores.
Peter I (b. c. 903—d. Jan. 30, 969) Tsar of Bulgaria (927-969). The second son of Simeon I, he inherited the throne on his father’s death in 927. Early in his reign, Peter faced revolts by his brothers, which were suppressed, and he also endured raids by the Magyars, who crossed Bul¬ garia on their way to the Byzantine Empire. His reign, however, was gen¬ erally peaceful, and he made important gains against the Byzantines, receiving the title emperor from them. He also forced the Byzantines to recognize the independence of the Bulgarian church, and he married the granddaughter of the Byzantine emperor Romanus I Lecapenus. In 965 war broke out with the Byzantines; Peter subsequently suffered a stroke and
W retired to a monastery, where he died two years later. Canonized by the
Bulgarian Orthodox church, Peter was deeply religious and an active church builder. During his reign, the Bogomil heresy first appeared.
Peter I Russian Pyotr Alekseyevich known as Peter the Great
mm (b. June 9, 1672, Moscow, Russia—d. Feb. 8, 1725, St. Petersburg) Tsar
9 of Russia (1682-1725). Son of Tsai- Alexis, he reigned jointly with his half
brother Ivan V (1682-96) and alone from 1696. Interested in progressive influences from western Europe, he visited several countries there (1697- 98). After returning to Russia, he introduced Western technology, mod¬ ernized the government and military system, and transferred the capital to the new city of St. Petersburg (1703). He further increased the power of the monarchy at the expense of the nobles and the Orthodox church. Some of his reforms were implemented brutally, with considerable loss of life. Suspecting that his son Alexis was conspiring against him, he had Alexis tortured to death in 1718. He pursued foreign policies to give Rus¬ sia access to the Baltic and Black seas, engaging in war with the Otto¬ man Empire (1695-96) and with Sweden in the Second Northern War (1700-21). His campaign against Persia (1722-23) secured for Russia the southern and western shores of the Caspian Sea. In 1721 he was proclaimed emperor; his wife succeeded him as the empress Catherine I. For raising Russia to a recognized place among the great European pow¬ ers, Peter is widely considered one of the outstanding rulers and reform¬ ers in Russian history, but he has also been decried by nationalists for discarding much of what was unique in Russian culture, and his legacy has been seen as a model for Joseph Stalin’s brutal transformation of Rus¬ sian life.
Peter I (b. July 11, 1844, Belgrade, Serbia—d. Aug. 16, 1921, Topcider, near Belgrade, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes) King of Serbia (1903—18) and of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia) from 1918. The son of Prince Alexander Karadjordjevic, who was forced to abdicate in 1858, he lived with his family in exile. He fought with the French army in the Franco-Prussian War and with the Serbian revolt against the Turks (1875). After the assassination of Alexander Obrenovic (1903), Peter was elected king of Serbia. He advocated a con¬ stitutional government and won recognition for his liberal policies. In World War I, he allied Serbia with France and Russia but was defeated by the Central Powers. In 1918 he returned to Belgrade and was pro¬ claimed king of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.
Peter II Russian Pyotr Alekseyevich (b. Oct. 23, 1715, St. Peters¬ burg, Russia—d. Jan. 29, 1730, Moscow) Tsar of Russia (1727-30). The grandson of Peter I, he was named heir to the throne by Catherine I and on her death was crowned at age 11. Peter’s regency was directed by Alek¬ sandr Menshikov. He fell under the influence of the aristocratic Dolgoruky family, which ousted Menshikov as regent, moved the capital to Moscow (1728), and arranged Peter’s betrothal to one of its princesses. On the day set for the wedding, Peter died of smallpox at age 14.
Peter II (b. Sept. 6, 1923, Belgrade, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes—d. Nov. 3, 1970, Los Angeles, Calif., U.S.) Last king of Yugo¬ slavia. The son of Alexander I, he became titular king on his father’s assassination (1934), but he ruled under the regency of his uncle Prince Paul (1893-1976). After a coup deposed Paul (1941), Peter ruled for sev¬ eral weeks until the German invasion forced him to flee to London. He led a government-in-exile until the Yugoslav monarchy was abolished in 1945. He moved to the U.S., where he worked in public relations.
Peter III Spanish Pedro known as Peter the Great (b. 1239—d. Nov. 11, 1285, Villafrance del Panades, Catalonia) King of Aragon (1276- 85) and of Sicily (as Pedro I, 1282-85). He married the Hohenstaufen heiress of Sicily (1262) and ended the Sicilian revolt (1282), becoming king despite Guelph and papal opposition (see Sicilian Vespers). Unhappy with his Sicilian venture, nobles and municipalities in Aragon forced Peter to confirm their legal rights and to diminish crown rights. In 1285 he defeated Philip III of France, who had invaded Aragon in an effort to dethrone him.
Peter III Russian Pyotr Fyodorovich orig. Karl Peter Ulrich, duke von Holstein-Gottorp (b. Feb. 21, 1728, Kiel, Holstein- Gottorp—d. July 18, 1762, Ropsha, near St. Petersburg, Russia) Tsar of Russia (1762). Grandson of Peter I, the young duke was brought to Rus¬ sia by his aunt Elizabeth when she became empress (1741). Proclaimed the heir to the Russian throne, he was unpopular at court for his pro-Prussian attitude. After he succeeded Elizabeth (1762), he reversed her foreign policy, making peace with Prussia and withdrawing from the Seven Years' War. He offended the Orthodox church by trying to force it to adopt Lutheran practices. After six months he was forced to abdicate by a group of nobles, in collusion with his own wife, Catherine (later Catherine II), and Count Grigory Orlov, and was murdered while in the conspirators’ custody.