Spalding, A(lbert) G(oodwill) (b. Sept. 2, 1850, Byron, Ill., U.S.—d. Sept. 9, 1915, Point Loma, Calif.) U.S. baseball player, execu¬ tive, and sporting-goods manufacturer. Spalding played with the Boston Red Stockings and later the Chicago White Stockings; he served as presi¬ dent for the latter team (1882-91). In 1876 he and his brother founded, in Chicopee, Mass., the firm that, as A.G. Spalding & Bros., would become one of the premier American sporting-goods companies. He also founded the annual Spalding’s Official Baseball Guide and wrote the his¬ tory America’s National Game (1911). He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939.
spandrel Roughly triangular area on either side of an arch, bounded by a line running horizontally through its apex, a line rising vertically from the springing of the arch, and the exterior curve of the arch. When arches adjoin, the entire area between their crowns and springing line is a span¬ drel. If filled in, as is ordinarily the case, the result is a spandrel wall; in medieval architecture this was usually ornamented. In buildings of more than one story, the spandrel is the area between the sill of a window and
the head of the window below it. In steel or reinforced-concrete struc¬ tures, a deep spandrel beam may span across this area. The triangular area of space beneath a stair is also known as a spandrel.
spaniel Any of several breeds of dogs used to flush game. Spaniels originated in Spain, but most modem breeds were developed in Britain.
Breeds range from 14 to 20 in.
(36-51 cm) and from 22 to 55 lbs (10-25 kg). The larger breeds are called springers, the smaller ones cockers. Breeds include the cocker spaniel, a round-headed, floppy¬ eared dog; the English and Welsh springer spaniels; the American water spaniel, a curly-coated, dark brown dog; the Brittany spaniel, a short-tailed French dog and the only spaniel that points; the Clumber spaniel, a low-slung, long-bodied dog; the Irish water spaniel, a water retriever; the Japanese spaniel; and the English toy spaniel.
Spanish-American War (1898) Conflict between the U.S. and Spain that ended Spanish colonial rule in the New World. The war originated in Cuba’s struggle for independence. The newspapers of William Randolph Hearst fanned U.S. sympathy for the rebels, which increased after the unexplained destruction of the U.S. warship Maine on Feb. 15, 1898. Congress passed resolutions declaring Cuba’s right to independence and demanding that Spain withdraw its armed forces. Spain declared war on the U.S. on April 24. Commo. George Dewey led the naval squadron that defeated the Spanish fleet in the Philippines (see Battle of Manila Bay) on May 1, and Gen. William Shafter led regular troops and volunteers (includ¬ ing future U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt and his Rough Riders) in the destruction of Spain’s Caribbean Sea fleet near Santiago, Cuba (July 17). In the Treaty of Paris (December 10), Spain renounced all claim to Cuba and ceded Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines to the U.S., marking the U.S.’s emergence as a world power.
Spanish Armada See Spanish Armada
Spanish Civil War (1936-39) Military revolt against the government of Spain. After the 1936 elections produced a Popular Front government supported mainly by left-wing parties, a military uprising began in gar¬ rison towns throughout Spain, led by the rebel Nationalists and supported by conservative elements in the clergy, military, and landowners as well as the fascist Falange. The ruling Republican government, led by the socialist premiers Francisco Largo Caballero and Juan Negrfn (1894- 1956) and the liberal president Manuel Azana y Diaz, was supported by workers and many in the educated middle class as well as militant anar¬ chists and communists. Government forces put down the uprising in most regions except parts of northwestern and southwestern Spain, where the Nationalists held control and named Francisco Franco head of state. Both sides repressed opposition; together, they executed or assassinated more than 50,000 suspected enemies to their respective causes. Seeking aid from abroad, the Nationalists received troops, tanks, and planes from Nazi Germany and Italy, which used Spain as a testing ground for new meth¬ ods of tank and air warfare. The Republicans (also called loyalists) were sent materiel mainly by the Soviet Union, and the volunteer International Brigades also joined the Republicans. The two sides fought fierce and bloody skirmishes in a war of attrition. The Nationalist side gradually gained territory and by April 1938 succeeded in splitting Spain from east to west, causing 250,000 Republican forces to flee into France. In March 1939 the remaining Republican forces surrendered, and Madrid, beset by civil strife between communists and anticommunists, fell to the Nation¬ alists on March 28. About 500,000 people died in the war, and all Span¬ iards were deeply scarred by the trauma. The war’s end brought a period of dictatorship that lasted until the mid-1970s.
Spanish Guinea See Equatorial Guinea
Spanish Influenza Epidemic See Influenza Epidemic of 1918-19
Spanish Inquisition See Inquisition
Spanish language Romance language spoken in Spain and in large parts of the New World. It has more than 332 million speakers, including more than 23 million in the U.S. Its earliest written materials date from the 10th century, its first literary works from c. 1150. The Castilian dialect, the
Cocker spaniel.
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© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
1796 I Spanish Main ► spatial disorientation
source of modem standard Spanish, arose in the 9th century in north- central Spain (Old Castile) and spread to central Spain (New Castile) by the 11th century. In the late 15th century the kingdoms of Castile, Leon, and Aragon merged, and Castilian became the official language of all Spain, with Catalan and Galician (effectively a dialect of Portuguese) becoming regional languages and Aragonese and Leonese reduced to a fraction of their original speech areas. Latin American regional dialects are derived from Castilian but differ from it in phonology.
Spanish Main Northern coast of South America. The term refers to an area that was once under Spanish control and spanned roughly between the Isthmus of Panama and the delta of the Orinoco River. The term can also refer to the Caribbean Sea and adjacent waters, especially when referring to the period when the region was troubled by pirates.
Spanish Mission style See Mission style
Spanish moss Epiphyte ( Tillandsia usneoides) in the pineapple family, found in southern North America, the West Indies, and Central and South America. It often hangs in large, beardlike, silvery-gray masses from trees and other plants and even on telephone poles, but it is not parasitic or structurally intertwined with its host. It takes in carbon dioxide and rain¬ water or dew for photosynthesis through tiny, hairlike scales that cover its threadlike leaves and long, threadlike stems. It absorbs nutrients from dust and solvents in rainwater, or from decaying organic matter around its aerial roots. Stalkless yellow flowers appear rarely. Spanish moss is some¬ times used as a filler in packing boxes and upholstery, and around potted plants or floral arrangements.
Spanish Netherlands Spanish-held provinces in the southern Low Countries (roughly corresponding to modem Belgium and Luxembourg). In 1578 the diplomat Alessandro Farnese was sent to represent Spain in the Netherlands, and by 1585 he had reestablished Spanish control over the southern provinces, ending the union with the northern provinces that followed the Pacification of Ghent. In the 17th century the region saw a resurgence of economic and intellectual growth. As a buffer between Prot¬ estant and Catholic states, the region was the scene of constant warfare; areas were ceded to the Dutch Republic (1648) and France (1659). The territory began to decline in the late 17th century. Spanish control was lost after the War of the Spanish Succession, when the region passed to Emperor Charles VI and became the Austrian Netherlands.