Thugga Vtho-goV modern Dougga \'du-gs\ Ancient city,
North Africa. It was an important Punic city when the Romans assimi¬ lated it c. ad 200. It is the best-preserved Roman site in Tunisia; its ruins include an arch in honour of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus, a forum, baths, villas, an aqueduct, a theatre, and a temple of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. There is also a pre-Roman ruin of a 2nd-century-BC mausoleum.
thumb piano See mbira
Thunder Bay City (pop., 2001: 109,016), west-central Ontario, Canada. It is located on the northwestern shore of Lake Superior. Its first settlement was a French fur-trading post c. 1678. In the 1870s and ’80s silver strikes and the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway brought prosperity to the twin towns of Port Arthur and Fort William that had grown up there. Their rivalry was resolved with the unification of their harbour facilities in 1906; the towns merged in 1970 and created the city of Thunder Bay. It is one of Canada’s busiest ports, with grain storage and transshipment depots; other industries include shipbuilding.
thunderbird In North American Indian mythology, a powerful spirit in the form of a bird that watered the earth and made vegetation grow.
Lightning was believed to flash from its eyes or beak, and the beating of its wings was thought to represent roll¬ ing thunder. The thunderbird was often portrayed with an extra head on its abdomen, particularly on totem poles, and it was frequently accom¬ panied by lesser bird spirits. Though it is best known in North America, evidence of similar figures has been found throughout Africa, Asia, and Europe.
Thunderbolt See P-47
thunderstorm Violent, short¬ lived atmospheric disturbance, almost always associated with cumu¬ lonimbus clouds (very tall, dense rain clouds) and accompanied by thunder and lightning. Such storms usually generate strong, gusty winds and heavy rain, and occasionally hail or tornadoes. Thunderstorms have been known to occur in almost every part of the world, although they are rare in the polar regions. In the U.S. the areas of maximum thunderstorm activity are the Florida peninsula and the coast of the Gulf of Mexico (70-80 days per year).
Thunen Vtue-nonV, Johann Heinrich von (b. June 24, 1783, Jever, Oldenburg—d. Sept. 22, 1850, Tellow, Mecklenburg) German economist and agriculturalist. After carrying out research on his own estate into the relationship between the costs of commodity transportation and the loca¬ tion of production, he set forth his theories in The Isolated State (1826). He used an imaginary city, isolated in the middle of a fertile plain, to create a model of concentric zones of agricultural production. Heavy products and perishables would be produced close to the town, lighter and durable goods on the periphery; returns on the land would diminish as transport costs to the city increased. Thunen’s model influenced many later writers on the subject.
Thurber, James (Grover) (b. Dec. 8, 1894, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.—d. Nov. 2, 1961, New York, N.Y.) U.S. writer and cartoonist. He attended Ohio State University before moving to New York City in 1926. He was on The New Yorker staff from 1927 to 1933 and thereafter remained a leading contributor. His drawings illustrated his first book, Is Sex Necessary? (1929; with E.B. White), and his cartoons became some of the most popular and recognizable in America. In 1940 his failing eye¬ sight forced him to curtail his drawing; by 1952 he had to give it up alto¬ gether as his blindness became nearly total. His writings include My Life and Hard Times (1933), Fables for Our Time (1940), and the children’s book The 13 Clocks (1950). He is noted for his vision of the befuddled urban man who, like the hero of his short story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” (1939; film, 1946), escapes into fantasy.
Thuringia \thu-'rin-je-o\ German Thiiringen Vtui-riq-snX Historic region and state (pop., 2002 est.: 2,411,000), Germany. It includes the land around the Thuringian Forest in what was formerly southwestern East Germany and covers 6,244 sq mi (16,171 sq km). The capital is Erfurt. The Germanic Thuringians appeared after c. ad 350 and were conquered by the Huns in the mid-5th century. In 1485 Thuringia became part of Saxony and was divided into several states; they joined the German Empire in 1871 and were reunited after World War I. Following the par¬ tition of Germany in 1945, the state became part of East Germany; it was reconstituted as a state of reunified Germany in 1990. The economy is largely industrial.
Thurmond, (James) Strom (b. Dec. 5, 1902, Edgefield, S.C., U.S.—d. June 26, 2003, Edgefield) U.S. politician and senator (1954— 2003). He served as a South Carolina state senator (1933-38) and circuit court judge (1938—41). As governor (1947-51), he expanded the state educational system. At the 1948 Democratic convention Thurmond led the bolt of Southern delegates who objected to the civil-rights plank in the party platform; the so-called Dixiecrats nominated Thurmond as their presidential candidate, and he won 39 electoral votes. In 1954 he was elected to the U.S. Senate, and in 1964 he switched party affiliation to the Republican Party. He became the Senate’s longest-serving member in 1997. An arch conservative, he advocated states’ rights, opposed civil- rights legislation, and supported increases in military spending.
Thurstone, L(ouis) L(eon) (b. May 29, 1887, Chicago, Ill, U.S.—d. Sept. 29, 1955, Chapel Hill, N.C.) U.S. psychologist. He taught prima¬ rily at the University of Chicago (1927-52). Concerned with the mea¬ surement of people’s attitudes and intelligence, he was instrumental in the development of psychometrics. His principal work, The Vectors of the Mind (1935; revised as Multiple-Factor Analysis, 1947), presented the technique of multiple-factor analysis to explain correlations between results in psychological tests.
Thutmose \thut-'mo-s9\ III (d. 1426 bc) Egyptian king of the 18th dynasty (r. 1479-1426 bc), often regarded as the greatest pharaoh of ancient Egypt. He ascended the throne around the age of 10, but his aunt, Hatshepsut, ruled first as his regent and then in her own right for the next 20 years. On her death he began military campaigns to reestablish Egyp¬ tian supremacy in Syria and Palestine. Later he attacked and defeated the kingdom of Mitanni, a powerful Mesopotamian rival of Egypt. He sub¬ dued the Nubian tribes to the south and employed them in the gold mines that became the basis of Egypt’s wealth. He consolidated his victories with more campaigns and established a system whereby native rulers would pay yearly tribute to Egypt and send their heirs as hostages to Egypt, where they would be educated at court. At home he enlarged the temple of Amon at Karnak. His mummy was discovered in 1889 and his mortuary temple in 1962.
thyme \'tlm\ Pungent herb {Thymus vulgaris ) of the mint family, native to southern Europe, the Mediterranean, Asia Minor, and Central Asia, and
460—d. c. 404 bc) Greatest or
Thucydides, detail of a Roman bust after a Greek original; in Holkham Hall, Norfolk, England
Wooden thunderbird of the Haida Indi¬ ans, northwest coast of North America, 19th century; in the British Museum
COURTESY OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
1906 I thymine ► Tibbett
cultivated in North America. A small, low-growing shrub, it has small, curled leaves that give off a fragrant odour when crushed. The dried leaves and flowering tops are used to flavour a wide range of foods. Bees are fond of thyme, and Sicily’s thyme honey has been famous for centuries. The essential oil has antiseptic and anesthetic properties and is used as an internal medicine; it is also used in perfumes and toothpastes.
thymine \'thl-,men\ Organic com¬ pound of the pyrimidine family, often called a base, consisting of a ring containing both nitrogen and carbon atoms, and a methyl group. It occurs in combined form in many important biological molecules, particularly DNA (where its complementary base is adenine). It or its corresponding nucleoside or nucleotide may be prepared from DNA by selective tech¬ niques of HYDROLYSIS.