|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries: |
Research categories | Follow us on Twitter |
Research categories
View all topics in the newsView all reference sources at Encyclopedia.com |
|||
Attica
ATTICAATTICA. When Attica State Prison in New York opened in the 1930s, it promised improvements over the old "silent system," which had previously been used at New York prisons like Sing Sing. In time, however, Attica became a Spartan facility in which conditions were unusually harsh and discipline exceptionally brutal. In 1971, inmates captured control of a major part of the institution, took hostages, and issued a list of proposals for reform. The prisoners demanded better food and medical care, safeguards for religious practices, and higher wages for prison jobs. They also sought amnesty for any criminal offenses they had committed incident to the disturbance. The inmates released several guards, one of whom had been severely injured and later died of his wounds. The commissioner of corrections, Russell G. Oswald, agreed to consider the prisoners' demands and appointed a special committee of state employees, politicians, reporters, and others to facilitate negotiations. In succeeding days, the tense situation at Attica captured headlines across the nation. At one point, inmates exhibited hostages with knives to their throats. The commissioner responded favorably to some demands, but refused to guarantee amnesty. On the morning of the fifth day, Governor Nelson Rockefeller ordered the prison retaken by force. State authorities later explained that they believed "revolutionaries" had planned the initial action and that hostages were being executed or castrated. Helicopters dropped canisters of tear gas. Hundreds of guards and riot police stormed the facility, shooting indiscriminately. They wounded more than eighty inmates and killed twenty-nine. In the chaos, they also inadvertently shot ten hostages to death. When the institution was secure, the officers forced inmates to strip naked and lie on their faces in the mud. They beat or shot inmates who raised their heads. Some officers tormented inmates with racial epithets and threats of castration. Other officers formed a gauntlet and clubbed naked prisoners as they ran through it. National television carried images of the spectacle. State authorities charged numerous prisoners with criminal offenses allegedly committed during the five-day episode. Yet most of the charges were ultimately abandoned. In 1976, Governor Hugh Carey issued a blanket pardon for everyone and ordered the records concerning Attica sealed for fifty years. A congressional committee condemned the violent nature of the assault and the savage treatment of inmates that followed. A special New York commission concluded that the inmates had not planned the uprising, but had acted spontaneously out of hostility born of poor living conditions. More than a thousand inmates sued state officials over the abuse they had suffered. After years of litigation, the prisoners won an $8 million settlement. The events at Attica left deep psychological scars. For some, Attica demonstrated the many failures of American penal policy, especially the disastrous consequences of confining large numbers of prisoners under severe discipline in primitive, crowded quarters. BIBLIOGRAPHYNew York State Special Commission on Attica. Attica: The Official Report of the New York State Special Commission on Attica. New York: Bantam, 1972. Oswald, Russell G. Attica: My Story. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1972. Wicker, Tom. A Time to Die: The Attica Prison Revolt. 2d ed. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994. Larry Yackle See also Prisons and Prison Reform ; Riots . |
|
|
Cite this article
Yackle, Larry. "Attica." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. Yackle, Larry. "Attica." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401800316.html Yackle, Larry. "Attica." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401800316.html |
|
Attica
Attica , region of ancient Greece, a triangular area at the eastern end of central Greece, around Athens . According to Greek legend, the four Attic tribes were founded by Ion; in later legend Theseus combined 12 townships into a single state. This process of unification, which probably occurred over a period of time, was in all likelihood completed c.700 BC Cleisthenes (fl. 510 BC) reclassified the people into 10 tribes. By the 5th cent. BC Athens was dominant, and thereafter the history of Attica was that of its chief city. |
|
|
Cite this article
"Attica." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Attica." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Attica.html "Attica." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Attica.html |
|
Attica
|
|
|
Cite this article
JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Attica." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Attica." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-Attica.html JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Attica." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-Attica.html |
|
Attic
Attic the dialect of Greek used by the ancient Athenians, which was the chief literary form of classical Greek. The word is late 16th century, and comes from Greek Attikos.
Attic salt refined, delicate, poignant wit; recorded from the mid 18th century, the phrase is a translation of Latin sal Atticum. |
|
|
Cite this article
ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Attic." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Attic." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Attic.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Attic." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Attic.html |
|
Attic
Attic, a form of Greek spoken in Athens during her period of literary pre-eminence, became later the basis of the common speech (κοινή) of the Greek-speaking East. Attic style, moulded on the great Athenian orators, aimed at a dry, grammatically correct lucidity.
|
|
|
Cite this article
MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Attic." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Attic." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-Attic.html MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Attic." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-Attic.html |
|
Attic
At·tic / ˈatik/ • adj. of or relating to Athens or Attica, or the dialect of Greek spoken there in ancient times. • n. the dialect of Greek used by the ancient Athenians, the chief literary form of classical Greek. |
|
|
Cite this article
"Attic." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Attic." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-attic.html "Attic." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-attic.html |
|
attic
at·tic / ˈatik/ • n. a space or room just below the roof of a building. |
|
|
Cite this article
"attic." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "attic." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-attic005.html "attic." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-attic005.html |
|
Attic
Attic of Attica, Athenian. XVI. — L. Atticus — Gr. Attikós.
|
|
|
Cite this article
T. F. HOAD. "Attic." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "Attic." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-Attic.html T. F. HOAD. "Attic." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-Attic.html |
|
attic
attic (archit.) small order placed above a taller one XVII; (room in) the top storey of a building XVIII. spec. use of next.
|
|
|
Cite this article
T. F. HOAD. "attic." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "attic." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-attic.html T. F. HOAD. "attic." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-attic.html |
|
Attic
Attica collection of Greeks—N. Y. Times, 1983. |
|
|
Cite this article
"Attic." Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. 1985. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Attic." Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. 1985. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2505300070.html "Attic." Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. 1985. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2505300070.html |
|
attic
attic
•achromatic, acrobatic, Adriatic, aerobatic, anagrammatic, aquatic, aristocratic, aromatic, Asiatic, asthmatic, athematic, attic, autocratic, automatic, axiomatic, bureaucratic, charismatic, chromatic, cinematic, climatic, dalmatic, democratic, diagrammatic, diaphragmatic, diplomatic, dogmatic, dramatic, ecstatic, emblematic, emphatic, enigmatic, epigrammatic, erratic, fanatic, hepatic, hieratic, hydrostatic, hypostatic, idiomatic, idiosyncratic, isochromatic, lymphatic, melodramatic, meritocratic, miasmatic, monochromatic, monocratic, monogrammatic, numismatic, operatic, panchromatic, pancreatic, paradigmatic, phlegmatic, photostatic, piratic, plutocratic, pneumatic, polychromatic, pragmatic, prelatic, prismatic, problematic, programmatic, psychosomatic, quadratic, rheumatic, schematic, schismatic, sciatic, semi-automatic, Socratic, somatic, static, stigmatic, sub-aquatic, sylvatic, symptomatic, systematic, technocratic, thematic, theocratic, thermostatic, traumatic
•anaphylactic, ataractic, autodidactic, chiropractic, climactic, didactic, galactic, lactic, prophylactic, syntactic, tactic
•asphaltic
•antic, Atlantic, corybantic, frantic, geomantic, gigantic, mantic, necromantic, pedantic, romantic, semantic, sycophantic, transatlantic
•synaptic
•bombastic, drastic, dynastic, ecclesiastic, elastic, encomiastic, enthusiastic, fantastic, gymnastic, iconoclastic, mastic, monastic, neoplastic, orgastic, orgiastic, pederastic, periphrastic, plastic, pleonastic, sarcastic, scholastic, scholiastic, spastic
•matchstick • candlestick • panstick
•slapstick • cathartic
•Antarctic, arctic, subantarctic, subarctic
•Vedantic • yardstick
•aesthetic (US esthetic), alphabetic, anaesthetic (US anesthetic), antithetic, apathetic, apologetic, arithmetic, ascetic, athletic, balletic, bathetic, cosmetic, cybernetic, diabetic, dietetic, diuretic, electromagnetic, emetic, energetic, exegetic, frenetic, genetic, Helvetic, hermetic, homiletic, kinetic, magnetic, metic, mimetic, parenthetic, pathetic, peripatetic, phonetic, photosynthetic, poetic, prophetic, prothetic, psychokinetic, splenetic, sympathetic, syncretic, syndetic, synthetic, telekinetic, theoretic, zetetic
•apoplectic, catalectic, dialectic, eclectic, hectic
•Celtic
•authentic, crescentic
•aseptic, dyspeptic, epileptic, nympholeptic, peptic, proleptic, sceptic (US skeptic), septic
•domestic, majestic
•cretic
•analytic, anchoritic, anthracitic, arthritic, bauxitic, calcitic, catalytic, critic, cryptanalytic, Cushitic, dendritic, diacritic, dioritic, dolomitic, enclitic, eremitic, hermitic, lignitic, mephitic, paralytic, parasitic, psychoanalytic, pyritic, Sanskritic, saprophytic, Semitic, sybaritic, syenitic, syphilitic, troglodytic
•apocalyptic, cryptic, diptych, elliptic, glyptic, styptic, triptych
•aoristic, artistic, autistic, cystic, deistic, distich, egoistic, fistic, holistic, juristic, logistic, monistic, mystic, puristic, sadistic, Taoistic, theistic, truistic, veristic
•fiddlestick
•dipstick, lipstick
•impolitic, politic
•polyptych • hemistich • heretic
•nightstick
•abiotic, amniotic, antibiotic, autoerotic, chaotic, demotic, despotic, erotic, exotic, homoerotic, hypnotic, idiotic, macrobiotic, meiotic, narcotic, neurotic, osmotic, patriotic, psychotic, quixotic, robotic, sclerotic, semiotic, symbiotic, zygotic, zymotic
•Coptic, optic, panoptic, synoptic
•acrostic, agnostic, diagnostic, gnostic, prognostic
•knobstick • chopstick • aeronautic
•Baltic, basaltic, cobaltic
•caustic • swordstick • photic • joystick
•psychotherapeutic, therapeutic
•acoustic • broomstick • cultic
•fustic, rustic
•drumstick • gearstick • lunatic
|
|
|
Cite this article
"attic." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "attic." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-attic.html "attic." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-attic.html |
|
Attica
Attica
•bicker, clicker, dicker, flicker, kicker, liquor, nicker, picker, pricker, shicker, slicker, snicker, sticker, ticker, tricker, vicar, whicker, Wicca, wicker
•bilker, milker, Rilke
•blinker, clinker, drinker, finca, freethinker, Glinka, Inca, inker, jinker, shrinker, sinker, Soyinka, stinker, stotinka, thinker, tinker, Treblinka, winker
•frisker, whisker
•kibitka, Sitka
•Cyrenaica • Bandaranaike
•perestroika • Baedeker • melodica
•Boudicca • trafficker • angelica
•replica
•basilica, silica
•frolicker, maiolica, majolica
•bootlicker • res publica • mimicker
•Anneka • arnica • Seneca • Lineker
•picnicker
•electronica, harmonica, Honecker, japonica, Monica, moniker, Salonica, santonica, veronica
•Guernica • Africa • paprika
•America, erica
•headshrinker • Armorica • brassica
•Jessica • lip-syncer • fossicker
•Corsica
•Attica, hepatica, sciatica, viatica
•Antarctica • billsticker
•erotica, exotica
•swastika
|
|
|
Cite this article
"Attica." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Attica." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Attica.html "Attica." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Attica.html |
|
|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries:
HighBeam™ Research, Inc. © Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.
The Encyclopedia.com advertising network includes:
