Attempt to describe all fundamental interactions between elementary particles in terms of a single theoretical framework (a “theory of everything”) based on quantum field theory. So far, the weak force and the electromagnetic force have been successfully united in electroweak theory, and the strong force is described by a similar quantum field theory called quantum chromodynamics. However, attempts to unite the strong and electroweak theories in a grand unified theory have failed, as have attempts at a self-consistent quantum field theory of gravitation.
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Jury that examines accusations against persons suspected of committing a crime and, if the evidence warrants it, issues formal charges on which the accused are later tried (see indictment). It does not decide guilt or innocence, only whether there is “probable cause” to believe that a person committed a crime. Public officials (prosecutors and police) provide information and summon witnesses for the jury. The proceedings are usually secret. Some U.S. states have abolished the grand jury and authorize indictments by prosecutors.
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(1689–97) Third major war of Louis XIV of France, in which his expansionist plans were blocked by an alliance led by Britain, the United Provinces of the Netherlands, and the Austrian Habsburgs. The deeper issue underlying the war was the rivalry between the Bourbon and Habsburg dynasties. Louis launched a campaign in the 1680s to position the Bourbons for future succession to the Spanish throne. To oppose him, the Habsburg emperor Leopold I joined other European nations in the League of Augsburg. The league proved ineffective, but in 1690 Britain, Brandenburg, Saxony, Bavaria, and Spain, alarmed at Louis's successes, joined with Leopold to form the Grand Alliance. As war broke out in Europe and in overseas colonies, including America (see King William's War), Louis found his military inadequately prepared, and France suffered heavy naval losses. In 1695 Louis started secret peace negotiations, which culminated in the Treaty of Rijswijk (1697). The underlying conflict between the Habsburg and Bourbon rulers and English-French conflicts remained unresolved and resurfaced four years later in the War of the Spanish Succession.
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Northeast arm of Lake Michigan, indenting northwestern Michigan, U.S. Located off the coast of the Lower Peninsula, the head of the bay is 32 mi (52 km) long and 12 mi (19 km) wide. It is divided into the east and west arms by Old Mission Peninsula, with Traverse City at its base. The Leelanau Peninsula lies west of the bay, which is noted for its year-round fishing. The area is an important summer resort region.
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National preserve, northwestern Wyoming, U.S. In 1950 most of Jackson Hole National Monument (a fertile valley) was incorporated into the park, which was established in 1929 and now covers 484 sq mi (1,254 sq km). The snow-covered peaks of its Teton Range are 7,000 ft (2,100 m) above the nearby Snake River valley.
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City (pop., 2000: 197,800), western Michigan, U.S. Located on the Grand River, it was founded in 1826 as a trading post. Ample lumber from nearby forests soon fueled a woodworking industry. After Grand Rapids furniture was shown at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, the city became known as the furniture capital of America. Its industry diversified with the advent of World War I, and metal-based manufacturing thereafter exceeded furniture. Its public library contains important collections of books on furniture design; its educational institutions include Kendall College of Art and Design (1928). It was the boyhood home of Pres. Gerald Ford.
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Historic site, northeastern corner of Minnesota, U.S. Located on Lake Superior near the Canadian border, it was designated a national historic site in 1951 and a national monument in 1958. It covers a 9-mi (14-km) overland trail from Lake Superior's northern shore that bypassed the obstacles to early canoe travel. Used by early explorers, the portage marked the end of travel on the Great Lakes and the beginning of the interior river route. The portage trail now bisects the reservation of the Grand Portage tribe of the Minnesota Chippewa Indians.
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Part of a series of cataracts and rapids on the Churchill River, Newfoundland, Canada. The falls drop 245 ft (75 m) and are 200 ft (60 m) wide. They power one of Canada's largest hydroelectric stations. Visited in 1839 by John McLean of the Hudson's Bay Company, the cataracts were called Grand Falls until 1965, when both falls and river were renamed for Winston Churchill, who died that year.
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Extensive canyon system cut by the Colorado River, northwestern Arizona, U.S. Noted for its rock formations and coloration, it is about 0.1–18 mi (0.2–29 km) wide and extends from northern Arizona to Grand Wash Cliffs, near the Nevada border, a distance of about 277 mi (446 km). The deepest section, 56 mi (90 km) long, is within Grand Canyon National Park, which covers the river's length from Lake Powell to Lake Mead. The surrounding plateau is 6,000–9,000 ft (1,800–2,750 m) above sea level, and the canyon is in places more than 1 mi (1.6 km) deep. The national park, now containing 1,904 sq mi (4,931 sq km), was created in 1919. The former Grand Canyon National Monument, established in 1932, was added, with other lands, in 1975. In 1979 the Grand Canyon was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.
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Series of waterways in northern China that link Hangzhou with Beijing. Some 1,085 mi (1,747 km) in length, it is the world's longest man-made waterway. It was build to enable successive Chinese regimes to transport surplus grain from the agriculturally rich Yangtze (Chang) and Huai river valleys to feed the capital cities and large standing armies in the north. The oldest portion, in the south, may date from the 4th century BC. Expanded over the centuries, it continues to be used today for shipping and irrigation.
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Portion of North American continental shelf, in the Atlantic Ocean. Lying southeast and south of Newfoundland, it is a noted international fishing ground and extends 350 mi (560 km) north-south and 420 mi (675 km) east-west. The cold Labrador Current and the warm Gulf Stream meet in its vicinity, causing heavy fogs. The banks were first reported in 1498 by John Cabot. In 1977 Canada extended its fishing claim to encompass most of the Grand Banks; it has since given limited fishing rights to other countries.
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(1689–97) Third major war of Louis XIV of France, in which his expansionist plans were blocked by an alliance led by Britain, the United Provinces of the Netherlands, and the Austrian Habsburgs. The deeper issue underlying the war was the rivalry between the Bourbon and Habsburg dynasties. Louis launched a campaign in the 1680s to position the Bourbons for future succession to the Spanish throne. To oppose him, the Habsburg emperor Leopold I joined other European nations in the League of Augsburg. The league proved ineffective, but in 1690 Britain, Brandenburg, Saxony, Bavaria, and Spain, alarmed at Louis's successes, joined with Leopold to form the Grand Alliance. As war broke out in Europe and in overseas colonies, including America (see King William's War), Louis found his military inadequately prepared, and France suffered heavy naval losses. In 1695 Louis started secret peace negotiations, which culminated in the Treaty of Rijswijk (1697). The underlying conflict between the Habsburg and Bourbon rulers and English-French conflicts remained unresolved and resurfaced four years later in the War of the Spanish Succession.
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The Lycée Louis-le-Grand (sometimes nicknamed LLG) is a public secondary school located in Paris, widely regarded as one of the most demanding in France. Formerly known as the Collège de Clermont, it was named in king Louis XIV of France's honor after he visited the school and offered his patronage.
It offers both a high-school curriculum (a lycée with 800 pupils), and a college-level curriculum (classes préparatoires with 900 students), preparing students for entrance to the elite Grandes Écoles. Louis-le-Grand is famous for having the highest success rates for École Polytechnique, École Normale Supérieure, École des Hautes Études Commerciales, École Centrale Paris and École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris. Students at the Lycée are called magnoludoviciens.
Louis-le-Grand, founded in 1563, is located in the heart of the Quartier Latin, the traditional student's area of Paris. Rich in history, architecture, culture, this area is home to the oldest and the most prestigious educational establishments in France, the Sorbonne and the Collège de France.
Louis-le-Grand plays a leading role in the education of French elites. Countless former pupils have become statesmen, diplomats, prelates, marshals of France, members of the Académie française, and men and women of letters. "The Jesuit College of Paris", wrote Élie de Beaumont in 1862, "has for a long time been a state nursery, the most fertile in great men". Indeed Molière, Voltaire, Victor Hugo are former students who became famous writers and, Georges Pompidou, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, Robespierre, Jacques Chirac, all presidents of the French Fifth Republic, all once spent time on the benches of Louis-le-Grand. Renowned foreign students of the Lycée include King Nicholas I of Montenegro and Léopold Sédar Senghor, the first president of Senegal.