HangingBasket

Lord Dunmore's War

2005-04-05T16:15:00.000-07:00

(1774), Virginia-led attack on the Shawnee Indians of Kentucky, removing the last obstacle to colonial conquest of that area. During the early 1770s the Shawnee watched with growing distress the steady encroachment upon their rich Kentucky hunting grounds by white trappers, traders, speculators, and settlers. In early 1774 the Virginia militia seized Fort Pitt and renamed it Fort

Orvieto

2005-04-05T10:47:00.000-07:00

Town, Terni provincia, in the Umbria regione of central Italy. The town is situated atop an isolated rock 640 feet (195 m) above the junction of the Paglia and Chiana rivers. An Etruscan and later a Roman city (in late Roman times it was called Urbs Vetus, from which its Italian name is derived), Orvieto was the seat of a Lombard duchy and of a Tuscan countship before becoming an independent

Nilo-saharan Languages

2005-04-05T02:22:00.000-07:00

The original expansion of the Nilo-Saharan family may have been associated with the Aquatic industry. This industry, which dates to the 8th millennium BC, is a conglomeration of cultures that exploited the food resources of lakes, rivers, and surrounding areas from Lake Rudolf in East Africa to the bend of the Niger River in West Africa during a long era of wetter climate

Kean, Charles (john)

2005-04-03T13:28:00.000-07:00

The son of the famed actor Edmund Kean, he was educated at Eton and made his debut as Young Norval in Douglas in London in 1827. He toured the provinces extensively but first won general acceptance during an American tour in 1830. Returning to

Muroran

2005-04-02T22:53:00.000-08:00

City, southern Hokkaido, Japan, on Cape Chikyu at the entrance to Uchiura Bay. After 1906 it began to grow from a village to a company town, producing steel and iron products. In 1982 Muroran succeeded in securing its water supply system from the company. It became the major heavy industrial centre (by value) on Hokkaido. The port also handles coal, machinery, wood, pulp, and marine products.

Nilo-saharan Languages

2005-04-02T00:32:00.000-08:00

Radioactive chemical element of the actinide series in Group IIIb of the periodic table, atomic number 94. It is the most important transuranium element because of its use as fuel in certain types of nuclear reactors and as an ingredient in nuclear weapons. Plutonium, warm because of energy released in alpha decay, is a silvery metal that takes on a yellow tarnish in

Valdemar I

2005-03-31T23:00:00.000-08:00

The son of Knud Lavard, duke of South Jutland, and a great-grandson of the Danish king Sweyn II, Valdemar gained sole possession of the monarchy, concluding

Suid

2005-03-31T19:01:00.000-08:00

Any member of the family Suidae, hoofed mammals, order Artiodactyla, including the wild and domestic pigs. Suids are stout animals with small eyes and coarse, sometimes sparse, hair. All have muzzles ending in a rounded cartilage disk used to dig for food. Some species have tusks. Suids are omnivorous and usually gregarious. Females bear

Xuanzang

2005-03-31T07:22:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization Hsüan-tsang , original name Chen Yi , honorary epithet San-tsang , also called Muchatipo , Sanskrit Mokshadeva , or Yuanzang Buddhist monk and Chinese pilgrim to India who translated the sacred scriptures of Buddhism from Sanskrit into Chinese and founded in China the Buddhist Consciousness Only school. His fame rests mainly on the volume and diversity of his translations of the Buddhist sutras and on the record

Xenarthran

2005-03-30T23:58:00.000-08:00

Order Cingulata consists primarily of armoured armadillo-like animals, and the name refers to the girdlelike shell of present-day armadillos. The armadillo family (Dasypodidae), with 8 genera and 20 species, is the only surviving family of Cingulata. Five other families in this order are extinct and are known only from fossil remains. Members of extinct families

Cellulose Acetate

2005-03-30T04:29:00.000-08:00

Original name Acetate Rayon, also called Acetate, man-made textile fibre produced from the plant substance cellulose, which is obtained from soft woods or the short fibres adhering to cotton seeds (linters) and treated with acetic acid and acetic anhydride, and then partially hydrolyzed so that the product, secondary acetate, is soluble in acetone. It forms a cellulose acetate solution that is extruded through

Insurance, Japan

2005-03-29T06:16:00.000-08:00

Insurance in Japan is mainly in the hands of private enterprise, although government insurance agencies write crop, livestock, forest fire, fishery, export credit, accident and health, and installment sales credit insurance as well as social security. Private insurance companies are regulated under various statutes. Major classes of property insurance written

Dehra Dun

2005-03-28T17:42:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Uttaranchal state, northern India. It lies in the Himalayan foothills at an elevation of 2,200 feet (670 metres). Dehra Dun was founded in 1699, when the heretical Sikh Guru Ram Rai, driven out of the Punjab, built a temple there. During the 18th century the area succumbed to successive invaders, the last of whom were the Gurkhas. When the Gurkha War ended in 1816, the area was ceded to

San Cristóbal Island

2005-03-28T10:54:00.000-08:00

Spanish Isla San Cristóbal , also called Chatham Island one of the easternmost of the Galápagos Islands in the eastern Pacific Ocean. San Cristóbal Island lies approximately 600 miles (965 km) west of Ecuador. It was originally named by English pirates for William Pitt, Earl of Chatham. With an area of 195 square miles (505 square km), San Cristóbal is the most populated and fertile island of the archipelago. Volcanic in origin, with its highest

Tivoli

2005-03-28T03:29:00.000-08:00

Latin Tibur, town and episcopal see, Roma provincia, Lazio (Latium) regione, central Italy. It is picturesquely situated on the western slopes of the Sabine Hills, along the Aniene River where it enters the Campagna di Roma, just east of Rome. The site commanded the principal natural route eastward from Rome along the Via Tiburtina Valeria and has been continuously occupied since

Porbeagle

2005-03-26T07:08:00.000-08:00

Species of mackerel shark (q.v.).

Catastrophism

2005-03-25T04:55:00.000-08:00

Doctrine that explains the differences in fossil forms encountered in successive stratigraphic levels as being the product of repeated cataclysmic occurrences and repeated new creations. This doctrine generally is associated with the great French naturalist Baron Georges Cuvier (1769–1832). One 20th-century expansion on Cuvier's views, in effect, a neocatastrophic school,

France, History Of, Liberation

2005-03-25T03:17:00.000-08:00

When the Allied forces landed in Normandy on June 6, 1944, the armed underground units had grown large enough to play an important role in the battles that followed—harassing the German forces and sabotaging railways and bridges. As the Germans gradually fell back, local Resistance organizations took over town halls and prefectures from Vichy incumbents. De Gaulle's

Saye And Sele, William Fiennes, 1st Viscount, 8th Lord Saye And Sele

2005-03-24T15:00:00.000-08:00

The only son of Richard Fiennes, 7th Lord Saye and Sele, he was educated at New College, Oxford, and succeeded to his father's lordship (barony) in 1613. He opposed

Quadruple Alliance

2005-03-24T03:00:00.000-08:00

Alliance first formed in 1813, during the final phase of the Napoleonic Wars, by Britain, Russia, Austria, and Prussia, for the purpose of defeating Napoleon, but conventionally dated from Nov. 20, 1815, when it was officially renewed to prevent recurrence of French aggression and to provide machinery to enforce the peace settlement concluded at the Congress of Vienna. The members

Houston, Sam

2005-03-23T03:42:00.000-08:00

In his youth Houston moved with his family to a farm in rural Tennessee after the death of his father in 1807. He ran away in his mid-teens and lived for nearly three years with

Astrophysics

2005-03-22T15:12:00.000-08:00

Branch of astronomy concerned primarily with the properties and structure of cosmic objects, including the universe as a whole. See astronomy.

Eight, The

2005-03-21T20:15:00.000-08:00

Group of American painters who exhibited together only once, in New York City in 1908, but who established one of the main currents in 20th-century American painting. The original Eight included Robert Henri, leader of the group, Everett Shinn, John Sloan, Arthur B. Davies, Ernest Lawson, Maurice Prendergast, George Luks, and William J. Glackens. George Bellows later joined them.

Pien-tsung-lun

2005-03-21T11:35:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Bianzonglun (Chinese: “Discussions of Essentials”), treatise by Hsieh Ling-yun, an early Chinese Buddhist intellectual, valued chiefly as one of the few sources of information about the author's eminent teacher, Tao-sheng (d. 434). According to Tao-sheng, enlightenment is a sudden and all-encompassing experience, rather than a gradual process as described by his contemporaries. This assertion,

Devon

2005-03-20T18:43:00.000-08:00

Administrative, geographic, and historic county of England, forming part of the Southwest Peninsula of Great Britain and bounded on the west by Cornwall and on the east by Dorset and Somerset. The administrative, geographic, and historic counties cover slightly different areas. The historic county comprises the entire geographic county, as well as a small area

Velasco Ibarra, José María

2005-03-20T06:18:00.000-08:00

Velasco Ibarra was born into a wealthy family and educated in Quito and Paris. He held various public posts before being elected president as the Conservative Party's candidate in 1933, assuming office in 1934. His economic-development plans, which

Tarbert

2005-03-20T05:32:00.000-08:00

Village at the head of East Loch Tarbert, an inlet on the west side of of Loch Fyne, Argyll and Bute council area, historic county of Argyllshire, Scotland. Its name means isthmus, and it occupies a narrow neck of land joining the Peninsula of Kintyre to the rest of Argyll. The herring fishery, which was its mainstay, has declined, but Tarbert has developed modestly as a resort

Uveitis

2005-03-18T21:01:00.000-08:00

Inflammation of the uvea, the middle coat of the eyeball, which is pigmented and contains blood vessels. The uvea consists of three parts: the iris, the ciliary body (containing the muscle that controls the curvature of the lens), and the choroid, the layer of the eyeball between the retina and the sclera (the white outer covering of all except the front part of the eyeball).

Cymbidium

2005-03-18T15:44:00.000-08:00

Cymbidium species grow in soil or on other plants and are popular as florists' plants and ornamentals. Most have short pseudobulbs

Tarbert

2005-03-17T18:37:00.000-08:00

Formerly (1912–2001) International Amateur Athletic Federation track-and-field organization of national associations of more than 160 countries. It was founded as the International Amateur Athletic Association at Stockholm in 1912. In 1936 the IAAF took over regulation of women's international track-and-field competition from the Fédération Sportive Féminine International, which had been founded in 1921. The major aims of the IAAF are to

Flodden, Battle Of

2005-03-16T18:06:00.000-08:00

(Sept. 9, 1513), English victory over the Scots, fought near Branxton, Northumberland. To honour his alliance with France (1512) and divert troops from the main English army, which was then in France under Henry VIII, James IV of Scotland crossed the border (Aug. 22, 1513) with an army of about 30,000 men supported by artillery. Thomas Howard, earl of Surrey, Henry's lieutenant in the north, gathered an army

Anshar And Kishar

2005-03-16T09:08:00.000-08:00

In Mesopotamian mythology, the male and female principles, the twin horizons of sky and earth. Their parents were either Apsu (the watery deep beneath the earth) and Tiamat (the personification of salt water) or Lahmu and Lahamu, the first set of twins born to Apsu and Tiamat. Anshar and Kishar, in turn, were the parents of Anu (An), the supreme heaven god.

Cyriacus Of Ancona

2005-03-16T05:34:00.000-08:00

Byname of Ciriaco De' Pizzicolli Italian merchant and Humanist whose writings, based on topographical observations and antiquarian findings relating to ancient Greek civilization, proved useful for later archaeological surveys and classical scholarship. Travelling extensively in southern Italy, Greece, Egypt, and the Near East, he copied hundreds

Kilauea

2005-03-15T09:35:00.000-08:00

The world's largest active volcanic mass, located on southeastern Hawaii Island, Hawaii, U.S. The central feature of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Kilauea (“Much Spreading”) is an elongated dome built of lava eruptions from a central crater and from lines of craters extending along east and southwest rifts, or fissures. The volcano's 4,090-foot (1,250-metre) summit has collapsed

Pro Juárez, Miguel

2005-03-14T04:07:00.000-08:00

The son of a socially prominent family, Pro entered the Jesuit novitiate in 1911. Because of government persecutions, he fled to California (1914–15) and then to Spain (1915–19) and taught in Nicaragua from 1919 to 1922. He returned to Spain and then studied in Enghien,

Cosamaloapan

2005-03-13T16:09:00.000-08:00

In full Cosamaloapan Del Carpio, city, southern Veracruz estado (“state”), south-central Mexico. It lies at 315 feet (96 m) above sea level in the Papaloapan River valley in the Gulf lowlands and is 91 miles (147 km) southeast of Veracruz. The hot, humid hinterland is Mexico's greatest sugarcane region; corn (maize), bananas, and mangoes also thrive. Livestock are raised in the vicinity, and charcoal is manufactured. The Papaloapan

Ghazan, Mahmud

2005-03-13T04:59:00.000-08:00

Ghazan's early childhood was spent largely in the company of his grandfather, the Il-Khan Abagha (1265–82), and he was brought up in the Buddhist faith that both his father and his grandfather professed. Upon his father's accession to the throne in 1284, Ghazan was appointed viceroy of the provinces of northeastern Persia, where he resided for the next 10 years and defended the frontier against

Almohads

2005-03-13T02:30:00.000-08:00

A Berber state had arisen in Tinmel in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco about 1120, inspired by Ibn Tumart and his demands for puritanical moral reform and a strict concept of the unity of God (tawhid). In 1121 Ibn Tumart proclaimed himself the mahdi (a promised

Ma-an-shan

2005-03-12T21:11:00.000-08:00

The region along the southern bank of the Yangtze between Ma-an-shan and T'ung-ling (about

Juba

2005-03-12T18:21:00.000-08:00

Dance of Afro-American slaves, found as late as the 19th century from Dutch Guiana to the Caribbean and the southern United States. It was danced by a circle of men around two men who performed various steps (e.g., the juba, the long dog scratch, the pigeon wing) in response to a rhythmic call and to the clapping (patting juba) of the other dancers. As a refrain, after each new step

Res Judicata

2005-03-12T11:15:00.000-08:00

It has long been held that one judicial contest is enough for the litigants on

Zala

2005-03-10T21:40:00.000-08:00

Megye (county), western Hungary. Zala has an area of 1,461 square miles (3,784 square km) and consists of wooded, undulating hill country. The Yugoslav border, partly defined by the Drava River, is on the southwest. There is a high incidence of soil erosion on the valley slopes, but along the valley floors are wet meadows and pastures. There has been some canalization of the rivers in Zala,

Grade, Chaim

2005-03-10T16:15:00.000-08:00

Yiddish poet, short-story writer, and novelist who was one of the last surviving secularized Yiddish writers to have been educated in a European yeshiva (rabbinical seminary). His fiction reflects an intimate knowledge of the complexities and breadth of that vanished culture and

Hasan Al-basri, Al-

2005-03-10T02:14:00.000-08:00

Hasan was born nine years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. One year after the Battle of Siffin (657), he moved to Basra, a military camp town situated 50 miles (80 km) northwest of the Persian Gulf. From this base, military expeditions to

Fethiye

2005-03-09T08:38:00.000-08:00

Town, southwestern Turkey. It lies along a sheltered bay in the eastern part of the Gulf of Fethiye on the Mediterranean Sea that is backed by the western Taurus ranges. Fethiye's enlarged port is an outlet for the minerals and timber of the region. The hinterland is a major centre of chromium mining. Fethiye stands on the site of the ancient Lycian city of Telmessus, whose

Argentina, The Pampean zone

2005-03-09T07:34:00.000-08:00

The Pampas occupy a transitional area between high summer temperatures to the north and cooler summers to the south. Buenos Aires, located on the northern edge of the Pampas, has a climate similar to that of cities in the southeastern United States, with hot, humid summers and cool, mild winters. The range of mean temperatures for summer months (December to February)

Jacob Ben Asher

2005-03-08T15:45:00.000-08:00

Little of certainty is known about Jacob's life. In 1303 he immigrated to Spain with his brothers and father, the great codifier Asher ben Jehiel, who became chief rabbi of Toledo.

Zaltys

2005-03-08T09:18:00.000-08:00

On special occasions the snake was asked to the table to share the family meal from their

Arabia, History Of, Saudi Arabia

2005-03-07T03:39:00.000-08:00

Ibn Sa'ud's zealous Wahhabi followers, arriving in the more cosmopolitan atmosphere of Hejaz society, were now exposed to the world of Islam at large. Ibn Sa'ud managed the resulting problems with firmness and tact. He had furthermore to enforce his rule over the tribes impatient with centralized government. His tough action with them won, and he set out to develop security,

Augustan Age

2005-03-06T11:37:00.000-08:00

One of the most illustrious periods in Latin literary history, from approximately 43 BC to AD 18; together with the preceding Ciceronian period (q.v.), it forms the Golden Age (q.v.) of Latin literature. Marked by civil peace and prosperity, the age reached its highest literary expression in poetry, a polished and sophisticated verse generally addressed to a patron or to the emperor

Kappa Organism

2005-03-06T11:10:00.000-08:00

Also called Kappa Particle, gram-negative symbiotic bacterium found in the cytoplasm of certain strains of the protozoan Paramecium aurelia. These bacteria, when released into the surroundings, change to P particles that secrete a poison (paramecin) that kills other sensitive strains of P. aurelia. The possession of kappa organisms is determined genetically. The kappa bearers, called killers,

Graffito

2005-03-06T00:24:00.000-08:00

Plural Graffiti any casual writing, rude drawing, or marking on the walls of buildings, as distinguished from a deliberate writing known as an inscription. Graffiti, either scratched on stone or plaster by a sharp instrument or, more rarely, written in red chalk or black charcoal, are found in great abundance; e.g., on the monuments of ancient Egypt. The subject matter of the scribblings

Hawaii

2005-03-05T22:59:00.000-08:00

Volcanic island, Hawaii, U.S. It lies south of Maui Island and constitutes Hawaii county. Known as the Big Island, it is the largest (area 4,028 square miles [10,433 square km]) and southeasternmost of the Hawaiian Island group. It is the youngest geologically and was formed by five volcanoes connected by lava saddles (ridges). Kilauea is the world's most active volcano. The island is roughly

Coindre, André

2005-03-05T08:30:00.000-08:00

Coindre, in his formative years, witnessed the devastating aftermath of the persecution of the church conducted by

Finland, Settlement patterns

2005-03-03T23:11:00.000-08:00

Increased industrialization in Finland has steadily raised the proportion of the population living in urban areas; by the late 20th century about three-fifths of the total population lived in cities and towns. Farms are most commonly located in the meadowland regions of the southwest, where the fertile land is suitable for mixed farming. In the north farmers usually

Moranbah

2005-03-03T17:34:00.000-08:00

New town, east-central Queensland, Australia. It lies about 120 miles (190 km) southwest of Mackay and 490 miles (790 km) northwest of the state capital, Brisbane. It is named after the parish of Moranbah, which itself was named after a local pastoral property, Morambah, which in turn probably took its name from Aboriginal sources. The town of Moranbah was founded in 1969 as the residential and

Macas

2005-03-03T05:04:00.000-08:00

Town, southeastern Ecuador. It lies on the Upano River along the eastern slopes of the Andes, at an elevation of 3,445 feet (1,050 m). Founded by the Spanish captain José Villanueva Maldonado in the mid-16th century as the city of Sevilla del Oro (“Golden Seville”), it was a large settlement for several decades and prospered by the exploitation of nearby alluvial gold deposits. After its

Argentina, Presidency of Rivadavia

2005-03-02T17:20:00.000-08:00

In the meantime an attempt was made to establish a national government through a constituent assembly that met in December 1824. Overstepping its legal authority, the constituent assembly in February 1826 created the office of president of the republic and installed the porteño (native of Buenos Aires) Bernardino Rivadavia as its first occupant. Civil war flared up in

Schall Von Bell, Adam

2005-03-01T20:05:00.000-08:00

Schall arrived in China in 1622, having been trained in Rome in the astronomical system of Galileo. He soon impressed the Chinese with the superiority of Western astronomy and was given an important official post translating Western astronomical

China, Japanese gains

2005-03-01T18:32:00.000-08:00

With the outbreak of World War I, in August 1914, Japan joined the side of the Allies and seized the German leasehold around Chiao-chou Bay together with German-owned railways in Shantung. China was not permitted to interfere. Then, on Jan. 18, 1915, the Japanese government secretly presented to Yüan the Twenty-one Demands, which sought, in effect, to make China a Japanese dependency.

Zahedan

2005-03-01T07:42:00.000-08:00

City, southeastern Iran, at an elevation of 4,435 feet (1,352 m). The population comprises Shi'ite Muslim Persians and Sunnite Muslim Baluchs. It is one of the more economically backward cities in Iran; local industry produces bricks, milled rice, livestock feed, processed foods, mats and baskets, embroidered articles, and ceramics. Roads link it with Zabol, Iranshahr, Chah Bahar, and Sarar

Kokkola

2005-03-01T00:54:00.000-08:00

Founded in 1620, Kokkola became the major seaport and trade centre of Ostrobothnia during the 18th century. In 1854 the British tried unsuccessfully to capture the city. Notable buildings include a 15th-century stone church of Kaarlela, the town hall (1845), and the Renlund

Harbours And Sea Works

2005-02-28T20:31:00.000-08:00

The construction of harbours and sea works offers some of the most unusual problems and challenges in civil engineering. The continuous and immediate

Suchet, Louis-gabriel, Duke (duc) D'albufera Da Valencia

2005-02-28T11:35:00.000-08:00

The son of a Lyon silk manufacturer, Suchet originally had intended to follow his father's business; but, having in 1792 served as a volunteer in the cavalry of the national guard, he manifested military

Insurance, Abandonment clause

2005-02-27T09:16:00.000-08:00

If salvaging or rehabilitating a ship or cargo following a marine loss costs more than the goods are worth, the loss is said to be constructively total. Under such conditions, the ocean marine policy permits the insured to abandon the damaged ship or cargo to the insurer and make a claim for the entire value. In this case, the salvage belongs to the insurer, who may dispose

Babia, Mount

2005-02-26T21:54:00.000-08:00

Polish Babia Góra , Slovak Babia Hora highest mountain (5,659 feet [1,725 m] at Diablok) peak in the Beskid Mountains, on the Slovakia-Poland border and one of the highest peaks in Poland. It is 12 miles (19 km) north-northeast of Námestovo, Slovakia, and 12 miles (19 km) south-southwest of Sucha Beskidzka, Pol. The site of a 7-square-mile (17-square-kilometre) Polish national park, the mountain attracts thousands of visitors to the resort facilities

Kogaku

2005-02-26T09:56:00.000-08:00

(Japanese: “Ancient Learning”), one of three schools of Neo-Confucian studies that developed in Japan during the Tokugawa period (1603–1867). See Neo-Confucianism.

Angiolini, Gasparo

2005-02-25T05:42:00.000-08:00

In 1757 he became ballet master of the Vienna court opera house, where his first ballet dramas frequently relied upon gesture to convey plot. In 1761, however, Angiolini collaborated with the composer Cristoph Gluck to produce Don

Bulandshahr

2005-02-24T22:07:00.000-08:00

The surrounding area comprises a level region between

Equatorial Guinea

2005-02-24T13:16:00.000-08:00

Officially Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Spanish República de Guinea Ecuatorial, country located on the west coast of Africa. It consists of Río Muni (also called Mbini), on the continent, and five islands: Bioko (formerly Fernando Po), Corisco, Great Elobey (Elobey Grande), Little Elobey (Elobey Chico), and Annobón. A fragmented country, it has a total area of 10,830 square miles (28,051 square kilometres). The capital of the republic is Malabo on Bioko. Bata is the administrative

Hula Valley

2005-02-24T09:59:00.000-08:00

Hebrew 'emeq Hula, valley in upper Galilee, northeastern Israel. The valley occupies most of the course of the Jordan River north of the Sea of Galilee. It is bounded by Dan and the settlement of Ma'yan Barukh (north), the Golan Heights (east), and the Hills of Naphtali (west), and on the south it slopes gradually down to the Sea of Galilee. It is approximately 16 miles (25 km) long, 4 miles (6 km) wide, and covers

Jammu And Kashmir, The foothills

2005-02-23T16:22:00.000-08:00

The foothills of the Himalayas, rising from about 2,000 to 7,000 feet (600 to 2,100 metres), form outer and inner zones. The outer zone consists of sandstones, clays, silts, and conglomerates, influenced by Himalayan folding movements and eroded to form long ridges and valleys (duns). The inner zone consists of more massive sedimentary rock, including red sandstones of Miocene age (about 5.3 to

Elion, Gertrude B.

2005-02-22T08:13:00.000-08:00

Elion was the daughter of immigrants. She graduated from Hunter College in New York City with a degree in biochemistry in 1937. Unable

Earphone

2005-02-22T04:42:00.000-08:00

Small loudspeaker held or worn close to the listener's ear or within the outer ear. Common forms include the hand-held telephone receiver; the headphone (q.v.), in which one or two earphones are held in place by a band worn over the head; and the plug earphone, which is inserted in the outer opening of the ear. The conversion of electrical to acoustical signals is effected by

Arabia, History Of, Omani expansion

2005-02-21T22:45:00.000-08:00

In Oman events took an independent course. The Ya'rubid dynasty—founded about 1624 when a member of the Ya'rub tribe was elected imam—expelled the Portuguese from Muscat and set to harrying Portuguese possessions on the Indian coast. Embarking on expansion overseas—to Mombasa in 1698, then to Pemba, Zanzibar, and Kilwa—the Omanis became the supreme power on the coastal regions

Amicus Curiae

2005-02-21T20:56:00.000-08:00

An amicus curiae normally may not participate except by

Kilian, Saint

2005-02-20T19:24:00.000-08:00

Missionary bishop who, with his companions Saints Colman and Totnan, gave his life for the Christianization of Thuringia and eastern Franconia. At Würzburg, in about 689, all three were beheaded by orders of Duke Gozbert of Würzburg, whom Kilian had supposedly converted and baptized. In 752 Bishop Burchard

Cambridge

2005-02-20T01:58:00.000-08:00

City (district), administrative and historic county of Cambridgeshire, England, home of the internationally known University of Cambridge. The city lies immediately south of the fen country (a flat alluvial region only slightly above sea level) and is itself only 20 to 80 feet (6 to 24 metres) above sea level. Most of the city is built on the east bank of the River Cam, a tributary

Novomoskovsk

2005-02-19T21:25:00.000-08:00

Formerly (until 1934) Bobriki , or (1934–61) Stalinogorsk city, Tula oblast (province), western Russia, situated on the upper Don River. Founded in 1930 as Bobriki, the town developed as a major chemical centre, making fertilizers and plastics and mining lignite (brown coal). Pop. (1993 est.) 145,000.

Shamanism, American Indians

2005-02-17T23:22:00.000-08:00

Among many North American tribes shamanism constitutes the most important aspect of the religious life. The shaman is characterized by the supernatural power he acquires as the result of a direct personal experience. This power is obtained either spontaneously or after a voluntary quest, but in either case the future shaman has to undergo certain initiatory

Madeira

2005-02-17T05:00:00.000-08:00

Madeira wine is fortified with brandy during fermentation to raise its alcoholic content to 18–20 percent. Madeiras, ranging from dry to sweet,

Neuber, Caroline

2005-02-17T02:47:00.000-08:00

Rebelling against her tyrannical father, she ran away at age 20 with a young clerk, Johann Neuber, and married him in 1718. They served their theatrical apprenticeship in the traveling companies of Christian Spiegelberg

Lorant, Stefan

2005-02-16T01:59:00.000-08:00

Lorant attended the Academy of Economics in Budapest and then worked as a director, cameraman, and editor of films in Vienna and Berlin. From 1926 to 1933 he was editor in

Axminster

2005-02-15T14:46:00.000-08:00

Town (“parish”), East Devon district, administrative and historic county of Devon, England, on the River Axe. Founded about 705 at the intersection of two Roman roads, Portway and Fosse Way, it was one of the earliest Saxon settlements in Devon. Carpet making, for which it is famous, was established there in 1755 and is continued in a modern factory. The typical Axminster carpet has

Outremont

2005-02-15T14:26:00.000-08:00

City, Montréal region, southern Quebec province, Canada. It lies in the centre of Montreal Island, adjoining Montreal city. Originally called Côte-Sainte-Catherine, it was renamed in 1875 for its location in relation to Montreal—on the far side of Mont-Royal. The city, a part of the Montreal Metropolitan Corporation, is now primarily a high-density residential suburb. Inc.

Smith, Emmitt

2005-02-15T05:48:00.000-08:00

Smith excelled early in football, starring in youth leagues and,

Blood Serum

2005-02-14T19:56:00.000-08:00

The part of blood plasma remaining after coagulation, during which process the plasma protein fibrinogen is converted to fibrin and remains behind in the clot. Immune serum or antitoxin, serum prepared from the blood of animals or humans that have been exposed to a disease and have developed specific antibodies, is used to protect persons against diseases to which

Aelian

2005-02-14T11:25:00.000-08:00

Aelian was an admirer and student of the writings of Plato, Aristotle, Isocrates, Plutarch, Homer, and others, and his own works preserve many excerpts from earlier

Pacheco Pereira, Duarte

2005-02-13T04:06:00.000-08:00

Pacheco Pereira, reared at the Portuguese court, was an educated man, serving as a squire to King John

Soka

2005-02-13T00:23:00.000-08:00

City, Saitama ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan, on the Ayase River, north of Tokyo. During the Tokugawa period (1603–1867) Soka was a post station, noted for its leather and dyes. The Tobu Line (railway) arrived in 1899. Because of its proximity to Tokyo and available water and land, the city developed as an extension of the Keihin Industrial Zone after World War II. Major products are pulp, leather,

Holi

2005-02-12T05:47:00.000-08:00

Hindu spring festival celebrated on the full-moon day of Phalguna (February–March). The festival, probably of ancient origin, has many characteristics of a saturnalia. Participants throw coloured waters and powders on one another, and, on this one day only, the usual restrictions of caste, sex, status, and age are disregarded. In the streets the celebrations are often marked

Bridges, Calvin Blackman

2005-02-11T23:37:00.000-08:00

The year after he entered Columbia University (1909), Bridges obtained a position there as laboratory assistant to the geneticist Thomas Hunt Morgan. He and Morgan designed experiments using the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, which

Interior Design, Late medieval Europe

2005-02-11T03:49:00.000-08:00

During the 12th and 13th centuries those who had taken part in the Crusades learned something of luxurious living in the Near East, and as a more secure way of life was becoming possible at home, they began to improve their own living conditions. The castle slowly evolved into the manor house. Household equipment became more elaborate and important, no doubt partly because

Region

2005-02-10T16:38:00.000-08:00

In the social sciences, a cohesive area that is homogeneous in selected defining criteria and is distinguished from neighbouring areas or regions by those criteria. It is an intellectual construct created by the selection of features relevant to a particular problem and the disregard of other features considered to be irrelevant. A region is distinguished

Judaism, Moses Mendelssohn

2005-02-10T16:35:00.000-08:00

Moses Mendelssohn opened what may be called the German period of Jewish philosophy (c. 1750–c. 1830). This period, in which a considerable number of works on Jewish philosophy were written in German and often under the influence of German philosophy, is also marked by the emancipation of the Jews—that is, by the abrogation of discriminatory laws directed against them—and by their

Bluford, Guion S., Jr.

2005-02-10T13:41:00.000-08:00

Bluford received an undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering from Pennsylvania State University in 1964 and was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Air Force, where he trained as a fighter pilot. He flew 144 combat missions during the Vietnam War. In 1978 he earned

Mursilis I

2005-02-08T11:46:00.000-08:00

Mursilis was the adopted heir of his grandfather, Hattusilis I, whom he succeeded on the throne. He first continued his predecessor's campaigns in northern Syria, destroying Aleppo and delivering the final blow to Mari. He then turned eastward, and by raiding Babylon he put an end to the Amorite dynasty there.

Mithradates I

2005-02-08T04:02:00.000-08:00

Before 160 Mithradates I seized Media from the Seleucid ruler Timarchus. Turning to the east, he won two provinces, Tapuria and Traxiana, from the Bactrian king Eucratides. Mithradates then captured the province of Elymais (ancient Elam) and invaded Babylonia (142 or 141). The Seleucid king Demetrius II

Qom

2005-02-07T21:36:00.000-08:00

In the 8th century, Qom was one of the centres of Shi'ism; in 816 Fatimah, the sister of the imam (leader of Shi'ite Islam) 'Ali ar-Rida, died in the town and was buried there. It became a place of pilgrimage in the 17th century, when the Safavid rulers built a golden-domed

Schattschneider, Elmer Eric

2005-02-07T05:05:00.000-08:00

Schattschneider earned an A.B. at the University of Wisconsin (1915), an M.A. at the University of Pittsburgh (1927), and a Ph.D. at Columbia University (1935). He taught at Columbia (1927–30); Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J. (1929–30); and Wesleyan