WideGlass

Caldecott, Randolph

2005-04-05T23:25:00.000-07:00

While a bank clerk at Whitchurch, Shropshire, and at Manchester, Caldecott began drawing for local magazines. Through his acquaintance with George Du Maurier he began contributing to

Nicholas

2005-04-04T15:59:00.000-07:00

The son of the emperor Alexander II's brother, the

Pythian Games

2005-04-03T13:56:00.000-07:00

In ancient Greece, various athletic and musical competitions held in honour of Apollo, chiefly those at Delphi. The musicians' contest there dated from very early times. In 582 BC it was made quadrennial, and athletic events including foot and chariot races were added in emulation of the Olympic Games. Open to all Greeks, the contests were held either at the Delphic shrine

Thomas Cup

2005-04-02T11:48:00.000-08:00

Trophy signifying world supremacy in the sport of badminton. The cup was donated in 1939 by Sir George Thomas for a series of men's international team competitions to be managed by the International Badminton Federation (IBF), of which Thomas was then president. The first tournament was held in 1948–49 and won by Malaya. Tournaments are held every two years.

Aerospace Engineering

2005-03-31T03:30:00.000-08:00

The aerospace engineer is armed with an extensive background suitable for employment in most positions traditionally occupied by mechanical engineers as well as limited positions in the other various engineering disciplines. The transportation, construction, communication, and energy industries provide the most opportunities for non-aerospace

Asherah

2005-03-29T21:20:00.000-08:00

Ancient West Semitic goddess, consort of the supreme god. Her principal epithet was probably “She Who Walks on the Sea.” She was occasionally called Elath (Elat), “the Goddess,” and may have also been called Qudshu, “Holiness.” According to texts from Ugarit (modern Ras Shamra, Syria), Asherah's consort was El, and by him she was the mother of 70 gods. As mother goddess she was widely worshiped

Eisleben

2005-03-29T19:55:00.000-08:00

City, Saxony-Anhalt Land (state), central Germany, in the eastern foothills of the Harz Mountains. First mentioned in 994 as a market, called Islebia, and in 1180 as a town, it belonged to the counts of Mansfeld until it passed to Saxony in 1780 and was assigned to Prussia in 1815. It is divided into the old and new towns (Altstadt and Neustadt), the latter having originated as a residential district

Foix

2005-03-28T08:08:00.000-08:00

Feudal county of southwestern France, corresponding approximately to the modern département of Ariège. Between the 11th and the 15th century, the counts of Foix built up a quasi-independent power bounded by Languedoc on the north and on the east, by the territories of the counts of Roussillon and of the kings of Aragon on the south, and by those of the counts of Comminges

Lode

2005-03-26T15:09:00.000-08:00

In mining, ore body disseminated within definite boundaries in unwanted rock. See vein.

Bahamas, Flag Of The

2005-03-25T04:35:00.000-08:00

The flag of The Bahamas was officially hoisted on July 10, 1973, the date of the nation's independence from the United Kingdom. It was the result of a local competition for a new national flag, although no single entry was selected. Instead, several entries were combined to create the new flag. The two aquamarine stripes represent the water surrounding the islands. The yellow

Amis And Amiles

2005-03-24T08:04:00.000-08:00

The tale, probably of Oriental origin, was introduced to the West by way of Byzantium and found its way into French literature through

Zambezi River

2005-03-23T10:29:00.000-08:00

Little is written in English specifically on the Zambezi River. Information can be found in B.M. Fagin (ed.), The Victoria Falls Handbook, 2nd ed. (1963); R. Mansell Prothero (ed.), People and Land in Africa South of the Sahara: Readings in Social Geography (1972); and N.J. Money, The Geology of Western Zambia (1972).

Cambridgeshire

2005-03-23T06:54:00.000-08:00

Administrative, geographic, and historic county of eastern England. The administrative county covers a much larger area than the ancient shire, or historic county. Formed in 1974, the administrative county incorporates almost all of the historic county of Cambridgeshire and most of the historic county of Huntingdonshire (which is nearly coterminous with the district

Vafiades, Markos

2005-03-22T02:09:00.000-08:00

Vafiades worked as a labourer in Istanbul and fled to Greece as a refugee in 1923. He became a communist in his teens and fought with the partisans against the Germans

Rectocele

2005-03-21T07:33:00.000-08:00

Disorder in which the rectum bulges into the back wall of the vagina. It is caused when the muscles and connective tissues supporting the rectum and back wall of the vagina are weakened, usually due to repeated childbirth or to aging, and the rectum sags until it abuts the vagina. A rectocele often occurs together with an enterocele, which is a bulge of the small

Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

2005-03-21T00:08:00.000-08:00

English Dresden State Art Collections art museum in Dresden, Ger., that includes collections of painting, sculpture, graphic and applied arts, and coins. It is best known for its picture gallery, the core of which is the collection of paintings that originally belonged to the Kunstkammer, founded by Prince August in 1560. Its most popular works, however, were later acquisitions dating from the 18th century. There

Fabian, Saint

2005-03-19T23:00:00.000-08:00

Latin Fabianus pope from 236 to 250. The successor to St. Anterus, Fabian is said to have divided Rome into seven districts assigned to the seven deacons and to have founded several churches in France. His appointment of notaries to register the deeds of the martyrs reflected the increasing precision with which the Roman Catholic church began to keep records

Kirk Range

2005-03-19T20:04:00.000-08:00

Plateau in southwestern Malawi, extending in a north-south direction and skirting the southwestern shore of Lake Nyasa and the western border of the Shire River valley. The northern scarp overlooks the Central Region Plateau, while the southern limits merge into the lower Shire Highlands. The plateau's height decreases in a southerly direction, from 5,500 feet (1,676 m) at Dedza

Abdelkader

2005-03-19T04:28:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Abd El-kader, or Abdul-qadir, Arabic in full 'abd Al-qadir Ibn Muhyi Ad-din Ibn Mustafa Al-hasani Al-jaza'iri amir of Mascara (from 1832), the military and religious leader who founded the Algerian state and led the Algerians in their 19th-century struggle against French domination (1840–46).

Holberg, Ludvig, Friherre Holberg

2005-03-17T23:34:00.000-08:00

Gerald S. Argetsinger, Ludvig Holberg's Comedies (1983); F.J. Billeskov Jansen, Ludvig Holberg (1974); and Sven Hakon Rossel (ed.), Ludvig Holberg—A European Writer: A Study in Influence and Reception (1994).

Mauna Kea Observatory

2005-03-17T07:04:00.000-08:00

The observatory was founded in 1964 at the urging

Broad Church

2005-03-15T17:41:00.000-08:00

Moderate movement that emerged as one of the three parties in the Church of England during the mid-19th century. The Broad Church represented “broad” views and eschewed narrow expressions of doctrine as practiced by Anglo-Catholics (or High Churchmen) on one hand and anti-Roman Evangelicals (or Low Churchmen) on the other. Broad Churchmen in the 19th century—including such

Botticelli, Sandro

2005-03-15T14:52:00.000-08:00

Original name Alessandro Di Mariano Filipepi one of the greatest painters of the Florentine Renaissance. His “The Birth of Venus” and “Primavera” are often said to epitomize for modern viewers the spirit of the Renaissance.

Amide

2005-03-15T10:28:00.000-08:00

Any member of either of two classes of nitrogen-containing compounds related to ammonia and amines. The covalent amides are neutral or very weakly acidic substances formed by replacement of the hydroxyl group (OH) of an acid by an amino group (NR2, in which R may represent a hydrogen atom or an organic combining group such as methyl, CH3). The carboxamides (R¢CONR2), which are

Christensen, Benjamin

2005-03-14T18:40:00.000-08:00

Christensen began his career as an opera singer in 1902 but later became an actor and then a director. By 1913 he was known as the writer, star, and director of a film exploring the unknown, Det Hemmeligheds fulde X (The Mysterious X), his first investigation of the horror of

Antarctica, Land fauna

2005-03-13T22:33:00.000-08:00

The native land fauna is wholly invertebrate. Apparently climatically less tolerant and less easily dispersed, the fauna follows plant colonization of newly deglaciated regions and therefore is not as widely distributed. The Antarctic microfauna includes heliozoans, rotifers, tardigrades, nematodes, and ciliate protozoans. The protozoans dominate soil

Aicard, Jean

2005-03-13T21:24:00.000-08:00

As a young man Aicard studied law but abandoned it to devote himself to literature. His first book of poetry, Jeunes croyances (1867; “Beliefs of a Youth”), showed the influence of the Romantic poet Alphonse de Lamartine and was well received upon its appearance. He went

Biblical Literature, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles

2005-03-12T16:21:00.000-08:00

The final books of the Hebrew Bible are the books of Chronicles and Ezra–Nehemiah, which once formed a unitary history of Israel from Adam to the 4th century BCE, written by an anonymous Chronicler. That these books constituted a single work—referred to as the Chronicler's history, in distinction to the Deuteronomic history and the elements of history from the priestly

Biblical Literature, Ruth

2005-03-12T09:13:00.000-08:00

The Book of Ruth is a beautiful short story about a number of good people, particularly the Moabite great-grandmother of David. Though events are set in the time of the judges, linguistic and other features suggest that the present form dates from post-exilic times. But it gives the impression of being based on an ancient tradition, perhaps on written source. It was certainly

Isinglass

2005-03-11T00:36:00.000-08:00

Sired by Isonomy and foaled by Dead Lock, he was owned by H. McCalmont and trained by J. Jewitt. After winning three races in 1893, as a two-year-old, ridden by Tom Loates, he won the Two Thousand Guineas, the Derby, and

Atatürk, Kemal

2005-03-10T14:42:00.000-08:00

One

Albertus Magnus, Saint

2005-03-09T20:47:00.000-08:00

English Saint Albert The Great , German Sankt Albert Der Grosse , byname Albert Of Cologne , or Of Lauingen , or Doctor Universalis (Latin: “Universal Doctor”) Dominican bishop and philosopher best known as a teacher of St. Thomas Aquinas and as a proponent of Aristotelianism at the University of Paris. He established the study of nature as a legitimate science within the Christian tradition. By papal decree in 1941, he was declared the

Buchan, John, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir

2005-03-09T15:49:00.000-08:00

A clergyman's son, Buchan was educated at the universities of Glasgow and Oxford, where he began

Quicherat, Jules (-étienne-joseph)

2005-03-08T23:52:00.000-08:00

Quicherat

Haldi

2005-03-07T19:11:00.000-08:00

The national god of the ancient kingdom of Urartu, which ruled the plateau around Lake Van, now eastern Turkey, from about 900 to about 600 BC. Haldi was represented as a man, with or without wings, standing on a lion; in the absence of religious texts his attributes are otherwise unknown. A Urartian temple at ancient Musasir dedicated to Haldi and to the goddess Bagbartu, or Bagmashtu,

Light Verse

2005-03-06T20:10:00.000-08:00

The Greeks were among the first to practice

Harcourt, Sir William

2005-03-06T14:55:00.000-08:00

A lawyer from 1854, Harcourt briefly taught international law at the University of Cambridge. Entering the House of Commons in 1868, Harcourt served Prime

Wurtzite

2005-03-06T13:28:00.000-08:00

A zinc sulfide mineral that occurs typically in Potosí, Bolivia; Butte, Mont.; and Goldfield, Nev. It is a rare and unstable (at temperatures below 1,020° C, [1,870° F]) hexagonally symmetrical modification of sphalerite, to which it inverts crystallographically; it may be made artificially from sphalerite by rapid cooling from 1,020° C. For detailed physical properties, see sulfide

Block Island

2005-03-04T15:55:00.000-08:00

Pear-shaped island coextensive with the town (township) of New Shoreham (inc. 1672), Washington county, southern Rhode Island, U.S., between Block Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. Lying about 9 miles (14 km) south of the mainland, it is about 6 miles (10 km) long and 3.5 miles (5.5 km) wide and has a land area of 10 square miles (25 square km). Originally called Manisses (“Manitou's Little Island”) by Narraganset

Switzerland, Climate

2005-03-04T01:35:00.000-08:00

Four major European climates affect Switzerland. From the west, influenced by the North Atlantic Drift, come mild and moist air masses; dry and cold air arrives from the North Arctic areas; continental air from the east brings dry colder air in winter and warmer air in summer; relatively moist and warm air flows northward from the Mediterranean. The mixing of these

Dorsey, Thomas Andrew

2005-03-03T19:57:00.000-08:00

U.S. songwriter, singer, and pianist (b. July 1, 1899, Villa Rica, Ga.--d. Jan. 23, 1993, Chicago, Ill.), as the "father of gospel music," blended elements of soulful blues with the traditional sacred music of his religious upbringing to create a new genre called gospel, which infused an uplifting, foot-stomping sound into black congregations, primarily of Baptist and Holiness churches. Dorsey, the

Utah, Mormon settlement and territorial growth

2005-03-02T19:13:00.000-08:00

When wagonloads of Mormon pioneers under the leadership of Brigham Young first entered

Avoidance, Zone Of

2005-03-01T11:04:00.000-08:00

The zone of avoidance can be penetrated only by observations made in the far infrared end of the electromagnetic spectrum. It is entirely a local Milky Way

Ocean, Seamounts, guyots, and abyssal hills

2005-03-01T08:18:00.000-08:00

Seamounts are submarine volcanoes with more than 1,000 metres of relief. Aseismic ridges are built by chains of overlapping seamounts. A seamount is akin to a subaerial shield volcano in that it also has gently sloping sides (5° to 15°) and is constructed by nonexplosive eruptions of alkaline basalt lavas that are thought to originate from depths of roughly 150 kilometres. About

Gaccha

2005-02-28T11:24:00.000-08:00

Among the image-worshipping Shvetambara sect of the Indian religion Jainism, a group of monks and their lay followers who claim descent from eminent monastic teachers. Although some 84 separate gacchas have appeared since the 7th–8th century, only a few have survived, such as the Kharatara (located mainly in Rajasthan), the Tapa, and the Ancala. While the gacchas do not differ

Chiabrera, Gabriello

2005-02-28T04:35:00.000-08:00

Chiabrera studied philosophy in Rome, lived for a time in the household of a cardinal, and then returned to Savona, where civic and diplomatic posts and the protection of several princes gave him the leisure

Eurypterid

2005-02-27T10:06:00.000-08:00

Frequently referred to as giant scorpions, most eurypterids were small animals, although Pterygotus

Cherwell

2005-02-26T08:46:00.000-08:00

District, administrative and historic county of Oxfordshire, south-central England, occupying an area of 228 square miles (590 square km). The River Cherwell and the Oxford Canal extend north from Oxford city and bisect the district. Predominantly rural, Cherwell is a lowland area bordering the limestone Cotswold Hills on the west and the North Oxfordshire Heights on the

Mahakavya

2005-02-25T20:00:00.000-08:00

In its classical form, a mahakavya consists of a variable number of comparatively short cantos, each composed in a metre appropriate to its particular subject matter. The subject matter of the mahakavya is

Cold-bloodedness

2005-02-24T13:17:00.000-08:00

Also called Poikilothermy, Ectothermy, or Heterothermy, the state of having a variable body temperature that is usually only slightly higher than the environmental temperature. This state distinguishes fishes, amphibians, reptiles, and invertebrate animals from warm-blooded, or homoiothermic, animals (birds and mammals). Because of their dependence upon environmental warmth for metabolic functioning, the distribution

Monatomic Gas

2005-02-24T09:57:00.000-08:00

Gas composed of particles (molecules) that consist of single atoms, such as helium or sodium vapour, and in this way different from diatomic, triatomic, or, in general, polyatomic gases. The thermodynamic behaviour of a monatomic gas in the ordinary temperature range is extremely simple because it is free from the rotational and vibrational energy components characteristic

Penates

2005-02-23T19:10:00.000-08:00

Formally Di Penates household gods of the Romans and other Latin peoples. In the narrow sense, they were gods of the penus (“household provision”), but by extension their protection reached the entire household. They are associated with other deities of the house, such as Vesta, and the name was sometimes used interchangeably with that of the Lares, any of various tutelary deities. The Penates

Papen, Franz Von

2005-02-22T21:52:00.000-08:00

The scion of a wealthy Catholic landowning family, Papen began his career as a professional soldier. At the beginning of World War I, he was military attaché in Washington, but after

Zionist Church

2005-02-22T03:00:00.000-08:00

The use of the term Zion derives from the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church in Zion, founded in Chicago in 1896 and having missionaries in South Africa by

Ahmad Ibn Hanbal

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

Of pure Arab stock, Ibn Hanbal belonged to the tribe of Shayban through both parents. He was still an infant when his father died at 30. When Ibn Hanbal was 15 he began to study the Traditions (Hadith) of the Prophet Muhammad. Seeking to learn from the great masters of his day, he travelled to the cities of Kufah and Basra in Iraq; Mecca, Hejaz, and Medina in Arabia; and to the lands of Yemen and

Akrotiri

2005-02-20T23:32:00.000-08:00

British military enclave in south-central Cyprus that was retained as a “sovereign base area” by the United Kingdom under the London Agreement of 1959 granting the independence of Cyprus. Located southwest of Limassol, the enclave comprises Akrotiri Peninsula, the southernmost part of the island, and a small coastal area north of Episkopi Bay. The enclave has a hospital,

Gabinius, Aulus

2005-02-19T23:44:00.000-08:00

As tribune in 67 BC Gabinius proposed a law that gave Pompey command of the Mediterranean and all the land within 50 miles (81 km) of its coast as a means of controlling the depredations of pirates. Another Gabinian measure checked the lending of money to foreign ambassadors at Rome. Its

Hexachloroplatinic Acid

2005-02-19T18:21:00.000-08:00

Also called Chloroplatinic Acid, complex compound formed by dissolving platinum metal in aqua regia (a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids) or in hydrochloric acid that contains chlorine. It is crystallized from the solution in the form of reddish brown deliquescent (moisture-absorbing) crystals with specific gravity 2.43 and melting point 60° C (140° F). It is the starting material from which most platinum

Bradley, Tom

2005-02-18T22:03:00.000-08:00

The son of sharecroppers and the grandson of slaves, Bradley grew up in poverty. When he was seven years old, his parents moved to Los Angeles. Excelling at track

Locomotive

2005-02-18T05:16:00.000-08:00

Although motive power can be incorporated into a car that also has passenger, baggage, or freight accomodations, it most often is provided by a separate unit, the locomotive, which includes the machinery to generate (or, in the case of an electric locomotive, to convert) power and transmit

France, History Of, Liberation

2005-02-15T20:20:00.000-08:00

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

Bhamo

2005-02-15T17:42:00.000-08:00

In ancient times Bhamo

France, Flag Of

2005-02-15T16:58:00.000-08:00

Under the ancien régime, France had a great number of flags, and many of its military and naval flags were elaborate and subject to artistic variations. The royal coat of arms, a blue shield with three golden fleurs-de-lis, was the basis for the state flag. After the Bourbons came to power, this shield was generally displayed against a background of the Bourbon dynastic

Radio Range

2005-02-13T01:44:00.000-08:00

In aerial navigation, a system of radio transmitting stations, each of which transmits a signal that not only carries identification but also is of intrinsic value to a navigator in fixing his position. The older “A–N” type, dating from 1927, operates at low and medium frequencies and is still in use, mainly by private light aircraft. The only equipment needed in the aircraft

Kafur, Abu Al-misk

2005-02-12T14:00:00.000-08:00

Kafur was originally a slave belonging to the founder of the Ikshidid dynasty, Muhammad ibn Tughj. Muhammad recognized Kafur's talent, made him tutor to his children, and promoted him to an officer. Kafur showed outstanding military abilities

Basidiomycetes

2005-02-11T15:12:00.000-08:00

A large and diverse class of fungi (division Mycota) including jelly and shelf, or bracket, fungi; mushrooms, puffballs, and stinkhorns; and the rusts and smuts. The club-shaped spore-bearing organ (basidium) usually produces four sexual spores (basidiospores). Basidia are borne on fruiting bodies (basidiocarps), which are large and conspicuous in

Eakins, Thomas

2005-02-11T08:35:00.000-08:00

All paintings in oils unless otherwise noted. “A Street Scene in Seville” (1870; Mrs. John R. Garrett, Sr. Collection); “Home Scene” (1871; Brooklyn Museum, New York); “Max Schmitt in a Single Scull” (1871; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City); “Katherine” (1872; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn.); “The Pair-Oared Shell” (1872; Philadelphia Museum of Art); “The Biglin Brothers Turning the Stake” (1873; Cleveland Museum of Art); “John Biglin in a Single Scull” (watercolour, 1873; Metropolitan Museum of Art); “Sailing” (1874; Philadelphia Museum of Art); “Pushing for Rail” (1874; Metropolitan Museum of Art); “The Gross Clinic” (1875; Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia); “Will Schuster and Blackman Going Shooting” (1876; Yale University Art Gallery); “Chess Players” (1876; Metropolitan Museum of Art); “William Rush Carving His Allegorical Figure of the Schuylkill River” (1877; Philadelphia Museum of Art); “The Fairman Rogers Four-in-Hand” (1879; Philadelphia Museum of Art); “The Crucifixion” (1880; Philadelphia Museum of Art); “The Pathetic Song” (1881; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.); “The Swimming Hole” (1883; Fort Worth Art Center Museum, Fort Worth, Texas); “Lady with a Setter Dog (Mrs. Eakins)” (1885; Metropolitan Museum of Art); “Walt Whitman” (1887; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia); “Letitia Wilson Jordan Bacon” (1888; Brooklyn Museum); “Miss Van Buren” (c. 1889; Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.); “The Agnew Clinic” (1889; University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia); “Professor Henry A. Rowland” (1891; Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Mass.); “The Concert Singer” (1892; Philadelphia Museum of Art); “Frank Hamilton Cushing” (1894–95; Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, Tulsa, Okla.); “Taking the Count” (1898; Yale University Art Gallery); “Salutat” (1898; Addison Gallery of American Art); “Between Rounds” (1899; Philadelphia Museum of Art); “Benjamin Eakins” (1899; Philadelphia Museum of Art); “Mrs. William D. Frishmuth” (1900; Philadelphia Museum of Art); “The Thinker: Louis N. Kenton” (1900; Metropolitan Museum of Art); “Self-Portrait” (1902; National Academy of Design, New York); “Mrs. Edith Mahon” (1904; Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass.); “Monsignor Diomede Falconio” (1905; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.).

Qala'un Mosque

2005-02-10T15:59:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Qalawun building complex, including a mausoleum, a madrasah, and a hospital, built in 1283–85 on the site of present-day Cairo by the fifth Mamluk sultan, Qala'un. The hospital, now in ruins, was one of the most remarkable buildings of the Mamluk era. The mausoleum and madrasah both open from a central corridor. The madrasah has a unique three-part basilica-like eyvan, or vaulted niche, on the richly

Claremont

2005-02-10T04:00:00.000-08:00

City, Los Angeles county, southwestern California, U.S., in the Pomona Valley, at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains, adjacent to Pomona. Founded in 1887 by the Pacific Land Improvement Company, it was probably named for Claremont, New Hampshire, hometown of one of the company's directors. It developed as an educational centre after 1889, when Pomona College (1887) moved there. It is now

Sea Lettuce

2005-02-09T03:19:00.000-08:00

(Ulva), any member of a genus of green algae usually found growing between high and low tide marks on rocky shores of seas and oceans. Fragments may be washed ashore by wave action. Ulva grows also in brackish water rich in organic matter or sewage. The thallus, which somewhat resembles a lettuce leaf, is a sheet of cells up to 30 cm (12 inches) long and two cells thick

Orbigny, Alcide Dessalines D'

2005-02-07T18:06:00.000-08:00

During eight years of travel in South America (1826–34) Orbigny studied the people, natural history, and geology of the continent. He summarized these studies in Voyage dans l'Amérique méridionale, 10 vol., (1834–47; “Journey into South America”) and proceeded to draw up the first comprehensive map of that

Oberbayern

2005-02-07T15:10:00.000-08:00

English Upper Bavaria Regierungsbezirk (administrative district), southeastern Bavaria Land (state), southern Germany. Oberbayern is bordered by Austria to the east and south and the Regierungsbezirke of Schwaben (Swabia) to the west, Mittelfranken (Middle Franconia) and Oberpfalz (Upper Palatinate) to the north, and Niederbayern (Lower Bavaria) to the northeast. It is the largest of seven

Cuba, Revolution

2005-02-07T14:59:00.000-08:00

Batista's fall resulted as much from internal decay as from the challenges of Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement (commemorating Castro's failed attack on the Moncada military base in Santiago on July 26, 1953) or from the Federation of University Students and other groups opposed to Batista's rule. Castro had been a legislative candidate for elections in 1952 that were aborted

Susanoo

2005-02-06T15:27:00.000-08:00

Susanoo descended into the land of Izumo in western Japan

Anatta

2005-02-05T07:49:00.000-08:00

Sanskrit Anatman, in Buddhism, the doctrine that there is in humans no permanent, underlying substance that can be called the soul. Instead, the individual is compounded of five factors of consciousness (Pali: khandha; Sanskrit: skandha) that are constantly changing. The concept of anatta, or anatman, is a departure from the Hindu belief in atman (“the self”). The absence of a self, anicca (the impermanence

Golden Eagle

2005-02-04T08:05:00.000-08:00

In North America the golden eagle ranges

Tasmania, Demographic trends

2005-02-04T07:10:00.000-08:00

Tasmania continues to have a higher birth rate than most other states, but, as in Australia generally, crude birth rates have tended to fall, average birth rates declining in the middle and late 20th century. Birth rates are lower in the cities than in the smaller towns and rural areas. Death rates remain fairly constant. Infant mortality rates are among the lowest in

China, The Wu-tai (Five Dynasties)

2005-02-04T01:22:00.000-08:00

None of the Wu-tai regimes that dominated North China ever forgot the ideal of the unified empire. Each sought, with gradually increasing success, to strengthen the power of the central authorities. Even Chu Wen, who began the Wu-tai by deposing the last T'ang emperor in 907, sought to extend his control in the north. While consolidating his strength on the strategic plains

Juvarra, Filippo

2005-02-02T10:49:00.000-08:00

Juvarra studied in Rome (1703–14) under the architect Carlo Fontana and was commissioned to design scenes for Cardinal Ottoboni's theatre in the Cancelleria Palace. He was also asked to do stage designs for the queen of Poland, Maria

Buys Ballot's Law

2005-02-02T05:56:00.000-08:00

Law of wind direction named for the Dutch meteorologist C.H.D. Buys Ballot, who first stated it in 1857. He derived the law empirically, unaware that it already had been deduced theoretically by the U.S. meteorologist William Ferrel, whose priority Buys Ballot later acknowledged. The law states that in the Northern Hemisphere a person who stands facing away from the wind

Macarthur, Charles

2005-02-01T20:06:00.000-08:00

At the age of 17, MacArthur moved to Chicago to begin a career in journalism, which was briefly interrupted by military service, first in 1916 in Mexico and then in World War I. He wrote for the Chicago

Cole, Nat King

2005-01-31T06:35:00.000-08:00

Cole grew up in Chicago where, by age 12, he sang and played organ in the church

Amazon Rainforest

2005-01-30T15:14:00.000-08:00

Large, tropical rainforest occupying the drainage basin of the Amazon River and its tributaries in northern South America, and covering an area of 2,300,000 square miles (6,000,000 square km). Comprising about 40 percent of Brazil's total area, it is bounded by the Guiana Highlands to the north, the Andes Mountain Ranges to the west, the Brazilian central plateau to the south, and the Atlantic

Jackson, Andrew

2005-01-30T03:21:00.000-08:00

In 1828 Jackson defeated Adams by an electoral vote of 178 to 83 after a campaign in which personalities and slander played a larger part than in any previous U.S. national election. Jackson and his wife, Rachel, despite their long marriage, had been vilified in campaign pamphlets as adulterers. The basis was that Rachel Jackson was not legally divorced from her first husband at the time she and Jackson were wed. When they discovered their mistake they remarried, but the damage had been done. Jackson's hour of triumph was soon overshadowed by personal tragedy—his wife died at the Hermitage on December 22, 1828. Retiring and religious, she had avoided the public eye, and the scabrous attacks had hurt her deeply. Jackson had these words inscribed on her tombstone: “A being so gentle and yet so virtuous, slander might wound, but could not dishonor.” She had dreaded becoming the hostess of the President's House, saying that she would “rather be a doorkeeper in the House of God than live in that palace.” Rachel Jackson's niece, Emily Donelson, the wife of Andrew Jackson Donelson, served as the president's hostess until 1836. At times, Sarah Yorke Jackson, the wife of Andrew Jackson's adopted son, also served as his hostess.

Ithaca

2005-01-29T21:41:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1817) of Tompkins county, south-central New York, U.S. It lies at the southern end of Cayuga Lake (one of the Finger Lakes), 55 miles (89 km) southwest of Syracuse. Within the city are picturesque gorges cut by several creeks. Founded in 1789 by Simeon DeWitt, surveyor general of New York, it had formerly been a part of the military tract granted in 1782 to veterans of the American Revolution.

Cozens, Alexander

2005-01-29T15:07:00.000-08:00

Son of Richard Cozens, shipbuilder to the tsar of Russia, Alexander settled in England after visiting Rome in 1746 and became a fashionable drawing master. William Beckford, author of the Oriental

Berceo, Gonzalo De

2005-01-29T02:24:00.000-08:00

Berceo's subjects were religious

Yang-chou

2005-01-27T20:28:00.000-08:00

In the 4th and 3rd centuries BC Yang-chou was a fief known as Kuang-ling in the state of Ch'u. After the Ch'in unification of the empire in 221 BC, it became the seat of a county. Under the Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 220), it was the seat

Baqqarah

2005-01-27T04:11:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Baggara (Arabic: “Cattlemen”), nomad Arabs who have been forced by circumstance to live in a part of Africa that will support the cow but not the camel—south of latitude 13° and north of latitude 10° from Lake Chad eastward to the Nile River. Probably they are the descendants of Arabs who migrated west out of Egypt in the European Middle Ages, turned south from Tunisia to Chad, and finally

Leven, Loch

2005-01-26T02:28:00.000-08:00

Lake in Perth and Kinross council area, central Scotland, at the centre of the historic county of Kinross-shire. Roughly circular in shape and about 3 miles (5 km) in diameter, it is one of the shallowest of the Scottish lochs—with a mean depth of 15 feet (4.5 metres)—and has become important as a nature reserve. The loch is a roosting area for geese in winter and a resting area for ducks.

Scheffel, Joseph Victor Von

2005-01-25T19:31:00.000-08:00

Scheffel's father was a Baden army engineer, and

Coolidge, William D(avid)

2005-01-25T15:57:00.000-08:00

After teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge; 1897, 1901–05) and the University of Leipzig (1899), in 1905 he joined the General Electric (GE) Research Laboratory.

Mahavira

2005-01-25T08:06:00.000-08:00

Also known as Vardhamana Epithet of Vardhamana, the last of the 24 Tirthankaras (“Ford-makers,” i.e., saviours who promulgated Jainism), and the reformer of the Jain monastic community. According to the traditions of the two main Jain sects, the Shvetambara (“White-robed”) and the Digambara (“Sky-clad,” i.e., naked), Mahavira became

Ear, Human, Detection of angular acceleration: dynamic equilibrium

2005-01-23T18:42:00.000-08:00

Because the three semicircular canals—superior, posterior, and horizontal—are positioned at right angles to one another, they are able to detect movements in three-dimensional space (see Anatomy of the human ear: Inner ear: Semicircular canals). When the head begins to rotate in any direction, the inertia of the endolymph causes it to lag behind, exerting pressure that

Aeschylus

2005-01-23T08:47:00.000-08:00

Aeschylus grew up in the turbulent period when the Athenian democracy, having thrown off its tyranny (the absolute rule of one man), had to prove itself against both self-seeking politicians at home and invaders from abroad. Aeschylus himself took part in his city's first struggles against the invading Persians. Later Greek chroniclers believed that Aeschylus was

Cytoplasmic Streaming

2005-01-22T06:15:00.000-08:00

Also called protoplasmic streaming the movement of the living substance (cytoplasm) within a plant or animal cell. The motion transports nutrients, enzymes, and, in plants, large virus particles within cells. In unicellular organisms such as amoeba, it provides the mechanism for cell locomotion. First discovered in the 1830s, the presence of cytoplasmic streaming helped convince biologists that cells

Ayckbourn, Alan

2005-01-21T17:38:00.000-08:00

Successful and prolific British playwright, whose works—mostly farces and comedies—deal with marital and class conflicts and point up the fears and weaknesses of the English lower-middle class. He wrote more than 50 plays and other entertainments, most of which were first staged at the Stephen Joseph Theatre-in-the-Round in Scarborough,

Biblical Literature, Form and content of John

2005-01-20T06:58:00.000-08:00

In John there is a mixture of long meditational discourses on definite themes and concrete events recalling the structure of Matthew (with events plus discourses); and, although the source problem is complex and research is still grappling with it, there can be little doubt that John depended on a distinct source for his seven miracles (the sign [or semeia] source): (1) turning

Tigereye

2005-01-20T02:38:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Tiger's-eye, semiprecious quartz gem displaying chatoyancy, a vertical luminescent band like that of a cat's eye. Veins of parallel, blue asbestos (crocidolite) fibres are first altered to iron oxides and then replaced by silica. The gem has a rich yellow to yellow-brown or brown colour and, when polished, a fine golden lustre. The best stones come from Griqualand West, S.Af. Hawk's-eye

Sculpture, Western, Public and private memorials

2005-01-18T17:17:00.000-08:00

After World War II there was a flood of public memorial sculpture, and in Europe especially many of the commissions were carried out by modern sculptors. A striking war memorial in Italy is Mirko Basaldella's gate for the monument to the Roman hostages killed in the Ardeatine Caves (1951). For its full effect the gate must be seen in connection with the rugged masonry wall