FrequentTail

Jehoram

2005-04-05T16:25:00.000-07:00

Jehoram, the son of Ahab and Jezebel and king (c. 849–c. 842 BC) of Israel, maintained close relations with Judah. Together with Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, Jehoram unsuccessfully attempted to subdue a revolt of Moab against Israel. As had his father, Jehoram later endeavoured to recover Ramoth-gilead from Hazael, king of Damascus. In this

Canterbury

2005-04-02T03:14:00.000-08:00

Local government region, east-central South Island, New Zealand, centred on the Canterbury Plains. The region borders the Pacific Ocean to the east and extends southward from the vicinity of Kaikoura to the Waitaki River and includes the city of Christchurch and Banks Peninsula. Canterbury's area also stretches westward to include the eastern slopes of the Southern

Nationalism

2005-04-01T20:24:00.000-08:00

Nationalism began to appear in Asia and Africa after World War I. It produced such leaders as Kemal Atatürk in Turkey, Sa'd Pasha Zaghul in Egypt, Ibn Sa'ud in the Arabian peninsula, Mahatma Gandhi in India, and Sun Yat-sen in China. Atatürk succeeded in replacing the medieval structure of the Islamic monarchy with a revitalized and modernized secular republic in 1923. Demands

Caucasian Languages, General works

2005-03-28T07:35:00.000-08:00

G. Deeters, G.R. Solta, and Vahan Inglisian, Armenisch und kaukasische Sprachen (1963), a survey, includes a presentation of the structure of the Caucasian languages according to the most characteristic features of phonology, morphology, and syntax, with an extensive bibliography. G.A. Klimov, Kavkazskie iazyki (1965), also available in a German translation, Die kaukasischen Sprachen (1969), offers a brief exposition of the history and structures of the Caucasian languages, with a general characterization of each group and an extensive bibliography, and his Vvedenie v kavkazskoe iazykoznanie, ed. by B.A. Serebrennikov (1986), also available in a German translation, Einführung in die kaukasische Sprachwissenschaft, ed. and trans. by Jost Gippert (1994), is also of interest. A.H. Kuipers, “Caucasian,” in Current Trends in Linguistics, vol. 1 (1963), pp. 315–344, provides a useful brief survey of Caucasian linguistics, with a selected bibliography. Adolf Dirr, Einführung in das Studium der kaukasischen Sprachen (1928, reprinted 1978), contains a survey of the structure of individual Caucasian languages and their interrelationships as well as a linguistic atlas. V.V. Vinogradov (ed.), IAzyki Narodov SSSR, vol. 4, Iberiisko-Kavkazskie IAzyki (1967), is a brief exposition of the structures of all the Caucasian languages, with a selected bibliography. Much of the more recent scholarship is published in Georgian or Russian. Recent works in English include John A.C. Greppin (ed.), The Indigenous Languages of the Caucasus (1991– ); and Howard I. Aronson (ed.), Non-Slavic Languages of the U.S.S.R.: Papers from the Fourth Conference (1994).

Antarctic Treaty

2005-03-23T20:44:00.000-08:00

(Dec. 1, 1959), agreement signed by 12 nations, in which the Antarctic continent was made a demilitarized zone to be preserved for scientific research. The treaty resulted from a conference in Washington, D.C., attended by representatives of Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Britain, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the United States, and the Soviet Union. Later other

Insurance, General average clause

2005-03-23T15:05:00.000-08:00

The general average clause in ocean marine insurance obligates the insurers of various interests to share the cost of losses incurred voluntarily to save the voyage from complete destruction. Such sacrifices must be made voluntarily, must be necessary, and must be successful. For example, if a shipper's cargo is voluntarily jettisoned in a storm in order to save

Chabazite

2005-03-21T23:13:00.000-08:00

Common hydrated sodium and calcium aluminosilicate mineral, (Ca,Na2)Al2Si4O12×6H2O, in the zeolite family. Its brittle, glassy, white or flesh-red, rhombohedral crystals often are found in cavities in basalt or andesite, as in Trentino, Italy; Northern Ireland; Melbourne, Australia; and the area near the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia. Within the crystals, the atoms of silicon, aluminum,

Dehydration

2005-03-20T23:59:00.000-08:00

Dehydration may be caused by restriction of water

Cohen, Albert

2005-03-19T04:36:00.000-08:00

Cohen earned an M.A. in sociology from Indiana University (1942) and a Ph.D. in sociology from

Yukaghir Language

2005-03-17T11:06:00.000-08:00

Language spoken by not more than a few hundred persons in the Kolyma River region of Sakha (Yakutiya) republic of Russia. Yukaghir was traditionally grouped in the catchall category of Paleo-Siberian languages with a number of languages that are not genetically related or structurally similar. More recently, however, Yukaghir has been considered a distant relative

Abu Dhabi

2005-03-16T18:07:00.000-08:00

Arabic Abu Zaby, town, capital of Abu Dhabi emirate, one of the United Arab Emirates (formerly Trucial States, or Trucial Oman), and the national capital of that federation. The town occupies most of a small triangular island of the same name, just off the Persian Gulf coast and connected to the mainland by a short bridge. Abu Dhabi was formerly an undeveloped town of only local importance,

Kyrenia

2005-03-15T01:56:00.000-08:00

Greek Kirínia, Turkish Girne, city, situated along the northern coast of Cyprus, in the Turkish Cypriot-administered area. Founded by the Achaeans, ancient Greek colonists, and fortified by the Byzantines, Franks, and Venetians, the city was the administrative headquarters of the Kyrenia district of the Republic of Cyprus until the Turkish intervention in 1974. Kyrenia city is a market centre and

Karakhan Manifesto

2005-03-14T18:01:00.000-08:00

Manifesto issued on July 25, 1919, by Lev Karakhan, a member of the foreign ministry of the newly formed Soviet republic, in which he offered to relinquish all Soviet claims to the special rights and privileges won by the Russian tsarist government in China. The proposal, even after it was later somewhat modified, created a favourable impression in China; it was the first unilateral

Crockford, William

2005-03-14T16:04:00.000-08:00

Crocker was the son of a fishmonger, and he himself practiced the trade in his youth. After winning a large sum of money (£100,000, according to one story) either at cards or by running a gambling establishment, he built in 1827 a luxuriously decorated gambling house at 50 St. James's Street in London.

Riot

2005-03-12T19:15:00.000-08:00

In criminal law, a violent offense against public order involving three or more people. Like an unlawful assembly, a riot involves a gathering of persons for an illegal purpose. In contrast to an unlawful assembly, however, a riot involves violence. The concept is obviously broad and embraces a wide range of group conduct, from a bloody clash between picketers and strikebreakers

Essene

2005-03-11T05:28:00.000-08:00

The Essenes

Beagle Channel

2005-03-10T22:59:00.000-08:00

Strait in the Tierra del Fuego archipelago at the southern tip of South America. The channel, trending east–west, is about 150 mi (240 km) long and 3 to 8 mi wide; it separates the archipelago's main island to the north from Navarino, Hoste, and other smaller islands to the south. At its western end the channel splits into two branches that encircle Isla Gordon. The eastern portion forms

Ventimiglia

2005-03-09T16:48:00.000-08:00

Town, Imperia provincia, Liguria regione, northwestern Italy. It is situated at the mouth of the Roia River near the French border, just northeast of Nice, France. To the east of the modern town is the ruined Roman town Albium Intemelium, or Albintimilium, with the remains of a theatre. Ventimiglia's town hall houses a collection of Roman antiquities. Ventimiglia was the

Clair, René

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

Clair was raised

Performing Arts, World Dance

2005-03-07T11:58:00.000-08:00

Popular folk dance troupes from the former Soviet Union toured the United States and Europe in 2002 and showed that they had lost none of their verve or attraction. Remarkably, the companies were headed by legendary figures active into their 90s. The Moiseyev Dance Company was created in 1937 by choreographer Igor Moiseyev, and in 2002, aged 95, he was still involved with the company.

Gharbiyah, Al-

2005-03-06T21:12:00.000-08:00

Muhafazah (governorate) in the middle Nile Delta, Lower Egypt, bounded on the east and west by the Damietta and the Rosetta branches of the Nile, on the north by Kafr ash-Shaykh muhafazah, and by al-Minufiyah muhafazah to the south. Its area is 750 square miles (1,942 square km); the muhafazah's capital has been at the cultural centre and transportation node of Tanta (q.v.) since 1836. An administrative unit named

Wolfdietrich

2005-03-06T02:15:00.000-08:00

Germanic hero who appears in the Middle High German poems of Ortnit and Wolfdietrich in Das Heldenbuch (see Heldenbuch, Das) as the son of Hugdietrich, emperor of Constantinople. Repudiated by his father, who mistakenly believes him illegitimate, he is brought up by the emperor's faithful retainer Berchtung von Meran. Berchtung and his 16 sons support Wolfdietrich,

Aarau

2005-03-04T00:10:00.000-08:00

Capital of Aargau canton, northern Switzerland, at the southern foot of the Jura Mountains, on the right bank of the Aare River, west of Zürich. Founded about 1240 by the counts of Kyburg, it passed to the Habsburgs in 1264 and was taken by the Bernese in 1415. In 1798 it became the capital of the Helvetian Republic. Notable landmarks include several 13th-century towers, the town church (1471), the town

Performing Arts, Asia.

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

The most attractive films to emerge from Japan were Kohei Oguri's Sleeping Man, which portrayed relationships in a village where people still feel close to older traditions governing the approach to nature, life, and death, and Higashi Yoichi's Village of Dreams, a magical evocation of the world of childhood. Adapted from the nostalgic memoirs of the artist Tashima

Biblical Literature, III Maccabees

2005-03-02T23:35:00.000-08:00

The Greek book called The Third Book of Maccabees itself has nothing to do with the Maccabean period. Its content is a legend, a miraculous story of deliverance, which is also independently told—in another historical context—by Josephus (Against Apion II, 5). In III Maccabees the story takes place during the reign of Ptolemy IV Philopator (reigned 221–203 BCE). The central episode

Kael, Pauline

2005-03-02T05:58:00.000-08:00

Kael graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1940. For a number of years she made a precarious living with various minor jobs. She had been an avid fan of the movies since childhood, and in 1953 she published her first

Stair-step Moss

2005-02-28T13:06:00.000-08:00

(Hylocomium splendens), plant of the order Bryales that covers areas of coniferous forest floor of the Northern Hemisphere and also occurs on dunes, ledges, and tundra. The fernlike shoots have many branches and reddish, glossy caulids (stems) with phyllids (leaves) up to 3 mm (0.12 inch) long. The capsules (spore cases) of the female plant are borne on setae (stalks) about 2 cm (0.8 inch)

Marche

2005-02-27T03:50:00.000-08:00

In ancient times the country was part of Limousin, from which it was detached in the middle of the 10th century to form a separate frontier countship (march) to protect Poitou and the rest of the duchy of

Art, African, Ibibio

2005-02-26T08:51:00.000-08:00

Among the oldest sculptures of tropical Africa are several hundred ancestor figures, called ekpu, of the Ibibio coastal trade centre of Oron, some of which are thought to date from the late 18th century. They are bearded figures 3 to 4 feet (90 to 120 cm) high and are so individual as to suggest portraiture, despite their schematic style. Oron is one group of Ibibio-speaking villages.

Claudius Pulcher, Publius

2005-02-26T06:46:00.000-08:00

Son of Appius Claudius Caecus and commander of the fleet that suffered the only serious Roman naval defeat of the First Punic War (264–241 BC). The setback occurred in 249, when Claudius was consul. He attacked the Carthaginian fleet in the harbour of Drepanum (modern Trapani, Sicily) and lost 93 of his 123 vessels. It was popularly believed that Claudius failed because he had committed

Iron Curtain

2005-02-24T22:42:00.000-08:00

The political, military, and ideological barrier erected by the Soviet Union after World War II to seal off itself and its dependent eastern European allies from open contact with the West and other noncommunist areas. The term Iron Curtain had been in occasional and varied use as a metaphor since the 19th century, but it only came to prominence after it was used by the

Olm

2005-02-22T17:32:00.000-08:00

(Proteus anguinus), blind salamander belonging to the family Proteidae (order Caudata) and found in caves of the Carpathian Mountains in southeastern Europe. It grows to about 30 cm (12 inches) long and has a normally white (unpigmented) body, tiny limbs, red gill plumes, narrow head, and a blunt snout. The olm's vestigial but light-sensitive eyes are covered with skin. It usually

Cygnaeus, Uno

2005-02-21T02:36:00.000-08:00

Graduating from the gymnasium (secondary school) at Tavastehus in 1827, Cygnaeus attended the University of Helsingfors, becoming Filosofie Magister there in 1836. He then spent two years as assistant pastor and prison chaplain at Viborg, simultaneously teaching in a private

Grafton

2005-02-19T05:02:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1878) of Taylor county, northern West Virginia, U.S., on the Tygart Valley River, north of Tygart Lake. Settled in 1852 by construction crews of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, it is thought to be named for the “graftin' on” (junction) point for branch rail lines. It was chartered in 1856. During the American Civil War it was a key rail centre and was occupied by both Confederate and

Sailing

2005-02-18T02:38:00.000-08:00

The sport or pastime of cruising or racing in a sailboat or, more generally, in any large craft propelled by either sail or motor. See yacht.

Hooker, Richard

2005-02-17T04:58:00.000-08:00

Theologian who created a distinctive Anglican theology, and a master of English prose and legal philosophy. In his masterpiece, Of the lawes of ecclesiasticall politie, which was incomplete at the time of his death, Hooker defended the Church of England against both Roman Catholics and Puritans

Kobe

2005-02-15T18:07:00.000-08:00

Kobe is situated at the eastern end of the Inland Sea on Osaka Bay, about 20 miles (32 km) west of Osaka. The city is confined to a narrow shelf of land

Austin, John Langshaw

2005-02-15T06:52:00.000-08:00

After receiving early education at Shrewsbury School and Balliol College, Oxford, he became a fellow at All Souls College (1933) and Magdalen College (1935), where he studied traditional Greco-Roman

Austin, John Langshaw

2005-02-14T07:42:00.000-08:00

The amount of oxygen used by microorganisms in the process of breaking down organic matter in water. The more organic matter there is (e.g., in sewage), the greater the number of microbes. The more microbes there are, the greater the need of oxygen to support them; consequently, less oxygen is available for higher animals such as fishes. The BOD is therefore a reliable gauge

Hyderabad

2005-02-13T04:49:00.000-08:00

The city, administrative headquarters of the district, lies on the most northerly hill of the Ganjo Takkar ridge, just east of the Indus River. The third largest city in Pakistan, it is a communications centre, connected by rail with Peshawar and Karachi and with Indian railways via the border towns of Khokhropar and

Mountain

2005-02-11T17:57:00.000-08:00

Mountainous terrains have certain unifying characteristics. Such terrains have higher elevations than do surrounding areas. Moreover, high relief exists within mountain belts and ranges. Individual mountains, mountain ranges, and mountain belts that have been created by different tectonic processes, however, are often characterized by different

Shiga Naoya

2005-02-11T02:07:00.000-08:00

Born into an aristocratic samurai family, Shiga was taken by his parents to live with his paternal grandparents in Tokyo in 1885. In his youth he was influenced by the Christian educator Uchimura Kanzo, but Christianity

Pole, Reginald

2005-02-10T16:51:00.000-08:00

His father, Sir Richard Pole, was a cousin of King Henry VII, and his mother, Margaret, countess of Salisbury, was a niece of Edward

Follen, Karl

2005-02-10T07:34:00.000-08:00

Graduated from the University of Giessen as a doctor of civil and canonical law (1818), Follen taught there and in the

Lutheran Synodical Conference

2005-02-08T17:21:00.000-08:00

Cooperative agency organized in 1872 by several conservative U.S. Lutheran groups. Its members accepted strict conservative interpretations of the Bible and the Lutheran confessions and insisted that fellowship among Lutheran groups could take place only after agreement was reached on doctrine and church practices. Over the years some of the original members

Lak-dargin Languages

2005-02-08T10:01:00.000-08:00

Also called Lak-dargwa, two related languages spoken in central Dagestan in the Caucasus—Lak and Dargin. Both are written languages. The dialects of Dargin differ considerably from one another and are considered by some scholars to be separate languages. The Lak-Dargin languages are often placed in the Dagestanian group of the Nakho-Dagestanian (Northeast Caucasian) languages, together

Bedmar, Alonso De La Cueva, Marqués De

2005-02-06T21:17:00.000-08:00

Nominated by Philip III of Spain as ambassador to the Venetian Republic (1607), he was made marqués de Bedmar in 1614. He used his diplomatic privileges to promote the plans of the Spanish viceroys of Naples and Milan and to increase Spanish power in Italy. Resolutely opposed

Gagern, Maximilian (joseph Ludwig) Freiherr Von (baron Of)

2005-02-05T08:28:00.000-08:00

Gagern, like his two prominent brothers, a nationalist

Kuba Carpet

2005-02-04T09:32:00.000-08:00

Any of several types of antique floor coverings of the Caucasus, many of which are of considerable length, but narrow. Rather than the town of Kuba (now Quba, Azerbaijan), which was founded about 1750 in Dagestan, the original source was probably the districts of Karabakh and Shirvan in Southern Caucasia, where rug workshops were operated under the sponsorship of the Iranian

Spanish Civil War

2005-02-03T01:50:00.000-08:00

(1936–39), military revolt against the Republican government of Spain, supported by conservative elements within the country. When an initial military coup failed to win control of the entire country, a bloody civil war ensued, fought with great ferocity on both sides. The Nationalists, as the rebels were called, received aid from fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. The Republicans

Agrippina The Younger

2005-02-02T23:24:00.000-08:00

Agrippina was the daughter of the elder Agrippina, sister of the emperor Gaius, or Caligula (37–41), and wife of the emperor Claudius (41–54). She had been exiled in 39 for taking part in a conspiracy against Gaius but was allowed to return to Rome in 41. Her first husband, Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus,

Bingerville

2005-02-02T19:37:00.000-08:00

Town, southeastern Côte d'Ivoire, on the Ébrié Lagoon. Named for Captain Louis-Gustave Binger, first governor of the French Ivory Coast colony, the town was the colonial capital from 1900 to 1934. Formerly a trade centre among the Ebrie (Kyama) people, it is now the site of agricultural research stations for oil palm, coffee and cacao, and livestock. Pineapples and avocados are among

Mammal, Populations

2005-01-31T20:26:00.000-08:00

A population consists of individuals of three “ecological ages”—prereproductive, reproductive, and postreproductive. The structure and dynamics of a population depend, among other things, on the relative lengths of these ages, the rate of recruitment of individuals (either by birth or by immigration), and the rate of emigration or death. The reproductive potential

Ghana

2005-01-31T10:08:00.000-08:00

First of the great medieval trading empires of western Africa (fl. 7th–13th century). It was situated between the Sahara (Desert) and the headwaters of the Sénégal and Niger rivers, in an area that now comprises southeastern Mauritania and part of Mali. Ghana was populated by Soninke clans of Mande-speaking people who acted as intermediaries between the Arab and Berber

Xylene

2005-01-29T06:26:00.000-08:00

Any of three isomeric dimethylbenzenes [which have the same chemical formula, C6H4(CH3)2, but different molecular structure], used as solvents, as components of aviation fuel, and as raw materials for the manufacture of dyes, fibres, and films. The three isomers, designated ortho (o), meta (m), and para (p), differ structurally only in the location of the methyl groups. All three are

Laie

2005-01-28T19:19:00.000-08:00

Town, Honolulu county, on Laie Bay, northeastern Oahu Island, Hawaii, U.S. The land was acquired by Mormon missionaries in 1864 and settled by a colony of Hawaiian Mormons. The impressive white Laie Temple, where the highest rites of the Mormon church can be performed, was built (1919) on the site of an ancient Hawaiian “city of refuge” (a sanctuary for the pursued). The Polynesian Cultural

Bonaparte, (marie-anne-)élisa

2005-01-26T21:47:00.000-08:00

She was married on May 1, 1797, to Félix Baciocchi, a member of a Corsican noble family. Napoleon gave her the principality of Piombino in March 1805 and the principality of Lucca in the following June and finally, in March 1809, made her grand duchess of Tuscany. Her pride and ability had great

Tibet, Agriculture and forestry

2005-01-26T06:40:00.000-08:00

The staple crops are barley, wheat, and pulses; other important crops include millet, buckwheat, rgya-bra (a grain similar to buckwheat), beans, hemp, and mustard. Butter from the yak (large, long-haired ox) or the mdzo-mo (a crossbreed of the yak and the cow) is the main dairy product. The diet is supplemented by a variety of garden vegetables. Some rice is raised in the southeast.

U2

2005-01-25T23:18:00.000-08:00

Bill Flanagan, U2 at the End of the World (1995), is an insightful, if frequently meandering, critical overview.

Vignola, Giacomo Da

2005-01-25T15:09:00.000-08:00

After studying in Bologna, Vignola went to Rome in the 1530s and made drawings of the antiquities for a projected edition of Vitruvius' treatise

Heuneburg

2005-01-23T07:13:00.000-08:00

Celtic fortified site overlooking the Danube River in Baden-Württemberg Land (state), Germany. Recent excavations have shown that the Heuneburg fort community carried on a prosperous trade with the Greeks at Massilia (Marseille) during the 6th century BC. Imported Greek black-figure pottery and Massiliote wine amphorae have been uncovered. Mediterranean influence

Antaeus

2005-01-23T06:21:00.000-08:00

In Greek mythology, a giant of Libya, the son of the sea god Poseidon and the Earth goddess Gaea. He compelled all strangers who were passing through the country to wrestle with him. Whenever Antaeus touched the Earth (his mother), his strength was renewed, so that even if thrown to the ground, he was invincible. Heracles, in combat with him, discovered the source of his strength

Fenech Adami, Eddie

2005-01-21T01:50:00.000-08:00

After graduating from the University of Malta, Fenech Adami practiced law beginning in 1959, and from 1962 to 1969 he was the editor of a weekly newspaper. He ran unsuccessfully for the House of Representatives (parliament) in 1962 and 1966 but was appointed to a seat in 1969 upon the death of a Nationalist

Loreto

2005-01-20T21:46:00.000-08:00

Loreto lies almost entirely in the Amazonian rain forest at an average elevation of about 500 ft (152 m). The climate is hot and humid, with heavy rainfall. The Ucayali River

Apra Harbor

2005-01-19T15:53:00.000-08:00

Also called Port Apra, port on the west coast of Guam, Mariana Islands, western Pacific. It is the best anchorage on the island and is located just west of Agana. It is the port of entry and site of a U.S. naval base. With 2,400 feet (730 m) of frontage for deepwater docking, it is a transshipment point for various Micronesian islands. The harbour, which is protected (south) by Orote Peninsula and (north) by Cabras

Arrowworm

2005-01-19T07:29:00.000-08:00

Also called Chaetognath, any member of the invertebrate phylum Chaetognatha, a group of small wormlike marine animals with transparent to translucent or opaque arrow-shaped bodies. The phylum consists of about seven extant genera and one fossil genus. There are more than 50 species, most of which are in the genus Sagitta. The size of arrowworms ranges from about 3 millimetres to more

Weber, Carl Maria Von

2005-01-16T19:09:00.000-08:00

In full Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst, Freiherr (baron) Von Weber German composer and opera director during the transition from Classical to Romantic music, noted especially for his operas Der Freischütz (The Freeshooter, 1821), Euryanthe (1823), and Oberon (1826). Der Freischütz, the most immediately and widely popular German opera that had then been written, established German Romantic

Saxe, (hermann-) Maurice, Comte De

2005-01-16T17:33:00.000-08:00

The illegitimate son of the elector Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (later also King Augustus II of Poland), young Maurice was sent by his father to serve under Prince Eugene of Savoy against the French in Flanders

Aytmatov, Chingiz

2005-01-15T20:07:00.000-08:00

Aytmatov achieved major literary recognition with his collection of short stories, Povesti gor i stepey (1963; Tales of Mountains and Steppes), for which he was awarded the Lenin Prize in 1963. His most important works

Eastern Africa, History Of, The Solomonids

2005-01-12T16:49:00.000-08:00

An amalgamated Christian state, led by Semitized Agew, had reappeared in the 12th century. This Zagwe dynasty gave way in the late 13th century to a dynasty that claimed descent from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, a genealogy providing the legitimacy and continuity so honoured in Ethiopia's subsequent national history. During the 14th and 15th centuries the Solomonid

Andrea Da Firenze

2005-01-12T05:25:00.000-08:00

Andrea studied at the Arte dei Medici e degli Speziali in Florence. At the end of 1365 he was commissioned to decorate the chapter house of the church of Sta. Maria Novella. Also attributed to him are the decorations in the Spanish chapel and

Janequin, Clément

2005-01-11T04:16:00.000-08:00

He worked in Bordeaux in the service of Lancelot du Fau, who became bishop of Luçon, and later for the bishop of Bordeaux. He entered the priesthood and in 1525 became canon of St. Emilion.

Carlsbad

2005-01-10T14:49:00.000-08:00

City, San Diego county, southern California, U.S. It lies along the Pacific Ocean just south of Oceanside, in a winter vegetable- and flower-growing district. Settled in the 1870s, it was first called Frazier's Station but was renamed (1883) when its mineral waters were found to be similar to those of Carlsbad in Bohemia (now Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic). After the arrival (1885) of the Santa

Janequin, Clément

2005-01-09T08:36:00.000-08:00

Founded in New York City in 1976 as little more than a social club, the charter organization of the AWU grew into a major clearinghouse and support agency for Asian and Pacific American women in the United States. Having absorbed several scattered

Lutheran Church In Württemberg

2005-01-09T04:08:00.000-08:00

Independent Lutheran church established in the duchy of Württemberg in 1534 during the Protestant Reformation in Germany. A strong Lutheran church throughout the centuries, it was influenced in the 17th and 18th centuries by Pietism, the Lutheran-based movement that emphasized personal religious experience and reform. It became independent of the state after Germany

Chrestien, Florent

2005-01-07T16:44:00.000-08:00

The son of Guillaume Chrestien, an eminent physician and writer on physiology, he became a pupil of Henri Estienne, the Hellenist, at an early age. Later, he was appointed tutor to Henry of Navarre, afterward Henry IV of France, who made him his librarian.

Daguerre, Louis-jacques-mandé

2005-01-07T13:17:00.000-08:00

French painter and physicist who invented the daguerreotype (q.v.), the first practical process of photography. Though the first permanent photograph from nature was made in 1826/27 by Joseph-Nicéphore Niepce of France, it was of poor quality and required about eight hours' exposure time. The process that Daguerre developed

Arts, East Asian, Painting

2005-01-05T07:26:00.000-08:00

Painting of the Kamakura period, both religious and secular, was marked by a sense of immediacy and vitality. The Amidist sects spawned cults that emphasized devotion to particular intercessory figures who had initially been considered ancillary in the overall Pure Land Buddhist pantheon. For example, the Jizo Bosatsu, the bodhisattva depicted in the guise of

World War Ii, Yalta

2005-01-04T14:16:00.000-08:00

Roosevelt's last meeting with Stalin and Churchill took place at Yalta, in the Crimea, Feb. 4–11, 1945. The conference is chiefly remembered for its treatment of the Polish problem: the western Allied leaders, abandoning their support of the Polish government in London, agreed that the Lublin committee—already recognized as the provisional government of Poland by the Soviet

Eastern Orthodoxy, Theological and monastic renaissance

2005-01-03T21:02:00.000-08:00

Paradoxically, the pitiful history of Byzantium under the Palaeologan emperors coincided with an astonishing intellectual, spiritual, and artistic renaissance that influenced the entire Eastern Christian world. The renaissance was not without fierce controversy and polarization. In 1337 Barlaam the Calabrian, one of the representatives of Byzantine Humanism,

Turboprop

2005-01-02T19:36:00.000-08:00

The first experimental turboprop aircraft, a modified Gloster Meteor fighter equipped with two Rolls-Royce

Acroterion

2004-12-31T08:04:00.000-08:00

Plural Acroteria, in architecture, decorative pedestal for an ornament or statue placed atop the pediment of a Greek temple; the term has also been extended to refer to the statue or ornament that stands on the pedestal. Originally a petal-shaped ornament with incised pattern, such as the honeysuckle, was placed on the ridge and at the eaves at either side of the pediment. Later this ornamentation

Amritsar

2004-12-31T05:32:00.000-08:00

Amritsar was founded in

Cambon, Jules

2004-12-29T22:16:00.000-08:00

Educated in law, Cambon entered the prefectorial administration after service in the Franco-German War (1870–71). In June 1878 he was

Hanau

2004-12-29T17:11:00.000-08:00

In full Hanau Am Main, city, Hesse Land (state), central Germany, a port on the right bank of the canalized Main at the mouth of the Kinzig, east of Frankfurt am Main. The old town grew up around the castle of the lords of Hanau (counts from 1429) and was chartered in 1303; the new town was founded in 1597 for Protestant Dutch and Walloon refugees. Hanau passed to Hesse-Kassel in 1736. In 1813 it was the scene of a battle between

Mitchell River

2004-12-28T02:47:00.000-08:00

River in northern Queensland, Australia. It rises near Rumula on the Atherton Plateau section of the Eastern Highlands, 30 miles (48 km) northwest of Cairns, and flows for 350 miles (560 km) northwest across Cape York Peninsula to the Gulf of Carpentaria. Although the stream, fed by the Palmer, Walsh, and Lynd rivers, has the state's largest discharge, it is intermittent and may be dry for

Argentina, Alfonsín's administration

2004-12-27T21:11:00.000-08:00

Soon after his inauguration in December 1983, Alfonsín reversed legislation passed under Bignone by announcing plans to prosecute several members of the defunct military government, including former presidents Videla, Viola, and Galtieri. He also repealed a law granting amnesty to those accused of crimes and human rights violations during the Dirty War, and hundreds

Aspasia

2004-12-26T04:14:00.000-08:00

Mistress of the Athenian statesman Pericles and a vivid figure in Athenian society. Although Aspasia came from the Greek Anatolian city of Miletus and was not a citizen of Athens, she lived with Pericles from about 445 until his death in 429. Because a law sponsored by Pericles in 451 required that for a person to be a citizen both parents must be citizens, their son,

Lagoon Nebula

2004-12-25T11:45:00.000-08:00

(catalog numbers NGC 6523 and M8), ionized-hydrogen region located in the constellation Sagittarius at 1,200 parsecs (3,900 light-years) from the solar system. The nebula is a cloud of interstellar gas and dust approximately 10 parsecs (33 light-years) in diameter. A group of young, hot stars in the cloud ionize the nearby gas. As the atoms in the gas recombine, they produce the light emitted by

Bienville, Jean-baptiste Le Moyne De

2004-12-24T05:21:00.000-08:00

Jean-Baptiste was the eighth son of Canadian pioneer Charles Le Moyne. He entered the French navy at age 12 and served with his noted elder brother, Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, in naval engagements (1696–97) in Hudson Bay and the North Atlantic during

Novi Sad

2004-12-23T10:56:00.000-08:00

German Neusatz, Hungarian Újvidék, city and administrative capital of the ethnically mixed autonomous region of Vojvodina, Serbia, Yugoslavia. It is a transit port on the heavily trafficked Danube River northwest of Belgrade and is also situated on the Belgrade-Budapest rail line. The Backa canal system connects with the Danube at Novi Sad, which is the economic and cultural focus for northern Vojvodina.

Rydberg, Johannes Robert

2004-12-21T23:29:00.000-08:00

Educated at the University of Lund, Rydberg received his bachelor's degree in 1875 and his doctorate in mathematics in 1879. He became lecturer in physics there in 1882 and assistant at the Physics Institute in 1892. He was permanent professor of physics from 1901 until his retirement in

Melk

2004-12-21T04:13:00.000-08:00

Town, Bundesland (“federal state”) Niederösterreich, northeastern Austria. It lies at the confluence of the Danube and Melk rivers, west of Sankt Pölten. The town was the site of a Roman garrison and was the castle-residence of the Babenberg rulers of Austria from 976 to 1101. The castle and surrounding lands were given in 1111 to the huge Benedictine abbey of Melk (founded in 1089), which dominates

Karatepe

2004-12-20T14:29:00.000-08:00

(Turkish: “Black Hill”), site of a Late Hittite fortress city, located in the piedmont country of the Taurus Mountains in south-central Turkey. The city, dating from the 8th century BC, was discovered in 1945 by Helmuth T. Bossert and Halet Çambel. It was built with a polygonal fortress wall and an upper and lower gateway of monumental proportions. The gate chambers are lined with inscribed

Vyshinsky, Andrey Yanuaryevich

2004-12-20T13:34:00.000-08:00

Vyshinsky, a member of the Menshevik branch of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers' Party since 1903, became a lawyer in 1913 and joined the Communist Party in 1920. While teaching at Moscow State University and practicing

Hyde, Sir Nicholas

2004-12-18T19:42:00.000-08:00

Sir Nicholas entered Parliament in 1601 and soon became prominent as an opponent of the court of James I, though he does not appear to have distinguished himself in the law. Before long, however, he deserted the popular party, and in 1626 he was employed by George Villiers, duke of Buckingham, in his defense to impeachment

Tank

2004-12-17T20:26:00.000-08:00

Any heavily armed and armoured combat vehicle that moves on two endless metal chains called tracks. Tanks are the principal type of armoured vehicle. Other major types include tracked and wheeled infantry carriers, which were conceived only for transporting troops into action but which also have been used to some extent for fighting; armoured cars, which often

Turkey, The southern folded zone

2004-12-16T23:49:00.000-08:00

The southern folded zone occupies the southern third of the country from the Aegean to the Gulf of Iskenderun, from which it extends to the northeast and east around the northern side of the Arabian platform. Over most of its length, the Mediterranean coastal plain is narrow, but there are two major lowland embayments. The Antalya Plain extends inland some 20 miles from

Mountain, The Himalayan chain

2004-12-16T20:58:00.000-08:00

The easternmost segment of the system begins at the western end of the Sunda island arc and continues into the arcuate chain of mountains that constitute the Himalayas, which contain the highest peaks on Earth. This chain was formed as the Indian subcontinent, a passenger on the same plate that currently underthrusts the Sunda arc, collided with the southern margin

Aphrodite

2004-12-14T10:37:00.000-08:00

Ancient Greek goddess of sexual love and beauty, identified by the Romans with Venus (q.v.). Because the Greek word aphros means “foam,” the legend arose that Aphrodite was born from the white foam produced by the severed genitals of Uranus (Heaven), after his son Cronus threw them into the sea. Aphrodite was, in fact, widely worshiped as a goddess of the sea and of seafaring; she