NaturalChain

Tyrone, Hugh O'neill, 2nd Earl Of

2005-03-18T18:30:00.000-08:00

Although born into the powerful O'Neill family of Ulster, Hugh grew up in London. In 1568 he returned to Ireland and

Locoweed

2005-03-16T08:18:00.000-08:00

Any of several species of poisonous plants of the genera Astragalus and Oxytropis, in the pea family (Fabaceae), native to the prairies of north central and western North America. Locoweeds pose a danger to livestock, horses, and other grazing animals, because they contain a toxin that affects muscle control, producing frenzied behaviour, impaired vision,

Essex

2005-03-15T14:44:00.000-08:00

Town (township), Chittenden county, northwestern Vermont, U.S., on the Winooski River just east of Burlington. Chartered in 1763 and settled in 1783, it consists of the villages of Essex Junction and Essex Center. Essex Junction is a busy industrial and residential site where the Central Vermont Railroad and several highways converge; its railway depot serves as the depot for

Selection Coefficient

2005-03-12T04:07:00.000-08:00

In genetics, a measure of the relative reduction in the contribution that a particular genotype (genetic composition) makes to the gametes (sex cells) as compared with another genotype in the population. It expresses the relative advantage or disadvantage of specific traits with respect to survival and reproductive success. The selection coefficient (s) of a given

Field Archery

2005-03-11T07:18:00.000-08:00

Also called roving form of archery in which targets of different sizes or shapes are placed at varying distances in uneven, often wooded, terrain in an attempt to simulate hunting conditions. As an organized sport it dates from the formation in 1939 of the National Field Archery Association of the United States. In 1969 a field event was included for the first time in the world archery championships

Clarence River

2005-03-09T18:38:00.000-08:00

Coastal river, northeastern New South Wales, Australia, rising in the McPherson Range near the Queensland border, flowing south and northeast for 245 mi (394 km), and emptying into the Pacific 40 mi below Grafton. Its chief tributaries are the Timbarra, Mitchell, and Orara. Woodford, Chatsworth, and Harwood are the largest of its many islands, most of which are subject to floods. The

Hay River

2005-03-06T18:57:00.000-08:00

Town, southern Fort Smith region, Northwest Territories, Canada, on the southwestern shore of Great Slave Lake. The settlement, at the mouth of the Hay River, was established in 1868 as a Hudson's Bay Company trading post. With the arrival of the Mackenzie Highway in 1949 and the Great Slave Lake Railway in 1964, Hay River (82 miles [132 km] north of the Alberta border) became a busy commercial fishing

Diels, Otto Paul Hermann

2005-03-04T22:37:00.000-08:00

Diels studied chemistry at the University of Berlin under Emil Fischer and after various appointments was made professor of chemistry at the University of Kiel

Stein, Edith

2005-03-02T14:27:00.000-08:00

Born into an Orthodox Jewish family, Stein renounced her faith in 1904 and became

Dietrich Von Bern

2005-03-01T10:48:00.000-08:00

Dietrich's exploits are related in a number of south German songs preserved in Das Heldenbuch (“The Heroes Book”)—including Dietrichs Flucht (“Dietrich's Flight”), Die Rabenschlacht (“The Battle of Ravenna”), Alpharts Tod (“Alphart's Death”), and a number

Chateaubriand, François-auguste-rené, Viscount (vicomte) De

2005-02-26T14:32:00.000-08:00

The youngest child of an eccentric and impecunious noble, Chateaubriand spent his school holidays largely with his sister in the romantic

Indiana Dunes

2005-02-24T22:58:00.000-08:00

The state park, established in 1925, comprises 2,182 acres (883 hectares) of shoreline, marshland, dunes, and forests near Chesterton. In addition to a 3-mile (5-kilometre) white sand beach, it has facilities for camping, picnicking, fishing, and hiking. An outstanding feature is the Big

Abdülaziz

2005-02-23T13:57:00.000-08:00

Like his brother Abdülmecid I, whom he succeeded as sultan on June 25, 1861, Abdülaziz was an ardent admirer of the material progress in western

Latin Literature

2005-02-20T06:49:00.000-08:00

The body of writings in Latin, primarily produced during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, when Latin was a spoken language. When Rome fell, Latin remained the literary language of the Western medieval world until it was superseded by the Romance languages it had generated and by other modern languages. After the Renaissance the writing of Latin was increasingly

China

2005-02-19T06:09:00.000-08:00

The year 2002 was a critical one for China. Domestically, it was a year of political transition to a new generation of leaders; internationally, significant changes in geopolitical alignments had major repercussions for the country. The 16th Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), after some delay, was convened in early November. China's “Three Represents” doctrine

Hystaspes

2005-02-18T05:27:00.000-08:00

According to the 5th-century-BC Greek historian Herodotus, Hystaspes was governor of Persis under Cyrus II the Great and Cambyses II and accompanied Cyrus on his last campaign against the Massagetai in 530 BC. When Darius seized the throne in 522, Hystaspes was governor of Parthia and Hyrcania,

Mies Van Der Rohe, Ludwig

2005-02-17T00:25:00.000-08:00

During World War I Mies served as an enlisted man, building bridges and roads in the Balkans. When he returned to Berlin in 1918, the fall of the German monarchy and the birth of the democratic Weimar Republic helped inspire a prodigious burst of new creativity among modernist artists and architects. Architecture, painting, and sculpture, according to the manifesto of

Dispersion

2005-02-16T03:09:00.000-08:00

The two disciplines most intimately intertwined with the study of dispersion are systematics and evolution. Systematics is concerned with the relationships between organisms and includes the classification of life into ordered groups, providing the

Pacific Ocean, Relief

2005-02-15T02:06:00.000-08:00

The Pacific basin may conveniently be divided into three major physiographic regions: the eastern, western, and central Pacific regions.

Cachet, Lettre De

2005-02-14T21:09:00.000-08:00

(French: “letter of the sign [or signet]”), a letter signed by the king and countersigned by a secretary of state and used primarily to authorize someone's imprisonment. It was an important instrument of administration under the ancien régime in France. Lettres de cachet were abused to such an extent during the 17th and 18th centuries that numerous complaints on the subject

Hui Shih

2005-02-14T06:47:00.000-08:00

As a result of their preoccupation with pure logic, the dialecticians have always been separated from the mainstream of Chinese philosophy, which was primarily concerned with the relationship between names and actuality.

Performing Arts, Classical Music.

2005-02-12T08:41:00.000-08:00

At 8:46 AM local time on Sept. 11, 2002, 51 snowbound scientists at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station

Hypotension

2005-02-12T04:03:00.000-08:00

Extensive bleeding is an obvious cause of reduced blood volume that leads to hypotension. There are other possible causes. A person

Alewife

2005-02-10T20:45:00.000-08:00

Also called Sawbelly, Grayback, Gaspereau, or Branch Herring (Pomolobus, or Alosa, pseudoharengus), important North American food fish of the herring family, Clupeidae. Deeper-bodied than the true herring, the alewife has a pronounced saw-edge on the underside; it grows to about 30 cm (1 foot). Except for members of a few lake populations, it spends several years along the Atlantic coast of North America before

Korngold, Erich Wolfgang

2005-02-10T00:42:00.000-08:00

A child prodigy, at age 11 Korngold composed the ballet Der Schneemann (“The Snowman”), which caused a sensation at its first performance in Vienna (1910). He was still a teenager when his operas Der Ring des Polykrates and

Girondin

2005-02-08T13:11:00.000-08:00

Also called Brissotin a label applied to a loose grouping of republican politicians, some of them originally from the département of the Gironde, who played a leading role in the Legislative Assembly from October 1791 to September 1792 during the French Revolution. Lawyers, intellectuals and journalists, the Girondins attracted a following of businessmen, merchants, industrialists, and financiers.

Babylonian Exile

2005-02-07T05:44:00.000-08:00

Also called Babylonian Captivity, the forced detention of Jews in Babylonia following the latter's conquest of the kingdom of Judah in 598/7 and 587/6 BC. The exile formally ended in 538 BC, when the Persian conqueror of Babylonia, Cyrus the Great, gave the Jews permission to return to Palestine. Historians agree that several deportations took place (each the result of uprisings in Palestine), that not all Jews were forced

Böhme, Jakob

2005-02-06T16:58:00.000-08:00

German philosophical mystic who had a profound influence on such later intellectual movements as idealism and Romanticism. Erklärung über das erste Buch Mosis, better known as Mysterium Magnum (1623; The Great Mystery), is his synthesis of Renaissance nature mysticism and biblical doctrine. His Von der

Lithuania

2005-02-05T15:23:00.000-08:00

Adapting his administrative

Abutilon

2005-02-05T03:58:00.000-08:00

A. hybridum, sometimes called Chinese lantern, is planted outdoors in warm regions and

Agriculture, History Of

2005-02-03T22:54:00.000-08:00

Agriculture was long believed to have begun in a single centre in the Middle East, about 4000 BC. Modern dating techniques have since disproved this hypothesis; they indicate agriculture already in progress about 7000 BC, and archaeologists

G.m.

2005-02-02T13:18:00.000-08:00

Recipient of the George Medal, a British decoration for valour. See George Cross.

Sevan, Lake

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

Lake in Armenia, with an area of 525 sq mi (1,360 sq km). Lying at 6,250 ft (1,905 m) above sea level in a mountain-enclosed basin, it drains by the Hrazdan River into the Aras River and to the Caspian Sea, but most of its water is lost by evaporation rather than by runoff. The lake is in two connected parts, the smaller but deeper Maly Sevan (northwest), with a maximum depth of 282 ft, and the Bolshoy Sevan (southeast),

Marcello, Benedetto

2005-01-31T05:03:00.000-08:00

Italian composer and writer, especially remembered for two works: the satirical pamphlet Il teatro alla moda (1720); and Estro poeticoarmonico (1724–26), a setting for voices and instruments of the first 50 psalms in an Italian paraphrase by G. Giustiniani. Il teatro alla moda is an amusing pamphlet in which Marcello vented his opinions on the

Irigaray, Luce

2005-01-31T03:20:00.000-08:00

Irigaray was a member of the Freudian School of Paris, founded by Jacques Lacan, and taught at the University of Paris VIII-Vincennes from 1968 until she was dismissed in 1974 because of her doctoral thesis. Entitled Speculum de l'autre femme (Speculum

Term

2005-01-29T20:29:00.000-08:00

In logic, the subject or predicate of a categorical proposition (q.v.), or statement. Aristotle so used the Greek word horos (“limit”), apparently by an analogy between the terms of a proportion and those of a syllogism. Terminus is the Latin translation of this word, used, for example, by the 5th-century Roman philosopher Boethius. Hence in medieval logic the word came to be used

Dennett, Mary Coffin Ware

2005-01-28T17:14:00.000-08:00

Mary Ware graduated from Miss Capen's School for Girls in Northampton, Massachusetts, and entered the school of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. From 1894 to 1897 she taught design and decoration at the

Setouchi

2005-01-27T03:56:00.000-08:00

Industrial region, southern Japan. Setouchi includes the southern portion of Chugoku chiho (region) on the island of Honshu, the northern part of Shikoku, and many nearby industrial areas on islands of the Inland Sea. Setouchi is neither an administrative nor a political entity; it includes portions of the ken (prefectures) of Okayama, Hiroshima, and Yamaguchi on Honshu,

Antarctic Ocean

2005-01-26T13:44:00.000-08:00

Also called Southern Ocean, the southern portions of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans and their tributary seas surrounding Antarctica. Unbroken by any other continental landmass, the Antarctic Ocean's narrowest constriction is the Drake Passage, 600 miles (1,000 km) wide, between South America and the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. The structure of the ocean floor includes a continental shelf

Selborne, Roundell Palmer, 1st Earl Of, Viscount Wolmer Of Blackmoor, Baron Selborne Of Selborne

2005-01-25T07:15:00.000-08:00

British lord high chancellor (1872–74, 1880–85) who almost singlehandedly drafted a comprehensive judicial-reform measure, the Supreme Court of Judicature Act of 1873. Under this statute, the complex duality of English court systems—common law and chancery (equity)—was largely abolished in favour of a single hierarchy of

Joust

2005-01-25T00:48:00.000-08:00

Western European mock battle between two horsemen charging each other with levelled lances, each attempting to unhorse the other. Early medieval tournaments consisted of mêlées, mock battles between two bodies of armed horsemen; later both the mêlée and the joust took place at tournaments, and in the 15th century the joust tended to supersede the mêlée. Jousting

Baku Rug

2005-01-23T22:54:00.000-08:00

Also called Chilia Rug, handwoven floor covering made near Baku in the eastern Caucasus. It is a variety of Dagestan rug in modified Persian design, the ground pattern usually bearing rows of the pear or leaf forms of the Seraband rugs but larger in scale and more geometric and complex in form. Stepped medallions and stepped cornerpieces may show a toothed outline, resembling the corners

Corbie Step

2005-01-23T02:47:00.000-08:00

Also called crow step stone used for covering any of the steps or indentations in the coping (uppermost, covering course) of a gable; the term is also applied to the step itself. Corbie steps were common in late medieval buildings of the Netherlands and Belgium and occurred frequently in 15th-century Scottish architecture. They also appear in some 15th-century English houses, such as Oxburgh

Biblical Literature, Definitions

2005-01-22T16:21:00.000-08:00

A vast amount of Jewish literature written in the intertestamental period (mainly 2nd and 1st centuries BCE) and from the 1st and 2nd centuries CE was preserved, for the most part, through various Christian churches. A part of this literature is today commonly called the Apocrypha (Hidden; hence, secret books; singular apocryphon). At one time in the early church this was one of the

Wyoming Massacre

2005-01-19T20:20:00.000-08:00

In early June, Colonel John Butler led a force of 1,000 loyalists and Iroquois allies against the 5,000 inhabitants of the valley—mostly American women and children gathered at Forty Fort. About

Asclepiad

2005-01-18T18:33:00.000-08:00

A Greek lyric verse later used by Latin poets such as Catullus, Horace, and Seneca. The asclepiad consisted of an aeolic nucleus, a choriamb to which were added more choriambs and iambic or trochaic elements at the end of each line. A version with four choriambs is known as the greater asclepiad; a version with three choriambs, the lesser choriamb. The form was named for

Cost

2005-01-16T20:32:00.000-08:00

In common usage, the monetary value of goods and services that producers and consumers purchase. In a basic economic sense cost is the measure of the alternative opportunities foregone in the choice of one good or activity over others. This fundamental cost is usually referred to as opportunity cost. For a consumer with a fixed income, the opportunity cost of purchasing

Fa Ngum

2005-01-15T13:26:00.000-08:00

Fa Ngum was the grandson of Souvanna Khamphong, the last in a long line of local rulers of the principality of Muang Swa, later called Luang Prabang, on the upper Mekong River. According to local legend, Souvanna Khamphong banished Fa Ngum's father for having seduced

Asclepiad

2005-01-15T04:20:00.000-08:00

International organization comprising 25 European countries and governing common economic, social, and security policies. Originally confined to western Europe, the EU has expanded to include several central and eastern European countries. The EU's members are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland,

Raymond Of Peñafort, Saint

2005-01-13T22:12:00.000-08:00

He studied canon law at Bologna and taught there from 1218 to 1221. Among his works of this period were unpublished annotations

Saranac Lake

2005-01-13T06:34:00.000-08:00

Saranac Lake lies 8 miles (13 km) northwest of Lake Placid. It originated in 1819 as a lumber community and became an early rendezvous for mountain guides. The name, from the

Mid Bedfordshire

2005-01-12T19:34:00.000-08:00

District, administrative county of Bedfordshire, south-central England. The district lies almost entirely within the historic county of Bedfordshire, but a small area north of Sandy belongs to the historic county of Cambridgeshire. Predominantly rural, Mid Bedfordshire extends across a broad valley within the River Ouse catchment basin and is crossed by a low

Naftah

2005-01-10T23:11:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Nefta, oasis town, southwestern Tunisia. It lies on the northwest shore of Al-Jarid saline lake, which is an important source of phosphates. It was known to the Romans as Aggarsel Nepte. Naftah has many small mosques and is a date-growing and trans-Saharan transport centre. The larger oasis of Tawzar (Tozeur) is 15 miles (24 km) east-northeast. Pop. (1984) 15,511; (1989 est.) 17,216.

Tasmania, Agriculture, forestry, and fishing

2005-01-10T07:18:00.000-08:00

Less than a third of Tasmania's area is agricultural land; almost all of it is used for grazing; just under half is sown pasture, and the rest is used for rough grazing or is open forest. Crops occupy only 4 percent of agricultural land but contribute one-third of the total value of agricultural production. Seasonal irrigation, mainly spray for crops and some pasture, is

Ahl-e Haqq

2005-01-09T13:44:00.000-08:00

(Arabic: “People of Truth,” or “People of God”), a secret, syncretistic religion, derived largely from Islam, whose adherents are found in western Iran, with enclaves in Iraq. They retain the 12 imams of the Ithna 'Ashariyah sect and such aspects of Islamic mysticism as the communal feast. Central to their religion, however, is a belief in seven successive manifestations of God. They

Barasat

2005-01-08T11:45:00.000-08:00

Town, southeastern West Bengal state, northeastern India. Connected by road and rail with Calcutta and Howrah, it is an important trade centre for rice, legumes, sugarcane, potatoes, and coconuts; cotton weaving is the major industry. An annual fair held in honour of a Muslim saint is attended by both Muslims and Hindus. Barasat was constituted a municipality in 1869. Pop. (1981) 69,586.

Aide-de-camp

2005-01-05T13:07:00.000-08:00

(French: “camp assistant”), an officer on the personal staff of a general, admiral, or other high-ranking commander who acts as his confidential secretary in routine matters. On Napoleon's staff such officers were frequently of high military qualifications and acted both as his “eyes” and as interpreters of his mind to subordinate commanders, even on occasion exercising

Corbeil, William Of

2005-01-04T23:39:00.000-08:00

Educated at Laon, he entered the order of St. Augustine at the house of the Holy Trinity, Aldgate, London, and became prior of the Augustinian foundation at St. Osyth in Essex. After a long conflict with Thurstan, archbishop of York, he was consecrated archbishop of Canterbury. Three years later,

Táchira

2005-01-04T13:53:00.000-08:00

State, western Venezuela, bounded on the west by Colombia. The territory of 4,300 square miles (11,100 square km) lies in the southwestern reaches of the Andean Cordillera de Mérida. Agriculture dominates the state's economy; coffee and sugarcane are the leading commercial crops. Rural industry, closely related to agriculture, is usually carried on in the local homes. Relatively

Gyor

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

German Raab, historic town and capital of Gyor-Moson-Sopron megye (county), northwestern Hungary. It is on the Moson arm of the Danube, the meandering southern arm in Hungary proper, where the south bank tributaries, Rába and Rábca (alternatively, Répce), converge. The Marcal River joins the Rába just south of Gyor. The town and its environs are composed of narrow, winding streets with interesting

Anthracene

2005-01-01T20:09:00.000-08:00

A tricyclic aromatic hydrocarbon found in coal tar and used as a starting material for the manufacture of dyestuffs and in scintillation counters. Crude anthracene crystallizes from a high-boiling coal-tar fraction. It is purified by recrystallization and sublimation. Oxidation yields anthraquinone (q.v.), an intermediate in the production of dyes and pigments.

Bridgeport

2005-01-01T14:24:00.000-08:00

City, coextensive with the town (township) of Bridgeport, Fairfield county, southwestern Connecticut, U.S. The city, the most populous in the state, is a port on Long Island Sound at the mouth of the Pequonnock River. Settled in 1639, it was first known as Newfield and later as Stratfield. In 1800 it was incorporated as a borough and named Bridgeport for the first drawbridge over the

Salesbury, William

2004-12-30T08:24:00.000-08:00

Salesbury spent most of his life at Llanrwst following antiquarian, botanical, and literary pursuits. About 1546 he edited a collection

Halton

2004-12-28T14:01:00.000-08:00

Unitary authority, geographic county of Cheshire, England. The unitary authority comprises Widnes and surrounding suburban areas, on the north shore of the River Mersey in the historic county of Lancashire, and Runcorn and its suburbs, on the south shore of the Mersey in the historic county of Cheshire. The name Halton is ancient, and the barony of Halton created after

Kirkwood, James

2004-12-28T00:02:00.000-08:00

As the son of silent film stars Lila Lee

Jewelry

2004-12-26T10:45:00.000-08:00

Throughout the centuries and from culture to culture, the materials considered rare and beautiful have ranged from shells, bones, pebbles, tusks, claws, and wood to so-called precious metals, precious and semiprecious stones,

Theme

2004-12-26T08:34:00.000-08:00

The organization of territory into themes began under Emperor Heraclius (reigned 610–641), who stationed troops in three large districts under the

Prince, Harold

2004-12-25T11:29:00.000-08:00

The son of a New York stockbroker, Prince majored in English at the University of Pennsylvania (B.A., 1948) and began his theatrical career as an apprentice and stage manager for the noted producer

Pori

2004-12-24T23:32:00.000-08:00

Swedish Björneborg, city, Turun ja Porin (Turku ja Pori) lääni (province), southwestern Finland. It lies along the Kokemäen River near the Gulf of Bothnia, north-northwest of Turku. Originally settled in the 12th century farther up the Kokemäen and chartered as Ulvila in 1365, it was moved to its present site in 1558. It was destroyed by fire in the 16th and 19th centuries but was rebuilt both times because of

Colby, Frank Moore

2004-12-23T17:06:00.000-08:00

Early in his career Colby taught history and economics at Columbia University, Amherst College (Amherst, Mass.), and New York University (New York City). To supplement his income, he began writing for encyclopaedias, and so began his lifelong career. In 1898 he became editor of the International

Mondrian, Piet

2004-12-22T00:51:00.000-08:00

Original name Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan painter who was an important leader in the development of modern abstract art and a major exponent of the Dutch abstract-art movement known as De Stijl (“The Style”). In his mature paintings, Mondrian used the simplest combinations of straight lines, right angles, primary colours, and black, white, and gray.

Prehistoric Religion, Shamanism, sorcery, and magic

2004-12-21T07:16:00.000-08:00

Shamanism is a rather variable and highly stratified complex of practices and conceptions; characteristic among these are the use of ecstasy, the belief in guardian spirits (who are often in animal form, with the function of helping and guiding the dead on their voyage to the beyond), and beliefs concerning metamorphosis (change of form) and travelling to the beyond.

Kagoshima

2004-12-20T19:39:00.000-08:00

City and ken (prefecture), southernmost Kyushu, Japan, including the island groups of Osumi, Tokara, and Amami. It occupies an area of 3,539 square miles (9,167 square km). Its southern coast is deeply indented by Kagoshima Bay. The active volcano, On-take, was an island in the bay until an eruption in 1914 connected it to the eastern shore. Rough topography, volcanic-ash soil, and relative isolation

Ekkehard I The Elder

2004-12-19T22:20:00.000-08:00

Of noble birth, Ekkehard was educated at the Benedictine monastery of Sankt Gallen (St. Gall) in Switzerland, then one of Europe's greatest centres

Daumier, Honoré

2004-12-17T20:09:00.000-08:00

He did not do so, however, for he had become preoccupied with new technical studies; earlier than others, he had discovered Impressionism—faces and bodies devoured by the surrounding light and becoming one with the atmosphere. He painted a great deal, and the more so as his studies in the new technique did not interest the satirical journals to which he now submitted

Abd Al-aziz

2004-12-17T06:26:00.000-08:00

Abd al-Aziz was proclaimed sultan upon the death of his father, Hassan I, but did not begin direct rule until after the death in 1900 of his grand vizier, Ba Ahmed (Ahmad ibn

Qarluq Confederation

2004-12-15T17:08:00.000-08:00

The internal political organization

Zither

2004-12-14T17:02:00.000-08:00

Any of several stringed musical instruments. The European zither consists of a flat, shallow sound box across which gut or metal strings are stretched. The strings nearest the player run above a fretted fingerboard against which they are stopped by the left hand to provide melody notes; they are plucked by a plectrum worn on the right thumb. At the same time, the right-hand

Acciaccatura

2004-12-13T00:15:00.000-08:00

In music, ornamental note sometimes confused with appoggiatura (q.v.).

Tigranes Ii The Great

2004-12-12T18:51:00.000-08:00

Tigranes was the son or brother of Artavasdes I and a member of the dynasty founded in the early 2nd century by Artaxias. He was given as a hostage to the Parthian king Mithradates II, but later he purchased his freedom by ceding 70 valleys bordering on Media, in northwestern

Ibn Muqlah

2004-12-12T11:44:00.000-08:00

One of the foremost calligraphers of the 'Abbasid Age (750–1258), reputed inventor of the first cursive style of Arabic lettering, the naskhi script, which replaced the angular Kufic as the standard of Islamic calligraphy. In the naskhi script Ibn Muqlah introduced the rounded forms and curved lines that in later styles were

Tesich, Steve

2004-12-11T18:57:00.000-08:00

(STOYAN TESICH), U.S. screenwriter and playwright who won an Academy Award for Breaking Away and also scripted such films as Eyewitness and The World According to Garp (b. Sept. 29, 1942--d. July 1, 1996).

Aerospace Industry, Spacecraft

2004-12-10T22:04:00.000-08:00

Unmanned spacecraft are called satellites when they operate in Earth orbit and space probes when launched on a trajectory away from the Earth toward other bodies or into deep space. Whereas probes are designed for scientific missions, satellites have a wide variety of civil and military applications such as weather observation, remote sensing, surveillance,

Nahan

2004-12-08T21:09:00.000-08:00

City, southern Himachal Pradesh state, northwestern India. It lies south-southeast of Simla, the state capital, at the foot of the Siwalik Range and is a trade centre for agricultural produce and timber. Its industries include handweaving, wood carving, and ironworking. Nahan was the capital of the Punjab Hill State of Sirmur during the British rule in India. Pop. (1991 prelim.) 21,867.

Literature, Spain.

2004-12-08T19:13:00.000-08:00

Juan Marsé won the National Prize for Narrative with Rabos de lagartija (2000), another

Storm Petrel

2004-12-06T21:49:00.000-08:00

Any member of about 20 species of seabirds constituting the family Hydrobatidae, or sometimes considered as Oceanitidae (order Procellariiformes). Ranging in length from about 13 to 25 centimetres (5 1/2 to 10 inches), all are dark gray or brown, sometimes lighter below, and often with a white rump. The wings are shorter than those of most other procellariiforms and are rounded at

Monel

2004-12-06T08:38:00.000-08:00

Any of a group of nickel-copper alloys, first developed in 1905, containing about 66 percent nickel and 31.5 percent copper, with small amounts of iron, manganese, carbon, and silicon. Stronger than pure nickel, Monel alloys are resistant to corrosion by many agents, including rapidly flowing seawater. They can be fabricated readily by hot- and cold-working, machining, and welding.

Bahamas, The

2004-12-05T22:47:00.000-08:00

Officially Commonwealth of the Bahamas, archipelago and state on the northwestern edge of the West Indies. The group occupies an irregular submarine tableland that rises out of the Atlantic depths and is separated from nearby lands to the south and west by deepwater channels. Lying to the north of Cuba and Hispaniola, the archipelago comprises nearly 700 islands and cays, only about 30 of which are inhabited,

Saiki

2004-12-03T11:18:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Saeki, city, Oita ken (prefecture), Kyushu, Japan, facing Saiki Bay. It developed as a castle town on the small delta of the Banjo River during the Muromachi era (1338–1573) and came into the possession of the Mori daimyo family in 1601. Because of its good harbour, Saiki was selected for a base of the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1933. After World War II most of the military facilities were converted to industrial

Qatar

2004-12-02T19:24:00.000-08:00

Little is known of Qatar's history before the 18th century, when the region's population consisted largely of transient nomads and a few small fishing villages. Qatar's modern history begins conventionally in 1766 with the migration to the peninsula of families from Kuwait, notably the Al Khalifahs. Their settlement at the new town of Az-Zubarah grew into a small pearl-diving

Daedala

2004-12-02T11:41:00.000-08:00

Ancient festival of Hera, consort of the supreme god Zeus. The Daedala was celebrated on Mount Cithaeron in Greece. In the festival, a wooden image dressed as a bride was carried in procession, then burnt with sacrificed animals and a wooden sacrificial altar. A myth existed that Zeus had won back the estranged Hera by arousing her jealousy with such an image. The Daedala

Amorgós Island

2004-11-30T16:30:00.000-08:00

Modern Greek Nísos Amorgós, island trending northeast-southwest in the Cyclades (Kikládhes) group of the Greek Aegean Islands. For the most part mountainous and narrow, it has an area of about 47 square miles (121 square km). Prosperous in the early Bronze Age, in classical times it had three cities, Arcesine, Minoa, and Aegiale. The island produced amorgina, fine transparent fabrics made from locally grown

Frederick Iii

2004-11-29T06:27:00.000-08:00

Succeeding his father, the elector Ernest, in 1486, Frederick allied himself with Berthold, archbishop of Henneberg, to promote imperial reforms that would increase the

China, The National Government from 1928 to 1937

2004-11-29T05:45:00.000-08:00

The most serious immediate problem facing the new government was the continuance of military separatism. The government had no authority over the vast area of western China, and even regions in eastern China were under the rule of independent regimes that had lately been part of the Nationalist coalition. After an unsuccessful attempt at negotiations, Chiang

Jahwarid Dynasty

2004-11-26T20:04:00.000-08:00

Muslim Arab dynasty that ruled Córdoba, Spain, after the dissolution of the Umayyad caliphate of Córdoba (1031), one of the party kingdoms (ta'ifahs). Years of civil war following the breakdown of central caliphal authority in 1008 prompted the Cordoban council of notables, led by a prominent aristocrat, Abu al-Hazm Jahwar ibn Jahwar, to abolish the institution of the caliphate and

Duxbury

2004-11-26T19:20:00.000-08:00

Town (township), Plymouth county, eastern Massachusetts, U.S. It lies on Duxbury Bay (an inlet of Cape Cod Bay), 33 miles (53 km) south of Boston, and includes the villages of Duxbury and South Duxbury. Settled about 1628, it counts among its founders the Pilgrim colonists Myles Standish, William Brewster, and John Alden. Named for Duxbury Hall in Lancashire, England, seat of the Standish

Gonne, Maud

2004-11-24T19:16:00.000-08:00

The daughter of an Irish army officer and his English wife, Gonne made her debut in St. Petersburg and later acted as hostess for her father when he was assistant

National Army Museum

2004-11-24T01:42:00.000-08:00

The collections of the National Army Museum relate to all aspects of the British army from the Battle of Agincourt (1415) to the present day. They include material from the militia, yeomanry, volunteers,

Amphibole

2004-11-22T04:12:00.000-08:00

The complex chemical composition of members of the amphibole group can be expressed by the general formula A0–1B2C5T8O22(OH, F, Cl)2, where A = Na, K; B = Na, Li, Ca, Mn, Fe2+, Mg; C = Mg, Fe2+, Mn, Al, Fe3+, Ti; and T = Si, Al. Nearly complete substitution may take place between sodium and calcium and among magnesium, ferrous iron, and manganese (Mn). There is limited substitution between ferric iron and aluminum

South American Nomad, Shellfish gatherers

2004-11-21T23:46:00.000-08:00

In the south the Chono, Alacaluf, and Yámana Indians occupied the whole Chilean archipelago southward to Cape Horn. This is a rugged terrain of islands and fjords with heavy rainfall, an average winter temperature of 32° F (0° C), and an average summer temperature of 50° F (10° C). The dense forests make land travel extremely difficult and horticulture impracticable. The area is poor