MilitaryKettle

Amora

2005-04-05T11:38:00.000-07:00

(Hebrew and Aramaic: “interpreter,” or “reciter”), plural Amoraim, in ancient times, a Jewish scholar attached to one of several academies in Palestine (Tiberias, Sepphoris, Caesarea) or in Babylonia (Nehardea, Sura, Pumbedita). The amoraim collaborated in writing the Gemara, collected interpretations of and commentaries on the Mishna (the authoritative code of Jewish oral laws) and on its critical marginal notes, called Tosefta (Addition).

Mesopotamia, History Of, Political fragmentation

2005-04-05T07:45:00.000-07:00

It is probable that the definitive separation from Ur III came about through changing components of the population, from “Sumerians and Akkadians” to “Akkadians and Amorites.” An Old Babylonian liver omen states that “he of the steppes will enter, and chase out the one in the city.” This is indeed an abbreviated formula for an event that took place more than once: the usurpation

Peter Ii

2005-04-05T07:42:00.000-07:00

The son of Alexander I, who was assassinated during a visit to France on Oct. 9, 1934, Peter became titular king at 11, but the actual rule was in the hands of a regent, his uncle Prince Paul. After Paul was deposed by a coup of officers led by Gen. Dušan Simovic on March 27, 1941, Peter ruled for a few weeks until Axis troops invaded. He then

Francesco Di Giorgio

2005-04-03T16:57:00.000-07:00

Remarkably versatile, a kind of Renaissance homo universale, Francesco combined the bold investigation of the humanist scholars with the conservative lyricism of the Sienese school. His early works were manuscript illuminations, furniture

Deforcement

2005-04-03T03:54:00.000-07:00

In English property law, wrongful taking and possession of land belonging to another. Deforcement had its primary legal significance in feudal England. Deforcement arose particularly in cases in which land possessed by a tenant escheated (was forfeited) to his lord (either for reason of the tenant's wrongful act against the manor or for nonpayment of rent due the

Digestive System, Vertebrate, Neurotensin

2005-04-02T20:13:00.000-08:00

Secreted by the N cells of the ileum in response to fat in the small intestine, neurotensin modulates motility, relaxes the lower esophageal sphincter, and blocks the stimulation of acid and pepsin secretion by the vagus nerve.

Kerr, Jean

2005-04-01T05:06:00.000-08:00

Jean Collins graduated from Marywood College in Scranton in 1943, and in August of that year she married Walter F. Kerr, who was then a professor of drama at Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., and who later became

Zama, Battle Of

2005-04-01T03:08:00.000-08:00

(202 BC), victory of the Romans led by Scipio Africanus over the Carthaginians commanded by Hannibal. It was the last and decisive battle of the Second Punic War. The battle took place at a site identified by the Roman historian Livy as Naraggara (now Saqiyat Sidi Yusuf, Tunisia). The name Zama was given to the site (which modern historians have never precisely identified) by the Roman

Niven, Frederick John

2005-03-31T21:22:00.000-08:00

Educated in Scotland, Niven worked in libraries in Glasgow and

Namib, Animal life

2005-03-30T10:48:00.000-08:00

The plains and dunes of the Inner Namib support large numbers of several varieties of antelope, especially gemsbok (oryx) and springbok, as well as ostriches and some zebras. Elephants, rhinoceroses, lions, hyenas, and jackals are found in the northern Namib, especially along the rivers that flow from the interior highlands to the Atlantic. The dunes of the Outer Namib

Solar Compass

2005-03-29T21:30:00.000-08:00

Also called Sun Compass, type of navigational instrument that uses the position of the Sun to establish bearing. The solar compass operates somewhat like a sundial. It indicates direction by employing the angle of the shadow cast by the Sun in conjunction with a compass card, a flat disk marked with points and degrees of direction. The solar compass is useful for navigation in the high latitudes,

Devo

2005-03-29T13:12:00.000-08:00

Formed

Priapulid

2005-03-28T23:37:00.000-08:00

(phylum or class Priapulida), any of some 15 species of predatory, marine, mud-inhabiting, unsegmented worms of uncertain classification. Sometimes considered a class of the phylum Aschelminthes, priapulids are perhaps best considered to be a very small phylum with no clear relationship to any other. The largest of the priapulids are 10 to 15 cm (4 to 6 inches) long and inhabit

Oastler, Richard

2005-03-28T15:50:00.000-08:00

In 1830 Oastler, who was managing a large Yorkshire agricultural estate, learned of the evils of child labour in factories and immediately

Trade Disputes Act

2005-03-27T08:35:00.000-08:00

(1906), British legislation that provided trade unions with immunity from liability for damages arising from strike actions. The background to the statute was a series of adverse court decisions affecting the capacity of trade unions to strike, culminating in the Taff Vale judgment of 1901. That judgment established that unions were legal corporations and as such their

Amberg

2005-03-26T22:29:00.000-08:00

City, Bayern Land (Bavaria state), southeastern Germany, on the Vils River, in the foothills of the Franconian Jura and Bayernwald (Bavarian Forest), southeast of Nürnberg. First mentioned in 1034, it was a court town with considerable trade (in iron and tinplate) and industry in the 14th–16th century. The ducal residence (until 1621) and the capital (until 1810) of the Upper Palatinate, it had many

Koechlin, Charles

2005-03-25T22:07:00.000-08:00

Influenced by Jules Massenet, Gabriel Fauré, and André Gédalge, under whom he studied, Koechlin experimented with the techniques of polytonality (the use of two or

Aldrich, Thomas Bailey

2005-03-25T10:24:00.000-08:00

Aldrich left school at 13 to work as a merchant's clerk in New York City and soon began to contribute to various newspapers

Celluloid

2005-03-24T23:49:00.000-08:00

The first synthetic plastic material, developed by the American inventor John Wesley Hyatt in the late 1860s from a homogeneous colloidal dispersion of cellulose nitrate and camphor. A tough material, with great tensile strength, resistance to water, oils, and dilute acids, capable of low-cost production in a variety of colours, it found a great variety of applications

Fu

2005-03-24T16:48:00.000-08:00

Chinese literary form combining elements of poetry and prose. The form developed during the Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 220) from its origins in the long poem Li sao (“On Encountering Sorrow”) by Qu Yuan (Ch'ü Yüan; c. 343–c. 289 BC). It was particularly suitable for description and exposition, in contrast to the more subjective, lyrical sao. Its prosody was freer than that of the sao, the rhyme pattern being

French Literature, Religious authors

2005-03-24T09:36:00.000-08:00

A new intellectual climate can be recognized from 1680 onward. An increased spiritual awareness resulting from Jansenist teaching, the preaching of Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet and others, and the influence of Mme de Maintenon at court, marked French cultural life with a new moral earnestness and devotion. The position of Bossuet is an ambivalent one. In spite of his outspoken

Ashbery, John

2005-03-24T07:16:00.000-08:00

Ashbery graduated from Harvard University in 1949 and received a master's degree from Columbia University (N.Y.) in 1951. After working as a copywriter in New York City (1951–55), he lived in Paris until 1965, contributing art criticism to the Paris edition of the New York Herald-Tribune and to

El Argar

2005-03-22T23:38:00.000-08:00

Culture characterized by a flourishing metallurgy of bronze, silver, and gold that appeared at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC in the Almería (southeastern) region of the Iberian Peninsula. The culture, which developed a lively trade with centres in the eastern Mediterranean, reached its peak between 1700 and 1000 BC and spread throughout the southern, central, and Levantine

Ammonia-soda Process

2005-03-22T13:25:00.000-08:00

In the ammonia-soda process, common salt, sodium chloride, is treated with ammonia and then

Heimskringla

2005-03-21T13:47:00.000-08:00

(c. 1220; “Orb of the World”), collection of sagas of the early Norwegian kings, written by the Icelandic poet-chieftain Snorri Sturluson. It is distinguished by Snorri's classical objectivity, realistic psychology, and historically feasible (if not always accurate) depiction of cause and effect. The collection opens with the Ynglinga saga, which traces the descent of the Norwegian

India, Drainage into the Arabian Sea

2005-03-21T06:09:00.000-08:00

A substantial part of northwestern India is included in the Indus drainage basin, which India shares with China, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. The Indus and its longest tributary, the Sutlej, both rise in the trans-Himalayan region of Tibet. The Indus initially flows to the northwest between towering mountain ranges into Jammu and Kashmir. It then travels generally

A-mdo

2005-03-20T15:04:00.000-08:00

Also called Mdo-smad, one of three regions into which the area of central Asia inhabited by Tibetans is traditionally divided. During the 7th to 9th centuries, the central Tibetan kingdom was extended until it reached the Tarim Basin on the north, China on the east, India and Nepal on the south, and Kashmir on the west. The newly added dominions to the east and northeast were called Mdo-Khams.

Quadratus, Saint

2005-03-19T20:33:00.000-08:00

With only a fragment of his Apology for Christianity still extant, preserved in the Ecclesiastical History of the 4th-century scholar Eusebius of Caesarea, Quadratus has not been clearly identified. Addressed from Asia Minor to the Roman emperor Hadrian during a persecution either in 124 or 129, the

Mitiaro

2005-03-19T07:09:00.000-08:00

Island in the lower Cook Islands, a dependency of New Zealand, southwest Pacific Ocean. It is a raised coral atoll, with a land area of 8.6 sq mi (22.3 sq km), and is encircled by a reef. Its interior of fertile volcanic soil, ringed by swamps and limestone, supports copra and citrus fruits. Stands of sandalwood occur. Pop. (1981) 256.

Ogoja

2005-03-19T00:25:00.000-08:00

Town, Cross River state, southeastern Nigeria, on the road from Abakaliki. A major trade centre (yams, cassava, corn [maize], rice, palm oil and kernels, kola nuts), it is mainly inhabited by the Ekoi peoples. Ogoja is the headquarters of a local government council and the site of a teacher-training college, a secondary school, and several hospitals and clinics. Pop. (1982 est.) 22,020.

Faguet, émile

2005-03-18T18:40:00.000-08:00

Faguet was educated at Poitiers and at the École Normale in Paris. He served as drama critic (1888–1907) for the Journal des Débats, was appointed to a chair at the Sorbonne in 1890, and was elected to the French Academy in 1900. He contributed

Interior Design, Mesopotamia

2005-03-17T03:52:00.000-08:00

Very little furniture survives from ancient Mesopotamia, principally because climatic conditions are not conducive to the preservation of wood. What is known has been learned principally from reliefs and cylinder seals. Furniture mounts of bronze and ivory have been excavated, however, and fragments of furniture were uncovered in the royal tombs at the city

Ataxia

2005-03-17T02:06:00.000-08:00

Most hereditary ataxias of neurological origin are caused by degeneration of the spinal cord and cerebellum; other parts of the nervous system are also frequently involved. The most common of these is Friedreich ataxia, named after the German neurologist

Maucherite

2005-03-17T00:42:00.000-08:00

A nickel arsenide mineral with chemical composition approximating Ni3As2 or Ni11As8, assigned to the group of sulfide minerals. It often occurs with niccolite (to which it alters), as at Mansfeld, Ger.; Los Jarales, Málaga, Spain; and Ontario, Can. Its crystals belong to the tetragonal system. It is identical to the furnace product placodine. For chemical formula and detailed

Jakarta, The city layout

2005-03-16T21:09:00.000-08:00

Although the Dutch were the first to attempt to plan the city, the city layout is probably more British than Dutch in character, as can be seen from such large squares as the Medan Merdeka (“Freedom Field”) and Lapangan Banteng (meaning “place of the gaur [large wild ox]”). The Oriental style, or “indische” style, as the Dutch call it, is apparent not only in the city's way of life but

Pacific Mountain System, Environmental concerns

2005-03-16T16:46:00.000-08:00

The logging practice of clear-cutting left millions of acres of denuded mountainsides. Exposed

Aytoun, William Edmondstoune

2005-03-15T15:35:00.000-08:00

Born into a literary family, Aytoun learned from his mother to love Scottish ballads and history. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh and in Germany, and in 1840 he was called to the Scottish bar. That same year he first

Sucellus

2005-03-15T01:12:00.000-08:00

Powerful and widely worshiped Celtic god; his iconographic symbols were usually his mallet and libation saucer, indicative of his powers of protection and provision. His Irish equivalent seems to have been the Dagda. Sucellus was possibly one of the Gaulish gods who were equated by Julius Caesar with the Roman god Dis Pater, from whom, according to Caesar, all the

Iowa, Cultural life

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

A widely dispersed population with small urban centres makes it difficult for Iowans to support many of the cultural amenities that exist in large urban settings. Traveling shows, including theatre and dance, symphonies, and guest artists visit many places in the state each year. The major cultural centres are the universities and colleges. The fine arts are notably

Kilkeel

2005-03-14T02:52:00.000-08:00

Irish Cill Chaoil fishing port and seaside resort, at the mouth of the River Kilkeel, Newry and Mourne district (established 1973), formerly in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the foot of the Mourne Mountains, and the quarrying and dressing of Mourne granite is a local industry. A good harbour serves a large fishing fleet. The River Kilkeel rises to the north in the Silent Valley, where

Syrian Desert

2005-03-13T11:14:00.000-08:00

Arabic Badiyat Ash-sham, arid wasteland of southwestern Asia, extending northward from the Arabian Peninsula over much of northern Saudi Arabia, eastern Jordan, southern Syria, and western Iraq. Receiving on the average less than 5 inches (125 mm) of rainfall annually and largely covered by lava flows, it formed a nearly impenetrable barrier between the populated areas of the Levant and Mesopotamia

Venera

2005-03-12T20:45:00.000-08:00

Any of a series of unmanned Soviet planetary probes that were sent to Venus. Venera 2 (launched in 1965) flew to within 25,000 miles (40,200 km) of Venus in February 1966, and Venera 3 crash-landed on its surface the following month, becoming the first spacecraft to strike another planet. Venera 4 (1967) analyzed the chemical composition of Venus' upper atmosphere and provided the scientific community

Goalundo Ghat

2005-03-11T20:37:00.000-08:00

Also called Goalundo, town, central Bangladesh. It is situated near the confluence of the Padma and Jamuna rivers. Goalundo Ghat is linked by road with Faridpur and Kushtia and is an important river-steamer and rail-spur terminus. Its principal transshipment commodities are rice, jute, oilseeds, sugarcane, and fish. Industries include rice milling and ice and candle manufacturing. Pop. (1981) 38,645.

Masaya

2005-03-11T10:32:00.000-08:00

City, southwestern Nicaragua, at the eastern foot of Masaya Volcano, just east of the small Lake Masaya in the rift valley between Lakes Nicaragua and Managua. Masaya serves as a commercial and manufacturing centre for the rich agricultural hinterland. The large Indian population is known for its handicraft industries and festivals; other manufactures include

Pacific Ocean, Salinity

2005-03-11T05:07:00.000-08:00

The salinity patterns of the surface waters of the Pacific are influenced largely by wind and by rainfall and evaporation patterns. The waters within the belt of calms and variable winds near the equator have lower salinities than those in the trade-wind belts. In the equatorial belt, relatively large amounts of rain fall and little evaporation occurs both because

G.c.m.g.

2005-03-10T07:14:00.000-08:00

Knight grand cross, or dame grand cross, of St. Michael and St. George, member of the highest rank of a British order of knighthood. See Saint Michael and Saint George, The Most Distinguished Order of.

Tall Oil

2005-03-10T01:04:00.000-08:00

Dark, odorous liquid by-product of the sulfate (kraft) process of paper manufacture, used after refining to make coatings, sizing for paper, paint, varnish, linoleum, drying oils, emulsions, lubricants, and soaps. Tall oil is principally a mixture of resin acids, such as abietic acid, and fatty acids, such as oleic and linoleic acids, with some sterols and other compounds. It

Ara

2005-03-09T13:27:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Arrah city, Bihar state, northeastern India. The city is a major rail and road junction. Agricultural trade and oilseed milling are carried on there. It is the site of several colleges affiliated with Magadh University. The Little House at Ara is a building that was defended by the British against Kunwar Singh during the Indian Mutiny in 1857. Ara was constituted a municipality

Linus

2005-03-09T05:44:00.000-08:00

According to the Argive story, Linus, child of Apollo (god of light, truth, and prophecy) and Psamathe (daughter of Crotopus, king of Argos),

Rysbrack, John Michael

2005-03-08T03:54:00.000-08:00

Rysbrack worked in a classical, sometimes eclectic

Agri

2005-03-08T03:26:00.000-08:00

Agri is named after Mount Ararat (Turkish: Agri Dagi), situated to the east near the frontier with Iran.

Staffordshire Terrier

2005-03-07T03:58:00.000-08:00

Breed of terrier developed in 19th-century England for fighting other dogs in pits. The breed was created by crossing the bulldog, then a longer legged and more agile dog, with a terrier, possibly the fox terrier or one of the old breeds known as the white English and the black-and-tan terriers. Once known by such names as bull-and-terrier, half and half, and pit bull terrier,

Kerguelen Islands

2005-03-06T09:38:00.000-08:00

Archipelago in the southern Indian Ocean. Administratively a part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises), it consists of the island of Kerguelen (also known as Desolation Island) and nearly 300 islets, which together cover about 2,400 square miles (6,200 square km). Heavily glaciated Kerguelen Island, about 100 miles (160 km) in length, has

Om

2005-03-05T22:54:00.000-08:00

In Hinduism and other religions chiefly of India, a sacred syllable that is considered to be the greatest of all the mantras, or sacred formulas. The syllable Om is composed of the three sounds a-u-m (in Sanskrit, the vowels a and u coalesce to become o), which represent several important triads: the three worlds of earth, atmosphere, and heaven; the three major Hindu gods,

Azteco-tanoan Languages

2005-03-05T03:03:00.000-08:00

A major grouping (phylum or superstock) of American Indian languages that includes the large Uto-Aztecan language family and the small Kiowa-Tanoan language family of New Mexico and Oklahoma. The Uto-Aztecan languages are widely spoken in Mexico, northern Guatemala, and, by fewer numbers, in California, the Great Basin, and Arizona. The Kiowa-Tanoan languages are four

Hamadryas

2005-03-05T01:41:00.000-08:00

Also called Sacred Baboon, or Arabian Baboon (species Papio hamadryas), large, powerful monkey of the plains and open-rock areas of southern Arabia and northeast Africa. It has gray fur, and the male has a full mane over the forepart of the body. Length of the hamadryas is about 60–70 cm (24–28 inches), and weight may be up to 18 kg (40 pounds). The hamadryas is similar in habit to other baboon species but seems to live in smaller

Belaya River

2005-03-04T19:45:00.000-08:00

River in Bashkortostan republic, west-central Russia. The Belaya is the largest tributary of the Kama River, which is itself an important tributary of the Volga. The Belaya rises in the southern Urals at the foot of Mount Iremel, and after flowing southwestward through a narrow mountain valley, the river turns sharply north and its valley becomes broad and terraced.

Alexander

2005-03-04T06:47:00.000-08:00

The only child of Prince (later King) Milan (reigned 1868–89) and his consort, Natalie, Alexander ascended the Serbian throne on March 6 (Feb. 22), 1889, after his father had abdicated and named a regency

Kiswah

2005-03-04T00:32:00.000-08:00

Black brocade cloth that covers the most sacred shrine of Islam, the Ka'bah (q.v.) in Mecca. A new kiswah is made in Egypt every year and carried to Mecca by pilgrims. On it is embroidered in gold the Muslim profession of faith (shahadah) and a gold band of ornamental calligraphy carrying Qur'anic verses. Each year during the major pilgrimage (hajj), the kiswah is replaced with a white

Berbice River

2005-03-02T03:20:00.000-08:00

River in eastern Guyana. The Berbice River rises in the highlands of the Rupununi region and flows northward for 370 miles (595 km) through dense forests to the coastal plain. It enters the Atlantic Ocean at New Amsterdam, where its flow is obstructed by shallows. The basin of the Berbice is restricted by the proximity of its larger neighbours, the Essequibo and Courantyne

Typology

2005-03-01T11:11:00.000-08:00

System of groupings (such as “landed gentry” or “rain forests”), usually called types, the members of which are identified by postulating specified attributes that are mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive—groupings set up to aid demonstration or inquiry by establishing a limited relationship among phenomena. A type may represent one kind of attribute

Powder River

2005-03-01T07:49:00.000-08:00

Stream of the northwestern United States. It rises in several headstreams in foothills of the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming and flows northward for 486 miles (782 km) to join the Yellowstone River near Terry, Mont. Tributaries include the Little Powder River and Crazy Woman Creek.

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, Medieval allegory

2005-03-01T01:33:00.000-08:00

Erich Auerbach, Dante als Dichter der irdischen Welt (1929; Eng. trans., Dante: Poet of the Secular World, 1961); M.W. Bloomfield, “Symbolism in Medieval Literature,” Modern Philology, 56:73–81 (1958), and Piers Plowman As a Fourteenth-Century Apocalypse (1962); Edgar de Bruyne, Études d'esthétique médiévale, 3 vol. (1946); M.D. Chenu, La Théologie au douzième siècle (1957; Eng. trans. of nine selected essays, Nature, Man, and Society in the Twelfth Century, 1968); E.R. Curtius, Europäische Literatur und lateinisches Mittelalter (1948; Eng. trans., European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages, 1953); Raymond Klibansky, The Continuity of the Platonic Tradition During the Middle Ages (1939); C.S. Lewis, The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature (1964); Joseph A. Mazzeo, Medieval Cultural Tradition in Dante's Comedy (1960); D.W. Robertson and B.F. Huppe, Piers Plowman and Scriptural Tradition (1951); Charles Singleton, Dante Studies, vol. 1, Commedia (1954).

Ammons, Gene

2005-02-28T08:32:00.000-08:00

The son of outstanding boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons, Gene Ammons grew up in Chicago and first became nationally known as a member of Billy Eckstine's innovative bebop big band during 1944–47; he also played in Woody Herman's

Masoud, Ahmad Shah

2005-02-27T17:41:00.000-08:00

Afghan resistance leader and politician (b. 1953, Bazarak, Afg.—death reported on Sept. 15, 2001, Takhar, Afg.), was a military leader in the Afghan mujahideen, first against the Soviets and the Soviet-backed Afghan government (1978–89) and then against the Taliban (from 1992). Masoud, an ethnic Tajik, studied engineering before the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan and then moved to Pakistan for military

Siamang

2005-02-27T17:14:00.000-08:00

(Hylobates syndactylus) arboreal ape of the gibbon family (Hylobatidae), found in the forests of Sumatra and Malaya. The siamang resembles other gibbons but is more robust. The siamang is also distinguished by the webbing between its second and third toes and by a dilatable hairless air sac in its throat. The air sac is used in producing a resonant,

Metasomatic Replacement

2005-02-27T01:24:00.000-08:00

The process of simultaneous solution and deposition whereby one mineral replaces another. It is an important process in the formation of epigenetic mineral deposits (those formed after the formation of the host rock), in the formation of high- and intermediate-temperature hydrothermal ore deposits, and in supergene sulfide enrichment (enriched by generally

Kabwe Man

2005-02-26T06:38:00.000-08:00

Originally called Rhodesian Man, also called Broken Hill Man, extinct human being known from fossil remains (almost complete skull, maxillary fragment, sacrum, portions of pelvis and limb bones), found at Broken Hill, Northern Rhodesia (now Kabwe, Zambia), in the 1920s. Despite past disagreement about the classification of these specimens, they are now usually attributed to the early archaic Homo sapiens subspecies H. sapiens

Wig

2005-02-25T15:19:00.000-08:00

Manufactured head covering of real or artificial hair worn in the theatre, as personal adornment, disguise, or symbol of office, or for religious reasons. The wearing of wigs dates from the earliest recorded times; it is known, for example, that the ancient Egyptians shaved their heads and wore wigs to protect themselves from the sun and that the Assyrians, Phoenicians,

Puerto Real

2005-02-25T13:44:00.000-08:00

Ancient (Latin) Portus Gaditanus town, Cádiz provincia, Andalusia comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”), southern Spain. It is on the north shore of the inner arm of the Bay of Cádiz and lies 5 miles (8 km) east of Cádiz. Known to the Romans, it was probably the most ancient trading station on the Bay of Cádiz and took its modern name (meaning “royal port”) when rebuilt in 1488 by the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and

Clarion River

2005-02-25T01:36:00.000-08:00

River formed at Johnsonburg, Elk county, northwestern Pennsylvania, U.S., by the confluence of East Branch and West Branch Clarion rivers. It flows generally southwest for about 110 miles (177 km), past the towns of Ridgway and Clarion, to join the Allegheny River. The Clarion Dam and Reservoir are on the East Branch near Glen Hazel. The river's name is attributed to surveyors who

Hendrix, Jimi

2005-02-24T01:37:00.000-08:00

Though his active career as a featured artist lasted a mere four years, Hendrix altered the course of popular music and became one of

Mushroom Poisoning

2005-02-24T00:48:00.000-08:00

Among the mushrooms that most commonly cause poisoning are Amanita muscaria, A. phalloides, and the four white Amanita species called destroying angels.

Clouet, Jean

2005-02-23T08:59:00.000-08:00

Although he lived in France most of his life, records show that he was not French by origin and was never naturalized. He was one of the chief painters to Francis I as early as 1516 and was appointed groom of the chamber from 1523, thus enjoying the salary and social position

Afghanistan, Urban settlement

2005-02-23T04:02:00.000-08:00

Most urban settlements have grown along the road that runs from Kabul southwestward to Kandahar, then northwest to Herat, northeast to Mazar-e Sharif, and southeast back to Kabul. The rural population of farmers and nomads is distributed unevenly over the rest of the country, mainly concentrated along the rivers. The most heavily populated part of the country is between

Epistemology, Ancient Skepticism

2005-02-22T22:54:00.000-08:00

After the development of Aristotle's psychology the next significant event for the theory of knowledge was the rise of Skepticism, of which there were at least two kinds. The first, Academic Skepticism, arose in the Academy after Plato's death and was propounded by the Greek philosopher Arcesilaus (c. 315–c. 240 BC), about whom the philosophers Cicero, Sextus Empiricus, and Diogenes

Houston Ship Channel

2005-02-22T13:44:00.000-08:00

Waterway that connects Houston, Texas, with the Gulf of Mexico, passing through the former Buffalo Bayou and Galveston Bay. The channel, which was opened in 1914 and later improved, is 50.5 mi (81.3 km) long, 36 ft (11 m) deep, and has a minimum width of 300 ft (90 m). It requires no locks.

Blood River, Battle Of

2005-02-22T13:07:00.000-08:00

(Dec. 16, 1838), South African battle between the Zulu and the Voortrekkers (the Boers who made the Great Trek from Cape Colony to Transvaal). It was fought on the banks of a tributary of the Buffalo River, which became known as Blood River after its water reddened with the slaughter of about 3,000 Zulu. Four Boers were wounded. This battle turned Voortrekker fortunes in Natal, at a low ebb

Alisol

2005-02-20T15:49:00.000-08:00

One of the 30 soil groups in the classification system of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Alisols are highly acidic, poorly drained soils prone to aluminum toxicity and water erosion. Liming and fertilization are essential to their agricultural use—primarily for growing oil palm, corn (maize), and cotton. Their extent has not been established definitively,

Ajanta Caves

2005-02-20T11:27:00.000-08:00

The group of some 30 caves was excavated

Aquinas, Thomas, Saint

2005-02-19T18:34:00.000-08:00

La Noue, François De

2005-02-19T15:59:00.000-08:00

La Noue became a Protestant in 1558 and soon began fighting for the Huguenot cause. Wounded at Fontenay (1570), he had one arm replaced by an iron device and was thereafter nicknamed Bras-de-Fer (“Arm of Iron”). After the Peace of

Dahlonega

2005-02-18T02:13:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1833) of Lumpkin county, northern Georgia, U.S. Gold was discovered in the locality in 1828, and the site was settled and incorporated in 1833 after one of the nation's first gold rushes; its name derives from the Cherokee taulonica (“yellow metal”). A U.S. mint operated there from 1838 until 1861, when Georgia seceded from the Union; Dahlonega-minted gold coins are now highly prized by

New England Glass Company

2005-02-17T23:07:00.000-08:00

American glass company that was situated in East Cambridge, Mass., from about 1818 until 1888. In the latter year the company's owner, Edward D. Libbey, met a strike of his workers by moving the factory to Toledo, Ohio, where it is still active as the Libbey-Owens-Ford Company. The New England Glass Company made a large variety of wares ranging from pocket bottles and tumblers to attractive

Esterhazy

2005-02-17T14:41:00.000-08:00

Town, southeastern Saskatchewan, Canada. It lies in the Qu'Appelle River valley, 132 miles (212 km) east of Regina. It is named after Count Paul Otto d'Esterházy (1830–1912), a French-Hungarian nobleman who promoted settlement in the area. Esterhazy is a marketing town for a mixed-farming (especially wheat) and stock-raising region and has flour-milling and dairying industries. Since 1962, however,

Haug, émile

2005-02-16T21:48:00.000-08:00

After receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Strasbourg (1884) and spending three years in postgraduate research,

Lurton, Horace H(armon)

2005-02-16T14:23:00.000-08:00

Lurton enlisted in the Confederate army at the outbreak of the war and was twice taken prisoner, but he was paroled by President Abraham Lincoln the second time upon his mother's appeal, pleading illness. After the war he finished his studies and established a successful

East Cambridgeshire

2005-02-15T20:32:00.000-08:00

Prior to the draining of the Fens

Biblical Literature, The Samaritan Pentateuch

2005-02-15T14:17:00.000-08:00

The importance of the recension known as the Samaritan Pentateuch lies in the fact that it constitutes an independent Hebrew witness to the text written in a late and developed form of the paleo-Hebrew script. Some of the Exodus fragments from Qumran demonstrate that it has close affinities with a pre-Christian Palestinian text type and testify to the faithfulness

Scaevola, Gaius Mucius

2005-02-14T13:26:00.000-08:00

Legendary Roman hero who is said to have saved Rome (c. 509 BC) from conquest by the Etruscan king Lars Porsena. According to the legend, Mucius volunteered to assassinate Porsena, who was besieging Rome, but killed his victim's attendant by mistake. Brought before the Etruscan royal tribunal, he declared that he was one of 300 noble youths who had sworn to take the king's life. He demonstrated

Albert Of Aix

2005-02-14T11:47:00.000-08:00

Also called Albert of Aachen , Latin Albericus Aquensis canon of the church of Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) and historian of the First Crusade. He gathered oral and written testaments of participants in the Crusade and provided a chronicle on the subject, the Historia expeditionis Hierosolymitanae (“History of the Expedition to Jerusalem”). His work remains an important source on the First Crusade and the history of the kingdom

Ch'an

2005-02-13T17:21:00.000-08:00

Form of Mahayana Buddhism that arose in China and reached its culmination in the Zen school of Japan. See Zen.

Allegheny Mountains

2005-02-13T15:52:00.000-08:00

Also called Alleghenies, mountainous eastern part of the Allegheny Plateau in the Appalachian Mountains, U.S. The Allegheny range extends south-southwestward for more than 500 miles (800 km) from north-central Pennsylvania to southwestern Virginia. Rising to Mount Davis (3,213 feet [979 m]; highest point in Pennsylvania) and Spruce Knob (4,862 feet [1,482 m]; highest point in West Virginia), the mountains consist of nearly

Qiblah

2005-02-12T22:12:00.000-08:00

Also spelled qibla or kiblah the direction of the sacred shrine of the Ka'bah in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, toward which Muslims turn five times each day when performing the salat (daily ritual prayer). Soon after Muhammad's emigration (Hijrah, or Hegira) to Medina in 622, he indicated Jerusalem as the qiblah, probably influenced by Jewish tradition. When Jewish-Muslim relations no longer seemed promising,

Aeschylus, Recommended editions

2005-02-12T08:36:00.000-08:00

Aeschylus, 2 vol. (1953–56, reissued 1967), contains English translations of all the plays and is part of The Complete Greek Tragedies series, ed. by Richmond Lattimore and David Grene. Recent editions of the trilogy are Oresteia, trans. by Hugh Lloyd-Jones, 3 vol. (1979, reissued in 1 vol., 1982); and The Oresteia, trans. by Robert Fagles (1975, reissued 1984).

Escrivá De Balaguer, Josemaría, Saint

2005-02-11T21:41:00.000-08:00

In full Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer y Albás Spanish prelate of the Roman Catholic church, founder in 1928 of Opus Dei, a Catholic organization of laymen and priests claiming to strive to live Christian lives in their chosen professions. By the time of Escrivá's death in 1975, its members numbered some 60,000 in 80 countries, and its critics charged it with

Dow Jones Average

2005-02-11T06:32:00.000-08:00

Stock price average computed by Dow Jones & Company. The averages are among the most commonly used indicators of general trends in the prices of stocks and bonds in the United States. Dow Jones & Company, a financial news publisher founded by Charles Henry Dow and Edward D. Jones, began computing a daily industrials average in 1897, using a list of 12 stocks and dividing their

'abd Al-rahman Iii

2005-02-09T22:24:00.000-08:00

Byname Al-Nasir li-Din Allah (Arabic: “Victor for the Religion of Allah”) , in full 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Hakam al-Rabdi ibn Hisham ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Dakhil first caliph and greatest ruler of the Umayyad Arab Muslim dynasty of Spain. He reigned as hereditary emir (“prince”) of Córdoba from October 912 and took the title of caliph in 929.

Ikeja

2005-02-09T22:14:00.000-08:00

Town and capital of Lagos state, 10.5 miles (17 km) northwest of Lagos, southwestern Nigeria. Originally settled by the Yoruba people, the locality was raided for slaves until the mid-19th century. Early in the 20th century it became an agricultural hinterland for Lagos; kola nuts were first grown in Nigeria in this area. The opening of the Lagos-Ibadan railway in 1901 and the growth of

Gabrieli, Giovanni

2005-02-09T07:18:00.000-08:00

Egon Kenton, Life and Works of Giovanni Gabrieli (1967); and Denis Arnold, Giovanni Gabrieli and the Music of the Venetian High Renaissance (1979, reprinted 1986).