PresentCloud

Kachin

2005-04-04T13:35:00.000-07:00

Tribal peoples occupying parts of northeastern Myanmar (Burma) and contiguous areas of India (Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland) and China (Yunnan). The greatest number of Kachin live in Myanmar (roughly 590,000), but some 120,000 live in China and a few thousand in India. Numbering about 712,000 in the late 20th century, they speak a variety of languages of the Tibeto-Burman group and are thereby distinguished

Uíge

2005-04-02T03:24:00.000-08:00

Formerly Carmona, town, northwestern Angola. Uíge grew from a small market centre in 1945 to become Angola's major centre for coffee production in the 1950s. The Portuguese designated Uíge a city in 1956. Its prosperity was short-lived, however, as recurrent fighting between the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), one of three preindependence guerrilla movements, and Portuguese forces

Sun Company, Inc.

2005-04-01T19:59:00.000-08:00

The company was incorporated in 1971 as the successor to a New Jersey oil and gas business incorporated in 1901. The earlier company had been formed as the Sun Oil Company of Ohio in 1886. In 1975 the Sun Company was restructured into 14 separate business units to provide flexibility in expanding

Aerospace Industry, World War I

2005-03-30T20:46:00.000-08:00

France and Germany, both aware of the military potential of aircraft, began relatively large-scale manufacturing around 1909. By the outbreak of World War I in 1914, France had built a total of 2,000 airplanes, of which 1,500 were military; Germany ranked second with about 1,000 military aircraft; and Britain a distant third with 176. The United States lost its lead in aeronautics as the combined

Poznan

2005-03-28T02:45:00.000-08:00

Beginning as a small stronghold in the 9th century, Poznan became the capital of Poland (with Gniezno) and the residence of Poland's first two sovereigns. The first Polish cathedral was erected there

Basie, Count

2005-03-25T23:23:00.000-08:00

Basie studied music with his mother and was later influenced by the Harlem pianists James P. Johnson and Fats Waller, receiving informal tutelage on the organ from the latter.

Felix Of Valois, Saint

2005-03-24T06:38:00.000-08:00

According to legend, Felix lived a solitary ascetic life in the forest near Cerfroid

Macaroon

2005-03-21T07:59:00.000-08:00

Cake flour is often used as a base for the essential ingredients of macaroons. These are worked together and flavoured with

Ashwell, Lena

2005-03-19T09:41:00.000-08:00

Reared and educated in Canada, Ashwell studied music at Lausanne, Switz., and at the Royal Academy of Music, London. Her voice proved

Asante

2005-03-18T15:19:00.000-08:00

Although some Asante now live and work in urban centres,

Hypersensitivity

2005-03-17T13:42:00.000-08:00

Acquired bodily state in which the reaction to a stimulus (e.g., a substance causing allergy or a physical agent such as light) is unusually prompt or excessive. The term hypersensitivity is often used as a synonym for allergy.

Byatt, A.s.

2005-03-15T01:45:00.000-08:00

Byatt is the daughter of a judge and the sister of novelist Margaret Drabble. She was educated at the University of Cambridge, Bryn Mawr College, and the University of Oxford and then

Robert

2005-03-14T17:22:00.000-08:00

Byname Robert Guiscard, or Robert De Hauteville, Italian Roberto Guiscardo, or Roberto D'altavilla Norman adventurer who settled in Apulia, in southern Italy, about 1047 and became duke of Apulia (1059). He eventually extended Norman rule over Naples, Calabria, and Sicily and laid the foundations of the Kingdom of Sicily.

Crime, Law Enforcement, And Penology

2005-03-14T15:09:00.000-08:00

Several countries acted to widen the scope of the

Paragenesis

2005-03-13T11:23:00.000-08:00

The sequence in which the minerals are formed in an ore deposit. Variations in the pressure and temperature and in the chemical constituents of a hydrothermal solution will result in the precipitation of various minerals at different times within the same ore deposit. The general sequence of deposition is gangue minerals (silicates and carbonates) first; oxide

Azua

2005-03-11T22:59:00.000-08:00

In full Azua De Compostela, city, southwestern Dominican Republic. Founded in 1504 on the Caribbean coast, the original town was destroyed by an earthquake; the town was reestablished 3 miles (5 km) inland at its present site at the foot of the Ocoa Mountains. It is one of the leading cities in the region, trading mainly in agricultural products grown in the surrounding region: sugarcane, coffee, rice, corn

Smith, Joseph

2005-03-11T05:29:00.000-08:00

Smith grew up in western New York at a time of intense religious revivalism. He was a literate but unschooled lad from a large family, and his neighbours at Palmyra,

Rybinsk Reservoir

2005-03-10T03:14:00.000-08:00

Russian Rybinskoye Vodokhranilishche, large artificial body of water on the upper Volga River, northwestern Russia, formed by two dams on the Volga and its tributary, the Sheksna. The project began in 1935, the artificial lake began to form in 1941, and, when the project was completed in 1947, a lake of 1,768 square miles (4,580 square km) in area, a maximum width of 37 miles (60 km), and an average depth of 18 feet (5.6 m) had been formed. At that time, the Rybinsk

Defender Of The Faith

2005-03-09T16:52:00.000-08:00

Latin Fidei Defensor, a title belonging to the sovereign of England in the same way as Christianissimus (“most Christian”) belonged to the king of France. The title was first conferred by Pope Leo X on Henry VIII (Oct. 11, 1521) as a reward for the king's pamphlet Assertio septem sacramentorum adversus Martinum Lutherum (“Declaration of the Seven Sacraments Against Martin Luther”), written against Luther.

Roberts, Sir Charles G(eorge) D(ouglas)

2005-03-08T05:21:00.000-08:00

After graduating

Eadwig

2005-03-07T19:16:00.000-08:00

Early historical sources are biased against Eadwig. According to one writer, he hated the great monastic reformer Dunstan because he made Eadwig return to his coronation

Augier, émile

2005-03-04T22:54:00.000-08:00

Augier was an unbending moralist, and all of his plays are to some extent didactic in purpose. His verse play Gabrielle (1849) attacks the

Obrenovic Dynasty

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

Obrenovic also spelled Obrenovich, family that provided Serbia with five rulers between 1815 and 1903. Their succession was broken by a rival dynasty, the Karadjordjevic. Miloš, who founded the dynasty, was prince of Serbia from 1815 to 1839 and again from 1858 to 1860; his elder son, Milan III, reigned for only 26 days before his death in 1839; Miloš' second son, Michael III, was prince from 1839 to 1842 and again from 1860 to 1868. His successor was a first cousin once

Heimwehr

2005-03-02T11:06:00.000-08:00

(German: Home Defense Force), any of the local organizations formed in various parts of Austria to expel invading Yugoslavs or preserve order immediately after World War I. Composed of conservative-minded country dwellers, the Heimwehr came to represent much of the Austrian right wing between World Wars I and II. Imbued with corporativism (an authoritarian view

Ryan, Nolan

2005-03-02T02:59:00.000-08:00

Ryan was taught to play baseball by an elder brother and was a wild but fast pitcher in high school before he was signed by the National League New York Mets in 1965. He pitched for their minor league

Amphibian, Food and feeding

2005-03-01T22:15:00.000-08:00

Adult amphibians consume a wide variety of foods. Earthworms are the main diet of burrowing caecilians, anurans feed primarily on insects and other arthropods, and large salamanders and some large anurans eat small vertebrates, including birds and mammals. Most anurans and salamanders locate prey by sight, although some use their sense of smell. The

Mckean

2005-02-26T00:54:00.000-08:00

The county was formed in

Cranston

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

City, Providence county, central Rhode Island, U.S. It lies on the western shore of Narragansett Bay and adjoins Providence city. The first settlement was made on the Pawtuxet River in 1638 by William Arnold, an ancestor of Benedict Arnold and a compatriot of Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island colony. Separated from Providence in 1754, it became a town and was named for Samuel

'ayn

2005-02-25T11:39:00.000-08:00

Many a'yan during the 17th century acquired lifelong leases on tax farms and prospered financially. During

Torelli, Salinguerra

2005-02-23T20:44:00.000-08:00

Torelli was born into a noble family of Bolognese origin whose members were rivals of the Este in Ferrara from the end of the 12th century. He carried on an indecisive struggle with

Alaska, Health and welfare

2005-02-23T17:06:00.000-08:00

Medical and health clinics and hospitals available to the general public are provided by municipal and borough governments or private

Gainsborough Chair

2005-02-22T16:57:00.000-08:00

Type of English armchair made in the mid-18th century. A wide chair with a high back, it was normally upholstered in leather. The sides are open, and the short, upholstered arms are set well back from the seat, to which they are connected by a concave curving support. The arm supports and front legs are usually fluted or carved on the front face. The contemporary name was “French

Providence, Personal and impersonal forms

2005-02-21T06:51:00.000-08:00

The cosmic order can appear in a personalized form, as, for example, the Egyptian goddess Maat; but this personification of the cosmic order is not general: the Iranian Asha, the Indian rta, and the Chinese Tao are all to a high degree impersonal. Maat represents truth and order; her domain includes not only the order of the nature, but also the social and ethical orders. She

Nizam Al-mulk

2005-02-20T13:56:00.000-08:00

Original name Abu 'ali Hasan Ibn 'ali Persian vizier of the Turkish Seljuq sultans (1063–92), best remembered for his large treatise on kingship, Seyasat-nameh (The Book of Government; or Rules for Kings).

Great Drought

2005-02-18T19:14:00.000-08:00

The

Hammami, Sa'id

2005-02-17T16:30:00.000-08:00

Hammami was born in Jaffa, but his family fled when fighting erupted following Israel's declaration of independence

Epistemology, Tautological versus significant propositions

2005-02-17T02:36:00.000-08:00

A proposition is said to be tautological if its constituent terms repeat themselves or if they can be reduced to terms that do, so that the proposition is of the form “a = a.” In such a case the proposition is said to be trivial and empty of cognitive import. A proposition is said to be significant if its constituent terms are such that the proposition does provide new information

Nizamabad

2005-02-16T23:37:00.000-08:00

Also called Indur city, northwestern Andhra Pradesh state, southern India. The city is located on the Hyderabad–Godavari Valley line of the Central Railway, north-northwest of Hyderabad. Historical points of interest include a temple that now houses a water-supply tank and the fort of Indur. The city is also the site of several colleges affiliated with Osmania University in Hyderabad. Pop.

Cynic

2005-02-14T04:11:00.000-08:00

Any member of a Greek philosophical sect that flourished from the 4th century Bc to well into Christian times and was distinguished more for its unconventional way of life than for any system of thought. Antisthenes, a disciple of Socrates, is considered to be the founder of the movement, but Diogenes (q.v.) of Sinope was its paradigm. He strove to destroy social conventions (including family life) as a way of returning to a “natural” life. Toward this end

Nova Iguaçu

2005-02-13T16:46:00.000-08:00

City and northwestern suburb of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Formerly called Maxambamba, it lies in the Sarapuí River valley, at 85 feet (26 m) above sea level. The city's varied industries include marmalade and orange juice factories, vegetable canneries, and plants manufacturing chemicals and pharmaceutical products. Extensive orange groves

Portugal, Conquest and exploration

2005-02-12T16:40:00.000-08:00

The idea of expansion into Africa was a logical result of the completion of the Reconquest in the peninsula, and the conquest of Ceuta in North Africa (1415) probably provided the impulse toward further expansion. The simple idea of fighting the Muslims on their own soil was linked with more complicated motives: the desire to explore in a scientific sense, the hope of finding

Middletown

2005-02-11T17:55:00.000-08:00

City, Orange county, southeastern New York, U.S., 60 miles (97 km) northwest of New York City. Settled in 1756, it was organized around the local Congregational church in 1785 and named for its midway location between the Hudson and Delaware rivers. Until 1798 it was in Ulster county. It became headquarters for several turnpike companies and, after 1843, the terminal of the Erie Railroad (later Erie

Blood Transfusion

2005-02-10T17:18:00.000-08:00

The transfer of blood into the vein of a human or animal recipient. The blood is either taken directly from a donor or is obtained from a blood bank. Blood transfusions are a therapeutic measure used to restore blood or plasma volume after extensive hemorrhage, burns, or trauma; to increase the number and concentration of red blood cells in persons with anemia in order

Theatre

2005-02-09T09:33:00.000-08:00

In November 1994, 87 playwrights, including Harold Pinter, Arnold Wesker, and Peter Shaffer, wrote a letter to the artistic directors of subsidized theatres demanding a quota system of new plays--two or three a year--on their main stages. The writers expressed the feeling that the nation's theatre was slipping into "irrelevance and decline" because of a lack of opportunity for

Najahid Dynasty

2005-02-08T19:47:00.000-08:00

Muslim dynasty of Ethiopian Mamluks (slaves) that ruled Yemen in the period 1022–1158 from its capital at Zabid. The Ziyadid kingdom at Zabid (819–1018) had in its final years been controlled by Mamluk viziers, the last of whom divided Yemen between two slaves, Nafis and Najah. Nafis murdered the last Ziyadid ruler in 1018, and, after several years of bitter fighting and the death of Nafis, Najah emerged victorious

Esquirol, Jean-étienne-dominique

2005-02-07T13:36:00.000-08:00

A student of Philippe Pinel, Esquirol succeeded his distinguished teacher as physician in chief at the Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris in 1811, further developing Pinel's diagnostic techniques and

Delhi Zoological Park

2005-02-07T03:21:00.000-08:00

The collection includes good breeding groups of white tigers and brow-antlered deer. Many of the animals are displayed in barless, moated enclosures, while a colony

Greek Literature, Historical works

2005-02-05T13:33:00.000-08:00

Conscious as they were of their classical and biblical past, the Byzantines wrote much history. Until the early 7th century a series of historians recounted the events of their own time in classicizing style, with fictitious speeches and set descriptive pieces, in a genre that owed much to the classical Greek historians Thucydides and Polybius. Procopius, Agathias,

Godfree, Kitty

2005-02-04T06:23:00.000-08:00

Godfree lost the 1923 All-England final to Suzanne Lenglen of France, but

Na-dené Languages

2005-02-04T05:42:00.000-08:00

Major grouping (phylum or superstock) of North American Indian languages, consisting of three language families—Athabascan (or Athapascan), Haida, and Tlingit—with a total of 22 languages. Of these languages 20 belong to the Athabascan family; they are spoken in the Northwest Territory, the Yukon, and adjacent parts of Canada, west to Cook Inlet in Alaska; in two isolated areas

Goulburn Islands

2005-02-02T04:05:00.000-08:00

Group of islands in the Arafura Sea off the northern coast of Arnhem Land in Northern Territory, Australia. They comprise South Goulburn Island (30 square miles [78 square km]), lying 2 miles (3 km) offshore across Macquarie Strait; North Goulburn Island (14 square miles [36 square km]), 10 miles (16 km) offshore; and some small sandy islets. Perhaps sighted in 1644 by the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman,

Fishhook Cactus

2005-02-01T23:34:00.000-08:00

Mammillaria, native from southwestern North America to the Caribbean, Colombia, and Venezuela, is a large and complex genus of about 150 species. Its species are

Ahab

2005-02-01T15:11:00.000-08:00

Omri left to Ahab an empire that comprised not only territory east of the Jordan River, in Gilead and probably Bashan, but also the land of Moab, whose king was tributary. The southern kingdom of Judah, if not actually subject to Omri, was certainly a

Pretoria

2005-01-30T00:03:00.000-08:00

City in Gauteng province and administrative capital of the Republic of South Africa. Pretoria stretches along both sides of the Apies River and extends into the western foothills of the Magaliesberg on the east. Founded in 1855 by Marthinus, son of Andries Pretorius, the Boer statesman for whom the city was named, it became the capital of the Transvaal in 1860, administrative

Mcmaster, John Bach

2005-01-29T15:14:00.000-08:00

The son of a former Mississippi plantation owner, McMaster grew up in New York City and worked his way through the City College of New York. Although he obtained a degree in civil engineering in 1873, he was deeply

Yukon Territory

2005-01-28T07:19:00.000-08:00

The mineral wealth

France, History Of, Monasticism

2005-01-27T20:58:00.000-08:00

Monasticism originated in the East. It was introduced in the West during the 4th century and was developed in Gaul, mainly in the west (St. Martin of Tours) and southeast (St. Honoratus and St. John Cassian). The earliest monasteries lacked a communal form of discipline; eremitism was widespread. In the 6th century, monasteries throughout Gaul increased, and efforts were made

Amyntas Iii (or Ii)

2005-01-26T03:19:00.000-08:00

Amyntas came to the throne during the disorders that plagued Macedonia after the death of the powerful king Archelaus (ruled c. 413–399). Amyntas soon had to fight off attacks by the Illyrians

Barahona De Soto, Luis

2005-01-25T08:33:00.000-08:00

After completing his education in Antequera and service as a soldier, Barahona began practicing

Lopolith

2005-01-25T06:35:00.000-08:00

Igneous intrusion associated with a structural basin, with contacts that are parallel to the bedding of the enclosing rocks. In an ideal example, the enclosing sediments above and below the lopolith dip inward from all sides toward the centre, so that the lopolith is concave upward. Lopoliths, which can be several miles to several hundred miles in diameter, with thicknesses

Atheism

2005-01-23T13:48:00.000-08:00

In general, the critique and denial of metaphysical beliefs in God or spiritual beings. As such, it is usually distinguished from theism, which affirms the reality of the divine and often seeks to demonstrate its existence. Atheism is also distinguished from agnosticism, which leaves open the question whether there is a god or not, professing to find the questions

Wells, Horace

2005-01-22T19:58:00.000-08:00

While practicing in Hartford, Conn., in 1844, Wells noted the pain-killing properties of nitrous oxide (“laughing gas”) during a laughing-gas road show and thereafter used it in performing painless dental operations. He was allowed to demonstrate the method at the Massachusetts

Over-the-counter Market

2005-01-22T18:51:00.000-08:00

Trading in stocks and bonds that does not take place on stock exchanges; such trading is most significant in the United States, where requirements for listing stocks on the exchanges are quite strict. It is often called the “off-board market,” and sometimes the “unlisted market,” though the latter term is misleading because some securities so traded are listed on an exchange.

Aureus

2005-01-21T20:02:00.000-08:00

Basic gold monetary unit of ancient Rome and the Roman world. It was first named nummus aureus (“gold money”), or denarius aureus, and was equal to 25 silver denarii; a denarius equaled 10 bronze asses. (In 89 BC, the sestertius, equal to one-quarter of a denarius, replaced the bronze ass as a unit of account.) In Constantine's reform of AD 312, the aureus was replaced by the solidus as the basic monetary

Vihara

2005-01-20T13:26:00.000-08:00

Early type of Buddhist monastery consisting of an open court surrounded by open cells accessible through an entrance porch. The viharas in India were originally constructed to shelter the monks during the rainy season, when it became difficult for them to lead the wanderer's life. They took on a sacred character when small stupas (housing sacred relics) and images

Dada

2005-01-18T22:48:00.000-08:00

Stephen C. Foster (ed.), Crisis and the Arts: The History of Dada (1996– ), is a multivolume exploration of the history of the movement. William S. Rubin, Dada, Surrealism, and Their Heritage (1968, reissued 1982); and Dawn Ades, Dada and Surrealism Reviewed (1978), are comprehensive exhibition catalogs. German Dada is discussed in Charlotte Stokes and Stephen C. Foster (eds.), Dada Cologne Hanover (1997). Francis M. Naumann and Beth Venn, Making Mischief: Dada Invades New York (1996), focuses on the New York movement. Richard Huelsenbeck (ed.), The Dada Almanac, 2nd ed. (1998), is an English translation of a large 1920 collection of Dadaist text. The role of female Dadaists is discussed in Naomi Sawelson-Gorse (ed.), Women in Dada: Essays on Sex, Gender, and Identity (1998, reissued 2001).

Biblical Literature, Nature and significance

2005-01-18T08:43:00.000-08:00

General articles and notes in The Oxford Annotated Bible (1962), The Jerusalem Bible (1966), and the Genesis volume of The Anchor Bible, by E.A. Speiser (1964); E. H. Gombrich, The Story of Art, 12th rev. ed. (1972); Abraham J. Heschel, Man Is Not Alone (1951), a classic statement of modern Judaism; Erich Auerbach, Mimesis: Dargestellte Wirklichkeit in der abendländischen Literatur (1946; Eng. trans., Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature, 1953), a classic work; William R. Mueller, The Prophetic Voice in Modern Fiction (1959), religious themes interpreting Joyce, Camus, Kafka, Faulkner, Greene, and Silone; Nathan A. Scott, Jr. (ed.), The Tragic Vision and the Christian Faith (1957), essays by 12 writers on faith and the tragic dimension of existence; James Barr, The Scope and Authority of the Bible (1981), questions the divine inspiration of biblical texts.

Caucasian Languages, Vocabulary

2005-01-17T14:30:00.000-08:00

The genetic closeness of the Kartvelian languages is evidenced by a large number of structural correspondences and of common lexical (vocabulary) and grammatical items. Though the Kartvelian languages abound in ancient loanwords from Iranian, Greek, Arabic, Turkish, and other languages, it is nevertheless possible to single out the basic vocabulary and grammatical

André Le Chapelain,

2005-01-16T13:38:00.000-08:00

Latin Andreas Capellanus French writer on the art of courtly love, best known for his three-volume treatise Liber de arte honeste amandi et reprobatione inhonesti amoris (c. 1185; “Book of the Art of Loving Nobly and the Reprobation of Dishonourable Love”). He is thought to have been a chaplain at the court of Marie, Countess of Champagne, daughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine. At Marie's request

Palanpur

2005-01-15T10:21:00.000-08:00

City, Gujarat state, west-central India. It lies in the lowlands between the Aravalli Range and the Kathiawar Peninsula. The former capital of the princely state of Palanpur, the city is now a trade and processing centre for agricultural produce and a rail and road junction. Palanpur is also known for its handicrafts. Pop. (1991 prelim.) 80,620.

Carter Family

2005-01-13T11:11:00.000-08:00

Singing group consisting of Alvin Pleasant Carter, known as A.P. Carter (b. April 15, 1891, Maces Spring, Va., U.S.—d. November 7, 1960, Kentucky),his wife Sara, née Dougherty (b. July 21, 1898, Flatwoods, Virginia—d. Jan. 8, 1979, Lodi, Calif.), and his sister-in-law Maybelle Carter, née Addington (b. May 10, 1909, Nickelsville, Va.—d. Oct. 23, 1978, Nashville, Tenn.), a leading force in the spread and popularization of Appalachian Mountain folk

Zapata, Luis

2005-01-13T06:43:00.000-08:00

Zapata studied French literature at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. In his best-known work, Las aventuras,

Tanzania, Settlement patterns

2005-01-11T21:36:00.000-08:00

The two most important factors influencing the regional pattern of human settlement are rainfall and the incidence of tsetse fly. The tsetse, which thrives on wild game in miombo woodlands, is the carrier of Trypanosoma, a blood parasite that causes sleeping sickness in cattle and people. Tsetse infestation makes human settlement hazardous in areas of moderate

Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel

2005-01-11T08:08:00.000-08:00

A precocious musician who remained successful, C.P.E. Bach was his father's true successor and an important figure in his own right. In his autobiography he writes: “For composition and keyboard-playing, I have never had

Nitrogen Cycle

2005-01-09T16:26:00.000-08:00

Circulation of nitrogen in various forms through nature. Nitrogen, a component of proteins and nucleic acids, is essential to life on Earth. Although 78 percent by volume of the atmosphere is nitrogen gas, this abundant reservoir exists in a form unusable by most organisms. Through a series of microbial transformations, however, nitrogen is made available to plants,

Abu Al-ghazi Bahadur

2005-01-09T04:44:00.000-08:00

The son of 'Arab Muhammad Khan, Abu al-Ghazi spent most of his early life in Urgench. When his father died and a dynastic struggle arose among Abu al-Ghazi and his brothers for the succession to the throne, he was compelled

Arts, The

2005-01-07T15:41:00.000-08:00

Traditional categories within the arts include literature (including poetry, drama, story, and so on), the visual arts (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.), the graphic arts (painting, drawing, design, and other forms expressed

Earth

2005-01-06T19:13:00.000-08:00

More than 90 percent of the Earth's mass is composed of iron, oxygen, silicon, and magnesium, elements that can form the crystalline minerals known as silicates. However, in terms of chemical and mineralogical composition, as in physical properties, the Earth is far from homogeneous. Apart from the superficial lateral heterogeneities near the surface (i.e., in the compositions

Cimbri

2005-01-06T10:12:00.000-08:00

A Germanic tribe whose military incursion into Roman Italy was thrust back in 101 BC. Forced out of what is now Denmark by overpopulation and the encroaching sea, the Cimbri pushed southward, eventually swelling in numbers by the addition of their allies the Teutoni and other tribes. They scored victories over the Romans in 113, 109, and 107. Following a particularly devastating Roman

Rusalka

2005-01-05T00:23:00.000-08:00

Plural Rusalki, in Slavic mythology, lake-dwelling soul of a child who died unbaptized or of a virgin who was drowned (whether accidentally or purposely). Slavs of different areas have assigned different personalities to the rusalki. Around the Danube River, where they are called vile (singular vila), rusalki are beautiful, charming girls, dressed always in light robes of mist, singing

Nathan, Maud

2005-01-03T19:56:00.000-08:00

Nathan was an elder sister of writer and antisuffragist Annie Nathan (Meyer). In April 1880 she married her cousin Frederick Nathan. Early in her married life she involved herself in such community service organizations as the New York Exchange for Women's

Olaf I Tryggvason

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

Olaf, the great-grandson of the Norwegian king Harald I Fairhair and the son of Tryggvi Olafsson, a chieftain in southeastern Norway, was born soon after his father was killed by the Norwegian ruler Harald II Graycloak. According to legend,

Nagel, Ernest

2005-01-02T01:23:00.000-08:00

Formerly an exponent of logical realism, Nagel later abandoned a realistic ontology for an empirical and theoretical

Acosta, José De

2004-12-31T14:20:00.000-08:00

Jesuit theologian and missionary to the New World, chiefly known for his Historia natural y moral de las Indias, the earliest survey of the New World and its relation to the Old. His works, missionary and literary, mark the end of the period of the religious and scientific incorporation of the newly discovered lands into Western

Holcroft, Thomas

2004-12-30T20:58:00.000-08:00

The son of a peddler, Holcroft worked as a stableboy, cobbler, and teacher before he was able to make his living as a writer. He is remembered for his melodrama The Road to Ruin (performed 1792, often revived); his translation of Beaumarchais's play Le Mariage de Figaro (Paris, 1784) under the title The Follies

Böhm-bawerk, Eugen Von

2004-12-30T18:32:00.000-08:00

After graduating from the University of Vienna, Böhm-Bawerk worked in the Austrian Ministry of Finance (1872–75) and was allowed by the ministry to study at several

Armstrong, John

2004-12-29T17:59:00.000-08:00

Armstrong fought in the American Revolution (1775–83) and, as an officer in the Continental Army, was apparently the author of the Newburgh Addresses attacking Congress. After

Mormon, Book Of

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

The Book of Mormon relates

Monday

2004-12-27T05:11:00.000-08:00

Second day of the week (q.v.).

Abyssinian

2004-12-25T00:46:00.000-08:00

Breed of domestic cat, probably of Egyptian origin, that has been considered to approximate the sacred cat of ancient Egypt more closely than any other living cat. The Abyssinian is a lithe cat with relatively slender legs and a long, tapering tail. The short, finely textured coat is ruddy reddish brown, with individual hairs of the back, sides, chest, and tail distinctively

López Rega, José

2004-12-24T08:11:00.000-08:00

A retired police corporal and longtime right-wing Peronista leader, López Rega acted as private secretary to Juan Perón during the latter's exile in Spain. López Rega returned to Argentina with Perón in 1973. When

Rourke, Constance Mayfield

2004-12-23T03:27:00.000-08:00

After earning an A.B. from Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., (1907) and studying at the Sorbonne in Paris, Rourke taught English at Vassar. In 1915 she resigned, thereafter working as a research historian and free-lance writer devoted to defining the historical aspects

Roundhead

2004-12-22T10:19:00.000-08:00

Adherent of the Parliamentary Party during the English Civil War (1642–51) and after. Many Puritans wore their hair closely cropped in obvious contrast to the long ringlets fashionable at the court of Charles I. Roundhead appears to have been first used as a term of derision toward the end of 1641, when debates in Parliament on the Bishops' Exclusion Bill were causing riots at Westminster.

Amphipolis

2004-12-20T05:28:00.000-08:00

Ancient Greek city on the Strymon (Strimón) River about three miles from the Aegean Sea, in Macedonia. A strategic transportation centre, it controlled the bridge over the Strymon and the route from northern Greece to the Hellespont, including the western approach to the timber, gold, and silver of Mount Pangaeum in Thrace. Originally a Thracian town (Ennea Hodoi, “Nine

Fen

2004-12-19T13:36:00.000-08:00

Type of bog (q.v.), especially a low-lying area, wholly or partly covered with water and dominated by grasslike plants, grasses, sedges, and reeds. In strict usage, a fen denotes an area in which the soil is organic (peaty) and alkaline rather than acid.

Aschelminth, Internal features

2004-12-18T07:32:00.000-08:00

The graceful body waves by which nematodes move are brought about by the alternating contraction of dorsal and ventral longitudinal muscles acting on the cuticle and opposed by hydrostatic pressure in the body tissues. This hydraulic skeleton affects all aspects of the nematode. The cuticle must resist stretching in length and circumference and yet remain

World Water Crisis: Is There A Way Out?

2004-12-17T15:01:00.000-08:00

According to British hydrologist J.A. Allan, a country that imports food crops is essentially importing the water that was used to grow the crops in the exporting country. This virtual water can amount to as much as 1,000 to 5,000 tons of water per ton of crop imported. Virtual water, acquired as food and agricultural products through global food trade, can actually help to overcome

Wise, Ernie

2004-12-16T23:01:00.000-08:00

British comedian and actor who, as a member (the one with “short, fat, hairy legs”) of Morecambe and Wise, one of the most beloved comedy teams on British television, played straight man to partner Eric Morecambe for over 40 years; the two were created O.B.E. in 1976 (b. Nov. 27, 1925, Leeds, Eng.—d. March 21, 1999, Wexham, Buckinghamshire, Eng.).

Basil I

2004-12-16T13:51:00.000-08:00

Basil came of a peasant family that had settled in Macedonia, perhaps of Armenian origin. He was a handsome and physically powerful man who gained employment in influential official circles in Constantinople and was fortunate

Hale, Sarah Josepha

2004-12-14T10:35:00.000-08:00

Sarah Josepha Buell married David Hale in 1813, and with him she had five children. Left in financial straits by her husband's death in 1822, she embarked on a literary career. Her poems were printed over the signature