AngryKnee

Cáceres

2005-04-05T19:52:00.000-07:00

Town, capital of Cáceres provincia, in the Extremadura comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”), western Spain. It is built on a low east-west ridge, south of the Tagus River and about 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Badajoz. Originating as the Roman town of Norba Caesarina, it was under Moorish control from the 9th century and was known as Alkazares until reconquered for the Christians

Ancient Rome, Barbarian kingdoms

2005-04-05T16:53:00.000-07:00

Several barbarian kingdoms were then set up: in Africa, Gaiseric's kingdom of the Vandals; in Spain and in Gaul as far as the Loire, the Visigothic kingdom; and farther to the north, the kingdoms of the Salian Franks and the Alemanni. The barbarians were everywhere a small minority. They established themselves on the great estates and divided the land to the benefit of

Aurangzeb

2005-04-04T17:19:00.000-07:00

Aurangzeb's reign falls into two almost equal parts. In the first, which lasted until about 1680, he was a capable Muslim monarch of a mixed Hindu-Muslim empire and as such was generally disliked for his ruthlessness but feared and respected for his vigour and skill. During this period he was much occupied with safeguarding the northwest from Persians and Central Asian

Elf

2005-04-03T00:47:00.000-08:00

Plural Elves, in Germanic folklore, originally, a spirit of any kind, later specialized into a diminutive creature, usually in tiny human form. In the Prose, or Younger, Edda, elves were classified as light elves (who were fair) and dark elves (who were darker than pitch); these classifications are roughly equivalent to the Scottish seelie court and unseelie court. The notable characteristics

Eight, The

2005-04-03T00:18:00.000-08:00

Group of American painters who exhibited together only once, in New York City in 1908, but who established one of the main currents in 20th-century American painting. The original Eight included Robert Henri, leader of the group, Everett Shinn, John Sloan, Arthur B. Davies, Ernest Lawson, Maurice Prendergast, George Luks, and William J. Glackens. George Bellows later joined them.

New Castile

2005-04-02T02:46:00.000-08:00

Spanish Castilla La Nueva, historic provincial region, central upland Spain. It generally includes the area of the Moorish kingdom of Toledo annexed to the former kingdom of Castile in the 11th century AD. In modern Spanish geographic usage, New Castile as an administrative region included the provinces of Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Guadalajara, Madrid, and Toledo. Its area was 27,940 square miles (72,363 square km).

Robert Of Jumièges

2005-04-01T19:58:00.000-08:00

Robert was prior of Saint-Ouen, Rouen, Fr., when elected abbot of the Benedictine abbey of Jumièges in 1037. Taken to England by King Edward in 1042, he was made bishop of London in 1044. He became Edward's chief adviser and head of the Norman party and was appointed archbishop of Canterbury

Uffizi Gallery

2005-03-31T04:37:00.000-08:00

Italian Galleria Degli Uffizi, art museum in Florence that has the world's finest collection of Italian Renaissance painting, particularly of the Florentine school. It also has antiques, sculpture, and more than 100,000 drawings and prints. In 1559 the grand duke of Tuscany, Cosimo I de' Medici, engaged the painter-architect Giorgio Vasari to plan a building for the offices (uffizi) of the government judiciary.

Farrukh Beg

2005-03-30T04:15:00.000-08:00

A Kalmyk of Central Asia, Farrukh Beg first worked at Kabul under Mirza Hakim, the half brother of the Mughal emperor Akbar. After Hakim died Farrukh Beg joined Akbar's service (1585). His earliest paintings are strongly Persian in character, and he continued to be a

January

2005-03-30T02:32:00.000-08:00

First month of the Gregorian calendar. See month and the accompanying Table.

Ibb

2005-03-28T07:05:00.000-08:00

City, southwestern Yemen, lying in the Yemen Highlands on a spur of the rugged Mount Shamahi, at 6,725 feet (2,050 m) above sea level. The city's origins, according to Arab myth, date to biblical times. The area became important in the Middle Ages, when the Sulayhid princess Sayyidah Arwa ruled over much of Yemen from her capital at nearby Jiblah (11th century AD). Long an administrative capital, Ibb

Telescope, Gamma-ray telescopes

2005-03-27T13:55:00.000-08:00

These instruments require the use of grazing-incidence techniques similar to those employed with X-ray telescopes. Gamma rays are the shortest (about 0.1 angstrom or less) known waves in the electromagnetic spectrum. As mentioned above, HEAO-3 was developed to collect data from cosmic gamma-ray sources. NASA and collaborative international agencies have numerous

A Priori Knowledge

2005-03-27T01:02:00.000-08:00

In Western philosophy since the time of Immanuel Kant, knowledge that is independent of all particular experiences, as opposed to a posteriori knowledge, which derives from experience alone. The Latin phrases a priori (“from what is before”) and a posteriori (“from what is after”) were used in philosophy originally to distinguish between arguments from causes and arguments

Orange

2005-03-25T22:41:00.000-08:00

City, Orange county, southern California, U.S. It lies along the Santa Ana River. Part of Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana, it was founded as Richland in 1868, laid out in 1871, and renamed in 1875 for its orange groves. Orange was initially a citrus-packing centre. It subsequently developed with the Los Angeles metropolitan area and acquired some light manufacturing. The city is the site of

Arts, Central Asian, The kingdoms of western Turkistan and Afghanistan

2005-03-25T06:17:00.000-08:00

Skill in irrigation, with the resulting expansion in agriculture, encouraged urbanism and the growth of states, changes that coincided with the rise of nomadism. While the nomadic cattle and horse breeders took over the steppelands, the culturally distinct states of Sogdiana (part of Uzbekistan and much of Tajikistan), Fergana (the greater part of Uzbekistan), Chorasmia

Viscometer

2005-03-24T03:50:00.000-08:00

Instrument for measuring the viscosity (resistance to internal flow) of a fluid. In one version, the time taken for a given volume of fluid to flow through an opening is recorded. In the capillary tube viscometer, the pressure needed to force the fluid to flow at a specified rate through a narrow tube is measured. Other types depend on measurements of the time taken for

Swarthmore

2005-03-23T21:58:00.000-08:00

Borough (town), Delaware county, southeastern Pennsylvania, U.S. It is a southwestern suburb of Philadelphia. The community developed around Swarthmore College, which was founded in 1864. The borough is mainly residential, its economy based on services associated with the college. Inc. 1893. Pop. (1990) 6,157; (2000) 6,170.

France, History Of, The Reformation

2005-03-23T02:33:00.000-08:00

The professional class that grew up in the 16th century, however, was different in one respect from those that had gone before: it represented a predominantly secular culture—the product of Renaissance humanism. Nevertheless, in the second half of the 16th century the Reformation was to embroil France in a series of religious wars that were to pose a serious threat to

Chaeronea

2005-03-22T17:59:00.000-08:00

In ancient Greece, fortified town on Mt. Petrachus, guarding the entry into the northern plain of Boeotia. Controlled by the Boeotian city of Orchomenus (q.v.) in the 5th century BC, it was the scene of the battle in which Philip II of Macedon defeated Thebes and Athens (338 BC). The battle is commemorated by a statue of a large lion sitting on its haunches. In 86 BC Chaeronea was the scene of

Land League

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

Irish agrarian organization that worked for the reform of the country's landlord system under British rule. The league was founded in October 1879 by Michael Davitt, the son of an evicted tenant farmer and a member of the Fenian (Irish Republican) Brotherhood. Davitt asked Charles Stewart Parnell, leader of the Irish Home Rule Party in the British Parliament, to preside

Arnold Arboretum Of Harvard University

2005-03-21T15:19:00.000-08:00

Major botanical research centre famous for its collection of ornamental trees and shrubs from Asia. Founded in 1872, the arboretum consists of 265 acres (107 hectares) at Jamaica Plain in Boston, and it has another 106-acre (43-hectare) installation at Weston, Massachusetts, U.S. The Arnold Arboretum has acquired and cultivated more than 6,000 types of woody plants during its history; by the

Great American Desert

2005-03-20T09:22:00.000-08:00

A vast, vaguely defined arid and semiarid region of North America that embraces the Great Plains (q.v.).

Gama, Vasco Da, 1er Conde (1st Count) Da Vidigueira

2005-03-19T08:06:00.000-08:00

Portuguese navigator whose voyages to India (1497–99, 1502–03, 1524) opened up the sea route from western Europe to the East by way of the Cape of Good Hope and thus ushered in a new era in world history. He also helped make Portugal a world power.

La Noue, François De

2005-03-19T06:48:00.000-08:00

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

Biblical Literature, The need for consolidation and delimitation

2005-03-18T21:53:00.000-08:00

Viewed both phenomenologically and practically, the canon had to be consolidated and delimited. Seen historically, however, there were a number of reasons that forced the issue of limiting the canon. Oral tradition had begun to deteriorate in post-apostolic times, partly because many or most of the eyewitnesses to the earliest events of Jesus' life and death and

Antarctica, Technological advancements in exploration

2005-03-18T05:42:00.000-08:00

The period between World Wars I and II marks the beginning of the mechanical, particularly the aerial, age of Antarctic exploration. Wartime developments in aircraft, aerial cameras, radios, and motor transport were adapted for polar operation. On Nov. 16, 1928, the first heavier-than-air flight in Antarctica was made by the Alaskan bush pilot C.B. Eielson and George Hubert

Interlaken

2005-03-17T07:11:00.000-08:00

Town, Bern canton, central Switzerland. It lies along the Aare River, in the Bernese Highland. Its name is derived from its position on the flat plain (Bödeli), 1,864 feet (568 m) above sea level, between Lakes (inter lacus) Brienz to the east and Thun to the west. The town grew up around a convent of Augustinian canons (1130–1528). It is one of Switzerland's oldest and most frequented summer tourist

Alexis

2005-03-16T16:21:00.000-08:00

The son of Michael, the first Romanov monarch of Russia (reigned 1613–45), Alexis received a superficial education from his tutor Boris Ivanovich Morozov before acceding to the throne at the age of 16. Morozov, who was also Alexis' brother-in-law, initially took charge of state affairs, but in 1648 a popular uprising

Chess, Women in chess

2005-03-16T11:03:00.000-08:00

Separation of the sexes in chess is a relatively recent phenomenon. Literature abounds with examples of men and women playing one another before 1800. (For example, Shakespeare's only chess scene depicts Miranda playing Ferdinand in the last act of The Tempest.) But women were often barred from the coffeehouses and taverns where chess clubs developed in the 19th century.

Malachite Green

2005-03-16T02:39:00.000-08:00

Malachite green also is used as a direct dye for silk, wool, jute, and leather and to dye

Extermination Camp

2005-03-14T18:52:00.000-08:00

The major camps were in German-occupied

Oman

2005-03-14T08:02:00.000-08:00

In the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks in the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001, Oman, in fulfillment of preparations launched two and a half years earlier, hosted a joint military exercise with Great Britain. The presence of some 30,000 British troops in the sultanate facilitated the U.S.-led coalition's military campaign against the Taliban regime and al-Qaeda terrorist network

Régnier, Henri (-françois-joseph) De

2005-03-13T22:44:00.000-08:00

Born of an old Norman family, Régnier began to prepare for a career as a diplomat, but while studying law in Paris he came under the influence of the Symbolist poets and published his first volume of poems, Lendemains (“Tomorrows”), in 1885. Other volumes followed: Les Jeux rustiques et

Malachite Green

2005-03-13T18:43:00.000-08:00

Extinct birds found as fossils in Late Cretaceous Period deposits dating from about 120 million to 65 million years ago; this bird is known mostly from the Great Plains region of the United States, but some remains have been found as far north as Alaska. Hesperornis was primitive in that teeth were present in the lower jaw; the rear portion of the upper jaw also

Böhtlingk, Otto Von

2005-03-11T22:54:00.000-08:00

While completing his education at the University of Bonn (1839–42), Böhtlingk published a two-volume edition (1839–40) of the earliest known grammar, that of

Regiment

2005-03-11T22:45:00.000-08:00

In most armies, a body of troops headed by a colonel and organized for tactical control into companies, battalions, or squadrons. French cavalry units were called regiments as early as 1558. The word is derived from the Latin regimen, a rule or system of order, and describes the regiment's functions of raising, equipping, and training troops. As a regiment acquired individuality,

Marriott, J(ohn) Willard

2005-03-11T10:09:00.000-08:00

The son of a Mormon rancher, Marriott worked his way through Weber College in Ogden and the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, graduating in 1926. He opened a small root beer and barbecue stand in Washington, D.C., in 1927 and by 1932 had

Fidenza

2005-03-10T15:17:00.000-08:00

Town, Parma provincia, Emilia-Romagna regione, northern Italy. It is believed to have been the scene of St. Domninus' martyrdom under the Roman emperor Maximian and was called Borgo San Donnino for more than 1,000 years. The town was renamed Fidenza in 1927, recalling its ancient name, Fidentia. Its Romanesque-Gothic cathedral dates from the 12th century. During World War II, Fidenza

Christianity, The cosmological argument

2005-03-08T03:51:00.000-08:00

St. Thomas Aquinas gave the first-cause argument and the argument from contingency—both forms of cosmological reasoning—a central place for many centuries in the Christian enterprise of natural theology. (Similar arguments were also used in parallel strands of Islamic philosophy.) Thomas' formulations (Summa theologiae, I, Q. 2, art. 3) have been refined in modern neo-Thomist

Amnesty

2005-03-07T11:13:00.000-08:00

In criminal law, sovereign act of oblivion or forgetfulness (from Greek amnesia) for past acts, granted by a government to persons who have been guilty of crimes. It is often conditional upon their return to obedience and duty within a prescribed period. Amnesty is granted usually for political crimes against the state, such as treason, sedition, or rebellion. It is addressed

Chiang K'ang-hu

2005-03-07T09:33:00.000-08:00

Born into a scholar-official family, Chiang studied at home and briefly in Japan before returning to China in 1901 to take charge of the compilation of elementary-school textbooks for the schools of five northern

San Francisco Bay

2005-03-06T22:40:00.000-08:00

Large, nearly landlocked bay indenting western California, U.S. It is a drowned river valley, paralleling the coastline, and is connected with the Pacific Ocean by a strait called the Golden Gate, which is spanned by the Golden Gate Bridge (see photograph). San Francisco Bay is 60 miles (97 km) long and 3 to 12 miles (5 to 19 km) wide and is one of the world's finest natural harbours. Treasure,

Anode

2005-03-06T08:12:00.000-08:00

The terminal or electrode from which electrons leave a system. In a battery or other source of direct current the anode is the negative terminal, but in a passive load it is the positive terminal. For example, in an electron tube electrons from the cathode travel across the tube toward the anode, and in an electroplating cell negative ions are deposited at the anode.

Melanesia

2005-03-05T01:28:00.000-08:00

One of the traditional ethnogeographic groupings of the Pacific Islands, including (generally from west to east) the island of New Guinea, the Admiralty Islands, and the Bismarck and Louisiade archipelagoes; the Solomon Islands and the Santa Cruz Islands; New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands; Vanuatu (formerly New Hebrides); Fiji; Norfolk Island; and numerous smaller

Lens

2005-03-04T22:13:00.000-08:00

In optics, piece of glass or other transparent substance that is used to form an image of an object by focusing rays of light from the object. A lens is a piece of transparent material, usually circular in shape, with two polished surfaces, either or both of which is curved and may be either convex (bulging) or concave (depressed). The curves are almost always spherical, i.e.,

Buxtehude, Dietrich

2005-03-04T13:06:00.000-08:00

His exact place of birth is uncertain, and nothing is known of his early youth. It is usually assumed that he began his musical education with his father, who was organist at Helsingbor (c. 1638–41) and at Helsingor (Elsinor; c. 1642–71). He

Gaeta

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

Latin Caieta town, seaport, and archiepiscopal see, Latina province, Lazio region, south-central Italy, on the Gulf of Gaeta, northwest of Naples. Gaeta first came under the influence of the Romans in the 4th century BC; a road was built c. 184 BC connecting the town with the port, and it became a favoured Roman resort. After the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, Gaeta remained loyal to the Byzantine

Luxembourg, François-henri De Montmorency-bouteville, Duc De

2005-03-02T14:21:00.000-08:00

The posthumous son of François de Montmorency-Bouteville, he was reared by a distant relative, Charlotte de Montmorency, princesse de Condé. Although Bouteville was hunchbacked and physically weak, the princesse's son Louis II de Bourbon,

Kudamatsu

2005-03-01T23:58:00.000-08:00

Kudamatsu revived during World War I as an industrial city, assisted by its natural

Bead Lightning

2005-02-28T10:19:00.000-08:00

Also called chain lightning form of lightning of longer duration than more typical lightning that appears as a string of luminous segments instead of a continuous channel. It occurs infrequently but has been observed many times. Its causes are unknown, but among the theories proposed are the following: portions of the lightning channel are slanted toward or away from the observer and thus

Faidherbe, Louis

2005-02-27T23:29:00.000-08:00

In full Louis-léon-césar Faidherbe governor of French Senegal in 1854–61 and 1863–65 and a major founder of France's colonial empire in Africa. He founded Dakar, the future capital of French West Africa.

Pittsfield

2005-02-27T21:03:00.000-08:00

City, Berkshire county, western Massachusetts, U.S. It lies on the headstreams of the Housatonic River, in the Berkshire Hills, 55 miles (88 km) northwest of Springfield. Settled in 1752 as the Pontoosuc Plantation, it was incorporated as a town (and made the county seat) in 1761 and named for the English prime minister William Pitt. It developed from a farming to an industrial community

Paul, Les

2005-02-26T11:54:00.000-08:00

Paul designed a solid-body electric guitar in 1941, but, by the time the Les Paul Standard was ready for production by the Gibson Guitar Company in 1952, Leo Fender had already mass-produced the Fender Broadcaster four years earlier, thus beating Paul to popular credit for the invention. Nonetheless, the

China, Social organization

2005-02-26T10:47:00.000-08:00

The basic unit of production and consumption in Chinese society remained the chia (“family”), consisting of kin related by blood, marriage, or adoption, with a common budget and common property. The Chinese family system was patrilineal; daughters married out, while sons brought in wives and shared the residence of their fathers. The head of the family, the patriarch, had

Earth, The atmosphere

2005-02-26T08:42:00.000-08:00

The Earth is surrounded by a relatively thin atmosphere consisting of a mixture of gases, primarily molecular nitrogen (77 percent) and molecular oxygen (21 percent). This gaseous envelope, commonly called the air, also contains much smaller amounts of gases such as argon, carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapour, along with minute solid and liquid particles in

Cumaná

2005-02-25T01:10:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Sucre estado (“state”), northeastern Venezuela. On the Manzanares River, 1 mile (1.6 km) inland from its port, Puerto Sucre, on the Caribbean Sea at the mouth of the river, Cumaná has an elevation of 52 feet (16 m) and an average temperature of 83° F (28° C). Founded as Nueva Córdoba in 1523, Cumaná claims to be the oldest European settlement on the South American mainland. Despite attacks

Astrogeology

2005-02-24T16:39:00.000-08:00

Scientific discipline concerned with the geological aspects of all solid bodies in the solar system, including the major planets and their satellites, asteroids, comets, and meteorites. Astrogeological research extends to those terrestrial features produced by the latter—namely, meteorite craters and tektites (small glassy objects resulting from meteorite

Judaism, The ethically bound creature

2005-02-23T09:47:00.000-08:00

Mankind is then viewed, however this position is arrived at, as ethically involved. The first 11 chapters of Genesis are posited upon this responsibility, for the implicit assumption of the prepatriarchal stories is man's ability to choose between obedience and disobedience. Rabbinic Judaism, taking up the covenant-making episode between God and Noah (Gen. 9:8–17), developed

Feng Kuei-fen

2005-02-23T08:42:00.000-08:00

A native of South China, Feng came into frequent contact with Westerners

Augustus, Caesar

2005-02-21T15:14:00.000-08:00

In the following year the balance of power began to change: whereas Antony's eastern expedition failed, Octavian's fleet, commanded by his former schoolmate, Marcus Agrippa, who, although unpopular with the influential nobles, was an admiral of genius, totally defeated Sextus Pompeius off Cape Naulochus (Venetico) in Sicily. At this point the third triumvir, Lepidus,

Dubois, (françois-clément-) Théodore

2005-02-21T05:14:00.000-08:00

He studied under the cathedral organist at Rheims and at the Paris Conservatoire. In 1871 he succeeded César Franck as organist at the church of Sainte-Clotilde. In 1868 he was choirmaster at the Church of the Madeleine and later succeeded

Montalembert, Marc-rené, Marquis De

2005-02-20T14:46:00.000-08:00

Montalembert entered the French army in 1732 and served in the War of the Polish Succession

Schrieck, Sister Louise Van Der

2005-02-19T22:51:00.000-08:00

Van der Schrieck was educated at the school of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in Belgium. In 1837 she became a novice of the order, and in 1839 she became Sister

Chicago

2005-02-19T17:39:00.000-08:00

Until the 1830s a minor trading post at

Coquecigrue

2005-02-18T22:28:00.000-08:00

An imaginary creature regarded as an embodiment of absolute absurdity. François Rabelais in Gargantua uses the phrase à la venue des cocquecigrues to mean “never.” Charles Kingsley in The Water Babies has the fairy Bedonebyasyoudid report that there are seven things he is forbidden to tell until “the coming of the Cocqcigrues.” The word is of French origin.

Charpak, Georges

2005-02-18T16:19:00.000-08:00

Charpak's family moved from Poland to Paris when he was seven years old. During World War II Charpak served in the resistance and was imprisoned by Vichy authorities in 1943. In 1944 he was deported

Cosmas

2005-02-17T23:44:00.000-08:00

Also called Indicopleustes merchant, traveler, theologian, and geographer whose treatise Topographia Christiana (c. 535–547; “Christian Topography”) contains one of the earliest and most famous of world maps. In this treatise, Cosmas tried to prove the literal accuracy of the Biblical picture of the universe, asserting in particular that the Earth is flat and trying to refute

Fernandes, álvaro

2005-02-17T21:51:00.000-08:00

In 1445 Fernandes' uncle, João Gonçalves Zarco, also an explorer, furnished him with a caravel on condition that he devote himself to exploration. Fernandes joined the prince's fleet bound for Arguin Island (now in Mauritania) but sailed farther to the mouth of the Sénégal River.

Ahidjo, Ahmadou

2005-02-15T18:47:00.000-08:00

A Muslim from the northern part of Cameroon, Ahidjo was

Adret, Solomon Ben Abraham

2005-02-15T08:27:00.000-08:00

As a leading scholar of the Talmud, the rabbinical compendium

Bach, Wilhelm Friedemann

2005-02-14T11:07:00.000-08:00

W.F. Bach's musical instruction was primarily from his father (who wrote for him, when he was ten, the charming Klavier-büchlein vor Wilhelm Friedemann Bach of keyboard pieces). He also studied the violin. He matriculated

Kocaeli

2005-02-14T01:19:00.000-08:00

Il (province), of northwestern Turkey, with an area of 1,428 sq mi (3,698 sq km), bounded on the north by the Black Sea and on the west by the Sea of Marmara. It is drained by the lower course of the Sakarya River. It was once part of the kingdom of Bithynia (3rd century BC), and Hannibal was buried there (at modern Gebze) in 183 BC. The area was taken from the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Turks in the 14th century.

Muir, Edwin

2005-02-13T03:13:00.000-08:00

His stature as a poet

Ussuri River

2005-02-12T14:10:00.000-08:00

Chinese (Wade-Giles) Wu-su-li Chiang, or (Pinyin) Wusuli Jiang, northward-flowing tributary of the Amur River that for a considerable distance forms the boundary between China (Heilungkiang province) and Russia (Siberia). The Ussuri is formed by the confluence of the Ulakhe and Arsenyevka rivers, both of which rise on the southwestern slopes of the Sikhote-Alin mountains. Its length from the source of the Ulakhe is 565 miles (909 km), and

Hanalei

2005-02-11T13:50:00.000-08:00

Village, Kauai county, on the north central coast of Kauai Island, Hawaii, U.S. Near the head of Hanalei (“crescent”) Bay, the village is in the scenic and fertile Hanalei or Hanohano (“majestic”) Valley (3,439 ft [1,048 m] deep), one of the state's few rice-producing regions. While some cattle are raised, the villagers are primarily paddy, taro, and vegetable farmers. Missionaries arrived at the

Anthraquinone Dye

2005-02-11T09:19:00.000-08:00

Anthraquinone acid dyes contain sulfonic acid groups that render them soluble in water and substantive for wool and silk; that is, they have an affinity for these fibres

Mammal

2005-02-10T07:25:00.000-08:00

Any member of the class Mammalia, a group of vertebrate animals in which the young are nourished with milk from special secreting glands (mammae) of the mother. In addition to these characteristic milk glands, mammals are distinguished by several other unique features. Hair is a typical mammalian feature, although in many whales it has secondarily disappeared except

Alinagar, Treaty Of

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

The treaty restored

Zion

2005-02-09T13:30:00.000-08:00

In the Old Testament, the easternmost of the two hills of ancient Jerusalem. It was the site of the Jebusite city captured by David, king of Israel and Judah, in the 10th century BC (2 Samuel 5:6–9) and established by him as his royal capital. Some scholars believe that the name also belonged to the “stronghold of Zion” taken by David (2 Samuel 5:7), which may have been the fortress of the city. The

Ampère, André-marie

2005-02-09T11:09:00.000-08:00

Ampère was a prodigy who mastered all mathematics then extant by the time he was 12 years old. He became a professor of physics and chemistry at Bourg-en-Bresse in 1801 and a professor of mathematics at the École Polytechnique in Paris in

Aquifer

2005-02-08T19:31:00.000-08:00

A confined aquifer is a water-bearing stratum that is confined or overlain by a rock

Ruwenzori Range

2005-02-08T18:12:00.000-08:00

Lying slightly north of the Equator, the Ruwenzori Range has a maximum breadth of 30 miles (50 km) and extends south-north for 80 miles (130 km) between

Nervous System Disease, Demyelinating disease

2005-02-07T03:23:00.000-08:00

Demyelination frequently affects the cerebellum and its connections. The primary signs of cerebellar disease are nystagmus, ataxia, and scanning speech. (See Unlocalized or multifocal disorders: Demyelinating diseases.)

Ghaffar Khan, (khan) Abdul

2005-02-06T02:17:00.000-08:00

Ghaffar Khan met Gandhi and entered politics in 1919 during agitation over the Rowlatt Acts, which allowed the internment of political dissidents without

Coral Reef

2005-02-05T17:35:00.000-08:00

Coral polyps resemble sea anemones, to which they are closely related, but, unlike most anemones, most reef corals are colonial. Initial polyps divide themselves into

Magnus Ii Eriksson

2005-02-05T11:33:00.000-08:00

The son of Ingeborg, daughter of the Norwegian king Haakon V, and of Duke Erik, brother of the Swedish king Birger Magnusson, Magnus was

Port Essington

2005-02-04T07:36:00.000-08:00

Inlet of the Arafura Sea, indenting the north shore of the Cobourg Peninsula, at the extreme north of the Northern Territory, Australia. About 11 miles (30 km) long and 7 miles (11 km) wide, it was surveyed in 1818 by Captain Phillip Parker King of the Royal Navy, who named it for Admiral Sir William Essington. In 1824 it was the site of Britain's third attempt to settle the north coast of Australia.

Arts, Central Asian, Instrumental and vocal styles

2005-02-04T06:52:00.000-08:00

Across the region the principal instrument types are lutes, with two or three strings, the necks either fretted or fretless; fiddles, largely horsehair fiddles; flutes, mostly open at both ends and either end-blown or side-blown; and jews' harps, either metal or, often in Siberia, wooden. Few percussion instruments are found, except for the shaman's magic drum. Considerable

Bradford

2005-02-03T07:58:00.000-08:00

Spanish Hill, near Sayre and Athens at the confluence of the Chemung and Susquehanna

Arensky, Anton

2005-02-02T09:06:00.000-08:00

Although he was a composition student under Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, Arensky's work was more akin to that of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky; the predominant moods of his music are lyrical and elegiac. Of his three

Tabinshwehti

2005-02-01T22:10:00.000-08:00

In 1535 Tabinshwehti began a military campaign against the kingdom of Pegu in southern Myanmar, capturing the city of Bassein in the Irrawaddy delta. Four years later Pegu fell, and Takayutpi, the Pegu king, fled to Prome

Wilder, Douglas

2005-01-31T20:51:00.000-08:00

In full Lawrence Douglas Wilder American politician, the first popularly elected African American governor in the United States. He received a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Virginia Union University (1951) and a law degree from Howard University (1959). Wilder pursued a legal and political career in Richmond, Virginia, and served as a director of the Richmond chapter of

Chagres River

2005-01-31T01:06:00.000-08:00

Spanish Río Chagres stream in Panama forming part of the Panama Canal system. It rises in the Cordillera de San Blas, flows south-southwest, and broadens to form Madden Lake (22 square miles [57 square km]) at Madden Dam, which was built in 1935 for navigation, flood control, and hydroelectric power. Below the dam it continues southwest to Gamboa, where it joins the Panama Canal at the north end of the Gaillard

Robert

2005-01-30T15:03:00.000-08:00

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.

Jacobsen, Jens Peter

2005-01-29T13:56:00.000-08:00

The son of a Jutland merchant, Jacobsen was a student of the natural sciences. He became a follower of Charles Darwin and translated into Danish both On the Origin of Species, in 1871–73, and The Descent

Epictetus

2005-01-29T13:26:00.000-08:00

His original name is not known; epiktetos is the Greek word meaning “acquired.” As a boy he was a slave but managed to attend lectures

Andaman And Nicobar Islands

2005-01-28T21:38:00.000-08:00

Linked administratively by the British in 1872, the two groups became a union territory of the Republic of India in 1956. The territory

Babesiosis

2005-01-28T03:54:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Babesiasis, also called Piroplasmosis, any of a group of tick-borne diseases of animals caused by species of Babesia, protozoans that destroy red blood cells and thereby cause anemia. Cattle tick fever, from B. bigemina, occurs in cattle, buffalo, and zebu. Other Babesia species attack cattle, sheep, goats, horses, donkeys, swine, and dogs. Wild animals such as deer, wolves, foxes, wildcats, and pumas are susceptible

Mckay, Donald

2005-01-27T15:31:00.000-08:00

After emigrating to New York City in 1827, he worked as an apprentice to the ship carpenter Isaac Webb. In 1845 he established a shipyard at East Boston, Mass.; there he designed and built his great clipper ships. His first, the Stag Hound, launched in 1850, was

Tasso, Bernardo

2005-01-27T01:59:00.000-08:00

Bernardo Tasso was a cultivated man who served various noblemen during his career. His son Torquato was born in 1544 while he was in the service of Ferrante Sanseverino, prince of Salerno,