LoudFace

Argentina, Plant and animal life

2005-04-05T08:25:00.000-07:00

Interracial American organization created to work for the abolition of segregation and discrimination in housing, education, employment, voting, and transportation; to oppose racism; and to ensure African Americans their constitutional rights. The NAACP was created in 1909 by an interracial group consisting of W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida Bell Wells-Barnett, Mary White

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, The allegorical mode

2005-04-03T03:41:00.000-07:00

The range of allegorical literature is so wide that to consider allegory as a fixed literary genre is less useful than to regard it as a dimension, or mode, of controlled indirectness and double meaning (which, in fact, all literature possesses to some degree). Critics usually reserve the term allegory itself for works of considerable length, complexity, or unique shape.

Wright, Benjamin

2005-04-01T20:31:00.000-08:00

He was trained as a surveyor in his youth, and, after his family moved to the vicinity of Rome, N.Y., in 1789, Wright surveyed about 500,000 acres (200,000 hectares) for farmers

Ashurbanipal

2005-03-29T10:30:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Assurbanipal, or Asurbanipal last of the great kings of Assyria (reigned 668 to 627 BC), who assembled in Nineveh the first systematically organized library in the ancient Middle East.

Jezreel

2005-03-28T08:45:00.000-08:00

The Valley of Jezreel

Sicily

2005-03-25T14:51:00.000-08:00

Italian Sicilia island of Italy, the largest and one of the most densely populated in the Mediterranean Sea. Together with the Egadi, Lipari, Pelagie, and Panteleria islands, Sicily forms an autonomous region of Italy. It lies about 100 miles (160 km) northeast of Tunisia (northern Africa). The island is separated from the mainland by the Strait of Messina (2 miles [3 km] wide in the north and 10 miles [16

Quinton, Amelia Stone

2005-03-24T14:53:00.000-08:00

Amelia Stone grew up in a deeply religious Baptist household. As a young woman, she worked as a teacher and did charitable work at almshouses and prisons. She joined the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in 1874 and worked as its New York organizer until 1877, when she

Armentières

2005-03-22T09:28:00.000-08:00

Town, Nord département, Nord-Pas-de-Calais région, northern France. It lies along the Lys River, near the Belgian frontier. The town was entirely rebuilt after being destroyed in World War I, and its red brick buildings present a uniform appearance. Armentières was 2 miles (3 km) behind the battle line throughout most of World War I, and from April until October 1918 it was occupied

Lai

2005-03-19T08:40:00.000-08:00

Medieval poetic and musical form, cultivated especially among the trouvères, or poet-musicians, of northern France in the 12th and 13th centuries but also among their slightly earlier, Provençal-language counterparts, the troubadours, and, called Leich, by the German minnesingers. The lai was a long poem having nonuniform stanzas of about 6 to 16 or more lines of 4 to 8 syllables.

Seibert, Florence

2005-03-18T21:59:00.000-08:00

Seibert contracted polio at age three, but became an outstanding student, graduating at the top of her high-school class and winning a scholarship to Goucher College, Towson, Maryland, from which she

Gneiss

2005-03-18T00:06:00.000-08:00

Metamorphic rock that has a distinct banding, which is apparent in hand specimen or on a microscopic scale. Gneiss usually is distinguished from schist (q.v.) by its foliation and schistosity; gneiss displays a well-developed foliation and a poorly developed schistosity and cleavage. For the casual student, it is convenient to think of a gneiss as a rock with parallel,

Anatase

2005-03-15T08:51:00.000-08:00

One of three minerals composed of titanium dioxide (TiO2), the other two being rutile and brookite. It is found as hard, brilliant crystals of tetragonal symmetry and various colours in veins in igneous and metamorphic rocks and commonly in placer deposits of detritus. Notable vein deposits exist in many regions of the Alps; placer deposits are common in Minas Gerais

álava

2005-03-14T01:21:00.000-08:00

Provincia, northern Spain. Álava is the southernmost of the three Basque Country provincias of northern Spain and is located mainly on the southern slope of the Pyrenees Range. It is bounded by the Ebro River (southwest) and surrounds the enclaves of Treviño and Orduña belonging to Burgos and Vizcaya provincias, respectively. Álava has an area of 1,176 square miles (3,047 square

Meleager

2005-03-13T18:31:00.000-08:00

In Greek mythology, the leader of the Calydonian boar hunt. The Iliad relates how Meleager's father, King Oeneus (q.v.) of Calydon, had omitted to sacrifice to Artemis, who sent a wild boar to ravage the country. Meleager collected a band of heroes to drive it away and eventually killed it himself. The Calydonians and the Curetes (neighbouring warriors who aided in the hunt)

Subiaco

2005-03-13T02:23:00.000-08:00

Ancient (Latin) Sublaqueum town, Roma provincia, Lazio (Latium) regione, central Italy. It lies along the Aniene River, 1,345 feet (410 m) above sea level, about 45 miles (73 km) east of Rome. Its ancient name recalls its position below three small lakes where the emperor Nero built a villa. An inundation destroyed the lakes in 1305, and only traces remain of the villa. St. Benedict retired as a hermit (c. 494) to a cave, Sacro Speco (“Holy

Ferrari, Lodovico

2005-03-12T07:11:00.000-08:00

From a poor family, Ferrari was taken into the service of the noted Italian mathematician Gerolamo Cardano as

D.c.b.

2005-03-11T17:47:00.000-08:00

Dame commander of the Bath, member of the second highest rank of knightly class in a British order of knighthood. See Bath, The Most Honourable Order of the.

United States, The Radicals' plan

2005-03-09T21:27:00.000-08:00

Radical Republicans were outraged at these procedures, which savoured of executive usurpation of congressional powers, which required only minimal changes in the Southern social system, and which left political power essentially in the hands of the same Southerners who had led their states out of the Union. The Radicals put forth their own plan of Reconstruction in the Wade–Davis Bill, which Congress passed on July 2, 1864; it required not 10 percent but a majority of the white male citizens in each Southern state to participate in the reconstruction process, and it insisted upon an oath of past, not just of future, loyalty. Finding the bill too rigorous and inflexible, Lincoln pocket vetoed it; and the Radicals bitterly denounced him. During the 1864–65 session of Congress, they in turn defeated the president's proposal to recognize the Louisiana government organized under his 10 percent plan. At the time of Lincoln's assassination, therefore, the president and the Congress were at loggerheads over Reconstruction.

Talbot

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

County, east-central Maryland, U.S. It adjoins Chesapeake Bay to the west, the Choptank River to the south and southeast, and Tuckahoe Creek to the northeast and includes Tilghman and Poplar islands. The jagged coast is carved by the Wye East, Tred Avon, and Miles rivers and by Harris and Broad creeks. Parklands include Seth Demonstration Forest and Wye Oak State Park, the

Felix Of Valois, Saint

2005-03-06T16:01:00.000-08:00

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

Macbeth

2005-03-05T16:48:00.000-08:00

Tragedy in five acts by William Shakespeare, performed at the Globe Theatre, London, in 1605–06 and published in the First Folio of 1623, from a promptbook of a version prepared for court performance. Some portions of the original text are corrupted or missing from the published edition. The play is the shortest of Shakespeare's tragedies, without diversions or subplots. It chronicles

Ram

2005-03-05T15:40:00.000-08:00

The ram enjoyed a brief revival in naval warfare in the mid-19th

William Of Saint-amour

2005-03-04T05:17:00.000-08:00

A protégé of the Count of Savoy, who supported his doctoral studies in canon law and theology at the University of Paris, William was chosen dean of the theology

Gabrieli, Andrea

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

He was born in the Canareggio quarter of Venice, but nothing is known about

Wu Li

2005-03-02T18:54:00.000-08:00

Wu became a convert to Catholicism and in 1681 went to Macao Island (on the southeast coast of China), where, without family obligations after the deaths of his mother and wife and the marriage of his two daughters, he entered the

Arts, Central Asian, The study of Central Asian music

2005-03-01T17:16:00.000-08:00

In the West the study of Central Asian music has until recently been restricted largely to travellers' accounts and analyses of small samples of music. By far the bulk of collection and study of Central Asian music of Turkistan and Siberia lay in the domain of Soviet scholars, who instituted systematic fieldwork as early as the 1920s; this literature remains largely

Southern Africa, Xhosa-Dutch conflict

2005-02-28T16:34:00.000-08:00

Settler expansion to the Cape's eastern frontier was blocked by the 1770s when trekboers came up against numerous Xhosa farmers in the area of the Great Fish River. During the 18th century the Xhosa had been embroiled in two major civil wars over the chiefly succession, of which the more important was the dispute, between the paramount Gcaleka and his ambitious brother

Wang Hui

2005-02-25T23:54:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization Wang Hui probably the paramount member of the group of Chinese painters known as the Four Wangs (including Wang Shimin, 1592–1680, Wang Jian, 1598–1677, and Wang Yuanqi, 1642–1715), who represented the so-called “orthodox school” of painting in the Ming and early Qing periods. The orthodox school was based upon the dicta laid down by Dong Qichang (1555–1636). It was “orthodox” in the Confucian

Pacific Ocean, Tides

2005-02-25T21:55:00.000-08:00

In contrast to the tides of the Atlantic—which are almost always semi-diurnal (i.e., twice-daily) occurrences—those of the Pacific include many instances of diurnal (daily) and mixed tides. In the diurnal type of tidal oscillation, only a single high water and a single low water occur each tidal day (which lasts for about 24 hours and 50 minutes). Tides of this type occur in the Gulfs

Charadriiform, Shorebirds (suborder Charadrii)

2005-02-24T03:59:00.000-08:00

Female jacanas are larger and more aggressive than males; after laying, females of some species show no interest in the nest or young, leaving incubation and care of chicks to the male. The nest is a shallow, sodden pile of vegetation that floats among aquatic plants. Chicks are downy and run well when a day old. Both chicks and adults may dive to escape danger and remain

Irnerius

2005-02-23T17:03:00.000-08:00

Originally a teacher of the liberal arts, Irnerius studied law in Rome at the insistence of Matilda of Canossa, countess of Tuscany, who later

Philae

2005-02-22T01:26:00.000-08:00

Arabic Jazirat Filah (“Philae Island”), or Jazirat al-Birba (“Temple Island”),

Chachalaca

2005-02-20T23:30:00.000-08:00

Any of several small birds of the curassow family. See curassow.

Yung-lo

2005-02-20T07:19:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Yonglo (reign name), temple name (ming) Ch'eng Tsu , or (ming) T'ai Tsung , posthumous name, or shih, Wen Ti , personal name Chu Ti third emperor (1402–24) of China's Ming dynasty, which he raised to its greatest power. He moved the capital from Nanking to Peking, which was rebuilt with the Forbidden City.

Earth, Structure and composition of the solid Earth

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

David G. Smith (ed.), The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences (1981), is a highly readable, illustrated collection of articles on the Earth's surface and interior. Two collections of articles from Scientific American are The Dynamic Earth (1983), on the geologic processes occurring inside and around the planet; and Robert Decker and Barbara Decker (eds.), Volcanoes and the Earth's Interior (1982), on volcanoes and the rocks occurring in the mantle. Minoru Ozima, The Earth: Its Birth and Growth (1981; originally published in Japanese, 1979), gives a general account of the evolution of the Earth based on geochemical research. Martin H.P. Bott, Interior of the Earth: Its Structure, Constitution, and Evolution, 2nd ed. (1982), provides a thorough summary of the nature of the Earth's interior. Two works with a more technical slant are Jean-Claude De Bremaecker, Geophysics, the Earth's Interior (1985), an introductory textbook; and Donald L. Turcotte and Gerald Schubert, Geodynamics: Applications of Continuum Physics to Geological Problems (1982), a mathematical text on processes occurring within the Earth. See also G.C. Brown and A.E. Mussett, The Inaccessible Earth (1981), on both geophysics and geochemistry.

Bharati, Subrahmanya C.

2005-02-18T06:00:00.000-08:00

The son of a learned Brahman, Bharati became a Tamil scholar at an early age. He received little formal education, however, and in 1904 moved to Madras. There he translated English into Tamil for several magazines

La Fontaine

2005-02-17T16:46:00.000-08:00

Before La Fontaine's debut in 1681 at the Paris Opéra as première danseuse in Jean-Baptiste Lully's ballet Le Triomphe de l'amour, girls' roles on the public stage had been taken by young men. Although hampered by the long, confining costumes and limited ballet technique of the

Alveolar Proteinosis

2005-02-16T23:17:00.000-08:00

Respiratory disorder caused by the filling of large groups of alveoli with protein and lipid (fat) particles. The alveoli are air sacs, minute structures in the lungs in which the exchange of respiratory gases occurs. The gas molecules must pass through a cellular wall, the surface of which is generally covered by a thin film of fatty material secreted from the alveolar

Grafton

2005-02-15T20:30:00.000-08:00

County, western New Hampshire, U.S. It is bounded to the west by Vermont (the Connecticut River constituting the entire border) and consists of a mountainous region, with the White Mountains and a large portion of White Mountain National Forest occupying the northeastern part of the county. It is drained by the Ammonoosuc, Baker, Mascoma, and Pemigewasset rivers. Other

Italic Languages

2005-02-14T21:04:00.000-08:00

Fundamental works on Osco-Umbrian, most with selected texts, include Robert von Planta, Grammatik der oskisch-umbrischen Dialekte, 2 vol. (1892–97, reissued 1973); Carl Darling Buck, A Grammar of Oscan and Umbrian, new ed. (1928, reprinted 1995); Gino Bottiglioni, Manuale dei dialetti italici: Osco, Umbro, e dialetti minori (1954); A. Ernout, Le dialecte ombrien: lexique du vocabulaire des “Tables Eugubines” et des inscriptions (1961); and Gerhard Meiser, Lautgeschichte der umbrischen Sprache (1986). A detailed treatment of Paelignian, one of the central Oscan “minor dialects,” is Rafael Jiménez Zamudio, Estudio del dialecto peligno y su entorno lingüístico (1986). The most complete edition of Osco-Umbrian and Faliscan texts is Emil Vetter, Handbuch der italischen Dialekte, vol. 1, Texte mit Erklärung, Glossen, Wörterverzeichnis (1953); it is supplemented by Paolo Poccetti, Nuovi documenti italici (1979). Special studies of some of the more important Oscan texts include Annalisa Franchi De Bellis, Le iovile capuane (1981), and Il cippo abellano (1988). The most accurate text of the Iguvine Tables is found in Aldo L. Prosdocimi, Le tavole iguvine, vol. 1 (1984), with introduction and notes in Italian. Special studies of the Iguvine Tables include James Wilson Poultney, The Bronze Tables of Iguvium (1959); and Giacomo Devoto (ed.), Tabulae Iguvinae, rev. ed. (1940), in Latin. The authoritative edition of the South Picene texts is Anna Marinetti, Le iscrizioni sudpicene (1985– ); Ignacio-Javier Adiego Lajara, Protosabelio, osco-umbro, sudpiceno (1992), in Spanish, is also useful. A grammatical description of Faliscan with many of the texts is provided by Gabriella Giacomelli, La lingua falisca (1963). Similar treatment is given to Venetic in G.B. Pellegrini and Aldo L. Prosdocimi, La lingua venetica, 2 vol. (1967); Michel Lejeune, Manuel de la langue vénète (1974); and Giulia Fogolari et al., I Veneti antichi: lingua e cultura (1988). Important studies of onomastic material (so prominent in the Italic language texts) include, for Oscan, Michel Lejeune, L'anthroponymie osque (1976); and for Venetic, Michel Lejeune, Ateste à l'heure de la romanisation (étude anthroponymique) (1978); and Jürgen Untermann, Die venetischen Personennamen, 2 vol. (1961). Questions of ancient Italic poetics are treated in Calvert Watkins, How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics (1995), especially chapters 10 and 17–20.

Keck Observatory

2005-02-13T19:27:00.000-08:00

Construction of the Keck Observatory was funded

Hindemith, Paul

2005-02-11T21:39:00.000-08:00

One of the principal German composers of the first half of the 20th century and a leading musical theorist. He sought to revitalize tonality, the system underlying Western music for three centuries, which had begun to disintegrate, and also pioneered in the writing of Gebrauchsmusik, or “utility music,” compositions

Man-chou-li

2005-02-11T04:19:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Manzhouli, formerly (1910–49) Lupin, city in the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, China. It is situated on the border opposite the Russian town of Zabaykalsk and lies 100 miles (160 km) west of Hailar and 20 miles (32 km) northwest of Lake Hu-lun. Man-chou-li was long a small Mongolian settlement in the Hu-lun-pei-erh League. It developed after 1900 when it became the western terminus of the Russian-built Chinese Eastern Railway

Switzerland, World War I and economic crisis

2005-02-09T01:40:00.000-08:00

An alliance of the bourgeois parties (representing propertied interests), including the conservatives and liberals who had clashed in 1847, confronted a labour movement that comprised trade unions and the Social Democratic Party. World War I, in which Switzerland remained neutral, not only caused tensions between the German-speaking Swiss and those speaking French

Guercino, Il

2005-02-09T01:19:00.000-08:00

Guercino received his earliest training locally, but the formative influence on his style

Switzerland, World War I and economic crisis

2005-02-08T19:10:00.000-08:00

The advantages of using pure oxygen instead of air in refining pig iron into steel were recognized

Science Fiction

2005-02-07T01:11:00.000-08:00

Such literature may consist of a careful and informed extrapolation of scientific

Clog Dance

2005-02-05T03:47:00.000-08:00

Kind of dance in which the dancer accentuates the rhythm of his feet by wearing wooden-soled shoes, or clogs. Clog dancing appears in many dance forms—e.g., in some bourrées of Auvergne, in Swiss ländler, and often in Irish step dances (solo jigs, reels, and hornpipes). In northern England, notably among the miners of Northumbria and Durham, dances such as the Lancashire and

Nagoya

2005-02-04T05:07:00.000-08:00

The history of Nagoya dates from 1610, when a great castle was erected by the Owari branch of the powerful Tokugawa shogunate. After the Meiji Restoration (1868), which marked the end of shogunal government, Nagoya continued as a commercial

Argentaffin Cell

2005-02-03T11:35:00.000-08:00

One of the round or partly flattened cells occurring in the lining tissue of the digestive tract and containing granules thought to be of secretory function. These epithelial cells, though common throughout the digestive tract, are most concentrated in the small intestine and appendix. The cells locate randomly within the mucous membrane lining of the intestine

Anthony, William Arnold

2005-02-03T05:51:00.000-08:00

After studying at Brown (Providence, R.I.) and Yale universities, Anthony taught physics and chemistry at Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio (1867–69); Iowa State Agricultural College, Ames (1869–72); Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. (1872–87); and Cooper Union, New York City (1894–1908). While

Aeolus

2005-02-02T19:11:00.000-08:00

In Greek mythology, mythical king of Magnesia in Thessaly, the son of Hellen (the eponymous ancestor of the true Greeks, or Hellenes) and father of Sisyphus (the “most crafty of men”). Aeolus' daughter Canace and son Macareus committed incest and then took their own lives. Their story provided the subject of Euripides' lost Aeolus. Aeolus gave his name to Aeolis, a territory

Acton (of Aldenham), John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, 1st Baron, 8th Baronet

2005-02-01T01:36:00.000-08:00

English Liberal historian and moralist, the first great modern philosopher of resistance to the evil state, whether its form be authoritarian, democratic, or socialist. A comment that he wrote in a letter, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” today has become a familiar aphorism. He succeeded to the

Ben Tre

2005-01-30T14:39:00.000-08:00

The surrounding region is devoted largely to irrigated rice and coconuts. Other crops include dates, corn

Huitain

2005-01-29T20:36:00.000-08:00

French verse form consisting of an eight-line stanza with 8 or 10 syllables in each line. The form was written on three rhymes, one of which appeared four times. Typical rhyme schemes were ababbcbc and abbaacac. The huitain was popular in France in the 15th and early 16th centuries with such poets as François Villon and Clément Marot.

Syracuse

2005-01-29T09:05:00.000-08:00

The site, once the territory of the Onondaga Indians and headquarters of the Iroquois Confederacy, was visited by explorers Samuel de Champlain in 1615 and Pierre Esprit, sieur de Radisson (while a captive of the Mohawks), in 1651. The Jesuit

Saramago, José

2005-01-28T06:31:00.000-08:00

The son of rural labourers, Saramago grew up in great poverty in Lisbon. After holding a series jobs as mechanic and metalworker, Saragamo began working in a Lisbon publishing firm and eventually became a journalist and translator. He joined the Portuguese

Allantois

2005-01-25T07:37:00.000-08:00

An extra-embryonic membrane of reptiles, birds, and mammals arising as a pouch, or sac, from the hindgut. In reptiles and birds it expands greatly between two other membranes, the amnion and chorion, to serve as a temporary respiratory organ while its cavity stores fetal excretions. In mammals other than marsupials the allantois is intimately associated with the chorion,

Amyloidosis

2005-01-24T15:36:00.000-08:00

Disease characterized by the deposition of amyloid in the connective tissues, inhibiting normal organ functioning. Amyloid is a fibrous protein-carbohydrate complex that is derived from immunoglobulins, a group of proteins that have antibody activity. The disease may affect the whole system or may be localized in tumourlike masses, particularly in the larynx

Tabwa

2005-01-23T09:44:00.000-08:00

Tabwa observe matrilineal

November

2005-01-21T19:12:00.000-08:00

11th month of the Gregorian calendar. See month and the accompanying Table.

Agostino Di Duccio

2005-01-20T01:31:00.000-08:00

Agostino's name is associated mainly with the wealth of sculptured decoration for the Tempio Malatestiano at Rimini, a building

Pa-an

2005-01-19T21:37:00.000-08:00

Burmese Hpa-an town, southern Myanmar (Burma). Situated on the left bank of the Salween River, 27 miles (43 km) north of Moulmein (Mawlamyine), it has an airfield and is linked by road west to Thaton and across the Dwana Range to Thailand. Pop. (1983) 41,501.

Ear Disease, Exposure to noise

2005-01-18T00:14:00.000-08:00

The effects of noise exposure on hearing depend on the intensity and duration of the noise. The effects may be temporary or permanent. A single exposure to an extremely intense sound, such as an explosion, may produce a severe and permanent loss of hearing. Repeated exposures to sounds in excess of 80 to 90 decibels may cause gradual deterioration of hearing by destroying

Resende

2005-01-17T00:35:00.000-08:00

City, western Rio de Janeiro estado (“state”), eastern Brazil, on the Paraíba do Sul River, opposite Agulhas Negras, at 1,296 feet (395 m) above sea level. Dairying, meat and coffee processing, and talc pulverizing are the principal economic activities. A marble quarry is located nearby, as is a military school. Resende, on the Presidente Dutra Highway between the cities of Rio de Janeiro

Peter, Apocalypse Of

2005-01-16T19:19:00.000-08:00

Also called Revelation To Peter, pseudepigraphal (noncanonical and unauthentic) Christian writing dating from the first half of the 2nd century AD. The unknown author, who claimed to be Peter the Apostle, relied on the canonical Gospels and on Revelation to John to construct a conversation between himself and Jesus regarding events at the end of the world. Unlike Revelation to John, however, the Apocalypse

Hindu Calendar

2005-01-16T17:30:00.000-08:00

Dating system used in India from about 1000 BC and still used to establish dates of the Hindu religious year. It is based on a year of 12 lunar months; i.e., 12 full cycles of phases of the Moon. The discrepancy between this year of about 354 days and the solar year of about 365 days is partially resolved by intercalation of an extra month every 30 months.

Asia

2005-01-15T03:24:00.000-08:00

The world's largest and most diverse continent. It occupies the eastern four-fifths of the giant Eurasian landmass. Asia is more a geographic term than a homogeneous continent, and the use of the term to describe this vast area always carries the potential of obscuring the enormous diversity among the the regions it encompasses. Asia has both the highest and the lowest

Ardennes

2005-01-14T07:32:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Ardenne wooded plateau covering part of the ancient Forest of Ardennes, occupying most of the Belgian provinces of Luxembourg, Namur, and Liège; part of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg; and the French département of Ardennes. It is an old plateau comprising the western extension of the Middle Rhine Highlands, stretching in a northeast-southwest direction and covering more

Domovoy

2005-01-13T17:31:00.000-08:00

The domovoy is the guardian of the family and its wealth, but he is partial to conscientious and

Tino Di Camaino

2005-01-12T02:27:00.000-08:00

Tino was a follower, and possibly a pupil, of Giovanni Pisano. In 1315 he became capomaestro of the Cathedral of Pisa and was commissioned to make a tomb for the Holy Roman emperor Henry VII. He succeeded his father as the capomaestro of the Siena cathedral in 1320 and designed

Alyattes

2005-01-10T23:57:00.000-08:00

Soon after succeeding his father, King Sadyattes, Alyattes started five consecutive years of raids that devastated the farmland around the Greek city of Miletus on the southwestern coast of Anatolia. He moved eastward, battling the Medes for five

Astronomical Map

2005-01-10T20:47:00.000-08:00

Any cartographic representation of the stars, galaxies, or surfaces of the planets and the Moon. Modern maps of this kind are based on a coordinate system analagous to geographic latitude and longitude. In most cases, modern maps are compiled from photographic observations made either with Earth-based equipment or with instruments carried aboard

China, Communist-Nationalist cooperation

2005-01-08T20:18:00.000-08:00

By then, however, the CCP was in serious difficulty. The railway unions had been brutally suppressed, and there were few places in China where it was safe to be a known Communist. In June 1923 the Third Congress of the CCP met in Canton, where Sun Yat-sen provided a sanctuary. After long debate this congress accepted the Comintern strategy pressed by Maring—that Communists

Biblical Literature, Intertestamental literature

2005-01-07T13:45:00.000-08:00

Standard translations of the Jewish intertestamental literature are Robert H. Charles (ed.), The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament in English (1913); and Emil Kautzsch (ed.), Die Apocryphen und Pseudepigraphen des Alten Testaments (1900). Paul Riessler, Altjüdisches Schrifttum ausserhalb der Bibel (1928), is indispensable because it contains translations of the fullest number of writings. The best translations of the Dead Sea Scrolls are Geza Vermes, The Dead Sea Scrolls in English (1962); Johann Maier, Die Texte vom Toten Meer (1960); and Andre Dupont-Sommer, Les Écrits esséniens découverts près de la Mer Morte, 3rd ed. (1964). Albert-Marie Denis, Introduction aux Pseudépigraphes grecs d'Ancien Testament (1970), does not treat the Apocrypha and is important mainly for its bibliography. Basic books dealing with intertestamental literature are R.H. Pfeiffer, History of New Testament Times, with an Introduction to the Apocrypha (1949); Emil Schurer, Geschichte des jüdischen Volkes im Zeitalter Jesu Christi, 3rd–4th ed., 3 vol. (1898–1901; Eng. trans., A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ, 2nd and rev. ed., 5 vol., 1885–91); and Robert H. Charles, Religious Development Between the Old and the New Testaments (1914). Still interesting is Robert Travers Herford, Talmud and Apocrypha (1933, reprinted 1971). Information about the library of the Dead Sea Scrolls is in two books: Jozef T. Milik, Dix Ans de découvertes dans le désert de Juda (1957; Eng. trans., Ten Years of Discovery in the Wilderness of Judaea, 1959); and Frank Moore Cross, The Ancient Library of Qumrân and Modern Biblical Studies, 2nd ed. (1961). A fragment of Ben Sira from antiquity was published by Yigael Yadin, The Ben Sira Scroll from Masada, with Introduction, Emendations and Commentary (1965). The best book about Jewish eschatology is Paul Volz, Die Eschatologie der jüdischen Gemeinde im neutestamentlichen Zeitalter (1934). On Apocalyptic and Messianism, see Harold H. Rowley, The Relevance of Apocalyptic, 3rd ed. (1963); David S. Russell, The Method and Message of Jewish Apocalyptic, 200 BC–AD 100 (1964); Sigmund Mowinckel, Han som kommer (1951; Eng. trans., He That Cometh, 1954); Erik Sjoberg, Der Menschensohn im äthiopischen Henochbuch (1946); and A.S. Van Der Woude, Die messianischen Vorstellungen der Gemeinde von Qumrân (1957).

Rhyme-tag

2005-01-06T21:05:00.000-08:00

A word or phrase used primarily to produce a rhyme. Rhyme-tags are used to comic effect in much light verse, as in W.S. Gilbert's “The Modern Major-Gineral,” which reads in partI am the very pattern of a modern Major-Gineral,I've information vegetable, animal, and mineral;I know the kings of England, and I quote the fights historical,From Marathon to Waterloo, in order

Haemophilus

2005-01-06T20:40:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Hemophilus, genus of very small rod-shaped bacteria of uncertain affiliation. All species of Haemophilus are strict parasites occurring in the respiratory tracts of warm-blooded animals, including humans, and in certain cold-blooded animals. All Haemophilus are gram-negative, aerobic or facultative anaerobic and nonmotile and require a growth factor that is found in blood.

China, From Wu-ti to Yüan-ti

2005-01-05T20:37:00.000-08:00

The third emperor of the Hsi Han to be singled out for special praise by traditional Chinese historians was Wu-ti (reigned 141/140–87/86 BC), whose reign was the longest of the whole Han period. His reputation as a vigorous and brave ruler derives from the long series of campaigns fought chiefly against the Hsiung-nu (northern nomads) and in Central Asia. But Wu-ti never took a personal

Calash

2005-01-04T22:00:00.000-08:00

(from Czech kolesa: “wheels”), also called Calèche, or Barouche, any of various open carriages, with facing passenger seats and an elevated coachman's seat joined to the front of the shallow body, which somewhat resembled a small boat. A characteristic falling hood over the rear seat gave the name calash to any folding carriage top. Most of the vehicles had four wheels, but

Dzerzhinsk

2005-01-02T10:16:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Dzerzinsk, formerly (until 1929) Rastyapino city, Nizhegorod oblast (province), western Russia. Dzerzhinsk lies along the Oka River upstream from its confluence with the Volga River at Nizhny Novgorod. Part of the Nizhny Novgorod metropolitan area, Dzerzhinsk and its satellite towns stretch for 15 miles (24 km) along the Oka. The city is 32 miles (51 km) west of Nizhny Novgorod and 240 miles (390 km) east of Moscow. It was renamed in 1929 in

Ngugi Wa Thiong'o

2005-01-02T05:12:00.000-08:00

Ngugi received bachelor's degrees from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, in

Lancaster Sound

2004-12-31T22:55:00.000-08:00

Western arm of Baffin Bay (an inlet of the North Atlantic Ocean), in north-central Baffin region, Nunavut territory, Canada. The sound is 200 miles (320 km) long and 40 miles (64 km) wide. It extends between Devon Island (north) and Baffin Island (south) and joins the Barrow Strait northeast of Somerset Island. All feasible routes of the Northwest Passage, a seaway through the Canadian Arctic

Kirkcudbrightshire

2004-12-31T11:12:00.000-08:00

Also called Kirkcudbright or East Galloway historic county, southwestern Scotland. It lies entirely within Dumfries and Galloway council area. Kirkcudbrightshire forms the eastern portion of the historic province of Galloway. It encompasses the shores of the Solway Firth and Irish Sea between the Rivers Nith and Cree and extends inland across an undulating landscape of hills and valleys, rising in the

Ziyarah

2004-12-30T00:31:00.000-08:00

(Arabic: “visit”), in Islam, a visit to the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad in the mosque at Medina, Saudi Arabia; also a visit to the tomb of a saint or a holy person. The legitimacy of these latter visits has been questioned by many Muslim religious authorities, particularly by the Wahhabiyah, who consider ziyarah a bid'ah (innovation) that should be condemned by all true believers. The

David, Sir T(annatt) W(illiam) Edgeworth

2004-12-29T14:52:00.000-08:00

David served as assistant geologist for the government survey of New South Wales from 1882 until 1891, when he became professor of geology at the University of Sydney. A leader in the investigation of evidence on major glaciations of Australia

Ussher, James

2004-12-28T11:49:00.000-08:00

Ordained priest in 1601, Ussher became professor (1607–21) and twice vice-chancellor (1614, 1617) at the university where he had received his B.A., Trinity College, Dublin.

Chase, Samuel

2004-12-26T07:16:00.000-08:00

A member of the Maryland assembly (1764–84) and the Continental Congress (1774–78, 1784–85), and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Chase served

Hatto I

2004-12-25T20:10:00.000-08:00

Hatto was elected abbot of Reichenau (888) and Ellwangen (889) and archbishop of Mainz (891). A trusted adviser of King

China, Provincial government

2004-12-25T17:50:00.000-08:00

At the outset of the Han dynasty very large areas were entrusted as kingdoms to the emperor's kinsmen while the central government administered the interior provinces as commanderies. But by c. 100 BC the Imperial government had deprived the kingdoms of their strength, and most of their lands had been incorporated as commanderies under the central government. Although

Cyrene

2004-12-24T13:12:00.000-08:00

In Greek mythology, a nymph, daughter of Hypseus (king of the Lapiths) and Chlidanope (a Naiad). One day Cyrene wrestled a lion that had attacked her father's flocks. Apollo, who was watching, fell in love with her and carried her off from Mt. Pelion, in Thessaly, to Libya. There he founded the city of Cyrene and made her its queen. Cyrene was the mother by Apollo of Aristaeus (q.v.) and

Sanmicheli, Michele

2004-12-22T21:47:00.000-08:00

He was a pupil of his father, Giovanni, and his uncle Bartolomeo, both architects in Verona. At an early age he went to Rome, where he studied with architects trained under Donato Bramante and Giuliano da Sangallo. There

Eye, Human, The aqueous humour

2004-12-22T03:58:00.000-08:00

The aqueous humour is a clear colourless fluid with a chemical composition rather similar to that of blood plasma (the blood exclusive of its cells) but lacking the high protein content of the latter. Its main function is to keep the globe reasonably firm. It is secreted continuously by the ciliary body into the posterior chamber, and flows as a gentle stream through

Anderson

2004-12-21T09:51:00.000-08:00

Anderson is a manufacturing

Arafura Sea

2004-12-20T13:06:00.000-08:00

Shallow sea of the western Pacific Ocean, occupying 250,000 square miles (650,000 square km) between the north coast of Australia and the Gulf of Carpentaria and the south coast of New Guinea. It merges with the Timor Sea on the west and the Banda and Ceram seas on the northwest. The Torres Strait connects it with the Coral Sea on the east. Most of the Arafura Sea is underlain by the Arafura

Daimler, Gottlieb (wilhelm)

2004-12-19T07:15:00.000-08:00

Daimler studied engineering at the Stuttgart polytechnic institute and then worked in various German engineering firms, gaining experience with engines. In 1872 he became technical director

Yahya Sobh-e Azal, Mirza

2004-12-17T05:40:00.000-08:00

Yahya was the designated successor of Sayyid Ali Muhammad, a Shi'i sectarian leader known as the Bab (Arabic: “gate,” referring to one who has access to the hidden imam). The Bab was executed in 1850, and by the following year his followers

Cimbri

2004-12-16T07:41:00.000-08:00

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

Qeys Island

2004-12-15T03:17:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Qais, Persian Jazireh-ye Qeys, island in the Persian Gulf, lying about 10 miles (16 km) off mainland Iran. It rises 120 feet (37 m) above sea level to a plateau and is almost without vegetation except for a few date groves and stunted herbage. Qeys attained importance only in the late 1st millennium AD, when a prince obtained it, built a fleet, and gradually extended his power. He captured Siraf (modern Taheri), then a large market,

Proctitis

2004-12-14T10:23:00.000-08:00

Acute inflammatory infection of the anus and rectum. The most common cause of proctitis is the direct inoculation of pathogenic microorganisms into the rectum during anal intercourse, but it may be caused by sexually transmitted diseases, Crohn disease, or ulcerative colitis. The usual symptoms include anorectal pain, a purulent or bloody discharge, constipation,

Arrábida Highway Bridge

2004-12-13T18:01:00.000-08:00

In Porto, Port., bridge (completed in 1963) spanning the gorge of the Douro River. The bridge carries a roadway 82 feet (25 m) wide, supported 170 feet (52 m) above the river; its overall length of 1,617 feet (493 m) includes a reinforced-concrete arch 885 feet (270 m) long, one of the largest in the world.