FlatVenus

Camden

2005-03-19T09:29:00.000-08:00

Inner borough of London, part of the historic county of Middlesex, to the north of Westminster and the historic City of London. It extends some 5 miles (8 km) from below High Holborn (road) to the northern heights of Hampstead Heath. Camden was created a borough in 1965 by the amalgamation of the former metropolitan boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, and St. Pancras. Camden includes

Zanjan

2005-03-17T21:00:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Zenjan, city, northwestern Iran. It lies in an open valley about halfway along the Tehran–Tabriz railway line. It is the principal city of the Zanjan region. It was ravaged by Mongols in the 13th century. Once the seat of a lively caravan trade, the city is now the centre of an agricultural area with abundant harvests of grain. Prior to the Iranian Revolution, the city witnessed fighting

Kaminaljuyú

2005-03-14T18:56:00.000-08:00

Historic centre of the highland Maya, located near modern Guatemala City, Guat. The site was inhabited from the Formative Period (1500 BC–AD 100) until its decline after the Late Classic Period (c. AD 600–900). About 200 burial sites from the Late Formative Period (300 BC–AD 100) have been uncovered. From the Early Classic Period (c. AD 100–600), a number of more elaborate tombs containing Teotihuacán-style pottery have been

Kyongju

2005-03-12T18:14:00.000-08:00

City, Kyongsang-puk do (province), southeastern South Korea. It is 17 miles (28 km) inland from the coast of the Sea of Japan (East Sea) and 34 miles (55 km) east of the provincial capital, Taegu. The capital of the Silla kingdom (57 BC–AD 935), its ancient name was Sorabol, which means “capital.” Kyongju plain, surrounded by a double range of hills and mountains, formed a natural fortress for the city. Kyongju has

Arabia, History Of, The Ottomans

2005-03-10T07:22:00.000-08:00

In 1517 the Ottoman sultan Selim I conquered Egypt and proclaimed the Hejaz part of the Ottoman dominions. Sharif Barakat II of Mecca sent his son to negotiate at the Ottoman court and was confirmed as lord of the Holy Cities and Jiddah, subject to recognizing the Ottoman sultan as overlord. Selim's successor, Süleyman I the Magnificent, at the zenith of Ottoman power, munificently

Cromwell, Richard

2005-03-08T05:19:00.000-08:00

He served in the Parliamentary army and, during his father's protectorate, was a member of the Parliaments of 1654 and 1656. In 1655 he was

Guadalupe Mountains National Park

2005-03-06T20:33:00.000-08:00

The Guadalupe Mountains, a division of the Sacramento Mountains, are part of the ancient horseshoe-shaped Capitan Reef that formed beneath

Biblical Literature, Coptic versions

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

The spread of Christianity among the non-Greek speaking peasant communities of Egypt necessitated the translation of the Scriptures into the native tongue (Coptic). These versions may be considered to be wholly Christian in origin and largely based on the Greek Bible. They also display certain affinities with the Old Latin. Nothing certain is known about the Coptic

Ecotourism: The New Face Of Travel

2005-02-28T21:07:00.000-08:00

The latest trend in tourism is travel that combines preserving the natural world and sustaining the well-being of the human cultures that inhabit it. Known as ecotourism, the industry was unknown a decade ago yet now receives rave reviews from environmentally conscious travelers who immerse themselves in pristine places and authentic experiences. Unlike traditional

Biblical Literature, Papyri

2005-02-27T19:09:00.000-08:00

The earliest New Testament manuscript witnesses (2nd–8th centuries) are papyri mainly found preserved in fragments in the dry sands of Egypt. Only in the latter decades of the 20th century have the relatively recently discovered New Testament papyri been published. Of those cataloged to date, there are about 76 New Testament manuscripts with fragments of various parts

Heidelberg Romantics

2005-02-25T14:19:00.000-08:00

Poets of the second phase of Romanticism in Germany, who were centred in Heidelberg about 1806. Their leaders were Clemens Brentano, Achim von Arnim, and Joseph von Görres; their brief-lived organ was the Zeitung für Einsiedler (1808). The most characteristic production of this school was the collection of folk songs entitled Des Knaben Wunderhorn (1805–08; “The Boy's Magic Horn”). Compared

Feed

2005-02-23T16:04:00.000-08:00

Animal feeds are classified as follows: (1) concentrates, high in energy value, including (a) cereal grains and their by-products (barley, corn [maize], oats, rye, wheat), (b) high-protein oil meals or cakes (soybean, cottonseed, peanut [groundnut]), (c) by-products from processing of sugar beets, sugarcane, and (d) animal and fish by-products; (2) roughages, including (a) pasture grasses, (b) hays, (c

Memory Abnormality

2005-02-21T21:23:00.000-08:00

Some forms of amnesia appear to be quite different from those associated with detectable injury or disease of the brain. These comprise, first, amnesias that can be induced in apparently normal individuals by means of suggestion under hypnosis; and secondly, amnesias that arise spontaneously in reaction to acute conflict or stress, and which are commonly called

Adamawa

2005-02-19T13:43:00.000-08:00

Traditional emirate centred in what is now Adamawa state, eastern Nigeria. The emirate was founded by Modibbo Adama, who was one of Sheikh Usman dan Fodio's commanders and who began a Fulani jihad (holy war) in 1809 against the non-Muslim peoples of the region. Adama moved the capital of his kingdom, which was then known as Fumbina, several times before settling it finally in

Off-broadway

2005-02-17T13:04:00.000-08:00

In the theatre of the United States, small professional productions that have served for years as New York City's alternative to the commercially oriented theatres of Broadway. The plays, usually produced on low budgets in small theatres, have tended to be freer in style and more imaginative than those on Broadway, where high production costs often oblige producers

Montreal Aquarium

2005-02-14T03:52:00.000-08:00

French Aquarium De Montréal, municipally owned aquarium located on St.-Helen's Island, Montreal, Can. It was built in 1966 for Expo 67, an international exhibition that was held in the city. The aquarium complex consists of two large buildings, one of which contains exhibits of marine and freshwater fishes and invertebrates. The other building is exclusively for marine mammals. The aquarium's fish collection

Catalan Literature

2005-02-12T06:07:00.000-08:00

The oldest extant text in Catalan is the Homilies d'Organyà, a collection of sermons dating from the 12th or early 13th century but now appreciated more for their linguistic than for their literary value. Early kings of Aragon and counts

Guadalajara

2005-02-11T04:15:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Guadalajara province, in the autonomous community (region) of Castile-La Mancha, central Spain, northeast of Madrid, situated on the Río Henares. The city, the ancient Arriaca, is Iberian in origin and was for a time held by the Romans, but its name is derived from Arabic (Wadi al-Hijarah, River of Stones). Taken by Christian forces in 1085, the city from the 15th to the 17th century

Acropolites, George

2005-02-09T19:16:00.000-08:00

Acropolites was reared at the imperial court, then at Nicaea in Asia

Mckinley, William

2005-02-07T10:38:00.000-08:00

Renominated for another term without opposition, McKinley again faced Democrat William Jennings Bryan in the presidential election of 1900. McKinley's margins of victory in both the popular and electoral votes were greater than they were four years before, no doubt reflecting satisfaction with the outcome of the war and with the widespread prosperity that the country enjoyed. Following his inauguration in 1901 (see primary source document: Second Inaugural Address), McKinley left Washington for a tour of the western states, to be concluded with a speech at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. Cheering crowds throughout the journey attested to McKinley's immense popularity. More than 50,000 admirers attended his exposition speech, in which the leader who had been so closely identified with protectionism now sounded the call for commercial reciprocity among nations. (See primary source document: Reciprocal Trade Agreements.) The following day, September 6, 1901, while McKinley was shaking hands with a crowd of well-wishers at the exposition, Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist, fired two shots into the president's chest and abdomen. Rushed to a hospital in Buffalo, McKinley lingered for a week before dying in the early morning hours of September 14. He was succeeded by his vice president, the man Mark Hanna sneeringly referred to as “that damned cowboy,” Theodore Roosevelt.

Acari

2005-02-05T23:18:00.000-08:00

Also called Acarida, or Acarina, subclass of the arthropod class Arachnida that includes the mites and ticks. The acarids may be separated into three orders, Opilioacariformes, Parasitiformes, and Acariformes, consisting of six suborders and about 428 families.

Culpeper's Rebellion

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

(1677–79), early popular uprising against proprietary rule in the Albemarle section of northern Carolina, caused by the efforts of the proprietary government to enforce the British Navigation acts. These trade laws denied the colonists a free market outside England and placed heavy duties on commodities. The colonists' resentment found an object in the deputy governor,

By, John

2005-01-31T10:57:00.000-08:00

By, commissioned as second lieutenant in the Royal Engineers in 1799, worked in Canada (1802–11) on the fortification of Quebec and was charged with the building of a canal at Les Cèdres on the St. Lawrence.

Morazán, Francisco

2005-01-29T14:22:00.000-08:00

Self-educated, Morazán began his political career in his native Honduras. In 1827, at age 35, he led the Liberal Party's forces in a revolt against Manuel José Arce, first president

Clarence Series

2005-01-26T23:14:00.000-08:00

Major division of Cretaceous rocks and time in New Zealand (the Cretaceous Period lasted from 144 to 66.4 million years ago). Rocks of the Clarence Series overlie those of the Taitai Series and underlie rocks of the Raukumara Series. Clarence rocks (sandstones, conglomerates, graywackes, mudstones, and basaltic lava flows) have been divided into four stages representing

Wan-li

2005-01-24T09:07:00.000-08:00

Wan-li was a recluse whose apparent inattention to government affairs contributed to the abuses of power by provincial officials and other political figures that came to dominate that era of Chinese history. The violence and corruption among leaders of the northern provinces led

Spore

2005-01-21T14:05:00.000-08:00

Spores are produced by bacteria

Harald I

2005-01-20T09:07:00.000-08:00

The son of Halvdan the Black, ruler of part of southeastern Norway and a scion of the Yngling dynasty, the ancient

Robert Ii

2005-01-18T03:40:00.000-08:00

The son of Hugh Capet, founder of the Capetian dynasty, and Adelaide of Aquitaine, Robert was educated at the episcopal school of Reims under Gerbert of Aurillac, later Pope Sylvester II. Soon after his own coronation (July 987), Hugh prudently arranged the election and coronation (December 987) of

Poland, History Of, World War II

2005-01-16T16:44:00.000-08:00

The Poles, fighting alone against the Wehrmacht's overwhelming might, particularly in air power and armour, were doomed. On September 17 the Red Army invaded Poland from the east, and on September 28 Hitler and Stalin agreed on a final partition, the Soviets taking eastern Galicia and lands east of the Bug River (i.e., more than half of the country, where the Poles constituted

Békéscsaba

2005-01-14T09:45:00.000-08:00

Town, seat of Békés megye (county), southeastern Hungary. A central point for road and rail communications, it is also connected by canal with the Körös River and serves as an agricultural and industrial centre for a large fertile countryside. A 13th-century Roman Catholic church (rebuilt in the 18th century) is evidence of the town's long occupation. The settlement in the

Cambridgeshire

2005-01-12T02:43:00.000-08:00

Administrative, geographic, and historic county of eastern England. The administrative county covers a much larger area than the ancient shire, or historic county. Formed in 1974, the administrative county incorporates almost all of the historic county of Cambridgeshire and most of the historic county of Huntingdonshire (which is nearly coterminous with the district

Perciform

2005-01-09T03:05:00.000-08:00

Any member of the order Perciformes, a group of bony fishes with more than 6,000 species placed in about 150 families. The order is the largest group of fishes in the world today. Perciform fishes occur in abundance in both marine and freshwater areas of the world, ranging from shallow freshwater ponds to depths of more than 2,300 metres (7,500 feet) in the oceans. Most perciforms are marine

Staffordshire Ware

2005-01-07T08:49:00.000-08:00

Lead-glazed earthenware and unglazed or salt-glazed stoneware made in Staffordshire, England, from the 17th century onward. Abundance of local clays and coal gave rise to a concentration of pottery factories that made Staffordshire one of the foremost pottery centres in Europe. Porcelain was first made at Longton Hall c. 1750. Among the distinguished factories located

Xerxes I

2005-01-05T02:24:00.000-08:00

With the tranquillity of the empire reestablished, Xerxes would willingly have devoted himself to peaceful activities. But many of those around him were pressing for the renewal of hostilities. His cousin and brother-in-law Mardonius, supported by a strong party of exiled Greeks, incited him to take revenge for the affront that Darius had suffered at the hands of

Avitus

2005-01-03T04:47:00.000-08:00

Born of a distinguished Gallic family, Avitus was a son-in-law of the Christian writer Sidonius Apollinaris, whose poetry is an important source for our knowledge of him. By taking advantage of his great influence with the Visigoths who were settled at Toulouse, Avitus was able in 451 to persuade their king, Theodoric I, to join the Roman general Aetius

Protein, Others

2005-01-02T23:28:00.000-08:00

The most thoroughly investigated scleroprotein has been fibroin, the insoluble material of silk. The raw silk comprising the cocoon of the silkworm consists of two proteins. One, sericin, is soluble in hot water; the other, fibroin, is not. The amino acid composition of the latter differs from that of all other proteins. It contains large amounts of glycine, alanine, tyrosine,

Middletown

2004-12-30T08:23:00.000-08:00

Town (township), Newport county, southeastern Rhode Island, U.S., on Rhode (Aquidneck) Island, in Narragansett Bay. It was named for its location between the other two towns on the island, Newport and Portsmouth. Closely related to Newport, from which it was set off and incorporated in 1743, Middletown has developed as a residential suburb of that city. Middletown is the home of

Paralysis

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

Also called palsy loss or impairment of voluntary muscular movement caused by structural abnormalities of nervous or muscular tissue or by metabolic disturbances in neuromuscular function. Paralysis can affect the legs and lower part of the body (paraplegia) or both arms and both legs (quadriplegia). Sometimes the muscles of the lower face, arm, and leg on only one side of the body

Augustus, Caesar

2004-12-26T14:20:00.000-08:00

Augustus was one of the great administrative geniuses of history. The gigantic work of reorganization that he carried out in every field of Roman life and throughout the entire empire not only transformed the decaying republic into a new, monarchic regime with many centuries of life ahead of it but also created a durable Roman peace, based on easy communications

China, Burma

2004-12-24T16:48:00.000-08:00

In 1867 the British gained the right to station a commercial agent at Bhamo in Burma, from which they could explore the Irrawaddy River up to the Yunnan border. A British interpreter accompanying a British exploratory mission to Yunnan was killed by local tribesmen on the Yunnan–Burma border in February 1875. The British minister in China, Thomas Wade, seized the opportunity

Wollastonite

2004-12-23T16:24:00.000-08:00

White, glassy silicate mineral that commonly occurs as masses or tabular crystals with other calcium-containing silicates (e.g., diopside, tremolite, garnet, and epidote) in metamorphosed limestones. Deposits are found in Ciclova Romîna, Rom.; Monte Somma, Italy; and Pargas, Fin. Occurrences in the United States include Utah; Isle Royale, Mich.; Riverside, Calif.; and Essex county,

Arminianism

2004-12-20T23:36:00.000-08:00

The movement was named for Jacobus Arminius (q.v.), a Dutch Reformed theologian of the University of Leiden (1603–09), who became involved in a highly publicized

India

2004-12-19T08:21:00.000-08:00

Officially Republic of India , Hindi Bharat or Bharatavarsha country that occupies the greater part of South Asia. It is a constitutional republic consisting of 28 states, each with a substantial degree of control over its own affairs; 6 less fully empowered union territories; and the Delhi national capital territory, which includes New Delhi, India's capital. With more than one-sixth of the world's total population, India is the

Rocky Mountains

2004-12-17T05:07:00.000-08:00

The Rocky Mountains were one of the last regions in North America to be explored by Europeans, because of the inaccessibility and ruggedness of the terrain. Roman Catholic missionaries worked their way northward from Mexico into New Mexico in the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1776–77 Silvestre Vélez de Escalante and his party explored and documented their travels into what

Alexander Balas

2004-12-15T08:54:00.000-08:00

The pretended son of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, he won the Seleucid throne with the help of mercenaries, challenging and slaying Demetrius I Soter, the direct Seleucid heir. With the support of the Roman Senate and the Egyptian Ptolemaic dynasty, he ruled the remains of the Seleucid

Eastern Africa, History Of, The Solomonids

2004-12-13T04:09:00.000-08:00

An amalgamated Christian state, led by Semitized Agew, had reappeared in the 12th century. This Zagwe dynasty gave way in the late 13th century to a dynasty that claimed descent from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, a genealogy providing the legitimacy and continuity so honoured in Ethiopia's subsequent national history. During the 14th and 15th centuries the Solomonid

Nepalganj

2004-12-10T11:49:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Nepalgunj, town, southwestern Nepal. It is situated in the Tarai, a low, fertile plain northeast of Nanpara, India. Nepalganj is a trading centre for rice, wheat, corn (maize), oilseeds, and hides produced in the surrounding area. The largest town in western Nepal, it is 4 miles (6 km) from a railway terminus across the border in India. It also has road connections to villages to the west and to a nearby

Clambake

2004-12-09T14:24:00.000-08:00

Seafood picnic traditional in the New England region of the United States. Early settlers on the Atlantic Coast adopted and elaborated the practice from the coastal Indians, who steamed shellfish over hot stones under a covering of seaweed. Clambakes, best undertaken on a large scale, have long been a feature of civic and fraternal celebrations in areas where clams,

Arneth, Alfred, Ritter Von (knight Of)

2004-12-07T09:52:00.000-08:00

In 1841 Arneth was appointed by the Austrian statesman Klemens von Metternich to a post at the state archives, of which he became keeper in 1868. In 1879 he became president of the Imperial Academy of the Sciences, and in

Tunnels And Underground Excavations, Basic tunneling system

2004-12-05T05:40:00.000-08:00

Tunnels are generally grouped in four broad categories, depending on the material through which they pass: soft ground, consisting of soil and very weak rock; hard rock; soft rock, such as shale, chalk, and friable sandstone; and subaqueous. While these four broad types of ground condition require very different methods of excavation and ground support, nearly all tunneling

Wilberforce, William

2004-12-02T21:46:00.000-08:00

At Cambridge, where he became a close friend of the future prime minister William Pitt the Younger, Wilberforce was known as an amiable companion rather

Gherkin

2004-12-01T19:40:00.000-08:00

Also called Bur Gherkin, or West Indian Gherkin (Cucumis anguria), trailing vine, of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae), grown for its edible fruit. The gherkins sold in pickle mixtures are not C. anguria but rather are small pickled immature cucumbers (Cucumis sativus). A true gherkin has palmately lobed leaves with toothed edges, small flowers, and furrowed, prickly fruits about five centimetres (two

Da Lat

2004-11-29T18:18:00.000-08:00

Municipality, southern Vietnam, northeast of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). On a lake on the Lam Vien Plateau at 4,920 feet (1,500 m) above sea level, it sits among pine-covered hills with picturesque waterfalls nearby. Founded in the 19th century and named for the Da (now Cam Ly) River, which traverses the town, and the Lat population, it was developed by the French as a hill station (resort),

Romance

2004-11-27T02:09:00.000-08:00

The Old French word romanz

Buteshire

2004-11-24T16:11:00.000-08:00

Excavations in the islands have revealed evidence of human habitation

Rye House Plot

2004-11-22T20:53:00.000-08:00

(1683), alleged Whig conspiracy to assassinate or mount an insurrection against Charles II of England because of his pro-Roman Catholic policies. The plot drew its name from Rye House at Hoddeston, Hertfordshire, near which ran a narrow road where Charles was supposed to be killed as he traveled from a horse meet at Newmarket. By chance, according to the official narrative,

Soga Shohaku

2004-11-20T11:12:00.000-08:00

As a young man he studied painting under the guidance of Takada Keiho of the Kano school (school of painting based on Chinese subject matter and techniques) in Kyoto, but his disillusionment with contemporary

Masamune Hakucho

2004-11-18T20:36:00.000-08:00

Early influenced by Christianity, Masamune went to Tokyo in 1896 to

Arts, Islamic, Philosophy: Averroës and Avicenna

2004-11-17T20:05:00.000-08:00

Philosophy, medicine, and theology, all of which flourished in the 'Abbasid East, were also of importance in the Maghrib; and from there strong influences reached medieval Europe. The influences often came through the mediation of the Jews, who, along with numerous Christians, were largely Arabized in their cultural and literary outlook. The eastern Muslim countries

Chemical Compound, Aldehydes and ketones

2004-11-15T18:04:00.000-08:00

Similar to the double bond of alkenes, the carbon-oxygen double bond is made up of a s bond, whose electron pair lies between the bonded

Leadbelly

2004-11-12T00:34:00.000-08:00

Musical from childhood, Leadbelly played accordion, 6- and 12-string guitar, bass, and harmonica. He led a wandering life, learning songs by absorbing oral tradition.

Jhang Maghiana

2004-11-11T10:02:00.000-08:00

City consisting of twin towns, headquarters of Jhang Maghiana District, Sargodha Division, Punjab Province, Pakistan, just east of the Chenab River. Maghiana lies on the edge of the highlands overlooking the alluvial valley, while Jhang occupies the lowlands at its foot. They are connected by two roads and by the Grand Trunk Road with Peshawar and Lahore. Maghiana, founded

Maderno, Carlo

2004-11-09T07:26:00.000-08:00

Maderno began his architectural career in Rome assisting his uncle Domenico Fontana. His first major Roman commission, the facade of Santa Susanna (1597–1603), led to his appointment in 1603 as the chief architect for Saint Peter's. In 1607 he designed the nave

Ben Slimane

2004-11-06T00:14:00.000-08:00

The town is situated in a region of low plateaus and valleys that are intensely cultivated near the ocean; cereals (mostly wheat),

Industrial Glass

2004-11-05T22:25:00.000-08:00

Solid material that is normally lustrous and transparent in appearance and that shows great durability under exposure to the natural elements. These three properties—lustre, transparency, and durability—make glass a favoured material for such household objects as windowpanes, bottles, and lightbulbs. However, neither any of these properties alone nor all of

Vanadic Anhydride

2004-11-03T20:26:00.000-08:00

Vanadium pentoxide, a compound of vanadium and oxygen widely used as an oxidation catalyst, as in the oxidation of unburned hydrocarbons in automobile exhaust (see vanadium).

Azerbaijan, Flag Of

2004-10-31T03:15:00.000-08:00

Prior to the Russian Revolution, when Azerbaijan was part of the tsar's domain, the leading Azerbaijani nationalist, 'Ali bay Huseynzada, exhorted his followers to “Turkify, Islamicize, Europeanize” in order to emphasize ethnic pride, religious devotion, and modernization. The colours associated with those principles were light blue (a traditional Turkish flag colour),

Performing Arts, Spain and Portugal.

2004-10-30T03:22:00.000-07:00

Spain maintained a substantial popular production. Notable films included José Luis Garci's Una historia de entonces (You're the One), the story of an aspiring woman writer in the 1940s who returns to her home village after the death of her lover; Álex de la Iglesia's high-spirited comic group portrait of the denizens of a rundown old Madrid tenement, La comunidad; and

Xenacanthus

2004-10-27T16:43:00.000-07:00

Long-surviving but now extinct genus of freshwater sharks. Xenacanthus survived from the end of the Devonian Period, some 360 million years ago, to about the end of the Triassic Period, 208 million years ago. Xenacanthus had a slim, elongated body with a low dorsal fin that extended down most of it, almost merging with the triangular, pointed tail. From the back of the skull, a long,

Ghent, Treaty Of

2004-10-26T02:47:00.000-07:00

(Dec. 24, 1814), agreement in Belgium between Great Britain and the United States to end the War of 1812 on the general basis of the status quo antebellum (maintaining the prewar conditions). Because the military positions for each side were so well balanced, neither country could obtain desired concessions. No mention was made in the peace settlement of neutral rights, particularly

Arqalyq

2004-10-24T07:33:00.000-07:00

Russian Arkalyk, city, north-central Kazakstan, about 75 miles (120 km) west of Lake Tengiz. Settlement of the site began in 1956 in connection with the exploitation of the Torghay bauxite deposits, and it became a city in 1965. Arqalyq is linked to the Astana-Tobyl railway by a branch line from Yesil. In the late 20th century a major construction program was under way to provide the city with various urban

Cosmopolitanism

2004-10-22T13:28:00.000-07:00

In Stoic philosophy, position taken by the Stoics against the traditional (Greek) distinction between Greeks and barbarians, made by applying to themselves the term cosmopolitans, thereby implying that their polis, or city-state, was the entire cosmos, or the whole world. Alexander the Great discouraged this distinction by allowing his generals to marry women native

Ammonite

2004-10-19T18:30:00.000-07:00

Any member of an ancient Semitic people whose principal city was Rabbath Ammon, in Palestine. The “sons of Ammon” were in perennial, though sporadic, conflict with the Israelites. After a long period of seminomadic existence, the Ammonites established a kingdom north of Moab in the 13th century BC. With difficulty, their fortress capital was captured by Israel's King David.

Insurance, England

2004-10-17T05:07:00.000-07:00

Fire insurance arose much later, obtaining impetus from the Great Fire of London in 1666. A number of insurance companies were started in England after 1711, during the so-called bubble era. Many of them were fraudulent, get-rich-quick schemes concerned mainly with selling their securities to the public. Nevertheless, two important and successful English insurance companies

Dietz, Howard

2004-10-15T19:19:00.000-07:00

After graduating from Columbia University in 1917, Dietz joined the Philip Goodman Advertising Agency, where he was assigned to devise a trademark for Goldwyn Pictures. Dietz used Columbia's lion mascot as an inspiration for the Goldwyn studio's “roaring lion” trademark, which thereafter

Alaska, Agriculture

2004-10-13T20:32:00.000-07:00

Only a small sector of Alaska's economy is agricultural, but a viable in-state market is still under development. More than 3 million acres (1.2 million hectares) of tillable land are available for farming, but much clearing has yet to be done. Most acreage is near Anchorage and on the Kenai Peninsula, though there is some near Fairbanks, and stock ranching is practiced on Kodiak

Earth, Subduction zones

2004-10-12T04:44:00.000-07:00

It has been pointed out that, in comparison to magnetic and seismological studies, gravity measurements played only a secondary role in establishing the plate-tectonic theory in the 1960s. On the other hand, as early as 1929 the Dutch geophysicist Felix A. Vening Meinesz had shown that some of the most spectacular negative gravity anomalies on Earth are associated with oceanic

Ribeauvillé

2004-10-10T04:25:00.000-07:00

German Rappoltsweiler, town, Haut-Rhin département, Alsace région, in eastern France. It lies at the entrance of the valley of the Strengbach, under the Vosges Mountains, 33 miles (53 km) southwest of Strasbourg. It is distinguished by a medieval gate, the Porte des Bouchers (a relic of the ancient walls that surrounded the city), and it has many medieval houses and two fine Gothic churches, of St. Gregory

Claremont Colleges

2004-10-07T15:32:00.000-07:00

A consortium of private colleges in Claremont, Calif., U.S. The consortium comprises Pomona College, Claremont McKenna College, Scripps College, Harvey Mudd College, Pitzer College, and the Claremont Graduate School. The campuses are adjacent to one another and many facilities are shared, including the 1,800,000-volume Honnold Library. The concept of a “cluster” of colleges was

Vanir

2004-10-06T23:34:00.000-07:00

In Norse mythology, race of gods responsible for wealth, fertility, and commerce and subordinate to the warlike Aesir. As reparation for the torture of their goddess Gullveig, the Vanir demanded from the Aesir monetary satisfaction or equal status. Declaring war instead, the Aesir suffered numerous defeats before granting equality. The Vanir sent their gods Nj

Angus

2004-10-04T23:27:00.000-07:00

Formerly Forfarshire council area and historic county in eastern Scotland, bounded on the east by the North Sea and on the south by the Firth of Tay. The council area lies entirely within the historic county of Angus, which also includes the city of Dundee and a small area south of Coupar Angus in the Perth and Kinross council area. The chief city of the county is Dundee, which constitutes a

Manet, édouard

2004-10-02T23:41:00.000-07:00

French painter who broke new ground by defying traditional techniques of representation and by choosing subjects from the events and circumstances of his own time. His Déjeuner sur l'herbe (“Luncheon on the Grass”), exhibited in 1863 at the Salon des Refusés, aroused the hostility of critics and the enthusiasm of the young painters who

Cambrai

2004-09-29T20:14:00.000-07:00

Town, Nord département, Nord-Pas-de-Calais région, northern France. It lies along the Escaut River, south of Roubaix. The town was called Camaracum under the Romans, and its bishops were made counts by the German king Henry I in the 10th century. Cambrai was long a bone of contention among its neighbours—the counties of Flanders and Hainaut, the kingdom of France, and the Holy

China, Rainfall

2004-09-28T22:34:00.000-07:00

Rainfall in China generally decreases from the southeast to the northwest. The annual precipitation of certain places along the southeastern coast amounts to more than 80 inches. The Yangtze Valley receives about 40 inches. Farther north, in the Huai River Valley the annual rainfall decreases to 30 inches. In the lower reaches of the Huang Ho only 20 inches of precipitation

Chasuble

2004-09-26T02:38:00.000-07:00

Liturgical vestment, the outermost garment worn by Roman Catholic priests and bishops at mass and by some Anglicans and Lutherans when they celebrate the Eucharist. The chasuble developed from an outer garment worn by Greeks and Romans called the paenula or casula (“little house”), a conical or bell-shaped cloak made from a semicircular piece of cloth sewn partially

Shigatse

2004-09-23T14:56:00.000-07:00

Chinese (Wade-Giles) Jih-k'a-tse , Pinyin Xigazê city in the south-central part of the Tibet autonomous ch'ü (region), China. Situated on a well-defended height (elevation 12,800 feet [3,900 m]) overlooking the confluence of two rivers in one of the most fertile valley areas of Tibet, it is the traditional capital of the area known as Hou-tsang on the Nepal border. It was formerly a small town near one of the largest monasteries in Tibet,

Yunus Emre

2004-09-22T09:24:00.000-07:00

Though legend obscures the facts of his life, he is known to have been a Sufi (Islamic mystic) who sat for 40 years at the feet of his master, Tapduk Emre. Yunus Emre was well versed in mystical philosophy, especially that of the 13th-century poet and mystic Jalal ad-Din ar-Rumi. Like Rumi, Yunus Emre

Lead Processing

2004-09-20T18:32:00.000-07:00

Once the ore is removed from veins (narrow channels) or lodes (roughly spherical deposits) in the Earth, usually at depths of about 60 metres, the ore is treated at concentrating mills. Here the ore is finely crushed, sometimes to particle diameters of less than 0.1 millimetre (0.004 inch), and then treated by one of several mineral concentration processes. Such processes are designed

Adwa

2004-09-18T13:17:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Adowa , Italian Adua town, northern Ethiopia. Adwa lies on the east-west highway between Aksum and Adi Grat at its junction with the road north to Asmara (Asmera), in Eritrea. Adwa is a market centre (grains, honey, hides, coffee) for the Tigray people. The town is located 10 miles (16 km) west of an area of fantastic volcanic formations. On March 1, 1896, Emperor Menilek II defeated an Italian force there. Nearby

Gnateater

2004-09-16T02:08:00.000-07:00

Any of certain bird species (genus Conopophaga) usually classified with the antbirds. See antbird; antpipit.

Earth Exploration, Magnetic methods

2004-09-13T06:02:00.000-07:00

Measurements can be made of the Earth's total magnetic field or of components of the field in various directions. The oldest magnetic prospecting instrument is the magnetic compass, which measures the field direction. Other instruments include magnetic balances and fluxgate magnetometers. Most magnetic surveys are made with proton-precession or optical-pumping

Badminton

2004-09-11T10:29:00.000-07:00

Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen, known as the "Great Dane," laid claim to badminton's two most important titles in 1996, a gold medal in men's singles at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga., and a second consecutive men's singles All-England championship in March in Birmingham, Eng. He won in a sport almost completely dominated by Asia. At the Olympics he was the only European to place first, second,

Châteauguay, Battle Of

2004-09-09T08:25:00.000-07:00

In the autumn of 1813, a U.S. invading force of about 4,000 troops under General Wade Hampton marched toward Montreal through the Châteauguay River valley. A U.S. advance party of 1,500 under Colonel

Canal Zone

2004-09-08T10:19:00.000-07:00

Also called Panama Canal Zone, historic administrative entity in Panama over which the United States exercised jurisdictional rights from 1903 to 1979. It was a strip of land 10 miles (16 km) wide along the Panama Canal, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean and bisecting the Isthmus of Panama. It covered 553 square miles (1,432 square km), of which about one-third was water (principally Gatun Lake). The Canal Zone

Hieroglyphic Writing

2004-09-06T00:09:00.000-07:00

The system of hieroglyphic writing has two basic features: first, representable objects are portrayed as pictures (ideograms) and, second, the picture signs are given the phonetic value of the words for these represented objects (phonograms). At the same time, these signs are also written to designate homonyms, similar-sounding words. The writing disregards vowels

Andrade, Mário De

2004-09-05T00:58:00.000-07:00

Educated at the conservatory in São Paulo, Andrade helped organize what proved to be a key event in the

Victor (iv)

2004-09-03T22:23:00.000-07:00

Made cardinal by Pope Innocent II in 1138, he was elected by a minority of cardinals in September 1159, while, concurrently, a majority elected Alexander

Gippsland

2004-09-02T16:50:00.000-07:00

Region of southeastern Victoria, Australia, extending northeast from Western Port (near Melbourne) to the New South Wales border and south from the Eastern Highlands to the coast, with an area of 13,600 square miles (35,200 square km). Fertile and well watered (34 inches [860 mm] annually), Gippsland is the focus of the state's dairy industry, supplying most of Melbourne's liquid milk. Lignite

Ulama

2004-09-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

Also spelled ulema , Arabic 'ulama' the learned of Islam, those who possess the quality of 'ilm, “learning,” in its widest sense. From the 'ulama', who are versed theoretically and practically in the Muslim sciences, come the religious teachers of the Islamic community—theologians (mutakallimun), canon lawyers (muftis), judges (qadis), professors—and high state religious officials like the shaikh al-Islam. In a narrower