ViolentThroat

Subarnarekha River

2005-11-17T14:55:00.000-08:00

River in northeastern India, rising in southern Bihar state. The Subarnarekha (meaning “streak of gold”) flows east through a copper-mining region and leaves the Chota Nagpur plateau by the Hundrugbagh waterfall. Continuing eastward, it flows across West Bengal state to enter the Bay of Bengal after a 290-mile (470-kilometre) course. The Kanchi and Karkari rivers are its chief

Tagaytay

2005-10-15T10:45:00.000-07:00

City, southwestern Luzon, Philippines. It is located on Tagaytay Ridge at about 2,000 feet (600 m) above sea level, on the northern flank of Mount Taal. The city is a weekend retreat, popular for its cool climate and outstanding view to the south of Taal Lake, with an active volcano on an island. Market gardening for the Manila area to the north is a local activity. Inc. city, 1938. Pop. (1990 prelim.)

Malar, Lake

2005-07-28T08:35:00.000-07:00

Swedish Mälaren, lake in eastern Sweden, located just west of Stockholm, which lies at the lake's junction with Salt Bay, an arm of the Baltic Sea. At one time Lake Malar was a bay of the Baltic, and seagoing vessels using it were able to sail far into the interior of Sweden. Because of movements of the Earth's crust, however, the rock barrier at the mouth of the bay had become so shallow by about

Blois

2005-07-26T14:10:00.000-07:00

Under Robert the Strong (d. 866), duke of the entire region between the Seine and Loire rivers and ancestor of the French royal house of Capet, Blois was an appointive viscounty. About

Marquette, Jacques

2005-07-24T03:05:00.000-07:00

Marquette arrived in Quebec in 1666. After a study of Indian languages, he assisted in founding a mission at Sault Ste. Marie (now in Michigan) in 1668, and another at St. Ignace (now in Michigan) in 1671. In mid-May

Arts, Central Asian, Mongols

2005-07-07T04:30:00.000-07:00

Genghis Khan (died 1227), the renowned Mongol conqueror, sacked and destroyed Bukhara in 1224, sparing only the 12th-century Kalyan tower, which was used for throwing criminals to their death. The 14th-century Turkic conqueror Timur, however, endowed Samarkand with new glory by building a series of religious monuments widely renowned for their splendour and decorative use of glazed

Quicksand

2005-07-01T07:05:00.000-07:00

State in which saturated sand loses its supporting capacity and acquires the character of a liquid. Quicksand is usually found in hollows at the mouths of large rivers or along flat stretches of streams or beaches where pools of water become partially filled with sand and an underlying layer of stiff clay or other dense material prevents drainage. Mixtures of

Szczecinek

2005-06-28T10:25:00.000-07:00

Szczecinek is the commercial centre for the surrounding district; its industry includes dairying,

Botta, Carlo Giuseppe Guglielmo

2005-06-21T18:30:00.000-07:00

Having graduated in medicine at the University of Turin in 1786, Botta was in his youth inspired by the ideas of the French Revolution. Arrested as a spy for the French in 1794, he left Italy for France the following year and from 1796 to 1798 served as a physician

Submachine Gun

2005-06-16T22:05:00.000-07:00

Lightweight automatic small-arms weapon chambered for relatively low-energy pistol cartridges and fired from the hip or shoulder. Most types utilize simple blowback actions. Using cartridges of such calibres as .45 inch or 9 mm, they usually have box-type magazines that hold from 10 to 50 cartridges, or occasionally drums holding more rounds. A short-range weapon, the submachine

Earth Tide

2005-06-13T16:55:00.000-07:00

Also called espavé a tall, tropical forest tree of Central and South America closely related to the domesticated cashew, A. occidentale. The wild cashew grows to a height of over 30 metres (100 feet), and its wood possesses many desirable properties that make it a valuable source of timber. Strong and easily worked, the wood is commonly used by locals in the construction

France, History Of, The failure of reunification (613714)

2005-06-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

Territorial crisis was partially and provisionally averted during the first third of the 7th century.

Fable, Parable, And Allegory

2005-05-18T17:00:00.000-07:00

Any form of imaginative literature or spoken utterance constructed in such a way that readers or listeners are encouraged to look for meanings hidden beneath the literal surface of the fiction. A story is told or perhaps enacted whose details—when interpreted—are found to correspond to the details of some other system of relations (its hidden, allegorical sense).

Canals And Inland Waterways, Boat lifts

2005-05-16T22:00:00.000-07:00

Vessels can be transported floating in a steel tank or caisson between adjacent pounds by a vertical lift, replacing several locks. Vertical lifts can be operated by high-pressure hydraulic rams, by submersible floats, or by geared counterweights. Hydraulic lifts with twin caissons were constructed in 1875 at Anderton, Eng., with a 50-foot lift for 60-ton vessels; in 1888 lifts were

Conductor

2005-05-14T19:40:00.000-07:00

In music, a person who conducts an orchestra, chorus, opera company, ballet, or other musical group in the performance and interpretation of ensemble works. At the most fundamental level, a conductor must stress the musical pulse so that all the performers can follow the same metrical rhythm. The keeping of this rhythmic beat is accomplished by a stylized set of arm

Oscillatoria

2005-03-15T23:43:00.000-08:00

Genus of blue-green algae found commonly in a variety of freshwater environments, including hot springs. This unbranched filamentous alga, occurring singly or in tangled mats, derives its name from its rhythmic oscillating motion, which is thought to result from a secretion of mucilage that pushes the filament away from the direction of excretion. Reproduction

Mahalapye

2005-03-14T08:37:00.000-08:00

Village, eastern Botswana. It lies midway along the Mafikeng-Bulawayo railway and is 125 miles (200 km) northeast of Gaborone, the national capital. The name Mahalapye refers to an impala. The village is situated on a plateau with good pasturage, and its economy is based on cattle raising and extensive mixed farming of sorghum, corn (maize), and beans. Mahalapye has one of the country's

Coleman, Ornette

2005-03-11T02:19:00.000-08:00

Coleman began playing alto, then tenor saxophone as a teenager and soon became a working musician in dance bands and rhythm-and-blues groups. Early in his career, his approach to harmony was already unorthodox

Wa

2005-03-07T01:24:00.000-08:00

Also called �Lawa, Va, Hkawa, Kawa, or Kala, � hill-dwelling peoples of eastern Myanmar (Burma), where they are generally called Lawa, and southwestern Yunnan province of China, where they are generally called Va, or Wa. They speak an Austro-Asiatic language related to Mon-Khmer. The pagan, or �wild,� Wa are concentrated in the isolated northern and central Wa states of Myanmar; they are known as headhunters who believe

Tesich, Steve

2005-03-06T17:28:00.000-08:00

(STOYAN TESICH), U.S. screenwriter and playwright who won an Academy Award for Breaking Away and also scripted such films as Eyewitness and The World According to Garp (b. Sept. 29, 1942--d. July 1, 1996).

Mountbatten (of Burma), Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl, Viscount Mountbatten Of Burma, Baron Romsey Of Romsey

2005-03-05T20:00:00.000-08:00

He was the

Macaulay (of Rothley), Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron

2005-03-04T10:16:00.000-08:00

English Whig politician, essayist, poet, and historian best known for his History of England, 5 vol. (1849 - 61); this work, which covers the period 1688 - 1702, secured his place as one of the founders of what has been called the Whig interpretation of history. He was raised to the peerage in 1857.

Utah, Mormon settlement and territorial growth

2005-03-03T18:42:00.000-08:00

When wagonloads of Mormon pioneers under the leadership of Brigham Young first entered

Anson, Cap

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

Anson played in the National Association, the first professional baseball league, with the Forest City

Cambisol

2005-03-01T21:35:00.000-08:00

One of the 30 soil groups in the classification system of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Cambisols are characterized by the absence of a layer of accumulated clay, humus, soluble salts, or iron and aluminum oxides. They differ from unweathered parent material in their aggregate structure, colour, clay content, carbonate content, or other properties that

Agrippina The Elder

2005-02-28T19:00:00.000-08:00

Agrippina was married to Germanicus Caesar (great-nephew of Augustus and nephew and adopted son of Tiberius). She accompanied her husband to Germany and to the East, where he died

Fiedler, Arthur

2005-02-27T08:17:00.000-08:00

Maestro of the Boston Pops Orchestra for 50 seasons and the best-selling classical conductor of all time; his recordings with the Pops sold some 50,000,000 discs. (The Pops Orchestra is the Boston Symphony minus its principal players.) Fiedler, whose principal aim was �to give audiences a good time,� led the Pops in performances of popular tunes, show

La Bourdonnais, Bertrand-fran�ois Mah�, Count (comte) De

2005-02-26T11:46:00.000-08:00

La Bourdonnais entered the service of the French East India Company as a lieutenant at 19, was promoted to captain in 1724, and took part in the capture of Mah� on the Malabar Coast (southwestern India) in 1726. From 1735 to 1740, he was governor

Epistemology, Origins of knowledge

2005-02-25T11:17:00.000-08:00

Philosophers not only wish to know what knowledge is but also how it originates. This motivation is based, at least in part, on the supposition that an investigation into the provenance of knowledge can help cast light on its nature. From the time of the Greeks to the present, therefore, one of the major themes of epistemology has been a quest into the sources of

Moleschott, Jacob

2005-02-24T15:45:00.000-08:00

Moleschott studied medicine (1842 - 45) at the University

Olsztyn

2005-02-22T09:16:00.000-08:00

German �Allenstein, � capital of Olsztyn wojew�dztwo (province), northeastern Poland. It lies along the Lyna River in the Masurian lake district. The town serves as a trade centre, with major rail and road connections for the lake district. The Masurian Regional Museum and an agricultural school are located here. The Teutonic Knights built an imposing castle there in 1334, and the settlement

Berber

2005-02-21T00:52:00.000-08:00

Any of the descendants of the pre-Arab inhabitants of North Africa. The Berbers are scattered in tribes across Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt and tend to be concentrated in the mountain and desert regions of those countries. Smaller numbers of Berbers live in the northern portions of Mauritania, Mali, and Niger. They speak various languages belonging to

Theales

2005-02-20T23:56:00.000-08:00

Tea order of dicotyledonous flowering plants, a division of the subclass Dilleniidae. The members are mostly tropical trees and shrubs. Prominent among them are the plants that produce tea and the ornamental camellia.

Camden

2005-02-19T10:53:00.000-08:00

Fort Nassau, near present-day Gloucester City, was one of the first colonial settlements in New Jersey (1623). At that time Delaware

'abd Al-rahman Iii

2005-02-18T21:44:00.000-08:00

The consolidation of power brought great prosperity to Muslim Spain - one indication of which was his building of a mint where pure gold and silver coins were struck. 'Abd al-Rahman was also a great builder; he renovated and added considerably to the Great Mosque at C�rdoba and to the royal palace. At vast expense he built a new royal city, Madinat al-Zahra', to house his household

Scythebill

2005-02-17T10:36:00.000-08:00

Also called �Sabrebill, or Sicklebill, � any of several birds of Central and South American tropical forests, belonging to the genus Campylorhamphus. The five species are woodcreepers (family Dendrocolaptidae, order Passeriformes), with long downcurved bills that are as much as one-third of the bird's total length, which is about 23 cm (9 inches).

Sprague, Kate Chase

2005-02-16T07:27:00.000-08:00

Educated by her father and in private schools, Kate Chase became the emotional focus of her father's life after the deaths of

Abu Dhabi

2005-02-15T17:28:00.000-08:00

Arabic �Abu Zaby� constituent emirate of the United Arab Emirates (formerly Trucial States, or Trucial Oman). Though its international boundaries are disputed, it is unquestionably the largest of the country's seven constituent emirates with more than three-fourths of the area of the entire federation. Its rich oil fields, both onshore and in the Persian Gulf, make it, with neighbouring

Kahlo, Frida

2005-02-14T05:48:00.000-08:00

In 1925 Kahlo was involved in a bus accident that so seriously injured her that she had to

Alkaline Phosphatase

2005-02-13T03:17:00.000-08:00

Enzyme that is normally present in high concentrations in growing bone and in bile. It is essential for the deposition of minerals in the bones and teeth. Alkaline phosphatase deficiency is a hereditary trait called hypophosphatasia, which results in bone deformities. In severe cases, the deficiency leads to early death from infection. Alkaline phosphatase is

India, Southern Indian kingdoms

2005-02-12T16:44:00.000-08:00

Inscriptions in Brahmi (recently read as Tamil Brahmi) date to between the 2nd century BC and the 4th century

Saudi Arabia, Demography

2005-02-11T13:27:00.000-08:00

The major

Oranjemund

2005-02-10T04:38:00.000-08:00

Planned company town in one of the principal gem-diamond producing areas of the world, in extreme southwestern Namibia. It is located near the Atlantic coast about 5 miles (8 km) north of the mouth of the Orange River, in the sand dunes of the extremely arid Namib Desert. Gem-quality diamonds were discovered in the vicinity in the late 1920s, and in 1943 Oranjemund became the headquarters

Architecture, The temple or church

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

Temples or churches serve as places of worship and as shelters for the images, relics, and holy areas of the cult. In the older religions, the temple was not always designed for communal use. In ancient Egypt and India it was considered the residence of the deity, and entrance into the sanctum was prohibited or reserved for priests; in ancient Greece it contained an accessible

Aybak

2005-02-07T02:51:00.000-08:00

Upon the death of as-Salih, the last great sultan of the Ayyubid dynasty, his son succeeded him but offended his father's slave guards, or Mamluks, who killed him (April 30, 1250). Shajar ad-Durr, as-Salih's widow, thereupon proclaimed herself �queen of the Muslims�; she was recognized in Egypt, but the Syrian emirs refused to pay her homage.

Durrani

2005-02-06T01:53:00.000-08:00

In the late 18th century the Durrani took up agriculture. Under Ahmad Shah Durrani and Timur Shah, the Durrani constituted the most significant political and

Theobald Iv

2005-02-04T06:39:00.000-08:00

Also called �Theobald The Great, �French �Thibaud Le Grand� count of Blois and of Chartres (from 1102) and count of Champagne (from 1125) as Theobald II. He was the grandson of Theobald III of Blois. Theobald IV reunited Champagne with Blois and thus again made his house a threat to the royal domains of France from both east and west. He became in effect the second person of France, alternatively the ally and the enemy

Chang Hs�eh-liang

2005-02-03T23:13:00.000-08:00

Chang Hs�eh-liang was the oldest son of the warlord Chang Tso-lin, who dominated Manchuria and parts of North China. The younger Chang was

Jackson, Andrew

2005-02-02T15:43:00.000-08:00

Jackson's interest in public affairs and in politics had always been keen. He had gone to Nashville as a political appointee, and in 1796 he became a member of the convention that drafted a constitution for the new state of Tennessee. In the same year he was elected as the first representative from Tennessee to the U.S. House of Representatives. An undistinguished legislator, he refused to seek reelection and served only until March 4, 1797. Jackson returned to Tennessee, vowing never to enter public life again, but before the end of the year he was elected to the U.S. Senate. His willingness to accept the office reflects his emergence as an acknowledged leader of one of the two political factions contending for control of the state. Nevertheless, Jackson resigned from the Senate in 1798 after an uneventful year. Soon after his return to Nashville he was elected a judge of the superior court (in effect, the supreme court) of the state and served in that post until 1804. In 1802 Jackson had also been elected major general of the Tennessee militia, a position he still held when the War of 1812 opened the door to a command in the field and a hero's role.

Tracery

2005-02-01T11:18:00.000-08:00

In architecture, bars, or ribs, used decoratively in windows or other openings; the term also applies to similar forms used in relief as wall decoration (sometimes called blind tracery), and hence, figuratively, to any intricate line pattern. The term is applicable to the system of window decoration developed in Europe during the Gothic period as well as to the pierced

Anath

2005-01-30T09:34:00.000-08:00

Considered a beautiful young girl, she was often designated �the Virgin� in ancient texts. Probably one of the best-known of the Canaanite deities, she was famous for her youthful vigour and ferocity in battle; in that respect she was adopted as a special favourite by the Egyptian king Ramses

Lanao, Lake

2005-01-29T04:46:00.000-08:00

Lake, west-central Mindanao, Philippines. It is situated just south of Marawi, northwest of the Butig Mountains. Lake Lanao is the second largest lake in the Philippines and has an area of 131 square miles (340 square km). Its outlet is the Agus River, which flows north, over Maria Cristina Falls, where there is a hydroelectric power plant, to Iligan Bay. There are numerous Muslim

Turgay Valley

2005-01-28T08:34:00.000-08:00

Kazak �Torghay� depression in western Kazakstan. Some 12 - 125 miles (20 - 200 km) wide, it runs roughly north-south for about 375 miles (600 km) through the middle of the Torghay Plateau. It was formed by a caving-in of the ancient foundation, and in the Ice Age, water flowed along it from the West Siberian Plain to the Turan Plain. Today it contains a chain of fresh and saline lakes, with the Ubagan River flowing north

Waikato River

2005-01-27T22:56:00.000-08:00

River, the longest in New Zealand, in central North Island. Rising on the slopes of Mount Ruapehu in Tongariro National Park as the Tongariro River, it flows north through Lake Taupo and, issuing from the lake's northeastern corner, tumbles over Huka Falls and flows northwest to enter the Tasman Sea south of Auckland. The river is 264 miles (425 km) long. It has a gentle gradient

Bur Cucumber

2005-01-26T23:27:00.000-08:00

Any of several tropical climbing plants in the genus Sicyos, of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae). One species (S. angulatus), known also as star cucumber, is native to North America. A bur cucumber has sharply lobed leaves, forked tendrils, clusters of five-petaled white flowers that are borne at the ends of long stalks that arise from the leaf axils, and clusters of

Newhall, Nancy

2005-01-25T11:13:00.000-08:00

She attended Smith College and was a member of the Art Students League of New York. Her career began in 1943, when she became acting curator of the photography department at the Museum of Modern

Mitford, Mary Russell

2005-01-24T01:11:00.000-08:00

She was the only daughter of George Mitford, a dashing, irresponsible character whose extravagance compelled the family, in 1820, to leave their house in Reading (built when Mary, at the age of 10, won �20,000 in a lottery)

Bahr Al-ghazal

2005-01-23T13:32:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Bahr el-Ghazal, �English �Gazelle River, � river, The Sudan, chief western affluent of the Nile River. It is 445 miles (716 km) long and joins the upper Nile (Bahr al-Jabal) through Lake No, from which it flows eastward as the White Nile (Bahr al-Abyad). Vaguely known to early Greek geographers, the river was mapped in 1772 by the French geographer Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville. It is known as the Bahr al-Ghazal only after joining with

Gendje Carpet

2005-01-22T21:52:00.000-08:00

Old Gendjes are made entirely of

Cond�, Louis I De Bourbon, 1er Prince De (1st Prince Of)

2005-01-21T19:43:00.000-08:00

Louis de Bourbon was the hunchback youngest son of Charles, duc de Vend�me, and Fran�oise d'Alen�on. Brought up among Huguenots, he was married in

Earth Sciences, Micropaleontology

2005-01-20T11:56:00.000-08:00

Microscopic fossils, such as ostracods, foraminifera, and pollen grains, are common in sediments of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras (from about 225,000,000 years ago to the present). Because the rock chips brought up in oil wells are so small, a high-resolution instrument known as a scanning electron microscope had to be developed to study the microfossils. The classification of

Gondwanaland

2005-01-19T22:50:00.000-08:00

Also called �Gondwana, � hypothetical former supercontinent in the Southern Hemisphere, which included South America, Africa, peninsular India, Australia, and Antarctica. The name was coined by the Austrian geologist Eduard Suess in reference to the Upper Paleozoic and Mesozoic formations of the Gondwana region of central India, which display typical developments of some of the shared

Stage Machinery

2005-01-18T18:23:00.000-08:00

Devices designed for the production of theatrical effects, such as rapid scene changes, lighting, sound effects, and illusions of the supernatural or magical. Theatrical machinery has been in use since at least the 5th century BC, when the Greeks developed deus ex machina (q.v.), by which an actor could be lowered to the stage. During the Hellenistic period, the Greeks also

Muhammad

2005-01-17T23:25:00.000-08:00

In full �Abu al-Qasim Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim � founder of the religion of Islam and of the Muslim community.

Nichiren

2005-01-16T23:06:00.000-08:00

Original name �Zennichi, �also called �Zenshobo Rencho, �posthumous name �Rissho Daishi � militant Japanese Buddhist prophet who contributed significantly to the adaptation of Buddhism to the Japanese mentality and who remains one of the most controversial and influential figures in Japanese Buddhist history. After an exhaustive study of the various forms of Buddhism, he concluded (in 1253) that the Lotus Sutra teaching

Aratus Of Sicyon

2005-01-15T14:43:00.000-08:00

After liberating Sicyon in 251, he established a democracy there and united it with the Achaean League for defense against Macedonia. As general of the league (a post he normally held each alternate year after 245), he captured

Jacksonville

2005-01-14T19:01:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1755) of Onslow county, southeastern North Carolina, U.S. It lies along the New River at the head of its estuary, about 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Wilmington. Originally settled as Wantland's Ferry (c. 1757), its name was changed to Onslow Courthouse and then Jacksonville in 1842 to honour President Andrew Jackson. It remained a small hunting and fishing resort until 1941, when the establishment

Gagern, (wilhelm) Heinrich (august), Freiherr Von (baron Of)

2005-01-13T05:58:00.000-08:00

Wounded at Waterloo at the age of 16, Gagern

Alarc�n Y Ariza, Pedro Antonio De

2005-01-12T13:27:00.000-08:00

Alarc�n had achieved a considerable reputation as a journalist and poet when his play El hijo pr�digo (�The Prodigal Son�) was hissed off the stage in 1857. The failure so exasperated him that he enlisted as a volunteer in the Moroccan campaign of 1859 - 60. The expedition

Barahona

2005-01-11T00:36:00.000-08:00

In full� Santa Cruz De Barahona, � city, southwestern Dominican Republic. It lies along Neiba Bay, off the Caribbean Sea, at the northeastern foot of the Sierra de Bahoruco. The gateway to the Dominican Republic's lake district, Barahona is an important port and fishing centre. Sugarcane is grown in the surrounding alluvial lowlands, coffee in the mountains. The city's industrial and commercial activity

Mol�, Louis-mathieu, Comte (count)

2005-01-10T14:17:00.000-08:00

The young Mol� left France during the Revolution but returned in 1796. He gained Napoleon's approval after his publication of Essais de morale et de politique (1806), a justification of monarchical government; Napoleon made him auditor to the Council

Ma Tuan-lin

2005-01-09T09:32:00.000-08:00

Pinyin �Ma Duanlin� Chinese historian who wrote the Wen hsien t'ung k'ao (�General Study of the Literary Remains�), a huge encyclopaedia of general knowledge. This work, with the works of two other historians of the Sung dynasty (960 - 1279), Cheng Ch'iao (1108 - 66) and Ssu-ma Kuang (1019 - 86), is considered one of the greatest institutional histories ever written on China and, as such, was a model for many later

Karadjordjevic Dynasty

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

The first prince, Alexander (son of Karadjordje), reigned from 1842 to 1858. Thereafter, for

Cambac�r�s, Jean-jacques-r�gis De, Duke (duc) De Parme

2005-01-07T07:23:00.000-08:00

French statesman and legal expert who was second consul with Napoleon Bonaparte and then archchancellor of the empire. As Napoleon's principal adviser on all juridical matters from 1800 to 1814, he was instrumental in formulating the Napoleonic Code, or Civil Code (1804), and subsequent codes. Often consulted on other matters of state, he tried

Kerala Plains

2005-01-06T09:14:00.000-08:00

Narrow strip of coastland, southwestern India, fronting the Arabian Sea to the west and constituting almost all of Kerala state and most of the Malabar Coast (q.v.). With an area of approximately 11,000 square miles (28,000 square km), the plains are indented by numerous shallow lagoons, known locally as kayes, that are formed by sand dunes and which are known locally as teris. The sandy

Cancer And Capricorn, Tropics Of

2005-01-05T16:46:00.000-08:00

Latitudes approximately 23�27� N and 23�27� S of the terrestrial Equator, respectively. These latitudes correspond to the northernmost and southernmost declinations of the Sun's ecliptic (q.v.) to the celestial equator. At the summer solstice (in the Northern Hemisphere), around June 21, the Sun attains its greatest declination north and is directly over the Tropic of Cancer. At that

Van Heusen, Jimmy

2005-01-04T21:21:00.000-08:00

Van Heusen worked as a staff pianist at music publishing companies in New York City before collaborating with lyricist Eddie de Lange to write songs, including the popular �Darn That

World War I, The U.S. entry into the war

2005-01-03T22:29:00.000-08:00

After the rupture of diplomatic relations with Germany on Feb. 3, 1917, events pushed the United States inexorably along the road to war. Using his authority as commander in chief, Wilson on March 9 ordered the arming of American merchant ships so that they could defend themselves against U-boat attacks. German submarines sank three U.S. merchant ships during March 16 - 18 with heavy

Chondrichthian, Food habits

2005-01-02T18:24:00.000-08:00

All sharks are carnivorous and, with a few exceptions, have broad feeding preferences, governed largely by the size and availability of the prey. The recorded food of the tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvieri), for example, includes a wide variety of fishes (including other sharks, skates, and stingrays), sea turtles, birds, sea lions, crustaceans, squid, and even carrion such as

Sun Worship

2005-01-01T22:50:00.000-08:00

Although sun worship has been used frequently as a term for �pagan� religion, it is, in fact, relatively rare. Though almost every culture uses solar motifs, only a relatively few cultures (Egyptian, Indo-European, and Meso-American) developed solar religions. All of these

Madang

2004-12-31T23:59:00.000-08:00

Port on the northeastern coast of the island of New Guinea, Papua New Guinea. It lies along Astrolabe Bay of the Bismarck Sea, near the mouth of the Gogol River. Madang is the centre for a large timber industry based on the Gogol forest about 25 miles (40 km) inland and is the distributing centre for the north coast and the Central Range. It is also a communication point for the

Caitanya Sect

2004-12-30T23:48:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Chaitanya� intensely emotional form of Hinduism that has flourished from the 16th century, mainly in Bengal and eastern Orissa, India. It takes its name from the medieval saint Caitanya (Chaitanya; 1485 - 1533), whose fervent devotion to Lord Krishna (Krsna) inspired the movement. For Caitanya the legends of Krishna and his youthful beloved, Radha, were both symbolic of and the highest expressions

Price, George

2004-12-29T22:48:00.000-08:00

As a young man Price did odd jobs in printing offices and did freelance illustrations. During the 1920s he was active in advertising art. Much of the humour in his cartoons lay

Biblical Literature, The Apocalypse of Baruch

2004-12-28T09:22:00.000-08:00

The Apocalypse of Baruch was written about the same time as II (IV) Esdras, and the less profound Apocalypse probably depends much upon II Esdras. The Apocalypse of Baruch survives only in a Syriac version translated from Greek; originally the book was composed in Hebrew or Aramaic and is ascribed to Baruch, the disciple of Jeremiah and a contemporary of the destruction

Economic Stabilizer

2004-12-27T17:55:00.000-08:00

Any of the institutions and practices in an economy that serve to reduce fluctuations in the business cycle through offsetting effects on the amounts of income available for spending (disposable income). The most important automatic stabilizers include unemployment compensation and other transfer payment programs, farm price supports, and family and corporate

Cond�, Louis-henri-joseph, 9e Prince De (9th Prince Of), Duc (duke) De Bourbon

2004-12-26T11:44:00.000-08:00

The 9th Prince of Cond� was married in 1770 to Louise-Marie-Th�r�se d'Orl�ans (1750 - 1822), who bore him a son, Louis-Antoine, duc d'Enghien, in 1772, but from whom he parted in 1780. Emigrating with his father and son

Shire

2004-12-25T11:58:00.000-08:00

In Great Britain, a county. The Anglo-Saxon shire (Old English scir) was an administrative division next above the hundred and seems to have existed in the south in the time of Alfred the Great (871 - 899) and to have been fully established by the reign of Edgar (959 - 975). It was administered by an ealdorman (alderman) and by a sheriff (i.e., shire-reeve), who presided over the shire court. After the

Italy, The rise of Mussolini

2004-12-24T20:33:00.000-08:00

The political crisis of the postwar years provided an opportunity for militant, patriotic movements, including those of ex-servicemen and former assault troops, radical students, ex-syndicalists, and former pro-war agitators. D'Annunzio in Fiume led one such movement, but the ex-Socialist journalist Benito Mussolini soon became even more prominent, founding his

Strambotto

2004-12-23T00:27:00.000-08:00

Plural �strambotti� one of the oldest Italian verse forms, composed of a single stanza of either six or eight hendecasyllabic (11-syllable) lines. Strambotti were particularly popular in Renaissance Sicily and Tuscany, and the origin of the form in either region is still uncertain. Variations of the eight-line strambotto include the Sicilian octave (ottava siciliana), with the rhyme scheme

Ash'ari, Abu Al-hasan Al-

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

An indispensable work for those who wish to read al-Ash'ari is Richard J. McCarthy (ed.), The Theology of al-Ash'ari (1953), containing the texts of two of his theological treatises with their English translation. W. Montgomery Watt, Islamic Philosophy and Theology, 2nd ed. (1985), places al-Ash'ari in the chronological development of Muslim thought.

Waterford Glass

2004-12-21T14:57:00.000-08:00

Heavy cut glassware produced in Waterford, Ire., from 1729. Waterford glass, particularly the early variety, is characterized by thick walls, deeply incised geometric cutting, and brilliant polish. The smoky, bluish gray colour of early Waterford glass was considered a drawback, and a clear crystal was produced after 1830. It is the darkened glass, however, that is most prized

Einstein, Hannah Bachman

2004-12-20T15:02:00.000-08:00

Hannah Bachman married William Einstein in 1881. She developed an interest in charitable work, and from its founding in about 1890 she was active in the Temple Emanu-El Sisterhood, which undertook

Kwangsi, Education

2004-12-19T06:23:00.000-08:00

A special educational feature in Kwangsi is the program for the education of national minorities. Minority languages are used for instruction in primary and middle schools, written scripts, such as that for Chuang, are developed for spoken minority languages wherever needed, minority teachers are trained, and government subsidies are provided for minority

Cabochon Cut

2004-12-18T07:36:00.000-08:00

Method of cutting gemstones with a convex, rounded surface that is polished but unfaceted. Opaque, asteriated, iridescent, opalescent, or chatoyant stones are usually cut en cabochon. The back of a normal cabochon-cut stone is flat, but it may be hollowed to lighten the colour. Garnet, jasper, bloodstone, moonstone, cat's-eye, and star ruby and sapphire are among the gemstones

Aramaic Language

2004-12-17T23:16:00.000-08:00

Aramaic is thought to have first appeared among the Aramaeans about the late 11th century

Crockford, William

2004-12-16T11:58:00.000-08:00

Crocker was the son of a fishmonger, and he himself practiced the trade in his youth. After winning a large sum of money (�100,000, according to one story) either at cards or by running a gambling establishment, he built in 1827 a luxuriously decorated gambling house at 50 St. James's Street in London.

Chase, William Merritt

2004-12-15T10:58:00.000-08:00

Chase studied at the National Academy of Design in New York City and under Karl von Piloty for six years in Munich. He worked for a time in the grays and browns of the Munich school, but in the 1880s

Ancient Rome, The Illyrian emperors

2004-12-14T05:51:00.000-08:00

After Claudius II's unexpected death, the empire was ruled from 270 to 284 by several �Illyrian� emperors, who were good generals and who tried in an energetic way to restore equilibrium. The most remarkable was Aurelian. He first gained hard-won victories over the Alemanni and the Juthungi, who had invaded the Alpine provinces and northern Italy. To cheer the inhabitants of

Sotie

2004-12-13T18:56:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Sottie, � short satirical play popular in France in the 15th and early 16th centuries, in which a company of sots (�fools�) exchanged badinage on contemporary persons and events. The sots, wearing the traditional short jacket, tights, bells, and dunce cap of the fool, also introduced acrobatics and farcical humour into the sketches. At first the sotie was used as an introductory piece

Bad D�rkheim

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

Also called �D�rkheim, � city, Rhineland-Palatinate Land (state), west-central Germany. It lies on the eastern slope of the Haardt Mountains at the entrance to the Isenach Valley, 13 miles (21 km) west of Mannheim. Originally a dependency of the Benedictine abbey of Limburg (founded in 1030 by the emperor Conrad II), the city came under the counts of Leiningen-Hartenburg, who built a castle there in the 14th century.