ConsciousBoot

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2007-01-25T10:55:00.000-08:00

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Roussel, Albert(-charles-paul-marie)

2005-04-04T16:29:00.000-07:00

Roussel joined the French navy at the age of 18 and made several journeys to Southeast Asia, the exotic impressions of which he recalled in later orchestral and dramatic works. At 25 he resigned his

China, Plant life

2005-04-04T04:39:00.000-07:00

Types of natural vegetation and their floristic composition are extremely diverse. The total number of seed plants in China is about 30,000 species, representing 2,700 genera; more than 200 of these genera are restricted to China. There are about 2,500 species of forest trees, and, among flowering plants, 95 percent of the known woody group are to be found. Many of them are trees of economic

Barante, Amable-guillaume-prosper Brugière, Baron De

2005-04-01T23:45:00.000-08:00

Educated at the École Polytechnique

Kaf, Al-

2005-04-01T06:51:00.000-08:00

Also spelled El-kef, or Le Kef, town, northwestern Tunisia. The town is situated at an elevation of 2,559 feet (780 m) on the slopes of the Haut (high) Tell, 22 miles (35 km) from the Algerian border. It occupies the site of an ancient Carthaginian town and later Roman colony—Sicca Veneria. Al-Kaf (“The Rock”) was an important stronghold during Turkish rule and is now a regional marketplace and strategic road junction on the

Melba, Dame Nellie

2005-03-31T19:04:00.000-08:00

She sang at Richmond (Australia) Public Hall at the age of six and was a skilled pianist and organist, but she did not study singing until after her marriage to Charles Nesbitt Armstrong in 1882. She appeared in Sydney in 1885 and in London in 1886 and then studied in Paris. She made her

Industrial Polymers, Major, Aldehyde condensation polymers

2005-03-30T14:44:00.000-08:00

The polymerization reactions of these monomers produce complex, thermosetting network polymers with the following

Middle East, Ancient

2005-03-29T15:09:00.000-08:00

History of the region from prehistoric times to the rise of civilizations in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and other areas.

Earth, Measurement of the field

2005-03-28T03:15:00.000-08:00

Magnetic fields can be measured in various ways. The simplest measurement technique still employed today involves the use of the compass, a device consisting of a permanently magnetized needle that is balanced to pivot in the horizontal plane. In the presence of a magnetic field and in the absence of gravity, a magnetized needle aligns itself exactly along the

Crockett, Davy

2005-03-27T20:00:00.000-08:00

His father, having little means, hired him out to more prosperous backwoods farmers, and Davy's schooling amounted to 100 days of tutoring with a neighbour. Successive moves west to middle Tennessee brought him close to the area of the Creek War, in which

Joyce, William

2005-03-26T23:07:00.000-08:00

Though his father was a naturalized U.S. citizen, Joyce lived most of his life in Ireland and England. He was active in Sir Oswald Mosley's British fascist organization and was also a cofounder

Ram Allah

2005-03-25T17:34:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Ramallah, town, central Palestine, adjacent to the town of Al-Birah (east) and north of Jerusalem. Ram Allah (Arabic: “Height of God”) has since the Six-Day War of 1967 been under Israeli administration as part of the West Bank territory. An ancient settlement, it has buildings incorporating masonry from the time of Herod the Great (reigned 37–4 BC), but no complete structure antedates the Crusades of

Moldova, Flag Of

2005-03-25T05:04:00.000-08:00

Moldova declared independence during World War I. At various times in prior centuries it had been a part of Moldavia, Russia, the Ottoman Empire, and Romania, and its symbols are derived from historical and cultural links with Moldavia and Romania. Its flag of December 1917 was the traditional Romanian tricolour of blue, yellow, and red in horizontal format. In the centre

Bharuch

2005-03-23T08:35:00.000-08:00

Bharuch was one of the most celebrated harbours in ancient India, being mentioned in the Periplus Maris Erythraei (c. AD 80) and by Ptolemy as Barygaza. It also occurs in the Hindu epic poem Mahabharata. Ruled in the 2nd century by the Ksatrapas and in the 7th

Ch'iang-t'ang

2005-03-21T21:46:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Qiangtang , Tibetan Byang Thang enormous alpine basin in the northern part of the Tibetan autonomous ch'ü (region), China. With an average elevation of more than 16,500 feet (5,000 m) above sea level, it lies between the Kunlun Mountains to the north and the T'ang-ku-la Mountains and A-ling Mountains to the south and stretches 800 miles (1,300 km) from the mountain complex called the Pamir Knot in the west to the region of the Tsaidam

Japanese Baseball Leagues

2005-03-20T08:01:00.000-08:00

The two main leagues in Japan are the Central League and the Pacific League. Each league is composed

Pacific Ocean, Central Pacific region

2005-03-19T17:12:00.000-08:00

The central Pacific region lies between the boundaries of the eastern and western regions. The largest and the most geologically stable of the structural provinces of the Earth's crust, it is characterized by expansive areas of low relief, lying at a general depth of about 15,000 feet below the surface.

Hyalosiderite

2005-03-18T11:19:00.000-08:00

Silicate mineral, a member of the forsterite–fayalite series (q.v.) of olivines.

Manchu-tungus Languages

2005-03-18T00:36:00.000-08:00

Also called Tungusic languages, smallest of three subfamilies of the Altaic language family. The Manchu-Tungus languages are a group of 10 to 17 languages spoken by fewer than 70,000 people scattered across a vast region that stretches from northern China across Mongolia to the northern boundary of Russia. Apart from the moribund Manchu and the now-extinct Juchen (Jurchen) languages, these languages have

Rhine, Confederation Of The

2005-03-17T04:52:00.000-08:00

French Confédération du Rhin German Rheinbund union (1806–13) of all the states of Germany, except Austria and Prussia, under the aegis of Napoleon I, which enabled the French to unify and dominate the country until Napoleon's downfall. The formation of the confederation was preceded by French encroachment in Germany beginning in 1792: all territory west of the Rhine River was annexed outright, and the first steps toward consolidation

Macdonald, Flora

2005-03-17T02:20:00.000-08:00

Scottish Jacobite heroine who helped Charles Edward, the Young Pretender, the Stuart claimant to the British throne, to escape from Scotland after his defeat in the Jacobite rebellion of 1745–46. The daughter of Ranald Macdonald, a tacksman or farmer of Milton in the island of South Uist (Hebrides),

Gauthey, Emiland-marie

2005-03-16T21:29:00.000-08:00

Gauthey studied at the École des Ponts et Chaussées (School of Bridges and Highways) in Paris, then taught there while making

Mercedarian

2005-03-15T15:31:00.000-08:00

St. Raymond of Penafort, Nolasco's confessor and the author of the order's rule, based the rule on that of St. Augustine. In addition to the usual three religious vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, the Mercedarians

Cynic

2005-03-15T08:26:00.000-08:00

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

Tyuyamunite

2005-03-14T20:43:00.000-08:00

Radioactive, yellow, soft, and waxy uranium and vanadium oxide mineral, Ca(UO2)2(VO4)2×nH2O. It is considered to be the calcium analogue of carnotite, from which it can be made artificially and reversibly by cation exchange (calcium exchanges places with potassium in carnotite's molecular structure). Tyuyamunite occurs widely with carnotite in the southwestern United States

Spoonbill

2005-03-13T11:57:00.000-08:00

Also called Spoonbill Cat, primitive North American fish, a species of paddlefish (q.v.).

Huntsville

2005-03-12T13:28:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1808) of Madison county, northern Alabama, U.S. It is situated in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains near the Tennessee River, about 100 miles (160 km) north of Birmingham. It was originally called Twickenham by planter Leroy Pope for the home of his kinsman, Alexander Pope, the English poet. It was incorporated in 1811 and was renamed for John Hunt of Virginia, a Revolutionary

Endecott, John

2005-03-12T00:22:00.000-08:00

Little is known of Endecott before 1628, when, as one of the six grantees of the New England Company for a Plantation in Massachusetts, he was chosen manager and governor of their settlement. In that year Endecott, with about 60 fellow

World War I, The Turkish entry

2005-03-11T15:14:00.000-08:00

The entry of Turkey (or the Ottoman Empire, as it was then called) into the war as a German ally was the one great success of German wartime diplomacy. Since 1909 Turkey had been under the control of the Young Turks, over whom Germany had skillfully gained a dominating influence. German military instructors permeated the Turkish Army, and Enver Pasa, the leader of the Young Turks,

Lenya, Lotte

2005-03-11T14:17:00.000-08:00

Lenya studied ballet and drama in Zurich from 1914 to 1920, was a member of the corps de ballet at the Zürich Stadttheater, and played

Grusi

2005-03-11T11:52:00.000-08:00

Ethnolinguistic group among the inhabitants of northern Ghana and adjacent areas of Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta) and Togo. The linguistic groups and subgroups of the area are difficult to classify with certitude, but the Grusi languages make up a subbranch of the Gur (Voltaic) branch of the Niger-Congo language family. The difficulty in establishing distinct

Argyll, Archibald Campbell, 5th Earl Of, Lord Campbell, Lord Lorne

2005-03-09T02:16:00.000-08:00

Campbell succeeded his father, Archibald, the 4th earl, in 1558. He was an adherent of John Knox and assisted Lord James Stewart (afterward the regent Moray) in the warfare of the lords of the congregation against the regent Mary of Lorraine, the mother of Mary Stuart. Argyll's support of Mary Stuart after her return

North Germanic Languages, Phonology

2005-03-08T14:28:00.000-08:00

Pitch is usually high on the stressed syllable, falling at the end of a statement,

Florida State University

2005-03-08T13:29:00.000-08:00

Public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Tallahassee, Florida, U.S. It is part of the State University System of Florida and consists of eight schools and eight colleges, including a college of engineering that is jointly operated with Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. Branch campuses are located in Panama City and the Central American

Amorphous Solid, Amorphous semiconductors in electronics

2005-03-07T07:13:00.000-08:00

Amorphous semiconductors, in the form of thin films prepared by methods such as that shown in Figure 4D, are important in applications requiring large areas of electronically active material. The first electronic application of amorphous semiconductors to occur on a large scale was

Swamp Eel

2005-03-06T23:55:00.000-08:00

Any of about 15 species of slim, eel-like fish comprising the order Synbranchiformes. Swamp eels, unrelated to true eels (Anguilliformes), are found in fresh and brackish waters of the tropics. They appear to be related to the order Perciformes. They range from about 20 to 70 centimetres (8 to 28 inches) in length and either are scaleless or have very small scales. The dorsal and anal

Mondego River

2005-03-06T07:26:00.000-08:00

Portuguese Rio Mondego, largest of the exclusively Portuguese rivers, rising at 4,675 feet (1,425 m) on the northern slopes of Mount Estrela and flowing southwestward for 137 miles (220 km) to the Atlantic Ocean. It has a drainage basin of 2,615 square miles (6,772 square km). A sandbar prohibits navigation above Figueira da Foz, though small craft can sail 52 miles (84 km) upstream to Foz Dão; the river is tidal to Montemor-o-Velho (12 miles

Great Dismal Swamp

2005-03-05T15:19:00.000-08:00

Also called Dismal Swamp marshy region on the Coastal Plain of southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, U.S., between Norfolk, Virginia, and Elizabeth City, North Carolina. It is densely forested and contains scattered natural elevations of 10 to 20 feet (3 to 6 metres) above sea level. Along the western margin the Pamlico Formation (known as the Great Dismal Swamp Terrace) rises to 25 feet

Moraceae

2005-03-05T05:37:00.000-08:00

The mulberry family of the nettle order (Urticales), with about 40 genera and some 1,000 species of deciduous or evergreen trees and shrubs, distributed mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. Plants of the family contain a milky latex and have alternate or opposite leaves and small, petalless male or female flowers. The fruits of many species are multiple because fruits

Devolution, War Of

2005-03-04T17:17:00.000-08:00

Devolution was a local custom governing the inheritance of land in certain provinces of the Spanish Netherlands, by which daughters of a first marriage were preferred to sons of subsequent marriages; and Louis XIV of France began the war on the pretext that this

Atlantic Monthly, The

2005-03-02T07:14:00.000-08:00

Monthly journal of literature and opinion, published in Boston, one of the oldest and most respected of American reviews. The Atlantic Monthly was founded in 1857 by Moses Dresser Phillips and Francis H. Underwood. It has long been noted for the quality of its fiction and general articles, contributed by a long line of distinguished editors and authors that includes James

Pembroke Table

2005-03-02T04:08:00.000-08:00

Light, drop-leaf table designed for occasional use, probably deriving its name from Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke (1693–1751), a noted connoisseur and amateur architect. The table has two drawers and flaps on either side that can be raised by brackets on hinges (known as “elbows”) to increase its size. Usually provided with casters (it was often used for bedside meals), the legs of

Calculus

2005-03-02T04:05:00.000-08:00

Branch of mathematical analysis concerned with the rates of change of continuous functions as their arguments change. Two men are now credited with discovering calculus, Sir Isaac Newton of England and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz of Germany. For almost a century, development of the subject was inhibited by a bitter controversy over priority between supporters

China, Vietnam

2005-03-01T17:35:00.000-08:00

In 1802 a new dynasty was founded in Vietnam (Dai Viet) by Nguyen Phuc Anh, a member of the royal family of Nguyen at Hue, who had expelled the short-lived Tay Son regime and had unified the country. The Ch'ing, under the Chia-ch'ing emperor, recognized the new dynasty as a fait accompli, but a controversy arose as to a name for the new country. Nguyen Phuc Anh demanded the name Nam Viet,

Hayden, Melissa

2005-02-28T23:16:00.000-08:00

Hayden began studying dance while a schoolgirl. In 1945 she went to New York City and found a position in the corps de ballet at Radio City Music Hall. Within a few months she had been accepted by the Ballet Theatre (now American Ballet Theatre)

Thaw, John Edward

2005-02-28T01:11:00.000-08:00

British actor (b. Jan. 3, 1942, Manchester, Eng.—d. Feb. 21, 2002, Luckington, Wiltshire, Eng.), was a respected actor who starred in several British television series but achieved international recognition for one of his roles—the crusty, cerebral Chief Inspector Morse, the title character in a series of 33 two-part dramas based on the novels of British detective writer Colin Dexter. Thaw trained

War, Law Of

2005-02-27T18:44:00.000-08:00

That part of international law dealing with the inception, conduct, and termination of warfare. Its aim is to limit the suffering caused to combatants and, more particularly, to those who may be described as the victims of war—that is, noncombatant civilians and those no longer able to take part in hostilities. Thus, the wounded, the sick, the shipwrecked, and prisoners

Wagner, Robert F(erdinand)

2005-02-27T11:02:00.000-08:00

Wagner arrived in the United States at the age of eight and settled with his parents in a New York tenement neighborhood. After graduating from the City College of New York in 1898, he went on to obtain a law degree from New York Law School in 1900. Later that year he was

Kodiak Bear

2005-02-25T18:52:00.000-08:00

(Ursus arctos middendorffi), variety of grizzly bear found on Kodiak Island, off the coast of Alaska. It is the largest of living land carnivores. See grizzly bear.

Argentina, Confederation under Rosas, 182952

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

The regime of Rosas in Buenos Aires enjoyed far broader support than any of its predecessors. Special interest groups, landholders, and export-import merchants (along with the British diplomatic contingent that was identified with these interests) all fell behind the new governor. Practically all the influential sectors in the province identified Rosas's triumph

Qamishli, Al-

2005-02-24T22:53:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Qamishliye, town in northeastern Syria. It lies along the Turkish border. The border divides the Syrian town of Al-Qamishli from the Turkish town of Nusaybin. The town was founded in 1926 as a station on the Taurus railway. Its mixed population increased with influxes of Armenian, Assyrian Christian, and Kurdish refugees from Turkey and Iraq. The town also has Sunnite Muslims, Syriac-speaking

Taft, William Howard

2005-02-22T20:59:00.000-08:00

For additional writings by Taft, see Limited Presidential Power and The Cabinet and the Congress.

Tibet, Education

2005-02-22T11:20:00.000-08:00

There were a few secular schools in Tibet before the Chinese established control. The monasteries were the main seats of learning, and some of the larger ones were similar in operation to theological universities. Secular facilities were established in the 1950s, including government-run primary schools, community primary schools, and secondary technical and tertiary

Matruh

2005-02-22T05:57:00.000-08:00

Desert muhafazah (governorate) of Egypt that includes all of Egypt west of al-Jizah governorate and north of latitude 26°20¢ N. Only one percent of its area is inhabited. It is mostly a plateau area of sedimentary rock such as limestone, averaging 700–800 feet (215–245 m) in elevation and nowhere surpassing 1,500 feet (460 m). Surface dissection results from wind erosion on the stone-covered wastes and sandy

Yverdon

2005-02-21T07:47:00.000-08:00

German Iferten, city, Vaud canton, western Switzerland, on the southern shore of Lake Neuchâtel, at the mouth of La Thielle River, north of Lausanne. It originated as the Roman camp Eburodunum, and the ruined Roman walls remain. The castle (1260–78) of the dukes of Savoy was the seat of the boarding school established in 1805 by the Swiss educator Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, which flourished for 20 years;

Turgenev, Nikolay Ivanovich

2005-02-20T19:52:00.000-08:00

Born into the middle class, Turgenev was one of a number of Russian youths infected by the liberal spirit that emerged in Europe after the French

Jordan, Biblical associations

2005-02-20T00:29:00.000-08:00

Biblical accounts of the area, dating from the Middle Bronze Age onward, mention kingdoms such as Gilead in the north, Moab in central Jordan, and Midian in the south. At the time of the Exodus, the Israelites tried to pass through Edom in southern Jordan but were refused permission. They were at first repelled by the Amorites, whom they later defeated. The Israelite tribes

Disasters

2005-02-19T01:55:00.000-08:00

March 20, Dhaka, Bangladesh. A gas cylinder belonging to a balloon

Offset Printing

2005-02-18T13:11:00.000-08:00

Also called offset lithography , or litho-offset in commercial printing, widely used printing technique in which the inked image on a printing plate is printed on a rubber cylinder and then transferred (i.e., offset) to paper or other material. The rubber cylinder gives great flexibility, permitting printing on wood, cloth, metal, leather, and rough paper. An American printer, Ira W. Rubel, of Nutley, N.J., accidentally discovered

Guldberg, Cato Maximilian

2005-02-18T04:38:00.000-08:00

Guldberg was educated at the University of Christiania and taught at the royal military schools before becoming professor of mathematics at the University

World War I, The German invasion

2005-02-17T14:44:00.000-08:00

For the smooth working of their plan for the invasion of France, the Germans had preliminarily to reduce the ring fortress of Liège, which commanded the route prescribed for their 1st and 2nd armies and which was the foremost stronghold of the Belgian defenses. German troops crossed the frontier into Belgium on the morning of August 4. Thanks to the resolution of a middle-aged

Salamá

2005-02-17T10:10:00.000-08:00

City, central Guatemala. It lies between the Chuacús Mountains and the Minas Mountains on the Salamá River, a tributary of the Chixoy, at 3,084 feet (940 m) above sea level. Salamá is a commercial and manufacturing centre for its agricultural and pastoral hinterland. The city suffered serious damage from an earthquake in 1976. Salamá is accessible by road from San Cristóbal Verapaz

Bioethics

2005-02-16T20:00:00.000-08:00

The discipline dealing with the ethical implications of both biological research and the applications of that research, especially in medicine. The first bioethics study institute, the Hastings Center, was established in June 1969 and is now located in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., U.S. In 1971 Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., established The Joseph and Rose Kennedy Institute

Submissive Behaviour

2005-02-15T17:56:00.000-08:00

Form of animal behaviour in which one individual attempts through appeasement displays to avoid injury by a dominant member of its own species. Appeasement displays are commonly found in species that are well armed (e.g., carnivores) and social. The displays, even when performed by adult males, commonly incorporate elements of infantile behaviour (e.g., in wolves, rolling

Pacemaker

2005-02-14T01:32:00.000-08:00

A healthy human heart contains its own electrical conducting system capable of controlling both the rate and the order of cardiac contractions. Electrical impulses are generated at

Libya

2005-02-14T00:26:00.000-08:00

A socialist country of North Africa, Libya lies on the Mediterranean Sea. Area: 1,757,000 sq km (678,400 sq mi). Pop. (1996 est.): 5,446,000. Cap.: Tripoli (policy-making body meets in Surt). Monetary unit: Libyan dinar, with (Oct. 11, 1996) an official rate of 0.36 dinar to U.S. $1 (0.56 dinar = £ 1 sterling). De facto chief of state in 1996, Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi; secretary of the General People's Congress (nominal chief of state), Zanati Muhammad az-Zanati;

Hinduism

2005-02-12T22:23:00.000-08:00

The beliefs, practices, and socioreligious institutions of the Hindus (originally, the inhabitants of the land of the Indus River). Introduced in about 1830 by British writers, the term properly denotes the Indian civilization of approximately the last 2,000 years, which evolved from Vedism, the religion of the Indo-European peoples who settled in India in the last centuries

Hippie

2005-02-12T15:03:00.000-08:00

Also spelled hippy member, during the 1960s and 1970s, of a countercultural movement that rejected the mores of mainstream American life. The movement originated on U.S. college campuses, although it spread to other countries, including Canada and Britain. The name derived from “hip,” a term applied to the Beats of the 1950s, such as Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, who were generally considered to be the

Welland

2005-02-12T09:04:00.000-08:00

City, regional municipality of Niagara, southeastern Ontario, Canada. It lies along the Welland River and Welland Ship Canal. During the War of 1812 the area was the scene of several battles between British-Canadian and American forces. Founded as The Aqueduct by loyalists around the first Welland Canal (completed 1829), the settlement was renamed Merrittsville in 1842 after William

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

2005-02-11T00:57:00.000-08:00

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

Sucking Louse

2005-02-10T13:08:00.000-08:00

Any small, wingless, flat insect of the suborder Anoplura, with more than 400 described species and worldwide distribution. The sucking louse has piercing and sucking mouthparts and lives on blood and tissue fluids of mammals as an ectoparasite (external parasite). The adult sucking louse, or true louse, glues her eggs, or nits, to the host's hair. The young, which resemble

Selberg, Atle

2005-02-10T04:55:00.000-08:00

Selberg

Obregón, álvaro

2005-02-09T21:44:00.000-08:00

Though Obregón had little formal education, he learned a great deal about the needs and desires of poor Mexicans from his work as a farmer and labourer. He did not take part in

Aesthetics, Symbolism in art

2005-02-09T06:11:00.000-08:00

Later philosophers have been content merely to distinguish representation and expression as different modes of artistic meaning, characterized perhaps by different formal or semantic properties. Nelson Goodman of the United States is one such philosopher. His Languages of Art (1968) was the first work of analytical philosophy to produce a distinct and systematic

Epistemology, Phenomenalism

2005-02-08T23:15:00.000-08:00

In light of these difficulties with realist theories of perception some philosophers, so-called phenomenalists, proposed a completely different way of analyzing the relationship between perception and knowledge. In particular, they rejected the distinction between independently existing physical objects and mind-dependent sense-data that direct realism

Baseball, Infielders

2005-02-07T02:29:00.000-08:00

The infielders form the inner ring of defense. They sometimes catch line drives on the fly, but mainly they pick up ground balls that roll toward the outfield or shoot swiftly across the grass on one or more bounces. When a batted ball strikes the ground, the play becomes a race between the batter running to first and an infielder trying to gain control of the ball and

Piero Di Cosimo,

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

His name derives from that of his master, Cosimo Rosselli, whom he assisted (1481) in the frescoes “Crossing of the Red Sea” and “Sermon on the Mount” in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. There he saw the frescoes of Sandro Botticelli and Domenico Ghirlandajo,

Aeschylus, Works

2005-02-06T03:49:00.000-08:00

Persai (472 BC; Persians); Hepta epi Thebais (467 BC; Seven Against Thebes); Hiketides (c. 463 BC; Latin trans., Supplices; Eng. trans., Suppliants); the trilogy known as the Oresteia (458 BC), comprising Agamemnon, Choephoroi (Libation Bearers), and Eumenides; Prometheus desmotes (date uncertain, probably late; Prometheus Bound).

China, Military reorganization

2005-02-05T10:50:00.000-08:00

The most important new development in Hsüan-tsung's reign was the growth in the power of the military commanders. During Kao-tsung's reign the old militia system had proved inadequate for frontier defense and had been supplemented by the institution of permanent armies and garrison forces quartered in strategic areas on the frontiers. These armies were made up

Valdemar Birgersson

2005-02-04T22:27:00.000-08:00

King of Sweden (1250–75) who governed jointly with his father Birger Jarl (q.v.) until the latter's death in 1266 and then reigned alone. Because of an extramarital affair with his wife's sister, a postulant nun, by whom he had a child, Valdemar in 1274 made a pilgrimage to Rome to gain forgiveness. Pope Gregory X exacted concessions, whereby Valdemar acknowledged papal overlordship and

Nagorno-karabakh

2005-02-04T07:53:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Nagorno-karabach, region of southwestern Azerbaijan. It occupies an area of 1,700 square miles (4,400 square km) on the northeastern flank of the Karabakh Range of the Lesser Caucasus and extends from the crest line of the range to the margin of the Kura River lowland at its foot. Nagorno-Karabakh's environments vary from steppe on the Kura lowland through dense forest of oak, hornbeam, and beech

Kohat

2005-02-03T21:14:00.000-08:00

Town, south-central North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan. The town lies just north of the Kohat Toi River at the entrance to the Kohat Pass, through which a military road was opened in 1901. The new town lies at some distance from the original 14th-century town, traditionally said to have been founded by the Buddhist raja Kohat. It is connected by rail with Thal and the main rail

Gatling, Richard Jordan

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

Gatling's career as an inventor began when he assisted his father in the construction and perfecting of machines for sowing cotton seeds and for thinning cotton plants. In 1839 he perfected a practical

Fréchet, Maurice

2005-02-01T22:04:00.000-08:00

Fréchet was professor of mechanics at the University of Poitiers (1910–19) before moving to the University of Strasbourg, where he was professor of higher calculus (1920–27). Joining the faculty of

Ae

2005-01-31T20:14:00.000-08:00

After attending the Metropolitan School of Art, Dublin, where he met the poet William Butler Yeats, Russell

Conopophagidae

2005-01-30T16:12:00.000-08:00

Gnateater (or antpipit) family of small, plump-bodied birds of Central and South America. The two genera (Conopophaga and Corythopsis) were separated from the antbird family (Formicariidae) in 1882 and raised to family rank. Research in the late 1960s, however, led to its dissolution; the Conopophaga were then returned to the Formicariidae, and the Corythopsis were assigned to

Philadelphia Zoological Gardens

2005-01-29T16:07:00.000-08:00

First zoo in the United States, opened in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1874 with an animal inventory of several hundred native and exotic specimens. It was begun and continues to be operated by the Zoological Society of Philadelphia, founded in 1859. In 1868, three years after the end of the American Civil War, a 42-acre (17-hectare) site was selected in Fairmount Park, an architect was sent

Kearney

2005-01-29T03:10:00.000-08:00

City, seat of Buffalo county, south-central Nebraska, U.S. It lies on the north (left) bank of the Platte River. The first settlers were Swedish immigrants who came there in 1865. The city was founded in 1871 at the junction of the Burlington and the Union Pacific railroads. It was named for nearby Fort Kearny, a U.S. Army post (1848–71) that had been established to protect travelers on the Oregon

Laidoner, Johan

2005-01-28T22:55:00.000-08:00

Educated in Russia for a military career, Laidoner earned the rank of lieutenant colonel in Russian service. He served in World War I (1914–18) as an intelligence

Cahaba

2005-01-28T04:12:00.000-08:00

Historic village, Dallas county, southwest-central Alabama, U.S. It lies at the confluence of the Cahaba and Alabama rivers, 8 miles (13 km) southwest of Selma. Founded in 1819 as the first capital of Alabama, Cahaba thrived until floods forced the state government to move to Tuscaloosa in 1826. The site of a Confederate prison camp during the American Civil War, Cahaba remained the seat

China, Five Dynasties, Ten Kingdoms, and Sung periods

2005-01-27T15:59:00.000-08:00

Further general information is available in the following: Edward A. Kracke, Jr., Civil Service in Early Sung China, 960–1067 (1953), a monumental work; James T.C. Liu, Ou-yang Hsiu, an Eleventh-Century Neo-Confucianist, trans. from the Chinese (1967), and Reform in Sung China: Wang An-shih (1021–1086) and His New Policies (1959), both works attempting to relate general trends through historical figures; and Brian E. McKnight, Village and Bureaucracy in Southern Sung China (1971), an account coming down to the later period as well as the local scene. Jacques Gernet, Daily Life in China on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion, 1250–1276 (1962; originally published in French, 1959), provides vivid descriptions. See also Patricia Buckley Ebrey (ed. and trans.), Family and Property in Sung China: Yüan Ts'ai's Precepts for Social Life (1984), an excellent picture of family relations as studied in the 12th-century work by Yüan Ts'ai; Thomas H.S. Lee, Government Education and Examinations in Sung China (1985), a description of education and its relationship to the civil service; and Brian E. McKnight (trans.), The Washing Away of Wrongs: Forensic Medicine in Thirteenth-Century China (1985), a translation of an early work on the topic.

Interior Design, Islamic countries

2005-01-26T22:47:00.000-08:00

The Arab conquest in the 7th century AD and, in the 8th century, Muslim expansion into India and Spain had profound influence on the decorative arts throughout the known world, especially as most of the long-distance trading routes passed through Arab lands. The skills of the conquerors fused with the traditional skills of their subject peoples, and because Islam forbade

Aedesius

2005-01-25T18:10:00.000-08:00

Aedesius founded the so-called Pergamum school of philosophy, whose major concerns were theurgy (the magic practiced by some Neoplatonists who believed miracles could be worked by the intervention of divine and beneficent spirits) and

Anarchism, English anarchist thought

2005-01-25T05:55:00.000-08:00

The first sketch of an anarchist commonwealth in this sense was developed in England in the years immediately following the English Civil Wars (1642–51) by Gerrard Winstanley, a dissenting Christian and founder of the Digger movement. In his pamphlet of 1649, Truth Lifting Up Its Head Above Scandals, Winstanley laid down what later became basic principles among anarchists:

Carnivore, Importance to humans

2005-01-24T22:59:00.000-08:00

Probably of most significance economically is the musk, called civet, produced by the anal gland in members of the viverrid group known as “civet cats.” Civet is a yellowish substance with the consistency of butter and is of great importance as a base for perfumes. It is produced by the anal scent glands and stored in a sac near the genital region. The Oriental and African

Lai

2005-01-24T00:42:00.000-08:00

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.

Giant Mountains

2005-01-23T10:52:00.000-08:00

The traditional textile industry—wool, cotton, and

Wakan

2005-01-22T01:25:00.000-08:00

Also called Wakonda, or Wakanda, among various American Indian groups, a great spiritual power of supernatural origin belonging to some natural objects. Wakan may be conceived of as a weak or strong power; the weak powers can be ignored, but the strong ones must be placated. Poisonous plants and reptiles can contain wakan, as can intoxicating drinks. Wakan beings are the immortal supernatural powers

Mcminnville

2005-01-21T16:40:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1886) of Yamhill county, northwestern Oregon, U.S., on the South Yamhill River. Settled in 1844 and named for McMinnville, Tennessee, it developed as a service centre for Yamhill Valley farmers. Linfield College (1849), affiliated with the American Baptist Churches, sponsors the Linfield Research Institute, a scientific laboratory. The economy is geared to lumber and food-processing

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, Old Testament

2005-01-21T05:21:00.000-08:00

The Old Testament, including its prophetic books, has a core of historical record focusing on the trials of the tribes of Israel. In their own view an elect nation, the Israelites believe their history spells out a providential design. The Prophets understand the earliest texts, Genesis and Exodus, in terms of this providential scheme. Hebraic texts are interpreted