SafeWalk

Minamoto Yorinobu

2005-04-04T08:24:00.000-07:00

In 1028 the Fujiwaras, no longer willing to fight their own battles, hired Yorinobu to quell a rebellion that had broken out in eastern Japan. His success

Dengue

2005-04-03T20:22:00.000-07:00

The carrier incriminated

Pelusium

2005-04-01T17:56:00.000-08:00

Greek Pelousion, ancient Egyptian city on the easternmost mouth of the Nile River (long silted up). The Egyptians likely called it Sa'inu and also Per-Amon (House of Amon), whence perhaps the site's modern name, Tell Farama. It lies about 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Port Said, in the Sinai Peninsula. In the Bible the city is called (Ezekiel 30:15) “the stronghold of Egypt” (the name being given in the King James

Czech Republic

2005-04-01T17:01:00.000-08:00

Czech Ceská Republika, landlocked country in central Europe. It comprises the historic lands of Bohemia and Moravia (collectively often called the Czech Lands) and the southwestern corner of Silesia. The modern Czech nation was inaugurated on Jan. 1, 1993, when the union with Slovakia, dating from 1918, was dissolved; the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia controlled the federal government from 1948 to

Mondrian, Piet

2005-03-31T17:24:00.000-08:00

Original name Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan painter who was an important leader in the development of modern abstract art and a major exponent of the Dutch abstract-art movement known as De Stijl (“The Style”). In his mature paintings, Mondrian used the simplest combinations of straight lines, right angles, primary colours, and black, white, and gray.

Tin Processing

2005-03-31T03:47:00.000-08:00

There is evidence from both archaeology and literature that tin was one of the earliest metals to be known and used. Its earliest application was as an alloy with copper to form bronze, which was fashioned into tools and weapons. Bronze articles (typically containing about 10 percent tin) have been found in the Middle East dating from about 3500 BC and in Egypt from 3000 BC. Other ancient

Shigemitsu Mamoru

2005-03-30T23:02:00.000-08:00

Shigemitsu, a graduate of Tokyo University, joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1911. By 1918 he held a position in the embassy in Poland and, while in Europe, attended the Paris

Maccabiah Games

2005-03-29T14:14:00.000-08:00

International games held in Palestine (later Israel) from 1932, sponsored by the World Maccabi Union, an international Jewish sports organization founded in 1921. Events held are such Olympic events as athletics (track and field), swimming, water polo, fencing, boxing, wrestling, football (soccer), basketball, tennis, table tennis, and volleyball and such non-Olympic events as

Celery-top Pine

2005-03-29T01:19:00.000-08:00

Also called Adventure Bay Pine (species Phyllocladus asplenifolius), slow-growing ornamental and timber conifer of the family Podocarpaceae, native to temperate rain forests of Tasmania at elevations from sea level to 750 m (2,500 feet). The tree is shrubby at high elevations but may grow to 18 m (60 feet) and occasionally 30 m (100 feet) in lower areas. The irregularly arranged branches bear

Stefánsson, Davíd

2005-03-28T09:16:00.000-08:00

Stefánsson came of a cultured yeoman family and was brought up with a love for his homeland, its literature, and its folklore. He frequently journeyed abroad but lived most of his life in the town of Akureyri, where he was a librarian (1925–52). He wrote a powerful

Diamond Cutting

2005-03-27T20:14:00.000-08:00

From the girdler the diamond goes to the lapper, or blocker, who specializes in placing the first 18 main facets on a brilliant-cut diamond. It then goes to the brillianteer, the worker who places and polishes the remaining 40 facets, if the stone is being cut in the standard 58-facet brilliant cut. Placing and polishing are done by setting the stone either in a lead dop or a mechanical

Azuchi-momoyama Period

2005-03-26T15:15:00.000-08:00

Also called Momoyama Period (1574–1600), in Japanese history, age of political unification under the daimyo Oda Nobunaga and his successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who finally brought all provinces under the control of the central government. In contrast to the restraint of the preceding Muromachi, or Ashikaga, period (1338–1573), it was an age of magnificence and ostentation. The building of great castles and mansions

Aries

2005-03-26T10:08:00.000-08:00

Aries contains no very bright stars. The first point of Aries, or vernal equinox, is an intersection of the

Critius And Nesiotes

2005-03-25T01:41:00.000-08:00

Greek sculptors known for their bronze figures of the tyrannicides Harmodius and Aristogiton, copies of the original bronzes executed by Antenor about 510 BC, which were taken by Xerxes I to Susa and subsequently lost. The copies were placed in the agora in Athens; the figure of the tyrannicides has been identified on Roman coins, vases, reliefs, and

Ribes

2005-03-24T14:04:00.000-08:00

Genus of about 150 species of shrubs of two distinct groups, the currants and the gooseberries, constituting the family Grossulariaceae (often included in the family Saxifragaceae). They are native to the temperate regions of North America, extending southward into the Andes. Some authorities separate the gooseberries as the genus Grossularia. Currants usually

Nicaea, Empire Of

2005-03-24T08:22:00.000-08:00

Theodore fled to Anatolia with other Byzantine leaders after the Latin crusaders' conquest of Constantinople in 1204, establishing

Kaulbach, Wilhelm Von

2005-03-23T13:33:00.000-08:00

From 1822 Kaulbach studied under Peter von Cornelius at the Düsseldorf Academy. When Cornelius became director of the academy in Munich in 1824, he brought Kaulbach to Munich. Kaulbach succeeded Cornelius in 1843 as the academy's

Vietnam, Climate

2005-03-22T16:20:00.000-08:00

The northern part of Vietnam is on the edge of the tropical climatic zone. During January, the coldest month of the year, Hanoi has a mean temperature of 63° F (17° C), while the annual average temperature is 74° F (23° C). Farther south, the average annual temperature in Hue is 77° F (25° C) and in Ho Chi Minh City is 81° F (27° C); in the highland city of Da Lat, it drops to 70° F (21° C). The winter season in northern Vietnam lasts

Saar, Betye

2005-03-22T09:30:00.000-08:00

Saar studied design at the University of California at Los Angeles (B.A., 1949) and education and printmaking at California State University at Long Beach. In the early 1960s she created etchings

Eakins, Thomas

2005-03-21T15:59:00.000-08:00

In 1875 Eakins, who had yet to become well known, decided to paint a major picture for the Centennial Exposition to be held in Philadelphia the following year. He took as his subject a scene that had become familiar to him—Samuel Gross of Jefferson Medical College operating in his clinic before his students. Gross was a magnetic teacher and one of the country's greatest surgeons.

Murfreesboro

2005-03-21T03:04:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1811) of Rutherford county, central Tennessee, U.S., on the West Fork Stones River, about 30 miles (50 km) southeast of Nashville. Settled near the end of the American Revolution and originally named Cannonsburgh, it was established in 1811 on a land tract donated by a Revolutionary War soldier, Colonel William Lytle, and named for a friend, Colonel Hardy Murfree. From 1819 to 1825 Murfreesboro

Adams, John Quincy

2005-03-20T00:54:00.000-08:00

Eldest son of President John Adams and sixth president of the United States (1825–29). In his prepresidential years he was one of America's greatest diplomats (formulating, among other things, what came to be called the Monroe Doctrine); in his postpresidential years (as U.S. congressman, 1831–48) he conducted a consistent and often dramatic fight against the expansion of slavery. (For a discussion of the history and nature of the presidency, see presidency of the United States of America. See also Cabinet of President John Quincy Adams.)

Atacama Plateau

2005-03-19T08:38:00.000-08:00

The peaks of the

Metamorphic Rock, Pyroxene-hornfels facies

2005-03-19T04:22:00.000-08:00

Rocks of the pyroxene-hornfels facies are characteristically formed near larger granitic or gabbroic bodies at depths of a few kilometres or at pressures of a few hundred bars. The mineral assemblages are again largely anhydrous, but, unlike the sanidinite facies, the minerals reflect distinctly lower temperatures. One of the classic descriptions of such rocks

Amazon Rainforest

2005-03-18T15:27:00.000-08:00

Large, tropical rainforest occupying the drainage basin of the Amazon River and its tributaries in northern South America, and covering an area of 2,300,000 square miles (6,000,000 square km). Comprising about 40 percent of Brazil's total area, it is bounded by the Guiana Highlands to the north, the Andes Mountain Ranges to the west, the Brazilian central plateau to the south, and the Atlantic

Brunei

2005-03-18T06:45:00.000-08:00

Officially State of Brunei, Abode of Peace, Malay Negara Brunei Darussalam, independent Islamic sultanate on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. It has an area of 2,226 square miles (5,765 square kilometres) and is bounded to the north by the South China Sea and on all other sides by the East Malaysian state of Sarawak, which also divides the state into two enclaves of unequal size. The western enclave is the larger of the two and contains the capital

United Nations

2005-03-17T03:42:00.000-08:00

On April 9 an Iraqi plane flew more than 100 religious pilgrims to Saudi Arabia, violating the air embargo imposed after the Persian Gulf War in 1991. Despite U.S. pressure, the Security Council failed to condemn the flight. On June 4 the Security Council agreed to permit Iraq to sell $2 billion in oil to pay for food, medicine, and other essential civilian items for a second six-month

Bean, Roy

2005-03-16T17:02:00.000-08:00

For much of his life from the time he left his Kentucky home in 1847, Bean moved from town to town—in Mexico, Southern California, New Mexico, and Texas—getting into and fleeing from one scrape after another, killing at least two men in duels. During the Civil

Mance, Sir Henry Christopher

2005-03-16T09:05:00.000-08:00

Mance joined the Persian Gulf Telegraph Department of the government of India in 1863 and helped lay the first submarine telegraph

Murchison, Sir Roderick Impey

2005-03-16T05:48:00.000-08:00

Murchison joined the Geological Society of London in 1825 and in the following five years explored Scotland, France, and the Alps and collaborated alternately with the British geologists Adam Sedgwick and Charles

Neoplatonism

2005-03-15T14:20:00.000-08:00

The last school of Greek philosophy, given its definitive shape in the 3rd century Ad by the one great philosophical and religious genius of the school, Plotinus. The ancient philosophers who are generally classified as Neoplatonists called themselves simple “Platonists,” as did the philosophers of the Renaissance and the 17th century whose ideas derive from ancient Neoplatonism. See Platonism.

Melanchthon, Philipp

2005-03-14T20:07:00.000-08:00

The year after Luther's death, when the Battle of Mühlberg (1547) had given a seemingly crushing blow to the Protestant cause, an attempt was made to unite the evangelicals and Roman Catholics in the provisional agreements of the Augsburg Interim. Melanchthon refused to accept the Interim until justification by faith was ensured as a fundamental doctrine. Then, for the

Bulbul

2005-03-14T15:40:00.000-08:00

Any of about 119 species of birds of the family Pycnonotidae (order Passeriformes) of Africa and Asia, including some called greenbuls and brownbuls. Members range in size from 14 to 28 cm (5.5 to 11 inches) long. They are active, noisy, plain-coloured birds that sometimes damage orchards. Representative of the 47 species of the genus Pycnonotus is the African bulbul (P. barbatus, including

Allen, Paula Gunn

2005-03-14T00:20:00.000-08:00

Allen's father was Lebanese American, and her mother was part Laguna-Sioux. She left college to marry, divorced in 1962, and returned for further education. She studied English literature (B.A., 1966) and creative writing (M.F.A., 1968) at the University

Trichocyst

2005-03-13T21:34:00.000-08:00

A structure in the cortex of certain ciliate and flagellate protozoans consisting of a cavity and long, thin threads that can be ejected in response to certain stimuli. Trichocysts may be widely distributed over an organism or restricted to certain areas (e.g., tentacles, papillae, around the mouth). There are several types. Mucoid trichocysts are elongated

U-2 Affair

2005-03-13T16:50:00.000-08:00

On May 5 the Soviet premier Nikita S. Khrushchev told the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. that

Boisrobert, François Le Métel, Seigneur De (lord Of)

2005-03-13T03:42:00.000-08:00

A Norman Huguenot lawyer's son, he became a Catholic in the 1620s and began to take holy orders. His wit and effrontery won him the favour of Cardinal de Richelieu, and he was given a canonry at Rouen

Moray, Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl Of

2005-03-12T14:05:00.000-08:00

Randolph was the son of one of Robert's sisters. When Robert revolted against the English and claimed the

Arzamas

2005-03-11T08:59:00.000-08:00

City, Nizhegorod oblast (province), southwestern Russia, on the Tesha River, a tributary of the Oka River. First mentioned in a manuscript in 1366 and again in 1552, Arzamas was chartered in 1578. Agricultural equipment and food processing are the main economic activities, and there are two technical colleges devoted to agricultural studies. Between 1802 and 1862 the first Russian provincial

Saint Clair, Lake

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

Lake in west-central Tasmania, Australia, lying at the southern boundary of Cradle Mountain–Lake St. Clair National Park at the terminus of a 53-mile [85-kilometre] walking track from the mountain. It has an area of 11 square miles (28 square km), measures 9 miles by 1 mile (14.5 by 1.6 km), and lies at an elevation of 2,417 feet (737 m) on Tasmania's Central Plateau. It fills a valley once deepened by a glacier and

Razmara, Ali

2005-03-10T18:48:00.000-08:00

Razmara graduated from the French military academy at Saint-Cyr in 1925. After serving in the pacification campaigns in the Kurdistan and Laristan regions of Iran under Reza Khan (later Reza Shah Pahlavi), he became director of the Tehran Military Cadet College

Perfume

2005-03-10T14:22:00.000-08:00

Fragrant product that results from the artful blending of certain odoriferous substances in appropriate proportions. The word is derived from the Latin per fumum, meaning “through smoke.” The art of perfumery was apparently known to the ancient Chinese, Hindus, Egyptians, Israelites, Carthaginians, Arabs, Greeks, and Romans. References to perfumery materials and

Annatto

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

(Bixa orellana), tree native to the New World tropics and the only species of the family Bixaceae. Annatto grows up to 9 m (30 feet) tall and has rose-pink flowers about 5 cm (2 inches) wide and ovalish leaves about 8 to 18 cm long. The brown seed pods, about 5 cm long, yield a reddish or yellowish powder that is used in a dye for butter, cheese, and oleomargarine. The plant is cultivated in tropical

Aquavit

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

Also spelled Aquavite, or Akvavit, also called Snaps, flavoured, distilled liquor, clear to pale yellow in colour, dry in flavour, and ranging in alcohol content from about 42 to 45 percent by volume. It is distilled from a fermented potato or grain mash, redistilled in the presence of flavouring agents, filtered with charcoal, and usually bottled without aging. Various aromatic flavourings are employed, usually including

Pierce, John Robinson

2005-03-08T08:04:00.000-08:00

Pierce began working for Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc., New York City, in 1936. He improved the traveling-wave tube, which is used as a broadband amplifier of microwaves, and designed a new electrostatically focused electron-multiplier

Midas

2005-03-08T01:51:00.000-08:00

Abbreviation of Missile Defense Alarm System, any of a series of unmanned U.S. military satellites developed to provide warning against surprise attacks by Soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles. Midas was the first such warning system in the world. Launched during the early 1960s, the reconnaissance satellites were equipped with infrared sensors capable of detecting the heat of a ballistic missile's rocket

Production Management

2005-03-07T06:44:00.000-08:00

Also called operations management, planning and control of industrial processes to ensure that they move smoothly at the required level. Techniques of production management are employed in service as well as in manufacturing industries. It is a responsibility similar in level and scope to other specialties such as marketing or human resource and financial management. In manufacturing operations,

Spanish Lime

2005-03-06T11:08:00.000-08:00

(Melicoccus bijugus), tree, of the soapberry family (Sapindaceae), native to the West Indies. It grows to about 15 metres (50 feet). The flowers are small, greenish white, and fragrant. The green fruit is a drupe (a single stony seed covered by soft, fleshy tissue) with yellow or white tasty, juicy flesh.

Tsushima Current

2005-03-06T08:30:00.001-08:00

Surface oceanic current, the northeastward-flowing branch of the Kuroshio along the west coast of Japan. Entering the Sea of Japan through the Korea Strait, the Tsushima Current issues the East Korea Warm Current as a northern branch. It is primarily a spring and summer current and is barely discernable in winter.

Bushehr

2005-03-06T08:30:00.000-08:00

Coastal region, southwestern Iran, bordering the Persian Gulf on the west and bounded by the regions of Hormozgan and Fars on the southeast and east and Khuzestan on the northwest. Inland the region is part of the Zagros Mountains and consists of fingers of upland within a plateau. The Shapur River drains the region and serves as an inland waterway from the coast of the Persian

Sète

2005-03-05T08:01:00.000-08:00

Formerly (until 1827) Cette, town and a principal French Mediterranean commercial port, lying in Hérault département, Languedoc-Roussillon région, southern France, southwest of Montpellier. It occupies the lower slopes and foot of the isolated Mont Saint-Clair, which lies on a tongue of land between the Mediterranean and the large marshy Thau Lagoon. A network of canals links the town with

Floral Decoration

2005-03-05T07:12:00.000-08:00

Cut plant materials, especially flowers, need special care and treatment before they are placed in vases. Ideally, flowers are picked some hours before they are arranged and never in the heat of the day. Generally, the bottoms of the stems are cut on a slant, placed in deep tepid water, and kept in a cool place, preferably overnight. Different materials have different conditioning

Biology, The discovery of cells

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

Of the five microscopists, Robert Hooke was perhaps the most intellectually preeminent. As curator of instruments at the Royal Society of London, he was in touch with all new scientific developments and exhibited interest in such disparate subjects as flying and the construction of clocks. In 1665 Hooke published his Micrographia, which was primarily a review of a

Teaching

2005-03-03T19:52:00.000-08:00

Measured in terms of its members, teaching is the world's largest profession. In the late 20th century it was estimated that there were 30,000,000 teachers throughout the world. Though their roles and functions vary from country to country, the variations among teachers

Claudius Pulcher, Appius

2005-03-03T13:30:00.000-08:00

From 72 to 70 Claudius served in Anatolia under his brother-in-law, Lucius Licinius Lucullus, in the war against Mithradates VI, king of Pontus. He was praetor in 57, governor in Sardinia in 56–55, and consul in 54. Although Claudius had opposed the return of Cicero from exile in 57, the

Habit

2005-03-02T04:12:00.000-08:00

In psychology, any regularly repeated behaviour that requires little or no thought and is learned rather than innate. A habit—which can be part of any activity, ranging from eating and sleeping to thinking and reacting—is developed through reinforcement and repetition. Reinforcement encourages the repetition of a behaviour, or response, each time the stimulus

Catalexis And Acatalexis

2005-03-02T00:27:00.000-08:00

In prosody, an omission or incompleteness in the last foot of a line or other unit in metrical verse and, conversely, the metrical completeness of such a unit.

Spalacotherium

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

Genus of extinct primitive, probably predaceous mammals known from fossils found in Late Jurassic deposits of Europe. The genus Spalacotherium is representative of the symmetrodonts, a group characterized by molar teeth with three cusps arranged in a triangle. The symmetrodonts are among the oldest known mammals and may in some way have played a role in the development

Percy Family

2005-02-28T15:30:00.000-08:00

The family was founded by William de Percy (c. 1030–96), a follower of William I the Conqueror, who bestowed on him a great fief in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. His grandson William (d. 1175) was the last of the house in the direct line, leaving two daughters and coheiresses, Maud, who died childless,

January

2005-02-28T15:10:00.000-08:00

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

Porirua

2005-02-28T09:45:00.000-08:00

City, Wellington local government region, southern North Island, New Zealand. It is located about 13 miles (21 km) north of Wellington city, at the head of Porirua Harbour. The earliest inhabitants were aboriginal moa hunters in the 12th century. European whalers and traders occupied nearby Mana Island from 1832 to 1834, and in 1836 a permanent whaling station was built near Porirua. The city

Roman Catholicism, The nature of the church

2005-02-27T21:13:00.000-08:00

In 1965 M.-J. le Guillou, a Roman Catholic theologian, defined the church in these terms: “The Church is recognized as a society of fellowship with God, the sacrament of salvation, the people of God established as the body of Christ and the temple of the Holy Spirit.” The progress of Roman Catholic theology can be seen in the contrast between this statement and the definition still

Yale, Elihu

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

In 1671 Yale began working for the East India Company and was sent the following

Downey, June Etta

2005-02-26T22:38:00.000-08:00

Downey graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1895. After a year of teaching school in Laramie, she resumed her education at the University of Chicago, where in 1898 she took a master's degree in philosophy and

Christie, Dame Agatha

2005-02-25T04:44:00.000-08:00

Educated at home by her mother, Christie began writing detective fiction while working as a nurse during World War I. Her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920), introduced

Cohoes

2005-02-24T18:14:00.000-08:00

City, Albany county, eastern New York, U.S. It lies at the Cohoes Falls (locally called the Great Falls; 70 feet [21 metres] high) of the Mohawk River, where it tumbles into the Hudson River. Settled in 1665 by the Dutch Van Schaick family on the colonial military road between Albany (10 miles [16 km] south) and Lake George, its name is of Algonquian origin and means “pine tree.” Growth was influenced

Himeji

2005-02-24T17:31:00.000-08:00

City, Hyogo ken (prefecture), western Honshu, Japan. It is situated west of Kobe, near the Inland Sea. It developed as a castle town around the white, five-storied Himeji, or Shirasagi (“Egret”), Castle, built in the 14th century and reconstructed in 1577 and 1964. A large part of the city was destroyed by bombing during World War II. The city recovered and grew rapidly after the war. It is now the

Baldachin

2005-02-22T22:06:00.000-08:00

Early

Gnetaceae

2005-02-22T10:33:00.000-08:00

A family of tropical gymnosperms in the order Gnetales, composed of one genus, Gnetum, with 30 or more species. Trees predominate among the African species; most of the Asian varieties are woody vines, but among the exceptions is G. gnemon, a tree about 20 metres (65 feet) tall that yields a useful fibre and an edible, plumlike fruit. The conspicuous, netlike veining of the broad leaves

Salem

2005-02-22T05:53:00.000-08:00

City, Essex county, northeastern Massachusetts, U.S. It lies on Salem Bay Harbor (an inlet of Massachusetts Bay), 16 miles (26 km) northeast of Boston. Salem was incorporated as a town in 1626 by Roger Conant, who emigrated from Cape Ann, 14 miles (22 km) northeast. The first Congregational Church in America was organized there in 1629, and Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island colony, served as

Earth Sciences, Knowledge of landforms and of landsea relations

2005-02-20T21:34:00.000-08:00

The early Chinese writers were not outdone by the Romans

30 Doradus

2005-02-20T15:47:00.000-08:00

Also called Tarantula Nebula (catalog number NGC 2070) immense ionized-hydrogen region in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way system (in which the Earth is located). The nebula consists of a cloud of interstellar gas—principally hydrogen—lit from within by young, hot stars that ionize the gas around them. As the atoms in the gas recombine, they emit visible light. The total mass of the nebula is about

North America, Mangrove thickets

2005-02-20T09:00:00.000-08:00

Ringing southern Florida and the Mexican lowlands facing the Caribbean, mangrove thickets are backed by quick-oak and palms. Ibis fleck the woods with their gleaming white feathers. Water moccasin and other venomous snakes are common in swamps, as are alligators.

Yellow-dog Contract

2005-02-20T04:08:00.000-08:00

Agreement between an employer and an employee in which the employee agrees, as a condition of employment, not to join a union during the course of his employment. Such contracts, used most widely in the United States in the 1920s, enabled employers to take legal action against union organizers for encouraging workers to break these contracts. A federal law prohibiting

Caldas

2005-02-19T17:32:00.000-08:00

Departamento, west-central Colombia. It is situated in the Cordillera Central of the Andes Mountains and is bounded by the Magdalena River on the east and the Cauca River on the west. Penetrated by Spaniards early in the 16th century, Caldas gained prominence as a gold-mining region. It was created a department in 1905. Coffee is the chief product, but other agricultural products

Aethelweard

2005-02-18T09:43:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Ethelwerd English chronicler and ealderman of the western provinces (probably the whole of Wessex), a descendant of King Alfred's brother Aethelred. He wrote, in elaborate and peculiar Latin, a chronicle for his continental kinswoman, Matilda, abbess of Essen. In the printed version of the text, the chronicle stops in 975, but fragments of the burned manuscript show that it continued

Czech Republic, Flag Of The

2005-02-18T07:05:00.000-08:00

The ancient duchy (later kingdom) of Bohemia, a rich and powerful state in the late Middle Ages, had a coat of arms dating from the 12th century that showed a double-tailed and crowned lion, in white, rampant on a red shield. For centuries, however, Bohemia was part of the Holy Roman Empire and, later, Austria-Hungary. As it was not independent, it had no recognized need for a national

Nadir Shah

2005-02-18T04:51:00.000-08:00

Nadr Qoli Beg had an obscure beginning in the Turkish Afshar tribe, which was loyal to the Safavid shahs of Iran. After serving under a local chieftain, Nadr formed and led a band of robbers, showing marked powers of leadership.

La Marmora, Alfonso Ferrero

2005-02-17T20:01:00.000-08:00

A graduate of the Turin Military Academy, La Marmora entered the army in 1823 and first distinguished himself in the Italian wars of independence against Austria, especially at Borghetto and Peschiera (May 1848). He also

Caldas

2005-02-17T00:41:00.000-08:00

The gray whale attains a maximum length of about 15 metres (49 feet). It is gray or black, mottled with white, and has short yellow baleen with coarse bristles. There are two (rarely more) lengthwise grooves on its throat. Instead of

Zuiderzee

2005-02-16T22:25:00.000-08:00

English Southern Sea former inlet of the North Sea. From the 13th to the 20th century, the Zuiderzee penetrated The Netherlands and occupied some 2,000 square miles (5,000 square km); it was separated from the North Sea by an arc of former sandflats that are now the West Frisian Islands. From about AD 400 these low-lying sandflats were inhabited by the Frisians, who in the face of rising sea levels built the first

North Germanic Languages, Phonology

2005-02-16T08:42:00.000-08:00

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

Oaks

2005-02-15T17:37:00.000-08:00

One of the English Classic horse races (along with the Derby, Saint Leger, Two Thousand Guineas, and One Thousand Guineas), an event for three-year-old fillies, established in 1779, and run over a 1.5-mile (about 2,400-metre) course at Epsom Downs, Surrey, also the site of the Derby. The Oaks was named for the nearby residence of the 12th Earl of Derby, whose horse Bridget won the first running.

Brunei

2005-02-15T13:53:00.000-08:00

Catalufa

2005-02-14T19:40:00.000-08:00

Any of certain fishes of the bigeye (q.v.) group.

Annelid, Critical appraisal

2005-02-14T14:40:00.000-08:00

Most authors accept the annelids as having three major classes: Polychaeta, Oligochaeta, and Hirudinea. Older systems would place the polychaetes and oligochaetes under the class Chaetopoda because both groups possess setae. Other systems would join the oligochaetes and leeches in a single class, called the Clitellata, because both groups possess a clitellum

Coin, Scandinavia

2005-02-13T13:10:00.000-08:00

The origin of Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish coinages is clearly the result of the Danish conquest of England. The Runic alphabet was employed, though not by any means exclusively, on many early coins of Denmark and Norway. The Norwegian series began with Haakon the Great (c. 970–995), who copied the pennies of Ethelred II. In the second half of the 11th century, a coinage of small, thin

Rectocele

2005-02-13T09:19:00.000-08:00

Disorder in which the rectum bulges into the back wall of the vagina. It is caused when the muscles and connective tissues supporting the rectum and back wall of the vagina are weakened, usually due to repeated childbirth or to aging, and the rectum sags until it abuts the vagina. A rectocele often occurs together with an enterocele, which is a bulge of the small

Hino

2005-02-12T22:56:00.000-08:00

City, Tokyo no (metropolis), Honshu, Japan, on the railway linking Tachikawa and Hachioji. Located on the Tama River, Hino was a post town and ferry station during the Tokugawa era (1603–1867). The city is now part of the Keihin Industrial Region, producing automobiles, electrical machinery, and precision instruments. It also serves as a residential suburb of the Tokyo and Yokohama

Chaco Boreal

2005-02-12T09:21:00.000-08:00

Region of distinctive vegetation occupying about 100,000 square miles (259,000 square km) in northwestern Paraguay, southeastern Bolivia, and northern Argentina. The region is part of the vast, arid lowland known as the Gran Chaco (q.v.). The Chaco Boreal's land is flat and is marked by deciduous scrub woodlands to the west of the Paraguay River that include the quebracho, a tree valuable

Teschenite

2005-02-11T18:41:00.000-08:00

Coarse- to fine-grained, rather dark-coloured, intrusive igneous rock that occurs in sills (tabular bodies inserted while molten between other rocks), dikes (tabular bodies injected in fissures), and irregular masses and is always altered to some extent. It consists primarily of plagioclase feldspar, analcime, and titaniferous augite, with barkevikite, nepheline,

Mahal, Taj

2005-02-11T06:35:00.000-08:00

Taj Mahal (the name came to him in a dream) grew up in a musical family. His father, of Jamaican background, was a jazz

Great Bend

2005-02-10T16:47:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1872) of Barton county, central Kansas, U.S. Great Bend lies on the Arkansas River where the High Plains begin to shade into tallgrass prairie. Situated in the alleged locality of the mythical city of Quivira sought by Francisco Coronado in the 16th century, the site was visited by the American explorer Zebulon Pike in 1806 and became a stopping point on the Santa Fe

Sabatier, (louis-) Auguste

2005-02-10T04:03:00.000-08:00

French Protestant theologian and educator who helped revolutionize biblical interpretation by applying methods of historical criticism and promoted the development of liberal theology and the Roman Catholic Modernist movement by his interpretation of Christian doctrine as the symbolism of religious feelings. Among his principal

Olympiodorus The Younger

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

A Neoplatonist philosopher who is famous for having maintained the Platonic tradition in Alexandria after the Byzantine emperor Justinian had suppressed the Greek Academy at Athens and other pagan schools in AD 529. Olympiodorus' extant works include lucid and valuable commentaries on Plato's Phaedo, Gorgias, Philebus, and Alcibiades; a biography of Plato;

Keyboard Instrument, The short octave

2005-02-09T05:43:00.000-08:00

Even after the present arrangement of five raised keys and seven natural keys per octave had become standard in the 15th century, two exceptions existed. The first of these—the “short octave”—concerned only the lowest octave at the bass end of the keyboard. In the short octave, not all keys actually sounded notes of the expected pitch; their respective strings were tuned

Vigo

2005-02-08T06:15:00.000-08:00

Port town and naval station, Pontevedra provincia, in the comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Galicia, northwestern Spain. Vigo lies along the southeastern shore of the Vigo Inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, southwest of Pontevedra city. It was attacked by the English admiral Sir Francis Drake in 1585 and 1589. In 1702 a British-Dutch fleet under Sir George Rooke and James Butler,

Dandarah

2005-02-07T17:47:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Dendera agricultural town on the west bank of the Nile, in Qina muhafazah (governorate), Upper Egypt. The modern town is built on the ancient site of Ta-ynt-netert (She of the Divine Pillar), or Tentyra. It was the capital of the sixth nome (province) of pharaonic Upper Egypt and was dedicated to the sky and fertility goddess Hathor. Her temple is one of the best preserved in Egypt. The present

Chatham

2005-02-07T15:27:00.000-08:00

Port, Medway unitary authority, geographic and historic county of Kent, southeastern England. The port lies along the River Medway just above its confluence with the River Thames, on the southeastern periphery of Greater London. Chatham is continuous with the communities of Rochester (west) and Gillingham and New Brompton (east), known as the Medway towns, for which

Zólkowski, Alojzy Fortunat

2005-02-07T10:35:00.000-08:00

Zólkowski was born into a noble family and served in the army during the revolt of 1794. He made his acting debut in Warsaw in 1798, toured the country for four years, and then joined the National Theatre (Teatr Narodowy), where he was admired

SafeWalk

Minamoto Yorinobu

Dengue

Pelusium

Czech Republic

Mondrian, Piet

Tin Processing

Shigemitsu Mamoru

Maccabiah Games

Celery-top Pine

Stefánsson, Davíd

Diamond Cutting

Azuchi-momoyama Period

Aries

Critius And Nesiotes

Ribes

Nicaea, Empire Of

Kaulbach, Wilhelm Von

Vietnam, Climate

Saar, Betye

Eakins, Thomas

Murfreesboro

Adams, John Quincy

Atacama Plateau

Metamorphic Rock, Pyroxene-hornfels facies

Amazon Rainforest

Brunei

United Nations

Bean, Roy

Mance, Sir Henry Christopher

Murchison, Sir Roderick Impey

Neoplatonism

Melanchthon, Philipp

Bulbul

Allen, Paula Gunn

Trichocyst

U-2 Affair

Boisrobert, François Le Métel, Seigneur De (lord Of)

Moray, Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl Of

Arzamas

Saint Clair, Lake

Razmara, Ali

Perfume

Annatto

Aquavit

Pierce, John Robinson

Midas

Production Management

Spanish Lime

Tsushima Current

Bushehr

Sète

Floral Decoration

Biology, The discovery of cells

Teaching

Claudius Pulcher, Appius

Habit

Catalexis And Acatalexis

Spalacotherium

Percy Family

January

Porirua

Roman Catholicism, The nature of the church

Yale, Elihu

Downey, June Etta

Christie, Dame Agatha

Cohoes

Himeji

Baldachin

Gnetaceae

Salem

Earth Sciences, Knowledge of landforms and of landsea relations

30 Doradus

North America, Mangrove thickets

Yellow-dog Contract

Caldas

Aethelweard

Czech Republic, Flag Of The

Nadir Shah

La Marmora, Alfonso Ferrero

Earth Sciences, Knowledge of landforms and of landsea relations