ParallelCup

John I Albert

2005-04-04T23:34:00.000-07:00

The second son of King Casimir IV of Poland and Elizabeth of Habsburg, John Albert proved his military ability by defeating the Tatars at Kopystrzyn in 1487 and at Zaslaw in 1491. After his father's death he was elected king of Poland by nobles in the privy

Babbler

2005-04-04T09:57:00.000-07:00

Also called Chatterer, any of more than 250 Old World songbirds of the family Timaliidae (order Passeriformes); they are treated by many authorities as a subfamily of the Muscicapidae (q.v.). Noted for their continual and rapid vocalizations, babblers are sometimes called babbling thrushes or chatterers. The name babbler is often used in compound form suggesting habitat, appearance, or behaviour:

Masaniello

2005-04-04T00:07:00.000-07:00

Masaniello was a young fisherman in 1647 when he was chosen to lead a protest against a new tax on fruit, levied by the nobility to raise money to pay the tribute demanded by Spain. The insurrection against the nobles was successful, but Masaniello

Alexander I

2005-04-03T22:03:00.000-07:00

Alexander probably acknowledged King Henry

Isaac

2005-04-02T18:25:00.000-08:00

In the Old Testament (Genesis), second of the patriarchs of Israel, the only son of Abraham and Sarah, and father of Esau and Jacob. Although Sarah was past the age of childbearing, God promised Abraham and Sarah that they would have a son, and Isaac was born. Later, to test Abraham's obedience, God commanded Abraham to sacrifice the boy. Abraham made all the preparations for

Anta

2005-04-02T11:11:00.000-08:00

The bases

Pietersburg

2005-03-31T20:00:00.000-08:00

Town and capital of Northern province, South Africa. It is located about midway between Pretoria and the Zimbabwe border, at an elevation of 4,199 feet (1,280 m). The town was founded by Voortrekkers (Afrikaans: “Pioneers”) in 1886 on land purchased in 1884 from a local farmer and was named after Petrus (Piet) Joubert, a Boer general. It was the temporary capital in 1900 of both the Transvaal and the Orange

Interior Design, Spain

2005-03-31T11:39:00.000-08:00

In Spain, Moorish influence mingled with subsequent Western classical styles to produce a unique flavour in decorative design. The style known as Mudéjar (c. 12th–17th century) was the early outcome of these blended Christian and Arab ideas and consists in essence of tiled floors and skirtings in polychrome, plain white walls, carved stucco friezes, and intricately decorated

Turkic Peoples

2005-03-31T02:31:00.000-08:00

Any of various peoples whose members speak languages belonging to the Turkic subfamily of the Altaic family of languages. They are historically and linguistically connected with the T'u-chüeh, the name given by the Chinese to the nomadic people who in the 6th century AD founded an empire stretching from Mongolia and the northern frontier of China to the Black Sea. With

Mozambique Current

2005-03-30T14:45:00.000-08:00

Relatively warm surface current of the western Indian Ocean. The southeast trade winds move the Indian South Equatorial Current toward the east coast of Africa, off which, because of the Earth's rotation, it is directed south to follow the outline of the mainland and its continental shelf. While some of this flow passes east of the island of Madagascar, the rest funnels

Oarfish

2005-03-30T01:58:00.000-08:00

(species Regalecus glesne), large, long, sinuous fish of the family Regalecidae (order Lampridiformes), found throughout the tropics and subtropics in rather deep water. A ribbon-shaped fish, very thin from side to side, the oarfish may grow to a length of about 9 m (30.5 feet) and a weight of 300 kg (660 pounds). It is shiny silver in colour, with long, red, oarlike pelvic fins and a long, red dorsal

Austin, John Langshaw

2005-03-29T07:08:00.000-08:00

After receiving early education at Shrewsbury School and Balliol College, Oxford, he became a fellow at All Souls College (1933) and Magdalen College (1935), where he studied traditional Greco-Roman

Nathan, Maud

2005-03-28T20:38:00.000-08:00

Nathan was an elder sister of writer and antisuffragist Annie Nathan (Meyer). In April 1880 she married her cousin Frederick Nathan. Early in her married life she involved herself in such community service organizations as the New York Exchange for Women's

Off-broadway

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

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

Radio

2005-03-27T22:14:00.000-08:00

Transmission and detection of communication signals consisting of electromagnetic waves that travel through the air in a straight line or by reflection from the ionosphere or from a communications satellite.

Lima

2005-03-26T15:20:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Peru and of Lima department. It is the country's commercial and industrial centre. Central Lima is located at an elevation of 512 feet (156 metres) on the south bank of the Río Rímac, about eight miles (13 km) inland from the Pacific Ocean port of Callao, and has an area of 27 square miles (70 square km). Its name is a corruption of the Quechua Indian name Rímac, meaning “Talker.” The

Silage

2005-03-26T13:09:00.000-08:00

Also called ensilage forage plants such as corn (maize), legumes, and grasses that have been chopped and stored in tower silos, pits, or trenches for use as animal feed. Since protein content decreases and fibre content increases as the crop matures, forage, like hay, should be harvested in early maturity. The green material should be chopped fine enough to assure good packing and the exclusion

Kresge, S.s.

2005-03-26T05:22:00.000-08:00

Kresge worked as a traveling salesman before going into business with one of his customers, John G. McCrory, the owner of several department and five-and-ten-cent stores. They became partners in 1897 in two new five-and-dime

Ammonia

2005-03-24T23:10:00.000-08:00

Ammonia is highly

France, History Of, Early Frankish period

2005-03-24T18:11:00.000-08:00

In the second quarter of the 5th century, various groups of Franks moved southward toward the middle Rhine area (Cologne), the lower branches of the Moselle and Meuse, and the Atlantic coastal region. In the latter area, separate groups took possession of Tournai and Cambrai and reached the Somme. These Franks along the coast were divided into many small kingdoms. One

Switzerland, Tourism

2005-03-24T16:37:00.000-08:00

International tourist receipts amount to a considerable sum in Switzerland, but expenditures by Swiss abroad are also significant. Whatever surplus occurs is used to cover any deficit in the Swiss balance of payments. During the Middle Ages healing spas such as Baden, Bad Pfäfers, Leukerbad, and Rheinfelden flourished, while mountain-pass hospices such as those

p-n Junction

2005-03-23T01:09:00.000-08:00

In electronics, the interface within diodes, transistors, and other semiconductor devices between two different types of materials called p-type and n-type semiconductors. These materials are formed by the deliberate addition of impurities to pure semiconductor materials, such as silicon. Semiconductors of p-type contain holes, mobile vacancies in the electronic

Fishhook Cactus

2005-03-22T11:51:00.000-08:00

Mammillaria, native from southwestern North America to the Caribbean, Colombia, and Venezuela, is a large and complex genus of about 150 species. Its species are

Rabbinic Judaism

2005-03-21T17:55:00.000-08:00

The normative form of Judaism that developed after the fall of the Temple of Jerusalem (AD 70). Originating in the work of the Pharisaic rabbis, it was based on the legal and commentative literature in the Talmud, and it set up a mode of worship and a life discipline that were to be practiced by Jews worldwide down to modern times.

Allahabad

2005-03-21T06:15:00.000-08:00

City, southern Uttar Pradesh state, northern India. It is situated at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna (Jumna) rivers. Allahabad stands on the site of ancient Prayag, a holy city that was comparable in fame to Varanasi (Benares) and Haridwar. Prayag's importance in the ancient Buddhist period of Indian history is attested to by the inscriptions on the Pillar of Asoka. The pillar

Earth, Mountain building

2005-03-21T02:47:00.000-08:00

The mid-oceanic ridge system is located along divergent plate boundaries. This system is an undersea

Saint-gaudens, Augustus

2005-03-20T15:18:00.000-08:00

Saint-Gaudens was born to a French father and an Irish mother. His family moved to New York City when he was an infant and at age 13 he was apprenticed

Mitchell, Joni

2005-03-20T14:46:00.000-08:00

Mitchell studied commercial art in her native Alberta before moving to Toronto in

Chan I

2005-03-19T10:34:00.000-08:00

Chan succeeded his uncle, King Dharmarajadhiraja (Thommoreachea). After quelling rebellions inspired by a pretender to the throne, he was crowned

Dance, Western, Experiments

2005-03-19T08:24:00.000-08:00

Technological progress itself became the subject of dance and dancing. In the Soviet Union, there were experiments during the 1920s with dances created to express urban traffic, the accuracy of machine work, and the grandeur of skyscrapers. In Germany, the painter Oskar Schlemmer (1888–1943) realized his vision of a dance of pure, geometric form in the Triadisches Ballet performed

Cyrillic Alphabet

2005-03-18T18:59:00.000-08:00

Writing system developed in the 9th–10th century AD for Slavic-speaking peoples of the Eastern Orthodox faith; it is the alphabet currently used for Russian and other languages of the republics that once formed the Soviet Union and for Bulgarian and Serbian. Based on the medieval Greek uncial script, the Cyrillic alphabet was probably invented by later followers of

Hvarenah

2005-03-17T18:56:00.000-08:00

In Zoroastrianism, the attribute of kingly glory. Introduced to the Persian religion from Iran as part of Mithraism, hvarenah is thought of as a shining halo that descends on a leader and makes him sacred. The king thus proclaims himself divine and can rule with absolute power in the name of God. The concept of hvarenah was especially popular with the Roman emperors,

Manapouri, Lake

2005-03-17T15:28:00.000-08:00

Lake, southwestern South Island, New Zealand, the deepest lake in the country. It is one of the Southern Lakes, found in the highland section of Fiordland National Park, which were formed by the glacial deepening of an existing stream valley accompanied by damming of the valley with a moraine (glacial debris). Manapouri derives its name from a Maori word meaning “lake

Pacuvius, Marcus

2005-03-16T23:49:00.000-08:00

The bearer of an Oscan name, Pacuvius was probably educated at Tarentum and must have been equally at home in Oscan, Latin, and Greek, as was his uncle and teacher, the poet Quintus Ennius. As a young man he followed Ennius to Rome, where he joined the circle

Alcohol Consumption

2005-03-15T07:04:00.000-08:00

Alcoholic beverages include wines, beers, and spirits. Wines are fermented

Topaz

2005-03-15T00:52:00.000-08:00

Topaz is an aluminum silicate containing fluorine and has a chemical formula of Al2(F,OH)2SiO4. It is formed

Caribou

2005-03-14T21:43:00.000-08:00

City, Aroostook county, northeastern Maine, U.S. It lies along the Aroostook River, near the New Brunswick border, 13 miles (21 km) north of Presque Isle. Settled in 1824, it developed as a lumbering centre and was incorporated in 1859 as Lyndon. It was renamed Caribou in 1877 for the woodland caribou once plentiful in the region. The city is the shipping point for a large potato-growing region.

Cacique

2005-03-13T17:03:00.000-08:00

Any of a dozen tropical American birds belonging to the family Icteridae (order Passeriformes) and resembling the related oropendolas. Caciques are smaller than oropendolas and have a less-powerful bill, which lacks a frontal shield. These striking black-and-yellow or black-and-red birds make hanging nests. A common species is the all-black, yellow-billed cacique

Cima Da Conegliano, Giovanni Battista

2005-03-13T05:17:00.000-08:00

Italian painter of the Venetian school whose style was marked by its use of landscape and by airy, luminous colour. Probably a pupil of Bartolomeo Montagna, a minor painter of Vicenza, he was later influenced by the poetic and colouristically sensitive style of Giovanni Bellini, the great Venetian master of the late 15th and

Ovett, Steve

2005-03-12T09:54:00.000-08:00

Ovett first attracted international notice when he won the 800-metre race at the 1973 European junior championships in Duisburg, West

Ghanimah

2005-03-11T08:34:00.000-08:00

In the early Islamic community (7th century AD), booty taken in battle in the form of weapons, horses, prisoners, and movable goods. In pre-Islamic Bedouin society, where the ghazw (razzia, or raid) was a way of life and a point of honour, ghanimah helped provide the material means of existence. After the leader of the ghazw received a fourth or a fifth of the booty, the rest was divided

Steer Roping

2005-03-11T01:07:00.000-08:00

Rodeo event in which a mounted cowboy pursues a full-grown steer; lassos it with his rope, catching the animal by the horns; fastens the rope to his saddle; and stops his horse suddenly, throwing the steer to the ground. The cowboy then quickly dismounts and ties three of the steer's feet, raising both hands to signal completion. The event is timed, and the contestant with

'awali

2005-03-10T22:23:00.000-08:00

Municipality in the state and emirate of Bahrain, on central Bahrain island, in the Persian Gulf. Founded in the 1930s by the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO), it is situated just north of Bahrain's oil fields and southwest of the country's oil refinery, one of the largest in the world. The municipality was built to house the main offices, headquarters staff, and foreign executives

Vent, îles Du

2005-03-10T21:02:00.000-08:00

English Windward Group eastern group of islands within the Society Islands, French Polynesia, in the central South Pacific. The group is composed of volcanic islands surrounded by coral reefs. The far larger Tahiti and Moorea (qq.v.) lie at the centre of the group. Maiao, covering about 3 square miles (8 square km) and located some 60 miles (95 km) west of Tahiti, is sparsely populated and is cultivated for

Shabonee

2005-03-10T13:32:00.000-08:00

By birth an Ottawa Indian, Shabonee married the daughter of a Potawatomi chief and succeeded him as tribal leader. Although an adherent

Anne

2005-03-08T23:10:00.000-08:00

David Green, Queen Anne (1970); Edward Gregg, Queen Anne (1980).

Anthropology And Archaeology, Eastern Hemisphere.

2005-03-08T10:41:00.000-08:00

The year 2002 yielded a number of stunning archaeological discoveries. A 50-cm (20-in)-long limestone ossuary, or box for storage of bones, bearing a text in Aramaic, was hailed as the first archaeological evidence for the historical Jesus. The ossuary, found near Jerusalem, was carved with a single line of text reading, “Ya'akov bar Yosef akhui diYeshua,” or “James, son of Joseph, brother

Raymond, Henry Jarvis

2005-03-07T09:14:00.000-08:00

Raymond worked for Horace Greeley on the weekly New Yorker in 1840 and then from 1841 to 1848 on the daily New York Tribune. As

Providence, Personal and impersonal forms

2005-03-06T10:31:00.000-08:00

The cosmic order can appear in a personalized form, as, for example, the Egyptian goddess Maat; but this personification of the cosmic order is not general: the Iranian Asha, the Indian rta, and the Chinese Tao are all to a high degree impersonal. Maat represents truth and order; her domain includes not only the order of the nature, but also the social and ethical orders. She

Mahan, Larry E.

2005-03-06T00:37:00.000-08:00

In 1962 Mahan won the all-around Oregon championship and also won the bareback bronc and bulldogging

Mason, Lowell

2005-03-05T14:27:00.000-08:00

Mason went to Savannah, Ga., as a bank clerk and became choirmaster at the Independent Presbyterian Church in that city. In 1822 he returned to Boston and published his famous and profitable The Handel and Haydn Society's Collection

Frederick I

2005-03-03T17:54:00.000-08:00

In 1688 Frederick succeeded to the electorate and at once set out, assisted

Goblin

2005-03-03T01:26:00.000-08:00

In Western folklore, a wandering sprite that is usually mischievous but often malicious. Goblins supposedly live in grottoes but attach themselves to households, where they are believed to bang upon pots and pans, snatch nightclothes off the bodies of sleeping people, move furniture at night, and flee after rapping on walls and doors. They are

Tarakanova, Yelizaveta Alekseyevna

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

She claimed to have been reared in St. Petersburg, but she was probably not Russian, and her origins and real name are unknown. She appeared in various cities of western Europe

Williams, Betty

2005-03-02T00:13:00.000-08:00

Williams, an office worker and wife and mother, took little part in public life until August 1976, when she witnessed an incident that moved her to speak out. An Irish Republican Army terrorist was shot by British

Power Steering

2005-03-01T23:48:00.000-08:00

System to aid the steering of an automobile by use of a hydraulic device (driven from the engine) that amplifies the turning moment, or torque, applied to the steering wheel by the driver. To reduce the torque required from the driver as cars became heavier and tires softer, gears were introduced between the steering wheel shaft and the linkage that turns the wheels.

China, The first Opium War and its aftermath

2005-03-01T22:13:00.000-08:00

In February 1840 the British government decided on an expedition, and Rear Adm. George Elliot was appointed first commissioner and plenipotentiary to China. In June, 16 British warships arrived in Hong Kong and sailed northward to the mouth of the Pei River to press China with its demands. No agreement was reached. In May 1841 the British attacked the walled city of Canton and

Chiaroscuro

2005-02-28T03:00:00.000-08:00

Some evidence exists that ancient Greek and Roman artists used chiaroscuro effects, but in European painting the technique was first brought to its full potential by Leonardo da Vinci in the late 15th century in such paintings as his “Adoration of the

Piedmontite

2005-02-27T21:52:00.000-08:00

A silicate mineral that belongs to the epidote (q.v.) series.

Plotina, Pompeia

2005-02-27T08:05:00.000-08:00

Wife of the Roman emperor Trajan. She earned great respect in her lifetime by her virtue and her advocation of the people's interests. During the ceremony of Trajan's accession, she is supposed to have turned around as she climbed the palace steps and addressed the crowd, saying that she desired always to be the same as she was then. One of her accomplishments was to curb

Lockhart, John Gibson

2005-02-26T05:13:00.000-08:00

Lockhart, the son of a Presbyterian minister descended from the landed gentry, studied at the universities of Glasgow and Oxford and began the practice

Bellingshausen, Fabian Gottlieb Von

2005-02-26T00:19:00.000-08:00

Commanding

Davies, Sir John

2005-02-25T14:36:00.000-08:00

Educated at the University of Oxford, Davies entered the Middle Temple, London, in 1588 and was called to the bar in 1595. Much of his early poetry consisted

Wolverine

2005-02-24T00:53:00.000-08:00

Also called Glutton, Carcajou, or Skunk Bear (species Gulo gulo, or sometimes G. luscus in North America), member of the weasel family (Mustelidae) that lives in cold northern latitudes, especially in timbered areas, around the world. It resembles a small, squat, broad bear 65–90 cm (26–36 inches) long, excluding the bushy, 13–26-centimetre tail; shoulder height is 36–45 cm, and weight is 9–30 kg (20–66 pounds). The legs are short, somewhat bowed; the

Palace Museum

2005-02-23T16:53:00.000-08:00

The palace itself consists of many separate halls and courtyards. The outer buildings of the palace became a museum in 1914, although the imperial family continued to live in the private apartments until 1924. Many

Sachs, (ferdinand Gustav) Julius Von

2005-02-23T08:04:00.000-08:00

Sachs became an assistant to the physiologist Jan Evangelista Purkinje at the University of Prague, where he received the Ph.D. in 1856. In 1859 he was appointed

Podium

2005-02-22T01:16:00.000-08:00

Plural podiums , or podia in architecture, any of various elements that form the “foot,” or base, of a structure, such as a raised pedestal or base, a low wall supporting columns, or the structurally or decoratively emphasized lowest portion of a wall. Sometimes the basement story of a building may be treated as a podium. The podium is usually designed with a modeled base and plinth at the bottom; a

San Carlos De Bariloche

2005-02-21T23:47:00.000-08:00

Also called Bariloche resort town, Río Negro provincia, southwestern Argentina. It lies on the southeastern shore of Lake Nahuel Huapí, in the Andean lake district. Chalet-type building construction, introduced in 1905 by Swiss immigrants, provides an appropriate setting for skiing in the winter months on the slopes of the nearby V. López and Otto peaks, while the many lakes and streams afford

Furniture, 19th century

2005-02-21T13:30:00.000-08:00

The Empire style began in Paris about the time of the Revolution and quickly spread throughout Europe, each country adapting it to its own national taste. In England it is commonly called the Regency style. Two French architects, Charles Percier and Pierre Fontaine, who designed the furnishings for the staterooms of Napoleon, contributed in great measure to the

Rouen Ware

2005-02-20T10:03:00.000-08:00

Faience (tin-glazed earthenware) and porcelain wares that made Rouen, Fr., a major pottery centre. In the 16th century faience was used as an element of architectural decoration and in apothecary jars. A Rouen potter, Edme Poterat, who opened a factory in Rouen in 1647, is credited with the invention of France's soft-paste porcelain. He also introduced the radiating festoon style

Oglesby, Richard (james)

2005-02-19T17:35:00.000-08:00

Oglesby was born into a farming family, and his father was a member of the Kentucky legislature. Orphaned in 1833, he was taken to Decatur, Ill., by an uncle. In 1845 Oglesby was admitted to the bar; he practiced law until the Mexican War (April 1846–February 1848) broke out, at which time he served with the 4th Illinois

Coleopteran

2005-02-19T11:43:00.000-08:00

Any member of the insect order Coleoptera, which includes the beetles and weevils. It is the largest order of insects, representing about 40 percent of the known insect species. Among the approximately 250,000 species of Coleoptera are many of the largest and most conspicuous insects, some of which also have brilliant metallic colours, showy patterns, or striking form. Beetles

Pendant

2005-02-18T01:55:00.000-08:00

The pharaohs of ancient Egypt wore pendants that were sometimes of huge dimensions,

Xanthinuria

2005-02-17T04:41:00.000-08:00

Rare inherited disorder of purine metabolism that results from a deficiency in the enzyme xanthine oxidase. Normally this enzyme breaks down the purine base xanthine to uric acid, which is then excreted. In the absence of the enzyme, xanthine is not metabolized by the body and its concentration builds up in the blood and urine. Xanthinuria is not a serious condition,

Swabian Alp

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

German Swäbische Alb, continuation of the Jura Mountains in Baden-Württemberg Land (state), southwestern Germany. The upland plateau extends approximately 100 miles (160 km) from the Black Forest (Schwarzwald) to the Wörnitz River at an average elevation of about 2,300 feet (700 m). The plateau rises in a steep northwestern scarp some 1,300 feet (400 m) above the valleys of the Neckar, Rems, and Fils rivers to its highest

Dilleniidae

2005-02-16T10:06:00.000-08:00

Although tricolpate pollen is known from the Barremian and Aptian ages (124 to 113 million years ago) of the Early Cretaceous Period (144 to 97.5 million years ago), the record of those fossils recognized as Dilleniidae goes back no farther than the Cenomanian Age (97.5 to 91 million years ago) of the Late Cretaceous Period (97.5 to 66.4 million years ago). By this time, families in all parts of the subclass

Ke Ga, Point

2005-02-16T07:55:00.000-08:00

Vietnamese Mui Ke Ga , also called Mui Dieu , formerly Cap Varella , or Cape Varella the easternmost point of Vietnam, lying along the South China Sea. The promontory, rising to 2,316 feet (706 m) above the sea, lies southeast of Tuy Hoa and is a continuation of a massive southwest-northeast–trending granite spur of the Annamese Cordillera. Ke Ga is also the name of another cape in Vietnam on the South China Sea about 180 miles (290 km) to the south-southwest.

Alaska, The land

2005-02-15T04:43:00.000-08:00

The immense area of Alaska has a great variety of physical characteristics. Nearly one-third of the state lies within the Arctic Circle and has perennially frozen ground (permafrost) and treeless tundra. The southern coast and the panhandle at sea level are fully temperate regions. In these latter and in the adjoining Canadian areas, however, lies the world's largest

Aesthetics, Understanding art

2005-02-14T13:29:00.000-08:00

The use of the concept of understanding in describing the appreciation of art marks out an interesting distinction between art and natural beauty. A person may understand or fail to understand T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets, Michelangelo's “David,” or Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, but he cannot understand or fail to understand the Highlands of Scotland, even when he finds

Ogier The Dane

2005-02-13T05:32:00.000-08:00

French Ogier De Danemarche , Danish Holger Danske an important character in the French medieval epic poems called chansons de geste. His story is told in a cycle of these poems known as Geste de Doon de Mayence, which deals with the wars of the feudal barons against the emperor Charlemagne. The character of Ogier has a historical prototype in Autcharius, a follower of Carloman, Charlemagne's younger brother, whose

Joensuu

2005-02-13T02:53:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Pohjois-Karjalan lääni (province), southeastern Finland, at the mouth of the Pielisjoki (river), southeast of Kuopio. Chartered in 1848, the city is a rail junction and centre for lumber shipment and has connections by steamship, highway, and air. Local industry includes plywood and lumber mills. Notable landmarks include the town hall (1914), designed by the 20th-century

Babington, Anthony

2005-02-12T08:49:00.000-08:00

The son of Henry Babington of Derbyshire, he was brought up secretly a Roman Catholic. As a youth he served at Sheffield

Yangtze River, Hydrology

2005-02-12T02:40:00.000-08:00

The Yangtze basin is comparatively well irrigated; the average yearly rainfall amounts to about 43 inches. Most of the precipitation is brought by the monsoon winds and falls primarily as rain in the summer months. In the mountainous part of the basin the precipitation is mainly snow. Floods, which result from the monsoon rains in the middle and lower parts of the basin,

Davenport

2005-02-11T03:47:00.000-08:00

In modern usage, a large upholstered settee, but in the 18th century a compact desk having deep drawers on the right side and dummy drawer fronts on the left side. The sloping top of the davenport concealed a fitted well, the front of which protruded beyond the drawers and was supported by a pair of columns on a base, or plinth. The back of the writing area was normally flat

Persian Gulf, Transportation

2005-02-10T05:13:00.000-08:00

For centuries a considerable sea trade has been carried on by local craft between the Persian Gulf and Africa and India; this has become completely dominated by an incessant traffic of large tankers that carry oil from the large marine terminals at Khark Island (Iran), Kuwait, Dhahran (Az-Zahran, in Saudi Arabia), Bahrain, Das Island (United Arab Emirates), and other locations

Sexual Behaviour, Human, Sexual problems

2005-02-09T04:52:00.000-08:00

Physiological problems of a specifically sexual nature are rather few. Only a small minority of

Iasion

2005-02-09T02:16:00.000-08:00

Also called Iasios, in Greek mythology, Cretan youth loved by Demeter, the corn goddess, who lay with him in a fallow field that had been thrice plowed. Their son was Plutus (q.v.), the wealth within the soil. According to another version, Iasion attempted to ravish the goddess and was struck by lightning hurled by Zeus. Iasion perhaps originated as an ancient agricultural deity associated

Dachau

2005-02-08T09:31:00.000-08:00

During World War II the main camp was supplemented by about 150 branches scattered throughout

Argentina, The Northwest

2005-02-07T21:34:00.000-08:00

This part of the Andes region includes the northern half of the main mountain mass in Argentina and the transitional terrain, or piedmont, merging with the eastern lowlands. The region's southern border is the upper Colorado River. Within the region, the Andean system of north-south-trending mountain ranges varies in elevation from 16,000 to 22,000 feet (4,900 to 6,700 metres) and is interrupted

Gabon, Health and welfare

2005-02-07T15:06:00.000-08:00

Health facilities remain inadequate, particularly outside the Libreville area, despite improvements during the 1970s and '80s. The government provides nearly all health care services. The internationally known hospital operated by Albert Schweitzer at Lambaréné from 1924 to 1965 receives government assistance. Malaria, sleeping sickness, tuberculosis, syphilis, and other

Kamba

2005-02-06T18:54:00.000-08:00

Though primarily agriculturists, the Kamba keep considerable numbers of cattle, sheep, and goats. Their main staple crops are millet, sorghum, and corn (maize). Overcrowding and soil erosion in the Machakos district have driven many to work in Nairobi. The Kamba have long been known

Pitkin Glass

2005-02-06T03:22:00.000-08:00

The product's fame rests almost entirely on so-called Pitkin flasks, which were much sought by collectors in the 1920s. These flasks, which vary in colour from green to aquamarine and amber, were a kind of pocket bottle molded with a swirl

Nivelle, Robert-georges

2005-02-06T00:02:00.000-08:00

Nivelle graduated from the École Polytechnique in 1878, served in Indochina, Algeria, and China as an artillery officer, and was made a general of brigade in October 1914 after World War

Malatesta Family

2005-02-03T21:04:00.000-08:00

Italian family that ruled Rimini, south of Ravenna, in the European Middle Ages and led the region's Guelf (papal) party. Originating as feudal lords of the Apennine hinterland, the family became powerful in Rimini in the 13th century, when Malatesta da Verucchio (d. 1312) expelled Ghibelline (imperial party) leaders in 1295 and became lord of the city. Possibly the best-known episode

Kennedy, Robert F.

2005-02-03T20:18:00.000-08:00

Robert interrupted his studies at Harvard University to serve in the U.S. Navy during World War II but returned to the university and was

Garrett, Pat

2005-02-03T09:21:00.000-08:00

Born in Alabama and reared in Louisiana, Garrett left home at about the age of 17 and headed for Texas and the life of a cowboy and buffalo hunter. In 1879 he married and settled in Lincoln County, N.M., where he became first deputy sheriff and then sheriff. In July 1881 he tracked

Walter Of Coventry

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

Walter was not a historian or chronicler in his own right; he merely brought together the works of Marianus Scotus, Florence of Worcester, Henry of Huntingdon, Roger of Hoveden, and

Lipset, Seymour Martin

2005-02-02T04:37:00.000-08:00

After receiving his B.S. from City College of New York (1943), Lipset was a lecturer at the University of Toronto (1946–48) and then an assistant professor at the University of California,

Italian Popular Party

2005-02-01T22:15:00.000-08:00

In January 1919 a Sicilian priest, Luigi Sturzo, founded the original Italian Popular Party.

Telephone And Telephone System, Digital facsimile

2005-01-31T16:11:00.000-08:00

Although the Group 2 fax machines proved to be successful in business applications where electronic transmission of documents containing nontextual information such as drawings, diagrams, and signatures was required, the slow transmission rate and the cost of the terminals ultimately limited the growth of fax services. In response, the CCITT developed standards