WetHand

Leverkusen

2005-04-05T14:17:00.000-07:00

City, North Rhine-Westphalia Land (state), west-central Germany, on the Rhine River at the mouth of the Wupper River, in the Dhünn valley just north of Cologne. Formed in 1930 by the union of the villages of Schlebusch, Rheindorf, and Steinbüchel with the town of Wiesdorf, it is well served by highway and rail and is the site of the Bayer Works (chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and photographic

Cullen, Countee

2005-04-05T02:51:00.000-07:00

Reared by a woman who was probably his paternal grandmother, Countee at age 15 was unofficially adopted by the Reverend F.A. Cullen, minister of Salem M.E. Church, one of Harlem's largest congregations. He won a citywide poetry contest as a schoolboy and saw his winning stanzas

Wynn, Ed

2005-04-02T17:35:00.000-08:00

Wynn made his professional debut with the Thurber-Nasher Repertoire Company in Norwich, Conn., in 1902 and acquired the nickname of the Perfect Fool from a revue of the same name in

Cicero

2005-04-01T14:40:00.000-08:00

City, western suburb of Chicago, Cook county, northeastern Illinois, U.S. First settled in the 1830s, it was named for Cicero, N.Y. Its development was stimulated when the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was built through the site (1864) and by the arrival of land speculators and farmers after the American Civil War. Economic growth continued, but Cicero lost territory to

Eckstorm, Fannie Pearson Hardy

2005-03-31T05:09:00.000-08:00

Fannie Hardy was the daughter of a well-known fur trader, outdoorsman, naturalist, and taxidermist, from whom she early absorbed a love and deep

Chicago Literary Renaissance

2005-03-29T21:04:00.000-08:00

The flourishing of literary activity in Chicago during the period from approximately 1912 to 1925. The leading writers of this renaissance—Theodore Dreiser, Sherwood Anderson, Edgar Lee Masters, and Carl Sandburg—realistically depicted the contemporary urban environment, decrying the loss of traditional rural values in the increasingly industrialized and materialistic

Furniture, Historical forms and styles

2005-03-28T14:54:00.000-08:00

Round stone tables on low pedestal legs are known in Egypt from the time of the pyramids (c. 2700 BC). Egyptian limestone reliefs also show tables of normal height. Dating from the later dynasties, crude wooden tables with architectonic molding have been preserved. No tables have survived from ancient Greece. From the Roman ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum, however, there are

Messenger

2005-03-26T21:48:00.000-08:00

(foaled 1780), racehorse who, though a Thoroughbred who sired many successful Thoroughbred (flat) racers, was most important as the foundation sire of the Standardbred (harness racehorse) breed. A son of Mambrino and grandson of Matchem, he was foaled in England but was taken to Philadelphia in 1788. His descendants became known for their trotting ability, and his great-grandson

Fagunwa, D.o.

2005-03-24T10:19:00.000-08:00

Fagunwa's first novel, Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo Irunmale (1938; The Forest of a Thousand Daemons), was the first full-length novel published in the Yoruba language. His second

Tribological Ceramics

2005-03-21T04:04:00.000-08:00

Also called wear-resistant ceramics ceramic materials that are resistant to friction and wear. They are employed in a variety of industrial and domestic applications, including mineral processing and metallurgy. This article surveys the principal tribological ceramic materials and their areas of application.

Aromatic Compound

2005-03-19T13:07:00.000-08:00

Any of a large class of chemical compounds whose molecular structure includes one or more planar rings of atoms joined by covalent bonds of two different kinds. The term aromatic was first applied about 1860 to a group of hydrocarbons isolated from coal tar and distinguished by their odours, which are much stronger than those of other groups of hydrocarbons; in chemistry,

Inner Ear

2005-03-18T07:33:00.000-08:00

Also called labyrinth of the ear, part of the ear that contains organs of the senses of hearing and equilibrium. The bony labyrinth, a cavity in the temporal bone, is divided into three sections: the vestibule, the semicircular canals, and the cochlea. Within the bony labyrinth is a membranous labyrinth, which is also divided into three parts: the semicircular ducts; two saclike structures, the saccule

Fisher, M.f.k.

2005-03-17T13:06:00.000-08:00

In full Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher American writer whose compelling style, wit, and interest in the gastronomical made her one of the major American writers on the subject of food. In her 15 celebrated books, Fisher created a new genre: the food essay. Seeing food as a cultural metaphor, she proved to be both an insightful philosopher of food and a writer of fine

Smith, Bessie

2005-03-16T15:05:00.000-08:00

Smith grew up in poverty and obscurity. She may have made a first public appearance at the age of eight or nine at the Ivory Theatre in her hometown. About 1919 she was discovered by Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, one of the first of the great blues singers, from whom she received some

Khorram-dinan

2005-03-14T19:39:00.000-08:00

The doctrinal beliefs of the Khorram-dinan are not altogether clear. Although the sect accepted the general principles of Islam, its members also believed in transmigration of the soul and placed special emphasis on the

Insurance, Group life insurance

2005-03-14T10:53:00.000-08:00

Under group life insurance an employer signs a master contract with the insurance company outlining the provisions of the plan. Each employee receives a certificate that gives evidence of participation in the plan. The amount of insurance depends on the employee's salary or job classification; usually the employer pays a portion of the premium and the employee

Nichiren

2005-03-12T22:02:00.000-08:00

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

La Rochefoucauld Family

2005-03-11T00:56:00.000-08:00

One of France's noblest families, traceable in Angoumois to the year 1019. Ducal titles belonging to it are: duke (duc) de La Rochefoucauld (1622); duke de La Roche-Guyon (1679); duke d'Anville (1732); duke d'Estissac; duke de Liancourt (1747); duke de Doudeauville (1780); duke (duca) di Bisaccia (Neapolitan title; 1851); and duke (duque) de Estrées (Spanish title; 1892). Its two best-known members, François VI, Duke de La Rochefoucauld,

Qatar

2005-03-10T16:30:00.000-08:00

Officially State of Qatar , Arabic Dawlat Qatar independent emirate on the west coast of the Persian Gulf. It occupies a small desert peninsula that extends from the larger Arabian Peninsula north of eastern Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. It has an area of 4,416 square miles (11,437 square km), the total including a number of nearby small islands and the Hawar Islands (which are also claimed by Bahrain) in the Persian

Abu Bakr

2005-03-10T09:19:00.000-08:00

Of a minor clan of the ruling merchant tribe of Quraysh at Mecca, Abu Bakr purportedly was the first male convert to Islam, but this view is doubted by a majority of Muslim historians. Abu Bakr's prominence

Bradley, Marion Zimmer

2005-03-09T02:12:00.000-08:00

Marion Zimmer studied at the New York State College for Teachers from 1946 to 1948 and, after her career was established, graduated from Hardin-Simmons College in 1964. In 1949 she

Wang Mang

2005-03-08T20:26:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Wang Mang , posthumous name, or shih (Wade-Giles romanization) Chia Huang-ti , or She Huang-ti founder of the short-lived Hsin dynasty (AD 9–25). He is known in Chinese history as the “Usurper.”

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, Modern period

2005-03-07T22:38:00.000-08:00

With the Baroque and Neoclassical periods, allegory began to turn away from cosmology and toward rhetorical ambiguity. John Milton allegorized sin and death in his epic poem Paradise Lost, but allegory for him seems chiefly to lie in the ambiguous diction and syntax employed in the poem. Instead of flashing allegorical emblems before the reader, Milton generates

Astor Family

2005-03-05T22:21:00.000-08:00

John Jacob Astor (1763–1848), the founder of the family fortune, is covered in a separate article: see Astor, John Jacob. His son, William Backhouse Astor (1792–1875), who inherited the major portion of the estate, continued his father's program of investing in Manhattan

Hughes, Thomas

2005-03-05T05:06:00.000-08:00

Hughes attended Rugby School from 1834 to 1842. His love for the great Rugby headmaster Thomas Arnold and for games and boyish high spirits are admirably captured in the novel Tom Brown's School Days (1857). The book's success—it ran into nearly 50 editions

Van Buren, Hannah

2005-03-03T19:34:00.000-08:00

Little is known about Hannah, who died of tuberculosis about a month before her 36th birthday. She did not leave writing of her own, and Martin, who never remarried, did not mention even her name in the autobiography he wrote late in life. Their sons were all bachelors when Martin became president in 1837. The following year Abraham married Angelica Singleton, who served as White House hostess until Martin's term ended in 1841.

Essex, Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl Of, Viscount Hereford Lord Ferrers, Lord Bourchier

2005-03-03T09:20:00.000-08:00

Because his father, Robert Devereux, 2nd earl of Essex, had been executed for treason (1601), Devereux had to obtain special permission from Parliament to succeed (1604) to his family titles

Dance, Western, The French dance suite

2005-03-02T06:59:00.000-08:00

At the great balls of the French court at Versailles, the minuet was the high point of the festivities, which culminated in a suite of dances. The opening branle, led by the king and his escort, was a measured circling around, one couple after another. Next came the courante, which had been toned down from its earlier rather capricious figurations. Over the years it assumed

Arenig Series

2005-03-01T01:30:00.000-08:00

Also called Arenigian Series, the second of six divisions (in ascending order) constituting the Ordovician System, representing all those rocks deposited worldwide during the Arenigian Age (488 to 478 million years ago). The series' name is derived from the Arenig mountains in Gwynedd county in North Wales, which serve as the type area in Great Britain for rocks of this age. Welsh rock strata belonging

Aeon

2005-02-27T23:23:00.000-08:00

The first aeon was said to emanate directly

Akshak

2005-02-27T19:52:00.000-08:00

Ancient city of Mesopotamia on the northern boundary of Akkad, identified by some authorities with the Babylonian city of Upi (Opis). About 2500 BC Akshak was conquered by Eannatum, king of Lagash. About a century later Akshak temporarily established its hegemony over Sumer and Akkad. The location of Akshak is uncertain, although the Mari letters (from the royal archives

Sunch'on

2005-02-26T11:12:00.000-08:00

City, Cholla-nam do (province), southern South Korea. Located on the Yosu Peninsula, 87 miles (140 km) southeast of Kwangju, the provincial capital, it is an administrative and economic centre of the eastern part of the province. It is connected by rail with Seoul through Kwangju and Taejon and, since 1968, has been connected with Pusan through Chinju and Masan. A transportation junction,

Sun Microsystems, Inc.

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

American manufacturer of computer workstations, servers, and software with headquarters in Palo Alto, California.

Alapayevsk

2005-02-24T08:08:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Alapaevsk, city, Sverdlovsk oblast (province), west-central Russia, on the Neyva River. It is one of the oldest centres of the iron and steel industry in the Urals (an ironworks was established there in 1704). It also has machine-tool, timbering, and metalworking industries. Pop. (1991 est.) 50,300.

Lewis, John

2005-02-24T06:20:00.000-08:00

Reared in New Mexico by academically oriented parents, Lewis studied piano from childhood and, until 1942, anthropology and music at the University of

Disinfectant

2005-02-23T14:17:00.000-08:00

Any substance, such as creosote or alcohol, applied to inanimate objects to kill microorganisms. Disinfectants and antiseptics are alike in that both are germicidal, but antiseptics are applied primarily to living tissue. The ideal disinfectant would rapidly destroy bacteria, fungi, viruses, and protozoans, would not corrode surgical instruments, and would not

Mursilis Ii

2005-02-22T07:34:00.000-08:00

Son of the great Hittite conqueror Suppiluliumas, Mursilis succeeded his father after the brief reign of his older brother Arnuwandas III. Mursilis renewed the allegiance of North Syria, particularly Carchemish (controlled by his brother Shar-Kushukh) and the kingdom of Amurru; he also conducted a successful

Sea Hen

2005-02-21T20:46:00.000-08:00

Fish, a species of lumpsucker (q.v.).

Theatre, Developments in staging

2005-02-21T02:48:00.000-08:00

In the latter half of the 16th century, intermezzi became a popular element of theatrical production. These entertainments, inserted between the acts of a play and totally unrelated to it, were generally on classical themes and were originally mounted during masked balls and banquets. The need to change settings rapidly for the alternating segments of plays and

Italus, John

2005-02-19T23:34:00.000-08:00

Of Calabrian origin, Italus, after a period of court favour under the emperor Michael VII Ducas

Kidney Transplant

2005-02-19T15:14:00.000-08:00

Also called Renal Transplant, replacement of a diseased or damaged kidney with a healthy one obtained either from a living relative or a recently deceased person. Although kidney transplants were carried out in the late 1950s, clinically significant transplantation did not begin until around 1963, when the immunosuppressive drug azathioprine was developed to help counteract the rejection of the

Cohen, Albert

2005-02-19T02:56:00.000-08:00

From 1900 Cohen was reared in Marseilles, France. He studied law in Geneva, became a Swiss citizen, and began a career as a writer and as a civil servant, notably with the International Labour Organisation

Aquarium

2005-02-18T04:03:00.000-08:00

The design of a large aquarium must take into account the requirements of the specimens, especially since exhibits at modern aquariums include all types of aquatic organisms: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates as well as fishes. Among the many factors that must be considered are traffic flow patterns of visitors, reflections off glass, acoustics,

Ramanathapuram

2005-02-17T00:01:00.000-08:00

Ramanathapuram district occupies part of the flat southern coastal plain, including the island of Rameswaram. Protected

Fighter Aircraft

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

Aircraft designed primarily to secure control of essential airspace by destroying enemy aircraft in combat. The opposition may consist of fighters of equal capability or of bombers carrying protective armament. For such purposes fighters must be capable of the highest possible performance in order to be able to outfly and outmaneuver opposing fighters. Above

Tintern Abbey

2005-02-16T03:55:00.000-08:00

Ecclesiastical ruin in Monmouthsire, Wales, on the west bank of the River Wye. Founded for Cistercian monks in 1131, Tintern Abbey was almost entirely rebuilt and enlarged between 1220 and 1287. The building was finally completed, except for minor additions, in the early 14th century. The abbey was dissolved in 1537, and its property was granted to the lord of Chepstow; the crown bought it

Chandrasekhar Limit

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

This limiting value was named for the Indian-born astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, who formulated it in 1930. Using Albert Einstein's special theory of relativity and the principles of quantum physics, Chandrasekhar showed that it is impossible for a white dwarf star, which

Gates, John Warne

2005-02-15T15:51:00.000-08:00

Dissatisfied with his partnership in a country hardware store at the age of 19 and impressed with the possibilities of a new product known as barbed wire, Gates became a traveling barbed-wire salesman.

Mitre Shell

2005-02-14T20:15:00.000-08:00

Any of several marine snails constituting the family Mitridae (subclass Prosobranchia of the class Gastropoda), in which the thick shell typically is bullet shaped, vaguely resembling a bishop's headdress, or mitre. Mitres are most common in the Indo-Pacific region, where one of the largest species occurs: the 10-centimetre (4-inch) episcopal mitre (Mitra mitra), which has

Lloyd, John Henry

2005-02-14T11:42:00.000-08:00

Lloyd's well-traveled Negro league career began in 1905, when he was a catcher for the Macon Acmes. He played second base for the Cuban X-Giants the following year. For the bulk of his career, Lloyd played

Sicel Language

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

After the Greek settlements in Sicily, the Siculi became Hellenized and substituted Greek for their original language. Scholars believe Sicel to have been an Indo-European

Khons

2005-02-12T04:04:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Khonsu, Khensu, or Chons, in ancient Egyptian religion, moon god who was generally depicted as a youth. A deity with astronomical associations named Khenzu is known from the Pyramid Texts (c. 2350 BC) and is possibly the same as Khons. In Egyptian mythology, Khons was regarded as the son of the god Amon and the goddess Mut. In the period of the late New Kingdom (c. 1100 BC) a major temple was built for Khons in the Karnak

Applied Psychology

2005-02-11T17:13:00.000-08:00

The same intellectual

Aerospace Engineering

2005-02-10T19:30:00.000-08:00

Also called aeronautical engineering, or astronautical engineering, field of engineering concerned with the design, development, construction, testing, and operation of vehicles operating in the Earth's atmosphere or in outer space. In 1958 the first definition of aerospace engineering appeared, considering the Earth's atmosphere and the space above it as a single realm for development of flight vehicles. Today the more encompassing

Reform Judaism

2005-02-10T00:44:00.000-08:00

A religious movement that has modified or abandoned many traditional Jewish beliefs, laws, and practices in an effort to adapt Judaism to the changed social, political, and cultural conditions of the modern world. Reform Judaism sets itself at variance with Orthodox Judaism by challenging the binding force of ritual, laws, and customs set down in the Bible and in

Dângrêk Mountains

2005-02-09T01:00:00.000-08:00

Khmer Chuor Phnum Dângrêk , French Chaîne de Dangrek forested range of hills averaging 1,500–2,000 feet (450–600 m) and dividing Thailand from Cambodia. This east–west-trending range extends from the Mekong River westward for approximately 200 miles (320 km), merging with the highland area near San Kamphaeng, Thailand. Essentially the southern escarpment of the sandstone Khorat Plateau of northeastern Thailand, the Dângrêk range slopes gradually

Vieques Island

2005-02-08T22:07:00.000-08:00

Spanish Isla de Vieques island and municipio (“municipality”), Puerto Rico. It lies 13 miles (21 km) east of the main island, fronting south on the Caribbean Sea and north on the Vieques Sound, which connects the Caribbean with the Atlantic Ocean. Composed mostly of volcanic and granite intrusives, the generally hilly island is 21 miles (34 km) long and 3 miles (5 km) wide, and it is 52 square miles (135 square km) in area. Isabel

Kubu

2005-02-08T03:07:00.000-08:00

Contact of the Kubu with their neighbours had traditionally been primarily through “silent trade”; i.e., goods for barter were put where traders could look them over. They, in turn,

Rhys, Siôn Dafydd

2005-02-07T16:08:00.000-08:00

Rhys spent some time at Oxford then earned a degree in medicine from the University of Siena, Italy. He practiced as a physician at Cardiff,

Hystaspes

2005-02-07T04:07:00.000-08:00

Also called Gushtasp protector and follower of the Iranian prophet Zoroaster. Son of Aurvataspa (Lohrasp) of the Naotara family, Hystaspes was a local ruler (kavi) in a country called in the Avesta (the Zoroastrian scripture) Aryana Vaejah, which may have been a Greater Chorasmian state abolished by the Achaemenid king Cyrus II the Great in the mid-6th century BC.

Barb

2005-02-06T20:12:00.000-08:00

Also called Barbary, native horse breed of the Barbary states of North Africa. It is related to, and probably an offshoot of, the Arabian horse but is larger, with a lower placed tail, and has hair at the fetlock (above and behind the hoof). The coat colour is usually bay or brown. Like the Arabian, it is noted for speed and endurance. A variety known as the Spanish-Barb is bred in small numbers in the

Jabir Ibn Hayyan, Abu Musa

2005-02-05T20:01:00.000-08:00

Shortly after Jabir was born, his father was beheaded for the part he played in a plot by the 'Abbasids to depose the Umayyad dynasty. Jabir was sent to Arabia, where he became a member of the Shi'ite sect. Apparently, he studied most branches of learning, including medicine. After the 'Abbasids defeated the Umayyads,

Amberjack

2005-02-04T23:13:00.000-08:00

Any of several popular sport fishes. See jack.

Widmanstätten Pattern

2005-02-04T07:18:00.000-08:00

Lines that appear in some iron meteorites when a cross section of the meteorite is etched with weak acid. The pattern is named for Alois Josep Widmanstätten, a Viennese scientist who discovered it in 1808. It represents a section through a three-dimensional octahedral structure in the metal that is formed of bands of kamacite with narrower borders of taenite, the meshes

Ear, Human, Detection of linear acceleration: static equilibrium

2005-02-03T10:22:00.000-08:00

The gravity receptors that respond to linear acceleration of the head are the maculae of the utricle and saccule (see Anatomy of the human ear: Inner ear: Vestibule). The left and right utricular maculae are in the same, approximately horizontal, plane and because of this position are more useful in providing information about the position of the head and its side-to-side

Devonshire, William Cavendish, 1st Earl Of, Baron Cavendish Of Hardwick

2005-02-03T05:48:00.000-08:00

The son of Sir William Cavendish and his third wife, Elizabeth Hardwick (afterward the Countess of Shrewsbury), the young Cavendish was educated at Eton College and Gray's Inn and was knighted in 1580 and created a baron in 1605. In 1608 he inherited a rich estate from his mother and later became

East Aurora

2005-02-01T19:03:00.000-08:00

Village, Erie county, western New York, U.S. It lies 12 miles (19 km) southeast of Buffalo and, oddly enough, 90 miles (145 km) west of Aurora. Settled in 1804, it was incorporated as Willink in 1849 and as East Aurora in 1874. Inspired by the English designer William Morris and his communal Kelmscott Press, the editor and publisher Elbert Hubbard established the Roycroft Press in East Aurora in 1893; he later

Xavier, Saint Francis

2005-02-01T10:33:00.000-08:00

Twentieth-century scholarship has dispelled many of the legends connected with Xavier and has also defended him against his critics. A modern estimate puts the figure of those baptized by him at about 30,000, as opposed to the 1,000,000 asserted by Baroque exaggeration. In reality he had to struggle with language wherever he worked and did not possess the gift of tongues attributed

Dura-europus

2005-01-31T05:31:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Doura-Europus ruined Syrian city, located in the Syrian desert near Dayr az-Zawr. Excavations were carried out first by Franz Cumont (1922–23) and later by M. Rostovtzev (1928–37). Dura was originally a Babylonian town, but it was rebuilt as a military colony about 300 BC by the Seleucids and given the alternative name of Europus after the native city in Macedonia of its reputed founder, Seleucus I Nicator.

Hadley, John

2005-01-30T17:53:00.000-08:00

Hadley's first Newtonian reflector, built in 1721, had a mirror about 6 inches (15 cm) in diameter. The favourable response it evoked inspired

Teratology

2005-01-29T23:14:00.000-08:00

Branch of the biological sciences dealing with the causes, development, description, and classification of congenital malformations in plants and animals and with the experimental production, in some instances, of these malformations. Congenital malformations arise from interruption in the early development of the organism. Malformations in human infants,

Flores Sea

2005-01-29T07:53:00.000-08:00

Bahasa Indonesia Laut Flores portion of the western South Pacific Ocean, bounded on the north by the island of Celebes (Sulawesi) and on the south by the Lesser Sunda Islands of Flores and Sumbawa. Occupying a total surface area of 93,000 sq mi (240,000 sq km), it opens northwest through Makassar Strait to the Celebes Sea, west to the Java Sea, and east to the Banda Sea. Teluk (gulf of) Bone cuts deeply into the Celebes coast.

Kyoha Shinto

2005-01-28T05:18:00.000-08:00

By 1908, 13 sects had been recognized

Biblical Literature, Gospels

2005-01-27T07:29:00.000-08:00

A few papyrus fragments come from gospels not known by name (e.g., Egerton Papyrus 2, Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 840, Strasbourg Papyrus 5–6). There are also the Gospel produced in the 2nd century by Marcion (a “semi-Gnostic” heretic from Asia Minor), who removed what he regarded as interpolations from the Gospel According to Luke; the lost Gnostic Gospel of Perfection; and the Gospel of

Teratology

2005-01-27T07:23:00.000-08:00

Perception that occurs independently of the known sensory processes. Usually included in this category of phenomena are telepathy, or thought transference between persons; clairvoyance, or supernormal awareness of objects or events not necessarily known to others; and precognition, or knowledge of the future. Scientific investigation of these and similar

Enclosed Rhyme

2005-01-26T05:08:00.000-08:00

Also called enclosing rhyme in poetry, the rhyming pattern abba found in certain quatrains, such as the first verse of Matthew Arnold's “Shakespeare”:Others abide our question. Thou art free.We ask and ask—thou smilest and art still,Out-topping knowledge. For the loftiest hill,Who to the stars uncrowns his majesty,

France, History Of, The grandsons of Clovis

2005-01-25T15:28:00.000-08:00

At the death of Chlotar I (561) the Frankish kingdom, which had become the most powerful state in the west, was once again divided, this time between his four sons. The partition agreement, based on that of 511, dealt with more extensive territories. Guntram received the eastern part of the former kingdom of Orléans, enlarged by the addition of Burgundy. Charibert I's share was fashioned

Argentina, Andean and sub-Andean zones

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

The high-elevation, cold climatic phenomenon in Argentina is sometimes referred to as tundra climate and, in even colder mountaintop

Alaskan Malamute

2005-01-23T07:58:00.000-08:00

Sled dog developed by the Malemiut, an Eskimo group from which it takes its name. The Alaskan Malamute is a strongly built dog, with a broad head, erect ears, and a plumelike tail carried over its back. Its thick coat is usually gray and white or black and white, the colours frequently forming a caplike or masklike marking on the head. The Alaskan Malamute stands about 23 to

Cydones, Demetrius

2005-01-22T11:16:00.000-08:00

Cydones was a student of the Greek classical scholar and philosopher Nilus Cabasilas. In 1354 he went to Italy, where he studied the writings of the leading medieval philosophical

Luthuli, Albert John

2005-01-22T06:59:00.000-08:00

Albert John Mvumbi (Zulu: “Continuous Rain”) Luthuli was born in Rhodesia, where his father, John Bunyan

Sanguine

2005-01-22T03:50:00.000-08:00

Especially appropriate for rendering

Reid, Whitelaw

2005-01-21T00:59:00.000-08:00

U.S. journalist, diplomat, and politician, successor to Horace Greeley in 1872 as editor in chief (until 1905) and publisher (until his death) of the New York Tribune, which, during much of that period, was perhaps the most influential newspaper in the United States. He was minister to France from 1889 to 1892, unsuccessful candidate for vice president on the

Infection, Social habits

2005-01-20T06:50:00.000-08:00

The vampire bats of Brazil, which transmit paralytic rabies, bite cattle but not ranchers, presumably because on the plains of Brazil ranchers are few but cattle plentiful. Bat-transmitted rabies, however, does occur in human beings in Trinidad, where herdsmen sleep in shacks near their animals. The mechanism of infection is the same in Brazil and Trinidad, but the

Fisher, Clara

2005-01-19T00:32:00.000-08:00

Fisher made her stage debut in 1817, at the age of six, in a children's adaptation of David Garrick's Lilliput at the Drury Lane Theatre. Her performance in that and in an afterpiece of excerpts from Richard III captivated

Wazyk, Adam

2005-01-18T19:45:00.000-08:00

Wazyk's earliest volumes of poetry, Semafory (1924; “Semaphores”) and Oczy i usta (1926; “Eyes and Lips”), were written between the ages of 17 and 20 and reflect the instability of life in Poland after World War I and

Gogunda, Battle Of

2005-01-18T05:03:00.000-08:00

Also called Battle Of Haldighat, battle fought in Rajasthan, northwestern India, between Pratap Singh of Mewar, the senior Rajput chief, and a Mughal army led by Raja Man Singh of Jaipur. It represented an attempt by the Mughal emperor Akbar to subdue the last of the independent chiefs of Rajasthan. Pratap Singh made a stand at the pass of Haldighat, about 12 miles (19 km) from the fortress of Gogunda, and northwest of

Adenauer, Konrad

2005-01-17T13:25:00.000-08:00

First chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany; 1949–63), presiding over its reconstruction after World War II. A Christian Democrat and firmly anticommunist, he supported NATO, and he worked to reconcile Germany with its former enemies, especially France.

Piura

2005-01-17T05:03:00.000-08:00

Department (formed 1861) of northern Peru, consisting of coastal desert, particularly in the west and south, and low, forested Andean mountains in the east. It is drained by the Chira River in the north and the Piura River in the south. The irrigated valleys of these two rivers are used chiefly for the production of cotton. Upstream on the Piura River, sugarcane, rice, tobacco,

Criminal Law, Behavioral norms

2005-01-16T09:29:00.000-08:00

The fact that the crime rates in many countries have risen faster than the population has brought into question the relevance of the law itself and whether or not laws against crime actually have an influence on an individual's behaviour. Various large-scale inquiries have been made into the relation between law and civil order: in the United States, the President's

Chasseur

2005-01-15T17:33:00.000-08:00

(French: “hunter”), member of an armoured unit of the French army. Originally (1743) chasseurs, or chasseurs à pied (“on foot”), were light-infantry regiments. By the outbreak of World War I there were 30 battalions of chasseurs of which 12 were known as chasseurs alpins—units specially trained for mountain warfare. After World War II, chasseurs were formed as independent battalions for

Nabis

2005-01-15T15:51:00.000-08:00

Group of artists who, through their widely diverse activities, were a major influence on the art produced in France during the late 19th century. Preaching that a work of art is the end product and visual expression of an artist's synthesis of nature into personal aesthetic metaphors and symbols, they paved the way for the early 20th-century development of abstract and

Anti-semitism

2005-01-14T15:53:00.000-08:00

Hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious or racial group. The term anti-Semitism was coined in 1879 by the German agitator Wilhelm Marr to designate the anti-Jewish campaigns underway in central Europe at that time. Although this term now has wide currency, it is a misnomer, since it implies a discrimination against all Semites. Arabs and other peoples

Bacillariophyta

2005-01-14T05:14:00.000-08:00

Division of algae the members of which are commonly known as diatoms. See diatom.

Biosphere, Humidity

2005-01-13T19:15:00.000-08:00

Most terrestrial organisms must maintain their water content within fairly narrow limits. Water commonly is lost to the air through evaporation or, in plants, transpiration. Because most water loss occurs by diffusion and the rate of diffusion is determined by the gradient across the diffusion barrier such as the surface of a leaf or skin, the rate of water loss

United Evangelical Lutheran Church

2005-01-12T15:53:00.000-08:00

Church organized in 1896 in Minneapolis, Minn., as the United Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in America by merger of the Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America (the North Church) and the Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church Association in America (the Blair Church). “Danish” was dropped from the church's name in 1946. Both of the merging groups had earlier separated

Baldinucci, Filippo

2005-01-12T00:39:00.000-08:00

Working for Cardinal Leopoldo de' Medici, Baldinucci advised on the acquisition of the great collection of drawings now in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. His Notizie dei professori del disegno da Cimabue

France, History Of, The Paris Commune

2005-01-10T18:07:00.000-08:00

A few days later, the assembly transferred the seat of government from Bordeaux to Versailles. It had scarcely arrived when it was confronted by a major civil war—the rebellion of the Paris Commune. This event, complex in itself, has been made even more difficult to understand by the mythology that later grew up around it. Karl Marx, who promptly hailed the Commune as

Anticosti Island

2005-01-10T04:33:00.000-08:00

The

Mountain

2005-01-10T03:05:00.000-08:00

Mountainous terrains have certain unifying characteristics. Such terrains have higher elevations than do surrounding areas. Moreover, high relief exists within mountain belts and ranges. Individual mountains, mountain ranges, and mountain belts that have been created by different tectonic processes, however, are often characterized by different