GreenPebble

Chelles

2005-04-05T11:52:00.000-07:00

Town, eastern suburb of Paris, in Seine-et-Marne département, Paris region, north-central France, near the Marne River. It is the site of ancient Calae and has ruins of the 7th-century Abbey of Notre-Dame-de-Chelles (founded by Bathilde, widow of Clovis II, and destroyed during the French Revolution). Prehistoric remains found nearby in the 19th century were designated Chellean

Asceticism

2005-04-04T22:12:00.000-07:00

The origins of asceticism lie in man's attempts to achieve various ultimate goals or ideals: development of the “whole” person, human creativity, ideas, the “self,” or skills demanding technical proficiency. Athletic askesis (“training”), involving the ideal of bodily fitness and excellence, was developed to ensure the highest possible degree of physical fitness in an athlete.

Percé

2005-04-04T15:02:00.000-07:00

City, Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine region, eastern Quebec province, Canada. It lies along the Gulf of St. Lawrence, at the east end of the Gaspé Peninsula. First visited in 1534 by Jacques Cartier, it has been the site of a Roman Catholic mission since 1670. Percé is now a fishing port and summer resort. Offshore, but connected by a sandbar at low tide, is famed Rocher-Percé (“Pierced

Intelligence

2005-04-03T23:13:00.000-07:00

In government and military operations, evaluated information concerning the strength, activities, and probable courses of action of foreign countries or nonstate actors that are usually, though not always, enemies or opponents. The term also is used to refer to the collection, analysis, and distribution of such information and to secret intervention in the political

Belgium

2005-04-03T03:37:00.000-07:00

The Belgian Parliament approved a further decentralization of power to the country's three regions during 2001. After six months of intense negotiations between the major political parties, it was agreed in July that responsibility for agricultural policy, foreign trade, development cooperation, and control over communal and provincial councils would pass from

Forcados River

2005-04-01T22:25:00.000-08:00

River, a major navigable channel of the Niger Delta, southern Nigeria. It leaves the main course of the Niger River about 20 miles (32 km) downstream from Aboh and flows through zones of freshwater swamps, mangrove swamps, and coastal sand ridges before completing its 123-mile (198-kilometre) westerly course to the Bight of Benin. Since about 1900 it has been the chief link for small ship

Thomas, W(illiam) I(saac)

2005-04-01T19:06:00.000-08:00

Thomas taught sociology at the University of Chicago (1895–1918), the New School for Social Research, New York City (1923–28), and Harvard University (1936–37). His Sex and

Athlone, Godard Van Reede, 1st Earl Of, Baron Of Aughrim, Heer (lord) Van Ginkel

2005-04-01T05:28:00.000-08:00

Van Reede's father, Adriaan, the first baron van Reede (a Danish title),

Childhood Disease And Disorder, Respiratory disorders

2005-03-30T02:02:00.000-08:00

Numerous abnormalities of respiratory function are common in the newborn infant. One of the most severe is respiratory distress syndrome (RDS; also called hyaline membrane disease). RDS occurs in 0.5 to 1 percent of all deliveries, and, as previously mentioned, is especially common in premature infants. In addition, it is encountered commonly in infants of diabetic mothers

Valenciennes Lace

2005-03-30T01:02:00.000-08:00

The

Adam's Bridge

2005-03-29T00:20:00.000-08:00

Also called Rama's Bridge, chain of shoals, between the islands of Mannar, near northwestern Sri Lanka, and Rameswaram, off the southeastern coast of India. The bridge is 30 miles (48 km) long and separates the Gulf of Mannar (southwest) from the Palk Strait (northeast). Some of the sandbanks are dry, and nowhere are the shoals deeper than 4 feet (1 m); thus, they seriously hinder navigation. Dredging operations,

Stranitzky, Joseph Anton

2005-03-28T14:30:00.000-08:00

Stranitzky began his career as an itinerant puppeteer. After his arrival in Vienna (c. 1705) he formed his own company, which performed burlesques and farces in German, often based on Italian libretti. By 1711 he and his troupe had become

Kerguelen Islands

2005-03-28T04:33:00.000-08:00

Archipelago in the southern Indian Ocean. Administratively a part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises), it consists of the island of Kerguelen (also known as Desolation Island) and nearly 300 islets, which together cover about 2,400 square miles (6,200 square km). Heavily glaciated Kerguelen Island, about 100 miles (160 km) in length, has

Permafrost, Pingos

2005-03-27T18:59:00.000-08:00

The most spectacular landforms associated with permafrost are pingos, small ice-cored circular or elliptical hills of frozen sediments or even bedrock, 3 to more than 60 metres high and 15 to 450 metres in diameter. Pingos are widespread in the continuous permafrost zone and are quite conspicuous because they rise above the tundra. They are much less conspicuous in the forested

Antigen

2005-03-26T04:59:00.000-08:00

Foreign substance that, when introduced into the body, is capable of stimulating an immune response, specifically activating lymphocytes, which are the body's infection-fighting white blood cells. Virtually any large foreign molecule can act as an antigen, including those contained in bacteria, viruses, protozoa, helminths, foods, snake venoms, egg white, serum components,

China, Consolidation

2005-03-26T04:28:00.000-08:00

Under the third emperor, Chen-tsung (reigned 997/998–1022/23), the Sung achieved consolidation. A threatening Khitan offensive was directly met by the Emperor himself. A few battles assured neither side of victory. The two empires pledged peaceful coexistence in 1004 through an exchange of sworn documents that foreshadowed modern international treaties. The Khitan gave up its claim

Theligonales

2005-03-25T05:14:00.000-08:00

Problematic order of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing one family (Theligonaceae, sometimes called Cynocrambaceae) and one genus (Theligonum) with three species distributed in the Canary Islands, Mediterranean region, southwestern China, and Japan. The plants are somewhat succulent (fleshy) herbs with separate male and female flowers on the same plant.

'phags-pa

2005-03-24T20:04:00.000-08:00

'Phags-pa was a member of the Sa-skya-pa school of Buddhism, which was based at the Sa-skya monastery and which was noted for its emphasis on scholarship. After the Mongols had established suzerainty over his country, 'Phags-pa accompanied his uncle, the Sa-skya Lama, on a visit to Mongolia in 1247. 'Phags-pa later succeeded

Arundel, Thomas

2005-03-24T17:20:00.000-08:00

English statesman and archbishop of Canterbury who aided the opponents of King Richard II; during the reign of King Henry IV, Arundel vigorously suppressed the Lollards. His father was Richard Fitzalan, 3rd earl of Arundel, and his mother was a member of the powerful House of Lancaster. He became bishop of Ely in 1374, and during the early years of the reign of Richard

Nichiren

2005-03-24T13:10:00.000-08:00

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

Sarapis

2005-03-23T13:56:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Serapis Greco-Egyptian deity of the sun first encountered at Memphis, where his cult was celebrated in association with that of the sacred Egyptian bull Apis (who was called Osorapis when deceased). He was thus originally a god of the underworld but was reintroduced as a new deity with many Hellenic aspects by Ptolemy I Soter (reigned 305–284 BC), who centred the worship of the deity at

Alexis

2005-03-22T20:44:00.000-08:00

The son of Michael, the first Romanov monarch of Russia (reigned 1613–45), Alexis received a superficial education from his tutor Boris Ivanovich Morozov before acceding to the throne at the age of 16. Morozov, who was also Alexis' brother-in-law, initially took charge of state affairs, but in 1648 a popular uprising

Saint Albans, Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke Of, Baron Heddington, Earl Of Burford

2005-03-22T09:16:00.000-08:00

Charles Beauclerk was created Baron Heddington and earl of Burford in 1676 and duke of St. Albans in 1684. The latter creation took place shortly after the death of Henry Jermyn, the earl of St. Albans. He served as a colonel in the regiment

Wilkes, John

2005-03-21T06:57:00.000-08:00

A profligate by nature, Wilkes became a member of the congenial

Athenagoras

2005-03-20T02:39:00.000-08:00

Identified by some early historians as

Dahomey

2005-03-19T17:54:00.000-08:00

Kingdom in western Africa that flourished in the 18th and 19th centuries in the region that is now southern Benin. According to tradition, at the beginning of the 17th century three brothers vied for the kingdom of Allada, which, like neighbouring Whydah (now Ouidah), had grown rich on the slave trade. When one of the brothers won control of Allada, the other two fled. One went southeast

Cat Shark

2005-03-19T16:41:00.000-08:00

(family Scyliorhinidae), any of more than 80 species of small, mottled sharks (order Lamniformes). Although many bottom-dwelling species are rare and poorly known ecologically, representatives have been found in all major marine environments of the tropical and temperate regions. Most cat sharks are small (less than 90 cm [3 feet]), and many have bold body markings. They have

Mclaughlin, John

2005-03-19T00:13:00.000-08:00

McLaughlin began his career playing blues and rock in London in the early 1960s and went on to play free jazz with important British figures before moving to the United States in 1969. There

Ibn Al-'awwam

2005-03-18T08:20:00.000-08:00

Agriculturist who wrote the Arabic treatise on agriculture, Kitab al-fila-hah, the outstanding medieval work on the subject. The Spanish translation, published in the early 1800s, consists of 35 chapters dealing with agronomy, cattle and poultry raising, and beekeeping. It deals with 585 plants; explains the cultivation of more than 50 fruit trees; and includes

San Carlos De Bariloche

2005-03-17T21:57:00.000-08:00

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

Aelia Capitolina

2005-03-17T07:27:00.000-08:00

City founded in AD 135 by the Romans on the ruins of Jerusalem, which their forces, under Titus, had destroyed in AD 70. The name was given, after the Second Jewish Revolt (132–135), in honour of the emperor Hadrian (whose nomen, or clan name, was Aelius) as well as the deities of the Capitoline Triad (Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva). A sanctuary to Jupiter was built on the Temple Mount, and statues of Roman

Lancaster, Burt

2005-03-17T06:54:00.000-08:00

One of five children born to a New York City postal worker, Lancaster exhibited considerable athletic prowess as a youth. At age 19 he joined the circus and performed in an acrobatic act with partner Nick Cravat,

Nore, The

2005-03-16T23:22:00.000-08:00

Sandbank in the Thames Estuary, extending between Shoeburyness (north) and Sheerness (south), county of Kent, southeastern England. The Nore Lightship, anchored 4 miles (6 km) southeast of Shoeburyness, was the first to be established in English waters (1732). The Nore anchorage was much-used by the English fleet in the wars of the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1797 sailors at The Nore mutinied

Anthropomorphism

2005-03-16T07:50:00.000-08:00

The attribution of human form or other human characteristics to any nonhuman object. In religion, the term is applied to any statement that depicts the deity as having a bodily form resembling that of human beings, or as possessing qualities of thought, will, or emotion that are continuous with those experienced by humans. Any reference to the divine as having a human

Robbins (of Clare Market), Lionel Charles Robbins, Baron

2005-03-16T06:28:00.000-08:00

Robbins was educated at the University of London and the London School of Economics (LSE). After periods of teaching at New College, Oxford, and LSE, he was appointed professor of economics at the latter university in 1929, a position he held until 1961. Robbins was influenced

Iran, Ancient, Mithradates II

2005-03-15T22:45:00.000-08:00

The reign of Mithradates II, from 123 to 88 BC, constitutes the most glorious chapter of Parthian history. It put an end to the ambitions of Artabanus's son Himerus, left by his father as governor of Mesopotamia, and brought Hyspaosines, king of Mesene (Characene), who had extended his possessions too far toward the north, back into submission. In the east the Saka were on the move—soon

Marsh, Ngaio

2005-03-14T22:57:00.000-08:00

Marsh studied painting in art school and was an actress and theatrical producer in New Zealand before going in 1928 to England, where she wrote her first novel, A Man Lay

Chemical Compound, Preparation

2005-03-14T17:05:00.000-08:00

Thioketones are usually prepared through reaction of ketones with phosphorus sulfur reagents such as Lawesson's reagent, Ar2P2S4 (Figure 50). Xanthates (Greek xanthos, “yellow,” from the colour of their copper salts), thiocarbonyl derivatives of carbonates, ROC(=S)OR, are prepared from alcohols and carbon disulfide. This reaction is used to produce a soluble form of cellulose

Moradabad

2005-03-14T03:43:00.000-08:00

City, administrative headquarters of Moradabad district, Uttar Pradesh state, northern India, on a ridge along the Ramganga River. Moradabad was founded in 1625 by Rustam Khan (a Mughal general), who built the fort north of the city as well as the Jami' Masjid, a large mosque. Located at a major road and rail junction, it is a trade centre for agricultural products. Industries include cotton

Kadoma

2005-03-13T22:15:00.000-08:00

Formerly Gatooma, town, central Zimbabwe. Named for nearby Kadoma (Gatooma) Hill, it was constituted a village in 1907 and received municipal status in 1917. Located in a fertile area and on the main road and railway between Harare (formerly Salisbury) and Bulawayo, the town is a commercial centre for agricultural products (cattle, cotton, corn [maize], and tobacco) and manufactures cotton textiles.

Canary Islands

2005-03-12T21:07:00.000-08:00

Spanish Islas Canarias comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Spain, consisting of an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, the nearest island being 67 miles (108 km) off the northwest African mainland. The Canaries comprise the Spanish provincias of Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, as well as the insular councils of Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, Tenerife, La Palma, Gomera, and

Ear, Human, Tuning-fork tests

2005-03-12T18:32:00.000-08:00

In the Rinne test the sounding tuning fork is placed on the mastoid process, and the person

Culture

2005-03-11T07:23:00.000-08:00

The existence and use of culture depends upon an ability possessed by humans alone. This ability has

Székesfehérvár

2005-03-11T04:24:00.000-08:00

A Roman settlement, Herculea, superseded an earlier Celtic village on the site; in the 10th century it was chosen by Stephen I, king of Hungary, as capital of the Hungarian kingdom, which it remained until the 16th century. Then known as Alba Regia,

Gastronomy, Scandinavian

2005-03-10T11:56:00.000-08:00

Sweden's great contribution to international eating is the smorgasbord, literally a “bread-and-butter

Quantum Computer

2005-03-10T00:17:00.000-08:00

As early as 1959 the American physicist and Nobel laureate Richard Feynman noted that, as electronic components begin to reach microscopic scales, effects predicted by quantum mechanics occur—which, he suggested, might be exploited in the design of more powerful computers. In

Dye-transfer Process

2005-03-09T06:55:00.000-08:00

In photography, technique for preparing coloured photographic prints in which the colours of the subject are resolved by optical filters into three components, each of which is recorded on a separate gelatin negative. The three negatives are converted into relief positives in which the depth of the gelatin is related to the intensity of the colour component;

Faidherbe, Louis

2005-03-09T01:45:00.000-08:00

In full Louis-léon-césar Faidherbe governor of French Senegal in 1854–61 and 1863–65 and a major founder of France's colonial empire in Africa. He founded Dakar, the future capital of French West Africa.

Roba'i

2005-03-08T16:29:00.000-08:00

The most famous example of this genre known in the Western world

Ahmose Ii

2005-03-07T17:21:00.000-08:00

In 570, after Apries' unsuccessful campaign against Cyrene, in modern Libya, the Egyptian

Ustyurt Plateau

2005-03-07T00:33:00.000-08:00

Kazak Üstirt , Turkmen Üstyurt plateau in Uzbekistan and Kazakstan, lying between the Aral Sea and the Amu Darya (river) delta in the east and the Mangyshlak (Tupqarghan) Plateau and the Kara-Bogaz-Gol (Garabogazköl; an inlet of the Caspian Sea) in the west. It has an area of about 77,000 square miles (about 200,000 square km) and an average elevation of about 500 feet (about 150 m), rising to a maximum of 1,200 feet (365 m) in the southwest. At its

Malaita

2005-03-06T19:14:00.000-08:00

Also called Mala, volcanic island in the Solomon Islands, southwestern Pacific Ocean. It lies 30 miles (50 km) northeast of Guadalcanal across Indispensable Strait. The island is about 115 miles (185 km) long and 22 miles (35 km) across at its widest point, is mountainous (rising to Mount Ire [Mount Kolourat; 4,718 feet, or 1,438 m] in the centre), and is covered with dense forests. It is separated from Maramasike Island at its

Ocaña

2005-03-06T10:17:00.000-08:00

City, Norte de Santander departamento, northern Colombia, in the Hacarí valley. Founded (c. 1570) as Nueva Madrid by Francisco Fernández, the city was renamed for Ocaña in New Castile, Spain. An independence convention that was held there in 1828 is commemorated by a triumphal arch. Barium mining and onion growing are basic economic activities. Ocaña is the superior court of a judicial

Oakland

2005-03-06T07:44:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1873) of Alameda county, California, U.S., on the eastern shore of the San Francisco Bay. Its site was once part of Rancho San Antonio, where Moses Chase leased farmland and laid out the town of Clinton (later named Brooklyn). In 1851 Horace W. Carpentier started a transbay ferry service to San Francisco and acquired a town site (1852) to the west of Brooklyn, naming it Oakland for the

Accidental

2005-03-06T01:03:00.000-08:00

In music, sign placed immediately to the left of a note to show that the note must be changed in pitch. A sharp () raises a note by a semitone; a flat () lowers it by a semitone; a natural ({natural}) restores it to the original pitch. Double sharps (´) and double flats () indicate that the note is raised or lowered by two semitones. A single natural cancels a double sharp or flat; a natural next

Draft Animal

2005-03-04T11:57:00.000-08:00

Any domesticated animal used in drawing heavy loads. Draft animals were in common use in Mesopotamia before 3000 BC for farm work and for pulling wheeled vehicles. Their use spread to the rest of the world over the following 2,500 years. While cattle, usually in teams, have been used most often as draft animals, horses and donkeys have supplanted them in many areas. Some horses—such

Laima

2005-03-03T14:42:00.000-08:00

Also called Laima-dalia (from Lithuanian laime, “happiness,” “luck”), in Baltic religion, the goddess of fate, generally associated with the linden tree. Together with Dievs, the sky, and Saule, the sun, Laima determines the length and fortune of human life. In the course of each life she helps arrange marriages, oversees weddings, protects pregnant women, and appears at childbirth to pronounce each

Gabon, Education

2005-03-03T10:55:00.000-08:00

The educational system continues to be modeled closely after that of France. French remains the sole medium of instruction; Bantu languages are studied as electives at the secondary and higher levels. While education is officially mandatory from the ages of 6 to 16, the bulk of children do not attend long enough to achieve literacy or numeracy. The Omar Bongo University,

Ch'i

2005-03-03T08:58:00.000-08:00

In the 7th and 6th centuries BC, Ch'i, which was located on the extreme eastern edge of the North China Plain in what is now Shantung and Hopeh provinces, began to increase in size, expanding at least sixfold by incorporating many previous “barbarian” areas into its realm.

Sea Lily

2005-03-01T21:15:00.000-08:00

Sea lilies occur chiefly in deep waters, where they feed

Camargo, Marie (-anne De Cupis De)

2005-03-01T16:38:00.000-08:00

Camargo studied in Paris under Françoise Prevost and danced in Brussels and Rouen before her Paris Opéra debut in 1726 in Les Caractères de la danse. Her success provoked the jealousy of her aging teacher, Prevost, who

David I

2005-03-01T14:50:00.000-08:00

One of the most powerful Scottish kings (reigned from 1124). He admitted into Scotland an Anglo-French (Norman) aristocracy that played a major part in the later history of the kingdom. He also reorganized Scottish Christianity to conform with continental European and English usages and founded many religious communities, mostly for Cistercian

Fresnillo

2005-03-01T06:33:00.000-08:00

In full Fresnillo De González Echeverría, city, central Zacatecas state, north central Mexico. It lies on an interior plateau more than 7,000 ft (2,100 m) above sea level and northwest of Zacatecas city, the state capital. It was founded in 1554 and has been an important silver-mining centre since 1569. Limited quantities of gold, copper, lead, and zinc are also produced. Irrigation has increased grain and vegetable production in the

Orbigny, Alcide Dessalines D'

2005-02-28T16:57:00.000-08:00

During eight years of travel in South America (1826–34) Orbigny studied the people, natural history, and geology of the continent. He summarized these studies in Voyage dans l'Amérique méridionale, 10 vol., (1834–47; “Journey into South America”) and proceeded to draw up the first comprehensive map of that

Mughal Dynasty

2005-02-28T13:25:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Mogul , Arabic Mongol Muslim dynasty that ruled most of northern India from the early 16th to the mid-18th century. The Mughal dynasty was notable for about two centuries of effective rule over much of India, for the ability of its rulers, who through seven generations maintained a record of unusual talent, and for its administrative organization. A further distinction was the attempt of the

Aureate

2005-02-27T21:35:00.000-08:00

A writing style that is affected, pompous, and heavily ornamental, that uses rhetorical flourishes excessively, and that often employs interlarded foreign words and phrases. The style is usually associated with the 15th-century French, English, and Scottish writers. The word is from the Middle English aureat, “golden” or “splendid,” and was probably coined on the basis

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, Typology and typological symbolism

2005-02-27T20:41:00.000-08:00

Erich Auerbach, “Figura,” in Scenes from the Drama of European Literature: Six Essays (1959); A.C. Charity, Events and Their Afterlife: The Dialectics of Christian Typology in the Bible and Dante (1966); Jean Danielou, Sacramentum futuri: études sur les origines de la typologie biblique (1950; Eng. trans., From Shadows to Reality: Studies in the Biblical Typology of the Fathers, 1960); Austin Farrer, A Rebirth of Images: The Making of St. John's Apocalypse (1949); R.P.C. Hanson, Allegory and Event (1959); W.G. Madsen, From Shadowy Types to Truth: Studies in Milton's Symbolism (1968).

Christian, Fletcher

2005-02-26T15:50:00.000-08:00

A member of a family that had moved from the Isle of Man to Cumberland, Eng., Christian had already served some years in the navy when, in 1787, he became master's mate on the Bounty, a discovery ship sailing (Dec. 23, 1787) from Spithead to the South Seas to collect breadfruit

Nero

2005-02-26T15:15:00.000-08:00

Nero's father, Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, died in about AD 40, and Nero was brought up by his mother, Agrippina the Younger, a great-granddaughter of the emperor Augustus. After poisoning her second husband, Agrippina incestuously became the wife of her uncle, the emperor Claudius, and persuaded him to favour Nero for the succession, over the rightful claim of his own son,

Jhabvala, Ruth Prawer

2005-02-25T15:27:00.000-08:00

A Polish Jew, Jhabvala immigrated to England with her family in 1939. After receiving an M.A. in English (1951) from Queen Mary College, London, she married an Indian architect and moved to India, where she lived for the next 24 years. After 1975 she lived

Iacchus

2005-02-25T01:14:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Iakchos, minor deity associated with the Eleusinian Mysteries, the best known of the ancient Greek mystery religions. On the day preceding the commencement of the mysteries, Iacchus' name was invoked with the names of the earth goddess Demeter and her daughter Kore (Persephone) during the procession from Athens to Eleusis, a city in Attica. Probably originally a personification

Egypt, The Western Desert

2005-02-24T17:04:00.000-08:00

The Western Desert comprises two-thirds of the land surface of Egypt and covers an area of about 262,800 square miles. From its highest altitude—more than 3,300 feet—on the plateau of al-Jilf al-Kabir in the southeast, the rocky plateau slopes gradually northeastward to the first of the depressions that are a characteristic feature of the Western Desert—that containing the oases

Canute (i)

2005-02-23T21:39:00.000-08:00

Neither the place nor date of Canute's birth is known. As a youth he accompanied his father, Sweyn I Forkbeard, king of Denmark, on his invasion of England in 1013. Canute was left in charge of the fleet at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire,

Har Rai

2005-02-23T15:27:00.000-08:00

The contemplative Har Rai spent more time in spiritual exercises than in administrative or military duties, and he knew

Hard-boiled Fiction

2005-02-22T18:38:00.000-08:00

A tough, unsentimental style of American crime writing that brought a new tone of earthy realism or naturalism to the field of detective fiction. Hard-boiled fiction used graphic sex and violence, vivid but often sordid urban backgrounds, and fast-paced, slangy dialogue. Credit for the invention of the genre belongs to Dashiell Hammett (1894–1961), a former Pinkerton detective

Rouergue

2005-02-22T16:58:00.000-08:00

Ancient province of south central France, corresponding to much of the modern départements of Aveyron and Tarn-et-Garonne. It was bounded on the north by Auvergne, on the south and southwest by Languedoc, on the east by Gévaudan and the Cévennes mountains, and on the west by Quercy. It derived its name from the Gallic tribe of Rutheni. Administratively it formed first

Industrial Glass, Annealing

2005-02-22T06:46:00.000-08:00

During the glass-forming process, glasses often develop permanent stresses because various regions of the material pass through the glass transition range at varying cooling rates and at varying times. In order to ensure dimensional stability (for instance, for space-based telescope mirrors) and to avoid the development of excessive tension in critical regions,

Lateran Council

2005-02-21T13:26:00.000-08:00

The first Lateran Council, the ninth ecumenical council (1123), was held during the reign of Pope Calixtus II; no acts or contemporary accounts survive. The council promulgated a number of canons (probably 22), many of which merely reiterated decrees of earlier councils. Much

Ford, John

2005-02-20T17:09:00.000-08:00

In 1602 Ford was admitted to the Middle Temple (a training college for lawyers), and he remained there, except for a period of suspension (1606–08), until at least 1617. He

East Falkland

2005-02-20T08:25:00.000-08:00

One of the two major islands of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is 90 miles (140 km) long and 55 miles (88 km) wide and rises to Mount Usborne (2,312 feet [705 m]). The total area is 2,550 square miles (6,605 square km), excluding adjacent small islands. The town of Stanley is on the northeast shore. Pop. (1986) 1,620.

Lighthouse, Rectangular and drum lenses

2005-02-20T01:24:00.000-08:00

In 1828 Augustin Fresnel of France produced the first apparatus using the refracting properties of glass, now known as the dioptric system. On a lens panel he surrounded a central bull's-eye lens with a series of concentric glass prismatic rings. The panel collected light emitted by the lamp over a wide horizontal angle and also the light that would otherwise escape to

Ilesha

2005-02-20T00:59:00.000-08:00

Town, Osun state, southwestern Nigeria. It lies in the Yoruba Hills and at the intersection of roads from Ile-Ife, Oshogbo, and Akure. The town is one of the oldest settlements in Yorubaland—according to tradition, it was founded by an owa (“king”) who was one of the 16 sons of the deity Oduduwa. Ilesha was an important military centre in the campaigns against Ibadan, 60 miles (97 km) west-southwest,

Mabillon, Jean

2005-02-18T17:32:00.000-08:00

T. Ruinart, Abrégé de la vie de D.J.M. (1709), reprinted in 1933 as Mabillon; Henri Leclercq, Life, 2 vol. (1953–57); J.U. Bergkamp, Dom Jean Mabillon and the Benedictine Historical School of Saint-Maur (1928).

Meramec River

2005-02-17T20:13:00.000-08:00

Tributary of the Mississippi River rising in the Ozark Mountains, near Salem in Dent county, southeast Missouri, U.S. The river winds 207 miles (333 km) generally north, northeast, and southeast through the limestone Meramec Caverns and Meramec State Park (near Sullivan) to enter the Mississippi River 20 miles (32 km) below St. Louis. Lead was mined along its banks in the 1700s, and the river

Lighthouse, Rectangular and drum lenses

2005-02-17T11:01:00.000-08:00

French Agence Spatiale Européenne (ASE) western European space and space-technology research organization founded in 1975 from the merger of the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO) and the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO), both established in 1964. Members include Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,

Xylem

2005-02-17T01:35:00.000-08:00

In botany, part of the vascular system that conveys water and dissolved minerals from the roots to the rest of the plant and may also furnish mechanical support. Xylem consists of specialized water-conducting tissues made up mostly of narrow, elongated, hollow cells. These cells may be of several types, including tracheids (the basic cell type), vessel members, fibres,

Adam Of Bremen

2005-02-16T21:25:00.000-08:00

Of Franconian origin, he was probably educated at the cathedral school in Bamberg but was introduced in 1066 or 1067 into the cathedral chapter at Bremen by Archbishop

Henderson, Rickey

2005-02-15T16:34:00.000-08:00

Henderson was an All-American running back in football as a high school athlete in Oakland, California. He chose to play baseball over football, however, and competed in the minor leagues

Brehon Laws

2005-02-15T09:06:00.000-08:00

Analysis

Submarine

2005-02-15T06:03:00.000-08:00

Submarines first became a major factor in naval warfare during World War I (1914–18), when Germany employed them to destroy surface merchant vessels.

Earth

2005-02-14T09:27:00.000-08:00

Scientists have applied the full battery of modern instrumentation to studying the Earth in ways that have not yet been possible for the other planets; thus,

Steiermark

2005-02-13T18:42:00.000-08:00

English Styria Bundesland (federal province), southeastern and central Austria, bordering Slovenia on the south and bounded by Bundesländer Kärnten (Carinthia) on the south, Salzburg on the west, Oberösterreich and Niederösterreich (Upper and Lower Austria) on the north, and Burgenland on the east. It has an area of 6,327 sq mi (16,387 sq km). Upper Steiermark extends in the north from the Limestone

Great Depression

2005-02-13T07:43:00.000-08:00

Worldwide economic downturn that began in 1929 and lasted until about 1939. It was the longest and most severe depression ever experienced by the industrialized Western world, sparking fundamental changes in economic institutions, macroeconomic policy, and economic theory. Although it originated in the United States, the Great Depression caused drastic declines in

Catechumen

2005-02-13T04:34:00.000-08:00

A person who receives instruction in the Christian religion in order to be baptized. According to the New Testament, the apostles instructed converts after baptism (Acts 2:41–42), and Christian instruction was evidently given to all converts (Luke 1:4, Acts 18:25, Galatians 6:6). As the number of Gentiles in the church increased, instruction became more definite. In the 4th century, with the

Arfons, Art

2005-02-12T08:04:00.000-08:00

Arfons worked in his father's feed-mill business in Akron, Ohio, before and after service in the U.S. Navy (1943–46), which trained him in diesel mechanics. He began his career as a drag racer in the early 1950s with his brother Walter, with whom he built a series of racing

Hatto I

2005-02-12T01:28:00.000-08:00

Hatto was elected abbot of Reichenau (888) and Ellwangen (889) and archbishop of Mainz (891). A trusted adviser of King

Hale, Lucretia Peabody

2005-02-11T22:27:00.000-08:00

Hale was an elder sister of minister and writer Edward Everett Hale and of journalist and writer Charles Hale, and with them she grew up in a cultivated family much involved with literature. In 1850 she and her brother Edward collaborated on a novel, Margaret Percival in America. She

Ribose

2005-02-11T15:23:00.000-08:00

Also called D-ribose, five-carbon sugar found in RNA (ribonucleic acid), where it alternates with phosphate groups to form the “backbone” of the RNA polymer and binds to nitrogenous bases. Ribose phosphates are components of the nucleotide coenzymes and are utilized by microorganisms in the synthesis of the amino acid histidine.

Great Mother Of The Gods

2005-02-10T06:48:00.000-08:00

Legends agree in locating the rise of the worship of the Great Mother in the general area of Phrygia in

Ashwell, Lena

2005-02-10T06:46:00.000-08:00

Reared and educated in Canada, Ashwell studied music at Lausanne, Switz., and at the Royal Academy of Music, London. Her voice proved