FertileMap

Arne, Thomas (augustine)

2005-03-24T06:48:00.000-08:00

According to tradition, Arne was the son of an upholsterer in King Street, Covent Garden. Educated at Eton, he was intended for the law, but by secretly practicing he acquired such mastery of the violin and keyboard instruments that his father withdrew all objections to a musical career. Except

France, History Of, The Vichy government

2005-03-22T01:04:00.000-08:00

Parliament met at Vichy on July 9–10 to consider France's future. The session was dominated by Pierre Laval, Pétain's vice premier, who was already emerging as the strongman of the government. Laval, convinced that Germany had won the war and would thenceforth control the Continent, saw it as his duty to adapt France to the new authoritarian age. By skillful manipulation,

Bulgarian Orthodox Church

2005-03-19T21:04:00.000-08:00

Christianity was introduced to Bulgaria in 864 by Khan (Tsar) Boris I with an archbishop appointed from Constantinople. In Macedonia, the city of Ohrid became an active mission centre. St. Clement of Ohrid, a disciple of the missionary saints Cyril and Methodius, trained a large number of Slavs for the ministry,

Olympias

2005-03-17T02:18:00.000-08:00

The daughter of Neoptolemus, king of Epirus, Olympias apparently was originally named Myrtale. Later she may have been called Olympias as a recognition of Philip's

Thomas, William

2005-03-15T13:43:00.000-08:00

Originally a land surveyor, Thomas was ordained in the Calvinistic Methodist ministry in 1859. From

Field, Cyrus W(est)

2005-03-13T14:47:00.000-08:00

After an early career in the paper business, Field became interested in a proposal to lay a transatlantic telegraph cable. He was one of the founders

Cozzens, James Gould

2005-03-11T02:28:00.000-08:00

Cozzens grew up on Staten Island, N.Y., graduated from the Kent (Conn.) School (1922), and attended Harvard University for two years. In a year of teaching in Cuba he accumulated background material for the short novels Cockpit (1928) and The Son of Perdition (1929). He gained critical attention

Beawar

2005-03-10T08:15:00.000-08:00

Town, Rajasthan state, northwestern India. A major rail and road junction, Beawar is an agricultural and woollen market centre. Industries include cotton ginning, handloom weaving, hosiery manufacture, and wood carving. Formerly also called Nayanagar, the town was founded in 1835 and grew rapidly in prosperity because of its advantageous position between Udaipur and Jodhpur.

South America, Linguistic patterns

2005-03-07T04:06:00.000-08:00

The linguistic diversity and multiplicity of South America probably is unmatched anywhere else in the world. Thousands of languages and dialects have been cataloged, including all those existing since the European conquest. Classification systems vary a great deal—from more than 100 “linguistic families” and many unrelated languages at one extreme to extremely

Pavía Y Lacy, Manuel

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

Pavía was encouraged to enter the military by his father, an infantry colonel, and eventually was admitted to the elite Guards regiment. When Isabella became queen in 1833, he fought for her against her uncle Don Carlos in the

Space Perception, Visual cues

2005-03-01T10:11:00.000-08:00

Perhaps the most important perceptual cues of distance and depth depend on so-called binocular disparity; that is, since the eyes are imbedded at different points in the skull, they receive slightly different (disparate) images of any given object. The two retinal images of the same object seem to be combined perceptually in the brain into one three-dimensional experience.

Antarctica, Other resources

2005-02-28T04:57:00.000-08:00

A rich imagination can see many possible uses of Antarctica and its materials. The continental ice sheet contains nearly 90 percent of the world's glacial ice—a huge potential supply of fresh water—but any economic value is precluded by delivery costs. Antarctica has been proposed as a long-term deep-freeze storage site for grain and other foods, but calculations show

Lance Missile

2005-02-26T06:08:00.000-08:00

The Lance is about 20 feet (6 m) long and is launched from a light trailer or a modified personnel carrier. It is propelled by a liquid-fueled rocket engine to ranges of 5 to 75 miles (8 to 120 km), depending on the warhead.

Shamanism, Differences in quality and degree

2005-02-24T13:41:00.000-08:00

Shamans differ greatly in quality and in degree. Difference of quality is manifest in the kind of spirits the shaman communicates with. “White” shamans, for example, apply to a benevolent deity and the good spirits, while “black” shamans call on a wicked deity and the wicked spirits. The difference in degree is exemplified in the belief, of the Sakha (Yakut) people of northeastern

Wollaston, William

2005-02-21T08:05:00.000-08:00

After studies at the University of Cambridge, Wollaston became a schoolteacher in Birmingham (1682) and soon afterward was ordained a priest. In 1688 he inherited the major part of his

Aleppo

2005-02-20T00:17:00.000-08:00

The city's

Furniture, Greece and Rome

2005-02-17T08:46:00.000-08:00

The typical Greek chair, the klismos, is known not from any ancient specimen still extant, but from a wealth of pictorial material. The best known is the klismos depicted on the Hegeso Stele at the Dipylon burial place outside Athens (c. 410 BC). It is a chair with a backward-sloping, curved backboard and four curving legs, only two of which are shown. These unusual legs were presumably

Reid, Whitelaw

2005-02-15T18:29:00.000-08:00

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

China, The Ch'ing Empire

2005-02-13T02:56:00.000-08:00

After 1683 the Ch'ing rulers turned their attention to consolidating control over their frontiers. Taiwan became part of the empire, and military expeditions against perceived threats in north and west Asia created the largest empire China has ever known. From the late 17th to the early 18th century Ch'ing armies destroyed the Oyrat Empire based in Dzungaria and incorporated

Príbram

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

Príbram's other

Endangered Species

2005-02-10T07:21:00.000-08:00

A number of agencies, both international and national, work to maintain lists of endangered species, to protect and preserve natural habitats, and to promote programs for recovery and reestablishment of these species. One such international agency is the Survival Service Commission of the International

Indiana Dunes

2005-02-07T09:46:00.000-08:00

The state park, established in 1925, comprises 2,182 acres (883 hectares) of shoreline, marshland, dunes, and forests near Chesterton. In addition to a 3-mile (5-kilometre) white sand beach, it has facilities for camping, picnicking, fishing, and hiking. An outstanding feature is the Big

Raccoon Dog

2005-02-05T17:46:00.000-08:00

(Nyctereutes procyonoides), member of the dog family (Canidae) native to eastern Asia and introduced into Europe. Some authorities place it in the raccoon family, Procyonidae. It resembles the raccoon in having dark facial markings that contrast with its yellowish brown coat, but it does not have a ringed tail. It has short, brown or blackish limbs, a heavy body, and rounded

Abbott, Bud; And Costello, Lou

2005-02-04T04:20:00.000-08:00

Bob Furmanek and Ron Palumbo, Abbott and Costello in Hollywood (1991); Stephen Cox and John Lofflin, The Abbott and Costello Story: Sixty Years of Who's on First? (1997).

Bosnia And Herzegovina, Transportation

2005-02-01T02:55:00.000-08:00

The major obstacle to communication in Bosnia and Herzegovina has always been the mountainous topography. The railway system, begun under Austro-Hungarian rule (1878–1918), connects Sarajevo with major towns to the north and with Zagreb and Belgrade. Another line runs south from Sarajevo to Mostar and on to Ploce on Croatia's Adriatic coast. However, few lines are direct, and

Polevskoy

2005-01-30T07:31:00.000-08:00

City, Sverdlovsk oblast (province), western Russia, located near the Chusovaya River in the mid-Urals. Founded in 1724 in connection with copper mining, it was called Polevskoy Zavod until 1928; it became a city in 1942. Copper is still mined and refined there; ferrous metallurgy, hoisting and transport equipment production, and a chemical industry based on Siberian fluorspar are

Lena River

2005-01-28T04:34:00.000-08:00

Among the peoples living in the Lena basin, mainly on the banks of the river and its tributaries, Russians are most numerous, followed by the Sakha (Yakut; a Turkic-speaking people), Evenk, and Yukaghir. There are several industrial and cultural centres and farming communities. Most of the Lena River basin lies within Sakha (Yakutia) republic of northeastern Siberia, whose

Biblical Literature, History of religions criticism

2005-01-26T00:04:00.000-08:00

“History of religions” criticism, to use an ungainly expression, relates Old and New Testament religion to the religious situation of the contemporary world of the writings and tries to explain biblical religion as far as possible in terms of current religious attitudes and practices. This is helpful to a point, insofar as it throws into relief those features of

Allbutt, Sir Thomas Clifford

2005-01-25T17:27:00.000-08:00

During a 28-year practice in Leeds, Allbutt made valuable clinical studies, primarily of arterial and nervous disorders. In 1866 he introduced the modern clinical thermometer,

France, History Of, The church

2005-01-22T14:44:00.000-08:00

The organized church, despite losses from war and plague, continued to be better endowed economically than morally. The popes of Avignon were less distant and—save perhaps to their French relatives, merchants, and artists—less admirable than the reformer popes of the past; as the prestige of their schismatic successors plummeted, the higher clergy were confirmed

Trinidad And Tobago, Plant and animal life

2005-01-21T11:20:00.000-08:00

Vegetation zones are well defined on both islands. In general, the highest areas coincide with the most luxuriant tropical rain forest vegetation. Cultivated estates or small settlements are established in clearings on the hills. In the dry season the hills are dotted with the orange flowers of the mountain immortelle, a large flowering tree that grows to a height

Nepali Language

2005-01-19T05:16:00.000-08:00

Eastern Pahari dialect spoken in Nepal. See Pahari languages.

Lahaina

2005-01-17T04:58:00.000-08:00

Lahaina was actively associated during the 19th century with the Hawaiian royal family, European whalers, and American missionaries.

Vishakhapatnam

2005-01-15T04:25:00.000-08:00

City, northeastern Andhra Pradesh state, southern India. It lies on the Bay of Bengal, about 380 miles (612 km) northeast of Madras. Vishakhapatnam lies along a small bay, and its natural harbour is formed by two promontories, the southern one of which is separated from the city by a small river. Vishakhapatnam's port has grown greatly in importance because it has the only protected

Belaya River

2005-01-13T14:05:00.000-08:00

River in Bashkortostan republic, west-central Russia. The Belaya is the largest tributary of the Kama River, which is itself an important tributary of the Volga. The Belaya rises in the southern Urals at the foot of Mount Iremel, and after flowing southwestward through a narrow mountain valley, the river turns sharply north and its valley becomes broad and terraced.

Kwakiutl

2005-01-11T06:56:00.000-08:00

Indians of the northwest Pacific coast of North America. The Kwakiutl live in British Columbia, Canada, along the shores of the waterways between Vancouver Island and the mainland opposite. They speak one of three major dialects: Haisla, spoken on the Gardner Canal and Douglas Channel; Heiltsuq, spoken from Gardner Canal to Rivers Inlet; and southern Kwakiutl, spoken

Anisotropy

2005-01-09T00:26:00.000-08:00

In physics, the quality of exhibiting properties with different values when measured along axes in different directions. Anisotropy is most easily observed in single crystals of solid elements or compounds, in which atoms, ions, or molecules are arranged in regular lattices. In contrast, the random distribution of particles in liquids, and especially in gases,

Zagros Mountains

2005-01-07T03:34:00.000-08:00

Mountain range in southwestern Iran, extending northwest-southeast from the Sirvan (Diyala) River to Shiraz. The Zagros range is about 550 miles (900 km) long and more than 150 miles (240 km) wide. Formed primarily of limestone and shale, the mountain range consists of numerous parallel ridges whose highest peaks rise above 12,000 feet (3,600 m) and have permanent snow cover. Passes through the mountains

álvarez Quintero, Serafín And Joaquín

2005-01-05T14:47:00.000-08:00

Spanish brothers who collaborated in almost 200 dramas depicting the life, manners, and speech of Andalusia. Their work was among the most popular in Spain during the early 20th century and greatly added to the revival of the Spanish theatre. Their dramas are remarkable for a vivacious and skilled presentation.

Edgar

2005-01-03T15:04:00.000-08:00

The younger son of Edmund I, king of the English, Edgar was made king of the Mercians

Cohen, Paul Joseph

2005-01-01T15:52:00.000-08:00

Cohen attended the University of Chicago (M.S., 1954; Ph.D., 1958). He held appointments at the University of Rochester, N.Y. (1957–58), and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1958–59) before joining the Institute

Fischer-tropsch Reaction

2004-12-29T11:11:00.000-08:00

The process was first used in Germany about 1940 as a method of producing liquid and gaseous hydrocarbon fuels, such as gasoline

Ortega, Daniel

2004-12-28T10:28:00.000-08:00

Son of a veteran of the peasant army of César Augusto Sandino, Ortega moved with his family to Managua in the mid-1950s. He briefly attended the Central American University in Managua, then in 1963 he went

Altman, Benjamin

2004-12-26T09:40:00.000-08:00

Altman had little formal schooling, but at the age of 25 he opened his first dry-goods store in Manhattan and in 1906 moved it to the uptown section, pioneering the movement of business there. With additions in 1913–14, the store

Raymond Terrace

2004-12-24T15:17:00.000-08:00

Town, eastern New South Wales, Australia, on the east bank of the Hunter River (near its junction with the Williams), just north of Newcastle. Founded in the 1830s, the town was named after a member of an exploring expedition in 1812 led by Gov. Lachlan Macquarie. An important wool river port in the 1840s, Raymond Terrace was proclaimed a municipality and in 1937 merged into the Shire of Port

Auerbach, Berthold

2004-12-22T02:16:00.000-08:00

Auerbach prepared for the rabbinate, but, estranged from Jewish orthodoxy by the study of the 17th-century Dutch philosopher Benedict de Spinoza, he turned instead to literature. Spinoza's life formed the basis of his first novel (1837); a translation

Diffraction Grating

2004-12-20T02:06:00.000-08:00

Component of optical devices consisting of a surface ruled with close, equidistant, and parallel lines for the purpose of resolving light into spectra. A grating is said to be a transmission or reflection grating according to whether it is transparent or mirrored—that is, whether it is ruled on glass or on a thin metal film deposited on a glass blank. Reflection gratings

Kamáres Ware

2004-12-17T10:45:00.000-08:00

Style of painted pottery that flourished on Crete during the Middle Minoan period (c. 2100–c. 1550 BC). Surviving examples include ridged cups, small, round spouted jars, and large storage jars (pithoi), on which combinations of abstract curvilinear designs and stylized plant and marine motifs are painted in white and tones of red, orange, and yellow on black grounds.

Catechetical School

2004-12-15T00:40:00.000-08:00

In early Christianity, a type of educational institution with a curriculum directed toward inquirers (especially those trained in the Greek paideia, or educational system) whose aim was to gain a greater knowledge of Christianity and eventually, perhaps, baptism into the Christian community. Located in such centres as Alexandria, the catechetical schools became

Plumbaginales

2004-12-14T02:50:00.000-08:00

The plumbago, or leadwort, order of dicotyledonous flowering plants comprising the family Plumbaginaceae, with 10 genera of herbs and shrubs, found throughout the world but especially in semi-arid salt steppes and seacoasts of Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. The plants are characterized by alternating, simple leaves that often bear glands

Terman, Lewis M(adison)

2004-12-11T14:43:00.000-08:00

Terman joined the faculty of Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif. (1910), where he became professor of education in 1916, the year he published The Measurement of Intelligence, a guide for his Stanford revision and

Dee, River

2004-12-09T20:17:00.000-08:00

River in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, rising at an elevation above 4,000 feet (1,250 metres) in the Cairngorm Mountains and flowing for about 90 miles (145 km) east to the North Sea at Aberdeen. Its headwaters flow turbulently in highland glens set amid grouse moorland. The main valley widens below Aboyne, and the river flows through well-farmed country. The River Dee is famed for its

Atiyah, Sir Michael Francis

2004-12-07T04:01:00.000-08:00

Atiyah's father was Lebanese and his mother Scottish. He attended Victoria College in Egypt and Trinity College,

Guajará-mirim

2004-12-06T10:51:00.000-08:00

City, western Rondônia estado (“state”), western Brazil. It lies along the Mamoré River. Primarily a transportation centre, Guajará-Mirim handles traffic in rubber, lumber, babassu palm oil, and other forest products taken in the surrounding area. It has a small port for shallow-draft vessels and is the southern terminus of a railroad built in 1913 to carry products out of Bolivia

Tyrconnell, Richard Talbot, Earl Of, Viscount Baltinglass, Baron Of Talbotstown

2004-12-04T23:18:00.000-08:00

The son of Sir William Talbot, a Roman Catholic lawyer and politician, Richard fought with the Royalist forces in Ireland during the English Civil Wars between the Royalists and Parliamentarians. In November 1655 he was arrested

Chad, Saint

2004-12-04T09:54:00.000-08:00

With his brother St. Cedd, he was educated at the great abbey of Lindisfarne on Holy Island (off the coast of Northumbria) under its founder, Abbot St. Aidan, and later apparently studied

Baga

2004-12-01T15:18:00.000-08:00

People who inhabit the swampy coastal region between Cape Verga and the city of Conakry in Guinea. They speak a language of the Atlantic branch of the Niger-Congo family. The women cultivate rice; the men fish and tend palm and kola trees. Some Baga are employed as wage labourers in the bauxite mines of the Los Islands off Conakry. Houses are typically cylindrical mud

Aldrich, Robert

2004-12-01T09:03:00.000-08:00

Aldrich entered the motion-picture industry as a production clerk at RKO in 1941 and was made assistant director and production manager at Enterprise Studios in the late 1940s. After working with such directors as Jean

Permafrost, Study of permafrost

2004-11-29T17:20:00.000-08:00

Although the existence of permafrost had been known to the inhabitants of Siberia for centuries, scientists of the Western world did not take seriously the isolated reports of a great thickness of frozen ground existing under northern forest and grasslands until 1836. Then, Alexander Theodor von Middendorff measured temperatures to depths of approximately 100 metres

Wilkes, John

2004-11-29T04:51:00.000-08:00

Outspoken 18th-century journalist and popular London politician who came to be regarded as a victim of persecution and as a champion of liberty because he was repeatedly expelled from Parliament. His widespread popular support may have been the beginning of English Radicalism.

France, History Of, Economy

2004-11-28T23:09:00.000-08:00

Republican France remained a nation of small producers, traders, and consumers. The surge of industrialization that marked the era of Napoleon III had stopped short of a full-scale industrial revolution. The new dynamic sector of the economy was far outweighed by a static or slowly changing sector. The bulk of industry remained smaller and more dispersed than in

Zara, Siege Of

2004-11-27T03:21:00.000-08:00

(1202), a major episode of the Fourth Crusade; the first attack on a Christian city by a crusading army, it foreshadowed the same army's assault on Constantinople, the Byzantine capital, in 1203–04. Zara (modern Zadar, Croatia), a vassal city of the Venetian republic, rebelled against Venice in 1186 and placed itself under the protection of King Béla III of Hungary. Anxious to reassert their

Wainscot Chair

2004-11-25T04:51:00.000-08:00

Also called Panel Chair, a joined wooden chair, usually made of oak, hence the name wainscot, which was used to describe a fine grade of oak usually used for paneling. Like many terms used in reference to furniture, it has a general and a particular meaning. The general sense is any heavy wooden chair of fairly simple construction. The more specific reference is to a wooden chair with turned (shaped

G.m.

2004-11-25T00:16:00.000-08:00

Recipient of the George Medal, a British decoration for valour. See George Cross.

Azzone Dei Porci

2004-11-23T17:47:00.000-08:00

Also called Azzone Soldanus , Latin Azolinus Porcius, Azzone also spelled Azo or Azzo a leader of the Bolognese school of jurists and one of the few to write systematic summaries (summae) rather than textual glosses of Roman law as codified under the Byzantine emperor Justinian I (6th century AD). His Summa codicis and Apparatus ad codicem together provided a methodical exposition of Roman law and were very influential

Arabia, History Of, The sharifs of the Holy Cities

2004-11-22T02:37:00.000-08:00

At Mecca in the mid-10th century commenced the 1,000-year ascendancy of the 'Alid sharifian families. Mecca now became capital of the Hejaz, replacing Medina, the centre from which it had been ruled since the Prophet's days. The sharifs, though at times subject to such foreign overlords as the rulers of Egypt and of other parts of Arabia, exercised virtual independence. Throughout

Ray

2004-11-21T04:54:00.000-08:00

Rays are distinguished from sharks by a flattened, disklike body, with the five gill openings and the mouth generally located on the underside. Rays are further distinguished from sharks by their greatly

France, History Of, Loss of prestige

2004-11-20T05:35:00.000-08:00

Genuinely popular in the earlier years of his reign, Louis XV had become

Razor Clam

2004-11-19T03:19:00.000-08:00

Any of the species of marine bivalve mollusks of the family Solenidae. In England the species of the genera Ensis and Solen are called razor shells. The Solenidae are common in intertidal sands and muds, particularly of temperate seas. These bivalves have narrow and elongated razorlike shells up to about 20 cm (8 inches) long. They have a large active foot that enables them

Subotica

2004-11-18T05:22:00.000-08:00

Hungarian Szabadka, town in the autonomous pokrajina (province) of Vojvodina in Serbia, Yugoslavia. It lies along the Belgrade–Budapest railway line near the Hungarian border. It is the market centre of the Backa, a fertile agricultural district in which paprika is a specialty. The town is also an industrial centre, with a large thermal-power station. Metal consumer goods, fertilizers, and

Vale Of Glamorgan

2004-11-17T21:29:00.000-08:00

County, southern Wales, extending along the Bristol Channel coast west of Cardiff and lying entirely within the historic county of Glamorgan (Morgannwg). It comprises an undulating coastal platform, with an average elevation of about 200 feet (60 metres), that often terminates abruptly in cliffs at the coast. Along other sections of the coast, however, there are sand

Mountain, Alpine- (or Himalayan-)type belts

2004-11-16T09:26:00.000-08:00

These belts are thought to have been created by the movement of one continent beneath another. In general, a thick layer of light, buoyant continental crust cannot be carried deep into the asthenosphere. Instead, the leading edge of the descending continent is scraped off, and the rest of the continent then plunges beneath the off-scraped slice. Eventually the convergence

Cincinnatus, Lucius Quinctius

2004-11-16T04:44:00.000-08:00

The core of the tradition holds that in 458 Cincinnatus was appointed dictator at Rome in order to rescue a consular army that was surrounded

Page, Walter

2004-11-14T09:47:00.000-08:00

Page played in several bands in the 1920s before forming Walter Page's Blue Devils (1925–31) in Oklahoma City, Okla. A historically important early “territory

G.c.m.g.

2004-11-13T07:52:00.000-08:00

Knight grand cross, or dame grand cross, of St. Michael and St. George, member of the highest rank of a British order of knighthood. See Saint Michael and Saint George, The Most Distinguished Order of.

Ariel

2004-11-12T00:45:00.000-08:00

Ariel orbits at a distance of 191,020 km (118,432 miles) from the centre of the planet. It has a period of 2.52 days. Ariel's estimated diameter is 1,330 km (825 miles), and its mass is thought to be about 1.8 ´ 10-5 that of Uranus.

Cleon

2004-11-11T04:23:00.000-08:00

The first prominent representative of the commercial class in Athenian politics, he became leader of the Athenian democracy in 429 after the death of his political enemy, Pericles. In the Peloponnesian War he strongly advocated an offensive strategy. When Mytilene, which had revolted against Athens, fell in 427, Cleon proposed that all its citizens

Habakkuk, The Book Of

2004-11-10T11:33:00.000-08:00

It is difficult to fix the date of the book, but the mention of the Chaldeans as Yahweh's agent (1:6) suggests the period

France, History Of, Charles VII

2004-11-10T03:51:00.000-08:00

Charles VI's son, Charles VII (ruled 1422–61), for his part, did not fail to claim his inheritance, though he had no proper coronation. Residing at Bourges, which his adversaries pretended was the extent of his realm, he in fact retained the fidelity of the greater part of France, including Berry, Poitou, Lyonnais, Auvergne, and Languedoc. For a time the Valois cause suffered from the

Kilim

2004-11-08T11:09:00.000-08:00

Pileless floor covering handwoven by tapestry techniques in Anatolia, the Balkans, or parts of Iran. In the rest of Iran, the Caucasus, and Turkistan, the name for similar pieces is palas. In most kilims, a slit occurs wherever two colours meet along a vertical line in the pattern, but in a few Karabagh or South Caucasian pieces, interlocking methods are employed in order

Burgess Shale

2004-11-07T23:09:00.000-08:00

Fossil formation containing remarkably detailed traces of soft-bodied biota of the Middle Cambrian Epoch (520 to 512 million years ago). Collected from a fossil bed in the Burgess Pass of the Canadian Rockies, the Burgess Shale is one of the best preserved and most important fossil formations in the world. Since it was discovered in 1909, over 60,000 specimens have been retrieved from

Kircher, Athanasius

2004-11-06T20:32:00.000-08:00

Kircher learned Greek and Hebrew at the Jesuit school in Fulda, pursued scientific and humanistic studies at Paderborn, Cologne, and Koblenz, and in 1628 was ordained at Mainz. He fled the

Faraday's Laws Of Electrolysis

2004-11-05T09:05:00.000-08:00

In chemistry, quantitative laws used to express magnitudes of electrolytic effects, first described by the English scientist Michael Faraday in 1833. The laws state that (1) the amount of chemical change produced by current at an electrode-electrolyte boundary is proportional to the quantity of electricity used, and (2) the amounts of chemical changes produced by the same

Augustan History

2004-11-04T05:39:00.000-08:00

The work is incomplete in its surviving form (it probably originally began with one of Hadrian's predecessors, Nerva or Trajan), and its original title is unknown. Its authorship and date of composition are also matters of argument.

Computers, Compilers

2004-11-03T21:31:00.000-08:00

In 1952 Heinz Rutishauser,

Igor's Campaign, The Song Of

2004-11-02T06:28:00.000-08:00

Also translated Lay of Igor's Campaign , Russian Slovo o polku Igoreve masterpiece of Old Russian literature, an account of the unsuccessful campaign in 1185 of Prince Igor of Novgorod-Seversky against the Polovtsy (Kipchak, or Cumans). As in the great French epic The Song of Roland, Igor's heroic pride draws him into a combat in which the odds are too great for him. Though defeated, Igor escapes his captors and returns to his people. The tale was

Japanese Alps

2004-11-01T20:19:00.000-08:00

The ranges are a popular skiing and mountain-climbing area. The Hida Range is included within Chubu-Sangaku National Park, which stretches over Gifu, Toyama, Nagano, and Niigata prefectures and

Nador

2004-10-31T02:02:00.000-08:00

City, northeastern Morocco. The city is a small Mediterranean port on the Bou Areg Lagoon and a trading centre for fish, fruits, and livestock. It is linked to the Spanish plaza (North African enclave) of Melilla, 9 miles (15 km) north, by road and railway. Pop. (1994) 112,450.

Defecation

2004-10-30T06:13:00.000-07:00

Also called bowel movement the act of eliminating solid or semisolid waste materials (feces) from the digestive tract. In human beings, wastes are usually removed once or twice daily, but the frequency can vary from several times daily to three times weekly and remain within normal limits. Muscular contractions (peristaltic waves) in the walls of the colon move fecal material through the digestive

Narcissus

2004-10-28T07:17:00.000-07:00

In Greek mythology, the son of the river god Cephissus and the nymph Leiriope; he was distinguished for his beauty. His mother was told that he would have a long life, provided he never looked upon his own features. His rejection, however, of the love of the nymph Echo or of his lover Ameinias drew upon him the vengeance of the gods. He fell in love with his own reflection in

Avignon School

2004-10-28T00:06:00.000-07:00

A body of late Gothic painting, not necessarily of a single stylistic evolution, produced in and around the city of Avignon in southeastern France from the second half of the 14th century into the second half of the 15th. Subject to both Italian and Flemish influences—in contrast to the contemporary art of northern France, which was entirely Flemish in character—the art

Egypt, Education

2004-10-27T07:01:00.000-07:00

At the end of the 19th century there were only three secondary and nine “higher” schools in Egypt; the educational structure continued to be based on the kuttabs, or Qur'an schools. In 1916 the latter were turned into elementary schools, and in 1923 a law was passed providing free compulsory education between the ages of seven and 12. A sharp increase in the annual budgetary allocation

Augustus

2004-10-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

Elector of Saxony and leader of Protestant Germany who, by reconciling his fellow Lutherans with the Roman Catholic Habsburg Holy Roman emperors, helped bring the initial belligerency of the Reformation in Germany to an end. Under his administration Saxony enjoyed economic and commercial prosperity at a time when

Narai

2004-10-25T10:44:00.000-07:00

Narai was a son of King Prasat Thong by a queen who was a daughter of King Song Tham, and he came to the throne after violent palace upheavals had cut short the reigns of his elder brother and his uncle.

Taenia

2004-10-24T07:13:00.000-07:00

Genus of tapeworms parasitic in mammals. See tapeworm.

Cincinnatus, Lucius Quinctius

2004-10-23T18:37:00.000-07:00

The core of the tradition holds that in 458 Cincinnatus was appointed dictator at Rome in order to rescue a consular army that was surrounded

Bridgewater Canal

2004-10-23T13:23:00.000-07:00

The duke wanted a canal to facilitate transporting coal from his mines at Worsley to Manchester, a distance of 10 miles (16 km),

Apuseni Mountains

2004-10-21T01:26:00.000-07:00

Romanian Muntii Apuseni large mountain chain, a subgroup of the Carpathians, lying north of the Mures River, northwestern Romania. The Apuseni (Western) Mountains are not high—reaching a maximum elevation of only 6,066 feet (1,849 m)—but as a uniform, imposing group they dominate the low surrounding area. Central to the group, and the highest, is the Bihor Massif (q.v.), from which radiate six lower mountain groups.

Brod, Max

2004-10-20T09:32:00.000-07:00

Brod studied law at the University of Prague, and in 1902 he met and befriended Kafka. Brod later worked as a minor government

Dengue

2004-10-19T16:52:00.000-07:00

The carrier incriminated

FertileMap

Arne, Thomas (augustine)

France, History Of, The Vichy government

Bulgarian Orthodox Church

Olympias

Thomas, William

Field, Cyrus W(est)

Cozzens, James Gould

Beawar

South America, Linguistic patterns

Pavía Y Lacy, Manuel

Space Perception, Visual cues

Antarctica, Other resources

Lance Missile

Shamanism, Differences in quality and degree

Wollaston, William

Aleppo

Furniture, Greece and Rome

Reid, Whitelaw

China, The Ch'ing Empire

Príbram

Endangered Species

Indiana Dunes

Raccoon Dog

Abbott, Bud; And Costello, Lou

Bosnia And Herzegovina, Transportation

Polevskoy

Lena River

Biblical Literature, History of religions criticism

Allbutt, Sir Thomas Clifford

France, History Of, The church

Trinidad And Tobago, Plant and animal life

Nepali Language

Lahaina

Vishakhapatnam

Belaya River

Kwakiutl

Anisotropy

Zagros Mountains

álvarez Quintero, Serafín And Joaquín

Edgar

Cohen, Paul Joseph

Fischer-tropsch Reaction

Ortega, Daniel

Altman, Benjamin

Raymond Terrace

Auerbach, Berthold

Diffraction Grating

Kamáres Ware

Catechetical School

Plumbaginales

Terman, Lewis M(adison)

Dee, River

Atiyah, Sir Michael Francis

Guajará-mirim

Tyrconnell, Richard Talbot, Earl Of, Viscount Baltinglass, Baron Of Talbotstown

Chad, Saint

Baga

Aldrich, Robert

Permafrost, Study of permafrost

Wilkes, John

France, History Of, Economy

Zara, Siege Of

Wainscot Chair

G.m.

Azzone Dei Porci

Arabia, History Of, The sharifs of the Holy Cities

Ray

France, History Of, Loss of prestige

Razor Clam

Subotica

Vale Of Glamorgan

Mountain, Alpine- (or Himalayan-)type belts

Cincinnatus, Lucius Quinctius

Page, Walter

G.c.m.g.

Ariel

Cleon

Habakkuk, The Book Of

France, History Of, Charles VII

Biblical Literature, History of religions criticism