ElasticFlag

Ukiyo-e

2005-11-18T04:05:00.000-08:00

(Japanese: “pictures of the floating world”), one of the most important genres of art of the Tokugawa period (1603–1867) in Japan. The style is a mixture of the realistic narrative of the emaki (“picture scrolls”) produced in the Kamakura period and the mature decorative style of the Momoyama and Tokugawa periods. The ukiyo-e style also has about it something of both native and foreign

Fucino Basin

2005-07-28T21:40:00.000-07:00

Italian Conca Del Fucino, formerly Lago Fucino, or Lago Di Celano, Latin Lacus Fucinus, former lake bed in L'Aquila province, Abruzzi region, central Italy, just east of Avezzano. The lake was once 37 mi (59 km) in circumference and about 100 ft (30 m) deep, although its level was subject to great variations because of the lack of an outlet. As early as AD 52 the emperor Claudius had a tunnel constructed, 3 1/2 mi (5 1/2 km) long, as an outlet to the Liri (Liris) River. The tunnel, still evident but no

Bracegirdle, Anne

2005-07-27T03:35:00.000-07:00

Bracegirdle studied acting with Thomas Betterton, her guardian, and appeared on the stage as early as six years of age. In 1688 her performance in Thomas Shadwell's The Squire of Alsatia at Drury Lane Theatre, London, brought her notice. Different playwrights, particularly William Congreve and Nicholas Rowe,

Gherardesca Family

2005-07-24T16:20:00.000-07:00

One of the foremost families of the Tuscan nobility, whose lands included the counties of Gherardesca, Donoratico, and Montescudaio, near Pisa. At the beginning of the 13th century, they led the pro-imperial Ghibelline party of the Pisan republic against the pro-papal Guelf party led by the Visconti family of Milan. The Gherardesca family produced several churchmen

Novokuznetsk

2005-07-07T19:05:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Novokuzneck , formerly Kuznetsk , (1931–32) Novokuznetsk , or (1932–61) Stalinsk city, Kemerovo oblast (province), south-central Russia. The city lies along the Tom River just below its confluence with the Kondoma, in the Kuznetsk Coal Basin. Originally the small village of Kuznetsk, founded in 1617, stood on the river's right bank; it had about 4,000 inhabitants in 1926. In 1929, under the Soviet First Five-Year Plan, an ironworks was founded on the opposite bank; around the

Yangtze River, The upper course

2005-07-05T23:15:00.000-07:00

The upper course of the Yangtze flows across the Plateau of Tibet and descends through deep valleys in the mountains east of the plateau, emerging onto the Yunnan-Kweichou (Yunkwei) Plateau. The summers are warm and the winters cold. The source of the Yangtze is the Wu-lan-mu-lun (Ulan Muren) River, which originates in glacial meltwaters on the slopes of the T'ang-ku-la

Cypress

2005-06-28T23:35:00.000-07:00

Any of about 20 species of ornamental and timber evergreen conifers constituting the genus Cupressus of the family Cupressaceae, distributed throughout warm-temperate and subtropical regions of Asia, Europe, and North America. Many resinous, aromatic evergreen trees called cypress belong to other genera of the same family, especially

Andesite

2005-06-15T16:50:00.000-07:00

Any member of a large family of rocks that occur in most of the world's volcanic areas. Andesites occur mainly as surface deposits and, to a lesser extent, as dikes and small plugs. Many of the deposits are not normal lava flows but rather flow breccias, mudflows, tuffs, and other fragmental rocks; the peperino near Rome and the trass of the Eifel district in Germany are examples.

Neuropteran, Locomotion

2005-06-03T01:25:00.000-07:00

Most larvae have walking legs except in those whose legs are modified for burrowing (Ithonidae and Myrmeleontoidea). The aquatic dobsonfly larvae have a pair of terminal abdominal prolegs that are important in moving in strong currents. The legs, abdominal filaments, and median tail filament of alderfly larvae bear long hairs, or setae, which help to propel them

Gonorrhea

2005-05-31T20:05:00.000-07:00

Venereal disease characterized by inflammation of the mucous membranes of the genital tract and urethra. It is caused by the gonococcus, Neisseria gonorrhoeae—a bacterium with a predilection for the type of mucous membranes found in the genito-urinary tract and adjacent areas. All gonococcal infections except eye infections in newborn infants (ophthalmia

Art And Architecture, Egyptian, Relief sculpture and painting

2005-05-17T11:05:00.000-07:00

The beginnings of the dynastic tradition can be found in tombs of the 3rd

Iberian Peninsula

2005-05-15T16:55:00.000-07:00

Peninsula in southwestern Europe, occupied by Spain and Portugal. Its name derives from its ancient inhabitants whom the Greeks called Iberians, probably after the Ebro (Iberus), the peninsula's second longest river (after the Tagus). The Pyrenees form an effective land barrier in the northeast from the rest of Europe, and in the south at Gibraltar the peninsula is separated

Siraj-ud-dawlah

2005-03-15T00:07:00.000-08:00

Siraj-ud-Dawlah became nawab of Bengal on the death

Moore

2005-03-14T22:30:00.000-08:00

City, Cleveland county, central Oklahoma, U.S., a southern suburb of Oklahoma City. First settled in 1887 and originally called Verbeck, it was renamed for a conductor of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Its population remained small until the 1960s when planned urban and industrial development began. Industries include the manufacture of aircraft parts, building

Kyrenia Mountains

2005-03-12T21:43:00.000-08:00

Mountain range in northern Cyprus extending east to west for about 100 miles (160 km) from Cape Andreas, on the Karpas Peninsula, to Cape Kormakiti. Rising from the coast a short distance inland, the range flanks a narrow coastal plain and reaches a maximum height of 3,360 feet (1,024 m) at Mount Kyparissovouno, in the western region, ending in low hills at the tip of Cape Andreas in the east.

Mason And Dixon Line

2005-03-11T07:14:00.000-08:00

Also called �Mason-Dixon Line,� originally the boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania in the United States. In the pre-Civil War period it was regarded, together with the Ohio River, as the dividing line between slave states south of it and free-soil states north of it. Between 1763 and 1767 the 233-mile (375-kilometre) line was surveyed along the parallel 39�43� by two Englishmen, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, to define

Zaporizhzhya

2005-03-10T08:56:00.000-08:00

Russian �Zaporozhye, �also spelled �Zaporozhe, or Zaporozje, � oblast (province), southeastern Ukraine. It encompasses the northwestern shore of the Sea of Azov and stretches inland across the coastal plain, the Azov Upland, and the Dnieper Plain to the Dnieper River to include a very small part of that river's right-bank area. The entire oblast lies within the steppe zone, although much of the natural grass cover has been plowed

Zanardelli, Giuseppe

2005-03-09T05:18:00.000-08:00

A combatant in the volunteer corps during the war of 1848, he returned to Brescia

Huggins, Charles B.

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

Huggins was educated at Acadia University (Wolfville, N.S.) and at Harvard

Absaroka Range

2005-03-07T14:18:00.000-08:00

Mountain segment of the northern Rocky Mountains, in northwestern Wyoming and southern Montana, U.S. Extending in a northwest-southeast direction, the range is 170 miles (270 km) long and 50 miles wide. A large plateau, the result of volcanic action, was uplifted in the area, and stream and glacial erosion have produced spectacular features. Eight summits exceed 12,000 feet (3,700 m), including

Mesopotamia, History Of, The classical and medieval views of Mesopotamia; its rediscovery in modern times

2005-03-06T05:19:00.000-08:00

Before the first excavations in Mesopotamia, about 1840, nearly 2,000 years had passed during which knowledge of the ancient Middle East was derived from three sources only: the Bible, Greek and Roman authors, and the excerpts from the writings of Berosus, a Babylonian who wrote in Greek. In 1800 very little more was known than in AD 800, although these sources had served to stir the imagination

Almohads

2005-03-05T20:39:00.000-08:00

A Berber state had arisen in Tinmel in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco about 1120, inspired by Ibn Tumart and his demands for puritanical moral reform and a strict concept of the unity of God (tawhid). In 1121 Ibn Tumart proclaimed himself the mahdi (a promised

Bridget Of Sweden, Saint

2005-03-04T06:05:00.000-08:00

The daughter of Birger Persson, governor of Uppland, she had from an early age remarkable religious visions that influenced her entire life and outlook. In

Heinkel, Ernst Heinrich

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

Heinkel's first plane, constructed in 1910, crashed and burned. Continuing his work, he became chief designer for the Albatros Aircraft Company in Berlin before the beginning of World War I. After the war he organized (1922) the Ernst

Salalah

2005-03-02T07:38:00.000-08:00

Town, southern Oman, on the coast of the Arabian Sea. The town is located in the only part of the Arabian Peninsula touched by the Indian Ocean monsoon and thus is verdant during the summer. Salalah is the historic centre of Dhofar, famous in ancient times as a source of frankincense, and was described by Marco Polo in the 13th century as a prosperous city. Although it declined

Bosch, Carl

2005-03-01T21:56:00.000-08:00

Bosch was educated at the University of Leipzig, where he studied under Johannes Wislicenus and obtained

Absentee Ownership

2005-02-28T13:39:00.000-08:00

Absentee

Prodigy

2005-02-27T11:16:00.000-08:00

An extraordinary person, particularly a child, who shows spontaneous early signs of genius or exceptional ability along certain lines. Among these are the arithmetical prodigies, the chess prodigies, and the lightning calculators who have a remarkable memory for figures. Best known are the musical prodigies - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Schubert, and Felix

Niue

2005-02-26T05:24:00.000-08:00

Internally self-governing island state in free association with New Zealand. It is the westernmost of the Cook Islands but is administratively separate from them. Niue lies 1,340 miles (2,156 km) northeast of Auckland and 240 miles (385 km) east of Vava'u, Tonga, in the south-central Pacific. The capital is Alofi. Area 100 square miles (260 square km). Pop. (1994 est.) 2,200.

Writers' Union Of The U.s.s.r.

2005-02-25T02:18:00.000-08:00

Russian �Soyuz Pisateley S.s.r., � organization formed in 1932 by a decree of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union that abolished existing literary organizations and absorbed all professional Soviet writers into one large union. The union supported Communist Party policies and was the defender and interpreter of the single Soviet literary method, Socialist Realism.

Hinduism, The rise of the major sects: Vaishnavism, Saivism, and Saktism

2005-02-24T19:00:00.000-08:00

The Vedic god Rudra gained in importance from the end of the Rigvedic period. In the Svetasvatara Upanishad, Rudra is for the first time called Siva and is described as the creator, preserver, and destroyer of the universe. His followers are called on to worship him with devotion (bhakti). The tendency for the laity to form themselves into religious guilds, or societies - evident

Bd

2005-02-23T15:31:00.000-08:00

Abbreviation of Bonner Durchmusterung (q.v.), an astronomical catalog.

John I

2005-02-22T04:39:00.000-08:00

Byname �The Prince of Fond Memory, or John of Aviz, John the Great, or John the Bastard, �Portuguese �O Principe de Boa Mem�ria, or Jo�o de Aviz, Jo�o o Grande, or Jo�o o Bastardo � king of Portugal from 1385 to 1433, who preserved his country's independence from Castile and initiated Portugal's overseas expansion. He was the founder of the Aviz, or Joanina (Johannine), dynasty.

Gulmarg

2005-02-21T19:23:00.000-08:00

Resort town situated in the Indian-held sector of Jammu and Kashmir state, in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. Located at an elevation of 8,500 feet (2,600 m), Gulmarg (meaning �meadow of flowers�) displays a breathtaking panoramic view of the whole Vale of Kashmir and of Nanga Parbat, one of the highest peaks (26,660 feet [8,126 m]) of the Himalayas. The valley and mountains may be viewed

Ironstone China

2005-02-20T23:55:00.000-08:00

Type of stoneware introduced in England early in the 19th century by Staffordshire potters who sought to develop a porcelain substitute that could be mass-produced. The result of their experiments was a dense, hard, durable stoneware that came to be known by several names - e.g., semiporcelain, opaque porcelain, English porcelain, stone china, new stone - all of which were

Morais, Vin�cius De

2005-02-19T11:37:00.000-08:00

The author of numerous volumes of lyrical poetry, Vin�cius began his literary career as an adherent of the Brazilian Modernism in vogue around 1930. A period of studying English

Hawkesbury River

2005-02-18T18:56:00.000-08:00

River rising in the Great Dividing Range north of Lake George, New South Wales, Australia, and flowing 293 miles (472 km) north and east to the Tasman Sea at Broken Bay. It drains an area of about 8,390 square miles (21,730 square km). Known as the Wollondilly in its rugged upper course and as the Warragamba after receiving the Nattai and, later, the Nepean rivers, it becomes the Hawkesbury after

Foy, Maximilien(-s�bastien)

2005-02-17T18:22:00.000-08:00

Foy served in the artillery and the infantry, attaining the rank of major in 1796, staff colonel in 1799, and brigadier

Palenque

2005-02-16T10:42:00.000-08:00

Also called �Guarine, � Indian tribe of northern Venezuela at the time of the Spanish conquest (16th century). The Palenque were closely related to the neighbouring Cumanagoto (q.v.); their language probably belonged to the Arawakan family. They were a tropical-forest people known to eat human flesh, to be warlike, and to live in settlements surrounded by palisades (palenques). The Pat�ngoro (q.v.

Obihiro

2005-02-15T00:31:00.000-08:00

City, southern Hokkaido, Japan, on the Tokachi River. Founded in 1883, it became the administrative capital of Tokachi subprefecture in 1897. The arrival of two railway lines in the early 1900s made Obihiro a trade centre of agricultural products grown in the surrounding Tokachi Plain. Obihiro's industries are based on food processing; the city contains one of the largest beet-sugar

Haakon Vi Magnusson

2005-02-14T05:17:00.000-08:00

Byname �Haakon Magnusson The Younger, �Norwegian �H�kon Magnusson Den Yngre� king of Norway (1355 - 80) whose marriage to Margaret, daughter of the Danish king Valdemar IV, in 1363 paved the way for the eventual union (1397) of the three major Scandinavian nations - Denmark, Norway, and Sweden - the Kalmar Union. Haakon was deeply embroiled throughout his reign in political conflicts with Sweden, Denmark, and the cities of the north German trading confederation,

Sarasota

2005-02-13T06:54:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1921) of Sarasota county, west-central Florida, U.S. It lies along Sarasota Bay (an arm of the Gulf of Mexico), about 60 miles (95 km) south of Tampa. Sarasota, variously spelled Sara Zota, Sarazota, and Sarasote, appeared on maps in the 1700s, but the origin of the place-name is uncertain; one explanation is that it may have been derived from a Spanish term meaning �a place of dancing.� The

Postmodern Literature In Latin America

2005-02-12T03:06:00.000-08:00

Latin- American literature blossomed and received international acclaim in the 1960s and 1970s with the so-called boom in the novel, a movement signaled by the publication of major works by the Colombian Gabriel Garc�a M�rquez, the Mexican Carlos Fuentes, the Peruvian Mario Vargas Llosa, the Argentine Julio Cort�zar, and the Chilean Jos� Donoso. (More recently, the Chilean

Prosper Of Aquitaine, Saint

2005-02-11T18:35:00.000-08:00

Latin �Prosper Tiro � early Christian polemicist famous for his defense of Augustine of Hippo and his doctrine on grace, predestination, and free will, which became a norm for the teachings of the Roman Catholic church. Prosper's chief opponents were the Semi-Pelagians, who believed in the power of man's innate will to seek God, but at the

Welch

2005-02-10T03:12:00.000-08:00

City, seat of McDowell county, southern West Virginia, U.S., at the confluence of Elkhorn Creek and Tug Fork. Settled in 1885, it was named for I.A. Welch, an early settler. The county seat was moved there from Perryville in 1891. There were no bridges or wagons in this extremely mountainous area until the 1880s, and the principal products at that time were furs and ginseng. The arrival of the

Sundew

2005-02-09T02:07:00.000-08:00

Any plant of the family Droseraceae (order Nepenthales), which contains four genera (Aldrovanda, Dionaea, Drosera, and Drosophyllum) and about 100 annual and perennial species of flowering plants notable for their ability to trap insects. They are widely distributed in tropical and temperate regions. One of the best-known sundews is the Venus's-flytrap

David

2005-02-08T10:25:00.000-08:00

Capital of Chiriqu� provincia, western Panama, on the R�o David and surrounded by fruit groves. It is Panama's largest city outside of the Panama City metropolitan area and is an important commercial centre, served by the Pacific seaports of Pedregal and Puerto Armuelles on the Gulf of Chiriqu� and by Enrique Malek Airport. Industries include meatpacking, food processing

Nari�

2005-02-07T20:45:00.000-08:00

Departamento, southwestern Colombia, bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the west and Ecuador on the south. Its population is concentrated principally in the volcanic Andean highlands above 5,000 feet (1,500 m). The densely settled Altiplano (high plateau) of T�querres-Ipiales, which is situated on the Ecuadoran frontier, is separated by the Gu�itara River from that of the departmental

Abu Al-fida'

2005-02-06T16:44:00.000-08:00

Abu al-Fida' was a descendant of Ayyub, the father of Saladin, founder of the Ayyubid dynasty that had been supplanted by the Mamluks in Egypt and elsewhere before his birth. In 1285 he accompanied his father and his cousin (prince of Hamah and a Mamluk client)

Romanesque Art

2005-02-05T00:42:00.000-08:00

The name Romanesque

Huitzilopochtli

2005-02-04T06:26:00.000-08:00

Traditionally,

China, Trade

2005-02-03T16:25:00.000-08:00

Trade constitutes a fairly small portion of China's overall economy. It became important, however, in the country's attempt to modernize its economy, especially before 1985, when China consistently ran trade surpluses. The direction of China's foreign trade has undergone marked changes since the early 1950s. In 1950 more than 70 percent of the total was accounted for by trade with

Tyrosine

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

An amino acid comprising about 1 to 6 percent by weight of the mixture obtained by hydrolysis of most proteins. First isolated from casein (1849), tyrosine is particularly abundant in insulin (a hormone) and papain (an enzyme found in fruit of the papaya), which contain 13 percent by weight. Tyrosine is one of several so-called essential amino acids for certain animals; i.e., they cannot

Mitchell, John Thomas Whitehead

2005-02-01T07:48:00.000-08:00

At an early age, Mitchell joined the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers and was appointed its secretary in 1857. He shaped the policy of the Co-operative Wholesale Society, established in 1863, and was its chairman from 1874 until his death. Mitchell emphasized

Abo Blood Group System

2005-01-31T01:25:00.000-08:00

Method of classifying human blood on the basis of the inherited properties of red blood cells (erythrocytes) as determined by their possession or lack of the so-called antigens A (including A1 and A2) and B. Persons may, thus, have type A, type B, type O, or type AB blood. (Antigens of other blood group systems may also be present.) The A, B, and O blood groups were first identified by

Amati Family

2005-01-30T20:29:00.000-08:00

Andrea (c. 1520 - c. 1578), the founder of the Cremona school of violin making, was perhaps originally influenced by the work of slightly earlier makers from Brescia. His earliest-known violins are dated about 1564. In essentials, they set the style for all the models made by later members of the family and,

P�tain, (henri-)philippe

2005-01-29T20:16:00.000-08:00

Born into a family of farmers in northern France, P�tain, after attending the local village school and a religious

East Greenland Current

2005-01-28T18:04:00.000-08:00

Cold flow of water originating in the Arctic Ocean and flowing southward and southwestward along the east coast of Greenland. See Greenland Current.

Ch�telet

2005-01-27T16:09:00.000-08:00

In Paris, the principal seat of common-law jurisdiction under the French monarchy from the Middle Ages to the French Revolution. Located on the right bank of the Seine River, the building was originally a small fort that guarded the northern approach to the �le de la Cit�. Frequently rebuilt, it was known as the Grand Ch�telet to distinguish it from the Petit Ch�telet

Ustinov, Dmitry Fedorovich

2005-01-26T10:22:00.000-08:00

An engineer by profession, Ustinov graduated in 1934 from the Military Institute of Mechanics in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) and worked first as a construction engineer, then as director of a Leningrad armament factory. In 1941 Stalin appointed Ustinov people's

J.p. Morgan Chase

2005-01-25T06:50:00.000-08:00

The Morgan branch of the corporation traces its history to J.P. Morgan and Company, Inc. (established 1895), and Guaranty Trust Company of New York (1864), which merged in 1959. The bank was renamed Morgan Guaranty

Ahmadiyah

2005-01-24T15:40:00.000-08:00

A modern Islamic sect and the generic name for various Sufi (Muslim mystic) orders. The sect was founded in Qadian, the Punjab, India, in 1889 by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (c. 1839 - 1908), who claimed to be the mahdi (a figure expected by some Muslims at the end of the world), the Christian Messiah, an incarnation of the Hindu god Krishna, and a reappearance (buruz) of Muhammad. The sect's doctrine, in some aspects, is unorthodox:

Blood Serum

2005-01-23T13:56:00.000-08:00

The part of blood plasma remaining after coagulation, during which process the plasma protein fibrinogen is converted to fibrin and remains behind in the clot. Immune serum or antitoxin, serum prepared from the blood of animals or humans that have been exposed to a disease and have developed specific antibodies, is used to protect persons against diseases to which

Medicine, Teaching

2005-01-22T20:58:00.000-08:00

Physicians in developed countries frequently prefer posts in hospitals with medical schools. Newly qualified physicians want to work there because doing so will aid their future careers, though the actual experience may be wider and better in a hospital without a medical school. Senior physicians seek careers in hospitals with medical schools because consultant,

Biblical Literature, The Third Letter of John

2005-01-21T22:09:00.000-08:00

III John, addressed to Gaius, shows that the writer is concerned about and has responsibility as presbyter for the missionaries of the church. It is somewhat of a short note concerned with church discipline, encouraging hospitality to true missionaries, and thus not unconnected with true doctrine and the command of love.

France, History Of, Liberation

2005-01-20T06:14:00.000-08:00

When the Allied forces landed in Normandy on June 6, 1944, the armed underground units had grown large enough to play an important role in the battles that followed - harassing the German forces and sabotaging railways and bridges. As the Germans gradually fell back, local Resistance organizations took over town halls and prefectures from Vichy incumbents. De Gaulle's

Auersperg, Johann Weikhart, Prince (f�rst) Von

2005-01-19T13:32:00.000-08:00

After serving briefly as a Habsburg court councillor, Auersperg was sent to The Hague (1641), and later he took part in peace negotiations at Osnabr�ck, which ultimately ended the Thirty Years'

Alem�n, Mateo

2005-01-18T05:41:00.000-08:00

Descended from Jews who had been forcibly converted to Catholicism, Alem�n expressed many aspects of the experiences and feelings of the New Christians in 16th-century Spain. His most important literary work, Guzm�n de

Louis Vi

2005-01-17T00:43:00.000-08:00

Louis was designated by his father, Philip I, as his successor in 1098 and was already effectively the ruler well before Philip's death in 1108. He quickly recognized that his priority must be

France, History Of, The central government

2005-01-16T09:57:00.000-08:00

By the time of Clovis, the ancient Germanic assembly of free men participated only in the conduct of local affairs and was consigned largely to a military role. Within each kingdom, the king's court, of Roman imperial origin but adapted and modified by the Frankish sovereigns, encompassed domestic services (treasury, provisioning, stables, clergy), a bureau of accounts,

Arakcheyev, Aleksey Andreyevich, Graf (count)

2005-01-15T03:13:00.000-08:00

The son of a minor landowner, Arakcheyev studied at the Artillery and Engineering Corps

Torch Cactus

2005-01-14T01:26:00.000-08:00

T. pasacana, a stout tree up to 10.5 m in height,

Jahwarid Dynasty

2005-01-13T04:36:00.000-08:00

Muslim Arab dynasty that ruled C�rdoba, Spain, after the dissolution of the Umayyad caliphate of C�rdoba (1031), one of the party kingdoms (ta'ifahs). Years of civil war following the breakdown of central caliphal authority in 1008 prompted the Cordoban council of notables, led by a prominent aristocrat, Abu al-Hazm Jahwar ibn Jahwar, to abolish the institution of the caliphate and

Saudi Arabia, Settlement patterns

2005-01-12T07:28:00.000-08:00

Four traditional regions stand out - the Hejaz, Asir, Najd, and Al-Hasa (transliterated more precisely as Al-Hijaz, 'Asir, Najd, and Al-Ahsa'). The Hejaz, in the northwest, contains the two holiest cities of Islam, Mecca and Medina, as well as the kingdom's primary port and diplomatic centre, Jiddah. Asir is the highland region south of the Hejaz; its capital, Abha, lies at an elevation of about

Daigo

2005-01-11T04:48:00.000-08:00

The son of the emperor Uda, he ascended the throne in 897 and assumed the reign name Daigo; Uda, however, continued to hold power as the retired emperor. Like his father, Daigo attempted

Albanian League

2005-01-10T09:37:00.000-08:00

In full� League For The Defense Of The Rights Of The Albanian Nation, �also called �League Of Prizren, � first Albanian nationalist organization. Formed at Prizren, Serbia, on July 1, 1878, the league, initially supported by the Turks, tried to influence the Congress of Berlin, which was formulating a peace settlement following the Russo-Turkish War of 1877 - 78 and which threatened to partition Albania (then part of the Ottoman Empire) and transfer some of its districts to Montenegro,

Kwandebele

2005-01-09T14:19:00.000-08:00

Former nonindependent black state and enclave in central Transvaal province, South Africa, that was a self-governing �national state� for Transvaal Ndebele people from 1981 to 1994. KwaNdebele was located in a 3,500-foot- (1,060-metre-) high dry savanna area about 100 miles (160 km) northeast of Johannesburg. It was established in 1979, when many Transvaal Ndebele were expelled from the nearby Bophuthatswana

Louis

2005-01-08T19:55:00.000-08:00

Also called �Louis D'or, � gold coin circulated in France before the Revolution. The franc (q.v.) and livre were silver coins that had shrunk in value to such an extent that by 1740 coins of a larger denomination were needed. The French kings therefore had gold coins struck and called after their name Louis, or louis d'or (�gold Louis�). After the Revolution, Napoleon continued the practice but called the

Biblical Literature, Manuscripts and printed editions of the Septuagint

2005-01-07T03:32:00.000-08:00

The manuscripts are conveniently classified by papyri uncials (capital letters) and minuscules (cursive script). The papyri fragments run into the hundreds, of varying sizes and importance, ranging from the formative period of the Septuagint through the middle of the 7th century. Two pre-Christian fragments of Deuteronomy from Egypt are of outstanding significance.

Caucasian Languages, Abkhazo-Adyghian languages

2005-01-06T17:08:00.000-08:00

The Abkhazo-Adyghian group consists of the Abkhaz, Abaza, Adyghian, Kabardian, and Ubykh languages. Adyghians and Kabardians are often considered members of a larger, Circassian group. Abkhaz, with about 90,000 speakers, is spoken in Abkhazia (the southern slopes of the western Greater Caucasus, Georgia). The other languages are spread over the northern slopes of the western

Obrecht, Jakob

2005-01-05T21:54:00.000-08:00

He was the son of Willem Obrecht, a trumpeter. His first known appointment was in 1484 as instructor

Chong Yak-jong

2005-01-04T03:59:00.000-08:00

Born to a family noted for its scholarly background, Chong was converted to Roman Catholicism by the Chinese priest Chou Wen-mu (James

Mandel, Georges

2005-01-03T19:13:00.000-08:00

A member of a prosperous Jewish family, though not related to the Rothschild banking dynasty, Mandel served on the personal staff of Premier Georges Clemenceau from 1906 to 1909 and again from 1917 to 1920. He also served as a deputy in the National Assembly from 1919 to 1924 and from 1928 to

Bezruc, Petr

2005-01-02T03:25:00.000-08:00

Bezruc studied in Prague and became a postal official in Moravia until his retirement in 1927. His literary reputation rests on a remarkable series of poems written during 1899 and 1900 and published in the periodical Cas between 1899 and 1903. The subject of almost

Sedimentary Rock, Origin of ironstones

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

The origin of ironstones also is not well understood, but most appear to be derived from the erosion and redeposition of lateritic (iron-rich, red) soils. Ironstones occur as thin (a few tens of metres at most) units interbedded with shallow marine and transitional carbonates, mudrocks, and sandstones. They generally have an o�litic texture. Cross-bedding, ripple marks,

Kettle Gong

2004-12-31T02:49:00.000-08:00

Percussion instrument of the Bronze Age cultures of China, Indochina, and Indonesia. It was used mainly in rainmaking rites. Some kettle gongs from northern Vietnam are dated between the 5th and 3rd centuries BC. When played, they are suspended so that the striking surface (the head) is vertical.

Italy, Famine, war, and plague (1340 - 80)

2004-12-30T17:07:00.000-08:00

Italy's thriving economy was shortly to meet severe challenges. Among these, first, were famines, which affected most of Italy in the years 1339 - 40, 1346 - 47, 1352 - 53, and 1374 - 75, and to these catastrophes were added a general expansion and intensification of war. The 13th century saw the diffusion of the crossbow, whose bolt far surpassed the arrow of the longbow in its power to penetrate. The crossbow

Parys

2004-12-29T02:21:00.000-08:00

Resort town, northern Free State province, South Africa. It is situated on the southern bank of the Vaal River. Parys was founded in 1873 and most likely named by a German surveyor named Schilbach, who had fought in the siege of Paris in 1870. Parys officially became a town in 1887. Tobacco, corn (maize), sorghum, and cattle are raised in the surrounding area. Industries produce processed

Hinduism, Jainism

2004-12-28T06:17:00.000-08:00

With Jainism, which always remained an Indian religion, Hinduism has so much in common, especially in social institutions and ritual life, that nowadays Hindus tend to consider it a Hindu sect. Many Jains also are inclined to fraternization. The points of difference - e.g., a stricter ahimsa practice and the absence of sacrifices for the deceased in Jainism - do not give

Eagles, The, The Eagles

2004-12-26T16:02:00.000-08:00

Wagon Train

2004-12-25T17:20:00.000-08:00

Caravan of wagons organized by settlers in the United States for emigration to the West during the late 18th and most of the 19th centuries. Composed of up to 100 Conestoga wagons (q.v.; sometimes called prairie schooners), wagon trains soon became the prevailing mode of long-distance overland transportation for both people and goods. Wagon-train transportation moved westward

Melissus Of Samos

2004-12-24T04:39:00.000-08:00

Greek philosopher who was the last significant member of the Eleatic school of philosophy, which adhered to Parmenides' doctrine of reality as a single, unchanging whole. Although Melissus defended Parmenides, he differed from him in that he held reality to be boundless and of infinite duration (having a past and a present). He is also known as the commander

Philip

2004-12-23T13:54:00.000-08:00

Byname �Philip The Magnanimous, �German �Philipp Der Grossm�tige� landgrave (Landgraf) of Hesse (1509 - 67), one of the great figures of German Protestantism, who championed the independence of German princes against the Holy Roman emperor Charles V.

Aquinas, Thomas, Saint, Commentaries on Aristotle

2004-12-22T04:14:00.000-08:00

In octo libros Physicorum expositio (1268 - 71; Commentary on Aristotle's Physics, 1963); In tres libros De anima (undated; The Commentary of St. Thomas Aquinas on Aristotle's Treatise on the Soul, 1946); In librum De sensu et sensato expositio (1270 - 71); In decem libros Ethicorum expositio (1271 - 72; Commentary on the Nicomachean Ethics, 1964); In duodecim libros Metaphysicorum expositio (c. 1272; Commentary on the Metaphysics of Aristotle, 1961); In libros De caelo et mundo expositio (1272 - 73); In libros Posteriorum analyticorum expositio (undated; probably late).

Yala

2004-12-21T11:17:00.000-08:00

Town, extreme southern Thailand. Yala is a modern commercial centre on the Pattani River, which flows north into the Gulf of Thailand. The town is also located on the Bangkok-Singapore railway and the Pattani - George Town (Penang [Malaysia]) highway. The population includes Thai Muslims, Malay Muslims, and Chinese. The region is heavily planted in rubber. Nearby caves contain

San Francisco, University Of

2004-12-20T14:00:00.000-08:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher learning, located near Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, Calif., U.S. It is affiliated with the Jesuit order of the Roman Catholic church. It offers undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree programs through six academic divisions: the College of Arts and Sciences, McLaren School of Business, the College of Professional

Hippodrome

2004-12-19T02:58:00.000-08:00

Ancient Greek stadium designed for horse racing and especially chariot racing. Its Roman counterpart was called a circus and is best represented by the Circus Maximus (q.v.). The typical hippodrome was dug into a hillside and the excavated material used to construct an embankment for supporting seats on the opposite side. In shape the hippodrome was oblong, with one

Powell, Colin

2004-12-18T01:30:00.000-08:00

The son of Jamaican immigrants, Powell grew up in the Harlem and South Bronx sections of New York City and attended the City College of New York (B.S., 1958), serving in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC). He entered the army upon

Osaka

2004-12-17T09:37:00.000-08:00

Fu (urban prefecture), Honshu, Japan. It is bordered by Kyoto urban prefecture (north) and by the ken (prefectures) of Hyogo (northwest), Nara (east), and Wakayama (south) and by Osaka Bay (southeast). It includes the industrial city of Osaka and numerous industrial and residential suburbs. The main industries in the urban prefecture manufacture iron and steel products, textiles, chemicals,

Canadian River

2004-12-16T03:53:00.000-08:00

River that rises in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, northeastern New Mexico, U.S., and flows southward across the Las Vegas Plains, cutting a gorge nearly 1,500 feet (450 m) deep in the Canadian escarpment before turning eastward. It continues through the Texas Panhandle in a deep, narrow valley cut into reddish sandstones, the walls of which are known locally as the �breaks,� and flows