BentCart

Philip Ii

2005-04-04T11:48:00.000-07:00

Characteristically, Philip declined the trial of strength, prepared to wait for six years until he could gain Thermopylae by negotiation and without striking a blow. Meanwhile his Thessalian victory earned him election as president (archon) of the Thessalian League (probably 352), a position unique for a foreigner in a Greek confederation and one that was to bind Thessaly

Biblical Literature, The medieval period

2005-04-03T19:43:00.000-07:00

By the beginning of the Middle Ages the Masoretes of Babylonia and Palestine (6th–10th century) had fixed in writing, by points and annotation, the traditional pronunciation, punctuation, and (to some extent) interpretation of the biblical text. The rise of the Karaites, who rejected rabbinic tradition and appealed to Scripture alone (8th century onward) stimulated exegetical

Dog, Jackals

2005-04-02T18:22:00.000-08:00

There has been some disagreement over the years about whether the jackal is a true canid, but the four known varieties are now thought to be part of the same genus. Jackals are native from southeastern Europe into southern Asia, India, and Africa. The best-known variety is the golden jackal, which is a shimmery rust-gold in colour. Jackals are fleet-footed

Fairchild, Mary Salome Cutler

2005-04-01T20:34:00.000-08:00

Salome Cutler graduated from Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (now Mount Holyoke College) in South Hadley, Massachusetts, in 1875 and taught there from 1876 to 1878. After a period of ill health, she became interested in the

Lipa

2005-03-31T01:58:00.000-08:00

Chartered city, Batangas province, southwestern Luzon, Philippines. Formerly a Spanish military headquarters, it is a market town for a fruit-growing region. Lipa was rebuilt (including its cathedral) after a disastrous volcanic eruption in 1754 and again after its virtual destruction under Japanese occupation in World War II. Industries include clothing manufacture

Moldova

2005-03-30T09:47:00.000-08:00

The greater part of the republic lies between the great, meandering Prut and Dniester

Reggio Nell'emilia

2005-03-29T16:57:00.000-08:00

Founded in the 2nd century BC on the Roman road Via Aemilia by Marcus Aemilius Lepidus as Regium Lepidi, it was later the seat of a Lombard duchy and then was ruled by its bishops. Under the protection of the

Wars Of Yahweh, Book Of The

2005-03-28T18:22:00.000-08:00

Lost document referred to and quoted in the Old Testament (Num. 21:14ff.). The book is probably a collection of early Israelite war songs including hymns of victory, curses, mocking songs, and other literary genres recounting the victories of Yahweh, the God of Israel, over his enemies; it indicates that biblical books rely on both written and oral tradition. Similar to the Book

Protein, Others

2005-03-28T17:58:00.000-08:00

The most thoroughly investigated scleroprotein has been fibroin, the insoluble material of silk. The raw silk comprising the cocoon of the silkworm consists of two proteins. One, sericin, is soluble in hot water; the other, fibroin, is not. The amino acid composition of the latter differs from that of all other proteins. It contains large amounts of glycine, alanine, tyrosine,

ávila

2005-03-26T23:13:00.000-08:00

In full Ávila De Los Caballeros, city and capital of Ávila province, in the Castile-León comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”), central Spain. The city of Ávila is situated on the Adaja River at 3,715 feet (1,132 m) above sea level and is surrounded by the lofty Sierra de Gredos (south) and the Sierra de Guadarrama (east). The city lies 54 miles (87 km) west of Madrid. A pre-Roman settlement on the site became part of Roman Lusitania

Yerby, Frank

2005-03-26T13:51:00.000-08:00

Yerby's story “Health Card” won the O. Henry Memorial Award for best first published short story in 1944. In 1946 his first novel, The Foxes of Harrow, was an immediate success. His novels are action-packed, usually featuring a strong hero in an earlier period. The stories unfold in colourful language

Chandler, Zachariah

2005-03-24T19:47:00.000-08:00

Chandler, who was

Mugla

2005-03-24T13:42:00.000-08:00

City, southwestern Turkey, on the edge of a small plain about 12 miles (20 km) north of the Gulf of Gökova. A favourite residence of the emirs of the 14th-century Turkmen Mentese principality, it was annexed to the Ottoman Empire in 1425. It is a local market for the agricultural products of the region and is linked by road with Izmir and Denizli. The surrounding region borders on both the

France, History Of, The historical debate

2005-03-23T20:47:00.000-08:00

In broad terms, 18th-century French politics could be defined as the response of the monarchic state to the emergence of the new cultural and economic configurations that had transformed the lives and especially the imaginations of French men and women. The question was whether the Bourbon monarch could rationalize its administration and find a way to adapt itself

Tillett, Benjamin

2005-03-22T15:02:00.000-08:00

The son of a railway labourer, Tillett settled in the East End of London when he was in his early 20s. There he helped to organize,

Hai Ben Sherira

2005-03-22T08:15:00.000-08:00

Though the office of gaon was not necessarily hereditary, Hai, whose family traced its origin back to the Davidic

La Perouse Strait

2005-03-21T22:18:00.000-08:00

Russian Proliv Laperuza, Japanese Soya-kaikyo, international waterway between the islands of Sakhalin (Russia) and Hokkaido (Japan). The strait, named after the French explorer Jean-François de Galaup, Count de La Pérouse, separates the Sea of Okhotsk from the Sea of Japan. It is 27 miles (43 km) wide at its narrowest part, between Cape Krilon (Sakhalin) and Cape Soya (Hokkaido) and varies in depth from 167 to 387 feet (51 to 118 m). The strait is characterized

Merchant Adventurers

2005-03-20T23:59:00.000-08:00

Company of English merchants who engaged in trade with the Netherlands (and later with northwest Germany) from the early 15th century to 1806. The company, chartered in 1407, principally engaged in the export of finished cloth from the burgeoning English woolen industry. Its heyday extended from the late 15th century to 1564, during which period it sent its fleets to its market at Antwerp

Amman, Jost

2005-03-20T22:44:00.000-08:00

His engraving of the

Yevpatoriya

2005-03-20T07:27:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Evpatoriia, or Jevpatorija, city, Crimea, southern Ukraine, on the Kalamit Bay on the west coast of the Crimean Peninsula. Founded in the 6th century BC as a Greek colony and later renamed for Mithradates VI Eupator, sixth king of Pontus, the city has known many masters, passing to Russia with the annexation of the Crimea in 1783. Nearby the Allied armies landed (1854) during the Crimean War. With magnificent beaches,

Papuan Languages

2005-03-17T22:23:00.000-08:00

Group of languages spoken in an area centred upon New Guinea and extending from the islands of Alor, Halmahera, and Timor in the west to the Santa Cruz Archipelago in the east. The Papuan languages include approximately 740 languages, used by about 3,000,000 speakers. The term Papuan was originally employed merely to distinguish these languages from the Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian)

Tasmanian Languages

2005-03-17T14:49:00.000-08:00

Extinct languages spoken before 1877 by the indigenous people of Tasmania, who are also now extinct. No relationship between the Tasmanian languages and any other languages of the world has been discovered. Scholars originally divided the Tasmanian languages, all of which were related to each other, into two groups, a western group, spoken in western Tasmania and northern

Jube

2005-03-17T07:55:00.000-08:00

(from the French jubé), construction marking off the chancel, or sanctuary, of a church from the rest of the interior. Its mature medieval form consisted of three basic elements: a screen (known in England as a rood screen); a gallery, or loft, from which the words Jube, Domine, benedicere (hence jubé) were spoken; and a crucifix (rood) surmounting the whole. See rood screen.

Ocean Current

2005-03-16T09:49:00.000-08:00

The direction and form of oceanic currents is governed by a number of natural forces, including principally horizontal pressure gradient forces; forces generated by variable density of seawater, which is

Van Fleet, Jo

2005-03-15T18:35:00.000-08:00

U.S. actress who played bold, matronly women on stage and screen, notably in Elia Kazan films, beginning with her role as the mother of James Dean's character in East of Eden (1955), for which she won an Academy Award (b. Dec. 30, 1919--d. June 10, 1996).

John

2005-03-14T11:39:00.000-08:00

The son of Philip the Bold, duke of Burgundy, and Margaret of Flanders, John was born in the ducal castle at Rouvres, where he spent the greater part of his childhood. In 1385 he married Margaret of Bavaria, and in the following decade

Gamboge

2005-03-14T10:26:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Camboge, hard, brittle gum resin that is obtained from various Southeast Asian trees of the genus Garcinia and is used as a colour vehicle and in medicine. Gamboge is orange to brown in colour and when powdered turns bright yellow. Artists use it as a pigment and as a colouring matter for varnishes. In medicine and veterinary medicine it is a drastic cathartic. On the skin it has

Oeser, Adam Friedrich

2005-03-13T23:13:00.000-08:00

Trained in the art of modeling by a sculptor, Raphael

Switzerland

2005-03-12T13:33:00.000-08:00

With its economy in good shape and a substantial budget surplus expected, Switzerland sailed through the year 2000. The nation's exports, particularly pharmaceuticals and watches, benefited from the strong dollar. While strains were experienced in some industrial sectors, average unemployment remained under 3%. Despite a sharp rise in fuel prices, long lines at filling

Tigranes Ii The Great

2005-03-12T02:05:00.000-08:00

Tigranes was the son or brother of Artavasdes I and a member of the dynasty founded in the early 2nd century by Artaxias. He was given as a hostage to the Parthian king Mithradates II, but later he purchased his freedom by ceding 70 valleys bordering on Media, in northwestern

Liliaceae

2005-03-11T15:42:00.000-08:00

The lily family of the flowering plant order Liliales, with about 280 genera and some 4,000 species of herbs and shrubs, native primarily to temperate and subtropical regions. Members of the family usually have six-segmented flowers and three-chambered capsular fruits; occasionally the fruits are berries. The leaves usually have parallel veins and are clustered at the

Morava River

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

German March, tributary of the Danube rising in eastern Czech Republic; in its lower course, the river divides the Czech Republic from Slovakia and then Slovakia from Austria. It gives its name to Moravia, an ancient region that covers most of the river's drainage basin, which is 15,000 square miles (38,900 square km) in area. Its western tributaries drain from the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands; the

Kyushu

2005-03-09T10:18:00.000-08:00

Japanese Kyushu (“Nine Provinces”) southernmost and third largest of the four main islands of Japan. It is bordered by the East China Sea on the west and the Pacific Ocean on the east. Its name refers to the nine ancient provinces (kuni) into which the island was divided. It is separated from the island of Honshu to the north by the Shimonoseki Strait and from Korea to the northwest by the Tsushima Strait,

Lamarr, Hedy

2005-03-09T01:35:00.000-08:00

Austrian-born American actress (b. Nov. 9, 1913, Vienna, Austria—d. Jan. 19, 2000, Orlando, Fla.), possessed such a combination of exotic glamour and sex appeal that she was labeled the movie world's most beautiful woman. Although she appeared opposite many of Hollywood's most famous male stars, her films were not highly regarded, and she never came to be considered to have much acting ability;

Actinium Series

2005-03-08T00:24:00.000-08:00

Set of unstable heavy nuclei constituting one of the four radioactive series (q.v.).

Vostok Island

2005-03-07T16:42:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Vostock , formerly Staver Island coral atoll in the Southern Line Islands, part of Kiribati, southwestern Pacific Ocean. It lies 400 miles (640 km) northwest of Tahiti. A low formation, with a land area of only 0.1 square mile (0.3 square km), it has no anchorage in its lagoon. Vostok was sighted in 1820 by the Russian Antarctic explorer Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and was named for his ship. It was claimed by the United

French Literature, Nerval

2005-03-07T16:00:00.000-08:00

For a long while Gérard de Nerval was seen as the translator of German literature (notably his adaptation of Goethe's Faust) and as a charming minor Romantic. Later critics have seen as his real contribution to poetry the 12 sonnets of Les Chimères, composed between about 1844 and 1854, and the prose poems added to the spiritual odyssey Aurélia (1855). The dense symbolic allusiveness

Gamaliel Ii

2005-03-06T22:09:00.000-08:00

In the ancient biblical city of Jabneh, many Jews had taken refuge from the Roman siege of Jerusalem in AD 70. Gamaliel

Amorphous Solid

2005-03-05T03:22:00.000-08:00

On amorphous solids in particular, a lucid introductory text accessible to a nontechnical reader is Richard Zallen, The Physics of Amorphous Solids (1983), with coverage of structural models for the various classes of amorphous solids as well as percolation theory, a modern paradigm for disordered systems. A classic advanced work is N.F. Mott and E.A. Davis, Electronic Processes in Non-crystalline Materials, 2nd ed. (1979), which features many of the theoretical contributions of Nobel Laureate coauthor Mott. A text providing a thorough treatment of oxide glasses is J. Zarzycki, Glasses and the Vitreous State (1991; originally published in French, 1982). A reference work with wide coverage of recent research topics, including detailed treatment of chalcogenide glasses, is S.R. Elliott, Physics of Amorphous Materials, 2nd ed. (1990). A comprehensive collection of detailed reviews is contained in R.W. Cahn, P. Haassen, and E.J. Kramer (eds.), Materials Science and Technology, vol. 6, Glasses and Amorphous Materials, ed. by J. Zarzycki (1991), including coverage of glass technology, formation, and structure, oxide glasses, chalcogenide glasses, metallic glasses, polymeric glasses, and the optical, electric, and mechanical properties of glasses. Amorphous silicon is treated in detail in another work, R.A. Street, Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon (1991).

La Trémoille Family

2005-03-05T01:08:00.000-08:00

Noble family that contributed numerous generals to France. The family's name was taken from a village in Poitou (modern La Trimouille). A Pierre de La Trémoille is recorded as early as the 11th century, but the family's ascendance dates from the 15th century. Early family members fought in several crusades. Gui (d. 1397) went with John the Fearless, duke of Burgundy, on the crusade to

Balao

2005-03-04T02:08:00.000-08:00

Oil port, northwestern Ecuador, on the Pacific Ocean, adjacent to Esmeraldas city. Its development is entirely due to its choice as the terminus for the Trans-Ecuadorian Pipeline, built 1970–72 to exploit the rich petroleum deposits of Ecuador's Napo province, in El Oriente region, the tropical rainforest of the headwaters of the Amazon east of the Andes. Balao's terminal, opened

Ribes

2005-03-03T19:30:00.000-08:00

Genus of about 150 species of shrubs of two distinct groups, the currants and the gooseberries, constituting the family Grossulariaceae (often included in the family Saxifragaceae). They are native to the temperate regions of North America, extending southward into the Andes. Some authorities separate the gooseberries as the genus Grossularia. Currants usually

Rushdie, Salman

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

Rushdie was the son of a prosperous Muslim businessman in India. He was educated at Rugby School and the University of Cambridge,

Davies, Samuel

2005-03-02T18:51:00.000-08:00

Davies was educated at Samuel Blair's “log college” at Fagg's Manor, Pa., and was ordained in 1747. His work during the Great Awakening centred at Hanover, Va.; in

Kirkcaldy

2005-03-01T19:10:00.000-08:00

First developed by Dunfermline Abbey nearby, Kirkcaldy was a flourishing port during the later Middle Ages. It was designated a royal burgh in 1450, and the royal charter was confirmed by King Charles II in 1662. In the course of the 16th century it became an important

Yukon-charley Rivers National Preserve

2005-03-01T06:18:00.000-08:00

National preserve in east-central Alaska, U.S., on the Canadian border. Proclaimed a national monument in 1978, the area underwent boundary and name changes in 1980, becoming a national preserve in the latter year. Preserving the entire 88-mile (142-kilometre) Charley River basin and 115 miles (185 km) of the 1,980-mile (3,190-kilometre) Yukon River, the area contains numerous cabins and other relics of the

Agrihan

2005-02-28T19:48:00.000-08:00

Formerly Grigan or Agrigan one of the Mariana Islands, part of the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. It lies in the western Pacific Ocean, 350 miles (563 km) north of Guam. An active volcano that last erupted in 1917, it has a total land area of 18 square miles (47 square km) and rises to 3,166 feet (965 metres), the highest point in the commonwealth. Agrihan was the site of the last stand the indigenous Chamorro people

Coke, Sir Edward

2005-02-28T13:59:00.000-08:00

British jurist and politician whose defense of the supremacy of the common law against Stuart claims of royal prerogative had a profound influence on the development of English law and the English constitution.

Pyrogallol

2005-02-26T03:28:00.000-08:00

Pyrogallol was first obtained in 1786 from gallic acid, obtainable from galls and barks of various trees. It is converted to pyrogallol by heating with water under pressure. Pyrogallol is the oldest photographic developer, its rapid deposition

Epilepsy

2005-02-25T08:27:00.000-08:00

Chronic neurological disorder characterized by sudden and recurrent seizures which are caused by excessive signaling of nerve cells in the brain. Seizures may include convulsions, momentary lapses of consciousness, strange movements or sensations in parts of the body, odd behaviours, and emotional disturbances. Epileptic seizures typically last one to two

Biblical Literature, The American Standard Version

2005-02-25T05:42:00.000-08:00

According to the original agreement, the preferred readings and renderings of the American revisers, which their British counterparts had declined to accept, were published in an appendix to the Revised Version. In 1900 the American edition of the New Testament, which incorporated the American scholars' preferences into the body of the text, was produced. A year later

Maupin, Armistead

2005-02-25T02:43:00.000-08:00

Maupin was reared in North Carolina. He showed an early interest in film and theatre. His adolescent years were complicated by his growing awareness of his homosexuality. Graduating from the University of North Carolina in 1966, Maupin worked for a time under the future senator Jesse Helms

Bredero, Gerbrand Adriaenszoon

2005-02-24T10:23:00.000-08:00

The conflict between Bredero's experiences of the medieval, full-blooded life of the backstreets of Amsterdam and the sophistication of the Renaissance intelligentsia was most evident in his earliest poetry, which is collected

La Fontaine

2005-02-23T08:35:00.000-08:00

Before La Fontaine's debut in 1681 at the Paris Opéra as première danseuse in Jean-Baptiste Lully's ballet Le Triomphe de l'amour, girls' roles on the public stage had been taken by young men. Although hampered by the long, confining costumes and limited ballet technique of the

Roberts, Bartholomew

2005-02-22T14:26:00.000-08:00

Byname Black Barty pirate captain of a succession of ships—the “Royal Rover,” “Fortune,” “Royal Fortune,” and “Good Fortune”—who burned and plundered ships from the coasts of West Africa to the coasts of Brazil and the Caribbean and as far north as Newfoundland. His conquests are said to have included more than 400 vessels and, in terms of sheer

Venda

2005-02-22T10:42:00.000-08:00

Former republic (though never internationally recognized as such) in southern Africa. It consisted of an enclave within the Transvaal, Republic of South Africa, just south of Zimbabwe. Its capital, formerly at Sibasa, was moved to Thohoyandou when Venda was declared independent in 1979. Venda shared a boundary to the southeast with what was then the non-independent black

Saarinen, (gottlieb) Eliel

2005-02-21T23:01:00.000-08:00

He became the foremost architect of his generation in Finland before he moved to the U.S. in 1923. By 1914 he was widely known in Europe

Tapestry

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

Tapestry is first of all a technique. It differs from other forms of patterned weaving in that no weft threads are carried the full width of the fabric web, except by an occasional accident of design. Each unit of the pattern or the background is woven with a weft, or thread of the required colour, that is inserted back and forth only over the section where that colour appears

Fabales

2005-02-20T09:35:00.000-08:00

The rationale for plant family classification derives not only from conspicuous morphological features but from numerous cryptic characters as well. Chromosome numbers are often useful in evaluating the relationship of plant taxa. The legumes are no exception. The legumes produce many kinds of chemical substances—e.g., alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, and the

Switzerland, Vegetation

2005-02-20T09:00:00.000-08:00

The vegetation is derived from that of the four European climatic regions converging in Switzerland and has been influenced by the varied relief. It includes the beeches and oaks of the maritime west; hornbeam and larch trees in the more continental east, predominantly in the Engadin and the dry Valais; extensive spruce forests in the northern subalpine region;

Trajan

2005-02-19T20:59:00.000-08:00

Latin in full Caesar Divi Nervae Filius Nerva Traianus Optimus Augustus, also called (AD 97–98) Caesar Nerva Traianus Germanicus, original name Marcus Ulpius Traianus Roman emperor (AD 98–117), the first to be born outside Italy. He sought to extend the boundaries of the empire to the east (notably in Dacia, Arabia, Armenia, and Mesopotamia), undertook a vast building program, and enlarged social welfare.

Pao-chi

2005-02-19T09:12:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Baoji, city in western Shensi sheng (province), China. Situated on the north bank of the Wei River, it has been a strategic and transportation centre since early times, controlling the northern end of a pass across the Tsinling Mountains, the only practicable route from the Wei valley into Szechwan province and the upper valley of the Han River. It is also at the western end of

Breconian Stage

2005-02-18T18:22:00.000-08:00

Division of the Old Red Sandstone of the Devonian Period in western Europe (the Devonian Period began about 395,000,000 years ago and lasted about 50,000,000 years); the Breconian Stage follows the Dittonian and precedes the Farlovian Stage. It was named for exposures studied at the Brecon Beacons in southern Wales. The rocks of the Breconian consist of red, gray, and green sandstones in

Derbyshire Dales

2005-02-18T15:24:00.000-08:00

The Romans mined lead in the area between Wirksworth and Castleton, and lead mining continued until the 19th century. Cotton textiles became important when Sir Richard Arkwright built the first water-powered cotton-spinning

Dressing Table

2005-02-17T09:12:00.000-08:00

Also called Toilet Table, a table used for the toilet. The term originally was applied in the 17th century to small tables with two or three drawers. It soon became common practice to conceal the fittings of the dressing table when they were not in use, and great ingenuity was exercised by 18th-century cabinetmakers to combine the most convenient fittings with a handsome piece of furniture. In the

Kidney Function Test

2005-02-16T00:23:00.000-08:00

Any clinical and laboratory procedure designed to evaluate various aspects of renal (kidney) capacity and efficiency and to aid in the diagnosis of kidney disorders. Such tests can be divided into several categories, which include (1) clearance tests that give an estimate of the filtration rate of the glomeruli, the principal filtering structures of the kidneys

1763, Proclamation Of

2005-02-15T10:43:00.000-08:00

Proclamation declared by the British crown at the end of the French and Indian War in North America, mainly intended to conciliate the Indians by checking the encroachment of white settlers on their lands. After Indian grievances had resulted in the start of Pontiac's War (1763–64), British authorities determined to subdue intercolonial rivalries and abuses by dealing

Afghanistan, Nadir Shah

2005-02-15T06:41:00.000-08:00

In 1738, after a year's siege, the city of Kandahar fell to Nadir Shah's army of 80,000 men. Nadir Shah seized Ghazna and Kabul and occupied the Mughal capital at Delhi in 1739. His booty included

Parure

2005-02-14T02:10:00.000-08:00

Matched set of jewelry consisting of such pieces as earrings, bracelet, brooch, necklace, and ring. By the mid-17th century, jewels had ceased to be created as individual works of art expressing some idea or fancy and had instead become mere personal ornaments that were beautiful but lacking in any deeper significance. Consequently, as the forms of jewels tended to become

U2

2005-02-13T19:09:00.000-08:00

Cold Harbor, Battles Of

2005-02-13T06:44:00.000-08:00

The first battle (June 27, 1862), sometimes called the Battle of Gaines's Mill, was part of the Seven Days' Battles (June 25–July 1), which ended the Peninsular Campaign (April 4–July 1), the large-scale Union effort to take Richmond. After fighting at Mechanicsville

Italian Literature, Fiction at the turn of the 21st century

2005-02-12T05:46:00.000-08:00

The competitive world of media- and market-driven culture thrives on self-promotion, provocation, “discoveries,” and “revelations.” Publishers and their talent scouts are eager to add “new voices.” The Sardinian Salvatore Satta, for example, was a professor of law whose considerable literary production—his best-known novel is Il giorno del giudizio (1979; The Day of

Ritchie, Michael

2005-02-12T01:59:00.000-08:00

American film director (b. Nov. 28, 1938, Waukesha, Wis.—d. April 16, 2001, New York, N.Y.), directed a number of notable films, including The Candidate (1972), Prime Cut (1972), and Smile (1975). Ritchie achieved prominence with his first feature film, Downhill Racer (1969), which starred Robert Redford. Redford later played the title role in The Candidate. Among Ritchie's other films were The Bad News Bears (1976), Fletch (1985), and The

East Malaysia

2005-02-11T14:58:00.000-08:00

Wing of the 13-state federation of Malaysia; it consists of the states of Sabah and Sarawak on the northern part of the island of Borneo and is separated from mainland Peninsular, or West, Malaysia on the Malay Peninsula by some 400 miles (640 km) of the South China Sea. Pop. (1991 prelim.) 3,385,119.

Kodiak Bear

2005-02-11T11:17:00.000-08:00

(Ursus arctos middendorffi), variety of grizzly bear found on Kodiak Island, off the coast of Alaska. It is the largest of living land carnivores. See grizzly bear.

Dahl, Roald

2005-02-10T17:36:00.000-08:00

Following his graduation from Repton, a renowned British public school, in 1932, Dahl avoided a university education and joined an expedition to Newfoundland. He worked from 1937 to 1939 in Dar es Salaam, Tanganyika (now in Tanzania), but he enlisted

Wessel, Horst

2005-02-10T15:10:00.000-08:00

A student and low-life bohemian, Wessel joined the Nazi Party in 1926 and became a member of the SA (Storm Troopers). In 1930 political enemies, possibly Communists, killed him in a brawl in his room in the Berlin slums. Nazi propagandists,

Bara

2005-02-10T03:51:00.000-08:00

Traditionally a bellicose people, the Bara lived in a great many independent groups based on lineage identity. Five main kinship groups exist, and formerly the Bara had two kingdoms, one of which survived until it was disbanded by the French. The Bara

Greeley, Horace

2005-02-08T21:40:00.000-08:00

A printer's apprentice in East Poultney, Vt., he moved to New York City, where he became senior editor for a new literary magazine, The New Yorker (1834). A liberal Whig, Greeley caught the attention of New York political

Legal Ethics, Advertising and solicitation

2005-02-07T22:19:00.000-08:00

Traditionally, advertising by lawyers was forbidden almost everywhere. It has been a long-standing principle of professional ethics in Anglo-American countries that an attorney must not seek professional employment through advertising or solicitation, direct or indirect. The reasons commonly given have been that seeking employment through these means

Intensive Agriculture

2005-02-07T01:28:00.000-08:00

In agricultural economics, system of cultivation using large amounts of labour and capital relative to land area. Large amounts of labour and capital are necessary to the application of fertilizer, insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides to growing crops, and capital is particularly important to the acquisition and maintenance of high-efficiency machinery

Bulgaria

2005-02-07T00:27:00.000-08:00

Officially Republic of Bulgaria, Bulgarian Republika Bulgariya, country occupying 42,855 square miles (110,994 square kilometres) of the eastern portion of the Balkan Peninsula in southeastern Europe. It is bounded by Romania on the north, most of the border being marked by the lower Danube River. The Black Sea lies to the east, Turkey and Greece to the south, Macedonia to the southwest, and the Yugoslav republic of Serbia to the west. The capital

Argyll, Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl Of, Lord Campbell, Lorne, And Kintyre

2005-02-06T21:37:00.000-08:00

In his youth Campbell studied abroad but returned to Scotland in 1649. He fought at Dunbar (Sept. 3, 1650) and, after the Battle of Worcester, joined the Royalist leader Glencairn in the Highlands. Ultimately he fell foul of

Arnauld Family

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

The

Carter, Betty

2005-02-05T19:13:00.000-08:00

Carter studied piano at the Detroit Conservatory of Music in her native Michigan. At age 16 she began singing in Detroit jazz clubs, and after 1946 she worked

Permafrost

2005-02-05T16:12:00.000-08:00

The thickness and areal distribution of permafrost are directly affected by snow and vegetation cover, topography, bodies of water, the interior heat of the Earth, and the temperature of the atmosphere, as mentioned earlier.

Adams, Gerry

2005-02-03T18:20:00.000-08:00

Gerard Adams was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Oct. 6, 1948, into a prominent Irish nationalist

Priapism

2005-02-03T13:27:00.000-08:00

When normal erection occurs, the sides and the bottom of the penis, the corpora cavernosa and the corpus spongiosum, respectively, become engorged with blood so that the penis enlarges, hardens, and assumes an erect position. The major symptom of priapism is pain and tenderness

Farley, Harriet

2005-02-02T06:37:00.000-08:00

Farley grew up from 1819 in Atkinson, New Hampshire, where she was educated in the local academy headed by her father. In 1837 she made her way to Lowell and obtained

Mihrab

2005-02-01T02:29:00.000-08:00

Arabic mihrab prayer niche in the qiblah wall (that facing Mecca) of a mosque; mihrabs vary in size but are usually ornately decorated. The mihrab originated in the reign of the Umayyad prince al-Walid I (705–715), during which time the famous mosques at Medina, Jerusalem, and Damascus were built. The structure was adapted from the prayer niches common to the oratories of Coptic Christian monks.

California, Flag Of

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

In the Bear Flag Revolt of 1846, which occurred during the Mexican-American War, a group of American settlers in what was then the Mexican-ruled territory of California proclaimed independence and hoisted the original Bear Flag (June 14, 1846). The following month American naval forces seized control of the area, and the flag of the short-lived California Republic was replaced

Allegany

2005-02-01T00:57:00.000-08:00

County, western Maryland, U.S. It consists of an irregular neck of land between Pennsylvania to the north and West Virginia to the south (the North Branch Potomac River constituting the border with West Virginia). The county rests on part of the Allegheny Plateau and includes Rocky Gap State Park, Green Ridge State Forest, and the scenic gorge of Cumberland Narrows (1,000 feet

Apterygote

2005-01-31T20:06:00.000-08:00

Broadly, any of the primitive wingless insects of the subclass Apterygota (class Insecta), distinct from the subclass Pterygota or winged insects. Used in this sense, the term apterygotes commonly includes four groups of primitive insects: proturans, collembolans, diplurans (see photograph), and thysanurans. The taxonomic status of these groups, however, remains

Chalcocite

2005-01-30T20:44:00.000-08:00

A sulfide mineral that is one of the most important ores of copper. Valuable occurrences include deposits of sulfide minerals at Ely, Nev., and Morenci, Ariz., where other components of the original rock have been dissolved away; it is also found with bornite in the sulfide veins of Tsumeb, Namibia, and Butte, Mont. For detailed physical properties, see sulfide mineral

Laghouat

2005-01-30T02:39:00.000-08:00

Town and oasis north-central Algeria, at the southern edge of the Saharan Atlas, on the route linking Algiers with central Africa. The oasis (625 acres [253 hectares]) was probably settled in the 11th century after the Banu Hilal invaders, supported by the Fatimids of Egypt, crossed the area. Laghouat subsequently passed through Moroccan and Turkish hands and was divided by two warring

Augusta

2005-01-30T00:47:00.000-08:00

The younger daughter of Charles Frederick, grand duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, she was married to the future king and emperor on June 11, 1829. She was jealously devoted to her children, Frederick William (later king and emperor as Frederick

Zand Dynasty

2005-01-29T23:37:00.000-08:00

Following the death of the Afsharid ruler Nader Shah (1747), Karim Khan Zand became one of the major contenders for power. By 1750 he had sufficiently consolidated his power to proclaim himself as vakil (regent) for the Safavid Esma'il III. Karim Khan never claimed the title of shahanshah (“king of kings”); instead he maintained Esma'il as a figurehead. Karim

Salem

2005-01-29T14:22:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1851) of Dent county, southeast-central Missouri, U.S., situated in the Ozark Mountains between the Current and Meramec rivers. Established in 1845 on the site of an inn and trading post, it was named for Salem, N.C. The town was occupied by Federal forces during the American Civil War, except briefly in 1864, when raiders burned the courthouse and jail. In a battle that was fought

Natural History Museum

2005-01-29T06:50:00.000-08:00

The museum was formerly an integral part of the British

Kerry Blue Terrier

2005-01-28T06:23:00.000-08:00

Versatile breed of working terrier that is used as a hunter, land and water retriever, and sheep and cattle herder. The Kerry blue originated in County Kerry, Ireland, where it has been bred since the 1820s. It is 17.5 to 19.5 inches (44.5 to 49.5 cm) tall, weighs 29 to 40 pounds (13 to 18 kg), and has a distinctively coloured, soft, wavy coat, black at birth and becoming slate blue to blue gray with maturity. Boxy in