LastEar

Yeshiva

2005-04-04T15:20:00.000-07:00

Also spelled yeshivah , or yeshibah (Hebrew “sitting”) , plural yeshivas, yeshivot, yeshivoth , or yeshibot any of numerous Jewish academies of Talmudic learning, whose biblical and legal exegesis and application of Scripture have defined and regulated Jewish religious life for centuries. The early history of the yeshiva as an institution is known only through indirect evidence, and the word itself did not come into current use until the 1st century AD. Rabbinic literature

Jet Engine

2005-04-03T22:52:00.000-07:00

Any of a class of internal-combustion engines that propel aircraft by means of the rearward discharge of a jet of fluid, usually hot exhaust gases generated by burning fuel with air drawn in from the atmosphere.

Ghana

2005-04-03T22:14:00.000-07:00

Although relatively small in area and population, Ghana is one of the leading countries

Szeryng, Henryk

2005-04-02T16:48:00.000-08:00

Szeryng studied with Carl Flesch in Berlin and with Jacques Thibaud in Paris. He made his debut in 1933, and from 1933 to 1939 he was a composition student of Nadia Boulanger in Paris. During World War II he was on the staff of the Polish government-in-exile.

Duala

2005-04-02T00:27:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Douala, Bantu-speaking people of the forest region of southern Cameroon living on the estuary of the Wouri River. By 1800 the Duala controlled Cameroon's trade with Europeans, and their concentrated settlement pattern developed under this influence. Their system of chieftaincy was partly founded on trading wealth. For much of the 19th century there were two political–commercial

Jackson

2005-04-01T07:47:00.000-08:00

Town, seat (1921) of Teton county, northwestern Wyoming, U.S. The town lies at the southern end of the Teton Range, just north of the Snake River, and is the centre of an important recreation and tourist industry. Explored by the fur trapper John Colter in 1807, Jackson takes its name from another trapper, David Jackson, who worked in the area in the 1820s and who organized summer rendezvous

Dowland, John

2005-03-31T19:35:00.000-08:00

Nothing is known of Dowland's childhood, but in 1580 he went to Paris as a “servant” to Sir Henry Cobham, the ambassador to the French court. In 1588 he received a bachelor of music degree from the University of Oxford. His conversion to

Cartagena

2005-03-31T05:46:00.000-08:00

Capital of Bolívar departamento, northern Colombia, at the northern end of Cartagena Bay. The old walled sections, including the 17th-century fortress of San Felipe de Barajas, lie on a peninsula and the island of Getsemaní, but the city now spreads over the islands of Manga and Manzanillo (site of the airport) and the mainland below La Popa Hill. In the old section are the

Houma

2005-03-30T06:58:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1834) of Terrebonne parish, southeastern Louisiana, U.S., situated about 50 miles (80 km) southwest of New Orleans. It lies along Bayou Terrebonne and the Intracoastal Waterway and is connected to the Gulf of Mexico by the Houma Navigation Canal, 36 miles (58 km) long. In the 1760s, Acadians originally from Nova Scotia settled in the area, which was then occupied by the Houma Indians.

Austria, The early Babenberg period

2005-03-29T18:01:00.000-08:00

The first mention of a ruler in the regained territories east of the Enns is of Burchard, who probably was count (burgrave) of Regensburg. It appears that he lost his office as a result of his championship of Henry II the Quarrelsome, duke of Bavaria. In 976 his successor, Leopold I of the house of Babenberg, was installed in office. Under Leopold's rule the eastern frontier was

Earth, Deformation of the crust

2005-03-28T14:06:00.000-08:00

The Earth's crust has been subjected to widespread deformation over geologic time. This deformation results from forces applied to the rocks that make up the crust. Such forces create stresses within the rocks, and these stresses in turn produce strain, which is manifested in the form of folds, faults, and joints.

Philadelphia Zoological Gardens

2005-03-28T05:37:00.000-08:00

First zoo in the United States, opened in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1874 with an animal inventory of several hundred native and exotic specimens. It was begun and continues to be operated by the Zoological Society of Philadelphia, founded in 1859. In 1868, three years after the end of the American Civil War, a 42-acre (17-hectare) site was selected in Fairmount Park, an architect was sent

Vance, Zebulon B.

2005-03-27T16:56:00.000-08:00

Vance studied law at the University of North Carolina and for a time practiced in Asheville. Elected in 1854 as a Whig member of the North Carolina House of Commons, Vance in 1858 won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives,

Race

2005-03-27T00:02:00.000-08:00

Race as a categorizing term referring to human beings was first used in the English language in the late 16th century. Until the 18th century, it had a generalized meaning similar to other classifying terms such as type, sort, or kind. Occasional literature of Shakespeare's time referred to a “race of saints,” or “a race of bishops.” Some historians have speculated that the English

Likoma Island

2005-03-26T06:23:00.000-08:00

Island in Lake Nyasa, Malawi, just northwest of Cóbuè, Mozambique. Located near the lake's eastern shore, the rocky and barren island has an area of 7 square miles (18 square km). There is some fishing and limited cultivation of grain; cassava and corn (maize) are imported. The Universities' Mission to Central Africa (Church of England) established a station there in 1885 as a base for

Xu Beihong

2005-03-25T08:41:00.000-08:00

Xu was first taught art in his childhood by his father, Xu Dazhang, a locally known portrait painter. Xu became an itinerant professional

Platonism, Augustinian Platonism

2005-03-24T16:07:00.000-08:00

Each of the great Christian Platonists understood Platonism and applied it to the understanding of his faith in his own individual way, and of no one of them was this truer than of Augustine with his extremely strong personality and distinctive religious history. Augustine's thought was not merely a subspecies of Christian Platonism but something unique—Augustinianism.

Hatton, Sir Christopher

2005-03-24T14:52:00.000-08:00

After spending several years in halfhearted study of the law, Hatton enrolled as one of the queen's bodyguards in 1564. Handsome and accomplished, he impressed the queen with his talent for dancing and quickly won her affection. There is no evidence that they were

Gaetulia

2005-03-23T23:07:00.000-08:00

Ancient district of interior North Africa that in Roman times, at least, was inhabited by wandering tribes, the Gaetuli. The area, not clearly defined, included the southern slopes of the Atlas Mountains, from the Aurès Massif westward as far as the Atlantic; southward it extended to the oases in the northern part of the Sahara. Distinguished from the Negro tribes to

Macaire

2005-03-22T22:27:00.000-08:00

The same story

Eugenius Iii, Blessed

2005-03-22T10:11:00.000-08:00

Possibly a member of the family Paganelli di Montemagno, he was a disciple of St. Bernard of Clairvaux and a Cistercian abbot of the monastery of SS. Vincent and Anastasius when he was elected on February 15. Eugenius, like others of western Europe, was shocked by the fall of Edessa, the capital of the first

Udall, Nicholas

2005-03-21T08:36:00.000-08:00

Udall was educated at the University of Oxford, where he became a lecturer and fellow. He became a schoolmaster in 1529 and was teaching in London in 1533 when he wrote “ditties and interludes” for Anne

Chagall, Marc

2005-03-21T06:34:00.000-08:00

Belorussian-born French painter, printmaker, and designer. He composed his images based on emotional and poetic associations, rather than on rules of pictorial logic. Predating Surrealism, his early works, such as I and the Village (1911), were among the first expressions of

Golf, The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA)

2005-03-20T10:58:00.000-08:00

Several professional tournaments for women were staged during the 1920s and '30s; important players from this era include Glenna Collett from the United States and Joyce Wethered of Great Britain. It was not until the 1940s that efforts began in earnest to form a professional golf organization for women. The first, the Women's Professional Golf Association (WPGA), was chartered

Wright, Laura Maria Sheldon

2005-03-19T20:44:00.000-08:00

Laura Sheldon played as a child with local Native American children, among whom she began holding prayer meetings at age 10. After

Uccello, Paolo

2005-03-19T16:12:00.000-08:00

Original name Paolo Di Dono Florentine painter whose work attempted uniquely to reconcile two distinct artistic styles—the essentially decorative late Gothic and the new heroic style of the early Renaissance. Probably his most famous paintings are three panels representing “The Battle of San Romano” (c. 1456). His careful and sophisticated perspective

Cramp

2005-03-19T10:53:00.000-08:00

Painful, involuntary, and sustained contraction of muscle, most common in the limbs but also affecting certain internal organs. Examples of cramping include menstrual cramps and spasms of the circular muscles of the bowel (irritable colon), blood vessels (vasospasm), and pylorus of the stomach (pylorospasm; the pylorus is the opening from the stomach to the

Scandinavian Literature, Neoromantic revival

2005-03-18T18:11:00.000-08:00

In the 1890s a Neoromantic poetic revival occurred, reinstating the value of emotion and fantasy. The leader of these Symbolist poets was Johannes Jørgensen, whose finest works show a simplicity of style and intensity of feeling. Other poets of the time included Viggo Stuckenberg, who expressed sad resignation; Sophus Claussen, whose poems, often obscure, show sensuality,

Sculpture, Western, Georgia

2005-03-17T10:38:00.000-08:00

A distinct Georgian sculptural tradition did not emerge until the advent of Christianity, which stimulated a demand for a large number of carved stone reliefs. The earliest of these were based on Early Christian models. In the 8th and 9th centuries the high-relief figures of Early Christian art gave way to figures rendered in wholly linear fashion. In the 10th and 11th centuries

Hohmann Orbit

2005-03-16T08:17:00.000-08:00

The Hohmann orbit from Earth to Mars requires about 260 (Earth) days; about two years

Gyascutus

2005-03-16T05:24:00.000-08:00

An imaginary, large, four-legged beast with legs on one side longer than those on the other, for walking on hillsides. Humorous references to this creature, whose name has countless local variants, first appeared in American newspapers during the 1840s. It has continued to play a minor role in American folklore since then. The word was apparently coined to mimic the Latin

Marquis, Don

2005-03-16T01:32:00.000-08:00

Educated at Knox College, Galesburg, Ill., Marquis worked as a reporter on The Atlanta Journal. When in 1907 Joel Chandler Harris established the Uncle Remus's Magazine, Marquis became

Thomson, Sir J.j.

2005-03-15T23:15:00.000-08:00

In full Sir Joseph John Thomson English physicist who helped revolutionize the knowledge of atomic structure by his discovery of the electron (1897). He received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1906 and was knighted in 1908.

Earth Sciences, Earth history according to Werner and James Hutton

2005-03-15T20:59:00.000-08:00

The two major theories of the 18th century were the Neptunian and the Plutonian. The Neptunists, led by Werner and his students, maintained that the Earth was originally covered by a turbid ocean. The first sediments deposited over the irregular floor of this universal ocean formed the granite and other crystalline rocks. Then as the ocean began to subside, “Stratified

Painting, Western, Archaic period (c. 625500 BC)

2005-03-15T19:59:00.000-08:00

Corinth remained the leading exporter of Greek vases until about 550 BC, though mass production quickly led to a drop in quality. These later vases were decorated with unambitious and stereotyped groups of animal or human figures; there was little or no interest in narrative. By the late 7th century BC Athenian artists had adopted many of the stylistic features of Corinthian

Defence Of India Act

2005-03-15T07:46:00.000-08:00

By 1918 there were about 800 internees

Argolís

2005-03-13T23:57:00.000-08:00

Nomós (department), northeastern Peloponnese, southern Greece. It is a narrow, mountainous peninsula projecting eastward into the Aegean Sea between the Saronic Gulf, (to the northeast) and the Gulf of Argolis (to the southwest). Bordered on the north by Kórinthos (Corinth) and on the west by the mountains of Arcadia, it has been inhabited since Neolithic times. A limestone

Arts, South Asian, Gupta period: central India

2005-03-13T08:57:00.000-08:00

In addition to the major schools of Sarnath and Mathura, important sculpture of the 5th and 6th centuries is found at several sites in central India. The sculptures here are often in their original locations, surviving not as isolated images torn from their architectural context but in association with the temples of which they formed a part. At Udayagiri, near Vidisa, are

Kérouané

2005-03-13T08:38:00.000-08:00

Town and administrative capital of Kérouané region, southeastern Guinea, West Africa, on the road from Beyla to Kankan. It is the chief trading town (rice, millet, cattle) for savanna lands inhabited mainly by the Muslim Malinke people. Local rivers have been an important source of alluvial diamonds since the 1950s, and the Simandou Mountains in the eastern part of the region

Anthony Melissa

2005-03-12T15:13:00.000-08:00

Anthony, whose surname is derived from the title of his chief work, Melissa (Greek: “The Bee”), compiled an anthology based largely on two leading

Seymour, David

2005-03-11T18:46:00.000-08:00

Seymour studied graphic arts in Warsaw and in 1931 went to Paris to study at the Sorbonne, where he became interested in photography. During this period he befriended

China, Economic policy changes

2005-03-11T18:41:00.000-08:00

In the late fall of 1976, the CCP leadership tried to bring some order to the country through a series of national conferences. They moved quickly to appeal to workers' interests by reinstating wage bonuses. The economy had stagnated in 1976 largely because of political turmoil, and Mao's successors were anxious to start things moving again. Despite some uncertainty, Deng was

Biblical Literature, Apocalypses

2005-03-10T21:10:00.000-08:00

In addition, it should be noted that there were

Alliance

2005-03-10T15:57:00.000-08:00

In international relations, a formal agreement between two or more states for mutual support in case of war. Contemporary alliances provide for combined action on the part of two or more independent states and are generally defensive in nature, obligating allies to join forces if one or more of them is attacked by another state or coalition. Although alliances

Ansonia

2005-03-09T07:58:00.000-08:00

City, coextensive with the town (township) of Ansonia, New Haven county, southwestern Connecticut, U.S., on the Naugatuck River. The area was a part of the township of Derby until it was incorporated as a separate township in 1889. Ansonia's separate identity had been established in 1843, when Anson Greene Phelps of New York City refused to pay an exorbitant price for land in the village

Alegría, Claribel

2005-03-09T04:18:00.000-08:00

Poet, essayist, and journalist who was a major voice in the literature of contemporary Central America. Noted for her testimonio (testament) concerning the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua, she was best known in the United States for the bilingual edition of her volume of poetry, Flores del volcán/Flowers from the Volcano (1982), translated by the

New Albany

2005-03-08T23:44:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1819) of Floyd county, southeastern Indiana, U.S. It lies along the Ohio River (bridged) opposite Louisville, Kentucky. It was founded in 1813 by Joel, Abner, and Nathaniel Scribner, who named the settlement for their hometown, Albany, New York. By the 1840s and early '50s, New Albany had become the largest city in Indiana and an important steamboat-building centre (the famous riverboats

Platt, Orville Hitchcock

2005-03-08T15:44:00.000-08:00

Platt began the practice of law in Meriden, Conn., in 1850 and was active in Connecticut politics, serving as secretary of state (1857), state senator (1861–62), and member of the

Succulent

2005-03-07T21:41:00.000-08:00

Stomata are small mouthlike structures

Arabian Religion

2005-03-07T09:12:00.000-08:00

A short survey of the history of ancient Arabia is given by A.K. Irvine, “The Arabs and Ethiopians,” in D.J. Wiseman (ed.), Peoples of Old Testament Times (1973), pp. 287–311. South Arabia is covered by Walter W. Müller, “Outline of the History of Ancient Southern Arabia,” in Werner Daum (ed.), Yemen: 3000 Years of Art and Civilisation in Arabia Felix (1987), pp. 49–54. J. Wellhausen (comp.), Reste altarabischen Heidentums, 2nd ed. (1897), contains most of the Muslim data on the pagan folklore and religion. The epigraphic material is extensively used in the following studies, which are still valuable: G. Ryckmans, “Les Religions arabes préislamiques,” in Histoire générale des religions, vol. 2, pt. 1, pp. 201–228 (1960); and Maria Höfner, “Die vorislamischen Religionen Arabiens,” in Hartmut Gese, Maria Höfner, and Kurt Rudolph, Die Religionen Altsyriens, Altarabiens und der Mandäer, pp. 233–402 (1970). A short but excellent survey of the ancient Arabian religion is given by A. Caquot, “Les Religions des Sémites occidentaux,” in Henri-Charles Puech (ed.), Histoire des Religions, vol. 1 (1970), pp. 307–358, with North and South Arabia especially the focus of pp. 340–355. Several important works are by J. Starcky: “Pétra et la Nabatène,” in Louis Pirot et al., Dictionnaire de la Bible, Supplément, vol. 7 (1966), cols. 886–1017, with cols. 985–1017 focusing especially on religion, and a very short but more recent contribution, “La religion des Nabatéens,” in Inoubliable Petra: Le Royaume nabatéen aux confins du désert (1980), pp. 66–70, an exhibition catalog. Two concise but up-to-date studies on ancient South Arabian religions may be found in Joseph Chelhod et al., L'Arabie du Sud: Histoire et civilisation, vol. 1, Le peuple yéménite et ses racines (1984), both by A.F.L. Beeston: “The Religions of Pre-Islamic Yemen,” pp. 259–269, and “Judaism and Christianity in Pre-Islamic Yemen,” pp. 271–278. Another such study is J. Ryckmans, “The Old South Arabian Religion,” in the work on Yemen ed. by Daum cited above, pp. 107–110.

Frederick (i)

2005-03-06T21:29:00.000-08:00

Frederick was the eldest surviving son of the landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. He fought bravely for England during the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–14). His marriage in 1700 to Louise of Prussia ended with her death in 1705, and in 1715 he married

århus

2005-03-05T23:40:00.000-08:00

Amtskommune (county commune), eastern Jutland, Denmark, created in 1970 from the former county communes of Århus, Randers, and part of Skanderborg. It extends along Jutland's eastern coast between Mariager and Horsens fjords. The northern part of the county commune is dominated by the Djursland peninsula, an area of castles and estates, including Rosenholm Castle (home

Acoustics

2005-03-05T19:51:00.000-08:00

The origin of the science of acoustics is generally attributed to the Greek philosopher Pythagorus (6th century BC), whose experiments on the properties of vibrating strings that produce pleasing musical intervals were of such merit that they led to a tuning system that bears his name. Aristotle (4th century BC) correctly suggested that a sound wave propagates in air through

Cateau-cambrésis, Peace Of

2005-03-04T22:11:00.000-08:00

(April 3, 1559), agreement marking the end of the 65-year (1494–1559) struggle between France and Spain for the control of Italy, leaving Habsburg Spain the dominant power there for the next 150 years. In the last phase of the war, fought mostly outside of Italy, France was beaten at the battles of Saint-Quentin (1557) and Gravelines (1558). These defeats, coupled with the beginning of the religious struggle

Trifid Nebula

2005-03-04T13:08:00.000-08:00

(catalog numbers NGC 6514 and M 20), bright, diffuse nebula in the constellation Sagittarius, lying several thousand light-years from the Earth. It was discovered by the French astronomer Legentil de La Galaisière before 1750 and named by the English astronomer Sir John Herschel for the three dark rifts that seem to divide the nebula and join at its centre. Of about the ninth magnitude

Brechin

2005-03-03T02:48:00.000-08:00

Small royal burgh (town), council area and historic county of Angus, Scotland, situated on the River South Esk in the fertile vale of Strathmore. One of Scotland's three round towers (10th-century) adjoins the 12th-century cathedral. In 1296 Scotland was ceded temporarily to the English at Brechin. Brechin Castle subsequently made a gallant stand against the English forces of

Genda Minoru

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

Genda, a graduate of the Japanese Naval Academy (1924), was a fighter

Ghats

2005-03-02T10:31:00.000-08:00

Two mountain ranges forming the eastern and western edges, respectively, of the Deccan (q.v.) plateau of peninsular India. In Hindi ghat means “river landing stairs” or “mountain pass” and has been extended in its Anglicized plural form (formerly “ghauts”) to include the mountains themselves. The word refers as well to riverbanks that have been artificially terraced for bathing

Epistemology, Relations of ideas and matters of fact

2005-03-02T02:10:00.000-08:00

Human thought concerns two kinds of things: relations of ideas and matters of fact. Relations of ideas can either be intuited, that is, seen directly, or deduced from other propositions. That a is identical with a, that b resembles c, and that d is larger than e are examples of propositions that are intuited. The opposites of true propositions expressing relations of ideas

Military Affairs, Middle East.

2005-03-01T14:22:00.000-08:00

The situation in Israel and the Palestinian Autonomous Areas devolved into a war in all but name. Palestinian militants used small arms, mortars, and suicide bombers, mostly against civilian targets. The Israeli military used weapons ranging from F-16 fighter jets and missile-equipped attack helicopters to tank-fired flechette rounds, which contained thousands

Ekoi

2005-03-01T05:11:00.000-08:00

Group of peoples situated in extreme southeastern Nigeria and extending eastward into neighbouring Cameroon. Ekoid Bantu languages are spoken by many groups, including the Atam, Boki, Mbembe, Ufia, and Yako. The Ekoi live in proximity to the Efiks of southeastern Nigeria and claim to have migrated from the north to that area. The inhabitants of Kwa, located near Calabar,

Roland (de La Platière), Jean-marie

2005-02-28T22:18:00.000-08:00

The son of a royal official, Roland became inspector of manufactures in Amiens (1780) and then in Lyon (1784). In February 1780 he married Jeanne-Marie Phlipon, who was 20 years

Traill, Catherine Parr

2005-02-28T06:10:00.000-08:00

Traill, a writer of children's books in England, emigrated to the wilderness of Upper Canada (now Ontario) in 1832 with her husband and her sister, the writer Susanna Strickland Moodie.

Islam, The teachings of Twelver Shi'ism and the school of Esfahan

2005-02-27T16:45:00.000-08:00

After Ibn al-'Arabi, the new wisdom developed rapidly in intellectual circles in eastern Islam. Commentators on the works of Avicenna, as-Suhrawardi, and Ibn al-'Arabi began the process of harmonizing and integrating the views of the masters. Great poets made them part of every educated man's literary culture. Mystical fraternities became the custodians of such works, spreading

Asteridae

2005-02-27T08:35:00.000-08:00

The Asteridae, one of the six subclasses in the class Magnoliopsida (dicotyledons), consists of 11 orders, 49 families, and nearly 60,000 species. About one-third of the species of Asteridae belong to the family Asteraceae (of the order Asterales), which is the largest family of dicotyledons and one of the two largest

Catalonia

2005-02-27T04:56:00.000-08:00

Spanish Cataluña , Catalan Catalunya comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) and historic region of Spain encompassing the northeastern Spanish provincias of Gerona, Barcelona, Tarragona, and Lérida and established by the statute of autonomy of Dec. 18, 1979. The autonomous community of Catalonia, which has an area of 12,328 square miles (31,930 square km), is the richest and most highly industrialized part of Spain. The

Oss

2005-02-27T01:34:00.000-08:00

Gemeente (commune), Noord-Brabant provincie, south-central Netherlands, east-northeast of 's Hertogenbosch and about 3 miles (5 km) south of the Maas (Meuse) River. A food-processing town noted for margarine and meat products, it also manufactures pharmaceuticals (especially insulin and vitamins), electrical equipment, wool products, boxes, and metalware. Mainly Roman Catholic,

Sidamo

2005-02-25T17:50:00.000-08:00

Most

Yi Chong

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

The great-great-grandson of King Sejong (1397–1450), Yi is said to have personified the ideal Korean aristocrat. He is as famous for his regal and generous disposition and his scholarly tastes as he is for his painting, and he is also well known as a poet and calligrapher.

Beneden, Edouard (joseph Louis-marie) Van

2005-02-22T21:53:00.000-08:00

During his early years, van Beneden worked with his father, P.J. van Beneden, a professor of zoology at the Catholic University in Louvain, who was noted for his studies on protozoans,

Skiffle

2005-02-22T21:42:00.000-08:00

Style of music played on rudimentary instruments, first popularized in the United States in the 1920s but revived by British musicians in the mid-1950s. The term was originally applied to music played by jug bands (in addition to jugs, these bands featured guitars, banjos, harmonicas, and kazoos), first in Louisville, Kentucky, as early as 1905 and then more prominently in Memphis, Tennessee,

Pacific Islands

2005-02-22T14:25:00.000-08:00

Geographic region of the Pacific Ocean. The term is commonly accepted as including all of those islands in the Pacific that are collectively referred to as Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia, also sometimes known as Oceania. This usage rules out the Australian island continent, the Asia-related Indonesian, Philippine, and Japanese archipelagoes, and the Ryukyu,

Ady, Endre

2005-02-21T13:52:00.000-08:00

Ady was born into an impoverished but noble family. On leaving school he studied law for a time, but in 1899 he published an insignificant volume of verse, Versek, and from 1900 until his death he worked as a journalist. In 1903 he published another volume of poetry,

Tara

2005-02-21T04:58:00.000-08:00

Tibetan Sgrol-ma Buddhist saviour-goddess with numerous forms, widely popular in Nepal, Tibet, and Mongolia. She is the feminine counterpart of the bodhisattva (“Buddha-to-be”) Avalokitesvara. According to popular belief, she came into existence from a tear of Avalokitesvara, which fell to the ground and formed a lake. Out of its waters rose up a lotus, which, on opening, revealed the goddess.

Bread

2005-02-20T22:12:00.000-08:00

Baked food product made of flour or meal that is moistened, kneaded, and sometimes fermented. A major food since prehistoric times, it has been made in various forms using a variety of ingredients and methods throughout the world. The first bread was made in Neolithic times, nearly 12,000 years ago, probably of coarsely crushed grain mixed with water, with the resulting dough

Philipp, Isidor

2005-02-19T05:32:00.000-08:00

Philipp was brought to Paris as an infant. As a piano student of Georges Mathias at the Conservatoire, he won the first prize in 1883. After study with Saint-Saëns and Stephen Heller, he began a brief solo concert career, making his London debut in 1890. From 1903 to 1934 he was professor

Aerospace Industry, Special requirements of military aircraft

2005-02-18T22:39:00.000-08:00

Military aircraft demand lightweight structures to achieve high performance. Moreover, the materials used must be able to withstand the temperatures created by air friction when the vehicle is flying at high speeds. These requirements have fostered the use of new metals such as aluminum-magnesium alloys and titanium, as well as composites and polymers for many

Great Lakes

2005-02-18T11:29:00.000-08:00

Chain of lakes in east-central North America comprising Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. They are one of the great natural features of the continent and of the Earth. Although Lake Baikal in Russia has a larger volume of water, the combined area of the Great Lakes—some 94,850 square miles (245,660 square kilometres)—represents the largest surface of fresh water in

Leaf-nosed Bat

2005-02-17T10:45:00.000-08:00

Any of the bats belonging to the families Phyllostomatidae and Hipposideridae (qq.v.).

Chelyabinsk

2005-02-16T15:03:00.000-08:00

Chelyabinsk was founded as a fortress in 1736 on the site of a Bashkir village; it became a town in 1787. First a local centre of an agricultural region, it began to grow with the coming of the Trans-Siberian Railroad in 1894–96. Thereafter

Lancaster, Sir Osbert

2005-02-16T08:09:00.000-08:00

Lancaster took his B.A. degree at Lincoln College,

Romanus

2005-02-14T08:31:00.000-08:00

Romanus was a cardinal when elected pope in August amidst the chaotic aftermath of Pope Stephen VI's murder. For exhuming and desecrating Pope Formosus' corpse and annulling his pontificate in the “Cadaver Synod,” Stephen had been imprisoned and probably strangled by Formosus' supporters,

Nowshera

2005-02-14T07:37:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Naushahra town, North-West Frontier Province, northern Pakistan. Lying on a sandy plain surrounded by hills, on the banks of the Kabul River (there bridged), Nowshera is a commercial and industrial centre that is connected by rail and road with Dargai (Malakand Pass), Mardan, Peshawar, and Rawalpindi. The town's industries include cotton, wool, and paperboard mills and chemical and newsprint

Sundbyberg

2005-02-13T20:06:00.000-08:00

Town, Stockholm län (county), east-central Sweden. Sundbyberg lies on the northwestern outskirts of Stockholm. When founded in 1877, it was one of Stockholm's first residential suburbs. It was chartered in 1927 and has become an important industrial centre. The church (1909–11) is noted for its stained glass. Other imposing buildings are the large Marabou chocolate factory and the multistory

Gabo, Naum

2005-02-13T16:26:00.000-08:00

Gabo studied medicine and natural science, then philosophy and art history, at the University of Munich in Germany; he also took engineering classes at the Technical

Argentina, Dominance of Buenos Aires

2005-02-12T01:25:00.000-08:00

By then, military leaders had assumed power in almost every province. Each provincial political regime soon acquired its own character, according to the relative power held by military strongmen (caudillos) and by local political interests. This differentiation was not, however, cause for friction between the provinces; rather, economic and geographic factors

Interdict

2005-02-11T23:29:00.000-08:00

An exhibitory interdict, which usually involves rights over things, is an order requiring that a person or thing be produced. A restorative

World War I, The Western Front, MarchSeptember 1918

2005-02-11T01:15:00.000-08:00

As the German strength on the Western Front was being steadily increased by the transfer of divisions from the Eastern Front (where they were no longer needed since Russia had withdrawn from the war), the Allies' main problem was how to withstand an imminent German offensive pending the arrival of massive reinforcements from the United States. Eventually Pétain

Amphibole

2005-02-10T18:33:00.000-08:00

The fundamental building block of all silicate mineral structures is the silicon-oxygen tetrahedron (SiO4)4-. It consists of a central silicon atom surrounded by four oxygen atoms in the shape of a tetrahedron. The essential characteristic of the amphibole structure is a double chain of corner-linked silicon-oxygen tetrahedrons that extend indefinitely parallel

Computers, From Star Trek to Microsoft

2005-02-09T05:48:00.000-08:00

The first programs developed for the hobbyists' microcomputers were games. With the early machines limited in graphic capabilities, most of these were text-based adventure or role-playing games. However, there were a few graphical games, such as Star Trek, which were popular on mainframes and minicomputers and were converted to run on microcomputers. One company

Aquinas, Thomas, Saint

2005-02-09T00:46:00.000-08:00

At Easter time in 1272, Thomas returned to Italy to establish a Dominican house of studies at the University of Naples. This move was undoubtedly made in answer to a request made by King Charles of Anjou, who was anxious to revive the university. After participating in a general chapter, or meeting, of the Dominicans held in Florence during Pentecost week and, having settled

Malacostracan, Excretion

2005-02-08T16:49:00.000-08:00

Malacostracans excrete waste fluids mainly through the ducts of the nephridial glands, which are present in the body segments of the second antennae and the maxillae. The ducts open on the basal segments of those head appendages. Antennal nephridial glands are present in the adult stages of eucaridans, mysidaceans, and amphipods and in the larval stages of stomatopods

United States, Prelude to revolution

2005-02-06T23:12:00.000-08:00

The prolonged wars had also revealed the need to tighten the administration of the loosely run and widely scattered elements of the British Empire. If the course of the war had confirmed the necessity, the end of the war presented the opportunity. The acquisition of Canada required London officials to take responsibility for the unsettled western territories, now freed from the threat of French occupation. The British soon moved to take charge of the whole field of Indian relations. By royal proclamation (1763) a line was drawn down the Appalachians marking the limit of settlement from the British colonies, beyond which Indian trade was to be conducted strictly through British-appointed commissioners. These steps were not in time to prevent a serious uprising under the Ottawa chief Pontiac, however; and the proclamation, which sprang in part from a respect for Indian rights, caused consternation among British colonists for two reasons. It meant that limits were being set to the prospects of settlement and speculation in western lands, and it took control of the west out of colonial hands. The most ambitious men in the colonies thus saw the proclamation as a loss of power to control their own fortunes.

Rybinsk

2005-02-06T21:05:00.000-08:00

Formerly (1946–57) Shcherbakov , or (1984–88) Andropov city, Yaroslavl oblast (province), northwestern Russia, on the Volga River. The 12th-century village of Rybnaya sloboda became the town of Rybinsk in 1777. Its river port flourished after the opening (1810) of the Mariinsk Waterway, linking the Volga to the Baltic Sea, and again with the latter's reconstruction as the deep Volga-Baltic Waterway in 1964. A wide range of engineering and other

Middletown

2005-02-06T07:27:00.000-08:00

City, Orange county, southeastern New York, U.S., 60 miles (97 km) northwest of New York City. Settled in 1756, it was organized around the local Congregational church in 1785 and named for its midway location between the Hudson and Delaware rivers. Until 1798 it was in Ulster county. It became headquarters for several turnpike companies and, after 1843, the terminal of the Erie Railroad (later Erie

War Democrat

2005-02-05T06:35:00.000-08:00

The great majority of Northern Democrats stayed loyal to the Union after the South seceded. So-called Peace Democrats (or “Copperheads” in pejorative Unionist terminology) opposed the war and advocated a negotiated peace with concessions

Amadís Of Gaul

2005-02-04T18:49:00.000-08:00

In Montalvo's version,

Obrenovic Dynasty

2005-02-04T03:02:00.000-08:00

Obrenovic also spelled Obrenovich, family that provided Serbia with five rulers between 1815 and 1903. Their succession was broken by a rival dynasty, the Karadjordjevic. Miloš, who founded the dynasty, was prince of Serbia from 1815 to 1839 and again from 1858 to 1860; his elder son, Milan III, reigned for only 26 days before his death in 1839; Miloš' second son, Michael III, was prince from 1839 to 1842 and again from 1860 to 1868. His successor was a first cousin once

Orangery

2005-02-02T21:52:00.000-08:00

The great period of the orangery,

Aleardi, Aleardo, Conte

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

Brought up in Verona, then controlled by Austria, he studied law at the University of Padua. His love lyrics, Le lettere a Maria (1846; “The Letters