DryStore

Lilac

2005-04-04T18:33:00.000-07:00

The common lilac

Dge-lugs-pa

2005-04-04T03:44:00.000-07:00

The Dge-lugs-pa sect was founded in the late 14th century by Tsong-kha-pa, who was himself a member of the austere Bka'-gdams-pa school. Tsong-kha-pa's reforms represented a return to tradition. He enforced strict monastic discipline, restored celibacy and the prohibition

Katipunan

2005-04-02T21:03:00.000-08:00

In full Kataastaasan Kagalang-galang Na Katipunan Nang Manga Anak Nang Bayan (“Supreme Worshipful Association of the Sons of the People”), Filipino nationalist organization founded in 1892 to oppose Spanish rule. The organization numbered anywhere from 100,000 to 400,000 members. The Filipino nationalist Emilio Aguinaldo was the leader of this group, which successfully fought the Spanish. Most of the members were Tagalogs.

France, History Of, Economy, society, and culture in the 14th and 15th centuries

2005-03-31T02:42:00.000-08:00

The long war, fought almost entirely in France, benefited few but the captains and peculators; it injured almost everyone. Even the best disciplined companies lived off the land, so that French peasants and defeated townsfolk in effect paid the expenses of both sides; and undisciplined mercenary bands were a wearisome scourge in times of truce after the middle of

Sokol

2005-03-30T07:23:00.000-08:00

(Czech: “Hawk,” or “Falcon”), gymnastic society, originating in Prague in 1862 to develop strength, litheness, alertness, and courage. Originally patterned after the German turnverein, the Sokol traditionally emphasized mass calisthenics as a means of promoting communal spirit and physical fitness. Banned during the Nazi occupation, the Sokol movement was revived in 1945 but

Ulrich

2005-03-29T22:24:00.000-08:00

Any of 40 tropical species of large shrubs or trees found in the Americas that burn well due to the high resin content of its wood. Sea torchwood (A. elemifera) grows along the coasts of Florida, and balsam torchwood (A. balsamifera) is known especially from Cuba. Incense and aromatic oils are derived from torchwood, and extracts from the Mexican A. plumieri are used in

Griffey, Ken, Jr.

2005-03-28T23:48:00.000-08:00

In 1987 Griffey was the first player selected by the major league baseball draft and was signed by the American League Seattle Mariners. He made his major league debut in 1989. His father, outfielder

Aschoff, Karl Albert Ludwig

2005-03-27T16:20:00.000-08:00

German pathologist who recognized the phagocytic (capable of engulfing bacteria and other substances) activity of certain cells found in diverse tissues and named them the reticuloendothelial system (1924). He also described (1904) the inflammatory nodule (called Aschoff's bodies, or nodules) in heart muscle

Berg, Alban

2005-03-27T07:42:00.000-08:00

Apart from a few short musical trips abroad and annual summer sojourns in the Austrian Alps, Berg's life was spent in the city of his birth. At first, the romantically inclined youth

Regal

2005-03-26T18:16:00.000-08:00

Also called Reed Organ, a small, easily portable pipe organ usually having only a single set, or rank, of reed pipes. The beating reeds are surmounted by small resonators, producing a nasal, buzzing tone. Wind under pressure to sound the pipes is supplied by one or two bellows attached to the instrument and operated by the player or an assistant. The so-called bible regal, of the 16th century and later,

France, History Of, Continuity and change

2005-03-26T06:56:00.000-08:00

The political history of 18th-century France can be conceptualized in terms of the double heritage and the problems it entailed. The discussion may be linked to two issues: first, the economic transformation of a traditional and essentially agricultural society by both commerce and ideas; and, second, the state's efforts (and eventual inability) to modernize and unify

Jackson, Mercy Ruggles Bisbe

2005-03-25T19:08:00.000-08:00

Mercy Ruggles received what was for the time a good education. In June 1823 she married the Reverend John Bisbe, with whom she moved to Hartford, Connecticut, and later to Portland, Maine. After his death in 1829, she supported herself

Albert Of Aix

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

Also called Albert of Aachen , Latin Albericus Aquensis canon of the church of Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) and historian of the First Crusade. He gathered oral and written testaments of participants in the Crusade and provided a chronicle on the subject, the Historia expeditionis Hierosolymitanae (“History of the Expedition to Jerusalem”). His work remains an important source on the First Crusade and the history of the kingdom

Ear, Human, Transmission of sound by air conduction

2005-03-23T14:43:00.000-08:00

The outer ear directs sound waves from the external environment to the tympanic membrane (Figure 1). The auricle, the visible portion of the outer ear, collects sound waves and, with the concha, the cavity at the entrance to the external auditory canal, helps to funnel sound into the canal. Because of its small size and virtual immobility, the auricle in humans is less useful

Performing Arts, Africa.

2005-03-23T09:51:00.000-08:00

A few notable African films reached the international festival circuit during the year. Most notable among them was Clando, the first feature by Cameroonian director Jean-Marie Teno, the story of a young opponent of the repressive government who becomes an illegal immigrant in Germany. From Zaire, José Laplaine's Macadam Tribu offered a lively portrait of an urban

Mosque

2005-03-23T08:33:00.000-08:00

Arabic masjid, or jami', any house or open area of prayer in Islam. The Arabic word masjid means “a place of prostration” to God, and the same word is used in Persian, Urdu, and Turkish. Two main types of mosques can be distinguished: the masjid jami', or “collective mosque,” a large state-controlled mosque that is the centre of community worship and the site of Friday prayer services; and smaller mosques

Mosque

2005-03-22T05:31:00.000-08:00

A chemical element in the oxygen family (Group VIa) of the periodic table, closely allied in chemical and physical properties with the elements sulfur and tellurium.

Arabesque

2005-03-21T18:39:00.000-08:00

In literature, a contrived intricate pattern of verbal expression, so called by analogy with a decorative style in which flower, fruit, and sometimes animal outlines appear in elaborate patterns of interlaced lines. That these designs can sometimes suggest fantastic creatures may have given rise to another sense of the term, denoting a tale of wonder or of the supernatural.

Aquarius

2005-03-21T11:44:00.000-08:00

In astrology,

China, Economic development

2005-03-20T23:56:00.000-08:00

Important changes occurred in agriculture. Millet had once been the major cereal food in the north, but gradually wheat grew in importance. Rice, imported from the south, was extended to the dry soil of the north. The soybean in a number of varieties proved to be one of the most important crops. Chinese farmers gradually developed a kind of intensive agriculture. Soil

Devils Tower National Monument

2005-03-20T23:04:00.000-08:00

The tower has a flat top covering 1.5 acres (0.6 hectare) and fluted sides. It is 867 feet (264 metres) high as measured from its base and 1,267 feet (386 metres) as

Anthracite

2005-03-20T19:39:00.000-08:00

Also called Hard Coal, most highly metamorphosed variety of coal. It contains more fixed carbon (about 90 to 98 percent) than any other form of coal and the lowest amount of volatile matter (less than 8 percent), giving it the greatest calorific, or heat, value. Because of this, anthracite is the most valuable of the coals. It is, however, also the least plentiful. Anthracite makes up less than 2 percent of

Algebra, Quaternions and vectors

2005-03-19T01:07:00.000-08:00

Remaining doubts about the legitimacy of complex numbers were finally dispelled when their geometric interpretation became widespread among mathematicians. This interpretation, initially and independently conceived by the Norwegian surveyor Caspar Wessel and the French bookkeeper Jean-Robert Argand (see Argand diagram), was made known to a larger audience

Duby, Georges

2005-03-18T18:42:00.000-08:00

Although a Parisian by birth, Duby became enthralled at an early age with the history and culture of southern France. Educated

Clammyweed

2005-03-17T06:31:00.000-08:00

(Polanisia trachysperma), North American herb of the caper family (Capparaceae). The plant is 60 cm (2 feet) tall and has leaves that give off a foul odour when bruised. The stems and three-parted leaves are hairy and sticky. Bladelike bracts (leaflike appendages) are crowded along the flowering stalks. The flowers have four sepals, four white petals, and eight-to-many protruding

Yukata

2005-03-17T03:18:00.000-08:00

It has become accepted practice to wear a yukata on the street on warm summer evenings. Japanese inns and many hotels supply their guests with yukatas for

Epistemology

2005-03-17T00:04:00.000-08:00

The study of the nature, origin, and limits of human knowledge. The name is derived from the Greek episteme (“knowledge”) and logos (“reason”), and accordingly the field is sometimes referred to as the theory of knowledge. Epistemology has had a long history, spanning the time from the pre-Socratic Greeks to the present. Along with metaphysics, logic, and ethics, it is one of the four

Belarusian Language

2005-03-16T21:12:00.000-08:00

Belarusian also spelled Belarusan , older spellings Belorussian and Byelorussian , formerly called White Ruthenian or White Russian (not to be confused with the “White” Russians who fought against the communists after the Russian Revolution of 1917) , Belarusian Belaruskaya mova East Slavic language that is historically the native language of most Belarusians. Many 20th-century governments of Belarus had policies favouring the Russian language, and, as a result, Russian is more widely used in education and public life than Belarusian. Belarusian forms a link between the Russian and Ukrainian languages, since its dialects shade gradually

Adams, Robert

2005-03-16T20:49:00.000-08:00

Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, Adams studied medicine in Europe and then returned to Dublin,

Baraboo

2005-03-16T20:05:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1840) of Sauk county, south-central Wisconsin, U.S. It lies on small hills 40 miles (64 km) northwest of Madison. Baraboo originated in the early 19th century as a trading post established by the French trapper Jean Baribault, who lived along the river that was named (somewhat phonetically) for him. Incorporated in 1882, the community developed as a distribution centre for dairy

Furniture, Late 18th to 20th century

2005-03-15T16:36:00.000-08:00

During the Neoclassical period, no basic changes took place in chair forms, but legs became straight and dimensions lighter. Backs in the shape of classical vases replaced the fanciful outlines of the Rococo period. Around 1800, freely executed imitations of Greek and Roman chairs of the klismos type, with curved legs and backrest, appeared. French chairs of the Empire

Skeleton

2005-03-14T18:45:00.000-08:00

The supportive framework of an animal body. The skeleton of invertebrates, which may be either external or internal, is composed of a variety of hard nonbony substances. The more complex skeletal system of vertebrates is internal and is composed of several different types of tissues that are known collectively as connective tissues. This designation includes

Midas

2005-03-14T02:25:00.000-08:00

Abbreviation of Missile Defense Alarm System, any of a series of unmanned U.S. military satellites developed to provide warning against surprise attacks by Soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles. Midas was the first such warning system in the world. Launched during the early 1960s, the reconnaissance satellites were equipped with infrared sensors capable of detecting the heat of a ballistic missile's rocket

Daddah, Moktar Ould

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

Mauritanian politician (b. Dec. 25, 1924, Boutilimit, French West Africa—d. Oct. 15, 2003, Paris, France), as Mauritania's first postindependence president (1961–78), secured international recognition and respect for the new country while he reconciled the varied interests of Mauritania's widely dispersed, partly nomadic, and religiously diverse Arab and black African populations. Daddah trained

Poynting Vector

2005-03-13T04:37:00.000-08:00

Where m is the permeability of the medium through which the radiation passes, E is the electric field intensity, and B is the magnetic induction. Thus,

Frederick Ii

2005-03-12T17:39:00.000-08:00

After joining his uncles John and Adolphus, dukes of

Marées, Hans Von

2005-03-12T13:41:00.000-08:00

In 1853 Marées went to Berlin, where he studied for two years. For the next eight years he worked chiefly in Munich, coming under the influence of the historical school, and in 1864 he went to Italy, where he lived for about 20 years. In 1873 he received his most important commission, the painting of frescoes

La Chaussée, Pierre-claude Nivelle De

2005-03-11T22:46:00.000-08:00

French playwright who created the comédie larmoyante (“tearful comedy”), a verse-drama form merging tearful, sentimental scenes with an invariably happy ending. These sentimental comedies, which were precursors of Denis Diderot's drames bourgeois, were psychologically superficial and rhetorically exaggerated and were intended to contribute

Terneplate

2005-03-11T01:17:00.000-08:00

Steel sheet with a coating of terne metal, an alloy of lead and tin applied by dipping the steel in molten metal. The alloy has a dull appearance resulting from the high lead content. The composition of terne metal ranges from 50–50 mixtures of lead and tin to as low as 12 percent tin and 88 percent lead. The tin serves to wet the steel, making possible the union of lead and iron, which

Aethelred I

2005-03-10T17:20:00.000-08:00

By his father's will he should have succeeded to Wessex on the death of his eldest brother Aethelbald (d. 860). He seems, however, to have stood aside in favour of his brother Aethelberht, king of Kent, to whose joint kingdoms he succeeded in 865 or 866. Aethelred's reign was one long struggle against the Danes. In the year of his

New Castle

2005-03-10T14:23:00.000-08:00

City, New Castle county, northern Delaware, U.S. It is just south of Wilmington on the Delaware River, there linked to New Jersey by the twin spans of the Delaware Memorial Bridge. The original settlement, called Santhoeck, was established in 1651, when Peter Stuyvesant, the Dutch administrator, built Fort Casimir there. The settlement was seized by the Swedes in 1654 but was regained

Syriac Literature

2005-03-10T07:36:00.000-08:00

Body of writings in Syriac, an eastern Aramaic Semitic language originally spoken in and around Edessa, Osroëne (modern Saliurfa, in southeastern Turkey). First attested in the 1st century AD, Syriac spread through the Middle East because of Edessa's position as the intellectual capital of the Christian Orient. Syriac reached its height just prior to the Arab conquest

Komárom-esztergom

2005-03-09T19:21:00.000-08:00

Megye (county), northwestern Hungary. The megye extends southward from the Danube River and the Slovakian frontier. It has a mixed agricultural-industrial economic base. Sugar beets and peaches are important crops, and there is a sugar beet mill at Ács. Tatabánya (q.v.), the megye seat, is Hungary's chief mining (lignite) centre. Considerable industrial activity is concentrated

Gamaliel I

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

According to tradition—but not historic fact—Gamaliel succeeded his father, Simon, and his grandfather, the renowned sage Hillel (to whose school of thought he belonged), as nasi (president) of the Sanhedrin, the supreme Jewish court.

Venezuela, Climate

2005-03-07T15:58:00.000-08:00

Venezuela lies well within the tropics, and the country's temperatures are relatively uniform with little seasonal variation. Elevation, however, produces significant local differences in temperature, precipitation, and vegetation. More than nine-tenths of Venezuela has a mean annual temperature above 75 °F (24 °C). The average mean temperature for Caracas, lying in a

Pyrrhus

2005-03-07T14:22:00.000-08:00

Upon becoming ruler at the age of 12, Pyrrhus allied himself with Demetrius, son of Antigonus I Monophthalmus of Macedonia.

Abu Al-fida'

2005-03-07T09:31:00.000-08:00

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)

Kirkpatrick, Ralph

2005-03-06T15:15:00.000-08:00

Kirkpatrick studied piano from age six and began to play harpsichord in 1930. He graduated from Harvard University in 1931 and then went to Paris to continue his studies. His teachers included Wanda Landowska, the French conductor

Tsou Yen

2005-03-05T04:19:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Zou Yan Chinese philosopher of the ancient state of Ch'i (present-day Shantung), and leading exponent of the Yin–Yang school. The only account of his life is a brief one in the Shih chi (“Historical Records”). To him is attributed the association of the Five Agents theory with the Yin–Yang doctrine. Nature was thought to consist of changing combinations of the Five Agents (metal, wood,

Refugee

2005-03-05T02:33:00.000-08:00

Any uprooted, homeless, involuntary migrant who has crossed a frontier and no longer possesses the protection of his former government. Prior to the 19th century the movement from one country to another did not require passports and visas; the right to asylum was commonly recognized and honoured. Although there have been numerous waves of refugees throughout history,

Hesychius Of Jerusalem

2005-03-05T01:25:00.000-08:00

Serving as a priest in the church in Jerusalem c. 412, Hesychius gained repute as a theologian and catechist, so that by 429 he was

San Justo

2005-03-04T05:51:00.000-08:00

Cabecera (principal built-up area) of La Matanza partido (political subdivision), Gran (Greater) Buenos Aires, Arg. It lies directly southwest of the city of Buenos Aires, in Buenos Aires province. In 1856 the poblador (person granted land as an incentive to settle an area) of San Justo, José Gorsch, donated the land for the founding of the town on behalf of the Justo Villegas family.

Romanian Literature

2005-03-03T21:26:00.000-08:00

The first landmark of this period was the uprising of Tudor Vladimirescu (1821) in Walachia against the Ottoman Turks and the return of the national rulers. Romanticism carried forward the falling wave of the Latinist movement. In the second half of the 19th century a serious literary criticism, which originated in German philosophy and French culture, inaugurated modern

Indian Philosophy, Vaisnava schools

2005-03-03T14:27:00.000-08:00

The main philosophers of the medieval Vaisnavism have been noted above. Vaisnavism, however, has a long history, traceable to the Vishnu worship of the Rigveda, the Bhakti conception of the epics, and the Vasudeva cult of the pre-Christian era. Of the two main Vaisnava scriptures, or agamas, the Pañcaratra (“Relating to the Period of Five Nights”) and the Vaikhanasa (“Relating to a Hermit

Raga

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

Sanskrit Raga (“colour,” or “passion”), in the music of India and Pakistan, a melodic framework for improvisation based on a given set of notes (usually five to seven) and characteristic rhythmic patterns. The basic components of a raga can be written down in the form of a scale (in some cases differing in ascent and descent). By using only these notes, by emphasizing certain degrees of the scale,

Hyrax

2005-03-01T23:13:00.000-08:00

Also called Dassie, any of the small hoofed mammals of the order Hyracoidea. Both hyraxes and the unrelated pikas (order Lagomorpha) are also sometimes called rock rabbits; the term is misleading for hyraxes, which are neither rabbits nor exclusively rock dwellers. The term cony (coney) in the Bible actually refers not to the true cony (also a lagomorph) but to the

Wolf-rayet Star

2005-03-01T22:25:00.000-08:00

Any of a class of extremely hot, white stars having peculiar spectra thought to indicate either great turbulence within the star or a steady, voluminous ejection of material. A typical Wolf-Rayet star is several times the diameter of the Sun and thousands of times more luminous. Only a few hundred are known, located mostly in the spiral arms of the Milky Way Galaxy. The

Ulaanbaatar

2005-03-01T16:10:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Ulan Bator, formerly Urga, or Niislel Khureheh, capital and largest city of Mongolia. It is situated on the Tuul River on a windswept plateau at an elevation of 4,430 feet (1,350 m). The city originated as a seasonal migratory abode of the Mongolian princes and in 1639 finally attained permanence on the present site with the construction of Da Khure Monastery. This building became the residence of the bodgo-gegen, high priest of the

Arms Control

2005-02-28T02:51:00.000-08:00

In a broader sense, “arms

Onomatopoeia

2005-02-28T01:11:00.000-08:00

The naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of the sound associated with it (such as buzz or hiss). Onomatopoeia may also refer to the use of words whose sound suggests the sense. This occurs frequently in poetry, where a line of verse can express a characteristic of the thing being portrayed. In the following lines from Sylvia Plath's poem “Daddy,” the rhythm of the

Gaunilo

2005-02-27T17:51:00.000-08:00

Gaunilo's Liber pro insipiente (“In Defense of the Fool”) was a critique of the rationality of Anselm's assertion that the concept of “that than which nothing greater can be thought” (i.e., God) implies God's existence. Gaunilo

Augustine, Saint

2005-02-26T19:43:00.000-08:00

Augustine's impact on the Middle Ages cannot be underestimated. Thousands of manuscripts survive, and many serious medieval libraries—possessing no more than a few hundred books in all—had more works of Augustine than of any other writer. His achievement is paradoxical inasmuch as—like a modern artist who makes more money posthumously than in life—most of it was

Tarafah

2005-02-26T17:21:00.000-08:00

Little is known with any certainty of Tarafah's life. He is traditionally acknowledged to have been an extraordinarily precocious poet,

Celestina, La

2005-02-26T14:59:00.000-08:00

Originally published in 16 acts as the Comedia de Calisto y Melibea (1499; “Comedy of Calisto and Melibea”) and shortly thereafter in an expanded version with 21 acts as the Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea (1502), the work

Germany

2005-02-26T04:54:00.000-08:00

On a visit to Bonn in early January, UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali appealed for Germany to find a way around its constitutional restrictions and play a full part in international security missions. German medical troops were already involved in a UN humanitarian mission in Cambodia, and the German air force was taking part in mercy flights to Sarajevo,

Furniture, Clocks

2005-02-24T10:14:00.000-08:00

Clocks are considered furnishings if the movement is enclosed within a case, which need not necessarily be of wood. Clocks can be divided into table clocks and long-case clocks. There were two creative centres for table clocks, namely England and France. In 17th- and 18th-century France, the table clock became an object of monumental design, the best examples of which are

Performing Arts

2005-02-23T19:54:00.000-08:00

Kra, Isthmus Of

2005-02-23T00:38:00.000-08:00

Thai Khokhok Kra narrow neck of southern Myanmar (Burma) and Thailand, connecting the Malay Peninsula to the Asian mainland. The isthmus lies between the Gulf of Thailand to the east and the Andaman Sea to the west. It is 25–30 miles (40–48 km) wide at its narrowest point, between Chumphon and Kra Buri (both in Thailand). Kra Buri, for which it was named, is at the head of the Pakchan River estuary, an inlet

Dace

2005-02-23T00:29:00.000-08:00

Any of a number of small, slim, active freshwater fishes of the carp family, Cyprinidae. In England and Europe, the dace is Leuciscus leuciscus, a relative of the chub. Usually found in moderately swift streams and rivers, the European dace is a rather small-headed, silvery fish attaining a usual length and weight of 25–30 cm (10–12 inches) and 0.5–0.7 kg (1–1 1/2 pounds). It lives

Nigeria, Igbo Ukwu

2005-02-22T09:32:00.000-08:00

The bronzes found at Igbo Ukwu, which have been dated to about AD 900, reveal not only a high artistic tradition but also a well-structured society with wide-ranging economic relationships. Of particular interest is the source of the copper and lead used to make the bronzes, which may have been Tadmekka in the Sahara, and of the coloured glass beads, which may have come from

Järta, Hans

2005-02-22T05:18:00.000-08:00

In the 1790s Hans Hierta began his career as a publicist and a left-wing member of the noble estate of the Riksdag (estates general). In sympathy with the French Revolution

Hughes, Richard (arthur Warren)

2005-02-21T07:41:00.000-08:00

Hughes was educated at Charterhouse School, near Godalming, Surrey, and at Oriel College, Oxford, from which he graduated in 1922, the same year in which his one-act

Udaipur

2005-02-21T04:57:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Udaypur, city, southern Rajasthan state, northwestern India. It lies in the hills of the Aravali Range. Udaipur (“City of Sunrise”) was made the capital of the princely state of Udaipur in 1568 by Maharana Udai Singh after the sack of Chittaurgarh. A walled city, it stands on a ridge crowned by the Maharana's palace, which was begun in 1570. To the west lies Lake Pichola with its two small islands and marble

Malaparte, Curzio

2005-02-20T19:04:00.000-08:00

Malaparte was a volunteer in World War I and then became active in journalism. In 1924 he founded the Roman periodical La Conquista dello stato, and in 1926 he joined Massimo

Dominguín

2005-02-20T07:00:00.000-08:00

When the great

Arniches (y Barrera), Carlos

2005-02-20T04:03:00.000-08:00

Popular Spanish dramatist of the early 20th century, best known for works in the género chico (“lesser genre”): the one-act zarzuela (musical comedy) and the one-act sainete (sketch). These plays were based upon direct observation of the customs and speech of the lower class people of Madrid. He wrote some 270 of them and was considered a master

Tachos

2005-02-19T23:24:00.000-08:00

Also called Takhor, Teos , or Zedhor second king (reigned 365–360 BC) of the 30th dynasty of Egypt; he led an unsuccessful attack on the Persians in Phoenicia. Tachos was aided in the undertaking by the aged Spartan king Agesilaus II, who led a body of Greek mercenaries, and by the Athenian fleet commander Chabrias. Tachos, however, insisted on leading the Egyptian army himself, and Agesilaus, after quarreling with his

Galilee, Sea Of

2005-02-18T15:55:00.000-08:00

Also called Lake Tiberias, Arabic Buhayrat Tabariya, Hebrew Yam Kinneret, lake in Israel through which the Jordan River flows. From 1948 to 1967 it was bordered immediately to the northeast by the cease-fire line with Syria. It is famous for its biblical associations. Located 686 feet (209 m) below sea level, it has a surface area of 64 square miles (166 square km). The sea's maximum depth, which occurs in the northeast, is 157 feet (48 m). Measuring 13 miles (21 km) from north to south and 7 miles

Pachisi

2005-02-17T08:29:00.000-08:00

Also called Ludo, or Parcheesi, board game, sometimes called the national game of India. Four players in opposing partnerships of two attempt to move pieces around a cross-shaped track. Moves are determined by throws of cowrie shells or dice. Each player has four pieces, which begin at the centre space, move down the middle track nearest the player, and counterclockwise around the outer track of the

Dee, River

2005-02-16T21:39:00.000-08:00

Welsh Afon Dyfrdwy, river in northern Wales and England, approximately 70 miles (110 km) long. It rises in the county of Gwynedd on the slopes of Dduallt, in Snowdonia National Park, and falls rapidly to Bala Lake. Its valley then runs northeast to Corwen and eastward past Llangollen. The Vale of Llangollen contains Thomas Telford's aqueduct (1805) for the Shropshire Union Canal. Leaving the mountains,

Confession

2005-02-16T07:05:00.000-08:00

In literature, an autobiography, either real or fictitious, in which intimate and hidden details of the subject's life are revealed. The first outstanding example of the genre was the Confessions of St. Augustine (c. AD 400), a painstaking examination of Augustine's progress from juvenile sinfulness and youthful debauchery to conversion to Christianity and the triumph

Midgard

2005-02-16T01:03:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Midgardr (Old Norse: Middle Abode) , also called Manna-Heim (“Home of Man”) in Norse mythology, the Middle Earth, the abode of mankind, made from the body of the first created being, the giant Aurgelmir (Ymir). According to legend, the gods killed Aurgelmir, rolled his body into the central void of the universe, and began fashioning the Midgard. Aurgelmir's flesh became the land, his blood the oceans, his bones the mountains, his teeth the cliffs, his

Lancaster, Burt

2005-02-15T13:43:00.000-08:00

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

Masochism

2005-02-14T20:28:00.000-08:00

Psychosexual disorder in which erotic release is achieved through having pain inflicted on oneself. The term derives from the name of Chevalier Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, an Austrian who wrote extensively about the satisfaction he gained by being beaten and subjugated. The amount of pain involved can vary from ritual humiliation with little violence to severe

Jack-o'-lantern

2005-02-14T14:36:00.000-08:00

In American holiday custom, a hollowed-out-pumpkin lantern that is displayed on Halloween. The surface of the pumpkin is carved to resemble a face. Light from a candle inserted inside can be seen flickering through the jack-o'-lantern's cutout eyes, nose, and usually grotesquely grinning mouth. The custom originated in the British Isles, with a large turnip or other vegetable

Allégret, Marc

2005-02-13T13:55:00.000-08:00

Allégret was educated in law in Paris, but while accompanying his uncle André Gide on a trip to Africa, he recorded the trip on film. He served as an assistant director to Robert Florey and Augusto Genina and in 1931 directed his first feature, Mam'zelle Nitouche. It was

Vacuum Technology

2005-02-12T23:22:00.000-08:00

This pump is mainly used on equipment for the study of clean surfaces and in radio-frequency sputtering. Capacities are available up to 190,000 cu ft per minute with an operating pressure range of 10-2 to less than 10-9 torr when water-cooled baffles are used and less than 10-11 torr when refrigerated baffles are employed. The pumping speed for a vapour pump remains constant from about

Cinderella

2005-02-11T20:58:00.000-08:00

Heroine of a European folktale, the theme of which appears in numerous stories worldwide; more than 500 versions of the story have been recorded in Europe alone. Its essential features are a youngest daughter who is mistreated by her jealous stepmother and elder stepsisters or a cruel father; intervention of a supernatural helper on her behalf; and the reversal of fortune

Sarandon, Susan

2005-02-11T15:10:00.000-08:00

Original name Susan Abigail Tomalin American film actress who transcended the early roles of her career, when she often played characters who were highly sensual but little else, to become a performer of considerable versatility and emotional depth. In 1995 she won an Academy Award for her unglamorous yet engaging performance as a nun counseling death-row prisoners in Dead Man

Cloud Chamber

2005-02-11T13:42:00.000-08:00

Radiation detector, originally developed between 1896 and 1912 by the Scottish physicist C.T.R. Wilson, that has as the detecting medium a supersaturated vapour that condenses to tiny liquid droplets around ions produced by the passage of energetic charged particles, such as alpha particles, beta particles, or protons. In a Wilson cloud chamber, supersaturation is caused

France, History Of, The Treaty of Verdun

2005-02-10T21:21:00.000-08:00

Later the three brothers came to an agreement in the Treaty of Verdun (843). The empire was divided into three kingdoms arranged along a north–south axis: Francia Orientalis was given to Louis, Francia Media to Lothair, and Francia Occidentalis to Charles the Bald. The three kings were equal among themselves. Lothair kept the imperial title, but it had completely lost its

Talking Heads

2005-02-10T19:41:00.000-08:00

In 1974 three classmates from the Rhode Island School of Design moved to New York City and declared themselves Talking Heads. Singer-guitarist Byrne, drummer

Kildare

2005-02-10T19:05:00.000-08:00

Irish Cill Dara market town, County Kildare, Ireland. The Protestant cathedral church (1229) is dedicated to St. Brigit of Ireland, who founded a community there in the 5th century. Restoration of the church was begun in 1875. Near the church are an ancient cross and round tower, and there are remains of a 13th-century castle and monastery. The town was incorporated by James II. Pop. (1986) 4,268.

Welkom

2005-02-10T15:16:00.000-08:00

City, Free State province, South Africa, southwest of Johannesburg. It was founded in 1947 amid goldfields, the development of which brought rapid growth, quickly making it the province's second largest town. It attained municipal status in 1961 and was declared a city in 1968. Unlike many gold-mining towns, it was carefully planned from the beginning around a horseshoe-shaped shopping

Haberler, Gottfried Von

2005-02-07T16:11:00.000-08:00

Austrian-born U.S. economist and educator (b. July 20, 1900, Purkersdorf, Austria--d. May 6, 1995, Washington, D.C.), was an expert on international trade and a staunch advocate of free-market principles. Haberler was educated (B.A., 1923; Ph.D., 1925) at the University of Vienna, where he adopted an "Austrian" school of thought that was identified with a generation of top economists who attended that university.

Ocean, Spreading centre zones and associated phenomena

2005-02-07T10:59:00.000-08:00

Spreading centres are divided

West Australian Current

2005-02-07T08:52:00.000-08:00

Relatively cold surface current of the southeast Indian Ocean, part of the general counterclockwise movement in the southern section of that ocean. As the South Indian Current (part of the West Wind Drift) approaches the west coast of Australia, it turns north to parallel that coast as the West Australian Current. The current, which is much affected by winds, is weak

Hsin-yang

2005-02-07T07:35:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Xinyang city in southern Honan sheng (province), China. Hsin-yang is in the very south of the Honan plain, in the basin between the Ta-pieh Mountains and the Huai River. It has traditionally been on a cultural divide between the plain and the hilly districts to the south. It was also a natural route centre on the Shih River, a tributary of the Huai. The Shih has become passable for relatively

Metabolism, ATP yield of aerobic oxidation

2005-02-06T10:10:00.000-08:00

The loss of the two molecules of carbon dioxide in steps [41] and [42] does not yield biologically useful energy. The substrate-linked formation of ATP accompanies step [43], in which one molecule of of ATP, is formed during each turn of the cycle. The hydrogen ions and electrons that result from steps [40], [42], [44], and [46] are passed down the chain of respiratory carriers to oxygen, with the concomitant

Vajrayogini

2005-02-05T10:52:00.000-08:00

In Vajrayana (Tantric Buddhism), female embodiment of the cognitive function leading to Buddhahood. Vajrayana emphasizes experience over speculation but uses the terms of speculative philosophical Buddhism in an imaginative way. This practice means that images taken from the ordinary life of the individual become the means to further a deeper understanding