BrightPipe

Fu'ad I

2005-04-03T19:35:00.000-07:00

After serving in a number of administrative posts, Fu'ad became sultan of Egypt in 1917, at which time Egypt was still a British protectorate. In 1919 Britain indicated a willingness to negotiate a treaty that would give Egypt more independence. Most Egyptians welcomed this prospect,

Arabia, History Of, The rise of Islam

2005-04-03T05:54:00.000-07:00

After Muhammad's entry into Mecca the tribes linked with Quraysh came to negotiate with him and to accept Islam; this meant little more than giving up their local deities and worshiping Allah alone. They had to pay the tax, but this was not novel because the tribal chiefs had already been taxed to protect the Meccan haram. Many tribesmen probably waited to join the winner.

Conopophagidae

2005-04-03T05:20:00.000-07:00

Gnateater (or antpipit) family of small, plump-bodied birds of Central and South America. The two genera (Conopophaga and Corythopsis) were separated from the antbird family (Formicariidae) in 1882 and raised to family rank. Research in the late 1960s, however, led to its dissolution; the Conopophaga were then returned to the Formicariidae, and the Corythopsis were assigned to

Ducommun, élie

2005-04-02T02:24:00.000-08:00

After working as a magazine and newspaper editor in Geneva and Bern, Ducommun spent most of his career as general secretary of the Jura-Simplon Railway. His spare time, however, was spent on peace activities. He took an active part in the movement for European

Sabadell

2005-04-01T07:36:00.000-08:00

City, Barcelona provincia, in the comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Catalonia, northeastern Spain. The city, just north of Barcelona in the Vallés parish, originated as an Iberian and Roman settlement known as Arragona and became a medieval fief of the Castle of Arahona. Called Sabadell in the 12th century, in 1373 it was incorporated as a royal village (with municipal

Lateran Council

2005-04-01T01:12:00.000-08:00

The first Lateran Council, the ninth ecumenical council (1123), was held during the reign of Pope Calixtus II; no acts or contemporary accounts survive. The council promulgated a number of canons (probably 22), many of which merely reiterated decrees of earlier councils. Much

Ambrose, Saint

2005-03-30T06:15:00.000-08:00

Latin Ambrosius bishop of Milan, biblical critic, and initiator of ideas that provided a model for medieval conceptions of church–state relations. His literary works have been acclaimed as masterpieces of Latin eloquence, and his musical accomplishments are remembered in his hymns. Ambrose is also remembered as the teacher

Benadir

2005-03-30T00:05:00.000-08:00

Traditional coastal region, southern Somalia, on the Horn of Africa. The name, from Persian bandar, “port,” refers to the voyages of Persian and Arab traders to eastern Africa across the Arabian Sea during the European Middle Ages. Benadir passed to the sultan of Zanzibar in 1871; it was leased by Italy in 1895 and thereafter shared the political fate of the remainder of Somalia

Nagaswaram

2005-03-29T20:16:00.000-08:00

Also spelled nagasvaram conical double-reed aerophone of southern India related to the shawm and the oboe. The nagaswaram may be as long as 35 inches (89 cm). It is made of dark wood and has a flaring wooden bell, seven equidistant finger holes, and five additional tuning holes. Descended from the Persian surna, by which name it is still known in northern India, the instrument is generally played in pairs,

Tasmania, The postwar period

2005-03-29T14:46:00.000-08:00

Through the next quarter-century Tasmania benefited much from Australia's general prosperity. The population passed 370,000 by 1966, and living standards approached the national norm. Premiers Robert Cosgrove (1939–58) and Eric Elliott Reece (1958–69 and 1972–75) were tough and efficient; they saved the local Labor Party from the blows it was suffering elsewhere. They sustained faith in hydroelectricity,

China, The Yüan dynasty

2005-03-28T21:51:00.000-08:00

On Chinese contacts with Asia and the West, see E. Bretschneider, Mediaeval Research from Eastern Asiatic Sources: Fragments Towards the Knowledge of the Geography and History of Central and Western Asia from the 13th to the 17th Century, 2 vol. (1888, reprinted 1967); Herbert Franke, “Sino-Western Contacts Under the Mongol Empire,” Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 6:49–72 (1966); Leonard Olschki, Marco Polo's Asia: An Introduction to His “Description of the World” called “Il Milione” (1960; originally published in Italian, 1957); and Igor de Rachewiltz, Papal Envoys to the Great Khans (1971).

Black Rod

2005-03-27T14:49:00.000-08:00

In full Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod an office of the British House of Lords (the upper house in Parliament), instituted in 1350. Its holder is appointed by royal letters patent, and his title is derived from his staff of office, an ebony stick surmounted with a gold lion. He is a personal attendant of the sovereign in the upper house and there functions as a sergeant at arms; his most prominent duty is the summoning

Philemon And Baucis

2005-03-27T09:06:00.000-08:00

In Greek mythology, a pious Phrygian couple who hospitably received Zeus and Hermes when their richer neighbours turned away the two gods, who were disguised as wayfarers. As a reward, they were saved from a flood that drowned the rest of the country; their cottage was turned into a temple, and at their own request they became priest and priestess of it. Long after, they

United States, Effects of the War of 1812

2005-03-26T20:48:00.000-08:00

Internally, the decisions of the Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Marshall in such cases as McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) and Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) promoted nationalism by strengthening Congress and national power at the expense of the states. The congressional decision to charter the second Bank of the United States (1816) was explained in part by the nation's financial weaknesses, exposed by the War of 1812, and in part by the intrigues of financial interests. The readiness of Southern Jeffersonians—former strict constructionists—to support such a measure indicates, too, an amazing degree of national feeling. Perhaps the clearest sign of a new sense of national unity was the victorious Republican Party, standing in solitary splendour on the national political horizon, its long-time foes the Federalists vanished without a trace (on the national level) and Monroe, the Republican standard-bearer, reelected so overwhelmingly in 1820 that it was long believed that the one electoral vote denied him had been held back only in order to preserve George Washington's record of unanimous selection.

Huy

2005-03-25T15:49:00.000-08:00

Town, Liège province, south central Belgium, situated in the Meuse Valley at the confluence of the Meuse and Hoyoux rivers, 19 mi (30 km) southwest of Liège. First mentioned in a document dating from 636, the town was part of the Bishopric of Liège from 985 to 1794. A prosperous crafts (including metalworking, cloth making, tanning, wine making, and brewing) and commercial centre in the Middle

Lisboa

2005-03-24T23:53:00.000-08:00

Administrative district, west central Portugal, bounded by the Atlantic Ocean (west and south) and by the Tagus River and its estuary (southeast). Principal occupations outside Lisbon, the district and national capital, are agriculture and fishing, ironworking, and tourism. A disastrous flood in November 1967 caused over 450 deaths and much damage in the district. Area 1,065 square

Wilhelmshaven

2005-03-24T17:44:00.000-08:00

City and port, Lower Saxony Land (state), northwestern Germany, on the Jadebusen, a North Sea inlet on the coast of Ostfriesland (East Frisia). Founded in 1853 by Wilhelm I on land bought by Prussia from Oldenburg, it was given its present name in 1869. In 1937 it was united with Rüstringen and returned to Oldenburg Land. As the principal naval base for the Prussian (later German) navy, it suffered

Independence Day

2005-03-23T23:14:00.000-08:00

The Congress had voted in favour of independence from Great Britain on July 2 but did not actually complete the process of revising the Declaration of Independence, originally

Lahar

2005-03-22T23:21:00.000-08:00

Mudflow of volcanic material. Lahars may carry all sizes of material from ash to large boulders and produce deposits of volcanic conglomerate. Lahars may be the result of heavy rain on loose ash material such as deposits of nuées ardentes (dense clouds of gases charged with incandescent dust, discharging volcanic sand in avalanche fashion); or they may result from

Dyckia

2005-03-22T16:59:00.000-08:00

Genus of usually stemless plants of the pineapple family (Bromeliaceae), consisting of about 80 South American species. These plants' long, stiff leaves, which grow in dense rosettes, are spiny-edged, sharp-tipped, and often fleshy. The small flowers usually are yellow or orange. Two species, D. rariflora and D. sulphurea (D. brevifolia), are commonly cultivated indoors as decorative

Mahavamsa

2005-03-21T13:31:00.000-08:00

The text—written in

Black Hills

2005-03-21T03:43:00.000-08:00

Isolated, eroded mountain region in western South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming, U.S., lying largely within the Black Hills National Forest. The hills lie between the Cheyenne and Belle Fourche rivers and rise about 3,000 feet (900 m) above the surrounding plains; they culminate in Harney Peak (7,242 feet [2,207 m]), the highest point in South Dakota. The Black Hills formed as a result of an upwarping

Vaisali

2005-03-20T02:53:00.000-08:00

Pali Vesali city of ancient India, north of Patna, northwestern Bihar state, on the Gandak River. In antiquity Vaisali was the capital of the Licchavi republic and was closely associated with the early histories of both Buddhism and Jainism. Roads connected it with Rajagrha to the south and Kapilavastu and Sravasti to the north. Mahavira, the founder of Jainism, was born in Vaisali and spent much

Min Mountains

2005-03-19T16:07:00.000-08:00

Wade–Giles romanization and Pinyin Min Shan, range in southwestern Kansu and northwest Szechwan sheng (provinces), China. The Min Mountains are a branch of the Kunlun Mountains and have a roughly northwest to southeast axis. The range is made up of extremely rugged limestone, with an average elevation of 8,200 feet (2,500 m) above sea level; individual peaks reach much higher elevations. In the western section of the range,

Fischer Von Erlach, Johann Bernhard

2005-03-19T15:57:00.000-08:00

Austrian architect, sculptor, and architectural historian whose Baroque style, a synthesis of classical, Renaissance, and southern Baroque elements, shaped the tastes of the Habsburg empire. Fischer's works include the Dreifaltigkeitskirche (1694–1702) and the Kollegienkirche (1696–1707), both in Salzburg, and the Winter Palace of Prince Eugene of Savoy

Matsushita Electric Industrial Company, Ltd.

2005-03-19T03:41:00.000-08:00

The company was founded in 1918 by Matsushita Konosuke to manufacture and market the electric lamp sockets and plugs he designed. It was incorporated in 1935, when it took its present name, and began expanding rapidly into a number of varied electrical

M.v.o.

2005-03-18T04:35:00.000-08:00

Member, either fourth or fifth class, of the Royal Victorian Order. This rank of the order does not confer knighthood. See Royal Victorian Order.

Aquaculture: Fulfilling Its Promise

2005-03-17T23:47:00.000-08:00

For 25 centuries fish farming (aquaculture) has been a mainstay of Asian agriculture. Throughout China, India, and Thailand, it prospered on traditional small-scale farms. In recent years, however, fish farming has begun to suffer from problems associated with rapid growth and careless stewardship. As the 20th century draws to a close, aquaculture must redefine itself

Florian

2005-03-17T21:01:00.000-08:00

Latin in full Marcus Annius Florianus Roman emperor from June to September 276. The brother, by a different father, of the emperor Tacitus, he at once seized power on the death of his brother. Although his action was tolerated by the Senate and the armies of the West, the legions in Syria promoted their own general, Probus. A civil war broke out but ended in the sudden death of Florian, either at the hands of

Tsuruoka

2005-03-17T02:24:00.000-08:00

City, Yamagata ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan, in the Shonai Plain. Tsuruoka developed as a castle town during the Tokugawa period (1603–1867), and most of its buildings are of that period. Traditional industries produce candles, silk textiles, and sake (rice wine). After the Meiji period (1868–1912), large textile and agricultural machinery factories became established. The city is also a distribution

Enclosed Rhyme

2005-03-16T08:47:00.000-08:00

Also called enclosing rhyme in poetry, the rhyming pattern abba found in certain quatrains, such as the first verse of Matthew Arnold's “Shakespeare”:Others abide our question. Thou art free.We ask and ask—thou smilest and art still,Out-topping knowledge. For the loftiest hill,Who to the stars uncrowns his majesty,

Minas Gerais

2005-03-15T14:11:00.000-08:00

Inland estado (state) of Brazil. It is the storehouse of the mineral riches of that country, as is indicated by its name, which means “general mines.” The state is bounded on the north by the states of Goiás and Bahia; on the east by Bahia, Espírito Santo, and Rio de Janeiro; on the south by Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo; and on the west by São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul, and Goiás. Its area

Panama

2005-03-14T16:13:00.000-08:00

Electoral campaigning began in preparation for the May 2004 general elections. Three candidates emerged as the leading contenders: Martin Torrijos, who

Steeple

2005-03-14T01:45:00.000-08:00

Tall ornamental tower, sometimes a belfry, usually attached to an ecclesiastical or public building. The steeple is usually composed of a series of diminishing stories and is topped by a spire, cupola, or pyramid (qq.v.), although in ordinary usage the term steeple denotes the entire structure.

Italy

2005-03-12T22:31:00.000-08:00

Officially Italian Republic , Italian Italia or Repubblica Italiana country of south-central Europe, occupying a peninsula that juts deep into the Mediterranean Sea. It has a shape that has been likened frequently to a high-heeled boot about to prod its triangular subject island of Sicily. Another important island, Sardinia, lies some 160 miles (260 kilometres) west of Italy's “shin.” The magnificent mountain barrier of the Alps forms a northern

Earth, Temperature distribution

2005-03-12T15:14:00.000-08:00

The temperature distribution through the Earth is mainly constrained by the seismological observations of which regions are solid and which are liquid—i.e., which regions transmit shear waves and which do not (Figures 15 and 17 ). Thus, the average temperature in the solid crust and mantle must be lower than the melting point of rocks that make up these regions. Similarly,

Aeschylus

2005-03-10T17:17:00.000-08:00

This is the first and only surviving play of a trilogy probably put on in 463. It was long believed by scholars that Suppliants (Greek Hiketides; Latin Supplices) was one of Aeschylus' earliest plays because of its archaic structure; its chorus, representing the daughters of Danaus (the Danaïds), takes the leading role in the action. But there is now evidence that the trilogy

Abdülhak Hâmid

2005-03-10T16:47:00.000-08:00

Born into a family of famous scholars, Hâmid was educated in Istanbul and in Paris. Later in Tehran, he studied Arabic and Persian poetry.

Würm Glacial Stage

2005-03-10T15:09:00.000-08:00

Major division of late Pleistocene deposits and time in Alpine Europe (the Pleistocene epoch began about 1,600,000 years ago and ended about 10,000 years ago). The Würm glacial stage followed the Riss-Würm interglacial and is correlated with the Weichsel glacial stage of northern Europe and the Wisconsin glacial stage of North America. The Alpine glaciations of the Pleistocene

Wellman, William (augustus)

2005-03-09T11:10:00.000-08:00

Wellman left secondary school in Newton, Mass., to take up professional ice hockey. In 1917 he volunteered for ambulance duty in France, soon joined the French air corps, flew in combat, and was shot down. He returned to the United States

Manchu Language

2005-03-09T03:24:00.000-08:00

Vowel harmony, in which vowels

Gaudí, Antoni

2005-03-07T04:52:00.000-08:00

Catalan in full Antoni Gaudí i Cornet , Spanish Antonio Gaudí y Cornet Catalan architect, whose distinctive style is characterized by freedom of form, voluptuous colour and texture, and organic unity. Gaudí worked almost entirely in or near Barcelona. Much of his career was occupied with the construction of the Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family (Sagrada Familia), which was unfinished at his death in

F-16

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

Also called Fighting Falcon, single-seat, single-engine jet fighter built by the General Dynamics Corporation (now part of the Lockheed Martin Corporation) for the United States and more than a dozen other countries. The F-16 originated in an order placed in 1972 for a lightweight, cost-effective air-to-air fighter; current models are also all-weather capable, and it is effective for ground attack as well.

Chad Australopithecine

2005-03-06T05:13:00.000-08:00

Specimen of early hominid, known from the frontal bone and part of the face of a single individual, found in sandstone by Yves Coppens in 1960, at Koro Toro, southeast Chad. The remains were associated with the teeth of an extinct elephant and have been given a provisional date of late Early Pleistocene or early Middle Pleistocene Epoch (500,000 to 200,000 years ago). The frontal bone is steep

Damascus, The Muslim city

2005-03-06T03:04:00.000-08:00

Damascus was the first great city of the ancient world that the Muslim Arab forces encountered. In 661, Mu'awiyah, the first Umayyad caliph, moved out of Arabia and established his court in the Syrian capital. The city was renowned for almost a century thereafter as the capital of a luxurious and extensive empire—the most far-reaching of any achieved by Islam. The principal

Arts, East Asian, Painting

2005-03-05T21:10:00.000-08:00

The development of painting during the Edo period drew energy from innovations and changes precipitated during the Momoyama period. Thematic interests, including Confucian subjects and a continuing fascination with Japanese classical themes, were already apparent in the years preceding national consolidation. Genre themes celebrating urban life became

Protestantism, The rise of Pietism

2005-03-05T16:00:00.000-08:00

Dutch Pietism—influenced by Englishman William Ames (1576–1633), whose Medulla Sacrae Theologiae (1623; The Marrow of

Alcaeus

2005-03-05T04:02:00.000-08:00

Only fragments and quotations from Alcaeus' work survive, but they are enough to show the extent

Heilungkiang

2005-03-04T15:17:00.000-08:00

Chinese (Wade-Giles) Hei-lung-chiang , (Pinyin) Heilongjiang the northernmost sheng (province) of China's Northeast region. It is bounded on the north and east by Russia along the Amur River (Hei-lung Chiang) and the Ussuri (Wu-su-li) River, on the south by the Chinese province of Kirin, and on the west by the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. The province has an area of about 179,000 square miles (463,300 square kilometres). The capital is Harbin.

Canaanite Religion

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

Beliefs and practices prevalent in ancient Palestine and Syria during the 2nd and 1st millennia BC, centring primarily on the deities El, Baal, and Anath (qq.v.). From time to time it subverted the essential monotheism of the Israelites after they occupied Canaan, the Promised Land of the Old Testament.

Power, Balance Of

2005-03-03T09:41:00.000-08:00

In international relations, the posture and policy of a nation or group of nations protecting itself against another nation or group of nations by matching its power against the power of the other side. States can pursue a policy of balance of power in two ways: by increasing their own power, as when engaging in an armaments race or in the competitive acquisition of

La Vérendrye, Pierre Gaultier De Varennes, Et De

2005-03-02T01:39:00.000-08:00

French-Canadian soldier, fur trader, and explorer whose exploits, little honoured during his lifetime, rank him as one of the greatest explorers of the Canadian West. Moreover, the string of trading posts he and his sons built in the course of their search for an overland route to the “western sea” broke the monopoly

Trade, Terms Of

2005-03-01T20:23:00.000-08:00

Relationship between the prices at which a country sells its exports and the prices paid for its imports. If the prices of a country's exports rise relative to the prices of its imports, one says that its terms of trade have moved in a favourable direction, because, in effect, it now receives more imports for each unit of goods exported. The terms of trade, which depend on

öræfajökull

2005-02-28T22:45:00.000-08:00

Ice-covered volcanic massif, southeastern Iceland. It lies at the southern end of the giant ice field of Vatnajökull (q.v.). Its highest peak, Mount Hvannadals, reaches an elevation of 6,952 feet (2,119 m) above sea level and is also the highest peak in Iceland.

Taraki, Nur Mohammad

2005-02-28T19:44:00.000-08:00

Born into a rural Pashtun family, Taraki attended night school while working as a clerk in Bombay, India, where he learned English. In the late 1940s he worked in the press department of the Afghan government and in 1953 was appointed attaché at the

Xai-xai

2005-02-28T08:48:00.000-08:00

Formerly João Belo, port town, southern Mozambique. Located on the eastern bank of the Limpopo River near its mouth, the town is a market centre for cashew nuts, rice, corn (maize), cassava, and sorghum raised in the surrounding area, which is irrigated by the lower Limpopo irrigation project; dairy cattle also are raised. A light railway system runs inland and provides access to the port, which

Thomas, Norman (mattoon)

2005-02-27T14:35:00.000-08:00

Following his graduation from Union Theological Seminary, New York City, about 1911, Thomas accepted the pastorate of the East Harlem Church and the chairmanship of the American Parish, a settlement house in one of the poorest sections of New York City.

Zoning

2005-02-27T00:42:00.000-08:00

The legislative method of controlling land use by regulating such considerations as the type of buildings (e.g., commercial or residential) that may be erected and the population density. Applied primarily to urban areas, it is accomplished by dividing land area into zoning districts, each having specific conditions under which land and buildings may be legally

Berengario Da Carpi, Jacopo

2005-02-26T17:43:00.000-08:00

Berengario was a professor at the University of Bologna from 1502 to 1527. While there he became known for his use of mercurial ointment in the treatment of syphilis.

Pregnancy, Chorionic villi sampling

2005-02-25T20:11:00.000-08:00

The technique of retrieving a sample of villi from the chorion (outer embryonic membrane) within the uterus is similar to amniocentesis but can be carried out much earlier in pregnancy, between the 8th and 12th week of gestation. The test can be performed through either the abdomen or the vagina and cervix. The latter technique is carried out using ultrasonic visualization,

Banaba

2005-02-25T02:19:00.000-08:00

Also called Ocean Island, coral and phosphate formation 250 miles (400 km) west of the nearest Gilbert Islands, part of Kiribati, in the west central Pacific Ocean. It has a circumference of 6 miles and an area of 2 square miles (6 square km). Sighted in 1804 by the British ship Ocean, the island was annexed by Britain in 1900. In that same year the mining and shipping of phosphate from the island began. By the early 1970s, annual

Tiwanaku

2005-02-25T01:04:00.000-08:00

Some scholars date the earliest remains found at the site to the early part of the Early Intermediate Period (c. 200 BC–AD 200); others suggest that the culture is evident in artifacts

Yukaghir Language

2005-02-24T02:39:00.000-08:00

Language spoken by not more than a few hundred persons in the Kolyma River region of Sakha (Yakutiya) republic of Russia. Yukaghir was traditionally grouped in the catchall category of Paleo-Siberian languages with a number of languages that are not genetically related or structurally similar. More recently, however, Yukaghir has been considered a distant relative

Annelid, Tissues and fluids

2005-02-23T21:01:00.000-08:00

The body cavity of annelids is lined by epithelium. Successive body segments are separated by walls that correspond to the external rings. In grooves between the segments of some oligochaetes are dorsal pores through which coelomic fluid may be discharged. As the leech develops, its coelom becomes nearly filled with connective tissue. Internal features of the

Program Music

2005-02-23T00:07:00.000-08:00

Instrumental music that carries some extramusical meaning, some “program” of literary idea, legend, scenic description, or personal drama. It is contrasted with so-called absolute, or abstract, music, in which artistic interest is supposedly confined to abstract constructions in sound. It has been stated that the concept of program music does not represent a genre

Fard, Wallace D.

2005-02-22T19:34:00.000-08:00

Fard immigrated to the United States sometime before 1930. In that year, he established in Detroit the Temple of Islam as well as the University of Islam, which was the temple's school, and the Fruit of Islam, a corps of male guards. Fard preached that blacks (who were not

Funj Dynasty

2005-02-22T07:57:00.000-08:00

The Funj capital, the city of Sennar, on the left bank of the Blue Nile above its confluence with the White Nile, was founded

'ud

2005-02-21T06:44:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Oud, stringed musical instrument prominent in medieval and modern Islamic music. It was the parent of the European lute. The 'ud has a deep, pear-shaped body; a fretless fingerboard; and a relatively shorter neck and somewhat less acutely bent-back pegbox than the European lute. The tuning pegs are set in the sides of the pegbox. The gut strings, plucked with a plectrum, are fastened

Bilbays

2005-02-20T21:27:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Bilbeis, or Bilbis, town, southwestern ash-Sharqiyah muhafazah (governorate) in the eastern Nile River delta, Lower Egypt. Bilbays lies northeast of Cairo, on the main road from Ismailia and Port Said and on the al-Isma'iliyah Canal. Its name is an Arabic corruption of the Coptic Phelbes. Situated on a caravan and natural invasion route from the east, Bilbays was conquered in AD 640 by the Arabs, who in 727 resettled

Asbestos

2005-02-20T10:27:00.001-08:00

Town, Estrie region, southern Quebec province, Canada. Asbestos lies near the Southwest Nicolet River, 95 miles (153 km) southwest of Quebec city. Its economy traditionally depended almost entirely on asbestos mining and the manufacture of asbestos products. One of the mines—the Jeffrey open-pit mine—is the largest asbestos mine in the world. Electrical equipment and wood

Katyn Massacre

2005-02-20T10:27:00.000-08:00

After Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union concluded their Nonaggression Pact of 1939 and Germany invaded Poland from the west, Soviet

Perrers, Alice

2005-02-19T03:10:00.000-08:00

She belonged probably to the Hertfordshire family of Perrers, although it is also stated that she was of more humble birth. Before 1366 she had entered the service of Edward's queen, Philippa, and she appears later as the wife of Sir William de Windsor, deputy

Hale, Nathan

2005-02-19T02:14:00.000-08:00

A graduate of Yale University (1773) and a schoolteacher, Hale joined a Connecticut regiment in 1775, served in the siege of Boston, and was commissioned a captain (1776). He went to New York with William Heath's brigade and is said to have participated in

Ubon Ratchathani

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

The area in which Ubon Ratchathani is situated produces rice, freshwater fish, cattle, pigs, sugarcane, timber, and cotton. There are large numbers of

Mode

2005-02-18T13:09:00.000-08:00

The modes of Greek antiquity were placed by theorists in orderly fashion within a larger context. Although the modes were a series of seven-note diatonic scales (i.e., containing five whole tones and two semitones), the nucleus of the tone system was the tetrachord—a group of four consecutive notes (as, from C to F on the piano) comprising the interval of a fourth. Except in

Permafrost, Ice wedges

2005-02-17T07:55:00.000-08:00

The most conspicuous and controversial type of ground ice in permafrost is that formed in large ice wedges or masses with parallel or subparallel foliation structures. Most foliated ice masses occur as wedge-shaped, vertical, or inclined sheets or dikes 2.5 centimetres to 3 metres wide and 0.3 to 9 metres high when viewed in transverse cross section. Some masses seen on the

Haná Valley

2005-02-17T00:59:00.000-08:00

Agricultural region of southern Severomoravský kraj (region) and northeastern Jihomoravský kraj, eastern Czech Republic. A plain formed by the confluence of the Blata, Romze, Becva, Moštenka, Valová, and Haná rivers and the Morava, its very fertile soils support wheat, barley, corn (maize), and sugar beet cultivation and poultry and pig rearing. The people, called Hanáki, speak

Ascomycetes

2005-02-16T16:56:00.000-08:00

The sac fungi are separated into subgroups based on whether asci arise singly or are borne in one of several types of fruiting structures, or ascocarps, and

Viet Minh

2005-02-16T03:29:00.000-08:00

In late 1943 members of the Viet Minh, led by General Vo Nguyen Giap, began to infiltrate

Fosse Way

2005-02-15T05:49:00.000-08:00

Major Roman road that traversed Britain from southwest to northeast. It ran from the mouth of the River Axe in Devon by Axminster and Ilchester (Lindinae) to Bath (Aquae Sulis) and Cirencester, thence straight for 60 miles (100 km) to High Cross (Venonae), where it intersected Watling Street, and on to Leicester (Ratae). After crossing the River Trent near Newark, it reached Ermine

Ringed Seal

2005-02-14T23:48:00.000-08:00

(species Pusa, or Phoca, hispida), nonmigratory, earless seal (family Phocidae) of North Polar seas and a few freshwater lakes in Europe and on Baffin Island. Named for the characteristic pale rings on its grayish or yellowish coat, the ringed seal grows to about 1.5 m (5 feet) in length and 90 kg (200 pounds) in weight. It lives near the pack ice and feeds on crustaceans, mollusks, and some

Disa

2005-02-14T19:05:00.000-08:00

Most species bear flowers ranging in colour from white to purple and in diameter from about 0.5 to 10 centimetres (about 0.2 to 4 inches). The upper sepal of each flower usually has a spur and stands upright,

Roberts, Richard J.

2005-02-14T14:09:00.000-08:00

Roberts received a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Sheffield, Eng., in 1968. After postdoctoral research at Harvard University, he took a post at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York in 1972. In 1992 he

Cabañas

2005-02-13T16:57:00.000-08:00

Department, north central El Salvador, bordered to the north and east by the Río Lempa Valley, with an area of 426 sq mi (1,104 sq km). It was formed in 1873. The production of indigo, important in the 19th century, has declined. Grain, sugar, rice, and beans are cultivated, and livestock is raised for dairy produce. Cabañas is noted for pottery, made from the excellent local clay deposits and centred

Gully

2005-02-13T11:04:00.000-08:00

Trench cut into land by the erosion of an accelerated stream of water. Various conditions make such erosion possible: the natural vegetation securing the soil may have been destroyed by human action, by fire, or by a climatic change; or an exceptional storm may send in torrents of water down the streambed. Gully erosion is closely related to intense local thunderstorms

Nadelman, Elie

2005-02-12T15:30:00.000-08:00

Lincoln Kirstin, The Sculpture of Elie Nadelman (1948), and Elie Nadelman (1973); John I.H. Baur, The Sculpture and Drawings of Elie Nadelman (1975).

Satcher, David

2005-02-12T05:21:00.000-08:00

The son of a small farmer, Satcher nearly died of whooping cough at age two because his family had little access to health care. He was attended by the only black physician in the area and resolved from an early age to become a doctor.

Artiodactyl, Modifications of the skin

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

Pigs are covered with rather sparse, coarse hairs, and peccaries with a denser coat of coarse hairs. Except for those of the warthog and the babirusa (Babyrousa babirussa), piglets have longitudinal stripes or flecks. Hippopotamuses are naked. Tragulids have light-coloured flecks and stripes in their fur. The coats of camelids and deer are much thicker in species living

Florianópolis

2005-02-11T19:18:00.000-08:00

The first European settlement on the island was made in 1542 by Spaniards, but in 1675 control passed to the Portuguese, who established

Carlos Luis De Borbón, Count (conde) De Montemolín

2005-02-11T11:21:00.000-08:00

Montemolín, grandson of Charles IV (reigned 1788–1808), was given the Carlist

Kleiber, Erich

2005-02-10T15:36:00.000-08:00

Kleiber studied in Prague and between 1912 and 1922 conducted at several German opera houses. In 1923 he became general

Middle Rhine Highlands

2005-02-09T23:15:00.000-08:00

Also called Rhenish Slate Mountains , German Rheinisches Schiefergebirge mountainous highlands lying mainly in northwestern Germany but also extending westward as the Ardennes through southeastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg, with an overlap into eastern France beyond the Meuse River. The Highlands form a greatly varied plateau with areas of rugged relief, as in the Eifel and the Rothaargebirge in the region of Sauerland, though

Space-time

2005-02-09T03:09:00.000-08:00

Common intuition previously supposed no connection between space and time. Physical space was held to be a flat, three-dimensional continuum—i.e., an arrangement of all possible point locations—to which Euclidean postulates

Hispania

2005-02-08T23:30:00.000-08:00

In Roman times, region comprising the Iberian Peninsula, now occupied by Portugal and Spain. When the Romans took Hispania from the Carthaginians (206 BC), they divided it into two provinces: Hispania Ulterior (present Andalusia, Extremadura, southern León, and most of modern Portugal) and Hispania Citerior, or Tarraconensis (all of what is now northern, eastern, and south-central

Alb

2005-02-07T20:22:00.000-08:00

Derived from the long white tunic (tunica alba, or linea) commonly

Aristides The Just

2005-02-06T11:05:00.000-08:00

Little is known of Aristides' early life. He appears to have been prominent within the party that favoured resistance to Persia, but in 482 he was ostracized, probably because he opposed Themistocles' plan to use the silver from a new vein of the mines at

Ursins, Marie-anne De La Trémoille, Princesse Des

2005-02-06T03:21:00.000-08:00

Ursins moved to Italy with her first husband, and after his death she married an Italian duke, who died in 1698. She remained in Rome until 1701, where her salon became a centre of French

Fryer, Robert

2005-02-05T15:18:00.000-08:00

American theatrical and film producer (b. Dec. 18, 1920, Washington, D.C.—d. May 28, 2000, Los Angeles, Calif.), staged some of Broadway's most popular productions from the 1950s to the 1980s. Fryer got his start on Broadway in 1951 as a co-producer, with George Abbott, of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. He went on to produce such hits as Wonderful Town (1958), Sweet Charity (1966), Chicago (1975), and Merrily We Roll Along (1981). His Broadway shows

Córdoba

2005-02-05T09:45:00.000-08:00

City, west-central Veracruz estado (“state”), east-central Mexico. It lies at 3,031 feet (924 m) above sea level along the San Antonio River, within sight of the dormant volcano Citlaltépetl. The settlement was founded in 1618 as Villa de Córdoba and was host to the signing of the Treaty of Córdoba on Aug. 24, 1821, giving Mexico its independence from Spain. The city is set in a tropical landscape and