NormalRock

Levuka

2005-04-05T15:26:00.000-07:00

Town on the east coast of Ovalau island, central Fiji, South Pacific, and capital of Lomaiviti Province at the western edge of the country's Eastern Division. Settled by a U.S. adventurer in 1822, the area was the centre of a cotton boom during the U.S. Civil War (1861–65), when world cotton supplies were disrupted. Levuka was chosen as the capital of Fiji in 1874, when the islands were annexed by

Arabia, History Of, Yemen

2005-04-04T19:50:00.000-07:00

To quell a rising in Yemen, the 'Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun dispatched Ibn Ziyad, who refounded in 820 the southern city of Zabid and became overlord of Yemen, Najran, and Hadhramaut. About a century later, the Najahids—Ethiopian slaves or local Afro-Asians—supplanted the Ziyadids in Zabid; however, though independent, neither dynasty renounced vague 'Abbasid suzerainty. The Banu Ya'fur

Kyakhta

2005-04-04T16:22:00.000-07:00

Also spelled K'achta, formerly (until 1934) Troitskosavsk, town, Buryatiya, south-central Russia. It lies in the basin of the Selenga River, on the frontier with Mongolia. The town is on the railway and motor road from Ulan-Ude to Ulaanbaatar; both routes follow an ancient caravan track that was the only recognized link between Russia and China in the 17th and 18th centuries. The Russian fortress of Troitskosavsk, founded in 1728 adjacent

Sa'adia Ben Joseph

2005-04-03T20:04:00.000-07:00

Nechemiah Aloni, Ha-Egron (1969), an edition (in Hebrew) with extensive annotations; Israel Davidson (ed.), Saadiah's Polemic Against Hiwi al-Balkhi (1915), and The Book of the Wars of the Lord (1934), polemics against Sa'adia by Solomon ben Yeruhim (Hebrew edition with English translation)—the introductions to both editions require revision in light of later Genizah fragments; Joseph Derenbourg, Oeuvres complètes de R. Saadia Ben Iosef al-Fayyoûmî, vol. 3, Version arabe d'Isaïe (1896), and vol. 6, Version arabe des Proverbes (1894), Sa'adia's Arabic version of Isaiah and his version of the Proverbs—the Isaiah translation is accompanied by fragments of Sa'adia's lost commentary; Z. Diesendruck, “Saadya's Formulation of the Argument for Creation,” in Jewish Studies in Memory of George A. Kohut, 1874–1933 (1953), a profound article; Jakob Guttmann, Die Religionsphilosophie des Saadia (1882), traces the Greek and Arabic sources of Sa'adia's philosophy (the Arabic sources are not fully exhausted); Henry Malter, Saadia Gaon: His Life and Works (1921, reprinted 1969), the most comprehensive study on Sa'adia, although many aspects need to be revised in light of later studies; Harry A. Wolfson, “Saadia on the Trinity and Incarnation,” Studies and Essays in Honor of Abraham A. Neuman (1962), a very exhaustive study; Sa'adia anniversary volume, Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research (1943); Erwin I.J. Rosenthal (ed.), Saadya Studies (1943); Moses Zucker, Rav Saadya Gaon's Translation of the Torah (in Hebrew, with English summary; 1959), and A Critique Against the Writings of R. Saadya Gaon by R. Mubashshir (1955), an edition important for restoration of Sa'adianic material as well as for the study of the relationship of some of Sa'adia's contemporaries to his literary work.

Chondrichthian, Annotated classification

2005-04-03T19:45:00.000-07:00

General Santos

2005-04-03T05:37:00.000-07:00

Formerly (1954) Buayan, city, southern Mindanao, Philippines. The city is named for General Paulino Santos, who directed the pioneer settlement (mostly by Christian Filipino migrants) and development of the Koronadal Valley that began in the mid-1930s. General Santos city is located at the head of Sarangani Bay of the Celebes Sea along the southern shore of Mindanao. The city is a principal shipping

Lipoprotein

2005-04-01T19:30:00.000-08:00

Cholesterol

Tohoku

2005-04-01T14:17:00.000-08:00

Chiho (region), located on northern Honshu, Japan, and including the ken (prefectures) of Aomori, Akita, Iwate, Yamagata, Miyagi, and Fukushima. Its name is derived from the Japanese terms to (“east”) and hoku (“north”). The region is also known as Ou, in reference to its main mountain range. Tohoku occupies nearly one-fifth of Japan's total area but contains less than one-tenth of the country's

Rambutan

2005-04-01T13:34:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Rambotan, Ramboetan, Ramboutan, or Rambustan (Nephelium lappaceum), tree of the soapberry family (Sapindaceae). It is native to Malaysia, where it is commonly cultivated for its tasty fruit, also called rambutan. The bright-red, oval fruit, about the size of a small hen's egg, is covered with long, soft spines and has a tasty acid pulp. The tree grows to about 10.5–12 metres (35–40 feet).

Richet, Charles

2005-03-30T13:13:00.000-08:00

In full Charles-Robert Richet French physiologist who won the 1913 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of and coining of the term anaphylaxis, the life-threatening allergic reaction he observed in a sensitized animal upon second exposure to an antigen. This research provided the first evidence that an immune response could cause damage as well as

Stadium

2005-03-30T05:52:00.000-08:00

Enclosure that combines broad space for athletic games and other exhibitions with large seating capacity for spectators. The name derives from the Greek unit of measurement, the stade, the distance covered in the original Greek footraces (about 600 feet [180 metres]). The course for the footrace in the ancient Olympic Games at Olympia was exactly a stade in length, and the

China, San-kuo (Three Kingdoms; AD 220280)

2005-03-29T04:51:00.000-08:00

By the end of the 2nd century AD the Han Empire had virtually ceased to exist. The repression of the Taoist rebellions of the Yellow Turbans and related sects marked the beginning of a period of unbridled warlordism and political chaos, from which three independent centres of political power emerged. In the north all authority had passed into the hands of the generalissimo

Alaric

2005-03-28T08:50:00.000-08:00

A nobleman by birth, Alaric served for a time as commander of Gothic troops in the Roman army, but shortly after the death of the emperor Theodosius I in 395, he left the

Scaevola, Publius Mucius

2005-03-27T17:31:00.000-08:00

In 133, Scaevola

Arabia, History Of, Regional centres

2005-03-25T06:03:00.000-08:00

Once Mu'awiyah and the Umayyads had seized overlordship of the far-flung Islamic empire, which they ruled from Damascus, the Holy Cities remained only the spiritual capitals of Islam. The Umayyad caliphs appointed governors over the three crucial areas of the Hejaz, Yemen, and Oman; but in Iraq occasional powerful governors managed to control the Persian Gulf provinces,

Muris, Jean De

2005-03-24T16:50:00.000-08:00

French philosopher and mathematician who was a leading proponent of the new musical style of the 14th century. In his treatise Ars novae musicae (1319; “The Art of the New Music”) he enthusiastically supported the great changes in musical style and notation occurring in the 14th century and associated with the composer and theorist Philippe de Vitry, whose

Consalvi, Ercole

2005-03-24T15:37:00.000-08:00

Having entered the papal government service in 1783, Consalvi rose to become auditor of the Rota, a tribunal

Arecales

2005-03-23T08:37:00.000-08:00

Order of flowering plants that contains only one family, the palms (Palmae). About 2,800 species are known. See palm.

Wicomico

2005-03-22T18:04:00.000-08:00

County, southeastern Maryland, U.S., bordered by Delaware to the north, the Pocomoke River to the east, the Wicomico River to the southwest, and the Nanticoke River to the west and northwest. Salisbury, the county seat, developed as the commercial centre of the Delmarva Peninsula and became one of the largest ports in Maryland. Parklands include Wicomico Demonstration

Fuel Injection

2005-03-22T09:14:00.000-08:00

In an internal-combustion engine, introduction of fuel into the cylinders by means of a pump rather than by the suction created by the movement of the pistons. On diesel engines, which have no spark plugs, the heat created by compressing air in the cylinders ignites the fuel, which has been pumped as a spray into the heated air. In engines with spark ignition, fuel-injection

Xerxes I

2005-03-21T22:59:00.000-08:00

Soured by this failure, which modern historians consider the beginning of Achaemenian decline, Xerxes retired to Susa and Persepolis. He then furthered the depletion of the once-enormous resources he had gathered, through multiple taxation, by launching a vast construction program. At the capital city of Persepolis, Darius' architects, working from a unified plan

Liliales

2005-03-20T22:22:00.000-08:00

Lily order of the monocotyledonous flowering plants, a division of the subclass Liliidae. The order is a vast assemblage of plants whose flowers usually have three petals and three sepals—the sepals usually resembling the petals in shape and colour—and whose leaves are generally linear or strap-shaped with parallel veins. Within this large order, exemplified

Uzbek

2005-03-20T08:32:00.000-08:00

Any member of a Central Asian people found chiefly in Uzbekistan, but also in other parts of Central Asia and in Afghanistan. The Uzbeks speak either of two dialects of Uzbek, a Turkic language of the Altaic family of languages. More than 16 million Uzbeks live in Uzbekistan, 2,000,000 in Afghanistan, 1,380,000 in Tajikistan, 570,000 in Kyrgyzstan, and smaller numbers in Kazakstan, Turkmenistan, and

Annamese Cordillera

2005-03-19T07:04:00.000-08:00

French Chaîne Annamitique , Vietnamese Giai Truong Son principal mountain range of Indochina and the watershed between the Mekong River and the South China Sea. It extends parallel to the coast in a gentle curve generally northwest-southeast, forming the boundary between Laos and Vietnam. A fairly continuous range for about 700 miles (1,100 km), its rather precipitous eastern slopes leave a narrow coastal plain. Although its

Arrest

2005-03-17T18:37:00.000-08:00

Placing of a person in custody or under restraint, usually for the purpose of compelling obedience to the law. If the arrest occurs in the course of criminal procedure, the purpose of the restraint is to hold the person for answer to a criminal charge or to prevent him from committing an offense. In civil proceedings, the purpose is to hold the person to a demand made against

Vedic Religion

2005-03-17T11:41:00.000-08:00

The ancient Vedic worshipers offered sacrifices to these gods in the hope that they in return would grant abundant numbers of cattle, good fortune, good health, long life, and male progeny, among other material benefits. To ensure the efficacy of their prayers, the people came to believe that their offerings could be made more acceptable to the gods if accompanied

Creativity

2005-03-16T14:03:00.000-08:00

Many creative people show a strong interest in apparent disorder, contradiction, and imbalance; they often seem to consider asymmetry and disorder a challenge. At times creative persons give an impression of psychological imbalance, but immature personality traits may be an extension of a generalized receptivity to a wider-than-normal range of experience and

France, History Of, France from 1490 to 1715

2005-03-16T06:05:00.000-08:00

David Buisseret and Bernard Barbiche (eds.), Les “Économies Royales” de Sully (1970), offers an excellent analysis of Sully's political history of the reign of Henry IV; Roger Douçet, Les Institutions de la France au XVIe siècle, 2 vol. (1948), examines central, local, and religious bodies; and A.D. Lublinskaya, French Absolutism: The Crucial Phase, 1620–1629 (1968; originally published in Russian, 1965), discusses the economic crisis of the 17th century. Political corruption is studied in Roland Mousnier, La Vénalité des offices sous Henri IV et Louis XIII, 2nd rev. ed. (1971); and Roland Mousnier (ed.), Lettres et mémoires adressés au Chancelier Séguier, 1633–1649, 2 vol. (1964), the introduction to which also contains Mousnier's conclusions on the controversial subject of popular uprisings during this period. For more on this subject, see Boris Porchnev, Les Soulèvements populaires en France de 1623 à 1648 (1963, reissued 1972). Orest Ranum, Richelieu and the Councillors of Louis XIII (1963, reprinted 1976), is important for an understanding of Richelieu's real position; see also Joseph Bergin, Cardinal Richelieu: Power and the Pursuit of Wealth (1985). Detailed analyses of political forces include J.H. Shennan, The Parlement of Paris (1968); A. Lloyd Moote, The Revolt of the Judges: The Parlement of Paris and the Fronde, 1643–1652 (1972); N.M. Sutherland, The French Secretaries of State in the Age of Catherine de Medici (1962, reprinted 1976); Richard Bonney, The King's Debts: Finance and Politics in France, 1589–1661 (1981), and Society and Government in France Under Richelieu and Mazarin, 1624–61 (1988); and Mark Greengrass, France in the Age of Henri IV: The Struggle for Stability (1984). A survey of constitutional history is offered in Sarah Hanley, The Lit de Justice of the Kings of France: Constitutional Ideology in Legend, Ritual, and Discourse (1983). Robert R. Harding, Anatomy of a Power Elite: The Provincial Governors of Early Modern France (1978), examines local governments. Decentralization in government is discussed in Sharon Kettering, Patrons, Brokers, and Clients in Seventeenth-Century France (1986); and political representation in J. Russell Major, Representative Government in Early Modern France (1980). See also R.J. Knecht, Francis I (1982); and David Parker, The Making of French Absolutism (1983). Donald R. Kelley, The Beginning of Ideology: Consciousness and Society in the French Reformation (1981), is a study of political thought; see also Jean Orcibal, Saint-Cyran et le jansénisme (1961). On social conditions, see Robert Mandrou, Classes et luttes de classes en France au début du XVIIe siècle (1965); James R. Farr, Hands of Honor: Artisans and Their World in Dijon, 1550–1650 (1988); and Georges Vigarello, Concepts of Cleanliness: Changing Attitudes in France Since the Middle Ages (1988; originally published in French, 1985).

Dandakaranya

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

Physical region in east-central India. Extending over an area of about 35,600 square miles (92,300 square km), it includes the Abujhmar Hills in the west and borders the Eastern Ghats in the east. The Dandakaranya includes parts of Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, and Andhra Pradesh states. It has dimensions of about 200 miles (320 km) from north to south and about 300 miles (480 km) from east to west. The region derives

Pendred's Syndrome

2005-03-14T17:27:00.000-08:00

Hereditary metabolic condition that is characterized by deafness and defective incorporation of iodine into thyroid hormone, resulting in goitre or enlargement of the thyroid gland. Pendred's syndrome is a major cause of congenital deafness. It does not produce symptoms of hypothyroidism (deficiency of thyroid activity) in most patients, nor does the condition

Howland Island

2005-03-14T13:36:00.000-08:00

Sighted in 1842 by American whalers and named for one of the first

Eisenach

2005-03-14T01:37:00.000-08:00

City, Thuringia Land (state), central Germany. It lies on the northwestern slopes of the Thüringer Wald, at the confluence of the Hörsel and Nesse rivers, west of the city of Erfurt. Founded by the landgraves of Thuringia c. 1150, Eisenach fell to the Saxon house of Wettin in 1264 and was chartered in 1283. It was intermittently the seat of a separate Saxon duchy between 1596 and 1741, when it fell to

Locust

2005-03-11T17:55:00.000-08:00

Species of short-horned grasshopper (orthopteran family Acrididae) that often increases greatly in number and migrates long distances in destructive swarms. In Europe the word locust connotes large size; smaller acridids are called grasshoppers. In North America the names locust and grasshopper are used for any acridid. A cicada (order Homoptera) also may be called

Ear, Human, Vestibule

2005-03-11T11:09:00.000-08:00

The two membranous sacs of the vestibule, the utricle and the saccule, are known as the otolith organs (Figure 4). Because they respond to gravitational forces, they are also called gravity receptors. Each sac has on its inner surface a single patch of sensory cells called a macula, which is about 2 millimetres (0.08 inch) in diameter and which monitors the position of the head

Biblical Literature, Jeremiah

2005-03-11T09:31:00.000-08:00

The prophet Jeremiah began to prophesy about 626 BCE during the reign of the Judaean king Josiah. From the town of Anathoth and probably from the priestly family of Eli, this prophet, who may have been instrumental in the Deuteronomic reform, dictated his oracles to his secretary Baruch. Only a youth in his late teens when he experienced the call by Yahweh to be a “prophet to

Dagupan

2005-03-10T08:39:00.000-08:00

City and port, western Luzon Island, Philippines. It lies on the southern shore of Lingayen Gulf near the mouth of the Dagupan River. It was founded in 1590 by Augustinian missionaries. Dagupan is the port for a region that produces fish, solar-evaporated salt, rice, and fruit and is served by the Manila-North Railroad and a road network. The city has a university, a modern cathedral,

Mahé Island

2005-03-09T06:46:00.000-08:00

Largest island of the Seychelles archipelago, Republic of Seychelles, in the western Indian Ocean. The island is 4 miles (6 km) wide and 16 miles (26 km) long and has an area of 57 square miles (148 square km). The island is granitic in origin and mountainous; the highest peak is Morne Seychellois, which rises to 2,969 feet (905 m) and forms part of a national park of the same name. Port Launay Marine National

Sarah

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

Also spelled Sarai, in the Old Testament, wife of Abraham and mother of Isaac. Sarah was childless until she was 90 years old. God promised Abraham that she would be “a mother of nations” (Genesis 17:16) and that she would conceive and bear a son, but Sarah did not believe. Isaac, born to Sarah and Abraham in their old age, was the fulfillment of God's promise to them. The barrenness of Sarah, cited in the preface

Cramer's Rule

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

In which det A is the determinant of the matrix A (in which the elements of each row are the coefficients

Agricola, Gnaeus Julius

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

After serving as military tribune under Suetonius Paulinus, governor in Britain (59–61), Agricola became, successively, quaestor in Asia (64), people's tribune (66), and praetor (68). In the civil war of 69 he took the side of Vespasian,

Radio And Radar Astronomy

2005-03-06T21:34:00.000-08:00

In 1932 the U.S. radio engineer Karl Jansky, investigating radio disturbances interfering with transoceanic telephone service, found a source of cosmic “static” he attributed to interaction between electrons and ions (charged atoms) in interstellar space. He located this source

Nabulus

2005-03-06T02:31:00.000-08:00

Shechem, a Canaanite city, was important in ancient Palestine because of its position in an east–west pass between

Prophet's Mosque

2005-03-05T07:31:00.000-08:00

Courtyard of the Prophet Muhammad in Medina, Arabian Peninsula, which was the model for later Islamic architecture. The home of Muhammad and his family was a simple structure, made of raw brick, that opened on an enclosed courtyard where people gathered to hear him. In 634 Muhammad decreed that prayer be directed toward Mecca; against the wall facing Mecca, the qiblah wall, he

New Apostolic Church

2005-03-04T20:04:00.000-08:00

Church organized in Germany in 1863 as the Universal Catholic Church, by members of the Catholic Apostolic Church who believed that new apostles must be appointed to replace deceased apostles and rule the church until the Second Coming of Christ. The present name was adopted in 1906. Its doctrines are similar to the parent church, but the new church was influenced by continental

Razin, Stenka

2005-03-04T19:37:00.000-08:00

Born into a well-to-do Don Cossack family, Stenka Razin grew up amid the tension caused by the inability of runaway serfs, who were continually escaping from Poland and Russia to the Don Cossack area, to find land and comfortably

Spiny-finned Fish

2005-03-04T02:30:00.000-08:00

The atheriniform (q.v.) is the best known of the spiny-finned group, including flying fishes, guppies, mollies, swordtails, and California grunion. Beryciforms

Art For Art's Sake

2005-03-01T23:59:00.000-08:00

A slogan translated from the French l'art pour l'art, which was coined in the early 19th century by the French philosopher Victor Cousin. The phrase expresses the belief held by many writers and artists, especially those associated with Aestheticism, that art needs no justification, that it need serve no political, didactic, or other end.

Earth, Faults

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

Faults are fractures along which movement has occurred. They are produced by compression, tension, or shearing of the Earth's crust. Faults can be characterized by the direction of movement along the fault plane. A dip-slip fault is a fracture in which the movement is parallel to the dip (direction of tilt) of the fault plane. A strike-slip is one in which the movement is

Angiosperm, The calyx

2005-03-01T16:30:00.000-08:00

The sepals (collectively called the calyx) most resemble leaves because of their generally green colour. From their base and along most of their length, sepals remain either separate (aposepalous, or polysepalous) or marginally fused (synsepalous), forming a tube with terminal lobes or teeth (see photograph). The number of calyx lobes equals the number of fused

Cyclosilicate

2005-02-28T03:33:00.000-08:00

Compound with a structure in which silicate tetrahedrons (a central silicon atom surrounded by four oxygen atoms at the corners of a tetrahedron) are arranged in rings. Each tetrahedron shares two of its oxygen atoms with other tetrahedrons; the rings formed may have three (e.g., benitoite), four (e.g., axinite), or six members (e.g., beryl). The cyclosilicates have chemical formulas

Albano, Lake

2005-02-27T05:59:00.000-08:00

Italian Lago Albano, crater lake in the Alban Hills (Colli Albani), southeast of Rome. Elliptical in shape, formed by the fusion of two ancient volcanic craters, it lies 961 feet (293 m) above sea level and has an area of 2 square miles (5 square km) and a maximum depth of 558 feet (170 m). It is fed by underground sources and drained by an artificial outlet, reputedly built in 398–397 BC because the oracle at Delphi said that the

Ryabushinsky Family

2005-02-27T05:36:00.000-08:00

Mikhayl Y. Ryabushinsky purchased a fabric store in Moscow in 1844 and two years later opened a cloth factory. His sons, Pavel and Vasily

Airplane, Devices for aerodynamic control

2005-02-26T22:52:00.000-08:00

In some flight conditions—descent, preparing to land, landing, and after landing—it is desirable to be able to increase drag to decelerate the aircraft. A number of devices have been designed to accomplish this. These include speed brakes, which are large flat-plate areas that can be deployed by the pilot to increase drag dramatically and are most often found on military

Dyer-bennet, Richard

2005-02-25T19:46:00.000-08:00

Though born in England, Dyer-Bennet grew up in Canada and California and attended the University of California at

Abbott, George

2005-02-25T03:26:00.000-08:00

After graduating from the University of Rochester, N.Y., in 1911, Abbott began acting on Broadway in 1913. He soon began writing and directing plays as well, and he achieved

Line-and-wash Drawing

2005-02-23T14:41:00.000-08:00

Also called Pen-and-wash Drawing, in the visual arts, a drawing marked out by pen or some similar instrument and then tinted with diluted ink or watercolour. In 13th-century China, artists used transparent ink washes to create delicate atmospheric effects. The line-and-wash technique was practiced in Europe from the Renaissance, and in the early 15th century Cennino Cennini gave detailed instructions

Corcovado, Mount

2005-02-23T10:50:00.000-08:00

Portuguese Morro Do Corcovado, sharp rocky peak (2,310 ft [704 m]), a part of the Carioca Range, overlooking Rio de Janeiro. Mt. Corcovado (Hunchback) is named for its shape. On its narrow summit towers the imposing statue of Christ the Redeemer, 98.5 ft tall. The peak is accessible by road and cog railway.

Oman, Portuguese and Persian invasions

2005-02-22T14:47:00.000-08:00

On route to India, the Portuguese sacked Muscat in 1507 and soon controlled the entire coast. More than a century later the Ya'rubid dynasty drove the Portuguese from the Omani coast, recapturing Muscat in 1650 and then occupying Portuguese settlements in the Persian Gulf and East African coastal regions. Their empire eventually crumbled in a civil war over the succession

Böhtlingk, Otto Von

2005-02-22T08:04:00.000-08:00

While completing his education at the University of Bonn (1839–42), Böhtlingk published a two-volume edition (1839–40) of the earliest known grammar, that of

Arabian Sea

2005-02-21T08:39:00.000-08:00

Northwestern part of the Indian Ocean, covering a total area of about 1,491,000 square miles (3,862,000 square kilometres) and forming part of the principal sea route between Europe and India. It is bounded to the west by the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, to the north by Iran and Pakistan, to the east by India, and to the south by the remainder of the Indian Ocean. To the north the Gulf

Allégret, Yves

2005-02-20T10:34:00.000-08:00

Allégret began his film career working as an assistant to his older brother, the director Marc Allégret, and for Augusto Genina and Jean Renoir. Entering films during the 1930s and working with directors involved in the avant-garde

Alcoholic Beverage

2005-02-20T05:32:00.000-08:00

Alcoholic beverages are fermented from the sugars in fruits, berries, grains, and such other ingredients as plant saps, tubers, honey, and milk and may be distilled to reduce the original watery liquid to a liquid of much greater alcoholic

Basel, Council Of

2005-02-19T15:28:00.000-08:00

A general council of the Roman Catholic church held in Basel, Switz. It was called by Pope Martin V a few weeks before his death in 1431 and then confirmed by Pope Eugenius IV. Meeting at a time when the prestige of the papacy had been weakened by the Great Schism (1378–1417), it was concerned with two major problems: the question of papal supremacy and the Hussite heresy. (The Hussites were

Pen Drawing

2005-02-18T06:21:00.000-08:00

Artwork executed wholly or in part with pen and ink, usually on paper. Pen drawing is fundamentally a linear method of making images. In pure pen drawing in which the artist wishes to supplement his outlines with tonal suggestions of three-dimensional form, modeling must necessarily be effected by the close juxtaposition of a series of strokes forming areas of hatching

Alicatado

2005-02-18T03:11:00.000-08:00

Mosaic formed of polygonal, coloured glazed tiles. Made up into geometric patterns, they have been used mostly for paving Spanish and Moorish patios but also for wall surfaces. The expansion of the lands under Christian control in Spain in the 13th century led to a mixture of Gothic and Islamic styles (known as the Mudéjar style), in which alicatado was much used

Taff Vale Case

2005-02-17T16:31:00.000-08:00

(1900–01), in Great Britain, the successful trial of a suit brought by the Taff Vale Railway Company against the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants (ASRS) in which the courts held that a union could be sued for damages caused by the actions of its officials in industrial disputes. Opposition to the decision did much to spur the growth of the nascent British Labour

China, The dynasty's founder

2005-02-15T06:27:00.000-08:00

Chu Yüan-chang, founder of the new dynasty, came from a family of physiognomists from K'ai-feng who in Yüan times had deteriorated into itinerant tenant farmers in northern Anhwei Province. Orphaned by famine and plague in 1344, young Chu was taken into a small Buddhist monastery near Feng-yang city as a lay novice. For more than three years he wandered as a mendicant through

Gander

2005-02-15T03:00:00.000-08:00

Town, northeastern Newfoundland, Canada. It lies just north of Gander Lake, 206 miles (332 km) northwest of St. John's. Gander has one of the largest international airports in North America. The site was selected as an air base in 1935 by the British Air Ministry, and transatlantic flights began in 1939. During World War II it was a vital base for air ferries to Britain and Atlantic patrol aircraft.

Berezniki

2005-02-15T02:05:00.000-08:00

City, Perm oblast (province), west-central Russia. It is situated on the left bank of the Kama River at the head of the Kama Reservoir. Huge local deposits of salt and potassium have resulted in the city's development as one of the largest chemical centres of Russia, producing nitrogenous fertilizers, potash, nitric and sulfuric acids, soda, chlorine, titanium sponge, and

France, History Of, The cities

2005-02-14T23:51:00.000-08:00

Urban society was also troubled. The walled town stood out ever more starkly against the countryside as siege warfare intimidated or destroyed the suburbs that had been built in a less anxious day. Royal taxation, often inequitably administered, exacerbated old tensions in the towns; fiscal policy or the regulation of wages or supplies was largely at issue in the

Toungoo Dynasty

2005-02-14T09:39:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Taungu ruling house in Myanmar (Burma) from the 15th or 16th to the 18th century, whose reign is known as the Second Burmese Empire. King Minkyinyo (1486–1531) of Toungoo is usually considered the founder of the dynasty, but many authorities believe that the distinction of founder should be reserved for his son Tabinshwehti (1531–50), who more surely welded the empire together. Thus the dating of the dynasty

Ufj Holdings, Inc.

2005-02-13T05:30:00.000-08:00

Japanese bank holding company that became one of the world's largest banking institutions through the merger of Sanwa Bank, Tokai Bank, and Toyo Trust in 2001. With headquarters in Osaka, UFJ operates banks, issues credit cards, provides venture capital funding, and offers other banking and financial management services.

Allée

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

The allée normally passed through a planted boscage (a small wood); in the 17th century the boscage was square-trimmed at the sides and on top; later the sides were

Amitayur-dhyana-sutra

2005-02-11T21:24:00.000-08:00

(Sanskrit: “Discourse Concerning Meditation on Amitayus”), one of three texts basic to Pure Land Buddhism. Together with the larger and smaller Sukhavati-vyuha-sutras (Sanskrit: “Description of the Western Paradise Sutras”), this text envisions rebirth in the celestial Pure Land of Amitayus, the Buddha of Infinite Life (virtually identical with Amitabha, “Infinite Light,” called

Koch, Rudolf

2005-02-11T18:17:00.000-08:00

Koch's father was on the staff of the Bavarian industrial museum in Nürnberg, and Koch went to high school in that city. As a youth he studied art in the evening while serving as an apprentice in metalworking at Hanau. After an unsuccessful effort to become an art teacher, he moved to Leipzig,

Central Pacific Railroad

2005-02-10T04:31:00.000-08:00

American railroad company founded in 1861 by a group of California merchants known later as the “Big Four” (Collis P. Huntington, Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker); they are best remembered for having built part of the first American transcontinental rail line. The line was first conceived and surveyed by an engineer, Theodore Dehone Judah, who obtained

Kyo-yaki

2005-02-09T10:17:00.000-08:00

Decorated Japanese ceramics produced in Kyoto from about the middle of the 17th century. The development of this ware was stimulated by the appearance of enamelled porcelains in Kyushu, and it was not long after Sakaida Kakiemon successfully perfected overglaze enamels in Arita that Nonomura Ninsei also began production in Kyoto. Kyo-yaki contrasted with the enamelled

Hanafiyah

2005-02-09T09:47:00.000-08:00

Also called Madhhab Hanifah , English Hanafites in Islam, one of the four Sunni schools of religious law, incorporating the legal opinions of the ancient Iraqi schools of al-Kufah and Basra. Hanafi legal thought (madhhab) developed from the teachings of the theologian Imam Abu Hanifah (c. 700–767) by such disciples as Abu Yusuf (d. 798) and Muhammad ash-Shaybani (749/750–805) and became the official system of Islamic legal interpretation of the 'Abbasids, Seljuqs

Pacific Ocean, Fisheries

2005-02-08T08:49:00.000-08:00

Because of the biological richness of certain reaches of the Pacific and because of the large human populations in many of the nations bordering it, the catches there are substantially larger than those in the other oceans and comprise three-fifths of the total world catch. Among Pacific nations, Japan and Russia have the largest fisheries in the world as measured

Barquisimeto

2005-02-08T07:54:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Lara estado (“state”), northwestern Venezuela. Situated on a wide terrace of the Turbio River at 1,856 feet (566 m) above sea level, Barquisimeto is swept by the drying trade winds but has a warm climate (mean average temperature 75° F [24° C]). One of Venezuela's oldest cities, it was founded in 1552 by the Spanish interim governor Juan de Villegas, who originally named the city Nueva

Norfolk

2005-02-07T11:31:00.000-08:00

City, Madison county, northeastern Nebraska, U.S., on the north fork of the Elkhorn River. Settled in 1866 by German farmers from Xonia and Watertown, Wis., its name, originally proposed as North Fork, was abbreviated to Norfork and then changed by the post office to Norfolk. The economy depends primarily on agriculture (grain and livestock) and food processing, augmented by manufacturing

Moschopoulos, Manuel

2005-02-06T08:46:00.000-08:00

Little is known of Moschopoulos' life except what can be gathered from his correspondence and a reference in a letter of one Maximus Planudes, who describes him as his pupil. He was a prominent representative of those

Jewish Religious Year, Importance

2005-02-06T04:00:00.000-08:00

The central significance of the Sabbath for Judaism is reflected in the traditional commentative and interpretative literature called Talmud and Midrash (e.g., “if you wish to destroy the Jewish people, abolish their Sabbath first”) and in numerous legends and adages from more recent literature (e.g., “more than Israel kept the Sabbath, the Sabbath kept Israel”). Some of

Mola

2005-02-05T01:16:00.000-08:00

Type of embroidered woman's outer garment, worn as part of the blouse by the Kuna Indians of the San Blas Archipelago, off the eastern coast of Panama. The mola's brightly coloured designs, done in reverse appliqué technique, traditionally are abstract, often based on the patterns of brain coral. Recently, schematically drawn figurative designs have become

Arabian Desert

2005-02-04T14:27:00.000-08:00

Descriptive surveys of the Arabian Desert include Wilfred Thesiger, Arabian Sands (1959, reprinted 1991), a modern classic; Colbert C. Held, Middle East Patterns: Places, Peoples, and Politics, 2nd ed. (1994), with a general geography of Southwest Asia; and accounts of important travels in the region, such as Charles M. Doughty, Travels in Arabia Deserta, new and definitive ed., 2 vol. in 1 (1936, reprinted in 2 vol. 1979); T.E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1935, reissued 1991); and H.St.J.B. Philby, The Empty Quarter: Being a Description of the Great South Desert of Arabia Known as Rub' al Khali (1933, reprinted 1986), and Arabian Highlands (1952, reprinted 1976). Two valuable works on the flora and fauna are Betty A. Lipscombe Vincett, Wild Flowers of Central Saudi Arabia (1977); and Abdul Mon'im S. Talhouk et al., The Wildlife of Arabia (1981). A.R. Al-Ansary, Qaryat al-Fau: A Portrait of Pre-Islamic Civilisation in Saudi Arabia (1982), discusses early patterns of settlement in the desert. Norman Anderson et al., The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 9th ed. (1993), contains a number of useful studies. H.R.P. Dickson, The Arab of the Desert, 3rd ed., rev. and abridged, ed. by Robert Wilson and Zahra Freeth (1983), discusses Bedouin culture and custom prior to 1940. The impact of modernization on the peoples of the desert areas is addressed by Donald Powell Cole, Nomads of the Nomads: The Al Murrah Bedouin of the Empty Quarter (1975); Motoko Katakura, Bedouin Village: A Study of a Saudi Arabian People in Transition (1977); and Soraya Altorki and Donald P. Cole, Arabian Oasis City: The Transformation of 'Unayzah (1989). Useful sources on the geological evolution of Arabia include Ian Davison et al., “Geological Evolution of the Southeastern Red Sea Rift Margin, Republic of Yemen,” Geological Society of America Bulletin, 106:1474–1493 (November 1994); and Martin J. Whitehouse et al., “Crustal Evolution and Terrane Correlation in the Eastern Arabian Shield, Yemen: Geochronological Constraints,” Journal of the Geological Society, London, 155:281–295, (1998).

Ciompi, Revolt Of The

2005-02-03T18:57:00.000-08:00

A struggle between factions within the major ruling guilds triggered

Nitta Yoshisada

2005-02-03T15:06:00.000-08:00

Japanese warrior whose support of the imperial restoration of the emperor Go-Daigo was crucial in destroying the Kamakura shogunate, the military dictatorship that governed Japan from 1192 until 1333. The ultimate defeat of Nitta resulted in the end of the imperial restoration and the rise to power of the Ashikaga family, which

Gladstone, William Ewart

2005-02-02T09:51:00.000-08:00

Gladstone's first Cabinet (1868–74) was perhaps the most capable of the century. Its prime minister tried to supervise the work of each department, devoting his main efforts to Irish and foreign policy. The Irish Protestant church was successfully disestablished in 1869, and a first attempt to grapple with oppressive landlordism in Ireland was made unsuccessfully in 1870; abroad,

Kamehameha Iii

2005-02-02T08:34:00.000-08:00

Only 10 years of age when he succeeded to the throne, he was initially under the regency of Kamehameha I's favourite wife, Kaahumanu, who had been regent ever since Kamehameha II had visited England in 1824 and died there. Converted to Christianity in 1824, she became known for her wise and beneficent

Alaska, University Of

2005-02-01T20:13:00.000-08:00

State university system consisting of three campuses (regional university centres) in Fairbanks (main campus), Anchorage, and Juneau (known as the University of Alaska Southeast). All campuses are coeducational and offer bachelor's and master's degree programs in business and education; the Fairbanks and Anchorage campuses include schools of engineering and arts

Tall Oil

2005-01-31T13:12:00.000-08:00

Dark, odorous liquid by-product of the sulfate (kraft) process of paper manufacture, used after refining to make coatings, sizing for paper, paint, varnish, linoleum, drying oils, emulsions, lubricants, and soaps. Tall oil is principally a mixture of resin acids, such as abietic acid, and fatty acids, such as oleic and linoleic acids, with some sterols and other compounds. It

Naruto

2005-01-31T07:55:00.000-08:00

City, Tokushima ken (prefecture), eastern Shikoku, Japan. The city lies along the Naruto Strait (Naruto-kaikyo), which connects the Inland Sea with the Pacific Ocean. The narrow strait separates Naruto from Awaji Island, a large island of the eastern Inland Sea. During the Tokugawa period (1603–1867) Naruto was a flourishing port and centre of salt production. Since the late 19th century,

Umuahia

2005-01-31T01:53:00.000-08:00

Town, capital of Abia state, southern Nigeria. It lies along the railroad from Port Harcourt to Enugu. It is an agricultural market centre and (since 1916) collecting point on the railway for the crops of the surrounding region: yams, cassava, corn (maize), taro, citrus fruits, and palm oil and kernels. The town has a palm-oil-processing plant and several breweries, and the National

Arabia, History Of, The sharifs of the Holy Cities

2005-01-29T21:01:00.000-08:00

At Mecca in the mid-10th century commenced the 1,000-year ascendancy of the 'Alid sharifian families. Mecca now became capital of the Hejaz, replacing Medina, the centre from which it had been ruled since the Prophet's days. The sharifs, though at times subject to such foreign overlords as the rulers of Egypt and of other parts of Arabia, exercised virtual independence. Throughout

Crusade, The Latin East after the Third Crusade

2005-01-29T16:42:00.000-08:00

Saladin died on March 3, 1193, not long after the departure of the Third Crusade. One of the greatest of the Muslim leaders and a man devoutly religious and deeply committed to jihad against the infidel, he was, yet, respected by his opponents. His death led once again to divisions in the Muslim world, and his Ayyubid successors were willing to continue a state of truce with the crusaders,

Turboprop

2005-01-28T16:53:00.000-08:00

The first experimental turboprop aircraft, a modified Gloster Meteor fighter equipped with two Rolls-Royce

Bantu Languages

2005-01-27T04:57:00.000-08:00

A group of some 500 languages belonging to the Bantoid subgroup of the Benue-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo language family. The Bantu languages are spoken in a very large area, including most of Africa from southern Cameroon eastward to Kenya and southward to the southernmost tip of the continent. Twelve Bantu languages are spoken by more than five million people,

Holiday, Billie

2005-01-26T13:38:00.000-08:00

Eleanora Fagan was the daughter of Clarence Holiday, a professional musician who for a time played guitar with the Fletcher Henderson band. She later adopted the name Billie from a favourite movie actress, Billie Dove. In 1928 she moved with her

Integument, Annelids

2005-01-26T09:25:00.000-08:00

Annelids have a thin, horny cuticle pierced by pores through which epidermal glands secrete mucus. In some marine annelids, glands are also present that secrete materials constituting a parchmentlike or calcareous tube within which the worm dwells. Earthworms and leeches secrete cocoons from a specialized epidermis in a region of the body known as the clitellum.

Beretta Spa

2005-01-25T22:11:00.000-08:00

The founder of the business, Bartolomeo Beretta, was known as a maestro da canne, or master gun-barrel maker, for the republic of