EqualDrawer

Anderson, Leroy

2005-11-17T19:15:00.000-08:00

The son of Swedish immigrants, Anderson studied composition under Walter Piston and Georges Enesco at Harvard University (B.A., 1929; M.A., 1930), where

Lustration

2005-10-15T15:10:00.000-07:00

(from Latin lustratio, “purification by sacrifice”), any of various processes in ancient Greece and Rome whereby individuals or communities rid themselves of ceremonial impurity (e.g., bloodguilt, pollution incurred by contact with childbirth or with a corpse) or simply of the profane or ordinary state, which made it dangerous to come into contact with sacred rites

Anthony Melissa

2005-07-28T13:00:00.000-07:00

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

Western Africa, Geology

2005-07-26T18:35:00.000-07:00

The crystalline rocks, collectively referred to as the West African shield or craton, comprise three main types of rock assemblage. The basement

Indian Shaker Church

2005-07-24T07:30:00.000-07:00

Christianized prophet cult among Northwest American Indians; it is not connected with the Shaker communities developed from the teachings of Ann Lee. In 1881 near Olympia, Wash., John Slocum, a Squaxon logger and a baptized Roman Catholic, reported that he had visited heaven while in a coma and was commissioned to preach a new way of life. The following year his wife, Mary,

Pittacus Of Mytilene

2005-07-07T08:55:00.000-07:00

Statesman and sage who is known as one of the Seven Wise Men of ancient Greece. He collaborated with the brothers of the poet Alcaeus in the overthrow of the tyrant Melanchrus (612/611?) and distinguished himself as a commander in the war against Athens for Sigium, killing the Athenian commander, Phrynon, single-handedly. He was elected aisymnetes (dictator appointed during

Good-night

2005-07-05T14:30:00.000-07:00

Sensational type of broadside ballad (q.v.), popular in England from the 16th through the 19th century, purporting to be the farewell statement of a criminal made shortly before his execution. Good-nights are usually repentant in tone, containing a sketchy account of how the criminal first went astray, a detailed account of his grisly crime, his sentence by the judge, the grief

Ascari, Alberto

2005-06-17T02:30:00.000-07:00

Ascari started racing on motorcycles, turning to cars in 1940, when he entered the Mille Miglia. He raced in Maseratis after World War II and in Ferraris from 1949 to 1954, when he joined the Lancia team. He won the Mille Miglia in 1954 and many Grand Prix. Like his father, Antonio Ascari, who also

Heilungkiang

2005-06-13T21:15:00.000-07:00

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.

Rhys, Ernest Percival

2005-06-02T16:35:00.000-07:00

Although ill health interrupted his education, Rhys showed early promise and an innate love of books. In 1886 he became a poet and free-lance critic and editor in London.

Asante Empire

2005-05-31T11:20:00.000-07:00

In their struggle against the suzerain state of Denkyera and lesser neighbouring

Arrowworm

2005-05-17T02:25:00.000-07:00

Also called Chaetognath, any member of the invertebrate phylum Chaetognatha, a group of small wormlike marine animals with transparent to translucent or opaque arrow-shaped bodies. The phylum consists of about seven extant genera and one fossil genus. There are more than 50 species, most of which are in the genus Sagitta. The size of arrowworms ranges from about 3 millimetres to more

China, Prelude to the Han

2005-03-15T15:30:00.000-08:00

From 403 BC onward seven kingdoms other than Chou constituted the ruling authorities in different parts of China, each of which was led by its own king or duke. In theory, the king of Chou, whose territory was by now greatly reduced, was recognized as possessing superior powers and moral overlordship over the other kingdoms, but practical administration lay in the hands

United States, The coming of the war

2005-03-14T23:44:00.000-08:00

Faced with a fait accompli, Lincoln when inaugurated was prepared to conciliate the South in every way but one: he would not recognize that the Union could be divided. The test of his determination came early in his administration, when he learned that the Federal troops under Major Robert Anderson in Fort Sumter, South Carolina - then one of the few military installations in the South still in Federal hands - had to be promptly supplied or withdrawn. After agonized consultation with his cabinet, Lincoln determined that supplies must be sent even if doing so provoked the Confederates into firing the first shot. On April 12, 1861, just before Federal supply ships could reach the beleaguered Anderson, Confederate guns in Charleston opened fire upon Fort Sumter, and the war began.

4-h Club

2005-03-07T21:44:00.000-08:00

One of an organization of clubs for youth aged 10 to 21 who engage in programs of �learning by doing.� The clubs are found principally in the United States and Canada, though some 80 other nations have adopted the idea. The 4-H Club emblem is the four-leaf clover with the letter H on each leaf; the club colours are green and white. The name 4-H is suggested in the pledge:I pledgeMy Head to

Swan Theatre

2005-03-06T17:49:00.000-08:00

Elizabethan theatre built about 1595 by Francis Langley in Bankside, London. A description and a sketch of the Swan made by Johann DeWitt of Utrecht (the sketch copied by Arend van Buchell) have proved most useful in attempts to reconstruct the form of the Elizabethan theatre. The last known mention of the Swan Theatre was in 1632.

Dagobert Iii

2005-03-05T23:21:00.000-08:00

Merovingian Frankish king who succeeded his father, Childebert III, in 711. For most of his reign the boy was dominated by Pippin II of Herstal, the Austrasian mayor of the palace.

Maher, Bill

2005-03-04T01:34:00.000-08:00

The title of Politically Incorrect, the often controversial television talk show that nightly featured four outspoken guests from the world of entertainment, arts and letters, and politics, was never more appropriate than when its host, comedian Bill Maher, implied that the terrorists who had attacked the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, were braver than U.S. forces fighting

Ben-hadad I

2005-03-03T13:59:00.000-08:00

Assyrian �Adad-idri � king of Damascus who led a coalition against the invading forces of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III, repulsing them at Karkar in 853. In a battle with him King Ahab of Israel was killed (I Kings 22:29 - 36). Ben-hadad was murdered by the usurper Hazael.

Pithoragarh

2005-03-02T14:44:00.000-08:00

City, northern Uttar Pradesh state, northern India. It lies east of Almora, on a ridge of the Himalayan foothills. The surrounding area lies entirely within the Himalayan Range and is bordered by Nepal to the east and China to the north. Rice, barley, and wheat are grown. Pop. (1991 prelim.) city, 27,753.

Arabic Language

2005-03-01T02:24:00.000-08:00

Arabic is the language of the Qur'an (or Koran, the sacred book of Islam) and the religious language of all Muslims. Literary Arabic, usually called Classical Arabic, is essentially the form of the language

Uyo

2005-02-28T19:57:00.000-08:00

Town, capital of Akwa Ibom state, southeastern Nigeria. Uyo lies on the road from Oron to Ikot Ekpene. A collecting station for palm oil and kernels, it is also a local trade centre (yams, cassava, palm produce) for an area inhabited mainly by the Ibibio people. The town has a brewery and a textile mill. It is the site of the University of Uyo (1983). Pop. (1991 est.) 66,860.

Anta

2005-02-27T15:24:00.000-08:00

The bases

Dientzenhofer, Christoph And Kilian Ignaz

2005-02-26T02:49:00.000-08:00

Father and son, members of a large family of German architects, who were among the leading builders in Bohemian Baroque. Among their joint works are the Church of St. Nicholas (1703 - 11, 1732 - 52) and the Brevnov Monastery (1708 - 21), both in Prague. K.I. Dientzenhofer built the churches of St. Thomas (1725 - 31; a Gothic structure reworked into Baroque)

Chatham

2005-02-24T22:09:00.000-08:00

Port, Medway unitary authority, geographic and historic county of Kent, southeastern England. The port lies along the River Medway just above its confluence with the River Thames, on the southeastern periphery of Greater London. Chatham is continuous with the communities of Rochester (west) and Gillingham and New Brompton (east), known as the Medway towns, for which