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

Regino Von Pr�

2005-02-23T21:32:00.000-08:00

Born to a noble family, Regino joined the Benedictine monastic order at the flourishing Abbey of Pr�m and studied theology and canon law. He was elected

Ghi

2005-02-22T01:13:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Ghee, � clarified butter, a staple food on the Indian subcontinent. See butterfat.

Goulburn Islands

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

Group of islands in the Arafura Sea off the northern coast of Arnhem Land in Northern Territory, Australia. They comprise South Goulburn Island (30 square miles [78 square km]), lying 2 miles (3 km) offshore across Macquarie Strait; North Goulburn Island (14 square miles [36 square km]), 10 miles (16 km) offshore; and some small sandy islets. Perhaps sighted in 1644 by the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman,

Ribalta, Francisco

2005-02-20T22:03:00.000-08:00

Spanish painter who was one of the first artists to be influenced by the new realism initiated by Caravaggio in Italy. Ribalta's use of light and shadow to give solidity to his forms made him the first native Spanish tenebroso (a painter who emphasizes darkness rather than light), and he was a major influence on later Spanish

La Follette, Robert M

2005-02-19T08:24:00.000-08:00

Foreign affairs catapulted La Follette back into a leadership position in 1917, this time of the anti-war movement. Since 1910 he had argued that U.S. interventions in the problems of foreign governments were intended to protect the investments of U.S. corporations and to smash revolutions. Now he believed that the United States entered World War I in 1917 because U.S. businessmen

Quadros, J�nio Da Silva

2005-02-18T18:37:00.000-08:00

Quadros graduated from the University of S�o Paulo in 1939. He practiced law and taught Portuguese

Xenarthran

2005-02-17T00:42:00.000-08:00

Xenarthrans are known only from the Western Hemisphere and arose in South America during the Paleocene Epoch (65 million to 54.8 million years ago). The fossil record shows that the group was both more diverse and more widely distributed as recently as the Pleistocene Epoch (1,800,000 to 10,000 years ago), when ground sloths colonized the islands of the Greater Antilles and glyptodonts,

Frederick William

2005-02-16T21:05:00.000-08:00

Elector of Hesse-Kassel from 1847 after 16 years' co-regency with his father; he was noted for his reactionary stand against liberalizing trends manifested during the revolutionary events of 1848. In 1850 he re-instated an unpopular adviser, Hans Daniel Hassenpflug, who called on the German Confederation to restore by force the authority of the elector. At the end of

Deng Xiaoping

2005-02-15T18:33:00.000-08:00

The son of a landowner, Deng studied in France (1921 - 24), where he

Vietnam, Transportation

2005-02-14T22:08:00.000-08:00

The topography of Vietnam renders land transportation between the north and the south difficult, with traffic limited to the narrow coastal corridor. Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are connected by rail and highway through this corridor. The nation's road network is extensive but in generally poor condition. The two large deltas, where most of the population is concentrated,

Aalst

2005-02-13T10:27:00.000-08:00

French �Alost, � municipality, East Flanders province, north-central Belgium, on the Dender River, 15 miles (24 km) northwest of Brussels. The town hall (begun in the middle of the 12th century), with its 52-bell carillon, is the oldest in Belgium, and its archives include 12th-century manuscripts. Ravaged by fire in 1360, the town hall was subsequently rebuilt and its 13th-century belfry restored in the 15th century.

Porch

2005-02-12T06:09:00.000-08:00

There is little material evidence of the existence of the porch before the period of Classical antiquity, although Egyptian

Amphibian, Metamorphosis

2005-02-11T06:59:00.000-08:00

Metamorphosis entails an abrupt and thorough change in an animal's physiology and biochemistry, with concomitant structural and behavioral modifications. These changes mark the transformation from hatchling to adult, the most obvious of which are the development of completely new structures and functions. Other changes include modification of larval structures

War

2005-02-10T22:27:00.000-08:00

In the popular sense, a conflict among political groups involving hostilities of considerable duration and magnitude. In the usage of social science certain qualifications are added. Sociologists usually apply the term to such conflicts only if they are initiated and conducted in accordance with socially recognized forms. They treat war as an institution

Insurance, Warranties

2005-02-09T19:05:00.000-08:00

In applying for insurance, the applicant makes certain representations or warranties. If the applicant makes a false representation, the insurer has the option of voiding the contract. Concealment of vital information may be considered misrepresentation. In general, the misrepresentation or concealment must concern a material fact - defined as a fact that would,

Kucha

2005-02-08T03:38:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization �K'u-ch'e, �Pinyin �Kuqa, � oasis city in the Uighur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang, China. The oasis of Kucha lies at the foot of the southern slope of the Tien Shan (�Celestial Mountains�) on the northern rim of the Tarim Basin. It is watered by the Kucha and Mu-cha-t'i rivers, which during rainy spells flow into the Tarim River but which for most of the year lose themselves in the salt marshes on the northern

Cordierite

2005-02-07T11:16:00.000-08:00

Also called �dichroite� or �iolite� blue silicate mineral that occurs as crystals or grains in igneous rocks, only as a result of contamination of the magma by aluminous sediment. Most typical, however, are its occurrences in thermally altered clayey sediments surrounding igneous intrusions and in schists and paragneisses. Precambrian deposits of the Laramie Range, Wyo., U.S., contain more than 500,000 tons

Nagai Kafu

2005-02-06T11:44:00.000-08:00

Rebellious as a youth, Kafu failed to finish his university studies and was sent abroad from 1903 to 1908. Before he left, he had produced three novels, which were influenced by French naturalism. After he returned to Japan he continued to be a student and translator

Cost

2005-02-04T01:29:00.000-08:00

In common usage, the monetary value of goods and services that producers and consumers purchase. In a basic economic sense cost is the measure of the alternative opportunities foregone in the choice of one good or activity over others. This fundamental cost is usually referred to as opportunity cost. For a consumer with a fixed income, the opportunity cost of purchasing

Hawkins, Coleman

2005-02-03T14:25:00.000-08:00

At age four Hawkins began to study the piano, at seven

Arikara

2005-02-02T21:37:00.000-08:00

American Plains Indian people of the Caddoan linguistic family who lived along the Missouri River between the Cheyenne River in South Dakota and Fort Berthold in North Dakota. The cultural roots of Caddoan-speaking peoples lay in the prehistoric mound-building societies of the lower Mississippi River valley. The Arikara were culturally related to

Olympias

2005-02-01T01:38:00.000-08:00

The daughter of Neoptolemus, king of Epirus, Olympias apparently was originally named Myrtale. Later she may have been called Olympias as a recognition of Philip's

Antarctica, Early scientific progress

2005-01-30T05:57:00.000-08:00

The period from the 1760s to about 1900 was one dominated by exploitation of Antarctic and subantarctic seas, particularly along Scotia Ridge. Sealing vessels of many nations, principally American and British but including Argentine, Australian, South African, New Zealand, German, and Norwegian, participated in hunting that eventually led to near extinction of the southern

Molecule

2005-01-29T21:15:00.000-08:00

The division of a sample of a substance into progressively smaller parts produces no change in either its composition or its chemical properties until parts consisting of single molecules are reached. Further

Ryan, T. Claude

2005-01-28T05:36:00.000-08:00

Ryan learned to fly in 1917, trained with the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1919 at Marsh Field, California, and served with the U.S. Aerial Forest Patrol until 1922. Ryan established a flight school and a business

Teaching Machine

2005-01-27T13:18:00.000-08:00

There are many types of teaching machines. In general, they all work on the same method, which is to present a question, have the user indicate the answer, and then provide the user with the correct answer. Some machines may be extremely simple, such as test sheets or books so programmed that

Poldi Pezzoli, Museo

2005-01-26T14:55:00.000-08:00

(Italian: Poldi Pezzoli Museum), in Milan, museum in the former private house of G.G. Poldi-Pezzoli, housing fine examples of arms and armour from the 14th to the 17th centuries. There are also antique tapestries. The staircase is decorated with landscapes by Alessandro Magnasco. One room is devoted to works by Bernardino Luini and the Lombard school of painters. Other notable

Vacuum Technology

2005-01-25T20:19:00.000-08:00

This gauge makes use of the fact that the rate of ion production by a stream of electrons in a vacuum system is dependent on pressure and the ionization probability of the residual gas. Also called the Penning gauge, it consists of two cathodes opposite one another with an anode centrally spaced between them inside a metal or glass envelope. Outside the envelope a

Janissary

2005-01-24T00:35:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Janizary, �Turkish �Yeni�eri� (New Soldier, or Troop), member of an elite corps in the standing army of the Ottoman Empire from the late 14th century to 1826. Highly respected for their military prowess in the 15th and 16th centuries, the Janissaries became a powerful political force within the Ottoman state. The Janissary corps was originally staffed by Christian

Daumier, Honor�

2005-01-23T17:37:00.000-08:00

He did not do so, however, for he had become preoccupied with new technical studies; earlier than others, he had discovered Impressionism - faces and bodies devoured by the surrounding light and becoming one with the atmosphere. He painted a great deal, and the more so as his studies in the new technique did not interest the satirical journals to which he now submitted

Eight, The

2005-01-22T07:51:00.000-08:00

Group of American painters who exhibited together only once, in New York City in 1908, but who established one of the main currents in 20th-century American painting. The original Eight included Robert Henri, leader of the group, Everett Shinn, John Sloan, Arthur B. Davies, Ernest Lawson, Maurice Prendergast, George Luks, and William J. Glackens. George Bellows later joined them.

Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

2005-01-21T11:58:00.000-08:00

Coastal habitat conservation area in southern Texas, U.S., located about 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Corpus Christi. The refuge, parts of which are jointly administered by state and federal agencies, covers a total of 181 square miles (469 square km) on the Gulf of Mexico, including large tracts of land on Matagorda Island and on a broad peninsula between San Antonio Bay and St. Charles

Augustine Of Canterbury, Saint

2005-01-20T07:50:00.000-08:00

Probably of aristocratic birth, Augustine was prior of the Benedictine monastery of St. Andrew, Rome, when Pope St. Gregory I the Great chose him to lead an unprecedented mission

Osaka-kobe Metropolitan Area, Industry

2005-01-18T00:46:00.000-08:00

Osaka was once known as the Manchester of the Orient because of its great textile industry; now, however, its leading industries are the manufacture of electrical and other machinery, iron and steel, fabricated metals, and chemicals. Between Osaka and Kobe are several other industrial cities. The largest, Amagasaki, is a centre of machinery, metallurgy, chemicals, cement,

Alcott, Louisa May

2005-01-17T02:50:00.000-08:00

A daughter of the transcendentalist Bronson Alcott, Louisa spent most of her life in Boston and Concord, Massachusetts, where she grew up in the company of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Theodore Parker, and Henry David Thoreau. Her education was largely

Beirut

2005-01-16T00:10:00.000-08:00

Beirut is a city of baffling contradictions whose character blends the sophisticated and cosmopolitan with the provincial and parochial. Before 1975 Beirut was widely considered the most thoroughly Westernized city in the Arab Middle East;

Madeira River

2005-01-15T00:31:00.000-08:00

Portuguese �Rio Madeira, � major tributary of the Amazon. It is formed by the junction of the Mamor� and Beni rivers at Villa Bella, Bolivia, and flows northward forming the border between Bolivia and Brazil for approximately 60 miles (100 km). After receiving the Rio Abun�, the Madeira meanders northeastward in Brazil through Rond�nia and Amazonas states to its junction with the Amazon River, 90 miles

Rocky Mountains, Plant life

2005-01-14T21:12:00.000-08:00

The plant communities of the Rockies vary markedly according to elevation, latitude, and exposure. On the eastern slopes in Colorado and New Mexico, strong winter winds off the arid plains stunt and deform the scattered cedars and pi�on pines. The lower elevations at this end of the system are predominantly treeless, except along watercourses, where cottonwoods

Marda�te

2005-01-13T11:06:00.000-08:00

Arabic �Jurjumani, �plural �Jarajima, � member of a Christian people of northern Syria, employed as soldiers by Byzantine emperors. The Marda�tes inhabited the Amanus (Gavur) Mountains, in the modern Turkish province of Hatay, the 7th-century borderland between Byzantine and Muslim territory. In the period 660 - 680, allied with the Byzantine emperor Constantine IV, the Marda�tes pushed southward into Arab-occupied

'abbas I

2005-01-12T00:51:00.000-08:00

'Abbas, distrustful of Europeans and European-educated Egyptians, reacted to the reforms of Muhammad 'Ali by closing down or neglecting the public and military

Later Le Dynasty

2005-01-11T17:26:00.000-08:00

The Later Le was established when its founder, Le Loi, began a resistance movement against the Chinese armies then occupying Vietnam; by 1428 he had liberated the country and was free to begin the process of recovering the southern

Gaucher's Disease

2005-01-10T15:12:00.000-08:00

Rare inherited metabolic disorder characterized by anemia, mental and neurologic impairment, yellowish pigmentation of the skin, and bone deterioration resulting in pathological fractures. Gaucher's disease results when a defect in the body's synthesis of the enzyme glucocerebrosidase allows the lipid glucocerebroside to accumulate in the body's storage

Peregrinatio Etheriae

2005-01-09T20:24:00.000-08:00

English �Pilgrimage of Etheria� an anonymous and incomplete account of a western European nun's travels in the Middle East, written for her colleagues at home, near the end of the 4th century. It gives important information about religious life and the observances of the church year in the localities visited, which included the chief holy places of the Old and New Testaments in Egypt, Palestine, and

Duran, Simeon Ben Zemah

2005-01-08T05:40:00.000-08:00

Also called �(by acronym) Rashbaz � first Spanish Jewish rabbi to be paid a regular salary by the community and author of an important commentary on Avot (�Fathers�), a popular ethical tractate in the Talmud, the rabbinical compendium of law, lore, and commentary. Before the 14th century, the rabbinical post had been almost invariably honorary; Duran

Antarctica

2005-01-07T15:03:00.000-08:00

Combinatorics, Multinomial coefficients

2005-01-06T07:16:00.000-08:00

If S is a set of n objects, and n1, n2, � � � , nk are non-negative integers satisfying n1 n2 � � � nk = n, then the number of ways in which the objects can be distributed into k boxes, X1, X2, � � � , Xk, such that the box Xi contains exactly ni objects is given in terms of a ratio constructed of factorials (see 4). This number, called a multinomial coefficient, is the coefficient in the multinomial expansion of the nth power of the sum of the

Earth, Paleontological research

2005-01-05T02:54:00.000-08:00

Many paleontological observations are most easily explained by continental drift and/or polar wandering. For example, fossils of the freshwater reptile Mesosaurus, which lived 270,000,000 years ago, are found only in South America and Africa. The reptile's bone structure was such that it probably could not have swum across the Atlantic, but if South America and Africa had been

Pembroke, Mary Herbert, Countess Of

2005-01-04T02:53:00.000-08:00

In 1575 Queen Elizabeth I invited Mary to court, promising �a speciall care� of her. Two

Bulgakov, Mikhail Afanasyevich

2005-01-03T20:15:00.000-08:00

Beginning his adult life as a doctor, Bulgakov gave up medicine for writing. His first major work was the novel Belaya gvardiya (The White Guard), serialized in 1925 but never published in book form. A realistic and

Fargo

2005-01-02T04:28:00.000-08:00

Seat (1873) of Cass county and the largest city of North Dakota, U.S., on the Red River of the North, opposite Moorhead, Minn. Founded in 1871 by the Northern Pacific Railway, it served as an outfitting post for settlers, with its rail, steamboat, and stagecoach facilities. It was named for William George Fargo (of Wells, Fargo

Shamanism

2005-01-01T09:16:00.000-08:00

The shaman attains the ecstasy necessary for communicating with the spirits through the performance of the shaman rite, which requires certain appurtenances.

Greek Literature, Historical works

2004-12-31T23:18:00.000-08:00

Conscious as they were of their classical and biblical past, the Byzantines wrote much history. Until the early 7th century a series of historians recounted the events of their own time in classicizing style, with fictitious speeches and set descriptive pieces, in a genre that owed much to the classical Greek historians Thucydides and Polybius. Procopius, Agathias,

Rabin, Yitzhak

2004-12-30T08:26:00.000-08:00

Robert Slater, Rabin of Israel: Warrior for Peace (1996), is a biography.

Haldane, Elizabeth Sanderson

2004-12-29T19:18:00.000-08:00

The younger sister of the statesman Richard Burdon Haldane and the physiologist John Scott Haldane, she was educated privately. For much of her adult life she served on various advisory and regulatory boards for nursing. Influenced by the English housing reformer Octavia Hill,

Gabrieli, Andrea

2004-12-28T14:39:00.000-08:00

Madrigals for three to six voices in various collections; masses in six parts, Primus liber missarum (1572); Magnificat for three choirs; motets; various ricercari and canzoni.

Arda River

2004-12-27T06:12:00.000-08:00

Greek ��rdhas, � river in Bulgaria, rising in the central Rhodope Mountains near the town of Smolyan and following a 180-mile (290-kilometre) course eastward past Kurdzhali and Ivaylovgrad to enter the Maritsa just west of Edirne, Tur., after a 23-mile (37-kilometre) course in Greece. The Bulgarian section has three hydroelectric and irrigation dams, among the largest in Bulgaria. In the upper valley

Indian Philosophy, Principal texts and relation to Sabara

2004-12-26T16:32:00.000-08:00

Kumarila commented on Jaimini's sutraas well as on Sabara's bhasya. The Varttika (critical gloss) that he wrote was commented upon by Sucarita Misra in his Kasika (�The Shining�), by Somesvara Bhatta in his Nyayasudha (�The Nectar of Logic�), and Parthasarathi Misra in Nyayaratnakara (�The Abode of Jewels of Logic�). Parthasarathi's Sastradipika (�Light on the Scripture�) is a famous independent Mimamsa treatise

Kazankina, Tatyana

2004-12-25T09:49:00.000-08:00

A seemingly fragile individual standing 1.61 metres (5 feet 3 inches) tall and weighing just 48 kg (106 pounds), Kazankina made an international impression with her fortitude and speed during a string of victories

Gu�tary, Georges (lambros Worloou)

2004-12-24T23:42:00.000-08:00

Egyptian-born French singer whose career of over 50 years on the musical theatre stage, in cabarets, on recordings, on television, and in films included a notable role as the man who lost Leslie Caron to Gene Kelly in An American in Paris (b. Feb. 8, 1915--d. Sept. 13, 1997).

Earth, Growth phase

2004-12-23T22:20:00.000-08:00

An isolated substorm begins when the IMF turns southward and dayside reconnection begins. For about an hour afterward, bands of quiet auroral arcs drift equatorward near midnight in the northern and southern auroral ovals. The eastward and westward electrojets, flowing from noon toward midnight along the ovals, gradually increase in strength and move equatorward

Theophrastus

2004-12-22T21:57:00.000-08:00

Theophrastus was one of the few Peripatetics who fully

Technology, History Of, Atomic power

2004-12-21T14:32:00.000-08:00

Until 1945, electricity and the internal-combustion engine were the dominant sources of power for industry and transport in the 20th century, although in some parts of the industrialized world steam power and even older prime movers remained important. Early research in nuclear physics was more scientific than technological, stirring little general interest. In fact,

Cumae

2004-12-20T06:34:00.000-08:00

Ancient city about 12 miles (19 km) west of Naples, probably the oldest Greek mainland colony in the west and home of a sibyl (Greek prophetess) whose cavern still exists. Founded about 750 BC by Greeks from Chalcis, Cumae came to control the most fertile portions of the Campanian plain. Although the Etruscans were their special enemy during the last half of the 6th century and first

Insurance, Classes of benefits

2004-12-19T07:01:00.000-08:00

Four classes of benefits are provided by compulsory insurance, and, except for certain diseases, a right to them is acquired without any qualifying period of previous employment. First is a medical benefit, which includes all necessary treatment and the supply of artificial limbs. If its duration is limited, the maximum is likely to be one year. Second is a temporary

Moscow

2004-12-18T00:35:00.000-08:00

Russian �Moskva� oblast (province), western Russia. The oblast surrounds and includes the city of Moscow, the capital of Russia. Moscow oblast was formed in 1929. The main feature of its relief is the Klin-Dmitrov Ridge, which stretches roughly east-west across the oblast, north of Moscow city. The ridge, a line of terminal moraines, reaches a height of 1,000 feet (300 metres) with a steep northern slope to

Steelhead

2004-12-17T00:30:00.000-08:00

Saltwater form of rainbow trout (q.v.).

Macdonald, Sir John (alexander)

2004-12-16T19:56:00.000-08:00

Macdonald emigrated from Scotland to Kingston, in what is now Ontario, in 1820. He was called to the bar in 1836. After the British Parliament united Upper and Lower

Chelyabinsk

2004-12-15T08:01:00.000-08:00

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

Ahmad Musa

2004-12-14T00:50:00.000-08:00

Painter active at the court of the Il Khans at Tabriz. He is said to have learned painting from his father and to have �drawn the veil from the face of painting and invented the art of the Persian miniature.� He was active under Abu Sa'id (ruled 1316 - 35), the last of the Mongol sultans in fact as well as name. He illustrated a Kalila wa Dimna (book of animal fables)

Gherardesca Family

2004-12-13T22:14:00.000-08:00

One of the foremost families of the Tuscan nobility, whose lands included the counties of Gherardesca, Donoratico, and Montescudaio, near Pisa. At the beginning of the 13th century, they led the pro-imperial Ghibelline party of the Pisan republic against the pro-papal Guelf party led by the Visconti family of Milan. The Gherardesca family produced several churchmen

Land Reform

2004-12-12T08:56:00.000-08:00

The concept of land reform has varied over time according to the range of functions which land

Laos, Drainage

2004-12-11T11:38:00.000-08:00

The general slope of the land in Laos is downhill from east to west, and all the major rivers - the Tha, Beng, Ou, Ngum, Kading, Bangfai, Banghiang, and Kong - are tributaries of the Mekong (Lao: M�nam Khong). The Mekong flows generally southeast and south along and through western Laos and forms its boundary with Myanmar and most of the border with Thailand. The course of the river

Seshachalam Hills

2004-12-10T00:36:00.000-08:00

Hill ranges of the eastern Ghats, southern Andhra Pradesh state, southeastern India. Formed during Precambrian time (about 3.8 billion to 540 million years ago), the ranges contain sandstone and shale interbedded with limestone, are highly dissected, and have many longitudinal valleys. They are bounded by the Rayalaseema uplands in the west and northwest and the Nandyal

Saint Andrews

2004-12-09T20:46:00.000-08:00

City, royal burgh (1160), university town, golfing mecca, and former fishing port in Fife council area and historic county, Scotland. Located on St. Andrews Bay of the North Sea 13 miles (20 km) southeast of Dundee, it occupies a plateau of sandstone rock about 50 feet (15 metres) in elevation, which breaks off to the north in precipitous cliffs. The Eden River enters St. Andrews Bay northwest

Hexameter

2004-12-08T04:13:00.000-08:00

A line of verse containing six feet, usually dactyls (� {breve} {breve}). Dactylic hexameter is the oldest known form of Greek poetry and is the preeminent metre of narrative and didactic poetry in Greek and Latin, in which its position is comparable to that of iambic pentameter in English versification. The epics of Homer and of Virgil are composed in dactylic hexameter.