ClearPig

Haviland Crater

2005-04-04T23:37:00.000-07:00

Also called Brenham Crater small, shallow impact crater in farmland near Haviland, Kiowa county, Kansas, U.S. The depression, some 50 feet (15 metres) in diameter, is oval in shape. The first meteorite fragment, now known to be of the strong-iron, or pallasite, type, was found at the site in 1885, but the shallow crater was not identified until 1925 (it is one of the smallest impact craters in the world). Meteoritic fragments,

Adair V. The United States

2005-04-04T13:26:00.000-07:00

(1908), case in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld “yellow dog” contracts forbidding workers from joining labour unions. William Adair of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad fired O.B. Coppage for belonging to a labour union, an action in direct violation of the Erdman Act of 1898, which prohibited railroads engaged in interstate commerce from requiring workers to refrain

China, Resumption of fighting

2005-04-03T03:30:00.000-07:00

Each side seemed convinced that it could win by war what it could not achieve by negotiation—dominance over the other. Despite the efforts of Chinese moderates and General Marshall, fighting resumed in July in Manchuria, and in North China the Nationalists attempted massive drives in Kiangsu and Shantung to break the Communist grip on the railways. The Communists

Berle, Milton

2005-04-02T19:37:00.000-08:00

Berle first appeared on the vaudeville stage at age 10. With his mother's encouragement, he continued in vaudeville throughout his youth, and he also acted in more than 50 silent films.

Germany, Insurance and services

2005-04-02T00:38:00.000-08:00

Health and retirement insurance are compulsory for all hourly workers and salaried employees earning below a certain level of income. Differing rules and rates apply to each group. Employees above a certain salary level or self-employed persons are generally exempt from most obligatory payment systems; however, although the former usually participate in a

Fuchsia

2005-04-01T04:02:00.000-08:00

Genus of about 100 species of flowering shrubs and trees, in the evening primrose family (Onagraceae), native to the tropical and subtropical regions of Central and South America and to New Zealand and Tahiti. Several species are grown in gardens as bedding plants, small shrubs, or miniature treelike specimens; others are grown as pot plants or in hanging baskets

Lipoprotein

2005-03-31T22:24:00.000-08:00

Cholesterol

Arts, Central Asian, Uighurs

2005-03-31T21:36:00.000-08:00

The figural arts found new patrons in eastern Turkistan among the Turkic Uighurs, who while living in T'ang dynasty China had been influenced by Manichaean figurative art. The overthrow in China in AD 846 of Buddhism by official Confucianism forced the Buddhist Uighurs to migrate to eastern Turkistan. Gradually, they gained control over the Tien Shan region, Turfan, and

New Age Movement

2005-03-30T14:22:00.000-08:00

Movement that spread through the occult and metaphysical religious communities in the 1970s and '80s. It looked forward to a “New Age” of love and light and offered a foretaste of the coming era through personal transformation and healing. The movement's strongest supporters were followers of modern esotericism, a religious perspective that is based on the acquisition

Akshak

2005-03-29T22:01:00.000-08:00

Ancient city of Mesopotamia on the northern boundary of Akkad, identified by some authorities with the Babylonian city of Upi (Opis). About 2500 BC Akshak was conquered by Eannatum, king of Lagash. About a century later Akshak temporarily established its hegemony over Sumer and Akkad. The location of Akshak is uncertain, although the Mari letters (from the royal archives

Vaganova, Agrippina (yakovlevna)

2005-03-29T16:02:00.000-08:00

Ballerina and teacher who developed a technique and system of instruction based on the classic style of the Imperial Russian Ballet but which also incorporated aspects of the more vigorous, acrobatic Soviet ballet developed after the Revolution. Her pupils included such outstanding dancers as Marina

Corbeil-essonnes

2005-03-28T23:22:00.000-08:00

Town, Essonne département, Paris region, north central France, at the confluence of the Seine and Essonnes rivers, just southeast of Paris. Corbeil and Essonnes, formerly separate towns, were united in 1951. Corbeil (ancient Corbilium) has a 14th-century gate and the medieval church of Saint-Spire (originally an abbey). An independent county in the Carolingian period, it was annexed

Tibet, Plant and animal life

2005-03-27T00:10:00.000-08:00

The windswept Ch'iang-t'ang is devoid of trees and larger forms of vegetation. Its arid climate supports little except grasses. The varied plant life of Tibet is found in the river valleys and in the lower, wetter regions of the south and southeast. Plant life includes willows, poplars, several types of conifers, teak, rhododendrons, oaks, birches, elms, bamboo, sugarcane,

Tereshkova, Valentina

2005-03-26T17:54:00.000-08:00

Although she had no pilot training, Tereshkova was an accomplished amateur parachutist

La Paz

2005-03-26T16:32:00.000-08:00

City, administrative capital of Bolivia, west-central Bolivia, situated some 42 miles (68 km) southeast of Lake Titicaca. La Paz, which lies between 10,650 and 13,250 feet (3,250 and 4,100 metres) above sea level, is the world's highest national capital. Visitors, upon arrival, find exertion difficult because of the rarefied atmosphere found at these elevations. The centre of the city lies in a deep, broad

Nilo-saharan Languages

2005-03-25T17:05:00.000-08:00

The original expansion of the Nilo-Saharan family may have been associated with the Aquatic industry. This industry, which dates to the 8th millennium BC, is a conglomeration of cultures that exploited the food resources of lakes, rivers, and surrounding areas from Lake Rudolf in East Africa to the bend of the Niger River in West Africa during a long era of wetter climate

Fareham

2005-03-25T11:40:00.000-08:00

Town and borough (district), county of Hampshire, England, at the head of a creek opening into the northwestern corner of Portsmouth Harbour. The district embraces the market town of Fareham and several outlying historic localities. These include Portchester, which was the site of extensive Saxon occupation, a Roman fortress, and a castle built in 1160–72 by Henry II; and Titchfield,

Peter Ii

2005-03-25T10:50:00.000-08:00

Peter married (1204) Mary, lady of Montpellier, and thus greatly extended Aragonese power in southern France. Despite the violent objections of his subjects, he had himself crowned by Pope Innocent III in Rome and declared his kingdom a feudatory of the Holy See (1204). Peter, with other Spanish kings,

Amadeus Viii

2005-03-23T06:52:00.000-08:00

The sudden death of Amadeus VII in 1391 left his eight-year-old son

Cheddar

2005-03-23T04:29:00.000-08:00

Village (“parish”), Sedgemoor district, administrative and historic county of Somerset, England, at the mouth of a spectacular limestone gorge in the Mendip Hills. The gorge (now owned by the National Trust) and caverns, in which human remains and artifacts dating back to the Stone Age have been found, attract many tourists. Cheddar cheese was first made there at or before

Maurice

2005-03-22T02:08:00.000-08:00

Maurice succeeded his father, Duke Henry of Saxony, in 1541. Although a Protestant, he aided the Roman Catholic emperor Charles V against

Manchuria

2005-03-21T17:15:00.000-08:00

Prior to the 17th century, the history of Manchuria was shaped by three converging ethnic groups: the Chinese, the people collectively known as the Tungus, and the Mongols and Proto-Mongols. The Tungus (from which several groups emerged) were forest and plain dwellers who had a mixed economy of primitive agriculture, fishing, hunting, and livestock breeding. Those in Manchuria

Great Lake

2005-03-20T22:35:00.000-08:00

Largest natural freshwater lake in Australia, lying on Tasmania's Central Plateau at an elevation of 3,398 feet (1,036 m). It has an area of 61 square miles (158 square km), measures 14 miles (22 km) by 7 miles (11 km), and fills a shallow depression averaging 40 feet (12 m) in depth. The lake's original catchment basin of 150 square miles (390 square km) has been expanded to 400 square miles (1,040 square km) by the building of several

Offa

2005-03-20T05:11:00.000-08:00

A member of an ancient Mercian ruling family, Offa seized power in the civil war

Afghan Interlude

2005-03-19T14:07:00.000-08:00

In 1722 Mahmud, an Afghan notable and former vassal of the Safavids, attacked and captured Esfahan, the Safavid capital in Iran. The capture of Esfahan marked the eclipse of the Safavid dynasty. Mahmud proclaimed himself ruler of Iran in 1722, and in 1723 he put to

Alabama

2005-03-18T22:10:00.000-08:00

Constituent state of the United States of America. Admitted as the 22nd state in 1819, Alabama comprises 51,705 square miles (133,915 square kilometres) forming a roughly rectangular shape, elongated in a north–south direction. Tennessee is the bordering state to the north, Georgia to the east, and Mississippi to the west. The Florida panhandle blocks Alabama's access to the Gulf of Mexico

Indian Hemp

2005-03-18T22:02:00.000-08:00

Also called Hemp Dogbane (species Apocynum cannabinum), North American plant of the dogbane family Apocynaceae (order Gentianales). It is a branched perennial that grows up to 1.5 m (5 feet) tall and has smooth opposite leaves and small greenish white flowers. Indians used the fibres from the stem to make bags, mats, nets, and cordage. Its milky juice, or latex, yields rubber, and the dried roots of Indian

øvre Divi Valley National Park

2005-03-18T03:13:00.000-08:00

Norwegian Øvre Dividal Nasjonalpark, national park in the eastern part of the Divi valley, Troms county, northern Norway. With an area of 286 square miles (741 square km), it was established in 1971. The landscape varies from lowland forests of pine and birch to low hills and mountain plateaus with lakes and bogs interspersed throughout. A sparse pine forest supports bear, lynx, wolverine, and wolf. Large numbers of tame

Sunspot

2005-03-17T19:50:00.000-08:00

Vortex of gas on the surface of the Sun associated with strong local magnetic activity. Spots look dark only by contrast with the surrounding photosphere, which is several thousand degrees hotter. The dark centre of a spot is called the umbra; the outer, lighter ring, the penumbra. Spots may be several times larger than the Earth or so small that telescopic observation

Coherence

2005-03-17T07:04:00.000-08:00

A fixed relationship between the phase of waves in a beam of radiation of a single frequency. Two beams of light are coherent when the phase difference between their waves is constant; they are noncoherent if there is a random or changing phase relationship. Stable interference patterns are formed only by radiation emitted by coherent sources, ordinarily produced

Khartoum

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

Arabic Al-Khurtum (“Elephant's Trunk”), city, executive capital of The Sudan, just south of the confluence of the Blue and White Nile rivers. It has bridge connections with its sister towns, Khartoum North and Omdurman, with which it forms The Sudan's largest conurbation. Originally an Egyptian army camp (pitched 1821), Khartoum grew into a garrisoned army town. The Mahdists besieged and destroyed

New Glarus

2005-03-16T00:54:00.000-08:00

Village, Green County, southern Wisconsin, U.S., on a branch of the Sugar River, 22 mi (35 km) southwest of Madison. Founded in 1845 by 193 immigrants from the canton of Glarus in Switzerland who had been driven from their homes by famine, it was organized on a semi-communal basis, with mineral rights and all streams and springs owned in common and the land apportioned by lot. The village (inc.

India, The Bangladesh war

2005-03-14T18:54:00.000-08:00

In December 1970 Pakistan held general elections, its first since independence. The Awami League, headed by East Pakistan's popular Bengali leader Mujibur Rahman (Sheikh Mujib; 1920–75), won a majority of seats in the new assembly, but West Pakistan's chief martial law administrator and president, General Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan, refused to honour the democratic choice of his

Aeolic Dialect

2005-03-14T00:47:00.000-08:00

Any of several dialects of Ancient Greek that were spoken in Thessaly, Boeotia, and, after approximately 1000 Bc in Asiatic Aeolis, including the island of Lesbos, where Aeolian colonists from the mainland founded their cities. West Thessalian and especially Boeotian varieties of Aeolic were influenced by the neighbouring West Greek (Doric) dialects, whereas Asiatic Aeolic was influenced by Ionic. The Lesbian poets Alcaeus (c. 620–c. 580 BC) and Sappho (fl. c. 610–c. 580 BC) used their vernacular Asiatic

Saint Vincent And The Grenadines

2005-03-14T00:06:00.000-08:00

In August 1997 a U.S. couple, James and Penella Fletcher, were freed on a charge of having murdered a St. Vincent boat-taxi operator when a judge ruled there was insufficient evidence

Rob Roy

2005-03-13T21:33:00.000-08:00

Rob's father, Donald MacGregor, a younger

Cincinnati, University Of

2005-03-13T21:13:00.000-08:00

Public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. A comprehensive research and arts university, it offers undergraduate and graduate study in business, applied science, engineering, education, social work, nursing, design, architecture, arts, and sciences. Professional programs are available at the Cincinnati College of Law, the University

East Chicago

2005-03-13T13:21:00.000-08:00

Industrial city and port, Lake county, northwestern Indiana, U.S., adjoining Gary, Hammond, and Whiting. It is a part of the Chicago-Calumet industrialized metropolitan complex. Laid out in 1887, its industrial development was stimulated by construction of Indiana Harbor, connected with the Grand Calumet River by a 3-mile (5-kilometre) ship canal and including an extensive system

Biblical Literature, New Testament canon, texts, and versions

2005-03-13T11:53:00.000-08:00

(Canon): For the relevant primary texts on the history of the canon, see Daniel J. Theron (ed.), Evidence of Tradition (1957), with selected source material in Greek or Latin with English translation; and James Stevenson (ed.), A New Eusebius (1957). For introductions, see Alexander Souter and C.S.C. Williams, The Text and Canon of the New Testament, 2nd ed. rev. (1954); and Robert M. Grant, The Formation of the New Testament (1965). For a phenomenological approach, see Gerardus van der Leeuw, Phänomenologie der Religion, 2nd ed., 2 vol. (1956; Eng. trans., Religion in Essence and Manifestation, 2nd ed., 2 vol., 1963), ch. 64. (Texts): The major text for further study is Bruce H. Metzger, The Text of the New Testament (1964). (Translations): On translation in general, see Reuben A. Brower (ed.), On Translation (1959). For translation of the Bible into English, see Frederick F. Bruce, The English Bible: A History of Translations from the Earliest English Versions to the New English Bible, 2nd ed. (1970).

Paulician

2005-03-11T19:32:00.000-08:00

The fundamental

Montcalm (de Saint-véran), Louis-joseph De Montcalm-grozon, Marquis De

2005-03-11T17:16:00.000-08:00

In the War

Iridium

2005-03-11T11:57:00.000-08:00

(Ir), chemical element, one of the platinum metals of Group VIII of the periodic table. It is very dense and rare and is used in platinum alloys. A precious, silver-white metal, iridium is hard and brittle, but it becomes ductile and can be worked at a white heat, from 1,200° to 1,500° C (2,200° to 2,700° F). It is one of the densest terrestrial substances. In the massive state the metal is practically insoluble

Conservation, The Antarctic Treaty

2005-03-10T17:52:00.000-08:00

The Antarctic continent remained unknown and unexplored during the period when most other parts of the world were being claimed and colonized by European powers. Uninhabited and, until recently, of little or no value to any country, Antarctica never became an area for international dispute. Although segments of the continent and sub-Antarctic islands have been

Mina

2005-03-09T22:36:00.000-08:00

The earliest of all known units of weight, created by the Babylonians and used by the Hittites, Phoenicians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Hebrews, and Greeks. Its weight and relationship to its major subdivisions varied at different times and places in the ancient world. In one surviving form, from the Babylonian period, the mina weighs about 640 grams, while in another it weighs

Novara, Battle Of

2005-03-08T15:22:00.000-08:00

(March 23, 1849), battle of the first Italian War of Independence in which 70,000 Austrian troops under Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky thoroughly defeated 100,000 poorly trained Italian troops (not all of whom were actually employed in the battle) under Charles Albert, king of Sardinia-Piedmont. It was fought at Novara, 28 miles (45 km) west of Milan, 11 days after Charles Albert had denounced the armistice

Carthage

2005-03-08T08:11:00.000-08:00

City, seat of Hancock county, western Illinois, U.S., near the Mississippi River. Laid out in 1833 and named for the ancient North African city, the community was hostile to the Mormons who had settled at nearby Nauvoo. On June 27, 1844, Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, and his brother Hyrum, who were in the Carthage City Jail awaiting trial on charges of treason, were shot to death

Chaucer, Geoffrey

2005-03-08T06:04:00.000-08:00

The outstanding English poet before Shakespeare and “the first finder of our language.” His The Canterbury Tales ranks as one of the greatest poetic works in English. He also contributed importantly in the second half of the 14th century to the management of public affairs as courtier, diplomat, and civil servant. In that career he was trusted and

World Affairs, Dues.

2005-03-07T23:19:00.000-08:00

On December 22, the UN tentatively agreed to the U.S. figures on dues after Ted Turner, founder of the Cable News Network and a Time Warner vice-chairman, offered to pay the $34 million shortfall for the year 2001 created by reducing the U.S. share of the UN administrative budget from 25% to 22% and its share of the peacekeeping budget from 31% to about 27%. The U.S. indebtedness to the UN stood at $1.3 billion

Carmel

2005-03-07T08:21:00.000-08:00

Also called Carmel-by-the-sea, city, Monterey county, western California, U.S., on the Carmel River and Carmel Bay, adjacent to Monterey. The river was named by the Spanish explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno and a group of Carmelite friars in 1602. The nearby Mission San Carlos Borroméo del Río Carmelo was founded in 1770 at Monterey by the Spanish Franciscan missionary Junípero Serra; it was moved to the Carmel area

Pa Hsien

2005-03-07T08:04:00.000-08:00

In Chinese art they sometimes also

Aesthetics, India

2005-03-05T15:08:00.000-08:00

The disparagement of the sensory realm as mere illusion (“the veil of Maya”), characteristic of much Indian religion, went hand in hand with a philosophy of embodiment (karma), which gave a distinctive role to art both as an instrument of worship and as an earthly delight. The legends of the great god Krishna abound in exaggerated fantasies of erotic and physical power;

Rivoli

2005-03-04T15:54:00.000-08:00

Town, Torino provincia, Piemonte (Piedmont) regione, northwestern Italy, just west of Turin (Torino). Once the favourite resort of the counts of Savoy, the town is dominated by a castle begun by Victor Amadeus II, king of Sicily and Sardinia, in 1712 on the site of an older structure. The house of the Green Count (Amadeus VI), dating from the 14th–15th century, is typical of the elegant patrician

Amphibian, Adaptations

2005-03-04T11:41:00.000-08:00

The amphibian eye has a lid, associated glands and ducts, and muscles that allow accommodation as well as depth perception and true colour vision. These adaptations are regarded as the first evolutionary improvements in vertebrate terrestrial vision. Green rods in the retina, which permit perception of a wide range of wavelengths, are found only in amphibians.

Religion

2005-03-04T04:59:00.000-08:00

The year 2002 saw an explosion of scandals involving accusations of sexual abuse and cover-ups in the Roman Catholic Church in countries including Australia, Ireland, Poland, and the U.S. (See Sidebar.) The developments spurred resignations and expulsions of some prominent church leaders and led the pope to say in April that there was “no place in the priesthood and religious

Bakony Mountains

2005-03-03T06:37:00.000-08:00

Mountain range in western Hungary, covering about 1,500 square miles (4,000 square km) between Lake Balaton and the Little Alfold and running southwest-northeast for 70 miles (110 km) from the Zala River. The range forms the major component of the highlands of Dunántúl, or Transdanubia (the Bakony, Vértes, Gerecse, Budai and Pilis, and Visegrád mountains). The Keszthely and Balatoni

France, History Of, Charles VII

2005-03-02T23:39:00.000-08:00

Charles VI's son, Charles VII (ruled 1422–61), for his part, did not fail to claim his inheritance, though he had no proper coronation. Residing at Bourges, which his adversaries pretended was the extent of his realm, he in fact retained the fidelity of the greater part of France, including Berry, Poitou, Lyonnais, Auvergne, and Languedoc. For a time the Valois cause suffered from the

Dubois, Eugène

2005-03-02T04:09:00.000-08:00

Appointed lecturer in anatomy at the University of Amsterdam (1886), Dubois investigated the comparative anatomy of the larynx in vertebrates but became increasingly interested in human evolution. In 1887 he went to the East Indies

Macarius Magnes

2005-03-02T03:26:00.000-08:00

Of Macarius' origin and career, nothing is known except that he is probably identified with the bishop of Magnesia, later Manisa, Tur., who, at the Synod of the

Waialeale, Mount

2005-02-28T20:03:00.000-08:00

Peak, central Kauai Island, Hawaii, U.S. Waialeale (“Rippling Water”), with a height of 5,148 feet (1,569 m), is a dissected (eroded) dome that is part of a central mountain mass which includes Kawaikini (5,243 feet [1,598 m]), the island's highest peak, immediately south. Waialeale is located at the southeastern edge of an extinct caldera that is now a plateau called Alakai Swamp. Shrouded in clouds, Waialeale

Sacramento

2005-02-28T19:30:00.000-08:00

City, capital of California, U.S., seat (1850) of Sacramento county, in the Central Valley, where the Sacramento and American rivers meet. John Augustus Sutter established the colony of New Helvetia in 1839 on the site, a Mexican land grant, and between 1840 and 1842 built a palisaded trading post known as Sutter's Fort. His community, initially populated by fellow Swiss immigrants, prospered

Communist Party Of Cuba

2005-02-28T09:06:00.000-08:00

The Cuban Communist Party (Partido Comunista Cubano) was

Moseley, Henry Gwyn Jeffreys

2005-02-28T01:48:00.000-08:00

Educated at Trinity College, Oxford, Moseley in 1910 was appointed lecturer

Law, Crime, And Law Enforcement, International Organizations.

2005-02-27T15:48:00.000-08:00

New regional organizations included the Arctic Council, which was inaugurated in September and comprised Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Russia, and the U.S.; the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, the Saami Council, and the Russian Association of Indigenous Minorities of the North, Siberia, and the Far East were named as "permanent participants." The council

Orangeburg

2005-02-27T00:03:00.000-08:00

Waialeale, Mount

2005-02-26T19:44:00.000-08:00

The EEC was created in 1957 by the Treaty of Rome, which was signed by Belgium

Haberler, Gottfried Von

2005-02-26T08:03:00.000-08:00

Haberler studied economics at the University of Vienna under Friedrich von Wieser and Ludwig von Mises, receiving his doctorate in 1925. After further study in England and the United

Shaker Furniture

2005-02-25T00:56:00.000-08:00

Furniture designed for the religious colonies of Shakers founded in America in the last quarter of the 18th century, characterized by austerity of decoration and truth to materials. Deeply dedicated to ideals of communal living and asceticism, the Shakers designed and constructed furniture that reflected their belief that to make a thing well was in itself an

Campaign Furniture

2005-02-25T00:13:00.000-08:00

Case furniture was usually teak,

Bélain, Pierre, Sieur D'esnambuc

2005-02-24T09:38:00.000-08:00

Born in Normandy, Bélain founded (1625 or 1627) a short-lived French colony on St. Kitts, which was then occupied by the British. He landed on the site of Saint-Pierre, Martinique, on Sept.

Bonavista

2005-02-24T07:43:00.000-08:00

An important cod- and salmon-fishing port, the town has modern fish-drying, filleting,

Stieglitz, Alfred

2005-02-23T08:24:00.000-08:00

American photographer, passionate advocate of photography as an art, and a pioneer exhibitor of modern art in the United States. In 1902 he founded the seminal Photo-Secession Group as a protest against the conventional photography of the time. Stieglitz' own best photographs are the 400-print series of his wife, Georgia O'Keeffe, and his

Marzuq

2005-02-22T07:15:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Murzuk, oasis, southwestern Libya. It lies on the northern edge of the Sahra' Marzuq (“Sea of Sand”). An ancient assembly place for caravans to Lake Chad and the Niger River, it was the traditional capital of the Fezzan province (16th–19th century) and a centre of the Arab slave and arms trade. Once called the “Paris of the Desert,” it was a base for Saharan explorers, including Frederick Hornemann

Toprakkala

2005-02-22T05:49:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Topraq-qal'ah, or Toprak Kale, site of a Khwarezmian walled city near modern Dashhowuz in Uzbekistan. The city was inhabited from about the 1st century BC until the 6th century AD, a period during which Khwarezm was an independent feudal state. A palace at Toprakkala, which may have been the capital of that state, contained lifelike paintings and sculptures executed in a style reflecting the influence

Bahrain

2005-02-22T02:43:00.000-08:00

Bahrain has been inhabited since prehistoric times, and several thousand burial mounds in the northern part of the main island probably date from the Sumerian period of the 3rd millennium BC. It was the seat of ancient

United Nations

2005-02-21T16:34:00.000-08:00

On several occasions during 1999 United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan acknowledged failures in UN actions and risked member states' ire by bringing forward important issues that they had acted badly upon or failed to act upon at all. In September he rebuked the U.S. Senate for rejecting the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and suggested that Israel had been singled

Disk Bat

2005-02-21T11:10:00.000-08:00

Disk bats are distinguished by round pads at the base of the thumb and on the sole of the

älvsborg

2005-02-20T08:09:00.000-08:00

Former län (county) of southwestern Sweden, located to the west and south of Lake Vänern. Formed as a county in 1634, it was merged with the counties of Göteborg och Bohus and Skaraborg in 1998 to form the county of Västra Götaland.

Hinduism, Challenges to Brahmanism (7th-2nd century BC)

2005-02-20T04:57:00.000-08:00

The century from about 550 BC onward was a period of great change in the religious life of India. This century saw the rise of breakaway sects of ascetics who denied the authority of the Vedas and of the Brahmans and who followed founders claiming to have discovered the secret of obtaining release from transmigration. By far the most important of these were Siddhartha Gautama,

Cold Harbor, Battles Of

2005-02-19T23:27:00.000-08:00

The first battle (June 27, 1862), sometimes called the Battle of Gaines's Mill, was part of the Seven Days' Battles (June 25–July 1), which ended the Peninsular Campaign (April 4–July 1), the large-scale Union effort to take Richmond. After fighting at Mechanicsville

Robert

2005-02-19T19:07:00.000-08:00

Byname Robert Guiscard, or Robert De Hauteville, Italian Roberto Guiscardo, or Roberto D'altavilla Norman adventurer who settled in Apulia, in southern Italy, about 1047 and became duke of Apulia (1059). He eventually extended Norman rule over Naples, Calabria, and Sicily and laid the foundations of the Kingdom of Sicily.

Anglo-norman Literature

2005-02-19T14:57:00.000-08:00

In the 12th century the oldest substantial Anglo-Norman prose work, “The Book of Kings,” was written in England, as were many versions of the Psalter. Sanson de Nanteuil translated into verse the proverbs of Solomon, with commentary; and in the 13th century Robert of Greatham wrote the “Sunday Gospels” for a noble lady. The same century saw the beginning of the magnificent series

Niza, Marcos De

2005-02-18T03:01:00.000-08:00

Niza went to the Americas in 1531 and served in Peru, Guatemala, and Mexico. At Culiacán, Mex., he freed Indian slaves from regions to the north. Under orders from the viceroy Antonio de Mendoza, Niza and a Moor, Esteban,

Daniel, Gabriel

2005-02-17T15:58:00.000-08:00

Daniel entered the Society of Jesus in 1667, later became librarian of the professed house at Paris, and was appointed historiographer of France by King Louis XIV. In this last capacity he wrote a pioneering work, Histoire de France depuis l'établissement de la monarchie

Cordierite

2005-02-16T17:05:00.000-08:00

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

Earth, The geomagnetic dynamo

2005-02-16T10:58:00.000-08:00

Observations of the magnetic field of the Earth's surface indicate that more than 90 percent of this field arises from sources internal to the planet. A variety of mechanisms for generating this field have been proposed, but at present only the geomagnetic dynamo is seriously considered. In the dynamo mechanism, fluid motion in the core moves conducting material

Ch'i-ying

2005-02-16T07:25:00.000-08:00

A member of the Imperial family of the Ch'ing dynasty (1644–1912), Ch'i-ying served in various high governmental positions before being sent to the east-central Chinese city of Nanking in 1842 to negotiate a treaty with the

Adam, Robert

2005-02-14T17:05:00.000-08:00

Robert was the second son of William Adam, the foremost Scottish architect of his time. William, who as master mason to the Board of Ordnance in North Britain supervised the design of military buildings, also designed numerous country houses in a conservative Palladian style—the modified classic Roman style that was originally developed by the 16th-century architect

Madinat Habu

2005-02-14T16:43:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Medinet Habu, southernmost part of the necropolis region of western Thebes in Upper Egypt, although the name often refers specifically to the mortuary temple built there by Ramses III (1187–56 BC). (See Thebes.) This temple, which was also dedicated to the god Amon, was carved with religious scenes and portrayals of Ramses' wars against the Libyans and the Sea Peoples. It was situated within a

Viète, François, Seigneur (lord) De La Bigotiere

2005-02-14T14:57:00.000-08:00

Viète, a Huguenot sympathizer, solved a complex cipher of more than 500 characters used by King Philip II of Spain in his war to defend Roman Catholicism from the Huguenots. When Philip, assuming that the cipher could

Cabrera Infante, Guillermo

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

In the 1940s Cabrera Infante moved to Havana with his impoverished

Allen, Florence Ellinwood

2005-02-12T14:04:00.000-08:00

Allen was a descendant of American Revolutionary War hero Ethan Allen. She graduated from Western Reserve University's College for Women in 1904 and for two years studied music in Berlin. An injury prevented

Dom

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

Also called Domra, or Domb, widespread and versatile caste of scavengers, musicians, vagabonds, traders, and, sometimes, weavers in northern India and the Himalayas. Some scholars regard the Doms as originating from an aboriginal tribe. They list seven endogamous subcastes. The Doms are completely outside Brahminic control. They have their own deities and an elaborate demonology. Considerable

Jackson, William

2005-02-12T05:03:00.000-08:00

Jackson was organist and choirmaster at Exeter cathedral from 1777. His best-known other compositions are Twelve Songs (1755) and Twelve Canzonets for Two Voices (c. 1770). His name is also associated with an Anglican service of dubious authenticity,

Tocantins

2005-02-11T20:12:00.000-08:00

Inland estado (“state”) of north-central Brazil. A part of the sparsely settled Central-West region, Tocantins is bounded by the states of Maranhão and Piauí to the northeast, Bahia to the east, Goiás to the south, Mato Grosso to the west, and Pará to the northwest. Tocantins was created from the northern half of Goiás (q.v.) state in 1989. Its area is 107,075 square miles (277,322 square km). The capital

Aquaviva, Claudio

2005-02-11T04:34:00.000-08:00

He was elected general in 1581, and his major political achievement

Misrule, Lord Of

2005-02-10T22:34:00.000-08:00

Also called Abbot Of Misrule, or King Of Misrule, official of the late medieval and early Tudor period in England, who was specially appointed to manage the Christmas festivities held at court, in the houses of great noblemen, in the law schools of the Inns of Court, and in many of the colleges at the universities of Cambridge and Oxford. During his reign, which lasted anywhere from 12 days to 3 months, the Lord of Misrule

Murat, Joachim

2005-02-10T10:14:00.000-08:00

The son of an innkeeper, he studied briefly for a career in the church but enlisted in a cavalry regiment in 1787 and, when war broke out in 1792, won rapid promotion. In October 1795 he was

Adams, Ansel

2005-02-09T03:06:00.000-08:00

Originally a student of music, Adams pursued photography as an avocation until 1927. In that year he published his first portfolio, Parmellian Prints of the High Sierras, photographs in the style

Wyler, William

2005-02-08T20:57:00.000-08:00

The son of a Swiss-born merchant in Alsace, Wyler attended the École Supérieure de Commerce in Lausanne, Switz., and the

Gypsisol

2005-02-08T15:15:00.000-08:00

One of the 30 soil groups in the classification system of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Gypsisols are characterized by a subsurface layer of gypsum (a hydrated calcium sulfate) accumulated by the precipitation of calcium and sulfate from downward percolating waters in the soil profile. With intensive management, irrigated crops can be grown on these