RightPot

K.c.b.

2005-10-15T13:35:00.000-07:00

Knight commander of the Bath, member of the second highest rank of knightly class in a British order of knighthood. See Bath, The Most Honourable Order of the.

Neosho

2005-07-28T11:25:00.000-07:00

City, seat (1839) of Newton county, southwest Missouri, U.S. It lies in the Ozark Mountains, 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Joplin. Founded in 1839, its name, of Osage Indian derivation, meaning “clear and abundant water,” probably refers to the nine flowing springs (the largest of which is at Big Spring State Park) within the city limits. During the American Civil War, Neosho was the scene of many

Elizabethan Literature

2005-07-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

Body of works written during the reign of Elizabeth I of England (1558–1603), probably the most splendid age in the history of English literature, during which such writers as Sir Philip Sidney, Edmund Spenser, Roger Ascham, Richard Hooker, Christopher Marlowe, and William Shakespeare flourished. The epithet Elizabethan is merely a chronological reference and does not describe

Price-mars, Jean

2005-07-24T05:55:00.000-07:00

Among his ethnological writings is Ainsi parla l'oncle (1928; new ed., 1954; “Thus Spoke the Uncle”), a collection of essays

Kyanite

2005-07-07T07:20:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Cyanite, also called Disthene, silicate mineral that is formed during the regional metamorphism of clay-rich sediments. It is an indicator of deep burial of a terrain rather than high stress, as formerly thought. Kyanite occurs as elongated blades principally in gneisses and schists, and it is often accompanied by garnet, quartz, and mica. Its colour ranges from gray-green to black or blue, with blue

Zaharias, Babe Didrikson

2005-07-05T00:55:00.000-07:00

William Oscar Johnson and Nancy P. Williamson, "Whatta-Gal": The Babe Didrikson Story (1977); and Susan E. Cayleff, Babe: The Life and Legend of Babe Didrikson Zaharias (1995), examine her life and career.

Hadera

2005-06-13T19:40:00.000-07:00

City, western Israel. It lies on the Plain of Sharon midway between Tel Aviv–Yafo and Haifa, near the Mediterranean Sea. The first Jewish settlement on the northern coastal plain, Hadera (from Arabic khadhir, “green”) was founded in 1890 by Jewish immigrants from tsarist-ruled Poland and Lithuania. The seasonal watercourse Nahal Hadera (then called by its Arabic name of Nahr Mufjir),

Ryder Cup

2005-06-02T14:55:00.000-07:00

The trophy was donated by Samuel Ryder, a British seed merchant, for a biennial golf competition to alternate between British and U.S. venues.

Mars-la-tour And Gravelotte, Battles Of

2005-05-31T09:45:00.000-07:00

(Aug. 16–18, 1870), two major engagements of the Franco-German War in which the 130,000-man French Army of the Rhine, under Marshal Achille-François Bazaine, failed to break through the two German armies under General Helmuth von Moltke and were bottled up in the fortress of Metz. It was followed by the Count de Mac-Mahon's abortive attempt to rescue Bazaine, which ended in Mac-Mahon's crushing

Botvinnik, Mikhail Moiseyevich

2005-05-14T22:25:00.000-07:00

Soviet chess grandmaster (b. Aug. 17 [Aug. 4, Old Style], 1911, Kuokkala, near St. Petersburg, Russia--d. May 5, 1995, Moscow, Russia), was the first Soviet world chess champion (1948-57, 1958-60, 1961-63). Botvinnik learned chess at the relatively advanced age of 12, but within two years he had defeated the reigning world champion, José Raúl Capablanca of Cuba, in an exhibition match. In 1931 he won the first of seven national championships.

Guadalajara

2005-03-15T09:39:00.000-08:00

Province, in the autonomous community (region) of Castile-La Mancha, central Spain, occupying part of the uptilted northeastern edge of the Meseta Central (plateau). In the north are highlands that reach their greatest elevations in Cerro de San Felipe (7,214 feet [2,199 metres]), and other spurs of the Sierra de Guadarrama. In the south, the land slopes into the plateau basin of New Castile.

East Malaysia

2005-03-14T01:07:00.000-08:00

Wing of the 13-state federation of Malaysia; it consists of the states of Sabah and Sarawak on the northern part of the island of Borneo and is separated from mainland Peninsular, or West, Malaysia on the Malay Peninsula by some 400 miles (640 km) of the South China Sea. Pop. (1991 prelim.) 3,385,119.

Fructose

2005-03-12T09:33:00.000-08:00

A member of a group of carbohydrates known as simple sugars, or monosaccharides. Fructose, along with glucose, occurs in fruits, honey, and syrups; it also occurs in certain vegetables. It is a component, along with glucose, of the disaccharide sucrose, or common table sugar. Phosphate derivatives of fructose (e.g., fructose-1-phosphate, fructose-1,6-diphosphate) are important

Young, Andrew

2005-03-07T11:29:00.000-08:00

Young was reared in a middle-class black family, attended segregated Southern schools, and later entered Howard University (Washington, D.C.) as a premed student. But he turned to the ministry and graduated in 1955 from the Hartford Theological Seminary (Hartford, Conn.) with a divinity

R�mnicu V�lcea

2005-03-06T18:32:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �R�mnicu V�lcea, � city, capital of V�lcea judet (county), south-central Romania, on the Olt River. Documented as a town in the late 14th century, it was a local market town during the Middle Ages. Historic buildings in the city include the house of Anton Pann, folklorist and writer; a fortified church, Cetatuia; and the local museum, with art and history sections. Since World War II R�mnicu V�lcea has

Ocean, The subtropical gyres

2005-03-05T02:12:00.000-08:00

These are anticyclonic circulation features. The Ekman transport within these gyres forces surface water to sink, giving rise to the subtropical convergence near 20� - 30� latitude. The centre of the subtropical gyre is shifted to the west. This westward intensification of ocean currents was explained by the American meteorologist and oceanographer Henry M. Stommel

Suchet, Louis-gabriel, Duke (duc) D'albufera Da Valencia

2005-03-04T05:59:00.000-08:00

The son of a Lyon silk manufacturer, Suchet originally had intended to follow his father's business; but, having in 1792 served as a volunteer in the cavalry of the national guard, he manifested military

Extremum

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

Plural �Extrema,� in calculus, any point at which the value of a function is largest (a maximum) or smallest (a minimum). There are both absolute and relative (or local) maxima and minima. At a relative maximum the value of the function is larger than its value at immediately adjacent points, while at an absolute maximum the value of the function is larger than its value at any other point in

Puglia

2005-03-02T09:42:00.000-08:00

Also called �Apulia, � regione, southeastern Italy. It extends from the Fortore River in the northwest to Cape Santa Maria di Leuca at the tip of the Salentine Peninsula (the �heel� of Italy) and comprises the provincie of Foggia, Bari, Taranto, Brindisi, and Lecce. The northern third of the region is centred on the Puglia Tableland, which is flanked on the north by the limestone massif of Gargano

Selkirk, Alexander

2005-03-01T08:08:00.000-08:00

The son of a shoemaker, Selkirk ran away to sea in 1695; he joined a band of buccaneers in the Pacific and by 1703 was sailing master of a galley on a privateering expedition. In September 1704, after a quarrel with his captain, he was put ashore at his own request

Caucasian Languages

2005-02-28T15:34:00.000-08:00

Also called �Paleo-Caucasian, �or �Ibero-Caucasian, � group of languages indigenous to Transcaucasia and adjacent areas of the Caucasus region, between the Black and Caspian seas. As used in this article, the term excludes the Indo-European (Armenian, Ossetic, Talysh, Kurdish, Tat) and Turkic languages (Azerbaijani, Kumyk, Noghay, Karachay, Balkar) and some other languages of the area, all of which were introduced to the Caucasus

Pabst, G.w.

2005-02-27T00:44:00.000-08:00

In full �Georg Wilhelm Pabst� German film director whose films were among the most artistically successful of the 1920s. Pabst's films are marked by social and political concerns, deep psychological insight, memorable female protagonists, and human conflicts with culture and society. He is also noted for

Aschelminth

2005-02-26T11:20:00.000-08:00

There is a much larger literature on the nematodes than other aschelminths because of their importance to humans. Introductory works include Neil A. Croll and Bernard E. Matthews, Biology of Nematodes (1977); Armand Maggenti, General Nematology (1981); Warwick L. Nicholas, The Biology of Free-Living Nematodes, 2nd ed. (1984); and George O. Poinar, Jr., The Natural History of Nematodes (1983). Parasitic forms are discussed in William R. Nickle (ed.), Plant and Insect Nematodes (1984); Gerald D. Schmidt and Larry S. Roberts, Foundations of Parasitology, 3rd ed. (1985); and Norman D. Levine, Nematode Parasites of Domestic Animals and Man (1980). Nematodes in biologic research are the subject of Bert M. Zuckerman (ed.), Nematodes as Biological Models, 2 vol. (1980).

Scad

2005-02-25T11:59:00.000-08:00

Any of several species of fishes in the family Carangidae (order Perciformes), which also includes the jacks, amberjacks, and pompanos. The name scad is usually restricted to certain species in the genera Decapterus, Selar, and Trachurus. The half dozen species are marine and occur along the Atlantic coast of the Americas, except for the Mexican scad (D. scombrinus), which

Abu Nidal

2005-02-24T23:50:00.000-08:00

Abu Nidal and his family fled Palestine after the 1948 war following the creation of the state

Aries

2005-02-23T14:32:00.000-08:00

Aries contains no very bright stars. The first point of Aries, or vernal equinox, is an intersection of the

The Woman Citizen

2005-02-22T20:14:00.000-08:00

American weekly periodical, one of the most influential women's publications of the early decades of the 20th century. It came into existence as a result of a substantial bequest from Mrs. Frank Leslie to Carrie Chapman Catt, the head of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). According to the terms of the bequest, the money was to be used to further the

Anthropology And Archaeology, Eastern Hemisphere.

2005-02-21T10:09:00.000-08:00

The year 2002 yielded a number of stunning archaeological discoveries. A 50-cm (20-in)-long limestone ossuary, or box for storage of bones, bearing a text in Aramaic, was hailed as the first archaeological evidence for the historical Jesus. The ossuary, found near Jerusalem, was carved with a single line of text reading, �Ya'akov bar Yosef akhui diYeshua,� or �James, son of Joseph, brother

Shahadah

2005-02-20T21:18:00.000-08:00

(Arabic: �testimony�), the Muslim profession of faith: �There is no god but Allah; Muhammad is the prophet of Allah.� The shahadah is the first of the five Pillars of Islam (arkan al-Islam). It must be recited by every Muslim at least once in a lifetime, aloud, correctly, and purposively, with a full understanding of its meaning and with an assent of the heart.

Ma, Yo-yo

2005-02-19T16:09:00.000-08:00

One of the most publicized events in classical music in 1998 was the release of Chinese-American superstar Yo-Yo Ma's recording of the six suites for unaccompanied cello by Johann Sebastian Bach along with six related films created with artists in other media. Ma collaborated on the project with, among others, landscape architect Julie Moir Messervy, director Fran�

Disciples Of Christ

2005-02-17T18:32:00.000-08:00

The Churches of Christ emphasize rigorous adherence to the New Testament as the model for Christian faith, practice, and fellowship. They

Breadalbane And Holland, John Campbell, 1st Earl Of

2005-02-16T14:01:00.000-08:00

The son of Sir John Campbell of Glenorchy, 4th Baronet (d. 1686), he took part in the Royalist uprising under the Earl of Glencairn in 1654 and later encouraged the restoration of Charles II in 1660. Charles created him earl of Caithness and viscount of Breadalbane in 1677; but, when this

Rotimi, Ola

2005-02-15T22:16:00.000-08:00

Rotimi was born to an Ijaw mother and a Yoruba father, and cultural diversity was a frequent theme in his work. Educated in Nigeria in Port Harcourt and Lagos, he traveled to the United States in 1959 to study at Boston University. After receiving a B.A. in fine arts in 1963, he attended the Yale School

Meta River

2005-02-14T19:25:00.000-08:00

Major tributary of the Orinoco in eastern Colombia and western Venezuela. Formed in Meta department, Colombia, by the junction of the Up�a and Guayuriba rivers, which descend from the eastern slopes of the Cordillera Oriental of the Andes, the Meta meanders east-northeastward across the Llanos (plains) of northern South America. At Nueva Antioquia, Colom., the river

Gondomar, Diego Sarmiento De Acu�a, Count (conde) De

2005-02-13T13:32:00.000-08:00

Gondomar's diplomatic fame rests largely on two missions to England (1613 - 18 and 1620 - 22). The chief objective of his first mission was to persuade James I to abandon his alliance with France and the Protestant countries on the Continent and to form an alliance

Ionosphere

2005-02-12T17:30:00.000-08:00

Region of the Earth's atmosphere in which the number of ions, or electrically charged particles - resulting from the action of extraterrestrial (primarily solar) radiation on the neutral atoms and molecules of the air - is large enough to affect the propagation of radio waves. The ionosphere begins at a height of about 50 km (30 miles) above the surface but is most distinct

Kuching

2005-02-11T05:00:00.000-08:00

Town, capital and chief port of Sarawak, East Malaysia, on northwestern Borneo. The town was founded in 1839 by James (later Sir James) Brooke, who became ruler of Sarawak with the title of raja. He built the town's first European-style house on the jungled southern bank of the muddy, crocodile-infested Sarawak River, 15 miles (24 km) from the South China Sea. Now a busy administrative

Harden, Sir Arthur

2005-02-10T16:46:00.000-08:00

After studies at Manchester and at Erlangen, Germany, Harden became a lecturer-demonstrator at the University of Manchester (1888 - 97). He took charge of the

Sinkiang, Uygur Autonomous Region Of, The people

2005-02-09T06:04:00.000-08:00

The Han migration altered the pattern of population distribution and ethnic composition

Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl Of, Baron Cooper Of Pawlett, Baron Ashley Of Wimborne St. Giles

2005-02-08T10:47:00.000-08:00

He was the eldest son of Cropley Cooper (a younger brother of the 5th Earl of Shaftesbury) and of Anne, daughter of the 4th Duke of Marlborough. He became Lord

Ford Foundation

2005-02-07T19:03:00.000-08:00

American philanthropic foundation, established in 1936 with gifts and bequests from Henry Ford and his son Edsel. At its peak it had assets of more than $4,000,000,000. Its chief concerns have been international affairs (particularly population control and the alleviation of food shortages), communications (especially public television), humanities and the arts, and, in later years,

Knaben Wunderhorn, Des

2005-02-06T00:30:00.000-08:00

(1805 - 08; German: �The Boy's Magic Horn�), anthology of German folk songs, subtitled Alte deutsche Lieder (�Old German Songs�), that established its editors, the poet Clemens Brentano and the antiquarian Achim von Arnim (qq.v.), as leaders of the Romantic movement by reviving enthusiasm for the Volkslied (�folk song,� or �peasant song�) tradition in German lyric poetry. Reputedly genuine folk

Wolsey, Thomas, Cardinal

2005-02-04T09:25:00.000-08:00

The son of a butcher of Ipswich, Wolsey was educated at the University of Oxford. In 1498 he was ordained

Khitan

2005-02-03T10:32:00.000-08:00

Any member of a Mongol people that ruled Manchuria and part of North China from the 10th to the early 12th century under the Liao dynasty (q.v.). See also Manchuria.

Pap Smear

2005-02-02T17:54:00.000-08:00

Also called �Papanicolaou smear� laboratory method of obtaining secretions from the cervix for the examination of cast-off epithelial cells to detect the presence of cancer. The Pap smear, named for Greek-born American physician George Papanicolaou, is notably reliable in detecting the early stages of cancer in the uterine cervix. Two specimens are usually taken for laboratory staining and

Babylonian Exile

2005-02-01T06:50:00.000-08:00

Also called �Babylonian Captivity, � the forced detention of Jews in Babylonia following the latter's conquest of the kingdom of Judah in 598/7 and 587/6 BC. The exile formally ended in 538 BC, when the Persian conqueror of Babylonia, Cyrus the Great, gave the Jews permission to return to Palestine. Historians agree that several deportations took place (each the result of uprisings in Palestine), that not all Jews were forced

John

2005-01-31T16:24:00.000-08:00

John took part in the commission that drew up the constitution of 1831 and succeeded to the throne upon the death of his brother, King Frederick Augustus II. He was persuaded by

Hesychius Of Miletus

2005-01-30T10:08:00.000-08:00

Byzantine historian and literary biographer whose chronicle of world history influenced later Byzantine historical accounts and provided singular data on the history of Constantinople. His works are also a valuable source for the history of Greek literature. A native of Miletus during the reign (527 - 565) of the Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I, Hesychius

Austria, The accession of the Habsburgs

2005-01-29T05:44:00.000-08:00

As the German princes had not cared to give Rudolf adequate support against Otakar, he did not feel bound to them and set out to acquire the former Babenberg lands for his own house. In 1281 he made his eldest son, Albert (later Albert I, king of Germany), governor of Austria and Styria; on Christmas, 1282, he invested his two sons, Albert and Rudolf II, with Austria, Styria, and Carniola,

Enders, John Franklin

2005-01-28T01:23:00.000-08:00

Enders was a student of

Adi-buddha

2005-01-27T01:17:00.000-08:00

Among some sects of Mahayana Buddhism, the first, or self-existing, Buddha, from whom are said to have evolved the five Dhyani-Buddhas (see Dhyani-Buddha). Though the concept of an Adi-Buddha was never generally popular, a few groups, particularly in Nepal, Tibet, and Java, elevated Vairocana to the position of Adi-Buddha or named a new deity, such as Vajradhara or Vajrasattva, as the

Lippmann, Walter

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

While studying at Harvard (B.A., 1909), Lippmann was influenced by the philosophers William James and George Santayana. He helped to found (1914) The New Republic and served as its assistant editor under

Agu�n River

2005-01-25T09:18:00.000-08:00

Spanish �R�o Agu�n, � river in northern Honduras, 150 mi (240 km) in length. After rising in the central highlands west of Yoro, it descends to the northeast between the Cerros de Cangreja and the Sierra de la Esperanza to the coastal lowlands, on which it forms a maze of channels and empties into the Caribbean Sea near the towns of Santa Rosa de Agu�n and Lim�n. The lands along the river, although periodically

Smith, Hannah Whitall

2005-01-24T23:06:00.000-08:00

Hannah Whitall grew up in a strict Quaker home and had from childhood a deep concern with religion and a habit of introspection. In 1851 she married Robert P. Smith, also a Quaker, and in 1865 they moved to Millville,

Chiavari

2005-01-23T15:06:00.000-08:00

Town, Genova provincia, Liguria regione, northwestern Italy. It lies on the Riviera di Levante at the mouth of the Entella River, east of Genoa. The town grew up on the traces of a Roman camp on the Via Aurelia. A pre-Roman necropolis dating from the 8th to 7th century BC has been uncovered there. The old town contains numerous arcades and buildings from the 13th century, including

Zamoyski, Jan

2005-01-22T02:47:00.000-08:00

Educated in France and Italy, he returned to Poland in 1565 and was appointed secretary to King Sigismund II. After Sigismund's death (1572), he became one of the best-liked

Roman Republic And Empire

2005-01-21T03:22:00.000-08:00

The ancient state that centred on the city of Rome, from the time of the events leading up to the founding of the republic in 509 BC, through the establishment of the empire in 27 BC, to the final eclipse of the Empire of the West in the 5th century AD. (For later events of the Empire of the East, see Byzantine Empire.)

Slave Dynasty

2005-01-20T23:22:00.000-08:00

The Slave dynasty was founded by Qutb-ud-Din Aybak, a favourite slave of the Muslim general and later sultan Muhammad of Ghur. Qutb-ud-Din had been among Muhammad's most trusted Turkish officers and had overseen his master's Indian conquests. When Muhammad was assassinated in 1206, Qutb took power

Interior Design, Aesthetic components of design

2005-01-19T01:22:00.000-08:00

A general definition of beauty and aesthetic excellence would be difficult, but fortunately there are a number of generally accepted principles that can be used to achieve an understanding of the aesthetic considerations in design. One must note, however, that such understanding requires exposure and learning; an appreciation of any form of art needs such a

Hyperventilation

2005-01-18T20:38:00.000-08:00

Rapid shallow breathing that provides the body with an excess of oxygen and a deficit of carbon dioxide. It most commonly occurs as a manifestation of anxiety or hysteria. It also occurs among pilots in unpressurized planes at high altitudes, who take short, rapid breaths rather than the normal slow, deep ones, in order to compensate for the smaller amount of available

Fragonard, Jean-honor�

2005-01-17T21:13:00.000-08:00

Fragonard was the son of a haberdasher's assistant. The family moved to Paris about 1738, and in 1747 the boy was apprenticed to a lawyer, who, noticing his appetite for drawing, suggested that he be taught painting. Fran�ois Boucher was prevailed

Manasseh, Prayer Of

2005-01-16T14:06:00.000-08:00

Apocryphal work (noncanonical for Jews and Protestants), one of a collection of songs appended to the Old Testament book of Psalms in several manuscripts of the Septuagint (the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible). The Prayer of Manasseh, best known of the collection, is a penitential prayer written as an extension of 2 Chronicles 33:11 - 13, wherein Manasseh, successor to Hezekiah

Italian Labour Union

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

Italian �Unione Italiana Del Lavoro (UIL)� Italian trade union federation with more than a million and a half members. The UIL was formed in 1950 in opposition to the communist-dominated Italian General Confederation of Labour, Italy's largest trade union federation, and the Roman Catholic-supported Italian Confederation of Syndicated Labourers. The federation is affiliated with the International Confederation

Jesse

2005-01-13T13:39:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Isai, � in the Old Testament, the father of King David. Jesse was the son of Ohed, and the grandson of Boaz and Ruth. He was a farmer and sheep breeder in Bethlehem. David was the youngest of Jesse's eight sons. The appellation �son of Jesse� served as a synonym for David both at Saul's court and, subsequently, when David became king. It became a standard poetic metaphor in the Bible. Phrases

Eusebius Of Emesa

2005-01-12T22:43:00.000-08:00

A friend of the Roman emperor Constantius II, whom he often accompanied on expeditions against the Persians, Eusebius was appointed (c. 339) to the see

United States, The European background

2005-01-11T15:55:00.000-08:00

During the years separating the failure of the Roanoke colony and the establishment in 1607 of the English settlement in Jamestown, English propagandists worked hard to convince the public that a colony in America would yield instant and easily exploitable wealth. Even men like the English geographer Richard Hakluyt were not certain that the Spanish colonization experience could or should be imitated but hoped nevertheless that the English colonies in the New World would prove to be a source of immediate commercial gain. There were, of course, other motives for colonization. Some hoped to discover the much-sought-after route to the Orient in North America. English imperialists thought it necessary to settle in the New World in order to limit Spanish expansion. Once it was proven that America was a suitable place for settlement, some Englishmen would travel to those particular colonies that promised to free them from religious persecution. There were also Englishmen, primarily of lower- and middle-class origin, who hoped the New World would provide them with increased economic opportunity in the form of free or inexpensive land. These last two motives, while they have been given considerable attention by historians, appear not to have been so much original motives for English colonization as they were shifts of attitude once colonization had begun.

Utopia

2005-01-10T11:43:00.000-08:00

The word first occurred in Sir Thomas More's Utopia, published in Latin as Libellus . . . de optimo reipublicae statu, deque nova insula Utopia (�Concerning the highest state

Chain

2005-01-09T00:55:00.000-08:00

Also called �Gunter's Chain, � in surveying, a unit of length. See surveyor's chain.

Gippius, Zinaida Nikolayevna

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

During the

China, The Chou feudal system

2005-01-07T13:45:00.000-08:00

The feudal states were not contiguous but, rather, were scattered at strategic locations surrounded by potentially dangerous and hostile nations. The fortified city of the feudal lord was often the only area that he controlled directly; the state and the city were therefore identical, both being kuo, a combination of city wall and weapons. Satellite cities were

Jackson, Sheldon

2005-01-06T11:44:00.000-08:00

Jackson attended Union College and the Princeton Theological Seminary. From 1859 to 1869 he was a missionary in Wisconsin and Minnesota, organizing more than 20 churches. In 1869 he became superintendent of missions in

Cabot Strait

2005-01-05T17:49:00.000-08:00

Channel (60 miles [97 km] wide) between southwestern Newfoundland and northern Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, eastern Canada. An important international shipping lane, it connects the Gulf of St. Lawrence with the Atlantic Ocean. The strait was named for John Cabot, the Italian navigator who, sponsored by the English king Henry VII, explored the area in the late 15th

Western Africa, History Of, Francophone countries

2005-01-04T06:41:00.000-08:00

In Senegal, L�opold Senghor, with strong French support, maintained power until his resignation in 1980 by balancing conflicting factions and promising controlled political liberalization. His nominated successor, Abdou Diouf, continued these general policies together with the link to France. In the 1980s Senegal experienced budget deficits and agreed to a program

Essex

2005-01-03T23:10:00.000-08:00

County, northeastern Vermont, U.S., bordered to the north by Quebec, Can., and to the east by New Hampshire, the Connecticut River constituting that boundary. It is a mountainous region, with several peaks above 3,000 feet (915 metres). The Connecticut River watershed includes the Moose and Nulhegan rivers as well as Paul Stream. Maidstone Lake and Great Averill and Island ponds are

Aesthetics, Emotion, response, and enjoyment

2005-01-02T19:28:00.000-08:00

It is natural to suppose that a spectator's response to King Lear is at least in part emotional, and that emotion plays a crucial role both in the enjoyment of art and in establishing the value of art. Moreover, it is not only art that stirs our emotions in the act of aesthetic attention: the same is or may be true of natural beauty whether that of a face or of a landscape. These

Saudi Arabia, Religion

2005-01-01T00:38:00.000-08:00

Saudi Arabia is the home of Islam, and its native population is almost entirely Sunnite Muslim (i.e., adhering to the chief branch of Islam, Sunnism [Sunnah], called traditionalist or orthodox). The Wahhabi interpretation of Sunnite Islam is the one officially used. Wahhabism, as it is called in the West, is a puritanical interpretation and is named after Muhammad ibn 'Abd

China, Industry

2004-12-31T19:21:00.000-08:00

The development of industry has been given considerable attention since the advent of the Communist regime. Overall industrial output has grown at a rate of more than 10 percent per year, and China's industrial work force probably exceeds the combined total for all other developing countries. Industry has surpassed all other sectors in economic growth and degree

African Greek Orthodox Church

2004-12-29T17:33:00.000-08:00

A religious movement in East Africa that represents a prolonged search for a Christianity more African and, its adherents say, more authentic than the denominational mission forms transplanted from overseas. It began when an Anglican in Uganda, Reuben Spartas, heard of the independent, all-black African Orthodox Church in the United States and founded his own

Equestrian Sports, International.

2004-12-28T21:09:00.000-08:00

In 2003 the introduction of North American-style alternatives to turf courses was accelerating in European Thoroughbred racing. Sweden, Germany, and Belgium had been the first European countries to introduce dirt racing, and Lingfield Park had opened the first British �all-weather� track in October 1989. Cagnes-sur-Mer and Pau, two winter courses in the south of France, first

Han-fei-tzu

2004-12-27T03:31:00.000-08:00

Pinyin �Hanfeizi � the greatest of China's Legalist philosophers. His essays on autocratic government so impressed King Cheng of Ch'in that the future emperor adopted their principles after seizing power in 221 BC. The book that goes by Han-fei's name comprises a synthesis of legal theories up to his time.

Cottage Furniture

2004-12-26T09:23:00.000-08:00

Cottage

Rhyl

2004-12-24T03:38:00.000-08:00

Seaside town, Denbighshire (Sir Ddinbych) county, historic county of Flintshire (Sir Fflint), Wales, at the mouth of the River Clwyd. The town is predominantly a holiday resort, with extensive sandy beaches and excellent rail and road links with Lancashire and the English Midlands. Its promenade stretches for 3 miles (5 km), with a domed pavilion and the all-glass Royal Floral

Rhyl

2004-12-23T20:05:00.000-08:00

An ancient lineage of mammals comprising the armadillos (order Cingulata) and the sloths and anteaters (order Pilosa). The namesake feature shared by all members of Xenarthra is seen in the lower backbone. The lumbar vertebrae are �xenarthrous�; that is, they have extra contacts (joints, or arthroses) that function to strengthen the lower back and hips. This aids use of

Foreclosure

2004-12-22T04:44:00.000-08:00

Legal proceeding by which a mortgagor's rights to a mortgaged property may be extinguished if the mortgagor (borrower) fails to live up to the obligations agreed to in the mortgage. The mortgagee (the lender) may then declare the entire debt due and owing and may seek to satisfy the debt by foreclosing on the property. Most foreclosures are brought in equity proceedings.

Forage

2004-12-21T23:55:00.000-08:00

Vegetable food of wild or domestic animals. In agriculture, harvested, processed, and stored forage is called silage (q.v.).

Bantu Languages

2004-12-20T06:52:00.000-08:00

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,

Qatar

2004-12-19T21:28:00.000-08:00

In 2002 Qatar continued to figure prominently in regional and international news, largely as a result of its ongoing chairmanship of the Organization of the Islamic Conference and its 57 member countries. Qatar was a prominent interlocutor with international and regional organizations and, in particular, with the United Nations, the United States, and other allied

Baiae

2004-12-18T02:48:00.000-08:00

Italian �Baia � ancient city of Campania, Italy, located on the west coast of the Gulf of Puteoli (Pozzuoli) and lying 10 miles (16 km) west of Naples and 2 1/2 miles (4 km) from Cumae, of which it was a dependency. According to tradition, Baiae was named after Baios, the helmsman of Ulysses. In 178 BC the city is mentioned as Aquae Cumanae, because of its curative sulfur springs. Baiae's mild climate, thermal springs,

Fursey, Saint

2004-12-17T09:00:00.000-08:00

First educated under Brendan the Navigator, Fursey later became a monk at the monastery of Clonfert, in County Galway,

Midas

2004-12-16T15:09:00.000-08:00

King of Phrygia (an ancient district in west-central Anatolia), first mentioned in extant Greek literature by Herodotus as having dedicated a throne at Delphi, before Gyges - i.e., before or little after 700 BC. Later reports that he married a daughter of Agamemnon, king of Aeolic Cyme, and that Midas, or Midacritus (a Greek sailor named for his royal patron?), traded with a western

Pinar Del R�

2004-12-15T20:33:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Pinar del R�o provincia, western Cuba. Founded in 1775, the city is situated near the base of the Sierra de los �rganos. In 1800 it was officially named Nueva Filipina and was made capital of the western jurisdiction of Cuba. Its economic importance dates from about 1830, when the tobacco industry of the Vuelta Abajo region was developed. With the completion of the railroad

Pinar Del R�

2004-12-14T06:37:00.000-08:00

Former industrial union in the United States and Canada that represented workers in the women's clothing industry. When the ILGWU was formed in 1900, most of its members were Jewish immigrants employed in sweatshops - i.e., small manufacturing establishments that employed workers under unfair and unsanitary conditions. Successful strikes in 1909 and 1910 in New York City by the

�land Islands

2004-12-13T00:05:00.000-08:00

Swedish ��land Sk�rg�rd, �Finnish �Ahvenanmaa, � archipelago comprising Ahvenanmaan autonomous kunta (commune), southwestern Finland. The islands lie at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia, 25 miles (40 km) east of the Swedish coast, at the eastern edge of the �land Sea. The archipelago has a land area of 590 square miles (1,527 square km) and consists of about 35 inhabited islands, 6,500 uninhabited islands, and many rocky reefs. The bedrock

Pramana

2004-12-12T03:15:00.000-08:00

The three principal means of knowledge are (1) perception, (2) inference,

Ogburn, William Fielding

2004-12-11T17:46:00.000-08:00

Ogburn was a professor at Columbia University (1919 - 27) and the University of Chicago (1927 - 51). He frequently served as a labour mediator

Avignon Papacy

2004-12-10T09:41:00.000-08:00

Distressed by factionalism in Rome and pressed to come to France by Philip IV, Pope Clement V moved the papal capital to Avignon, which at that time belonged to vassals of the pope. In 1348 it became direct papal property.

Riboud, Antoine-am�d�e-paul

2004-12-09T03:18:00.000-08:00

French industrialist (b. Dec. 25, 1918, Lyon, France - d. May 5, 2002, Paris, France), joined a small family-owned glass-making business, Souchon-Neuvesel, in 1942 and through a series of mergers, acquisitions, and hostile takeovers eventually turned it into a global food empire. In 1966 Riboud engineered a merger with another glass manufacturer, Boussois, to form BSN SA. He expanded relentlessly, acquiring

Valachi, Joseph

2004-12-08T05:26:00.000-08:00

Valachi held a rank in the Mafia equivalent to that of a sergeant, with interests chiefly in the numbers rackets and other gambling from the 1930s to the '50s. In 1959 he was convicted of narcotics violations and sentenced to 15 to

Fulda

2004-12-07T01:01:00.000-08:00

City, Hesse Land (state), central Germany, situated on the Fulda River between the Rh�n and Vogelsberg mountains. It developed around a Benedictine abbey founded in 744 by Sturmi, a disciple of St. Boniface. The abbey became a missionary centre, and its school was one of Europe's important seats of learning during the early Middle Ages, after Rabanus Maurus (q.v.) became its director

Russell's Viper

2004-12-06T13:04:00.000-08:00

Also called �Daboia, or Tic Polonga� (species Vipera russelli), abundant, highly venomous terrestrial snake of the family Viperidae. It is found from India to Taiwan and Java, most often in open country. It is a major cause of snakebite deaths within its range. The viper grows to a maximum of about 1.5 m (5 feet) and is marked with three rows of reddish brown spots outlined in black and again in white.