WideScissors

Accoramboni, Vittoria

2005-04-05T00:54:00.000-07:00

She was the 10th child in a well-to-do but not illustrious family that hoped to better its position by marrying Vittoria,

Celandine

2005-04-04T19:44:00.000-07:00

Any of several distinct flowering plants of similar appearance. The celandine proper, or greater celandine (Chelidonium majus), once a valued plant of the Old World herbalist, is now grown somewhat in wild gardens. A member of the poppy family (Papaveraceae), it has poisonous orange sap, coarsely toothed, divided leaves, and four-petaled yellow blooms

Latium

2005-04-04T09:16:00.000-07:00

Ancient area in west-central Italy, originally limited to the territory around the Alban Hills, but extending by about 500 Bc south of the Tiber River as far as the promontory of Mount Circeo. It was bounded on the northwest by Etruria, on the southeast by Campania, on the east by Samnium, and on the northeast by the territory of the Sabini, Aequi, and Marsi. The modern region of Lazio extends farther to include the entire coastal plain between the Fiora River in the north and Garigliano River in

Courante

2005-04-03T03:48:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Courant (from Latin currere, “to run”), court dance for couples, prominent in the late 16th century and fashionable in aristocratic European ballrooms, especially in France and England, for the next 200 years. It reputedly originated as an Italian folk dance with running steps. As a court dance it was performed with small, back-and-forth, springing steps, later subdued to stately glides.

Tabuk

2005-04-02T04:25:00.000-08:00

Oasis town, northwestern Saudi Arabia. The town is situated amid a grove of date palms. In former times it was a station on the Hejaz railway (now defunct). At the edge of the old part of Tabuk town stands a Turkish fort, built in 1694. Modern Tabuk is developing as one of the fastest-growing industrial centres of Saudi Arabia. Pop. (1974) 74,825.

Friuli-venezia Giulia

2005-04-02T02:31:00.000-08:00

Regione of northeastern Italy, bordering north and east on Austria and Slovenia, south on the Adriatic Sea, and west on Veneto regione; it has an area of 3,030 square miles (7,847 square km) and comprises the provincias of Udine, Pordenone, Gorizia, and Trieste. In the north the solid wall of the Carnine Alps, broken only by the Plöcken Pass (Passo di Monte Croce) and the low Tarvisio saddle,

Latter Rain Revival

2005-04-01T23:46:00.000-08:00

Early name for the Pentecostal movement within U.S. Protestantism; it began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Tennessee and North Carolina and took its name from the “latter rain” referred to in Joel 2:23. The Bible passage states that the former (fall) rain and latter (spring) rain were poured down from God. These rains marked the beginning and end of the Jewish harvest.

Noverre, Jean-georges

2005-04-01T18:45:00.000-08:00

Distinguished French choreographer whose revolutionary treatise, Lettres sur la danse et sur les ballets (1760), still valid, brought about major reforms in ballet production, stressing the importance of dramatic motivation, which he called ballet d'action, and decrying overemphasis on technical virtuosity. His first choreographic

Bream, Julian Alexander

2005-04-01T13:31:00.000-08:00

After studying with his father and performing locally from age 14, Bream attended the Royal College of Music while pursuing private extracurricular study of the guitar. He was much influenced by the styles of Andrés Segovia and

Emecheta, Buchi

2005-03-30T20:31:00.000-08:00

Emecheta was married at age 16 and immigrated with her husband to London in 1962. The problems she encountered in London during the early 1960s provided background for the books that are called her immigrant novels. Her first two books,

Abel, Theodora Mead

2005-03-30T19:03:00.000-08:00

Abel was educated at Vassar College (B.A., 1921), Columbia University (M.A., 1924), and the University of Paris, where she received a diploma in psychology (1923). After earning a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1925, she taught at numerous institutions, including

Biblical Literature, The Gothic version

2005-03-30T05:27:00.000-08:00

The Gothic version was produced in the mid-4th century by Ulfilas, a Christian missionary who also invented the Gothic alphabet. It constitutes practically all that is left of Gothic literature. The translation of the Old Testament has entirely disappeared except for fragments of Ezra and Nehemiah. Though a Greek base is certain, some scholars deny the attribution

France, History Of, Tax reform

2005-03-28T13:42:00.000-08:00

In 1749–51 Jean-Baptiste de Machault d'Arnouville, then comptroller general of finances, proposed a partial reform of the tax system, his particular concern being to restrict the financial power of the church. In 1764 and 1765 another comptroller general, François de L'Averdy, attempted a reform of municipal representation and administration. All royal officials understood the

Vena Cava

2005-03-28T08:47:00.000-08:00

In air-breathing vertebrates, including humans, either of two major trunks, the anterior and posterior venae cavae, that deliver oxygen-depleted blood to the right side of the heart. The anterior vena cava, also known as the precava, drains the head end of the body, while the posterior vena cava, or postcava, drains the tail, or rear, end. In humans these veins are respectively

Campa

2005-03-28T05:00:00.000-08:00

Campa is often mentioned in early Buddhist literature as a city of importance and was one

Zoochlorella

2005-03-25T11:52:00.000-08:00

Plural Zoochlorellae, any small green alga (often Chlorella) or, sometimes, flagellate protozoan (e.g., the chlamydomonad Carteria) that lives within the bodies of various freshwater protozoans and invertebrates. Zoochlorellae often colour their hosts green (e.g., green hydra and green Paramecium bursaria). As symbionts, zoochlorellae use carbon dioxide and nitrogenous and phosphorous

Gabbai

2005-03-25T10:09:00.000-08:00

Plural Gabbaim, or Gabbais, treasurer or honorary official of a Jewish Orthodox congregation, often placed in charge of funds used for charity. The office is a carry-over from former times, when men whose reputations were above reproach collected funds for charity. These gabba'e tzedaqa were so esteemed that no financial reports were ever asked for. The Talmud, nonetheless, insisted that they

Maupeou, René-nicolas-charles-augustin De

2005-03-25T00:43:00.000-08:00

Chancellor of France who succeeded in temporarily (1771–74) depriving the Parlements (high courts of justice) of the political powers that had enabled them to block the reforms proposed by the ministers of King Louis XV. By rescinding Maupeou's measures, King Louis XVI (reigned 1774–92) lost his opportunity to institute fundamental reforms that might

Far'ah, Tall Al-

2005-03-24T14:47:00.000-08:00

Ancient site in southwestern Palestine, located on the Wadi Ghazzah near Tall al-'Ajjul, in modern Israel. The site was excavated between 1928 and 1930 by British archaeologists in Egypt under the direction of Sir Flinders Petrie, who identified the site as Beth-pelet. Other scholars, however, are probably correct in their belief that the site is instead ancient Sharuhen, an

Anomaly

2005-03-24T00:42:00.000-08:00

In astronomy, originally the nonuniform (anomalous) apparent motions of the planets. In present usage, three kinds of anomaly are distinguished to describe the position in the orbit of a planet, a satellite, or a star (in a binary system) around the centre of mass. The following text relates to the orbit of a planet. True anomaly is the angle, V, between lines drawn

Seleucid Kingdom

2005-03-23T05:54:00.000-08:00

Seleucus, one of Alexander's leading generals, became satrap (governor) of Babylonia in 321, two years after the death of Alexander. In the

Caazapá

2005-03-23T00:02:00.000-08:00

Town, southern Paraguay. Founded in 1607 by Friar Bolaños, the town is situated on the edge of the westward extension of the Brazilian Highlands, including the Cordillera (mountains) de Ybytyruzú. Caazapá is a lumbering and agricultural centre, and tanneries are also located there. The town has a regional hospital, various educational institutions including an agricultural

Bohemond Iii

2005-03-22T05:44:00.000-08:00

The son of Constance (daughter of Bohemond II) by her first husband, Raymond of Poitiers, he succeeded to the principality upon attaining his majority and then exiled his mother. In the following year (1164) he suffered defeat and was captured by the Muslims. It was the influence of the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus that secured Bohemond's early

Amorphous Solid

2005-03-21T22:17:00.000-08:00

The following sections discuss technological applications of amorphous solids in connection with the properties that make those applications possible. It is important to understand that, although differences do exist between the properties of amorphous and crystalline solids, it is nevertheless broadly true that amorphous solids exhibit essentially

Benedek, Ludwig August, Ritter Von

2005-03-21T14:48:00.000-08:00

Benedek entered the Austrian Army in 1822, distinguishing himself in Galicia

China, Early T'ang (618626)

2005-03-21T14:02:00.000-08:00

When Kao-tsu became emperor (reigned 618–626), he was still only one among the contenders for control of the empire of the Sui. It was several years before the empire was entirely pacified. After the suppression of Hsüeh Chü and the pacification of the northwest, the T'ang had to contend with three principal rival forces: the Sui remnants commanded by Wang Shih-ch'ung at Lo-yang,

Vishnu

2005-03-20T04:16:00.000-08:00

Vishnu was not a major deity

Ibn Al-bawwab

2005-03-19T13:50:00.000-08:00

Ibn al-Bawwab was from

Fellow Traveller

2005-03-19T13:22:00.000-08:00

Russian Poputchik, originally, a writer in the Soviet Union who was not against the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 but did not actively support it as a propagandist. The term was used in this sense by Leon Trotsky in Literature and the Revolution (1925) and was not meant to be pejorative. Implicit in the designation was the recognition of the artist's need for intellectual freedom and his dependence

Demosthenes

2005-03-19T05:15:00.000-08:00

Demosthenes, a contemporary of Plato and Aristotle, was the son of a wealthy sword maker. His father died when he was seven, leaving a large inheritance, but the boy's unscrupulous guardians took advantage of their position, and when he came of age Demosthenes received very little of his estate. His strong desire to sue his guardian, Aphobus, in the courts, coupled with

Sucre, Antonio José De

2005-03-18T15:17:00.000-08:00

At the age of 15 Sucre entered the

Channel-port Aux Basques

2005-03-18T03:58:00.000-08:00

Town on the southwestern tip of Newfoundland, Canada. It is the terminal for car ferries across Cabot Strait from North Sydney, Nova Scotia, and is the connecting point for the 570-mile (917-kilometre) semicircular final stage of the Trans-Canada Highway to St. John's (east). Fishing and fish processing are local industries. A monument commemorates those who died when the ferry

Biblical Literature, Other types

2005-03-17T21:31:00.000-08:00

There is an unconscious tendency to conform hermeneutical principles to the climate of opinion in and around the community concerned, and to change the hermeneutic pattern as the climate of opinion changes. It is not surprising that in the circles where Pseudo-Dionysius (early-6th-century writings attributed to Dionysius, a convert of St. Paul) was revered as a teacher,

B-1

2005-03-17T08:00:00.000-08:00

U.S. variable-wing strategic bomber that entered service in 1986 as a successor to the B-52 Stratofortress. The B-1 was designed to penetrate radar-guided air defenses by flying at low levels. It was built in two versions by Rockwell International. The B-1A, first flown in 1974, was designed to reach twice the speed of sound at high altitudes and to carry nuclear bombs and short-range attack

Ma-ubin

2005-03-16T21:55:00.000-08:00

Town, southern Myanmar (Burma). The town is a river port on the west bank of the main Irrawaddy distributary and is protected by flood-control embankments. It is linked with Yangon (Rangoon), 40 miles (65 km) east, by the Twante Canal and is the site of a diesel electric plant. The surrounding area occupies a largely swampy portion of the Irrawaddy River delta. It has a southern coastline

Wells, Henry

2005-03-16T05:27:00.000-08:00

Wells gained experience as an agent for Harnden's Express at Albany, N.Y., and then as a founder of Livingston, Wells, and Pomeroy's Express, operating between Albany and Buffalo. In 1844, together with William Fargo (q.v.) and Daniel Dunning,

Biblical Literature, The role of Samuel

2005-03-15T10:08:00.000-08:00

The first section (chapters 1–15) begins with the story of Samuel's birth, after his mother Hannah (one of the two wives of the Ephraimite Elkanah) had prayed at the shrine at Shiloh, the centre of the tribal confederacy, for a son. She vowed that, if she bore a son, he would be dedicated to Yahweh for lifetime service as a Nazirite, as indicated by the words “and no razor shall touch

F-100

2005-03-15T01:14:00.000-08:00

Also called Super Sabre, jet fighter aircraft, the first developed for the U.S. Air Force to exceed the speed of sound in level flight. It was operational from 1953 to 1973. It was made by North American Aviation, Inc., and it became the principal tactical fighter of the U.S. Tactical Air Command and was adopted by various NATO countries. The F-100C had a wingspan of 38 feet (11.58 m) and was 47 feet (14.33 m) long. It was a single-seat, low-wing

Marey, étienne-jules

2005-03-14T17:20:00.000-08:00

Marey wrote extensively on the circulation of the blood, cholera, terrestrial and aerial locomotion, experimental physiology,

Furniture, Metal

2005-03-14T11:14:00.000-08:00

Metals have been used since antiquity for making furniture or ornaments for furniture. Splendid Egyptian pieces, such as the thrones and stool that were found in the tomb of the youthful Tutankhamen (14th century BC), were rich in gold mounts (decorative details). In ancient Greece, bronze, iron, and silver were used for making furniture. Finds that were buried in the ashes

Osaka-kobe Metropolitan Area, Climate

2005-03-13T19:39:00.000-08:00

The region has a temperate climate. The annual mean temperature is about 60° F (16° C), and the annual rainfall averages 54 inches (1,370 millimetres). The temperature in August is often 86° F (30° C) or more, with no breeze from the sea at night. The January mean is about 40° F (4° C), and snow falls several times in winter. The rainy seasons are in June–July and September–October. In September the region is usually

Arnold, Matthew

2005-03-13T01:08:00.000-08:00

It is said that when the poet in Arnold died, the critic was born; and it is true that from this time onward he turned almost entirely to prose. Some of the leading ideas and phrases were early put into currency in Essays in Criticism (First Series, 1865; Second Series, 1888) and Culture and Anarchy. The first essay in the 1865 volume, “The Function of Criticism at the Present Time,” is an overture

Arts, South Asian, Gupta period: central India

2005-03-12T23:55:00.000-08:00

In addition to the major schools of Sarnath and Mathura, important sculpture of the 5th and 6th centuries is found at several sites in central India. The sculptures here are often in their original locations, surviving not as isolated images torn from their architectural context but in association with the temples of which they formed a part. At Udayagiri, near Vidisa, are

Toledo, Alejandro

2005-03-12T22:20:00.000-08:00

On July 28, 2001, nearly five centuries after Europeans conquered the Incas—and after two years of campaigning—Alejandro Toledo was sworn in as Peru's first democratically elected president of Quechua ethnicity. Although easily half of Peruvians were Amerindians, the white and mestizo minorities had held the key to economic, scholastic, and political power since colonial

Cerdan, Marcel

2005-03-11T21:25:00.000-08:00

Cerdan began his professional career in 1934, all of his early bouts being fought in North Africa. He made his European debut in 1937 and won the French welterweight title in 1938 and the European welterweight championship in 1939. With the advent

Field, David Dudley

2005-03-11T07:46:00.000-08:00

U.S. lawyer whose advocacy of law codification had international influence. The “Field Code” of civil procedure, enacted by New York state in 1848, was subsequently adopted in whole or in part in many other U.S. states, in the federal court system, and in England, Ireland (both 1873), and several British overseas possessions, notably India. He was

France, History Of, France in the later Middle Ages, 11801490

2005-03-10T07:38:00.000-08:00

Georges Duby and Robert Mandrou, A History of French Civilization (1964; originally published in French, 1958), provides a good survey, stressing social history. Appropriate volumes from the older source, Ernest Lavisse (ed.), Histoire de France depuis les origines jusqu'à la révolution, 9 vol. (1900–11), remain useful for this period. Territorial evolution is explored in Léon Mirot, Manuel de géographie historique de la France, 2nd ed., rev. by Albert Mirot, 2 vol. (1947–50, reprinted in 1 vol., 1979). Léopold Genicot, Le XIIIe Siècle européen, 2nd rev. ed. (1984), is a scholarly general review. Accounts of the 14th century are offered in Édouard Perroy, The Hundred Years War (1951, reissued 1965; originally published in French, 1945); and Peter S. Lewis, Later Medieval France (1968). Jacques Heers, L'Occident aux XIVe et XVe siècles: aspects économiques et sociaux, 4th ed. (1973), offers a broader chronological perspective. Individual reigns are studied in John W. Baldwin, The Government of Philip Augustus: Foundations of French Royal Power in the Middle Ages (1986); William Chester Jordan, Louis IX and the Challenge of the Crusade: A Study in Rulership (1979); and Joseph Reese Strayer, The Administration of Normandy Under Saint Louis (1932, reprinted 1971). André Artonne, Le Mouvement de 1314 et les chartes provinciales de 1315 (1912), deals with an important constitutional crisis. Joseph R. Strayer and Charles H. Taylor, Studies in Early French Taxation (1939, reprinted 1972), examines taxation and consultation under the later Capetians; later royal finance is studied in Maurice Rey, Le Domaine du roi et les finances extraordinaires sous Charles VI, 1388–1413 (1965), and Les Finances royales sous Charles VI: les causes du déficit, 1388–1413 (1965). For economy and society, see Georges Duby, Rural Economy and Country Life in the Medieval West (1968, reprinted 1976; originally published in French, 1962); and Guy Fourquin, Les Campagnes de la région parisienne à la fin du Moyen Âge: du milieu du XIIIe au début du XVIe siècle (1964). Social unrest is discussed in Michel Mollat and Philippe Wolff, The Popular Revolutions of the Late Middle Ages (1973; originally published in French, 1970). Charles Petit-Dutaillis, The French Communes in the Middle Ages (1978; originally published in French, 1947), remains the standard account on the cities and towns. The legal system is explored in Bernard Guenée, Tribunaux et gens de justice dans le bailliage de Senlis à la fin du Moyen Âge (1963).

Dance Notation

2005-03-10T04:54:00.000-08:00

The written recording of dance movements. The earliest surviving attempt at dance notation was in the form of letter-symbols found in the municipal archives of Cervera, Spain, from the last half of the 15th century. Also during this period, word abbreviations were found as dance notations in two documents from the library of Margaret of Austria—Livre des basses

Sholem Aleichem

2005-03-09T16:15:00.000-08:00

Drawn to writing as a youth, he became a private tutor of Russian at the age of 17 and later served as a government rabbi in Lubin. His first writing had been in Russian and Hebrew, but between 1883, when his first story in Yiddish appeared, and his death, he published over 40 volumes of novels, stories, and plays

Waddington, C.h.

2005-03-09T08:52:00.000-08:00

Waddington graduated in geology from the University of Cambridge (1926), and it was only after studying paleontology that he turned to biology. Before World War II he taught zoology and embryology at Strangeways Research Laboratory, Cambridge. From 1947 until

Cabriole Leg

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

The early

New England, Council For

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

In British American colonial history, joint stock company organized in 1620 by a charter from the British crown with authority to colonize and govern the area now known as New England. Drawing from landed gentry rather than merchants, the company was dominated by its president, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, who intended to distribute the land as manors and fiefs among the council's

Goat

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

Domesticated

Darling, Grace

2005-03-07T13:29:00.000-08:00

The daughter of a lighthouse keeper, Darling grew up on Longstone in the Farne Islands. Intensely shy and private, she become the focus of national attention after the steamship Forfarshire sank during a severe storm in September

Gullah

2005-03-06T19:46:00.000-08:00

Creole language based on English, spoken by former black slaves and their descendants (also called Gullahs and Geechees, West African tribal names) on the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia and on the mainland nearby. Gullah consists of an English pidgin base characteristic of 17th- and 18th-century British colonists' speech, with additional vocabulary and some

Jordan, Relief and drainage

2005-03-06T02:34:00.000-08:00

The desert is mostly within the Syrian (or North Arabian) Desert and occupies the eastern and southern parts of the country, comprising more than four-fifths of its territory.

Czestochowa

2005-03-06T00:22:00.000-08:00

City, capital (since 1975) of Czestochowa województwo (province), south-central Poland. The city originally consisted of two settlements, Old Czestochowa, founded in the 13th century, and Jasna Góra (Polish: “Shining Mountain”), founded in the 14th; the two were merged in 1826. Roman Catholic pilgrimages are made to the Jasna Góra monastery (1382), which contains valuable frescoes and the famous

Hackl, Georg

2005-03-05T02:55:00.000-08:00

Hackl was born and raised in the Bavarian town of Berchtesgaden, just four miles from the Königssee luge

Black Mass

2005-03-04T18:55:00.000-08:00

In the Roman Catholic church, a requiem mass during which the celebrant wears black vestments. The term is more commonly used, however, for a blasphemous and usually obscene burlesque of the true mass performed by satanic cults. The naked back of a woman often serves as an altar, and a validly consecrated host is generally used to intensify the mockery. The rite commonly

San Bernardino

2005-03-04T16:01:00.000-08:00

Central city of the San Bernardino–Riverside–Ontario metropolitan complex, seat (1853) of San Bernardino County, southern California, U.S., at the base of the San Bernardino Mountains. The site, which was named by Spanish missionaries for St. Bernardino of Siena, was sold to Mormons who laid out a town in 1852. It developed as a trade centre chiefly for the surrounding citrus groves

Rhythm

2005-03-03T13:47:00.000-08:00

In poetry, the patterned recurrence, within a certain range of regularity, of specific language features, usually features of sound. Although difficult to define, rhythm is readily discriminated by the ear and the mind, having as it does a physiological basis. It is universally agreed to involve qualities of movement, repetition, and pattern and to arise from the poem's

Wallas, Graham

2005-03-03T00:09:00.000-08:00

Wallas studied at Oxford (1877–81) and was a teacher (1881–90). He joined the Fabian Society in 1886 and was a contributor to Fabian Essays in Socialism (1889). Growing dissatisfied with the anti-liberal

Draft Riot Of 1863

2005-03-02T20:57:00.000-08:00

Major four-day eruption of violence in New York City resulting from deep worker discontent with the inequities of conscription during the U.S. Civil War. Although labouring people in general supported the Northern war effort, they had no voice in Republican policy and occasionally deserted from the army or refused reenlistment. Because of their low wages, often

Río Gallegos

2005-03-02T00:53:00.000-08:00

Founded in 1885, it was named for Blasco Gallegos, one of Ferdinand Magellan's pilots, who is credited with discovering the river. Prehistoric cave paintings

Plumbing

2005-03-02T00:35:00.000-08:00

One of the problems of every civilization in which the population has been centralized in cities and towns has been

Draft Riot Of 1863

2005-02-28T06:59:00.000-08:00

Former union of garment and apparel workers in the United States and Canada. It was formed in 1976 by the merger of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA), a large union representing workers in the men's clothing industry, with the Textile Workers Union of America, a smaller union founded in 1939. The ACWA was originally formed when militant elements within the United

Italy, The rise of Mussolini

2005-02-27T20:27:00.000-08:00

The political crisis of the postwar years provided an opportunity for militant, patriotic movements, including those of ex-servicemen and former assault troops, radical students, ex-syndicalists, and former pro-war agitators. D'Annunzio in Fiume led one such movement, but the ex-Socialist journalist Benito Mussolini soon became even more prominent, founding his

Daventry

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

Nothing is known of Daventry town before Domesday Book (1086), the record of the land survey ordered by William the Conqueror, although

Annapolis Royal

2005-02-26T15:10:00.000-08:00

Formerly (until 1713) Port Royal, town, seat of Annapolis county, southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. The town lies at the mouth of the Annapolis River where it enters Annapolis Basin (an arm of the Bay of Fundy), 126 miles (203 km) by road west of Halifax. Founded in 1605 as Port Royal by the explorers Samuel de Champlain and Pierre du Gua, Sieur de Monts, it was the first French colony in North America and is Canada's oldest

Sabine

2005-02-26T14:24:00.000-08:00

Latin Sabinus , plural Sabini member of an ancient Italic tribe located in the mountainous country east of the Tiber River. They were known for their religious practices and beliefs, and several Roman institutions were said to have derived from them. The story recounted by Plutarch that Romulus, the founder of Rome, invited the Sabines to a feast and then carried off (raped) their women, is legendary.

Liquidation

2005-02-26T03:36:00.000-08:00

Discharge of a debt or the determination by agreement or litigation of the amount of a previously unliquidated claim. One important legal meaning is the distribution of the assets of an enterprise among its creditors and proprietors. At the dissolution of a solvent corporation or unincorporated association, the assets are usually liquidated (turned into money)

Quartet

2005-02-25T07:28:00.000-08:00

Musical composition for four instruments or voices; also the group of four performers. Although any music in four parts can be performed by four individuals, the term has come to be used primarily in referring to the string quartet (two violins, viola, and cello), which has been the predominant genre of chamber music since about 1750. The term may also denote such derivatives

France, History Of, The Dreyfus affair

2005-02-24T20:24:00.000-08:00

The 1890s also saw the Third Republic's greatest political and moral crisis—the Dreyfus affair. In 1894 Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a career army officer of Jewish origin, was charged with selling military secrets to the Germans. He was tried and convicted by a court-martial and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island off the South American coast. Efforts by the Dreyfus

Balaguer, Joaquín

2005-02-24T06:54:00.000-08:00

Balaguer earned a law degree from the University of Santo Domingo and a Ph.D. from the University of Paris. Between 1932 and 1957, he held numerous executive

Harding, Chester

2005-02-24T03:30:00.000-08:00

Early in his life, Harding worked as a chair maker, peddler, innkeeper, and house painter. He eventually began to paint signs in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and became a self-taught, itinerant portrait

Residual Landform

2005-02-23T09:16:00.000-08:00

Also called Relict Landform, landform that was produced as the remains of an ancient landscape, escaping burial or destruction to remain as part of the present landscape. Residual landforms are often the result of changed climatic conditions, but they may be due to volcanism or to crustal uplift and downwarping. Examples of residual landforms are extinct volcanic cones, inactive stone rivers

Calbayog

2005-02-22T18:27:00.000-08:00

City, on the western coast of Samar Island, Philippines. The city lies along the Samar Sea at the mouth of the Calbayog River. It is a religious and educational centre, with fishing and mat-making the main industries. Calbayog is a regular port of call for interisland ships, since it is less subject to storms than is the northern coast. It is a leading exporter of abaca and

Bhaisajya-guru

2005-02-22T18:00:00.000-08:00

(Sanskrit), Tibetan Sman-bla-rgyal-po , Chinese Yao-shih-fo , Japanese Yakushi Nyorai the healing Buddha, widely worshiped in Tibet, China, and Japan. According to popular belief in those countries, some illnesses are effectively cured by merely touching his image or calling out his name. More serious illnesses, however, require the performance of complex ritual acts, as described in the principal scripture of the Bhaisajya-guru cult. Bhaisajya-guru

Peter Ii

2005-02-22T05:14:00.000-08:00

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,

Alaska, Education

2005-02-22T03:59:00.000-08:00

Education is compulsory through the eighth grade or until age 16 and is administered by a state board and a commissioner of education. Correspondence study is available for high school work through the State Department of Education. There are several federal schools on military bases. The University of Alaska, founded as a land-grant institution in 1917, operates campuses

Plaice

2005-02-20T11:23:00.000-08:00

(Pleuronectes platessa), commercially valuable European flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae. The plaice, like others of its family, normally has both eyes on the right side of the head. It also has about four to seven bony bumps near its eyes. It reaches a maximum length of about 90 centimetres (36 inches) and is strikingly coloured, with red or orange

Wilkins, Maurice

2005-02-20T06:57:00.000-08:00

Wilkins,

Additive

2005-02-19T13:52:00.000-08:00

In foods, any of various chemical substances added to foods to produce specific desirable effects. The term additive may also be expanded to include substances—possibly useless or deleterious—that enter foods unintentionally. Additives include such substances as artificial or natural colourings and flavourings; stabilizers, emulsifiers, texturizers, and

Basava

2005-02-19T01:01:00.000-08:00

Hindu religious reformer, teacher, theologian, and administrator of the royal treasury of the Calukya king Bijjala I (reigned 1156–67). Basava is the subject of the Basava-Purana, one of the sacred texts of the Hindu Lingayat sect. According to South Indian oral tradition, he was the actual founder of the Lingayats, but study of Calukya inscriptions indicates

Gates, John Warne

2005-02-18T03:13:00.000-08:00

Dissatisfied with his partnership in a country hardware store at the age of 19 and impressed with the possibilities of a new product known as barbed wire, Gates became a traveling barbed-wire salesman.

Duanehunt Law

2005-02-17T20:08:00.000-08:00

In atomic physics, the relationship between the voltage (V ) applied to an X-ray tube and the maximum frequency n of the X rays emitted from the target. It is named after the American physicists William Duane and Franklin Hunt. The relationship is expressed as n = Ve/h, in which e is the charge of the electron and h is Planck's constant. This law is sometimes called the inverse photoelectric

China, The dynastic succession

2005-02-17T08:59:00.000-08:00

The Ming dynasty, which encompassed the reigns of 16 emperors, proved to be one of the stablest and longest dynasties of Chinese history. Rulers of Korea, Mongolia, East Turkistan, Burma, Siam, and Nam Viet regularly acknowledged Ming overlordship, and at times tribute was received from as far away as Japan, Java and Sumatra, Ceylon and South India, the East African coast,

Novaculite

2005-02-17T06:04:00.000-08:00

Very dense, light-coloured, even-textured sedimentary rock, a bedded chert in which microcrystalline silica (silicon dioxide, SiO2) in the form of quartz predominates over silica in the form of chalcedony. Deposits of novaculite exhibit stratification. The name is applied chiefly to formations in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. See also chert and flint.

Mckay, Claude

2005-02-16T16:26:00.000-08:00

After attending Tuskegee Institute (1912) and Kansas State Teachers College (1912–14), McKay went to New

Seligman, Edwin Robert Anderson

2005-02-16T11:06:00.000-08:00

Seligman was the son of a New York banker and had the distinction of being tutored by Horatio Alger. He was educated at Columbia University (Ph.D., 1885) and in Germany and France. Seligman served as professor of political economy at Columbia for 40 years (1891–1931). On his retirement he was chief

Race, The institutionalizing of race

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

Slavery by nature creates social distance between masters and slaves, and intellectuals are commonly called upon to affirm and justify such distinctions. As learned men began to write a great deal about the “racial” populations of the New World, Indians and Negroes were increasingly projected as alien. In this way did the Enlightenment thinkers help pro-slavery

Hupeh, Relief

2005-02-15T07:21:00.000-08:00

Almost all of Hupeh Province lies immediately north of the Yangtze River. Hupeh is bounded on the north by the eastern extension of the axis of the Tsinling, T'ung-pai, and Ta-pieh mountains. In the southeast the Mu-fu Mountains divide the province from Kiangsi. Along its central southern border there is no clear physical divide apart from the Yangtze itself: a lake-studded

Biblical Literature, The modern period

2005-02-14T18:10:00.000-08:00

Following a line marked out earlier by the Spanish philosopher and poet Moses ibn Ezra (1060–1139), Benedict de Spinoza (1632–77) put forward a thoroughgoing reappraisal of the traditional account of the origin of the Pentateuch in his Tractatus Theologico-Politicus (1679). In the following century the Jewish Enlightenment (Haskala) brought a fresh appreciation of the Bible as literature.

Heredity, Multiple alleles

2005-02-14T10:29:00.000-08:00

The traits discussed so far all have been governed by the interaction of two possible alleles. Many genes, however, are represented by multiple allelic forms within a population. (One individual, of course, can possess only two of these multiple alleles.) Human blood groups—in this case, the well-known ABO system—again provide an example. The gene that governs ABO blood

Eden, Garden Of

2005-02-13T00:32:00.000-08:00

In the Old Testament Book of Genesis, biblical earthly paradise inhabited by the first created man and woman, Adam and Eve, prior to their expulsion for disobeying the commandments of God. It is also called in Genesis the Garden of Yahweh, the God of Israel, and, in Ezekiel, the Garden of God. The term Eden probably is derived from the Akkadian word edinu, borrowed from the

Atakpamé

2005-02-12T21:17:00.000-08:00

Town, south-central Togo. It lies along the railroad running north from Lomé, the capital, to Blitta. Atakpamé dates from the 19th century and was first settled by Ewe and Yoruba peoples. It developed as both a commercial centre on a major north-south caravan route and as a haven for refugees fleeing from Dahomean attacks. As a consequence, Atakpamé experienced numerous

Biblical Literature, The canon

2005-02-12T20:30:00.000-08:00

The term canon, from a Hebrew-Greek word meaning a cane or measuring rod, passed into Christian usage as a norm or a rule of faith. The Church Fathers of the 4th century CE first employed it in reference to the definitive, authoritative nature of the body of sacred Scripture.

Wadi Halfa

2005-02-11T17:22:00.000-08:00

Town, extreme northern Sudan. It lies on the east bank of the Nile River 6 miles (10 km) below the Second Cataract, just south of the Egyptian border. Located within ancient Nubia, the town and its environs are rich in antiquities; the ruins of Buhen—an Egyptian colony of the Middle Kingdom period that existed until Roman times—lie across the river. A terminus of both railway

Elizabeth Stuart

2005-02-11T15:23:00.000-08:00

The daughter of James VI of Scotland (later James I of Great Britain) and Anne of Denmark, Elizabeth in 1606 came to the British royal court, where her beauty and charm attracted much attention and where she soon became a favourite subject of the poets. Gustavus

Fustian

2005-02-09T14:57:00.000-08:00

Fustian probably originated in Al-Fustat, now part of Cairo, about AD 200, and eventually spread to Spain and Italy,

WideScissors

Accoramboni, Vittoria

Celandine

Latium

Courante

Tabuk

Friuli-venezia Giulia

Latter Rain Revival

Noverre, Jean-georges

Bream, Julian Alexander

Emecheta, Buchi

Abel, Theodora Mead

Biblical Literature, The Gothic version

France, History Of, Tax reform

Vena Cava

Campa

Zoochlorella

Gabbai

Maupeou, René-nicolas-charles-augustin De

Far'ah, Tall Al-

Anomaly

Seleucid Kingdom

Caazapá

Bohemond Iii

Amorphous Solid

Benedek, Ludwig August, Ritter Von

China, Early T'ang (618626)

Vishnu

Ibn Al-bawwab

Fellow Traveller

Demosthenes

Sucre, Antonio José De

Channel-port Aux Basques

Biblical Literature, Other types

B-1

Ma-ubin

Wells, Henry

Biblical Literature, The role of Samuel

F-100

Marey, étienne-jules

Furniture, Metal

Osaka-kobe Metropolitan Area, Climate

Arnold, Matthew

Arts, South Asian, Gupta period: central India

Toledo, Alejandro

Cerdan, Marcel

Field, David Dudley

France, History Of, France in the later Middle Ages, 11801490

Dance Notation

Sholem Aleichem

Waddington, C.h.

Cabriole Leg

New England, Council For

Goat

Darling, Grace

Gullah

Jordan, Relief and drainage

Czestochowa

Hackl, Georg

Black Mass

San Bernardino

Rhythm

Wallas, Graham

Draft Riot Of 1863

Río Gallegos

Plumbing

Draft Riot Of 1863

Italy, The rise of Mussolini

Daventry

Annapolis Royal

Sabine

Liquidation

Quartet

France, History Of, The Dreyfus affair

Balaguer, Joaquín

Harding, Chester

Residual Landform

Calbayog

Bhaisajya-guru

Peter Ii

China, Early T'ang (618626)

France, History Of, France in the later Middle Ages, 11801490

Duanehunt Law