SadHead

Cabaret

2005-04-05T10:24:00.000-07:00

Restaurant that serves liquor and offers a variety of musical entertainment. The cabaret probably originated in France in the 1880s as a small club in which the audience was grouped around a platform. The entertainment at first consisted of a series of amateur acts linked together by a master of ceremonies; its coarse humour was usually directed against the conventions

Indriya

2005-04-05T07:57:00.000-07:00

(Sanskrit: “faculty”), according to Indian philosophy, the instruments of a person's direct perception of the outside world. They are of two kinds, motoric and sensory. The motoric faculties are those of speaking, grasping, walking, ejaculating, and evacuating. The sensory faculties, or senses, are hearing, touching, seeing, tasting, and smelling. Both sets of faculties are

Pantheism, Buddhist doctrines

2005-04-04T07:39:00.000-07:00

Some 600 years after Buddha, a new and more speculative school of Buddhism arose to challenge the 18 or 20 schools of Buddhism then in existence. One of the early representatives of this new school, which came to be known as Mahayana (Sanskrit “Greater Vehicle”) Buddhism, was Asvaghosa. Like Sankara (whom he antedated by 700 years), Asvaghosa not only distinguished between the pure Absolute

Mola Di Bari

2005-04-03T14:29:00.000-07:00

Town, Bari provincia, Puglia (Apulia) regione, southern Italy. In the European Middle Ages it was an embarkation point for the crusaders, and it has a 13th-century cathedral of Renaissance reconstruction. A fishing port and bathing resort, the modern town has tanneries and soap and button factories. Pop. (1989 est.) mun., 26,942.

Ghi

2005-04-03T03:14:00.000-07:00

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

Binding Energy

2005-04-02T23:46:00.000-08:00

Nuclear binding energy is the energy required to separate an atomic nucleus

Cup Fungus

2005-04-01T06:12:00.000-08:00

Any member of the series Discomycetes, a large group of fungi (kingdom Fungi) in the class Ascomycetes and typically characterized by a disk- or cup-shaped structure (apothecium) bearing spore sacs (asci) on its surface. Some of the cup fungi are important plant pathogens, such as Monilinia (Sclerotinia), causing brown rot in peach and other stone fruits. Others are saprobes,

Togo, Government

2005-04-01T02:02:00.000-08:00

The military coup d'état of 1967 abolished the constitution of 1963 and dissolved the National Assembly. Togo had been ruled since 1969 by the Rally of the Togolese People, the sole political party until 1991 when parties were legalized. A new constitution in 1992 established the president as head of state and an elected multiparty National Assembly. The president appoints the prime minister

Reger, Max

2005-03-31T10:45:00.000-08:00

Reger studied at Weiden. In 1888 he heard Die Meistersinger and Parsifal at Bayreuth, but Wagnerian influence on his music was short-lived. From 1890 to 1893 he studied at Sondershausen

Smith, Amanda

2005-03-29T07:36:00.000-08:00

Born a slave, Berry grew up in York county, Pa., after her father bought his own freedom and that of most of the family. She was educated mainly at home and at an early age began working as a domestic. An unhappy first marriage ended with the disappearance

Soromenho, Fernando Monteiro De Castro

2005-03-29T07:08:00.000-08:00

Soromenho was taken to Angola by his parents in 1911, was sent to school in Portugal at the age of six, and returned

Mau Mau

2005-03-28T18:20:00.000-08:00

Militant African nationalist movement that originated in the 1950s among the Kikuyu people of Kenya. The Mau Mau (origin of the name is uncertain) advocated violent resistance to British domination in Kenya; the movement was especially associated with the ritual oaths employed by leaders of the Kikuyu Central Association to promote unity in the independence

Dow, Charles Henry

2005-03-28T08:38:00.000-08:00

In his twenties Dow took up journalism,

Obuasi

2005-03-27T23:09:00.000-08:00

Town, southern Ghana. Its growth was stimulated by the discovery of a large gold deposit in 1897 and the building of the railway from Sekondi in 1902. The Asante gold mine at Obuasi has continued as the country's major producer while others have become depleted. It is one of the world's richest gold mines in terms of yield per ton of ore. By the end of the 20th century, it was the 10th largest

Disaccharide

2005-03-26T23:02:00.000-08:00

Also called Double Sugar, any substance that is composed of two molecules of simple sugars (monosaccharides) linked to each other. Sucrose, which is formed following photosynthesis in green plants, consists of one molecule of glucose and one of fructose; lactose (milk sugar), found in the milk of all mammals, consists of glucose and galactose; and maltose, a product of the breakdown of starches

Cincinnati, Society Of The

2005-03-25T23:19:00.000-08:00

Hereditary, military, and patriotic organization formed in May 1783 by officers who had served in the American Revolution. Its objectives were to promote union and national honour, maintain their war-born friendship, perpetuate the rights for which they had fought, and aid members and their families in case of need. The society took its name from the Roman citizen-soldier

Holguín

2005-03-25T08:14:00.000-08:00

Holguín, located on fertile, rolling plains, is now an important communications and trading centre in eastern Cuba. Sugar refining, cigar making,

Frederick Augustus Ii

2005-03-24T01:18:00.000-08:00

Frederick Augustus shared the regency with his uncle, King Anton, from 1830 to 1836, when he succeeded to the throne. The constitution of 1831, granting a measure of representative

Steeple

2005-03-23T18:21:00.000-08:00

Tall ornamental tower, sometimes a belfry, usually attached to an ecclesiastical or public building. The steeple is usually composed of a series of diminishing stories and is topped by a spire, cupola, or pyramid (qq.v.), although in ordinary usage the term steeple denotes the entire structure.

Balbo, Italo

2005-03-23T07:00:00.000-08:00

After studying at Florence University and the Institute of Social Science in Rome, Balbo served as an officer in the Alpine Corps during World War I. An early Fascist, he led the Blackshirt militia in the March on Rome (October

Levator Muscle

2005-03-22T22:16:00.000-08:00

Any of the muscles that raise a body part. In humans these include the levator anguli oris, which raises the corner of the mouth; the levator ani, collective name for a thin sheet of muscle that stretches across the pelvic cavity and helps hold the pelvic viscera in position, forming a kind of sphincter around the vagina in the female and the anal canal in both sexes; the

Biblical Literature, Textual criticism: scholarly problems

2005-03-22T07:44:00.000-08:00

As to when and how a single text type gained hegemony and then displaced all others, it is clear that the early and widespread public reading of the Scriptures in the synagogues of Palestine,

Wailua River

2005-03-21T15:02:00.000-08:00

River on Kauai Island, Hawaii, U.S. It flows from the slopes of Mount Waialeale about 10 miles (16 km) inland, to the east-central coast. The Wailua River Reserve, a 587-acre (238-hectare) coastal state park along the river, is rich in Hawaiian tradition. The first migratory Tahitians, including the great chief Puna-nui, arrived in the 12th century and settled near the present coastal towns

Nadel, S(iegfried) F(rederick)

2005-03-19T22:03:00.000-08:00

Before turning to anthropology Nadel pursued musical interests. He wrote a biography of the Italian composer Ferruccio Benvenuto Busoni and a work on musical typology, and he toured with his own opera

Rabbinical Assembly, The

2005-03-19T18:43:00.000-08:00

Organization of Conservative rabbis in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, and Israel. It was founded in 1900 as the Alumni Association of the Jewish Theological Seminary and was reorganized in 1940 as the Rabbinical Assembly of America; in 1962 it acquired its present name and international scope. The Rabbinical Assembly recommends rabbis for appointment to Conservative

Celestial Globe

2005-03-19T14:06:00.000-08:00

Some globes were made in ancient Greece; Thales of Miletus (fl. 6th century BC) is generally credited with having constructed the first. Probably the oldest in existence is the

Viseu

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

Distrito (“district”) northern Portugal. Framed by the Caramulo, Arada, and Montemuro mountains in the west, the district is drained by the upper basin of the Mondego and Vouga rivers. It is densely populated in the more humid western plateaus, with impressive flights of cultivated terraces on the deep valley slopes, which produce chiefly corn (maize), cabbage, grapes, and

Gir Range

2005-03-18T16:41:00.000-08:00

Low mountain range in western Gujarat state, west-central India, on the southern Kathiawar Peninsula. The range is extremely rugged with a steep slope seaward to the south and a gradual slope inland to the north. From it to the north runs a low, narrow, dissected range rising to Gorakhnath (3,665 feet [1,117 m], believed to be an extinct volcano) in the broad mass of the Girnar Hills. The Gir Range

San Francesco

2005-03-18T13:32:00.000-08:00

Franciscan monastery and church in Assisi, Italy, begun after the canonization in 1228 of St. Francis of Assisi and completed in 1253. The crypt was added in 1818, when the tomb of St. Francis was opened. The lower church is where the saint is buried, and it has frescoes by Giunta Pisano, Cimabue, Giotto, Pietro Lorenzetti, Simone Martini, and Andrea da Bologna. The upper church has frescoes

Rivière, Jacques

2005-03-18T02:04:00.000-08:00

Writer, critic, and editor who was a major force in the intellectual life of France in the period immediately following World War I. His most important works were his thoughtful and finely written essays on the arts. In 1912 a collection of these essays was published as Études; a second such collection, entitled Nouvelles études (“Further

Rudolf, Lake

2005-03-16T15:18:00.000-08:00

Also called Lake Turkana fourth largest of the eastern African lakes. It lies mainly in northern Kenya, with its northern end stretching into Ethiopia. The lake lies in the eastern arm of eastern Africa's Rift Valley. It covers an area of 2,473 square miles (6,405 square km) and lies at 1,230 feet (375 m) above sea level. Together with Lake Baringo (south), Lake Rudolf once formed a larger body of water drained by the Sobat

Differential Gear

2005-03-16T10:41:00.000-08:00

In automotive mechanics, gear arrangement that permits power from the engine to be transmitted to a pair of driving wheels, dividing the force equally between them but permitting them to follow paths of different lengths, as when turning a corner or traversing an uneven road. On a straight road the wheels rotate at the same speed; when turning a corner the outside

Cane Furniture

2005-03-16T04:10:00.000-08:00

Furniture in which a mesh of split canes is stretched over parts of the framework, principally on the backs and seats of chairs. It was made in India as early as the 2nd century AD and was also known in China. Cane was imported into Europe by the East India Company, and cane furniture became fashionable in England and the Netherlands toward the end of the 17th century. It is particularly

Clarence, George Plantagenet, Duke Of

2005-03-15T23:31:00.000-08:00

Soon after Edward IV became king in March 1461, George was made duke of Clarence, and in

Biblical Literature, The Second Letter of John

2005-03-14T07:05:00.000-08:00

II John warns a specific church (or perhaps churches), designated as “the elect lady and her children,” against the influence of the Docetic heresy combatted in I John, whose proponents lured Christians from “following the truth, just as we have been commanded by the Father.” In II John, as in the Gospel According to John and I John, the light–darkness images are similar to those

Robert, Hubert

2005-03-14T05:48:00.000-08:00

Robert went to Rome (1754), was elected to the French Academy there, and became a friend and associate of the renowned etcher of architectural subjects Giambattista Piranesi. In 1759 he joined Abbé

China, The history of the Chou (1111255 BC)

2005-03-13T16:09:00.000-08:00

The origin of the Chou royal house is lost in the mists of time. Although the traditional historical system of the Chinese contains a Chou genealogy, no dates can be assigned to the ancestors. The first ancestor was Hou Chi, literally translated as “Lord of Millet.” He appears to have been a cultural hero and agricultural deity rather than a tribal chief. The earliest plausible

Hugh Of Cluny, Saint

2005-03-13T05:55:00.000-08:00

Hugh de Semur took monastic vows at

Diegueño

2005-03-13T01:09:00.000-08:00

Diegueño culture reflected similarities with its neighbours the Luiseño to the north and other Yuman nations to the east, such as the Mojave (see Yuman

Ghardaïa

2005-03-12T07:17:00.000-08:00

Chief town of the M'zab (q.v.) Oasis, north-central Algeria. It lies along the left bank of the Oued (wadi) Mzab in the northern Sahara (Desert). Founded in the 11th century, it was built around the cave (ghar) reputedly inhabited by the female saint Daïa (the cave is still venerated by M'zabite women). Ghardaïa is a fortified town with white and red clay houses that rise in terraces and

Félibrige

2005-03-12T03:10:00.000-08:00

Association organized in the 19th century for the maintenance of the Provençal customs and language that stimulated the renaissance of the literature, language, and customs of the whole of southern France. The Félibrige was founded in 1854 by seven poets—Joseph Roumanille, Frédéric Mistral, Théodore Aubanel, Anselme Mathieu, Jean Brunet, Alphonse Tavan, and Paul Giéra

Arabia, Northern Arabia

2005-03-11T09:50:00.000-08:00

The Wadi As-Sirhan, a depression rather than a true wadi, is about 200 miles long and 1,000 feet below the adjacent plateau. Northeast of Wadi As-Sirhan are wide lava fields and chert plains belonging to the southern part of Al-Hamad, the Syrian Desert. The basin containing An-Nafud is rimmed on the north by escarpments, down the northern slope of which run the 'Anizah Wadis (the wadis of the

Parima Mountains

2005-03-10T19:55:00.000-08:00

Headstreams of the Orinoco River rise on the western flanks, and headstreams of the Branco

Adam, Adolphe

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

Adam wrote 71 operas, the best of which are generally considered to be Le Postillon de Longjumeau (1836) and Giralda (1850). In his ballets—which he composed for production in London, Berlin,

Christian

2005-03-09T23:18:00.000-08:00

“The mad Halberstadter” (der tolle Halberstadter), or

Ectoderm

2005-03-09T15:51:00.000-08:00

The outermost of the three germ layers, or masses of cells, which appears early in the development of an animal embryo. In vertebrates, ectoderm subsequently gives rise to hair, skin, nails or hooves, and the lens of the eye; the epithelia (surface, or lining, tissues) of sense organs, the nasal cavity, the sinuses, the mouth (including tooth enamel), and the anal canal; and nervous

Bel Canto

2005-03-09T03:19:00.000-08:00

(Italian: “beautiful singing”), style of operatic singing that originated in Italian singing of polyphonic (multipart) music and Italian courtly solo singing during the late 16th century and that was developed in Italian opera in the 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries. Using a relatively small dynamic range, bel canto singing was based on an exact control of the intensity of

Referendum And Initiative

2005-03-08T19:01:00.000-08:00

The referendum may be obligatory or optional. Under the obligatory type, a statute or constitution requires that certain classes of legislative action be referred to a popular vote for approval or rejection. For

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, Japan

2005-03-08T17:12:00.000-08:00

In Japan the Koji-ki (712; “Records of Ancient Matters”) and the Nihon-shoki (8th century; “Chronicles of Japan”), both of them official histories of Japan, were studded with fables, many of them on the theme of a small intelligent animal getting the better of a large stupid one. The same is true of the fudoki (local gazetteers dating from 713 and later). The form reached its height in the Kamakura

Taff Vale Case

2005-03-07T05:45:00.000-08:00

(1900–01), in Great Britain, the successful trial of a suit brought by the Taff Vale Railway Company against the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants (ASRS) in which the courts held that a union could be sued for damages caused by the actions of its officials in industrial disputes. Opposition to the decision did much to spur the growth of the nascent British Labour

Paraíba

2005-03-06T19:49:00.000-08:00

Also called Parahyba, or Parahyba Do Norte, estado (“state”) of northeastern Brazil. Primarily an agricultural state, Paraíba is bounded by the states of Rio Grande do Norte on the north, Ceará on the west, and Pernambuco on the south and by the Atlantic Ocean on the east. Its area is 20,833 square miles (53,958 square km). Its chief river, the Paraíba, rises on the Pernambuco border and enters the Atlantic Ocean near the state capital,

Edenbridge

2005-03-06T16:35:00.000-08:00

Town (“parish”), Sevenoaks district, administrative and historic county of Kent, England, south of London near the Surrey border, on the River Eden. It was enlarged after 1970 to accommodate overspill population from London, and light industries have been introduced. Nearby Hever Castle is a moated mansion of the 15th and 16th centuries, associated with the family of Anne Boleyn,

Muar

2005-03-05T23:39:00.000-08:00

Also called Bandar Maharani, town and port on the southwestern coast of West Malaysia (Malaya). It lies along the strait of Malacca, at the mouth of the Muar River. An old town, it was occupied by the end of the 14th century AD by Parameswara, founder of the Malay kingdom of Malacca (Melaka). Naval battles involving neighbouring sultanates and kingdoms were fought at Muar in 1517, 1615, and 1616. The present town of Muar was

Amorbach

2005-03-05T13:29:00.000-08:00

City, Bavaria Land (state), southwestern Germany, in the Odenwald (wooded upland), southwest of Würzburg. It originated around a Benedictine monastery in the 8th century and came under the jurisdiction of the electors of Mainz in 1272. Amorbach became the residence of the princes of Leiningen in 1803 and passed to Bavaria in 1816. The modern city is a health resort and has woodworking

Water Bloom

2005-03-05T00:15:00.000-08:00

Also called Marine Bloom, dense aquatic population of microscopic organisms produced by an abundance of nutrient salts in surface water, coupled with adequate sunlight for photosynthesis. The microorganisms or the toxic substances that they release may discolour the water, deplete its oxygen content, poison aquatic animals and waterfowl, and irritate the skin and respiratory tract

Cracking

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

Cracking of petroleum yields light oils (corresponding to gasoline), heavier oils, and such gases as methane, ethane,

Spalacotherium

2005-03-03T15:39:00.000-08:00

Genus of extinct primitive, probably predaceous mammals known from fossils found in Late Jurassic deposits of Europe. The genus Spalacotherium is representative of the symmetrodonts, a group characterized by molar teeth with three cusps arranged in a triangle. The symmetrodonts are among the oldest known mammals and may in some way have played a role in the development

Dyce, Alexander

2005-03-03T03:41:00.000-08:00

As an undergraduate at the University of Oxford, Dyce edited a dictionary of the language of Shakespeare. After serving as a curate in Cornwall and Suffolk,

Hyogo

2005-03-02T03:44:00.000-08:00

Ken (prefecture), western Honshu, Japan. Hyogo is bounded by the Sea of Japan (north) and the Inland Sea (south) and includes Awaji Island, the largest island of the Inland Sea. Hyogo is dominated by its capital, Kobe, and other southern coastal cities forming part of the Osaka-Kobe metropolitan area. Hyogo's industries include the production of iron, steel, textiles, and lumber. Agriculture

Steel, Argon-oxygen decarburization

2005-03-02T03:31:00.000-08:00

In the production of stainless steel and other high-alloy grades that contain highly oxidizable elements such as chromium, lowering the levels of carbon by regular oxygen injection has the undesirable consequence of oxidizing the alloying elements as well. The argon-oxygen decarburization (AOD) process alleviates this problem by diluting the injected oxygen

Diplomatics

2005-03-01T14:14:00.000-08:00

The study of documents. The term is derived from the Greek word diploma, meaning “doubled” or “folded.” Besides the documents of legal and administrative import withwhich it is properly concerned, diplomatics also includes the study of other records such as bills, reports, cartularies, registers, and rolls. Diplomatics is therefore a basic and not simply an auxiliary

New France

2005-03-01T02:45:00.000-08:00

The name Gallia Nova (New France) was first recorded in 1529 on a map prepared by the brother of Giovanni da Verrazano, who,

Mordenite

2005-02-28T10:40:00.000-08:00

Hydrated sodium, potassium, and calcium aluminosilicate mineral (Na2,K2,Ca) Al2Si10O24×7H2O, in the zeolite family. It is one of the most abundant zeolites in altered volcanic deposits, and it commonly occurs as white, glassy needles filling veins and cavities in igneous rocks. It is also found in marine sediments, as in the Ural Mountains and in dikes where water has attacked and

Joust

2005-02-28T08:28:00.000-08:00

Western European mock battle between two horsemen charging each other with levelled lances, each attempting to unhorse the other. Early medieval tournaments consisted of mêlées, mock battles between two bodies of armed horsemen; later both the mêlée and the joust took place at tournaments, and in the 15th century the joust tended to supersede the mêlée. Jousting

Aurangzeb

2005-02-27T14:28:00.000-08:00

Relevant historical background is provided in S.M. Edwardes and H.L.O. Garrett, Mughal Rule in India (1930, reprinted 1976); and Robert C. Hallissey, The Rajput Rebellion Against Aurangzeb: A Study of the Mughal Empire in Seventeenth-Century India (1977). Kalika-Ranjan Qanungo, Dara Shukon, 2nd ed. (1952), analyzes the rivalry for the throne. Detailed biographies are Jadunath Sarkar, History of Aurangzib: Based on Original Sources, 5 vol. (1924–30, reprinted in 4 vol., 1972–74); and Muni Lal, Aurangzeb (1988).

Mountain, The Zagros and Bitlis mountains

2005-02-27T11:47:00.000-08:00

The Arabian Peninsula, its northeastern edge covered by thick sedimentary rocks, has collided with Iran and Turkey at the Zagros and Bitlis sutures to form the Zagros and Bitlis mountains. Thick layers of salt in the Arabian shield's sedimentary rock have allowed the overlying layers to detach and fold, creating a particularly well-developed fold and thrust belt

Ecuador, Recreation

2005-02-27T01:42:00.000-08:00

The Ecuadoran calendar is replete with religious and secular holidays. Some of the more important ones are not national but, rather, associated with local urban or regional traditions, such as the holidays of Quito (December 1–6), Guayaquil (October 9), and Cuenca (November 3) and the Yamor festival in Otavalo in early September. Many shops and businesses also close on Saturday

Sibu

2005-02-26T18:05:00.000-08:00

Town, East Malaysia (northwest Borneo), at the confluence of the Rajang and Igan rivers, about 50 miles (80 km) from the South China Sea coast. As a river port, it serves small oceangoing vessels and exports timber, rubber, and pepper. Sibu has an airport and a technical nautical school. Pop. (1980) 85,231.

Charadriiform, Shorebirds (suborder Charadrii)

2005-02-26T10:34:00.000-08:00

Female jacanas are larger and more aggressive than males; after laying, females of some species show no interest in the nest or young, leaving incubation and care of chicks to the male. The nest is a shallow, sodden pile of vegetation that floats among aquatic plants. Chicks are downy and run well when a day old. Both chicks and adults may dive to escape danger and remain

Robert-houdin, Jean-eugène

2005-02-25T03:03:00.000-08:00

Original name Jean-Eugène Robert French magician who is considered to be the father of modern conjuring. He was the first magician to use electricity; he improved the signalling method for the “thought transference” trick; and he exposed “fakes” and magicians who relied on supernatural explanations for their feats. Although he did not do away with apparatus, he

Arabian Sea

2005-02-24T07:06:00.000-08:00

Northwestern part of the Indian Ocean, covering a total area of about 1,491,000 square miles (3,862,000 square kilometres) and forming part of the principal sea route between Europe and India. It is bounded to the west by the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, to the north by Iran and Pakistan, to the east by India, and to the south by the remainder of the Indian Ocean. To the north the Gulf

Cleveland

2005-02-24T01:18:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1836) of Bradley county, southeastern Tennessee, U.S., about 30 miles (50 km) northeast of Chattanooga. Established in 1836 following the agreement for the evacuation of the area by the Cherokee, the community was named for Colonel Benjamin Cleveland, a hero of the American Revolution. During the American Civil War, Union generals Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman

Beach Boys, The

2005-02-23T10:12:00.000-08:00

American rock group whose dulcet melodies and distinctive vocal mesh defined the 1960s youthful idyll of sun-drenched southern California. The original members were Brian Wilson (b. June 20, 1942, Inglewood, Calif., U.S.), Dennis Wilson (b. Dec. 4, 1944, Inglewood—d. Dec. 28, 1983, Marina del Rey, Calif.), Carl Wilson (b. Dec. 21, 1946, Los Angeles, Calif.—d. Feb. 6, 1998, Los Angeles), Michael Love (b. March 15, 1941, Los Angeles), and Alan Jardine (b. Sept.

Thököly, Imre

2005-02-23T07:34:00.000-08:00

The scion of a rich Protestant family, Thököly moved to Transylvania after his father was executed for having had a role in the Hungarian magnates' conspiracy against the Habsburg emperor Leopold

Edwin

2005-02-22T13:20:00.000-08:00

The son of King Aelle of Deira, one of the two Northumbrian kingdoms, Edwin fled into exile when Aethelric, king of Bernicia, seized power in Deira in 588 or 590. In 616 King Raedwald of East Anglia defeated and killed Aethelric's

Mormon

2005-02-21T07:43:00.000-08:00

In western New York state in 1827, during a time of intense religious revivalism, Joseph Smith, Jr., a farmer's son, claimed an angel called Moroni gave him golden plates whose engraved records Smith translated into English as the Book of Mormon—so called after Mormon, an ancient American prophet who had made an abridgment of many previous plates. Smith published the Book

Biblical Literature, The chronology of Paul

2005-02-21T07:26:00.000-08:00

For the chronology of Paul's ministry, there are also some extra-biblical data: According to Josephus, Herod Agrippa I was made ruler of all Palestine by the emperor Claudius in AD 41 and reigned for three years. His death was thus in AD 44. A famine in Claudius' reign took place when Tiberius Alexander was procurator of Judaea (c. 46–48), and Egyptian papyri suggest (by reference to high wheat

Metastable State

2005-02-21T06:21:00.000-08:00

In physics and chemistry, particular excited state of an atom, nucleus, or other system that has a longer lifetime than the ordinary excited states and that generally has a shorter lifetime than the lowest, often stable, energy state, called the ground state. A metastable state may thus be considered a kind of temporary energy trap or a somewhat stable intermediate

Ya-an

2005-02-19T22:37:00.000-08:00

Established as the seat of a county under the Ch'in (221–206 BC) and Han (206 BC–AD 220) dynasties,

Kirkpatrick, Jeane

2005-02-19T11:22:00.000-08:00

Kirkpatrick took an associate's degree from Stephens College, Columbia, Missouri (1946), a bachelor's from Barnard College, New York City, and a master's and doctorate from Columbia University, New York City (1950 and 1968, respectively).

Philadelphia

2005-02-19T01:56:00.000-08:00

Philadelphia has been described either as the elegant but rather jaded great lady or as the overage and sickly spinster of American cities. A more realistic look at Philadelphia, however, shows it to be a very

Accessory Mineral

2005-02-18T20:49:00.000-08:00

Any mineral in an igneous rock not essential to the naming of the rock. When it is present in small amounts, as is common, it is called a minor accessory. If the amount is greater or is of special significance, the mineral is called a varietal, or characterizing, accessory and may give a varietal name to the rock (e.g., the mineral biotite in biotite granite). Accessory minerals

Lancashire

2005-02-18T04:57:00.000-08:00

The administrative, geographic, and historic counties occupy somewhat different areas. The administrative

Beard Lichen

2005-02-17T11:06:00.000-08:00

Any member of the genus Usnea, a yellow or greenish fruticose (bushy, branched) lichen with long stems and disk-shaped holdfasts, which resembles a tangled mass of threads. It occurs in both the Arctic and the tropics, where it is eaten by wild animals or collected as fodder. In the past it was used as a remedy for whooping cough, catarrh, epilepsy, and dropsy. It has been used

Awaji Island

2005-02-17T10:18:00.000-08:00

Japanese Awaji-shima island, Hyogo ken (prefecture), Japan. The island lies at the eastern end of the Inland Sea, between west-central Honshu and eastern Shikoku. The narrow straits of Akashi (north) and Kii (southeast) separate it from the city of Kobe on Honshu, while Naruto Strait to the southwest, well known for its whirlpools, separates it from Shikoku. Most of the island's area of 229 square miles

La Venta

2005-02-17T05:16:00.000-08:00

Ancient Olmec settlement, located near the border of modern Tabasco and Veracruz states, on the gulf coast of Mexico. La Venta was originally built on an island in the Tonalá River; now it is part of a large swamp. After petroleum was found there, many of the artifacts were moved to an archaeological park on the outskirts of the city of Villahermosa, some 80 miles (129 km) to the

Bone Cyst

2005-02-16T20:28:00.000-08:00

Circumscribed, benign (noncancerous) lesion, usually saclike and filled with fluid. Unicameral bone cyst affects the long bones or heel bones in children and adolescents and is frequently detected as a result of a pathological fracture. Treatment is by excision and bone graft, but spontaneous healing is common. Aneurysmal bone cyst, usually occurring in young males,

Subhah

2005-02-15T07:51:00.000-08:00

String of Muslim prayer beads whose units (100, 25, or 33) represent the names of God. As the beads (made of wood, bone, or precious stones) are touched one by one, Muslims may recite any of numerous formulas, the most common being “Glory to Allah.” But because prayer may also be recited in the secret of one's heart, a person can multiply his praises of God by merely moving the beads through his

Holderness

2005-02-15T01:23:00.000-08:00

Low-lying peninsula and geographic region, geographic county of East Riding of Yorkshire, historic county of Yorkshire, England, between the River Humber estuary and the North Sea. The plain of Holderness terminates in a line of unstable clay cliffs along the coast of the North Sea to the east, where erosion is a serious problem north of Spurn Head, which is the peninsula's

Toccoa

2005-02-15T01:08:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1905) of Stephens county, northeastern Georgia, U.S. It lies on the Dahlonega Upland, northwest of Hartwell Dam and Lake near the South Carolina border, about 50 miles (80 km) north of Athens. Toccoa was laid out in 1873 and is at the edge of Chattahoochee National Forest in a prosperous agricultural area. The city has some industry, including the manufacture of textiles, heavy

Furniture, Turned work

2005-02-14T23:41:00.000-08:00

Turning is a process by which parts of furniture, such as legs and posts, are shaped while turning on a lathe. Turned work is found on Greco-Roman furniture. It is not certain whether the technique was actually employed in Egyptian furniture, though some members look as though they might have been turned. It was particularly in the shaping of wooden chair legs that Greek

France, History Of, Colonial independence movements

2005-02-13T15:20:00.000-08:00

A less fortunate aspect of the national urge to reassert France's stature in the world was the Fourth Republic's costly effort to hold the colonial empire. France's colonies had provided de Gaulle with his first important base of support as leader of Free France, and as the war continued they had furnished valuable resources and manpower. The colonial peoples, therefore,

Van Devanter, Willis

2005-02-13T11:17:00.000-08:00

After graduating from Cincinnati Law School in 1881, he initially worked for his father's law firm; but in 1884, he moved to Cheyenne, Wyo., to become a railroad attorney. There he became involved in territorial politics, serving on a commission to codify the Wyoming statutes in 1886, as city attorney

Assault Rifle

2005-02-12T21:29:00.000-08:00

Military firearm that is chambered for ammunition of reduced size or propellant charge and that has the capacity to switch between semiautomatic and fully automatic fire. Because they are light and portable yet still able to deliver a high volume of fire with reasonable accuracy at modern combat ranges of 300–500 m (1,000–1,600 feet), assault rifles have replaced the high-powered

Seto

2005-02-12T20:38:00.000-08:00

City, Aichi ken (prefecture), central Honshu, Japan, northeast of Nagoya. Seto, established about 1230, is known for its porcelain (Seto ware). Since the Meiji period (1868–1912), the pottery industry has expanded to include over 900 factories and 1,000 kilns. Tableware, electric insulators, and toys are also produced. Seto houses the National Ceramic Experimental Station. Memorials to the legendary

Aurillac

2005-02-12T19:30:00.000-08:00

Capital of Cantal département, Auvergne région, south-central France. It lies along the Jourdanne River at an elevation of 2,040 feet (622 m) above sea level, southwest of Clermont-Ferrand. Gerbert, the first French pope (known as Sylvester II), was born in the town and was educated at the nearby Saint-Géraud abbey (founded 894). In the Religious Wars of the 16th century, a general massacre

Actinide Element, Nuclear

2005-02-11T00:46:00.000-08:00

All of the actinide elements are unstable toward radioactive decay; the reason that actinium, thorium, protactinium, and uranium are found in nature at all is because some of their isotopes are unusually stable and others are being formed constantly by decay of the long-lived isotopes. It is convenient to divide the naturally occurring isotopes into families based

Le Poulain, Jean

2005-02-10T16:14:00.000-08:00

Le Poulain spent his childhood in Indochina, where his father was a colonial administrator, and returned to France at the age of 19. He studied in small conservatories before being admitted to the

Dygasinski, Adolf

2005-02-10T15:48:00.000-08:00

Dygasinski was a teacher by profession and a worshiper of science. He published about 50 volumes of short stories of uneven literary quality, the best pieces of which deal with the lives of domestic and wild animals.

Paracas

2005-02-09T18:10:00.000-08:00

Culture centred on the peninsula of the same name, located in present-day southern Peru in the vicinity of Ica, during the Early Horizon and the Early Intermediate periods (c. 900 BC–AD 400). The Paracas culture's earlier phase, called Paracas Cavernas, is related to the Chavín culture (c. 1000–400 BC). The pottery of the period is not well-fired and was sometimes painted after firing. The Paracas cultures