AngryCord

Accra

2005-04-05T19:59:00.000-07:00

When the Portuguese first settled on the coast of what is now Ghana in 1482, the present site of Accra was occupied

Ghavam El-saltaneh, Ahmad

2005-04-04T08:27:00.000-07:00

Ghavam entered the court of the Qajar monarch Mozaffar al-Din Shah as a scribe in 1898. He rose to the position of minister of justice in 1909 and became minister of the interior the following year. In 1918 he was appointed governor of Khorasan province and three years later was nominated prime

Tepe Yahya

2005-04-03T16:45:00.000-07:00

Ancient Iranian site located northeast of Dowlatabad in southeastern Iran; it has yielded valuable information on the economic exchange patterns of the 3rd millennium BC. Excavations (1968–70) by the American School of Prehistoric Research have revealed that Tepe Yahya was almost continuously occupied from the middle of the 5th millennium to the end of the 3rd millennium BC. It

New Britain

2005-04-03T05:28:00.000-07:00

Largest island of the Bismarck Archipelago, in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, in Papua New Guinea. It is situated 55 miles (88 km) east of the Huon Peninsula of eastern mainland New Guinea. Measuring 370 miles (600 km) long by 50 miles (80 km) at its widest, the crescent-shaped island has an area of approximately 14,100 square miles (36,500 square km) and a 1,000-mile (1,600-km) coastline bordered by reefs. From narrow coastal

Fargue, Léon-paul

2005-04-01T21:22:00.000-08:00

Before he reached 20 years of age, Fargue had already published his important poem Tancrède in the magazine Pan (1895; published in book form in 1911) and had become a member of the Symbolist circle connected with Le Mercure de France. His first collection of verse, Poèmes, was published

Endocarditis

2005-04-01T20:31:00.000-08:00

Inflammation of the heart lining, or endocardium. The inflammation may be associated with a noninfectious disease or may be caused by infection with any of a number of organisms, including bacteria and fungi. The site of the infection is usually the lining of the heart valves. Traditionally, infective endocarditis was classified as acute or subacute; more recently

Coligny, Gaspard Ii De, Seigneur (lord) De Châtillon

2005-03-30T06:45:00.000-08:00

Coligny was the son of Gaspard I de Coligny, the marshal of Châtillon, and Louise de Montmorency, sister of Anne de Montmorency, constable of France. At 22 Coligny came to court and became friendly with François de Lorraine, 2nd duc de Guise. He served

Dench, Dame Judi

2005-03-29T15:09:00.000-08:00

Dench studied at the Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art in London. In 1957 she gave her first important critically acclaimed performance, as Ophelia in the Old Vic production of Hamlet

Qatar

2005-03-27T20:48:00.000-08:00

Qatar's economic prosperity is derived from petroleum, which was discovered in 1939 and first produced in 1949, and from natural gas. Before World War II, Qatar's population lacked any economic occupation apart from pearling, fishing, and some trade and was one of the poorest in the world. By the 1970s, however, the native Qataris enjoyed one of the highest per capita incomes in the world,

Chat

2005-03-27T17:53:00.000-08:00

Australian chats are chiefly Epthianura species, usually placed in the family

Permafrost, Pingos

2005-03-26T13:15:00.000-08:00

The most spectacular landforms associated with permafrost are pingos, small ice-cored circular or elliptical hills of frozen sediments or even bedrock, 3 to more than 60 metres high and 15 to 450 metres in diameter. Pingos are widespread in the continuous permafrost zone and are quite conspicuous because they rise above the tundra. They are much less conspicuous in the forested

Duality

2005-03-26T09:27:00.000-08:00

In mathematics, principle whereby one true statement can be obtained from another by merely interchanging two words. It is a property belonging to the branch of algebra known as lattice theory, which is involved with the concepts of order and structure common to different mathematical systems. A mathematical structure is called a lattice if it can be ordered in

Frederick Iii (or Ii)

2005-03-24T13:34:00.000-08:00

Appointed regent of Sicily by his brother, James II of Aragon, in 1291, Frederick was elected king by the Sicilian parliament (Dec. 11, 1295), to prevent the island's return to the rule of the Angevin Charles II of Naples; he was crowned on March 25, 1296. To revive the Ghibelline

Stagg, Amos Alonzo

2005-03-23T16:47:00.000-08:00

U.S. college football coach who had the longest coaching career—71 years—in the history of the sport. In 1943, at the age of 81, he was named college coach of the year, and he remained active in coaching until the age of 98. He is the only person selected for the National Football Hall of Fame, New Brunswick, N.J., as both a player and a coach. He was also

Nova Scotia, Flag Of

2005-03-23T09:18:00.000-08:00

The flag is based on the provincial coat of arms, which was itself inspired by the Scottish Cross of St. Andrew (white saltire on a blue field) and the royal arms of Scotland. The “reverse-colour” Cross of St. Andrew on the Nova Scotia flag provides a more visible contrast for the Scottish shield. The Nova Scotia coat of arms was created on May 28, 1625, but it was not recorded by heraldic

Mid Bedfordshire

2005-03-22T13:16:00.000-08:00

District, administrative county of Bedfordshire, south-central England. The district lies almost entirely within the historic county of Bedfordshire, but a small area north of Sandy belongs to the historic county of Cambridgeshire. Predominantly rural, Mid Bedfordshire extends across a broad valley within the River Ouse catchment basin and is crossed by a low

Zizka, Jan, Count

2005-03-22T08:59:00.000-08:00

Zizka grew up at the court of the German king Wenceslas (King Wenceslas

Fischer-tropsch Reaction

2005-03-21T05:08:00.000-08:00

The process was first used in Germany about 1940 as a method of producing liquid and gaseous hydrocarbon fuels, such as gasoline

Rinehart, Mary Roberts

2005-03-20T10:48:00.000-08:00

Mary Roberts graduated from the Pittsburgh Training School for Nurses in 1896. That same year she married physician Stanley M. Rinehart. She and her husband started a family, and she took up writing in 1903 as a result of difficulties created by financial

Mercator Projection

2005-03-19T17:35:00.000-08:00

Type of map projection introduced in 1569 by Gerardus Mercator. It is often described as a cylindrical projection, but it must be derived mathematically. The meridians are equally spaced, parallel vertical lines, and the parallels of latitude are parallel, horizontal straight lines, spaced farther and farther apart as their distance from the Equator increases. This

Ecstasy

2005-03-19T11:29:00.000-08:00

MDMA (3,4, Methylenedioxymethamphetamine), euphoria-inducing stimulant and hallucinogen. The use of Ecstasy, commonly known as “E,” has been widespread despite the drug's having been banned worldwide in 1985 by its addition to the international Convention on Psychotropic Substances. It is a derivative of the amphetamine family and a relative of the stimulant methamphetamine

Hispania

2005-03-18T20:17:00.000-08:00

In Roman times, region comprising the Iberian Peninsula, now occupied by Portugal and Spain. When the Romans took Hispania from the Carthaginians (206 BC), they divided it into two provinces: Hispania Ulterior (present Andalusia, Extremadura, southern León, and most of modern Portugal) and Hispania Citerior, or Tarraconensis (all of what is now northern, eastern, and south-central

Allen, Henry

2005-03-17T22:55:00.000-08:00

The son of a longtime New Orleans brass-band leader, Allen played in his father's band before joining King Oliver's big band in the Midwest in 1927 and then Luis Russell's New York band in 1929–32. Allen was in Fletcher Henderson's big band

Mysticism, Union of opposites

2005-03-17T07:42:00.000-08:00

Mystical experience is flanked with a communication hazard, a “polar identity.” The linguistic liberties and extravagances are part of the logical impossibility of having to describe one order of experience in terms of another. Hence, the rhetoric of mysticism is largely one of symbols and paradoxes. The most striking of the strategies, as the medieval Christian

Athens

2005-03-15T23:30:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1819) of Limestone county, northern Alabama, U.S., in the Tennessee River valley, about 25 miles (40 km) west of Huntsville. Settled in 1807 and named for Athens, Greece, it grew as an agricultural and timber centre. During the American Civil War, the town was occupied at intervals by Union troops until recaptured by Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest in 1864. Cotton dominated

Strasberg, Lee

2005-03-15T19:40:00.000-08:00

Strasberg's family emigrated to the United States when he was seven,

Imagist

2005-03-15T02:36:00.000-08:00

The Imagists wrote succinct verse of dry clarity

Holding Company

2005-03-14T05:10:00.000-08:00

A corporation that owns enough voting stock in one or more other companies to exercise control over them. A corporation that exists solely for this purpose is called a pure holding company, while one that also engages in a business of its own is called a holding-operating company. A holding company typically owns a majority of stock in a subsidiary, but if ownership

Turkic Languages

2005-03-14T04:35:00.000-08:00

Group of closely related languages that form a subfamily of the Altaic languages. The Turkic languages show close similarities to each other in phonology, morphology, and syntax, though Chuvash, Khalaj, and Sakha differ considerably from the rest. The earliest linguistic records are Old Turkic inscriptions, found near the Orhon River in Mongolia and the Yenisey

Adwa

2005-03-13T11:30:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Adowa , Italian Adua town, northern Ethiopia. Adwa lies on the east-west highway between Aksum and Adi Grat at its junction with the road north to Asmara (Asmera), in Eritrea. Adwa is a market centre (grains, honey, hides, coffee) for the Tigray people. The town is located 10 miles (16 km) west of an area of fantastic volcanic formations. On March 1, 1896, Emperor Menilek II defeated an Italian force there. Nearby

Dunqulah

2005-03-11T15:07:00.000-08:00

The historic town of Old Dunqulah (Dunqulah al-'Ajuz) was situated on the

National Alliance

2005-03-11T11:10:00.000-08:00

The MSI was formed in 1946 by supporters of former Italian leader Benito Mussolini from elements of the defunct Uomo Qualunque (Average Man) Party that had appeared in 1945. It first contested elections in 1948, when it won six seats in the Chamber of Deputies. From the 1950s

Kwa Languages

2005-03-11T10:20:00.000-08:00

The Kwa languages are divided into two groups. The larger Nyo group comprises 35 languages situated in southern Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana. It includes

Refugee

2005-03-10T21:08:00.000-08:00

Any uprooted, homeless, involuntary migrant who has crossed a frontier and no longer possesses the protection of his former government. Prior to the 19th century the movement from one country to another did not require passports and visas; the right to asylum was commonly recognized and honoured. Although there have been numerous waves of refugees throughout history,

Nepheline

2005-03-09T18:51:00.000-08:00

Also called nephelite , or eleolite the most common feldspathoid mineral, an aluminosilicate of sodium and potassium (Na3KAl4Si4O16). It is sometimes used as a substitute for feldspars in the manufacture of glass and ceramics. Nepheline is the characteristic mineral of alkaline plutonic rocks, particularly nephelinesyenites and nephelinegneisses. It occurs in beautiful crystal form with mica, garnet,

Aucassin Et Nicolette

2005-03-09T04:41:00.000-08:00

Early 13th-century French chantefable (a story told in alternating sections of verse and prose, the former sung, the latter recited). Aucassin, “endowed with all good qualities,” is the son of the Count of Beaucaire and falls in love with Nicolette, a captive Saracen turned Christian. The lovers are imprisoned but manage to escape and, after many vicissitudes (including flight,

Sara Buri

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

Also spelled Saraburi, town, central Thailand, northeast of Bangkok. Sara Buri (locally called Pak Phrieo) is on the south bank of the Pa Sak River. Its economy is based on textile, metalworking, food-manufacturing, clothing, and woodworking industries. The Phra Buddha Bat shrine in the town contains a footprint of Buddha and is the scene of a yearly festival. Sara Buri is linked to Bangkok, 60 miles

Monasticism, Sikhism

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

Sikhism, founded by the Punjabi reformer Nanak, was and is a martial version of Hinduism. Of all the indigenous Indian religions, it was the least sympathetic to monastic inspirations. The aforementioned Sikh monastic Nirmal-akhada and the quasi-monastic Nihang Sahibs are patently compromises with the overall Indian trend to establish monastic traditions to express

Zabrze

2005-03-07T06:01:00.000-08:00

German Hindenburg (1915–45), town, Katowice województwo (province), southwestern Poland. It is situated in the Upper Silesian industrial district. The town became Prussian in 1742, and in 1921, when Upper Silesia was partitioned between Poland and Germany, it remained in German hands. Badly damaged in World War II, it was transferred to Poland in 1945. A major industrial and cultural centre, Zabrze is also one of

Harding

2005-03-05T15:35:00.000-08:00

County, northeastern New Mexico, U.S., bordered on the west by the Canadian River and its steep canyon. The county lies in the Great Plains, with the eastern area merging to the High Plains. Mesas, cliffs, and high hills rise from the landscape; Ute Creek flows southward through Harding county, receiving waters from Tequesquite Creek. The Kiowa National Grassland covers

Latitudinarian

2005-03-05T11:30:00.000-08:00

Any of the 17th-century Anglican clerics whose beliefs and practices were viewed by conservatives as unorthodox or, at best, heterodox. After first being applied to the Cambridge Platonists, the term was later used to categorize churchmen who depended upon reason to establish the moral certainty of Christian doctrines rather than argument from tradition. Limiting

Capital

2005-03-04T13:06:00.000-08:00

Capital may be so broadly defined as to include all possible material, nonmaterial, and human inputs into a productive system, but it is usually more useful to confine the

Averroës

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

Averroës was born into a distinguished family of jurists at Córdoba and died at Marrakech, the North African capital of the Almohad dynasty. Thoroughly versed in the traditional Muslim sciences (especially exegesis of the Qur'an—Islamic scripture—and Hadith, or Traditions, and fiqh, or Law), trained in medicine, and accomplished in philosophy, Averroës rose to be chief

Epistemology, Analytic versus synthetic propositions

2005-03-02T16:56:00.000-08:00

A proposition is often said to be analytic if the meaning of the predicate term is contained in the meaning of the subject term. Thus, “All husbands are married” is analytic because the term “husband” includes as part of its meaning “being married.” A term is said to be synthetic if this is not so. Therefore, “All Model-T Fords are black” is synthetic since the term “black” is not included

Korchnoi, Viktor

2005-03-02T07:31:00.000-08:00

As a youngster, Korchnoi lived through the World War II siege of Leningrad (1941–43). He became a Soviet master in 1951, an international master in 1954, and an international grandmaster

Mardonius

2005-03-01T23:15:00.000-08:00

Achaemenid general, a nephew of King Darius I and married to Darius' daughter Artazostra. In 492 BC he was sent to succeed the satrap (governor) Artaphernes in Ionia, with a special commission to attack Athens and Eretria. Contrary to the usual Achaemenid policy, he abolished the ruling “tyrants” and restored democracies in Ionia, thereby removing a major source

Poland, The Carpathians

2005-02-28T06:58:00.000-08:00

The southernmost and also most scenic portion of Poland embraces the Carpathian Mountains and their associated chains and basins, created in the geologically recent mountain-building Tertiary Period (about 66.4 to 1.6 million years ago). Within the Polish frontiers lie the Oswiecim and Sandomierz basins, a portion of the Beskid Mountains, the Orawka-Podhale Basin, and the

Culverwel, Nathanael

2005-02-27T17:32:00.000-08:00

Details of Culverwel's life are obscure. Though it is known that he was elected to a fellowship at the University of Cambridge in 1642, he is thought to have suffered a mental breakdown in his last years. His writings

Nahmanides

2005-02-27T02:51:00.000-08:00

Nahmanides earned his livelihood as a physician and served successively as rabbi at Gerona and then as chief rabbi of Catalonia. He also attempted to mediate disputes between the followers and opponents of the philosopher

Da Lat

2005-02-25T14:27:00.000-08:00

Municipality, southern Vietnam, northeast of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). On a lake on the Lam Vien Plateau at 4,920 feet (1,500 m) above sea level, it sits among pine-covered hills with picturesque waterfalls nearby. Founded in the 19th century and named for the Da (now Cam Ly) River, which traverses the town, and the Lat population, it was developed by the French as a hill station (resort),

Lord Chancellor

2005-02-25T13:26:00.000-08:00

The office dates back to Edward the Confessor (1042–66), who followed the model

Alveolar Proteinosis

2005-02-25T02:53:00.000-08:00

Respiratory disorder caused by the filling of large groups of alveoli with protein and lipid (fat) particles. The alveoli are air sacs, minute structures in the lungs in which the exchange of respiratory gases occurs. The gas molecules must pass through a cellular wall, the surface of which is generally covered by a thin film of fatty material secreted from the alveolar

Elgin, James Bruce, 8th Earl Of, 12th Earl Of Kincardine

2005-02-23T15:19:00.000-08:00

Bruce was elected to the British House of Commons for Southampton as a liberal Tory in 1841, but later that year he inherited his father's title (Scottish

Geologic Sciences, Oil and natural gas

2005-02-23T11:47:00.000-08:00

Crude oil and natural gas in commercial quantities are generally found in sedimentary rocks along rifted continental margins and in intracontinental

Plum

2005-02-23T10:45:00.000-08:00

Fruit of the genus Prunus of the rose family (Rosaceae). Like the peach and cherry, it is a stone, or drupe, fruit. Trees of some plum species reach a height from 6 to 10 metres (20 to 33 feet), while others are much smaller; some species are small shrubs with drooping branches. The flower buds on most varieties are borne on short spurs or along the terminal shoots of the main branches. Each

Condé, Louis I De Bourbon, 1er Prince De (1st Prince Of)

2005-02-23T04:25:00.000-08:00

Louis de Bourbon was the hunchback youngest son of Charles, duc de Vendôme, and Françoise d'Alençon. Brought up among Huguenots, he was married in

Claudius Pulcher, Publius

2005-02-22T15:56:00.000-08:00

Son of Appius Claudius Caecus and commander of the fleet that suffered the only serious Roman naval defeat of the First Punic War (264–241 BC). The setback occurred in 249, when Claudius was consul. He attacked the Carthaginian fleet in the harbour of Drepanum (modern Trapani, Sicily) and lost 93 of his 123 vessels. It was popularly believed that Claudius failed because he had committed

Osco-umbrian Languages

2005-02-22T14:53:00.000-08:00

Language group proposed by some scholars to be included in the Italic branch of Indo-European languages. The group includes Oscan, Umbrian, and the minor dialects of central Italy—Marsian, Marrucinian, Paelignian, Sabine, Vestinian, and Volscian. Oscan, the language imposed by the Samnites on the Osci of Campania, is known from over 200 inscriptions dated between 400 and 89 BC. Umbrian

Celan, Paul

2005-02-21T13:07:00.000-08:00

When Romania came under virtual Nazi control in World War II, Celan was sent to

Guatemala, Settlement patterns

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

Approximately 60 percent of the population of Guatemala is concentrated within the volcanic uplands and adjacent Pacific coastal plain to the south and west of Guatemala City. A little more than 10 percent live to the east and south, while only about 2 percent reside within the Petén. The remaining populace resides in the region of the sierras. Of the urban dwellers who

Abelard, Peter

2005-02-20T19:28:00.000-08:00

French Pierre Abélard, or Abailard, Latin Petrus Abaelardus, or Abeilardus French theologian and philosopher best known for his solution of the problem of universals and for his original use of dialectics. He is also known for his poetry and for his celebrated love affair with Héloïse.

Hypocoly

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

(Hypocolius ampelinus), Middle Eastern songbird believed by some authorities to be related to the waxwing (family Bombycillidae) but often separated as the sole member of the family Hypocoliidae (order Passeriformes). The hypocoly is a slim grayish bird, about 18 cm (7 inches) long, with a black mask and a slight crest. The wings are black, tipped with white. The beak is short,

Settee

2005-02-19T20:49:00.000-08:00

Also called Sofa, an upholstered seat with back and arms (sometimes upholstered), designed for two or more people in a sitting or reclining position. The earliest surviving types, dating back to the 17th century in Europe, have sides that let down for conversion into a bed. Variations of backrests and armrests appeared, and the precedent, still followed in the 20th century, was established

I Novel

2005-02-18T02:44:00.000-08:00

The I novel grew out of the naturalist movement that dominated Japanese literature during the early decades of the 20th century. The term is used to describe two different types of novel, the confessional novel (characterized

Byzantium

2005-02-17T15:16:00.000-08:00

Later Constantinople , modern Istanbul ancient Greek city on the shore of the Bosporus; also, an alternative name for the Byzantine Empire, which had its capital at Constantinople. See also Istanbul.

Keaton, Buster

2005-02-17T10:55:00.000-08:00

The son of vaudevillians, Keaton is said to have earned his famous nickname when, at age 18 months, he fell down a staircase; magician

Poza Rica

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

Poza Rica was the scene of a major air pollution disaster in 1950, in which 22 persons

Anthophyllite

2005-02-16T06:12:00.000-08:00

An amphibole mineral, a magnesium and iron silicate that occurs in altered rocks, such as the crystalline schists of Kongsberg, Nor., southern Greenland, and Pennsylvania. Anthophyllite is commonly produced by regional metamorphism of ultrabasic rocks. Because its fibres have a low tensile strength, anthophyllite asbestos is not as important as crocidolite or

Denitrifying Bacteria

2005-02-15T16:25:00.000-08:00

Microorganisms whose action results in the conversion of nitrates in soil to free atmospheric nitrogen, thus depleting soil fertility and reducing agricultural productivity. Thiobacillus denitrificans, Micrococcus denitrificans, and some species of Serratia, Pseudomonas, and Achromobacter are implicated as denitrifiers. Pseudomonas aeruginosa can,

Pacific Ocean, Study and exploration

2005-02-15T00:05:00.000-08:00

Andrew Sharp, The Discovery of the Pacific Islands (1960, reprinted 1985), summarizes the work of 121 explorers of the area and their contributions to charting the Pacific. J.C. Beaglehole, The Exploration of the Pacific, 3rd ed. (1966), and The Life of Captain James Cook (1974), are classics on the subject. Ernest S. Dodge, Beyond the Capes: Pacific Exploration from Captain Cook to the Challenger, 1776–1877 (1971), provides a thorough coverage of this important period.

Kerrier

2005-02-14T16:09:00.000-08:00

The Lizard Peninsula, a heather-covered

Philip I

2005-02-14T10:28:00.000-08:00

Philip was the elder son of Henry I of France by his second wife, Anne of Kiev.

Arab Economic Unity, Council Of

2005-02-14T09:58:00.000-08:00

The organization is devoted to achieving economic integration

Biochemistry

2005-02-13T16:13:00.000-08:00

The field of science concerned with the chemical substances and processes that occur in plants, animals, and microorganisms. Specifically, it involves the quantitative determination and structural analysis of the organic compounds that comprise the basic constituents of cells (proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids) and of those that play a key role in chemical

David D'angers, Pierre-jean

2005-02-12T18:54:00.000-08:00

The son of a carver, David went to Paris at age 17 with 11 francs in his pocket to study under Philippe-Laurent Roland. After a year and a half's struggle he received a small annuity from the municipality of Angers. In 1811 he won the Prix de Rome

Tarasova, Alla Konstantinovna

2005-02-12T17:21:00.000-08:00

By the age of 14 Tarasova had become a member of the Second Studio of the Moscow Art Theatre. She rose quickly to become a supporting actress, and by the time the company toured England and the United States

Gray, Harold (lincoln)

2005-02-12T13:43:00.000-08:00

After graduating from Purdue University, Lafayette, Ind., in 1917, Gray joined the staff of the Chicago Tribune, to which he returned after brief service in the U.S. Army. After leaving the Tribune in 1919, he did commercial art and for a five-year period

Paraguay, Climate

2005-02-12T11:48:00.000-08:00

The climate is subtropical in most of eastern Paraguay, which mainly lies south of the Tropic of Capricorn, and tropical in most of the Chaco Boreal extending to its north. Masses of humid air blanket the country in the summers, and the winters are subject to cold southern winds. Summer temperatures between October and March generally range from 77° F to 104° F (25° C to 40° C). Winter temperatures

Hancock, Joy Bright

2005-02-10T09:04:00.000-08:00

Joy Bright enlisted in the Naval Reserve after graduating from the Pierce School of Business Administration in Philadelphia in 1918. From 1919 she worked as a civilian for the U.S. Navy at various stations and at the Department of the Navy in Washington, D.C.

Haldi

2005-02-10T04:22:00.000-08:00

The national god of the ancient kingdom of Urartu, which ruled the plateau around Lake Van, now eastern Turkey, from about 900 to about 600 BC. Haldi was represented as a man, with or without wings, standing on a lion; in the absence of religious texts his attributes are otherwise unknown. A Urartian temple at ancient Musasir dedicated to Haldi and to the goddess Bagbartu, or Bagmashtu,

Check

2005-02-09T11:53:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Cheque, bill of exchange drawn on a bank and payable on demand; it has become the chief form of money in the domestic commerce of developed countries. As a written order to pay money, it may be transferred from one person to another by endorsement and delivery or, in certain cases, by delivery alone. Negotiability can be qualified by appropriate words, as with restrictive endorsements,

Religion

2005-02-09T07:37:00.000-08:00

Human beings' relation to that which they regard as holy, sacred, spiritual, or divine. Religion is commonly regarded as consisting of a person's relation to God or to gods or spirits. Worship is probably the most basic element of religion, but moral conduct, right belief, and participation in religious institutions are generally also constituent elements of the religious

China, Rural collectivization

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

This transition was most obvious in the countryside. After land reform had been carried out, mutual aid teams allowed the Communists to experiment with voluntary forms of agricultural collectivization. Starting in late 1953, a campaign was launched to organize into small collectives, called lower level agricultural producers' cooperatives, averaging 20 to 30

Hillegom

2005-02-08T14:05:00.000-08:00

Gemeente (commune), Zuid-Holland provincie, western Netherlands, on the Ringvaart, a canal around the Haarlemmermeer polder. With Lisse it is one of the two great commercial centres of Holland's bulb-growing district and is the site of the Treslong Demonstration Garden (1949) and bulb exchange. The annual Bulb Parade held on a Saturday in late April passes through Hillegom.

Trickster Tale

2005-02-07T09:05:00.000-08:00

In oral traditions worldwide, an anecdote of deceit, magic, and violence perpetrated by an animal-human with special or magical powers. Usually grouped in cycles, these tales feature a trickster-hero who within a single society may be regarded as both creator god and innocent fool, evil destroyer and childlike prankster. In psychological terms, the trickster may

Protist

2005-02-07T03:20:00.000-08:00

The protists include all unicellular organisms not included with the prokaryotes. Protists also embrace a number of forms of syncytial (coenocytic) or multicellular composition, generally manifest as filaments, colonies, coenobia (a type of colony with a fixed number of interconnected cells embedded in a common matrix before release from the parental colony),

Farmerlabor Party

2005-02-06T15:31:00.000-08:00

An offshoot, the National Farmer–Labor Party, nominated P.P. Christensen in the 1920 presidential election. Lacking adequate finances and organization, the party won few votes and expired in 1923.

Furniture, England

2005-02-06T14:20:00.000-08:00

The Italian Renaissance did not affect the design or ornament of furniture in England until about 1520. Evolution from the Gothic style was a gradual process, influence coming first from Italy and, in the second half of the 16th century, from the Low Countries. In the early stages, furniture remained Gothic in form, though Italian motifs slowly replaced the older Gothic ornament.

Papago

2005-02-06T13:45:00.000-08:00

The Papago speak a Uto-Aztecan language, a dialectal variant of Piman, and culturally they are similar to the Pima (see also Uto-Aztecan languages). There are, however, certain dissimilarities. The drier, harsher

Tsimihety

2005-02-05T16:16:00.000-08:00

A Malagasy people living in mountainous north central Madagascar. The Tsimihety (“Those Who Never Cut Their Hair”) were originally sedentary mountain people living in extended families organized through patrilineal descent. They succeeded in remaining independent of the early Sakalava and Betsimisarake kingdoms but submitted to Merina rule in the 1820s and to

Robert Ii

2005-02-04T00:13:00.000-08:00

Byname Robert The Jerusalemite, French Robert Le Hierosolymitain, Dutch Robrecht Van Jeruzalem count of Flanders (1093–1111), one of the most celebrated of crusaders. The son of Robert I, he sailed for the Holy Land on the First Crusade in 1096 and earned fame perhaps second only to that of Godfrey of Bouillon. Returning to Flanders in 1100, he fought with his suzerain, Louis VI the Fat of France, against the English and was drowned in 1111 by the breaking of a bridge. He was succeeded

Fabales

2005-02-03T15:43:00.000-08:00

Legumes occur in all terrestrial habitats occupied by plants, although the greatest number of species is in the tropics, where the group probably originated. But there are many legumes in the temperate plains, woodlands, and deserts. A few not only survive but succeed as weeds, in the human-made farming, industrial, and urban environment. They are less common in the northern

Azua

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

In full Azua De Compostela, city, southwestern Dominican Republic. Founded in 1504 on the Caribbean coast, the original town was destroyed by an earthquake; the town was reestablished 3 miles (5 km) inland at its present site at the foot of the Ocoa Mountains. It is one of the leading cities in the region, trading mainly in agricultural products grown in the surrounding region: sugarcane, coffee, rice, corn

Annelid

2005-02-03T14:05:00.000-08:00

General overviews of annelids can be found in R. Phillips Dales, Annelids, 2nd ed. (1967), a semipopular account; D.T. Anderson, Embryology and Phylogeny in Annelids and Arthropods (1973); P.J. Mill (ed.), Physiology of Annelids (1978), a review; Robert D. Barnes, Invertebrate Zoology, 4th ed. (1980), ch. 10, “The Annelids,” pp. 263–341; R.O. Brinkhurst, “Evolution in the Annelida,” Canadian Journal of Zoology, 60(5):1043–59 (1982), a summary of current scholarship; Donald J. Klemm (ed.), A Guide to the Freshwater Annelida (Polychaeta, Naidid and Tubificid Oligochaeta, and Hirudinea) of North America (1985), on ecology and taxonomy; and Vicki Pearse et al., Living Invertebrates (1987), ch. 16, “Annelid Body Plan,” and ch. 17, “A Diversity of Annelids,” pp. 387–437. For information on polychaetes, see Kristian Fauchald, The Polychaete Worms: Definitions and Keys to the Orders, Families, and Genera (1977); Kristian Fauchald and P.A. Jumars, “The Diet of Worms: A Study of Polychaete Feeding Guilds,” Oceanography and Marine Biology, 17:193–284 (1979); and Albrecht Fischer and Hans-Dieter Pfannenstiel (eds.), Polychaete Reproduction: Progress in Comparative Reproductive Biology (1984), a collection of symposium papers. For oligochaetes, see R.O. Brinkhurst and B.G.M. Jamieson, Aquatic Oligochaeta of the World (1971); C.A. Edwards and J.R. Lofty, Biology of Earthworms, 2nd ed. (1977); and O. Giere and O. Pfannkuche, “Biology and Ecology of Marine Oligochaeta: A Review,” Oceanography and Marine Biology, 20:173–308 (1982). See also the proceedings of three international symposia on aquatic oligochaete biology: R.O. Brinkhurst and David G. Cook (eds.), Aquatic Oligochaete Biology (1980); G. Bonomi and C. Erséus (eds.), Aquatic Oligochaeta (1984); and R.O. Brinkhurst and R.J. Diaz (eds.), Aquatic Oligochaeta (1987). For leeches, see Kenneth J. Muller, John G. Nicholls, and Gunther S. Stent (ed.), Neurobiology of the Leech (1981); and Roy T. Sawyer, Leech Biology and Behaviour, 3 vol. (1986), an extensive overview.

Sachs, Hans

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

Wagner's opera is partly a tribute to the common people—and Sachs was one of them. The son of a tailor, he was apprenticed to a shoemaker in

Karamzin, Nikolay Mikhaylovich

2005-02-02T01:51:00.000-08:00

From an early age, Karamzin was interested in Enlightenment philosophy and western European literature. After extensive travel in western Europe,

Bezborodko, Aleksandr Andreyevich, Knyaz

2005-02-01T18:48:00.000-08:00

Recommended to Catherine by Count P.A. Rumyantsev, with whom he had

Domitian

2005-02-01T10:39:00.000-08:00

Titus Flavius Domitianus was the second son of the future emperor Vespasian and Flavia Domitilla. During the civil war of AD 69 over the imperial crown, Domitian remained unharmed in Rome, but on December 18 he took refuge in the

Aetolian League

2005-01-31T21:27:00.000-08:00

Federal state or “sympolity” of Aetolia, in ancient Greece. Probably based on a looser tribal community, it was well-enough organized to conduct negotiations with Athens in 367 BC. It became by c. 340 one of the leading military powers in Greece. Having successfully resisted invasions by Macedonia in 322 and 314–311, the league rapidly grew in strength during the ensuing period of Macedonian

Robbery

2005-01-31T08:27:00.000-08:00

In criminal law, an aggravated form of theft that involves violence or the threat of violence against a victim in his presence. Many criminologists have long regarded statistics on robbery to be one of the most accurate gauges of the overall crime rate.