ClearTicket

Pythagoreanism

2005-04-04T04:40:00.000-07:00

Philosophical school and religious brotherhood, believed to have been founded by Pythagoras of Samos, who settled in Croton in southern Italy about 525 BC.

Schnitger, Arp

2005-04-04T03:55:00.000-07:00

Schnitger was born into a family of woodworkers; his father was a carver, and Arp was apprenticed to a cousin at age 18. Three years after his cousin's

Talca

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

Formerly San Agustín De Talca, capital of Talca provincia and Maule región, central Chile, in the Central Valley near the Maule River. Founded in 1692, it was destroyed by earthquakes in 1742 and 1928; completely rebuilt, it is now a major urban centre midway between Santiago, 160 miles (260 km) to the north-northeast, and Concepción. It lies in the nation's greatest wine-making zone and contains Chile's largest match industry,

Aryan

2005-04-02T19:03:00.000-08:00

(from Sanskrit arya, “noble”), a people who, in prehistoric times, settled in Iran and northern India. From their language, also called Aryan, the Indo-European languages of South Asia are descended. In the 19th century the term was used as a synonym for “Indo-European” and also, more restrictively, to refer to the Indo-Iranian languages (q.v.). It is now used in linguistics only in the

Kuchma, Leonid

2005-04-01T19:47:00.000-08:00

After graduating from Dnipropetrovsk State University in 1960, Kuchma embarked on a career as an engineer, serving as Communist

Ciné-club

2005-04-01T16:29:00.000-08:00

Enthusiasts formed the first ciné-clubs in England in the mid-1920s to discuss

La Hire, Laurent De

2005-03-31T11:26:00.000-08:00

He was the son of the painter Étienne de La Hire (c. 1583–1643) but was most influenced by the work of Georges Lallemont and Orazio Gentileschi. His picture of “Pope Nicolas V at the Tomb of Saint Francis” was done in 1630 for the Capuchins, for whom he executed several other

Ijtihad

2005-03-30T17:52:00.000-08:00

In Islamic law, the independent or original interpretation of problems not precisely covered by the Qur'an, Hadith (traditions concerning the Prophet's life and utterances), and ijma' (scholarly consensus). In the early Muslim community every adequately qualified jurist had the right to exercise such original thinking, mainly ra'y (personal judgment) and qiyas (analogical

France, History Of, Carolingian literature and arts

2005-03-30T08:34:00.000-08:00

A renaissance movement occurred during the general renovation undertaken by the Carolingian monarchs; they supported the movement as an aid to religious reform and as a means to enhance their own prestige. The origins of the movement lie deep in the 7th and 8th centuries. It received great stimulus, however, when the growth of the empire brought the Franks into contact

Constance, Lake

2005-03-29T21:44:00.000-08:00

Also called Lake of Constance , Constance also spelled Konstanz , German Bodensee , Latin Lacus Brigantinus lake bordering Switzerland, Germany, and Austria and occupying an old glacier basin at an elevation of 1,299 feet (396 m). It has an area of 209 square miles (541 square km) and is about 40 miles (65 km) long and up to 8 miles (13 km) wide, with an average depth of 295 feet (90 m) and a maximum depth of 827 feet (252 m). It has about 125 miles (200 km) of shoreline. In the west, near Konstanz (Constance), it is divided by the Bodan mountain ridge

Tábor

2005-03-29T00:20:00.000-08:00

City, Jihoceský kraj (region), Czech Republic. It lies along a bend in the Luznice River 50 miles (80 km) south of Prague. Founded in 1420 by Jan Zizka and other followers of the Bohemian religious reformer Jan Hus, Tábor became the radical centre of the more militant members of the movement, known as the Taborites. These people fostered the national spirit and the preservation of the Czech

Ocean, The subtropical gyres

2005-03-28T13:58:00.000-08:00

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

Ijolite

2005-03-27T05:24:00.000-08:00

Intrusive igneous rock that is composed essentially of nepheline and an alkali pyroxene, usually aegirinaugite. It is the plutonic equivalent of the volcanic nephelinites and nepheline dolerites. Typically, the pyroxene is well-crystallized and is surrounded by the nepheline. Accessory minerals include black garnet, titanite, perovskite, apatite, cancrinite,

Argentia

2005-03-27T03:59:00.000-08:00

Formerly a herring- and salmon-fishing port known as Little Placentia, it was renamed Argentia (derived from argentum, Latin for “silver”) when silver was discovered in the vicinity. Most

Tin Processing

2005-03-26T18:43:00.000-08:00

There is evidence from both archaeology and literature that tin was one of the earliest metals to be known and used. Its earliest application was as an alloy with copper to form bronze, which was fashioned into tools and weapons. Bronze articles (typically containing about 10 percent tin) have been found in the Middle East dating from about 3500 BC and in Egypt from 3000 BC. Other ancient

Wiesbaden

2005-03-25T14:34:00.000-08:00

City, capital (1946) of Hessen Land (state), southern Germany. It is situated on the right (east) bank of the Rhine River at the southern foot of the Taunus Mountains, west of Frankfurt am Main and north of Mainz. The settlement was known as a spa (Aquae Mattiacae) in Roman times. Its earthen fortifications (12 BC) were replaced by stone in AD 83, and a Roman wall (of which traces remain) was built about

France, History Of, Society and culture under the Third Republic

2005-03-25T08:26:00.000-08:00

Under the Third Republic the middle and lower sectors of society came to share political and social dominance with the rich notables. Universal suffrage gave them a new political weapon; France's peculiar socioeconomic structure gave them political weight.

Paraguay

2005-03-24T20:50:00.000-08:00

Officially Republic of Paraguay , Spanish República del Paraguay country in south-central South America. A landlocked country, it is bordered by Bolivia to the northwest and north, Brazil to the northeast and east, and Argentina to the southeast, south, and west. It has a total area of 157,048 square miles (406,752 square kilometres). The national capital is Asunción, which is located on the east bank of the Paraguay River opposite the mouth of its primary

Porgy

2005-03-23T10:15:00.000-08:00

Porgies are generally shallow-water fishes and are

Santa Rosa De Cabal

2005-03-23T01:58:00.000-08:00

City, Risaralda department, west central Colombia, on the western slopes of the Andean Cordillera (mountains) Central. It is a commercial and manufacturing centre for the fertile agricultural and pastoral hinterland. Silkworms are raised in the vicinity, and there are silver, gold, and mercury mines nearby. The city is on a highway and railroad linking Pereira, the

Biblical Literature, Early stages

2005-03-22T22:18:00.000-08:00

The earliest Christian exegesis of the Old Testament is found in the New Testament, not in the written texts only but in the oral tradition lying behind them. Some lines of exegesis are present in so many separate strands of primitive Christian teaching that they are most reasonably assigned to Jesus, who began his Galilaean ministry with the announcement that

France, History Of, The formative years (18711905)

2005-03-21T10:45:00.000-08:00

The repression of the Paris Commune left its mark on the emerging republic. The various socialist factions and the newly organized labour movement were left leaderless; the resultant vacuum eventually opened the way to Marxist activists in the 1880s. Much of the working class became more deeply alienated than before, but, to the moderate and conservative elements,

'arad

2005-03-20T22:54:00.000-08:00

Town, southern Israel, in the northeast Negev, named for the biblical Arad, the ruins of which are visible at Tel 'Arad, about 5 1/2 miles (9 km) east-northeast. The book of Numbers (21:1–3) tells how the Canaanite king of 'Arad fought the Israelites during the exodus from Egypt, but his cities were “utterly destroyed” by Israel's armies. The city's name appears on the Temple of Amon, al-Karnak, Egypt,

Caucasian Languages, South Caucasian languages

2005-03-20T14:18:00.000-08:00

Two useful practical guides to Georgian are Kita Tschenkéli, Einführung in die georgische Sprache, 2 vol. (1958, reissued 1980); and Howard I. Aronson, Georgian: A Reading Grammar, corrected ed. (1990). Much useful information about Georgian and the history of Georgian (Kartvelian) studies is contained in Shota Dzidziguri (Šot'a Ziziguri), The Georgian Language (1969). Hans Vogt, Grammaire de la langue géorgienne (1971), is a useful grammar. Important special works on the South Caucasian languages include G. Deeters, Das kharthwelische Verbum: Vergleichende Darstellung des Verbalbaus der südkaukasischen Sprachen (1930), a comprehensive comparative study of the verb structure of the Kartvelian languages; A.S. Cikobava, Drevnejšaja struktura imennyx osnov v kartvel'skix jazykax (1942), in Georgian with Russian and English summaries, a comparative analysis of the ancient structure of nominal stems in the Kartvelian languages, with an interpretation of certain prefixes as the ancient class markers; Karl Horst Schmidt, Studien zur Rekonstruktion des Lautstandes der südkaukasischen Grundsprache (1962), a detailed analysis of sound correspondences with a reconstruction of the Proto-Kartvelian phonemic system; G.A. Klimov, Etimologicheskii slovar' kartvel'skikh iazykov (1964); T.V. Gamkrelidze and G.I. Machavariani, Sonantt'a sistema da ablauti k'art'velur enebši (1965), in Georgian with a Russian summary, also available in a German translation, Sonantensystem und Ablaut in den Kartwelsprachen (1982), a detailed comparative analysis of the Kartvelian phonological and morphophonological system, with a reconstruction of resonants and ablaut alternations in Proto-Kartvelian and their typological evaluation; and Alice C. Harris, Diachronic Syntax: The Kartvelian Case (1985). A.G. Šanidze, Osnovy gruzinskoj grammatiki, vol. 1 (1953), is a comprehensive exposition (in Georgian) of the structure of modern Georgian. An account of the Georgian sound system is given in G.S. Axvlediani, Osnovy obšcej fonetiki (1949), in Georgian. A detailed descriptive analysis of the Svan verb system according to dialects is found in V.T. Topuria, Svanuri ena, vol. 1, Zmna (1931), in Georgian with a Russian summary. Additional works include Dee Ann Holisky, Aspect and Georgian Medial Verbs (1981); and T.V. Gamkrelidze, Alphabetic Writing and the Old Georgian Script (1994; originally published in Georgian, 1989), a typology of alphabetic writing and the question of the origin of the Georgian alphabet as a national Christian script.

Silky Terrier

2005-03-19T19:53:00.000-08:00

Australian breed of toy dog, first shown in 1907. It originated in Sydney and was once known as the Sydney Silky. A rather low-set dog, the silky terrier stands 9 to 10 inches (23 to 25.5 centimetres) and weighs 8 to 10 pounds (3.5 to 4.5 kilograms). Its silky, fine coat is glossy blue-gray and tan, with a silver-gray or tan topknot. Developed as a companion dog, the silky is generally friendly and responsive,

Hadano

2005-03-19T08:21:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Hatano city, Kanagawa Prefecture (ken), Honshu, Japan, stretching between Tanzawa-yama (Mt. Tanzawa; north; 5,141 ft [1,567 m]) and the Hadano basin (south). It was a regional commercial centre during the Tokugawa era (1603–1867), when the cultivation of tobacco was introduced. The city is now a tobacco-trading centre, containing a processing plant of the Japanese Monopoly Bureau. Because of its convenient

Art

2005-03-18T16:29:00.000-08:00

The various visual arts exist within a continuum that ranges from purely aesthetic purposes at one end to purely utilitarian

Table Talk

2005-03-18T14:09:00.000-08:00

Informal conversation at or as if at a dining table; especially, the social talk of a celebrity recorded for publication. Collections of such conversations exist from as early as the 3rd century AD, and the term has been in use in English since about the 16th century. The practice of recording conversations and sayings of the famous became especially popular in the 17th century.

Jabal Shammar

2005-03-17T22:01:00.000-08:00

Mountainous area, northwestern Saudi Arabia, bounded by the regions of Hejaz on the west and Ash-Sharqiyah on the east. The principal features of the region are the two great mountain ranges of Aja' (granites) and Salma (basalts) and the immense rolling sand dunes of An-Nafud. The oasis town of Ha'il is situated on the southern flank of the Aja', while an older capital, Fayd, lies in the

Table Bay

2005-03-17T08:56:00.000-08:00

Bay of the Atlantic Ocean near the southern tip of Africa forming the harbour of Cape Town. Extending north from Cape Town to Melkbosstrand, the bay is 12 mi (19 km) long and 8 mi wide; it contains Robben Island (q.v.) and is overlooked by Table Mountain. Portuguese navigators were the first Europeans to see the bay (c. 1500). Although it was less well sheltered than other bays along the coast,

Mahal, Taj

2005-03-16T08:54:00.000-08:00

Taj Mahal (the name came to him in a dream) grew up in a musical family. His father, of Jamaican background, was a jazz

Percussion Instrument

2005-03-15T20:16:00.000-08:00

Any musical instrument belonging to either of two groups, idiophones or membranophones. Idiophones are instruments whose own substance vibrates to produce sound (as opposed to the strings of a guitar or the air column of a flute); examples include bells, clappers, and rattles. Membranophones emit sound by the vibration of a stretched membrane; the prime examples

Literature, Canada.

2005-03-14T09:39:00.000-08:00

Though the French literary community in Canada viewed itself as a society distinct from the rest of the country, its tastes remained entirely global in 2001. The third installation of Pierre Godin's ongoing biography about the late René Lévesque, the popular provincial politician, attracted attention among

Wyss, Johann Rudolf

2005-03-14T07:16:00.000-08:00

Wyss became professor of philosophy at the academy at Bern in 1805 and later chief librarian of the municipal library. He was a collector of Swiss tales and folklore, published in Idyllen,

Murayama Tomiichi

2005-03-12T14:13:00.000-08:00

One of 11 children born to a fisherman, Murayama graduated from Meiji University in Tokyo in 1946 and then returned to Oita, where he became an activist in the local fishermen's union. Most of his subsequent political career was spent in relative obscurity. He won election to the Oita city

Physical Sciences, Organic Chemistry.

2005-03-12T10:11:00.000-08:00

Chemists missed the mark when they picked the original name—inert gases—for a family of six elements that compose group 18 of the periodic table. They thought that helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, and radon were inert and never combined with other elements to form chemical compounds. That notion was upset in the 1960s when researchers made the first xenon compounds and

Montfort, Simon De, Earl Of Leicester

2005-03-12T07:44:00.000-08:00

Simon de Montfort, wholly French by birth and education, was the son of Simon de Montfort l'Amaury, leader of the crusade against the heretical Albigenses. On coming of age, he renounced to his eldest brother, Amaury,

Nervous System Disease, Tumours

2005-03-11T20:28:00.000-08:00

Benign tumours, usually schwannomas on the vestibulocochlear nerve, may compress the cerebellum and lead to dysfunction on one side, but malignant astrocytomas and metastases from cancers are more common. In children, medulloblastomas are fast-growing malignant tumours that destroy the central part of the cerebellum and cause severe gait ataxia. Astrocytomas

General Staff

2005-03-10T22:35:00.000-08:00

In the military, a group of officers that assists the commander of a division or larger unit by formulating and disseminating his policies, transmitting his orders, and overseeing their execution. Normally a general staff is organized along functional lines, with separate sections for administration, intelligence, operations, training, logistics, and other categories.

Lagoon Nebula

2005-03-10T18:45:00.000-08:00

(catalog numbers NGC 6523 and M8), ionized-hydrogen region located in the constellation Sagittarius at 1,200 parsecs (3,900 light-years) from the solar system. The nebula is a cloud of interstellar gas and dust approximately 10 parsecs (33 light-years) in diameter. A group of young, hot stars in the cloud ionize the nearby gas. As the atoms in the gas recombine, they produce the light emitted by

Insurance, Liability law

2005-03-10T00:24:00.000-08:00

Legal liability exists when an individual commits a legal injury that wrongly encroaches on another person's rights. Such injuries include slander, assault, and negligent

Medicine, Periodic medical examination

2005-03-09T18:11:00.000-08:00

Physicians in industry carry out medical examinations, especially on new employees and on those returning to work after sickness or injury. In addition, those liable to health hazards may be examined regularly in the hope of detecting evidence of incipient damage. In some organizations every employee may be offered a regular medical examination.

Xhosa Language

2005-03-09T02:20:00.000-08:00

Xhosa also spelled Xosa a Bantu language spoken by seven million people in South Africa, especially in Eastern province. Xhosa is a member of the Southeastern, or Nguni, subgroup of the Bantu group of the Benue-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo language family. Other Southeastern Bantu languages are Zulu, Swati (Swazi), Sotho, Tswana, Venda, and Ndebele. Although Xhosa and Zulu are similar enough

Ribe

2005-03-09T01:54:00.000-08:00

City, seat of Ribe amtskommune (county commune), southwestern Jutland, Denmark, on the Ribe River, 4 miles (6 km) from the North Sea. One of Denmark's oldest towns, it was first mentioned in 862 and became a bishopric in 948. In the Middle Ages it was a thriving port and favourite royal resort, centred on Riberhus (a castle founded in the early 12th century and destroyed by the Swedes in 1658). The

Aiken

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

The area was inhabited by Algonquian-speaking Savannah

Luks, George

2005-03-07T18:42:00.000-08:00

Born in a coal-mining region of north-central Pennsylvania, Luks studied first at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, and later in Germany,

Fra Mauro

2005-03-07T06:19:00.000-08:00

Crater on the Moon that appears to be heavily eroded, named for a 15th-century Italian monk and mapmaker. The site of the third manned lunar landing, the Apollo 14 mission in February 1971, is several miles north of the crater. About 80 km (50 miles) in diameter, Fra Mauro lies in Mare Nubium (the Sea of Clouds) at about 6° south latitude, 17° west longitude.

Gartok

2005-03-06T16:56:00.000-08:00

Chinese (Wade-Giles) Ka-erh-tu, Ka-ta-k'o, or (Pinyin) Garyarsa, town in the Tibetan autonomous ch'ü (region), western China. It is located at an elevation of 14,630 feet (4,460 m) at the foot of the Kailas Range on the Gar (Ka-erh) River, which is one of the headwaters of the Yin-tu (Indus) River. Gartok is an important route centre on the main road through the southern Tibetan region from Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, to Jammu and Kashmir. Historically Gartok

Gable, Clark

2005-03-06T01:55:00.000-08:00

Gabe Essoe, The Films of Clark Gable (1970, reissued 1973); Lyn Tornabene, Long Live the King (1976, reissued 1978); Jane Ellen Wayne, Clark Gable: Portrait of a Misfit (1993).

Yap Ah Loy

2005-03-05T23:09:00.000-08:00

Yap Ah Loy arrived in the Malay state of Selangor in 1856 at the age of 19. He spent his first years in the peninsula as a miner and petty trader, but in 1862 his fortunes

Pumpkin

2005-03-05T09:33:00.000-08:00

Fruit of certain varieties of Cucurbita pepo or of C. moschata, members of the family Cucurbitaceae. The names pumpkin and squash, especially in the United States, are applied inconsistently to certain varieties of both these species. The quick-growing, small-fruited bush, or nontrailing, varieties of C. pepo are called squash (q.v.) in America, while the long-season, long-trailing,

Cork

2005-03-04T13:44:00.000-08:00

Irish Corcaigh county in the province of Munster, Ireland. The largest county in Ireland, with an area of 2,880 sq mi (7,460 sq km), it is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean (south), by Counties Waterford and Tipperary (east), by County Limerick (north), and by County Kerry (west). Cork has long east–west ridges forming uplands and hills. Less than three-tenths of its area is rough pasture, and farmlands climb as high

Fayette

2005-03-04T03:20:00.000-08:00

County, southwestern Pennsylvania, U.S., bounded to the north by Jacobs Creek; to the east by Laurel Hill, the Youghiogheny River, and Youghiogheny River Lake; to the south by Maryland and West Virginia; and to the west by the Monongahela River. It consists of a hilly region on the Allegheny Plateau that rises to the Allegheny Mountains in the east (including Chestnut Ridge).

Goncharova, Natalya

2005-03-03T09:09:00.000-08:00

The daughter of an aristocratic family, Goncharova studied painting and sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Moscow. After an early preoccupation

Mason, George

2005-03-03T02:52:00.000-08:00

As a landowner and near neighbour of George Washington,

Arabic Literary Renaissance

2005-03-02T10:25:00.000-08:00

After the Napoleonic invasion of Egypt (1798) and the subsequent establishment of an autonomous and Western-minded ruling dynasty there, many Syrian and Lebanese writers sought out the freer environment of Egypt, making it

Feminine Ending

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

In prosody, a line of verse having an unstressed and usually extrametrical syllable at its end. In the opening lines from Robert Frost's poem “Directive,” the fourth line has a feminine ending while the rest are masculine: Back out of all this now too much for us,Back in a time made simple by the lossOf detail, burned, dissolved, and broken off Like graveyard marble sculpture

Cicero

2005-03-01T08:41:00.000-08:00

City, western suburb of Chicago, Cook county, northeastern Illinois, U.S. First settled in the 1830s, it was named for Cicero, N.Y. Its development was stimulated when the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was built through the site (1864) and by the arrival of land speculators and farmers after the American Civil War. Economic growth continued, but Cicero lost territory to

Great Dyke

2005-02-28T04:28:00.000-08:00

Narrow series of long, low ridges and hills in Zimbabwe, trending for about 320 miles (515 km). Consisting of four igneous complexes, they increase in height northward to about 1,500 feet (460 m) above the plateau surface in the Umvukwe Range, west of Harare (formerly Salisbury), the Zimbabwean capital. Minerals found in the Great Dyke include gold, silver, chromium, platinum, and nickel. Mica,

Saanen

2005-02-27T22:48:00.000-08:00

Popular breed of dairy goat originating in the Saanen Valley of Switzerland. The coat of the Saanen is fine and light-coloured, with white being generally preferred. In build it is similar to the Toggenburg, with smallish frame, straight or dished face, and erect ears. As is that of other goats, milk of the Saanen is whiter and more easily digestible than cow's milk. The breed

Mollendo

2005-02-26T13:54:00.000-08:00

City, Arequipa departamento and región, Peru, on the Pacific coast. Founded in 1872, its site was chosen by the American engineer Henry Meiggs, builder of the Arequipa-Mollendo Railroad. Additional rail connections to local mines and to Puno and Lake Titicaca, supplemented by its artificial harbour and the Pan-American Highway, have made Mollendo an export-import point

Brook, Peter

2005-02-26T11:59:00.000-08:00

Attaining at an early age the status of one of the foremost British directors, Brook introduced the plays of Jean Cocteau and Jean-Paul Sartre (including Vicious

Interior Design, Walls

2005-02-25T23:31:00.000-08:00

Every wall is a material in itself; and ideally no material, if it is properly used, needs to be covered up. Some elegant buildings constructed since 1960 have used concrete in its natural texture—i.e., showing the formwork left by wooden forms as a conscious expression of the material. During the 19th century, fakery in design was very popular, and part of the concern with the true

National Zoological Gardens Of South Africa

2005-02-25T15:34:00.000-08:00

Also called Pretoria Zoo, zoo near Pretoria, S.Af., that is noted for its wildlife conservation programs. It was opened in 1899 by the State Museum of the South African Republic on a small stretch of land along the Apies River, which flows through Pretoria. In 1913 the zoo became the Transvaal Zoological Gardens, independent of the state museum; in 1916 it adopted its present name, and in 1933 the state took over management

Csokonai Vitéz, Mihály

2005-02-24T19:00:00.000-08:00

Csokonai's early sympathies with the revolutionary trends of his age made life difficult for him in the wave of reaction that accompanied Napoleon's invasion of Europe. Dismissed after a brief career as an assistant master at the Calvinist college in Debrecen, he became a wandering

Shensi, The middle period

2005-02-23T15:49:00.000-08:00

In 221 BC Hsien-yang, in Shensi, became the capital of the Ch'in dynasty, which unified China for the first time; it was a city of vast wealth and the focus of a nationwide road system. The area remained extremely populous and was a major centre of political authority for the next millennium. The Han (206 BC–AD 220), successors of the short-lived Ch'in dynasty, made their capital Ch'ang-an, near Hsien-yang.

Yan Liben

2005-02-22T22:50:00.000-08:00

Yan was a high official within the imperial court, but his fame derives from his skill as a painter. He is recorded as having painted Buddhist and Daoist subjects and as having received various imperial commissions; but among the extant works attributed to him, the most important

Cheektowaga

2005-02-22T09:55:00.000-08:00

Town (township), Erie county, western New York, U.S. It lies immediately east of Buffalo, on Ellicott, Scajaquada, and Cayuga creeks, near Lake Erie. Originally part of the Holland Land Purchase and the town of Amherst, the site was first settled in 1808 by Appollos Hitchcock, who was appointed Indian agent for the Buffalo Reservation. The town, incorporated in 1839, derived its name

Hope Diamond

2005-02-21T06:12:00.000-08:00

Sapphire-blue gemstone from India, one of the largest blue diamonds known. It is thought to have been cut from a 112-carat stone brought to France by the jewel trader Jean-Baptiste Tavernier and purchased by Louis XIV in 1668 as part of the French crown jewels. This stone, later called the French Blue, was recut into a 67-carat heart in 1673 and disappeared after the crown-jewel robbery

Thaw, John Edward

2005-02-21T05:53:00.000-08:00

British actor (b. Jan. 3, 1942, Manchester, Eng.—d. Feb. 21, 2002, Luckington, Wiltshire, Eng.), was a respected actor who starred in several British television series but achieved international recognition for one of his roles—the crusty, cerebral Chief Inspector Morse, the title character in a series of 33 two-part dramas based on the novels of British detective writer Colin Dexter. Thaw trained

Barb

2005-02-20T15:33:00.000-08:00

Also called Barbary, native horse breed of the Barbary states of North Africa. It is related to, and probably an offshoot of, the Arabian horse but is larger, with a lower placed tail, and has hair at the fetlock (above and behind the hoof). The coat colour is usually bay or brown. Like the Arabian, it is noted for speed and endurance. A variety known as the Spanish-Barb is bred in small numbers in the

Procter, William Cooper

2005-02-19T03:16:00.000-08:00

The soapmaking firm of Procter & Gamble was founded in Cincinnati by Procter's grandfather, William Procter, a candlemaker, who joined with James Gamble, an Irish soapmaker, in 1837. The company expanded steadily with the successful

Dubnow, Simon Markovich

2005-02-18T13:58:00.000-08:00

Dubnow early ceased to practice Jewish rituals. He later came to believe that his vocation as a historian of Judaism was as true to the faith of his ancestors as were the Talmudic

Epistemology, Phenomenalism

2005-02-18T08:06:00.000-08:00

In light of these difficulties with realist theories of perception some philosophers, so-called phenomenalists, proposed a completely different way of analyzing the relationship between perception and knowledge. In particular, they rejected the distinction between independently existing physical objects and mind-dependent sense-data that direct realism

Acacian Schism

2005-02-16T18:18:00.000-08:00

With the support of the Byzantine emperor Zeno, Acacius in 482 drew up an edict, the Henotikon (Greek: “Edict of Union”), by which he attempted to secure unity between orthodox Christians

Auburn

2005-02-16T17:33:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1805) of Cayuga county, west-central New York, U.S. It lies at the north end of Owasco Lake, in the Finger Lakes region, 22 miles (35 km) southwest of Syracuse. Founded in 1793 by John Hardenbergh, an officer in the American Revolution, on the site of a Cayuga Indian village called Wasco, it was first known as Hardenbergh's Corners. It developed around Auburn State Prison (established

Abelson, Philip Hauge

2005-02-15T20:47:00.000-08:00

After receiving a Ph.D. (1939) in nuclear physics from the University of California at Berkeley, Abelson worked

Dworkin, Andrea

2005-02-14T09:51:00.000-08:00

Dworkin began writing at an early age. During her undergraduate years at Vermont's Bennington College (B.A., 1968), she became involved with the student demonstrations against the Vietnam War. Her experience in the New

Race, The persistence of race

2005-02-14T09:37:00.000-08:00

Race also continues to be the focus of discourse on specific topics. Among these are IQ, as in Steven Jay Gould, The Mismeasure of Man (1981); Mark Snyderman and Stanley Rothman, The IQ Controversy: The Media and Public Policy (1988); and Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray, The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life (1994); and sports, as in John Hoberman, Darwin's Athletes: How Sport Has Damaged Black America and Preserved the Myth of Race (1997); and Jon Entine, Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We Are Afraid to Talk About It (2000).

Tea Ceremony

2005-02-13T15:44:00.000-08:00

The ceremony takes place in a tea house (cha-shitsu), which ideally is a small structure detached from the

Kirstein, Lincoln Edward

2005-02-13T06:32:00.000-08:00

U.S. arts patron (b. May 4, 1907, Rochester, N.Y.--d. Jan. 5, 1996, New York, N.Y.), was a dance authority and cofounder and general director (1948-89) of the New York City Ballet. Together with choreographer George Balanchine, he changed the course of dance in the U.S. Their collaboration lasted until Balanchine's death in 1983. Kirstein was ambitious, financially independent, and keenly interested in high culture.

Francis Joseph

2005-02-13T02:44:00.000-08:00

Although he had been raised to be a soldier and wore a uniform all his life, Francis Joseph was no more a strategist than he was a statesman. He made up for this deficiency by the careful study of documents, by an extraordinarily retentive memory, and by being a shrewd judge of character. Invariably well informed and familiar with the reports of his envoys, he was to his

Rye

2005-02-11T11:05:00.000-08:00

Town (“parish”), Rother district, administrative county of East Sussex, historic county of Sussex, England, on a hill by the River Rother. The community's cobbled streets and timber-framed and Georgian houses attract many tourists. Originally a seaport, Rye was incorporated in 1289 and became a full member of the Cinque Ports (a confederation of English Channel ports) in about

Yama

2005-02-11T08:20:00.000-08:00

In Tibetan Buddhism, one of the eight fierce protective deities. See dharmapala.

Police Gazette, The

2005-02-09T03:28:00.000-08:00

The original Gazette, the Quarterly Pursuit, was founded in 1772 by John Fielding, chief magistrate of the Bow Street Police Court, then seat of London's police forces.

English Oak

2005-02-09T02:12:00.000-08:00

Also called Brown Oak (Quercus robur), ornamental and timber tree of the beech family (Fagaceae) that is native to Eurasia but also cultivated in North America and Australia. The tree has a short, stout trunk with wide-spreading branches and may grow to a height of 25 m (82.5 feet). The short-stalked leaves, 13 cm (5 inches) or more long, have three to seven pairs of rounded lobes; they are dark green

Rybinsk Reservoir

2005-02-09T00:40:00.000-08:00

Russian Rybinskoye Vodokhranilishche, large artificial body of water on the upper Volga River, northwestern Russia, formed by two dams on the Volga and its tributary, the Sheksna. The project began in 1935, the artificial lake began to form in 1941, and, when the project was completed in 1947, a lake of 1,768 square miles (4,580 square km) in area, a maximum width of 37 miles (60 km), and an average depth of 18 feet (5.6 m) had been formed. At that time, the Rybinsk

Kochi

2005-02-07T19:27:00.000-08:00

Ken (prefecture), southern Shikoku, Japan, stretching in an arc around Tosa Bay of the Pacific Ocean. It is the largest prefecture on the island, with an area of 2,744 square miles (7,107 square km). The population is concentrated on the Tosa plain, which, except on the south, is surrounded by mountains. Although it is isolated by poor communications, there is a railway from Kochi, the prefectural

World War I, Greek affairs

2005-02-06T18:45:00.000-08:00

Greece's attitude toward the war was long uncertain: whereas King Constantine I and the general staff stood for neutrality, Eleuthérios Venizélos, leader of the Liberal Party, favoured the Allied cause. As prime minister from 1910, Venizélos wanted Greece to participate in the Allies' Dardanelles enterprise against Turkey in 1915, but his arguments were overruled by the

Farman, Henri

2005-02-06T08:15:00.000-08:00

Born to British parents, he was first a painter and later a racing motorist. With his brother Maurice he modified a Voisin pusher biplane and in January 1908 won a £2,000 prize that had been offered for a circular

Fisk University

2005-02-04T10:41:00.000-08:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. One of the most notable historically black colleges, it is affiliated with the United Church of Christ. It offers undergraduate degree programs in business administration; humanities and fine arts, including religion and philosophy; natural science and mathematics, including

Guimarães, Bernardo (joaquim Da Silva)

2005-02-04T08:17:00.000-08:00

After a youthful bohemian life in São Paulo, Guimarães retired to his native Minas Gerais to write and teach school. Guimarães' subject, like that

Aedile

2005-02-04T06:27:00.000-08:00

Latin Aedilis, plural Aediles (from Latin aedes, “temple”), magistrate of ancient Rome who originally had charge of the temple and cult of Ceres. At first the aediles were two officials of the plebeians, created at the same time as the tribunes (494 BC), whose sanctity they shared. These magistrates were elected in the assembly of the plebeians. In 366 two curule (“higher”) aediles were created. These were at first patricians;

Port Dickson

2005-02-02T22:23:00.000-08:00

Town, south-central West Malaysia (Malaya), on the Strait of Malacca. The port, now in decline, was used extensively during the late 19th century to export the tin mined in the foothills of the state. Now chiefly a seaside resort with a fishing village, it is connected by rail with the inland entrepôt of Seremban, 17 miles (27 km) northeast. Oil refineries are concentrated along the

Shiraz Rug

2005-02-02T19:54:00.000-08:00

Handwoven floor covering made in the district around the city of Shiraz in southern Iran. The best known are the Qashqa'i rugs, products of nomadic tribesmen. A group of tribes—some Arab, some Turkish, forming the Khamseh Confederation—weaves rugs somewhat similar to the Qashqa'i pieces in a variety of patterns, as do the inhabitants of certain Iranian weaving villages in

Tadoba National Park

2005-02-02T00:59:00.000-08:00

National park in Maharashtra state, western India. Extending over an area of 45 square miles (117 square km), the park consists of dense forests of sal (Shorea), margosa, mahua, and mango, interspersed with lakes and plains; stretches of bamboo thickets are found around Tadoba Lake, for which the park is named. It was established as a wildlife sanctuary in 1935 and declared a national park

Ear Disease, Acute middle-ear infection

2005-01-31T23:56:00.000-08:00

Fortunately, acute middle-ear infections, called acute otitis media, are nearly always due to microorganisms that respond quickly to antibiotics. As a result, acute infection of the mastoid air cells resulting in a dangerous mastoid abscess with the possibility of meningitis, brain abscess, septicemia, infection of the labyrinth, or facial nerve paralysis, complicating

Spanish Succession, War Of The

2005-01-31T22:56:00.000-08:00

(1701–14), conflict that arose out of the disputed succession to the throne of Spain following the death of the childless Charles II, the last of the Spanish Habsburgs. In an effort to regulate the impending succession, to which there were three principal claimants, England, the Dutch Republic, and France had in October 1698 signed the First Treaty of Partition, agreeing that on the

Bar-le-duc

2005-01-31T05:38:00.000-08:00

Capital of Meuse département, Lorraine région, northeastern France. It extends out along the narrow valley of the Ornain River, west of Nancy. To the northeast is the Canal de la Marne au Rhin, on the southwest the Canal des Usines. The Ornain River valley is enclosed by wooded and vine-clad hills. From the 10th century Bar was the seat of a countship, and later a duchy. The remains

Eitner, Robert

2005-01-30T04:48:00.000-08:00

In 1868 Eitner founded the Gesellschaft