AbleLock

Pride, Sir Thomas

2005-04-04T16:55:00.000-07:00

Pride's early life is obscure. Entering the Parliamentary army as a captain, he became a lieutenant

Trieste

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

Bathyscaphe (q.v.) launched by Auguste Piccard in 1953.

Aidan, Saint

2005-04-03T04:44:00.000-07:00

Aidan was a monk at Iona, an island of the Inner Hebrides in Scotland, when King Oswald of Northumbria requested that he be made bishop of the newly converted Northumbrians. Consecrated in

Fore-edge Painting

2005-04-02T07:30:00.000-08:00

Technique of painting the edges of the leaves, or folios, of a book, employed in the European Middle Ages. Manuscript books with gold-tooled bindings often had the edges of their pages gilded with burnished gold. They were also frequently goffered with heated tools and were occasionally coloured. From 1650 onward a number of London binders practiced a new decorative method

Manchuria

2005-04-01T08:05:00.000-08:00

Prior to the 17th century, the history of Manchuria was shaped by three converging ethnic groups: the Chinese, the people collectively known as the Tungus, and the Mongols and Proto-Mongols. The Tungus (from which several groups emerged) were forest and plain dwellers who had a mixed economy of primitive agriculture, fishing, hunting, and livestock breeding. Those in Manchuria

Arts, Central Asian, The Himalayan peoples

2005-03-31T21:07:00.000-08:00

This region, including Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, and Sikkim (which was annexed to India in 1975), occupies an important middle ground between India and China, and its central position is reflected in the local music cultures. Of utmost importance for musical life was the introduction of Buddhism from India via Turkistan, beginning in the 7th century AD. Music became an integral part

Manchuria

2005-03-30T17:47:00.000-08:00

Negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union that were aimed at reducing those two countries' arsenals of nuclear warheads and of the missiles and bombers capable of delivering such weapons. The START negotiations were successors to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks of the 1970s. In resuming strategic-arms negotiations with the Soviet Union in

Levanter

2005-03-30T01:39:00.000-08:00

Also spelled levante strong wind of the western Mediterranean Sea and the southern coasts of France and Spain. It is mild, damp, and rainy and is most common in spring and fall. Its name is derived from Levant, the land at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, and refers to the wind's eastward direction. The levanter reaches its maximum intensities in the Strait of Gibraltar, where it sometimes

Eclipsing Variable Star

2005-03-29T15:58:00.000-08:00

Pair of stars revolving about their common centre of mass in an orbit whose plane passes through or very near the Earth. An observer on the Earth thus sees one member of the binary pass periodically over the face of the other and diminish its light through an eclipse. The star Algol was the first recognized as an eclipsing binary, by John Goodricke, in 1782. Several thousand

Paulownia Sun, Order Of The

2005-03-29T07:07:00.000-08:00

The badge, suspended from a green

Valdemar I

2005-03-28T23:37:00.000-08:00

The son of Knud Lavard, duke of South Jutland, and a great-grandson of the Danish king Sweyn II, Valdemar gained sole possession of the monarchy, concluding

Fry, Maxwell; And Drew, Jane

2005-03-27T19:54:00.000-08:00

One of the earliest British adherents to the modern movement, Fry was trained at the School of Architecture, University of Liverpool. In 1924 he joined

Fu-k'ang-an

2005-03-27T02:40:00.000-08:00

A member of the Manchu forces of Manchuria who had established the Ch'ing dynasty, Fu-k'ang-an inherited a minor post in the government. After distinguishing himself in battle, he was made military governor of Manchuria (1777). Between 1780 and 1795 he served several terms as governor-general in different Chinese provinces.

Rio Grande

2005-03-25T09:29:00.000-08:00

Spanish Río Grande del Norte, or (in Mexico) Río Bravo, or Río Bravo del Norte, fifth longest river of North America, and the 20th longest in the world, forming the border between the U.S. state of Texas and Mexico. Rising as a clear, snow-fed mountain stream more than 12,000 feet (3,700 metres) above sea level in the Rocky Mountains, the Rio Grande descends across steppes and deserts, watering rich agricultural regions as it flows on its way to the Gulf of Mexico. The

Mer De Glace

2005-03-24T15:53:00.000-08:00

(French: “Sea of Ice”), one of the longest glaciers in the Alps, extending for 3.5 miles (5.6 km) on the northern side of Mont Blanc near Chamonix, Fr. Formed by the confluence of the Géant and Leschaux glaciers below the Tacul massif of Mont Blanc, the glacier descends to within 0.5 mile (0.8 km) of Les Tines in the Chamonix Valley. It has clearly developed lateral and medial moraines (accumulations

Sevareid, Eric

2005-03-24T13:33:00.000-08:00

After graduating from the University of Minnesota (1935), Sevareid worked as a reporter for the Minneapolis Journal (1936–37), which had

Out Islands

2005-03-23T18:49:00.000-08:00

The islands that make up The Bahamas apart from New Providence Island. Extending eastward off the Florida coast to just north of Hispaniola are about 3,000 islands and rocks, with a combined area of about 4,000 square miles (10,500 square km). About 20 of the islands are permanently inhabited. Pop. (1980) 74,068.

Swamp

2005-03-22T19:52:00.000-08:00

Wetland ecosystem characterized by mineral soils with poor drainage and by plant life dominated by trees. The latter characteristic distinguishes a swamp from a marsh, in which plant life consists largely of grasses. Swamps are found throughout the world. They exist in areas with poor drainage and sufficient water supply to keep the ground waterlogged, and they

Black Sea

2005-03-22T15:20:00.000-08:00

The roughly oval-shaped Black Sea occupies a large basin strategically situated at the southeastern extremity of Europe but connected to the distant waters

Yangtze River

2005-03-21T23:31:00.000-08:00

Chinese (Wade-Giles) Ch'ang Chiang, or (Pinyin) Chang Jiang, longest river in both China and Asia and the third longest river in the world, with a length of 3,915 miles (6,300 kilometres). Its basin, extending for some 2,000 miles from west to east and for more than 600 miles from north to south, drains an area of 698,265 square miles (1,808,500 square kilometres). From its source on the Plateau of Tibet to its mouth on the East China Sea, the river traverses or serves as the border

Vennberg, Karl

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

Vennberg was a teacher of Norwegian in a Stockholm folk high school. His influential reviews and critical essays broke the ground for the radical cause of the 40-talslyrik (1947; “Poetry of the 1940s”), an anthology that he edited together with Erik Lindegren. His two volumes

Wright Flyer Of 1905

2005-03-19T05:01:00.000-08:00

The flyer took to the air for the first time on June 23, 1905, at Huffman Prairie, a pasture located on the streetcar line some 8 miles

Visconti, Matteo I

2005-03-19T03:31:00.000-08:00

Installed as captain of the people in 1287 with the help of his great-uncle Ottone Visconti, archbishop of Milan, Matteo succeeded in extending his six-month term to five years and in being several times reelected. In 1294 the German king Adolf of Nassau

Niterói

2005-03-18T10:39:00.000-08:00

City, Rio de Janeiro estado (“state”), eastern Brazil. It lies on the eastern side of the entrance to Guanabara Bay. The city of Rio de Janeiro on the opposite side is connected to Niterói by ferry, railroad, and, since 1974, the President Costa e Silva Bridge, spanning Guanabara Bay; this is one of the longest bridges in Brazil. Both cities are located on low ground at the heads of inlets,

Nabonidus

2005-03-17T04:49:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Nabu-Na'id (“Reverer of Nabu”) king of Babylonia from 556 until 539 BC, when Babylon fell to Cyrus, king of Persia. After a popular rising led by the priests of Marduk, chief god of the city, Nabonidus, who favoured the moon god Sin, made his son Belshazzar coregent and spent much of his reign in Arabia. Returning to Babylon in 539 BC, he was captured by Cyrus' general Gobryas and exiled.

Kieslowski, Krzysztof

2005-03-16T22:52:00.000-08:00

Kieslowski graduated from the State Theatrical and Film College in Lódz, Poland, in 1968 and began his film career making documentaries, including one he had made for Polish television

Ulama

2005-03-16T18:36:00.000-08:00

Also spelled ulema , Arabic 'ulama' the learned of Islam, those who possess the quality of 'ilm, “learning,” in its widest sense. From the 'ulama', who are versed theoretically and practically in the Muslim sciences, come the religious teachers of the Islamic community—theologians (mutakallimun), canon lawyers (muftis), judges (qadis), professors—and high state religious officials like the shaikh al-Islam. In a narrower

Television And Radio

2005-03-16T14:42:00.000-08:00

At the prompting of the American Radio Relay League, which represented 170,000 amateur (ham) radio operators, President Clinton on October 22 signed a congressional resolution recognizing the continuing importance of amateur radio and urging the FCC to permit the service to employ new technology and provide "reasonable accommodation" for its future growth. Although not

Smith, Robert

2005-03-15T15:07:00.000-08:00

Smith, brother of Samuel Smith, the military hero, grew up in Baltimore. He graduated in 1781 from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), studied law, and became a prominent and prosperous Baltimore attorney. From 1793 to 1801 Smith was active in Maryland politics,

Marett, Robert R(anulph)

2005-03-14T17:30:00.000-08:00

He studied at Victoria College in Jersey and Balliol

Requests, Court Of

2005-03-14T01:11:00.000-08:00

Called the Court of Poor Men's Causes until 1529, it was a popular court because of the limited expense of bringing suit before it. Modeled after the French Chambre

Hugh Iii

2005-03-13T18:08:00.000-08:00

Succeeding his cousin Hugh II as king of Cyprus in 1267, he obtained the disputed crown of the dwindling crusader kingdom of Jerusalem two years later. The efforts of his rival, Charles I of Anjou, king of Sicily, who also claimed his rights to be a king of Jerusalem, and the resistance

Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr

2005-03-13T04:16:00.000-08:00

Outstanding Welsh poet of the 12th century, court bard to Madog ap Maredudd, prince of Powys (d. 1160), and then to Madog's enemy Owain Gwynedd, prince of Gwynedd (d. 1170). The extant poems ascribed to him (about 50), composed in the Welsh bardic tradition of deliberate archaism, include a small amount of religious verse and a large number of eulogies to the chief princes throughout Wales. Cynddelw

Wu Daoxuan

2005-03-12T05:44:00.000-08:00

He is recorded as having painted a wide variety of subjects, perhaps painting large wall compositions of an essentially Buddhist character more than anything else. He is especially noted for his imagination

Cadillac

2005-03-12T01:05:00.000-08:00

Cadillac is the headquarters of

Guernsey

2005-03-11T04:49:00.000-08:00

Breed of dairy cattle originating on Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands. Like the Jersey, this breed is thought to have descended from the cattle of nearby Normandy and Brittany. All the cattle of the Channel Islands were at one time known as Alderneys. After laws had been enacted prohibiting the importation of cattle to the islands except for slaughter, the Jersey

Gravity

2005-03-11T01:59:00.000-08:00

Gravitational attraction of one mass for another. See gravitation.

New Orleans, Education

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

Among New Orleans's institutions of higher learning are Tulane University, Loyola University New Orleans, the University of New Orleans, Delgado Community College, Our Lady of Holy Cross College, Dillard University, Xavier University of Louisiana, and Southern University at New Orleans. The city has many private, parochial, and business schools. The public school

Holborn

2005-03-10T08:28:00.000-08:00

Neighbourhood and former metropolitan borough (until 1965) of London. Now part of the borough of Camden, it lies northwest of the City of London and south of the Islington neighbourhood of Clerkenwell. Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn, two of the four Inns of Court, are central features of the district. The houses of Sir John Soane's Museum overlook Lincoln's Inn Fields from the north,

China, Japan and Ryukyu

2005-03-09T21:16:00.000-08:00

Three years after the Meiji Restoration of 1868—which inaugurated a period of modernization and political change in Japan—a commercial treaty was signed between China and Japan, and it was ratified in 1873. Understandably it was reciprocal, because both signatories had a similar unequal status vis-à-vis the Western nations. The establishment of the new Sino-Japanese relations

Eadwig

2005-03-09T00:32:00.000-08:00

Early historical sources are biased against Eadwig. According to one writer, he hated the great monastic reformer Dunstan because he made Eadwig return to his coronation

Schaffhausen

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

French Schaffhouse, most northerly canton of Switzerland. It lies north of the Rhine River and west of Lake Constance (Bodensee) and has an area of 115 square miles (299 square km), of which about 90 percent is classed as productive. It is virtually surrounded on the north, east, and west by Germany, portions of which divide the canton into three detached parts: a large region including the capital city

Beijing, The Ming and Qing dynasties

2005-03-08T04:27:00.000-08:00

In the mid-14th century Zhu Yuanzhang headed a peasant revolt that overthrew the Mongol dynasty and, as the Hongwu emperor, established the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). He moved the capital to Jinling in Jiangsu province and called it Nanjing; Dadu was renamed Beiping (“Northern Peace”) and was placed under his son's rule. On Zhu's death (1398) the throne passed to his grandson in Nanjing, but his

National Socialism

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

German Nationalsozialismus , also called Nazism or Naziism totalitarian movement led by Adolf Hitler as head of the Nazi Party in Germany. In its intense nationalism, mass appeal, and dictatorial rule, National Socialism shared many elements with Italian fascism. However, Nazism was far more extreme both in its ideas and in its practice. In almost every respect it was an anti-intellectual and atheoretical movement, emphasizing

Triassic Period, Marine deposits

2005-03-06T20:43:00.000-08:00

Major linear depositional troughs developed around Panthalassa, the ancestor of the Pacific Ocean, during the Early and Middle Triassic. Great quantities of marine sediments collected in these troughs, as indicated by deposits—now mainly sandstones, shales, and graywackes—located in the western Pacific basinal belt (New Zealand and Japan) and the eastern basinal

Durand-ruel, Paul

2005-03-06T17:36:00.000-08:00

Durand-Ruel began his career in his father's art gallery, which he inherited in 1865. At the outset he concentrated on buying the work of Barbizon artists—particularly Camille Corot, Charles-François Daubigny, and Jules Dupré—and for

Asunción, La

2005-03-06T08:14:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Nueva Esparta state, northeastern Venezuela, on Isla de Margarita, in the Caribbean Sea, 12 mi (19 km) off the mainland. Lying in a fertile inland valley in the eastern portion of the island, La Asunción was first settled by Spaniards in 1524. Testimony to its prosperity during the colonial era is borne by the many remaining colonial buildings, most notably the Castle

Lancet Window

2005-03-05T10:16:00.000-08:00

Narrow, high window capped by a lancet, or acute, arch. The lancet arch is a variety of pointed arch in which each of the arcs, or curves, of the arch have a radius longer than the width of the arch. It takes its name from being shaped like the tip of a lance. The lancet window is one of the typical features of the Early English (13th century) period in Gothic architecture.

Tracer

2005-03-05T01:42:00.000-08:00

Detectable substance added to a chemical, biological, or physical system to follow its process or to study distribution of the substance in the system. Tracer dyes have long been used to follow the flow of underground streams. Incendiary rounds included at intervals in a belt of machine-gun bullets make the paths of the bullets visible. In scientific work, the use

Arreola, Juan José

2005-03-04T14:56:00.000-08:00

Mexican short-fiction writer and humorist who was a master of brief subgenres, such as the short story, the epigram, and the sketch. He published only one novel, La feria (1963; The Fair). His collection of stories Confabulario (1952) has been reprinted in several expanded editions and was translated into English as Confabulario

Tiele, Cornelis Petrus

2005-03-03T23:28:00.000-08:00

Educated at Amsterdam High School and at the seminary of the Remonstrant Brotherhood, Tiele served as pastor at Moordrecht and Rotterdam, then as professor at the Remonstrant Seminary. In 1877 he was appointed

Sabbath River

2005-03-03T14:55:00.000-08:00

In Jewish legend, a river beyond which the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel were exiled. See Sambation.

Actaeon

2005-03-03T04:30:00.000-08:00

In Greek mythology, son of the god Aristaeus and Autonoë (daughter of Cadmus, the founder of Thebes in Boeotia); he was a Boeotian hero and hunter. According to Ovid's Metamorphoses, Actaeon accidentally saw Artemis (goddess of wild animals, vegetation, and childbirth) while she was bathing on Mount Cithaeron; for this reason he was changed by her into a stag and was pursued

Aqaba, Gulf Of

2005-03-01T05:46:00.000-08:00

Arabic Khalij Al-'aqabah, northeastern arm of the Red Sea, penetrating between Saudi Arabia and the Sinai Peninsula. It varies in width from 12 to 17 miles (19 to 27 km) and is 100 miles (160 km) long. The gulf lies in a pronounced cleft between hills rising abruptly to about 2,000 feet (600 m). Navigation is difficult because of the gulf's narrow entrance at the Straits of Tiran and its islands, coral reefs, and sudden squalls. The

National Baptist Convention, U.s.a., Inc.

2005-02-28T15:12:00.000-08:00

Association of black Baptist churches formed in 1895 in Atlanta, Ga., from the merger of the Foreign Mission Baptist Convention (established 1880), the American National Baptist Convention (1886), and the Baptist National Education Convention (1893). A schism in 1915 resulted in the formation of the National Baptist Convention of America. In 1961 a dispute within the National Baptist Convention,

Anthropology And Archaeology, Western Hemisphere.

2005-02-28T01:31:00.000-08:00

Recent archaeological discoveries continued in 1999 to shed light on the first Americans and pre-Columbian civilizations and also on more recent American history. In regard to the latter, English colonist Mistress Ann Forest, wife of Thomas Forest, arrived at Jamestown, Va., in 1608 with her husband but died within a year. She and her maid were the only two women at Jamestown

Black Mass

2005-02-27T06:29:00.000-08:00

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

Andaman And Nicobar Islands, The people

2005-02-26T17:18:00.000-08:00

The Nicobarese probably descend from both Malay and Myanmar (Mon or Talaing) peoples. Their dialects belong to the Mon-Khmer language group; English, Burmese, and Hindustani also are spoken. Most of the population is Hindu, although Christianity has been widely adopted and there is also a significant Muslim minority. The coconut and betel nut are major crops, and yams

Lever, Charles James

2005-02-26T03:33:00.000-08:00

In 1831, after study at Trinity College, Cambridge, he qualified for the practice of medicine. His gambling and extravagance, however, left him short of money despite his income and his inheritance,

Gwinnett, Button

2005-02-24T23:44:00.000-08:00

Gwinnett emigrated from England to Georgia

Hawaii, Industry

2005-02-24T22:06:00.000-08:00

Hawaii has several hundred companies engaged in diversified manufacturing. Heavy-manufacturing plants, using raw materials for the most part imported from the U.S. mainland, include an oil refinery that produces a variety of petroleum products and chemical compounds, a steel mill manufacturing reinforcing bars, several cement plants, a concrete-pipe plant, and

Roman Catholic Church Of Romania

2005-02-24T18:41:00.000-08:00

An Eastern Catholic church of the Byzantine rite, in communion with Rome. The Byzantine rite Catholic Church originated after the Turks ceded Transylvania to the Catholic Habsburgs (1699); at that time a large group of Orthodox Romanians, pressed by the imperial government, accepted the authority of Rome. In 1948 the Byzantine rite church was legally suppressed by the Communist

Yang-chou

2005-02-23T10:28:00.000-08:00

In the 4th and 3rd centuries BC Yang-chou was a fief known as Kuang-ling in the state of Ch'u. After the Ch'in unification of the empire in 221 BC, it became the seat of a county. Under the Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 220), it was the seat

Furniture, 17th century: the Baroque style

2005-02-22T11:38:00.000-08:00

During the 17th century, the Baroque style had a marked effect upon furniture design throughout western Europe. Large wardrobes, cupboards, and cabinets had twisted columns, broken pediments, and heavy moldings. In Baroque furniture the details are related to the whole; instead of a framework of unrelated surfaces, each detail contributes to the harmonious movement

Itagaki Taisuke, Count

2005-02-22T03:27:00.000-08:00

Born into a middle-ranking samurai family, Itagaki entered the service of his feudal lord in 1860 and emerged from subsequent factional struggles to become the military commander in Tosa, the large feudal domain controlled by his clansmen. Under Itagaki's command

Oral

2005-02-21T10:23:00.000-08:00

Russian Uralsk , also spelled Ural'sk city, western Kazakhstan, along the Ural (Zhayyq) River. Founded in 1613 or 1622 by Cossacks fleeing a tsarist punitive campaign, it was known as Yaitsky Gorodok until 1775, when its name was changed following the Pugachov Rebellion. The town was a centre of both the Stenka Razin (1667) and Yemelyan Pugachov (1773) uprisings and was the headquarters of the Ural Cossacks. It had a lively trade with

Kidney Transplant

2005-02-20T03:21:00.000-08:00

Also called Renal Transplant, replacement of a diseased or damaged kidney with a healthy one obtained either from a living relative or a recently deceased person. Although kidney transplants were carried out in the late 1950s, clinically significant transplantation did not begin until around 1963, when the immunosuppressive drug azathioprine was developed to help counteract the rejection of the

Shih Wang

2005-02-19T22:29:00.000-08:00

The first king receives the dead and determines whether or not they

Christianity, The cosmological argument

2005-02-19T20:43:00.000-08:00

St. Thomas Aquinas gave the first-cause argument and the argument from contingency—both forms of cosmological reasoning—a central place for many centuries in the Christian enterprise of natural theology. (Similar arguments were also used in parallel strands of Islamic philosophy.) Thomas' formulations (Summa theologiae, I, Q. 2, art. 3) have been refined in modern neo-Thomist

Papago

2005-02-17T22:36:00.000-08:00

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

Biblical Literature, Types of manuscript errors

2005-02-17T07:07:00.000-08:00

Since scribes either copied manuscripts or wrote from dictation, manuscript variants could be of several types: copying, hearing, accidental, or intentional. Errors in copying were common, particularly with uncial letters that looked alike. In early manuscripts OC (for hos, “[he] who”), for example, might easily be mistaken for the traditional abbreviation of God: QC (for

Fence

2005-02-16T15:48:00.000-08:00

Barrier erected to confine or exclude people or animals, to define boundaries, or to decorate. Timber, earth, stone, and metal are widely used for fencing. Fences of living plants have been made in many places, such as the hedges of Great Britain and continental Europe and the cactus fences of Latin America. In well-timbered country, such as colonial and 19th-century North

21-centimetre Radiation

2005-02-15T15:48:00.000-08:00

Electromagnetic radiation of radio wavelength emitted by cold, neutral, interstellar hydrogen atoms. The hydrogen atom is composed of a positively charged particle, the proton, and a negatively charged particle, the electron. These particles can be considered as spinning around their own axes of rotation. When the spins of the two particles are antiparallel, then

Sill, Anna Peck

2005-02-15T15:34:00.000-08:00

Sill began teaching school at the age of 20, and in 1843 she opened a seminary in Warsaw, New York. From 1846 to 1849 she headed the female department of the Cary Collegiate Institute in Oakfield, New York. For some years she had wavered between teaching

Basie, Count

2005-02-15T05:51:00.000-08:00

Basie studied music with his mother and was later influenced by the Harlem pianists James P. Johnson and Fats Waller, receiving informal tutelage on the organ from the latter.

Tapestry, Ancient Western world

2005-02-13T04:47:00.000-08:00

Examples of tapestry weaving from the ancient world are so isolated and fragmentary as to make it uncertain either when or where the art originated. The earliest known tapestry weaving was done in linen by the ancient Egyptians between 1483 and 1411 BC. Preserved by the dry desert climate of Egypt, three tapestry fragments were found in the tomb of Thutmose IV. Two of the fragments

Thököly, Imre

2005-02-12T13:05:00.000-08:00

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

Adam And Eve, Life Of

2005-02-12T02:05:00.000-08:00

Pseudepigraphal work (a noncanonical writing that in style and content resembles authentic biblical works), one of many Jewish and Christian stories that embellish the account of Adam and Eve as given in the biblical Genesis. Biography was an extremely popular literary genre during the late Hellenistic period of Judaism (3rd century BC to 3rd century AD), and legends of

Bon, Cape

2005-02-11T18:14:00.000-08:00

Arabic Ra's At-tib, peninsula of northeastern Tunisia, 20 miles (32 km) wide and protruding 50 miles (80 km) into the Mediterranean Sea between the Gulf of Tunis and Khalij (gulf) al-Hammamat (Hammamet). Cape Bon was the site of the surrender of more than 250,000 Germans and Italians to the Allies in 1943. A region of hills and fertile plains, with a Mediterranean climate and adequate rainfall, it is noted for its irrigated

Panama Canal, The canal

2005-02-11T04:30:00.000-08:00

The Panama Canal lies at a latitude of 9° N. The canal does not, as is generally supposed, cross the isthmus from east to west. It runs due south from its entrance at Colón on the Atlantic side through the Gatún (Gatun) Locks to a point in the widest portion of Gatún Lake; it then turns sharply toward the east and follows a course generally to the southeast until it reaches the

Wolfenbüttel

2005-02-10T15:29:00.000-08:00

City, Lower Saxony Land (state), northwestern Germany. The city lies along the Oker River, just south of Brunswick. First mentioned in 1118, it grew around the castle that became a favourite Welf residence about 1283. Chartered in 1540, it was captured by the Protestant Schmalkaldic League in 1542 and was transferred to Brunswick in 1753–54. The old town has many Renaissance and Baroque half-timbered

Arnulf Of Chocques

2005-02-09T14:36:00.000-08:00

Also called Arnulf Malecorne Latin patriarch of Jerusalem in 1099 and again from 1112 until his death. Accompanying the First Crusade as chaplain to Robert I, duke of Normandy, Arnulf won fame as a preacher. Elected patriarch on August 1, 1099, he forced all local Christians to conform with the Latin rite. After Christmas 1099 he was superseded as patriarch by the papal legate Daimbert. During his second term he worked

Babylonia

2005-02-09T14:06:00.000-08:00

Ancient cultural region occupying southeastern Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (modern southern Iraq from around Baghdad to the Persian Gulf). Because the city of Babylon was the capital of this area for so many centuries, the term Babylonia has come to refer to the entire culture that developed in the area from the time it was first settled,

Scale Insect

2005-02-09T13:20:00.000-08:00

Any member of several families of the insect order Homoptera. The females are wingless, with reduced legs and antennae; the males have one pair of delicate wings, well-developed legs and antennae, and no mouthparts. The body is covered by a protective waxy shell, often resembling scales or cottony cushions, that gives these insects their common name. The eggs are always

Earth, Mountain building

2005-02-07T11:10:00.000-08:00

The mid-oceanic ridge system is located along divergent plate boundaries. This system is an undersea

Valence

2005-02-07T03:17:00.000-08:00

Town, capital of Drôme département, Rhône-Alpes région, southeastern France. Valence lies on the left bank of the Rhône River. Built on a succession of terraces bordering the Rhône, the town is dominated by the ancient Cathedral of Saint-Apollinaire, which was consecrated by Pope Urban II in 1095 and completed early in the 12th century. Damage done to the cathedral during the

Charter Oath

2005-02-06T13:29:00.000-08:00

Also called Imperial Oath Of Five Articles, Japanese Gokajo No Goseimon, in Japanese history, statement of principle promulgated on April 6, 1868, by the emperor Meiji after the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate and the restoration of direct participation in government by the imperial family. The Charter Oath opened the way for the modernization of the country and the introduction of a Western parliamentary constitution. The five articles

Badminton

2005-02-05T05:49:00.000-08:00

Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen, known as the "Great Dane," laid claim to badminton's two most important titles in 1996, a gold medal in men's singles at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga., and a second consecutive men's singles All-England championship in March in Birmingham, Eng. He won in a sport almost completely dominated by Asia. At the Olympics he was the only European to place first, second,

Bka'-brgyud-pa

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

Also spelled Kagyupa (Tibetan: “Transmitted Word”), third largest Buddhist sect in Tibet. Its members are followers of the 11th-century teacher Mar-pa, who distinguished himself as a translator of Buddhist texts while continuing to live the life of a householder. Mar-pa studied in India under the master yogin (spiritual adept, or ascetic) Naropa, and the school stresses the more severe practices

Bahrain, Flag Of

2005-02-04T06:53:00.000-08:00

The southern coast of the Persian Gulf was characterized by extensive warfare and piracy for many centuries. In 1820 the British were finally successful in enforcing peace on the local Arab states. The General Treaty of Peace signed at that time provided that those territories on friendly terms with the United Kingdom should include a white border on the plain red

Nardi, Jacopo

2005-02-03T04:35:00.000-08:00

Nardi was born to a family that was long hostile to the Medici. He followed a military career until the expulsion of the Medici in 1494; he then served in several posts as a magistrate and became one of the principal republican

Fabergé, Peter Carl

2005-02-02T21:37:00.000-08:00

Of Huguenot descent, Fabergé was educated in Germany, Italy, France, and England. His father had by 1842 established himself in St. Petersburg as a jeweler, dealing also in fine decorative objects, a tradition Peter Carl continued after inheriting

Sérusier, (louis-)paul(-henri)

2005-02-02T11:30:00.000-08:00

Originally a student of philosophy, Sérusier decided to become an artist and attended the Académie Julian (1886) in his native Paris. He painted with Paul Gauguin in Brittany at Pont-Aven (1888) and at Le Pouldu (1889–90), and in the 1890s he was associated with the Nabis—many of whom he had known at the Académie

Charadriiform, Locomotion and feeding behaviour

2005-02-01T20:41:00.000-08:00

Most shorebirds inhabit open areas and are strong fliers, some performing extensive migrations that cover long distances over water. A ruddy turnstone (Arenaria interpres) banded in the Pribilof Islands was recaptured in the Hawaiian Leeward Islands, 3,770 kilometres (2,325 miles) away, four days later. Gulls, terns, skimmers, skuas, and jaegers spend much of their time on the

Integrator

2005-01-31T18:42:00.000-08:00

The earliest integrator was a mechanical instrument called the planimeter (q.v.). The illustration (top) shows a simple mechanical integrator of the disk-and-wheel variety,

Locke, Alain (leroy)

2005-01-31T17:42:00.000-08:00

Graduated in philosophy from Harvard University (1907), Locke was the first black Rhodes scholar, studying at Oxford (1907–10) and the University of Berlin (1910–11). He received his Ph.D. in philosophy from Harvard (1918). For almost 40 years,

Biogeographic Region

2005-01-30T13:36:00.000-08:00

It is a matter of general experience that the plants and animals of the land and inland waters differ to a greater or lesser degree from one part of the world to another. Why should this be? Why should the same species not exist wherever suitable environmental conditions

Xavier, Saint Francis

2005-01-30T04:35:00.000-08:00

After all the members of the band had completed their studies, they reassembled in Venice, where Xavier was ordained priest on June 24, 1537. Having for more than a year sought passage to the Holy Land in vain, the seven, along with fresh recruits, went to Rome to put themselves at the disposal of the Pope. Meanwhile, as a result of their preaching and care of the sick throughout central

San Lucas, Cape

2005-01-29T05:31:00.000-08:00

Spanish Cabo San Lucas, extreme southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, Mexico. The rocky headland forms the southern extremity of the Sierra de San Lazaro and includes the western shore of San Lucas Bay. The isolated town of San Lucas lies 2 miles (3 km) north of the cape.

Sangamon River

2005-01-28T21:47:00.000-08:00

River formed by headstreams in northwestern Champaign County, Illinois, U.S. It flows southwesterly, bending around Decatur, where a dam impounds Lake Decatur, and turns west past Springfield, the state capital, and then north and west to join the Illinois River just north of Beardstown, after a course of 250 mi (400 km). The first Illinois home (1830) of Abraham Lincoln was on a bluff