FullSponge

Auger

2005-04-05T18:09:00.000-07:00

Tool (or bit) used with a carpenter's brace for drilling holes in wood. It looks like a corkscrew and has six parts: screw, spurs, cutting edges, twist, shank, and tang. The screw looks like a tapered wood screw and is short and small in diameter; it centres the bit and draws it into the work. At the working end of the twist there are two sharp points called spurs, which score a circle

Anthony Of Novgorod

2005-04-03T11:08:00.000-07:00

Anthony's importance derives mainly from his Pilgrim's

Literature

2005-03-31T22:39:00.000-08:00

By all accounts, 2001 was an eventful year for Persian literature, both in revisiting the achievements of the previous century from fresh perspectives and in providing glimpses into new literary experiments. Two important international conferences examined the literature of the 20th century, one by focusing on M.T. Bahar (1880–1951) and the other by surveying the entire literary

Janissary

2005-03-30T14:47:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Janizary, Turkish Yeniçeri (New Soldier, or Troop), member of an elite corps in the standing army of the Ottoman Empire from the late 14th century to 1826. Highly respected for their military prowess in the 15th and 16th centuries, the Janissaries became a powerful political force within the Ottoman state. The Janissary corps was originally staffed by Christian

Hop Tree

2005-03-27T10:10:00.000-08:00

Also called Wafer Ash (species Ptelea trifoliata), tree, of the rue family (Rutaceae), native to eastern North America. It has small, greenish white flowers; strong-smelling leaves in groups of three leaflets; and buff-coloured, wafer-shaped, winged fruits. The hop tree is cultivated as an ornamental.

Leaf

2005-03-26T22:51:00.000-08:00

In botany, any usually flattened green outgrowth from the stem of a vascular plant. Leaves manufacture food for plants, which in turn ultimately nourish and sustain all land animals. Botanically, leaves are an integral part of the stem system, and they are initiated in the apical bud along with the tissues of the stem itself. Certain organs that are superficially very

Amichai, Yehuda

2005-03-23T01:27:00.000-08:00

Amichai and his Orthodox Jewish family immigrated to Palestine in 1936. During World War II he served in the British army, but he later fought the British as a guerrilla prior to the formation of Israel; he also was involved in the Arab-Israeli conflicts of 1956 and 1973. Amichai attended

Chechaouene

2005-03-21T06:03:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Chechaouen or Chefchaouen , French Chaouen , Spanish Xauen , Arabic Shafshawan Muslim holy city, northern Morocco, situated in the Rif mountain range. Founded in 1471 by the warrior Abu Youma and later moved by Sidi Ali ibn Rachid to its present site at the base of Mount El-Chaouene, the city became a refuge for Moors expelled from Spain. A holy city long closed to non-Muslims, it was occupied in 1920 by the Spanish, who restored it to the Moroccan kingdom in 1956. Chechaouene

Asturias, Miguel ángel

2005-03-19T13:16:00.000-08:00

In 1923, after receiving

Brasidas

2005-03-18T22:32:00.000-08:00

Spartan officer generally considered the only commander of genius produced by Sparta during the Archidamian War (431–421), the first decade of the Peloponnesian War (431–404) between Athens and Sparta. Through his eloquence and charm, qualities unusual in a Spartan, he earned the admiration of many of Athens' allies, thus paving the way for the revolts

Barb

2005-03-18T09:10:00.000-08:00

Also called Barbel (genus Barbus), any of numerous freshwater fishes belonging to a genus in the carp family, Cyprinidae. The barbs are native to Europe, Africa, and Asia. The members of this genus typically have one or more pairs of barbels (slender, fleshy protuberances) near the mouth and often have large, shining scales. The species vary widely in size; certain barbs are only about 2.5–5 cm (1–2 inches)

Rowell, Galen

2005-03-16T22:07:00.000-08:00

American landscape photographer (b. Aug. 23, 1940, Berkeley, Calif.—d. Aug. 11, 2002, Bishop, Calif.), captured breathtaking images of some of the remotest parts of the world. Galen was an avid mountain climber and traveler; his photography was a natural extension of his love for the ever-decreasing wilderness around him. In turn, he used his work to further conservation awareness in an attempt

Interior Design, Early medieval Europe

2005-03-16T16:21:00.000-08:00

In the constant warfare that was waged in Europe in the early medieval period, material possessions dwindled to a minimum: a man did not own for long anything he could not defend and had little use or opportunity for interior decoration. If he possessed more than one house, his furniture and possessions would go with him from place to place. During this time, the arts

Musa

2005-03-14T23:55:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Mousa , also called Kankan Musa mansa (emperor) of the West African empire of Mali from 1307 (or 1312). Mansa Musa left a realm notable for its extent and riches (he built the Great Mosque at Timbuktu), but he is best remembered in the Middle East and Europe for the splendour of his pilgrimage to Mecca (1324).

Vance, Zebulon B.

2005-03-14T19:09:00.000-08:00

Vance studied law at the University of North Carolina and for a time practiced in Asheville. Elected in 1854 as a Whig member of the North Carolina House of Commons, Vance in 1858 won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives,

Star Cluster, OB and T associations

2005-03-12T18:30:00.000-08:00

The chief distinguishing feature of the members of a stellar association is that the large majority of constituent stars have similar physical characteristics. An OB association consists of many hot, blue giant stars, spectral classes O and B, and a relatively small number of other objects. A T association consists of cooler dwarf stars, many of which exhibit irregular

Montgomery

2005-03-11T04:27:00.000-08:00

Capital of the state of Alabama, U.S., and seat (1822) of Montgomery county, located in the central part of the state. The city lies near the point where the Alabama River is formed by the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers. It was originally the site of Native American villages and was visited by Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in 1540. About 1717 the French built Fort Toulouse

Murji'ah

2005-03-10T19:04:00.000-08:00

The Murji'ah flourished during the turbulent period of Islamic history that began with the murder of 'Uthman (third caliph) in AD 656, and ended with the assassination of 'Ali (fourth

Sachs, Nelly

2005-03-10T11:29:00.000-08:00

In full Nelly Leonie Sachs German poet and dramatist who was transformed by the Nazi experience from a dilettante into a poignant spokesperson for the grief and yearnings of her fellow Jews. When, with Shmuel Yosef Agnon, she was awarded the 1966 Nobel Prize for Literature, she observed that Agnon represented Israel whereas “I represent the tragedy of the Jewish

Sa'id, Aminah Al-

2005-03-09T05:58:00.000-08:00

At age 14, Sa'id joined the youth section of the Egyptian Feminist Union, and in 1931 she became one of the first women to attend the Egyptian University (now Cairo University). After graduating

Nahan

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

City, southern Himachal Pradesh state, northwestern India. It lies south-southeast of Simla, the state capital, at the foot of the Siwalik Range and is a trade centre for agricultural produce and timber. Its industries include handweaving, wood carving, and ironworking. Nahan was the capital of the Punjab Hill State of Sirmur during the British rule in India. Pop. (1991 prelim.) 21,867.

Dahn, (julius Sophus) Felix

2005-03-06T17:17:00.000-08:00

Dahn's most substantial

Dendrocolaptidae

2005-03-06T14:22:00.000-08:00

Songbird family, order Passeriformes, consisting of a number of brownish birds of the forest or brushland and found from Mexico through South America. Representative members are the scythebill and the woodcreeper (qq.v.).

Solar Cell

2005-03-04T03:16:00.000-08:00

Any device that directly converts the energy in light into electrical energy through the process of photovoltaics.

Stalactite Work

2005-03-03T06:44:00.000-08:00

Also called honeycomb work , Arabic al-halimat al-'uliya (“the overhang”) pendentive form of architectural ornamentation, resembling the geological formations called stalactites. This type of ornamentation is characteristic of Islamic architecture and decoration. It consists of a series of little niches, bracketed out one above the other, or of projecting prismatic forms in rows and tiers that are connected at their upper ends

Agusan River

2005-03-03T05:17:00.000-08:00

Longest river in Mindanao, Philippines. It rises in the southeast and flows northward for 240 miles (390 km) to enter Butuan Bay of the Bohol Sea. The river forms a fertile valley 40 to 50 miles (65–80 km) wide between the Central Mindanao Highlands (west) and the Pacific Cordillera (east). Important population centres are clustered around the bay and include Butuan, Cabadbaran, and

Beach, Alfred Ely

2005-03-02T04:34:00.000-08:00

While Beach was attending

Switzerland, Climate

2005-03-01T05:10:00.000-08:00

Four major European climates affect Switzerland. From the west, influenced by the North Atlantic Drift, come mild and moist air masses; dry and cold air arrives from the North Arctic areas; continental air from the east brings dry colder air in winter and warmer air in summer; relatively moist and warm air flows northward from the Mediterranean. The mixing of these

Akureyri

2005-02-27T08:25:00.000-08:00

Town, northern Iceland. It lies at the southern end of Eyja Fjord. Akureyri is the chief centre of the north and is one of the island's most populous urban centres outside the Reykjavík metropolitan area. While primarily a commercial and distributing centre, Akureyri is also a fishing port, agricultural market, and manufacturing centre for woolen goods, fish oil, shoes,

Ribot, Alexandre (-félix-joseph)

2005-02-26T19:15:00.000-08:00

Ribot studied law and rose to be director of the Department of Criminal Affairs at the Ministry of Justice. He was elected in 1878 to represent Pas-de-Calais in the Chamber of Deputies. Ribot was a moderate republican, and he specialized in financial matters. He lost his

Jehu

2005-02-25T06:23:00.000-08:00

Hebrew Yehu, king (c. 842–815 BC) of Israel. He was a commander of chariots for the king of Israel, Ahab, and his son Jehoram, on Israel's frontier facing Damascus and Assyria. Ahab, son of King Omri, was eventually killed in a war with Assyria; during Jehoram's rule, Jehu accepted the invitation of the prophet Elisha, Elijah's successor, to lead a coup to overthrow the dynasty of Omri (II Kings 9–10). The prophetic

Mosander, Carl Gustaf

2005-02-25T05:24:00.000-08:00

In 1826 Mosander was placed in charge of the chemical laboratory of the Caroline Medical Institute, Stockholm, and in 1832 became professor of chemistry and mineralogy. While studying a compound of cerium, he discovered

Yacht

2005-02-24T19:07:00.000-08:00

As the Dutch rose to preeminence in sea power during the 17th century, the early yacht became a pleasure craft used first by royalty and later by the burghers on the canals and the protected and unprotected waters of the Low Countries. Racing was incidental, arising as private matches. English yachting began with King Charles II of England during his exile in the Low

Hawea Lake

2005-02-23T05:56:00.000-08:00

Lake in west-central South Island, New Zealand. The lake lies at the heart of a resort area 182 miles (293 km) northwest of Dunedin by road. It occupies 54 square miles (141 square km) of a valley dammed by a terminal moraine (glacial debris). The lake, 1,142 feet (348 m) above sea level, is 19 miles (31 km) long, 5 miles (8 km) wide, and 1,286 feet (392 m) deep. It drains an area of 536 square miles (1,388 square km). Its main affluent, the Hunter River,

Qabus Ibn Sa'id

2005-02-22T00:39:00.000-08:00

Qabus was educated at Bury Saint Edmunds, Suffolk, England, and at Sandhurst, the Royal Military Academy, in Berkshire. He was called home in 1965 by his father, Sa'id ibn Taymur, who kept his son a virtual prisoner for six years while maintaining his subjects in a state of relative underdevelopment despite the country's growing oil revenues.

Cordia

2005-02-20T22:42:00.000-08:00

The leaves of the tropical American geiger tree, aloewood, or sebesten plum (C.

Clostridium

2005-02-19T08:36:00.000-08:00

Genus of rod-shaped, usually gram-positive bacteria, members of which are found in soil, water, and the intestinal tracts of humans and other animals. Most species grow only in the complete absence of oxygen. Dormant cells are highly resistant to heat, dessication, and toxic chemicals and detergents. The species are variable in size. A typical species, C. butyricum, ranges

Anders, Wladyslaw

2005-02-18T04:04:00.000-08:00

After service in the Russian army during World War I, Anders entered the armed forces of the newly reconstituted Polish

Cellulose Acetate

2005-02-17T19:03:00.000-08:00

Original name Acetate Rayon, also called Acetate, man-made textile fibre produced from the plant substance cellulose, which is obtained from soft woods or the short fibres adhering to cotton seeds (linters) and treated with acetic acid and acetic anhydride, and then partially hydrolyzed so that the product, secondary acetate, is soluble in acetone. It forms a cellulose acetate solution that is extruded through

Fabricius, Johann Albert

2005-02-17T01:51:00.000-08:00

In 1689, after two years at the University of Leipzig, Fabricius graduated as master of philosophy and published anonymously his Decas decadum, Sive plagiariorum et pseudonymorum centuria, a survey of 100 writers accused of plagiarism or literary mystification. In 1694 he became librarian

Farinati, Paolo

2005-02-15T19:36:00.000-08:00

Farinati's father, Giovanni Battista, was also a painter and may have been his first master; later he probably worked under Nicolò Giolfino. Farinati was active almost entirely in Verona. According to Carlo Ridolfi, a Madonna painted by Farinati attracted the

Jevons, William Stanley

2005-02-15T10:25:00.000-08:00

English logician and economist whose book The Theory of Political Economy (1871) expounded the “final” (marginal) utility theory of value. Jevons's work, along with similar discoveries made by Karl Menger in Vienna (1871) and by Léon Walras in Switzerland (1874), marked the opening of a new period in the history of economic

Erythrite

2005-02-14T20:20:00.000-08:00

Also called Cobalt Bloom, arsenate mineral in the vivianite group, hydrated cobalt arsenate [Co3(AsO4)2×8H2O]. Erythrite, which is used as a guide to the presence of cobalt-nickel-silver ores because of its crimson or peach-red colour, occurs as radiating crystals, concretions, or earthy masses in the oxidized zone of cobalt and nickel deposits. It forms a complete solid-solution series with annabergite,

Dafydd Ap Edmwnd

2005-02-12T20:52:00.000-08:00

Poet who authoritatively classified and defined the 24 Welsh bardic metres (announced at the Carmarthen eisteddfod, or poets' assembly, in 1451). A master of bardic forms, he wrote elegant and technically perfect love lyrics, eulogies, and elegies. His works are collected in Gwaith Dafydd ab Edmwnd (ed. by Thomas Roberts, 1914).

Nordenflycht, Hedvig Charlotta

2005-02-12T09:35:00.000-08:00

The deaths

Auger

2005-02-10T17:43:00.000-08:00

Ghi

2005-02-09T08:17:00.000-08:00

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

Antiferromagnetism

2005-02-08T15:40:00.000-08:00

Type of magnetism in solids such as manganese oxide (MnO) in which adjacent ions that behave as tiny magnets (in this case manganese ions, Mn2+) spontaneously align themselves at relatively low temperatures into opposite, or antiparallel, arrangements throughout the material so that it exhibits almost no gross external magnetism. In antiferromagnetic materials,

Patristic Literature, Monastic literature

2005-02-08T06:10:00.000-08:00

Both Anthony (c. 250–355), the founder of eremitical, or solitary, monasticism in

General Store

2005-02-06T19:45:00.000-08:00

Retail store in a small town or rural community that carries a wide variety of goods, including groceries. In the United States the general store was the successor of the early trading post, which served the pioneers and early settlers. Located at a crossroads or in a village, it served the surrounding community and farmers from the neighbouring countryside and carried

Agribusiness

2005-02-06T02:37:00.000-08:00

In highly industrialized countries, many activities essential to agriculture are carried on separately from the farm. These include the development and production of

Italy, The early years

2005-02-05T13:49:00.000-08:00

Interest in the French Revolution was enhanced by the waning of the reformist impulse of the 1780s in the Italian states. Educated landowners and entrepreneurs who had put their trust in the enlightened rulers of their own states and had looked forward to important administrative and political reforms were disappointed. The French example gave them new hope. During

All Souls' Day

2005-02-04T19:14:00.000-08:00

In the Roman Catholic church, a day for commemoration of all the faithful departed, those baptized Christians who are believed to be in purgatory because they have died with the guilt of lesser sins on their souls. It is celebrated on November 2. Roman Catholic doctrine holds that the prayers of the faithful on earth will help cleanse these souls in order to fit them

Silicate Mineral

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

The silicates make up about 95 percent of the Earth's crust and upper mantle, occurring as the major constituents of most igneous rocks and in appreciable quantities in sedimentary and metamorphic varieties as well. They also are important constituents

Ria

2005-02-01T21:49:00.000-08:00

Funnel-shaped estuary that occurs at a river mouth and is formed by the submergence of the lower portion of the river valley. Generally occurring along a rugged coast perpendicular to a mountain chain, many rias were formed by the rise in sea level after the melting of the vast continental glaciers. Rias are commonly very irregular and may have several branching

Restionales

2005-01-29T11:55:00.000-08:00

Nearly all plants in the group exhibit reduced (simplified) flowers with a one- to three-chambered ovary containing only one pendulous ovule per chamber. There are one to three stamens (male

China, Establishment of the People's Republic

2005-01-28T10:23:00.000-08:00

The Communist victory in 1949 brought to power a peasant party that had learned its techniques in the countryside but had adopted Marxist ideology and believed in class struggle and rapid industrial development. Extensive experience in running base areas and waging war before 1949 had given the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) deeply ingrained operational habits and proclivities.

Amati Family

2005-01-25T11:34:00.000-08:00

Andrea (c. 1520–c. 1578), the founder of the Cremona school of violin making, was perhaps originally influenced by the work of slightly earlier makers from Brescia. His earliest-known violins are dated about 1564. In essentials, they set the style for all the models made by later members of the family and,

Interior Design, Ancient world

2005-01-23T21:18:00.000-08:00

Shaker Furniture

2005-01-22T07:56:00.000-08:00

Furniture designed for the religious colonies of Shakers founded in America in the last quarter of the 18th century, characterized by austerity of decoration and truth to materials. Deeply dedicated to ideals of communal living and asceticism, the Shakers designed and constructed furniture that reflected their belief that to make a thing well was in itself an

Crompton, Rookes Evelyn Bell

2005-01-17T16:45:00.000-08:00

After military service in India, where he had introduced steam-driven road transport, Crompton in 1875 became a partner in an engineering firm at Chelmsford, Essex, and soon broadened its activity to the construction of dynamos and arc

Minotaur

2005-01-15T13:08:00.000-08:00

Greek Minotauros (“Minos' Bull”), in Greek mythology, a fabulous monster of Crete that had the body of a man and the head of a bull. It was the offspring of Pasiphae, the wife of Minos (q.v.), and a snow-white bull sent to Minos by the god Poseidon for sacrifice. Minos, instead of sacrificing it, kept it alive; Poseidon as a punishment made Pasiphae fall in love with it. Her child by the bull was shut up in the

Atlas

2005-01-14T09:48:00.000-08:00

In Greek mythology, son of the Titan Iapetus and the nymph Clymene (or Asia) and brother of Prometheus (creator of mankind). In the works of Homer, Atlas seems to have been a marine creation who supported the pillars that held heaven and earth apart. These were thought to rest in the sea immediately beyond the most western horizon, but later the name of Atlas was transferred

Guinea-bissau, Relief

2005-01-11T07:34:00.000-08:00

The coastal area is demarcated by a dense

Nordraak, Rikard

2005-01-09T03:47:00.000-08:00

Nordraak began composing music as a child. He was sent at age 15 to Copenhagen, Den., for training in business, but he also studied music while there. In 1859 he gave up the study

Shu Ching

2005-01-05T16:30:00.000-08:00

The Shu Ching consists of 58 chapters. Of these, 33 (originally

China, The Yüan dynasty

2005-01-03T08:10:00.000-08:00

On Chinese contacts with Asia and the West, see E. Bretschneider, Mediaeval Research from Eastern Asiatic Sources: Fragments Towards the Knowledge of the Geography and History of Central and Western Asia from the 13th to the 17th Century, 2 vol. (1888, reprinted 1967); Herbert Franke, “Sino-Western Contacts Under the Mongol Empire,” Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 6:49–72 (1966); Leonard Olschki, Marco Polo's Asia: An Introduction to His “Description of the World” called “Il Milione” (1960; originally published in Italian, 1957); and Igor de Rachewiltz, Papal Envoys to the Great Khans (1971).

Avoirdupois Weight

2005-01-01T18:40:00.000-08:00

Traditional system of weight in the British Imperial System and the United States Customary System of weights and measures. The name derives ultimately from French avoir de pois (“goods of weight” or “property”). The avoirdupois pound contains 7,000 grains, or 256 drams of 27.344 grains each, or 16 ounces of 437 1/2 grains each. It is used for all products not subject to apothecaries' weight (for pharmaceutical

Lentulus Crus, Lucius Cornelius

2004-12-31T03:51:00.000-08:00

In 61 BC Lentulus was the chief accuser of Publius Clodius on a charge of sacrilege at a festival. Lentulus was a praetor in 58. As consul in 49 he advocated the rejection of all peace terms offered by Caesar in his conflict with the Senate. On the outbreak of the Civil War

Tasmania, Industries

2004-12-29T04:03:00.000-08:00

Mineral production fluctuates with market conditions. Iron ore from opencut mines at Savage River is converted to slurry, piped to Port Latta near Stanley, pelletized, and shipped to the mainland and Japan. The tin mine at Renison Bell is not only the largest in Australia but also the largest underground hard-rock tin mine in the world. Copper production at Queenstown

Basketball, College.

2004-12-27T02:07:00.000-08:00

Duke University basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski and his Blue Devils were the consensus favourites to win the 2001 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship, but sentimental fans and media alike were pulling for the Arizona Wildcats and their coach, Lute Olson. The death of Olson's wife, Bobbi, on January 1 had brought an outpouring of sympathy from

Augmentations, Court Of

2004-12-24T15:23:00.000-08:00

The Court of Augmentations was instituted in 1535 to handle

Bopolu

2004-12-21T21:26:00.000-08:00

Also called Bopora, or Boporo, town, western Liberia. Once the centre of the Malinke-dominated Kondo Confederation—including the Gola, Vai, De (Dei), and Loma peoples—the area surrounding Bopolu probably reached its height under King Bosan (Boatswain; 1775–1836). Slaves, ivory, gold, and camwood from the north were sent by Bopolu traders to the coastal Vai and De peoples in exchange for salt, tobacco, guns, and European

Päijänne, Lake

2004-12-19T13:24:00.000-08:00

Lake located in parts of the läänit (provinces) of Keski-Suomi, Häme, and Mikkeli, south-central Finland. The lake has an area of 407 square miles (1,054 square km) and a maximum depth of 305 feet (93 m). It is about 85 miles (135 km) long and between 2 and 18 miles (3 and 29 km) wide. The lake is broken by thousands of islands. Jyväskylä, at the northern tip of the lake, and Heinola, on a southeastern branch of the lake, are

League

2004-12-16T17:57:00.000-08:00

Any of several European units of measurement ranging from 2.4 to 4.6 statute miles (3.9 to 7.4 km). In English-speaking countries the land league is generally accepted as 3 statute miles (4.83 km), although varying lengths from 7,500 feet to 15,000 feet (2.29 to 4.57 km) were sometimes employed. An ancient unit derived from the Gauls and introduced into England by the Normans, the league was estimated by the Romans

Theatre

2004-12-15T13:56:00.000-08:00

Also spelled theater in architecture, a building or space in which a performance may be given before an audience. The word is from the Greek theatron, “a place of seeing.” A theatre usually has a stage area where the performance itself takes place. Since ancient times the evolving design of theatres has been determined largely by the spectators' physical requirements for seeing and hearing

Asheville

2004-12-12T20:40:00.000-08:00

City, seat of Buncombe county, west-central North Carolina, U.S. Asheville lies in the Blue Ridge Mountains, at the junction of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers. It has a mild climate and is built on an uneven plateau at an elevation of about 2,200 feet (670 metres). Asheville is the eastern gateway to Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Cherokee Indian Reservation and

Shamanism, Gods, spirits, and souls

2004-12-10T18:02:00.000-08:00

All three worlds are inhabited by spirits. Among the Mongolian and Turkish peoples, Ülgen, a benevolent deity and the god of the Upper World, has seven sons and nine daughters. Among the Buryat of southern Siberia, Tengri (often identified with Ülgen) also has children, the Khat's—the western ones being good and the eastern ones wicked. The gods of the Buryats number 99 and

Indian Pipe

2004-12-07T21:29:00.000-08:00

The plant arises from a tangled mass of rootlets, grows 15–25 cm (6–10 inches) tall, and is white, pinkish, or (rarely) red; if it dries out, it turns black. A single,

X

2004-12-03T16:01:00.000-08:00

American band whose tales of urban decay, corruption, and sleaze, delivered with skilled musicianship and unique vocal harmonies, marked them as important contributors to the punk movement. The original members were Exene Cervenka (original name Christine Cervenka; b. Feb. 1, 1956, Chicago, Ill., U.S.), John Doe (b. Feb. 25, 1954?, Decatur, Ill.), Billy Zoom (b. Feb. 20, 1949?, Illinois), and D.J. Bonebrake (b. Dec. 8, 1955, North

Staircase

2004-11-30T13:37:00.000-08:00

The origin of the staircase is uncertain. On the road up Tai Shan (mountain) in China there are many great flights of ancient granite steps; the earliest staircases seem to have been built with walls on both

Cumberland Road

2004-11-28T21:23:00.000-08:00

Also called National Road, first federal highway in the United States and for several years the main route to what was then the Northwest Territory. Built (1811–37) from Cumberland, Md. (western terminus of a state road from Baltimore and of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal), to Vandalia, Ill., it forms part of the present U.S. Route 40. In April 1802 Congress appropriated land-sale funds to finance an overland link between

Colombian Abyssal Plain

2004-11-27T09:41:00.000-08:00

Submarine plain forming part of the floor of the south-central Caribbean Sea, and the deepest and flattest portion of the Colombian Basin. It rises to the southeast to form the Caribbean coast of Colombia, joins the Clark Basin and Central America's part of the continental shelf to the west, and stretches northward toward the island of Jamaica. The plain is separated

Zanni

2004-11-24T07:20:00.000-08:00

Plural Zanni, or Zannis, stock servant character in the Italian improvisational theatre known as the commedia dell'arte. Zanni were valet buffoons, clowns, and knavish jacks-of-all-trades. All possessed common sense, intelligence, pride, and a love of practical jokes and intrigue; they were, however, often quarrelsome, cowardly, envious, spiteful, vindictive, and treacherous. The term is thought

Aquinas, Thomas, Saint, Hymns and liturgical compositions

2004-11-23T07:42:00.000-08:00

“Pange, lingua, gloriosi” (1264); “Verbum supernum prodiens” (1264; “The Word of God Proceeding Forth”); office for the Feast of Corpus Christi (c. 1264), including the sequence “Lauda Sion Salvatorem” (“Praise, O Zion, thy Salvation”).

Syria, From the 9th to the 12th century

2004-11-20T14:38:00.000-08:00

As the 'Abbasid caliphate disintegrated in its turn, Syria drifted out of the sphere of influence of Baghdad. In 877 it was annexed by the Tulunid dynasty of Egypt, and this began a political connection that was to last with intervals for more than six centuries. In northern Syria the Tulunids were succeeded by a local Arab dynasty, the Hamdanids of Aleppo, founded by Sayf ad-Dawlah

Shadhili, Ash-

2004-11-18T23:27:00.000-08:00

The details of ash-Shadhili's life are clouded by legend. He is said to have been a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad and to have gone blind in his youth because of excessive study. In 1218/19 he traveled to Tunisia,

Príbram

2004-11-17T15:00:00.000-08:00

Príbram's other

Tibet, Tibet under Manchu overlordship

2004-11-14T06:39:00.000-08:00

The Dalai Lama's death in 1682 and the discovery of his five-year-old reincarnation in 1688 were concealed by Sangs-rgyas rgya-mtsho, who was intent on continuing the administration without disturbance. He informed the Manchu only in 1696. Emperor K'ang-hsi (reigned 1661–1722) was incensed at the deception. In 1703 he discovered an ally in Tibet and an antagonist to Sangs-rgyas rgya-mtsho when Lha-bzang

Saigo Takamori

2004-11-13T01:13:00.000-08:00

Original name Kichibe , or Kichinosuke , literary name Nanshu a leader in the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate who later rebelled against the weaknesses he saw in the Imperial government that he had helped to restore. Although his participation in the restoration made him a legendary hero, it also, to his mortification, relegated his samurai class to impotence.

Tsao Shen

2004-11-10T19:03:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Zao Shen, in Chinese mythology, the god of the kitchen (god of the hearth), who is believed to report to the celestial gods on family conduct and to have it within his power to bestow poverty or riches on individual families. Because he is also a protector of the home from evil spirits, his periodic absences are thought to make the house especially vulnerable to becoming haunted

Yupik

2004-11-09T16:01:00.000-08:00

Also called Asiatic, or Asian, Eskimo, Western Eskimo group of Siberian Asia and of Saint Lawrence Island and the Diomede Islands in the Bering Sea and Strait. They are culturally related to the Chukchi. The traditional economic activity of the Yupik-speaking Eskimo was the hunting of sea mammals, especially seals, walrus, and, until the latter half of the 19th century, whales. Trade with the Russians developed

Irkutsk

2004-11-06T10:26:00.000-08:00

Oblast (province), east-central Russia, occupying an area of 296,500 square miles (767,900 square km) west and north of Lake Baikal. It consists mostly of the hills and broad valleys of the Central Siberian Plateau and of its eastern extension, the Patom Plateau. In the south the oblast extends to the eastern crestline of the Sayan Mountains. Dense taiga dominated by Siberian and Dahurian

Swaziland System

2004-11-04T05:09:00.000-08:00

Major division of rocks and time in southern Africa in Precambrian Time (3.96 billion to 540 million years ago). The system consists of a great thickness of sedimentary and metamorphic (altered) rocks with numerous intrusions of igneous bodies. Two major subdivisions of the Swaziland System are recognized, an Upper and a Lower series. Many of the units that constitute the

Hess, Orvan Walter

2004-11-03T20:31:00.000-08:00

American obstetrician and gynecologist (b. June 18, 1906, Margaretville, N.Y.—d. Sept. 6, 2002, New Haven, Conn.), developed the first fetal heart monitor, at the Yale University Medical School, in 1957. The device, which allowed monitoring to continue during labour, became, except for ultrasound, the most-used technique in obstetrics. Hess also played a major part in the initial successful employment

Elis

2004-10-31T11:22:00.000-08:00

The region was bounded on the north by Achaea, on the east by Arcadia, and on the south by Messenia. Elis consisted of three districts from north to south: Hollow Elis, which occupied the basin

Ghadr

2004-10-30T19:03:00.000-07:00

(Urdu: “Revolution”), an early 20th-century movement among Indians, principally Sikhs living in North America, to end British rule in their homeland of India. The movement originated with an organization of immigrants in California called the Hindustani Workers of the Pacific Coast. Shortly after the outbreak of World War I, many of the Ghadrites returned to India and

Ibycus

2004-10-27T03:25:00.000-07:00

Ibycus left Sicily for the Aegean island of Samos, where the tyrant Polycrates became his patron. Ancient authorities found it hard to distinguish his early work from that of Stesichorus, but even in the few surviving

Sayf Ad-dawlah

2004-10-26T02:48:00.000-07:00

Sayf ad-Dawlah began his career as lord of the city of Wasit in Iraq and became involved in the struggles of the 'Abbasid caliph (the titular leader of the

Macadam

2004-10-23T23:04:00.000-07:00

Form of pavement invented by John McAdam of Scotland in the 18th century. McAdam's road cross section was composed of a compacted subgrade of crushed granite or greenstone designed to support the load, covered by a surface of light stone to absorb wear and tear and shed water to the drainage ditches. In modern macadam construction crushed stone or gravel is placed on