StraightCat

Adams, Samuel

2005-10-16T23:10:00.000-07:00

Politician of the American Revolution, leader of the Massachusetts “radicals,” who was a delegate to the Continental Congress (1774–81) and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was later lieutenant governor (1789–93) and governor (1794–97) of Massachusetts.

Saint Albans Raid

2005-07-28T01:50:00.000-07:00

On Oct. 19, 1864, about 25 Confederate soldiers based in Canada raided the town of St. Albans, Vt., killed one man, robbed three banks, and then retreated to Canadian territory. A U.S. posse

Gateshead

2005-07-26T07:20:00.000-07:00

Town and metropolitan borough, metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, historic county of Durham, England. It was initially a small settlement that developed at the southern end of a medieval bridge, opposite the fortress (later city) of Newcastle upon Tyne; at that time it was under the jurisdiction of the bishop of Durham. During the Industrial Revolution, locally mined

Afghanistan, Nadir Shah

2005-07-23T19:55:00.000-07:00

In 1738, after a year's siege, the city of Kandahar fell to Nadir Shah's army of 80,000 men. Nadir Shah seized Ghazna and Kabul and occupied the Mughal capital at Delhi in 1739. His booty included

Dieppe

2005-07-08T17:30:00.000-07:00

In the old town many houses date back to the early 18th century. The castle, built in 1435, was damaged in 1944 but has been restored and now

Grünewald, Matthias

2005-07-06T21:45:00.000-07:00

Original name Mathis Gothardt one of the greatest German painters of his age, whose works on religious themes achieve a visionary expressiveness through intense colour and agitated line. The wings of the altarpiece of the Antonite monastery at Isenheim, in southern Alsace (dated 1515), are considered to be his

Obregón, álvaro

2005-06-30T23:50:00.000-07:00

Though Obregón had little formal education, he learned a great deal about the needs and desires of poor Mexicans from his work as a farmer and labourer. He did not take part in

World War I, The Turkish fronts, 1918

2005-06-23T05:55:00.000-07:00

The British–Turkish front in Palestine in the summer of 1918 ran from the Jordan River westward north of Jericho and Lydda to the Mediterranean just north of Jaffa. North of this front there were three Turkish “armies” (in fact, barely stronger than divisions): one to the east of the Jordan, two to the west. These armies depended for their supplies on the Hejaz Railway, the main

North Lincolnshire

2005-06-21T11:40:00.000-07:00

Unitary authority, geographic and historic county of Lincolnshire, England, comprising a low plain on the south shore of the River Humber estuary that extends inland to the northernmost Lincolnshire Wolds and the reclaimed wetlands of the Isle of Axholme along the River Trent. The unitary authority covers a largely rural and agricultural area. Its fertile lands

Interior Design, Industrial interiors

2005-06-16T15:15:00.000-07:00

Industrial interiors do not usually involve interior designers. There are, of course, many industrial spaces, such as workshops, laboratories, and factories, that have been planned by architects and designers, and there are a few that have stressed some aesthetic considerations. By and large, however, industrial interiors are created as strictly functional spaces.

Interface

2005-06-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

Surface separating two phases of matter, each of which may be solid, liquid, or gaseous. An interface is not a geometric surface but a thin layer that has properties differing from those of the bulk material on either side of the interface. A common interface is that between a body of water and the air, which exhibits such properties as surface tension, by which the interface

Kerch

2005-06-01T19:40:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Kerc , ancient (Greek) Panticapaion , or (Latin) Panticapaeum city and seaport, Crimea republic, southern Ukraine, on the western shore of the Strait of Kerch at the head of a small bay. Founded in the 6th century BC by Miletan Greeks, it flourished as a trading centre, and in the 5th century it became the capital of the kingdom of the Cimmerian Bosporus. Abundant archaeological evidence of its wealth occurs in catacombs and burial mounds,

Süchow

2005-05-18T09:50:00.000-07:00

Süchow is located in the gap in the Shantung Hills that forms a southwestern extension into the North China Plain. Through this gap flows

Optical Interferometer

2005-05-16T15:15:00.000-07:00

Instrument for making precise measurements for beams of light of such factors as length, surface irregularities, and index of refraction. It divides a beam of light into a number of beams that travel unequal paths and whose intensities, when reunited, add or subtract (interfere with each other). This interference appears as a pattern of light and dark bands called

ásgrímsson, Eysteinn

2005-05-14T00:55:00.000-07:00

Records of Ásgrímsson's life are scant. In 1343 he was imprisoned, probably for thrashing his abbot and perhaps for a breach of chastity as well. In 1349 he was made an official of the Skálholt bishopric, and he attended the bishop on a mission

Polar Wandering

2005-03-15T00:02:00.000-08:00

The migration over the surface of the Earth of the magnetic poles of the Earth through geological time. It was long recognized that the directions of magnetization of many rocks do not correspond to the present direction of the geomagnetic field at their sites; but not until the 1950s was there sufficient paleomagnetic data to suggest that the poles had moved in a systematic

La Valli�re, Louise-fran�oise De La Baume Le Blanc, Duchess (duchesse) De

2005-03-14T04:12:00.000-08:00

La Valli�re, the daughter of a military governor, was appointed maid of honour in 1661 to Louis XIV's sister-in-law Henrietta Anne of England, Duchess d'Orl�ans. Although Louis had been married to the Spanish infanta Marie-Th�r�se for only about a year, he took La Valli�re as his mistress in July 1661. In order

Fujiwara Tadahira

2005-03-11T14:54:00.000-08:00

Japanese statesman who assumed the leadership of the Fujiwara family in 909 upon the death of his brother Tokihira. Although in his later years Tokihira had begun to dominate the government, he had never assumed the title of kampaku (chancellor). The post had been created and first assumed by their father, Fujiwara Mototsune, and allowed to lapse by the emperor

Permafrost, Types of ground ice

2005-03-04T03:28:00.000-08:00

The ice content of permafrost is probably the most important feature of permafrost affecting human life in the north. Ice in the perennially frozen ground exists in various sizes and shapes and has definite distribution characteristics. The forms of ground ice can be grouped into five main types: (1) pore ice, (2) segregated, or Taber, ice, (3) foliated, or wedge, ice, (4) pingo ice,

Sokoto

2005-03-03T04:26:00.000-08:00

Sokoto was only a small village when selected to be the military headquarters

Aschelminth, Reproduction and development

2005-03-02T13:11:00.000-08:00

Most aschelminths are bisexual; the male inseminates the female during copulation so that she lays fertilized shelled eggs. In some cases, these eggs may have started to develop before being laid. Parthenogenesis, by which the female's eggs develop without fertilization, is common. In most rotifers (i.e., the order Monogononta) males are smaller and less frequent than

Mona Monkey

2005-03-01T21:44:00.000-08:00

(Cercopithecus mona), common West African guenon that is found in tropical rainforests. The mona monkey is a speckled reddish brown in colour, with white underparts and an oval patch of white on each side of the tail. Its face is marked by a white band across the forehead and a thin, black stripe between eye and ear. The mona monkey is lively and is one of the most widely exhibited

Pendergast, Thomas J(oseph)

2005-02-28T21:02:00.000-08:00

Pendergast went to Kansas City in 1893, where he learned the rudiments of municipal politics from precinct captains and where, by 1916, he had become political boss of Kansas

Jackling, Daniel Cowan

2005-02-27T16:58:00.000-08:00

A graduate of the Missouri School of Mines, Rolla, in 1892, Jackling taught chemistry and metallurgy there (1891 - 93) and then worked (1894 - 95) as a chemist and metallurgist

Madeira River

2005-02-26T02:53:00.000-08:00

Portuguese �Rio Madeira, � major tributary of the Amazon. It is formed by the junction of the Mamor� and Beni rivers at Villa Bella, Bolivia, and flows northward forming the border between Bolivia and Brazil for approximately 60 miles (100 km). After receiving the Rio Abun�, the Madeira meanders northeastward in Brazil through Rond�nia and Amazonas states to its junction with the Amazon River, 90 miles

Chadwick, Sir James

2005-02-25T22:43:00.000-08:00

Educated at the universities of Manchester and Cambridge, Chadwick also studied under Hans Geiger at the Technische Hochschule, Berlin. From 1923 he worked with Ernest Rutherford in the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge,

C�labozo

2005-02-24T23:52:00.000-08:00

City, Gu�rico estado (�state�), central Venezuela. It lies along the Gu�rico River, 110 miles (180 km) south-southwest of Caracas, on a piedmont plain between the mountains and the Llanos (plains). Founded in 1695, C�labozo was formerly an administrative centre. It gained prominence in the 1950s as the headquarters of the Gu�rico River Reclamation Project, which is concerned with irrigation,

Marketing, Packaging and branding

2005-02-23T02:49:00.000-08:00

Packaging and branding are also substantial components in the marketing of a product. Packaging in some instances may be as simple as customers in France carrying long loaves of unwrapped bread or small produce dealers in Italy wrapping vegetables in newspapers or placing them in customers' string bags. In most industrialized countries, however, the packaging

Marketing, Packaging and branding

2005-02-22T05:47:00.000-08:00

Saarinen, Eero

2005-02-21T22:32:00.000-08:00

Finnish-born U.S. architect who was one of the leaders in a trend toward exploration and experiment in American architectural design during the 1950s.

Al-

2005-02-20T19:15:00.000-08:00

Arabic definite article, meaning �the.� It often prefixes Arabic proper nouns, especially place-names; an example is Al-Jazirah (Arabic: �The Island�), the name of an interfluvial region in The Sudan. The article is often used in lowercase form, hence al-Jazirah. Reference works, including Encyclop�dia Britannica, often alphabetize names beginning with al- under the main part

Kirov

2005-02-19T21:53:00.000-08:00

Formerly �(until 1934) Vyatka, or Viatka, � city and administrative centre of Kirov oblast (province), western Russia, on the Vyatka River. The city was founded as Khlynov in 1181 by traders from Novgorod and became the centre of the �Vyatka Lands,� settled by Russians in the 14th to the 15th century. In 1489 it was captured by Moscow. Renamed Vyatka in 1780, it became a provincial seat, but development was slow, and it was used as a place

Wise, Ernie

2005-02-18T02:57:00.000-08:00

British comedian and actor who, as a member (the one with �short, fat, hairy legs�) of Morecambe and Wise, one of the most beloved comedy teams on British television, played straight man to partner Eric Morecambe for over 40 years; the two were created O.B.E. in 1976 (b. Nov. 27, 1925, Leeds, Eng. - d. March 21, 1999, Wexham, Buckinghamshire, Eng.).

China, U.S. aid to China

2005-02-17T03:50:00.000-08:00

One U.S. response was the decision to send large amounts of arms and equipment to China, along with a military mission to advise on their use. The underlying strategy was to revitalize China's war effort as a deterrent to Japanese military and naval operations southward. The Nationalist army was ill equipped to fight the Japanese in 1941. Its arsenals were so lacking in nonferrous

Furniture, Middle Ages

2005-02-16T07:56:00.000-08:00

Viollet-le-Duc, Dictionnaire raisonn� du mobilier fran�ais de l'�poque carlovingienne � la Renaissance, 6 vol. (1858 - 75), an authoritative work.

Additive

2005-02-15T02:34:00.000-08:00

In foods, any of various chemical substances added to foods to produce specific desirable effects. The term additive may also be expanded to include substances - possibly useless or deleterious - that enter foods unintentionally. Additives include such substances as artificial or natural colourings and flavourings; stabilizers, emulsifiers, texturizers, and

Additive

2005-02-14T10:52:00.000-08:00

Also called �Alder Dogwood (Rhamnus frangula)� woody shrub or small tree, of the buckthorn family (Rhamnaceae), native to western Asia, Europe, and northern Africa. It has been introduced into North America and other regions, where it is often cultivated as an ornamental. The plant grows rapidly, reaching a height of 5.5 m (about 18 feet); its dark, dense, and lustrous foliage turns yellow in autumn. The alternate,

Portugal, Pre-Roman, Roman, Germanic, and Muslim periods

2005-02-13T09:46:00.000-08:00

The earliest human remains found in Portugal are Neanderthal-type bones from Furninhas. A distinct culture first emerges in the Mesolithic middens of the lower Tagus valley, dated about 5500 BC. Neolithic cultures entered from Andalusia. There are varied types of beehive huts and passage graves: agriculture, pottery, and the working of soft metals followed by the same

Costa Alegre, Caetano Da

2005-02-12T20:13:00.000-08:00

Costa Alegre was born into a creole family but moved in 1882 to Portugal, where he enrolled in the Medical School of Lisbon. Before he could graduate and

Arecibo Observatory

2005-02-11T06:47:00.000-08:00

Astronomical observatory located 16 km (10 miles) south of the town of Arecibo in Puerto Rico; it is the site of the world's largest single-unit radio telescope. This instrument, built in the early 1960s, employs a 300-metre (1,000-foot) spherical reflector consisting of perforated aluminum panels that focus incoming radio waves on movable antenna structures positioned about 168 m (550 feet) above

Rayleigh Scattering

2005-02-10T07:35:00.000-08:00

The angle through which sunlight in the atmosphere is scattered by molecules of the constituent gases varies inversely as

Koussevitzky, Serge

2005-02-09T21:59:00.000-08:00

Koussevitzky studied the double bass in Moscow, becoming a virtuoso, and in Russia, Germany, and England gave recitals at which he played his own compositions;

Pius I, Saint

2005-02-08T08:54:00.000-08:00

Pius was a slave, according to his supposed brother, the apostolic father Hermas. As pope, Pius combatted Gnosticism - a religious movement teaching that matter is evil and that emancipation comes through spiritual truth attained only by revelatory esoteric knowledge - and the Marcionites, followers of a heretical

Muhammad Ibn Tughluq

2005-02-07T10:56:00.000-08:00

Second sultan of the Tughluq dynasty (reigned 1325 - 51), who briefly extended the rule of the Delhi sultanate of northern India over most of the subcontinent. As a result of misguided administrative actions and unexampled severity toward his opponents, he eventually lost his authority in the south; at the end of his reign, the sultanate had begun to

Biblical Literature, Jonah

2005-02-06T10:39:00.000-08:00

The Book of Jonah, containing the well-known story of Jonah in the stomach of a fish for three days, is actually a narrative about a reluctant prophet. This fifth book of the Twelve (Minor) Prophets contains no oracles and is thus unique among prophetic books. In II Kings, chapter 14, verses 25 - 27, there is a reference to a prophet Jonah who lived during the early part of the reign of

Independence

2005-02-05T11:40:00.000-08:00

City, seat of Jackson county, western Missouri, U.S., immediately east of Kansas City. It is the hometown of President Harry S. Truman (who was born at Lamar [q.v.], 100 miles [160 km] south). Settled in 1827, the county was named for Andrew Jackson, and the city recalled his love of independence. Near the western terminus of transportation on the Missouri River, Independence was the starting point

Zile

2005-02-04T06:14:00.000-08:00

The town is an important local commercial

Sporades

2005-02-03T03:56:00.000-08:00

Group of Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, lying northeast of Euboea (�vvoia) island, including Sk�athos, Sk�pelos, Skyros, and Al�nnisos, as well as neighbouring islets. In antiquity these were known as the Thessalian, or Northern, Sporades, while the Thracian, or Eastern, Sporades included the now-Turkish island of Imroz (Greek Imvros), Samothrace, Thasos, Lemnos, and �yios

Bridgnorth

2005-02-02T23:05:00.000-08:00

The town of Bridgnorth lies mainly on a high red sandstone rock along the River Severn and has been a bridging point since Saxon times. Aethelflaed, lady of Mercia, rebuilt

Medicine, Other developed countries

2005-02-01T09:27:00.000-08:00

In The Netherlands, departments of general practice are administered

Dactyl

2005-01-31T10:00:00.000-08:00

Metrical foot consisting of one long (classical verse) or stressed (English verse) syllable followed by two short, or unstressed, syllables. Probably the oldest and most common metre in classical verse is the dactylic hexameter, the metre of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey and of other ancient epics. Dactylic metres are fairly rare in English verse, one difficulty being that

Montcalm (de Saint-v�ran), Louis-joseph De Montcalm-grozon, Marquis De

2005-01-30T09:10:00.000-08:00

In the War

Vadstena Bracteate

2005-01-29T00:24:00.000-08:00

Gold coin-like ornament with runic inscriptions and rich designs, discovered in �sterg�tland, Swed., probably dating from the 5th century. A 24-character futhark (runic alphabet), arranged in three groups of eight symbols, is engraved on it, followed by eight characters, tuwa tuwa, of unknown, perhaps magical, significance. The bracteate is the oldest and best record of the

Naftah

2005-01-28T11:30:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Nefta, � oasis town, southwestern Tunisia. It lies on the northwest shore of Al-Jarid saline lake, which is an important source of phosphates. It was known to the Romans as Aggarsel Nepte. Naftah has many small mosques and is a date-growing and trans-Saharan transport centre. The larger oasis of Tawzar (Tozeur) is 15 miles (24 km) east-northeast. Pop. (1984) 15,511; (1989 est.) 17,216.

Quidor, John

2005-01-27T06:30:00.000-08:00

At age nine Quidor moved with his family to New York City. He began his career

Professor Longhair

2005-01-26T16:34:00.000-08:00

His first and only hit song was �Bald Head,� recorded in 1950, but his compositions �Tipitina� and �Mardi Gras in New Orleans� have become anthems on the Mississippi River delta during carnival season. While he enjoyed only limited popularity

To' Kenali

2005-01-25T06:39:00.000-08:00

Muhammad Yusof, born into

Moran, George

2005-01-24T22:28:00.000-08:00

A childhood friend and, later, right-hand man of Dion O'Bannion, Moran and Earl �Hymie� Weiss inherited O'Bannion's gang in Chicago when the chief was killed in 1924. Moran became sole leader after Weiss was killed in late 1926. For the next three years Moran's gang and Al

Chaffee, Adna R(omanza)

2005-01-23T17:30:00.000-08:00

After long service against the Indians in the West, Chaffee was promoted to the rank of brigadier general (1898) at the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, during which he gained distinction at the Battle of El Caney in the Santiago

Eleusinian Mysteries

2005-01-22T03:32:00.000-08:00

Most famous of the secret religious rites of ancient Greece. According to the myth told in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, the earth goddess Demeter (q.v.) went to Eleusis in search of her daughter Kore (Persephone), who had been abducted by Hades (Pluto), god of the underworld. Befriended by the royal family of Eleusis, she agreed to rear the queen's son. She was, however, prevented

Ryobu Shinto

2005-01-21T21:21:00.000-08:00

Also called �Shingon Shinto, � in Japanese religion, the syncretic school that combined Shinto with the teachings of the Shingon sect of Buddhism. The school developed during the late Heian (794 - 1185) and Kamakura (1192 - 1333) periods. The basis of the school's beliefs was the Japanese concept that Shinto deities (kami) were manifestations of Buddhist divinities. Most important was the identification of the sun goddess

Ryobu Shinto

2005-01-20T14:31:00.000-08:00

Founded in New York City in 1976 as little more than a social club, the charter organization of the AWU grew into a major clearinghouse and support agency for Asian and Pacific American women in the United States. Having absorbed several scattered

F�chsel, Georg Christian

2005-01-19T04:18:00.000-08:00

F�chsel began medical practice in 1756 and the following year was appointed to organize the natural science collections of Friedrich Carl, later prince of the German principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt,

Neo-expressionism

2005-01-18T05:57:00.000-08:00

Diverse art movement (chiefly of painters) that dominated the art market in Europe and the United States during the early and mid-1980s. Neo-Expressionism comprised a varied assemblage of young artists who had returned to portraying the human body and other recognizable objects, in reaction to the remote, introverted, highly intellectualized abstract art production

Morais, Vin�cius De

2005-01-17T00:33:00.000-08:00

The author of numerous volumes of lyrical poetry, Vin�cius began his literary career as an adherent of the Brazilian Modernism in vogue around 1930. A period of studying English

R�gisseur

2005-01-16T17:18:00.000-08:00

(French: �manager�), theatrical director or stage manager, especially in France, Russia, Germany, and Italy, whose duties encompass the artistic interpretation and integration of a play, the guided rehearsal of the actors, and the overall responsibility for the technical and economic aspects of the production. The position is similar to that of the director in the American

Tigre

2005-01-15T00:40:00.000-08:00

The largest federation of Tigre is that of the Amer (Beni Amer), a branch of the historically important Beja peoples. These Muslims all recognize the religious

Alentejo

2005-01-14T23:15:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Alemtejo, � historical province of south-central Portugal. It lies southeast of the Tagus (Tejo) River and is bounded on the east by the Spanish frontier and on the southwest by the Atlantic Ocean. It is an almost featureless tableland of less than 650 feet (200 m) in elevation in the south and southwest that ascends to higher elevations in the far south and northeast. Although Alentejo

France, History Of, Colonial independence movements

2005-01-13T19:46:00.000-08:00

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

Obia

2005-01-12T03:58:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Obeah, � in west African folklore, a gigantic animal that steals into villages and kidnaps girls on the behalf of witches. In certain cultures of the Caribbean, the term denotes forms of sorcery and witchcraft, usually overpowering and extremely evil. Potent or bewitched objects buried for the purpose of bringing misfortune upon a particular party are sometimes known

Ta-pa Mountains

2005-01-11T04:52:00.000-08:00

Wade - Giles romanization �Ta-pa Shan, �Pinyin �Daba Shan, � mountain range dividing Szechwan province from Shensi province, China. Like the Tsinling Mountains to the north, from which it is separated by the Han River valley and the basin near Han-chung in Shensi, it is an eastward continuation of the Kunlun Mountains. The Ta-pa range is a broad belt of mountains running roughly northwest to southeast, forming the northern rim

Hawaii

2005-01-10T23:20:00.000-08:00

Hawaii was characterized

Hawaii

2005-01-09T22:03:00.000-08:00

Hawaii was characterized

Koh-i-noor

2005-01-08T01:11:00.000-08:00

According to some experts, Sultan 'Ala'-ud-Din Khalji is credited

Absolute Idealism

2005-01-07T01:43:00.000-08:00

A philosophical theory chiefly associated with G.W.F. Hegel and Friedrich Schelling, both German idealist philosophers of the 19th century, Josiah Royce, an American philosopher, and others, but, in its essentials, the product of Hegel. Absolute Idealism can generally be characterized as including the following principles: (1) the common everyday world of things and embodied

Wu Ch'eng-en

2005-01-06T04:35:00.000-08:00

Wu received a traditional Confucian education and became known for his clever composition of poetry and prose in the classical style. Throughout his life he displayed

Wangaratta

2005-01-05T13:54:00.000-08:00

City, northern Victoria, Australia. It lies at the confluence of the Ovens and King rivers, northeast of Melbourne. The site was first settled in 1837 by a sheepherder, George Faithfull, and was proclaimed a town in 1845. Its name is derived from an Aboriginal term meaning either �meeting of the rivers� or �home of the cormorants.� The city is a junction of the Hume and Ovens highways

Havana, The city layout

2005-01-04T07:06:00.000-08:00

Several broad

Suchocka, Hanna

2005-01-03T13:28:00.000-08:00

The daughter of a pharmacist, Suchocka specialized in constitutional law at the University of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznan, from which she graduated in 1968. She lectured in law there and at the Catholic University of Lublin. In 1980 she joined the Sejm (parliament) as a member of the Democratic Party, which was then

Szechwan

2005-01-02T04:57:00.000-08:00

Chinese (Wade-Giles) �Ssu-ch'uan, �(Pinyin) �Sichuan, � sheng (province) of China. It is located in the Upper Yangtze Valley in the southwestern part of the country. The second largest of the Chinese provinces, it covers an area of 220,100 square miles (570,000 square kilometres). Szechwan is bordered by the provinces of Kansu and Shensi to the north, Hupeh and Hunan to the east, and Kweichow and Yunnan to the south and by the Tibet Autonomous

Argentina, Diet

2005-01-01T19:22:00.000-08:00

The combination of Old and New World cultures is also seen in the Argentine diet. Southern European influences appear especially in the cities, where breakfast is generally a serving of three sweet rolls (medialunas) and coffee, and supper is taken, in the Spanish tradition, after 9:00 PM. The Italian influence is seen in the popularity of pasta dishes. But the New World asserts

Abacha, Sani

2004-12-31T04:22:00.000-08:00

Nigerian military leader (b. Sept. 20, 1943, Kano, Nigeria--d. June 8, 1998, Abuja, Nigeria), participated in the overthrow of three successive military governments before gaining control of the country himself in 1993. Having entered the army at age 18, Abacha was educated at military schools in Nigeria, England, and the United States and rose to brigadier by 1980. He participated in the ouster of Pres.

Kachin Hills

2004-12-30T14:55:00.000-08:00

Heavily forested group of highlands situated in the northeasternmost section of Myanmar (Burma). They range north-south and are bordered on the northwest by Arunachal Pradesh state of India, on the north by the Tibet autonomous region of China, and on the east by Yunnan province of China. The hills blend with the Kumon Range to the west. The Kachin Hills are drained by

Toad

2004-12-29T22:48:00.000-08:00

Any squat, rough-skinned, tailless amphibian of the order Anura, and especially a member of the family Bufonidae. The true toads (Bufo), with more than 300 species, are found worldwide except in Australasia, Madagascar, polar regions, and Polynesia, though Bufo marinus has been introduced into Australia and some South Pacific islands. Besides Bufo, the family

Minamoto Yorinobu

2004-12-28T08:00:00.000-08:00

In 1028 the Fujiwaras, no longer willing to fight their own battles, hired Yorinobu to quell a rebellion that had broken out in eastern Japan. His success

Mormon

2004-12-27T09:09:00.000-08:00

The First Presidency (church president and two councillors), the Council of the Twelve, the First Quorum of Seventy (and its presidency, concerned especially with missions), and the presiding bishop and two councillors (who control the Aaronic priesthood) constitute the �General Authorities� of the church. They are �sustained in office� by the regular and now ritualized

Moreau, Gustave

2004-12-26T13:20:00.000-08:00

The only influence that really affected Moreau's development was that of his master, Th�odore Chass�riau (1819 - 56), an eclectic painter whose depictions of enigmatic sea goddesses deeply impressed his student. In the Salon of 1853 he exhibited �Scene

Moreau, Gustave

2004-12-25T01:03:00.000-08:00

Literature

2004-12-24T07:47:00.000-08:00

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

Catastrophe Theory

2004-12-23T07:06:00.000-08:00

In mathematics, a set of methods used to study and classify the ways in which a system can undergo sudden large changes in behaviour as one or more of the variables that control it are changed continuously. Catastrophe theory is generally considered a branch of geometry because the variables and resultant behaviours are usefully depicted as curves or surfaces,

Ankle

2004-12-22T08:31:00.000-08:00

In humans, hinge-type, freely moving synovial joint between the foot and leg. The ankle contains seven tarsal bones that articulate (connect) with each other, with the metatarsal bones of the foot, and with the bones of the lower leg. The articulation of one of the tarsal bones, the ankle bone (talus, or astragalus), with the fibula and tibia of the lower leg forms the actual

Amber Valley

2004-12-21T13:07:00.000-08:00

District, administrative and historic county of Derbyshire, England, to the north of Derby. It takes its name from the River Amber, which joins the Derwent at Ambergate. The industrial eastern half of the district contrasts with the still rural western portion. Traditionally coal mining and ironworking were the staple industries, but from the late 1950s industrial diversification

Heidelberg, University Of

2004-12-20T10:18:00.000-08:00

German �in full Ruprecht-karl-universit�t Heidelberg, � state-supported institution of higher learning at Heidelberg, Ger. Modelled on the University of Paris, it was founded in 1386 by the elector Rupert I and, like other German universities, was endowed by a foundation of colleges. The first was the college of the Cistercian order (1389); the first secular college was founded in 1390 by the university chancellor. During the 17th and 18th centuries,

Trachea

2004-12-19T15:23:00.000-08:00

In vertebrates and invertebrates, a tube or system of tubes that carries air. In insects, a few land arachnids, and myriapods, the trachea is an elaborate system of small, branching tubes that carry oxygen to individual body cells; in most land vertebrates, the trachea is the windpipe, which conveys air from the larynx to the two main

Kyoto

2004-12-18T10:44:00.000-08:00

Fu (urban prefecture), Honshu, Japan, bounded by the ken (prefectures) of Fukui and Shiga (east), Nara (south), and Hyogo (northwest), the fu of Osaka (southwest), and the Sea of Japan (north). Much of it is composed of the Tamba Mountains, which are sometimes considered to be the eastern extension of the Chugoku Range. From 1874 until World War II, Kyoto was the prefecture with the largest industrial

Disease

2004-12-17T22:54:00.000-08:00

A harmful deviation from the normal structural or functional state of an organism. A diseased organism commonly exhibits signs or symptoms indicative of its abnormal state. Thus, the normal condition of an organism must be understood in order to recognize the hallmarks of disease. Nevertheless, a sharp demarcation between disease and health is not always

Anthracene

2004-12-16T18:32:00.000-08:00

A tricyclic aromatic hydrocarbon found in coal tar and used as a starting material for the manufacture of dyestuffs and in scintillation counters. Crude anthracene crystallizes from a high-boiling coal-tar fraction. It is purified by recrystallization and sublimation. Oxidation yields anthraquinone (q.v.), an intermediate in the production of dyes and pigments.

Santa Eugenia De Riveira

2004-12-15T17:39:00.000-08:00

City, La Coru�a provincia, in the comunidad aut�noma (�autonomous community�) of Galicia, northwestern Spain. The city is the chief centre of Riveira (Ribeira) municipality. It lies on the Arosa Inlet across the inlet from Villagarc�a de Arosa, in the coastal zone. Remains of Roman fortifications and of a Phoenician port, La Covasa, attest to early occupation of the site,

Giresun

2004-12-14T15:46:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Keresun, � city and seaport, northeastern Turkey. It lies along the Black Sea about 110 miles (175 km) west of Trabzon. The older parts of the city lie on a peninsula crowned by a ruined Byzantine fortress, sheltering the small natural harbour. Nearby is Giresun Island, in ancient times called Ares. Giresun was known to the ancient Greeks as Choerades or Pharnacia and to the Romans as Kerasous

Lorca

2004-12-13T06:49:00.000-08:00

Town, Murcia province and autonomous community (region), southeastern Spain. It is situated along the R�o Guadalent�n in a semiarid and steppelike area that is surrounded by rugged mountains. The town, which sits on both banks of the river, was the Ilurco (Ilukro) of the Romans and the Lurka of the Moors. It was the scene of numerous battles between Christian and Moorish