OpenFly

China, Later innovations

2005-04-05T14:41:00.000-07:00

In the 15th century new institutions were gradually devised to provide needed coordination both in the central government and in regional administration. Later emperors found the Hung-wu emperor's system of highly centralized power and fragmented government structure inefficient and inconvenient. Litterateurs of the traditional and prestigious Hanlin

Double Dactyls

2005-04-02T01:51:00.000-08:00

Also called higgledy-piggledy a light-verse form consisting of eight lines of two dactyls each, arranged in two stanzas. The first line of the poem must be a jingle, often “Higgledy-piggledy” or “Jiggery-pokery”; the second line must be a name; the last lines of each stanza are truncated and they should rhyme; and one line in the second stanza must consist of a single word. The following example by R. McHenry

Valdez

2005-03-31T18:30:00.000-08:00

City, southeastern Alaska, U.S. It lies on Prince William Sound and is the northernmost all-year port in North America. Formerly known as Copper City, it was named in 1898 for its harbour (explored and named by Spaniards in 1790) when it became a gateway for the Yukon goldfields. It is a port of entry and the southern terminal for the trans-Alaskan pipeline from Prudhoe Bay. The petroleum

Ahl Al-bayt

2005-03-30T18:51:00.000-08:00

Shi'ites closely identify this family with the imams, whom they regard as the legitimate holders of authority in the Muslim community, the infallible bearers of sacred knowledge, and the source of messianic

Hope

2005-03-28T15:37:00.000-08:00

In Christian thought, one of the three theological virtues, the others being faith and charity (love). It is distinct from the latter two because it is directed exclusively toward the future, as fervent desire and confident expectation. When hope has attained its object, it ceases to be hope and becomes possession. Consequently, whereas “love never ends,” hope is confined

Sardana

2005-03-26T13:02:00.000-08:00

Communal dance intimately bound up with Catalan national consciousness. It is danced by men and women who join hands alternately in a closed circle. As they dance to the music of tenores and tabales (shawms and small drums), their faces remain solemn and dignified. The basic pattern of the sardana is a series of long (llarg) and short (curt) steps; the precise combination

Locust Bird

2005-03-24T02:48:00.000-08:00

Any of various African birds that eat grasshoppers and locusts, especially the black-winged pratincole (see pratincole). In India the rose-coloured starling is called locust bird.

Oblate

2005-03-19T11:40:00.000-08:00

(from Latin oblatus, “one offered up”), in Roman Catholicism, a lay person connected with a religious order or institution and living according to its regulations; a minor dedicated by his parents to become a monk according to the Benedictine Rule; or a member of either the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (O.M.I.) or the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales (O.S.F.S.).

Fari'ah, Tall Al-

2005-03-16T16:25:00.000-08:00

Ancient site in northern Palestine, located near the head of the Wadi al-Fari'ah northeast of Nabulus in Israeli-occupied Jordan. Excavations at the site, spon sored since 1946 by the Dominican École Biblique de St. Étienne in Jerusalem, have revealed that occupation began during the Chalcolithic Age (c. 4000–c. 3000 BC), although no actual structures have been found antedating the beginning

Insurance, Insurable interest

2005-03-14T22:20:00.000-08:00

Closely associated with the above legal principles is that of insurable interest. This requires that the insured be exposed to a personal loss if the peril insured against should occur. Otherwise it would be possible for a person to take out a fire insurance policy on the property of others and collect if the property burned. Any financial interest in property, or

Pre-columbian Civilizations, The nature of Andean civilization

2005-03-12T03:22:00.000-08:00

The coastal desert was inhabited for millennia by fishermen, and many of their settlements have been studied by archaeologists. The people in these communities were familiar with the sea and depended heavily on its products, but from very early times they also used and possibly cultivated native varieties of cotton. Textiles have been the major art form in the

Wright Flyer Of 1903

2005-03-10T14:00:00.000-08:00

First powered airplane to demonstrate sustained flight under the full control of the pilot. Designed and built by Wilbur and Orville Wright in Dayton, Ohio, it was assembled in the autumn of 1903 at a camp at the base of the Kill Devil Hills, near Kitty Hawk, a village on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. After a first attempt failed on December 14, the machine was flown four times

Graf, Oskar Maria

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

Graf had only a limited

Dent, Edward John

2005-03-06T05:24:00.000-08:00

Dent learned the clockmaker's trade from Richard Rippon and, during the period 1815–29, established a reputation as a builder of accurate chronometers. His reputation for precision eventually brought requests from the Admiralty and the East India Company. Dent confirmed

Lane, Sir Allen

2005-03-05T13:37:00.000-08:00

In 1919 Lane was apprenticed to his uncle, publisher John Lane of The Bodley Head, London, of which

Sukhoy

2005-03-03T13:18:00.000-08:00

The Sukhoy design bureau has three

Numbat

2005-02-26T08:26:00.000-08:00

Also called Banded Anteater (Myrmecobius fasciatus), marsupial mammal of the family Dasyuridae (some authorities classify it as a family in its own right, Myrmecobiidae). It forages by day for termites in forests of southwestern Australia. Formerly widespread across southern Australia, the numbat is now restricted to the southwestern corner of the country and is regarded as an endangered

Adams

2005-02-25T08:20:00.000-08:00

Town (township), Berkshire county, northwestern Massachusetts, U.S. It lies at the foot of Mount Greylock (3,491 feet [1,064 metres]), on the Hoosic River, 15 miles (24 km) north of Pittsfield. The town of North Adams is 5 miles north. Founded by Quakers in 1766, it was known as East Hoosuck until 1778, when it was incorporated and renamed for the Revolutionary War hero Samuel Adams. Local limestone and marble

Binder

2005-02-23T08:34:00.000-08:00

Machine for cutting grain and binding it into bundles, once widely used to cut small grain such as wheat. The first patent was issued on a self-tie binder in 1850. The horse-drawn twine binder, first marketed in 1880, remained the chief method of harvesting small grain during the early decades of the 20th century. The mechanical twine knotter was patented in 1892 in the United States. Along

Aerospace Industry, Unmanned aerial vehicles

2005-02-20T05:07:00.000-08:00

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), a class of aircraft akin to radio-controlled models and cruise missiles, have become significant factors in military reconnaissance. Carrying sensors for surveillance, they are designed to fly either for long duration at very high altitudes or for shorter periods at low altitudes and to transmit their acquired data to orbiting

Valdemar Ii

2005-02-19T07:26:00.000-08:00

The son and brother, respectively, of the Danish kings Valdemar I and Canute IV, Valdemar acted as the duke of Schleswig from 1188 and conquered

Hip

2005-02-17T11:31:00.000-08:00

In anatomy, the joint between the thighbone (femur) and the pelvis; also the area adjacent to this joint. The hip joint is a ball-and-socket joint (q.v.); the round head of the femur rests in a cavity (the acetabulum) that allows free rotation of the limb. Amphibians and reptiles have relatively weak pelvic

Buli Style

2005-02-14T23:48:00.000-08:00

Also called long-faced style of Buli African wood sculpture made by the Luba peoples (Baluba) of Congo (Kinshasa). Because the carvings—which were made in the village of Buli (now in Katanga province)—are almost identical to each other and differ from other Luba carvings, they were originally presumed to have been the work of a single artist, called the Master of Buli. Later, it was determined that the sculptures

Furniture, Bathroom furniture and fixtures

2005-02-12T18:17:00.000-08:00

Bathrooms in large private homes were not unknown in the 18th century, and splendidly equipped marble bathrooms are still preserved in several European palaces and mansions. But not until the 19th century did bathrooms in private homes become more commonplace. Fixtures generally include a toilet, bidet, washbasin, bath, mirror, and shelves. In the 20th century the equipping

Thang-ka

2005-02-10T03:25:00.000-08:00

Thang-kas are essentially aids for meditation, though they may be hung in temples or at family altars, carried in religious processions, or used to illustrate sermons. Thang-kas are not free

Ahl-e Haqq

2005-02-09T22:10:00.000-08:00

(Arabic: “People of Truth,” or “People of God”), a secret, syncretistic religion, derived largely from Islam, whose adherents are found in western Iran, with enclaves in Iraq. They retain the 12 imams of the Ithna 'Ashariyah sect and such aspects of Islamic mysticism as the communal feast. Central to their religion, however, is a belief in seven successive manifestations of God. They

Salat

2005-02-07T11:01:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Salah, Arabic Salat, the daily ritual prayer enjoined upon all Muslims as one of the five Pillars of Islam (arkan al-Islam). There is disagreement among Islamic scholars as to whether some passages about prayer in the Muslim sacred scripture, the Qur'an, are actually references to the salat. Within Muhammad's lifetime five ritual prayers, each preceded by ablution, were observed: salat al-fajr (dawn),

Balbus, Lucius Cornelius

2005-02-04T15:55:00.000-08:00

Gnaeus Pompey conferred Roman citizenship on Balbus and his family for his services against the rebel Quintus Sertorius in Spain. Becoming friendly with all political parties in Rome, Balbus had the determining

Ear, Human, Transmission of sound by bone conduction

2005-02-03T19:21:00.000-08:00

There is another route by which sound can reach the inner ear: by conduction through the bones of the skull. When the handle of a vibrating tuning fork is placed on a bony prominence such as the forehead or mastoid process behind the ear, its note is clearly audible. Similarly, the ticking of a watch held between the teeth can be distinctly heard. When the external canals

France, History Of, The monarchy

2005-01-31T17:17:00.000-08:00

The kingdom of France was descended directly from the west Frankish realm ceded to Charles the Bald in 843. Not until 987 was the Carolingian dynastic line set aside, but there had been portentous interruptions. The reunited empire of Charles the Fat (884–888) proved unworkable: the Viking onslaught was then at its worst, and the king proved incapable of managing defenses, which fell

Babcock, Harold Delos

2005-01-30T19:11:00.000-08:00

Astronomer who with his son Horace Welcome Babcock invented (1951) the solar magnetograph, an instrument allowing detailed observation of the Sun's magnetic field. With their magnetograph the Babcocks demonstrated the existence of the Sun's general field and discovered magnetically variable stars. In 1959 Harold Babcock announced

Abu Sir

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

Also spelled Abusir,

Spaghetti

2005-01-25T07:16:00.000-08:00

Long, cordlike form of pasta (q.v.).

Cartilage

2005-01-24T21:52:00.000-08:00

Dense connective tissue forming the skeleton of mammalian embryos before bone formation begins and persisting in parts of the human skeleton into adulthood. Cartilage is the only component of the skeletons of certain primitive vertebrates, including lampreys and sharks. It is composed of a dense network of collagen fibres embedded in a firm, gelatinous ground

Kafr Ash-shaykh

2005-01-22T23:20:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Kafr El-sheikh muhafazah (governorate) in the central Nile Delta, Lower Egypt, with the Rosetta Branch of the river to the west and ad-Daqahliyah governorate to the east. It was created in 1949 out of al-Gharbiyah muhafazah, just south, and named Fu'adiyah muduiyah (province) after Fu'ad I, sultan (1917–22) and king (1922–36) of Egypt. After the Egyptian monarchy was overthrown in 1952, the area was renamed in 1955. Buhayrat al-Burullus, which

Sangha River

2005-01-20T11:36:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Sanga, tributary of the Congo River, formed by the Mambéré and Kadeï headstreams at Nola, southwestern Central African Republic. The Sangha River flows 140 miles (225 km) south to Ouesso in Congo (Brazzaville), forming part of Cameroon's border with the Central African Republic and Congo. The river then turns south-southeast and southwest, flowing 225 miles (362 km) to its mouth on the Congo

Mauritius Hemp

2005-01-17T15:08:00.000-08:00

Although the plant is native to Brazil, commercial production of the fibre did not begin there until about 1875. The plant was introduced to Mauritius in the late 18th century. Fibre from the highland is referred to as “aloe malgache,” and from the lower

Ahmed, Fakhruddin Ali

2005-01-16T08:56:00.000-08:00

The son of an army doctor from Assam, Ahmed was educated in India and studied history at the University of Cambridge, graduating in 1927. After returning to India, he was elected to the Assam legislature (1935). As Assam's minister of finance and revenue in 1938, he was responsible for some radical taxation measures.

Turkey Vulture

2005-01-11T08:38:00.000-08:00

Also called Turkey Buzzard (Cathartes aura), long-winged, long-tailed vulture (family Cathartidae, the New World vultures) that has dark plumage, a whitish beak, white legs, and a bare red head (black in immature birds) that is covered with whitish bumps. Its wingspread is about 1.8 m (6 feet), and its length is about 75 cm (30 inches). The turkey vulture has an elaborate olfactory canal and uses its keen

Arts, Islamic, Decentralization of Islamic literatures

2005-01-10T19:59:00.000-08:00

Safavid Iran, as it happened, lost most of its artists and poets to the neighbouring countries: there were no great masters of poetry in Iran between the 16th and 18th centuries. And while the Persian Shah Esma'il wrote Turkish mystical verses, his contemporary and enemy, Sultan Selim I of Turkey (died 1520), composed quite elegant Persian ghazals. Babur (died 1530), in turn, composed his autobiography

Baseball

2005-01-08T05:28:00.000-08:00

The Yankees advanced to the World Series by defeating the Boston Red Sox 4 games to 1 in the American League Championship Series (ALCS). In the opener at New York, after being down 3–0, the Yankees rallied and won it 4–3 on Bernie Williams's leadoff home run in the 10th. The next day the Yankees again prevailed, this time by 3–2. Game three at Boston's Fenway Park was a much-awaited pitching

Ironstone China

2005-01-06T20:31:00.000-08:00

Type of stoneware introduced in England early in the 19th century by Staffordshire potters who sought to develop a porcelain substitute that could be mass-produced. The result of their experiments was a dense, hard, durable stoneware that came to be known by several names—e.g., semiporcelain, opaque porcelain, English porcelain, stone china, new stone—all of which were

Business Finance, Term loans

2005-01-03T15:09:00.000-08:00

A term loan is a business credit with a maturity of more than 1 year but less than 15 years. Usually the term loan is retired by systematic repayments (amortization payments) over its life. It may be secured by a chattel mortgage on equipment, but larger, stronger companies are able to borrow on an unsecured basis. Commercial banks and life insurance companies are the principal

A Lo Divino

2005-01-01T20:48:00.000-08:00

In Spanish literature, the recasting of a secular work as a religious work, or, more generally, a treatment of a secular theme in religious terms through the use of allegory, symbolism, and metaphor. Adaptations a lo divino were popular during the Golden Age of Spanish literature during the 16th and 17th centuries.

Devadasi

2004-12-31T09:27:00.000-08:00

The caste appears to date from the 9th and 10th centuries, the great period of temple building in South India. The women attended the god—fanned the icon, honoured it with lights, and sang and

Plymouth Porcelain

2004-12-29T13:34:00.000-08:00

Cookworthy found deposits of kaolin (a soft, white clay, also called china clay) and china stone (or petuntse, a partly decomposed

Ushpizin

2004-12-26T05:08:00.000-08:00

(Aramaic: “visitors”), according to the Jewish Kabbalistic book the Sefer ha-zohar (“Book of Splendour”), seven ancient worthies who take turns visiting the homes of all pious Jews to share their dinner on the festival of Sukkoth. A custom developed of reciting a fixed formula of invitation to the seven: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, and David. Poor scholars are sometimes

Switzerland, Precipitation

2004-12-24T17:35:00.000-08:00

Since rainfall tends to increase in direct proportion to altitude, the precipitation map corresponds very closely to the relief map; and, because of the marked variation in reliefs, differences in precipitation within short linear distances are often very great. For example, St. Gall (Sankt Gallen), at 2,556 feet, has an average annual precipitation of 52 inches (1,318 mm), while that

Igneous Rock, Classification of plutonic rocks

2004-12-22T22:55:00.000-08:00

A plutonic rock may be classified mineralogically based on the actual proportion of the various minerals of which it is composed (called the mode). In any classification scheme, boundaries between classes are set arbitrarily; however, if the boundaries can be placed closest to natural divisions or gaps between classes, they will seem less random and subjective,

Agricultural Technology, Rainmaking

2004-12-20T02:36:00.000-08:00

Attempts to increase the amount of precipitation from clouds by seeding them with salt or silver iodide have been made for nearly three decades. Both aircraft and ground generators have been employed, but the techniques are typically beyond the means of an individual farmer. Results suggest that cloud modification is entirely possible, but the proof of increased

Luthuli, Albert John

2004-12-19T04:35:00.000-08:00

Albert John Mvumbi (Zulu: “Continuous Rain”) Luthuli was born in Rhodesia, where his father, John Bunyan

Wolseley (of Wolseley), Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 1st Viscount, Baron Wolseley Of Cairo And Of Wolseley

2004-12-16T10:20:00.000-08:00

The son of an army major, Wolseley entered the army as second lieutenant in 1852 and fought with distinction in the Second Anglo-Burmese War, the Crimean War, and the Indian Mutiny. Surviving

Bolivia, Ethnic and linguistic groups

2004-12-14T18:51:00.000-08:00

The population of Bolivia consists of three groups—Indians (the indigenous peoples), mestizos (of mixed Indian and European descent), and whites of European (mainly Spanish) descent. After centuries of intermixing, it is difficult to determine the proportion of each, but it is estimated that Indians form nearly three-fifths of the total, mestizos nearly one-third, and

Saint Charles

2004-12-13T00:35:00.000-08:00

City, seat of St. Charles county, eastern Missouri, U.S., on bluffs overlooking the Missouri River, there bridged to St. Louis, 22 miles (35 km) southeast. One of the earliest white settlements on the Missouri, it was founded in 1769 by Louis Blanchette as Les Petites Côtes (“The Little Hills”). The site, transferred to Spain in 1770, was dedicated in 1771 as the village of San Carlos Borromeo after a church

Critius And Nesiotes

2004-12-10T11:30:00.000-08:00

Greek sculptors known for their bronze figures of the tyrannicides Harmodius and Aristogiton, copies of the original bronzes executed by Antenor about 510 BC, which were taken by Xerxes I to Susa and subsequently lost. The copies were placed in the agora in Athens; the figure of the tyrannicides has been identified on Roman coins, vases, reliefs, and

Anaximenes Of Miletus

2004-12-06T23:15:00.000-08:00

Anaximenes substituted aer (“mist,” “vapour,” “air”) for his predecessors'

Atherton, Gertrude

2004-12-04T17:32:00.000-08:00

Gertrude Horn grew up in a prosperous neighbourhood of her native San Francisco until her parents' divorce and thereafter mainly on the San Jose ranch of her maternal grandfather, under whose stern discipline she was introduced to serious literature.

Coral Sea, Battle Of The

2004-12-02T02:53:00.000-08:00

By the end of April 1942 the Japanese were ready to seize control of the Coral Sea (between Australia and New Caledonia) by establishing air bases at Port Moresby in southeastern New Guinea and at Tulagi in the

Tanzania, Early exploration

2004-11-30T10:45:00.000-08:00

Most of the known history of Tanganyika before the 19th century concerns the coastal area, although the interior has a number of important prehistoric sites, including the Olduvai Gorge. Trading contacts between Arabia and the East African coast existed by the 1st century AD, and there are indications of connections with India. The coastal trading centres were mainly

Augustine, Saint

2004-11-28T13:07:00.000-08:00

Although autobiographical narrative makes up much of the first 9 of the 13 books of Augustine's Confessiones (397; Confessions), autobiography is incidental to the main purpose of the work. For Augustine confessions is a catchall term for acts of religiously authorized speech: praise of God, blame of self, confession of faith. The book is a richly textured meditation by a middle-aged

Philadelphia Zoological Gardens

2004-11-27T19:28:00.000-08:00

First zoo in the United States, opened in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1874 with an animal inventory of several hundred native and exotic specimens. It was begun and continues to be operated by the Zoological Society of Philadelphia, founded in 1859. In 1868, three years after the end of the American Civil War, a 42-acre (17-hectare) site was selected in Fairmount Park, an architect was sent

Sha'ir

2004-11-25T02:44:00.000-08:00

(Arabic: “poet”), in Arabic literature, poet who in pre-Islamic times was a tribal dignitary whose poetic utterances were deemed supernaturally inspired by such spirits as jinn and shaitans. As such, his word was needed to insure the success of certain tribal activities, particularly war, grazing, and the invocation of the gods. In times of intertribal strife, the satire

Yamasaki, Minoru

2004-11-22T16:25:00.000-08:00

Following his graduation from the University of Washington, Seattle, Yamasaki went in 1934 to New York City, where he held a number of design positions

Fra Mauro

2004-11-21T10:28:00.000-08:00

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

Flores

2004-11-19T17:21:00.000-08:00

Departamento, south-central Uruguay. The rolling hills of the territory culminate in the east–west-trending Grande Inferior Range (Cuchilla Grande Inferior) and are drained by the Yi River and the Arroyo (stream) Chapicuy Grande. Economic activity centres around livestock raising and agriculture. Sheep ranching is widespread, and wool is a leading product of the

Blok, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich

2004-11-17T09:04:00.000-08:00

Born into a sheltered, intellectual environment,

Cambridge

2004-11-15T18:02:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1686) of Dorchester county, eastern Maryland, U.S., on the Choptank River's south bank near Chesapeake Bay's eastern shore. Bisected by Cambridge Creek (a natural harbour), it was founded in 1684 as a plantation port and named in 1686 for the English university town. For more than two centuries it handled small coastwise traffic, but the addition of deepwater facilities and the

Neon

2004-11-12T16:16:00.000-08:00

(Ne), chemical element, inert gas of Group 0 (noble gases) of the periodic table, used in electric signs and fluorescent lamps. Colourless, odourless, tasteless, and lighter than air, neon gas occurs in minute quantities in the Earth's atmosphere and trapped within the rocks of the Earth's crust. Though neon is about 3 1/2 times as plentiful as helium in the atmosphere, dry air contains

Regensburg

2004-11-11T00:13:00.000-08:00

Also called Ratisbon, city, Bavaria Land (state), southeastern Germany, on the right bank of the Danube River at its most northerly course, where it is joined by the Regen River. In the area of the old city was a Celtic settlement (Radasbona), which later became the site of a Roman stronghold and legionary camp, Castra Regina (founded AD 179). The Roman north gate (Porta Praetoria) and parts of the walls survive.

Creed, Lutheran confessions

2004-11-09T01:51:00.000-08:00

The Augsburg Confession (1530) was the first of these statements, and still remains the most authoritative standard in Lutheran churches. It (as well as the Apology of the Augsburg Confession of 1531) was written by Philipp Melanchthon and approved by Martin Luther, and presents an irenic statement aiming to show that the pope and his allies, not the Reformers, had departed from

Thelodus

2004-11-06T17:38:00.000-08:00

Extinct genus of early and primitive jawless vertebrates that is known from impressions on rocks of Silurian age in Europe and North America, although the genus persisted into the Early Devonian epoch (the Silurian period began 438 million years ago and ended 408 million years ago). The structure of Thelodus and its relatives, the coelolepids, is poorly known; but it is probable

Price-mars, Jean

2004-11-04T06:33:00.000-08:00

Among his ethnological writings is Ainsi parla l'oncle (1928; new ed., 1954; “Thus Spoke the Uncle”), a collection of essays

Jack The Ripper

2004-11-02T03:03:00.000-08:00

Works examining the Jack the Ripper case include Maxim Jakubowski and Nathan Braund (eds.), The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper (1999); Stewart P. Evans and Keith Skinner, The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Companion: An Illustrated Encyclopedia (also published as The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 2000); Stewart P. Evans and Paul Gainey, The Lodger: The Arrest and Escape of Jack the Ripper (1995; also published as Jack the Ripper: First American Serial Killer, 1996, reissued 1998); and Philip Sugden, The Complete History of Jack the Ripper, rev. ed. (1995).

Berdichevsky, Micah Joseph

2004-11-01T01:07:00.000-08:00

Pseudonym Micah Joseph Bin Gorion author of works in Hebrew, German, and Yiddish. His impassioned writings, perhaps more than those of any other Jewish author, bear poignant witness to the “rent in the heart” of 19th-century Jews torn between tradition and assimilation. He was also the author of enduring reconstructions of Jewish

Ashbery, John

2004-10-30T11:12:00.000-07:00

Ashbery graduated from Harvard University in 1949 and received a master's degree from Columbia University (N.Y.) in 1951. After working as a copywriter in New York City (1951–55), he lived in Paris until 1965, contributing art criticism to the Paris edition of the New York Herald-Tribune and to

Szeryng, Henryk

2004-10-27T05:18:00.000-07:00

Szeryng studied with Carl Flesch in Berlin and with Jacques Thibaud in Paris. He made his debut in 1933, and from 1933 to 1939 he was a composition student of Nadia Boulanger in Paris. During World War II he was on the staff of the Polish government-in-exile.

Swamp Eel

2004-10-26T13:51:00.000-07:00

Any of about 15 species of slim, eel-like fish comprising the order Synbranchiformes. Swamp eels, unrelated to true eels (Anguilliformes), are found in fresh and brackish waters of the tropics. They appear to be related to the order Perciformes. They range from about 20 to 70 centimetres (8 to 28 inches) in length and either are scaleless or have very small scales. The dorsal and anal

Sesostris I

2004-10-23T10:51:00.000-07:00

Sesostris became coregent in 1918 BC with his aging father, Amenemhet I, who had founded the 12th dynasty. While his father completed his domestic reforms, Sesostris undertook the conquest of Nubia, to the south of Egypt, and in the year 30 of his father's reign

China, The Shih-kuo (Ten Kingdoms)

2004-10-21T02:44:00.000-07:00

From the time of the T'ang dynasty until the Ch'ing dynasty, which arose in the 17th century, China consisted of two parts: the north, militarily strong, and the south, economically and culturally wealthy. Between 907 and 960, 10 independent kingdoms emerged in China, mainly in the south: the Wu (902–937), the Nan (Southern) T'ang (937–975/976), the Nan P'ing (924/925–963), the Ch'u (927–951), the Ch'ien (Former) Shu (907–925), the Hou (Later) Shu (934–965), the Min (909–945/946), the

Dye-transfer Process

2004-10-19T11:31:00.000-07:00

In photography, technique for preparing coloured photographic prints in which the colours of the subject are resolved by optical filters into three components, each of which is recorded on a separate gelatin negative. The three negatives are converted into relief positives in which the depth of the gelatin is related to the intensity of the colour component;

Sabzevari, Hajji Hadi

2004-10-17T21:37:00.000-07:00

Iranian teacher and philosopher who advanced the hikmah (wisdom) school of Islamic philosophy. His doctrines—composed of diverse elements of gnosis (esoteric spiritual knowledge), philosophy, and revelation—are an exposition and clarification of the philosophical concepts of Mulla Sadra. But he differed to some extent by classifying knowledge

Peter I

2004-10-16T03:03:00.000-07:00

Born the third son of the reigning prince Alexander Karadjordjevic (1842–58), Peter became heir to the throne on the death

France, History Of, The liberal years

2004-10-13T14:15:00.000-07:00

The empire thus appeared to have compiled a record of unbroken successes and to be beyond challenge by its domestic critics. Perhaps it was this stability and self-confidence that led Napoleon, beginning in 1859, to turn in the direction of liberalizing the empire. The immediate impulse for this dramatic reversal was the attempted assassination of the emperor in January

Wach, Joachim

2004-10-12T02:12:00.000-07:00

As a professor of the history of religion at the University of Leipzig (1929–35) and the University of Chicago (1945–55), Wach contributed significantly to the field of study that became known as the sociology of religion. He is credited with introducing into

Munk, Walter

2004-10-08T04:43:00.000-07:00

On June 18, 1999, American oceanographer Walter Munk of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, at the University of California, San Diego, won the 15th annual Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences for his work in physical oceanography and geophysics; he became the first in his field to be honoured with this award. At a ceremony in Kyoto, Japan, the Inamori Foundation presented him with

Munk, Walter

2004-10-05T21:43:00.000-07:00

World congresses of the BWA are held every

La Habra

2004-10-04T01:21:00.000-07:00

City, Orange county, southern California, U.S., just north of Fullerton and southeast of Los Angeles. Its name apparently derives from the Spanish abra (“pass”), with reference to an opening in the nearby hills. The town was founded by a land grant in 1839, and it soon developed as a commercial centre for an extensive agricultural area (citrus fruit, avocados). A packinghouse was built

Saint Vincent And The Grenadines

2004-09-30T13:51:00.000-07:00

In April 2000 the House of Assembly's passage of a bill that would increase the pensions and gratuities of parliamentarians proved to be the spark that ignited an already tense political situation in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The Organisation in Defence of Democracy (ODD)—which brought together the official opposition Unity Labour Party, trade union leaders, businessmen,

Over-the-counter Market

2004-09-27T01:09:00.000-07:00

Trading in stocks and bonds that does not take place on stock exchanges; such trading is most significant in the United States, where requirements for listing stocks on the exchanges are quite strict. It is often called the “off-board market,” and sometimes the “unlisted market,” though the latter term is misleading because some securities so traded are listed on an exchange.

Aurgelmir

2004-09-26T09:58:00.000-07:00

Also called Ymir in Norse mythology, the first being, a giant who was created from the drops of water that formed when the ice of Niflheim met the heat of Muspelheim. Aurgelmir was the father of all the giants; a male and a female grew under his arm, and his legs produced a six-headed son. A cow, Audumla, nourished him with her milk. Audumla was herself nourished by licking salty, rime-covered

Aerobics

2004-09-23T20:44:00.000-07:00

System of physical conditioning developed to increase the efficiency of the body's intake of oxygen. Typical aerobic exercises (e.g., walking, running, swimming, dancing, and cycling) stimulate heart and lung activity long enough to produce beneficial changes in the body. To be effective, aerobic training must include a minimum of three sessions per week. During each

Puerto Cortés

2004-09-22T06:27:00.000-07:00

City, northwestern Honduras, situated on the Gulf of Honduras. It is backed by Alvarado Lagoon and extends for 2 miles (3 km) along the southern shore of Caballos Point. Puerto Cortés serves as the seaport for San Pedro Sula and the Sula Valley. The town was founded in 1524 as Puerto Caballos, just to the south across Cortés Bay, but was moved and had its name changed to Puerto

Bonaparte, Charles Joseph

2004-09-19T01:34:00.000-07:00

After graduating from Harvard Law School (1872), Bonaparte began the practice of law in Baltimore in 1874. He was active in organizations advocating municipal and civil

Amory, Thomas

2004-09-15T00:23:00.000-07:00

A staunch Unitarian

Mahir, Ahmad

2004-09-13T08:31:00.000-07:00

Mahir was educated at the Khedivial Law school and the University of Montpellier in France. A younger brother of 'Ali Mahir, who had on three previous occasions been premier of Egypt, Ahmad occupied a number of important government positions from the early 1920s. Early in his career, Mahir was

Ruways, Ar-

2004-09-12T21:57:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Ruweis, or Ru'ays, site of a giant industrial complex, Abu Dhabi emirate, United Arab Emirates. It lies along the Persian Gulf about 140 miles (220 km) west of Abu Dhabi, the national capital. Ar-Ruways has natural-gas-processing plants under the control of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). Ar-Ruways has a small airport and is linked by road with Abu Dhabi city and Jabal az-Zannah.

Alarm Signal

2004-09-05T18:04:00.000-07:00

Degus have a large head, large eyes, and moderate-sized, nearly hairless ears. They weigh 170 to

Hadron

2004-09-04T14:17:00.000-07:00

In physics, any of the subatomic particles that are built from quarks and thus react through the agency of the strong nuclear force. The hadrons embrace mesons (e.g., pions and kaons), baryons (e.g., protons, neutrons, and sigma particles), and their many resonances. All observed subatomic particles except bosons (e.g., photons, W particles, and Z particles) and leptons (e.g., electrons,

Nagauta

2004-09-02T08:38:00.000-07:00

The standard complete instrumentation of a nagauta piece consists of singers; players of the three-stringed, plucked samisen; and performers

Earth, The surface of the Earth as a mosaic of plates

2004-08-30T09:35:00.000-07:00

When earthquake epicentres are plotted on a map of the world, it is apparent that most of them are confined to relatively narrow bands rather than being uniformly distributed over the Earth's surface. The narrow bands along which earthquakes occur are located at the margins of large plates that are moving relative to each other. As previously noted, these plates