LooseVenus

Argentina, Forestry and fishing

2005-03-24T02:04:00.000-08:00

The forestry industry does not supply all of Argentina's needs. Most of the harvest is used for lumber, with smaller amounts for firewood and charcoal. In Mesopotamia the Paraná pine is harvested for its timber; there are also plantations of poplar and willow. The Northwest highlands produce pine and cedar, used for pulp and industry. The red quebracho of the Chaco region

Gerlach, (ludwig Friedrich) Leopold Von

2005-03-22T03:34:00.000-08:00

Participating

Amalienborg

2005-03-20T04:50:00.000-08:00

Architectural complex in Copenhagen, Den., built during the reign (1746–66) of King Frederick V and comprising the four buildings of the Amalienborg royal palace and the octagonal courtyard surrounded by them. The complex was designed and constructed by the Danish architect Nicolai Eigtved, who also designed numerous other buildings in the surrounding district. At the

Wabana

2005-03-18T16:19:00.000-08:00

Town, southeastern Newfoundland, Canada, just northwest of St. John's, on Bell Island in Conception Bay. Located in the centre of one of the world's richest deposits of red hematite iron ore, the town grew after the beginning of mining operations in 1895 and had a population of more than 8,000 in 1961. But because of marketing problems and the high phosphorus content of the ore, mining operations

Boina

2005-03-16T09:59:00.000-08:00

The other son, Adriamandisoarivo, continued the migration

Boina

2005-03-14T16:18:00.000-08:00

A chemical element in the oxygen family (Group VIa) of the periodic table, closely allied in chemical and physical properties with the elements sulfur and tellurium.

Midfa'i, Jamil Al-

2005-03-12T10:14:00.000-08:00

Midfa'i attended the engineering college in Istanbul and became an artillery officer in the Turkish Army, from which he deserted in 1916 to join the Arab forces that had risen in revolt in Arabia under the direction of Sharif Husayn. Later, from a base in Syria, Midfa'i launched raids into Iraq, where there was considerable

Alcalá De Henares

2005-03-09T22:16:00.000-08:00

City, Madrid provincia and comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”), central Spain. Known under the Romans as Complutum, the city was destroyed in 1000 and rebuilt in 1038 by the Moors, who called it Al-Qal'ah al-Nahr. It was reconquered in 1088 by Alfonso VI and granted with the surrounding lands to the archbishop of Toledo. The city contains the unique Gothic church of San Justo (built

China, Reform and upheaval

2005-03-06T02:59:00.000-08:00

Immediately after the triple intervention, Russia succeeded in 1896 in signing a secret treaty of alliance with China against Japan, by which Russia gained the right to construct the Chinese Eastern Railway across northern Manchuria. In November 1897 the Germans seized Chiao-chou Bay in Shantung and forced China to concede them the right to build two railways in the province.

Hadrian's Villa

2005-03-04T23:07:00.000-08:00

Also called Villa Adriana country residence built (c. AD 125–134) at Tivoli near Rome by the emperor Hadrian. This villa is considered the epitome in architecture of the opulence and elegance of the Roman world. Covering approximately 7 square miles (18 square km), the complex was more an imperial garden city than a traditional villa. Its buildings were designed to follow the natural lay of the land and included

Olaf I Tryggvason

2005-03-01T23:12:00.000-08:00

Olaf, the great-grandson of the Norwegian king Harald I Fairhair and the son of Tryggvi Olafsson, a chieftain in southeastern Norway, was born soon after his father was killed by the Norwegian ruler Harald II Graycloak. According to legend,

Holi

2005-02-26T08:39:00.000-08:00

Hindu spring festival celebrated on the full-moon day of Phalguna (February–March). The festival, probably of ancient origin, has many characteristics of a saturnalia. Participants throw coloured waters and powders on one another, and, on this one day only, the usual restrictions of caste, sex, status, and age are disregarded. In the streets the celebrations are often marked

Cone

2005-02-23T21:27:00.000-08:00

In mathematics, the surface traced by a moving straight line (the generatrix) that always passes through a fixed point (the vertex). The path, to be definite, is directed by some closed plane curve (the directrix), along which the line always glides. In a right circular cone, the directrix is a circle, and the cone is a surface of revolution. The axis of this cone is a line through

Flanders

2005-02-22T22:05:00.000-08:00

The origins of Flanders lay in the pagus Flandrensis, an area composed

Arabia, History Of, Sabaean and Minaean Kingdoms

2005-02-19T07:33:00.000-08:00

The Greek writer Eratosthenes (3rd century BC) described “Eudaimon Arabia” (i.e., Yemen) as inhabited by four major peoples (ethne), and it is on the basis of his nomenclature for these groups that modern scholars are accustomed to speak of Minaeans, Sabaeans, Qatabanians, and Hadramites. The fourfold categorization does indeed correspond to the linguistic data, but the political

Fuel Injection

2005-02-18T10:17:00.000-08:00

In an internal-combustion engine, introduction of fuel into the cylinders by means of a pump rather than by the suction created by the movement of the pistons. On diesel engines, which have no spark plugs, the heat created by compressing air in the cylinders ignites the fuel, which has been pumped as a spray into the heated air. In engines with spark ignition, fuel-injection

Ecorse

2005-02-16T02:15:00.000-08:00

City, Wayne county, Michigan, U.S. It lies along the Detroit River and is one of several contiguous southwest suburbs of Detroit known as downriver communities. Settled about 1815 on the site of an Indian camp and burial ground, it was called Grandport and developed in the early 20th century with the growth of the Ford Motor Company in nearby Dearborn. Its name was derived from

Powderly, Terence V.

2005-02-13T16:57:00.000-08:00

The son of Irish immigrants to the United States, Powderly went to work at the age of 13 for the railroad in Carbondale, Pa. At 17 he became a machinist's apprentice and then worked at that trade until age 28. He meanwhile had joined the Machinists' and Blacksmiths' Union in 1871 and steadily

Tabes Dorsalis

2005-02-11T23:20:00.000-08:00

, also called Progressive Locomotor Ataxia, rare neurologic form of tertiary syphilis, involving sensory deficits, loss of neuromuscular coordination, and diminished reflexes. Symptoms of this form of neurosyphilis chiefly affect the legs and may not appear for more than 25 years after the initial infection. Untreated, tabes dorsalis usually makes unassisted walking impossible and severely debilitates

Olmi, Ermanno

2005-02-10T09:52:00.000-08:00

Olmi attended a science high school and took courses in acting at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Milan. He learned filmmaking while employed at Edisonvolta, a major Milanese electric

Insurance, Costs

2005-02-07T16:32:00.000-08:00

Following the publication in the early 1970s of about 40 studies revealing inadequacies in workers' compensation in the United States, most states passed laws increasing the number of workers covered, raising weekly benefits to equal or exceed 66 2/3 percent of the average weekly wage, and making other improvements. Compensable claims now include those involving back pain,

Caldas

2005-02-05T07:47:00.000-08:00

Departamento, west-central Colombia. It is situated in the Cordillera Central of the Andes Mountains and is bounded by the Magdalena River on the east and the Cauca River on the west. Penetrated by Spaniards early in the 16th century, Caldas gained prominence as a gold-mining region. It was created a department in 1905. Coffee is the chief product, but other agricultural products

Balassi, Bálint

2005-02-01T04:26:00.000-08:00

Balassi was born into one of the richest Protestant families of the country and lived an adventurous life, fighting against the Turks and against his own relatives, who sought to despoil him of his heritage.

Calamity Jane

2005-01-31T15:17:00.000-08:00

She allegedly moved westward on a wagon train when still quite young—her mother dying en

Lowry, Laurence Stephen

2005-01-29T18:35:00.000-08:00

Lowry studied intermittently at art schools in Manchester and Salford from 1905 to 1925, and he rose from rent collector to become chief cashier at a Manchester real estate company in his long employment there from

Cosmos

2005-01-26T08:20:00.000-08:00

Any of a series of unmanned Soviet satellites launched from the early 1960s. Cosmos satellites were used for a wide variety of purposes, including scientific research, navigation, and military reconnaissance. Cosmos 26 and 49 (both launched in 1964), for example, were equipped to measure the Earth's magnetic field. Others were employed to study certain technical aspects of spaceflight

Sabbath River

2005-01-24T19:58:00.000-08:00

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

Cherub

2005-01-23T21:30:00.000-08:00

Plural Cherubim, in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic literature, a celestial winged being with human, animal, or birdlike characteristics who functions as a throne bearer of the deity. Derived from ancient Middle Eastern mythology and iconography, these celestial beings serve important liturgical and intercessory functions in the hierarchy of angels. The term most likely derives

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, Medieval allegory

2005-01-20T01:21:00.000-08:00

Erich Auerbach, Dante als Dichter der irdischen Welt (1929; Eng. trans., Dante: Poet of the Secular World, 1961); M.W. Bloomfield, “Symbolism in Medieval Literature,” Modern Philology, 56:73–81 (1958), and Piers Plowman As a Fourteenth-Century Apocalypse (1962); Edgar de Bruyne, Études d'esthétique médiévale, 3 vol. (1946); M.D. Chenu, La Théologie au douzième siècle (1957; Eng. trans. of nine selected essays, Nature, Man, and Society in the Twelfth Century, 1968); E.R. Curtius, Europäische Literatur und lateinisches Mittelalter (1948; Eng. trans., European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages, 1953); Raymond Klibansky, The Continuity of the Platonic Tradition During the Middle Ages (1939); C.S. Lewis, The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature (1964); Joseph A. Mazzeo, Medieval Cultural Tradition in Dante's Comedy (1960); D.W. Robertson and B.F. Huppe, Piers Plowman and Scriptural Tradition (1951); Charles Singleton, Dante Studies, vol. 1, Commedia (1954).

Thompson

2005-01-19T01:32:00.000-08:00

City, north-central Manitoba, Canada. It lies along the Burntwood River, in the Mystery-Moak lakes area, 130 miles (210 km) north of Lake Winnipeg. Planned in 1956 by the International Nickel Company of Canada and named for John F. Thompson, the company chairman, the community was completed in 1961. Its integrated nickel mining-smelting-refining plant was the first in the Western Hemisphere.

Gainza Paz, Alberto

2005-01-17T06:29:00.000-08:00

Gainza Paz received a law degree from the National University at Buenos Aires in 1921 and joined the staff of La Prensa under the direction of his uncle, Ezequiel P. Paz, whom he succeeded

Motor-paced Race

2005-01-14T00:11:00.000-08:00

In bicycle racing, a form of competition in which each bicycle racer competes behind a motorbike or motorcycle. (Originally, racers followed tandem bicycles or multicycles.) The bicycles used have small front wheels, enabling the rider to move close to a freely moving roller on a bar projecting from the rear of the pacing motorbike and thus to take full advantage of

Devers, Jacob L.

2005-01-13T04:06:00.000-08:00

At the outbreak of World War II (1940), Devers was commanding general of the 9th infantry division, becoming chief of armoured forces from 1941 to 1943. After serving as commanding general

Proctor

2005-01-10T02:12:00.000-08:00

The word is still used sometimes in the United States to

Biblical Literature, In Judaism

2005-01-09T13:57:00.000-08:00

After the kingdoms of Israel and Judah had fallen, in 722 BCE (before the Common Era, equivalent to BC) and 587/586 BCE, respectively, the Hebrew people outlived defeat, captivity, and the loss of their national independence, largely because they possessed writings that preserved their history and traditions. Many of them did not return to Palestine after their exile. Those who did return

Yamaga Soko

2005-01-07T11:20:00.000-08:00

Original name Yamaga Takasuke , also called Jingozaemon military strategist and Confucian philosopher who set forth the first systematic exposition of the missions and obligations of the samurai (warrior) class and who made major contributions to Japanese military science. Yamaga's thought became the central core of what later came to be known as Bushido (Code of Warriors),

Syvash

2005-01-05T04:48:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Sivash, or Sivaš, Russian Gniloye More (“Putrid Sea”), system of shallow inlets of the Sea of Azov that penetrate the northern and eastern coasts of the Crimean Peninsula, Ukraine. Syvash is an area of marshy inlets and coves on the western margin of the Sea of Azov, from which it is separated by the Arabat Spit, a sandbar measuring from 900 feet to 5 miles (270 m to 8 km) in width. Syvash covers an area of approximately 990 square

Dahlia

2005-01-03T11:20:00.000-08:00

About six of the species in the Dahlia genus have been bred for cultivation as ornamental flowers. Wild species of dahlias

North Germanic Languages

2004-12-31T17:23:00.000-08:00

Also called Scandinavian languages group of Germanic languages consisting of modern standard Danish, Swedish, Norwegian (Dano-Norwegian and New Norwegian), Icelandic, and Faroese. These languages are usually divided into East Scandinavian (Danish and Swedish) and West Scandinavian (Norwegian, Icelandic, and Faroese) groups.

Sangallo Family

2004-12-30T19:57:00.000-08:00

Giuliano da Sangallo (1445?–1516) was an architect, sculptor, and military

Karamzin, Nikolay Mikhaylovich

2004-12-26T04:56:00.000-08:00

From an early age, Karamzin was interested in Enlightenment philosophy and western European literature. After extensive travel in western Europe,

Karamzin, Nikolay Mikhaylovich

2004-12-24T17:48:00.000-08:00

The economic policy of the government of the Soviet Union from 1921 to 1928, representing a temporary retreat from its previous policy of extreme centralization and doctrinaire socialism. The policy of War Communism, in effect since 1918, had by 1921 brought the national economy to the point of total breakdown. The Kronshtadt Rebellion of March 1921 convinced the Communist Party and

Heinemann, William

2004-12-21T10:02:00.000-08:00

Heinemann studied music in England and Germany but decided instead to become

Daily Express

2004-12-20T16:07:00.000-08:00

Since its founding in 1900, the Express aggressively appealed to a mass readership; it is a perennial competitor with other popular dailies for circulation leadership, which it not infrequently claims. Its determination

Tata

2004-12-17T06:01:00.000-08:00

Oasis, southwestern Morocco. Situated in an arid region at the extreme northwestern edge of the Sahara, Tata oasis is located in a canyon watered by three wadis descending from Mount Bani, an outlier of the Anti-Atlas mountains. The oasis contains about 30 ksars (fortified villages) with houses built out of pink clay. The inhabitants of the region include the Shluh Berbers,

Tso Chuan

2004-12-15T14:11:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Zuo Zhuan, ancient commentary on the Ch'un-ch'iu, and the first sustained narrative work in Chinese literature. The Ch'un-ch'iu, the first Chinese chronological history, chronicles events during the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC) of China's history. The Tso chuan is a detailed commentary on this work and provides extensive narrative accounts and ample background materials concerning

Bokassa, Jean-bédel

2004-12-13T10:36:00.000-08:00

African military officer and political leader (b. Feb. 22, 1921, Bobangui, Oubangui-Chari, French Equatorial Africa [now in Central African Republic]--d. Nov. 3, 1996, Bangui, Central African Republic), was president of the Central African Republic (1966-77) and self-styled emperor of the Central African Empire (1977-79). His rule was characterized by brutality and greed. After the assassination of his father,

Scharoun, Hans (bernhard)

2004-12-12T04:44:00.000-08:00

Scharoun received his training at the Technische Hochschule in Berlin from 1912 to 1914. After World War I he became a follower of the Berlin architect Bruno Taut,

Pau

2004-12-10T16:33:00.000-08:00

Town, capital of Pyrénées-Atlantiques département, Aquitaine region, southwestern France. The capital of the former province of Béarn, Pau is a spa and winter sports centre. It stands on the edge of a plateau 130 feet (40 m) above the valley of the Pau Stream, which descends from the Pyrenees. The town's boulevard des Pyrénées, more than 1 mile (1.6 km) long, is situated high above the valley

Bashkirtseff, Marie

2004-12-07T06:32:00.000-08:00

Bashkirtseff was the daughter of Russian nobility, and she spent a peripatetic childhood with her mother

Arbus, Diane

2004-12-06T18:37:00.000-08:00

Diane Nemerov was the daughter of Gertrude Russek and David Nemerov, proprietors of a department store. Her older brother was the poet and critic Howard Nemerov. At age 18 she married Allan Arbus (divorced

La Fontaine, Jean De

2004-12-04T04:21:00.000-08:00

Though he never secured the favour of Louis XIV, La Fontaine had many well-wishers close to the throne and among the nobility. He moved among churchmen, doctors, artists, musicians, and actors. But it was literary circles that he especially frequented. Legend has exaggerated the closeness of his ties with Molière, Nicholas Boileau, and Jean Racine, but he certainly numbered

Wyndham, John

2004-12-03T13:19:00.000-08:00

Educated in Derbyshire, Wyndham tried his hand at various jobs, from farming to advertising. During the mid-1920s he wrote short stories for various American

Circassian

2004-12-02T10:34:00.000-08:00

From ancient times Circassia, comprising roughly the northwestern region of the Caucasus, acquired the exotic reputation common to lands occupying a crucial area between rival empires. The early history of the Circassian peoples is fairly obscure. Though no Greek

Sunbird

2004-12-01T23:20:00.000-08:00

Any of about 95 species of the songbird family Nectariniidae (order Passeriformes) that have brilliant plumage in breeding males. They are 9 to 15 cm (3 1/2 to 6 inches) long and live chiefly on nectar. Unlike hummingbirds, sunbirds rarely hover while feeding but instead perch on the flower stalk (see photo). Sunbirds are most numerous

Fredericksburg, Battle Of

2004-11-30T21:36:00.000-08:00

(December 13, 1862), bloody engagement of the American Civil War fought at Fredericksburg, Virginia; its outcome—a crushing Union defeat—immeasurably strengthened the Confederate cause. General A.E. Burnside, newly appointed commander of the Northern forces, planned to cross the Rappahannock River with an army of more than 120,000 troops and advance on the Southern capital at Richmond.

Armstrong, Louis

2004-11-29T19:50:00.000-08:00

Armstrong grew up in dire poverty in New Orleans, Louisiana, when jazz was very young. As a child he worked at odd jobs and sang in a boys quartet. In 1913 he was sent to the Colored

Macedonia

2004-11-28T13:51:00.000-08:00

The republic is located on the part of the southern Balkan Peninsula traditionally known as Macedonia, which is bounded to the south by the Aegean Sea and the Aliákmon

Caucasian Languages, Georgian

2004-11-28T11:07:00.000-08:00

Georgian (self-designation: kartuli ena), used as the language of literature and instruction, is the state language of the Republic of Georgia. It is common to all speakers of the Kartvelian languages within Georgia. Beyond the borders of Georgia, Georgian is spoken in the adjacent regions of Azerbaijan and northeastern Turkey. There are also 14 villages of Georgian

Black River

2004-11-25T18:52:00.000-08:00

River in southeastern Missouri and eastern Arkansas, U.S., rising in the Ozark Mountains in Reynolds county, Mo. It flows southeasterly to Poplar Bluff, Mo., and then continues southwest to enter the White River near Newport, Ark., after a course of 280 miles (450 km). Limited navigation is possible for shallow-draft vessels in the lower 15 miles (25 km) of its course. Its main tributary is

Maccready, Paul Beattie

2004-11-24T21:40:00.000-08:00

MacCready was a national champion model-plane builder in the 1930s and received his pilot's license at the age of 16. He graduated with a B.S. degree in physics from

Hine, Lewis Wickes

2004-11-23T13:03:00.000-08:00

Trained as a sociologist, Hine began to portray the immigrants who crowded onto New York's Ellis Island in 1905. He also photographed the tenements and sweatshops where the immigrants were forced to live and work. These pictures were published

Abdulla, Muhammed Said

2004-11-21T07:10:00.000-08:00

Abdulla, after completing his formal education, began his career as an inspector in the Colonial Health Department. After 10 years there, however, he decided to become a journalist. In 1948 he was made editor of the newspaper Zanzibari, and during the next decade he also

Sublimation

2004-11-21T04:08:00.000-08:00

In physics, conversion of a substance from the solid to the vapour state without its becoming liquid. An example is the vaporization of frozen carbon dioxide (dry ice) at ordinary atmospheric pressure and temperature. The phenomenon is the result of vapour pressure and temperature relationships. Freeze-drying of food to preserve it involves sublimation of water

Biochemistry

2004-11-20T11:05:00.000-08:00

The field of science concerned with the chemical substances and processes that occur in plants, animals, and microorganisms. Specifically, it involves the quantitative determination and structural analysis of the organic compounds that comprise the basic constituents of cells (proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids) and of those that play a key role in chemical

Juba Ii

2004-11-19T18:32:00.000-08:00

As a child of about five Juba was paraded in Rome in Caesar's triumphal procession after the death of Juba I but subsequently was given a good education in Italy. Octavian

Cat

2004-11-18T11:58:00.000-08:00

The history of the cat family can be traced through the fossil record to the Late Eocene Epoch (43.6 to 36.6 million

Moray Firth

2004-11-17T19:23:00.000-08:00

Triangular-shaped inlet of the North Sea in northeastern Scotland. It reaches a maximum width of 16 miles (29 km), from Tarbat Ness on its northern shore to Burghead on its southern shore. Two smaller inlets, the Cromarty Firth and the Beauly Firth, extend inland from the inner reaches of the Moray Firth. The city of Inverness lies at the head of the Moray Firth, and the town of

Vanadate Mineral

2004-11-16T22:12:00.000-08:00

Any of the many naturally occurring compounds of vanadium (V), oxygen (O), and various metals; most of these minerals are rare, having crystallized under very restricted conditions. Although vanadinite occasionally is mined as a vanadium ore and carnotite as a uranium ore, most vanadates have no economic importance; they are prized by mineral collectors, however, for

Abductor Muscle

2004-11-14T06:27:00.000-08:00

Any of the muscles that cause movement of a limb away from the midplane of the body or away from a neighbouring part or limb (compare adductor muscle), as in raising the arms to the side (effected by the deltoideus muscle) or spreading the fingers or toes. In man certain muscles of the hands and feet are named for performing this function. In the hand, the abductor digiti minimi

Bükk Mountains

2004-11-13T09:23:00.000-08:00

A southward-projecting spur of the Carpathian Mountains, in northeastern Hungary. It comprises a forested highland area extending some 30 miles (50 km) from the Tarna River on the west to the Sajó River in the east and 20 miles (32 km) from north to south. Maximum elevation is reached at Mount Istállósko (3,146 feet [959 m]). The central core of the Bükk is a 12.5-by-4.5-mile (20-by-7-kilometre) limestone plateau

Santa Rosa De Cabal

2004-11-12T20:31:00.000-08:00

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

Kocu Bey

2004-11-11T02:26:00.000-08:00

In full Kuricali Kocu Mustafa Bey, Kuricali also spelled Göriceli, Kocu also spelled Koci Turkish minister and reformer, a notable early observer of the Ottoman decline. Originally from Albania, Kocu Bey was sent to Constantinople, where he was educated in the Imperial Palace. He later entered the service of a number of Ottoman sultans, finding particular favour with Murad IV (1623–40) and Ibrahim I (1640–48), whose adviser he became.

Physical Sciences, Organic Chemistry.

2004-11-09T16:52:00.000-08:00

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

Great Leap Forward

2004-11-09T11:21:00.000-08:00

The campaign undertaken by the Chinese Communists between 1958 and early 1960 to organize its vast population, especially in large-scale rural communes, to meet China's industrial and agricultural problems. The Chinese hoped to develop labour-intensive methods of industrialization, which would emphasize manpower rather than machines. Thereby, it was hoped, the country

Grade, Chaim

2004-11-07T19:25:00.000-08:00

Yiddish poet, short-story writer, and novelist who was one of the last surviving secularized Yiddish writers to have been educated in a European yeshiva (rabbinical seminary). His fiction reflects an intimate knowledge of the complexities and breadth of that vanished culture and

China, Fine arts

2004-11-07T01:57:00.000-08:00

In the realm of the arts, the Ming period has long been esteemed for the variety and high quality of its state-sponsored craft goods—cloisonné and, particularly, porcelain wares. The sober, delicate monochrome porcelains of the Sung dynasty were now superseded by rich, decorative polychrome wares. The best known of these are of blue-on-white decor, which gradually changed

Calcitonin

2004-11-05T20:27:00.000-08:00

Also called Thyrocalcitonin, a protein hormone secreted in humans and other mammals by parafollicular cells in the thyroid gland, and in birds, fishes, and other nonmammalian vertebrates by cells of the ultimobranchial bodies, which are discrete calcitonin-secreting glands. Calcitonin lowers the concentration of calcium in the blood when it rises above the normal value. It has the opposite

Fibula

2004-11-05T11:36:00.000-08:00

Greek fibulae from the 7th century BC were elaborately decorated along the long catch plate: rows of animals, such as ducks, lions, and sphinxes, might be soldered on, or a frieze of animals might be worked

Andrew Of Caesarea

2004-11-03T13:25:00.000-08:00

Andrew's exposition of the book of Revelation is marked by a specific Christian interpretation of history which

Rambler, The

2004-11-03T00:33:00.000-08:00

A twopenny sheet issued twice weekly in London by the publisher John Payne between 1750 and 1752, each issue containing a single anonymous essay; 208 such periodical essays appeared, all but five written by Samuel Johnson. Johnson's intention in this project was that of a moralist aware of his duty to make the world better. This sense of responsibility determined the style of his

Plunket, Saint Oliver

2004-11-02T10:20:00.000-08:00

Plunket was educated and ordained in Rome, serving there as professor of theology at the College of Propaganda Fide and as the representative of the Irish bishops at the Holy See. Appointed

Grade, Chaim

2004-11-02T02:28:00.000-08:00

Acculturation

2004-10-31T22:18:00.000-08:00

Two major types of acculturation may be distinguished based on two classes of conditions under which changes take place. A free “borrowing” and modification of cultural

Kertész, Imre

2004-10-30T06:56:00.000-07:00

At age 14, Kertész was deported with other Hungarian Jews during World War II to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland. He was later sent to the Buchenwald camp in Germany, from which he was

Walid, Al-

2004-10-28T08:48:00.000-07:00

Al-Walid, the eldest son of the caliph 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, was fervently orthodox in his religious views, and he had a great interest in architecture. As caliph, he confiscated the Christian Basilica of St. John the Baptist in Damascus

Giocondo, Fra Giovanni

2004-10-26T14:47:00.000-07:00

A learned Franciscan, Fra Giocondo is said to have received an extensive humanistic education. He made an important collection of classical inscriptions and was noted by

Rabbinic Judaism

2004-10-24T07:18:00.000-07:00

The normative form of Judaism that developed after the fall of the Temple of Jerusalem (AD 70). Originating in the work of the Pharisaic rabbis, it was based on the legal and commentative literature in the Talmud, and it set up a mode of worship and a life discipline that were to be practiced by Jews worldwide down to modern times.

Wollstein, Martha

2004-10-23T13:08:00.000-07:00

Wollstein graduated from the Woman's Medical College of the New York Infirmary in 1889. In 1890 she joined the staff of the Babies Hospital in New York City, where she was appointed pathologist in 1892. Her first experimental work involved infant diarrhea and confirmed earlier studies

Degema

2004-10-23T09:39:00.000-07:00

Town and river port, Rivers state, southern Nigeria, on the Sambreiro River (an outlet of the Niger). A traditional market centre (fish, cassava, taro, palm produce, plantains, and yams) of the Ijo (Ijaw) people, it became a major exporter of palm oil and kernels after the decline of the slave trade in the early 19th century. The Degema-Abonnema port (boats now anchor near the palm oil

Philip Ii

2004-10-21T03:57:00.000-07:00

Byname Philip Of Macedon 18th king of Macedonia (359–336 BC), who restored internal peace to his country and then, by 339, had gained domination over all Greece by military and diplomatic means, thus laying the foundations for its expansion under his son Alexander III the Great.

Osei Tutu

2004-10-20T18:36:00.000-07:00

Osei Tutu had been a hostage in the Denkyera court but had escaped eastward to the powerful state of

Defense Of Rights, Associations For The

2004-10-18T14:26:00.000-07:00

The league was actually a coalition of middle-class organizations,

Tasmania, Plant and animal life

2004-10-16T10:09:00.000-07:00

In general, the wettest areas have temperate rain forest, especially the beech or myrtle; areas having 30 to 60 inches of rain annually carry good-quality eucalypt forest; and the drier areas carry poor-quality eucalypt forest or savanna woodland. In certain areas, particularly in the forest of the south and southwest, an almost impenetrable thicket known as horizontal

Earth Exploration

2004-10-14T05:28:00.000-07:00

Geophysical

Bond, Carrie Jacobs

2004-10-12T17:05:00.000-07:00

Bond as a child learned to play the piano. During her second marriage she began to write songs, and in December 1894 two of them, “Is My Dolly Dead?” and “Mother's Cradle Song,” were published in Chicago. After her husband's death in 1895 Bond moved to Chicago, where she ran

Tree Ear

2004-10-10T18:56:00.000-07:00

Chinese Mu Erh, also called Wood Ear, or Black Fungus, any of several edible mushrooms of the genus Auricularia that are popular in Chinese cuisine, especially that of Sichuan (Szechwan) province. Tree ears grow wild on and are cultivated on the bark of trees. They are gathered for use in a fresh state and are dried for storage. Dried tree ears resemble gray-black flakes of ash; when reconstituted the mushrooms expand into

Japan, Fauna

2004-10-08T17:30:00.000-07:00

Despite the country's large human population, the land mammals of Japan are relatively numerous in the remote, heavily forested mountain regions. These animals include bears, wild boars, raccoon dogs (tanuki), foxes, deer, antelope, hares, and weasels; some species are distinct from those of the neighbouring Asian continent. Wild monkeys (the Japanese macaque) inhabit

Sea Cave

2004-10-07T09:46:00.000-07:00

Cave formed in a cliff by wave action of an ocean or lake. Sea caves occur on almost every cliffed headland or coast where the waves break directly on a rock cliff and are formed by mechanical erosion rather than the chemical solution process that is responsible for the majority of inland caves. Zones of weakness in the cliff give way under the force of the waves and

Lajes

2004-10-05T03:11:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Lages, city, east-central Santa Catarina estado (“state”), southern Brazil, lying north of the Caveiras River in the Paraná Mountains, at 3,000 feet (900 m) above sea level. Formed as a municipality in 1800, it was settled chiefly by Germans and in 1866 was elevated to city status. Livestock raising and industry are now the main economic activities. Principal products include lumber, corn (maize), feij