LoudPocket

Suffolk

2005-04-05T11:06:00.000-07:00

Administrative and historic county in East Anglia, eastern England, bounded to the north by Norfolk, to the west by Cambridgeshire, to the south by Essex, and to the east by the North Sea. The administrative county comprises seven districts: Forest Heath and the borough of Saint Edmundsbury in the west, Mid Suffolk in the middle, Babergh and the borough of Ipswich in the

Antigonus Iii Doson

2005-04-05T08:46:00.000-07:00

Antigonus, a descendant of Antigonus I, was the son of Demetrius II (a half brother of Antigonus II) and Olympias of Larissa. On the death of Demetrius II (229 BC), Antigonus was made guardian of his son Philip. After

Ushabti Figure

2005-04-04T06:59:00.000-07:00

Any of the small statuettes made of wood, stone, or faience that are often found in large numbers in ancient Egyptian tombs. The figures range in height from 4 to 9 inches (10 to 23 cm) and often held hoes in their arms. Their purpose was to act as a magical substitute for the deceased owner when the gods requested him to undertake menial tasks in the afterlife. The word ushabti is

Giordano, Luca

2005-04-03T18:16:00.000-07:00

The most celebrated and prolific Neapolitan painter of the late 17th century. His nickname Luca fa presto (“Luca, work quickly”) is said to derive from his painter-copyist father's admonitions, which were certainly heeded. His other nickname, Proteus, was acquired as a result of his reputed skill in producing pastiches in the style of almost any artist.

Switzerland, General works

2005-04-03T15:18:00.000-07:00

Other broad treatments of note include René Lebeau, La Suisse (1975), a historical and geographic analysis; J. Murray Luck (ed.), Modern Switzerland (1978); Swiss Office for the Development of Trade, Focus on Switzerland, 2nd ed., rev. and enlarged, 4 vol. (1982), a comprehensive, beautifully illustrated work that examines the country's landscape, history, institutions, cultural life, and economy; Oskar Bär, Geographie der Schweiz, new ed. (1979), a well-illustrated text; and François Jeanneret and Franz auf der Maur, Der grosse schweizer Atlas (1981), a large-format atlas, with detailed text and colour photographs and maps, that analyzes Switzerland from prehistoric times to the present.

Western Australia

2005-04-03T09:57:00.000-07:00

Mauer

2005-04-01T21:52:00.000-08:00

Pleistocene locality on the Neckar River of Germany and the name of a Pleistocene deposit, the Mauer Sands (the Pleistocene epoch began about 1,600,000 years ago and ended about 10,000 years ago). The Mauer Sands are about 64 feet (20 m) thick and contained the fossil remains of the sabre-toothed cat, bear, horse, hippopotamus, and extinct elephant; Germany's oldest human fragment, the Heidelberg

Sinkiang, Uygur Autonomous Region Of, Climate

2005-04-01T07:43:00.000-08:00

Rainfall is not only scanty but it also fluctuates widely from year

Barmakids

2005-04-01T03:52:00.000-08:00

Khalid ibn Barmak is the first Barmakid about whom much is known. He first appears in the mid-8th century as a supporter of the revolutionary movement that established the 'Abbasid caliphate. In 747 Khalid was put in charge of the distribution of spoils when the 'Abbasid army moved toward Iraq. Afterward, he was sent to Dayr Qunna to administer the district. Under the 'Abbasid caliph

Arzawa

2005-03-30T06:41:00.000-08:00

Ancient kingdom of western or southwestern Anatolia (its exact location is disputed). Although Arzawa was for long periods a rival of the Hittite kingdom, it was occasionally conquered and made a vassal by some of the more powerful Hittite kings, such as Labarnas I (c. 1680–c. 1650 BC). During the period of Hittite decline after the end of the Old Kingdom (c. 1500 BC), Arzawa's power and prominence

Azeotrope

2005-03-29T23:44:00.000-08:00

In chemistry, a mixture of liquids that has a constant boiling point because the vapour has the same composition as the liquid mixture. The boiling point of an azeotropic mixture may be higher or lower than that of any of its components. The components of the solution cannot be separated by simple distillation.

Iliescu, Ion

2005-03-29T08:26:00.000-08:00

Iliescu received a degree in business from the Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest and then studied engineering in Moscow. In 1953 he joined the Communist Party, and he held positions of increasing prestige during the following decade. A protégé of Nicolae Ceausescu, he benefited

Infection, Common worm infections

2005-03-28T05:16:00.000-08:00

The worm Ascaris lumbricoides causes one of the most prevalent infections in the world. It lives in the soil and its eggs are ingested with contaminated food. The eggs hatch in the human intestine and the worms then travel through the bloodstream to the liver, heart, and lungs. They can cause pneumonia, perforations of the intestine, or blockage of the bile ducts, but

Laghouat

2005-03-27T09:11:00.000-08:00

Town and oasis north-central Algeria, at the southern edge of the Saharan Atlas, on the route linking Algiers with central Africa. The oasis (625 acres [253 hectares]) was probably settled in the 11th century after the Banu Hilal invaders, supported by the Fatimids of Egypt, crossed the area. Laghouat subsequently passed through Moroccan and Turkish hands and was divided by two warring

English Literature, Drama

2005-03-27T04:53:00.000-08:00

Apart from the short-lived attempt by T.S. Eliot and Christopher Fry to bring about a renaissance of verse drama, theatre in the late 1940s and early 1950s was most notable for the continuing supremacy of the “well-made” play, which focused upon, and mainly attracted as its audience, the comfortable middle class. The most interesting playwright working within this mode was Terence

Switzerland

2005-03-25T19:52:00.000-08:00

Swiss economic development has been affected by specific physical and cultural geographic factors. In the first instance, there was a paucity of raw materials; precipitation and soil quality to a large extent determined the type and size of cultivation; urban and industrial expansion encroached on the limited amount of cultivable land; a central location, situated

Chess, Women in chess

2005-03-25T17:42:00.000-08:00

Separation of the sexes in chess is a relatively recent phenomenon. Literature abounds with examples of men and women playing one another before 1800. (For example, Shakespeare's only chess scene depicts Miranda playing Ferdinand in the last act of The Tempest.) But women were often barred from the coffeehouses and taverns where chess clubs developed in the 19th century.

Alabama, The Civil War and its aftermath

2005-03-25T03:32:00.000-08:00

In 1861 Alabama seceded from the Union and joined the Confederate States of America, which established its first capital in Montgomery. The state legislature conscripted soldiers and appropriated several million dollars for military operations and for the support of the families of soldiers. Some 35,000 of the 122,000 Alabamians who served in the war died. Following the collapse

Howard

2005-03-24T18:41:00.000-08:00

Howard county was created in 1851, having earlier been (from 1838) a district of Anne Arundel county.

Dewar, Sir James

2005-03-23T19:21:00.000-08:00

Educated at the University of Edinburgh, Dewar became a professor at the University of Cambridge (1875) and at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, London

Museum And Picture Gallery

2005-03-23T01:44:00.000-08:00

Art museum in Vadodara (Baroda), Gujarat state, India. It was founded by the Maharaja Gaekwar of Baroda in 1894 as a representative collection of masterpieces. The building was constructed between 1908 and 1914, and the gallery formally opened in 1921. The museum displays European paintings, especially English portraits by George Romney and examples from the schools of Sir Joshua Reynolds

Shi'ite

2005-03-22T04:33:00.000-08:00

Arabic Shi'i, plural Shi'ah, or Shi'a, member of the smaller of the two major branches of Islam, distinguished from the majority Sunnites. In early Islamic history the Shi'ites were a political faction (shi'at 'Ali, “party of 'Ali”) that supported the power of 'Ali, who was a son-in-law of Muhammad and the fourth caliph (temporal and spiritual ruler) of the Muslim community. 'Ali was killed while trying to maintain his authority

Eastern Orthodoxy, In Bulgaria

2005-03-21T19:22:00.000-08:00

The reestablishment of the Church of Bulgaria eventually was secured, but not without tragedy and even a schism; this happened mainly because the issue of reestablishing the autocephalous church arose at a time when both Greek and Bulgarian populations lived side by side in Macedonia, Thrace, and Constantinople itself, though still within the framework of the

Henze, Hans Werner

2005-03-21T08:35:00.000-08:00

Henze was a pupil of the noted German composer Wolfgang Fortner and of René Leibowitz, the leading French composer of 12-tone music. One of Henze's early works, the Violin Concerto (1947), demonstrated his mastery

Mountain, Tectonic processes that produce high elevations

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

As noted above, individual mountains, mountain ranges, mountain belts, and plateaus exist because tectonic processes have elevated terrains faster than erosion could destroy them. High elevations are created by three major processes: volcanism, horizontal crustal shortening as manifested by folding and by faulting, and the heating and thermal expansion of

Alexander Of Aphrodisias

2005-03-20T01:07:00.000-08:00

Toward the end of the 2nd century, Alexander became head of the Lyceum at Athens, an academy then dominated by the syncretistic philosophy of Ammonius Saccas, who blended the doctrines of Plato and Aristotle. Alexander's commentaries were intended

Danelaw

2005-03-19T23:52:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Danelagh, or Danelaga, the northern, central, and eastern region of Anglo-Saxon England colonized by invading Danish armies in the late 9th century. In the 11th and 12th centuries, it was recognized that all of eastern England between the Rivers Tees and Thames formed a region in which a distinctive form of customary law prevailed in the local courts, differing from West Saxon law to the south

Möser, Justus

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

Trained in jurisprudence at the universities of Jena and Göttingen, Möser was named state's attorney at Osnabrück (1747), a prince-bishopric, and from 1764 he was very influential

Bearberry

2005-03-18T02:39:00.000-08:00

Also called Kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), flowering, prostrate, evergreen shrubs, of the heath family (Ericaceae), occurring widely throughout North America in rocky and sandy woods and open areas. It has woody stems that are often 1.5–1.8 metres (5–6 feet) long. Roots develop from the stem joints, and the plant spreads, forming a broad, massive ground cover. The foliage turns

Biblical Literature, The Babylonian Exile and the restoration

2005-03-17T15:10:00.000-08:00

The Babylonian Exile (586–538) marks an epochal dividing point in Old Testament history, standing between what were subsequently to be designated the pre-exilic and post-exilic eras. The Judahite community in Babylonia was, on the whole, more Yahwist in religion than ever, following the Mosaic Law, emphasizing and redefining such distinctive elements as circumcision and

Bur Oak

2005-03-17T14:24:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Burr Oak, also called Mossy Cup Oak (Quercus macrocarpa), North American timber tree belonging to the white oak group of the genus Quercus in the beech family (Fagaceae), distributed primarily throughout the central United States. Often 25 metres (80 feet) tall, the tree may reach 50 m. Its leaves, about 25 centimetres (10 inches) long, are dark green and shiny above, dull and whitish beneath; the wide upper half of each leaf

Aigues-mortes

2005-03-17T03:31:00.000-08:00

Town, Gard département, Languedoc-Roussillon région, southeastern France, southwest of Nîmes, on the Canal du Rhône à Sète, with its own 3.5-mile (6-km) canal to the Gulf of Lion. Its name comes from aquae mortuae, the “dead waters” of the surrounding saline delta marshland. Built by Louis IX as the embarkation port for his two Crusades (seventh, 1248; eighth, 1270), the little town is enclosed

Requiem Mass

2005-03-15T09:12:00.000-08:00

Musical setting of the Mass for the Dead (missa pro defunctis), named for the beginning of the Latin of the Introit “Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine” (“Give them eternal rest, O Lord”). The polyphonic composition for the requiem mass differs from the normal mass in that it not only includes certain items of the Ordinary—e.g., Kyrie, Sanctus, Agnus Dei (the joyful portions, Gloria

Metatheory

2005-03-15T08:24:00.000-08:00

The most notable example of a metatheory was provided by David Hilbert, a German mathematician, who in 1905 set out to construct an elementary proof of the consistency of mathematics. For this purpose he needed a theory that studies

Industrial Diamond

2005-03-15T07:49:00.000-08:00

Any diamond that is designated for industrial use, principally as a cutting tool or abrasive. In general, industrial diamonds are too badly flawed, irregularly shaped, poorly coloured, or small to be of value as gems, but they are of vital importance in the modern metalworking and mining industries. Their utility stems from the fact that diamond is the hardest natural

Alice Springs

2005-03-14T18:09:00.000-08:00

Town, Northern Territory, Australia. It is the main focus of the Centre, a name given to approximately 100,000 square miles (260,000 square km) of central Australia that includes large areas of desert and rocky ridges. Alice Springs lies on the intermittent Todd River and the Stuart Highway, 1,028 road miles (1,654 km) north of Adelaide and 954 miles (1,535 km) south of Darwin. The town originated in 1871 as a station

Sete Lagoas

2005-03-14T09:30:00.000-08:00

City, central Minas Gerais estado (“state”), Brazil. Sete Lagoas lies in the highlands near the Espinhaço Mountains. It is a commercial centre for an agricultural region that raises corn (maize), feijão (beans), sugarcane, cassava, and rice, as well as livestock. Manufacturing and dairy and food-processing plants are in the city, which is on the Rio de Janeiro–Brasília highway

San Antonio Zoological Gardens And Aquarium

2005-03-14T07:10:00.000-08:00

One of the largest animal collections in the southwestern United States, located in San Antonio, Texas. Founded in 1914, the zoo and accompanying aquarium are operated by the San Antonio Zoological Society and occupy a 35-acre (14-hectare) site with natural springs and rock cliffs. More than 3,500 specimens of approximately 750 terrestrial and aquatic species are bred and exhibited.

Wells-barnett, Ida Bell

2005-03-13T00:02:00.000-08:00

Ida Wells was the daughter of slaves. She was educated at Rust University, a freedmen's school in her native Holly Springs, Mississippi, and at age 14 began teaching in a country school. She continued to teach after moving to Memphis, Tennessee,

Manannán Mac Lir

2005-03-12T08:45:00.000-08:00

(Celtic: “Manannán, Son of the Sea”), Irish sea god from whom the name of the Isle of Man allegedly derived. Manannán traditionally ruled an island paradise, protected sailors, and provided abundant crops. He gave immortality to the gods through his swine, which returned to life when killed; those who ate of the swine never died. He wore impenetrable armour and, carrying an

Radioactive Isotope

2005-03-12T05:56:00.000-08:00

Every chemical element has one or more radioactive isotopes. For example, hydrogen, the lightest element, has three isotopes with mass numbers 1, 2, and 3. Only hydrogen-3

Polarography

2005-03-11T20:05:00.000-08:00

In general, polarography is a technique in which the electric potential (or voltage) is varied in a regular manner between two sets of electrodes (indicator and reference) while the current is monitored.

Hessen

2005-03-11T10:45:00.000-08:00

Also called Hesse Land (state) of Germany, eighth largest of the 16 Länder, occupying an area of 8,152 square miles (21,114 square km) in the west-central part of that country. Hessen is bounded by the states of Lower Saxony (north), North Rhine-Westphalia (northwest), Rhineland-Palatinate (west), Baden-Württemberg (south), Bavaria (southeast), and Thuringia (east). The state lies between the Upper Rhine Plateau to

Parachute

2005-03-10T17:13:00.000-08:00

Device that slows the vertical descent of a body falling through the atmosphere or the velocity of a body moving horizontally. The parachute increases the body's surface area, and this increased air resistance slows the body in motion. There is some mention, but no evidence, dating to the 1100s of the Chinese using parachutes for amusement. In the West, however, parachutes

Mitchell, William

2005-03-09T23:32:00.000-08:00

Byname Billy Mitchell U.S. Army officer who early advocated a separate U.S. air force and greater preparedness in military aviation. He was court-martialed for his outspoken views and did not live to see the fulfillment during World War II of many of his prophecies: strategic bombing, mass airborne operations, and the eclipse of the battleship by the bomb-carrying

Steiermark

2005-03-09T10:40:00.000-08:00

English Styria Bundesland (federal province), southeastern and central Austria, bordering Slovenia on the south and bounded by Bundesländer Kärnten (Carinthia) on the south, Salzburg on the west, Oberösterreich and Niederösterreich (Upper and Lower Austria) on the north, and Burgenland on the east. It has an area of 6,327 sq mi (16,387 sq km). Upper Steiermark extends in the north from the Limestone

Charadriiform, Auks (suborder Alcae)

2005-03-09T03:21:00.000-08:00

Alcids breed in island colonies along Arctic and north temperate seacoasts, with the exception of a few murrelets that breed inland on mountains. Even these must remain within flying distance of the sea. The breeding behaviour of the pigeon guillemot (Cepphus columba) is fairly typical of the family. This species breeds on islands and coasts of the North Pacific,

Asylum

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

In international law, the protection granted by a state to a foreign citizen against his own state. The person for whom asylum is established has no legal right to demand it, while the sheltering state, which has the legal right to grant asylum, is under no obligation to give it. Asylum is thus a right of the state, not of the individual. The right of asylum falls into three

Interior Design, England

2005-03-07T19:28:00.000-08:00

The breakup of the feudal system during the Wars of the Roses and under Henry VII in the late 15th century had far-reaching effects on the social structure of the time and consequently on domestic buildings and their decoration. The new conditions necessitated a larger number of rooms, and a great hall, though still an important apartment, was no longer the focus of indoor

Spontaneous Generation

2005-03-07T01:16:00.000-08:00

Also called Abiogenesis, the hypothetical process by which living organisms develop from nonliving matter; also, the archaic theory that utilizes this process to explain the origin of life. Pieces of cheese and bread wrapped in rags and left in a dark corner, for example, were thus thought to produce mice, according to this theory, because after several weeks, there were mice in the rags. Many

Earthworm

2005-03-07T00:51:00.000-08:00

Also called angleworm any one of more than 1,800 species of terrestrial worms of the class Oligochaeta (phylum Annelida)—in particular, members of the genus Lumbricus. Seventeen native species and 13 introduced species (from Europe) occur in the eastern United States, L. terrestris being the most common. Earthworms occur in virtually all soils of the world in which the moisture

Proetus

2005-03-06T20:28:00.000-08:00

In Greek mythology, a king of Argos, grandson of Danaus. He quarreled with his brother Acrisius and divided the kingdom with him, Proetus taking Tiryns, which he fortified. Proetus' daughters were driven mad either because they insulted the goddess Hera or because they would not accept the new rites of Dionysus. They imagined themselves cows, until the seer Melampus

Abd Ar-rahman

2005-03-06T01:52:00.000-08:00

Having succeeded to the throne without internal conflict, Abd ar-Rahman became an able administrator and active builder of public works. During his long reign his authority was often challenged

Densusianu, Ovid

2005-03-05T21:28:00.000-08:00

Educated at Iasi and later in Berlin and Paris, Densusianu was appointed professor of Romance languages at the University of Bucharest. Strongly influenced by western European Symbolism, he opposed the bucolic school

Eastern Desert

2005-03-05T19:39:00.000-08:00

The Eastern Desert consists of a rolling sandy highland that rises abruptly from the Nile valley and merges

Pugachov, Yemelyan Ivanovich

2005-03-04T08:06:00.000-08:00

An illiterate Don Cossack, Pugachov fought in the Russian Army in the final battles of the Seven Years' War (1756–63), in Russia's campaign in Poland (1764), and in the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–74. Following the siege and conquest of Bendery (1769–70), however, he returned

Clovis Complex

2005-03-03T19:31:00.000-08:00

Ancient culture centred primarily on the plateau or tableland of Arizona, New Mexico, and western Texas. (It is so named from the first important site examined, in 1932, near Clovis, N.M.) This culture, which probably began sometime prior to 10,000 BC, is generally considered to be ancestral to the later Folsom complex. Like Folsom, the Clovis complex was part of the ancient big-game hunting

Amblyopia

2005-03-03T05:07:00.000-08:00

Dimness of vision that may be gradual or sudden in onset and may affect both eyes or one. It may be transient or permanent and can develop into blindness. The disorder may be caused by hysteria or by poisoning with ethyl or methyl (wood) alcohol, lead, arsenic, thallium, quinine, ergot, male fern, carbon disulfide, stramonium, or Cannabis sativa (Indian hemp, the plant from which

Vacuum Technology

2005-03-02T22:38:00.000-08:00

All processes and physical measurements carried out under conditions of below-normal atmospheric pressure. A process or physical measurement is generally performed in a vacuum for one of the following reasons: (1) to remove the constituents of the atmosphere that could cause a physical or chemical reaction during the process (e.g., vacuum melting of reactive metals

Sadhu And Swami

2005-03-02T21:53:00.000-08:00

Also spelled saddhu and swamy, Sanskrit sadhu and svamin, in India, religious or holy men. Sadhu signifies any religious ascetic or holy man. The class of sadhus includes not only genuine saints of many faiths but also men (and occasionally women) who have left their homes in order to concentrate on physical and spiritual disciplines, as well as hermits, magicians, and fortune-tellers, some of dubious religious intent. Swami

Anastasius Iv

2005-03-02T06:26:00.000-08:00

As cardinal bishop of Sabina, he had staunchly supported Pope Innocent II in 1130, serving as his vicar in Rome during the contest with the antipope Anacletus II. During his brief pontificate he was a peacemaker noted especially for settling two long-standing problems: one regarding Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa and

Brecon Beacons National Park

2005-03-01T06:15:00.000-08:00

Welsh Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog national park in southern Wales, occupying 519 square miles (1,344 square km) of mountains, moors, forests, pastureland, lakes, and the broad Usk valley. The easternmost highlands in the park are the Black Mountains (old red sandstone) of Powys county, lying east of the River Usk between Abergavenny and Hay-on-Wye, with their highest point at Waun Fach, elevation 2,660 feet (811 metres). Centrally

Mayo, Richard Southwell Bourke, 6th Earl Of, Viscount Mayo Of Monycrower, Baron Naas Of Naas

2005-02-28T17:08:00.000-08:00

The eldest son of the 5th earl, Richard Bourke spent 1838–39 traveling in Europe

Lusitania

2005-02-28T05:26:00.000-08:00

British ocean liner, the sinking of which by a German submarine on May 7, 1915, contributed indirectly to the entry of the United States into World War I. The 32,000-ton ship was returning from New York to Liverpool, with 1,959 passengers and crew on board. The sinkings of merchant ships off the south coast of Ireland and reports of submarine activity there prompted the British Admiralty

Italic Script

2005-02-27T20:33:00.000-08:00

In calligraphy, script developed by the Italian humanists about 1400 from antique Latin texts and inscriptions. The humanists called the Carolingian minuscule in which most of these sources were preserved lettera antica, mistakenly regarding it as a Roman script from the time of Cicero. The Florentine scribe Niccolò Niccoli (d. 1437) combined the rhythm and fluidity of

Paneth's Cell

2005-02-27T02:38:00.000-08:00

Also called Davidoff's Cell, specialized type of epithelial cell found in the mucous-membrane lining of the small intestine and of the appendix, at the base of tubelike depressions known as Lieberkühn glands. Named for the 19th-century Austrian physiologist Joseph Paneth, the cell has one nucleus at its base and densely packed secretory granules throughout the rest of its body. The cells' function

Gypsum

2005-02-26T00:15:00.000-08:00

Common sulfate mineral of great commercial importance, composed of hydrated calcium sulfate (CaSO4 × 2H2O). In well-developed crystals the mineral commonly has been called selenite. The fibrous massive variety has a silky lustre and is called satin spar; it is translucent and opalescent and is valued for ornaments and jewelry. The fine-grained massive variety called

Lusitania

2005-02-25T19:28:00.000-08:00

Armoured North American dinosaur of the Late Cretaceous Period (99 million to 65 million years ago). Like its close relative Ankylosaurus and the more distantly related Nodosaurus, Euoplocephalus was a massive animal that likely weighed more than two tons. Euoplocephalus differed from these and most other ankylosaurs in having a bone that protected the eyelid. The

Arabia, History Of, Oman

2005-02-25T14:29:00.000-08:00

In the last decades of the 7th century the Ibadites (Ibadiyah), regarded as a moderate Kharijite sect, conquered southern Arabia, established a Kindite imam in Hadhramaut, occupied San'a', and took Mecca and Medina, before the Umayyads drove them back to Hadhramaut. Oman had early become Kharijite; the first Ibadite imam, al-Julanda ibn Mas'ud, was elected at about the beginning of the 'Abb

Hanamichi

2005-02-25T11:44:00.000-08:00

An integral part of the Kabuki

Earth Sciences, The rise of subterranean water

2005-02-24T21:09:00.000-08:00

René Descartes supposed that the seawater diffused through subterranean channels into large caverns below the tops of mountains. The Jesuit philosopher Athanasius Kircher in his Mundus subterraneus (1664; “Subterranean World”) suggested that the tides pump seawater through hidden channels to points of outlet at springs. To explain the rise of subterranean water

Nagasaki

2005-02-23T22:04:00.000-08:00

Ken (prefecture), northwestern Kyushu, Japan, facing the East China Sea. It includes the islands of Tsushima, Iki, Hirado, and the Goto Archipelago. The prefecture has an irregular shape, with rounded Shimabara Peninsula in the southeast; Cape Nomo and Nishisonoki Peninsula enclose Omura Bay also in the southeast. Dominated by mountains, the limited agricultural land

Earth Sciences, Ocean circulation, currents, and waves

2005-02-23T16:11:00.000-08:00

Early in the century Vilhelm Bjerknes, a Norwegian meteorologist, and V. Walfrid Ekman, a Swedish physical oceanographer, investigated the dynamics of ocean circulation and developed theoretical principles that have influenced subsequent studies of currents in the sea. Bjerknes showed that very small forces resulting from pressure differences caused by

Hinayana

2005-02-23T14:29:00.000-08:00

(Sanskrit: “Lesser Vehicle”), the more orthodox, conservative schools of Buddhism; the name Hinayana was applied to these schools by the followers of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition in ancient India. The name reflected the Mahayanists' evaluation of their own tradition as a superior method, surpassing the others in universality and compassion; but the name was not accepted

Huerta, Dolores

2005-02-22T22:53:00.000-08:00

When Huerta was a child she moved to Stockton, California, with her mother and siblings after her parents' divorce. She remained in touch with her father, Juan Fernández, and took pride in his personal and

Nagasaki

2005-02-21T19:13:00.000-08:00

Organization formed in the United States in 1916 at the instigation of Rodman Wanamaker, a Philadelphia businessman, with the stated purpose of promoting interest in professional golf, elevating the standards of the game, and advancing the welfare of its members. By the late 1980s the PGA had a membership of about 8,500 playing and teaching professionals. Its annual PGA national

Francis (i)

2005-02-21T17:46:00.000-08:00

He was appointed head of government in 1564 while his father, Cosimo I, was still alive; and he succeeded his father as grand duke in 1574. The title was not precisely legitimate since it had been bestowed by the

Tasmania, Agriculture, forestry, and fishing

2005-02-21T11:20:00.000-08:00

Less than a third of Tasmania's area is agricultural land; almost all of it is used for grazing; just under half is sown pasture, and the rest is used for rough grazing or is open forest. Crops occupy only 4 percent of agricultural land but contribute one-third of the total value of agricultural production. Seasonal irrigation, mainly spray for crops and some pasture, is

China, The Taiping Rebellion

2005-02-20T06:07:00.000-08:00

In the first half of the 19th century the province of Kwangtung, the homeland of the Taiping people, was beset with accelerating social unrest. After the first Opium War, government prestige declined, and officials lost their capacity to reconcile communal feudings. The greatest among such conflicts was that between the native settlers and the so-called guest

Neutron Capture

2005-02-19T16:04:00.000-08:00

Type of nuclear reaction in which a target nucleus absorbs a neutron (uncharged particle), then emits a discrete quantity of electromagnetic energy (gamma-ray photon). The target nucleus and the product nucleus are isotopes, or forms of the same element. Thus phosphorus-31, on undergoing neutron capture, becomes phosphorus-32. The heavier isotope that results may be radioactive,

Shi'ah

2005-02-19T15:23:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Shi'a , singular Shi'i the Muslims who constitute the smaller of the two major branches of Islam, distinguished from the majority Sunnites. The Arabic term Shi'ah also denotes the system or doctrine of such Muslims. See Shi'ite.

Corbulo, Gnaeus Domitius

2005-02-19T08:38:00.000-08:00

In AD 47 Corbulo was victorious over the German tribe of the Frisii on the Rhine, thereby restoring them to Roman tributary status. Appointed legate of Galatia and Cappadocia (two provinces to the west of Armenia) by the emperor Nero in 54, Corbulo was ordered to recover Armenia from Tiridates, brother of the Parthian

Mckim, Ruby

2005-02-18T22:14:00.000-08:00

Née Ruby Short one of the 20th century's most innovative American quilt designers. Educated at the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts (now Parsons School of Design) in New York City, she later taught art classes for the Kansas City school system. Her first published quilt pattern, for the Kansas City Star in 1916, was an outgrowth

Anhalt

2005-02-18T18:13:00.000-08:00

Former German state, which was a duchy from 1863 to 1918 and a Land (state) until 1945, when it was merged in Saxony-Anhalt. Saxony-Anhalt was a Land of the German Democratic Republic from 1949 to 1952, when it was broken up into Bezirke (districts), the former territories of Anhalt being divided between the Bezirke of Magdeburg and of Halle. Upon the reunification of East and West Germany in 1990, Saxony-Anhalt

Switzerland, Soils

2005-02-17T15:16:00.000-08:00

Soil conditions and agriculture reflect the diversity of Switzerland's climate and geologic structure. The major soil groups consist of gray-brown podzolic soils and brown forest soils, loess, glacial drift, and alluvium in the Mittelland; brown forest soils, rendzinas, and the heavier glacial clays in the Jura valleys; and the lithosol and podzolized soils of the

Han Dynasty

2005-02-16T17:59:00.000-08:00

The dynasty was founded by Liu Pang, later Kao Tsu (256–195 BC), a man of humble birth who led the revolt against

Wellingborough

2005-02-16T11:18:00.000-08:00

Town and borough (district), administrative and historic county of Northamptonshire, England, situated east of Northampton along the River Nene. Wellingborough grew as a market town in the Middle Ages. After a fire in 1738, it was rebuilt on its present hill site. Wellingborough School, founded in 1595, was endowed with revenues from a suppressed medieval guild. Wellingborough's

Korean Language

2005-02-16T01:01:00.000-08:00

Language spoken by more than 72 million people, of whom 45 million live in South Korea and 24 million in North Korea. There are more than 2 million speakers in China, more than 700,000 in the United States, and somewhat fewer in Japan. More than 200,000 Koreans live in Kazakstan and Uzbekistan. Korean is the official language of both South Korea (Republic of Korea) and North Korea (Democratic People's

East African Rift System

2005-02-15T22:05:00.000-08:00

The system consists of two branches. The main branch, the Eastern Rift Valley (often called the Great Rift Valley, or Rift Valley), extends along the entire length

Buzkashi

2005-02-15T11:41:00.000-08:00

Buzkashi has two main forms: the traditional, grassroots game, known as tudabaray (Persian [Dari]: “coming out of the crowd”), and the modern government-sponsored version, qarajay (“black place”). Both feature mounted

Staffordshire Moorlands

2005-02-14T02:00:00.000-08:00

District, administrative and historic county of Staffordshire, central England, directly east of the city of Stoke-on-Trent. Staffordshire Moorlands includes part of the Peak District National Park in the northeast, where it is characterized by many bleak gritstone and limestone moorlands. Within the southern extremity of the Pennines, the moorlands extend

Hydrosphere, Distribution of precipitation

2005-02-13T05:13:00.000-08:00

Precipitation falling toward the Earth's surface may suffer several fates. It may be evaporated during its fall or after it reaches the ground surface. If the surface is covered with dense vegetation, much of the precipitation may be held on leaves and plant limbs and stems. This process is termed interception and may result in little water reaching the ground because

Taqi Khan, Mirza

2005-02-13T01:38:00.000-08:00

At an early age Mirza Taqi learned to read and write despite his humble origins. He joined the provincial bureaucracy as a scribe and, by his abilities, rapidly advanced within the hierarchy of the administration. In 1829, as a junior

Sacramento River

2005-02-12T20:32:00.000-08:00

River rising in the Klamath Mountains, near Mt. Shasta (in Siskiyou County), northern California, U.S., and flowing 382 mi (615 km) south-southwest between the Cascade and Sierra Nevada ranges, through the northern section (Sacramento Valley) of the Central Valley; it forms a common delta with the San Joaquin River before entering the north arm of San Francisco Bay. Its principal

Chandler, Seth Carlo

2005-02-12T06:20:00.000-08:00

Chandler initially worked for the U.S. Coast Survey (1864–70). He then worked as an actuary until he joined the Harvard University Observatory in 1881. From 1896 to 1909 he edited

Switzerland, Literature

2005-02-12T05:45:00.000-08:00

In the field of literature, Switzerland has produced Jean-Jacques Rousseau; the historian and critic Jacob Burckhardt; Germaine de Staël, whose home at Coppet became a centre of European literary life during the 18th century; Gottfried Keller; Conrad Ferdinand Meyer; Jeremias Gotthelf; Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz; and the Nobel Prize winners Hermann Hesse and Carl Spitteler.

East Devon

2005-02-11T15:47:00.000-08:00

District, administrative and historic county of Devon, southwestern England, in the southeastern part of the county and bordering Lyme Bay of the English Channel to the south. East Devon is historically known for its handmade lace and carpet-making industries in the eastern interior market towns of Honiton and Axminster. High-quality limestone has been quarried

Cubism

2005-02-10T14:17:00.000-08:00

Highly influential visual arts style of the 20th century that was created principally by the artists Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque in Paris between 1907 and 1914. The Cubist style emphasized the flat, two-dimensional surface of the picture plane, rejecting the traditional techniques of perspective, foreshortening, modeling, and chiaroscuro, and refuting time-honoured

Aurora

2005-02-09T20:42:00.000-08:00

City, Kane and Du Page counties, northeastern Illinois, U.S., on the Fox River. Founded as a trading point and mill site near a Potawatomi Indian village in 1834, the town was laid out in 1836. Aurora developed as both a residential and an industrial city. Many of its residents commute to Chicago, 39 miles (63 km) east. Its manufactures include heavy machinery, industrial and electrical equipment,

Duck

2005-02-09T19:20:00.000-08:00

Any of several genera of relatively small, short-necked, large-billed waterfowl that belong to the subfamily Anatinae, family Anatidae (q.v.), order Anseriformes. In true ducks, i.e., those classified in Anatinae, the legs are placed rearward, as in swans, resulting in a waddling gait. Most true ducks, including a few inaccurately called geese by reason of size and build, differ