ConsciousOrange

Sanidine

2005-10-15T21:00:00.000-07:00

Because sanidine that occurs in the Earth's crust has cooled quickly (its structure is stable only above 700° C [1,300° F]), it has trapped a disordered distribution

Mansart, François

2005-07-24T13:20:00.000-07:00

In 1642 René de Longeuil, an immensely wealthy financier and officer of the royal treasury, commissioned Mansart to build a château on his estate. The château of Maisons (now called Maisons-Laffitte, in the chief town of the département of Yvelines) is unique in that it is the only building by Mansart in which the interior decoration (graced particularly by a magnificent

Sinn Féin

2005-07-07T16:05:00.000-07:00

Political wing of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). Sinn Féin, organized in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, is a Nationalist party in Northern Ireland, representing Roman Catholics who want to achieve a united Ireland through whatever means are necessary, including violence. The party was led by Gerry Adams from 1983.

Ahvaz

2005-07-05T20:10:00.000-07:00

Arabic Ahwaz, town, southwestern Iran. Ahvaz is situated on both banks of the Karun River where it crosses a low range of sandstone hills. The town has been identified with Achaemenid Tareiana, a river crossing on the royal road connecting Susa, Persepolis, and Pasargadae. Ardashir I, the Sasanian king (224–241) who rebuilt the town, named it Hormuzd Ardashir. He dammed the river, providing irrigation

United States, Prelude to revolution

2005-06-15T13:50:00.000-07:00

The prolonged wars had also revealed the need to tighten the administration of the loosely run and widely scattered elements of the British Empire. If the course of the war had confirmed the necessity, the end of the war presented the opportunity. The acquisition of Canada required London officials to take responsibility for the unsettled western territories, now freed from the threat of French occupation. The British soon moved to take charge of the whole field of Indian relations. By royal proclamation (1763) a line was drawn down the Appalachians marking the limit of settlement from the British colonies, beyond which Indian trade was to be conducted strictly through British-appointed commissioners. These steps were not in time to prevent a serious uprising under the Ottawa chief Pontiac, however; and the proclamation, which sprang in part from a respect for Indian rights, caused consternation among British colonists for two reasons. It meant that limits were being set to the prospects of settlement and speculation in western lands, and it took control of the west out of colonial hands. The most ambitious men in the colonies thus saw the proclamation as a loss of power to control their own fortunes.

Line Islands

2005-06-02T22:15:00.000-07:00

The Line Islands extend 1,600 miles (2,600 km) northwestward from French Polynesia. They have a land area of 193 square miles (500 square km) and are divided into Northern, Central, and Southern groups.

Bark Painting

2005-05-31T17:05:00.000-07:00

Also called Tapa, or Bark Cloth, nonwoven fabric decorated with figurative and abstract designs usually applied by scratching or by painting. The basic clothlike material, produced from the inner bark, or bast, of certain trees (see bast fibre), is made by stripping off the bast, soaking it, and beating it to make the fibres interlace and to reduce thickness. The most popular material is the inner bark

Yalta Conference

2005-05-17T08:05:00.000-07:00

It had already been decided that Germany

López Y Fuentes, Gregorio

2005-05-15T05:40:00.000-07:00

In his youth he spent much time in his father's general store, where he came in contact with the Indians, farmers, and labourers of the region, whose lives he would later describe with deep insight. After unsuccessful efforts at

Sunday, Billy

2005-03-15T20:47:00.000-08:00

Sunday grew up as an orphan and worked as an undertaker's assistant before entering professional baseball in 1883. In 1891 he gave up baseball to become a YMCA worker but turned in 1896 to conducting

Empiricism

2005-03-14T01:03:00.000-08:00

In philosophy, the attitude that beliefs are to be accepted and acted upon only if they first have been confirmed by actual experience. This broad definition accords with the derivation of the name from the Greek word empeiria, �experience.� More specifically, however, Empiricism comprises a pair of closely related, but still distinct, philosophical doctrines - one

Harburg

2005-03-12T10:30:00.000-08:00

Southern industrial district of the city and Land (state) of Hamburg, Germany. The district lies on the left bank of the southern arm of the Elbe River. It was first mentioned in 1142 as Horeburg, was united with the commune of Wilhelmsburg in 1927, and was incorporated into Hamburg in 1937. The district has port facilities and an electrical power station. Pop. (1992 est.) 5,814.

Aelian

2005-03-10T17:02:00.000-08:00

Aelian was an admirer and student of the writings of Plato, Aristotle, Isocrates, Plutarch, Homer, and others, and his own works preserve many excerpts from earlier

Gaekwar Dynasty

2005-03-09T13:28:00.000-08:00

The founder of the dynasty was Damaji I who had risen to power by 1740. The last Gaekwar, Sayaji Rao III, died in 1939.

Chandos (of Sudeley), John Brydges, 1st Baron

2005-03-08T01:28:00.000-08:00

Brydges was descended from Sir John Chandos, a famous medieval knight, and served in the French wars of Henry VIII. He was knighted in 1513. During Queen Mary I's reign he was lieutenant of the Tower of London (1553 - 54) and, having helped in the suppression of Sir Thomas Wyat's rebellion, was created

Jhabua

2005-03-07T23:58:00.000-08:00

Town, administrative headquarters of Jhabua district, Madhya Pradesh state, central India. Located on Bahadur Sagar (lake), it was founded in the 16th century by a Labhana freebooter and served as the capital of the former Jhabua princely state. It is a local agricultural and timber market connected by road with Dhar. There is a government college affiliated with Vikram

Pigou, Arthur Cecil

2005-03-06T11:49:00.000-08:00

Educated at King's College, Cambridge, Pigou was considered one of Alfred Marshall's best students. When Marshall retired as a professor of political economy in 1908, Pigou was named as Marshall's replacement. Pigou was responsible for disseminating

France, History Of, Austrasian hegemony and the rise of the Pepinids

2005-03-05T07:26:00.000-08:00

The murder of Ebro�n (680 or 683) reversed the situation in favour of Austrasia and the Pepinids. Pepin II, who defeated the Neustrians at Tertry in 687, reunified northern Francia under his own control during the next decade. Austrasia and Neustria were reunited under a Merovingian figurehead, but Pepin II governed by virtue of his position as mayor of the palace. At the same time,

Abbas, Mahmoud

2005-03-04T08:42:00.000-08:00

After months of intense international pressure, Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, was installed as Palestinian prime minister on April 30, 2003. As a condition for pursuing their road map to peace, the quartet (U.S., European Union, Russia, and UN) had insisted on the appointment of a prime minister with wide powers in a move to circumvent Palestinian Pres. Yasir Arafat, who

Floor Exercise

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

Gymnastics event in which movements are performed on the floor in an area 12 metres (40 feet) square. This area is covered by some type of cloth or mat, usually with some cushioning. No other apparatus is used. Men's routines are 50 to 70 seconds in duration. The type of exercise required is a series of movements combining elements of flexibility, strength, jumps, holding of poses, and

Heidelberg, University Of

2005-03-02T03:55:00.000-08:00

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

Jeune Afrique

2005-03-01T17:35:00.000-08:00

In full� Jeune Afrique, L'hebdomadaire Internationale De L'afrique� (French: �Young Africa, International Weekly of Africa�), weekly news magazine in the French language that presents news and interpretative and editorial commentary on Africa, especially French-speaking Africa. It is published in Paris and is the preeminent news magazine covering African affairs in French and perhaps in any language. It was founded in 1960. Jeune

Anderson, Richard Heron

2005-02-28T14:46:00.000-08:00

Anderson graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1842 and won the brevet of first lieutenant in the Mexican War, becoming first lieutenant in 1848 and captain in 1855; he took part in the following year in the Kansas troubles. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, he resigned from the

Alcal�, Calle De

2005-02-27T10:40:00.000-08:00

One of the main thoroughfares of Madrid. It originates at the eastern edge of the Puerta del Sol (the focal point and principal square of the city) and runs northeast approximately 4 mi (6 km) through the Plaza de la Independencia and the Puerta de Alcal� (a gateway originally built in 1599 and rebuilt in 1778). A broad, tree-lined avenue, it contains government offices and banks and is

Croghan, George

2005-02-26T04:14:00.000-08:00

Migrating from Ireland in 1741, Croghan settled on the western

Croghan, George

2005-02-25T20:59:00.000-08:00

Organization formed in New York City in 1911 during a convention of state antisuffrage groups. Led by Josephine Dodge, the founder and first president, the NAOWS believed that woman suffrage would decrease women's work in communities and their ability to effect societal reforms. Active on a state and federal level, the group also established a newsletter, Woman's

Handicap

2005-02-24T01:19:00.000-08:00

In sports and games, method of offsetting the varying abilities or characteristics of competitors in order to equalize their chances of winning. Handicapping takes many, often complicated, forms. In horse racing, a track official known as the handicapper may assign weights to horses according to their speed in previous performances; the presumed fastest horse

China, The armed forces

2005-02-23T03:36:00.000-08:00

The command of the armed forces was also arranged so as to avoid giving excessive powers to a single individual. General officers were usually appointed in pairs, and, in times of emergency or when a campaign was being planned with a defined objective, officers were appointed for a specific task; when their mission was fulfilled, their commands were brought to a close.

Philadelphia

2005-02-22T15:11:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1833) of Neshoba county, east-central Mississippi, U.S., and headquarters of the Choctaw Indian Agency, 80 miles (130 km) northeast of Jackson. It was settled on an old Native American site, Aloon Looanshaw, following the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek (1830) and named for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The agency was established in 1918, and the majority of the state's several thousand

Dieting

2005-02-21T10:10:00.000-08:00

Regulating one's food intake for the purpose of improving one's physical condition, especially for the purpose of reducing obesity, or what is conceived to be excess body fat. Dieting plans are based on the reduction of any of the macronutrients (fats, carbohydrates, and proteins) that constitute the major portions of food that a person eats (other than water) and that

Ear Disease, Keloid of the ear

2005-02-20T13:30:00.000-08:00

In dark-skinned people, overgrowth of scar tissue from any skin incision or injury can cause a thickened elevation on the scar called a keloid. Having the earlobes pierced for earrings sometimes results in a large, painless nodular keloid enlargement of the earlobe, harmless but unsightly. Keloids are removed surgically (see also skin disease).

Tardieu, Andr�

2005-02-19T23:09:00.000-08:00

A member of an upper middle-class family, Tardieu studied at the �cole Normale Sup�rieure. After a period in the diplomatic service, he made his reputation as foreign editor of Le Temps. Elected

Z�padocesk�

2005-02-18T01:39:00.000-08:00

Also called �Z�padn� Cechy�, English �Western Bohemia� kraj (region), western Czech Republic. It is bordered by Germany on the north and west and by Severocesk�, Stredocesk�, and Jihocesk� kraje on the east. It is surrounded by mountains on its external boundaries and contains a series of hilly ranges running southwest to northeast. The region's only lowland areas are the valleys of the Berounka River and its several tributaries

Aracaju

2005-02-17T13:08:00.000-08:00

Port city and capital, Sergipe estado (�state�), northeastern Brazil, lying on the Continguiba River at the base of a ridge of sand hills 6 miles (10 km) from the coast. The city, which was founded in 1855 as a new state capital, is laid out in an unusual grid pattern. It is a regional commercial and industrial centre, processing leather, bananas, cassava, feij�o (beans), mangoes, cashews, salt,

Indian Grass

2005-02-16T07:58:00.000-08:00

(species Sorghastrum nutans), tall perennial forage grass of the family Poaceae and one of the important constituents of the North American tall grass prairie. It bears narrow, greatly branched flower clusters. Each yellow spikelet is fringed with white hairs, giving the plant a silver-and-gold appearance. It is a close relative of S.

Terneplate

2005-02-15T17:04:00.000-08:00

Steel sheet with a coating of terne metal, an alloy of lead and tin applied by dipping the steel in molten metal. The alloy has a dull appearance resulting from the high lead content. The composition of terne metal ranges from 50 - 50 mixtures of lead and tin to as low as 12 percent tin and 88 percent lead. The tin serves to wet the steel, making possible the union of lead and iron, which

Yung-lo

2005-02-14T11:03:00.000-08:00

In the early years of his reign, he seems to have been fascinated by the regions beyond China's southern borders, perhaps in part because of rumours that the emperor Chu Y�n-wen had escaped overseas. In 1403 the Yung-lo emperor sent out three fleets under eunuch commanders to proclaim his accession throughout Southeast Asia as far as Java and southern India. More vigorously

Bithynia

2005-02-13T22:27:00.000-08:00

Ancient district in northwestern Anatolia, adjoining the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the Black Sea, thus occupying an important and precarious position between East and West. Late in the 2nd millennium BC, Bithynia was occupied by warlike tribes of Thracian origin who harried Greek settlers and Persian envoys alike. Their remarkable pugnacity kept them from

Arts, East Asian, Forms of the 16th - 18th centuries

2005-02-12T03:54:00.000-08:00

The flourishing of regional music-drama has continued throughout the centuries from the Sung dynasty until the present day. Musically they vary greatly in their instrumentation and particularly in their voice qualities. However, all tend to follow a tradition of using either standard complete pieces (lian-ch'�) or stereotyped melodic styles (pan-ch'iang) in every

Table

2005-02-11T20:39:00.000-08:00

Egyptian tables were made of wood, Assyrian of metal, and Grecian usually of bronze. Roman tables took on quite elaborate forms, the legs carved in the shapes of animals, sphinxes, or grotesque

Fish Oil

2005-02-10T10:17:00.000-08:00

Fatty oil from the bodies of fishes, used in the manufacture of many products, such as margarine, cooking oil, cosmetics, caulking compounds, paints, industrial coatings, lubricants, water repellents, soaps, and candles. It is also used in the tanning of leather, the manufacture of rubber, and the production of chemicals used for making synthetic wax. Anchovy, menhaden,

Turbo Train

2005-02-09T16:07:00.000-08:00

High-speed passenger train powered by a gas-turbine engine similar to that used in jet aircraft. Unlike conventional trains, the turbo variety does not have a separate locomotive; its turbine power unit is small enough to be built into a passenger car. A typical turbo train consists of several passenger cars with power units located in each of the end cars. The cars

Eclogite

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

Any member of a small group of igneous and metamorphic rocks whose composition is similar to that of basalt. Eclogites consist primarily of green pyroxene (omphacite) and red garnet (pyrope), with small amounts of various other stable minerals - e.g., olivine and diopside. They are formed when volcanic or metamorphic rocks rich in such mafic minerals are subjected to

Microscope, The compound microscope

2005-02-07T06:40:00.000-08:00

The compound microscope, using an objective and an eyepiece, was first described in the 16th century, but all drawings of the period indicate very impractical arrangements of lenses. The first useful compound microscope was constructed in the Netherlands sometime between 1590 and 1608. Three spectacle makers - Hans Jansen, his son Zacharias, and Hans Lippershey - have each received

Tribe

2005-02-06T22:47:00.000-08:00

In cultural anthropology, theoretical type of human social organization based on small groups defined by traditions of common descent and having temporary or permanent political integration above the family level and a shared language, culture, and ideology. In the ideal model of a tribe, members typically share a tribal name and a contiguous territory; they

Bouraoui, H�di (andr�

2005-02-05T00:42:00.000-08:00

Bouraoui specialized in English literature at the University of Toulouse in France and then, in the United States, received degrees in English and American literature at Indiana University and in romance

L�pez Michelsen, Alfonso

2005-02-04T15:14:00.000-08:00

The son of Alfonso L�pez Pumarejo, who was twice president of Colombia (1934 - 38 and 1942 - 45), L�pez Michelsen was educated in Bogot�, Paris, London, and Brussels, with postgraduate studies at Georgetown University and the University of Chile. Returning to Colombia from voluntary exile in Mexico in 1958, he organized a new party of dissident Liberals, the

Lithuania

2005-02-03T09:25:00.000-08:00

Adapting his administrative

Dennis

2005-02-02T11:26:00.000-08:00

Town (township), Barnstable county, southeastern Massachusetts, U.S. It extends across Cape Cod and includes the villages of Dennis, Dennis Port (Dennisport), East Dennis, South Dennis, and West Dennis. Settled in 1639, it was a part of Yarmouth until 1793, when it was incorporated and named for Josiah Dennis, pastor of the first meetinghouse. Clipper ships were once built in Shiverick

Aerospace Industry, Military aircraft

2005-02-01T00:12:00.000-08:00

The large majority of military aircraft are fighters, followed by bombers, transporter-tankers, early-warning and patrol aircraft, and a variety of propeller- and jet-driven trainers. As is the case with commercial aircraft, the complexity of the technology and the immense capital requirements have narrowed the number of suppliers. In addition, the end of the Cold

Cymbal

2005-01-31T08:27:00.000-08:00

Percussion instrument consisting of a circular flat or concave metal plate that is struck with a drumstick or is used in pairs struck glancingly together. They were used, often ritually, in Assyria, Israel (from c. 1100 BC), Egypt, and other ancient civilizations and reached East Asia in medieval times and Europe before

African Literature, Xhosa

2005-01-30T02:41:00.000-08:00

As in Zulu literature, the themes of the heroic past and of the opposition between beneficent tradition and harsh modernity are much in evidence. The question of how best to come to terms with change is also central in Xhosa literature. Much important early writing, expressing Xhosa aspirations and views on Christianity and tradition, appeared in the Xhosa-language

Capital Levy

2005-01-29T04:38:00.000-08:00

Strictly defined, a direct tax assessed simultaneously on the capital resources of all persons possessing taxable wealth in excess of a minimum value and paid at least partly out of capital resources. This definition excludes death duties because in any given year their application is necessarily limited to the estates of deceased persons. Various taxes have

Sukhothai Style

2005-01-28T08:09:00.000-08:00

The most direct influence on Sukhothai style

Skanda

2005-01-27T06:45:00.000-08:00

Also called �Karttikeya, Kumara, or Subrahmanya, � Hindu god of war and the first-born son of Siva (Shiva). The many legends giving the circumstances of his birth are often at variance with one another. One account is given by Kalidasa (4th and 5th centuries AD) in his epic poem Kumarasambhava (�The Birth of the War God�). The versions all generally agree that the gods wished for Skanda to be born in order to destroy the demon Taraka, who had

Rabat

2005-01-26T18:43:00.000-08:00

Town, west-central Malta, adjoining Mdina, west of Valletta. In Roman times the site of Mdina and Rabat was occupied by Melita, the island's capital. The modern names date from the Arab occupation of Malta, when Mdina was fortified and what remained outside the walls was called rabat (�suburb�). There are many Roman ruins, including a partially restored villa housing a museum.

Ligament

2005-01-25T00:19:00.000-08:00

Tough fibrous band of connective tissue that serves to support the internal organs and hold bones together in proper articulation at the joints. A ligament is composed of dense fibrous bundles of collagenous fibres and spindle-shaped cells known as fibroblasts, with little ground substance (a gel-like component of the various connective tissues). Ligaments may

La Victoria

2005-01-24T06:36:00.000-08:00

Quarter and district of the Lima-Callao metropolitan area of Peru, south of downtown Lima. It is mainly residential, with slums in the north, pueblos j�venes (�young towns�), or squatter settlements, in the east, and middle-income housing in the south. The district is the site of Peru's largest wholesale and retail market area, near which are many light industries. La Victoria

Morris, Clara

2005-01-23T16:47:00.000-08:00

Morris was the eldest child of a bigamous marriage. When she was three her father was exposed, and her mother fled with her to Cleveland, Ohio, where they adopted her grandmother's name, Morrison. Clara received only

Tiger Beetle

2005-01-22T09:20:00.000-08:00

Any member of the approximately 2,000 species of the insect family Cicindelidae (order Coleoptera). The name derives from their voracious eating habits. The larva lives in a vertical burrow, which is sometimes as much as 0.67 m (2 feet) deep. It waits at the top of the burrow for prey (insects), which it grasps with sicklelike mandibles (jaws). A pair of hooks on the abdomen anchor the larva,

Meletius Of Lycopolis

2005-01-21T00:52:00.000-08:00

For presuming to ordain clergy and bishops for Christian

Adamawa

2005-01-20T19:04:00.000-08:00

The Mandara Mountains lie in the northeastern part of the state along the Cameroon border,

Biology, The discovery of cells

2005-01-19T07:42:00.000-08:00

Of the five microscopists, Robert Hooke was perhaps the most intellectually preeminent. As curator of instruments at the Royal Society of London, he was in touch with all new scientific developments and exhibited interest in such disparate subjects as flying and the construction of clocks. In 1665 Hooke published his Micrographia, which was primarily a review of a

Affirmation

2005-01-18T07:48:00.000-08:00

In law, a promise by a witness concerning testimony allowed in place of an oath to those who cannot, because of conscience, swear an oath. For example, members of the Society of Friends (Quakers), Jehovah's Witnesses, and other persons who have objections against taking an oath are allowed to make affirmation in any manner they may declare to be binding upon their consciences

Coiba Island

2005-01-17T18:11:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Quibo Island, �Spanish �Isla De Coiba or Quibo, � Central American island in the Pacific Ocean, administered by Veraguas province, Panama. Lying 15 mi (24 km) offshore and separated from the mainland by the Gulf of Montijo on the east and the Gulf of Chiriqu� on the northwest, the island measures about 20 mi from north to south and 10 mi from east to west. It has an area of 191 sq mi (494 sq km) and rises to a maximum elevation of 1,400 ft (425 m). Coiba is the

Turkic Languages

2005-01-16T04:36:00.000-08:00

Turkic literary languages have emerged in different cultural centres. The older ones can be broadly determined as Uighur, Oghuz, and Kipchak or as mixtures of elements from these branches. Beginning in the 15th century, more distinct literary languages developed, in part as points of departure for modern languages (e.g., Ottoman for Modern Turkish or Chagatai for Uzbek

Lamarr, Hedy

2005-01-15T11:10:00.000-08:00

The daughter of a prosperous Viennese banker, Lamarr was privately tutored from age four; by the time she was

Latin Literature, History

2005-01-14T10:53:00.000-08:00

Quintus Fabius Pictor wrote his pioneering history of Rome during the Second Punic War, using public and private records and writing in Greek. His immediate successors followed suit. Latin historical writing began with Cato's Origines. After him there were as many historiasters, or worthless historians, as the poetasters disdained by Cicero. The first great exception

Amara, Lucine

2005-01-13T05:42:00.000-08:00

Amara studied singing in San Francisco, where she sang in the chorus of the San Francisco Opera (1945 - 46) and made her concert debut at the War Memorial Opera House (c. 1946). She continued her studies at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, Calif. (1947), and won a contest leading to an

Tigellinus, Ofonius

2005-01-10T04:53:00.000-08:00

A Sicilian by birth, Tigellinus was prefect of the vigiles (�fire brigades�) before becoming prefect of the Praetorian Guard in 62. Early sources maintain that he rose to power by encouraging Nero in his vices. He actively pressed Nero's reign

Wagner, Honus

2005-01-09T11:18:00.000-08:00

The �Flying Dutchman� played for the Louisville Colonels

Price, Sir Uvedale, 1st Baronet

2005-01-08T00:25:00.000-08:00

Price was a wealthy country squire, Knight his friend and neighbour; both were enthusiastic amateur landscape designers and critics of the prevailing trend.

Azuela, Mariano

2005-01-07T02:51:00.000-08:00

Azuela received an M.D. degree in Guadalajara in 1899 and practiced medicine, first in his native town and after 1916 in Mexico City. His best-known work, Los de abajo (1916; The Under Dogs), depicting the futility of the revolution, was written at the

Cup Fungus

2005-01-06T11:35:00.000-08:00

Any member of the series Discomycetes, a large group of fungi (kingdom Fungi) in the class Ascomycetes and typically characterized by a disk- or cup-shaped structure (apothecium) bearing spore sacs (asci) on its surface. Some of the cup fungi are important plant pathogens, such as Monilinia (Sclerotinia), causing brown rot in peach and other stone fruits. Others are saprobes,

France, History Of, The cities

2005-01-05T00:24:00.000-08:00

Urban society was also troubled. The walled town stood out ever more starkly against the countryside as siege warfare intimidated or destroyed the suburbs that had been built in a less anxious day. Royal taxation, often inequitably administered, exacerbated old tensions in the towns; fiscal policy or the regulation of wages or supplies was largely at issue in the

Azerbaijan, Industry

2005-01-04T07:17:00.000-08:00

Azerbaijan has a diversified industrial base, with the leading branches of heavy industry - power, manufacturing, and chemical production - predominating. Branches of the processing industry, producing mineral fertilizers, gasoline, kerosene, herbicides, industrial oils, synthetic rubber, and plastics, have developed, and Sumqayit has emerged as the major centre

Ba'al Shem Tov

2005-01-03T14:53:00.000-08:00

Byname of �Israel Ben Eliezer, �acronym �Besht� charismatic founder (c. 1750) of Hasidism, a Jewish spiritual movement characterized by mysticism and opposition to secular studies and Jewish rationalism. He aroused controversy by mixing with ordinary people, renouncing mortification of the flesh, and insisting on the holiness of ordinary bodily existence. He was also responsible

Flanders

2005-01-02T16:16:00.000-08:00

Flemish �Vlaams�, formally �Flemish Region�, Flemish �Vlaamse Gewest� region that comprises the northern half of Belgium. Flanders was created in 1995 in the reorganization of Belgium's provincial administration along ethnic-linguistic lines. It includes the Flemish-speaking provinces of Antwerp, East Flanders, Limburg, Flemish Brabant, and West Flanders (qq.v.). The Brussels-Capital Region lies within but is administratively separate

Earn

2005-01-01T20:55:00.000-08:00

Loch (lake) and river, central Scotland. Loch Earn lies on the boundary between the council area of Stirling and the council area of Perth and Kinross, and the River Earn flows through Perth and Kinross. Loch Earn is 6.5 miles (10.5 km) from east to west with a maximum width of 0.5 mile (0.8 km). Lochearnhead is situated at the western end of the loch and St. Fillan's village at the eastern extremity,

Pyrobitumen

2004-12-31T13:20:00.000-08:00

Pyrobitumens may be either asphaltic or nonasphaltic. The asphaltic pyrobitumens are derived from petroleum, are relatively hard, and have

China, The practice of government

2004-12-30T17:05:00.000-08:00

As the final arbiter of power, the emperor - and at times the empress dowager - issued edicts declaring the Imperial will. Such instructions often took the form of repeating officials' proposals with a note of approval. Some edicts were couched as comments on the current situation and called in general terms for an improvement in the quality of government or for more

Alkaline-earth Metal

2004-12-29T17:41:00.000-08:00

Prior to the 19th century, substances that were nonmetallic, insoluble in water, and unchanged by fire were known as earths. Those earths, like lime, that resembled the alkalies (soda ash and

H�lderlin, (johann Christian) Friedrich

2004-12-28T14:14:00.000-08:00

H�lderlin was born in a little Swabian town on the River Neckar. His father died in 1772, and two years afterward his mother married the burgomaster of the town of N�rtingen, where

Bonaparte, Charles Joseph

2004-12-27T21:05:00.000-08:00

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

Silver Age

2004-12-26T07:37:00.000-08:00

In Latin literature, the period from approximately AD 18 to 133, which was a time of marked literary achievement second only to the previous Golden Age (70 BC - AD 18). By the 1st century AD political patronage of the arts begun in the Augustan Age (43 BC - AD 18) and a stifling reverence for the literature of the Golden Age, particularly for the poetry of Virgil, had led to a general decline in original literary

Anta

2004-12-24T05:16:00.000-08:00

The bases

De Niro, Robert

2004-12-23T00:35:00.000-08:00

The son of two Greenwich Village artists, De Niro dropped out of school at age 16 to study at the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting. After working in a few Off-Off-Broadway plays, he appeared in his first film, Brian De Palma's The Wedding Party (1963, released

De Niro, Robert

2004-12-22T15:08:00.000-08:00

Anatosaurus grew to a length of 9 - 12 metres (30 - 40 feet) and was heavily built. The skull was long and the beak

Kidney Stone

2004-12-21T11:26:00.000-08:00

Also called �Renal Calculus, �plural �Renal Calculi, � concretion of minerals and organic matter that forms in the kidneys. Such stones may become so large as to impair normal renal function. Urine contains many salts in solution and if the concentration of mineral salts becomes excessive, the excess salt precipitates as solid particles called stones. Kidney stones are classified as primary if they form without apparent

Holstein, Friedrich Von

2004-12-20T19:25:00.000-08:00

Holstein was raised on his family's estate in Pomerania and their town house in Berlin. Throughout his youth, his family spent a great deal of time traveling abroad, and Holstein became fluent in several foreign languages. A sickly boy, he was educated mostly by private tutors, and, after studying at the University of Berlin, he joined the legal section of the Prussian

Science Fiction

2004-12-19T01:21:00.000-08:00

Such literature may consist of a careful and informed extrapolation of scientific

Mcmanus, Rachel Louise

2004-12-18T10:47:00.000-08:00

McManus graduated from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, before earning a nursing degree from the Massachusetts General Hospital School of Nursing. Her long association with Columbia

Cloaca Maxima

2004-12-17T00:49:00.000-08:00

Ancient Roman sewer, one of the oldest monuments in the Roman Forum. Originally an open channel constructed in the 6th century BC by lining an existing stream bed with stone, it was enclosed, beginning in the 3rd century BC, with a stone barrel (semicircular) vault. Its primary function was to carry off storm water from the Forum district to the Tiber, but in Imperial times large

Junee

2004-12-16T19:36:00.000-08:00

Town, south central New South Wales, Australia, just north of Wagga Wagga in the fertile Riverina district. Founded in 1863 as Jewnee, it was known as Jewnee Junction or Loftus when proclaimed a town in 1883 and was gazetted a municipality in 1886. It became a shire in 1981. Its name is Aboriginal for �speak to me.� On the main southern rail line from Sydney (216 mi [348 km] northeast), Junee has large locomotive

Tarawa

2004-12-15T15:25:00.000-08:00

Coral atoll of the Gilbert Islands and capital of Kiribati. It lies in the west-central Pacific Ocean, 2,800 miles (4,500 km) northeast of Australia and is the most populous atoll in the Gilberts. Tarawa consists of 15 islets, with a total land area of 12 square miles (31 square km) on a reef 22 miles (35 km) long. The atoll is a commercial and educational centre with port facilities on the islets of Betio,

Aerospace Industry, Mergers and divestitures

2004-12-14T01:14:00.000-08:00

With a decline in defense funding and a narrowing of commercial markets in the decades following World War II, the number of business opportunities shrank, and competition for each project became more intense. In response, aerospace companies sought mergers as a way to integrate strengths, to combine talent and other resources, and to reduce costs by eliminating

Hawthorn

2004-12-12T08:14:00.000-08:00

Also called �Haw, or Thornapple, � any of a number of thorny shrubs or small trees of the genus Crataegus, in the rose family (Rosaceae), native to the North Temperate Zone. Many species are native to North America. The hawthorn's leaves are simple, and usually toothed or lobed. The white or pink flowers, usually in clusters, are followed by small applelike, red fruits, or more rarely by blue or black

Furniture, Modern

2004-12-10T05:38:00.000-08:00

Modern furniture design after World

Remiremont

2004-12-09T08:31:00.000-08:00

Town, Vosges d�partement, Franche - Comt� region, eastern France. It lies along the Moselle River near the latter's confluence with the Moselotte and is surrounded by wooded heights. Remiremont (Romaraci Mons) is named after St. Romaric, a companion of St. Columban at Luxeuil, who in the 7th century founded a monastery and a convent on the hills above the present town. In 910 an

Mugabe, Robert

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

The son of a village carpenter, Mugabe was trained as a teacher in a Roman Catholic mission