FrequentSpring

Term

2005-03-18T17:27:00.000-08:00

In the visual arts, element consisting of a sculptured figure or bust at the top of a stone pillar or column that usually tapers downward to a quadrangular base. Often the pillar replaces the body of the figure, with feet sometimes indicated at its base. The pillar itself may be a separate object (i.e., a pedestal for the head or other sculpture), in which case it is called a

Bacab

2005-03-14T21:23:00.000-08:00

In Mayan mythology, any of four gods, thought to be brothers, who, with upraised arms, supported the multilayered sky from their assigned positions at the four cardinal points of the compass. (The Bacabs may also have been four manifestations of a single deity.) The four brothers were probably the offspring of Itzamná, the supreme deity, and Ixchel, the goddess of weaving,

Law, Crime, And Law Enforcement, Other Issues.

2005-03-10T11:46:00.000-08:00

That not all disputes were susceptible to peaceful means of settlement was shown when a sudden border war flared up between Peru and Ecuador in January over a 77-km (48-mi) stretch of disputed land along the Cenepa River. The hostilities, which involved ground and air troops, were ended by a treaty signed in Brasília, Brazil, on February 17 providing for negotiations toward

Chicago

2005-03-08T19:14:00.000-08:00

Rock band, among the most popular American recording artists of all time, with sales of more than 100 million records. Initially a jazz-rock unit, Chicago thrived as it moved toward a lighter, ballad-oriented rock style. Its original members were Terry Kath (b. Jan. 31, 1946, Chicago, Ill., U.S.— d. Jan. 23, 1978, Los Angeles, Calif.), Peter Cetera (b. Sept. 13, 1944, Chicago), Robert Lamm (b. Oct. 13, 1944, New York, N.Y.), Walter

Aurangzeb

2005-03-06T04:20:00.000-08:00

Aurangzeb's reign falls into two almost equal parts. In the first, which lasted until about 1680, he was a capable Muslim monarch of a mixed Hindu-Muslim empire and as such was generally disliked for his ruthlessness but feared and respected for his vigour and skill. During this period he was much occupied with safeguarding the northwest from Persians and Central Asian

Pohjanmaa

2005-03-05T03:47:00.000-08:00

Also called Ostrobothnia, or Ostrobothnian Plain, Swedish Österbotten, lowland plain in Vaasa and Oulu läänit (provinces), western Finland, along the Gulf of Bothnia. Pohjanmaa is about 60 miles (100 km) wide and 160 miles (257 km) long. It consists of flat plains of sand and clay soil that are broken by rivers and bog areas. It is drained mainly by the Lapuan, Kyrön, and Iso rivers, which flow to the Gulf of Bothnia. The lowlands are divided between agricultural

Nahman Ben Simhah Of Bratslav

2005-03-03T18:49:00.000-08:00

The great-grandson of the Ba'al Shem Tov, the founder of the Hasidic movement, Nahman was an ascetic from childhood. Married at age 13, he became a self-appointed religious leader and teacher at about age 20. After studying (1798–99) in Tiberius,

Bulgarian Language

2005-02-28T17:09:00.000-08:00

Bulgarian Bulgarski ezik South Slavic language written in the Cyrillic alphabet and spoken in Bulgaria and parts of Greece, Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine. Together with Macedonian, to which it is most closely related, Bulgarian contrasts sharply with the other Slavic languages in its almost complete loss of case declension in the noun and in its use of certain grammatical features found

Nivkh Language

2005-02-24T07:03:00.000-08:00

Formerly called Gilyak Language, isolated language with two main dialects spoken by some 400 Nivkh, roughly 10 percent of the ethnic group. The Nivkh live on Sakhalin Island and along the estuary of the Amur River in eastern Siberia. Nivkh is not known to be related to any other language, and it is usually included with the Luorawetlan languages and the Yeniseian languages in the catchall areal category

France, History Of, Charles V

2005-02-22T16:35:00.000-08:00

Under the former dauphin, now Charles V (1364–80), the fortunes of war were dramatically reversed. Charles had a high conception of royalty and a good political sense. While he shared the Valois taste for luxury and festivity, he reverted to the Capetian tradition of prudent diplomacy. He observed the Treaty of Calais, which helps to explain why Edward III did not press to conclude

Science, Museum Of

2005-02-21T16:17:00.000-08:00

In Boston, Mass., major American museum of science and technology, founded in 1830. Its exhibits include rocks and minerals, plants, mounted animals, models of manned space capsules, medical topics, electricity, and other topics. The Charles Hayden Planetarium is on the museum grounds, and there is an extensive science library. Publications include a monthly

Hancock

2005-02-20T18:05:00.000-08:00

County, southeastern Maine, U.S. It is located in a mountain-and-valley region bounded to the west by the Penobscot River and to the south by several bays of the Atlantic Ocean and includes many islands. The rugged coastline was formed by a flooded mountain range; Mount Desert Island features Cadillac Mountain (1,532 feet [467 metres]), the highest Atlantic coast summit in Maine,

Bush, George W.

2005-02-18T22:43:00.000-08:00

In full George Walker Bush 43rd president of the United States (2001– ). Narrowly winning the electoral college vote over Vice President Al Gore in one of the closest and most controversial elections in American history, George W. Bush became the first person since Benjamin Harrison in 1888 to become president despite having lost the nationwide popular vote. He was narrowly reelected in 2004, defeating Democratic challenger John Kerry. Before assuming the presidency of the United States, Bush was a businessman and served as governor of Texas (1995–2000). (For a discussion of the history and nature of the presidency, see presidency of the United States of America.)

Port Harcourt

2005-02-18T11:22:00.000-08:00

Port town and capital of Rivers state, southern Nigeria. It lies along the Bonny River (an eastern distributary of the Niger River) 41 miles (66 km) upstream from the Gulf of Guinea. Founded in 1912 in an area traditionally inhabited by the Ijo people, it began to serve as a port (named for Lewis Harcourt, then colonial secretary) after the opening of the rail link to the Enugu coalfields

Children's Literature, The discovery of the child

2005-02-17T14:33:00.000-08:00

A self-aware literature flows from a recognition of its proper subject matter. The proper subject matter of children's literature, apart from informational or didactic works, is children. More broadly, it embraces the whole content of the child's imaginative world and that of his daily environment, as well as certain ideas and sentiments characteristic of it. The

Parsons Table

2005-02-16T21:26:00.000-08:00

Also called T-square Table, simple, sturdy rectangular table having straight lines, overall flush surfaces, and square legs that form the four corners of the top and whose diameter is identical with the thickness of the top. It is not certain who designed the Parsons table, and it may have been the result of a class project, but prototypes exist in the early work of both the French interior designer

Bacheller, Irving (addison)

2005-02-15T04:04:00.000-08:00

Bacheller graduated from St. Lawrence University, Canton, N.Y., in 1882 and entered journalism. In 1883 in Brooklyn, N.Y., he founded the first modern newspaper syndicate and through

Scandinavian Literature, The Eddaic verse forms

2005-02-13T10:13:00.000-08:00

Three metres are commonly distinguished in Eddaic poetry: the epic measure, the speech measure, and the song measure. Most narrative poems were in the first measure, which consisted of short lines of two beats joined in pairs by alliteration. The number of weakly stressed syllables might vary, but the total number of syllables in the line was rarely fewer than four.

Zacapa

2005-02-12T22:32:00.000-08:00

Town, eastern Guatemala, situated at 738 feet (225 m) above sea level along the San José River. Although the town is old, it grew greatly in size and importance only after the Puerto Barrios–Guatemala City railroad was completed in 1896; it is the junction of the line from El Salvador. Zacapa is also a commercial and manufacturing centre for the agricultural and pastoral hinterland,

Schaffhausen

2005-02-12T18:38:00.000-08:00

French Schaffhouse, capital of Schaffhausen canton, northern Switzerland, on the right bank of the Rhine, west of Lake Constance (Bodensee). The site was first mentioned in 1045 as Villa Scafhusun. About 1049 Count Eberhard III of Nellenburg founded there the Benedictine monastery of All Saints, around which the community developed. The town became a free imperial city between 1190 and 1218 but fell under

Coke, Thomas

2005-02-11T00:27:00.000-08:00

Coke was ordained an Anglican priest in 1772 and served as curate at South Petherton, Somerset, from 1772 to 1776. After meeting Wesley, however,

Animuccia, Giovanni

2005-02-10T06:20:00.000-08:00

Little is known of Animuccia's life until 1555, when he became choirmaster at St. Peter's Basilica, Rome. His laudi spirituali, religious part-songs sung in Italian, were composed to be performed during St. Philip Neri's popular services at the Oratory of San Girolamo

Uvarovite

2005-02-08T23:16:00.000-08:00

Calcium chromium garnet found as small, brilliant, green crystals. It is the rarest of all the garnets, and its crystals commonly are too small to be cut. Otherwise, it would rival emerald as a popular gemstone because of its beautiful colour. Typical occurrences are in chromite, as in the northern Urals, California, Canada, Finland, and Silesia in Poland. For details of

Habsburg, House Of

2005-02-07T17:07:00.000-08:00

The name Habsburg is derived from the castle of Habsburg, or Habichtsburg (“Hawk's Castle”), built in 1020 by Werner, bishop of Strasbourg, and his brother-in-law, Count Radbot, in the Aargau overlooking the Aar River, in what is now Switzerland. Radbot's grandfather, Guntram the Rich, the earliest traceable ancestor of the house, may perhaps be identified with a Count Guntram who

Argentina, Mesopotamia

2005-02-07T06:16:00.000-08:00

Thin stands of tall wax palms occupy the flood zones of Mesopotamia. Groups of trees and grassy areas form a park landscape of noted beauty. Common trees are the quebracho, exploited for its tannin since colonial times, the urunday, and the guayacán, used for tannin and lumber. Gallery forests growing along rivers become denser and taller in Misiones province.

Chang Chien

2005-02-05T23:12:00.000-08:00

Chang received a traditional Confucian education and, at the age of 41, he passed the top level of the civil service examination. The following year China was defeated in the Sino-Japanese War, and Chang retired from office to

Kudamatsu

2005-02-05T03:50:00.000-08:00

Kudamatsu revived during World War I as an industrial city, assisted by its natural

Standish, Myles

2005-02-04T22:56:00.000-08:00

As a young man, Standish fought in the Netherlands, where he probably met the English religious exiles who later became known as the Pilgrims. He sailed with them to America on the “Mayflower” in 1620, serving as their military leader when they established Plymouth in

Babits, Mihály

2005-02-03T03:16:00.000-08:00

Babits studied Hungarian and classical literature at the University of Budapest and was a teacher in provincial secondary schools until forced

Sylacauga

2005-02-01T21:26:00.000-08:00

City, Talladega county, central Alabama, U.S. It is located at the southwestern corner of Talladega National Forest (eastern section) in the Coosa River valley, about 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Birmingham. The area was visited by Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in 1540 and was inhabited by the Creek until they were removed by the federal government in 1836. The arrival of the Anniston

Indian Literature

2005-01-31T11:11:00.000-08:00

The earliest Indian literature took the form of the canonical Hindu sacred writings, known as the Veda, which were written in Sanskrit. To the Veda

China

2005-01-31T09:46:00.000-08:00

Two major cultures can be identified in the northwest: Lao-kuan-t'ai, in eastern and southern Shensi and northwestern Honan, and Ta-ti-wan I—a development of Lao-kuan-t'ai culture—in eastern Kansu and western Shensi. In these cultures pots were low-fired, sand-tempered, and mainly red in colour, and bowls with three stubby feet or ring feet were common. The painted bands of

Abbey, Edwin Austin

2005-01-29T22:11:00.000-08:00

While working as an illustrator for the publishing house of Harper and Brothers, New York City, Abbey began to create illustrations for the poems of Robert Herrick in 1874. He went on to create illustrations for some of the works of Oliver Goldsmith and William

Torelli, Salinguerra

2005-01-29T05:54:00.000-08:00

Torelli was born into a noble family of Bolognese origin whose members were rivals of the Este in Ferrara from the end of the 12th century. He carried on an indecisive struggle with

Gabon

2005-01-27T05:59:00.000-08:00

Roland Pourtier, Le Gabon, 2 vol. (1989), provides an introduction. Institut Pédagogique National (Gabon), Géographie et cartographie du Gabon (1983), is an illustrated atlas. Two studies of the Mpongwe are Henry Bucher, “The Atlantic Slave Trade and the Gabon Estuary: The Mpongwe to 1860,” in Paul E. Lovejoy (ed.), Africans in Bondage (1986), pp. 137–154, and “The Village of Glass and Western Intrusion: An Mpongwe Response to the American and French Presence in the Gabon Estuary: 1842–1845,” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, 6(3):363–400 (1973). James W. Fernandez, Bwiti: An Ethnography of the Religious Imagination in Africa (1982), examines the most important syncretic cult. Pierre-Claver Maganga-Moussavou, Economic Development—Does Aid Help? (1983; originally published in French, 1982), critiques French economic involvement in independent Gabon. Marc Aicardi de Saint-Paul, Gabon: The Development of a Nation (1989; originally published in French, 1987), discusses economic policies and conditions.

Healing Cult

2005-01-26T18:19:00.000-08:00

Religious group or movement that places major, or even exclusive, emphasis on the treatment or prevention by nonmedical means of physical or spiritual ailments, which are often seen as manifestations of evil. Such cults generally fall into one of three types: those centred on certain shrines or holy places, those centred on certain organizations, and those centred

Romance Languages, Franco-Provençal

2005-01-25T09:48:00.000-08:00

Northeast of the Occitan region, along the French, Swiss, and Italian frontiers, is located a group of dialects that historically have shared most vowel developments with languages to the south and many consonant changes with those to the north. Since 1878, with the work of G.I. Ascoli, claims have been made for the linguistic autonomy of these dialects, usually called

Agunah

2005-01-24T21:59:00.000-08:00

Hebrew 'aguna (“deserted woman”) , plural agunahs, 'agunot , or agunoth in Orthodox and Conservative Judaism, a woman who is presumed to be widowed but who cannot remarry because evidence of her husband's death does not satisfy legal requirements. The plight of the agunah has generated voluminous and complex treatment in Halakhic literature. Although religious courts are not empowered to grant remarriage without indisputable

Profumo Affair

2005-01-23T21:22:00.000-08:00

At a party at the country estate of Lord Astor on July

Chondrichthian, Annotated classification

2005-01-21T15:26:00.000-08:00

Deorai, Battle Of

2005-01-21T05:50:00.000-08:00

Dara challenged Aurangzeb, relying on the promised support of Jaswant Singh of Marwar, but Jaswant then deserted him, and Dara was left to face Aurangzeb's superior army alone.

Korea, South

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

Officially Republic of Korea , Korean Taehan Min'guk country in East Asia. It occupies the southern portion of the Korean peninsula. The country is bordered by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) to the north, the East Sea (Sea of Japan) to the east, the East China Sea to the south, and the Yellow Sea to the west; to the southeast it is separated from the Japanese island of Tsushima by the Korea Strait. South Korea

Dehua Porcelain

2005-01-18T11:40:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization Te-hua Chinese porcelain made at Dehua in Fujian province. Although the kiln began production some time during the Song period (960–1279), most examples of the porcelain are attributed to the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). The characteristic product of Dehua was the white porcelain known to the French as blanc de chine, which had the appearance of blancmange, or milk jelly. Figures of Buddhist deities,

Guinea

2005-01-17T05:03:00.000-08:00

The shortage

Islamic World, The emergent Islamic civilization

2005-01-17T05:01:00.000-08:00

During the caliphate of 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (ruled 685–705), which followed the end of the second fitnah, and under his successors during the next four decades, the problematic consequences of the conquests became much more visible. Like their Byzantine and late Sasanian predecessors, the Marwanid caliphs nominally ruled the various religious communities but allowed the

Argument

2005-01-16T16:42:00.000-08:00

In logic, reasons that support a conclusion, sometimes formulated so that the conclusion is deduced from premises. Erroneous arguments are called fallacies in logic (see fallacy). In mathematics, an argument is a variable in the domain of a function and usually appears symbolically in parentheses following the functional symbol.

Holabird, William

2005-01-15T06:57:00.000-08:00

U.S. architect who, with his partner, Martin Roche, was a leading exponent of the influential Chicago School of commercial architecture; their Tacoma Building (Chicago, 1886–89) established the use of a total steel skeleton as a framework for building skyscrapers—a significant advance over the pioneering use of metal supports in the

West Lothian

2005-01-14T02:11:00.000-08:00

Council area and historic county, southeastern Scotland, on the southern shore of the River Forth estuary and the Firth of Forth just west of Edinburgh. The council area and historic county occupy somewhat different areas. The historic county borders the Forth from Bo'ness to the mouth of the River Almond just west of Cramont. It extends southwest across a lowland

Na-dené Languages

2005-01-12T09:27:00.000-08:00

Major grouping (phylum or superstock) of North American Indian languages, consisting of three language families—Athabascan (or Athapascan), Haida, and Tlingit—with a total of 22 languages. Of these languages 20 belong to the Athabascan family; they are spoken in the Northwest Territory, the Yukon, and adjacent parts of Canada, west to Cook Inlet in Alaska; in two isolated areas

Haddad, Malek

2005-01-11T01:13:00.000-08:00

Algerian poet, novelist, and cultural adviser. Haddad abandoned law studies in Aix-en-Provence to write for French and Algerian weeklies and magazines during the Algerian war. His first published book was a collection of poetry, Le Malheur en danger (1956; “Trouble in Danger”). A second collection, Écoute et je t'appelle (1961; “Listen and I Will

Zanjan

2005-01-09T21:31:00.000-08:00

Geographic region of northwestern Iran. It lies west of Tehran and is bordered on the northwest by Azerbaijan and on the southwest by Kordestan. The region constitutes one of the uplands that frame central Iran and has an average elevation of 8,200 feet (2,500 m). It forms part of the Caspian Sea basin. The Zanjan River is the only major river in the region. Agriculture is the principal

Silica

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

Also called Silicon Dioxide, compound of the two most abundant elements in the Earth's crust, silicon and oxygen, SiO2. The mass of the Earth's crust is 59 percent silica, the main constituent of more than 95 percent of the known rocks. Silica has three main crystalline varieties: quartz (by far the most abundant), tridymite, and cristobalite. Other varieties include coesite, keatite, and lechatelierite. Silica

Deception Bay

2005-01-07T10:17:00.000-08:00

Bay and resort town, southeastern Queensland, Australia. In 1823 the explorer John Oxley named the local stream the Deception River (now called the Caboolture River), because of the numerous shoals at its mouth. The river gave its name to the bay into which it flows, which in turn gave its name to the community. The town of Deception Bay offers safe swimming areas, fishing, boating,

Exterminator

2005-01-06T11:30:00.000-08:00

Byname Old Bones (foaled 1915), American racehorse (Thoroughbred), a dependable and durable horse who won 50 of 100 races in eight seasons. Because of the length of his career and his extraordinary ability to win sprints and long-distance races under heavy weights, some horsemen considered him superior to Man o' War, his greatest contemporary and doubtless the fastest American horse of the time.

Pittsburgh

2005-01-05T13:16:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1788) of Allegheny county, southwestern Pennsylvania, U.S. The city is located at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, which unite at the point of the “Golden Triangle” (the business district) to form the Ohio River. A city of hills, parks, and valleys, it is the centre of an urban industrial complex that includes the surrounding cities of Aliquippa

Vlach

2005-01-05T00:56:00.000-08:00

The

Sanghar

2005-01-04T14:40:00.000-08:00

Town, Sind province, southern Pakistan. The town is connected by road with the cities of Hyderabad, Karachi, and Sukkur. Sanghar is a market town and has several cotton-textile factories. The surrounding area consists chiefly of semiarid land, a part of the great Thar Desert, and some cropped areas irrigated by the Mithrao Canal system, which feeds from the Indus River. Rice,

Gandhi, Rajiv

2005-01-03T09:16:00.000-08:00

Rajiv and his younger brother Sanjay (1946–80), the sons of Feroze and Indira Gandhi, were educated at the prestigious Doon School in Dehradun. Rajiv then

Feed

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

Animal feeds are classified as follows: (1) concentrates, high in energy value, including (a) cereal grains and their by-products (barley, corn [maize], oats, rye, wheat), (b) high-protein oil meals or cakes (soybean, cottonseed, peanut [groundnut]), (c) by-products from processing of sugar beets, sugarcane, and (d) animal and fish by-products; (2) roughages, including (a) pasture grasses, (b) hays, (c

Chelyabinsk

2005-01-01T15:42:00.000-08:00

The oblast, in the Urals

Kraft Foods Inc.

2004-12-30T07:06:00.000-08:00

Kraft grew out of a wholesale cheese-delivery business established in Chicago in 1903 by James L. Kraft. Three years later he and his brother Charles began processing cheese for distribution to area retailers. Two other brothers later

Chang Chien

2004-12-30T00:01:00.000-08:00

Kwangju

2004-12-29T15:04:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Gwangju, city and provincial capital, South Cholla do (province), southwestern South Korea. It has the status of a special city (area 193 square miles [501 square km]) under the direct control of the home minister, with administrative status equal to that of a province. An old city on the edge of the mountainous area of South Cholla province, it has been a centre of trade and of local administration

Italian Democratic Socialist Party

2004-12-28T22:53:00.000-08:00

In early 1947, socialists who opposed the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) for its cooperation with the Italian Communist Party (PCI) seceded to form the Socialist Party of Italian Workers (Partito

Artabanus

2004-12-26T06:20:00.000-08:00

Also called Ardaban minister of the Achaemenid king Xerxes I of Persia, whom he murdered in 465. According to one Greek source, Artabanus had previously killed Xerxes' son Darius and feared that the father would avenge him; other sources relate that he killed Xerxes first and then, pretending that Darius had done so, induced Darius' brother Artaxerxes I to avenge the “parricide.” Artabanus was

Palas

2004-12-25T14:31:00.000-08:00

Plural Palasy, flat-surfaced handwoven floor covering from the Caucasus, Turkistan, or parts of Iran. In the rest of Iran, the Balkans, and Anatolia, the name for similar pieces is kilim. The Caucasian palas is a slit tapestry in technique. The Shirvan variety is designed without a border as a series of transverse bands carrying bold polygonal ornaments in vivid colouring. A Karabagh

Half-life

2004-12-25T06:06:00.000-08:00

The radioactive isotope

New Forest

2004-12-24T07:54:00.000-08:00

District, administrative and historic county of Hampshire, England, comprising the New Forest and its urbanized coastal fringe flanking Southampton Water and The Solent, together with rural areas around Ringwood and Fordingbridge in the west of the county. The old harbour of Hythe and the modern oil terminal of Fawley on Southampton Water are economically linked

New Forest

2004-12-22T09:31:00.000-08:00

Also called cocoa tropical tree, whose scientific name means “food of the gods” in Latin. Originating in the lowland rainforests of the Amazon and Orinoco river basins, cacao is grown commercially in the New World tropics as well as western Africa and tropical Asia for its seeds called cocoa beans, which are processed into cocoa powder, cocoa butter, and chocolate. This

France, History Of, Foreign policy and financial crisis

2004-12-22T05:07:00.000-08:00

The monarchy's international performance from 1715 to 1783 was basically creditable. From the time of the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–14), when France had been invaded and nearly beaten, French statesmen pursued a double goal—the preservation of the balance of power in Europe, and, in the world at large, the expansion of the French colonial empire and the containment of England.

Wryneck

2004-12-21T06:35:00.000-08:00

Either of two species of birds that constitute the subfamily Jynginae of the woodpecker family (Picidae) but may be separated as the family Jyngidae. Wrynecks are gray-brown birds of open woods and brushlands, named for their habit of twisting their necks snakily when alarmed. They flick up ants from the ground or insects from trees with their long tongues, and they

Kyo-yaki

2004-12-20T17:18:00.000-08:00

Decorated Japanese ceramics produced in Kyoto from about the middle of the 17th century. The development of this ware was stimulated by the appearance of enamelled porcelains in Kyushu, and it was not long after Sakaida Kakiemon successfully perfected overglaze enamels in Arita that Nonomura Ninsei also began production in Kyoto. Kyo-yaki contrasted with the enamelled

Mabillon, Jean

2004-12-19T23:13:00.000-08:00

T. Ruinart, Abrégé de la vie de D.J.M. (1709), reprinted in 1933 as Mabillon; Henri Leclercq, Life, 2 vol. (1953–57); J.U. Bergkamp, Dom Jean Mabillon and the Benedictine Historical School of Saint-Maur (1928).

Skimmer

2004-12-17T16:45:00.000-08:00

By day the skimmer rests onshore, and at twilight the bird feeds, skimming calm, shallow water with the bill tip submerged;

Burnet, Sir Macfarlane

2004-12-17T11:14:00.000-08:00

Burnet received his medical degree in 1924 from the University of Melbourne

Obsidian

2004-12-15T06:21:00.000-08:00

Natural glass of volcanic origin that is formed by the rapid cooling of viscous lava. Obsidian is extremely rich in silica (about 35 to 80 percent), is low in water, and has a chemical composition similar to rhyolite. Obsidian has a glassy lustre and is slightly harder than window glass. Though obsidian is typically jet-black in colour, the presence of hematite (iron oxide) produces

Quinidine

2004-12-13T03:58:00.000-08:00

Drug used in the treatment of abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmia) and malaria. Obtained from the bark of the Cinchona tree, quinidine shares many of the pharmacological actions of quinine; i.e., both have antimalarial and fever-reducing activity. The main use of quinidine, however, involves its activity as a myocardial depressant—that is, it depresses the excitability

Japanese Orthodox Church

2004-12-13T00:49:00.000-08:00

Since the beginning

Plume Moth

2004-12-11T21:11:00.000-08:00

Any of the approximately 600 species of the cosmopolitan insect family Pterophoridae (order Lepidoptera), named for the deep wing divisions that resemble plumes or lobes. It differs from the many-plumed moth, an Orneodidae-family member, in that its forewings and hindwings are not split down to their base into six plumes but are divided only to their middle, the forewings

Pack, Otto Von

2004-12-10T19:19:00.000-08:00

Pack, a Saxon nobleman, studied law at the University of Leipzig, after which he entered the service of George, duke of Saxony. By 1519 most important governmental matters in Saxony were entrusted to him, and he represented his

Jacobi, Mary Putnam

2004-12-09T06:04:00.000-08:00

Mary Putnam was the daughter of George Palmer Putnam, founder of the publishing firm of G.P. Putnam's Sons, and was an elder sister of Herbert Putnam, later librarian of Congress. The family returned from England in 1848, and Mary grew

Nord-trøndelag

2004-12-07T09:49:00.000-08:00

Fylke (county), central Norway. It extends from the Norwegian Sea (west) to the Swedish border (east), with the southern boundary running in a general northwest-southeast direction south of Trondheims Fjord. The fylke has an area of 8,673 square miles (22,463 square km); the county seat is at Steinkjer (q.v.). The major road and rail links between Trondheim and northern Norway pass through

Mughal Dynasty

2004-12-07T01:11:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Mogul , Arabic Mongol Muslim dynasty that ruled most of northern India from the early 16th to the mid-18th century. The Mughal dynasty was notable for about two centuries of effective rule over much of India, for the ability of its rulers, who through seven generations maintained a record of unusual talent, and for its administrative organization. A further distinction was the attempt of the

Stone, Irving

2004-12-06T17:24:00.000-08:00

After receiving his B.A. in 1923 at the University of California, Berkeley, and his master's degree in 1924 from the University of Southern California, he

Libya

2004-12-05T08:46:00.000-08:00

A socialist country of North Africa, Libya lies on the Mediterranean Sea. Area: 1,757,000 sq km (678,400 sq mi). Pop. (1996 est.): 5,446,000. Cap.: Tripoli (policy-making body meets in Surt). Monetary unit: Libyan dinar, with (Oct. 11, 1996) an official rate of 0.36 dinar to U.S. $1 (0.56 dinar = £ 1 sterling). De facto chief of state in 1996, Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi; secretary of the General People's Congress (nominal chief of state), Zanati Muhammad az-Zanati;

Induan Stage

2004-12-03T08:32:00.000-08:00

Lowermost of two divisions of the Lower Triassic Series, representing those rocks deposited worldwide during Induan time (from 248 million to 245 million years ago) in the Triassic Period. The stage name is derived from the Indus River in the Salt Range of Pakistan. The stratotype for the Induan, as originally defined, is the strata above the Chhideru beds and below the Upper

China, Population movements

2004-12-02T18:38:00.000-08:00

Censuses taken during the Sui and T'ang dynasties provide some evidence as to population changes. Surviving figures for 609 and for 742, representing two of the most complete of the earlier Chinese population registrations, give totals of some 9,000,000 households, or slightly more than 50,000,000 persons. Contemporary officials considered that only about 70 percent of the population was

Beard Lichen

2004-12-02T07:06:00.000-08:00

Any member of the genus Usnea, a yellow or greenish fruticose (bushy, branched) lichen with long stems and disk-shaped holdfasts, which resembles a tangled mass of threads. It occurs in both the Arctic and the tropics, where it is eaten by wild animals or collected as fodder. In the past it was used as a remedy for whooping cough, catarrh, epilepsy, and dropsy. It has been used

Aragua

2004-12-01T15:38:00.000-08:00

Estado (“state”), northern Venezuela. It is bounded north by the Caribbean Sea, east by the Distrito Federal and Miranda state, south by Guárico state, and west by Carabobo state. Aragua consists largely of two Andean ranges separated by an intermontane basin, in which lies Lake Valencia. Henri Pittier National Park (413 square miles), with its exceptionally rich and varied

Cello

2004-11-30T11:01:00.000-08:00

The earliest cellos were developed during the 16th century

Tiger Shark

2004-11-29T15:30:00.000-08:00

(Galeocerdo cuvieri), large, potentially dangerous shark of the family Carcharhinidae. It is noted for its voracity and inveterate scavenging, as well as its reputation as a man-eater. The tiger shark is found worldwide in warm oceans, from the shoreline to the open sea. A maximum of about 5.5 m (18 feet) long, it is grayish and patterned, when young, with dark spots and vertical bars.

Bog

2004-11-28T03:47:00.000-08:00

Type of wetland ecosystem characterized by wet, spongy, poorly drained peaty soil. Bogs can be divided into three types: (1) typical bogs of cool regions, dominated by the growth of bog mosses, Sphagnum, and heaths, particularly Chamaedaphne (northern bogs with trees growing on them are often called muskegs); (2) fens, dominated by grasslike plants, grasses, sedges, and reeds;

Italy, The Ostrogothic kingdom

2004-11-27T19:26:00.000-08:00

Odoacer was conquered and killed by Theoderic, king of the Ostrogoths (489–526). The decades of the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy (489–552) can be seen as the first true period of Germanic rule in the peninsula, for an entire tribe of 100,000 to 200,000 people came with Theoderic. Still, the Ostrogothic kingdom continued to operate inside a largely Roman political system. Like Odoacer, Theoderic courted

Agnosticism

2004-11-26T04:22:00.000-08:00

(from Greek agnostos, “unknowable”), strictly speaking, the doctrine that humans cannot know of the existence of anything beyond the phenomena of their experience. The term has come to be equated in popular parlance with skepticism about religious questions in general and in particular with the rejection of traditional Christian beliefs under the impact of modern

Connally, John Bowden, Jr.

2004-11-25T18:10:00.000-08:00

U.S. politician (b. Feb. 27, 1917, Floresville, Texas--d. June 15, 1993, Houston, Texas), was an ambitious political figure who, besides helping elect Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson, served as secretary of the navy in the Kennedy administration (1961), as a three-term governor of Texas (1963-69), and as secretary of the treasury (1971) under Pres. Richard M. Nixon; he was indelibly identified

Mitiaro

2004-11-24T22:13:00.000-08:00

Island in the lower Cook Islands, a dependency of New Zealand, southwest Pacific Ocean. It is a raised coral atoll, with a land area of 8.6 sq mi (22.3 sq km), and is encircled by a reef. Its interior of fertile volcanic soil, ringed by swamps and limestone, supports copra and citrus fruits. Stands of sandalwood occur. Pop. (1981) 256.

Hinduism, Ahimsa: non-injury

2004-11-23T14:55:00.000-08:00

A further characteristic of Hinduism is the ideal of ahimsa. Ahimsa, “non-injury” or the absence of the desire to harm, is regarded by Indian thinkers as one of the keystones of their ethics. Historically, ahimsa is unrelated to vegetarianism; in ancient India, killing people in war or in capital punishment and killing animals in Vedic sacrifices were acceptable to many

Felicitas

2004-11-21T22:24:00.000-08:00

Roman goddess of good luck to whom a temple was first built in the mid-2nd century BC. She became the special protector of successful commanders. Caesar planned to erect another temple to her, and it was built by the triumvir M. Aemilius Lepidus. The emperors made her prominent as symbolizing the blessings of the imperial regime.

Safid Mountain Range

2004-11-21T05:20:00.000-08:00

Also called Morga Range, Pashto Selseleh-ye Safid Kuh, or Selseleh-ye Spin Ghar, mountain range forming a natural frontier between Pakistan and Afghanistan, extending westward for 100 miles (160 km) from the Vale of Peshawar (Pakistan) to the Lowrah Valley (Afghanistan). The boundary between the two countries runs along the summit of the range, which reaches a height of 15,600 feet (4,760 m) in the west at the point where the boundary turns southward. The range forms an almost

Fletcher, Alice Cunningham

2004-11-20T09:09:00.000-08:00

Fletcher taught school for a number of years, lectured occasionally on various topics,