FlatCurtain

Computers, Early computer enthusiasts

2005-03-19T01:07:00.000-08:00

Though the young engineering executives at Intel could sense the ground shifting upon the introduction of their new microprocessors, the leading computer manufacturers did not. It should not have taken a visionary to observe the trend of cheaper, faster, and more powerful devices. Nevertheless, even after the invention of the microprocessor, few could imagine

Taiwan, Imperial Chinese rule

2005-03-17T02:39:00.000-08:00

In 1683, 20 years after Cheng Ch'eng-kung's death, the island fell to the Ch'ing and became part of Fukien Province. Meanwhile, sizable migrations of refugees, Ming supporters, had increased the population to about 200,000. As migrants streamed in from southeastern China, large areas in the north were settled. T'ai-nan (then called T'ai-wan) was the capital. By 1842 the population was estimated

Brut

2005-03-13T09:30:00.000-08:00

Any of several medieval chronicles of Britain tracing the history and legend of the country from the time of the mythical Brutus, descendant of Aeneas and founder of Britain. The Roman de Brut (1155) by the Anglo-Norman author Wace was one such chronicle. Perhaps the outstanding adaptation of the story is Layamon's Brut (c. 1200), written in Middle English; it lent a distinctly Germanic

Chachalaca

2005-03-11T08:45:00.000-08:00

Any of several small birds of the curassow family. See curassow.

Gwalior

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

The old city of Gwalior centres on a walled fortress, one of the most famous in India,

Yupik Language

2005-03-06T19:28:00.000-08:00

The western division of the Eskimo languages, spoken in southwestern Alaska and in Siberia.

Salatiga

2005-03-05T01:52:00.000-08:00

Kotamadya (municipality), Jawa Tengah provinsi (“province”), Java, Indonesia. The city lies 35 miles (56 km) north-northeast of Yogyakarta, at the foot of Mount Merbabu. At an elevation of 1,916 feet (584 m), it is a well laid out city that stands in the midst of fruit- and vegetable-growing highlands. The nearby hills are covered with plantations of rubber and coffee, and rice fields stretch before

Beresteczko, Battle Of

2005-03-02T05:07:00.000-08:00

In 1648 Khmelnytsky organized an insurrection among the Zaporozhian Cossacks, who lived along the Dnieper River, against their Polish rulers, who had been trying to limit the Cossacks' autonomy by reducing their numbers,

Levine, James

2005-03-01T21:53:00.000-08:00

As a piano prodigy Levine made his debut in 1953 with the Cincinnati Orchestra. He studied piano with Rosina Lhévinne and conducting with Jean Morel at the Juilliard School in New York City. In 1965 George Szell invited him to become the assistant

Diefenbaker, John G(eorge)

2005-02-27T05:26:00.000-08:00

After serving in World War I, Diefenbaker practiced law in Saskatchewan. He was made king's counsel in 1929. In 1936 he was chosen as leader of the Saskatchewan Conservative Party, serving at that post until 1940, when

Xenophon

2005-02-26T00:52:00.000-08:00

Born of a well-to-do Athenian family, Xenophon grew up during the great war between Athens and Sparta (431–404 BC) and served in the elite force of Athenian cavalry. He and his well-to-do contemporaries sat at the feet of Socrates, were critical of the extreme form of democracy under which they lived, and sympathized with the right-wing revolutionaries who seized power for short

Cloister

2005-02-24T19:28:00.000-08:00

Quadrilateral enclosure surrounded by covered walkways, and usually attached to a monastic or cathedral church and sometimes to a college. The term used in a narrow sense also applies to the walkways or alleys themselves (the central area being the cloister garth), in a general sense to the houses of religious orders, and in a generic sense to places of retreat for

Los Islands

2005-02-24T05:48:00.000-08:00

French Îles De Los, small archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, off Conakry, the capital of Guinea, West Africa. They provide protection for the port of Conakry and include Tamara (Factory), Kassa, Roume (Crawford), Blanche (White), and De Corail (Coral) and several smaller islets. Tamara, the largest (8 miles [13 km] long and 1–2 miles [1.6–3 km] wide), has the highest point of elevation (499 feet [152 m]). Only Tamara and Kassa have

Teasdale, Sara

2005-02-22T16:11:00.000-08:00

Teasdale was educated privately and made frequent trips to Chicago, where she eventually became part of Harriet Monroe's Poetry magazine circle. Her first published poem appeared in the St. Louis, Missouri, weekly Reedy's

Argentina, The Gran Chaco

2005-02-21T17:50:00.000-08:00

The western Gran Chaco has growths of thorn forest dominated by algaroba (carob trees) in the drier and often saline zones. Quebracho trees (a source of tannin) are present, but not to the extent that they are farther east. No plants survive in areas with finer salt at the surface. Coarse bunchgrasses are common in the dry steppe, which also supports dense scrub forests

Madagascar

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

In spite of Madagascar's proximity to the

Candidas

2005-02-19T20:56:00.000-08:00

The popularity of Candidas' songs inspired much imitation, making it difficult to establish firmly the identity of the poet.

Antiarch

2005-02-19T06:07:00.000-08:00

Any of an order of extinct, mainly freshwater, jawed fishes, class Placodermi, abundant during Middle and Late Devonian times (387 to 360 million years ago). Members of such genera as Bothriolepis and Pterichthys were representative. Antiarchs were small and weak-jawed and had closely set eyes on top of the head. Armour shields covered the front part of the body, and armoured,

Italic Languages, Oscan

2005-02-18T21:33:00.000-08:00

Before Latin spread out, Oscan was the most widely spoken group of dialects of the Apennine Peninsula. It was used by the Samnites in Samnium and Campania; by the inhabitants of Lucania and Bruttium; and, with slight variations, by smaller tribes between Latium and the Adriatic coast: the Volsci, Marsi, Paeligni, Vestini, and Marrucini. (These distinct “minor dialects” within

Rabbinic Judaism

2005-02-16T18:40:00.000-08:00

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

Biblical Literature, Textual criticism: scholarly problems

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

As to when and how a single text type gained hegemony and then displaced all others, it is clear that the early and widespread public reading of the Scriptures in the synagogues of Palestine,

Mosaic

2005-02-15T17:59:00.000-08:00

In art, decoration of a surface with designs made up of closely set, usually variously coloured, small pieces of material such as stone, mineral, glass, tile, or shell. Unlike inlay, in which the pieces to be applied are set into a surface that has been hollowed out to receive the design, mosaic pieces are applied onto a surface that has been prepared with an adhesive. Mosaic

Heilungkiang

2005-02-13T19:46:00.000-08:00

Chinese (Wade-Giles) Hei-lung-chiang , (Pinyin) Heilongjiang the northernmost sheng (province) of China's Northeast region. It is bounded on the north and east by Russia along the Amur River (Hei-lung Chiang) and the Ussuri (Wu-su-li) River, on the south by the Chinese province of Kirin, and on the west by the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. The province has an area of about 179,000 square miles (463,300 square kilometres). The capital is Harbin.

Hadano

2005-02-13T02:00:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Hatano city, Kanagawa Prefecture (ken), Honshu, Japan, stretching between Tanzawa-yama (Mt. Tanzawa; north; 5,141 ft [1,567 m]) and the Hadano basin (south). It was a regional commercial centre during the Tokugawa era (1603–1867), when the cultivation of tobacco was introduced. The city is now a tobacco-trading centre, containing a processing plant of the Japanese Monopoly Bureau. Because of its convenient

Literature, United States.

2005-02-12T19:47:00.000-08:00

One might wonder, however,

Permafrost

2005-02-11T20:32:00.000-08:00

Arthur H. Lachenbruch, Mechanics of Thermal Contraction Cracks and Ice-Wedge Polygons in Permafrost (1962), is a classic paper on the quantitative interpretation of the formation of ice-wedge polygons in permafrost. Troy L. Péwé, Richard E. Church, and Marvin J. Andresen, Origin and Paleoclimatic Significance of Large-Scale Patterned Ground in the Donnelly Dome Area, Alaska (1969), discusses the origin of ice-wedge casts and relict permafrost in central Alaska and offers paleoclimatic interpretations. R. Dale Guthrie, Frozen Fauna of the Mammoth Steppe (1990), discusses fossil carcasses of Ice Age mammals preserved in permafrost. Troy L. Péwé, Geologic Hazards of the Fairbanks Area, Alaska (1982), a highly illustrated work, contains an up-to-date presentation of the greatest geologic hazard to life in polar areas: problems posed by seasonally and perennially frozen ground. G.H. Johnston (ed.), Permafrost: Engineering Design and Construction (1981), is a comprehensive book on construction problems in permafrost areas, with examples mainly from northern Canada. Troy L. Péwé, “Permafrost,” in George A. Kiersch et al. (eds.), The Heritage of Engineering Geology: The First Hundred Years (1991), pp. 277–298, provides an up-to-date, well-illustrated treatment of the origin, distribution, and ice content of permafrost and of engineering problems in permafrost regions.

Romancero

2005-02-10T03:13:00.000-08:00

It was once thought that they were the source

Waddenzee

2005-02-09T14:17:00.000-08:00

Shallow inlet of the North Sea between the West Frisian Islands and the northern Netherlands mainland. The inlet extends from Noord-Holland to the northeast, where the islands gradually curve toward the mainland and the channel narrows to a few miles. Until the completion of the IJsselmeer dam (Afsluitdijk), Waddenzee formed the northern part of the former Zuiderzee.

Jackdaw

2005-02-07T16:01:00.000-08:00

Also called Daw (species Corvus monedula), crowlike black bird with gray nape and pearly eyes of the family Corvidae (q.v.; order Passeriformes). Jackdaws, which are 33 cm (13 inches) long, breed in colonies in tree holes, cliffs, and tall buildings: their flocks fly in formation around the site. They lay four to six light, greenish blue eggs that are spotted and blotched. The bird's

Pacorus Ii

2005-02-06T17:39:00.000-08:00

In 110 Pacorus sold the Parthian client kingdom of Osroëne to Abgar VII, son of Izates, ruler of Adiabene. It is uncertain whether Pacorus was alive when the Roman emperor Trajan invaded

Periodic Law, Elucidation of the periodic law

2005-02-06T09:30:00.000-08:00

Detailed understanding of the periodic system has developed along with the quantum theory of spectra and the electronic structure of atoms, beginning with the work of Bohr in 1913. Important forward steps were the formulation of the general rules of the old quantum theory by William Wilson and Arnold Sommerfeld in 1916, the discovery of the exclusion principle by Wolfgang

Sabin, Albert Bruce

2005-02-04T20:53:00.000-08:00

Sabin immigrated with his parents to the United States in 1921 and became an American citizen nine

Hughes, Sir Samuel

2005-02-04T03:06:00.000-08:00

Hughes was a teacher and a member of the voluntary militia. In 1885–97 he was proprietor and editor of the Warder, a newspaper in Lindsay.

Indian Philosophy, The linguistic philosophies: Bhartrhari and Mandana-Misra

2005-02-03T01:39:00.000-08:00

The linguistic philosophers considered here are the grammarians led by Bhartrhari (7th century AD) and Mandana-Misra (8th century AD); the latter, reputed to be a disciple of Kumarila, held views widely different from the Mimamsakas. The grammarians share with the Mimamsakas their interest in the problems of language and meaning. But their own theories are so different that they cut at the

Coruña, La

2005-02-02T06:50:00.000-08:00

Province, in the autonomous community (region) of Galicia, northwestern Spain. It was formed in 1833 from part of the captaincy general and former kingdom of Galicia. Bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (west) and the Cantabrian Sea (north), it has the highest rainfall of any Spanish province. Its interior is crossed by the Galician mountains; the coastline, rocky and with deep indentations,

Dacke War

2005-02-01T15:32:00.000-08:00

Led by Nils Dacke, an outlaw, the peasants of the province of Småland took up arms against the King in the spring of 1542 in protest against the royal

Stork

2005-01-31T22:49:00.000-08:00

Any of 17 species of large, long-necked, birds constituting the family Ciconiidae (order Ciconiiformes), related to the herons, flamingos, and ibises. Storks range from about 60 centimetres (2 feet) to more than 150 centimetres (5 feet) in height. All or part of the head and upper neck may be bare of feathers and brightly coloured. Storks are voiceless or nearly so, for lack of a fully developed

Padmasambhava

2005-01-30T15:44:00.000-08:00

According to tradition, he was a native of Udyana (now Swat, Pak.), an area famed for its magicians. Padmasambhava was a Tantrist and a member of the Yogacara sect and taught at Nalanda, a centre of Buddhist studies

Tsushima, Battle Of

2005-01-28T16:59:00.000-08:00

The Japanese had been unable to secure the complete command of the sea because the Russian naval squadrons at Port Arthur and Vladivostok made sorties and both sides suffered losses in the ensuing engagements. Meanwhile, the Russian government decided

Yamagata

2005-01-28T11:31:00.000-08:00

Prefecture (ken), northern Honshu, Japan, on the Sea of Japan. Much of its 3,601 sq mi (9,327 sq km) is mountainous. Bandai-Asahi National Park, stretching from north to south, includes the Dewa Sangan (Three Mountains of Dewa [Gassan, Yudono-san, Haguro-san]), which are sacred to the Shugen-do sect of Buddhism; the granite mountains associated with Asahi-dake (6,135 ft [1,870 m]); and Iide-san (6,906 ft). In the northwest,

Silane

2005-01-26T19:54:00.000-08:00

Also called Silicon Hydride, any of a series of covalently bonded compounds containing only the elements silicon and hydrogen, having the general formula SinH2n + 2, in which n equals 1, 2, 3, and so on. The silanes are structural analogues of the saturated hydrocarbons but are much less stable. The term silane is extended to include compounds in which any or all of the hydrogen atoms have been replaced by

Amadeus Vii

2005-01-25T20:30:00.000-08:00

Son of Amadeus VI and Bonne of Bourbon, Amadeus married (1377) the daughter of Jean, duc de Berry, brother of the king of France. His father, the “Green Count,” wore his customary emerald-green livery at the wedding, and the groom earned his

Libya, Relief

2005-01-24T18:59:00.000-08:00

The Al-Jifarah Plain

Orange Walk

2005-01-24T04:26:00.000-08:00

Town, northwestern Belize, situated on the left (west) bank of the New River. Established in early colonial times, it was pillaged by hostile Indians in 1872. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it conducted a thriving trade in mahogany. The town declined after demand for mahogany lessened. Sugarcane and citrus fruit cultivation and rum distilling are the main economic

Peter Des Rivaux

2005-01-23T00:06:00.000-08:00

His father (or uncle), Peter des Roches (bishop of Winchester, 1205–38), became tutor to Henry upon the King's accession. Peter des Rivaux served as a king's clerk from 1218 to 1223 but was exiled

Anezaki Masaharu

2005-01-22T11:41:00.000-08:00

Anezaki started his academic

Brace And Bit

2005-01-20T14:18:00.000-08:00

Hand-operated tool for boring holes in wood, consisting of a crank-shaped turning device, the brace, that grips and rotates the hole-cutting tool, the bit. The auger bit shown in the Figure is of the style traditionally used by carpenters; its six parts are shown in the Figure. At the end of the twist are two sharp points, called the spurs, that mark the circle, and two cutting

Bd

2005-01-20T02:21:00.000-08:00

Abbreviation of Bonner Durchmusterung (q.v.), an astronomical catalog.

Rocky Mountain National Park

2005-01-19T19:10:00.000-08:00

National park, in north central Colorado, U.S., established in 1915. Enclosing part of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, it is 262,191 ac (106,109 ha) in area. The park contains numerous high peaks exceeding 10,000 ft (3,000 m), including Longs Peak (14,256 ft), as well as broad valleys, gorges, alpine lakes, and plunging streams. Ice Age glacial deposition is evidenced by meadows and rolling moraines. A great variety

Rab

2005-01-18T06:03:00.000-08:00

Italian Arbe, island in the Adriatic Sea forming the northernmost part of Dalmatia in Croatia. With an area of 35 sq mi (91 sq km), it reaches a maximum altitude of 1,339 ft (408 m) at Mt. Kamenjak and comprises three ridges of limestone. Over 300 freshwater springs provide a valuable water supply to the population of the island—which, in contrast to most of the Adriatic islands, is increasing, in part because

Maremma

2005-01-16T23:40:00.000-08:00

In Etruscan and Roman times the Maremma was well-settled and known for its farms, which were drained by subterranean canals. Among the Etruscan towns situated on hilltops, Populonia, Cosa,

Thun Und Hohenstein, Franz Anton, Prince (fürst) Zu

2005-01-16T23:00:00.000-08:00

Franz Anton was the son of Friedrich, Count von Thun und Hohenstein, and he shared the moderate pro-Czech

Luthuli, Albert John

2005-01-15T10:50:00.000-08:00

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

Augmentations, Court Of

2005-01-14T22:21:00.000-08:00

The Court of Augmentations was instituted in 1535 to handle

Wolof Language

2005-01-13T13:09:00.000-08:00

An Atlantic language of the Niger-Congo language family genetically related to Fula and Serer. There are two main variants of Wolof: Senegal Wolof, which is the standard form of the language, and Gambian Wolof, which is spoken along with Senegal Wolof by more than 160,000 people in The Gambia. Wolof is a national language of Senegal, where it is spoken by approximately 4.6 million

Scanlon, John Patrick

2005-01-11T15:50:00.000-08:00

American public relations consultant (b. Feb. 27, 1935, New York, N.Y.—d. May 4, 2001, New York), specialized in representing high-profile and often controversial clients. He worked as a press spokesman for various New York City government agencies and corporations before embarking on a career as an independent consultant. Among other notable clients, Scanlon represented the tobacco

Lancewood

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

Tough, heavy, elastic, straight-grained wood obtained from several different trees of the custard-apple family (Annonaceae). True lancewood, Oxandra lanceolata, of the West Indies and Guianas, furnishes most of the lancewood of commerce in the form of spars about 13 feet (4 m) in length and 5 inches (13 cm) in diameter at the small end. Lancewood was formerly used by carriage builders

Arraignment

2005-01-09T05:20:00.000-08:00

In Anglo-American law, first encounter of an accused person with the court prior to trial, wherein he is brought to the bar and the charges against him are read. The accused usually enters a plea of guilt or innocence. If he chooses not to plead, a plea of not guilty will be entered for him. A guilty plea will usually result in the case's being handed over for judgment. Sometimes

Azare

2005-01-08T14:32:00.000-08:00

Town and traditional emirate, Bauchi state, northeastern Nigeria, located in the northern extension of the state. The town and emirate are peopled by the Hausa, Fulani, and Beriberi, who are predominantly Muslim. The first prime minister of Nigeria, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, was born in the emirate. The area is chiefly agricultural, the principal crops consisting

Tephroite

2005-01-08T07:34:00.000-08:00

Olivine mineral found only in iron-manganese ore deposits and skarns and in metamorphosed manganese-rich sediments, such as those of Cornwall, Eng., and Franklin, N.J., in the United States. Tephroite (manganese silicate; Mn2SiO4) forms a solid solution series with the olivine fayalite in which iron completely replaces manganese in the molecular structure. Minerals intermediate

Koch

2005-01-07T17:03:00.000-08:00

Also called Rajbansi, ethnic group of the Bodo people, dispersed over parts of Assam and Bengal. While their original language is a Tibeto-Burman dialect, large sections of the group in the 20th century spoke Bengali or other Indo-Aryan languages. In the 16th century a Koch chief established the state of Cooch Behar, and they now call themselves Rajbansi (Of Royal Blood), resent being called by the

Gabo, Naum

2005-01-06T22:45:00.000-08:00

Gabo studied medicine and natural science, then philosophy and art history, at the University of Munich in Germany; he also took engineering classes at the Technical

Robert Of Gloucester

2005-01-04T20:55:00.000-08:00

Early Middle English chronicler known only through his connection with the work called “The Chronicle of Robert of Gloucester”—a vernacular history of England from its legendary founding by Brut (Brutus), great-grandson of Aeneas, to the year 1270. It was written, probably around 1300, in rhymed couplets. Two versions exist, and it is now believed that only one part, dealing with

Wellington

2005-01-03T20:05:00.000-08:00

Capital city, port, and major commercial centre of New Zealand, located in the extreme south of North Island. It lies on the shores and hills surrounding Port Nicholson, an almost landlocked bay that is ranked among the world's finest harbours. Mount Victoria rises 643 feet (196 metres) near the centre of the city. Wellington is in a fault zone and has survived several

Salem

2005-01-03T18:36:00.000-08:00

Town (township), Rockingham county, southeastern New Hampshire, U.S., just west of Haverhill, Massachusetts. The town includes the communities of Salem, Salem Depot, and North Salem. Originally a part of Haverhill, it was set off in 1725 and incorporated as Methuen. The final decision of the Massachusetts–New Hampshire boundary line (1741) divided the town; the New Hampshire portion

Fabula Palliata

2005-01-02T19:20:00.000-08:00

The comedies retained the Greek stock characters and conventionalized plots of romantic intrigue as a framework to the satire of everyday contemporary life. The

Fisher

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

Also called fisher marten, fisher cat, Pennant's marten, Pennant's cat, big marten, black fox, black cat , or Pekan (species Martes pennanti) rare North American carnivore of northern forests, trapped for its valuable brownish black fur (especially fine in the female). It is a member of the weasel family (Mustelidae). The fisher has a weasellike body, bushy tail, tapered muzzle, and low, rounded ears. Adults are usually 50–63 cm (20–25 inches) long, excluding the 33–42-centimetre tail, and weigh 1.4–6.8 kg (3–15 pounds). Males are

Black Market

2004-12-31T17:41:00.000-08:00

Trading in violation of publicly imposed regulations such as rationing laws, laws against certain goods, and official rates of exchange among currencies. Rationing is common in wartime in order to equalize the distribution of scarce goods and services; black-market activity may consist of charging more than the legal prices, stealing or counterfeiting ration

Resonance

2004-12-29T13:51:00.000-08:00

In physics, relatively large selective response of an object or a system that vibrates in step or phase, with an externally applied oscillatory force. Resonance was first investigated in acoustical systems such as musical instruments and the human voice. An example of acoustical resonance is the vibration induced in a violin or piano string of a given pitch when

São Leopoldo

2004-12-29T08:44:00.000-08:00

São Leopoldo serves an agricultural region producing

Melas Carpet

2004-12-27T23:34:00.000-08:00

Floor covering handwoven in the neighbourhood of Milâs (Melas) on the Aegean coast of southwestern Turkey. Normally of small size and 19th century in date, Melas carpets have unusually wide borders in relation to their narrow fields. In the prayer rugs the arch (which indicates the direction of Mecca, the Holy City) is straight-sided, with a triangular indentation below

Viper

2004-12-26T21:45:00.000-08:00

Any of about 200 species of venomous snakes of the family Viperidae. Vipers form two groups, or subfamilies, the Viperinae (Old World vipers) and the Crotalinae (pit vipers), considered separate families by some authorities. Vipers are characterized by a pair of long, hollow, venom-injecting fangs attached to movable bones of the upper jaw (the maxillaries) that can be folded

Czerny, Carl

2004-12-25T23:03:00.000-08:00

He studied piano, first with his father, Wenzel Czerny, and later with Ludwig van Beethoven and knew and was influenced by Muzio Clementi and Johann Nepomuk Hummel. He began teaching in Vienna at the age of 15; among his pupils were Franz Liszt and Beethoven's

Bell Island

2004-12-23T09:31:00.000-08:00

Island in southeastern Newfoundland, Canada; it lies in Conception Bay 3 mi (5 km) off the Avalon Peninsula. Bell Island is 6 mi long and 3 mi wide, and has an area of 11 sq mi (28 sq km). Named after a large bell-shaped rock off its west end, it was one of the world's major iron-ore producers from 1895 to 1966. Fishing and subsistence agriculture are now the main economic activities on the densely populated

Equestrian Sports

2004-12-23T05:01:00.000-08:00

In April 1997 Memo Gracida, the new leader of Isla Carroll, won his sixth consecutive and a record 15th career U.S. Open by defeating White Birch in the final at the Palm Beach (Fla.) Polo Club. Isla Carroll also gained the World Cup and the Gold Cup of the Americas, and White Birch won its eighth USPA Gold Cup. Grant's Farm Manor and Peapacton obtained the Sterling and Challenge cups,

Heng-yang

2004-12-21T07:53:00.000-08:00

Heng-yang has been a communication centre since early times, being on the ancient post road from Ch'ang-sha into Kwangtung province

Kuan-yin

2004-12-20T23:22:00.000-08:00

In Chinese Buddhism, the bodhisattva of infinite compassion and mercy. See Avalokitesvara.

Aterian Industry

2004-12-20T18:41:00.000-08:00

Stone tool tradition of the Middle and Late Paleolithic, found widespread in the late Pleistocene throughout northern Africa. The Aterian people were among the first to use the bow and arrow. Aterian stone tools are an advanced African form of the European Levalloisian tradition, adapted to desert use. A distinctive Aterian sign is the formation of stems, or tangs,

Encyclopædia Britannica

2004-12-19T06:46:00.000-08:00

The oldest and largest English-language general encyclopaedia. The Encyclopædia Britannica has been published since 1768, when its first edition began to appear in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Bas-relief

2004-12-18T06:54:00.000-08:00

Sculptural relief in which the projection from the surrounding surface is slight (see photograph). See relief.

Furniture, 19th century and modern

2004-12-17T17:30:00.000-08:00

E.D. and F. Andrews, Shaker Furniture: The Craftsmanship of an American Communal Sect (1937); R.V. Symonds and B.B. Whineray, Victorian Furniture (1962), with many illustrations; Serge Grandjean, Empire Furniture, 1800 to 1825 (1966); Mikolaus Pevsner, Pioneers of Modern Design from William Morris to Walter Gropius (1960); Jean Cassou, Emile Langue, and Nikolaus Pevsner, Les Sources du vingtieme siecle (1961); John F. Pile, Modern Furniture (1979); Jonathan L. Fairbanks and Elizabeth Bidwell Bates, American Furniture, 1620 to the Present (1981); David A. Hanks, Innovative Furniture in America from 1800 to the Present (1981).

Breda

2004-12-15T19:34:00.000-08:00

Gemeente (commune), Noord-Brabant provincie, southwestern Netherlands, at the confluence of the Mark (Merk) and Aa rivers. It was a direct fief of the duchy of Brabant; its earliest known lord was Godfrey I (1125–70), in whose family it continued until it was sold to Brabant in 1327. Chartered in 1252, it passed to the house of Nassau in 1404 and, ultimately, to William I of Orange (1533–84). Fortified (1531–36) by Count Henry

Dow Chemical Company

2004-12-15T13:57:00.000-08:00

Dow Chemical Company was founded in 1897 by chemist Herbert H. Dow of Midland to supplement the Midland Chemical Company (1890) and Dow Process Company (1895). Created in part because Dow required

Act Of Parliament Clock

2004-12-14T14:31:00.000-08:00

Plain, hanging, weight-driven wall clock with a large wooden, painted or lacquered dial. The term Act of Parliament clock was applied incorrectly to these timepieces, which were thought to have been displayed by innkeepers to save their customers from paying a five-shilling duty on clocks in Great Britain, introduced in 1797 by the English prime minister William Pitt

Genesee

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

County, northwestern New York state, U.S., located in a lowland region with several swamps, midway between Buffalo and Rochester. It is drained by Tonawanda, Oak Orchard, and Oatka creeks. The major forest types are oak and hickory. Public lands include Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge and Darien Lakes State Park; Tonawanda Indian Reservation is in the northwestern

Nurhachi

2004-12-11T19:02:00.000-08:00

The Juchen (Jurchen) were a Tungus people who belonged to those border groups at the periphery of the Chinese empire that normally were under the influence of

Anna

2004-12-10T15:11:00.000-08:00

Daughter of Ivan V (reigned 1682–96) and niece of Peter I the Great (reigned 1682–1725), Anna was married to Frederick William, ruler of the Baltic seacoast duchy of Courland, on Oct. 31 (Nov. 11), 1710. Although her husband died on the journey to Courland after their wedding in St. Petersburg, Anna remained at Mitau (now Jelgava,

Oz, Amos

2004-12-09T02:39:00.000-08:00

Oz's symbolic, poetic novels reflect the splits and strains in Israeli life. Locked in conflict are the traditions

Marietta

2004-12-08T13:22:00.000-08:00

During the

Bruneau, Alfred

2004-12-07T00:21:00.000-08:00

A pupil of the French opera composer Jules Massenet at the Paris Conservatoire, Bruneau later worked as a copyist to the publisher Georges Hartmann. His earliest works included three choral symphonies and an opera, Kérim (1887). In 1888 he met the novelist Émile Zola, who became

France, History Of, The kings and the war, 13281429

2004-12-05T06:36:00.000-08:00

At the accession of the house of Valois in 1328, France was the most powerful kingdom in Europe. Its ruler could muster larger armies than his rivals elsewhere; he could tap enormous fiscal resources, including taxes authorized by sympathetic popes of French extraction; there remained only four great fiefs—the duchies of Aquitaine, Brittany, and Burgundy, and the county

Yuma

2004-12-04T11:41:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1871) of Yuma county, southwestern Arizona, U.S. It is situated on the Colorado River at the mouth of the Gila River, just north of the Mexican frontier. Founded in 1854 as Colorado City, it was renamed Arizona City (1862) and Yuma (1873), probably from the Spanish word humo, meaning “smoke,” because of the local Quechan (Yuma) practice of creating smoke clouds to induce rain. A strategic river

Cosimo I

2004-12-02T03:49:00.000-08:00

Cosimo was the great-great-grandson of Lorenzo the Elder, the son of Giovanni di Bicci and brother of Cosimo the Elder, and was thus a member of a branch of the Medici family that had taken an active part in Medici affairs but had played no political role. Nevertheless, when

Albany

2004-12-01T02:34:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1853) of Dougherty county, southwestern Georgia, U.S. It lies along the Flint River at the head of navigation, about 90 miles (145 km) southeast of Columbus. Founded in 1836 by Colonel Nelson Tift, it was named for Albany, New York, and was early established as a leading cotton market. In 1857 a railroad connected it with Macon. Later, six other rail lines converged on the point to make it

Mclean, Jackie

2004-11-30T01:31:00.000-08:00

From a musical family, McLean became known as a fine altoist in his teens and first recorded in 1951, with Miles Davis, playing “Dig” (also called “Donna”), a McLean theme that became a jazz standard. McLean played in Charles Mingus' and Art Blakey's groups, then

Asian Development Bank

2004-11-29T09:44:00.000-08:00

(ADB), organization established under the auspices of ESCAP (the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) that entered into force in August 1966. Thirty “regional” countries of South, Southeast, and East Asia and the South Pacific and 14 “nonregional” countries of western Europe and North America constitute the membership. Each member appoints

Biblical Literature, Manuscripts and printed editions of the Septuagint

2004-11-29T07:20:00.000-08:00

The manuscripts are conveniently classified by papyri uncials (capital letters) and minuscules (cursive script). The papyri fragments run into the hundreds, of varying sizes and importance, ranging from the formative period of the Septuagint through the middle of the 7th century. Two pre-Christian fragments of Deuteronomy from Egypt are of outstanding significance.

Biblical Literature, The DouaiReims Bible

2004-11-27T06:10:00.000-08:00

The Roman Catholics addressed themselves affirmatively to the same problem faced by the Anglican Church: a Bible in the vernacular. The initiator of the first such attempt was Cardinal Allen of Reims (in France), although the burden of the work fell to Gregory Martin, professor of Hebrew at Douai. The New Testament appeared in 1582, but the Old Testament, delayed by lack of

Tactical Weapons System

2004-11-26T23:29:00.000-08:00

System integrating tactical weapons with electronic equipment for target acquisition, aiming, or fire control or a combination of such purposes. Tactical weapons are designed for offensive or defensive use at relatively short range with relatively immediate consequences. They include weapons used for antitank assault, antiaircraft defense, battlefield

Leo Ix, Saint

2004-11-24T17:40:00.000-08:00

After their settlement in Sicily in the second decade of the 11th century, the Normans presented considerable dangers to the existence of the papal state. In their marauding expeditions they plundered and