SoftPotato

Nördlingen

2005-04-04T03:26:00.000-07:00

City, Bavaria Land (state), southern Germany, on the Eger River. A seat of the bishop of Regensburg in 898, it became a free imperial city in 1215. Several battles in the Thirty Years' War (17th century) and the French Revolutionary Wars (18th century) were fought outside the medieval walls that still surround the old city. Notable buildings include the late-Gothic town hall, the Church of

Gabelle

2005-04-02T23:34:00.000-08:00

In the 14th century the gabelle denoted any tax on the sale of consumer goods; an ordinance of 1360 made it a permanent tax. In the 15th century the gabelle began to mean specifically the salt tax, that is, a tax on consumption of salt. The nobility, the clergy, and certain other privileged

Pacino, Al

2005-04-02T05:16:00.000-08:00

After growing up in East Harlem and the Bronx, Pacino moved at age 19 to Greenwich Village, where he studied acting at the Herbert Berghof Studio and appeared in many Off-Broadway and out-of-town productions, including Hello, Out There (1963) and Why Is a Crooked Letter (1966). He took further

Szell, George

2005-04-01T20:52:00.000-08:00

A child prodigy on the piano, Szell was educated in Vienna. His conducting debut came at the age of 16 with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.

Tibet

2005-03-31T23:10:00.000-08:00

Tibetan Bod, in full Tibet Autonomous Region, Chinese (Wade-Giles) Hsi-tsang Tzu-chih-ch'ü, (Pinyin) Xizang Zizhiqu historic region and autonomous region of China that is often called “the roof of the world.” It occupies about 471,700 square miles (1,221,600 square kilometres) of the plateaus and mountains of Central Asia, including Mount Everest (Chu-mu-lang-ma Feng). It is bordered by the Chinese provinces of Tsinghai to the northeast, Szechwan to the east, and Yunnan to the southeast; Myanmar (Burma), India,

Bing, Sir Rudolph

2005-03-31T06:41:00.000-08:00

The son of an Austrian industrialist, Bing grew up in a musical household and studied at the University of Vienna. He first worked in theatrical agencies casting singers for opera houses. From 1928 to 1935 he assisted Carl Ebert

Mammal, Populations

2005-03-30T20:39:00.000-08:00

A population consists of individuals of three “ecological ages”—prereproductive, reproductive, and postreproductive. The structure and dynamics of a population depend, among other things, on the relative lengths of these ages, the rate of recruitment of individuals (either by birth or by immigration), and the rate of emigration or death. The reproductive potential

Epilobium

2005-03-30T20:09:00.000-08:00

The hairy willow herb, or codling-and-cream

Texas, Settlement

2005-03-27T16:10:00.000-08:00

By the 1730s the Spanish had sent more than 30 expeditions into Texas. San Antonio, which by 1718 housed a military post and a mission, had become the administrative centre. Missions, with military support, were established in Nacogdoches in East Texas, Goliad in the south, and near El Paso in the far west. The French also explored Texas. The explorations of Robert Cavelier, Lord de

Cadalso Y Vázquez, José De

2005-03-27T06:34:00.000-08:00

Cadalso also spelled Cadahlso Spanish writer famous for his Cartas marruecas (1793; “Moroccan Letters”), in which a Moorish traveler in Spain makes penetrating criticisms of Spanish life. Educated in Madrid, Cadalso traveled widely and, although he hated war, enlisted in the army against the Portuguese during the Seven Years' War. His prose satire Los eruditos a la

Oarfish

2005-03-26T07:17:00.000-08:00

(species Regalecus glesne), large, long, sinuous fish of the family Regalecidae (order Lampridiformes), found throughout the tropics and subtropics in rather deep water. A ribbon-shaped fish, very thin from side to side, the oarfish may grow to a length of about 9 m (30.5 feet) and a weight of 300 kg (660 pounds). It is shiny silver in colour, with long, red, oarlike pelvic fins and a long, red dorsal

Málaga

2005-03-25T09:01:00.000-08:00

Sweet, usually red, fortified wine that originated in the southern Spanish Mediterranean coastal province from which it takes its name. The term may also be applied generically to any of a variety of heavy, sweet red wines, including certain kosher wines served at Jewish celebrations. The best Spanish Málaga is made from muscat grapes and from the variety known as

Ansongo

2005-03-25T07:33:00.000-08:00

Town, southeastern Mali, West Africa, on the Niger River. It is a mining (antimony) and agricultural (grains, livestock) marketing centre. Prospecting for uranium began in the late 1970s. The Niger is navigable for about 1,000 mi (1,600 km) above Ansongo. Directly to the east is the Ansongo-Ménaka animal reserve, which covers an area of more than 4,300,000 ac (1,750,000 ha). Pop. (1976) 3,483.

Feline Respiratory Disease

2005-03-24T05:22:00.000-08:00

A complex of viral contagions of cats (including rhinotracheitis, pneumonitis, and influenza), marked by fever, sneezing, and running eyes and nose. Rhinotracheitis and pneumonitis are the most common and have identical symptoms. Mortality is low, but recovery from severe cases may be difficult and prolonged, with relapses. A vaccine is available against pneumonitis.

Valdemar I

2005-03-24T03:33:00.000-08:00

The son of Knud Lavard, duke of South Jutland, and a great-grandson of the Danish king Sweyn II, Valdemar gained sole possession of the monarchy, concluding

North Africa, History Of, Geography and prehistory

2005-03-23T23:56:00.000-08:00

North Africa as here used means the area of present-day Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. In ancient times the Greeks used the word Libya, derived from the name of a tribe on the Gulf of Sidra, to describe the land north of the Sahara, the territory whose native peoples were subjects of Carthage, and also as a name for the whole continent. The Romans applied the name Africa

Dayton, University Of

2005-03-23T18:06:00.000-08:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Dayton, Ohio, U.S. The university is affiliated with the Marianist (Society of Mary) order of the Roman Catholic church. It is composed of the College of Arts and Sciences and schools of business administration, education, engineering, and law. The university offers a range of undergraduate and graduate degree

Irish Moss

2005-03-22T22:52:00.000-08:00

Also called Carrageen (Chondrus crispus), species of red algae, a small, tufted seaweed with thin fronds from 5 to 25 cm (2 to 10 inches) long, that grows abundantly along the rocky parts of the Atlantic coast of the British Isles, Europe, and North America. The name is also used loosely for several other red seaweeds found associated with Chondrus. Other names descriptive of its appearance are pearl moss,

English Oak

2005-03-22T07:24:00.000-08:00

Also called Brown Oak (Quercus robur), ornamental and timber tree of the beech family (Fagaceae) that is native to Eurasia but also cultivated in North America and Australia. The tree has a short, stout trunk with wide-spreading branches and may grow to a height of 25 m (82.5 feet). The short-stalked leaves, 13 cm (5 inches) or more long, have three to seven pairs of rounded lobes; they are dark green

Anthony Of Kiev

2005-03-22T01:28:00.000-08:00

Seeking a solitary life, Anthony became a monk about 1028 at the Greek Orthodox monastery of Esphigmenon on Mount Athos, in Greece. According to an account contained in the 12th-century The Russian Primary Chronicle (Povest vremennykh let), Anthony

Philip

2005-03-21T09:14:00.000-08:00

Antipope in July 768. Temporal rulers coveted the papal throne following the death (767) of Pope St. Paul I, and Toto, duke of Nepi, had his brother Constantine II, a layman, elected pope. The Lombard king Desiderius then sent troops to Rome, killing Toto and deposing Constantine. Backed by some Romans, the Lombards, in 768, secretly set Philip up as pope. Philip had been

Sunburn

2005-03-20T11:02:00.000-08:00

Acute cutaneous inflammation caused by overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation of the so-called UVB wavelength band (290–320 nanometre; a nanometre is 10-9 metre), which originates from sunlight or artificial sources. Reactions to overexposure range in severity from mild redness and tenderness to intense pain, edema (swelling), and blistering; systemic symptoms include

Saint Boniface

2005-03-20T06:13:00.000-08:00

Historic district of Winnipeg, southern Manitoba, Canada, at the confluence of the Seine and Red rivers. It was founded in 1818 by a group of French missionaries led by Bishop Joseph Norbert Provencher upon the site of an earlier, unsuccessful settlement by Swiss mercenaries; a chapel was built there under the patronage of St. Boniface. Since then, St. Boniface, with its famous

Fibre, Man-made, Cellulose-based polymers

2005-03-19T15:29:00.000-08:00

In unaltered native cellulose, X represents hydrogen, forming a number of pendant hydroxyl (OH) groups. Hydroxyl groups, like amides, are capable of forming hydrogen

Alabama Claims

2005-03-18T14:47:00.000-08:00

The Anglo-Persian Oil Company was formed in 1909 to take over and finance an oil-field

Disciples Of Christ

2005-03-18T07:34:00.000-08:00

The Churches of Christ emphasize rigorous adherence to the New Testament as the model for Christian faith, practice, and fellowship. They

The Rockettes

2005-03-17T20:56:00.000-08:00

The origins of the Rockettes, the world's most famous precision dance team, can be traced to 1925, when impresario Russell Markert of St. Louis, Missouri, billed a group of women dancers as the Missouri Rockets. Following a positive reception locally, the dance team began a nationwide tour. Among their admiring audiences in New

Settlement

2005-03-17T02:04:00.000-08:00

In law, a compromise or agreement between litigants to settle the matters in dispute between them in order to dispose of and conclude their litigation. Generally, as a result of the settlement, prosecution of the action is withdrawn or dismissed without any judgment being entered (see nolle prosequi). In such cases, the settlement itself, as a binding contract between

Biblical Literature, Hodayot

2005-03-16T10:48:00.000-08:00

One of the most important Essene works is the Hodayot (“Praises”)—a modern Hebrew name for the Thanksgiving Psalms. This scroll contains sectarian hymns of praise to God. In its view of the fleshly nature of man, who can be justified only by God's undeserved grace, it resembles St. Paul's approach to the same problem. Some scholars think that the work, or a part of it, was written

Kafzeh

2005-03-16T10:34:00.000-08:00

The remains,

Saxony-anhalt

2005-03-15T13:28:00.000-08:00

German Sachsen-anhalt, Land (state), east-central Germany. Saxony-Anhalt had its origins in the principality of Anhalt (q.v.), which was a duchy from 1863 to 1918 and a Land of Germany from 1918 until 1945, when it became part of Saxony-Anhalt. The latter was a newly created Land of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1949 until 1952, at which time it was broken up into the Bezirke (districts) of Magdeburg and Halle. Upon

Jacana

2005-03-15T05:07:00.000-08:00

The seven or eight species of the genus Jacana include the American jacana (Jacana

Thompson River

2005-03-14T10:24:00.000-08:00

Major tributary of the Fraser River, in southern British Columbia, Canada. The North Thompson (210 miles [340 km]) rises in the Cariboo Mountains east of Wells Gray Provincial Park and follows an easterly then southwesterly course to Kamloops; the South Thompson (206 miles) emerges from Shuswap Lake and flows northwesterly to Kamloops (see photograph), where the two streams unite

Anne Boleyn

2005-03-14T04:15:00.000-08:00

A full biography is Marie Louise Bruce, Anne Boleyn (1972).

Paddock, Charlie

2005-03-14T02:48:00.000-08:00

Paddock ran for the University of Southern California (Los Angeles), from which he graduated in 1922. He served in the U.S.

Augustine, Saint

2005-03-13T16:31:00.000-08:00

De doctrina christiana (books 1–3 396/397, book 4 426; Christian Doctrine) was begun in the first years of Augustine's episcopacy but finished 30 years later. This imitation of Cicero's Orator for Christian purposes sets out a theory of the interpretation of scripture and offers practical guidance to the would-be preacher. It was widely influential in the Middle Ages as an educational

Mahayana

2005-03-12T16:06:00.000-08:00

(Sanskrit: Greater Vehicle), one of the two major Buddhist traditions and the form most widely adhered to in China, Korea, Japan, and Tibet. Mahayana Buddhism emerged in about the 1st century AD from the ancient Buddhist schools as a more liberal and innovative interpretation of the Buddha's teachings. Mahayanists distinguished themselves from the more orthodox conservative

Ear Disease, Keloid of the ear

2005-03-12T02:39:00.000-08:00

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).

Binyon, (robert) Laurence

2005-03-11T20:51:00.000-08:00

The son of a clergyman, Binyon was educated at St. Paul's School, London. At Trinity College, Oxford, he won the Newdigate Prize for his poem Persephone (1890). He combined his lifelong interests—books and painting—when in

Digestive System Disease, Ascites

2005-03-11T03:00:00.000-08:00

The accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity, or ascites, is related to portal hypertension, significant reduction in serum albumin, and renal retention of sodium. When albumin levels in the blood are lower than normal, there is a marked reduction in the force that holds plasma water within the blood vessels and normally resists the effects of the intravascular

Tharrawaddy

2005-03-10T23:51:00.000-08:00

Tharrawaddy in 1837 deposed his brother Bagyidaw (reigned 1819–37), who had been obliged to sign the humiliating treaty that ceded the provinces of Arakan and Tenasserim to the British. Upon his accession, Tharrawaddy

Rupert

2005-03-10T20:24:00.000-08:00

A member of the Wittelsbach dynasty, he was chosen king by the German ecclesiastical electors on Aug. 22, 1400, to succeed Wenceslas, who had been deposed the day before by the German princes. After being crowned at Cologne on Jan.

Davenport, Edward Loomis

2005-03-09T20:26:00.000-08:00

In spite of family opposition, Davenport went on the stage, making his debut in 1836 under the stage name Mr. E. Dee, playing Parson

Crocker, Charles

2005-03-09T16:13:00.000-08:00

Crocker was forced to quit school at an early age to help support his family. After his family moved to Indiana, he did various jobs—farming, working in a sawmill, and serving as an apprentice in a blacksmith

Shilluk

2005-03-08T21:09:00.000-08:00

The Shilluk are sedentary agriculturists with strong pastoral interests (cattle, sheep, and goats). Men hunt, herd, and milk the livestock; both sexes do agricultural work. The community

Piteå

2005-03-08T15:43:00.000-08:00

Town and port, län (county) of Norrbotten, northern Sweden. It lies along the Pite River near its outlet on the Gulf of Bothnia. The town was originally chartered at Öjebyn in 1621, but after a fire in 1666 it was moved to its present location. Lying in a forest-rich area, it is a centre for shipping timber and wallboard, and among its industries are sawmilling and others connected with

Ukrainian Language

2005-03-07T21:24:00.000-08:00

Formerly called Ruthenian, or Little Russian, Ukrainian Ukraïns'ka Mova, East Slavic language spoken in Ukraine and in Ukrainian communities in neighbouring Belarus, Russia, Poland, and Slovakia. Ukrainian is a lineal descendant of the colloquial language used in Kievan Rus (10th–13th century). It is written in a form of the Cyrillic alphabet and is closely related to Russian and Belarusian, from which it was indistinguishable until the 12th

Marcello, Benedetto

2005-03-07T08:46:00.000-08:00

Italian composer and writer, especially remembered for two works: the satirical pamphlet Il teatro alla moda (1720); and Estro poeticoarmonico (1724–26), a setting for voices and instruments of the first 50 psalms in an Italian paraphrase by G. Giustiniani. Il teatro alla moda is an amusing pamphlet in which Marcello vented his opinions on the

Constantine, Arch Of

2005-03-06T22:41:00.000-08:00

(AD 312), one of three surviving ancient Roman triumphal arches in Rome. Erected hastily to celebrate Constantine's victory over Maxentius, it incorporates sculptures from many earlier buildings, including part of a battle frieze and figures of prisoners from the Forum of Trajan, a series of Hadrianic roundels, and a set of eight Aurelian panels.

General Sarmiento

2005-03-06T04:31:00.000-08:00

Partido (county) of Gran (“Greater”) Buenos Aires, Argentina. It lies northwest of the city of Buenos Aires, in Buenos Aires provincia. The early settlement of the county centred on the agricultural plantation San José del Pilar, established by Adolfo Sordeaux in 1862. This plantation settlement led Sordeaux to establish the towns of San Miguel and Bella Vista in 1872. In 1889 General

Molecular Sieve

2005-03-06T02:43:00.000-08:00

A porous solid, usually a synthetic or a natural zeolite, that separates particles of molecular dimension. Zeolites are hydrated metal aluminosilicate compounds with well-defined crystalline structures. The silicate and aluminate groupings form three-dimensional crystal lattices surrounding cavities in which the metal ions and the water molecules are

Bradstreet, Anne

2005-03-06T00:12:00.000-08:00

Née Anne Dudley one of the first poets to write English verse in the American colonies. Long considered primarily of historical interest, she won critical acceptance in the 20th century as a writer of enduring verse, particularly for her sequence of religious poems, “Contemplations,” written

Bähr, George

2005-03-04T10:05:00.000-08:00

Bähr was apprenticed to a carpenter at a very early age. Official records indicate that he was also involved in working on the mechanics of the camera obscura, then a popular device, and the workings

China

2005-03-03T20:45:00.000-08:00

Chinese culture is remarkable for its duration and diversity. Skeletal remains and stone implements date to the Paleolithic stage of cultural development, from the 29th to the 17th millennium BC. Decorated artifacts, primarily marked pottery vessels, have been found in dozens of Incipient Neolithic and Neolithic sites, dating from

Bridge

2005-03-03T11:31:00.000-08:00

Either of two card games, auction bridge and contract bridge, that are derived from whist and retain its essential features. These features are the following: four players participate, two against two in partnership. They play with a 52-card pack, all of whose cards are dealt face downward one at a time, clockwise. When play begins, the object is to win tricks, consisting of

Knaben Wunderhorn, Des

2005-03-02T08:58:00.000-08:00

(1805–08; German: “The Boy's Magic Horn”), anthology of German folk songs, subtitled Alte deutsche Lieder (“Old German Songs”), that established its editors, the poet Clemens Brentano and the antiquarian Achim von Arnim (qq.v.), as leaders of the Romantic movement by reviving enthusiasm for the Volkslied (“folk song,” or “peasant song”) tradition in German lyric poetry. Reputedly genuine folk

Indian Shaker Church

2005-03-02T00:57:00.000-08:00

Christianized prophet cult among Northwest American Indians; it is not connected with the Shaker communities developed from the teachings of Ann Lee. In 1881 near Olympia, Wash., John Slocum, a Squaxon logger and a baptized Roman Catholic, reported that he had visited heaven while in a coma and was commissioned to preach a new way of life. The following year his wife, Mary,

Tobin, James

2005-03-01T13:24:00.000-08:00

After taking degrees from Harvard University (B.A., 1939; Ph.D., 1947), Tobin spent 1941–42 as an economist with the Office of Price

Kirov

2005-03-01T01:16:00.000-08:00

Oblast (province), western Russia. The oblast covers an area of 46,650 square miles (120,800 square km) and occupies almost the entire basin of the Vyatka River. It is a rolling morainic plain rising from the broad, central valley of the Vyatka to the dissected limestone uplands of the Severnye Hills in the north and the Vyatsky Hills and Verkhne (Upper) Kama upland in the east. Nearly all

Venetian School

2005-02-28T04:26:00.000-08:00

The founder of the dynasty of painters that was most important

Lighter

2005-02-27T18:49:00.000-08:00

Shallow-draft boat or barge, usually flat-bottomed, used in unloading (lightening) or loading ships offshore. Use of lighters requires extra handling and thus extra time and expense and is largely confined to ports without enough traffic to justify construction of piers or wharves. Lighters are also used in transporting freight for short distances, as around harbours.

Vagina

2005-02-27T15:06:00.000-08:00

In humans the vagina is about 9 cm (3.5 inches) long; it is located in front of the rectum and behind the bladder. The cervix of the uterus connects to the upper region

Farini, Luigi Carlo

2005-02-26T09:51:00.000-08:00

After participating in the revolutionary uprisings of 1831, Farini received his medical degree at Bologna and went into practice. Exiled from the Papal States and from Tuscany, he drafted the manifesto

Anthony Of Novgorod

2005-02-26T01:14:00.000-08:00

Anthony's importance derives mainly from his Pilgrim's

Azeotrope

2005-02-25T21:03:00.000-08:00

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

Wellfleet

2005-02-25T08:14:00.000-08:00

Town (township), Barnstable county, Massachusetts, U.S. It lies on the northeastern arm of Cape Cod, 12 miles (19 km) south-southeast of Provincetown. First settled about 1724, it was incorporated in 1763 and gained prominence in the 19th century as a fishing port, having from 1830 to 1870 a virtual monopoly of New England oystering. The name of the town may derive from “whale fleet” or from the Wallfleet

China, General works

2005-02-24T22:55:00.000-08:00

Overviews of China's physical and human geography may be found in Keith Buchanan, The Transformation of the Chinese Earth (1970); Ping-chia Kuo, China, 3rd ed. (1970); T.R. Tregear, China: A Geographical Survey (1980); Albert Kolb, East Asia: China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam: Geography of a Cultural Region (1971, reprinted 1977; originally published in German, 1963); Brian Hook (ed.), The Cambridge Encyclopedia of China (1982); Robert L. Worden, Andrea Matles Savada, and Ronald E. Dolan (eds.), China, a Country Study, 4th ed. (1988); and Information China, 3 vol. (1989), an encyclopaedic work prepared under the auspices of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and ed. by C.V. James.

Sayyid Dynasty

2005-02-24T09:15:00.000-08:00

Rulers of India's Delhi sultanate (c. 1414–51) as successors of the Tughluq dynasty until displaced by the Afghan Lodis; this family claimed to be sayyids, or descendants of the Prophet Muhammad. The central authority of the Delhi sultanate had been fatally weakened by the invasion of Timur (Tamerlane) and his sack of Delhi in 1398. For the next 50 years, North India was virtually divided

Ashland

2005-02-24T01:53:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1860) of Ashland county, extreme northern Wisconsin, U.S. It is a port on Chequamegon Bay of Lake Superior. A Jesuit mission was established there in 1665, but not until 1854 did Asaph Whittlesey settle the site, which he named for Henry Clay's Kentucky estate. In 1877 Ashland became the terminus of the first railroad of northern Wisconsin and developed with iron-mining and lumbering

Abd Ar-rahman

2005-02-23T23:00:00.000-08:00

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

Voyager

2005-02-22T21:01:00.000-08:00

In aeronautics, American experimental aircraft that in 1986 became the first airplane to fly around the world without stops or refueling. Piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, the craft took off on December 14 from Edwards Air Force Base, 60 miles (100 km) northeast of Los Angeles, and landed at that same base 9 days later after completing a course of 25,012 miles (40,251 km) around the world. The Voyager

Rashi

2005-02-21T19:47:00.000-08:00

Acronym of Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaqi renowned medieval French commentator on the Bible and Talmud (the authoritative Jewish compendium of law, lore, and commentary). Rashi combined the two basic methods of interpretation, literal and nonliteral, in his influential Bible commentary. His commentary on the Talmud was a landmark in Talmudic exegesis, and his work still serves

Lord Steward

2005-02-21T07:38:00.000-08:00

Also called Lord Steward Of The Household, in England, an official of the royal household, whose duties were originally domestic and who was known as the “chief steward” of the household. The office was of considerable political importance under the Tudors and Stuarts, and it carried cabinet rank during the 18th century. In 1924 it ceased to be a political appointment and since then it has been filled at the discretion

Biblical Literature, The significance of Elijah

2005-02-21T06:58:00.000-08:00

With the dynasty of Omri (c. 876–842), the prophetic movement begins to assume a position of tremendous importance in Israel and Judah. Omri (reigned c. 876–869) reestablished Israel's economic and military significance among the Syrian and Palestinian minor kingdoms, so much so that years after his death the Assyrians referred to the northern kingdom as “the land of Omri.” He is mentioned

Ma River

2005-02-20T09:43:00.000-08:00

Vietnamese Song Ma river, northern Vietnam, one of the longest of the region, rising in the northwest. It flows southeastward through Laos for about 50 miles (80 km), cutting gorges through uplands to reach the plains region at which northern Vietnam begins to narrow. The river enters the Gulf of Tonkin, 65 miles (105 km) south of Hanoi, after a course of 250 miles (400 km). Like the Red River (Song Hong) to the north, it

Kilim

2005-02-19T15:57:00.000-08:00

Pileless floor covering handwoven by tapestry techniques in Anatolia, the Balkans, or parts of Iran. In the rest of Iran, the Caucasus, and Turkistan, the name for similar pieces is palas. In most kilims, a slit occurs wherever two colours meet along a vertical line in the pattern, but in a few Karabagh or South Caucasian pieces, interlocking methods are employed in order

Rousseau, Jean-jacques

2005-02-19T13:38:00.000-08:00

Rousseau was the least academic of modern philosophers and in many ways was the most influential. His thought marked the end of the Age of Reason. He propelled political

Epistemology, Commonsense philosophy, logical positivism, and naturalized epistemology

2005-02-19T10:18:00.000-08:00

Three of the most notable achievements of analytic philosophy are commonsense philosophy, logical positivism, and naturalized epistemology. G.E. Moore (1873–1958) made a defense of what he called the commonsense view of the world. According to Moore, virtually everybody knows certain propositions to be true, such as that the Earth exists, that it is very old, and that other persons

Texas, Annexation and statehood

2005-02-18T23:20:00.000-08:00

As early as 1836, Texans had voted for annexation by the United States, but the proposition was rejected by the Jackson and Van Buren administrations. Great Britain favoured continued independence for Texas in order to block further westward expansion of the United States, but this attitude only helped to swing Americans toward annexation. Annexation was approved

Furniture, Clocks

2005-02-18T15:22:00.000-08:00

Clocks are considered furnishings if the movement is enclosed within a case, which need not necessarily be of wood. Clocks can be divided into table clocks and long-case clocks. There were two creative centres for table clocks, namely England and France. In 17th- and 18th-century France, the table clock became an object of monumental design, the best examples of which are

Caucasian Languages, Grammatical characteristics

2005-02-18T07:30:00.000-08:00

In a number of languages (Lezgi, Udi) noun differentiation by classes has disappeared. The class of

Tiy

2005-02-17T07:32:00.000-08:00

She was the daughter of Yuya, the commander of the Egyptian chariotry and overseer of the cattle of the local god Min; her mother, Thuya, was also an Egyptian. Although she was not of royal blood, Tiy became the favoured wife of Amenhotep III (reigned 1390–53 BC), a powerful king of the 18th dynasty, who gave her considerable prominence

Kourouma, Ahmadou

2005-02-16T20:05:00.000-08:00

Kourouma spent his early years in Guinea and attended secondary school in Bamako, Mali, until he was expelled and was drafted into the army by the French. He was sent to Indochina and served in Saigon. Later he continued

Marsh

2005-02-16T10:20:00.000-08:00

Marshes are common at the mouths of rivers, especially where extensive deltas have been built. The river brings a steady supply of water. The gradient

Macedonia

2005-02-15T05:41:00.000-08:00

Modern Greek Makedhonía , traditional region of Greece, comprising the northern and northeastern portions of that country. Greek Macedonia has an area of about 13,200 square miles (34,200 square km). It is bounded by Albania to the west, independent Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, the Greek region of Thrace to the east, the Aegean Sea to the southeast, and the Greek regions of Thessaly and Epirus to the

Astoria

2005-02-15T01:50:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1844) of Clatsop county, northwestern Oregon, U.S., on the south bank of the Columbia River (there bridged to Megler, Washington) near its mouth on the Pacific Ocean. It is near the site of Oregon's first military establishment, Fort Clatsop, built by the Lewis and Clark Expedition, which wintered there (1805–06); the reconstructed fort, 4.5 miles (7.5 km) southwest, is a national memorial.

Khanty And Mansi

2005-02-14T22:07:00.000-08:00

Their present-day territory

Wagner, Robert F.

2005-02-13T17:23:00.000-08:00

Wagner was named for his father, a U.S. senator and sponsor of the Social Security Act. After an education at Yale University (A.B., 1933, LL.D., 1937), Wagner served as an intelligence officer in the Army Air Corps during World War II. He launched his political career by associating himself

Charadriiform, Annotated classification

2005-02-13T14:43:00.000-08:00

Palate schizognathous; upper jaw schizorhinal (except Burhinidae and Pluvianus); lachrymal bone fused to ectethmoid; cervical vertebrae 15 or 16; dorsal vertebrae opisthocoelous or heterocoelous;

Daily World

2005-02-13T09:08:00.000-08:00

The Daily Worker was variously the organ and the “semi-official” voice of the party, and its readers have included numerous U.S. government intelligence agents, who also have monitored its list of subscribers. In 1958 the paper became a weekly as The

Kimberlite

2005-02-11T23:12:00.000-08:00

Also called blue ground a dark-coloured, heavy, often altered and brecciated (fragmented), intrusive igneous rock that contains the only diamonds known to occur in the rock matrix where they originally formed. It has a porphyritic texture, with large, often rounded crystals (phenocrysts) surrounded by a fine-grained matrix (groundmass). It is a mica peridotite, and its most abundant mineral

Interior Design, General works

2005-02-11T17:06:00.000-08:00

Arnold Friedmann, John F. Pile, and Forrest Wilson, Interior Design: An Introduction to Architectural Interiors (1970), an introduction to the field of interior architecture written for students of design; Sherrill Whiton, Elements of Interior Design and Decoration, 3rd ed. (1963), a scholarly text; Ray and Sarah Faulkner, Inside Today's Home, 3rd ed. (1968), a thorough and well-illustrated book on the interior design of homes; Diana Rowntree, Interior Design (1964), a brief and personal view of interior design written primarily for British readers; Edgar Kaufman, What Is Modern Interior Design? (1953, reprinted 1969), a very brief but perceptive treatise. A later monograph on home decorating is Mary Gilliat, The Decorating Book (1981), with special photography by Michael Dunne.

Vanadium Processing

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

The discovery of vanadium was first claimed in 1801 by a Spanish mineralogist, Andrés Manuel del Río, who gave it the name erythronium, after the red colour of one of its chemical compounds (Greek erythros, “red”). In 1830 a Swedish chemist, Nils Gabriel Sefström, rediscovered the element and named it vanadium, after Vanadis, the Scandinavian goddess of beauty, because of the beautiful

David

2005-02-11T15:46:00.000-08:00

Second of the Israelite kings (after Saul), reigning c. 1000 to c. 962 BC, who established a united kingdom over all Israel, with Jerusalem as its capital. In Jewish tradition he became the ideal king, the founder of an enduring dynasty, around whose figure and reign clustered messianic expectations of the people of Israel. Since he was a symbol of fulfillment

Hanabusa Itcho

2005-02-10T20:02:00.000-08:00

Also called Itcho , original name Taga Shinko Japanese painter who broke away from the orthodox style of the Kano school to experiment with humorous subjects from everyday life. Because of his subject matter, his work is sometimes classified with the ukiyo-e school of paintings and prints, and, indeed, some of his designs were used by later ukiyo-e wood-block printers. Unlike most of the

Salandra, Antonio

2005-02-10T09:35:00.000-08:00

Salandra was educated in law and taught public administration at the University of Rome before entering politics. A member of a wealthy family and a conservative, he rose to become minister of agriculture in 1899 and finance minister in 1906 and again

Cabot, John

2005-02-10T05:03:00.000-08:00

Cabot's voyages are treated specifically in James A. Williamson, The Voyages of the Cabots and the English Discovery of North America (1929, reprinted 1971), and The Cabot Voyages and Bristol Discovery Under Henry VII (1962, reprinted 1986); while David B. Quinn, England and the Discovery of America, 1481–1620 (1973); and Samuel Eliot Morison, The European Discovery of America, vol. 1 (1971, reissued 1993), place the voyages in the broader historical context.

'umar Ii

2005-02-09T22:33:00.000-08:00

His father, 'Abd al-'Aziz, was a governor of Egypt, and through his mother he was a descendant of 'Umar I (second caliph, 634–644). He received

Fishhook Cactus

2005-02-08T21:21:00.000-08:00

Mammillaria, native from southwestern North America to the Caribbean, Colombia, and Venezuela, is a large and complex genus of about 150 species. Its species are

Robert, Shaaban

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

Popular Swahili writer, Robert was the product of two cultures—his father was a Christian, but Shaaban returned to Islam. His work ranges from poetry to essay and didactic tale, influenced in style by the Oriental tradition. Many poems follow the form of utendi verse (used for narration and didactic themes),