DependentSnow

Aluminum Company Of America

2005-03-30T07:34:00.000-08:00

(Alcoa), American corporation founded in 1888 (as the Pittsburgh Reduction Company) and now a leading producer of aluminum. Its operations range from mining bauxite and other ores to smelting and processing aluminum, fabricating aluminum products, and marketing and shipping. It has majority ownership of Alcoa of Australia Limited, a leading producer of aluminum oxide

Eisstockschiessen

2005-03-29T00:54:00.000-08:00

Teams consist of four players and one substitute. The rink is 28 metres (30.8 yards) long and 3 m (3.3 yd) wide. Players slide (shoot) cylindrical Eisstöcken (“ice stocks”) down the rink, aiming

Argentina, The Gran Chaco

2005-03-28T23:23:00.000-08:00

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

Stone, Fred (andrew)

2005-03-28T04:28:00.000-08:00

Stone was raised in Topeka, Kan., making his stage debut there at age 11, and soon joined his brother on tour with a number of small circuses. In the 1890s he teamed up with Dave Montgomery and together they toured in vaudeville and minstrel shows before appearing in their first Broadway

Muezzin

2005-03-27T23:36:00.000-08:00

Arabic Mu'addin, in Islam, the official who proclaims the call to prayer (adhan) on Friday for the public worship and the call to the daily prayer (salat) five times a day, at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and nightfall. To summon worshipers the Jews use a trumpet and the Christians use a bell, but the Muslims use the human voice. The muezzin is the servant of the mosque and is chosen for his good

Cumberland, William Augustus, Duke Of

2005-03-26T23:42:00.000-08:00

During the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48), he became commander of the allied forces (1745) and was severely defeated by France's Marshal Maurice

Military Aircraft, Day fighters

2005-03-25T16:02:00.000-08:00

Air superiority was crucial to the outcome of most of the decisive campaigns of World War II, and here the performance of single-seat fighters was generally the critical factor. First-class fighters required extremely powerful aero engines suitable for compact, low-drag installation, and in this respect Britain, Germany, and the United States were in a class by themselves.

Korea, South, Flag Of

2005-03-25T05:54:00.000-08:00

The need for a national flag arose in Korea in the late 19th century when, under pressure from its powerful neighbours, China and Japan, Korea gradually began to open its borders to outside influences. Traditional symbols were incorporated in the design of the new flag, adopted in August 1882, which has continued as the basic pattern ever since. The white background is for

Pacorus

2005-03-24T08:55:00.000-08:00

In the summer of 51 BC Pacorus was sent to invade Syria with an army commanded by Osaces, an older warrior. Osaces, however, was killed in battle, and early the next year Orodes, learning that one of his satraps was conspiring to make Pacorus king, recalled his son. In 45, Pacorus intervened in

Murchison, Sir Roderick Impey

2005-03-23T06:23:00.000-08:00

Murchison joined the Geological Society of London in 1825 and in the following five years explored Scotland, France, and the Alps and collaborated alternately with the British geologists Adam Sedgwick and Charles

Ba Maw

2005-03-22T09:58:00.000-08:00

Ba Maw was educated at Rangoon College, Calcutta University, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Bordeaux, Fr., where he received a doctorate in 1924. Admitted to

Annates

2005-03-22T05:36:00.000-08:00

A tax on the first year's income (first fruits) from an ecclesiastical benefice given by a new incumbent either to the bishop or to the pope. The first mention of the practice appears in the time of Pope Honorius III (d. 1227). The earliest records show that the annates were sometimes a privilege conceded to the bishop for a term of years and sometimes a right based on immemorial

Fraenkel-conrat, Heinz L.

2005-03-21T17:18:00.000-08:00

Fraenkel-Conrat studied medicine at the University of Breslau (M.D., 1933) and then turned to biochemistry at the University of Edinburgh (Ph.D.,

Vedic Religion

2005-03-20T05:20:00.000-08:00

The only extant Vedic materials are the texts known as the Vedas, which were written down over a period of about 10 centuries, from about the 15th to the 5th century BC, this being the period when Vedism was a living force. The Vedic corpus is written in an archaic Sanskrit. The most important texts are also the oldest ones. They are the four collections (Samhita) that we call the Veda,

Ibn Ishaq

2005-03-20T04:26:00.000-08:00

Ibn Ishaq was the grandson of an Arab prisoner captured by Muslim troops in Iraq and brought to Medina, where he was freed after accepting Islam. Ibn Ishaq's father and two uncles

Hooton, Earnest A(lbert)

2005-03-19T08:24:00.000-08:00

American physical anthropologist who investigated human evolution and racial differentiation, classified and described human populations, and examined the relationship between personality and physical type, particularly with respect to criminal behaviour. He established Harvard University as a principal

Esquire

2005-03-19T04:27:00.000-08:00

Esquire's early notoriety became the subject of a celebrated

Price, H.h.

2005-03-18T08:26:00.000-08:00

Before his appointment as Wykeham professor of logic at New College, Oxford (1935–59), where he was educated, Price taught at Magdalen College (1922–24), Liverpool University (1922–23), and Trinity College (1924–35). His earliest book, Perception (1932), rejected causal theories of perception, while a later publication,

Bascom, Florence

2005-03-17T11:10:00.000-08:00

Bascom earned bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Wisconsin, and she later received the first Ph.D. awarded to a woman at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (1893). Bascom then taught at Ohio State University

Esquire

2005-03-17T01:26:00.000-08:00

The company was incorporated in 1892, acquiring all the assets of the Edison General Electric

Bahadur Shah I

2005-03-16T17:20:00.000-08:00

As Prince Mu'azzam, the second son of the emperor Aurangzeb, he was prospective heir apparent after his elder brother defected to join their father's brother and rival, Shah Shuja'. Prince Mu'azzam was sent to represent his father in the Deccan Plateau region of south and central India in 1663. He led an army in 1683–84 against the

Chronology, Peoples of Oaxaca and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec

2005-03-16T04:00:00.000-08:00

Pictorial books of the Mixtec of Oaxaca record events in the lives of ruling families covering seven centuries, but, again, happenings are fixed only by the day on which each occurred and the year in which the day fell. Sequence is usually clear, but at times there is doubt as to which 52-year period is meant when parenthetical material, such as life histories of secondary

Tiger Moth

2005-03-15T23:27:00.000-08:00

The fall webworm (Hyphantria cunea) is a serious pest. These

Indian Territory

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

Originally “all of that part of the United States west of the Mississippi, and not within the States of Missouri and Louisiana, or the Territory of Arkansas.” Never an organized territory, it was soon restricted to the present state of Oklahoma, excepting the panhandle and Greer county. The Choctaw, Creek, Seminole, Cherokee, and Chickasaw tribes were forcibly moved to

Papaveraceae

2005-03-13T14:13:00.000-08:00

All species in the family have bisexual, regular,

Tasmania, Demographic trends

2005-03-13T11:07:00.000-08:00

Tasmania continues to have a higher birth rate than most other states, but, as in Australia generally, crude birth rates have tended to fall, average birth rates declining in the middle and late 20th century. Birth rates are lower in the cities than in the smaller towns and rural areas. Death rates remain fairly constant. Infant mortality rates are among the lowest in

Lutetium

2005-03-13T06:10:00.000-08:00

(Lu), chemical element, rare-earth metal of transition Group IIIb of the periodic table; the hardest and densest rare-earth element, last member of the lanthanide series. Lutetium was discovered (1907–08) by Carl Auer von Welsbach and Georges Urbain, working independently. Urbain derived the name for the element from Lutetia, which was the ancient Roman name for Paris. The name

Aesthetics, The significance of Baumgarten's work

2005-03-12T10:58:00.000-08:00

Such a statement would have been vigorously repudiated by Hutcheson's contemporary Alexander Baumgarten, who, in his aforementioned Reflections on Poetry, introduced the term aesthetic in its distinctively modern sense. Baumgarten was a pupil of Christian Wolff, the Rationalist philosopher who had created the orthodox philosophy of the German Enlightenment

Academy

2005-03-12T07:16:00.000-08:00

The designation academy, as a school of philosophy, is usually applied not to Plato's immediate

Xenakis, Iannis

2005-03-12T04:16:00.000-08:00

Mario Boris, Iannis Xenakis (1967); Iannis Xenakis, Formalized Music (1971, revised 1992); Nouritza Matossian, Iannis Xenakis (1986); Bálint András Varga, Conversations with Iannis Xenakis (1996).

Bar Form

2005-03-11T13:52:00.000-08:00

In music, the structural pattern aab as used by the medieval German minnesingers and meistersingers, who were poet-composers of secular monophonic songs (i.e., those having a single line of melody). The modern term Bar form derives from a medieval verse form, the Bar, consisting of three stanzas, each having the form aab. The musical term thus refers to the melody of a single

Yung-cheng

2005-03-10T22:43:00.000-08:00

As the fourth son of the previous emperor, Yung-cheng was not immediately in line for the throne; but when the designated heir apparent became mentally deranged, the future emperor

Computers, Invention of the modern computer

2005-03-10T05:25:00.000-08:00

G. Pascal Zachary, Endless Frontier: Vannevar Bush, Engineer of the American Century (1997), presents a detailed account of Bush's role in transforming scientific research in the United States through government funding.

Irish Literary Renaissance

2005-03-09T07:17:00.000-08:00

Flowering of Irish literary talent at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century that was closely allied with a strong political nationalism and a revival of interest in Ireland's Gaelic literary heritage. The renaissance was inspired by the nationalistic pride of the Gaelic revival (q.v.); by the retelling of ancient heroic legends in books such as the History

Staël, Germaine De

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

In full Anne-Louise-Germaine Necker, Baronne (baroness) de Staël-Holstein , byname Madame de Staël French-Swiss woman of letters, political propagandist, and conversationalist, who epitomized the European culture of her time, bridging the history of ideas from Neoclassicism to Romanticism. She also gained fame by maintaining a salon for leading intellectuals. Her writings include novels, plays, moral and political essays, literary

Water Moss

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

Also called Brook Moss, or Fountain Moss (Fontinalis), genus of mosses belonging to the order Bryales, found in flowing freshwater streams and ponds in temperate regions. About 25 species are native to North America. A brook moss may have shoots 30 to 100 (rarely up to 200) cm (12 to 40 inches) long, and is usually attached to a stone or a tree root. The most common species, F. antipyretica, has long, slender branches covered with glossy,

Factor

2005-03-07T15:43:00.000-08:00

In mathematics, a number or algebraic expression that divides another number or expression evenly, i.e., with no remainder. For example, 3 and 6 are factors of 12 because 12 ¸ 3 = 4 exactly and 12 ¸ 6 = 2 exactly. The other factors of 12 are 1, 2, 4, and 12. With the exception of 1, a positive integer or an algebraic expression that has only two factors (i.e., itself and 1) is termed prime; a positive integer or an algebraic

Sunburn

2005-03-07T04:34:00.000-08:00

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

Lewes

2005-03-07T00:45:00.000-08:00

Town (“parish”), Lewes district, administrative county of East Sussex, historic county of Sussex, England. Lewes lies at a gap in the South Downs and along the River Ouse where it is still tidal. A castle was built there in the 11th century, and its ruins still dominate the town, which grew as a market centre and river port of some importance, although the port later gave way to Newhaven

Beti, Mongo

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

A member of the Beti people, he wrote his books in French. An essential theme of Beti's early novels, which advocate the removal of all vestiges of colonialism, is the basic conflict of traditional modes of African society with the system of colonial rule. His first important novel,

Mcphatter, Clyde

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

One of the most dramatic vocalists of his generation, McPhatter grew up in a devout Christian family that moved from North Carolina to New Jersey in the mid-1940s. There, together with some high school friends (including two of author James

World War I, Peace moves and U.S. policy to February 1917

2005-03-05T16:27:00.000-08:00

There were few efforts by any of the Central or Allied Powers to achieve a negotiated peace in the first two years of the war. By 1916 the most promising signs for peace seemed to exist only in the intentions of two statesmen in power—the German chancellor Bethmann and the U.S. president Woodrow Wilson. Wilson, having proclaimed the neutrality of the United States in August

Tagawa

2005-03-04T11:12:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Takawa city, Fukuoka ken (prefecture), Kyushu, Japan, on the upper Onga River. It was a farm village until the systematic exploitation of nearby coalfields began after 1900. Tagawa was the largest mining town in the Chikuho coalfield region until 1970, when the last of the mines was closed. The city's main industrial product now is cement. Pop. (1990) 57,701.

Salé

2005-03-04T01:03:00.000-08:00

Arabic Sla, old walled city on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. It lies at the mouth of the Wadi Bou Regreg, opposite Rabat. Founded in the 10th century, it reached its zenith as a medieval merchant port and entrepôt. After 1627 Salé—with Rabat as its vassal—became the corsair republic of Bou Regreg and the base for the notorious Sallee Corsairs, the most dreaded of the Barbary pirates; because

Shillong Plateau

2005-03-03T06:46:00.000-08:00

Plateau in eastern Meghalaya state, northeastern India. It is a rolling tableland and the highest portion of the hill mass that comprises most of Meghalaya. The plateau's western, northern, and southern escarpments are called the Garo, Khasi, and Jaintia hills, respectively. The Shillong Plateau is an outlier of the plateau of peninsular India and is composed primarily

Cabaiguán

2005-03-03T05:09:00.000-08:00

City, northern Sancti Spíritus province, central Cuba. It is an important manufacturing and commercial centre for surrounding agricultural and pastoral lands known primarily for their sugarcane, although tobacco and fruits are grown and cattle are raised. Sugar refining is the principal industrial activity in the city, which lies on the central highway and

Altizer, Thomas J.j.

2005-03-02T15:10:00.000-08:00

A graduate of the University of Chicago (A.B. 1948, A.M. 1951, Ph.D. 1955), Altizer taught religion first at Wabash College (Crawfordsville, Ind.), from 1954 to 1956, and then at Emory University (Atlanta, Ga.) from 1956 to 1968 before becoming a professor of English at the State University of New York at Stony

Juan De Austria

2005-03-02T06:09:00.000-08:00

Removed from his mother, a burgher's daughter, at an early age, he was

Khan, Fazlur R.

2005-03-01T18:53:00.000-08:00

After obtaining a bachelor's degree in engineering from the University of Dacca in 1950, Khan worked as assistant engineer for the India Highway Department and taught at the University of Dacca. Qualifying

Buzuluk

2005-03-01T15:36:00.000-08:00

City, Orenburg oblast (province), in the southern Ural Mountains of west-central Russia. The oblast is situated along the Samara River (a tributary of the Volga), near its confluence with the Buzuluk. Founded in 1736 as a Russian fortress, it was chartered in 1781. Industries include the manufacture of heavy metallurgical and agricultural machinery. The city has four technical

Earth Exploration, Electrical and electromagnetic methods

2005-03-01T01:09:00.000-08:00

A multitude of electrical methods are used in mineral exploration. They depend on (1) electrochemical activity, (2) resistivity changes, or (3) permittivity effects. Some materials tend to become natural batteries that generate natural electric currents whose effects can be measured. The self-potential method relies on the oxidation of the upper surface of metallic

Bahia

2005-02-28T15:38:00.000-08:00

Estado (“state”) of eastern Brazil. It is bounded on the northwest by Piauí state, north by Pernambuco state, northeast by Alagoas and Sergipe states, east by the Atlantic Ocean, southeast by Espírito Santo state, south by Minas Gerais state, and west by Tocantins and Goiás states. Bahia has an area of 216,613 square miles (561,026 square km). The capital, Salvador, a port commanding an inlet

Montserrat

2005-02-28T11:04:00.000-08:00

Island and overseas territory of the United Kingdom. Located in the Lesser Antilles chain, this pear-shaped island is known as the “Emerald Isle of the Caribbean.” The de facto capital is St. John's, in the northern part of the island. Plymouth, on the southwestern coast, was the capital and only port of entry until 1997, when volcanic eruptions destroyed much of the town and the

Valley

2005-02-27T23:25:00.000-08:00

Elongate depression of the Earth's surface. Valleys are most commonly drained by rivers and may occur in a relatively flat plain or between ranges of hills or mountains. Those valleys produced by tectonic action are called rift valleys. Very narrow, deep valleys of similar appearance are called gorges. Both of these latter types are commonly cut in flat-lying strata

Lagrange, Joseph-louis, Comte De L'empire

2005-02-27T18:20:00.000-08:00

Lagrange was from a well-to-do family of French origin on his father's side.

Diemen, Anthony Van

2005-02-26T14:38:00.000-08:00

After an unsuccessful business career in Amsterdam, van Diemen joined the Dutch East India Company, serving in Batavia from 1618 and becoming governor general in 1636. To strengthen the company's

Z Particle

2005-02-25T10:19:00.000-08:00

The concept

Abu Simbel

2005-02-24T23:01:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Abu Sunbul

Melanchthon, Philipp

2005-02-24T19:49:00.000-08:00

Original name Philipp Schwartzerd (German: “Black Earth”; in Greek, Melanchthon) German author of the Confession of Augsburg of the Lutheran Church (1530), humanist, Reformer, theologian, and educator. He was a friend of Martin Luther and defended his views. In 1521 Melanchthon published the Loci communes, the first systematic treatment of evangelical doctrine. Because of his academic

Ocala

2005-02-24T14:40:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1846) of Marion county, north-central Florida, U.S., about 35 miles (55 km) southeast of Gainesville. It developed around Fort King (established in 1827), an important post during the Seminole Wars. The city's name was derived from Ocali, the Timucua Indian name for the province through which Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto passed in 1539; its literal meaning is unknown. After the Seminole

Novomoskovsk

2005-02-23T08:08:00.000-08:00

Formerly (until 1934) Bobriki , or (1934–61) Stalinogorsk city, Tula oblast (province), western Russia, situated on the upper Don River. Founded in 1930 as Bobriki, the town developed as a major chemical centre, making fertilizers and plastics and mining lignite (brown coal). Pop. (1993 est.) 145,000.

Artabanus

2005-02-23T02:06:00.000-08:00

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

Owain Cyfeiliog

2005-02-22T15:49:00.000-08:00

After ruling over the people of Powys from 1149 to 1195, Owain retired to the Cistercian monastery of Strata Marcella (Ystrad Marchell), which he had established in 1170. He died and was buried there, despite his previous excommunication (1188) for failing to support the Third Crusade.

Defamation

2005-02-22T07:24:00.000-08:00

Although defamation is a creation of English law, similar doctrines existed several thousand years ago. In Roman law abusive chants were

Louis I

2005-02-22T05:36:00.000-08:00

Not all challenges to Louis's authority could so easily be managed. The birth of Charles in 823 to Louis's second wife, Judith, and the accommodations required by another heir provoked a crisis in the family and the empire. Reformers complained about the rampant corruption of powerful nobles who preyed on church lands and the poor. Moreover, the various ethnic and linguistic

Babalola, S(olomon) Adeboye

2005-02-21T23:28:00.000-08:00

Babalola received his education in Nigeria, Ghana, and Cambridge, Eng., and earned a Ph.D. at the University of London. On his return

Levitt, Helen

2005-02-20T16:56:00.000-08:00

Levitt began her career in photography at age 18 working in a portrait studio in the Bronx. After seeing the works of French photographer Henri-Cartier Bresson, she was inspired to purchase a 35-mm Leica camera and began to scour the poor

Polarography

2005-02-20T03:00:00.000-08:00

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

Antigonish

2005-02-19T20:03:00.000-08:00

Town, seat of Antigonish county, northeastern Nova Scotia, Canada. It lies at the head of Antigonish Bay, an inlet of St. Georges Bay, 31 miles (50 km) east of New Glasgow. The site was originally settled by the French in 1762; the first British immigrants (soldiers and Scottish Highlanders) did not arrive until after 1785. The earlier name, Dorchester, was replaced by Antigonish, a word that

Fischer, Kuno

2005-02-19T08:59:00.000-08:00

With other writings on Gotthold Lessing, Friedrich Schiller, and J.W. von Goethe, Fischer contributed to the philosophy of aesthetics. Eventually he subscribed to Hegelian

Lamb, Willis Eugene, Jr.

2005-02-18T07:28:00.000-08:00

Lamb joined the faculty of Columbia University, New York City, in 1938 and worked in the Radiation Laboratory there during World War II. Though the quantum

Harun Ar-rashid

2005-02-17T08:48:00.000-08:00

The fabulous descriptions of Harun and his court in The Thousand and One Nights are idealized and romanticized, yet they had a considerable basis in fact. Untold wealth had flowed into the new capital of Baghdad since its foundation in 762. The leading men, and still more their wives, vied in conspicuous consumption, and in Harun's reign this reached levels unknown before. His

Resorcinol

2005-02-16T20:20:00.000-08:00

Also called m-dihydroxybenzene phenolic compound used in the manufacture of resins, plastics, dyes, medicine, and numerous other organic chemical compounds. It is produced in large quantities by sulfonating benzene with fuming sulfuric acid and fusing the resulting benzenedisulfonic acid with caustic soda. Reaction with formaldehyde produces resins used to make rayon and nylon amenable

Duan

2005-02-16T14:51:00.000-08:00

A poem or song in Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic literature. The word was used by James Macpherson for major divisions of his Ossianic verse and hence was taken to be the Scottish Gaelic equivalent of canto.

Tael

2005-02-15T17:58:00.000-08:00

China did not have a national currency until 1933, and hence external trade was conducted in foreign currencies and internal trade in ounces, or taels, of silver. The tael was seldom minted in the form of a coin but rather served as a standard

Argentina, The economy

2005-02-15T08:32:00.000-08:00

Labour movements are covered in Ronaldo Munck, Ricardo Falcón, and Bernardo Galitelli, Argentina: From Anarchism to Peronism: Workers, Unions, and Politics, 1855–1985 (1987); David Tamarin, The Argentine Labor Movement, 1930–45: A Study in the Origins of Peronism (1985); and Charles Bergquist, Labor in Latin America: Comparative Essays on Chile, Argentina, Venezuela, and Colombia (1986).

Houston Ship Channel

2005-02-14T00:47:00.000-08:00

Waterway that connects Houston, Texas, with the Gulf of Mexico, passing through the former Buffalo Bayou and Galveston Bay. The channel, which was opened in 1914 and later improved, is 50.5 mi (81.3 km) long, 36 ft (11 m) deep, and has a minimum width of 300 ft (90 m). It requires no locks.

Catch

2005-02-13T15:59:00.000-08:00

Also called Round, perpetual canon designed to be sung by three or more voices, especially popular in 17th- and 18th-century England. Like all rounds, catches are indefinitely repeatable pieces in which all voices begin the same melody on the same pitch but enter at different time intervals. The name may derive from caccia, a 14th-century canonic form, or may refer to each singer's “catching” the

Hetaera

2005-02-13T07:40:00.000-08:00

Greek Hetaira (Female Companion), one of a class of professional independent courtesans of ancient Greece who, besides developing physical beauty, cultivated their minds and talents to a degree far beyond that allowed to the average Attic woman. Usually living fashionably alone, or sometimes two or three together, the hetaerae enjoyed an enviable and respected position of wealth

Dafydd Ap Gwilym

2005-02-12T23:01:00.000-08:00

Little is known of his life, except that he was a member of an aristocratic family from South Wales,

Nabis

2005-02-12T11:30:00.000-08:00

Last ruler (207–192) of an independent Sparta. Nabis carried on the revolutionary tradition of Kings Agis IV and Cleomenes III. Since ancient accounts of him are mainly abusive, the details of his laws remain obscure, but it is certain that he confiscated a great deal of property and enfranchised many helots (Spartan serfs). He undoubtedly was not the monster depicted by the

Mccardle, Ex Parte

2005-02-11T22:49:00.000-08:00

William H. McCardle was a Mississippi editor who was arrested and jailed for sedition after criticizing both the local Union military commander and Congress. He was denied the benefit

Ashta Pradhan

2005-02-11T08:16:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Asta Pradhad (Marathi: “Council of Eight”), administrative and advisory council set up by the Indian Hindu Maratha leader Sivaji (d. 1680), which contributed to his successful military attacks on the Muslim Mughal Empire and to the good government of the territory over which he established his rule. The council's senior member, the peshwa, or mukhya pradhan, was in charge of general administration

Suleja

2005-02-11T02:00:00.000-08:00

The emirate's wooded savanna area of about 1,150 square miles (2,980 square km) originally included four small Koro chiefdoms that paid tribute to the Hausa kingdom of Zazzau.

Wu Language

2005-02-10T22:55:00.000-08:00

Variety of Chinese spoken in southeastern Kiangsu Province and in Chekiang Province by more than 8 percent of the population of China. Major cities in which Wu is spoken include T'ai-chou, Shanghai, Soochow, Ning-po, and Wen-chou. The Wu language originally spread from Su-chou, a cultural centre since the 5th century BC, and gained great importance at least as early as the period

Curepipe

2005-02-09T22:51:00.000-08:00

Town (township) on the island of Mauritius, in the western Indian Ocean. It lies in the western highlands region of the country, about 11 miles (18 km) south of Port Louis, the national capital. The town, named after a similar township in France, developed quickly after a malaria epidemic in 1867, which forced Port Louis residents to relocate to safer areas in the highlands. Several

Keratitis

2005-02-09T22:20:00.000-08:00

Two types of keratitis result from dryness of the cornea. One of these, keratitis sicca, also

'ubayd, Tall Al-

2005-02-08T03:14:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Tell El-ubaid, ancient site that gave its name to a prehistoric cultural period, the Ubaid, in Mesopotamia; it is located near the ruins of ancient Ur in present-day southeastern Iraq. Excavations have uncovered Ubaidian remains throughout southern Mesopotamia. The hallmark of the period was a painted pottery decorated with geometric and sometimes floral and animal designs

Scythian

2005-02-07T18:13:00.000-08:00

Much of what is known of the history of the Scythians comes from the account of them by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who visited their territory. In modern times this

Ibn Taymiyah

2005-02-07T13:10:00.000-08:00

Ibn Taymiyah was born in

Arts, East Asian, Architecture

2005-02-07T11:17:00.000-08:00

The Sui capital, Ta-hsing, was designed in 583 on Imperial order by the great architect Yü-wen K'ai; renamed Ch'ang-an, it was further developed by the T'ang after 618. This vast city, six times the size of present-day Sian, was laid out in nine months on a grid plan, with eastern and western markets and the Imperial City placed in the central northern section, a plan later followed at Peking.

Aurangzeb

2005-02-07T01:39:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Aurangzib , Arabic Awrangzib , kingly title 'alamgir , original name Muhi-ud-Din Muhammad last of the great Mughal emperors of India (reigned 1658–1707). Under him the Mughal Empire reached its greatest extent, although his policies helped lead to its dissolution.

Tea

2005-02-06T22:21:00.000-08:00

Beverage produced by steeping in freshly boiled water the young leaves and leaf buds of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis. Two principal varieties are used, the small-leaved China plant (C. sinensis sinensis) and the large-leaved Assam plant (C. sinensis assamica). Hybrids of these two varieties are also grown. The leaves may be fermented or left unfermented.

Mosaic

2005-02-06T16:23:00.000-08:00

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

Amboise, Georges D'

2005-02-05T09:06:00.000-08:00

Son of Pierre d'Amboise, who was chamberlain to Charles VII and Louis XI and ambassador to Rome, Georges received the bishopric of Montauban when only 14, and was appointed an almoner of Louis XI. Later,

France, History Of, The kings and the royal government

2005-02-05T02:46:00.000-08:00

The French monarchy was greatly strengthened by Louis VII's successor, Philip II Augustus (ruled 1180–1223), who could claim descent from Charlemagne through his mother. Philip proved to be the ablest Capetian yet to reign. He was practical and clear-sighted in his political objectives; the extension of territorial power and the improvement of mechanisms with which to govern

Arabic Literature

2005-02-04T02:07:00.000-08:00

Arabic literature

Murdoch, Dame Iris

2005-02-04T02:02:00.000-08:00

After an early childhood spent in London, Murdoch went to Badminton School, Bristol, and from 1938 to 1942 studied at Somerville College, Oxford. Between 1942 and 1944 she worked in the British Treasury and

Toba, Go-

2005-02-03T22:16:00.000-08:00

After reigning for 15 years, Go-Toba in 1198 abdicated

Babbitt Metal

2005-02-03T04:56:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Babbit Metal, any of several tin- or lead-based alloys used as bearing material for axles and crankshafts, based on the tin alloy invented in 1839 by Isaac Babbitt for use in steam engines. Modern babbitts provide a low-friction lining for bearing shells made of stronger metals such as cast iron, steel, or bronze. They may be made of: (1) high-tin alloys with small quantities of antimony and copper;