WhitesilverScrew

Radical-socialist Party

2005-04-05T06:03:00.000-07:00

The first French “radical” party was

Myanmar, Religious groups

2005-04-04T11:59:00.000-07:00

The vast majority of the population is Theravada Buddhist. The Burmans are Buddhists except for minimal numbers of Christians and Muslims; the Shan also are Buddhists. Among the Karen, there are many more Buddhists than Christians. The other hill peoples are animists except for a small number of Kayah Buddhists and Kachin and Chin Christians, and even they practice

Jackson, Helen Hunt

2005-04-02T17:18:00.000-08:00

She was the daughter of Nathan Fiske, a professor at Amherst (Mass.) College. She lived the life of a young army wife, traveling from post to post, and after the deaths of her first husband, Captain Edward Hunt, and her two sons, in 1863 she turned to writing. She

Raman, Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata

2005-04-01T11:42:00.000-08:00

Indian physicist whose work was influential in the growth of science in India. He was the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1930 for the discovery that when light traverses a transparent material, some of the light that is deflected changes in wavelength. This phenomenon is now called Raman scattering and is

Interior Monologue

2005-04-01T09:35:00.000-08:00

In dramatic and nondramatic fiction, narrative technique that exhibits the thoughts passing through the minds of the protagonists. These ideas may be either loosely related impressions approaching free association or more rationally structured sequences of thought and emotion. Interior monologues encompass several forms, including dramatized inner

Chang Kuo-t'ao

2005-03-30T06:19:00.000-08:00

Chang gained prominence as a student leader of the

Han-fei-tzu

2005-03-29T18:05:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Hanfeizi the greatest of China's Legalist philosophers. His essays on autocratic government so impressed King Cheng of Ch'in that the future emperor adopted their principles after seizing power in 221 BC. The book that goes by Han-fei's name comprises a synthesis of legal theories up to his time.

Aldan River

2005-03-28T22:17:00.000-08:00

River in eastern Siberia, Russia. It rises in the Stanovoy Range and flows northwestward in a huge curve to join the Lena River at Batamay. The Aldan River is 1,412 miles (2,273 km) long, the second largest tributary (after the Vilyuy) of the Lena, and drains more than 281,500 square miles (729,000 square km). Its annual discharge varies considerably both seasonally and annually. The river is navigable

Drafting

2005-03-28T06:48:00.000-08:00

At the design stage, both freehand and mechanical drawings serve the functions of inspiring and guiding the designer and of communicating among the designer, collaborators,

Cumberland Islands

2005-03-26T05:42:00.000-08:00

Archipelago in the Great Barrier Reef, off the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. The group comprises more than 70 inner continental islands (land, not coral), including Whitsunday, Lindeman, Brampton, Molle, Long, Hook, Dent, and Hayman. The high-cliffed wooded chain, once inhabited by squatters and timber cutters, is now a reserve area. Discovered in 1770 by Captain James

Dabrowski, Jan Henryk

2005-03-25T02:50:00.000-08:00

After service in the Saxon Army (1772–92), Dabrowski joined the Poles to serve against the Russians in 1792. In 1794 he took part in Kosciuszko's uprising, distinguished

Babur

2005-03-24T22:48:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Babar , or Baber , original name Zahir-ud-din Muhammad emperor (1526–30) and founder of the Mughal dynasty of India, a descendant of the Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan and also of Timur (Tamerlane). He was a military adventurer and soldier of distinction and a poet and diarist of genius, as well as a statesman.

Hou I

2005-03-24T14:11:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Hou Yi, the Lord Archer of Chinese mythology, whose prowess with a bow earned him undying fame. With his bow and arrow he saved the moon during an eclipse and rescued the country from a variety of plagues, one of which involved a wind monster who was wreaking havoc across the land. Hou I is also said to have shot down 9 of 10 suns (one account says 8 of 9 suns) that were burning up the earth

Black Mountains

2005-03-24T08:07:00.000-08:00

Mountain range in Yancey and Buncombe counties in western North Carolina, U.S., part of the Appalachian Mountains extending north from the Blue Ridge. The range includes Mount Mitchell (6,684 feet [2,037 metres]), the highest point east of the Mississippi River. Since the Black Mountains were not subject to glaciation, their slopes are covered with soil to the top, except for rocky

Attalus, Priscus

2005-03-21T21:54:00.000-08:00

Attalus was born a pagan and was baptized by an Arian bishop. He was a senator at the time of Alaric's second siege of Rome, and he was named emperor of the West by the Goths after the city surrendered in 409. Attalus then urged the legitimate emperor, Honorius, to vacate his throne.

Allen, Walter Ernest

2005-03-21T05:33:00.000-08:00

British novelist, academic, and critic, best known for his 1954 study The English Novel (b. Feb. 23, 1911--d. Feb. 28, 1995).

Shahn, Ben

2005-03-20T15:32:00.000-08:00

Shahn immigrated with his family to New York City in 1906. In 1913–17 he worked as a lithographer's apprentice while attending high school at night. He later attended

Earth Sciences, Knowledge of the tides

2005-03-20T00:24:00.000-08:00

By contrast, the tides along the eastern shores of Asia generally have a considerable range and were the subject of close observation and much speculation among

Graffito

2005-03-19T03:55:00.000-08:00

Plural Graffiti any casual writing, rude drawing, or marking on the walls of buildings, as distinguished from a deliberate writing known as an inscription. Graffiti, either scratched on stone or plaster by a sharp instrument or, more rarely, written in red chalk or black charcoal, are found in great abundance; e.g., on the monuments of ancient Egypt. The subject matter of the scribblings

Garba, Joseph Nanven

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

Nigerian military officer and diplomat (b. July 17, 1943, Langtang, Nigeria—d. June 1, 2002, Abuja, Nigeria), participated in the 1975 bloodless coup that deposed Gen. Yakubu Gowon as head of state, then served as external affairs commissioner (foreign minister) until 1978 and as Nigeria's ambassador to the UN (1984–89). Garba studied public administration at Harvard University (1982–83). A committed pan-Africanist,

World Water Crisis: Is There A Way Out?

2005-03-18T11:27:00.000-08:00

Into the gloom of the future we should project a little light by considering some successes of the past. Over the past 40 years, water resources and water quality have been greatly improved in Europe and North America. Rivers in the United States no longer spontaneously burst into flame; gross pollution of lakes and rivers has been eliminated; wetlands are protected

Star, Line spectrum

2005-03-18T09:14:00.000-08:00

Spectral lines are produced by transitions of electrons within atoms or ions. As the electrons move closer to or farther from the nucleus of an atom (or of an ion), energy in the form of light (or other radiation) is emitted or absorbed. The yellow “D” lines of sodium or the “H” and “K” lines of ionized calcium are produced by discrete quantum jumps from the lowest energy levels

Uttar Pradesh

2005-03-16T11:23:00.000-08:00

The most populous state of India. Lying in north-central India, it is bordered by Nepal and the Indian state of Uttaranchal to the north, the Indian states of Haryana and Rajasthan and the union territory of Delhi to the west, the state of Madhya Pradesh to the south, the state of Bihar to the east, and the states of Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh to the southeast. Uttar Pradesh extends

Amstelveen

2005-03-16T06:21:00.000-08:00

Gemeente (commune), Noordholland provincie, western Netherlands, near the Amstel River. Amstelveen (meaning “peat bog on the Amstel”) was formerly a village in the municipality of Nieuwer-Amstel. A residential suburb of Amsterdam, it is a water-sports centre with some agriculture and light industry. Schiphol international airport is nearby to the west. Pop. (1999 est.) 77,737.

Uttar Pradesh

2005-03-13T17:04:00.000-08:00

A chemical element in the nitrogen family (Group Va of the periodic table), existing in both gray and yellow crystalline forms. Although compounds of arsenic were known as early as the 4th century BC, the element was not identified as such until 1649.

Badarian Culture

2005-03-13T15:31:00.000-08:00

Although the Badarians apparently continued the agricultural and pastoral practices of the Tasians (see Tasian

Rosidae, The order Proteales

2005-03-13T09:38:00.000-08:00

The Proteales consists of two families, Elaeagnaceae and Proteaceae, although this might not be a natural affiliation. The Proteaceae is composed of about 75 genera and more than 1,000 species distributed throughout tropical and subtropical regions of the world, especially in South Africa and Australia. They are evergreen woody plants that thrive in nutrient-poor soils

Approximant

2005-03-12T23:50:00.000-08:00

In phonetics, a sound that is produced by bringing one articulator in the vocal tract close to another without, however, causing audible friction (see fricative). Approximants include semivowels, such as the y sound in “yes” or the w sound in “war.”

Owambo

2005-03-12T09:38:00.000-08:00

Also called Ovamboland, geographic region, northern Namibia. Owambo is bordered by the Kaokoland (Kaokoveld) region on the west and by the Kavango region on the east. The border with Angola lies to the north. Most of semiarid Owambo is an extremely flat plain covered by white sands. It is crossed by a series of low-gradient, often parallel, south-oriented dry watercourses (oshanas), collectively

Zalau

2005-03-12T01:53:00.000-08:00

Town, capital of Salaj judet (county), northwestern Romania. It is located in an isolated part of the country on the northwestern slopes of the Mezes Mountains. It is the terminal of a branch line railway and a local market centre for the district's agricultural produce. A furniture factory in Zalau uses timber from the surrounding hills. The town has an archaeological museum

Sea Pansy

2005-03-10T22:29:00.000-08:00

Any of certain marine animals of the sea pen (q.v.) group.

Johnson, Ian William

2005-03-10T10:32:00.000-08:00

Australian cricket player who was a reliable, slow off-spin bowler for Victoria and in 45 Test matches for Australia, including 17 as captain (1954-57). Johnson played first-class cricket for Victoria briefly in 1935, but he served as a fighter pilot in World War II before making his Test debut against New Zealand in 1946. In his 11-year career Johnson achieved a Test-career double, scoring 1,000 runs

China, Hydroelectric resources

2005-03-09T11:18:00.000-08:00

In view of China's extensive river network and mountainous terrain, there is ample potential for the production of hydroelectric power. Most of the total hydroelectric capacity is in the southwest, where coal supplies are poor but demand for energy is rapidly growing. The potential in the Northeast is fairly small, but it was there that the first hydroelectric stations

Adams, William

2005-03-08T19:30:00.000-08:00

At the age of 12 Adams was apprenticed in the merchant marine, afterward sailing in the British navy and later serving a company of Barbary merchants. In 1598 he shipped as pilot major with five Dutch ships bound from Europe for the East Indies via the Straits of Magellan.

Amortization

2005-03-08T14:52:00.000-08:00

An example of the first meaning is a mortgage on a home, which may be repaid in monthly installments that include interest and a gradual reduction of the principal obligation. Such systematic annual reduction increases the safety factor

Sinkiang, Uygur Autonomous Region Of

2005-03-07T06:15:00.000-08:00

Uygur also spelled Uighur, Chinese (Wade-Giles) Hsin-chiang Wei-wu-erh Tzu-chih-ch'ü, (Pinyin) Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu, autonomous region occupying the northwestern corner of China. It is bordered by Mongolia to the northeast, Russia to the north, Kazakstan to the northwest, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the west, Afghanistan and the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir to the southwest, the Tibet Autonomous Region to the southeast, and the Chinese provinces of Tsinghai and Kansu

Tank

2005-03-06T23:10:00.000-08:00

Any heavily armed and armoured combat vehicle that moves on two endless metal chains called tracks. Tanks are the principal type of armoured vehicle. Other major types include tracked and wheeled infantry carriers, which were conceived only for transporting troops into action but which also have been used to some extent for fighting; armoured cars, which often

Biblical Literature, The Letter of Paul to Philemon

2005-03-06T18:33:00.000-08:00

From Ephesus, where he was imprisoned (c. 53–54), Paul wrote his shortest and most personal letter to a Phrygian Christian (probably from Colossae or nearby Laodicea) whose slave Onesimus had run away, after possibly having stolen money from his master. The slave apparently had met Paul in prison, was converted, and was being returned to his master with a letter from Paul appealing

Baseball, Infielders

2005-03-05T07:35:00.000-08:00

The infielders form the inner ring of defense. They sometimes catch line drives on the fly, but mainly they pick up ground balls that roll toward the outfield or shoot swiftly across the grass on one or more bounces. When a batted ball strikes the ground, the play becomes a race between the batter running to first and an infielder trying to gain control of the ball and

Farman, Maurice

2005-03-04T08:34:00.000-08:00

A champion bicyclist, he also distinguished himself as an automobile racing driver. With his brother Henri, Maurice made the first circular flight of more than one kilometre in 1908, completing a 1.6-kilometre (one-mile) flight near Paris. The following year he built

North America, 600 to 250 million years ago

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

Following continental breakup, lithospheric cooling caused the rifted margins to subside, which—combined with a concomitant global rise in sea level—resulted in extensive flooding of continental shelves. A sheet of sandstone was deposited as the shoreline was pushed far into the continental interior. As sources of sand retreated, the then-equatorial continent

General Mills, Inc.

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

General Mills was incorporated in 1928 to acquire Washburn Crosby Company, a flour-milling company formed in 1866, and four other milling companies. Specializing in cereals and flour products, the

Block Island

2005-03-02T16:35:00.000-08:00

Pear-shaped island coextensive with the town (township) of New Shoreham (inc. 1672), Washington county, southern Rhode Island, U.S., between Block Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. Lying about 9 miles (14 km) south of the mainland, it is about 6 miles (10 km) long and 3.5 miles (5.5 km) wide and has a land area of 10 square miles (25 square km). Originally called Manisses (“Manitou's Little Island”) by Narraganset

Ear Disease

2005-03-02T02:58:00.000-08:00

The child born deaf or with a severe hearing impairment cannot acquire speech by the normal process but must attend special classes or a school for the deaf to be taught speech and lipreading. Most of these children have remnants of the sense of hearing that can be utilized in their schooling by the use of aids to amplify sound. The child with a moderate or mild hearing

Auburn

2005-03-01T22:53:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1854) of Androscoggin county, southwestern Maine, U.S., on the Androscoggin River opposite Lewiston and part of the Lewiston-Auburn metropolitan area. Settled in 1786, Auburn was separated from Minot in 1842 and is supposed to have been named for the Auburn of Oliver Goldsmith's poem The Deserted Village. The manufacture of shoes was once the city's chief industry. Today diversified

Roman De Fauvel

2005-02-28T07:27:00.000-08:00

A manuscript of the poem dated

Catch

2005-02-27T23:30:00.000-08:00

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

Akureyri

2005-02-27T10:29:00.000-08:00

Town, northern Iceland. It lies at the southern end of Eyja Fjord. Akureyri is the chief centre of the north and is one of the island's most populous urban centres outside the Reykjavík metropolitan area. While primarily a commercial and distributing centre, Akureyri is also a fishing port, agricultural market, and manufacturing centre for woolen goods, fish oil, shoes,

Hesychius Of Alexandria

2005-02-26T13:26:00.000-08:00

Although nothing is known of his life, Hesychius indicated the comprehensive design of his lexicon in a letter prefacing the work. Entitled Synagoge pason

Lipscomb, William Nunn, Jr.

2005-02-26T01:11:00.000-08:00

Lipscomb graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1941 and earned his Ph.D. in 1946 from the California Institute of Technology. He worked as a physical chemist in the Office

Arochukwu

2005-02-25T08:19:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Arochuku, town, Abia state, southern Nigeria. It lies along the road from Calabar to Umuahia. Arochukwu was the headquarters of the Aro, an Igbo (Ibo) subgroup that dominated southeastern Nigeria in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was the seat of the sacred Chuku shrine, the source of a much-feared oracle (called Long Juju by the Europeans) that acted as a judge for the Igbo supreme deity

Kaunda, Kenneth

2005-02-24T13:21:00.000-08:00

Kaunda's father, who was from Nyasaland (now Malawi), was a schoolteacher; his mother, also a teacher, was the first African woman to teach in colonial Zambia. Both taught among the Bemba tribe in northern Zambia, where young Kaunda

Vieux-colombier, Theatre Of The

2005-02-23T13:15:00.000-08:00

French theatre founded in Paris in 1913 by the writer and critic Jacques Copeau to present alternatives to both the realistic “well-made” plays of the time and the star system of actor-celebrities. Copeau sought to renovate French theatre by focusing attention on the actor, whom he viewed as the essential element in translating the dramatic text into the “poetry of the

Miticide

2005-02-22T11:44:00.000-08:00

Also called Acaricide, any chemical substance used to control mites or ticks (especially species that damage ornamental or food plants), which are not susceptible to commonly used insecticides. Azobenzene, dicofol, ovex, and tetradifon are commonly used miticides. Many miticides kill eggs and larval stages as well as adult animals. Some are also toxic to honeybees and other beneficial

Syria, Flag Of

2005-02-22T02:49:00.000-08:00

In 1917 Husayn ibn 'Ali, king of the Hejaz (now in Saudi Arabia), adopted the Arab Revolt Flag, intended to represent all Arab lands. It consisted of three horizontal stripes of black, green, and white with a red triangle at the hoist. The four colours recalled the major dynasties of Arab history—the 'Abbasids, Fatimids, Umayyads, and Hashimites. In March 1918 the Arab Revolt Flag was raised in

Oath

2005-02-21T15:31:00.000-08:00

Sacred or solemn voluntary promise usually involving the penalty of divine retribution for intentional falsity and often used in legal procedures. It is not certain that the oath was always considered a religious act; such ancient peoples as the Germanic tribes, Greeks, Romans, and Scythians swore by their swords or other weapons. These peoples, however, were actually

Algeria, Nationalist movements

2005-02-20T11:56:00.000-08:00

Algerian nationalism developed out of three different tendencies. The first consisted of Algerians who had gained access to French education and earned their living in the French sector. Often called assimilationists, they pursued gradualist, reformist tactics, shunned illegal actions, and were prepared to consider permanent union with France if the rights

Kerry

2005-02-20T10:05:00.000-08:00

Irish Ciarraí county in the province of Munster, southwestern Ireland. With an area of 1,815 square miles (4,701 square km), it is bounded by Counties Limerick and Cork to the east and by the Atlantic Ocean or its inlets to the south, west, and north. Tralee is the county seat. The principal highlands of Kerry, among which are the highest mountains in Ireland, are of sandstone. Three, and part of a fourth,

Chafer

2005-02-19T02:15:00.000-08:00

Any of several beetles of the insect subfamily Melolonthinae (family Scarabaeidae, order Coleoptera). The leaf chafers (Macrodactylus) eat foliage; the grub feeds underground on plant roots. The adult female deposits her eggs in the soil, and the larvae live underground for several years. They pupate in the fall, but the adults remain underground until the following

Steely Dan

2005-02-17T20:32:00.000-08:00

Named after a prosthetic phallus in William S. Burroughs's novel Naked

Cartoon

2005-02-17T13:38:00.000-08:00

Originally, and still, a full-size sketch or drawing used as a pattern for a tapestry, painting, mosaic, or other graphic art form, but also, since the early 1840s, a pictorial parody utilizing caricature, satire, and usually humour. Cartoons are used today primarily for conveying political commentary and editorial opinion in newspapers and for social comedy and visual wit

Fabre, Jean Henri

2005-02-17T04:56:00.000-08:00

Fabre did important research on the insect orders

Cincinnatus, Lucius Quinctius

2005-02-16T16:13:00.000-08:00

The core of the tradition holds that in 458 Cincinnatus was appointed dictator at Rome in order to rescue a consular army that was surrounded

Jackson, Andrew

2005-02-15T22:59:00.000-08:00

Jackson's interest in public affairs and in politics had always been keen. He had gone to Nashville as a political appointee, and in 1796 he became a member of the convention that drafted a constitution for the new state of Tennessee. In the same year he was elected as the first representative from Tennessee to the U.S. House of Representatives. An undistinguished legislator, he refused to seek reelection and served only until March 4, 1797. Jackson returned to Tennessee, vowing never to enter public life again, but before the end of the year he was elected to the U.S. Senate. His willingness to accept the office reflects his emergence as an acknowledged leader of one of the two political factions contending for control of the state. Nevertheless, Jackson resigned from the Senate in 1798 after an uneventful year. Soon after his return to Nashville he was elected a judge of the superior court (in effect, the supreme court) of the state and served in that post until 1804. In 1802 Jackson had also been elected major general of the Tennessee militia, a position he still held when the War of 1812 opened the door to a command in the field and a hero's role.

Epistemology, Perception and knowledge

2005-02-15T01:53:00.000-08:00

To a great extent the epistemological interests of analytic philosophers in the 20th century have been concentrated upon the relationship between knowledge and perception. The major figures in this development have been Bertrand Russell, G.E. Moore, H.H. Price, C.D. Broad, A.J. Ayer, and H.P. Grice. Although their views differed considerably—Russell, Broad, and Ayer were phenomenalists,

Water Shield

2005-02-14T23:06:00.000-08:00

Each oval, floating leaf of water shield is 5 to 10 centimetres (about 2 to 4 inches) long. A long, jelly-coated

Masai

2005-02-14T19:18:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Maasai nomadic pastoralists of East Africa. Masai is essentially a linguistic term, referring to speakers of this Eastern Sudanic language (usually called Maa) of the Nilo-Saharan language family. These include the pastoral Masai who range along the Great Rift Valley of Kenya and Tanzania, the Samburu of Kenya, and the semipastoral Arusha and Baraguyu (or Kwafi) of

Bingöl

2005-02-14T14:52:00.000-08:00

Formerly Çapakçur, city in eastern Turkey, lying along the Göniksuyu, a tributary of the Murat River. It is a market for grain, livestock, and livestock products of the area. The city takes its name (bin, “thousand,” göl, “lakes”) from numerous small lakes that dot the Bingöl Mountains to the northeast. Bingöl suffered heavy damage by earthquake in 1966. The city is linked by main roads with Elâzig to the

Lighthouse, Rectangular and drum lenses

2005-02-12T01:54:00.000-08:00

In 1828 Augustin Fresnel of France produced the first apparatus using the refracting properties of glass, now known as the dioptric system. On a lens panel he surrounded a central bull's-eye lens with a series of concentric glass prismatic rings. The panel collected light emitted by the lamp over a wide horizontal angle and also the light that would otherwise escape to

Enderby Land

2005-02-11T17:14:00.000-08:00

Region of Antarctica, bordering on the Indian Ocean and extending from Prince Olav Coast of Queen Maud Land (west) to Edward VIII Bay and Kemp Coast (east). Primarily a barren, ice-capped plateau in the interior sections, it rises to rugged peaks along the coast, where the Napier Mountains exceed 7,400 feet (2,260 m). The English navigator John Biscoe, sailing for Enderby Brothers, a London

Christiansted

2005-02-11T14:01:00.000-08:00

Also called Bassin chief town and port of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, on the northeastern coast of the island. Exports are mainly watches and rum. It was formerly capital of the Danish West Indies and was a boyhood residence (1765) of the American statesman Alexander Hamilton. Pop. (1980) 2,914.

Heidelberg

2005-02-10T07:10:00.000-08:00

City, Baden-Württemberg Land (state), southwestern Germany, on the canalized Neckar River where it emerges from the forested hills of Odenwald into the Rhine plain. First mentioned in 1196, it was the capital of the Rhenish Palatinate (Pfalz) and the residence of the electoral counts Palatine until 1720. It was devastated during the Thirty Years' War (1622) and almost completely destroyed

Sa'id, 'ali Ahmad

2005-02-10T05:23:00.000-08:00

Sa'id received a degree in philosophy at the University of Damascus in 1954 and served in the Syrian military from 1954 to 1956. He then moved to Beirut, where he received a Ph.D. from St. Joseph University in 1973. In 1957 he helped Yusuf al-Khal found the avant-garde

Yama

2005-02-09T08:14:00.000-08:00

In the mythology of India, the lord of death. The Vedas describe him as the first man who died, blazing the path of mortality down which all men have since followed. He is the guardian of the south (the region of death) and presides over the resting place of the dead, which is located in the south under the earth. In the Vedas Yama was represented as a cheerful king of the departed

Space Perception

2005-02-08T13:27:00.000-08:00

Human beings have been interested in the perception of objects in space at least since the question

Mcmurtry, Larry

2005-02-05T14:43:00.000-08:00

McMurtry was educated at North Texas State College (now University; B.A., 1958) and Rice University (M.A., 1960). He was an instructor at Texas Christian University (1961–62), a lecturer in English and creative writing

Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

2005-02-05T10:19:00.000-08:00

Coastal habitat conservation area in southern Texas, U.S., located about 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Corpus Christi. The refuge, parts of which are jointly administered by state and federal agencies, covers a total of 181 square miles (469 square km) on the Gulf of Mexico, including large tracts of land on Matagorda Island and on a broad peninsula between San Antonio Bay and St. Charles

Baraka, Amiri

2005-02-05T04:56:00.000-08:00

Jones graduated from Howard University (B.A., 1953) and served in the U.S. Air Force. After military duty, he joined the Beat movement, attended graduate school, and published his first major collection of poetry, Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide

Olybrius

2005-02-04T04:22:00.000-08:00

Before he became head of state, Olybrius was a wealthy senator; he married Placidia, the daughter of Valentinian III (Western emperor 425–455). Gaiseric, king of the Vandals, a Germanic people who maintained a kingdom in North Africa, hoped that Olybrius would be made Western emperor but his support made Olybrius suspect to the

Sarangpur

2005-02-04T00:18:00.000-08:00

City, northwestern Madhya Pradesh state, central India, just east of the Kali Sindh River. Sarangpur is located on an ancient site. It has a number of Jaina and Hindu ruins, including a 12th-century Jaina statue. It rose to importance in the 13th century under Sarang Singh Khichi, after whom it is named, and was a chief Mughal trade centre. It passed to Dewas princely state by treaty

France, History Of, The formative years (18711905)

2005-02-03T06:23:00.000-08:00

The repression of the Paris Commune left its mark on the emerging republic. The various socialist factions and the newly organized labour movement were left leaderless; the resultant vacuum eventually opened the way to Marxist activists in the 1880s. Much of the working class became more deeply alienated than before, but, to the moderate and conservative elements,

Egypt, The Western Desert

2005-02-02T11:41:00.000-08:00

The Western Desert comprises two-thirds of the land surface of Egypt and covers an area of about 262,800 square miles. From its highest altitude—more than 3,300 feet—on the plateau of al-Jilf al-Kabir in the southeast, the rocky plateau slopes gradually northeastward to the first of the depressions that are a characteristic feature of the Western Desert—that containing the oases

Jack-o'-lantern

2005-02-01T17:03:00.000-08:00

In meteorology, a mysterious light seen at night flickering over marshes; when approached, it advances, always out of reach. The phenomenon is also known as will-o'-the-wisp and ignis fatuus (Latin: “foolish fire”). In popular legend it is considered ominous and is often purported to be the soul of one who has been rejected by hell carrying its own hell coal on its wanderings.

Vajpayee, Atal Bihari

2005-02-01T13:16:00.000-08:00

Vajpayee was first elected to Parliament in 1957 as a member of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), a forerunner of the BJP. In 1977 the BJS joined three other parties to form the Janata Party, which led a government that lasted until July 1979. As foreign minister

Xia Gui

2005-01-31T13:41:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization Hsia Kuei one of China's greatest masters of landscape painting, cofounder with Ma Yuan of the Ma-Xia school. The album leaf and the hand scroll with a continuous panorama were his predominant forms. His works are typically in ink monochrome, occasionally with a few touches of colour.

Ray, Jean

2005-01-30T09:46:00.000-08:00

De Kremer worked as a city employee, from 1910 to 1919, before working as a journalist (1919–40). He began to publish fiction in 1925, with the short-story collection, Les Contes du whisky (1925; “Whisky's

Allen, Florence Ellinwood

2005-01-30T08:56:00.000-08:00

Allen was a descendant of American Revolutionary War hero Ethan Allen. She graduated from Western Reserve University's College for Women in 1904 and for two years studied music in Berlin. An injury prevented

Cambridge Platonists

2005-01-29T23:08:00.000-08:00

Group of 17th-century English philosophic and religious thinkers who hoped to reconcile Christian ethics with Renaissance humanism, religion with the new science, and faith with rationality. Their leader was Benjamin Whichcote, who expounded in his sermons the Christian humanism that united the group. His principal disciples at the University of Cambridge were

Brébeuf, Saint Jean De

2005-01-29T19:24:00.000-08:00

Brébeuf entered the Society of Jesus in 1617, was ordained priest in 1623, and arrived in New France in 1625. Assigned to Christianize the Huron Indians between Georgian Bay and Lake Huron, he lived in danger of death until

Shiel, Loch

2005-01-28T22:40:00.000-08:00

Narrow lake, in the northwest Highlands of Scotland. About 17 miles (28 km) long, it extends ribbonlike from Glenfinnan southwestward and drains into the 3-mile- (5-km-) long River Shiel, which empties into Loch Moidart, a sea loch. The upper reaches of Loch Shiel, toward Glenfinnan, are bounded by wild and rough scenery, with steep mountains reaching elevations of about 3,000 feet (900 metres).

Murcia

2005-01-27T21:21:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Murcia provincia and comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”), southeastern Spain. It lies at the confluence of the Segura and Guadalentín (Sangonera) rivers in a fertile, irrigated area known as the huerta (orchard land), northeast of Granada city. The site was settled before the Roman occupation of southern Spain in the 3rd century BC, but its name even

Hohokam Culture

2005-01-27T16:43:00.000-08:00

During the Pioneer period the Hohokam lived in villages

Tacoma

2005-01-27T02:55:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1880) of Pierce county, western Washington, U.S., on Commencement Bay of Puget Sound, 30 miles (48 km) south of Seattle. The bay was the starting point (1841) of a U.S. surveying party led by Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, who named it Commencement Bay. Settled in 1864, the site was laid out (1868) as Commencement City by General Morton M. McCarver; it was soon renamed Tacoma (an Indian name for Mount

Ha-mi

2005-01-25T21:17:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Hami , Uighur Qomul city and oasis in eastern Uighur autonomous ch'ü (region) of Sinkiang, China. An important stage on the roads from Kansu province into Central Asia and to the west, Ha-mi was known to the Chinese in early times as I-wu, the name Ha-mi being the Chinese rendering of the Mongolian version (Khamil) of the Uighur name for the city. The Chinese occupied the oasis in early times, when

Wu-t'ung-ch'iao

2005-01-24T11:39:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Wutongqiao, town in south-central Szechwan sheng (province), China. Situated between Lo-shan and I-pin on the Min River, Wu-t'ung-ch'iao was formerly a minor market town and briefly achieved status as a municipality from 1952 to 1958. It is chiefly noted as a major salt-producing area, the salt being drawn as brine from wells of medium depth. Barium and calcium chloride are also produced. Woolens,

Independence National Historical Park

2005-01-23T10:55:00.000-08:00

Area of downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., partially owned by the city but operated by the U.S. National Park Service. It covers 45 acres (18 hectares) and contains a number of historic structures associated with the American Revolution and the founding of the nation— notably Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were deliberated

Chicago And North Western Transportation Company

2005-01-22T08:12:00.000-08:00

The railroad was incorporated in 1859 as a successor to the foreclosed Columbus, Hocking Valley and Toledo Railway. Its first president was William Butler Ogden, the first mayor of Chicago. A constituent company that was acquired

Icaza, Jorge

2005-01-21T23:59:00.000-08:00

Icaza started writing for the theatre, but when he was censured for a 1933 dramatic script, El dictador, he turned his attention, and his indignation,

Dziady

2005-01-20T05:17:00.000-08:00

In Slavic religion, all the dead ancestors of a family, the rites that are performed in their memory, and the day on which those rites are performed. Dziady take place three or four times a year; though the dates vary in different localities, dziady are generally celebrated in the winter before the beginning of Advent and in the spring on the Sunday of Doubting Thomas.

Pacific Ocean, Environmental impact of human activity

2005-01-19T19:11:00.000-08:00

The Pacific Ocean is able to absorb, dilute, and disperse large quantities of human-generated wastes, but the increasing pace of economic activity—particularly the transport of crude oil and other hazardous substances—has led to measurable levels of pollution in some nearshore waters, especially close to ports and large coastal cities. At the same time, the loads