ColdGlove

Rüppell, (wilhelm Peter) Eduard (simon)

2005-04-05T21:20:00.000-07:00

Rüppell first went to Africa in 1817 and ascended the Nile River to its first set of cataracts (at Aswan, Egypt). Returning to

Heimwehr

2005-04-02T05:41:00.000-08:00

(German: Home Defense Force), any of the local organizations formed in various parts of Austria to expel invading Yugoslavs or preserve order immediately after World War I. Composed of conservative-minded country dwellers, the Heimwehr came to represent much of the Austrian right wing between World Wars I and II. Imbued with corporativism (an authoritarian view

U-2 Affair

2005-03-31T18:56:00.000-08:00

On May 5 the Soviet premier Nikita S. Khrushchev told the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. that

Claremont

2005-03-30T04:47:00.000-08:00

City, Sullivan county, western New Hampshire, U.S., on the Sugar River near its junction with the Connecticut River. Settled in 1762, Claremont was organized as a town in 1764 and was probably named for the duke of Newcastle's country estate in England. Waterpower for early industry was provided by the Sugar River, and completion of the Concord and Claremont Railroad (1871–72) gave impetus

Los Angeles

2005-03-23T07:21:00.000-08:00

Formerly Los Anjeles, capital of Bío-Bío provincia, Bío-Bío región, south-central Chile. It is located on a tributary of the Bío-Bío River in the southern part of the Central Valley. Founded in 1739 and elevated to city status in 1852, Los Angeles was swept by fire in 1820, has suffered earthquake damage repeatedly, and was destroyed several times in the long struggle with the Araucanian Indians. It is now an

Rovigo

2005-03-22T15:24:00.000-08:00

Landmarks include the octagonal Church of the Beata Vergine del Soccorso (1594), called La Rotonda, with paintings

Tsushima, Battle Of

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

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

Ch'i Ju-shan

2005-03-18T15:13:00.000-08:00

Born into a prosperous and well-educated family, Ch'i Ju-shan received a Classical Chinese education, also studying traditional Chinese theatre from childhood and learning European languages as a young man.

Quinoline

2005-03-15T05:10:00.000-08:00

Any of a class of organic compounds of the aromatic heterocyclic series characterized by a double-ring structure composed of a benzene and a pyridine ring fused at two adjacent carbon atoms. The benzene ring contains six carbon atoms, while the pyridine ring contains five carbon atoms and a nitrogen atom. The simplest member of the quinoline family is quinoline

Hohenlohe-ingelfingen, Friedrich Ludwig, Fürst Zu

2005-03-14T07:07:00.000-08:00

Hohenlohe entered the Prussian Army in 1768, distinguishing himself in the War

López Velarde, Ramón

2005-03-11T15:24:00.000-08:00

López Velarde studied law and was a journalist and civil servant. His first book of poems, La sangre devota (1916; “Devout Blood”), treats the simplicity of country life, the tension between sensuality and spirituality, and

Aha Of Shabha

2005-03-10T10:52:00.000-08:00

Aha's She'eltot (“Questions,” or “Theses”), published in Venice in 1546, was an attempt to codify and explicate materials contained in the Babylonian Talmud. Written in Aramaic and unique in its organization, the text connects

Pius Ix

2005-03-08T08:51:00.000-08:00

Original name Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti Italian head of the Roman Catholic church whose pontificate (1846–78) was the longest in history and was marked by a transition from liberalism to conservatism. Notable events of his reign included the declaration of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception (1854) and the sessions of the First

Mold

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

Also spelled mould, in biology, a conspicuous mass of mycelium (masses of vegetative filaments, or hyphae) and fruiting structures produced by various fungi (division Mycota). Fungi of the genera Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Rhizopus form mold and are associated with food spoilage and plant diseases.

Respiration, Human

2005-03-04T03:15:00.000-08:00

The process by which oxygen is taken up and carbon dioxide discharged.

Skien

2005-03-02T21:51:00.000-08:00

Town and seat of Telemark fylke (county), southern Norway, on the Skienselva (river). Originally the site of a monastery, the town, founded in 1110, is one of the oldest in Norway; it was incorporated in 1346. An industrial centre and port, Skien's lumber and mining concerns began the development of the area in the mid-1600s. The ore has been exhausted, but the town has important foundries and

Nags Head

2005-02-28T17:22:00.000-08:00

Resort town, Dare county, eastern North Carolina, U.S. It is situated on Bodie Island (one of the Outer Banks barrier islands) between Roanoke Sound and the Atlantic Ocean, just south of Kitty Hawk. It was so named, according to legend, because unscrupulous shipwreckers tied lanterns to the necks of ponies (“nags”) and marched them along the high dunes to simulate the lights

Kara-yo

2005-02-25T18:36:00.000-08:00

(Japanese: “Chinese style”), one of the three main Japanese styles of Buddhist temple architecture in the Kamakura period (1192–1333). Kara-yo originally followed Chinese forms that featured strict symmetry on a central axis. The word kara-yo is written with the character that stands for the Chinese T'ang dynasty (618–907), but the style seems to have represented the official building code

Athanasius, Saint

2005-02-24T20:56:00.000-08:00

Athanasius' two-part work of apologetics, Against the Heathen and The Incarnation of the Word of God, completed about 335, was the first great classic of developed Greek Orthodox theology. In Athanasius' system, the Son of God, the eternal Word through whom God made the world, entered the world in human form to lead men back to the harmony from which they had fallen away. Athanasius

Dragoman

2005-02-22T02:12:00.000-08:00

Arabic Tarjuman, Turkish Tercüman, official interpreter in countries where Arabic, Turkish, and Persian are spoken. Originally the term applied to any intermediary between Europeans and Middle Easterners, whether as a hotel tout or as a traveller's guide, but there developed the official dragomans of foreign ministries and embassies, whose functions at one time included the conduct of important

Parks, Rosa

2005-02-19T06:43:00.000-08:00

Parks attended Alabama State College (now Alabama State University) and made her living as a seamstress. In 1943 she became

Visitador

2005-02-18T14:22:00.000-08:00

The institution of the

North Germanic Languages, Vocabulary

2005-02-16T18:28:00.000-08:00

The everyday stock of Scandinavian words, including most of the high-frequency words, is Indo-European and Germanic in its core. Of the 200,000 or more entries in the large dictionaries of each language, the vast majority are either compounds and derivatives of the simpler words or else borrowings from other languages—mostly of a scientific and cultural nature. At the end

Trianon, Treaty Of

2005-02-12T01:56:00.000-08:00

The Allies' presentation of their terms for peace with Hungary was delayed first by their reluctance to treat with Béla Kun's communist regime in that country and subsequently by the obvious

Augustine, Saint, Sermons

2005-02-09T03:28:00.000-08:00

Almost one-third of Augustine's surviving works consists of sermons—more than 1.5 million words, most of them taken down by shorthand scribes as he spoke extemporaneously. They cover a wide range. Many are simple expositions of scripture read aloud at a particular service according to church rules, but Augustine followed certain programs as well. There are sermons

Jouffroy D'abbans, Claude-françois-dorothée, Marquis De

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

At the age of 20 Jouffroy d'Abbans entered the army, and a year later he became involved in a duel that resulted in his banishment to Provence. There he began to work with boats and built a 43-foot (13-metre) steamboat

Perche

2005-02-05T15:54:00.000-08:00

Region of northern France on the border of Normandie, mainly in the east of the Orne département, with extensions into neighbouring départements. Formerly a county, it was united to the French crown in 1525. It is largely hilly country, the Perche Hills having summits as high as 1,000 feet (300 m). Perche is a district of pastoral farming and dairying, famous for its breed of draft horses

Equatorial Guinea

2005-02-03T01:59:00.000-08:00

Officially Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Spanish República de Guinea Ecuatorial, country located on the west coast of Africa. It consists of Río Muni (also called Mbini), on the continent, and five islands: Bioko (formerly Fernando Po), Corisco, Great Elobey (Elobey Grande), Little Elobey (Elobey Chico), and Annobón. A fragmented country, it has a total area of 10,830 square miles (28,051 square kilometres). The capital of the republic is Malabo on Bioko. Bata is the administrative

Tit-babbler

2005-02-01T09:55:00.000-08:00

Any of a number of birds belonging to the babbler family Timaliidae (order Passeriformes). The 35 to 40 species are small and short-billed, rather like titmice in appearance and behaviour but mostly somewhat larger with proportionately shorter tails. Tit-babblers are chunky birds, 10 to 18 cm (4 to 7 inches) in length, with fluffy plumage, characterized by hairlike feathers on the

Sea Hare

2005-01-31T06:04:00.000-08:00

Any marine gastropod of the family Aplysiidae (subclass Opisthobranchia) that is characterized by a shell reduced to a flat plate, prominent tentacles (resembling rabbit ears), and a smooth or warty body. Sea hares eat large seaweeds. An example is the 10-centimetre (4-inch) spotted sea hare (Aplysia dactylomela), a ring-spotted green species living in grassy shallows

Fagaras

2005-01-27T07:52:00.000-08:00

Hungarian Fogaras, town, Brasov judet (county), central Romania. It lies north of the Fagaras Mountains, a range of the Transylvanian Alps (Southern Carpathian Mountains), on the Olt River. First mentioned in documents in 1291, Fagaras became a military centre during the Middle Ages. The Fagaras Castle, built during the 15th century and now restored to its original form, is one of the outstanding examples of medieval

Allen, Viola (emily)

2005-01-25T08:42:00.000-08:00

Born into a theatrical family, Allen made her debut at age 14 in New York City in the title role of Burnett's Esmeralda. Between 1884 and 1886 she appeared

Wagner, Carl

2005-01-22T20:08:00.000-08:00

Wagner was educated at the universities of Munich and Leipzig

Christophe, Henry

2005-01-20T02:59:00.000-08:00

The facts of Christophe's early life are questionable and confused. An official document issued on his own order gives the birth date and birthplace

Frederick V

2005-01-19T17:36:00.000-08:00

After receiving a French education, Frederick succeeded his father, the elector Frederick IV, in 1610. When the Protestant Bohemian estates revolted against the Catholic

Art And Architecture, Egyptian, Cult temples

2005-01-14T16:02:00.000-08:00

It is generally thought that the Egyptian temple of the Dynastic Period owed most to the cult of the sun god Re at Heliopolis. The temple of Re, however, was probably open in plan and lacked a shrine. Sun temples were unique among cult temples; worship was centred on a cult object, the benben, which was a squat obelisk placed in full sunlight. Among the few temples surviving

Crockett, Samuel Rutherford

2005-01-12T21:02:00.000-08:00

After graduating from Edinburgh University in 1879 and studying for the ministry at New Colly, Edinburgh, in 1886 he became minister

Thoburn, Isabella

2005-01-10T09:11:00.000-08:00

Thoburn attended local schools and the Wheeling Female Seminary in Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia). In 1866, after she had taught for several years, Thoburn was invited by her brother

Aquinas, Thomas, Saint

2005-01-09T10:19:00.000-08:00

Escape from the feudal world, rapid commitment

Chesnutt, Charles W.

2005-01-07T16:47:00.000-08:00

Chesnutt was the son of free blacks who had left their native city of Fayetteville, N.C., prior to the American Civil War. Following the war his parents moved back to Fayetteville, where Chesnutt completed his education and began teaching. He was named assistant principal (1877–80) and then principal

Rourke, Constance Mayfield

2005-01-05T09:26:00.000-08:00

After earning an A.B. from Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., (1907) and studying at the Sorbonne in Paris, Rourke taught English at Vassar. In 1915 she resigned, thereafter working as a research historian and free-lance writer devoted to defining the historical aspects

Cynric

2005-01-03T07:36:00.000-08:00

King of the West Saxons, or Wessex (from 534). By some accounts he also reigned jointly (519–534) with his grandfather (or father?), Cerdic, founder of Wessex. The period was apparently one of consolidating gains climaxed by the Battle of Mount Badon (520) rather than a period of further expansion, though Cynric is said to have routed Britons in battle at least once, at a place called Searobyrg

Fardd, Eben

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

Fardd's best-known poems include Dinystr Jerusalem (“Destruction of Jerusalem”), an ode that won the prize at the Welshpool eisteddfod (1824); Job, which won at Liverpool (1840); and Maes

Free Jazz

2004-12-29T22:23:00.000-08:00

The main characteristic of free jazz is that there are no rules. Musicians do not adhere to a fixed harmonic structure (predetermined chord progressions) as they improvise; instead, they modulate (i.e., change keys) at will. Free

Saïda

2004-12-28T15:11:00.000-08:00

Town, northwestern Algeria, on the southern slopes of the Tell Atlas and the northern fringe of the Hauts (high) Plateaux. The city's site has been of military importance since the construction there of a Roman fort. Saïda was a stronghold of Abdelkader, the Algerian national leader who burned the town upon the approach of French forces in 1844. Modern Saïda was founded as

Smith, Seba

2004-12-25T09:52:00.000-08:00

A graduate of Bowdoin College, Smith founded (1829) the Portland Courier, in which the Major's fictional letters first appeared in January 1830, continuing later in the National Intelligencer until July 1853. Major Jack was a common man magnified as oracle, a Yankee

Account Receivable

2004-12-24T09:18:00.000-08:00

Any amount owed to a business by a customer as a result of a purchase of goods or services from it on a credit basis. The company making the sale does not receive an acceptance or promissory note (i.e., written orders or promises to pay) from the purchaser but merely enters the amount due as a current asset in its books. Accounts receivable constitute a major portion of the

Cade, Jack

2004-12-21T09:49:00.000-08:00

Cade was living in Sussex when, in 1449, he was accused of murdering a woman. He fled to France

Cade, Jack

2004-12-20T14:16:00.000-08:00

French Agence Spatiale Européenne (ASE) western European space and space-technology research organization founded in 1975 from the merger of the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO) and the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO), both established in 1964. Members include Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,

Vahana

2004-12-18T17:59:00.000-08:00

Some scholars understand the concept as a way of incorporating

çanakkale

2004-12-15T23:49:00.000-08:00

City, northwestern Turkey, at the mouth of Koca River (the ancient Rhodius River), on the Asian side of the Dardanelles. Originally a 15th-century Ottoman fortress called Kale-i Sultaniye, it had by the 18th century developed a reputation for its pottery, whence its name (Turkish çanak, “pot,” and kale, “fortress”). The pottery industry reached its peak in the 18th and 19th centuries and

Seth, Vikram

2004-12-13T02:06:00.000-08:00

The son of a judge and a businessman, Seth was raised in London and India. He attended exclusive Indian schools and then graduated from Corpus Christi College, Oxford (B.A., 1975). He received a master's degree in economics from Stanford University

Tyrosinemia

2004-12-12T06:42:00.000-08:00

Also called Tyrosinosis, inherited inability of the body to metabolize normally the amino acid tyrosine. In the normal metabolic pathway of tyrosine, para-(p-)hydroxyphenylpyruvic acid is converted to homogentisic acid (in the liver) by a specific organic catalyst or enzyme, called p-hydroxyphenylpyruvic acid oxidase. This enzyme is not active in individuals with tyrosinemia. Clinical

Falkland Current

2004-12-10T06:56:00.000-08:00

Branch of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current in the Southern Hemisphere, flowing northward in the South Atlantic Ocean along the east coast of Argentina to about latitude 30° to 40° S, where it is deflected eastward after meeting the southward-flowing Brazil Current. Characterized by cold temperatures varying from 41° to 66° F (5° to 19° C), the current has a relatively low salinity averaging

Divination, Inductive divination

2004-12-07T06:40:00.000-08:00

To speculate that inductive divination from natural phenomena must be very old—i.e., that it arose from an early intimate acquaintance with nature—is tempting but inaccurate. In fact, there is little evidence that preliterate peoples viewed nature as a system, and this is particularly true in respect to astral observation. Divination from the skies is concerned

Maine, Explorations and disputes

2004-12-05T23:14:00.000-08:00

The first European explorations of Maine are shrouded in mystery. Evidence that Norsemen landed on the coast is scant and disputed, and serious questions exist about some of the early British claims based on John Cabot's voyages in the late 1490s. Portuguese, Spanish, French, and English explorers did probe the islands, the bays, and the rivers of the “maine” throughout the

Pacific Ocean, Submarine hydrocarbons

2004-12-04T15:28:00.000-08:00

Deposits of oil and gas under the seafloor are the most valuable and sought-after fuels of the modern world economy. Shallow seas and small ocean basins, such as the South and East China seas, are thought to have a high potential for large reserves. Among the countries bordering the Pacific Ocean and its marginal seas, the proportion of production from submarine reserves

Intelligence

2004-11-30T06:52:00.000-08:00

Military intelligence is as old as warfare itself. Even in biblical times, Moses sent spies to live with the Canaanites in order to learn about their ways and about their strengths and weaknesses. In the American Revolution George

Colchester

2004-11-27T02:12:00.000-08:00

As Camulodunum, the town of Colchester was the capital of the pre-Roman Belgic ruler Cunobelinus and is so named on his coins. Although burned in 60 CE during the rising of the British queen Boudicca, Colchester soon became one of the

Aratus Of Sicyon

2004-11-26T18:36:00.000-08:00

After liberating Sicyon in 251, he established a democracy there and united it with the Achaean League for defense against Macedonia. As general of the league (a post he normally held each alternate year after 245), he captured

Copenhagen

2004-11-24T23:23:00.000-08:00

A small village existed on the site of the present city by the early 10th century. In 1167 Bishop Absalon of Roskilde built a castle on an islet off the coast and fortified the town with

Oskaloosa

2004-11-21T23:24:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1844) of Mahaska county, southeastern Iowa, U.S. It lies between the Des Moines and South Skunk rivers, about 60 miles (100 km) southeast of Des Moines. The region was inhabited by Sauk and Fox peoples when a fort was founded there by Captain Nathan Boone, nephew of Daniel Boone, who explored the area in 1835. Settled by Quakers in 1843, it takes its name (meaning “the last of the

Euripides

2004-11-19T10:01:00.000-08:00

It is possible to reconstruct only the sketchiest biography of Euripides. His mother's name was Cleito; his father's name was Mnesarchus or Mnesarchides. One tradition states that his mother was a greengrocer who sold herbs in the marketplace. Aristophanes joked about this in comedy after comedy; but there is better indirect evidence that Euripides came of a well-off

Chadic Languages

2004-11-17T14:03:00.000-08:00

Group of languages spoken in northern Nigeria, northern Ghana, Niger, and Cameroon and in parts of Togo, Benin, Chad, and the Central African Republic and generally classified as a branch of the Afro-Asiatic (formerly Hamito-Semitic) language family. The group includes many languages that are spoken by small numbers of people and that have no written form; among these

Sackville-west, V(ictoria Mary)

2004-11-15T04:52:00.000-08:00

She was the daughter of the 3rd Baron Sackville and a granddaughter of Pepita, a Spanish dancer, whose story she told in Pepita (1937). In 1913 she married Harold Nicolson, a diplomat

Lodge, Sir Oliver Joseph

2004-11-14T09:17:00.000-08:00

Lodge became assistant professor of applied mathematics at University College, London, in 1879 and was appointed to the chair of physics at University College, Liverpool, in 1881. During

Anne Of Denmark

2004-11-11T23:41:00.000-08:00

Ethel C. Williams, Anne of Denmark (1970).

Západní Slovensko

2004-11-10T03:52:00.000-08:00

Czech Západoslovenský , English Western Slovakia kraj (region), southwestern Slovakia. It is bordered on the northwest by the Czech Republic, on the southwest by Austria, on the southeast by Hungary, and on the northeast by Strední Slovensko kraj. Plains formed by the Morava (March), Danube (Dunaj), Váh, Nitra, and Hron rivers dominate the southern part of the region. Wheat, rye, barley, corn (maize), vegetables, hemp, grapes, and tobacco

Abu Al-fida'

2004-11-08T14:12:00.000-08:00

Abu al-Fida' was a descendant of Ayyub, the father of Saladin, founder of the Ayyubid dynasty that had been supplanted by the Mamluks in Egypt and elsewhere before his birth. In 1285 he accompanied his father and his cousin (prince of Hamah and a Mamluk client)

Jackson, Maynard

2004-11-06T13:31:00.000-08:00

Jackson's father was a Baptist minister, his mother a professor of French. He entered Morehouse College through a special-entry program and received a bachelor's degree in political science and history

Program Music

2004-11-04T18:11:00.000-08:00

Instrumental music that carries some extramusical meaning, some “program” of literary idea, legend, scenic description, or personal drama. It is contrasted with so-called absolute, or abstract, music, in which artistic interest is supposedly confined to abstract constructions in sound. It has been stated that the concept of program music does not represent a genre

Lath

2004-11-01T09:01:00.000-08:00

One of the most common laths is gypsum lath. It is manufactured with an air-entrained gypsum core sandwiched between two layers of fibrous absorbent

Arabian Desert

2004-10-31T05:22:00.000-08:00

Great desert region occupying almost the entire Arabian Peninsula. Covering an area of about 900,000 square miles (2,300,000 square km), it is bordered on the north by the Syrian Desert, on the northeast and east by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, on the southeast and south by the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden, and on the west by the Red Sea. A large part of the Arabian Desert lies within

La Plata

2004-10-28T10:05:00.000-07:00

City, capital of Buenos Aires provincia, Argentina, 6 miles (9 km) inland from the southern shore of the Río de la Plata estuary. The site was selected in 1882 by the provincial governor of Buenos Aires, Dardo Rocha, as the new provincial seat, a move made necessary when Buenos Aires was federalized as the national capital (1880). The city plan was modeled on that of Washington, D.C.; and a municipal

Biplane

2004-10-27T18:31:00.000-07:00

Airplane with two wings, one above the other. In the 1890s this configuration was adopted for some successful piloted gliders. The Wright brothers' biplanes (1903–09) opened the era of powered flight. Biplanes predominated in military and commercial aviation from World War I through the early 1930s, but the biplane's greater maneuverability could not offset the speed advantage of

Irish Language

2004-10-25T09:30:00.000-07:00

Grammatically, Irish still has a case system, like Latin or German, with four cases to show differing functions of nouns and pronouns in a sentence. In phonology

Hackett, James Henry

2004-10-22T01:23:00.000-07:00

Hackett left Columbia University because of ill health and tried various businesses. In 1825, after Hackett had lost his money in speculation, his wife, a former actress, returned to the stage; and the following year Hackett, who had achieved a social reputation

Kachchh, Gulf Of

2004-10-18T23:43:00.000-07:00

Kachchh also spelled Kutch, Cutch , or Kachh northeastern arm of the Arabian Sea, extending between the Rann of Kachchh (a salt waste) and the Kathiawar Peninsula of west-central India. Reaching eastward for some 110 miles (180 km), the gulf varies in width from 10 to 40 miles (16 to 65 km). It is rimmed with mudflats, and many small islands rise from its waters. The port at the entrance to the gulf is Okha; other ports include Mandvi, Bedi, and

Baba Taher

2004-10-16T02:21:00.000-07:00

Most of his life is clouded in mystery. He probably lived in Hamadan. His nickname, 'Aryan (the Naked), suggests that he was a wandering dervish, or mystic. Legend tells that the poet, an illiterate woodcutter, attended lectures at a religious college, where he was ridiculed

Szeryng, Henryk

2004-10-14T03:15:00.000-07:00

Szeryng studied with Carl Flesch in Berlin and with Jacques Thibaud in Paris. He made his debut in 1933, and from 1933 to 1939 he was a composition student of Nadia Boulanger in Paris. During World War II he was on the staff of the Polish government-in-exile.

Hoist

2004-10-12T08:16:00.000-07:00

Mechanical device used primarily for raising and lowering heavy loads but occasionally for moving objects horizontally. It usually consists of a block and tackle—a combination of one or more fixed pulleys, a moving pulley with a hook or other similar means of attaching loads, and a rope (or cable) between them. Motive power for a hoist may be either manual or supplied

Italian Peninsula

2004-10-10T09:45:00.000-07:00

One of the three great peninsulas of southern Europe, the other two being the Balkan (to the east) and the Iberian (to the west). The Italian Peninsula extends from the region of the Po River southward for some 600 miles (960 km); it has a maximum width of 150 miles (240 km). To the east lies the Adriatic Sea, to the south the Ionian Sea, and to the west the Tyrrhenian and Ligurian seas. The

Hatto I

2004-10-08T00:31:00.000-07:00

Hatto was elected abbot of Reichenau (888) and Ellwangen (889) and archbishop of Mainz (891). A trusted adviser of King

Cellulose Acetate

2004-10-07T10:57:00.000-07:00

Original name Acetate Rayon, also called Acetate, man-made textile fibre produced from the plant substance cellulose, which is obtained from soft woods or the short fibres adhering to cotton seeds (linters) and treated with acetic acid and acetic anhydride, and then partially hydrolyzed so that the product, secondary acetate, is soluble in acetone. It forms a cellulose acetate solution that is extruded through

Babashoff, Shirley

2004-10-04T08:52:00.000-07:00

At the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Babashoff won silver medals in the 100- and 200-metre freestyle events and competed on the gold-medal-winning U.S. team in the 400-metre freestyle relay. At the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, she again

Sable Island

2004-09-30T15:03:00.000-07:00

Gently curving sandbar in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, 110 mi (180 km) southeast of Cape Canso. It is treeless, about 20 mi long and 1 mi wide, and comprises the exposed portion of a vast shoal on the outer edge of the continental shelf. Gradually shrinking in size and shifting slowly eastward, the island, because of unexpected shallows, has been the scene of

Las Palmas

2004-09-28T22:30:00.000-07:00

Founded in 1478 at the mouth of a ravine, it was named for the abundant palms there. The city was the headquarters for the Spanish conquest of Tenerife and La Palma islands and

Calder, Alexander (stirling)

2004-09-26T02:49:00.000-07:00

U.S. sculptor best known as the originator of the mobile, a type of kinetic sculpture, the delicately balanced or suspended components of which move in response to motor power or air currents; by contrast, Calder's stationary sculptures are called stabiles. He also produced numerous wire figures, notably for a vast miniature

Rainmaking

2004-09-24T21:20:00.000-07:00

Any process of increasing the amount of precipitation discharged from a cloud. Primitive methods, such as rain dances or the throwing of pebbles into water, failed to produce rain, but modern techniques of seeding supercooled clouds with frozen carbon dioxide or silver iodide offer some possibility of increasing rainfall amounts substantially.

Malabar Coast

2004-09-22T00:55:00.000-07:00

Name long applied to the southern part of India's western coast, approximately from Goa southward, which is bordered on the east by the Western Ghats range. The name has sometimes encompassed the entire western coast of peninsular India. It now includes most of Kerala state and the coastal region of Karnataka state. The coast consists of a continuous belt of sand dunes.

Germanic Religion And Mythology, Worship

2004-09-20T16:54:00.000-07:00

Sacrifice often was conducted in the open or in groves and forests. The human sacrifice to the tribal god of the Semnones, described by Tacitus, took place in a sacred grove; other examples of sacred groves include the one in which Nerthus usually resides. Tacitus does, however, mention temples in Germany, though they were probably few. Old English laws mention fenced

Paul I, Saint

2004-09-19T14:06:00.000-07:00

Consecrated deacon by Pope St. Zacharias, he became a key member of the Curia under his brother Pope Stephen II (or III), whom he was elected on April 26, 757, to succeed. He secured the support of the Frankish king Pippin III the Short against the animosity of the Lombard king Desiderius and the Byzantine emperor Constantine V

Earth Sciences, Knowledge of landforms and of landsea relations

2004-09-16T23:54:00.000-07:00

The early Chinese writers were not outdone by the Romans

Peru, Flag Of

2004-09-14T02:08:00.000-07:00

The first national flag of Peru was created in 1820, when José de San Martín arrived with his Army of the Andes from Argentina and Chile. The Peruvian flag he designed combined the colours red and white, said to have been chosen because San Martín saw a flock of flamingos take wing at his arrival. The form of the flag was unusual—a diagonal division forming two white and two

Clone

2004-09-13T14:08:00.000-07:00

Also spelled clon population of genetically identical cells or organisms that are derived originally from a single original cell or organism by asexual methods. Cloning is fundamental to most living things, since the body cells of plants and animals are clones ultimately derived from the mitosis of a single fertilized egg. More narrowly, a clone can be defined as an individual

Pacific-10 Conference

2004-09-10T18:44:00.000-07:00

Byname Pac-10 West Coast American collegiate athletic association that grew out of several earlier versions, the first of which, the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC), was founded in 1915. The original members were the University of California (Berkeley), the University of Washington, the University of Oregon, and Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University). State College

Astor, Caroline Webster Schermerhorn

2004-09-09T07:19:00.000-07:00

Caroline Schermerhorn was the daughter of a wealthy merchant and had colonial Dutch aristocracy on both sides of her family tree. Her marriage to William Astor, son of William Backhouse

Insurance, Business property insurance

2004-09-06T09:41:00.000-07:00

Insurance for business property follows a pattern that is similar in many ways to the one for individual property. A commonly used form is the “building and personal property coverage form” (BPP). This form permits a business owner to cover in one policy the buildings, fixtures, machinery and equipment, and personal property used in business and the personal property

Bulandshahr

2004-09-05T18:12:00.000-07:00

The surrounding area comprises a level region between

Turgay Valley

2004-09-02T16:43:00.000-07:00

Kazak Torghay depression in western Kazakstan. Some 12–125 miles (20–200 km) wide, it runs roughly north-south for about 375 miles (600 km) through the middle of the Torghay Plateau. It was formed by a caving-in of the ancient foundation, and in the Ice Age, water flowed along it from the West Siberian Plain to the Turan Plain. Today it contains a chain of fresh and saline lakes, with the Ubagan River flowing north