KindChest

Foyt, A. J.

2005-11-17T13:10:00.000-08:00

A racer from the age of 17 and—unlike many drivers—an expert auto mechanic, Foyt participated in his first Indy Car race in 1957. The following year he made his debut at the Indianapolis 500, avoiding a near crash to finish 16th. In 1960 he won

Yggdrasill

2005-07-28T06:50:00.000-07:00

Old Norse Mimameidr in Norse mythology, the world tree, a giant ash supporting the universe. One of its roots extended into Niflheim, the underworld; another into Jötunheim, land of the giants; and the third into Asgard, home of the gods. At its base were three wells: Urdarbrunnr (Well of Fate), from which the tree was watered by the Norns (the Fates); Hvergelmir (Roaring Kettle), in which dwelt Nidhogg

Ahmad Ibn Hanbal

2005-07-26T00:25:00.000-07:00

The most important of Ibn Hanbal's works is his collection of the Traditions of the Prophet Muhammad. This collection was heretofore believed to have been compiled by the author's son ('Abd Allah), but there is now evidence that the work was compiled and arranged by Ibn Hanbal himself. These Traditions were considered by Ibn Hanbal as a sound basis for argument in law and

Pausanias

2005-07-24T01:05:00.000-07:00

A member of the Agiad royal family, Pausanias was the son of King Cleombrotus I and nephew of King Leonidas. He became regent for Leonidas' son after the father was killed at Thermopylae (480). Pausanias commanded the allied Greek army

Smith, George

2005-07-08T22:35:00.000-07:00

Smith's father, also named George Smith (1789–1846), learned bookselling in his native Scotland and, after moving to London, joined with another Scot, Alexander Elder,

Pacific Ocean, Central Pacific region

2005-07-07T02:45:00.000-07:00

The central Pacific region lies between the boundaries of the eastern and western regions. The largest and the most geologically stable of the structural provinces of the Earth's crust, it is characterized by expansive areas of low relief, lying at a general depth of about 15,000 feet below the surface.

Halévy, (jacques-françois-) Fromental(-élie)

2005-07-01T05:20:00.000-07:00

Halévy studied at the Paris Conservatoire from the age of 10 and won the Prix de Rome in 1819 for his cantata Herminie. His first opera performed was L'Artisan (1827), but it was not until Le Dilettante d'Avignon

Cos

2005-06-28T08:40:00.000-07:00

A ragged limestone ridge runs along the southern coast. The highest point of the island, Mount Dhíkaios (2,776 feet [846 m]), divides the island near its centre. A fertile lowland stretches along the north coast that is irrigated by the deep springs of the Prión Ridge, which also provides

Frumentius, Saint

2005-06-21T16:45:00.000-07:00

A student of philosophy from Tyre, Frumentius and a colleague, Aedesius, were

Computers, The graphical user interface

2005-06-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

In 1982 Apple introduced its Lisa computer, a much more powerful computer with many innovations. The Lisa used a more advanced microprocessor, the Motorola 68000. It also had a different way of interacting with the user, called a graphical user interface (GUI). The GUI replaced the typed command lines common on previous computers with graphical icons on the screen that invoked

Cohen, Albert

2005-06-13T15:10:00.000-07:00

From 1900 Cohen was reared in Marseilles, France. He studied law in Geneva, became a Swiss citizen, and began a career as a writer and as a civil servant, notably with the International Labour Organisation

Montpensier, Anne-marie-louise D'orléans, Duchess (duchesse) De

2005-06-02T10:10:00.000-07:00

Byname La Grande Mademoiselle princess of the royal house of France, prominent during the Fronde and the minority of Louis XIV. She was known as Mademoiselle because her father, Gaston de France, Duke d'Orléans and uncle of Louis XIV, had the designation of Monsieur. From her mother, Marie de Bourbon-Montpensier, she inherited a huge fortune, including Eu and Dombes as well

Denmark's Aquarium

2005-05-18T15:10:00.000-07:00

Danish Danmarks Akvarium largest aquarium in Denmark, located in Charlottenlund, outside of Copenhagen. It is noted for its collection of unusual fishes. Included among the more than 3,000 specimens of nearly 200 species of marine and freshwater fishes are lungfish, blind cave fish, mudskippers, and the primitive paddlefish from the United States. The aquarium also has some noteworthy exhibits

Utility And Value

2005-05-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

The modern industrial economy is characterized by a high degree of interdependence of its parts. The supplier of components or raw materials, for example, must deliver the desired quantities of his products at the right moment and in the desired specifications. In economies such as those of western

Alastor

2005-05-14T17:55:00.000-07:00

Any of certain avenging deities or spirits, especially in Greek antiquity. The term is associated with Nemesis, the goddess of divine retribution who signified the gods' disapproval of human presumption. Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem Alastor; or, The Spirit of Solitude (1816) was a visionary work in which he warned idealists (like himself) not to abandon “sweet human love” and

Bishop, Sir Henry Rowley

2005-03-15T13:29:00.000-08:00

Bishop conducted at Covent Garden Theatre (1810), King's Theatre, Haymarket (1816 - 17), Drury Lane (from 1825), and Vauxhall Gardens (1830). He became professor of music successively at the Universities of Edinburgh (1841) and Oxford (1848) and was knighted in 1842. Bishop composed light

Housebook, Master Of The

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

Also called �Master Of The Hausbuch�, or �Master Of The Amsterdam Cabinet�, German �Hausbuchmeister�, or �Meister Des Hausbuchs� anonymous late Gothic painter and engraver who was one of the outstanding early printmakers. He was formerly referred to as the Master of the Amsterdam Cabinet because the Rijksprentenkabinet, the print room of the Rijksmuseum, in Amsterdam has the largest collection of his line engravings (q.v.) and etchings done with a technique close to drypoint (q.v.). Today he is

East African Lakes

2005-03-11T21:40:00.000-08:00

Group of lakes in East Africa. The majority of the East African lakes lie within the East African Rift System, which forms a part of a series of gigantic fissures in the Earth's crust extending northward from the Zambezi River valley through eastern and northeastern Africa and the Red Sea to the Jordan River valley in southwestern Asia. In East Africa itself the southern,

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, Diversity of forms

2005-03-06T15:36:00.000-08:00

Since an allegorical purpose can inform works of literature in a wide range of genres, it is not surprising to find that the largest allegories are epic in scope. A quest forms the narrative thread of both the Greek epic Odyssey and the Latin, Aeneid, and it is an allegory of the quest for heroic perfection; thus, allegory is aligned with the epic form. Romances, both prose

Gyascutus

2005-03-05T10:27:00.000-08:00

An imaginary, large, four-legged beast with legs on one side longer than those on the other, for walking on hillsides. Humorous references to this creature, whose name has countless local variants, first appeared in American newspapers during the 1840s. It has continued to play a minor role in American folklore since then. The word was apparently coined to mimic the Latin

California, Flag Of

2005-03-04T05:24:00.000-08:00

In the Bear Flag Revolt of 1846, which occurred during the Mexican-American War, a group of American settlers in what was then the Mexican-ruled territory of California proclaimed independence and hoisted the original Bear Flag (June 14, 1846). The following month American naval forces seized control of the area, and the flag of the short-lived California Republic was replaced

Abasiyanik, Sait Faik

2005-03-03T08:47:00.000-08:00

Abasiyan

Robber Fly

2005-03-02T14:41:00.000-08:00

Also called �Assassin Fly, � any predatory insect of the family Asilidae (order Diptera), numbering about 4,000 species, worldwide in distribution. These flies have variable lengths that range to almost 8 cm (3 inches). They are the largest of all flies. Most are dull in colour, and their stout bodies resemble those of bumble bees. Between the large-faceted eyes is a moustache of bristles. The long legs are adapted

Nicephorus Iii Botaneiates

2005-03-01T15:51:00.000-08:00

Nicephorus, who belonged to the military aristocracy of Asia Minor and who was related to the powerful Phocas family, became commander of the Anatolian theme (administrative district). When discontent against the government of

Maha Sarakham

2005-02-28T08:36:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Mahasarakhan, or Mahasarakham, � town, northeastern Thailand. Maha Sarakham is located at a road junction on a bend of the Chi River. Rice is widely grown in the surrounding region, particularly in shallow river valleys, and freshwater fishing is also important. Pop. (1993 est.) 41,812.

Trichogrammatid

2005-02-27T11:48:00.000-08:00

Any of the tiny parasitic chalcid insects of the family Trichogrammatidae (order Hymenoptera), particularly those of the genus Trichogramma. Adults of Trichogramma species are less than one millimetre long, with pear-shaped wings having a single vein and fringing hairs; the three-segmented tarsi are distinctive. Trichogramma larvae parasitize the eggs of moths

Tigellinus, Ofonius

2005-02-26T08:07:00.000-08:00

A Sicilian by birth, Tigellinus was prefect of the vigiles (�fire brigades�) before becoming prefect of the Praetorian Guard in 62. Early sources maintain that he rose to power by encouraging Nero in his vices. He actively pressed Nero's reign

Bhakti

2005-02-25T14:31:00.000-08:00

(from Sanskrit bhaj, �to allot,� �to revere�), in Hinduism, a devotional movement emphasizing the intense emotional attachment and love of a devotee toward his personal god. Bhakti assumes a dualistic relationship between the devotee and god, in contrast to the monistic ideal of Advaita Vedanta philosophy. The way of bhakti (bhakti-marga) is contrasted with other means of

Furniture, Mesopotamia

2005-02-24T20:20:00.000-08:00

The furniture of Mesopotamia and neighbouring ancient civilizations of the Middle East had beds, stools, chairs, and boxes as principal forms. Documentary evidence is provided chiefly by relief carvings. The forms were constructed in the same manner as Egyptian furniture except that members were heavier, curves were less frequent, and joints were more abrupt.

Anhalt

2005-02-23T15:51:00.000-08:00

Former German state, which was a duchy from 1863 to 1918 and a Land (state) until 1945, when it was merged in Saxony-Anhalt. Saxony-Anhalt was a Land of the German Democratic Republic from 1949 to 1952, when it was broken up into Bezirke (districts), the former territories of Anhalt being divided between the Bezirke of Magdeburg and of Halle. Upon the reunification of East and West Germany in 1990, Saxony-Anhalt

Priestley, J(ohn) B(oynton)

2005-02-22T19:41:00.000-08:00

Priestley served in the infantry in World War I (1914 - 19) and then studied English literature at Trinity College, Cambridge (B.A., 1922). He thereafter worked as a journalist and first

China, General works

2005-02-21T06:52:00.000-08:00

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

Devotio Moderna

2005-02-20T06:10:00.000-08:00

Religious movement within Roman Catholicism from the end of the 14th to the 16th century stressing meditation and the inner life, attaching little importance to ritual and external works, and downgrading the highly speculative spirituality of the 13th and 14th centuries. Devotio moderna (Latin: �modern devotion�) originated in the Netherlands and spread to Germany, northern

Race, Hereditary statuses versus the rise of individualism

2005-02-19T14:07:00.000-08:00

Inheritance as the basis of individual social position is an ancient tenet of human history, extending to some point after the beginnings of agriculture (about 8000 - 10,000 BCE). Expressions of it are found throughout the world in kinship-based societies where genealogical links determine an individual's status, rights, and obligations. Wills and testaments capture this principle,

Athens 1980s Overview

2005-02-18T09:39:00.000-08:00

It is said that in every musical generation something new crawls out of the American South. But few would have expected anything earthshaking from Athens, a small city in Georgia that calls itself the �Classic City.� American college towns tend to be consumers rather than creators of musical trends. Athens, where one-third of the population are students at the University

Nicholas Of Hereford

2005-02-17T05:49:00.000-08:00

Nicholas was ordained in 1370 and later received a doctorate

Toreva Block

2005-02-16T20:06:00.000-08:00

Landslide product consisting of a very large block of undisturbed material that has been tilted backward toward the parent cliff during movement down a gentle slope. In northeastern Arizona such blocks are thought to have formed during more humid periods of the last glacial advance of the Pleistocene Epoch (1,600,000 to 10,000 years ago). Toreva blocks also occur, however, as a simple

Tradici�

2005-02-15T16:14:00.000-08:00

In Spanish-American literature, short prose sketch in which a historical incident is related in an imaginative and literary style. An evocation of the South American past, the tradici�n may be set in the precolonial era, the age of discovery and conquest, the prerevolutionary era of romance and political intrigue, or the time of the struggle for self-determination

United Nations

2005-02-13T11:46:00.000-08:00

Though UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's term was scheduled to end on Dec. 31, 2001, he announced on March 22 his availability for five more years. UN delegates credited him with having strengthened internal management, gained control over the organization's budget, and improved ties with the U.S., and they reelected him by acclamation on June 29. He was praised for his levelheadedness,

Cumberland Presbyterian Church

2005-02-12T06:41:00.000-08:00

Denomination organized in 1810 by a group of Presbyterians on the Kentucky - Tennessee frontier who left the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. The immediate cause of the separation was a religious revival in the Kentucky area (1799 - 1802) that brought many converts into the church and led to a shortage of ordained ministers. The Cumberland Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in

Rocky Mountains, Physiography

2005-02-11T15:21:00.000-08:00

The Canadian Rockies include the Mackenzie and Selwyn mountains of the Yukon and Northwest Territories (sometimes called the Arctic Rockies) and the ranges of western Alberta and eastern British Columbia. The Northern Rockies include the Lewis and Bitterroot ranges of western Montana and northeastern Idaho. These ranges formed along the eastern edge of a region

Earth, Faulting

2005-02-10T02:27:00.000-08:00

Normal

Tokyo-yokohama Metropolitan Area, Transportation

2005-02-09T14:37:00.000-08:00

The emergence of modern Tokyo came at the beginning of the transportation revolution of the late 19th century. The first railroad in Japan was put through from Tokyo to Yokohama in 1872. The city continues to be the most important transportation centre in the country. The busiest rail stations are those accommodating commuters to the western suburbs, but the traveler

Ker

2005-02-08T14:57:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Cer, � in ancient Greek religion, a destructive spirit. Popular belief attributed death and illness to the action of impersonal powers, often spoken of in the plural (Keres). The word was also used of an individual's doom, with a meaning resembling the notion of destiny. In the Attic festival of the Anthesteria, when the spirits of the dead were expelled from the house, they were

Campaign Furniture

2005-02-07T17:09:00.000-08:00

Case furniture was usually teak,

Bacchus Marsh

2005-02-06T11:21:00.000-08:00

Town in southern Victoria, Australia. It is located 32 miles (51 km) northwest of Melbourne (to which a growing proportion of its residents commute daily) on the east bank of the Werribee River. In 1838, Captain William Henry Bacchus founded the town, and it grew as a stopping place for Cobb and Company coaches traveling from Melbourne to the Ballarat goldfields. Bacchus Marsh is

Clapp, Cornelia Maria

2005-02-05T13:47:00.000-08:00

Clapp graduated from Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in 1871, and after a year of teaching elsewhere she returned to Mount Holyoke as an instructor in mathematics. Later she also taught

Saigon River

2005-02-04T00:26:00.000-08:00

Vietnamese �Song Sai Gon� river in southern Vietnam that rises near Phum Daung, southeastern Cambodia, and flows south and south-southeast for about 140 miles (225 km). In its lower course it embraces Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) on the east and forms an estuary at the head of Ganh Rai Bay, an outlying part of the Mekong delta. The Saigon is joined 18 miles (29 km) northeast of Ho Chi Minh City by the Dong Nai River,

Nabataean Alphabet

2005-02-03T19:47:00.000-08:00

Writing system used between approximately 150 BC and AD 150 in the Nabataean kingdom of Petra in the Arabian Peninsula. Used by the Nabataeans to write the Aramaic language, this alphabet was related to the Aramaic alphabet, one of the major Semitic scripts. The Nabataean script gave rise to the neo-Sinaitic alphabet, the ancestor of the Arabic alphabet. Like its Semitic precursors,

Amreli

2005-02-02T15:47:00.000-08:00

Formerly �Amaravalli, � town, southwestern Gujarat state, west-central India. The town lies on the Kathiawar Peninsula, 125 miles (200 km) southwest of Ahmadabad. Primarily a commercial centre, its industries include the manufacture of khadi (coarse cotton cloth), tanning, silverworking, and cotton ginning. Amreli is served by a railway and an airfield. Chief crops of the surrounding area are millet, peanuts

Fore-edge Painting

2005-02-01T21:09:00.000-08:00

Technique of painting the edges of the leaves, or folios, of a book, employed in the European Middle Ages. Manuscript books with gold-tooled bindings often had the edges of their pages gilded with burnished gold. They were also frequently goffered with heated tools and were occasionally coloured. From 1650 onward a number of London binders practiced a new decorative method

Maderna, Bruno

2005-01-31T05:08:00.000-08:00

Maderna studied with well-known teachers, including the Italian composer Gian Francesco Malipiero and the German conductor Hermann Scherchen. In 1941 he received his degree in composition at Rome from the Conservatorio di Musica Santa Cecilia. He expanded

Eridu

2005-01-30T01:53:00.000-08:00

Ancient Sumerian city south of modern Ur (Tall al-Muqayyar), Iraq. Eridu was revered as the oldest city in Sumer according to the king lists, and its patron god was Enki (Ea), �lord of the sweet waters that flow under the earth.� The site, located at a mound called Abu Shahrayn, was excavated principally between 1946 and 1949 by the Iraq Antiquities Department; it proved to be one of the most

Balaklava, Battle Of

2005-01-29T10:32:00.000-08:00

Balaklava also spelled �Balaclava� (Oct. 25 [Oct. 13, Old Style], 1854), indecisive military engagement of the Crimean War, best known as the inspiration of the English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson's �Charge of the Light Brigade.� In this battle, the Russians failed to capture Balaklava, the Black Sea supply port of the British, French, and Turkish forces in the southern Crimea; but the British lost control of their best supply

Earth

2005-01-28T16:09:00.000-08:00

The basic structure and composition of the Earth's interior have been known since the mid-20th century. In a landmark paper published in 1952, the American geophysicist Francis Birch described the constitution of the planetary interior based on a broad array of seismological, experimental, and geochemical observations. Although there have been numerous advances in

Biblical Literature, Problems visual in origin

2005-01-27T08:38:00.000-08:00

The order of letters also might be inverted. Such metathesis, as it is called, appears in Psalms, in which qirbam (�their inward

Elephantine

2005-01-26T08:38:00.000-08:00

Arabic �Jazirat Aswan, � island in the Nile opposite Aswan city in Aswan muhafazah (governorate), Upper Egypt. Elephantine is the Greek name for pharaonic Abu. There the 18th- and 19th-dynasty pharaohs built a large temple to Khnum, the ram god of the cataract region, to his consort, Sati, and to Anuket, goddess of nearby Sehel. To the north stands the Old and Middle Kingdom shrine. Numerous outstanding rock

Azikiwe, Nnamdi

2005-01-25T07:53:00.000-08:00

Azikiwe received much of his early education in the United States (1925 - 34). In 1934 he went to the Gold Coast (now Ghana), where he worked as a newspaper editor before returning to Nigeria in 1937. There he founded a chain of newspapers and also became directly involved

Yakima River

2005-01-24T09:41:00.000-08:00

River, south-central Washington, U.S., rising in the Cascade Range, near Snoqualmie Pass. It flows southeastward about 200 miles (320 km) past Ellensburg and Yakima to join the Columbia River near Kennewick in Benton county. The Yakima and its tributaries irrigate about 460,000 acres (190,000 hectares) in the river valley. The Keechelus Dam, near the river's source, is a major unit of the U.S. Bureau

Sertorius, Quintus

2005-01-23T01:55:00.000-08:00

After acquiring some reputation in Rome as a jurist and orator, Sertorius fought in Gaul against the invading Cimbri and Teutons (105 and 102) and in 97 served in Spain. In 90 he was quaestor in Cisalpine Gaul and commanded an army in the

Chi-tsang

2005-01-22T22:40:00.000-08:00

Chi-tsang was the son of a Parthian father and a Chinese mother, but his education and upbringing were wholly Chinese. In an age characterized by social unrest and military

Florian

2005-01-21T03:37:00.000-08:00

Latin in full �Marcus Annius Florianus � Roman emperor from June to September 276. The brother, by a different father, of the emperor Tacitus, he at once seized power on the death of his brother. Although his action was tolerated by the Senate and the armies of the West, the legions in Syria promoted their own general, Probus. A civil war broke out but ended in the sudden death of Florian, either at the hands of

Earth Sciences, Knowledge of landforms and of land - sea relations

2005-01-20T03:09:00.000-08:00

The early Chinese writers were not outdone by the Romans

Udhampur

2005-01-18T13:10:00.000-08:00

Town in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir state, situated at an elevation of 2,500 feet (760 m). It is named for Udham Singh, eldest son of Gulab Singh, the founder and ruler of the Jammu and Kashmir state. Situated on the Pathankot-Uri national highway connecting Srinagar via Udhampur to the rest of India, Udhampur town is an important military cantonment in northern India. Krimchi,

Leningrad Affair

2005-01-17T08:01:00.000-08:00

(1948 - 50), in the history of the Soviet Union, a sudden and sweeping purge of Communist Party and government officials in Leningrad and the surrounding region. The purge occurred several months after the sudden death of Andrey A. Zhdanov (Aug. 31, 1948), who had been the Leningrad party boss as well as one of Joseph Stalin's most powerful lieutenants in the postwar period. The purge, which

Beadwork

2005-01-16T09:27:00.000-08:00

During the Middle Ages, when embroidery was an important art form, beads

Lens

2005-01-15T07:31:00.000-08:00

In anatomy, a colourless, nearly transparent biconvex structure suspended behind the iris of the eye, the sole function of which is to focus light rays onto the retina. The lens is made up of unusual elongated cells that have no blood supply but obtain nutrients from the surrounding fluids, the aqueous humour in front and the vitreous behind. The shape of the lens - essentially

Amphibole, Contact metamorphic rocks

2005-01-14T13:46:00.000-08:00

Amphiboles occur in contact metamorphic aureoles around igneous intrusions. (An aureole is the zone surrounding an intrusion, which is a mass of igneous rock that solidified between other rocks located within the Earth.) The contact aureoles produced in siliceous limestones and dolomites, called skarns or calc-silicate rocks, characteristically contain metamorphic

Biblical Literature, Books of ordinances

2005-01-13T20:51:00.000-08:00

Other books of ordinances of the sect have been preserved, containing prescriptions and other material. Three such compositions are written on one scroll: the Manual of Discipline, the Rule of the Congregation, and the manual of Benedictions. The Manual of Discipline is the rule (or statement of regulations) of the Essene community; the most important part of this

Ufa

2005-01-12T04:01:00.000-08:00

In full �Universum Film-Aktien Gesellschaft� German motion-picture production company that made artistically outstanding and technically competent films during the silent era. Located in Berlin, its studios were the best equipped and most modern in the world. It encouraged experimentation and imaginative camera work and employed such directors as Ernst Lubitsch, famous for directing sophisticated

Nagpur

2005-01-11T16:25:00.000-08:00

City, northeastern Maharashtra state, western India. It lies along the Nag River and is situated almost at the geographic centre of India. The present city was founded in the early 18th century by Bakht Buland, a Gond raja. It became the capital of the Bhonsles of the Maratha confederacy but in 1817 came under British influence. In 1853 the city lapsed into British control and in 1861 became

Oakville

2005-01-10T16:37:00.000-08:00

Town, regional municipality of Halton, southeastern Ontario, Canada, 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Toronto. Oakville is situated on Lake Ontario at the mouth of Oakville Creek. It was founded in 1830 by Colonel William K. Chisholm, who established shipbuilding yards there. It was originally incorporated in 1857, and in 1962 it amalgamated with Trafalgar Township to form the new town of Oakville,

Hardwick, Elizabeth

2005-01-08T02:43:00.000-08:00

Hardwick attended the University of Kentucky (B.A., 1938; M.A., 1939) and Columbia University in New York City. Her experience as a young Southern woman in Manhattan provided the backdrop for her somber, introspective first novel, The Ghostly

Kwangsi, Resources

2005-01-07T06:13:00.000-08:00

The region has sufficient coal and iron deposits to support moderate industrial development. Coal is mined north of Kuei-lin and south of Liu-chou. Iron is mined in the area near the Kwangtung - Hunan border as well as in southeastern Kwangsi. Other exploited mineral resources include tin (of which Kwangsi is a major producer), tungsten, manganese, and antimony. Moderate

Classical Scholarship, The 18th century: the age of Bentley

2005-01-06T05:24:00.000-08:00

Since the late 16th century little had been heard of English scholarship; once the study of Greek had been established by Linacre, Grocyn, Sir John Cheke, and their contemporaries, the English preoccupation with education had set in. John Selden is the most notable of few exceptions, and he was a jurist and antiquary, not an academic, though his De Diis Syris (1617) laid the foundations

Constance, Lake

2005-01-05T18:29:00.000-08:00

Also called �Lake of Constance�, Constance also spelled �Konstanz�, German �Bodensee�, Latin �Lacus Brigantinus� lake bordering Switzerland, Germany, and Austria and occupying an old glacier basin at an elevation of 1,299 feet (396 m). It has an area of 209 square miles (541 square km) and is about 40 miles (65 km) long and up to 8 miles (13 km) wide, with an average depth of 295 feet (90 m) and a maximum depth of 827 feet (252 m). It has about 125 miles (200 km) of shoreline. In the west, near Konstanz (Constance), it is divided by the Bodan mountain ridge

Tasmania, Transportation

2005-01-04T02:00:00.000-08:00

Given its island setting and dispersed development, transportation, both internal and external, is especially important to Tasmania. The settled areas have a good network of roads with the highest density of roads per square mile of any Australian state. In 1975 control of the state's railways was transferred to the federal government, and in 1978 regular passenger services

Maccabees

2005-01-03T16:29:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Machabees� priestly family of Jews who organized a successful rebellion against the Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV and reconsecrated the defiled Temple of Jerusalem.

Waterford

2005-01-02T23:16:00.000-08:00

Town (township), New London county, southeastern Connecticut, U.S., on Long Island Sound just west of the city of New London. The area, settled about 1653, was separated from New London and incorporated as a town in 1801. Drained by the Thames and Niantic rivers, it has a name descriptive of local fordable shallows. Early industries included paper mills and a granite quarry, which was

Bataban�, Gulf Of

2005-01-01T00:21:00.000-08:00

Spanish �Golfo De Bataban�, � inlet of the Caribbean Sea, indenting southwestern Cuba. The gulf stretches from the shore of eastern Pinar del R�o province approximately 80 miles (130 km) to the southwestern coast of Matanzas province and the Zapata Peninsula. At its northern edge lies La Habana province; 50 miles (80 km) to the south is the Isle of Juventud. The shallow gulf, economically important for sponge

Amol

2004-12-31T17:44:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Amul� town, northern Iran, on the Harhaz River. The exact date of the founding of the town is unknown and enshrouded in legend, but it is certain that there has been a town on the site since Sasanian times. During the Sasanian period, the district of Amol, together with the neighbouring district of Gilan, formed a Nestorian Christian episcopate. After the Arab conquest in the 8th century,

Biblical Literature, Literary criticism

2004-12-30T03:15:00.000-08:00

Literary criticism endeavours to establish the literary genres (types or categories) of the various documents and to reach conclusions about their structure, date, and authorship. These conclusions are based as far as possible on internal evidence, but external evidence is also very helpful, especially where date is concerned. If the document under consideration

Costigan, Edward Prentiss

2004-12-29T03:51:00.000-08:00

Costigan spent most of his youth in Colorado, where his parents moved in 1877. He graduated from Harvard University in 1899 and began his law practice in Denver the next year. His interest in good government led him to join nonpartisan

Kaduqli

2004-12-28T04:46:00.000-08:00

Town, south-central Sudan. It is situated 149 miles (240 km) south of al-Ubayyid, at the northern edge of the White Nile plain. Kaduqli came under Egyptian rule in the early 19th century and was probably a centre for recruiting slaves for the Egyptian army. It is now a trading centre for gum arabic and livestock. Industries include textiles, soap factories, and the production of leather

Preston, May Wilson

2004-12-27T01:20:00.000-08:00

May Wilson displayed marked artistic ability from an early age. In 1889, when she was barely out of high school, she helped found the Women's Art

Chaco War

2004-12-26T06:02:00.000-08:00

(1932 - 35), costly conflict between Bolivia and Paraguay. Hostile incidents began as early as 1928 over the Chaco Boreal, a wilderness region of about 100,000 square miles (259,000 square km) north of the Pilcomayo River and west of the Paraguay River that forms part of the Gran Chaco. The conflict stemmed from the outcome of the War of the Pacific (1879 - 84), in which Chile defeated Bolivia and annexed that nation's

Kite

2004-12-25T14:20:00.000-08:00

Regardless of the design, a kite must conform to the laws of aerodynamics and embody three fundamental characteristics: an aerodynamic structure to gain lift from the wind, a tether to keep it from blowing away, and a bridle to direct the kite face at the proper angle to the wind. A bridle consists of two or more lines attached directly to the kite face. The bridle lines

Lima

2004-12-24T03:02:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Peru and of Lima department. It is the country's commercial and industrial centre. Central Lima is located at an elevation of 512 feet (156 metres) on the south bank of the R�o R�mac, about eight miles (13 km) inland from the Pacific Ocean port of Callao, and has an area of 27 square miles (70 square km). Its name is a corruption of the Quechua Indian name R�mac, meaning �Talker.� The

Ramillies, Battle Of

2004-12-23T14:44:00.000-08:00

The battle was fought at the village of Ramillies, 13 miles north of Namur (in modern Belgium), between a 62,000-man Allied army under Marlborough and a 60,000-man

Amphibian, Embryonic stage

2004-12-22T04:52:00.000-08:00

Within the egg a series of semipermeable gelatinous capsules enclose the embryo suspended in fluid surrounding the yolk (perivitelline fluid). These capsules can be eventually digested by hatching enzymes that are produced by frontal glands on the snouts of embryos. All nutrients necessary for egg development within the ovary are supplied by the yolk in the

Sasolburg

2004-12-21T14:22:00.000-08:00

Town, northern Free State province, South Africa, south of Johannesburg. Established in 1954, it was built by Sasol Ltd. (the former South African Coal, Oil, and Gas Corporation Ltd.) to house employees at the world's first oil-from-coal plant producing commercial quantities of oil. The location was selected for its proximity to large coal deposits, the Vaal River, and the Witwatersrand

Architecture, History Of Western, 18th century

2004-12-20T08:57:00.000-08:00

Urban design in the 18th century placed greater emphasis on unity and direction through the subordination of lesser parts to the whole. Entire cities were laid out on regularized multiaxial schemes (e.g., Washington, D.C., 1792, by Pierre L'Enfant); the spaces between the radiating avenues were subdivided either geometrically or on a gridiron pattern. New principles calling

Henle, Friedrich Gustav Jacob

2004-12-19T09:18:00.000-08:00

While a student of the German physiologist Johannes M�ller at the universities of Bonn (M.D., 1832) and Berlin (1832 - 34), Henle

Montserrat

2004-12-18T14:17:00.000-08:00

The original Native American inhabitants of Montserrat began to arrive in the Lesser Antilles about 3000 BC. Carib Indians, who arrived later, are said to have named the island Alliouagana (�Land of the Prickly Bush�). However, Montserrat was uninhabited by the time Christopher Columbus sighted it in November 1493, during his second voyage to the Americas. Columbus named the island

Affix

2004-12-17T22:05:00.000-08:00

A grammatical element that is combined with a word, stem, or phrase to produce derived and inflected forms. There are three types of affixes: prefixes, infixes, and suffixes. A prefix occurs at the beginning of a word or stem (sub-mit, pre-determine, un-willing); a suffix at the end (wonder-ful, depend-ent, act-ion); and an infix occurs in the middle. English has no infixes, but they are

Acanthus

2004-12-16T03:46:00.000-08:00

In architecture and decorative arts, a stylized ornamental motif based on a characteristic Mediterranean plant with jagged leaves, Acanthus spinosus (for illustration, see order). It was first used by the Greeks in the 5th century BC on temple roof ornaments, on wall friezes, and on the capital of the Corinthian column. One of the best examples of its use in the Corinthian

Anicca

2004-12-15T22:58:00.000-08:00

Sanskrit �Anitya, � in Buddhism, the doctrine of impermanence, one of the basic characteristics of all existence. Anicca, anatta (the absence of a self), and dukkha (�suffering�) together make up the ti-lakkhana, or three characteristics of all phenomenal existence. That the human body is subject to change is empirically observable in the universal states of childhood, youth, maturity, and old

Rajasthan, Education and welfare

2004-12-14T15:19:00.000-08:00

There are a number of educational establishments in Rajasthan, including state-run universities at Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, and Ajmer; the Open University at Kota; and the Birla Institute of Technology and Science at Pilani. There are several state hospitals and dispensaries. There also are many Ayurvedic, Unani (a medicinal system using prescribed herbs and shrubs), and

Fisher, Herbert Albert Laurens

2004-12-13T20:10:00.000-08:00

Fisher became a fellow of New College, Oxford, in 1888 and tutor and lecturer in modern history in 1891. While at New College he wrote his two-volume Medieval Empire (1898), a study of the Holy Roman Empire influenced

Regal

2004-12-12T00:16:00.000-08:00

Also called �Reed Organ, � a small, easily portable pipe organ usually having only a single set, or rank, of reed pipes. The beating reeds are surmounted by small resonators, producing a nasal, buzzing tone. Wind under pressure to sound the pipes is supplied by one or two bellows attached to the instrument and operated by the player or an assistant. The so-called bible regal, of the 16th century and later,