GreyStem

Hoop

2005-04-05T20:09:00.000-07:00

Circular toy adaptable to many games, children's and adults', probably the most ubiquitous of the world's toys, after the ball. The ancient Greeks advocated hoop rolling as a beneficial exercise for those not very strong. It was also used as a toy by both Greek and Roman children, as graphic representations indicate. Most of these ancient hoops were of metal. Most later

Cohn, Harry

2005-04-05T15:39:00.000-07:00

The son of an immigrant Polish-Jewish tailor, Cohn quit school at age 14 and worked at sundry jobs before becoming a vaudeville singer and song plugger. His motion picture career began in 1913, when he worked as a secretary for a film distributor

Velvetleaf

2005-04-04T01:46:00.000-07:00

Any of various plants with soft, velvety leaves, particularly Abutilon theophrasti (sometimes A. avicennae), commonly known as Indian mallow, an annual, hairy plant of the mallow family (Malvaceae). Native to southern Asia, A. theophrasti is cultivated in northern China for its fibre and is widely naturalized in warmer regions of North America,

Homburg

2005-04-03T19:56:00.000-07:00

City, Saarland, southwestern Germany, on the Erbach River, northeast of Saarbrücken. Chartered in 1330 and 1558, it belonged to the counts of Homburg, most of whose territory was divided in 1499 between the houses of Nassau-Saarbrücken and Pfalz-Zweibrücken. It became part of the Bavarian Palatinate in 1815 and was included in the Saar in 1920. The market square is surrounded by fine 17th-century

Hoop

2005-04-02T13:59:00.000-08:00

By the early 1980s the NBA was plagued by money-losing franchises, low attendance, declining

Adams, Samuel Hopkins

2005-04-02T09:44:00.000-08:00

One of the so-called muckrakers of the period, Adams

Pacific Mountain System

2005-04-01T16:19:00.000-08:00

The geography and geology of the Pacific mountain system are treated in James G. Ashbaugh (ed.), The Pacific Northwest: Geographical Perspectives (1994), covering climate, vegetation, agriculture, and the economy; Stewart T. Schultz, The Northwest Coast (1990), a popular, comprehensive view of the people, economy, and landforms of the region; Paul E. Hammond, Guide to Geology of the Cascade Range (1988), a well-written work; John Eliot Allen, Marjorie Burns, and Sam C. Sargent, Cataclysms on the Columbia (1986), a fine overall exploration of the Missoula floods; and A. Jon Kimmerling and Philip L. Jackson, Atlas of the Pacific Northwest, 7th ed. (1985). A good explanation of how the ocean has shaped the Oregon coast, producing different landforms between California and Washington, may be found in Paul D. Komar, “Ocean Processes and Hazards Along the Oregon Coast,” Oregon Geology, 54(1):3–19 (January 1992).

Xeroderma Pigmentosum

2005-04-01T15:06:00.000-08:00

Rare, recessively inherited skin condition in which resistance to sunlight and other radiation beyond the violet end of the spectrum is lacking. On exposure to such radiation the skin erupts into numerous pigmented spots, resembling freckles, which tend to develop into multiple carcinomas. The condition may occur in mild or severe forms. Protection from direct

Adam Brothers

2005-04-01T06:14:00.000-08:00

Three French brothers who sculpted many monuments for the French and Prussian royal residences. They were exponents of a style that employed the textures of shells, corals, and perforated rocks. Lambert-Sigisbert Adam (1700–59) created sculptures for King Louis XV of France and Frederick the Great of Prussia. Nicolas-Sébastien Adam (1705–78) sculptured for Stanislas

Empiricism, In modern philosophy

2005-03-30T20:52:00.000-08:00

In the earlier and unsystematically speculative phases of Renaissance philosophy, the claims of Aristotelian logic to yield substantial knowledge were attacked by several 16th-century logicians, and, in the same century, the role of observation was stressed. One mildly skeptical Christian thinker, Pierre Gassendi (1592–1655), advanced a deliberate revival of the empirical

Vaitown

2005-03-30T16:12:00.000-08:00

Also called Bomi Hills, city, western Liberia, West Africa. Located in the Bomi Hills former iron-mining district, it is associated with the Liberian Mining Company (LMC; a subsidiary of Republic Steel Corporation), which closed down mining operations in the late 1970s. The firm, first in Liberia to export iron ore, completed a 43-mile (69-kilometre) narrow-gauge railway to the port at Monrovia in 1951. Iron interests

Decorative Art

2005-03-30T09:16:00.000-08:00

Any of those arts that are concerned chiefly with the design and decoration of objects that are chiefly prized for their utility, rather than for their purely aesthetic qualities. Ceramics, glassware, basketry, jewelry, metalware, furniture, textiles, clothing, and other such goods are the objects most commonly associated with the decorative arts. Many decorative

Indiana

2005-03-28T23:35:00.000-08:00

Constituent state of the United States of America. The state sits, as its motto claims, at “the crossroads of America.” It borders Lake Michigan and the state of Michigan on the north, Ohio on the east, Kentucky on the south, and Illinois on the west, making it an integral part of the Midwest. Indiana's 36,185 square miles (93,720 square kilometres) also make it, except for Hawaii, the smallest

Italian Literature, Fiction at the turn of the 21st century

2005-03-28T16:06:00.000-08:00

The competitive world of media- and market-driven culture thrives on self-promotion, provocation, “discoveries,” and “revelations.” Publishers and their talent scouts are eager to add “new voices.” The Sardinian Salvatore Satta, for example, was a professor of law whose considerable literary production—his best-known novel is Il giorno del giudizio (1979; The Day of

Biogenetic Law

2005-03-28T14:15:00.000-08:00

Also called Recapitulation Theory, postulation, by Ernst Haeckel in 1866, that ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny—i.e., the development of the animal embryo and young traces the evolutionary development of the species. The theory was influential and much-popularized earlier but has been of little significance in elucidating either evolution or embryonic growth.

Eritrea, Drainage

2005-03-26T00:23:00.000-08:00

The Eritrean highlands are drained by four major rivers and numerous streams. Two of the rivers, the Gash and the Tekeze, flow westward into The Sudan. The Tekeze River (also known as the Satit) is a major tributary of the Atbara River, which eventually joins the Nile. The Gash River reaches the Atbara only during flood season. As it crosses the western lowlands, the Tekeze

Quintus Smyrnaeus

2005-03-25T19:34:00.000-08:00

Quintus claimed that the Muses inspired him when, still a beardless lad, he kept sheep near the temple of Artemis. His style is monotonous, and his vocabulary

Tenkalai

2005-03-25T02:22:00.000-08:00

One of two Hindu subsects of the Srivaisnava, the other being the Vadakalai. Though the two sects use both Sanskrit and Tamil scriptures and centre their worship on Vishnu, the Tenkalai places greater reliance on the Tamil language and the Nalayira Prabandham, a collection of hymns by the Alvars, a group of South Indian mystics. The Tenkalai grew apart from the Vadakalai in the 14th

Hurdle Race

2005-03-24T08:44:00.000-08:00

Horse race over a course on which a number of obstacles, called hurdles, must be jumped. Hurdle racing, a kind of preparation for steeplechasing, originated in England and Ireland in the 18th century and by the second half of the 20th century had spread to Commonwealth countries, Europe, and the eastern United States. Its hurdles are light and movable and are lower than steeplechase

Roper River

2005-03-24T02:08:00.000-08:00

River in Northern Territory, Australia, formed by the confluence of Waterhouse River and Beswick Creek east of Mataranka and flowing east for 250 miles (400 km) to Limmen Bight on the Gulf of Carpentaria. It marks the southern limit of the rugged region known as Arnhem Land. The flow of the river system, which drains an area of 23,500 square miles (60,860 square km), increases greatly during

Cookson, Catherine (dame Catherine Ann Mcmullen Cookson)

2005-03-23T11:51:00.000-08:00

British author (b. June 20, 1906, Jarrow, Durham, Eng.--d. June 11, 1998, Jesmond Dene, near Newcastle upon Tyne, Eng.), penned almost 100 popular novels, which she set in the industrial region of northeastern England, frequently dubbed "Cookson Country." She was intimately familiar with the physical and emotional lay of this land, having been raised in the Tyneside docks area in poverty. Her early

Ben Nevis

2005-03-22T16:50:00.000-08:00

Highest mountain of the British Isles, in the Highland council area, Scotland. Its summit, reaching an elevation of 4,406 feet (1,343 metres), is a plateau of about 100 acres (40 hectares), with a slight slope to the south and a sheer face to the northeast. Snow lies in some parts all year, and permafrost conditions are almost reached. The mountain consists of a superstructure of volcanic rocks

Sea Snake

2005-03-22T15:59:00.000-08:00

Any of more than 50 species of venomous marine snakes of the family Hydrophiidae. In adaptation to marine life, sea snakes have oarlike tails and flattened bodies. Their nostrils have valvelike closings and are usually on top of the snout. Several sea snakes have bodies much thicker than their heads and necks affording them greater stability

Beagle

2005-03-21T05:04:00.000-08:00

Small hound-dog breed popular as both a pet and a hunter. It looks like a small foxhound and has large brown eyes, hanging ears, and a short coat, usually a combination of black, tan, and white. The beagle is a solidly built dog, heavy for its height. It generally excels as a rabbit hunter and is typically an alert, affectionate dog. There are two sizes recognized in the breed: beagles

Augustus, Caesar

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

The death in 12 BC of Lepidus enabled Augustus finally to succeed him as the official head of the Roman religion, the chief priest (pontifex maximus). In the same year, Agrippa, too, died. Augustus compelled his widow, Julia, to marry Tiberius against both their wishes. During the next three years, however, Tiberius was away in the field, reducing Pannonia (Yugoslavia and Hungary)

Ayre

2005-03-19T19:38:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Air, genre of solo song with lute accompaniment that flourished in England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. The outstanding composers in the genre were the lutanist John Dowland, whose “Flow, my teares” (“Lachrimae”) became so popular that a large number of continental and English instrumental pieces were based on its melody, and the poet and composer Thomas

Mammal, Populations

2005-03-19T18:28:00.000-08:00

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

Van Buren, Hannah

2005-03-18T20:53:00.000-08:00

Little is known about Hannah, who died of tuberculosis about a month before her 36th birthday. She did not leave writing of her own, and Martin, who never remarried, did not mention even her name in the autobiography he wrote late in life. Their sons were all bachelors when Martin became president in 1837. The following year Abraham married Angelica Singleton, who served as White House hostess until Martin's term ended in 1841.

Steppe, The

2005-03-18T00:39:00.000-08:00

The military advantages of nomadism became apparent even before the speed and strength of horses had been fully harnessed for military purposes. The early conquests of Sargon of Akkad (c. 2250 BC) and the Amorite invasions of Mesopotamia before 1800 BC attest to the superior force that nomadic or seminomadic peoples held, but the full effect of their military strength came with

Amicus Curiae

2005-03-17T16:38:00.000-08:00

An amicus curiae normally may not participate except by

Yemen

2005-03-17T01:44:00.000-08:00

A republic of the southwestern Arabian Peninsula, Yemen has coastlines on the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Arabian Sea. Area: 527,970 sq km (203,850 sq mi), including 55,871 sq km of undemarcated area bordered by Saudi Arabia and claimed by the former Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen). Pop. (1995 est.): 13,058,000. Cap.: San'a`. Monetary unit: Yemen Rial, with (Oct. 6, 1995) an official par value of YRls 50 to U.S. $1 (YRls 79.04 = £1 sterling) and a free

Austria, The problem of the Austrian succession

2005-03-16T18:41:00.000-08:00

The extinction of the Spanish line of the Habsburgs and the fact that the emperor Charles VI was the last male member of that house posed serious problems for the Habsburg territories, which at the beginning of the 18th century were held together mainly by the person of the sovereign, notwithstanding the fact that there were some institutions of central administration.

Biblical Literature, The Wisdom of Solomon

2005-03-16T13:30:00.000-08:00

The other deuterocanonical wisdom book, the Wisdom of Solomon, was written in Greek, though it purports to have been written by King Solomon himself. The hypothesis that the first half of the book was translated from Hebrew seems to be without foundation and probably came into existence because, in this section, the author imitated in Greek the Old Testament poetical

Index Fossil

2005-03-15T21:37:00.000-08:00

Any animal or plant preserved in the rock record of the Earth that is characteristic of a particular span of geologic time or environment. A useful index fossil must be distinctive or easily recognizable, abundant, and have a wide geographic distribution and a short range through time. Index fossils are the basis for defining boundaries in the geologic time scale

Quimper

2005-03-15T00:14:00.000-08:00

Breton Kemper town, capital of Finistère département, Bretagne region, France, and a port at the estuarine confluence of the Odet and Steir rivers. Once the ancient capital of the countship Cornouaille, it is associated with the legendary (5th century) king Gradlon, who came from Cornwall in Britain. The countship was united with the duchy of Brittany in the 11th century; but the town suffered

Amsterdam-rhine Canal

2005-03-14T14:51:00.000-08:00

Dutch Amsterdam-rijnkanaal, waterway connecting the port of Amsterdam with the Lek River (via Utrecht) and the Waal River (at Tiel) in The Netherlands. Inaugurated in 1952, it has a total length of 45 miles (72 km) and four locks. It is considered to be the most heavily used canal in western Europe, and it handles vessels of up to 4,300 tons' displacement. The canal's minimum depth is 18 feet (5.5 m).

Cádiz

2005-03-14T00:04:00.000-08:00

The eastern part of the provincia is crossed by wooded spurs of

Fisher, Andrew

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

Fisher emigrated from England to Queensland in 1885, worked as a coal miner and union leader, and was elected to the state legislature in 1893. In 1901 he served in the

Cambrai, League Of

2005-03-13T09:48:00.000-08:00

An alliance of Pope Julius II, the Holy Roman emperor Maximilian I, Louis XII of France, and Ferdinand II of Aragon, formed Dec. 10, 1508, ostensibly against the Turks but actually to attack the Republic of Venice and divide its possessions among the allies. Mantua and Ferrara, both of which had lost possessions to Venice, were included in the league and were promised that their

Croce, Giovanni

2005-03-13T04:20:00.000-08:00

Croce was a priest by 1585. About 1593 he became assistant choirmaster at St. Mark's, and in 1603 choirmaster. His madrigals and canzonets (published in seven books, 1585–1607), though conservative in style, were widely admired for their light touch and alert

Asalluhe

2005-03-12T10:46:00.000-08:00

In Mesopotamian religion, Sumerian deity, city god of Ku'ara, near Eridu in the southern marshland region. Asalluhe was active with the god Enki (Akkadian: Ea) in rituals of lustration (purification) magic and was considered his son. He may have originally been a god of thundershowers and would thus have corresponded to the other Sumerian gods Ishkur and Ninurta. In incantations

Argentina, Government

2005-03-12T02:45:00.000-08:00

Argentina is a federal union of 23 provincias and a federal capital district, the city of Buenos Aires. Federalism came to Argentina only after a long struggle between proponents of a central government and supporters of provincial interests. The constitution of 1853 was modeled on that of the United States. The constitution promulgated in 1994 provided for consecutive

Paradoxes Of Zeno

2005-03-11T18:34:00.000-08:00

Statements made by the Greek philosopher Zeno of Elea, a 5th-century-BC disciple of Parmenides, a fellow Eleatic, designed to show that any assertion opposite to the monistic teaching of Parmenides leads to contradiction and absurdity. Parmenides had argued from reason alone that the assertion that only Being is leads to the conclusions that Being (or all that there

Hyatt, John Wesley

2005-03-10T23:44:00.000-08:00

In the late 1860s, while searching for a substitute for ivory for making billiard balls, Hyatt combined nitrocellulose, camphor, and alcohol, heated the mixture under pressure to make it pliable for molding, and allowed it to harden under normal

Stone, Jesse

2005-03-10T06:30:00.000-08:00

American musician, songwriter, and rhythm-and-blues pioneer who, with his songs “Shake, Rattle and Roll” and “Money Honey,” figured largely in the birth of rock and roll; he also wrote the jazz standard “Idaho” (b. Nov. 16, 1901, Atchison, Kan.—d. April 1, 1999, Altamonte Springs, Fla.).

Hay Fever

2005-03-09T18:29:00.000-08:00

Also called rose fever or allergic rhinitis seasonally recurrent bouts of sneezing, nasal congestion, and tearing and itching of the eyes caused by allergy to the pollen of certain plants, chiefly those depending upon the wind for cross-fertilization, such as ragweed in North America and timothy grass in Great Britain. In allergic persons contact with pollen releases histamine from the tissues, which irritates

Bono

2005-03-09T01:30:00.000-08:00

On May 20, 2002, Irish rock singer and songwriter Bono and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill embarked on an 11-day economic mission to Africa, visiting Ghana, South Africa, Uganda, and Ethiopia. Although the pairing might seem unlikely, Bono had for many years been a strong advocate of aid to less-developed countries and had gained considerable knowledge on the subject.

Babalola, S(olomon) Adeboye

2005-03-08T16:17:00.000-08:00

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

Qatar

2005-03-08T15:41:00.000-08:00

In 2002 Qatar continued to figure prominently in regional and international news, largely as a result of its ongoing chairmanship of the Organization of the Islamic Conference and its 57 member countries. Qatar was a prominent interlocutor with international and regional organizations and, in particular, with the United Nations, the United States, and other allied

Kernicterus

2005-03-08T13:36:00.000-08:00

Severe brain damage caused by an abnormal concentration of the bile pigment bilirubin in brain tissues at or shortly after birth. Kernicterus may occur because of Rh blood-group incompatibility between mother and child, as in erythroblastosis fetalis, where the mother's immune system destroys fetal blood cells, resulting in severe anemia and jaundice in the

Bruegel, Pieter, The Elder

2005-03-07T15:24:00.000-08:00

Byname Peasant Bruegel, Dutch Pieter Bruegel De Oudere, or Boeren Bruegel, Bruegel also spelled Brueghel, or Breughel the greatest Flemish painter of the 16th century, whose landscapes and vigorous, often witty scenes of peasant life are particularly renowned (see photograph). Since Bruegel signed and dated many of his works, his artistic evolution can be traced from the early landscapes,

Pacifism

2005-03-07T04:50:00.000-08:00

In the ancient world, war was taken for granted as a necessary evil by some societies, while in others it was not even regarded as an evil. Individual

North Germanic Languages, Orthography

2005-03-06T14:51:00.000-08:00

The five basic vowel symbols of the Latin alphabet are supplemented by a number of special symbols that are used mostly to represent umlauted vowels: thus, there is y (pronounced as German ü), æ (used in Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, and Faroese) and the corresponding ä (used in Swedish), ø (in Danish, Norwegian, and Faroese) and the corresponding ö (in Swedish and Icelandic), and

Paraguaçu River

2005-03-06T13:43:00.000-08:00

Portuguese Rio Paraguaçu, river, in central and eastern Bahia estado (“state”), eastern Brazil. It rises in the Diamantina Upland and flows northward and then eastward for approximately 300 miles (500 km). The river empties into Todos os Santos Bay, just below Maragogipe. It is navigable from its mouth for only about 25 miles (40 km) as far as Cachoeira. The region around its upper course yields black industrial

Italian East Africa

2005-03-05T22:15:00.000-08:00

Italian Africa Orientale Italiana, group of Italian possessions in East Africa in the period 1936–41. It comprised Ethiopia (annexed by Italy on May 9, 1936, and was proclaimed a part of Italian East Africa that June 1) together with the Italian colonies of Eritrea, now part of Ethiopia, and Italian Somaliland, now part of the Somali Democratic Republic. Italy's king, Victor Emmanuel III, was named emperor. British forces

Lewis, John Aaron

2005-03-04T20:59:00.000-08:00

American composer and pianist (b. May 3, 1920, La Grange, Ill.—d. March 29, 2001, New York, N.Y.), brought elegance and charm to jazz while leading the Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) to musical and popular success for over four decades. He played piano in a spare, graceful style, and his compositions included sophisticated modern melodies as well as breaks, ostinatos, riffs, and other devices from the

Itapicuru River

2005-03-04T17:05:00.000-08:00

River, Maranhão estado (“state”), northeastern Brazil. The river rises in several headstreams in the Itapicuru mountain range. It arches northeastward to Caxias and thence northwestward, emptying into the Atlantic Ocean through São José Bay, southeast of São Luís Island. The river's total length is approximately 750 miles (1,200 km), of which about 400 miles (640 km) are navigable.

Jacobabad

2005-03-04T06:42:00.000-08:00

City, Sindh province, Pakistan. The city lies at a junction of the Pakistan Western Railway and main roads through Sindh. It was founded in 1847 on the site of the village of Khanghar by General John Jacob, the district's first deputy commissioner. Jacob, who laid out the modern city, is commemorated by monuments, and even his horse has been memorialized by a mud pyramid. The city

Interior Design

2005-03-03T13:10:00.000-08:00

Since at least the middle of the 20th century, the term interior decorator has been so loosely applied as to be nearly meaningless,

Mufaddaliyat, Al-

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

(Arabic: “The Examination of al-Mufaddal”), an anthology of ancient Arabic poems, compiled by al-Mufaddal ibn Muhammad ibn Ya'lah between 762 and 784. It is of the highest importance as a record of the thought and poetic art of Arabia in the last two pre-Islamic centuries. Not more than five or six of the 126 poems appear to have been composed by poets born under Islam, and, though a certain number

Avvakum Petrovich

2005-03-02T19:55:00.000-08:00

Archpriest, leader of the Old Believers, conservative clergy who brought on one of the most serious crises in the history of the Russian church by separating from the Russian Orthodox church to support the “old rite,” consisting of many purely local Russian developments. He is also considered to be a pioneer of modern Russian

Hesburgh, Theodore M(artin)

2005-03-01T17:13:00.000-08:00

Hesburgh, who said he knew he wanted to be a priest from early childhood, joined the Order of

Cern

2005-03-01T10:51:00.000-08:00

Byname of Organisation Européene pour la Recherche Nucléaire, formerly (1952–54) Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire, English European Organization for Nuclear Research, international scientific organization established for the purpose of collaborative research into subnuclear physics (also called high-energy, or particle, physics). The organization operates expressly for research of a “pure scientific and fundamental character,” and the results of its experimental and theoretical work are made generally available. Headquarters

Mental Disorder, Minor affective disorders

2005-03-01T02:31:00.000-08:00

Dysthmic disorder, or depressive

Tigray

2005-02-28T19:38:00.000-08:00

Tigray contains the core of the ancient Aksumite kingdom and the

Oberlin

2005-02-28T09:21:00.000-08:00

City, Lorain county, northern Ohio, U.S., 35 mi (56 km) west-southwest of Cleveland. In 1833 the Rev. John L. Shipherd, a Presbyterian minister, and Philo P. Steward, a former missionary to the Choctaw Indians, founded the community and established the Oberlin Collegiate Institute (1833; designated a college after 1850) to train ministers and teachers for the West. The name was chosen to honour Johann

Biblical Literature, History of religions criticism

2005-02-28T06:31:00.000-08:00

“History of religions” criticism, to use an ungainly expression, relates Old and New Testament religion to the religious situation of the contemporary world of the writings and tries to explain biblical religion as far as possible in terms of current religious attitudes and practices. This is helpful to a point, insofar as it throws into relief those features of

Laos, Drainage

2005-02-26T14:42:00.000-08:00

The general slope of the land in Laos is downhill from east to west, and all the major rivers—the Tha, Beng, Ou, Ngum, Kading, Bangfai, Banghiang, and Kong—are tributaries of the Mekong (Lao: Mènam Khong). The Mekong flows generally southeast and south along and through western Laos and forms its boundary with Myanmar and most of the border with Thailand. The course of the river

Roberts, Bartholomew

2005-02-26T05:14:00.000-08:00

Byname Black Barty pirate captain of a succession of ships—the “Royal Rover,” “Fortune,” “Royal Fortune,” and “Good Fortune”—who burned and plundered ships from the coasts of West Africa to the coasts of Brazil and the Caribbean and as far north as Newfoundland. His conquests are said to have included more than 400 vessels and, in terms of sheer

Arabian Desert

2005-02-25T05:43:00.000-08:00

People have inhabited the Arabian Desert since early Pleistocene times. Artifacts have been found widely, including at Neolithic sites in Qatar and Dubai, but are most abundant in the southwestern Rub' al-Khali. Archaeological research sponsored by the Saudi government has uncovered many Paleolithic sites. Remains of cultures from the past 3,000 years occur in many

Uchimura Kanzo

2005-02-25T00:15:00.000-08:00

Uchimura came from a samurai (warrior) family and studied (1878–81) at the Sapporo Agricultural School (now Hokkaido University), where he was converted to Christianity. After several years' service in the government as

Fabre, émile

2005-02-24T18:25:00.000-08:00

The son of a stage manager, Fabre began writing and producing plays at the age of 13. Comme ils sont tous (1894; “As They All Are”) was his first success, followed by a series of popular political and social satires: L'Argent

Reservoir

2005-02-24T13:19:00.000-08:00

Changes in weather cause the natural flow of streams and rivers to vary greatly with time. Periods of excess flows and valley flooding may alternate with low flows or droughts. The role of water-storage reservoirs, therefore,

Amitabha

2005-02-24T02:18:00.000-08:00

Japanese Amida , Chinese O-mi-t'o in Buddhism, the great saviour deity worshiped principally by members of the Pure Land sect in Japan. As related in the Sukhavati-vyuha-sutra (the fundamental scripture of the Pure Land sects), many ages ago a monk named Dharmakara made a number of vows, the 18th of which promised that, on his attaining buddhahood, all who believed in him and who called upon his name would be born

Dandenong Ranges

2005-02-23T03:39:00.000-08:00

Mountain ranges, part of the Eastern Highlands, east of Melbourne in southern Victoria, Australia. Several peaks exceed 1,600 ft (500 m), the highest of which is Mt. Dandenong (2,077 ft). With nearly twice as much rainfall as the nearby coastal plain and with fertile volcanic soils, the mountains have dense vegetative cover. The name is derived from an Aboriginal word, tanjenong, meaning

Metallic Bond

2005-02-22T20:56:00.000-08:00

Force that holds atoms together in a metallic substance. Such a solid consists of closely packed atoms. In most cases, the outermost electron shell of each of the metal atoms overlaps with a large number of neighbouring atoms. As a consequence, the valence electrons continually move from one atom to another and are not associated with any specific pair of atoms. In

Ansongo

2005-02-22T14:48:00.000-08:00

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

Manasseh, Prayer Of

2005-02-22T09:50:00.000-08:00

Apocryphal work (noncanonical for Jews and Protestants), one of a collection of songs appended to the Old Testament book of Psalms in several manuscripts of the Septuagint (the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible). The Prayer of Manasseh, best known of the collection, is a penitential prayer written as an extension of 2 Chronicles 33:11–13, wherein Manasseh, successor to Hezekiah

çatalhüyük

2005-02-21T21:01:00.000-08:00

Major Neolithic site in the Middle East, located near Konya in south-central Turkey. Excavations (1961–65) by the British archaeologist James Mellaart have shown that Anatolia in Neolithic times was the centre of an advanced culture. The earliest building period at Çatalhüyük is tentatively dated to about 6700 BC and the latest to about 5650 BC. The inhabitants lived in rectangular mud-brick

Melanchthon, Philipp

2005-02-21T20:14:00.000-08:00

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

Tabriz Carpet

2005-02-20T20:19:00.000-08:00

Floor covering handmade in or around Tabriz, the principal city of northwestern Iran and one of its best-known carpet-producing centres. The identification of the court carpets of the early 16th-century Safavid shahs who made Tabriz their capital is no longer as simple as it once seemed. Still, the magnificent Ardabil Carpet at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and

Cusp

2005-02-19T02:37:00.000-08:00

In architecture, the intersections of lobed or scalloped forms, particularly in arches (cusped arches) and in tracery. Thus the three lobes of a trefoil (cloverleaf form) are separated by three cusps. Cusped forms appear commonly in early Islamic work, as in the Mosque of Ahmad ibn Tulun at Cairo (c. 879), and were especially common in the Moorish architecture of North Africa and

Amritsar, Massacre Of

2005-02-19T00:45:00.000-08:00

In 1919 the British government of India enacted the Rowlatt Acts, extending its World War I emergency powers to combat subversive activities.

Kamakura

2005-02-18T09:58:00.000-08:00

City, Kanagawa Prefecture (ken), Honshu, Japan, on the Pacific Ocean, south of Yokohama. Situated at the western base of the Miura Peninsula, it is enclosed on three sides by hills and has fine sandy beaches to the south. Kamakura was a small fishing village until it was established as a capital of the Minamoto clan in 1180. It then retained its political status as the second capital

Shah Shoja'

2005-02-18T09:15:00.000-08:00

Shoja' ascended the throne in 1803 after a long fratricidal war. In 1809 he concluded an alliance with the British against an expected Franco-Russian invasion of India but, the following year, was overthrown by his

Skeena River

2005-02-17T11:48:00.000-08:00

River in western British Columbia, Canada. It rises in the Skeena Mountains in the northern part of the province and flows generally southwestward, receiving its two major tributaries, the Babine and Bulkley rivers, before emptying into Chatham Sound (an arm of the Pacific Ocean), south of Prince Rupert, after a course of about 360 miles (580 km). The Skeena is an important salmon-fishing

Downy Mildew

2005-02-17T09:49:00.000-08:00

Disease of plants, especially in cool humid regions, caused by several fungi, including species of Basidiophora, Bremia, Peronospora, Phytophthora, Plasmopara, Pseudoperonospora, and Sclerospora. White, gray, bluish, or violet downy patches of mildew form mostly on the undersides of leaves in damp weather. Pale-green to yellow or brown areas usually develop on the

Olympic Games, Lake Placid, New York, U.S., 1932

2005-02-16T19:43:00.000-08:00

Controversies surrounding the speed skating

Alexander

2005-02-16T18:01:00.000-08:00

The third son of Karadjordje (Karageorge, or Karaðorðe), who had led the movement to win Serb autonomy from the Ottoman Turks (1804–13), Alexander lived in exile until 1842, when the Skupština (Serb parliament) elected him prince of Serbia. Assuming the throne despite Russian

France, History Of, Economic distress

2005-02-15T04:43:00.000-08:00

The Black Death, carried on shipboard from the Levant, reached Provence in

Ford, Ford Madox

2005-02-15T04:14:00.000-08:00

The son of a German music critic, Francis Hueffer, and a grandson of Ford Madox Brown, one of the Pre-Raphaelite painters, Ford grew up in a cultured, artistic environment. At 18 he wrote his first novel, The Shifting of Fire (1892). His acquaintance

Kilimanjaro

2005-02-14T20:34:00.000-08:00

Military Technology, The ax

2005-02-14T16:21:00.000-08:00

Limitations on the strength of bronze and difficulties in casting and hafting restricted the ax at first to a relatively broad blade mortised into a handle at three points and secured with bindings or rivets. The hafting problem became acute as improvements in armour dictated longer, narrower blades designed primarily for piercing rather than cutting. This

Alexis

2005-02-14T08:51:00.000-08:00

Alexis was a hemophiliac, and at that time there was no medical treatment that could alleviate his condition or lessen his vulnerability

Daniel, The Book Of

2005-02-14T00:54:00.000-08:00

Also called The Prophecy Of Daniel, a book of the Old Testament found in the Ketuvim (Writings), the third section of the Jewish canon, but placed among the Prophets in the Christian canon. The first half of the book (chapters 1–6) contains stories in the third person about the experiences of Daniel and his friends under Kings Nebuchadrezzar II, Belshazzar, Darius I, and Cyrus II; the second half, written mostly

Ryan, Thomas Fortune

2005-02-13T23:25:00.000-08:00

Born in poverty and orphaned at the age of 14, Ryan came to New York at 21, joining

West Virginia, Colonial period and Virginia's dominion

2005-02-12T18:28:00.000-08:00

The second charter of Virginia in 1609 provided for settlement of that colony's western frontiers. Exploration and trade were further encouraged by Governor William Berkeley after 1660. The Blue Ridge was reached in 1670, and in 1671 another expedition encountered the first westward-flowing stream, the New River, in southwestern Virginia. The expedition descended the river to Peter's

Pottery, Thailand and Annam

2005-02-11T21:11:00.000-08:00

Pottery was made in the old Siamese capitals of Sukhothai and Sawankhalok. It is also thought that potteries persisted at Ayutthaya until the 18th century. Little is known of the early history of the region, and definite information on its pottery is almost nonexistent. Dating of the pottery from these regions for the most part has been by analogy with related Chinese

Chaibasa

2005-02-11T16:57:00.000-08:00

City, southern Bihar state, northeastern India. It lies just west of the Raru River, which is a tributary of the Subarnarekha. Although known as a road and agricultural-trade centre, the city is also heavily engaged in the mining (especially chromite) industry. Shellac is manufactured, and silk growing is important. Chaibasa became a municipality in 1875. Pop. (1991 prelim.) 56,657.

Johor Bahru

2005-02-10T17:58:00.000-08:00

Johor also spelled Johore, Bahru also spelled Baharu city, southern West Malaysia. It lies at the southern end of the Malay Peninsula and is separated from Singapore Island by the Johor Strait. At this point, a short rail and road causeway (0.75 mile [1.2 km]) crosses the strait to link the mainland with Singapore. Founded by Temenggong Ibrahim, the ruler of Johore, it was called Tanjung Putri until renamed Johore Bahru (“New Johore”) in

GreyStem

Hoop

Cohn, Harry

Velvetleaf

Homburg

Hoop

Adams, Samuel Hopkins

Pacific Mountain System

Xeroderma Pigmentosum

Adam Brothers

Empiricism, In modern philosophy

Vaitown

Decorative Art

Indiana

Italian Literature, Fiction at the turn of the 21st century

Biogenetic Law

Eritrea, Drainage

Quintus Smyrnaeus

Tenkalai

Hurdle Race

Roper River

Cookson, Catherine (dame Catherine Ann Mcmullen Cookson)

Ben Nevis

Sea Snake

Beagle

Augustus, Caesar

Ayre

Mammal, Populations

Van Buren, Hannah

Steppe, The

Amicus Curiae

Yemen

Austria, The problem of the Austrian succession

Biblical Literature, The Wisdom of Solomon

Index Fossil

Quimper

Amsterdam-rhine Canal

Cádiz

Fisher, Andrew

Cambrai, League Of

Croce, Giovanni

Asalluhe

Argentina, Government

Paradoxes Of Zeno

Hyatt, John Wesley

Stone, Jesse

Hay Fever

Bono

Babalola, S(olomon) Adeboye

Qatar

Kernicterus

Bruegel, Pieter, The Elder

Pacifism

North Germanic Languages, Orthography

Paraguaçu River

Italian East Africa

Lewis, John Aaron

Itapicuru River

Jacobabad

Interior Design

Mufaddaliyat, Al-

Avvakum Petrovich

Hesburgh, Theodore M(artin)

Cern

Mental Disorder, Minor affective disorders

Tigray

Oberlin

Biblical Literature, History of religions criticism

Laos, Drainage

Roberts, Bartholomew

Arabian Desert

Uchimura Kanzo

Fabre, émile

Reservoir

Amitabha

Dandenong Ranges

Metallic Bond

Ansongo

Manasseh, Prayer Of

çatalhüyük

Biblical Literature, History of religions criticism