QuietTooth

Hale, George Ellery

2005-04-05T20:40:00.000-07:00

American astronomer known for his development of important astronomical instruments, including the Hale telescope (completed 1948), a 200-inch reflecting telescope at the California Institute of Technology's Palomar Mountain Observatory near Pasadena. He is known also for his researches in solar physics, particularly his discovery

Smith, Preserved

2005-04-05T17:22:00.000-07:00

The son of a prominent Presbyterian clergyman, Smith earned his Ph.D. at Columbia University (1907). He was subsequently a fellow in history at Amherst College (Amherst, Mass.) until 1914. He lectured in history at Harvard University (1919–20) and was made professor

Human Embryology, Allantois

2005-04-04T04:16:00.000-07:00

The allantois, a tube of endoderm (the innermost germ layer), grows out of the early yolk sac in a region that soon becomes the hindgut. The tube extends into a bridge of mesoderm (the middle germ layer) that connects embryo with chorion and will become incorporated into the umbilical cord (Figure 1K, O). The human

Fu Hsi

2005-04-03T06:10:00.000-07:00

Pinyin Fu Xi , formally (Wade-Giles romanization) T'ai Hao (Chinese: “The Great Bright One”) , also called Pao Hsi , or Mi Hsi first of China's mythical emperors. His miraculous birth, as a divine being with a serpent's body, is said to have occurred in the 29th century BC. Some representations show him as a leaf-wreathed head growing out of a mountain or as a man clothed with animal skins. Fu Hsi is said to have discovered the famous Chinese trigrams used in divination and thus to have contributed, in

Crab Spider

2005-04-03T03:06:00.000-07:00

The body of the crab spider is gray or brown in colour and is about 12 mm (0.5 inch) long. Members of Misumena

Mondale, Walter F.

2005-04-02T18:36:00.000-08:00

Mondale, a “flexible liberal,” won election to the Senate in 1966 and reelection in 1972. He served on the Senate Finance and Budget committees and the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare. Elected vice president as Carter's running mate in 1976, he was a key participant in the negotiations between Egyptian president Anwar el-Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin that resulted in the Camp David Accords. The Carter-Mondale ticket was defeated for reelection in 1980 by Ronald Reagan and George Bush. Mondale captured the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and chose Geraldine A. Ferraro as his running mate, the first woman vice presidential candidate for a major party. They lost the election overwhelmingly to Reagan-Bush. Afterward Mondale practiced law until he was appointed ambassador to Japan (1993–96) by President William J. Clinton. In 2002 Paul Wellstone, the Democratic senator from Minnesota, was killed in a plane crash while campaigning to retain his seat, and the Democratic Party nominated Mondale to take Wellstone's place on the ballot. Mondale accepted the nomination but was narrowly defeated by Republican Norm Coleman.

Ash'ari, Abu Al-hasan Al-

2005-04-01T20:56:00.000-08:00

Muslim Arab theologian noted for having integrated the rationalist methodology of the speculative theologians into the framework of orthodox Islam. In his Maqalat al-Islamiyin (“Theological Opinions of the Muslims”), compiled during his early period, al-Ash'ari brought together the varied opinions of scholars on Muslim theological questions. From

Quadruple Alliance

2005-03-31T15:21:00.000-08:00

Alliance formed Aug. 2, 1718, when Austria joined the Triple Alliance of Britain, the Dutch Republic (United Provinces), and France to prevent Spain from altering the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht (1713). Philip V of Spain, influenced by his wife, Elizabeth Farnese of Parma, and her adviser Giulio Alberoni, seized control of Sardinia and Sicily (assigned to Austria and Savoy, respectively,

Hassan Ii

2005-03-31T14:56:00.000-08:00

Hassan, after taking a law degree at Bordeaux, France, was appointed commander of the Royal Armed Forces (1955) and deputy premier (1960) and succeeded to the throne on the death of his father, Muhammad V (1961). As

Zahn, Ernst

2005-03-30T07:05:00.000-08:00

Zahn was at first president of the Diet of the canton of Uri and then manager of a railway

Faraday, Michael

2005-03-30T02:12:00.000-08:00

Faraday, who became one of the greatest scientists of the 19th century, began his career as a chemist. He wrote a manual of practical chemistry that reveals his mastery of the technical aspects

Pachelbel, Johann

2005-03-29T16:33:00.000-08:00

Pachelbel studied music at Altdorf and Regensburg and held posts as organist in Vienna, Stuttgart, and other cities. In 1695 he was appointed organist at the St. Sebalduskirche in Nürnberg, where he remained until his death.

Frederick V

2005-03-28T10:25:00.000-08:00

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

Ariobarzanes

2005-03-27T14:37:00.000-08:00

Persian satrap (provincial governor) of Phrygia after about 387. The son of a nobleman, he cultivated the friendship of Athens and Sparta and, about 366, led the unsuccessful revolt of the satraps of western Anatolia against the Persian king Artaxerxes II (reigned 404–359/358 BC).

Mauritania, Religious groups

2005-03-27T06:43:00.000-08:00

About 99 percent of all Mauritanians are Muslim. Most Moors belong to the Qadiriyah order. The Tukulor and some of the Tagant tribes belong to the Tijaniyah order. Many tariqas (mystical sects) flow from these orders.

China, The advent of bronze casting

2005-03-26T18:16:00.000-08:00

The 3rd and 2nd millennia witnessed the appearance of increasing warfare, complex urban settlements, intense status differentiation, and administrative and religious hierarchies that legitimated and controlled the massive mobilization of labour for dynastic work or warfare. The casting of bronze has left the most evident archaeological traces of these momentous

Cooper, Gary

2005-03-26T14:22:00.000-08:00

The son of a Montana Supreme Court justice, Cooper left Grinnell College, Iowa, in 1924 and went to Hollywood, where he earned a living

Arreola, Juan José

2005-03-26T03:53:00.000-08:00

Mexican short-fiction writer and humorist who was a master of brief subgenres, such as the short story, the epigram, and the sketch. He published only one novel, La feria (1963; The Fair). His collection of stories Confabulario (1952) has been reprinted in several expanded editions and was translated into English as Confabulario

Alexander

2005-03-24T18:28:00.000-08:00

The only child of Prince (later King) Milan (reigned 1868–89) and his consort, Natalie, Alexander ascended the Serbian throne on March 6 (Feb. 22), 1889, after his father had abdicated and named a regency

Swallow

2005-03-24T11:30:00.000-08:00

Any of the 74 species of the bird family Hirundinidae (order Passeriformes). A few, including the bank swallow, are called martins (see martin; see also woodswallow; for sea swallow, see tern). Swallows are small, with pointed narrow wings, short bills, and small weak feet; some species have forked tails. Plumage may be plain or marked with metallic blue or green; the sexes look

Teapot Dome Scandal

2005-03-23T00:13:00.000-08:00

Also called the Oil Reserves, or Elk Hills, Scandal, in American history, scandal of the early 1920s surrounding the secret leasing of federal oil reserves by the secretary of the interior, Albert B. Fall. After President Warren G. Harding transferred supervision of the naval oil reserve lands from the navy to the Department of the Interior in 1921, Fall secretly granted to Harry F. Sinclair of the Mammoth Oil Company exclusive

Monticello

2005-03-22T06:26:00.000-08:00

Unlike most great mansions of the period,

Gray, Asa

2005-03-21T09:56:00.000-08:00

American botanist whose extensive studies of North American flora did more than the work of any other botanist to unify the taxonomic knowledge of plants of this region. His most widely used book, Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States, from New England to Wisconsin and South to Ohio and Pennsylvania Inclusive (1848), commonly

Biblical Literature, Background and overview

2005-03-20T01:56:00.000-08:00

In the New Testament canon of 27 books, 21 are called “letters,” and even the Revelation to John starts and ends in letter form. Of the 21, 13 belong to the Pauline corpus; the Letter to the Hebrews is included in the Pauline corpus in the East but not, however, in the West. Three letters of this corpus, the Pastoral Letters, are pseudonymous and thus are not considered here. Of the remaining

Igor's Campaign, The Song Of

2005-03-19T10:55:00.000-08:00

Also translated Lay of Igor's Campaign , Russian Slovo o polku Igoreve masterpiece of Old Russian literature, an account of the unsuccessful campaign in 1185 of Prince Igor of Novgorod-Seversky against the Polovtsy (Kipchak, or Cumans). As in the great French epic The Song of Roland, Igor's heroic pride draws him into a combat in which the odds are too great for him. Though defeated, Igor escapes his captors and returns to his people. The tale was

Durango

2005-03-19T01:54:00.000-08:00

State, north central Mexico. It is bounded by the states of Chihuahua (north), Coahuila and Zacatecas (east), Jalisco and Nayarit (south), and Sinaloa (west). The western portion of the state's 47,560 sq mi (123,181 sq km) of territory lies within the mineral-laden Sierra Madre Occidental; semiarid plains, used for ranching, comprise the eastern portion. Coursing eastward from the Sierra Madre,

Taginae, Battle Of

2005-03-18T19:10:00.000-08:00

The Byzantine emperor Justinian I sent his commander in chief, the eunuch Narses, with an army of 20,000 men into Italy, where, at the Apennine village of Taginae near

Epidemiology

2005-03-18T05:27:00.000-08:00

Branch of medical science that studies the distribution of disease in human populations and the factors determining that distribution, chiefly by the use of statistics. Unlike other medical disciplines, epidemiology concerns itself with groups of people rather than individual patients and is frequently retrospective, or historical, in nature. It developed

Juárez, Benito (pablo)

2005-03-17T14:18:00.000-08:00

National hero of Mexico, president of Mexico (1861–72), who, for three years (1864–67), fought against foreign occupation under the emperor Maximilian and who sought constitutional reforms to create a democratic federal republic.

X Ray

2005-03-17T03:28:00.000-08:00

The particle nature of X rays is graphically demonstrated in the photoelectric effect and the Compton effect. In an attempt to explain blackbody radiation (radiation from a theoretically perfectly nonreflecting, or completely absorbing [i.e., “black”], body), Max Planck postulated that energy is radiated in small packets, or quanta, with an energy given by hn, in which n is

Aerospace Industry, Space launchers

2005-03-16T22:51:00.000-08:00

Various companies build small ELVs capable of taking light payloads into space. In this market segment the American supplier Orbital Sciences

Osun

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

State, western Nigeria. Osun state was created in 1991 from the eastern third of Oyo state. It is bounded by the states of Kwara on the northeast, Ondo on the east, Ogun on the south, and Oyo on the west and northwest. The Yoruba Hills run through the northern part of Osun state. The state has a covering of tropical rain forest, and the Oshun is the most important river. Osun state is

Wabana

2005-03-16T01:25:00.000-08:00

Town, southeastern Newfoundland, Canada, just northwest of St. John's, on Bell Island in Conception Bay. Located in the centre of one of the world's richest deposits of red hematite iron ore, the town grew after the beginning of mining operations in 1895 and had a population of more than 8,000 in 1961. But because of marketing problems and the high phosphorus content of the ore, mining operations

Malatesta Family

2005-03-15T23:32:00.000-08:00

Italian family that ruled Rimini, south of Ravenna, in the European Middle Ages and led the region's Guelf (papal) party. Originating as feudal lords of the Apennine hinterland, the family became powerful in Rimini in the 13th century, when Malatesta da Verucchio (d. 1312) expelled Ghibelline (imperial party) leaders in 1295 and became lord of the city. Possibly the best-known episode

Olympia

2005-03-15T01:26:00.000-08:00

Ceremonial Object, Protective devices and markers of sacredness

2005-03-14T08:10:00.000-08:00

Other objects, such as fans, flyswatters, parasols, and standards—analogous to the symbols of royalty—often complete the permanent furnishings of sacred places. In addition to their utilitarian role, they are endowed with a sacred character; fans used in Brahmanic and Buddhist cults may be compared to the flabella (“fans”) in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches.

Fence

2005-03-13T15:54:00.000-08:00

Barrier erected to confine or exclude people or animals, to define boundaries, or to decorate. Timber, earth, stone, and metal are widely used for fencing. Fences of living plants have been made in many places, such as the hedges of Great Britain and continental Europe and the cactus fences of Latin America. In well-timbered country, such as colonial and 19th-century North

Moray Firth

2005-03-13T11:37:00.000-08:00

Triangular-shaped inlet of the North Sea in northeastern Scotland. It reaches a maximum width of 16 miles (29 km), from Tarbat Ness on its northern shore to Burghead on its southern shore. Two smaller inlets, the Cromarty Firth and the Beauly Firth, extend inland from the inner reaches of the Moray Firth. The city of Inverness lies at the head of the Moray Firth, and the town of

Libya, Settlement patterns

2005-03-12T06:32:00.000-08:00

Libya is divided into three regions—the western region (formerly Tripolitania province), the eastern region (formerly Cyrenaica province), and the southern region (formerly Fezzan province). Two-thirds of the population lives in the western region, the majority in Tripoli and other cities along the coast and on the Nafusah Plateau. About 20 percent of the people live in

Rabat

2005-03-11T03:45:00.000-08:00

The history of Rabat is closely connected to that of neighbouring Salé, the site of which was first occupied by the Roman settlement of Sala (Shella). During the 10th century, Salé was established by the Zenata Berbers, who were orthodox

Costello, Elvis

2005-03-11T01:59:00.000-08:00

The son of musicians, Costello was exposed to a mix of British and American styles—dance-hall pop to modern jazz to the Beatles—from an early age. During the early 1970s he lived in London, recording demos and performing locally while working as a computer

Thompson, John Griggs

2005-03-10T16:58:00.000-08:00

Thompson earned a B.A. from Yale University in 1955 and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1959. After a year at Harvard University (1961–62), he returned to the University of Chicago (1962–68), and he subsequently moved to Churchill College, Cambridge,

Parafusulina

2005-03-09T16:09:00.000-08:00

Genus of extinct fusulinid foraminiferans (single-celled animals with a hard, complexly constructed shell) found as fossils in Permian marine rocks (the Permian Period began 286 million years ago and ended 245 million years ago). Parafusulina is more specifically restricted to the Leonardian and Guadalupian stages, smaller divisions of Permian rocks and time, and is

Alabama, Cultural life

2005-03-09T09:55:00.000-08:00

Alabama enjoys a rich vein of folk culture in the rural areas, especially among blacks. Story telling has attracted the attention of folklore specialists. The experiences of rural life contributed important elements to the development of modern American popular music, including ragtime and jazz. Sacred music, in the form of gospel quartets and shape-note, or “fa-so-la,

Ashbee, Charles Robert

2005-03-09T00:52:00.000-08:00

After education at Wellington College and King's College, Cambridge, and while actively involved in the social work of Toynbee Hall, Ashbee was articled to the architect

Tatarstan

2005-03-08T08:40:00.000-08:00

The Volga flows north-south across the western end of the republic, while the Kama, the Volga's largest tributary, forms a roughly east-west axis through the greater part. The Vyatka and the Belaya

Davidescu, Nicolae

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

Romanian poet and novelist whose early poems, Inscriptii (1916), showed the influence of Charles Baudelaire. Among his prose works the novel Zâna din fundul lacului (1912; “The Fairy at the Bottom of the Lake”) was an exercise in symbolism, and Vioara muta (1928; “The Muted Violin”), in social psychology. In the epic Cântecul omului (1928–37; “The Song of Man”), he aimed at re-creating world history.

Ashford, Evelyn

2005-03-07T09:59:00.000-08:00

At her high school in California, Ashford was invited to join the all-male track-and-field team when she outdistanced a number of its members in a series of races; she cocaptained the team her senior year. She received one of the first athletic scholarships awarded to a woman by the University

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, Modern period

2005-03-06T15:12:00.000-08:00

With the Baroque and Neoclassical periods, allegory began to turn away from cosmology and toward rhetorical ambiguity. John Milton allegorized sin and death in his epic poem Paradise Lost, but allegory for him seems chiefly to lie in the ambiguous diction and syntax employed in the poem. Instead of flashing allegorical emblems before the reader, Milton generates

Shensi, Agriculture

2005-03-06T00:15:00.000-08:00

The southern part of the province forms a portion of the southwestern highland and basin area, which is characterized by double-cropping, wet-field agriculture, and forestry production. Most of the cultivated land is below 3,000 feet. The Han-chung Basin grows rice intensively, followed by winter wheat, but in the mountain zones of the T'ai-pai and Tsinling ranges the main

Pala Dynasty

2005-03-05T22:39:00.000-08:00

Ruling dynasty in Bihar and Bengal, India, from the 8th to the 12th century. Its founder, Gopala, was a local chieftain who rose to power in the mid-8th century during a period of anarchy. His successor, Dharmapala (reigned c. 770–810), greatly expanded the kingdom and for a while was in control of Kannauj. Pala power was maintained under Devapala (reigned c. 810–850), who carried out raids in the north, the

Salghurid Dynasty

2005-03-05T15:59:00.000-08:00

The Salghurids were one of the several dynasties of atabegs (notables who acted as guardians and tutors of infant Seljuq princes) who were deputized to govern Iranian provinces on behalf of Seljuq kings. The Salghurids in origin belonged to the Salor

Steely Dan

2005-03-04T13:56:00.000-08:00

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

Ear Disease, Exposure to noise

2005-03-04T07:52:00.000-08:00

The effects of noise exposure on hearing depend on the intensity and duration of the noise. The effects may be temporary or permanent. A single exposure to an extremely intense sound, such as an explosion, may produce a severe and permanent loss of hearing. Repeated exposures to sounds in excess of 80 to 90 decibels may cause gradual deterioration of hearing by destroying

Camden

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

Fort Nassau, near present-day Gloucester City, was one of the first colonial settlements in New Jersey (1623). At that time Delaware

Tepe Gawra

2005-03-02T14:59:00.000-08:00

Ancient Mesopotamian settlement east of the Tigris River near Nineveh and the modern city of Mosul, northwestern Iraq. It was excavated from 1931 to 1938 by archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania. The site, which apparently was continuously occupied from the Halaf Period (c. 5050–c. 4300 BC) to about the middle of the 2nd millennium BC, gave its name to the Gawra Period (c. 3500–c. 2900) of northern

Chile, The Chilean Andes

2005-03-02T08:42:00.000-08:00

The formation of the western Andes ranges

Late Blight

2005-03-02T01:07:00.000-08:00

Disease of potato and tomato plants that is caused by the fungus Phytophthora infestans. The disease occurs in humid regions with temperature ranges of between 40° and 80° F (4° and 29° C); hot, dry weather checks its spread. Potato or tomato vines that are infected may rot within two weeks. The Irish potato famines of the mid-19th century were caused by late blight. The disease destroyed

World War I, The Schlieffen Plan

2005-03-01T23:51:00.000-08:00

Years before 1914, successive chiefs of the German general staff had been foreseeing Germany's having to fight a war on two fronts at the same time, against Russia in the east and France in the west, whose combined strength was numerically superior to the Central Powers'. The elder Helmuth von Moltke, chief of the German general staff from 1858 to 1888, decided that Germany should stay

Race, European conquest and the classification of the conquered

2005-03-01T15:27:00.000-08:00

As they were constructing their own racial identities internally, western European nations were also colonizing most of what has been called, in recent times, the Third World, in Asia and Africa. Since all of the colonized and subordinated people differed physically from Europeans, the colonizers automatically applied racial categories to them and initiated

Seleucus Iii, Soter

2005-02-28T09:53:00.000-08:00

Seleucus took up the task of reconquering Pergamum in Asia Minor from a cousin, Attalus I. The first general whom he sent, Andromachus, was decisively defeated by Attalus and captured. Seleucus III then led an army across the Taurus himself. In Phrygia, however, he was assassinated. He was

Cabasilas, Nilus

2005-02-28T09:16:00.000-08:00

Cabasilas' principal

Earth, Strain

2005-02-27T20:08:00.000-08:00

Any deformation caused by stress constitutes strain. It may be an increase or decrease in the length of an object, an alteration of its shape, or a change in its volume. It is generally measured as a percent elongation, percent shortening, angular distortion, or percent change in volume.

Hengelo

2005-02-27T08:05:00.000-08:00

Hengelo is a rail junction and has a state agricultural school and cattle

Jacob's Ladder

2005-02-25T21:11:00.000-08:00

Also called Greek Valerian, any of about 25 species of the genus Polemonium of the family Polemoniaceae, native to temperate areas in North and South America and Eurasia. Many are valued as garden flowers and wildflowers. They have loose, spikelike clusters of drooping blue, violet, or white, funnel-shaped, five-petaled flowers and alternate, pinnately (featherlike) compound

Leonardo Pisano

2005-02-25T13:32:00.000-08:00

For several years Leonardo corresponded with Frederick II and his scholars, exchanging problems with them. He dedicated his Liber quadratorum (1225; “Book of Square Numbers”) to Frederick. Devoted entirely to Diophantine equations of the second degree (i.e., containing squares), the Liber quadratorum is considered Leonardo's masterpiece. It is a systematically arranged

Thomas, Albert

2005-02-25T02:59:00.000-08:00

Thomas graduated from the prestigious École Normale Supérieure in Paris, where he won scholarships that enabled him to do research in Russia, Germany, and the eastern Mediterranean on the

Side

2005-02-24T20:06:00.000-08:00

Modern Selimiye principal city and port of ancient Pamphylia, originally situated on the Mediterranean coast west of the mouth of the Manavgat River, in southwestern Turkey. (The site is now inland.) Though the city was founded by Aeolian Greeks, a peculiar non-Greek language was spoken there. Having a good natural harbour and two artificial harbours for larger vessels, it was the most

Nigeria, Relief

2005-02-24T19:50:00.000-08:00

In general, the topography of Nigeria consists of plains in the north and south interrupted by plateaus and hills in the centre of the country. The Sokoto Plains are in the northwestern corner of the country, while the Borno Plains in the northeastern corner surround the Lake Chad region. The Lake Chad basin and the coastal areas, including the Niger River delta and

Light-year

2005-02-24T17:36:00.000-08:00

In astronomy, the distance traveled by light moving in a vacuum in the course of one year, at its accepted velocity of 299,792,458 metres per second (186,282 miles per second). A light-year equals about 9.46053 ´ 1012 km (5.878 ´ 1012 miles), or 63,240 astronomical units. About 3.262 light-years equal one parsec (q.v.).

Nechung Oracle

2005-02-24T16:27:00.000-08:00

Oracle-priest of Tibet who, until the conquest of Tibet in 1959 by the People's Republic of China, was consulted on all important occasions. The priest chosen to be the Nechung oracle was the chief medium of Pe-har, a popular folk divinity incorporated into Buddhism, and resided at the Nechung (Gnas-chung-lcog) monastery near Drepung ('Bras-spungs), the centre of the Pe-har cult.

Furniture, 19th century

2005-02-22T15:14:00.000-08:00

The Empire style began in Paris about the time of the Revolution and quickly spread throughout Europe, each country adapting it to its own national taste. In England it is commonly called the Regency style. Two French architects, Charles Percier and Pierre Fontaine, who designed the furnishings for the staterooms of Napoleon, contributed in great measure to the

Nation, The

2005-02-21T21:41:00.000-08:00

The Nation under Godkin was an eloquent and increasingly influential voice against Reconstruction excesses, graft

Respiration, Amphibians

2005-02-21T19:12:00.000-08:00

The living amphibians (frogs, toads, salamanders, and caecilians) depend on aquatic respiration to a degree that varies with species, stage of development, temperature, and season. With the exception of a few frog species that lay eggs on land, all amphibians begin life as completely aquatic larvae. Respiratory gas exchange is conducted through the thin, gas-permeable

Sachs, Hans

2005-02-21T11:24:00.000-08:00

Wagner's opera is partly a tribute to the common people—and Sachs was one of them. The son of a tailor, he was apprenticed to a shoemaker in

Bushbuck

2005-02-20T02:08:00.000-08:00

Also called Harnessed Antelope (Tragelaphus scriptus), African antelope of the family Bovidae (order Artiodactyla), found in sub-Saharan forests and brush. It is nocturnal, shy, and usually solitary. The bushbuck stands about 1 m (39 inches) at the shoulder and ranges in colour from reddish brown to almost black, depending on the subspecies. Its markings vary but include white patches

Malvana, Convention Of

2005-02-19T16:02:00.000-08:00

The convention also provided that the Ceylonese people should render all traditional services and taxes to their new sovereign. The purpose of the

Zaharias, Babe Didrikson

2005-02-19T04:11:00.000-08:00

William Oscar Johnson and Nancy P. Williamson, "Whatta-Gal": The Babe Didrikson Story (1977); and Susan E. Cayleff, Babe: The Life and Legend of Babe Didrikson Zaharias (1995), examine her life and career.

Jovius, Paulus

2005-02-19T03:13:00.000-08:00

In about 1513 Jovius settled in Rome; he won the favour of Leo X (who compared him to Livy) and of Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, later Clement VII, whom he helped during the sack of Rome in 1527. In 1528 Jovius became bishop of Nocera. He

Yako

2005-02-18T11:57:00.000-08:00

The Yako are mainly yam farmers; subsidiary crops include cocoyams (taro), corn (maize), okra, and pumpkin. The main cash crop is palm oil. The Yako occupy compact villages divided into wards, each containing several patrilineal clans. Patrilineal

Jacques Cartier, Mount

2005-02-18T10:15:00.000-08:00

French Mont Jacques-cartier, also called Tabletop, mountain on the north side of the Gaspé Peninsula in Gaspesian Provincial Park, eastern Quebec province, Canada. The highest peak in the well-forested Monts Chic-Choc (Shickshock Mountains), an extension of the Appalachians, is Mount Jacques Cartier, which has an elevation of 4,160 feet (1,268 m). The name Tabletop indicates its flat summit.

Sweater

2005-02-17T21:02:00.000-08:00

Outer garment, usually knitted or crocheted, that is worn on the upper part of the body, either pulled over the head or buttoned down the front or back. Although hand knitting of wool had been practiced for about 2,000 years, it was not until the 15th century that the first knitted shirts or tunics were produced on the English Channel islands of Guernsey and Jersey; hence the English

González Márquez, Felipe

2005-02-17T15:57:00.000-08:00

Spanish lawyer and Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español; PSOE) politician who was prime minister of Spain from 1982 to 1996. During his four terms in office, he consolidated Spain's fledgling democracy, oversaw continued economic growth, and brought Spain into the European Community (EC; now commonly called the European

Paradoxides

2005-02-16T13:19:00.000-08:00

Genus of trilobites (an extinct group of arthropods) found as fossils in Middle Cambrian rocks of North America and western Europe (the Cambrian Period lasted from 540 to 505 million years ago). Paradoxides has a well-developed head region terminating laterally in pointed spines that vary in development from species to species; the tail region is poorly developed. The body

Hyperopia

2005-02-15T18:42:00.000-08:00

Also called Farsightedness, or Hypermetropia, visual defect in which the cornea and lens of the eye focus the image of the visual field at a point behind the retina (the light-sensitive layer of tissue lining the back and sides of the eye). The retina thus receives an unfocused image of near objects, though distant objects may be in focus. Hyperopia frequently occurs when an eye is shorter than normal from front to

Bach, Johann Sebastian

2005-02-15T09:11:00.000-08:00

Composer of the Baroque era, the most celebrated member of a large family of northern German musicians. Although he was admired by his contemporaries primarily as an outstanding harpsichordist, organist, and expert on organ building, Bach is now generally regarded as one of the greatest composers

Aracaju

2005-02-15T03:30:00.000-08:00

Port city and capital, Sergipe estado (“state”), northeastern Brazil, lying on the Continguiba River at the base of a ridge of sand hills 6 miles (10 km) from the coast. The city, which was founded in 1855 as a new state capital, is laid out in an unusual grid pattern. It is a regional commercial and industrial centre, processing leather, bananas, cassava, feijão (beans), mangoes, cashews, salt,

Alaska

2005-02-14T18:09:00.000-08:00

Clarence C. Hulley, Alaska: Past and Present, 3rd ed. (1970, reprinted 1981), provides a general history from the Russian days to the 1960s. William R. Hunt, Alaska: A Bicentennial History (1976), is another overview. Claus-M. Naske and Herman E. Slotnick, Alaska: A History of the 49th State, 2nd ed. (1987), includes chapters on native land claims, conservation, and the oil boom. Current research is reported in Alaska History (semiannual).

Bach, Johann Sebastian

2005-02-14T10:19:00.000-08:00

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

Asura

2005-02-13T17:38:00.000-08:00

Iranian ahura in Hindu mythology, a class of titans or demons, the enemies of the gods and of men. In the Vedic age the asuras and the devas were both considered classes of gods, but gradually the two groups came to oppose each other, a development that was reversed in Iran. (There asura, or ahura, came to mean the supreme god and the devas, or daevas, became demons.) In Hindu mythology, the asura

Amoco Corporation

2005-02-13T04:48:00.000-08:00

Formerly (1889–1985) Standard Oil Company (Indiana), American petroleum corporation that was founded in 1889 by the Standard Oil trust (see Standard Oil Company and Trust) to direct the refining and marketing of oil in the Midwestern states. The company's first refinery, outside Whiting, Ind., produced fuel oil, kerosene, and other petroleum products. Beginning in the late 1890s, the company's production of gasoline rapidly increased

Hohenlohe Family

2005-02-12T16:47:00.000-08:00

German princely family which took its name from the district of Hohenlohe in Franconia. First mentioned in the 12th century as possessing the castle of Hohenloch or Hohenlohe, near Uffenheim, the family soon extended its influence over several of the Franconian valleys, including those of the Kocher, the Jagst, and the Tauber. Henry I (d. 1183) was the first to take the title

China, Readjustment and reaction, 196165

2005-02-11T14:31:00.000-08:00

Reality can be seen, however, in the increasing

Armenian Highland

2005-02-11T13:43:00.000-08:00

Russian Armyanskoye Nagorye, also spelled Arm'anskoje Nagor'e, mountainous region of Transcaucasia. It lies mainly in Turkey, occupies all of Armenia, and includes southern Georgia, western Azerbaijan, and northwestern Iran. The highland covers almost 154,400 square miles (400,000 square km). The average elevation of the Armenian Highland is 5,000 to 6,500 feet (1,500 to 2,000 m), but several peaks exceed 14,000 feet (4,000 m). The highland is a segment of the Mediterranean alpine volcanic

Clovis Complex

2005-02-10T09:26:00.000-08:00

Ancient culture centred primarily on the plateau or tableland of Arizona, New Mexico, and western Texas. (It is so named from the first important site examined, in 1932, near Clovis, N.M.) This culture, which probably began sometime prior to 10,000 BC, is generally considered to be ancestral to the later Folsom complex. Like Folsom, the Clovis complex was part of the ancient big-game hunting

Accompaniment

2005-02-10T07:33:00.000-08:00

In music, auxiliary part or parts of a composition designed to support the principal part or to throw it into relief. In secular medieval music and in much folk and non-European music, instrumental accompaniments for singers consist of unison or octave duplications of the melody (sometimes with slight differences, creating heterophony, the simultaneous performance

Sicani

2005-02-10T03:30:00.000-08:00

English Sicans according to ancient Greek writers, the aboriginal inhabitants of western Sicily, as opposed to the Siculi of eastern Sicily. Archaeologically there is no substantial difference between Sicani and Siculi (Sicels) in historical times; but ancient authorities believed the Sicani to be Iberians from Spain who were driven by the invading Siculi into the western

Drame Bourgeois

2005-02-10T00:49:00.000-08:00

Type of play that enjoyed brief popularity in France in the late 18th century. Written for and about the middle class and based upon the theories of the French essayist and encyclopaedist Denis Diderot (1713–84), the drame bourgeois was conceived of as occupying a place between tragedy and comedy; it was designed as a serious depiction of middle-class problems, especially social

Abu Sir

2005-02-08T07:36:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Abusir,

Guercino, Il

2005-02-08T03:32:00.000-08:00

Guercino received his earliest training locally, but the formative influence on his style