WhitesilverHorn

Turgovishte

2005-04-04T23:37:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Targovište, formerly (until 1934) Eski Dzhumaya, town, eastern Bulgaria, on the Vrana River. Known formerly for its great cattle fair, which attracted visitors from throughout the Balkans, it continues as a craft centre, producing textiles, furniture, pottery, and processed foods. It has long been a centre for the Muslim faith in Bulgaria. Its former Turkish name was Eski Cumaya (Dzhumaya), but the modern town has subdued

Scab

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

Scab often affects the trees or plants of apples, crab apples, cereals, cucumbers, peaches, pecans, Photinis, potatoes, and pyracantha. Leaves of affected plants may wither and drop early.

Daniel Of Kiev

2005-04-03T05:29:00.000-07:00

Also called Daniel The Pilgrim, Russian Daniil Kievsky, or Daniil Polomnik the earliest known Russian travel writer, whose account of his pilgrimage to the Holy Land is the earliest surviving record in Russian of such a trip. Abbot of a Russian monastery, he visited Palestine probably during 1106–07. His narrative begins at Constantinople; from there he traveled along the west and south coasts of Asia Minor to Cyprus and the Holy Land. Despite his

Stazewski, Henryk

2005-04-03T03:11:00.000-07:00

Educated at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts (1913–19), Stazewski was a founding member of three Polish artist groups during the 1920s and a member of the Cercle

Buys Ballot's Law

2005-04-01T09:18:00.000-08:00

Law of wind direction named for the Dutch meteorologist C.H.D. Buys Ballot, who first stated it in 1857. He derived the law empirically, unaware that it already had been deduced theoretically by the U.S. meteorologist William Ferrel, whose priority Buys Ballot later acknowledged. The law states that in the Northern Hemisphere a person who stands facing away from the wind

Latrobe, Benjamin (henry)

2005-03-31T16:49:00.000-08:00

Latrobe attended the Moravian college at Niesky, Saxony, and traveled in France and Italy, acquiring a knowledge

Ptolemy I Soter

2005-03-29T13:58:00.000-08:00

Ptolemy was the son of the nobleman Lagus, a native of the Macedonian district of Eordaea whose family was undistinguished until Ptolemy's time, and of Arsinoe, who was related to the Macedonian Argead dynasty. He was probably educated as a page at the royal court of Macedonia, where he became closely associated with Alexander. He was exiled in 337, along with other companions

Florida

2005-03-29T03:28:00.000-08:00

The geographic location of Florida has been the key factor in a long and colourful development, and it helps explain the striking contemporary character of the state. The

Cella

2005-03-28T02:23:00.000-08:00

Greek Naos, in Classical architecture, the body of a temple (as distinct from the portico) in which the image of the deity is housed. In early Greek and Roman architecture it was a simple room, usually rectangular, with the entrance at one end and with the side walls often being extended to form a porch. In larger temples, where the cella is open to the sky, a small temple was sometimes

Yeshiva

2005-03-27T04:37:00.000-08:00

Also spelled yeshivah , or yeshibah (Hebrew “sitting”) , plural yeshivas, yeshivot, yeshivoth , or yeshibot any of numerous Jewish academies of Talmudic learning, whose biblical and legal exegesis and application of Scripture have defined and regulated Jewish religious life for centuries. The early history of the yeshiva as an institution is known only through indirect evidence, and the word itself did not come into current use until the 1st century AD. Rabbinic literature

Terefah

2005-03-26T20:14:00.000-08:00

Also spelled terefa, tref , or trefa (from Hebrew taraf, “to tear”) , plural terefoth, terefot , or trefot any food, food product, or utensil that, according to the Jewish dietary laws (kashruth, q.v.), is not ritually clean or prepared according to law and is thus prohibited as unfit for Jewish use. Terefah is thus the antithesis of kosher (“fit”). The broad connotation of terefah derives from a more specific prohibition against eating meat that has been “torn” by a wild animal (e.g., Exodus

Chachapoyas

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

Capital of Amazonas departamento, located in northern Peru. It lies at 7,657 feet (2,334 m) above sea level in the cool Utcubamba River valley. A site of ancient settlement, it is the oldest Spanish city east of the Andes. Founded in 1538 as San Juan de la Frontera de los Chachapoyas (“Saint John of the Frontier of the Chachapoyas”) at a site slightly to the southeast, the town was later moved

Biblical Literature, Psalms

2005-03-24T05:26:00.000-08:00

The Psalms (from Greek psalmas, “song”) are poems and hymns, dating from various periods in the history of Israel, that were assembled for use at public worship and that have continued to play a central role in the liturgy and prayer life of both Jews and Christians. Known in Hebrew as Tehillim (Songs of Praise), the Psalter (the traditional English term for the Psalms, from

Utrecht, Treaties Of

2005-03-21T23:30:00.000-08:00

France concluded treaties of peace at Utrecht with Britain, the Dutch republic, Prussia, Portugal, and Savoy. By the treaty with Britain (April 11), France recognized Queen

Cloots, Jean-baptiste Du Val-de-grâce, Baron De

2005-03-20T18:44:00.000-08:00

Born into a noble Prussian family of Dutch origin, Cloots went to Paris in 1776 and took part in the compilation of Denis Diderot's Encyclopédie. He left France in 1784, traveled throughout Europe, and returned to

A-ch'eng

2005-03-20T16:05:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Acheng, formerly (until 1909) Ashihho, city in Heilungkiang sheng (province), China. Located southeast of Harbin (Ha-erh-pin) in the basin of the A-shih River, it is a collecting and commercial centre for a rich agricultural district that provides part of Harbin's food supply. A-ch'eng is also an industrial centre with brickworks, engineering works specializing in electrical equipment and other machinery,

Aerospace Industry, Helicopters

2005-03-18T13:05:00.000-08:00

Helicopters occupy important niches in both military and civil aviation. Military models are of two kinds—combat and transport. Combat helicopters are designed by manufacturers specifically for that military purpose, whereas helicopters for transportation frequently exist in both civil and military variants. Short-distance personnel transportation,

Auburn

2005-03-18T11:24:00.000-08:00

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

Ariminum, Council Of

2005-03-17T13:46:00.000-08:00

It was attended by some 400 bishops of the Western Roman Empire, with the Eastern bishops simultaneously meeting at Seleucia (now Silifke, Turkey). The majority of bishops at

Irish Yew

2005-03-15T23:44:00.000-08:00

Ornamental evergreen of the yew family. See English yew.

Religion

2005-03-15T13:01:00.000-08:00

Theological justifications for violence were attempted on several fronts in 1994, even while new ground was broken in ecumenical and interfaith relations. (For figures on Adherents of All Religions by Continent, see Table I; for Adherents in the U.S., see Table II.)Scholarly works on the life of Jesus and on the status of homosexuality in the early church drew attention and

Amphissa

2005-03-14T17:31:00.000-08:00

Modern Greek Ámfissa, agricultural centre, chief town of the eparkhía (“eparchy”) of Parnassus (Parnassós), capital of the nomós (department) of Fokís (Phocis), central Greece, at the northwestern limit of the fertile Crisaean plain between the Gióna Mountains and the Parnassus massif. The economy includes trade in wheat, livestock, and particularly olives grown on the Crisaean plain. Bauxite

Scharnhorst

2005-03-14T15:19:00.000-08:00

German battle cruiser completed in 1939. It did great damage to Allied shipping in northern waters during World War II before it was sunk by the British battleship “Duke of York” on Dec. 26, 1943. The “Scharnhorst” was a heavily armed ship of 26,000 tons standard displacement, carrying a 1,400 man crew and four aircraft and armed with nine 11-inch, twelve 5.9-inch, and fourteen 4.1-inch guns and sixteen 37-millimetre

Lateral Line System

2005-03-13T17:40:00.000-08:00

Network of sensory receptors located along the head and sides of fishes and amphibians. The system serves to detect movements and pressure changes in the surrounding water. The individual receptor, called a lateral line organ, or neuromast, consists of a cluster of innervated hairs surrounded by a jellylike projection (cupula) that bends in response to water movements.

Lena River, Physiography

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

In the section from the headwaters to the Vitim River, the Lena flows in a deep-cut valley, the rocky and steep slopes of which rise

Khalil, Al-ashraf Salah Ad-din

2005-03-12T13:00:00.000-08:00

Mamluk sultan of Egypt who completed his father Qala'un's campaign to drive the Franks from Syria. He captured Acre (now 'Akko, Israel) in the spring of 1291, and the remaining crusader fortresses were surrendered by the end of the year. He was murdered by his emirs, who were alarmed by his ambition.

Harsch, Joseph Close

2005-03-12T07:03:00.000-08:00

American newspaper and broadcast journalist who, during his 60-year career with The Christian Science Monitor, was noted for his presence at many of the period's most historic events and for his vivid reporting of those events; Great Britain's Queen Elizabeth II made him an honorary C.B.E. in 1965 (b. May 25, 1905, Toledo, Ohio--d. June 3, 1998, Jamestown, R.I.).

Dynamics

2005-03-11T07:53:00.000-08:00

Dynamics can be subdivided into kinematics, which describes motion, without regard to its causes, in terms of position, velocity, and acceleration; and kinetics, which is concerned

Dachstein

2005-03-10T18:14:00.000-08:00

Mountain massif of the northern Alps, Austria, on the borders of the Bundesländer (federal provinces) Oberösterreich, Salzburg, and Steiermark, reaching its maximum elevation at Hoher Dachstein (9,826 ft [2,995 m]). Among the massif's higher reaches are the easternmost and northernmost glaciers of the Alps, the largest of which is the Hallstättergletscher, 2 sq mi (5.3 sq km) in area. The

Caucasian Languages

2005-03-09T05:34:00.000-08:00

The North Caucasian languages are divided into two groups: Abkhazo-Adyghian, or the Northwest Caucasian, languages, and Nakho-Dagestanian, or the Northeast Caucasian, languages.

China, Cultural change

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

These great political and socioeconomic changes were accompanied by intellectual ferment, as the people tried to adjust themselves to a rapidly changing world. Ideas about the proper relationships between members of society were naturally questioned when the old feudal order was shaken; and, in this period, the great teacher Confucius elaborated the social

Frederick Iv

2005-03-08T06:35:00.000-08:00

King of Denmark and Norway (1699–1730), who succeeded his father, King Christian V. He continued the Danish efforts to sever the House of Gottorp's link with Sweden, but his first attempt to do so, in 1700 at the outbreak of the Great Northern War, was checked by Charles XII of Sweden. Frederick then accepted the Treaty of Traventhal (1700), but he reentered the war

Ring

2005-03-07T06:39:00.000-08:00

In mathematics, a set having an addition that must be commutative (a + b = b + a for any a, b) and associative [a + (b + c) = (a + b) + c for any a, b, c], and a multiplication that must be associative [a(bc) = (ab)c for any a, b, c]. There must also be a zero, an identity element, negatives of all elements, and a distributive law relating addition and multiplication [a(b + c) = ab + ac and (a + b)c = ac + bc for any a, b, c]. A commutative ring

Appalachian Orogenic Belt

2005-03-07T04:51:00.000-08:00

An old mountain range that extends for more than 3,000 km (1,860 miles) along the eastern margin of North America from Alabama in the southern United States to Newfoundland, Canada, in the north. The geosynclinal theory of mountain building was first worked out in the Appalachians by James Dana and James Hall in the late 19th century; today a plate tectonic theory is invoked. The earliest

New Brutalism

2005-03-06T07:43:00.000-08:00

One aspect of the International Style of architecture that was created by Le Corbusier and his leading fellow architects Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright and that demanded a functional approach toward architectural design. The name was first applied in 1954 by the English architects Peter and Alison Smithson to the post-1930 style of the major French architect

Torbanite

2005-03-05T19:00:00.000-08:00

Also called Boghead Coal, mineral substance intermediate between oil shale and coal. Whereas destructive distillation of coals produces compounds of carbon and hydrogen with carbon atoms linked in six-membered rings, torbanite produces paraffinic and olefinic hydrocarbons (compounds with carbon linked in chains). As the hydrocarbon content of oil shale increases, torbanite becomes

Ithaca College

2005-03-04T22:17:00.000-08:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Ithaca, New York, U.S. It comprises the Roy H. Park School of Communications and schools of business, health sciences and human performance, humanities and sciences, and music. In addition to undergraduate studies, the college offers master's degree programs in communication, health sciences, and music. Students

Amasya

2005-03-04T18:25:00.000-08:00

Historically Amaseia , or Amasia city, capital of Amasya il (province), northern Turkey, on the Yesil River, also called the Iris River. Capital of the kings of Pontus until about 183 BC, it was made a free city and the administrative centre of a large territory by Pompey in 65 BC. In the 2nd century AD, it received the titles “metropolis” and “first city” under the Romans. It was the capital of the Turkmen Danismend emirs until annexed

Subtropical High

2005-03-03T16:20:00.000-08:00

One of several regions of semipermanent high atmospheric pressure located over the oceans near 35° latitude in both the northern and southern hemispheres of the Earth. The highs, which are apparently of dynamic rather than thermal origin, are most intense and closest to the poles in summer. The circulation around the highs is clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere

Hyacinth

2005-03-02T01:58:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Jacinth, a red, orange, or yellow variety of the gemstone zircon (q.v.).

Rzhev

2005-03-01T11:30:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Rzev city, Tver oblast (province), northwestern Russia. It lies along the upper Volga River at the crossing of the Moscow-Riga and St. Petersburg–Bryansk trunk railways. First mentioned in 1216 as an independent princedom, Rzhev has always been a route centre on the western approaches to Moscow. The city has had a stormy history. It was held at various times by the princes of Tver

France, History Of, The Second Empire, 185270

2005-03-01T06:32:00.000-08:00

Posterity's image of Napoleon III and his regime has not been uniform. Some historians have seen him as a shallow opportunist whose only asset was a glorious name. Others have described him as a visionary reformer and patron of progress, a man who successfully attempted to reconcile liberty and authority, national prestige and European cooperation. The emperor's

Agrostology

2005-02-28T21:02:00.000-08:00

The branch of botany concerned with the study of grasses, especially their classification. In 1708 the German botanist Johann Scheuchzer wrote Agrostographiae Helveticae Prodromus, a taxonomic paper on grasses that some authors consider to mark the birth of agrostology. Many systems of classification followed this brief beginning. The earliest were based purely

Wain, John (barrington)

2005-02-27T19:05:00.000-08:00

Wain was educated at St. John's College, Oxford, of which he subsequently became a fellow. He was a lecturer in English literature at the University

Valdés, Juan De

2005-02-26T16:59:00.000-08:00

Juan studied under Spain's leading Humanists and developed religious views that closely followed the ideas of Erasmus of Rotterdam, with

Mite

2005-02-26T06:57:00.000-08:00

Mites live in varied habitats: in brackish water, in fresh water, in hot springs, in soil, on plants, and as parasites on and in animals. Parasitic forms may live in the nasal passages, lungs, stomach, or deeper body tissues

Locke, John

2005-02-25T17:25:00.000-08:00

English philosopher who was an initiator of the Enlightenment in England and France, an inspirer of the U.S. Constitution, and the author of, among other works, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, his account of human knowledge, including the “new science” of his day—i.e., modern science.

Syria, The state of the arts

2005-02-24T22:35:00.000-08:00

Following World War I, drawing was taught in the schools, and talented artists began to emerge. There is a faculty of fine arts

Israel, Transportation

2005-02-24T15:59:00.000-08:00

Israel has developed a modern, well-marked highway system, and road transport is more significant to the country's commercial and passenger services than transport by rail. Bus companies provide efficient service within and between all cities and towns, supplemented by private taxis and sheruts—privately owned and operated shuttles—which run on urban and interurban

Guyana, Resources

2005-02-24T08:17:00.000-08:00

The most important mineral resource is the extensive bauxite deposits between the Demerara and Berbice rivers. There are also significant deposits of manganese at Matthews Ridge in the northwest, about 30 miles east of the Venezuelan frontier. Diamonds occur in the Mazaruni and other rivers of the Pacaraima Mountains. Gold is found in both alluvial and subsurface

Aisén

2005-02-22T19:38:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Aysén , in full Aisén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo región, southern Chile, bounded on the east by Argentina and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. Aisén includes the Chonos Archipelago, the Taitao Peninsula, and the mainland between the Palena River in the north and O'Higgins Lake in the south. It is divided into the provinces of Aisén, General Carrera, Coihaique, and Capitán Pratt. In the south and east the Andes Mountains

Hyde, Charles Cheney

2005-02-22T14:58:00.000-08:00

Hyde taught at the law school of Northwestern University, Chicago (1907–25), and then became professor of international law and diplomacy at Columbia University (1925–45). He served as solicitor for the U.S.

Laine, Dame Cleo

2005-02-22T02:07:00.000-08:00

Laine was born to a Jamaican father and an English mother. She quit school at age 14 and took a variety of jobs while auditioning for singing jobs. Her first break came in 1951, when she was hired as a vocalist for the Johnny Dankworth Seven, a

Pippin Iii

2005-02-20T03:30:00.000-08:00

The pope was in need of aid. Aistulf, king of the Lombards, had seized Ravenna with its lands, known as the exarchate. Soon, Lombard troops marched south, surrounded Rome, and prepared to lay siege to its walls. So matters stood when in 752 Zacharias died and Stephen II became pope. In November 753 Pope Stephen made his way over the stormy mountain passes to Frankish territory. He

Hvar

2005-02-19T20:54:00.000-08:00

Italian Lesina island in the Adriatic Sea, part of Croatia. At 116 square miles (300 square km) in area and 43 miles (69 km) in length, it is the longest island in the Adriatic. A rocky island, it reaches 2,054 feet (626 m) in elevation at Mount Sveti Nikola and is separated from the island of Brac by a narrow channel. The Mediterranean climate is favourable to the production of various fruits, honey, lavender, rosemary,

Biblical Literature, On the modern secular age

2005-02-19T17:34:00.000-08:00

The assumption of many people is that the Bible has lost much of its importance in a secularized world; that is implied whenever the modern period is called the post-Judeo-Christian era. In most ways the label is appropriate. The modern period seems to be a time in which unprecedented numbers of people have discarded traditional beliefs and practices of both Judaism

Argyle, Lake

2005-02-18T03:42:00.000-08:00

Formed by the Ord River Dam (1972), it has a storage capacity of 204,719,140,000 cubic feet (5,797,000,000 cubic m). The dam, fed by the 300-mile (480-kilometre) Ord River, measures 325 feet (99 m) high and 1,119 feet (341 m) long. Lake Argyle is the main reservoir in the Ord River Irrigation Scheme, a public works project dating from 1945 and

Lanai

2005-02-17T23:04:00.000-08:00

Island, Maui county, Hawaii, U.S., across the Auau channel from Maui Island. Formed by the extinct volcano Palawai (3,370 feet [1,027 m]), it has an area of 140 square miles (363 square km). In 1854 a group of Mormon elders formed a colony there that failed 10 years later. Lanai was used primarily for cattle grazing until 1922, when it was purchased by the Dole Corporation for use as a pineapple plantation. In 1961, Castle

Iliad

2005-02-17T01:22:00.000-08:00

Epic poem on the Trojan War traditionally attributed to the ancient Greek poet Homer.

Brie

2005-02-16T23:48:00.000-08:00

The preliminary soft curd of Brie is molded in flat, pancakelike rounds 9–15 inches (23–38 cm) in diameter and 1–1.5 inches (2.5–3.8 cm) in thickness. After the curd becomes firm, the cheese is sprayed with spores of penicillium candidum, a mold that forms a thin, downy white crust. The cheese ripens within

Devaluation

2005-02-16T18:48:00.000-08:00

Reduction in the exchange value of a country's monetary unit in terms of gold, silver, or foreign monetary units. Devaluation is employed to eliminate persistent balance-of-payments deficits, because devaluation has the effect of decreasing prices of the home country's exports in terms of the importer's currency and, at the same time, increasing prices of imports

Aelfric

2005-02-15T05:37:00.000-08:00

Anglo-Saxon prose writer, considered the greatest of his time. He wrote both to instruct the monks and to spread the learning of the 10th-century monastic revival. His Catholic Homilies, written in 990–992, provided orthodox sermons, based on the Church Fathers. He also wrote a Latin grammar, hence his nickname Grammaticus, and Lives of the Saints.

Cartan, élie-joseph

2005-02-15T00:54:00.000-08:00

In 1894 Cartan became a lecturer at the University of Montpellier, where he studied the structure of continuous groups introduced by the noted Norwegian mathematician Sophus Lie. He later examined theories of equivalence

Stagecoach

2005-02-14T08:52:00.000-08:00

Any public coach regularly travelling a fixed route between two or more stations (stages). Used in London at least by 1640, and about 20 years later in Paris, stagecoaches reached their greatest importance in England and the United States in the 19th century, where the new macadam roads made travel quicker and more comfortable. In the United States, coaches were the only means

Chambord, Henri Dieudonné D'artois, Count (comte) De, Duke (duc) De Bordeaux

2005-02-12T10:02:00.000-08:00

The posthumous son of the assassinated Charles-Ferdinand, Duke de Berry, and grandson of King Charles X, he was forced to flee France in 1830 when his cousin Louis-Philippe seized the throne. He spent most of his young life in Austria, where

Acrostic

2005-02-12T06:36:00.000-08:00

The word was first applied to the prophecies of the Erythraean Sibyl, which were written on leaves and arranged so that the initial letters of the leaves always formed a word.

Tarsal

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

Any of several short, angular bones that in humans make up the ankle and that—in animals that walk on their toes (e.g., dogs, cats) or on hoofs—are contained in the hock, lifted off the ground. The tarsals correspond to the carpal bones of the upper limb. In humans the tarsals, in combination with the metatarsal bones, form a longitudinal arch in the foot—a shape well adapted for

Neotropical Region

2005-02-11T04:13:00.000-08:00

Also called Neogaean Realm, or South American Region, one of the six major biogeographic areas of the world defined on the basis of its characteristic animal life. It extends south from the Mexican desert into South America as far as the subantarctic zone. It includes such animals as the llama, tapir, deer, pig, jaguar, puma, a variety of opossums, many rodents and fishes, and extremely rich insect and bird populations. The

Holguín

2005-02-10T04:15:00.000-08:00

Holguín, located on fertile, rolling plains, is now an important communications and trading centre in eastern Cuba. Sugar refining, cigar making,

Round Table Conference

2005-02-10T01:42:00.000-08:00

The first (Nov. 12, 1930–Jan. 19, 1931) had 73 representatives, from

Thenard, Louis-jacques

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

A peasant's son, Thenard endured extreme hardships to gain his scientific education. His several teaching posts were obtained through the influence of Nicolas-Louis Vauquelin, who also arranged Thenard's succession to his

Ku Klux Klan

2005-02-08T11:26:00.000-08:00

The 19th-century Klan was originally organized as a social club by Confederate veterans in Pulaski, Tenn., in 1866. They apparently derived the name from the Greek word kyklos,

G.c.b.

2005-02-08T09:41:00.000-08:00

Knight grand cross, or dame grand cross, of the Bath, member of the highest rank of knightly class in a British order of knighthood. See Bath, The Most Honourable Order of the.

Mcneill, William H(ardy)

2005-02-06T19:53:00.000-08:00

McNeill attended the University of Chicago (B.A., 1938; M.A., 1939) and Cornell University (Ph.D., 1947). During World War II he served in the U.S. Army (1941–46); part of that time he was the assistant military attaché to Greece (1944–46). McNeill taught history

Padilla, Juan De

2005-02-06T09:15:00.000-08:00

Padilla was a member of an ancient noble family of Toledo. Charles, who came to the Spanish throne in 1516, had inflamed national opinion by appointing

Hyde, Douglas

2005-02-06T04:45:00.000-08:00

Irish Dubhighlas de Hide ; pseudonym An Craoibhín Aoibhinn distinguished Gaelic scholar and writer and first president of the Republic of Ireland (Éire). He was the outstanding figure in the struggle for the preservation and extension of the Irish language from 1893, when he founded the Gaelic League (a nationalistic organization of Roman Catholics and Protestants), until

Tamil Literature

2005-02-04T21:48:00.000-08:00

Body of writings in Tamil, a Dravidian language of India and Sri Lanka. Apart from literature written in classical (Indo-Aryan) Sanskrit, Tamil is the oldest literature in India. Some inscriptions on stone have been dated to the 3rd century BC, but Tamil literature proper begins around the 1st century AD. Much early poetry was religious or epic; an exception was the secular court

Industrial Glass, Tableware

2005-02-04T20:00:00.000-08:00

Tableware tumblers are made by blowing glass at the end of a blowing pipe into a split paste-mold. The paste-mold is made of cast iron and is lined with a wetted cork-type or pasted-sawdust material. The resulting steam cushion gives a smooth finish to the glass, which is rotated in the mold during the blowing step. The formed ware is then gently knocked off the pipe by a light

Biblical Literature, The Letter of Jude

2005-02-02T16:36:00.000-08:00

The Letter of Jude, after a salutation that attributes it to Jude, the brother of James, and addresses itself to the church as a whole, develops the theme of the short letter—a polemic against heretics who have abandoned the transmitted traditional faith and who will thus be judged by the Lord. They deny Christ, and punishment similar to that of Sodom and Gomorrah in the

Libya, Agriculture, forestry, and fishing

2005-02-01T23:18:00.000-08:00

Agriculture is limited by the environment and by shortages of labour. Only about 1 percent of the total land area is cultivated, mostly on the Al-Jifarah and Barce plains, and about one-tenth of that is irrigated. An additional 8 percent of the land is in pasture. Agricultural development by land reclamation and irrigation is a government priority. The largest projects

Italian Democratic Socialist Party

2005-02-01T11:41:00.000-08:00

In early 1947, socialists who opposed the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) for its cooperation with the Italian Communist Party (PCI) seceded to form the Socialist Party of Italian Workers (Partito

Coimbatore

2005-01-31T01:42:00.000-08:00

Town, administrative headquarters of Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu state, southeastern India. Coimbatore is located on the Noyil River, 300 mi (480 km) south of Madras, on the Madras–Calicut (now Kozhikode) road. Long important as commanding the Palghat Gap to the west coast, it is a trade and processing centre for agricultural produce and a manufacturing centre for agricultural

Acrisol

2005-01-30T19:12:00.000-08:00

One of the 30 soil groups in the classification system of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Acrisols form on old landscapes that have an undulating topography and a humid tropical climate. Their natural vegetation is woodland, which in some areas has given way to tree savanna maintained by seasonal burning. The age, mineralogy, and extensive leaching of these

Bantock, Sir Granville

2005-01-30T15:09:00.000-08:00

After preparing for the Indian civil service, Bantock studied at Trinity College of Music, London, and the Royal Academy of Music, London. He was active as a conductor, founded and edited the New Quarterly Music Review (1893–96), and succeeded Sir Edward Elgar as professor

Fux, Johann Joseph

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

Fux was a prolific composer of vocal and instrumental

Paramanuchit

2005-01-29T09:42:00.000-08:00

Paramanuchit's masterpiece is the Taleng Phai (“The Defeat of the Mons”), the heroic epic of the struggle of King Naresvara

Tallensi

2005-01-27T23:05:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Talensi, a people of northern Ghana who speak a language of the Gur branch of the Niger-Congo language family. They grow millet and sorghum as staples and raise cattle, sheep, and goats on a small scale. Their normal domestic unit is the polygamous joint family of a man and his sons (and sometimes grandsons) with their wives and unmarried daughters. Married daughters live with

Palestine, History Of, Israeli Arabs

2005-01-26T20:16:00.000-08:00

In the years following the 1967 war, circumstances changed dramatically for Israeli Arabs. As a result of their resumed contact with the Palestinians of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, they began to recover from their long period of inactivity. Following the Arab-Israeli war of 1973, Arab Israelis took a greater part in Israeli institutions. They also were significantly

Roseburg

2005-01-26T11:51:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1854) of Douglas county, southwestern Oregon, U.S., on the South Umpqua River, between the Coast (west) and Cascade (east) ranges. Settled in 1851, it was known as Deer Creek but was renamed for Aaron Rose, who laid out the town site in 1854. The city's economy was based for many years on wood-products industries and sawmills; sheep raising and wine making are other economic factors. There

Janmastami

2005-01-25T09:24:00.000-08:00

The occasion is observed with particular

Sarcoma

2005-01-24T18:52:00.000-08:00

Tumour of connective tissue (also called mesodermal, or mesenchymal, cells). This form of cancer is relatively rare in adults but is one of the more common malignancies among children; it often spreads to other tissues in the body. Sarcomas are generally divided into bone and soft-tissue tumours, the latter being much less common. Because mesenchymal cells form a variety

China, Art

2005-01-24T11:26:00.000-08:00

Late Shang culture is also defined by the size, elaborate shapes, and evolved decor of the ritual bronzes, many of which were used in wine offerings to the ancestors and some of which were inscribed with ancestral dedications such as “Made for Father Ting.” Their surfaces were ornamented with zoomorphic and theriomorphic elements set against intricate backgrounds

Dies, Martin, Jr.

2005-01-23T23:27:00.000-08:00

A graduate of the University of Texas (1919) and the law school of National University in Washington, D.C. (1920), Dies opened a law practice in Texas but quickly turned his attention to politics. In 1931 he won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives,

Itagaki Taisuke, Count

2005-01-23T01:46:00.000-08:00

Born into a middle-ranking samurai family, Itagaki entered the service of his feudal lord in 1860 and emerged from subsequent factional struggles to become the military commander in Tosa, the large feudal domain controlled by his clansmen. Under Itagaki's command

Porcelain Enamelling

2005-01-22T10:15:00.000-08:00

Also called Vitreous Enamelling, process of fusing a thin layer of glass to a metal object to prevent corrosion and enhance its beauty. Porcelain-enamelled iron is used extensively for such articles as kitchen pots and pans, bathtubs, refrigerators, chemical and food tanks, and equipment for meat markets. In architecture it serves as facing for buildings. Being a glass, porcelain enamelling has the

Kuala Lumpur

2005-01-22T05:17:00.000-08:00

Capital of Malaysia. The city is located in west-central West (Peninsular) Malaysia, midway along the west coast tin and rubber belt and about 25 miles (40 km) east of its ocean port, Port Kelang, on the Strait of Malacca. It is the federation's largest urban area and its cultural, commercial, and transportation centre. In 1972 Kuala Lumpur was designated a municipality, and in 1974 this entity

Rybnik

2005-01-21T20:30:00.000-08:00

Beginning as a fishing village in the 10th century, Rybnik became capital of the Racibórz principality

Beti, Mongo

2005-01-21T00:23:00.000-08:00

A member of the Beti people, he wrote his books in French. An essential theme of Beti's early novels, which advocate the removal of all vestiges of colonialism, is the basic conflict of traditional modes of African society with the system of colonial rule. His first important novel,

Dacia

2005-01-20T00:28:00.000-08:00

In antiquity, the area of the Carpathian Mountains and Transylvania, in present north-central and western Romania. The Dacian people had earlier occupied lands south of the Danube and north of the mountains, and the Roman province eventually included wider territories both to the north and east. The Dacians were agricultural and also worked their rich mines of

Bohr, Niels

2005-01-19T05:00:00.000-08:00

In full Niels Henrik David Bohr Danish physicist who was the first to apply the quantum theory, which restricts the energy of a system to certain discrete values, to the problem of atomic and molecular structure. For this work he received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1922. He developed the so-called Bohr theory of the atom and liquid model of the atomic nucleus.