HangingRing

organic bed linen

2006-10-29T18:45:00.000-08:00

Livs range of soft luxurious bed linenis sourced ethically from India and using a fair trade policy. Liv also provide duvet cover set and bath towel set.

Fjord

2005-04-05T08:12:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Fiord, long narrow arm of the sea, commonly extending far inland, that results from marine inundation of a glaciated valley. Many fjords are astonishingly deep; Sogn Fjord in Norway is 1,308 m (4,290 feet) deep, and Canal Messier in Chile is 1,270 m (4,167 feet). The great depth of these submerged valleys, extending thousands of feet below sea level, is compatible only with a glacial origin. It is assumed

Resonance, Theory Of

2005-04-03T15:50:00.000-07:00

In chemistry, theory by which the actual normal state of a molecule is represented not by a single valence-bond structure but by a combination of several alternative distinct structures. The molecule is then said to resonate among the several valence-bond structures or to have a structure that is a resonance hybrid of these structures. The energy calculated for

Satcher, David

2005-04-01T00:58:00.000-08:00

The son of a small farmer, Satcher nearly died of whooping cough at age two because his family had little access to health care. He was attended by the only black physician in the area and resolved from an early age to become a doctor.

Interior Design, Spain

2005-03-30T22:12:00.000-08:00

In Spain, Moorish influence mingled with subsequent Western classical styles to produce a unique flavour in decorative design. The style known as Mudéjar (c. 12th–17th century) was the early outcome of these blended Christian and Arab ideas and consists in essence of tiled floors and skirtings in polychrome, plain white walls, carved stucco friezes, and intricately decorated

Lan-chou

2005-03-27T10:38:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Lanzhou, conventional Lanchow city, capital of Kansu province (sheng), China. It is situated on the upper course of the Huang Ho (Yellow River), where the river emerges from the mountains. Lan-chou has been a centre since early times, being at the southern end of the route leading via the Kansu Corridor across Central Asia; it also commands the approaches to the ancient capital area of Ch'ang-an (modern Sian

Conductus

2005-03-26T21:51:00.000-08:00

In the 13th century the conductus was one of three genres that dominated French polyphonic music. Unlike the organum and the motet, however, which were based on preexisting chants,

Baseball

2005-03-23T19:57:00.000-08:00

Game played with a bat, a ball, and gloves between two teams of nine players each on a field with four white bases laid out in a diamond (i.e., a square oriented so that its diagonal line is vertical). Teams alternate positions as batters (offense) and fielders (defense), exchanging places when three members of the batting team are “put out.” As batters, players try to hit the ball

Korea Warm Current, East

2005-03-22T04:31:00.000-08:00

Surface oceanic current, the northward-flowing branch of the Tsushima Current in the Sea of Japan. After flowing along the coast of Korea, the East Korea Warm Current turns eastward and divides into the Tsugaru Warm Current and the Soya Warm Current. The Tsugaru Warm Current enters the Pacific Ocean through the Tsugaru Strait, and the Soya Current enters the Sea of Okhotsk

Tocqueville, Alexis De

2005-03-19T11:39:00.000-08:00

The Revolution of 1848 brought about a new political situation for France and for Tocqueville. Having decried apathy as the chief danger for France, Tocqueville recognized even before the revolution that France was faced with a politically awakened working class that might well propel French politics into socialist and revolutionary channels. Tocqueville considered

Brea

2005-03-17T14:58:00.000-08:00

City, Orange county, southwestern California, U.S., at the foot of the Puente Hills. Early settlers dug the oil-soaked earth in the “Brea” canyon for fuel, and commercial production began in the 1890s after successful strikes in the Brea and Olinda fields. The influx of people inspired the Ontario Investment Company to file a subdivision map in 1908 for a town to be called Randolph;

Axis Powers

2005-03-17T11:31:00.000-08:00

The coalition headed by Germany, Italy, and Japan that opposed the Allied Powers in World War II. The alliance originated in a series of agreements between Germany and Italy, followed by the proclamation of an “axis” binding Rome and Berlin (Oct. 25, 1936) and then by the German-Japanese Anti-Comintern Pact against the Soviet Union (Nov. 25, 1936). The connection was strengthened by a full

Havana, The city site

2005-03-16T02:31:00.000-08:00

The low hills on which the city lies rise gently from the

Pien-tsung-lun

2005-03-15T21:13:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Bianzonglun (Chinese: “Discussions of Essentials”), treatise by Hsieh Ling-yun, an early Chinese Buddhist intellectual, valued chiefly as one of the few sources of information about the author's eminent teacher, Tao-sheng (d. 434). According to Tao-sheng, enlightenment is a sudden and all-encompassing experience, rather than a gradual process as described by his contemporaries. This assertion,

Farc

2005-03-14T21:56:00.000-08:00

Abbreviation of Spanish Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (“Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia”) Marxist guerilla organization in Colombia. Formed in 1964 as the military wing of the Colombian Communist Party, the FARC is the largest of Colombia's rebel groups, estimated to possess some 10,000 to 15,000 armed soldiers and thousands of supporters, largely drawn from Colombia's rural areas. One of the organization's founders, Manuel Marulanda Vélez (originally Pedro Antonio

Felicitas

2005-03-13T09:22:00.000-08:00

Roman goddess of good luck to whom a temple was first built in the mid-2nd century BC. She became the special protector of successful commanders. Caesar planned to erect another temple to her, and it was built by the triumvir M. Aemilius Lepidus. The emperors made her prominent as symbolizing the blessings of the imperial regime.

Seleucus I Nicator

2005-03-11T11:17:00.000-08:00

Macedonian army officer, founder of the Seleucid kingdom. In the struggles following the death of Alexander the Great, he rose from governor of Babylon to king of an empire centring on Syria and Iran.

Spanish Town

2005-03-10T00:41:00.000-08:00

City, southeastern central Jamaica. It is situated along the Rio Cobre, 10 miles (16 km) west of Kingston. Probably laid out by Diego Columbus (c. 1523), it was originally called Santiago de la Vega (St. James of the Plain) and was Jamaica's capital from 1692 until 1872. It is now a commercial and processing centre for produce of the irrigated Liguanea Plain (bananas, sugarcane, annatto, breadfruit,

Kean, Charles (john)

2005-03-09T18:10:00.000-08:00

The son of the famed actor Edmund Kean, he was educated at Eton and made his debut as Young Norval in Douglas in London in 1827. He toured the provinces extensively but first won general acceptance during an American tour in 1830. Returning to

John

2005-03-08T10:24:00.000-08:00

The son of Philip the Bold, duke of Burgundy, and Margaret of Flanders, John was born in the ducal castle at Rouvres, where he spent the greater part of his childhood. In 1385 he married Margaret of Bavaria, and in the following decade

Andong

2005-03-07T07:41:00.000-08:00

City, North Kyongsang do (province), east-central South Korea. It lies 215 miles (345 km) from the mouth of the Naktong River, at the terminus of its navigable section, near a multipurpose dam. The city has been in existence since the Three Kingdoms period (beginning c. 57 BC) under various names, and since the Koryo period (935–1392) it has been known by its present name. Until the end of the Choson (Yi) dynasty

Condor Legion

2005-03-06T16:13:00.000-08:00

German Legion Condor, a unit of the German air force, or Luftwaffe, detailed by Hermann Göring for special duty with General Francisco Franco's Nationalist forces in the Spanish Civil War (1936–39). It was sent to Franco on the condition that it stay under German command. The Legion consisted of four bomber squadrons (of 12 bombers each) and four fighter squadrons and was backed by antiaircraft and antitank

Indian Philosophy, Metaphysics and epistemology

2005-03-06T01:26:00.000-08:00

Both the Bhatta (the name for Kumarila's school) and the Prabhakara schools, in their metaphysics, were realists; both undertook to refute Buddhist idealism and nihilism. The Bhatta ontology recognized five types of entities: substance (dravya), quality (guna), action (karma), universals (samanya), and negation (abhava). Of these, substance was held to be of ten kinds: the nine substances recognized

Regino Von Prüm,

2005-03-05T08:21:00.000-08:00

Born to a noble family, Regino joined the Benedictine monastic order at the flourishing Abbey of Prüm and studied theology and canon law. He was elected

Amblyopia

2005-03-04T10:30:00.000-08:00

Dimness of vision that may be gradual or sudden in onset and may affect both eyes or one. It may be transient or permanent and can develop into blindness. The disorder may be caused by hysteria or by poisoning with ethyl or methyl (wood) alcohol, lead, arsenic, thallium, quinine, ergot, male fern, carbon disulfide, stramonium, or Cannabis sativa (Indian hemp, the plant from which

Johannesburg

2005-03-02T10:28:00.000-08:00

One of the youngest of the world's major cities, Johannesburg was founded in 1886, following the discovery of gold. The city was initially part of the Transvaal, an independent Afrikaner, or Boer, republic that later became one of the four provinces of South Africa. Today the

Alisol

2005-03-02T02:32:00.000-08:00

One of the 30 soil groups in the classification system of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Alisols are highly acidic, poorly drained soils prone to aluminum toxicity and water erosion. Liming and fertilization are essential to their agricultural use—primarily for growing oil palm, corn (maize), and cotton. Their extent has not been established definitively,

Feng Yü-hsiang

2005-02-28T23:59:00.000-08:00

A soldier at the age of 11, Feng was largely self-educated. He rose through the ranks, gathering under his command a highly disciplined body of troops. He urged his men to become Protestants, to engage in social reform, to acquire

Literature, Netherlandic.

2005-02-28T00:27:00.000-08:00

In 2001 well-known novelist and essayist Louis Ferron was awarded the Dutch national Constantijn Huygens Prijs for his uncompromisingly singular and “completely unfashionable and contrary” body of work. The Libris Literatuur Prijs went to Tomas Lieske for his novel Franklin (2000), which showcased his brilliant

Este

2005-02-26T13:25:00.000-08:00

Town and episcopal see of Padova province, in the Veneto region of northern Italy at the southern foot of the Colli (hills) Euganei southwest of Padua. Known in antiquity as Ateste (q.v.), it was for long the principal seat of the Veneti (q.v.), before being absorbed by Rome c. 200 BC. Originally on the Adige River, it was completely abandoned after the river (now 9 mi [14 km] to the south) changed

Duala

2005-02-25T23:03:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Douala, Bantu-speaking people of the forest region of southern Cameroon living on the estuary of the Wouri River. By 1800 the Duala controlled Cameroon's trade with Europeans, and their concentrated settlement pattern developed under this influence. Their system of chieftaincy was partly founded on trading wealth. For much of the 19th century there were two political–commercial

Chatsworth

2005-02-25T16:02:00.000-08:00

Estate near Rowsley, Derbyshire Dales district, administrative and historic county of Derbyshire, England, containing the principal seat of the English dukes of Devonshire. Chatsworth House itself stands near the left bank of the River Derwent. Construction of the original building began in 1553, but, after suffering occupation by both parties to the English Civil

Children's Literature, The discovery of the child

2005-02-24T09:18:00.000-08:00

A self-aware literature flows from a recognition of its proper subject matter. The proper subject matter of children's literature, apart from informational or didactic works, is children. More broadly, it embraces the whole content of the child's imaginative world and that of his daily environment, as well as certain ideas and sentiments characteristic of it. The

Oakley, Kenneth (page)

2005-02-22T18:37:00.000-08:00

Oakley received a B.S. in geology with first-class honours from University College, London, in 1933, and a Ph.D. from the same institution in 1938. He was long associated with the British

Great Abaco

2005-02-22T13:52:00.000-08:00

Island, The Bahamas, located about 55 miles (86 km) north of the capital city, Nassau, on New Providence island. It is separated from Little Abaco to the northwest by a narrow, shallow channel. Great Abaco occupies an area of 372 square miles (963 square km). It is shaped like a right angle, with one side of the angle pointing northwest and the other southwest. Its major city, Marsh Harbour,

Alypius

2005-02-21T02:18:00.000-08:00

Writer on music whose Eisagoge mousike (Introduction to Music) contains a comprehensive summary of the complex system of Greek scales and their transpositions and includes tables of their method of notation. The treatise was published in 1616 by I. Meursius and in 1652, with the tables of notation, by M. Meibom. The authoritative edition is by K. von Jan

De Baca

2005-02-19T17:49:00.000-08:00

In 1541 explorer Francisco

Gág, Wanda Hazel

2005-02-18T19:44:00.000-08:00

Gág was the daughter of a Bohemian immigrant artist. While attending high school in Minnesota, she helped support her family by contributing

Pythagoras

2005-02-18T00:51:00.000-08:00

Pythagoras migrated to southern

Dargomyzhsky, Aleksandr

2005-02-17T03:29:00.000-08:00

Dargomyzhsky grew up in St. Petersburg as a talented amateur musician, playing the violin and piano and dabbling in composition. His acquaintance with the composer Mikhail Glinka (1833) turned his thoughts more seriously toward composition,

Abéché

2005-02-16T06:43:00.000-08:00

Town, eastern Chad, between the wadis Chao and Sao. Historically it was the site of the capital of the Muslim sultanate of Ouaddaï (q.v.), which dominated much of the area of Chad before French conquest was accomplished in 1912. The remains of the ancient capital include a palace, tombs of former sultans, and the ruins of a mosque, all surrounded by a thick wall. The town has many

Germanic Religion And Mythology, The gods

2005-02-14T13:54:00.000-08:00

Old Norse sources name a great number of deities. The evidence of place-names suggests that one cult succeeded another. Names, especially those in southeastern Norway and southern Sweden, suggest that there was once widespread worship of a god Ull (Ullr). Indeed, an early poem reports an oath on the ring of Ull, suggesting that he was once one of the highest gods, at least

Moral Theology

2005-02-13T20:20:00.000-08:00

Also called Christian ethics Christian theological discipline concerned with identifying and elucidating the principles that determine the quality of human behaviour in the light of Christian revelation. It is distinguished from the philosophical discipline of ethics, which relies upon the authority of reason and which can only call upon rational sanctions for moral failure. Moral

Detective Story

2005-02-13T03:21:00.000-08:00

The traditional elements of the detective story are: (1) the seemingly perfect crime; (2) the wrongly accused suspect at whom circumstantial evidence points; (3) the bungling of dim-witted police; (4) the greater powers of observation and superior mind of the detective;

France, History Of

2005-02-12T20:46:00.000-08:00

History of the area from the time of ancient Gaul and the period of the Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties of the Early Middle Ages to the subsequent emergence of the modern nation and developments to the present.

Ansky, S.

2005-02-11T14:30:00.000-08:00

Ansky was educated in a Hasidic environment and as a young man was attracted to the Jewish Enlightenment (Haskala) and to the populist doctrines of the Narodniki, a group of socialist revolutionaries. For a time he worked among the peasants and contributed

Ancient Italic People

2005-02-09T22:37:00.000-08:00

Any of the peoples diverse in origin, language, traditions, stage of development, and territorial extension who inhabited pre-Roman Italy, a region heavily influenced by neighbouring Greece, with its well-defined national characteristics, expansive vigour, and aesthetic and intellectual maturity. Italy attained a unified ethnolinguistic, political, and cultural

Insurance, Warranties

2005-02-09T08:31:00.000-08:00

In applying for insurance, the applicant makes certain representations or warranties. If the applicant makes a false representation, the insurer has the option of voiding the contract. Concealment of vital information may be considered misrepresentation. In general, the misrepresentation or concealment must concern a material fact—defined as a fact that would,

Saint, Judaism

2005-02-07T03:42:00.000-08:00

The cult of saints in terms of veneration was not a part of the monotheistic religion of Israel. Saintliness, however, was an ideal that many hoped to exhibit. The model of a pious person is depicted in the righteous one of Psalm 5, “his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.” In the Hellenistic period (c. 300 BC—c. AD 300), when many Jews were susceptible to foreign

Hinduism, Challenges to Brahmanism (7th-2nd century BC)

2005-02-06T10:24:00.000-08:00

The century from about 550 BC onward was a period of great change in the religious life of India. This century saw the rise of breakaway sects of ascetics who denied the authority of the Vedas and of the Brahmans and who followed founders claiming to have discovered the secret of obtaining release from transmigration. By far the most important of these were Siddhartha Gautama,

Brieux, Eugène

2005-02-05T04:56:00.000-08:00

French dramatist, one of the leading exponents of the realist drama, whose somewhat didactic works attacked the social evils of his day. Brieux's works formed part of the repertory of the famed Théâtre-Libre of André Antoine, which had a far-reaching effect on the spread of the new naturalistic style. Playwright and critic George Bernard Shaw described

Brieux, Eugène

2005-02-04T23:18:00.000-08:00

In full European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats , formerly (1953–79) Christian Democrat Group transnational parliamentary group representing the interests of allied conservative parties in the European Parliament of the European Union (EU). The EPP was formed in 1953 as the Christian Democrat Group, which acted as a transnational political party in the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). It is now composed of some 50 parties from EU

Alphabet, Arabic alphabet

2005-02-04T03:05:00.000-08:00

The Arabic script descended from the Aramaic through the Nabataean and the neo-Sinaitic alphabets. After the Latin script, it is the most widely used form of alphabetic writing in the modern world. The Arab conquests of the 7th and 8th centuries AD brought the language and the script to the vast expanse of territory extending from India to the Atlantic Ocean. The Arabic

Balbus, Lucius Cornelius

2005-02-03T18:22:00.000-08:00

Gnaeus Pompey conferred Roman citizenship on Balbus and his family for his services against the rebel Quintus Sertorius in Spain. Becoming friendly with all political parties in Rome, Balbus had the determining

Maurice

2005-02-01T09:24:00.000-08:00

In full Maurice, Prince Of Orange, Count Of Nassau, Dutch Maurits, Prins Van Oranje, Graaf Van Nassau hereditary stadholder (1585–1625) of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, or Dutch Republic, successor to his father, William I the Silent. His development of military strategy, tactics, and engineering made the Dutch army the most modern in the Europe of his time.

Miracle, Judaism

2005-02-01T07:29:00.000-08:00

Miracles are taken for granted throughout the Old Testament. God does “wondrous things” according to Psalms, chapter 72, and “great things and unsearchable, marvellous things without number” according to the Book of Job, chapter 5; these things are done in his creation in general and in the history of his people in particular (e.g., the 10 plagues of Egypt and the events of the Exodus).

Baylor University

2005-01-29T17:37:00.000-08:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher learning located in Waco, Texas, U.S. Baylor, affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, is the world's largest Baptist university and the oldest college in Texas. The university offers about 160 bachelor's, 75 master's, and 20 doctoral degrees through nine academic divisions: the college of arts and sciences, the Hankamer

Digestive System, Vertebrate, Vitamin D

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

Vitamin D is essentially a hormone and is available from two sources. First, under the influence of photosynthesis made possible by ultraviolet rays from the Sun, a sterol compound from the liver (dehydrocholesterol) is converted to vitamin D3. This supplies enough vitamin D3 for human needs. In the absence of contact between sunlight and skin, dietary supplements

Adams, Robert

2005-01-27T02:33:00.000-08:00

Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, Adams studied medicine in Europe and then returned to Dublin,

Sokolow, Nahum

2005-01-27T01:27:00.000-08:00

The descendant of an ancient Polish rabbinical family, Sokolow became well known for his contributions to the Jewish press in Hebrew and other languages. At 24 he became assistant editor of the Hebrew scientific weekly ha-Zefirah in Warsaw; later, as its editor, he transformed

Bulgaria, Spread of education

2005-01-24T22:22:00.000-08:00

The spread of education was in fact the centrepiece of the Bulgarian national revival. In 1835 Vasil Aprilov founded a Lancasterian school, based on the monitorial system of instruction, in Gabrovo. With the monk Neofit Rilski (Neophyte of Rila) as its teacher, it was the first school to teach in Bulgarian. Its work was facilitated by the appearance of a Bulgarian publishing

Agricola, Gnaeus Julius

2005-01-23T06:03:00.000-08:00

After serving as military tribune under Suetonius Paulinus, governor in Britain (59–61), Agricola became, successively, quaestor in Asia (64), people's tribune (66), and praetor (68). In the civil war of 69 he took the side of Vespasian,

China, Educational and cultural policy changes

2005-01-22T19:29:00.000-08:00

In the educational system, the reformers gave top priority to training technical, scientific, and scholarly talent to world-class standards. This involved the re-creation of a highly selective and elitist higher educational system, with admission based on competitive academic examination. Graduate study programs were introduced, and thousands of Chinese were

Astronaut

2005-01-21T17:23:00.000-08:00

Person trained to pilot a spacecraft, operate any of its various systems, or conduct scientific experiments aboard such a craft during spaceflights. The term is commonly applied to those participating in U.S. space missions, as opposed to the designation cosmonaut used to refer to Soviet space travelers. The U.S. Department of Defense awards the rating of astronaut

Eight, The

2005-01-21T10:05:00.000-08:00

Group of American painters who exhibited together only once, in New York City in 1908, but who established one of the main currents in 20th-century American painting. The original Eight included Robert Henri, leader of the group, Everett Shinn, John Sloan, Arthur B. Davies, Ernest Lawson, Maurice Prendergast, George Luks, and William J. Glackens. George Bellows later joined them.

Calais

2005-01-19T14:44:00.000-08:00

City, Washington county, eastern Maine, U.S., on the St. Croix River (there spanned by an international bridge to St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada), 98 miles (158 km) east-northeast of Bangor. The river is noted for its tidal surges, which can vary by 28 feet (9 metres). Settlers were attracted to the area in 1779 by the abundance of natural resources. The community developed as a lumbering centre;

Diémer, Louis-joseph

2005-01-19T02:10:00.000-08:00

He was a student at the Paris Conservatoire from 1855 to 1861, and from 1863 he performed regularly, playing at the Alard, Pasdeloup, Colonne, Lamoureux, and Conservatoire concerts with great success; his repertoire included pieces written for him by Charles-Marie

Amos, Book Of

2005-01-17T08:45:00.000-08:00

The third of 12 Old Testament books that bear the names of the Minor Prophets, collected in one book under the Jewish canon titled The Twelve. Amos, a Judaean prophet from the village of Tekoa, was active in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of Jeroboam II (c. 786–746 BC). According to 7:14, Amos was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet; i.e., he was not a member of a professional

Plovdiv

2005-01-16T21:26:00.000-08:00

Second largest city of Bulgaria, situated in the south-central part of the country. It lies along the Maritsa River and is situated amid six hills that rise from the Thracian Plain to a height of 400 feet (120 m). Called Pulpudeva in Thracian times, it was renamed Philippopolis in 341 BC after its conquest by Philip II of Macedonia. From AD 46 it was called Trimontium and was the capital of

Tabataba'i, Sayyid Zia Od-din

2005-01-15T19:21:00.000-08:00

Tabataba'i became prominent during World War I as the editor of a pro-British newspaper, Ra'd (“Thunder”). In 1919 he led a quasi-diplomatic mission to negotiate a commercial agreement with the anti-Communist Russian revolutionaries at Baku. On his return to Iran he joined a secret nationalist

Essaouira

2005-01-15T14:16:00.000-08:00

Formerly Mogador, Atlantic port city, western Morocco, midway between Safi and Agadir. The site was occupied by Phoenicians and then Carthaginians and was mentioned in the chronicles of the Carthaginian explorer Hanno (5th century BC). Medieval charts show it as Mogador, a corruption of a Berber word for “safe anchorage.” It stands on a peninsula 10–20 feet (3–7 m) above sea level and at times with heavy

Fraenkel-conrat, Heinz L.

2005-01-13T13:14:00.000-08:00

Fraenkel-Conrat studied medicine at the University of Breslau (M.D., 1933) and then turned to biochemistry at the University of Edinburgh (Ph.D.,

Kabelvåg

2005-01-12T04:15:00.000-08:00

Historical village of the Lofoten island group, Nordland fylke (county), northern Norway. It is on the southern shore of Austvågøya island, just southwest of Svolvær, chief town of the Lofoten. Kabelvåg was founded as Vågan in the early 12th century by King Øystein, who built a church and fishermen's hostel there. For many centuries the small port, situated at the base of steep,

Asia

2005-01-11T16:39:00.000-08:00

In antiquity, the first and westernmost Roman province in Asia Minor, stretching at its greatest extent from the Aegean coast in the west to a point beyond Philomelium (modern Aksehir) in the east and from the Sea of Marmara in the north to the strait between Rhodes and the mainland in the south. The province was first constituted when Attalus III, king of Pergamum, bequeathed

Asclepiadaceae

2005-01-11T02:30:00.000-08:00

The milkweed family of the flowering-plant order Gentianales, including more than 280 genera and about 2,000 species of tropical herbs or shrubby climbers, rarely shrubs or trees. Most members of the family have milky juice, flowers with five united petals, podlike fruits, and, usually, tufted seeds. The silky-haired seeds are drawn out of their pods by the wind

Eden, Garden Of

2005-01-10T19:17:00.000-08:00

In the Old Testament Book of Genesis, biblical earthly paradise inhabited by the first created man and woman, Adam and Eve, prior to their expulsion for disobeying the commandments of God. It is also called in Genesis the Garden of Yahweh, the God of Israel, and, in Ezekiel, the Garden of God. The term Eden probably is derived from the Akkadian word edinu, borrowed from the

Heterospecific Mating

2005-01-08T23:22:00.000-08:00

Also called incompatible mating mating in which the man and woman have incompatible blood types, such that the woman may develop antibodies to her partner's blood type. This mating causes difficulties in childbirth, since there is a chance that the child conceived in a heterospecific mating will have its father's blood type. When a heterospecific pregnancy occurs, the mother produces antibodies

Race, Human rights versus property rights

2005-01-08T08:36:00.000-08:00

Chattel slavery was not established without its critics. From the beginning, many Englishmen condemned the presence of slavery in English territories. They argued that theirs was a society of free men and of democratic institutions and that it was committed to the preservation of human rights, justice, and equality. For several hundred years, trends in English

Vakataka Dynasty

2005-01-07T08:38:00.000-08:00

Indian ruling house originating in the central Deccan in the mid-3rd century AD, the empire of which is believed to have extended from Malwa and Gujarat in the north to the Tungabhadra in the south and from the Arabian Sea in the west to the Bay of Bengal in the east. The Vakatakas, like many of the contemporary dynasties of the Deccan, claimed Brahmanical origin. Little is known,

Sabah

2005-01-05T19:37:00.000-08:00

Region of East Malaysia, forming the northern part of the great island of Borneo, and bordered by Sarawak (southwest) and Kalimantan, or Indonesian Borneo (south). Sabah has an 800–900-mile- (1,290–1,450-kilometre-) long, heavily indented coastline that is washed by the South China, Sulu, and Celebes seas. It was known as North Borneo during the British colonial period (until 1963). Its 28,425-square-mile (73,620-square-kilometre)

Jackson, William Henry

2005-01-05T03:13:00.000-08:00

As a child in Troy, New York, Jackson painted landscapes on screens and did retouching for a photographic studio. After serving in the Civil War he went west in 1867 and opened a studio in Omaha, Nebraska. During this period

Avocet

2005-01-04T09:16:00.000-08:00

Any of several large shorebirds belonging to the genus Recurvirostra, family Recurvirostridae. Avocets have boldly contrasting plumage, long bluish legs, and a long black bill upturned at the tip. They inhabit fresh and salt marshes that have areas of open shallow water and mud flats, and they feed by sweeping the bill, held partly open, back

Block Island

2005-01-03T02:25:00.000-08:00

Pear-shaped island coextensive with the town (township) of New Shoreham (inc. 1672), Washington county, southern Rhode Island, U.S., between Block Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. Lying about 9 miles (14 km) south of the mainland, it is about 6 miles (10 km) long and 3.5 miles (5.5 km) wide and has a land area of 10 square miles (25 square km). Originally called Manisses (“Manitou's Little Island”) by Narraganset

Sea Crayfish

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

Any of several lobster species of the family Palinuridae. See lobster.

Cyriacus Of Ancona

2005-01-01T06:51:00.000-08:00

Byname of Ciriaco De' Pizzicolli Italian merchant and Humanist whose writings, based on topographical observations and antiquarian findings relating to ancient Greek civilization, proved useful for later archaeological surveys and classical scholarship. Travelling extensively in southern Italy, Greece, Egypt, and the Near East, he copied hundreds

Al-

2004-12-30T17:06:00.000-08:00

Arabic definite article, meaning “the.” It often prefixes Arabic proper nouns, especially place-names; an example is Al-Jazirah (Arabic: “The Island”), the name of an interfluvial region in The Sudan. The article is often used in lowercase form, hence al-Jazirah. Reference works, including Encyclopædia Britannica, often alphabetize names beginning with al- under the main part

Bridgman, Laura Dewey

2004-12-30T02:36:00.000-08:00

Bridgman was struck by scarlet fever at the age of two and left without sight or hearing. Her other senses were also affected, but she retained the sense of touch, which she developed sufficiently to learn to sew and knit. In 1837 her case came to the attention

Kofu

2004-12-28T03:13:00.000-08:00

Capital, Yamanashi ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan. Kofu lies in the fertile Kofu Basin, west of Tokyo. Long a centre of sericulture, the city adjusted to the decline in silk demand by producing other textiles, increasing viticulture, and developing nearby hot springs. Locally mined rock crystal became the basis of a jewelry industry, but most rock crystal is now imported.

Stalin, Joseph

2004-12-28T00:16:00.000-08:00

During the quarter of a century preceding his death, the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin

Maxwell, Robert

2004-12-26T16:37:00.000-08:00

Virtually all of the young Hoch's Jewish family living in Czechoslovakia and Budapest died in the Nazi Holocaust, but he was able to make

Bavand Dynasty

2004-12-25T23:59:00.000-08:00

The origins and early years of the dynasty

Zanjan

2004-12-25T01:56:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Zenjan, city, northwestern Iran. It lies in an open valley about halfway along the Tehran–Tabriz railway line. It is the principal city of the Zanjan region. It was ravaged by Mongols in the 13th century. Once the seat of a lively caravan trade, the city is now the centre of an agricultural area with abundant harvests of grain. Prior to the Iranian Revolution, the city witnessed fighting

Aquinas, Thomas, Saint, Biblical commentaries

2004-12-23T15:12:00.000-08:00

Expositio in Evangelium S. Matthaei (1269–72); Expositio in Job ad litteram (1261–64); Expositio in Evangelium Joannis (1269–72); Exposition in S. Pauli Apostoli epistolas (undated; incomplete); In psalmos Davidis expositio (1272–73).

Florianópolis

2004-12-23T01:33:00.000-08:00

The first European settlement on the island was made in 1542 by Spaniards, but in 1675 control passed to the Portuguese, who established

Qadi

2004-12-21T18:10:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Cadi, or Kadi, Arabic Qadi, a Muslim judge who renders decisions according to the Shari'ah, the canon law of Islam. The qadi hears only religious cases such as those involving inheritance, pious bequests (waqf), marriage, and divorce, though theoretically his jurisdiction extends to both civil and criminal matters. Originally, the qadi's work was restricted to nonadministrative tasks—arbitrating

Guhyasamaja-tantra

2004-12-21T13:03:00.000-08:00

The Guhyasamaja

Intelsat

2004-12-20T09:25:00.000-08:00

Abbreviation of International Telecommunications Satellite Organization, also called (1964–73) International Telecommunications Satellite Consortium, organization founded in 1964 by the telecommunication agencies of 18 nations, including the United States, which proposed the organization. Intelsat owns communications satellites and the ground stations from which they are controlled, but the transmitting and receiving apparatus in each country is owned by the Intelsat member from that country. Within several

Romanov Dynasty

2004-12-19T14:40:00.000-08:00

Rulers of Russia from 1613 until the Russian Revolution of February 1917. Descendants of Andrey Ivanovich Kobyla (Kambila), a Muscovite boyar who lived during the reign of the grand prince of Moscow Ivan I Kalita (reigned 1328–41), the Romanovs acquired their name from Roman Yurev (d. 1543), whose daughter Anastasiya Romanovna Zakharina-Yureva was the first wife of Ivan IV the Terrible (reigned

Lurton, Horace H(armon)

2004-12-17T23:02:00.000-08:00

Lurton enlisted in the Confederate army at the outbreak of the war and was twice taken prisoner, but he was paroled by President Abraham Lincoln the second time upon his mother's appeal, pleading illness. After the war he finished his studies and established a successful

Balcon, Sir Michael

2004-12-17T16:10:00.000-08:00

He began his career as a producer in 1922, founded and directed Gainsborough Pictures, Ltd., in 1928, and became the director of production for Gaumont-British Pictures, Ltd., in 1931. From 1936 to 1938 he worked as producer for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and from 1938 to 1959 as executive producer