FemaleRiver

Lauenburg

2005-04-04T07:53:00.000-07:00

A duchy under the Ascanian dynasty from the 13th century, Lauenburg was acquired by George William, the Welf duke

Sabha

2005-04-03T01:10:00.000-08:00

The sabha differs from the panchayat (caste or subcaste council) in that its scope is much larger; rather than

Ahmed I

2005-04-01T19:58:00.000-08:00

Ottoman sultan from 1603 to 1617, whose authority was weakened by wars, rebellions, and misrule. The rebellions he was able to suppress; he executed some of the viziers and exiled many palace dignitaries for bribery and intrigue; and he introduced a new regulation for the improvement of land administration. The peace of Zsitvatörök (1606) that he signed

Qiryat Shemona

2005-03-31T18:27:00.000-08:00

Town, at the northwest of the 'Emeq Hula (Hula Valley), extreme northern Israel. The name Qiryat Shemona (“Town of the Eight”) commemorates the eight martyrs of nearby Tel Hay (q.v.). The town, the only urban settlement of the valley, was founded in 1950 as an immigrants' transit camp (ma'abara) on the site of the former Arab village of Khalasah. Metulla, the northernmost settlement of Israel

Mosaferid Dynasty

2005-03-30T18:12:00.000-08:00

The founder of the dynasty was Mohammad ebn Mosafer (ruled c. 916–941), military commander of the strategic mountain fortresses of Tarom and Samiran in Daylam, in northwestern Iran. With the increasing weakness of the Justanid dynasty that ruled the region, Mohammad increased his power and gained control of most of Daylam. After

Downey, June Etta

2005-03-29T22:49:00.000-08:00

Downey graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1895. After a year of teaching school in Laramie, she resumed her education at the University of Chicago, where in 1898 she took a master's degree in philosophy and

Tagalog

2005-03-29T02:32:00.000-08:00

Largest cultural-linguistic group in the Philippines. They form the dominant population in the city of Manila; in all provinces bordering Manila Bay except Pampanga; in Nueva Ecija to the north; and in Batangas, Laguna, Marinduque, Mindoro, and Quezon to the south. Tagalog is an Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian) language like the other Philippine languages. The mother

Margarine

2005-03-27T23:47:00.000-08:00

Food product made principally from one or more vegetable or animal fats or oils in which is dispersed an aqueous portion containing milk products, either solid or fluid, salt, and such other ingredients as flavouring agents, yellow food pigments, emulsifiers, preservatives, vitamins A and D, and butter. It is used in cooking and as a spread. Nutritionally, margarine

Aerospace Industry

2005-03-27T02:26:00.000-08:00

Assemblage of manufacturing concerns that deal with vehicular flight within and beyond the Earth's atmosphere. (The term aerospace is derived from the words aeronautics and spaceflight.) The aerospace industry is engaged in the research, development, and manufacture of flight vehicles, including unpowered gliders and sailplanes (see gliding), lighter-than-air craft

Israel, Immigration and conflict

2005-03-25T22:35:00.000-08:00

The Zionist goal of Jewish statehood was violently opposed by the local Arab leaders, who saw the Ottoman defeat as an opportunity either to create their own state or to join a larger Arab entity—thus reviving the old Arab empire of early Islamic times. British efforts to bring the Zionists and the Arabs together in a cooperative government failed, and serious disorders,

Hallucination

2005-03-25T10:38:00.000-08:00

Traditional psychiatric sources define hallucinations as “perceptions without corresponding

Gniezno

2005-03-23T11:56:00.000-08:00

Town, Poznan województwo (province), west central Poland. Located on the Poznan–Torun rail line, Gniezno is a trade and food-processing centre. Legend attributes its origin to Lech, mythological founder of Poland, who supposedly made it his capital. Archaeological evidence indicates that a stronghold of the Polanie tribe existed there in the 8th century AD. In 1000 Gniezno became

Jannings, Emil

2005-03-23T02:21:00.000-08:00

Jannings was reared in Görlitz, Austria, where he began his stage career. He joined a traveling stock company and in 1906 began acting for Max Reinhardt, the leading German theatrical director, in Berlin. He made his film

Przybos, Julian

2005-03-21T18:18:00.000-08:00

By the time Przybos graduated from Jagiellonian University, Kraków, in 1924, he had already begun to publish poetry and prose for the little magazine Zwrotnica (“The Switch”), one of the primary

Australia, Flag Of

2005-03-20T14:02:00.000-08:00

Thought was given to an all-Australian flag long before confederation was achieved on January 1, 1901. For example, in 1823 a National Colonial Flag displayed four white eight-pointed stars on a red cross on a white field with the Union Jack. From 1831 until as late as the 1920s there was a somewhat similar design known as the Australian Federation Flag, with a blue cross and five white stars.

Uchimura Kanzo

2005-03-18T23:37:00.000-08:00

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

La Trémoille Family

2005-03-18T00:42:00.000-08:00

Noble family that contributed numerous generals to France. The family's name was taken from a village in Poitou (modern La Trimouille). A Pierre de La Trémoille is recorded as early as the 11th century, but the family's ascendance dates from the 15th century. Early family members fought in several crusades. Gui (d. 1397) went with John the Fearless, duke of Burgundy, on the crusade to

Qala'un Mosque

2005-03-17T21:16:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Qalawun building complex, including a mausoleum, a madrasah, and a hospital, built in 1283–85 on the site of present-day Cairo by the fifth Mamluk sultan, Qala'un. The hospital, now in ruins, was one of the most remarkable buildings of the Mamluk era. The mausoleum and madrasah both open from a central corridor. The madrasah has a unique three-part basilica-like eyvan, or vaulted niche, on the richly

Celle

2005-03-16T20:08:00.000-08:00

City, Lower Saxony Land (state), north-central Germany, on the Aller River, at the southern edge of the Lüneburger Heide (Heath), northeast of Hannover. The old town, Altencelle, was founded about 1248, and Celle (founded 1292) was the residence (1371–1705) of the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg. The old town has many fine examples of 16th- to 19th-century half-timbered buildings, including the Hoppener Haus

Bydgoszcz

2005-03-16T16:55:00.000-08:00

German Bromberg, city, capital of Bydgoszcz województwo (province), northern Poland, near the confluence of the Brda and Vistula rivers. Beginning as a frontier stronghold, Bydgoszcz was seized by the Teutonic Knights in the 13th century; it received town rights in 1346. It prospered as a grain and timber centre, was devastated during the 17th-century Swedish wars, and regained importance in

Tritone

2005-03-14T15:43:00.000-08:00

In musical notation the tritone is written either as an augmented

Rabat

2005-03-14T06:37:00.000-08:00

Town, west-central Malta, adjoining Mdina, west of Valletta. In Roman times the site of Mdina and Rabat was occupied by Melita, the island's capital. The modern names date from the Arab occupation of Malta, when Mdina was fortified and what remained outside the walls was called rabat (“suburb”). There are many Roman ruins, including a partially restored villa housing a museum.

Performing Arts, Popular - International.

2005-03-14T01:14:00.000-08:00

The year 2002 was a classic one for African music, and arguably the finest of a batch of great new albums came from the celebrated Malian singer Salif Keita. His recent work had included excursions into jazz-rock and funk, but the album Moffou was very different—an acoustic set that marked a return to his African roots. The relaxed, gently rhythmic backing was provided by

Alliterative Verse

2005-03-13T21:58:00.000-08:00

Early verse of the Germanic languages in which alliteration, the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words or stressed syllables, is a basic structural principle rather than an occasional embellishment. Although alliteration is a common device in almost all poetry, the only Indo-European languages that used it as a governing principle, along with

Adam Of Bremen

2005-03-13T13:17:00.000-08:00

Of Franconian origin, he was probably educated at the cathedral school in Bamberg but was introduced in 1066 or 1067 into the cathedral chapter at Bremen by Archbishop

Yamm

2005-03-12T14:55:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Yam ancient West Semitic deity who ruled the oceans, rivers, lakes, and underground springs. He also played an important role in the Baal myths recorded on tablets uncovered at Ugarit, which say that at the beginning of time Yamm was awarded the divine kingship by El, the chief god of the pantheon. One day, Yamm's messengers requested that the gods surrender Baal to be a bond

Luangwa River

2005-03-10T18:21:00.000-08:00

Portuguese Rio Aruângua, river rising on the Malawi–Zambia border, southern Africa. From its source near Isoka, Zambia, it flows 500 miles (800 km) south-southwest, skirting the Muchinga Mountains to join the Zambezi River between Luangwa (formerly Feira), Zambia, and Zumbo, Mozambique. The river valley is the site of several game parks. Along its lower course the Luangwa forms part of the Zambia–Mozambique

Monongahela River

2005-03-10T01:40:00.000-08:00

River formed by the confluence of the Tygart and West Fork rivers in Marion county, W.Va., U.S. It flows 128 miles (206 km) in a northerly direction past Morgantown into Pennsylvania, past Brownsville and Charleroi, joining the Allegheny River at Pittsburgh to become a major headwater of the Ohio River. In its upper reaches the river has a swift current and furnishes hydroelectric

Temple, Shirley

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

At age three Temple was picked from her dancing class to appear in Baby Burlesks, a series of one-reel comedies. In 1934 she gained recognition in her first feature film, the musical Stand Up and

Kudymkar

2005-03-09T23:57:00.000-08:00

City and administrative centre of Komi-Permyak autonomous okrug (district), Perm oblast (province), western Russia. It lies along the Inva River at the latter's confluence with the Kuva River in the Northern Ural Mountains. Founded in the 16th century, Kudymkar grew rapidly after 1925, and it became a town in 1938. Industrial enterprises include timber milling and food processing.

Giovanni, Nikki

2005-03-09T11:07:00.000-08:00

Giovanni grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Knoxville, Tenn., and in 1960 she entered Nashville's Fisk University. By 1967, when she received her B.A., she was firmly committed to the Civil Rights Movement and the concept of

Tzu-jan

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

(Chinese: “naturalness”), in Chinese Taoism, an ideal state of human existence that results from living in complete harmony with the forces of nature. Taoists, observing that everything in the world has its natural state, strive to attain a state of complete spontaneity in order to become what nature intended them to be. As a consequence, life becomes exceedingly simple;

Aetius, Flavius

2005-03-06T14:49:00.000-08:00

The son of a magister equitum (“master of the cavalry”), Aetius in his youth spent some time as a hostage with the Visigothic leader Alaric, and later with the Huns, thus acquiring valuable knowledge of the leading

Melaka

2005-03-06T03:32:00.000-08:00

Formerly Malacca, town and port, West Malaysia (Malaya), on the Strait of Malacca, at the mouth of the sluggish Melaka River. The city was founded about 1400, when Paramesvara, the ruler of Tumasik (now Singapore), fled from the forces of the Javanese kingdom of Majapahit and found refuge at the site, then a small fishing village. There he founded a Malay kingdom the kings of which, aided by the Chinese,

Uraninite

2005-03-05T13:26:00.000-08:00

The element uranium was discovered by

Black River

2005-03-04T17:37:00.000-08:00

River in southeastern Missouri and eastern Arkansas, U.S., rising in the Ozark Mountains in Reynolds county, Mo. It flows southeasterly to Poplar Bluff, Mo., and then continues southwest to enter the White River near Newport, Ark., after a course of 280 miles (450 km). Limited navigation is possible for shallow-draft vessels in the lower 15 miles (25 km) of its course. Its main tributary is

Hungary, The revolution of 1956

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

Rákosi—who in 1952 came to preside over the government as well as the party—was, under Moscow, all-powerful until the death of Stalin in 1953, when a period of fluctuation began. In July 1953 Rákosi was deposed from the prime ministership in favour of Imre Nagy—a “Muscovite” but a Hungarian in his attitudes and not unpopular in the country. Nagy promised a new course—an end to the forced

European Union

2005-03-03T06:57:00.000-08:00

The Maastricht Treaty (formally known as the Treaty on European Union), which was signed on February 7, 1992, created the European Union. The treaty met with substantial resistance in some countries. In Denmark, for example, voters who were worried about infringements upon their country's sovereignty defeated a referendum on the original treaty in June 1992, though a revised

Hystaspes

2005-03-03T03:42:00.000-08:00

Also called Gushtasp protector and follower of the Iranian prophet Zoroaster. Son of Aurvataspa (Lohrasp) of the Naotara family, Hystaspes was a local ruler (kavi) in a country called in the Avesta (the Zoroastrian scripture) Aryana Vaejah, which may have been a Greater Chorasmian state abolished by the Achaemenid king Cyrus II the Great in the mid-6th century BC.

Wolf, Rudolf

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

Wolf studied at the universities of Zürich, Vienna, and Berlin and in 1839 went to the University of Bern as a teacher of mathematics and physics; he became professor of astronomy there in 1844. In 1855 he accepted a professorship of astronomy at both the University of Zürich and the Federal

Adab

2005-03-01T21:43:00.000-08:00

The original sense of the word was simply “norm of conduct,” or “custom,” derived in ancient Arabia from ancestors revered as models. As such practice

Alekseyev, Mikhail Vasilyevich

2005-03-01T06:40:00.000-08:00

The son of a private soldier, Alekseyev entered the Russian Army in 1876 and was graduated in 1890 from

Faial Island

2005-02-28T04:11:00.000-08:00

Formerly Fayal Island, Portuguese Ilha do Faial Portuguese island forming part of the Azores archipelago, in the North Atlantic Ocean. Its area of 67 square miles (173 square km) was increased by 1 square mile (2.5 square km) because of volcanic activity in 1957–58. The centre of the island consists of a perfectly shaped volcano, Mount Gordo. Faial (meaning “beech wood”) was named for the wax myrtle, once abundant, which its discoverers mistook

Bald Cypress

2005-02-27T17:08:00.000-08:00

A young bald cypress is symmetrical and pyramidal;

Barasingha

2005-02-27T03:40:00.000-08:00

Also called Swamp Deer (species Cervus duvauceli), graceful deer, belonging to the family Cervidae (order Artiodactyla), found in open forests and grasslands of India and Nepal. The barasingha stands about 1.1 m (45 inches) at the shoulder. In summer, its coat is reddish or yellowish brown with white spots; in winter, its coat is heavier, particularly on the neck—brown with faint spots or none. The male

Alegría, Claribel

2005-02-26T21:55:00.000-08:00

Poet, essayist, and journalist who was a major voice in the literature of contemporary Central America. Noted for her testimonio (testament) concerning the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua, she was best known in the United States for the bilingual edition of her volume of poetry, Flores del volcán/Flowers from the Volcano (1982), translated by the

Abu Hanifah

2005-02-25T11:32:00.000-08:00

In full Abu Hanifah An-nu'man Ibn Thabit Muslim jurist and theologian whose systematization of Islamic legal doctrine was acknowledged as one of the four canonical schools of Islamic law. The school of Abu Hanifah acquired such prestige that its doctrines were applied by a majority of Muslim dynasties. Even today it is widely followed in India, Pakistan, Turkey, Central Asia, and Arab

Spaceflight

2005-02-24T10:56:00.000-08:00

Flight beyond Earth's atmosphere. This article deals with the basic concepts associated with the launch and return of unmanned and manned spacecraft and their travel, navigation, and rendezvous and docking in space. For the development of space travel and discussions of spacecraft and space programs and their contributions to scientific knowledge

Naracoorte

2005-02-24T04:00:00.000-08:00

Town and rail junction, southeastern South Australia. It lies 190 miles (310 km) southeast of Adelaide, near the Victoria border. Founded as Kincraig in 1845, it took its present name in 1869 from an Aboriginal word meaning “large waterhole.” During the 1850s Naracoorte was an important stopping place along the route to the Victorian goldfields. Created a municipality in 1924, it now serves as a

Rachidia, Er-

2005-02-23T06:48:00.000-08:00

The surrounding region

Mures River

2005-02-22T13:26:00.000-08:00

Hungarian Maros, river, rising in the Giurgeu Range in the Eastern Carpathian Mountains, east-central Romania. It cuts a gorge between the Caliman and Gurghiu ranges, crosses the Transylvanian Basin southwestward, and then cuts across the Western Carpathians between the Poiana Ruscai and the Bihoru mountains and emerges onto the Tisa Plain to join the Tisa (Tisza) River at Szeged, Hung.,

Arts, Central Asian, Parthia

2005-02-21T22:49:00.000-08:00

The Parthian empire came into being in Khorasan during the reign of Seleucus I, 358–281 BC, following the absorption by the Parthians of Parni (Dahae) tribesmen. The caravans traversing their territory brought them wealth and ideas from abroad. The figural art of the Hellenistic world made an especially strong impression on them. The finest Parthian objects come from Old Nisa

Padma River

2005-02-20T22:29:00.000-08:00

Main channel of the Ganges River below its bifurcation into the Bhagirathi and Padma rivers in extreme western Bangladesh. Flowing southeastward, the Padma receives the mighty Jamuna (Brahmaputra) River near Rajbari and then continues southeastward through central Bangladesh to join the Meghna River through a channel 2 miles (3 km) wide, known as the Kirtimasa. The

Beilstein, Friedrich Konrad

2005-02-20T09:12:00.000-08:00

In 1866 Beilstein was appointed professor of chemistry at the Imperial Technological Institute, St. Petersburg. The first edition of his Handbuch gave a full account of the physical

Biogeography

2005-02-19T11:10:00.000-08:00

Strictly speaking, biogeography is a branch of biology, but physical geographers have made important contributions, particularly in the study of flora. The classification of vegetation

Nervous System Disease, Facial nerve

2005-02-18T05:09:00.000-08:00

The herpes

Deere & Company

2005-02-18T05:01:00.000-08:00

The company's origin dates to 1836, when John Deere (q.v.) invented the first steel plow that could till American Midwest prairie soil without clogging. The following year, Deere established a business to manufacture and market the plow, and his own company was incorporated

Agora

2005-02-17T05:06:00.000-08:00

In ancient Greek cities, an open space that served as a meeting ground for various activities of the citizens. The name, first found in the works of Homer, connotes both the assembly of the people as well as the physical setting; it was applied by the classical Greeks of the 5th century BC to what they regarded as a typical feature of their life: their daily religious, political,

Christian Methodist Episcopal Church

2005-02-16T11:35:00.000-08:00

Black Methodist church in the United States, organized in 1870 as the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church; it officially adopted its present name in 1956. The church originated from a movement begun in 1866 within the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, to organize the black members into an independent church. At the founding convention in 1870, two bishops from the Methodist Episcopal

Opus Interassile

2005-02-16T09:14:00.000-08:00

Metalwork technique developed in Rome and widely used during the 3rd century AD, especially appropriate for making arabesques and other nonrepresentational ornamental designs. Probably of Syrian origin, the technique consists of piercing holes in the metal to create an openwork design suggesting lacework. Opus interassile was often used for large wheels placed

Yessentuki

2005-02-15T22:09:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Jessentuki , or Essentuki city, Stavropol kray (region), southwestern Russia, in the valley of the Podkumok River. It was founded in 1798, developed as a fortress in the 1830s, and became a city in 1917. It is located at mineral springs at the base of the Caucasus Mountains. The city is composed of an old Cossack village in the southern sector and a newer city in the north. It is a major health resort, with sanatoriums

Xingshu

2005-02-15T07:41:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization hsing-shu a semicursive Chinese script that developed out of the Han dynasty lishu script at the same time that the standard kaishu script was evolving (1st–3rd century AD). The characters of xingshu are not abbreviated or connected, but strokes within the characters are often run together. The best-known example of early surviving Chinese calligraphy, Lanting Xu (“Essay

Indian Philosophy, The linguistic philosophies: Bhartrhari and Mandana-Misra

2005-02-14T01:57:00.000-08:00

The linguistic philosophers considered here are the grammarians led by Bhartrhari (7th century AD) and Mandana-Misra (8th century AD); the latter, reputed to be a disciple of Kumarila, held views widely different from the Mimamsakas. The grammarians share with the Mimamsakas their interest in the problems of language and meaning. But their own theories are so different that they cut at the

Ibn Jubayr

2005-02-12T19:59:00.000-08:00

The son of a civil servant, Ibn Jubayr became secretary to the Almohad governor of Granada, but he left that post for his pilgrimage, which was begun in 1183 and ended with his return to Granada in 1185. He wrote

Lenngren, Anna Maria

2005-02-12T13:34:00.000-08:00

Educated by her father, a lecturer at Uppsala University, Lenngren began to publish poetry at age 18. In 1780 she married Carl Lenngren, founder (with

Siachen Glacier

2005-02-12T11:25:00.000-08:00

One of the world's longest mountain glaciers, lying in the Karakoram Range system of Kashmir near the India–Pakistan border, extending for 44 mi (70 km) from north-northwest to south-southeast. It has a number of fast-flowing surface streams and at least 12 medial moraines. It is the source for the 50-mi-long Nubra River, a tributary of the Shyok, which is part of the Indus River

Lord Howe Island

2005-02-11T09:35:00.000-08:00

Island dependency of New South Wales, Australia, situated in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, 436 miles (702 km) northeast of Sydney. Volcanic in origin, it has an area of 7 square miles (17 square km). The island is well wooded but has little arable land. National parks cover 70 percent of the island, which harbours rare vegetation and bird life. It was discovered in 1788 and named after Admiral

Clarence Series

2005-02-10T19:55:00.000-08:00

Major division of Cretaceous rocks and time in New Zealand (the Cretaceous Period lasted from 144 to 66.4 million years ago). Rocks of the Clarence Series overlie those of the Taitai Series and underlie rocks of the Raukumara Series. Clarence rocks (sandstones, conglomerates, graywackes, mudstones, and basaltic lava flows) have been divided into four stages representing

Field Trial

2005-02-10T01:29:00.000-08:00

Any of the competitions among individual sporting dogs, under conditions that approximate or simulate those found in the hunting field. Competing dogs need not necessarily be of the same breed. In the United States many of the field trials in the bird-dog (pointing dog) category are staged under the sanction of the American Kennel Club, the official governing body

Unification Church

2005-02-09T20:54:00.000-08:00

Born in 1920, Moon was raised in the Presbyterian church, which eventually excommunicated him for heresy. As a teenager he had a

Nivelle, Robert-georges

2005-02-09T15:27:00.000-08:00

Nivelle graduated from the École Polytechnique in 1878, served in Indochina, Algeria, and China as an artillery officer, and was made a general of brigade in October 1914 after World War

Dome

2005-02-09T05:32:00.000-08:00

In geology, any large or elliptical structure formed by the fractureless upwarping of rock strata. It is a type of anticline that lacks clear-cut elongation and that slopes outward in all directions from the highest point. Typical examples of such a dome can be found in the Black Hills of South Dakota in the western United States. Where strata plunge more or less uniformly

France, History Of, Parisian revolt

2005-02-07T09:05:00.000-08:00

In fact, the king had by no means reconciled himself to this revolutionary act. His concession was a strategic retreat until he could muster the military power to subdue the patriots. Between June 27 and July 1 he ordered 20,000 royal troops into the Paris region, ostensibly to protect the assembly and to prevent disorder in the restive capital. The assembly's pleas to the king

Offa's Dyke

2005-02-07T07:46:00.000-08:00

Great English earthwork extending linearly, with some gaps, from the River Severn near Chepstow to the seaward end of the Dee estuary, passing for 169 miles (270 kilometres) through the counties of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Radnorshire, Montgomeryshire, Shropshire, Denbighshire, and Flintshire. It was built at the orders of Offa, the great Mercian king of the second

Belarusian Ridge

2005-02-07T03:19:00.000-08:00

Belarusian also spelled Belorussian, or Byelorussian, Russian Belorusskaya Gryada, or Belorusskaja Gr'ada, upland region in Belarus. From northeastern Poland the ridge runs southeast into western Belarus and then swings northeast. Its total length is 320 miles (520 km). The ridge, covered by marine sands and clays, is in reality a series of separate uplands, of which the highest point is Dzerzhinskaya Mountain, at 1,132 feet (345 m), in the Minsk Upland. To the south of the ridge lie the extensive

English Literature, Problems of dating

2005-02-06T10:48:00.000-08:00

Few poems can be dated as closely as Caedmon's “Hymn.” King Alfred's compositions fall into the late 9th century, and Bede composed his “Death Song” within 50 days of his death on May 25, 735. Historical poems like “The Battle of Brunanburh” (after 937) and “The Battle of Maldon” (after 991) are fixed by the dates of the events they commemorate. A translation of one of Aldhelm's riddles is found not only

Gulf

2005-02-05T13:35:00.000-08:00

Most existing gulfs were formed or greatly extended as a result of the rise in sea level that accompanied the melting of the last Pleistocene glacial ice mass, as vast sections of the continental margins were drowned. Some pronounced

Schaffhausen

2005-02-05T03:54:00.000-08:00

French Schaffhouse, most northerly canton of Switzerland. It lies north of the Rhine River and west of Lake Constance (Bodensee) and has an area of 115 square miles (299 square km), of which about 90 percent is classed as productive. It is virtually surrounded on the north, east, and west by Germany, portions of which divide the canton into three detached parts: a large region including the capital city

Onsager, Lars

2005-02-05T03:20:00.000-08:00

His early work in statistical mechanics attracted the attention of the Dutch chemist Peter Debye, under whose direction Onsager studied at the Federal Institute

Ear Disease, Eczema

2005-02-04T18:43:00.000-08:00

Eczema of the skin of the outer ear, like eczema elsewhere, is an itching, scaling redness, sometimes with weeping of the affected skin. It is often the result of an allergy to a food or substance such as hair spray that comes in contact with the skin. The best treatment is discovery and avoidance of the allergen. Cortisone ointment applied topically may temporarily relieve

Razor

2005-02-03T07:55:00.000-08:00

Keen-edged cutting implement for shaving or cutting hair. Prehistoric cave drawings show that clam shells, shark's teeth, and sharpened flints were used as shaving implements, and flints are still in use by certain primitive tribes. Solid gold and copper razors have been found in Egyptian tombs of the 4th millennium BC. According to the Roman historian Livy, the razor

Philip The Apostle, Saint

2005-02-02T17:23:00.000-08:00

One of the Twelve Apostles. Mentioned only by name in the Apostle lists of the Synoptic Gospels, he is a frequent character in the Gospel According to John, according to which (1:43–51) he came from Bethsaida, answered Jesus' call (“Follow me”), and was instrumental in the call of St. Nathanael (probably

Ester

2005-02-02T16:23:00.000-08:00

Carboxylic acid esters, formula RCOOR¢ (R and R¢ are any organic combining groups), are commonly prepared by reaction of carboxylic acids and alcohols in the presence of hydrochloric acid or sulfuric

Spanish Literature, Revival of the Spanish novel

2005-02-02T05:44:00.000-08:00

For more than two centuries the novel, with which Spain had made its greatest contribution to literature, had been almost extinct. The first novels of the revival were more interesting for powers of observation and description (a continuation of costumbrismo) than for imaginative or narrative quality. A woman novelist, Fernán Caballero, determined the technique

Smith, George

2005-02-01T23:55:00.000-08:00

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

China, Late Shang divination and religion

2005-02-01T21:32:00.000-08:00

Although certain complex symbols painted on Late Neolithic pots from Shantung suggest that primitive writing was emerging in the east in the 3rd millennium, the Shang divination inscriptions that appear at Hsiao-t'un form the earliest body of Chinese writing yet known. In Late Shang divination as practiced during the reign of Wu-ting (c. 1200–1180 BC), cattle scapulae or turtle

Skeet Shooting

2005-02-01T01:25:00.000-08:00

Sport in which marksmen use shotguns to shoot at clay targets thrown into the air by spring devices called traps. It differs from trapshooting (q.v.), from which it derived, in that in skeet, traps are set at two points on the field and targets may be thrown diagonally across the shooter's field of vision as well as directly away from him (see illustration). The sport was developed

Ganda

2005-01-31T02:26:00.000-08:00

Also called Baganda, or Waganda, people inhabiting the area north and northwest of Lake Victoria in south-central Uganda. They speak a Bantu language—called Ganda, or Luganda—of the Benue-Congo group. The Ganda are the most numerous people in Uganda and their territory the most productive and fertile. Once the core of the Uganda Protectorate, they have a higher standard of living and are more literate

Parallax

2005-01-30T20:22:00.000-08:00

In astronomy, the difference in direction of a celestial object as seen by an observer from two widely separated points. The measurement of parallax is used directly to find the distance of the body from the Earth (geocentric parallax) and from the Sun (heliocentric parallax). The two positions of the observer and the position of the object form a triangle; if the base

Pyrrole

2005-01-30T09:23:00.000-08:00

Any of a class of organic compounds of the heterocyclic series characterized by a ring structure composed of four carbon atoms and one nitrogen atom. The simplest member of the pyrrole family is pyrrole itself, a compound with molecular formula C4H5N. The pyrrole ring system is present in the amino acids proline and hydroxyproline; and in coloured natural products,

Songhai Empire

2005-01-30T09:02:00.000-08:00

Though the Songhai people are said to have established themselves in the city of Gao about AD 800, they did not regard it as their capital until the beginning of

Nahcolite

2005-01-29T23:14:00.000-08:00

Colourless to white carbonate mineral (NaHCO3), a naturally occurring sodium bicarbonate. Its structure consists of planar chains of carbonate groups linked with hydrogen bonds; planes are linked together by sodium in six-fold coordination with oxygen. Nahcolite commonly forms by reaction of carbon dioxide with the mineral trona (q.v.) in evaporated lake basins.

Nova Friburgo

2005-01-28T17:50:00.000-08:00

Nova Friburgo has textile mills but is best known as a summer mountain resort built in Swiss Alpine style. It can be reached by railroad and highway from Niterói, southwest, and from Rio de Janeiro, the state capital. Pop. (1991 prelim.) mun., 166,941.

Paleo-siberian Languages, Phonological features

2005-01-28T10:58:00.000-08:00

Typical phonological features of the Paleo-Siberian languages are postvelar consonants (i.e., sounds that are formed farther back in the mouth than /k/ and usually represented as q), vowel harmony of various kinds (e.g., the alternation of e and i in the form for ‘my' in Nivkh ñe-rla ‘my harpoon' and ñi-rly ‘my sky'), consonant alternations (e.g., the alternation between b, v, and f in Nivkh bal

Võrtsjärv

2005-01-28T10:48:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Võrts-järv, or Virtsjärv, Russian Ozero Vyrts-yarv, lake (järv) in south-central Estonia, with an area of about 110 square miles (280 square km). Võrtsjärv forms part of the 124-mile (200-kilometre) course of the Ema River (German Embach, Lithuanian Emajõgi), which enters the lake from the south and drains it north and east into Peipsi Lake on the Estonia–Russia border. The Võrtsjärv is navigable, as is the lower course of the Ema. The lake and river

Mormon

2005-01-27T19:39:00.000-08:00

In western New York state in 1827, during a time of intense religious revivalism, Joseph Smith, Jr., a farmer's son, claimed an angel called Moroni gave him golden plates whose engraved records Smith translated into English as the Book of Mormon—so called after Mormon, an ancient American prophet who had made an abridgment of many previous plates. Smith published the Book

Glinka, Mikhail

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

Glinka first became interested in music at age 10 or 11, when he heard his uncle's private orchestra. He studied at the Chief Pedagogic Institute at St. Petersburg

Carnivore, Annotated classification

2005-01-26T01:23:00.000-08:00

Although the terrestrial and marine carnivores are grouped together in the following classification, many authors separate them into two orders. In this article the split is indicated by erecting two suborders, the Fissipedia and Pinnipedia, based largely on the degree of specialization undergone by the members as they evolved and adapted to radically different

China, War between Nationalists and Communists

2005-01-25T05:34:00.000-08:00

In the meantime, the Communists had created 15 rural bases in central China, and they established a soviet government, the Kiangsi Soviet, on Nov. 7, 1931. Within the soviet regions the Communist leadership expropriated and redistributed land and in other ways enlisted the support of the poorer classes. The Japanese occupation of Manchuria and an ancillary localized war

Karawanken

2005-01-25T01:26:00.000-08:00

Italian Caravanche , Serbo-Croatian Karavanke mountain range of the Eastern Alps, extending eastward along the Slovenian-Austrian border for 50 miles (80 km) from the town of Tarvisio in Italy. The range lies between the Drava River (north) and the upper Sava River (south) and rises to Hochstuhl (7,342 feet [2,238 m]) in the eastern part. The Karawanken, consisting mainly of limestone, is crossed by road at Wurzen, Loibl, and Seeberg passes.