SadPipe

Cam Ranh Bay

2005-03-24T13:58:00.000-08:00

The Binh Ba Bay, or outer bay, with Binh Ba Island lying off the tip of Point Cam Linh, offers some protection to ships at anchor, but the 1-mile- (1.6-kilometre-) wide

Ashikaga Tadayoshi

2005-03-22T19:09:00.000-08:00

When in 1333 Takauji joined forces with the emperor Go-Daigo, Tadayoshi accompanied him, becoming a leading commander of the

Siwa Oasis

2005-03-20T07:05:00.000-08:00

Arabic Wahat Siwah oasis in Matruh muhafazah (governorate), western Egypt. It lies near the Libyan frontier, 350 miles (560 km) west-southwest of Cairo. The oasis is 6 miles (10 km) long by 4–5 miles (6–8 km) wide and has about 200 springs. Two rock outcrops provide the sites of the old walled settlements of Siwa and Aghurmi, which are veritable fortresses. The oasis is inhabited by Berber-speaking Sudanic peoples who live in mud-brick

John Carroll University

2005-03-18T19:06:00.000-08:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher learning in University Heights, Ohio, U.S. It is affiliated with the Jesuit order of the Roman Catholic church. The university comprises the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Business, and the Graduate School. The university offers both bachelor's and master's degree programs. Research facilities include the

Coleridge, (david) Hartley

2005-03-16T00:03:00.000-08:00

The eldest son of the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, he spent his childhood alarming and delighting his family and the Southeys and Wordsworths by his mental agility and the “exquisite wildness” that caused

Australia, Overall characteristics

2005-03-13T02:16:00.000-08:00

Australia is a land of vast plains. Only 6 percent of the island continent is above 2,000 feet (600 metres) in elevation. Its highest peak, Mount Kosciusko, rises to only 7,310 feet (2,228 metres). This situation stems in part from the long periods of geologic time during which Australia has been subject to weathering and erosion and in part from Australia's position at the edge of a zone of significant

Greece, History Of, The Metaxas regime and World War II

2005-03-11T21:36:00.000-08:00

Public disillusionment with the endless intrigues of the political world, which had been growing apace in the preceding years, was exacerbated when the news leaked that the main political blocs were secretly negotiating with the communists. When the nonpolitical figure appointed by the king to head a caretaker government charged with overseeing the elections

African Literature, English

2005-03-10T11:23:00.000-08:00

Although a genuine African literature in English did not emerge until the 1950s, writing in English by Africans goes back to the 18th century. Many slave narratives were published in English between 1760 and 1865, when the Civil War ended in the United States. Perhaps the most remarkable is The Interesting Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa,

Isidore Of Kiev

2005-03-08T04:29:00.000-08:00

Abbot of St. Demetrius

Accomplice

2005-03-05T15:13:00.000-08:00

An abettor is one who is present actually or constructively at the commission

Subud

2005-03-03T03:27:00.000-08:00

Religious movement, based on spontaneous and ecstatic exercises, founded by an Indonesian, Muhammad Subuh, called Bapak. A student of Sufism (Islamic mysticism) as a youth, Bapak had a powerful mystical experience in 1925, and in 1933 he claimed that the mission to found the Subud movement was revealed to him. The movement was restricted to Indonesia until the 1950s, when it spread to Europe

Silhouette

2005-03-01T09:31:00.000-08:00

An image or design in a single hue and tone, most usually the popular 18th- and 19th-century cut or painted profile portraits done in black on white or the reverse. Silhouette also is any outline or sharp shadow of an object. The word was satirically derived from the name of the parsimonious mid-18th-century French finance minister Étienne de Silhouette, whose hobby was the

Wolgemut, Michael

2005-02-28T13:15:00.000-08:00

After an obscure early period Wolgemut married (1472) Barbara, widow of the Nürnberg painter Hans Pleydenwurff. In the next 40 years he produced a series of large altarpieces, rich with carving and gilding, as well as portraits and book illustrations. The altarpiece of St. Jacob, Straubing,

Hughes Medical Institute

2005-02-26T10:01:00.000-08:00

In full Howard Hughes Medical Institute, American philanthropic foundation, established in 1953 by the aviator and industrialist Howard Hughes. From its offices in Bethesda, Md., the organization subsidizes biomedical research at hospitals and universities throughout the United States, chiefly in genetics, immunology, cell biology, structural biology, and the neurosciences. It also provides educational

Pindus Mountains

2005-02-24T03:39:00.000-08:00

In antiquity, the name Pindus applied to ranges south of the Aracynthus (Zygós) Pass west of Thessaly. Occasionally the Pindus is said to extend into Albania but also to include the Tymphrestos (Timfristós) massif and

Gymnasium

2005-02-22T00:29:00.000-08:00

In Germany, state-maintained secondary school that prepares pupils for higher academic education. This type of nine-year school originated in Strassburg in 1537. Although the usual leaving age is 19 or 20, a pupil may terminate his studies at the age of 16 and enter a vocational school. In Germany the Gymnasium is differentiated into three main types, according to curriculum:

Mckenna, Joseph

2005-02-19T16:22:00.000-08:00

McKenna grew up in California and was admitted to the state bar in 1865. A Republican, he served as Solano county district attorney (1866–70) and in the California state legislature (1875–76). Despite the prevailing anti-Roman Catholic sentiments that contributed to two defeats at the polls, McKenna was elected in

Ga

2005-02-17T09:40:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Gan, or Gã, people of the southeast coast of Ghana, speaking a dialect of the Kwa branch of Niger-Congo languages. The Ga are descended from immigrants who came down the Niger River and across the Volta during the 17th century. The Ga-speaking peoples were organized into six independent towns (Accra, Osu, Labadi, Teshi, Nungua, and Tema). Each town had a stool, which served as the central

Denison University

2005-02-15T21:11:00.000-08:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Granville, Ohio, U.S. It offers an undergraduate curriculum in the humanities, social sciences, sciences, and fine arts. Many students participate in off-campus study programs such as engineering in cooperation with Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and forestry in cooperation with Duke

Mindszenty, József

2005-02-14T20:18:00.000-08:00

Politically active from the time of his ordination as a priest in 1915, Mindszenty was arrested as an enemy of totalitarian

Colbert, Jean-baptiste, Marquis De Seignelay

2005-02-11T00:50:00.000-08:00

As the eldest son of the famous secretary of state of that name, Colbert was given the best possible tutors, who found him bright but lazy. In 1683 Colbert became head of the navy and performed brilliantly at the post. He showed an excellent knowledge of naval affairs and personally supervised innovations

Meinong, Alexius

2005-02-10T14:09:00.000-08:00

After studying under the philosophical psychologist Franz Brentano from 1875 to 1878 in Vienna, he joined the faculty of philosophy at the

Moray, James Stewart, 1st Earl Of, Earl Of Mar, Lord Abernethy

2005-02-08T07:04:00.000-08:00

The illegitimate son of King James V and Lady Margaret Douglas, Stewart led the Protestant lords in their conflict with Mary Stuart's mother, Mary of Lorraine, the queen regent. When Mary Stuart assumed control of the government

Deggendorf

2005-02-06T09:57:00.000-08:00

City, Bavaria Land (state), southeastern Germany, on the Danube River, 2.5 miles (4 km) above its confluence with the Isar River. It lies at the western foot of the Bavarian and Bohemian forests, east of Straubing. Founded about 750, it passed to the dukes of Bavaria in 1242 and was chartered in 1316. The river and the forested mountains form a picturesque setting for the city, which retains its

Riesener, Jean-henri

2005-02-04T01:39:00.000-08:00

Riesener was the son of an usher in the law courts of the elector of Cologne. After moving to Paris he joined the workshop of Jean-François Oeben in 1754, and, when Oeben died in 1763, Riesener was put in charge of the workshop and later married his master's widow. He made

Earth Sciences, The theory of plate tectonics

2005-01-31T11:18:00.000-08:00

Plate tectonics has revolutionized virtually every discipline of the Earth sciences since the late 1960s and early 1970s. It has served as a unifying model or paradigm for explaining geologic phenomena that were formerly considered in unrelated fashion. Plate tectonics describes seismic activity, volcanism, mountain building, and various other Earth processes in

Kirikkale

2005-01-28T04:27:00.000-08:00

Town, central Turkey, on the Ankara-Kayseri railway near the Kizil River. Formerly a village, it owes its rapid rise in population mainly to the establishment of steel mills in the 1950s. These works, among the largest in the country, specialize in high-quality alloy steel and machinery. In the 1960s chemical plants were added. Electricity is provided by a generating plant that is

Bribie Island

2005-01-26T07:48:00.000-08:00

Island off the southeastern coast of Queensland, Australia, at the northern extremity of Moreton Bay. The island is 20 miles (32 km) long and from 1 to 5 miles wide and has an area of 59 square miles (153 square km). Its surface, generally low with some higher sand ridges, is wooded with cypress pine. Matthew Flinders, the English navigator, landed in 1799 at its southern tip, which he named Skirmish

Latite

2005-01-24T15:39:00.000-08:00

Also called trachyandesite extrusive igneous rock very abundant in western North America. Usually coloured white, yellowish, pinkish, or gray, it is the volcanic equivalent of monzonite (q.v.). Latites contain plagioclase feldspar (andesine or oligoclase) as large, single crystals (phenocrysts) in a fine-grained matrix of orthoclase feldspar and augite. They also contain phenocrysts of diopside,

Antarctica

2005-01-22T08:52:00.000-08:00

A great many nations, large and small, played important roles in the discovery and exploration of Antarctica. Who first saw the continent is controversial. The Russian expedition leader Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, the Englishman Edward Bransfield, and the American Nathaniel Palmer all claim first sightings in 1820: Bellingshausen sighted a shelf edge of

Algebra, The structural approach dominates

2005-01-20T03:48:00.000-08:00

After the late 1930s it was clear that algebra, and in particular the structural approach within it, had become one of the most dynamic areas of research in mathematics. Structural methods, results, and concepts were actively pursued by algebraists in Germany, France, the United States, Japan, and elsewhere. The structural approach was also successfully applied to redefine

Conseil De L'entente

2005-01-19T07:17:00.000-08:00

(French: “Entente Council”), French West African organization founded in 1959 and designed to promote the economic development of the region by raising funds, guaranteeing loans, and encouraging trade and investment. It operates through the Mutual Aid and Loan Guarantee Fund headquartered in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast). The original member-states were Dahomey

Ekelöf, Gunnar

2005-01-17T11:40:00.000-08:00

Ekelöf exerted great influence on his contemporaries. His radically modern style was influenced by such poets as Charles Baudelaire, Arthur Rimbaud, Ezra Pound, and T.S. Eliot. In such poetry from the 1930s as Sent på jorden (1932; “Late on Earth”), Ekelöf was drawn to the Surrealist technique of automatism

Uyuni

2005-01-14T22:47:00.000-08:00

Town, southwestern Bolivia. It lies on the cold, windswept Altiplano, a high intermontane plateau, at 12,024 feet (3,665 m) above sea level, just east of the vast Uyuni Salt Flat. Founded in 1890, it prospered, with the assistance of Slav and Syrian colonists, as a railroad junction and mining and market centre. Northeast of the town are the Pulacayo and Huanchaca silver mines. From Uyuni a branch

Szilard, Leo

2005-01-13T08:00:00.000-08:00

In 1922 Szilard received his Ph.D. from the University of Berlin and joined the staff of the Institute of Theoretical

Lauterbrunnen

2005-01-09T13:32:00.000-08:00

Town, Bern canton, south-central Switzerland, in the Bernese Oberland, on the Lütschine River, south of Interlaken. The river valley is bounded by impressive cliffs of 1,000–1,500 feet (300–450 m) and is noted for its Alpine streams and waterfalls, from which the name Lauterbrunnen (“Clear Fountains”) is derived. The most notable falls are the Staubbach and the Trümmelbach. The town is a year-round

Kochowski, Wespazjan

2005-01-06T05:03:00.000-08:00

During his years in military service (1650–61), Kochowski fought against the Cossacks and the Swedes. He later became court historian for King John III Sobieski and was present at Sobieski's victory over the Turks at Vienna in 1683. Kochowski developed a deep sense of patriotism, which

Aylesbury Vale

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

District in the northern part of the administrative and historic county of Buckinghamshire, southern England. The name comes from the rich clay Vale of Aylesbury, which is situated between the ridges of the Cotswolds and the Chiltern Hills. The district includes both Aylesbury and Buckingham, 16 miles (26 km) farther north, and their surrounding rural countryside. Area

Foyle, Lough

2005-01-02T10:18:00.000-08:00

Irish Loch Feabhail inlet on the north coast of Ireland between the Inishowen Peninsula (mainly County Donegal, Ireland) to the west and the district councils of Limavady and Londonderry (until 1973 in County Londonderry), Northern Ireland, to the east and southeast. The lough is about 16 miles (26 km) long and varies in breadth from 1 to 10 miles (1.6 to 16 km). The narrowest points are at the southwestern end, where

Hudud, Al-

2005-01-01T20:14:00.000-08:00

Singular Al-hadd, in the Druze religion, five cosmic principles that are emanations from God, the One. Al-Hakim, the 11th-century Fatimid caliph of Egypt deified by the Druzes, stands at the centre of the universe as the embodiment of the One. Hamzah ibn 'Ali, a contemporary of al-Hakim, systematized the Druze religion and presented himself as the direct human link to the One; he then established a hierarchy

Trichomycetes

2004-12-29T06:39:00.000-08:00

Class of fungi (division Mycota) with a vegetative body (thallus) consisting of single or branched filaments (hyphae). The class was earlier subsumed under the group Phycomycetes (q.v.). Trichomycetes occur in the gut or on the cuticle (outer covering) of crabs, beach fleas, boring gribble, and other arthropods. Asexual reproduction occurs by the formation of saclike fruiting

Ecuador, Domination of Velasco Ibarra (post-World War II)

2004-12-28T10:54:00.000-08:00

Politics and government after World War II presented contradictions. Ecuador enjoyed a long period of constitutional government and relatively free elections following the presidency of the Radical Liberal leader Galo Plaza (1948–52). There were also two long interludes of military government (1963–66; 1972–79), but the period was dominated by one of Latin America's great caudillos,

Spontini, Gaspare (luigi Pacifico)

2004-12-25T13:50:00.000-08:00

Entering the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini in Naples in 1793, he studied music with Nicola Sala

Neuropteran, Locomotion

2004-12-24T08:47:00.000-08:00

Most larvae have walking legs except in those whose legs are modified for burrowing (Ithonidae and Myrmeleontoidea). The aquatic dobsonfly larvae have a pair of terminal abdominal prolegs that are important in moving in strong currents. The legs, abdominal filaments, and median tail filament of alderfly larvae bear long hairs, or setae, which help to propel them

Niceforo, Alfredo

2004-12-20T07:37:00.000-08:00

Italian sociologist, criminologist, and statistician who posited the theory that every person has a “deep ego” of antisocial, subconscious impulses that represent a throwback to precivilized existence. Accompanying this ego, and attempting to keep its latent delinquency in check, according to his concept, is

Die

2004-12-17T10:42:00.000-08:00

Tool or device for imparting a desired shape, form, or finish to a material. Examples include a perforated block through which metal or plastic is drawn or extruded, the hardened steel forms for producing the patterns on coins and medals by pressure, and the hollow molds into which metal or plastic is forced. See also diesinking.

Interference Fringe

2004-12-16T01:10:00.000-08:00

A bright or dark band caused by beams of light that are in phase or out of phase with one another. Light waves and similar wave propagation, when superimposed, will add their crests if they meet in the same phase (the waves are both increasing or both decreasing); or the troughs will cancel the crests if they are out of phase; these phenomena are called constructive and destructive

X Ray

2004-12-14T11:53:00.000-08:00

Early experiments with X rays presented evidence that is difficult to explain unless one thinks of X rays as consisting of waves. Other experiments, however, indicated that X rays consist of particles. This dual nature is not restricted to X rays; indeed, it is a general property of all forms of energy and matter. X rays (and the other forms of electromagnetic radiation)

Petermann Ranges

2004-12-12T09:11:00.000-08:00

Low mountains extending for 200 miles (320 km) from east-central Western Australia southeast to the southwest corner of Northern Territory. A continuation of the granite and gneiss formations in the Musgrave Ranges to the southeast, the Petermanns rise to a height of 3,800 feet (1,158 metres). Visited (1874) by Ernest Giles, the mountains were named after August Petermann, a German geographer.

Kiesinger, Kurt Georg

2004-12-05T16:31:00.000-08:00

Kiesinger was educated at Berlin and Tübingen, after which he began to practice law. He joined the Nazi Party after Adolf

Jovian

2004-12-04T16:36:00.000-08:00

Jovian took part in the expedition of the emperor Julian against Sasanian Persia and was proclaimed emperor by his troops after Julian was killed on June 26, 363. To extricate his army from Persia, the new ruler immediately concluded a peace, ceding to the Persians all Roman territory east of the Tigris

Eckert, J. Presper, Jr.

2004-12-01T07:28:00.000-08:00

Eckert was educated at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (B.S., 1941; M.S., 1943), where he and his professor, John W.

Yakima

2004-11-29T04:29:00.000-08:00

Although culturally much like other Sahaptin Indians of the Plateau, the Yakima acquired historical distinction in the Yakima Indian Wars (1855–58), a failed attempt by

Caucasian Languages, General works

2004-11-27T14:30:00.000-08:00

G. Deeters, G.R. Solta, and Vahan Inglisian, Armenisch und kaukasische Sprachen (1963), a survey, includes a presentation of the structure of the Caucasian languages according to the most characteristic features of phonology, morphology, and syntax, with an extensive bibliography. G.A. Klimov, Kavkazskie iazyki (1965), also available in a German translation, Die kaukasischen Sprachen (1969), offers a brief exposition of the history and structures of the Caucasian languages, with a general characterization of each group and an extensive bibliography, and his Vvedenie v kavkazskoe iazykoznanie, ed. by B.A. Serebrennikov (1986), also available in a German translation, Einführung in die kaukasische Sprachwissenschaft, ed. and trans. by Jost Gippert (1994), is also of interest. A.H. Kuipers, “Caucasian,” in Current Trends in Linguistics, vol. 1 (1963), pp. 315–344, provides a useful brief survey of Caucasian linguistics, with a selected bibliography. Adolf Dirr, Einführung in das Studium der kaukasischen Sprachen (1928, reprinted 1978), contains a survey of the structure of individual Caucasian languages and their interrelationships as well as a linguistic atlas. V.V. Vinogradov (ed.), IAzyki Narodov SSSR, vol. 4, Iberiisko-Kavkazskie IAzyki (1967), is a brief exposition of the structures of all the Caucasian languages, with a selected bibliography. Much of the more recent scholarship is published in Georgian or Russian. Recent works in English include John A.C. Greppin (ed.), The Indigenous Languages of the Caucasus (1991– ); and Howard I. Aronson (ed.), Non-Slavic Languages of the U.S.S.R.: Papers from the Fourth Conference (1994).

Albert

2004-11-26T05:51:00.000-08:00

Albert was the younger son of John Cicero, elector of Brandenburg. Albert became archbishop of Magdeburg and administrator of the bishopric of Halberstadt

Strålsund Faience

2004-11-24T07:22:00.000-08:00

Tin-glazed earthenware made at Strålsund, Swed. (now Stralsund, Ger.), from around 1755 to 1792. The factory was founded by Johann Ulrich Giese, who leased it to Johann Eberhard Ludwig Ehrenreich. The latter had founded a faience factory at Marieberg in Sweden, and the products of Strålsund differ little from Marieberg ware. All-white vases, decorated with naturalistic flowers

Zamyatin, Yevgeny Ivanovich

2004-11-21T13:25:00.000-08:00

Zamyatin also spelled Zamiatin Russian novelist, playwright, and satirist, one of the most brilliant and cultured minds of the post-revolutionary period, and creator of a peculiarly modern genre—the anti-Utopian novel. His influence as an experimental stylist and as an exponent of the cosmopolitan-humanist traditions

Deflation

2004-11-19T05:49:00.000-08:00

In geology, erosion of loose material from flat areas of dry, uncemented sediments such as those occurring in deserts, dry lake beds, floodplains, and glacial outwash plains. Clay and silt-sized particles are picked up by turbulent eddies in wind and may be carried for hundreds of kilometres; they later settle to form loess deposits. Local areas subjected to deflation

Biblical Literature, II Maccabees

2004-11-17T23:56:00.000-08:00

The Second Book of the Maccabees, or its source, was probably written in the same period as I Maccabees. The book is preceded by two letters to the Jews of Egypt: the first from the year 124 BCE and the second one written earlier (164 BCE) commemorating the rededication of the Temple. In the preface of the book, the author indicates that he has condensed into one book the lost five-volume

Xiaozhuan

2004-11-16T01:52:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization hsiao-chuan in Chinese calligraphy, a standardized and simplified form of the earlier dazhuan script, in which all lines are of even thickness and curves and circles are relatively predominant. Its development during the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) is traditionally attributed to Li Si, a minister of that dynasty. The Qin dynasty created the first Chinese empire, under which customs, laws, and

Yaka

2004-11-16T01:37:00.000-08:00

Rural Yaka are subsistence farmers of cassava and corn

The Revolution

2004-11-14T17:14:00.000-08:00

A scant three years after the end of the Civil War, the United States was embroiled in the issue of suffrage for African-American men, and many suffragists—notably those who formed the American

Shahi Family

2004-11-13T04:11:00.000-08:00

Also called Shahiya, dynasty of some 60 rulers who governed the Kabul valley (in Afghanistan) and the old province of Gandhara from the decline of the Kushan empire in the 3rd century AD. The word Shahi, the title of the rulers, is related to the old Kushan form shao, or “king.” The dynasty probably descended from the Kushans, or Turks (Tarushkas). Nothing is recorded of the history of the long line until the last

Terhune, Albert Payson

2004-11-12T13:29:00.000-08:00

After schooling in Europe, Terhune graduated from Columbia University in 1893, traveled in Egypt and Syria, and joined the staff of the New York Evening World in 1894. His first book was Syria from the Saddle (1896); his first novel, Dr. Dale (1900), was written

Yamato-koriyama

2004-11-11T00:53:00.000-08:00

Also called Koriyama-kingyo (Koriyama-Goldfish), city, Nara ken (prefecture), western Honshu, Japan. It is located 3 miles (5 km) southwest of Nara city. A prehistoric settlement, it became a castle town during the last decade of the 15th century. With the opening of a trunk line of the National Railway, a modern textile factory was established there in 1893. The most important industry of the city has been goldfish

Blood Transfusion

2004-11-10T22:53:00.000-08:00

The transfer of blood into the vein of a human or animal recipient. The blood is either taken directly from a donor or is obtained from a blood bank. Blood transfusions are a therapeutic measure used to restore blood or plasma volume after extensive hemorrhage, burns, or trauma; to increase the number and concentration of red blood cells in persons with anemia in order

Nichiren Buddhism

2004-11-09T01:30:00.000-08:00

Nichiren believed that the quintessence of the Buddha's teachings was contained in the Lotus Sutra (Sanskrit: Saddharmapundarika-sutra; “The Scripture of the Lotus of the Good Law”). According to him, the other

Van Loo, Charles-andré

2004-11-08T09:19:00.000-08:00

He belonged to a noted family of artists of Flemish origin. His elder brother, Jean-Baptiste Van Loo, brought him up, taught him his profession, and took him to Rome. They returned to Paris, where in 1724 they won first prize in the

Durbar

2004-11-07T11:12:00.000-08:00

The three best-known durbars were held in Delhi in 1877, 1903, and 1911. They celebrated Queen Victoria's assumption of the title of Empress

'amarah, Al-

2004-11-05T23:47:00.000-08:00

City, southeastern Iraq. Situated on a low ridge beside the Tigris River, it is Iraq's chief port on that waterway south of Baghdad. It is a trade centre for agricultural produce, livestock, wool, and hides and is known for weaving and silverware. In World War I it was captured by the British during their 1915 Mesopotamia campaign. Before 1958, al-'Amarah was an outstanding example of

Kediri

2004-11-05T03:04:00.000-08:00

Ancient Kadiri city, Jawa Timur provinsi (“province”), eastern Java, Indonesia. It is situated on the Brantas River, at the foot of Mount Wilis, 65 miles (105 km) southwest of Surabaya. It is the centre of a sugar industry and of trade in such agricultural products as coffee, tobacco, rice, and cassava. The city's light manufacturing includes textile and lumber mills and machine shops. The surrounding

Offenbach

2004-11-04T09:56:00.000-08:00

In full Offenbach Am Main, city, Hesse Land (state), west-central Germany, a river port (coal and oil) on the left bank of the canalized Main. First mentioned in 977, it was part of the imperial forest of Dreieich, and a mint was established there in 1407. Acquired by Count (later prince) von Isenburg-Birstein in 1486, it began its prosperity with an influx of Huguenot craftsmen in 1698–1703. Annexed to Hesse in 1816, it grew steadily

Middle America

2004-11-03T14:30:00.000-08:00

The isthmian tract between the southern Rocky Mountains and the northern tip of the Andes (or, generally, from the southern border of the United States to the northern border of Colombia), marking the territorial transition from North America to South America. The difference between this designation and “Central America” is that Middle America includes Mexico; sometimes

Ibn 'aqil

2004-11-02T18:41:00.000-08:00

In 1055–66 Ibn 'Aqil received instruction in Islamic law according to the tenets of the

Deere, John

2004-11-02T02:40:00.000-08:00

Apprenticed to a blacksmith at age 17, Deere set up his own smithy trade four years later and, for 12 years, did work in various towns of his native Vermont. In 1837, when 33 years old, he headed west and eventually settled in Grand Detour, Ill., where he set up a blacksmith's shop, and

Nagasaki

2004-10-31T16:08:00.000-08:00

Capital and largest city, Nagasaki ken (prefecture), western Kyushu, Japan, at the mouth of the Urakami-gawa (Urakami River) where it empties into Nagasaki-ko (Nagasaki Harbour). The harbour is composed of a narrow, deep-cut bay, formed at the meeting point of Nomo-saki (Cape Nomo; south) and Nishisonoki-hanto (Nishisonoki Peninsula; northwest). The city is shaped like an amphitheatre,

Ashe, Arthur (robert)

2004-10-31T07:29:00.000-08:00

Ashe began to play tennis at the age of seven in a neighbourhood park. He was coached by Walter Johnson of Lynchburg, Va., who had coached tennis champion Althea Gibson. Ashe moved to St. Louis, Mo., where he was coached by Richard Hudlin, before he entered

China, Neolithic Period

2004-10-28T16:06:00.000-07:00

The complex of developments in stone tool technology, food production and storage, and social organization that is often characterized as the “Neolithic Revolution” was in progress in China by at least the 6th millennium BC. Developments in the Chinese Neolithic were to establish some of the major cultural dimensions of the subsequent Bronze Age.

Luque

2004-10-26T21:43:00.000-07:00

City, southern Paraguay. Founded in 1635, Luque rose to prominence as the temporary national capital during the bloody Paraguayan War (1864–70) with Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. Oranges, sugarcane, tobacco, cotton, and livestock produced in the area supply the markets of nearby Asunción, to which it is accessible by railroad and highway. Factories in Luque manufacture guitars

Pius Ix

2004-10-26T09:51:00.000-07:00

The year of revolutions began in Sicily; soon all Europe was ablaze and Pius was faced with demands, both liberal and nationalist, much beyond what he had been prepared to grant (see Revolutions of 1848). On March 14 he was compelled to grant a constitution establishing a two-chamber parliament with full legislative and fiscal powers subject only to the pope's personal veto. On

Mystery Religion

2004-10-24T14:04:00.000-07:00

Any of various secret cults of the Greco-Roman world that offered to individuals religious experiences not provided by the official public religions. They originated in tribal ceremonies that were performed by primitive peoples in many parts of the world. Whereas in these tribal communities almost every member of the clan or the village was initiated, initiation

Dieldrin

2004-10-24T00:17:00.000-07:00

Chlorine-containing organic compound used as an insecticide; see aldrin.

Qalyubiyah, Al-

2004-10-23T20:23:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Kalyubia, small muhafazah (governorate), just north of Cairo at the apex of the Nile River delta, Lower Egypt. It is bounded on the northeast by Ash-Sharqiyah muhafazah and on the northwest by the Damietta Branch of the Nile. With a total area of 387 square miles (1,001 square km), it is densely populated. About three-fifths of its population relies on agriculture. The alluvial farmland is irrigated

Adams, John, Special topics

2004-10-22T13:24:00.000-07:00

Finally, seminal essays on Adams's personality and ideology can be found in several books that focus on larger themes during the Revolutionary era. These include Bernard Bailyn, Faces of Revolution: Personalities and Themes in the Struggle for American Independence (1990, reissued 1992); Edmund S. Morgan, The Meaning of Independence: John Adams, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson (1976, reissued 1978); and Gordon S. Wood, The Creation of the American Republic, 1776–1787 (1969, reissued 1998).

Anthony Of Kiev

2004-10-21T06:33:00.000-07:00

Seeking a solitary life, Anthony became a monk about 1028 at the Greek Orthodox monastery of Esphigmenon on Mount Athos, in Greece. According to an account contained in the 12th-century The Russian Primary Chronicle (Povest vremennykh let), Anthony

Frumentius, Saint

2004-10-20T06:21:00.000-07:00

A student of philosophy from Tyre, Frumentius and a colleague, Aedesius, were

Mölln

2004-10-18T23:13:00.000-07:00

City, Schleswig-Holstein Land (state), northern Germany, situated south of Lübeck, on the Elbe-Lübeck Canal, and built around two small lakes. First mentioned in 1188, it was chartered about 1220. According to legend, the prankster Till Eulenspiegel, the representative of Low German humour and the subject of both literary and musical works, died there in 1350, and his tombstone (16th century)

Paraffin Hydrocarbon

2004-10-18T21:33:00.000-07:00

Also called >alkane any of the saturated hydrocarbons having the general formula CnH2n+2, C being a carbon atom, H a hydrogen atom, and n an integer. The paraffins are major constituents of natural gas and petroleum. Paraffins containing fewer than 5 carbon atoms per molecule are usually gaseous at room temperature, those having 5 to 15 carbon atoms are usually liquids, and the straight-chain

Mölln

2004-10-17T00:41:00.000-07:00

An ancient lineage of mammals comprising the armadillos (order Cingulata) and the sloths and anteaters (order Pilosa). The namesake feature shared by all members of Xenarthra is seen in the lower backbone. The lumbar vertebrae are “xenarthrous”; that is, they have extra contacts (joints, or arthroses) that function to strengthen the lower back and hips. This aids use of

Ribaut, Jean

2004-10-16T02:45:00.000-07:00

Jean Ribaut began his naval career as a youth, rising through the ranks to become one of the most dependable officers serving under Admiral Gaspard de Coligny. In 1558 Ribaut was commander of a French supply vessel at the successful capture of Calais from the English, and the following year

Shiels, Robert

2004-10-15T23:59:00.000-07:00

Moving to London, where he was a printer, Shiels was employed by Samuel Johnson as an amanuensis on the Dictionary of the English Language. When this work was completed, Shiels, with others, began the compilation of a five-volume The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland, to the Time of Dean

Guenon

2004-10-14T04:01:00.000-07:00

Any of about 20 species of widely distributed African monkeys of the genus Cercopithecus, family Cercopithecidae. Guenons are slim, graceful, quadrupedal monkeys with long arms and legs, short faces, and nonprehensile tails that are longer than the combined head and body length of about 30–65 cm (12–26 inches). Guenons are known for the beauty of their soft,

Xavier, Saint Francis

2004-10-13T23:50:00.000-07:00

Xavier's eyes, however, were now fixed on a land reached only five years before by Europeans: Japan. His conversations in Malacca with Anjiro, a Japanese deeply interested in Christianity, had shown that this people was cultured and sophisticated, unlike the fishermen he had known in India or the headhunters of the Moluccas. On Aug. 15, 1549, a Portuguese ship bearing Francis,

Sudra

2004-10-13T18:41:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Shudra, Sanskrit Sudra, the fourth and lowest of the traditional varnas, or social classes, of Hindu India, traditionally artisans and labourers. The term does not appear in the earliest Vedic literature. In its first application it probably included all conquered peoples of the Indus civilization as they were assimilated as menials to the three-class society of the Brahmans (priests

Elgon, Mount

2004-10-10T15:26:00.000-07:00

Extinct volcano on the Kenya-Uganda boundary. Its crater, about 5 miles (8 km) in diameter, contains several peaks, of which Wagagai (14,178 feet [4,321 m]) is the highest. Its extrusions cover about 1,250 square miles (3,200 square km) and consist largely of fragmental rocks and only a smattering of lavas. The mountain slope is gentle and the outline unimpressive. On the east and southeast at about 6,200 feet

Esquirol, Jean-étienne-dominique

2004-10-10T02:35:00.000-07:00

A student of Philippe Pinel, Esquirol succeeded his distinguished teacher as physician in chief at the Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris in 1811, further developing Pinel's diagnostic techniques and

Weissenfels

2004-10-08T22:04:00.000-07:00

City, Saxony-Anhalt Land (state), eastern Germany. It lies on the right bank of the Saale River, south of Halle. A German town on the site of an old Slav settlement, it was chartered in 1185, when it belonged to the Saxon House of Wettin. It was the residence of the dukes of Saxe-Weissenfels from 1656 to 1746 and passed to Prussia in 1815. The Baroque castle (1660–93) is preserved, and the town museum has a notable

Wang Yang-ming

2004-10-08T00:32:00.000-07:00

Pinyin Wang Yangming , original name (Wade–Giles romanization) Wang Shou-jen , literary name Pe-an , canonized as Wen-ch'eng , Japanese Oyo-mei Chinese scholar-official whose Idealistic interpretation of Neo-Confucianism influenced philosophical thinking in East Asia for centuries. Though his government career was rather unstable, his suppression of rebellions brought a century of peace to his region. His philosophical doctrines, emphasizing understanding

Solti, Sir Georg

2004-10-07T16:19:00.000-07:00

Solti studied at the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest with Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály.

Peter I

2004-10-07T11:59:00.000-07:00

As successor to his saintly but inept uncle Sava, Peter became the reigning prince in theocratic Montenegro in 1782 and was consecrated bishop two years later. To cement relations with Russia, always a potential