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Sha'ir

2005-11-19T06:55:00.000-08:00

(Arabic: “poet”), in Arabic literature, poet who in pre-Islamic times was a tribal dignitary whose poetic utterances were deemed supernaturally inspired by such spirits as jinn and shaitans. As such, his word was needed to insure the success of certain tribal activities, particularly war, grazing, and the invocation of the gods. In times of intertribal strife, the satire

Quimper Faience

2005-10-17T03:40:00.000-07:00

Tin-enamelled earthenware produced by a factory at Loc Maria, a suburb of Quimper in Brittany, Fr. The factory was founded in 1690 by Jean-Baptiste Bosquet, a potter from Marseille who had settled there. Both Pierre Caussy, who took over in 1743, and de la Hubeaudière, who bought it in 1809, expanded production. Quimper ware never developed a truly distinct style of its own, however, but

Panama, Relief

2005-07-28T06:15:00.000-07:00

A central spine of mountain ranges extends almost the entire length of Panama, dividing the country into Atlantic- and Pacific-facing slopes. The two principal ranges, the Tabasará Mountains (Cordillera Central) in the west and the Cordillera de San Blas in the east, are separated near the centre of the country by a saddle of lower land. This depression (the Panama Canal

Sanniquellie

2005-07-26T11:50:00.000-07:00

Also called Sangbui, Sanokole, or Sanokwele, town, north-central Liberia, located at the intersection of roads from Monrovia and Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast). A rural administrative centre among the Mano and Malinke (Mandingo), Sanniquellie has secondary schools and the George W. Harley Memorial Hospital. There is local trade in agricultural products (rice, cassava, palm oil and kernels) and ivory carvings. Diamond

Cloisonné

2005-07-08T22:00:00.000-07:00

In the decorative arts, an enameling technique or any product of that technique, which consists of soldering to a metal surface delicate metal strips bent to the outline of a design and filling the resulting cellular spaces, called cloisons (French: “partitions,” or “compartments”), with vitreous enamel paste. The object then is fired, ground smooth, and polished. Sometimes

Böhmer, Johann Friedrich

2005-07-07T02:10:00.000-07:00

After studying at the universities of Göttingen and Heidelberg, Böhmer journeyed to Italy, where he became interested in art history. Upon his return to Frankfurt (1822), he became an assistant librarian

France, History Of, The constitution of the Third Republic

2005-07-01T04:45:00.000-07:00

Meanwhile, the task of writing a constitution for the republic could no longer be postponed. The assembly began its deliberations in 1873; in 1875 it adopted a series of fundamental laws, which, taken collectively, came to be known as the constitution of the Third Republic. A patchwork compromise, it established a two-house legislature (with an indirectly elected Senate as a

Atakpamé

2005-06-21T16:10:00.000-07:00

Town, south-central Togo. It lies along the railroad running north from Lomé, the capital, to Blitta. Atakpamé dates from the 19th century and was first settled by Ewe and Yoruba peoples. It developed as both a commercial centre on a major north-south caravan route and as a haven for refugees fleeing from Dahomean attacks. As a consequence, Atakpamé experienced numerous

Arts, East Asian, Architecture

2005-06-16T19:40:00.000-07:00

The Sui capital, Ta-hsing, was designed in 583 on Imperial order by the great architect Yü-wen K'ai; renamed Ch'ang-an, it was further developed by the T'ang after 618. This vast city, six times the size of present-day Sian, was laid out in nine months on a grid plan, with eastern and western markets and the Imperial City placed in the central northern section, a plan later followed at Peking.

Alaska, Relief

2005-06-13T14:30:00.000-07:00

Alaska comprises nine distinct physiographic and environmental regions. Much of the mainland panhandle region, a narrow strip of land 25 to 50 miles (40 to 80 km) wide lying east and south of the St. Elias Mountains, is composed of the Boundary Ranges. There are several large icefields, and the peaks include Mount St. Elias (18,009 feet [5,490 metres]), from whose summit the Alaska-Yukon border swings

Zakopane

2005-06-02T09:35:00.000-07:00

City, Nowy Sacz województwo (province), south-central Poland. The city is situated in the Carpathian Mountains near the Slovakian border. Its location at the foot of the Alpine-like Tatras Mountains makes it a major winter-sports and health-resort centre. Situated on good rail and highway routes, Zakopane also serves as the cultural centre for the area. The Chalubinski

Havana, The city layout

2005-05-18T14:30:00.000-07:00

Several broad

Monkey

2005-05-16T19:40:00.000-07:00

9 species.

Miner, Myrtilla

2005-05-14T17:20:00.000-07:00

Miner was educated at the Clover Street Seminary in Rochester, New York (1840-44), and taught at various schools, including the Newton Female Institute (1846-47) in Whitesville,

Stability

2005-03-15T06:17:00.000-08:00

In mathematics, condition in which a slight disturbance in a system does not produce too disrupting an effect on that system. In terms of the solution of a differential equation, a function f(x) is said to be stable if any other solution of the equation that starts out sufficiently close to it when x = 0 remains close to it for succeeding values of x. If the difference between the

Sholem Aleichem

2005-03-14T11:48:00.000-08:00

Drawn to writing as a youth, he became a private tutor of Russian at the age of 17 and later served as a government rabbi in Lubin. His first writing had been in Russian and Hebrew, but between 1883, when his first story in Yiddish appeared, and his death, he published over 40 volumes of novels, stories, and plays

Baha'i Faith

2005-03-11T00:44:00.000-08:00

Religion founded in Iran in the mid-19th century by Mirza Hoseyn 'Ali Nuri, who is known as Baha' Ullah (Arabic: �Glory of God�). The cornerstone of Baha'i belief is the conviction that Baha' Ullah and his forerunner, who was known as the Bab, were manifestations of God, who in his essence is unknowable. The principal Baha'i tenets are the essential unity of all religions and the unity of humanity.

Kiswah

2005-03-06T00:09:00.000-08:00

Black brocade cloth that covers the most sacred shrine of Islam, the Ka'bah (q.v.) in Mecca. A new kiswah is made in Egypt every year and carried to Mecca by pilgrims. On it is embroidered in gold the Muslim profession of faith (shahadah) and a gold band of ornamental calligraphy carrying Qur'anic verses. Each year during the major pilgrimage (hajj), the kiswah is replaced with a white

Maule

2005-03-05T06:53:00.000-08:00

Regi�n, central Chile. It faces the Pacific Ocean on the west and borders Argentina on the east. Created in 1974, it comprises Curic�, Talca, Cauquenes, and Linares provincias. Its area spans coastal mountains, the Central Valley, and the Andean cordillera. The region is drained in the north by the Mataquito River, the tributaries of which (the Teno and Lontu� rivers) rise in the

Wagner, Otto

2005-03-04T05:25:00.000-08:00

As a teacher, Wagner

Malawi

2005-03-03T16:54:00.000-08:00

Officially �Republic of Malawi�, formerly �Nyasaland� landlocked country in southeastern Africa. A country of spectacular highlands and extensive lakes, it occupies a narrow, curving strip of land along the East African Rift Valley. Stretching about 520 miles (840 kilometres) from north to south, it has a width varying from 5 to 100 miles and is bordered by Tanzania to the north, Mozambique to the east and south, and Zambia to the

Tlaxcala

2005-03-02T01:53:00.000-08:00

Inland plateau estado (�state�), central Mexico, bordered by the states of Puebla on the northeast, east, and south; by M�xico on the west; and by Hidalgo on the northwest. The smallest Mexican state, its 1,551-square-mile (4,016-square-kilometre) territory has a mean elevation of 7,000 feet (2,100 m) and a cool, healthful climate, but frequent winter frosts are injurious to local agriculture. The state

Duroc, G�raud-christophe-michel, Duc (duke) De Frioul

2005-03-01T02:35:00.000-08:00

The son of Claude de Michel, chevalier du Roc, who was a cavalry officer, Duroc went to the Ch�lons artillery school, emigrated in 1792, but changed his mind, returned to France, entered the Metz school (1793), and was drafted to the artillery of the army of Italy.

Adcock, Fleur

2005-02-28T01:03:00.000-08:00

Adcock received her early education in England and later earned degrees at Wellington Girls' College and Victoria University of Wellington. She served as lecturer and librarian at a number of New Zealand

World War Ii, Iraq and Syria, 1940 - 41

2005-02-27T16:45:00.000-08:00

In 1940 Prince 'Abd al-Ilah, regent of Iraq for King Faysal, had a government divided within itself about the war; he himself and his foreign minister, Nuri as-Said, were pro-British, but his prime minister, Rashid Ali al-Gailani, had pro-German leanings. Having resigned office in January 1941, Rashid Ali on April 3 seized power in Baghdad with help from some army officers and announced

Iron Crown Of Lombardy

2005-02-26T21:12:00.000-08:00

The Iron Crown of Lombardy is composed of a broad circle of six plates of gold joined to each other by hinges and

New Brunswick, Flag Of

2005-02-25T01:23:00.000-08:00

Following the establishment of the Dominion of Canada, Queen Victoria signed a royal warrant on May 26, 1868, designating coats of arms for the four original provinces - Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. The golden lion on red in the New Brunswick coat of arms may refer to the arms of England (a red shield with three golden lions) or to the arms of the duchy of Brunswick

Ireland

2005-02-23T16:48:00.000-08:00

The republic of Ireland, separated from Great Britain by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St. George's Channel, shares its island with Northern Ireland to the northeast. Area: 70,285 sq km (27,137 sq mi). Pop. (1994 est.): 3,512,000. Cap.: Dublin. Monetary unit: Irish pound (punt), with (Oct. 7, 1994) a free rate of �Ir 0.64 to U.S. $1 (�Ir 1.01 = �1 sterling). President in 1994, Mary Robinson; prime ministers, Albert Reynolds and, from December 15, John

Novembergruppe

2005-02-21T19:51:00.000-08:00

English �November Group� group of artists formed in Berlin in November 1918 by Max Pechstein and C�sar Klein. Taking its name from the month of the Weimar Revolution, this group of Expressionist artists hoped to bring about a new unity in painting, sculpture, architecture, crafts, and city planning, and to bring the artist into close contact with the worker. In an attempt to reach the working masses,

Shamanism

2005-02-20T20:03:00.000-08:00

The shaman attains the ecstasy necessary for communicating with the spirits through the performance of the shaman rite, which requires certain appurtenances.

France, History Of, The Directory

2005-02-19T02:19:00.000-08:00

The new regime, referred to as the Directory, began auspiciously in October 1795 with a successful constitutional plebiscite and a general amnesty for political prisoners. But as one of its final acts the Convention added the �Two-thirds Decree� to the package, requiring for the sake of continuity that two-thirds of its deputies must sit by right in the new legislature

Mole

2005-02-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

The mole designates an extremely large number of units, 6.0221367 � 1023, which is the number of atoms determined experimentally to be found in 12 grams of carbon-12. Carbon-12 was chosen arbitrarily to serve as the reference standard of the

North American Desert, Plant life

2005-02-16T20:13:00.000-08:00

In the North American Desert, available moisture is the most critical factor for life. Local environmental factors also are significant in determining the nature of desert plant communities and their dependent animal life (see video). Most desert plants are xerophytes (plants adapted to arid conditions) or phraetophytes (plants dependent on a permanent water

Space Shuttle

2005-02-15T21:05:00.000-08:00

Partially reusable rocket-launched vehicle designed to go into orbit around Earth, to transport people and cargo to and from orbiting spacecraft, and to glide to a runway landing on its return to Earth's surface. The first vehicle of this type was developed by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Formally called the Space Transportation System

Alencar, Jos� (martiniano) De

2005-02-14T19:17:00.000-08:00

Journalist, novelist, and playwright whose novel O Guarani (1857; �The Guarani Indian�) initiated the vogue of the Brazilian Indianista novel (romantic tales of indigenous life incorporating vocabulary of Amerindian origin referring to flora, fauna, and tribal customs). O Guarani, which was subsequently utilized as the libretto

Crailsheim

2005-02-13T20:21:00.000-08:00

City, Baden-W�rttemberg Land (state), southwestern Germany. It lies along the Jagst River, about 45 miles (70 km) northeast of Stuttgart. A Frankish settlement in the 6th and 7th centuries, it was chartered in 1320 and passed to the Hohenzollerns in 1399 and to W�rttemberg in 1810. Most of the old city with its historic buildings was destroyed in World War II, but the Romanesque church of St. John

Staffordshire Terrier

2005-02-12T18:13:00.000-08:00

Breed of terrier developed in 19th-century England for fighting other dogs in pits. The breed was created by crossing the bulldog, then a longer legged and more agile dog, with a terrier, possibly the fox terrier or one of the old breeds known as the white English and the black-and-tan terriers. Once known by such names as bull-and-terrier, half and half, and pit bull terrier,

Clairon, Mlle

2005-02-11T09:23:00.000-08:00

She began her career as a soubrette but made her debut at the Com�die-Fran�aise in 1743 as Ph�dre in the tragedy by Racine. She also portrayed Corneille's heroines, who combined nobility of

Switzerland, World War II

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

After World War II broke out, Switzerland mobilized 450,000 soldiers and 200,000 auxiliaries (out of a total population of 4,000,000). Thanks to the experience of the preceding war, the government compensated soldiers for lost wages. Another difference from World War I was the unity of the nation across barriers of language and class. The most difficult phase was summer 1940, after France had unexpectedly

Hindi Literature

2005-02-09T22:56:00.000-08:00

The writings of the western Braj Bhasa and Khari Boli and of the eastern Awadhi and Bundeli dialects of the Indian subcontinent and also the writings of parts of Rajasthan in the west and of Bihar in the east that, strictly speaking, are not Hindi at all. Hindi literature also conventionally includes those works of Muslim writers (such as Jayasi) in the Persian script

Psychomotor Learning, Devices and tasks

2005-02-08T22:42:00.000-08:00

Hundreds of electrical and mechanical instruments have been developed for research in psychomotor learning, but those commonly used number less than two dozen. In operating a device called a complex coordinator, the learner is instructed to make prompt, synchronized adjustments of handstick and foot-bar controls to match different combinations of stimulus

Abenaki

2005-02-07T14:01:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Abnaki �or �Wabanaki� a confederacy of Algonkian-speaking Indian tribes in northeastern North America, which was organized to furnish resistance and protection against the Iroquois Confederacy, especially the Mohawk, of what is now northern New York state. In its earliest known organization it consisted of tribes east and northeast of present New York: Malecite in present New Brunswick;

China, The National Government from 1928 to 1937

2005-02-06T17:25:00.000-08:00

The most serious immediate problem facing the new government was the continuance of military separatism. The government had no authority over the vast area of western China, and even regions in eastern China were under the rule of independent regimes that had lately been part of the Nationalist coalition. After an unsuccessful attempt at negotiations, Chiang

Ch'ang-chih

2005-02-05T10:17:00.000-08:00

Pinyin �Changzhi�, formerly (until 1912) �Lu-an� city in southeast Shansi Province (sheng), China. It is situated in the Lu-an plain - a basin surrounded by the western highlands of the T'ai-hang Shan (mountains), watered by the Cho-chang-pei Y�an (stream), a tributary of the Wei Ho. It is a communication centre; to the east a route via Li-ch'eng, in Shansi, crosses the T'ai-hang Shan to Han-tan, Hopeh, on the North China Plain. To the northwest

Tsvetayeva, Marina Ivanovna

2005-02-04T02:50:00.000-08:00

Tsvetayeva spent her youth predominantly in Moscow, where her father

Franceschini, Marcantonio

2005-02-03T19:15:00.000-08:00

Franceschini worked in Genoa, Modena, and Rome as well as in Bologna and worked extensively for patrons in Austria and Germany. He was made director of the Clementina Academy in Bologna in 1721. Franceschini was the last important representative of the

Venous Sinus

2005-02-02T07:19:00.000-08:00

In human anatomy, any of the channels of a branching complex sinus network that lies between layers of the dura mater, the outermost covering of the brain, and functions to collect oxygen-depleted blood. Unlike veins, these sinuses possess no muscular coat. Their lining is endothelium, a layer of cells like that which forms the surface of the innermost coat of the veins.

Sardica, Council Of

2005-02-01T00:27:00.000-08:00

(342/343), an ecclesiastical council of the Christian Church held at Sardica, or Serdica (modern Sofia, Bulg.). It was convened by the joint emperors Constantius II (Eastern, sympathetic to the Arian party) and Constans I (Western, sympathetic to the Nicene party) to attempt a settlement of the Arian controversies. In fact, the council merely embittered still further the relations

Sanibel Island

2005-01-31T00:14:00.000-08:00

Sanibel Island

Biblical Literature, The Samaritan canon

2005-01-29T22:10:00.000-08:00

As has been mentioned, the Samaritans accepted the Pentateuch from the Jews. They know of no other section of the Bible, however, and did not expand their Pentateuchal canon even by the inclusion of any strictly Samaritan compositions.

Bhadracarya-pranidhana

2005-01-28T19:57:00.000-08:00

Also called �Samantabhadra-carya-pranidhana� (�Practical Vows of Samantabhadra�), a Mahayana (�Greater Vehicle�) Buddhist text that has also made an important contribution to the Tantric Buddhism of Tibet. Closely related to the Avatamsaka-sutra (�Discourse on the Adornments of the Buddha�) and sometimes considered its final section, the Bhadracarya-pranidhana presents a universe of totally interdependent phenomena

Hachioji

2005-01-27T01:06:00.000-08:00

After

Packing

2005-01-26T14:07:00.000-08:00

In mathematics, a type of problem in combinatorial geometry that involves placement of figures of a given size or shape within another given figure - with greatest economy or subject to some other restriction. The problem of placement of a given number of spheres within a given volume of space is an example of a packing problem.

Aldosterone

2005-01-25T01:50:00.000-08:00

Aldosterone is synthesized in the body from corticosterone, a steroid derived from cholesterol. Production of aldosterone (in adult humans,

Atlantic Languages

2005-01-24T00:49:00.000-08:00

Formerly �West Atlantic languages� branch of the Niger-Congo language family spoken primarily in Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. The approximately 45 Atlantic languages are spoken by about 30 million people. One language cluster, Fula (also called Fulani, Peul, Fulfulde, and Toucouleur), accounts for more than half of this number and is the most widely scattered language

Aleut

2005-01-23T22:05:00.000-08:00

The Aleuts hunted seals, sea otters, whales,

Disaccharide

2005-01-22T11:50:00.000-08:00

Also called �Double Sugar, � any substance that is composed of two molecules of simple sugars (monosaccharides) linked to each other. Sucrose, which is formed following photosynthesis in green plants, consists of one molecule of glucose and one of fructose; lactose (milk sugar), found in the milk of all mammals, consists of glucose and galactose; and maltose, a product of the breakdown of starches

Dublin, University Of

2005-01-21T17:46:00.000-08:00

Also called �Trinity College� oldest university in Ireland, founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I of England and Ireland and endowed by the city of Dublin. When founded, it was intended that Trinity College would be the first of many constituent colleges of the University of Dublin. No other colleges were established, however, and the two names became interchangeable. The full benefits of the

Gagern, Maximilian (joseph Ludwig) Freiherr Von (baron Of)

2005-01-20T06:34:00.000-08:00

Gagern, like his two prominent brothers, a nationalist

Gagern, Maximilian (joseph Ludwig) Freiherr Von (baron Of)

2005-01-19T22:19:00.000-08:00

An extinct bird of the family Strigidae (order Strigiformes) that was native to New Zealand. It was last seen in the early 1900s. Laughing owls nested on the ground, where they fell prey to cats, rats, goats, and weasels. About 40 cm (1.3 feet) long and brownish in colour, they ate rodents, lizards, and insects.

Masaccio

2005-01-17T00:51:00.000-08:00

Byname of �Tommaso Di Giovanni Di Simone Guidi � important Florentine painter of the early Renaissance whose frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel of the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence (c. 1427) remained influential throughout the Renaissance. In the span of only six years, Masaccio radically transformed Florentine painting.

Plymouth

2005-01-16T05:16:00.000-08:00

Town (township), Plymouth county, southeastern Massachusetts, U.S. It lies on Plymouth Bay, 37 miles (60 km) southeast of Boston. It was the site of the first permanent settlement by Europeans in New England, Plymouth colony, known formally as the colony of New Plymouth. The town was founded by Pilgrims (separatists from the Church of England) who, in their search for religious toleration,

Middle East

2005-01-15T08:29:00.000-08:00

The lands around the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from Morocco to the Arabian Peninsula and Iran and sometimes beyond. The central part of this general area was formerly called the Near East, a name given to it by some of the first modern Western geographers and historians, who tended to divide the Orient into three regions. Near

Exuma Cays

2005-01-14T03:13:00.000-08:00

Group of some 365 cays and islands, part of the Bahama Islands, situated in the Atlantic Ocean. The Exuma Cays begin some 35 miles (56 km) east-southeast of Nassau, stretch southeast in a gently curving arc for about 90 miles (145 km), and have an area of 112 square miles (290 square km). Most of the inhabitants live on the islands of Great Exuma and Little Exuma. The Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, which includes

Florence, William Jermyn

2005-01-13T09:30:00.000-08:00

Born of Irish parents and reared on the Lower East Side of New York City, Florence worked at various jobs before becoming a call boy at the Old Bowery

Gravity

2005-01-11T22:43:00.000-08:00

Gravitational attraction of one mass for another. See gravitation.

Mitchell, Maria

2005-01-10T06:57:00.000-08:00

Mitchell was educated in schools on her native Nantucket, Massachusetts, including the one conducted by her father. Her interest in astronomy was stimulated by her father, who let her assist in his work of rating chronometers for the Nantucket whaling fleet and who encouraged

Housatonic River

2005-01-09T21:37:00.000-08:00

River in southwestern New England, rising in the Berkshire Hills, near Pittsfield, Mass., U.S. It flows southward for 148 miles (238 km) through Massachusetts past Pittsfield, Lee, and Great Barrington; and then through Connecticut past New Milford, Derby, and Shelton to enter Long Island Sound, 4 miles (6 km) east of Bridgeport. Several hydroelectric plants utilize the river's drop

Airplane, Aerodynamics

2005-01-08T20:02:00.000-08:00

An aircraft in straight-and-level unaccelerated flight has four forces acting on it. (In turning, diving, or climbing flight, additional forces come into play.) These forces are lift, an upward-acting force; drag, a retarding force of the resistance to lift and to the friction of the aircraft moving through the air; weight, the downward effect that gravity has on the aircraft;

Dynamometer

2005-01-06T07:15:00.000-08:00

Among force-measuring devices are a flexible metallic ring that bends when a force is applied

Uda

2005-01-05T02:36:00.000-08:00

The son of the emperor Koko, Uda was one of the few rulers during this period whose mother was not a member of the Fujiwara family, which, partly through intermarriage with the imperial line, dominated Japan from 859 to 1160. During the first part of Uda's reign, Mototsune, the head of the Fujiwara house, occupied the post of kampaku,

Jiang Qing

2005-01-04T07:42:00.000-08:00

Third wife of Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong and the most influential woman in the People's Republic of China until her downfall in 1976, after Mao's death. As a member of the Gang of Four (q.v.) she was convicted in 1981 of �counter-revolutionary crimes� and

Caruso, Enrico

2005-01-03T08:32:00.000-08:00

Caruso was of a poor family and was the 18th of 20 children. Although he was a musical child who sang Neapolitan folk songs everywhere and joined his parish choir at the age of nine, he received no formal

Dominica, Flag Of

2005-01-02T15:24:00.000-08:00

As a British colony, Dominica obtained a coat of arms of its own in 1961. The arms had a shield with a blue and yellow cross, a banana tree, a coconut tree, a frog, a Carib Indian canoe, a lion symbolizing links with England, and a motto in the local language (�Apres Bondie c'est la ter�) meaning �After the Good Lord, the land.� Flanking the shield were imperial parrots, also known as sisserous,

Charadriiform, Shorebirds (suborder Charadrii)

2005-01-01T00:22:00.000-08:00

Female jacanas are larger and more aggressive than males; after laying, females of some species show no interest in the nest or young, leaving incubation and care of chicks to the male. The nest is a shallow, sodden pile of vegetation that floats among aquatic plants. Chicks are downy and run well when a day old. Both chicks and adults may dive to escape danger and remain

Kaffir

2004-12-31T15:25:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Kafir, �Arabic �Kafir � (�Infidel�), member of a group of southern African Bantu-speaking peoples (see Xhosa); also, member of a people of the Hindu Kush in northeastern Afghanistan (see Nuristani). Use of the term for either group reflects a negative opinion. Especially in South Africa, kaffir (not capitalized) is used in a generally pejorative way to mean any African black.

Amargosa Range

2004-12-30T05:56:00.000-08:00

Group of mountains in eastern California and southern Nevada, U.S., separating Death Valley from the Amargosa Desert. Part of the Basin Ranges of eastern California, the Amargosa Range extends 110 miles (180 km) from Grapevine Peak (8,705 feet [2,653 m]), south-southeastward to the Amargosa River. It is composed of three distinct mountain groups: the Grapevine, Funeral, and Black. Dante's View,

Hyperventilation

2004-12-29T05:10:00.000-08:00

Rapid shallow breathing that provides the body with an excess of oxygen and a deficit of carbon dioxide. It most commonly occurs as a manifestation of anxiety or hysteria. It also occurs among pilots in unpressurized planes at high altitudes, who take short, rapid breaths rather than the normal slow, deep ones, in order to compensate for the smaller amount of available

Regla

2004-12-28T04:19:00.000-08:00

City, northern Ciudad de la Habana provincia, west-central Cuba. Situated on the southeastern shore of La Habana Bay, Regla was a centre for smuggling activities in the 19th century. It is now an industrial suburb of Havana, with which it is linked by ferry as well as by land. Its foundries, petroleum refineries, shipyards, docks, and warehouses suggest its importance as both

Furniture, 19th century and modern

2004-12-27T10:42:00.000-08:00

E.D. and F. Andrews, Shaker Furniture: The Craftsmanship of an American Communal Sect (1937); R.V. Symonds and B.B. Whineray, Victorian Furniture (1962), with many illustrations; Serge Grandjean, Empire Furniture, 1800 to 1825 (1966); Mikolaus Pevsner, Pioneers of Modern Design from William Morris to Walter Gropius (1960); Jean Cassou, Emile Langue, and Nikolaus Pevsner, Les Sources du vingtieme siecle (1961); John F. Pile, Modern Furniture (1979); Jonathan L. Fairbanks and Elizabeth Bidwell Bates, American Furniture, 1620 to the Present (1981); David A. Hanks, Innovative Furniture in America from 1800 to the Present (1981).

Cherwell

2004-12-26T09:02:00.000-08:00

District, administrative and historic county of Oxfordshire, south-central England, occupying an area of 228 square miles (590 square km). The River Cherwell and the Oxford Canal extend north from Oxford city and bisect the district. Predominantly rural, Cherwell is a lowland area bordering the limestone Cotswold Hills on the west and the North Oxfordshire Heights on the

Roving

2004-12-25T10:52:00.000-08:00

In archery, form of practice or competition dating from at least the 16th century, when it was practiced by the Honourable Artillery Company at Finsbury Fields near London. Archers set up many marks on the field and shot from one to the next in sequence, the object being, as in golf, to use the fewest shots in completing the course. Roving is similar to modern field archery,

Turin Faience

2004-12-24T14:21:00.000-08:00

Tin-glazed earthenware made in Turin, Italy, from the 16th century through the 18th. It is known that the Genoese G.G. Bianchi opened a pottery factory in Turin in 1646. In 1725 Giorgio Rossetti expanded Turin's faience industry, in which he was followed by his descendants. Another factory was that of G.A. Ardizzone (flourished 1765). These 18th-century potters produced such wares as faience plates

Dadu

2004-12-23T20:37:00.000-08:00

Town, Sindh province, southern Pakistan. The town lies just west of the Indus River, about 100 miles (160 km) north-northwest of Hyderabad. A distribution centre, it is connected by road and rail with Hyderabad, Karachi, and Quetta. Dadu has men's and women's government colleges that are affiliated with the University of Sindh. The area in which Dadu is situated is a fertile alluvial

Gondomar, Diego Sarmiento De Acu�a, Count (conde) De

2004-12-22T04:30:00.000-08:00

Gondomar's diplomatic fame rests largely on two missions to England (1613 - 18 and 1620 - 22). The chief objective of his first mission was to persuade James I to abandon his alliance with France and the Protestant countries on the Continent and to form an alliance

Allen, Richard

2004-12-21T03:15:00.000-08:00

Soon after Allen was born, to slave parents, the family was sold to a Delaware farmer. At age 17 he became a Methodist convert and at 22 was permitted to preach. Two years later (1784), at the first general conference of the

Biblical Literature, Portuguese versions

2004-12-20T19:54:00.000-08:00

The first Portuguese New Testament (Amsterdam), the work of Jo�o Ferreira d'Almeida, did not appear until 1681. The first complete Bible (2 vol., 1748 - 53) was printed in Batavia (in Holland). Not until late in the 18th century did the first locally published vernacular Scriptures appear in Portugal. A revision of d'Almeida was issued in Rio de Janeiro (in Brazil), the New Testament in 1910 and the complete

Mcmillan, Edwin Mattison

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

McMillan was educated at the California Institute of Technology and at Princeton University, where he

Bharuch

2004-12-18T08:28:00.000-08:00

Bharuch was one of the most celebrated harbours in ancient India, being mentioned in the Periplus Maris Erythraei (c. AD 80) and by Ptolemy as Barygaza. It also occurs in the Hindu epic poem Mahabharata. Ruled in the 2nd century by the Ksatrapas and in the 7th

Giancana, Sam

2004-12-17T18:36:00.000-08:00

Born and reared in Chicago's �Little Italy� on the near southwest side, Giancana began working for Al Capone in the 1920s and, by 1966, had been arrested some 70 times and served five years

Sohlman, August

2004-12-16T09:50:00.000-08:00

As a journalist, Sohlman wrote for a number of the leading newspapers of Sweden and was editor of the influential Stockholm daily

Graz

2004-12-15T18:54:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Bundesland (federal state) Steiermark, southeastern Austria. The country's second largest city, it lies on the Mur River between the Styrian Alps and a wide, fertile valley, the Grazerfeld. In the 9th century there was probably a fortress on the Schlossberg, a rocky cone (1,552 feet [473 m]) that dominates the city. The name Graz is derived from gradec, a Slavic word meaning

Cereal Processing, Semolina

2004-12-14T04:36:00.000-08:00

Semolina, not flour, is the form of cereal used, and various plain macaroni products are made by combining the correct form of semolina, from durum wheat, with water. Richer alimentary pastes are made with the addition of eggs in fresh, dried, or frozen form, and egg noodles are popular. In low-income families, alimentary pastes often provide the bulk of the calories in the

Durham

2004-12-13T06:43:00.000-08:00

The historic core of the city is located on a peninsula in a bend of the River Wear. This natural defensive site, chosen by William the Conqueror (reigned 1066 - 87) as a fortress and bulwark against the Scots to the north, soon became a seat of the feudal prince-bishops of Durham, entrusted

Steele, Sir Richard

2004-12-12T07:36:00.000-08:00

Pseudonym �Isaac Bickerstaff � English essayist, dramatist, journalist, and politician, best known as principal author (with Joseph Addison) of the periodicals The Tatler and The Spectator.

Poison, Drugs of abuse

2004-12-11T01:51:00.000-08:00

Mind-altering drugs commonly abused include amphetamines, cocaine, phencyclidine, heroin, and methaqualone. These drugs are primarily toxic to the central nervous system; amphetamine and cocaine cause stimulation of the system (hallucinations and delirium), and heroin causes the depression of the system (depressed respiration and coma). In contrast, phencyclidine

Tocqueville, Alexis De

2004-12-10T11:05:00.000-08:00

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

Tiger Beetle

2004-12-08T02:04:00.000-08:00

Any member of the approximately 2,000 species of the insect family Cicindelidae (order Coleoptera). The name derives from their voracious eating habits. The larva lives in a vertical burrow, which is sometimes as much as 0.67 m (2 feet) deep. It waits at the top of the burrow for prey (insects), which it grasps with sicklelike mandibles (jaws). A pair of hooks on the abdomen anchor the larva,

Basavan

2004-12-07T14:32:00.000-08:00

An outstanding Mughal painter, renowned as a superb colourist and as a sensitive observer of human nature. His name indicates that he may have been a member of the Ahir, or cowherders' caste, in the region of modern Uttar Pradesh. He was most active between about 1580 and 1600, and his name appears on the margins of more than 100 paintings, most often as the designer, in

Madison

2004-12-06T11:32:00.000-08:00

Borough (town), Morris county, northeastern New Jersey, U.S. It lies 18 miles (29 km) west of Newark. The borough of Madison includes the communities of Montville, Wood Ridge, and Hopewell Valley. The centre of a greenhouse industry and nicknamed the �Rose City,� it is the site of Drew University (chartered 1868) and the Florham-Madison Campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University. The College