LateVenus

Celestius

2005-03-18T00:19:00.000-08:00

When the Goths menaced Rome about 409, the

Nakhon Phanom

2005-03-17T15:04:00.000-08:00

Town, northeastern Thailand. Nakhon Phanom is a commercial centre lying along the Mekong River opposite Thakhek, Laos; it is linked by road to Udon Thani (west), Ubon Ratchathani (south), and Laos and has an airport with scheduled domestic flights. An infertile sandy loam that retains little moisture makes agriculture difficult in much of the surrounding area. There

Water Purification

2005-03-14T14:01:00.000-08:00

The first treatment plant was built in 1829 to purify Thames River water by filtration. After the London cholera epidemic of 1854 was traced to a public well,

Nadi, Nedo; And Nadi, Aldo

2005-03-11T21:53:00.000-08:00

Italian brothers who were among the greatest and most versatile fencers in the history of the sport. At the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium, the Nadi brothers led Italy to a sweep of the gold medals in the three team events. Nedo also captured the gold medal in the individual foil and

Arnold, Matthew

2005-03-08T21:45:00.000-08:00

Lastly Arnold turned to religion, the constant preoccupation and true centre of his whole life, and wrote St. Paul and Protestantism (1870), Literature and Dogma (1873), God and the Bible (1875), and Last Essays on Church and Religion (1877). In these books, Arnold really founded Anglican “modernism.” Like all religious liberals, he came under fire from two sides: from the orthodox, who accused him

Moser-pröll, Annemarie

2005-03-06T01:41:00.000-08:00

Pröll skied from the age of four. She tried out for the Austrian national ski team at the age of 15. Her Olympic Winter Games success came late. She won silver medals for the downhill and the giant slalom at the 1972 Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan,

Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr

2005-03-02T20:10:00.000-08:00

Outstanding Welsh poet of the 12th century, court bard to Madog ap Maredudd, prince of Powys (d. 1160), and then to Madog's enemy Owain Gwynedd, prince of Gwynedd (d. 1170). The extant poems ascribed to him (about 50), composed in the Welsh bardic tradition of deliberate archaism, include a small amount of religious verse and a large number of eulogies to the chief princes throughout Wales. Cynddelw

Performing Arts, Iberia.

2005-02-28T04:39:00.000-08:00

Spain's major international success was Pedro Almodóvar's Hable con ella (Talk to Her), an idiosyncratic reflection on solitude and communication. Spanish directors showed a new concern for social subjects, exemplified in Chus Gutiérrez's Poniente, about the exploitation of immigrant agricultural workers, and Fernando León de Aranoa's Los lunes al sol (Mondays

Silver

2005-02-27T02:05:00.000-08:00

In the majority of silver compounds the element has a valence of one. These compounds include such familiar substances as silver chloride (AgCl), silver bromide (AgBr), and silver iodide (AgI). Each of these salts is used extensively in photography. Silver chloride serves as the light-sensitive material in photographic printing papers and, together with silver bromide,

Mu'tasim, Al-

2005-02-24T03:11:00.000-08:00

Succeeding his brother al-Ma'mun in 833, al-Mu'tasim was the first caliph to employ the Turkish mercenaries who later came to dominate the 'Abbasid dynasty. In 837 he crushed a revolt of Persian schismatics led by the rebel Babak, who was cooperating with the Greeks. After the Byzantine emperor Theophilus had laid waste the Muslim

Selkirk

2005-02-23T10:10:00.000-08:00

Royal burgh (town), Scottish Borders council area, historic county of Selkirkshire, Scotland, lying on a hillside overlooking the river known as Ettrick Water. A Benedictine abbey founded in the early 12th century was later removed to Kelso. Selkirk's 12th-century castle was captured by the English under Edward I (reigned 1272–1307). It was retaken by the Scottish national leader William

Japanese Philosophy

2005-02-20T14:46:00.000-08:00

The conceptual expression of Japanese culture since the turn of the 6th century Ad . The term philosophy has been considered somewhat misleading in reference to Japanese thought, since Japanese premodern thinking tended to be directed more toward the realm of existence than toward that of essence. Japanese philosophy is not generally indigenous; Japanese thinkers have always freely appropriated foreign philosophical systems and insights

Mercenary

2005-02-18T17:11:00.000-08:00

Employment of mercenaries could be politically dangerous

Biblical Literature, Apocryphal and pseudepigraphal writings

2005-02-16T08:09:00.000-08:00

The importance of the discovery is very great; the scrolls of books of the Old Testament caused a new evaluation of the history of the text of the Hebrew Bible; fragments of the Apocrypha (Sirach and Tobit) and of already known and unknown Pseudepigrapha enlarge knowledge about Jewish literature of the intertestamental period, and the properly sectarian scrolls

Ear Disease

2005-02-15T14:53:00.000-08:00

Ear diseases and hearing disorders are discussed in Michael E. Glasscock III, George E. Shambaugh, Jr., and Glenn D. Johnson (eds.), Surgery of the Ear, 4th ed. (1990), a well-illustrated text on diseases of the ear and their surgical correction; James Jerger (ed.), Hearing Disorders in Adults (1984); John Ballantyne, M.C. Martin, and Antony Martin (eds.), Deafness, 5th ed. (1993); Robert Thayer Sataloff and Joseph Sataloff, Hearing Loss, 3rd ed., rev. and expanded (1993); and David M. Vernick et al., The Hearing Loss Handbook (1993). George E. Shambaugh, “A Restudy of the Minute Anatomy of Structures in the Cochlea with Conclusions Bearing on the Solution of the Problem of Tone Perception,” The American Journal of Anatomy, 7(2):245–257 (Aug. 1, 1907), was the first detailed description of the hearing-nerve end organ in the cochlea, where sound waves are converted into nerve impulses depending upon the pitch of the tone. George E. Shambaugh, Jr., and Alexandre Petrovic, “Effects of Sodium Fluoride on Bone: Application to Otosclerosis and Other Decalcifying Bone Diseases,” JAMA, 204(11):969–973 (June 10, 1968), summarizes research on the arrest, by means of sodium fluoride, of progressive deafness caused by otosclerosis. Philip H. Beales, Noise, Hearing, and Deafness (1965), is a useful review in lay language of the problem of deafness and the adverse influence on hearing of excess noise exposure; a more recent text is Karl D. Kryter, The Handbook of Hearing and the Effects of Noise: Physiology, Psychology, and Public Health (1994). Brief reports by panels of experts assembled by the National Institutes of Health are issued as NIH Consensus Statements; several statements are of clinical concern in the field of hearing and deafness: “Noise and Hearing Loss,” 8(1):1–24 (Jan. 22–24, 1990), also available with the same title in JAMA, 263(23):3185–3190 (June 20, 1990), “Early Identification of Hearing Impairment in Infants and Young Children,” 11(1):1–24 (Mar. 1–3, 1993), and “Cochlear Implants in Adults and Children,” 13(2):1–30 (May 15–17, 1995), also available with the same title in JAMA, 274(24):1955–1961 (Dec. 27, 1995). More information on the success of cochlear implants is available in Jeffrey P. Harris, John P. Anderson, and Robert Novak, “An Outcomes Study of Cochlear Implants in Deaf Patients,” Archives of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, 121(4):398–404 (April 1995).

Valachi, Joseph

2005-02-12T02:06:00.000-08:00

Valachi held a rank in the Mafia equivalent to that of a sergeant, with interests chiefly in the numbers rackets and other gambling from the 1930s to the '50s. In 1959 he was convicted of narcotics violations and sentenced to 15 to

Pyrargyrite

2005-02-11T22:01:00.000-08:00

A sulfosalt mineral, a silver antimony sulfide (Ag3SbS3), that is an important source of silver, sometimes called ruby silver because of its deep red colour (see also proustite). The best crystallized specimens, of hexagonal symmetry, are from St. Andreasberg in the Harz Mountains and from Freiberg, both in Germany; and Colquechaca, Bol. It is mined at Guanajuato, Mex., and near

Aeacus

2005-02-09T15:21:00.000-08:00

In Greek mythology, son of Zeus and Aegina, the daughter of the river god Asopus. His mother was carried off by Zeus to the island of Oenone, afterward called by her name. Aeacus was celebrated for justice and in Attic tradition became a judge of the dead, together with Minos and Rhadamanthus. His successful prayer to Zeus for rain during a drought was commemorated by a

Aleutian Range

2005-02-07T09:19:00.000-08:00

Segment of the Pacific Coast Ranges of western North America, extending southwestward for about 600 miles (970 km) from the west end of the Alaska Range to the head of Cook Inlet of the Gulf of Alaska, U.S. The Aleutian Islands represent a southwest extension of the mountain peaks, which stretch the length of the Alaska Peninsula and include many volcanoes, notably Katmai (6,716 feet

Papaya

2005-02-05T17:39:00.000-08:00

Also called papaw , or pawpaw succulent fruit of a large plant (Carica papaya) of the family Caricaceae that is considered a tree, though its palmlike trunk, up to 8 m (26 feet) tall, is not as woody as the designation generally implies. The plant is crowned by deeply lobed leaves, sometimes 60 cm (2 feet) across, borne on hollow petioles 60 cm long. Normally, the species is dioecious, male and female flowers

Armenia, Flag Of

2005-02-03T17:34:00.000-08:00

Long without an independent state of their own, 19th-century Armenians also lacked a national flag around which they could rally to support their language and culture. Armenians in exile in France looked to a scholar at the Armenian Institute in Venice, Ghevont Alshin, for a flag in 1885. He recommended the “rainbow flag given to the Armenians when Noah's Ark came to rest on

Yermolova, Maria Nikolayevna

2005-02-01T01:46:00.000-08:00

Yermolova was trained at the Moscow Theatre School and made her debut at age 17 in the title role of Gotthold Lessing's Emilia Galotti at the Maly Theatre (1870). Her interpretation of Emilia as

Koga

2005-01-30T17:29:00.000-08:00

City, Ibaraki ken (prefecture), eastern Honshu, Japan. It lies at the confluence of the Omoi and Watarase rivers. An important river port, Koga was a castle town and post town on the Nikko-kaido (Nikko Highway) in the Tokugawa period (1603–1867). It became a major trade centre for the surrounding agricultural region after the Tohoku Main Line railway opened in 1891. Silk manufacture, introduced

Fisher, Herbert Albert Laurens

2005-01-28T09:25:00.000-08:00

Fisher became a fellow of New College, Oxford, in 1888 and tutor and lecturer in modern history in 1891. While at New College he wrote his two-volume Medieval Empire (1898), a study of the Holy Roman Empire influenced

Ahura Mazda

2005-01-26T03:49:00.000-08:00

According to Zoroaster, Ahura Mazda created the universe and the cosmic order that he maintains.

Constantia

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

Residential area, Western Cape province, South Africa, near Cape Town. It is located in Constantia Valley, famous since the 18th century for wines produced on both government and private farms. The Groot Constantia homestead there was built about 1685 by Governor Simon van der Stel and named for his wife, Constance; a fine example of Cape Dutch architecture, it has been restored

Dygasinski, Adolf

2005-01-21T16:21:00.000-08:00

Dygasinski was a teacher by profession and a worshiper of science. He published about 50 volumes of short stories of uneven literary quality, the best pieces of which deal with the lives of domestic and wild animals.

Vendsyssel-thy

2005-01-20T04:25:00.000-08:00

Danish Nørrejyske Ø (North Jutland Island), island at the north end of Jutland, Denmark, known as Vendsyssel in the east and Thy in the west. The Limfjorden separates it from the mainland, to which it was attached until 1825, when water erosion cut a channel through the narrow isthmus at Thyborøn. Several bridges, ferries, and a tunnel connect the island with the rest of Jutland. It is the second largest

Zahedi, Fazlollah

2005-01-18T03:48:00.000-08:00

Zahedi early embarked on a military career, graduating from the Iranian military academy in 1916. He joined the Persian Cossack Brigade and at age 25—as a brigadier general—distinguished himself by quelling a Kurdish revolt in western Iran. Three years later

Insurance, Professional liability insurance

2005-01-15T02:15:00.000-08:00

Known as malpractice, or errors-and-omissions, insurance, professional liability contracts are distinguished from general business liability policies because of the specialized nature of the liability. Professional persons requiring liability contracts include physicians and surgeons, lawyers, accountants, engineers, and insurance agents. Important

Art, African, Igbo

2005-01-13T05:57:00.000-08:00

On both sides of the Niger, but mainly to the east, live the Igbo. Traditionally they have lived in small and often isolated settlements scattered through the forest. Only on the northern and western edges of the area, under influence from Igala and Benin, are hereditary rulers found. In Igbo society there is strong social pressure toward individual distinction, and

Aquamarine

2005-01-12T01:38:00.000-08:00

Pale greenish blue or bluish green variety of beryl (q.v.) that is valued as a gemstone. The most common variety of gem beryl, it occurs in pegmatite, in which it forms much larger and clearer crystals than emerald (one completely transparent crystal from Brazil weighed 110 kg [243 pounds]). It can also be found in mica schists. Aquamarine occurs in Brazil, which is the chief source;

Aeterni Patris

2005-01-09T17:31:00.000-08:00

An encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on Aug. 4, 1879, which strengthened the position of the philosophical system of the medieval Scholastic philosopher-theologian St. Thomas Aquinas and soon made Thomism the dominant philosophical viewpoint in Roman Catholicism.

Siberian Anticyclone

2005-01-07T19:19:00.000-08:00

The Siberian anticyclone is one

Ibn 'abbad

2005-01-06T08:15:00.000-08:00

Attracted to Morocco by the famous madrasahs (religious colleges), Ibn 'Abbad emigrated there at an early age. He abandoned legal studies in a quest for mystical knowledge. In 1359 he

Indo-hittite Languages

2005-01-03T01:03:00.000-08:00

Hypothetical family of languages composed of the Indo-European and Anatolian languages. The term Indo-Hittite was proposed by scholars who believed that Hittite and the other closely related Anatolian languages represented a language branch coordinate with all the other Indo-European languages combined, rather than forming another branch coordinate with

Metallic Bond

2005-01-01T21:56:00.000-08:00

Force that holds atoms together in a metallic substance. Such a solid consists of closely packed atoms. In most cases, the outermost electron shell of each of the metal atoms overlaps with a large number of neighbouring atoms. As a consequence, the valence electrons continually move from one atom to another and are not associated with any specific pair of atoms. In

More, Hannah

2004-12-30T13:36:00.000-08:00

As a young woman with literary aspirations, More made the first of her visits to London in 1773–74. She was welcomed into a circle of Bluestocking wits and was befriended by Sir Joshua Reynolds, Dr. Johnson, and Edmund

Bashan

2004-12-29T02:17:00.000-08:00

Country frequently cited in the Old Testament and later important in the Roman Empire; it is located in what is now Syria. Bashan was the northernmost of the three ancient divisions of eastern Palestine, and in the Old Testament it was proverbial for its rich pastures and thick forests. In New Testament times, Bashan numbered as one of the great granaries of the Roman

Dahlgren, John Adolphus Bernard

2004-12-26T02:42:00.000-08:00

American inventor of the smooth-bore cannon that was, from its shape, familiarly known as the “soda-water bottle.” The shape resulted from a design in which the thickness of metal was varied to match the differences in internal pressure occurring when the cannon was fired. The pressures were determined by boring holes in the

Binswanger, Ludwig

2004-12-25T16:04:00.000-08:00

Swiss psychiatrist and writer who applied the principles of existential phenomenology, especially as expressed by Martin Heidegger, to psychotherapy. Diagnosing certain psychic abnormalities (e.g., elation fixation, eccentricity, and mannerism) to be the effect of the patient's distorted self-image and his inadequate

Gaucho

2004-12-22T10:07:00.000-08:00

Gauchos were usually mestizos (persons

Taconic Orogeny

2004-12-20T10:02:00.000-08:00

A mountain-building event that affected the Appalachian Geosyncline along the eastern coast of the United States. Evidence for the orogeny is most pronounced in the northern Appalachians, but its effects can be noted in the Ridge and Valley Province as far south as Tennessee and in the Piedmont Province as far south as Georgia. Originally thought to have occurred

Dessalines, Jean-jacques

2004-12-19T06:34:00.000-08:00

Dessalines was brought to the French West Indian colony of Saint-Domingue (Haiti) as a slave. He worked as a field hand for a black master until 1791, when he joined the slave rebellion that broke out in the colony amid the turmoil caused by the French Revolution. In the decade that

Kizil Adalar

2004-12-16T01:56:00.000-08:00

English Princes Islands , historically Demonesi Insulae group of nine islands (adalar) in the Sea of Marmara a few miles southeast of Istanbul; they are part of Turkey. There are permanent inhabitants on the smallest island, Sedef Adasi (ancient Antirobethos), and on the four larger islands, Büyükada (Prinkipo, ancient Pityoussa), Heybeli Ada (Halki, ancient Chalcitis), Burgaz Adasi (Antigoni, ancient Panormos), and Kinali Ada (Proti).

Spore

2004-12-14T09:50:00.000-08:00

Spores are produced by bacteria

Tiffany, Charles Lewis

2004-12-12T08:30:00.000-08:00

Tiffany went to New York City in 1837 and with John B. Young opened a stationery and fancy-goods store, which soon expanded to offer jewelry and silverware as well. It became Tiffany, Young, & Ellis in 1841; in 1848 the firm began to manufacture jewelry, and in 1850 they

Nitroglycerin

2004-12-11T00:39:00.000-08:00

Pure nitroglycerin is a colourless, oily, somewhat toxic liquid having a sweet, burning taste. It was first prepared in 1846 by the Italian

Respiration, Human

2004-12-06T10:47:00.000-08:00

The process by which oxygen is taken up and carbon dioxide discharged.

Amado, Jorge

2004-12-05T20:41:00.000-08:00

Fred P. Ellison, Brazil's New Novel: Four Northeastern Masters (1954; reprinted 1979); Bobby J. Chamberlain, Jorge Amado (1990).

France, History Of, The influence of the church on society and legislation

2004-12-02T21:58:00.000-08:00

The progressive Christianization of society influenced Frankish institutions significantly. The introduction of royal consecration and the creation of the empire afforded the clergy an opportunity to elaborate a new conception of power based on religious principles. The church was involved in trying to discourage slavery and in ameliorating the legal

Allen, Richard

2004-12-01T14:48:00.000-08:00

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

Mahal, Taj

2004-11-28T14:57:00.000-08:00

Taj Mahal (the name came to him in a dream) grew up in a musical family. His father, of Jamaican background, was a jazz

Asyut

2004-11-26T23:36:00.000-08:00

Asy

Settlement, Act Of

2004-11-24T07:29:00.000-08:00

Toward the end of 1700 William III was ill and childless; his sister-in-law, the prospective queen, Anne, had just lost her only surviving child; and abroad the supporters of the exiled king, James II, were numerous and active. The need for the act was obvious. It decreed that, in default

Roving

2004-11-22T17:49:00.000-08:00

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,

Biblical Literature, The Hellenistic period

2004-11-21T19:20:00.000-08:00

The translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek by Alexandrian Jews in the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC provided opportunities for recording interpretations that were probably current in Hellenistic Judaism. Literal translations might be misleading to Greek readers; metaphors natural in Hebrew were rendered into less figurative Greek. “Walking with God” or “walking

Liszt, Franz

2004-11-19T16:13:00.000-08:00

In 1869 Liszt was invited to return to Weimar by the grand duke to give master classes in piano playing, and two years later he was asked to do the same in Budapest. From then until the end of his life he divided his time between Rome, Weimar, and Budapest. After a reconciliation with Wagner in 1872, Liszt regularly attended the Bayreuth festivals. He appeared occasionally as a pianist

Graft

2004-11-17T20:13:00.000-08:00

In horticulture, the act of placing a portion of one plant (bud or scion) into or on a stem, root, or branch of another (stock) in such a way that a union will be formed and the partners will continue to grow. This term includes budding (bud grafting) and grafting proper (scion grafting and approach grafting or inarching). Budding and grafting proper differ only in the amount of

Sava, Saint

2004-11-15T11:33:00.000-08:00

Sava was a Serbian noble of the Nemanja dynasty. He migrated to Mount Athos

Saint Albans Raid

2004-11-13T03:56:00.000-08:00

On Oct. 19, 1864, about 25 Confederate soldiers based in Canada raided the town of St. Albans, Vt., killed one man, robbed three banks, and then retreated to Canadian territory. A U.S. posse

Yukon-charley Rivers National Preserve

2004-11-10T23:34:00.000-08:00

National preserve in east-central Alaska, U.S., on the Canadian border. Proclaimed a national monument in 1978, the area underwent boundary and name changes in 1980, becoming a national preserve in the latter year. Preserving the entire 88-mile (142-kilometre) Charley River basin and 115 miles (185 km) of the 1,980-mile (3,190-kilometre) Yukon River, the area contains numerous cabins and other relics of the

Arezzo

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

Latin Arretium, city, capital of Arezzo provincia, Toscana (Tuscany) regione of north-central Italy, in a fertile plain near the confluence of the Chiana and Arno rivers southeast of Florence. An important Etruscan city, it was known to the Romans as Arretium and was noted for its red-clay Arretine pottery. A flourishing commune in the Middle Ages, it fell to Florence in 1384 and later became

Brugnon, Jacques

2004-11-06T20:00:00.000-08:00

Brugnon won the French singles championship in 1921, but he was most famous for his supremacy in doubles. He won four Wimbledon doubles championships (1926, 1928, 1932, 1933), twice with

Tipperary

2004-11-05T14:45:00.000-08:00

(1) To the east of Lough (lake)

Disa

2004-11-03T20:38:00.000-08:00

Most species bear flowers ranging in colour from white to purple and in diameter from about 0.5 to 10 centimetres (about 0.2 to 4 inches). The upper sepal of each flower usually has a spur and stands upright,

Park Range

2004-11-01T05:22:00.000-08:00

Segment of the Rocky Mountains, extending south-southeastward for about 200 miles (320 km) from Carbon county, Wyo., to northwestern Park county, Colo., U.S. The range lies to a large extent within Medicine Bow, Pike, Arapaho, Routt, and White River national forests and includes the Mosquito (Colorado), Gore (Colorado), and Sierra Madre (Wyoming) subranges. Many peaks surpass 14,000 feet (4,300 m), with

Star Cluster, Globular clusters

2004-10-30T18:11:00.000-07:00

Although globular clusters are widely scattered in galactic latitude, about a third of them are concentrated around the galactic centre, as satellite systems in the rich Sagittarius–Scorpius star fields. Individual cluster masses include up to 1,000,000 suns, and their linear diameters can be several hundred light-years; their apparent diameters range from one degree

Aerospace Industry, Building of subassemblies

2004-10-27T02:47:00.000-07:00

Assembly of aerospace vehicles at the prime contractor or systems integrator begins with the accumulation of subassemblies. An example of a typical subassembly for a transport aircraft is the rear fuselage section, which is itself composed of several segments. (These segments are often built by subcontractors, who in turn deal with their own suppliers of the

Artaxerxes I

2004-10-25T08:24:00.000-07:00

He was surnamed in Greek Macrocheir (“Longhand”) and in Latin Longimanus. A younger son of Xerxes I and Amestris, he was raised to the throne by the commander of the guard, Artabanus, who had murdered Xerxes. A few months later, Artaxerxes slew Artabanus in a hand-to-hand fight. His reign, though generally peaceful, was

Ayacucho

2004-10-21T07:04:00.000-07:00

Departamento (formed 1822), Los Libertadores-Wari región, in the highlands of south-central Peru. It is chiefly a region of high plateaus interspersed with valleys. The region is drained by the Apurímac River and its tributaries. Subsistence farming and herding are prevalent, but, in the north, cash crops such as sugarcane and cotton are grown. The departamento's mineral

Adamic, Louis

2004-10-19T17:03:00.000-07:00

Adamic immigrated to the United States from Yugoslavia at age 14 and was naturalized in 1918. He wrote about what he called the failure of the American melting pot in Laughing

Melanin

2004-10-18T09:54:00.000-07:00

A dark biological pigment (biochrome) found in skin, hair, feathers, scales, eyes, and some internal membranes; it is also found in the peritoneum of many animals (e.g., frogs), but its role there is not understood. Formed as an end product during metabolism of the amino acid tyrosine, melanins are conspicuous in dark skin moles of humans; in the black dermal melanocytes (pigment

Javorníky

2004-10-16T22:23:00.000-07:00

Mountains in central Czechoslovakia, on the western fringe of the Carpathian Mountains and forming part of the boundary between Moravia and Slovakia. The ridge of the Javorníky peaks—the highest, at 3,514 feet (1,071 m), is Velký Javorník, overlooking the village of Velké Karlovice—divides the Becva-Oder river systems to the north and west from the Váh River to the east. Climate

Priam

2004-10-14T10:41:00.000-07:00

In Greek mythology, the last king of Troy. He succeeded his father, Laomedon, as king and extended his control over the Hellespont. He married first Arisbe (a daughter of Merops the seer) and then Hecuba, by whom he had many children, including his favourites, Hector and Paris. Homer described Priam as an old man, powerless but kindly, not even blaming Helen, the wife of Paris,

Skaz

2004-10-12T10:31:00.000-07:00

The word is of Russian origin and literally means “tale”; it is derived from skazat,

Culloden, Battle Of

2004-10-09T01:08:00.000-07:00

Also called Battle Of Drummossie (April 16, 1746), the last battle of the “Forty-five Rebellion,” when the Jacobites, under Charles Edward, the Young Pretender (“Bonnie Prince Charlie”), were defeated by British forces under William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. Culloden is a tract of moorland in the county of Inverness, Scotland, forming a part of the northeast of Drummossie Moor and lying about 6 miles (10 km) east of

'abd Al-mu'min

2004-10-07T22:13:00.000-07:00

'Abd al-Mu'min came from a humble family: his father had been a potter. He seems to have been well instructed in the Muslim faith and must have had a good knowledge of Arabic, for he wished to continue his studies at one of the centres of Muslim learning in the East. A chance meeting with Ibn Tumart, a Berber religious reformer, made him abandon this idea and begin his brilliant

Spaatz, Carl

2004-10-06T03:00:00.000-07:00

A graduate (1914) of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., Spaatz served as a combat pilot during World War I and then acquired extensive staff and command experience between 1919 and 1942. He went to England in 1940 to evaluate German military

Ernest Augustus

2004-10-04T05:13:00.000-07:00

Ernest Augustus studied at Göttingen, entered the Hanoverian army, and served as a leader of cavalry when war broke out between Great Britain and France in 1793. When Hanover withdrew from the war in 1795 he returned to England, being made lieutenant general in

Ethiopia, The Zagwe and Solomonid dynasties

2004-10-01T08:04:00.000-07:00

As Christian shipping disappeared from the Red Sea, Aksum's towns lost their vitality. The Aksumite state turned southward, conquering adjacent, grain-rich highlands. Monastic establishments moved even farther to the south—for example, a great monastery was founded near Lake Hayk in the 9th century. Over time, one of the subject peoples, the Agew, learned Ge'ez, became

Aarau

2004-09-30T01:16:00.000-07:00

Capital of Aargau canton, northern Switzerland, at the southern foot of the Jura Mountains, on the right bank of the Aare River, west of Zürich. Founded about 1240 by the counts of Kyburg, it passed to the Habsburgs in 1264 and was taken by the Bernese in 1415. In 1798 it became the capital of the Helvetian Republic. Notable landmarks include several 13th-century towers, the town church (1471), the town

Earth, Geologic History Of

2004-09-28T10:03:00.000-07:00

Evolution of the continents, oceans, atmosphere, and biosphere. The layers of rock at the Earth's surface contain evidence of the evolutionary processes undergone by these components of the terrestrial environment during the times at which each layer was formed. By studying this rock record from the very beginning, it is thus possible to trace their development

Xie He

2004-09-25T03:08:00.000-07:00

The “Six Principles” introduce Xie's Gu Huapin Lu (“Classified Record of Painters of Former Times”), which rates 27 painters in three classes of descending merit, each with three subdivisions. The “Six Principles” have inevitably

Nicholas I

2004-09-23T15:26:00.000-07:00

A close associate of the controversial patriarch Photius of Constantinople, Nicholas began his career in the

Alain-fournier

2004-09-23T04:43:00.000-07:00

Robert Gibson, The Quest of Alain-Fournier (1953).

Hyderabad

2004-09-21T22:56:00.000-07:00

Hyderabad was founded by the Qutb Shahi sultans of Golconda, under whom the kingdom of Golconda attained a position of importance second only to that of the Mughal Empire in the north. The old fortress town of Golconda had proved inadequate as the kingdom's capital, and so

Amalienborg

2004-09-21T05:32:00.000-07:00

Architectural complex in Copenhagen, Den., built during the reign (1746–66) of King Frederick V and comprising the four buildings of the Amalienborg royal palace and the octagonal courtyard surrounded by them. The complex was designed and constructed by the Danish architect Nicolai Eigtved, who also designed numerous other buildings in the surrounding district. At the

Pieman River

2004-09-20T08:49:00.000-07:00

River, northwestern Tasmania, Australia. It is formed near Tullah by the confluence of the Macintosh and Murchison rivers. The 61-mile- (98-kilometre-) long main stream is fed by the Huskisson and Stanley rivers and then flows generally west to its estuary, which also receives the Donaldson, Whyte, and Savage rivers at Hardwicke Bay on the Indian Ocean. The river was named for

Nagappattinam

2004-09-18T09:42:00.000-07:00

Formerly Negapattam, port city, east-central Tamil Nadu state, southeastern India, on the Bay of Bengal. An ancient port known to have traded with Europe in Greek and Roman times, it became a Portuguese and later a Dutch colony. Its influence declined with the growth of Madras, 250 miles (400 km) north. Its industry includes ship repair, fishing, steel rolling, and the manufacture of metal goods. Pop. (1991 prelim.)

Spectroscopy, X-ray tubes

2004-09-17T02:16:00.000-07:00

The traditional method of producing X rays is based on the bombardment of high-energy electrons on a metal target in a vacuum tube. A typical X-ray tube consists of a cathode (a source of electrons, usually a heated filament) and an anode, which are mounted within an evacuated chamber or envelope. A potential difference of 10–100 kilovolts is maintained between cathode (the

São Leopoldo

2004-09-16T00:27:00.000-07:00

São Leopoldo serves an agricultural region producing

Tierra Del Fuego

2004-09-15T15:06:00.000-07:00

Archipelago, at the southern extremity of South America. In shape the main island, separated from the mainland by the Strait of Magellan, is a triangle with its base on Beagle Channel. The total area is 28,473 sq mi (73,746 sq km), about two-thirds of which is Chilean and one-third Argentine. The boundary, agreed upon in 1881, follows the meridian 68°36¢38² W, from Cabo (cape) Espíritu Santo on the Atlantic,

China, Nan (Southern) Sung (11271279)

2004-09-14T11:23:00.000-07:00

The Juchen could not extend their conquest beyond the Yangtze River. The Huai River valley, with its winding streams and crisscrossed marshlands, made cavalry operations difficult. Though the invaders penetrated this region and raided several areas below the Yangtze, they found the weather there too warm and humid for them. Moreover, the farther they went, the stronger

Arabia, History Of, Resistance to the Ottomans

2004-09-14T00:02:00.000-07:00

Propagating the doctrines of 'Abd al-Wahhab, Ibn Sa'ud and his son mastered all Najd. Late in the 18th century the Wahhabis began raiding Iraq and then besieged Mecca, which they definitively conquered in 1806. The Ottomans became so alarmed at the Sa'udi-Wahhabi peril that they urged Muhammad 'Ali, viceroy of Egypt, to drive the Wahhabis from the Holy Cities. Egyptian troops invaded Arabia,

Ilf, Ilya; And Petrov, Yevgeny

2004-09-12T21:15:00.000-07:00

Born into a poor Jewish family, Ilf worked at various trades while a youth, becoming a journalist in Odessa at the age of 18. He went

Asahara, Shoko

2004-09-11T20:18:00.000-07:00

Chizuo Matsumoto, who changed his name to Shoko Asahara, was born in Kumamoto prefecture, Japan,

Domus

2004-09-10T18:16:00.000-07:00

The more public functions and activities of the family took place in the atrium, generally

Zanjan

2004-09-10T04:37:00.000-07:00

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

West Dunbartonshire

2004-09-08T18:07:00.000-07:00

Council area, west-central Scotland, along the north bank of the lower River Clyde, northwest of Glasgow. It extends north to the shore of Loch Lomond, Scotland's largest lake, and encompasses an area of lowlands surrounding the Kilpatrick Hills, which stand in the centre of the council area. West Dunbartonshire lies entirely within the historic county of Dunbartonshire