CheapScissors

Alaskan Mountains

2005-10-17T03:15:00.000-07:00

The mountain ranges of Alaska give their state a rugged and beautiful terrain across its entire expanse. They include the highest peak in North America and are characterized by glaciers, earthquakes, and continuing volcanic activity. Structurally, the ranges are

Abelard, Peter

2005-07-26T11:25:00.000-07:00

French Pierre Abélard, or Abailard, Latin Petrus Abaelardus, or Abeilardus French theologian and philosopher best known for his solution of the problem of universals and for his original use of dialectics. He is also known for his poetry and for his celebrated love affair with Héloïse.

Latent Image

2005-07-08T21:35:00.000-07:00

According to current theories of latent image formation, small specks of silver atoms (one ten-millionth

Heves

2005-07-07T01:45:00.000-07:00

Lentils, tobacco, and

Rachel, Mademoiselle

2005-07-01T04:20:00.000-07:00

Mlle Rachel sang on the streets of Lyon and Paris, where her acting ability was quickly discovered by Isidore Samson, who taught her the acting techniques that he had learned from François-Joseph Talma. Mlle Rachel studied

Furniture, England

2005-06-21T15:45:00.000-07:00

The classical reaction, which set in shortly after 1760, reimposed a classical discipline on design, though of a lighter and more delicate touch than that of the previous classicists, the Palladians. Robert Adam, whose name is inseparably associated with this movement, had, like earlier architects, studied in Italy. There he sought inspiration in the monuments of both

Austrian Succession, War Of The

2005-06-16T19:15:00.000-07:00

In the war for the Austrian succession itself, France unsuccessfully supported the dubious claims of Bavaria, Saxony, and Spain to parts of the Habsburg domain and supported the claim of Charles

Philetaerus

2005-06-13T14:05:00.000-07:00

Philetaerus initiated the policies that made Pergamum a leading centre of Greek civilization in the East. He served under Antigonus I Monophthalmus, successor to Alexander

Padang Highlands

2005-06-02T09:10:00.000-07:00

Region near the western coast of the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. It is part of the Barisan Mountains of Sumatera Barat provinsi (“province”). The highest among several volcanoes in the highlands is Mount Merapi (9,485 feet [2,891 m]). A favourite resort area because of its climate, the region has superb scenery and is the source of four major rivers (the Rokan, Kampar, Inderagiri, and Batanghari).

Furniture, Chest

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

The chest, including the coffin (and sarcophagus), is an ancient primitive furniture form that has survived into the 20th century. The design of a clothes chest is optional; its size depends on changing demands. The construction of a coffin, on the other hand, is a set task. The format is determined by certain principal dimensions, and the human figure has at all times exercised

Amphitryon

2005-05-16T19:15:00.000-07:00

In Greek mythology, son of Alcaeus, king of Tiryns. Having accidentally killed his uncle Electryon, king of Mycenae, Amphitryon fled with Alcmene, Electryon's daughter, to Thebes, where he was cleansed from the guilt by Creon, his maternal uncle, king of Thebes. Alcmene refused to marry Amphitryon until he had avenged the death of her brothers, all of whom except one had

Extinguisher Moss

2005-05-14T16:55:00.000-07:00

Any of the plants of the genus Encalypta (order Bryales), which form large tufts on limestone rocks, ledges, and walls. About eight species are native to North America. They are usually 1 to 3 cm (0.4 to 1.2 inches) tall, with erect capsules (spore cases) borne on setae (stalks) about 5 to 10 mm (0.2 to 0.4 inches) long. The calyptra (hoodlike covering) of each capsule resembles a candle snuffer, or extinguisher,

Vyasa

2005-03-15T02:51:00.000-08:00

According to legend, Vyasa was the son of the ascetic Parasara and the dasa (aboriginal) princess Satyavati and grew up in forests, living with hermits who taught him the Vedas (ancient

Roosevelt, Franklin D., Declining health and death

2005-03-14T11:13:00.000-08:00

Roosevelt had been suffering from advanced arteriosclerosis for more than a year before the Yalta Conference. His political opponents had tried to make much of his obviously declining health during the campaign of 1944, when he ran for a fourth term against Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York. But Roosevelt campaigned actively and won the election by a popular vote of 25 million to 22 million and an electoral college vote of 432 to 99. (See primary source document: Fourth Inaugural Address.) By the time of his return from Yalta, however, he was so weak that for the first time in his presidency he spoke to Congress while sitting down. Early in April 1945 he traveled to his cottage in Warm Springs, Georgia - the �Little White House� - to rest. On the afternoon of April 12, while sitting for a portrait, he suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage, and he died a few hours later. With him at his death were two cousins, Laura Delano and Margaret Suckley, and Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd (by then a widow), with whom he had renewed his relationship a few years before.

Sosa, Sammy

2005-03-11T16:20:00.000-08:00

As a child, Sosa worked at a number of jobs, including shining shoes, to help support his family following his father's death. At the age

Bouchardon, Edm�

2005-03-06T15:16:00.000-08:00

Bouchardon studied with Guillaume Coustou and in 1722 won the Prix de Rome. For the next 10 years he lived in Rome, executing marble replicas of antique statues as well as numerous

Ilerda, Campaign Of

2005-03-05T16:58:00.000-08:00

(49 BC), the campaign leading to the victory of Julius Caesar over Pompey's forces in Spain. In the spring of 49 BC, Caesar sent six legions from Gaul into Spain under Gaius Fabius and joined them at Ilerda (L�rida) on the Sicoris (Segre) River. Five Pompeian legions, together with many Spanish auxiliaries, commanded by Lucius Afranius and Marcus Petreius, were concentrated against

Costa Rica, Ethnic and religious groups

2005-03-04T23:31:00.000-08:00

Costa Rica is noted for having the largest percentage of Spanish population in Central America. The Meseta Central, with more than half the nation's population, is the most predominantly Spanish region in both its manner of living and its ancestry. Spanish is spoken with distinctive national accents and usages. In Central America, a Costa Rican is called a Tico, for

Shanghai, Climate

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

The city's maritime location fosters a mild climate characterized by minimal seasonal contrast. The average annual temperature is about 58� F (14� C); the July maximum averages about 80� F (27� C), and the average January minimum is about 37� F (3� C). About 45 inches (1,140 millimetres) of precipitation fall annually, with the heaviest rainfall in June and the lightest in December.

Alkylation

2005-03-02T04:43:00.000-08:00

In petroleum refining, chemical process in which light, gaseous hydrocarbons are combined to produce high-octane components of gasoline. The light hydrocarbons consist of olefins such as propylene and butylene and isoparaffins such as isobutane. These compounds are fed into a reactor, where, under the influence of a sulfuric-acid or hydrofluoric-acid catalyst,

Chaumette, Pierre-gaspard

2005-03-01T10:03:00.000-08:00

Chaumette went to sea as a cabin boy, studied botany, traveled widely in France, and then settled in Paris as a medical student by 1790. As an active

Melk

2005-02-28T21:12:00.000-08:00

Town, Bundesland (�federal state�) Nieder�sterreich, northeastern Austria. It lies at the confluence of the Danube and Melk rivers, west of Sankt P�lten. The town was the site of a Roman garrison and was the castle-residence of the Babenberg rulers of Austria from 976 to 1101. The castle and surrounding lands were given in 1111 to the huge Benedictine abbey of Melk (founded in 1089), which dominates

Salatiga

2005-02-27T18:10:00.000-08:00

Kotamadya (municipality), Jawa Tengah provinsi (�province�), Java, Indonesia. The city lies 35 miles (56 km) north-northeast of Yogyakarta, at the foot of Mount Merbabu. At an elevation of 1,916 feet (584 m), it is a well laid out city that stands in the midst of fruit- and vegetable-growing highlands. The nearby hills are covered with plantations of rubber and coffee, and rice fields stretch before

Carmel

2005-02-26T07:39:00.000-08:00

Also called �Carmel-by-the-sea, � city, Monterey county, western California, U.S., on the Carmel River and Carmel Bay, adjacent to Monterey. The river was named by the Spanish explorer Sebasti�n Vizca�no and a group of Carmelite friars in 1602. The nearby Mission San Carlos Borrom�o del R�o Carmelo was founded in 1770 at Monterey by the Spanish Franciscan missionary Jun�pero Serra; it was moved to the Carmel area

Nepheline

2005-02-25T07:41:00.000-08:00

Also called �nephelite�, or �eleolite� the most common feldspathoid mineral, an aluminosilicate of sodium and potassium (Na3KAl4Si4O16). It is sometimes used as a substitute for feldspars in the manufacture of glass and ceramics. Nepheline is the characteristic mineral of alkaline plutonic rocks, particularly nephelinesyenites and nephelinegneisses. It occurs in beautiful crystal form with mica, garnet,

Sara

2005-02-24T16:21:00.000-08:00

Cluster of peoples living on the fringe of the southern Sudan, especially in the northwestern regions of the Central African Republic and the south-central area surrounding Sarh, south of Lake Chad in Chad. They include the Gula, Kara, Kreish, Nduka, Ngama, and Sara proper. The Sara peoples all speak Central Sudanic languages of the Nilo-Saharan language family, and their

Ithaca

2005-02-23T09:24:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1817) of Tompkins county, south-central New York, U.S. It lies at the southern end of Cayuga Lake (one of the Finger Lakes), 55 miles (89 km) southwest of Syracuse. Within the city are picturesque gorges cut by several creeks. Founded in 1789 by Simeon DeWitt, surveyor general of New York, it had formerly been a part of the military tract granted in 1782 to veterans of the American Revolution.

Welland

2005-02-22T11:23:00.000-08:00

City, regional municipality of Niagara, southeastern Ontario, Canada. It lies along the Welland River and Welland Ship Canal. During the War of 1812 the area was the scene of several battles between British-Canadian and American forces. Founded as The Aqueduct by loyalists around the first Welland Canal (completed 1829), the settlement was renamed Merrittsville in 1842 after William

Berenice I

2005-02-21T20:48:00.000-08:00

Berenice arrived in Egypt in the retinue of Eurydice, Ptolemy's second queen, whom he married as part of a political agreement with her father, Antipater of Macedonia. About 317 Ptolemy married Berenice. Probably because she was not of royal blood, a genealogy was fabricated

Chelmsford

2005-02-20T00:59:00.000-08:00

Remains of the Roman settlement of Caesaromagus have been discovered in the locality. In 1227 Chelmsford town became the regular seat of the county judicial gatherings known as assizes and quarter

Literature, Swedish.

2005-02-19T10:22:00.000-08:00

A feeling of lost control and an urge to use language to beseech a present and a past that had gone out of hand served as a rough summary of preferred themes in Swedish literature in 2001. Per Olov Enquist's Lewis resa portrayed revivalist Lewi Pethrus, the founding father of the Swedish branch of the Pentecostal

Bulgar

2005-02-18T00:41:00.000-08:00

The Bulgars probably originated as a Turkic tribe of Central Asia and arrived in the European steppe west of the Volga River with the Huns about AD 370; retreating with the Huns, they resettled about 460 in an arc of country north and

p-n Junction

2005-02-17T01:47:00.000-08:00

In electronics, the interface within diodes, transistors, and other semiconductor devices between two different types of materials called p-type and n-type semiconductors. These materials are formed by the deliberate addition of impurities to pure semiconductor materials, such as silicon. Semiconductors of p-type contain holes, mobile vacancies in the electronic

Economic Indicator

2005-02-15T18:13:00.000-08:00

Statistic used, along with other indicators, in an attempt to determine the state of general economic activity, especially in the future. A �leading indicator� is one of a statistical series that fairly reliably turn up or down before the general economy does. Common leading indicators are building permits (suggesting the future volume of new construction), common

Amalaric

2005-02-14T20:50:00.000-08:00

Amalaric was a child when his father fell in battle against Clovis, king of the Franks (507). He was carried for safety into Spain, which country, with southern Languedoc and Provence, was thenceforth ruled by his maternal grandfather Theodoric the Great through his vice-regent, an Ostrogothic nobleman named Theudis. On Theodoric's death

Ha

2005-02-13T10:33:00.000-08:00

Also called �Abaha, �or �Waha, � a Bantu-speaking people belonging to the Interlacustrine Bantu ethnolinguistic family who live in western Tanzania bordering on Lake Tanganyika. Their country, which they call Buha, comprises grasslands and open woodlands. Agriculture is their primary economic activity. Sorghum, millet, corn (maize), cassava, yams, peanuts (groundnuts), and other crops were cultivated

Biblical Literature, Eastern Orthodoxy

2005-02-12T07:21:00.000-08:00

The first Christians were Jews, and they worshipped along with other Jews in the synagogue. The earliest Gentile converts also attended the synagogue. When Christians met outside the synagogue, they still used its liturgy, read its Bible, and preserved the main characteristics of synagogue worship. Every historic liturgy is divided into (1) a Christian revision of

Muhammad V

2005-02-11T15:37:00.000-08:00

Muhammad was the third son of Sultan Moulay Yusuf; when his father died in 1927, French authorities chose him to be successor, expecting him to be more compliant than his two older brothers. The

Wild Radish

2005-02-10T10:37:00.000-08:00

Also called �Jointed Charlock� (species Raphanus raphanistrum), widespread annual weed of the mustard family (Brassicaceae), native to Eurasia and naturalized in North America. It is believed by some authorities to be the ancestor of the domestic radish (R. sativus). Wild radish has a stout taproot, a rosette of unequally divided leaves and very bristly flowering stalks 60 cm (2 feet) tall. The four-petaled

Economic Forecasting

2005-02-09T02:30:00.000-08:00

Formal economic forecasting is usually based on a specific theory as to how the economy works. Some theories are complicated,

Deformation And Flow

2005-02-08T02:38:00.000-08:00

Everyday substances are ordinarily classed as either solids, liquids, or gases, and, under normal circumstances, gases and liquids flow relatively freely and solids deform when they are subjected

Euler, Ulf Von

2005-02-07T20:43:00.000-08:00

Euler was the son of 1929 Nobel laureate Hans von Euler-Chelpin. After his graduation

Taqi Khan, Mirza

2005-02-06T14:18:00.000-08:00

At an early age Mirza Taqi learned to read and write despite his humble origins. He joined the provincial bureaucracy as a scribe and, by his abilities, rapidly advanced within the hierarchy of the administration. In 1829, as a junior

Toradja

2005-02-05T00:32:00.000-08:00

Group of peoples of central Celebes (Sulawesi), Indonesia. They are believed to be descendants of the invading Austronesian-speaking people that overran the island and absorbed or exterminated the aboriginal population. Later they were driven back from the coasts by Muslim Indonesians such as the Buginese. Their warfare and headhunting made it necessary to locate

Automata Theory, Classification by semi-groups

2005-02-04T13:33:00.000-08:00

A mathematically significant classification of transducers may be obtained in terms of the theory of semi-groups. In outline, if the transducer T is reduced, the functions fs given in terms of M, for fixed input, as maps from and to the space of states Q constitute a semi-group termed the semi-group of T (see 14). By a certain procedure these semi-groups and their associated transducers

Irish Harp

2005-02-03T15:11:00.000-08:00

Irish �clairseach, �Scottish Gaelic �clarsach� traditional harp of medieval Ireland and Scotland, characterized by a huge soundbox carved from a solid block of wood; a heavy, curved neck; and a deeply outcurved forepillar - a form shared by the medieval Scottish harp. It was designed to bear great tension from the heavy brass strings (normally 30 to 50), which were plucked by the fingernails to produce a ringing, bell-like

Swabia

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

Swabia's name is derived from that of the Suebi, a Germanic people who, with the Alemanni, occupied the upper Rhine and upper Danube region in the 3rd century

Robbins, Frederick Chapman

2005-02-01T18:05:00.000-08:00

American pediatrician and virologist who received (with John Enders and Thomas Weller) the 1954 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for successfully cultivating poliomyelitis virus in tissue cultures. This accomplishment made possible the production of polio vaccines, the development of sophisticated diagnostic

Jones, Deacon

2005-01-31T06:36:00.000-08:00

Jones, an accomplished high school athlete in Orlando, Fla., played football at Mississippi Vocational College and South Carolina State College. He was relatively unknown in 1961 when the Los Angeles Rams selected him in the 14th round of the National

Egyptian Religion

2005-01-30T19:09:00.000-08:00

The king was the centre of human society, the guarantor of order for the gods, the recipient of god-given benefits including life itself, and the benevolent ruler of the world for humanity. He was ultimately responsible for the cults of the dead, both for his predecessors in office and for the dead in general. His dominance in religion corresponded to his central political

Bonacolsi Family

2005-01-29T23:03:00.000-08:00

The signoria (lordship) of the Bonacolsi was first established by Pinamonte (died 1293), who allied himself with other powerful families to eliminate his rivals

Australia, Tasmania

2005-01-28T07:01:00.000-08:00

The 1860s imprinted a sleepy image on Tasmania, which persisted. The mineral discoveries at Mount Bischoff and elsewhere were important in reviving the economy. Nevertheless, living standards generally remained lower than elsewhere, and there were still property qualifications for voting in 1900. The colony contributed to democratic practice, however, by experimenting

Pontevedra

2005-01-27T10:50:00.000-08:00

Provincia, northwestern Spain, smallest of the four provinces of the comunidad aut�noma (�autonomous community�) of Galicia. It is mountainous, with an Atlantic coastline deeply indented by the picturesque r�as bajas (inlets) of Arosa, Pontevedra, and Vigo. Numerous traditional fiestas held throughout the province contribute, with the scenic beauty and fine beaches,

B�ranger, Pierre-jean De

2005-01-26T15:18:00.000-08:00

B�ranger was active in his father's business enterprises until they failed. He then found work as a clerk at the University of Paris (1809). He led a marginal

Buckthorn

2005-01-25T11:10:00.000-08:00

The common, or European, buckthorn (R. cathartica), about 3.5 m (12 feet) high, native to Eurasia, is widely naturalized. It has dark bark, often

Nagano

2005-01-24T05:47:00.000-08:00

Formerly �Zenkoji, � city, Nagano ken (prefecture), central Honshu, Japan. It is the capital of the prefecture and is situated in the Nagano Basin. The city dates from the 12th - 13th century and grew up around the Zenko Temple, which was founded in the 7th century. Nagano later developed as a market town and post station along the Hokkoku Road. It is now an important commercial centre with food-processing,

Malay Peninsula

2005-01-23T17:47:00.000-08:00

Also called �the Kra Peninsula, � in Southeast Asia, a long, narrow appendix of the mainland extending south for a distance of about 700 miles (1,127 km) through the Isthmus of Kra to Cape Balai, southernmost point of the Asian continent; its maximum width is 200 miles (322 km). It lies between the Andaman Sea of the Indian Ocean and the Strait of Malacca (west), the Singapore Strait (south), and the Gulf of Thailand and the South

Alia, Ramiz

2005-01-22T21:46:00.000-08:00

Alia, the son of Muslim parents from the Albanian-speaking region of Kosovo in what was then Yugoslavia, attended a French secondary school in Tiran�, Albania. During World War II he joined the communist-led National Liberation

Rocky Mountain National Park

2005-01-21T05:19:00.000-08:00

National park, in north central Colorado, U.S., established in 1915. Enclosing part of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, it is 262,191 ac (106,109 ha) in area. The park contains numerous high peaks exceeding 10,000 ft (3,000 m), including Longs Peak (14,256 ft), as well as broad valleys, gorges, alpine lakes, and plunging streams. Ice Age glacial deposition is evidenced by meadows and rolling moraines. A great variety

Sun-joffe Manifesto

2005-01-20T01:15:00.000-08:00

In the negotiations that led to the signing of the manifesto, Sun agreed to the formation

Rada'

2005-01-19T07:28:00.000-08:00

(Arabic: �to suckle�), in Islam, a legal relationship established between children when they are nursed by the same woman, the result being that they are forbidden to intermarry. Such a prohibition was prevalent in Arabian society even before Islam. Arabs equate such kinship with true blood relationship. In Mecca, the Arabs had a custom, still retained, of hiring professional

Judaism, Historiated Bibles and legendary histories

2005-01-18T21:13:00.000-08:00

When, in 330 BCE, Alexander the Great completed his conquest of the Middle East, Judaism entered a new phase. The dominant features of the ensuing Hellenistic age were an increasing cosmopolitanism and a fusion of Oriental and Greek cultures. These found expression in Jewish myth and legend in the composition (in Greek) of stories designed to link the Bible with general history,

Finsen, Niels Ryberg

2005-01-17T02:17:00.000-08:00

Finsen was born into a prominent Icelandic family that was involved in the administration of

Pacific Ocean, Bottom deposits

2005-01-16T19:51:00.000-08:00

Apart from the narrow coastal zone of the eastern region and the broad continental seas of the western region, the Pacific is floored with pelagic (i.e., oceanic) material derived from the remains of marine plants and animals that once inhabited the waters lying above. Red or brown radiolarian ooze is found along the zone of the Pacific North Equatorial Current, east

Xhosa Language

2005-01-15T18:25:00.000-08:00

Xhosa also spelled �Xosa� a Bantu language spoken by seven million people in South Africa, especially in Eastern province. Xhosa is a member of the Southeastern, or Nguni, subgroup of the Bantu group of the Benue-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo language family. Other Southeastern Bantu languages are Zulu, Swati (Swazi), Sotho, Tswana, Venda, and Ndebele. Although Xhosa and Zulu are similar enough

Bridges, Robert (seymour)

2005-01-14T10:48:00.000-08:00

From 1869 until 1882 Bridges

Argentina, Mesopotamia

2005-01-13T13:21:00.000-08:00

Thin stands of tall wax palms occupy the flood zones of Mesopotamia. Groups of trees and grassy areas form a park landscape of noted beauty. Common trees are the quebracho, exploited for its tannin since colonial times, the urunday, and the guayac�n, used for tannin and lumber. Gallery forests growing along rivers become denser and taller in Misiones province.

Balbuena, Bernardo De

2005-01-11T07:41:00.000-08:00

Balbuena, taken to Mexico as a child, studied there and in Spain. Returning to the New World, he held minor church offices in Jamaica (1608) and became bishop of Puerto Rico (1620), remaining

Anthelmintic

2005-01-10T17:11:00.000-08:00

Most of the anthelmintics

Vienna

2005-01-09T11:18:00.000-08:00

Modern Vienna has undergone several historical incarnations. From 1558 to 1918 it was an imperial city - until 1806 the seat of the Holy Roman Empire and then the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1918 it became the capital of the truncated,

New Church

2005-01-08T17:32:00.000-08:00

Also called �Swedenborgians, � church organized in the General Conference of the New Church, the General Convention of the New Jerusalem in the U.S.A., and the General Church of the New Jerusalem. Its members are followers of the theology of Emanuel Swedenborg, the 18th-century Swedish scientist, philosopher, and theologian. Swedenborg did not himself found a church, but he believed that his writings

Dualism

2005-01-07T14:46:00.000-08:00

In religion, the doctrine that the world (or reality) consists of two basic, opposed, and irreducible principles that account for all that exists. It has played an important role in the history of thought and of religion.

John I Tzimisces

2005-01-06T13:31:00.000-08:00

Descended from an aristocratic Armenian family, John was related through his mother to the general, and later emperor, Nicephorus II

Cosimo Iii

2005-01-05T06:25:00.000-08:00

Though Cosimo III traveled widely and spent money generously (in particular for the benefit of the church), he had a reserved manner aggravated by conjugal, political, and dynastic disillusionments, and he took refuge more and

Floral Decoration, 20th century

2005-01-04T10:56:00.000-08:00

The book Flower Decoration in the House (1907) greatly influenced the development of 20th-century floral decoration as an art. The author was Gertrude Jekyll, already notable in the gardening world. For a long time, floral decoration in big houses had been the charge of the head gardeners or the local florists; in smaller houses, the charge of the mistress of the house. In any

Biblical Literature, Ecclesiastes

2005-01-03T18:43:00.000-08:00

The book of Ecclesiastes is a work of the Hebrew wisdom movement, associated by its title and by tradition with King Solomon. It is evident, however, that the book is of much later composition; the author may have identified himself with the famous king and wise man of the past to give greater authority to his work. The language of the book, including the relatively large

Cond�, Henri-jules De Bourbon, 5e Prince De (5th Prince Of)

2005-01-02T06:28:00.000-08:00

Known from 1646 as the Duc d'Enghien, he was taken to and fro by his mother during the Fronde and eventually into exile with his father, returning to France in 1659. He was married in 1663 to Anne of Bavaria, daughter of Edward, Prince Palatine. At this time he was proposed as

Kachchh, Rann Of

2005-01-01T20:29:00.000-08:00

Kachchh also spelled �Kutch, �Cutch�, or �Kachh� saline mudflats, west-central India and southern Pakistan. The Great Rann covers an area of about 7,000 square miles (18,000 square km) and lies almost entirely within Gujarat state, India, along the border with Pakistan. The Little Rann of Kachchh extends northeast from the Gulf of Kachchh and occupies about 2,000 square miles (5,100 square km) in Gujarat state. Originally an extension of the

Ibagu�

2004-12-31T05:05:00.000-08:00

Capital of Tolima department, central Colombia, on the eastern slopes of the Andean Cordillera Central (Central Mountains). Founded as San Bonifacio de Ibagu� in 1550 on the site of an Indian village, it was moved to its present location, on a plain 4,216 ft (1,285 m) above sea level, because of Indian attacks. It was the capital of the republic for a short time in 1854. The rapid expansion of coffee

Anatta

2004-12-30T11:04:00.000-08:00

Sanskrit �Anatman, � in Buddhism, the doctrine that there is in humans no permanent, underlying substance that can be called the soul. Instead, the individual is compounded of five factors of consciousness (Pali: khandha; Sanskrit: skandha) that are constantly changing. The concept of anatta, or anatman, is a departure from the Hindu belief in atman (�the self�). The absence of a self, anicca (the impermanence

Fairbanks, Charles Warren

2004-12-29T15:10:00.000-08:00

Fairbanks had considered seeking the presidency in 1900 and was mentioned as a potential running mate to William McKinley. As a staunch conservative from a �doubtful� state, Fairbanks was chosen as Roosevelt's running mate in 1904 to balance the ticket. A typical vice president of his time, he did not attend cabinet meetings and was not one of Roosevelt's closest advisers. Although he was nominated by Indiana for president in 1908 and received 40 votes at the Republican National Convention, Roosevelt blocked his nomination in favour of William Howard Taft. When the party was divided in 1912, Fairbanks supported Taft, the eventual nominee, instead of Roosevelt, who ran as the candidate of his own Bull Moose Party. He also ran unsuccessfully for vice president on the 1916 ticket headed by Charles Evans Hughes.

Russell, Morgan

2004-12-28T15:45:00.000-08:00

After studying under Robert Henri in New York City, Russell moved to Paris in 1906 and lived there for 40 years. In 1913 - 14 he and Stanton Macdonald-Wright established Synchromism (q.v.) as an avant-garde movement, issuing manifestos and exhibiting together in Munich, Paris, and New York

Computers, The IBM 360

2004-12-27T13:53:00.000-08:00

IBM had been selling business machines since early in the century and had built Howard Aiken's computer to his architectural specifications. But the company had been slow to implement the stored-program digital computer architecture of the early 1950s. It did develop the IBM 650, a (like UNIVAC) decimal implementation of the IAS plan - and the first computer to sell more than

Mitra

2004-12-26T21:51:00.000-08:00

In the pantheon of Vedic Hinduism, one of the gods in the category of Adityas, or sovereign principles of the universe. He represents friendship, integrity, harmony, and all else that is important in the successful maintenance of order in human existence. He is usually paired with the god Varuna, the guardian of the cosmic order, whose powers he complements as guardian

J. Walter Thompson Co.

2004-12-25T21:18:00.000-08:00

The company grew out of one of the first advertising agencies, Carlton

Allan, Sir Hugh

2004-12-24T11:03:00.000-08:00

Allan emigrated to Canada in 1826 and in 1831 began work for a shipbuilding company in Montreal. By 1839 he was a senior partner, and by 1853 he and his brother

France, History Of, Agricultural patterns

2004-12-23T00:45:00.000-08:00

In its basic organization, French agriculture continued in its age-old patterns. This contrasted starkly with England, where new agricultural techniques as well as major changes in the control of land - convertible husbandry (a progressive form of land use that did away with the wasteful fallowing of land every two or three years) and the enclosure movement (which

Race, South Africa

2004-12-22T15:36:00.000-08:00

Although race categories and racial ideology are both arbitrary and subjective, race was a convenient way to organize people within structures of presumed permanent inequality. South Africa's policy of apartheid exhibited the same basic racial ideology as the North American system but differed in two respects: the systematic state classification of races

Slavic Languages, Innovations

2004-12-21T19:00:00.000-08:00

Each branch of Slavic originally developed from Proto-Slavic, the ancestral parent language of the group, which in turn developed from an earlier language that was also the antecedent of the Proto-Baltic language. Both Slavic and Baltic share with the eastern Indo-European languages (called satem languages) the same change of Indo-European palatal k and g sounds (consonants

Sailing

2004-12-20T20:37:00.000-08:00

The sport or pastime of cruising or racing in a sailboat or, more generally, in any large craft propelled by either sail or motor. See yacht.

Pavelic, Ante

2004-12-19T15:35:00.000-08:00

As a practicing lawyer in Zagreb, Pavelic entered the nationalist Croatian Party of Rights. In 1920 he was elected city and county alderman at Zagreb. From 1927 to 1929 he was a representative in the Yugoslav Skup

Italy, The rise of Mussolini

2004-12-18T22:19:00.000-08:00

The political crisis of the postwar years provided an opportunity for militant, patriotic movements, including those of ex-servicemen and former assault troops, radical students, ex-syndicalists, and former pro-war agitators. D'Annunzio in Fiume led one such movement, but the ex-Socialist journalist Benito Mussolini soon became even more prominent, founding his

Bacchylides

2004-12-17T18:56:00.000-08:00

Greek lyric poet of the Aegean island of Ceos, nephew of the poet Simonides and a younger contemporary of the Boeotian poet Pindar, whom he rivaled in the composition of epinician poems (odes commissioned by victors at the major athletic festivals). Little was known of Bacchylides' work until the discovery in Egypt of papyrus fragments that reached the

Guercino, Il

2004-12-16T14:16:00.000-08:00

Guercino received his earliest training locally, but the formative influence on his style

Biblical Literature, The Gospel According to Matthew

2004-12-15T22:47:00.000-08:00

Matthew is the first in order of the four canonical Gospels and is often called the �ecclesiastical� Gospel, both because it was much used for selections for pericopes for the church year and because it deals to a great extent with the life and conduct of the church and its members. Matthew gave the frame, the basic shape and colour, to the early church's picture of Jesus.

Amritsar, Treaty Of

2004-12-14T09:35:00.000-08:00

(April 25, 1809), pact concluded between Charles T. Metcalfe, representing the British East India Company, and Ranjit Singh, head of the Sikh kingdom of Punjab (Pa�jab); it settled Indo-Sikh relations for a generation. The immediate occasion was the French threat to northwestern India, following Napoleon's Treaty of Tilsit with Russia (1807) and Ranjit's attempt to bring the Cis-Sutlej

Fursey, Saint

2004-12-13T10:16:00.000-08:00

First educated under Brendan the Navigator, Fursey later became a monk at the monastery of Clonfert, in County Galway,

Stakman, Elvin Charles

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

Stakman received his B.A. (1906), M.A. (1910), and Ph.D. (1913) from the University of Minnesota. In 1909 he became instructor in the newly established department of plant pathology, and in 1940 he became

Clairvoyance

2004-12-11T22:16:00.000-08:00

(French: �clear seeing�), knowledge of information not necessarily known to any other person, not obtained by ordinary channels of perceiving or reasoning; thus a form of extrasensory perception ESP. Spiritualists also use the term to mean seeing or hearing (clairaudience) the spirits of the dead that are said to surround the living. Parapsychological research, using

C.v.o.

2004-12-10T04:23:00.000-08:00

Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, member of the third highest class of a British order of knighthood, although this rank does not confer knighthood. See Royal Victorian Order.