SoftBed

Glazov

2005-04-05T14:49:00.000-07:00

City and administrative centre of Glazov rayon (sector) in Udmurtiya republic, Russia. Founded in 1780 as a point of Udmurt settlement, it is on the Cheptsa River. Industrial activities include timber milling, woodworking, metal working, and food processing. Glazov has a teacher-training and an agricultural college. Pop. (1991 est.) 106,000.

Tae Kwon Do

2005-04-04T22:23:00.000-07:00

Tae kwon do is characterized by the

Spiny-finned Fish

2005-04-03T06:28:00.000-07:00

The atheriniform (q.v.) is the best known of the spiny-finned group, including flying fishes, guppies, mollies, swordtails, and California grunion. Beryciforms

Gath

2005-04-02T05:38:00.000-08:00

The records of Sargon II of Assyria show that he took it in 712 BC. Gath was evidently a place of importance,

Prokop The Bald

2005-04-01T20:40:00.000-08:00

Initially Prokop was a conservative (Utraquist) priest, but then he joined the heretical religious movement that had sprung from the teachings of the martyred Bohemian Reformer Jan Hus (d. 1415). Prokop effectively defended Hussite

Pullman, George M(ortimer)

2005-04-01T04:48:00.000-08:00

Pullman moved to Chicago in 1855, accumulated some capital as a contractor, and began to devise a sleeping car. The first real Pullman car, the “Pioneer,” invented jointly with Pullman's friend Ben Field, appeared in 1865. It contained folding upper berths and seat

Amphitrite

2005-03-30T05:58:00.000-08:00

In Greek mythology, the goddess of the sea, wife of the god Poseidon, and one of the 50 (or 100) daughters (the Nereids) of Nereus and Doris (the daughter of Oceanus). Poseidon chose Amphitrite from among her sisters as the Nereids performed a dance on the isle of Naxos. Refusing his offer of marriage, she fled to Atlas, from whom she was retrieved by a dolphin sent by Poseidon. Amphitrite

Canadian-american Challenge Cup

2005-03-29T07:02:00.000-08:00

Byname Can-am Cup, trophy of a series of automobile races that took place annually from 1966 to 1975 and from 1977 to 1986. It was sponsored jointly by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and the Canadian Automobile Sports Committee (CASC). Entries were two-seater sports and racing cars classified in Group 7 by rules of the International Automobile Federation, the world governing body of auto racing. Races

Lamarr, Hedy

2005-03-28T07:44:00.000-08:00

The daughter of a prosperous Viennese banker, Lamarr was privately tutored from age four; by the time she was

Berenice Iv

2005-03-27T02:39:00.000-08:00

Ptolemy, driven from Egypt by the threat of popular insurrection in 58, went to Rome. When his queen died shortly after his departure, Berenice was proclaimed queen. In 57 Ptolemy, employing bribery and

Mcneill, William H(ardy)

2005-03-26T22:12:00.000-08:00

McNeill attended the University of Chicago (B.A., 1938; M.A., 1939) and Cornell University (Ph.D., 1947). During World War II he served in the U.S. Army (1941–46); part of that time he was the assistant military attaché to Greece (1944–46). McNeill taught history

Kabwe Man

2005-03-26T05:07:00.000-08:00

Originally called Rhodesian Man, also called Broken Hill Man, extinct human being known from fossil remains (almost complete skull, maxillary fragment, sacrum, portions of pelvis and limb bones), found at Broken Hill, Northern Rhodesia (now Kabwe, Zambia), in the 1920s. Despite past disagreement about the classification of these specimens, they are now usually attributed to the early archaic Homo sapiens subspecies H. sapiens

Moscow, Treaty Of

2005-03-24T02:32:00.000-08:00

With the advent of the Russian Revolution (October 1917), Russia withdrew from World War I and ceased hostilities against the Ottoman Empire. The new Soviet regime found

Encratite

2005-03-24T01:57:00.000-08:00

Tatian converted to Christianity while studying in Rome

Allen, Stephen Valentine Patrick William

2005-03-22T03:04:00.000-08:00

American entertainer, composer, and author (b. Dec. 26, 1921, New York, N.Y.—d. Oct. 30, 2000, Encino, Calif.), was a prolific, versatile, creative, and influential modern-day renaissance man. Although he could be considered to have made his greatest impact when he created and hosted what became The Tonight Show—the mold for television talk shows—he also composed thousands of songs (his best known:

Chaconne

2005-03-21T17:29:00.000-08:00

Also spelled ciaconne fiery and suggestive dance that appeared in Spain about 1600 and eventually gave its name to a musical form. Miguel de Cervantes, Francisco Gómez de Quevedo, and other contemporary writers imply a Mexican origin but do not indicate whether it was indigenous or a Spanish dance modified there. Apparently danced with castanets by a couple or by a woman alone, it

Gastronomy, Triumph of French grande cuisine

2005-03-20T14:04:00.000-08:00

During the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI, culinary methods were refined and a new order and logic were introduced into the French cuisine. Brillat-Savarin noted that in the reign of Louis XVthere was generally established more orderliness of meals, more cleanliness and elegance, and those refinements of service, which having increased steadily to our own time

Abyssinian

2005-03-19T03:11:00.000-08:00

Breed of domestic cat, probably of Egyptian origin, that has been considered to approximate the sacred cat of ancient Egypt more closely than any other living cat. The Abyssinian is a lithe cat with relatively slender legs and a long, tapering tail. The short, finely textured coat is ruddy reddish brown, with individual hairs of the back, sides, chest, and tail distinctively

Kwandebele

2005-03-18T14:21:00.000-08:00

Former nonindependent black state and enclave in central Transvaal province, South Africa, that was a self-governing “national state” for Transvaal Ndebele people from 1981 to 1994. KwaNdebele was located in a 3,500-foot- (1,060-metre-) high dry savanna area about 100 miles (160 km) northeast of Johannesburg. It was established in 1979, when many Transvaal Ndebele were expelled from the nearby Bophuthatswana

Arts, Central Asian, Nomadic cultures

2005-03-18T00:48:00.000-08:00

During the 1st millennium BC and the 1st centuries of the Christian era, certain nomadic tribes affected the course of Central Asia's artistic history. Cyrus II the Great, the ancient Persian king who founded the Achaemenian Empire, was killed by the nomadic Massagetai when campaigning in eastern Iran in 530 BC. At the time, the Saka tribe was pasturing its herds in the Pamirs, central

Argentina, Foreign policies

2005-03-17T15:53:00.000-08:00

Rosas's foreign policies left no room for anything other than total success or total failure, and international difficulties arose as extensions of domestic turmoil. In January 1833 Britain reasserted an earlier claim to the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), and a British warship took possession of the islands. More troublesome was the growing independence of neighbouring

Auburn

2005-03-16T15:40:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1805) of Cayuga county, west-central New York, U.S. It lies at the north end of Owasco Lake, in the Finger Lakes region, 22 miles (35 km) southwest of Syracuse. Founded in 1793 by John Hardenbergh, an officer in the American Revolution, on the site of a Cayuga Indian village called Wasco, it was first known as Hardenbergh's Corners. It developed around Auburn State Prison (established

Arabia, History Of, The Qarmatians

2005-03-16T09:11:00.000-08:00

A more serious loss to 'Abbasid power in Arabia was occasioned by the appearance of Isma'ilite propaganda in Yemen about 880, in eastern Arabia about 899, and even briefly in Oman. From Yemen, Isma'ilis reached North Africa, where the Fatimid movement arose and conquered Egypt and for a time seriously threatened the 'Abbasids in Baghdad. The Qarmatians (Qaramitah), an extremist offshoot of

Tobogganing

2005-03-16T07:00:00.000-08:00

The runnerless toboggan was originally an American Indian sled made of poles tied together with thongs. The modern version is usually built of thin, straight-grained

Bushbuck

2005-03-14T18:01:00.000-08:00

Also called Harnessed Antelope (Tragelaphus scriptus), African antelope of the family Bovidae (order Artiodactyla), found in sub-Saharan forests and brush. It is nocturnal, shy, and usually solitary. The bushbuck stands about 1 m (39 inches) at the shoulder and ranges in colour from reddish brown to almost black, depending on the subspecies. Its markings vary but include white patches

Hardee, William J(oseph)

2005-03-13T15:02:00.000-08:00

When Georgia seceded from the Union in

Mazia, Daniel

2005-03-12T14:13:00.000-08:00

U.S. cell biologist (b. Dec. 18, 1912, Scranton, Pa.--d. June 9, 1996, Monterey, Calif.), studied the structure, division, and regulation of cells and was best known for having isolated the cellular structures involved in mitosis (the process by which chromosomes within the nucleus of a cell double and divide), research that he carried out in 1951 with Japanese biologist Katsuma Dan. Mazia, who was interested

Mujica Láinez, Manuel

2005-03-11T11:43:00.000-08:00

Mujica Láinez was descended from an Argentine family that included the writers Juan Cruz Varela and Miguel Cané. He was educated in

Fibrosarcoma

2005-03-11T10:05:00.000-08:00

An uncommon malignant tumour of fibrous tissue found in young adults and most often occurring in the thighbone, upper arm bone, or jaw. The mass is felt before pain occurs. This tumour invades surrounding tissues, which makes complete surgical excision difficult. It often recurs and may metastasize.

Uwajima

2005-03-11T01:05:00.000-08:00

City, Ehime ken (prefecture), Shikoku, Japan. It faces the Bungo Channel between the Inland Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Uwajima developed as a castle town in the late 16th century. Connected by rail to major ports on the Inland Sea in 1945, it became the transport hub of southwestern Shikoku. The port is an active fishing centre; associated industries produce ships, processed foods,

Biblical Literature, Non-European versions

2005-03-10T05:06:00.000-08:00

Translations of parts of the Bible are known to have existed in only seven Asian and four African languages before the 15th century. In the 17th century Dutch merchants began to interest themselves in the missionary enterprise among non-Europeans. A pioneer was Albert Cornelius Ruyl, who is credited with having translated Matthew into High Malay in 1629, with Mark following

Eyre, Edward John

2005-03-10T00:43:00.000-08:00

Emigrating from England for reasons of health, Eyre reached Australia in March 1833. As a sheep farmer he became a pioneer “overlander,” driving stock from Sydney

Toba, Lake

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

Indonesian Danau Toba lake in the Barisan Mountains, north-central Sumatra, Indonesia. It covers an area of about 440 square miles (1,140 square km), excluding Samosir Island, which occupies a large part of the lake's centre and which is about 30 miles (50 km) long and 10 miles (15 km) wide. The lake drains east through the Asahan River into the Strait of Malacca; along the Asahan River several major hydroelectric projects

France, History Of, Culture and art

2005-03-08T00:04:00.000-08:00

Cultural circles remained strongly oriented to aristocratic values and the past. With the accession of the Valois came a high nobility, distinguished by lavish and exclusive conceits. When John II formed the Order of the Star (1351), an institution imitated by the great lords for their clientages, chivalry stood incorporated as the most distinguished of religious confraternities.

Leo

2005-03-07T04:31:00.000-08:00

(Latin: Lion), in astronomy, zodiacal constellation lying between Cancer and Virgo, at about 10 hours 30 minutes right ascension (the coordinate of the celestial sphere analogous to longitude on the Earth) and 15° north declination (angular distance north of the celestial equator). Regulus (Alpha Leonis), the brightest star, is of the first magnitude. The November meteor shower

Brod, Max

2005-03-06T21:04:00.000-08:00

Brod studied law at the University of Prague, and in 1902 he met and befriended Kafka. Brod later worked as a minor government

Panama

2005-03-06T06:43:00.000-08:00

Electoral campaigning began in preparation for the May 2004 general elections. Three candidates emerged as the leading contenders: Martin Torrijos, who

Cole, Johnnetta

2005-03-04T11:41:00.000-08:00

Among Cole's early influences in education were her mother, who taught college English, pioneering educator Mary MacLeod Bethune, and writer Arna Bontemps, who was the school librarian at Fisk University when Cole matriculated at age 15. She

Van Doren, Carl (clinton)

2005-03-04T05:41:00.000-08:00

Educated at Columbia University (Ph.D., 1911), Van Doren taught there until 1930. In that period he was one of a group of academicians who helped to establish American literature and history as an integral part of university programs.

Scale

2005-03-03T06:21:00.000-08:00

The specific selection of different tones in any piece of music generally reveals a pattern of relationships among its pitches that can be expressed as a series of fixed distances (intervals) from one pitch to another within the span of an octave. The interval relationships

Cosmati Work

2005-03-02T21:40:00.000-08:00

Type of mosaic technique that was practiced by Roman decorators and architects in the 12th and 13th centuries, in which tiny triangles and squares of coloured stone (red porphyry, green serpentine, and white and other coloured marbles) and glass paste were arranged in patterns and combined with large, stone disks and strips to produce geometric designs. Cosmati work

Madiun

2005-03-01T19:26:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Madioen kotamadya (municipality) and kabupaten (regency) in Jawa Timur provinsi (“province”), eastern Java, Indonesia. The city lies on the east bank of the Madiun River. The population is mostly Indonesian and Chinese. The city was the scene of a short-lived communist rebellion, the so-called Madiun Affair, in 1948, and it maintains a site at which hundreds of soldiers killed in the Indonesian

Graves, Morris

2005-03-01T08:06:00.000-08:00

In full Morris Cole Graves American painter best known for introspective works that present a mystical view of nature. His style was greatly influenced by the three trips he made to East Asia between 1928 and 1930, and, like Mark Tobey, another painter of the Northwest school, Graves had a deep interest in Asian art and religion, including Zen

Canary Creeper

2005-02-28T11:57:00.000-08:00

Also called Canarybird Flower, Canarybird Vine, or Canary Nasturtium (species Tropaeolum peregrinum), annual climbing herb, of the family Tropaeolaceae, native to northwestern South America and introduced to other regions as a cultivated garden plant. It grows to a height of 1.8–3 m (6–10 feet). The leaves are round and deeply five-lobed. The flowers, about 2.5 cm (1 inch) across, are pale yellow and have a long, green spur.

Meletius Of Lycopolis

2005-02-27T16:43:00.000-08:00

For presuming to ordain clergy and bishops for Christian

Hardanger Fjord

2005-02-26T17:57:00.000-08:00

Inlet, Hordaland fylke (county), southwestern Norway. The country's second largest fjord and one of the most scenic, it extends inland northeastward for 70 miles (113 km) from Stord Island, at its entrance in the North Sea, to the Hardanger Plateau and has a maximum depth of 2,922 feet (891 m). Majestic mountains (rising to about 5,000 feet), from which pour many magnificent waterfalls, notably the

Kili

2005-02-26T11:45:00.000-08:00

Coral island in the Ralik chain of the Marshall Islands, west-central Pacific Ocean. It is about 230 acres (93 hectares) in area. Islanders from Bikini, site of U.S. atomic-bomb tests, were moved to Kili in 1949. Some of the Bikinians who returned to Bikini in the mid-1970s had to return to Kili in 1978, as their home atoll remained too contaminated by nuclear waste for habitation. Coconuts are grown

Ba Maw

2005-02-25T20:25:00.000-08:00

Ba Maw was educated at Rangoon College, Calcutta University, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Bordeaux, Fr., where he received a doctorate in 1924. Admitted to

Esteban Echeverría

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

Partido (county) at the southern limits of Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina, in Buenos Aires provincia. Created in 1913 from portions of the partidos of Lomas de Zamora and San Vicente, Esteban Echeverría is an agricultural (and, more recently, low-income suburban) zone with an area of 146 square miles (377 square km), characterized by green villas that support dairy farms and orchards

Antigonus Iii Doson

2005-02-24T13:04:00.000-08:00

Antigonus, a descendant of Antigonus I, was the son of Demetrius II (a half brother of Antigonus II) and Olympias of Larissa. On the death of Demetrius II (229 BC), Antigonus was made guardian of his son Philip. After

Auer, Leopold

2005-02-23T20:53:00.000-08:00

Auer studied under the celebrated virtuoso Joseph Joachim. From 1868 he was professor of violin at the St. Petersburg Conservatory

Indo-iranian Languages

2005-02-22T08:39:00.000-08:00

Group of languages constituting the easternmost major branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Indo-Aryan (Indic) languages are spoken by some 800 million persons in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, and other areas of the Himalayan region. In addition, languages of the Indo-Aryan group are spoken by about 5,000,000 people in Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Oceania:

Germanic Peoples

2005-02-21T16:42:00.000-08:00

No trace of autocracy can be found among the Germans whom Caesar describes. The leading men of the pagi (kindred groups) would try to patch up disputes as they arose, but they acted only in those disputes that broke out between members of their own pagus. There appears to have been no mediatory body at this date. In fact, in peacetime there appears to have been no central

Rinderpest

2005-02-21T09:22:00.000-08:00

Also called steppe murrain, cattle plague , or contagious bovine typhus an acute, highly contagious viral disease of ruminant animals, primarily cattle, that is common in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, and the Middle East. It has occurred in Brazil and Australia but was quickly eradicated in those countries. Rinderpest has not been reported in the United States. Rinderpest is the most severe infectious disease of cattle and is characterized

Augustus

2005-02-20T19:58:00.000-08:00

Elector of Saxony and leader of Protestant Germany who, by reconciling his fellow Lutherans with the Roman Catholic Habsburg Holy Roman emperors, helped bring the initial belligerency of the Reformation in Germany to an end. Under his administration Saxony enjoyed economic and commercial prosperity at a time when

Quebec, Battle Of

2005-02-20T01:06:00.000-08:00

(December 31, 1775), in the American Revolution, unsuccessful American attack on the British stronghold. In the winter of 1775–76, American Revolutionary leaders detached some of their forces from the Siege of Boston to mount an expedition through Maine with the aim of capturing Quebec. On December 31, 1775, under General Richard Montgomery and Colonel Benedict Arnold, an inadequate force

Boston, Continuous park system

2005-02-19T05:28:00.000-08:00

When the Back Bay was nearing completion during the 1880s, the American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted (1822–1903) developed an imaginative and large-scale design for the city's parks. It linked the Common, Public Garden, and Commonwealth Avenue with Franklin Park in West Roxbury by way of an open park known as the Fenway, which followed the Muddy River off to Brookline

La Noue, François De

2005-02-18T09:09:00.000-08:00

La Noue became a Protestant in 1558 and soon began fighting for the Huguenot cause. Wounded at Fontenay (1570), he had one arm replaced by an iron device and was thereafter nicknamed Bras-de-Fer (“Arm of Iron”). After the Peace of

Jackson, Howell E.

2005-02-17T00:26:00.000-08:00

Jackson practiced law in the towns of Jackson and Memphis, Tenn., until the outbreak of the American Civil War, during which he served the Confederacy as a receiver of sequestered property. He gained prominence in his practice after the war and in 1880 was

Yodo River

2005-02-16T02:09:00.000-08:00

Japanese Yodo-gawa, river, central western Honshu, Japan. The Yodo is the sole outlet of Lake Biwa, the country's largest freshwater lake, from which it issues in a southwesterly direction to Osaka Bay, connecting the Kyoto Basin with the Osaka Plain. It was a major means of transportation and communication during the Tokugawa period (1603–1867). The river is dammed for hydroelectricity and

Anthropological Linguistics

2005-02-15T06:53:00.000-08:00

Study of the relationship between language and culture; it usually refers to work on languages that have no written records. In the United States a close relationship between anthropology and linguistics developed as a result of research by anthropologists into the American Indian cultures and languages. Early students in this field discovered what they felt

Gaccha

2005-02-15T05:41:00.000-08:00

Among the image-worshipping Shvetambara sect of the Indian religion Jainism, a group of monks and their lay followers who claim descent from eminent monastic teachers. Although some 84 separate gacchas have appeared since the 7th–8th century, only a few have survived, such as the Kharatara (located mainly in Rajasthan), the Tapa, and the Ancala. While the gacchas do not differ

Pacific Ocean, Eastern region

2005-02-14T23:50:00.000-08:00

The eastern region, which extends southward from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, is relatively narrow and is associated with the American cordilleran system of almost unbroken mountain chains, the coastal ranges of which rise steeply from the western shores of North and South America. The continental shelf, which runs parallel to it, is steep and comparatively narrow.

Theobald, Lewis

2005-02-14T22:54:00.000-08:00

When in 1726 Theobald brought out his Shakespeare Restored; or, A Specimen of the Many Errors As Well Committed As Unamended by Mr. Pope, in His Late Edition of This Poet, Alexander Pope, whose edition

Animal Development, Amphioxus, echinoderms, and amphibians

2005-02-14T09:58:00.000-08:00

Gastrulation does not always proceed exactly as described above. In the course of evolution, certain animal groups have modified this critical stage of embryonic development, and these modifications have undoubtedly contributed to the successful continuation of species. In the primitive fishlike chordate amphioxus, for example, the invaginating blastoderm

Hohenlohe Family

2005-02-13T23:55:00.000-08:00

German princely family which took its name from the district of Hohenlohe in Franconia. First mentioned in the 12th century as possessing the castle of Hohenloch or Hohenlohe, near Uffenheim, the family soon extended its influence over several of the Franconian valleys, including those of the Kocher, the Jagst, and the Tauber. Henry I (d. 1183) was the first to take the title

Carloman

2005-02-12T21:48:00.000-08:00

After inheriting Austrasia, Alemannia, Thuringia, and the suzerainty of Bavaria from his father, Carloman fought alone and with his brother to suppress external enemies and rebellious subjects. Concerned with reform of the church, he called on St. Boniface for help and in 742 summoned the

San Carlos De Bariloche

2005-02-12T10:05:00.000-08:00

Also called Bariloche resort town, Río Negro provincia, southwestern Argentina. It lies on the southeastern shore of Lake Nahuel Huapí, in the Andean lake district. Chalet-type building construction, introduced in 1905 by Swiss immigrants, provides an appropriate setting for skiing in the winter months on the slopes of the nearby V. López and Otto peaks, while the many lakes and streams afford

Gte Corporation

2005-02-10T07:31:00.000-08:00

General Telephone was founded in 1926 as Associated Telephone Utilities by Sigurd Odegard, a Wisconsin phone-company owner who wanted to acquire small independent phone companies.

Peter Iii

2005-02-10T01:52:00.000-08:00

In 1262 he had married Constance, heiress of Manfred, the Hohenstaufen king of Sicily; and after the revolt of the Sicilians in 1282 he invaded the island and was proclaimed king at Palermo, despite strong Guelph and papal opposition (see Sicilian

Arts, Central Asian

2005-02-09T22:11:00.000-08:00

Of the relatively few Central Asian languages that have developed written literatures, the most important are Turkic, Tibetan, and Mongol. (For a treatment of these languages, see Altaic languages and Sino-Tibetan languages.) This article will deal with Tibetan and Mongolian literatures from their inception to the 20th century and with Turkic literature from its

Girl Scouts

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

Also called (in Great Britain and some other countries) Girl Guides worldwide organization for girls, dedicated to training them in citizenship, good conduct, and outdoor activities. Robert (later Lord) Baden-Powell founded the Girl Guides in Great Britain in 1910 in response to the requests of girls who were interested in the Boy Scout movement established by him in 1908. The first Girl Scout troop in the United States was formed in 1912 by Juliette

Mammal, Natural history

2005-02-08T11:48:00.000-08:00

The hallmarks of the mammalian level of organization are advanced reproduction and parental care, behavioral flexibility, and endothermy (the physiological maintenance of a relatively constant body temperature independent of that of the environment, allowing a high level of activity). Within the class, ecological diversity has resulted from adaptive specialization

Shensi, Southern Shensi

2005-02-08T09:09:00.000-08:00

The history of the southern part of the province has been considerably more placid than that of the north. Until the late 17th century the area was very sparsely peopled, and much of it, apart from the Han-chung basin, is still virgin forest. In the period after about 1680 the introduction of corn (maize) and sweet potatoes, followed in the 18th century by the introduction of the Irish

Bathurst Island

2005-02-06T04:37:00.000-08:00

Island in the Timor Sea, Northern Territory, Australia, separated from Melville Island to the east by Apsley Strait. Densely wooded, it is triangular and has an area of about 1,000 square miles (2,600 square km). The island was explored in 1818 by Phillip Parker King, who recommended it for European settlement, and was named after the 3rd Earl Bathurst, secretary for war and the colonies

Limassol

2005-02-05T18:04:00.000-08:00

Limassol's rise from a humble market town between the ancient settlements of Amathus and Curium took place at the end of the Byzantine Empire, when Richard I the Lion-Heart landed

Monteverdi, Claudio

2005-02-05T10:01:00.000-08:00

Italian composer of the late Renaissance, the most important developer of the then new genre, the opera. He also did much to bring a “modern” secular spirit into church music.

Quagga

2005-02-04T02:47:00.000-08:00

Also called bonte quagga , or Burchell's zebra African species of zebra (q.v.).

Nahariyya

2005-02-04T02:36:00.000-08:00

Nahariyya was founded in 1934 as an agricultural settlement by German-Jewish refugees. It rapidly developed as a resort,

Kyrenia

2005-02-03T23:14:00.000-08:00

Greek Kirínia, Turkish Girne, city, situated along the northern coast of Cyprus, in the Turkish Cypriot-administered area. Founded by the Achaeans, ancient Greek colonists, and fortified by the Byzantines, Franks, and Venetians, the city was the administrative headquarters of the Kyrenia district of the Republic of Cyprus until the Turkish intervention in 1974. Kyrenia city is a market centre and

Argonne National Laboratory

2005-02-03T10:57:00.000-08:00

Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy in Argonne, Ill., that is operated by the University of Chicago and the Argonne Universities Association. It was founded in 1946 to conduct basic atomic research and to develop the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Argonne National Laboratory now carries out research on a broad range of science and engineering topics, including

Kudymkar

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

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

Dabrowski, Jan Henryk

2005-02-01T04:12:00.000-08:00

After service in the Saxon Army (1772–92), Dabrowski joined the Poles to serve against the Russians in 1792. In 1794 he took part in Kosciuszko's uprising, distinguished

Venkataraman, Ramaswamy

2005-01-31T20:03:00.000-08:00

Venkataraman studied law at the University of Madras and began his legal practice in 1935. He became involved in India's independence struggle and was consequently jailed by the British (1942–44). After his release he continued to practice law,

Eagle Owl

2005-01-30T03:48:00.000-08:00

(Bubo bubo), bird of the family Strigidae (order Strigiformes), characterized by its large size (often 70 centimetres [about 2.3 feet] long), two tufts of feathers on the head (ear tufts), and large orange eyes. The overall coloration is tawny, mottled with brown, lighter below. The eagle owl roosts and breeds within rocky niches and hollow trees. At twilight it perches on a branch while

Philip Ii

2005-01-29T15:36:00.000-08:00

John II's grant of the duchy of Burgundy to Philip in September 1363 did not become effective until

Baraka, Amiri

2005-01-28T23:23:00.000-08:00

Jones graduated from Howard University (B.A., 1953) and served in the U.S. Air Force. After military duty, he joined the Beat movement, attended graduate school, and published his first major collection of poetry, Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide

G.c.v.o.

2005-01-28T21:44:00.000-08:00

Knight grand cross, or dame grand cross, of the Royal Victorian Order, member of the highest rank of a British order of knighthood. See Royal Victorian Order.

Smith, Gerrit

2005-01-27T11:07:00.000-08:00

Smith was born into a wealthy family. In about 1828 he became an active worker in the cause of temperance, and in his home village, Peterboro, he built one of the first temperance hotels in the country. He became

Korda, Sir Alexander

2005-01-27T06:35:00.000-08:00

Before he was 20 years old he was working as a journalist in Budapest, and in 1914 he started the film periodical Pesti Mozi (“Budapest Cinema”). He made his first film in 1914, and by 1917 he had become the co-owner

Adda River

2005-01-25T00:21:00.000-08:00

Italian Fiume Adda, river, in the Lombardia (Lombardy) regione of northern Italy, issuing from small lakes in the Rhaetian Alps at 7,660 feet (2,335 m). The Adda flows southward from Bormio to Tirano, where it turns west past Sondrio to enter Lake Como near its northern end after a course of 194 miles (313 km). The river's upper course is known as the Valtellina (q.v.). Leaving Lake Como at Lecco, it crosses the Lombardy

Uto-aztecan Languages

2005-01-24T21:19:00.000-08:00

The languages

Price, Sterling

2005-01-24T17:27:00.000-08:00

After attending Hampden-Sydney College (1826–27), Price studied law. In 1831 he moved with his family from Virginia to Missouri, where he entered public life. He served in the state legislature from 1836 to 1838 and again from 1840 to 1844, the latter period as speaker of the

Telephone And Telephone System, Early telegraph facsimile

2005-01-24T14:41:00.000-08:00

Facsimile transmission over wires traces its origins to Alexander Bain, a Scottish mechanic. In 1843, less than seven years after the invention of the telegraph by Samuel F.B. Morse, Bain received a British patent for “improvements in producing and regulating electric currents and improvements in timepieces and in electric printing and signal telegraphs.” Bain's fax

France, History Of, Commitment to modernization

2005-01-22T20:57:00.000-08:00

The great peculiarity of the ancien régime, however, was that traditionalism, though deeply felt, was only one-half of a complicated institutional diptych. When first conceived by Cardinal Richelieu between 1624 and 1642 and developed after him by Mazarin, Colbert, Louvois, and the Sun King, the ancien régime was also committed to a program of modernization. Guided by a modern

Cylinder Recording

2005-01-22T06:54:00.000-08:00

Earliest form of phonograph record, invented by Thomas A. Edison in 1877. The sound to be recorded was focused by a horn onto a diaphragm, causing it to vibrate; the vibrations were transmitted to a stylus and modulated its motion as it followed a helical path along the surface of a yielding material (such as wax) that coated a cylinder rotating under the stylus. See also phonograph

Murdock, William

2005-01-22T03:38:00.000-08:00

In 1777 Murdock entered the engineering firm of Matthew Boulton and James Watt in their Soho works at Birmingham and about two years later was sent to Cornwall to superintend the fitting

Chatham

2005-01-20T16:47:00.000-08:00

Town, Northumberland county, eastern New Brunswick, Canada. It lies near the mouth of the Miramichi River opposite Newcastle, 84 miles (135 km) north-northwest of Moncton. Founded about 1800 by Francis Peabody, it was probably named in honour of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham. It has pulp and paper mills, foundries, and shipyards and is a lumber-shipping and salmon-fishing port. In the

Mountain, Mountain belts associated with volcanism

2005-01-20T08:03:00.000-08:00

Volcanoes typically form in any of three tectonic settings. At the axes of the mid-ocean ridge system where lithospheric plates diverge, volcanism is common; yet, high-standing volcanoes (above sea level) rarely develop. At subduction zones where one plate of oceanic lithosphere plunges beneath another plate, long linear or arcuate chains of volcanoes and mountain

Eymeric, Nicholas

2005-01-19T21:29:00.000-08:00

After joining the Dominican Order in 1334, Eymeric wrote on theology and philosophy. Appointed grand inquisitor about 1357, he performed his duties zealously and made so many enemies that he was removed from office in 1360. He continued to teach and write