PoliticalChin

Jena Glass

2005-04-05T01:33:00.000-07:00

Jena glass was first produced by the German glass chemist Friedrich Otto Schott, who, with Ernst Abbe and Carl Zeiss, founded a glassworks in Jena, Ger., in 1884. The early Jena

Hard Water

2005-04-04T21:51:00.000-07:00

Water that contains salts of calcium and magnesium principally as bicarbonates, chlorides, and sulfates. Ferrous iron may also be present; oxidized to the ferric form, it appears as a reddish brown stain on washed fabrics and enameled surfaces. Water hardness that is caused by calcium bicarbonate is known as temporary, because boiling converts the bicarbonate

France, History Of, The religious wars and the monarchy

2005-04-04T05:44:00.000-07:00

This succession of civil disturbances brought the French state close to disintegration and posed a threat to the crown that would not be matched again until 1789. The key factor in producing this situation lay in the nature of Calvinism, which provided both a rallying point for a wide cross section of opposition and the organization necessary to make that opposition

Glaucophane

2005-04-03T09:24:00.000-07:00

Common amphibole mineral, a sodium, magnesium, and aluminum silicate that occurs only in crystalline schists formed from sodium-rich rocks by low-grade metamorphism. It also forms from sedimentary rocks by the introduction of sodium oxide (Na2O). Glaucophane typically occurs in folded rocks associated with epidote amphibolites and greenschists. Both ferrous

Maura Y Montaner, Antonio

2005-04-03T05:30:00.000-07:00

Maura was elected

Argentina, The rise of radicalism

2005-04-02T18:01:00.000-08:00

A new party, the Radical Civic Union, was formed in response to the difficulties of the 1890s. It was strongly opposed to the ruling regime and to the compromise candidate, Luis Sáenz Peña, who was accepted in 1892 by Mitre and the more moderate opponents of the Roca–Juárez Celman regime. Sáenz was in turn replaced in 1895 by José Evaristo Uriburu. In 1898 Roca returned to the presidency for

Van Dyck, Sir Anthony

2005-04-01T09:36:00.000-08:00

Van Dyck also spelled Vandyke , Flemish Anthonie Van Dyck , Anthonie also spelled Antonie , or Anton after Rubens, the most prominent Flemish painter of the 17th century. A prolific painter of portraits of European aristocracy, he also executed many works on religious and mythological subjects and was a fine draftsman and etcher. Appointed court painter by Charles I of England in 1632, he was knighted the same year.

Fernández De Avellaneda, Alonso

2005-03-31T03:20:00.000-08:00

Probably the pseudonym of the otherwise unknown author of Segundo tomo del ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (1614; “Second Book of the Ingenious Knight Don Quixote of La Mancha”), a fraudulent sequel to the first volume of Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote (1605). In the 59th chapter of the second volume of Don Quixote (1615), Cervantes mocks the spurious book. Suggestions of the author's

Caucasian Languages, Svan

2005-03-31T02:37:00.000-08:00

The Svan language (self-designation: lušnu nin), also unwritten, is located south of Mount Elbrus, in the high valleys of the upper Tskhenis-Tskali and its tributary Kheledula and in the valleys of the upper Inguri River. There are four fairly distinct dialects: Upper and Lower Bal in the Inguri region, and Lashkh and Lentekh in the Tskhenis-Tskali region. Georgian and Russian

Radar, Transmitter power and antenna size

2005-03-30T21:33:00.000-08:00

The maximum range of a radar system depends in large part on the average power of its transmitter and the physical size of its antenna. (In technical terms, this is the power-aperture product.) There are practical limits to each. As noted before, some radar systems have an average power of roughly one megawatt. Phased-array radars about 100 feet in diameter are not uncommon;

Hardinge (of Lahore And Kings Newton), Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount

2005-03-29T15:00:00.000-08:00

Hardinge entered the army in 1799 and, during the Napoleonic Wars, served with distinction as a staff officer in the Peninsular War (1808–14). In the Hundred Days (1815), he was a brigadier general with the Prussian army at the Battle of Ligny and

Camagüey

2005-03-28T16:03:00.000-08:00

Provincia, east-central Cuba, bounded on the north by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Ciego de Ávila province, on the east by Las Tunas province, and on the south by the Caribbean Sea. It was established in 1879 as Puerto Príncipe; the province of Ciego de Ávila was separated from Camagüey province in 1976. It is Cuba's largest province. Camagüey's early importance as a cattle-raising

Hawk's-eye

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

Variety of the semiprecious quartz tiger's-eye (q.v.).

Price

2005-03-27T16:02:00.000-08:00

It follows from the definition just stated that prices perform an economic function of major significance. So long as they are not artificially controlled, prices provide an economic

Gabon, Climate

2005-03-26T20:35:00.000-08:00

Gabon has an equatorial climate, with year-round high temperatures and humidity. Rainfall varies from an annual average of 120 inches (3,050 millimetres) at Libreville to 150 inches on the northwest coast, with almost all of it falling between October and May. In the period from June to September there is little, if any, rainfall, but humidity remains high. Temperature shows little

Carlos Luis De Borbón, Count (conde) De Montemolín

2005-03-26T18:36:00.000-08:00

Montemolín, grandson of Charles IV (reigned 1788–1808), was given the Carlist

Alexander City

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

City, Tallapoosa county, east-central Alabama, U.S., 75 miles (120 km) southeast of Birmingham. Early settlement began in 1836, and gold was discovered in the area in the early 1840s. It was known as Youngsville until 1873, when it was named for General Edward Porter Alexander, president of the Savannah and Memphis (Central of Georgia) Railroad. To the south, Martin Dam on the Tallapoosa River provides

India, House Of

2005-03-24T16:32:00.000-08:00

Also called House Of Guinea, House Of Guinea And Mina, or House Of Mina, Portuguese Casa Da India, Casa Da Guiné, Casa De Guiné E Mina, or Casa Da Mina, 15th-century Portuguese establishment that managed the trade in products from overseas colonies. It was called House of Guinea because it began by processing products from Guinea. Originally housed in a warehouse at Lagos in southern Portugal, it was reestablished in Lisbon with the death of Prince Henry the Navigator (1460). As trade from São Jorge da Mina (now Elmina, Ghana)

Carpathian Mountains, Physiography

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

Generally speaking, the Carpathians have been divided into the Western and the Eastern Carpathians, the latter also called—probably more accurately—the Southeastern Carpathians. There are marked differences between these parts. The Western Carpathians show a clearly marked zoning in geologic structure and relief forms, and the highest elevations occur in

'abbas I

2005-03-23T16:33:00.000-08:00

L.L. Bellan, Chah 'Abbas I: sa vie, son histoire (1932), the only biography of Shah 'Abbas I in any European language—generally accurate; R.M. Savory, “ 'Abbas I” in the Encyclopaedia of Islam, new ed., vol. 1, pp. 7–8 (1960); for general background to the period of Shah 'Abbas, the reader is referred to: J. Chardin, Voyages du Chevalier Chardin, 4th ed., 4 vol. (1811); Sir John Malcom, The History of Persia from the Early Period to the Present Time, 2 vol. (1815); and V. Minorsky, Tadhkirat al-Muluk (1943), especially the introduction, commentary, and appendixes.

Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd.

2005-03-22T23:18:00.000-08:00

The company as originally founded in Moji (now a part of Kita-Kyushu), Japan, by Idemitsu Sazo was a general trading company, dealing in the distribution of various goods, including such commodities as grain and such

Oak

2005-03-22T06:02:00.000-08:00

Many plants commonly called “oak” are not Quercus species—e.g., African oak, Australian oak, bull oak, Jerusalem oak, poison oak, river oak, she-oak,

Insurance, Renewability

2005-03-21T02:45:00.000-08:00

An important condition of health insurance is that of renewability. Some contracts are cancelable at any time upon short notice. Others are not cancelable during the year's term of coverage, but the insurer may refuse to renew coverage for a subsequent year or may renew only at higher rates or under restrictive conditions. Thus the insured may become ill with a chronic

Sunbury

2005-03-20T21:40:00.000-08:00

Town, south-central Victoria, Australia, on the road and rail route between Bendigo and the state capital, Melbourne, 24 miles (39 km) to the southeast. The Aboriginal name for the area was Koora Kooracup, but, when a gold rush to Bendigo began in 1851, a hotel (built on Jacksons Creek to house travelers to the goldfield) was named Sunbury, after Sunbury, Middlesex, England; the town took

Turkestan

2005-03-19T18:52:00.000-08:00

Kazakh Türkistan city, southern Kazakhstan, in the Syr Darya plain. An ancient centre of the caravan trade, it was known as Shavgar and later as Yasi. It became a religious centre known as Khazret (Hazrat) because of the 12th-century Sufi (Muslim mystic) Ahmed Yesevi, whose 14th-century mausoleum is the city's chief monument; a notable example of Timurid architecture, the structure was made a World

Perrers, Alice

2005-03-19T16:06:00.000-08:00

She belonged probably to the Hertfordshire family of Perrers, although it is also stated that she was of more humble birth. Before 1366 she had entered the service of Edward's queen, Philippa, and she appears later as the wife of Sir William de Windsor, deputy

Christian Front

2005-03-18T07:17:00.000-08:00

In American history, anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi organization active from about 1938 until the United States entered World War II. Under the banner of anticommunism, it openly and clandestinely encouraged boycotts of Jewish merchants, used the slogan “Buy Christian,” and published the Christian Index, a directory of non-Jewish merchants in part of New York City. It received

Ayres, Anne

2005-03-18T03:59:00.000-08:00

Ayres moved to the United States with her family in 1836 and settled in New York City. Until 1845 she supplemented the family income by teaching daughters of well-to-do families. In the summer of that year she heard William Augustus Muhlenberg, an Episcopal clergyman, preach

Ectropion

2005-03-18T01:51:00.000-08:00

Sagging of the lower eyelid away from the eyeball. The condition sometimes is present in elderly persons as a result of relaxation of the lid's supporting structures. With the sagging of the lid, the opening into the channel that carries tears from the eye into the nasal cavity is also moved away from the eyeball; as a result, tears fail to drain properly, and chronic conjunctivitis

Skaldic Poetry

2005-03-17T05:46:00.000-08:00

Skalds were identified by name; their poems

Topazolite

2005-03-16T23:48:00.000-08:00

Yellowish andradite garnet, named for its resemblance to topaz. See andradite.

Biblical Literature, The Johannine Letters: I, II, and III John

2005-03-16T21:12:00.000-08:00

I John, though lacking any formal epistolary salutation or ending, directs itself to a circle

Fairfield

2005-03-14T21:32:00.000-08:00

Fairfield is now a trade

Essequibo River

2005-03-14T13:46:00.000-08:00

River in east central Guyana, the largest river between the Amazon and the Orinoco. It rises in the Acarai Mountains on the Brazilian border and flows northward for approximately 630 miles (1,010 km) through savannas and forests to the Atlantic Ocean. It reaches the Atlantic Ocean 13 miles (21 km) west-northwest of Georgetown, the national capital. Its estuary, 20 miles (32 km) wide, is obstructed

Gendje Carpet

2005-03-14T03:23:00.000-08:00

Old Gendjes are made entirely of

Clare, John Fitzgibbon, 1st Earl Of

2005-03-13T15:24:00.000-08:00

He entered the Irish

Weller, Thomas H.

2005-03-12T22:07:00.000-08:00

After

Holberg, Ludvig, Friherre Holberg

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

Gerald S. Argetsinger, Ludvig Holberg's Comedies (1983); F.J. Billeskov Jansen, Ludvig Holberg (1974); and Sven Hakon Rossel (ed.), Ludvig Holberg—A European Writer: A Study in Influence and Reception (1994).

Asian Development Bank

2005-03-12T04:03:00.000-08:00

(ADB), organization established under the auspices of ESCAP (the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) that entered into force in August 1966. Thirty “regional” countries of South, Southeast, and East Asia and the South Pacific and 14 “nonregional” countries of western Europe and North America constitute the membership. Each member appoints

Computers, The first stored-program machines

2005-03-11T19:38:00.000-08:00

But engineers in Britain beat the Americans to the goal of building the first stored-program digital computer. At the University of Manchester, Maxwell H.A. Newman, Thomas Kilburn, and Frederic C. Williams built a simple stored-program computer, known as the Manchester Mark I, in 1949. (See the photograph.) Among its innovations was Williams's invention of a way to store information

'abd Al-malik

2005-03-11T16:58:00.000-08:00

In general, Umayyad rule was greatly strengthened by 'Abd al-Malik, who enjoyed good relations with the Medinese religious circles, an element with considerable moral influence in the Islamic world. 'Abd al-Malik was more pious than any of his Umayyad predecessors. His long sojourn in Medina had enabled him to know the sentiments of Medinese religious scholars. As caliph,

Silkeborg

2005-03-10T23:50:00.000-08:00

City, Århus amtskommune (county), eastern Jutland, Denmark, on the Gudenå (river) and Langsø, a small lake, west of Århus. An episcopal town of some importance in the Middle Ages, its castle became a royal hunting and fishing base after the Reformation. The present city, dating from 1845 (chartered 1900), grew up around a paper mill. Now a rail junction, its products in addition to paper include

Gioberti, Vincenzo

2005-03-10T16:14:00.000-08:00

Gioberti was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1825 and soon became famous as a professor of theology at the University of Turin, though his ideas began to take on appearances of unorthodoxy.

Audiberti, Jacques

2005-03-09T23:05:00.000-08:00

A former clerk for the justice of the peace in Antibes, Audiberti began his writing career as a journalist, moving to Paris in 1925 to write for Le Journal and Le Petit Parisien. Later, he wrote more than 20 plays

Pithou, Pierre

2005-03-09T14:59:00.000-08:00

Reared as a Calvinist, Pithou received his lawyer's robes at Paris (1560) after he had earned recognition by his essays on Roman laws. On the outbreak of the Second War of Religion against the Protestants in 1567, he fled

Pitchblende

2005-03-07T11:15:00.000-08:00

Amorphous, black, pitchy form of the crystalline uranium oxide mineral uraninite (q.v.); it is one of the primary mineral ores of uranium, containing 50–80 percent of that element. Three chemical elements were first discovered in pitchblende: uranium by the German chemist Martin Klaproth in 1789, and polonium and radium by the French scientists Pierre and Marie Curie in 1898. Deposits,

Haberler, Gottfried Von

2005-03-06T17:06:00.000-08:00

Austrian-born U.S. economist and educator (b. July 20, 1900, Purkersdorf, Austria--d. May 6, 1995, Washington, D.C.), was an expert on international trade and a staunch advocate of free-market principles. Haberler was educated (B.A., 1923; Ph.D., 1925) at the University of Vienna, where he adopted an "Austrian" school of thought that was identified with a generation of top economists who attended that university.

Maurois, André

2005-03-06T03:54:00.000-08:00

Born into a prosperous family of textile manufacturers, Maurois came under the influence of the French philosopher and teacher Alain (Émile-Auguste Chartier). He was a liaison officer in the British army during World War I, and his first literary success

Fabre D'églantine, Philippe

2005-03-06T00:18:00.000-08:00

He added the appellation d'Églantine to his surname, Fabre, after falsely claiming that he had won a golden eglantine in a literary competition. After publishing the poem

Chandela

2005-03-05T04:39:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Candella, Rajput clan of Gond origin that for some centuries ruled Bundelkhand in north-central India and fought against the early Muslim invaders. The first Chandela is thought to have ruled early in the 9th century AD. Chandela dominion extended from the River Jumna in the north to the region of Saugor (Sagar) and from the Dhasan River to the west to the Vindhya Hills. Their strongholds

Tigris-euphrates River System

2005-03-05T02:24:00.000-08:00

Great river system of Southwest Asia, comprising the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which have their sources within 50 miles (80 km) of each other in eastern Turkey and travel southeast through northern Syria and Iraq to the head of the Persian Gulf. The lower portion of the region that they define, known as Mesopotamia (Greek: “Land Between the Rivers”), was one of the cradles of

Shaft Graves

2005-03-04T10:58:00.000-08:00

Late Bronze Age (c. 1600–1450 BC) burial sites from the era in which the Greek mainland came under the cultural influence of Crete. The graves were those of royal or leading Greek families, unplundered and undisturbed until found by modern archaeologists at Mycenae. The graves, consisting of deep, rectangular shafts above stone-walled burial chambers, lie in two circles, one excavated

Gobi, Plant life

2005-03-04T08:44:00.000-08:00

Vegetation, as mentioned above, is sparse and rare. On the plateau and on the plains beneath the mountains, small bushlike vegetation occurs: echinochloa (a type of succulent grass found in warm regions), yellowwood bean caper, winter fat (a shrub covered with densely matted hairs), Dzungarian reaumur, nitre bush, and bushlike halophytic vegetation. In the salt marshes,

Interior Design, Walls

2005-03-04T07:35:00.000-08:00

Every wall is a material in itself; and ideally no material, if it is properly used, needs to be covered up. Some elegant buildings constructed since 1960 have used concrete in its natural texture—i.e., showing the formwork left by wooden forms as a conscious expression of the material. During the 19th century, fakery in design was very popular, and part of the concern with the true

Alexander Island

2005-03-03T02:04:00.000-08:00

Also called Alexander Land, large island in the Bellingshausen Sea, separated from the Antarctica mainland by the George VI Sound. An extremely rugged region with peaks up to 9,800 feet (2,987 m) above sea level, it is 270 miles (435 km) long and up to 125 miles (200 km) wide and has an area of about 16,700 square miles (43,250 square km). The Russian explorers Bellingshausen and Lazarev discovered the land in 1821 and named it after the Russian tsar.

Sartre, Jean-paul

2005-03-02T15:58:00.000-08:00

Sartre lost his father at an early age and grew up in the home of his maternal grandfather, Carl Schweitzer, uncle of the medical missionary Albert Schweitzer and himself professor of German at the Sorbonne. The boy, who wandered in the Luxembourg Gardens of Paris in search of playmates, was small in stature and cross-eyed. His brilliant autobiography, Les Mots (1963; Words,

Bahram I

2005-03-02T02:32:00.000-08:00

A son of Shapur I, during his father's reign he governed the province of Atropatene. His succession to his brother Hormizd I strengthened the position of the Zoroastrian clergy and their high priest Karter, and at their insistence Bahram imprisoned Mani, the founder of the antimaterialist, ascetic religion of Manichaeism. Subsequent religious

Rotimi, Ola

2005-03-01T10:20:00.000-08:00

Nigerian playwright and director (b. April 13, 1938, Sapele, Nigeria—d. Aug. 18, 2000, Ife-Ife, Nigeria), was trained in the Western theatre tradition but incorporated into his predominately English-language plays traditional Nigerian cultural forms, including ethnic dances and indigenous languages. His works often presented figures or incidents of historical importance in Nigeria

Hudson's Bay Company

2005-02-28T01:51:00.000-08:00

Corporation that occupies a prominent place in both the economic and the political history of Canada. It was incorporated in England on May 2, 1670, to seek a northwest passage to the Pacific, to occupy the lands adjacent to Hudson Bay, and to carry on any commerce with those lands that might prove profitable. It still exists as a commercial company active in real estate, merchandising,

Alaska, Flag Of

2005-02-27T18:21:00.000-08:00

The creator

Absaroka Range

2005-02-27T17:15:00.000-08:00

Mountain segment of the northern Rocky Mountains, in northwestern Wyoming and southern Montana, U.S. Extending in a northwest-southeast direction, the range is 170 miles (270 km) long and 50 miles wide. A large plateau, the result of volcanic action, was uplifted in the area, and stream and glacial erosion have produced spectacular features. Eight summits exceed 12,000 feet (3,700 m), including

Cellarette

2005-02-27T07:10:00.000-08:00

Small, movable wine cooler and, later, also a deep, metal-lined tray with compartments for holding bottles in a sideboard. The term was first used by 18th-century cabinetmakers. Most movable cellarettes were made of mahogany, and designs were varied, the shape governed to some degree by the shapes of wine bottles. Early wine bottles were short and squat, but in the late 18th

Wryneck

2005-02-27T06:14:00.000-08:00

Either of two species of birds that constitute the subfamily Jynginae of the woodpecker family (Picidae) but may be separated as the family Jyngidae. Wrynecks are gray-brown birds of open woods and brushlands, named for their habit of twisting their necks snakily when alarmed. They flick up ants from the ground or insects from trees with their long tongues, and they

Wedgwood, Dame (cicely) Veronica ("c.v.")

2005-02-26T02:04:00.000-08:00

, British historian (b. July 20, 1910, Stocksfield, Northumberland, Eng.--d. March 9, 1997, London. Eng.), was one of Great Britain's most distinguished and celebrated historians. Her biographies and historical works, especially those on the English Civil Wars, provided a clear, entertaining middle ground between popular and scholarly works; she used a narrative approach, preferring to explain

Tara

2005-02-26T01:22:00.000-08:00

(Irish: “Place of Assembly”), low hill (about 507 feet [154 m]) in County Meath, Ireland, occupying an important place in Irish legend and history. The earliest local remains consist of a small passage grave (c. 2100 BC) known as Dumha na nGiall (“Mound of the Hostages”). Numerous Bronze Age burials were found in the earth mound, which lies just inside the perimeter of a vast oval enclosure called R

Mystery Religion

2005-02-25T00:10:00.000-08:00

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

Bhaisajya-guru

2005-02-24T14:10:00.000-08:00

(Sanskrit), Tibetan Sman-bla-rgyal-po , Chinese Yao-shih-fo , Japanese Yakushi Nyorai the healing Buddha, widely worshiped in Tibet, China, and Japan. According to popular belief in those countries, some illnesses are effectively cured by merely touching his image or calling out his name. More serious illnesses, however, require the performance of complex ritual acts, as described in the principal scripture of the Bhaisajya-guru cult. Bhaisajya-guru

Tatar Strait

2005-02-24T04:27:00.000-08:00

Russian Tatarsky Proliv, also called Gulf Of Tatary, narrow passage of the northwest Pacific Ocean from the Sea of Japan (south) to the Sea of Okhotsk between Sakhalin Island (east) and the Asian mainland. From 4.5 to 213 miles (7 to 342 km) in width and 393 miles (632 km) long, it is generally shallow with depths less than 700 feet (210 m). The strait, which receives the Amur River in the north, is the site of the Russian ports of Uglegorsk, Aleksandrovsk-Sakhalinsky,

China, Japanese aggression

2005-02-23T18:38:00.000-08:00

In September 1931 a group of officers in the Kwantung Army set in motion a plot to compel the Japanese government to extend its power in Manchuria. The Japanese government was drawn, step by step, into the conquest of Manchuria and the creation of a regime known as Manchukuo. China was unable to prevent Japan from seizing this vital area. In 1934, after long negotiations, Japan

Placidia, Aelia Galla

2005-02-22T19:55:00.000-08:00

Captured in Rome when the city fell to the Goths in 410, she was carried off to Gaul and married (414) to the Visigothic chieftain Ataulphus, who was

China, Japanese aggression

2005-02-22T09:16:00.000-08:00

Negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union that were aimed at reducing those two countries' arsenals of nuclear warheads and of the missiles and bombers capable of delivering such weapons. The START negotiations were successors to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks of the 1970s. In resuming strategic-arms negotiations with the Soviet Union in

Puffbird

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

Puffbirds feed on flying insects. They resemble their close relatives the jacamars in habits

France, History Of, Trade

2005-02-22T01:27:00.000-08:00

Despite the Islamic conquests, Mediterranean commerce did not decline abruptly. In Gaul, such goods as papyrus, oil, and spices were imported from the East, and there were numerous colonies of Syrians. Currency continued to be based on the gold standard, and imperial units were still used. All signs, moreover, point to the existence of manufacturing for trade (marble from

Biblical Literature, Later and modern versions: English

2005-02-21T11:06:00.000-08:00

Knowledge of the pre-Wycliffite English renditions stems from the many actual manuscripts that have survived and from secondary literature, such as booklists, wills, citations by later authors, and references in polemical works that have preserved the memory of many a translation effort.

Abu Al-qasim

2005-02-20T04:50:00.000-08:00

Abu al-Qasim was court physician to the Spanish caliph 'Abd ar-Rahman III an-Nasir and wrote At-Tasrif liman 'ajaz'an at-Ta'alif, or At-Tasrif (“The Method”), a medical work in

Black Oak

2005-02-19T07:55:00.000-08:00

(Quercus velutina), North American timber tree belonging to the red oak group of the genus Quercus in the beech family (Fagaceae), distributed throughout the eastern United States. It usually grows to about 25 m (80 feet) tall and may grow to 45 m on rich soils; it is common on exposed slopes and ridges, as it cannot tolerate shade. The tree's blackish outer bark is ridged in irregular

Amphibole, Igneous rocks

2005-02-19T05:38:00.000-08:00

Calcic amphiboles are characteristically contained in igneous rocks. Igneous amphiboles are intermediate in composition between tremolite, tschermakite, edenite, and pargasite end-members. Typically, these amphiboles of intermediate composition are called hornblende. Hornblende occurs in various plutonic igneous rocks, including diorites, quartz diorites,

Mühlhausen

2005-02-18T22:41:00.000-08:00

Also called Mühlhausen in Thüringen city, Thuringia Land (state), central Germany, on the Unstrut River, in the Thüringer Becken (Thuringian Basin). Originally a Germanic village and later a Frankish settlement, it was first documented in 775. It was granted royal privileges and was where Philip of Swabia was elected German king in 1198. Created a free imperial city after 1256, it joined the Hanseatic League c. 1420. After the

Ancient Italic People

2005-02-18T05:32:00.000-08:00

Any of the peoples diverse in origin, language, traditions, stage of development, and territorial extension who inhabited pre-Roman Italy, a region heavily influenced by neighbouring Greece, with its well-defined national characteristics, expansive vigour, and aesthetic and intellectual maturity. Italy attained a unified ethnolinguistic, political, and cultural

Alcmaeon

2005-02-18T03:56:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Alcmeon, in Greek legend, the son of the seer Amphiaraus and his wife Eriphyle. When Amphiaraus set out with the expedition of the Seven Against Thebes, which he knew would be fatal to him, he commanded his sons to avenge his death by slaying Eriphyle (who had been bribed by Polyneices with the necklace of Harmonia to persuade her husband to fight) and by undertaking a second expedition

Blois

2005-02-16T22:44:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Loir-et-Cher département, Centre region, central France, on the Loire River, northeast of Tours. First mentioned in the 6th century by Gregory of Tours, it was by the early Middle Ages seat of the powerful counts of Blois, from whom descended the Capetian kings of France. At the end of the 14th century, Blois was acquired by Louis de France, duc d'Orléans. Joan of

Ibn Abi Ar-rijal, Ahmad (ibn Salih)

2005-02-16T18:40:00.000-08:00

After completing his education, Ibn Abi ar-Rijal joined the religious-bureaucratic establishment and reached the important rank of secretary and court orator under the rule of Isma'il al-Mutawakkil,

Kerman Carpet

2005-02-16T11:24:00.000-08:00

Kerman also spelled Kirman, floor covering handwoven in or about the city of Kerman in southern Iran, which has been the origin since the 16th century of highly sophisticated carpets in well-organized designs. To this city is now generally attributed a wide variety of 16th- and 17th-century carpets, including Vase carpets; rugs with rows of shrubs; arabesque carpets; the finest of the Garden carpets; and,

Ambikapur

2005-02-15T19:38:00.000-08:00

The surrounding region once consisted of the princely states of Surguja, Changbhakar,

Francis I

2005-02-15T00:10:00.000-08:00

Also called (until 1515) Francis Of Angoulême, French François D'angoulême king of France (1515–47), the first of five monarchs of the Angoulême branch of the House of Valois. A Renaissance patron of the arts and scholarship, a humanist, and a knightly king, he waged campaigns in Italy (1515–16) and fought a series of wars with the Holy Roman Empire (1521–44).

Priest River

2005-02-14T13:03:00.000-08:00

City, Bonner county, northwestern Idaho, U.S., at the junction of the Priest and Pend Oreille rivers. It is a gateway to a spectacular aquatic and forested mountain domain focusing on Priest Lake and Upper Priest Lake (north) and the Kaniksu and Coeur d'Alene national forests in the Idaho panhandle. Originally the territory of Kalispel Indians, the area was explored in

Han Yü

2005-02-14T04:16:00.000-08:00

An orphan, Han initially failed his civil service exams because the examiners refused to accept his unconventional prose style, but he eventually entered the bureaucracy

Aerospace Industry, Spacecraft, launch vehicle, and missile development

2005-02-13T18:10:00.000-08:00

The research effort that goes into the development of missiles, launch vehicles, and spacecraft parallels that of the airplane in the design and ground-test stages but differs for the flight-test stage. For major launch vehicles and strategic missiles, the absence of a pilot on board, the great expense of a single launch, and the inability to recover and reuse the test

Arundel, Philip Howard, 1st (or 13th) Earl Of, Earl Of Surrey

2005-02-12T10:16:00.000-08:00

Philip was the eldest son of Thomas Howard, 4th duke of Norfolk, executed for high treason in 1572, and of Lady Mary, daughter and heiress of Henry Fitzalan, 12th earl of Arundel. On the death of his maternal grandfather, the 12th earl, in February

Ara

2005-02-12T06:49:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Arrah city, Bihar state, northeastern India. The city is a major rail and road junction. Agricultural trade and oilseed milling are carried on there. It is the site of several colleges affiliated with Magadh University. The Little House at Ara is a building that was defended by the British against Kunwar Singh during the Indian Mutiny in 1857. Ara was constituted a municipality

Music, Orchestras and Festivals.

2005-02-11T13:31:00.000-08:00

A series of major snowstorms early in the year played havoc with concert producers in the eastern United States. One storm made Philadelphia's Academy of Music inaccessible to many of the Philadelphia Orchestra's musicians, but with the soloists for the February 11 concert of Wagner opera excerpts housed in nearby hotels, music director Wolfgang Sawallisch decided

Priest River

2005-02-11T08:46:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Aluminium chemical element, a lightweight, silvery-white metal of main Group IIIa (boron group) of the periodic table. Aluminum is the most abundant metallic element in the Earth's crust and the most widely used nonferrous metal. Because of its chemical activity, aluminum never occurs in the metallic form in nature, but its compounds are present to a greater or lesser extent in

Disk Bat

2005-02-10T06:18:00.000-08:00

Disk bats are distinguished by round pads at the base of the thumb and on the sole of the

Arabia, History Of, Arabia since 1962

2005-02-09T23:08:00.000-08:00

Political changes in Yemen and Saudi Arabia during the early 1960s epitomized a vast transformation of the Arabian Peninsula that affected the lives of most of its inhabitants. In 1962 Egyptian-trained Yemeni officers led a coup d'état and invited Egypt to send troops to support the republic. The imam's forces, although backed by Saudi Arabia during five years of war against

Ayub Khan, Mohammad

2005-02-09T15:06:00.000-08:00

After studying at Aligarh Muslim University, in Uttar Pradesh, India, and at the British Royal Military College, at Sandhurst, Ayub Khan was commissioned an officer in the Indian army (1928). In World War II he was second-in-command

Moss Animal

2005-02-09T10:21:00.000-08:00

The Bryozoa have a long history. From the Lower Ordovician (500,000,000 to 430,000,000 years ago) onward, most limestone formations, especially those with shale alternations, are rich in bryozoan fossils. The skeletons of calcified bryozoans are easily preserved. Stenolaemates are abundant fossils; after their appearance in the Upper Jurassic (140,000,000 years ago), cheilostome fossils also are abundant.

Tintern Abbey

2005-02-08T14:59:00.000-08:00

Ecclesiastical ruin in Monmouthsire, Wales, on the west bank of the River Wye. Founded for Cistercian monks in 1131, Tintern Abbey was almost entirely rebuilt and enlarged between 1220 and 1287. The building was finally completed, except for minor additions, in the early 14th century. The abbey was dissolved in 1537, and its property was granted to the lord of Chepstow; the crown bought it

Nara

2005-02-07T11:10:00.000-08:00

Ken (prefecture), southern Honshu, Japan. The prefecture occupies the central part of the Kii Peninsula. Its southern and northeastern portions are mountainous, while the northwest is composed of the lowland of the Nara Basin. The basin is separated from Osaka (west) by mountains and contains most of the prefecture's population, main cities, and transport facilities.

Bydgoszcz

2005-02-07T01:13:00.000-08:00

German Bromberg, city, capital of Bydgoszcz województwo (province), northern Poland, near the confluence of the Brda and Vistula rivers. Beginning as a frontier stronghold, Bydgoszcz was seized by the Teutonic Knights in the 13th century; it received town rights in 1346. It prospered as a grain and timber centre, was devastated during the 17th-century Swedish wars, and regained importance in

Carnival

2005-02-05T22:41:00.000-08:00

The merrymaking and festivity that takes place in many Roman Catholic countries in the last days and hours before the Lenten season. The derivation of the word is uncertain, though it possibly can be traced to the medieval Latin carnem levare or carnelevarium, which means to take away or remove meat. This coincides with the fact that carnival is the final festivity