QuickCloud

Edgar The Aetheling

2005-11-18T04:30:00.000-08:00

Anglo-Saxon prince, who, at the age of about 15, was proposed as king of England after the death of Harold II in the Battle of Hastings (Oct. 14, 1066) but instead served the first two Norman kings, William I, Harold's conqueror, and William II. His title of aetheling (an Anglo-Saxon prince, especially the heir apparent) indicates he was a prince of the royal family; he was a grandson

Ma'daba

2005-07-27T04:00:00.000-07:00

An ancient city, Ma'daba was mentioned in the Old Testament as being laid waste by the Israelites under Moses when the Amorites refused passage through their territory (Numbers 21). It was subsequently

Mordvin Language

2005-07-07T19:30:00.000-07:00

Member of the Finno-Ugric group of the Uralic language family, spoken in Mordvinia and neighbouring areas. The third largest Uralic language in number of speakers, ranking after Hungarian and Finnish, it has two major dialects: Erzya, spoken in the eastern portion of Mordvinia and the surrounding territory; and Moksha, spoken in the west. Although both dialects are

Strangler Fig

2005-07-05T23:40:00.000-07:00

Of the 150 or so species of New World figs, most are stranglers, including F. obtusifolia and F. nymphaeifolia. Beginning life as a sticky

Fruitworm Beetle

2005-06-15T17:15:00.000-07:00

Any of a few genera of insects in the family Byfuridae (order Coleoptera) whose larvae feed on fruit. A common example of this family of small, hairy, oval beetles is the raspberry fruitworm (Byturus rubi). The small, pale larva, which is covered with short fine hairs, attacks the raspberry fruit. The adult, which ranges in colour from reddish yellow to black, is about 4 mm (0.16 inch)

Feline Distemper

2005-06-03T01:50:00.000-07:00

Also called Panleukopenia, or Infectious Enteritis, viral disease of cats, kittens two to six months old being most susceptible. About 3 to 10 days after exposure to the disease, infected kittens cough and sneeze, have running eyes and nose, are feverish, lose their appetites, vomit, and have diarrhea. The number of white cells in the blood drops severely. The disease rarely lasts more than a week, but the mortality rate is high.

Thompson River

2005-05-31T20:30:00.000-07:00

Major tributary of the Fraser River, in southern British Columbia, Canada. The North Thompson (210 miles [340 km]) rises in the Cariboo Mountains east of Wells Gray Provincial Park and follows an easterly then southwesterly course to Kamloops; the South Thompson (206 miles) emerges from Shuswap Lake and flows northwesterly to Kamloops (see photograph), where the two streams unite

Zoisite

2005-05-17T11:30:00.000-07:00

Silicate mineral, calcium and aluminum silicate, Ca2Al3(SiO4)3OH, characteristic of regional metamorphism and of hydrothermal alteration of igneous rocks. A member of the epidote (q.v.) group of nesosilicates, zoisite occurs as white, green-brown, or gray crystals or masses in crystalline schists, often with amphibole minerals; in metamorphosed calcareous shales; very

Atacama

2005-05-15T17:20:00.000-07:00

The IRA was created in 1919 as a successor to the Irish Volunteers, a militant Nationalist organization founded in 1913. The IRA's purpose was to use armed force to render British rule in Ireland ineffective and thus

Paracelsus

2005-03-15T22:37:00.000-08:00

Byname of �Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus Von Hohenheim � German-Swiss physician and alchemist who established the role of chemistry in medicine. He published Der grossen Wundartzney (�Great Surgery Book�) in 1536 and a clinical description of syphilis in 1530.

Ob River

2005-03-14T15:19:00.000-08:00

The Ob, one of western Siberia's principal means of transportation, is navigable for about 190 days of the year on its upper reaches and for 150 on its lower. Both imports and exports are shipped along the river. Most goods are transported to and from it along the northern sea route, which stretches across the Arctic. The Trans-Siberian Railway crosses the Irtysh at Omsk and the

Dadu

2005-03-12T18:23:00.000-08:00

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

Swan River

2005-03-11T05:34:00.000-08:00

Town, western Manitoba, Canada, on the Swan River near the Saskatchewan border and west of Lake Winnipegosis, 310 miles (500 km) northwest of Winnipeg. In the early 1800s there was intense fur-trading rivalry in the area between the Hudson's Bay and the North West companies. Homesteaders of varied nationalities moved to the locality after the Canadian Northern Railway reached

Lancelot

2005-03-10T04:08:00.000-08:00

Lancelot's name first appeared as one of Arthur's knights in Chr�tien de Troyes's 12th-century romance of Erec, and the same author later made him one of the heroes in Le Chevalier de la charette, which retold an existing legend about

Augustine, Saint, Scholarly literature

2005-03-09T10:20:00.000-08:00

The best one-volume study of Augustine's thought is Eugene TeSelle, Augustine the Theologian (1970). John Burnaby, Amor Dei: A Study of the Religion of St. Augustine (1938; reissued with corrections and a new foreword, 1991), is sympathetic and illuminating but dated. For Augustine in his cultural context, there is still nothing better than Henri Ir�n�e Marrou, Saint Augustin et la fin de la culture antique, 4th ed., 2 vol. in 1 (1958; reissued in 1 vol., 1983). Other useful studies are Brian Stock, Augustine the Reader: Meditation, Self-Knowledge, and the Ethics of Interpretation (1996); and Sabine MacCormack, The Shadows of Poetry: Vergil in the Mind of Augustine (1998). Augustine's political views are addressed in Herbert A. Deane, The Political and Social Ideas of St. Augustine (1963); and R.A. Markus, Saeculum: History and Society in the Theology of St. Augustine, rev. ed. (1988). Augustine's views on sexuality have come under scrutiny in recent years; the most comprehensive study is Kim Power, Veiled Desire: Augustine on Women (1996); but Peter Brown, The Body and Society: Men, Women, and Sexual Renunciation in Early Christianity (1988), is also important.

Turberville, George

2005-03-08T13:07:00.000-08:00

After attending the University of Oxford, Turberville went to Russia (1568 - 69) as secretary to Thomas Randolph, the first English ambassador there, and later settled at Shapwick, Dorset. In Epitaphes, Epigrams, Songs and

Vads�

2005-03-07T04:48:00.000-08:00

Town and seat of Finnmark fylke (county), northern Norway. Located on the northern shore of Varangerfjorden, the original settlement was on the adjacent island of Vass�ya, but in the early 1700s the port was reestablished on the mainland. Vads� received its town charter in 1833, and the town prospered, principally through trade with Russia. It was almost totally destroyed by

Seton Hall University

2005-03-06T20:42:00.000-08:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher education in South Orange Village, New Jersey, U.S. It is affiliated with the Roman Catholic church, specifically the Diocese of Newark, and offers more than 80 undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree programs. Seton Hall comprises nine academic units: colleges of Arts and Sciences, Education and Human Services,

Quadruple Alliance

2005-03-05T09:24:00.000-08:00

Alliance formed on April 22, 1834, between Britain, France, and the more liberal claimants to the thrones of Spain and Portugal against the conservative claimants to those thrones. The alliance successfully supported Maria Cristiana, who was acting as regent for Isabella II in Spain and had allied herself with the liberals against the pretender Don Carlos in the First

R�gisseur

2005-03-04T18:58:00.000-08:00

(French: �manager�), theatrical director or stage manager, especially in France, Russia, Germany, and Italy, whose duties encompass the artistic interpretation and integration of a play, the guided rehearsal of the actors, and the overall responsibility for the technical and economic aspects of the production. The position is similar to that of the director in the American

Chorale Prelude

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

Musical genre most closely associated with organ music for Protestant churches and epitomized by the numerous examples composed by J.S. Bach, who built upon a 17th-century tradition identified with the work of Dietrich Buxtehude and Johann Pachelbel, among others. Reflecting the long-standing convention of improvised introductions to Lutheran chorales or hymn

Masan

2005-03-02T07:27:00.000-08:00

City, Kyongsang-nam do (province), southeastern South Korea. It is located on Masan Bay, across from Chinhae Bay, 22 miles (35 km) west of Pusan, with which it is connected by rail and road. After 1899 Masan developed as an open port, but it was closed in 1908 because it lay in a fortified naval zone. Masan's port was opened again in 1967. The city is the market centre for agricultural products from the

Sunday

2005-03-01T00:52:00.000-08:00

First day of the week; in Christianity, the Lord's Day, the weekly memorial of Jesus Christ's Resurrection from the dead. The practice of Christians gathering together for worship on Sunday dates back to apostolic times, but details of the actual development of the custom are not clear. Before the end of the 1st century AD, the author of Revelation gave the first day its name

Seligman, Edwin Robert Anderson

2005-02-28T04:25:00.000-08:00

Seligman was the son of a New York banker and had the distinction of being tutored by Horatio Alger. He was educated at Columbia University (Ph.D., 1885) and in Germany and France. Seligman served as professor of political economy at Columbia for 40 years (1891 - 1931). On his retirement he was chief

Poynting Vector

2005-02-27T05:34:00.000-08:00

Where m is the permeability of the medium through which the radiation passes, E is the electric field intensity, and B is the magnetic induction. Thus,

Indian Philosophy, Origin of the concept of Brahman and atman

2005-02-26T21:04:00.000-08:00

The Upanisads answer the question �Who is that one Being?� by establishing the equation Brahman = atman. Brahman - meaning now that which is the greatest, than which there is nothing greater, and also that which bursts forth into the manifested world, the one Being of which the hymn of creation spoke - is viewed as nothing but atman, identifiable as the innermost self in man but

Yunnan - kweichow Plateau

2005-02-25T15:32:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization �Y�n-nan - kuei-chou Kao-y�an�, Pinyin �Yunnan - guizhou Gaoyuan�, also called �Kweichow Plateau�, or �Yunkwei Plateau� highland region comprising the northern part of Yunnan province and the western part of Kweichow province, China. Yunnan is more distinctly a plateau with areas of rolling uplands, precipitous folded and fault-block mountain ranges, and deep, river-cut gorges. About 6,000 feet (2,000 m) in elevation, the Yunnan part has mountain peaks of more than 12,000 feet (3,700 m) in the west. In the Kweichow

Abelard, Peter

2005-02-24T23:52:00.000-08:00

French �Pierre Ab�lard, 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 H�lo�se.

Anderssen, Adolf

2005-02-23T02:39:00.000-08:00

In full �Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen � chess master considered the world's strongest player from his victory in the first modern international tournament (London, 1851) until his defeat (1858) by the American Paul Morphy in match play and, again, after Morphy's retirement (c. 1861) until his defeat by the Austrian Wilhelm Steinitz (1866). Anderssen was noted for his ability

English Literature, Verse romance

2005-02-22T08:42:00.000-08:00

The earliest examples of verse romance, a genre that would remain popular through the Middle Ages, appeared in the 13th century. King Horn and Floris and Blauncheflour both are preserved in a manuscript of around 1250. King Horn, oddly written in short two- and three-stress lines, is a vigorous tale of a kingdom lost and regained, with a subplot concerning Horn's love for Princess

Wanganui

2005-02-21T04:41:00.000-08:00

City (�district�) and port, Manawatu-Wanganui local government region, southwestern North Island, New Zealand, near the mouth of the Wanganui River. The site lies within a tract bought by the New Zealand Company in 1840. The company established a settlement in 1841 and named it Petre. It was renamed in 1844, the present name deriving from a Maori term meaning �big mouth,� �big bay,� or �big

Durban

2005-02-20T13:13:00.000-08:00

Formerly �Port Natal, � largest city of KwaZulu/Natal province, South Africa, and chief seaport of South Africa, located on Natal Bay of the Indian Ocean. European settlement began with a band of Cape Colony traders led by Francis G. Farewell, who charted the port in 1824 and named the site Port Natal. Land was ceded to the group by Shaka, the Zulu king (whose right to take that action is disputed), and the

Coral

2005-02-19T22:25:00.000-08:00

Stony corals (order Madreporaria or Scleractinia) number

Ayutthaya

2005-02-18T23:00:00.000-08:00

The town was founded by Ramathibodi I about 1350 on an island formed by the confluence

Scandinavian Literature, Prose

2005-02-17T02:04:00.000-08:00

Prose literature of the 14th century included several sagas. Among them were the Finnboga saga ramma (�Saga of Finnbogi the Strong�), about a 10th-century hero, and another telling the love story of its hero V�glundr. Sagas about bishops, already a theme in the 13th century, became more numerous, as did lives of foreign saints. A large collection of exempla (moral tales) was also made,

Cereal Farming, Weeds

2005-02-15T09:24:00.000-08:00

Weeds present difficulties, as they compete with cereal crops for water, light, and mineral nutrients. The infestation of annual seeds planted in a field may cause many weeds in that field for successive years. Charlock or wild mustard, wild oats, crouch grass, and other common weeds are disseminated by wind, water, and birds.

Zonguldak

2005-02-14T00:07:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Zonguldak il (province), northwestern Turkey, on the Black Sea coast. The well-equipped port is the main outlet for coal extracted from the basin between Zonguldak and Eregli. The city's development and rapid rise in population were associated with the growth of this coal industry after the mid-19th century. Mining was extensively developed by the government

Creativity

2005-02-13T17:00:00.000-08:00

Studies of known living creative people and research gleaned from biographies of recognized past creative geniuses have yielded some ideas about the characteristics of the creative process. The single most important element in the creative process, however, is believed to be originality, or uniqueness. A great deal of research has been carried out on the nature,

Pacific Islands, Plant and animal life

2005-02-12T20:45:00.000-08:00

Most island vegetations reveal Asian ancestries stemming from Indonesia and New Guinea. Generic variety declines eastward across the Pacific, providing evidence that seeds and fruits carried by ocean currents, birds, winds, and island voyagers encountered mounting obstacles to acceptance. The easternmost islands were host to limited plant dispersal movement

Francia, Jos� Gaspar Rodr�guez De

2005-02-11T14:37:00.000-08:00

Francia was trained in theology but turned to the practice of law. In 1811 he became secretary to the junta that had overthrown Spanish rule and in 1813 served

Monarchianism

2005-02-10T07:44:00.000-08:00

A Christian heresy that developed during the 2nd and 3rd centuries. It opposed the doctrine of an independent, personal subsistence of the Logos, affirmed the sole deity of God the Father, and thus represented the extreme monotheistic view. Though it regarded Christ as Redeemer, it clung to the numerical unity of the Deity. Two types of Monarchianism developed: the Dynamic

Han Yongun

2005-02-09T01:16:00.000-08:00

Han participated in the famous Tonghak Revolt of 1894, a social reform movement directed by leaders of the apocalyptic Tonghak sect. With the failure of the movement, Han escaped to Mount Solok, where he began to study Buddhism, entering the priesthood in 1905. He immediately became a leader of the struggle

Wagner, Richard

2005-02-08T03:15:00.000-08:00

In 1869 Wagner had resumed work on The Ring which he now brought to its world-renouncing conclusion. It had been agreed with the King that the tetralogy should be first performed in its entirety at Munich, but Wagner broke the agreement, convinced that a new type of theatre must be built for the purpose. Having discovered a suitable site at the Bavarian town of Bayreuth, he

World War I, Caporetto

2005-02-07T05:36:00.000-08:00

On the Italian front, Cadorna's 10th Battle of the Isonzo in May - June 1917 won very little ground; but his 11th, from August 17 to September 12, during which General Luigi Capello's 2nd Army captured much of the Bainsizza Plateau (Banj

Howell, James

2005-02-06T02:58:00.000-08:00

Anglo-Welsh writer known for his Epistolae Ho-Elianae, 4 vol. (1645 - 55), early and lively essays in letter form. Though vividly recording contemporary phenomena, they lack historical reliability because of plagiarizing and the addition of fictitious dates - despite the author's position as historiographer royal, a post

Sabadell

2005-02-05T09:07:00.000-08:00

City, Barcelona provincia, in the comunidad aut�noma (�autonomous community�) of Catalonia, northeastern Spain. The city, just north of Barcelona in the Vall�s parish, originated as an Iberian and Roman settlement known as Arragona and became a medieval fief of the Castle of Arahona. Called Sabadell in the 12th century, in 1373 it was incorporated as a royal village (with municipal

Amblygonite

2005-02-04T09:17:00.000-08:00

Phosphate mineral composed of lithium, sodium, and aluminum phosphate [(Li,Na)AlPO4(F,OH)], that is an ore of lithium. It occurs in lithium- and phosphate-rich granitic pegmatites, often in very large, white, translucent masses. It has been mined at Keystone, S.D., and in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and several other countries. Clear material from Hebron, Maine, has been faceted as a gemstone.

Powell, Bud

2005-02-03T10:23:00.000-08:00

Powell played with the Cootie Williams band (1943 - 44) and sat in on the jam sessions at Minton's Playhouse in Harlem. Crafting a style from pianists Art Tatum, Billy Kyle, and Thelonious Monk, trumpeter Dizzy

Lateen Sail

2005-02-02T03:31:00.000-08:00

Triangular sail that was of decisive importance to medieval navigation. The ancient square sail permitted sailing only before the wind; the lateen was the earliest fore-and-aft sail. The triangular sail was affixed to a long yard or crossbar, mounted at its middle to the top of the mast and angled to extend aft far above the mast and forward down nearly to the deck. The

Latin Literature, Early writers

2005-02-01T17:21:00.000-08:00

The ground for Roman literature was prepared by an influx from the early 3rd century BC onward of Greek slaves, some of whom were put to tutoring young Roman nobles. Among them was Livius Andronicus, who was later freed and who is considered to be the first Latin writer. In 240 BC, to celebrate Rome's victory over Carthage, he composed a genuine drama adapted from the Greek. His success

Newfoundland And Labrador, Transportation

2005-01-31T14:15:00.000-08:00

Until the end of the 19th century, virtually all communication among the coastal settlements was by sea; St. John's remains one of the country's major Atlantic harbours. A narrow-gauge railway was built during the 1880s from St. John's to Channel-Port-aux-Basques along a route that touched the major bays. Subsequently, branch lines were developed to serve population centres

Awash River

2005-01-30T20:30:00.000-08:00

Formerly �Hawash River� river in eastern Ethiopia. It rises on a steep northern escarpment of the Eastern (Great) Rift Valley and is fed by Lakes Shala, Abiyata, Langano, and Ziway. Cotton is grown in the fertile Awash River valley, and dams (notably the Koka Dam, 1960) supply hydroelectric power. Herds of antelope and gazelle live in the Awash National Park. The river ends in a chain of salt lakes in the

Solfeggio

2005-01-29T07:30:00.000-08:00

French �Solf�ge, � vocal exercises sung to the solmization syllables (do, re, mi, etc.) and, by extension, vocalizes, or exercises sung to a single vowel, often florid and difficult to master. Solfeggio collections survive from the 17th century onward, with examples by leading composers of 18th-century opera, such as Nicola Porpora (also a singer and famed singing teacher) and Alessandro Scarlatti

Axminster Carpet

2005-01-28T10:14:00.000-08:00

Floor covering made originally in a factory founded at Axminster, Devon, Eng., in 1755 by the cloth weaver Thomas Whitty. Resembling somewhat the Savonnerie carpets produced in France, Axminster carpets were Ghiordes knotted in wool on woolen warps and had a weft of flax or hemp. Like the French carpets, they featured Renaissance architectural or floral patterns. Similar

Gama, Vasco Da, 1er Conde (1st Count) Da Vidigueira

2005-01-27T08:03:00.000-08:00

Portuguese navigator whose voyages to India (1497 - 99, 1502 - 03, 1524) opened up the sea route from western Europe to the East by way of the Cape of Good Hope and thus ushered in a new era in world history. He also helped make Portugal a world power.

Chenault, Kenneth

2005-01-26T16:00:00.000-08:00

The son of a dentist and a dental hygienist, Chenault grew up on Long Island and attended the Waldorf School, an alternative school, where he developed his first leadership skills as senior

Wolffish

2005-01-25T19:36:00.000-08:00

Any of nine species of large, long-bodied blennies of the family Anarhichadidae (order Perciformes), found in northern Atlantic and Pacific waters. Wolffishes are much larger than most other blennies, the largest species growing to a length of about 2.3 m (7.5 feet). Wolffishes have a large head and a long, tapered body surmounted by a single, long dorsal

Moray, James Stewart, 1st Earl Of, Earl Of Mar, Lord Abernethy

2005-01-24T10:35:00.000-08:00

The illegitimate son of King James V and Lady Margaret Douglas, Stewart led the Protestant lords in their conflict with Mary Stuart's mother, Mary of Lorraine, the queen regent. When Mary Stuart assumed control of the government

Dachau

2005-01-23T16:06:00.000-08:00

Dachau is situated on a hill, on the summit of which are the castle of the Wittelsbachs and a parish church (1625). The city's picturesque natural setting has long attracted landscape painters.

Genet

2005-01-22T13:23:00.000-08:00

Any of about five species of lithe, catlike carnivores of the genus Genetta, family Viverridae. Genets are elongate, short-legged animals with long, tapering tails; pointed noses; large, rounded ears; and retractile claws. Coloration varies among species but usually is pale yellowish or grayish, marked with dark spots and stripes; the tail is banded black and

Absentee Voting

2005-01-21T09:58:00.000-08:00

Electoral process that enables persons who cannot appear at their designated polling places to vote from another location. The usual method of absentee voting is by mail, although provision is sometimes made for voting at prescribed places in advance of the polling date. Absentee voting requires special administrative arrangements to ensure the secrecy and

Onyx

2005-01-20T02:38:00.000-08:00

Striped, semiprecious variety of the silica mineral agate with white and black alternating bands. Onyx is used in carved cameos and intaglios because its layers can be cut to show a colour contrast between the design and the background. Other varieties include carnelian onyx, with white and red bands, and sardonyx, with white and brown bands. The chief localities

Mithra

2005-01-19T01:19:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Mithras, �Sanskrit �Mitra, � in ancient Indo-Iranian mythology, the god of light, whose cult spread from India in the east to as far west as Spain, Great Britain, and Germany. (See Mithraism.) The first written mention of the Vedic Mitra dates to 1400 BC. His worship spread to Persia and, after the defeat of the Persians by Alexander the Great, throughout the Hellenic world. In the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, the cult of

Jupiter, Other satellites

2005-01-18T14:41:00.000-08:00

The only other Jovian satellite that was close enough to the trajectories of the Voyager spacecraft in 1979 to allow surface features to be seen was Amalthea. So small that its gravitational field is not strong enough to deform it into a sphere, it has an irregular, oblong shape (see Table). Like Io, its surface exhibits a reddish colour that may result from a coating of sulfur

Heyward, Dubose

2005-01-17T10:15:00.000-08:00

At the age of 17 Heyward worked on the waterfront, where he observed the black Americans who were to become the subject of his writing. Heyward first wrote poems: Carolina Chansons (1922), a joint publication

Arrow, Kenneth J.

2005-01-16T08:12:00.000-08:00

In full �Kenneth Joseph Arrow� American economist known for his contributions to welfare economics and to general economic equilibrium theory. He was cowinner (with Sir John R. Hicks) of the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1972. Perhaps his most startling thesis (built on elementary mathematics) was the �impossibility theorem� (or �Arrow's theorem�), which holds that, under certain

Taboga Island

2005-01-15T13:05:00.000-08:00

Spanish �Isla Taboga, � island in the Bay of Panama, Panama. Taboga and its small neighbour, Taboguilla Island, lie 11 miles (18 km) south of Panama City, with which they are connected by boat service. Taboga, about 2 miles (3 km) long and 1 mile (1.6 km) wide, is known for its pineapples and mangoes and is a year-round tourist resort. Visitors are attracted by its church, one of the oldest in the Western Hemisphere, by

United Arab Emirates

2005-01-14T13:28:00.000-08:00

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries the dominant tribal faction was the Al-Qawasim (singular: Qasimi), whose ships controlled the maritime commerce (notably fishing and pearling) concentrated in

Malaspina Family

2005-01-13T16:37:00.000-08:00

Feudal family powerful in northern Italy in the Middle Ages. Descended from Marquis Oberto I, who was created count palatine by the Holy Roman emperor Otto I, the family at first controlled Tuscany, eastern Liguria, and the March of Lombardy. Early in the 11th century the Este, Pallavicino, and Massa-Corsica family branches separated from the Malaspina. The situation

Siddha

2005-01-12T14:34:00.000-08:00

In Jainism, one who has achieved perfection. By right faith, right knowledge, and right conduct a siddha has freed himself from the cycle of rebirths and resides in a state of perpetual bliss in the siddha-sila, at the top of the universe. The siddha and the other ascetics constitute the pa�ca-paramesthin, the five chief divinities of the Jainas. Their figures are represented

France, History Of, The Reign of Terror

2005-01-11T17:19:00.000-08:00

After their victory in expelling the Girondins, Parisian militants �regenerated� their own sectional assemblies by purging local moderates, while radicals like Jacques-Ren� H�bert and Pierre-Gaspard Chaumette tightened their grip on the Paris Commune. On Sept. 5, 1793, they mounted another mass demonstration to demand that the Convention assure food at affordable

Walter Of Coventry

2005-01-10T11:43:00.000-08:00

Walter was not a historian or chronicler in his own right; he merely brought together the works of Marianus Scotus, Florence of Worcester, Henry of Huntingdon, Roger of Hoveden, and

Loxodrome

2005-01-09T09:42:00.000-08:00

Also called �Rhumb Line, or Spherical Helix, � curve cutting the meridians of a sphere at a constant nonright angle. Thus, it may be seen as the path of a ship sailing always oblique to the meridian and directed always to the same point of the compass. Pedro Nunes, who first conceived the curve (1550), mistakenly believed it to be the shortest path joining two points on a sphere (see great circle route). Any ship following such

Encyclop�die

2005-01-08T18:29:00.000-08:00

In full� Encyclop�die, Ou Dictionnaire Raisonn� Des Sciences, Des Arts Et Des M�tiers� (French: �Encyclopaedia, or Classified Dictionary of Sciences, Arts, and Trades�), the 18th-century French encyclopaedia that was one of the chief works of the Philosophes, men dedicated to the advancement of science and secular thought and the new tolerance and open-mindedness of the Enlightenment. The Encyclop�die was a literary and philosophical enterprise with

Overture

2005-01-07T00:26:00.000-08:00

Musical composition, usually the orchestral introduction to a musical work (often dramatic), but also an independent instrumental work. Early operas opened with a sung prologue or a short instrumental flourish, such as the trumpet �Toccata� that opens Claudio Monteverdi's Orfeo (1607). Subsequent 17th-century operas were sometimes preceded by a short instrumental piece

Udaipur

2005-01-06T02:00:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Udaypur, � city, southern Rajasthan state, northwestern India. It lies in the hills of the Aravali Range. Udaipur (�City of Sunrise�) was made the capital of the princely state of Udaipur in 1568 by Maharana Udai Singh after the sack of Chittaurgarh. A walled city, it stands on a ridge crowned by the Maharana's palace, which was begun in 1570. To the west lies Lake Pichola with its two small islands and marble

Gainsborough

2005-01-05T08:41:00.000-08:00

Town, West Lindsey district, administrative and historic county of Lincolnshire, England. It stands on the River Trent, bordering Nottinghamshire. Gainsborough's early importance as a Saxon settlement was augmented when it became a military centre under the Danes (9th - 11th centuries). Its position on a navigable river and a main road between London and the north of England

Mars Pathfinder

2005-01-04T06:16:00.000-08:00

Robotic U.S. spacecraft launched to Mars to demonstrate a new way to land a spacecraft on the planet's surface and the operation of an independent robotic rover. Developed by NASA as part of a low-cost approach to planetary exploration, Pathfinder successfully completed both demonstrations, gathered scientific data, and returned striking images from Mars. Its observations

Meleager

2005-01-03T13:19:00.000-08:00

Greek poet from Gadara in Syria, who compiled the first large anthology of epigrams. This was the first of the collections that made up what is known as the Greek Anthology (q.v.). Meleager's collection contained poems by 50 writers and many by himself; an introductory poem compared each writer to a flower, and the whole was entitled Stephanos (�Garland�). Meleager's

Warthog

2005-01-02T00:20:00.000-08:00

(Phacochoerus aethiopicus), member of the pig family, Suidae (order Artiodactyla), found in open and lightly forested areas of Africa. The warthog is a sparsely haired, large-headed, blackish or brown animal standing about 76 centimetres (30 inches) at the shoulder. It has a coarse mane extending from the neck to the middle of the back, and it has a long,

Locomotive

2005-01-01T20:12:00.000-08:00

Although motive power can be incorporated into a car that also has passenger, baggage, or freight accomodations, it most often is provided by a separate unit, the locomotive, which includes the machinery to generate (or, in the case of an electric locomotive, to convert) power and transmit

Peter Iv

2004-12-31T22:40:00.000-08:00

Peter was the most cultivated of Spanish 14th-century kings but was also an inveterate political intriguer whose ability to dissemble was notorious. Through his voluminous correspondence, the workings of his mind are far better known than those of any contemporary Spanish

Force

2004-12-30T20:24:00.000-08:00

In mechanics, any action that tends to maintain or alter the position of a body or to distort it. The concept of force is commonly explained in terms of Newton's three laws of motion set forth in his Principia Mathematica (1687). According to Newton's first principle, a body that is at rest or moving at a uniform rate in a straight line will remain in that state until some force

Furniture, Carving

2004-12-29T10:15:00.000-08:00

Whereas carving does not appear to

Mckean

2004-12-28T15:26:00.000-08:00

The county was formed in

Arnoldson, Klas Pontus

2004-12-27T06:59:00.000-08:00

Arnoldson became a railway clerk and rose to stationmaster (1871 - 81) but then left the railway to devote himself entirely to politics. In 1881 he was elected to the Riksdag, the Swedish

Electrical And Electronics Engineering

2004-12-26T21:34:00.000-08:00

Electrical phenomena attracted the attention of European thinkers as early as the 17th century. Beginning as a mathematically oriented science, the field has remained primarily in that form; mathematical predication often precedes laboratory demonstration. The most noteworthy pioneers include Ludwig Wilhelm Gilbert and Georg Simon Ohm of Germany, Hans Christian

Eusebius Of Caesarea

2004-12-24T01:01:00.000-08:00

Eusebius was baptized and ordained at Caesarea, where he was taught by the learned presbyter Pamphilus, to whom he was bound by ties of respect and affection

Distributive Law

2004-12-23T02:59:00.000-08:00

In mathematics, the law relating to number operations stated symbolically, a(b c d) = ab ac ad; that is, the monomial factor a is distributed, or separately applied, to each term of the polynomial factor b c d, resulting in the product ab ac ad. Hence, the result of first adding several numbers and then multiplying the sum by some number is the same as first multiplying each separately

Avinu Malkenu

2004-12-22T17:14:00.000-08:00

The

Hyderabad

2004-12-21T20:28:00.000-08:00

The city, administrative headquarters of the district, lies on the most northerly hill of the Ganjo Takkar ridge, just east of the Indus River. The third largest city in Pakistan, it is a communications centre, connected by rail with Peshawar and Karachi and with Indian railways via the border towns of Khokhropar and

China, The rise of the Manchu

2004-12-20T20:07:00.000-08:00

The Manchu, who ruled China from 1644 to 1911, were descendants of the Juchen tribes who had ruled North China as the Chin dynasty in the 12th century. From the 15th century they had paid tribute to the Ming and been organized in the commandery system, so they had long had extensive and regular contact with the Chinese state and, more importantly, with the Chinese military officers

Arochukwu

2004-12-19T20:59:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Arochuku, � town, Abia state, southern Nigeria. It lies along the road from Calabar to Umuahia. Arochukwu was the headquarters of the Aro, an Igbo (Ibo) subgroup that dominated southeastern Nigeria in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was the seat of the sacred Chuku shrine, the source of a much-feared oracle (called Long Juju by the Europeans) that acted as a judge for the Igbo supreme deity

Fucino Basin

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

Italian �Conca Del Fucino, �formerly �Lago Fucino, or Lago Di Celano, �Latin �Lacus Fucinus, � former lake bed in L'Aquila province, Abruzzi region, central Italy, just east of Avezzano. The lake was once 37 mi (59 km) in circumference and about 100 ft (30 m) deep, although its level was subject to great variations because of the lack of an outlet. As early as AD 52 the emperor Claudius had a tunnel constructed, 3 1/2 mi (5 1/2 km) long, as an outlet to the Liri (Liris) River. The tunnel, still evident but no

Aetheling

2004-12-17T03:20:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Atheling, or Etheling, � in Anglo-Saxon England, generally any person of noble birth. Use of the term was usually restricted to members of a royal family, and in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle it is used almost exclusively for members of the royal house of Wessex. It was occasionally used after the Norman Conquest to designate members of the royal family - e.g., William the Aetheling, son and heir of King

Wolf, Christa

2004-12-16T07:23:00.000-08:00

Wolf was reared in a middle-class, pro-Nazi family. With the defeat of Germany in 1945, she moved with her family to East Germany. She studied at the Universities of Jena and Leipzig (1949 - 53), thereafter working as editor of the

Pachacamac

2004-12-15T11:43:00.000-08:00

Creator deity worshipped by the pre-Inca maritime population of Peru; it was also the name of a pilgrimage site in the Lur�n Valley (south of Lima) dedicated to the god and revered for many centuries. After the Incas conquered the coast, they did not attempt to replace the ancient and deeply rooted worship of Pachacamac but instead incorporated him into their own pantheon.

Arden, John

2004-12-14T11:11:00.000-08:00

Arden grew up in the industrial town of Barnsley, the character of which he captured in his play The Workhouse

Permafrost

2004-12-13T13:54:00.000-08:00

Perennially frozen ground, a naturally occurring material with a temperature colder than 0� C (32� F) continuously for two or more years. Such a layer of frozen ground is designated exclusively on the basis of temperature. Part or all of its moisture may be unfrozen, depending on the chemical composition of the water or the depression of the freezing point by capillary forces.

T'ien-t'ai

2004-12-12T05:58:00.000-08:00

The chief scripture of the school is the Lotus Sutra (Chinese: Fa-hua Ching; Sanskrit: Saddharmapu