BrightHand

Celastraceae

2005-04-05T09:58:00.000-07:00

The staff-tree family, in the order Celastrales, comprising about 55 genera of woody vines, shrubs, and trees, native in tropical and temperate zones but best known for ornamental forms of the genera Euonymus and Celastrus (bittersweet). Fruit of the family is often colourful. Leaves are frequently leathery and flowers are small, with four to five sepals and petals; alternating

Cádiz

2005-04-04T13:22:00.000-07:00

The eastern part of the provincia is crossed by wooded spurs of

American Literature, Drama

2005-04-04T08:58:00.000-07:00

Two post-World War II playwrights established reputations comparable to O'Neill's. Arthur Miller wrote eloquent essays defending his modern, democratic concept of tragedy; despite its abstract, allegorical quality and portentous language, Death of a Salesman (1949) came close to vindicating his views. Miller's intense family dramas were rooted in the works of the socially

Semiconductor Device, Rectifier

2005-04-03T17:37:00.000-07:00

This type of p-n junction diode is specifically designed to rectify an alternating current—i.e., to give a low resistance to current flow in one direction and a very high resistance in the other direction. Such diodes are generally designed for use as power-rectifying devices that operate at frequencies from 50 hertz to 50 kilohertz. The majority of rectifiers have power-dissipation

Levuka

2005-04-03T07:01:00.000-07:00

Town on the east coast of Ovalau island, central Fiji, South Pacific, and capital of Lomaiviti Province at the western edge of the country's Eastern Division. Settled by a U.S. adventurer in 1822, the area was the centre of a cotton boom during the U.S. Civil War (1861–65), when world cotton supplies were disrupted. Levuka was chosen as the capital of Fiji in 1874, when the islands were annexed by

Kaulbach, Wilhelm Von

2005-04-02T20:36:00.000-08:00

From 1822 Kaulbach studied under Peter von Cornelius at the Düsseldorf Academy. When Cornelius became director of the academy in Munich in 1824, he brought Kaulbach to Munich. Kaulbach succeeded Cornelius in 1843 as the academy's

Switzerland, Economic development

2005-04-01T18:45:00.000-08:00

A major period of economic growth began after 1815. There was a general improvement in agriculture, and tourism, especially from England, began to develop. But the industrial sector of the economy made the most significant gains. The exclusion of the English from European markets by the continental blockade, while initially detrimental to the textile industry, forced

Aiken, Howard Hathaway

2005-03-31T10:08:00.000-08:00

Aiken did engineering work while he attended the University of Wisconsin, Madison. After completing his doctorate at Harvard University in 1939, he remained there for a short period to teach before undertaking war work for the U.S.

Vytautas The Great

2005-03-31T09:23:00.000-08:00

Vytautas was the son of Kestutis, who for years had waged a struggle with his brother Algirdas

Texas, Annexation and statehood

2005-03-30T14:08:00.000-08:00

As early as 1836, Texans had voted for annexation by the United States, but the proposition was rejected by the Jackson and Van Buren administrations. Great Britain favoured continued independence for Texas in order to block further westward expansion of the United States, but this attitude only helped to swing Americans toward annexation. Annexation was approved

Tasmania, Cultural life

2005-03-30T08:03:00.000-08:00

For the smallness and dispersion of its population, Tasmania has a remarkably vigorous cultural life. At the amateur level, there are many musical groups, ranging from the full orchestra to the ensemble, as well as choral societies and repertory companies. The University of Tasmania has a conservatorium of music and a school of art. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation,

Gastronomy, Scandinavian

2005-03-29T17:56:00.000-08:00

Sweden's great contribution to international eating is the smorgasbord, literally a “bread-and-butter

Waimakariri River

2005-03-28T07:58:00.000-08:00

River in east-central South Island, New Zealand. It rises in the Southern Alps and flows 100 miles (160 km) southeast to Pegasus Bay of the Pacific Ocean, 8 miles (13 km) north of Christchurch. Fed by its principal tributaries—the Bealey, Poulter, and Esk—the river drains a basin of about 1,000 square miles (2,600 square km). The delta formed at its mouth constitutes a major portion of Banks Peninsula

Adam Of Bremen

2005-03-28T02:59:00.000-08:00

Of Franconian origin, he was probably educated at the cathedral school in Bamberg but was introduced in 1066 or 1067 into the cathedral chapter at Bremen by Archbishop

Bárány, Robert

2005-03-28T00:59:00.000-08:00

Bárány graduated in medicine from the University of Vienna in 1900. After study at German clinics he became assistant at the ear clinic of the University of Vienna

Pauli, Wolfgang

2005-03-26T04:41:00.000-08:00

When he was 20, Pauli

Ileum

2005-03-26T02:59:00.000-08:00

Final and longest segment of the small intestine. It is specifically responsible for the absorption of vitamin B12 and the reabsorption of conjugated bile salts. The ileum is about 4 m (13 feet) in length and extends from the jejunum (the middle section of the small intestine) to the ileocecal valve, which empties into the colon (large intestine). The ileum is suspended from

Moiseiwitsch, Benno

2005-03-25T09:39:00.000-08:00

His early training was with Dmitry Klimov in Odessa; Moiseiwitsch won the Rubinstein Prize at the age of nine. He studied with Theodor Leschetizky in Vienna from 1904 to 1908, then joined his family in England, making

Heilbrun, Carolyn

2005-03-24T23:50:00.000-08:00

Heilbrun attended Wellesley (Massachusetts) College (B.A., 1947) and Columbia University in New York City (M.A., 1951; Ph.D., 1959) and in 1960 joined the faculty of Columbia, where she taught until 1992. Among her scholarly

Pereira

2005-03-24T05:16:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Risaralda departamento, west-central Colombia. It is situated in the western foothills of the Cordillera Central above the Cauca River valley. It was founded in 1863 on the former site of Cartago by Remigio Antonio Cañarte and was named for Francisco Pereira Gamba, who donated lands for the enterprise. Pereira serves as a centre for coffee and cattle and

Topazolite

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

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

Arnulf I

2005-03-22T04:34:00.000-08:00

On his father's death in 918, the inherited lands were divided between Arnulf and his brother Adolf, but the latter survived only a short time, and Arnulf succeeded to the whole inheritance. His reign was filled with warfare against the Norsemen, and he took an active part in the struggles in Lorraine between the emperor Otto

East Chicago

2005-03-21T18:37:00.000-08:00

Industrial city and port, Lake county, northwestern Indiana, U.S., adjoining Gary, Hammond, and Whiting. It is a part of the Chicago-Calumet industrialized metropolitan complex. Laid out in 1887, its industrial development was stimulated by construction of Indiana Harbor, connected with the Grand Calumet River by a 3-mile (5-kilometre) ship canal and including an extensive system

Crocidolite

2005-03-20T03:46:00.000-08:00

Crocidolite is often replaced

Acarnania

2005-03-19T10:44:00.000-08:00

District of ancient Greece bounded by the Ionian Sea, the Ambracian Gulf, Mount Thyamus, and the Achelous River. Corinth founded several colonies on the coast of Acarnania in the 7th and 6th centuries BC. Originally a tribal unit, Acarnania developed into a federal state with generals and other magistrates, a council, and an assembly by the late 5th century; its capital was

Devizes

2005-03-18T06:42:00.000-08:00

Town (“parish”), Kennet district, administrative and historical county of Wiltshire, England. It lies along the disused Kennet and Avon Canal, at the edge of Roundway Down. It was the site of a Roman fortification, Castrum Divisarum; and Roger, bishop of Salisbury, built a castle there about 1132. The name Devizes possibly came from a medieval Latin reference to the castle ad

Novo Mesto

2005-03-17T13:31:00.000-08:00

City, southern Slovenia, on the Krka River. Novo Mesto was founded in 1365 by Rudolf IV of Austria and became an important military base on the Ottoman frontier in the 15th century. Though ravaged twice by fire (1576 and 1664) and once by plague (1599), Novo Mesto developed into an important regional centre. The modern city has a hydroelectric power plant as well as textile, automobile, and chemical-pharmaceutical

Sankt Wolfgang

2005-03-17T05:29:00.000-08:00

Also called Sankt Wolfgang Im Salzkammergut, town, Oberösterreich Bundesland (federal state), central Austria. It lies on the east shore of Wolfgang (Aber) Lake in the Salzkammergut lake region, west of Bad Ischl. A cog, or rack, railway ascends the Schafberg (5,850 feet [1,783 m]) from the town. The Late Gothic-style Pilgrimage Church (1430–77) has a magnificent carved wooden altar (1481) by the sculptor Michael Pacher. The town's Zum Weissen Rossl

Extensor Muscle

2005-03-16T22:43:00.000-08:00

Any of the muscles that increase the angle between members of a limb, as by straightening the elbow or knee or bending the wrist or spine backward. The movement is usually directed backward, with the notable exception of the knee joint. In humans, certain muscles of the hand and foot are named for this function. In the hand these include the extensor carpi radialis brevis,

Paedomorphosis

2005-03-16T13:08:00.000-08:00

Classic examples include certain amphibian species in which

Space Group

2005-03-15T14:30:00.000-08:00

In crystallography, any of the ways in which the orientation of a crystal can be changed without seeming to change the position of its atoms. These changes may involve displacement of the whole structure along a crystallographic axis (translation), as well as the point group operations of rotation about an axis, reflection in a plane, inversion about a centre, or sequential

Gabrieli, Andrea

2005-03-14T08:43:00.000-08:00

He was born in the Canareggio quarter of Venice, but nothing is known about

Xankändi

2005-03-14T03:17:00.000-08:00

Formerly Stepanakert, city, southwestern Azerbaijan. Situated at the foot of the eastern slopes of the Karabakh Range, the city was founded after the October Revolution (1917) on the site of the village of Khankendy and was renamed Stepanakert in 1923 for Stepan Shaumyan, a Baku Communist leader. After Azerbaijan gained independence the name was changed to Xankändi, though Armenians continue to

Nakho-dagestanian Languages

2005-03-13T13:54:00.000-08:00

Also called Northeast Caucasian Languages, group of languages spoken in the northeastern Caucasus Mountains. The Nakh division consists of the languages of the Chechen, Ingush, and Bats. The Dagestanian division is more multifarious and includes such groups as the Avar-Andi-Dido languages, the Lak-Dargin (Lak-Dargwa) languages, and the Lezgian languages. See also Dagestanian languages; Nakh languages.

Dance, African

2005-03-13T08:02:00.000-08:00

Performing art deeply woven into the social fabric of Africa and generally involving aspects of music and theatre as well as rhythmic bodily movement. See also music, African, and mask.

Xavier, Saint Francis

2005-03-12T08:12:00.000-08:00

After all the members of the band had completed their studies, they reassembled in Venice, where Xavier was ordained priest on June 24, 1537. Having for more than a year sought passage to the Holy Land in vain, the seven, along with fresh recruits, went to Rome to put themselves at the disposal of the Pope. Meanwhile, as a result of their preaching and care of the sick throughout central

Nicaragua

2005-03-11T02:47:00.000-08:00

Officially Republic of Nicaragua, Spanish República de Nicaragua country of Central America, bounded by Honduras on the north, the Caribbean Sea on the east, Costa Rica on the south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It is the largest of the Central American republics, with an area of 50,464 square miles (130,700 square kilometres). Its population, mostly mestizo, is an ethnic mixture that reflects the country's history. The capital is Managua, the nation's

Leno, Dan

2005-03-10T21:00:00.000-08:00

Born into a family of traveling entertainers, Leno first appeared on stage at the age of four

Gondwanaland

2005-03-10T19:37:00.000-08:00

Also called Gondwana, hypothetical former supercontinent in the Southern Hemisphere, which included South America, Africa, peninsular India, Australia, and Antarctica. The name was coined by the Austrian geologist Eduard Suess in reference to the Upper Paleozoic and Mesozoic formations of the Gondwana region of central India, which display typical developments of some of the shared

Infection, Pancreatitis

2005-03-10T05:01:00.000-08:00

Inflammation of the pancreas, or pancreatitis, may follow abdominal trauma or the formation of gallstones that obstruct the common bile duct. It can be associated with excessive ingestion of alcohol; with disorders such as cystic fibrosis or Reye's syndrome; or with scorpion stings. Infectious causes of pancreatitis include mycoplasmas, Epstein-Barr viruses

Arabia, History Of, Yemen

2005-03-09T08:17:00.000-08:00

Imam Yahya had to virtually conquer Yemen, in the Zaydi interest, after the Ottoman departure; by stern measures he established security. He refused to recognize the British-backed border between the Aden protectorates and Yemen. The British in the later 1930s pacified and, to a limited degree, developed their protectorates.

Balbus, Lucius Cornelius

2005-03-08T08:23:00.000-08:00

Gnaeus Pompey conferred Roman citizenship on Balbus and his family for his services against the rebel Quintus Sertorius in Spain. Becoming friendly with all political parties in Rome, Balbus had the determining

Eakins, Thomas

2005-03-07T13:43:00.000-08:00

Eakins was born in Philadelphia and, except for one extended study trip abroad and a brief trip to the West, virtually his entire life was spent in that city. From his father, a writing master, Eakins inherited not only the manual dexterity and sense of precision that characterizes his art but also the love of outdoor activity and the commitment to absolute integrity

Audubon, John James

2005-03-06T13:23:00.000-08:00

The illegitimate son of a French merchant, planter, and slave trader and a Creole woman of Saint-Domingue, Audubon and his illegitimate half-sister (who was also born

Baz, 'abd Al-aziz Ibn Abdallah Ibn

2005-03-06T05:14:00.000-08:00

Saudi Muslim cleric who as the grand mufti (from 1993) and traditionalist head of the Council of Senior Islamic Scholars (from the early 1960s) was revered by millions and exerted a powerful influence on the legal system in Saudi Arabia; the blind cleric's religious edicts, or fatwas, included prohibitions on fortune tellers, women driving cars, and the import of short veils that

China, Political policy changes

2005-03-05T13:09:00.000-08:00

The reformers led by Deng Xiaoping tried after 1978 to reduce the level of political coercion in Chinese society. Millions of victims of past political campaigns were released from labour camps (especially during 1978–80), and bad “class labels” were removed from those stigmatized by them. This dramatically improved the career and social opportunities available to millions

Biblical Literature, The translation of Miles Coverdale

2005-03-03T21:24:00.000-08:00

A change in atmosphere in England found expression in a translation that, for all its great significance, turned out to be a retrograde step in the manner of its execution, although it proved to be a vindication of Tyndale's work. On October 4, 1535, the first complete English Bible, the work of Miles Coverdale, came off the press either in Zürich or in Cologne. The edition was soon

Dyott, Thomas W.

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

A druggist's apprentice in London, Dyott arrived in Philadelphia in the 1790s almost penniless and rented a basement room where by day he polished shoes and by night manufactured shoeblack. In 1807 he opened

Ahl Al-bayt

2005-03-03T03:02:00.000-08:00

Shi'ites closely identify this family with the imams, whom they regard as the legitimate holders of authority in the Muslim community, the infallible bearers of sacred knowledge, and the source of messianic

Wolverhampton

2005-03-01T03:55:00.000-08:00

Metropolitan borough, metropolitan county of West Midlands, historic county of Staffordshire, England. It lies in the northwestern part of the industrial Black Country, near the farmlands of Shropshire and Staffordshire. The early town was mainly an agricultural centre. With the development of the Staffordshire coal and ironstone deposits, Wolverhampton became

Enugu

2005-03-01T03:14:00.000-08:00

Town, capital of Enugu state, south-central Nigeria, at the foot of the Udi Plateau. It is on the railroad from Port Harcourt, 150 miles (240 km) south-southwest, and at the intersection of roads from Aba, Onitsha, and Abakaliki. The town owes its existence to the discovery of coal on the plateau in 1909, which led to the building of Port Harcourt. With the completion of the railway from the

Floral Decoration, 20th century

2005-02-28T07:33:00.000-08:00

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

Plutus

2005-02-27T04:29:00.000-08:00

In Greek religion, god of abundance or wealth, a personification of ploutos (Greek: “riches”). According to Hesiod, Plutus was born in Crete, the son of the goddess of fruitfulness, Demeter, and the Cretan Iasion. In art he appears chiefly as a child with a cornucopia. He was sometimes confused with Pluto (Hades), god of the underworld.

China, Early power struggles

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

During the first years of the republic there was a continuing contest between Yüan and the former revolutionaries over where ultimate power should lie. The contest began with the election of parliament (National Assembly) in February 1913. The Nationalist Party (Kuomintang; KMT), made up largely of former revolutionaries, won a commanding majority of seats. Parliament

Orage, Alfred Richard

2005-02-26T21:17:00.000-08:00

Orage became an elementary school teacher at Leeds, Yorkshire, in 1893, lectured on theosophy, and in 1900 helped found the avant-garde Leeds Arts Club. He moved to London in 1906 and became joint editor in 1907 of The New Age, a periodical of which from 1909 on he was the sole editor and dominant spirit. The New

Zamora

2005-02-26T08:24:00.000-08:00

Town, southeastern Ecuador. It lies in the forested jungles east of the main Andean ranges and is situated at the southeastern foot of the Andean Cordillera (mountains) de Zamora, just south of the Zamora River. The Roman Catholic Church has established a Vicar Apostolic in Zamora, which is considered to be a missionary settlement; the population is almost entirely

Wrigley, William, Jr.

2005-02-26T08:00:00.000-08:00

Wrigley went to work as a traveling soap salesman for his father's company at age 13. In 1891 he went to Chicago as a soap distributor and there started offering baking powder as a premium with each box of soap.

Viola

2005-02-23T23:18:00.000-08:00

Genus of about 500 species of herbs or low shrubs, including the small, solid-coloured violets and the larger-flowered, often multicoloured violas and pansies. Viola occur naturally worldwide but are found most abundantly in temperate climates, with the greatest variety occurring in the Andes Mountains of South America. They have also been widely cultivated

Cinder Cone

2005-02-23T08:19:00.000-08:00

Also called Ash Cone, deposit around a volcanic vent, formed by pyroclastic rock fragments (formed by volcanic or igneous action), or cinders, which accumulate and gradually build a conical hill with a bowl-shaped crater at the top. Cinder cones develop from explosive eruptions of mafic (heavy, dark ferromagnesian) and intermediate lavas and are often found along the flanks of shield volcanoes.

Swami-narayani

2005-02-23T06:29:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Swaminarayana, Hindu reform sect with a large popular following in Gujarat state. It arose primarily as a protest against the corrupt practices said to have developed during the 19th century among the Vallabhacarya, a prominent devotional sect renowned for the deference paid to its gurus (spiritual leaders). The sect was founded in Ahmedabad about 1804 by Swami Narayana, who emphasized the observance

Cosmology

2005-02-21T23:11:00.000-08:00

Three great ages of scientific cosmology can be distinguished. The first began in Greece in the 6th century BC when the Pythagoreans introduced the concept of a spherical Earth and, unlike the Babylonians

Cordemoy, (louis-)géraud De

2005-02-21T21:33:00.000-08:00

French historian and philosopher, who showed considerable originality in his development of the general principles of physical theory. He introduced a new atomism into the mechanistic system of René Descartes by linking unity and substantiality; matter is homogeneous but contains a multiplicity of bodies each of which is an individual substance.

Ascoli Piceno

2005-02-21T14:26:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Ascoli Piceno provincia, Marche regione, central Italy. Ascoli Piceno lies at the confluence of the Tronto and Castellano rivers. The ancient centre of the Picenes (early inhabitants of the Adriatic coast), it was conquered in the 3rd century BC by the Romans, who knew it as Asculum Picenum. After 1006 the city was ruled by its bishops and successive feudatories

Burgers, Thomas François

2005-02-19T06:01:00.000-08:00

After graduating as a doctor of theology from the University of Utrecht, Burgers in 1859 returned to Cape Colony, where he became the minister of the Dutch Reformed Church in

Oak Bay

2005-02-19T02:48:00.000-08:00

District municipality, southwestern British Columbia, Canada, on southeastern Vancouver Island. It is an eastern residential suburb of Victoria, the provincial capital, and is a popular retirement community, with one of the highest percentages of persons over 65 in Canada. Inc. 1906. Pop. (1991) 17,815.

Philip Ii

2005-02-18T14:47:00.000-08:00

In 358 he invaded Paeonia, and then he defeated the Illyrians decisively, in a battle that already suggests a master of war. The next year his marriage with Olympias, the Molossian princess of Epirus (the mother of Alexander the Great), helped to stabilize his western frontier. Now he ventured to antagonize Athens by recapturing Amphipolis, the strategic key securing the

Club

2005-02-18T07:24:00.000-08:00

Primitive weapon, a heavy stick, sometimes with a stone or metal head, used as a hand or throwing weapon and usually shaped or selected with an outer end wider and heavier than its handle. Among primitive groups, special designs often characterize particular tribes. Medieval European bishops denied the use of the sword were allowed to enter battle with a mace, an iron

Venice

2005-02-17T18:33:00.000-08:00

Resort city, Sarasota county, west-central Florida, U.S. It lies along the Gulf of Mexico, about 20 miles (30 km) south of Sarasota. Originally a fishing village settled in the 1870s, it was later planned (c. 1925) as a retirement city for members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers; the project was abandoned after the stock market crash of 1929, but Venice survived as a small resort noted

Alekseyev, Mikhail Vasilyevich

2005-02-17T15:05:00.000-08:00

The son of a private soldier, Alekseyev entered the Russian Army in 1876 and was graduated in 1890 from

Claque

2005-02-16T16:55:00.000-08:00

(French claquer: “to clap”), organized body of persons who, either for hire or from other motives, band together to applaud or deride a performance and thereby attempt to influence the audience. As an institution, the claque dates from performances at the theatre of Dionysus in ancient Athens. Philemon frequently defeated Menander in the 4th century BC in the comedy competitions,

Heilungkiang

2005-02-15T11:10:00.000-08:00

Chinese (Wade-Giles) Hei-lung-chiang , (Pinyin) Heilongjiang the northernmost sheng (province) of China's Northeast region. It is bounded on the north and east by Russia along the Amur River (Hei-lung Chiang) and the Ussuri (Wu-su-li) River, on the south by the Chinese province of Kirin, and on the west by the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. The province has an area of about 179,000 square miles (463,300 square kilometres). The capital is Harbin.

Irish Harp

2005-02-14T13:18:00.000-08:00

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

Lorengau

2005-02-14T03:11:00.000-08:00

Town, northeastern Manus Island, in the Admiralty Islands, Papua New Guinea. It lies on Seeadler Harbour. Captured by the Japanese in 1942, the settlement was retaken by Allied forces in 1944 and eventually became part of a large U.S. naval and air base. As a port, the town handles the local copra production. Pop. (1990 prelim.) 4,547.

Andrea Da Firenze

2005-02-13T10:51:00.000-08:00

Andrea studied at the Arte dei Medici e degli Speziali in Florence. At the end of 1365 he was commissioned to decorate the chapter house of the church of Sta. Maria Novella. Also attributed to him are the decorations in the Spanish chapel and

Metatarsalgia

2005-02-13T01:16:00.000-08:00

Disorder in which the weight of the body, when standing, rests on the centre of the anterior arch of the foot (on the heads of the central metatarsal bones) instead of on the inside and outside of the foot. Pain when walking may be severe, callosities develop on the area of stress, and there is a tendency to fracture of the metatarsals. The cause of metatarsalgia may be developmental

Williams, Rowan

2005-02-12T03:20:00.000-08:00

Williams was born into a Welsh-speaking family. After attending the Dyvenor Secondary School, he entered Christ's College, Cambridge, where he earned bachelor's

Hawkshaw, Sir John

2005-02-10T19:44:00.000-08:00

In 1845 Hawkshaw became chief engineer of the Manchester and Leeds Railway, introducing steeper gradients than any previously

Obasanjo, Olusegun

2005-02-10T17:50:00.000-08:00

Obasanjo attended Baptist Boys' High School and later worked as a teacher for a year. Unable to afford college, he joined the army in 1958, receiving further education in England and at cadet

Ringer's Solution

2005-02-09T22:23:00.000-08:00

One of the first laboratory solutions of salts in water shown to prolong greatly the survival time of excised tissue; it was introduced by the physiologist Sidney Ringer in 1882 for the frog heart. The solution contains sodium chloride, potassium chloride, calcium chloride, and sodium bicarbonate in the concentrations in which they occur in body fluids. Mammalian Ringer's

English Literature, Influence of French poetry

2005-02-08T21:54:00.000-08:00

By the end of the 12th century English poetry had been so heavily influenced by French models that such a work as the long epic Brut (c. 1200) by Lawamon, a Worcestershire priest, seems archaic for mixing alliterative lines with rhyming couplets while generally eschewing French vocabulary. The Brut mainly draws upon Wace's Anglo-Norman Roman de Brut (1155; based in turn upon Geoffrey

Tlaxcala

2005-02-07T23:16:00.000-08:00

In full Tlaxcala De Xicohténcatl, town, capital of Tlaxcala estado (“state”), east-central Mexico. It lies along the Zahuapan River at the northwest foot of La Malinche volcano, 7,388 feet (2,252 m) above sea level. The city lies in the region inhabited by the Tlaxcalan Indians, and the designation “de Xicohténcatl” commemorates a Tlaxcalan chieftain who vigorously opposed his people's aid to the Spanish conquistador

Xenophon

2005-02-07T19:04:00.000-08:00

Biographical studies are L.V. Jacks, Xenophon, Soldier of Fortune (1930); E. Delebecque, Essai sur la vie de Xénophon (1957); and H.R. Breitenbach, “Xenophon von Athen,” in Pauly-Wissowa Realencyclopädie, vol. 19, col. 1569–2051 (1967), each with full bibliography. For a picture of Xenophon, see G.M. Richter, The Portraits of the Greeks, vol. 2 (1965).

Cambacérès, Jean-jacques-régis De, Duke (duc) De Parme

2005-02-06T20:29:00.000-08:00

French statesman and legal expert who was second consul with Napoleon Bonaparte and then archchancellor of the empire. As Napoleon's principal adviser on all juridical matters from 1800 to 1814, he was instrumental in formulating the Napoleonic Code, or Civil Code (1804), and subsequent codes. Often consulted on other matters of state, he tried

Indexation

2005-02-05T20:43:00.000-08:00

In fiscal policy, a means of offsetting the effect of inflation or deflation on social security payments and taxes by measuring the “real value” of money from a fixed point of reference, usually a price index. Without indexing, recipients of social security benefits, for example, would suffer during times of inflation if their benefits remained at a fixed rate. Indexation

Entomology

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

Branch of zoology dealing with the scientific study of insects. The Greek word entomon, meaning “notched,” refers to the segmented body plan of the insect. The zoological categories of taxonomy, morphology, physiology, and ecology are included in this field of study. Also included are the applied aspects of economic entomology, which encompasses the harmful and beneficial

Ogun

2005-02-05T10:15:00.000-08:00

State, western Nigeria, created in 1976 and comprising former Abeokuta and Ijebu provinces of former Western state, the latter carved out of former Western region in 1967. Ogun is bounded by Oyo and Osun states to the north, Lagos state to the south, Ondo state to the east, and the Republic of Benin to the west. It is covered predominantly by tropical rain forest and has wooded savanna

Macdonald, Flora

2005-02-04T08:13:00.000-08:00

Scottish Jacobite heroine who helped Charles Edward, the Young Pretender, the Stuart claimant to the British throne, to escape from Scotland after his defeat in the Jacobite rebellion of 1745–46. The daughter of Ranald Macdonald, a tacksman or farmer of Milton in the island of South Uist (Hebrides),

Ouzel

2005-02-04T06:06:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Ousel, also called Ring-ouzel (species Turdus torquatus), a thrush of the family Turdidae (order Passeriformes), characterized by a white crescent on the breast. A blackish bird, 24 cm (9.5 inches) long, it breeds locally in uplands from Great Britain and Norway to the Middle East. The name ouzel was formerly applied to a closely related European blackbird (T. merula; see blackbird). For a related bird in Mexico,

Acuña, Rosario De

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

Little is known of Acuña's early life. One of Spain's few women playwrights, she was considered radical for her willingness to address such issues as religious fanaticism, atheism, illegitimacy, civil marriage (and the possibility of divorce, anathema

North America, 600 to 250 million years ago

2005-02-01T08:12:00.000-08:00

Following continental breakup, lithospheric cooling caused the rifted margins to subside, which—combined with a concomitant global rise in sea level—resulted in extensive flooding of continental shelves. A sheet of sandstone was deposited as the shoreline was pushed far into the continental interior. As sources of sand retreated, the then-equatorial continent

Ashbee, Charles Robert

2005-02-01T07:50:00.000-08:00

After education at Wellington College and King's College, Cambridge, and while actively involved in the social work of Toynbee Hall, Ashbee was articled to the architect

Durance

2005-01-31T20:20:00.000-08:00

Latin Druentia, principal river draining the French side of the Alps toward the Mediterranean. From its origin in the Montgenèvre region, Hautes-Alpes département, to its confluence with the Rhône below Avignon, it is 189 mi (304 km) long. The Clairée and Guisane rivers, both of which are longer and more powerful streams than the Durance, join it above and in Briançon, through which it flows as

Abdülmecid I

2005-01-31T16:27:00.000-08:00

Well educated, liberal minded, and the first sultan

Rack And Pinion

2005-01-30T06:54:00.000-08:00

If the pinion rotates about a fixed axis, the rack will translate; i.e.,

Wu-han

2005-01-30T05:11:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Wuhan fifth largest city of the People's Republic of China, in Hupeh Province, located at the confluence of the Han and Yangtze rivers. It is a conurbation of three adjacent cities—Han-k'ou (Hankow), Han-yang, and Wu-ch'ang; the last is the capital of Hupeh Province. Han-k'ou lies on the north bank of the Yangtze at the mouth of the Han. Immediately across the Han from it is the older city

Cygnaeus, Uno

2005-01-29T11:19:00.000-08:00

Graduating from the gymnasium (secondary school) at Tavastehus in 1827, Cygnaeus attended the University of Helsingfors, becoming Filosofie Magister there in 1836. He then spent two years as assistant pastor and prison chaplain at Viborg, simultaneously teaching in a private

Elisha Ben Abuyah

2005-01-28T04:52:00.000-08:00

Byname Aher Jewish scholar who renounced his faith and who came to be regarded in later ages as a prototype of the heretic whose intellectual pride leads him to infidelity to Jewish laws and morals. In the Talmud, Elisha is not mentioned by name but is usually referred to as Aher (“the Other,” or “Another”). His renunciation of Judaism was considered doubly heinous because he was a tanna

Czech Republic, Flag Of The

2005-01-28T01:21:00.000-08:00

The ancient duchy (later kingdom) of Bohemia, a rich and powerful state in the late Middle Ages, had a coat of arms dating from the 12th century that showed a double-tailed and crowned lion, in white, rampant on a red shield. For centuries, however, Bohemia was part of the Holy Roman Empire and, later, Austria-Hungary. As it was not independent, it had no recognized need for a national

Mithra

2005-01-26T11:04:00.000-08:00

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

Quasicrystal, Quasiperiodicity

2005-01-26T06:23:00.000-08:00

Dov Levine and Paul Steinhardt, physicists at the University of Pennsylvania, proposed a resolution of this apparent conflict. They suggested that the translational order of atoms in quasicrystalline alloys might be quasiperiodic rather than periodic. Quasiperiodic patterns share certain characteristics with periodic patterns. In particular, both are