BrightDress

Iron Curtain

2005-11-18T18:20:00.000-08:00

The political, military, and ideological barrier erected by the Soviet Union after World War II to seal off itself and its dependent eastern European allies from open contact with the West and other noncommunist areas. The term Iron Curtain had been in occasional and varied use as a metaphor since the 19th century, but it only came to prominence after it was used by the

Hasan Al-basri, Al-

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

Hasan was born nine years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. One year after the Battle of Siffin (657), he moved to Basra, a military camp town situated 50 miles (80 km) northwest of the Persian Gulf. From this base, military expeditions to

Interior Design

2005-07-27T17:55:00.000-07:00

Since at least the middle of the 20th century, the term interior decorator has been so loosely applied as to be nearly meaningless,

Sarcophagus

2005-07-25T23:25:00.000-07:00

Stone coffin. The original term is of doubtful meaning; Pliny explains that the word denotes a coffin of limestone from the Troad (the region around Troy) which had the property of dissolving the body quickly (Greek sarx, “flesh”; phagein, “to eat”). This explanation is questionable; religious and folkloristic ideas may have been involved in calling a coffin a body eater. The

Neogene Period

2005-07-23T11:55:00.000-07:00

Latest of the two divisions of the Cenozoic Era (66.4 million years ago to the present). The Neogene includes the Miocene and Pliocene epochs (23,700,000 to 1,600,000 years ago) and is considered by some to encompass the time up to the present. The Neogene, which means “new born,” was designated as such to emphasize that the marine and terrestrial fossils found in the strata of this time were more closely

Christian, Charlie

2005-07-08T09:20:00.000-07:00

Reared in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Christian studied music with

Medicine

2005-07-06T13:45:00.000-07:00

The remarkable developments in medicine that have been brought about in the 20th century, especially since World War II, have been based on research either in the basic sciences related to medicine or in the clinical field. Advances in the use of radiation, nuclear energy, and space research have played an important part in this progress. Some laypersons often think

Mycosis

2005-06-30T15:35:00.000-07:00

Plural Mycoses, in humans and domestic animals, a disease caused by any fungus that invades the tissues, causing superficial, subcutaneous, or systemic disease. Superficial fungal infections, also called dermatophytosis, are confined to the skin and are caused by Microsporum, Trichophyton, or Epidermophyton; athlete's foot, for example, is caused by Trichophyton or Epidermophyton

Celery Cabbage

2005-06-22T22:00:00.000-07:00

(Brassica pekinensis), species of mustard cultivated for its edible leaves. See Chinese cabbage.

Váh River

2005-06-16T07:05:00.000-07:00

Tributary of the Danube River in Slovakia. Rising in the Tatra Mountains as the Biely Váh (in the High Tatras) and Cierny Váh (in the Low Tatras), the river describes a long arc to the west and south. It joins the Little Danube to become the Váh Danube (Vázský Dunaj), which forms the eastern limit of Great Rye Island, and after several miles enters the Danube River at Komárno, in extreme

Gray, Thomas

2005-06-03T15:55:00.000-07:00

Born into a prosperous but unhappy home, Gray was the sole survivor of 12 children

Meliaceae

2005-06-01T10:40:00.000-07:00

The mahogany family of flowering plants, of the order Sapindales, comprising 51 genera and about 575 species of trees and (rarely) shrubs, native to tropical and subtropical regions. Most members of the family have large compound leaves, with the leaflets arranged in the form of a feather, and branched flower clusters. The fruit is fleshy and coloured or a leathery capsule.

Mcpherson, Aimee Semple

2005-05-18T01:40:00.000-07:00

Aimee Kennedy was reared by her mother in the work of the Salvation Army. She preached her own brand of the

Ma Yuan

2005-05-16T07:10:00.000-07:00

Osvald Siren, Chinese Painting: Leading Masters and Principles, 7 vol. (1956–58, reissued 1974), is the standard history of Chinese painting. Ma Yuan's work is discussed in S. Shimada and Y. Yonezawa, Painting of Sung and Yuan Dynasties (1952); Kojiro Tomita, Portfolio of Chinese Paintings in the Museum: Han to Sung Periods, 2nd ed. (1938), from the collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts; Sherman E. Lee, Chinese Landscape Painting, 2nd rev. ed. (1962); Laurence Sickman (ed.), Chinese Calligraphy and Painting in the Collection of John M. Crawford, Jr. (1962); James Francis Cahill, Chinese Painting, XI–XIV Centuries (1960); and Michael Sullivan, A Short History of Chinese Art, rev. ed. (1967, reissued 1970). The little available evidence on his position at the Southern Sung court is discussed in Chiang Chao-shen, “The Identity of Yang Mei-tzu and the Paintings of Ma Yuan,” National Palace Museum Bulletin, 2(2):1–15 and 2(3):8–14 (1967).

Pacific Ocean, European exploration

2005-05-14T05:00:00.000-07:00

Pacific islanders had long inhabited their homelands before the European “discovery” of the Pacific in the 16th century. European exploration can be divided into three phases: Spanish and Portuguese, Dutch, and English and French. The Spanish and Portuguese period began with the voyages in the 1520s of Ferdinand Magellan and, after his death, of his crew members. Later discoveries

Hyogo

2005-03-15T15:35:00.000-08:00

Ken (prefecture), western Honshu, Japan. Hyogo is bounded by the Sea of Japan (north) and the Inland Sea (south) and includes Awaji Island, the largest island of the Inland Sea. Hyogo is dominated by its capital, Kobe, and other southern coastal cities forming part of the Osaka-Kobe metropolitan area. Hyogo's industries include the production of iron, steel, textiles, and lumber. Agriculture

China, The Y�an dynasty

2005-03-14T19:38:00.000-08:00

On Chinese contacts with Asia and the West, see E. Bretschneider, Mediaeval Research from Eastern Asiatic Sources: Fragments Towards the Knowledge of the Geography and History of Central and Western Asia from the 13th to the 17th Century, 2 vol. (1888, reprinted 1967); Herbert Franke, �Sino-Western Contacts Under the Mongol Empire,� Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 6:49 - 72 (1966); Leonard Olschki, Marco Polo's Asia: An Introduction to His �Description of the World� called �Il Milione� (1960; originally published in Italian, 1957); and Igor de Rachewiltz, Papal Envoys to the Great Khans (1971).

Epistemology, Relations of ideas and matters of fact

2005-03-11T20:15:00.000-08:00

Human thought concerns two kinds of things: relations of ideas and matters of fact. Relations of ideas can either be intuited, that is, seen directly, or deduced from other propositions. That a is identical with a, that b resembles c, and that d is larger than e are examples of propositions that are intuited. The opposites of true propositions expressing relations of ideas

Skamander

2005-03-03T19:59:00.000-08:00

Group of young Polish poets who were united in their desire to forge a new poetic language that would accurately reflect the experience of modern life. Founded in Warsaw about 1918, the Skamander group took its name, and the name of its monthly publication, from a river of ancient Troy. The group was founded by Julian Tuwim and other poets. Tuwim, a lyrical poet of emotional

Skamander

2005-03-02T20:19:00.000-08:00

France, History Of, France in the later Middle Ages, 1180 - 1490

2005-03-01T21:23:00.000-08:00

Georges Duby and Robert Mandrou, A History of French Civilization (1964; originally published in French, 1958), provides a good survey, stressing social history. Appropriate volumes from the older source, Ernest Lavisse (ed.), Histoire de France depuis les origines jusqu'� la r�volution, 9 vol. (1900 - 11), remain useful for this period. Territorial evolution is explored in L�on Mirot, Manuel de g�ographie historique de la France, 2nd ed., rev. by Albert Mirot, 2 vol. (1947 - 50, reprinted in 1 vol., 1979). L�opold Genicot, Le XIIIe Si�cle europ�en, 2nd rev. ed. (1984), is a scholarly general review. Accounts of the 14th century are offered in �douard Perroy, The Hundred Years War (1951, reissued 1965; originally published in French, 1945); and Peter S. Lewis, Later Medieval France (1968). Jacques Heers, L'Occident aux XIVe et XVe si�cles: aspects �conomiques et sociaux, 4th ed. (1973), offers a broader chronological perspective. Individual reigns are studied in John W. Baldwin, The Government of Philip Augustus: Foundations of French Royal Power in the Middle Ages (1986); William Chester Jordan, Louis IX and the Challenge of the Crusade: A Study in Rulership (1979); and Joseph Reese Strayer, The Administration of Normandy Under Saint Louis (1932, reprinted 1971). Andr� Artonne, Le Mouvement de 1314 et les chartes provinciales de 1315 (1912), deals with an important constitutional crisis. Joseph R. Strayer and Charles H. Taylor, Studies in Early French Taxation (1939, reprinted 1972), examines taxation and consultation under the later Capetians; later royal finance is studied in Maurice Rey, Le Domaine du roi et les finances extraordinaires sous Charles VI, 1388 - 1413 (1965), and Les Finances royales sous Charles VI: les causes du d�ficit, 1388 - 1413 (1965). For economy and society, see Georges Duby, Rural Economy and Country Life in the Medieval West (1968, reprinted 1976; originally published in French, 1962); and Guy Fourquin, Les Campagnes de la r�gion parisienne � la fin du Moyen �ge: du milieu du XIIIe au d�but du XVIe si�cle (1964). Social unrest is discussed in Michel Mollat and Philippe Wolff, The Popular Revolutions of the Late Middle Ages (1973; originally published in French, 1970). Charles Petit-Dutaillis, The French Communes in the Middle Ages (1978; originally published in French, 1947), remains the standard account on the cities and towns. The legal system is explored in Bernard Guen�e, Tribunaux et gens de justice dans le bailliage de Senlis � la fin du Moyen �ge (1963).

Karakum Canal

2005-02-28T10:37:00.000-08:00

Waterway in Turkmenistan. The main section, begun in 1954 and completed in 1967, runs some 520 miles (840 km) from the Amu Darya (river) to G�kdepe, west of Ashgabat, skirting the Karakum Desert. In the 1970s and '80s the canal was extended to the Caspian Sea coast, making the total length 870 miles (1,400 km). Water from the canal, which is navigable for 280 miles (450 km), is used principally for irrigation, and fishing has

Macdonnell Ranges

2005-02-27T05:52:00.000-08:00

Mountain system in south central Northern Territory, Australia, a series of bare quartzite and sandstone parallel ridges that rise from a plateau 2,000 ft (600 m) above sea level and extend east and west of the town of Alice Springs for about 230 mi (380 km). They reach a maximum elevation of 4,954 ft at Mt. Ziel and are the source of the Finke, Todd, and Plenty rivers and Ellery Creek. Some streams

Reproduction, Life cycles of animals

2005-02-26T16:21:00.000-08:00

Invertebrate animals have a rich variety of life cycles, especially among those forms that undergo metamorphosis, a radical physical change. Butterflies, for instance, have a caterpillar stage (larva), a dormant chrysalis stage (pupa), and an adult stage (imago). One remarkable aspect of this development is that, during the transition from caterpillar to adult, most of

Limburg, Pol, Herman, And Jehanequin De

2005-02-25T14:53:00.000-08:00

Limburg also spelled �Limbourg� (all b. after 1385, Nijmegen, Brabant [now in The Netherlands] - d. by 1416), three Flemish brothers who were the most famous of all late Gothic illuminators. They synthesized the achievements of contemporary illuminators into a style characterized by subtlety of line, painstaking technique, and minute rendering of detail. The sons of a sculptor,

Waitemata Harbour

2005-02-24T06:04:00.000-08:00

Harbour in northern North Island, New Zealand. The focal point of the Auckland region, it opens into Hauraki Gulf (east) through Stanley Bay. Its shore has many lesser embayments, containing Island, Soldiers, and Onetaunga bays in the northwest, Herne Bay in the southeast, and Stanley and Freemans bays in the east. Several tidal rivers, including Henderson and Whau creeks,

Tigris-euphrates River System, Physiography of the Euphrates

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

The headwaters of the Euphrates are the Murat and the Karasu rivers in the Armenian Highland of northeastern Turkey. Considerably altered in the 20th century by water-control projects, they join to form the Euphrates at Keban, near Elazig, where the Keban Dam, completed in 1974, spans a deep gorge. The river breaks through the Taurus Mountains and descends to the high plain of

Epicureanism

2005-02-22T17:55:00.000-08:00

In a strict sense, the philosophy taught by Epicurus (341 - 270 BC). In a broad sense, it is a system of ethics embracing every conception or form of life that can be traced to the principles of his philosophy. In ancient polemics, as often since, the term was employed with an even more generic (and clearly erroneous) meaning as the equivalent of hedonism, the doctrine that pleasure or

Miner, Jack

2005-02-21T02:46:00.000-08:00

Miner moved to Essex county, Ont., in 1878. In 1904, on his farm at Kingsville, he established a bird sanctuary that became widely known. Banding more than 50,000 ducks between

Vi�te, Fran�ois, Seigneur (lord) De La Bigotiere

2005-02-20T21:52:00.000-08:00

Vi�te, a Huguenot sympathizer, solved a complex cipher of more than 500 characters used by King Philip II of Spain in his war to defend Roman Catholicism from the Huguenots. When Philip, assuming that the cipher could

Aragats, Mount

2005-02-19T04:41:00.000-08:00

Russian �Gora Aragats, �also spelled �Gora Aragac, � mountain in Armenia, northwest of Yerevan and north of the Ararat Plain. The highest point in both Armenia and the Lesser Caucasus range (13,418 feet [4,090 m]), Aragats is a circular, shieldlike mountain composed of both lavas and tufas. A volcanic cone of recent geologic age lies atop far older rocks. The crater of the volcano has become the steep-walled basin, or cirque, of a glacier,

Xerox Parc

2005-02-18T01:02:00.000-08:00

An excellent source on PARC's history is Michael Hiltzick, Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age (1999).

Shun-chih

2005-02-17T15:42:00.000-08:00

The ninth son of Abahai (1592 - 1643), the great ruler of the Manchu kingdom of Manchuria, he succeeded to the throne in 1643 at the age of six and ruled under the regency of Dorgon (1612 - 50), a paternal uncle. In 1644, Manchu troops under Dorgon's command captured Peking, the former capital of the Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644), and the young ruler

U Geminorum Star

2005-02-16T05:49:00.000-08:00

Any of a class of irregular variable stars that display sudden increases in brightness so great that they are sometimes called dwarf novae. Some have been observed to brighten by as much as 5 magnitudes (100 times) in a period of hours. The prototype star, U Geminorum, brightens by as much as 4 magnitudes (about 40 times) in a few days, declining again to normal brightness in two or

Venda

2005-02-15T05:55:00.000-08:00

Also called �Bavenda, � a Bantu-speaking people inhabiting the region of the Republic of South Africa known from 1979 to 1994 as the Republic of Venda. The area is now part of Northern Transvaal province, and is situated in the extreme northeastern corner of South Africa, bordering on southern Zimbabwe. The Venda have been called a �composite people� because they have historically consisted of a multiplicity

Venda

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

Ruskin, John

2005-02-13T23:50:00.000-08:00

English critic of art, architecture, and society who was a gifted painter, a distinctive prose stylist, and an important example of the Victorian Sage, or Prophet: a writer of polemical prose who seeks to cause widespread cultural and social change.

Polaris Missile

2005-02-12T16:10:00.000-08:00

After four years of research and development, the U.S. Navy in 1960 began to deploy nuclear-powered submarines armed with 16 Polaris missiles each. Each missile was 31 feet (9.4 m) long and 4.5 feet (1.4 m) in diameter and was powered by two solid-fueled stages. Three

Pius Iv

2005-02-11T13:44:00.000-08:00

After a long conclave Giovanni was elected pope on Dec. 25, 1559, as Pius IV. Though he had long agreed with those who saw a need for

Soria

2005-02-10T20:33:00.000-08:00

Town, capital of Soria province, in the Castile-Le�n comunidad aut�noma (�autonomous community�), north-central Spain, on the western bank of the Duero (Portuguese: Douro) River, about 110 miles (175 km) northeast of Madrid. Restored by Alfonso I the Warrior of Aragon after the Moorish invasion, the city was later given to Alfonso VII of Castile. Medieval Soria was ruled by the unique

Piepoudre Court

2005-02-09T10:50:00.000-08:00

The court decided summarily and on the spot disputes arising

Profit

2005-02-08T04:42:00.000-08:00

In business usage, the excess of total revenue over total cost during a specific period of time. In economics, profit is the excess over the returns to capital, land, and labour (interest, rent, and wages). To the economist, much of what is classified in business usage as profit consists of the implicit wages of manager-owners, the implicit rent on land owned by the firm, and

Selection Coefficient

2005-02-07T04:33:00.000-08:00

In genetics, a measure of the relative reduction in the contribution that a particular genotype (genetic composition) makes to the gametes (sex cells) as compared with another genotype in the population. It expresses the relative advantage or disadvantage of specific traits with respect to survival and reproductive success. The selection coefficient (s) of a given

Shan

2005-02-06T02:31:00.000-08:00

Shan �Tai� Southeast Asian people who live primarily in eastern and northwestern Myanmar (Burma) and also in Yunnan province, China. The Shan are the largest minority group in Myanmar, making up nearly one-tenth of the nation's total population. In the late 20th century they numbered more than 4 million. Their language, commonly known as Shan, belongs to the Tai linguistic group, which

Tarde, Gabriel

2005-02-05T18:50:00.000-08:00

In full� Jean-Gabriel De Tarde � French sociologist and criminologist who was one of the most versatile social scientists of his time. His theory of social interaction (�intermental activity�) emphasized the individual in an aggregate of persons and brought Tarde into conflict with �mile Durkheim, who viewed society as a collective

Merchant Of Venice, The

2005-02-04T03:43:00.000-08:00

Bassanio, a noble but penniless Venetian, asks his wealthy merchant friend Antonio for a loan so as to impress and woo the heiress

Family, The

2005-02-03T15:17:00.000-08:00

Formerly �Children of God,� Teens for Christ�, and �The Family of Love� millenarian Christian communal group that grew out of the ministry of David Berg (1919 - 1994) to the hippies who had gathered in Huntington Beach, California, in the late 1960s. It teaches a message of Christian love based on scripture and the prophecies of Berg. The focus of the first anticult organization - the Parents' Committee to Free Our Children from the Children of God

Family, The

2005-02-02T07:09:00.000-08:00

Robinson, (esm� Stuart) Lennox

2005-02-01T05:30:00.000-08:00

When still young Robinson became devoted to the cause of Irish nationalism through seeing performances of the Abbey Theatre Company in Cork, and his country's troubles were

Kama

2005-01-31T09:59:00.000-08:00

In the mythology of India, the god of love. During the Vedic age, he personified cosmic desire, or the creative impulse, and is called the first-born of the primeval chaos that makes all later creation possible. In later periods he is depicted as a handsome youth, attended by heavenly nymphs, who shoots love-producing flower-arrows. His bow is of sugarcane, his bowstring

Kwangsi, Education

2005-01-30T23:19:00.000-08:00

A special educational feature in Kwangsi is the program for the education of national minorities. Minority languages are used for instruction in primary and middle schools, written scripts, such as that for Chuang, are developed for spoken minority languages wherever needed, minority teachers are trained, and government subsidies are provided for minority

Brunei, Flag Of

2005-01-29T03:00:00.000-08:00

Although a few countries have half of their national flag in yellow, Brunei alone has a yellow background. The avoidance of yellow in other flags may in part be due to the association of the colour with royalty, as in the former imperial flags of Austria and Russia, and with disease (yellow flags are internationally recognized as symbols of quarantine). Among the smaller

Lenclos, Ninon De

2005-01-28T16:00:00.000-08:00

From her father, Henri de Lenclos, sieur de La Douardi�re, she acquired a lasting interest in Epicurean philosophy. Although her father fled from France after killing a man in 1632, she remained in Paris and established there a salon that attracted a number of the most prominent literary and political figures of the age. Her

World War I, The Serbian campaign, 1914

2005-01-27T10:48:00.000-08:00

The first Austrian invasion of Serbia was launched with numerical inferiority (part of one of the armies originally destined for the Balkan front having been diverted to the Eastern Front on August 18); and the able Serbian commander, Radomir Putnik, brought the invasion to an early end by his victories on the Cer Mountain (August 15 - 20) and at

Grafstr�m, Gillis

2005-01-26T17:34:00.000-08:00

Grafstr�m won his first gold medal at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium, despite breaking

Gage, Frances Dana Barker

2005-01-25T17:05:00.000-08:00

Gage began her public involvement in the three prominent reform causes of the time - the abolition of slavery, temperance, and women's rights - by contributing letters to newspapers and speaking

Paderewski, Ignacy (jan)

2005-01-24T08:59:00.000-08:00

The son of a steward of a Polish landowner, he studied music from 1872 at the Warsaw Conservatory and from 1878 taught piano there. In 1880 he married one of his pupils, Antonina Korsak, who died in childbirth the following year. Encouraged

Exekias

2005-01-23T02:55:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Execias� Greek potter and painter who, with the Amasis Painter, is considered the finest of black-figure masters of the mid-6th century BC and is one of the major figures in the history of the art. His name is found on 11 vases. The commonest inscription on the vases is �Exekias epoiesen me� (�Exekias made me�). In two instances, on an amphora (a two-handled wine container) in the Vatican and on an

Natha

2005-01-22T20:27:00.000-08:00

Religious movement of India whose members strive for immortality by transforming the human body into an imperishable divine body. It combines esoteric traditions drawn from Buddhism, Saivism (worship of the Hindu deity Siva), and Hatha Yoga, with a liking for the occult. The term is derived from the names of the nine traditional masters, all of which end in the word natha

Metasomatic Replacement

2005-01-21T17:57:00.000-08:00

The process of simultaneous solution and deposition whereby one mineral replaces another. It is an important process in the formation of epigenetic mineral deposits (those formed after the formation of the host rock), in the formation of high- and intermediate-temperature hydrothermal ore deposits, and in supergene sulfide enrichment (enriched by generally

Epistemology, �Our knowledge of the external world�

2005-01-20T23:36:00.000-08:00

Most people have noticed that vision can play tricks on them. A straight stick put in water looks bent to them, but they know it is not; railroad tracks are seen to be converging in the distance, yet one knows that they are not; the wheels of wagons on a movie screen appear to be going backward, but one knows that they are not; and the pages of English-language books reflected

Wellhausen, Julius

2005-01-19T20:39:00.000-08:00

Wellhausen studied at the University of G�ttingen and taught there briefly before becoming professor of the Old Testament at Greifswald in 1872, a position he resigned 10 years later because of conflicts with his academic

Port Angeles

2005-01-18T23:51:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1890) of Clallam county, northwestern Washington, U.S., on Juan de Fuca Strait, linked by ferry to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, 18 miles (29 km) north across the strait. Located at the base of Ediz Hook (a 3.5-mile- [5.6-km-] long, curving sand bar), the site was visited in 1791 by the Spanish explorer Francisco Eliza, who named the harbour Puerto de Nuestra Se�ora de los Angeles. Permanently

Teapot Dome Scandal

2005-01-17T07:37:00.000-08:00

Also called �the Oil Reserves, or Elk Hills, Scandal, � in American history, scandal of the early 1920s surrounding the secret leasing of federal oil reserves by the secretary of the interior, Albert B. Fall. After President Warren G. Harding transferred supervision of the naval oil reserve lands from the navy to the Department of the Interior in 1921, Fall secretly granted to Harry F. Sinclair of the Mammoth Oil Company exclusive

Dendrobium

2005-01-16T22:31:00.000-08:00

Genus of as many as 1,500 species of orchids that grow on other plants and are native to tropical and subtropical Asia, many Pacific islands, and Australia. Some species have small, pale flowers; others have large, showy ones. The flowers may be borne singly, in groups, or on arching spikes. The lateral sepals of all Dendrobium flowers are joined at the base, forming

Ecstasy

2005-01-15T13:45:00.000-08:00

In mysticism, the experience of an inner vision of God or of one's relation to or union with the divine. Various methods have been used to achieve ecstasy, which is a primary goal in most forms of religious mysticism. The most typical consists of four stages: (1) purgation (of bodily desire); (2) purification (of the will); (3) illumination (of the mind); and (4) unification (of one's being or

Chasseur

2005-01-14T02:11:00.000-08:00

(French: �hunter�), member of an armoured unit of the French army. Originally (1743) chasseurs, or chasseurs � pied (�on foot�), were light-infantry regiments. By the outbreak of World War I there were 30 battalions of chasseurs of which 12 were known as chasseurs alpins - units specially trained for mountain warfare. After World War II, chasseurs were formed as independent battalions for

Minamoto Yoshiie

2005-01-13T02:36:00.000-08:00

The son of Minamoto Yoriyoshi, Yoshiie aided his father in the battles known as the Earlier Nine Years' War (1051 - 62), which ultimately resulted in

Calcarenite

2005-01-12T23:53:00.000-08:00

Sedimentary rock formed of calcareous particles ranging in diameter from 0.06 to 2 mm (0.002 to 0.08 inch) that have been deposited mechanically rather than from solution. The particles, which consist of fossil materials, pebbles and granules of carbonate rock, and o�lites (spherical nodules with concentric structure), are transported and sorted by flowing water. When formed almost

Sol

2005-01-11T15:32:00.000-08:00

In physical chemistry, a colloid (aggregate of very fine particles dispersed in a continuous medium) in which the particles are solid and the dispersion medium is fluid. If the dispersion medium is water, the colloid may be called a hydrosol; and if air, an aerosol. Lyophobic (Greek: �liquid-hating�) sols are characterized by particles that are not strongly attracted to

Kyaukpyu

2005-01-10T17:22:00.000-08:00

Town, western Myanmar (Burma). It lies at the northern end of the offshore island of Ramree in Combermere Bay, an inlet of the Bay of Bengal, about 250 miles (400 km) northwest of Yang�n (Rangoon). Kyaukpyu's excellent natural harbour is formed by deep, narrow saltwater inlets separating the smaller offshore islands, and it is a regular port of call for steamers in the rice trade between

Ealing

2005-01-09T07:58:00.000-08:00

Outer borough of London, part of the historic county of Middlesex, midway between central London and the western periphery. The borough was established in 1965 by the amalgamation of the former municipal boroughs of Ealing, Acton, and Southall, all in the former county of Middlesex. It includes the districts and neighbourhoods of (from west to east) West End, Northolt, Southall,

Tor

2005-01-08T07:22:00.000-08:00

Exposed rock mass of jointed and broken blocks. Tors are seldom more than 15 metres (50 feet) high and often occur as residues at the summits of inselbergs and at the highest points of pediments. Tors usually overlie unaltered bedrock and are thought to be formed either by freeze - thaw weathering or by groundwater weathering before exposure. There is often evidence of spheroidal

Faraday

2005-01-07T23:44:00.000-08:00

Unit of electricity, used in the study of electrochemical reactions and equal to the amount of electric charge that liberates one gram equivalent of any ion from an electrolytic solution. It was named in honour of the 19th-century English scientist Michael Faraday and equals 9.6485309 � 104 coulombs, or 6.0221367 � 1023 electrons (see also Avogadro's law).

Ataturk Dam

2005-01-06T21:48:00.000-08:00

Dam on the Euphrates River in southeastern Turkey, the centrepiece of the Southeastern Anatolia Project. The Ataturk Dam is the largest in a series of 22 dams and 19 hydroelectric stations built on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in the 1980s and '90s in order to provide irrigation water and hydroelectricity to arid southeastern Turkey. Completed in 1990, the Ataturk Dam is one of

Stadion (-warthausen), Johann Philipp (karl), Graf Von (count Of)

2005-01-05T13:14:00.000-08:00

After service in the imperial Privy Council (1783 - 87), Stadion was dispatched to the Austrian embassy in Stockholm. In 1790 he was sent to London, where he was influenced by the conservative philosophy of

Philippe And Mathilde, Prince And Princess Of Belgium

2005-01-04T19:06:00.000-08:00

The social event of the decade in Belgium was the marriage of Crown Prince Philippe to Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz on Dec. 4, 1999. The 39-year-old prince had kept his relationship with the 26-year-old speech therapist private until their engagement was announced in September 1999. In three months' time, Mathilde went from a life of relative anonymity to becoming one of Belgium's most well-known

Wellesley Islands

2005-01-02T03:23:00.000-08:00

Group of islands lying off the northwestern coast of Queensland, Australia, in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Sighted in 1644 by the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman, they were charted (1802 - 03) by the British navigator Matthew Flinders and named in honour of Marquess Wellesley (Richard Colley Wellesley), then governor-general of India. The islands are generally rocky or sandy and are covered

Shiraz Rug

2005-01-01T23:25:00.000-08:00

Handwoven floor covering made in the district around the city of Shiraz in southern Iran. The best known are the Qashqa'i rugs, products of nomadic tribesmen. A group of tribes - some Arab, some Turkish, forming the Khamseh Confederation - weaves rugs somewhat similar to the Qashqa'i pieces in a variety of patterns, as do the inhabitants of certain Iranian weaving villages in

Bahram Vi Chubin

2004-12-31T17:46:00.000-08:00

Prominent as master of the household in the Byzantine wars of the Sasanian king Hormizd IV, Bahram later received the supreme command in Khorasan and was able to repel a Turkish invasion.

Nile, Battle Of The

2004-12-30T16:07:00.000-08:00

The French Revolutionary general Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798 made plans for an invasion of Egypt in order to constrict Britain's trade routes and threaten its possession of India. The British government

Nile, Battle Of The

2004-12-29T00:32:00.000-08:00

Zokors are medium-sized rodents weighing from 150 to 560 grams

Italian Republican Party

2004-12-28T07:04:00.000-08:00

The party dates back to the 19th century, when radicals fought for a unified Italy under a republican form of government; the PRI was formally founded

Tagawa

2004-12-27T20:30:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Takawa� city, Fukuoka ken (prefecture), Kyushu, Japan, on the upper Onga River. It was a farm village until the systematic exploitation of nearby coalfields began after 1900. Tagawa was the largest mining town in the Chikuho coalfield region until 1970, when the last of the mines was closed. The city's main industrial product now is cement. Pop. (1990) 57,701.

Tagawa

2004-12-26T07:21:00.000-08:00

Mickiewicz, Adam

2004-12-25T13:09:00.000-08:00

Born into an impoverished noble family, Mickiewicz studied at the University of Wilno (now the V. Kapsukas State University of Vilnius, Lithuania) between

Yan

2004-12-24T14:12:00.000-08:00

Pottery yan first appeared during the so-called Longshan culture

Ikere-ekiti

2004-12-23T10:58:00.000-08:00

Also called �Ikere�, or �Ikerre� town, Ondo State, southwestern Nigeria, on the road from Akure to Ado-Ekiti. A major collecting point for cocoa, it also serves as an agricultural trade centre (yams, cassava [yuca], rice, corn [maize], palm oil and kernels, okra, pumpkins) for the Ekiti branch of the Yoruba people. Ikere-Ekiti has government and Christian teacher-training colleges; there is also a hospital. The

Computers, ENIAC

2004-12-22T20:09:00.000-08:00

In the United States, government funding went to a project led by John Mauchly, J. Presper Eckert, Jr., and their colleagues at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania; their objective was an all-electronic computer. Under contract to the army, and under the direction of Herman Goldstine, work began in early 1943 on the Electronic Numerical

F�rstenbund

2004-12-21T06:38:00.000-08:00

German �League of Princes� league founded on July 23, 1785, under the leadership of King Frederick II the Great of Prussia to preserve the status quo among the several German states and curb the ambitions in Germany of the Holy Roman emperor Joseph II. It represented the final phase of the conflict between Frederick and the Austrian Habsburgs. Earlier, Frederick had thwarted Joseph's plan to annex

Bridge

2004-12-20T14:21:00.000-08:00

Structure that spans horizontally between supports, whose function is to carry vertical loads. The prototypical bridge is quite simple - two supports holding up a beam - yet the engineering problems that must be overcome even in this simple form are inherent in every bridge: the supports must be strong enough to hold the structure up, and the span between supports

Affective Disorder

2004-12-19T06:19:00.000-08:00

Mental disorder characterized by dramatic changes or extremes of mood. Affective disorders may include manic (elevated, expansive, or irritable mood with hyperactivity, pressured speech, and inflated self-esteem) or depressive (dejected mood with disinterest in life, sleep disturbance, agitation, and feelings of worthlessness or guilt) episodes, and often combinations

Cram, Ralph Adams

2004-12-18T16:48:00.000-08:00

Inspired by the influential English critic John Ruskin, Cram became an ardent advocate of and authority on English and French Gothic styles. In 1888 he opened an architectural firm in Boston, where he became associated with B.G. Goodhue and later with F.W.

Armenia

2004-12-17T04:54:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Quind�o departamento, west-central Colombia. It lies on the western slopes of the Cordillera Central at an elevation of 4,865 feet (1,483 m), between the Espejo and Quind�o rivers. The city lies along a spur of the railway from Puerto Berr�o to Popay�n and is the transfer point for road traffic to Bogot� via Ibagu� (30 miles [50 km] southeast). Armenia (named for the ancient

Lukas, J(ay) Anthony

2004-12-16T09:34:00.000-08:00

American journalist and author (b. April 25, 1933, New York, N.Y.--d. June 5, 1997, New York), wrote meticulous examinations of the societal and racial fissures in the U.S. He was known and highly regarded for his tenacity, perfectionism, and painstaking research and won a number of the country's top literature and journalism awards, including two Pulitzer Prizes. Lukas was educated at Harvard

Agricultural Technology, Rainmaking

2004-12-15T15:13:00.000-08:00

Attempts to increase the amount of precipitation from clouds by seeding them with salt or silver iodide have been made for nearly three decades. Both aircraft and ground generators have been employed, but the techniques are typically beyond the means of an individual farmer. Results suggest that cloud modification is entirely possible, but the proof of increased

Death Valley

2004-12-14T18:05:00.000-08:00

Structural depression in Inyo county, southeastern California, U.S., that is the lowest, hottest, driest portion of the North American continent. Death Valley is about 140 miles (225 km) long, trends roughly north-south, and is from 5 to 15 miles (8 to 24 km) wide. The valley is bounded on the west by the Panamint Range and on the east by the Black, Funeral, and Grapevine mountains of the Amargosa

Einthoven, Willem

2004-12-13T07:21:00.000-08:00

Einthoven was graduated

Paestum

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

Poseidonia was probably founded about 600 BC by Greek colonists from Sybaris, along the Gulf of Taranto, and it had become a flourishing town by 540, judging from its temples.

Clarence Series

2004-12-11T07:49:00.000-08:00

Major division of Cretaceous rocks and time in New Zealand (the Cretaceous Period lasted from 144 to 66.4 million years ago). Rocks of the Clarence Series overlie those of the Taitai Series and underlie rocks of the Raukumara Series. Clarence rocks (sandstones, conglomerates, graywackes, mudstones, and basaltic lava flows) have been divided into four stages representing