ChemicalHospital

Amir Ali, Sayyid

2005-04-04T15:29:00.000-07:00

Amir Ali, who traced his ancestry to the Prophet Muhammad's daughter Fatimah, took his law degree at the University of Calcutta, was called to the bar of the Inner Temple (1873) in England, and returned to practice

Iphigeneia

2005-04-04T08:32:00.000-07:00

Iphigeneia served as a key figure

Interior Design, India

2005-04-04T00:18:00.000-07:00

Words of Indian origin such as calico, chintz, and palampore indicate the importance of Indian textiles in the history of western interior design (see photograph). Yet the Indians themselves have never been very conscious of this role, their own domestic interiors being of the utmost simplicity, with hardly more than a carpet or prayer mat to offset stone floors and

Elias Of Cortona

2005-04-02T10:40:00.000-08:00

In 1217 Elias headed the new Franciscan mission to the Holy Land as first minister provincial of Syria. He visited holy places in Palestine with Francis, returning with him

Computers, Early business machines

2005-04-02T05:55:00.000-08:00

Throughout the 19th century, business machines were coming into common use. Calculators became available as a tool of commerce in 1820 (see the earlier section Digital calculators), and in 1874 the Remington Arms Company, Inc., sold the first commercially viable typewriter. Other machines were invented for other specific business tasks. None of these machines was a computer,

Tibet, Tibet in the 20th century

2005-04-02T04:23:00.000-08:00

In the mid-19th century the Tibetans repeatedly rebuffed overtures from the British, who at first saw Tibet as a trade route to China and later as countenancing Russian advances that might endanger India. Eventually, in 1903, after failure to get China to control its unruly vassal, a political mission was dispatched from India to secure understandings on frontier and trade

Colet, Louise

2005-04-01T21:56:00.000-08:00

Daughter of a businessman, she married a musician, Hippolyte Colet, in 1834, and published her first poetry, “Fleurs du Midi,” in 1836. Her Paris salon became a meeting place for literary lights, notably Gustave Flaubert, with whom she had

Zakarpattya

2005-03-31T17:55:00.000-08:00

Russian Zakarpatskaya, also spelled Zakarpatskaia, or Zakarpatskaja, oblast (province), western Ukraine. It is bounded by Slovakia and Hungary on the west, Poland on the northwest, and Romania on the south. The oblast extends from the northwest-southeast–trending Carpathian Mountain crestline (the Verkhovyna and Gorgany ranges, respectively), across the successive parallel Polonina and Vulhanichnyy ranges, and southwestward down

Stair-step Moss

2005-03-31T04:36:00.000-08:00

(Hylocomium splendens), plant of the order Bryales that covers areas of coniferous forest floor of the Northern Hemisphere and also occurs on dunes, ledges, and tundra. The fernlike shoots have many branches and reddish, glossy caulids (stems) with phyllids (leaves) up to 3 mm (0.12 inch) long. The capsules (spore cases) of the female plant are borne on setae (stalks) about 2 cm (0.8 inch)

Gobi, Drainage and soils

2005-03-30T21:49:00.000-08:00

Aridity in the Gobi depends on the relative chalkiness of the soil and has been aggravated by the strong mountain structure to the west. The lakes correspondingly have shrunk, leaving a series of terraces considerably farther from and higher than the present shorelines. Indeed, Lakes Orog and Bööntsagaan, in the easternmost Mongolian Altai, and Lake Ulaan, in the

Activated-sludge Method

2005-03-30T18:30:00.000-08:00

Sewage-treatment process in which sludge, the accumulated, bacteria-rich deposits of settling tanks and basins, is seeded into incoming waste water and the mixture agitated for several hours in the presence of an ample air supply. Suspended solids and many organic solids are absorbed or adsorbed by the sludge, while organic matter is oxidized by the microorganisms.

Eberhard

2005-03-29T21:05:00.000-08:00

The brother of Conrad I, duke of Franconia and German king (911–918), Eberhard in 915 supported his brother's ineffectual action against the rebellious duke of Saxony, Henry the Fowler. On Conrad's death Henry became king as Henry I, probably at Conrad's wish. Eberhard renounced all claim to the kingship but in exchange became almost completely

Gagnoa

2005-03-28T17:17:00.000-08:00

Town, southern Côte d'Ivoire. It is the chief collecting point for a forest region that sends coffee, cocoa, and timber (sipo and mahogany) to the coast for export and is a major market centre (rice, bananas, and yams) for the Bete and Gagu (Gagou) peoples. A paved road connects Gagnoa with Abidjan, the capital of Côte d'Ivoire. The town is the site of the government's first rural technical

Madison, Helene

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

Madison grew up in Seattle and began winning regional high school swimming championships at the age of 15. In 1930, in her first year of senior competition, she

P-47

2005-03-27T11:35:00.000-08:00

Also called Thunderbolt, fighter and fighter-bomber aircraft used by the Allied air forces during World War II. A single-seat, single-engine, low-wing monoplane, it was developed in the United States by Republic Aviation to meet the need for a high-speed long-range fighter. It first flew in 1941 and went into production the following March; it was in action from British bases a year later. Variously

Dubnow, Simon Markovich

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

Dubnow early ceased to practice Jewish rituals. He later came to believe that his vocation as a historian of Judaism was as true to the faith of his ancestors as were the Talmudic

Melk

2005-03-25T17:01:00.000-08:00

Town, Bundesland (“federal state”) Niederösterreich, northeastern Austria. It lies at the confluence of the Danube and Melk rivers, west of Sankt Pölten. The town was the site of a Roman garrison and was the castle-residence of the Babenberg rulers of Austria from 976 to 1101. The castle and surrounding lands were given in 1111 to the huge Benedictine abbey of Melk (founded in 1089), which dominates

Essequibo River

2005-03-25T13:49:00.000-08:00

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

Avery, Tex

2005-03-24T08:19:00.000-08:00

Avery's only formal art training consisted of a three-month course at the Art Institute of Chicago during the late 1920s. He began his animation career in 1929 for cartoon producer Walter Lantz at Universal

Brederode, Hendrik Van

2005-03-24T04:00:00.000-08:00

The scion of an ancient Dutch family, which from 1418 had held the lordship of Vianen south of Utrecht, Brederode became known as a spirited soldier and succeeded

Middletown

2005-03-23T00:53:00.000-08:00

City, coextensive with the town (township) of Middletown, Middlesex county, central Connecticut, U.S., on the Connecticut River. Settled by Puritans in 1650 and incorporated as a town in 1651, it occupies the site of the Indian village of Mattabesec (Mattabesett). It was named in 1653 for its position between the upstream towns and the river mouth. The city, chartered in 1784, consolidated with

Gräfe, Albrecht Von

2005-03-22T19:50:00.000-08:00

Albrecht was the son of Karl Ferdinand von Gräfe, a noted surgeon who was a pioneer in early German plastic surgery. The creator of one of Europe's leading eye clinics (1850), Albrecht was the first to recognize the importance to diagnosis of the German physiologist

Palace Museum

2005-03-21T02:58:00.000-08:00

The palace itself consists of many separate halls and courtyards. The outer buildings of the palace became a museum in 1914, although the imperial family continued to live in the private apartments until 1924. Many

Paperbark Tree

2005-03-20T09:48:00.000-08:00

Melaleuca quinquenervia, also called punk tree and tea tree, grows to a height of 8 metres (25 feet); it has spongy white bark that peels off in thin layers. M. leucadendron, also called river

Disa

2005-03-19T10:27:00.000-08:00

Most species bear flowers ranging in colour from white to purple and in diameter from about 0.5 to 10 centimetres (about 0.2 to 4 inches). The upper sepal of each flower usually has a spur and stands upright,

Yürük Rug

2005-03-19T02:57:00.000-08:00

Rugs from eastern Anatolia, many

Silifke

2005-03-17T23:56:00.000-08:00

Also called Seleucia, town, south-central Turkey. It is located along the banks of the Göksu River, overlooking the Taurus Mountains. An irrigation scheme supplying the fertile lowland of the Göksu delta is located at Silifke. The town is a market centre for agricultural produce of its hinterland, including cotton, tobacco, grapes, olives, beans, and lentils. Industrial products include

Photoelectric Effect

2005-03-17T14:56:00.000-08:00

Photoemissive phenomena are well known for the higher energy ranges in the X-ray and gamma regions because such penetrating radiation can release photoelectrons from inner atomic shells. If a vacancy is produced in an inner shell because of the removal of an electron through the photoelectric process, the vacancy will be filled by an electron from a less tightly

Vacuum Technology

2005-03-17T14:05:00.000-08:00

This pump is mainly used on equipment for the study of clean surfaces and in radio-frequency sputtering. Capacities are available up to 190,000 cu ft per minute with an operating pressure range of 10-2 to less than 10-9 torr when water-cooled baffles are used and less than 10-11 torr when refrigerated baffles are employed. The pumping speed for a vapour pump remains constant from about

Euler, Ulf Von

2005-03-17T10:23:00.000-08:00

Euler was the son of 1929 Nobel laureate Hans von Euler-Chelpin. After his graduation

Aqa Mirak

2005-03-16T19:06:00.000-08:00

A descendant of the Prophet Muhammad and a native of Esfahan, he worked mostly in Tabriz, the capital of the Safavid empire. He knew the Persian painter Behzad, who was director of the royal library and its manager of manuscript illustration. Aqa Mirak, as one of the senior

Mare's-tail

2005-03-16T05:04:00.000-08:00

The aquatic plant Hippuris vulgaris or either of two other species of its genus, which constitute the water milfoil family (Hippuridaceae). Mare's-tail grows from submerged, stout rootstocks along the margins of lakes and ponds in temperate regions throughout the world. It resembles the unrelated horsetail (Equisetum species) in having whorls of small, linear leaves

Pacific Ocean, Deep-sea minerals

2005-03-15T13:27:00.000-08:00

Metal-bearing deposits on the deep-sea floor, consisting of nodules, crusts, and accumulations of metallic sulfides from deep vents, are of potential economic interest. In the 1970s and '80s it was hoped that mining the nodules—which contain quantities of manganese, iron, copper, nickel, titanium, and cobalt, as well as small traces of other metals—might be a way to contribute

North Germanic Languages, Icelandic

2005-03-14T14:53:00.000-08:00

Important factors in the survival of Icelandic during the period of Danish rule were its continued use for literary purposes, the geographic remoteness of Iceland, a scattered population, and the great linguistic differences between Danish and Icelandic. While the Scandinavian languages in continental Europe were losing inflection, Icelandic preserved

Tachometer

2005-03-14T05:49:00.000-08:00

Mechanical

Cumali, Necati

2005-03-13T20:05:00.000-08:00

At the age of 18 Cumali began publishing poetry. After graduating from what is now Ankara (Turkey) University in 1941, he held a variety of jobs and practiced law from

Theatre, Court theatres

2005-03-12T15:59:00.000-08:00

The Baroque architectural style, beginning in Italy and spreading across Europe, dominated theatre building between about 1650 and 1790. Its chief characteristics are refinement in detail of the proscenium stage and of the Renaissance horseshoe-shaped auditorium and seating plan. The innovations of the period were introduced in the private court theatres. As many as

Pluriarc

2005-03-12T15:02:00.000-08:00

Also called Bow Lute, west African stringed musical instrument having a deep boxlike body from which project between two and eight slender, curved arms; one string runs from the end of each arm to a string holder on the belly. The strings are plucked, usually by the fingers, occasionally by plectra attached to the fingers. They are generally played open, as on a harp; in some regions they are

Uto-aztecan Languages

2005-03-12T04:25:00.000-08:00

The languages

Breisach

2005-03-11T05:18:00.000-08:00

In full Breisach Am Rhein, city, Baden-Württemberg Land (state), southwestern Germany, on the right bank of the Rhine opposite Neuf-Brisach, Fr. As ancient Brisiacum, it was a stronghold of the Celtic Sequani. Captured in the time of Julius Caesar, it became known as Mons Brisiacus. Fortified by the emperor Valentinian in 369, it remained one of the chief Rhine bulwarks of medieval Germany and gave its

Courante

2005-03-11T02:57:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Courant (from Latin currere, “to run”), court dance for couples, prominent in the late 16th century and fashionable in aristocratic European ballrooms, especially in France and England, for the next 200 years. It reputedly originated as an Italian folk dance with running steps. As a court dance it was performed with small, back-and-forth, springing steps, later subdued to stately glides.

Rebec

2005-03-10T10:02:00.000-08:00

Bowed, stringed musical instrument of European medieval and early Renaissance music. It was originally called a rubebe, developed about the 11th century from the similar Arab rabab, and was carried to Spain with Muslim culture. Like the rabab, the rebec had a shallow, pear-shaped body, but on the rebec the rabab's skin belly was replaced by wood and a fingerboard was added. The

Powell, William

2005-03-09T11:16:00.000-08:00

After graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City in 1912, Powell debuted

Alexander Of Tralles

2005-03-09T02:52:00.000-08:00

Latin Alexander Trallianus (c. 525–c. 605), Byzantine physician who practiced and taught in Rome, best known for his treatise on pathology and therapy (in 12 books), which served as a basis for instruction long after his death. It was translated into Arabic and Latin (Libri duodecim de re medica) and was printed in Greek, Latin, and Greco-Latin editions throughout the 16th century.

Argonne

2005-03-08T15:56:00.000-08:00

Wooded, hilly region in eastern France that forms a natural barrier between Champagne and Lorraine. The Argonne is about 40 miles long and 10 miles wide (65 by 15 km). The hilly massif rarely exceeds 650 feet (200 m) in elevation but is slashed with numerous deep valleys formed by watercourses associated with the Aire and Aisne rivers, which constitute a barrier to transportation. The

Kerr, Jean

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

Jean Collins graduated from Marywood College in Scranton in 1943, and in August of that year she married Walter F. Kerr, who was then a professor of drama at Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., and who later became

Sangha

2005-03-07T16:22:00.000-08:00

The sangha originated in the group of disciples who renounced the worldly life to wander with the Buddha and listen to his teachings. After the Buddha's

Ercker, Lazarus

2005-03-07T01:28:00.000-08:00

Ercker studied at the University of Wittenberg (1547–48) and in 1554 was appointed assayer at Dresden, the first of many such positions he held in the state bureaucracy of Saxony. After 1567 he became control tester of coins at Kutná Hora, near Prague. In his great work, Beschreibung

Arduino, Giovanni

2005-03-05T23:32:00.000-08:00

From an early age, Arduino showed an interest in mining, establishing a reputation throughout northern Italy

Ear, Human, Transduction of mechanical vibrations

2005-03-05T13:42:00.000-08:00

The hair cells located in the organ of Corti transduce mechanical sound vibrations into nerve impulses. They are stimulated when the basilar membrane, on which the organ of Corti rests, vibrates. The hair cells are held in place by the reticular lamina, a rigid structure supported by the pillar cells, or rods of Corti, which are attached to the basilar fibres. At the base

Bienville, Jean-baptiste Le Moyne De

2005-03-05T13:01:00.000-08:00

Jean-Baptiste was the eighth son of Canadian pioneer Charles Le Moyne. He entered the French navy at age 12 and served with his noted elder brother, Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, in naval engagements (1696–97) in Hudson Bay and the North Atlantic during

Visitador

2005-03-05T00:01:00.000-08:00

The institution of the

Graf, Urs

2005-03-04T23:45:00.000-08:00

The son of a goldsmith, Hugo Graf, he probably studied first under his father and later at Basel, following the style of Albrecht Dürer and of Dürer's assistant, the German painter and draftsman Hans Baldung-Grien. Settling in Basel in 1509, Graf executed his masterpiece

Elda

2005-03-04T11:59:00.000-08:00

City, Alicante province, in the autonomous community (region) of Valencia, southeastern Spain, northwest of Alicante city. Of ancient origin, Elda was called Idella by the Iberians, early peoples of Spain. The city first achieved importance under the Moors, who occupied it in the 8th century and built a castle (ruins remain); it was re-Christianized by James I of Aragon in

Waikato River

2005-03-04T05:15:00.000-08:00

River, the longest in New Zealand, in central North Island. Rising on the slopes of Mount Ruapehu in Tongariro National Park as the Tongariro River, it flows north through Lake Taupo and, issuing from the lake's northeastern corner, tumbles over Huka Falls and flows northwest to enter the Tasman Sea south of Auckland. The river is 264 miles (425 km) long. It has a gentle gradient

African Swine Fever

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

The virus responsible for African swine fever is classified as an iridovirus. It is physically, chemically,

Fruitworm Beetle

2005-03-02T08:21:00.000-08:00

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)

Waikato River

2005-03-01T04:22:00.000-08:00

A language variety that has also been identified at different times in dialectology and literary studies as Black English, black dialect, and Negro (nonstandard) English. Since the late 1980s, the term has been used ambiguously, sometimes with reference to only Ebonics, or, as it is known to linguists, African American Vernacular English (AAVE; the English dialect spoken

Haley, Bill

2005-03-01T01:49:00.000-08:00

If not the father of rock and roll, Haley is certainly one of its fathers. He cut his first record in 1948 and the next year settled into a job as a disc jockey in Chester, Pennsylvania. At the time his groups

Smibert, John

2005-02-28T23:05:00.000-08:00

Smibert was apprenticed to a house painter in Edinburgh and in 1709 went to London. In 1713 he studied at London's Great Queen Street's Academy, which was run by Sir Godfrey Kneller, whose late-Baroque style would

Culture Area

2005-02-28T20:29:00.000-08:00

Among the most important writers on the subject of culture areas were Sir Halford Mackinder

Yemen

2005-02-28T17:51:00.000-08:00

A republic of the southwestern Arabian Peninsula, Yemen has coastlines on the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Arabian Sea. Area: 555,000 sq km (214,300 sq mi), including the undemarcated area bordered by Saudi Arabia and claimed by Yemen. Pop. (1996 est.): 16.6 million. Cap.: San'a`. Monetary unit: Yemen Rial, with (Oct. 11, 1996) a free rate of YRls 100 to U.S. $1 (YRls 157.53 = £1 sterling). President in 1996, Maj. Gen. Ali Abdallah Salih; prime minister,

X-ray Style

2005-02-28T16:28:00.000-08:00

Manner of depicting animals by drawing or painting the skeletal frame and internal organs, one of the characteristic styles of the art of prehistoric hunting cultures. The origin of the style can be traced to the Mesolithic art of northern Europe, where the earliest examples were found on fragments of bone in southern France dating from the late Magdalenian Period.

Sal Island

2005-02-27T03:19:00.000-08:00

Portuguese Ilha Do Sal, northeasternmost island of Cape Verde, in the Atlantic Ocean, about 400 miles (640 km) off the coast of western Africa. It has an area of 83 square miles (216 square km) and rises to an elevation of 1,332 feet (406 m). Sal (Portuguese for “salt”) is noted for its saltworks near the towns of Pedra Lume and Santa Maria, the island's chief town. The town of Espargo has an international airport. Pop. (1990 prelim.) 7,998.

Sabatier, Paul

2005-02-26T16:38:00.000-08:00

Sabatier studied at the École Normale

Cadence

2005-02-25T21:26:00.000-08:00

In music, formula signifying the end of a phrase or half-phrase, section, or entire composition. The concept of cadence implies broadly acknowledged conventions, especially of a harmonic nature, conveying a sense of relative completion, analogous to the use of punctuation in literature. The term derives from the Latin word cadere (“to fall”) and originally referred

'ashura'

2005-02-25T05:13:00.000-08:00

Muslim holy day observed on the 10th of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic year (Gregorian date variable). 'Ashura' was originally designated in AD 622 by Muhammad, soon after the Hijrah (Hegira), as a day of fasting from sunset to sunset, probably patterned on the Jewish Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. When Jewish-Muslim relations became strained, however, Muhammad made Ramadan the

Aristides The Just

2005-02-24T21:39:00.000-08:00

Little is known of Aristides' early life. He appears to have been prominent within the party that favoured resistance to Persia, but in 482 he was ostracized, probably because he opposed Themistocles' plan to use the silver from a new vein of the mines at

Henley, Beth

2005-02-24T19:57:00.000-08:00

Henley, a graduate of Southern Methodist University, University Park, Texas (B.F.A., 1974), turned from acting to writing as a career because she felt that the theatre offered few good contemporary roles

Caldas

2005-02-24T08:54:00.000-08:00

Departamento, west-central Colombia. It is situated in the Cordillera Central of the Andes Mountains and is bounded by the Magdalena River on the east and the Cauca River on the west. Penetrated by Spaniards early in the 16th century, Caldas gained prominence as a gold-mining region. It was created a department in 1905. Coffee is the chief product, but other agricultural products

Jehovah

2005-02-23T22:43:00.000-08:00

Judeo-Christian name for God, derived from Yahweh (q.v.).

Earle, John

2005-02-23T11:21:00.000-08:00

An outstanding book of “characters,” it avoids didacticism and displays genuine personalities, such as a “child,” a “Good old Man,” a “young raw Preacher,” and a “Grave Divine.” It is alive with its humour, perception, and epigrammatic

Ben Wyvis

2005-02-22T20:35:00.000-08:00

Mountain in the northern Highlands, Highland council area, Scotland, whose summit stands some 9 miles (14 km) northwest of Dingwall on the Cromarty Firth, which is an inlet of the Moray Firth. The mountain has an elevation of 3,429 feet (1,045 metres). On its heights is Castle Leod (1616) and at its foot is the 18th-century resort spa of Strathpeffer.

Mönchengladbach

2005-02-22T18:36:00.000-08:00

Formerly München-Gladbach city, North Rhine-Westphalia Land (state), western Germany, west of Düsseldorf. It developed around a Benedictine monastery (founded in 972, suppressed in 1802, whence the name Mönchengladbach [“monks' Gladbach”]), and was chartered in 1336. For a brief period (1929–33) it united with Rheydt (immediately south) and Odenkirchen to form Gladbach-Rheydt. In 1975 Rheydt was incorporated into Mönchengladbach.

Biblical Literature, Nature and significance

2005-02-21T08:53:00.000-08:00

Biblical exegesis is the actual interpretation of the sacred book, the bringing out of its meaning; hermeneutics is the study and establishment of the principles by which it is to be interpreted. Where the biblical writings are interpreted on a historical perspective, just as with philological and other ancient documents, there is little call for a special discipline

Van Der Waals Forces

2005-02-20T17:08:00.000-08:00

Relatively weak electric forces that attract neutral molecules to one another in gases, in liquefied and solidified gases, and in almost all organic liquids and solids. The forces are named for the Dutch physicist Johannes van der Waals, who in 1873 first postulated these intermolecular forces in developing a theory to account for the properties of real gases. Solids

Cotabato City

2005-02-20T14:57:00.000-08:00

City, southern Mindanao, Philippines. The city is located in a swampy area near the southern banks of the Cotabato River (a tributary of the Mindanao River) and just inland of the Moro Gulf. Cotabato City is the primary trade and commercial centre for all of southwestern Mindanao. Rice, corn (maize), coconuts, sugarcane, coffee, and bananas are grown in the region. Transportation

Fairfax (of Cameron), Ferdinando Fairfax, 2nd Baron

2005-02-19T23:55:00.000-08:00

The son of the 1st Baron Fairfax, he was trained as a soldier in the Netherlands. He commanded a foot regiment in the first Bishop's War (1639) but took no part in the campaign

Piero Della Francesca

2005-02-19T06:45:00.000-08:00

Painter whose serene, disciplined exploration of perspective had little influence on his contemporaries but came to be recognized in the 20th century as a major contribution to the Italian Renaissance. The fresco cycle “The Legend of the True Cross” (1452–66) and the diptych portrait of Federico

Wagner, Richard

2005-02-18T22:44:00.000-08:00

The artistic and theatrical background of Wagner's early years (several elder sisters became opera singers or actresses) was a main formative influence. Impulsive and self-willed, he was a negligent scholar at the Kreuzschule, Dresden, and the Nicholaischule, Leipzig. He frequented concerts, however, taught himself the piano and composition, and read the plays of

Papandreou, Georgios

2005-02-18T09:04:00.000-08:00

Papandreou studied at the University of Athens (L.L.D., 1911) and in Germany. He began his political career in 1915, served as governor of the Aegean Islands (1917–20), and was minister of education (1929–33) in the liberal antimonarchist government of Eleuthérios Venizélos. He broke away from

Gatchina

2005-02-17T09:57:00.000-08:00

Formerly (until 1929) Khotchino , or (1929–44) Krasnogvardeysk city, Leningrad oblast (province), northwestern Russia, lying 15 miles (24 km) southwest of St. Petersburg. The first mention of Khotchino dates from 1499, when it was a possession of Novgorod. Later it belonged to Livonia and Sweden. After 1721 it was returned to Russia and in the 1720s belonged to the sister of Peter I the Great, Natalia. The town grew only after the building, between 1766 and 1772, of a summer

Geography, Aerial photography and remote sensing

2005-02-17T00:07:00.000-08:00

During the 20th century immense strides have been made in observing features on the Earth's surface, first by the development of aerial photography and later by satellite imagery. Aerial photography was first used extensively during World War I for reconnaissance. A new profession of photographic interpretation evolved in which the identification of both natural

New Iberia

2005-02-16T22:03:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1868) of Iberia parish, southern Louisiana, U.S., on Bayou Teche (connected via canal with the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway), 23 miles (37 km) southeast of Lafayette. Founded in the late 18th century by French, Spanish, and Acadian settlers, it was laid out in 1835. It was first called Iberia, the ancient name for Spain, but the name was changed when the parish was created. The city was occupied

Team Roping

2005-02-16T20:11:00.000-08:00

Rodeo event in which two mounted cowboys attempt to rope and immobilize a full-grown steer. The event is timed, and the team with the lowest time wins. The team is allowed three throws. The first roper, called the header, must rope the steer about the head, and his partner, called the heeler, must rope both of the animal's hindfeet, bringing the steer to a halt without throwing

Chile

2005-02-16T07:46:00.000-08:00

Language and a common history have promoted cultural homogeneity in the country. Even the Araucanians and certain Aymara minorities in the north share the values of the Chilean identity, while continuing to cherish their own cultural heritage. Chileans have always displayed a high degree of tolerance toward the customs and traditions of minority groups, as

Crusade, The institutions of the First Kingdom

2005-02-15T18:25:00.000-08:00

The four principalities established by the crusaders—three after the loss of Edessa in 1144—were loosely connected, and such limited suzerainty as the king of Jerusalem exercised over the others became largely nominal after the midcentury. Each of the states was organized into a pattern of feudal lordships by the ruling minority. The institutions of the Kingdom of

Alderman

2005-02-14T13:35:00.000-08:00

Member of the legislative body of a municipal corporation in England and the United States. In Anglo-Saxon England, ealdormen, or aldermen, were high-ranking officials of the crown who exercised judicial, administrative, or military functions. Earls, the governors of shires (counties), and other persons of distinction were among those who received the title of alderman.

Silkeborg

2005-02-14T05:15:00.000-08:00

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

Sea Walnut

2005-02-13T11:39:00.000-08:00

Any member of a common genus (Mnemiopsis) of gelatinous, planktonic marine invertebrates of the class Tentaculata (phylum Ctenophora). The sea walnut resembles the sea gooseberry morphologically, but as in many ctenophores the body is prolonged into eight lobes. Full-grown individuals may be as long as 15 cm (6 inches). They lead a wholly planktonic existence and are found

Afghan War

2005-02-13T02:31:00.000-08:00

The roots of the war lay in the overthrow of the centrist government of President

Kaziasker

2005-02-12T07:24:00.000-08:00

The title was created by Sultan Murad I (reigned 1360–89), who appointed Çandarli Kara Halil as the first kaziasker. In that office he accompanied the army in campaigns and

Jack The Ripper

2005-02-12T01:58:00.000-08:00

Works examining the Jack the Ripper case include Maxim Jakubowski and Nathan Braund (eds.), The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper (1999); Stewart P. Evans and Keith Skinner, The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Companion: An Illustrated Encyclopedia (also published as The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 2000); Stewart P. Evans and Paul Gainey, The Lodger: The Arrest and Escape of Jack the Ripper (1995; also published as Jack the Ripper: First American Serial Killer, 1996, reissued 1998); and Philip Sugden, The Complete History of Jack the Ripper, rev. ed. (1995).

Systole And Diastole

2005-02-11T07:08:00.000-08:00

Diastole, the opposite of systole, is the lengthening of a short quantity or syllable for metric irregularity. The

Aerospace Industry, General works

2005-02-11T05:44:00.000-08:00

Roger E. Bilstein, Flight in America: From the Wrights to the Astronauts, rev. ed. (1994), is a general treatise on the development of aviation and spaceflight for the layperson, and his The American Aerospace Industry: From Workshop to Global Enterprise (1996) provides an account of the development of the American aerospace industry. The best source for historical aerospace data is Charles Harvard Gibbs-Smith, The Aeroplane: An Historical Survey of Its Origins and Development (1960). An excellent source on the development of the American aircraft industry to the 1940s is Grover Loening, Takeoff Into Greatness (1968). Charles D. Bright, The Jet Makers: The Aerospace Industry from 1945 to 1972 (1978), details the aerospace industry in the United States after World War II. T.A. Heppenheimer, Turbulent Skies: The History of Commercial Aviation (1995), traces the ascent of the airline business from the biplane era to modern jetliners, and Countdown: A History of Space Flight (1997) includes excellent coverage on the development of the space industry. Bill Gunston, World Encyclopedia of Aircraft Manufacturers (1993), provides a brief listing of the world's aircraft manufacturers from the pioneers to the early 1990s. Daniel Todd and Jamie Simpson, The World Aircraft Industry (1986), discusses the state of the aerospace industry by country and technology and provides statistical data in the appendix.

France, History Of, The juridical revolution

2005-02-10T23:55:00.000-08:00

Louis XVI's decision to convene the Estates-General in May 1789 became a turning point in French history. When he invited his subjects to express their opinions and grievances in preparation for this event—unprecedented in living memory—hundreds responded with pamphlets in which the liberal ideology of 1789 gradually began to take shape. Exactly how the Estates-General

Argentine Museum Of Natural Sciences

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

The museum has about 2,000,000 exhibits and a library of more than 500,000 volumes. Areas of expertise include archaeology, botany, ecology, entomology, hydrobiology, mineralogy, paleontology, and zoology.

Mauritania, Transportation

2005-02-10T01:37:00.000-08:00

Transport by pack animals—camels in the north, oxen and donkeys in the south—has retained considerable importance in a society in which a subsistence and barter economy prevails, although transport between cities and regions is increasingly by truck. Considerable hazards, however, confront road builders; among these are moving sand dunes, flash floods in the south,

Kirkcaldy (of Grange), Sir William

2005-02-09T22:14:00.000-08:00

Kirkcaldy was one of the Protestant conspirators who murdered the powerful cardinal David Beaton at St. Andrews Castle in May 1546. From 1550 to 1556 he served in France as a secret agent for England. He returned to Scotland in 1557 and two years later joined the Protestant lords

Sabatier, Paul

2005-02-09T18:22:00.000-08:00

Sabatier studied at the École Normale