PresentAnt

Corby

2005-04-05T21:39:00.000-07:00

Corby was a village of 1,596 inhabitants

Lagoon

2005-04-05T21:29:00.000-07:00

Area of relatively shallow, quiet water with access to the sea but separated from it by sandbars, barrier islands, or coral reefs. The term lagoon is used to describe two classes of phenomena that share the physical characteristics described but are otherwise quite distinct. These are coastal lagoons, found on most land margins, and coral-reef lagoons (see photograph

Smith, Samuel

2005-04-05T19:54:00.000-07:00

Smith fought in the American

Frederick Augustus I

2005-04-03T14:39:00.000-07:00

Succeeding his father in 1763 as the elector Frederick Augustus III, he brought order and efficiency to his country's finances and administration. In foreign policy, he was neutralist but

Hugh Town

2005-04-03T00:31:00.000-08:00

Village and capital of the Isles of Scilly, historic county of Cornwall, England. Located on a sandy peninsula on the southwestern side of St. Mary's Island, the village has a harbour and a roadstead where large vessels can lie at anchor. Hugh Town gave shelter to Prince Charles (later Charles II) until his escape to Jersey in 1646. The economy is centred on fishing and tourism.

Mitford, Jessica

2005-04-02T21:34:00.000-08:00

The fifth daughter of the 2nd Baron Redesdale, Mitford grew up in England with her brother and five sisters, one of whom was the novelist Nancy Mitford. She moved to the United States in 1939, became

Watanabe Osamu

2005-04-01T21:28:00.000-08:00

Watanabe won his first national championship at the age of 19 and defended this title four times (1960–64) while attending Chuo University in Tokyo. He startled observers

Sa'id, Aminah Al-

2005-04-01T21:22:00.000-08:00

At age 14, Sa'id joined the youth section of the Egyptian Feminist Union, and in 1931 she became one of the first women to attend the Egyptian University (now Cairo University). After graduating

Cimarosa, Domenico

2005-03-30T01:15:00.000-08:00

He began his career with the comic opera Le Stravaganze del

Resid Pasa, Mustafa

2005-03-29T11:25:00.000-08:00

A protégé first of his uncle Ispartali Ali Pasa and later of the statesman Pertev Effendi,

Barante, Amable-guillaume-prosper Brugière, Baron De

2005-03-28T18:32:00.000-08:00

Educated at the École Polytechnique

Mu'allaqat, Al-

2005-03-28T13:22:00.000-08:00

Taken together, the poems of the Mu'allaqat provide an excellent picture

Frederick I

2005-03-27T01:25:00.000-08:00

The younger son of Christian I, king of Denmark and Norway, Frederick divided the duchies of Schleswig (now in Germany and Denmark) and Holstein

Arabian Sea

2005-03-26T22:02:00.000-08:00

Most of the Arabian Sea has depths that exceed 9,800 feet, and there are no islands in the middle. Deep water reaches close to the bordering lands except in the northeast, off Pakistan and India. To the southeast the Lakshadweep atolls form part of the submarine Maldive Ridge, which extends farther south into the Indian Ocean where it rises above the surface to form the atolls

Kaganovich, Lazar Moiseyevich

2005-03-26T21:39:00.000-08:00

As a young Jewish shoemaker, Kaganovich became involved in the Bolshevik wing of the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party (in 1911) and in 1920 was made head of the Soviet government of Tashkent. His success in consolidating Soviet

Itching

2005-03-25T06:04:00.000-08:00

Also called Pruritus, a stimulation of free nerve endings, usually at the junction of the dermis and epidermis of the skin, that evokes a desire to scratch. It has been suggested that an itch is a subthreshold sensation of pain; however, although both itch and pain sensations share common nerve pathways, they are generally considered distinct sensory types. Itching evokes a range of sensations,

Malwa Plateau

2005-03-24T19:08:00.000-08:00

Plateau in north central India, bounded by the Gujarat Plains on the west, the Vindhya Range on the south, the Madhya Bharat Plateau and Bundelkhand Upland on the north, and the Vindhya Range on the east. Of volcanic origin, the plateau comprises central Madhya Pradesh state and southeastern Rajasthan state. The name Malwa is derived from the Sanskrit term Malav and means

Bulgakov, Mikhail Afanasyevich

2005-03-24T16:07:00.000-08:00

Beginning his adult life as a doctor, Bulgakov gave up medicine for writing. His first major work was the novel Belaya gvardiya (The White Guard), serialized in 1925 but never published in book form. A realistic and

Tigray

2005-03-24T05:10:00.000-08:00

The Tigray are descendants of a Semitic people who intermixed with the Cushitic inhabitants of the region and founded the Christian kingdom

Rockefeller, Nelson Aldrich

2005-03-22T14:06:00.000-08:00

Rockefeller was also known as a collector and patron of art. He served as a trustee of the Museum of Modern Art and was the founder and president of the Museum of Primitive Art (in 1982 incorporated into the Metropolitan Museum of Art as the Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Wing), both in New York City.

Computers, Machine language

2005-03-21T21:43:00.000-08:00

One implication of the stored-program model was that programs could read and operate on other programs as data; that is, they would be capable of self-modification. Konrad Zuse had looked upon this possibility as “making a contract with the devil” because of the potential for abuse, and he had chosen not to implement it in his machines. But self-modification was essential

Seti Ii

2005-03-21T09:04:00.000-08:00

Upon his death, Seti was succeeded by Siptah

Beverly

2005-03-20T23:41:00.000-08:00

City, Essex county, northeastern Massachusetts, U.S. It is situated on Beverly Harbor, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, just north of Salem. Settled about 1626, it was named for Beverley, England, when incorporated as a town (township) in 1668. It early developed as a shipping centre, and the schooner Hannah, claimed to be the first ship of the U.S. Navy, was commissioned (September 5, 1775) at Glover's

Turin

2005-03-20T23:01:00.000-08:00

Italian Torino, Latin Augusta Taurinorum, city, capital of Torino provincia and of Piemonte (Piedmont) regione, northwestern Italy, on the Po River, near its junction with the Sangone, the Dora Riparia, and the Stura di Lanzo. The original settlement of Taurisia, founded by the Taurini, was partly destroyed by the Carthaginian invader Hannibal in 218 BC. It later became a Roman military colony, known successively as

Fischer, Johann Michael

2005-03-19T23:41:00.000-08:00

Fischer was trained by his father, a mason. As an apprentice in Bohemia and Moravia beginning in 1713, he became familiar with the churches of the Dientzenhofer family and returned to Munich in 1718 to become

Biblical Literature, Persian and Hellenistic influences

2005-03-19T22:27:00.000-08:00

Some of the Apocrypha (e.g., Judith, Tobit) may have been written already in the Persian period (6th–4th century BCE), but, with these possible exceptions, all the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha were written in the Hellenistic period (c. 300 BC–c. AD 300). Yet the influence of Persian culture and religion sometimes can be detected even in comparatively late Jewish works, especially in Jewish apocalyptic

Tabari, At-

2005-03-18T16:57:00.000-08:00

In the Commentary, at-Tabari's method of composition was to follow the Qur'an text word by word, juxtaposing all of the juridical, lexicographical, and historical explanations

Photosynthesis, The pathway of electrons

2005-03-18T04:19:00.000-08:00

The general features of a widely accepted mechanism for photoelectron transfer, in which two light reactions occur during the transfer of electrons from water to carbon dioxide, were proposed by Robert Hill and Derek Bendall, in 1960. A modified scheme for this mechanism is shown in Figure 1. In this figure the vertical scale represents the relative potential (in volts)

Cabinet

2005-03-17T09:30:00.000-08:00

Washington's habit of calling regular and frequent cabinet meetings began a tradition that has been followed by every succeeding president. But it is important to remember that the cabinet exists solely to help the president carry out his functions as the nation's chief executive. He is virtually free to use it or not to use it as he pleases. Presidents have thus varied greatly in their use of the cabinet. Ordinarily, all members of a cabinet are of the same political party. Attendance at U.S. cabinet meetings is not restricted exclusively to those department heads that are of cabinet rank. Cabinet appointments are for the duration of the administration, but the president may dismiss any member at his own pleasure, without approval of the Senate.

Camargue

2005-03-17T04:19:00.000-08:00

Delta region in Bouches-du-Rhône département, southern France. The region lies between the Grand and Petit channels of the Rhône River and has an area of 300 square miles (780 square km). In the northern part of the delta, the alluvium has emerged as dry land; in the south, the highest ground is along the embankments of present and former watercourses; in the intervening basins

Heidelberg Catechism

2005-03-16T18:50:00.000-08:00

The Heidelberg Catechism was prepared

Zacharias, Saint

2005-03-16T07:50:00.000-08:00

Of Greek parentage, Zacharias was supposedly a Roman deacon when he succeeded Pope St. Gregory III in November/December 741. His pontificate was devoted to diplomatic relations with the Lombard and Frankish kingdoms and with the Byzantine Empire. He initiated a policy of conciliation with

Amorphous Solid, Polymeric structural materials

2005-03-16T03:06:00.000-08:00

Polystyrene, the organic polymer listed in the Table, is a prototypical example of a polymeric glass. These glasses, whose atomic-scale structure has been discussed in connection with Figure 7B, make up a broad class of lightweight structural materials important in the automotive, aerospace, and construction industries. These materials are also ubiquitous in everyday

Neutron Capture

2005-03-15T07:50:00.000-08:00

Type of nuclear reaction in which a target nucleus absorbs a neutron (uncharged particle), then emits a discrete quantity of electromagnetic energy (gamma-ray photon). The target nucleus and the product nucleus are isotopes, or forms of the same element. Thus phosphorus-31, on undergoing neutron capture, becomes phosphorus-32. The heavier isotope that results may be radioactive,

Lip Ring, Lip Plug, And Lip Plate

2005-03-14T23:37:00.000-08:00

In South America at the time of the Spanish conquests, lip plugs, usually made of stone, gold, or rock crystal, were worn by the indigenous peoples. In several parts of Africa, especially in Congo (Kinshasa), Tanzania,

óbidos

2005-03-14T10:31:00.000-08:00

Town, west-central Pará estado (“state”), northern Brazil. It was founded in 1697 as a fortified town. Óbidos overlooks the left (north) bank of the Amazon River 70 miles (110 km) upstream from Santarém near the confluence of the Trombetas River, where the Amazon narrows to a width of 1.25 miles (2 km). River steamers and hydroplanes utilize the facilities at the town, which ships tobacco, cacao,

Briard

2005-03-12T13:18:00.000-08:00

British honorary institution founded by Edward VII in 1902 to reward those who provided especially eminent service in the armed forces or particularly distinguished themselves in science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. The order is limited to only 24 members, although the British monarch can appoint foreigners as “honorary members.” The order carries no

Sea-urchin Cactus

2005-03-11T13:18:00.000-08:00

Any of the genus Echinopsis, family Cactaceae, about 30 species native to South America at medium elevations in desert shrublands or grasslands. Several species, but most especially the Easter lily cactus (E. multiplex), are valued for their ease of growth and large flowers on tubes up to 25 centimetres (10 inches) long. Most are hardy outdoors in Mediterranean

Calamy, Edmund

2005-03-11T09:21:00.000-08:00

English Presbyterian theologian who contributed significantly to the writings of Smectymnuus (1641), the pen name under which was published the Calvinists' famous reply to the Anglican apology for bishops and liturgical worship in the church. The leader of the Presbyterian ascendancy in Parliament during the Commonwealth (1643–53), he

Yablonovy Range

2005-03-10T16:28:00.000-08:00

Russian Yablonovy Khrebet, mountain range in the Transbaikalia region of Chita oblast (province) and Buryatiya, in far eastern Russia. The range is some 500 miles (800 km) long northeast–southwest and reaches a maximum height of 5,512 feet (1,680 m) in Mount Kusotuy. Formed principally of granites and gneisses, it has been uplifted and much-fractured. The highest peaks are bare, but most of the range is densely forested

Antigonus Ii Gonatas

2005-03-09T20:11:00.000-08:00

Antigonus II was the son of Demetrius I Poliorcetes and grandson of Antigonus I. While Demetrius was busy fighting in Macedonia and Asia Minor, Antigonus, as his regent, was engaged in maintaining Macedonian hegemony in Greece, which had been achieved in 287 BC. Demetrius was

Computers, The Internet

2005-03-09T16:28:00.000-08:00

The Internet grew out of funding by the U.S. Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), later renamed the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), to develop a communication system among government and academic computer-research laboratories. The first network component, ARPANET, became operational in October 1969. With only 15 nongovernment (university) sites

Radiation Therapy

2005-03-09T02:11:00.000-08:00

Also called Radiotherapy, or Therapeutic Radiology, use of radiation sources in the treatment or relief of diseases. Radiation therapy almost always makes use of ionizing radiation, deep tissue-penetrating rays, which can physically and chemically react with diseased cells to destroy them. The other forms of radiation, infrared and ultraviolet, can be employed in heat lamps for neuritis and arthritis conditions

Chaffinch

2005-03-08T13:20:00.000-08:00

(Fringilla coelebs), songbird of the family Fringillidae (order Passeriformes) that breeds in gardens and farmlands of Europe and northern Africa to central Asia (and, by introduction, South Africa). It is the commonest finch in western Europe. The 15-centimetre (6-inch) male is bluish crowned, with rust-brown back, greenish rump, and pinkish to rust face and

Staff

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

Also spelled Stave, in the notation of Western music, five parallel horizontal lines that, with a clef, indicate the pitch of musical notes. The invention of the staff is traditionally ascribed to Guido of Arezzo in about the year 1000, although there are earlier manuscripts in which neumes (q.v.; signs from which musical notes evolved) are arranged around one or two lines in order to orient the

Theodahad

2005-03-07T08:27:00.000-08:00

The son of Theodoric's sister, Theodahad was invited to share the throne with Amalasuntha in 534, after the death of her son. Theodahad

åland Islands

2005-03-07T00:52:00.000-08:00

Swedish Åland Skärgård, Finnish Ahvenanmaa, archipelago comprising Ahvenanmaan autonomous kunta (commune), southwestern Finland. The islands lie at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia, 25 miles (40 km) east of the Swedish coast, at the eastern edge of the Åland Sea. The archipelago has a land area of 590 square miles (1,527 square km) and consists of about 35 inhabited islands, 6,500 uninhabited islands, and many rocky reefs. The bedrock

Arts, Central Asian, The music of Nepal, Bhutan, and Sikkim

2005-03-06T00:58:00.000-08:00

Little is presently known about the music of Nepal, Bhutan, and Sikkim. Minstrels play a major role in the musical life of Nepal, where, under the influence of Indian practice, musicians are classified according to caste and each group is distinguished by specific instruments and repertoire. There appears to be a great deal of both Indian-related and indigenous folk

Gabor, Dennis

2005-03-05T20:51:00.000-08:00

A research engineer for the firm of Siemens and Halske in Berlin from 1927, Gabor fled Nazi Germany in 1933 and worked with the Thomson-Houston Company

Minamoto Yorinobu

2005-03-05T16:40:00.000-08:00

In 1028 the Fujiwaras, no longer willing to fight their own battles, hired Yorinobu to quell a rebellion that had broken out in eastern Japan. His success

Nepalganj

2005-03-04T20:51:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Nepalgunj, town, southwestern Nepal. It is situated in the Tarai, a low, fertile plain northeast of Nanpara, India. Nepalganj is a trading centre for rice, wheat, corn (maize), oilseeds, and hides produced in the surrounding area. The largest town in western Nepal, it is 4 miles (6 km) from a railway terminus across the border in India. It also has road connections to villages to the west and to a nearby

Amravati

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

Also called Amraoti, town, northeastern Maharashtra state, western India. It lies 85 miles (137 km) west of Nagpur. The town occupies an important position near passes through the hills that separate the cotton-growing regions of the Purna River basin (west) and the Wardha River basin (east). A growing industrial centre, it is expanding toward nearby Badnera; its cotton mills supply Bombay, Calcutta, and

Jhabvala, Ruth Prawer

2005-03-02T21:16:00.000-08:00

A Polish Jew, Jhabvala immigrated to England with her family in 1939. After receiving an M.A. in English (1951) from Queen Mary College, London, she married an Indian architect and moved to India, where she lived for the next 24 years. After 1975 she lived

Ealdred

2005-03-02T08:27:00.000-08:00

Ealdred became abbot of Tavistock, Devon, about 1027, and bishop of Worcester in 1046. Made archbishop of York by Pope Nicholas

Fowler, William A.

2005-03-01T17:45:00.000-08:00

Fowler studied at Ohio State University (B.S., 1933) and at the California Institute of Technology (Ph.D., 1936), where he became a professor in 1939. His theory of

Selkirk

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

Town, southeastern Manitoba, Canada. It lies just northeast of Winnipeg, on the Red River near its influx into Lake Winnipeg, at the head of deepwater navigation. It is the lake's chief port serving central and northern Manitoba and is thus a transshipping point for fish and lumber. The town is also a haven for pleasure boats. The site, settled in 1812, was named for Thomas Douglas,

Actinide Element, Nuclear

2005-02-28T11:15:00.000-08:00

All of the actinide elements are unstable toward radioactive decay; the reason that actinium, thorium, protactinium, and uranium are found in nature at all is because some of their isotopes are unusually stable and others are being formed constantly by decay of the long-lived isotopes. It is convenient to divide the naturally occurring isotopes into families based

A-erh-chin Mountains

2005-02-28T00:41:00.000-08:00

The range falls into three divisions. The southwest

Theft

2005-02-27T11:15:00.000-08:00

Larceny is the trespassory taking and carrying away of personal goods from the possession of another with intent to steal. There must be a trespassory taking; that is, the goods must be taken from the possession of

Lagash

2005-02-26T16:10:00.000-08:00

Modern Telloh one of the most important capital cities in ancient Sumer, located midway between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in southeastern Iraq. The ancient name of the mound of Telloh was actually Girsu, while Lagash originally denoted a site southeast of Girsu, later becoming the name of the whole district and also of Girsu itself. The French excavated at Telloh between

Anderson, Maxie

2005-02-25T22:01:00.000-08:00

Anderson entered the Missouri Military Academy, Mexico, Mo., at the age of eight and throughout his schooling worked summers with his father,

Aesthetics, Representation and expression in art

2005-02-24T22:01:00.000-08:00

Various theories have been proposed in answer to these questions, the most popular being that the forms of art are similar to language and are to be understood as language is understood, in terms of conventions and semantic rules. A few examples of contemporary theories that have described art in this way include Ernst Cassirer's philosophy of symbolic forms, Susanne

Canadian Alliance

2005-02-24T20:33:00.000-08:00

The Canadian Alliance traced its roots to the Reform Party, which formed in 1987 as a populist and conservative expression of western Canadian frustration with the governing Progressive Conservative Party and previous governments led by the Liberal Party. The Reform

'amr Ibn Al-'as, Mosque Of

2005-02-23T22:34:00.000-08:00

Though originally a modest structure, it was destroyed and restored so often that it is impossible to know the appearance of the first building. The Umayyad 'Abd al-'Az

Ta'mim, At-

2005-02-22T22:34:00.000-08:00

Muhafazah (governorate), in northeastern Iraq, created from the northern part of Kirkuk muhafazah. It has an area of 3,729 sq mi (9,659 sq km) and encompasses the eastern part of the alluvial plain of the Tigris River and the foothills of the Zagros Mountains. Its economy is based on petroleum and dry-farm agriculture, which produces wheat, barley, and fruits; sheep are grazed. Its capital, Kirk

Cordaitales

2005-02-22T06:17:00.000-08:00

An order of coniferophytes (class, sometimes division, Coniferophyta), fossil plants dominant during the Carboniferous Period (360 to 286 million years ago). It is believed to be directly ancestral to the conifers (order Coniferales). Many were trees up to 30 metres (100 feet) tall, branched, and crowned with large, leathery, strap-shaped leaves. Three families are included—Pityaceae,

Berchem, Nicolaes Pietersz(oon)

2005-02-21T07:40:00.000-08:00

Berchem received instruction from his father, Pieter Claesz, a prominent still-life painter, and from several other Dutch masters. After study in Italy, he produced many landscapes in warm colours and an Italian style. He also painted cityscapes and winter and pastoral

Augite

2005-02-21T06:17:00.000-08:00

The most common pyroxene mineral (a silicate of calcium, magnesium, iron, titanium, and aluminum). It occurs chiefly as thick, tabular crystals in basalts, gabbros, andesites, and various other dark-coloured igneous rocks. It also is a common constituent of lunar basalts and meteorites rich in basaltic material. Augites with a composition similar to that of diopside

Aaron Ben Elijah

2005-02-20T17:52:00.000-08:00

Aaron ben Elijah's views

Biblical Literature, The King James (Authorized) Version

2005-02-20T02:59:00.000-08:00

A conference of churchmen in 1604 became noteworthy

Aladdin

2005-02-19T02:59:00.000-08:00

Arabic 'ala' Ad-din, hero of one of the best known stories in The Thousand and One Nights. The son of a deceased Chinese tailor and his poor widow, Aladdin is a lazy, careless boy who meets an African magician claiming to be his uncle. The magician brings Aladdin to the mouth of a cave and bids him enter and bring out a wonderful lamp that is inside, giving him a magic ring for his safety in the meantime.

Lorenzetti, Ambrogio

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

Younger brother of Pietro Lorenzetti, who ranks in importance with the greatest of the Italian Sienese painters, Duccio and Simone Martini. Only six documented works of Ambrogio, apparently covering a period of merely 13 years, have survived. They include four scenes from the legend of St. Nicholas of Bari in the Uffizi, Florence, which are parts

Tivoli

2005-02-17T04:01:00.000-08:00

Latin Tibur, town and episcopal see, Roma provincia, Lazio (Latium) regione, central Italy. It is picturesquely situated on the western slopes of the Sabine Hills, along the Aniene River where it enters the Campagna di Roma, just east of Rome. The site commanded the principal natural route eastward from Rome along the Via Tiburtina Valeria and has been continuously occupied since

Ileum

2005-02-16T22:24:00.000-08:00

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

Ilex

2005-02-16T04:01:00.000-08:00

Genus of plants commonly known collectively as holly (q.v.).

Welsh Corgi

2005-02-15T17:13:00.000-08:00

The Cardigan Welsh corgi (see photograph), named after Cardiganshire, can be traced back to dogs brought to Wales by the Celts about 1200 BC. The original type was known as the Bronant and

Tracery

2005-02-14T17:13:00.000-08:00

In architecture, bars, or ribs, used decoratively in windows or other openings; the term also applies to similar forms used in relief as wall decoration (sometimes called blind tracery), and hence, figuratively, to any intricate line pattern. The term is applicable to the system of window decoration developed in Europe during the Gothic period as well as to the pierced

Fusarium Wilt

2005-02-13T14:55:00.000-08:00

Also called Yellows, widespread plant disease caused by many forms of the soil-inhabiting fungus Fusarium oxysporum. Several hundred plant species are susceptible at soil temperatures above 75° F (24° C). Infected plants are usually stunted; their leaves turn pale green to golden yellow and later wilt, wither, die, and drop off progressively upward from the stem base. Dark streaks occur in vascular

China, Early power struggles

2005-02-13T09:57:00.000-08:00

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

Gundisalvo, Domingo

2005-02-12T09:57:00.000-08:00

Gundisalvo may have studied

Alarcón Y Ariza, Pedro Antonio De

2005-02-12T04:54:00.000-08:00

Alarcón had achieved a considerable reputation as a journalist and poet when his play El hijo pródigo (“The Prodigal Son”) was hissed off the stage in 1857. The failure so exasperated him that he enlisted as a volunteer in the Moroccan campaign of 1859–60. The expedition

Webster, Marie

2005-02-11T11:03:00.000-08:00

Marie Daugherty was educated at local schools in Wabash, Indiana. Unable to attend college because of an eye ailment, she was tutored in Latin and Greek and read widely. She was married to George Webster in 1884, and the

Sweetsop

2005-02-10T16:51:00.000-08:00

Also called Sugar Apple (Annona squamosa), small tree or shrub of the custard apple, or Annonaceae, family. It has thin, oblong ovate leaves, solitary greenish flowers, and a yellowish green fruit resembling a shortened pinecone. The tuberculate fruit, the fusion of many ripened ovaries and the receptacle, is 7.5 to 10 cm (3 to 4 inches) in diameter and contains a sweet, creamy-yellow, custardlike

Graveyard School

2005-02-10T11:03:00.000-08:00

Genre of 18th-century British poetry that focused on death and bereavement. The graveyard school consisted largely of imitations of Robert Blair's popular long poem of morbid appeal, The Grave (1743), and of Edward Young's celebrated blank-verse dramatic rhapsody Night Thoughts (1742–45). These poems express the sorrow and pain of bereavement, evoke the horror of death's physical

Amphibious Vehicle

2005-02-09T19:11:00.000-08:00

Device for transporting personnel and equipment, usually military, that can operate as a wheeled or tracked vehicle on land and as a boat in water. Two principal types appeared during World War II: the LVT (“landing vehicle, tracked”), a tractor developed for the U.S. Marine Corps, and the “duck” (DUKW), an army-sponsored vehicle. The LVT resembled a tank, whereas the duck moved on

Interior Design, Origins in Western antiquity

2005-02-09T16:51:00.000-08:00

Excavations in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt suggest that the earliest equivalent of furniture consisted of platforms of bricks, which served as chairs, tables, and beds, no doubt spread with textiles or animal skins. There is also good reason to think that walls were painted and, in the case of more important buildings, decorated with mural paintings. Movable furniture

California, U.S. colonization and acquisition

2005-02-07T05:06:00.000-08:00

Secularization of the missions was sought by Spanish-Mexican settlers known as Californios when Mexico became independent of Spain in 1821. Between 1833 and 1840 the mission ranches were parceled out to political favourites by the Mexican government. The padres withdrew, and the Indians were cruelly exploited and diminished. In 1841 the first wagon train of settlers left Missouri

Amphibole

2005-02-07T04:13:00.000-08:00

The fundamental building block of all silicate mineral structures is the silicon-oxygen tetrahedron (SiO4)4-. It consists of a central silicon atom surrounded by four oxygen atoms in the shape of a tetrahedron. The essential characteristic of the amphibole structure is a double chain of corner-linked silicon-oxygen tetrahedrons that extend indefinitely parallel

Xai-xai

2005-02-06T04:13:00.000-08:00

Formerly João Belo, port town, southern Mozambique. Located on the eastern bank of the Limpopo River near its mouth, the town is a market centre for cashew nuts, rice, corn (maize), cassava, and sorghum raised in the surrounding area, which is irrigated by the lower Limpopo irrigation project; dairy cattle also are raised. A light railway system runs inland and provides access to the port, which

Arts, Central Asian, Decorative architectural motifs

2005-02-05T18:28:00.000-08:00

For temples, monasteries, and official residences such as the Potala Palace of the Dalai Lama in Lhasa, the Tibetans used their own solid indigenous styles but embellished these with Indian, Nepalese, and (very much later) Chinese motifs. Tiered, ornamented temple roofs are of Indian origin, as received through Nepal and later through China. The magnificent interior

Alabama, Soils

2005-02-05T15:31:00.000-08:00

There are four main soil zones found in Alabama. In the far north, the Tennessee valley contains the dark loams and red clays that add vivid dashes of colour to the landscape when exposed. Farther south lie the varied soils of a mineral belt, and these are succeeded by the rich limestone and marl soils of the Black Belt. Along the coast of Alabama there are sandy loams and

Atlantic

2005-02-04T18:28:00.000-08:00

County, southeastern New Jersey, U.S., bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the Mullica River and Great Bay to the northeast, and the Tuckahoe River and Great Egg Harbor to the south. It constitutes a coastal lowland bisected by the Great Egg Harbor River, which runs through swampy ground. The coastal shoreline contains Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge,

Bream, Julian Alexander

2005-02-04T14:28:00.000-08:00

After studying with his father and performing locally from age 14, Bream attended the Royal College of Music while pursuing private extracurricular study of the guitar. He was much influenced by the styles of Andrés Segovia and

Roiphe, Anne

2005-02-03T19:47:00.000-08:00

Anne Roth graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1957 and married Jack Richardson in 1958. The marriage ended in divorce in 1963, and in 1967 she married Herman Roiphe. That year she also published

Bar-le-duc

2005-02-03T14:28:00.000-08:00

Capital of Meuse département, Lorraine région, northeastern France. It extends out along the narrow valley of the Ornain River, west of Nancy. To the northeast is the Canal de la Marne au Rhin, on the southwest the Canal des Usines. The Ornain River valley is enclosed by wooded and vine-clad hills. From the 10th century Bar was the seat of a countship, and later a duchy. The remains

Nitrogen Fixation

2005-02-02T22:42:00.000-08:00

Under ordinary conditions nitrogen does not react with other elements. Yet nitrogenous compounds are found in all fertile soils,

Arabian Religion, North and central Arabia

2005-02-02T09:33:00.000-08:00

There are various populations to consider, differing in their languages and systems of writing, in their pantheons, and above all in their ways of life. Sedentary populations of merchants and farmers were settled in towns and oases, which were centres of developed civil and religious institutions. In sharp contrast with them were the breeders of sheep and

Laos, Relief

2005-02-01T09:33:00.000-08:00

Dominating the landscape of Laos are its inhospitable, forest-covered mountains, which in the north rise to a maximum elevation of 9,245 feet (2,818 metres) above sea level at Mount Bia and everywhere constitute an impediment to travel. The principal range lies along a northwest-southeast axis and forms part of the Annamese Cordillera (Chaîne Annamitique), but secondary ranges

Kofoid, Charles Atwood

2005-01-31T17:39:00.000-08:00

Kofoid graduated from Harvard University (1894) and in 1900 began a long affiliation with the University of California at Berkeley. He became a full professor there in 1910, and for most

Ricardo, David

2005-01-31T09:33:00.000-08:00

Ricardo was the