ComplexPin

Murrumbidgee River

2005-04-04T16:14:00.000-07:00

Major right-bank tributary of the Murray River, rising on the western slope of the Eastern Highlands (20 mi [32 km] north of Kiandra), in southeastern New South Wales, Australia. It flows at first southeastward and then, after a remarkable fishhook bend, directly northward through the Australian Capital Territory. At Yass it trends westward, being joined by the Lachlan between

Permafrost, Effects of water bodies

2005-04-04T09:20:00.000-07:00

Bodies of water, lakes, rivers, and the sea have a profound effect on the distribution of permafrost. A deep lake that does not freeze to the bottom during the winter will be underlain by a zone of thawed material. If the minimum horizontal dimension of the deep lake is about twice as much as the thickness of permafrost nearby, there probably exists an unfrozen vertical

Polenta

2005-04-04T00:55:00.000-07:00

A porridge or mush usually made of ground corn (maize) cooked in salted water. Cheese and butter or oil are often added. Polenta can be eaten hot or cold as a porridge; or it can be cooled until firm, cut into shapes, and then baked, toasted, panfried, or deep-fried. It is a traditional food of northern Italy, especially the Piedmont region, and of Corsica, where chestnut flour is

Cabinet

2005-04-02T02:44:00.000-08:00

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.

Arabian Religion

2005-04-01T20:26:00.000-08:00

Beliefs of Arabia comprising the polytheistic beliefs and practices that existed before the rise of Islam in the 7th century AD. Arabia is here understood in the broad sense of the term to include the confines of the Syrian desert. The religion of Palmyra, which belongs to the Aramaic sphere, is excluded from this account. The monotheistic religions that had already spread

Janissary

2005-04-01T14:10:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Janizary, Turkish Yeniçeri (New Soldier, or Troop), member of an elite corps in the standing army of the Ottoman Empire from the late 14th century to 1826. Highly respected for their military prowess in the 15th and 16th centuries, the Janissaries became a powerful political force within the Ottoman state. The Janissary corps was originally staffed by Christian

Earth, Nucleosynthetic processes

2005-03-31T18:18:00.000-08:00

The astrophysical concept of nucleosynthesis remains the starting point in tracing planetary evolution. This includes the nuclear processes by which the light elements—hydrogen through boron—were produced at the birth of the universe, some 10,000,000,000 to 20,000,000,000 years ago. By analogy with what astronomers presently observe to happen, it is thought that the solar system represents

Zaharias, Babe Didrikson

2005-03-31T15:30:00.000-08:00

From 1930 through 1932, Didrikson was a member of the women's All-America basketball team. During the same period she also won eight events and tied in a ninth in national championship competition

Wisconsin, Settlement patterns

2005-03-30T10:55:00.000-08:00

The majority of the people live in clusters of cities in the southeast, the area first reached and settled by migrants from the East. There they found soils and climate favourable for agriculture. Those who moved farther on across the state, seeking farmland, in time spread themselves fairly evenly except in the southern part of the Central Plain and the Northern

Arnold, Thomas

2005-03-29T22:45:00.000-08:00

Thomas Arnold was educated at Winchester and at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He was elected a fellow of Oriel College, Oxford, in 1815. After ordination and

Eiseley, Loren (corey)

2005-03-29T07:48:00.000-08:00

Eiseley was educated at the University of Nebraska (B.A., 1933) and the University of Pennsylvania (M.A., 1935; Ph.D., 1937) and began his academic career at the University of Kansas (1937–44) and Oberlin College (1944–47). In his long association with the University

Alexander I

2005-03-28T11:07:00.000-08:00

Alexander probably acknowledged King Henry

Haymarket Riot

2005-03-27T04:14:00.000-08:00

On May 3, one person was killed and several were injured as police intervened to protect strikebreakers from strikers during a union action at the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company that was part

Race

2005-03-26T10:10:00.000-08:00

The modern meaning of the term race with reference to humans began to emerge in the 17th century. Since then it has had a variety of meanings in the languages of the Western world. What most definitions have in common is an attempt to categorize peoples primarily by their physical differences. In the United States, for example, the term race generally refers to a group

Berenice

2005-03-26T02:17:00.000-08:00

Daughter of Ptolemy II Philadelphus and Arsinoe I of Egypt. She was married to the Seleucid ruler Antiochus II Theos, supplanting his first wife, Laodice, whose children she persuaded him to bar from the succession to the throne in favour of her own. Laodice, however, persuaded Antiochus to come to Ephesus (in Asia Minor), where he died in 246, perhaps a victim of her intrigues.

Interior Design, Commercial interiors

2005-03-25T22:27:00.000-08:00

Contemporary designers are much involved with commercial spaces—such as stores, hotels, motels, and restaurants. Many designers and design firms specialize in highly specific spaces such as restaurants, and others may become specialists in the design of showrooms for the garment industry. Frequently, the design of a restaurant, shop, or hotel must be keyed to a theme.

Reginald Of Châtillon

2005-03-25T15:29:00.000-08:00

Reginald left for the Holy Land in 1147 and put

Karamanlis, Konstantinos

2005-03-25T09:56:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Constantine Caramanlis Greek statesman who was prime minister from 1955 to 1963 and again from 1974 to 1980. He then served as president from 1980 to 1985 and from 1990 to 1995. Karamanlis gave Greece competent government and political stability while his conservative economic policies stimulated economic growth. In 1974–75 he

Arnauld, Jacqueline-marie-angélique

2005-03-23T14:02:00.000-08:00

Jacqueline Arnauld entered religious life as a child of 9, becoming abbess of the ancient Cistercian house of Port-Royal des Champs (near Versailles)

Annelid

2005-03-22T10:53:00.000-08:00

Phylum name Annelida, also called segmented worm, any member of a phylum of invertebrate animals that are characterized by the possession of a body cavity (or coelom), movable bristles (or setae), and a body divided into segments by transverse rings, or annulations, from which they take their name. The coelom is reduced in leeches, and setae are lacking a few specialized forms, including leeches. A major invertebrate phylum

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

2005-03-22T07:47:00.000-08:00

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

Architecture, History Of Western, From the 17th to the 19th century

2005-03-21T16:16:00.000-08:00

A Gothic Revival was in a sense initiated early in England during the late 16th century under the influence of Elizabethan and Jacobean notions of chivalry and again between 1620 and 1630 under the impetus of William Laud's Anglicanism; but it is in the Gothic experimentalism of the late 17th century, particularly that of Wren's circle, in which seeds of a Gothic Revival can be discerned.

Robert Ii

2005-03-20T20:26:00.000-08:00

The eldest son of William I the Conqueror, Robert was recognized in boyhood as his father's successor in Normandy. Nevertheless he twice rebelled against his father (1077/78 and c. 1082–83) and

Cilli, Ulrich Ii Von

2005-03-20T05:30:00.000-08:00

Made a prince of the empire in 1436, Cilli nevertheless feuded with the Austrian Habsburgs until forced to recognize their suzerainty in 1443. The Habsburg German king Albert II installed him as Bohemian

Van Loo, Charles-andré

2005-03-19T21:29:00.000-08:00

He belonged to a noted family of artists of Flemish origin. His elder brother, Jean-Baptiste Van Loo, brought him up, taught him his profession, and took him to Rome. They returned to Paris, where in 1724 they won first prize in the

Lugones, Leopoldo

2005-03-18T21:28:00.000-08:00

Argentine poet, literary and social critic, and cultural ambassador, considered by many the outstanding figure of his age in the cultural life of Argentina. He was a strong influence on the younger generation of writers that included the prominent short-story writer and novelist Jorge Luis Borges. His influence

Port Essington

2005-03-18T07:37:00.000-08:00

Inlet of the Arafura Sea, indenting the north shore of the Cobourg Peninsula, at the extreme north of the Northern Territory, Australia. About 11 miles (30 km) long and 7 miles (11 km) wide, it was surveyed in 1818 by Captain Phillip Parker King of the Royal Navy, who named it for Admiral Sir William Essington. In 1824 it was the site of Britain's third attempt to settle the north coast of Australia.

Chelate

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

The ethylenediamine ligand has two points of attachment to the cadmium ion, thus forming a ring; it is known as a bidentate ligand. Ligands

Dafla

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

The Dafla support themselves with a slash-and-burn agriculture and with hunting and fishing. They live at elevations of 3,000 to 6,000 feet (900 to 1,800 m) in houses built on pilings. Descent

Breckinridge, Mary

2005-03-16T04:53:00.000-08:00

Breckinridge grew up in Washington, D.C., where her father was an Arkansas congressman, and in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he served as U.S. minister to Russia. Educated

Korea, South, Flag Of

2005-03-16T03:20:00.000-08:00

The need for a national flag arose in Korea in the late 19th century when, under pressure from its powerful neighbours, China and Japan, Korea gradually began to open its borders to outside influences. Traditional symbols were incorporated in the design of the new flag, adopted in August 1882, which has continued as the basic pattern ever since. The white background is for

Selene

2005-03-15T17:25:00.000-08:00

Latin Luna, in Greek and Roman religion, the personification of the moon as a goddess. She was worshiped at the new and full moons. Her parents were the Titans Hyperion and Theia; her brother was Helios, the sun god (sometimes called her father); her sister Eos (Dawn); and her husband Zeus. She is most identified with Endymion, whom she loved and whom Zeus cast into eternal sleep in a cave

Astigmatism

2005-03-15T15:31:00.000-08:00

Lack of symmetry in the curvature of the cornea or, much less commonly, of the crystalline lens (the cornea is the transparent wall of the eye in front of the pupil and iris). The uneven and unequal curvatures on these various refractive surfaces diffuse light rays and interfere with a sharp focus at a point on the retina, the light-sensitive tissue lining the back and

Maccabeus, Judas

2005-03-14T21:59:00.000-08:00

The son of Mattathias, an aged priest who took to the mountains in rebellion when Antiochus attempted to impose the Greek religion on the Jews, Judas took over the rebel

Romania, The Slavs

2005-03-14T07:19:00.000-08:00

For nearly eight centuries after the withdrawal of the Roman administration and army, Dacia was overrun by a series of migratory peoples. The earliest of them—the Visigoths (275–376), the Huns (end of the 4th century to 454), and the Germanic Gepidae (454–567)—had little impact on the Daco-Roman population. But the Avars' defeat of the Gepidae in 567 opened the way for a massive advance of Slavs into

Swan River

2005-03-13T19:06:00.000-08:00

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

Byzantine Chant

2005-03-13T11:28:00.000-08:00

Monophonic, or unison, liturgical chant of the Greek Orthodox church during the Byzantine Empire (330–1453) and down to the 16th century; in modern Greece the term refers to ecclesiastical music of any period. Although Byzantine music is linked with the spread of Christianity in Greek-speaking areas of the Eastern Roman Empire, it probably derives mostly from Hebrew and early

Papago

2005-03-13T03:44:00.000-08:00

The Papago speak a Uto-Aztecan language, a dialectal variant of Piman, and culturally they are similar to the Pima (see also Uto-Aztecan languages). There are, however, certain dissimilarities. The drier, harsher

Palomino De Castro Y Velasco

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

After study at the University of Córdoba, Palomino was a student of the painter Valdes Leal and later Alfaro. In 1688 Palomino was appointed court painter and continued to concentrate on easel work until 1699. Thereafter he assisted Luca Giordano in the fresco

France, History Of

2005-03-11T11:35:00.000-08:00

The period of the Merovingian and uninterrupted Carolingian Frankish dynasties (476–887) encompasses what scholars call the Early Middle Ages. After the 4th and 5th centuries, when Germanic peoples entered the Roman Empire in substantial numbers and brought the existence of that Mediterranean state to an end, the Franks played a key role in Gaul, unifying it under their

Van Doren, Mark

2005-03-11T01:06:00.000-08:00

Van Doren was the son of a country doctor, and was reared on the family farm in eastern

Nevada, Emma

2005-03-10T21:32:00.000-08:00

Emma Wixom grew up in Nevada City, California, and in Austin, Nevada. She graduated from Mills Seminary (now College) in Oakland, California, in 1876. In Vienna on a European study tour in 1877, she met and was taken as a pupil by the

Epistemology, Analytic philosophy

2005-03-10T10:39:00.000-08:00

Analytic philosophy, the prevailing philosophy in the Anglo-American world in the 20th century, has its origins in symbolic logic on the one hand and in British empiricism on the other. Some of its important contributions have been nonepistemological in character, but in the area of epistemology its contributions have also been of the first order. Its main characteristics

Wright Flyer Of 1903

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

First powered airplane to demonstrate sustained flight under the full control of the pilot. Designed and built by Wilbur and Orville Wright in Dayton, Ohio, it was assembled in the autumn of 1903 at a camp at the base of the Kill Devil Hills, near Kitty Hawk, a village on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. After a first attempt failed on December 14, the machine was flown four times

Monroe, Elizabeth

2005-03-08T09:38:00.000-08:00

After leaving Washington, the Monroes retired to their estate in Oak Hill, Virginia, where Elizabeth died in 1830. She and James, who survived her by less than one year, were buried beside each other in Richmond, Virginia.

Vanadium

2005-03-08T08:25:00.000-08:00

Vanadium was discovered

Averno, Lake Of

2005-03-08T04:29:00.000-08:00

Italian Lago D'averno, Latin Lacus Avernus, crater lake in Napoli province, Campania region, southern Italy, in the Campi Flegrei volcanic region, west of Naples. It is 7 ft (2 m) above sea level, 118 ft deep, and nearly 2 mi (more than 3 km) in circumference, with no natural outlet. Its Greek name, Aornos, was interpreted as meaning “without birds,” giving rise to the legend that no bird could fly across it and live because of its poisonous

Chancery, Court Of

2005-03-07T10:47:00.000-08:00

In England, the court of equity under the lord high chancellor that began to develop in the 15th century to provide remedies not obtainable in the courts of common law. Today, the court comprises the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice. Courts of chancery or equity are still maintained as separate jurisdictions in certain areas of the commonwealth and in

Kochowski, Wespazjan

2005-03-07T02:38:00.000-08:00

During his years in military service (1650–61), Kochowski fought against the Cossacks and the Swedes. He later became court historian for King John III Sobieski and was present at Sobieski's victory over the Turks at Vienna in 1683. Kochowski developed a deep sense of patriotism, which

Crichton, Charles Ainslie

2005-03-06T09:35:00.000-08:00

British film director who achieved near-legendary status with a series of classic comedies he made for Ealing Studios in the 1940s and '50s, notably Hue and Cry (1947), The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), and The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953); by the 1960s he had retreated to directing for television, but he made a triumphant big-screen comeback—and garnered an Academy Award nomination—for A Fish Called

Hachioji

2005-03-06T04:33:00.000-08:00

After

Water Milfoil

2005-03-05T19:50:00.000-08:00

Any member of the genus Myriophyllum (family Haloragaceae), about 45 widely distributed species of submerged freshwater plants with whorls of feathery leaves and emergent, wind-pollinated flowers. Some species are cultivated in pools and aquariums, especially the parrot's feather, or water feather, (M. aquaticum) and the myriad leaf (M.

Minamoto Yoritomo

2005-03-05T16:16:00.000-08:00

Defying the emperor, Yoritomo established shugo (constables) and jito (district stewards) throughout the Japanese provinces, thus undermining the central government's local administrative power, and in 1192 he acquired the title of supreme commander (shogun) over

Schach, Rabbi Eliezer Menachem

2005-03-05T07:49:00.000-08:00

Lithuanian-born Israeli Orthodox Jewish scholar and political leader (b. 1896?, Wabolnick [now Vabalninkas], Lithuania, Russian Empire—d. Nov. 2, 2001, Tel Aviv, Israel), as the spiritual leader of Israel's non-Zionist ultra-Orthodox political parties—Agudat Yisrael, Shas, and Degel Hatorah—wielded great influence on Israeli government policies. In 1940 Schach emigrated from Lithuania

Oman

2005-03-04T20:50:00.000-08:00

Officially Sultanate of Oman, Arabic Saltanat 'Uman country occupying the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bounded to the southwest by Yemen, to the south and east by the Arabian Sea, to the north by the Gulf of Oman, to the northwest by the United Arab Emirates, and to the west by Saudi Arabia. A small enclave, the Ru'us Al-Jibal (“the Mountaintops”), occupies the northern tip of the Musandam Peninsula at the Strait

Sesto San Giovanni

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

Town, Milano province, Lombardia (Lombardy) region, northern Italy. A northeastern industrial suburb of Milan, it has blast furnaces, foundries, glassworks, and aircraft assembly plants and manufactures railway and electrical equipment. With one of the largest concentrations of organized labour in Italy, Sesto San Giovanni has long been a bastion of Italian Communism.

Rybinsk Reservoir

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

Russian Rybinskoye Vodokhranilishche, large artificial body of water on the upper Volga River, northwestern Russia, formed by two dams on the Volga and its tributary, the Sheksna. The project began in 1935, the artificial lake began to form in 1941, and, when the project was completed in 1947, a lake of 1,768 square miles (4,580 square km) in area, a maximum width of 37 miles (60 km), and an average depth of 18 feet (5.6 m) had been formed. At that time, the Rybinsk

Lur

2005-03-02T23:05:00.000-08:00

The Lurs and their neighbours, the Bakhtyari, are partly agricultural and partly pastoral tribes. Lush grazing pastures between the mountain ranges enabled the

Diemen, Anthony Van

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

After an unsuccessful business career in Amsterdam, van Diemen joined the Dutch East India Company, serving in Batavia from 1618 and becoming governor general in 1636. To strengthen the company's

Yohannes Iv

2005-03-01T20:40:00.000-08:00

Superior weaponry allowed Yohannes, a dejazmatch (earl) of Tigray in northern Ethiopia, to fight his way to the Ethiopian throne on January

Leonardo Pisano

2005-03-01T03:16:00.000-08:00

Joseph Gies and Frances Gies, Leonard of Pisa and the New Mathematics of the Middle Ages (1969), summarizes Leonardo's life and surveys his works, and contains a brief overview of the history of numerical notation and of medieval Pisa. Specialized treatments include Verner E. Hoggatt, Jr., Fibonacci and Lucas Numbers (1969), an introduction to the Fibonacci numbers and sequence, with propositions and exercises for mathematics students; N.N. Vorobev, The Fibonacci Numbers (1961); and Andreas N. Philippou, Gerald E. Bergum, and Alwyn F. Horadam (eds.), Fibonacci Numbers and Their Applications (1986).

Ambassador

2005-02-28T08:43:00.000-08:00

At the Congress of Vienna in 1815, ambassadors were one of the four classes of diplomatic agents who were formally defined and recognized. Ambassadors were deemed to represent the person and dignity of the sovereign (or head of state) and were entitled to personal access to the sovereign

Cairo, Development of the city

2005-02-28T01:14:00.000-08:00

Modern urban growth began in the 1830s, but only during Isma'il's reign (1863–79) was the city fundamentally transformed. Influenced by Baron Haussmann's renovation of Paris, Isma'il ordered the construction of a European-style city to the west of the medieval core. French city-planning methods dominated the design of the districts of Al-Azbakiyah (with its large park), 'Abdin, and Isma'iliyah

Tasmania, Agriculture, forestry, and fishing

2005-02-27T17:41:00.000-08:00

Less than a third of Tasmania's area is agricultural land; almost all of it is used for grazing; just under half is sown pasture, and the rest is used for rough grazing or is open forest. Crops occupy only 4 percent of agricultural land but contribute one-third of the total value of agricultural production. Seasonal irrigation, mainly spray for crops and some pasture, is

Argentina, Plant and animal life

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

Argentina's fauna and flora vary widely from the country's mountainous zones to its dry and humid plains and its subpolar regions. In heavily settled regions the makeup of animal and plant life has been profoundly modified.

Keaton, Diane

2005-02-26T16:42:00.000-08:00

Keaton studied acting at Santa Ana College in California and at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York. She appeared in summer stock in the mid-1960s and in 1968 understudied the lead in the Broadway rock

Christian Methodist Episcopal Church

2005-02-26T02:01:00.000-08:00

Black Methodist church in the United States, organized in 1870 as the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church; it officially adopted its present name in 1956. The church originated from a movement begun in 1866 within the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, to organize the black members into an independent church. At the founding convention in 1870, two bishops from the Methodist Episcopal

France, History Of, The hegemony of Neustria

2005-02-25T21:33:00.000-08:00

The territorial struggles began anew after 639. In Neustria, Austrasia, and Burgundy, power was in the hands of aristocratic leaders, called the mayors of the palace. Ebroïn, mayor of the palace in Neustria, attempted to unify the kingdom under his leadership but met with violent opposition. Resistance in Burgundy was led by Bishop Leodegar, who was assassinated in about

Shabaka

2005-02-25T17:44:00.000-08:00

Succeeding his brother Piankhi, in Cush (in the modern Sudan), Shabaka moved north, captured Bocchoris, the second king of the 24th dynasty, and, according to tradition, burned him alive. He probably made Memphis, near Cairo, his capital and adopted the titles of the

Paraldehyde

2005-02-25T08:00:00.000-08:00

Also called paracetaldehyde colourless liquid of disagreeable taste and pungent odour used in medicine as a sedative–hypnotic drug and in chemistry in the manufacture of organic chemicals. When administered as a medicine, it is largely excreted by the lungs and gives an unpleasant odour to the breath. It is most useful for recalcitrant cases and is an older drug for treatment of acute alcoholic

Paper Folding

2005-02-24T05:46:00.000-08:00

In Japan, origami has reached its greatest development, with hundreds of traditional folds and an extensive literature dealing with the art. Japanese folds divide roughly into two categories:

Algeria, World War II and the movement for independence

2005-02-23T14:24:00.000-08:00

World War II brought with it the collapse of France and, in 1942, the Anglo-American occupation of North Africa. The occupation forces were to some extent automatically agents of emancipation; both Allied and Axis radio stations began to broadcast in Arabic, promising a new world for formerly subject peoples. The effect was further heightened by the June 1941 promise of emancipation

Vulgar Latin

2005-02-23T14:19:00.000-08:00

Spoken form of non-Classical Latin from which originated the Romance group of languages. Vulgar Latin was primarily the speech of the middle classes in Rome and the Roman provinces; it is derived from Classical Latin but varied across Roman-occupied areas according to the extent of education of the population, communication with Rome, and the original languages

Frederick Ii

2005-02-23T13:10:00.000-08:00

Byname Frederick the Great , German Friedrich der Grosse king of Prussia (1740–86), a brilliant military campaigner who, in a series of diplomatic stratagems and wars against Austria and other powers, greatly enlarged Prussia's territories and made Prussia the foremost military power in Europe. An enlightened absolute monarch, he favoured French language and art and built a French Rococo palace,

Arruza, Carlos

2005-02-22T05:38:00.000-08:00

Born in Mexico of Spanish parents, he began as a professional torero at the age of 14 in Mexico City. He went to Spain in 1944 billed as “El Ciclón” and soon was ranked as the most serious contender to challenge Manolete's preeminence

Tz'u

2005-02-21T20:24:00.000-08:00

In Chinese poetry, song form characterized by lines of unequal length, with prescribed rhyme schemes and tonal patterns, each bearing the name of a musical air. The varying line lengths are comparable to the natural rhythm of speech and therefore easily understood when sung. First sung by ordinary folk, they were popularized by professional women singers and poets

Sucksdorff, Arne

2005-02-20T14:46:00.000-08:00

Swedish motion-picture director important in the post-World War II revival of the Swedish cinema because of his internationally acclaimed sensitivity in photographing nature. His patiently photographed flowers, insects, birds, and animals are composed into films in which the rhythm of nature is dominant and man is only

Animal, Pseudocoelomates, or aschelminths

2005-02-20T00:53:00.000-08:00

The pseudocoelomates include the nematodes, rotifers, gastrotrichs, and introverts. Some members of some other phyla are also, strictly speaking, pseudocoelomate. These four phyla of tiny body size (many species no larger than the bigger protozoans) are placed together in part because they lack mesoderm on the inner side of the body cavity. Consequently, no tissue,

Ponca

2005-02-19T13:14:00.000-08:00

North American Indian people of the Dhegiha branch of the Siouan linguistic stock. Under pressure of settlement by whites, the Ponca migrated westward from the Atlantic coast, settling first in Virginia and the Carolinas. After a time they moved to what is now western Missouri. The Ponca then moved north to present-day Minnesota, where they lived until the late 17th

Sacra Rappresentazione

2005-02-19T06:39:00.000-08:00

(Italian: “holy performance”), in theatre, 15th-century Italian ecclesiastical drama similar to the mystery plays of France and England and the auto sacramental of Spain. Originating and flourishing in Florence, these religious dramas represented scenes from the Old and New Testaments, from pious legends, and from the lives of the saints. The plays were didactic, using

Well-field System

2005-02-18T22:41:00.000-08:00

According to Mencius,

Schawlow, Arthur L.

2005-02-18T11:36:00.000-08:00

As a child, Schawlow moved with his family to Canada. He attended the University of Toronto, receiving his

'abd Al-rahman Iii

2005-02-17T07:30:00.000-08:00

Byname Al-Nasir li-Din Allah (Arabic: “Victor for the Religion of Allah”) , in full 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Hakam al-Rabdi ibn Hisham ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Dakhil first caliph and greatest ruler of the Umayyad Arab Muslim dynasty of Spain. He reigned as hereditary emir (“prince”) of Córdoba from October 912 and took the title of caliph in 929.

Scale

2005-02-17T06:38:00.000-08:00

In zoology, small plate that forms part of the skin of certain animals. Scales provide protection from the environment and from predators. Fish scales are formed of bone from the deeper, or dermal, skin layer. The elasmobranchs (e.g., sharks) have placoid scales; these are bony, spiny projections with an enamel-like covering. Ganoid scales, which are found on such fishes as

Palatalization

2005-02-16T17:36:00.000-08:00

In phonetics, the production of consonants with the blade, or front, of the tongue drawn up farther toward the roof of the mouth (hard palate) than in their normal pronunciation. Palatalized consonants in Russian are pronounced as if attempting simultaneously to pronounce a particular consonant and a y sound; in English, the ny in “canyon” approximates a palatalized

Silky Flycatcher

2005-02-16T00:37:00.000-08:00

Any of four bird species that constitute the subfamily Ptilogonatinae (family Bombycillidae), found in dry, brushy regions from Nevada south to Panama. These soft plumaged, broad-billed, crested birds are about 19 centimetres (7.5 inches) long. All are arboreal. Their basic diet consists of mistletoe berries, supplemented with insects taken by darting from a perch like a

Cinq-mars, Henri Coiffier De Ruzé, Marquis De

2005-02-15T21:34:00.000-08:00

Cinq-Mars was the son of the marshal Antoine Coiffier-Ruzé, marquis d'Effiat, a close friend of Richelieu, who took the boy under his protection on his father's death in 1632. Richelieu

Genet, Jean

2005-02-15T11:26:00.000-08:00

Genet, an illegitimate child abandoned by his mother, Gabrielle Genet,

Wang Xizhi

2005-02-14T22:04:00.000-08:00

It is said that even in his lifetime a few of Wang's characters or his signature were priceless; down through the ages, aspiring students of that most basic yet highest art in China, calligraphy, have copied and preserved traces of his style. The most famous example of his writing is the

Mahapurusa

2005-02-14T05:45:00.000-08:00

Also called Salakapurusa, in Hindu, Jaina, and Buddhist belief, an individual of extraordinary destiny, distinguished by certain physical traits or marks (laksanas). Such men are born to become either universal rulers (cakravartins) or great spiritual leaders (such as buddhas or the Jaina spiritual leaders, the Tirthankaras). In the case of Gautama Buddha, soothsayers were able to recognize the

Orvieto Ware

2005-02-13T13:42:00.000-08:00

Italian maiolica, a tin-glazed earthenware produced originally at Orvieto, in Umbria, from the 13th century onward. It was copied from, or inspired by, the faience produced in Paterna, Spain. The most common colours of Orvieto ware are the green and manganese purple of their Spanish prototype, though sometimes blue and yellow were added. The style of decoration is Gothic,

Aung San

2005-02-13T07:00:00.000-08:00

Born

O'faolain, Sean

2005-02-13T06:53:00.000-08:00

Disturbed

Top Shell

2005-02-12T10:56:00.000-08:00

Any marine snail of the family Trochidae (subclass Prosobranchia, class Gastropoda), characterized by a spiral, conical shell. Although top shells are found from the intertidal zone to the deep open seas, they occur with greatest diversity in the shallow waters along rocky shores from the equator to the high latitudes. Species of the genera Gibbula, Monodonta, and

Race, The Germanic myth and English constructions of an Anglo-Saxon past

2005-02-11T21:24:00.000-08:00

In England, from the time that Henry VIII broke with the Roman Catholic church and Protestant sects emerged on the horizon, historians, politicians, and philosophers had been wrestling with the creation of a new English identity. Indeed, European powers were soon to be caught up in the ethnic rivalries, extreme chauvinism, and intolerance out of which all the nation-states

Laghouat

2005-02-11T00:21:00.000-08:00

Town and oasis north-central Algeria, at the southern edge of the Saharan Atlas, on the route linking Algiers with central Africa. The oasis (625 acres [253 hectares]) was probably settled in the 11th century after the Banu Hilal invaders, supported by the Fatimids of Egypt, crossed the area. Laghouat subsequently passed through Moroccan and Turkish hands and was divided by two warring

Gide, André

2005-02-10T09:17:00.000-08:00

In full André-Paul-Guillaume Gide French writer, humanist, and moralist who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1947.

Dancehall Music

2005-02-09T05:00:00.000-08:00

The seductive chant of the dancehall deejay—part talking, part singing—came to prominence in the late 1970s but

Python

2005-02-09T03:07:00.000-08:00

In Greek mythology, a huge serpent that was killed by the god Apollo at Delphi either because it would not let him found his oracle, being accustomed itself to giving oracles, or because it had persecuted Apollo's mother, Leto, during her pregnancy. In the earliest account the serpent is nameless and female, but later it is male and named Python (Pytho was the old name for

Ashland

2005-02-09T00:49:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1860) of Ashland county, extreme northern Wisconsin, U.S. It is a port on Chequamegon Bay of Lake Superior. A Jesuit mission was established there in 1665, but not until 1854 did Asaph Whittlesey settle the site, which he named for Henry Clay's Kentucky estate. In 1877 Ashland became the terminus of the first railroad of northern Wisconsin and developed with iron-mining and lumbering