PoliticalHospital

Swan Hill

2005-04-04T15:36:00.000-07:00

City, northern Victoria, Australia, on the Murray River, northwest of Melbourne. It is the chief market centre for the southern section of the irrigated Riverina district of New South Wales. The site was named in the 1830s by the explorer Thomas (later Sir Thomas) Mitchell, who was kept sleepless there by the calls of swans. Settled in 1846 by sheepherders, the community prospered

Aubusson, Pierre D'

2005-04-04T05:16:00.000-07:00

The son of French nobility, Aubusson joined the Knights of St. John c. 1453. The Knights, with their headquarters at Rhodes, held the island as a bar to Ottoman expansion in the Aegean. Aubusson became grand master of the order

Sabellic Dialects

2005-04-04T03:44:00.000-07:00

A group of inscriptions from eastern central Italy, sometimes referred to as Sabellic,

Karakoram Highway

2005-04-03T19:04:00.000-07:00

The highway was a joint Pakistani and Chinese project and required

Pembroke

2005-04-02T17:33:00.000-08:00

Welsh Penfro town, historic and present county of Pembrokeshire (Sir Benfro), Wales, comprising the localities of Pembroke and Pembroke Dock on the south shore of the Milford Haven inlet. The older locality, Pembroke, incorporated in 1090 by royal charter, was a walled town built along a narrow limestone ridge, at the west end of which the castle, dominating the Haven, was the seat of the

Selangor

2005-04-02T08:20:00.000-08:00

Region of western West Malaysia (Malaya), occupying part of a coastal alluvial plain on the Strait of Malacca. In 1974, a 94-square-mile (243-square-kilometre) portion of Selangor, centring on Kuala Lumpur, was designated a wilayapersekutuan (federal territory). Selangor's history and economic development have been closely linked with two rivers, the Kelang and the Langat, which

Arts, Central Asian, Buddhist monastic dance

2005-04-01T08:55:00.000-08:00

The second major genre of the performing arts to develop in Central Asia was 'cham, the ritualistic dance performed in Buddhist monasteries. The origin of 'cham may well be an older form of shamanic ceremonial dance in Tibet, but centuries of evolution within a Buddhist-dominated society led to the recasting of the roles and theme of the dance in keeping with Buddhist

Amadís Of Gaul

2005-04-01T05:23:00.000-08:00

In Montalvo's version,

Dacryocystitis

2005-03-31T00:02:00.000-08:00

Inflammation and infection of the lachrymal sac. Tears leave the eye through small openings in the inner corner of the eye and flow into the lachrymal, or tear, sac, from which they drain through a duct—the nasolachrymal duct—into the nasal cavity. Thus infection can reach the lachrymal sac from the nose by way of the nasolachrymal duct. Inflammation of the sac causes

Radio Telescope

2005-03-29T21:10:00.000-08:00

The first radio telescope, built

Montfort, Simon De, Earl Of Leicester

2005-03-29T14:52:00.000-08:00

Simon de Montfort, wholly French by birth and education, was the son of Simon de Montfort l'Amaury, leader of the crusade against the heretical Albigenses. On coming of age, he renounced to his eldest brother, Amaury,

Disasters

2005-03-29T01:10:00.000-08:00

January 8, Charlotte, N.C. A commuter plane, a Beechcraft 1900 twin-engine turboprop operated by US Airways Express, crashes into a hangar on takeoff, killing 21 passengers and crew members; the cause of the crash is believed to be

Hull, Albert Wallace

2005-03-28T07:15:00.000-08:00

American physicist who independently discovered the powder method of X-ray analysis of crystals, which permits the study of crystalline materials in a finely divided microcrystalline, or powder, state. He also invented a number of electron tubes that have found wide application as components in electronic

Haasse, Hella S.

2005-03-27T18:16:00.000-08:00

Haasse studied at the Amsterdam Toneelschool, a dramatic arts school, and published a volume of poetry, Stroomversnelling (“Fast Current”), in 1945. Her novel Het woud der verwachting (1949; In a Dark Wood Wandering) is about Charles d'Orléans, a French nobleman taken

Oracle

2005-03-27T16:55:00.000-08:00

(Latin oraculum from orare, “to pray,” or “to speak”), divine communication delivered in response to a petitioner's request; also, the seat of prophecy itself. Oracles were a branch of divination but differed from the casual pronouncements of augurs by being associated with a definite person or place. For example, the oracles of Zeus originated at Dodona, Olympia, or Siwa; those

Biblical Literature, Zephaniah

2005-03-26T15:32:00.000-08:00

The Book of Zephaniah, the ninth book of the Twelve (Minor) Prophets, is written in three chapters. Composed by the prophet Zephaniah in the latter part of the 7th century BCE, the book is an attack against corruption of worship in Judah, probably before the great Deuteronomic reform took place. Zephaniah attacked the religious syncretism that had become established, especially

Bracegirdle, Anne

2005-03-25T21:08:00.000-08:00

Bracegirdle studied acting with Thomas Betterton, her guardian, and appeared on the stage as early as six years of age. In 1688 her performance in Thomas Shadwell's The Squire of Alsatia at Drury Lane Theatre, London, brought her notice. Different playwrights, particularly William Congreve and Nicholas Rowe,

Boucher, Jonathan

2005-03-25T05:46:00.000-08:00

In 1759 Boucher went to Virginia as a private tutor. After a visit to London in 1762 for his ordination, he became rector of Annapolis, Md., and tutored George Washington's stepson, thus becoming a family friend. His royalist views cost him his position: by 1775 he was keeping pistols

Argentina, Mesopotamia

2005-03-24T09:40:00.000-08:00

Thin stands of tall wax palms occupy the flood zones of Mesopotamia. Groups of trees and grassy areas form a park landscape of noted beauty. Common trees are the quebracho, exploited for its tannin since colonial times, the urunday, and the guayacán, used for tannin and lumber. Gallery forests growing along rivers become denser and taller in Misiones province.

Spahi

2005-03-23T05:18:00.000-08:00

Feudal cavalryman of the Ottoman Empire whose status resembled that of the medieval European knight. The spahi (from Persian for “cavalryman”) was holder of a fief (timar; Turkish: timar) granted directly by the Ottoman sultan and was entitled to all of the income from it in return for military service. The peasants on the land were subsequently attached to the land and

Aucassin Et Nicolette

2005-03-23T00:09:00.000-08:00

Early 13th-century French chantefable (a story told in alternating sections of verse and prose, the former sung, the latter recited). Aucassin, “endowed with all good qualities,” is the son of the Count of Beaucaire and falls in love with Nicolette, a captive Saracen turned Christian. The lovers are imprisoned but manage to escape and, after many vicissitudes (including flight,

Na-dené Languages

2005-03-22T13:06:00.000-08:00

Major grouping (phylum or superstock) of North American Indian languages, consisting of three language families—Athabascan (or Athapascan), Haida, and Tlingit—with a total of 22 languages. Of these languages 20 belong to the Athabascan family; they are spoken in the Northwest Territory, the Yukon, and adjacent parts of Canada, west to Cook Inlet in Alaska; in two isolated areas

Czestochowa

2005-03-21T06:04:00.000-08:00

City, capital (since 1975) of Czestochowa województwo (province), south-central Poland. The city originally consisted of two settlements, Old Czestochowa, founded in the 13th century, and Jasna Góra (Polish: “Shining Mountain”), founded in the 14th; the two were merged in 1826. Roman Catholic pilgrimages are made to the Jasna Góra monastery (1382), which contains valuable frescoes and the famous

Solar Constant

2005-03-21T01:43:00.000-08:00

The total radiation energy received from the Sun per unit of time per unit of area on a theoretical surface perpendicular to the Sun's rays and at the Earth's mean distance from the Sun. Measurements at the Earth's surface must be corrected for atmospheric effects and seasonal changes in distance from the Sun. The value of the constant is approximately 2 calories per

China, Urbanization and assimilation

2005-03-20T19:51:00.000-08:00

At the same time a process of urbanization was occurring. Minor fortified cities were built, radiating out from each of the major centres, and other towns radiated from the minor cities. From these cities and towns, orders were issued, and to them the resources of the countryside were sent. The central plain along the Huang Ho was the first to be saturated by clusters

Tallage

2005-03-20T11:02:00.000-08:00

In medieval Europe, a tax imposed by the lord of an estate upon his unfree tenants. In origin, both the amount and the frequency of levies was at the lord's discretion, but by the 13th century tallage on many estates had already become a fixed charge. In England, from the late 12th century, tallage had become established as the name of a royal tax levied on estates in the king's possession

Sundiata

2005-03-20T06:46:00.000-08:00

Sundiata was a Mandingo from the small kingdom of Kangaba, near the present Mali–Guinea border. Little is known about his early life. Mandingo oral traditions

Zambezi River, Navigation

2005-03-19T10:29:00.000-08:00

Given its numerous natural barriers—sandbars at the mouth, shallowness, and rapids and cataracts—the Zambezi is of little economic significance as a trade route. About 1,620 miles of the river, however, are navigable by shallow-draft steamers. The longest stretch of unbroken water runs from the river delta about 400 miles upstream to the Cahora Bassa Dam. Above the dam Lake

Philadelphia Centennial Exposition

2005-03-18T13:56:00.000-08:00

Ten years in the planning, the Centennial Exposition cost more than $11 million and covered more than 450 acres (180 hectares) of Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. President Ulysses S. Grant opened the exposition on May 10, 1876, and

Alatri

2005-03-17T07:41:00.000-08:00

Archaeologically

Altizer, Thomas J.j.

2005-03-17T06:13:00.000-08:00

A graduate of the University of Chicago (A.B. 1948, A.M. 1951, Ph.D. 1955), Altizer taught religion first at Wabash College (Crawfordsville, Ind.), from 1954 to 1956, and then at Emory University (Atlanta, Ga.) from 1956 to 1968 before becoming a professor of English at the State University of New York at Stony

Lévesque, René

2005-03-16T21:39:00.000-08:00

Lévesque went to school in Gaspésie and afterward to Laval University, Quebec. Already a part-time journalist while still a student, he broke off his law studies to serve in Europe (1944–45) as a reporter and

Estonia, Relief and drainage

2005-03-16T15:46:00.000-08:00

The Estonian landscape is largely the product of glacial activity; the south is covered with moraine hills, and the central part abounds in elongated hills with flat tops. The northern part of Estonia is characterized by long narrow swells consisting of deposits left by glacial rivers that formed during the melting of ice. Extensive sandy areas mark what was once

Dada

2005-03-16T09:01:00.000-08:00

Stephen C. Foster (ed.), Crisis and the Arts: The History of Dada (1996– ), is a multivolume exploration of the history of the movement. William S. Rubin, Dada, Surrealism, and Their Heritage (1968, reissued 1982); and Dawn Ades, Dada and Surrealism Reviewed (1978), are comprehensive exhibition catalogs. German Dada is discussed in Charlotte Stokes and Stephen C. Foster (eds.), Dada Cologne Hanover (1997). Francis M. Naumann and Beth Venn, Making Mischief: Dada Invades New York (1996), focuses on the New York movement. Richard Huelsenbeck (ed.), The Dada Almanac, 2nd ed. (1998), is an English translation of a large 1920 collection of Dadaist text. The role of female Dadaists is discussed in Naomi Sawelson-Gorse (ed.), Women in Dada: Essays on Sex, Gender, and Identity (1998, reissued 2001).

Stefánsson, Davíd

2005-03-15T19:49:00.000-08:00

Stefánsson came of a cultured yeoman family and was brought up with a love for his homeland, its literature, and its folklore. He frequently journeyed abroad but lived most of his life in the town of Akureyri, where he was a librarian (1925–52). He wrote a powerful

Papini, Giovanni

2005-03-15T16:53:00.000-08:00

Though largely self-educated,

'abd Al-ilah

2005-03-14T07:44:00.000-08:00

Son of the Hashimite king 'Ali ibn Husayn of the Hejaz (northwestern Arabia), who was driven from Arabia by Ibn Sa'ud, 'Abd al-Ilah accompanied his father to Iraq in 1925. Upon King Ghazi's death in 1939, he was appointed regent for his four-year-old nephew, Faysal II. 'Abd al-Ilah ruled Iraq for 14 turbulent years, loyally serving the throne and

Uruguay

2005-03-14T01:01:00.000-08:00

Country located on the southeastern coast of South America. The second smallest nation on the continent, Uruguay has long been overshadowed politically and economically by the adjacent republics of Brazil and Argentina, with both of which it shares many cultural and historical similarities. “On the map, surrounded by its large neighbors, Uruguay seems tiny,” writes

Cambridge Platform

2005-03-13T09:45:00.000-08:00

Basic document of New England Congregationalism, prepared in Cambridge, Mass. (U.S.), in 1648. It provided for all the details of church government, including the principle that was basic to Congregationalism, the autonomy of the local congregation. In doctrinal matters, the Cambridge Platform incorporated the Westminster Confession, the creedal statement of Presbyterianism

Anatomy

2005-03-13T05:01:00.000-08:00

A field in the biological sciences concerned with the identification and description of the body structures of living things. Gross anatomy involves the study of major body structures by dissection and observation and in its narrowest sense is concerned only with the human body. “Gross anatomy” customarily refers to the study of those body structures large enough

Indian Ocean, Upwelling

2005-03-12T15:37:00.000-08:00

Upwelling is a seasonal phenomenon in the Indian Ocean because of the monsoon regime. During the southwest monsoon, upwelling occurs off the Somali and Arabian coasts and south of Java. It is most intense between 5° and 11° N, with replacement of warmer surface water by water of about 57° F (14° C). During the northeast monsoon, strong upwelling occurs along the western coast of India.

Sabbath

2005-03-12T04:26:00.000-08:00

The sacredness of the Sabbath has served to unite Jews during the long course of their history and has been for them a joyous

Argus Panoptes

2005-03-11T13:15:00.000-08:00

(Greek: “All Seeing”), figure in Greek legend described variously as the son of Inachus, Agenor, or Arestor or as an aboriginal hero (autochthon). His surname derives from the hundred eyes in his head or all over his body. Argus was appointed by the goddess Hera to watch the cow into which Io (Hera's priestess) had been transformed, but he was slain by Hermes. His eyes were transferred

Andrew I

2005-03-10T13:11:00.000-08:00

Having accompanied his father, Yury Dolgoruky, on his conquest of Kiev, Andrew refused to remain in the ancient capital of Rus and returned

Eleaticism

2005-03-10T05:22:00.000-08:00

For a long time Xenophanes of Colophon, a religious thinker and rhapsode of the 6th–5th century BC, was considered the founder of the Eleatic school and Parmenides' mentor. This ancient claim, however, has been successfully criticized by Reinhardt. It is even possible that, on the contrary, Xenophanes was an older pupil of Parmenides. In any case, his monistic view of a cosmic

Hardoi

2005-03-09T17:05:00.000-08:00

The surrounding area is a level plain bordered (south) by the Ganges River and drained by its tributaries.

Hardinge (of Lahore And Kings Newton), Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount

2005-03-09T07:25:00.000-08:00

Hardinge entered the army in 1799 and, during the Napoleonic Wars, served with distinction as a staff officer in the Peninsular War (1808–14). In the Hundred Days (1815), he was a brigadier general with the Prussian army at the Battle of Ligny and

Ham Nghi

2005-03-09T01:41:00.000-08:00

Ung Lich was a nephew of the emperor Tu Duc, whose death in 1883 led to a disputed succession. After several equally legitimate heirs had been assassinated or deposed, Ung Lich ascended the throne through the intricate intrigues of two mandarin power

Wollaston, Lake

2005-03-08T10:58:00.000-08:00

Lake, northeastern Saskatchewan. It lies in the southern part of the Barren Grounds (a subarctic prairie region of northern Canada), 30 miles (50 km) northwest of Reindeer Lake. It is 70 miles (113 km) long and 25 miles (40 km) wide, has an area of 1,035 square miles (2,681 square km), and drains through two outlets: one northwestward through Fond du Lac River to Lake Athabasca and the Mackenzie River system,

Alemán, Miguel

2005-03-08T05:21:00.000-08:00

The son of a village shopkeeper who subsequently became a general in the revolution, Alemán studied law and set up practice in Mexico City, specializing in labour cases. Appointed senator from Veracruz, he became governor of the state in 1936. In 1940 he resigned to manage the successful presidential campaign of

Seward

2005-03-07T15:36:00.000-08:00

City, southern Alaska, U.S., on Kenai Peninsula, at the head of Resurrection Bay. Founded in 1903 as a supply base and ocean terminus for a railway to the Yukon Valley (since 1913, the Alaska Railroad), it was named for William H. Seward, the secretary of state who negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia. Its ice-free port provides an important freight dock for interior Alaska. Tourism

Saarland

2005-03-06T17:53:00.000-08:00

A well-developed educational system includes a series of technical high schools and the University of the Saarland at Saarbrücken. Cultural institutions—including the City Theatre, Radio Saarland, and the Modern Gallery of Saarbrücken—draw support from both Germany and France. There are a dozen museums and galleries and a large number of singing, musical, and

Percy, Sir Henry

2005-03-06T09:53:00.000-08:00

The eldest son of Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, he was nicknamed Hotspur by his Scottish enemies in recognition of the diligence

Luther, Martin

2005-03-06T09:19:00.000-08:00

German priest and scholar whose questioning of certain church practices led to the Protestant Reformation. He is one of the pivotal figures of Western civilization, as well as of Christianity. By his actions and writings he precipitated a movement that was to yield not only one of the three major theological units of

Nehru, Jawaharlal

2005-03-06T02:15:00.000-08:00

Byname Pandit (Hindi: “Pundit,” or “Teacher”) Nehru first prime minister of independent India (1947–64), who established parliamentary government and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India's independence movement in the 1930s and '40s.

Confederate States Of America

2005-03-04T08:58:00.000-08:00

Convinced that their way of life, based on slavery, was irretrievably threatened by the election of President Abraham Lincoln (November 1860), the seven states of the Deep

Wu San-kuei

2005-03-03T17:41:00.000-08:00

Wu had been the Ming general in charge of defending the northeast frontier against the Manchus. When the Imperial

Chungking, Transportation

2005-03-03T09:59:00.000-08:00

Chungking is served by two great rivers, the Yangtze and the Chia-ling, and is the leading port of southwestern China. As a result of extensive work carried

Christchurch

2005-03-03T03:58:00.000-08:00

Town and borough (district), administrative county of Dorset, historic county of Hampshire, England. It lies at the confluence of the Rivers Stour and Avon and adjoins the English Channel resort of Bournemouth. The site was significant during prehistoric times; Late Bronze–Early Iron Age trade with the European continent apparently focused on nearby Hengistbury

Pacific Ocean, Tropical storms

2005-03-03T02:41:00.000-08:00

Although, in general, the climatic conditions of the trade-wind belts are characteristically regular and uniform, storms of great violence do originate there. In such storms, winds of exceptionally great force spiral inward toward a centre of exceedingly low atmospheric pressure. These are the tropical storms known in the western Pacific as typhoons. While the

Estébanez Calderón, Serafín

2005-03-02T00:00:00.000-08:00

Estébanez also spelled Estévanes, byname El Solitario one of the best-known costumbristas, Spanish writers who depicted in short articles the typical customs of the people. He moved to Madrid in 1830, where he published newspaper articles under the pseudonym El Solitario and pursued a career that combined Arabic studies, poetry, and the collecting of manuscripts. He was also influential in the

Ataturk Dam

2005-03-01T18:12:00.000-08:00

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

Mountain, The Alpine-Himalayan, or Tethyan, System

2005-03-01T04:10:00.000-08:00

The interconnected system of mountain ranges and intermontane plateaus that lies between the stable areas of Africa, Arabia, and India on the south and Europe and Asia on the north owes its existence to the collisions of different continental fragments during the past 100,000,000 years. Some 150,000,000 years ago, India and much of what is now Iran and Afghanistan lay many thousands of

Jordan, The Latin kingdom and Muslim domination

2005-02-28T11:16:00.000-08:00

The area was devastated in the 6th and 7th centuries by the intermittent warfare between Byzantium and Sasanian Persia. In 627 the emperor Heraclius finally defeated the Persians and reestablished order, but Byzantium, gravely weakened by the long struggle, was unable to face the unexpected menace of a new power that had arisen in Arabia. In 636 the Muslims, led by the famous

Korean Language

2005-02-28T04:25:00.000-08:00

Language spoken by more than 72 million people, of whom 45 million live in South Korea and 24 million in North Korea. There are more than 2 million speakers in China, more than 700,000 in the United States, and somewhat fewer in Japan. More than 200,000 Koreans live in Kazakstan and Uzbekistan. Korean is the official language of both South Korea (Republic of Korea) and North Korea (Democratic People's

Reid, Whitelaw

2005-02-28T02:23:00.000-08:00

U.S. journalist, diplomat, and politician, successor to Horace Greeley in 1872 as editor in chief (until 1905) and publisher (until his death) of the New York Tribune, which, during much of that period, was perhaps the most influential newspaper in the United States. He was minister to France from 1889 to 1892, unsuccessful candidate for vice president on the

Han

2005-02-27T19:15:00.000-08:00

The han evolved during the 15th century when local daimyo gradually came into military and civil control of their own domains. In the warfare that took place among them at the end of the century, the size of the han gradually increased; many assumed the boundaries of one or

Owo

2005-02-26T13:44:00.000-08:00

Town, Ondo state, southwestern Nigeria, at the southern edge of the Yoruba Hills (elevation 1,130 feet [344 m]) and at the intersection of roads from Akure, Kabba, Benin City, and Siluko. A major collecting point for cocoa, it also serves as a market centre (yams, cassava, corn [maize], rice, palm oil and kernels, pumpkins, okra). Cotton and teak are cultivated in the surrounding area, which was

Feminism

2005-02-26T11:54:00.000-08:00

Throughout most of Western history, women were confined to the domestic sphere, while public life was reserved

Svadilfari

2005-02-26T02:12:00.000-08:00

In Norse mythology, an unusually swift and intelligent horse belonging to a giant who offered to build a great wall around Asgard (the kingdom of the gods) to keep invaders away. The gods stipulated that, if the builder completed the wall in one winter's time, his reward would be the goddess Freyja and possession of the sun and the moon. Svadilfari gave his owner such assistance

John I Tzimisces

2005-02-25T10:29:00.000-08:00

Descended from an aristocratic Armenian family, John was related through his mother to the general, and later emperor, Nicephorus II

Dandelion

2005-02-24T17:06:00.000-08:00

It has a rosette of leaves at the base of the plant; a deep taproot; a smooth, hollow stem; leaves that may be nearly smooth-margined, toothed, or deeply cut; and

Argonne

2005-02-24T11:30:00.000-08:00

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

Kagera River

2005-02-23T23:13:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Akagera, most remote headstream of the Nile River and largest tributary of Lake Victoria, rising in Burundi near the northern tip of Lake Tanganyika. It is formed at the confluence of its two headstreams—the Nyawarongo (Niavarongo) and the Ruvubu (Ruvuvu)—which in turn are fed by streams rising in the highlands east of Lake Kivu and Lake Tanganyika, between Congo (Kinshasa) and

Lancaster

2005-02-23T10:30:00.000-08:00

City, seat of Lancaster county, northern South Carolina, U.S., near the Catawba River. It was founded in the 1750s by settlers from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The architect Robert Mills designed the jail (1823) and the courthouse (1828). In the early 19th century the community was identified with the Waxhaw Revival, part of the Great Revival (a nationwide movement of religious vagaries), and

West Bengal, Agriculture

2005-02-23T04:51:00.000-08:00

Agriculture dominates both the landscape and the economy. West Bengal exceeds all other states in its proportion of agricultural land (65 percent). Rice, which requires extensive irrigation, is the leading crop in every district except Darjiling, where it is surpassed by millet. Despite the small area of the state, West Bengal plants 14 percent of the nation's rice area and

Eckstorm, Fannie Pearson Hardy

2005-02-22T15:07:00.000-08:00

Fannie Hardy was the daughter of a well-known fur trader, outdoorsman, naturalist, and taxidermist, from whom she early absorbed a love and deep

Arnsberg

2005-02-22T04:05:00.000-08:00

Regierungsbezirk (administrative district), east-central North Rhine–Westphalia Land (state), western Germany. Arnsberg is bordered by Hesse Land to the east, Rhineland-Palatinate Land to the southwest, and the Regierungsbezirke of Köln and Düsseldorf to the west and Münster and Detmold to the north. The largest of five districts in North Rhine–Westphalia, it occupies

Caucasian Languages, Svan

2005-02-21T14:16:00.000-08:00

The Svan language (self-designation: lušnu nin), also unwritten, is located south of Mount Elbrus, in the high valleys of the upper Tskhenis-Tskali and its tributary Kheledula and in the valleys of the upper Inguri River. There are four fairly distinct dialects: Upper and Lower Bal in the Inguri region, and Lashkh and Lentekh in the Tskhenis-Tskali region. Georgian and Russian

Badminton

2005-02-19T09:54:00.000-08:00

Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen, known as the "Great Dane," laid claim to badminton's two most important titles in 1996, a gold medal in men's singles at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga., and a second consecutive men's singles All-England championship in March in Birmingham, Eng. He won in a sport almost completely dominated by Asia. At the Olympics he was the only European to place first, second,

Mammal, Social behavior

2005-02-19T03:55:00.000-08:00

The dependence of the young mammal on its mother for nourishment has made possible a period of training. Such training permits the nongenetic transfer of information between generations. The ability of young mammals to learn from the experience of their elders has allowed a behavioral plasticity unknown in any other group of organisms and has been a primary

Glassware, Venice and the façon de Venise

2005-02-18T23:34:00.000-08:00

A glass industry was already established near Venice in the 7th century, and vessel glass was made there by the last quarter of the 10th century. In 1291 the glass furnaces were removed to the neighbouring island of Murano to remove the risk of fire from the city. Although Venice had constant contact with the East, there is no evidence that it was indebted to that source for its

Yacht

2005-02-18T00:33:00.000-08:00

Ocean racing began in 1866 with a match race held under NYYC rules from Sandy Hook, Conn., to Cowes, Isle of Wight, Eng., by three schooners of 32- to 32.6-metre length: Fleetwing, Vesta, and Henrietta. Henrietta, owned by the American newspaper publisher James Gordon Bennett, won in 13 days of sailing. The first single-sailor transatlantic voyage was made in a 6-metre boat by Alfred Johnson in

Arpino, Gerald

2005-02-17T14:33:00.000-08:00

While serving in the U.S. Coast Guard (1945–48), Arpino met dancer Robert Joffrey in Seattle, Wash., and learned dancing in his spare time. Later, after training and performing in New York City, he toured with the Ballet Russe and appeared in Broadway musicals. He helped Joffrey

Undersea Cable

2005-02-17T11:38:00.000-08:00

Also called Marine Cable, assembly of conductors enclosed by an insulating sheath and laid on the ocean floor for the transmission of messages. Undersea cables for transmitting telegraph signals antedated the invention of the telephone; the first undersea telegraph cable was laid in 1850 between England and France. The Atlantic was spanned in 1858 between Ireland and Newfoundland, but the cable's

Cherub

2005-02-16T13:39:00.000-08:00

Plural Cherubim, in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic literature, a celestial winged being with human, animal, or birdlike characteristics who functions as a throne bearer of the deity. Derived from ancient Middle Eastern mythology and iconography, these celestial beings serve important liturgical and intercessory functions in the hierarchy of angels. The term most likely derives

Ibn Qutaybah

2005-02-16T03:12:00.000-08:00

Little is known of Ibn Qutaybah's life. Of Khorasanian stock, he was qadi (religious judge) of Dinawar (c. 851–870). From c. 871 until his

Music

2005-02-15T13:29:00.000-08:00

Both the simple folk song and the complex electronic composition belong to the same activity, music. Both are humanly engineered; both are conceptual and auditory, and

Cynric

2005-02-15T07:00:00.000-08:00

King of the West Saxons, or Wessex (from 534). By some accounts he also reigned jointly (519–534) with his grandfather (or father?), Cerdic, founder of Wessex. The period was apparently one of consolidating gains climaxed by the Battle of Mount Badon (520) rather than a period of further expansion, though Cynric is said to have routed Britons in battle at least once, at a place called Searobyrg

Asean Regional Forum

2005-02-14T16:49:00.000-08:00

Reference guides useful for research on the ARF are Anthony McGrew and Christopher Brook (eds.), Asia-Pacific in the New World Order (1998); and Lawrence T. Woods, Asia-Pacific Diplomacy: Nongovernmental Organizations and International Relations (1993).

Arzawa

2005-02-13T10:32:00.000-08:00

Ancient kingdom of western or southwestern Anatolia (its exact location is disputed). Although Arzawa was for long periods a rival of the Hittite kingdom, it was occasionally conquered and made a vassal by some of the more powerful Hittite kings, such as Labarnas I (c. 1680–c. 1650 BC). During the period of Hittite decline after the end of the Old Kingdom (c. 1500 BC), Arzawa's power and prominence

Silica

2005-02-13T07:19:00.000-08:00

Also called Silicon Dioxide, compound of the two most abundant elements in the Earth's crust, silicon and oxygen, SiO2. The mass of the Earth's crust is 59 percent silica, the main constituent of more than 95 percent of the known rocks. Silica has three main crystalline varieties: quartz (by far the most abundant), tridymite, and cristobalite. Other varieties include coesite, keatite, and lechatelierite. Silica

Paraguarí

2005-02-13T04:39:00.000-08:00

City, southern Paraguay. It lies on the southern slopes of the forested extension of the Brazilian Highlands, including the Cordillera de los Altos, a mountainous chain that reaches westward to Asunción. Originally a Jesuit mission, the city was formally organized in 1775. In 1811, when Paraguay stood aside from the Argentine colonies in their revolt against Spain,

Coimbra, Pedro, 1o Duque De

2005-02-12T23:53:00.000-08:00

The second of the “illustrious generation,” comprising the sons of John I and Philippa of Lancaster, Pedro was present at the conquest of Ceuta from the Muslims in 1415 and later traveled abroad in Europe,

Arnsberg

2005-02-12T20:11:00.000-08:00

City, North Rhine–Westphalia Land (state), western Germany. It lies along a loop of the Ruhr River, east of Iserlohn. Situated between wooded mountains and known as the Pearl of the Sauerland (southern land of Westphalia), it is a popular spa and summer resort. Arnsberg originated in the 11th century around a castle of the counts of Werl and was chartered in 1238. The countship of

Baseball

2005-02-12T02:44:00.000-08:00

Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals and Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs, the two sluggers who shattered major league baseball's existing home-run records in 1998, staged a reprise in 1999, with 65 and 63 home runs, respectively. Offense overall throughout both the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) increased substantially; the total home-run output of 5,528 broke the previous

Douglass, Frederick

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

Separated as an infant from his slave mother

Adams, Louisa

2005-02-11T16:32:00.000-08:00

Following her husband's death in 1848, Louisa continued to live in Washington, where she died in 1852. In an unprecedented mark of respect for a former first lady, Congress adjourned for her funeral so that members could pay their respects. She was buried beside her husband and his parents at the First Church in Quincy, Massachusetts.

World War I, The Russian revolutions and the Eastern Front, March 1917March 1918

2005-02-10T04:33:00.000-08:00

The Russian Revolution of March (February, old style) 1917 put an end to the autocratic monarchy of imperial Russia and replaced it with a provisional government. But the latter's authority was at once contested by soviets, or “councils of workers' and soldiers' deputies,” who claimed to represent the masses of the people and so to be the rightful conductors of the revolution.

Margherita Peak

2005-02-09T22:06:00.000-08:00

French Pic Marguerite, highest summit of the Ruwenzori Range in East Africa and the third highest in Africa (after Mounts Kilimanjaro and Kenya). Margherita Peak is the highest peak on Mount Stanley. It rises to 16,795 feet (5,119 m) between Lake Albert (Lake Mobutu Sese Seko) to the north and Lake Edward to the south on the Congo (Kinshasa)–Uganda border. It was first climbed in 1906 by an expedition led by Luigi Amedeo