HighMars

Wahiawa

2005-04-04T22:12:00.000-07:00

City, Honolulu county, west-central Oahu Island, Hawaii, U.S. It is situated on the 1,000-foot- (300-metre-) high Leilehua Plateau between the two forks of the Kaukonahua Stream. Wahiawa (meaning “place of noise”) is a commercial centre for nearby plantation communities and military installations (Schofield Barracks and Wheeler Air Force Base). It is the site of company housing developments

Line-and-wash Drawing

2005-04-04T19:25:00.000-07:00

Also called Pen-and-wash Drawing, in the visual arts, a drawing marked out by pen or some similar instrument and then tinted with diluted ink or watercolour. In 13th-century China, artists used transparent ink washes to create delicate atmospheric effects. The line-and-wash technique was practiced in Europe from the Renaissance, and in the early 15th century Cennino Cennini gave detailed instructions

Oliver, King

2005-04-03T03:51:00.000-07:00

Born on a plantation, Oliver went to New Orleans

Hadejia

2005-04-02T06:42:00.000-08:00

Town and traditional emirate, eastern Jigawa state, northern Nigeria. It lies on the northern bank of the Hadejia River (a seasonal tributary of the Komadugu Yobe, which flows into Lake Chad). The emirate's savanna area originally included Hadejia and six other small Hausa kingdoms that paid tribute to the kingdom of Bornu. About 1805, Umaru, a Fulani leader who held the title

Borel, émile

2005-04-01T11:16:00.000-08:00

The son of a Protestant pastor, Borel exhibited his mathematical talent from a young

Wahiawa

2005-04-01T07:18:00.000-08:00

Cable News Network was created in June 1980 by Ted Turner (q.v.), founder of the Turner Broadcasting System. He established news bureaus in major American cities and in other cities throughout the world. The resulting continuous live news coverage,

North Lincolnshire

2005-03-31T23:34:00.000-08:00

Unitary authority, geographic and historic county of Lincolnshire, England, comprising a low plain on the south shore of the River Humber estuary that extends inland to the northernmost Lincolnshire Wolds and the reclaimed wetlands of the Isle of Axholme along the River Trent. The unitary authority covers a largely rural and agricultural area. Its fertile lands

Yi Dynasty

2005-03-31T13:44:00.000-08:00

General Yi established

älvsborg

2005-03-28T19:01:00.000-08:00

Former län (county) of southwestern Sweden, located to the west and south of Lake Vänern. Formed as a county in 1634, it was merged with the counties of Göteborg och Bohus and Skaraborg in 1998 to form the county of Västra Götaland.

Rapier, James T.

2005-03-28T01:43:00.000-08:00

Born in affluence—his father was a wealthy planter—Rapier was educated by private tutors and later studied at Montreal College (Canada), the University of Glasgow (Scotland), and Franklin College (Nashville,

Kara-bogaz-gol Gulf

2005-03-26T13:53:00.000-08:00

Russian Zaliv Kara-Bogaz-Gol , Turkmen Garabogazköl Aylagy inlet of the eastern Caspian Sea in northwestern Turkmenistan. With an area of 4,600–5,000 square miles (12,000–13,000 square km), it averages only 33 feet (10 m) in depth and has a very high evaporation rate. The water is thus extremely saline, and 7,000–11,000 cubic feet (200–300 cubic m) of water a second are drawn in from the Caspian through the narrow strait between the two sandy spits separating the gulf from the sea. The

Italo-albanian Church

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

Also called Italo-greek Church, or Italo-greek-albanian Church, an Eastern-rite member of the Roman Catholic communion, comprising the descendants of ancient Greek colonists in southern Italy and Sicily and 15th-century Albanian refugees from Ottoman rule. The Italo-Greeks were Byzantine-rite Catholics; but, after the Norman invasion of the 11th century, most of them were forcibly Latinized. Byzantine practices were partially

Yupik Language

2005-03-26T02:29:00.000-08:00

The western division of the Eskimo languages, spoken in southwestern Alaska and in Siberia.

Azide

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

Any of a class of chemical compounds containing three nitrogen atoms as a group, represented as (-N3). Azides are considered as derived from hydrazoic acid (HN3), an inorganic salt such as sodium azide (NaN3), or an organic derivative in which the hydrogen atom of hydrazoic acid is replaced by a hydrocarbon group as in alkyl or aryl azide (RN3), or by an acyl (carboxylic acid) group

Profit

2005-03-24T16:57:00.000-08:00

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

Pend Oreille, Lake

2005-03-24T13:54:00.000-08:00

Lake in Kaniksu National Forest, northwestern Idaho, U.S. The largest lake in Idaho, it is about 40 miles (65 km) long and 4 miles (6.5 km) wide and covers an area of some 125 square miles (325 square km). It is about 2,500 feet (760 metres) deep and is noted for the highly prized Kamloops rainbow trout. The lake (the name of which is derived from the French name [Pend d'Oreille] for the Kalispel Indians, who wore ear

China, The Tien Shan

2005-03-23T14:24:00.000-08:00

The Chinese part of the Tien Shan consists of a complex system of ranges and depressions in which two major groups of ranges—the northern and southern—may be distinguished. They are separated by a strip of intermontane depressions that is broken up by the interior ranges. Ancient metamorphic rock (formed under heat and pressure) constitutes the larger portion of

Finnish Literature

2005-03-22T22:52:00.000-08:00

Although a number of talented poets wrote in Finnish in the 17th and 18th centuries, it was only with Aleksis Kivi that a genuine

Mycosis

2005-03-22T05:53:00.000-08:00

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

Panama

2005-03-21T19:35:00.000-08:00

Electoral campaigning began in preparation for the May 2004 general elections. Three candidates emerged as the leading contenders: Martin Torrijos, who

Ambrym

2005-03-21T16:14:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Ambrim, island of Vanuatu, southwestern Pacific Ocean. It has an area of 257 sq mi (665 sq km) and is known for its two active volcanoes: Mt. Marum, 4,167 ft (1,270 m), which last erupted in 1973; and Mt. Benbow, 3,720 ft, which had major eruptions in 1894, 1913, 1929, 1942, 1950, 1972 and 1973. The 1950 eruption was serious enough to warrant the evacuation of several hundred persons for resettlement on Éfaté. The island produces copra. Pop. (1979) 6,311.

1054, Schism Of

2005-03-21T08:24:00.000-08:00

The relation of the Byzantine Church to the Roman may be described as

Asbestos

2005-03-19T18:06:00.000-08:00

Any of several minerals that readily separate into long, flexible fibres. Chrysotile, the fibrous form of the mineral serpentine, is the best-known type and accounts for about 95 percent of all asbestos in commercial use. It is a hydrous magnesium silicate with the chemical composition of Mg3Si2O5(OH)4. The other types all belong to the amphibole group of minerals and include

Swan River

2005-03-19T05:31:00.000-08:00

Ephemeral river of southwestern Western Australia. It rises in the hills south of Corrigin as the Avon and flows 224 mi (360 km) northwest and southwest past Northam and Perth to the Indian Ocean at Fremantle. It is known as the Swan only along its lower 60-mi course. The rivers Helena (site of Mundaring Weir) and Canning are left-bank tributaries. Dry during much of the summer and

Argentina, Trade

2005-03-19T00:02:00.000-08:00

In the 19th century Argentine beef and grain helped feed Britain's rapidly rising urban population, and

Einstein, Albert

2005-03-18T02:58:00.000-08:00

German-American physicist who developed the special and general theories of relativity and won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921 for his explanation of the photoelectric effect. In the first 15 years of the 20th century, Einstein—recognized in his own time as one of the most creative intellects in human

Gadolinium

2005-03-17T11:27:00.000-08:00

(Gd), chemical element, rareearth metal of transition Group IIIb of the periodic table. Silvery white and moderately ductile, the metal reacts slowly with oxygen and water. Below 17° C it is ferromagnetic and at very low temperatures, superconducting. Credit for the discovery of gadolinium is shared by J.-C.-G. de Marignac and P.-É. Lecoq de Boisbaudran. Marignac separated (1880) a new

Atholl, John Stewart, 4th Earl Of

2005-03-17T10:45:00.000-08:00

The son of John Stewart, the 3rd Earl of Atholl in the Stewart line (whom he succeeded in 1542), Atholl was particularly trusted by Mary Stuart; but, after the murder of Mary's husband Lord Darnley in 1567, he joined the Protestant lords against her

Selim Ii

2005-03-17T00:30:00.000-08:00

Selim,

Diet

2005-03-16T11:39:00.000-08:00

Under the Meiji Constitution of 1889, the Imperial Diet was established on the basis of two houses with coequal powers. The upper house, the House of Peers (Kizokuin), was almost wholly appointive. Initially, its membership was slightly less than 300, but it was subsequently increased to approximately 400. The peers were intended to represent

Roman Empire, Eastern

2005-03-15T23:32:00.000-08:00

The eastern half of the Roman Empire, which maintained itself for a thousand years after the western half broke up in the late 5th century AD. The eastern half survived until 1453 as the Byzantine Empire (q.v.).

Bridge

2005-03-14T19:09:00.000-08:00

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

Porteous Riots

2005-03-14T17:45:00.000-08:00

On April 14, 1736, a smuggler, Andrew Wilson, who had won popular sympathy in Edinburgh by helping a friend escape from Tolbooth Prison, was hanged. A small riot broke out at the execution, and the

Himyar

2005-03-14T17:09:00.000-08:00

The Himyarites were concentrated in the area known as Dhu Raydan on the coast of present-day Yemen (San'a'); they were probably aided in the overthrow of their Sabaean kinsmen by the discovery of a sea route from Egypt

Eliot, George

2005-03-13T10:25:00.000-08:00

Evans was born on an estate of her father's employer. She went as a boarder to Mrs. Wallington's School

Earth, The magnetotail current

2005-03-13T00:51:00.000-08:00

Radially outward near local midnight rather than at local noon, there is an entirely different current system. Beginning at approximately 10 Re and extending well beyond 200 Re is the tail current system. This current is from dawn to dusk in the same direction as the ring current on the nightside of the Earth. In fact, it is produced by the same mechanism except that, in this

Dabrowska, Maria

2005-03-12T20:56:00.000-08:00

Born into a relatively impecunious family of landowners, Dabrowska was educated in Poland, at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, and then in Belgium. Afterward, she lived in France and Great Britain until World War II. In 1909 she had begun to write articles

Cloisonnism

2005-03-12T03:44:00.000-08:00

Painting method used in the style known as Synthetism (q.v.).

Rowell, Galen

2005-03-11T20:36:00.000-08:00

American landscape photographer (b. Aug. 23, 1940, Berkeley, Calif.—d. Aug. 11, 2002, Bishop, Calif.), captured breathtaking images of some of the remotest parts of the world. Galen was an avid mountain climber and traveler; his photography was a natural extension of his love for the ever-decreasing wilderness around him. In turn, he used his work to further conservation awareness in an attempt

Forbes, James David

2005-03-11T19:39:00.000-08:00

Educated at the University of Edinburgh, Forbes became a professor there in 1833. Between 1836 and 1844 he published four series of “Researches on Heat” in which he described the polarization (alignment of waves to vibrate in a plane) of radiant infrared heat by the mineral

Calamy, Edmund

2005-03-11T05:31:00.000-08:00

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

Goatsucker

2005-03-10T03:13:00.000-08:00

Alternative name of birds of the family Caprimulgidae, otherwise known as nightjars (q.v.). The name goatsucker is sometimes applied to the order, Caprimulgiform.

Crabbe, George

2005-03-09T14:50:00.000-08:00

Crabbe grew up in the impoverished seacoast village of Aldeburgh and was apprenticed to a surgeon at 14. Hating his mean surroundings and unsuccessful occupation, he abandoned both in 1780 and went to London. In 1781 he wrote a

Juárez, Benito (pablo)

2005-03-09T07:04:00.000-08:00

National hero of Mexico, president of Mexico (1861–72), who, for three years (1864–67), fought against foreign occupation under the emperor Maximilian and who sought constitutional reforms to create a democratic federal republic.

Mahal, Taj

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

Taj Mahal (the name came to him in a dream) grew up in a musical family. His father, of Jamaican background, was a jazz

Muri

2005-03-08T06:26:00.000-08:00

Town and traditional emirate, northwestern Taraba state, eastern Nigeria. Originally part of the 17th-century Jukun kingdom called Kororofa, the region now known as Muri emirate was conquered in the 1804 jihad (holy war) conducted by the Fulani people. By 1817 Hamman Ruwa, a brother of the emir of Gombe, an emirate to the north, had consolidated Fulani control over the non-Muslim

Adamawa

2005-03-07T09:23:00.000-08:00

Traditional emirate centred in what is now Adamawa state, eastern Nigeria. The emirate was founded by Modibbo Adama, who was one of Sheikh Usman dan Fodio's commanders and who began a Fulani jihad (holy war) in 1809 against the non-Muslim peoples of the region. Adama moved the capital of his kingdom, which was then known as Fumbina, several times before settling it finally in

Andrew Ii

2005-03-06T20:22:00.000-08:00

The son of Béla III, Andrew succeeded László III, his elder brother's son, on the throne in 1205. Powerful landed interests forced Andrew to spend royal funds so recklessly that the crown

Sokch'o

2005-03-06T18:54:00.000-08:00

City, Kangwon do (province), northeastern South Korea, on the Sea of Japan. Ch'ongch'o Lagoon is in the southern part of the city. The coastal waters provide good fishing grounds for cuttlefish, pollack, and mackerel. Linked with Seoul by air and road, the city became a mineral transfer port in 1937. Since the Korean War armistice (1953), it has been a part of South Korea. Pop. (1990) 73,805.

Black Stone Of Mecca

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

Arabic Al-hajar Al-aswad, Muslim object of veneration, built into the eastern wall of the Ka'bah (small shrine within the Great Mosque of Mecca) and probably dating from the pre-Islamic religion of the Arabs. It now consists of three large pieces and some fragments, surrounded by a stone ring and held together with a silver band. According to popular Islamic legend, the stone was given to Adam on his

Fitch, Clyde

2005-03-05T21:13:00.000-08:00

Fitch graduated from Amherst College in 1886. In New York City he began writing short stories for magazines. A prolific writer, he produced 33 original plays and 22 adaptations, including Beau Brummel (1890), written for the actor Richard Mansfield, The

Mclachlan, Alexander

2005-03-04T20:12:00.000-08:00

Scottish-born poet, called by some the Burns of Canada for his Scots dialect poetry, much of which deals with the homesickness of Scots immigrants. McLachlan was the foremost among a number of such Scottish bards, whose themes of nostalgia for Scotland appear to be literary conventions rather than original

Badarian Culture

2005-03-04T09:06:00.000-08:00

Although the Badarians apparently continued the agricultural and pastoral practices of the Tasians (see Tasian

Hooghly River

2005-03-04T00:15:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Hugli, river in West Bengal state, northeastern India, an arm of the Ganges, providing access to Calcutta from the Bay of Bengal. It is formed by the junction of the Bhagirathi and Jalangi rivers at Nabadwip. From there the Hooghly flows generally south for about 160 miles (about 260 km) to the Bay of Bengal, through a heavily industrialized area with more than one-half of West Bengal's population.

Fury

2005-03-03T11:57:00.000-08:00

Plural Furies, Latin Furia, plural Furiae, Greek Erinys, plural Erinyes, also called Eumenes (“Kind One”), plural Eumenides, in Greco-Roman mythology, one of a group of goddesses of vengeance. They were probably personified curses but possibly were originally conceived of as ghosts of the murdered. According to the Greek poet Hesiod they were the daughters of Gaea (Earth) and sprang from the blood of her mutilated spouse Uranus; in the plays of Aeschylus they were the daughters of Nyx; in those

France, History Of, Internal conflict on the left

2005-03-03T11:44:00.000-08:00

Throughout the 1920s, however, much of the working class remained alienated from a regime that showed little concern for social reform. The CGT had emerged from the war with redoubled strength and energy, its membership swelled by the workers who had poured into new war industries in the Paris region. The Clemenceau government had rewarded labour for its war effort by

Law, Crime, And Law Enforcement, International Organizations.

2005-03-03T00:49:00.000-08:00

New regional organizations included the Arctic Council, which was inaugurated in September and comprised Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Russia, and the U.S.; the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, the Saami Council, and the Russian Association of Indigenous Minorities of the North, Siberia, and the Far East were named as "permanent participants." The council

Gaucho

2005-03-01T22:36:00.000-08:00

Gauchos were usually mestizos (persons

Musical Notation

2005-03-01T22:04:00.000-08:00

Two developments in musical style in the 20th century have placed great strain upon staff notation: integral serialism—in which the music is controlled by a mathematical system—and indeterminacy, or chance music. In the former, every note in a texture may have its individual dynamic marking and type of attack (for example, in Olivier Messiaen's Mode de valeurs et

Loyola University Chicago

2005-03-01T09:54:00.000-08:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Chicago, Ill., U.S. It is affiliated with the Jesuit order of the Roman Catholic church. Comprising nine schools and colleges across six campuses, it offers bachelor's and master's degrees in more than 40 fields, doctoral degrees in more than 30 programs, and several professional degrees. One of the two Chicago campuses,

Welfare State

2005-02-28T01:30:00.000-08:00

Concept of government in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens. It is based on the principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for those unable to avail themselves of the minimal provisions for a good life. The general term may cover

Biblical Literature, Origen's Hexapla

2005-02-27T19:13:00.000-08:00

The multiplication of versions doubtless proved to be a source of increasing confusion in the 3rd century. This situation the Alexandrian theologian Origen, working at Caesarea between 230 and 240 CE, sought to remedy. In his Hexapla (“six-fold”) he presented, in parallel vertical columns, the Hebrew text, the same in Greek letters, and the versions of Aquila, Symmachus, the Septuagint,

Domestic Violence

2005-02-26T20:35:00.000-08:00

Social and legal concept that, in the broadest sense, refers to any abuse that takes place among people living in the same household, although the term is often used specifically to refer to assaults upon women by their male partners. Estimated annual figures for the number of women in the United States who are subjected to psychological, verbal, emotional, or physical

Turfan

2005-02-26T13:42:00.000-08:00

Chinese (Wade-Giles) T'u-lu-p'an, or (Pinyin) Turpan, city in the Uighur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang, China. It lies about 95 miles (150 km) southeast of the city of Urumchi (Wu-lu-mu-ch'i) in a mountain basin between the Po-ko-ta Mountains (an eastern extension of the Tien Shan) and the K'u-lu-k'o-t'a-ko range, on the northern side of the Turfan Depression. It has long been the centre of a fertile oasis and an important trade centre on the main

Girardon, François

2005-02-25T16:54:00.000-08:00

Giradon attracted the attention of Chancellor Pierre Séguier, who brought him to Paris to study under François Anguier and afterward sent him to Rome. He returned to France about 1650, becoming a member of the

Gaetulia

2005-02-25T08:38:00.000-08:00

Ancient district of interior North Africa that in Roman times, at least, was inhabited by wandering tribes, the Gaetuli. The area, not clearly defined, included the southern slopes of the Atlas Mountains, from the Aurès Massif westward as far as the Atlantic; southward it extended to the oases in the northern part of the Sahara. Distinguished from the Negro tribes to

Kamloops

2005-02-25T07:45:00.000-08:00

City, southern British Columbia, Can. It lies astride the confluence of the North and South Thompson rivers near their expansion into Kamloops Lake and adjacent to the Kamloops Indian Reserve, 220 miles (355 km) by road northeast of Vancouver. It originated as a trading settlement, founded by Alexander Ross of the Pacific (Astoria) Fur Company, who called it Cumcloups (from an

Cheju

2005-02-24T04:59:00.000-08:00

City and provincial capital, Cheju do (province), on the northern coast of Cheju Island, off the southern coast of South Korea. It is the island's largest city and has its only airport, which handles both domestic and international flights. The political, commercial, and cultural centre of the island since it was an independent kingdom in ancient times, it developed as

Earthenware

2005-02-23T18:45:00.000-08:00

Pottery that has not been fired to the point of vitrification and is thus slightly porous and coarser than stoneware and porcelain. The body can be covered completely or decorated with slip (a liquid clay mixture applied before firing) or it can be glazed. For both practical and decorative reasons, earthenware is usually glazed. To overcome its porosity

Mountain, Crustal shortening

2005-02-22T16:26:00.000-08:00

In most mountain belts, terrains have been elevated as a result of crustal shortening by the thrusting of one block or slice of crust over another and/or by the folding of layers of rock. The topography of mountain ranges and mountain belts depends in part on the amount of displacement on such faults, on the angles at which faults dip, on the degree to which crustal shortening

Keratosis

2005-02-22T11:18:00.000-08:00

Any protuberance on the skin resulting from the overdevelopment of the horny outermost covering of the skin, or epidermis, the main constituent of which is the protein keratin, which is synthesized in special cells of the skin, the keratinocytes. More generally, keratosis is any skin disorder attended by horny growths. The causes and lesions characteristic of keratotic

Top Shell

2005-02-22T04:09:00.000-08:00

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

Allentown

2005-02-21T20:37:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1812) of Lehigh county, eastern Pennsylvania, U.S. Situated on the Lehigh River, Allentown, with Bethlehem and Easton, forms an industrial complex. William Allen, mayor of Philadelphia and later chief justice of Pennsylvania, laid out the town (1762), naming it Northampton. It was incorporated as the borough of Northampton in 1811 and was later (1838) officially renamed Allentown

Cord, Errett Lobban

2005-02-21T11:57:00.000-08:00

Previously a racing car mechanic and driver, he became president of the Auburn Automobile Company (founded 1900), Auburn, Ind., in 1924. Two years later he acquired the Duesenberg Motor Company (founded 1920), Indianapolis, Ind.; the brothers Fred and August Duesenberg designed the

Meteor Crater

2005-02-21T11:41:00.000-08:00

Also called Barringer Meteorite Crater, Coon Butte, Arizona Meteor Crater, or Canyon Diablo, rimmed, bowl-shaped pit produced by a large meteorite in the rolling plain of the Canyon Diablo region, 19 miles (30 km) west of Winslow, Arizona, U.S. The crater is 4,000 feet (1,200 metres) in diameter and about 600 feet (180 metres) deep inside its rim, which rises nearly 200 feet (60 metres) above the plain. Drillings reveal undisturbed rock beneath 700–800 feet (213–244 metres) of fill. The strata forming the rim of the crater

Scaevola, Quintus Mucius

2005-02-20T09:06:00.000-08:00

Instructed in law by his father and in philosophy by the stoic Panaetius of Rhodes, Scaevola became governor of the province of Asia about 120. Although accused of extortion on his return to Rome, he defended himself successfully

North Africa, History Of, Morocco under sharifian dynasties

2005-02-19T21:44:00.000-08:00

As a reaction to the Portuguese presence in Agadir, the tribes in southern Morocco were organized by the sharifian Sa'di family—with the active support of Sufi leaders—into a militant religious movement directed against both the Portuguese presence and Morocco's own rulers, the Wattasids. The latter was a branch of the Marinid dynasty that had usurped power in Fez in 1472 and

Yajuj And Majuj

2005-02-19T15:48:00.000-08:00

In Islamic eschatology, two hostile forces who will ravage the Earth before the end of the world. The Qur'an relates that a certain people terrorized by Yajuj and Majuj induced Alexander the Great to construct a great wall between them. Yajuj and Majuj, thus trapped between two mountains until the last days of the world, dig under the wall every night trying to escape, only to find

Aarau

2005-02-19T04:46:00.000-08:00

Capital of Aargau canton, northern Switzerland, at the southern foot of the Jura Mountains, on the right bank of the Aare River, west of Zürich. Founded about 1240 by the counts of Kyburg, it passed to the Habsburgs in 1264 and was taken by the Bernese in 1415. In 1798 it became the capital of the Helvetian Republic. Notable landmarks include several 13th-century towers, the town church (1471), the town

Pitted Shell Turtle

2005-02-18T05:45:00.000-08:00

Also called Fly River Turtle, or New Guinea Plateless Turtle (species Carettochelys insculpta), any member of a single species in the turtle family Carettochelyidae. The species lives in rivers in southern New Guinea and in a limited region in northern Australia. A combination of characteristics separates C. insculpta from other turtles, including a leathery shell with no scutes and sea turtlelike flippers. Little is known

Hyde, Charles Cheney

2005-02-17T13:49:00.000-08:00

Hyde taught at the law school of Northwestern University, Chicago (1907–25), and then became professor of international law and diplomacy at Columbia University (1925–45). He served as solicitor for the U.S.

China, Educational and cultural policy changes

2005-02-17T00:51:00.000-08:00

In the educational system, the reformers gave top priority to training technical, scientific, and scholarly talent to world-class standards. This involved the re-creation of a highly selective and elitist higher educational system, with admission based on competitive academic examination. Graduate study programs were introduced, and thousands of Chinese were

Faraj

2005-02-16T07:43:00.000-08:00

Faraj's father, Barquq, died in 1399. While he was a child, two guardians, representing the rival

Quicklime

2005-02-15T19:20:00.000-08:00

Calcium oxide, an alkaline inorganic compound of calcium (q.v.).

Wang Mang

2005-02-14T15:24:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Wang Mang , posthumous name, or shih (Wade-Giles romanization) Chia Huang-ti , or She Huang-ti founder of the short-lived Hsin dynasty (AD 9–25). He is known in Chinese history as the “Usurper.”

Spanish Language

2005-02-14T05:49:00.000-08:00

Spanish is also known (particularly in Latin America) as Castilian, after the dialect from which modern standard Spanish developed.

Switzerland, Skies and temperatures

2005-02-14T04:20:00.000-08:00

The stable high-pressure weather conditions prevailing over central Europe and the Alps during the autumn and winter create cold air masses that result in lowland fog, a climatic phenomenon with widely varying consequences. The mouths of the northern Alpine valleys, the basins of the Jura Mountains, and the villages and cities of the low areas of the Mittelland

Manas Wild Life Sanctuary

2005-02-13T19:16:00.000-08:00

Also called Kamrup Sanctuary, wildlife sanctuary in western Assam state, eastern India. It is situated at the foot of the Himalayas on the eastern bank of the Manas River, 92 miles (153 km) west of Gauhati town. Established in 1928, it has an area of 151 square miles (391 square km) and lies in a dense, mixed semievergreen, evergreen, and wet-deciduous forest region. The southern part of the preserve is grassland. Wildlife includes

Sorosilicate

2005-02-13T16:34:00.000-08:00

Formerly called Pyrosilicate, any member of a group of compounds with structures that have two silicate tetrahedrons (a central silicon atom surrounded by four oxygen atoms at the corners of a tetrahedron) linked together. Because one oxygen atom is shared by two tetrahedrons, the chemical formula contains Si2O7, as in melilite or hemimorphite.

Biblical Literature, The Story of Ahikar

2005-02-12T16:14:00.000-08:00

According to the book of Tobit, Ahikar, the cupbearer of the Assyrian king Esarhaddon, was Tobit's nephew; he is a secondary personage in the plot, and his own story is mentioned. Ahikar is the hero of a Near Eastern non-Jewish work, The Story of Ahikar. The book exists in medieval translations, the best of them in Syriac. The story was known in the Persian period in the Jewish

Cavalcanti, Guido

2005-02-11T18:30:00.000-08:00

Born into an influential Florentine family of the Guelf (papal) party, Cavalcanti studied under the philosopher and scholar

Anti-semitism

2005-02-11T14:57:00.000-08:00

Hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious or racial group. The term anti-Semitism was coined in 1879 by the German agitator Wilhelm Marr to designate the anti-Jewish campaigns underway in central Europe at that time. Although this term now has wide currency, it is a misnomer, since it implies a discrimination against all Semites. Arabs and other peoples

Electrical And Electronics Engineering

2005-02-10T23:46:00.000-08:00

The branch of engineering concerned with the practical applications of electricity in all its forms, including those of the field of electronics. Electronics engineering is that branch of electrical engineering concerned with the uses of the electromagnetic spectrum and with the application of such electronic devices as integrated circuits, transistors,

Pavía Y Rodríguez De Alburquerque, Manuel

2005-02-10T09:54:00.000-08:00

In 1865 Pavía joined the staff of Gen. Juan Prim, whom he supported in the unsuccessful uprisings of 1866 and, after two years in exile, in the successful revolution of 1868 that deposed Isabella II (1833–68). After the abdication of Amadeus (February 1873) and the proclamation of the First Republic, Pavía suppressed

Osa

2005-02-09T13:18:00.000-08:00

City and administrative centre of Osa rayon (sector), Perm oblast (province), Russia, on the left bank of the Kama River near its confluence with the Tulva River. The city is about 60 miles (100 km) southwest of the city of Perm. Originally a village of Khanty (Ostyak), a Ugric-speaking people, it became the Russian town of Nikolskaya Sloboda in 1557 and was renamed Osa in 1737. Yemelyan Pugachov

Anser

2005-02-09T02:25:00.000-08:00

Bird genus of the family Anatidae (order Anseriformes). For a general discussion of the genus, see goose; for A. Albifrons, see white-fronted goose; for A. anser, see greylag; for A. caerulescens, see snow goose.

Teshio-sammyaku

2005-02-08T13:57:00.000-08:00

Also called Teshio-sanchi (Japanese: Teshio Range, or Teshio Mountain Country) range, northwestern Hokkaido, Japan, extending southward for nearly 125 mi (200 km) from Soya-misaki (Cape Soya), across the transverse gorge of the Ishikari-gawa (Ishikari River), to the Yubari-sammyaku. The mountains consist of Cretaceous formations in the east and coal-bearing Tertiary formations in the west, both of which are zonally arranged from north to south. The interior

Journalism

2005-02-08T07:25:00.000-08:00

The collection, preparation, and distribution of news and related commentary and feature materials through such media as pamphlets, newsletters, newspapers, magazines, radio, motion pictures, television, and books. The word journalism was originally applied to the reportage of current events in printed form, specifically newspapers, but with the advent of radio

Nitrite

2005-02-07T11:49:00.000-08:00

Any member of either of two classes of compounds derived from nitrous acid. Salts of nitrous acid are ionic compounds containing the nitrite ion, NO-2, and a positive ion such as Na+ in sodium nitrite (NaNO2). Esters of nitrous acid are covalent compounds having the structure R-O-N-O, in which R represents a carbon-containing combining group such as ethyl (C2H5) in ethyl nitrite.

Madhya Pradesh, Industry

2005-02-06T14:57:00.000-08:00

Overall, Madhya Pradesh remains an industrially underdeveloped state. In 1981 the Madhya Pradesh Industrial Development Corporation Ltd. was established to improve the infrastructure in the state's identified growth centres. Before this planned development took place, western Madhya Pradesh was the main industrial area—primarily producing consumer goods—but