DearKnee

Financial services

2007-01-10T09:50:00.000-08:00

Owner of 0800Promote, steve harris
has launched a new estate agency business, bringing a fresh approach to property services in North London.

Piura

2005-04-04T22:02:00.000-07:00

Capital of Piura department, northwestern Peru, on the Piura River in the warm coastal desert. San Miguel de Piura was the first city founded (1532) in Peru by the conquistador Francisco Pizarro. The original site proved unhealthful, and several other locations were occupied before the present site was settled in 1588. Piura retains a colonial flavour, especially in the church

Pierre Shale

2005-04-03T10:00:00.000-07:00

Division of Upper Cretaceous rocks in the United States (the Cretaceous Period lasted from 144 to 66.4 million years ago). Named for exposures studied near old Fort Pierre, S.D., the Pierre Shale occurs in South Dakota, Colorado, Minnesota, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Nebraska. The Pierre consists of about 600 m (2,000 feet) of dark gray shale, some sandstone, and many layers of bentonite (altered

Ghardaïa

2005-04-03T04:32:00.000-07:00

Chief town of the M'zab (q.v.) Oasis, north-central Algeria. It lies along the left bank of the Oued (wadi) Mzab in the northern Sahara (Desert). Founded in the 11th century, it was built around the cave (ghar) reputedly inhabited by the female saint Daïa (the cave is still venerated by M'zabite women). Ghardaïa is a fortified town with white and red clay houses that rise in terraces and

Grafton, Augustus Henry Fitzroy, 3rd Duke Of

2005-04-02T16:38:00.000-08:00

Grandson of the 2nd duke, Charles Fitzroy (1683–1757), and great-grandson of the 1st, he was educated at Westminster School and Peterhouse, Cambridge. He was secretary of state in 1765 under the Marquess of Rockingham but retired the following year. William

Eylau, Battle Of

2005-04-02T07:13:00.000-08:00

(Feb. 7–8, 1807), one of the engagements in the Napoleonic War of the Third Coalition. The first major deadlock suffered by Napoleon, the battle was fought around the East Prussian town of Eylau (modern Bagrationovsk, Russia), 23 miles (37 km) south of Königsberg (Kaliningrad). The 76,000 Russians and Prussians under Leonty Leontyevich Bennigsen confronted 74,000 men under Napoleon shortly after

Moser-pröll, Annemarie

2005-04-01T07:52:00.000-08:00

Pröll skied from the age of four. She tried out for the Austrian national ski team at the age of 15. Her Olympic Winter Games success came late. She won silver medals for the downhill and the giant slalom at the 1972 Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan,

Canadian River

2005-03-31T13:46:00.000-08:00

River that rises in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, northeastern New Mexico, U.S., and flows southward across the Las Vegas Plains, cutting a gorge nearly 1,500 feet (450 m) deep in the Canadian escarpment before turning eastward. It continues through the Texas Panhandle in a deep, narrow valley cut into reddish sandstones, the walls of which are known locally as the “breaks,” and flows

Numbat

2005-03-31T06:23:00.000-08:00

Also called Banded Anteater (Myrmecobius fasciatus), marsupial mammal of the family Dasyuridae (some authorities classify it as a family in its own right, Myrmecobiidae). It forages by day for termites in forests of southwestern Australia. Formerly widespread across southern Australia, the numbat is now restricted to the southwestern corner of the country and is regarded as an endangered

Epistatic Gene

2005-03-30T17:45:00.000-08:00

In genetics, a gene that determines whether or not a trait will be expressed. The system of genes that determines skin colour in man, for example, is independent of the gene responsible for albinism (lack of pigment) or the development of skin colour. This gene is an epistatic gene. When the albino condition occurs, the genes that determine skin colour are present but not

Koch, Frederick Henry

2005-03-29T22:14:00.000-08:00

Koch received his B.A. from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1900 and his M.A. from Harvard University in 1909. In 1905 he began teaching at the University of North Dakota, forming the Dakota Playmakers in 1910. Called to the University

Fullerton

2005-03-28T16:12:00.000-08:00

City, Orange county, southern California, U.S. Laid out in 1887 and named for George H. Fullerton, it developed as a citrus centre after the arrival of the Santa Fe Railroad in 1888. Residential and industrial growth has kept pace with the rapid development of the county since World War II. Fullerton College was founded in 1913, Pacific Christian College in 1928, and the California State University

Tala

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

In the music of India and Pakistan, a metric cycle with a specific number of beats—from 3 to 128—that recur in the same pattern throughout a musical performance. Tala might generally be equated with rhythm or metre, although the tala procedure has no precise counterpart in Western music. Within the pattern the beats are not necessarily grouped in identical subunits, as in

Xerox Parc

2005-03-27T02:23:00.000-08:00

Among the many inventions of the 1970s, few are as important as the personal computer, and, because the Xerox Alto was developed in 1973, PARC can claim credit for having made the first one. However, the mindset at Xerox, like that of all computer manufacturers of that time, was that a market did not exist for such machines. Corporate analysts asserted that the computer would be too

Mana

2005-03-26T21:14:00.000-08:00

Town, northwestern French Guiana, on the south bank of the Mana River, near its mouth on the Atlantic coast. It originated in 1830 around an orphanage founded by a French nun and, after 1848, also served as a refuge for runaway and newly emancipated slaves. The site of a large leprosarium, its economy is basically agricultural, including sugarcane and cattle. Pop. (1982) mun. 1,721.

Hugenberg, Alfred

2005-03-25T22:40:00.000-08:00

German industrialist and political leader. As the head of a huge newspaper and film empire and a prominent member of the conservative German National Peoples' Party, he exercised a profound influence on German public opinion during the Weimar Republic period (1918–33) and materially contributed to Adolf Hitler's rise

Ribeiro Couto, Rui

2005-03-25T10:33:00.000-08:00

Brazilian poet, short-story writer, and diplomat, one of the leading figures of Modernism in its early years. Originally a symbolist poet, Ribeiro Couto evolved toward the Modernism that exploded upon the Brazilian literary scene in the early 1920s, publishing poems and short stories concerning themes of humble everyday life. Besides his

Ghadamis

2005-03-25T01:53:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Ghudamis, Ghadames, or Gadames, oasis, northwestern Libya, near the Tunisian and Algerian borders. It lies at the bottom of a wadi (seasonal river) bordered by the steep slopes of the stony al-Hamra' Plateau. Located at the junction of ancient Saharan caravan routes, the town was the Roman stronghold Cydamus (whose ruins remain). It was an episcopal see under the Byzantines, and columns of the Christian church

Indian Philosophy, Vaisnava schools

2005-03-23T21:45:00.000-08:00

The main philosophers of the medieval Vaisnavism have been noted above. Vaisnavism, however, has a long history, traceable to the Vishnu worship of the Rigveda, the Bhakti conception of the epics, and the Vasudeva cult of the pre-Christian era. Of the two main Vaisnava scriptures, or agamas, the Pañcaratra (“Relating to the Period of Five Nights”) and the Vaikhanasa (“Relating to a Hermit

Clonograptus

2005-03-23T04:47:00.000-08:00

Genus of graptolites (extinct, small floating colonial animals related to the primitive chordates), characterized by a frondlike form. Groups of these animals were connected by stalklike structures to a central region. Various forms or species of Clonograptus are important guide, or index, fossils for the correlation of Ordovician rocks (505 to 438 million years ago).

Durance

2005-03-22T09:45:00.000-08:00

Latin Druentia, principal river draining the French side of the Alps toward the Mediterranean. From its origin in the Montgenèvre region, Hautes-Alpes département, to its confluence with the Rhône below Avignon, it is 189 mi (304 km) long. The Clairée and Guisane rivers, both of which are longer and more powerful streams than the Durance, join it above and in Briançon, through which it flows as

Liquidation

2005-03-21T09:57:00.000-08:00

Discharge of a debt or the determination by agreement or litigation of the amount of a previously unliquidated claim. One important legal meaning is the distribution of the assets of an enterprise among its creditors and proprietors. At the dissolution of a solvent corporation or unincorporated association, the assets are usually liquidated (turned into money)

Ch'ang-chih

2005-03-21T06:41:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Changzhi , formerly (until 1912) Lu-an city in southeast Shansi Province (sheng), China. It is situated in the Lu-an plain—a basin surrounded by the western highlands of the T'ai-hang Shan (mountains), watered by the Cho-chang-pei Yüan (stream), a tributary of the Wei Ho. It is a communication centre; to the east a route via Li-ch'eng, in Shansi, crosses the T'ai-hang Shan to Han-tan, Hopeh, on the North China Plain. To the northwest

Adanson, Michel

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

In 1749 Adanson left for Senegal to spend four years as an employee with the Compagnie des Indes, a trading company. He returned with a large collection of plant specimens,

Maura Y Montaner, Antonio

2005-03-19T06:57:00.000-08:00

Maura was elected

Armour, Philip Danforth

2005-03-18T05:20:00.000-08:00

Armour earned his first capital in California mining endeavours and cofounded a grain-dealing and meatpacking business in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1863. Anticipating a

Arts, Islamic, Turkish

2005-03-18T00:28:00.000-08:00

In Turkey, the adoption of Western forms began in the 1920s. Of major importance in modern Turkish literature was Orhan Veli Kanik, who combined perfect technique with “Istanbulian” charm. His work is sometimes melancholy, sometimes frivolous, but always convincing. He strongly influenced a group of poets whose names are connected with the avant-garde literary magazine

San Diego

2005-03-17T18:09:00.000-08:00

Port, city, and important U.S. military and naval base, seat (1850) of San Diego county, southern California, U.S. It lies along the Pacific Ocean at San Diego Bay (there bridged to Coronado). Sighted in 1542 and named San Miguel by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, the area was renamed San Diego de Alcalá de Henares in 1602 by Sebastián Vizcaíno. Gaspar de Portolá founded a presidio (military post) there

Jack The Ripper

2005-03-17T15:46:00.000-08:00

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

Gender Identity

2005-03-17T03:05:00.000-08:00

An individual's self-conception as being male or female, as distinguished from actual biological sex. For most persons, gender identity and biological characteristics are the same. There are, however, circumstances in which an individual experiences little or no connection between sex and gender; in transsexualism, for example, biological sexual characteristics

çatalhüyük

2005-03-15T13:19:00.000-08:00

Major Neolithic site in the Middle East, located near Konya in south-central Turkey. Excavations (1961–65) by the British archaeologist James Mellaart have shown that Anatolia in Neolithic times was the centre of an advanced culture. The earliest building period at Çatalhüyük is tentatively dated to about 6700 BC and the latest to about 5650 BC. The inhabitants lived in rectangular mud-brick

Buraq

2005-03-15T03:20:00.000-08:00

In Islamic tradition, a creature said to have transported the Prophet Muhammad to heaven. Described as “a white animal, half-mule, half-donkey, with wings on its sides . . . ,” Buraq was originally introduced into the story of Muhammad's night journey (isra') from Mecca to Jerusalem and back, thus explaining how the journey between the cities could have been completed in a single night.

Austin, Alfred

2005-03-15T00:51:00.000-08:00

Before his official appointment, Austin studied law and was called to the bar, tried to enter

Rocket And Missile System

2005-03-14T01:47:00.000-08:00

Strategic missiles represent a logical step in the attempt to attack enemy forces at a distance. As such, they can be seen as extensions of either artillery (in the case of ballistic missiles) or manned aircraft (in the case of cruise missiles). Ballistic missiles are rocket-propelled weapons that travel by momentum in a high, arcing trajectory after they have been launched

Cairo, Development of the city

2005-03-13T20:15:00.000-08:00

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

Hsi River

2005-03-13T08:16:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization Hsi Chiang , also spelled Si Kiang , Pinyin Xi Jiang , English West River longest river of southern China. It flows generally eastward for 1,216 miles (1,957 km) from the Yunnan highlands to the South China Sea and drains—along with the Pei, Tung, and the Pearl rivers—a basin 173,000 square miles (448,000 square km) in extent. It is shorter than the other important Chinese rivers—the Yangtze and the Huang Ho (Yellow River)—but it delivers an enormous quantity of water, and its

Biblical Literature, Legislation

2005-03-13T01:45:00.000-08:00

The book of Exodus includes not only the narrative and celebration of God's redemptive action in the Exodus and wanderings and his revealing presence at Mt. Sinai but also a corpus of legislation, both civil and religious, that is ascribed to God and this revelation event. The Covenant Code, or Book of the Covenant, presented in chapters 20–23, immediately following the Decalogue

Rach Gia

2005-03-12T22:44:00.000-08:00

Port city, northern Ca Mau Peninsula, southern Vietnam. It lies at the head of Rach Gia Bay on the Gulf of Thailand, at the north bank of the Cai Lon estuary, 120 miles (195 km) southwest of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). Formerly Cambodian territory, in 1715 the flat, forest-covered swamp was placed under the protection of the Nguyen lords of Hue; its Cambodian name is Kramuon-Sa. It became

Shedd Aquarium

2005-03-11T00:58:00.000-08:00

In full John G. Shedd Aquarium, one of the largest indoor aquariums in the world. Built with funds donated by John Graves Shedd, a prominent local businessman, the aquarium opened in Chicago in 1929. It contains more than 200 exhibition tanks, housing in excess of 5,000 specimens of 560 species of fishes (both freshwater and marine) and other aquatic animals from around the world. The total water capacity is more than

Nashville Convention

2005-03-11T00:06:00.000-08:00

(1850), two-session meeting of proslavery Southerners in the United States. John C. Calhoun initiated the drive for a meeting when he urged Mississippi to call for a convention. The resulting Mississippi Convention on Oct. 1, 1849, issued a call to all slave-holding states to send delegates to Nashville, Tenn., in order to form a united front against what was viewed as Northern

Belarus, Flag Of

2005-03-10T15:56:00.000-08:00

The Slavic peoples of what is now Belarus were in the past ruled by Prussia, Poland, Lithuania, and Russia. Consequently no distinctive national symbols were developed until the 20th century, when for the first time Belarus became independent. With the breakup of the Russian Empire near the end of World War I, a Belarusian state existed briefly. Its first flag was plain

Biblical Literature, The Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians

2005-03-10T08:53:00.000-08:00

This letter, as is I Corinthians, is composed of a collection of fragments of Paul's correspondence with the Corinthians about a year later (i.e., c. 55) from Macedonia. The diversity of I Corinthians was caused by the variety of problems discussed, but the diversity of II Corinthians was the result of a reflection of the underlying, rather turbulent history of Paul and his

Nelson, Baby Face

2005-03-09T10:00:00.000-08:00

From petty crime Nelson graduated into labour racketeering, working for Al Capone (1929–31) and other bootleg bosses; he was let go, however, proving too violent even for them. He then turned to bank robberies, joining with John Dillinger on two occasions

Grafton

2005-03-08T20:59:00.000-08:00

County, western New Hampshire, U.S. It is bounded to the west by Vermont (the Connecticut River constituting the entire border) and consists of a mountainous region, with the White Mountains and a large portion of White Mountain National Forest occupying the northeastern part of the county. It is drained by the Ammonoosuc, Baker, Mascoma, and Pemigewasset rivers. Other

Gymnosperm

2005-03-08T10:04:00.000-08:00

Any vascular plant that reproduces by means of an exposed seed, or ovule, as opposed to an angiosperm, or flowering plant, whose seeds are enclosed by mature ovaries, or fruits.The seeds of many gymnosperms (literally, “naked seed”) are borne in cones and are not visible. These cones, however, are not the same as fruits. During pollination, the immature male gametes, or pollen

Aye-aye

2005-03-08T01:13:00.000-08:00

(Daubentonia madagascariensis), rare, squirrellike primate, the sole living representative of the family Daubentoniidae, found in Madagascan rain forests. The aye-aye is about 40 cm (16 inches) long excluding the bushy, 55- to 60-centimetre tail; and it is covered with long, coarse, dark brown or black fur. It has a short face, large eyes, and rodentlike,

Belafonte, Harry

2005-03-07T03:03:00.000-08:00

Belafonte's parents were emigrants from the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Jamaica, and he lived with his mother during her 1935–40 return to Jamaica. He left high school to serve in the U.S. Navy in the mid-1940s; after returning to New York City he studied

Selangor Civil War

2005-03-06T21:23:00.000-08:00

Following the disputed recognition of Abdul Samad as sultan in 1860, Malay chiefs gradually became polarized into two camps—generally the lower-river versus the upper-river chiefs. The main issue concerned the lucrative

Clay Mineral, Kaolin-serpentine group

2005-03-06T19:39:00.000-08:00

Minerals of this groups are 1:1 layer silicates. Their basic unit of structure consists of tetrahedral and octahedral sheets in which the anions at the exposed surface of the octahedral sheet are hydroxyls (see Figure 4). The general structural formula may be expressed by Y2 - 3Z2O5(OH)4, where Y are cations in the octahedral sheet such as Al3+ and Fe3+ for dioctahedral species and Mg2+,

Ghi

2005-03-06T09:30:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Ghee, clarified butter, a staple food on the Indian subcontinent. See butterfat.

Science, Museum Of

2005-03-04T20:57:00.000-08:00

In Boston, Mass., major American museum of science and technology, founded in 1830. Its exhibits include rocks and minerals, plants, mounted animals, models of manned space capsules, medical topics, electricity, and other topics. The Charles Hayden Planetarium is on the museum grounds, and there is an extensive science library. Publications include a monthly

Adams, John

2005-03-04T06:09:00.000-08:00

The election of 1800 again pitted Adams against Jefferson. Adams ran ahead of the Federalist candidates for Congress, who were swept from office in a Republican landslide. However, thanks to the deft maneuvering of Aaron Burr, all 12 of New York's electoral votes went to Jefferson, giving the tandem of Jefferson and Burr the electoral victory (73–65). Jefferson was eventually elected president by the House of Representatives, which chose him over Burr on the 36th ballot. In his last weeks in office, Adams made several Federalist appointments to the judiciary, including John Marshall as chief justice of the United States. These “midnight judges” offended Jefferson, who resented the encroachment on his own presidential prerogatives. Adams, the first president to reside in the presidential mansion (later called the White House) in Washington, D.C., was also the first—and one of the very few—presidents not to attend the inauguration of his successor. On March 4, 1801, he was already on the road back to Quincy.

Muñoz, Juan

2005-03-04T02:47:00.000-08:00

Spanish sculptor (b. June 17, 1953, Madrid, Spain—d. Aug. 28, 2001, Ibiza, Spain), created moody and challenging installation artworks, most of which featured monochromatic human figures placed amid unnerving architectural spaces and often incorporating animatronics and sound. In 2000 Muñoz received Spain's highest cultural award, the Premio Nacional de Belles Artes. His last completed

Neuropteran

2005-03-04T02:15:00.000-08:00

All three orders may have evolved from an early mecopteran (scorpionfly) ancestral stem, prior to the Trichoptera–Lepidoptera offshoot (see section on Trichoptera). Carnivorous insects of varied structure and habit, both freshwater and terrestrial members of the three orders, are widely distributed with the exception of the snakeflies (which are confined to the

Bridgeport

2005-03-03T17:56:00.000-08:00

City, coextensive with the town (township) of Bridgeport, Fairfield county, southwestern Connecticut, U.S. The city, the most populous in the state, is a port on Long Island Sound at the mouth of the Pequonnock River. Settled in 1639, it was first known as Newfield and later as Stratfield. In 1800 it was incorporated as a borough and named Bridgeport for the first drawbridge over the

Francis I

2005-03-03T10:01:00.000-08:00

From

Japan

2005-03-03T05:05:00.000-08:00

On June 9 in Tokyo, Crown Prince Naruhito married Masako Owada (see BIOGRAPHIES), a career woman from the Foreign Ministry. Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko began an unprecedented four-day visit to Okinawa on April 23 to pay respect to nearly 200,000 soldiers and civilians killed in the Pacific war. After the empress collapsed on October 20, her 59th birthday, the only medical information

Yakutsk

2005-03-02T11:19:00.000-08:00

City and capital of Sakha republic (Yakutia), in far northeastern Russia, on the Lena River. A fort was founded on the Lena's low right bank in 1632 and transferred 43 miles (70 km) upstream to the present site of Yakutsk in 1642. Long a small provincial centre of wooden houses where, beginning in the 19th century, dissidents were exiled, Yakutsk has grown in size and acquired light industries,

Waits, Tom

2005-03-01T17:39:00.000-08:00

Born into a middle-class California family but enamoured of the bohemian lifestyle depicted

Leaf Fish

2005-03-01T01:27:00.000-08:00

The name leaf fish is applied specifically

Yakutsk

2005-03-01T00:17:00.000-08:00

In biology, a highly convoluted membrane within the cytoplasm of a eukaryotic cell that is important in the biosynthesis of proteins and lipids. The ER usually constitutes more than half of the membrane of the cell and is continuous with the outer membrane of the nuclear envelope. Endoplasmic reticulum has two distinct regions: the rough ER (RER; so-called because

Kadu Languages

2005-02-28T13:12:00.000-08:00

Also called Kadugli-Krongo languages group of related languages spoken along the western and southern edge of the Nuba Hills in The Sudan. These languages were formerly classified as part of the Kordofanian group within the Niger-Congo language family, but they are now widely believed to form a subgroup within the Nilo-Saharan language family. The name Kadu is based on a widespread word for “people” in

Pietro Da Cortona,

2005-02-26T17:34:00.000-08:00

Pietro studied in Rome from about 1612 under the minor Florentine painters Andrea Commodi and Baccio Ciarpi and was influenced by antique sculpture and the work of Raphael. The most important of his earliest paintings were three frescoes

Marsa Al-burayqah

2005-02-26T14:16:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Marsa El-brega, Mediterranean port on the Gulf of Sidra, northeastern Libya. The site, which was located by a small fishing village destroyed during World War II, contained nothing but land mines when it was chosen as the terminal for Libya's first oil pipeline, running from Zaltan, 105 miles (169 km) south. After 1960 a new port and town were built from prefabricated materials, including breakwaters

Powerlifting

2005-02-26T05:20:00.000-08:00

Powerlifting was developed primarily in the United States and Canada by weight lifters whose concentration on power alone, they felt, was excluded from formal competition. In 1967 the Amateur Athletic Union began national supervision of the

Literature

2005-02-26T00:03:00.000-08:00

In the first half of 2001, the Akutagawa Prize, awarded semiannually to the most promising new Japanese writers of fiction, went to Toshiyuki Horie for his story “Kuma no shikiishi” (“The Bear's Pavement,” published in the December 2000 issue of Gunzo), and to Yuichi Seirai for his story “Seisui” (“Holy Water,” from the December 2000 Bungakukai

Akola

2005-02-25T18:51:00.000-08:00

City, north-central Maharashtra state, western India, on the Murna River. An important road and rail junction in the Tapti River valley, it is a commercial centre trading chiefly in cotton. There are also textile and vegetable-oil industries. In the past it was incorporated in turn into several local Muslim kingdoms. Akola is an important educational centre with several

Zaccaria, Benedetto

2005-02-24T20:43:00.000-08:00

In 1264 Zaccaria was named Genoese ambassador to the Byzantine emperor, Michael VIII Paleologus, who bestowed on him and his brother Manuele the fief of Phocaea, north of Smyrna, with its alum mines. On this foundation the brothers built a commercial empire,

Accomplice

2005-02-24T15:39:00.000-08:00

An abettor is one who is present actually or constructively at the commission

Anezaki Masaharu

2005-02-24T02:24:00.000-08:00

Anezaki started his academic

Paeligni

2005-02-23T10:07:00.000-08:00

Ancient people of central Italy, whose territory lay inland on the eastward slopes of the Apennines. Though akin to the Samnites, they formed a separate league with their neighbours the Marsi, Marrucini, and Vestini. This league appears to have broken up after the Second Samnite War (304 BC), when each tribe came into an alliance with the Romans that lasted until the Social

Arges

2005-02-22T11:45:00.000-08:00

Judet (county), southern Romania. The Transylvanian Alps (Southern Carpathians) and the sub-Carpathians rise above the settlement areas that are found in intermontane valleys. The county is drained eastward by the Arges, Cotmeana, and Teleorman rivers. It was formerly included in feudal Walachia. Agricultural activities consist of vineyard and orchard cultivation

Eisenstein, Ferdinand Gotthold Max

2005-02-22T09:18:00.000-08:00

Eisenstein's family converted to Protestantism from Judaism just before his birth. He was the oldest of six children and the only one of them to survive childhood meningitis. Eisenstein entered the Friedrich Wilhelm University (now the Humboldt

Venezuela, The colonial era

2005-02-22T07:01:00.000-08:00

Christopher Columbus arrived in what is now Venezuela in 1498, during his third voyage to the New World. European explorers named the region Venezuela (“Little Venice”) after observing local Indian houses on stilts over water. During the first quarter-century of contact, the Europeans limited themselves to slave hunting and pearl fishing on the northeastern coast; the

Taft, Robert A.

2005-02-20T22:49:00.000-08:00

The son of William Howard Taft, 27th president of the

Karatsu

2005-02-20T16:30:00.000-08:00

City, Saga ken (prefecture), Kyushu, Japan, facing Karatsu Bay. Its name is derived from the Japanese terms kara (referring to China) and tsu (“port”), reflecting the city's history as an ancient port trading with China and Korea. The Karatsu coal mines were opened in the early 20th century, and after World War II the western part of the city developed as an industrial district, centring

Powell, Lewis Franklin, Jr.

2005-02-20T14:41:00.000-08:00

American lawyer and judge (b. Sept. 19, 1907, Suffolk, Va.--d. Aug. 25, 1998, Richmond, Va.), served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court for 15 years, during which he often provided a centrist viewpoint in an otherwise polarized tribunal. He cast the deciding vote on a number of landmark cases, most notably Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978), which opposed strict racial quotas

Kyoha Shinto

2005-02-20T13:16:00.000-08:00

By 1908, 13 sects had been recognized

Marietta

2005-02-19T18:37:00.000-08:00

During the

Surduc Pass

2005-02-19T16:34:00.000-08:00

Also called Jiu Defile , or Jiu Pass Romanian Pasul Surduc pass, southwestern Romania. The Jiu River flows through the pass between the Vâlcan (west) and the Parâng (east) mountains, in the Transylvanian Alps (Southern Carpathians). The pass connects the Petrosani Depression (upper Jiu Valley) with the Plain of Oltenia. A road and the Bumbesti–Livezeni railway line, opened in 1947, follow the pass by means of 30 tunnels and several

Obwalden

2005-02-19T00:20:00.000-08:00

Half canton, central Switzerland, formerly part of the canton of Unterwalden. The half canton is drained by the Sarner River and occupies the western part of former Unterwalden canton. Obwalden means “above the forest” and refers to the great forest of Kerns that divided the two half cantons in the Middle Ages. Obwalden acted independently of Nidwalden in its acquisition,

Clare, John Fitzgibbon, 1st Earl Of

2005-02-18T18:43:00.000-08:00

He entered the Irish

Polk, James K.

2005-02-17T23:45:00.000-08:00

During his campaign Polk surprised the country by taking a positive stand on two burning issues of the day. Whereas other candidates hedged on the question of whether to annex Texas, which had been independent of Mexico since 1836, he demanded annexation. Whereas other candidates evaded the problem of joint occupancy of Oregon with England, he openly laid claim to the whole territory that extended as far north as latitude 54°40¢ with the campaign slogan “Fifty-four forty or fight.” His election was close, but it was decisive—a popular plurality of about 38,000 votes and 170 electoral votes against 105 for Clay.

øvre Anar River National Park

2005-02-17T08:35:00.000-08:00

Norwegian Øvre Anarjåkka Nasjonalpark, national park in the southeastern Finnmark Plateau region, northern Norway, bordering the Lemmen River National Park of Finland. One of the largest of Norway's national parks, it covers an area of 537 square miles (1,390 square km). Low hills covered by birch and pine forest and dotted by bogs and lakes are characteristic of the area, in which large numbers of reindeer graze.

Wadai

2005-02-17T01:37:00.000-08:00

Historical African kingdom east of Lake Chad and west of Darfur, in what is now the Ouaddaï (q.v.) region of eastern Chad. It was founded in the 16th century, and a Muslim dynasty was established there about 1630. Long subordinate to Darfur, it became independent by the 1790s and began a period of rapid expansion, chiefly at the expense of the Bornu kingdom to the west. Its prosperity resulted

Fischer, Kuno

2005-02-16T20:32:00.000-08:00

With other writings on Gotthold Lessing, Friedrich Schiller, and J.W. von Goethe, Fischer contributed to the philosophy of aesthetics. Eventually he subscribed to Hegelian

Dominica

2005-02-15T08:11:00.000-08:00

Officially Commonwealth of Dominica, island nation of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. It lies between the French islands of Guadeloupe and Marie-Galante to the north and Martinique to the south. It has been a member of the Commonwealth since independence in 1978. It is 29 miles (47 kilometres) long, has a maximum breadth of 16 miles, and is 290 square miles (750 square kilometres) in area. The capital and chief port is

Shih Ching

2005-02-15T01:36:00.000-08:00

The book, one of the Five Classics (Wu

Yahya Sobh-e Azal, Mirza

2005-02-14T08:31:00.000-08:00

Yahya was the designated successor of Sayyid Ali Muhammad, a Shi'i sectarian leader known as the Bab (Arabic: “gate,” referring to one who has access to the hidden imam). The Bab was executed in 1850, and by the following year his followers

Usman Dan Fodio

2005-02-14T00:05:00.000-08:00

Usman also spelled Uthman or Usuman, Arabic 'Uthman Ibn Fudi Fulani mystic, philosopher, and revolutionary reformer who, in a jihad (holy war) between 1804 and 1808, created a new Muslim state, the Fulani empire, in what is now northern Nigeria.

Graf Spee

2005-02-13T23:25:00.000-08:00

After sinking several merchant ships in the Atlantic, the Graf Spee was sighted on Dec. 13, 1939, off the Río de la Plata estuary by a British search group consisting of the cruisers Exeter, Ajax, and Achilles, commanded by

Poland

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

Parliamentary elections in September 1997 brought a dramatic reversal in Polish politics. The Solidarity Electoral Action (AWS), a loose coalition of some 30 right-wing groups dominated

Polytheism, Functional deities

2005-02-12T05:10:00.000-08:00

In addition to the various forces operating in nature, various social and other functions are divinized. Thus, the god Brahma in the Vedic tradition, besides being creator, contains and expresses in personal form the power implicit in the Brahmin class. Again, there are gods of healing, such as Asclepius in Greece, and of seafaring, agriculture, and so on. The most elaborate

Quechuan Languages

2005-02-12T03:35:00.000-08:00

The languages of the former Inca Empire in South America and the principal native languages of the central Andes today. According to archaeological and historical evidence, the original languages were probably spoken in a small area in the southern Peruvian highlands until about 1450; after that their geographical range was rapidly enlarged by the Inca conquests.

Moses, Sir Charles (joseph Alfred)

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

Moses graduated from the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, Eng. (1918), and was stationed with the British army in Ireland before immigrating

Hyperthyroidism

2005-02-11T06:43:00.000-08:00

The thyroid gland's oversecretion of hormones is usually accompanied by enlargement of the gland itself, thus forming the swelling, known as a goitre, in the neck region. The increased levels of thyroid hormones cause an increased

Saccharomyces

2005-02-10T21:34:00.000-08:00

Genus of yeasts belonging to the family Endomycetales. An outstanding characteristic of members of Saccharomyces is their ability to convert sugar into carbon dioxide and alcohol by means of enzymes. The yeasts used to ferment sugars in the manufacture of baked goods, beers, wines, distilled spirits, and industrial alcohols are all strains of one species, S.

Gnatcatcher

2005-02-10T07:09:00.000-08:00

Also called Gnatwren, family name Polioptilidae, any of about 11 species of small birds of the genus Polioptila, treated by many authorities as a subfamily of the Old World warbler family Sylviidae. The blue-gray gnatcatcher (P. caerulea), 11 cm (4.5 inches) long, with its long white-edged tail, looks like a tiny mockingbird. It breeds locally from eastern Canada and California to

Poland, History Of, Augustus III

2005-02-09T10:20:00.000-08:00

Upon Augustus' death in 1733, Stanislaw I, seen this time as a symbol of Poland's independence and supported by France (his daughter married Louis XV), was elected once again. The counter-election of Augustus III followed, and Russian troops drove Stanislaw out of the country. He abdicated, receiving as compensation (after the so-called War of Polish Succession) the duchy of

Clovis Complex

2005-02-08T07:26:00.000-08:00

Ancient culture centred primarily on the plateau or tableland of Arizona, New Mexico, and western Texas. (It is so named from the first important site examined, in 1932, near Clovis, N.M.) This culture, which probably began sometime prior to 10,000 BC, is generally considered to be ancestral to the later Folsom complex. Like Folsom, the Clovis complex was part of the ancient big-game hunting