SadPencil

organic cotton goods

2006-10-30T14:55:00.000-08:00

Liv organic cotton goods are soft luxurious nad affordable and they have a huge range of organic clothing.

Heyward, Dubose

2005-04-04T19:02:00.000-07:00

At the age of 17 Heyward worked on the waterfront, where he observed the black Americans who were to become the subject of his writing. Heyward first wrote poems: Carolina Chansons (1922), a joint publication

Aerospace Industry, Special requirements of military aircraft

2005-04-03T03:19:00.000-07:00

Military aircraft demand lightweight structures to achieve high performance. Moreover, the materials used must be able to withstand the temperatures created by air friction when the vehicle is flying at high speeds. These requirements have fostered the use of new metals such as aluminum-magnesium alloys and titanium, as well as composites and polymers for many

January

2005-04-02T19:51:00.000-08:00

First month of the Gregorian calendar. See month and the accompanying Table.

Argentina, The Pampean zone

2005-04-02T09:58:00.000-08:00

The Pampas occupy a transitional area between high summer temperatures to the north and cooler summers to the south. Buenos Aires, located on the northern edge of the Pampas, has a climate similar to that of cities in the southeastern United States, with hot, humid summers and cool, mild winters. The range of mean temperatures for summer months (December to February)

Lager Beer

2005-04-01T14:19:00.000-08:00

Light-coloured, highly carbonated type of beer (q.v.).

Arabia, History Of, Yemen

2005-03-30T22:04:00.000-08:00

Imam Yahya had to virtually conquer Yemen, in the Zaydi interest, after the Ottoman departure; by stern measures he established security. He refused to recognize the British-backed border between the Aden protectorates and Yemen. The British in the later 1930s pacified and, to a limited degree, developed their protectorates.

Madog Ab Owain Gwynedd

2005-03-30T01:19:00.000-08:00

A quarrel among Owain's sons over the distribution of their late father's estate led Madog to sail to Ireland and then westward. In a year or so he returned to Wales and assembled a group to colonize the land he had discovered. The party sailed west in 10 ships and was

Gamaliel Ii

2005-03-29T19:20:00.000-08:00

In the ancient biblical city of Jabneh, many Jews had taken refuge from the Roman siege of Jerusalem in AD 70. Gamaliel

Wajda, Andrzej

2005-03-29T14:34:00.000-08:00

Wajda became interested in the visual arts when working as assistant to a restorer of old church paintings in Radom. He studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, then film

Rousseau, Jean-baptiste

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

The son of a poor cobbler, Rousseau as a young man showed a talent for satiric verse. He later attempted to produce several of his plays, becoming involved in a series of disputes and exchanges of insults with detractors and critics.

Sailing

2005-03-27T23:03:00.000-08:00

The sport or pastime of cruising or racing in a sailboat or, more generally, in any large craft propelled by either sail or motor. See yacht.

Astorga, Emanuele D'

2005-03-27T00:00:00.000-08:00

Astorga belonged to a family of Spanish descent that won a barony in Sicily in the 17th century. The family eventually settled in Palermo. Astorga's first opera, La moglie nemica (“The Hostile Wife”), was

Zirconia

2005-03-26T20:35:00.000-08:00

Zirconium dioxide, an industrially important compound of zirconium and oxygen usually derived from the mineral zircon (see zirconium).

Toba Sojo

2005-03-25T23:31:00.000-08:00

Toba is traditionally regarded as the artist of a series of important narrative scrolls featuring humorous secular subjects: “History of Mount Shigi” and “Scrolls of Frolicking Animals.” The “History of Mount Shigi” consists of illustrations

Agricola, Martin

2005-03-24T16:41:00.000-08:00

Agricola was self-taught, called to music “from the plough,” as his chosen surname suggests. He worked

La Orotava

2005-03-24T05:54:00.000-08:00

Town, northern Tenerife island, Santa Cruz de Tenerife provincia, Canary Islands comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”), Spain, just southwest of Santa Cruz de Tenerife city. The town is a health resort with its port, Puerto de la Cruz, on the coast immediately to the northwest. It lies in the Orotava Valley, known for its luxuriant vegetation and called the most beautiful

Argentina, Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego

2005-03-23T19:20:00.000-08:00

Patagonia contains zones of deciduous Andean forests and, east of the Andes, of steppe and desert. The largest area—the steppe region—lies in northern Patagonia between the Colorado River and the port city of Comodoro Rivadavia. This zone represents an extension southward of the monte, which gives way gradually to a xerophytic shrub region without trees except

Tiwanaku

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

Some scholars date the earliest remains found at the site to the early part of the Early Intermediate Period (c. 200 BC–AD 200); others suggest that the culture is evident in artifacts

Lowestoft

2005-03-21T20:21:00.000-08:00

Town, Waveney district, administrative and historic county of Suffolk, England, that originated as a Danish settlement on Lowestoft Ness, the most easterly point in the United Kingdom. From 1757 until 1802 Lowestoft china, a soft-paste porcelain, was manufactured in the town. The present harbour was built in 1831 by linking Lake Lothing with the sea. After the railway came in 1847, the town

Cheka

2005-03-20T22:35:00.000-08:00

Also called Vecheka, early Soviet secret police agency and a forerunner of the KGB (q.v.).

Togo, Transportation

2005-03-20T08:05:00.000-08:00

The government-owned national railway consists of four lines, all of which emanate from Lomé. One line connects Kpalimé with the capital; other lines run to Ané

Epistemology, Ancient

2005-03-19T15:04:00.000-08:00

An excellent collection on skepticism is Miles Burnyeat (ed.), The Skeptical Tradition (1983). For Greek Skepticism in particular, see Charlotte L. Stough, Greek Skepticism: A Study in Epistemology (1969). The chief epistemological works of Plato are his Meno, Theaetetus, and Republic, especially Books V–VII. The views of Aristotle can be found in On the Soul, Metaphysics, Book IV, ch. 5 and 6, and Posterior Analytics, Book I, ch. 3. The locus classicus for ancient skepticism is R.G. Bury (trans.), Sextus Empiricus, 4 vol. (1933–49), in The Loeb Classical Library series. From among the voluminous writings of Augustine, see Against the Academicians, trans. by Mary Patricia Garvey (1942, reissued 1978).

Lauenburg

2005-03-19T06:53:00.000-08:00

A duchy under the Ascanian dynasty from the 13th century, Lauenburg was acquired by George William, the Welf duke

Eddison, E.r.

2005-03-19T05:49:00.000-08:00

Tyrtaeus

2005-03-18T05:33:00.000-08:00

Greek tradition after Tyrtaeus' time claimed that he was an Athenian or Milesian schoolmaster, sent to Sparta in reluctant compliance with an oracle, to strengthen Spartan morale. It is probable, however, that stories of his non-Laconian

Ikot Ekpene

2005-03-16T09:31:00.000-08:00

Town, Akwa Ibom state, southern Nigeria. The town lies along the coastal highway, between Calabar and Aba. It is the chief trade centre (yams, cassava, taro, corn [maize], and palm produce) for a densely populated area known for its export of palm oil and kernels. It is mainly inhabited by the Anang branch of the Ibibio people, who are noted for their cane furniture and basket handicrafts.

Auditorium

2005-03-16T08:19:00.000-08:00

The part of a public building where an audience sits, as distinct from the stage, the area on which the performance or other object of the audience's attention is presented. In a large theatre an auditorium includes a number of floor levels frequently designed as stalls, private boxes, dress circle, balcony or upper circle, and gallery. A sloping floor allows the seats

China, Changes under Kublai Khan and his successors

2005-03-16T02:03:00.000-08:00

Kublai Khan's ascendancy in 1260 marked a definite change in Mongol government practice; Kublai moved the seat of Mongol government from Karakorum in Mongolia to Shang-tu (Upper Capital) near modern To-lun in Inner Mongolia. In 1267 the official capital was transferred to Chung-tu, where Kublai ordered the construction of a new walled city, replete with grand palaces and official

Scipio Africanus The Elder

2005-03-15T22:56:00.000-08:00

After his capture of Tunis, the Carthaginians sought peace terms, but Hannibal's subsequent return to Africa led to their renewing the war in 202. Scipio advanced southwestward to join the Numidian prince Masinissa, who was bringing his invaluable cavalry to his support. Then he turned eastward to face Hannibal at the Battle of Zama; his outflanking tactics failed against

Liquid Crystal

2005-03-15T00:55:00.000-08:00

A substance that flows as a liquid but maintains some of the ordered structure characteristic of a crystal. Certain organic substances when heated will not melt directly but will turn from a crystalline solid to a liquid-crystal (mesomorphic) state. Upon further heating, a temperature is reached at which a true (isotropic) liquid is formed. The liquid-crystal state

Argentina, The Gran Chaco

2005-03-14T02:28:00.000-08:00

The harsh physical conditions of the Gran

Chablis

2005-03-14T01:32:00.000-08:00

Chablis vineyards

Earthshine

2005-03-12T17:47:00.000-08:00

At this time an observer on the Moon would see the Earth as a bright body, four times the diameter of the Moon as seen from Earth, almost completely illuminated

Biblical Literature

2005-03-12T16:45:00.000-08:00

The Old Testament is a collection of writings that was first compiled and preserved as the sacred books of the ancient Hebrew people. As the Bible of the

Roberts, Isaac

2005-03-12T13:42:00.000-08:00

In 1883 Roberts began experimenting with astronomical photography, taking pictures of stars, the Orion and Andromeda nebulae, and the Pleiades cluster. Although the photographs proved difficult to interpret, they were revealing.

Amazon Rainforest

2005-03-11T01:25:00.000-08:00

Large, tropical rainforest occupying the drainage basin of the Amazon River and its tributaries in northern South America, and covering an area of 2,300,000 square miles (6,000,000 square km). Comprising about 40 percent of Brazil's total area, it is bounded by the Guiana Highlands to the north, the Andes Mountain Ranges to the west, the Brazilian central plateau to the south, and the Atlantic

Newton

2005-03-10T21:42:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1846) of Jasper county, central Iowa, U.S., about 30 miles (50 km) east of Des Moines. It was settled in 1846 as the county seat and was named for John Newton, a soldier of the American Revolution. The railroad arrived in the 1860s and the community developed as a lumber-milling and agricultural trading centre. In 1898 the washing machine industry began there with the manufacture of ratchet-slat

Epistemology, G.F.W. Hegel

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

Empiricism takes cognition

Argens, Jean-baptiste De Boyer, Marquis D' (marquess Of)

2005-03-10T01:49:00.000-08:00

French writer who helped disseminate the skeptical ideas of the Enlightenment by addressing his polemical writings on philosophy, religion, and history to a popular readership. Argens's writings simplified the unorthodox empirical reasoning of such Philosophes as Pierre Bayle, Bernard de Fontenelle, and Voltaire;

Topazolite

2005-03-09T16:42:00.000-08:00

Yellowish andradite garnet, named for its resemblance to topaz. See andradite.

Gabo, Naum

2005-03-09T14:25:00.000-08:00

Gabo studied medicine and natural science, then philosophy and art history, at the University of Munich in Germany; he also took engineering classes at the Technical

Benhadugah, 'abd Al-hamid

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

Algerian writer who was considered the father of modern Arabic literature in Algeria; among the concerns he addressed in such novels as Rih al-janub (1971; "The Wind from the South") were the limitations that societal tradition imposes on young people as they strive for progress and the struggle of women for emancipation (b. Jan. 9, 1925--d. Oct. 20/21, 1996).

Wickerwork

2005-03-08T00:29:00.000-08:00

Furniture made of real or simulated osier (rods or twigs) plaited into appropriate shapes. The Egyptians made furniture of this kind in the 3rd millennium BC, and it has always flourished in those regions in which there is a plentiful supply of riverside vegetation. A well-known example of Roman wickerwork is the chair on a 3rd-century-AD relief in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum

Lowell, Francis Cabot

2005-03-07T21:41:00.000-08:00

While visiting the British Isles (1810–12) Lowell closely studied the textile industries

Antarctica, Exploration for resources

2005-03-07T14:03:00.000-08:00

Antarctica, it has been suggested, may have become a continent for science because it was useful for nothing else. Certainly, the great success of the Antarctic Treaty and of the political experiment in international cooperation is in no small way attributable to the fact that exploitable mineral resources have not been found. Articles of the original treaty (signed

Balochi

2005-03-07T13:39:00.000-08:00

The original

3-d

2005-03-06T20:38:00.000-08:00

Also called stereoscopic, motion-picture process that gives a three-dimensional quality to film images. It is based on the fact that humans perceive depth by viewing with both eyes. In the 3-D process, two cameras or a twin-lensed camera are used for filming, one representing the left eye and the other the right. The two lenses are spaced about 2 1/2 inches (6.3 cm) apart, the same as the separation between a person's

World War I, The Balkan front, 1918

2005-03-05T05:25:00.000-08:00

At Salonika the Allies' politically ambitious but militarily ineffective commander in chief, General Sarrail, was replaced at the end of 1917 by General Guillaumat, who was in turn succeeded in July 1918 by General L.-F.-F. Franchet d'Esperey, who launched a major offensive in September with six Serbian and two French divisions against a seven-mile front held by only one Bulgarian

Baragwanathia

2005-03-04T05:44:00.000-08:00

A genus of fossil plants from the Early Devonian Epoch (about 408 to 387 million years ago) of Australia, of interest as being perhaps the earliest club moss class (or subdivision) Lycopsida. The plants exceeded the size of present-day lycopsids, some being up to 28 cm (11 inches) long.

Wellesley College

2005-03-04T02:52:00.000-08:00

Private women's college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, U.S., one of the Seven Sisters schools. A liberal arts college, Wellesley grants bachelor's degrees in humanities, including Chinese, Japanese, and Russian languages; in social science, including Africana studies, religion, and economics; and in science and mathematics, including computer science. More than a dozen

Anticoagulant

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

Any drug that, when added to blood, prevents it from clotting. Anticoagulants achieve their effect by suppressing the synthesis or function of various clotting factors that are normally present in the blood. Such drugs are often used to prevent blood clots (thrombi) from forming in the veins or arteries. Anticoagulants are generally of two types. One type is heparin

Ba'al Shem Tov

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

During his lifetime, the Besht brought about a great social and religious upheaval and permanently altered many traditional values. In an atmosphere marked by joy, new rituals, and ecstasy, he created a new religious climate in small houses of prayer outside the synagogues. The changes that had occurred were further emphasized by the wearing of distinctive garb

Astor (of Hever Castle), Nancy Witcher Astor, Viscountess

2005-03-03T00:27:00.000-08:00

In 1897 she married Robert Gould Shaw of Boston, from whom she was divorced in 1903, and in 1906 she married Waldorf Astor, great-great-grandson of John Jacob Astor. When her husband succeeded to his father's viscountcy

Barahona De Soto, Luis

2005-03-02T03:48:00.000-08:00

After completing his education in Antequera and service as a soldier, Barahona began practicing

Judaism, Creativity

2005-03-01T06:26:00.000-08:00

As has been noted, this “creed,” or “confession of faith,” underscores in the first benediction the relation of God to the world as that of Creator to creation. “Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who forms light and creates darkness, who makes peace and creates all things.” It adds the assertion that his activity is not in the past but is ongoing and continuous,

Cywydd

2005-03-01T05:37:00.000-08:00

Welsh verse form, a kind of short ode in rhyming couplets in which one rhyme is accented and the other unaccented; each line is composed of seven syllables and contains some form of cynghanedd (a complex system of alliteration and internal rhyme). Developed in the 14th century in south Wales by Dafydd ap Gwilym, the cywydd shows affinities with forms used by the earlier

Hindi Language

2005-03-01T00:15:00.000-08:00

Official language of the Republic of India, a central Indo-Aryan language claimed as a mother tongue by some 180,000,000 speakers in India. There are also significant numbers of Hindi speakers outside of India, including nearly 1,000,000 in South Africa, 700,000 in Mauritius, 350,000 in Bangladesh, 235,000 in Yemen, and 150,000 in Uganda. Many more hundreds of thousands speak Hindi as a second language. Literary Hindi, written

Yakovlev, Aleksandr Sergeyevich

2005-02-28T23:41:00.000-08:00

After graduation from the Air Force Engineering Academy in 1931, Yakovlev immediately began to design aircraft, both piston- and jet-engined. Just before World War II he designed the Yak-1 fighter. His first jet

Ansky, S.

2005-02-27T16:56:00.000-08:00

Ansky was educated in a Hasidic environment and as a young man was attracted to the Jewish Enlightenment (Haskala) and to the populist doctrines of the Narodniki, a group of socialist revolutionaries. For a time he worked among the peasants and contributed

Molle Islands

2005-02-27T15:47:00.000-08:00

Group of four small formations on the Great Barrier Reef, in Whitsunday Passage in the Coral Sea, 3 miles (5 km) off the northeastern coast of Queensland, Australia. In 1815 the patch of water behind the group was named Port Molle for Colonel George Molle. The name was later applied to the islands and to the deepwater passage between them and the mainland. The islands are coral-fringed,

Ruthenian

2005-02-27T02:00:00.000-08:00

Also called Ruthene any of those Ukrainians who were formerly Polish or Austrian and Austro-Hungarian subjects. The name is a Latinized form of the word Russian, but the Ruthenians are Ukrainians who, by accidents of history in the late Middle Ages, were absorbed into the territory of Lithuania, which in turn was united with Poland. The term Little Russians has also been applied to them.

Cohen, Albert

2005-02-25T03:54:00.000-08:00

From 1900 Cohen was reared in Marseilles, France. He studied law in Geneva, became a Swiss citizen, and began a career as a writer and as a civil servant, notably with the International Labour Organisation

La Junta

2005-02-24T19:57:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1889) of Otero county, southeastern Colorado, U.S. It lies along the Arkansas River at the northern edge of the Comanche National Grassland, at an elevation of 4,052 feet (1,235 metres). Founded in 1875, it was first called Otero, after a Spanish settler; its present name is Spanish for “the junction,” referring to its location at the convergence of the old Santa Fe and Navajo trails. La Junta

Alva

2005-02-24T09:13:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1907) of Woods county, northwestern Oklahoma, U.S., on Salt Fork of the Arkansas River near the Kansas border. Established as a land office in 1893 at a Santa Fe Railway stop, it was named for Alva Adams, a railroad attorney and governor of Colorado (1887–89). It is a marketing and processing centre for a wheat and livestock area. Manufactures include tractors and furniture; petroleum

Habbaniyah, Hawr Al-

2005-02-24T04:48:00.000-08:00

English Lake Habbaniyah lake in al-Anbar muhafazah (governorate), western Iraq. It is a shallow body of slightly saline water, 54 sq mi (140 sq km) in area, separated from the Euphrates River to the north by the Asibi and Zaban ridges. The lake has been used since antiquity for storing floodwater from the Euphrates; it now provides water for irrigation as well. A barrage at ar-Ramadi, at the lake's northwestern tip,

United States, Bank Of The

2005-02-23T20:04:00.000-08:00

Central bank chartered in 1791 by the U.S. Congress at the urging of Alexander Hamilton and over the objections of Thomas Jefferson. Extended debate over its constitutionality contributed significantly to the evolution of pro- and anti-bank factions into the first American political parties—respectively, the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans. Antagonism

Encaustic Painting

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

Painting technique in which pigments are mixed with hot, liquid wax. After all of the colours have been applied to the painting surface, a heating element is passed over them until the individual brush or spatula marks fuse into a uniform film. This “burning in” of the colours is an essential element of the true encaustic technique. Encaustic wax has many of the properties

Ulan-ude

2005-02-22T02:48:00.000-08:00

The city's development was greatly stimulated when the Trans-Siberian

Chiao-tso

2005-02-21T06:15:00.000-08:00

Its modern development has been almost entirely based on its rich coal deposits. The mining

Gravesend

2005-02-20T23:07:00.000-08:00

The discovery of the skull of Swanscombe man near Gravesend dates early settlement in the area to the Second Interglacial Period (about 200,000 years ago). Gravesend is mentioned in Domesday Book (1086) as Gravesham, possessing a hithe

Tagalog

2005-02-20T09:32:00.000-08:00

Largest cultural-linguistic group in the Philippines. They form the dominant population in the city of Manila; in all provinces bordering Manila Bay except Pampanga; in Nueva Ecija to the north; and in Batangas, Laguna, Marinduque, Mindoro, and Quezon to the south. Tagalog is an Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian) language like the other Philippine languages. The mother

Arts, Central Asian, Mongolian literature

2005-02-20T00:03:00.000-08:00

Mongolian literature begins with the Secret History of the Mongols, an Imperial chronicle dealing with the life and times of Genghis Khan and his successors, written about 1240. Üligers, orally transmitted epic stories in verse, form the bulk of native literary expression. Highly stylized, these tales relate adventures of legendary heroes and villains. In spite of their

Italy, The age of the Hohenstaufen

2005-02-19T19:25:00.000-08:00

The 12th century witnessed the creation of a new political order in Italy. It was not a tidy process, however. In the south, the foundations laid by the Normans of Capua and by the Hautevilles gained strength with the conquest of Sicily from the Muslims in the late 11th century. Following the death of Robert Guiscard, his brother, Roger I, count of Sicily, went to the mainland

Arrowsmith, Aaron

2005-02-19T00:49:00.000-08:00

Without a formal education Arrowsmith went to London c. 1770 and, after working as a surveyor, established himself as a mapmaker and publisher. His large world map (1790) established his reputation. A

Aral Sea

2005-02-18T15:07:00.000-08:00

Uzbek Orol

Margaret Of Parma

2005-02-18T11:40:00.000-08:00

The illegitimate daughter of the Holy Roman emperor Charles V (Charles I of Spain) and Johanna van der Gheenst, Margaret was married in 1536 to Alessandro de' Medici,

Cospicua

2005-02-17T15:57:00.000-08:00

Town, eastern Malta, one of the Three Cities (the others being Senglea and Vittoriosa), at the head of Dockyard Creek, just south of Valletta across Grand Harbour. It developed as a suburb of Vittoriosa in the mid-16th century and was a thriving settlement (known as Bormla) before it was severely damaged by the Turks in the Great Siege of Malta in 1565. It was rebuilt and refortified

Lowndes, Marie Adelaide

2005-02-17T03:31:00.000-08:00

The sister of the poet and essayist Hilaire Belloc, she received little formal education, but, because of the prominence of her family in intellectual circles, she was acquainted

Great Bear Lake

2005-02-17T02:41:00.000-08:00

Madagascar, Relief

2005-02-15T13:56:00.000-08:00

Situated between 2,500 and 4,500 feet (800 and 1,400 metres) above sea level, the plateau has been uplifted and worn down several times and is tilted to the west. Three massifs are more than 8,500 feet high. The Tsaratanana region in the

Eritrea, Drainage

2005-02-14T16:44:00.000-08:00

The Eritrean highlands are drained by four major rivers and numerous streams. Two of the rivers, the Gash and the Tekeze, flow westward into The Sudan. The Tekeze River (also known as the Satit) is a major tributary of the Atbara River, which eventually joins the Nile. The Gash River reaches the Atbara only during flood season. As it crosses the western lowlands, the Tekeze

Sarapul

2005-02-14T09:45:00.000-08:00

City and centre of Sarapul rayon (sector) of Udmurtia, in western Russia. It is a port on the Kama River. Founded in the 16th century as a Russian stronghold on the trade route to Siberia, it was attacked by Pugachov rebels in 1774; it was chartered in 1780. Sarapul's industries produce machine tools, radios, footwear, and foods. Several technical colleges and an agricultural college

Scheelite

2005-02-14T04:09:00.000-08:00

Calcium tungstate mineral, CaWO4, that is an important ore of tungsten. It acquired commercial value in the 20th century when tungsten became used in alloy steels and electric-light filaments. The mineral is named in honour of the Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele, who obtained tungstic acid from it in 1781. Scheelite commonly occurs as compact or granular masses in contact

Saransk

2005-02-13T22:04:00.000-08:00

City and capital of Mordvinia, in western Russia. It lies along the upper Insar River and on the western flank of the Volga River uplands. The city was founded in 1641 as a stronghold on the Saransk defensive line. It is an important route centre, with railways to Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Samara, and Penza. Industrial development was greatly stimulated in World War II,

Lågen

2005-02-13T06:34:00.000-08:00

Also called Numedalslågen river, southeastern Norway. Rising in the Hardanger Plateau, the Lågen flows generally east and north, then southeast through Numedalen, a valley in Buskerud fylke (county), past Rødberg and Kongsberg, through Vestfold fylke and into the Skagerrak (an arm of the North Sea) at Larvik. With a total length of 209 miles (337 km), it is the third longest river in the country. Near Kongsberg,

Murex

2005-02-12T11:25:00.000-08:00

The animal

Fustel De Coulanges, Numa Denis

2005-02-11T23:55:00.000-08:00

After studying at the École Normale Supérieure, he was sent to the French school at Athens in 1853 and directed some excavations at Chios. From 1860 to 1870 he was professor of history at the faculty of letters at the University of Strasbourg, where he had a

Smilax

2005-02-11T20:35:00.000-08:00

Genus of plants in the family Smilacaceae, consisting of about 300 species of woody or herbaceous vines, variously known as catbriers and greenbriers, native to tropical and temperate parts of the world. The stems of many species are covered with prickles; the lower leaves are scalelike; and the leathery upper leaves have untoothed blades with

Bruce Series

2005-02-11T15:02:00.000-08:00

Division of Precambrian rocks in North America that is well-developed northeast of the Lake Huron region (the Precambrian began about 3.8 billion years ago and ended 540 million years ago). The Bruce Series is the lowermost of the three major divisions of the Huronian System; it overlies pre-Huronian schists, underlies rocks of the Cobalt Series, and consists of about 1,500 m (about

Backgammon

2005-02-10T07:18:00.000-08:00

Precursors of backgammon

New Guinea

2005-02-09T02:06:00.000-08:00

Graciosa Island

2005-02-08T19:30:00.000-08:00

Portuguese Ilha Graciosa, volcanic island, northernmost of the central Azores, east-central Atlantic Ocean. The 23-square-mile (60-square-kilometre) island reaches a height of 1,338 feet (408 m) at the summit of Enxôfre Caldera, a volcanic crater. Dense vegetation is supported by the volcanic soils, and wine grapes, fruit, cereals, and cattle are raised. They are marketed through the principal settlements, Santa

Peng Dehuai

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

Peng was a military commander under Chiang Kai-shek but broke with him in 1927 when Chiang attempted

Chandler, Raymond

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

From 1896 to 1912 Chandler lived in England with his mother, a British subject of Irish birth. Although he was an American

Pendred's Syndrome

2005-02-07T20:27:00.000-08:00

Hereditary metabolic condition that is characterized by deafness and defective incorporation of iodine into thyroid hormone, resulting in goitre or enlargement of the thyroid gland. Pendred's syndrome is a major cause of congenital deafness. It does not produce symptoms of hypothyroidism (deficiency of thyroid activity) in most patients, nor does the condition

Rawlins

2005-02-07T04:23:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1886) of Carbon county, south-central Wyoming, U.S. It lies just east of the Continental Divide at an elevation of 6,755 feet (2,059 metres). Founded in 1868 when the Union Pacific Railroad arrived, it was first named Rawlins Springs for U.S. Army Chief of Staff General John A. Rawlins, who requested a freshwater spring there bear his name. In 1874 “Rawlins Red” pigment from the local paint mines

Ambrose, Stephen Edward

2005-02-06T05:16:00.000-08:00

American biographer and historian (b. Jan. 10, 1936, Decatur, Ill.—d. Oct. 13, 2002, Bay St. Louis, Miss.), wrote some three dozen books on U.S. history. His later works were populist in tone, celebrating the achievements of ordinary people. In 2002 he was accused of plagiarism, but in his defense he argued that he had cited sources for his material. Ambrose earned a B.S. degree in history from the University

Arts, Islamic, Three great mosques

2005-02-06T03:43:00.000-08:00

During the rule of the Umayyad prince al-Walid I (705–715), a number of complex developments within the Muslim community were crystallized in the construction of three major mosques, at Medina, Jerusalem, and Damascus. The very choice of these three cities is indicative: the city in which the Muslim state was formed and in which the Prophet was buried; the city held in common holiness

Japanese Law

2005-02-05T01:00:00.000-08:00

The law as it has developed in Japan as a consequence of a meld of two cultural and legal traditions, one indigenous Japanese, the other Western. Before Japan's isolation from the West was ended in the mid-19th century, Japanese law developed independently of Western influences. Conciliation was emphasized in response to social pressures exerted through an expanded