IllBridge

Pabbajja

2005-04-05T17:27:00.000-07:00

In some Theravada countries such as Burma, the rite is normally held for every Buddhist boy at the age of puberty. In Tibet and China a probationary period of study is required

Offa

2005-04-05T10:59:00.000-07:00

Town, Kwara state, southwestern Nigeria. It lies along the railroad from Lagos and at the intersection of roads from Ilorin town, Lafiagi, and Ikirun. A traditional settlement of the Yoruba people in a savanna area, it now serves as a collecting point for the yams, cassava, corn (maize), sorghum, and shea nuts grown in the surrounding area. Cotton weaving and dyeing (with locally

Epistemology, David Hume

2005-04-04T03:02:00.000-07:00

Although Berkeley rejected the Lockean notions of primary and secondary qualities and matter, he retained Locke's beliefs in the existence of mind, substance, and cause as a power or secret force. David Hume (1711–76), in addition to rejecting all the Lockean notions that Berkeley did, also rejected what Berkeley had retained. His justification for this step was empiricist

Radcliffe, Ann

2005-04-03T08:13:00.000-07:00

Radcliffe's father was in trade, and the family lived in well-to-do gentility. In 1787, at the age of 23, she married William Radcliffe, a journalist who encouraged her literary pursuits.

Henrician Articles

2005-04-02T08:44:00.000-08:00

Polish Artykuly Henrykowskie (1573) statement of the rights and privileges of the Polish gentry (szlachta) that all elected kings of Poland, beginning with Henry of Valois (elected May 11, 1573), were obliged to confirm and that severely limited the authority of the Polish monarchy. After King Sigismund II Augustus died (July 1572), Henry of Valois, duc d'Anjou and the future Henry III of France, emerged as the favourite

Blood Bank

2005-04-02T04:10:00.000-08:00

Organization that collects, stores, processes, and transfuses blood. The fact that stored blood could safely be used was demonstrated in World War I. Before the first blood banks came into operation, the physician determined the blood types of the patient's relatives and friends until the proper type was found, performed the crossmatch, bled the donor, and gave the

Carnivore, Importance to humans

2005-04-01T22:26:00.000-08:00

The cat, like the dog, was originally taken into the home of man as a pet. Unlike the dog, the cat has not been trained to hunt or to serve as a guardian. Cats may perform the function of “mouse catcher” in those areas where mice become a problem, but most urban house cats do not have the opportunity to perform this unless garbage and trash are allowed to accumulate. On farms, where

Turbay Ayala, Julio César

2005-03-31T03:50:00.000-08:00

Born into a middle-class family descended from Lebanese immigrants, Turbay Ayala was educated at the National Commercial School (Bogotá) and University College of Botero. He served in the House of Representatives from 1943 to 1953 and became

China, Industrialization for self-strengthening

2005-03-31T00:59:00.000-08:00

Stimulated by the military training and techniques exhibited during the Westerners' cooperation against the Taiping and supported by Prince Kung in Peking, the Self-Strengthening Movement was launched by the anti-Taiping generals Tseng Kuo-fan, Li Hung-chang, and Tso Tsung-t'ang, who sought to consolidate the Ch'ing power by introducing Western technology. The

Advertising Coloration

2005-03-29T21:38:00.000-08:00

In animals, the use of biological coloration to make an organism unique and highly visible as compared with the background, thereby providing easily perceived information as to its location, identity, and movement. Such advertisement may serve the function of attracting individuals in order to enter into some advantageous interaction (e.g., courtship for reproductive

Mahakavya

2005-03-29T21:05:00.000-08:00

In its classical form, a mahakavya consists of a variable number of comparatively short cantos, each composed in a metre appropriate to its particular subject matter. The subject matter of the mahakavya is

Turdidae

2005-03-29T16:11:00.000-08:00

Members range in size from 11.5 to 33 centimetres (4.5 to 13 inches) long. They have slender bills and stout legs and feet, the lower leg smooth rather than scaly. Included

Temperature Stress

2005-03-28T17:21:00.000-08:00

Physiological stress induced by excessive heat or cold that can impair functioning and cause injury or death. Exposure to intense heat increases body temperature and pulse rate. If body temperature is sufficiently high, sweating may cease, the skin may become dry, and deeper and faster breathing may follow. Headaches, nausea, disorientation, fainting, and unconsciousness

Gippsland

2005-03-28T17:06:00.000-08:00

Region of southeastern Victoria, Australia, extending northeast from Western Port (near Melbourne) to the New South Wales border and south from the Eastern Highlands to the coast, with an area of 13,600 square miles (35,200 square km). Fertile and well watered (34 inches [860 mm] annually), Gippsland is the focus of the state's dairy industry, supplying most of Melbourne's liquid milk. Lignite

Breitinger, Johann Jakob

2005-03-27T18:06:00.000-08:00

He studied theology and became professor at the Collegium Carolinum in Zurich. He lectured on Hebrew, Greek, Latin, logic, and rhetoric; showed excellence as a philologist in many editions; and advocated education on humanist lines

Cytochrome

2005-03-26T10:27:00.000-08:00

Any of a group of hemoprotein cell components that, by readily undergoing reduction and oxidation (gain and loss of electrons) with the aid of enzymes, serve a vital function in the transfer of energy within cells. Hemoproteins are proteins linked to a nonprotein, iron-bearing component. It is the iron (heme) group attached to the protein that can undergo reversible

Madgaon

2005-03-25T18:41:00.000-08:00

Also called Margao, town, west-central Goa state, western India. Madgaon is situated on the railway that extends from Marmagao port to Castle Rock in Karnataka state. The third largest city in Goa, it gained importance with the development of Marmagao port, the best harbour between Bombay and Cochin. An industrial estate just outside the city, a cold-storage plant for fish, and a large agricultural-produce

Sokoto River

2005-03-25T17:09:00.000-08:00

Also called Kebbi River, river in northwestern Nigeria, rising just south of Funtua on the northern plateau. It flows northwestward in a wide arc for 200 miles (320 km) to Sokoto town, west of which the Rima River joins it in its lower course to its confluence with the Niger River east of Illo. The alluvial valley and plains formed by the Sokoto River are extensively cultivated; peanuts (groundnuts), cotton,

Biblical Literature, The Megillot (the Scrolls)

2005-03-24T14:34:00.000-08:00

The five books known as the Megillot or Scrolls are grouped together as a unit in modern Hebrew Bibles according to the order of the annual religious festivals on which they are read in the synagogues of the Ashkenazim (central and eastern European Jews and their descendants). They did not originally form a unit and were found scattered in the Bible in their supposed

Earth, Radar altimetry of the ocean surface

2005-03-24T03:18:00.000-08:00

As noted above, the geoid over the oceans coincides with mean sea level provided that the dynamic effects of winds, tides, and currents are removed. The surface of the sea acts as a reflector for radar waves, and a satellite equipped with a radar altimeter can be used to sound from the satellite's instantaneous position to the sea. The accuracy with which the sea surface

Scorsese, Martin

2005-03-23T15:43:00.000-08:00

Scorsese was a frail, asthmatic child who grew up in New York City in an Italian-American neighbourhood on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. His early interest in film returned after he tried unsuccessfully to enter the Roman Catholic

Bekker, August Immanuel

2005-03-22T09:19:00.000-08:00

Bekker studied classics at the University of Halle and was appointed professor of philosophy at Friedrich-Wilhelm University, Berlin, in 1810. He traveled over the next decade in France, Italy, England, and Germany,

Carthage

2005-03-21T15:10:00.000-08:00

Calaverite

2005-03-21T13:04:00.000-08:00

A gold telluride mineral (AuTe2) that is a member of the krennerite group of sulfides and perhaps a structurally altered form (paramorph) of krennerite (q.v.); it generally contains some silver replacing gold. Calaverite is most commonly found in veins that have formed at low temperatures, as in sites at Kalgoorlie, Australia; Cripple Creek, Colo.; and Calaveras county, Calif.,

Bloch, Marc

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

Bloch, the son of a professor of ancient history, grandson of a school principal, and great-grandson of a combatant in the French Revolution, descended from a family of patriotic French Jews. Educated in Paris at the

Blom, Frans Ferdinand

2005-03-19T11:36:00.000-08:00

After graduating from the

Stanford University

2005-03-19T09:49:00.000-08:00

Official name Leland Stanford Junior University private coeducational institution of higher learning at Stanford, Calif., U.S. The university was founded in 1885 and opened in 1891 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford and his wife, Jane (née Lathrop), and was dedicated to their deceased only child, Leland, Jr. The doors were opened in 1891 to 559 students. The university campus consists largely of Stanford's former Palo Alto farm. The buildings,

Iridium

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

(Ir), chemical element, one of the platinum metals of Group VIII of the periodic table. It is very dense and rare and is used in platinum alloys. A precious, silver-white metal, iridium is hard and brittle, but it becomes ductile and can be worked at a white heat, from 1,200° to 1,500° C (2,200° to 2,700° F). It is one of the densest terrestrial substances. In the massive state the metal is practically insoluble

Culture Area

2005-03-18T01:32:00.000-08:00

Among the most important writers on the subject of culture areas were Sir Halford Mackinder

Domovoy

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

The domovoy is the guardian of the family and its wealth, but he is partial to conscientious and

Dan

2005-03-17T08:55:00.000-08:00

Also called Gio, or Yakuba, an ethnolinguistic grouping of people inhabiting the mountainous west-central Côte d'Ivoire and adjacent areas of Liberia. The Dan belong to the Southern branch of the Mande linguistic subgroup of the Niger-Congo language family. They originated somewhere to the west or northwest of their present lands, perhaps among the Malinke (Mandingo). The Dan are closely

Bahía Blanca

2005-03-17T05:30:00.000-08:00

Explorers in the 18th century named the area Bahía Blanca (“White Bay”), but the settlement that grew up around a military outpost,

Permafrost, Air temperature and ground temperature

2005-03-16T11:58:00.000-08:00

In areas where the mean annual air temperature becomes colder than 0° C, some of the ground frozen in the winter will not be completely thawed in the summer; therefore, a layer of permafrost will form and continue to grow downward gradually each year from the seasonally frozen ground. The permafrost layer will become thicker each winter, its thickness controlled by

Quibdó

2005-03-15T06:09:00.000-08:00

City, western Colombia, on the Río Atrato, in the Pacific coastal plain. Its receipt of more than 420 inches (10,700 mm) of rain a year probably exceeds that of any other equatorial area on Earth. Founded in 1654 as San Francisco de Quibdó, the city has served as Chocó's capital since 1948. It is a regional commercial and manufacturing centre, housing metalworks, sawmills, and clothing and soft-drink

Nord-du-québec

2005-03-15T04:17:00.000-08:00

English North of Quebec , formerly Nouveau-québec administrative region constituting the northern half of Quebec province, Canada. The name Nouveau-Québec (“New Quebec”) once was used synonymously with Ungava for that part of the Labrador-Ungava peninsula between Hudson Bay and the Labrador Sea, north of the Eastmain and Churchill (Hamilton) rivers, which was, at the time, a part of the Northwest Territories. In 1912, however,

Furniture, Modern

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

Modern furniture design after World

Selberg, Atle

2005-03-14T23:50:00.000-08:00

Selberg

Buzau Pass

2005-03-14T18:47:00.000-08:00

Romanian Pasul Buzau pass connecting Brasov with Buzau, southeastern Romania, over the Buzau Mountains, in the Eastern Carpathians. It follows the valley of the Buzau River for most of its distance. A road crosses the pass, and there are short, nonconnecting rail branches from Brasov and Buzau.

Dôn

2005-03-13T14:07:00.000-08:00

In Celtic mythology, leader of one of two warring families of gods; according to one interpretation, the Children of Dôn were the powers of light, constantly in conflict with the Children of Llyr, the powers of darkness. In another view, the conflict was a struggle between indigenous gods and those of an invading people. Although Dôn and other Welsh deities had Irish

Yi Chong

2005-03-13T00:23:00.000-08:00

The great-great-grandson of King Sejong (1397–1450), Yi is said to have personified the ideal Korean aristocrat. He is as famous for his regal and generous disposition and his scholarly tastes as he is for his painting, and he is also well known as a poet and calligrapher.

Gabon, Plant and animal life

2005-03-12T22:11:00.000-08:00

About 75 percent of the country is covered by a dense equatorial rain forest containing more than 3,000 species of vegetation, including the okoume, a hardwood tree that forms the backbone of Gabon's wood industry. The rain forest is inhabited by antelope, monkeys, gorillas, numerous tropical birds, and several varieties of elephants.

Torcello

2005-03-12T13:46:00.000-08:00

Island-village in the Laguna Veneta (Venice Lagoon) and an eastern environ of Venice, Italy. Founded in AD 452 by refugees from Altino on the mainland, the bishopric of Altino was transferred there in the 7th century. The island, a flourishing city in ancient times, was the head of an association of the communes of the lagoon until the seat of government was moved to the Rialto

Elijah Ben Solomon

2005-03-12T01:51:00.000-08:00

Born into a long line of scholars, Elijah traveled

Bailey, Donovan

2005-03-10T13:02:00.000-08:00

At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga., Canadian sprinter Donovan Bailey won the 100-m dash in 9.84 sec to earn the appellation "the world's fastest man." Then he ran the last leg of the 4 ´100-m relay and helped the Canadian team win a gold medal in that event. These were impressive accomplishments for a man who had emerged as a factor in international track only in 1994 and did not set a world record

Taraori, Battles Of

2005-03-10T01:44:00.000-08:00

Muhammad had taken Lahore from the last of the

Utica

2005-03-09T18:54:00.000-08:00

Modern Utique traditionally the oldest Phoenician settlement on the coast of North Africa. It is located near the mouth of the Majardah (French Medjerda, ancient Bagradas) River in modern Tunisia. After its founding in the 8th or 7th century BC, Utica grew rapidly and was second only to Carthage among Phoenician settlements in Africa. In the Third Punic War (149–146 BC), Utica sided with Rome against

Zaragoza

2005-03-09T03:31:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Saragossa, provincia, in the comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Aragon, northeastern Spain. Together with the provinces of Huesca and Teruel, it formed the old kingdom of Aragon. It extends north and south of the middle course of the Ebro River; it reaches the foot of the Pyrenees (north) and is bounded west by the provinces of Navarra, Logroño, and Soria, south by Guadalajara

Bridger, Jim

2005-03-08T20:18:00.000-08:00

In 1812, Bridger's father, a surveyor and an innkeeper, moved his family to an Illinois farm near St. Louis, Mo. The young Bridger joined his first fur-trapping expedition in 1822 (that of William H. Ashley and Andrew Henry, up the Missouri River), and for the next 20 years

Williams, Hank

2005-03-07T15:49:00.000-08:00

Williams began playing the guitar at the age of 8, made his radio debut at 13, and formed his first band, Hank Williams and his Drifting Cowboys, at age 14. His series of recordings in 1947 on the M-G-M label won

Lugones, Leopoldo

2005-03-07T03:35:00.000-08:00

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

Colebrook, Leonard

2005-03-07T00:59:00.000-08:00

Colebrook joined researcher Almroth Wright in 1907 at St. Mary's Hospital. In 1926 Colebrook became interested

Conservation, The Antarctic Treaty

2005-03-06T21:37:00.000-08:00

The Antarctic continent remained unknown and unexplored during the period when most other parts of the world were being claimed and colonized by European powers. Uninhabited and, until recently, of little or no value to any country, Antarctica never became an area for international dispute. Although segments of the continent and sub-Antarctic islands have been

Zoroastrianism

2005-03-06T08:48:00.000-08:00

Zoroastrianism is not the purely ethical religion it may at first seem. In practice, despite the doctrine of free choice, a Zoroastrian is so constantly involved in a meticulous struggle against the contamination of death and the thousand causes of defilement, and against the threat, even in his sleep, of ever-present demons, that he does not often believe that he is

Interior Design, Egypt

2005-03-06T01:57:00.000-08:00

In contrast with the monumental tombs and temples of stone, many of which remained intact to the 20th century, Egyptian houses were built of perishable materials, and, therefore, few remains have survived. Sun-dried or kiln-burnt mud bricks were used for the walls; floors consisted of beaten earth, and a thin coat of smooth mud plaster was often used as an internal wall

Humanism, François Rabelais (c. 14901533)

2005-03-05T18:54:00.000-08:00

Rabelais ranks with Boccaccio as a founding father of Western realism. As a satirist and stylist (in his hands French prose became a free, poetic form), he influenced writers as important as Jonathan Swift, Laurence Sterne, and James Joyce and may be seen as a major precursor of modernism. His five books concerning the deeds of the giant princes Gargantua and

Patagonia

2005-03-04T18:21:00.000-08:00

Semiarid scrub plateau that covers nearly all of the southern portion of mainland Argentina. With an area of about 260,000 square miles (673,000 square kilometres), it constitutes a vast area of steppe and desert that extends from latitude 37° to 51° S. It is bounded, approximately, by the Patagonian Andes to the west, the Colorado River to the north (except where the region extends north of

'arabah, Wadi Al-

2005-03-04T11:36:00.000-08:00

Hebrew Ha-'arava, topographic depression in southern Palestine extending about 100 miles (160 km) south from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba; it is part of the East African Rift System. Largely sandy desert, it is divided between Israel and Jordan. In the Old Testament, except in Deuteronomy 2:8, the name Al-'Arabah refers to the Jordan Valley, but eventually the name came to be applied exclusively

West Berlin

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

The western half of the German city of Berlin (q.v.), which until the reunification of the German state in 1990 was treated as a city and Land (state) of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), though it was not constitutionally part of that nation.

Photography, Technology Of, X-ray radiography

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

The most familiar

New Bedford

2005-03-02T23:39:00.000-08:00

The site, settled by Plymouth colonists in 1652, was originally part of Dartmouth. A fishing community was established there in 1760. By 1765 it had developed into a small whaling port and shipbuilding centre. The Dartmouth, which in 1767 was the first

Black Range

2005-03-02T04:59:00.000-08:00

Mountain range extending 100 miles (160 km) north to south, through Catron and Sierra counties, southwestern New Mexico, U.S. The range follows the Continental Divide for much of its length. Most of the range lies within the Gila National Forest, near the headwaters of the Gila River. The highest point in the range is Reeds Peak (10,015 feet [3,053 metres]). State Highway 152, also called the Black Range

Kochia

2005-03-01T18:16:00.000-08:00

Genus of annual plants, of the goosefoot family (Chenopodiaceae), native primarily to Eurasia. The commonly cultivated garden species is summer cypress (K. scoparia), sometimes known as standing, or Belvedere, cypress. The most widely grown variety is the red summer cypress, also called firebush or burning bush (K. scoparia trichophylla), an erect, often globe-shaped

Argenta

2005-03-01T01:04:00.000-08:00

Town, Ferrara province, Emilia-Romagna region, northeastern Italy, on the Fiume (river) Reno, southeast of Ferrara city. It has some fine medieval and Renaissance buildings, including the churches of S. Domenico and S. Francesco, and a notable picture gallery. The town was flooded by the German forces during World War II. It is now mainly an agricultural centre. Pop. (1981 prelim.)

Szczecinski Lagoon

2005-02-27T23:38:00.000-08:00

Polish Zalew Szczecinski , German Stettiner Haff , or Oderhaff lagoon (area 350 square miles [900 square km]) on the Baltic Sea coast between Mecklenburg–West Pomerania Land (state), Germany, and Szczecin województwo (province), Poland. An extension of the Oder River's estuarine mouth, it is drained (via the Swina, Peene, and Dziwna rivers) into Pomeranian Bay and the Baltic Sea between Usedom and Wolin.

Sketch

2005-02-27T07:20:00.000-08:00

In a traditional sketch, the emphasis usually is laid on the general design and composition of the work and

Tsuruya Namboku Iv

2005-02-27T05:51:00.000-08:00

Little is known of his early years, but in 1755 he became an apprentice of the dramatist Sakurada Jisuke I. About 1780 he married the daughter of Tsuruya Namboku III, a well-known Kabuki actor of the time.

Christiansted

2005-02-26T23:24:00.000-08:00

Also called Bassin chief town and port of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, on the northeastern coast of the island. Exports are mainly watches and rum. It was formerly capital of the Danish West Indies and was a boyhood residence (1765) of the American statesman Alexander Hamilton. Pop. (1980) 2,914.

Essex

2005-02-26T04:31:00.000-08:00

English

Aumale, Henri-eugène-philippe-louis D'orléans, Duke (duc) D'

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

Orléans entered an army career at age 17 and distinguished himself in Algerian campaigns; in 1847 he became lieutenant general and governor of France's African possessions. An exile in England after the

Durán, Roberto

2005-02-25T18:47:00.000-08:00

Durán began his professional career on March 8, 1967, and won the first 32 matches of his career, 26 by knockout, before losing for the first time in a 10-round nontitle decision to Esteban De Jesús on November 17, 1972. Earlier that year, on June 26,

Epistemology, St. Thomas Aquinas

2005-02-24T23:23:00.000-08:00

While a Platonic and Augustinian epistemology dominated the early Middle Ages, the translation of Aristotle's On the Soul in the early 13th century had a dramatic effect. Following Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas (1225–74) recognized that there are different kinds of knowledge. Sense knowledge is what results from sensing individual things: thus, one sees a tree, hears the song of

'alavi, Buzurg

2005-02-24T10:25:00.000-08:00

'Alavi was educated in Iran, and in 1922 he was sent to Berlin, where he learned German and translated a number of German works into Persian. Upon returning to Iran, he taught at the Industrial College of Tehran and became involved with a group of Iranian socialists. He was imprisoned

Scholasticism

2005-02-24T05:59:00.000-08:00

But not all of Scholasticism is specifically medieval and therefore definitively belonging to the dead past; there are perennial elements that are meant for every age, the present one included, three of which may be here distinguished. First, not only has Scholasticism held true to the normal historical rule that ideas, once thought and expressed, remain present

Kubelík, Rafael

2005-02-24T05:48:00.000-08:00

He was a son of the violinist Jan Kubelík and studied composition and conducting at the Prague Conservatory. He conducted the Czech

Genet

2005-02-22T22:44:00.000-08:00

Any of about five species of lithe, catlike carnivores of the genus Genetta, family Viverridae. Genets are elongate, short-legged animals with long, tapering tails; pointed noses; large, rounded ears; and retractile claws. Coloration varies among species but usually is pale yellowish or grayish, marked with dark spots and stripes; the tail is banded black and

Kermadec Trench

2005-02-22T10:17:00.000-08:00

Submarine trench in the floor of the South Pacific Ocean, about 750 mi (1,200 km) in length, forming the eastern boundary of the Kermadec Ridge. The two together comprise the southern half of the Tonga–Kermadec Arc, a structural feature completed to the north by the Tonga Trench and Ridge. The Kermadec Trench reaches a maximum depth of 32,962 ft (10,047 m).

Mondino De' Luzzi

2005-02-22T08:44:00.000-08:00

Mondino received his

Amuzgo

2005-02-21T04:09:00.000-08:00

The people are agricultural, using the plow or digging stick to plant staples of corn, beans, and squash,

India, Drainage into the Arabian Sea

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

A substantial part of northwestern India is included in the Indus drainage basin, which India shares with China, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. The Indus and its longest tributary, the Sutlej, both rise in the trans-Himalayan region of Tibet. The Indus initially flows to the northwest between towering mountain ranges into Jammu and Kashmir. It then travels generally

Anthony Of Egypt, Saint

2005-02-20T13:57:00.000-08:00

Athanasius, The Life of Antony and the Letter to Marcellinus (1980), was written by a contemporary; this translation includes useful prefatory material.

Pyrex

2005-02-20T06:25:00.000-08:00

(trademark), a type of glass and glassware that is resistant to heat, chemicals, and electricity. It is used to make chemical apparatus, industrial equipment, including piping and thermometers, and ovenware. Chemically, Pyrex contains borosilicate and expands only about one-third as much as common glass (silicate) when heated. As a result, it is less apt to break when subjected

God, Truce Of

2005-02-19T02:05:00.000-08:00

It is traceable to at least the Synod of Elne (1027), which suspended all warfare from Saturday night until prime on Monday. By 1042 the truce extended from Wednesday evening to Monday morning in every week and also, in most

Mcluhan, Marshall

2005-02-19T00:17:00.000-08:00

In full Herbert Marshall McLuhan Canadian communications theorist and educator, whose aphorism “the medium is the message” summarized his view of the potent influence of television, computers, and other electronic disseminators of information in shaping styles of thinking and thought, whether in sociology, art, science, or religion. He regarded

Natchez Trace Parkway

2005-02-18T19:00:00.000-08:00

Old road and one of the most scenic highways in the United States, about 450 mi (725 km) long, following an Indian trail, or trace, northeastward from Natchez, Miss., across northwestern Alabama to Nashville, Tenn. Originally an Indian trail, from 1800 to 1820 it was the most important highway in the Old Southwest—militarily, economically, and politically. With the advent of the river steamer

Wyntoun, Andrew Of

2005-02-17T10:13:00.000-08:00

Wyntoun was a canon of St. Andrews, and, from about 1393 to his retirement because of old age in 1421, he served as prior of St. Serf's, Loch Leven (Kinross, Scotland). Written for Sir John Wemyss of Leuchars, Fife,

Spaghetti

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

Long, cordlike form of pasta (q.v.).

Kourouma, Ahmadou

2005-02-16T07:49:00.000-08:00

Kourouma spent his early years in Guinea and attended secondary school in Bamako, Mali, until he was expelled and was drafted into the army by the French. He was sent to Indochina and served in Saigon. Later he continued

Abramov, Fyodor

2005-02-15T22:05:00.000-08:00

Of peasant ancestry, Abramov studied at Leningrad State University, interrupting his schooling to serve as a soldier

'abd Allah

2005-02-15T15:18:00.000-08:00

'Abd Allah followed his family's vocation for religion. In about 1880 he became a disciple of Muhammad Ahmad, who announced that he had a divine mission, became known as al-Mahdi, and appointed 'Abd Allah a caliph (khalifah). When al-Mahdi died

Papillomavirus

2005-02-15T14:00:00.000-08:00

Also spelled papilloma virus any of a group of viruses belonging to the family Papillomaviridae that infect birds and mammals, causing warts (papillomas) and other benign tumours in humans. They are small polygonal viruses containing circular double-stranded DNA, and more than 55 distinct types of human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are now known on the basis of analysis of their DNA. Skin warts are of

Vieira, Luandino

2005-02-14T22:13:00.000-08:00

Vieira immigrated with his parents to Angola in 1938, living in and around the musseques (African quarters) of Luanda. His writings reflect the fusion of Kimbundu (the language of the Mbundu people) and a variety of Portuguese that is the unique language of the musseque. Vieira, a white Angolan, committed

Iran, The Qajar dynasty (17961925)

2005-02-14T14:10:00.000-08:00

Between 1779 and 1789 the Zands fought among themselves over their legacy. In the end it fell to the gallant Lotf 'Ali, the Zands' last hope. Agha Muhammad Khan relentlessly hunted him down until he overcame and killed him at the southeastern city of Kerman in 1794. In 1796 Agha Muhammad Khan assumed the imperial diadem, and later in the same year he took Mashhad. Shah Rokh died of the tortures inflicted

Maccabees

2005-02-14T08:23:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Machabees priestly family of Jews who organized a successful rebellion against the Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV and reconsecrated the defiled Temple of Jerusalem.

Stieglitz, Alfred

2005-02-13T09:22:00.000-08:00

American photographer, passionate advocate of photography as an art, and a pioneer exhibitor of modern art in the United States. In 1902 he founded the seminal Photo-Secession Group as a protest against the conventional photography of the time. Stieglitz' own best photographs are the 400-print series of his wife, Georgia O'Keeffe, and his

Bujumbura

2005-02-12T07:47:00.000-08:00

City, western Burundi. Bujumbura is the nation's capital and largest urban centre. The city's industry specializes in textiles, leather, paper, chemicals, and agricultural products. Bujumbura also serves as the country's main port on Lake Tanganyika; most of Burundi's foreign trade is shipped between the capital and Kigoma, Tanzania, and, less frequently, to Kalemi, Congo

Voysey, Charles Francis Annesley

2005-02-11T15:52:00.000-08:00

Voysey was the son of Charles Voysey, founder of the Theistic Church. He was articled to J.P. Seddon in 1874, became assistant to George Devey, the eminent country-house designer, in 1880, and set up his own

Ba'qubah

2005-02-11T02:54:00.000-08:00

Town, east-central Iraq. Located on the Diyala River and on a road and a rail line between Baghdad and Iran, it is a regional trade centre for agricultural produce and livestock. The name comes from the Aramaic Baya 'quba, meaning “Jacob's house.” The town is located on the site of a settlement dating back to pre-Islamic times. Under the 'Abbasid caliphate, it was a prosperous town known

Ancient Lights

2005-02-10T16:22:00.000-08:00

In English property law, the right of a building or house owner to the light received from and through his windows. Windows used for light by an owner for 20 years or more could not be obstructed by the erection of an edifice or by any other act by an adjacent landowner. This rule of law originated in England in 1663, based on the theory that a landowner acquired an easement to the

Mountain

2005-02-10T15:18:00.000-08:00

Mountain belts differ from one another in various respects, but they also have a number of similarities that enable Earth scientists to group them into certain distinct categories. Each of these categories is characterized by the principal process that created a representative belt. Moreover, within individual belts different tectonic processes can prevail

Hwange National Park

2005-02-10T14:08:00.000-08:00

Formerly Wankie National Park, park in northwestern Zimbabwe, on the Botswana frontier. It was established in 1928 as a game reserve, and as a national park in 1930. The park's area of 5,657 square miles (14,651 square km) is largely flat and contains fine hardwood forests of mukwa and Zimbabwean teak. Hwange is one of Africa's largest elephant sanctuaries and is also the habitat of thousands of Cape buffalo as well as giraffes,