SuddenCat

Hardoi

2005-04-03T20:43:00.000-07:00

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

Beverly Hills

2005-04-03T11:43:00.000-07:00

City, western Los Angeles county, California, U.S., completely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles. The site originated in the 19th century as the Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas. In 1906 it was organized as a residential area called Beverly; in 1912 the Beverly Hills Hotel was erected, and in 1914, with a population of about 500, the town was incorporated. In 1919 the film stars Mary Pickford and Douglas

Stalactite And Stalagmite

2005-04-02T03:51:00.000-08:00

Stalactites hanging from the ceilings of caverns commonly exhibit a central tube or the trace of a former tube whose diameter

Azali

2005-04-01T23:44:00.000-08:00

Any member of the Babi movement (followers of a 19th-century Iranian prophet, the Bab) who chose to remain faithful to the Bab's teachings and to his chosen successor, Mirza Yahya, given the religious title Sobh-e Azal, after a split in the movement occurred in 1863. For about 13 years after the Bab's execution (1850), his followers acknowledged Sobh-e Azal as their lawful leader. In 1863, when Sobh-e Azal's half-brother

Sibolga

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

Kotamadya (municipality), Sumatera Utara provinsi (“province”), Sumatra, Indonesia, located 130 miles (209 km) south of Medan, the provincial capital. A port on Sibolga Bay (an inlet of the Indian Ocean), it is linked by road with Tarutung and Pematangsiantar to the north and with Padangsidimpuan to the southeast. The city is protected by Mursala Island nearby to the southwest. The

Insurance, Settlement options

2005-03-31T10:25:00.000-08:00

The death proceeds or cash values of insurance may be settled in various ways. The insured may take the cash value and lapse the policy. A beneficiary may take a lump sum settlement of the face amount upon the death of the insured. The beneficiary may, instead, elect to receive the proceeds over a given number of years or in some fixed amount, such as $100 a month, for as long as

Bukittinggi

2005-03-30T18:51:00.000-08:00

Formerly Fort De Kock, city, Sumatera Barat provinsi (“province”), Sumatra, Indonesia. It lies at an elevation of 3,000 feet (900 m) on the Agam Plateau, a ridge of high land parallel to the coast. The city is in the Minangkabau country, one of the most scenic sections of Indonesia. Typical of the region are houses with saddle-shaped roofs, the ends pointing upward like buffalo horns. Bukittinggi is an important

Bottomry

2005-03-30T02:36:00.000-08:00

A maritime contract (now almost obsolete) by which the owner of a ship borrows money for equipping or repairing the vessel and, for a definite term, pledges the ship as security—it being stipulated that if the ship be lost in the specified voyage or period, by any of the perils enumerated, the lender shall lose his money. A similar contract creating a security interest

Arrhenius, Svante (august)

2005-03-29T15:35:00.000-08:00

Swedish physical chemist best known for his theory that electrolytes, certain substances that dissolve in water to yield a solution that conducts electricity, are separated, or dissociated, into electrically charged particles, or ions, even when there is no current flowing through the solution. In 1903 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for

Epinicion

2005-03-29T00:46:00.000-08:00

Though the epinicion's structure

Ars Antiqua

2005-03-27T07:49:00.000-08:00

(Medieval Latin: “Ancient Art”), in music history, period of musical activity in 13th-century France, characterized by increasingly sophisticated counterpoint (the art of combining simultaneous voice parts), that culminated in the innovations of the 14th-century Ars Nova (q.v.). The term Ars Antiqua originated, in fact, with the Ars Nova theorists, some of whom spoke of the “Ancient

Nathdwara

2005-03-27T00:09:00.000-08:00

Town, southern Rajasthan state, northwestern India, just south of the Banas River. Connected by road with Udaipur and close to the Malvi rail junction, Nathdwara is a place of Hindu pilgrimage; it contains a 17th-century Vaishnavite shrine that is one of the most famous in India. Within the temple is a celebrated image of the god Krishna, popularly said to date to the 12th century

Endocrine System, Human, Aldosterone

2005-03-26T09:03:00.000-08:00

The biologic effect of aldosterone, the principal mineralocorticoid produced by the zona glomerulosa, is to set in motion a set of reactions at the cell surface of all body tissues in order to enhance the uptake and retention of sodium in all cells and the extrusion of potassium from them. Such fluxes of sodium and potassium following the administration of aldosterone

Owambo

2005-03-24T22:15:00.000-08:00

Also called Ovamboland, geographic region, northern Namibia. Owambo is bordered by the Kaokoland (Kaokoveld) region on the west and by the Kavango region on the east. The border with Angola lies to the north. Most of semiarid Owambo is an extremely flat plain covered by white sands. It is crossed by a series of low-gradient, often parallel, south-oriented dry watercourses (oshanas), collectively

Hagia Sophia

2005-03-24T18:34:00.000-08:00

Also called Church Of The Holy Wisdom, Turkish Ayasofya, cathedral built at Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) under the direction of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I. It is a unique building and one of the world's great monuments, despite time's ravages. The structure, a domed basilica, was built in the amazingly short time of about six years, being completed in AD 537. The architects were Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus.

Chiapas Highlands

2005-03-24T10:13:00.000-08:00

High-altitude region of dissected plateaus enclosing a central valley (Valle Central de Chiapas) in Chiapas state, southeastern Mexico. The highlands constitute the northwestern end of a mountainous region extending northward from the lowlands of Nicaragua to the Isthmus of Tehauntepec and are composed of three main features running parallel to the Pacific

Nephrosclerosis

2005-03-23T23:18:00.000-08:00

Hardening of the walls of the small arteries and arterioles (small arteries that convey blood from arteries to the even smaller capillaries) of the kidney. This condition is caused by hypertension (high blood pressure). Hypertension can be present in a person for 20 to 30 years without evidence of kidney involvement; such persons usually die of other effects of hypertension

Rambouillet

2005-03-22T21:19:00.000-08:00

Town, Yvelines département, Paris region, northern France, just southwest of Versailles. Flanked by its famous château and surrounded by an extensive forest, it is a favoured tourist spot for Parisians. The château, built in 1375 by a courtier of Charles V of France, passed into the hands of Jacques d'Angennes, captain of King Francis I's bodyguard. In 1547, Francis died there on a

Augustine, Saint, Scholarly literature

2005-03-22T10:48:00.000-08:00

The best one-volume study of Augustine's thought is Eugene TeSelle, Augustine the Theologian (1970). John Burnaby, Amor Dei: A Study of the Religion of St. Augustine (1938; reissued with corrections and a new foreword, 1991), is sympathetic and illuminating but dated. For Augustine in his cultural context, there is still nothing better than Henri Irénée Marrou, Saint Augustin et la fin de la culture antique, 4th ed., 2 vol. in 1 (1958; reissued in 1 vol., 1983). Other useful studies are Brian Stock, Augustine the Reader: Meditation, Self-Knowledge, and the Ethics of Interpretation (1996); and Sabine MacCormack, The Shadows of Poetry: Vergil in the Mind of Augustine (1998). Augustine's political views are addressed in Herbert A. Deane, The Political and Social Ideas of St. Augustine (1963); and R.A. Markus, Saeculum: History and Society in the Theology of St. Augustine, rev. ed. (1988). Augustine's views on sexuality have come under scrutiny in recent years; the most comprehensive study is Kim Power, Veiled Desire: Augustine on Women (1996); but Peter Brown, The Body and Society: Men, Women, and Sexual Renunciation in Early Christianity (1988), is also important.

Gippsland

2005-03-21T03:02:00.000-08:00

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

Mahadeo Hills

2005-03-20T20:16:00.000-08:00

Sandstone hills located in the northern part of the Satpura Range, in southern Madhya Pradesh state, central India. The hills have small plateaus and steep scarps that were formed during the Carboniferous Period (360 to 286 million years ago). The hills have a gentle northern slope but are steep to the south, where they drop abruptly from 3,600 feet (1,100 m) to less than 900 feet (275 m). The general

Grazzini, Anton Francesco

2005-03-20T09:01:00.000-08:00

Apparently educated in vernacular literature, Grazzini in 1540 took part in the founding of the Accademia degli Umidi (“Academy of the Humid”), the first literary society of the time. He was a contentious individual and became

Hoosac Tunnel

2005-03-19T13:38:00.000-08:00

The first major rock tunnel built in the United States. The tunnel runs through Hoosac Mountain of the Berkshire Hills, east of North Adams, Mass., and was built to provide a rail connection between Boston and upper New York state. Though only 4.75 miles (7.6 km) long, the tunnel took 24 years (1851–75) to complete, partly because of slow and laborious rock-tunneling techniques in use when construction

Domingo, Plácido

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

Domingo's parents were noted performers in zarzuela, a form of Spanish light opera. He grew up in Mexico, where he studied piano at the National Conservatory of

'abd Al-mu'min

2005-03-19T00:59:00.000-08:00

Even while he was pursuing his conquest, 'Abd al-Mu'min had established a central government for his empire. To the traditional clan organization of the Masmudah and other Berber peoples supporting the Almohads he added an organization to promote the spread of Almohad doctrine and a central administration (the makhzan) modeled on those of Muslim Spain, which was staffed

Paulo Afonso

2005-03-18T23:36:00.000-08:00

City, northeastern Bahia estado (“state”), northeastern Brazil, on the São Francisco River, at the site of the Paulo Afonso Falls. Made the seat of a municipality in 1958, Paulo Afonso is the transportation and commercial centre for its agricultural hinterland. It is accessible by highway from Salvador, the state capital, about 310 miles (500 km) south, and from neighbouring communities

Permafrost, General issues

2005-03-17T20:52:00.000-08:00

Development of the north demands an understanding of and the ability to cope with problems of the environment dictated by permafrost. Although the frozen ground hinders agricultural and mining activities, the most dramatic, widespread, and economically important examples of the influence of permafrost on life in the north involve construction and maintenance

Interior Design, 19th and early 20th centuries in Europe

2005-03-17T04:18:00.000-08:00

Neoclassicism predominated in France till the rise of Napoleon, when to Roman styles were added Egyptian motifs from his Egyptian campaign of 1798. This was known in France as the Empire style, after the First Empire of France (1804–14), and in England as Regency, for the period (1811–20) when George III was too deranged to rule. Furniture design, for the most part light and graceful during the

Allouez, Claude-jean

2005-03-16T06:46:00.000-08:00

Allouez entered the Society of Jesus at Toulouse, was ordained priest in 1655, and sailed for Quebec in 1658. He was stationed at settlements along the St. Lawrence River until his appointment (1663) as vicar general of the Northwest. He

Textile, Basic weaves

2005-03-16T03:08:00.000-08:00

The basic weaves include plain (or tabby), twills, and satins (see Figure 7).

France, History Of, The Jacobin dictatorship

2005-03-15T15:19:00.000-08:00

The Convention consolidated its revolutionary government in the Law of 14 Frimaire Year II (Dec. 4, 1793; for a discussion of the Revolutionary calendar, see below). To organize the Revolution, to promote confidence and compliance, efficiency and control, this law centralized authority in a parliamentary dictatorship, with the Committee of Public Safety at the helm. The committee

Eure River

2005-03-14T19:13:00.000-08:00

River in northern France, a left-bank tributary of the Seine, with a length of 140 miles (225 km). From its source in the Perche Hills, Orne département, at an elevation of about 800 feet (240 m), to its confluence with the Seine River above Rouen at Pont de l'Arche, it flows chiefly through agricultural and wooded regions, receiving numerous tributaries, including the Blaise, the Avre, and the

Jackson, Shirley

2005-03-14T03:00:00.000-08:00

Jackson graduated from Syracuse University in 1940 and married the American literary critic Stanley Edgar Hyman. They settled in North Bennington in 1945. Life Among the Savages (1953) and Raising Demons (1957) are witty and humorous fictionalized memoirs

Dominion Arboretum And Botanic Garden, Central Experimental Farm

2005-03-14T02:55:00.000-08:00

Ottawa, part of the Plant Research Institute of Agriculture Canada (formerly Canada Department of Agriculture). Established in 1889, the arboretum is Canada's oldest. It occupies 40 hectares (99 acres) and includes about 10,000 kinds of plants. Its special collections of flowering crabs, lilacs, lilies, and hedge plants are as much for experimental work and study as for display to the

Rawlinson, Sir Henry Creswicke

2005-03-12T20:30:00.000-08:00

British army officer and Orientalist who deciphered the Old Persian portion of the trilingual cuneiform inscription of Darius I the Great at Bisitun, Iran. His success provided the key to the deciphering, by himself and others, of Mesopotamian cuneiform script, a feat that greatly expanded knowledge of the ancient

Moses, Grandma

2005-03-12T18:11:00.000-08:00

Anna Robertson had only sporadic periods of schooling during her childhood. At age 12 she left her parents' farm and worked as a hired girl until she married

Crocker, Lucretia

2005-03-12T07:56:00.000-08:00

Crocker graduated from the State Normal School in West Newton, Massachusetts, in 1850 and remained there for four more years as an instructor

Goodall, Jane

2005-03-12T03:28:00.000-08:00

Goodall, who was interested in animal behaviour from an early age, left school at age 18. She worked as a secretary and as a film production assistant until she gained passage to Africa. Once there, Goodall

Earth Sciences, The chemical analysis of rocks and minerals

2005-03-11T16:23:00.000-08:00

The successive stages in the plate-tectonic cycle (see below) produce igneous rocks that have geochemical patterns distinctive for each stage. Consequently, the igneous petrologist is able to use both the major and trace element abundances of rocks to define the possible tectonic environment in which they formed. The metamorphic petrologist can use the bulk

Kediri

2005-03-10T14:46:00.000-08:00

Ancient Kadiri traditional region and modern kabupaten (regency) of eastern Java, Indonesia. From the 11th to the early 13th century, Kediri was the dominant kingdom in eastern Java, renowned for its naval and commercial strength and for its achievements in literature. It was absorbed into the later kingdoms of Singasari and Majapahit and then by the central Java kingdom of Mataram.

Parallel

2005-03-10T06:52:00.000-08:00

Imaginary line extending around the Earth parallel to the equator; it is used to indicate latitude. The 38th parallel, for example, has a latitude of 38° N or 38° S. See latitude and longitude.

Thompson, Sir J(ohn) Eric S(idney)

2005-03-10T06:40:00.000-08:00

Leading English ethnographer of the Mayan people. Thompson devoted his life to the study of Mayan culture and was able to extensively decipher early Mayan glyphs, determining that, contrary to prevailing belief, they contained historical as well as ritualistic and religious records. He also discovered that present-day

Kamarhati

2005-03-09T15:02:00.000-08:00

City, east-central West Bengal state, northeastern India. It lies just east of the Hooghly River and is part of the Calcutta urban agglomeration. The city's major industries include jute and cotton milling, leather tanning, and the manufacture of rubber goods, cement, pottery, and paint. It contains a group of temples, called Rani Rasmani's Nabaratna, that are dedicated to

Price, Lloyd

2005-03-09T07:38:00.000-08:00

Price's recording of his composition

Arts, Islamic, Stringed instruments

2005-03-08T20:42:00.000-08:00

Chordophones, or stringed instruments, constitute the most important family. The favourite instrument of Islamic classical music is the 'ud, a short-necked lute having four or five strings and resembling the Western lute, which derived from the 'ud. In addition to holding musical supremacy, it was important in medieval theoretical and cosmological speculations. It

Apple Moss

2005-03-08T02:25:00.000-08:00

(Bartramia pomiformis), moss of the order Bryales that has apple-shaped capsules (spore cases) and forms wide, deep cushions in moist, rocky woods throughout the Northern Hemisphere. It is one of more than 100 species in the genus Bartramia; more than 10 are found in North America. An apple moss is usually erect, with a two-forked caulid (stem) about 6 cm (about 2.25 inches) tall, with rust-coloured,

Yahrzeit

2005-03-07T19:14:00.000-08:00

Also spelled yortzeit , or jahrzeit in Judaism, the anniversary of the death of a parent or close relative, most commonly observed by burning a candle for an entire day. On the anniversary, a male (or female, in Reform and Conservative congregations) usually recites the Qaddish (doxology) in the synagogue at all three services, and males may be called up (aliyah) for the public reading of the Torah. If the anniversary

Augustine, Saint

2005-03-07T07:51:00.000-08:00

Augustine was born in Tagaste, a modest Roman community in a river valley 40 miles (64 km) from the African coast. It lay just a few miles short of the point where the veneer of Roman civilization thinned out in the highlands of Numidia in the way the American West opens before a traveler leaving the Mississippi River valley. Augustine's parents were of the respectable class

Ardashir Ii

2005-03-07T03:04:00.000-08:00

King of the Sasanian empire in ancient Persia (reigned AD 379–383). During the reign of his brother Shapur II, he had been king of Adiabene (now a region of northeast Iraq), where he took part in the persecution of Christians. After Shapur's death, he was set on the throne by the nobles, presumably at an advanced age. His investiture is commemorated in a rock carving at Taq-e Bostan. His attempts

Biblical Literature, The New English Bible

2005-03-06T10:54:00.000-08:00

The New English

Grace

2005-03-05T10:32:00.000-08:00

Greek Charis, plural Charites, Latin Gratia, in Greek religion, one of a group of goddesses of fertility. The name refers to the “pleasing” or “charming” appearance of a fertile field or garden. The number of Graces varied in different legends, but usually there were three: Aglaia (Brightness), Euphrosyne (Joyfulness), and Thalia (Bloom). They are said to be daughters of Zeus and Hera (or Eurynome, daughter of Oceanus) or of

Damsel Bug

2005-03-04T16:03:00.000-08:00

Each foreleg of the damsel bug is slightly thickened and has a double row of

Isomerase

2005-03-04T15:12:00.000-08:00

Any one of a class of enzymes that catalyze reactions involving a structural rearrangement of a molecule. Alanine racemase, for example, catalyzes the conversion of L-alanine into its isomeric (mirror-image) form, D-alanine. An isomerase called mutarotase catalyzes the conversion of a-d-glucose into b-d-glucose. cf. ligase, lyase.

Dubbing

2005-03-04T08:20:00.000-08:00

In filmmaking, the process of adding new dialogue or other sounds to the sound track of a motion picture that has already been shot. Dubbing is most familiar to audiences as a means of translating foreign-language films into the audience's language. When a foreign language is dubbed, the translation of the original dialogue is carefully matched to the lip movements

Christianity, Moral arguments

2005-03-03T11:22:00.000-08:00

Moral theistic argument belongs primarily to the modern world and perhaps reflects the modern lack of confidence in metaphysical constructions. Kant, having rejected the cosmological, ontological, and design proofs, argued in the Critique of Practical Reason (1788) that the existence of God, though not directly provable, is a necessary postulate of the moral life. To

Light Bulb

2005-03-03T00:48:00.000-08:00

Electric incandescent lamp based on a glowing metallic filament enclosed within a glass shell filled with an inert gas such as nitrogen. See incandescent lamp; lamp.

France, History Of, The Revolution of 1848

2005-03-02T09:26:00.000-08:00

The overthrow of the constitutional monarchy in February 1848 still seems, in retrospect, a puzzling event. The revolution has been called a result without a cause; more properly, it might be called a result out of proportion to its cause. Since 1840 the regime had settled into a kind of torpid stability; but it had provided the nation with peace abroad and relative prosperity

Libya, Drainage

2005-03-01T23:45:00.000-08:00

There are no perennial rivers in Libya. The numerous wadis that drain the uplands are filled by flash floods during the rains and quickly dry up or are reduced to a trickle. The largest wadi systems are the Wadi Zamzam and Wadi Bayy al-Kabir, both of which reach the western coast of the Gulf of Sidra. Other large wadis drain the interior basins of Surt, Zaltan, and the Fezzan.

Hengelo

2005-03-01T16:25:00.000-08:00

Hengelo is a rail junction and has a state agricultural school and cattle

Argentina, Resources

2005-03-01T15:01:00.000-08:00

Argentine industry is well served by the country's abundance of energy resources. By the late 20th century the country was self-sufficient in fossil fuels and hydroelectric generation, and it had become a petroleum exporter. Oil deposits are scattered throughout the country. The basin around the Patagonian port of Comodoro Rivadavia is estimated to hold some two-thirds

Zeus

2005-03-01T06:56:00.000-08:00

According to a Cretan myth that was later adopted by

North America, Mangrove thickets

2005-02-27T23:18:00.000-08:00

Ringing southern Florida and the Mexican lowlands facing the Caribbean, mangrove thickets are backed by quick-oak and palms. Ibis fleck the woods with their gleaming white feathers. Water moccasin and other venomous snakes are common in swamps, as are alligators.

Abancay

2005-02-27T21:42:00.000-08:00

Capital of Apurímac departamento, Inca región, southern Peru. It is situated on the eastern bank of the Marino River at 7,798 feet (2,377 metres) above sea level, in a cool, dry intermontane basin. The exact date of the founding of Abancay (from the Quechua Indian amankay, the name of a wildflower resembling a white lily) is unknown, but it was a leading commercial centre during the Spanish

Neuropteran

2005-02-26T20:01:00.000-08:00

Fossil representatives of the modern families Sialidae

Mercury

2005-02-26T02:17:00.000-08:00

Any of the first series of manned space flights conducted by the United States (1961–63). The series began with a suborbital flight about three weeks after the Soviet cosmonaut Yury Gagarin became the first human in space (see Vostok). Alan B. Shepard, Jr., rode a Mercury space capsule dubbed Freedom 7 on a 486-kilometre (302-mile) flight of 15-minute duration, attaining a maximum altitude of

Fairy Ring

2005-02-25T13:07:00.000-08:00

A naturally occurring circular ring of mushrooms on a lawn or other location. A fairy ring starts when the mycelium (spawn) of a mushroom falls in a favourable spot and sends out a subterranean network of fine, tubular threads called hyphae. The hyphae grow out from the spore evenly in all directions, forming a circular mat of underground hyphal threads.

Joule's Law

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

In electricity, mathematical description of the rate at which resistance in a circuit converts electric energy into heat energy. The English physicist James Prescott Joule discovered in 1840 that the amount of heat per second that develops in a wire carrying a current is proportional to the electrical resistance of the wire and the square of the current. He determined

Botha, Louis

2005-02-24T13:35:00.000-08:00

The son of a voortrekker (pioneer settler of the interior), he grew up in the Orange Free State, where he received his only formal education at

Biblical Literature, Joshua

2005-02-24T06:39:00.000-08:00

The Book of Joshua takes its name from the man who succeeded Moses as the leader of the Hebrew tribes—Joshua, the son of Nun, a member of the tribe of Ephraim. In post-biblical times Joshua himself was credited with being the author of the book, though internal evidence gives no such indication. According to the views of the German biblical scholar Martin Noth, which have

Hines, Gregory

2005-02-23T19:43:00.000-08:00

By the age of four, Hines and his older brother Maurice were taking tap lessons with renowned dancer and choreographer Henry Le Tang. The brothers soon formed the Hines Kids, a song-and-dance

African Literature, Xhosa

2005-02-23T14:24:00.000-08:00

As in Zulu literature, the themes of the heroic past and of the opposition between beneficent tradition and harsh modernity are much in evidence. The question of how best to come to terms with change is also central in Xhosa literature. Much important early writing, expressing Xhosa aspirations and views on Christianity and tradition, appeared in the Xhosa-language

Mcphatter, Clyde

2005-02-23T08:35:00.000-08:00

One of the most dramatic vocalists of his generation, McPhatter grew up in a devout Christian family that moved from North Carolina to New Jersey in the mid-1940s. There, together with some high school friends (including two of author James

Abu Bakr

2005-02-22T08:27:00.000-08:00

Of a minor clan of the ruling merchant tribe of Quraysh at Mecca, Abu Bakr purportedly was the first male convert to Islam, but this view is doubted by a majority of Muslim historians. Abu Bakr's prominence

Olgas

2005-02-21T01:12:00.000-08:00

Aboriginal Kata Tjuta , also called Olga Rocks tors (isolated weathered rocks) in southwestern Northern Territory, Australia, comprising a circular grouping of some 36 red conglomerate domes rising from the desert plains north of the Musgrave Ranges. They occupy an area of 11 square miles (28 square km) within Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park (established in 1958 as the former Ayers Rock-Mount Olga National Park) and culminate

France, History Of, France after de Gaulle

2005-02-20T20:08:00.000-08:00

De Gaulle's departure from the scene provoked some early speculation about the survival of the Fifth Republic and of the Gaullist party (the UDR); both, after all, had been tailored to the general's measure. But both proved to be durable, although his successors gave the system a somewhat different tone. Georges Pompidou won the presidency in June 1969 over several left and

Cabinet

2005-02-20T05:43:00.000-08:00

Washington's habit of calling regular and frequent cabinet meetings began a tradition that has been followed by every succeeding president. But it is important to remember that the cabinet exists solely to help the president carry out his functions as the nation's chief executive. He is virtually free to use it or not to use it as he pleases. Presidents have thus varied greatly in their use of the cabinet. Ordinarily, all members of a cabinet are of the same political party. Attendance at U.S. cabinet meetings is not restricted exclusively to those department heads that are of cabinet rank. Cabinet appointments are for the duration of the administration, but the president may dismiss any member at his own pleasure, without approval of the Senate.

Robert Of Jumièges

2005-02-20T03:02:00.000-08:00

Robert was prior of Saint-Ouen, Rouen, Fr., when elected abbot of the Benedictine abbey of Jumièges in 1037. Taken to England by King Edward in 1042, he was made bishop of London in 1044. He became Edward's chief adviser and head of the Norman party and was appointed archbishop of Canterbury

Radiation-damage Dating

2005-02-19T13:46:00.000-08:00

Method of age determination that makes use of the damage to crystals and the radiation from radioactive substances caused by storage of energy in electron traps. In the mineral zircon, for example, radiation damage results in a change in colour, the storage of energy in electron traps, and a change in the crystallographic constants of the mineral. Extensive damage

Awe, Loch

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

Longest lake in Scotland, measuring 24 miles (39 km) from northeast to southwest, situated in Argyll and Bute council area, historic county of Argyllshire, at 117 feet (36 metres) above sea level. At the lake's northern end the scenery is rugged and grand, dominated by Ben Cruachan, with an elevation of 3,695 feet (1,126 metres), but at the southern end it is much softer. The loch's shores have been the

Alfonsine Tables

2005-02-18T08:21:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Alphonsine Tables the first set of astronomical tables prepared in Christian Europe. They enabled calculation of eclipses and the positions of the planets for any given time based on the Ptolemaic theory, which assumed that the Earth was at the centre of the universe. The introduction states that the work was prepared in Toledo, Spain, for King Alfonso X of León and Castile under the

Mesopotamia, History Of, Literary and other historical sources

2005-02-17T09:58:00.000-08:00

The picture offered by the literary tradition of Mesopotamia is clearer but not necessarily historically relevant. The Sumerian king list has long been the greatest focus of interest. This is a literary composition, dating from Old Babylonian times, that describes kingship (nam-lugal in Sumerian) in Mesopotamia from primeval times to the end of the 1st dynasty of

Hand

2005-02-16T13:15:00.000-08:00

Ancient unit of length, now standardized at 4 inches (10.16 cm) and used today primarily for measuring the height of horses from the ground to the withers (top of the shoulders). The unit was originally defined as the breadth of the palm including the thumb. A statute of King Henry VIII of England established the hand at four inches. Units of various lengths were used by the ancient

Mahakavya

2005-02-16T04:16:00.000-08:00

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

China, Cultural developments

2005-02-16T00:35:00.000-08:00

The Han emperors and governments posed as having a temporal dispensation that had received the blessing of Heaven together with its instructions to spread the benefits of a cultured life as widely as possible. By a cultured life the Chinese had in mind a clear distinction between their own settled agriculture and the delights of the cities, as opposed to the rough

Smith Center

2005-02-15T21:54:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1872) of Smith county, northern Kansas, U.S. Smith Center is located about 85 miles (135 km) northwest of Salina. It was founded in 1871 by L.T. Reese with the aim of making it the county seat (the county had been named after Major J. Nelson Smith). The economy of Smith Center is based on grain and livestock. The homestead cabin of Brewster Higley, where he wrote (1873) the lyrics of the well-known

Children's Literature, Overview

2005-02-15T21:36:00.000-08:00

The French themselves are not happy with their record. Writing in the late 1940s, critic Jean de Trigon, in Histoire de la littérature enfantine, de ma Mère l'Oye au Roi Babar (Paris, Librairie Hachette, 1950) said: “The French have created little children's literature. They have received more than they have given, but they have assimilated, adapted, transformed. The two are not the same

Gnetales

2005-02-15T07:01:00.000-08:00

Only order of plants in the subdivision Gnetopsida, a group with characteristics of both angiosperms and gymnosperms. The order contains three families: Ephedraceae, Gnetaceae, and Welwitschiaceae, each with a single genus. See also Ephedra; Gnetaceae; Welwitschiaceae.

Balcony

2005-02-14T19:50:00.000-08:00

External extension of an upper floor of a building, enclosed up to a height of about three feet (one metre) by a solid or pierced screen, by balusters (see also balustrade), or by railings. In the medieval and Renaissance periods, balconies were supported by corbels made out of successive courses of stonework, or by large wooden or stone brackets. Since the 19th century, supports

Farad

2005-02-13T16:27:00.000-08:00

Unit of electrical capacitance (ability to hold an electric charge), in the metre–kilogram–second system of physical units, named in honour of the English scientist Michael Faraday. The capacitance of a capacitor is one farad when one coulomb of electricity changes the potential between the plates by one volt. In terms of ordinary electric and electronic equipment,

Croix De Guerre

2005-02-13T15:34:00.000-08:00

(French: “War Cross”), French military decoration created in 1915 and 1939 to reward feats of bravery, either by individuals or groups, in the course of the two World Wars. This medal may be conferred on any member of the armed forces, on French citizens and foreigners who have been mentioned in army dispatches, and, in special cases, on military units and towns. During World War II there

Zande

2005-02-12T10:31:00.000-08:00

Also called Azande , also spelled Asande a people of central Africa who speak a language of the Adamawa-Ubangi branch of the Niger-Congo language family. Extending across the Nile-Congo drainage divide, they live partly in The Sudan, partly in Congo (Kinshasa), and partly in the Central African Republic. The regions they inhabit, savanna in the north and rainforest in the south, are mostly suitable for agriculture

Sun Tzu

2005-02-12T10:08:00.000-08:00

The book is traditionally attributed to Sun Tzu (personal name Sun Wu), a military strategist and general who served the state of Wu near the end of the Spring and Autumn Period (770–476 BC). It is more likely, however, that it was written early in the Warring

Kornberg, Arthur

2005-02-11T17:10:00.000-08:00

At the U.S. National Institutes of Health,

Eguren, José María

2005-02-11T08:03:00.000-08:00

His first book of poetry, Simbólicas (1911; “Symbolisms”), signaled a break with the Modernismo tradition, while still maintaining contacts with the Romantic and early French Symbolist poets who had influenced the Modernist movement. Eguren's often fantastic creations reflect his

Havana, The city site

2005-02-11T00:32:00.000-08:00

The low hills on which the city lies rise gently from the

Ayr

2005-02-10T23:54:00.000-08:00

Town, northeastern Queensland, Australia, on the delta of the Burdekin River. The settlement was surveyed and gazetted in 1881. Declared a town in 1882 and named after the Scottish birthplace of Sir Thomas McIllwraith, then state premier, it became a shire in 1903. On the north coast rail line and the Bruce Highway to Townsville (45 miles [70 km] northwest) and Brisbane (657 miles [1,057 km] southeast), it

Lead Processing

2005-02-09T15:36:00.000-08:00

Once the ore is removed from veins (narrow channels) or lodes (roughly spherical deposits) in the Earth, usually at depths of about 60 metres, the ore is treated at concentrating mills. Here the ore is finely crushed, sometimes to particle diameters of less than 0.1 millimetre (0.004 inch), and then treated by one of several mineral concentration processes. Such processes are designed

Tibet, The Dge-lugs-pa (Yellow Hat sect)

2005-02-09T02:59:00.000-08:00

For 70 peaceful years Byang-chub rgyal-mtshan (died 1364) and his two successors ruled a domain wider than that of the Sa-skya-pa. Thereafter, although the Phag-mo-gru Gong-ma (as the ruler was called) remained nominally supreme, violent dissension erupted again. In 1435 the lay princes of Rin-spungs, ministers of Gong-ma and patrons of the increasingly influential Karma-pa sect, rebelled

Farman, Henri

2005-02-08T23:49:00.000-08:00

Born to British parents, he was first a painter and later a racing motorist. With his brother Maurice he modified a Voisin pusher biplane and in January 1908 won a £2,000 prize that had been offered for a circular

Essexite

2005-02-08T08:33:00.000-08:00

Dark gray to black, fine-grained, intrusive igneous rock that occurs in Essex County, Mass.; at Mount Royal, near Montreal; near Oslo, Nor.; at Roztoky, Czech Republic; and at Carclout, Scot. It contains plagioclase as the dominant feldspar, as well as orthoclase feldspar, augite, biotite, hornblende, olivine, and nepheline. As the proportion of nepheline increases, essexite