Cassone

Italian chest, usually used as a marriage chest, and the most elaborately decorated piece of furniture of the Renaissance. Cassoni traditionally were made in pairs and sometimes bore the respective coats of arms of the bride and groom. They contained the bride's clothes, linen, and many other items of her dowry. In the 15th century, when the greatest importance was attached

Wells Fargo

American financial services company with banks in many states, especially in the West. The founders of the original company were Henry Wells (1805–78) and William George Fargo (1818–81), who had earlier helped establish the American Express Company. They and other investors established Wells, Fargo & Company in March 1852, to handle the banking and express business prompted by the California

Amado, Jorge

Amado grew up on a cacao plantation, Auricídia, and was educated at the Jesuit college in Salvador and studied law at Federal University in Rio de Janeiro. He published his first novel at age 19. Three of his early works deal with the

Béla Iii

Béla was educated at the Byzantine court and placed on the throne by force of arms by the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus in 1173. He made the Hungarian monarchy hereditary by naming his infant son, Imre, his successor. He also made his court among the most brilliant in Europe. Béla adopted

Forel, Auguste-henri

Forel studied medicine at the University of Zürich from 1866 to 1871 and then did work in neuroanatomy at the University of Vienna, where he received his medical degree in 1872. In 1879 he was appointed director of the Burghölzli Asylum

Pacific Ocean, The trade winds

The trade winds of the Pacific represent the eastern and equatorial parts of the air circulation system; they originate in the subtropical high-pressure zones that are most pronounced, respectively, over the northeast and southeast Pacific between the 30th and 40th parallels N and S. The obliquity of the ecliptic (an angle of approximately 23 1/2° that is the difference between

Korea, History Of, Division of Korea

The Cairo Declaration, issued on Dec. 1, 1943, by the United States, Great Britain, and China, pledged independence for Korea “in due course.” This vague phrase aroused the leaders of the Korean provisional government in Chungking to request interpretation from the United States. Their request, however, received no answer. At the Yalta Conference held in February 1945, U.S. President