StickyPin

Cassone

2005-04-05T04:52:00.000-07:00

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

2005-04-04T01:36:00.000-07:00

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

2005-04-03T14:20:00.000-07:00

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

2005-04-02T08:13:00.000-08:00

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

2005-04-01T05:24:00.000-08:00

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

2005-03-31T19:13:00.000-08:00

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

2005-03-29T18:02:00.000-08:00

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

Heusler Alloy

2005-03-28T03:41:00.000-08:00

Any of the first magnetic alloys composed of metals that, in their pure state, are not magnetic. The alloys are named after Fritz Heusler, 19th-century German mining engineer and chemist. Heusler alloys consist of approximately two parts of copper, one of manganese, and one of tin. The tin may be replaced by aluminum, arsenic, antimony, bismuth, or boron; the copper may be replaced

Futures

2005-03-27T05:41:00.000-08:00

Commercial contract calling for the purchase or sale of specified quantities of a commodity at specified future dates. The origin of futures contracts was in trade in agricultural commodities, and the term commodity is used to define the underlying asset even though the contract is frequently completely divorced from the product. It therefore differs from

Benedetto Da Majano

2005-03-26T18:20:00.000-08:00

He was greatly influenced by the Florentine sculptors Desiderio da Settignano and Antonio Rossellino. His earliest surviving work is the shrine of S. Savino (1468–72) in the Faenza cathedral. Between 1470 and 1475 he was engaged on the

Marquand, J(ohn) P(hillips)

2005-03-26T04:36:00.000-08:00

Marquand grew up in New York City and suburban Rye in comfortable circumstances until his father's business failure, when he was sent to live with relatives in Newburyport. This experience of reduced status and

Glacial Landform, Permafrost, patterned ground, solifluction deposits, and pingos

2005-03-24T22:27:00.000-08:00

Permafrost is ground that remains perennially frozen (see permafrost). It covers about 20–25 percent of the Earth's land surface today. The “active layer” of soil close to the surface of permafrost regions undergoes many seasonal and daily freeze-thaw cycles. The constant change in the volume of water tends to move the coarser particles in the soil to the surface. Further

Canada West

2005-03-23T19:46:00.000-08:00

Canada West was settled primarily by English-speaking immigrants. The inhabitants nevertheless sought confederation with Canada East (which was populated largely

Hejaz Railway

2005-03-22T14:00:00.000-08:00

Its main line was constructed in 1900–08, ostensibly to facilitate pilgrimages to the Muslims' holy places in Arabia but in fact also to strengthen Ottoman control over the most distant provinces of the empire. The main line, built by a multiracial

Mönchengladbach

2005-03-21T07:39:00.000-08:00

Formerly München-Gladbach city, North Rhine-Westphalia Land (state), western Germany, west of Düsseldorf. It developed around a Benedictine monastery (founded in 972, suppressed in 1802, whence the name Mönchengladbach [“monks' Gladbach”]), and was chartered in 1336. For a brief period (1929–33) it united with Rheydt (immediately south) and Odenkirchen to form Gladbach-Rheydt. In 1975 Rheydt was incorporated into Mönchengladbach.

Tocharian Languages

2005-03-20T13:13:00.000-08:00

Tocharian also spelled Tokharian, small group of extinct Indo-European languages that were spoken in the Tarim River Basin (in the centre of the modern Uighur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang, China) during the latter half of the 1st millennium AD. Documents from AD 500–700 attest to two: Tocharian A, from the area of Turfan in the east; and Tocharian B, chiefly from the region of Kucha in the west but also from the Turfan

Wyoming

2005-03-19T19:16:00.000-08:00

Constituent state of the United States of America. It is the ninth largest state, with an area of 97,809 square miles (253,326 square kilometres). It shares boundaries with six other Great Plains and Mountain states: South Dakota and Nebraska on the east, Colorado on the south, Utah on the southwest, Idaho on the west, and Montana on the northwest and north. Cheyenne, the state capital, is

Chouan

2005-03-19T02:28:00.000-08:00

Member of any of the bands of peasants, chiefly smugglers and dealers in contraband salt, who rose in revolt in the west of France in 1793 and joined the Vendéan royalists (see Vendée, Wars of the). The Breton word chouan, meaning “screech owl,” is supposed to have been applied originally as a nickname to Jean Cottereau (1757–94), leader of the unsuccessful revolt, and afterward extended

Tarde, Gabriel

2005-03-18T21:57:00.000-08:00

In full Jean-Gabriel De Tarde French sociologist and criminologist who was one of the most versatile social scientists of his time. His theory of social interaction (“intermental activity”) emphasized the individual in an aggregate of persons and brought Tarde into conflict with Émile Durkheim, who viewed society as a collective

Anthropomorphism

2005-03-17T07:48:00.000-08:00

The attribution of human form or other human characteristics to any nonhuman object. In religion, the term is applied to any statement that depicts the deity as having a bodily form resembling that of human beings, or as possessing qualities of thought, will, or emotion that are continuous with those experienced by humans. Any reference to the divine as having a human

Furniture, The American colonies

2005-03-16T16:24:00.000-08:00

While the Southern planter still depended largely upon London for his fine furnishings, the

Mesopotamia, History Of, Ethnic, geographic, and intellectual constituents

2005-03-16T03:48:00.000-08:00

From the ethnic point of view, Mesopotamia was as heterogeneous at the end of the 3rd millennium as it had been earlier. The Akkadian element predominated, and the proportion of speakers of Akkadian to speakers of Sumerian continued to change in favour of the former. The third group, first mentioned under Shar-kali-sharri of Akkad, are the Amorites. In Ur III some members

Moral Re-armament

2005-03-15T11:28:00.000-08:00

In 1922 Buchman resigned his position

Miracle, Judaism

2005-03-15T03:38:00.000-08:00

Miracles are taken for granted throughout the Old Testament. God does “wondrous things” according to Psalms, chapter 72, and “great things and unsearchable, marvellous things without number” according to the Book of Job, chapter 5; these things are done in his creation in general and in the history of his people in particular (e.g., the 10 plagues of Egypt and the events of the Exodus).

Caucasian Languages, The Lak-Dargin languages

2005-03-14T13:27:00.000-08:00

Lak (also spelled Lakk, with some 100,000 speakers) and Dargin (or Dargwa, with 350,000) are spoken in the central part of Dagestan. Both are written languages. The Lak language is quite homogeneous with regard to its dialects; Dargin, however, possesses several diversified dialects—sometimes considered as separate languages (e.g., Kubachi). Some view Lak and Dargin as independent language

Wagner, Otto

2005-03-13T16:14:00.000-08:00

As a teacher, Wagner

Writers' Union Of The U.s.s.r.

2005-03-13T08:40:00.000-08:00

Russian Soyuz Pisateley S.s.r., organization formed in 1932 by a decree of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union that abolished existing literary organizations and absorbed all professional Soviet writers into one large union. The union supported Communist Party policies and was the defender and interpreter of the single Soviet literary method, Socialist Realism.

Pacific Ocean

2005-03-12T14:04:00.000-08:00

The wind and pressure systems of the Pacific conform closely with the so-called planetary system—i.e., the patterns of air pressure and the consequent wind patterns that develop in the atmosphere of the Earth as a result of its rotation (Coriolis force) and the inclination of its axis (ecliptic) toward the Sun. They are, in essence, a three-celled latitudinal arrangement

Chiburdanidze, Maya

2005-03-11T19:13:00.000-08:00

Chiburdanidze became an international master in 1978 and an international grandmaster in 1984. Her style of play was solid, but aggressive, and well grounded in classical principles.

Mon

2005-03-11T07:14:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Mun , Burmese Talaing people living in the eastern delta region of Myanmar (Burma) and in west-central Thailand, numbering in the late 20th century more than 1.1 million. The Mon have lived in their present area for the last 1,200 years, and it was they who gave Myanmar its writing (Pali) and its religion (Buddhism). The Mon are believed to have spread from western China over the river lowlands from the Irrawaddy

Annamese Cordillera

2005-03-11T05:53:00.000-08:00

French Chaîne Annamitique , Vietnamese Giai Truong Son principal mountain range of Indochina and the watershed between the Mekong River and the South China Sea. It extends parallel to the coast in a gentle curve generally northwest-southeast, forming the boundary between Laos and Vietnam. A fairly continuous range for about 700 miles (1,100 km), its rather precipitous eastern slopes leave a narrow coastal plain. Although its

Delors, Jacques

2005-03-11T01:17:00.000-08:00

The son of a courier at the Banque de France, Delors himself joined the bank in 1945, later earning a degree in economics from the Sorbonne. He became active in the Christian Trade Union Confederation (renamed the Democratic Trade Union

Maccabeus, Jonathan

2005-03-10T10:53:00.000-08:00

Also called Apphus, Maccabeus also spelled Maccabaeus Jewish general, a son of the priest Mattathias, who took over the leadership of the Maccabean revolt after the death of his elder brother Judas. A brilliant diplomat, if not quite so good a soldier as his elder brother, Jonathan refused all compromise with the superior Seleucid forces, taking advantage of their internal troubles to free Judaea again from external

Briard

2005-03-10T09:16:00.000-08:00

French sheepdog breed mentioned in French records of the 12th century and depicted in medieval French tapestries. It is known in France as berger de Brie (sheepdog of Brie) but is found throughout the French provinces. The briard is a lithe, strongly built dog with bushy brows and a long, more-or-less waterproof coat. It stands 56 to 69 cm (22 to 27 inches), weighs about 36 kg (80 pounds), and is

Neuber, Caroline

2005-03-09T03:44:00.000-08:00

Rebelling against her tyrannical father, she ran away at age 20 with a young clerk, Johann Neuber, and married him in 1718. They served their theatrical apprenticeship in the traveling companies of Christian Spiegelberg

Flood

2005-03-08T21:27:00.000-08:00

High-water stage in which water overflows its natural or artificial banks onto normally dry land, such as a river inundating its floodplain. The effects of floods on human well-being range from unqualified blessings to catastrophes. The regular seasonal spring floods of the Nile River prior to construction of the Aswan High Dam, for example, were depended upon to

Alabaster, William

2005-03-08T19:17:00.000-08:00

Alabaster was educated at the University of Cambridge and in 1596 accompanied the

Acculturation

2005-03-07T08:57:00.000-08:00

Two major types of acculturation may be distinguished based on two classes of conditions under which changes take place. A free “borrowing” and modification of cultural

Mesopotamia, History Of, The Hurrians

2005-03-07T08:11:00.000-08:00

The Hurrians enter the orbit of ancient Middle Eastern civilization toward the end of the 3rd millennium BC. They arrived in Mesopotamia from the north or the east, but it is not known how long they had lived in the peripheral regions. There is a brief inscription in Hurrian language from the end of the period of Akkad, while that of King Arishen (or Atalshen) of Urkish and

Stewart, Payne William

2005-03-06T20:47:00.000-08:00

American golfer who during a 19-year career captured 18 professional tournaments, notably the Professional Golfers' Association 1989 title and the 1991 and 1999 U.S. Open titles as well as a stunning comeback victory as part of the 1999 U.S. Ryder Cup squad; he was instantly recognizable on the golf course wearing his trademark knickers and tam-o'-shanter. He was killed in a plane crash (b. Jan. 30, 1957, Springfield,

Staffordshire

2005-03-06T20:22:00.000-08:00

Administrative, geographic, and historic county in the Midlands of west-central England, extending north from the Birmingham metropolitan area. The administrative, geographic, and historic counties occupy somewhat different areas. The administrative county comprises eight districts: Cannock Chase, Lichfield, South Staffordshire, Staffordshire

Step Cut

2005-03-05T20:44:00.000-08:00

Also called Trap Cut, or Cushion Cut, method of faceting coloured gemstones in which the stone produced is rather flat with steps, or rows, of four-sided facets parallel to the girdle (the stone's widest part). Because the facets are parallel to the girdle, they are usually long and narrow, except at the corners of the stone. The angles that the main facets make with the plane of the girdle greatly affect the

Smith, Robert

2005-03-04T15:06:00.000-08:00

Smith, brother of Samuel Smith, the military hero, grew up in Baltimore. He graduated in 1781 from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), studied law, and became a prominent and prosperous Baltimore attorney. From 1793 to 1801 Smith was active in Maryland politics,

Dangerfield, Thomas

2005-03-04T09:56:00.000-08:00

As a young man, Dangerfield robbed his father, a farmer, and was imprisoned several

Paasche Index

2005-03-04T09:43:00.000-08:00

The index is a ratio that compares the total purchase cost of a specified bundle of current-period commodities (commodities valued at current

Silao

2005-03-04T05:59:00.000-08:00

City, west-central Guanajuato estado (“state”), north-central Mexico. Founded in 1537, Silao lies along the Silao River at 5,830 feet (1,777 m) above sea level. By virtue of its location in the Bajío region, known as the granary of Mexico, Silao is an important agricultural centre. A wide variety of crops, including corn (maize), beans, wheat, chick-peas, avocados, peaches, and strawberries, thrive

Dyer, Sir Edward

2005-03-02T18:24:00.000-08:00

Educated at the University of Oxford, Dyer went to court under the patronage of the Earl of Leicester. Dyer was a friend of Sir Philip Sidney, on whose death he wrote an elegy

Ahankara

2005-03-01T19:33:00.000-08:00

Ahankara follows the stage of buddhi (intelligence, or perception), in which the purusha (soul, or self)—once in a state of pure consciousness, i.e., without an object

World War Ii, The encirclement of Rabaul

2005-03-01T08:56:00.000-08:00

Allied moves to isolate the large Japanese garrison on Rabaul proceeded by land and air. The encirclement of Rabaul by land began during October and November 1943 with the capture by New Zealand troops of the Treasury Islands in the Solomons and was accompanied on November 1 by a U.S. landing at Empress Augusta Bay on the west of Bougainville. U.S. reinforcements subsequently

Sotheby's

2005-03-01T08:08:00.000-08:00

The founder, Samuel Baker (died 1778), a London bookseller, held his first auction (under his own name) early in 1744, selling an estate library of 457 books. Establishing the firm in York Street and handling

France, History Of, The Paris Commune

2005-02-28T20:15:00.000-08:00

A few days later, the assembly transferred the seat of government from Bordeaux to Versailles. It had scarcely arrived when it was confronted by a major civil war—the rebellion of the Paris Commune. This event, complex in itself, has been made even more difficult to understand by the mythology that later grew up around it. Karl Marx, who promptly hailed the Commune as

Brühl

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

After 1945 the castle was often used by the federal government

Bhamo

2005-02-28T06:57:00.000-08:00

In ancient times Bhamo

Boilly, Louis-léopold

2005-02-28T02:25:00.000-08:00

Boilly, the son of a wood-carver, painted portraits for a living before moving to Paris in 1785. There he began to paint the detailed anecdotal pictures of fashionable

Wu Ch'eng-en

2005-02-27T01:22:00.000-08:00

Wu received a traditional Confucian education and became known for his clever composition of poetry and prose in the classical style. Throughout his life he displayed

Spandrel

2005-02-25T22:18:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Spandril, the roughly triangular area above and on either side of an arch, bounded by a line running horizontally through the apex of the arch, a line rising vertically from the springing of the arch, and the curved extrados, or top of the arch. When arches adjoin, the entire area between their crowns and springing line is a spandrel. If it is filled in, as is ordinarily the case, the

Burgers, Thomas François

2005-02-25T16:15:00.000-08:00

After graduating as a doctor of theology from the University of Utrecht, Burgers in 1859 returned to Cape Colony, where he became the minister of the Dutch Reformed Church in

Robert Of Bellême, 3rd Earl Of Shropshire Or Shrewsbury

2005-02-25T11:45:00.000-08:00

A younger son of Roger de Montgomery, 1st earl of Shropshire

Ouaddaï

2005-02-24T20:40:00.000-08:00

Crossed by caravans linking the Sahara with equatorial Africa and by Muslim pilgrim routes from West Africa toward Mecca,

Olomouc

2005-02-24T15:43:00.000-08:00

Olomouc possibly originated as a Roman fort (Mons Iulii) and by the 9th century was an important stronghold. A bishopric, established there in 1063, was raised to an archbishopric in 1777. At the Peace

Switzerland, Celtic Switzerland

2005-02-23T19:38:00.000-08:00

During the Iron Age, from 850 BC on, the area that was to become Switzerland was inhabited by Celts in the west and Rhaetians in the east. A rough boundary between the tribes ran from Lake Constance to the Gotthard by way of the Linth valley. The Helvetii, one of the most powerful of the Celtic tribes, controlled much of the area between the Jura and the Alps. Because of pressures

álvarez, Juan

2005-02-23T02:04:00.000-08:00

A landowner of mestizo ancestry, Álvarez in 1811 joined José María Morelos in an unsuccessful campaign for independence from Spain. He was prominent in Antonio López de Santa Anna's revolt of 1822–23, which overthrew

Devizes

2005-02-22T23:36:00.000-08:00

Town (“parish”), Kennet district, administrative and historical county of Wiltshire, England. It lies along the disused Kennet and Avon Canal, at the edge of Roundway Down. It was the site of a Roman fortification, Castrum Divisarum; and Roger, bishop of Salisbury, built a castle there about 1132. The name Devizes possibly came from a medieval Latin reference to the castle ad

Ellensburg

2005-02-22T14:27:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1883) of Kittitas county, central Washington, U.S., on the Yakima River, 28 miles (45 km) north of Yakima. The first white man settled there in 1867, and three years later the valley's first trading post, called Robbers Roost, was opened. The community bore that name until 1875, when John Shoudy platted a town site and named it for his wife, Ellen. The building of the Northern Pacific Railway

Dunqulah

2005-02-21T22:00:00.000-08:00

The historic town of Old Dunqulah (Dunqulah al-'Ajuz) was situated on the

Argentina, The land and the people

2005-02-20T05:41:00.000-08:00

Patterns of settlement are the subject of Carl-Christoph Liss, Die Besiedlung und Landnutzung Ostpatagoniens unter besonderer Berücksichtgung der Schafestancien (1979); Robert C. Eidt, Pioneer Settlement in Northeast Argentina (1971); Mark Jefferson, Peopling the Argentine Pampa (1926, reprinted 1971); and Richard W. Slatta, Gauchos and the Vanishing Frontier (1983, reissued 1992).

Sangamon River

2005-02-20T04:20:00.000-08:00

River formed by headstreams in northwestern Champaign County, Illinois, U.S. It flows southwesterly, bending around Decatur, where a dam impounds Lake Decatur, and turns west past Springfield, the state capital, and then north and west to join the Illinois River just north of Beardstown, after a course of 250 mi (400 km). The first Illinois home (1830) of Abraham Lincoln was on a bluff

Vancouver Aquarium

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

Aquarium located in Stanley Park, Vancouver, B.C., Can., that has the largest collection of fishes and marine invertebrates in Canada. The collection includes nearly 3,000 specimens of about 300 fish species and more than 3,500 representatives of approximately 150 different kinds of invertebrates. The aquarium's specialty is marine fish species native to the eastern part of the North

Rimouski

2005-02-19T14:51:00.000-08:00

City, Bas-Saint-Laurent region, eastern Quebec province, Canada. The city lies on a hillside sloping gently toward its deepwater port (sheltered by the Île Saint-Barnabé) on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. The land was granted to Augustin Rouer de la Cardonnière in 1688. Germain Lepage was the first settler (1696), and Recollet missionaries and Jesuits followed in 1701. The name

Calendar Of 1995

2005-02-19T05:52:00.000-08:00

With near unanimous consent (292-15), members of Ukraine's Supreme Council (parliament) voted to oust the Cabinet of Pres. Leonid Kuchma. The vote of no confidence cast by numerous former communist legislators was generally interpreted as an expression of dissatisfaction with Kuchma's reforms. Some analysts, however, suggested that the president

Haakon Iii Sverresson

2005-02-18T21:15:00.000-08:00

During his short reign he tried to heal the breach between the crown and the church, so that exiled bishops returned to their sees. It was said that the sickness which caused his sudden death was the result of poison put into his drink at the instigation of his Swedish stepmother, Margaret.

Abbas, Ferhat

2005-02-18T11:37:00.000-08:00

Son of a Muslim official in the Algerian civil service, Abbas received an entirely French education at Philippeville (now Skikda) and Constantine and at the University

China, Unification

2005-02-17T19:47:00.000-08:00

Though a militarist himself, T'ai-tsu ended militarism as well as usurpation. Even his own coup was skillfully disguised to make it appear that the popular acclaim of the rank and file left him with no choice. Masterful in political maneuvering, T'ai-tsu, as emperor (reigned 960–976), did not destroy other powerful generals as had many previous founding rulers. Instead, he persuaded

France, History Of, The conquest of southern Germany

2005-02-17T14:56:00.000-08:00

To the east, the Franks extended their domain in southern Germany, bringing Thuringia (c. 531 Chlotar I carried off Radegunda, a niece of the Thuringian king), the part of Alemannia between the Neckar and the upper Danube (after 536), and Bavaria under subjection. The latter was created as a dependent duchy in about 555. The Franks were less successful in northern Germany; in 536 they imposed

Sabah, Sheikh Jabir Al-ahmad Al-jabir As-

2005-02-16T15:05:00.000-08:00

Sheikh Jabir was the third son of Sheikh Ahmad al-Jabir as-Sabah, who ruled Kuwait from 1921 to 1950. Beginning in the late 1940s he held a number of important public positions, including ministries in the government overseeing financial and economic affairs. When Iraq claimed sovereignty over newly independent

Dew

2005-02-15T19:07:00.000-08:00

Deposit of waterdrops formed at night by the condensation of water vapour from the air onto the surfaces of objects freely exposed to the sky (see video). It forms on clear nights when the air is calm or, preferably, when the wind is light. If the temperature of the surface is below the freezing point of water, the deposit takes the shape of hoarfrost (see frost). Dew forms on

Domovoy

2005-02-15T01:17:00.000-08:00

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

Turkey, Flag Of

2005-02-14T19:20:00.000-08:00

Various myths are associated with the symbolism of the red colour and the star and crescent, but none really explains their origins. Although the star and crescent are often seen as typical Muslim symbols, in fact they have a history long predating the rise of Islam. Ancient civilizations throughout the Middle East used a crescent moon as a religious symbol, and the

Dorsey, Thomas Andrew

2005-02-14T15:55:00.000-08:00

U.S. songwriter, singer, and pianist (b. July 1, 1899, Villa Rica, Ga.--d. Jan. 23, 1993, Chicago, Ill.), as the "father of gospel music," blended elements of soulful blues with the traditional sacred music of his religious upbringing to create a new genre called gospel, which infused an uplifting, foot-stomping sound into black congregations, primarily of Baptist and Holiness churches. Dorsey, the

Hinckley And Bosworth

2005-02-14T01:01:00.000-08:00

Borough (district), administrative and historic county of Leicestershire, England. It comprises the town of Hinckley, an important centre of the hosiery industry since framework knitting was introduced there in 1640, as well as the towns of Market Bosworth and Earl Shilton, which is a centre of both the hosiery and footwear industries. The Battle of Bosworth Field was

Closet Drama

2005-02-13T17:53:00.000-08:00

A drama suited primarily for reading rather than production. Examples of the genre include John Milton's Samson Agonistes (1671) and Thomas Hardy's The Dynasts (three parts, 1903–08). Closet drama is not to be confused with readers' theatre, in which actors read or recite without decor before an audience.

Dinguiraye

2005-02-13T05:26:00.000-08:00

Town, north-central Guinea. It lies at the eastern edge of the Fouta Djallon plateau. The town was once the seat of the imamate (region ruled by a Muslim religious leader) of 'Umar Tal, whose jihad (holy war) led to the creation of the Tukulor empire (1850–93) in the Niger River valley. Dinguiraye is now connected by road with the towns of Siguiri and Dabola. It is the chief trading centre

Submissive Behaviour

2005-02-11T22:35:00.000-08:00

Form of animal behaviour in which one individual attempts through appeasement displays to avoid injury by a dominant member of its own species. Appeasement displays are commonly found in species that are well armed (e.g., carnivores) and social. The displays, even when performed by adult males, commonly incorporate elements of infantile behaviour (e.g., in wolves, rolling

Hesiod

2005-02-11T11:38:00.000-08:00

Greek Hesiodos, Latin Hesiodus one of the earliest Greek poets, often called the “father of Greek didactic poetry.” Two of his complete epics have survived, the Theogony, relating the myths of the gods, and the Works and Days, describing peasant life.

Turkey, Flag Of

2005-02-11T02:14:00.000-08:00

ALS affects the motor neurons—i.e., those neurons that control muscular movements.

Golden Eagle

2005-02-10T21:28:00.000-08:00

In North America the golden eagle ranges

Abu Sir

2005-02-10T13:15:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Abusir,

Jack-o'-lantern

2005-02-09T18:56:00.000-08:00

In meteorology, a mysterious light seen at night flickering over marshes; when approached, it advances, always out of reach. The phenomenon is also known as will-o'-the-wisp and ignis fatuus (Latin: “foolish fire”). In popular legend it is considered ominous and is often purported to be the soul of one who has been rejected by hell carrying its own hell coal on its wanderings.

Abu Dhabi

2005-02-09T09:43:00.000-08:00

Arabic Abu Zaby, town, capital of Abu Dhabi emirate, one of the United Arab Emirates (formerly Trucial States, or Trucial Oman), and the national capital of that federation. The town occupies most of a small triangular island of the same name, just off the Persian Gulf coast and connected to the mainland by a short bridge. Abu Dhabi was formerly an undeveloped town of only local importance,

Hui Tsung

2005-02-08T13:45:00.000-08:00

Hui Tsung sought escape from affairs of state in the pleasures of arts and letters. He urged painters in his academy of painting to depict objects that were “true to colour and form,” inviting an extreme literalness of representation;

Vulcan Automatic Cannon

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

To attain the requisite speed, six barrels are electrically fired and rotated in succession, an arrangement basically like that

Dow, Neal

2005-02-08T03:55:00.000-08:00

His Quaker parents and his own observations as Portland city overseer of the poor, as well as the excess of drunkenness that was then commonplace, influenced his attitude toward liquor. He organized the Maine Temperance

Taboret

2005-02-07T18:58:00.000-08:00

The name acquired a more specialized meaning in France in the late 17th century, when it referred to upholstered stools provided at the palace of Versailles for the more privileged ladies of the court of Louis XIV to sit

Earth Sciences, Knowledge of Earth history

2005-02-07T17:18:00.000-08:00

The occurrence of seashells embedded in the hard rocks of high mountains aroused the curiosity of early naturalists and eventually set off a controversy on the origin of fossils that continued through the 17th century. Xenophanes of Colophon (flourished c. 560 BC) was credited by later writers with observing that seashells occur “in the midst of earth and in mountains.” He

Negritude

2005-02-06T23:13:00.000-08:00

French Négritude literary movement of the 1930s, '40s, and '50s that began among French-speaking African and Caribbean writers living in Paris as a protest against French colonial rule and the policy of assimilation. Its leading figure was Léopold Sédar Senghor (elected first president of the Republic of Senegal in 1960), who, along with Aimé Césaire from Martinique and Léon Damas from French Guiana,

Actium, Battle Of

2005-02-05T04:52:00.000-08:00

(September 2, 31 BC), naval battle off a promontory in the north of Acarnania, on the western coast of Greece, where Octavian (known as the emperor Augustus after 27 BC), by his decisive victory over Mark Antony, became the undisputed master of the Roman world. Antony, with 500 ships and 70,000 infantry, made his camp at Actium, which lies on the southern side of a strait leading from the Ionian Sea

Alienation

2005-02-05T01:09:00.000-08:00

In social sciences, the state of feeling estranged or separated from one's milieu, work, products of work, or self. Despite its popularity in the analysis of contemporary life, the idea of alienation remains an ambiguous concept with elusive meanings, the following variants being most common: (1) powerlessness, the feeling that one's destiny is not under one's own control

Harald Iii Sigurdsson

2005-02-04T21:15:00.000-08:00

The son of Sigurd Sow (Syr), a chieftain in eastern Norway, and of Estrid, mother of the Norwegian king Olaf II Haraldsson (St. Olaf), Harald fought at the age of 15 against the Danes

Rosidae, The order Proteales

2005-02-04T21:06:00.000-08:00

The Proteales consists of two families, Elaeagnaceae and Proteaceae, although this might not be a natural affiliation. The Proteaceae is composed of about 75 genera and more than 1,000 species distributed throughout tropical and subtropical regions of the world, especially in South Africa and Australia. They are evergreen woody plants that thrive in nutrient-poor soils

Conte

2005-02-03T23:58:00.000-08:00

Plural contes a short tale, often recounting an adventure. The term may also refer to a narrative that is somewhat shorter than the average novel but longer than a short story. Better known examples include Jean de La Fontaine's Contes et nouvelles en vers (Tales and Novels in Verse), published over the course of many years; Charles Perrault's Contes de ma mère l'oye (1697; Tales of Mother