FeebleWing

Gairdner, Lake

2005-04-04T11:23:00.000-07:00

Largest of a group of shallow depressions west of Lake Torrens in central South Australia, 240 mi northwest of Adelaide. It measures 100 mi (160 km) long by 30 mi wide. Lying at the base of the Eyre Peninsula, the lake is a dry salt pan (playa) intermittently filled with water. Visited in 1857 almost simultaneously by Stephen Hack and Peter E. Warburton, it is named after Gordon Gairdner, former

Waite, Morrison Remick

2005-04-03T23:50:00.000-07:00

Seventh chief justice of the United States (1874–88), who frequently spoke for the Supreme Court in interpreting the post-Civil War constitutional amendments and in redefining governmental jurisdiction over commerce in view of the great expansion of American business. Reacting against the extreme nationalism predominant during

Kazak Uplands

2005-04-01T04:10:00.000-08:00

Kazak Saryarqa , Russian Kazakhsky Melkosopochnik , also spelled Kazachskij Melkosopocnik hilly upland in central and eastern Kazakstan, occupying about one-fifth of the republic. It is a peneplain, the mountainous Paleozoic foundation of which had already been worn down into an undulating plain by the beginning of the Mesozoic Era, beginning about 245 million years ago. Low hills are characteristic, and there are extensive depressions occupied by saline

Culiacán

2005-03-30T08:51:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Sinaloa estado (“state”), western Mexico. It is on a small coastal plain (276 feet [84 m] above sea level) at the foot of the lofty Sierra Madre Occidental, on the Culiacán River. Founded in 1531, Culiacán played an important role in early colonial days as a base for Spanish expeditions. An elaborate irrigation system in the valley provides for a great variety of crops, including

Frederick Ii

2005-03-27T10:50:00.000-08:00

Frederick settled his disputes with the Bohemian followers of Jan Hus, church reformer and condemned heretic, in 1432, and relations were cemented in 1464, when

Amman

2005-03-26T16:35:00.000-08:00

Its focus of settlement throughout history has been the small, high, triangular plateau (modern

I-lan

2005-03-24T19:04:00.000-08:00

Shih (municipality) and seat of I-lan hsien (county), northeastern Taiwan, the centre of the only sizable alluvial basin on the island's mountainous eastern coast. The basin itself was largely formed as the delta of the Cho-Shui River and is about 30 miles (50 km) from north to south. I-lan city lies in the centre of this plain on the Lan River. The plain is a fertile rice-producing region,

Chad, Flag Of

2005-03-22T16:45:00.000-08:00

When French West Africa was under colonial rule, little was done to develop a sense of nationality; emphasis was on the culture and political and economic systems of France. The independence movement in Africa in the mid-20th century therefore found Chad, like most other territories, with few precedents for establishing its own symbols. When the Republic of Chad was

China, Educational and cultural policy changes

2005-03-21T18:50:00.000-08:00

In the educational system, the reformers gave top priority to training technical, scientific, and scholarly talent to world-class standards. This involved the re-creation of a highly selective and elitist higher educational system, with admission based on competitive academic examination. Graduate study programs were introduced, and thousands of Chinese were

Dow Jones Average

2005-03-19T17:45:00.000-08:00

Stock price average computed by Dow Jones & Company. The averages are among the most commonly used indicators of general trends in the prices of stocks and bonds in the United States. Dow Jones & Company, a financial news publisher founded by Charles Henry Dow and Edward D. Jones, began computing a daily industrials average in 1897, using a list of 12 stocks and dividing their

Amyloidosis

2005-03-19T05:27:00.000-08:00

Disease characterized by the deposition of amyloid in the connective tissues, inhibiting normal organ functioning. Amyloid is a fibrous protein-carbohydrate complex that is derived from immunoglobulins, a group of proteins that have antibody activity. The disease may affect the whole system or may be localized in tumourlike masses, particularly in the larynx

Ear Disease, Hematoma

2005-03-18T15:01:00.000-08:00

Injury to the outer ear can cause bleeding between the cartilage and the skin, producing a smooth, rounded, nontender purplish swelling called hematoma. The accumulation of clotted blood is removed by a surgeon because, if it is left, it will become transformed into scar tissue and cause a permanent, irregular thickening of the outer ear commonly called cauliflower

Yemen

2005-03-17T06:19:00.000-08:00

Most of Yemen's northern frontier with Saudi Arabia traverses the great desert of the peninsula, the Rub' al-Khali (Empty Quarter), and remains undemarcated, as does the eastern frontier with Oman. In the west and the south, Yemen is bounded by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, respectively. Its territory

Rhyme

2005-03-15T16:48:00.000-08:00

Also spelled rime the correspondence of two or more words with similar-sounding final syllables placed so as to echo one another. Rhyme is used by poets and occasionally by prose writers to produce sounds appealing to the reader's senses and to unify and establish a poem's stanzaic form. End rhyme (i.e., rhyme used at the end of a line to echo the end of another line) is most common, but internal,

Quaestor

2005-03-15T05:30:00.000-08:00

With the advent of the republic in the year 509 BC, each of the two consuls, who at first were called praetors, appointed a quaestor to be the

Kyburg

2005-03-14T00:37:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Kiburg, countship prominent in medieval Swiss history. The first line of counts of Kyburg, with their seat in the castle of Kyburg just southeast of Winterthur (in the modern canton of Zürich), were influential in German politics from the 1020s; but their male line became extinct in 1078, and their possessions passed to a branch of the Swabian counts of Dillingen. This new line of counts

Theatres, War Of The

2005-03-13T23:47:00.000-08:00

In English literary history, conflict involving the Elizabethan playwrights Ben Jonson, John Marston, and Thomas Dekker. It covered a period when Jonson was writing for one children's company of players and Marston for another, rival group. In 1599 Marston presented a mildly satirical portrait of Jonson in his Histrio-mastix. In 1599 Jonson replied in Every Man Out of His

Race

2005-03-12T08:08:00.000-08:00

Contemporary scientists hold that human physical variations, especially in those traits that are normally used to classify people racially—skin colour, hair texture, facial features, and to some extent bodily structure—must be understood in terms of evolutionary processes and the long-range adaptation of human groups to differing environments. Other features

Nova Lima

2005-03-11T22:51:00.000-08:00

City, east-central Minas Gerais estado (“state”), Brazil. It lies along the Cristais River at 2,444 feet (745 m) above sea level. Nova Lima was made the seat of a municipality in 1891 and became a city in 1936. It is known for its Mineração Morro Velho (“Old Mountain Mine”), British-owned from 1834 until 1959, when it was sold to a Brazilian concern. The air-cooled shaft, which penetrates 8,501 feet (2,591 m), is one of the deepest

Smith, John

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

Smith, whose three brothers were all accomplished wrestlers, competed at Oklahoma State University, winning the National Collegiate Athletic Association title in 1987 and 1988. He won five U.S. national titles (1986, 1988–91), as well

Novhorod-siverskyy

2005-03-09T02:19:00.000-08:00

Russian Novgorod-seversky, also spelled Novgorod-severskij, city, Chernihiv oblast (province), northern Ukraine. The city, now a tourist centre, is believed to date from the early 11th century. From 1098 it was the capital of Novhorod-Siverskyy principality, which defended the Russian nation from incursions by nomadic tribes from the steppe regions. There are many old buildings in the city, including the 17th-century Cathedral of the Assumption

Brabant Revolution

2005-03-08T19:22:00.000-08:00

(1789–90), a short-lived revolt of the Belgian provinces of the Austrian Netherlands against Habsburg rule. Centred in the province of Brabant, the revolution was precipitated by the comprehensive reforms of the Holy Roman emperor Joseph II (reigned 1765–90); these violated various medieval charters of provincial and local liberties, including Brabant's Joyeuse Entrée, which was

Margarine

2005-03-07T18:21:00.000-08:00

Food product made principally from one or more vegetable or animal fats or oils in which is dispersed an aqueous portion containing milk products, either solid or fluid, salt, and such other ingredients as flavouring agents, yellow food pigments, emulsifiers, preservatives, vitamins A and D, and butter. It is used in cooking and as a spread. Nutritionally, margarine

Aytoun, William Edmondstoune

2005-03-06T02:50:00.000-08:00

Born into a literary family, Aytoun learned from his mother to love Scottish ballads and history. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh and in Germany, and in 1840 he was called to the Scottish bar. That same year he first

Porphyry

2005-03-05T01:43:00.000-08:00

Original name Malchus Neoplatonist Greek philosopher, important both as an editor and as a biographer of the philosopher Plotinus and for his commentary on Aristotle's Categories, which set the stage for medieval developments of logic and the problem of universals. Boethius' Latin translation of the introduction (Isagoge) became

Houdon, Jean-antoine

2005-03-04T21:05:00.000-08:00

Houdon began sculpturing at the age of nine and underwent the

France, History Of, The Paris Commune

2005-03-01T07:57:00.000-08:00

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

Baz, 'abd Al-aziz Ibn Abdallah Ibn

2005-02-28T01:46:00.000-08:00

Saudi Muslim cleric who as the grand mufti (from 1993) and traditionalist head of the Council of Senior Islamic Scholars (from the early 1960s) was revered by millions and exerted a powerful influence on the legal system in Saudi Arabia; the blind cleric's religious edicts, or fatwas, included prohibitions on fortune tellers, women driving cars, and the import of short veils that

Dacke War

2005-02-25T09:23:00.000-08:00

Led by Nils Dacke, an outlaw, the peasants of the province of Småland took up arms against the King in the spring of 1542 in protest against the royal

China

2005-02-24T01:10:00.000-08:00

Chinese culture is remarkable for its duration and diversity. Skeletal remains and stone implements date to the Paleolithic stage of cultural development, from the 29th to the 17th millennium BC. Decorated artifacts, primarily marked pottery vessels, have been found in dozens of Incipient Neolithic and Neolithic sites, dating from

26th Of July Movement

2005-02-22T04:55:00.000-08:00

Spanish Movimiento 26 De Julio revolutionary movement led by Fidel Castro that overthrew the regime of Fulgencio Batista in Cuba (1959). Its name commemorated an attack on the Santiago army barracks on July 26, 1953. The movement began formally in 1955 when Castro went to Mexico to form a disciplined guerrilla force. The leaders of the movement remaining in Cuba to carry out sabotage and political activities were

Pacific Islands

2005-02-20T14:01:00.000-08:00

Geographic region of the Pacific Ocean. The term is commonly accepted as including all of those islands in the Pacific that are collectively referred to as Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia, also sometimes known as Oceania. This usage rules out the Australian island continent, the Asia-related Indonesian, Philippine, and Japanese archipelagoes, and the Ryukyu,

Interior Design, Religious interiors

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

Religious architecture is heavily influenced by symbolic concepts as well as by the ritual and traditions of a particular faith. Designers of religious interiors must, therefore, base their approach on a set of rules preceding all other design considerations. The simple and modest Quaker prayerhouses, for instance, express the tenets of that faith as clearly

Springfield, Dusty

2005-02-16T10:05:00.000-08:00

British pop singer who in the 1960s recorded such hits as “I Only Want to Be with You,” “Wishin' and Hopin',” “The Look of Love,” “You Don't Have to Say You Love Me,” and “Son of a Preacher Man”; she was appointed O.B.E. in 1999 and was admitted posthumously into the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (b. April 16, 1939, London, Eng.—d. March 2, 1999, Henley-on-Thames, Eng.).

China, Decline and fall

2005-02-13T19:15:00.000-08:00

Careful balancing of powers in the bureaucracy, through which the rulers acted and from which they received advice and information, was essential to good government in China. The demonstrated success of this principle in early Pei Sung so impressed later scholars that they described it as the art of government. It became a lost art under Shen-tsung, however, in the

Rabbit

2005-02-11T07:07:00.000-08:00

J.C. Sandford, The Domestic Rabbit, 5th ed. (1996), describes the 50-plus breeds and all aspects of raising domestic rabbits. Harry V. Thompson and Carolyn M. King (eds.), The European Rabbit: The History and Biology of a Successful Colonizer (1994), thoroughly examines the biology of the European rabbit worldwide. Joseph A. Chapman and John E.C. Flux (compilers and eds.), Rabbits, Hares, and Pikas: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan (1990), is a taxonomically arranged review of the biology and status of the world's rabbits and other lagomorphs. Ronald M. Nowak, Walker's Mammals of the World, 6th ed., 2 vol. (1999), photographically illustrates an article on each rabbit genus.

Korsakov

2005-02-10T03:32:00.000-08:00

City, Sakhalin oblast (province), far eastern Russia. It lies in the southern part of Sakhalin Island on the Aniva Gulf. Founded in 1853 as a fortified post, it was the first Russian military post on the island. Its port opened in 1909. The settlement was ruled by Japan from 1905 to 1945 and was called Otomari. In 1946 it became a city and was given its present name. It is the largest port on the island, with

Ancient Rome, Augustan art and literature

2005-02-06T04:55:00.000-08:00

In 17 BC Rome held Secular Games, a traditional celebration to announce the entry into a new epoch (saeculum). New it was, for, though Augustus preserved what he could of republican institutions, he added much that was his own. His Rome had become very Italian, and this spirit is reflected in the art and literature of his reign. Its greatest writers were native Italians, and, like

Spring Tide

2005-02-04T06:03:00.000-08:00

Tide of maximal range, near the time of new and full moon when the Sun and Moon are in syzygy—i.e., aligned with the Earth. Conjunction is the time during new moon when the Sun and Moon lie on the same side of the Earth. The other syzygy condition, opposition, occurs during full moon when the Sun and Moon are positioned on opposite sides of the Earth. In either case of syzygy, the

Arts, Islamic, Decline of the Arabic language

2005-02-01T14:07:00.000-08:00

Ibn Khaldun, who had served in his youth as ambassador to Pedro I the Cruel, of Castile, and in his old age as emissary to Timur, died in Cairo. After the fall of Baghdad in 1258, this city had become the centre of Muslim learning. Historians there recorded every detail of the daily life and the policies of the Mamluk sultans; theologians and philologists worked under the patronage

Fruit Farming

2005-01-31T20:28:00.000-08:00

The subject of fruit and nut production deals with intensive culture of perennial plants, the fruits of which have economic significance (a nut is a fruit, botanically). It is one part of the broad subject of horticulture, which also encompasses vegetable growing and production of ornamentals

Arts, Central Asian, Tashtyk tribe

2005-01-29T05:55:00.000-08:00

On the Yenisey River the Bronze Age Tagar culture was replaced by the Tashtyk culture, dating from the 1st to the 4th century AD. The physical appearance of the Tashtyk people has been preserved by a seriesof masks, some of them modelled, others cast from the dead. They were painted with the features rendered in blue, red, and green against a yellow ground. Spirals disposed

Airplane, Aerodynamics

2005-01-27T11:50:00.000-08:00

An aircraft in straight-and-level unaccelerated flight has four forces acting on it. (In turning, diving, or climbing flight, additional forces come into play.) These forces are lift, an upward-acting force; drag, a retarding force of the resistance to lift and to the friction of the aircraft moving through the air; weight, the downward effect that gravity has on the aircraft;

Thomas, Norman (mattoon)

2005-01-25T18:03:00.000-08:00

Following his graduation from Union Theological Seminary, New York City, about 1911, Thomas accepted the pastorate of the East Harlem Church and the chairmanship of the American Parish, a settlement house in one of the poorest sections of New York City.

Devo

2005-01-22T21:55:00.000-08:00

Formed

Tit-babbler

2005-01-18T20:28:00.000-08:00

Any of a number of birds belonging to the babbler family Timaliidae (order Passeriformes). The 35 to 40 species are small and short-billed, rather like titmice in appearance and behaviour but mostly somewhat larger with proportionately shorter tails. Tit-babblers are chunky birds, 10 to 18 cm (4 to 7 inches) in length, with fluffy plumage, characterized by hairlike feathers on the

Olympic Games

2005-01-16T16:20:00.000-08:00

Athletic festival that originated in ancient Greece and was revived in the late 19th century. Before the 1970s the Games were officially limited to amateurs, but since that time many events have been opened to professional athletes. The earliest Olympic Games comprised many of the sports now included in the Summer Games. In 1924 the Winter Games were sanctioned for winter

Furniture, India

2005-01-14T03:13:00.000-08:00

India's place in the history of furniture is that of an adapter or transformer of imported Western styles rather than a creator of independent styles of its own. Domestic furniture in the sense in which it is known in Europe was not traditional in India before the 16th century, and even such familiar objects as tables and chairs were rarely used until the spread of Portuguese,

Jacana

2005-01-12T00:58:00.000-08:00

The seven or eight species of the genus Jacana include the American jacana (Jacana

Lod

2005-01-10T11:56:00.000-08:00

Also called Lydda, city, central Israel, on the Plain of Sharon southeast of Tel Aviv–Yafo. Of ancient origin, it is mentioned several times in the Bible: in a New Testament account (Acts 9:32), the apostle Peter healed the paralytic at Lod. The city was a well-known centre of Jewish scholars and merchants from the 5th century BC until the Roman conquest in AD 70. It was the Roman colony of Diospolis after AD 200 and

Mughal Painting

2005-01-09T06:57:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Mogul, style of painting, confined mainly to book illustration and the production of individual miniatures, that evolved in India during the reigns of the Mughal emperors (16th–18th century). In its initial phases it showed some indebtedness to the Safavid school of Persian painting but rapidly moved away from Persian ideals. Probably the earliest example of Mughal painting

Malaparte, Curzio

2005-01-06T14:21:00.000-08:00

Malaparte was a volunteer in World War I and then became active in journalism. In 1924 he founded the Roman periodical La Conquista dello stato, and in 1926 he joined Massimo

Pitr

2005-01-04T17:00:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Pitri (Sanskrit: “father”) , plural Pitaras, Pitrs , or Pitris in Hinduism, any of the spirits of the dead ancestors or of all the dead who have been cremated or buried in accordance with the proper rites. In the Vedas, the sacred scriptures of ancient India, the “fathers” were considered to be immortal like the gods and to share in the sacrifice, though they received different offerings. The “way of the fathers,” characterized by observance

Suchocka, Hanna

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

The daughter of a pharmacist, Suchocka specialized in constitutional law at the University of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznan, from which she graduated in 1968. She lectured in law there and at the Catholic University of Lublin. In 1980 she joined the Sejm (parliament) as a member of the Democratic Party, which was then

Houseleek

2005-01-01T14:54:00.000-08:00

Also called Live-forever, any of numerous low-growing succulent plants constituting the genus Sempervivum, about 40 species, in the stonecrop family (Crassulaceae), native to Europe, Morocco, and western Asia. The name houseleek refers to the growth of some species on thatched roofs in Europe; “live-forever” indicates their hardiness and durability. Houseleeks usually have thick fleshy leaves

Grusi

2004-12-29T07:21:00.000-08:00

Ethnolinguistic group among the inhabitants of northern Ghana and adjacent areas of Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta) and Togo. The linguistic groups and subgroups of the area are difficult to classify with certitude, but the Grusi languages make up a subbranch of the Gur (Voltaic) branch of the Niger-Congo language family. The difficulty in establishing distinct

Cygnaeus, Uno

2004-12-28T15:24:00.000-08:00

Graduating from the gymnasium (secondary school) at Tavastehus in 1827, Cygnaeus attended the University of Helsingfors, becoming Filosofie Magister there in 1836. He then spent two years as assistant pastor and prison chaplain at Viborg, simultaneously teaching in a private

Gonzales, Pancho

2004-12-25T08:24:00.000-08:00

Born into a Mexican-American family, Gonzales as a youth had no access to tennis clubs and was largely a self-taught player. In 1943 he achieved top ranking in boys' tennis in southern California. Before turning professional

Asclepiad

2004-12-24T15:13:00.000-08:00

A Greek lyric verse later used by Latin poets such as Catullus, Horace, and Seneca. The asclepiad consisted of an aeolic nucleus, a choriamb to which were added more choriambs and iambic or trochaic elements at the end of each line. A version with four choriambs is known as the greater asclepiad; a version with three choriambs, the lesser choriamb. The form was named for

Yang Kuei-fei

2004-12-21T05:10:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Yang Guifei notorious beauty and concubine of the great T'ang emperor Hsüan Tsung (reigned 712–756). Because of her the Emperor is said to have neglected his duties, and the T'ang dynasty (618–907) was greatly weakened by a rebellion that ensued. Her story has been the subject of many outstanding Chinese poems and dramas. The daughter of a high official, she was one of the few obese women

Fürstenwalde

2004-12-20T07:07:00.000-08:00

City, Brandenburg Land (state), eastern Germany, on the Spree River near its junction with the Oder-Spree Canal, east of Berlin. Founded between 1252 and 1258 by the margraves of Brandenburg and chartered in 1285, it was the seat of the bishops of Lebus from 1385 to 1571. The cathedral, begun in 1446, was destroyed in 1945. Fürstenwalde's largest enterprise is the nationally owned tire plant; chemicals, metal

Puerto Cabello

2004-12-17T15:24:00.000-08:00

Port city, northern Carabobo state, north-central Venezuela, situated on the Caribbean Sea. In colonial times, the waters of its well-protected harbour were said to be so smooth that a single hair (Spanish cabello) could moor a vessel to the dock, hence the name. The settlement has played a prominent part in Venezuelan history as a target of pirate attacks, a smuggling centre,

Goalundo Ghat

2004-12-16T10:52:00.000-08:00

Also called Goalundo, town, central Bangladesh. It is situated near the confluence of the Padma and Jamuna rivers. Goalundo Ghat is linked by road with Faridpur and Kushtia and is an important river-steamer and rail-spur terminus. Its principal transshipment commodities are rice, jute, oilseeds, sugarcane, and fish. Industries include rice milling and ice and candle manufacturing. Pop. (1981) 38,645.

Chamber Music

2004-12-14T08:51:00.000-08:00

For well over a century after its inception about 1600, chamber music was supported primarily by the nobility. Aristocratic establishments customarily employed groups of musicians who served as composers, conductors, and performers of a variety of operatic, orchestral, and chamber music; and traditionally the audiences were restricted to the patrons and their guests.

Quinará

2004-12-12T16:12:00.000-08:00

Region, southwestern Guinea-Bissau, West Africa, bordered by the regions of Tombali on the south and east, Bafatá on the northeast, Oio on the north, and Biombo on the northwest. Quinará fronts the Atlantic Ocean and the region of Bolama to the southwest. It has an area of 1,139 sq mi (2,920 sq km). The Rio Grande de Buba flows east–west through the centre of the region and empties into the

Sunderland, Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl Of, Baron Spencer Of Wormleighton

2004-12-10T03:15:00.000-08:00

Spencer was the only son and heir of the 1st Earl of Sunderland, and in 1679 he became secretary

Dhyani-buddha

2004-12-08T21:51:00.000-08:00

Scholars in recent years have pointed out that the term Dhyani-Buddha does not appear in the original texts, but the nomenclature continues

Mcadoo, William G(ibbs)

2004-12-06T17:22:00.000-08:00

McAdoo began his career as a lawyer in Chattanooga, Tenn. He moved to New York City

Sable Island

2004-12-03T18:36:00.000-08:00

Gently curving sandbar in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, 110 mi (180 km) southeast of Cape Canso. It is treeless, about 20 mi long and 1 mi wide, and comprises the exposed portion of a vast shoal on the outer edge of the continental shelf. Gradually shrinking in size and shifting slowly eastward, the island, because of unexpected shallows, has been the scene of

Great Lake

2004-12-02T20:56:00.000-08:00

Largest natural freshwater lake in Australia, lying on Tasmania's Central Plateau at an elevation of 3,398 feet (1,036 m). It has an area of 61 square miles (158 square km), measures 14 miles (22 km) by 7 miles (11 km), and fills a shallow depression averaging 40 feet (12 m) in depth. The lake's original catchment basin of 150 square miles (390 square km) has been expanded to 400 square miles (1,040 square km) by the building of several

Fish Oil

2004-11-30T02:12:00.000-08:00

Fatty oil from the bodies of fishes, used in the manufacture of many products, such as margarine, cooking oil, cosmetics, caulking compounds, paints, industrial coatings, lubricants, water repellents, soaps, and candles. It is also used in the tanning of leather, the manufacture of rubber, and the production of chemicals used for making synthetic wax. Anchovy, menhaden,

Sanger, Frederick

2004-11-27T06:43:00.000-08:00

English biochemist who was twice the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. He was awarded the prize in 1958 for his determination of the structure of the insulin molecule. He shared the prize (with Paul Berg and Walter Gilbert of the United States) in 1980 for his determination of the sequence of nucleotides in the DNA of a virus. Sanger

Watanabe Kazan

2004-11-26T14:22:00.000-08:00

The son of a poor retainer of a lesser lord, Watanabe studied painting to earn a living. In 1832 Watanabe, who was in the service of Lord Tawara of Mikawa,

Brecht, Bertolt

2004-11-24T18:28:00.000-08:00

Until 1924 Brecht lived in Bavaria, where he was born, studied medicine (Munich, 1917–21), and served in an army hospital (1918). From this period date his

Radar

2004-11-20T01:56:00.000-08:00

(from “radio detecting and ranging”), electromagnetic sensor used for detecting, locating, tracking, and identifying objects of various kinds at considerable distances. It operates by transmitting electromagnetic energy toward objects, commonly referred to as targets, and observing the echoes returned from them. The targets may be aircraft, ships, spacecraft, automotive

Salem

2004-11-17T03:28:00.000-08:00

Capital of Oregon, U.S., and the seat (1849) of Marion county. It lies along the Willamette River, 43 miles (69 km) southwest of Portland. Methodist missionaries, led by Jason Lee, settled the site in 1840. Its Kalapuya Indian name, Chemeketa, meaning “place of rest,” was translated into the biblical name of Salem (from Hebrew shalom, “peace”). A settlement was laid out in 1844, and home sites were sold by the

Melatonin

2004-11-16T22:51:00.000-08:00

In humans, melatonin seems

Jouve, Pierre-jean

2004-11-13T15:54:00.000-08:00

Prevented by ill health from serving in World War

Grabbe, Christian Dietrich

2004-11-11T01:59:00.000-08:00

Grabbe studied law in Leipzig and made unsuccessful attempts at acting and directing in Berlin. After quarrelling with the poet Heinrich Heine and members of Young Germany (a politically radical literary movement) and failing in attempts to get

Creativity

2004-11-09T09:55:00.000-08:00

A creative person is usually very intelligent in the ordinary sense of the term and can meet the problems of life as rationally as anyone can, but often he refuses to let intellect rule; he relies strongly on intuition, and he respects the irrational in himself and others. Above a certain level, intelligence seems to have little correlation with creativity—i.e., a highly

Andes Mountains

2004-11-08T06:04:00.000-08:00

The Andes consist of a vast series of extremely high plateaus surmounted by even higher peaks that form an unbroken rampart over a distance of some 5,500 miles (8,900 kilometres)—from the southern tip of South America to the continent's northernmost coast on the Caribbean. They separate a narrow

Damascus, The Muslim city

2004-11-04T07:52:00.000-08:00

Damascus was the first great city of the ancient world that the Muslim Arab forces encountered. In 661, Mu'awiyah, the first Umayyad caliph, moved out of Arabia and established his court in the Syrian capital. The city was renowned for almost a century thereafter as the capital of a luxurious and extensive empire—the most far-reaching of any achieved by Islam. The principal

Szczecinek

2004-11-02T08:42:00.000-08:00

Szczecinek is the commercial centre for the surrounding district; its industry includes dairying,

Briareus

2004-10-30T20:08:00.000-07:00

In Greek mythology, one of three 100-armed, 50-headed Hecatoncheires (from the Greek words for “hundred” and “hands”), the sons of the deities Uranus and Gaea. The gods called him Briareus; mortals called him Aegaeon. According to one legend, Briareus and his brothers successfully aided Zeus, the king of the gods, against the attack by the Titans. Another account made Briareus an opponent

Connors, Jimmy

2004-10-28T02:59:00.000-07:00

Connors learned to play tennis from his mother at an early age, and when he was eight years old he competed in the U.S. boys' championship. A former student at the University of California at Los Angeles, he joined team tennis in 1972. In 1974 he won three of the Big Four tournaments

Arabia, Geology

2004-10-27T17:36:00.000-07:00

The bulk of Arabia consists of two main geomorphological areas: the Arabian shield in the west; and sedimentary areas dipping away from the shield to the northeast, east, and southeast into the great basin consisting of lower Iraq, the Persian Gulf, and the eastern part of the Rub' al-Khali (the Empty Quarter) desert. The eastern edge of the shield curves eastward from the

Peng Dehuai

2004-10-22T16:02:00.000-07:00

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

Maarib

2004-10-20T21:02:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Maariv, plural Maaribim, or Maarivim, Hebrew Ma'ariv (“who brings on twilight”), Jewish evening prayers recited after sunset; the name derives from one of the opening words of the first prayer. Maarib consists essentially of the Shema, with its accompanying benedictions, and the amidah. The Shema expresses the central theme of Jewish worship: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord” (Deuteronomy 6:4), while the amidah is composed

Anointment

2004-10-18T09:11:00.000-07:00

Ritual application of oil or fat to the head or body of a person or to an object; an almost universal practice in the history of religions, although both the cultic practice followed and the sacred substance employed vary from one religion to another. It is possible to recognize three distinct, though not separate, meanings ascribed to ritual anointments by the devotees

Crusade, The institutions of the First Kingdom

2004-10-17T10:19:00.000-07:00

The four principalities established by the crusaders—three after the loss of Edessa in 1144—were loosely connected, and such limited suzerainty as the king of Jerusalem exercised over the others became largely nominal after the midcentury. Each of the states was organized into a pattern of feudal lordships by the ruling minority. The institutions of the Kingdom of

Armstrong, Lance

2004-10-15T16:47:00.000-07:00

Armstrong entered sports at a young age, excelling in both swimming and cycling, and, by the time he was a teenager, he was competing in triathlons and swimming competitions. Before his high-school graduation, the Junior National Cycling Team, part of the U.S. Cycling

Military Aircraft, Reconnaissance

2004-10-13T09:26:00.000-07:00

Reconnaissance aircraft also carried ECM devices and relied heavily on electronic and infrared sensors to supplement their film cameras. Their tasks were to locate and photograph targets, using radar and conventional photographic techniques, and to probe enemy electronic defense systems to discover and evaluate the types of radio and radar equipment that

France, History Of, Opportunist control

2004-10-11T07:36:00.000-07:00

Between 1879 and 1899 the Opportunists, with only brief interruptions, controlled the machinery of government. Gambetta, their most dynamic leader, had begun his career as an outspoken Radical, but in time his political instincts had prevailed. The other Opportunist leaders—men such as President Grévy and Jules Ferry—disliked Gambetta's flamboyance, however, and feared

Frederick Vii

2004-10-09T13:08:00.000-07:00

The son of the future king Christian VIII and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Frederick in 1839 was appointed governor of the island of Fyn. As a crown prince, he had two unhappy marriages: first, in 1828, to his second cousin Wilhelmina

Frederick Vii

2004-10-06T22:23:00.000-07:00

Also called espavé a tall, tropical forest tree of Central and South America closely related to the domesticated cashew, A. occidentale. The wild cashew grows to a height of over 30 metres (100 feet), and its wood possesses many desirable properties that make it a valuable source of timber. Strong and easily worked, the wood is commonly used by locals in the construction

Araguari

2004-10-05T15:11:00.000-07:00

City, western Minas Gerais state, Brazil, on the Jordão River, a tributary of the Paranaíba River, at 3,051 feet (930 m) above sea level. Formerly called Freguesia do Brejo Alegre, the settlement was made the seat of a municipality in 1882 and was elevated to city rank in 1888. Araguari's main source of income is from the large herds of cattle raised in the hinterlands, where rice, corn (maize), feij

Masson, André

2004-10-02T09:52:00.000-07:00

Masson studied painting in Brussels and then in Paris. He fought in World War I and was severely wounded. He joined the emergent Surrealist group in the mid-1920s after one of his paintings had attracted the attention of the movement's leader, André Breton. Masson soon became the foremost

Lutheran Churchmissouri Synod

2004-10-01T09:18:00.000-07:00

Conservative Lutheran church in the United States, organized in Chicago in 1847 by German immigrants from Saxony (settled in Missouri) and Bavaria (settled in Michigan and Indiana) as the German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States. C.F.W. Walther, a seminary professor and pastor ordained in Germany, was president of the church from 1847 to 1850 and from 1864 to

Copeland, Charles Townsend

2004-09-28T09:49:00.000-07:00

Copeland was educated at Harvard University (A.B., 1882), and, after a year as a teacher at a boys' school in New Jersey and another at Harvard Law School, he was a drama critic and book reviewer for the Boston Advertiser and the Boston

Moscow Zoo

2004-09-27T14:16:00.000-07:00

Russian Moskovsky Zoo-park, largest zoo in Russia, exhibiting an outstanding collection of northern animals and many exotic species. Founded by a public society in 1864, the zoo later was privately owned. In 1919 it was declared the property of Soviet Russia and in 1923 was put under the Moscow City Soviet (council). It incorporates 20 hectares (49 acres) and includes small, unbarred enclosures as well as large paddocks