AutomaticSky

Bhave, Vinoba

2005-04-04T02:58:00.000-07:00

Born of a high-caste Brahman family, he abandoned his high-school studies in 1916 to join Gandhi's ashram (ascetic community). Gandhi's teachings led Bhave to a life of austerity, dedicated

Earth, Variation with latitude

2005-04-03T00:30:00.000-08:00

Even if the Earth were of uniform density or uniformly stratified in layers of constant density, gravity at sea level would increase from the Equator to the poles because of the combined effects of the planet's rotation and spheroidal shape. The effect of rotation arises from the fact that any body on the Earth experiences a centripetal acceleration given by rw2, where

Dzungarian Basin

2005-03-31T19:09:00.000-08:00

The basin is located between the Mongolian Altai Mountains, on the Sino-Mongolian border, to the north, and the P'o-lo-k'o-nu and O-ha-pu-t'e mountains to the south; the latter run east and west immediately to the north of the Tien Shan (“Celestial Mountains”). To the east and southeast, respectively, the basin is

Eastern Orthodoxy, The reforms of Peter the Great (reigned 16821725)

2005-03-30T10:25:00.000-08:00

The son of Tsar Alexis, Peter the Great, changed the historical fate of Russia by radically turning away from the Byzantine heritage and reforming the state according to the model of Protestant Europe. Humiliated by his father's temporary submission to Patriarch Nikon, Peter prevented new patriarchal elections after the death of Patriarch Adrian in 1700. After a long

Tapestry

2005-03-27T03:13:00.000-08:00

Woven decorative fabric, the design of which is built up in the course of weaving. Broadly, the name has been used for almost any heavy material, handwoven, machine woven, or even embroidered, used to cover furniture, walls, or floors or for the decoration of clothing. Since the 18th and 19th centuries, however, the technical definition of tapestry has been narrowed to include

Huguenot

2005-03-26T07:04:00.000-08:00

Any of the Protestants in France in the 16th and 17th centuries, many of whom suffered severe persecution for their faith. The origin of the name is uncertain, but it appears to have come from the word aignos, derived from the German Eidgenossen (confederates bound together by oath), which used to describe, between 1520 and 1524, the patriots of Geneva hostile to the duke of Savoy. The

Huygens, Constantijn

2005-03-23T18:54:00.000-08:00

His diplomatic service took him several times to England, where he met and was greatly influenced by John Donne and Francis Bacon. He translated 19 of Donne's poems and

New England Range

2005-03-22T21:13:00.000-08:00

Also called Northern Tableland, section of the Eastern Highlands, or Great Dividing Range, northeastern New South Wales, Australia. The range extends 200 mi (320 km) north from the Moonbi Range (near Tamworth) to the Queensland border and 80 mi from east to west (10–50 mi inland from the coast). It is Australia's largest plateau, having 9,000 sq mi (23,000 sq km) above an elevation of 3,000 ft (900 m). The loftiest point is at Round Mountain (5,300 ft) on the eastern

Wieniawski, Henryk

2005-03-20T11:57:00.000-08:00

Wieniawski was a child prodigy who entered the Paris Conservatory at age 8 and graduated from there with the first prize in violin at the unprecedented age of 11. He became a concert violinist at age 13 and began touring

Ovid

2005-03-18T22:36:00.000-08:00

Latin in full Publius Ovidius Naso Roman poet noted especially for his Ars amatoria and Metamorphoses. His verse had immense influence both by its imaginative interpretations of classical myth and as an example of supreme technical accomplishment.

Butaritari Atoll

2005-03-17T14:08:00.000-08:00

Also called Makin Atoll, formerly Pitt Island, coral atoll of the Gilbert Islands, part of Kiribati, in the west-central Pacific Ocean. Located in the northern Gilberts, it comprises a central lagoon (11 miles [18 km] wide) ringed by islets, with a total area of 5.2 square miles (13.5 square km), which provides a good deep anchorage with three passages to the open sea. Occupied by Japanese forces from 1941 to 1943, the atoll served as a U.S. air and naval

Macdowell Colony

2005-03-14T15:33:00.000-08:00

After Edward's death

Bohemian Glass

2005-03-13T04:59:00.000-08:00

Decorative glass made in Bohemia and Silesia from the 13th century. Especially notable is the cut and engraved glass in high Baroque style made from 1685 to 1750. Early in the 17th century, Caspar Lehmann, gem cutter to Emperor Rudolf II in Prague, adapted to glass the technique of gem engraving with copper and bronze wheels. Although intaglio (Tiefschnitt, “deep cut”) and high relief

Europe, History Of, Aestheticism

2005-03-12T00:54:00.000-08:00

To those who dedicated their lives to Symbolist literature and criticism the name of aesthetes is often given, for it was at this time, from 1870 to the end of the century, that questions of aesthetics became the intense concern of artists, critics, and a portion of the public. The phrase “art for art's sake,” which the Romanticists had toyed with, was revived and made the hallmark

Ch'ungch'ong, South

2005-03-11T04:09:00.000-08:00

With one-third of its land area under cultivation, South Ch'ungch'ong is one of the best granaries in the country, producing rice, ginseng, tobacco, and peppermint.

Melanin

2005-03-10T01:06:00.000-08:00

A dark biological pigment (biochrome) found in skin, hair, feathers, scales, eyes, and some internal membranes; it is also found in the peritoneum of many animals (e.g., frogs), but its role there is not understood. Formed as an end product during metabolism of the amino acid tyrosine, melanins are conspicuous in dark skin moles of humans; in the black dermal melanocytes (pigment

Macaulay, Dame (emilie) Rose

2005-03-09T09:06:00.000-08:00

Daughter of a university instructor, she grew up in an intellectually stimulating and liberal-minded home environment. She first attracted attention as a social satirist with a series of novels, Potterism (1920), Dangerous Ages (1921), Told by

Biblical Literature, Analogical interpretation

2005-03-08T15:48:00.000-08:00

Analogical interpretation traditionally includes not only interpretation according to the analogy of Scripture (parallelism, in other words) but also interpretation according to the “analogy of faith”—an expression that misapplies the language of Rom. 12:6 in the King James Version of 1611. It has at times been pressed to mean that no biblical interpretation is valid unless

Cordeiro Da Matta, Joaquim Dias

2005-03-08T15:39:00.000-08:00

Writing in Portuguese, Cordeiro da Matta, by profession a trader in wood, was

Mon Kingdom

2005-03-07T01:30:00.000-08:00

Also called Hanthawaddy Kingdom, kingdom of the Mon people, who were powerful in Myanmar (Burma) from the 9th to the 11th and from the 13th to the 16th century and for a brief period in the mid-18th century. The Mon migrated southward from western China and settled in the Chao Phraya River basin (of southern Thailand) about the 6th century AD. Their early kingdoms, Dvaravati and Haripunjaya (qq.v.), had ties with the ancient

Rymer, Thomas

2005-03-05T17:09:00.000-08:00

Rymer left the University of Cambridge without taking a degree and began to study law at Gray's

Amritsar, Massacre Of

2005-03-05T07:43:00.000-08:00

In 1919 the British government of India enacted the Rowlatt Acts, extending its World War I emergency powers to combat subversive activities.

Grace & Co.

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

The company grew out of a Peruvian land and resource enterprise formed by William R. Grace in 1854. In 1865 Grace moved the business headquarters to New York City, where the company expanded into shipping. The firm was incorporated

Blanqui, Adolphe

2005-03-03T05:49:00.000-08:00

In 1833 Blanqui succeeded Jean-Baptiste Say, under whom he had studied, to the chair of political economy at the Conservatory of Arts and Trades. Blanqui's work blended theoretical and empirical approaches in an

Bulgakov, Sergey Nikolayevich

2005-03-02T16:34:00.000-08:00

Bulgakov began his clerical training at the seminary of Oryol, Russia, but he was influenced by Marxism to

Villahermosa

2005-02-28T14:57:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Tabasco state, southeastern Mexico. It is in the Gulf lowlands at 33 ft (10 m) above sea level, on the Río Grijalva. Founded in 1596 as Villa Felipe II, the settlement has also been known as San Juan de Villa Hermosa and as San Juan Bautista; it was given its present name, meaning “beautiful city,” in 1915. The city's cathedral was built in 1614; its archaeological museum is one of the

Owens, Jesse

2005-02-28T00:08:00.000-08:00

As a student in a Cleveland,

Thutmose Iv

2005-02-26T20:55:00.000-08:00

Thutmose IV was the son of his predecessor's chief queen. As prince, he was assigned to the military operational base at Memphis, near modern Cairo, where he spent his leisure

Uzbek Language

2005-02-25T19:22:00.000-08:00

In Uzbek roughly two main dialect groups can be distinguished. One includes

Biblical Literature, Background and overview

2005-02-25T07:25:00.000-08:00

In the New Testament canon of 27 books, 21 are called “letters,” and even the Revelation to John starts and ends in letter form. Of the 21, 13 belong to the Pauline corpus; the Letter to the Hebrews is included in the Pauline corpus in the East but not, however, in the West. Three letters of this corpus, the Pastoral Letters, are pseudonymous and thus are not considered here. Of the remaining

Yan

2005-02-23T14:57:00.000-08:00

Pottery yan first appeared during the so-called Longshan culture

Marvin, Lee

2005-02-22T20:01:00.000-08:00

Marvin took up acting after a stint in marine service during World War II and appeared in Broadway and Off-Broadway shows until his film debut in 1951. For the better part of 14 years, he appeared in smaller roles; his tall, lean, brutal, stone-faced

Insurance, Limitations on amount recoverable

2005-02-22T03:26:00.000-08:00

Recovery under homeowner's forms is limited to loss due directly to the occurrence of an insured peril. Losses caused by some intervening source not insured by the policy are not covered. For example, if a flood or a landslide, which usually are excluded perils, severely damages a house that subsequently is destroyed by fire, the homeowner's recovery from the fire is

Earth, Electrical conductivity

2005-02-21T06:36:00.000-08:00

The electrical conductivity at the Earth's surface is extremely variable and is largely dominated by the presence of water. Laboratory measurements, for example, show that the conductivity of seawater is close to four siemens per metre (S/m; or a resistivity of 0.23 ohm-metre), whereas dry rock exhibits conductivities in the range 10-11 to 10-9 siemens per metre. When water is present

Bahah, Al-

2005-02-19T22:34:00.000-08:00

Town, southwestern Saudi Arabia. The town is situated on a mountainous plateau at an elevation of 7,014 feet (2,138 m) and is surrounded by terraced hillsides, which are covered with juniper. It is known as the gateway to the 'Asir region, a prosperous agricultural area just north of Yemen. Al-Bahah lies on the main road from at-Ta'if to Jizan.

Amis, Sir Kingsley

2005-02-18T03:06:00.000-08:00

Amis was educated at the City of London School and at St. John's College, Oxford (B.A., 1949). His education was interrupted during World War II by his service as a lieutenant in the Royal Corps of Signals.

Osijek

2005-02-17T16:33:00.000-08:00

In Roman times the city site was known as Mursa. Its present name was first recorded in 1196. An important trade and transportation centre from early times, Osijek was controlled by the Ottoman Empire from 1526 to 1687. In the 19th century a brewery and a match-making factory were established in the town. Many of Osijek's

Manasa

2005-02-15T07:34:00.000-08:00

Folk goddess of snakes, worshiped mainly in Bengal and other parts of northeastern India, chiefly for the prevention and cure of snakebite and also for fertility and general prosperity. As the protector of children, she is often identified with the goddess Sasthi (“the Sixth,” worshiped on the sixth day after birth). The antiquity of the goddess is a matter of conjecture. The

Simon, Claude

2005-02-15T04:48:00.000-08:00

The son of a cavalry officer who was killed in World War I, Simon was raised by his mother in Perpignan, France. After studies at Paris, Oxford, and Cambridge, he traveled

World War I, Rival strategies and the Dardanelles campaign, 191516

2005-02-13T20:25:00.000-08:00

Erich von Falkenhayn had succeeded the dispirited Moltke as chief of the German general staff in September 1914. By the

Seti I

2005-02-12T20:01:00.000-08:00

In the early years of his reign, Seti led his army northward to restore Egyptian prestige, which had been partly lost during the troubled years of the late 18th dynasty. He battled in northern Palestine

Shadows, The

2005-02-12T13:40:00.000-08:00

London-based instrumental rock group whose distinctive sound exerted a strong influence on young British musicians in the 1960s. The original members were Hank B. Marvin (original name Brian Robson Rankin; b. Oct. 28, 1941, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, Eng.), Bruce Welch (original name Bruce Cripps; b. Nov. 2, 1941, Bognor Regis, Sussex), Jet Harris (byname of Terence Harris; b.

Amapá

2005-02-11T11:10:00.000-08:00

Estado (“state”), northern Brazil. It is bounded on the north by a small portion of Suriname and by French Guiana, on the northeast by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south and west by the Brazilian state of Pará, and on the southeast by the Amazon River. Formerly a part of Pará state, Amapá was created a territory in 1943 and became a state in 1990, with its capital at Macapá (q.v.). Most of its 54,161 square

Benedetti, Mario

2005-02-09T19:45:00.000-08:00

Benedetti was born to a prosperous family of Italian immigrants. His father was a viniculturist and a chemist. At age four the boy was taken to Montevideo, where he received a superior education at a private school. He was deeply affected by his early experience of the capital

Japan Trench

2005-02-08T10:43:00.000-08:00

Deep submarine trench lying east of the Japanese islands, in the floor of the western North Pacific Ocean. It is one of a series of depressions stretching south from the Kuril Trench and the Bonin Trench to the Mariana Trench. The 27,929-foot (8,513-metre) Tuscarora Deep (north) was once considered the deepest point in the world (subsequently found to be in the Mariana Trench).

Vagus Nerve

2005-02-08T09:38:00.000-08:00

Also called Tenth Cranial Nerve, longest and most complex of the cranial nerves. The vagus nerve runs from the brain through the face and thorax to the abdomen. It is a mixed nerve that contains parasympathetic fibres. The vagus nerve has two sensory ganglia (masses of nerve tissue that transmit sensory impulses): the superior and the inferior ganglia. The branches of the superior ganglion innervate

Tasmania, Education

2005-02-07T14:39:00.000-08:00

School attendance is compulsory for children between the ages of 6 and 16. Government-supported schools include infant, primary (some with preschool facilities), area, district, and high schools (nonselective, comprehensive, mostly coeducational), together with matriculation colleges (secondary colleges that prepare students in their final one or two years for the

Thomas, Edward

2005-02-06T17:48:00.000-08:00

Thomas was educated at St. Paul's School and the University of Oxford and spent most of his life unhappily

Japanese Civil Code

2005-02-04T13:13:00.000-08:00

Japanese Mimpo, body of private law adopted in 1896 that, with post-World War II modifications, remains in effect in present-day Japan. The code was the result of various movements for modernization following the Meiji Restoration of 1868. A legal code was required that would fill the needs of the new free-enterprise system that predominated with the dissolution of feudal landholdings. At

Gonyaulax

2005-02-04T06:25:00.000-08:00

Genus of dinoflagellates (single-celled aquatic organisms) that inhabit fresh, salt, or brackish water. Members are covered by closely fitting cellulose plates and have two flagella: one extends downward from a longitudinal groove in the armour, and the other, in an encircling groove, appears to keep the animal afloat. There is no eyespot (stigma), and the pigment-containing

Contract Bridge

2005-02-02T07:59:00.000-08:00

In 1994 bridge playing and exchanges of information about the game via computerized networks expanded rapidly. Many professionals began using the networks for coaching clients and for gaining match practice with other pros. Duplicate tournaments were open to all. The 1994 NEC world bridge championships were held in Albuquerque, N.M., from September 17 to October 1, and the tournament's

Allgemeine Enzyklopädie Der Wissenschaften Und Künste

2005-02-01T07:21:00.000-08:00

(German: “Universal Encyclopaedia of Sciences and Arts”), monumental uncompleted German encyclopaedia of which 167 volumes were published from 1818 to 1889. Founded by a German bibliographer, Johann Samuel Ersch, who began work on it in 1813, the Allgemeine Enzyklopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste is noteworthy for containing the longest known encyclopaedia article—the article

Florensky, Pavel Alexandrovich

2005-01-31T19:11:00.000-08:00

In 1904 Florensky received a degree in philosophy and mathematics from Moscow University, and four years later he obtained his graduate degree from the Moscow Theological Academy, where he eventually taught. Ordained a

Xuanzang

2005-01-31T01:51:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization Hsüan-tsang , original name Chen Yi , honorary epithet San-tsang , also called Muchatipo , Sanskrit Mokshadeva , or Yuanzang Buddhist monk and Chinese pilgrim to India who translated the sacred scriptures of Buddhism from Sanskrit into Chinese and founded in China the Buddhist Consciousness Only school. His fame rests mainly on the volume and diversity of his translations of the Buddhist sutras and on the record

Granite

2005-01-30T08:57:00.000-08:00

Because of its use as paving block and as a building stone, the quarrying of granite was, at one time, a major industrial activity. Except for tombstones, however, for which there

Scandinavian Literature, Sources of modern Swedish literature

2005-01-28T09:09:00.000-08:00

Four influences combined to free Swedish literature from petrifying conventions: the English writings of Charles Darwin, Herbert Spencer, and John Stuart Mill; the French Naturalism of Émile Zola; the drama of the Norwegians Henrik Ibsen and Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson; and the criticism of the Dane Georg Brandes. The modern literature growing out of this was first

Hypopituitarism

2005-01-27T21:15:00.000-08:00

Deficiency of pituitary secretions, caused by various forms of injury to or damage of the pituitary gland. Removal of the entire gland or deficiency of all pituitary secretions produces the condition known as panhypopituitarism, which is sometimes manifested as Simmonds' disease (q.v.).

Gadsden

2005-01-27T00:46:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1866) of Etowah county, northeastern Alabama, U.S. It is situated on the Coosa River in the Appalachian foothills, 65 miles (105 km) northeast of Birmingham. The original farming settlement was known as Double Springs, and the town was founded there in 1846 as a steamboat station. It was renamed for James Gadsden, who later negotiated the Gadsden Purchase (1853) of territory from Mexico.

Buddhism, All Souls festival

2005-01-26T11:17:00.000-08:00

The importance of the virtues of filial piety and the reverence of ancestors in China and Japan have established Ullambana, or All Souls Day, as one of the major Buddhist festivals in those countries. In China, worshipers in Buddhist temples make “boats of the law” ( fa-ch'uan) out of paper, some very large, which are then burned in the evening. The purpose of the celebration

Gable

2005-01-24T16:56:00.000-08:00

The architectural treatment of a gable results from the effort to find an aesthetically pleasing solution to the problem of keeping water out of the intersection of walls and roof. This is accomplished either by

Visistadvaita

2005-01-23T13:11:00.000-08:00

(Sanskrit: Nonduality of the Qualified), one of the principal schools of Vedanta, an orthodox philosophy of India. This school grew out of the Vaisnava (worship of the god Vishnu [Visnu]) devotional movement prominent in South India from the 7th century on. One of the early Brahmans (class of priests) who began to guide the movement was Nathamuni (10th century), head priest of the temple

Alderney

2005-01-23T11:57:00.000-08:00

French Aurigny one of the Channel Islands, in the English Channel, with an area of 3 square miles (8 square km), separated from the Normandy coast (Cap de la Hague) by the dangerously swift 10-mile (16-km) Race of Alderney. Swinge Race, on the west, separates it from the uninhabited Burhou, Ortac, and smaller islets, beyond which the notorious Casquets, a group of jagged rocks, carry a lighthouse. The nearest

T'ien

2005-01-22T10:44:00.000-08:00

As a god, T'ien is sometimes perceived to be an impersonal power in contrast to Shang-ti (“Supreme Ruler”), but the two are closely identified and the terms frequently used synonymously. Evidence suggests

Huysum, Jan Van

2005-01-20T22:28:00.000-08:00

He was the eldest son of Justus van Huysum, a versatile painter whose subjects included landscapes, seascapes, battle scenes, portraits, and flowers. Jan van Huysum studied under his father but soon surpassed him in skill. He specialized in exquisitely detailed, dramatically

China, Beginnings of a national revolution

2005-01-20T15:06:00.000-08:00

This new revolution was led by the Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Essene

2005-01-18T14:45:00.000-08:00

The Essenes

Auscultation

2005-01-17T23:03:00.000-08:00

The technique

Noric Alps

2005-01-17T21:29:00.000-08:00

German Norische Alpen, segment of the Eastern Alps extending across southern Austria between the Hohe Tauern range and Katschberg Pass (west) and the city of Graz on the Mur River (east). With the Drava River to the south and the upper Mur River to the north, the mountains rise to Eisenhut (8,008 feet [2,441 m]) and consist of several subranges, the highest of which are the Gurkthaler Alpen in the west. Summer

Antarctica, Antarctica and continental drift

2005-01-15T18:01:00.000-08:00

The geologic evolution of Antarctica has followed a course similar to that of the other southern continents. The earliest chapters in Antarctica's rather fragmentary record extend far back, perhaps as much as 3 billion years, into early Precambrian time. Similarity in patterns of crustal and biological evolution in the southern continents can be traced back some

Uintatherium

2005-01-15T16:40:00.000-08:00

Extinct genus of large, primitive hoofed mammals found as fossils in North America in terrestrial deposits of the Middle and Late Eocene Epochs (52 million to 36.6 million years ago). The uintatherium, which was as large as the modern rhinoceros, was among the largest animals of its time. The limbs were strongly constructed in order to support the massive body. The skull was

Nero

2005-01-14T20:58:00.000-08:00

Nero's father, Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, died in about AD 40, and Nero was brought up by his mother, Agrippina the Younger, a great-granddaughter of the emperor Augustus. After poisoning her second husband, Agrippina incestuously became the wife of her uncle, the emperor Claudius, and persuaded him to favour Nero for the succession, over the rightful claim of his own son,

Pyrazole

2005-01-13T07:45:00.000-08:00

The pyrazole compounds are not known to occur in nature; they are usually prepared by the

Bloch, Felix

2005-01-11T14:24:00.000-08:00

Bloch's doctoral dissertation (University of Leipzig, 1928) promulgated a quantum theory of solids that provided the basis for understanding electrical

Afghan Carpet

2005-01-10T14:42:00.000-08:00

Stout, long-wearing floor covering handwoven by the Afghan tribe of Turkmens of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. Afghan carpets are generally all wool or goat hair and are made with the Senna (Sehna) knot. Usually in dull reds, these carpets show less white than the products of other Turkmens. Their gul, or basic tribal motif, is a large, parti-coloured, scalloped octagon

Loredan, Pietro

2005-01-09T22:00:00.000-08:00

As captain of the Venetian fleet he defeated the Ottoman Turks, who had been threatening Venetian shipping, in a

Laveran, Alphonse

2005-01-09T20:16:00.000-08:00

Educated at the Strasbourg faculty of medicine, he served as an army surgeon in the Franco-German War (1870–71) and practiced and taught

Howell, James

2005-01-07T21:03:00.000-08:00

Anglo-Welsh writer known for his Epistolae Ho-Elianae, 4 vol. (1645–55), early and lively essays in letter form. Though vividly recording contemporary phenomena, they lack historical reliability because of plagiarizing and the addition of fictitious dates—despite the author's position as historiographer royal, a post

Rayong

2005-01-06T03:37:00.000-08:00

Town, southern Thailand. It lies southeast of Bangkok, on the northeastern coast of the Gulf of Thailand. Rayong is a fishing port and produces tapioca from locally grown cassava. Cassava, fruits, and rubber are the major products of the adjacent hinterland. Nearby beaches attract a growing number of tourists. Pop. (1985 est.) 41,222.

Ibn Janah

2005-01-05T15:41:00.000-08:00

Trained as a physician, Ibn Janah practiced medicine, but, out of profound religious conviction, he also devoted much time to the

Outram, Sir James, 1st Baronet

2005-01-04T00:00:00.000-08:00

Outram was educated at Marischal College, Aberdeen, Scot., and went to Bombay as a cadet in 1819. After serving with distinction in the

Venetia

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

Historically Venetia was the mainland territory under the control of the Republic of Venice from the 14th and

Moscow

2005-01-03T09:40:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1888) of Latah county, northwestern Idaho, U.S. The city is situated on Paradise Creek, in the Palouse country just north of Lewiston, near the Washington border. The area was settled in 1871 and developed as a stagecoach station. Local farmers called the area Hog Heaven. The origins of the name Moscow are disputed; some hold that the town was named by Jonathan Neff, a homesteader

Achilles Painter

2005-01-01T19:30:00.000-08:00

The “Achilles and Briseis” amphora is a red-figure vase (that is, the figures are painted in red

Vakhan

2004-12-31T20:03:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Wakhan, or Wakhan Corridor, a mountainous region and panhandle in the Pamir Mountains of extreme northeastern Afghanistan. From the demarcation of the Afghan frontier (1895–96), the panhandle formed a political buffer between Russian Turkistan, British India, and China. It is now bounded by Tajikistan (north), China (east), and Pakistan (south). The Vakhan River flows from west to east through Vakhan for 100 miles

Sculpture, Decorative sculpture

2004-12-30T22:02:00.000-08:00

The devices and motifs of ornamental sculpture fall into three main categories: abstract, zoomorphic, and botanical. Abstract shapes, which can easily be made to fit into any framework, are a widespread form of decoration. Outstanding examples of abstract relief ornament are found on Islamic, Mexican, and Mayan buildings and on small Celtic metal artifacts. The character

Salcedo

2004-12-28T18:52:00.000-08:00

City, northern Dominican Republic. It lies in the fertile Cibao Valley between the mountain chains of the Cordillera Central and the Cordillera Septentrional. Salcedo serves as a commercial centre for the agricultural hinterland, which yields principally cacao, coffee, and corn (maize). It is accessible by secondary highway from San Francisco de Macorís and Moca.

Malik Ibn Anas

2004-12-27T14:14:00.000-08:00

Few details are known about Malik ibn Anas' life, most of which was spent in the city of Medina. He became learned in Islamic law and attracted a considerable number of students, his followers coming to be known as the Maliki school of law. His prestige

Kaema Highlands

2004-12-27T01:55:00.000-08:00

Korean Kaema-kowon tableland, northern North Korea. Called the roof of the Korean Peninsula, the Kaema Highlands are bounded on the north by Paektu Mountain (9,003 feet [2,744 m]), on the west by the Nangnim Mountain Range, on the east by the coast of the Sea of Japan (East Sea), and on the south by the northern tip of the T'aebaek Mountains. The heights rise 3,300–6,600 feet (1,000–2,000 m) and are approximately 15,500 square miles (40,000 square km)

Asceticism

2004-12-25T16:03:00.000-08:00

The origins of asceticism lie in man's attempts to achieve various ultimate goals or ideals: development of the “whole” person, human creativity, ideas, the “self,” or skills demanding technical proficiency. Athletic askesis (“training”), involving the ideal of bodily fitness and excellence, was developed to ensure the highest possible degree of physical fitness in an athlete.

Annalist

2004-12-25T13:08:00.000-08:00

Any of the Roman historians prior to Livy (1st century BC–1st century AD) who drew up the conventional history of Rome from the foundation of the city. For their sources early Roman historians relied for the most part on the annual tabulae pontificum, or annales, which after 300 BC contained regular records of magistrates' names and public events of religious significance. The early

Gama, (josé) Basílio Da

2004-12-24T13:57:00.000-08:00

Gama completed his novitiate with the Jesuits in 1759. In that same year the order was expelled from Brazil and all other Portuguese

Wolffian Duct

2004-12-22T16:01:00.000-08:00

In advanced vertebrates the Wolffian duct develops

Integral Equation

2004-12-21T01:55:00.000-08:00

Armoury Museum

2004-12-20T11:25:00.000-08:00

Russian Oruzheinaya Palata, in Moscow, oldest museum in Russia. It is housed in a building between the Great Kremlin Palace and the Kremlin wall, was designed by Konstantin A. Thon, and was built between 1844 and 1851. The museum was originally founded to house the treasures accumulated over the centuries by Russia and is Russo-Byzantine in style. The treasures of the Kremlin cathedrals and the Synodal Treasury

Denison University

2004-12-20T05:31:00.000-08:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Granville, Ohio, U.S. It offers an undergraduate curriculum in the humanities, social sciences, sciences, and fine arts. Many students participate in off-campus study programs such as engineering in cooperation with Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and forestry in cooperation with Duke

Brechin

2004-12-18T17:25:00.000-08:00

Small royal burgh (town), council area and historic county of Angus, Scotland, situated on the River South Esk in the fertile vale of Strathmore. One of Scotland's three round towers (10th-century) adjoins the 12th-century cathedral. In 1296 Scotland was ceded temporarily to the English at Brechin. Brechin Castle subsequently made a gallant stand against the English forces of

Papua, Gulf Of

2004-12-18T00:07:00.000-08:00

Inlet of the Coral Sea (southwestern Pacific) indenting the southeast coast of the island of New Guinea. About 225 miles (360 km) wide, it extends 95 miles (150 km) into south-central New Guinea. From west to east it is entered by the Fly, Bamu, Turama, Kikori, Purari, Lakekamu, and Vanapa rivers. Offshore natural-gas deposits have been found in the Gulf of Papua.

Clampett, Robert

2004-12-16T10:47:00.000-08:00

Clampett joined Leon Schlesinger's fledgling animation unit on the Warner Bros. lot in 1933. In 1936 he became part of director Tex Avery's innovative animation team, where the youthful energy, zany humour, and iconoclastic

Grand Teton National Park

2004-12-16T03:23:00.000-08:00

Spectacular glaciated mountain region in northwestern Wyoming, U.S. It lies just south of Yellowstone National Park (to which it is connected by the John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway) and north of the city of Jackson; the National Elk Refuge adjoins the park's far southeastern boundary. In 1950 most of Jackson Hole National Monument (established 1943) was incorporated

Sestina

2004-12-15T08:58:00.000-08:00

Elaborate verse form employed by medieval Provençal and Italian, and occasional modern, poets. It consists, in its pure medieval form, of six stanzas of blank verse, each of six lines—hence the name. The final words of the first stanza appear in varied order in the other five, the order used by the Provençals being: abcdef, faebdc, cfdabe, ecbfad, deacfb, bdfeca. Following these