GeneralLeaf

Ren Essential Moroccan Rose Oil

2006-12-07T15:20:00.000-08:00

This is one of the most amazing natural bath oils I have used. It is a rich, sensuous and luxurious. Only a small amount of the Moroccan Otto Rose Oil in the bath will fill the room with this incredible smell. This rose oil really penetrates the skin during the bath leaving it soft as silk and with the beatiful scent of the rose oil

Ashurnasirpal I

2005-04-05T18:29:00.000-07:00

King of Assyria 1050–32 BC, when it was at a low ebb in power and prosperity caused by widespread famine and the pressure of western desert nomads, against whom Ashurnasirpal warred constantly. His father, Shamshi-Adad IV, a son of Tiglath-pileser I, was placed on the throne of Assyria by the Babylonian king Adad-apal-iddina. The few inscriptions of Ashurnasirpal I that

Earth Sciences, Crystallography and the classification of minerals and rocks

2005-04-02T06:23:00.000-08:00

The French scientist René-Just Häuy, whose treatises on mineralogy and crystallography appeared in 1801 and 1822, respectively, has been credited with advancing mineralogy to the status of a science and with establishing the science of crystallography. From his studies of the geometric relationships between planes of cleavage, he concluded that the ultimate particles

Anielewicz, Mordecai

2005-03-30T11:39:00.000-08:00

Anielewicz was born into a working-class family and attended a Hebrew academic secondary school. As a boy he joined Betar, a Zionist youth organization that among other things advocated self-defense for Jews. By 1940 he had gone to Warsaw and become

Aluminum Bronze

2005-03-28T09:27:00.000-08:00

Any of a group of strong, corrosion-resistant alloys of copper containing from 4 to 15 percent aluminum and small amounts of other metals, used to make many machine parts and tools. Because of their golden colour and high tarnish resistance, the alloys are also used for jewelry and in architecture. Their resistance to oxidation at high temperatures and to corrosion, particularly

Zamora

2005-03-25T03:10:00.000-08:00

Town, southeastern Ecuador. It lies in the forested jungles east of the main Andean ranges and is situated at the southeastern foot of the Andean Cordillera (mountains) de Zamora, just south of the Zamora River. The Roman Catholic Church has established a Vicar Apostolic in Zamora, which is considered to be a missionary settlement; the population is almost entirely

Tzotzil

2005-03-23T13:45:00.000-08:00

Mayan Indians of central Chiapas in southeastern Mexico. Linguistically and culturally the Tzotzil are most closely related to the neighbouring Tzeltal (q.v.). The habitat of the Tzotzil is highland, with mountains, volcanic outcroppings, and valley lowlands. The climate at high altitudes is cool to cold, and summers are very wet. The native Tzotzil live mainly in the

Paraguay, Flag Of

2005-03-19T16:55:00.000-08:00

Isolated from much of the rest of Spanish-dominated South America, Paraguay developed a unique flag design. The earliest known emblem (c. 1812) of local independence was based on the Spanish flag; it had red-yellow-blue stripes with a coat of arms. Later the colour blue was used in two quite different flags—one of equal horizontal stripes of blue and yellow, the other a plain

Ba'al Shem Tov

2005-03-19T07:54:00.000-08:00

Byname of Israel Ben Eliezer, acronym Besht charismatic founder (c. 1750) of Hasidism, a Jewish spiritual movement characterized by mysticism and opposition to secular studies and Jewish rationalism. He aroused controversy by mixing with ordinary people, renouncing mortification of the flesh, and insisting on the holiness of ordinary bodily existence. He was also responsible

Biblical Literature, Early versions

2005-03-17T20:55:00.000-08:00

Even with all these witnesses, there remain problems in the Greek text. These include variants about which there is no settled opinion and some few words for which no accurate meaning can be found because they occur only once in the New Testament and not in prior Greek works. Very early translations of the New Testament made as it spread into the non-Greek-speaking

Mountain

2005-03-16T09:48:00.000-08:00

Landform that rises prominently above its surroundings, generally exhibiting steep slopes, a relatively confined summit area, and considerable local relief. Mountains generally are understood to be larger than hills, but the term has no standardized geological meaning. Very rarely do mountains occur individually. In most cases, they are found in elongated ranges

Malcolm I

2005-03-15T10:41:00.000-08:00

Malcolm succeeded to the crown when his cousin Constantine II entered a monastery (943). He annexed Moray to the kingdom for the first time. After driving the Danes from York, the English king Edmund turned Cumbria over to Malcolm, apparently as a fief or seal of alliance. Later, when Norsemen again invaded the land, the Scots sent raids against

Ujung Pandang

2005-03-14T15:23:00.000-08:00

Already a flourishing port when the Portuguese arrived in the 16th century, Makasar subsequently came under control of the Dutch, who built a trading station in 1607 and finally deposed the sultan in 1667. It was

Bulgarian Orthodox Church

2005-03-13T09:40:00.000-08:00

Christianity was introduced to Bulgaria in 864 by Khan (Tsar) Boris I with an archbishop appointed from Constantinople. In Macedonia, the city of Ohrid became an active mission centre. St. Clement of Ohrid, a disciple of the missionary saints Cyril and Methodius, trained a large number of Slavs for the ministry,

Nicholson, Ben

2005-03-12T09:16:00.000-08:00

The son of the painter Sir William Nicholson, he was largely self-taught and only briefly attended the Slade School of Fine Art (1910–11), London. He traveled extensively in Europe between 1911 and 1914 and in 1917 visited

Amir Khosrow

2005-03-11T14:49:00.000-08:00

Amir Khosrow was the son of a Turkish officer in the service of Iltutmish, sultan of Delhi, and for his entire life he enjoyed the patronage of the Muslim rulers of Delhi, especially Sultan Ghiyas-ud-Din Balban and his son Muhammad Khan of Multan. During his youth

Seleucus I Nicator

2005-03-10T09:38:00.000-08:00

Macedonian army officer, founder of the Seleucid kingdom. In the struggles following the death of Alexander the Great, he rose from governor of Babylon to king of an empire centring on Syria and Iran.

Epidendrum

2005-03-10T02:31:00.000-08:00

Genus of tropical orchids, family Orchidaceae, with about 1,000 species that are distributed from southeastern North America to central South America. Epidendrum species are primarily epiphytic (supported by other plants and having aerial roots exposed to the humid atmosphere), but some grow on rocks or in soil. Flowers are usually borne on a terminal

China, Administration of the state

2005-03-09T18:45:00.000-08:00

The T'ang unification had been far more prolonged and bloody than the Sui conquest. That the T'ang regime lasted for nearly three centuries rather than three decades, as with the Sui, was largely the result of the system of government imposed on the conquered territories. The emperor Kao-tsu's role in the T'ang conquest was understated in the traditional histories compiled

Opus Interassile

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

Metalwork technique developed in Rome and widely used during the 3rd century AD, especially appropriate for making arabesques and other nonrepresentational ornamental designs. Probably of Syrian origin, the technique consists of piercing holes in the metal to create an openwork design suggesting lacework. Opus interassile was often used for large wheels placed

Japan, Flag Of

2005-03-07T15:05:00.000-08:00

According to tradition, the sun goddess Amaterasu founded Japan in the 7th century BC and was an ancestor of the first of its emperors, Jimmu. Even today the emperor is known as the “Son of the Sun,” and a popular name for the country is “Land of the Rising Sun.” The first concrete evidence that testifies to use of a sun flag for Japan dates from 1184, but there are oral traditions going

Blood

2005-03-05T15:37:00.000-08:00

A literary term of British origin referring to a lurid work of fiction, especially a cheap and ill-written book of adventure or crime. The word is a short form of “blood-and-thunder book.”

Earth, Wind And Fire

2005-03-05T05:00:00.000-08:00

American pop, soul, and jazz-fusion band that became one of the best-selling and most influential black groups of the 1970s. The principal members were Maurice White (b. December 19, 1941, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.), Philip Bailey (b. May 8, 1951, Denver, Colorado), Verdine White (b. July 25, 1951, Chicago), Fred White (b. January 13, 1956, Chicago), Al McKay (b. February 2, 1948, New Orleans, Louisiana), Johnny Graham (b. August 3, 1951, Kentucky), Ralph

Brattain, Walter H.

2005-03-04T05:13:00.000-08:00

In full Walter Houser Brattain American scientist who, along with John Bardeen and William B. Shockley, won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1956 for his investigation of the properties of semiconductors—materials of which transistors are made—and for the development of the transistor. The transistor replaced the bulkier vacuum tube for many uses and was the forerunner

Swaziland, Flag Of

2005-03-02T19:20:00.000-08:00

The Swazi, famed as warriors, have a traditional shield that is made of black-and-white ox hide stretched over a wooden frame. A representation of such a shield appeared briefly on a Swazi flag flown in the late 19th century when they administered their land jointly with the (Boer) South African Republic and the British. The current national flag, however, dates to 1941. At that

Bharata-natya

2005-03-02T00:43:00.000-08:00

The principal of the main classical dance styles of India, the others being kuchipudi, kathak, kathakali, manipuri, and orissi. It is indigenous to the Tamil Nadu (Madras) region and prevalent in southern India. Bharata-natya serves the expression of Hindu religious themes and devotions, and its techniques and terminology have been traced back to ancient treatises such as

Boise National Forest

2005-03-01T14:47:00.000-08:00

Large area of evergreen coniferous forest in southwestern Idaho, U.S., located north and east of Boise. Established in 1908, it has an area of about 4,080 square miles (10,570 square km). Portions of both Frank Church–River of No Return Wilderness and Sawtooth Wilderness Area are located in the forest. Payette National Forest borders it on the north, and Challis and Sawtooth national forests

Kii Peninsula

2005-02-27T04:57:00.000-08:00

Japanese Kii-hanto, peninsula of southern Honshu, Japan, facing the Pacific Ocean (east and south) and the Kii Strait and the Inland Sea (west). The peninsula is composed of the Kii Range, whose mountains end abruptly on the north in a fault scarp that commands the valleys of the Kushida River and the Kino River. In general, the mountains are of strong relief, being broken by deep valleys, sharp

Bioherm

2005-02-26T22:17:00.000-08:00

Ancient organic reef of moundlike form built by a variety of marine invertebrates, including corals, echinoderms, gastropods, mollusks, and others; fossil calcareous algae are prominent in some bioherms. A structure built by similar organisms that is bedded but not moundlike is called a biostrome. Bioherms and biostromes occur in sedimentary rock strata of all

Boiler

2005-02-25T17:32:00.000-08:00

Also called Steam Generator, apparatus designed to convert a liquid to vapour. In a conventional steam power plant, a boiler consists of a furnace in which fuel is burned, surfaces to transmit heat from the combustion products to the water, and a space where steam can form and collect. A conventional boiler has a furnace that burns a fossil fuel or, in some installations, waste fuels. A nuclear reactor

Quinet, Edgar

2005-02-24T13:50:00.000-08:00

After moving to Paris in 1820, Quinet forsook the faith of his Protestant mother, became greatly attracted to German philosophy, and published in 1827–28, as his first major work, a translation of Herder's

Alarm Signal

2005-02-23T05:04:00.000-08:00

In zoology, a ritualized means of communicating a danger or threat among the members of an animal group. In many cases the signal is visual or vocal, but some animals—ants, bees, and certain fishes, for example—secrete chemical substances. Alarm communications frequently cross species boundaries. The hawking alarm calls of many small birds are similar and will cause

Cartagena

2005-02-22T21:31:00.000-08:00

Capital of Bolívar departamento, northern Colombia, at the northern end of Cartagena Bay. The old walled sections, including the 17th-century fortress of San Felipe de Barajas, lie on a peninsula and the island of Getsemaní, but the city now spreads over the islands of Manga and Manzanillo (site of the airport) and the mainland below La Popa Hill. In the old section are the

Conduit

2005-02-22T01:59:00.000-08:00

In water-supply systems the term is usually reserved for covered or closed sections of aqueduct, especially those that transport water under pressure. Large conduits may be fabricated of steel sections joined in the field or of reinforced

Japanese Literature, The novel between 1905 and 1941

2005-02-21T21:55:00.000-08:00

The dominant stream in Japanese fiction since the publication of Hakai (1906; The Broken Commandment), by Shimazaki Toson, and Futon (1907; The Quilt), by Tayama Katai, has been naturalism. Although the movement was originally inspired by the works of the 19th-century French novelist Émile Zola and other European naturalists, it quickly took on a distinctively Japanese colouring,

Uveitis

2005-02-20T02:18:00.000-08:00

Inflammation of the uvea, the middle coat of the eyeball, which is pigmented and contains blood vessels. The uvea consists of three parts: the iris, the ciliary body (containing the muscle that controls the curvature of the lens), and the choroid, the layer of the eyeball between the retina and the sclera (the white outer covering of all except the front part of the eyeball).

Mittelfranken

2005-02-18T15:26:00.000-08:00

English Middle Franconia Regierungsbezirk (administrative district), west-central Bavaria Land (state), southern Germany. Mittelfranken is bordered by Baden-Württemberg Land to the west and the Regierungsbezirke of Unterfranken (Lower Franconia) and Oberfranken (Upper Franconia) to the north, Oberpfalz (Upper Palatinate) to the east, and Oberbayern (Upper Bavaria) and Schwaben (Swabia) to

Handl, Jacob

2005-02-18T01:08:00.000-08:00

A Cistercian monk, Handl traveled in Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia, was a member of the Viennese court chapel in 1574, and was choirmaster to the bishop of Olmütz (modern Olomouc, Czech Republic) in 1579–85. His most notable

France, History Of, Gaul under the late Roman Empire (c. 250c. 400)

2005-02-16T07:46:00.000-08:00

High Roman Gaul came to an end in an empirewide crisis characterized by foreign invasions and a rapid succession of rulers, as increased pressure on the empire's frontiers exacerbated its internal economic and political weaknesses. Priority was given to holding the Danube and the East; despite sporadic visits by emperors, the West was neglected. In 260 and 276 Gaul suffered

Haanja

2005-02-15T13:23:00.000-08:00

Morainal region of southeastern Estonia. The moraine is steep on the north but slopes more gently toward the south, extending slightly into Latvia. Deeply incised valleys separate the hills, and there are many lakes. Haanja is the highest and most irregular part of Estonia. It reaches an elevation of 1,042 feet (318 m) at Mount Muna, the highest point in the republic; other high

Water Chestnut

2005-02-15T04:54:00.000-08:00

The water caltrop (T. natans) has submerged leaves that are long, feathery, and rootlike, and floating leaves, in a loose rosette, that are attached to petioles, or leafstalks, 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 inches) long.

Confession

2005-02-12T15:08:00.000-08:00

A confession admits the entire criminal charge, whereas an admission covers

Shi'ah

2005-02-11T02:34:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Shi'a , singular Shi'i the Muslims who constitute the smaller of the two major branches of Islam, distinguished from the majority Sunnites. The Arabic term Shi'ah also denotes the system or doctrine of such Muslims. See Shi'ite.

White, William Allen

2005-02-08T13:47:00.000-08:00

American journalist known as the “Sage of Emporia,” whose mixture of tolerance, optimism, liberal Republicanism, and provincialism made him the epitome of the thoughtful small-town American. His editorial writing made his own small-town newspaper, the Emporia Gazette, internationally known, and strongly affected at least one U.S. presidential

Annelid, Development

2005-02-07T00:53:00.000-08:00

In annelids, the first four cells (blastomeres) give rise, by alternating clockwise and counterclockwise

Qu Qiubai

2005-02-04T20:27:00.000-08:00

Wade–Giles romanization Ch'ü Ch'iu-pai, original name (Wade–Giles) Ch'u Shuang, also called Sung Yang prominent leader and, on occasions in the 1920s and early 1930s, head of the Chinese Communist Party. In addition to being a political activist, he is considered one of the most important literary figures of 20th-century China. In the People's Republic of China today, Qu, who was an early mentor of Mao Zedong, is honoured as one

Corvidae

2005-02-03T03:36:00.000-08:00

Songbird family, of the order Passeriformes, that includes crows, jays, and magpies. The 100 species occur throughout the world; most are nonmigratory. Corvids are strongly built, stout-billed birds 23–71 cm (9–28 inches) long, some being the largest passerines. They have plain, often glossy plumage that may be monochromatic or contrastingly patterned. The sexes

Cabot, Sebastian

2005-02-01T06:54:00.000-08:00

Although facts

Ealing Studios

2005-01-30T18:27:00.000-08:00

Also called Associated Talking Pictures, Ltd. English motion-picture studio, internationally remembered for a series of witty comedies that reflected the social conditions of post-World War II Britain. Founded in 1929 by two of England's best known producers, Basil Dean and Reginald Baker, with the financial support of the Courtauld family, manufacturers of textiles, the company opened its own distribution outlet

Nagurski, Bronko

2005-01-27T13:52:00.000-08:00

Nagurski played tackle and end on defense and fullback on offense at the University of Minnesota

Jacob, Max

2005-01-26T03:13:00.000-08:00

Jacob departed his native Brittany in 1894 to go to Paris, where he lived in extreme poverty but eventually became an important

China

2005-01-24T11:06:00.000-08:00

Officially People's Republic of China, Chinese (Wade-Giles) Chung-hua or Chung-hua Jen-min Kung-ho-kuo, (Pinyin) Zhonghua or Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo country of East Asia. It is the largest of all Asian countries and has the largest population of any country in the world. Occupying nearly the entire East Asian landmass, it stretches for about 3,100 miles (5,000 km) from east to west and 3,400 miles from north to south and covers an area of about 3,696,100 square miles (9,572,900 square km), which is approximately one-fourteenth of the land area of the Earth.

Computers, The personal computer revolution

2005-01-19T17:22:00.000-08:00

Michael S. Malone, The Big Score: The Billion-Dollar Story of Silicon Valley (1985), explains how the invention of the semiconductor transformed Silicon Valley.

Latin Literature, The 12th to the 14th century

2005-01-17T02:26:00.000-08:00

The Carmina Burana (“Songs from Bavaria”), the largest and greatest collection of secular lyrics, comes from the Benediktbeuern, a Benedictine monastery in Bavaria. It was put together in the 13th century, though most of the songs are much older, and contains work by many of the finest poets of the age. The contents are divided by subject into moral and satirical verse, love

Gastein, Convention Of

2005-01-16T03:25:00.000-08:00

Also called Convention Of Badgastein, agreement between Austria and Prussia reached on Aug. 20, 1865, after their seizure of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein from Denmark in 1864; it temporarily postponed the final struggle between them for hegemony over Germany. The pact provided that both the emperor of Austria and the king of Prussia were to be sovereign over the duchies, Prussia administering Schleswig

Botswana, Resources

2005-01-13T05:23:00.000-08:00

Diamonds, the major economic resource of the country, have been exploited on a large scale since 1970. They are mined from some of the world's largest diamond pipes at Orapa and Letlhakane, south of the Makgadikgadi pans, and at Jwaneng in the southeastern sandveld. Nickel and copper have been mined at Selebi-Phikwe near the Motloutse River since 1974. Coal is mined for power generation

Ushpizin

2005-01-12T09:58:00.000-08:00

(Aramaic: “visitors”), according to the Jewish Kabbalistic book the Sefer ha-zohar (“Book of Splendour”), seven ancient worthies who take turns visiting the homes of all pious Jews to share their dinner on the festival of Sukkoth. A custom developed of reciting a fixed formula of invitation to the seven: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, and David. Poor scholars are sometimes

Kidney Failure

2005-01-10T01:15:00.000-08:00

Acute kidney failure results in reduced output of urine, abnormally high levels of nitrogenous substances, potassium, sulfates, and phosphates in the blood, and abnormally low blood levels of sodium, calcium, and carbon dioxide (see uremia). Ordinarily

Pittsburgh Glass

2005-01-07T05:48:00.000-08:00

American glassware produced from the end of the 18th century at numerous factories in that Pennsylvania city. Pittsburgh had the twin advantages of proximity to a source of cheap fuel (coal) and access to a good waterways system, which afforded an inexpensive means of distribution; thus, of the 50 glasshouses that sprang up in Pennsylvania between 1763 and 1850, 40 or more were situated

Ob River

2005-01-06T09:45:00.000-08:00

The Ob River is described in broad geographic surveys of North Asia that provide information on physical features and on economic, social, and cultural conditions: Paul E. Lydolph, Geography of the U.S.S.R., 5th ed. (1990); Michael T. Florinsky (ed.), McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Russia and the Soviet Union (1961), with short articles on the individual rivers; M.F. Grin, et al., Soviet Union: A Geographical Survey, ed. by S.V. Kalesnik and V.F. Pavlenko (1976; originally published in Russian, 1972); and Great Rivers of the World (1984), published by the National Geographic Society. M.I. L'vovich, Reki SSSR (1971), is a well-known work treating the hydrologic characteristics of the main rivers of the former U.S.S.R. Lev Konstantinovich Davydov, Gidrografiia SSSR, vol. 2, Gidrografiia raionov (1955), provides detailed studies of regional hydrology and hydrography. G.V. Voropaev and A.B. Avakian (eds.), Vodokhranilishcha i ikh vozdeistvie na okruzhaiushchuiu sredu (1986), examines the influence of water reservoirs on the environment. Robert Paul Jourdan, “Siberia's Empire Road: The River Ob,” National Geographic, 149(2):145–181 (February 1986), describes the life of the peoples of the area, the environment, and the economic situation. Useful discussions of landscape evolution, the extent of glaciation, and long-term climate change in this region include Mikhail G. Grosswald, “Late-Weichselian Ice Sheets in Arctic and Pacific Siberia,” Quaternary International, 45-46(1):3–18 (1998), and Valery Astakhov “The Last Ice Sheet of the Kara Sea: Terrestrial Constraints on its Age,” Quaternary International, 45-46(1):19–28 (1998).

Alaska Current

2005-01-03T11:40:00.000-08:00

Flow velocities at a depth of 16 feet (5 m) have been reported to be as high as 1.7 knots (1.9 miles per hour)

China, Urban areas

2005-01-01T23:39:00.000-08:00

The dramatic change in the urban landscape is the result of the rapid development of modern manufacturing industries and of communications. Many new towns and cities

Austin, Herbert Austin, Baron

2004-12-31T20:18:00.000-08:00

Founder and first chairman of the Austin Motor Company, whose Austin Seven model greatly influenced British and European light-car design. An engineer and engineering manager in Australia (1883–90), he became manager and later director of the Wolseley Sheep-Shearing Company in England. In

Hyrcania

2004-12-28T00:42:00.000-08:00

Old Persian Varkana (“Wolf's Land”), ancient region located southeast of the Caspian Sea. Its capital was Zadracarta (Astrabad, modern Gorgan), and it formed part of the Median, Achaemenian, Seleucid, and Parthian empires, either as an independent province or joined with Parthia. In the list of Persian satrapies given by the Greek historian Herodotus, the Paricanians may have been the

Creativity

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

Many creative people show a strong interest in apparent disorder, contradiction, and imbalance; they often seem to consider asymmetry and disorder a challenge. At times creative persons give an impression of psychological imbalance, but immature personality traits may be an extension of a generalized receptivity to a wider-than-normal range of experience and

Cookie

2004-12-25T20:39:00.000-08:00

Probably the most popular cookies in the United States are those that are

Ionosphere

2004-12-23T21:53:00.000-08:00

Region of the Earth's atmosphere in which the number of ions, or electrically charged particles—resulting from the action of extraterrestrial (primarily solar) radiation on the neutral atoms and molecules of the air—is large enough to affect the propagation of radio waves. The ionosphere begins at a height of about 50 km (30 miles) above the surface but is most distinct

Coleridge, (david) Hartley

2004-12-20T15:15:00.000-08:00

The eldest son of the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, he spent his childhood alarming and delighting his family and the Southeys and Wordsworths by his mental agility and the “exquisite wildness” that caused

China, The rise of Neo-Confucianism

2004-12-19T02:20:00.000-08:00

The rise of the particular school of Neo-Confucianism led by Chu Hsi takes on special meaning in this context. The Neo-Confucian upsurge beginning in the late T'ang embraced many exciting extensions of the Classical vision. Noteworthy during the Pei Sung was the emergence of a new Confucian metaphysics that was influenced by Buddhism and that borrowed freely from

Bohol Sea

2004-12-16T16:14:00.000-08:00

Also called Mindanao Sea, section of the western North Pacific Ocean. Measuring about 170 miles (270 km) east–west, it is bounded by the islands of the Philippines—Mindanao (south and east), Leyte, Bohol, and Cebu (north), and Negros (west). It opens north to the Visayan Sea through Bohol and Tañon straits and the Canigao Channel, east to the Philippine Sea through the Surigao Strait, and west to the Sulu Sea. The

Monticello

2004-12-14T10:33:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1895) of San Juan county, southeastern Utah, U.S. Founded in 1886 as a point of entry into the nearby Abajo Mountains and named after the Virginia estate of U.S. President Thomas Jefferson, the town grew as a centre for several ranches that hosted a thriving livestock industry. A vanadium-processing plant was built during World War II and converted to uranium production

Nador

2004-12-12T17:23:00.000-08:00

City, northeastern Morocco. The city is a small Mediterranean port on the Bou Areg Lagoon and a trading centre for fish, fruits, and livestock. It is linked to the Spanish plaza (North African enclave) of Melilla, 9 miles (15 km) north, by road and railway. Pop. (1994) 112,450.

Sabbatini, Nicola

2004-12-11T14:18:00.000-08:00

In his major and most enduring written work, Pratica di fabricar scene e macchine ne' teatri (1638; “Manual for Constructing Scenes and Machines in the Theatre”), Sabbatini described

Gullah

2004-12-09T00:25:00.000-08:00

Creole language based on English, spoken by former black slaves and their descendants (also called Gullahs and Geechees, West African tribal names) on the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia and on the mainland nearby. Gullah consists of an English pidgin base characteristic of 17th- and 18th-century British colonists' speech, with additional vocabulary and some

Keely, John E.w.

2004-12-06T09:20:00.000-08:00

Keely was orphaned in early childhood. He is said to have been an orchestra leader, a circus performer, and a carpenter. In 1873 he announced that he had discovered a new physical force, one that, if harnessed, would produce unheard-of power. He claimed, for example, to be able to produce from a quart of water enough fuel

Rose Of Lima, Saint

2004-12-04T18:07:00.000-08:00

Born into a wealthy family, Rosa (the name by which she was always known) was drawn to penitential practices and a spiritual

Nara

2004-12-03T14:22:00.000-08:00

City, Nara ken (prefecture), southern Honshu, Japan. The city of Nara, the prefectural capital, is located in the hilly northeastern edge of the Nara Basin, 25 miles (40 km) east of Osaka. It was the national capital of Japan from 710 to 784—when it was called Heijo-kyo—and retains the atmosphere of ancient Japan. The city is most noted for the many ancient Japanese Buddhist buildings and artifacts

Fabritius, Barent

2004-11-30T07:12:00.000-08:00

He was the son of a schoolmaster and at first became a carpenter, whence his Latinized name Fabritius (from Latin faber, “carpenter”). His early works, dating from the 1650s, are based on Rembrandt's style of the 1640s, with deepened use of colour and of light and shade. He

Aesthetics, The ontology of art

2004-11-29T21:11:00.000-08:00

One such problem is that of the ontological status of the work of art. Suppose that A has on the desk before him David Copperfield. Is David Copperfield therefore identical with this book that A can touch and see? Certainly not, for another copy lies on B's desk, and a single work of art cannot be identical with two distinct physical things. The obvious conclusion is that

Raytheon Company

2004-11-27T19:26:00.000-08:00

Major American industrial corporation with core manufacturing concentrations in corporate and special-mission aircraft, defense systems, and defense and commercial electronics. It is the third largest defense contractor in the United States (after Lockheed Martin and Boeing). Established in 1922, the company reincorporated in 1928 and adopted its present name in 1959. Headquarters

Genetic Disease, Human

2004-11-22T01:34:00.000-08:00

Most imbalances involving autosomes

Monboddo, James Burnett, Lord

2004-11-20T19:09:00.000-08:00

Monboddo's main work, Of the Origin and Progress of Language (6 vol., 1773–92), contains a vast body of curious lore on the manners and customs of primitive peoples, relates

Vieux-colombier, Theatre Of The

2004-11-18T19:21:00.000-08:00

French theatre founded in Paris in 1913 by the writer and critic Jacques Copeau to present alternatives to both the realistic “well-made” plays of the time and the star system of actor-celebrities. Copeau sought to renovate French theatre by focusing attention on the actor, whom he viewed as the essential element in translating the dramatic text into the “poetry of the

Literature, Canada

2004-11-16T22:47:00.000-08:00

The past—personal, historical, and imaginary—was the chosen ground for many Canadian novels in 2001, ranging from Nega Mezlekia's exploration of precolonial Africa from a postcolonial perspective in The God Who Begat a Jackal to Robert Hough's 20th-century circus saga about a tiger-taming woman, The Final Confession

Feng Tao

2004-11-14T18:32:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Feng Dao Chinese Confucian minister generally given credit for instigating the first printing of the Confucian Classics, in 932. As a result, Confucian texts became cheap and accessible, the number of scholars and the knowledge of literature greatly increased throughout the nation, and the number of people able to compete in the

Karachi

2004-11-12T05:12:00.000-08:00

City and capital of Sindh province, southern Pakistan. It is the country's largest city and principal seaport and is a major commercial and industrial centre. Karachi is located on the coast of the Arabian Sea immediately northwest of the Indus River Delta. The city proper covers an area of 228 square miles (591 square km), while the metropolitan area of Greater Karachi spreads

Bohr Atomic Model

2004-11-11T17:52:00.000-08:00

Description of the structure of atoms, especially that of hydrogen, proposed (1913) by the Danish physicist Niels Bohr. The Bohr model of the atom, a radical departure from earlier, classical descriptions, was the first that incorporated quantum theory and was the predecessor of wholly quantum-mechanical models. The Bohr model and all of its successors describe the properties

Acrostic

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

The word was first applied to the prophecies of the Erythraean Sibyl, which were written on leaves and arranged so that the initial letters of the leaves always formed a word.

Iligan

2004-11-07T11:06:00.000-08:00

City, northern Mindanao, Philippines. On the southeastern shore of Iligan Bay, it is the island's major industrial city and an important port at the mouth of the Iligan River. Its growth has stemmed largely from the proximity of the Agus River, with its great hydropower potential harnessed at Maria Cristina Falls. Industries include steel, calcium-carbide, and ferroalloy

Basel Zoological Garden

2004-11-04T02:21:00.000-08:00

German Zoologischer Garten Basel, also called Zolli, privately owned zoological garden in Basel, Switz., noted for its outstanding work in the breeding of the Indian rhinoceros and the pygmy hippopotamus. The zoo was founded in 1874 for the purpose of exhibiting local wildlife. (It opened with about 100 mammals and perhaps 400 birds, mostly European.) Financial difficulties, however, forced zoo administrators to obtain exotic animals

Amu Darya

2004-11-03T16:59:00.000-08:00

English Amu River, Tajik Daryoi Amu, Turkmen Amyderya, Uzbek Amudaryo, ancient name Oxus River one of the longest rivers of Central Asia. It is formed by the confluence of the Vakhsh and Panj (Pyandzh) rivers and flows west-northwest to its mouth on the southern shore of the Aral Sea. In its upper course the Amu Darya forms part of Afghanistan's northern border with Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. It then flows across the desert of eastern Turkmenistan

Allen, William

2004-11-01T04:35:00.000-08:00

Educated at the University of Oxford, Allen became principal of St. Mary's Hall there in 1556. After the accession of Queen Elizabeth

Laos, Relief

2004-10-30T02:15:00.000-07:00

Dominating the landscape of Laos are its inhospitable, forest-covered mountains, which in the north rise to a maximum elevation of 9,245 feet (2,818 metres) above sea level at Mount Bia and everywhere constitute an impediment to travel. The principal range lies along a northwest-southeast axis and forms part of the Annamese Cordillera (Chaîne Annamitique), but secondary ranges

Field, Eugene

2004-10-27T10:35:00.000-07:00

Field attended several colleges but took no degree; at the University of Missouri he was known less as a student than as a prankster. After his marriage in 1873, Field did editorial work for a variety of newspapers, including the Denver Tribune. From his Tribune column,

Nation Of Islam

2004-10-25T13:41:00.000-07:00

Islam was brought to the United States by African Muslim slaves, and it retained a real if minuscule

Mananjary

2004-10-24T00:07:00.000-07:00

Town, eastern Madagascar. It lies at the mouth of the Mananjary River. A port on the Indian Ocean and the Pangalanes Canal, it handles coastal shipments of coffee, vanilla, cacao, olives, and rice. It is at the end of a highway from Fianarantsoa (85 miles [137 km] northwest). Pop. (1978 est.) 15,200.

Arduino, Giovanni

2004-10-22T18:00:00.000-07:00

From an early age, Arduino showed an interest in mining, establishing a reputation throughout northern Italy

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

2004-10-19T05:55:00.000-07:00

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

Middlebury College

2004-10-18T10:58:00.000-07:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Middlebury, Vt., U.S. It is a small liberal arts college at which particular emphasis is given to the study of modern languages. Course work at Middlebury is divided into eight academic categories: literature, the arts, foreign languages, philosophical and religious studies, physical and life sciences, historical

San

2004-10-16T07:45:00.000-07:00

Contrary to earlier