SecondSand

Submarine Slump

2005-04-04T23:51:00.000-07:00

In a submarine canyon or on a continental slope, relatively rapid and sporadic downslope composed of sediment and organic debris that has built up slowly into an unstable or marginally stable mass. The greatest documented distance that an individual slump has transported sediment is 120 m (400 feet), in Scripps Canyon off La Jolla, Calif. After an individual slump in a canyon,

Plunkett, Sir Horace Curzon

2005-04-04T04:35:00.000-07:00

Educated in England, he went to the United States in 1879 and spent 10 years as a cattle rancher in Wyoming. He returned to Ireland in 1889 and devoted himself

Antarctic Circumpolar Current

2005-04-01T21:21:00.000-08:00

Also called West Wind Drift, surface oceanic current encircling Antarctica and flowing from west to east. Affected by adjacent landmasses, submarine topography, and prevailing winds, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current is irregular in width and course. Its motion is further complicated by continuous exchange with other water masses at all depths. The volume of transport south of latitude

Bene Beraq

2005-04-01T04:46:00.000-08:00

Near the presumed location of ancient Bene Beraq, a

Leakey, Mary Douglas

2005-03-31T14:10:00.000-08:00

As a girl she exhibited a natural talent for drawing and was interested in archaeology. After undergoing sporadic

Cookson, Catherine (dame Catherine Ann Mcmullen Cookson)

2005-03-30T16:34:00.000-08:00

British author (b. June 20, 1906, Jarrow, Durham, Eng.--d. June 11, 1998, Jesmond Dene, near Newcastle upon Tyne, Eng.), penned almost 100 popular novels, which she set in the industrial region of northeastern England, frequently dubbed "Cookson Country." She was intimately familiar with the physical and emotional lay of this land, having been raised in the Tyneside docks area in poverty. Her early

Aramaic Language

2005-03-29T04:57:00.000-08:00

Aramaic is thought to have first appeared among the Aramaeans about the late 11th century

Rada'

2005-03-28T08:16:00.000-08:00

(Arabic: “to suckle”), in Islam, a legal relationship established between children when they are nursed by the same woman, the result being that they are forbidden to intermarry. Such a prohibition was prevalent in Arabian society even before Islam. Arabs equate such kinship with true blood relationship. In Mecca, the Arabs had a custom, still retained, of hiring professional

Asch, Sholem

2005-03-26T09:43:00.000-08:00

One of the 10 surviving children of a poor family, Asch was educated at Kutno's Hebrew school. In 1899 he went to Warsaw, and in 1900 he published his highly praised first story—written, as was a cycle

Wang Mang

2005-03-24T22:36:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Wang Mang , posthumous name, or shih (Wade-Giles romanization) Chia Huang-ti , or She Huang-ti founder of the short-lived Hsin dynasty (AD 9–25). He is known in Chinese history as the “Usurper.”

Pembroke, William Herbert, 1st Earl Of, Baron Herbert Of Cardiff

2005-03-24T16:57:00.000-08:00

Also called (until 1551) Sir William Herbert the Earl of Pembroke of the second Herbert creation, a leading figure in the reigns of Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I of England. His father, Sir Richard Herbert, was an illegitimate son of William, the 1st Earl of Pembroke of the first creation. Sir William's first wife, Anne Parr, was a sister of Catherine Parr, who married Henry VIII

Antibody

2005-03-23T23:29:00.000-08:00

When an alien substance

Reformed And Presbyterian Church

2005-03-22T22:48:00.000-08:00

Name given to various of the churches that share a common origin in the Reformation in 16th-century Switzerland. Reformed is the term identifying churches regarded as Calvinistic in doctrine. The term presbyterian designates a collegial type of church government by pastors and by lay leaders called elders, or presbyters, from the New Testament term presbyteroi.

Armour

2005-03-20T22:34:00.000-08:00

Types of armour generally fall into one of three main categories: (1) armour made of leather, fabric, or mixed layers of both, sometimes reinforced by quilting or felt, (2) mail, made of interwoven rings of iron or steel,

Rydberg, Viktor

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

Rydberg grew up among strangers, with no home of his own; his mother had died in a cholera epidemic, and his father became an alcoholic. He had to break off his studies for lack of money. In 1855 he began to work for the liberal newspaper

China, Temperature

2005-03-19T04:58:00.000-08:00

Temperatures generally decrease from south to north. The mean annual temperature is above 68 °F (20 °C) in the Pearl River Valley. It decreases to between 59 and 68 °F (15 and 20 °C) in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze, to about 50 °F (10 °C) in North China and the southern part of Sinkiang, and to 41 °F (5 °C) in the southern area of the Northeast, the northern part of Sinkiang, and places near the Great Wall.

Gondi Family

2005-03-19T04:33:00.000-08:00

French family of Florentine origin, whose diplomats and bankers were prominent in France from the 16th century. The family established itself in France after gaining the confidence and patronage of Catherine de Médicis. Antoine II (1486–1560) was the first Gondi to settle in France and started the most illustrious branch of the family. At first a banker in Lyon, he was brought

Sankt Gallen

2005-03-17T20:48:00.000-08:00

French Saint-gall, canton, northeastern Switzerland, bounded north by Lake Constance (Bodensee); east by the Rhine Valley, which separates it from the Austrian Vorarlberg Bundesland (federal state) and from Liechtenstein; south by the cantons of Graubünden, Glarus, and Schwyz; west by the canton of Zürich; and northwest by the canton of Thurgau. Appenzell Ausser-Rhoden and Appenzell Inner-Rhoden

Burdett-coutts, Angela Georgina Burdett-coutts, Baroness

2005-03-16T19:52:00.000-08:00

The youngest daughter of the radical politician Sir Francis Burdett, she took the name of Coutts in 1837 when she inherited the fortune of the banker Thomas Coutts, her grandfather.

Cardiovascular System, Conducting system of the heart

2005-03-16T01:03:00.000-08:00

Both the atrioventricular node, with an intrinsic beat of 40–60 beats per minute, and the Purkinje fibres, with an intrinsic beat of 15–40 beats per minute, are self-stimulating and capable of rhythmic contraction, but at a rate slower than that of the sinoatrial node, which possesses an intrinsic capacity to beat 72 times per minute. Therefore, since recovery time is faster in the

Number System

2005-03-14T22:03:00.000-08:00

Any of various sets of symbols and the rules for using them to express quantities as the basis for counting, comparing amounts, performing calculations, determining order, making measurements, representing value, setting limits, abstracting quantities, coding information, and transmitting data. The most elementary representation of numbers is the tally or unitary

Dublin, Climate

2005-03-14T19:45:00.000-08:00

With its coastal site on the western seaboard of the Irish Sea, Dublin enjoys a mild climate. The average temperature is lowest in January–February, 42° F (6° C), and highest in July–August, 59° F (15° C). Sunshine averages four hours a day. The mean annual rainfall is 30–40 inches (760–1,000 millimetres), although the rate is higher in the mountains. The period of maximum rainfall occurs in winter, and there

Pendleton Civil Service Act

2005-03-14T09:00:00.000-08:00

Widespread public demand for civil service reform was stirred after the Civil War by mounting incompetence, graft, corruption, and theft in federal departments and agencies. After

Nara

2005-03-12T22:22:00.000-08:00

Ken (prefecture), southern Honshu, Japan. The prefecture occupies the central part of the Kii Peninsula. Its southern and northeastern portions are mountainous, while the northwest is composed of the lowland of the Nara Basin. The basin is separated from Osaka (west) by mountains and contains most of the prefecture's population, main cities, and transport facilities.

Gadsden, James

2005-03-12T21:12:00.000-08:00

He graduated from Yale College in 1806 and engaged in business in his native city until 1812, when he was appointed a lieutenant of engineers in the U.S. Army. In 1820 he was made responsible for the establishment of military posts in Florida and supervised

Spontaneous Fission

2005-03-12T01:35:00.000-08:00

Type of radioactive decay in which certain unstable nuclei of heavier elements split into two nearly equal fragments (nuclei of lighter elements) and liberate a large amount of energy. Spontaneous fission, discovered (1941) by the Russian physicists G.N. Flerov and K.A. Petrzhak in uranium-238, is observable in many nuclear species of mass number 230 or more. Among these nuclides,

Earth

2005-03-11T09:21:00.000-08:00

Terrestrial body whose solid surface, abundant waters, and oxygen-rich atmosphere have combined to create conditions suitable for life. This article discusses the structure, composition, and properties of the solid Earth. For detailed treatment of its surface features, atmosphere, and waters, see the articles atmosphere, hydrosphere, ocean, river, lake, and continental

Ram Singh

2005-03-10T13:07:00.000-08:00

Ram Singh was born into a respected small-farming family. As a young man, Ram Singh became a disciple of Balak Singh, the founder of the austere Namdhari movement, from whom he learned

Augustine Of Canterbury, Saint

2005-03-10T00:13:00.000-08:00

F.A. Gasquet, The Mission of St. Augustine and Other Addresses (1924); Margaret Deanesly, Augustine of Canterbury (1964, reissued 1997).

Coipasa, Salar De

2005-03-09T11:29:00.000-08:00

Salt flat, in the bleak Altiplano of Bolivia, about 100 air mi (160 air km) southwest of the city of Oruro, near the Chilean border. At an altitude of 12,073 ft (3,680 m), the flat, Bolivia's second largest (after Salar de Uyuni), occupies 856 sq mi (2,218 sq km). Lago (lake) de Coipasa directly to the north receives the intermittently flowing Río Lauca from the northwest and is connected to Lago de Poopó to the east

Tiglath-pileser Iii

2005-03-08T07:44:00.000-08:00

King of Assyria (745–727 BC) who inaugurated the last and greatest phase of Assyrian expansion. He subjected Syria and Palestine to his rule, and later (729 or 728) he merged the kingdoms of Assyria and Babylonia.

Arrau

2005-03-08T03:34:00.000-08:00

This species, known in Brazil as tartaruga da Amazonia, can attain a shell

Musa

2005-03-07T22:44:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Mousa , also called Kankan Musa mansa (emperor) of the West African empire of Mali from 1307 (or 1312). Mansa Musa left a realm notable for its extent and riches (he built the Great Mosque at Timbuktu), but he is best remembered in the Middle East and Europe for the splendour of his pilgrimage to Mecca (1324).

Jordan, Relief and drainage

2005-03-06T15:15:00.000-08:00

The desert is mostly within the Syrian (or North Arabian) Desert and occupies the eastern and southern parts of the country, comprising more than four-fifths of its territory.

Hawke, Robert

2005-03-06T05:25:00.000-08:00

After graduating from the University of Western Australia with a degree in law, Hawke spent three years at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. He was briefly an economics researcher at the Australian National University in Canberra and in 1958 joined the Australian

Jackstones

2005-03-05T22:54:00.000-08:00

Also called fivestones, jacks , or dibs game of great antiquity and worldwide distribution, now played with stones, bones, seeds, filled cloth bags, or metal or plastic counters (the jacks), with or without a ball. The name derives from “chackstones”—stones to be tossed. The knuckle, wrist, or ankle bones of goats, sheep, or other animals also have been used in play. Such objects have been found in prehistoric caves

Painting, Western, The 17th century

2005-03-05T08:42:00.000-08:00

English painting during the 17th century had been dominated by a series of foreign-born practitioners, mostly portraitists (e.g., Rubens and Van Dyck), even before the Civil War. Sir Peter Lely and Sir Godfrey Kneller continued this trend after the Restoration. The vast majority of the painting executed by native artists remained thoroughly provincial. Lely began his

Aerospace Industry

2005-03-04T19:19:00.000-08:00

The product line of the aerospace industry is, by necessity, broad because its primary products—flight vehicles—require up to millions of individual parts. In addition, many support systems are needed to operate and maintain the vehicles. In terms of sales, military aircraft have the largest market share, followed by space systems and civil aircraft, with missiles

Short Story, The impressionist story

2005-03-03T13:24:00.000-08:00

Several American writers, from Poe to James, were interested in the “impressionist” story that focusses on the impressions registered by events on the characters' minds, rather than the objective reality of the events themselves. In Herman Melville's “Bartleby the Scrivener” (1856) the narrator is a man who unintentionally reveals his own moral weaknesses through his telling

Salaj

2005-03-03T03:54:00.000-08:00

Judet (county), northwestern Romania. The Western Carpathian Mountains of Romania, including the Ses Mountains, rise above settlement areas in the valleys. The county is drained northwestward by the Somes River and its tributaries. Zalau (q.v.) is the county capital. Metal products, building materials, timber, and foodstuffs are produced in Zalau and Simleu Silvaniei. Lignite

Vienna Circle

2005-03-02T17:57:00.000-08:00

German Wiener Kreis, a group of philosophers, scientists, and mathematicians formed in the 1920s that met regularly in Vienna to investigate scientific language and scientific methodology. The philosophical movement associated with the Circle has been called variously logical positivism, logical empiricism, scientific empiricism, neopositivism, and the unity of science movement.

Vanderbilt, William Henry

2005-03-01T06:19:00.000-08:00

A frail and seemingly unambitious youth, William was dismissed by his strong and dynamic father as incompetent to run the family business. The two split on

Molecular Beam

2005-02-28T19:50:00.000-08:00

Any stream or ray of molecules moving in the same general direction, usually in a vacuum—i.e., inside an evacuated chamber. In this context the word molecule includes atoms as a special case. Most commonly, the molecules comprising the beam are at a low density; that is, they are far enough apart to move independently of each other. Because of the one-directional motion of

Semiconductor Device, The p-n junction

2005-02-28T14:38:00.000-08:00

If an abrupt change in impurity type from acceptors (p-type) to donors (n-type) occurs within a single crystal structure, a p-n junction is formed (see Figure 3B and 3C). On the p side, the holes constitute the dominant carriers and so are called majority carriers. A few thermally generated electrons will also exist in the p side; these are termed minority carriers. On the n

Pyrolite

2005-02-27T16:55:00.000-08:00

Rock consisting of about three parts peridotite and one part basalt. The name was coined to explain the chemical and mineralogic composition of the upper mantle of the Earth. The relative abundances of the principal metallic element components (except iron) are similar to those in chondritic meteorites and in the solar photosphere. Accordingly, it is reasonable

Semiconductor Device

2005-02-26T13:42:00.000-08:00

A p-n junction diode is a solid-state device that has two terminals. Depending on impurity distribution, device geometry, and biasing condition, a junction diode can perform various functions. There are more than 50,000 types of diodes with voltage ratings from less than 1 volt to more than 2,000 volts and current ratings from less than 1 milliampere to more than 5,000 amperes. A p-n junction

Jones, Howard; And Jones, T.a.d.

2005-02-26T06:49:00.000-08:00

The brothers played football in Middletown, Ohio, and at Phillips Exeter Academy (1903–04) in Exeter, New Hampshire, before entering Yale University in 1905. Howard's

Río Cuarto

2005-02-25T16:10:00.000-08:00

City, southwestern Córdoba provincia, northwestern Argentina. It lies along the Cuarto River between the western reaches of the Pampas and the foothills of the Sierra de los Cóndores and La Grande de Córdoba. The city was inaugurated in 1794 under the sponsorship of Governor Rafael de Sobremonte, the Spanish intendant. It was the site of several skirmishes during the

Muroran

2005-02-25T03:46:00.000-08:00

City, southern Hokkaido, Japan, on Cape Chikyu at the entrance to Uchiura Bay. After 1906 it began to grow from a village to a company town, producing steel and iron products. In 1982 Muroran succeeded in securing its water supply system from the company. It became the major heavy industrial centre (by value) on Hokkaido. The port also handles coal, machinery, wood, pulp, and marine products.

Hui-kuan

2005-02-24T01:40:00.000-08:00

The hui-kuan were originated at Peking by the provincial guild of the southern Chinese province of Kwangtung.

Leonowens, Anna Harriette

2005-02-22T04:46:00.000-08:00

At age 15 Anna went to Asia, where she married Maj. Thomas Lewis Leonowens of the Indian Army. After the major died in 1858, she lived in Singapore

Cambrai, Battle Of

2005-02-22T02:24:00.000-08:00

Carried out by the 3rd Army under General Sir Julian Byng in order to relieve pressure on the French front, the offensive consisted of an assault against the Germans' Hindenburg line along a 10-mile (16-kilometre) front some 8 miles

Tarakan Island

2005-02-22T02:03:00.000-08:00

Indonesian Pulau Tarakan island in Kalimantan Timur provinsi (“province”), Indonesia. It is situated in the eastern Celebes Sea, off the northeastern coast of Borneo. The island occupies an area of 117 square miles (303 square km) and has a length of approximately 10 miles (16 km). Its coastal area is low and swampy, and there are oil fields on the southwestern coast. During World War II the island was captured (January

Silbermann, Gottfried

2005-02-21T16:54:00.000-08:00

Gottfried worked in Strasbourg in the shop of his brother Andreas, also a noted builder, before moving to Freiberg in 1710. There he made spinets, clavichords, and harpsichords and experimented in

Lorenzetti, Ambrogio

2005-02-21T06:01:00.000-08:00

Younger brother of Pietro Lorenzetti, who ranks in importance with the greatest of the Italian Sienese painters, Duccio and Simone Martini. Only six documented works of Ambrogio, apparently covering a period of merely 13 years, have survived. They include four scenes from the legend of St. Nicholas of Bari in the Uffizi, Florence, which are parts

Sanddab

2005-02-19T07:53:00.000-08:00

Any of certain edible, American Pacific flatfishes of the genus Citharichthys (family Bothidae). As in other flatfishes, sanddabs have both eyes on the same side of the head; as in other bothids, the eyes are usually on the left side. The most common species of sanddab is the Pacific sanddab (C. sordidus), a brownish fish mottled, in the male, with dull orange. It grows to about

Acaraí Mountains

2005-02-19T01:03:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Acarahy, or Akarai, Portuguese Serra Acaraí, low range on the border of Brazil (Pará state) and southern Guyana. The mountains, which rise to about 2,000 feet (600 m) above sea level, run in an east–west direction for about 80 miles (130 km) and form part of the northern watershed of the Amazon Basin. The whole area is covered with dense tropical rain forest and was mapped by satellite in the late 1970s.

Trece Martires

2005-02-18T21:55:00.000-08:00

City, southern Luzon, Philippines. Located in a fertile and densely populated plain about halfway between Cavite City on Manila Bay (north) and Taal Lake (south), it is named after the 13 Filipino patriots martyred by the Spanish in 1896 at Cavite. Trece Martires is a trading centre; rice, fruits, coffee, sugarcane, and bananas are grown in the region. Inc. city, 1954. Pop. (1990) 15,686.

Earth, Results of structural geologic studies

2005-02-16T19:37:00.000-08:00

Deformed rocks typically occur in long, linear belts along the trend of present or past mountain belts. In many parts of the world, mountain belts end rather abruptly at the edges of continents and commonly occur in pairs located on opposite sides of an ocean. The Appalachian mountain belt, for example, extends from Georgia and Alabama through southeastern Pennsylvania,

Pluriarc

2005-02-16T06:38:00.000-08:00

Also called Bow Lute, west African stringed musical instrument having a deep boxlike body from which project between two and eight slender, curved arms; one string runs from the end of each arm to a string holder on the belly. The strings are plucked, usually by the fingers, occasionally by plectra attached to the fingers. They are generally played open, as on a harp; in some regions they are

Hormone, Neurohypophysis and the polypeptide hormones of the hypothalamus

2005-02-16T02:57:00.000-08:00

Another neurosecretory system, which involves the hypothalamic region of the brain and the neurohypophysis of the pituitary gland, originates in groups of neurosecretory cells in the hypothalamus called, in mammals, the nucleus supraopticus and the nucleus paraventricularis and, in lower vertebrates, the nucleus preopticus. Neurohormones from these regions

Innocent I, Saint

2005-02-15T06:07:00.000-08:00

Probably a Roman deacon, Innocent was possibly the son of St. Anastasius I, whom he succeeded in the papacy on Dec. 22, 401. In 404 Innocent ordered a synod to reinstate Patriarch St. John Chrysostom of Constantinople, who had been illegally deposed

Muir, Edwin

2005-02-14T16:48:00.000-08:00

His stature as a poet

Syrtos

2005-02-14T09:40:00.000-08:00

Ancient chain dance of Greece. It was described by Lucian (c. AD 125–190) and is still danced today in many varieties in the Greek islands. Traditionally, it was danced by segregated lines of men and women, a youth leading the line of girls; lines now are frequently mixed. The dancers in the chain maintain a simple fundamental step, but the leader improvises, often breaking away

Facsimile

2005-02-12T03:40:00.000-08:00

In addition to the conventional office use of fax as described above, there are several other applications worth noting. The first is in point-to-point transmission of newspapers for remote printing. A number of newspapers are available simultaneously in several editions nationwide or even worldwide. Although the paper is usually composed at only one location,

Chagres River

2005-02-12T02:42:00.000-08:00

Spanish Río Chagres stream in Panama forming part of the Panama Canal system. It rises in the Cordillera de San Blas, flows south-southwest, and broadens to form Madden Lake (22 square miles [57 square km]) at Madden Dam, which was built in 1935 for navigation, flood control, and hydroelectric power. Below the dam it continues southwest to Gamboa, where it joins the Panama Canal at the north end of the Gaillard

Fusulinid

2005-02-12T00:05:00.000-08:00

Any of a large group of extinct foraminiferans (single-celled organisms related to the modern amoebas but having complex shells that are easily preserved as fossils). The fusulinids first appeared late in the Early Carboniferous Epoch, which ended 320 million years ago, and persisted until the end of the Permian Period, 245 million years ago. Where they occur, the fusulinids

Pacific Islands, Aboriginal groupings

2005-02-11T02:45:00.000-08:00

Natives of the Pacific tend to identify themselves by their home island or their mother tongue, saying, for example, that they are from Nauru or that they speak Fijian. Occasionally, however, they may invoke another, and larger, identity, claiming to be Polynesian, Micronesian, or Melanesian. As a geographic designation this representation has value, but as a mark of racial,

Cypress Hills

2005-02-11T02:17:00.000-08:00

Isolated range in southeastern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan, Canada, extending for 100 miles (160 km) in an east-west direction, north of the Montana, U.S., border. Rising to 4,816 feet (1,468 m—the highest point in Saskatchewan), the hills are the most prominent relief in the southern prairies. Heavily wooded, they serve primarily as a recreation area with two provincial parks (51,200 acres

New England

2005-02-10T19:39:00.000-08:00

The region was named by Captain John Smith, who explored its shores in 1614 for some London merchants. New England was soon settled by English Puritans whose aversion to idleness and luxury served admirably the need of fledgling communities

Wade-davis Bill

2005-02-09T20:01:00.000-08:00

(1864), unsuccessful attempt by Radical Republicans and others in the U.S. Congress to set Reconstruction policy before the end of the Civil War. The bill, sponsored by senators Benjamin F. Wade and Henry W. Davis, provided for the appointment of provisional military governors in the seceded states. When a majority of a state's white citizens swore allegiance to the Union, a

Franceschini, Baldassare

2005-02-09T15:50:00.000-08:00

At a very early age Franceschini started as an assistant to his father, a sculptor. From 1652 to 1660 he worked on paintings in the cupola of the Niccolini Chapel in Santa Croce, Florence. His work during these years was his most notable. Among his best oil paintings of large scale is the “St. John the

Wadgaon, Convention Of

2005-02-09T13:50:00.000-08:00

The compact was concluded after a British expedition, commanded by Colonel William Cockburn and controlled by Colonel

Franceschini, Baldassare

2005-02-07T07:04:00.000-08:00

DES is used therapeutically to replace estrogen

Permafrost, Pingos

2005-02-06T01:45:00.000-08:00

The most spectacular landforms associated with permafrost are pingos, small ice-cored circular or elliptical hills of frozen sediments or even bedrock, 3 to more than 60 metres high and 15 to 450 metres in diameter. Pingos are widespread in the continuous permafrost zone and are quite conspicuous because they rise above the tundra. They are much less conspicuous in the forested

Southeast Asia, History Of, Reappearance of regional interests

2005-02-06T01:33:00.000-08:00

After the end of the 17th century, the long-developed polities of Southeast Asia were pulled into a Western-dominated world economy, weakening regional trade networks and strengthening ties with distant colonial powers. In the early years of independence these ties often remained strong enough to be called neocolonial by critics, but after the mid-1960s these partnerships

Ta'liq Script

2005-02-05T18:20:00.000-08:00

In Arabic calligraphy, cursive style of lettering developed in Iran in the 10th century. It is thought to have been the creation of Hasan ibn Husayn 'Ali of Fars, but, because Khwajah 'Abd al-Malik Buk made such vast improvements, the invention is often attributed to him. The rounded forms and exaggerated horizontal strokes that characterize the ta'liq letters were derived primarily

Qasim, 'abd Al-karim

2005-02-05T05:10:00.000-08:00

Qasim attended the Iraqi military academy and advanced steadily through the ranks until by 1955 he had become a high-ranking officer. Like many Iraqis, he disliked the socially conservative and pro-Western policies of the monarchy. By 1957 Qasim had

Valais

2005-02-04T03:38:00.000-08:00

German Wallis, canton, southern Switzerland. It borders Italy to the south and France to the west and is bounded by the cantons of Vaud and Bern on the north and Uri and Ticino on the east. Its area includes the valley of the upper Rhône River, from its source at the Rhône Glacier to its mouth on Lake Geneva; the valley runs from east to west and then, in a right angle at Martigny, from southeast

Crompton, Samuel

2005-02-03T20:44:00.000-08:00

As a youth Crompton spun cotton on a spinning jenny for his family; its defects inspired him to try to invent a better device. In 1779, after devoting all his spare time and money to the effort, he produced a machine

Argentina, Discovery and settlement

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

The main Atlantic outline of Argentina was revealed to European explorers in the early 16th century. The Río de la Plata estuary was discovered years before Ferdinand Magellan traversed the Strait of Magellan in 1520, although historians dispute whether the estuary was first reached by Amerigo Vespucci in 1501–02 or by Juan Díaz de Solís in his ill-fated voyage of 1516. Solís and a

Anne Boleyn

2005-02-01T23:15:00.000-08:00

Anne's father was Sir Thomas Boleyn, later Earl of Wiltshire and Ormonde.

France, History Of, The shrinking of the frontiers and peripheral areas

2005-01-31T17:27:00.000-08:00

These events undermined the Frankish hegemony. In Brittany the Franks maintained control of the eastern region but had to cope with raids by the Bretons, who had established heavily populated settlements in the western part of the peninsula. To the southwest the Gascons, a highland people from the Pyrenees, had been driven northward by the Visigoths in 578 and settled

Ocean Current

2005-01-31T16:24:00.000-08:00

The direction and form of oceanic currents is governed by a number of natural forces, including principally horizontal pressure gradient forces; forces generated by variable density of seawater, which is

Enciclopedia Italiana Di Scienze, Lettere Ed Arti

2005-01-29T09:43:00.000-08:00

The Enciclopedia italiana contains many excellent lengthy articles, usually

Enugu

2005-01-28T07:57:00.000-08:00

State, south-central Nigeria. It was created in 1991 from the eastern two-thirds of Anambra state. Enugu is bounded by the states of Kogi and Benue to the north, Cross River to the east, Abia to the south, and Anambra to the west. It includes most of the Udi-Nsukka Plateau, which rises to more than 1,000 feet (300 m). Enugu state is covered by open grassland, with occasional woodlands and clusters

Abu Dhabi

2005-01-27T21:23:00.000-08:00

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

Paulinus Of Nola, Saint

2005-01-27T19:25:00.000-08:00

Paulinus became successively a Roman senator, consul, and governor of Campania, a region of southern Italy. Returning to Aquitaine he married and in 389 retired with his wife to Spain. The death of their only child, in 392, influenced

Ichikawa Family

2005-01-26T07:33:00.000-08:00

Kabuki actors flourishing in Edo (modern Tokyo) from the 17th century to the present. The most famous names are Danjuro, Ebizo, Danzo, and Ebijuro, and, according to kabuki convention, these names were assumed by a natural or adopted son of the Ichikawa family when his skill entitled him to inherit the mantle of a famous ancestor. Thus, there have been 12 Danjuros (the highest honorific

Bhanavara

2005-01-25T18:57:00.000-08:00

At first, different

Peter V

2005-01-25T06:16:00.000-08:00

He wished to convert the

Terefah

2005-01-24T14:56:00.000-08:00

Also spelled terefa, tref , or trefa (from Hebrew taraf, “to tear”) , plural terefoth, terefot , or trefot any food, food product, or utensil that, according to the Jewish dietary laws (kashruth, q.v.), is not ritually clean or prepared according to law and is thus prohibited as unfit for Jewish use. Terefah is thus the antithesis of kosher (“fit”). The broad connotation of terefah derives from a more specific prohibition against eating meat that has been “torn” by a wild animal (e.g., Exodus

Andesite

2005-01-24T11:53:00.000-08:00

Any member of a large family of rocks that occur in most of the world's volcanic areas. Andesites occur mainly as surface deposits and, to a lesser extent, as dikes and small plugs. Many of the deposits are not normal lava flows but rather flow breccias, mudflows, tuffs, and other fragmental rocks; the peperino near Rome and the trass of the Eifel district in Germany are examples.

Trade Fair

2005-01-23T11:46:00.000-08:00

Temporary market organized to promote trade, where buyers and sellers gather to transact business. Trade fairs are organized at regular intervals, generally at the same location and period of the year, and usually last for several weeks. Such fairs assumed an increasingly important role in international trade during the 20th century. This was particularly evident

Babcock, Horace Welcome

2005-01-23T08:45:00.000-08:00

American astronomer (b. Sept. 13, 1912, Pasadena, Calif.—d. Aug. 29, 2003, Santa Barbara, Calif.), led the effort to create, in 1969, Chile's Las Campanas Observatory, the first observatory to be built far from sources of light pollution. In the 1950s Babcock devised the system of adaptive optics that enabled telescopes to compensate for the distorting effect of Earth's atmosphere on light from distant

Tebaldi, Renata

2005-01-22T23:51:00.000-08:00

Tebaldi received her early musical training from her mother, a singer, and studied at the Parma Conservatory. At age 18 she sang for Carmen Melis, of the Arrigo Boito Conservatory in Pesaro, who accepted her as a student. She made her debut in Rovigo in 1944 as Elena

Cinna, Gaius Helvius

2005-01-22T08:35:00.000-08:00

Roman poet who wrote a mythological epic poem Smyrna. He was a friend of the poet Catullus. The early Christian-era historians Suetonius, Valerius Maximus, Appian, and Dio Cassius all state that at Caesar's funeral (44 BC) a certain Helvius Cinna was killed by mistake for Cornelius Cinna, the conspirator. The last three writers identify him as a tribune of the people,

Orbit

2005-01-21T19:14:00.000-08:00

The orbit of a planet is, if unaffected

Muhammadi

2005-01-21T08:21:00.000-08:00

A native of western Iran, he was a son of the painter Sultan Muhammad, who was one of his teachers. A master of line, Muhammadi (so called after his great father) began to paint while still young and while Tabriz was still the capital. The surviving examples of his work were

Osborne, Dorothy, Lady Temple

2005-01-20T13:27:00.000-08:00

English gentlewoman best known for the letters she wrote to her future husband, William Temple, before their marriage. The letters are simply written in an easy, conversational style and present an interesting picture of the life of a young English gentlewoman in the Commonwealth period

SecondSand

Submarine Slump

Plunkett, Sir Horace Curzon

Antarctic Circumpolar Current

Bene Beraq

Leakey, Mary Douglas

Cookson, Catherine (dame Catherine Ann Mcmullen Cookson)

Aramaic Language

Rada'

Asch, Sholem

Wang Mang

Pembroke, William Herbert, 1st Earl Of, Baron Herbert Of Cardiff

Antibody

Reformed And Presbyterian Church

Armour

Rydberg, Viktor

China, Temperature

Gondi Family

Sankt Gallen

Burdett-coutts, Angela Georgina Burdett-coutts, Baroness

Cardiovascular System, Conducting system of the heart

Number System

Dublin, Climate

Pendleton Civil Service Act

Nara

Gadsden, James

Spontaneous Fission

Earth

Ram Singh

Augustine Of Canterbury, Saint

Coipasa, Salar De

Tiglath-pileser Iii

Arrau

Musa

Jordan, Relief and drainage

Hawke, Robert

Jackstones

Painting, Western, The 17th century

Aerospace Industry

Short Story, The impressionist story

Salaj

Vienna Circle

Vanderbilt, William Henry

Molecular Beam

Semiconductor Device, The p-n junction

Pyrolite

Semiconductor Device

Jones, Howard; And Jones, T.a.d.

Río Cuarto

Muroran

Hui-kuan

Leonowens, Anna Harriette

Cambrai, Battle Of

Tarakan Island

Silbermann, Gottfried

Lorenzetti, Ambrogio

Sanddab

Acaraí Mountains

Trece Martires

Earth, Results of structural geologic studies

Pluriarc

Hormone, Neurohypophysis and the polypeptide hormones of the hypothalamus

Innocent I, Saint

Muir, Edwin

Syrtos

Facsimile

Chagres River

Fusulinid

Pacific Islands, Aboriginal groupings

Cypress Hills

New England

Wade-davis Bill

Franceschini, Baldassare

Wadgaon, Convention Of

Franceschini, Baldassare

Permafrost, Pingos

Southeast Asia, History Of, Reappearance of regional interests

Ta'liq Script

Qasim, 'abd Al-karim

Valais

Short Story, The impressionist story