AbleRoot

Cumaná

2005-04-05T03:25:00.000-07:00

City, capital of Sucre estado (“state”), northeastern Venezuela. On the Manzanares River, 1 mile (1.6 km) inland from its port, Puerto Sucre, on the Caribbean Sea at the mouth of the river, Cumaná has an elevation of 52 feet (16 m) and an average temperature of 83° F (28° C). Founded as Nueva Córdoba in 1523, Cumaná claims to be the oldest European settlement on the South American mainland. Despite attacks

Tirmidhi, At-

2005-04-02T08:34:00.000-08:00

The life of at-Tirmidhi is poorly documented. He journeyed to Khorasan, to Iraq, and to the Hejaz in search of material for his collection and studied with such renowned scholars of Had

Intendant

2005-03-31T03:23:00.000-08:00

The origin of the office of intendant remains obscure, and no document has been

Fisher, Saint John

2005-03-30T09:50:00.000-08:00

Ordained priest in 1491, he won the patronage of Lady Margaret Beaufort,

Fisher, Saint John

2005-03-27T09:22:00.000-08:00

Formerly (1969–73) National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws American organization, founded in 1969 to centralize state abortion-rights efforts and continuing its mission thereafter to protect and promote reproductive freedom. The organization consists of three related entities: NARAL Inc., a nonprofit organization that focuses on defending abortion rights and on making abortions less necessary; NARAL-PAC, a registered

Corbel Table

2005-03-26T23:58:00.000-08:00

In architecture, a continuous row of corbels (a block of stone projecting from a wall and supporting some heavy feature), usually occurring just below the eaves of a roof in order to fill in beneath a high-pitched roof and to give extra support. It was a popular architectural feature in early medieval churches, particularly in Romanesque buildings, in which the corbels

Adalbert

2005-03-24T13:05:00.000-08:00

The youngest son of Frederick, Count of Goseck (on the Saale River), Adalbert attended the cathedral school at Halberstadt, becoming subsequently subdeacon and, in 1032, canon. In May 1043 he was appointed archbishop

Talbot, Mary Anne

2005-03-21T22:42:00.000-08:00

Talbot's mother died at her birth, and she believed herself to be the illegitimate child of William Talbot, 1st Earl Talbot. She was seduced in 1792 by Captain Essex Bowen and accompanied him to Santo Domingo in the Caribbean, disguised

Aerospace Industry, Mergers and divestitures

2005-03-20T11:17:00.000-08:00

With a decline in defense funding and a narrowing of commercial markets in the decades following World War II, the number of business opportunities shrank, and competition for each project became more intense. In response, aerospace companies sought mergers as a way to integrate strengths, to combine talent and other resources, and to reduce costs by eliminating

Vaginitis

2005-03-18T19:44:00.000-08:00

Inflammation of the vagina, usually owing to infection. The chief symptom is leukorrhea, i.e., the abnormal flow of a whitish or yellowish discharge from the vagina. The treatment of vaginitis depends on the cause of the inflammation. Several different microorganisms can produce vaginitis in women of reproductive age; atrophic vaginitis, caused by reduced estrogen

Bridge

2005-03-17T23:49:00.000-08:00

Either of two card games, auction bridge and contract bridge, that are derived from whist and retain its essential features. These features are the following: four players participate, two against two in partnership. They play with a 52-card pack, all of whose cards are dealt face downward one at a time, clockwise. When play begins, the object is to win tricks, consisting of

Graves, Robert James

2005-03-16T19:44:00.000-08:00

Graves received his degree from the University of Dublin in 1818. After studying in London and on the European continent, he returned

Gad Al-haq Ali Gad Al-haq

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

Egyptian religious leader who, as grand sheikh of al-Azhar, the Muslim world's highest religious body, issued rulings based on strict Islamic orthodoxy, including support for female circumcision and harsh punishment for those breaking the fast during Ramadan (b. April 5, 1917--d. March 15, 1996).

M

2005-03-15T06:09:00.000-08:00

Abbreviation of Messier catalog (q.v.), an astronomical listing.

Palaeospondylus

2005-03-13T20:03:00.000-08:00

Genus of enigmatic fossil vertebrates that were very fishlike in appearance but of uncertain relationships. Palaeospondylus, from the Middle Devonian epoch (387 to 374 million years ago), has been found in the Old Red Sandstone rocks in the region of Achannaras, Scot. Hundreds of specimens are known, yet the position of this genus in relation to other fishlike vertebrates

Dammam, Al-

2005-03-13T16:28:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Damman city, eastern Saudi Arabia. It lies on the Persian Gulf northwest of Bahrain Island and forms a larger metropolitan and industrial complex with Al-Khubar, Al-Qatif, and Al-Zahran. The discovery of immense oil reserves in the locality in 1938 led to the radical transformation of the once small coastal settlement into a boomtown that is now a major seaport, a petroleum and natural

Palaeospondylus

2005-03-12T09:11:00.000-08:00

In biology, a highly convoluted membrane within the cytoplasm of a eukaryotic cell that is important in the biosynthesis of proteins and lipids. The ER usually constitutes more than half of the membrane of the cell and is continuous with the outer membrane of the nuclear envelope. Endoplasmic reticulum has two distinct regions: the rough ER (RER; so-called because

Moray

2005-03-11T08:49:00.000-08:00

Any of 80 or more species of eels of the family Muraenidae. Moray eels occur in all tropical and subtropical seas, where they live in shallow water among reefs and rocks and hide in crevices. They differ from other eels in having small rounded gill openings and in generally lacking pectoral fins. Their skin is thick, smooth, and scaleless, while the mouth is wide and the jaws

Palaeospondylus

2005-03-10T07:08:00.000-08:00

A language variety that has also been identified at different times in dialectology and literary studies as Black English, black dialect, and Negro (nonstandard) English. Since the late 1980s, the term has been used ambiguously, sometimes with reference to only Ebonics, or, as it is known to linguists, African American Vernacular English (AAVE; the English dialect spoken

Peru, Pre-Hispanic patterns

2005-03-09T18:19:00.000-08:00

Diverse groups of indigenous Indians occupied Peru during the pre-Hispanic period. When the first migrants arrived in the Andean area, probably more than 13,000 years ago, they were at a hunting and gathering stage of cultural development. Over a long period of time, however, varied and more sophisticated ways of life were developed. Along the coast, groups became specialized

Libya, Soils

2005-03-07T22:22:00.000-08:00

The gray-brown soils of the Al-Jifarah Plain and the Nafusah Plateau are fertile, although they have become saline from overirrigation. In the east, the soils of the Barce plain—which stretches between the Akhdar Mountains and the sea—are light and fertile. Rich alluvial soils are found in the coastal deltas and valleys of large wadis. The rest of the country is covered

Sosnowiec

2005-03-06T19:32:00.000-08:00

A castle was built in Sosnowiec in

Paramaribo

2005-03-05T02:51:00.000-08:00

Largest town, capital, and chief port of Suriname (formerly Dutch, or Netherlands, Guiana). It lies 9 miles (15 km) from the Atlantic Ocean on the Suriname River. It originated as an Indian village that became a French settlement (c. 1640) and was later the site of an English colony planted in 1651 by Lord Willoughby of Parham. In 1667 Paramaribo was one of the settlements ceded to the Dutch under

Furniture, Greece

2005-03-04T03:03:00.000-08:00

Principal furniture forms were couches, chairs (with and without arms), stools, tables, chests, and boxes. From extant examples, the depiction of furniture on vases and in relief carvings, and literary descriptions, much more is known about Greek furniture than about Egyptian. At Knossos, a built-in throne of stucco, much restored, is often considered to represent pre-Hellenic

Dzungar

2005-03-04T01:33:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Jungar, Jüüngar, Dzhungar, or Dsongar, people of Central Asia, so called because they formed the left wing (dson, “left”; gar, “hand”) of the Mongol army. A western Mongol people whose home was the Ili River valley and Chinese Turkistan, they adopted Buddhism in the 17th century. They are for all practical purposes identical with the Oyrat (q.v.).

Sangha

2005-03-02T23:56:00.000-08:00

The sangha originated in the group of disciples who renounced the worldly life to wander with the Buddha and listen to his teachings. After the Buddha's

Ovum

2005-03-02T09:00:00.000-08:00

The outer surface of each ovary is covered by a layer of cells (germinal epithelium); these surround the immature egg cells, which are present in the ovaries from the time of

Ferreira, António

2005-02-28T20:58:00.000-08:00

Ferreira was a disciple of the poet Francisco de Sá de Miranda, who had introduced Renaissance styles of poetry into Portugal, and Ferreira did more

Gymel

2005-02-28T08:57:00.000-08:00

(from Latin cantus gemellus, “twin song”), medieval musical style of two-part polyphonic composition, possibly of popular origin, in which the voices move mainly in consecutive intervals of a third or a sixth. Crossing of parts is a common characteristic. Although gymel compositions have been preserved in manuscripts dating from the beginning of the 13th century, the

Canada West

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

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

Mozambique Current

2005-02-26T16:08:00.000-08:00

Relatively warm surface current of the western Indian Ocean. The southeast trade winds move the Indian South Equatorial Current toward the east coast of Africa, off which, because of the Earth's rotation, it is directed south to follow the outline of the mainland and its continental shelf. While some of this flow passes east of the island of Madagascar, the rest funnels

Los Alamos

2005-02-25T08:15:00.000-08:00

In 1942 Los Alamos was chosen by the U.S. government (because of its comparative isolation

Rhynie Plants

2005-02-24T18:53:00.000-08:00

Several genera of fossil plants uncovered near Rhynie, Aberdeen, Scot., of significance in tracing the evolution of vascular plants (plants with special cells that conduct water and food). The rocks containing these fossils are of Devonian age (the Devonian Period lasted from 408 to 360 million years ago) and are part of a geological formation called the Old Red

Switzerland, Switzerland from 1848 to the present

2005-02-22T23:11:00.000-08:00

The turning point, then, in modern Swiss history was 1848. Before that date internal conflict was a fact of Swiss political life; since then there has been an absence of major internal crises along ethnic and religious lines, and the country has prospered. With political stability, the Swiss could spend a greater portion of their time and efforts developing industry, agriculture,

Durkheim, émile

2005-02-22T21:16:00.000-08:00

French social scientist who developed a vigorous methodology combining empirical research with sociological theory. He is widely regarded as the founder of the French school of sociology.

Hawthorne Research

2005-02-20T21:11:00.000-08:00

Also called Hawthorne effect socioeconomic experiments conducted by Elton Mayo in 1927 among employees of the Hawthorne Works factory of the Western Electric Company in Cicero, Illinois. For almost a year, a group of female workers were subjected to measured changes in their hours, wages, rest periods, lighting conditions, organization, and degree of supervision and consultation in order to determine

Diego, Gerardo

2005-02-19T15:32:00.000-08:00

Diego received a doctorate from the University of Madrid in 1920. During the 1920s he wrote experimental poetry and joined the avant-garde Ultraísmo and Creacionismo movements. He taught for a time in the ancient town of Soria in north-central Spain; the location inspired the

West Bengal Duars

2005-02-18T14:52:00.000-08:00

The West Bengal Duars were ceded to the British by Bhutan in 1863. They constitute a lowland forest belt along the junction between the Himalayan

Melchizedek

2005-02-18T07:34:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Melchisedech, in the Old Testament, a figure of importance in biblical tradition because he was both king and priest, was connected with Jerusalem, and was revered by Abraham, who paid a tithe to him. He appears as a person only in an interpolated vignette (Gen. 14:18–20) of the story of Abraham rescuing his kidnapped nephew, Lot, by defeating a coalition of Mesopotamian kings under

Laboulbeniomycetes

2005-02-17T15:31:00.000-08:00

Group of fungi (division Mycota) in the class Ascomycetes. It includes more than 1,500 species, which live off the chitin (exoskeleton) of arachnids (e.g., spiders) and insects. The minute species are highly specialized, some attacking only specific areas on one sex of the host species. Asexual reproduction does not occur.

Race

2005-02-16T05:41:00.000-08:00

The idea that the human species is divided into distinct groups on the basis of inherited physical and behavioral differences. Genetic studies in the late 20th century denied the existence of biogenetically distinct races, and scholars now argue that “races” are cultural interventions reflecting specific attitudes and beliefs that were imposed on different

Poe, Edgar Allan, Short stories. Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque

2005-02-14T20:38:00.000-08:00

(1840); The Prose Romances of Edgar A. Poe (1843), includes “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” and “The Man That Was Used Up”; Tales (1845), includes “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Mystery of Marie Roget,” “The Gold Bug,” “The Black Cat,” and “The Purloined Letter”; “The Masque of the Red Death” (1842); “The Pit and the Pendulum” (1843); “The Tell-Tale Heart” (1843); “The Premature Burial” (1844); “The Cask of Amontillado” (1846).

Mountain, Crustal shortening

2005-02-13T09:00:00.000-08:00

In most mountain belts, terrains have been elevated as a result of crustal shortening by the thrusting of one block or slice of crust over another and/or by the folding of layers of rock. The topography of mountain ranges and mountain belts depends in part on the amount of displacement on such faults, on the angles at which faults dip, on the degree to which crustal shortening

Obstfelder, Sigbjørn

2005-02-13T07:55:00.000-08:00

Most of Obstfelder's works appeared in the 1890s: his first volume of poetry, Digte (1893; Poems); a play, De røde draaber (1897; “The Red Drops”); several novellas; and the posthumously published

Price-mars, Jean

2005-02-12T06:04:00.000-08:00

Among his ethnological writings is Ainsi parla l'oncle (1928; new ed., 1954; “Thus Spoke the Uncle”), a collection of essays

Suceava

2005-02-10T06:14:00.000-08:00

Judet (county), northeastern Romania, and bounded on the north by Ukraine. The Eastern Carpathian Mountains and the sub-Carpathians occupy the western two-thirds of the county, and the Suceava Plateau lies in the east. The Siret River flows southeastward, marking the county's eastern border, and the Suceava and Bistrita rivers also drain southeastward. Suceava (q.v.) city

Roper River

2005-02-09T21:05:00.000-08:00

River in Northern Territory, Australia, formed by the confluence of Waterhouse River and Beswick Creek east of Mataranka and flowing east for 250 miles (400 km) to Limmen Bight on the Gulf of Carpentaria. It marks the southern limit of the rugged region known as Arnhem Land. The flow of the river system, which drains an area of 23,500 square miles (60,860 square km), increases greatly during

Carlowitz, Treaty Of

2005-02-08T21:24:00.000-08:00

In the late summer of 1697, the Ottoman

Aechmea

2005-02-07T00:27:00.000-08:00

Genus of epiphytes (plants that are supported by other plants and have aerial roots exposed to the humid atmosphere) of the pineapple family (Bromeliaceae), with more than 140 species distributed in South America. Spiny-edged leaves, usually about 30 to 60 cm (about 12 to 24 inches) long, grow in a rosette from the root. A spike of red and yellow flowers, often with blue

Morocco, The pre-World War II period

2005-02-06T06:06:00.000-08:00

Abd al-Hafid

Jammu And Kashmir, The foothills

2005-02-05T21:26:00.000-08:00

The foothills of the Himalayas, rising from about 2,000 to 7,000 feet (600 to 2,100 metres), form outer and inner zones. The outer zone consists of sandstones, clays, silts, and conglomerates, influenced by Himalayan folding movements and eroded to form long ridges and valleys (duns). The inner zone consists of more massive sedimentary rock, including red sandstones of Miocene age (about 5.3 to

Keyboard Instrument, Germany

2005-02-04T17:34:00.000-08:00

From 1500 to 1800 Germany led the world in organ building and the composition of organ music. The organ builders reached the peak of their achievement about 1700 in the work of Arp Schnitger. Schnitger made organs with four manuals, pedals, and as many as 60 speaking stops, but he made some instruments with fewer than 30 speaking stops that are capable of dealing with the whole pre-Romantic

Baden

2005-02-03T16:59:00.000-08:00

Former state on the east bank of the Rhine River in the southwestern corner of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg Land (state) of Germany. The former Baden state comprised the eastern half of the Rhine River valley together with the adjoining mountains, especially the Schwarzwald, which fills the great angle made by the river between Schaffhausen

Epistemology, René Descartes

2005-02-02T00:46:00.000-08:00

Both the rise of modern science and the rediscovery of Skepticism were important influences on René Descartes (1596–1650). While he believed that humans were capable of knowledge and certainty and that modern science was developing the superstructure of knowledge, he thought that Skepticism presented a legitimate challenge that needed an answer, one that only he could

Gastein, Convention Of

2005-02-01T03:52:00.000-08:00

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

Gabon, History Of

2005-01-30T15:11:00.000-08:00

History of the area from the explorations of Europeans, beginning in the 15th century, to the present.

Atatürk, Kemal

2005-01-29T04:39:00.000-08:00

Atatürk was born in 1881 in Salonika, then a thriving port of the Ottoman Empire, and was given the name Mustafa. His father, Ali Riza, had been a lieutenant in a local militia unit during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, indicating that his origins were within the Ottoman ruling class, if only marginally. Mustafa's mother, Zübeyde Hanim, came from a farming community west of

Strabane

2005-01-29T01:47:00.000-08:00

Irish An Srath Bán town, seat, and district (established 1973), formerly in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. The town is located on the River Mourne at its confluence with the Finn to form the River Foyle near the Irish Republic border. It is a market and employment centre for both Strabane district and County Donegal, Irish Republic, to the west. Long a flax-spinning centre, the town of Sion Mills,

Swamp Deer

2005-01-28T08:26:00.000-08:00

Common name for the barasingha (q.v.) of India and for the marsh deer (Blastocerus dichotomus), a large reddish brown deer of South American marshes.

Marsh Frog

2005-01-27T01:03:00.000-08:00

(Rana ridibunda), large aquatic frog (family Ranidae), similar in appearance and habits to the closely related pool frog (R. lessonae) and the edible frog (R. esculenta). In Europe they are all called green frogs. The marsh frog inhabits marshes, river banks, and lake edges in Europe and western Asia. About 9 to 13 cm (3.5 to 5 inches) long, it is brown or green, with or without irregular black

China, The Sui dynasty

2005-01-25T13:50:00.000-08:00

The Sui dynasty (581–618), which reunified China after nearly four centuries of political fragmentation during which the north and south had developed in different ways, played a part far more important than its short span would suggest. In the same way that the Ch'in rulers of the 3rd century BC had unified China after the Chan-kuo (Warring States) period, so the Sui brought China

Kadare, Ismail

2005-01-24T11:55:00.000-08:00

Albanian poet and novelist Ismail Kadare, a resident of Paris since 1990, was hard at work in 1997 revising his collected works, which were being published--some for the first time--in both French and Albanian. His 1978 historical novel Ura me tri harqe was translated into English as The Three-Arched Bridge (1991) and received critical acclaim. Kadare's self-imposed exile brought him a freedom

Tachism

2005-01-24T07:55:00.000-08:00

French Tachisme (from tache, “spot”), style of painting practiced in Paris after World War II and through the 1950s that, like its American equivalent, Action painting, featured the intuitive, spontaneous gesture of the artist's brushstroke. Developed by the young painters Hans Hartung, Gérard Schneider, Pierre Soulages, Frans Wols, Chao Wu-chi (Zao Wu-ki), and Georges Mathieu, Tachism was part

Antigonus Ii Gonatas

2005-01-22T15:54:00.000-08:00

Antigonus II was the son of Demetrius I Poliorcetes and grandson of Antigonus I. While Demetrius was busy fighting in Macedonia and Asia Minor, Antigonus, as his regent, was engaged in maintaining Macedonian hegemony in Greece, which had been achieved in 287 BC. Demetrius was

Meletios Pegas

2005-01-22T13:18:00.000-08:00

A monastic superior at Candia, Meletios studied at Padua and Venice, from which he was sent into exile. Soon after 1575 he entered

Ivano-frankivsk

2005-01-21T10:55:00.000-08:00

Russian Ivano-frankovsk , formerly (until 1962) StanisLawów , or Stanislav city and administrative centre of Ivano-Frankivsk oblast (province), western Ukraine. It lies along the Bystritsa River just above its confluence with the Dniester River. Founded in 1661 as the Polish town of Stanislawów, it occupied an important position on the northern approach to the Yablonitsky Pass over the Carpathians. From 1772 to 1919 it was held by Austria; in 1945 it was ceded

Nephelinite

2005-01-19T18:03:00.000-08:00

Silica-poor (basic) lava that contains nepheline and pyroxene and is usually completely crystallized. Despite its wide geographic distribution and occasional extensive local development, it is a very rare rock. Known only from Tertiary strata (about 2,500,000 to 65,000,000 years in age), nephelinites are abundant in the Canary Islands, the Azores, the Cape Verde Islands, and Isla Fernando

Paraboloid

2005-01-19T04:29:00.000-08:00

An open surface generated by rotating a parabola (q.v.) about its axis. If the axis of the surface is the z axis and the vertex is at the origin, the intersections of the surface with planes parallel to the xz and yz planes are parabolas (see Figure, top). The intersections of the surface with planes parallel to and above the xy plane are circles. The general equation for this

Tsuzumi

2005-01-17T22:47:00.000-08:00

Any of various Japanese two-headed drums with hourglass-shaped (waisted) bodies. Ancient Japanese court orchestra music had three types of these drums, of which only the san no tsuzumi form survives in komagaku style (courtly music of Japanese, Korean, and other non-Chinese, non-Indian ancestry). Better-known tsuzumi are found in the music of No and Kabuki theatres. The

Insurance, Liability law

2005-01-16T18:33:00.000-08:00

Legal liability exists when an individual commits a legal injury that wrongly encroaches on another person's rights. Such injuries include slander, assault, and negligent

Macdiarmid, Hugh

2005-01-15T11:34:00.000-08:00

The son of a postman, MacDiarmid was educated at Langholm Academy and the University of Edinburgh. After serving in World War I he became a journalist in Montrose, Angus, where he edited three issues of the first

Selby

2005-01-14T11:34:00.000-08:00

The district includes pre-Norman settlements along the right bank of the River Ouse, the main waterway, and the Norman abbey at Selby town. Farther west an old land route, following a limestone

Fibrosarcoma

2005-01-13T09:02:00.000-08:00

An uncommon malignant tumour of fibrous tissue found in young adults and most often occurring in the thighbone, upper arm bone, or jaw. The mass is felt before pain occurs. This tumour invades surrounding tissues, which makes complete surgical excision difficult. It often recurs and may metastasize.

Tooth Squeeze

2005-01-12T04:32:00.000-08:00

Also called Aerodontalgia, pain caused by the expansion or contraction of air beneath the filling of a tooth when pressure within the mouth cavity is increased or decreased. Aircraft pilots and underwater divers are common victims of tooth squeeze, as the pressures that they experience vary widely from the normal atmospheric pressures. As one goes deeper under water, pressure increases.

Guadeloupe

2005-01-11T05:54:00.000-08:00

Officially Department of Guadeloupe, French Département de la Guadeloupe, overseas département of France, a group of islands in the Lesser Antilles chain in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The nearest neighbours of the principal islands are the British dependency of Montserrat to the northwest and the republic of Dominica to the south. The island of Martinique, also a French overseas département, lies about 74 miles to the south. The main territory

Fibrosarcoma

2005-01-11T04:15:00.000-08:00

Any member of the mammalian order made up of the relatively well-known rabbits and hares (family Leporidae) and also the less frequently encountered pikas (family Ochotonidae). Rabbits and hares characteristically have long ears, a short tail, and strong hind limbs that provide a bounding locomotion. In contrast, the smaller pikas have shorter, rounded ears, no external

Oeuvre, Théâtre De L'

2005-01-10T17:49:00.000-08:00

French Symbolist theatre founded in Paris in 1893 by Aurélien Lugné-Poë and directed by him until 1929. An actor and stage manager with André Antoine's Théâtre Libre, Lugné-Poë was introduced to Symbolist theatre at Paul Fort's Théâtre d'Art in the 1890s. When Fort retired from the theatre, Lugné-Poë assumed leadership in Symbolist production by opening what would become the Thé

Biblical Literature, Early stages

2005-01-08T10:38:00.000-08:00

The earliest Christian exegesis of the Old Testament is found in the New Testament, not in the written texts only but in the oral tradition lying behind them. Some lines of exegesis are present in so many separate strands of primitive Christian teaching that they are most reasonably assigned to Jesus, who began his Galilaean ministry with the announcement that

East Falkland

2005-01-07T14:49:00.000-08:00

One of the two major islands of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is 90 miles (140 km) long and 55 miles (88 km) wide and rises to Mount Usborne (2,312 feet [705 m]). The total area is 2,550 square miles (6,605 square km), excluding adjacent small islands. The town of Stanley is on the northeast shore. Pop. (1986) 1,620.

Amado, Jorge

2005-01-06T03:13:00.000-08:00

Amado grew up on a cacao plantation, Auricídia, and was educated at the Jesuit college in Salvador and studied law at Federal University in Rio de Janeiro. He published his first novel at age 19. Three of his early works deal with the

Adams, John

2005-01-05T17:52:00.000-08:00

By then Adams's legal career was on the rise, and he had become a visible member of the resistance movement that questioned Parliament's right to tax the American colonies. In 1765 Adams published d, which justified opposition to the recently enacted Stamp Act—an effort to raise revenue by requiring all publications and legal documents to bear a stamp—by arguing that Parliament's intrusions into colonial affairs exposed the inherently coercive and corrupt character of English politics. Intensely combative, full of private doubts about his own capacities but never about his cause, Adams became a leading figure in the opposition to the Townshend Acts (1767), which imposed duties on imported commodities (i.e., glass, lead, paper, paint, and tea). Despite his hostility toward the British government, in 1770 Adams agreed to defend the British soldiers who had fired on a Boston crowd in what became known as the Boston Massacre. His insistence on upholding the legal rights of the soldiers, who in fact had been provoked, made him temporarily unpopular but also marked him as one of the most principled radicals in the burgeoning movement for American independence. He had a penchant for doing the right thing, most especially when it made him unpopular.

Indian Sculpture

2005-01-05T05:36:00.000-08:00

Sculpture was the favoured medium of artistic expression on the Indian subcontinent. Indian buildings were profusely adorned with it and indeed are often inseparable from it. The subject matter of Indian sculpture was almost invariably abstracted human forms that

Corso, Gregory

2005-01-03T00:03:00.000-08:00

Corso lived in an orphanage and with foster parents until he was 11, when his remarried father took him to live with him. A repeated runaway, he was placed in juvenile institutions. At 17 he was sentenced to three years in Clinton Prison in Dannemora, New

Grünewald, Matthias

2005-01-02T01:16:00.000-08:00

Original name Mathis Gothardt one of the greatest German painters of his age, whose works on religious themes achieve a visionary expressiveness through intense colour and agitated line. The wings of the altarpiece of the Antonite monastery at Isenheim, in southern Alsace (dated 1515), are considered to be his

India, Associated ranges and hills

2005-01-01T09:11:00.000-08:00

In general, the various regional ranges and hills run parallel to the Himalayas' main axis. These are especially prominent in the northwest, where the Zaskar Mountains and the Ladakh and Karakoram ranges, all in Jammu and Kashmir, run to the northeast of the Great Himalayas. Also in Jammu and Kashmir is the Pir Panjal Range, which, extending along the southwest of the Great

Rambouillet, Catherine De Vivonne, Marquise De

2004-12-30T16:49:00.000-08:00

Mme de Rambouillet was of noble background and was married at the age of 12 to Charles d'Angennes, later marquis de Rambouillet. Revolted by the coarseness of the French court under Henry IV and distressed by the amount

Switzerland, Trade and finance

2004-12-30T16:40:00.000-08:00

Switzerland must export finished products in order to pay for the imports of raw materials, oil, foodstuffs, and manufactured goods. The Swiss have traditionally been among the forerunners in liberalizing and facilitating international trade. The geographic distribution of the country's trade shows dependence on western Europe and especially on the EC countries.

David, Sir T(annatt) W(illiam) Edgeworth

2004-12-28T11:48:00.000-08:00

David served as assistant geologist for the government survey of New South Wales from 1882 until 1891, when he became professor of geology at the University of Sydney. A leader in the investigation of evidence on major glaciations of Australia

Gulf Of Tonkin Resolution

2004-12-27T20:26:00.000-08:00

Also called Tonkin Gulf Resolution, resolution put before the U.S. Congress by President Lyndon Johnson on Aug. 5, 1964, assertedly in reaction to two allegedly unprovoked attacks by North Vietnamese torpedo boats on the destroyers Maddox and C. Turner Joy of the U.S. Seventh Fleet in the Gulf of Tonkin on August 2 and August 4, respectively. Its stated purpose was to approve and support the determination of the president,

Nabuco De Araújo, Joaquim Aurelio Barreto

2004-12-27T15:09:00.000-08:00

Nabuco was a member of an old aristocratic family in northeastern Brazil. Both in the national Chamber of Deputies (from 1878) and in the Brazilian Anti-Slavery Society, which he founded, he worked tirelessly for the emancipation of Brazil's

Constitutional Convention

2004-12-25T19:10:00.000-08:00

(1787), in U.S. history, convention that drew up the Constitution of the United States. Stimulated by severe economic troubles, which produced radical political movements such as Shays's Rebellion, and urged on by a demand for a stronger central government, the convention met in the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia (May 25–Sept. 17, 1787), ostensibly to amend the Articles of Confederation.

Mercadante, Saverio

2004-12-25T17:37:00.000-08:00

Mercadante was born out of wedlock. He was taken

Earth, Paleoclimatological data

2004-12-23T18:06:00.000-08:00

Alfred Wegener was a meteorologist who was particularly interested in the study of ancient climates (paleoclimatology). He noticed that sedimentary rocks indicative of having been deposited in warm climates are now found in cold climates and vice versa. He felt that these observations were best explained if the continents had moved relative to each other and

Aniline

2004-12-23T17:13:00.000-08:00

Aniline is prepared commercially by the catalytic

Syriac Language

2004-12-20T17:49:00.000-08:00

Semitic language belonging to the Northern Central, or Northwestern, group; it was an important Christian literary and liturgical language from the 3rd through the 7th century AD. Syriac was based on the East Aramaic dialect of Edessa, Osroëne (present-day Sanliurfa, in southeastern Turkey), which became one of the chief centres of Christianity in the Middle East at the end

Breckland

2004-12-19T10:09:00.000-08:00

The name Breckland was first applied in 1894 by the Norfolk naturalist W.G.

Sea Cave

2004-12-19T03:25:00.000-08:00

Cave formed in a cliff by wave action of an ocean or lake. Sea caves occur on almost every cliffed headland or coast where the waves break directly on a rock cliff and are formed by mechanical erosion rather than the chemical solution process that is responsible for the majority of inland caves. Zones of weakness in the cliff give way under the force of the waves and

Epistle

2004-12-17T06:56:00.000-08:00

In literature there are two basic traditions of verse epistles, one derived from Horace's Epistles and the other from Ovid's Epistulae heroidum (better known as Heroides). The tradition based on Horace addresses moral and philosophical themes and has been the most popular

Coello, Claudio

2004-12-15T10:43:00.000-08:00

The son of a famous Portuguese sculptor, Faustino Coello, he studied under Francisco

Sporades

2004-12-14T19:08:00.000-08:00

Group of Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, lying northeast of Euboea (Évvoia) island, including Skíathos, Skópelos, Skyros, and Alónnisos, as well as neighbouring islets. In antiquity these were known as the Thessalian, or Northern, Sporades, while the Thracian, or Eastern, Sporades included the now-Turkish island of Imroz (Greek Imvros), Samothrace, Thasos, Lemnos, and Áyios