ProbableCarriage

Estate Agent Covent Garden

2006-10-26T03:05:00.000-07:00

Robert Irving Burns specialise in London Commercial and Residential property services. They are an estate agent covent garden amongst other London areas such as Soho and Oxford Circus.

Qalam

2005-04-04T22:21:00.000-07:00

Ancient reed pen still used in Arabic calligraphy and formerly used for all writing. The qalam was cut from between two nodes of the stem of a reed chosen for its straight fibres. As thick as a finger and 8 or 10 inches (20 or 25 cm) long, the reed segment was soaked and sun-dried, and a nib, somewhat resembling that of a steel pen, was fashioned by slicing off the thicker end at an angle

Amman, Jost

2005-04-03T22:28:00.000-07:00

His engraving of the

Cancer

2005-03-31T21:58:00.000-08:00

Group of more than 100 distinct diseases characterized by the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the body. Cancer affects one in every three persons born in developed countries and is a major cause of sickness and death throughout the world. Though it has been known since antiquity, significant improvements in cancer treatment have been made since the middle

Hydrosphere, Distribution of precipitation

2005-03-30T18:27:00.000-08:00

Precipitation falling toward the Earth's surface may suffer several fates. It may be evaporated during its fall or after it reaches the ground surface. If the surface is covered with dense vegetation, much of the precipitation may be held on leaves and plant limbs and stems. This process is termed interception and may result in little water reaching the ground because

Niue

2005-03-28T02:00:00.000-08:00

Internally self-governing island state in free association with New Zealand. It is the westernmost of the Cook Islands but is administratively separate from them. Niue lies 1,340 miles (2,156 km) northeast of Auckland and 240 miles (385 km) east of Vava'u, Tonga, in the south-central Pacific. The capital is Alofi. Area 100 square miles (260 square km). Pop. (1994 est.) 2,200.

Hardy, Alexandre

2005-03-25T18:12:00.000-08:00

Hardy was a hired poet for troupes of actors both in the provinces and in Paris. His works were widely admired in court circles, where he wrote for royal companies. The actors who bought his plays rarely allowed him to publish them, and fewer

Croker, Thomas Crofton

2005-03-24T06:10:00.000-08:00

The son of an army major, Croker had little school education but did read widely while working in merchant trade. During rambles in southern Ireland from 1812 to 1816, Croker collected legends, folk songs, and keens (dirges for the

Alexander Ii

2005-03-21T14:29:00.000-08:00

Alexander came to the throne on the death of his father, William I (the Lion; reigned 1165–1214). When the English barons rebelled against King John (reigned 1199–1216) in 1215, Alexander sided

Shensi, Relief and drainage

2005-03-19T20:47:00.000-08:00

The mountainous southern region forms the drainage area of the upper Han River, which is a northern tributary of the Yangtze. The Han flows between two mountain complexes that structurally form part of a great, single

Gadamer, Hans-georg

2005-03-19T05:15:00.000-08:00

German philosopher (b. Feb. 11, 1900, Marburg, Ger.—d. March 14, 2002, Heidelberg, Ger.), was a principal figure in 20th-century philosophical hermeneutics. His conception of language as a historical phenomenon had great influence in postmodernist and poststructuralist thought. Gadamer studied philosophy in Breslau (now Wroclaw, Pol.), Munich, and Marburg, where he completed a doctorate (1922) on

Barcelona, Archaeological Museum Of

2005-03-17T01:02:00.000-08:00

In full Archaeological Museum Of Barcelona And Institute Of Prehistory And Archaeology, Spanish Museo Arqueológica De Barcelona E Instituto De Prehistoria Y Arqueología, institution in Barcelona, Spain, notable for its collection of prehistoric objects and for its collection of ancient Greek and Roman art and examples illustrating Iberian archaeology. Exhibits include a scale model of a part of the excavation at Ampurias (Emporiae) and displays of Greek vases, glass, and sculpture. There is a fine statue of Asclepius of the 4th century

Aethra

2005-03-16T19:07:00.000-08:00

Later she guarded Helen after she had been stolen from Sparta by Theseus; in retribution

Hygieia

2005-03-15T15:58:00.000-08:00

In Greek religion, goddess of health. The oldest traces of her cult are at Titane, west of Corinth, where she was worshipped together with Asclepius, the god of medicine. At first no special relationship existed between her and Asclepius, but gradually she came to be regarded as his daughter; later literature, however, makes her his wife. The cult of Hygieia spread concurrently

Henry I

2005-03-14T21:37:00.000-08:00

Byname Henry The Fat, Spanish Enrique El Gordo, French Henri Le Gros king of Navarre (1270–74) and count (as Henry III) of Champagne. Henry was the youngest son of Theobald I of Navarre by Margaret of Foix. He succeeded his eldest brother, Theobald II (Thibaut V), in both kingdom and countship in December 1270. By his marriage (1269) to Blanche, daughter of Robert I of Artois and niece of Louis IX of France, he had one daughter, Joan, whom, by the

Black, Conrad

2005-03-14T07:45:00.000-08:00

In 1994 financier Conrad Black, whose inherited wealth and acquisitive nature helped establish him as an international press baron, expanded his already vast empire by purchasing the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper. As head of one of Canada's largest conglomerates, he was a symbol of Canadian capitalism. Black began in 1967 as part-owner and operator of two small Quebec weeklies.

Petasos

2005-03-12T18:45:00.000-08:00

A hat used for traveling, the petasos was made of felt or straw and had a chin strap, so that when not in use it could be hung down the back. The winged hat of the god Hermes (or Mercury) was also called a petasos.

Antiparticle

2005-03-11T07:05:00.000-08:00

Subatomic particle having the same mass as one of the particles of ordinary matter but opposite electric charge and magnetic moment. Thus the positron (positive electron) is the antiparticle of the negative electron (negatron). The spinning antineutron with net charge zero, like the ordinary neutron, has its magnetic polarity opposite to that of a similarly spinning

Pen Drawing

2005-03-10T04:44:00.000-08:00

Artwork executed wholly or in part with pen and ink, usually on paper. Pen drawing is fundamentally a linear method of making images. In pure pen drawing in which the artist wishes to supplement his outlines with tonal suggestions of three-dimensional form, modeling must necessarily be effected by the close juxtaposition of a series of strokes forming areas of hatching

Xerxes I

2005-03-09T23:47:00.000-08:00

Xerxes was the son of Darius I and Atossa, daughter of Cyrus; he was the first son born to Darius after his accession to the throne. Xerxes was designated heir apparent by his father in preference to his elder brother Artabazanes. A bas-relief on the southern portico of a courtyard in the treasury of Persepolis, as well as the bas-reliefs on the east door of the tripylon

Bridgend

2005-03-09T20:58:00.000-08:00

Welsh Pen-y-Bont ar Ogwr county borough, historic county of Glamorgan (Morgannwg), southern Wales. Bridgend county borough extends from the mining valleys of Ogmore, Garw, and Llynfi in the north to the arable lowlands and an extensive coastline in the south. Discoveries of Bronze Age and Iron Age artifacts have been made near the village of Merthyr Mawr, and the remains of many Norman castles

Morse, Jedidiah

2005-03-08T23:21:00.000-08:00

While a young man teaching school in New Haven, Morse developed an interest

Faguet, émile

2005-03-07T04:29:00.000-08:00

Faguet was educated at Poitiers and at the École Normale in Paris. He served as drama critic (1888–1907) for the Journal des Débats, was appointed to a chair at the Sorbonne in 1890, and was elected to the French Academy in 1900. He contributed

Frederick Iii

2005-03-05T15:50:00.000-08:00

Succeeding his father, the elector Ernest, in 1486, Frederick allied himself with Berthold, archbishop of Henneberg, to promote imperial reforms that would increase the

Kamba

2005-03-05T04:57:00.000-08:00

Though primarily agriculturists, the Kamba keep considerable numbers of cattle, sheep, and goats. Their main staple crops are millet, sorghum, and corn (maize). Overcrowding and soil erosion in the Machakos district have driven many to work in Nairobi. The Kamba have long been known

Pacific Ocean, Surface currents

2005-03-04T09:31:00.000-08:00

Pacific trade winds drive surface waters toward the west to form the North and South Equatorial currents, the axes of which coincide, respectively, with the parallel of 15° N and the equator. Squeezed between the Equatorial currents is a well-defined countercurrent, the axis of which is always north of the equator and which extends from the Philippines to the shores

United States, Prelude to revolution

2005-03-01T02:59:00.000-08:00

The prolonged wars had also revealed the need to tighten the administration of the loosely run and widely scattered elements of the British Empire. If the course of the war had confirmed the necessity, the end of the war presented the opportunity. The acquisition of Canada required London officials to take responsibility for the unsettled western territories, now freed from the threat of French occupation. The British soon moved to take charge of the whole field of Indian relations. By royal proclamation (1763) a line was drawn down the Appalachians marking the limit of settlement from the British colonies, beyond which Indian trade was to be conducted strictly through British-appointed commissioners. These steps were not in time to prevent a serious uprising under the Ottawa chief Pontiac, however; and the proclamation, which sprang in part from a respect for Indian rights, caused consternation among British colonists for two reasons. It meant that limits were being set to the prospects of settlement and speculation in western lands, and it took control of the west out of colonial hands. The most ambitious men in the colonies thus saw the proclamation as a loss of power to control their own fortunes.

Alligator

2005-02-28T02:01:00.000-08:00

(genus Alligator), either of two longsnouted, crocodilian reptiles usually placed with the South American caimans in the family Alligatoridae. Alligators, like other crocodilians, are large, lizardlike animals with powerful tails that are used both in defense and in swimming. Their eyes, ears, and nostrils are placed on top of their long

Camden

2005-02-27T11:19:00.000-08:00

Town, eastern New South Wales, Australia, on the Nepean section of the Hawkesbury River, in the Southern Highlands. The locality, originally known as Cowpastures, was renamed Camden Park in 1805, after the 2nd earl Camden, secretary of state for the colonies at that time, by John Macarthur, who bred merino sheep in Australia. The village, surveyed in 1836, was proclaimed a municipality

Earth, Magnetic reconnection

2005-02-27T06:20:00.000-08:00

The observed dependence of geomagnetic activity on the orientation of the IMF is explained by most researchers as a consequence of magnetic reconnection. In reconnection, two oppositely directed magnetic fields are brought together by flowing plasmas at an x-type neutral line. Far from the neutral line the magnetic field is frozen in the plasma; however, near

Aleksin

2005-02-25T21:09:00.000-08:00

City, Tula oblast (province), western Russia, on the Oka River, 40 miles (65 km) northwest of Tula city. Aleksin, first documented in 1236, was at first a fortress, then a river port. The decline of river trade adversely affected the city, but since the October Revolution (1917) it has become a significant industrial centre, with engineering and building-materials industries. Pop. (1991 est.) 74,200.

Christian Iii

2005-02-24T13:45:00.000-08:00

The eldest son of Frederick I, king of Denmark and Norway, Christian was educated as a Lutheran and showed Protestant

Nicholas I

2005-02-24T09:33:00.000-08:00

Heir presumptive to his uncle Danilo II, who was childless, Nicholas came to the throne in August 1860 after Danilo's assassination. Educated abroad in Paris and Trieste, he was throughout his reign faced with

La Plata River

2005-02-22T07:54:00.000-08:00

Spanish Río De La Plata, river in east-central Puerto Rico, rising on the western slope of Mount Santa (2,963 feet [903 m]), a peak of the Sierra de Cayey. Part of the stream is impounded by Lake Carite; the reservoir's outlet diverts waters for a series of hydroelectric stations on the Guamaní River in the coastal Guayama area to the south. The La Plata itself flows about 45 miles (70 km) northwest and north, dropping

Cohen, Hermann

2005-02-21T19:06:00.000-08:00

Cohen was the son of a cantor, and he studied at the Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau and at the University of Berlin before receiving his Ph.D. at the University of Halle in

Jhalawar

2005-02-21T05:52:00.000-08:00

Town, administrative headquarters of Jhalawar district, Rajasthan state, northwestern India. The town—sometimes called Jhalrapatan, Jhalrapatan Chhaoni (cantonment), or Brijnagar—is a major road junction and agricultural market centre. The old town of Jhalrapatan (Patan) was founded in 1796. The new town, including the palace and cantonment, lies just to the north. Jhalawar, the capital

Pabna

2005-02-20T13:55:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Pubna city, west-central Bangladesh. It lies along the Ichamati River, which is a tributary of the Padma (Ganges). An industrial centre, Pabna has jute mills and is noted for its hosiery and handloomed products. Historical remains include the Hindu temple of Jor Bangla and the Pabna Jubilee tank (water reservoir; excavated 1887). Pabna was incorporated a municipality in 1876; it has Jinnah Park,

Heinrich Von Morungen

2005-02-19T06:15:00.000-08:00

A native of Thuringia, he spent much of his later life in the service of Duke Dietrich of Meissen. His poems, of which some 33 are to be found in the Heidelberg manuscript, are all devoted to the fashionable cult of love. His poems show more originality and spontaneity than those

Local Colour

2005-02-17T21:08:00.000-08:00

Style of writing derived from the presentation of the features and peculiarities of a particular locality and its inhabitants. The name is given especially to a kind of American literature that in its most characteristic form made its appearance just after the Civil War and for nearly three decades was the single most popular form of American literature, fulfilling

Drug Use, Amphetamines

2005-02-17T14:34:00.000-08:00

These stimulants are of three types having closely related actions on the nervous system: amphetamine proper (Benzedrine), one of its isomers (Dexedrine), and methamphetamine (Methedrine). The amphetamines have been used to alleviate depression, fatigue, the hyperkinetic behaviour disturbances of children, postencephalitic Parkinsonism, enuresis, nausea of pregnancy,

Padang Highlands

2005-02-16T09:10:00.000-08:00

Region near the western coast of the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. It is part of the Barisan Mountains of Sumatera Barat provinsi (“province”). The highest among several volcanoes in the highlands is Mount Merapi (9,485 feet [2,891 m]). A favourite resort area because of its climate, the region has superb scenery and is the source of four major rivers (the Rokan, Kampar, Inderagiri, and Batanghari).

Earp, Wyatt (berry Stapp)

2005-02-15T01:07:00.000-08:00

Earp and his four

Gundagai

2005-02-14T23:19:00.000-08:00

Town, southeastern New South Wales, Australia, on the Murrumbidgee River. The site, originally a sheep run called Willia Ploma, was surveyed in 1838, and the town, a former riverport, derived its present name from an Aboriginal term for “going upstream.” A disastrous flood in 1852 drowned 89 townspeople. The discovery of gold in 1861 at nearby Spring Flat stimulated both its growth and bushranger

Ibn Wahshiyah

2005-02-13T06:18:00.000-08:00

Middle Eastern agriculturist and toxicologist alleged to have written al-Fillahah an-Nabatiyah (“Nabatean Agriculture”), a major treatise dealing with plants, water sources and quality, weather conditions, the causes of deforestation, soils and their improvement, crop cultivation, and other similar subjects. The Arabic text, although not original, having been derived

Classical Scholarship, Late 19th-century developments in German scholarship

2005-02-11T18:05:00.000-08:00

Germany made so vast a contribution to 19th-century classical scholarship that it would be impossible to name all of the eminent scholars of the period. But from a time rather earlier than the establishment of the German Empire (1871), signs of decline might be observed; the new methods had begun to harden into orthodoxy, mechanically applied by a mass of inferior practitioners.

Paradip

2005-02-11T11:16:00.000-08:00

Town and major port of east-central Orissa state, eastern India, on the Bay of Bengal. It is situated on the delta of the Mahanadi River at the mouth of one of its branches. The development of Paradip was begun after 1958. In the 1970s it was enlarged and has since become Orissa state's principal port. Pop. (1981) 33,042.

Cosmopolitanism

2005-02-10T18:04:00.000-08:00

In Stoic philosophy, position taken by the Stoics against the traditional (Greek) distinction between Greeks and barbarians, made by applying to themselves the term cosmopolitans, thereby implying that their polis, or city-state, was the entire cosmos, or the whole world. Alexander the Great discouraged this distinction by allowing his generals to marry women native

Tibet

2005-02-08T04:07:00.000-08:00

According to legend the Tibetan people originated from the union of a monkey and a female demon. The Chinese T'ang annals (10th century) place the Tibetans' origin among the nomadic, pastoral Ch'iang tribes recorded about 200 BC as inhabiting the great steppe northwest of China. That region, where diverse racial elements met and mingled for centuries, may be accepted as the original

Sabine River

2005-02-07T09:23:00.000-08:00

River in the southwestern United States, rising in northeastern Texas and flowing southeast and south, broadening near its mouth to form Sabine Lake, and continuing from Port Arthur through Sabine Pass, a dredged navigable channel, to the Gulf of Mexico after a course of 578 mi (930 km). It drains 10,400 sq mi (26,950 sq km), entirely in Texas and the Louisiana Coastal Plain. The Sabine has successively

Xenotime

2005-02-07T07:26:00.000-08:00

Widely distributed phosphate mineral, yttrium phosphate (YPO4, though large proportions of erbium commonly replace yttrium), that occurs as brown, glassy crystals, crystal aggregates, or rosettes in igneous rocks and associated pegmatites, in quartzose and micaceous gneiss, and commonly in detrital material. Occurrences include Norway, Sweden, Madagascar, Brazil,

Culverwel, Nathanael

2005-02-05T15:37:00.000-08:00

Details of Culverwel's life are obscure. Though it is known that he was elected to a fellowship at the University of Cambridge in 1642, he is thought to have suffered a mental breakdown in his last years. His writings

Gerzean Culture

2005-02-05T07:20:00.000-08:00

Also called Naqadah Ii Culture, predynastic Egyptian cultural phase given the sequence dates 40–65 by Sir Flinders Petrie and later dated c. 3400–c. 3100 BC. Evidence indicates that the Gerzean culture was not brought by invaders but was rather a further development of the culture of the Amratian period, which immediately preceded the Gerzean. Centred primarily at Naqadah and Hierakonpolis in Upper Egypt, and Sayala

Culverwel, Nathanael

2005-02-03T23:51:00.000-08:00

Also called Sal Ammoniac the salt of ammonia and hydrogen chloride. Its principal use is as an electrolyte in dry cells, and it is also extensively employed as a constituent of galvanizing, tinning, and soldering fluxes to remove oxide coatings from metals and thereby improve the adhesion of the solders. It is a component of many proprietary cold medicines and cough remedies. Ammonium chloride

Africa, Volcanism and rifting

2005-02-03T05:23:00.000-08:00

Tectonic movements during the Miocene and Pliocene scored the African continent with a network of faults that generally trended northeast to southwest and northwest to southeast. Volcanic eruptions and basaltic upwellings accompanied fracturing in the Ahaggar area of southern Algeria, in the Tibesti area of Libya and Chad, in Ethiopia, throughout East Africa,

Babashoff, Shirley

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

At the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Babashoff won silver medals in the 100- and 200-metre freestyle events and competed on the gold-medal-winning U.S. team in the 400-metre freestyle relay. At the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, she again

Nacka

2005-02-01T10:42:00.000-08:00

Town in the län (county) of Stockholm, southeastern Sweden, on the Södertörn peninsula of the landskap (province) of Södermanland. A southeastern suburb of Stockholm, it developed into a residential and industrial area with the coming of the railroad in 1893, and in 1949 was incorporated as a town. Leading industries include chemical technology, flour milling, and the manufacture

Tradición

2005-01-30T23:51:00.000-08:00

In Spanish-American literature, short prose sketch in which a historical incident is related in an imaginative and literary style. An evocation of the South American past, the tradición may be set in the precolonial era, the age of discovery and conquest, the prerevolutionary era of romance and political intrigue, or the time of the struggle for self-determination

Oak Harbor

2005-01-30T07:12:00.000-08:00

Town, Island county, northwestern Washington, U.S., on Whidbey Island in Puget Sound. It was settled in 1849 by seafaring men, and its first industry was shipbuilding. Dutch immigrants arrived in 1890 and began developing the rich farmland; their presence on the island is celebrated in the town's annual Holland Happenings festival. The chief agricultural products are dairy foods,

Bridgettine

2005-01-29T18:01:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Brigittine , member of Order of the Most Holy Savior (O.SS.S.) a religious order of cloistered nuns founded by St. Bridget of Sweden in 1344 and approved by Pope Urban V in 1370. Bridget believed that she was called by Christ to found a strictly disciplined religious order that would contribute to the reform of monastic life. She went to Rome to gain approval of her order and died there in 1373. Her foundation began to grow and contributed greatly

Nicephorus Ii Phocas

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

Byzantine emperor (963–969), whose military achievements against the Muslim Arabs contributed to the resurgence of Byzantine power in the 10th century.

Bone Disease

2005-01-26T03:12:00.000-08:00

Bone diseases and injuries were formerly

China, Militarism in China

2005-01-25T09:35:00.000-08:00

During the first years of the republic China had been fractured by rival military regimes to the extent that no one authority was able to subordinate all rivals and create a unified and centralized political structure. The South was detached from Peking's control; but even the southern provinces, and indeed districts within them, were run by different military

Epistemology, General works

2005-01-24T11:22:00.000-08:00

The texts of the classics mentioned below for which specific editions have not been noted are available in many English-language translations; two notable collections are The Loeb Classical Library and Oxford Classical Text series.

Czartoryski, Adam Jerzy, Prince (ksiaze)

2005-01-23T16:52:00.000-08:00

Czartoryski was the most renowned member of a princely family, descended from the Lithuanian royal house, which wielded great power in Poland in the 18th

Syrian Catholic Church

2005-01-22T05:36:00.000-08:00

An Eastern Catholic church of the Antiochene rite, in communion with Rome since the 17th century. The Christians of Syria had been Monophysites since the 5th century; that is, they rejected the rulings of the Council of Chalcedon (451) and believed in the existence of only one nature in Christ. Attempts at unification with Rome were made, without success, in 1237 and 1247. With the establishment

Jicarilla Apache

2005-01-22T03:21:00.000-08:00

The early Jicarilla were one of several loosely organized, autonomous bands of Apache living in the Southwest. Their ancient lands included parts of present-day Colorado,

Sesostris Ii

2005-01-21T08:30:00.000-08:00

Following the established practice of his dynasty, Sesostris spent three years as his father's coregent. In year 1 of this period, a

Henderson

2005-01-19T07:10:00.000-08:00

City, seat of Henderson county, northwestern Kentucky, U.S., on a bluff overlooking the Ohio River, 7 miles (11 km) south of Evansville, Indiana. The town site, around Red Banks (settled 1784), was laid out in 1797 by the Transylvania Land Company and named for its promoter, Richard Henderson. Originally a farming settlement, its economy is evenly balanced among industry, agriculture (corn

Azerbaijan

2005-01-19T07:09:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Azarbaijan , or Azarbayjan , Persian Azarbayjan, geographic region that comprises the extreme northwestern portion of Iran. It is bounded on the north by the Aras River, which separates it from independent Azerbaijan and Armenia; on the east by the Iranian region of Gilan and the Caspian Sea; on the south by the Iranian regions of Zanjan and Kordestan; and on the west by Iraq and Turkey. Azerbaijan is about 40,000 square miles

Albany, Louise Maximilienne Caroline, Countess Of

2005-01-18T01:54:00.000-08:00

The elder daughter of Gustav Adolf, prince of Stolberg-Gedern, she entered the convent of Saint Waudru in Mons, where

Argentina, The Northwest

2005-01-16T01:09:00.000-08:00

Numerous archaeological sites in the region indicate the presence—before the Spanish invasion—of permanently settled Indians who practiced irrigation and terraced farming in the oasis-like valleys. The Spanish, arriving overland from what are now Peru and Bolivia, initially occupied areas on the lowland plains of the Chaco, distant from hostile indigenous

U-boat

2005-01-15T21:37:00.000-08:00

Germany was the first country to employ submarines in war as substitutes for surface commerce raiders. At the outset of World War I, German U-boats, though numbering only 38, achieved notable successes against British warships; but because of the reactions of neutral powers (especially the United States) Germany hesitated before adopting unrestricted U-boat warfare

Wildcat

2005-01-15T02:36:00.000-08:00

The European wildcat inhabits forested regions from Scotland through continental Europe to western Asia. It is similar to the domestic

Daguerre, Louis-jacques-mandé

2005-01-13T19:57:00.000-08:00

French painter and physicist who invented the daguerreotype (q.v.), the first practical process of photography. Though the first permanent photograph from nature was made in 1826/27 by Joseph-Nicéphore Niepce of France, it was of poor quality and required about eight hours' exposure time. The process that Daguerre developed

Laing, Alexander Gordon

2005-01-13T09:05:00.000-08:00

Serving with the British army in Sierra Leone (1822), Laing was sent among the Mande people of the region by the governor, Charles (later Sir Charles) M'Carthy, to attempt to develop trade

Schaff, Philip

2005-01-11T10:42:00.000-08:00

Schaff was educated at the universities of Tübingen, Halle, and Berlin and was made a lecturer in 1842 at Berlin, where his interest in church history was aroused

Adamson, Joy; And Adamson, George

2005-01-11T05:59:00.000-08:00

Following an education in Vienna and two divorces, Austrian-born Joy Gessner, living in Kenya from 1939, married George Adamson (1944), a British game warden who had

Hawthorn, John Michael

2005-01-09T04:17:00.000-08:00

Hawthorn won his first motorcycle race at 18, turned to sports cars at 21, and two years later, driving a Cooper–Bristol, defeated Juan Manuel Fangio at Goodwood. In 1953, driving for Ferrari, he won the French Grand Prix from Fangio; in 1955 he won the tragic Le

Floor Covering

2005-01-09T02:02:00.000-08:00

Material made from textiles, felts, resins, rubber, or other natural or man-made substances applied or fastened to, or laid upon, the level base surface of a room to provide comfort, durability, safety, and decoration. Such materials include both handmade and machine-made rugs and carpets and smooth-surfaced floor coverings. Although the words carpet and rug are frequently

Bykovsky, Valery

2005-01-07T23:11:00.000-08:00

On June 16, 1963, after Bykovsky had been in orbit two days, the Soviet

Marketing, Packaging and branding

2005-01-05T22:46:00.000-08:00

Packaging and branding are also substantial components in the marketing of a product. Packaging in some instances may be as simple as customers in France carrying long loaves of unwrapped bread or small produce dealers in Italy wrapping vegetables in newspapers or placing them in customers' string bags. In most industrialized countries, however, the packaging

Infection, Common worm infections

2004-12-28T11:26:00.000-08:00

The worm Ascaris lumbricoides causes one of the most prevalent infections in the world. It lives in the soil and its eggs are ingested with contaminated food. The eggs hatch in the human intestine and the worms then travel through the bloodstream to the liver, heart, and lungs. They can cause pneumonia, perforations of the intestine, or blockage of the bile ducts, but

France, History Of, The kings and the royal government

2004-12-24T19:22:00.000-08:00

The French monarchy was greatly strengthened by Louis VII's successor, Philip II Augustus (ruled 1180–1223), who could claim descent from Charlemagne through his mother. Philip proved to be the ablest Capetian yet to reign. He was practical and clear-sighted in his political objectives; the extension of territorial power and the improvement of mechanisms with which to govern

Aldfrith

2004-12-23T07:29:00.000-08:00

King of Northumbria (685–704) and patron of literature. An illegitimate son of Oswiu, he succeeded to the throne when his brother Ecgfrith was killed at the Battle of Nechtansmere. Educated for the priesthood, he stimulated the growth of scholarship in Northumbria during his reign, producing conditions under which the historian Bede flourished.

Great Leap Forward

2004-12-20T00:19:00.000-08:00

The campaign undertaken by the Chinese Communists between 1958 and early 1960 to organize its vast population, especially in large-scale rural communes, to meet China's industrial and agricultural problems. The Chinese hoped to develop labour-intensive methods of industrialization, which would emphasize manpower rather than machines. Thereby, it was hoped, the country

Auric, Georges

2004-12-19T20:58:00.000-08:00

Auric studied under Vincent d'Indy and Albert Roussel in Paris, and in 1920 the critic Henri Collet included him in “Les Six,” the group of young French composers under the informal patronage

Dewey, George

2004-12-16T08:02:00.000-08:00

A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., in 1858, Dewey was commissioned a lieutenant three years later. In the U.S. Civil War (1861–65), he served with Union naval forces in the battles of New Orleans (1862) and Port Hudson and Donaldsonville,

Automobile Racing

2004-12-14T09:37:00.000-08:00

Two Canadians, Jacques Villeneuve (see BIOGRAPHIES) and Scott Goodyear, figured in another astonishing finish at the 1995 Indianapolis 500. Goodyear, in a Reynard-Honda, was in the lead when he passed the Chevrolet Corvette pace car illegally just after the 190th lap of the 200-lap race; officials stopped scoring his laps on the 196th, and Goodyear finished 14th. Ironically, Villeneuve earlier

1801, Concordat Of

2004-12-11T16:09:00.000-08:00

In the agreement the First

Europe, Council Of

2004-12-09T08:49:00.000-08:00

Organization of European countries that seeks to protect democracy and human rights and to promote European unity by fostering cooperation on legal, cultural, and social issues. By the beginning of the 21st century, more than 40 countries were members of the Council of Europe. The council is headquartered in Strasbourg, France. (The Council of Europe should not be confused

Istihsan

2004-12-07T10:21:00.000-08:00

(Arabic: “to approve,” or “to sanction”), among Muslim theologians, the use of one's own judgment to determine the best solution to a religious problem that cannot be solved by citing sacred texts. This approach to religious problems found special application as Islam spread to new lands and encountered new environments. Proponents of istihsan believe Muhammad sanctioned

Cinerama

2004-12-02T11:56:00.000-08:00

In motion pictures, a process in which three synchronized movie projectors each project one-third of the picture on a wide, curving screen. Many viewers believe that the screen, which thus annexes their entire field of vision, gives a sense of reality unmatched by the flat screen. Invented by the New York City photographer Fred Waller, the first Cinerama movie, This

Uttlesford

2004-11-30T19:41:00.000-08:00

District, administrative and historic county of Essex, England. It occupies the northwestern corner of the county, where it borders Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire. A low ridge of chalk hills runs from southwest to northeast through a rolling countryside. The district is largely rural. The main town is Saffron Walden; there are also many smaller old parishes, such

Buzzard

2004-11-29T11:40:00.000-08:00

Any of several birds of prey of the genus Buteo and, in North America, various New World vultures (family Cathartidae), especially the turkey vulture (Cathartes aura; see photograph). Similarly, in Australia a large hawk of the genus Hamirostra is called a black-breasted buzzard. In North America, Buteo species are called buteos, buzzard hawks, or simply

Ancient Rome, Second Punic War (218201 BC)

2004-11-27T11:31:00.000-08:00

It seemed that the superiority of the Romans at sea ought to have enabled them to choose the field of battle. They decided to send one army to Spain and another to Sicily and Africa. But before their preparations were complete, Hannibal began the series of operations that dictated the course of the war for the greater part of its duration. He realized that as long as the

Ashikaga Takauji

2004-11-24T05:18:00.000-08:00

The Ashikaga family became one of the most powerful in Japan during the Kamakura period (1199–1333). They provided leading retainers of the Hojo regents who, with their capital at Kamakura, dominated the country during that time,

Auckland

2004-11-23T17:38:00.000-08:00

When Europeans arrived in the early 19th century, the region was densely populated by Maoris. European settlements were

Ibn Al-'arabi

2004-11-21T11:36:00.000-08:00

Ibn al-'Arabi was born in the southeast of Spain, a man of pure Arab

Cinder Cone

2004-11-18T09:46:00.000-08:00

Also called Ash Cone, deposit around a volcanic vent, formed by pyroclastic rock fragments (formed by volcanic or igneous action), or cinders, which accumulate and gradually build a conical hill with a bowl-shaped crater at the top. Cinder cones develop from explosive eruptions of mafic (heavy, dark ferromagnesian) and intermediate lavas and are often found along the flanks of shield volcanoes.

Padauk

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

Any of several species of tropical trees of the genus Pterocarpus. Padauks of the Indo-Malaysia region have a tendency to be larger than related species elsewhere. They are highly prized as shade trees and for their red or reddish brown wood. The blood-red sap is used commercially; a red dyewood, “Red Saunders,” which is obtained from the padauk, was formerly exported in