China, Economic development

In the 1640s and '50s the Manchu abolished all late Ming surtaxes and granted tax exemptions to areas ravaged by war. Tax remissions were limited, however, by the urgent need for revenues to carry on the conquest of China. It was not until the 1680s, after the consolidation of military victory, that the Ch'ing began to permit tax remissions on a large scale. The permanent freezing of

Pole Vault

Sport in track-and-field athletics in which an athlete jumps over an obstacle with the aid of a pole. Originally a practical means of clearing objects, such as ditches, brooks, and fences, pole-vaulting for height became a competitive sport in the mid-19th century. An Olympic event for men since the first modern Games in 1896, a pole-vault event for women was added for the 2000 Olympics

Brod, Max

Brod studied law at the University of Prague, and in 1902 he met and befriended Kafka. Brod later worked as a minor government

Dura-europus

Also spelled  Doura-Europus  ruined Syrian city, located in the Syrian desert near Dayr az-Zawr. Excavations were carried out first by Franz Cumont (1922–23) and later by M. Rostovtzev (1928–37). Dura was originally a Babylonian town, but it was rebuilt as a military colony about 300 BC by the Seleucids and given the alternative name of Europus after the native city in Macedonia of its reputed founder, Seleucus I Nicator.

Maple Syrup

The sweet-water sap from which maple syrup is made is different from

Esquimalt

District municipality and western suburb of metropolitan Victoria, southwestern British Columbia, Canada, at the southeastern end of Vancouver Island, on Juan de Fuca Strait. The name means “place of gradually shoaling waters” in the local Indian language. Its harbour was visited (1790) by Manuel Quimper of the Spanish navy, who called it Puerto de Cordova to honour the

Fencing

Organized sport involving the use of the sword—épée, foil, or sabre—for attack and defense according to set movements and rules. Although the use of swords dates to prehistoric times and swordplay to ancient civilizations, the organized sport of fencing began only at the end of the 19th century. For information on the art of Japanese sword fighting, see kendo.

Chiabrera, Gabriello

Chiabrera studied philosophy in Rome, lived for a time in the household of a cardinal, and then returned to Savona, where civic and diplomatic posts and the protection of several princes gave him the leisure

Metabolism, The nature of the respiratory chain

The carriers are NAD+ and, less frequently, NADP+; the flavoproteins FAD and FMN (flavin mononucleotide);

Alcántara, Order Of

Major military and religious order in Spain. It was founded in 1156 or 1166 by Don Suero Fernández Barrientos and was recognized in 1177 by Pope Alexander III in a special papal bull. Its purpose was to defend Christian Spain against the Moors. In 1218 King Alfonso IX of Leon gave to the order the town of Alcántara, and during the next two centuries its knights defended the southern borders