AngryAngle

China, Economic development

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

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

2005-04-03T19:38:00.000-07:00

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

2005-04-03T17:35:00.000-07:00

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

2005-04-02T23:50:00.000-08:00

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

2005-04-02T16:14:00.000-08:00

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

Esquimalt

2005-04-01T04:17:00.000-08:00

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

2005-03-31T13:15:00.000-08:00

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

2005-03-30T11:15:00.000-08:00

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

2005-03-29T17:06:00.000-08:00

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

Alcántara, Order Of

2005-03-29T00:18:00.000-08:00

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

Chain

2005-03-28T01:20:00.000-08:00

Also called Gunter's Chain, in surveying, a unit of length. See surveyor's chain.

Mask

2005-03-27T10:58:00.000-08:00

A form of disguise. It is an object that is frequently worn over or in front of the face to hide the identity of a person and by its own features to establish another being. This essential characteristic of hiding and revealing personalities or moods is common to all masks. As cultural objects they have been used throughout the world in all periods since the Stone Age

Queen Anne's

2005-03-27T09:52:00.000-08:00

County, eastern Maryland, U.S., bordered by the Chester River to the north, Delaware to the east, and Chesapeake Bay to the west. It consists of a coastal lowland and includes Kent Island, which is linked across the bay to Anne Arundel county by the William Preston Lane, Jr., Memorial Bridge (completed 1952). The southeastern corner of the county includes part of Tuckahoe State

Lancaster

2005-03-27T08:44:00.000-08:00

In the 17th century

Henley Royal Regatta

2005-03-25T15:58:00.000-08:00

Annual four-day series of rowing races held the first week in July on the River Thames, at Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, Eng. The regatta was established in 1839; and in 1851 Prince Albert became its patron and gave the event its “royal” prefix. The regulation distance for the races is 1 mile 550 yards (2,100 m). Probably the most significant of the traditional Henley races are the Grand Challenge

Shedd Aquarium

2005-03-24T20:43:00.000-08:00

In full John G. Shedd Aquarium, one of the largest indoor aquariums in the world. Built with funds donated by John Graves Shedd, a prominent local businessman, the aquarium opened in Chicago in 1929. It contains more than 200 exhibition tanks, housing in excess of 5,000 specimens of 560 species of fishes (both freshwater and marine) and other aquatic animals from around the world. The total water capacity is more than

Dominica, Flag Of

2005-03-24T10:20:00.000-08:00

As a British colony, Dominica obtained a coat of arms of its own in 1961. The arms had a shield with a blue and yellow cross, a banana tree, a coconut tree, a frog, a Carib Indian canoe, a lion symbolizing links with England, and a motto in the local language (“Apres Bondie c'est la ter”) meaning “After the Good Lord, the land.” Flanking the shield were imperial parrots, also known as sisserous,

Wellington

2005-03-23T01:12:00.000-08:00

Town (“parish”), Taunton Deane district, administrative and historic county of Somerset, England, just west-southwest of Taunton. The first duke of Wellington (Arthur Wellesley, who took his title from the town), victor of the Battle of Waterloo (1815), is commemorated by a monument (National Trust property) on the highest point of the nearby Blackdown Hill. Wellington School, at

Palestine, History Of

2005-03-22T17:15:00.000-08:00

In the Arab-Israeli war of 1967, Israel dispatched the combined forces of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan and also overran large tracts of territory, including East Jerusalem, the West Bank (known to Israelis as Judaea and Samaria), and Gaza. Israel's victory gave rise to another exodus of Palestinians, with more than 250,000 people fleeing to the East Bank of Jordan. However, roughly 600,000 Palestinians

Earth Sciences, Darcy's law

2005-03-22T07:10:00.000-08:00

Quantitative studies of the movement of water in streams and aquifers led to the formulation of mathematical statements relating discharge to other factors. Henri-Philibert-Gaspard Darcy, a French hydraulic engineer, was the first to state clearly a law describing the flow of groundwater. Darcy's experiments, reported in 1856, were based on the ideas that an aquifer

Kubitschek, Juscelino

2005-03-21T02:04:00.000-08:00

Kubitschek attended the Diamantina Seminary, worked his way through medical school at the University of Minas Gerais (graduated 1927), and did internships in surgery in Paris, Vienna, and Berlin. He became head of

Cozens, John Robert

2005-03-20T07:11:00.000-08:00

The son of the watercolourist Alexander Cozens, John began to exhibit drawings with the Society of Artists in 1767. The two long visits he paid to the Continent, 1776–79 and 1782–83, were the formative and decisive events in his career. On the first

Rowan College Of New Jersey

2005-03-20T00:10:00.000-08:00

Public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Glassboro, New Jersey, U.S. It includes the schools of Business, Education, Engineering, Fine and Performing Arts, and Liberal Arts and Sciences. In addition to some 30 bachelor's degree programs, the college offers a range of master's degree programs. There is a branch campus in Camden. University facilities include

Xia Gui

2005-03-19T22:16:00.000-08:00

One of the best English-language sources of information on Hsia Kuei is the article on him by Sherman E. Lee in the Encyclopedia of World Art, vol. 7 (1963), col. 650–654. See also Osvald Sirén, Chinese Painting: Leading Masters and Principles, vol. 2 (1956, reissued 1974), pp. 119–124; and James Cahill, Chinese Painting (1960, reissued 1985), pp. 79–87, which discuss Hsia Kuei in the context of the Ma-Hsia school.

Earth Sciences

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

Dahl, Roald

2005-03-18T18:38:00.000-08:00

Following his graduation from Repton, a renowned British public school, in 1932, Dahl avoided a university education and joined an expedition to Newfoundland. He worked from 1937 to 1939 in Dar es Salaam, Tanganyika (now in Tanzania), but he enlisted

Mellon, Andrew W.

2005-03-17T17:08:00.000-08:00

After completing his studies at Western University (now the University of Pittsburgh), Mellon entered

Quadriceps Femoris Muscle

2005-03-17T09:16:00.000-08:00

Large fleshy muscle group covering the front and sides of the thigh. It has four parts: rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and vastus intermedius. They originate at the ilium (upper part of the pelvis, or hipbone) and femur (thighbone), come together in a tendon surrounding the patella (kneecap), and insert at (are attached to) the tibia (shinbone). These muscles

Kunlun Mountains, Physiography

2005-03-17T01:27:00.000-08:00

Throughout much of their alignment, the Kunluns comprise two or three parallel ridges rather than a single crest. This is especially true in the western reaches. At the Sarykol Range where the Kunluns forge out from the Pamirs, a short spur to the north called the Aghil Mountains actually has some of the highest summits, Mount Kung-ko-erh (Kongur), at 25,324 feet (7,719 metres), as well

Akkad

2005-03-16T05:29:00.000-08:00

Ancient region in what is now central Iraq. Akkad was the northern (or northwestern) division of ancient Babylonian civilization. The region was located roughly in the area where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers are closest to each other, and its northern limit extended beyond the line of the modern cities of al-Fallujah and Baghdad. The early inhabitants of this region

Vale Of Glamorgan

2005-03-15T04:50:00.000-08:00

County, southern Wales, extending along the Bristol Channel coast west of Cardiff and lying entirely within the historic county of Glamorgan (Morgannwg). It comprises an undulating coastal platform, with an average elevation of about 200 feet (60 metres), that often terminates abruptly in cliffs at the coast. Along other sections of the coast, however, there are sand

American Literature, Poetry

2005-03-15T04:02:00.000-08:00

The post-World War II years produced an abundance of strong poetry but no individual poet as dominant and accomplished as T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Wallace Stevens, Robert Frost, or William Carlos Williams, whose long careers were coming to an end. The major poetry from 1945 to 1960 was modernist in its ironic texture yet formal in its insistence on regular rhyme and metre. Beginning

O'casey, Sean

2005-03-14T07:55:00.000-08:00

O'Casey was born into a lower middle-class Irish Protestant family. His father died when John was six, and thereafter the family became progressively poorer.

Keane, Molly

2005-03-13T22:41:00.000-08:00

Born into the Anglo-Irish gentry (the daughter of an estate owner and the poet Moira O'Neill), Keane was educated by a governess. She began to publish novels while in her 20s, under the name M.J. Farrell. She later said, “Young men

Spotlight: Latin America's New Transportation Links

2005-03-13T13:47:00.000-08:00

By 1998 the common market concept within Latin America, as exemplified by Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, with Chile and Bolivia joining as associate members), several bilateral trade agreements, and the rejuvenation of the Andean Community and the Central American Common Market, was contributing to a diminution of old geopolitical rivalries in

Gyumri

2005-03-11T22:44:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Kumayri , (1924–90) Leninakan , or (until 1924) Alexandropol city, western Armenia. It is believed to have been founded by the Greeks in 401 BC, but it did not have a continuous existence. A fortress was constructed on the site by the Russians in 1837, and in 1840 the town of Alexandropol was founded nearby. Alexandropol was a trading and administrative centre but subsequently underwent industrial development and was renamed Leninakan for

Lophospira

2005-03-11T13:45:00.000-08:00

Genus of extinct gastropods (snails) found as fossils in marine rocks of Ordovician to Devonian age (505 million to 360 million years old). The shell consists of a series of whorls arranged much like a series of ascending steps, each successive whorl smaller than the one below it. The apex of the shell is closed by a small cone-shaped whorl.

Attalus, Priscus

2005-03-10T19:38:00.000-08:00

Attalus was born a pagan and was baptized by an Arian bishop. He was a senator at the time of Alaric's second siege of Rome, and he was named emperor of the West by the Goths after the city surrendered in 409. Attalus then urged the legitimate emperor, Honorius, to vacate his throne.

Vitalism

2005-03-09T13:03:00.000-08:00

School of scientific thought—the germ of which dates from Aristotle—that attempts (in opposition to mechanism and organicism) to explain the nature of life as resulting from a vital force peculiar to living organisms and different from all other forces found outside living things. This force is held to control form and development and to direct the activities

Rivière, Jacques

2005-03-09T04:16:00.000-08:00

Writer, critic, and editor who was a major force in the intellectual life of France in the period immediately following World War I. His most important works were his thoughtful and finely written essays on the arts. In 1912 a collection of these essays was published as Études; a second such collection, entitled Nouvelles études (“Further

Antarctica, Climate

2005-03-08T08:45:00.000-08:00

Morton J. Rubin (ed.), Studies in Antarctic Meteorology (1966); S. Orvig (ed.), Climates of the Polar Regions (1970); W.S. Weyant, The Antarctic Atmosphere: Climatology of the Surface Environment (1967); and W. Schwerdtfeger, Weather and Climate of the Antarctic (1984), include topical studies and a few general review articles.

Fuller, Ray W.

2005-03-06T16:10:00.000-08:00

U.S. biochemist who, as a pharmacological researcher at Eli Lilly & Co. from 1963, helped to create fluoxetine--the popular antidepressant drug known by the trademark Prozac. The drug, which combated depression by slowing the reabsorption of serotonin in the brain, was synthesized in 1972 and marketed in 1987 (b. Dec. 16, 1935--d. Aug. 11, 1996).

Cohoba

2005-03-06T13:31:00.000-08:00

Also called Yopo, hallucinogenic snuff made from the seeds of a tropical American tree (Piptadenia peregrina) and used by Indians of the Caribbean and South America at the time of early Spanish explorations. DMT (N,N-dimethyltryptamine) and bufotenine (qq.v.) are thought to have been the active principles. Cohoba was inhaled deeply by means of special bilateral tubes.

Pacific Islands, The island ecosystem

2005-03-06T08:46:00.000-08:00

To know what it is like to live on a Pacific island, the intermixture of physical and biological characteristics of the particular island must be considered. Each of the myriad ecological systems in the Pacific is a unique complex of living organisms and their nonliving environment. Each is a functional system of interacting components that tends toward an equilibrium

Australia, Flag Of

2005-03-05T18:49:00.000-08:00

Thought was given to an all-Australian flag long before confederation was achieved on January 1, 1901. For example, in 1823 a National Colonial Flag displayed four white eight-pointed stars on a red cross on a white field with the Union Jack. From 1831 until as late as the 1920s there was a somewhat similar design known as the Australian Federation Flag, with a blue cross and five white stars.

Amorphous Solid, Transparent glasses

2005-03-05T06:18:00.000-08:00

The terms glass and window glass are often used interchangeably in everyday language, so familiar is this ancient architectural application of amorphous solids. Not only are oxide glasses, such as those characterized in the Table, excellent for letting light in, they are also good for keeping cold out, because (as mentioned above) they are efficient thermal

La Crosse

2005-03-04T23:08:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1851) of La Crosse county, western Wisconsin, U.S. It lies along the Mississippi River at the influx of the Black and La Crosse rivers, 129 miles (208 km) northwest of Madison. The settlement developed around a trading post (1841) on a site that French explorers named Prairie la Crosse, after the game of lacrosse played by the Indians there. A natural river port, it became an important

Valdés Leal, Juan De Nisa

2005-03-03T14:59:00.000-08:00

His father was Portuguese, and Valdés Leal was educated in Córdoba under the guidance of Antonio del Castillo and worked there until 1653. For the next few years he

Trianon, Treaty Of

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

The Allies' presentation of their terms for peace with Hungary was delayed first by their reluctance to treat with Béla Kun's communist regime in that country and subsequently by the obvious

Valdés Leal, Juan De Nisa

2005-02-28T22:41:00.000-08:00

Electronic display device that operates by applying a varying electric voltage to a layer of liquid crystal, thereby inducing changes in its optical properties. LCDs are commonly used for portable electronic games, as viewfinders for digital cameras and camcorders, in video projection systems, for electronic billboards, as monitors for computers, and in flat-panel

Catania

2005-02-28T16:43:00.000-08:00

Latin Catana, or Catina, city, capital of Catania provincia, eastern Sicily, Italy, in the broad plain of Catania on the Ionian seacoast, south of Mount Etna. The city was founded in 729 BC by Chalcidians (settlers from Chalcis in the Greek island of Euboea) from Naxos, 50 miles (80 km) north. It acquired importance in the 5th century BC with Hieron I, tyrant of Syracuse, and his son Deinomenes, who conquered it and renamed

Arabia

2005-02-27T09:09:00.000-08:00

Arabic Jazirat Al-'Arab (“Island of the Arabs”), peninsular region, together with offshore islands, located in the extreme southwestern corner of Asia. The Arabian Peninsula is bounded by the Red Sea on the west and southwest, the Gulf of Aden on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south and southeast, and the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf (also called the Arabian Gulf) on the northeast. Geographically the peninsula

Lever

2005-02-27T06:03:00.000-08:00

Simple machine used to amplify physical force. All early people used the lever in some form, for moving heavy stones or as digging sticks for land cultivation. The principle of the lever was used in the swape, or shaduf, a long lever pivoted near one end with a platform or water container hanging from the short arm and counterweights attached to the long arm. A man could

Biblical Literature, Additions to Daniel and Esther

2005-02-25T17:12:00.000-08:00

Two of the Old Testament Hagiographa (Ketuvim; see above The Hebrew canon)—Daniel and Esther—contain, in their Greek translations, numerous additions.

Rackett

2005-02-25T05:24:00.000-08:00

Finger holes were provided. The sound was reedy, low-pitched, and muffled.

Johor Bahru

2005-02-24T05:26:00.000-08:00

Johor also spelled Johore, Bahru also spelled Baharu city, southern West Malaysia. It lies at the southern end of the Malay Peninsula and is separated from Singapore Island by the Johor Strait. At this point, a short rail and road causeway (0.75 mile [1.2 km]) crosses the strait to link the mainland with Singapore. Founded by Temenggong Ibrahim, the ruler of Johore, it was called Tanjung Putri until renamed Johore Bahru (“New Johore”) in

Cinecittà

2005-02-23T10:13:00.000-08:00

The studios were rebuilt after the war,

Diego Garcia

2005-02-23T08:07:00.000-08:00

Discovered by the Portuguese in the early 16th century, it was for

Leven, Loch

2005-02-23T02:41:00.000-08:00

Lake in Perth and Kinross council area, central Scotland, at the centre of the historic county of Kinross-shire. Roughly circular in shape and about 3 miles (5 km) in diameter, it is one of the shallowest of the Scottish lochs—with a mean depth of 15 feet (4.5 metres)—and has become important as a nature reserve. The loch is a roosting area for geese in winter and a resting area for ducks.

Duckpins

2005-02-21T17:02:00.000-08:00

Bowling game played on a standard tenpin lane with smaller pins and balls. Duckpins are 9.4 inches (23.3 cm) tall. The ball that is used to knock the pins down is a maximum of 5 inches in diameter and 3 pounds 12 ounces (1.7 kg) in weight, and it has no finger holes. Three balls may be rolled in each frame of the 10-frame game. There is no bonus for knocking down all 10 pins with three balls. Other rules are

Mckinley, William

2005-02-20T14:56:00.000-08:00

Renominated for another term without opposition, McKinley again faced Democrat William Jennings Bryan in the presidential election of 1900. McKinley's margins of victory in both the popular and electoral votes were greater than they were four years before, no doubt reflecting satisfaction with the outcome of the war and with the widespread prosperity that the country enjoyed. Following his inauguration in 1901 (see primary source document: Second Inaugural Address), McKinley left Washington for a tour of the western states, to be concluded with a speech at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. Cheering crowds throughout the journey attested to McKinley's immense popularity. More than 50,000 admirers attended his exposition speech, in which the leader who had been so closely identified with protectionism now sounded the call for commercial reciprocity among nations. (See primary source document: Reciprocal Trade Agreements.) The following day, September 6, 1901, while McKinley was shaking hands with a crowd of well-wishers at the exposition, Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist, fired two shots into the president's chest and abdomen. Rushed to a hospital in Buffalo, McKinley lingered for a week before dying in the early morning hours of September 14. He was succeeded by his vice president, the man Mark Hanna sneeringly referred to as “that damned cowboy,” Theodore Roosevelt.

Pontevedra

2005-02-20T13:09:00.000-08:00

Provincia, northwestern Spain, smallest of the four provinces of the comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Galicia. It is mountainous, with an Atlantic coastline deeply indented by the picturesque rías bajas (inlets) of Arosa, Pontevedra, and Vigo. Numerous traditional fiestas held throughout the province contribute, with the scenic beauty and fine beaches,

Seattle

2005-02-19T17:14:00.000-08:00

Chief city of Washington, U.S., on a neck of land between Elliott Bay (Puget Sound) and Lake Washington (a 24-mile [39-kilometre] stretch of freshwater), seat (1853) of King county and the largest metropolis of the Pacific Northwest. A port of entry and gateway to the Orient and Alaska, it is surrounded by areas of great natural beauty; to the west, the Olympic Mountains provide protection

Caraway

2005-02-18T20:40:00.000-08:00

The dried fruit, commonly called seed, of Carum carvi, a biennial herb of the parsley family (Apiaceae, or Umbelliferae), native to Europe and western Asia and cultivated since ancient times. Caraway has a distinctive aroma reminiscent of anise and a warm, slightly sharp taste. It is used as a seasoning in meat dishes, breads, and cheese and in such vegetables as sauerkraut

Balas, Iolanda

2005-02-18T07:59:00.000-08:00

Balas cleared the bar in a variation of the scissors method; her coach was Ion Söter, an outstanding high-jumper whom she later married. She already held the women's

Hawks, Howard (winchester)

2005-02-17T21:49:00.000-08:00

Hawks

Caraway

2005-02-16T17:35:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Aluminium chemical element, a lightweight, silvery-white metal of main Group IIIa (boron group) of the periodic table. Aluminum is the most abundant metallic element in the Earth's crust and the most widely used nonferrous metal. Because of its chemical activity, aluminum never occurs in the metallic form in nature, but its compounds are present to a greater or lesser extent in

Sachs, Curt

2005-02-16T09:56:00.000-08:00

In his youth Sachs took lessons in piano, theory, and composition. Later, at Berlin University—although he included music history in his studies—he took his doctorate in the history of art (1904). After several years as an art critic and historian, during which time

Abraxas

2005-02-15T21:04:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Abrasax, sequence of Greek letters considered as a word and formerly inscribed on charms, amulets, and gems in the belief that it possessed magical qualities. In the 2nd century AD, some Gnostic and other dualistic sects, which viewed matter as evil and the spirit as good and held that salvation came through esoteric knowledge, or gnosis, personified Abraxas and initiated a cult

Henry

2005-02-15T16:13:00.000-08:00

Henry, son of Manuel I, chose a career in the church and became, successively, archbishop of

Roman Law

2005-02-15T07:44:00.000-08:00

The law of ancient Rome from the time of the founding of the city in 753 BC until the fall of the Western Empire in the 5th century AD. It remained in use in the Eastern, or Byzantine, Empire until 1453. As a legal system, Roman law has affected the development of law in most of Western civilization as well as in parts of the East. It forms the basis for the law codes of most countries of continental

Habima

2005-02-13T11:41:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Habimah (Hebrew: “Stage”), Hebrew theatre company originally organized as Habima ha-'Ivrit (Hebrew: “the Hebrew Stage”) in Bialystok, in Russian Poland, in 1912 by Nahum Zemach. The troupe traveled in 1913 to Vienna, where it staged Osip Dymov's Hear O Israel before the 11th Zionist Congress. In 1917, after World War I caused the ensemble to dissolve, Zemach established the group in Moscow, calling it

Radewyns, Florentius

2005-02-12T21:48:00.000-08:00

Educated at the University of Prague, Radewyns returned to Leerdam

Silky Terrier

2005-02-12T09:28:00.000-08:00

Australian breed of toy dog, first shown in 1907. It originated in Sydney and was once known as the Sydney Silky. A rather low-set dog, the silky terrier stands 9 to 10 inches (23 to 25.5 centimetres) and weighs 8 to 10 pounds (3.5 to 4.5 kilograms). Its silky, fine coat is glossy blue-gray and tan, with a silver-gray or tan topknot. Developed as a companion dog, the silky is generally friendly and responsive,

Estonia, Relief and drainage

2005-02-11T14:21:00.000-08:00

The Estonian landscape is largely the product of glacial activity; the south is covered with moraine hills, and the central part abounds in elongated hills with flat tops. The northern part of Estonia is characterized by long narrow swells consisting of deposits left by glacial rivers that formed during the melting of ice. Extensive sandy areas mark what was once

Atacamite

2005-02-11T10:39:00.000-08:00

Green, brilliant halide mineral, basic copper chloride [Cu2(OH)3Cl]. It is a secondary mineral, formed by the oxidation of other copper minerals, particularly under arid conditions; it is widespread as brittle, transparent to translucent crystals in Atacama Province, Chile; in Boleo, Mex.; and in South Australia. For detailed physical properties, see halide mineral

Balch, Emily Greene

2005-02-10T04:38:00.000-08:00

American sociologist, political scientist, economist, and pacifist, a leader of the women's movement for peace during and after World War I. She received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1946 jointly with John Raleigh Mott. She was also noted for her sympathetic and thorough study of Slavic immigrants

Peru, Flag Of

2005-02-09T06:36:00.000-08:00

The first national flag of Peru was created in 1820, when José de San Martín arrived with his Army of the Andes from Argentina and Chile. The Peruvian flag he designed combined the colours red and white, said to have been chosen because San Martín saw a flock of flamingos take wing at his arrival. The form of the flag was unusual—a diagonal division forming two white and two

Uraninite

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

The element uranium was discovered by

Epistemology, Relations of ideas and matters of fact

2005-02-08T09:34:00.000-08:00

Human thought concerns two kinds of things: relations of ideas and matters of fact. Relations of ideas can either be intuited, that is, seen directly, or deduced from other propositions. That a is identical with a, that b resembles c, and that d is larger than e are examples of propositions that are intuited. The opposites of true propositions expressing relations of ideas

Elizabeth Ii

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

Elizabeth was the elder daughter of Albert, duke of York, and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. As the child of a younger son of King George V, the young Elizabeth had little prospect of acceding to the throne until her uncle, Edward VIII (afterward duke of Windsor), abdicated

Pérez De Ayala, Ramón

2005-02-06T15:52:00.000-08:00

Pérez de Ayala studied law at Oviedo University and philosophy and literature at the University of Madrid. During World War I he covered France, Italy, England, South America, and the United States as a correspondent for the Buenos Aires periodical

Priestley, J(ohn) B(oynton)

2005-02-06T04:04:00.000-08:00

Priestley served in the infantry in World War I (1914–19) and then studied English literature at Trinity College, Cambridge (B.A., 1922). He thereafter worked as a journalist and first

Cohenite

2005-02-05T23:40:00.000-08:00

The mineral iron and nickel carbide [(Fe,Ni)3C] that occurs as an accessory constituent of several iron meteorites, of all coarse octahedrites containing 7 percent or less nickel, and of at least one stony meteorite, an enstatite chondrite. Cohenite closely resembles the meteoritic mineral schreibersite, and it may be more common in meteorites than is supposed. When

Tapestry, Collection catalogs

2005-02-05T21:59:00.000-08:00

Important illustrated catalogs of tapestry collections include: A.S. Cavallo, Tapestries of Europe and Colonial Peru in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2 vol. (1967); D. Du Bon, Tapestries from the Samuel H. Kress Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (1964); H.C. Marillier, The Tapestries at Hampton Court Palace, London, 2nd ed. (1962), and with A.J. Wace, Marlborough Tapestries at Blenheim Palace (1968); N.Y. Biryukova, The Leningrad Hermitage Gothic and Renaissance Tapestries (1966); M. Crick Kuntziger, Musees royaux d'Art et d'Histoire: Catalogues des tapisseries (1956); A.m. Erkelens, Wandtapijten I. Late Goteik en vroege Renaissance, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (1962); and A.F. Kendrick, Catalogue of Tapestries at the Victoria and Albert Museum (1924). Tapestries of the second half of the 20th century are shown in numerous exhibition catalogs, such as Erika Sellman-Büsching, Tapisserien 1970 bis 1981 (1981); F. Vialet, Tapisseries contemporaines d'Aubusson (1981); Swiss Tapestries, Artists of Today (1981).

Pre-columbian Civilizations, The nature of Andean civilization

2005-02-04T11:37:00.000-08:00

The coastal desert was inhabited for millennia by fishermen, and many of their settlements have been studied by archaeologists. The people in these communities were familiar with the sea and depended heavily on its products, but from very early times they also used and possibly cultivated native varieties of cotton. Textiles have been the major art form in the

Follen, Karl

2005-02-03T18:10:00.000-08:00

Graduated from the University of Giessen as a doctor of civil and canonical law (1818), Follen taught there and in the

Thompson, Lucky

2005-02-02T17:20:00.000-08:00

Thompson played tenor saxophone in the early 1940s with Lionel Hampton, the legendary Billy Eckstine band, and Count Basie before a highly active period in Los Angeles working with Dizzy

Netanyahu, Benjamin

2005-02-02T05:56:00.000-08:00

Netanyahu was the son of the historian Benzion Netanyahu. In 1963 the family moved to Philadelphia in the United States, where Benjamin attended high school. He enlisted in the Israeli military in 1967 and became a soldier in the elite special operations unit Sayeret Matcal.

Paul, The Apostle, Saint

2005-02-01T20:25:00.000-08:00

Converted only a few years after the death of Jesus, he became the leading Apostle (missionary) of the new movement and played a decisive part in extending it beyond the limits of Judaism to become a worldwide

Yamato Takeru

2005-01-31T09:43:00.000-08:00

The legendary son of the legendary 12th emperor Keiko, Yamato Takeru was supposedly responsible for expanding the territory of the Yamato court. His story appears in the chronicles Kojiki (completed in 712) and Nihon Shoki (“Japanese Chronicles”; completed in 720). In the stories, he subdued two uncouth Kumaso warriors

Bahrain

2005-01-31T07:23:00.000-08:00

Bahrain has been inhabited since prehistoric times, and several thousand burial mounds in the northern part of the main island probably date from the Sumerian period of the 3rd millennium BC. It was the seat of ancient

Harun Ar-rashid

2005-01-30T14:30:00.000-08:00

In full Harun ar-Rashid ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi ibn al-Mansur al-'Abbasi fifth caliph of the 'Abbasid dynasty (786–809), who ruled Islam at the zenith of its empire with a luxury in Baghdad memorialized in The Thousand and One Nights (The Arabian Nights Entertainment).

Clout Shooting

2005-01-29T21:50:00.000-08:00

As practiced by the Royal Company of Archers (the British sovereign's bodyguard in Scotland, formally organized in 1676) and the Woodmen of Arden (English society of archers, founded 1785), traditional longbows

Ani

2005-01-29T21:45:00.000-08:00

Any of three species of big-billed, glossy black birds of the genus Crotophaga of the cuckoo family (Cuculidae), of tropical America. These insect eaters forage on the ground in close and noisy flocks, often in fields with cattle. The bill is high-arched, bladelike, and hook-tipped; the tail is long and broad; the wings are short; and the plumage is floppy, so that

John

2005-01-27T17:37:00.000-08:00

A Roman archdeacon well liked by the populace, John was elected by them on January 25 against the nobility's candidate, Sergius II. John withdrew to the Lateran Palace, his stronghold for a brief period. Concurrently, Sergius was consecrated pope at St. Peter's without imperial sanction. John was saved from being murdered by the

Switzerland, Remaining challenges

2005-01-27T14:32:00.000-08:00

At the end of the 20th century, growing doubts about Switzerland's past and future emerged. Many Swiss questioned the country's traditional “bunker mentality” in a Europe at peace and with open borders. Particularly troubling for Switzerland was an international debate during the 1990s about “dormant accounts”—assets left by foreign Jews in Swiss banks during the Nazi era

Bottrop

2005-01-27T04:00:00.000-08:00

City, North Rhine-Westphalia Land (state), northwestern Germany. It lies at the northern edge of the Ruhr industrial region, on the Rhine-Herne Canal, northwest of Essen. Although mentioned in the Middle Ages, it remained a small peasant community until coal was discovered there in the latter part of the 19th century. Most of its churches and public buildings date from after

Breconian Stage

2005-01-26T08:32:00.000-08:00

Division of the Old Red Sandstone of the Devonian Period in western Europe (the Devonian Period began about 395,000,000 years ago and lasted about 50,000,000 years); the Breconian Stage follows the Dittonian and precedes the Farlovian Stage. It was named for exposures studied at the Brecon Beacons in southern Wales. The rocks of the Breconian consist of red, gray, and green sandstones in

Scandinavian Literature, Translations from Latin

2005-01-25T01:09:00.000-08:00

A quantity of secular literature was translated from Latin between the 12th and 14th centuries. The “Prophecies of Merlin,” already translated in verse by a Thingeyrar monk, were combined with a complete translation of Geoffrey of Monmouth's history and titled Breta sögur (“Stories of the Britons”). In one 14th-century manuscript this was preceded by the Trójumanna saga (“Story