ResponsibleHat

Mauritius

2005-04-05T11:51:00.000-07:00

Officially Republic Of Mauritius, island country, the central independent island state of the Mascarene group, lying about 500 miles (800 km) east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. It is situated at latitude 20°18¢ S and longitude 57°36¢ E and extends 38 miles (61 km) from north to south and 29 miles (47 km) from east to west. Its outlying territories are Rodrigues Island, lying 344 miles (553 km) eastward, the Cargados Carajos Shoals, 250 miles (402 km) northeastward,

Reformed Church In America

2005-04-04T06:15:00.000-07:00

Church that developed from the Dutch settlements in New Netherlands (New York) in the 17th century. The Dutch Reformed Church was the first Reformed church of continental European background in North America. During the period of Dutch sovereignty over New Netherlands, it was the established church of the colony. When the English seized the colony in 1664, they gave assurances

Han River

2005-04-04T02:47:00.000-07:00

Wade–Giles romanization Han Shui, Pinyin Han Shui, one of the most important tributaries of the Yangtze River of China. It has a total length of about 952 mi (1,532 km). The Han Shui rises in the Shen-ch'iung Shan (mountains), part of the Mi-t'sang Shan in the north of Ning-ch'iang County in the extreme southwest of Shensi Province. Its upper stream is known successively as the Yü-tai Ho, the Yang Shui, and, below Mien-hsien, the Mien Shui. At Han-chung

Mosaic Glass

2005-04-03T14:46:00.000-07:00

Glassware made by fusing together pieces of diversely coloured glass. The earliest known glassware—vases produced in Egypt about the 15th century BC—is of this type. The Egyptian vases were formed by wrapping rods of different coloured glass softened by heating around a core of sand and dung. During the Ptolemaic period (305–30 BC) Alexandrian craftsmen perfected the manipulation

Macbride, Seán

2005-04-02T10:34:00.000-08:00

MacBride was the son of the Irish actress and patriot Maud Gonne and her husband, Major John MacBride, who was executed in 1916 for his part in the Easter Rising of that year against the British. Educated in Paris and Ireland, Seán MacBride,

Calbayog

2005-04-02T08:24:00.000-08:00

City, on the western coast of Samar Island, Philippines. The city lies along the Samar Sea at the mouth of the Calbayog River. It is a religious and educational centre, with fishing and mat-making the main industries. Calbayog is a regular port of call for interisland ships, since it is less subject to storms than is the northern coast. It is a leading exporter of abaca and

Biblical Literature, Legislation

2005-04-01T18:59:00.000-08:00

The book of Exodus includes not only the narrative and celebration of God's redemptive action in the Exodus and wanderings and his revealing presence at Mt. Sinai but also a corpus of legislation, both civil and religious, that is ascribed to God and this revelation event. The Covenant Code, or Book of the Covenant, presented in chapters 20–23, immediately following the Decalogue

Samarra'

2005-03-31T15:28:00.000-08:00

Town, central Iraq. Located on the Tigris River, it is the site of a prehistoric settlement of the 5th millennium BC. The town was founded between the 3rd and 7th centuries AD. In 836, when the 'Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tasim was pressured to leave Baghdad, he made Samarra' his new capital. He built a palace and gardens, and under his successors the town grew until it stretched along the Tigris for

Bab, The

2005-03-30T23:49:00.000-08:00

At an early age, 'Ali Mohammad became familiar with the Shaykhi school of the Shi'i branch of Islam and with its leader, Sayyid Kazim Rashti, whom he had met on

González De Mendoza, Pedro, Cardinal

2005-03-30T10:33:00.000-08:00

Mendoza, the fifth son of the poet Iñigo López de Mendoza, marqués de Santillana, studied at the University of Salamanca. After serving as chaplain to King John II, he

Userkaf

2005-03-29T07:04:00.000-08:00

Probably descended from Redjedef (third king of the 4th dynasty), Userkaf strengthened his legitimacy by marrying the heiress Khentkaues, who was a descendant of the main branch of the royal family. Thus he ended the dynastic struggles that the

Juruá River

2005-03-27T17:03:00.000-08:00

Portuguese Rio Juruá, Spanish Río Yuruá, river that rises in the highlands east of the Ucayali River in Loreto department, Peru. It flows northward through Acre state, Brazil. Entering Amazonas state, Brazil, it meanders eastward and then east-northeastward, emptying into the stretch of the Amazon River known as the Solimões River, near Tamaniquá. The most winding river in the Amazon basin, the Juruá is calculated

Skelton, John

2005-03-27T13:44:00.000-08:00

His place of birth and childhood

Teleprinter

2005-03-27T05:17:00.000-08:00

Also called Teletypewriter, any of various telegraphic instruments that transmit and receive printed messages and data via telephone cables or radio relay systems. Teleprinters became the most common telegraphic instruments shortly after entering commercial use in the 1920s. They were used by operators in local telegraph offices and switching centres, by press associations and other private

Eakins, Thomas

2005-03-26T09:54:00.000-08:00

In 1875 Eakins, who had yet to become well known, decided to paint a major picture for the Centennial Exposition to be held in Philadelphia the following year. He took as his subject a scene that had become familiar to him—Samuel Gross of Jefferson Medical College operating in his clinic before his students. Gross was a magnetic teacher and one of the country's greatest surgeons.

Tipperary

2005-03-25T02:15:00.000-08:00

(1) To the east of Lough (lake)

Venkataraman, Ramaswamy

2005-03-25T01:07:00.000-08:00

Venkataraman studied law at the University of Madras and began his legal practice in 1935. He became involved in India's independence struggle and was consequently jailed by the British (1942–44). After his release he continued to practice law,

Silk Road

2005-03-24T22:23:00.000-08:00

Originating at Sian, the 4,000-mile (6,400-kilometre) road, actually a caravan tract, followed the Great Wall

Bradford-on-avon

2005-03-24T17:49:00.000-08:00

Town (“parish”), West Wiltshire district, administrative and historic county of Wiltshire, England, on the River Avon (Bristol Avon). Its limestone houses rise up the steep side of a valley, and the river is spanned by a medieval bridge complete with chapel. A local monastery existed in the 7th century, and in Abbey Yard, presumably its site, stands the Saxon Church of St. Lawrence,

Mardersteig, Giovanni

2005-03-24T13:32:00.000-08:00

He studied law at the universities of Bonn, Vienna, Kiel, and finally Jena, where he received his degree. After graduation he taught school for a time in the Swiss town of Zuoz. In 1917 he joined the publishing house

Dabrowska, Maria

2005-03-24T06:59:00.000-08:00

Zbigniew Folejewski, Maria Dabrowska (1967), is a highly recommended English-language study.

Interior Design, Industrial interiors

2005-03-22T10:41:00.000-08:00

Industrial interiors do not usually involve interior designers. There are, of course, many industrial spaces, such as workshops, laboratories, and factories, that have been planned by architects and designers, and there are a few that have stressed some aesthetic considerations. By and large, however, industrial interiors are created as strictly functional spaces.

Wolf, Christa

2005-03-21T11:38:00.000-08:00

Wolf was reared in a middle-class, pro-Nazi family. With the defeat of Germany in 1945, she moved with her family to East Germany. She studied at the Universities of Jena and Leipzig (1949–53), thereafter working as editor of the

Dipteran, Annotated classification

2005-03-21T09:14:00.000-08:00

Characterized by large squamae (calypters that join base of wing to thorax); Scatophagidae

Nahman Ben Simhah Of Bratslav

2005-03-21T04:53:00.000-08:00

The great-grandson of the Ba'al Shem Tov, the founder of the Hasidic movement, Nahman was an ascetic from childhood. Married at age 13, he became a self-appointed religious leader and teacher at about age 20. After studying (1798–99) in Tiberius,

Analytic Geometry, General classes of curves

2005-03-20T22:27:00.000-08:00

Caustic is an envelope of rays; more specifically, when the light rays emanating from a source are reflected by a given curve, the envelope of the reflected rays is the caustic by reflection, or catacaustic, of the given curve with respect to the source in question. When the rays from a source are refracted by a given curve, the envelope of refracted rays is called the caustic

'amili, Baha' Ad-din Muhammad Ibn Husayn, Al-

2005-03-20T10:31:00.000-08:00

Al-'Amili was educated by his father, Shaykh Husayn, a Shi'ite theologian, and by excellent teachers of mathematics and medicine. After his family left Syria in 1559 to escape persecution by the Ottoman Turks, al-'Amili lived in Herat (now in Afghanistan)

Tiwanaku

2005-03-19T14:27:00.000-08:00

Some scholars date the earliest remains found at the site to the early part of the Early Intermediate Period (c. 200 BC–AD 200); others suggest that the culture is evident in artifacts

Rabin, Leah

2005-03-19T10:30:00.000-08:00

German-born Israeli consort and peace activist (b. April 8, 1928, Königsberg, Ger. [now Kaliningrad, Russia]—d. Nov. 12, 2000, Tel Aviv, Israel), was the wife of former Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated in 1995. She grew up in Tel Aviv and met her husband while both were serving in the Palmach, a Jewish militia unit. The two were married during the Arab-Israeli war of 1948–49. Leah Rabin

Alajuela

2005-03-17T17:54:00.000-08:00

City, northwestern Costa Rica. It lies on the central plateau at an altitude of 3,141 feet (957 metres). Known in colonial days as La Lajuela and Villahermosa, the town was active in support of independence from Spain in 1821; five years later it suffered from a plot to restore Spanish control over Costa Rica. For a brief period in the 1830s Alajuela served as the nation's capital. It was the

30 Doradus

2005-03-17T14:31:00.000-08:00

Also called Tarantula Nebula (catalog number NGC 2070) immense ionized-hydrogen region in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way system (in which the Earth is located). The nebula consists of a cloud of interstellar gas—principally hydrogen—lit from within by young, hot stars that ionize the gas around them. As the atoms in the gas recombine, they emit visible light. The total mass of the nebula is about

Acton (of Aldenham), John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, 1st Baron, 8th Baronet

2005-03-17T04:27:00.000-08:00

English Liberal historian and moralist, the first great modern philosopher of resistance to the evil state, whether its form be authoritarian, democratic, or socialist. A comment that he wrote in a letter, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” today has become a familiar aphorism. He succeeded to the

Sikhism, Canonical and noncanonical literature

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

The earliest source materials on Nanak are the janam-sakhis (“life stories”), written 50 to 80 years after the death of the Guru. Most Sikh scholars reject them and rely instead on the Guru's compositions incorporated in the Adi Granth and the Vars (heroic ballads) composed by Bhai Gurdas (died 1629). Neither Nanak's hymns nor Gurdas' Vars are specific regarding the events of Nanak's life. Other historical

Selinus

2005-03-16T21:23:00.000-08:00

Selinus was founded in 651 or 628 BC by colonists from Megara Hyblaea and from Megara in Greece. The city got its name from the wild celery (Greek: selinon) that still grows in the locality. It achieved great prosperity in the 5th century BC, when its

Ariel

2005-03-15T23:48:00.000-08:00

Ariel orbits at a distance of 191,020 km (118,432 miles) from the centre of the planet. It has a period of 2.52 days. Ariel's estimated diameter is 1,330 km (825 miles), and its mass is thought to be about 1.8 ´ 10-5 that of Uranus.

Hayes, Helen

2005-03-15T22:13:00.000-08:00

At the behest of her mother, a touring stage performer, Hayes attended dancing class as a youngster, and, from 1905 to 1909, she performed with the Columbia Players. At age nine, she made her Broadway debut as Little Mimi in the Victor Herbert operetta

Endocrine System, Phylum Chordata

2005-03-15T18:11:00.000-08:00

The phylum Chordata is separated into three subgroups (or subphyla). The invertebrate subphylum Tunicata consists of the marine tunicates, including the ascidians and salps. The invertebrate subphylum Cephalochordata includes the fishlike amphioxus (or lancelet). Amphioxus is a small marine animal that closely resembles the larva of the jawless fishes (class

Heimwehr

2005-03-14T13:12:00.000-08:00

(German: Home Defense Force), any of the local organizations formed in various parts of Austria to expel invading Yugoslavs or preserve order immediately after World War I. Composed of conservative-minded country dwellers, the Heimwehr came to represent much of the Austrian right wing between World Wars I and II. Imbued with corporativism (an authoritarian view

Mammal, Distinguishing taxonomic features

2005-03-14T03:00:00.000-08:00

The higher classification of the Mammalia is based on consideration of a broad array of characters. Traditionally, evidence from comparative anatomy was of predominant importance, but more recently information from such disciplines as physiology, serology, and genetics has proved useful in considering relationships. Comparative study of living organisms

Cultural Revolution

2005-03-13T21:52:00.000-08:00

In full Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, Wade-Giles romanization Wu-ch'an Chieh-chi Wen-hua Ta Ke-ming, Pinyin Wuchanjieji Wenhua Dageming, upheaval launched by Chinese Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong during his last decade in power (1966–76) to renew the spirit of the Chinese revolution. Fearing that China would develop along the lines of the Soviet model and concerned about his own place in history, Mao threw China's cities into turmoil in a monumental effort to reverse the historic processes

Stone, Jesse

2005-03-13T02:27:00.000-08:00

American musician, songwriter, and rhythm-and-blues pioneer who, with his songs “Shake, Rattle and Roll” and “Money Honey,” figured largely in the birth of rock and roll; he also wrote the jazz standard “Idaho” (b. Nov. 16, 1901, Atchison, Kan.—d. April 1, 1999, Altamonte Springs, Fla.).

Baptist Union Of Great Britain And Ireland

2005-03-12T05:13:00.000-08:00

The Baptist Union is a voluntary organization made up of area associations of churches, individual churches, colleges,

China, Confucianism and philosophical Taoism

2005-03-12T00:19:00.000-08:00

By the beginning

Yajuj And Majuj

2005-03-11T09:23:00.000-08:00

In Islamic eschatology, two hostile forces who will ravage the Earth before the end of the world. The Qur'an relates that a certain people terrorized by Yajuj and Majuj induced Alexander the Great to construct a great wall between them. Yajuj and Majuj, thus trapped between two mountains until the last days of the world, dig under the wall every night trying to escape, only to find

Sailing

2005-03-10T21:23:00.000-08:00

The sport or pastime of cruising or racing in a sailboat or, more generally, in any large craft propelled by either sail or motor. See yacht.

Disco

2005-03-10T00:53:00.000-08:00

Initially ignored by radio, disco received its first significant exposure in deejay-based underground clubs that catered to black, gay, and

Hull House

2005-03-09T18:41:00.000-08:00

One of the first social settlements in North America. It was founded in Chicago in 1889 when Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr rented an abandoned residence at 800 South Halsted Street that had been built by Charles G. Hull in 1856. Twelve large buildings were added from year to year until Hull House covered half a city block and included a nearby playground and a large camp in

Ring

2005-03-09T08:04:00.000-08:00

In mathematics, a set having an addition that must be commutative (a + b = b + a for any a, b) and associative [a + (b + c) = (a + b) + c for any a, b, c], and a multiplication that must be associative [a(bc) = (ab)c for any a, b, c]. There must also be a zero, an identity element, negatives of all elements, and a distributive law relating addition and multiplication [a(b + c) = ab + ac and (a + b)c = ac + bc for any a, b, c]. A commutative ring

André, John

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

Sent to America in 1774, André became chief intelligence officer to the British commander in chief, General Sir Henry Clinton, in New York City. From May 1779 he carried on a secret correspondence

Antarctica

2005-03-07T23:47:00.000-08:00

Antarctica, as defined by the 42-nation Antarctic Treaty that entered into effect in 1961, comprises all lands and waters south of latitude 60° S. The land area is about 14.2 million sq km (5.3 million sq mi), principally the Antarctic continent itself and adjoining islands. Ice averaging 2,160 m (7,085 ft) in thickness covers 98% of the continent. There is no capital or permanent human habitation; scientific

Cam

2005-03-07T21:05:00.000-08:00

Cams are made in a variety of forms, such as: (1) a rotating disk

Beard, Charles A(ustin)

2005-03-07T04:10:00.000-08:00

American historian, best-known for his iconoclastic studies of the development of U.S. political institutions. His emphasis on the dynamics of socioeconomic conflict and change and his analysis of motivational factors in the founding of institutions made him one of the most influential American historians of his

Viganò, Salvatore

2005-03-06T23:43:00.000-08:00

Viganò was born of a family of dancers and was the nephew

Neuserre

2005-03-06T10:03:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Nyuserre, sixth king of the 5th dynasty (c. 2465–c. 2325 BC) of Egypt; he is primarily known for his temple to the sun-god Re at Abu Jirab (Abu Gurab) in Lower Egypt. The temple plan, like that built by Userkaf (the first king of the 5th dynasty), consisted of a valley temple, causeway, gate, and temple court, which contained an obelisk (the symbol of Re) and an alabaster altar. The sun-temple reliefs revealed an exceptionally

Theodebald

2005-03-06T07:59:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Theudebald, French Théodebald, or Thibaud Merovingian king of Reims from 547 or 548, in succession to his father, Theodebert I. He proved incapable of continuing the latter's dynamic policies. He left no son, and on his death his kingdom passed to his granduncle, Chlotar I.

Peres, Shimon

2005-03-05T11:43:00.000-08:00

Original name Shimon Perski Israeli statesman, leader of the Israel Labour Party (1977–92, 1995–97, and 2003– ) who served as prime minister of Israel in 1984–86 and 1995–96. In 1993, in his role as foreign minister, Peres helped negotiate a peace accord with Yasir 'Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), for which they, along with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, were jointly

Amphibole Asbestos

2005-03-04T01:55:00.000-08:00

A variety of the silicate mineral actinolite (q.v.).

Ford, Gerald R.

2005-03-03T23:31:00.000-08:00

Ford was defeated in the November 1976 election by a popular vote of 40.8 million to 39.1 million and an electoral vote of 297 to 240. When, during the race that ultimately ousted President Carter in 1980, Ford was offered the vice presidential role by candidate Ronald Reagan, whom Ford held responsible for dissipating Republican support for his 1976 campaign, he refused. After leaving the White House, Ford happily retired from public life, golfed and skied at his leisure, and ultimately joined the boards of directors of numerous corporations.

Strangles

2005-03-03T04:48:00.000-08:00

Horse disease caused by Streptococcus equi, a bacterium that invades nasal and throat passages and forms abscesses in lymph nodes and other parts of the body. It is one of a group of diseases called distemper of horses. Young horses are most susceptible to it, and outbreaks of the disease usually occur where a number of horses are stabled. Mortality is low. Treatment

Huysmans, Camille

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

Trained as a philologist, Huysmans taught at the collège at Ieper, Belg., the Atheneum at Ixelles, Belg., and the Université Nouvelle (French: “New University”) in Brussels.

Stafford

2005-03-02T10:06:00.000-08:00

Founded by Aethelflaed, daughter of Alfred the Great, the town of Stafford had its own mint from the reign of Aethelstan to that of Henry II. Stafford town was chartered in

Radhakrishnan, Sarvepalli

2005-03-02T04:01:00.000-08:00

Scholar and statesman who was president of India from 1962 to 1967. He served as professor of philosophy at Mysore (1918–21) and Calcutta (1921–31; 1937–41) universities and as vice chancellor of Andhra University (1931–36). He was professor of Eastern religions and ethics at the University of Oxford (1936–52) and vice chancellor of Benares Hindu University (1939–48), India. From 1953 to 1962 he was chancellor

Yesenin, Sergey Aleksandrovich

2005-03-01T04:43:00.000-08:00

The son of a peasant family of Old Believers, he left his

Bernard, Tristan

2005-02-28T14:42:00.000-08:00

Bernard's merit consisted in limiting his literary ambitions to his capabilities. His works were characterized by a tone of light cynicism and a cross fire of

Qatar

2005-02-28T13:29:00.000-08:00

Qatar was originally settled by nomads from the central part of the Arabian Peninsula. Qatari citizens, however, constitute only a small portion of the total population today. Economic growth in the 1970s and '80s created an economy dependent on foreign workers, mostly from South Asia or other parts of Arabia, who now far outnumber nationals; Qataris constitute less than

Hooker, John Lee

2005-02-28T00:11:00.000-08:00

Born into a Mississippi sharecropping family, Hooker learned to play the guitar from his stepfather and developed an interest in gospel music as a child. In 1943 he moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he made his mark

Dentatus, Manius Curius

2005-02-27T05:32:00.000-08:00

Dentatus was born into a plebeian family that was possibly Sabine in origin. As consul in 290 BC, he gained a decisive victory over the Samnites, thereby ending a war that had lasted 50 years. The same year, he also reduced the Sabine insurgents to submission and granted them civitas sine

Burgos

2005-02-26T08:49:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Burgos province, in the Castile-León comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”), northern Spain. It is located on the lower slopes of a castle-crowned hill overlooking the Arlanzón River, about 2,600 feet (800 m) above sea level. Founded in 884 as an eastern outpost of the Asturian kingdom by the Castilian count Diego Rodríguez Porcelos, it became the capital of the

Amalasuntha

2005-02-26T03:14:00.000-08:00

When her husband died, Amalasuntha was left with a son, Athalaric, and a daughter. At Theodoric's death, in 526, Athalaric was 10 years old, and Amalasuntha assumed the regency. Her pro-Byzantine policy, her patronage of literature and the arts, and her desire to educate

Aubusson, Pierre D'

2005-02-25T03:47:00.000-08:00

The son of French nobility, Aubusson joined the Knights of St. John c. 1453. The Knights, with their headquarters at Rhodes, held the island as a bar to Ottoman expansion in the Aegean. Aubusson became grand master of the order

Aluminum Bronze

2005-02-25T00:28:00.000-08:00

Any of a group of strong, corrosion-resistant alloys of copper containing from 4 to 15 percent aluminum and small amounts of other metals, used to make many machine parts and tools. Because of their golden colour and high tarnish resistance, the alloys are also used for jewelry and in architecture. Their resistance to oxidation at high temperatures and to corrosion, particularly

Argentina

2005-02-24T15:53:00.000-08:00

Officially Argentine Republic, Spanish República Argentina country occupying most of the southern portion, or southern cone, of South America. With an area of 1,073,399 square miles (2,780,092 square km)—more extensive than Mexico and the U.S. state of Texas combined—it is the eighth largest country in the world. Argentina is shaped like an inverted triangle with its base at the top; it is some 880 miles (1,420 km) across at its widest from east to west and stretches

Ester

2005-02-24T05:13:00.000-08:00

Carboxylic acid esters, formula RCOOR¢ (R and R¢ are any organic combining groups), are commonly prepared by reaction of carboxylic acids and alcohols in the presence of hydrochloric acid or sulfuric

Guadalajara

2005-02-23T21:32:00.000-08:00

Province, in the autonomous community (region) of Castile-La Mancha, central Spain, occupying part of the uptilted northeastern edge of the Meseta Central (plateau). In the north are highlands that reach their greatest elevations in Cerro de San Felipe (7,214 feet [2,199 metres]), and other spurs of the Sierra de Guadarrama. In the south, the land slopes into the plateau basin of New Castile.

Cella

2005-02-23T02:16:00.000-08:00

Greek Naos, in Classical architecture, the body of a temple (as distinct from the portico) in which the image of the deity is housed. In early Greek and Roman architecture it was a simple room, usually rectangular, with the entrance at one end and with the side walls often being extended to form a porch. In larger temples, where the cella is open to the sky, a small temple was sometimes

Religion

2005-02-22T09:31:00.000-08:00

The

Tachism

2005-02-22T08:40:00.000-08:00

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

Epistemology, Innate versus learned

2005-02-21T15:06:00.000-08:00

The puzzle about origins of knowledge has led historically to two different kinds of issues. One of these is the question of whether knowledge (or at least certain kinds of knowledge) is innate, meaning that it is not acquired or learned through experience but in some important sense is present in the human psyche at birth. The matter is still a live issue today, not only

Furniture, Functionalist modern

2005-02-21T01:23:00.000-08:00

About 1925, a new rationality began in furniture design, stimulated by the emergence of progressive experiments typified in the works and theories of the Bauhaus, a revolutionary German school of arts and crafts established in 1919 and staffed by leading architects, designers, and painters until Hitler closed it in 1933. Bauhaus instruction used crafts as experimental techniques

Lanai

2005-02-20T18:54:00.000-08:00

Island, Maui county, Hawaii, U.S., across the Auau channel from Maui Island. Formed by the extinct volcano Palawai (3,370 feet [1,027 m]), it has an area of 140 square miles (363 square km). In 1854 a group of Mormon elders formed a colony there that failed 10 years later. Lanai was used primarily for cattle grazing until 1922, when it was purchased by the Dole Corporation for use as a pineapple plantation. In 1961, Castle

Antarctic Circle

2005-02-20T00:02:00.000-08:00

Parallel, or line of latitude around the Earth, at 66°30¢ S. Because the Earth's axis is inclined about 23.5° from the vertical, this parallel marks the northern limit of the area within which, for one day or more each year, at the summer and winter solstices, the Sun does not set (December 21 or 22) or rise (June 21 or 22). The length of continuous day or night increases southward from one day at the Antarctic

Schenectady

2005-02-19T23:24:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1809) of Schenectady county, east-central New York, U.S., on the Mohawk River and New York State Canal System. With Albany and Troy, it forms an urban-industrial complex. Founded as a Dutch settlement in 1662, it took its name from the nearby Mohawk village of Schaunactada, probably meaning “over,” or “across the pine plains.” In 1690 the village was virtually destroyed in the Schenectady

Colling, Robert; And Colling, Charles

2005-02-19T21:03:00.000-08:00

After visiting Robert Bakewell, the outstanding livestock breeder, at Dishley, Leicestershire, Charles began in 1782 a program of improving the quality of cattle in the Tees River valley. His brother, who occupied another farm in the district,

Elijah Ben Solomon

2005-02-18T03:25:00.000-08:00

Born into a long line of scholars, Elijah traveled

Yi Dynasty

2005-02-17T21:04:00.000-08:00

General Yi established

Chicago Literary Renaissance

2005-02-17T20:18:00.000-08:00

The flourishing of literary activity in Chicago during the period from approximately 1912 to 1925. The leading writers of this renaissance—Theodore Dreiser, Sherwood Anderson, Edgar Lee Masters, and Carl Sandburg—realistically depicted the contemporary urban environment, decrying the loss of traditional rural values in the increasingly industrialized and materialistic

Nature Worship, Earth

2005-02-17T13:12:00.000-08:00

Although in polytheistic religions the earth is usually represented as a goddess and associated with the god of heaven as her spouse, only rarely is there an elaborate or intensive cult of earth worship. There are in many religions mother goddesses who have elaborate cults and who have assumed the function of fertility for land and man, but they hardly have a chthonic

Alexander I

2005-02-16T09:29:00.000-08:00

The son of Prince Alexander of Hesse (previously created prince of Battenberg upon his morganatic marriage) and a favourite nephew of Alexander II of Russia, Alexander served during 1877 with the Russian forces in the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78), which resulted in the autonomy of Bulgaria.

Calbayog

2005-02-16T06:59:00.000-08:00

Agricola, Georgius

2005-02-16T04:37:00.000-08:00

(Latin), German Georg Bauer German scholar and scientist known as “the father of mineralogy.” While a highly educated classicist and humanist, well regarded by scholars of his own and later times, he was yet singularly independent of the theories of ancient authorities. He was indeed among the first to found a natural

Alcman

2005-02-15T22:15:00.000-08:00

Alcman's work survives in fragments, the longest being a parthenion (a choir song for girls) discovered in a 1st-century papyrus in Egypt in 1855. In the Suda lexicon (late 10th century AD) Alcman is described as a man “of an extremely amorous disposition and the inventor of love poems.” He was clearly

China, Philosophy and religion

2005-02-14T18:29:00.000-08:00

Taoism and Buddhism by Ming times had declined into ill-organized popular religions, and what organization they had was regulated by the state. State espousal of Chu Hsi thought, and state repression of noted early Ming litterateurs, such as the poet Kao Ch'i and the thinker Fang Hsiao-ju, made for widespread philosophical conformity during the 15th century. This was

Liquid Crystal

2005-02-14T16:11:00.000-08:00

Substance that blends the structures and properties of the normally disparate liquid and crystalline solid states. Liquids can flow, for example, while solids cannot, and crystalline solids possess special symmetry properties that liquids lack. Ordinary solids melt into ordinary liquids as the temperature increases—e.g., ice melts into liquid water. Some solids

Albacete

2005-02-13T11:10:00.000-08:00

Capital of Albacete provincia, Castile-La Mancha comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”), southeast-central Spain. Albacete is located in the historic La Mancha region, on the Don Juan River at its juncture with the María Cristina Canal. Of Moorish origin (Arabic: Al-Basit), it was the scene of two battles between Christians and Moors, in 1145 and 1146. Refounded in 1365 as Albacete, it

Hviezdoslav

2005-02-13T00:27:00.000-08:00

Hviezdoslav was a lawyer until he became able to devote himself to literature. He originally wrote in Hungarian and was a Hungarian patriot, but in the 1860s he switched both activities to Slovak. By the time of his death the Slovaks

India, Other important sites

2005-02-12T21:45:00.000-08:00

A growing number of other sites have been excavated, each important in its own way. On the coast near Las Bela in Baluchistan, materials suggesting a substantial shell-working industry have been found at Balakot. Not far from Mehrgarh, at the head of the Kacchi desert, the small settlement of Naushahro Firoz provides valuable evidence of the actual transformation of

Aerial Perspective

2005-02-12T18:07:00.000-08:00

Also called Atmospheric Perspective, method of creating the illusion of depth, or recession, in a painting or drawing by modulating colour to simulate changes effected by the atmosphere on the colours of things seen at a distance. Although the use of aerial perspective has been known since antiquity, Leonardo da Vinci first used the term aerial perspective in his Treatise on

Computers, Workstation computers

2005-02-12T13:51:00.000-08:00

While the personal computer market grew and matured, a variation on its theme grew out of university labs and began to threaten the minicomputers for their market. The new machines were called workstations. They looked like personal computers, and they sat on a single desktop and were used by a single individual just like personal computers, but they were distinguished

Caruso, Enrico

2005-02-11T00:02:00.000-08:00

Caruso was of a poor family and was the 18th of 20 children. Although he was a musical child who sang Neapolitan folk songs everywhere and joined his parish choir at the age of nine, he received no formal

Anne

2005-02-09T22:30:00.000-08:00

Queen of Great Britain from 1702 to 1714. The last Stuart monarch, she wished to rule independently, but her intellectual limitations and chronic ill health caused her to rely heavily on her ministers, who directed England's efforts against France and Spain in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–14). The bitter rivalries between Whigs and Tories