DryDrawer

Asclepigenia

2005-04-05T11:06:00.000-07:00

After the death of her father, Plutarchus, Asclepigenia was active in perpetuating the eastern version of Platonism, in cooperation with her brother, Hiero. Upon the succession of Proclus as head of the school at Athens, Asclepigenia instructed him in the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle. She

Levanter

2005-04-03T13:37:00.000-07:00

Also spelled levante strong wind of the western Mediterranean Sea and the southern coasts of France and Spain. It is mild, damp, and rainy and is most common in spring and fall. Its name is derived from Levant, the land at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, and refers to the wind's eastward direction. The levanter reaches its maximum intensities in the Strait of Gibraltar, where it sometimes

Sarasota

2005-03-31T19:40:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1921) of Sarasota county, west-central Florida, U.S. It lies along Sarasota Bay (an arm of the Gulf of Mexico), about 60 miles (95 km) south of Tampa. Sarasota, variously spelled Sara Zota, Sarazota, and Sarasote, appeared on maps in the 1700s, but the origin of the place-name is uncertain; one explanation is that it may have been derived from a Spanish term meaning “a place of dancing.” The

Say, Thomas

2005-03-29T11:04:00.000-08:00

Say accompanied various expeditions in North American territory, including an exploration of the Rocky Mountains led by Stephen

Ruskin, John

2005-03-28T05:11:00.000-08:00

English critic of art, architecture, and society who was a gifted painter, a distinctive prose stylist, and an important example of the Victorian Sage, or Prophet: a writer of polemical prose who seeks to cause widespread cultural and social change.

Xie Jun

2005-03-25T07:52:00.000-08:00

At the age of six Xie began to play Chinese chess, and by the age of 10 she had become the girls' champion of Beijing. At the urging of government authorities, she soon began playing Western chess. Despite indifferent training opportunities, Xie

New Castle

2005-03-24T10:26:00.000-08:00

City, New Castle county, northern Delaware, U.S. It is just south of Wilmington on the Delaware River, there linked to New Jersey by the twin spans of the Delaware Memorial Bridge. The original settlement, called Santhoeck, was established in 1651, when Peter Stuyvesant, the Dutch administrator, built Fort Casimir there. The settlement was seized by the Swedes in 1654 but was regained

Bricker, John W.

2005-03-24T00:04:00.000-08:00

After graduation from Ohio State University in 1916 and admission to the Ohio bar in 1917, Bricker served as a World War I army officer before entering

Costa Alegre, Caetano Da

2005-03-22T21:06:00.000-08:00

Costa Alegre was born into a creole family but moved in 1882 to Portugal, where he enrolled in the Medical School of Lisbon. Before he could graduate and

Jacobean Age

2005-03-22T19:44:00.000-08:00

In architecture the Jacobean age is characterized

Quang Ngai

2005-03-20T01:47:00.000-08:00

Town, central Vietnam, on the South China Sea coast. It is a minor port on the south bank of the Tra Khuc River estuary, 125 miles (200 km) southeast of Hue. The town has lighter (barge) facilities, a hospital, and a commercial airport. Across the river at Sin Tinh a highway penetrates the interior to a short distance beyond Phuoc Lam; the highway to Cong Tum in the central highlands begins

Kirkwood Gaps

2005-03-19T04:08:00.000-08:00

Interruptions that appear in the distribution of asteroids where the orbital period of any small body present would be a simple fraction of that of Jupiter. Several zones of low density in the minor-planet population were noticed about 1860 by Daniel Kirkwood, an American mathematician and astronomer, who explained the gaps as resulting from perturbations by Jupiter.

Wells, H(erbert) G(eorge)

2005-03-18T17:27:00.000-08:00

English novelist, journalist, sociologist, and historian, best known for such science fiction as The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds and such comic novels as Tono-Bungay and The History of Mr. Polly.

Stork

2005-03-17T06:57:00.000-08:00

Any of 17 species of large, long-necked, birds constituting the family Ciconiidae (order Ciconiiformes), related to the herons, flamingos, and ibises. Storks range from about 60 centimetres (2 feet) to more than 150 centimetres (5 feet) in height. All or part of the head and upper neck may be bare of feathers and brightly coloured. Storks are voiceless or nearly so, for lack of a fully developed

Sibiryakov, Aleksandr Mikhaylovich

2005-03-16T05:02:00.000-08:00

Sibiryakov was a graduate of a polytechnic school in Zürich. A wealthy man, he financed the scientific expeditions of the Swedish explorer Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (1878–79) and the Russian

Florence

2005-03-16T04:57:00.000-08:00

City, seat of Lauderdale county, northwestern Alabama, U.S. It lies on the Tennessee River about 65 miles (105 km) west of Huntsville, forming with Sheffield, Tuscumbia, and Muscle Shoals a four-city metropolitan area in the Muscle Shoals region. Settlers first arrived and established a trading post there about 1779. The area was later purchased by a land company whose stockholders

Giurgiu

2005-03-14T20:45:00.000-08:00

Judet (county), southeastern Romania, occupying an area of 1,471 square miles (3,810 square km) bounded on the south by the Danube River and Bulgaria. The county, consisting mostly of lowlands, was formed in 1981 from a portion of Ilfov district. Besides the eastward-flowing Danube, the county is also drained southward by the Arges and Dimobovita rivers. At the junction of the Câlnistea and

China, The first Opium War and its aftermath

2005-03-14T01:38:00.000-08:00

In February 1840 the British government decided on an expedition, and Rear Adm. George Elliot was appointed first commissioner and plenipotentiary to China. In June, 16 British warships arrived in Hong Kong and sailed northward to the mouth of the Pei River to press China with its demands. No agreement was reached. In May 1841 the British attacked the walled city of Canton and

Braccio Da Montone

2005-03-12T08:55:00.000-08:00

Born of a noble Perugian family, Braccio became the pupil of Alberico da Barbiano, the first great Italian condottiere, initiating a lifelong rivalry with another

Ghassulian Culture

2005-03-11T14:20:00.000-08:00

Archaeological stage dating to the Middle Chalcolithic Period in southern Palestine (c. 3800–c. 3350 BC). Its type-site, Tulaylat al-Ghassul, is located in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea in modern Jordan and was excavated (1929–38) by the Jesuits. The Ghassulian stage was characterized by small settlements of farming peoples, immigrants from the north, who built mud-brick, trapezoid-shaped

Latin League

2005-03-09T22:23:00.000-08:00

Originally a confederation of about 30 villages and tribes in the neighbourhood of ancient Rome that joined for mutual protection and defense against hostile adjoining communities. The city of Alba Longa, the leader of this federation, was the site of religious ceremonies, which included worship of Jupiter on the Alban Mount. It was also the place where league members

Communist Party Of Cuba

2005-03-08T01:40:00.000-08:00

The Cuban Communist Party (Partido Comunista Cubano) was

Chelif River

2005-03-07T06:30:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Chéliff, or Sheliff, the longest and most important river of Algeria. Its farthest tributary, the Sebgag River, rises in the Amour ranges of the Saharan Atlas Mountains near Aflou. Crossing the Hauts Plateaux for most of the year as a chain of marshes and muddy pools, the river loses most of its water but is replenished by a stream near Chabounia, the Nahr Ouassel River. The Chelif then turns

Peter I

2005-03-06T21:30:00.000-08:00

Born the third son of the reigning prince Alexander Karadjordjevic (1842–58), Peter became heir to the throne on the death

Culmann, Carl

2005-03-05T15:06:00.000-08:00

In 1841 Culmann entered the Bavarian civil service as a cadet bridge engineer with the Hof railway construction division. He was eventually appointed professor of engineering sciences at the

Alessandri Palma, Arturo

2005-03-03T18:32:00.000-08:00

The son of an Italian immigrant, Alessandri was graduated in law from the University of Chile in 1893 and in 1897 was elected to the Chamber of Deputies. He was at various times minister of industry, minister of

Domesday Book

2005-03-03T07:43:00.000-08:00

The original record or summary of William I the Conqueror's survey of England. By contemporaries the whole operation was known as “the description of England,” but the popular name Domesday—i.e., “doomsday,” when men face the record from which there is no appeal—was in general use by the mid-12th century. The survey, in the scope of its detail and the speed of its execution, was perhaps

Allan, Sir Hugh

2005-03-02T19:39:00.000-08:00

Allan emigrated to Canada in 1826 and in 1831 began work for a shipbuilding company in Montreal. By 1839 he was a senior partner, and by 1853 he and his brother

Dream Allegory

2005-03-02T11:11:00.000-08:00

Also called Dream Vision, allegorical tale presented in the narrative framework of a dream. Especially popular in the Middle Ages, the device made more acceptable the fantastic and sometimes bizarre world of personifications and symbolic objects characteristic of medieval allegory. Well-known examples of the dream allegory include the first part of Roman de la rose (13th century); Chaucer's

France, History Of, Local institutions

2005-02-28T03:14:00.000-08:00

Except in the north, which was divided into districts called pagi, the Merovingians continued to use the city (the Roman civitas) as the principal administrative division. A count was installed in each pagus and city (urbs) and delegated financial, military, and judicial authority. Groups of counts were occasionally placed under the authority of a duke, whose responsibilities

Cosin, John

2005-02-27T00:48:00.000-08:00

Cosin was named a chaplain of Durham Cathedral (1619) and subsequently wrote the famed Collection of Private

Boucher, Jonathan

2005-02-26T11:42:00.000-08:00

In 1759 Boucher went to Virginia as a private tutor. After a visit to London in 1762 for his ordination, he became rector of Annapolis, Md., and tutored George Washington's stepson, thus becoming a family friend. His royalist views cost him his position: by 1775 he was keeping pistols

Nahavand, Battle Of

2005-02-25T03:48:00.000-08:00

At Nahavand some 30,000 Arab troops, under the command of Nu'man, attacked a Sasanian army alleged to number 150,000 men. The Sasanian troops, commanded

Leviticus

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

Hebrew Wayiqra ' (And He Called), the third book of the Latin Vulgate Bible, the name of which designates its contents as a book (or manual) primarily concerned with the priests and their duties. Although Leviticus is basically a book of laws, it also contains some narrative (chapters 8–9, 10:1–7, 10:16–20, and 24:10–14). The book is usually divided into five parts: sacrificial laws (chapters 1–7); the inauguration of the priesthood

Abu'l-wafa'

2005-02-24T06:57:00.000-08:00

Abu'l-Wafa' worked in a private observatory in Baghdad, where he made observations to determine, among other astronomical parameters, the obliquity of the ecliptic, the length of the seasons, and the latitude of the city.

Atkins, Chet

2005-02-21T16:49:00.000-08:00

Born into a musical family, Atkins began playing the guitar as a child and during his teen years performed professionally as a fiddler. By the late 1940s he had become a sought-after

Union Of Soviet Socialist Republics

2005-02-21T10:16:00.000-08:00

(U.S.S.R.) also called Soviet Union Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik , or Sovetsky Soyuz former northern Eurasian empire (1917/22–1991) stretching from the Baltic and Black seas to the Pacific Ocean and, in its final years, consisting of 15 Soviet Socialist Republics (S.S.R.'s)–Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belorussia (now Belarus), Estonia, Georgia, Kazakstan, Kirgiziya (now Kyrgyzstan), Latvia, Lithuania, Moldavia (now Moldova), Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

Urso, Camilla

2005-02-19T10:38:00.000-08:00

Urso was the daughter of an Italian flutist and a Portuguese singer. When she was six years old, despite general skepticism about her ability to master a “masculine” instrument, she began taking violin lessons. The success of

Ob-ugric Languages

2005-02-18T18:16:00.000-08:00

Division of the Finno-Ugric branch of the Uralic language family, comprising the Mansi (Vogul) and Khanty (Ostyak) languages; they are most closely related to Hungarian, with which they make up the Ugric branch of Finno-Ugric. The Ob-Ugric languages are spoken in the region of the Ob and Irtysh rivers in central Russia. They had no written tradition or literary language

Barry, Philip

2005-02-17T08:50:00.000-08:00

Barry was educated at Yale and in 1919 entered George Pierce Baker's 47 Workshop at Harvard. His A Punch for Judy was produced by the workshop in 1920. You and I, also written while Barry was a student, played 170 performances on Broadway in 1923. Over the next 20 years

China, Decline and fall

2005-02-16T10:02:00.000-08:00

Careful balancing of powers in the bureaucracy, through which the rulers acted and from which they received advice and information, was essential to good government in China. The demonstrated success of this principle in early Pei Sung so impressed later scholars that they described it as the art of government. It became a lost art under Shen-tsung, however, in the

Arya Samaj

2005-02-15T04:19:00.000-08:00

The Arya

Mormon, Book Of

2005-02-14T13:48:00.000-08:00

The Book of Mormon relates

Stafford, Sir Edward William

2005-02-13T17:14:00.000-08:00

The son of a landed Irish family, Stafford began farming sheep in New Zealand (1843), was elected superintendent of Nelson province (1853) and representative from Nelson to the General Assembly (1855), and formed his first ministry in 1856. During this five-year term as premier,

Walking

2005-02-12T23:53:00.000-08:00

Activity that ranges from a competitive sport, usually known as race walking, to a primary and popular form of outdoor recreation and mild aerobic exercise.

Drummond, William Henry

2005-02-11T16:55:00.000-08:00

Drummond immigrated to Canada about 1864, left school at the age of 15 to help support his family, but at 30 took a degree in medicine at Bishop's College in Quebec. After

Earth Sciences, The chemical analysis of rocks and minerals

2005-02-09T19:10:00.000-08:00

The successive stages in the plate-tectonic cycle (see below) produce igneous rocks that have geochemical patterns distinctive for each stage. Consequently, the igneous petrologist is able to use both the major and trace element abundances of rocks to define the possible tectonic environment in which they formed. The metamorphic petrologist can use the bulk

Croft, William

2005-02-09T07:13:00.000-08:00

Educated under John Blow, he was organist of St. Anne's, Soho (1700–12), of the Chapel Royal from 1707, and of Westminster Abbey from 1708. In 1700 he collaborated with Blow, Jeremiah Clarke, Francis Piggott, and John Barrett in a Choice Collection of Ayres

China, The Loess Plateau

2005-02-08T19:58:00.000-08:00

This plateau forms a unique region of loess-clad hills and barren mountains situated between the North China Plain and the deserts of the west. In the north, the Great Wall of China forms the boundary, while the southern limit is the Tsinling Mountains, in Shensi Province. The average altitude of the surface is between 4,000 and 5,000 feet, but individual ranges of bedrock are higher,

God In Christ, Church Of

2005-02-05T04:07:00.000-08:00

Predominantly black Pentecostal church that originated as an outgrowth of the Holiness movement. The date and place of the group's establishment is disputed between two member bodies, but the founding role of a dynamic preacher named Charles H. Mason is acknowledged by both. During the late 19th century, Mason led Holiness churches in Jackson, Miss., and Memphis, Tenn.

Eagle Ray

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

Any of about two dozen species of exclusively marine rays constituting the family Myliobatidae (order Rajiformes), occurring in the major oceans. They have the enlarged, winglike pectoral fins characteristic of the order. Some species have a sharp-edged serrated spine at the base of the long, whiplike tail. Their teeth are flat, for crushing and grinding mollusks

Smith, John

2005-02-02T00:24:00.000-08:00

English explorer and principal founder of the first permanent English settlement in North America at Jamestown, Va. Smith played an equally important role as a cartographer and a prolific writer who vividly depicted the natural abundance of the New World, whetting the colonizing appetite of prospective English

Ta-li

2005-01-31T09:44:00.000-08:00

Formerly Hsia-kuan, Pinyin Dali, or Xiaguan, city in western Yunnan sheng (province), China. It is situated at the southern end of the Erh Hai (lake) in a fertile basin about 10 miles (16 km) southeast of the original Ta-li. It has traditionally been an important centre on the routes westward from K'un-ming to the Tibet Autonomous Region and northern Myanmar (Burma); it also has routes leading south into the wild southwest region

Repton

2005-01-29T13:47:00.000-08:00

Village (“parish”), South Derbyshire district, administrative and historic county of Derbyshire, England. The famous independent boys' school of Repton was founded in 1556, and its buildings incorporate parts (restored) of an Augustinian priory established in 1172. Pop. (1991) 2,012.

Bethel

2005-01-27T15:56:00.000-08:00

Ancient city of Palestine, located just north of Jerusalem. Originally called Luz and in modern times Baytin, Bethel was important in Old Testament times and was frequently associated with Abraham and Jacob. Excavations, carried out by the American School of Oriental Research and the Pittsburgh-Xenia Theological Seminary, suggest that Bethel may have been the

San Bernardino

2005-01-25T23:00:00.000-08:00

Central city of the San Bernardino–Riverside–Ontario metropolitan complex, seat (1853) of San Bernardino County, southern California, U.S., at the base of the San Bernardino Mountains. The site, which was named by Spanish missionaries for St. Bernardino of Siena, was sold to Mormons who laid out a town in 1852. It developed as a trade centre chiefly for the surrounding citrus groves

Mars Pathfinder

2005-01-23T05:20:00.000-08:00

Robotic U.S. spacecraft launched to Mars to demonstrate a new way to land a spacecraft on the planet's surface and the operation of an independent robotic rover. Developed by NASA as part of a low-cost approach to planetary exploration, Pathfinder successfully completed both demonstrations, gathered scientific data, and returned striking images from Mars. Its observations

Olympia

2005-01-21T14:48:00.000-08:00

Mahdi, Al-

2005-01-19T20:43:00.000-08:00

Original name Muhammad Ahmad Ibn As-sayyid 'abd Allah creator of a vast Islamic state extending from the Red Sea to Central Africa and founder of a movement that remained influential in The Sudan a century later. As a youth he moved from orthodox religious study to a mystical interpretation of Islam. In 1881 he proclaimed his divine mission to purify Islam and the governments that defiled it. His extensive

Gulf Intracoastal Waterway

2005-01-16T03:56:00.000-08:00

An improved navigable waterway along the Gulf Coast of the United States, extending from Apalachee Bay, Florida, westward to the Mexican border at Brownsville, Texas, a distance of more than 1,100 miles (1,770 km). In part artificial, the waterway consists of a channel paralleling the coast behind barrier beaches, the channel being linked by a series of canals. The Gulf Intracoastal

Transylvanian Rug

2005-01-14T06:47:00.000-08:00

Also called Siebenbürger rug any of the large numbers of floor coverings found in the churches of Transylvania (part of Romania), to which they had been donated by pious families. Some of these rugs are of Turkish manufacture, survivals of a massive importation centuries ago. Turkey is generally assumed to be the source of all Transylvanian carpets, but certain similarities of technique, weight,

Water Softener

2005-01-12T09:09:00.000-08:00

Device for removing calcium and magnesium from water; water so treated will not form insoluble scale in pipes and tanks and will not form a precipitate with soaps or interfere with other cleaners. Water softeners usually consist of zeolite or an ion-exchange resin (q.v.) in a tank connected directly into the water system. The zeolite or resin contains sodium ions that

Wedgwood, Dame (cicely) Veronica ("c.v.")

2005-01-10T05:20:00.000-08:00

, British historian (b. July 20, 1910, Stocksfield, Northumberland, Eng.--d. March 9, 1997, London. Eng.), was one of Great Britain's most distinguished and celebrated historians. Her biographies and historical works, especially those on the English Civil Wars, provided a clear, entertaining middle ground between popular and scholarly works; she used a narrative approach, preferring to explain

Alba

2005-01-08T01:12:00.000-08:00

Judet (county), western Romania, occupying an area of 2,406 square miles (6,231 square km). The Western Carpathians rise above the settled areas in intermontane valleys. The county is drained westward by the Mures River and its tributaries. Neolithic artifacts have been found at Alba Iulia (q.v.; the county capital) and other sites in the judet. A Celtic community (3rd century BC) was situated

Nepheline

2005-01-06T00:05:00.000-08:00

Also called nephelite , or eleolite the most common feldspathoid mineral, an aluminosilicate of sodium and potassium (Na3KAl4Si4O16). It is sometimes used as a substitute for feldspars in the manufacture of glass and ceramics. Nepheline is the characteristic mineral of alkaline plutonic rocks, particularly nephelinesyenites and nephelinegneisses. It occurs in beautiful crystal form with mica, garnet,

Auklet

2005-01-04T21:51:00.000-08:00

Also called Sea Sparrow, any of six species of small seabirds of the family Alcidae (order Charadriiformes). They breed primarily in the Bering Sea and the North Pacific; some winter as far south as Japan and Mexico. Auklets in breeding plumage differ from the related murrelets in having plumes and other head ornaments, including brightly coloured bill plates like those

Antarctica, Plant life

2005-01-02T20:48:00.000-08:00

The cold desert climate of Antarctica supports only an impoverished community of cold-tolerant land plants that are capable of surviving lengthy winter periods of total or near-total darkness during which photosynthesis cannot take place. Growth must occur in short summer bursts lasting only a few days, a few weeks, or a month or two, depending upon such diverse

Biblical Literature, Pseudepigrapha connected with the Dead Sea Scrolls

2005-01-01T15:49:00.000-08:00

There are three Pseudepigrapha that are closely connected with the writings of the Dead Sea sect: the Book of Jubilees, the Ethiopic Book of Enoch, and the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. It is not accidental that fragments of the two first books and of two sources of the third were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Vratsa

2004-12-30T23:14:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Vratca >, or Vraca town, northwestern Bulgaria. It is situated in the northern foothills of the western Balkan Mountains at the point where the Leva River emerges from its picturesque Vratsata gorge. The town was moved to its present position in the early 15th century after the Turks had destroyed a previously standing Bulgarian fortress. Under the Turks, Vratsa was a prosperous trading

Light

2004-12-27T02:53:00.000-08:00

Electromagnetic radiation that can be detected by the human eye. In terms of wavelength, electromagnetic radiation occurs over an extremely wide range, from gamma rays with a wavelength of 3 10-14 centimetre to long radio waves measured in millions of kilometres. In that spectrum the wavelengths visible to humans occupy a very narrow band, from about 7 10-5 centimetre (red light)

Amon

2004-12-26T16:07:00.000-08:00

Amon may have been originally a local deity at Khmun (Hermopolis) in Middle Egypt; his cult reached Thebes, where he became the patron of the pharaohs by the reign of Mentuhotep I (2008–1957 BC). At that date he was already identified with the sun god Re of Heliopolis and, as Amon-Re, was received as a national god. Represented in human form,

Quechuan Languages

2004-12-24T23:47:00.000-08:00

The languages of the former Inca Empire in South America and the principal native languages of the central Andes today. According to archaeological and historical evidence, the original languages were probably spoken in a small area in the southern Peruvian highlands until about 1450; after that their geographical range was rapidly enlarged by the Inca conquests.

Moivre, Abraham De

2004-12-21T16:13:00.000-08:00

A French Huguenot, de Moivre was jailed as a Protestant upon the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. When he was released shortly thereafter, he fled to England. In London he became a close friend of Sir Isaac Newton and the astronomer

Voyager

2004-12-17T17:17:00.000-08:00

Voyager 2, launched on Aug. 20, 1977, traveled more slowly than its

Ringsaker

2004-12-13T14:03:00.000-08:00

Town, Hedmark fylke (county), southeastern Norway. It lies along the eastern shore of Mjøsa, the largest lake in Norway. Situated along the main road and rail line between Oslo and Trondheim, Ringsaker lies in a rich agricultural and lumbering region. Tourism is based mainly on the scenery of the lake area, a 12th-century church, and a nearby 13th-century castle. Pop. (1989 est.) mun., 30,960.

Saimaa, Lake

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

Lake in southeastern Finland. It lies just northwest of the Russian border and is northeast of Helsinki. Covering parts of the läänit (provinces) of Mikkeli and Kymi, it has an area of 443 square miles (1,147 square km) and is the primary lake in the Great Saimaa lake system, which, at 1,690 square miles (4,377 square km), is the largest system in Finland. The lake's two branches extend northward about

Halévy, (jacques-françois-) Fromental(-élie)

2004-12-07T19:44:00.000-08:00

Halévy studied at the Paris Conservatoire from the age of 10 and won the Prix de Rome in 1819 for his cantata Herminie. His first opera performed was L'Artisan (1827), but it was not until Le Dilettante d'Avignon

Aspergillus

2004-12-05T17:43:00.000-08:00

Genus of the Fungi Imperfecti (form-class Deuteromycetes). Those species for which the sexual phase is known are placed in the order Eurotiales. A. niger causes black mold of foodstuffs; A. flavus, A. niger, and A. fumigatus cause aspergillosis in humans. A. oryzae is used to ferment sake, and A. wentii to process soybeans. Three genera of the class Ascomycetes have

Earn

2004-12-04T01:04:00.000-08:00

Loch (lake) and river, central Scotland. Loch Earn lies on the boundary between the council area of Stirling and the council area of Perth and Kinross, and the River Earn flows through Perth and Kinross. Loch Earn is 6.5 miles (10.5 km) from east to west with a maximum width of 0.5 mile (0.8 km). Lochearnhead is situated at the western end of the loch and St. Fillan's village at the eastern extremity,

Intaglio

2004-12-02T00:07:00.000-08:00

In sculpture, work in which the design is incised into the block, all lines appearing below the surface; it is thus the opposite of relief sculpture and is sometimes called “hollow relief.” When the technique is used in casting, the design is cut in reverse into a plaster shell, which is then filled with the casting substance; the hollow impressions of the mold appear in

Bradford, William

2004-11-30T06:44:00.000-08:00

He was a Quaker and a self-taught artist, painting the ships and the marine views he saw along the coasts of Massachusetts, Labrador, and Nova Scotia; he went on several Arctic expeditions with Isaac Hayes and was the first

Dana, Richard Henry

2004-11-28T02:14:00.000-08:00

Dana withdrew from Harvard College when measles weakened his eyesight, and he shipped to California as a sailor in August 1834 to regain his health. After voyaging among California's ports and gathering hides ashore, he rounded Cape Horn, returned

Kaga

2004-11-25T03:29:00.000-08:00

The former city of Daishoji is now the central part of Kaga. An old temple town, it grew around a castle built by the Maeda family in the early Tokugawa

Atyrau

2004-11-24T05:49:00.000-08:00

Kazak Atyrau , also spelled Aterau , formerly (until 1992) Guryev , also spelled Gurev, Guriev , or Gurjev city, western Kazakstan. It is a port on the Ural (Zhayyq) River near its mouth on the Caspian Sea. Founded as a fishing settlement in the mid-17th century by the fishing entrepreneur Mikhail Guryev, it soon became a fort on the Ural fortified line manned by the Ural Cossacks. Fishing and trade were the main economic activities until Soviet times. Now, in addition to a large

Arab-israeli Wars

2004-11-22T11:04:00.000-08:00

The first war immediately followed the proclamation of the State of Israel, May 14, 1948. Arab forces from Egypt, Transjordan, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon occupied the areas in southern and eastern Palestine not apportioned to the Jews, then captured the small Jewish quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem

Van Buren

2004-11-19T15:36:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1839) of Crawford county, western Arkansas, U.S., on the Arkansas River opposite Fort Smith. The site, settled (1818) by Thomas Martin, was later called Phillips Landing (for Thomas Phillips, who bought land rights there in 1836). In 1838 it was renamed for U.S. President Martin Van Buren. It developed as a trading post and “fitting-out” centre for settlers moving to the West; after 1873 it became

Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

2004-11-18T23:15:00.000-08:00

Coastal habitat conservation area in southern Texas, U.S., located about 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Corpus Christi. The refuge, parts of which are jointly administered by state and federal agencies, covers a total of 181 square miles (469 square km) on the Gulf of Mexico, including large tracts of land on Matagorda Island and on a broad peninsula between San Antonio Bay and St. Charles

Masaniello

2004-11-15T03:21:00.000-08:00

Masaniello was a young fisherman in 1647 when he was chosen to lead a protest against a new tax on fruit, levied by the nobility to raise money to pay the tribute demanded by Spain. The insurrection against the nobles was successful, but Masaniello

West Lothian

2004-11-14T09:45:00.000-08:00

Council area and historic county, southeastern Scotland, on the southern shore of the River Forth estuary and the Firth of Forth just west of Edinburgh. The council area and historic county occupy somewhat different areas. The historic county borders the Forth from Bo'ness to the mouth of the River Almond just west of Cramont. It extends southwest across a lowland

Ternate Island

2004-11-11T10:48:00.000-08:00

Indonesian Pulau Ternate one of the northernmost of a line of Indonesian islands stretching southward along the western coast of the island of Halmahera to the Bacan Islands east of the Molucca Sea. Ternate Island, which lies within North Maluku propinsi (province), is situated 14 miles (23 km) west of Halmahera. The island is dominated by a volcano (5,646 feet [1,721 metres]) with three peaks. It has suffered from

Skåne

2004-11-09T00:21:00.000-08:00

Also called Scania län (county) and traditional landskap (province), southern Sweden. Skåne county was created in 1997 from the counties of Malmöhus and Kristianstad and is coextensive with Skåne province. Occupying the peninsular southern tip of Sweden, it is bounded by water on three sides—the Baltic Sea on the east and south, The Sound (Öresund) on the west, and the Kattegat (strait) on the northwest.

Skåne

2004-11-08T07:43:00.000-08:00

Guerrilla movement formed originally to oppose the Japanese occupation of Malaya during World War II. In December 1941 a rapid Japanese invasion commenced, and within 10 weeks it had conquered Malaya. British military forces had prepared for this possibility by training small Malayan guerrilla groups. Once war became a reality, the guerrillas organized the MPAJA. This

China, The Shantung Hills

2004-11-03T10:51:00.000-08:00

These hills are basically composed of Archean (Early to Middle Precambrian) crystalline shales and granites and of Lower Paleozoic sedimentary rocks (i.e., between 395,000,000 and 570,000,000 years old). Faults have played a major role in creating the present relief, and, as a result, many hills are horsts (blocks of the Earth's crust uplifted along faults), while the valleys have been formed by

Lee, Sammy

2004-11-02T18:48:00.000-08:00

In 1942, while a student at Occidental College (Los Angeles), Lee won his first national championship with victories in both the 3-metre springboard and 10-metre platform events. Standing only 5 feet 1 inch, Lee utilized his short stature in his dives, tucking tighter and

Lowell, A(bbott) Lawrence

2004-10-31T15:57:00.000-08:00

A member of a prominent Boston family, Lowell was the brother of the astronomer Percival Lowell and of the poet Amy Lowell. He graduated from Harvard (A.B. 1877, LL.B. 1880) and practiced law in Boston for 17 years before turning

Trichomonad

2004-10-29T09:09:00.000-07:00

The genus Trichomonas is a common parasite in

Auray

2004-10-27T16:45:00.000-07:00

Breton Alre town, Morbihan département, Bretagne région, northwestern France, on the Auray Estuary. It is situated 7.5 miles (12 km) from the Atlantic, southwest of Rennes. Its château (demolished 1558) was a residence of the dukes of Brittany. Outside its walls in 1364 the War of the Breton Succession was ended by the victory of Jean de Montfort and his English allies over Montfort's cousin, Charles

United Nations, Flag Of The

2004-10-25T17:35:00.000-07:00

In April 1945, near the end of World War II, 50 Allied nations gathered in San Francisco. The lapel button worn by delegates was “smoke blue,” a shade chosen by U.S. Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius, Jr. The design on the button, by Donal McLaughlin, showed a view of the Earth based on a projection centred on the North Pole. This indicated the worldwide scope of the new organization,

Ventilating

2004-10-22T05:00:00.000-07:00

The hazards of poor ventilation were not clearly understood until the early

Laveran, Alphonse

2004-10-20T11:51:00.000-07:00

Educated at the Strasbourg faculty of medicine, he served as an army surgeon in the Franco-German War (1870–71) and practiced and taught