DeepHook

Oscillatoria

2005-04-03T21:45:00.000-07:00

Genus of blue-green algae found commonly in a variety of freshwater environments, including hot springs. This unbranched filamentous alga, occurring singly or in tangled mats, derives its name from its rhythmic oscillating motion, which is thought to result from a secretion of mucilage that pushes the filament away from the direction of excretion. Reproduction

Ra

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

Either of two papyrus boats with which the Norwegian scientist-explorer Thor Heyerdahl crossed the Atlantic in 1969–70 to demonstrate the possibility of cultural contact between early peoples of Africa and Central and South America. The first was built in Egypt by boatbuilders Heyerdahl hired from Lake Chad, where reed boats are commonplace. Manned by seven men chosen

Arizona, Cultural life

2005-03-29T07:53:00.000-08:00

Although traditionally a centre for Indian folk arts and crafts, Arizona has had no circles of painters and writers comparable to those of neighbouring New Mexico. Interest in painting, crafts, drama, music, and publishing, however, has increased with population growth. Architecture and the graphic arts have been particularly influenced by Southwestern regional

Performing Arts, Australia.

2005-03-28T23:22:00.000-08:00

Several directors looked critically at the recent history of Aboriginal Australians. Philip Noyce's Rabbit-Proof Fence recalled the true story of three young girls who fled from incarceration under the official policy of the first three-quarters of the 20th century of seizing quarter- and half-caste children from their Aboriginal families so they could be “civilized

Processionary Caterpillar

2005-03-26T06:54:00.000-08:00

Larval stage characteristic of the small insect family Thaumetopoeidae (order Lepidoptera), sometimes classified as part of the prominent moth family (Notodontidae). These hairy caterpillars live in communal webs and march in columns to their food source. During the movement each larva lays down a silken thread. The large adults have

China, Taxation

2005-03-23T13:57:00.000-08:00

The Ming laissez-faire policy in agrarian matters had its counterpart in fiscal administration. The Ming state took the collection of land taxes—its main revenues by far—out of the hands of civil service officials and entrusted this responsibility directly to well-to-do family heads in the countryside. Each designated tax captain was, on the average, responsible

Jubba River

2005-03-22T14:31:00.000-08:00

Fed by rainfall in its source area, where the main rainy season coincides with the dry season

Pollentia

2005-03-19T19:02:00.000-08:00

Decimus Brutus checked Mark Antony's retreat at Pollentia in 43 BC. The Roman general Stilicho

Gryphaea

2005-03-19T15:38:00.000-08:00

Extinct molluskan genus found as fossils in rocks from the Jurassic period to the Eocene epoch (between 208 million and 36.6 million years ago). Related to the oysters, Gryphaea is characterized by its distinctively convoluted shape. The left valve, or shell, was much larger and more convoluted than the flattish right valve. Fine markings extended across the shell

Stead, William Thomas

2005-03-17T15:30:00.000-08:00

Stead was educated at home by his father, a clergyman, until he was 12 years old and then attended Silcoates School at Wakefield. He became an apprentice in a merchant's countinghouse and in about 1870 began to contribute

Wandering Spider

2005-03-16T13:22:00.000-08:00

Phoneutria fera, which occurs in South America, is poisonous to humans. Zora pumila, common in the eastern United States, is mostly

Euphronius

2005-03-15T19:26:00.000-08:00

Among the vases signed by Euphronius

Kabyle

2005-03-13T18:10:00.000-08:00

Berber people of Algeria inhabiting a partially mountainous region stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to the southern slopes of the Great Kabylie mountains and from Dellys to Cape Aokas. Numbering about 2,000,000 in the late 20th century, they are mainly Muslims with a few Christians and are predominantly agricultural, growing grains and olives and herding goats. Their

Baccarat

2005-03-13T06:36:00.000-08:00

The game is played with three to six 52-card decks shuffled together. Cards are dealt from a dealing box called a “shoe.” Players aim for a count of 9, or as

Kama River

2005-03-12T11:41:00.000-08:00

Russian Reka Kama, river in west-central Russia. Rising in the Upper Kama Upland of Udmurtia, it flows north, then east, south, and southwest for 1,122 miles (1,805 km) until it enters the Volga River below Kazan, in the Samara Reservoir. It drains a basin of 202,000 square miles (522,000 square km). The spring maximum flow following the snowmelt accounts for nearly 60 percent of the annual flow; freeze-up lasts from mid-November

Csokonai Vitéz, Mihály

2005-03-11T14:55:00.000-08:00

Csokonai's early sympathies with the revolutionary trends of his age made life difficult for him in the wave of reaction that accompanied Napoleon's invasion of Europe. Dismissed after a brief career as an assistant master at the Calvinist college in Debrecen, he became a wandering

Tucholsky, Kurt

2005-03-09T22:24:00.000-08:00

After studying law and serving in World War I, Tucholsky left Germany in 1924 and lived first in Paris and after 1929 in Sweden. He contributed to Rote Signale (1931; “Red Signals”), a collection of

Brother Adam

2005-03-09T02:34:00.000-08:00

(KARL KEHRLE), German-born Benedictine monk and bee breeder (b. Aug. 3, 1898, Mittlebiberach, Ger.--d. Sept. 1, 1996, Buckfast, South Devon, Eng.), was regarded as an authority on bees for his revolutionary work, most notably the development of the Buckfast bee, a breed that was considered one of the hardiest and most prolific producers of honey ever bred. At the age of 11 he was sent from his home in Germany

Puerto Cortés

2005-03-07T20:50:00.000-08:00

City, northwestern Honduras, situated on the Gulf of Honduras. It is backed by Alvarado Lagoon and extends for 2 miles (3 km) along the southern shore of Caballos Point. Puerto Cortés serves as the seaport for San Pedro Sula and the Sula Valley. The town was founded in 1524 as Puerto Caballos, just to the south across Cortés Bay, but was moved and had its name changed to Puerto

Offa

2005-03-07T09:44:00.000-08:00

A member of an ancient Mercian ruling family, Offa seized power in the civil war

Van Dyke, Henry

2005-03-05T21:56:00.000-08:00

Educated at Princeton, Van Dyke graduated from its theological seminary in 1877 and became a Presbyterian minister. His early works, “The Story of the Other Wise Man” (1896) and “The First Christmas Tree” (1897), were first read aloud to his congregation in New York

Shabestari, Sa'd Od-din Mahmud

2005-03-05T06:10:00.000-08:00

The details of Shabestari's life are obscure; apparently he spent most of it in Tabriz. He grew up in an age of spiritual confusion, following the Mongol invasion of Iran, the sack of Baghdad, and the final fall of the

Biblical Literature, The Aramaic Targums

2005-03-02T04:55:00.000-08:00

In the course of the 5th and 6th centuries BCE, Aramaic became the official language of the Persian Empire. In the succeeding centuries it was used as the vernacular over a wide area and was increasingly spoken by the postexilic Jewish communities of Palestine and elsewhere in the Diaspora. In response to liturgical needs, the institution of a turgeman (or meturgeman, “translator

Middletown

2005-03-01T08:31:00.000-08:00

Town (township), Newport county, southeastern Rhode Island, U.S., on Rhode (Aquidneck) Island, in Narragansett Bay. It was named for its location between the other two towns on the island, Newport and Portsmouth. Closely related to Newport, from which it was set off and incorporated in 1743, Middletown has developed as a residential suburb of that city. Middletown is the home of

Aragonite

2005-03-01T00:07:00.000-08:00

Widespread mineral, the stable form of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) at high pressures. It may be distinguished from calcite, the commoner form of calcium carbonate, by its greater hardness and specific gravity. Aragonite is always found in deposits formed at low temperatures near the surface of the Earth, as in caves as stalactites, in the oxidized zone of ore minerals

Cap-de-la-madeleine

2005-02-28T02:05:00.000-08:00

Named after an abbot of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine-de-Châteaudun, France, the city was first settled in the 17th century but developed only after

Kirchner, Néstor

2005-02-27T11:56:00.000-08:00

Kirchner studied law at the National University of La Plata, where he was a member of the Peronist Youth organization. In 1975 he married Cristina Fernández, a fellow law student. Following graduation in 1976, the couple returned to Santa Cruz, where they established

Ghana, Flag Of

2005-02-26T14:11:00.000-08:00

When Kwame Nkrumah organized the Convention People's Party in 1949 to work toward more self-government for the native African peoples of the British Gold Coast, a flag was developed for the movement. A simple horizontal tricolour of red-white-green, it became well known throughout the Gold Coast as a symbol of modernization and self-reliance. Self-government was introduced

Ectomorph

2005-02-24T08:52:00.000-08:00

A human physical type (somatotype) tending toward linearity, as determined by the physique classification system developed by the American psychologist W.H. Sheldon. Although classification by the Sheldon system is not absolute, a person is classed as an ectomorph if ectomorphy predominates over endomorphy and mesomorphy in his body build. The extreme ectomorph

Biblical Literature, Eastern Orthodoxy

2005-02-24T02:54:00.000-08:00

The first Christians were Jews, and they worshipped along with other Jews in the synagogue. The earliest Gentile converts also attended the synagogue. When Christians met outside the synagogue, they still used its liturgy, read its Bible, and preserved the main characteristics of synagogue worship. Every historic liturgy is divided into (1) a Christian revision of

France, Flag Of

2005-02-23T08:38:00.000-08:00

Under the ancien régime, France had a great number of flags, and many of its military and naval flags were elaborate and subject to artistic variations. The royal coat of arms, a blue shield with three golden fleurs-de-lis, was the basis for the state flag. After the Bourbons came to power, this shield was generally displayed against a background of the Bourbon dynastic

Rye House Plot

2005-02-22T06:07:00.000-08:00

(1683), alleged Whig conspiracy to assassinate or mount an insurrection against Charles II of England because of his pro-Roman Catholic policies. The plot drew its name from Rye House at Hoddeston, Hertfordshire, near which ran a narrow road where Charles was supposed to be killed as he traveled from a horse meet at Newmarket. By chance, according to the official narrative,

France, History Of, The Revolution of 1830

2005-02-21T20:51:00.000-08:00

The July Revolution was a monument to the ineptitude of Charles X and his advisers. At the outset, few of the king's critics imagined it possible to overthrow the regime; they hoped merely to get rid of Polignac. As for the king, he naively ignored the possibility of serious trouble. No steps were taken to reinforce the army garrison in Paris; no contingency plans were prepared.

Tagaytay

2005-02-19T16:46:00.000-08:00

City, southwestern Luzon, Philippines. It is located on Tagaytay Ridge at about 2,000 feet (600 m) above sea level, on the northern flank of Mount Taal. The city is a weekend retreat, popular for its cool climate and outstanding view to the south of Taal Lake, with an active volcano on an island. Market gardening for the Manila area to the north is a local activity. Inc. city, 1938. Pop. (1990 prelim.)

Sudan, History Of The, Medieval Christian kingdoms

2005-02-19T14:24:00.000-08:00

The 200 years from the fall of Kush to the middle of the 6th century is an unknown age in the Sudan. Nubia was inhabited by a people called the Nobatae by the ancient geographers and the X-Group by modern archaeologists, who are still at a loss to explain their origins. The X-Group were clearly, however, the heirs of Kush, for their whole cultural life was dominated by Meroitic

Pridoli Series

2005-02-18T06:41:00.000-08:00

Pridoli also spelled Prídolí, also called Pridolian, the uppermost of four main divisions of the Silurian System, representing rocks deposited worldwide during the Pridoli Epoch (414 to 408 million years ago). The series' name is derived from the Prídolí area of the Daleje Valley on the outskirts of Prague in the Czech Republic, where about 20–50 m (65–165 feet) of platy limestone strata rich in cephalopods and bivalves are well

Badarian Culture

2005-02-16T09:06:00.000-08:00

Although the Badarians apparently continued the agricultural and pastoral practices of the Tasians (see Tasian

Work, History Of The Organization Of, Textiles

2005-02-15T13:26:00.000-08:00

The same type of specialization is also implied in the making of textiles. Early protective garments were derived from animal skins. The development of agriculture cut into the supply of available skins and required a substitute material for clothing. To make textiles, yarn had to be spun; the earliest apparatus for this work consisted of a spindle and a distaff

Ahmed Vefik Pasa

2005-02-14T03:04:00.000-08:00

Born into a family of diplomats, Ahmed Vefik was appointed (1849) imperial commissioner in the Danubian principalities and later ambassador to Persia and to France. He presided

India, House Of

2005-02-13T11:24:00.000-08:00

Also called House Of Guinea, House Of Guinea And Mina, or House Of Mina, Portuguese Casa Da India, Casa Da Guiné, Casa De Guiné E Mina, or Casa Da Mina, 15th-century Portuguese establishment that managed the trade in products from overseas colonies. It was called House of Guinea because it began by processing products from Guinea. Originally housed in a warehouse at Lagos in southern Portugal, it was reestablished in Lisbon with the death of Prince Henry the Navigator (1460). As trade from São Jorge da Mina (now Elmina, Ghana)

Zaragoza

2005-02-13T08:36:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Saragossa, provincia, in the comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Aragon, northeastern Spain. Together with the provinces of Huesca and Teruel, it formed the old kingdom of Aragon. It extends north and south of the middle course of the Ebro River; it reaches the foot of the Pyrenees (north) and is bounded west by the provinces of Navarra, Logroño, and Soria, south by Guadalajara

Puerto Rico

2005-02-11T23:41:00.000-08:00

Officially Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , Spanish Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico self-governing island commonwealth of the West Indies, associated with the United States. The easternmost island of the Greater Antilles chain, it lies approximately 50 miles (80 km) east of the Dominican Republic, 40 miles (65 km) west of the Virgin Islands, and 1,000 miles (1,600 km) southeast of the U.S. state of Florida. It is situated in the northeastern Caribbean Sea, its northern shore facing

Nalchik

2005-02-11T11:19:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Nalcik, city and capital of Kabardino-Balkariya, southwestern Russia. The city lies along the Nalchik River where the latter leaves the Caucasian foothills. Founded as a Russian fortress in 1818, the town remained unimportant until after the October Revolution (1917). Now it is a popular holiday, climbing, and health resort, with several sanatoriums. There is considerable industry,

Anastasius Iv

2005-02-10T07:39:00.000-08:00

As cardinal bishop of Sabina, he had staunchly supported Pope Innocent II in 1130, serving as his vicar in Rome during the contest with the antipope Anacletus II. During his brief pontificate he was a peacemaker noted especially for settling two long-standing problems: one regarding Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa and

Ulaanbaatar

2005-02-09T19:31:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Ulan Bator, formerly Urga, or Niislel Khureheh, capital and largest city of Mongolia. It is situated on the Tuul River on a windswept plateau at an elevation of 4,430 feet (1,350 m). The city originated as a seasonal migratory abode of the Mongolian princes and in 1639 finally attained permanence on the present site with the construction of Da Khure Monastery. This building became the residence of the bodgo-gegen, high priest of the

Vienna, University Of

2005-02-07T15:57:00.000-08:00

The university was first chartered, following the model of the University of Paris, by the Habsburg duke Rudolf IV of Austria, as an expression of his rivalry with German king Charles IV, who had founded the University of Prague

Natchez

2005-02-06T11:14:00.000-08:00

Relations between the French

Talc

2005-02-05T19:33:00.000-08:00

Since ancient times, soapstones

Kara-yo

2005-02-05T03:10:00.000-08:00

(Japanese: “Chinese style”), one of the three main Japanese styles of Buddhist temple architecture in the Kamakura period (1192–1333). Kara-yo originally followed Chinese forms that featured strict symmetry on a central axis. The word kara-yo is written with the character that stands for the Chinese T'ang dynasty (618–907), but the style seems to have represented the official building code

Stedman, Edmund Clarence

2005-02-03T05:57:00.000-08:00

Stedman attended Yale, from which he was expelled, and became successively a newspaper proprietor and a stockbroker, writing all the while. As a critic Stedman wrote of contemporary authors in Victorian Poets (1875) and Poets of America (1885); he

Earth Sciences, Prospecting for groundwater

2005-02-02T21:34:00.000-08:00

Although the origin of the water in the Earth that seeps or springs from the ground was long the subject of much fanciful speculation, the arts of finding and managing groundwater were already highly developed in the 8th century BC. The construction of long, hand-dug underground aqueducts (qanats) in Armenia and Persia represents one of the great hydrologic achievements

Paderewski, Ignacy (jan)

2005-02-01T16:05:00.000-08:00

The son of a steward of a Polish landowner, he studied music from 1872 at the Warsaw Conservatory and from 1878 taught piano there. In 1880 he married one of his pupils, Antonina Korsak, who died in childbirth the following year. Encouraged

Ghassaniy, Muyaka Bin Haji Al-

2005-02-01T06:09:00.000-08:00

Ghassaniy is known particularly as an outstanding composer of quatrains (the most popular Swahili verse form for both philosophical and topical themes). Although he experimented little with prosody, his work ranged widely in type from didactic verse to love poems and from poems on domestic

Adangme

2005-01-30T10:06:00.000-08:00

The chief Adangme occupation is farming, based on the huza system, in which a tract of land is purchased

Ataturk Dam

2005-01-30T00:26:00.000-08:00

Dam on the Euphrates River in southeastern Turkey, the centrepiece of the Southeastern Anatolia Project. The Ataturk Dam is the largest in a series of 22 dams and 19 hydroelectric stations built on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in the 1980s and '90s in order to provide irrigation water and hydroelectricity to arid southeastern Turkey. Completed in 1990, the Ataturk Dam is one of

Penang

2005-01-28T22:10:00.000-08:00

Also called Penang Island , Malay Pinang, or Pulau Pinang island of Malaysia, lying off the northwest coast of peninsular Malaya, from which it is separated by a strait whose smallest width is 2.5 miles (4 km). Its area is about 113 square miles (293 square km). Penang Island is roughly oval, with a granitic, mountainous interior (highest point 2,428 feet [740 m]) and narrow coastal plains, most extensive in the northeast, where Malaysia's chief port, George

Ha'aretz

2005-01-28T14:58:00.000-08:00

Tibet

2005-01-27T06:10:00.000-08:00

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

Andalusia

2005-01-25T21:33:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1841) of Covington county, southern Alabama, U.S., near the Conecuh River, about 85 miles (135 km) south of Montgomery. It originated in 1841 as New Site, when the county seat of Montezuma relocated to higher ground because of floods, at a point along the Three Notch Trail (used by Andrew Jackson on his way to New Orleans in 1813). Renamed Andalusia in 1844, probably for the Spanish province, it

Duality

2005-01-24T20:00:00.000-08:00

In mathematics, principle whereby one true statement can be obtained from another by merely interchanging two words. It is a property belonging to the branch of algebra known as lattice theory, which is involved with the concepts of order and structure common to different mathematical systems. A mathematical structure is called a lattice if it can be ordered in

Faraday

2005-01-24T09:59:00.000-08:00

Unit of electricity, used in the study of electrochemical reactions and equal to the amount of electric charge that liberates one gram equivalent of any ion from an electrolytic solution. It was named in honour of the 19th-century English scientist Michael Faraday and equals 9.6485309 ´ 104 coulombs, or 6.0221367 ´ 1023 electrons (see also Avogadro's law).

Ziguinchor

2005-01-23T06:53:00.000-08:00

River-port town, southwestern Senegal, lying along the Casamance River. Ziguinchor has long been known and visited by European mariners. In 1457 the Venetian navigator Alvise Ca' da Mosto (Cadamosto), envoy of the Portuguese prince Henry the Navigator, reconnoitred the harbour. In 1886 the Portuguese ceded Ziguinchor to the French. The town's industries include a peanut- (groundnut-)

Addition Reaction

2005-01-21T23:42:00.000-08:00

Addition reactions are typical of unsaturated organic compounds—i.e., alkenes, which contain a carbon-to-carbon double bond, and alkynes, which have a carbon-to-carbon triple bond—and aldehydes and ketones, which have a carbon-to-oxygen double bond. An addition reaction may be

Los Alamos

2005-01-21T17:51:00.000-08:00

The first white settlers arrived in the 1880s, and the county, named for its seat, was established out of parts of Santa Fe and Sandoval counties in 1949; in 1969 the Los Alamos county and city governments were integrated into one government.

Ghiberti, Lorenzo

2005-01-19T19:23:00.000-08:00

Important early Italian Renaissance sculptor, whose doors (“Gates of Paradise”; 1425–52) for the Baptistery of the cathedral of Florence are considered one of the greatest masterpieces of Italian art in the Quattrocento. Other works include three bronze statues for Or San Michele (1416–25) and the reliefs for Siena cathedral (1417–27). Ghiberti also wrote three

Aeschylus

2005-01-18T11:16:00.000-08:00

Studies of special topics relating to Aeschylus' plays include Anthony J. Podlecki, The Political Background of Aeschylean Tragedy (1966); A.F. Garvie, Aeschylus' “Supplices”: Play and Trilogy (1969); George Thomson, Aeschylus and Athens: A Study in the Social Origins of Drama, 4th ed. (1973), a Marxist study; Anne Lebeck, The Oresteia: A Study in Language and Structure (1971), on the significant connections of imagery; R.P. Winnington-Ingram, Studies in Aeschylus (1983), a collection of insightful essays; Thomas G. Rosenmeyer, The Art of Aeschylus (1982), a critical study; D.J. Conacher, Aeschylus' “Prometheus Bound”: A Literary Commentary (1980); Mark Griffith, The Authenticity of “Prometheus Bound” (1977), a powerful attack on authenticity; and Oliver Taplin, The Stagecraft of Aeschylus: The Dramatic Use of Exits and Entrances in Greek Tragedy (1978), on dramatic techniques and meanings.

Garcia, Carlos Polestico

2005-01-18T04:21:00.000-08:00

Fourth president of the Republic of the Philippines. After graduating from law school in 1923, he became, successively, a schoolteacher, representative in the Philippine Congress, governor of his province (Bohol), and then (1941–53) senator. During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in World War II, Garcia was active in the resistance movement.

Latin Literature, Early writers

2005-01-16T13:04:00.000-08:00

The ground for Roman literature was prepared by an influx from the early 3rd century BC onward of Greek slaves, some of whom were put to tutoring young Roman nobles. Among them was Livius Andronicus, who was later freed and who is considered to be the first Latin writer. In 240 BC, to celebrate Rome's victory over Carthage, he composed a genuine drama adapted from the Greek. His success

Anomoean

2005-01-14T19:19:00.000-08:00

(from Greek anomoios, “unlike”), any member of a religious group of the 4th century that represented an extreme form of Arianism (q.v.), a Christian heresy that held that the essential difference between God and Christ was that God had always existed, while Christ was created by God. Aëtius, the founder of the Anomoeans, reasoned that the doctrine carried to its logical conclusion

Husted, Marjorie Child

2005-01-14T02:00:00.000-08:00

Husted attended public schools and graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1913. She remained at the university to take a degree in education the next year. After a

Migration, Mammals

2005-01-13T05:13:00.000-08:00

Seasonal movements are not widespread among terrestrial species of mammals, because walking speed is relatively slow and energy consumption great. Marine and flying mammals have a much greater tendency to migrate, a tendency that is directly related to their locomotive powers.

Rimini

2005-01-11T22:31:00.000-08:00

The Romans called it Ariminum, from Ariminus, the old name of the Marecchia, and, according to the 1st-century-BC Greek historian

Profile Records

2005-01-11T19:48:00.000-08:00

Hip-hop was scorned by the established music industry as a novelty idiom until 1986, when Run-D.M.C. enrolled Aerosmith's vocalist, Steven Tyler, and guitarist, Joe Perry, to take part in a revival of the hard rockers' hit “Walk This Way” from 10 years earlier. Released on the Profile label, the resultant record was accepted by many radio formats and became the first rap hit to make the

Waner, Paul; And Waner, Lloyd

2005-01-10T15:41:00.000-08:00

In full Paul Glee Waner and Lloyd James Waner , respective bynames Big Poison and Little Poison American professional baseball outfielders, brothers who played much of their career together. Their nicknames did not refer to their size but to their batting: Big Poison, who batted and threw left-handed, hit more long balls (doubles and triples); Little Poison, who batted left-handed

Argenson, René-louis De Voyer De Paulmy, Marquis D'

2005-01-09T20:11:00.000-08:00

French minister of foreign affairs under King Louis XV from 1744 to 1747. The son of a lawyer, he received legal training and, from 1720 to 1724, served as intendant (royal agent) in Hainaut. As patron of the Club de l'Entresol in Paris, he discussed the political concepts of the Enlightenment with Voltaire and other philosophes. In November 1744, several months after France

Tlachtli

2005-01-08T07:21:00.000-08:00

The ball court, or field, used for the ritual ball game (ollama) played throughout pre-Columbian Meso-America. Possibly originating among the Olmecs (La Venta culture, c. 800–c. 400 BC) or even earlier, the game spread to subsequent cultures, among them those of Monte Albán and El Tajín; the Maya (as pok-ta-pok); and the Toltec, Mixtec, and Aztec. In Aztec times, ollama was a nobles' game and was

Aznar, José María

2005-01-07T06:42:00.000-08:00

In 1975, during Spain's transition to democracy, José Marí

Cat, Domestic

2005-01-06T20:02:00.000-08:00

Also called house cat, (species Felis catus), domesticated member of the family Felidae, order Carnivora. Like all felids, domestic cats, the smallest members of the family, are characterized by supple, low-slung bodies, finely molded heads, long tails that aid in balance, and specialized teeth and claws that adapt them admirably to a life of active hunting. Domestic cats possess other features

Ribeiro, Aquilino (gomes)

2005-01-04T20:27:00.000-08:00

Ribeiro's revolutionary activism forced him to flee Portugal several times between 1908 and 1932. Much of his time in exile was spent in Paris. Although he is one of his country's most prolific writers, he is less widely read than many

Dæhlie, Bjørn

2005-01-02T00:39:00.000-08:00

Norwegian cross-country skiing legend Bjørn Dæhlie rocketed into the record books in 1998 by shattering the previous marks for gold medals and total medals won by an individual in Winter Olympics competition. With victories at the 1998 Games in Nagano, Japan, in the 10-km race, 50-km race, and 4 ´10-km relay, he established himself as one of the greatest Nordic skiers of all time. "The Rocketman,"

Gymnure

2005-01-01T10:49:00.000-08:00

Also called Hairy Hedgehog, any of five species of Asian mammals composing the subfamily Echinosoricinae of the hedgehog (q.v.) family (Erinaceidae). These ratlike animals lack the short, barbless spines of spiny hedgehogs but have coarse guard hairs. Their tails are well developed. Gymnures are extremely malodorous. An example is the common gymnure (Echinosorex

Tsushima

2004-12-31T13:30:00.000-08:00

Archipelago, Nagasaki ken (prefecture), off the coast of southeastern Japan. The islands lie in the Korea Strait separating Japan and Korea, and divide the strait into the Tsushima Strait (west) and the Korea Strait (east). The archipelago consists principally of two rocky islands, Kami and Shimo, which are separated at one point by only a narrow channel. Kami has an area

Hoosac Tunnel

2004-12-31T04:52:00.000-08:00

The first major rock tunnel built in the United States. The tunnel runs through Hoosac Mountain of the Berkshire Hills, east of North Adams, Mass., and was built to provide a rail connection between Boston and upper New York state. Though only 4.75 miles (7.6 km) long, the tunnel took 24 years (1851–75) to complete, partly because of slow and laborious rock-tunneling techniques in use when construction

Jezebel

2004-12-29T04:47:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Jezabel in the Old Testament (Kings I and II), the wife of King Ahab, who ruled the kingdom of Israel; by interfering with the exclusive worship of the Hebrew god Yahweh, disregarding the rights of the common man, and defying the great prophets Elijah and Elisha, she provoked the internecine strife that enfeebled Israel for decades. She has come to be known as an archetype of the

Ajanta Caves

2004-12-29T00:04:00.000-08:00

The group of some 30 caves was excavated

Lóczy, Lajos

2004-12-28T04:20:00.000-08:00

From 1877 to 1880 Lóczy traveled through India and China as geologist to the expedition of Count Béla Széchenyi, which

Polar Ecosystem

2004-12-25T23:44:00.000-08:00

Polar barrens and tundra are found at high latitudes on land surfaces not covered by perpetual ice and snow. These areas lying beyond the tree line comprise more than 10 percent of the Earth's land surface. Most are in the Arctic and subarctic, as little land area in the Antarctic is ever free

New Hampshire

2004-12-24T19:41:00.000-08:00

Constituent state of the United States of America. One of the 13 original U.S. states, it is located in New England at the extreme northeastern corner of the nation. With an area of 9,279 square miles (24,032 square km), it is bounded on the north by the Canadian province of Quebec, on the east by Maine and a 16-mile (25-km) stretch of the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by Massachusetts, and on the west by

Pacific-10 Conference

2004-12-23T16:17:00.000-08:00

Byname Pac-10 West Coast American collegiate athletic association that grew out of several earlier versions, the first of which, the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC), was founded in 1915. The original members were the University of California (Berkeley), the University of Washington, the University of Oregon, and Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University). State College

Seafloor Spreading Hypothesis

2004-12-23T03:35:00.000-08:00

The seafloor spreading hypothesis was proposed

Tarasov, Anatoly

2004-12-22T15:24:00.000-08:00

When Tarasov began coaching in the early 1940s, Canada was the premier team in

Alban Hills

2004-12-21T02:15:00.000-08:00

Italian Colli Albani, or Monti Albani, area of extinct volcanoes in the Lazio (Latium) regione of central Italy, southeast of Rome. The hills consist of an outer circle, 6–8 miles (10–13 km) in diameter, rising to 3,113 feet (949 m) at Mount Cavo, and an inner crater rim, about 1.5 miles (2 km) across, rising to 3,136 feet (956 m) at Mount Faete. Lakes Albano and Nemi occupy two of the craters. Even before the emergence of Rome as a great power, the Alban Hills

Baraita

2004-12-19T17:05:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Baraitha (Hebrew: “Outside Teaching,” or “Exclusion”), plural Baraitot, Baraitoth, or Baraithoth, any of the ancient oral traditions of Jewish religious law that were not included in the Mishna (the first authoritative codification of such laws). The Baraitot that are found dispersed singly throughout the Palestinian and Babylonian Talmuds are often recognizable by such introductory words as “it was taught” or “the rabbi taught.” Other Baraitot are found in independent

Papyrus Column

2004-12-18T06:48:00.000-08:00

In Egyptian religion, amulet that conveyed freshness, youth, vigour, and the continuance of life to its wearer. The amulet, made of glazed ware or various types of stone, was shaped like a papyrus stem and bud. Its significance was perhaps derived from its ideographic value (Egyptian wadj, “green, fresh, vigorous”); for, just as the plant itself was vigorous and growing, so also

Indian Philosophy, The logical period

2004-12-18T06:24:00.000-08:00

The logical period of Indian thought began with the Kusanas (1st–2nd centuries). Gautama (author of the Nyaya-sutras; probably flourished at the beginning of the Christian Era) and his 5th-century commentator Vatsyayana established the foundations of the Nyaya as a school almost exclusively preoccupied with logical and epistemological issues. The Madhyamika (“Middle

Kulakova, Galina

2004-12-17T18:15:00.000-08:00

A member of four Soviet Olympic ski teams from 1964 to 1976, Kulakova was a national champion from 1969 to 1971 and a world champion in 1969 and 1970. In 1968 at the Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France, Kulakova won

China, Confucianism and philosophical Taoism

2004-12-16T02:31:00.000-08:00

By the beginning

Teaching

2004-12-15T04:32:00.000-08:00

Measured in terms of its members, teaching is the world's largest profession. In the late 20th century it was estimated that there were 30,000,000 teachers throughout the world. Though their roles and functions vary from country to country, the variations among teachers

Cone

2004-12-13T14:42:00.000-08:00

Also called strobilus in botany, mass of scales or bracts, usually ovate in shape, containing the reproductive organs of certain non-flowering plants. The cone, a distinguishing feature of pines and other conifers, is roughly analogous to the flower of other plants. Cones (strobili) are also found on club mosses and horsetails.

Constitutional Convention

2004-12-12T14:26:00.000-08:00

(1787), in U.S. history, convention that drew up the Constitution of the United States. Stimulated by severe economic troubles, which produced radical political movements such as Shays's Rebellion, and urged on by a demand for a stronger central government, the convention met in the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia (May 25–Sept. 17, 1787), ostensibly to amend the Articles of Confederation.