MaleBed

organic bed linen

2006-10-29T13:25:00.000-08:00

Livs range of soft luxurious bed linenis sourced ethically from India and using a fair trade policy. Liv also provide duvet cover set and bath towel set.

Ahmadnagar

2005-04-03T04:47:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Ahmednagar, town, west-central Maharashtra state, western India. It lies along the Sina River, 130 miles (210 km) east of Bombay. Known as Bhinar in early Yadava times, it was conquered by Malik Ahmad Nizam Shah, founder of the Ahmadnagar dynasty, in 1490. The city was later taken by the Mughals, Marathas, and British. Chief among its historical sites are Ahmad Nizam Shah's fort, in which Jawaharlal Nehru was imprisoned

Maurice, (john) Frederick Denison

2005-04-02T23:28:00.000-08:00

Prevented from graduation in law at Cambridge by his refusal to subscribe to the Thirty-nine Articles, the Anglican confession of faith, Maurice reversed his position by 1830 and attended Oxford.

Kirkpatrick, Ralph

2005-04-02T16:19:00.000-08:00

Kirkpatrick studied piano from age six and began to play harpsichord in 1930. He graduated from Harvard University in 1931 and then went to Paris to continue his studies. His teachers included Wanda Landowska, the French conductor

Nanshe

2005-04-02T07:56:00.000-08:00

In Mesopotamian religion, Sumerian city goddess of Nina (modern Surghul, Iraq) in the southeastern part of the Lagash region of Mesopotamia. According to tradition, Nanshe's father Enki (Akkadian: Ea) organized the universe and placed her in charge of fish and fishing. Nanshe was also described as a divine soothsayer and dream interpreter. Although at times overshadowed

Zingarelli, Nicola Antonio

2005-03-30T08:23:00.000-08:00

Zingarelli studied at the conservatory at Loreto and earned his living in his youth as a violinist. His first opera, Montesuma, was successfully produced at the San Carlo Theatre in Naples in 1781. Alsinda, given at La Scala, Milan, in 1785, was the

Great Basin

2005-03-30T07:15:00.000-08:00

Also called Great Basin Desert

Bahrain

2005-03-30T05:48:00.000-08:00

Officially State of Bahrain, Arabic Dawlat Al-Bahrayn small Arab state in the Persian Gulf. It is an archipelago consisting of Bahrain Island—extending about 30 miles (50 km) from north to south and 10 miles (16 km) from east to west—and some 30 smaller islands. Its Arabic name means “two seas.” Bahrain is situated in a bay on the southwestern coast of the Persian Gulf; Saudi Arabia lies to the west across the Gulf of Bahrain, while the Qatar peninsula

Cambric

2005-03-29T18:41:00.000-08:00

Lightweight, closely woven, plain cotton cloth first made in Cambrai, France, and originally a fine linen fabric. Printed cambric was used in London by 1595 for bands, cuffs, and ruffs. Modern cambric is made from choice American or Egyptian cotton, with both warp and weft, or filling, yarns ranging from 60 to 80 in size (count), and is usually lightly calendered to produce a slight gloss

Colegate, Isabel

2005-03-28T15:07:00.000-08:00

At the age of 19 Colegate began working as an assistant to literary agent Anthony Blond; when Blond became a publisher, one of the first books he brought out was Colgate's first novel, The Blackmailer (1958). Her next novel, A Man of Power (1960), portrays a newly rich businessman

Insurance, Excluded perils

2005-03-28T14:01:00.000-08:00

Among the excluded perils (or exclusions) of homeowner's policies are the following: loss due to freezing when the dwelling is vacant or unoccupied, unless stated precautions are taken; loss from weight of ice or snow to property such as fences, swimming pools, docks, or retaining walls; theft loss when the building is under construction; vandalism loss when the dwelling

Pyrex

2005-03-27T21:19:00.000-08:00

(trademark), a type of glass and glassware that is resistant to heat, chemicals, and electricity. It is used to make chemical apparatus, industrial equipment, including piping and thermometers, and ovenware. Chemically, Pyrex contains borosilicate and expands only about one-third as much as common glass (silicate) when heated. As a result, it is less apt to break when subjected

Vulgar Latin

2005-03-26T14:20:00.000-08:00

Spoken form of non-Classical Latin from which originated the Romance group of languages. Vulgar Latin was primarily the speech of the middle classes in Rome and the Roman provinces; it is derived from Classical Latin but varied across Roman-occupied areas according to the extent of education of the population, communication with Rome, and the original languages

Fredericksburg, Battle Of

2005-03-26T08:05:00.000-08:00

(December 13, 1862), bloody engagement of the American Civil War fought at Fredericksburg, Virginia; its outcome—a crushing Union defeat—immeasurably strengthened the Confederate cause. General A.E. Burnside, newly appointed commander of the Northern forces, planned to cross the Rappahannock River with an army of more than 120,000 troops and advance on the Southern capital at Richmond.

Nordmeyer, Sir Arnold Henry

2005-03-24T22:26:00.000-08:00

Nordmeyer graduated from the University of Otago and served as a Presbyterian minister from 1925 until he entered the New Zealand Parliament in 1935. He helped draft the Social Security Act of 1938, which formed the basis for the nation's welfare system,

Accent

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

In prosody, a rhythmically significant stress on the syllables of a verse, usually at regular intervals. The word accent is often used interchangeably with stress, though some prosodists use accent to mean the emphasis that is determined by the normal meaning of the words while stress is used to mean metrical emphasis. In classical prosody, which was based on a quantitative

Aerospace Industry, Special requirements of military aircraft

2005-03-24T16:48:00.000-08:00

Military aircraft demand lightweight structures to achieve high performance. Moreover, the materials used must be able to withstand the temperatures created by air friction when the vehicle is flying at high speeds. These requirements have fostered the use of new metals such as aluminum-magnesium alloys and titanium, as well as composites and polymers for many

Music, Western, Monophonic secular song

2005-03-23T16:24:00.000-08:00

Secular music undoubtedly flourished during the early Middle Ages, but, aside from sporadic references, the earliest accounts of such music in the Western world described the music of the goliards; these people were itinerant minor clerics and students who, from the 7th century on, roamed the land singing and playing topical songs dealing with love, war, famine, and

Seleucus I Nicator

2005-03-22T19:10:00.000-08:00

Macedonian army officer, founder of the Seleucid kingdom. In the struggles following the death of Alexander the Great, he rose from governor of Babylon to king of an empire centring on Syria and Iran.

Moro, Aldo

2005-03-22T18:50:00.000-08:00

A professor of law at the University of Bari, Moro published several books on legal subjects and served also as president of the Federazione

Hooker, Sir Joseph Dalton

2005-03-20T23:36:00.000-08:00

Hooker,

Gahadavala Dynasty

2005-03-20T21:17:00.000-08:00

One of the many ruling families of North India on the eve of the Muslim conquests in the 12th–13th century. Its history, ranging between the second half of the 11th century and the mid-13th century, illustrates all the features of early medieval North Indian polity—dynastic hostilities and alliances, feudal-state structure, absolute dependence on Brahminical social ideology,

Music

2005-03-20T14:34:00.000-08:00

From "Encore! The Three Tenors" concert at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles to the firing of Myung-Whun Chung from the Paris National Opéra, from pianist Van Cliburn's ill-starred 60th-birthday concert tour to soprano Kathleen Battle's dismissal from the Metropolitan Opera (see BIOGRAPHIES), the world of classical music scarcely lacked for headlines in 1994. There were happier

Nature Worship, Water as fructifying

2005-03-19T08:21:00.000-08:00

Wherever early archaic culture spread the myth of heaven and earth as the world parents, there also was a belief that heaven fructifies the earth with heaven's seed. The springs, pools, and rivers on the earth, therefore, may bring not only healing and expiation but also fertility. The Scamander (now Turkey's Küçükmenderes) River in ancient Greece evidently was so personified;

Aerospace Industry, Remanufacture and upgrading

2005-03-19T00:14:00.000-08:00

The most elaborate type of program under the general heading of maintenance is the remanufacturing process. Performed at aircraft-manufacturing facilities, remanufacture is a measure that combines a general overhaul with an upgrade of some of the aircraft's systems. The latter process often paces the progressive development of a basic airplane type through

Epistemology, René Descartes

2005-03-18T21:15:00.000-08:00

Both the rise of modern science and the rediscovery of Skepticism were important influences on René Descartes (1596–1650). While he believed that humans were capable of knowledge and certainty and that modern science was developing the superstructure of knowledge, he thought that Skepticism presented a legitimate challenge that needed an answer, one that only he could

Deformation And Flow

2005-03-18T15:04:00.000-08:00

Everyday substances are ordinarily classed as either solids, liquids, or gases, and, under normal circumstances, gases and liquids flow relatively freely and solids deform when they are subjected

Porsgrunn

2005-03-17T05:07:00.000-08:00

Town, Telemark fylke (county), southern Norway, at the mouth of the Skienselva (river) on Frierfjorden. Established as a customs post in 1652 with the name Porsgrund, it received its town charter in 1842. An export and industrial centre, it contains the huge Norsk Hydro chemical factories, a factory that produces Norway's finest porcelain, shipyards, metalworks, and lumber mills.

Buber, Martin

2005-03-17T04:40:00.000-08:00

German-Jewish religious philosopher, biblical translator and interpreter, and master of German prose style. Buber's philosophy was centred on the encounter, or dialogue, of man with other beings, particularly exemplified in the relation with other men but ultimately resting on and pointing to the relation with God. This thought

Hexameter

2005-03-16T16:20:00.000-08:00

A line of verse containing six feet, usually dactyls (¢ {breve} {breve}). Dactylic hexameter is the oldest known form of Greek poetry and is the preeminent metre of narrative and didactic poetry in Greek and Latin, in which its position is comparable to that of iambic pentameter in English versification. The epics of Homer and of Virgil are composed in dactylic hexameter.

Canaanite Inscriptions

2005-03-16T11:00:00.000-08:00

A group of 11 inscriptions recovered from bowls and other utensils found in several archaeological sites in Palestine dating from approximately the 16th to 13th century BC. Because they have not as yet been satisfactorily deciphered, it is unclear whether or not the writing system used in these inscriptions is related to the North Semitic alphabet, which has been positively

Tern

2005-03-15T08:54:00.000-08:00

Any of about 40 species of slender, graceful water birds that constitute the subfamily Sterninae, of the family Laridae, which also includes the gulls. Terns inhabit seacoasts and inland waters and are nearly worldwide in distribution. The largest number of species is found in the Pacific Ocean. Many terns are long-distance migrants, the most notable being the Arctic

Shigemitsu Mamoru

2005-03-14T10:30:00.000-08:00

Shigemitsu, a graduate of Tokyo University, joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1911. By 1918 he held a position in the embassy in Poland and, while in Europe, attended the Paris

Allied Powers

2005-03-14T04:49:00.000-08:00

The major Allied Powers in World War I were the British Empire, France, and the Russian Empire, formally linked by the Treaty of London of Sept. 5, 1914; other nations that had been, or came to be, allied by treaty

Córdoba, Mosque-cathedral Of

2005-03-14T04:03:00.000-08:00

The original structure was built by the Umayyad ruler 'Abd ar-Rahman I in 784–786 with extensions in the 9th and 10th centuries that doubled its size, ultimately making it one of the largest sacred buildings in the Islamic world. The ground plan of the completed building forms a vast rectangle

Cancer, DNA repair defects

2005-03-13T04:09:00.000-08:00

Defects in two mismatch repair genes, called MSH2 and MLH1

Gabrilowitsch, Ossip (salomonovich)

2005-03-12T21:29:00.000-08:00

After study with two of the outstanding pianists of his day—Anton Rubinstein in St. Petersburg and Theodor Leschetizky in Vienna—Gabrilowitsch toured widely in Europe and the United States. In 1909 he married Mark Twain's daughter, the singer Clara Clemens,

Biblical Literature, Judges: background and purpose

2005-03-12T15:59:00.000-08:00

The Book of Judges, the third of the series of five books that reflect the theological viewpoint of the Deuteronomic historian, covers the history of the Israelite tribes from the death of Joshua to the rise of the monarchy, a period comprising nearly 200 years (c. 1200–c. 1020 BCE). Though the internal chronology of Judges points to a period of about 400 years, the editor may have arbitrarily

Haley, Alex

2005-03-12T09:20:00.000-08:00

Although his parents were teachers, Haley was an indifferent student. He began writing to avoid boredom during voyages while serving in the U.S. Coast Guard (1939–59). His first major work, The Autobiography

Aleksin

2005-03-10T11:49:00.000-08:00

City, Tula oblast (province), western Russia, on the Oka River, 40 miles (65 km) northwest of Tula city. Aleksin, first documented in 1236, was at first a fortress, then a river port. The decline of river trade adversely affected the city, but since the October Revolution (1917) it has become a significant industrial centre, with engineering and building-materials industries. Pop. (1991 est.) 74,200.

Gandhinagar

2005-03-10T11:48:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Gujarat state, west-central India. It lies on the banks of the Sabarmati River, north of the former capital of Ahmadabad. Built to supplant the former capital, the city was begun in 1966. The first state government offices were transferred there in 1970. An expressway connects Gandhinagar with Ahmadabad. Pop. (1991 prelim.) 121,746.

Cagliostro, Alessandro, Count (count) Di

2005-03-10T04:48:00.000-08:00

Balsamo was the son of poor parents and grew up as an urchin in the streets of Palermo. Escaping from Sicily after a series of minor crimes, he traveled

Tapestry, Middle Ages in Egypt and the Near East

2005-03-10T00:21:00.000-08:00

Tapestry weaving was done by the Copts, or Egyptian Christians, from the 3rd to about the 12th century AD. Their tapestries are of great interest not only because of their artistic quality and technical skill but also because they are a bridge between the art of the ancient world and the art of the Middle Ages in western Europe. Fragments from the 5th to the 7th century are particularly

Strain Gauge

2005-03-09T14:24:00.000-08:00

Until the 1930s most strain

Semiconductor

2005-03-09T09:03:00.000-08:00

If an abrupt change in impurity type from acceptors (p-type) to donors (n-type) occurs within a single crystal structure, a p-n junction is formed (see parts B and C of the figure). On the p side, the holes constitute the dominant carriers and so are called majority carriers. A few thermally generated electrons will also exist in the p side; these are termed minority carriers. On the n side,

Gabrieli, Andrea

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

Madrigals for three to six voices in various collections; masses in six parts, Primus liber missarum (1572); Magnificat for three choirs; motets; various ricercari and canzoni.

Ch'eng Hao And Ch'eng I

2005-03-07T10:46:00.000-08:00

Ch'eng I also spelled (Wade–Giles romanization) Ch'eng Yi, Pinyin Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi brothers who developed Neo-Confucianism into an organized school of philosophy. Although their philosophies are usually considered together, their ideas developed in divergent directions. Ch'eng Hao influenced the Idealist school of Neo-Confucianism, while Ch'eng I influenced the development of the Rationalist school. Ch'eng

Anthimus I

2005-03-07T09:52:00.000-08:00

As bishop of Trebizond Anthimus participated in discussions at Constantinople in 532, to effect religious and political unity between East and West. Although avowing support for the orthodox party, Anthimus

Andreini, Francesco

2005-03-06T19:55:00.000-08:00

Andreini began his career as a soldier but was captured by the Turks and held in slavery by them for several years. Upon his return to Italy,

Briçonnet, Guillaume

2005-03-06T08:54:00.000-08:00

Briçonnet was the son of King Charles VIII's counsellor Guillaume Briçonnet (1445–1514), who after his wife's death took holy orders and became bishop of Saint-Malo, archbishop of Reims, archbishop of Narbonne,

Bradley, Edward Riley

2005-03-05T05:40:00.000-08:00

As a boy, Bradley worked in steel mills, then went to the Southwest, where he became a cowboy and fought Indians and was briefly a miner before he turned to gambling, which became a lifelong passion. Before the turn of the century,

Mammal, Social behavior

2005-03-05T00:52:00.000-08:00

The dependence of the young mammal on its mother for nourishment has made possible a period of training. Such training permits the nongenetic transfer of information between generations. The ability of young mammals to learn from the experience of their elders has allowed a behavioral plasticity unknown in any other group of organisms and has been a primary

Jacob, François

2005-03-04T05:52:00.000-08:00

Jacob received his M.D. degree (1947) and a doctorate in science (1954) from the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Science, respectively, in Paris. Most of the work of Jacob,

Manchuria

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

In the closing decades of the 19th century, foreign powers, particularly Russia and Japan, began to eye Manchuria as a fruitful field for imperialist expansion. The conflict between Russia and Japan for the control of Manchuria first raged over the possession of the Liaotung Peninsula. As the prize of its victory in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95, Japan demanded from China

Bío-bío

2005-03-02T21:46:00.000-08:00

Región, central Chile, bordering Argentina to the east and fronting the Pacific Ocean to the west. It was given its present boundaries in 1974. Its area of 14,262 square miles (36,939 square km) includes the provincias of Ñuble, Concepción, Arauco, and Bío-Bío. The islands of Santa María, in the Bay of Arauco, and Mocha, 14 miles (23 km) offshore, are part of Arauco provincia. Bío-Bío región spans the coastal

Soubise, Benjamin De Rohan, Seigneur De

2005-03-02T14:29:00.000-08:00

Soubise apprenticed as a soldier under Prince Maurice of Orange-Nassau in the Low Countries. In the Huguenot rebellions that rocked France in the 1620s, his elder brother chiefly commanded the Huguenots' forces on land and in the south, while Soubise commanded those

Thomas, Audrey

2005-03-02T04:35:00.000-08:00

Thomas graduated from Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1957 and settled in Canada in 1959. After receiving an M.A. from the University of British Columbia in 1963, she lived in Ghana from 1964 to 1966 and then returned to British Columbia, where she divided

Topological Space

2005-03-01T19:40:00.000-08:00

In mathematics, generalization of Euclidean spaces in which the idea of closeness, or limits, is described in terms of relationships between sets rather than in terms of distance. Every topological space consists of: (1) a set of points; (2) a class of subsets defined axiomatically as open sets; and (3) the set operations of union and intersection. In addition, the class of open

Grafström, Gillis

2005-02-28T15:33:00.000-08:00

Grafström won his first gold medal at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium, despite breaking

Economic System

2005-02-28T11:37:00.000-08:00

Way in which humankind has arranged for its material provisioning. One would think that there would be a great variety of such systems, corresponding to the many cultural arrangements that have characterized human society. Surprisingly, that is not the case. Although a wide range of institutions and social customs have been associated with the economic activities

Yudenich, Nikolay

2005-02-28T10:29:00.000-08:00

Having entered the Imperial Army in 1879, Yudenich graduated from the General Staff Academy in 1887, served on the General Staff from 1887 until 1902, and then became a regimental commander. After participating in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–05), he was promoted

Hailar

2005-02-27T18:18:00.000-08:00

The area was occupied by the Chinese in the 7th century AD under the early T'ang dynasty, when it was part of the Hei-shui protectorate general. Chinese occupation, however, was short-lived and never very

Itapetininga

2005-02-27T11:42:00.000-08:00

City, in the highlands of east-central São Paulo estado (“state”), Brazil. It lies at 2,200 feet (670 m) above sea level, near the Itapetininga River. Formerly called Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres de Itapetininga, it was given town status in 1770 and was made the seat of a municipality in 1771. Agriculture and industry both contribute to Itapetininga's economy. The principal crops in the region are

Argyropoulos, John

2005-02-26T09:43:00.000-08:00

As a teacher in Constantinople, Argyropoulos had among his pupils the scholar Constantine Lascaris. Argyropoulos divided his time between Italy and Constantinople; he was in Italy (1439) for the Council of Florence and spent

Oak Park

2005-02-26T07:33:00.000-08:00

Village, Cook county, northeastern Illinois, U.S. It is a western suburb of Chicago. Settled in 1833 by Joseph Kettlestrings, who operated a sawmill on the east bank of the Des Plaines River, it was originally called Oak Ridge and served as a stopping place for farmers taking their produce into Chicago. In 1871, after the Chicago fire, the population grew rapidly. The village, primarily

Cookie

2005-02-25T10:52:00.000-08:00

Probably the most popular cookies in the United States are those that are

Samanid Dynasty

2005-02-25T02:09:00.000-08:00

The four grandsons of the dynasty's founder, Saman-Khoda, had been rewarded with provinces for their faithful service to the 'Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun: Nuh obtained Samarkand; Ahmad, Fergana; Yahya, Shash; and Elyas, Herat. Ahmad's son

Tebaldi, Renata

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

Tebaldi received her early musical training from her mother, a singer, and studied at the Parma Conservatory. At age 18 she sang for Carmen Melis, of the Arrigo Boito Conservatory in Pesaro, who accepted her as a student. She made her debut in Rovigo in 1944 as Elena

Swallowing

2005-02-24T00:43:00.000-08:00

The first begins in the mouth. There, food is mixed with saliva for lubrication and placed on the back of the tongue. The mouth closes, and the soft portion of the roof of the mouth (soft palate) rises so that the passageway between

Proper Motion

2005-02-23T02:29:00.000-08:00

In astronomy, the apparent motion of a star across the celestial sphere at right angles to the observer's line of sight; any radial motion (toward or away from the Sun) is not included. Proper motion is generally measured in seconds of arc per year; the largest known is that of Barnard's star in the constellation Ophiuchus, about 10² yearly. The English astronomer Edmond

Coincidence Counting

2005-02-22T23:34:00.000-08:00

In physics, the detection of two nuclear or cosmic ray events that occur almost simultaneously (e.g., within a time of 10-5 second). Coincidence counting involves two or more particle counters exposed to the same source of cosmic rays or nuclear radiation and connected to an electronic coincidence circuit. One principal use of the coincidence technique is to detect particles

Allegory

2005-02-22T20:09:00.000-08:00

Literary allegories typically describe situations and events or express abstract ideas in terms of material objects,

Biblical Literature, The Second Letter of John

2005-02-22T16:11:00.000-08:00

II John warns a specific church (or perhaps churches), designated as “the elect lady and her children,” against the influence of the Docetic heresy combatted in I John, whose proponents lured Christians from “following the truth, just as we have been commanded by the Father.” In II John, as in the Gospel According to John and I John, the light–darkness images are similar to those

Flodden, Battle Of

2005-02-21T09:57:00.000-08:00

(Sept. 9, 1513), English victory over the Scots, fought near Branxton, Northumberland. To honour his alliance with France (1512) and divert troops from the main English army, which was then in France under Henry VIII, James IV of Scotland crossed the border (Aug. 22, 1513) with an army of about 30,000 men supported by artillery. Thomas Howard, earl of Surrey, Henry's lieutenant in the north, gathered an army

Mare's-tail

2005-02-21T06:32:00.000-08:00

The aquatic plant Hippuris vulgaris or either of two other species of its genus, which constitute the water milfoil family (Hippuridaceae). Mare's-tail grows from submerged, stout rootstocks along the margins of lakes and ponds in temperate regions throughout the world. It resembles the unrelated horsetail (Equisetum species) in having whorls of small, linear leaves

Tableware

2005-02-20T20:53:00.000-08:00

Utensils used at the table for holding, serving, and handling food and drink. Tableware includes various types of containers (known as hollowware, q.v.), spoons and forks (flatware, q.v.), knives (cutlery, q.v.), and a variety of dishes and accessories.

Vajpayee, Atal Bihari

2005-02-20T10:28:00.000-08:00

Vajpayee was first elected to Parliament in 1957 as a member of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), a forerunner of the BJP. In 1977 the BJS joined three other parties to form the Janata Party, which led a government that lasted until July 1979. As foreign minister

Quine, Willard Van Orman

2005-02-19T06:30:00.000-08:00

After studying mathematics and logic at Oberlin College (1926–30), Quine won a scholarship to Harvard University, where he completed his Ph.D. in 1932. On a traveling fellowship to Europe

Semiconductor Device

2005-02-18T21:24:00.000-08:00

A p-n junction diode is a solid-state device that has two terminals. Depending on impurity distribution, device geometry, and biasing condition, a junction diode can perform various functions. There are more than 50,000 types of diodes with voltage ratings from less than 1 volt to more than 2,000 volts and current ratings from less than 1 milliampere to more than 5,000 amperes. A p-n junction

Texas, The people

2005-02-18T11:12:00.000-08:00

Texas has long been a huge reservoir for diverse streams of races and cultures. For the bands of prehistoric hunters, for the waves of Indian tribes, for the Spanish and Mexicans pushing northward, for the Anglo-Americans from the North and East, and for colonizers who came to Texas directly from Europe, there was more than enough room for settlement and for the opportunity

Margaret Of Angoulême

2005-02-18T10:35:00.000-08:00

Daughter of Charles de Valois-Orléans, comte d'Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy, she became the most influential woman in France, with the exception of her mother,

Trafalgar Square

2005-02-17T19:03:00.000-08:00

Plaza in the City of Westminster, London, named for Lord Nelson's naval victory (1805) in the Battle of Trafalgar. Possibly the most famous of all London squares, Trafalgar Square has always been public and has had no garden. Seven major arteries pump automobiles around the great paved space, which is dominated by Nelson's Column (1839–43), a 185-foot- (56-metre-) high monument to Lord Nelson that

Buenos Aires, Museums and libraries

2005-02-16T22:20:00.000-08:00

The city's museums—several of which are run by the municipal government—house varied collections. The Bernardino Rivadavia Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences has an exceptionally rich fossil collection and operates a scientific institute. The National Museum of Fine Arts contains collections of world masters and of Argentine painters and sculptors, while

Hardinge (of Penshurst), Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron

2005-02-16T20:36:00.000-08:00

A grandson of Lord Hardinge, governor-general of India in 1844–48, Charles Hardinge entered the diplomatic service in 1880. Appointed ambassador to Russia in 1904 and permanent under secretary

Gorbachev, Mikhail

2005-02-16T00:36:00.000-08:00

In full Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev Soviet official, the general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1985 to 1991 and president of the Soviet Union in 1990–91. His efforts to democratize his country's political system and decentralize its economy led to the downfall of communism and the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. In part because he ended the Soviet

Mammal, Food habits

2005-02-15T20:05:00.000-08:00

The earliest mammals, like their reptilian forebears, were active predators. From such a basal stock there has been a complex radiation of trophic adaptations. Modern mammals occupy a wide spectrum of feeding niches. In most terrestrial and some aquatic communities, carnivorous mammals are at the top of the food pyramid. There are also herbaceous mammals that serve

Saint Andrews

2005-02-15T15:30:00.000-08:00

City, royal burgh (1160), university town, golfing mecca, and former fishing port in Fife council area and historic county, Scotland. Located on St. Andrews Bay of the North Sea 13 miles (20 km) southeast of Dundee, it occupies a plateau of sandstone rock about 50 feet (15 metres) in elevation, which breaks off to the north in precipitous cliffs. The Eden River enters St. Andrews Bay northwest

Kordofan

2005-02-14T22:47:00.000-08:00

Kordofan was originally inhabited by brown-skinned Nubian-speaking peoples, and the region's name may be derived from the Nubian word kurta, meaning “men.” The region was perhaps under the control of the Christian Tungur dynasty from

Tz'u

2005-02-14T20:47:00.000-08:00

In Chinese poetry, song form characterized by lines of unequal length, with prescribed rhyme schemes and tonal patterns, each bearing the name of a musical air. The varying line lengths are comparable to the natural rhythm of speech and therefore easily understood when sung. First sung by ordinary folk, they were popularized by professional women singers and poets

Arabia, Dhofar (Zufar)

2005-02-13T18:04:00.000-08:00

The Qara' Mountains in Dhofar, the southern province of the sultanate of Oman, are about 3,000 feet high, with one peak higher than 5,000 feet. The monsoon keeps the seaward (southern) side of the mountains, as well as the coastal plain, fertile. A gradual slope leads northward from the water divide to the Rub' al-Khali; valleys from the slope converge on Ramlat Al-Mughshin at the desert's

Escher (von Der Linth), Hans Conrad

2005-02-13T05:59:00.000-08:00

With his friend and political colleague Paul Usteri, Escher founded the Schweizer Republikaner, a journal of moderately reformist opinion. Elected

Kamáres Ware

2005-02-12T14:45:00.000-08:00

Style of painted pottery that flourished on Crete during the Middle Minoan period (c. 2100–c. 1550 BC). Surviving examples include ridged cups, small, round spouted jars, and large storage jars (pithoi), on which combinations of abstract curvilinear designs and stylized plant and marine motifs are painted in white and tones of red, orange, and yellow on black grounds.

Vaiont Dam

2005-02-11T13:28:00.000-08:00

Concrete arch dam across the Vaiont River in Italy with a height of 859 feet (262 m) and crest length of 623 feet (190 m). Completed in 1961, it was severely damaged by a massive landslide into the reservoir in 1963 that claimed the lives of more than 2,500 people.

China, Ethnic and linguistic groups

2005-02-11T04:27:00.000-08:00

China is a multinational country, with a population composed of a large number of ethnic and linguistic groups. Thus, the basic classification of the population is not so much ethnic as linguistic. The Han (Chinese), the largest group, outnumber the minority groups or minority nationalities in every province or autonomous region except Tibet and Sinkiang. The Han,

Arabia, History Of, Kindah

2005-02-10T23:15:00.000-08:00

Kindah was a Bedouin tribal kingdom quite unlike the organized states of Yemen; its kings exercised an influence over a number of associated tribes more by personal prestige than by coercive settled authority. Its area of influence was south central Arabia, from the Yemeni border nearly up to Mecca. The discovery of the tomb of a king of Kindah (datable to perhaps

Chiatura

2005-02-10T00:34:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Ciatura, city, central Georgia. Chiatura lies along the Kvirila River in a deep trench in the southern foothills of the Greater Caucasus range. It is the centre of one of the largest manganese-mining areas of the world. The ore, which was first discovered in 1849, has been exploited since 1879. The city and its ore-enriching plants cluster in the narrow valley, with the mines in the surrounding

Furniture, 19th century and modern

2005-02-09T19:15:00.000-08:00

E.D. and F. Andrews, Shaker Furniture: The Craftsmanship of an American Communal Sect (1937); R.V. Symonds and B.B. Whineray, Victorian Furniture (1962), with many illustrations; Serge Grandjean, Empire Furniture, 1800 to 1825 (1966); Mikolaus Pevsner, Pioneers of Modern Design from William Morris to Walter Gropius (1960); Jean Cassou, Emile Langue, and Nikolaus Pevsner, Les Sources du vingtieme siecle (1961); John F. Pile, Modern Furniture (1979); Jonathan L. Fairbanks and Elizabeth Bidwell Bates, American Furniture, 1620 to the Present (1981); David A. Hanks, Innovative Furniture in America from 1800 to the Present (1981).

Anthemius

2005-02-09T15:55:00.000-08:00

The son-in-law of the Eastern emperor Marcian, Anthemius was appointed to his office by Marcian's successor, Leo I, who wanted help in attacking the Vandals in North Africa. The powerful patrician Ricimer, kingmaker of the Western Empire, accepted Anthemius with the stipulation that his daughter, Alypia, marry Ricimer.

Teagarden, Jack

2005-02-09T11:50:00.000-08:00

Beginning on trombone at age seven, Teagarden was entirely self-taught. After drifting across the Southwest, he eventually arrived in New York City in 1927 and made his recording debut; from that moment he was the acknowledged

Die-casting

2005-02-09T10:02:00.000-08:00

Forming metal objects by injecting molten metal under pressure into dies, or molds. An early and important use of the technique was in the Mergenthaler Linotype machine (1884) to give line-long combinations of letters, but the appearance of the mass-production automobile assembly line gave die-casting its real impetus. Great precision is possible, and products range