ClearOven

Nicetas Stethatos

2005-11-18T20:00:00.000-08:00

A monk of the Stoudion monastery in Constantinople (now Istanbul), Nicetas allied himself c. 1020 with his spiritual tutor, Symeon the New Theologian, whose biographer and

New Britain

2005-10-16T16:55:00.000-07:00

A liberal independent political organization in the United States. It was formed in 1947 by a group of labour leaders, civic and political leaders, and academics who were liberal in their views on national affairs, internationalist in world outlook, and anticommunist in conviction. The ADA is devoted to the propagation of liberal ideas, the election of liberal public

Hydra

2005-08-08T21:45:00.000-07:00

Modern Greek Ídhra, island of the Saronic group in the Aegean Sea, nomós (department) of Attica, Greece, just off the eastern tip of the Argolís peninsula of the Peloponnese. Its maximum length, northeast–southwest, is 13 mi (21 km), and it has an area of only 19.2 sq mi (49.6 sq km). The highest point, Mt. Ere, is 1,936 ft (590 m). Once quite wooded and well watered, as its Turkish name, Çamliza (“place of pines”), shows, it is now denuded and

Radishchev, Aleksandr Nikolayevich

2005-07-27T19:35:00.000-07:00

Radishchev, a nobleman, was educated in Moscow (1757–62), at the St. Petersburg Corps of Pages (1763–66), and at Leipzig, where he studied law (1766–71). His career as a civil servant brought him into contact with people from all social strata. Under the influence

Ambo

2005-07-23T13:40:00.000-07:00

In the Christian liturgy, a raised stand formerly used for reading the Gospel or the Epistle, first used in early basilicas. Originally, the ambo took the form of a portable lectern. By the 6th century it had evolved into a stationary church furnishing, which reflected the development and codification of the Christian liturgy. By the Byzantine and early Romanesque

Jones, Deacon

2005-07-08T11:00:00.000-07:00

Jones, an accomplished high school athlete in Orlando, Fla., played football at Mississippi Vocational College and South Carolina State College. He was relatively unknown in 1961 when the Los Angeles Rams selected him in the 14th round of the National

Lugones, Leopoldo

2005-07-06T15:25:00.000-07:00

Argentine poet, literary and social critic, and cultural ambassador, considered by many the outstanding figure of his age in the cultural life of Argentina. He was a strong influence on the younger generation of writers that included the prominent short-story writer and novelist Jorge Luis Borges. His influence

Gypcrete

2005-06-30T17:15:00.000-07:00

Also called Gypcrust, gypsum-cemented duricrust, an indurated, or hardened, layer formed on or in soil. It generally occurs in a hot, arid or semiarid climate in a basin that has internal drainage. It usually is composed of about 95 percent gypsum (a hydrated calcium sulfate mineral) and is initially developed in a playa as an evaporite. Gypcrete ranges from a loose, powdery deposit to massive

Malawi, Flag Of

2005-06-22T23:40:00.000-07:00

The British territory of Nyasaland (now Malawi) was granted a coat of arms on May 11, 1914. It showed a leopard standing on a rock against a white background, but the top of the shield was black bearing a golden sun. The Latin motto beneath, “Lux in tenebris,” is translated as “Light out of darkness”; it is suggestive of the British self-image as protectors and civilizers of the territory.

Miranda, Francisco De

2005-06-16T08:50:00.000-07:00

Educated in Caracas, Miranda purchased

Switzerland, World War I and economic crisis

2005-06-03T17:35:00.000-07:00

An alliance of the bourgeois parties (representing propertied interests), including the conservatives and liberals who had clashed in 1847, confronted a labour movement that comprised trade unions and the Social Democratic Party. World War I, in which Switzerland remained neutral, not only caused tensions between the German-speaking Swiss and those speaking French

Kuban River

2005-06-01T00:25:00.000-07:00

River in southwestern Russia, 563 miles (906 km) in length and draining 23,600 square miles (61,000 square km). It rises from glaciers on Mount Elbrus in the Greater Caucasus and flows north through narrow gorges, with many rapids, to the Stavropol Upland, where it turns westward in a broad, marshy floodplain to enter the Sea of Azov. Much of its water is diverted for irrigation. The river is navigable

Biqa', Al-

2005-05-18T03:30:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Bekaa , or Beqaa , classical Coele Syria broad valley of central Lebanon, extending in a northeast-southwest direction for 75 miles (120 km) along the Litani and Orontes rivers, between the Lebanon Mountains to the west and Anti-Lebanon Mountains to the east. The valley contains nearly half of Lebanon's arable land but is not as intensively farmed as the country's coastal plain because of less rainfall and a wider variation

Yamm

2005-05-16T08:50:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Yam ancient West Semitic deity who ruled the oceans, rivers, lakes, and underground springs. He also played an important role in the Baal myths recorded on tablets uncovered at Ugarit, which say that at the beginning of time Yamm was awarded the divine kingship by El, the chief god of the pantheon. One day, Yamm's messengers requested that the gods surrender Baal to be a bond

Pacheco Pereira, Duarte

2005-05-14T06:40:00.000-07:00

Pacheco Pereira, reared at the Portuguese court, was an educated man, serving as a squire to King John

Probation

2005-03-15T08:35:00.000-08:00

The probation

Plasma, Extraterrestrial forms

2005-03-14T01:42:00.000-08:00

It has been suggested that the universe originated as a violent explosion about 10 billion years ago and initially consisted of a fireball of completely ionized hydrogen plasma. Irrespective of the truth of this, there is little matter in the universe now that does not exist in the plasma state. The observed stars are composed of plasmas, as are interstellar and interplanetary

Faridabad

2005-03-11T03:18:00.000-08:00

Town, southeastern Haryana state, northwestern India, connected by road with Delhi (north) and Mathura (southeast). It is a local market for wheat, sugarcane, and cotton. Founded in 1607 by Shaikh Farid, Emperor Jahangir's treasurer, to protect the Delhi - Agra high road, it was constituted a municipality in 1867. A project for Pakistani refugee resettlement and light industrial development

Kamensk-uralsky

2005-03-04T17:04:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Kamensk-ural'skij, � city, Sverdlovsk oblast (province), western Russia, at the confluence of the Kamenka and Iset rivers. The first state iron foundry in the Urals, Kamensky Zavod, was established there in 1700 - 01. The modern city specializes in the production of aluminum and aluminum castings and sheets, using bauxite from Severouralsk. Steel tubes and a range of electrical machinery also are

Flamininus, Titus Quinctius

2005-03-03T17:32:00.000-08:00

Flamininus was a military tribune during the Second Punic War (218 - 201) and had a distinguished military career. Elected quaestor in 205, he exercised the authority (imperium) of a praetor at Tarentum in southern Italy, and he twice (202, 200) was involved in the distribution of lands to victorious troops. These veterans

Ijoid Languages

2005-03-02T17:08:00.000-08:00

The smallest branch of the Niger-Congo language family. It consists of a language cluster, Ijo (Ijaw), comprising seven other language clusters with a total of approximately two million speakers, and Defaka (Afakani), a solitary language spoken by very few. All these languages are found in the relatively narrow coastal Niger River delta region of Nigeria. The Ijo language

Siraj-ud-dawlah

2005-03-01T03:14:00.000-08:00

Siraj-ud-Dawlah became nawab of Bengal on the death

Razi, Ar-

2005-02-28T01:35:00.000-08:00

One tradition holds that ar-Razi was already an alchemist before he gained his medical knowledge. After serving as chief physician in a Rayy hospital, he held a similar position in Baghdad for some time. Like many

Athanaric

2005-02-27T02:42:00.000-08:00

Visigothic chieftain from 364 to 376 who fiercely persecuted the Christians in Dacia (approximately modern Romania). The persecutions occurred between 369 and 372; his most important victim was St. Sabas the Goth. In 376 Athanaric was defeated by the Huns. He fled with a few followers to Transylvania (region in present-day Romania), but the bulk of his people, led by Fritigern, fled to the

Domestic System

2005-02-26T01:19:00.000-08:00

Also called �Putting-out System� production system widespread in 17th-century western Europe in which merchant-employers �put out� materials to rural producers who usually worked in their homes but sometimes laboured in workshops or in turn put out work to others. Finished products were returned to the employers for payment on a piecework or wage basis. The domestic system differed from the handicraft

Interior Design, Commercial interiors

2005-02-25T10:50:00.000-08:00

Contemporary designers are much involved with commercial spaces - such as stores, hotels, motels, and restaurants. Many designers and design firms specialize in highly specific spaces such as restaurants, and others may become specialists in the design of showrooms for the garment industry. Frequently, the design of a restaurant, shop, or hotel must be keyed to a theme.

Nero

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

In full �Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus�, also called (AD 50 - 54) �Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus�, original name �Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus� the fifth Roman emperor (AD 54 - 68), stepson and heir of the emperor Claudius. He became infamous for his personal debaucheries and extravagances and, on doubtful evidence, for his burning of Rome and persecutions of Christians.

Binary Number System

2005-02-23T18:16:00.000-08:00

In mathematics, positional numeral system employing 2 as the base and requiring only two different symbols, 0 and 1. The importance of the binary system to information theory and computer technology derives mainly from the compact and reliable manner in which data can be represented in electromechanical devices with two states - such as �on-off,� �open-closed,� or �go-no

Earth Sciences, Knowledge of the hydrologic cycle

2005-02-22T21:40:00.000-08:00

The idea of the hydrological cycle developed independently in China as early as the 4th century BC and was explicitly stated in the L

Race, Enlightenment philosophers and taxonomists

2005-02-21T09:36:00.000-08:00

The development of the idea and ideology of race coincided with the rise of science in American and European cultures. Much of the inspiration for the growth of science has been credited to the period known as the Enlightenment that spanned most of the 18th century. Many early Enlightenment writers believed in the power of education and fostered very liberal ideals

Aalto, Alvar

2005-02-20T11:19:00.000-08:00

Aalto's commissions after 1950, in addition to being greater in number, were more varied and widely dispersed: a high-rise apartment building in Bremen, W.Ger. (1958), a church in Bologna, Italy (1966), an art museum

Tabernacle

2005-02-19T19:39:00.000-08:00

Israel's earliest sanctuary was a simple tent within which, it was believed,

Walter Of Coventry

2005-02-18T19:45:00.000-08:00

Walter was not a historian or chronicler in his own right; he merely brought together the works of Marianus Scotus, Florence of Worcester, Henry of Huntingdon, Roger of Hoveden, and

Earth Exploration

2005-02-17T19:42:00.000-08:00

Texts on methodology and discoveries in Earth exploration include Arthur W. Rose, Herbert E. Hawkes, and John S. Webb, Geochemistry in Mineral Exploration, 2nd ed. (1979); Robert F. Legget and Allen W. Hatheway, Geology and Engineering, 3rd ed. (1988); Sampling of Soil and Rock (1971), published by the American Society for Testing and Materials; Martin H.P. Bott, Interior of the Earth: Its Structure, Constitution, and Evolution, 2nd ed. (1982); George D. Garland, Introduction to Geophysics: Mantle, Core, and Crust, 2nd ed. (1979); Robert E. Sheriff (compiler), Encyclopedic Dictionary of Exploration Geophysics, 3rd ed. (1991); Robert E. Sheriff, Geophysical Methods (1989); Robert E. Sheriff and L.P. Geldart, Exploration Seismology, 2 vol. (1982 - 83); W.M. Telford, L.P. Geldart, and Robert E. Sheriff, Applied Geophysics, 2nd ed. (1980); Chuji Tsuboi, Gravity (1983; originally published in Japanese, 1979); W.D. Parkinson, Introduction to Geomagnetism (1983); J.A. Jacobs, A Textbook on Geonomy (1974); and Floyd F. Sabins, Jr., Remote Sensing: Principles and Interpretation, 2nd ed. (1987).

Armidale

2005-02-16T19:35:00.000-08:00

City, northeastern New South Wales, Australia. It lies on the valley slopes of Dumaresq Creek in the New England Range. Founded in 1839 by G.J. Macdonald, commissioner of crown lands, and named for his father's Scottish baronial estate on the Isle of Skye, it developed a pastoral-agricultural economy. It has become a regional cultural centre with Anglican and Roman Catholic

Tlalpan

2005-02-15T18:45:00.000-08:00

Delegaci�n, central distrito federal (�federal district�), central Mexico. At 1,425 feet (2,294 m) above sea level in the Valley of Mexico, it is on the northeastern slopes of the extinct Cerro Ajusco volcano. In the district are remains of a pre-Columbian town, and 1.5 miles (2.5 km) west of Tlalpan is the Cuicuilco Pyramid, considered to be the oldest man-made structure on the North American continent

Yogyakarta

2005-02-14T23:33:00.000-08:00

In the 7th century the locality formed part of the Buddhist kingdom of Sailendras, which was contemporaneous with the Srivijaya empire of Palembang (Sumatra). It was probably included in

Huizinga, Johan

2005-02-13T22:46:00.000-08:00

Huizinga was educated at the universities of Groningen and Leipzig. After teaching history in Haarlem and lecturing in Indian literature at Amsterdam, he was professor of history first at Groningen (1905 - 15) and then at Leiden

T'ien-t'ai

2005-02-12T08:41:00.000-08:00

The chief scripture of the school is the Lotus Sutra (Chinese: Fa-hua Ching; Sanskrit: Saddharmapu

Ashiya

2005-02-11T15:58:00.000-08:00

City, Hyogo ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan. It is surrounded by the Rokko Mountains and faces Osaka Bay. Located on railway lines and highways between Kobe (west) and Osaka (east), it has been known for its beauty since the Heian period (794 - 1185), when court nobles and men of letters lived there. After the establishment of the first railway line to it in 1905, the city became a renowned residential

Norfolk

2005-02-10T01:38:00.000-08:00

County, eastern Massachusetts, U.S., southwest and south of Boston, bordered by Massachusetts Bay to the northeast and Rhode Island to the southwest. It consists of an upland region, including the Blue Hills, that is drained by the Charles and Neponset rivers. The main parklands are Wrentham State Forest and F. Gilbert Hills, Bristol Blake, and Webb Memorial state

Buddhism, All Souls festival

2005-02-09T13:59:00.000-08:00

The importance of the virtues of filial piety and the reverence of ancestors in China and Japan have established Ullambana, or All Souls Day, as one of the major Buddhist festivals in those countries. In China, worshipers in Buddhist temples make �boats of the law� ( fa-ch'uan) out of paper, some very large, which are then burned in the evening. The purpose of the celebration

Gippsland

2005-02-08T10:53:00.000-08:00

Region of southeastern Victoria, Australia, extending northeast from Western Port (near Melbourne) to the New South Wales border and south from the Eastern Highlands to the coast, with an area of 13,600 square miles (35,200 square km). Fertile and well watered (34 inches [860 mm] annually), Gippsland is the focus of the state's dairy industry, supplying most of Melbourne's liquid milk. Lignite

Owain Cyfeiliog

2005-02-07T23:13:00.000-08:00

After ruling over the people of Powys from 1149 to 1195, Owain retired to the Cistercian monastery of Strata Marcella (Ystrad Marchell), which he had established in 1170. He died and was buried there, despite his previous excommunication (1188) for failing to support the Third Crusade.

Te�filo Otoni

2005-02-06T05:01:00.000-08:00

City, east central Minas Gerais state, Brazil, on the Rio Todos os Santos in the Rio Mucuri Valley, at 1,047 ft (319 m) above sea level. It was given city status in 1878. Te�filo Otoni is a trade centre for an agricultural hinterland in which coffee is the principal crop. Livestock raising is also of some importance, and the city has manufacturing and food-processing plants. Extensive mining

Sanger, Margaret

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

The sixth of 11 children, she attended Claverack College and then took nurse's training in New York at the White Plains Hospital and the Manhattan Eye and Ear Clinic. She was married

Levertin, Oscar Ivar

2005-02-04T23:57:00.000-08:00

Levertin was educated at Uppsala University and became in 1899 professor of literature at the University of Stockholm. After the death of his first wife and an attack of tuberculosis, which sent him to Davos, Switz., he abandoned his early Naturalism for

World War I, Rival strategies and the Dardanelles campaign, 1915 - 16

2005-02-03T19:54:00.000-08:00

Erich von Falkenhayn had succeeded the dispirited Moltke as chief of the German general staff in September 1914. By the

Boiardo, Matteo Maria, Conte (count) Di Scandiano

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

Poet whose Orlando innamorato, the first poem to combine elements of both Arthurian and Carolingian traditions of romance, gave new life to the chivalrous epic, which was declining in popularity. Boiardo spent much of his childhood at Ferrara, and served the dukes of Este. He was captain of the ducal forces at Modena

Entente Cordiale

2005-02-01T23:57:00.000-08:00

(April 8, 1904), Anglo-French agreement that, by settling a number of controversial matters, ended antagonisms between Great Britain and France and paved the way for their diplomatic cooperation against German pressures in the decade preceding World War I (1914 - 18). The agreement in no sense created an alliance and did not entangle Great Britain with a French commitment to Russia

Mahan, Alfred Thayer

2005-01-31T09:12:00.000-08:00

Mahan was the son of a professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., in 1859 and went on to serve nearly 40 years of active duty in the U.S. Navy. He fought in

Carnivore

2005-01-30T15:55:00.000-08:00

Any member of the order Carnivora, literally �meat eaters.� The order includes 10 families of living mammals: Canidae (dogs, wolves, jackals, and foxes), Ursidae (bears), Procyonidae (raccoons), Mustelidae (skunks, mink, weasels, badgers, and otters), Viverridae (civets and mongooses), Hyaenidae (hyenas), Felidae (cats), Otariidae (eared seals), Odobenidae (walrus), and Phocidae (earless seals).

Y�eh Fei

2005-01-29T22:18:00.000-08:00

In 1126 North China was overrun by the nomadic Juchen and the Sung capital at K'ai-feng taken. The former emperor Hui-tsung, who had abdicated in 1125/26, together with his son, the emperor Ch'in-tsung (reigned 1125/26 - 27), was carried into captivity. Another son of Hui-tsung, later known as Kao-tsung (reigned

Yahya Khan, Agha Mohammad

2005-01-28T19:31:00.000-08:00

Yahya was born to a family that was descended from the elite soldier class of Nader Shah, the Persian ruler who conquered Delhi in the 18th century. He was educated at Punjab University and later graduated first in his class

Carlow

2005-01-27T14:22:00.000-08:00

Irish �Ceatharlach (�The Four Lakes�)� county in the province of Leinster, Ireland. The second smallest Irish county, it is bounded by County Kildare (north), Counties Wicklow and Wexford (east), and Counties Kilkenny and Laoighis (west). The town of Carlow is the county seat. In the east are the granitic mountains of the Leinster Chain, which are crossed by the River Slaney and flanked to the west by the River Barrow

Chao Phraya River

2005-01-26T13:42:00.000-08:00

The Chao Phraya constitutes a valuable waterway for the transport of the nation's

Iberville, Pierre Le Moyne D'

2005-01-25T06:47:00.000-08:00

The son of prominent Montreal fur trader Charles Le Moyne, Iberville spent his young manhood in raids against English trading posts on

Visayas

2005-01-24T06:51:00.000-08:00

Also called �Bisayas� island group, central Philippines. The Visayas group consists of seven large and several hundred smaller islands clustered around the Visayan, Samar, and Camotes seas. They have a total area of 23,582 square miles (61,077 square km). The seven main islands are Bohol, Cebu, Leyte, Masbate, Negros, Panay, and Samar (qq.v.). These islands and their smaller neighbours make up the central group

International Relations, The reorganization of the Middle East

2005-01-23T23:47:00.000-08:00

The Treaty of S�vres likewise dismembered the Ottoman Empire. Here again secret war-aims treaties reflected Allied ambitions in the Middle East, but Wilson was less willing to challenge them given his belief that the Arab peoples were not ready for self-rule. To avoid the tinge of imperialism, the victors took control of the former Ottoman (and German) territories

Induction

2005-01-21T07:41:00.000-08:00

Formation of b-galactosidase has been shown

Heterophony

2005-01-20T15:36:00.000-08:00

In music, texture resulting from simultaneous performances of melodic variants of the same tune, typical of Middle Eastern practices as well as of a vast array of folk music. Balkan Slavic epic singers, for example, accompany themselves heterophonically on the gusle (fiddle). In Persian art music, instrumentalists are expected to vary the singers' improvised lines.

Cloud Chamber

2005-01-19T11:12:00.000-08:00

Radiation detector, originally developed between 1896 and 1912 by the Scottish physicist C.T.R. Wilson, that has as the detecting medium a supersaturated vapour that condenses to tiny liquid droplets around ions produced by the passage of energetic charged particles, such as alpha particles, beta particles, or protons. In a Wilson cloud chamber, supersaturation is caused

Elis

2005-01-18T02:37:00.000-08:00

The region was bounded on the north by Achaea, on the east by Arcadia, and on the south by Messenia. Elis consisted of three districts from north to south: Hollow Elis, which occupied the basin

Baltic States, Climate

2005-01-17T16:33:00.000-08:00

Over most of the region, annual rainfall varies between 22 and 28 inches (550 and 700 millimetres) and generally increases from the coastal zone to the upland districts of the interior. The prevailing temperatures are moderate by the standards of European Russia and in general improve from north to south and from east to west across the Baltic region. January mean temperatures

Binet, Alfred

2005-01-16T17:56:00.000-08:00

Fascinated by the work of the French neurologist Jean Charcot on hypnosis at the Salp�tri�re Hospital, Paris, Binet abandoned a law career in 1878 to devote himself

Pinar Del R�

2005-01-15T10:54:00.000-08:00

Provincia, western Cuba, bounded on the north by the Gulf of Mexico, on the west by the Yucat�n Channel, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, on the southeast by the Gulf of Bataban�, and on the east by La Habana province. Low mountain ranges, including the Sierra de los �rganos and the Sierra del Rosario, form the backbone of the territory, which has an area of 4,218 square miles (10,925 square

China, Buddhism

2005-01-14T08:04:00.000-08:00

The spokesmen of Chinese Buddhism under the early Mongol rulers came from the Ch'an sect (meditation Buddhism). Their high intellectuality and refined aestheticism, however, did not appeal to the Mongols, who felt more attracted by the mixture of magic practices, rather nebulous metaphysics, and impressive symbolism in the visual arts of Tibetan Buddhism. Kublai

China, Buddhism

2005-01-13T14:25:00.000-08:00

Exuma Cays

2005-01-12T18:30:00.000-08:00

Group of some 365 cays and islands, part of the Bahama Islands, situated in the Atlantic Ocean. The Exuma Cays begin some 35 miles (56 km) east-southeast of Nassau, stretch southeast in a gently curving arc for about 90 miles (145 km), and have an area of 112 square miles (290 square km). Most of the inhabitants live on the islands of Great Exuma and Little Exuma. The Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, which includes

China, The Chou and Ch'in dynasties

2005-01-11T20:40:00.000-08:00

This transitional period is examined in Chi Li, The Formation of the Chinese People (1928, reprinted 1967), useful for information on the ethnic history of ancient China; Herlee Glessner Creel, The Birth of China (1937, reprinted 1954), still regarded as one of the standard references, and The Origins of Statecraft in China, vol. 1 (1970), the first Western book to include extensive materials from bronze inscriptions - especially significant on the activities of non-Chou peoples; Cho-yun Hsu, Ancient China in Transition (1965), a standard work on social structure and social mobility in the Chou period; Derk Bodde, China's First Unifier (1938, reprinted 1967), and Statesman, Patriot, and General in Ancient China (1940, reprinted 1967), works covering the effort of the first emperors and their courts to accomplish unification; Arthur Cotterell, The First Emperor of China (1981), a popular history that includes a description and historical analysis of 7,000 terra-cotta life-size figures buried in 210 BC; Yu-ning Li, The First Emperor of China (1975), Yu-lan Fung, A History of Chinese Philosophy, 2nd ed., 2 vol., trans. from the Chinese (1952 - 53, reprinted 1983), coverage of the thought of different schools in ancient China; and Xueqin Li, Eastern Zhou and Qin Civilizations (1986), an account of archaeological findings of the period from the 8th to the 3rd century BC.

Housefly

2005-01-10T18:54:00.000-08:00

(Musca domestica), a common insect of the family Muscidae (order Diptera). About 90 percent of all flies occurring in human habitations are houseflies. Once a major nuisance and hazard to public health in cities, houseflies are still a problem wherever decomposing organic waste and garbage are allowed to accumulate. The adult housefly is dull gray with

Saint Basil The Blessed

2005-01-09T16:47:00.000-08:00

Also called �Pokrovsky Cathedral, �Russian �Svyatoy Vasily Blazhenny, or Pokrovsky Sobor, � church constructed on Red Square in Moscow between 1554 and 1560 by Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, as a votive offering for his military victories over the khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan. The church was dedicated to the protection and intercession of the Virgin, but it came to be known as the Cathedral of Vasily Blazhenny (St. Basil the Beatified) after Basil, the Russian holy fool

Journal

2005-01-08T13:26:00.000-08:00

An account of day-to-day events or a record of experiences, ideas, or reflections kept regularly for private use that is similar to, but sometimes less personal than, a diary.

Fin De Si�cle

2005-01-06T22:00:00.000-08:00

Of, relating to, characteristic of, or resembling the late 19th-century literary and artistic climate of sophistication, escapism, extreme aestheticism, world-weariness, and fashionable despair. When used in reference to literature, the term essentially describes the movement inaugurated by the Decadent poets of France and the movement called Aestheticism in

Pierce, George Washington

2005-01-05T02:43:00.000-08:00

The second of three sons of a farm family, Pierce grew up on a cattle ranch and fared well enough in the modest rural schools of central Texas to graduate (1893) after three years at the University of Texas, Austin. He taught in rural

Bohemond V

2005-01-04T10:26:00.000-08:00

The son of Bohemond IV by his wife Plaisance, he succeeded his father in 1233 and carried on the struggle with Armenia until 1251, when the marriage of the future Bohemond VI to the sister of the Armenian king finally brought peace. By his first marriage (1225) with Alice, the widow of Hugh I of Cyprus, Bohemond V connected the history

Buzzard

2005-01-03T22:02:00.000-08:00

Any of several birds of prey of the genus Buteo and, in North America, various New World vultures (family Cathartidae), especially the turkey vulture (Cathartes aura; see photograph). Similarly, in Australia a large hawk of the genus Hamirostra is called a black-breasted buzzard. In North America, Buteo species are called buteos, buzzard hawks, or simply

Buzzard

2005-01-02T18:48:00.000-08:00

Wolfe, Tom

2005-01-01T11:44:00.000-08:00

After studying at Washington and Lee University (B.A., 1951) and Yale University (Ph.D., 1957), Wolfe wrote for several newspapers, including the Springfield

Anderson, Richard Heron

2004-12-31T01:38:00.000-08:00

Anderson graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1842 and won the brevet of first lieutenant in the Mexican War, becoming first lieutenant in 1848 and captain in 1855; he took part in the following year in the Kansas troubles. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, he resigned from the

Kazak Language

2004-12-30T23:41:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Kazakh, � member of the Turkic language family (a subfamily of the Altaic languages), belonging to the northwestern, or Kipchak, branch. The Kazak language is spoken primarily in Kazakstan and in the Uighur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang in China but is also found in Uzbekistan, Mongolia, and Afghanistan. The so-called Kipchak-Uzbek dialect is closely related to Kazak and is considered

Wesleyan University

2004-12-29T22:11:00.000-08:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Middletown, Connecticut, U.S. It comprises the College of Letters and the College of Social Studies and departments in the sciences, mathematics, humanities, arts, and social and behavioral sciences. Altogether it offers 50 major fields of study for undergraduate students, 11 master's degree programs, and doctoral

Mauretania

2004-12-27T20:41:00.000-08:00

Transatlantic passenger liner of the Cunard Line, called the �Grand Old Lady of the Atlantic.� It was launched in 1906 and made its maiden voyage in 1907; thereafter, it held the Atlantic Blue Riband for speed until 1929, challenged only by its sister ship, the Lusitania (sunk by a German submarine on May 7, 1915). During World War I the Mauretania worked as a transport and hospital ship. During

Lower Vascular Plant

2004-12-25T08:34:00.000-08:00

Formerly �pteridophyte, �also called �vascular cryptogam, � any of the spore-bearing vascular plants, including the ferns, club mosses, spike mosses, quillworts, horsetails, and whisk ferns. Once considered of the same evolutionary line, these plants were formerly placed in the single group Pteridophyta and were known as the ferns and fern allies. Although modern studies have shown that the plants are not in fact related, these

Interest

2004-12-24T08:38:00.000-08:00

Interest may also be viewed as the income derived from the possession of contractual promises from others to pay sums in the future. The question may be asked, �What is the value today of a promise to pay $100 a year from now?� If the answer is $100, then no interest income is generated.

Protist, Section I. Chromobionts (heterokonts or Chromophyta sensu lato)

2004-12-23T11:45:00.000-08:00

Predominantly golden-brown, yellow-green, and brown algae plus some lower fungal groups and 3 nonpigmented zooflagellate taxa; tubular mitochondrial cristae; pigmented moiety with chlorophylls a, c, and d and chloroplasts located within rough endoplasmic reticulum, tubular mastigonemes on anterior flagellum, and food reserves stored outside plastids; ubiquitous;

Mufti, Sa'id Al-

2004-12-22T00:52:00.000-08:00

In 1924 al-Mufti entered local government service in Amman, where he vigorously opposed British rule. He joined the governing cabinet of Transjordan (later Jordan) as minister of communications

Vietnamese Literature

2004-12-21T15:51:00.000-08:00

The oral poetry tradition is purely

Thousand Days, The War Of A

2004-12-20T14:05:00.000-08:00

The Liberal Party represented coffee plantation owners and import-export merchants who favoured a laissez-faire economic policy. Largely excluded from participation in government after the Conservative victory

Foreman, George

2004-12-19T06:29:00.000-08:00

Foreman grew up in Houston, Texas, and learned to box in a U.S. Job Corps camp in Oregon. At the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, he won the gold medal in the heavyweight boxing competition.

Grunge

2004-12-18T08:27:00.000-08:00

Influenced by punk rock, by

Gipsite

2004-12-17T19:27:00.000-08:00

A variety of the mineral gypsum (q.v.).

Choral Music, Anthems

2004-12-16T11:45:00.000-08:00

The use of the vernacular after the Reformation in England made it necessary for composers to forge a new style of choral music. The elaborate melodic tracery of Robert Fayrfax and John Taverner gave way to a completely unelaborate kind of choral counterpoint designed to allow the English words to be clearly heard. Both Thomas Tallis and William Byrd made outstanding

Yung-lo

2004-12-14T22:34:00.000-08:00

In the early years of his reign, he seems to have been fascinated by the regions beyond China's southern borders, perhaps in part because of rumours that the emperor Chu Y�n-wen had escaped overseas. In 1403 the Yung-lo emperor sent out three fleets under eunuch commanders to proclaim his accession throughout Southeast Asia as far as Java and southern India. More vigorously

Sa�da

2004-12-13T08:16:00.000-08:00

Town, northwestern Algeria, on the southern slopes of the Tell Atlas and the northern fringe of the Hauts (high) Plateaux. The city's site has been of military importance since the construction there of a Roman fort. Sa�da was a stronghold of Abdelkader, the Algerian national leader who burned the town upon the approach of French forces in 1844. Modern Sa�da was founded as

Perak

2004-12-12T03:39:00.000-08:00

Traditional region, northwestern West Malaysia (Malaya), bordering Thailand to the north and fronting the Strait of Malacca to the west. Its area includes a large portion of West Malaysia's west-coast plains and centres upon the Perak River, which flows north-to-south between the Keledang Range to the east and the Bintang Range to the west; both of these mountain ranges

Inselberg

2004-12-11T23:05:00.000-08:00

(from German Insel, �island,� and Berg, �mountain�), isolated hill that stands above well-developed plains and appears not unlike an island rising from the sea. The early German explorers of southern Africa were impressed by such features, and they dubbed the domed or castlelike highlands inselbergs. Spectacular examples include Ayers Rock and the Olga Rocks in central

Roman Catholicism

2004-12-10T04:01:00.000-08:00

Christian church characterized by its uniform, highly developed doctrinal and organizational structure that traces its history to the Apostles of Jesus Christ in the 1st century AD. Along with Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestantism, it is one of the three major branches of Christianity.

Acupuncture

2004-12-09T07:42:00.000-08:00

Acupuncture grew out

P�ros

2004-12-08T04:19:00.000-08:00

Island of the Saronic group, lying close to the Argolis peninsula of the Peloponnese, part of the nom�s (department) of Attik�, Greece. It actually comprises two islands totaling 9 square miles (23 square km), the larger of which is the wooded, limestone island of Kal�vria, separated from the village of Galat�s on the mainland by a narrow channel, or poros, whence the collective