AcidJewel

Arartree

2005-11-18T07:10:00.000-08:00

A pyramidal tree 12 to 15 metres (about 40 to 50 feet) tall, the arartree has fragrant, brown or reddish-brown wood that has long been popular for furniture and cabinetmaking. The tree also yields large quantities

Allspice

2005-10-16T03:25:00.000-07:00

Tropical evergreen tree (Pimenta diocia, formerly P. officinalis) of the myrtle family (Myrtaceae), native to the West Indies and Central America and valued for its berries, the source of a highly aromatic spice. Allspice was so named because the flavour of the dried berry resembles a combination of cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. It is widely used in baking

Romance Stanza

2005-07-27T06:40:00.000-07:00

Also called romance-six a six-line verse stanza common in metrical romances in which the first, second, fourth, and fifth lines have four accents each and the third and sixth lines have three accents each and in which the rhyme scheme is aabaab. It is a type of tail rhyme.

Dramatic Literature, Dramatic expression

2005-07-24T19:30:00.000-07:00

The language of drama can range between great extremes: on the one hand, an intensely theatrical and ritualistic manner; and on the other, an almost exact reproduction of real life of the kind commonly associated with motion picture and television drama. In the ritualistic drama of ancient Greece, the playwrights wrote in verse, and it may be assumed that their actors

Middletown

2005-07-07T22:10:00.000-07:00

City, coextensive with the town (township) of Middletown, Middlesex county, central Connecticut, U.S., on the Connecticut River. Settled by Puritans in 1650 and incorporated as a town in 1651, it occupies the site of the Indian village of Mattabesec (Mattabesett). It was named in 1653 for its position between the upstream towns and the river mouth. The city, chartered in 1784, consolidated with

Haldi

2005-07-06T02:20:00.000-07:00

The national god of the ancient kingdom of Urartu, which ruled the plateau around Lake Van, now eastern Turkey, from about 900 to about 600 BC. Haldi was represented as a man, with or without wings, standing on a lion; in the absence of religious texts his attributes are otherwise unknown. A Urartian temple at ancient Musasir dedicated to Haldi and to the goddess Bagbartu, or Bagmashtu,

Alaska, Flag Of

2005-06-15T19:55:00.000-07:00

The creator

Biblical Literature, German versions

2005-06-03T04:40:00.000-07:00

The early Old Testament in Gothic has already been described. The New Testament remains are far more extensive and are preserved mainly in the Codex Argenteus (c. 525) and Codex Gissensis. The translation, essentially based on a Byzantine text, is exceedingly literal and not homogeneous. It is difficult to determine the degree of contamination that the original Gospels

Abu

2005-05-31T23:10:00.000-07:00

Also called Mount Abu, city, southwestern Rajasthan state, northwestern India. It is situated on the slopes of Mount Abu, an isolated feature of the Aravali Range. The city is a noted hill resort, and the Jaina temples at nearby Dilwara, built of white marble, are famous. Tejpal temple, built about AD 1200, is known for the delicacy and richness of its carving, especially for that on the underside of its dome.

Burger, Warren E.

2005-05-17T14:15:00.000-07:00

After graduating with honours from St. Paul (now William Mitchell) College of Law in 1931, Burger joined a prominent St. Paul law firm and gradually became active in Republican Party politics. In 1953 he was appointed an assistant U.S. attorney general, and in 1955 he was nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower

Forage

2005-05-15T20:00:00.000-07:00

Vegetable food of wild or domestic animals. In agriculture, harvested, processed, and stored forage is called silage (q.v.).

Police

2005-03-15T09:59:00.000-08:00

All societies need some way to maintain order. In the smallest societies, informal sanctions discourage deviation. In

Suchocka, Hanna

2005-03-14T16:11:00.000-08:00

The daughter of a pharmacist, Suchocka specialized in constitutional law at the University of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznan, from which she graduated in 1968. She lectured in law there and at the Catholic University of Lublin. In 1980 she joined the Sejm (parliament) as a member of the Democratic Party, which was then

Biblical Literature, The conclusion of the Sinai sojourn

2005-03-07T15:10:00.000-08:00

The book opens with a command from God to Moses, early in the second year after the Exodus, to take a census of the arms-bearing men over 20 in each of the clans of Israel. Moses and Aaron, aided by the clan chiefs, take the count, clan by clan, and reach a total of 603,550 men - according to critical scholars, an unbelievably large total for the time and conditions. The Levites, to whom is entrusted

Economic Growth

2005-03-06T06:09:00.000-08:00

Growth can best be described as a process of transformation. Whether one examines an economy that is already modern and

Romania, Flag Of

2005-03-05T13:13:00.000-08:00

In 1834 the Ottoman government recognized local flags for use in Moldavia and Walachia, two principalities that later joined to form Romania. Their local flags were based on ancient heraldic banners - blue with an ox head (Moldavia) and yellow with an eagle (Walachia). Walachia also chose a naval ensign with horizontal stripes of red, blue, and yellow, colours later selected

Syrian Desert

2005-03-04T15:21:00.000-08:00

Arabic �Badiyat Ash-sham, � arid wasteland of southwestern Asia, extending northward from the Arabian Peninsula over much of northern Saudi Arabia, eastern Jordan, southern Syria, and western Iraq. Receiving on the average less than 5 inches (125 mm) of rainfall annually and largely covered by lava flows, it formed a nearly impenetrable barrier between the populated areas of the Levant and Mesopotamia

Swains Island

2005-03-03T03:12:00.000-08:00

Coral atoll, American Samoa, southwestern Pacific Ocean, 280 miles (450 km) north of Tutuila. The atoll is 15 - 25 feet (5 - 8 m) above sea level; it is circular in shape, with 8 miles (13 km) of shoreline, and encloses a freshwater lagoon. It has an area of about 1 square mile (2.6 square km). Probably first known to Europeans in the 19th century, the atoll was named for a whaling captain. It is not geographically a

Sidqi, Isma'il

2005-03-02T11:49:00.000-08:00

Sidqi earned his diploma at the Coll�ge des Fr�res and won honours at the Khedivial Law school. He joined the public prosecutor's office but in 1899 became administrative secretary of the Alexandria municipal commission. In 1914 he was appointed minister of agriculture and then

Clarence River

2005-03-01T22:43:00.000-08:00

River in eastern South Island, New Zealand. Rising on the eastern slopes of the Spenser Mountains, it flows south, then northeast between the Inland and Seaward Kaikoura ranges. Cutting eastward by a gorge 7 mi (11 km) long through the Seaward Kaikoura Range, the river flows south and east, entering the Pacific Ocean 20 mi north of the town of Kaikoura. The main stream, fed by Lake

Durante, Francesco

2005-02-28T20:24:00.000-08:00

Durante studied in Rome and probably in Naples and in 1710 taught at the San Onofrio Conservatory. He was chapelmaster at the Conservatorio dei Poveri in Naples (1728 - 39) and from 1742 taught at the Santa Maria di Loreto Conservatory. In 1745 he succeeded L. Leo as principal

Aeolian Harp

2005-02-27T07:24:00.000-08:00

(from Aeolus, the Greek god of the winds), stringed musical instrument played by the wind. It is made of a wooden sound box about 3 feet by 5 inches by 3 inches (1 m by 13 cm by 8 cm) that is loosely strung with 10 or 12 gut strings. These strings are all of the same length but vary in thickness and hence in elasticity. The strings are all tuned to the same pitch. In the wind they vibrate in aliquot

Sabha

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

Also spelled �Sebha, � town, southwestern Libya, in a Saharan oasis. It was an active caravan centre from the 11th century. The modern town of stark white buildings and wide streets is surrounded by older settlements of mud-walled dwellings and covered alleyways. The former Italian Fort Elena, on a nearby hill, is now used for offices, shops, and a hospital. The town continues as a trade and transport

Earth Sciences, Ore deposits and mineralogy

2005-02-25T16:02:00.000-08:00

The German scientist Georgius Agricola has with much justification been called the father of mineralogy. Of his seven geologic books, De natura fossilium (1546; �On Natural

Heterophony

2005-02-24T05:09:00.000-08:00

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.

Vacuum Technology

2005-02-23T21:56:00.000-08:00

This gauge makes use of the fact that the rate of ion production by a stream of electrons in a vacuum system is dependent on pressure and the ionization probability of the residual gas. Also called the Penning gauge, it consists of two cathodes opposite one another with an anode centrally spaced between them inside a metal or glass envelope. Outside the envelope a

Moley, Raymond (charles)

2005-02-22T20:43:00.000-08:00

After graduating from Baldwin-Wallace College in his hometown, Moley took a job as superintendent of schools at Olmstead Falls, Ohio. He then attended Oberlin College, where he received his master's degree in

Brentano, Clemens

2005-02-21T07:04:00.000-08:00

Brentano's mother, Maximiliane Brentano, was J.W. von Goethe's friend in 1772 - 74, and his sister, Bettina von Arnim, was a correspondent

Egypt, Growth of Mamluk armies

2005-02-20T20:39:00.000-08:00

The only real security for Ayyubid Egypt lay in its independent military strength. This explains why one of the last sultans, al-Malik as-Salih Ayyub (died 1249), resorted to increased purchase of Turkish slaves - called Mamluks, a name derived from the Arabic word for slave - as a means of manning his armies. Although slave troops had formed an important part of Egyptian armies since

Percy, Thomas

2005-02-19T04:27:00.000-08:00

The basis of Percy's collection was a tattered 15th-century manuscript of ballads (known as the Percy folio) found in the house of a friend

Jackson, Janet

2005-02-18T07:00:00.000-08:00

The youngest of nine siblings in Motown's famed Jackson family, Janet Jackson parlayed her family's success into an independent career that spanned recordings, television, and film. She appeared as

Jehovah

2005-02-17T20:14:00.000-08:00

Judeo-Christian name for God, derived from Yahweh (q.v.).

Infection, Mumps vaccine

2005-02-16T08:25:00.000-08:00

Mumps is generally a self-limited disease in children but occasionally is moderately debilitating. A live attenuated mumps vaccine is available alone or in combination with measles and German measles vaccines. No serious adverse reactions have been reported following mumps immunization.

Indian Reorganization Act

2005-02-14T07:23:00.000-08:00

Also called �Wheeler - Howard Act� (June 18, 1934), measure enacted by the U.S. Congress, aimed at decreasing federal control of American Indian affairs and increasing Indian self-government and responsibility. In gratitude for the Indians' services to the country in World War I, Congress in 1924 authorized the Meriam Survey of the state of life on the reservations. The shocking conditions under the regimen established

Orange Bowl

2005-02-13T21:25:00.000-08:00

The game was first played in 1933 to attract winter tourists to Florida a month

Kafur, Abu Al-misk

2005-02-12T23:29:00.000-08:00

Kafur was originally a slave belonging to the founder of the Ikshidid dynasty, Muhammad ibn Tughj. Muhammad recognized Kafur's talent, made him tutor to his children, and promoted him to an officer. Kafur showed outstanding military abilities

L�gen

2005-02-11T14:33:00.000-08:00

Also called �Gudbrandsdalsl�gen, � river, south-central Norway. The name L�gen is applied to the portion of the river in Oppland fylke (county); it rises in small lakes and streams in the Dovre Plateau at the northern end of Gudbrands Valley and flows southeast for 122 miles (199 km) through Gudbrands Valley to Mj�sa Lake at Lillehammer. It flows out from Mj�sa as the Vorma River (in Akershus fylke) southeast to its

Ma'adi, Al-

2005-02-10T19:39:00.000-08:00

Predynastic Egyptian site located just south of modern Cairo in Al-Qahirah muhafazah (governorate) in Lower Egypt. The settlement at Al-Ma'adi was approximately contemporary with the widespread Gerzean culture (c. 3400 - c. 3100 BC) of Upper Egypt. Al-Ma'adi was apparently a peasant village with a separate cemetery; the settlement was characterized by rectangular huts, splay-footed vases,

Assault Rifle

2005-02-09T09:02:00.000-08:00

Military firearm that is chambered for ammunition of reduced size or propellant charge and that has the capacity to switch between semiautomatic and fully automatic fire. Because they are light and portable yet still able to deliver a high volume of fire with reasonable accuracy at modern combat ranges of 300 - 500 m (1,000 - 1,600 feet), assault rifles have replaced the high-powered

Transportation, History Of, Formation of airlines

2005-02-08T07:23:00.000-08:00

With practical planes in hand in 1918 the organization of an airline to operate these craft on a scheduled basis over a consistent route was attempted. The first airline was formed in Germany; the Deutsche Luftreederie began service from Berlin to Leipzig and Weimar on Feb. 5, 1919, followed only three days later by the French Farman Company on the trans-channel crossing from

Conscience

2005-02-07T18:56:00.000-08:00

Historically, almost every culture

Biblical Literature, Obadiah

2005-02-06T04:04:00.000-08:00

The Book of Obadiah, the fourth book of the Twelve (Minor) Prophets, contains only 21 verses. Nothing is known about the prophet as a person or about his times. It may have been written before the Exile, though many scholars believe that it was composed either some time after 586 BCE or in the mid-5th century, when the Jews returned to the area around Jerusalem. The prophet concentrates

Kyo-yaki

2005-02-05T22:00:00.000-08:00

Decorated Japanese ceramics produced in Kyoto from about the middle of the 17th century. The development of this ware was stimulated by the appearance of enamelled porcelains in Kyushu, and it was not long after Sakaida Kakiemon successfully perfected overglaze enamels in Arita that Nonomura Ninsei also began production in Kyoto. Kyo-yaki contrasted with the enamelled

Wolff, Tobias

2005-02-04T13:09:00.000-08:00

Wolff's parents divorced when he was a child; from age 10 until he joined the U.S. Army, he traveled with his mother, who relocated frequently and finally settled in Seattle, Washington, where she remarried. Wolff wrote about

Wang Yang-ming

2005-02-03T19:57:00.000-08:00

Pinyin �Wang Yangming�, original name (Wade - Giles romanization) �Wang Shou-jen�, literary name �Pe-an�, canonized as �Wen-ch'eng�, Japanese �Oyo-mei� Chinese scholar-official whose Idealistic interpretation of Neo-Confucianism influenced philosophical thinking in East Asia for centuries. Though his government career was rather unstable, his suppression of rebellions brought a century of peace to his region. His philosophical doctrines, emphasizing understanding

Hitchcock, Sir Alfred

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

The son of a London poultry dealer, Hitchcock attended St. Ignatius College, London, and the University of London, where he studied engineering. In 1920 he began to work in the motion-picture industry, designing title cards for the Famous Players-Lasky

Vaigai River

2005-02-01T00:43:00.000-08:00

River in Tamil Nadu state, southern India, flowing 150 miles (240 km) generally southeast. Rising in the Varushanad Hills of western Tamil Nadu, it initially flows northeast through the Kambam and Varushanad valleys. In its central reaches the Vaigai flows eastward into the Vaigai reservoir at Narasingapuram. Near Sholavandan it bends to the southeast, passing Madurai town on

Boyer, Paul D.

2005-01-31T07:19:00.000-08:00

In full �Paul Delos Boyer� American biochemist who, with John E. Walker, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1997 for their explanation of the enzymatic process involved in the production of the energy-storage molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which fuels the metabolic processes of the cells of all living things. (Danish chemist Jens C. Skou also shared the award for

Corcoran Gallery Of Art

2005-01-30T11:43:00.000-08:00

The museum also houses the private collection of

San Carlos

2005-01-29T15:02:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Cojedes estado (�state�), northwestern Venezuela. The city lies along the Tirgua River, at the base of the central highlands and near the Llanos (plains) region. Founded in 1678 by Capuchin missionaries, San Carlos served as capital of Falc�n state prior to the separation of Cojedes and Portuguesa states. It is the commercial and marketing centre of an agricultural

Turkish Literature

2005-01-28T16:05:00.000-08:00

In the 19th century the introduction of Western reforms had its effect on literature. Mainly under French influence, various writers adopted and adapted Western literary forms, such as the novel, the drama, and the essay, while the rigid forms and attitudes of classical poetry gradually went out of fashion in the country. In the 20th century a Turkish nationalist literature

London, Tower Of

2005-01-27T19:55:00.000-08:00

Immediately

Bruegel, Pieter, The Elder

2005-01-25T01:38:00.000-08:00

Byname �Peasant Bruegel, �Dutch �Pieter Bruegel De Oudere, or Boeren Bruegel, Bruegel �also spelled �Brueghel, or Breughel � the greatest Flemish painter of the 16th century, whose landscapes and vigorous, often witty scenes of peasant life are particularly renowned (see photograph). Since Bruegel signed and dated many of his works, his artistic evolution can be traced from the early landscapes,

Bonaventure Island

2005-01-24T11:30:00.000-08:00

French ��le Bonaventure, � island in Gasp�sie - �les-de-la-Madeleine region, eastern Quebec province, Canada. The island lies in the Gulf of St. Lawrence off Perc� at the end of the Gasp� Peninsula. Although only 2.5 miles (4 km) long, its rocky cliffs provide sanctuary for thousands of nesting gannets from April to November, in addition to auks, gulls, kittiwakes, and guillemots. It was originally named Bonne

Atchison, Topeka And Santa Fe Railway Company, The

2005-01-23T15:28:00.000-08:00

Byname �Santa Fe Railway,� former railway that was one of the largest in the United States. Chartered in Kansas as the Atchison and Topeka Railroad Company in 1859, it later exercised great influence on the settlement of the southwestern United States. It was renamed the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad in 1863 and acquired its modern name in 1895. Its founder was Cyrus K. Holliday, a Topeka lawyer and

Fair

2005-01-22T07:40:00.000-08:00

Temporary market where buyers and sellers gather to transact business. A fair is held at regular intervals, generally at the same location and time of year, and it usually lasts for several days or even weeks. Its primary function is the promotion of trade. Historically, fairs displayed many different kinds of products in specific commodity or industrial groupings.

Ancient Rome, Second Punic War (218 - 201 BC)

2005-01-21T23:31:00.000-08:00

It seemed that the superiority of the Romans at sea ought to have enabled them to choose the field of battle. They decided to send one army to Spain and another to Sicily and Africa. But before their preparations were complete, Hannibal began the series of operations that dictated the course of the war for the greater part of its duration. He realized that as long as the

Tudor, Antony

2005-01-20T09:54:00.000-08:00

He began his dance studies at 19 years of age with Marie Rambert and for her company choreographed his first ballet, Cross-Gartered (1931), based on an incident in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. In 1938 he founded his own company,

Fenestella

2005-01-19T23:00:00.000-08:00

Fenestella's

Radial Keratotomy

2005-01-18T00:40:00.000-08:00

Surgical procedure to correct myopia (nearsightedness) by reducing the radius of curvature of the cornea and astigmatism (asymmetrical curvature of the cornea). A series of 4 to 8 equally spaced deep cuts are made in the peripheral cornea, leaving the central cornea above the pupil clear. Intraocular pressure then pushes the weakened central cornea outward, flattening

Ashton-warner, Sylvia (constance)

2005-01-17T06:29:00.000-08:00

Married name �Sylvia Henderson� New Zealand educator and writer of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. In the field of education, she became known for her innovative work in adapting traditional British teaching methods to the special needs of Maori children. Her aim was peace and communication between two radically different cultures, and most of her writing,

Oeser, Adam Friedrich

2005-01-16T00:40:00.000-08:00

Trained in the art of modeling by a sculptor, Raphael

China, The armed forces

2005-01-15T11:04:00.000-08:00

The command of the armed forces was also arranged so as to avoid giving excessive powers to a single individual. General officers were usually appointed in pairs, and, in times of emergency or when a campaign was being planned with a defined objective, officers were appointed for a specific task; when their mission was fulfilled, their commands were brought to a close.

Ashley, William Henry

2005-01-14T00:03:00.000-08:00

Having arrived in Missouri sometime after 1802, Ashley prospered in mining, gunpowder manufacture, surveying, and land speculation.

Usnisavijaya

2005-01-13T10:47:00.000-08:00

Tibetan �Gtsug-tor-rnam-par rgyal-ma� popular Buddhist goddess in Nepal, Tibet, and Mongolia. Her name in Sanskrit means �victorious goddess of the usnisa,� the last-named object being the protuberance on the top of the Buddha's skull. She wears an image of the Buddha Vairocana in her headdress and is described as residing in the cellar of the caitya (�shrine�). She may be identified by the small figure of Buddha seated

Performing Arts, Spain and Portugal.

2005-01-12T07:43:00.000-08:00

Spain maintained a substantial popular production. Notable films included Jos� Luis Garci's Una historia de entonces (You're the One), the story of an aspiring woman writer in the 1940s who returns to her home village after the death of her lover; �lex de la Iglesia's high-spirited comic group portrait of the denizens of a rundown old Madrid tenement, La comunidad; and

Sacagawea

2005-01-11T08:41:00.000-08:00

Historians have been hard put to separate the facts from the body of folklore that have made this brave

Roubiliac, Louis-fran�ois

2005-01-10T13:29:00.000-08:00

Roubiliac was apprenticed to a sculptor of ivory and porcelain, Balthasar Permoser, and later became assistant to Nicolas Coustou, a French Baroque sculptor. He moved to London about 1732. His first independent commission was a statue of Handel for Vauxhall Gardens in 1737. A year

Bhadravati

2005-01-09T06:13:00.000-08:00

City, central Karnataka (formerly Mysore) state, southern India. It lies along the Bhadra River, near the Baba Budan Range. The proximity of iron, manganese, and limestone deposits, along with the Bhadra hydropower project, have made the site an ideal location for steelmaking and other industrial enterprises. Bhadravati has become a planned modern city with accompanying

Harald Ii Eiriksson,

2005-01-08T21:27:00.000-08:00

The son of Erik Bloodax, who was the half brother of Haakon I, Harald took refuge in Denmark following his father's death. Aided by his uncle, the Danish king Harald Bluetooth (Bl�tand), Harald

Alignment

2005-01-07T04:23:00.000-08:00

Monument consisting of multiple rows of large upright stones, primarily located in Brittany and built during Neolithic and Early Bronze times. See megalith.

Frederick Ii

2005-01-06T09:07:00.000-08:00

King of Sicily (1197 - 1250), duke of Swabia (as Frederick VI, 1228 - 35), German king (1212 - 50), and Holy Roman emperor (1220 - 50). A Hohenstaufen and grandson of Frederick I Barbarossa, he pursued his dynasty's imperial policies against the papacy and the Italian city states; and he also joined in the Sixth Crusade

Henry I

2005-01-05T05:04:00.000-08:00

Henry was the son of Alfonso VIII of Castile and his wife Eleanor, daughter of Henry II of England, after whom he was named. He was killed, while still a boy, by the fall of a tile from a roof. Sovereignty over Castile was then assumed by Alfonso VIII's cousin, Alfonso IX, king of Leon.

Allen, Hervey

2005-01-04T17:46:00.000-08:00

Allen was wounded in World War

Sinkiang, Uygur Autonomous Region Of, Education

2005-01-03T03:12:00.000-08:00

Before World War II the educational system was minimal. Since 1949, educational facilities have been broadened and the literacy rate is better than the national average. Institutions of higher learning, concentrated in Wu-lu-mu-ch'i, include the Sinkiang University; the Sinkiang �August First� Institute of Agriculture, which offers a course on water conservation; the

Rings

2005-01-02T08:36:00.000-08:00

Also called �still rings � gymnastics apparatus consisting of two small circles that are suspended by straps from an overhead support and grasped by the gymnast while performing various exercises. They were invented in the early 19th century by the German Friedrich Jahn, known as the father of gymnastics. Competition on the rings requires the most strength of any gymnastics event, although

Augustine Of Canterbury, Saint

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

F.A. Gasquet, The Mission of St. Augustine and Other Addresses (1924); Margaret Deanesly, Augustine of Canterbury (1964, reissued 1997).

Einsiedeln

2004-12-31T20:05:00.000-08:00

French �Notre-dame-des-ermites, � town, Schwyz canton, northeast central Switzerland, on the right bank of the Alp stream, northeast of Schwyz city. It developed around the Benedictine abbey, founded in 934. The abbey became a principality of the Holy Roman Empire in 1274 and belonged to Schwyz after 1386. Its wooden statue, the �Black Virgin� (which owes its name to the discoloration caused by the candles burned before

Radek, Karl (bernhardovich)

2004-12-30T21:40:00.000-08:00

A member of a Galician Jewish family, Radek attended the universities of Krak�w and Bern. Having joined the Social Democratic Party of Poland and

Wellington

2004-12-29T03:07:00.000-08:00

Town (�parish�), Taunton Deane district, administrative and historic county of Somerset, England, just west-southwest of Taunton. The first duke of Wellington (Arthur Wellesley, who took his title from the town), victor of the Battle of Waterloo (1815), is commemorated by a monument (National Trust property) on the highest point of the nearby Blackdown Hill. Wellington School, at

Bing, Sir Rudolph

2004-12-28T16:37:00.000-08:00

The son of an Austrian industrialist, Bing grew up in a musical household and studied at the University of Vienna. He first worked in theatrical agencies casting singers for opera houses. From 1928 to 1935 he assisted Carl Ebert

Earth Sciences, Prospecting for groundwater

2004-12-27T19:19:00.000-08:00

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

Avogadro's Law

2004-12-26T14:48:00.000-08:00

The

Ady, Endre

2004-12-25T03:17:00.000-08:00

Ady was born into an impoverished but noble family. On leaving school he studied law for a time, but in 1899 he published an insignificant volume of verse, Versek, and from 1900 until his death he worked as a journalist. In 1903 he published another volume of poetry,

Rabbinic Judaism

2004-12-24T10:24:00.000-08:00

The normative form of Judaism that developed after the fall of the Temple of Jerusalem (AD 70). Originating in the work of the Pharisaic rabbis, it was based on the legal and commentative literature in the Talmud, and it set up a mode of worship and a life discipline that were to be practiced by Jews worldwide down to modern times.

Abs, Hermann J.

2004-12-23T15:51:00.000-08:00

Abs studied law for one year before joining a merchant bank in Cologne. After World War I, he obtained a series of posts, in Germany and abroad, learning the business of international banking. In 1938 he became a manager of Berlin's Deutsche Bank, which had,

Croce, Benedetto

2004-12-22T22:09:00.000-08:00

Historian, humanist, and foremost Italian philosopher of the first half of the 20th century.

A Priori Knowledge

2004-12-21T02:17:00.000-08:00

In Western philosophy since the time of Immanuel Kant, knowledge that is independent of all particular experiences, as opposed to a posteriori knowledge, which derives from experience alone. The Latin phrases a priori (�from what is before�) and a posteriori (�from what is after�) were used in philosophy originally to distinguish between arguments from causes and arguments

Performing Arts, Asia.

2004-12-20T23:42:00.000-08:00

The most attractive films to emerge from Japan were Kohei Oguri's Sleeping Man, which portrayed relationships in a village where people still feel close to older traditions governing the approach to nature, life, and death, and Higashi Yoichi's Village of Dreams, a magical evocation of the world of childhood. Adapted from the nostalgic memoirs of the artist Tashima

Biblical Literature, Pesharim

2004-12-19T20:36:00.000-08:00

An important source of knowledge about the history of the Dead Sea sect is the pesharim (�commentaries�; singular pesher). The sectarian authors commented on the books of Old Testament prophets and the book of Psalms and in the commentaries explained the biblical text as speaking about the history of the sect and of events that happened in the time of its existence.

Gamma Function

2004-12-17T05:46:00.000-08:00

To extend the factorial to any real number x > 0 (whether or not x is a whole number), the gamma function

Tarbell, Ida M.

2004-12-16T03:20:00.000-08:00

Tarbell was educated at Allegheny College (Meadville, Pennsylvania) and taught briefly before becoming an editor for the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle (1883 - 91). In 1891 she took her

Bela�nde Terry, Fernando

2004-12-15T00:59:00.000-08:00

Bela�nde, a member of a distinguished aristocratic Peruvian family, studied architecture in the United States and France in 1924 - 35 and practiced briefly in Mexico before returning in 1936 to Peru, where he became a noted architect

Sullivan, Louis

2004-12-14T00:06:00.000-08:00

In full �Louis Henry Sullivan� American architect, regarded as the spiritual father of modern American architecture and identified with the aesthetics of early skyscraper design. His more than 100 works in collaboration (1879 - 95) with Dankmar Adler include the Auditorium Building, Chicago (1887 - 89); the Guaranty Building, Buffalo, New York (1894 - 95; now Prudential

Christensen, Willam

2004-12-13T09:53:00.000-08:00

Christensen studied with the great ballet master and reformer Michel Fokine. He performed in vaudeville with his brothers before joining the San Francisco Opera Ballet as

Swammerdam, Jan

2004-12-12T09:33:00.000-08:00

Swammerdam completed medical studies in 1667 but never practiced medicine, devoting himself to microscopical investigations instead. Turning to the study of insects, he accurately described and illustrated

Scandinavian Literature, Skaldic verse

2004-12-11T03:53:00.000-08:00

Norwegians and Icelanders of the 9th to the 13th century also composed skaldic poetry (from the Icelandic word sk�ld, �poet�). It was not composed in the free variable metres of the Poetic Edda but was strictly syllabic: every syllable had to be counted and every line had to end in a given form. Like Eddaic lines, the skaldic lines were joined in pairs by alliteration, often using

Malanje

2004-12-10T13:16:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Malange, � town, north-central Angola. The town developed in the mid-19th century as an important feira (open-air market) on the country's principal plateau, between Luanda, now the national capital, 250 miles (400 km) to the west and the Kwango valley, inhabited by the Mbundu people, 125 miles (200 km) to the east. Situated at an elevation of 4,373 feet (1,333 m), the town has a high-altitude tropical climate. The environs

Cloaca Maxima

2004-12-09T20:18:00.000-08:00

Ancient Roman sewer, one of the oldest monuments in the Roman Forum. Originally an open channel constructed in the 6th century BC by lining an existing stream bed with stone, it was enclosed, beginning in the 3rd century BC, with a stone barrel (semicircular) vault. Its primary function was to carry off storm water from the Forum district to the Tiber, but in Imperial times large

Proboscis Monkey

2004-12-08T14:10:00.000-08:00

(Nasalis larvatus)� long-tailed arboreal monkey, family Cercopithecidae, found in the swampy mangrove forests of Borneo. The proboscis monkey is red-brown with pale underparts. The nose is long and pendulous in the male, smaller in the female, and upturned in the young. The male is about 56 - 72 cm (22 - 28 inches) long without the 66 - 75-centimetre (26 - 29-inch) tail and weighs 12 - 24 kg (26 - 53 pounds); the female is