GeneralTrain

Peter Claver, Saint

2005-11-18T01:25:00.000-08:00

Peter entered the Society of Jesus in 1602 and eight years later was sent to Cartagena, where he was ordained in 1616. The miserable condition of the slaves aboard ship and in the pens

Ibn Sa'ud

2005-10-15T21:35:00.000-07:00

Tribal and Muslim religious leader who formed the modern state of Saudi Arabia and initiated the exploitation of its oil.

Li Tang

2005-07-28T19:10:00.000-07:00

He earned the highest rank in the academy of painting of Emperor Huizong, and, after the North fell to the Mongols, went to the South

Paralysis

2005-07-27T01:00:00.000-07:00

Also called palsy loss or impairment of voluntary muscular movement caused by structural abnormalities of nervous or muscular tissue or by metabolic disturbances in neuromuscular function. Paralysis can affect the legs and lower part of the body (paraplegia) or both arms and both legs (quadriplegia). Sometimes the muscles of the lower face, arm, and leg on only one side of the body

Epistemology, Implications

2005-07-24T13:50:00.000-07:00

First, as the divergent perceptions about the stick indicate, things cannot just be as they appear to be. People believe that the stick which looks bent when it is in the water is really straight, and they also believe that the stick which

Awaji Island

2005-07-07T16:35:00.000-07:00

Japanese Awaji-shima island, Hyogo ken (prefecture), Japan. The island lies at the eastern end of the Inland Sea, between west-central Honshu and eastern Shikoku. The narrow straits of Akashi (north) and Kii (southeast) separate it from the city of Kobe on Honshu, while Naruto Strait to the southwest, well known for its whirlpools, separates it from Shikoku. Most of the island's area of 229 square miles

Plymouth

2005-07-05T20:40:00.000-07:00

Town (township), Grafton county, central New Hampshire, U.S. It lies on the Pemigewasset River north-northwest of Laconia, west of Squam Lake, and overlooked (southwest) by Plymouth Mountain (2,187 feet [667 metres]). The town includes the communities of Plymouth and West Plymouth. Chartered in 1763, it annexed parts of Hebron and Campton in 1845 and 1860. Agriculture, lumbering, and light manufacturing

Steele, Sir Richard

2005-06-28T21:05:00.000-07:00

Pseudonym Isaac Bickerstaff English essayist, dramatist, journalist, and politician, best known as principal author (with Joseph Addison) of the periodicals The Tatler and The Spectator.

Sri Indraditya

2005-06-15T14:20:00.000-07:00

Bang Klang Hao headed a petty Tai principality near Sukhothai when, about 1245, he joined with another Tai leader, Pha Muang, to rebel against the governor of Sukhothai, who was a deputy of the Khmer kings of Angkor. The two seized nearby Sawankhalok, and Bang Klang Hao defeated the Khmer governor

Smith, David

2005-06-02T22:45:00.000-07:00

Smith was never trained as a sculptor, but

Xenacanthus

2005-05-31T17:35:00.000-07:00

Long-surviving but now extinct genus of freshwater sharks. Xenacanthus survived from the end of the Devonian Period, some 360 million years ago, to about the end of the Triassic Period, 208 million years ago. Xenacanthus had a slim, elongated body with a low dorsal fin that extended down most of it, almost merging with the triangular, pointed tail. From the back of the skull, a long,

Steam

2005-05-17T08:35:00.000-07:00

Odourless, invisible gas consisting of vaporized water. It is usually interspersed with minute droplets of water, which gives it a white, cloudy appearance. In nature, steam is produced by the heating of underground water by volcanic processes and is emitted from hot springs, geysers, fumaroles, and certain types of volcanoes. Steam also can be generated on a large

Distribution Function

2005-05-15T06:10:00.000-07:00

Mathematical expression that describes the probability that a system will take on a specific value or set of values. For example, the probability (dP) that a molecule of gas will be found with velocity components u, v, and w in the x, y, and z directions, respectively, is given by the product of the distribution function and the infinitesimal volume du dv dw; i.e., dP = f (u, v, w) du dv

Wuppertal

2005-03-15T18:40:00.000-08:00

Went to a wicked wine tasting night in London the other night. Infact the whole thing was rather extravagant. A small group of us (four intotal) got together and drank over a 1000 GBpounds worth of wine and champagne. Really good Muga's from Spain (1986) were flowing like pilt blood. Magnums of Bollinger graced the scene and that includes a plethora of other fine noshing drinks. We'd like to thank our Sponsor for the event who was Ideal Wine, Uvine for providing all the delectable wine. We got so drunk we could hardly stand and I spent the whole of the next day in the queue at the dentists waiting to get my teeth bleached. All in all a bally good laugh. Can anyone who was there please respond with a bit of juice from the night... I think I've forgotten.

Toowoomba

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

City, southeastern Queensland, Australia, on the Great Dividing Range. The principal inland city in the state, Toowoomba is a rail and road junction, tourist resort, service centre for Darling Downs (a livestock, grain, and dairying region of about 3,500,000 acres [1,400,000 hectares]), and site of the Perseverence Creek Water Supply Scheme. The town's industries include engineering works,

Carlsberg Ridge

2005-03-12T01:33:00.000-08:00

Submarine ridge of the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. The ridge is a portion of the Mid-Indian Ridge and extends from near Rodrigues Island to the Gulf of Aden, trending basically northwest to southeast. The ridge separates the Arabian Sea to the northeast from the Somali Basin to the southwest. The mean depth of the Carlsberg Ridge is about 9,600 feet (3,300 m) below sea level,

China, Vietnam

2005-03-10T11:27:00.000-08:00

In 1802 a new dynasty was founded in Vietnam (Dai Viet) by Nguyen Phuc Anh, a member of the royal family of Nguyen at Hue, who had expelled the short-lived Tay Son regime and had unified the country. The Ch'ing, under the Chia-ch'ing emperor, recognized the new dynasty as a fait accompli, but a controversy arose as to a name for the new country. Nguyen Phuc Anh demanded the name Nam Viet,

Alto

2005-03-09T15:12:00.000-08:00

Alto derives from the term contratenor altus, which in Renaissance music referred to the part immediately above the tenor

Guru

2005-03-08T08:44:00.000-08:00

In Sikhism, any of the first 10 leaders of the Sikh religion of northern India. The word Sikh is derived from the Sanskrit sisya (�disciple�), and all Sikhs are disciples of the Guru (spiritual guide, or teacher). The first Sikh Guru, Nanak, established the practice of naming his successor before his death (1539), and from the time of Ram Das, the fourth to reign, the Gurus all came from one family.

Myers V. United States

2005-03-07T10:28:00.000-08:00

(1926), U.S. Supreme Court case that voided a legislative provision restricting the authority of the president to remove or replace certain postmasters without consent of the Senate. In the majority opinion, written by Chief Justice William H. Taft, the court held that the provision was an unconstitutional restriction on the president's power to exercise control over

John I

2005-03-06T02:05:00.000-08:00

His uncle, who succeeded him as Philip V, has been accused of having caused his death, or of having substituted a dead child in his place; but nothing has ever been proved.

Sicel Language

2005-03-05T10:28:00.000-08:00

After the Greek settlements in Sicily, the Siculi became Hellenized and substituted Greek for their original language. Scholars believe Sicel to have been an Indo-European

Gastronomy, Scandinavian

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

Sweden's great contribution to international eating is the smorgasbord, literally a �bread-and-butter

Guadalajara

2005-03-03T15:23:00.000-08:00

Guadalajara was founded in 1531 and was relocated several times in the following decade, under pressure from Indians. During the 16th century

Tigre

2005-03-02T17:57:00.000-08:00

The largest federation of Tigre is that of the Amer (Beni Amer), a branch of the historically important Beja peoples. These Muslims all recognize the religious

Armidale

2005-03-01T15:48:00.000-08:00

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

R�gnier, Henri (-fran�ois-joseph) De

2005-02-28T03:39:00.000-08:00

Born of an old Norman family, R�gnier began to prepare for a career as a diplomat, but while studying law in Paris he came under the influence of the Symbolist poets and published his first volume of poems, Lendemains (�Tomorrows�), in 1885. Other volumes followed: Les Jeux rustiques et

Brostrom, Axel Ludvig

2005-02-26T02:13:00.000-08:00

As a young man Brostrom joined a shipping company and later became an owner-captain in the lake shipping trade. In 1870 he converted a sailing ship, Activ, into a steamship, which proved so successful

Defoliant

2005-02-25T15:29:00.000-08:00

A chemical dust or spray applied to plants to cause their leaves to drop off prematurely. Defoliants sometimes are applied to crop plants such as cotton in order to facilitate harvesting. They are also used in warfare to eliminate enemy food crops and potential areas of concealment by enemy forces. Defoliants were employed for these purposes by South Vietnamese

Nicholas Of Verdun

2005-02-24T08:34:00.000-08:00

The altarpiece (1181) of the Abbey Church of Klosterneuburg, Austria, is his best known

Ozier Pattern

2005-02-23T18:49:00.000-08:00

In tableware, molded basket-weave pattern produced in Germany in the 1730s on Meissen porcelain tableware. It was probably one of the numerous inventions of the celebrated modeler Johann Joachim K�ndler. There are four basic types of ozier molding: the ordinair-ozier (�ordinary ozier�), a kind of zigzag basket weave; the alt-ozier (�old ozier�), which has radial ribs; the neu-ozier

Harding

2005-02-22T11:31:00.000-08:00

County, northeastern New Mexico, U.S., bordered on the west by the Canadian River and its steep canyon. The county lies in the Great Plains, with the eastern area merging to the High Plains. Mesas, cliffs, and high hills rise from the landscape; Ute Creek flows southward through Harding county, receiving waters from Tequesquite Creek. The Kiowa National Grassland covers

Grace, William Gilbert

2005-02-21T08:17:00.000-08:00

In his career in first-class

Parallel Evolution

2005-02-20T06:10:00.000-08:00

The evolution of geographically separated groups in such a way that they show morphological resemblances. A notable example is the similarity shown by the marsupial mammals of Australia to the placental mammals elsewhere. Through the courses of their evolution they have come to remarkably similar forms, so much so that the marsupials are often named for their

Midfa'i, Jamil Al-

2005-02-19T10:54:00.000-08:00

Midfa'i attended the engineering college in Istanbul and became an artillery officer in the Turkish Army, from which he deserted in 1916 to join the Arab forces that had risen in revolt in Arabia under the direction of Sharif Husayn. Later, from a base in Syria, Midfa'i launched raids into Iraq, where there was considerable

Race, Galton and Spencer

2005-02-18T17:02:00.000-08:00

Hereditarian ideology also flourished in late 19th-century England. Two major writers and proselytizers of the idea of the innate racial superiority of the upper classes were Francis Galton and Herbert Spencer. Galton wrote books with titles such as Hereditary Genius (1869), in which he showed that a disproportionate number of the great men of England - the military leaders,

Bahadur Shah I

2005-02-17T05:31:00.000-08:00

As Prince Mu'azzam, the second son of the emperor Aurangzeb, he was prospective heir apparent after his elder brother defected to join their father's brother and rival, Shah Shuja'. Prince Mu'azzam was sent to represent his father in the Deccan Plateau region of south and central India in 1663. He led an army in 1683 - 84 against the

Biblical Literature, The Letter of Aristeas

2005-02-16T11:22:00.000-08:00

An important document of Jewish Hellenistic literature is The Letter of Aristeas, a pseudepigraphon ascribed to Aristeas, an official of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, a Greek monarch of Egypt in the 3rd century BCE. The letter is addressed to his brother and gives an account of the translation of the Pentateuch (first five books of the Old Testament) into Greek, by order of Ptolemy.

Argentina, Galtieri and the Falklands War

2005-02-15T07:05:00.000-08:00

Videla was succeeded in March 1981 by General Roberto Viola, who, with the Dirty War near its end, was quite unable to control his military allies. In December he was shouldered aside by Lieutenant General Leopoldo Galtieri. Galtieri faced a slumping economy and increased civil opposition to military rule. His trump card was that he had promised his navy ally, Vice Admiral

Biblical Literature, German versions

2005-02-13T02:56:00.000-08:00

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

Arts, Central Asian

2005-02-12T23:34:00.000-08:00

Of the relatively few Central Asian languages that have developed written literatures, the most important are Turkic, Tibetan, and Mongol. (For a treatment of these languages, see Altaic languages and Sino-Tibetan languages.) This article will deal with Tibetan and Mongolian literatures from their inception to the 20th century and with Turkic literature from its

United Evangelical Lutheran Church

2005-02-11T22:55:00.000-08:00

Church organized in 1896 in Minneapolis, Minn., as the United Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in America by merger of the Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America (the North Church) and the Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church Association in America (the Blair Church). �Danish� was dropped from the church's name in 1946. Both of the merging groups had earlier separated

Bahr Al-jabal

2005-02-10T05:47:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Bahr el-Jebel�, English �Mountain Nile� that section of the Nile River between Nimule near the Uganda border and Malakal in south-central Sudan. Below Nimule the river flows northward over the Fula Rapids, past Juba (the head of navigation), and through as-Sudd, an enormous, papyrus-choked swamp where half its water is lost. It receives the Bahr al-Ghazal at Lake No and then turns east to join with the Sobat River of

Rastrakuta Dynasty

2005-02-09T09:49:00.000-08:00

Probably originally Dravidian farmers, they were the royal family of Lattalur (Latur, near Osmanabad). They spoke Kannada but also knew the northern Deccan language. Under Rastrakuta, who defeated a rival dynasty, the Calukyas (see Calukya dynasty), the Deccan Empire became the second greatest political

Low Countries

2005-02-08T07:40:00.000-08:00

Also called �Benelux Countries� coastal region of northwestern Europe, consisting of Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg (qq.v.). These are together known as the Benelux countries, from the initial letters of their names. The Low Countries are bordered by Germany to the east and France to the south. In 1947 the three nations formed the Benelux Customs Union, which broadened over the years into what a

Phocis

2005-02-07T00:26:00.000-08:00

Modern Greek �Fok�s, � district of ancient central Greece, extending northward from the Gulf of Corinth over the range of Mount Parnassus to the Locrian Mountains, which formed the northern frontier. In the fertile Cephissus River valley, between the two mountain ranges, lay most of the Phocian settlements: Amphicleia (or Amphicaea), Tithorea, Elatea, Hyampolis, Abae, and Daulis. A mountain

Kharg Island

2005-02-06T14:49:00.000-08:00

Persian �Jazireh-ye Khark, �Arabic �Jazirat Kharg, � small Iranian island in the northern Persian Gulf, 34 miles (55 km) northwest of the port of Bushire (Bushehr). In the 15th century the Dutch established a factory (trading station) on the island, but in 1766 Kharg was taken by pirates based at Bandar-e Rig, a small Persian port north of Bushire. The island was virtually uninhabited for long periods thereafter, but, with Iran's 20th-century mineral

Flores

2005-02-05T01:58:00.000-08:00

Capital, Pet�n department, northern Guatemala, built on San Andr�s island in the southern part of Lake Pet�n Itz�, only 449 ft (137 m) above sea level. Once capital of the Itz� Indians (Mayas who successfully resisted Spanish attempts to conquer them until 1697), Flores is a major trade centre for the Pet�n region. Chicle, timber, rubber, sugarcane, and cacao are the principal products

Euler-chelpin, Hans Von

2005-02-04T00:04:00.000-08:00

After graduating from the University of Berlin (1895), Euler-Chelpin worked with Walther Nernst and in 1897 became assistant to Svante Arrhenius at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

Leacock, Stephen (butler)

2005-02-03T17:10:00.000-08:00

Leacock immigrated to Canada with his parents at the age of six. He attended Upper Canada College (1882 - 87) and later received a B.A. degree from the University of Toronto (1891). After teaching for eight

Banaba

2005-02-02T21:42:00.000-08:00

Also called �Ocean Island, � coral and phosphate formation 250 miles (400 km) west of the nearest Gilbert Islands, part of Kiribati, in the west central Pacific Ocean. It has a circumference of 6 miles and an area of 2 square miles (6 square km). Sighted in 1804 by the British ship Ocean, the island was annexed by Britain in 1900. In that same year the mining and shipping of phosphate from the island began. By the early 1970s, annual

Antarctica, Glaciers and seas

2005-02-01T10:39:00.000-08:00

Malcolm Mellor (ed.), Antarctic Snow and Ice Studies (1964); and A.P. Crary (ed.), Antarctic Snow and Ice Studies II (1971), are collections mainly of topical studies of greatly varied scope. John Mercer, Glaciers of the Antarctic (1967), provides a general review of Antarctica's glaciers. Stephen J. Pyne, The Ice (1986), investigates Antarctic ice and also describes other aspects of the region, including exploration, literature, and art. A.L. Gordon and R.D. Goldberg, Circumpolar Characteristics of Antarctic Waters (1970); and Joseph L. Reid and Dennis E. Hayes (eds.), Antarctic Oceanology, 2 vol. (1971 - 72), describe features of South Polar water masses, their currents, and their interactions with subtropical and subantarctic waters, as well as of the ocean floor and sediment carpet. George Deacon, The Antarctic Circumpolar Ocean (1984), includes a summary of early discoveries by explorers, sealers, and whalers and a review of modern knowledge of Antarctic waters.

Ch'i

2005-01-31T03:42:00.000-08:00

Neo-Confucian philosophers

Medicine

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

In many parts of the world, particularly in developing countries, people get their primary health care, or first-contact care, where available at all, from nonmedically qualified personnel; these cadres of medical auxiliaries are being trained in increasing numbers to meet overwhelming needs among rapidly growing populations. Even among the comparatively wealthy

Vacuum Technology

2005-01-29T10:03:00.000-08:00

This pump is mainly used on equipment for the study of clean surfaces and in radio-frequency sputtering. Capacities are available up to 190,000 cu ft per minute with an operating pressure range of 10-2 to less than 10-9 torr when water-cooled baffles are used and less than 10-11 torr when refrigerated baffles are employed. The pumping speed for a vapour pump remains constant from about

Paraboloid

2005-01-28T11:39:00.000-08:00

An open surface generated by rotating a parabola (q.v.) about its axis. If the axis of the surface is the z axis and the vertex is at the origin, the intersections of the surface with planes parallel to the xz and yz planes are parabolas (see Figure, top). The intersections of the surface with planes parallel to and above the xy plane are circles. The general equation for this

Sea Pen

2005-01-27T03:57:00.000-08:00

The central stalk of the animal consists of a lower part, the peduncle, which anchors the colony in mud or sand, and

Telescope, Gamma-ray telescopes

2005-01-26T01:52:00.000-08:00

These instruments require the use of grazing-incidence techniques similar to those employed with X-ray telescopes. Gamma rays are the shortest (about 0.1 angstrom or less) known waves in the electromagnetic spectrum. As mentioned above, HEAO-3 was developed to collect data from cosmic gamma-ray sources. NASA and collaborative international agencies have numerous

'arish, Al-

2005-01-25T23:03:00.000-08:00

Known

Bribie Island

2005-01-24T14:15:00.000-08:00

Island off the southeastern coast of Queensland, Australia, at the northern extremity of Moreton Bay. The island is 20 miles (32 km) long and from 1 to 5 miles wide and has an area of 59 square miles (153 square km). Its surface, generally low with some higher sand ridges, is wooded with cypress pine. Matthew Flinders, the English navigator, landed in 1799 at its southern tip, which he named Skirmish

Mayon Volcano

2005-01-23T03:44:00.000-08:00

Active volcano, southeastern Luzon, Philippines, dominating the city of Legaspi. Called the world's most perfect cone, it has a base 80 miles (130 km) in circumference and rises to 7,943 feet (2,421 m) from the shores of Albay Gulf. Popular with climbers and campers, it is the centre of Mayon Volcano National Park (21 square miles [55 square km]). There are large abaca plantations on its lower slopes.

Aetolia

2005-01-22T23:24:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Aitolia, � district of ancient Greece, located directly north of the Gulf of Corinth and bounded by Epirus (north), Locris (east), and Acarnania (west). In modern Greece, Aetolia is linked with Acarnania in the department of Aitol�a kai Akarnan�a. Aetolia, particularly its cities Pleuron and Calydon, figures prominently in early legend. During the great migrations (1200 - 1000 BC) most of the region's

Rhyme-tag

2005-01-21T19:21:00.000-08:00

A word or phrase used primarily to produce a rhyme. Rhyme-tags are used to comic effect in much light verse, as in W.S. Gilbert's �The Modern Major-Gineral,� which reads in partI am the very pattern of a modern Major-Gineral,I've information vegetable, animal, and mineral;I know the kings of England, and I quote the fights historical,From Marathon to Waterloo, in order

Furniture, England

2005-01-20T16:14:00.000-08:00

After the Restoration, from 1660 onward, there was almost revolutionary progress in English cabinetmaking, as it came to be called at about this time. On its return, the exiled court introduced French and Dutch fashions, and the English craftsmen were considerably helped in supplying the tastes of the nobility by a large influx of foreign workmen. Furniture became lighter,

Baer, Karl Ernst, Ritter Von (knight Of), Edler (lord) Von Huthorn

2005-01-19T03:27:00.000-08:00

Baer, one of 10 children, spent his childhood with an uncle and

Heulandite

2005-01-18T04:16:00.000-08:00

Hydrated sodium and calcium aluminosilicate mineral in the zeolite family, formulated (Ca,Na2)Al2Si7O18�6H2O. It forms brittle, transparent, coffin-shaped crystals in various shades of white through red, gray, or brown. Heulandite's molecular structure is an open framework containing six-membered rings of silicate tetrahedra (four oxygen atoms arranged at the points of

Faience Parlante

2005-01-17T16:05:00.000-08:00

(French: �talking faience�), in French pottery, popular utilitarian 18th-century earthenware, principally plates, jugs, and bowls, that had inscriptions as part of its decoration. The city of Nevers was the outstanding centre for the production of faience parlante. The range of inscriptions included owners' names, coats of arms, bacchic or facetious references, Masonic

Bond, William Cranch

2005-01-16T03:53:00.000-08:00

Largely self-educated, Bond was a watchmaker

Oak Ridge

2005-01-15T15:00:00.000-08:00

City, Anderson and Roane counties, eastern Tennessee, U.S. It lies in a valley between the Cumberland and Great Smoky mountains, about 20 miles (30 km) west of Knoxville, and is a part of that city's metropolitan area. A tract of land covering about 94 square miles (243 square km) was selected in 1942 as a major site of the U.S. wartime atomic energy program known as the Manhattan Project. Originally

Harden, Maximilian Felix Ernst

2005-01-14T18:31:00.000-08:00

Initially an actor, Harden founded and edited the weekly Die Zukunft (1892 - 1923; �The Future�), which attained great influence by tasteless methods. Calling war a �bracing educational

Belinsky, Vissarion Grigoryevich

2005-01-13T22:56:00.000-08:00

The son of a provincial doctor, Belinsky was expelled from the University of Moscow (1832) and earned his living thereafter as a journalist. His first substantial critical articles were part

Samoa

2005-01-12T21:58:00.000-08:00

The assassination of the minister of public works in July 1999 continued to produce legal and political consequences in 2000. The two cabinet ministers who plotted the murder (and the son of one of them who actually committed the deed) were tried and found guilty, but their mandatory death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment. By-elections were held following the

'adah

2005-01-11T16:49:00.000-08:00

(Arabic: �custom�), in Islamic law, a local custom that is given a particular consideration by judicial authorities even when it conflicts with some principle of canon law (Shari'ah); in Indonesia it is known as adat, in North Africa it is 'urf, and in East Africa, dustur. Muslim communities developed their 'adahs before accepting Islam and did not abandon them entirely afterward.

Agonism

2005-01-10T08:39:00.000-08:00

Ethologists believe that the most general and probably

Plasma, Extraterrestrial forms

2005-01-09T07:03:00.000-08:00

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

Kwangsi, The revolution

2005-01-08T07:47:00.000-08:00

Together with neighbouring Kwangtung, Kwangsi in the early years of the 20th century became the base of the nationalist revolution led by Sun Yat-sen. Between 1906 and 1916 the provincial leaders of Kwangsi supported the establishment of a republic, and during the following decade played an active role in the reorganization of the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang). Following

Resia Pass

2005-01-07T19:46:00.000-08:00

Italian �Passo Di Resia, �German �Reschenpass, or Reschenscheideck, � pass south of the Austrian-Italian border and just east of the Swiss frontier. It is 4,934 feet (1,504 m) high and about 1 mile (1.6 km) long and separates the Unterengadin section of the Inn River valley, Austria, from the Venosta Valley or Adige River valley, Italy. The pass marks the divide between the watersheds of the Adriatic and Black seas and between the Rhaetian and �tztal Alps. Just

Ilerda, Campaign Of

2005-01-06T04:42:00.000-08:00

(49 BC), the campaign leading to the victory of Julius Caesar over Pompey's forces in Spain. In the spring of 49 BC, Caesar sent six legions from Gaul into Spain under Gaius Fabius and joined them at Ilerda (L�rida) on the Sicoris (Segre) River. Five Pompeian legions, together with many Spanish auxiliaries, commanded by Lucius Afranius and Marcus Petreius, were concentrated against

Gable, Christopher Michael

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

British ballet dancer and actor (b. March 13, 1940, Hackney, London, Eng.--d. Oct. 23, 1998, near Halifax, Yorkshire, Eng.), was a popular star of the Royal Ballet, and his strong dramatic ability paved the way for him to make a smooth transition to theatre and motion pictures. When he was a young boy, Gable, having seen dance numbers in films, asked for lessons. His mother consented, if he also studied

Jackson, Jesse

2005-01-04T07:06:00.000-08:00

Jesse adopted the name of his stepfather, Charles Jackson,

Reformatory

2005-01-03T01:17:00.000-08:00

Correctional institution for the treatment, training, and social rehabilitation of youth. Institutions designated as reformatories are of two general types: residential training schools for school-age delinquents and facilities for the confinement of youthful offenders between the ages of 16 and 25 who have been convicted of criminal acts. The early reformatories,

Denaturation

2005-01-02T20:14:00.000-08:00

In biology, process modifying the molecular structure of a protein. Denaturation involves the breaking of many of the weak linkages, or bonds (e.g., hydrogen bonds), within a protein molecule that are responsible for the highly ordered structure of the protein in its natural (native) state. Denatured proteins have a looser, more random structure; most are insoluble. Denaturation

Effen, Justus Van

2005-01-01T01:11:00.000-08:00

Dutch essayist and journalist whose straightforward didactic pieces, modelled on foreign examples, had a wholesome influence on the contemporary Dutch fashion of rococo writing. His other occupations included private tutor, secretary at the Netherlands embassy in London (1715 and 1727), and clerk in the Dutch government's warehouses

Childhood Disease And Disorder, Respiratory disorders

2004-12-31T07:12:00.000-08:00

Tonsillitis (acute infection of the tonsils) is more properly considered a part of the acute-pharyngitis (throat-inflammation) syndrome. Enlargement

Ear Disease, Exposure to noise

2004-12-30T23:17:00.000-08:00

The effects of noise exposure on hearing depend on the intensity and duration of the noise. The effects may be temporary or permanent. A single exposure to an extremely intense sound, such as an explosion, may produce a severe and permanent loss of hearing. Repeated exposures to sounds in excess of 80 to 90 decibels may cause gradual deterioration of hearing by destroying

Felton, Rebecca Ann

2004-12-29T13:14:00.000-08:00

Rebecca Latimer was graduated first in her class from the Madison Female College, Madison, Georgia, in 1852 and the following year married William H. Felton, a local physician active in liberal Democratic politics. She assisted her husband in

Spodumene

2004-12-28T00:02:00.000-08:00

Also called �Triphane� a lithium aluminum silicate mineral (LiAlSi2O6) in the pyroxene family, an important ore of lithium and a source of ceramic materials. It is ordinarily found in lithium-bearing granite pegmatites. When brilliant and glassy, clear spodumene is valued as a semiprecious gem (more by collectors and museums than by the public, because its colour fades when it is exposed to

Euripides

2004-12-27T05:53:00.000-08:00

It is possible to reconstruct only the sketchiest biography of Euripides. His mother's name was Cleito; his father's name was Mnesarchus or Mnesarchides. One tradition states that his mother was a greengrocer who sold herbs in the marketplace. Aristophanes joked about this in comedy after comedy; but there is better indirect evidence that Euripides came of a well-off

Addison, Thomas

2004-12-26T13:08:00.000-08:00

In 1837 Addison became a full

Byoir, Carl

2004-12-25T22:16:00.000-08:00

In high school Byoir was a reporter for the Iowa State Register, and by the age of 17 he was city editor of the Waterloo Tribune. He worked his way through the University of Iowa, went to work for the Hearst magazines, and by 1916 had become circulation

Cambodia

2004-12-24T05:46:00.000-08:00

Khmer �Kampuchea, �French �Cambodge, �formerly (to 1970) �Kingdom of Cambodia, �(1970 - 76) �Khmer Republic, �(1976 - 79) �Democratic Kampuchea, �or �(1979 - 89) �People's Republic of Kampuchea, � country lying in the southwestern Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia. Covering a land area of 70,238 square miles (181,916 square kilometres), it is bordered on the west and northwest by Thailand, on the northeast by Laos, on the east and southeast by Vietnam, and on the southwest by the Gulf of Thailand. The capital is Phnom Penh.

China, Tibet and Nepal

2004-12-23T10:24:00.000-08:00

Ch'ing control of Tibet reached its height in 1792. But thereafter China became unable to protect Tibet from foreign invasion. When an army from northern India invaded western Tibet in 1841, China could not afford to reinforce the Tibetans, who expelled the enemy on their own. China was a mere bystander during a coup d'�tat in Lhasa in 1844 and could not protect Tibet when it was invaded

Beijing

2004-12-22T08:47:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization �Pei-ching�, conventional �Peking� city, province-level shi (municipality), and capital of the People's Republic of China. Few cities in the world have served for so long as the political headquarters and cultural centre of an area as immense as China. The city has been an integral part of China's history over the past eight centuries, and nearly every major building of any age in Beijing has at least some

Lathrop, Julia Clifford

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

Lathrop attended Vassar College, graduating in 1880. Over the next 10 years she worked in her father's law office and interested herself in various reform movements. In 1890 she moved to Chicago and joined Jane Addams at the newly established Hull House settlement.

Straits Question

2004-12-20T11:02:00.000-08:00

The straits were in Turkish territory, but when Russia gained control of the north shore of the

New Amsterdam

2004-12-19T21:33:00.000-08:00

Town, northeastern Guyana. It lies along the Berbice River near the point at which the latter empties into the Atlantic Ocean. Built in 1740 by the Dutch and first named Fort Sint Andries, it was made seat of the Dutch colonial government in 1790; in 1803 it was taken over by the British. Although a picturesque Dutch air still is found in the town, it has an Anglican cathedral. New Amsterdam

Sibilant

2004-12-18T08:36:00.000-08:00

In phonetics, a fricative consonant sound, in which the tip, or blade, of the tongue is brought near the roof of the mouth and air is pushed past the tongue to make a hissing sound. In English s, z, sh, and zh (the sound of the s in �pleasure�) are sibilants. Sometimes the affricates ch and j are also considered as sibilants. See also fricative.

Appomattox Court House

2004-12-17T18:01:00.000-08:00

In the American Civil War, site in Virginia of the surrender of the Confederate forces to those of the North on April 9, 1865. After an engagement with Federal cavalry, the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia was surrounded at Appomattox, seat of Appomattox county, Virginia, 25 miles east of Lynchburg. Three miles to the northeast, at the former county seat, known as Appomattox

Anselm Of Saint Mary

2004-12-16T01:01:00.000-08:00

Anselm entered the order of the Discalced Hermits of St. Augustine in 1644 and, remaining in their monastery (Couvent des Petits P�res), devoted his entire life to genealogical studies. Among his early works are Le Palais

Frederick Viii

2004-12-15T22:37:00.000-08:00

Frederick served in the disastrous Danish - German War of 1864, which lost the duchies of Schleswig, Holstein, and Lauenburg for Denmark. He then assisted his father, Christian IX, in affairs of state. In 1907, as king, he formed a commission to draft a partial home rule bill for Iceland, but nothing came of it. Frederick VIII's popularity