BitterWhip

Fa Ngum

2005-04-04T08:55:00.000-07:00

Fa Ngum was the grandson of Souvanna Khamphong, the last in a long line of local rulers of the principality of Muang Swa, later called Luang Prabang, on the upper Mekong River. According to local legend, Souvanna Khamphong banished Fa Ngum's father for having seduced

Anarchism, English anarchist thought

2005-04-03T09:15:00.000-07:00

The first sketch of an anarchist commonwealth in this sense was developed in England in the years immediately following the English Civil Wars (1642–51) by Gerrard Winstanley, a dissenting Christian and founder of the Digger movement. In his pamphlet of 1649, Truth Lifting Up Its Head Above Scandals, Winstanley laid down what later became basic principles among anarchists:

Accessory Mineral

2005-04-01T16:30:00.000-08:00

Any mineral in an igneous rock not essential to the naming of the rock. When it is present in small amounts, as is common, it is called a minor accessory. If the amount is greater or is of special significance, the mineral is called a varietal, or characterizing, accessory and may give a varietal name to the rock (e.g., the mineral biotite in biotite granite). Accessory minerals

Yadin, Yigael

2005-03-29T20:02:00.000-08:00

Yadin, the son of an archaeologist, was educated at Hebrew University (M.A., 1945; Ph.D., 1955). He was a member of the Haganah military organization from 1932 to 1948 and served as chief of the general staff of the Israel Defense Forces from 1949 to

Chester, Hugh Of Avranches, 1st Earl Of, Vicomte (viscount) D'avranches

2005-03-24T10:56:00.000-08:00

Also called Hugh The Fat, or Hugh The Wolf, French Hugues Le Gros, French- Latin Hugues Lupus son of Richard, Viscount d'Avranches, and probable companion of William the Conqueror, who made him Earl of Chester in 1071. (He inherited his father's viscountship sometime after 1082.) He had special privileges in his earldom, and he held land in 20 counties. Hugh was called Le Gros because of his great bulk and Lupus because of his ferocity. He regarded Saint Anselm as his friend,

Ahmad Baba

2005-03-21T03:46:00.000-08:00

A descendant of a line of jurists, Ahmad Baba was educated in Islamic culture, including jurisprudence. When Timbuktu was conquered by the Sultan of Morocco in 1591, he was accused of refusing to recognize the Sultan's authority and of plotting a rebellion. In 1594 he was

Rabbit

2005-03-20T20:56:00.000-08:00

Rabbits are ground dwellers that live

Sogamoso

2005-03-18T09:25:00.000-08:00

City, Boyacá departamento, east-central Colombia. It lies along the Chicamocha River in the Andean Cordillera (mountains) Oriental, at an elevation of 8,428 feet (2,569 m) above sea level. Once a sacred city of the pre-Columbian Chibcha Indians, Sogamoso is a commercial and manufacturing centre for the surrounding agricultural and pastoral lands. Flour and textile milling and

Karachi

2005-03-15T04:41:00.000-08:00

City and capital of Sindh province, southern Pakistan. It is the country's largest city and principal seaport and is a major commercial and industrial centre. Karachi is located on the coast of the Arabian Sea immediately northwest of the Indus River Delta. The city proper covers an area of 228 square miles (591 square km), while the metropolitan area of Greater Karachi spreads

Earth, Evidence for polar wandering, continental drift, and seafloor spreading

2005-03-12T05:55:00.000-08:00

Polar wandering, continental drift, and seafloor spreading are all consequences of plate movements. Polar wandering is the movement of a continent relative to the rotational poles or spin axis of the Earth. Continental drift is the movement of one continent relative to another continent, and seafloor spreading is the movement of one block of seafloor relative

Fidei Commissum

2005-03-10T16:20:00.000-08:00

In Roman law and civil-law systems, a gift of property to a person (usually by will), imposing upon that person the obligation to transfer it to a specified ultimate recipient, the latter being a person legally incapable of taking the property directly or at least not in the amount designated. It constituted a means of evading the inheritance requirements in Roman and

Mon

2005-03-08T17:24:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Mun , Burmese Talaing people living in the eastern delta region of Myanmar (Burma) and in west-central Thailand, numbering in the late 20th century more than 1.1 million. The Mon have lived in their present area for the last 1,200 years, and it was they who gave Myanmar its writing (Pali) and its religion (Buddhism). The Mon are believed to have spread from western China over the river lowlands from the Irrawaddy

Lévi, Sylvain

2005-03-06T05:06:00.000-08:00

Appointed a lecturer at the school of higher studies in Paris (1886), he taught Sanskrit at the Sorbonne (1889–94) and wrote his doctoral dissertation, Le Théâtre indien (1890; “The Indian Theatre”), which became a standard treatise on

Amorphous Solid

2005-03-03T11:53:00.000-08:00

The following sections discuss technological applications of amorphous solids in connection with the properties that make those applications possible. It is important to understand that, although differences do exist between the properties of amorphous and crystalline solids, it is nevertheless broadly true that amorphous solids exhibit essentially

Nardò

2005-03-02T07:43:00.000-08:00

Latin Neretum, town, Lecce provincia, Puglia (Apulia) regione, southeastern Italy, southwest of Lecce city. Originally the Roman city of Neretum, Nardò was both Byzantine and Norman; it has a 13th–14th-century cathedral in the Gothic style and an unusual circular chapel called the Osanna, dating from 1603. Examples of Baroque architecture in the town include the Church of San Domenico. Modern

Arts, Central Asian, The study of Central Asian music

2005-02-27T03:06:00.000-08:00

In the West the study of Central Asian music has until recently been restricted largely to travellers' accounts and analyses of small samples of music. By far the bulk of collection and study of Central Asian music of Turkistan and Siberia lay in the domain of Soviet scholars, who instituted systematic fieldwork as early as the 1920s; this literature remains largely

Kerensky, Aleksandr Fyodorovich

2005-02-26T18:58:00.000-08:00

While studying law at the University of St. Petersburg, Kerensky was attracted to the Narodniki (or populist) revolutionary movement. After graduating (1904), he joined the Socialist

Brahmana

2005-02-23T13:48:00.000-08:00

Any of a number of prose commentaries attached to the Vedas, the most ancient Hindu sacred literature, explaining the significance of the Vedas as used in the ritual sacrifices and the symbolic import of the priests' actions. The word brahmana may mean either the utterance of a Brahman (priest) or an exposition on the meaning of the sacred word; the latter is more commonly

Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church

2005-02-21T07:35:00.000-08:00

Church organized by Norwegian and Swedish immigrants in 1860 in Jefferson Prairie, Wis., as the Scandinavian Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Tufve Nilsson Hasselquist, an ordained minister in the Church of Sweden, was the first president. It took its name from Confessio Augustana, the Latin name for the Augsburg Confession, written in 1530 by German Lutheran Reformers.

Pyramids, Battle Of The

2005-02-19T09:45:00.000-08:00

(July 21, 1798), military engagement in which Napoleon Bonaparte invented his one significant contribution to tactics, the massive divisional square; it was fought during his Egyptian campaign near Embabeh (Imbabah), on the west bank of the Nile River. Napoleon's 25,000-man Army of Egypt faced perhaps 40,000 Egyptians led by Murad Bey. The Egyptians were concentrated near Embabeh, with the

Annunciation

2005-02-17T16:18:00.000-08:00

The Feast of the Annunciation, one of the principal feasts of the Christian church, is celebrated on March 25 (Lady Day). The first authentic allusions to the feast (apart from the Gelasian and Gregorian sacramentaries, in both

Aaron, Hank

2005-02-16T11:42:00.000-08:00

For coverage of Aaron's home-run race, see George Plimpton, One for the Record: The Inside Story of Hank Aaron's Chase for the Home-Run Record (1974). Autobiographies include Hank Aaron and Dick Schaap, Home Run: My Life in Pictures (1999); and Hank Aaron and Lonnie Wheeler, I Had a Hammer: The Hank Aaron Story (1991).

Religion, Study Of, The Chicago school

2005-02-13T15:54:00.000-08:00

The phenomenological method was brought to the United States primarily by the German-American historian of religions Joachim Wach (1898–1955), who established Religionswissenschaft (Science of Religion) in Chicago and was thus the founder of the modern “Chicago school” (though his successor, Mircea Eliade, has a rather different slant). Wach was concerned with emphasizing

Music, Orchestras and Festivals.

2005-02-11T11:23:00.000-08:00

A series of major snowstorms early in the year played havoc with concert producers in the eastern United States. One storm made Philadelphia's Academy of Music inaccessible to many of the Philadelphia Orchestra's musicians, but with the soloists for the February 11 concert of Wagner opera excerpts housed in nearby hotels, music director Wolfgang Sawallisch decided

Cleveland

2005-02-10T21:07:00.000-08:00

Region and former administrative county, northeastern England, along the River Tees and the North Sea. The region comprises parts of the historic counties of Durham and Yorkshire to the north and south of the Tees, respectively. It is divided administratively into the following unitary authorities: Hartlepool, Stockton-on-Tees, Middlesbrough, and Redcar and

Encke's Comet

2005-02-07T05:34:00.000-08:00

Faint comet having the shortest orbital period (about 3.3 years) of any known; it was also only the second comet (after Halley's) to have its period established. The comet was first observed in 1786 by Pierre Méchain. Johann Franz Encke in 1819 calculated that sightings of apparently different comets in 1786, 1795, 1805, and 1818 were in fact appearances of the same comet, whose short orbital period he was

Bredero, Gerbrand Adriaenszoon

2005-02-05T07:42:00.000-08:00

The conflict between Bredero's experiences of the medieval, full-blooded life of the backstreets of Amsterdam and the sophistication of the Renaissance intelligentsia was most evident in his earliest poetry, which is collected

Pordenone

2005-02-03T10:59:00.000-08:00

Originating as the Roman and medieval river port of Portus Naonis, it was a bulwark of the Trevisani in their war against Aquileia until it was destroyed by the latter in 1233. It later became a fief of the Holy Roman

Black Powder

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

First type of explosive mixture invented for use in firearms and for blasting (see gunpowder).

Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

2005-01-30T20:24:00.000-08:00

English Dresden State Art Collections art museum in Dresden, Ger., that includes collections of painting, sculpture, graphic and applied arts, and coins. It is best known for its picture gallery, the core of which is the collection of paintings that originally belonged to the Kunstkammer, founded by Prince August in 1560. Its most popular works, however, were later acquisitions dating from the 18th century. There

Merced

2005-01-28T07:57:00.000-08:00

City, Merced county, central California, U.S., on Bear Creek in the San Joaquin valley, 55 miles (89 km) northwest of Fresno. It was founded in 1872 by the Central Pacific Railroad, and it became county seat in the same year. It was named for the Nuestra Señora de la Merced River. It developed as a processing and shipping point for agricultural produce of the valley, irrigated by the Tri-Dam

Metal Cut

2005-01-27T05:33:00.000-08:00

The English poet and artist William Blake (1757–1827) experimented with metal cuts, but the technique's greatest exponent was the Mexican

Elijah Ben Solomon

2005-01-25T10:08:00.000-08:00

The best accounts available in English are found in Solomon Schechter, Studies in Judaism, First Series (1896, reissued 1945); and Louis Ginzberg, Students, Scholars, and Saints (1928, reprinted 1985).

Okene

2005-01-23T07:12:00.000-08:00

Town, Kogi state, south-central Nigeria. It lies at the intersection of roads from Lokoja, Kabba, Ikare, Ajaokuta, and Anchi. Originally founded on a hill near the present site, it now lies in the valley of the Ubo River, which is a minor tributary of the Niger River. The town is a major trade centre for the yams, cassava, corn (maize), sorghum, beans, peanuts (groundnuts), palm oil and

Hincmar Of Reims

2005-01-21T15:41:00.000-08:00

Educated at the abbey of Saint-Denis, Paris, Hincmar was named a royal consultant to King Louis I the Pious in 834. When King Charles the Bald of France continued him in that office (840), Hincmar incurred

Cultural Revolution

2005-01-19T20:05:00.000-08:00

In full Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, Wade-Giles romanization Wu-ch'an Chieh-chi Wen-hua Ta Ke-ming, Pinyin Wuchanjieji Wenhua Dageming, upheaval launched by Chinese Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong during his last decade in power (1966–76) to renew the spirit of the Chinese revolution. Fearing that China would develop along the lines of the Soviet model and concerned about his own place in history, Mao threw China's cities into turmoil in a monumental effort to reverse the historic processes

Durandus Of Saint-pourçain

2005-01-16T17:21:00.000-08:00

Durandus entered the Dominican order and studied at Paris, where he obtained his doctorate in 1313. Shortly afterward Pope Clement V summoned him to Avignon as a lecturer in theology. He became successively bishop of

Durandus Of Saint-pourçain

2005-01-14T14:58:00.000-08:00

Chemical element, metal of Group IIb, or the zinc group, of the periodic table.

Yuga

2005-01-12T08:53:00.000-08:00

In Hindu cosmology, an age of mankind. Each yuga is progressively shorter than the preceding one, corresponding to a decline in the moral and physical state of humanity. Four such yugas (called Krta, Treta, Dvapara, and Kali after throws of an Indian game of dice) make up the mahayuga (“great yuga”), and 2,000 mahayugas make up the basic cosmic cycle, the kalpa. The first yuga (Krta) was an age

Silk Road

2005-01-10T07:35:00.000-08:00

Originating at Sian, the 4,000-mile (6,400-kilometre) road, actually a caravan tract, followed the Great Wall

Ancient Rome, The Illyrian emperors

2005-01-08T07:02:00.000-08:00

After Claudius II's unexpected death, the empire was ruled from 270 to 284 by several “Illyrian” emperors, who were good generals and who tried in an energetic way to restore equilibrium. The most remarkable was Aurelian. He first gained hard-won victories over the Alemanni and the Juthungi, who had invaded the Alpine provinces and northern Italy. To cheer the inhabitants of

Topographical Poetry

2005-01-07T17:42:00.000-08:00

Verse genre characterized by the description of a particular landscape. A subgenre, the prospect poem, details the view from a height. The form was established by John Denham in 1642 with the publication of his poem Cooper's Hill. Topographical poems were at their peak of popularity in the 17th and 18th centuries, though there are examples from the early 19th century, including

Hess, Dame Myra

2005-01-04T09:33:00.000-08:00

Hess studied at the Guildhall School of Music and at the Royal Academy of Music under Tobias Matthay. She made her concert debut in London in 1907 and in the United States in 1922. From 1939 to 1946, even during the height of the German bombardment of London, she

Cambrai, Treaty Of

2005-01-02T15:04:00.000-08:00

Also called Paix Des Dames (French: “Peace of the Ladies”; Aug. 3, 1529), agreement ending one phase of the wars between Francis I of France and the Habsburg Holy Roman emperor Charles V; it temporarily confirmed Spanish (Habsburg) hegemony in Italy. After a series of successes, Charles had defeated the French forces at Pavia in Italy in 1525 and forced Francis to sign the punitive Treaty of Madrid. Fearful of Charles's

Crofts, Freeman Wills

2004-12-31T06:11:00.000-08:00

Educated in Belfast, Crofts was a railroad engineer in Northern Ireland (1899–1929). During a long convalescence he wrote his first novel, The Cask (1920). Considered a classic

Nabha

2004-12-30T17:24:00.000-08:00

City, southeastern Punjab state, northwestern India. It is located some 16 miles (26 km) west and slightly north of Patiala. Nabha (founded 1755) was the capital of the princely state of Nabha, established in 1763 and composed of 12 scattered territories claimed by a member of the Sikh Phulkian family. In 1807–08 the raja gained British protection against threatened encroachments by Ranjit Singh.

Carnivore, Importance to humans

2004-12-27T18:41:00.000-08:00

If taken when young, the grizzly can be tamed quite easily and is not uncommon in circus acts. Unfortunately, man has come to picture the bear as being quite tame and harmless, with the result that the bear is viewed without the respect that this potentially dangerous creature deserves. The grizzly is the most dangerous of the bears to man, of the most interest economically

Jehovah

2004-12-26T18:30:00.000-08:00

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

Ufer, Walter

2004-12-23T14:48:00.000-08:00

Ufer studied at the Royal Academy in Dresden, Ger., and at the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1911 he abandoned a career in advertising to study painting in Munich and to travel across

Amphibian, Size range and diversity of structure

2004-12-21T13:05:00.000-08:00

The three living groups of amphibians vary greatly in size and structure. Long tails and two pairs of limbs of about equal size distinguish the salamander, although members of the family Sirenidae have no hindlimbs. Their total length varies greatly; a diminutive terrestrial species in Mexico measures 27 millimetres (1.06 inches) long, and the giant aquatic salamander

Malabarese Catholic Church

2004-12-20T00:18:00.000-08:00

A Chaldean rite church of southern India (Kerala) that united with Rome after the Portuguese colonization of Goa at the end of the 15th century. The Portuguese viewed these Christians of St. Thomas, as they called themselves, as Nestorian heretics, despite their traditional alignment with Rome since about the 6th century. Although the Malabarese formally acknowledged

Hai-nan, The people

2004-12-17T18:55:00.000-08:00

Two-thirds of Hai-nan's predominantly rural population is concentrated in the northeastern lowlands. Most of the people are Han (Chinese), but about one-sixth are ethnic minorities. The Li, concentrated in the south, constitute the largest minority group, followed by the Miao. The largest cities are Hai-k'ou in the north and the port city of Ya-hsien (locally called San-ya)

Ushabti Figure

2004-12-15T05:54:00.000-08:00

Any of the small statuettes made of wood, stone, or faience that are often found in large numbers in ancient Egyptian tombs. The figures range in height from 4 to 9 inches (10 to 23 cm) and often held hoes in their arms. Their purpose was to act as a magical substitute for the deceased owner when the gods requested him to undertake menial tasks in the afterlife. The word ushabti is

Saarland

2004-12-14T05:44:00.000-08:00

The heart of the Saarland is an area of thickly forested hills that is crossed from southeast to northwest by the valley of the Saar River. The Saar River valley is in parts underlain by extensive coal deposits, and coal mines and mining settlements are dispersed in the wooded countryside. Concentrated along the river valley, from Saarbrücken to Völklingen, are blast

Rzhev

2004-12-11T13:22:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Rzev city, Tver oblast (province), northwestern Russia. It lies along the upper Volga River at the crossing of the Moscow-Riga and St. Petersburg–Bryansk trunk railways. First mentioned in 1216 as an independent princedom, Rzhev has always been a route centre on the western approaches to Moscow. The city has had a stormy history. It was held at various times by the princes of Tver

Roberts, Owen (josephus)

2004-12-10T15:17:00.000-08:00

Upon graduating from law school, Roberts taught law at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, but by 1918 he had to devote his full time to his practice. While he was still teaching, Roberts had served as assistant district attorney and as special deputy attorney

Dorgon

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

Franz Michael, The Origin of Manchu Rule in China (1942, reprinted 1965), a concise, basic survey of the historical development of the beginning Manchu empire, includes information about Dorgon; Fang Chao-ying, “Dorgon,” in Arthur W. Hummel (ed.), Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period, 1644–1912, vol. 1, pp. 215–219 (1943), is a short biography.

Faience Fine

2004-12-06T17:20:00.000-08:00

Fine white English lead-glazed earthenware, or creamware, imported into France from about 1730 onward. Staffordshire “salt glaze” was imported first, followed by the improved Wedgwood “Queen's ware” and the Leeds “cream-coloured ware.” It was cheaper than French faience, or tin-glazed earthenware, and more durable and was therefore subjected to heavy tariffs in 1741 and 1749. A Franco-British

Blood Brotherhood

2004-12-04T23:55:00.000-08:00

Special alliance or tie that binds persons together in a fashion analogous to, but distinct from, kinship ties. The relationship derives its name from the ritual commingling of the blood of the participants. The nature of the alliance thus formed typically enjoins the members to mutual support, loyalty, or affection. When practiced between groups, blood brotherhood

Forbin, Claude De

2004-12-02T07:38:00.000-08:00

After becoming an experienced seaman, he went on a French mission to the king of Siam, whom he served as grand admiral for two years (1685–87). Returning to France as commandant of a frigate

Buyantu

2004-11-29T13:29:00.000-08:00

Also known as Ayurparibhadra , Chinese temple name (yüan) Jen Tsung , Pinyin romanization Yuan Renzong (reigned 1311–20), Mongol emperor of the Yüan dynasty of China, who was a patron of literature. He distributed offices more equitably between Chinese and Mongols than had his predecessors, and during his reign commercial ties with Europe increased.

Argentina, Immigration and ethnicity

2004-11-27T02:55:00.000-08:00

Heavy immigration, particularly from Spain and Italy, has produced in Argentina a people who are almost all of European ancestry. In the colonial period, though, the Spanish explorers and settlers encountered a number of native peoples. Among these were the Diaguita tribes of the Andean Northwest, a town-dwelling, agricultural people who were forced into labour

Uruguay River

2004-11-26T18:55:00.000-08:00

Portuguese Rio Uruguai, Spanish Río Uruguay, river in southern South America that rises in the coastal range of southern Brazil. Its chief headstream, the Pelotas River, rises just 40 miles (64 km) from the Atlantic coast at Alto do Bispo in Santa Catarina state, Brazil, and takes the name Uruguay after it is joined by the Canoas River near Piratuba. Flowing west through the coastal range of Brazil (separating Santa Catarina

Atlantic Charter

2004-11-24T20:57:00.000-08:00

A propaganda manifesto of common aims, the charter stated that (1) neither nation sought any aggrandizement; (2) they desired

Sculpture, Western, Early Christian

2004-11-22T06:59:00.000-08:00

Early in the 20th century it was thought that Christian art began after the death of Christ or, at least, in the second half of the 1st century AD. But later discoveries and studies showed that a truly Christian art—that is, with a style quite distinctive from Pagan Roman art—did not exist before the end of the 2nd or beginning of the 3rd century. When it ended, or rather developed

Valdemar Ii

2004-11-19T07:28:00.000-08:00

The son and brother, respectively, of the Danish kings Valdemar I and Canute IV, Valdemar acted as the duke of Schleswig from 1188 and conquered

Tsu

2004-11-18T20:24:00.000-08:00

Capital, Mie ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan. It lies along the mouth of the Ano River, facing Ise Bay. Tsu developed around a 16th-century castle and served as a post town and trade centre for cotton during the Tokugawa era (1603–1867). A modern cotton mill established in Tsu in 1898 was followed after World War II by factories producing electrical machines, glass, and appliances. During the

Tivoli

2004-11-16T05:14:00.000-08:00

The park was opened in 1843 by the writer-architect

Latin League

2004-11-14T06:57:00.000-08:00

Originally a confederation of about 30 villages and tribes in the neighbourhood of ancient Rome that joined for mutual protection and defense against hostile adjoining communities. The city of Alba Longa, the leader of this federation, was the site of religious ceremonies, which included worship of Jupiter on the Alban Mount. It was also the place where league members

Insurance, Underwriting principles

2004-11-11T08:59:00.000-08:00

Underwriting has to do with the selection of subjects for insurance in such a manner that general company objectives are met. The main objective of underwriting is to see that the risk accepted by the insurer corresponds to that assumed in the rating structure. There is often a tendency toward adverse selection, which the underwriter must try to prevent. Adverse

Folengo, Teofilo

2004-11-09T07:21:00.000-08:00

Folengo entered the Benedictine order as a young man, taking the name Teofilo by which he is known. He lived in the monasteries of Brescia, Mantua,

Anaximenes Of Miletus

2004-11-08T10:29:00.000-08:00

Anaximenes substituted aer (“mist,” “vapour,” “air”) for his predecessors'

Patagonia

2004-11-05T15:23:00.000-08:00

Semiarid scrub plateau that covers nearly all of the southern portion of mainland Argentina. With an area of about 260,000 square miles (673,000 square kilometres), it constitutes a vast area of steppe and desert that extends from latitude 37° to 51° S. It is bounded, approximately, by the Patagonian Andes to the west, the Colorado River to the north (except where the region extends north of

Gable, Dan

2004-11-03T06:29:00.000-08:00

Gable was undefeated in high school competition and won three consecutive Iowa state high school championships. Competing for Iowa State University, he posted a near-perfect record. During his freshman year he entered the Midlands

Fu-shun

2004-11-02T02:46:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Fushun, city in central Liaoning sheng (province), northeastern China. It is situated some 25 miles (40 km) east of Shen-yang (Mukden) on the Hun River. In earlier times this area was on the frontier of Chinese settlement. It was the site of a customs station under the T'ang dynasty (618–907) in the 8th century, and again under the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), when it received the name Fu-shun. It was not until 1902 that settlement

Oglethorpe, James Edward

2004-10-31T00:43:00.000-07:00

Educated at the University of Oxford, he entered the army in 1712 and joined the Austrian army fighting the Turks in 1717. On his return to England in 1722, he entered Parliament. In 1729 he presided over a committee that brought about prison reforms.

Eliade, Mircea

2004-10-29T08:17:00.000-07:00

Eliade took an M.A. in philosophy from the University of Bucharest

Cohort Analysis

2004-10-27T23:56:00.000-07:00

Method used in studies to describe an aggregate of individuals having in common a significant event in their life histories, such as year of birth (birth cohort) or year of marriage (marriage cohort). The concept of cohort is useful because occurrence rates of various forms of behaviour are often influenced by the length of time elapsed since the event defining the

Alba Fucens

2004-10-25T05:39:00.000-07:00

Modern Albe ancient fortified town at the foot of Mount Velino, Italy. It was originally a town of the ancient Marsi people but was occupied by a Latin colony about 303 BC. It was situated on a hill with three distinct summits, all of which were enclosed within the walls. Its strong position made it important in the Social War and in the civil wars of the 1st century BC; state prisoners of the Romans

Sukkoth

2004-10-23T10:54:00.000-07:00

The Bible refers to hag ha-asif (“Feast of the Ingathering,” Exodus 23:16), when grains and fruits were gathered at the harvest's end, and to hag ha-sukkot (“Feast of

Pinar Del Río

2004-10-20T10:39:00.000-07:00

City, capital of Pinar del Río provincia, western Cuba. Founded in 1775, the city is situated near the base of the Sierra de los Órganos. In 1800 it was officially named Nueva Filipina and was made capital of the western jurisdiction of Cuba. Its economic importance dates from about 1830, when the tobacco industry of the Vuelta Abajo region was developed. With the completion of the railroad

Firminy

2004-10-18T13:22:00.000-07:00

Town, Loire département, Rhône-Alpes région, southeast-central France. It lies on the Ondaine River immediately southwest of Saint-Étienne. The name, originally Firminiaco signifying “place of Firmin,” was first recorded (971) in a charter given by the king of Burgundy. It is the site of two historic churches, one built in the 12th century, the other in the 16th. Firminy-Vert is a complex

Rupelian Stage

2004-10-17T16:01:00.000-07:00

All those rocks deposited worldwide during the Rupelian Age (36.6 to 30 million years ago). The Rupelian is the earlier of two stages in the Oligocene Series and comprises the Lower Oligocene. It was named for exposures studied along the Rupel, a tributary of the Scheldt River in Belgium. This area formerly served as the type district for the stage. The global stratotype section

Avilés

2004-10-14T04:04:00.000-07:00

City, Asturias provincia and comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”), northwestern Spain. It lies along the Ría (inlet) de Avilés, an inlet of the Bay of Biscay. A summer resort with beaches at nearby Salinas, the city has an iron and steel industry and a fishing fleet, and it exports coal from the Asturias mines. Avilés is rich in medieval architecture, its outstanding

Sculpture, Western, Late Gothic

2004-10-12T19:29:00.000-07:00

In the years around 1400, when International Gothic flourished, Italian and northern artists had achieved some sort of rapprochement. Under the renewed influence of antique art, Italy drew away again, and it was not until the 16th century that the north showed any real disposition to follow suit in the imitation of Classical models. While painting and architecture of the

Anhwei

2004-10-10T23:45:00.000-07:00

Chinese (Wade-Giles) An-hui, (Pinyin) Anhui, sheng (province) of China. It is one of the country's smallest provinces, covering an area of 54,000 square miles (139,900 square kilometres) and stretching for 400 miles (640 kilometres) from north to south. Landlocked, it is bounded by the provinces of Kiangsu to the northeast, Chekiang to the southeast, Kiangsi to the south, and Hupeh and Honan to the west. Its northern extremity barely touches

Cavalcanti, Alberto

2004-10-09T00:50:00.000-07:00

Cavalcanti established his reputation as a documentary filmmaker in Britain during the 1930s and went on to produce some notable films for Ealing Studios. In the 1950s he returned to Brazil and was a leading

Cambridge

2004-10-07T18:11:00.000-07:00

City, seat (1686) of Dorchester county, eastern Maryland, U.S., on the Choptank River's south bank near Chesapeake Bay's eastern shore. Bisected by Cambridge Creek (a natural harbour), it was founded in 1684 as a plantation port and named in 1686 for the English university town. For more than two centuries it handled small coastwise traffic, but the addition of deepwater facilities and the

Alabama, The 20th century

2004-10-04T13:48:00.000-07:00

In 1900 the state remained largely rural. The onset of the boll weevil in 1915 seriously damaged one-crop agriculture, forcing a diversification of the rural economy. Rural dwellers, mostly poor and black, began an exodus to Southern cities and to the North, where cheap foreign labour supplies had dried up during World War I. A factor in encouraging the out-migration of Alabama

Gobineau, Joseph-arthur, Comte De

2004-10-02T06:07:00.000-07:00

Gobineau was a member of an aristocratic royalist family. He went to Paris in 1835, held a succession of minor clerical

Gymkhana

2004-09-30T16:08:00.000-07:00

Originally in 19th-century India and England, a display of athletics and equestrian events; in the 20th century, also a form of automobile sport in which a series of events is planned to test driving skill and demonstrate accurate car handling. Auto gymkhanas usually are held on parking lots on which a series of short but intricate courses are laid out. A typical event is

Agung

2004-09-28T04:17:00.000-07:00

In the early years of Sultan Agung's reign, he consolidated the sultanate by subduing the autonomous trade-based coastal states of Padang and Tuban in 1619; Banjermasin, Kalimantan, and Sukadana in 1622; Madura in 1624; and Surabaya in 1625. Because the country's economy

National Botanical Garden Of Belgium

2004-09-27T15:34:00.000-07:00

French Jardin Botanique National de Belgique , Flemish Nationale Plantentuin van België botanical garden consisting of the plant collections at Meise, on the outskirts of Brussels, Belgium. The garden has about 18,000 different species of plants. Originally founded in 1870 on a 17-acre (7-hectare) site in the heart of Brussels, the botanical garden was gradually transferred after the mid-1960s to a magnificent estate at Meise, the Domaine de Bouchout. The world's largest greenhouse,

Venosa

2004-09-27T11:03:00.000-07:00

Latin Venusia, town and episcopal see, Potenza provincia, Basilicata regione, southern Italy. It is situated on the lower slope of Mount Vulcano, north of Potenza. Originally a settlement of the Lucanians (an ancient Italic tribe), it was taken by the Romans after the Samnite Wars (291 BC); from its position on the Appian Way it became an important Roman garrison town. The poet Horace was born

Gabon

2004-09-25T08:27:00.000-07:00

Amid a rising wave of urban crime, on March 1, 2001, Gabon's minister of the interior suspended the import and sale of firearms. Prime Minister Jean-François Ntoutoume-Emane addressed the National Assembly on May 16 to answer deputies' concerns about public safety. Despite the creation during the year of a special crime squad, the incidents of armed robbery and other violent

Canadian High

2004-09-24T05:27:00.000-07:00

Also called Alaskan high large atmospheric high-pressure centre produced by the extremely low winter temperatures over northwestern Canada. Its cold, dense air does not extend above 3 km (2 miles). The high's location east of the Canadian Rockies shelters it from the relatively warm Pacific Ocean and helps it maintain its identity. Its average January sea level pressure is 1,020 millibars (30.12 inches

Philip

2004-09-23T04:53:00.000-07:00

The youngest son of the Holy Roman emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, Philip was destined for the church. After being provost of the cathedral at Aachen, he was, in 1190 or 1191, elected bishop of Würzburg. Shortly after the death of his brother Frederick

Christchurch Mansion

2004-09-23T00:50:00.000-07:00

In Ipswich, Suffolk, Eng., Tudor mansion built between 1548 and 1550 by Edmund Withipoll and now maintained as an art gallery and museum that is part of the Ipswich Museum of Art. The mansion houses a collection of local antiquities, including paintings and memorials of Edward Fitzgerald and Thomas Wollner. It has fine 16th-century paneling and part of a marble font from

Abel, Theodora Mead

2004-09-20T11:21:00.000-07:00

Abel was educated at Vassar College (B.A., 1921), Columbia University (M.A., 1924), and the University of Paris, where she received a diploma in psychology (1923). After earning a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1925, she taught at numerous institutions, including

Tamil Literature

2004-09-19T23:27:00.000-07:00

Body of writings in Tamil, a Dravidian language of India and Sri Lanka. Apart from literature written in classical (Indo-Aryan) Sanskrit, Tamil is the oldest literature in India. Some inscriptions on stone have been dated to the 3rd century BC, but Tamil literature proper begins around the 1st century AD. Much early poetry was religious or epic; an exception was the secular court

BitterWhip

Fa Ngum

Anarchism, English anarchist thought

Accessory Mineral

Yadin, Yigael

Chester, Hugh Of Avranches, 1st Earl Of, Vicomte (viscount) D'avranches

Ahmad Baba

Rabbit

Sogamoso

Karachi

Earth, Evidence for polar wandering, continental drift, and seafloor spreading

Fidei Commissum

Mon

Lévi, Sylvain

Amorphous Solid

Nardò

Arts, Central Asian, The study of Central Asian music

Kerensky, Aleksandr Fyodorovich

Brahmana

Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church

Pyramids, Battle Of The

Annunciation

Aaron, Hank

Religion, Study Of, The Chicago school

Music, Orchestras and Festivals.

Cleveland

Encke's Comet

Bredero, Gerbrand Adriaenszoon

Pordenone

Black Powder

Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

Merced

Metal Cut

Elijah Ben Solomon

Okene

Hincmar Of Reims

Cultural Revolution

Durandus Of Saint-pourçain

Durandus Of Saint-pourçain

Yuga

Silk Road

Ancient Rome, The Illyrian emperors

Topographical Poetry

Hess, Dame Myra

Cambrai, Treaty Of

Crofts, Freeman Wills

Nabha

Carnivore, Importance to humans

Jehovah

Ufer, Walter

Amphibian, Size range and diversity of structure

Malabarese Catholic Church

Hai-nan, The people

Ushabti Figure

Saarland

Rzhev

Roberts, Owen (josephus)

Dorgon

Faience Fine

Blood Brotherhood

Forbin, Claude De

Buyantu

Argentina, Immigration and ethnicity

Uruguay River

Atlantic Charter

Sculpture, Western, Early Christian

Valdemar Ii

Tsu

Tivoli

Latin League

Insurance, Underwriting principles

Folengo, Teofilo

Anaximenes Of Miletus

Patagonia

Gable, Dan

Fu-shun

Oglethorpe, James Edward

Eliade, Mircea

Cohort Analysis

Alba Fucens

Religion, Study Of, The Chicago school