EarlyCoat

China, The Han dynasty

2005-04-05T22:08:00.000-07:00

Translations of historical source material can be found in Édouard Chavannes (ed. and trans.), Les Mémoires historiques de Se-ma Ts'ien, new ed. 6 vol. (1967–69); Homer H. Dubs (ed. and trans.), The History of the Former Han Dynasty, 3 vol. (1938–55); Esson M. Gale (ed. and trans.), Discourses on Salt and Iron (1931, reprinted 1973); Burton Watson (ed. and trans.), Records of the Grand Historian of China, 2 vol. (1961); Hsien-yi Yang and Gladys Yang (trans.), Selections from Records of the Historian (1979); and A.F.P. Hulsewé, Remnants of Ch'in Law (1985). Works on specific topics of Han history include Hans Bielenstein, The Restoration of the Han Dynasty, 4 vol. (1953–79); Michael Loewe, Records of Han Administration, 2 vol. (1967), Everyday Life in Early Imperial China During the Han Period 202 B.C.–A.D. 220 (1968, reissued 1973), and Crisis and Conflict in Han China 104 B.C. to A.D. 9 (1974); T'ung-tsu Ch'u, Han Social Structure (1972); A.F.P. Hulsewé, Remnants of Han Law (1955); Cho-yun Hsu, Han Agriculture: The Formation of Early Chinese Agrarian Economy, 206 B.C.–A.D. 220 (1980); and Ying-shih Yu, Trade and Expansion in Han China (1967). Zhongsbu Wang, Han Civilization (1982), is a survey of archaeological investigations of the Han dynasty.

Nord-norge

2005-04-05T07:56:00.000-07:00

English Northern Norway geographic region of Norway. It reaches from Nordland about 575 miles (925 km) northward to the North Cape (Nordkapp), the northernmost point in Europe. It includes the fylker (counties) of Nordland, Troms, and Finnmark. An arm of the Gulf Stream, the North Atlantic Current, which flows past its coast, provides a relatively mild maritime climate. Commonly known as the “Land of the Midnight

Vacuum Technology

2005-04-03T11:34:00.000-07:00

The McLeod gauge takes advantage of Boyle's law (the product of pressure and volume for a given quantity of gas remains constant if a constant temperature is maintained) to determine gas pressure within a range of 10 to 10-6 torr. Raising the mercury level in the McLeod gauge seals off the gas from the system to which the gauge is connected. When the level of mercury is raised

San Carlos

2005-04-02T09:21:00.000-08:00

City, northeastern Negros island, Philippines. Set in an area of concentrated sugarcane production, it is the site of a large sugar mill established in 1912. Frequent ferry service across Tanon Strait from Toledo on the island of Cebu brings large numbers of migrant workers to the surrounding sugar plantations. The city has deepwater port facilities and also has an airport.

Yurt

2005-04-01T20:27:00.000-08:00

Also spelled yurta , Mongol ger tentlike Central Asian nomad's dwelling, erected on wooden poles and covered with skin, felt, or handwoven textiles in bright colours. The interior is simply furnished with brightly coloured rugs (red often predominating) decorated with geometric or stylized animal patterns. The knotted pile rug, first known from a nomad burial at the foot of the Altai Mountains

D Region

2005-04-01T07:27:00.000-08:00

Lowest ionospheric region, at altitudes of about 70 to 90 km (40 to 55 miles). The D region differs from the other ionospheric regions (denoted E and F) in that its free electrons almost totally disappear during the night because they recombine with oxygen ions to form oxygen molecules. Hence, radio waves cannot then be reflected from it but pass through to the strongly reflecting

May, Phil

2005-03-30T20:38:00.000-08:00

His father, an engineer, died when May was nine years old. Three years later he began to earn his living; he worked as a timekeeper in a foundry, as a jockey, and then on the stage.

Angus, William Douglas, 10th Earl Of

2005-03-29T16:01:00.000-08:00

He joined the household of the Earl of Morton and then, while visiting the French court, became a Roman Catholic; in consequence, on his return, he was disinherited and placed under restraint. Nevertheless, he succeeded to his father's titles and estates in 1591, and,

Breckland

2005-03-28T23:09:00.000-08:00

The name Breckland was first applied in 1894 by the Norfolk naturalist W.G.

Caribbean Literature

2005-03-28T11:44:00.000-08:00

Literary works of the Caribbean area written in Spanish, French, or English. The literature of the Caribbean has no indigenous tradition. The pre-Columbian American Indians left few rock carvings or inscriptions (petroglyphs), and their oral traditions did not survive 16th-century Spanish colonization. The West Africans who replaced them were also without a written

Trichomycetes

2005-03-26T02:28:00.000-08:00

Class of fungi (division Mycota) with a vegetative body (thallus) consisting of single or branched filaments (hyphae). The class was earlier subsumed under the group Phycomycetes (q.v.). Trichomycetes occur in the gut or on the cuticle (outer covering) of crabs, beach fleas, boring gribble, and other arthropods. Asexual reproduction occurs by the formation of saclike fruiting

Utrecht, Treaties Of

2005-03-25T04:50:00.000-08:00

France concluded treaties of peace at Utrecht with Britain, the Dutch republic, Prussia, Portugal, and Savoy. By the treaty with Britain (April 11), France recognized Queen

Viélé-griffin, Francis

2005-03-24T23:32:00.000-08:00

Viélé-Griffin, son of a military governor for the Union in the American Civil War, was sent to France at the age of eight to attend school and remained there for the rest of his life. His first collection of verse, Cueille d'avril (1886; “April's Harvest”), showed

Goatsbeard

2005-03-23T14:01:00.000-08:00

(species Aruncus dioicus or A. sylvester), herbaceous perennial plant, of the rose family (Rosaceae), native to the North Temperate Zone. It occurs most commonly in rich woods, especially in mountainous regions. The plant grows 1.2 to 1.8 m (4 to 6 feet) tall and has pinnately compound (i.e., feather-formed) leaves up to 50 cm (20 inches) long. Eight to 10 small, stalkless, white flowers are borne on leafless

Maharashtra

2005-03-21T09:26:00.000-08:00

State of India that occupies a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau in the western peninsular part of the subcontinent. Its shape roughly resembles a triangle, with the 450-mile (725-kilometre) western coastline forming the base and the interior narrowing to a blunt apex some 500 miles to the east. It has an area of 118,809 square miles (307,713 square kilometres). It is bounded by the states

Zara, Siege Of

2005-03-21T06:56:00.000-08:00

(1202), a major episode of the Fourth Crusade; the first attack on a Christian city by a crusading army, it foreshadowed the same army's assault on Constantinople, the Byzantine capital, in 1203–04. Zara (modern Zadar, Croatia), a vassal city of the Venetian republic, rebelled against Venice in 1186 and placed itself under the protection of King Béla III of Hungary. Anxious to reassert their

Allon, Yigal

2005-03-20T23:47:00.000-08:00

Allon was one of the first commanders of the Palmach, an elite branch of the Haganah, a Zionist military organization

Alaska, Explorations

2005-03-19T02:38:00.000-08:00

As early as 1700, native peoples of Siberia reported the existence of a huge piece of land lying due east. An expedition appointed by the Russian tsar and led by a Danish mariner, Vitus Bering, in 1728 determined that the new land was not linked to the Russian mainland, but because of fog it failed to locate North America. On Bering's second voyage, in 1741, the peak of Mount St. Elias was sighted,

Balas Ruby

2005-03-18T20:42:00.000-08:00

Variety of the gemstone ruby spinel (q.v.).

Water Table

2005-03-18T06:40:00.000-08:00

Also called Groundwater Table, upper level of an underground surface in which the soil or rocks are permanently saturated with water. The water table separates the groundwater zone that lies below it from the capillary fringe, or zone of aeration, that lies above it. The water table fluctuates both with the seasons and from year to year because it is affected by climatic variations and by the amount

Forbes, George William

2005-03-16T19:11:00.000-08:00

Forbes held a seat in the House of Representatives for thirty-five years as member for Hurunui (1908–43). He began his political career as a member of the Liberal Party, and when that party declined he became in 1928 a leader of the newly created United Party.

Fabry, Charles

2005-03-16T14:44:00.000-08:00

Fabry joined the staff of Marseilles University in 1894. His early studies centred on light interference, in which a primary research instrument

Mahdiyah, Al-

2005-03-16T10:33:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Mahdia, or Mahedia, town and fishing port on as-Sahil (coastal strip), eastern Tunisia. It lies on the narrow rocky peninsula of Cape Ifriqiya. The town owes its name to the mahdi (Arabic: mahdi, “the rightly guided one”) 'Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi, founder of the Fatimid dynasty, who established the town in 912 and in 921 made it his capital. Abandoned about 973, al-Mahdiyah was reestablished as a refuge capital of the Zirid

Rawlins

2005-03-15T23:09:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1886) of Carbon county, south-central Wyoming, U.S. It lies just east of the Continental Divide at an elevation of 6,755 feet (2,059 metres). Founded in 1868 when the Union Pacific Railroad arrived, it was first named Rawlins Springs for U.S. Army Chief of Staff General John A. Rawlins, who requested a freshwater spring there bear his name. In 1874 “Rawlins Red” pigment from the local paint mines

Corbusier, Le

2005-03-14T16:51:00.000-08:00

Byname of Charles-Édouard Jeanneret internationally influential Swiss architect and city planner, whose designs combine the functionalism of the modern movement with a bold, sculptural expressionism. He belonged to the first generation of the so-called International school of architecture and was their most able propagandist

Rimbaud, Arthur

2005-03-13T19:38:00.000-08:00

In full Jean-nicolas-arthur Rimbaud French poet and adventurer who won renown among the Symbolist movement and markedly influenced modern poetry.

Nephelometry And Turbidimetry

2005-03-13T13:56:00.000-08:00

In analytical chemistry, methods for determining the amount of cloudiness, or turbidity, in a solution based upon measurement of the effect of this turbidity upon the transmission and scattering of light. Turbidity in a liquid is caused by the presence of finely divided suspended particles. If a beam of light is passed through a turbid sample, its intensity is reduced

Furniture, Fireplaces

2005-03-11T22:00:00.000-08:00

The heating of rooms and large halls remained a major problem until the advent of modern central heating systems. The open hearth was replaced during the late Middle Ages by the fireplace, which is merely an architectonic way of framing the burning logs. During the period when it was important as a source of heat, the fireplace became the object of design work by significant

Gyumri

2005-03-11T10:44:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Kumayri , (1924–90) Leninakan , or (until 1924) Alexandropol city, western Armenia. It is believed to have been founded by the Greeks in 401 BC, but it did not have a continuous existence. A fortress was constructed on the site by the Russians in 1837, and in 1840 the town of Alexandropol was founded nearby. Alexandropol was a trading and administrative centre but subsequently underwent industrial development and was renamed Leninakan for

Gospel Music

2005-03-11T04:37:00.000-08:00

The immediate impetus for gospel music seems to have been the rise of Pentecostal churches

Taliesin

2005-03-10T00:09:00.000-08:00

One of five poets renowned among the Welsh in the latter part of the 6th century, according to the Historia Brittonum attributed to Nennius (flourished c. 796). The Book of Taliesin, the oldest surviving copy of his works (written about 700 years after his time), contains a variety of poems, some on religious themes, some arcane religious verses that belong to Celtic mythological

Cimbri

2005-03-09T22:58:00.000-08:00

A Germanic tribe whose military incursion into Roman Italy was thrust back in 101 BC. Forced out of what is now Denmark by overpopulation and the encroaching sea, the Cimbri pushed southward, eventually swelling in numbers by the addition of their allies the Teutoni and other tribes. They scored victories over the Romans in 113, 109, and 107. Following a particularly devastating Roman

Cumberland

2005-03-08T01:39:00.000-08:00

County, southwestern New Jersey, U.S. It consists of a coastal lowland bounded by the Delaware River and Bay to the south, Stow Creek to the west, the Maurice River to the north, the Tuckahoe River to the northeast, and West Creek to the southeast. Other waterways include Union Lake and the Cohansey and Manumuskin rivers. The major forest types are oak and hickory as well

Madeleine

2005-03-06T04:32:00.000-08:00

Napoleon, who had ordered its design and construction, originally intended the building

Razmara, Ali

2005-03-06T04:07:00.000-08:00

Razmara graduated from the French military academy at Saint-Cyr in 1925. After serving in the pacification campaigns in the Kurdistan and Laristan regions of Iran under Reza Khan (later Reza Shah Pahlavi), he became director of the Tehran Military Cadet College

Furniture, Imagery and ornamentation

2005-03-06T01:20:00.000-08:00

Painted and plastic images, or ornamental decoration, on furniture are secondary processes compared with construction and design. Some of the best and most expressive furniture forms, such as the Greek klismos chair and the English Windsor chair, are quite independent of imagery or ornamentation. On the other hand, no period in the history of furniture is entirely

Ernest Augustus

2005-03-04T23:21:00.000-08:00

Ernest Augustus studied at Göttingen, entered the Hanoverian army, and served as a leader of cavalry when war broke out between Great Britain and France in 1793. When Hanover withdrew from the war in 1795 he returned to England, being made lieutenant general in

Dana, Richard Henry

2005-03-04T17:42:00.000-08:00

Dana withdrew from Harvard College when measles weakened his eyesight, and he shipped to California as a sailor in August 1834 to regain his health. After voyaging among California's ports and gathering hides ashore, he rounded Cape Horn, returned

Saint Catharines

2005-03-03T22:04:00.000-08:00

City, Regional Municipality of Niagara, southeastern Ontario, Canada, on the south shore of Lake Ontario, at the entrance to the Welland Ship Canal. Named after the first wife of Robert Hamilton, member of the first legislative council of Upper Canada, it has grown from a small settlement established in 1790 to become the centre of the Niagara fruit belt and the largest city

Aechmea

2005-03-03T21:48:00.000-08:00

Genus of epiphytes (plants that are supported by other plants and have aerial roots exposed to the humid atmosphere) of the pineapple family (Bromeliaceae), with more than 140 species distributed in South America. Spiny-edged leaves, usually about 30 to 60 cm (about 12 to 24 inches) long, grow in a rosette from the root. A spike of red and yellow flowers, often with blue

Pendleton, Ellen Fitz

2005-03-01T03:11:00.000-08:00

Pendleton graduated from Wellesley College in 1886. She remained at Wellesley as a tutor in mathematics, Latin, and Greek until 1888, when she received an appointment as instructor in mathematics. She pursued graduate studies at Newnham

Chad, Lake

2005-03-01T01:22:00.000-08:00

French Lac Tchad, freshwater lake located in the Sahelian zone of west-central Africa at the conjunction of Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Niger. It is situated in an interior basin formerly occupied by a much larger ancient sea that is sometimes called Mega-Chad. Lake Chad ranks as the fourth largest lake in Africa, though its surface area varies greatly. When the surface of the lake is

Sacrifice, Method of sacrifice

2005-02-28T06:29:00.000-08:00

Along with libation and the sacrificial effusion of blood, one of the commonest means of making an oblation available to sacred beings is to burn it. In both ancient Judaism and Greek religion the major offering was the burnt or fire offering. Through the medium of the fire, the oblation was conveyed to the divine recipient. In ancient Greece the generic term for sacrifice

Janissary

2005-02-28T05:19:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Janizary, Turkish Yeniçeri (New Soldier, or Troop), member of an elite corps in the standing army of the Ottoman Empire from the late 14th century to 1826. Highly respected for their military prowess in the 15th and 16th centuries, the Janissaries became a powerful political force within the Ottoman state. The Janissary corps was originally staffed by Christian

Baseball

2005-02-27T04:24:00.000-08:00

Cuba defeated

Roman-fleuve

2005-02-26T11:19:00.000-08:00

(French: “novel stream”), series of novels, each one complete in itself, that deals with one central character, an era of national life, or successive generations of a family. Inspired by Honoré de Balzac's Comédie humaine and Émile Zola's Rougon-Macquart cycle, the roman-fleuve was a popular literary genre in France during the first half of the 20th century. Examples include

Marrano

2005-02-26T10:26:00.000-08:00

In the late 14th century, Spanish Jewry was threatened with extinction at the hands of mobs of fanatical Christians. Thousands

Alimentary Paste

2005-02-25T17:47:00.000-08:00

A shaped and dried dough prepared from semolina, farina, wheat flour, or a mixture of these with water or milk and with or without egg or egg yolk. See pasta.

Gregoras, Nicephorus

2005-02-25T07:14:00.000-08:00

Having gained the favour of the emperor Andronicus II Palaeologus (1282–1328) and of ecclesiastics

Salan, Raoul (-albin-louis)

2005-02-23T18:53:00.000-08:00

French military officer who sought to prevent Algeria from gaining independence from France. In 1961–62 he led an organization of right-wing extremists, the Organisation de l'Armée Secrète (OAS; Secret Army Organization), in a campaign of terror against the government of Charles de Gaulle in both France and Algeria before being captured,

Maser

2005-02-23T18:13:00.000-08:00

Device that produces and amplifies electromagnetic radiation mainly in the microwave region of the spectrum. The maser operates according to the same basic principle as the laser (the name of which is formed from the acronym for “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation”) and shares many of its characteristics. The first maser was built by the American

Cyrenaica

2005-02-23T13:37:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Cirenaica , Arabic Barqah historic region of North Africa and until 1963 a province of the United Kingdom of Libya. As early as c. 631 BC Greek colonists settled the northern half of ancient Cyrenaica, known then as Pentapolis for the five major cities they established: Euhesperides (Banghazi), Barce (al-Marj), Cyrene (Shahhat), Apollonia (Marsa Susah), and Tenchira (Tukrah). In later times Ptolemais (Tulmaythah) and Daims-Zarine

Obuasi

2005-02-22T15:51:00.000-08:00

Town, southern Ghana. Its growth was stimulated by the discovery of a large gold deposit in 1897 and the building of the railway from Sekondi in 1902. The Asante gold mine at Obuasi has continued as the country's major producer while others have become depleted. It is one of the world's richest gold mines in terms of yield per ton of ore. By the end of the 20th century, it was the 10th largest

Tu-16

2005-02-21T17:50:00.000-08:00

The TU-16 carried a crew of six and

Euwe, Max

2005-02-20T05:52:00.000-08:00

Euwe won his first (minor) tournament at the age of 10 but played little thereafter until he had completed his formal education in 1926 at the University

Amniocentesis

2005-02-20T01:02:00.000-08:00

The surgical insertion of a hollow needle through the abdominal wall and into the uterus of a pregnant female and the aspiration of fluid from the amniotic sac for analysis. Examination of the amniotic fluid itself as well as the fetal cells found in the fluid can reveal such things as fetal sex (the significant factor in inherited diseases that are sex-linked), chromosomal

Silay

2005-02-19T21:44:00.000-08:00

City, northern Negros island, Philippines. Situated on Guimaras Strait, just north of Bacolod, Silay is a busy commercial and fishing port and the site of a large sugar mill, which handles the crop of the Silay-Talisay area, part of the country's leading sugarcane regions. The city is linked to other population centres on Negros by the main coastal highway. Inc. city, 1957. Pop.

Epiclesis

2005-02-19T08:16:00.000-08:00

(Greek: “invocation”), in the Christian eucharistic prayer (anaphora), the special invocation of the Holy Spirit; in most Eastern Christian liturgies it follows the words of institution—the words used, according to the New Testament, by Jesus himself at the Last Supper—“This is my body . . . this is my blood” and has a clearly consecratory character. The epiclesis specifically

Theodebald

2005-02-18T20:01:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Theudebald, French Théodebald, or Thibaud Merovingian king of Reims from 547 or 548, in succession to his father, Theodebert I. He proved incapable of continuing the latter's dynamic policies. He left no son, and on his death his kingdom passed to his granduncle, Chlotar I.

Sexual Dysfunction

2005-02-18T17:07:00.000-08:00

Also called Psychosexual Dysfunction, the inability of a person to experience sexual arousal or to achieve sexual satisfaction under appropriate circumstances, as a result of either physical disorder or, more commonly, psychological problems. The most common forms of sexual dysfunction have traditionally been classified as impotence (inability of a man to achieve or maintain penile erection) and

Oasis

2005-02-17T02:57:00.000-08:00

Fertile tract of land that occurs in a desert wherever a perennial supply of fresh water is available. Oases vary in size, ranging from about 1 hectare (2.5 acres) around small springs to vast areas of naturally watered or irrigated land. Underground water sources account for most oases; their springs and wells, some of them artesian, are supplied from sandstone aquifers

Fire Ant

2005-02-16T15:12:00.000-08:00

Also called Thief Ant (Solenopsis), any of a genus of insects in the family Formicidae, order Hymenoptera, several species of which are common in North America. The red or yellowish ants are one to five millimetres in length and can inflict a severe sting. The semipermanent nest consists of a loose mound with open craters for ventilation. The workers are notorious for damaging planted grain

China, Changes in outlying areas

2005-02-15T06:09:00.000-08:00

With the decline of the Ch'ing power and prestige, beginning in the early 19th century, China's peripheral areas began to free themselves from the Ch'ing influence.

Giraudoux, (hyppolyte-) Jean

2005-02-15T05:24:00.000-08:00

Giraudoux was educated at the École Normale Superiéure and made the diplomatic service his career. He became known as an avant-garde writer with a group of early poetic novels, such as Suzanne et le

Alekseyev, Mikhail Vasilyevich

2005-02-14T16:26:00.000-08:00

The son of a private soldier, Alekseyev entered the Russian Army in 1876 and was graduated in 1890 from

China, Reformist and revolutionist movements at the end of the dynasty

2005-02-13T11:18:00.000-08:00

Sun Yat-sen, a commoner with no background of Confucian orthodoxy, educated in Western-style schools in Hawaii and Hong Kong, went to Tientsin in 1894 to meet Li Hung-chang and present a reform program, but he was refused an interview. This event supposedly caused his antidynastic attitude. Soon he went to Hawaii, where he founded an anti-Manchu fraternity called the Hsing-chung

Arnauld, Jacqueline-marie-angélique

2005-02-13T06:03:00.000-08:00

Jacqueline Arnauld entered religious life as a child of 9, becoming abbess of the ancient Cistercian house of Port-Royal des Champs (near Versailles)

Kerr, Jean

2005-02-11T16:27:00.000-08:00

Jean Collins graduated from Marywood College in Scranton in 1943, and in August of that year she married Walter F. Kerr, who was then a professor of drama at Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., and who later became

Insurance, Merchandise credit insurance

2005-02-11T11:48:00.000-08:00

Credit insurance for domestic buyers and sellers is available in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and most European countries. It is sold only to manufacturers, wholesalers, and certain service agencies, not to retailers. The insurance is designed to enable the seller to recover a certain percentage of losses from insolvency of the debtor, but the contracts list

Denaturation

2005-02-11T09:22:00.000-08:00

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

Thomas, Theodore

2005-02-10T21:54:00.000-08:00

A violin prodigy, Thomas moved with his family to New York City, where he was to become a shaping force in practically every aspect of the city's musical life. While in his

Fabricius, Johann Christian

2005-02-08T00:48:00.000-08:00

Danish entomologist known for his extensive taxonomic research based upon the structure of insect mouthparts rather than upon their wings. He also advanced theoretical propositions that were progressive for his time, particularly his view that new species and varieties could arise through hybridization and by environmental influence

Jackson, Andrew

2005-02-07T05:31:00.000-08:00

Byname Old Hickory military hero and seventh president of the United States (1829–37). He was the first U.S. president to come from the area west of the Appalachians and the first to gain office by a direct appeal to the mass of voters. His political movement has since been known as Jacksonian Democracy. (For a discussion of the history and nature of the presidency, see presidency of the United States of America. See also Cabinet of President Andrew Jackson.)

Porphyry Copper Deposit

2005-02-06T18:53:00.000-08:00

Blanketlike replacement deposit of copper minerals that are disseminated throughout a large mass of fractured rock. Porphyry copper deposits commonly contain tens of millions of metric tons of ore that averages a fraction of 1 percent copper by weight; although they are low-grade, the deposits constitute important sources because they may be worked on a large

Halberstadt

2005-02-05T11:17:00.000-08:00

City, Saxony-Anhalt Land (state), central Germany, on the Holtemme River in the foreland of the northern Harz mountains, southwest of Magdeburg. It became a bishopric about 814 and was granted market rights in 989. It was one of the most important German trading cities in the 13th–14th century. The bishopric was suppressed and the town granted to Brandenburg by the Peace of Westphalia

Saho

2005-02-05T05:07:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Sao, Shaho, Shoho, or Shiho, also called Afar-saho, language spoken by several peoples, most of whom inhabit the coastal plains of southern Eritrea. Saho is generally classified as an Eastern Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic (formerly Hamito-Semitic) language family. The Saho-speaking peoples are bordered to the north by the Tigre, to the west by the Tigray, and to the south and east by the Afar, with whose language

Girdle Tie

2005-02-03T23:13:00.000-08:00

Also called blood of Isis in Egyptian religion, protective amulet formed like a knot and made of gold, carnelian, or red glazed ware. Most samples of the girdle tie have been found tied around the necks of mummies; the amulets were intended to protect the dead from all that was harmful in the afterlife.

Nitrogen Fixation

2005-02-03T15:06:00.000-08:00

Under ordinary conditions nitrogen does not react with other elements. Yet nitrogenous compounds are found in all fertile soils,

Epistemology, Ancient Skepticism

2005-02-03T13:57:00.000-08:00

After the development of Aristotle's psychology the next significant event for the theory of knowledge was the rise of Skepticism, of which there were at least two kinds. The first, Academic Skepticism, arose in the Academy after Plato's death and was propounded by the Greek philosopher Arcesilaus (c. 315–c. 240 BC), about whom the philosophers Cicero, Sextus Empiricus, and Diogenes

Medicine, Other developing countries

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

A main goal of the World Health Organization (WHO), as expressed in the Alma-Ata Declaration of 1978, is to provide to all the citizens of the world a level of health that will allow them to lead socially and economically productive lives by the year 2000. By the late 1980s, however, vast disparities in health care still existed between the rich and poor countries of the world. In developing

Interior Design, Commercial interiors

2005-02-01T06:16:00.000-08:00

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

Cydones, Demetrius

2005-01-31T13:25:00.000-08:00

Cydones was a student of the Greek classical scholar and philosopher Nilus Cabasilas. In 1354 he went to Italy, where he studied the writings of the leading medieval philosophical

Aschelminth, Behaviour

2005-01-31T07:59:00.000-08:00

Although their nervous systems are simple, aschelminths can respond to a range of environmental stimuli by, for example, attraction, avoidance, feeding, or copulation. They respond to touch, temperature gradients, chemicals, and light. Some species in each class have two or more pairs of simple eyes capable of indicating the direction and intensity of light but unable

Chagres River

2005-01-30T15:58:00.000-08:00

Spanish Río Chagres stream in Panama forming part of the Panama Canal system. It rises in the Cordillera de San Blas, flows south-southwest, and broadens to form Madden Lake (22 square miles [57 square km]) at Madden Dam, which was built in 1935 for navigation, flood control, and hydroelectric power. Below the dam it continues southwest to Gamboa, where it joins the Panama Canal at the north end of the Gaillard

China, The clerical staff

2005-01-29T22:36:00.000-08:00

The norms for the clerks were even lower, especially in local government. Some 300 clerks in a large prefecture or nearly 100 in a small one were placed under the supervision of a few officials. The clerks had numerous dealings with various other elements in the community, whereas the officials, being outsiders, rarely had direct contacts. Holding practically lifelong tenure

Hawk

2005-01-28T06:18:00.000-08:00

Any of many small to medium-sized diurnal birds of prey, particularly those in the genus Accipiter, known as the true hawks, and including the goshawks and sparrowhawks. The term hawk is often applied to other birds in the family Accipitridae (such as the kites, buzzards, and harriers) and sometimes is extended to include certain members of the family Falconidae (falcons

Cinerama

2005-01-28T05:53:00.000-08:00

In motion pictures, a process in which three synchronized movie projectors each project one-third of the picture on a wide, curving screen. Many viewers believe that the screen, which thus annexes their entire field of vision, gives a sense of reality unmatched by the flat screen. Invented by the New York City photographer Fred Waller, the first Cinerama movie, This

South America, Linguistic patterns

2005-01-27T01:59:00.000-08:00

The linguistic diversity and multiplicity of South America probably is unmatched anywhere else in the world. Thousands of languages and dialects have been cataloged, including all those existing since the European conquest. Classification systems vary a great deal—from more than 100 “linguistic families” and many unrelated languages at one extreme to extremely

Maret, Hugues-bernard, Duc (duke) De Bassano

2005-01-26T15:17:00.000-08:00

A journalist in the early stages of the French Revolution, Maret entered the diplomatic service in 1792. After the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire (Nov. 9, 1799), Napoleon appointed him secretary of state to the consuls. He grew in Napoleon's esteem and acted as his confidential adviser. From April 1811 to November 1813, Maret

Arabia, History Of, Wahhabi-sharifian dispute

2005-01-26T14:40:00.000-08:00

Meanwhile,

Conductive Ceramics

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

In addition to the well-known physical properties of ceramic materials—hardness, compressive strength, brittleness—there is the property of electric resistivity. Most ceramics resist the flow of electric current, and for this reason ceramic materials

Eusebius Of Laodicea

2005-01-25T09:56:00.000-08:00

When Alexandria was besieged in 262 by troops of Valerian's successor and son, Gallienus,

Aung San

2005-01-25T00:44:00.000-08:00

Born

Baram River

2005-01-23T17:43:00.000-08:00

River in northwestern Borneo. Rising in the Iran Mountains, it flows 250 miles (400 km) west and northwest, mostly through primary rain forest to the South China Sea at Baram Point. Above the lowest 100 miles, gorges and rapids make upstream navigation difficult. The Baram is Sarawak's second longest river; its tributaries include the Bakong, Apoh, Palutan, and Patah.

Herculano De Carvalho E Araújo, Alexandre

2005-01-23T13:31:00.000-08:00

As a young man Herculano took part in the unsuccessful rebellion against the absolute rule of Dom Miguel

Bolivia, Drainage

2005-01-22T02:46:00.000-08:00

The rivers of Bolivia belong to three major systems—the Amazon tributaries in the northwest, north, and northeast, the Pilcomayo-Paraguay system in the south and southeast, and an isolated, inland-draining system centring on Lakes Titicaca and Poopó on the Altiplano in the west. The Uyuni Salt Flat is a smaller inland-draining basin nearby but separate from the

Sevilla

2005-01-21T21:01:00.000-08:00

, also spelled Seville provincia, one of eight provincias forming the comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Andalusia, southwestern Spain. The provincia comprises the lower Guadalquivir River valley and has varied relief. It is bordered northwest by the Morena Mountains and south and southeast by the Sub-Baetic ranges of the Algodonales and Yeguas mountains. Between these

The Revolution

2005-01-21T17:19:00.000-08:00

A scant three years after the end of the Civil War, the United States was embroiled in the issue of suffrage for African-American men, and many suffragists—notably those who formed the American

Pereyaslav Agreement

2005-01-21T16:45:00.000-08:00

The hetman of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, Bohdan Khmelnytsky, had been leading a revolt against Polish rule in Ukraine

Smith, Amanda

2005-01-19T06:24:00.000-08:00

Born a slave, Berry grew up in York county, Pa., after her father bought his own freedom and that of most of the family. She was educated mainly at home and at an early age began working as a domestic. An unhappy first marriage ended with the disappearance