PastFeather

Kidney Function Test

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

Any clinical and laboratory procedure designed to evaluate various aspects of renal (kidney) capacity and efficiency and to aid in the diagnosis of kidney disorders. Such tests can be divided into several categories, which include (1) clearance tests that give an estimate of the filtration rate of the glomeruli, the principal filtering structures of the kidneys

Aesthetics, Kant, Schiller, and Hegel

2005-04-04T18:50:00.000-07:00

As previously noted, Kant's Kritik der Urteilskraft introduced the first full account of aesthetic experience as a distinct exercise of rational mentality. The principal ingredients of Kant's work are the following: the antinomy of taste, the emphasis on the free play of the imagination, the theory of aesthetic experience as both free from concepts and disinterested,

Furniture, Wood

2005-04-02T16:53:00.000-08:00

A relatively cheap material, wood lends itself to various kinds of treatment; for example, it can be stained, painted, gilded, and glued.

Turboprop

2005-04-02T04:42:00.000-08:00

The first experimental turboprop aircraft, a modified Gloster Meteor fighter equipped with two Rolls-Royce

Kames, Henry Home, Lord

2005-03-31T19:24:00.000-08:00

Kames was called to the bar in 1724 and was appointed a judge in the Court of Session in 1752. He became a lord of justiciary in 1763. He is best known for his Elements of Criticism, 3 vol. (1762), a work remarkable in the history of aesthetics for its attempt to equate beauty with what is pleasant to the natural senses

Poland, Partitions Of

2005-03-31T19:01:00.000-08:00

The First Partition occurred after Russia became involved in a war against the Ottoman Turks (1768) and won such impressive victories, particularly in the Danubian principalities,

Dubnow, Simon Markovich

2005-03-30T21:25:00.000-08:00

Dubnow early ceased to practice Jewish rituals. He later came to believe that his vocation as a historian of Judaism was as true to the faith of his ancestors as were the Talmudic

Chi-ning

2005-03-30T17:56:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Jining , Pinyin (Mongolian) Ulan Qab town, Inner Mongolia autonomous ch'ü (region), China. Before the Communist Revolution of 1949, the town was a minor station named P'ing-ti-ch'üan and was a collecting point on the east-west Peking–Pao-t'ou railway. It experienced phenomenal growth after the completion in 1955 of a trunk railway northward to Erh-lien-hao-t'e on the Mongolian border, linking it with Ulaanbaatar (capital

China, The development of the Republic (191220)

2005-03-27T11:52:00.000-08:00

The first half of the 20th century saw the gradual disintegration of the old order in China and the turbulent preparation for a new society. Foreign political philosophies undermined the traditional governmental system, nationalism became the strongest activating force, and civil wars and Japanese invasion tore the vast country and retarded its modernization.

Howell, James

2005-03-26T05:48:00.000-08:00

Anglo-Welsh writer known for his Epistolae Ho-Elianae, 4 vol. (1645–55), early and lively essays in letter form. Though vividly recording contemporary phenomena, they lack historical reliability because of plagiarizing and the addition of fictitious dates—despite the author's position as historiographer royal, a post

C.b.e.

2005-03-25T18:32:00.000-08:00

Commander of the British Empire, member of a British order of knighthood, although this rank does not confer knighthood. See British Empire, The Most Excellent Order of the.

Zangwill, Israel

2005-03-24T14:09:00.000-08:00

The son of eastern European immigrants, Zangwill grew up in London's East End and was educated at the Jews' Free School and at the University of London. His early writings were on popular subjects of his day, but with Children

Water Hen

2005-03-24T04:06:00.000-08:00

Bird species also called common gallinule. See gallinule.

Actinide Element, Nuclear

2005-03-22T23:37:00.000-08:00

All of the actinide elements are unstable toward radioactive decay; the reason that actinium, thorium, protactinium, and uranium are found in nature at all is because some of their isotopes are unusually stable and others are being formed constantly by decay of the long-lived isotopes. It is convenient to divide the naturally occurring isotopes into families based

Novomoskovsk

2005-03-22T13:26:00.000-08:00

Formerly (until 1934) Bobriki , or (1934–61) Stalinogorsk city, Tula oblast (province), western Russia, situated on the upper Don River. Founded in 1930 as Bobriki, the town developed as a major chemical centre, making fertilizers and plastics and mining lignite (brown coal). Pop. (1993 est.) 145,000.

Ascanian Dynasties

2005-03-20T19:37:00.000-08:00

Albert the Bear (see Albert I under Albert [Brandenburg]) was the first to raise the family's rank from that of

Santorio Santorio

2005-03-19T04:02:00.000-08:00

Santorio was a graduate of the University of Padua (M.D., 1582), where he later became professor of medical

Telephone And Telephone System, Digital facsimile

2005-03-18T22:24:00.000-08:00

Although the Group 2 fax machines proved to be successful in business applications where electronic transmission of documents containing nontextual information such as drawings, diagrams, and signatures was required, the slow transmission rate and the cost of the terminals ultimately limited the growth of fax services. In response, the CCITT developed standards

La Salle University

2005-03-18T21:36:00.000-08:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. It is operated by the Christian Brothers, a teaching order of the Roman Catholic church. It comprises schools of Arts and Sciences, Business Administration, and Nursing, offering a range of bachelor's and master's degree programs in nursing, education, business, computer sciences,

Land-grant College

2005-03-18T00:41:00.000-08:00

Under the provisions of the act, each state was granted 30,000 acres (12,140 hectares) of federal land for each member of Congress representing that state.

Kachchh, Rann Of

2005-03-17T11:07:00.000-08:00

Kachchh also spelled Kutch, Cutch , or Kachh saline mudflats, west-central India and southern Pakistan. The Great Rann covers an area of about 7,000 square miles (18,000 square km) and lies almost entirely within Gujarat state, India, along the border with Pakistan. The Little Rann of Kachchh extends northeast from the Gulf of Kachchh and occupies about 2,000 square miles (5,100 square km) in Gujarat state. Originally an extension of the

Tinkisso River

2005-03-16T22:01:00.000-08:00

River, rising in the southern outliers of the Fouta Djallon mountains of Guinea, northeast of Mamou. It flows 250 miles (400 km) north-northeast and east, past Dabola and Bissikrima, across grassy plains and savannas of stunted trees, to enter the Niger River just south of Siguiri. Alluvial gold deposits have long been worked along the Tinkisso River.

Jacobs, Jane

2005-03-16T16:02:00.000-08:00

After graduating from high school, she became a reporter on the Scranton Tribune, moving to New York City about a year later. While working as a free-lance writer, she met and married an architect, Robert Hyde Jacobs. Already keenly interested

Ksar El-kebir

2005-03-14T14:49:00.000-08:00

Originally a Greek and Carthaginian colony, the site was occupied by the Romans, whose ruins remain, and by the Byzantines. The Arab town, which was founded in the 8th century, has one of the oldest mosques of western Morocco, built with inscribed stones from an earlier Christian church. Ksar el-Kebir, which

Star Cluster, Globular clusters

2005-03-14T00:10:00.000-08:00

Although globular clusters are widely scattered in galactic latitude, about a third of them are concentrated around the galactic centre, as satellite systems in the rich Sagittarius–Scorpius star fields. Individual cluster masses include up to 1,000,000 suns, and their linear diameters can be several hundred light-years; their apparent diameters range from one degree

Dorgon

2005-03-13T16:32:00.000-08:00

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.

Padang

2005-03-12T17:05:00.000-08:00

Kotamadya (municipality) and kabupaten (regency), capital of Sumatera Barat provinsi (“province”), Indonesia. Padang is the chief port on Sumatra's western coast and is now the main city of the Minangkabau people of West Sumatra. It was the site of Dutch settlements early in the 17th century, and warehouses and a small fort were erected in 1667. The town was held by the British (1812–18) and

Montalembert, Marc-rené, Marquis De

2005-03-12T10:50:00.000-08:00

Montalembert entered the French army in 1732 and served in the War of the Polish Succession

Free Verse

2005-03-12T10:30:00.000-08:00

Poetry organized to the cadences of speech and image patterns rather than according to a regular metrical scheme. It is “free” only in a relative sense. It does not have the steady, abstract rhythm of traditional poetry; its rhythms are based on patterned elements such as sounds, words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs, rather than on the traditional prosodic units

Mountain, Andean-type belts

2005-03-11T02:23:00.000-08:00

At some continental margins, oceanic lithosphere is subducted. At some of these sites, the landscape is dominated by volcanoes, such as along the Cascades of western North America or in Japan, but at others, such as along much of the Andes of South America, volcanoes constitute only a small or even negligible part of the relief. At Andean-type margins, the crust is typically

Sai Ong Hue

2005-03-10T04:29:00.000-08:00

Sai Ong Hue was a grandson of the great ruler Suliyavongsa. He spent most of his early years as a prince of the royal house in exile at Hue (now in Vietnam) while a usurper sat on the throne of Lan Xang. In 1698 he attacked Vientiane, the capital of Lan Xang,

Hyderabad

2005-03-09T02:08:00.000-08:00

The city, administrative headquarters of the district, lies on the most northerly hill of the Ganjo Takkar ridge, just east of the Indus River. The third largest city in Pakistan, it is a communications centre, connected by rail with Peshawar and Karachi and with Indian railways via the border towns of Khokhropar and

North Germanic Languages, Orthography

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

The five basic vowel symbols of the Latin alphabet are supplemented by a number of special symbols that are used mostly to represent umlauted vowels: thus, there is y (pronounced as German ü), æ (used in Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, and Faroese) and the corresponding ä (used in Swedish), ø (in Danish, Norwegian, and Faroese) and the corresponding ö (in Swedish and Icelandic), and

Biblical Literature, The Zealots

2005-03-07T22:35:00.000-08:00

The Zealots were revolutionaries who plotted actively against the Roman oppression. That the Pharisees did not react in this way was perhaps because of their belief in Providence: what happens is the will of God, and their free will is expressed in the context of trust and piety in conjunction with an eschatological hope of winning God's Kingdom through obedience

Medicine, United States

2005-03-07T17:08:00.000-08:00

Federal, state, county, and city governments all have public health functions. Under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is the Public Health Service, headed by an assistant secretary for health and the surgeon general. State health departments are headed by a commissioner of health, usually a physician, who is often in the governor's cabinet. He usually

Terneplate

2005-03-07T05:11:00.000-08:00

Steel sheet with a coating of terne metal, an alloy of lead and tin applied by dipping the steel in molten metal. The alloy has a dull appearance resulting from the high lead content. The composition of terne metal ranges from 50–50 mixtures of lead and tin to as low as 12 percent tin and 88 percent lead. The tin serves to wet the steel, making possible the union of lead and iron, which

Tit-babbler

2005-03-06T14:07:00.000-08:00

Any of a number of birds belonging to the babbler family Timaliidae (order Passeriformes). The 35 to 40 species are small and short-billed, rather like titmice in appearance and behaviour but mostly somewhat larger with proportionately shorter tails. Tit-babblers are chunky birds, 10 to 18 cm (4 to 7 inches) in length, with fluffy plumage, characterized by hairlike feathers on the

New Granada, Viceroyalty Of

2005-03-05T22:10:00.000-08:00

The separation of these territories from the viceroyalty of Peru, one of the principal colonial administrative changes effected by the

Avery, Tex

2005-03-04T19:50:00.000-08:00

Avery's only formal art training consisted of a three-month course at the Art Institute of Chicago during the late 1920s. He began his animation career in 1929 for cartoon producer Walter Lantz at Universal

Ze'evi, Rechavam

2005-03-04T10:56:00.000-08:00

Israeli soldier and politician (b. Aug. 20, 1926, Jerusalem, Palestine—d. Oct. 17, 2001, Jerusalem, Israel), pursued hard-line ultranationalist policies, most notably in support of his outspoken belief that all Palestinians should be removed from the Israel-occupied territories in Gaza and the West Bank and transferred to Arab countries and his claim that the kingdom of Jordan should

Azteco-tanoan Languages

2005-03-03T06:48:00.000-08:00

A major grouping (phylum or superstock) of American Indian languages that includes the large Uto-Aztecan language family and the small Kiowa-Tanoan language family of New Mexico and Oklahoma. The Uto-Aztecan languages are widely spoken in Mexico, northern Guatemala, and, by fewer numbers, in California, the Great Basin, and Arizona. The Kiowa-Tanoan languages are four

Ulanova, Galina

2005-03-03T06:16:00.000-08:00

The daughter of dancers Sergey Ulanov and Marie Romanova of the Mariinsky Ballet (called the Kirov State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet during the Soviet period), Ulanova was trained in the

Mckim, Ruby

2005-03-01T22:23:00.000-08:00

Née Ruby Short one of the 20th century's most innovative American quilt designers. Educated at the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts (now Parsons School of Design) in New York City, she later taught art classes for the Kansas City school system. Her first published quilt pattern, for the Kansas City Star in 1916, was an outgrowth

Sanddab

2005-03-01T00:47:00.000-08:00

Any of certain edible, American Pacific flatfishes of the genus Citharichthys (family Bothidae). As in other flatfishes, sanddabs have both eyes on the same side of the head; as in other bothids, the eyes are usually on the left side. The most common species of sanddab is the Pacific sanddab (C. sordidus), a brownish fish mottled, in the male, with dull orange. It grows to about

Mercury Processing, Metallurgical uses

2005-02-28T22:29:00.000-08:00

Mercury amalgamates, or mixes, readily with many metals. Amalgams of mercury, silver, and tin have been the most successful material for repairing dental cavities. Gold and silver

Anjala League

2005-02-28T21:33:00.000-08:00

(1788–89), a conspiracy of Swedish and Finnish army officers that undermined the Swedish war effort in the Russo-Swedish War of 1788–90. Shortly after the outbreak of war, 113 officers in the Finnish town of Anjala dispatched a letter to Empress Catherine II the Great of Russia calling for peace on the basis of the pre-1743 status quo—one favourable to Sweden. Although this condition made Catherine's

Shamanism, Social role

2005-02-28T11:53:00.000-08:00

The extraordinary profession of the shaman naturally distinguishes him socially. The belief that he communicates with the spirits gives him authority. Furthermore, the belief that his actions may not only bring benefit but also harm makes him feared. Even a good (white) shaman may do harm, and a wicked (black) shaman, who is in contact with the spirits of the Lower World,

Chandler, Happy

2005-02-27T11:10:00.000-08:00

Chandler attended Transylvania College, Lexington, Ky. (A.B., 1921), and, after a year at the Harvard Law School, attended the University of Kentucky (LL.B., 1924). Turning to politics after a brief stint in private law practice, he was elected to the Kentucky Senate

Okene

2005-02-26T19:32:00.000-08:00

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

Cydones, Demetrius

2005-02-26T17:16:00.000-08:00

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

Arts, East Asian, Kabuki theatre

2005-02-24T11:35:00.000-08:00

The nagauta form of lyric music, like most of the other narrative forms, began with a close relation to the kabuki popular theatre of the Tokugawa period. The first kabuki performances used instruments (hayashi) from the no drama. Because kabuki was related to the flourishing demimonde of the major cities, however, the music of the party houses and brothels was soon added

Musical Notation

2005-02-23T08:11:00.000-08:00

Two developments in musical style in the 20th century have placed great strain upon staff notation: integral serialism—in which the music is controlled by a mathematical system—and indeterminacy, or chance music. In the former, every note in a texture may have its individual dynamic marking and type of attack (for example, in Olivier Messiaen's Mode de valeurs et

China, From Wu-ti to Yüan-ti

2005-02-23T06:04:00.000-08:00

The third emperor of the Hsi Han to be singled out for special praise by traditional Chinese historians was Wu-ti (reigned 141/140–87/86 BC), whose reign was the longest of the whole Han period. His reputation as a vigorous and brave ruler derives from the long series of campaigns fought chiefly against the Hsiung-nu (northern nomads) and in Central Asia. But Wu-ti never took a personal

Powell, Michael (latham)

2005-02-22T23:19:00.000-08:00

Powell attended Dulwich College, London (1918–21). He directed his first film, Two Crowded Hours, in 1931. During the 1930s he directed over 20 low-budget, quickly made films before producer Alexander Korda teamed him with Hungarian-born screenwriter Emeric

Fischer, Ludwig

2005-02-22T08:21:00.000-08:00

Although originally a student of the violin and cello, Fischer was discovered at the age of 18 in a church choir and in a student operetta and was given a position at court. With the help of a grant by Elector Karl Theodor he continued

Philanthropinum

2005-02-22T01:57:00.000-08:00

Late 18th-century school (1774–93) founded in Dessau, Germany, by the educator Johann Bernhard Basedow to implement the educational ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Aiming to foster in its students a humanitarian worldview and awareness of the community of interest among all people, it taught rich and poor boys together regardless of religious or class distinctions. The school

Agri

2005-02-20T19:59:00.000-08:00

Agri is named after Mount Ararat (Turkish: Agri Dagi), situated to the east near the frontier with Iran.

Capital Radio

2005-02-20T15:08:00.000-08:00

The launch of London's Capital Radio in October 1973 came some 16 years after the British government had outlawed the previous batch of commercial stations, the so-called pirates, whose staff and style had been recruited and diluted to shape Radio 1, the British Broadcasting Corporation's new outlet. However, if those who had campaigned for a legitimate commercial radio

Mordvinia

2005-02-19T15:54:00.000-08:00

Mordvinia occupies a gently rolling plain crossed by the broad, shallow, often swampy valley of the Moksha River in the west and the Sura, a direct tributary of the Volga, in the east. The climate is markedly continental. The average January temperature is 10° F (-12° C), but cold air from the north

Price, Lloyd

2005-02-18T19:55:00.000-08:00

Price's recording of his composition

Arguedas, José María

2005-02-18T06:37:00.000-08:00

Arguedas's father was an itinerant judge. His mother, from a locally prominent family, died when he was only three years old. He was raised in part by Quechua Indians and learned to speak Quechua

Botosani

2005-02-17T23:39:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Botosani judet (county), northeastern Romania. It lies in a rich farming area of northern Moldavia, near the border with Moldova. As a settlement, it was first documented in 1439. The Popauti Church dates from 1496. Long known as a market centre for agricultural produce and wines, Botosani has also become an industrial centre, particularly in textiles. Pop. (1989 est.) 119,563.

Argentina

2005-02-17T15:27:00.000-08:00

The federal republic of Argentina occupies the eastern section of the Southern Cone of South America, along the Atlantic Ocean. Area: 2,780,400 sq km (1,073,518 sq mi). Pop. (1993 est.): 33,507,000. Cap.: Buenos Aires. Monetary unit: peso, with (Oct. 4, 1993) an official rate of 1 peso to U.S. $1 (1.52 pesos = £ 1 sterling). President in 1993, Carlos Saúl Menem.

Adam And Eve

2005-02-15T19:30:00.000-08:00

In the Bible, there are two accounts of their creation. According to the Priestly (P) history of the 5th or 6th century BC (Genesis 1:1–2:4), God on the sixth day of Creation created all the living creatures and, “in his own image,” man both “male and female.” God then blessed the couple, told them

Avon, River

2005-02-15T01:48:00.000-08:00

Also called East Avon or Hampshire Avon river that rises 3 miles (5 km) east of Devizes, Wiltshire, England, on the north side of the Vale of Pewsey and flows generally southward for 48 miles (77 km) to the English Channel. The river shares the name Avon (derived from a Celtic word meaning “river”) with several other rivers in Great Britain, including the Avon of Bristol (or Lower Avon) and the Avon of Warwickshire (or Upper

Aba

2005-02-14T10:48:00.000-08:00

City, Abia state, southern Nigeria. It lies along the west bank of the Aba River, at the intersection of roads from Port Harcourt, Owerri, Umuahia, Ikot Ekpene, and Ikot Abasi (Opobo). Aba was a traditional market town for the Igbo (Ibo) people of the tropical rainforest before the establishment of a British military post there in 1901. With the construction of the railway in 1915 from

Ashikaga Yoshiaki

2005-02-14T00:03:00.000-08:00

Shogun (hereditary military dictator) of Japan who was the 15th and last of his family to hold the title. Yoshiaki had been a priest, but in 1568, with the aid of his protector, the general Oda Nobunaga, he deposed his cousin Yoshihide and took over the shogunate. Subsequently, rivalry developed between Yoshiaki and Oda, and the latter deposed Yoshiaki and banished

Kikwit

2005-02-13T08:03:00.000-08:00

Town and river port, southwestern Congo (Kinshasa). It lies along the Kwilu River, which is a tributary of the Kasai River. European settlement of the site began in 1901, and the town became a colonial administrative centre about 1910. Kikwit is now the largest community in the area. The production of palm oil and kernels, cassava, peanuts (groundnuts), and corn (maize) has replaced rubber

Aniliidae

2005-02-12T18:43:00.000-08:00

Family of harmless burrowing snakes, composed of three genera and more than 10 species with primitive features such as a vestigial pelvic girdle, an external claw on each side of the anal opening, and two lungs. One genus, the false coral snake (Anilius), is South American. Its most common species, A. scytale, has red and black rings, grows to 75 cm (30 inches), and eats other snakes and

La Vallière, Louise-françoise De La Baume Le Blanc, Duchess (duchesse) De

2005-02-12T00:56:00.000-08:00

La Vallière, the daughter of a military governor, was appointed maid of honour in 1661 to Louis XIV's sister-in-law Henrietta Anne of England, Duchess d'Orléans. Although Louis had been married to the Spanish infanta Marie-Thérèse for only about a year, he took La Vallière as his mistress in July 1661. In order

Guliston

2005-02-11T09:38:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Gulistan, formerly (until 1961) Mirzachul, city, eastern Uzbekistan. It lies in the southeastern part of the Mirzachül (formerly Golodnaya) steppe, 75 miles (120 km) southwest of Tashkent. It became important after irrigation works enabled cotton to be grown in the area. It served as the administrative centre of Syrdarya oblast (province) from 1963 to 1991, during the Soviet period. Pop. (1991 est.) 56,900.

Mahavira

2005-02-10T17:23:00.000-08:00

All that is known about Mahavira's life is that he was a Jain (he perhaps took his name to honour the great Jainism reformer Mahavira [c. 599–527 BCE]) and that he wrote Ganitasarasangraha (“Compendium of the Essence of Mathematics”) during the reign of Amoghavarsha (c. 814–878) of the Rashtrakuta

Arqalyq

2005-02-10T08:24:00.000-08:00

Russian Arkalyk, city, north-central Kazakstan, about 75 miles (120 km) west of Lake Tengiz. Settlement of the site began in 1956 in connection with the exploitation of the Torghay bauxite deposits, and it became a city in 1965. Arqalyq is linked to the Astana-Tobyl railway by a branch line from Yesil. In the late 20th century a major construction program was under way to provide the city with various urban

Clan

2005-02-09T21:32:00.000-08:00

Kinship group of fundamental importance in the structure of many societies. Membership of a clan is socially defined in terms of actual or purported descent from a common ancestor. This descent is unilineal—i.e., derived only through the male (patriclan) or the female (matriclan). Normally, but not always, the clans are exogamous, marriage within the clan being forbidden

Switzerland, Science

2005-02-09T07:15:00.000-08:00

Swiss scientists have included Paracelsus (Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim), who in the 16th century brought chemistry into the field of medicine; the Bernoulli family of Basel, who made significant contributions to mathematics over three generations; the innovative mathematician Leonhard Euler; the naturalist and pioneer Alpine scholar Horace Bénédict

Harbours And Sea Works

2005-02-08T11:10:00.000-08:00

The construction of harbours and sea works offers some of the most unusual problems and challenges in civil engineering. The continuous and immediate

Andean Peoples

2005-02-07T09:23:00.000-08:00

Although the Andes Mountains extend from Venezuela to the southern tip of the continent, it is conventional to call “Andean” only the people who were once part of Tawantinsuyu, the Inca Empire in the Central Andes, or those influenced by it. Even so, the Andean region is very wide. It encompasses

Arsenius Autorianus

2005-02-07T08:09:00.000-08:00

Patriarch of Constantinople, whose deposition caused a serious schism in the Byzantine Church. He took the name Arsenius on being appointed patriarch of Nicaea in 1255 by the Byzantine emperor Theodore II Lascaris. In 1259 he crowned John IV, Theodore's son and legitimate heir, and Michael VIII Palaeologus as co-emperors. Arsenius retired

Ancient Rome, Second Punic War (218201 BC)

2005-02-06T23:27:00.000-08:00

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

Aroostook War

2005-02-05T03:01:00.000-08:00

(1838–39), bloodless conflict over the disputed boundary between the U.S. state of Maine and the British Canadian province of New Brunswick. The peace treaty of 1783 ending the American Revolution had left unclear the location of a supposed “highlands,” or watershed, dividing the two areas. Negotiators from Britain and the United States in subsequent years failed to come to an agreement,

Peru, Flag Of

2005-02-04T19:39:00.000-08:00

The first national flag of Peru was created in 1820, when José de San Martín arrived with his Army of the Andes from Argentina and Chile. The Peruvian flag he designed combined the colours red and white, said to have been chosen because San Martín saw a flock of flamingos take wing at his arrival. The form of the flag was unusual—a diagonal division forming two white and two

Ghazipur

2005-02-03T17:05:00.000-08:00

Town, administrative headquarters of Ghazipur district, Uttar Pradesh state, northern India, northeast of Varanasi (Benares), on the Ganges River. Its ancient name of Gadhipur was changed to Ghazipur in about 1330, reputedly in honour of Ghazi Malik, a Muslim ruler. The town was a strategically important river port under the British, whose former cantonment now contains a college, a

South Africa, The arts

2005-02-03T10:58:00.000-08:00

The many languages spoken by South Africa's people reflect the country's cultural diversity. The Africans have adopted a host of Western ways, but a core of African cultural traditions of language, music, and dance retains its vitality and has contributed to a distinctly South African fusion of cultural forms. Some of the better-known features of that fusion appear

Aesthetics, Three approaches to aesthetics

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

1. The study of the aesthetic concepts, or, more specifically, the analysis of the “language of criticism,” in which particular judgments are singled out and their logic and justification displayed. In his famous treatise On the Sublime and Beautiful (1757), Edmund Burke attempted

Haakon Vi Magnusson

2005-02-01T17:05:00.000-08:00

Byname Haakon Magnusson The Younger, Norwegian Håkon Magnusson Den Yngre king of Norway (1355–80) whose marriage to Margaret, daughter of the Danish king Valdemar IV, in 1363 paved the way for the eventual union (1397) of the three major Scandinavian nations—Denmark, Norway, and Sweden—the Kalmar Union. Haakon was deeply embroiled throughout his reign in political conflicts with Sweden, Denmark, and the cities of the north German trading confederation,

Anderson

2005-01-31T06:50:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1828) of Madison county, east-central Indiana, U.S. It lies along the West Fork of the White River, in a corn- (maize-) and wheat-producing region, 38 miles (61 km) northeast of Indianapolis. Founded in 1823 on the site of a Delaware Indian village, it was named Andersontown for a subchief, Koktowhanund, also known as William Anderson. In 1886 the town's industrial growth was assured with the

Eyre, Edward John

2005-01-30T23:41:00.000-08:00

Emigrating from England for reasons of health, Eyre reached Australia in March 1833. As a sheep farmer he became a pioneer “overlander,” driving stock from Sydney

Korolyov, Sergey Pavlovich

2005-01-30T05:12:00.000-08:00

Korolyov was educated at the Odessa Building Trades School, the Kiev Polytechnic Institute, and the Moscow N.E. Bauman Higher Technical School, where he studied aeronautical engineering under the celebrated designers Nikolay Yegorovich Zhukovsky and Andrey

Athens

2005-01-30T05:03:00.000-08:00

Duarte, José Napoleon

2005-01-29T20:12:00.000-08:00

Duarte studied civil engineering at Notre Dame University in the United States (B.S., 1948). In 1960 he was a founder of the centre-right Christian Democratic Party. While he was mayor of San Salvador (1964–70) his administration

Salé

2005-01-29T04:34:00.000-08:00

Arabic Sla, old walled city on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. It lies at the mouth of the Wadi Bou Regreg, opposite Rabat. Founded in the 10th century, it reached its zenith as a medieval merchant port and entrepôt. After 1627 Salé—with Rabat as its vassal—became the corsair republic of Bou Regreg and the base for the notorious Sallee Corsairs, the most dreaded of the Barbary pirates; because

Nicholas Of Lyra,

2005-01-28T23:49:00.000-08:00

Becoming a Franciscan c. 1300, by 1309 Nicholas was a professor at the Sorbonne, where he taught for many years. From 1319 he headed the Franciscans in France and in 1325 founded the College

Smith, Joseph

2005-01-26T15:15:00.000-08:00

Smith grew up in western New York at a time of intense religious revivalism. He was a literate but unschooled lad from a large family, and his neighbours at Palmyra,

Ramses Ii

2005-01-26T11:12:00.000-08:00

One measure of Egypt's prosperity is the amount of temple building the kings could afford to carry out, and on that basis the reign of Ramses II is the most notable in Egyptian history, even making allowance for its great length. It was that, combined with his prowess in war as depicted in the temples, that led the Egyptologists of the 19th century to dub him “the Great,” and that,

Amphibian

2005-01-25T08:28:00.000-08:00

Any member of the class Amphibia, vertebrates distinguished by their ability to exploit both aquatic and terrestrial habitats. They include the frogs and toads, salamanders and newts, and caecilians. The name, derived from the Greek amphibios meaning “living a double life,” reflects this dual life strategy. Despite this distinction, however, some species are permanent

Futurology

2005-01-25T06:07:00.000-08:00

In the social sciences, the study of current trends in order to forecast future developments. While the speculative and descriptive aspects of futurology are traceable to the traditions of utopian literature and science fiction, the methodology of the field originated in the “technological forecasting” developed near the end of World War II, of which Toward New

Algebra, Commerce and abacists in the European Renaissance

2005-01-24T16:21:00.000-08:00

Greek and Islamic mathematics were basically “academic” enterprises, having little interaction with day-to-day matters involving building, transportation, and commerce. This situation first began to change in Italy in the 13th and 14th centuries. In particular, the rise of Italian mercantile companies and their use of modern financial instruments for trade with the

Rushdie, Salman

2005-01-24T06:09:00.000-08:00

Rushdie was the son of a prosperous Muslim businessman in India. He was educated at Rugby School and the University of Cambridge,

Andersson, Dan(iel)

2005-01-23T01:09:00.000-08:00

Born to a poor family, he was a woodsman and charcoal burner before he became a temperance lecturer. His first two published volumes, which made the charcoal burners and, incidentally, himself famous, were

Epidermal Tooth

2005-01-22T17:59:00.000-08:00

Any of several hard, horny projections analogous to but not homologous with true teeth (see tooth). Epidermal teeth are found in the jawless fish (e.g., lampreys), on the edges of the jaws of tadpoles (larval frogs and toads), in the mouth of the platypus, where horny plates replace the true teeth before birth, and in sirenians (e.g., sea cows) accompanying true teeth.