DifferentTree

Estate Agent London

2006-10-26T21:40:00.000-07:00

Robert Irving Burns specialise in London Commercial and Residential property services, including estate agent london and estate agent central london. Their centrally located ground floor offices, minutes from Oxford Circus offer an ideal marketing base for your property.

Biblical Literature, Purpose and theme

2005-03-19T03:06:00.000-08:00

The Revelation (i.e., Apocalypse) to John is an answer in apocalyptic terms to the needs of the church in time of persecution, as it awaits the end-time expected in the near future. The purpose of the book is to encourage and admonish the church to be steadfast and endure. The form of an apocalypse shows affinities with contemporary Jewish, Oriental, and Hellenistic writings

Hisham Ibn 'abd Al-malik

2005-03-16T07:34:00.000-08:00

Before his accession to the throne in 724, Hisham led a quiet life in the Umayyad court, holding no important public offices. He reigned during a time of relative calm. Hisham easily maintained internal security but was forced to mount a number

Insurance, Worldwide operations

2005-03-14T20:25:00.000-08:00

Because of the great expansion in world trade and the extent to which business firms make investments outside their home countries, the market for insurance on a worldwide scale has expanded rapidly in the 20th century. This development has required a worldwide network of offices to provide brokerage services, underwriting assistance, claims service, and so forth.

Adams, Marian

2005-03-13T13:40:00.000-08:00

Marian Hooper was the youngest of three children of Boston Brahmins. When her mother died, about five years after Marian was born, the children were cared for by their father, who took great pains over their education. After her marriage to the historian

Thought, Artistic versus scientific creativity

2005-03-10T19:45:00.000-08:00

While the processes of creative thinking in artistic and scientific pursuits have much in common, there are also distinctive differences. The artist places more importance on feeling and individual expression, often going to extremes to divorce himself from environmental constraints. The scientist relies more on disciplined, logical thinking to lead him

Arms, Roll Of

2005-03-09T09:38:00.000-08:00

Illuminated manuscript describing (blazoning) and often illustrating (emblazoning) the arms of persons present at a particular battle or tournament. In addition to their historical interest, these rolls are excellent examples of heraldic art. There has been no break in the compilation of rolls of arms for official purposes since their origin in the mid-13th century.

Museums, History Of, Evidence from antiquity

2005-03-07T17:48:00.000-08:00

The origins of the twin concepts of preservation and interpretation, which form the basis of the museum, lie in the human propensity to acquire and inquire. Collections of objects have been found in Paleolithic burials, while evidence of inquiry into the environment, and communication of the findings, can be seen in the cave and mobiliary art of the same period. A development

Price-mars, Jean

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

Among his ethnological writings is Ainsi parla l'oncle (1928; new ed., 1954; “Thus Spoke the Uncle”), a collection of essays

Catechumens, Liturgy Of The

2005-03-02T07:21:00.000-08:00

The instructional part of the Christian worship service, consisting of hymns, prayers, scriptural readings, and homilies, which precedes the Eucharist (i.e., the Liturgy of the Faithful). In the early church the catechumens, or hearers who had not yet been baptized, were dismissed at the conclusion of the Liturgy of the Catechumens, and the faithful, or baptized Christians,

Kabila, Laurent

2005-03-01T19:11:00.000-08:00

Kabila was born into the Luba tribe in the southern province of Katanga. He studied political philosophy

Vörösmarty, Mihály

2005-02-26T09:09:00.000-08:00

Born into an impoverished noble family, Vörösmarty soon had to provide for himself. From the age

Terhune, Mary Virginia Hawes

2005-02-25T21:15:00.000-08:00

Mary Hawes grew up in her hometown of Dennisville, Virginia, and from 1844 in nearby Richmond. She was well educated by private tutors and in her father's library. Writing under the pseudonym Marion Harland, she

Terhune, Mary Virginia Hawes

2005-02-22T16:56:00.000-08:00

Any of the group of mammals that includes elephants and their extinct relatives such as mammoths and mastodons. Although only three species of elephant are extant today, more than 160 extinct proboscidean species have been identified from remains found on all continents except Australia and Antarctica. Most of these were called gomphotheres, which belonged to

Eisteddfod

2005-02-21T13:11:00.000-08:00

Plural Eisteddfods, or Eisteddfodau, formal assembly of Welsh bards and minstrels that originated in the traditions of court bards of medieval times. The modern National Eisteddfod, revived in the 19th century and held each summer alternately in a site in North or South Wales, has been broadened to include awards for music, prose, drama, and art, but the chairing and investiture of the winning poet remains

Kerang

2005-02-18T22:28:00.000-08:00

Kerang is now on the rail line to Melbourne, 150 miles (240 km) southeast, and is the centre of an area of intensive irrigation

Manassas

2005-02-16T14:45:00.000-08:00

During the American Civil

Myanmar, The military regime

2005-02-15T21:29:00.000-08:00

U Ne Win retired as president and chairman of the Council of State in November 1981 but remained in power until July 1988, when he resigned as chairman of the BSPP amid violent protests. Student and worker unrest had erupted periodically throughout the 1980s, but the intensity of the protests in the summer of 1988 made it seem as if the country was on the verge of revolution. In September

Tzotzil

2005-02-13T16:40:00.000-08:00

Mayan Indians of central Chiapas in southeastern Mexico. Linguistically and culturally the Tzotzil are most closely related to the neighbouring Tzeltal (q.v.). The habitat of the Tzotzil is highland, with mountains, volcanic outcroppings, and valley lowlands. The climate at high altitudes is cool to cold, and summers are very wet. The native Tzotzil live mainly in the

Abu Qir Bay

2005-02-11T07:45:00.000-08:00

Also called Abukir Bay , or Aboukir Bay semicircular inlet of the Mediterranean Sea, lying between Abu Qir Point (southwest) and the mouth of the Rosetta Branch (northeast) of the Nile River delta, in Lower Egypt. The bay was the scene of the Battle of the Nile (1798), in which an English fleet under Rear Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson defeated the Napoleonic fleet. A natural-gas field, developed offshore in the late 1970s, provides

Wackernagel, Jacob

2005-02-08T14:42:00.000-08:00

Influenced by his father, Wilhelm Wackernagel, a professor of Germanic studies at the University of Basel, he became interested in comparative linguistics and Sanskrit while studying at the University of Göttingen. In 1876 Wackernagel became

Sannar Dam

2005-02-07T22:00:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Sennar Dam, dam impounding the Blue Nile River for irrigation at the town of Sannar in The Sudan. Completed in 1925, it is 9,925 feet (3,025 m) long with a maximum height of 130 feet (40 m) and irrigates cotton and other crops of the plain of al-Jazirah (Gezira).

Bach, Johann Christian

2005-02-04T03:37:00.000-08:00

At the age of 20 he made his way

Neosho River

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

It has a drainage area of 12,660 square miles (32,789 square km), and flow at its mouth varies from 133,000 cubic feet (3,800 cubic m) per second to as little as 35 cubic feet (1 cubic m). In Kansas,

Bing, Sir Rudolf Franz Joseph

2005-02-01T23:08:00.000-08:00

British operatic impresario (b. Jan. 9, 1902, Vienna, Austria--d. Sept. 2, 1997, New York, N.Y.), directed the Metropolitan Opera through one of its most turbulent periods (1950-72). The son of a Viennese industrialist, Bing grew up in a musical household. Although he studied voice in his teens, he soon started working for a bookstore that expanded its business into concert and opera management. He moved

Canadian Literature

2005-01-30T19:30:00.000-08:00

The body of written works produced by Canadians. Reflecting the country's dual origin and linguistic distribution, the literature of Canada falls into two divisions: English and French. This article provides a brief historical account of each of these literatures.

Annonaceae

2005-01-28T22:02:00.000-08:00

The custard-apple, or annona, family, the largest family of the magnolia order (Magnoliales). According to some authorities, it contains 122 genera and 1,100 species. Many species are valuable for their large, pulpy fruits, some are useful for their timber, and others are prized as ornamentals. The family consists of trees, shrubs, and woody climbers found mainly in the tropics, although

Tibet, Administration and culture under the Manchu

2005-01-25T14:14:00.000-08:00

Chinese contacts

Skeat, Walter William

2005-01-23T16:03:00.000-08:00

Following a classical education at Christ's College, Cambridge, Skeat in 1891 joined the civil service of the state of Selangor in the Malay Peninsula. He became interested in ideas of magic

Lipetsk

2005-01-22T13:57:00.000-08:00

City and administrative centre of Lipetsk oblast (province), western Russia. It lies along both banks of the Voronezh River in the Don Basin. A fortified settlement existed on the site in the 13th century, until its destruction by Tatars in 1284. The town was founded in 1703 as an ironworking centre by Peter I the Great. It also served as a spa resort; its natural springs and mineral-laden

Floor Covering, Loom-formed pile

2005-01-19T01:55:00.000-08:00

Spool looms were invented in the United States in 1876, and the gripper Axminster loom was developed about 1890. The chenille two-stage process was invented in Glasgow

Nuclear Family

2005-01-18T11:25:00.000-08:00

Also called elementary family in sociology and anthropology, a group of persons united by ties of marriage and parenthood or adoption and consisting of a man, a woman, and their socially recognized children. This unit was once widely held to be the most basic and universal form of social organization. Anthropological research, however, has illuminated so much variability of this form that it is

Defense Mechanism

2005-01-16T17:25:00.000-08:00

In psychoanalytic theory, any of a group of mental processes that enables the mind to reach compromise solutions to problems that it is unable to resolve. The process is usually unconscious, and the compromise generally involves concealing from oneself internal drives or feelings that threaten to lower self-esteem or provoke anxiety. The concept derives from

San Andrés Y Providencia

2005-01-14T03:23:00.000-08:00

Island departamento, Colombia, consisting of the Andrés and Providencia islands and several small keys in the Caribbean Sea, 440 miles (710 km) northwest of Cartagena, Colom., and 110 miles (180 km) off the coast of Nicaragua. Three of the keys are also claimed by the United States. The islands were settled in 1629 by English Puritans and later by planters, woodcutters, and black slaves from

Kaduna

2005-01-11T00:16:00.000-08:00

State, north-central Nigeria. Its area includes the traditional emirate of Zaria and Jemaa town. Kaduna was substantially reduced in size when its northern half became Katsina state in 1987. Kaduna is bordered by the states of Sokoto, Katsina, and Kano to the north; Bauchi to the east; Plateau to the east and south; and Niger to the west. Abuja Federal Capital Territory also

Han Yongun

2005-01-09T06:35:00.000-08:00

Han participated in the famous Tonghak Revolt of 1894, a social reform movement directed by leaders of the apocalyptic Tonghak sect. With the failure of the movement, Han escaped to Mount Solok, where he began to study Buddhism, entering the priesthood in 1905. He immediately became a leader of the struggle

Ikeya-seki, Comet

2005-01-09T05:31:00.000-08:00

One of a group of Sun-grazing comets having similar orbits and including the great comet known as 1882 II. Discovered Sept. 18, 1965, by two Japanese amateur astronomers, Ikeya Kaoru and Seki Tsutomu, Ikeya-Seki made its closest approach to the Sun (470,000 kilometres, or about 290,000 miles; less than the Sun's radius) on Oct. 21, 1965. The comet was then bright enough to be seen with the naked eye in daylight. Like

Sabinio

2005-01-08T03:15:00.000-08:00

Also called Volcan Sabinyo, or Volcan Sabyinyo, extinct volcano (11,500 feet [3,505 m]) in the Virunga Mountains of east-central Africa. It lies northeast of Lake Kivu and south-southeast of Rutshuru, Congo (Kinshasa). Its summit marks the junction of the Congo (Kinshasa)–Rwanda–Uganda borders. It forms part of the Virunga National Park, which is the home of the mountain gorilla.

Skiffle

2005-01-06T06:45:00.000-08:00

Style of music played on rudimentary instruments, first popularized in the United States in the 1920s but revived by British musicians in the mid-1950s. The term was originally applied to music played by jug bands (in addition to jugs, these bands featured guitars, banjos, harmonicas, and kazoos), first in Louisville, Kentucky, as early as 1905 and then more prominently in Memphis, Tennessee,

Nahua Language

2005-01-05T13:46:00.000-08:00

Also called Aztec an American Indian language of the Uto-Aztecan family, spoken in central and western Mexico. Nahua, the most important of the Uto-Aztecan languages, was the language of the Aztec and Toltec civilizations of Mexico. A large body of literature in Nahua, produced by the Aztecs, survives from the 16th century, recorded in an orthography that was introduced by Spanish priests

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, Allegory and cosmology

2005-01-04T08:06:00.000-08:00

The allegorical mode has been of major importance in representing the cosmos: the earliest Greek philosophers, for example, speculated on the nature of the universe in allegorical terms; in the Old Testament's oblique interpretation of the universe, too, the world is seen as a symbolic system. The symbolic stories that explain the cosmos are ritualized to ensure

Essay

2005-01-03T11:12:00.000-08:00

Some early treatises—such as those of Cicero on the pleasantness of old age or on the art of “divination,” Seneca on anger or clemency, and

Suffren De Saint-tropez, Pierre André De

2005-01-02T20:42:00.000-08:00

A Knight of Malta, Suffren de Saint-Tropez served under Admiral C.H. d'Estaing in America and was sent to assist French military operations in India in 1781. In a remarkable series of engagements with British Admiral

Australian Ballet

2004-12-31T21:34:00.000-08:00

Peggy van Praagh was the first artistic director (1962–74). Since 1965 the company has made periodic tours

Uji

2004-12-31T01:07:00.000-08:00

Uji is best known as the place where tea was first cultivated in Japan in the Muromachi era (1338–1573). High-quality

Devils Postpile National Monument

2004-12-29T20:08:00.000-08:00

The monument's most notable feature is the Devils Postpile

Yacht

2004-12-29T19:26:00.000-08:00

In England by 1881 most of the important yacht clubs had become members of the Yacht Racing Association (founded 1875; from 1952 called the Royal Yachting Association). The organization made rules governing regatta sailing and later took on duties as a representative body for all British yachting, including dealing with port, harbour, and other governmental authorities. In the

Oryol

2004-12-27T02:15:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Or'ol, or Orel, city and administrative centre of Oryol oblast (province), western Russia, on the headwaters of the Oka River at the Orlik confluence. Founded in 1564 as a fortress of the Muscovite State against Tatar attacks, it was the scene of heavy fighting during World War II. The city centre, with a street pattern of ring roads and radials and with a mixture of old and new buildings, lies

Furniture, Flanders and Holland

2004-12-26T23:11:00.000-08:00

In Holland the Baroque style did not encroach on late Renaissance furniture until nearly 1640. Dutch

Ancón

2004-12-26T00:23:00.000-08:00

City, central Panama, just northeast of Balboa city. It is a residential and medical centre. As Balboa and Panama City have grown, Ancón has become virtually a suburb of the latter. It is noted for the Gorgas Hospital for tropical diseases, named after Colonel William Crawford Gorgas, a U.S. Army surgeon who eradicated yellow fever from the Canal Zone. Ancón is also the site

Oates, Titus

2004-12-25T06:48:00.000-08:00

The son of a Baptist preacher, Oates was expelled from the Merchant Taylors School, London, in 1665. Although he managed to

Basel, Confession Of

2004-12-24T21:18:00.000-08:00

Moderate Protestant Reformation statement of Reformed doctrine composed of 12 articles. It was first drafted by John Oecolampadius, the Reformer of Basel, and was compiled in fuller form in 1532 by his successor at Basel, Oswald Myconius. In 1534 it was adopted by the Basel city authorities and two or three years later by the city of Muhlhausen in Alsace. It was used by the Church

Olsen, Tillie

2004-12-23T23:20:00.000-08:00

Olsen's early adult life was devoted to political activism and to rearing a family. Her first novel, begun at the age of 19, was set aside for 35 years. Though she never finished it, Olsen eventually published the reconstructed manuscript as Yonnondio:

Sibyl

2004-12-22T18:12:00.000-08:00

The daughter of Amalric I, Sibyl succeeded to the throne upon the death of her brother, Baldwin IV (1185). Baldwin had intended for the throne to pass directly to Sibyl's son Baldwin V, but Sibyl and her husband, Guy de Lusignan, conspired to seize the throne for themselves, embroiling the kingdom in a disastrous war with Saladin.

Kuhn, Adalbert

2004-12-20T22:28:00.000-08:00

Kuhn first devoted himself to the study of German stories and legends, but he established

Liberation, Union Of

2004-12-20T03:59:00.000-08:00

The Union of Liberation gave expression

Sanjo, Go-

2004-12-18T23:15:00.000-08:00

One of the few Japanese rulers of the period not born of a Fujiwara mother, Takahito became emperor in 1068, taking the reign name Go-Sanjo

Escrivá De Balaguer, Josemaría, Saint

2004-12-16T13:52:00.000-08:00

In full Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer y Albás Spanish prelate of the Roman Catholic church, founder in 1928 of Opus Dei, a Catholic organization of laymen and priests claiming to strive to live Christian lives in their chosen professions. By the time of Escrivá's death in 1975, its members numbered some 60,000 in 80 countries, and its critics charged it with

Uzbek Khanate

2004-12-15T16:05:00.000-08:00

Any of the three states that ruled Transoxania, in present-day Uzbekistan, before it came under Russian rule in the 19th century. The khanates of Bukhara and Khiva (Khwarezm) were established by two branches of the Shaybanid dynasty, which won control of Transoxania from the Timurids in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The Shaybanids were replaced at Bukhara successively

Interior Design, Final drawings and specifications

2004-12-15T09:35:00.000-08:00

The next stages of the design may consist of a series of drawings done by professional draftsmen or by the interior designer himself, if he works as an

Naftah

2004-12-14T06:04:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Nefta, oasis town, southwestern Tunisia. It lies on the northwest shore of Al-Jarid saline lake, which is an important source of phosphates. It was known to the Romans as Aggarsel Nepte. Naftah has many small mosques and is a date-growing and trans-Saharan transport centre. The larger oasis of Tawzar (Tozeur) is 15 miles (24 km) east-northeast. Pop. (1984) 15,511; (1989 est.) 17,216.

Faience Fine

2004-12-13T21:46:00.000-08:00

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

Cartan, Henri (-paul)

2004-12-12T04:19:00.000-08:00

Son of the distinguished mathematician Élie Cartan, Henri Cartan began his academic career as professor of mathematics at the Lycée Caen (1928–29). He was appointed deputy professor at the University of Lille in 1929 and two years later became professor of mathematics at

Elda

2004-12-11T21:23:00.000-08:00

City, Alicante province, in the autonomous community (region) of Valencia, southeastern Spain, northwest of Alicante city. Of ancient origin, Elda was called Idella by the Iberians, early peoples of Spain. The city first achieved importance under the Moors, who occupied it in the 8th century and built a castle (ruins remain); it was re-Christianized by James I of Aragon in

Combinatorics, Multinomial coefficients

2004-12-09T16:54:00.000-08:00

If S is a set of n objects, and n1, n2, × × × , nk are non-negative integers satisfying n1 + n2 + × × × + nk = n, then the number of ways in which the objects can be distributed into k boxes, X1, X2, × × × , Xk, such that the box Xi contains exactly ni objects is given in terms of a ratio constructed of factorials (see 4). This number, called a multinomial coefficient, is the coefficient in the multinomial expansion of the nth power of the sum of the

Dieback

2004-12-09T09:25:00.000-08:00

Common symptom or name of disease, especially of woody plants, characterized by progressive death of twigs, branches, shoots, or roots, starting at the tips. Staghead is a slow dieback of the upper branches of a tree; the dead, leafless limbs superficially resemble a stag's head. Dieback and staghead are caused by many fungi and a few bacteria that produce cankers, anthracnose,

Cahan, Abraham

2004-12-08T10:27:00.000-08:00

Himself an immigrant, Cahan arrived in the United

Canary Current

2004-12-06T04:18:00.000-08:00

Also called Canaries Current, part of a clockwise-setting ocean-current system in the North Atlantic Ocean. It branches south from the North Atlantic Current and flows southwestward along the northwest coast of Africa as far south as Senegal before turning westward to eventually join the Atlantic North Equatorial Current. The cool temperature of the water is produced by upwelling caused

Shadkhan

2004-12-06T04:02:00.000-08:00

Plural Shadkhanim, one who undertakes to arrange a Jewish marriage. Such service was virtually indispensible during the Middle Ages when custom frowned on courtships and numerous Jewish families lived in semi-isolation in small communities. Shadkhanim were thus relied upon to gather and evaluate information on the personal qualities and background of potential spouses in

Kirk Range

2004-12-05T16:02:00.000-08:00

Plateau in southwestern Malawi, extending in a north-south direction and skirting the southwestern shore of Lake Nyasa and the western border of the Shire River valley. The northern scarp overlooks the Central Region Plateau, while the southern limits merge into the lower Shire Highlands. The plateau's height decreases in a southerly direction, from 5,500 feet (1,676 m) at Dedza

Hypochondriasis

2004-12-03T04:14:00.000-08:00

Mental disorder characterized by an excessive preoccupation with one's own health and a tendency to fear or believe that one has a serious disease based on the presence of insignificant physical signs or symptoms. A hypochondriac may become convinced that he is ill even though such physical signs are completely absent, or he may exaggerate the medical significance

Haakon Vii

2004-12-03T01:05:00.000-08:00

The second son of the future king Frederick VIII of Denmark, he was originally called Prince Charles (Carl) of Denmark. He was trained for a naval career. In 1896 he married Princess Maud, daughter of England's Edward VII. He was offered the Norwegian crown in

Melbourne

2004-12-02T07:40:00.000-08:00

City, capital of the state of Victoria, Australia. It is located at the head of Port Phillip Bay, on the southeastern coast. Although the central city is the home of fewer than 100,000 people, it is the core of an extensive metropolitan area—the world's most southerly with a population of more than 1,000,000. In Australia it is second only to Sydney in population, and there is a good-natured

Mahadeo Hills

2004-12-01T15:54:00.000-08:00

Sandstone hills located in the northern part of the Satpura Range, in southern Madhya Pradesh state, central India. The hills have small plateaus and steep scarps that were formed during the Carboniferous Period (360 to 286 million years ago). The hills have a gentle northern slope but are steep to the south, where they drop abruptly from 3,600 feet (1,100 m) to less than 900 feet (275 m). The general

Beadle, George Wells

2004-11-29T03:25:00.000-08:00

After earning his doctorate in genetics from Cornell University (1931), Beadle went to the laboratory of

Kazaure

2004-11-28T07:29:00.000-08:00

Town and traditional emirate in Jigawa state, northern Nigeria. The town has been the emirate's headquarters since 1819. It was founded by Dan Tunku, a Fulani warrior who was one of the 14 flag bearers for the Fulani jihad (holy war) leader Usman dan Fodio. Dan Tunku arrived from the nearby town of Dambatta (Dambarta) at a stockaded village that he named Kazaure and established

Alaska, Tourism

2004-11-27T14:05:00.000-08:00

Alaska has had an upsurge of tourism. Travelers arrive mainly by air or sea and can now cover large areas by airplane and road. The influx is partly the result of the 500-passenger, 100-car ferries that operate as the Alaska Marine Highway. One ferry system connects Kodiak with mainland Seward and the Alaska Railroad, another links Cordova and Valdez, and a third serves panhandle

Zonda

2004-11-26T08:16:00.000-08:00

The name zonda in Argentina also refers to a hot, humid wind that blows from the north over the plains and precedes a low-pressure centre.

Kaali Järv Craters

2004-11-26T02:45:00.000-08:00

Group of eight meteorite craters on Saaremaa Island in the Baltic Sea, 12 miles (20 km) northeast of Kingisepp, Estonia. The largest is 333 feet (110 m) in diameter, with a rim 20–23 feet (6–7 m) above the surrounding land. Thought to be an explosion crater because of this high rim and uplifted surrounding strata, it holds a pond about 53 feet (16 m) deep. The other craters are dry and range from 40 to 143 feet (12 to 44 m) in

Essex, Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl Of, Viscount Hereford Lord Ferrers, Lord Bourchier

2004-11-24T14:15:00.000-08:00

Because his father, Robert Devereux, 2nd earl of Essex, had been executed for treason (1601), Devereux had to obtain special permission from Parliament to succeed (1604) to his family titles

Force, Juliana Rieser

2004-11-23T17:01:00.000-08:00

Juliana Reiser (later changed to Rieser) at an early age went to work as a secretary. After directing a secretarial school in New York City, she

Japan

2004-11-23T11:53:00.000-08:00

Japanese Nihon or Nippon country lying off the east coast of Asia. It consists of a great string of islands in a northeast-southwest arc that stretches for approximately 1,500 miles (2,400 km) through the western Pacific Ocean. Japan has a total land area of 145,903 square miles (377,887 square km). Nearly this entire area is taken up by the country's four main islands; from north to south these are Hokkaido (Hokkaido), Honshu

Barabbas

2004-11-22T20:58:00.000-08:00

In Matthew 27:16, Barabbas was called a “notorious prisoner.” In Mark 15:7, Luke 23:19, and John 18:40, Barabbas was “among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection,” a

David, Jacques-louis

2004-11-20T18:08:00.000-08:00

David won wide acclaim with his huge canvases on classical themes (e.g., “Oath of the Horatii,” 1784 [see photograph]). When the French Revolution began in 1789, he served briefly as its artistic director

Tzu-po

2004-11-19T19:29:00.000-08:00

Also called Chang-tien , Pinyin Zibo , or Zhangdian industrial city and municipality (shih), central Shantung Province (sheng), China. The core of the present 1,135-sq-mi (2,935-sq km) autonomous subprovincial-level municipality was formed under the People's Republic by amalgamating the two counties (hsien) of Tzu-ch'eng (Tzu-ch'uan) and Po-shan, which together form the richest coal field and mining area in the province. Tzu-ch'eng was an

Ahmad Ibn Hanbal

2004-11-19T11:13:00.000-08:00

For bibliography and information pertaining to Ibn Hanbal's works, see Fuat Sezgin, Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttums, vol. 1 (1967); for his life and works generally, see W.M. Patton, Ahmed ibn Hanbal and the Mihna (1897); and H. Laoust, “Le Hanbalisme sous le califat de Bagdad,” in Revue des Études Islamiques (1959); and the Encyclopaedia of Islam, vol. 1 (1960). On Sufism in the Hanbali school of thought, see G. Makdisi, “L'Isnad initiatique soufi de Muwaffaq ad-Din Ibn Qudama,” in L'Herne: Louis Massignon (1970).

Svadilfari

2004-11-18T01:51:00.000-08:00

In Norse mythology, an unusually swift and intelligent horse belonging to a giant who offered to build a great wall around Asgard (the kingdom of the gods) to keep invaders away. The gods stipulated that, if the builder completed the wall in one winter's time, his reward would be the goddess Freyja and possession of the sun and the moon. Svadilfari gave his owner such assistance

Hale, Edward Everett

2004-11-17T00:53:00.000-08:00

A grandnephew of the Revolutionary hero Nathan Hale and a nephew of Edward Everett, the orator, Hale trained on his father's newspaper, the Boston Daily Advertiser, and turned early to writing. For 70 years newspaper articles, historical

Tibet, Tibet in the 20th century

2004-11-16T13:27:00.000-08:00

In the mid-19th century the Tibetans repeatedly rebuffed overtures from the British, who at first saw Tibet as a trade route to China and later as countenancing Russian advances that might endanger India. Eventually, in 1903, after failure to get China to control its unruly vassal, a political mission was dispatched from India to secure understandings on frontier and trade

Great Dismal Swamp

2004-11-14T11:08:00.000-08:00

Also called Dismal Swamp marshy region on the Coastal Plain of southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, U.S., between Norfolk, Virginia, and Elizabeth City, North Carolina. It is densely forested and contains scattered natural elevations of 10 to 20 feet (3 to 6 metres) above sea level. Along the western margin the Pamlico Formation (known as the Great Dismal Swamp Terrace) rises to 25 feet

Philately

2004-11-14T03:49:00.000-08:00

The study of postage stamps, stamped envelopes, postmarks, postcards, and other materials relating to postal delivery. The term philately also denotes the collecting of these items. The term was coined in 1864 by a Frenchman, Georges Herpin, who invented it from the Greek philos, “love,” and ateleia, “that which is tax-free”; the postage stamp permitted the letter to come free of

Ribbon Worm

2004-11-13T13:15:00.000-08:00

Also called Bootlace Worm, Proboscis Worm, Nemertine, or Nemertean, any member of the invertebrate phylum Nemertea (sometimes called Nemertinea, or Rhynchocoela), which includes mainly free-living forms but also a few parasites of crustaceans, mollusks, and sea squirts. The majority of the approximately 900 known nemertean species are found in marine habitats. Some, however, live in freshwater or on land. The name proboscis worm derives

Bruce Series

2004-11-11T19:28:00.000-08:00

Division of Precambrian rocks in North America that is well-developed northeast of the Lake Huron region (the Precambrian began about 3.8 billion years ago and ended 540 million years ago). The Bruce Series is the lowermost of the three major divisions of the Huronian System; it overlies pre-Huronian schists, underlies rocks of the Cobalt Series, and consists of about 1,500 m (about

Triglav

2004-11-10T03:39:00.000-08:00

Italian Tricorno, mountain peak, the highest (9,396 feet [2,864 m]) of Slovenia and of the Julian Alps, situated 40 miles (64 km) northwest of the city of Ljubljana. The north wall of the peak forms an enormous limestone face nearly 2 miles (3 km) wide. From the time of its first ascent in 1778, the summit has rewarded climbers with an excellent view that extends north into Austria and south to the Adriatic Sea. Until the

Safaqis

2004-11-09T22:33:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Sfax, major port town, east-central Tunisia on the northern shore of the Gulf of Gabes. Built on the site of two small settlements of antiquity, Taparura and Thaenae, the town grew as an early Islamic trading centre for nomads. Temporarily occupied in the 12th century by Sicilian Normans and in the 16th century by the Spanish, it later served as a stronghold of the Barbary pirates.

Guliston

2004-11-09T17:59:00.000-08:00

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.

Medicine

2004-11-08T21:00:00.000-08:00

It is generally the goal of most countries to have their health services organized in such a way to ensure that individuals, families, and communities obtain the maximum benefit from current knowledge and technology available for the promotion, maintenance, and restoration of health. In order to play their part in this process, governments and other agencies are

Gabriel

2004-11-06T15:44:00.000-08:00

The son of an African-born mother, Gabriel grew up as the slave of Thomas H. Prosser. Gabriel became a deeply religious man, strongly influenced

Kirkman, Jacob

2004-11-06T03:53:00.000-08:00

Kirkman was trained as a cabinetmaker and went to England in the early 1730s to work for an obscure immigrant Flemish harpsichord maker in London. He eventually became harpsichord

Buzuluk

2004-11-04T17:51:00.000-08:00

City, Orenburg oblast (province), in the southern Ural Mountains of west-central Russia. The oblast is situated along the Samara River (a tributary of the Volga), near its confluence with the Buzuluk. Founded in 1736 as a Russian fortress, it was chartered in 1781. Industries include the manufacture of heavy metallurgical and agricultural machinery. The city has four technical