WetBall

Alexander I

2005-04-04T04:16:00.000-07:00

The son of Prince Alexander of Hesse (previously created prince of Battenberg upon his morganatic marriage) and a favourite nephew of Alexander II of Russia, Alexander served during 1877 with the Russian forces in the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78), which resulted in the autonomy of Bulgaria.

Pierce, Franklin

2005-04-04T03:16:00.000-07:00

(For an additional writing by Pierce, see The Military Academy.)

Keyboard Instrument, Germany

2005-04-03T17:05:00.000-07:00

From 1500 to 1800 Germany led the world in organ building and the composition of organ music. The organ builders reached the peak of their achievement about 1700 in the work of Arp Schnitger. Schnitger made organs with four manuals, pedals, and as many as 60 speaking stops, but he made some instruments with fewer than 30 speaking stops that are capable of dealing with the whole pre-Romantic

Felix Iii (or Ii), Saint

2005-04-02T23:55:00.000-08:00

Pope from 483 to 492. He succeeded St. Simplicius on March 13. Felix excommunicated Acacius, patriarch of Constantinople, in 484 for publishing with the emperor Zeno a document called the Henotikon, which appeared to favour Monophysitism, a doctrine that had been denounced at the Council of Chalcedon (451). The excommunication created the 35-year Acacian

Basilan

2005-04-02T22:27:00.000-08:00

Island and city, southern Philippines, in the Celebes Sea. Basilan island lies 5 miles (8 km) off the southern tip of the Zamboanga Peninsula of Mindanao, across the Basilan Strait. With an area of 495 square miles (1,282 square km), it is the largest and northernmost island of the Sulu Archipelago. Most of the island consists of rugged or rolling forested uplands, with several volcanic

Shigaraki

2005-04-02T06:48:00.000-08:00

Town, one of the six major pottery centres of ancient Japan, located in southern Shiga ken (prefecture), east of Kyoto and southeast of Nara. The wares for which the town is known were first produced in 1278; they have a crude shape and an oatmeallike surface covered with various glazes. Water urns, seed jars, and bottles were produced for daily use by the farming community. Shigaraki

Aldridge, Ira Frederick

2005-03-31T19:30:00.000-08:00

Herbert Marshall and Mildred Stock, Ira Aldridge: The Negro Tragedian (1958).

Giancana, Sam

2005-03-31T02:52:00.000-08:00

Born and reared in Chicago's “Little Italy” on the near southwest side, Giancana began working for Al Capone in the 1920s and, by 1966, had been arrested some 70 times and served five years

Madhumati River

2005-03-31T02:31:00.000-08:00

Tributary of the Padma (Ganges) River, flowing through southwestern Bangladesh. It leaves the Padma just north of Kushtia and flows 190 miles (306 km) southeast before turning south across the Sundarbans to empty into the Bay of Bengal. In its upper course it is called the Garai; in its lower course it is known as the Baleswar; and its 9-mile- (14-kilometre-) wide estuary mouth is called

Beverly Hills

2005-03-29T23:30:00.000-08:00

City, western Los Angeles county, California, U.S., completely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles. The site originated in the 19th century as the Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas. In 1906 it was organized as a residential area called Beverly; in 1912 the Beverly Hills Hotel was erected, and in 1914, with a population of about 500, the town was incorporated. In 1919 the film stars Mary Pickford and Douglas

Epistemology, From scientific theology to secular science

2005-03-29T00:28:00.000-08:00

For most of the Middle Ages there was no split between theology and science (scientia). Science was knowledge that was deduced from self-evident principles, and theology received its principles from the source of all principles, God. In every way, theology was superior to the other sciences, according to Thomas Aquinas. By the 14th century the ideas of science and theology

Flaxman, John

2005-03-28T14:42:00.000-08:00

As a youth, Flaxman worked in his father's plaster-casting studio in London while studying Classical literature, which was to be a continual source of inspiration. In 1770 he entered the Royal Academy schools. After 1775 he began to work for the potter

Journal

2005-03-26T13:19:00.000-08:00

An account of day-to-day events or a record of experiences, ideas, or reflections kept regularly for private use that is similar to, but sometimes less personal than, a diary.

Hesburgh, Theodore M(artin)

2005-03-26T11:44:00.000-08:00

Hesburgh, who said he knew he wanted to be a priest from early childhood, joined the Order of

Rudolf, Lake

2005-03-26T07:52:00.000-08:00

Also called Lake Turkana fourth largest of the eastern African lakes. It lies mainly in northern Kenya, with its northern end stretching into Ethiopia. The lake lies in the eastern arm of eastern Africa's Rift Valley. It covers an area of 2,473 square miles (6,405 square km) and lies at 1,230 feet (375 m) above sea level. Together with Lake Baringo (south), Lake Rudolf once formed a larger body of water drained by the Sobat

Xiongnu

2005-03-25T03:04:00.000-08:00

Of the same origins as the Chinese,

Bailey, Ann

2005-03-24T21:37:00.000-08:00

Ann Hennis moved to America, probably as an indentured servant, in 1761. Her first husband, Richard Trotter, a Shenandoah Valley settler and survivor of General Edward Braddock's disastrous expedition of 1755, was killed

Sevastopol

2005-03-24T09:50:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Sevastopol ', city and seaport, Crimea, southern Ukraine, in the southwestern Crimean Peninsula on the southern shore of the long, narrow Akhtiarskaya Bay, which forms a magnificent natural harbour. West of the modern town stood the ancient Greek colony of Chersonesus, founded in 421 BC. Originally a republic, Chersonesus (Heracleotic Chersonese) became, in turn, part of the Kingdom of

Xie Jun

2005-03-23T20:14:00.000-08:00

At the age of six Xie began to play Chinese chess, and by the age of 10 she had become the girls' champion of Beijing. At the urging of government authorities, she soon began playing Western chess. Despite indifferent training opportunities, Xie

New England, Council For

2005-03-23T09:05:00.000-08:00

In British American colonial history, joint stock company organized in 1620 by a charter from the British crown with authority to colonize and govern the area now known as New England. Drawing from landed gentry rather than merchants, the company was dominated by its president, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, who intended to distribute the land as manors and fiefs among the council's

Resistance

2005-03-23T02:35:00.000-08:00

Also called Underground in European history, any of various secret and clandestine groups that sprang up throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II to oppose Nazi rule. The exact number of those who took part is unknown, but they included civilians who worked secretly against the occupation as well as armed bands of partisans or guerrilla fighters. Their activities ranged

Rubbia, Carlo

2005-03-21T07:22:00.000-08:00

Italian physicist who in 1984 shared with Simon van der Meer the Nobel Prize for Physics for the discovery of the massive, short-lived subatomic W particle and Z particle. These particles are the carriers of the so-called weak force involved in the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei. Their existence strongly confirms the validity of the electroweak

Epistemology, Pre-Socratics

2005-03-20T21:37:00.000-08:00

The central focus of ancient Greek philosophy was its attempt to solve the problem of motion. Many pre-Socratic philosophers thought that no logically coherent account of motion and change could be given. This problem was a concern of metaphysics, not epistemology, however, and in the present context it suffices merely to allude to the arguments of Parmenides and

Acropolites, George

2005-03-20T09:58:00.000-08:00

Acropolites was reared at the imperial court, then at Nicaea in Asia

Excretion, The contractile vacuoles of protozoans

2005-03-19T20:56:00.000-08:00

Some protozoan animals possess an organelle having the form of an internal sac, or vacuole, which enlarges by the accumulation of a clear fluid and then discharges its contents to the exterior. The cycle of filling and emptying may be repeated as frequently as every half minute. The chief role of the contractile vacuole appears to be in osmotic regulation, not in nitrogen

Colchicum

2005-03-19T19:55:00.000-08:00

Genus of flowering plants in the family Liliaceae, consisting of about 30 species of herbs native to Eurasia. The stemless, crocuslike flowers bloom in autumn, and some are variously called autumn crocus and meadow saffron. The fruit is a three-valved capsule that ripens in the spring when the leaves appear. In some species the leaves arise from

Beach Boys, The

2005-03-18T18:01:00.000-08:00

American rock group whose dulcet melodies and distinctive vocal mesh defined the 1960s youthful idyll of sun-drenched southern California. The original members were Brian Wilson (b. June 20, 1942, Inglewood, Calif., U.S.), Dennis Wilson (b. Dec. 4, 1944, Inglewood—d. Dec. 28, 1983, Marina del Rey, Calif.), Carl Wilson (b. Dec. 21, 1946, Los Angeles, Calif.—d. Feb. 6, 1998, Los Angeles), Michael Love (b. March 15, 1941, Los Angeles), and Alan Jardine (b. Sept.

Tivoli

2005-03-18T15:10:00.000-08:00

The park was opened in 1843 by the writer-architect

Medicine, Japan

2005-03-17T09:25:00.000-08:00

Japan's Ministry of Health and Welfare directs public health programs at the national level, maintaining close coordination among the fields of preventive medicine, medical care, and welfare and health insurance. The departments of health of the prefectures and of the largest municipalities operate health centres. The integrated community health programs

Plymouth

2005-03-16T08:51:00.000-08:00

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

France, History Of, The Wars of Religion

2005-03-16T04:14:00.000-08:00

Guise forces occupied Paris and took control of the royal family, while the Huguenots rose in the provinces, and their two commanders, Louis I de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, and Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, established headquarters at Orléans. The deaths of the opposing leaders—the Protestant Antoine de Bourbon, King Consort of Navarre, and the Catholic marshal Jacques

Israeli, Isaac Ben Solomon

2005-03-16T04:11:00.000-08:00

Israeli

Carnivore, Natural history

2005-03-15T23:25:00.000-08:00

Members of the families Otariidae (eared seals), Odobenidae (walrus), and Phocidae (earless seals), commonly called pinnipeds, are strictly carnivorous and mostly marine. A few venture up freshwater rivers, and two forms (Pusa species) are landlocked on inland lakes. Pinnipeds are amphibious, being aquatic as to food habits but terrestrial for mating, bearing young, and

Biblical Literature, Determination of the canon in the 4th century

2005-03-15T07:07:00.000-08:00

Athanasius, a 4th-century bishop of Alexandria and a significant theologian, delimited the canon and settled the strife between East and West. On a principle of inclusiveness, both Revelation and Hebrews (as part of the Pauline corpus) were accepted. The 27 books of the New Testament—and they only—were declared canonical. In the Greek churches there was still controversy

Unterfranken

2005-03-14T21:15:00.000-08:00

English Lower Franconia Regierungsbezirk (administrative district), northwestern corner of Bavaria Land (state), central Germany. Unterfranken is bordered by Thuringia Land to the northeast, the Regierungsbezirke of Oberfranken (Upper Franconia) and Mittelfranken (Middle Franconia) to the east, Baden-Württemberg Land to the south, and Hesse Land to the west. The district occupies an area

Kabuki

2005-03-14T04:41:00.000-08:00

Traditional Japanese popular drama with singing and dancing performed in a highly stylized manner. A rich blend of music, dance, mime, and spectacular staging and costuming, it has been the chief theatrical form in Japan for almost four centuries. The term kabuki originally suggested the unorthodox and shocking character of this art form. In modern Japanese, the

Awangarda Krakowska

2005-03-13T00:13:00.000-08:00

Avant-garde literary movement in Poland, launched in Kraków in 1922 and centring around a local periodical, Zwrotnica (1922–27; “Switch”). Tadeusz Peiper, the first poet in Poland to advance a poetics opposed to that of the Skamander group of poets (who had turned toward the classical in their effort to forge a modernist poetry), was Zwrotnica's editor from 1922 to 1923 and again from 1926 to 1927. (Peiper

Biblical Literature, Problems visual in origin

2005-03-12T14:13:00.000-08:00

The order of letters also might be inverted. Such metathesis, as it is called, appears in Psalms, in which qirbam (“their inward

'abd Al-ilah

2005-03-11T15:35:00.000-08:00

Son of the Hashimite king 'Ali ibn Husayn of the Hejaz (northwestern Arabia), who was driven from Arabia by Ibn Sa'ud, 'Abd al-Ilah accompanied his father to Iraq in 1925. Upon King Ghazi's death in 1939, he was appointed regent for his four-year-old nephew, Faysal II. 'Abd al-Ilah ruled Iraq for 14 turbulent years, loyally serving the throne and

Interior Design, Byzantium

2005-03-11T07:11:00.000-08:00

The capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, Constantinople (formerly called Byzantium, later Stamboul, presently Istanbul) was a convenient meeting place for East and West. It felt the influence of Persian art and transmitted it to early medieval European Christian styles. Most surviving Byzantine interiors are ecclesiastical, although secular wall paintings

Aelle

2005-03-11T05:55:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Aella, or Aelli first king of Deira in northern England, whose people threw off the Bernician overlordship upon the death of Ida, king of Bernicia. Aelle became king in 559, while Ida's descendants continued to reign in the northern kingdom. On Aelle's death the Bernician king Aethelric again subdued Deira, but Aelle's son Edwin (q.v.) would return to rule as the most powerful English ruler

'abd Al-rahman Iii

2005-03-10T15:27:00.000-08:00

'Abd al-Rahman succeeded his grandfather 'Abd Allah as emir of Córdoba in October 912 at the age of 21. Because of his intelligence and character he had been the obvious favourite of his grandfather, who had designated him heir presumptive in preference to the other royal princes. In appearance he is described as having been light-skinned, handsome, thickset, and short-legged.

Cylinder

2005-03-09T20:19:00.000-08:00

In geometry, surface of revolution that is traced by a straight line (the generatrix) that always moves parallel to itself or some fixed line or direction (the axis). The path, to be definite, is directed along a curve (the directrix), along which the line always glides. In a right circular cylinder, the directrix is a circle. The axis of this cylinder is a line through the centre

Aston, Francis William

2005-03-09T16:20:00.000-08:00

British physicist who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1922 for his development of the mass spectrograph, a device that separates atoms or molecular fragments of different mass and measures those masses with remarkable accuracy. Aston used the mass spectograph to discover a large number of nuclides

Saaremaa

2005-03-08T03:49:00.000-08:00

German and Swedish Ösel , Russian Sarema largest of the islands in the Muhu archipelago that divides the Baltic Sea from the Gulf of Riga. It constitutes the bulk of the Estonian county of Saaremaa (Saare) and has an area of 1,032 square miles (2,674 square km). The island is low-lying and is composed largely of limestones and dolomites. Some of the places with poorer soils are characterized by the alvary—poor bushy vegetation,

Tlaxcala

2005-03-07T17:24:00.000-08:00

In full Tlaxcala De Xicohténcatl, town, capital of Tlaxcala estado (“state”), east-central Mexico. It lies along the Zahuapan River at the northwest foot of La Malinche volcano, 7,388 feet (2,252 m) above sea level. The city lies in the region inhabited by the Tlaxcalan Indians, and the designation “de Xicohténcatl” commemorates a Tlaxcalan chieftain who vigorously opposed his people's aid to the Spanish conquistador

Lawrance, Charles Lanier

2005-03-07T14:54:00.000-08:00

After attending Yale University Lawrance joined a new automobile firm that was later ruined by the financial panic of 1907. He then went to Paris, where he studied architecture at the Beaux-Arts School

Stoicism, Renascence of Stoicism in modern times

2005-03-07T10:04:00.000-08:00

If the influence of Stoic doctrines during the Middle Ages was largely restricted to the resolution of problems of social and political significance, it remained for the Renaissance, in its passion for the rediscovery of Greek and Roman antiquity, to provide a basis for the rebirth of Stoic views in logic, epistemology, and metaphysics, as well as the documentation

Togo, Settlement patterns

2005-03-06T13:38:00.000-08:00

The majority of Togo's population live in small villages scattered throughout the rural areas. A common sight along the coast is the rectangular houses built either of clay and timber or of coconut or palm branches and topped by double-eaved thatched roofs. Scattered throughout the coconut plantations, they are not far from the beaches. Inland in the south, thatched

Korea Strait

2005-03-05T16:17:00.000-08:00

Passage of the northwest Pacific extending northeast from the East China Sea to the Sea of Japan (East Sea) between the south coast of the Korean peninsula (northwest) and the Japanese islands of Kyushu and Honshu. The strait, which is 300 feet (90 m) deep, is bisected by the Tsushima islands, the passage to the east being often referred to as Tsushima Strait. The western channel

Cyperaceae

2005-03-05T05:06:00.000-08:00

Sedge family of monocotyledonous flowering plants, a division of the order Cyperales. The Cyperaceae are grasslike herbaceous plants found especially in wet regions throughout the world.

Gradient Wind

2005-03-05T00:02:00.000-08:00

Hypothetical wind that accounts for air flow along a curved trajectory. It is an extension of the concept of geostrophic wind—i.e., the wind assumed to move along straight and parallel isobars (lines of equal pressure). The gradient wind represents the actual wind better than does the geostrophic wind, especially when the wind speed and trajectory curvature are large,

Sacrament

2005-03-04T00:25:00.000-08:00

The Latin word sacramentum, which etymologically is an ambiguous theological term, was used in Roman law to describe a legal sanction in which a man placed his

Mansfield, Arabella

2005-03-02T19:26:00.000-08:00

Belle Babb graduated from Iowa Wesleyan University in 1866 (by which time she was known as Arabella). She then taught political science, English, and history at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, until her marriage in 1868 to John M. Mansfield,

Ilchester

2005-03-02T11:58:00.000-08:00

Town (“parish”), South Somerset district, administrative and historic county of Somerset, England. It lies along the River Yeo. Ilchester was known as Lindinis under Roman rule and was the northern tribal capital of the Durotriges, an early British people. A royal mint was established there in the 10th century and remained in operation until Henry II's reign (1154–89). The town's royal

Cyperaceae

2005-03-02T11:53:00.000-08:00

In full European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats , formerly (1953–79) Christian Democrat Group transnational parliamentary group representing the interests of allied conservative parties in the European Parliament of the European Union (EU). The EPP was formed in 1953 as the Christian Democrat Group, which acted as a transnational political party in the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). It is now composed of some 50 parties from EU

Wurtz, Charles-adolphe

2005-03-02T04:49:00.000-08:00

Following medical studies and a period of teaching, Wurtz studied at Giessen and then at Strasbourg (1843). He became an assistant (1845) to Jean-Baptiste-André Dumas, whom he succeeded at the School of Medicine (1852). He was the first

Carnivore, Form and function

2005-03-01T20:53:00.000-08:00

The teeth of the omnivorous bears are unspecialized. The first three premolars are usually either missing or extremely small. The carnassials are poorly developed, and the molars have broad, flat crowns. Except for variability as to the presence of premolars, the ursid dental formula is that of the Carnivora generally. The sloth bear lacks one pair of upper incisors.

Buhturi, Al-

2005-03-01T19:45:00.000-08:00

Al-Buhturi devoted his early poetry, written between the ages of 16 and 19, to his tribe, the Tayyi'. Sometime after 840 he came to the attention of the prominent poet Abu Tammam, who encouraged his panegyrics and brought him to the caliphal capital of Baghdad. Al-Buhturi met with little success there and returned

Raman, Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata

2005-03-01T17:18:00.000-08:00

Indian physicist whose work was influential in the growth of science in India. He was the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1930 for the discovery that when light traverses a transparent material, some of the light that is deflected changes in wavelength. This phenomenon is now called Raman scattering and is

Fuel Injection

2005-03-01T07:43:00.000-08:00

In an internal-combustion engine, introduction of fuel into the cylinders by means of a pump rather than by the suction created by the movement of the pistons. On diesel engines, which have no spark plugs, the heat created by compressing air in the cylinders ignites the fuel, which has been pumped as a spray into the heated air. In engines with spark ignition, fuel-injection

Hughes, David (edward)

2005-02-27T03:37:00.000-08:00

Anglo-American inventor of the carbon microphone, which was important to the development of telephony. His family emigrated to the United States when he was seven years old. In 1850 he became professor of music at St. Joseph's College, Bardstown, Ky. Five years later he took out a U.S. patent for a type-printing telegraph instrument; its success was immediate,

Breathing

2005-02-27T02:31:00.000-08:00

The action of moving air or water across the surface of a respiratory structure, such as a gill or lung, to facilitate respiration (the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide with the environment). See respiration.

Oates, Titus

2005-02-26T06:11:00.000-08:00

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

Van Dine, S.s.

2005-02-26T03:06:00.000-08:00

Wright was educated at St. Vincent and Pomona colleges in California, at Harvard University, and in Munich and Paris. Pursuing a career as a writer, Wright became literary editor of the

Biblical Literature, Special nature and problems

2005-02-25T20:35:00.000-08:00

The English title of this work, meaning “second law,” is derived from a faulty Greek translation of chapter 17, verse 18, referring to “a copy of this law”: the implication being that the book is a second law or an expanded version of the original law for the new generation of Israelites about to enter Canaan. Hebrew texts take the opening words of the book as title, Ele ha-Devarim

Van Buren, Hannah

2005-02-25T18:58:00.000-08:00

Little is known about Hannah, who died of tuberculosis about a month before her 36th birthday. She did not leave writing of her own, and Martin, who never remarried, did not mention even her name in the autobiography he wrote late in life. Their sons were all bachelors when Martin became president in 1837. The following year Abraham married Angelica Singleton, who served as White House hostess until Martin's term ended in 1841.

Biblical Literature, The united monarchy

2005-02-25T02:50:00.000-08:00

The monarchy was initiated during the career of Samuel, a prophet of great influence and authority who was also recognized as a judge and is depicted in varying biblical accounts as either favouring or not favouring the reign of a human king over Israel. In any case, he anointed Saul, a courageous military leader of the tribe of Benjamin, as king (c. 1020 BCE). Saul won substantial

Percy, Thomas

2005-02-24T09:49:00.000-08:00

The basis of Percy's collection was a tattered 15th-century manuscript of ballads (known as the Percy folio) found in the house of a friend

Orange River

2005-02-23T10:56:00.000-08:00

The high valleys of the Orange River's headwaters are uninhabited, though the adjacent plateaus are used by the southern Sotho (Basuto) people for grazing land. Between the Lesotho border and the town of Aliwal North, corn (maize) is cultivated, and this region is also used as pasturage for cattle and sheep. The dry shrub country farther downstream is in general suitable

Jungle Babbler

2005-02-23T08:54:00.000-08:00

Any of about 32 species of songbirds constituting the tribe Pellorneini of the babbler family Timaliidae. Found from Africa to Malaysia and the Philippines, these drab birds with slender, often hook-tipped bills skulk in forest undergrowth. An example is the striped jungle babbler, or spotted babbler (Pelloreum ruficeps), of Southeast Asia—16 centimetres (6 1/4 inches) long,

Wilder, Douglas

2005-02-23T04:18:00.000-08:00

In full Lawrence Douglas Wilder American politician, the first popularly elected African American governor in the United States. He received a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Virginia Union University (1951) and a law degree from Howard University (1959). Wilder pursued a legal and political career in Richmond, Virginia, and served as a director of the Richmond chapter of

Roundelay

2005-02-22T13:48:00.000-08:00

A poem with a refrain that recurs frequently or at fixed intervals, as in a rondel. The term is also loosely used to refer to any of the fixed forms of poetry (such as the rondeau, the rondel, and the roundel) that use refrains extensively.

Leng-hu

2005-02-21T07:40:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Lenghu, town, northwestern Tsinghai sheng (province), western China. Leng-hu is situated in the northwestern part of the Tsaidam Basin, to the southwest of Tang-chin Pass, which leads from the Tsaidam into western Kansu province and to the Uighur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang. Leng-hu is one of the major centres of the oil fields developed in the Tsaidam Basin during the 1960s and

Paleoanthropology

2005-02-21T06:20:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Palaeoanthropology, also called Human Paleontology, interdisciplinary branch of anthropology concerned with the origins and development of early humans. Fossils are assessed by the techniques of physical anthropology, comparative anatomy, and the theory of evolution. Artifacts, such as bone and stone tools, are identified and their significance for the physical and mental development of early humans interpreted

Selby

2005-02-20T07:35:00.000-08:00

The district includes pre-Norman settlements along the right bank of the River Ouse, the main waterway, and the Norman abbey at Selby town. Farther west an old land route, following a limestone

Tiv

2005-02-20T04:54:00.000-08:00

The Tiv are subsistence farmers whose main crops are yams, millet, and sorghum, all of which are eaten as porridge

Bouaflé

2005-02-19T11:06:00.000-08:00

Town, central Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast). Bouaflé lies on the north bank of the Bandama Rouge River. It is the chief trade centre (coffee, yams, cassava, and plantains) of a transitional zone of dense forest and savanna, which is mainly inhabited by the agricultural Guro (Gouro) and Gagu (Gagou) peoples. Pop. (1988) 34,562.

Gadsden

2005-02-19T09:47:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1866) of Etowah county, northeastern Alabama, U.S. It is situated on the Coosa River in the Appalachian foothills, 65 miles (105 km) northeast of Birmingham. The original farming settlement was known as Double Springs, and the town was founded there in 1846 as a steamboat station. It was renamed for James Gadsden, who later negotiated the Gadsden Purchase (1853) of territory from Mexico.

Dome Of The Rock

2005-02-19T02:04:00.000-08:00

Arabic Qubbat as-Sakhrah shrine in Jerusalem that is the oldest extant Islamic monument. The rock over which the shrine was built is sacred to both Muslims and Jews. The Prophet Muhammad, founder of Islam, is traditionally believed to have ascended into heaven from the site. In Jewish tradition, it is here that Abraham, the progenitor and first patriarch of the Hebrew people, is said to have prepared

Dog, Skeletal structure

2005-02-18T09:45:00.000-08:00

The skeletal frame of the dog consists of 319 bones. If a dog's tail is docked or absent at birth, there obviously are fewer bones in the skeleton. The muscles and tendons of a dog are similar to those of a human; however, a dog's upper body muscles bear half the weight of the entire body and are better developed than a human's. The weight distribution between the front and the rear

Widsith

2005-02-17T03:34:00.000-08:00

Modern English Far Traveler Old English poem, probably from the 7th century, that is preserved in the Exeter Book, a 10th-century collection of Old English poetry. “Widsith” is an idealized self-portrait of a scop (minstrel) of the Germanic heroic age who wandered widely and was welcomed in many mead halls, where he entertained the great of many kingdoms. Because the heroic figures the minstrel claims

Gahnite

2005-02-16T20:51:00.000-08:00

The mineral zinc aluminum oxide, a member of the spinel (q.v.) series.

Obsidian

2005-02-16T16:18:00.000-08:00

Natural glass of volcanic origin that is formed by the rapid cooling of viscous lava. Obsidian is extremely rich in silica (about 35 to 80 percent), is low in water, and has a chemical composition similar to rhyolite. Obsidian has a glassy lustre and is slightly harder than window glass. Though obsidian is typically jet-black in colour, the presence of hematite (iron oxide) produces

Sorosilicate

2005-02-15T23:30:00.000-08:00

Formerly called Pyrosilicate, any member of a group of compounds with structures that have two silicate tetrahedrons (a central silicon atom surrounded by four oxygen atoms at the corners of a tetrahedron) linked together. Because one oxygen atom is shared by two tetrahedrons, the chemical formula contains Si2O7, as in melilite or hemimorphite.

Bulbophyllum

2005-02-15T11:42:00.000-08:00

The sepals are coloured and are larger than the petals. Many of these orchids have small flowers and an offensive odour.

Halide Mineral

2005-02-15T04:50:00.000-08:00

Compositionally and structurally, three broad categories of halide minerals are recognized; these categories, which are

Allen, Florence Ellinwood

2005-02-14T17:37:00.000-08:00

Allen was a descendant of American Revolutionary War hero Ethan Allen. She graduated from Western Reserve University's College for Women in 1904 and for two years studied music in Berlin. An injury prevented

Cinchona

2005-02-13T16:33:00.000-08:00

Four species of Cinchona were cultivated for many years, primarily in Java and also in India and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Their bark was processed to obtain quinine, which is

Macdonald, (james) Ramsay

2005-02-13T16:19:00.000-08:00

In 1885 he

Pacific Mountain System, Geology

2005-02-12T20:24:00.000-08:00

In general, the movement of tectonic plates has been responsible for the development of the Pacific mountain system. The coastal mountains from the Queen Charlotte Islands southward to southern California have been folded, faulted, and intruded with molten rock as a result of this movement. The most significant activity has been the lateral, northerly movement

Turgay

2005-02-12T15:54:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Turgai, or Turgaj, oblast (province), central Kazakhstan. It was created in 1970, though a larger oblast of the same name existed in tsarist times, and it embraces the western fringes of the Kazakh Upland and part of the Turgay Steppe. The main rivers are the Ishim, flowing north, and the Turgay, south. The climate is continental, and annual precipitation varies from 8 to 12 inches (200 to 300 mm). There are important

Maggid

2005-02-11T21:50:00.000-08:00

Plural Maggidim, any of the many itinerant Jewish preachers who flourished especially in Poland and Russia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Because rabbis at that time preached only on the Sabbaths preceding Pesah (Passover) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), maggidim were in great demand throughout the year to instruct, encourage, and sometimes admonish their congregation. Through

Muroran

2005-02-11T09:59:00.000-08:00

City, southern Hokkaido, Japan, on Cape Chikyu at the entrance to Uchiura Bay. After 1906 it began to grow from a village to a company town, producing steel and iron products. In 1982 Muroran succeeded in securing its water supply system from the company. It became the major heavy industrial centre (by value) on Hokkaido. The port also handles coal, machinery, wood, pulp, and marine products.

Atchison

2005-02-10T16:39:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1855) of Atchison county, northeastern Kansas, U.S., on the Missouri River. A French trading post at the site of the present city was the embarkation point, in 1804, for the Lewis and Clark expedition. Founded in 1854 by a group of proslavery settlers, it was named for their leader, David Rice Atchison, a U.S. senator from Missouri. It developed as a focus for rail and river traffic, and

Tea Olive

2005-02-10T11:23:00.000-08:00

Any plant of the genus Osmanthus in the family Oleaceae, often grown for its fragrant flowers and shining, evergreen foliage. There are more than 30 species, native to eastern North America, Mexico, southeastern Asia, Hawaii, and New Caledonia. Sweet olive, or sweet osmanthus (Osmanthus fragrans), a 10-metre (33-foot) tree, produces an edible fruit. Its leaves, used to perfume tea, hide

Ilhéus

2005-02-09T23:19:00.000-08:00

City, southeastern Bahia estado (“state”), northeastern Brazil. It is situated just east of Itabuna near the mouth of the Cachoeira River on Ilhéus Bay, an inlet of the Atlantic. An old Portuguese colonial settlement that was originally named São Jorge dos Ilhéos (1532), it was given city status in 1881. Most of Brazil's cacao is grown in the locality, and Ilhéus is consequently one of

Jackling, Daniel Cowan

2005-02-09T21:07:00.000-08:00

A graduate of the Missouri School of Mines, Rolla, in 1892, Jackling taught chemistry and metallurgy there (1891–93) and then worked (1894–95) as a chemist and metallurgist

Wajda, Andrzej

2005-02-09T16:18:00.000-08:00

Wajda became interested in the visual arts when working as assistant to a restorer of old church paintings in Radom. He studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, then film

Azaïs, Pierre-hyacinthe

2005-02-07T10:14:00.000-08:00

Philosopher whose optimism was rooted in the idea that human experience is imbued with a natural and harmonious balance between joy and sadness and that it is in this balance that meaning can be discovered. He advocated the idea in the work that first brought him fame, Des compensations dans les destinées humaines, 3 vol. (1809). In a following work,