AutomaticTooth

Vedantadesika

2005-04-05T22:59:00.000-07:00

Vedantadesika was born into a distinguished Srivaisnava family that followed the teachings of Ramanuja, an 11th–12th-century

Coin, Switzerland

2005-04-05T00:42:00.000-07:00

The coinage of Switzerland illustrates its varying fortunes. First there was the gold money of the Merovingian kings, among whose mints were Basel, Lausanne, St. Maurice-en-Valais, and Sitten (Sion). The silver deniers that Charlemagne made the coinage of the empire were issued by fewer mints. The dukes of Swabia began to strike at Zürich in the 10th century, and the empire

Canada, The War of 1812

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

The War of 1812 was to a large degree caused by the Anglo-U.S. rivalry in the fur trade. British traders and soldiers had supplied Indian tribes and afforded them moral support in their contest with the advancing U.S. frontier. Britain had surrendered the western posts by the Jay Treaty of 1794, but the cause of the Canadian fur trade and of the Indians remained the same—the preservation

Amur

2005-04-03T01:25:00.000-08:00

Russian Amurskaya oblast (province), far eastern Russia. It occupies the basins of the middle Amur River and its tributary the Zeya and extends up to the crest of the Stanovoy Range. In 1689 Russia yielded the Amur region to China by the Treaty of Nerchinsk, but Russian Cossacks reincorporated it in the latter part of the 19th century. Amur oblast was formed in 1932 from Khabarovsk kray (region), and its

Ecuador, Recreation

2005-04-02T22:59:00.000-08:00

The Ecuadoran calendar is replete with religious and secular holidays. Some of the more important ones are not national but, rather, associated with local urban or regional traditions, such as the holidays of Quito (December 1–6), Guayaquil (October 9), and Cuenca (November 3) and the Yamor festival in Otavalo in early September. Many shops and businesses also close on Saturday

Amadeus

2005-04-02T05:21:00.000-08:00

The second son of the future King Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia-Piedmont (later, of Italy), he was originally called Amadeus I, duke of Aosta. His candidacy for the Spanish throne (vacant after the deposition of Isabella II

Spock, Benjamin

2005-04-01T21:10:00.000-08:00

Spock received his medical degree in 1929 from Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons and trained for six years at the New York

Pacific Ocean, Principal ridges and basins

2005-03-31T10:29:00.000-08:00

To the east of 150° W the relief of the ocean floor is considerably less pronounced than it is to the west. In the eastern Pacific the Cocos Ridge extends southwestward from the Central American isthmus to the Galápagos Islands. To the south of the Galápagos lies the Peru Basin, which is separated by the extensive Sala y Gomez Ridge from the Southeast Pacific Basin, which,

Middlebury College

2005-03-31T10:06:00.000-08:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Middlebury, Vt., U.S. It is a small liberal arts college at which particular emphasis is given to the study of modern languages. Course work at Middlebury is divided into eight academic categories: literature, the arts, foreign languages, philosophical and religious studies, physical and life sciences, historical

Mosan School

2005-03-30T15:56:00.000-08:00

Regional style of Romanesque manuscript illumination, metalwork, and enamelwork that flourished in the 11th and 12th centuries and was centred in the Meuse River valley, especially at Liège and the Benedictine monastery of Stavelot. Two of the most important artists associated with the Mosan school were Godefroid de Claire, a goldsmith from Huy, and Nicholas of

Racine, Jean

2005-03-30T08:50:00.000-08:00

In full Jean-baptiste Racine French dramatic poet and historiographer renowned for his mastery of French classical tragedy. His reputation rests on the plays he wrote between 1664 and 1677, notably Andromaque (1667), Britannicus (1669), Bérénice (1670), Bajazet (1672), and Phèdre (1677).

Gabon, Resources

2005-03-29T00:12:00.000-08:00

Gabon possesses important resources in woods and minerals and much hydroelectric potential. But its poor transportation infrastructure and lack of financing, as well as unfavourable world market conditions, hinder the development of some of these resources.

Baden Powell

2005-03-28T11:04:00.000-08:00

Brazilian guitarist and composer (b. Aug. 6, 1937, Varre-e-Sai, Braz.—d. Sept. 26, 2000, Rio de Janeiro, Braz.), helped popularize the bossa nova (“new trend”), a romantic, sensual style of the 1950s and '60s that was created from a fusion of the samba, a Brazilian dance music, and cool jazz. He came from a musical family, and his father, who was a troop leader, named his son for Robert S.S. Baden-Powell, the British founder

San Carlos De Bariloche

2005-03-27T23:36:00.000-08:00

Also called Bariloche resort town, Río Negro provincia, southwestern Argentina. It lies on the southeastern shore of Lake Nahuel Huapí, in the Andean lake district. Chalet-type building construction, introduced in 1905 by Swiss immigrants, provides an appropriate setting for skiing in the winter months on the slopes of the nearby V. López and Otto peaks, while the many lakes and streams afford

Madeira

2005-03-27T20:30:00.000-08:00

Madeira wine is fortified with brandy during fermentation to raise its alcoholic content to 18–20 percent. Madeiras, ranging from dry to sweet,

Karbala'

2005-03-26T18:11:00.000-08:00

The city's religious importance derives from the Battle of Karbala' (AD 680) between the Sunnite and Shi'ite sects of Islam. Husayn ibn 'Ali, the Shi'ite leader and grandson of Muhammad, was killed, and his tomb remains one of the greatest Shi'ite shrines and pilgrimage

Peter Martyr

2005-03-26T11:40:00.000-08:00

Name commonly used in English for (1) St. Peter Martyr, who was killed in 1252 by the Cathari, a heretical Christian sect; (2) Peter Martyr d'Anghiera, who was an Italian historian; and (3) Peter Martyr Vermigli, who was one of the greatest Italian Reformers and a leading exponent of the Reformed doctrine of the sacraments.

Lawrance, Charles Lanier

2005-03-25T11:46:00.000-08:00

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

Apure

2005-03-24T00:14:00.000-08:00

The state is famous for its llaneros (cowboys), who were key fighters in the independence movement of the early 19th century. Mounted llaneros

Vaughan, Frankie

2005-03-23T14:43:00.000-08:00

British theatre and cabaret singer who was one of the most popular romantic crooners of the 1950s through the '90s; darkly handsome and elegantly dressed, “Mr. Moonlight” (as he was known from his signature tune, “Give Me the Moonlight”) also appeared on television in Britain, the U.S., and across Europe and in motion pictures, notably in a musical number with Marilyn Monroe in Let's

Worm

2005-03-23T08:09:00.000-08:00

Any of various unrelated invertebrate animals that typically have soft, slender, elongated bodies and usually lack appendages. Worms are members of several invertebrate phyla, including Platyhelminthes (flatworms), Annelida (segmented worms), Nemertea (ribbon worms), Aschelminthes (roundworms, pinworms, eelworms, threadworms, hairworms, etc.), Sipuncula (peanutworms),

Rupa-loka

2005-03-22T18:04:00.000-08:00

Also called Rupa-dhatu, in Buddhist thought, the world, or realm, of form. See arupa-loka.

Arve River

2005-03-22T05:58:00.000-08:00

River in eastern France and Switzerland, rising in the Savoy Alps and flowing north into the Rhône River below Geneva. Over its 62-mi (100-km) course, the river passes by some of the finest and most varied Alpine scenery. Its upper section collects the drainage of the northwest face of the Massif du Mont Blanc and is a source of hydroelectric power. Below Bonneville, in the Faucigny

Almaty

2005-03-22T03:55:00.000-08:00

Russian Alma-Ata, formerly (1855–1921) Verny, city, southeastern Kazakstan. It was formerly the capital of the Kazakh S.S.R. (1929–91) and of independent Kazakstan (1991–97). Almaty lies in the northern foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau at an elevation of 2,300–3,000 feet (700–900 m), where the Bolshaya and Malaya Almaatinka rivers emerge into the plain. The modern city was founded in 1854 when the Russians established the military fortification of Zailiyskoye

Iacocca, Lee

2005-03-20T21:31:00.000-08:00

The son of an Italian immigrant, Iacocca graduated from Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa., in 1945 and received a master's degree

Botany

2005-03-19T19:47:00.000-08:00

Branch of biology that deals with the study of plants, including their structure, properties, and biochemical processes. Also included are plant classification and the study of plant diseases and of interactions with the environment. The principles and findings of botany have provided the base for such applied sciences as agriculture, horticulture, and

Amanita

2005-03-19T19:36:00.000-08:00

Among the deadliest of all mushrooms are the destroying angels

Latent Image

2005-03-19T05:24:00.000-08:00

According to current theories of latent image formation, small specks of silver atoms (one ten-millionth

Aelfheah, Saint

2005-03-18T11:26:00.000-08:00

Of noble birth, Aelfheah entered the Benedictine abbey of Deerhurst, Gloucestershire, and later became a hermit at Bath, Somerset, where followers elected him abbot. Aelfheah was a friend of Archbishop St. Dunstan of Canterbury,

Ejido

2005-03-18T06:36:00.000-08:00

In Mexico, village lands communally held in the traditional Indian system of land tenure that combines communal ownership with individual use. The ejido consists of cultivated land, pastureland, other uncultivated lands, and the fundo legal (townsite). In most cases the cultivated land is divided into separate family holdings, which cannot be sold although they

Ekibastuz

2005-03-17T14:29:00.000-08:00

City and major opencut coal-mining centre in northeastern Kazakstan, on the Ertis-Qaraghandy Canal. Coal was discovered in the region in 1876 and was mined on a small scale. Only after construction of a railway in 1953 did large-scale exploitation of Ekibastuz' rich but low-grade coal seams begin. In the 1970s Ekibastuz was the third largest coal-mining centre in the Soviet Union,

Joy Division/new Order

2005-03-17T07:12:00.000-08:00

British rock group who, as Joy Division, refined the external chaos of 1970s punk into a disquieting inner turmoil, ushering in the postpunk era. They later, as New Order, pioneered the successful fusion of rock and 1980s African-American dance music styles. The principal members were Ian Curtis (b. July 15, 1956, Macclesfield, Cheshire, Eng.—d. May 18, 1980, Macclesfield), Bernard Albrecht (later Bernard

Dacite

2005-03-15T19:54:00.000-08:00

Volcanic rock that may be considered a quartz-bearing variety of andesite. Dacite is primarily associated with andesite and trachyte and forms lava flows, dikes, and sometimes massive intrusions in the centres of old volcanoes. Like andesite, dacite consists mostly of plagioclase feldspar with biotite, hornblende, augite, or enstatite and generally has a porphyritic

Nervous System Disease, Vestibulocochlear nerve

2005-03-15T13:58:00.000-08:00

When both divisions of the vestibulocochlear nerve are affected by disease, symptoms may include ringing in the ear (tinnitus), a sensation of spinning (vertigo), and other symptoms such as deafness. Deafness, if not caused by middle-ear disease, suggests damage to the cochlear portion of the nerve. Compression of the nerve at the cerebellopontine angle by a tumour, an

Lan-chou

2005-03-15T05:53:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Lanzhou, conventional Lanchow city, capital of Kansu province (sheng), China. It is situated on the upper course of the Huang Ho (Yellow River), where the river emerges from the mountains. Lan-chou has been a centre since early times, being at the southern end of the route leading via the Kansu Corridor across Central Asia; it also commands the approaches to the ancient capital area of Ch'ang-an (modern Sian

Kirovohrad

2005-03-14T13:13:00.000-08:00

Russian Kirovograd oblast (province), south-central Ukraine. It extends from the Dnieper River in the northeast across the rolling hills of the Dnieper Upland to the basin of the Southern (Pivdennyy) Buh River in the southwest. The oblast's natural vegetation of grass steppe on fertile soils has been almost wholly plowed up, and unsound practices have resulted in serious and widespread

Spontini, Gaspare (luigi Pacifico)

2005-03-14T03:59:00.000-08:00

Entering the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini in Naples in 1793, he studied music with Nicola Sala

Bahubali

2005-03-13T23:32:00.000-08:00

After winning a duel with his half-brother for control of the kingdom, Bahubali is believed by the Jains to have realized the transience of temporal affairs and renounced the world. According

Ouvéa Island

2005-03-13T13:59:00.000-08:00

French Île Uvéa , also called Urea or Uea northernmost of the Loyalty Islands, an island group within the French overseas territory of New Caledonia, southwestern Pacific Ocean. Ouvéa is a crescent-shaped atoll, 30 miles (50 km) long and 4.5 miles (7 km) wide, with a total area of 51 square miles (132 square km). The most fertile of the group, it is wooded and exports copra. Faiaué (Fayaoué), on the southeast coast, is the chief village and

Balearic Islands

2005-03-12T16:18:00.000-08:00

The archipelago lies 50 to 190 miles (80 to 300 km) east of the Spanish mainland and has a land area of 1,936 square miles (5,014 square km). There are two groups of islands. The eastern and larger

Habitual Offender

2005-03-12T14:34:00.000-08:00

A classic account of habitual offenders is Norval Morris, The Habitual Criminal (1951, reprinted 1973). Works examining habitual-offender laws include David Shichor and Dale K. Sechrest (eds.), Three Strikes and You're Out: Vengeance as Public Policy (1996); and John Clark, James Austin, and D. Alan Henry, “Three Strikes and You're Out”: A Review of State Legislation (1997). John E. Hodge, Mary McMurran, and Clive R. Hollin (eds.), Addicted to Crime? (1997), discusses persistent criminals in terms of addiction.

Golden Age

2005-03-11T19:04:00.000-08:00

In Latin literature, the period, from approximately 70 BC to AD 18, during which the Latin language was brought to perfection as a literary medium and many Latin classical masterpieces were composed. The Golden Age can be subdivided into two major sections, the Ciceronian period (q.v.; 70–43 BC), dominated by Marcus Tullius Cicero, and the Augustan Age (q.v.; 43 BC–AD 18), a period of mature literary achievements

Amphion And Zethus

2005-03-10T20:21:00.000-08:00

In Greek mythology, the twin sons of Zeus by Antiope. When children, they were left to die on Mount Cithaeron but were found and brought up by a shepherd. Amphion became a great singer and musician, Zethus a hunter and herdsman. After rejoining their mother, they built and fortified Thebes, huge blocks of stone forming themselves into walls at the sound of Amphion's lyre.

Scandinavian Literature, Icelandic literature

2005-03-10T17:37:00.000-08:00

The literary and linguistic renaissance in Iceland at the start of the 19th century was fostered by three men in particular: a philologist, Hallgrímur Scheving; a poet and lexicographer, Sveinbjörn Egilsson; and a philosopher and mathematician, Björn Gunnlaugsson. The principal movement in this renaissance was Romanticism. Inspired by the German philosopher Henrik

Amphibian, Distribution and abundance

2005-03-09T22:56:00.000-08:00

Found in almost every type of environment except the high latitudes in the Arctic, Antarctica, various oceanic islands, and some extremely xeric (dry) deserts, frogs and toads show the greatest diversity in humid tropical environments. Salamanders primarily inhabit the Northern Hemisphere and are most abundant in cool, moist, montane forests;

Vagrancy

2005-03-09T22:18:00.000-08:00

State or action of one who has no established home and drifts from place to place without visible or lawful means of support. Traditionally a vagrant was thought to be one who was able to work for his maintenance but preferred instead to live idly, often as a beggar. The punishment for this ranged from branding and whipping to conscription into the military services

Agnosticism

2005-03-09T15:45:00.000-08:00

(from Greek agnostos, “unknowable”), strictly speaking, the doctrine that humans cannot know of the existence of anything beyond the phenomena of their experience. The term has come to be equated in popular parlance with skepticism about religious questions in general and in particular with the rejection of traditional Christian beliefs under the impact of modern

Canaan Dog

2005-03-08T21:38:00.000-08:00

Breed of herding dog developed in Israel in the 20th century from semiwild pariah dogs that were the descendants of animals present in the region since biblical times. Over time they had been utilized as guardians and hunting dogs, but most had reverted to a wild state, living in desert areas. In the 1930s a breeding program was begun to redomesticate these wild dogs to serve

Insurance, Direct losses

2005-03-07T16:45:00.000-08:00

Losses may be settled on a replacement-cost

Gaillardia

2005-03-07T14:18:00.000-08:00

They have purple disk flowers and yellow, orange, or white ray flowers with three or more teeth

Kenite

2005-03-06T10:25:00.000-08:00

Member of a tribe of itinerant metalsmiths related to the Midianites and the Israelites who plied their trade while traveling in the region of the Arabah (the desert rift valley extending from the Sea of Galilee to the Gulf of Aqaba) from at least the 13th century to the 9th century BC. The Kenites' name was derived from Cain, whose descendants they were believed to be. The Kenites

Gabrilowitsch, Ossip (salomonovich)

2005-03-06T08:33:00.000-08:00

After study with two of the outstanding pianists of his day—Anton Rubinstein in St. Petersburg and Theodor Leschetizky in Vienna—Gabrilowitsch toured widely in Europe and the United States. In 1909 he married Mark Twain's daughter, the singer Clara Clemens,

Chromosomal Disorder

2005-03-05T14:09:00.000-08:00

Normally, humans have 46 chromosomes arranged in 23 pairs; the pairs vary in size and shape and are numbered by convention. Twenty-two of the pairs are autosomes, and one pair, number 23, is the sex chromosomes. Any variation from

San Francisco Peaks

2005-03-05T04:36:00.000-08:00

The San Francisco Peaks, known by various Indian language names, are sacred to

Decapolis

2005-03-04T11:03:00.000-08:00

League of 10 ancient Greek cities in eastern Palestine that was formed after the Roman conquest of Palestine in 63 BC, when Pompey the Great reorganized the Middle East to Rome's advantage and to his own. The name Decapolis also denotes the roughly contiguous territory formed by these cities, all but one of which lay east of the Jordan River. According to Pliny the Elder (Natural

Latin American Economic System

2005-03-04T08:56:00.000-08:00

Spanish Sistema Económico Latinoamericano (SELA) association formed to promote economic cooperation and development throughout the region of Latin America. Established in 1975 through the Panama Convention, SELA succeeded the Special Committee for Latin American Coordination (CECLA). Nearly 30 countries are members. SELA's principal organ, the Latin American Council, meets annually. Headquarters are in Caracas,

Biblical Literature, The Letter of Jeremiah

2005-03-04T04:43:00.000-08:00

The Letter of Jeremiah, like the book of Baruch, was conserved—together with the Greek translation of the Book of Jeremiah—in the Septuagint. The oldest witness of the letter is a fragment of a Greek papyrus, written about 160 BCE and found among the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran. Whether the letter was originally written in Greek or is a translation from Hebrew or Aramaic is difficult

Aliquippa

2005-03-03T13:36:00.000-08:00

City, Beaver county, western Pennsylvania, U.S. It lies along the Ohio River, just northwest of Pittsburgh. Settled about 1750 as a post for trade with Delaware, Iroquois, and Shawnee Indians, it was first known as Logstown and later renamed for “Queen” Aliquippa, probably an Iroquois. After the French and Indian War (1754–63), the Indian peoples lost their title to the land, and Logstown

Mckenzie, Sir John

2005-03-03T13:32:00.000-08:00

McKenzie's deep antagonism toward land monopolists was rooted in his boyhood in Scotland, where he witnessed the dispossession of small farmers by Highland landlords. After

Andean Peoples

2005-03-02T20:16:00.000-08:00

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

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, Parable

2005-03-01T21:06:00.000-08:00

Like fable, the parable also tells a simple story. But, whereas fables tend to personify animal characters—often giving the same impression as does an animated cartoon—the typical parable uses human agents. Parables generally show less interest in the storytelling and more in the analogy they draw between a particular instance of human behaviour (the true neighbourly

Fief

2005-03-01T10:22:00.000-08:00

In European feudal society, a vassal's source of income, held from his lord in exchange for services. The fief constituted the central institution of feudal society (see feudalism). It normally consisted of land to which a number of unfree peasants were attached; the land was supposed to be sufficient to support the vassal and to secure his knight service for the lord.

Geoffrin, Marie-thérèse Rodet

2005-03-01T03:13:00.000-08:00

The daughter of a valet, she married a rich manufacturer, a member of the newly influential bourgeoisie, with whom she had no rapport. Although lacking formal education herself, Madame Geoffrin was sensitive, an excellent

Pavía Y Rodríguez De Alburquerque, Manuel

2005-02-27T14:13:00.000-08:00

In 1865 Pavía joined the staff of Gen. Juan Prim, whom he supported in the unsuccessful uprisings of 1866 and, after two years in exile, in the successful revolution of 1868 that deposed Isabella II (1833–68). After the abdication of Amadeus (February 1873) and the proclamation of the First Republic, Pavía suppressed

Domicile

2005-02-27T11:58:00.000-08:00

In law, a person's dwelling place as it is defined for purposes of judicial jurisdiction and governmental burdens and benefits. Certain aspects of a person's legal existence do not vary with the state he happens to be in at any given moment but are governed by a personal law that follows him at all times. In Anglo-American countries applying the common law, one's personal

Fisher, Sir Ronald Aylmer

2005-02-26T23:27:00.000-08:00

In 1909 Fisher was awarded a scholarship to study mathematics at the University of Cambridge, from which he graduated in 1912 with a B.A. in astronomy. He remained at Cambridge for another

Condom

2005-02-26T08:15:00.000-08:00

Contraceptive device consisting of a sheath that fits over the penis and that is intended to prevent the escape of semen into the vagina. It is made of very thin, flexible rubber or a rubberlike plastic (latex). The condom has long been used as protection against venereal infections and other sexually transmitted diseases, and by the 17th century it was utilized as a contraceptive

Van Duyn, Mona

2005-02-25T22:50:00.000-08:00

Van Duyn attended Iowa State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa; B.A., 1942) and

Spacecraft

2005-02-25T15:58:00.000-08:00

Although early conceptions of spaceflight usually depicted streamlined spacecraft, streamlining has no particular advantage in the vacuum of space. Actual vehicles are designed with a variety of shapes depending on the mission. The first spacecraft,

Foy, Eddie

2005-02-25T00:24:00.000-08:00

As a child he sang and danced in the streets of New York and Chicago to help support his family. He gained his first professional recognition in the mining camps and cow towns of the West, beginning around 1878. He returned to Chicago in 1888 as the star comedian

P'eng-hu Islands

2005-02-24T01:54:00.000-08:00

P'eng-hu also spelled Penghu , Chinese (Wade-Giles) P'eng-hu Ch'ün-tao , or P'eng-hu Lieh-tao conventional Pescadores archipelago and hsien (county) of Taiwan, consisting of about 64 small islands, approximately 30 miles (50 km) west of the coast of Taiwan, from which it is separated by the P'eng-hu Channel. Of volcanic origin, many of the islands consist of weathered basalt, and they are surrounded by coral reefs. The islands are low-lying, most rising only about 100–130 feet (30–40 m) above sea level. The highest

Craigie, Sir William Alexander

2005-02-23T09:29:00.000-08:00

Craigie attended St. Andrews University, studied Scandinavian languages in Copenhagen, and taught at St. Andrews

Forde, Francis Michael

2005-02-22T09:56:00.000-08:00

Active in state politics as a young man, Forde was a member of the Australian House of Representatives (1922–46) and deputy leader of the Australian Labor Party (1932–46). In the cabinet he served as minister for the army (1941–46), minister for defense (1946), and deputy prime minister

Girandole

2005-02-22T06:19:00.000-08:00

Elaborate wall bracket incorporating one or more candleholders and frequently a mirror to reflect the light. An object of luxury, it was usually embellished with carving and gilding. Although the name is Italian in origin, girandoles reached the greatest heights of fashion (in the second half of the 18th century) in France and England. At the beginning of this period

Rawi

2005-02-21T16:06:00.000-08:00

One or more rawis attached themselves to a particular poet and learned his works by heart. They then recited and explained the poet's verse before a wider audience. Such an attachment often became an apprenticeship,

Resonator

2005-02-21T09:59:00.000-08:00

Acoustical device for reinforcing sound, as the sounding board of a piano, the “belly” of a stringed instrument, the air mass of an organ pipe, and the throat, nose, and mouth cavities of a vocal animal. In addition to augmenting acoustic power, resonators may also, by altering relative intensities of overtones, change the quality of a tone. See also soundboard. The Helmholtz

Antarctica, Glaciation

2005-02-21T00:25:00.000-08:00

Antarctica provides the best available picture of the probable appearance 20,000 years ago of northern North America under the great Laurentide Ice Sheet. Mountain glaciers, which formed on such highlands as the Sentinel Range perhaps as early as 50 million years ago, advanced down valleys to calve into the sea. Fringing ice shelves were built and later became grounded

Asheboro

2005-02-20T20:44:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1796) of Randolph county, central North Carolina, U.S. It lies in the forested Uwharrie Mountains about 25 miles (40 km) south of Greensboro. Asheboro (originally Asheborough) was founded in 1796 on land that was once the home of Keyauwee Indians; a prehistoric Native American burial ground nearby was excavated in 1936. The name honours North Carolina Governor Samuel Ashe (1725–1813). The community

Masham, Abigail, Baroness Masham Of Otes

2005-02-19T14:43:00.000-08:00

She was the daughter of Francis Hill, a Levant merchant, who was ruined by speculation;

Tsingtao

2005-02-19T13:44:00.000-08:00

Originally a minor fishing village, Tsingtao developed a large junk trade

North American Indian Languages

2005-02-18T11:30:00.000-08:00

The first comprehensive classification into families of the North American Indian languages was made in 1891 by the American John Wesley Powell, who based his study on impressionistic resemblances in vocabulary. A principle of nomenclature adopted by Powell has been widely used ever since: families are named by adding -an to the name of one prominent member; e.g., Caddoan

Thomas, Norman (mattoon)

2005-02-18T09:30:00.000-08:00

Following his graduation from Union Theological Seminary, New York City, about 1911, Thomas accepted the pastorate of the East Harlem Church and the chairmanship of the American Parish, a settlement house in one of the poorest sections of New York City.

Coase, Ronald

2005-02-17T21:45:00.000-08:00

Coase attended the London School of Economics, where he received a bachelor of commerce degree in 1932 and a Ph.D. in economics in 1951. He was employed at various universities, including the London School of Economics (1935–51), the University of Buffalo, New York

France, History Of, Attempts at a restoration

2005-02-16T18:28:00.000-08:00

The monarchists, however, still held a comfortable majority in the assembly and continued to hope and plan for a restoration. Legitimists and Orleanists remained at odds, but a compromise seemed possible. The Bourbon pretender, the Count de Chambord (“the miracle child” of 1820), was old and childless; the Orleanist pretender, Philippe, Count de Paris, was young and prolific.

Frederick Iii

2005-02-16T07:17:00.000-08:00

Frederick adopted Lutheranism in 1546 and Calvinism somewhat later. His Calvinism and his opposition to the Habsburg emperors made his electoral position insecure,

Biblical Literature, The Ascension of Isaiah

2005-02-16T04:58:00.000-08:00

According to the Lives of the Prophets, Jeremiah was stoned to death and Isaiah was sawn asunder. These two legends are reflected in two originally Jewish works. The Ascension of Isaiah, in which the martyrdom of Isaiah is narrated, is as a whole extant only in Ethiopic, translated from a Greek original, which itself is also known from fragments. The book contains important

Tarapacá

2005-02-15T07:33:00.000-08:00

Northernmost region, Chile, bordering Peru and Bolivia on the north and east and fronting the Pacific Ocean on the west. Tarapacá was ceded to Chile by Peru after the War of the Pacific (1879–83) and was organized as a province (area 22,820 sq mi [59,104 sq km]) in 1884, and as a region in 1974. It is divided into the provinces of Arica, Parinacota, and Iquique. Part of the Atacama Desert, it is without water except

Bar-le-duc

2005-02-14T10:55:00.000-08:00

Capital of Meuse département, Lorraine région, northeastern France. It extends out along the narrow valley of the Ornain River, west of Nancy. To the northeast is the Canal de la Marne au Rhin, on the southwest the Canal des Usines. The Ornain River valley is enclosed by wooded and vine-clad hills. From the 10th century Bar was the seat of a countship, and later a duchy. The remains

Atacama

2005-02-14T03:27:00.000-08:00

Región, northern Chile. It is bounded on the east by Argentina and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. Created as a province in 1843 and as a región in 1974, it includes Chañaral, Copiapó, and Huasco provincias and San Félix and San Ambrosio islands, which lie in the Pacific about 500 miles (800 km) west of Chañaral, the main port. The Atacama Desert covers much of the región. North of Copiapó (q.v.), the

Op Art

2005-02-13T21:13:00.000-08:00

Also called optical art branch of mid-20th-century geometric, abstract art that deals with optical illusion. Achieved through the systematic and precise manipulation of shapes and colours, the effects of Op art can be based either on perspective illusion or on chromatic tension; in painting, the dominant medium of Op art, the surface tension is usually maximized to the point at which an actual

Race, Building the myth of black inferiority

2005-02-13T00:36:00.000-08:00

A number of 18th-century political and intellectual leaders publicly asserted that Africans were naturally inferior and that they were indeed best suited for slavery. A few intellectuals revived an older image of all living things, the scala naturae (Latin: “scale of nature”), or Great Chain of Being, to demonstrate that nature or God had made men unequal. This ancient

Yoshiyuki, Junnosuke

2005-02-11T13:26:00.000-08:00

Japanese novelist and short-story writer (b. April 1, 1923, Okayama, Japan--d. July 26, 1994, Tokyo, Japan), explored human sexuality and prostitution as a means of understanding human relationships. His prize-winning works include the short story "Shuu" (1954; "Sudden Shower," 1972), and the novels Anshitsu (1969: The Dark Room, 1975) and Yugure made (1978: "Until Evening"), the latter of which won the Noma Literary Prize. Yoshiyuki,

Marcello, Benedetto

2005-02-11T11:50:00.000-08:00

Italian composer and writer, especially remembered for two works: the satirical pamphlet Il teatro alla moda (1720); and Estro poeticoarmonico (1724–26), a setting for voices and instruments of the first 50 psalms in an Italian paraphrase by G. Giustiniani. Il teatro alla moda is an amusing pamphlet in which Marcello vented his opinions on the

Keyboard Instrument, The short octave

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

Even after the present arrangement of five raised keys and seven natural keys per octave had become standard in the 15th century, two exceptions existed. The first of these—the “short octave”—concerned only the lowest octave at the bass end of the keyboard. In the short octave, not all keys actually sounded notes of the expected pitch; their respective strings were tuned

Karakoram Range

2005-02-11T03:52:00.000-08:00

Chinese (Wade-Giles) K'a-la-k'un-lun Shan, or (Pinyin) Karakorum Shan, great mountain system extending some 300 miles (500 kilometres) from the easternmost extension of Afghanistan in a southeasterly direction along the watershed between Central and South Asia. Found there are the greatest concentration of high mountains in the world and the longest glaciers outside the high latitudes. The borders of Tajikistan, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan

Père David's Deer

2005-02-10T17:11:00.000-08:00

The deer is about 1.1 metres (43 inches) tall at the shoulder and is characterized

Jiang Qing

2005-02-10T13:20:00.000-08:00

Third wife of Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong and the most influential woman in the People's Republic of China until her downfall in 1976, after Mao's death. As a member of the Gang of Four (q.v.) she was convicted in 1981 of “counter-revolutionary crimes” and

Schemochrome

2005-02-09T16:33:00.000-08:00

Any one of many colourless, submicroscopic structures in organisms that serve as a source of colour by the manner in which they reflect light. Among those physical structures in organisms that fractionate light into its component colours are ridges, striations, facets, successive layers, and multiple fine, randomly dispersed light-scattering bodies.

Bukovina

2005-02-09T14:07:00.000-08:00

Eastern European territory consisting of a segment of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plain, divided in modern times (after 1947) between Romania and the Soviet Union. Settled by both Ukrainians (Ruthenians) and Romanians (Moldavians), the region became an integral part of the principality of Moldavia in the 14th century. Suceava, in the south of

Charadriiform, Reproduction

2005-02-08T22:03:00.000-08:00

The modes of reproduction in the charadriiforms are only slightly less diverse than the food habits. Nearly all are ground nesters, laying few eggs (two to four in most families; up to six in jacanas) often with little or no nesting material. Usually the eggs are protectively coloured. Some species nest in crevices or burrows, a few in trees. Many are colonial, with aggregations