GreenKnee

Martin, Gregory

2005-04-05T14:42:00.000-07:00

Roman Catholic biblical scholar, principal translator of the Latin Vulgate into English (Douai-Reims Bible). His version, in Bishop Richard Challoner's third revised edition (1752), was the standard Bible for English Roman Catholics until the 20th century, and his phraseology influenced the Anglican translators of the Authorized, or King

Arendt, Hannah

2005-04-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

Arendt grew up in her native Hannover, Germany, and in Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). She attended the universities of Marburg, Freiburg, and Heidelberg (from which she received

Pa-an

2005-04-05T05:57:00.000-07:00

Burmese Hpa-an town, southern Myanmar (Burma). Situated on the left bank of the Salween River, 27 miles (43 km) north of Moulmein (Mawlamyine), it has an airfield and is linked by road west to Thaton and across the Dwana Range to Thailand. Pop. (1983) 41,501.

Art And Architecture, Egyptian, Cult temples

2005-04-02T14:11:00.000-08:00

It is generally thought that the Egyptian temple of the Dynastic Period owed most to the cult of the sun god Re at Heliopolis. The temple of Re, however, was probably open in plan and lacked a shrine. Sun temples were unique among cult temples; worship was centred on a cult object, the benben, which was a squat obelisk placed in full sunlight. Among the few temples surviving

Mihrab

2005-04-01T20:09:00.000-08:00

Arabic mihrab prayer niche in the qiblah wall (that facing Mecca) of a mosque; mihrabs vary in size but are usually ornately decorated. The mihrab originated in the reign of the Umayyad prince al-Walid I (705–715), during which time the famous mosques at Medina, Jerusalem, and Damascus were built. The structure was adapted from the prayer niches common to the oratories of Coptic Christian monks.

Holborn

2005-04-01T11:44:00.000-08:00

Neighbourhood and former metropolitan borough (until 1965) of London. Now part of the borough of Camden, it lies northwest of the City of London and south of the Islington neighbourhood of Clerkenwell. Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn, two of the four Inns of Court, are central features of the district. The houses of Sir John Soane's Museum overlook Lincoln's Inn Fields from the north,

Husted, Marjorie Child

2005-03-31T19:54:00.000-08:00

Husted attended public schools and graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1913. She remained at the university to take a degree in education the next year. After a

Agricola, Alexander

2005-03-30T17:10:00.000-08:00

Agricola was educated in the Netherlands and entered the service of Charles VII of France. He later went to Milan and in 1474 was at the court of Lorenzo de' Medici. The same year he returned to the Netherlands. In 1500 he became chaplain and chanter to Philip the Fair of Burgundy, whom he accompanied

Chad, Flag Of

2005-03-29T10:20:00.000-08:00

When French West Africa was under colonial rule, little was done to develop a sense of nationality; emphasis was on the culture and political and economic systems of France. The independence movement in Africa in the mid-20th century therefore found Chad, like most other territories, with few precedents for establishing its own symbols. When the Republic of Chad was

Yarim

2005-03-29T09:49:00.000-08:00

Town, southwestern Yemen. It lies in the heart of the Yemen Highlands, on an upland plateau dominated by the massif of nearby Mount Sumarah, which rises to about 10,000 feet (3,000 m) above sea level. In antiquity the Yarim area was the core of the state of Himyar, which ruled over much of southern Arabia from about 115 BC to about AD 575; the Himyarite capital of Zafar (q.v.) was about 9 miles (15 km) south of Yarim. The

Developments In The States, 1998

2005-03-27T22:54:00.000-08:00

California voters narrowly turned down an initiative prohibiting the use of union dues money for political purposes without direct permission from the union members. After ironing out differences with state interests, Congress approved the Internet Tax Freedom Act, effectively barring new or special state taxes on Internet commercial transactions. Proponents

Lancaster

2005-03-27T21:54:00.000-08:00

City, Los Angeles county, southwestern California, U.S., in the Antelope Valley at the western edge of the Mojave Desert. It began as a Scottish settlement organized by M.L. Wicks (1882), who perhaps named it for his hometown in Pennsylvania. The valley largely supported cattle ranching until the early 1900s, when water, pumped by gasoline engines, transformed it into an agricultural

X Ray

2005-03-27T08:25:00.000-08:00

Early experiments with X rays presented evidence that is difficult to explain unless one thinks of X rays as consisting of waves. Other experiments, however, indicated that X rays consist of particles. This dual nature is not restricted to X rays; indeed, it is a general property of all forms of energy and matter. X rays (and the other forms of electromagnetic radiation)

Târgu-neamt

2005-03-26T20:51:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Tîrgu-neamt, town, Neamt judet (county), northeastern Romania, on the Neamt River. It has long been a local market centre and a major focus of culture in Moldavia. West of the town is Neamt Monastery, founded by Stephen (Stefan) the Great in 1497. On the north bank of the Neamt River stands the ruins of the Fortress of Neamt, founded in the late 14th century. To the west is Agapia Monastery, founded in 1585. Textiles

Xenarthran

2005-03-26T08:37:00.000-08:00

Order Cingulata consists primarily of armoured armadillo-like animals, and the name refers to the girdlelike shell of present-day armadillos. The armadillo family (Dasypodidae), with 8 genera and 20 species, is the only surviving family of Cingulata. Five other families in this order are extinct and are known only from fossil remains. Members of extinct families

Tigris-euphrates River System, Physiography of the Euphrates

2005-03-25T14:07:00.000-08:00

The headwaters of the Euphrates are the Murat and the Karasu rivers in the Armenian Highland of northeastern Turkey. Considerably altered in the 20th century by water-control projects, they join to form the Euphrates at Keban, near Elazig, where the Keban Dam, completed in 1974, spans a deep gorge. The river breaks through the Taurus Mountains and descends to the high plain of

Reproductive System Disease, Inflammatory conditions

2005-03-24T17:13:00.000-08:00

Balanitis, or inflammation of the glans penis, and posthitis, or infection of the prepuce, result from the retention of secretions and bacteria beneath the foreskin and can be prevented with good sexual hygiene. Balanitis can also develop as a complication of certain sexually transmitted diseases. Acute prostatitis, inflammation of the prostate gland, may be caused

Seto

2005-03-24T10:42:00.000-08:00

City, Aichi ken (prefecture), central Honshu, Japan, northeast of Nagoya. Seto, established about 1230, is known for its porcelain (Seto ware). Since the Meiji period (1868–1912), the pottery industry has expanded to include over 900 factories and 1,000 kilns. Tableware, electric insulators, and toys are also produced. Seto houses the National Ceramic Experimental Station. Memorials to the legendary

Da Ponte, Lorenzo

2005-03-24T00:57:00.000-08:00

Though Jewish by birth, Da Ponte was baptized in 1763 and later became a priest; his youthful libertinism and freethinking, however, eventually led, in 1779, to his expulsion from the Venetian state. Taking up residence in Vienna, he became official poet to the court of Emperor Joseph II and in

Leaf-cutter Bee

2005-03-23T13:14:00.000-08:00

Also called Leaf-cutting Bee, any of the insects in the family Megachilidae (order Hymenoptera), particularly certain species in the genus Megachile. Leaf-cutter bees differ from related species in that they collect pollen on their abdomens rather than on their hind legs. The solitary female, having mated with the male, makes a nest in soil, a hollow plant stalk, or a cavity in wood, lining

Kean, Charles (john)

2005-03-22T08:57:00.000-08:00

The son of the famed actor Edmund Kean, he was educated at Eton and made his debut as Young Norval in Douglas in London in 1827. He toured the provinces extensively but first won general acceptance during an American tour in 1830. Returning to

Uccle

2005-03-22T05:21:00.000-08:00

Flemish Ukkel municipality, Brussels region, central Belgium. It lies just south of Brussels and is one of the 19 communes that make up Greater Brussels. Formerly a separate town dating back to the 12th century, it is now a primarily residential suburb with some light manufacturing. It is the site of the Royal Observatory and has several châteaus (Errera, Uccle, and Ithier). The Russian Orthodox

Rime

2005-03-21T06:41:00.000-08:00

White, opaque, granular deposit of ice crystals formed on objects that are at a temperature below the freezing point. Rime occurs when supercooled water droplets (at a temperature lower than 0° C [32° F]) in fog come in contact with a surface that is also at a temperature below freezing; the droplets are so small that they freeze almost immediately upon contact with the object.

Wild Ginger

2005-03-21T02:44:00.000-08:00

Canadian wild ginger,

Roman Road System

2005-03-20T01:30:00.000-08:00

The first of the great Roman roads, the Via Appia (Appian Way), begun by the censor Appius

Unification Church

2005-03-19T14:05:00.000-08:00

Born in 1920, Moon was raised in the Presbyterian church, which eventually excommunicated him for heresy. As a teenager he had a

Cheltenham

2005-03-19T06:18:00.000-08:00

A church is known to have existed at Cheltenham as early as 803. The town is first mentioned in documents in 1223, when the benefit of markets, fairs, and the hundred (feudal

Tectonics

2005-03-19T00:34:00.000-08:00

Scientific study of the deformation of the rocks that make up the Earth's crust and the forces that produce such deformation. It deals with the folding and faulting associated with mountain building; the large-scale, gradual upward and downward movements of the crust (epeirogenic movements); and sudden horizontal displacements along faults. Other phenomena studied

World War Ii, Allied policy and strategy: Octagon (Quebec II) and Moscow, 1944

2005-03-18T17:46:00.000-08:00

The progress of the Soviet armies toward central and southeastern Europe made it all the more urgent for the western Allies to come to terms with Stalin about the fate of the “liberated” countries of eastern Europe. London had already proposed to Moscow in May 1944 that Romania and Bulgaria should be zones for Soviet military operation, Yugoslavia and Greece—whose royalist

Ibn 'abbad

2005-03-18T06:32:00.000-08:00

Attracted to Morocco by the famous madrasahs (religious colleges), Ibn 'Abbad emigrated there at an early age. He abandoned legal studies in a quest for mystical knowledge. In 1359 he

Labour Economics, Theory of bargaining

2005-03-17T21:18:00.000-08:00

Limitations on the scope of bargaining are also suggested by theory. Collective bargaining can be seen as the reduction of two risks to which the worker is exposed through individual bargaining. There is first the risk that the worker will be merely one of a number of applicants for a single vacancy and that competition between them will force the pay down. Even as

Uganda

2005-03-17T07:36:00.000-08:00

Officially Republic of Uganda, Swahili Jamhuri ya Uganda landlocked country of East Africa. Covering a total area of 93,072 square miles (241,038 square km), the country is slightly smaller in size than its former colonial ruler, Great Britain. It is bordered by The Sudan to the north, Kenya to the east, Tanzania and Rwanda to the south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo [Kinshasa]; formerly Zaire) to the west. The capital city, Kampala

Alapa

2005-03-16T05:27:00.000-08:00

(Sanskrit: “conversation”), in the art music of India and Pakistan, improvised melody structured to reveal a raga and occurring principally in the introductory section of a performance. There the alapa is performed without rhythmic accompaniment and is free and rhapsodic in character. With only a drone (sustained-tone) accompaniment, the performer of the alapa gradually

Baraka, Amiri

2005-03-16T03:28:00.000-08:00

Jones graduated from Howard University (B.A., 1953) and served in the U.S. Air Force. After military duty, he joined the Beat movement, attended graduate school, and published his first major collection of poetry, Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide

Ibn 'abbad

2005-03-15T17:46:00.000-08:00

Also called espavé a tall, tropical forest tree of Central and South America closely related to the domesticated cashew, A. occidentale. The wild cashew grows to a height of over 30 metres (100 feet), and its wood possesses many desirable properties that make it a valuable source of timber. Strong and easily worked, the wood is commonly used by locals in the construction

Dadié, Bernard Binlin

2005-03-15T10:07:00.000-08:00

Dadié received his higher education in Senegal, where his involvement in a folklore and drama movement first encouraged him to

New Church

2005-03-14T19:43:00.000-08:00

Also called Swedenborgians, church organized in the General Conference of the New Church, the General Convention of the New Jerusalem in the U.S.A., and the General Church of the New Jerusalem. Its members are followers of the theology of Emanuel Swedenborg, the 18th-century Swedish scientist, philosopher, and theologian. Swedenborg did not himself found a church, but he believed that his writings

Shamanism, Dress

2005-03-14T02:01:00.000-08:00

He wears a ritual gown, which usually imitates an animal—a deer, a bird, a bear. Similarly, the headdress is a crown made of antlers or a band into which feathers of birds have been pierced. The footwear is also symbolic—iron deer hooves, birds' claws, or bears' paws. The clothing of the shamans among the Tofalar (Karagasy), Soyet, and Darhat are decorated with representations

Valencia

2005-03-13T15:37:00.000-08:00

Capital of Valencia province and the autonomous community (region) of Valencia, and of the former kingdom of Valencia, eastern Spain. Located on the Mediterranean coast at the mouth of the Río Turia (Guadalaviar), it is surrounded by orchards in a region known as the Huerta de Valencia. The earliest mention (Valentia) is by the Roman historian Livy, who states that the consul

Hyatt, Alpheus

2005-03-13T08:48:00.000-08:00

He studied at Harvard (1858–62) under the Swiss–U.S. naturalist

Disarmament

2005-03-12T18:50:00.000-08:00

In international relations, any of four distinct conceptions: (1) the penal destruction or reduction of the armament of a country defeated in war (the provision under the Versailles Treaty [1919] for the disarmament of Germany and its allies is an example of this conception of disarmament); (2) bilateral disarmament agreements applying to specific geographic areas (naval

Joint Disease, Neurogenic arthropathy

2005-03-11T21:59:00.000-08:00

A Charcot joint is a severe degenerative disease that develops when the sensory mechanisms of joints are impaired. The current view is that these joints become excessively strained because the ability to receive stimuli from bodily structures and organs necessary for normal limitation of motion is lacking. As a result the supporting tissues are torn and extreme

Albania

2005-03-11T18:56:00.000-08:00

The government has made a conscious effort to encourage and preserve the nation's rich folk life. There are some 4,300 cultural institutions of various sorts in the country. The National Library, as well as the State Choir and the Opera and Ballet Theatre, are located in Tiranë. Albania's best-known writer is Ismail Kadare, a novelist and poet whose writings have been translated

Gonzaga Dynasty

2005-03-10T17:42:00.000-08:00

Italian dynasty whose heads ruled Mantua from 1328 to 1707 and also Montferrat, with the stronghold of Casale, from 1536 to 1707. Their origins are uncertain, but by the 12th century the Corradi family of Gonzaga were established as members of the feudal gentry owning estates near Mantua, to which during the 13th century they managed to add other extensive properties. They took their name

Bendigo

2005-03-10T07:55:00.000-08:00

Founded as a sheep run in 1840, the city's official name was Sandhurst until 1891, when it was formally changed to honour a local prizefighter who compared his own prowess to that of the English pugilist known as Bendigo. An important gold discovery on Bendigo

Space Law

2005-03-10T03:18:00.000-08:00

The evolution of space law began with U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower's introduction of the concept into the United Nations in 1957, in connection with disarmament negotiations. Following the successful launchings of the Soviet satellite

Adz

2005-03-09T16:39:00.000-08:00

Also spelled adze hand tool for shaping wood. One of the earliest tools, it was widely distributed in Stone Age cultures in the form of a handheld stone chipped to form a blade. By Egyptian times it had acquired a wooden haft, or handle, with a copper or bronze blade set flat at the top of the haft to form a T. In this form the adz continued to be the prime hand tool for shaping and trimming wood.

Armstrong, Lance

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

Armstrong entered sports at a young age, excelling in both swimming and cycling, and, by the time he was a teenager, he was competing in triathlons and swimming competitions. Before his high-school graduation, the Junior National Cycling Team, part of the U.S. Cycling

Aesop

2005-03-08T22:28:00.000-08:00

The supposed author of a collection of Greek fables, almost certainly a legendary figure. Various attempts were made in ancient times to establish him as an actual personage. Herodotus in the 5th century BC said that he had lived in the 6th century and that he was a slave, and Plutarch in the 1st century AD made him adviser to Croesus, the 6th-century-BC king of Lydia. One tradition

Europe, James Reese

2005-03-08T11:23:00.000-08:00

Europe studied piano and violin in his youth and about 1904 settled in New York City, where he directed musical comedies and, in 1910, he helped organize the Clef Club, a union of African-American musicians. The 125-member Clef Club orchestra that he conducted

Ogilvy, David

2005-03-07T20:31:00.000-08:00

Ogilvy was the son of a classics scholar and broker, but financial reverses left the family in straitened circumstance when he was a boy. Nonetheless, he earned scholarships

East China Sea

2005-03-06T09:59:00.000-08:00

Chinese (Wade-Giles) Tung Hai, or (Pinyin) Dong Hai, arm of the Pacific Ocean bordering the East Asian mainland and extending northeastward from the South China Sea, to which it is connected by the shallow Taiwan Strait between Taiwan and mainland China. The East China Sea and the South China Sea together form the China Sea. The East China Sea extends to the east to the chain of the Ryukyu Islands; north to Kyushu, which

Molinos, Miguel De

2005-03-05T16:01:00.000-08:00

Ordained in 1652, Molinos in 1663 was sent to Rome. There, in 1675, he published his Spiritual Guide, a small handbook teaching that Christian perfection is achieved by a mixture of contemplation

Aerospace Industry

2005-03-05T14:36:00.000-08:00

Aerospace products and the processes by which they are made are complex in nature, and knowledge of the latter is important to an understanding of the industry. A substantial investment in research, involving specialized personnel and facilities, is critical to the aerospace industry, as it is to most industries in which development and productivity play highly

Mitchell, Edgar D(ean)

2005-03-05T10:51:00.000-08:00

Mitchell entered the U.S. Navy upon graduation from the Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh, Pa. He was awarded an engineering degree by the Navy

Byzantium

2005-03-04T02:53:00.000-08:00

Later Constantinople , modern Istanbul ancient Greek city on the shore of the Bosporus; also, an alternative name for the Byzantine Empire, which had its capital at Constantinople. See also Istanbul.

Sthanakavasi

2005-03-03T08:47:00.000-08:00

The Sthanakavasi, whose name refers to the subsect's preference for performing religious duties at a secular place such as a monks' meetinghouse (sthanak) rather than at a temple, differs from the Shvetambara sect

Hinduism

2005-03-03T07:06:00.000-08:00

The beliefs, practices, and socioreligious institutions of the Hindus (originally, the inhabitants of the land of the Indus River). Introduced in about 1830 by British writers, the term properly denotes the Indian civilization of approximately the last 2,000 years, which evolved from Vedism, the religion of the Indo-European peoples who settled in India in the last centuries

Arensky, Anton

2005-03-03T02:51:00.000-08:00

Although he was a composition student under Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, Arensky's work was more akin to that of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky; the predominant moods of his music are lyrical and elegiac. Of his three

Water Resource

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

Any of the entire range of natural waters that occur on the Earth, regardless of their state (i.e., vapour, liquid, or solid) and that are of potential use to humans. Of these, the resources most available for use are the waters of the oceans, rivers, and lakes; other available water resources include groundwater and deep subsurface waters and glaciers and permanent

Bedford

2005-03-01T15:19:00.000-08:00

Borough (town), seat (1771) of Bedford county, southern Pennsylvania, U.S., on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and the Raystown Branch Juniata River, in the Allegheny Mountains, 38 miles (61 km) south of Altoona. A settlement made on the site about 1750 by John Wray (or Ray), a Scottish trader, was known as Raystown. Fort Bedford (built 1758 and apparently named for John Russell, 4th duke of Bedford) was a frontier

Radiation Injury

2005-03-01T05:14:00.000-08:00

Tissue damage or changes caused by exposure to ionizing radiation—namely, gamma rays, X rays, and such high-energy particles as neutrons, electrons, and positrons. Sources of ionizing radiation may be natural (e.g., radioactive substances such as the element radium or the radioisotopes potassium-40 and carbon-14) or man-made (X-ray machines, nuclear reactors, particle accelerators,

Epidendrum

2005-02-28T19:40:00.000-08:00

Genus of tropical orchids, family Orchidaceae, with about 1,000 species that are distributed from southeastern North America to central South America. Epidendrum species are primarily epiphytic (supported by other plants and having aerial roots exposed to the humid atmosphere), but some grow on rocks or in soil. Flowers are usually borne on a terminal

Hanks, Tom

2005-02-28T08:03:00.000-08:00

Roy Trakin, Tom Hanks: Journey to Stardom, updated ed. (1995).

Palladius

2005-02-28T01:30:00.000-08:00

Palladius took up the ascetical life himself, first at the Mount of Olives, the scene of Christ's Passion outside Jerusalem,

Pittsburgh, University Of

2005-02-27T02:37:00.000-08:00

Coeducational state system of higher learning in Pennsylvania, U.S., comprising a main campus in Pittsburgh and branches in Bradford, Greensburg, Johnstown, and Titusville. The Pittsburgh campus is a comprehensive research institution of higher learning and includes 16 schools that offer more than 360 degree programs. Among these schools are those of Medicine, Dental

Combinatorics, Multinomial coefficients

2005-02-26T20:44:00.000-08:00

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

Harare

2005-02-26T15:07:00.000-08:00

Formerly Salisbury, capital of Zimbabwe, lying in the northeastern part of the country. The city was founded in 1890 at the spot where the British South Africa Company's Pioneer Column halted its march into Mashonaland; it was named for Lord Salisbury, then British prime minister. The name Harare is derived from that of the outcast Chief Neharawe, who, with his people, occupied the kopje (the hill

Kielland, Alexander Lange

2005-02-26T05:18:00.000-08:00

The scion of an aristocratic family, Kielland took a law degree in 1871 and purchased a brickyard, which he managed for nine years. Discontented, he went to Paris in 1878 and the next year published a collection

Genesee River

2005-02-25T02:27:00.000-08:00

River mainly in New York state, U.S. The Genesee flows generally north from its headwaters in Pennsylvania, crosses the New York State Canal System, and bisects Rochester to enter Lake Ontario after a course of 158 miles (254 km). At Portageville, midway along its course, the river flows into a 17-mile- (27-km-) long postglacial, winding, rocky gorge with sides rising as high as 600 feet (180 metres)

Dubnow, Simon Markovich

2005-02-24T23:39:00.000-08:00

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

Cacus And Caca

2005-02-24T18:04:00.000-08:00

In Roman religion, brother and sister, respectively, originally fire deities of the early Roman settlement on the Palatine Hill, where “Cacus' stairs” were later situated. The Roman poet Virgil described Cacus as the son of the flame god Vulcan and as a monstrous fire-breathing brigand who terrorized the countryside. He stole some of the giant Geryon's cattle from the

Turkey, Foreign affairs since 1950

2005-02-23T19:26:00.000-08:00

Until the 1960s, Turkish foreign policy was wholly based on close relations with the West, particularly the friendship of the United States. Turkey sent troops to Korea and joined NATO (1952) and the Baghdad Pact (1955). This Western-oriented policy derived from fear of the Soviet Union, dependence on U.S. military and economic aid, and Turkey's desire to be accepted as a secular, democratic,

China, Efforts to prevent civil war

2005-02-22T15:09:00.000-08:00

Between May and September 1944, representatives of the government and the CCP carried on peace negotiations at Sian. The main issues were the disposition, size, and command of the Communist armies; the relationship between Communist-organized regional governments and the National Government; and problems of civil rights and legalization of the CCP and its activities

Astyages

2005-02-22T08:33:00.000-08:00

Akkadian Ishtumegu the last king of the Median empire (reigned 585–550 BC). According to Herodotus, the Achaemenian Cyrus the Great was Astyages' grandson through his daughter Mandane, but this relationship is probably legendary. According to Babylonian inscriptions, Cyrus, king of Anshan (in southwestern Iran), began war against Astyages in 553 BC; in 550 the Median troops rebelled, and Astyages

Reston

2005-02-21T03:51:00.000-08:00

Urban community, in Fairfax county, northeastern Virginia, U.S. It lies adjacent to Herndon, 22 miles (35 km) west-northwest of Washington, D.C. The community was developed after 1962 by Robert E. Simon, whose initials form the first syllable of its name; it opened in 1965. Reston, an original concept in urban planning, consists of a number of villages (separated by woodland tracts), each with

Florida Atlantic University

2005-02-20T19:25:00.000-08:00

Public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Boca Raton, Florida, U.S. Part of the State University System of Florida, it is composed of nine colleges and offers an undergraduate curriculum that includes study in business, engineering, nursing, arts and letters, education, science, and architecture, urban, and public affairs. The university offers master's

Anielewicz, Mordecai

2005-02-20T08:41:00.000-08:00

Anielewicz was born into a working-class family and attended a Hebrew academic secondary school. As a boy he joined Betar, a Zionist youth organization that among other things advocated self-defense for Jews. By 1940 he had gone to Warsaw and become

Levski, Vasil

2005-02-19T19:57:00.000-08:00

Initially a monk (1858–64), Vasil Kunchev soon dedicated himself to the work of freeing Bulgaria and for his courage was nicknamed Levski (Lionlike). Levski united the two legions of Bulgarian volunteers organized in Serbia (1862, 1868) but, disappointed

Bacall, Lauren

2005-02-19T18:06:00.000-08:00

Bacall started modeling in 1941 and supplemented her income with jobs as a theatre usher and as a hostess at the Stage Door Canteen, which kept her next to the Broadway theatre scene

Ubangi River

2005-02-18T09:44:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Oubangui, largest right-bank tributary of the Congo River, marking the border between Congo (Kinshasa) and Congo (Brazzaville). The Ubangi is formed by the union (near Yakoma, Congo [Kinshasa], on the border of the Central African Republic) of the Bomu and Uele (Welle) rivers, and it then flows west for about 350 miles (560 km). It bends northeast of Bangui and flows a somewhat longer distance southwest.

Xia Gui

2005-02-17T22:37:00.000-08:00

For a time after his death, Xia may have suffered the same low esteem as other Southern Song academy painters in the eyes of proponents of the new literati, or scholar-amateur, school of painting, for whom professionalism was equated with empty technique and academicism. Zhuang Su wrote in 1298 in Huaji Buyi:He painted landscapes and figures, all very vulgar and debased.

China, The Shih-kuo (Ten Kingdoms)

2005-02-17T22:09:00.000-08:00

From the time of the T'ang dynasty until the Ch'ing dynasty, which arose in the 17th century, China consisted of two parts: the north, militarily strong, and the south, economically and culturally wealthy. Between 907 and 960, 10 independent kingdoms emerged in China, mainly in the south: the Wu (902–937), the Nan (Southern) T'ang (937–975/976), the Nan P'ing (924/925–963), the Ch'u (927–951), the Ch'ien (Former) Shu (907–925), the Hou (Later) Shu (934–965), the Min (909–945/946), the

Sea Snake

2005-02-17T14:10:00.000-08:00

Any of more than 50 species of venomous marine snakes of the family Hydrophiidae. In adaptation to marine life, sea snakes have oarlike tails and flattened bodies. Their nostrils have valvelike closings and are usually on top of the snout. Several sea snakes have bodies much thicker than their heads and necks affording them greater stability

Devers, Gail

2005-02-16T19:09:00.000-08:00

Devers began running in high school. Later, at the University of California at Los Angeles, she won the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) 100-metre dash in 1988 and set an American record of 12.61 sec in the 100-metre hurdles, which she held or shared

Blondel, Georges

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

After receiving his doctorate in 1881 and the rank of agrégé (highest teaching degree) in 1883, he was appointed to a chair of law at Lyon in 1884 and 10 years later was named professor of letters at Lille. He later taught at the École des Hautes Études Commerciales and

Heinrich Von Veldeke

2005-02-15T10:00:00.000-08:00

While at the court of the landgrave Hermann of Thuringia, Heinrich completed the Eneit, modeled on the French Roman d'Eneas rather

'abd Al-mu'min

2005-02-14T22:24:00.000-08:00

Information about 'Abd al-Mu'min and his work may be found in the general histories by Henri Terrasse, Histoire du Maroc, vol. 2, pp. 261–316 (1950); and Ambrosio Huici Miranda, Historia política del Imperio Almohade, 2 vol. (1956–57), both with numerous bibliographic references.

Marsh

2005-02-14T02:41:00.000-08:00

Marshes are common at the mouths of rivers, especially where extensive deltas have been built. The river brings a steady supply of water. The gradient

Placental Mammal

2005-02-13T17:12:00.000-08:00

Any member of the mammalian infraclass Eutheria, characterized by the presence of a placenta, which facilitates exchange of nutrients and wastes between the blood of the mother and that of the fetus. The infraclass Eutheria includes all living mammals except marsupials and monotremes. Some authorities consider the marsupials (infraclass Metatheria) to be placental

Byssinosis

2005-02-12T18:06:00.000-08:00

Also called Brown Lung, or Brown Lung Disease, respiratory disorder, a type of pneumoconiosis caused by dust from cotton and other fibres, common among textile workers. When inhaled, the dust stimulates histamine release, which causes constriction of the air passages, making breathing difficult. Over time the dust accumulates in the lung, producing a typical discoloration that gives the disease its common

Soho

2005-02-11T20:31:00.000-08:00

It was an area of farmlands in the Middle Ages and was acquired by the crown in the 1530s. The community's development stems from the activities

Qualitative Chemical Analysis

2005-02-11T03:59:00.000-08:00

Branch of chemistry that deals with the identification of elements or grouping of elements present in a sample. The techniques employed in qualitative analysis vary in complexity, depending on the nature of the sample. In some cases it is necessary only to verify the presence of certain elements or groups for which specific tests applicable directly to the sample

Ufa

2005-02-10T19:04:00.000-08:00

City and capital, Bashkortostan republic, western Russia. It lies along the Belaya (White) River just below its confluence with the Ufa River. A defensive site in a loop formed by the two rivers led to the foundation there of a fortress in 1574 to protect the trade route across the Ural Mountains from Kazan to Tyumen. It became a town in 1586 and derived importance from this trade

Alienation

2005-02-10T07:19:00.000-08:00

In social sciences, the state of feeling estranged or separated from one's milieu, work, products of work, or self. Despite its popularity in the analysis of contemporary life, the idea of alienation remains an ambiguous concept with elusive meanings, the following variants being most common: (1) powerlessness, the feeling that one's destiny is not under one's own control

Anicca

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

Sanskrit Anitya, in Buddhism, the doctrine of impermanence, one of the basic characteristics of all existence. Anicca, anatta (the absence of a self), and dukkha (“suffering”) together make up the ti-lakkhana, or three characteristics of all phenomenal existence. That the human body is subject to change is empirically observable in the universal states of childhood, youth, maturity, and old

Mesopotamia, History Of, Adad-nirari III and his successors

2005-02-08T21:39:00.000-08:00

Shamshi-Adad V died while Adad-nirari III (810–783) was still a minor. His Babylonian mother, Sammu-ramat, took over the regency, governing with great energy until 806. The Greeks, who called her Semiramis, credited her with legendary accomplishments, but historically little is known about her. Adad-nirari later led several campaigns against the Medes and also against Syria and

Caribbean Current

2005-02-08T02:46:00.000-08:00

Powerful surface oceanic current passing west through the Caribbean Sea, then north through the Yucatán Channel, and finally east out the Straits of Florida to form the Florida Current. The warm Caribbean Current, derived from the junction of the North Equatorial Current and the Guiana Current, flows at an average rate in the range of 38 to 43 cm (15 to 17 inches) per second and

United Kingdom, The beginning of the Wars of the Roses

2005-02-07T13:20:00.000-08:00

The so-called Wars of the Roses was the struggle between the Yorkist and Lancastrian descendants of Edward III for control of the throne and of local government. The origins of the conflict have been the subject of much debate. It can be seen as brought about as a result of Henry VI's inadequacy and the opposition of his dynastic rival Richard, Duke of York, but local feuds

Uinta Mountains

2005-02-06T22:29:00.000-08:00

Segment of the south-central Rocky Mountains, extending eastward for more than 100 miles (160 km) from the Wasatch Range across northeastern Utah and slightly into southwestern Wyoming, U.S. Many of the range's summits exceed 13,000 feet (4,000 m), including Kings Peak (13,528 feet [4,123 m]), the highest point in Utah. The mountains are a headstream region for the Provo, Bear, and Duchesne rivers and include