FrequentSeed

France, History Of, Religious discipline and piety

2006-01-26T11:30:00.000-08:00

One characteristic of the church in the 6th century was frequent councils to settle questions of doctrine and discipline. The conciliar institution declined, leading to liturgical anarchy and a moral and intellectual crisis among the clergy. Charlemagne and Louis the Pious attempted to impose a uniform liturgy, inspired by the one used at Rome. They also took measures

Fyodor I

2005-07-28T08:05:00.000-07:00

The son of Ivan IV the Terrible and his first wife, Anastasiya Romanovna Zakharina-Yureva, Fyodor succeeded his father on March 19, 1584. Being both physically weak and feebleminded, however, he took no part in government affairs, which were dominated by his wife's

Down

2005-07-26T13:40:00.000-07:00

Irish An Dún district, Northern Ireland. Formerly within County Down, Down was established in 1973 as a district covering 249 square miles (646 square km) on Northern Ireland's eastern coast, fronting Strangford Lough (inlet of the sea) and the Irish Sea. It is bordered by the districts of Ards to the north; Castlereagh, Lisburn, and Banbridge to the west; and Newry and Mourne to the south. Extreme

ústí Nad Labem

2005-07-24T02:30:00.000-07:00

German Aussig, capital, Severoceský kraj (region), northwestern Czech Republic. It is a port on the left (west) bank of the Elbe (Labe) River at the latter's confluence with the Bílina River. Although dating from the 10th century, the city has developed mainly since the 19th century and has been largely reconstructed since World War II. Its western outskirts mark the limit of the north Bohemian

Phoenix

2005-07-08T23:50:00.000-07:00

In Greek mythology, son of Amyntor, king of Thessalian Hellas. After a violent quarrel Amyntor cursed him with childlessness, and Phoenix escaped to Peleus (king of the Myrmidons in Thessaly), who made him responsible for the upbringing of his son Achilles. Phoenix accompanied the young Achilles to Troy and was one of the envoys who tried to reconcile him with Agamemnon,

Gray, Simon

2005-07-07T04:00:00.000-07:00

Gray alternately lived in Canada and England, attending Westminster School in London; Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada (B.A., 1957); and Trinity College, Cambridge (B.A.,

Indian Philosophy

2005-07-01T06:35:00.000-07:00

The systems of thought and reflection that were developed by the civilizations of the Indian subcontinent. They include both orthodox (astika) systems, namely, the Nyaya, Vaisesika, Samkhya, Yoga, Purva-mimamsa, and Vedanta schools of philosophy, and unorthodox (nastika) systems, such as Buddhism and Jainism. Indian thought has been concerned with various philosophical problems,

Frampton, Sir George James

2005-06-21T18:00:00.000-07:00

Frampton studied under W.S. Frith and at the Royal Academy schools, where he won a traveling studentship. In 1888–90 he studied in Paris under A. Mercié, by whom he was much influenced. At the beginning of the 1890s he was attracted by the Arts and Crafts Movement and experimented

Yüeh-ch'in

2005-06-13T16:25:00.000-07:00

Also called la ch'in , Pinyin yueqin , or laqin , also called moon guitar Chinese lute, one of a family of flat, round-bodied lutes found in Central and East Asia. It was invented, according to tradition, during the Chin dynasty (AD 265–420). It has two pairs of silk strings, tuned (in relative pitch) to c–g, which run from a fastener on the wooden belly to tuning pegs set in the sides of the pegbox. A metal plate is hung inside the body, vibrating against

Udaipur

2005-06-02T11:30:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Udaypur, city, southern Rajasthan state, northwestern India. It lies in the hills of the Aravali Range. Udaipur (“City of Sunrise”) was made the capital of the princely state of Udaipur in 1568 by Maharana Udai Singh after the sack of Chittaurgarh. A walled city, it stands on a ridge crowned by the Maharana's palace, which was begun in 1570. To the west lies Lake Pichola with its two small islands and marble

Baden

2005-05-18T16:30:00.000-07:00

Also called Baden Bei Wien, spa, Niederösterreich Bundesland (federal state), Austria. It lies along the Schwechat River, at the eastern edge of the Wiener Forest, south of Vienna. Settled in prehistoric times, it was a Roman watering place, or aquae, and was recorded in 869 as the seat of a Frankish imperial palace. Chartered in 1480, it was destroyed by the Turks in 1529 and 1683. It is famous for its warm sulfur-chlorine

Amphibian, Economic importance

2005-05-16T21:30:00.000-07:00

Amphibians, especially anurans, are economically useful in reducing the number of insects that destroy crops or transmit diseases. Frogs are commercially exploited as food, notably by Europeans; the French are the principal consumers, and they import thousands of tons of frog legs annually. The skin secretions of various tropical anurans are known to have hallucinogenic

Breconian Stage

2005-05-14T19:10:00.000-07:00

Division of the Old Red Sandstone of the Devonian Period in western Europe (the Devonian Period began about 395,000,000 years ago and lasted about 50,000,000 years); the Breconian Stage follows the Dittonian and precedes the Farlovian Stage. It was named for exposures studied at the Brecon Beacons in southern Wales. The rocks of the Breconian consist of red, gray, and green sandstones in

Czerny, Carl

2005-03-15T06:59:00.000-08:00

He studied piano, first with his father, Wenzel Czerny, and later with Ludwig van Beethoven and knew and was influenced by Muzio Clementi and Johann Nepomuk Hummel. He began teaching in Vienna at the age of 15; among his pupils were Franz Liszt and Beethoven's

Ghent, Treaty Of

2005-03-14T22:40:00.000-08:00

(Dec. 24, 1814), agreement in Belgium between Great Britain and the United States to end the War of 1812 on the general basis of the status quo antebellum (maintaining the prewar conditions). Because the military positions for each side were so well balanced, neither country could obtain desired concessions. No mention was made in the peace settlement of neutral rights, particularly

Hinterland

2005-03-11T22:36:00.000-08:00

George G. Chisholm (Handbook of Commercial Geography, 1888) transcribed the German word hinterland (land in back of), as hinderland, and used it to refer to the backcountry of a port or coastal settlement. Chisholm continued to use hinderland in subsequent editions

Ataxia

2005-03-06T06:24:00.000-08:00

Most hereditary ataxias of neurological origin are caused by degeneration of the spinal cord and cerebellum; other parts of the nervous system are also frequently involved. The most common of these is Friedreich ataxia, named after the German neurologist

Allston, Robert (francis Withers)

2005-03-05T20:19:00.000-08:00

Rice planter and governor of South Carolina whose papers, South Carolina Rice Plantation, provide important agricultural, political, and social information about the pre-Civil War South. By scientifically draining and reclaiming swamps in his state, he developed one of the last great rice plantations in the Atlantic

Flint, F.s.

2005-03-04T11:50:00.000-08:00

The son of a commercial traveler, Flint left school at the age of 13 and worked at a variety of jobs. At the age of 17 his reading of a volume by the 19th-century Romantic poet John

Hwicce

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

The inhabitants of one of the subkingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England that coincided with the medieval diocese of Worcester, a territory that then encompassed present Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, and southwest Warwickshire. The southern part had been wrested from the Britons by the West Saxons sometime after 577, and the northern part was probably settled by Anglian

Aristaeus

2005-03-02T22:05:00.000-08:00

Greek divinity whose worship was widespread but concerning whom myths are somewhat obscure. The name is derived from the Greek aristos, �best.� According to the generally accepted account, Aristaeus, son of Apollo and the nymph Cyrene, was born in Libya but later went to Thebes, where he received instruction from the Muses in the arts of healing and prophecy and became

Protein, Protamines and histones

2005-03-01T08:43:00.000-08:00

Protamines are found in the sperm cells of fish. The most thoroughly investigated protamines are salmine from salmon sperm and clupeine from herring sperm. The protamines are bound to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), forming nucleoprotamines. The amino acid composition of the protamines is simple; they contain, in addition to large amounts of arginine, small amounts

Dandin

2005-02-28T00:48:00.000-08:00

The Dasakumaracarita relates the vicissitudes of 10 princes in their pursuit of love and royal power.

Ashbourne

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

Town (�parish�), Derbyshire Dales district, administrative and historic county of Derbyshire, England. Ashbourne is a centre for the surrounding agricultural districts and for tourists visiting nearby Dovedale and the Manyfold Valley. Its buildings include the Church of St. Oswald, dating from 1241 and possessing an octagonal spire (212 feet [65 metres]). The oldest of the famous

Port Adelaide

2005-02-25T16:27:00.000-08:00

Chief port of South Australia, on an estuarine-tidal inlet of Gulf St. Vincent, just northwest of Adelaide. Visited in 1831 by Capt. Collet Barker, the harbour, sheltered by a long sand spit to the west, was made the port for Adelaide in 1837. Port Adelaide was incorporated as a town in 1855 and became a city in 1901. The Inner Harbour, with extensive wharves, has a minimum depth of 33 ft (10 m) and is reached

Henrietta Maria

2005-02-24T06:02:00.000-08:00

Henrietta

Mccardle, Ex Parte

2005-02-23T13:57:00.000-08:00

William H. McCardle was a Mississippi editor who was arrested and jailed for sedition after criticizing both the local Union military commander and Congress. He was denied the benefit

Feminine Rhyme

2005-02-22T20:16:00.000-08:00

Also called� double rhyme� in poetry, a rhyme involving two syllables (as in motion and ocean or willow and billow). The term feminine rhyme is also sometimes applied to triple rhymes, or rhymes involving three syllables (such as exciting and inviting). Robert Browning alternates feminine and masculine rhymes in his �Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister�: Gr-r-r there go, my heart's abhorrence! Water

Albano, Lake

2005-02-21T16:20:00.000-08:00

Italian �Lago Albano, � crater lake in the Alban Hills (Colli Albani), southeast of Rome. Elliptical in shape, formed by the fusion of two ancient volcanic craters, it lies 961 feet (293 m) above sea level and has an area of 2 square miles (5 square km) and a maximum depth of 558 feet (170 m). It is fed by underground sources and drained by an artificial outlet, reputedly built in 398 - 397 BC because the oracle at Delphi said that the

Peninsular

2005-02-20T18:57:00.000-08:00

Spanish �peninsular�, plural �peninsulares�, also called �gachup�n�, or �chapet�n� any of the colonial residents of Latin America from the 16th through the early 19th century who had been born in Spain. The name refers to the Iberian Peninsula. Among the American-born in Mexico the peninsulars were contemptuously called gachupines (�those with spurs�) and in South America, chapetones (�tenderfeet�). They enjoyed the special favour of the Spanish crown and

Gumal River

2005-02-19T01:36:00.000-08:00

River that rises in eastern Afghanistan near Sarwandi on the Khumbur Khule Range and enters western Pakistan near Domandi, being joined there by the Kundar River. Further joined by the Wana Toi and Zhob rivers, it falls into the Indus River just south of Dera Ismail Khan after a course of 150 miles (240 km). Dams under construction in the 1980s at Mian Nur and Khajuri Kach, below the confluence

Ha Giang

2005-02-18T03:35:00.000-08:00

Town, northern Vietnam. The town lies along the Lo River about 215 miles (350 km) northwest of Hanoi. It is a market centre in a forested mountainous region about 13 miles (20 km) southeast of the China - Vietnam border. The area in which Ha Giang is situated produces much of the tea grown in northern Vietnam and also produces some paddy rice, together with corn (maize). The dense forests in

Gryphaea

2005-02-17T20:37:00.000-08:00

Extinct molluskan genus found as fossils in rocks from the Jurassic period to the Eocene epoch (between 208 million and 36.6 million years ago). Related to the oysters, Gryphaea is characterized by its distinctively convoluted shape. The left valve, or shell, was much larger and more convoluted than the flattish right valve. Fine markings extended across the shell

Buraydah

2005-02-16T13:27:00.000-08:00

Town, Najd (Central) region, north central Saudi Arabia. It has long been a commercial rival of 'Unayzah to the south, at one time controlling the export of Arab horses and monopolizing the camel caravan trade of Arabia. Now a principal oasis and agricultural centre, it has extensive date, lemon, and orange groves; other fruits are grown, and cattle and sheep are reared on

Sundance Kid

2005-02-15T17:21:00.000-08:00

Harry Longabaugh left home when he was 15 and took his nickname from the town of Sundance, where

Hawks, Howard (winchester)

2005-02-14T00:46:00.000-08:00

Hawks

Saberht

2005-02-13T01:06:00.000-08:00

Saberht reigned as a dependent of his uncle Aethelberht I, king of Kent, and became a Christian after Aethelberht's conversion. A late and doubtful legend attributes the founding of Westminster Abbey to Saberht - London being then the chief city of the East Saxons. He was succeeded by his sons, all

Clare

2005-02-12T14:58:00.000-08:00

Town, southeastern South Australia, 80 miles (130 km) north of Adelaide. Founded in 1842, it was named for the Irish county in which one of its early settlers was born. In 1851, Jesuits planted the first vineyard of the district. Grapes for table use and wine making, along with other fruits, grains, livestock, and dairy products, now form the basis of the local economy. Declared a municipality

Lili Marleen

2005-02-11T04:45:00.000-08:00

English �Lili Marlene�, or �Lilli Marlene� German song popular during World War II among both German and Allied soldiers. Hans Leip (1893 - 1983) began writing the lyrics in 1914 or 1915, reputedly while standing guard duty one night under a lamppost (�Vor der Kaserne vor dem grossen Tor stand eine Laterne�; �Underneath the lantern by the barrack gate�). �Lili Marleen� was a composite of his own girlfriend Lili and a comrade's girlfriend

Tapestry, Early Middle Ages in western Europe

2005-02-10T18:58:00.000-08:00

Numerous documents dating from as early as the end of the 8th century describe tapestries with figurative ornamentation decorating churches and monasteries in western Europe, but no examples remain, and the ambiguity of the terms used to refer to these hangings makes it impossible to be certain of the technique employed. The 11th-century so-called Bayeux

Tadpole

2005-02-09T16:03:00.000-08:00

Most tadpoles are vegetarians, although those of some species are carnivorous or even cannibalistic. Tadpole metamorphosis follows

Accoramboni, Vittoria

2005-02-08T00:23:00.000-08:00

She was the 10th child in a well-to-do but not illustrious family that hoped to better its position by marrying Vittoria,

Cond�, Louis-joseph, 8e Prince De (8th Prince Of), Duc (duke) De Bourbon

2005-02-07T13:49:00.000-08:00

He was the only son of the Duc de Bourbon and Charlotte of Hesse and assumed the Cond� title on his father's death (1740). In 1753 he married Godefride de Rohan-Soubise (d. 1760). Brought up for the army, he did good service in the Seven Years' War. On the fall of the Bastille (1789), he was one of the first princes to emigrate.

Eye, Human, The axes of the eye

2005-02-06T04:49:00.000-08:00

It is worthwhile at this point to define certain axes of the eyes employed during different types of study. The optic axis of the eye is a line drawn through the centre of the cornea and the nodal (central) point of the eye; it actually does not intersect with the retina at the centre of the fovea as might be expected, but toward the nose from this, so that there is an angle of

Equatorial Guinea

2005-02-05T15:15:00.000-08:00

Officially �Republic of Equatorial Guinea, �Spanish �Rep�blica de Guinea Ecuatorial, � country located on the west coast of Africa. It consists of R�o Muni (also called Mbini), on the continent, and five islands: Bioko (formerly Fernando Po), Corisco, Great Elobey (Elobey Grande), Little Elobey (Elobey Chico), and Annob�n. A fragmented country, it has a total area of 10,830 square miles (28,051 square kilometres). The capital of the republic is Malabo on Bioko. Bata is the administrative

Ayler, Albert

2005-02-04T06:06:00.000-08:00

As a boy, Ayler studied saxophone with his father, with whom he played duets in church. In his mid-teens he played in rhythm-and-blues bands, and as a young alto saxophonist in Cleveland, he mastered the bop style

Ace, Goodman

2005-02-03T13:07:00.000-08:00

From childhood Ace wanted to be a writer, and his writing was admired by his teachers. He was editor of his high school newspaper when he met

Isaiah, Ascension Of

2005-02-02T13:30:00.000-08:00

Pseudepigraphal work surviving intact only in a 5th - 7th-century-AD Ethiopic edition. Fragments exist in Greek, Coptic, Latin, and Old Slavonic. Three separate works comprise the total book, the final version by a Christian editor, which appeared in the 2nd century AD. The first section is entitled �The Martyrdom of Isaiah,� a Midrash on the Manasseh story in II Kings 21, possibly written

Crocodile

2005-02-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

The

Baumgarten, Alexander Gottlieb

2005-01-31T10:03:00.000-08:00

As a student at Halle, Baumgarten was strongly influenced by the works of G.W. Leibniz and by Christian Wolff, a professor and systematic philosopher. He was appointed

Kerogen

2005-01-30T08:38:00.000-08:00

Complex mixture of compounds with large molecules containing mainly hydrogen and carbon but also oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur. It is the organic component of oil shales, hence their alternative names of kerogen shales or kerogenites. Kerogen is insoluble in water; upon heating, it breaks down into recoverable gaseous and liquid substances resembling petroleum.

France, History Of, Sale of national lands

2005-01-29T04:41:00.000-08:00

The Assembly had not lost sight of the financial crisis that precipitated the collapse of absolutism in the first place. Creating an entirely new option for its solution, the Assembly voted to place church property - about 10 percent of the land in France - �at the disposition of the nation.� This property was designated as biens nationaux, or national lands. The government

Saudi Arabia, Demography

2005-01-28T17:04:00.000-08:00

The major

Economic System

2005-01-27T01:36:00.000-08:00

Way in which humankind has arranged for its material provisioning. One would think that there would be a great variety of such systems, corresponding to the many cultural arrangements that have characterized human society. Surprisingly, that is not the case. Although a wide range of institutions and social customs have been associated with the economic activities

Ibn Ishaq

2005-01-26T00:56:00.000-08:00

Ibn Ishaq was the grandson of an Arab prisoner captured by Muslim troops in Iraq and brought to Medina, where he was freed after accepting Islam. Ibn Ishaq's father and two uncles

Wicksell, (johan Gustaf) Knut

2005-01-25T18:29:00.000-08:00

In Geldzins und G�terpreise (1898; Interest and Prices, 1936) he propounded an explanation of price-level movements by an aggregate demand - supply analysis focussed on the relations between prospective profit and

China, Political developments

2005-01-24T03:44:00.000-08:00

Germany

2005-01-23T14:42:00.000-08:00

On a visit to Bonn in early January, UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali appealed for Germany to find a way around its constitutional restrictions and play a full part in international security missions. German medical troops were already involved in a UN humanitarian mission in Cambodia, and the German air force was taking part in mercy flights to Sarajevo,

Manasseh, Prayer Of

2005-01-22T07:02:00.000-08:00

Apocryphal work (noncanonical for Jews and Protestants), one of a collection of songs appended to the Old Testament book of Psalms in several manuscripts of the Septuagint (the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible). The Prayer of Manasseh, best known of the collection, is a penitential prayer written as an extension of 2 Chronicles 33:11 - 13, wherein Manasseh, successor to Hezekiah

Madurai

2005-01-21T15:35:00.000-08:00

Formerly �(until 1949) Madura, � city, south-central Tamil Nadu state, southeastern India, bounded on the west by Kerala state. It is the second largest, and probably oldest, city in the state. Located on the Vaigai River and enclosed by the Anai, Naga, and Pasu (Elephant, Snake, and Cow) hills, the compact old city, site of the Pandya (4th - 11th century AD) capital, centres on Minaksi-Sundaresvara Temple. The temple, Tirumala Nayak

Cynghanedd

2005-01-20T00:47:00.000-08:00

(Welsh: �harmony�), Welsh poetic device, a complicated system of alliteration and internal rhyme, obligatory in the 24 strict metres of Welsh bardic verse. Cynghanedd had developed by the 13th century from the prosodic devices of the early bards and was formally codified at the Caerwys Eisteddfod (Assembly of Bards) of 1524. The device became an obligatory adornment of poems in

Taconic Orogeny

2005-01-19T03:44:00.000-08:00

A mountain-building event that affected the Appalachian Geosyncline along the eastern coast of the United States. Evidence for the orogeny is most pronounced in the northern Appalachians, but its effects can be noted in the Ridge and Valley Province as far south as Tennessee and in the Piedmont Province as far south as Georgia. Originally thought to have occurred

Venlo

2005-01-18T07:28:00.000-08:00

Gemeente (commune), Limburg provincie, southeastern Netherlands. It lies along the Maas (Meuse) River, near the German border. Chartered in 1343, it joined the Hanseatic League in 1364 and was a medieval fortress and trade centre. Venlo is now the centre of �greenhouse� market gardening; vegetables are exported to the Rhineland. The municipality also manufactures electric bulbs,

Eiseley, Loren (corey)

2005-01-17T14:09:00.000-08:00

Eiseley was educated at the University of Nebraska (B.A., 1933) and the University of Pennsylvania (M.A., 1935; Ph.D., 1937) and began his academic career at the University of Kansas (1937 - 44) and Oberlin College (1944 - 47). In his long association with the University

Mercy, Franz, Freiherr Von

2005-01-16T07:29:00.000-08:00

Mercy entered the Austrian army around 1606. Wounded in the Battle of Breitenfeld (1631), he made his name in the five-month defense of Rheinfelden (1634) against the formidable Bernhard

Cruz, Sor Juana In�s De La

2005-01-15T04:36:00.000-08:00

An intellectual prodigy, at eight she composed a loa (short dramatic poem) in honour of the Blessed Sacrament. At the same time, she begged her parents to disguise her as a boy and send her to the University of Mexico

Simjurid Dynasty

2005-01-14T16:16:00.000-08:00

(c. 940 - 1000), minor Iranian dynasty that ruled in Khorasan. The Simjurids, a family of Iranian notables, rose to prominence early in the 10th century under the Samanid rulers of Iran. The detailed history of the family is somewhat obscure, but its historical significance lies in the fact that in the last two decades of Samanid rule it held the balance of power in Khorasan and western

Earth, Earth dimensions - diameter, mass, density

2005-01-13T21:48:00.000-08:00

As previously noted, terrestrial arc measurements are capable of yielding a value of the equatorial radius of the Earth, but satellite measurements are greatly superior for determining the flattening. After 10 years of satellite observations the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics adopted the Geodetic Reference System 1967, defining aequatorial, MG, and J2, o. Minor

China, The Shantung Hills

2005-01-12T08:38:00.000-08:00

These hills are basically composed of Archean (Early to Middle Precambrian) crystalline shales and granites and of Lower Paleozoic sedimentary rocks (i.e., between 395,000,000 and 570,000,000 years old). Faults have played a major role in creating the present relief, and, as a result, many hills are horsts (blocks of the Earth's crust uplifted along faults), while the valleys have been formed by

Mountain, Mountain belts associated with crustal shortening

2005-01-11T19:43:00.000-08:00

Most mountain belts of the world and nearly all of those in Europe, Asia, and North America have been built by horizontal crustal shortening and associated crustal thickening. The landforms associated with such belts depend on the rates, amounts, and types of crustal deformation that occur and on the types of rocks that are exposed to erosion. To some extent the deformation

Encarnaci�

2005-01-10T02:58:00.000-08:00

Formerly �Itap�a� city, southeastern Paraguay. The city was founded in 1614 on the west bank of the Upper Paran� River, opposite Posadas, Arg., to which it is linked by a bridge completed in 1987. Severely damaged by a tornado in 1926, it is now one of the largest cities of Paraguay and a busy commercial, manufacturing, and communications centre. The city is divided into two sectors: the High (old) City and the

Exterminator

2005-01-09T08:44:00.000-08:00

Byname �Old Bones� (foaled 1915), American racehorse (Thoroughbred), a dependable and durable horse who won 50 of 100 races in eight seasons. Because of the length of his career and his extraordinary ability to win sprints and long-distance races under heavy weights, some horsemen considered him superior to Man o' War, his greatest contemporary and doubtless the fastest American horse of the time.

Olympic National Park

2005-01-08T01:31:00.000-08:00

National park, northwestern Washington, U.S., established in 1938 to preserve the Olympic Mountains and their magnificent forests and wildlife. The park, which covers 1,442 square miles (3,735 square km), includes a strip of Pacific Northwest shoreline geographically separated from the rest of the park. There are active glaciers on the highest peak, Mount Olympus (7,965 feet [2,428 m]), and others,

Tragedy

2005-01-07T00:59:00.000-08:00

The origins of the tragic form are Greek, as are those of the term itself, meaning �goat-song� and possibly referring originally to the sacrifice of a

Blondel, Maurice (�douard)

2005-01-06T18:35:00.000-08:00

He studied at the �cole Normale Sup�rieure under L�on Oll�-Laprune and first formulated his philosophy in L'action (1893). Blondel was influenced

Fashoda Incident

2005-01-05T04:35:00.000-08:00

The disputes arose from the common desire of each country to link up its disparate colonial possessions in Africa. Great Britain's aim was to link Uganda to Egypt by building a railway from the Cape of Good Hope to Cairo, while France, by pushing

John I

2005-01-04T09:53:00.000-08:00

In the beginning of his reign John had to contend with the hostility of John of Gaunt, who claimed the crown by right of his wife Constance, daughter of Peter I the Cruel. The king of Castile finally bought off the claim of his English competitor by arranging

Egypt, Political life

2005-01-03T08:49:00.000-08:00

The political history of the Mamluk state is complex; during their 264-year reign, no fewer than 45 Mamluks gained the sultanate, and once, in desperate circumstances, a caliph (in 1412) was briefly installed as sultan. At times individual Mamluks succeeded in establishing dynasties, most notably Sultan Qala'un (ruled 1279 - 90), whose progeny ruled Egypt, with two short interruptions, until 1382. Often

Halas, John; And Batchelor, Joy

2005-01-02T05:40:00.000-08:00

Halas was educated in Hungary and Paris and apprenticed to George Pal; he moved to England as an animator in 1936. After art school Batchelor became a commercial artist and met Halas in 1936 while working

Floral Decoration, Middle Ages

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

Illuminated manuscripts of the Gothic period (from the

Ibn Tibbon, Moses Ben Samuel

2004-12-31T17:03:00.000-08:00

Jewish physician like his father, Samuel ben Judah ibn Tibbon, and his paternal grandfather, Judah ben Saul ibn Tibbon, and an important translator of Arabic-language works into Hebrew. His translations served to disseminate Greek and Arab culture throughout Europe. Besides original works, which included commentaries with an allegorical bias on

Kam�res Ware

2004-12-30T19:07:00.000-08:00

Style of painted pottery that flourished on Crete during the Middle Minoan period (c. 2100 - c. 1550 BC). Surviving examples include ridged cups, small, round spouted jars, and large storage jars (pithoi), on which combinations of abstract curvilinear designs and stylized plant and marine motifs are painted in white and tones of red, orange, and yellow on black grounds.

Gon�alves, Nuno

2004-12-29T17:15:00.000-08:00

Apparently Gon�alves was appointed court

Aliyah

2004-12-28T18:09:00.000-08:00

Plural �aliyahs, �aliyoth�, or �aliyot�, Hebrew �'aliya (�going up�)� in Judaism, the honour accorded to a worshiper of being called up to read an assigned passage from the Torah (first five books of the Bible). Because the passage assigned for each sabbath-morning service is subdivided into a minimum of seven sections, at least seven different persons are called up for these readings. An additional reader is called up to repeat part of

Zamyatin, Yevgeny Ivanovich

2004-12-27T22:48:00.000-08:00

Zamyatin also spelled �Zamiatin � Russian novelist, playwright, and satirist, one of the most brilliant and cultured minds of the post-revolutionary period, and creator of a peculiarly modern genre - the anti-Utopian novel. His influence as an experimental stylist and as an exponent of the cosmopolitan-humanist traditions

Uji

2004-12-26T22:17:00.000-08:00

Any of the hereditary lineage groups that, until their official abolition in AD 604, formed the basic, decentralized ruling structure of early Japan. They are often referred to as the great clans because of their traditions of common descent, and they were ruled by an uji chief who was considered a direct descendant of the deity (ujigami) worshiped by the group's members. The

Azhar University, Al-

2004-12-25T22:51:00.000-08:00

Chief centre of Islamic and Arabic learning in the world, centred on the mosque of that name in the medieval quarter of Cairo, Egypt. It was founded by the Fatimids in AD 970 and was formally organized by 988. The basic program of studies was, and still is, Islamic law, theology, and the Arabic language. Late in the European Middle Ages philosophy and medicine were added to the curriculum,

Tzu-jan

2004-12-24T00:42:00.000-08:00

(Chinese: �naturalness�), in Chinese Taoism, an ideal state of human existence that results from living in complete harmony with the forces of nature. Taoists, observing that everything in the world has its natural state, strive to attain a state of complete spontaneity in order to become what nature intended them to be. As a consequence, life becomes exceedingly simple;

Esquipulas

2004-12-23T11:23:00.000-08:00

Town, southeastern Guatemala, in the central highlands near the borders of Honduras and El Salvador at an elevation of 3,018 feet (920 m). The town itself is not large; it derives its great importance from its magnificent colonial church, now Central America's greatest pilgrimage centre, built in 1737 by the archbishop of Guatemala to house the spectacular Black Christ. The figure,

Stage Wagon

2004-12-22T06:14:00.000-08:00

Early, four-wheeled, American vehicle, used to carry both passengers and cargo. It was a precursor of the stagecoach. The first stage wagons had no springs, backless wooden benches, sides of wood, and canvas tops. Later improvements were roll-up leather curtains, solid flat tops, backrests, and springs or straps for the seats. A stage wagon of 1771, whose owner called it �The Flying

Harcourt, Sir William

2004-12-21T22:29:00.000-08:00

A lawyer from 1854, Harcourt briefly taught international law at the University of Cambridge. Entering the House of Commons in 1868, Harcourt served Prime

Maugham, W. Somerset

2004-12-20T20:47:00.000-08:00

Maugham was orphaned at the age of 10; he was brought up by an uncle and educated at King's School, Canterbury. After a year at Heidelberg, he entered St. Thomas' medical school,

East Indiaman

2004-12-19T05:36:00.000-08:00

Large sailing vessel of the type built from the 16th to the 19th century for the trade between Europe and southern Asia. The first were Portuguese and Dutch; English Indiamen appeared late in the 16th century and eventually came to dominate the trade. The ships varied in size from about 400 to 1,500 tons and more; often they were larger than contemporary men-of-war. They were three-masted

Teague, Walter Dorwin

2004-12-18T21:23:00.000-08:00

After study at the Art Students League of New York (1903 - 07) and four years with an advertising agency, Teague became a successful free-lance advertising designer. Increasingly, his clients sought his advice for product

Air Warfare, Strategic bombing

2004-12-17T09:43:00.000-08:00

The importance of ECM in long-range bombing became apparent in 1972, when U.S. B-52 Stratofortresses struck targets in North Vietnam. By flying under escort at night and at about 30,000 feet, the B-52s were reasonably safe from MiG fighters and antiaircraft guns, and Wild Weasel and chaff-dropping aircraft helped suppress the SA-2s. But the most important ECM was provided by jammers built

Requests, Court Of

2004-12-16T11:34:00.000-08:00

Called the Court of Poor Men's Causes until 1529, it was a popular court because of the limited expense of bringing suit before it. Modeled after the French Chambre

Muhammad, Elijah

2004-12-15T14:44:00.000-08:00

The son of sharecroppers and former slaves, Muhammad moved to Detroit in 1923 where, around 1930, he became assistant minister to the founder of the sect, Wallace D. Fard, at Temple No. 1. When Fard disappeared in 1934 Muhammad

Talara

2004-12-14T05:36:00.000-08:00

Community, Piura departmento, northwestern Peru, on the Pacific Ocean. Rebuilt and developed by the International Petroleum Company (which provided workers' housing, hospitals, and schools), it is a refining and shipping port for Peru's main oil-producing region. To the southwest, near the foot of the La Brea Mountains, is the site of the pits (where Spaniards boiled tar

Monal

2004-12-13T00:34:00.000-08:00

Any of several Asian pheasant species. See pheasant.

12-tone Music

2004-12-12T16:43:00.000-08:00

Large body of music, written roughly since World War I, that uses the so-called 12-tone method or technique of composition. The Austrian-born composer Arnold Schoenberg is credited with the invention of this technique, although other composers (e.g., the American composer Charles Ives and the Austrian Josef Hauer) anticipated Schoenberg's invention by writing music