FeebleRoot

Ch'eng Huang

2005-04-04T02:21:00.000-07:00

Pinyin Cheng Huang (Chinese: “Wall and Moat”), in Chinese mythology, the spiritual magistrate and guardian deity of Chinese cities. Because dead spirits reputedly informed the god of all good and evil deeds within his jurisdiction, it was popularly believed that devout prayers offered in Ch'eng Huang's temple would be liberally rewarded. The wide popularity of his cult was also due in part

Transplant

2005-04-03T15:42:00.000-07:00

Without a blood supply organs deteriorate rapidly. Cooling can slow down the process but cannot stop it. Organs differ in their susceptibility to damage. At body temperature, irreversible destruction of the brain occurs after more than three to five minutes; of the heart, liver, pancreas, and lung, after 10 to 30 minutes; of the kidney, after 50 to 100 minutes; and of the skin and cornea,

Orange River

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

The first white man known to cross the river to the north bank was an Afrikaner elephant hunter, Jacobus Coetsee, who forded the Groot River, as it was then called, near the river mouth in 1760. Later expeditions across the river in the 18th century were led by the Afrikaner explorer Hendrik Hop; Robert Jacob Gordon, a Dutch officer; William Paterson, an English traveler; and the

La Salle, Saint Jean-baptiste De

2005-04-02T07:26:00.000-08:00

Of noble birth, La Salle was ordained priest in 1678 and devoted himself to education of the poor. He helped to establish

Grito De Dolores

2005-04-01T03:41:00.000-08:00

Hidalgo was involved in a plot against the Spanish colonial government, and, when the plot was betrayed, he decided to act immediately. After arming the people, he addressed them from the pulpit,

Arts, Central Asian, Buddhist morality plays

2005-03-31T22:08:00.000-08:00

The last performing-arts genre to develop in Central Asia was the Buddhist morality play, called a-che-lha-mo. The plays are based on the lives of legendary and historical figures, and through costume and masks the ethnic origin and ethical character of the players are revealed. Folktales, as well as historical and Buddhist canonical literature, are sources for the

Proctor

2005-03-31T18:58:00.000-08:00

The word is still used sometimes in the United States to

Hawea Lake

2005-03-30T23:32:00.000-08:00

Lake in west-central South Island, New Zealand. The lake lies at the heart of a resort area 182 miles (293 km) northwest of Dunedin by road. It occupies 54 square miles (141 square km) of a valley dammed by a terminal moraine (glacial debris). The lake, 1,142 feet (348 m) above sea level, is 19 miles (31 km) long, 5 miles (8 km) wide, and 1,286 feet (392 m) deep. It drains an area of 536 square miles (1,388 square km). Its main affluent, the Hunter River,

Nilo-saharan Languages

2005-03-29T17:20:00.000-08:00

The original expansion of the Nilo-Saharan family may have been associated with the Aquatic industry. This industry, which dates to the 8th millennium BC, is a conglomeration of cultures that exploited the food resources of lakes, rivers, and surrounding areas from Lake Rudolf in East Africa to the bend of the Niger River in West Africa during a long era of wetter climate

Raymond Iv

2005-03-28T15:05:00.000-08:00

In the early years of his countship, Raymond was a pious

Kilkeel

2005-03-28T10:16:00.000-08:00

Irish Cill Chaoil fishing port and seaside resort, at the mouth of the River Kilkeel, Newry and Mourne district (established 1973), formerly in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the foot of the Mourne Mountains, and the quarrying and dressing of Mourne granite is a local industry. A good harbour serves a large fishing fleet. The River Kilkeel rises to the north in the Silent Valley, where

Azariah, The Prayer Of

2005-03-26T16:15:00.000-08:00

The Prayer of Azariah and the accompanying Song of the Three Young Men form part of chapter three and embellish the story of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, three young Jewish men who were bound and

Bedford

2005-03-25T16:58:00.000-08:00

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

France, History Of, The Age of Louis XIV

2005-03-24T11:17:00.000-08:00

Albert N. Hamscher, The Parlement of Paris After the Fronde, 1653–1673 (1976), and The Conseil Privé and the Parlements in the Age of Louis XIV: A Study in French Absolutism (1987), provide good introductions to the period. Roger Mettam, Power and Faction in Louis XIV's France (1988); and Roger Mettam (ed.), Government and Society in Louis XIV's France (1977), analyze the political structure. Eugene L. Asher, The Resistance to the Maritime Classes: The Survival of Feudalism in the France of Colbert (1960, reprinted 1980); Charles Woosley Cole, Colbert and a Century of French Mercantilism, 2 vol. (1939, reissued 1964); Thomas J. Schaeper, The French Council of Commerce, 1700–1715: A Study of Mercantilism After Colbert (1983); and Herbert Lüthy, La Banque protestante en France: de la révocation de l'Edit de Nantes à la Révolution, 2 vol. (1959–61, reprinted 1970), discuss the developing economic system. See also Warren C. Scoville, The Persecution of Huguenots and French Economic Development, 1680–1720 (1960), important in assessing the effects of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Pierre Goubert, Louis XIV and Twenty Million Frenchmen (1970, originally published in French, 1966), provides a synthesis of Louis's reign; it is supplemented in such special accounts as Lionel Rothkrug, Opposition to Louis XIV: The Political and Social Origins of the French Enlightenment (1965); John C. Rule (ed.), Louis XIV and the Craft of Kingship (1969); Louis André, Louis XIV et l'Europe (1950), on foreign policy; and John B. Wolf, Louis XIV (1968).

Ricardo, David

2005-03-23T18:15:00.000-08:00

Ricardo was the

Ricardo, David

2005-03-22T08:58:00.000-08:00

The 300 genera of muroid rodents are classified within 18 subfamilies, but more than

Hawick

2005-03-21T15:12:00.000-08:00

Small burgh (town), largest town in the Scottish Borders council area of southeastern Scotland, in the historic county of Roxburghshire. It lies at the confluence of the Rivers Slitrig and Teviot 15 miles (24 km) from the English border. Border skirmishes were frequent in Hawick's history, and in 1570 the town was almost completely burned down. The only building to survive was the

Quimper Faience

2005-03-20T15:59:00.000-08:00

Tin-enamelled earthenware produced by a factory at Loc Maria, a suburb of Quimper in Brittany, Fr. The factory was founded in 1690 by Jean-Baptiste Bosquet, a potter from Marseille who had settled there. Both Pierre Caussy, who took over in 1743, and de la Hubeaudière, who bought it in 1809, expanded production. Quimper ware never developed a truly distinct style of its own, however, but

Vladimir

2005-03-20T11:39:00.000-08:00

Oblast (province), western Russia. It is centred on Vladimir city and lies east of Moscow in the basin of the Oka River. The greater part is a low plain, with extensive swamps in the south. The oblast has spruce, pine, and oak, but much of the forest has been cleared. Industries produce textiles, engineering goods, timber goods, and glassware. Agriculture is concentrated chiefly

Procellariiform, Distribution

2005-03-20T06:03:00.000-08:00

The majority of procellariiforms breed in the Southern Hemisphere, but several species migrate thousands of miles north across the Equator to winter in the northern summer seas, where they molt, feed, and rest in preparation for the return home in the southern spring. Similarly, species that breed in the Northern Hemisphere also live in perpetual summer by migrating

New Comedy

2005-03-18T22:26:00.000-08:00

Greek drama from about 320 Bc to the mid-3rd century BC that offers a mildly satiric view of contemporary Athenian society, especially in its familiar and domestic aspects. Unlike Old Comedy, which parodied public figures and events, New Comedy features fictional average citizens and has no supernatural or heroic overtones. Thus, the chorus, the representative of forces larger than life, recedes

Khons

2005-03-17T18:00:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Khonsu, Khensu, or Chons, in ancient Egyptian religion, moon god who was generally depicted as a youth. A deity with astronomical associations named Khenzu is known from the Pyramid Texts (c. 2350 BC) and is possibly the same as Khons. In Egyptian mythology, Khons was regarded as the son of the god Amon and the goddess Mut. In the period of the late New Kingdom (c. 1100 BC) a major temple was built for Khons in the Karnak

Haddonfield

2005-03-17T14:59:00.000-08:00

Borough (town), Camden county, southwestern New Jersey, U.S., a southeastern suburb of Camden. First settled by Francis Collins in 1682, it was later named by Elizabeth Haddon, an English Quaker girl who settled there about 1701. The story of her romance with a Quaker missionary, John Estaugh, is told by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his Tales of a Wayside Inn (1863). She lived to be 82, and her personal

Quasicrystal, Quasiperiodicity

2005-03-17T09:37:00.000-08:00

Dov Levine and Paul Steinhardt, physicists at the University of Pennsylvania, proposed a resolution of this apparent conflict. They suggested that the translational order of atoms in quasicrystalline alloys might be quasiperiodic rather than periodic. Quasiperiodic patterns share certain characteristics with periodic patterns. In particular, both are

Osborne, Dorothy, Lady Temple

2005-03-16T19:10:00.000-08:00

English gentlewoman best known for the letters she wrote to her future husband, William Temple, before their marriage. The letters are simply written in an easy, conversational style and present an interesting picture of the life of a young English gentlewoman in the Commonwealth period

Gaines's Mill, Battle Of

2005-03-16T15:27:00.000-08:00

In the American Civil War, one of the Seven Days' Battles, which ended the Peninsular Campaign. See Cold Harbor, battles of.

Ancillon, Johann Peter Friedrich

2005-03-16T08:15:00.000-08:00

Educated in Geneva, Ancillon acquired a chair in history at the Berlin Military Academy in 1792. After the publication of Tableau des révolutions

Cytoplasm

2005-03-15T21:06:00.000-08:00

The protoplasm of a cell external to the nuclear membrane. In eukaryotes (i.e., cells having a nucleus), the cytoplasm contains all of the organelles except for the nucleus itself. Among such organelles are the mitochondria, which are the sites of energy production through ATP (adenosine triphosphate) synthesis; the endoplasmic reticulum, the site of lipid and protein

Berlin, Free University Of

2005-03-14T21:17:00.000-08:00

German Freie Universität Berlin, autonomous, state-financed German university. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948, after Berlin was divided, by a group of professors and students who broke away from East Berlin's Friedrich Wilhelm (now Humboldt) University (founded 1809–10) to seek academic freedom. The Free University was restructured in 1970 and again in 1974. Its governing board includes the government, faculty, and

France, History Of, The development of central government

2005-03-14T17:05:00.000-08:00

Louis's inner council was on the model of the royal council in Richelieu's days, a High Council (Conseil d'en Haut) consisting of only three or four members and excluding the king's own relatives. Members of this council were known as ministers, but they held no formal right to the title and ceased to be minister if the king chose not to summon them. The first of these great

Oats

2005-03-14T08:05:00.000-08:00

The wild oat was first found in western Europe, apparently as

Judaism, Antirabbinic reactions

2005-03-13T21:44:00.000-08:00

The firm, and on occasion oppressive, tactics of exilarchs and geonim generated antirabbinic reactions, especially in outlying areas where enforcement was difficult, in the form of sectarian and messianic revolts. Inspired in part by ancient Palestinian sectarian doctrines and in part by Muslim usage, the sects were by and large quickly and forcefully suppressed.

Kidney Stone

2005-03-13T00:14:00.000-08:00

Also called Renal Calculus, plural Renal Calculi, concretion of minerals and organic matter that forms in the kidneys. Such stones may become so large as to impair normal renal function. Urine contains many salts in solution and if the concentration of mineral salts becomes excessive, the excess salt precipitates as solid particles called stones. Kidney stones are classified as primary if they form without apparent

Shah Shoja'

2005-03-12T02:46:00.000-08:00

Shoja' ascended the throne in 1803 after a long fratricidal war. In 1809 he concluded an alliance with the British against an expected Franco-Russian invasion of India but, the following year, was overthrown by his

Sinkiang, Uygur Autonomous Region Of, Government

2005-03-11T20:06:00.000-08:00

The administrative structure of Sinkiang reflects the policies of recognition of ethnic minorities and self-administration, in which local leaders are appointed to governmental positions. The Uighur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang is divided on the subprovincial level into three types of administrative units. There are three municipalities (shih) under direct

Northwest Spitsbergen National Park

2005-03-10T11:00:00.000-08:00

Norwegian Nordvest-spitsbergen Nasjonalpark, national park and bird sanctuary established in 1973 by Norway on the northwestern corner of the island of Spitsbergen, in the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. With an area of 1,268 square miles (3,283 square km), the park typifies a high-arctic-tundra biologic community. The glaciated uplands of Albert I Land and Haakon VII Land, together with offshore islands, constitute

Hawkes, John

2005-03-10T07:47:00.000-08:00

Hawkes attended Harvard University (B.A.,

Abd El-krim

2005-03-09T23:59:00.000-08:00

In full Muhammad Ibn 'abd Al-karim Al-khattabi leader of a resistance movement against Spanish and French rule in North Africa and founder of the short-lived Republic of the Rif (1921–26). A skilled tactician and a capable organizer, he led a liberation movement that made him the hero of the Maghrib (northwest Africa). A precursor of the anticolonial struggle for independence, Abd el-Krim was defeated

India, Nadir Shah's invasion

2005-03-09T15:14:00.000-08:00

The obvious weakness of the Mughal Empire invited Nadir Shah's descent upon the plains of northern India for plunder and spoil. For years the defenses of the northwest had been neglected. Nadir captured Ghazni and Kabul, crossed the Indus at Attock (December 1738), and occupied Lahore virtually unopposed. Hurried preparations were then made to defend Delhi, but the faction-ridden

Printmaking, France

2005-03-08T21:41:00.000-08:00

Most 18th-century French etchings were drawings transferred to copper, in which the effects of pencil, pen, or chalk were imitated. Although some distinguished painters, such as Antoine Watteau, made etchings, no prints of importance were produced. Jean-Honoré Fragonard made a few lovely etchings reminiscent of Tiepolo. They have a luminous, transparent quality and

Water Polo

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

Sport played in a swimming pool by teams of seven with a buoyant ball resembling an association football (soccer ball). The game was originally called “football-in-the-water,” and indeed it is more like association football and basketball than polo, the name of the sport coming from an earlier form of the game in which players rode barrels painted like horses and struck

Louvet, Jean

2005-03-07T09:09:00.000-08:00

Louvet was the son of a miner. As a young man, he was influenced by Existentialism, and left-wing politics led him into work in the theatre. Strongly autobiographical, his work goes beyond ideology to embrace the history of the Walloon people of southern

Komárom-esztergom

2005-03-07T00:58:00.000-08:00

Megye (county), northwestern Hungary. The megye extends southward from the Danube River and the Slovakian frontier. It has a mixed agricultural-industrial economic base. Sugar beets and peaches are important crops, and there is a sugar beet mill at Ács. Tatabánya (q.v.), the megye seat, is Hungary's chief mining (lignite) centre. Considerable industrial activity is concentrated

Kwara

2005-03-06T09:31:00.000-08:00

Kwara state consists mostly of wooded savanna, but there are forested regions in the south. Almost all of its savanna area was conquered by the Fulani in the early 19th century, and the region remained part

Scharnhorst, Gerhard Johann David Von

2005-03-06T09:20:00.000-08:00

Prussian general who developed the modern general staff system. With another reformer of army procedures, August von Gneisenau, he devised the “shrinkage system” (Krümpersystem), in which army recruits were quickly trained and sent into the reserves so that more men could be trained. This system increased the actual number of trained

Manasseh Ben Israel

2005-03-06T04:11:00.000-08:00

Manasseh was born into a family of Marranos (Jews of Spain and Portugal who publicly accepted Christianity but privately practiced Judaism). After his father appeared as a penitent in an auto da fé, the family escaped

3-d

2005-03-05T06:26:00.000-08:00

Also called stereoscopic, motion-picture process that gives a three-dimensional quality to film images. It is based on the fact that humans perceive depth by viewing with both eyes. In the 3-D process, two cameras or a twin-lensed camera are used for filming, one representing the left eye and the other the right. The two lenses are spaced about 2 1/2 inches (6.3 cm) apart, the same as the separation between a person's

Thomas, Ambrose

2005-03-04T19:37:00.000-08:00

Thomas attended the Paris Conservatory, concluding his studies by winning the Prix de Rome in 1832 for his cantata Hermann et Ketty. Upon his return from Rome in 1835 he launched himself on a career as an opera composer and began teaching at the conservatory

Oscillatoria

2005-03-04T15:57:00.000-08:00

Genus of blue-green algae found commonly in a variety of freshwater environments, including hot springs. This unbranched filamentous alga, occurring singly or in tangled mats, derives its name from its rhythmic oscillating motion, which is thought to result from a secretion of mucilage that pushes the filament away from the direction of excretion. Reproduction

Scotland, Daily life and social customs

2005-03-04T07:35:00.000-08:00

Although bagpipes have ancient origins elsewhere and are found throughout the world, they are one of the most recognized symbols of Scottish culture. By the 16th century, various clans had established hereditary pipers, and later the instrument was used in wartime to inflame the passions of soldiers in battle. The form of the kilt, Scotland's national costume, has evolved

Annamese Cordillera

2005-03-04T00:21:00.000-08:00

French Chaîne Annamitique , Vietnamese Giai Truong Son principal mountain range of Indochina and the watershed between the Mekong River and the South China Sea. It extends parallel to the coast in a gentle curve generally northwest-southeast, forming the boundary between Laos and Vietnam. A fairly continuous range for about 700 miles (1,100 km), its rather precipitous eastern slopes leave a narrow coastal plain. Although its

Melaconite

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

Noncrystalline variety of the mineral tenorite (q.v.).

Juan Carlos

2005-03-02T18:42:00.000-08:00

Juan Carlos was the grandson of the last king, Alfonso XIII, who left Spain in 1931 and died in exile 10 years later, after renouncing his rights in favour of his third son, Juan Carlos Teresa Silverio Alfonso de Borbón y Battenberg, conde de

Amis, Sir Kingsley

2005-03-02T07:10:00.000-08:00

Amis was educated at the City of London School and at St. John's College, Oxford (B.A., 1949). His education was interrupted during World War II by his service as a lieutenant in the Royal Corps of Signals.

Foster, Stephen

2005-03-01T20:41:00.000-08:00

Foster grew up on the urban edge of the Western frontier. Although formally untutored in music, he had a natural musical bent and began to write songs as a young

Metaphor

2005-02-28T17:38:00.000-08:00

The distinction is not simple. The metaphor makes a qualitative leap from a reasonable, perhaps prosaic comparison, to an identification or fusion of two objects, to make one new entity partaking of the characteristics

Hinn Island

2005-02-28T08:54:00.000-08:00

Norwegian Hinnøya island, in the Norwegian Sea, northern Norway. Forming part of the Vesterålen group and with an area of 849 square miles (2,198 square km), it is Norway's second largest island after Spitsbergen (principal island of Svalbard). It is divided between Nordland and Troms fylker (counties) and separated from the mainland by the narrow Tjeld Strait. Irregularly shaped and deeply indented

Mckenna, Siobhan

2005-02-28T06:24:00.000-08:00

A member of an amateur Gaelic theatre group, McKenna made her

Shensi, The early modern period

2005-02-26T05:52:00.000-08:00

Under the Mongols in the 13th century Shensi as a provincial unit assumed approximately its present form, incorporating the area formerly known as Shan-nan (literally “South of the Mountains”), or Li-chou. During this era, however, Shensi underwent many changes. In the course of the Yüan, or Mongol, dynasty (1206–1368) the province was devastated and largely depopulated as a result of

écrins National Park

2005-02-25T20:59:00.000-08:00

Nature reserve located in the départements of Hautes-Alpes and Isère, southeastern France. The park, which was created in 1973, occupies 226,694 acres (91,740 hectares) and is the second largest national park in France. It encompasses the Alpine peaks of Barre des Écrins (13,457 feet [4,102 m]), La Meije (13,067 feet [3,983 m]), Ailefroide, and Pelvoux, as well as numerous lakes, cirques, and gorges. Forests of larch cover the

Wachsmann, Konrad

2005-02-25T10:01:00.000-08:00

Originally apprenticed as a cabinetmaker, Wachsmann studied at the arts-and-crafts schools of Berlin and Dresden and at the Berlin Academy of Arts (under the Expressionist architect Hans Poelzig). During

Wilberforce University

2005-02-25T09:26:00.000-08:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Wilberforce, Ohio, U.S. It is affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Wilberforce is a liberal arts university offering undergraduate programs in business, engineering, sciences, humanities, and other areas. All students must participate in the cooperative education program, a program

Val-d'or

2005-02-25T03:30:00.000-08:00

Town, Abitibi-Témiscamingue region, western Quebec province, Canada. Val-d'Or lies near Lakes Blouin, de Montigny, and Lemoine. Although its name means “valley of gold,” there is no valley in the vicinity. The town was founded by miners in 1934, and its economy depends chiefly on mining (gold, molybdenum, zinc, lead, and copper) and lumbering. Val-d'Or is also a base for the hunting and

Lijia

2005-02-24T03:08:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles li-chia system of social organization in Ming-dynasty China. See pao-chia.

Anawrahta

2005-02-23T17:14:00.000-08:00

During his reign Anawrahta united the northern homeland of the Burmese people with the Mon kingdoms of the south. He extended his dominion as far north as the kingdom

Valdés, Juan De

2005-02-22T23:17:00.000-08:00

Juan studied under Spain's leading Humanists and developed religious views that closely followed the ideas of Erasmus of Rotterdam, with

Finland, Settlement patterns

2005-02-22T16:35:00.000-08:00

Increased industrialization in Finland has steadily raised the proportion of the population living in urban areas; by the late 20th century about three-fifths of the total population lived in cities and towns. Farms are most commonly located in the meadowland regions of the southwest, where the fertile land is suitable for mixed farming. In the north farmers usually

Safe-conduct

2005-02-22T15:33:00.000-08:00

Procedure by which a person is permitted to enter or leave a jurisdiction in which he would normally be subject to arrest, detention, or other deprivation. Historically, the habit of princes in granting safe-conducts to foreigners who, as aliens, did not ordinarily enjoy the full protection of the host-country's law developed into the system of diplomatic

Sunga Script

2005-02-20T17:53:00.000-08:00

Brahmi script of north India, possibly connected with the late Maurya scripts and the early Kalinga character, and associated with the Sunga dynasty (c. 185 BC–c. 73 BC). The script was one of three prototypes of the North Indian subdivision of Brahmi script, out of which the Gupta scripts rose.

Arabia, History Of, Himyarites

2005-02-20T15:33:00.000-08:00

Himyar is the Arabic form of the name of a people who appear in the inscriptions as Hmyr and in Greek sources as Homeritai. They occupied the extreme southwest of the peninsula and had their capital at Zafar, a site some nine miles southeast of present-day Yarim, on the motor road from Aden and Ta'izz to San'a'. The first appearance of Himyar in history is in Pliny's Naturalis

César

2005-02-20T09:43:00.000-08:00

The son of Italian immigrants, César quit school at age 12 in order to work,

Teach, Edward

2005-02-20T04:19:00.000-08:00

Thought to have been active as a privateer for the British during the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–13), Teach was first heard of as a pirate late in 1716. The following year he converted a

Muffat, Georg

2005-02-19T10:52:00.000-08:00

Muffat held positions as organist at Molsheim and Strasbourg cathedrals and in 1678 became organist to the archbishop of Salzburg. In 1681 he went to Italy and in Rome studied with

Theatre, Western, Shamanism

2005-02-18T03:14:00.000-08:00

A second theory proposes that theatre evolved from shamanistic rituals that manifested to the audience a supernatural presence, as opposed to giving a symbolic representation of it. In this case the shaman, as actor/priest, was able to put himself into a trance and become a medium with the other world. He was believed to travel in the spirit world or be actually possessed

U2

2005-02-18T03:03:00.000-08:00

Irish postpunk band that by the end of the 1980s had established itself not only as one of the world's most popular bands but also as one of the most innovative. The members are Bono (byname of Paul Hewson; b. May 10, 1960, Dublin, Ireland), the Edge (byname of David Evans; b. August 8, 1961, Barking, Essex [now in Greater London], England), Adam Clayton (b. March 13, 1960, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England), and Larry Mullen,

China, Foreign affairs under Yang-ti

2005-02-17T13:45:00.000-08:00

In addition to these farsighted construction works, Yang-ti also pursued a very active foreign policy. An expedition to the south established sovereignty over the old Chinese settlement in Tongking and over the Champa state of Lin-yi in central Nam Viet. Several expeditions were sent to Taiwan, and relations with Japan were opened. The T'u-yü-hun people were driven

Radin, Paul

2005-02-17T02:29:00.000-08:00

U.S. anthropologist who was influential in advancing a historical model of primitive society based on a synthesis of economic and social structure, religion, philosophy, and psychology. He pioneered in such important fields of anthropology as culture-personality studies and the use of autobiographical documents. An accomplished

Acaraí Mountains

2005-02-16T23:47:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Acarahy, or Akarai, Portuguese Serra Acaraí, low range on the border of Brazil (Pará state) and southern Guyana. The mountains, which rise to about 2,000 feet (600 m) above sea level, run in an east–west direction for about 80 miles (130 km) and form part of the northern watershed of the Amazon Basin. The whole area is covered with dense tropical rain forest and was mapped by satellite in the late 1970s.

War, Law Of

2005-02-16T17:04:00.000-08:00

That part of international law dealing with the inception, conduct, and termination of warfare. Its aim is to limit the suffering caused to combatants and, more particularly, to those who may be described as the victims of war—that is, noncombatant civilians and those no longer able to take part in hostilities. Thus, the wounded, the sick, the shipwrecked, and prisoners

Rare-earth Element, Ion exchange

2005-02-15T06:32:00.000-08:00

Ion exchange is a method of separation based on differential absorption and elution (washing off) of substances from certain solid supporting materials, often powdered or finely divided materials held in glass tubes. The technique was first used in the rare-earth field during World War II to separate fission products obtained from nuclear reactors. In December

Waddington, William Henry

2005-02-15T00:24:00.000-08:00

The son of an English manufacturer living in France

Tiffany, Louis Comfort

2005-02-14T16:37:00.000-08:00

The son of the famous jeweler Charles Lewis Tiffany, Louis studied under the American painters George Inness and Samuel

Ascii

2005-02-14T07:16:00.000-08:00

Abbreviation of American Standard Code For Information Interchange, a standard data-transmission code that is used by smaller and less-powerful computers to represent both textual data (letters, numbers, and punctuation marks) and noninput-device commands (control characters). Like other coding systems, it converts information into standardized digital formats that allow computers to communicate with each other and to efficiently

Greasewood

2005-02-14T04:13:00.000-08:00

The name greasewood

Akranes

2005-02-13T06:30:00.000-08:00

Town, western Iceland. It is situated along Faxa Bay, at the tip of a peninsula between Borgar and Hval fjords. A fishing port and local market centre, it is connected by road to Reykjavík, 20 miles (32 km) southeast. Akranes is the site of one of Iceland's largest cement plants. Pop. (1992 est.) 5,272.

Malacca, Strait Of

2005-02-12T05:42:00.000-08:00

Waterway connecting the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) and the South China Sea (Pacific Ocean). It runs between the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the west and West Malaysia and peninsular Thailand to the east and has an area of 25,000 square miles (65,000 square km). The strait is 500 miles (800 km) long and is funnel-shaped, with a width of only 40 miles (65 km) in the south that broadens northward to 155 miles

Carlos María Isidro De Borbón, Conde De Molina

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

Don Carlos was imprisoned in Napoleonic France from 1808 to 1814. During the period of liberal rule (1820–23) he was involved in a number of conspiracies against the regime, and in the decade that followed

Swan Theatre

2005-02-11T00:34:00.000-08:00

Elizabethan theatre built about 1595 by Francis Langley in Bankside, London. A description and a sketch of the Swan made by Johann DeWitt of Utrecht (the sketch copied by Arend van Buchell) have proved most useful in attempts to reconstruct the form of the Elizabethan theatre. The last known mention of the Swan Theatre was in 1632.

Paphos

2005-02-10T22:20:00.000-08:00

Old Paphos, which was settled

Aquino, Benigno Simeon, Jr.

2005-02-10T09:10:00.000-08:00

The grandson of a Philippine general and the son of a well-known politician and landowner,

Scandinavian Literature, The classical period in Iceland

2005-02-10T06:48:00.000-08:00

The best known Icelandic literature belongs to the classical period, roughly equivalent to the early and medieval periods in western European literature. Icelandic manuscripts yield much knowledge of European myth and legend, which is in part common to all Germanic peoples. Stories of the Norse gods and myths—of Odin, god of war; Balder the Beautiful; Thor, god of

Arnold, Matthew

2005-02-09T15:30:00.000-08:00

It was Arnold's expressed desire that his biography should not be written; there are, however, a number of monographs and biographico-critical works, among them Lionel Trilling, Matthew Arnold (1939), the best full-length study; J. Dover Wilson, Leslie Stephen and Matthew Arnold As Critics of Wordsworth (1939); Sir E.K. Chambers, Matthew Arnold: A Study (1947); J.D. Jump, Matthew Arnold, “Men and Books Series” (1955); G. Robert Stange, Matthew Arnold: The Poet As Humanist (1967).

Mashonaland

2005-02-09T08:45:00.000-08:00

Mashonaland consists largely of the northeastern part of Zimbabwe's Middle Veld, a wide plateau lying at an

Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

2005-02-07T20:08:00.000-08:00

Coastal habitat conservation area in southern Texas, U.S., located about 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Corpus Christi. The refuge, parts of which are jointly administered by state and federal agencies, covers a total of 181 square miles (469 square km) on the Gulf of Mexico, including large tracts of land on Matagorda Island and on a broad peninsula between San Antonio Bay and St. Charles

Nagel, Ernest

2005-02-07T13:47:00.000-08:00

Formerly an exponent of logical realism, Nagel later abandoned a realistic ontology for an empirical and theoretical

Nagano

2005-02-07T05:59:00.000-08:00

Formerly Zenkoji, city, Nagano ken (prefecture), central Honshu, Japan. It is the capital of the prefecture and is situated in the Nagano Basin. The city dates from the 12th–13th century and grew up around the Zenko Temple, which was founded in the 7th century. Nagano later developed as a market town and post station along the Hokkoku Road. It is now an important commercial centre with food-processing,

Vail, Theodore Newton

2005-02-07T00:23:00.000-08:00

After a highly successful career in the railway postal service, Vail was persuaded in 1878 to join Bell Telephone as general manager. During his active tenure in this

Robber Fly

2005-02-06T23:40:00.000-08:00

Also called Assassin Fly, any predatory insect of the family Asilidae (order Diptera), numbering about 4,000 species, worldwide in distribution. These flies have variable lengths that range to almost 8 cm (3 inches). They are the largest of all flies. Most are dull in colour, and their stout bodies resemble those of bumble bees. Between the large-faceted eyes is a moustache of bristles. The long legs are adapted

Sea Gooseberry

2005-02-06T17:23:00.000-08:00

Either of two cosmopolitan genera of invertebrate marine animals in the phylum Ctenophora: the Hormiphora and the Pleurobrachia. The genera, widely distributed in all the oceans, are represented by 90 species. Sea gooseberries are wholly planktonic in their life cycle, lacking any sessile (attached) stages. They feed on other small planktonic animals such as arrow

Abbess

2005-02-05T18:04:00.000-08:00

To be elected, an abbess must be at least 40 years old and a professed nun for at least 10 years. She is solemnly blessed