RightCollar

Estate Agent London

2006-10-26T11:25:00.000-07:00

Robert Irving Burns specialise in London Commercial and Residential property services, including Estate Agent Covent Garden and Estate Agent London. Their centrally located ground floor offices, minutes from Oxford Circus offer an ideal marketing base for your property.

Arts, Central Asian, Mongolian literature

2005-04-04T13:14:00.000-07:00

Mongolian literature begins with the Secret History of the Mongols, an Imperial chronicle dealing with the life and times of Genghis Khan and his successors, written about 1240. Üligers, orally transmitted epic stories in verse, form the bulk of native literary expression. Highly stylized, these tales relate adventures of legendary heroes and villains. In spite of their

Levator Muscle

2005-04-04T06:35:00.000-07:00

Any of the muscles that raise a body part. In humans these include the levator anguli oris, which raises the corner of the mouth; the levator ani, collective name for a thin sheet of muscle that stretches across the pelvic cavity and helps hold the pelvic viscera in position, forming a kind of sphincter around the vagina in the female and the anal canal in both sexes; the

Ploceidae

2005-04-03T21:29:00.000-07:00

Songbird family, order Passeriformes, including the bishop, weaver, and whydah groups and Old World sparrows. The 135 to 155 species are native chiefly to Africa—but several have been introduced elsewhere. Ploceids are small, compact birds with short, stout bills. In many species the males are brightly coloured; some acquire, in nonbreeding season, dull plumage resembling

Turkic Peoples

2005-04-02T11:01:00.000-08:00

Any of various peoples whose members speak languages belonging to the Turkic subfamily of the Altaic family of languages. They are historically and linguistically connected with the T'u-chüeh, the name given by the Chinese to the nomadic people who in the 6th century AD founded an empire stretching from Mongolia and the northern frontier of China to the Black Sea. With

Chile, Geography

2005-04-02T02:27:00.000-08:00

Works on the social conditions include Arturo Valenzuela and J. Samuel Valenzuela (eds.), Chile: Politics and Society (1976); Barbara Stallings, Class Conflict and Economic Development in Chile: 1958–1973 (1978); Brian H. Smith, The Church and Politics in Chile: Challenges to Modern Catholicism (1982); and Cesar Caviedes, The Politics of Chile: A Sociogeographical Assessment (1979). The military's role in Chilean politics is treated in J. Samuel Valenzuela and Arturo Valenzuela (eds.), Military Rule in Chile: Dictatorship and Oppositions (1986); Cesar Caviedes, The Southern Cone: Realities of the Authoritarian State in South America (1984); and Frederick M. Nunn, The Military in Chilean History: Essays on Civil-Military Relations, 1810–1973 (1976), and Chilean Politics, 1920–1931: The Honorable Mission of the Armed Forces (1970). Contemporary culture is discussed in Hernán Godoy Urzúa, Apuntes sobre la cultura en Chile (1982).

Cambium

2005-04-01T06:34:00.000-08:00

Plural Cambiums, or Cambia, in plants, layer of actively dividing cells between xylem (wood) and phloem (bast) tissues that is responsible for the secondary growth of stems and roots (secondary growth occurs after the first season and results in increase in thickness). Theoretically, the cambium is a single layer of cells, called initial cells; practically, it is difficult to distinguish the initials

Myanmar, Religious groups

2005-03-31T21:53:00.000-08:00

The vast majority of the population is Theravada Buddhist. The Burmans are Buddhists except for minimal numbers of Christians and Muslims; the Shan also are Buddhists. Among the Karen, there are many more Buddhists than Christians. The other hill peoples are animists except for a small number of Kayah Buddhists and Kachin and Chin Christians, and even they practice

Frederick I

2005-03-30T19:42:00.000-08:00

Byname Frederick Barbarossa (Italian: Redbeard) duke of Swabia (as Frederick III, 1147–90) and German king and Holy Roman emperor (1152–90), who challenged papal authority and sought to establish German predominance in western Europe. He engaged in a long struggle with the cities of northern Italy (1154–83), sending six major expeditions southward. He died while on the Third Crusade to the Holy Land.

Irish Potato Famine

2005-03-30T02:09:00.000-08:00

Also called Great Potato Famine, Great Irish Famine, or Famine Of 1845–49, famine that occurred in Ireland in 1845–49 when the potato crop failed in successive years. The crop failures were caused by late blight (q.v.), a disease that destroys both the leaves and the edible roots, or tubers, of the potato plant. The causative agent of late blight is the fungus Phytophthora infestans. The Irish Potato Famine was the worst famine to occur in Europe in the

Aschoff, Karl Albert Ludwig

2005-03-29T23:25:00.000-08:00

German pathologist who recognized the phagocytic (capable of engulfing bacteria and other substances) activity of certain cells found in diverse tissues and named them the reticuloendothelial system (1924). He also described (1904) the inflammatory nodule (called Aschoff's bodies, or nodules) in heart muscle

Sacramento Mountains

2005-03-29T19:06:00.000-08:00

Segment of the southern Rockies, extending southward for 160 mi (260 km) from Ancho, in south central New Mexico, into Culberson County, western Texas, U.S. They include the Sierra Blanca and the Guadalupe and Jicarilla mountains, with heights averaging from 8,000 to 10,000 ft (2,400 to 3,000 m). The Sierra Blanca Peak (12,003 ft) is the highest in the group, and Guadalupe Peak (8,749 ft) is the highest in Texas. Features include

Caruso, Enrico

2005-03-29T03:07:00.000-08:00

Caruso was of a poor family and was the 18th of 20 children. Although he was a musical child who sang Neapolitan folk songs everywhere and joined his parish choir at the age of nine, he received no formal

Computers, Compilers

2005-03-27T11:21:00.000-08:00

In 1952 Heinz Rutishauser,

Caciquism

2005-03-26T23:19:00.000-08:00

The word cacique is of Indian origin but was adopted by the Spanish conquistadores and used to describe heads of Indian tribes or, in the more developed Indian states, governors of districts.

Judaism, The ethically bound creature

2005-03-26T18:51:00.000-08:00

Mankind is then viewed, however this position is arrived at, as ethically involved. The first 11 chapters of Genesis are posited upon this responsibility, for the implicit assumption of the prepatriarchal stories is man's ability to choose between obedience and disobedience. Rabbinic Judaism, taking up the covenant-making episode between God and Noah (Gen. 9:8–17), developed

Checks And Balances

2005-03-25T06:57:00.000-08:00

Principle of government under which separate branches are empowered to prevent actions by other branches and are induced to share power. Checks and balances are applied primarily in constitutional governments. They are of fundamental importance in tripartite governments, such as that of the United States, which separate powers among legislative, executive,

San Carlos

2005-03-24T21:32:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Cojedes estado (“state”), northwestern Venezuela. The city lies along the Tirgua River, at the base of the central highlands and near the Llanos (plains) region. Founded in 1678 by Capuchin missionaries, San Carlos served as capital of Falcón state prior to the separation of Cojedes and Portuguesa states. It is the commercial and marketing centre of an agricultural

Carter, Angela

2005-03-24T21:10:00.000-08:00

Carter rejected an Oxford education to work as a journalist with the Croydon Advertiser, but she later studied medieval literature at the University of Bristol (B.A., 1965). She had moderate success with

Tallapoosa River

2005-03-23T19:42:00.000-08:00

River rising in the Piedmont area of western Georgia, U.S., west of Atlanta, and flowing southwest in an irregular, steplike course for about 268 mi (431 km), joining the larger Coosa River just north of Montgomery, Ala., to form the Alabama River. Its only large tributary is the Little Tallapoosa, which joins it about midway in its course. All but the lower part of the drainage basin

Pack Ice

2005-03-23T07:04:00.000-08:00

Floating mass of ice formed from seawater in the Earth's polar regions. Pack ice expands during winter to cover about 5 percent of the northern oceans and 8 percent of the southern oceans. When melting occurs in spring and summer, the margins of the pack ice retreat.

Sill, Anna Peck

2005-03-23T03:05:00.000-08:00

Sill began teaching school at the age of 20, and in 1843 she opened a seminary in Warsaw, New York. From 1846 to 1849 she headed the female department of the Cary Collegiate Institute in Oakfield, New York. For some years she had wavered between teaching

Felix Iii (or Ii), Saint

2005-03-21T13:19:00.000-08:00

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

Switzerland, Remaining challenges

2005-03-20T06:31:00.000-08:00

At the end of the 20th century, growing doubts about Switzerland's past and future emerged. Many Swiss questioned the country's traditional “bunker mentality” in a Europe at peace and with open borders. Particularly troubling for Switzerland was an international debate during the 1990s about “dormant accounts”—assets left by foreign Jews in Swiss banks during the Nazi era

Switzerland, Industrialization

2005-03-20T00:32:00.000-08:00

The 17th and 18th centuries were periods of peace and rising prosperity. Industry, which had existed in certain Swiss communities as far back as the 14th century, expanded, setting the foundation for future growth and diversification. Swiss neutrality during the Thirty Years' War was beneficial to the economy. The influx of refugees was particularly important in rehabilitating

Holstein Interglacial Stage

2005-03-19T15:42:00.000-08:00

Major division of Pleistocene deposits and time in Europe (the Pleistocene Epoch began about 1,600,000 years ago and ended about 10,000 years ago). The Holstein Interglacial followed the Elsterian Glacial Stage and preceded the Saale Glacial Stage. The Holstein Interglacial is correlated with the Hoxne Interglacial Stage of Britain and the Mindel-Riss Interglacial Stage of

Pyrobitumen

2005-03-19T15:31:00.000-08:00

Pyrobitumens may be either asphaltic or nonasphaltic. The asphaltic pyrobitumens are derived from petroleum, are relatively hard, and have

Dwight, Timothy

2005-03-19T01:45:00.000-08:00

Educated by his mother, a daughter of the preacher Jonathan Edwards, Dwight entered Yale at age 13 and was graduated in 1769. He then pursued a variety of occupations, including those of a tutor at Yale, a school principal, a Massachusetts

Gwynn, Tony

2005-03-18T10:33:00.000-08:00

Gwynn attended San Diego (California) State University on a basketball scholarship, where he set a school record for assists as the team's point guard. He also excelled at baseball and was drafted in 1981 by

Nervous System Disease, Disorders of fat and fatty acid metabolism

2005-03-17T23:52:00.000-08:00

Many of the conditions mentioned in this and the next section are caused by a genetically determined enzyme

Rhyme

2005-03-17T08:46:00.000-08:00

Also spelled rime the correspondence of two or more words with similar-sounding final syllables placed so as to echo one another. Rhyme is used by poets and occasionally by prose writers to produce sounds appealing to the reader's senses and to unify and establish a poem's stanzaic form. End rhyme (i.e., rhyme used at the end of a line to echo the end of another line) is most common, but internal,

Epistemology, Our knowledge of the external world

2005-03-17T00:58:00.000-08:00

Most people have noticed that vision can play tricks on them. A straight stick put in water looks bent to them, but they know it is not; railroad tracks are seen to be converging in the distance, yet one knows that they are not; the wheels of wagons on a movie screen appear to be going backward, but one knows that they are not; and the pages of English-language books reflected

Tarantula

2005-03-16T14:12:00.000-08:00

The bite of L. tarentula was once thought to cause a disease known as tarantism, in which the victim wept and skipped about before going into a wild

Nephroblastoma

2005-03-15T17:06:00.000-08:00

Also called embryoma , or Wilms' tumour malignant renal (kidney) tumour of early childhood. In 75 percent of the cases, the tumour grows before the age of five; about two-thirds of the instances are apparent by two years of age. The tumour grows rapidly and can approach the weight of the rest of the body. It rarely appears in adults. In its early stages the nephroblastoma causes no symptoms. Later, symptoms may indicate

Telephone And Telephone System, Digital facsimile

2005-03-14T23:04:00.000-08:00

Although the Group 2 fax machines proved to be successful in business applications where electronic transmission of documents containing nontextual information such as drawings, diagrams, and signatures was required, the slow transmission rate and the cost of the terminals ultimately limited the growth of fax services. In response, the CCITT developed standards

Gaiseric

2005-03-14T10:04:00.000-08:00

Gaiseric succeeded his brother Gunderic at a time when the Vandals were settled in Baetica (modern Andalusia, Spain). In May 428 Gaiseric transported all his people, purported by him to number 80,000, to Africa. Evidently he was invited to Africa by the governor,

Aspergillus

2005-03-12T23:15:00.000-08:00

Genus of the Fungi Imperfecti (form-class Deuteromycetes). Those species for which the sexual phase is known are placed in the order Eurotiales. A. niger causes black mold of foodstuffs; A. flavus, A. niger, and A. fumigatus cause aspergillosis in humans. A. oryzae is used to ferment sake, and A. wentii to process soybeans. Three genera of the class Ascomycetes have

Sundial

2005-03-12T20:00:00.000-08:00

The first device for indicating the time of day was probably the gnomon, dating from

Ganda

2005-03-12T19:39:00.000-08:00

Also called Baganda, or Waganda, people inhabiting the area north and northwest of Lake Victoria in south-central Uganda. They speak a Bantu language—called Ganda, or Luganda—of the Benue-Congo group. The Ganda are the most numerous people in Uganda and their territory the most productive and fertile. Once the core of the Uganda Protectorate, they have a higher standard of living and are more literate

Elijah

2005-03-11T11:15:00.000-08:00

One of the most important moments in the history of monotheism is the climax of Elijah's struggle with Baalism. His momentous words, “If Yahweh is God, follow him, but if Baal, then follow him”—especially when taken with the prayer “Hear me, Yahweh, that this people may know that you, Yahweh, are God”—show that more is at stake than simply allotting to divinities their particular

Parys

2005-03-10T19:39:00.000-08:00

Resort town, northern Free State province, South Africa. It is situated on the southern bank of the Vaal River. Parys was founded in 1873 and most likely named by a German surveyor named Schilbach, who had fought in the siege of Paris in 1870. Parys officially became a town in 1887. Tobacco, corn (maize), sorghum, and cattle are raised in the surrounding area. Industries produce processed

Peter Des Roches

2005-03-10T14:21:00.000-08:00

As bishop of Winchester from 1205 to 1238, he organized and added to the financial resources of his see. He held ecclesiastical appointments in Touraine

Yamazaki Sokan

2005-03-10T02:47:00.000-08:00

Little is known of Sokan's life. According to tradition he served as a retainer to the shogun Ashikaga Yoshihisa and became a monk after Yoshihisa's

Crawford, William H(arris)

2005-03-09T18:58:00.000-08:00

After living in Virginia and South Carolina, the Crawford family moved to Georgia, where William attended Moses Waddel's Carmel Academy. He then taught school in Augusta,

Rockwell International Corporation

2005-03-09T13:39:00.000-08:00

The main company was incorporated in 1928 as North American Aviation, Inc., a holding company for a number of aviation companies, but it switched to aircraft manufacturing when it received a contract

Avery, Milton (clark)

2005-03-09T07:28:00.000-08:00

Avery painted many landscapes, particularly

Felton, Rebecca Ann

2005-03-09T05:05:00.000-08:00

Rebecca Latimer was graduated first in her class from the Madison Female College, Madison, Georgia, in 1852 and the following year married William H. Felton, a local physician active in liberal Democratic politics. She assisted her husband in

H I Region

2005-03-07T20:02:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Hi Region, in astronomy, interstellar matter composed of neutral hydrogen atoms. Most of the matter between the stars in the Milky Way Galaxy, to which the Earth belongs, as well as in other spiral galaxies, occurs in the form of relatively cold, neutral hydrogen gas with a temperature of only about 100 K and a density of approximately one atom per cubic cm. There also exist cold compact

Waitz, Georg

2005-03-07T17:39:00.000-08:00

German historian who was the founder of a renowned school of medievalists at the University of Göttingen. As the leading disciple of Leopold von Ranke's critical methods, he is regarded as the ablest of the German constitutional historians; many consider him to be superior to his teacher in exactness of

Macdonald, Cynthia

2005-03-06T14:06:00.000-08:00

Macdonald was educated at Bennington (Vermont) College (B.A., 1950); Mannes College of Music, New York City; Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, New York (M.A., 1970); and the Houston-Galveston (Texas) Psychoanalytic Institute, where she was certified as a psychoanalyst

Gateleg Table

2005-03-06T02:10:00.000-08:00

Type of table first used in England in the 16th century. The top had a fixed section and one or two hinged sections, which, when not in use, folded back onto the fixed section or were allowed to hang vertically. The hinged section, or flap, was supported on pivoted legs joined at the top and bottom by stretchers and so constituting a gate. Large flaps had two supports,

Uddevalla

2005-03-05T09:34:00.000-08:00

Town, Västra Götaland län (county), southwestern Sweden. It lies along the Bäve River, at the head of By Fjord (an inlet of the Skagerrak), north of Göteborg. The site has been identified with Odensvold, a pagan place of sacrifice. The town was incorporated in 1498. On several occasions during the Danish-Swedish wars, large parts of it were destroyed and ravaged by fire. Uddevalla

Denbigh

2005-03-05T04:32:00.000-08:00

Welsh Dinbych market town, historic and present county of Denbighshire (Sir Ddinbych), Wales. After the English king Edward I conquered Wales, Henry de Lacy, 3rd earl of Lincoln, founded a borough there in 1283 and built a castle, which withstood attack in 1402 by the rebel Owen Glendower, though the town itself was razed. In the 15th and 16th centuries Denbigh was one of the most important towns in Wales.

Arts, Central Asian, Folk music

2005-03-04T21:35:00.000-08:00

Generally characterized by a scarcity of musicians and musical instruments, folk music of this region is predominantly a matter of solo playing and singing, small ensembles, and a complete lack of musical notation or codified musical theory. In their general types, the musical instruments are closely related to those of Persia and the Middle East, but specific

Technetium

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

(Tc), chemical element, synthetic radioactive metal of Group VIIb of the periodic table, the first element to be artificially produced. The isotope technetium-97 (2,600,000-year half-life) was discovered (1937) by the Italian mineralogist Carlo Perrier and the Italian-born American physicist Emilio Segrè in a sample of molybdenum that had been bombarded by deuterons in the Berkeley (California)

Belém

2005-03-02T22:12:00.000-08:00

Also called Santa Maria de Belém freguesia (parish) within the western limits of the city of Lisbon, Portugal. A former royal residence, Belém (Bethlehem) is known for its Manueline (early 16th-century) architecture, notably the Jerónimos monastery, founded by Manuel I in 1499 in honour of the explorer Vasco da Gama's discovery of a sea route to India, and the white Tower of Belém, built in 1515–21 to protect the entrance

Paper Pulp

2005-03-02T19:05:00.000-08:00

Rags and other fibres, such as straw, grasses, and bark of the mitsumata and paper mulberry (kozo), have been used as paper pulp. Except for certain special papers (e.g., asbestos paper), nearly all papers are made of cellulosic

Ernst, Paul

2005-03-02T05:15:00.000-08:00

Ernst studied for the ministry but quickly became disillusioned with theology. He became a militant Marxist and the editor of the Berliner Volkstribüne. He severed his

Mu Gia Pass

2005-03-02T02:24:00.000-08:00

Vietnamese Deo Mugia, mountain pass in the Annamese Cordillera (Chaîne Annamitique) between northern Vietnam and Laos, 55 miles (90 km) northwest of Dong Hoi, Vietnam. The pass lies 1,371 feet (418 m) above sea level and carries the road from Tan Ap in Vietnam to Muang Khammouan (formerly called Thakhek) in Laos, on the Mekong River. The strategic pass was the principal point of entry of the Ho Chi Minh Trail access

Lena River

2005-03-01T23:19:00.000-08:00

The Lena is navigable by small boats in sections below Kachug and below Ust-Kut by larger vessels. The most important ports are Bulun, Zhigansk, Yakutsk, Vitim, Kirensk, Osetrovo, Zhigalovo, and Kachug. The major navigable tributaries are the Kirenga and Vilyuy on the left bank and the Vitim, Olyokma, and Aldan on the right bank. Timber, furs, gold, mica, industrial products,

Aragua

2005-03-01T03:46:00.000-08:00

Estado (“state”), northern Venezuela. It is bounded north by the Caribbean Sea, east by the Distrito Federal and Miranda state, south by Guárico state, and west by Carabobo state. Aragua consists largely of two Andean ranges separated by an intermontane basin, in which lies Lake Valencia. Henri Pittier National Park (413 square miles), with its exceptionally rich and varied

Chattahoochee River

2005-02-28T14:32:00.000-08:00

River having its source in several headstreams in the Blue Ridge Mountains in northeastern Georgia, U.S. It flows southwestward across northern Georgia to West Point, south of which its course marks the Georgia-Alabama and Georgia-Florida boundaries until it joins the Flint River at Chattahoochee, Fla., after a course of about 436 miles (702 km), where it forms the Apalachicola

Aeschylus

2005-02-28T09:18:00.000-08:00

Aeschylus' influence on the development of tragedy was fundamental. Previous to him, Greek drama was limited to one actor and a chorus engaged in a largely static recitation. (The chorus was a group of actors who responded to and commented on the main action of a play with song, dance, and recitation.) The actor could assume different roles by changing masks and costumes,

Riss Glacial Stage

2005-02-26T22:49:00.000-08:00

Major division of Pleistocene time and deposits (1,600,000 to 10,000 years ago) in Alpine Europe. The Riss Glacial Stage, during which mountain glaciers descended from the highlands, followed the Mindel-Riss Interglacial Stage and preceded the Riss-Würm Interglacial Stage, both periods of relatively moderate climatic conditions. The Riss is correlated with the Gipping Glacial

Mitchell, Maggie

2005-02-26T17:22:00.000-08:00

Mitchell left school at age 12 to follow her older half-sisters onto the stage, where she filled a variety of child's walk-on and silent roles. She made her debut in a speaking role in June 1851 in a benefit performance

Eames, Charles; And Eames, Ray

2005-02-26T11:41:00.000-08:00

Charles Eames, who was also an architect, was for several years

Szeryng, Henryk

2005-02-26T03:10:00.000-08:00

Szeryng studied with Carl Flesch in Berlin and with Jacques Thibaud in Paris. He made his debut in 1933, and from 1933 to 1939 he was a composition student of Nadia Boulanger in Paris. During World War II he was on the staff of the Polish government-in-exile.

Ansett Transport Industries Limited

2005-02-25T16:34:00.000-08:00

Ansett (Sir Reginald since 1969) began in 1931 with a motorcar passenger service in the Western District of the state of Victoria. In 1936 he founded the airline company for service between Melbourne and Hamilton. After World War II the company began new interstate

Encyclopaedia, China

2005-02-25T07:23:00.000-08:00

The contribution from the East to the history of encyclopaedias is distinctive and covers a longer period than that of the West. The Chinese have produced encyclopaedias for approximately 2,000 years, but traditionally they differ from the modern Western encyclopaedia in that they are mainly anthologies of significant literature with some elements of the dictionary.

Kirkland, Samuel

2005-02-24T19:28:00.000-08:00

While still a student at Princeton, Kirkland began his wilderness treks on snowshoes to preach to the Indians. Gradually he mastered several Indian languages

Endocrine System, Human, Aldosterone

2005-02-24T10:16:00.000-08:00

The biologic effect of aldosterone, the principal mineralocorticoid produced by the zona glomerulosa, is to set in motion a set of reactions at the cell surface of all body tissues in order to enhance the uptake and retention of sodium in all cells and the extrusion of potassium from them. Such fluxes of sodium and potassium following the administration of aldosterone

China, The chief councillors

2005-02-23T07:14:00.000-08:00

The later Nan Sung emperors preferred not to take on the awesome burden of managing the huge and complex bureaucracy. Most of them were concerned chiefly with security and the status quo. The Nan Sung court delegated a tremendous amount of power and thus had a series of dominant chief councillors; none of them, however, ever was a potential usurper. No bureaucrat during

Liquid Crystal

2005-02-23T01:37:00.000-08:00

A substance that flows as a liquid but maintains some of the ordered structure characteristic of a crystal. Certain organic substances when heated will not melt directly but will turn from a crystalline solid to a liquid-crystal (mesomorphic) state. Upon further heating, a temperature is reached at which a true (isotropic) liquid is formed. The liquid-crystal state

Apollo Theater

2005-02-22T13:01:00.000-08:00

The Apollo was the central theatre on Harlem's main commercial street, and its position reflects its central role in Harlem's culture. Designed by New York architect George Keister, the building was leased by Jules Hurtig

Vieira Da Cruz, Tomaz

2005-02-21T15:46:00.000-08:00

Vieira da Cruz was reared and educated in Portugal, where he became a pharmacist's assistant. This job afforded him time to write

Sun Tzu

2005-02-21T01:36:00.000-08:00

The book is traditionally attributed to Sun Tzu (personal name Sun Wu), a military strategist and general who served the state of Wu near the end of the Spring and Autumn Period (770–476 BC). It is more likely, however, that it was written early in the Warring

Owl, Fossil history

2005-02-20T10:09:00.000-08:00

The earliest recognizable fossil strigiform is Protostrix from the Eocene of Wyoming. A number of genera from the later Tertiary have been assigned to Recent strigiform families. Some early owls reached far greater size than their modern descendents. A giant barn owl, about twice the size of the modern Tyto alba, inhabited Puerto Rico in the Pleistocene. Another

Gillars, Mildred

2005-02-20T03:30:00.000-08:00

Gillars was an aspiring actress who played minor parts in some American theatrical touring companies. She attended Ohio Wesleyan University but left in 1922. In 1929 she traveled to North Africa, with the intention of going on to Europe. In 1934 she

Erik I

2005-02-18T21:23:00.000-08:00

Byname Erik Bloodax, Norwegian Eirik BlodØks king of Norway (c. 930–935) and later king of Northumberland (948, 952–954). On the death of his father, Harald I Fairhair, first king of united Norway, Erik attempted to make himself sole king of Norway, defeating and slaying two of his brothers to whom vassal kingdoms had been assigned by their father; but his tyranny fostered the reaction that had set in against the strong rule

Astruc Of Lunel,

2005-02-18T18:39:00.000-08:00

Although Astruc revered Maimonides, who had attempted to reconcile Aristotle's philosophy

Adalbert

2005-02-18T06:53:00.000-08:00

The youngest son of Frederick, Count of Goseck (on the Saale River), Adalbert attended the cathedral school at Halberstadt, becoming subsequently subdeacon and, in 1032, canon. In May 1043 he was appointed archbishop

Baader, Franz Xaver Von

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

Abandoning a profitable career as a mining engineer in 1820, he turned his attention to a study of politics and religion. His earlier efforts to achieve ecumenical and political unity contributed to the formation in 1815 of the Holy Alliance, a

Philippe And Mathilde, Prince And Princess Of Belgium

2005-02-17T10:02:00.000-08:00

The social event of the decade in Belgium was the marriage of Crown Prince Philippe to Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz on Dec. 4, 1999. The 39-year-old prince had kept his relationship with the 26-year-old speech therapist private until their engagement was announced in September 1999. In three months' time, Mathilde went from a life of relative anonymity to becoming one of Belgium's most well-known

Diesel, Rudolf (christian Karl)

2005-02-16T08:49:00.000-08:00

Diesel, the son of German-born parents, grew up in Paris until the family was deported to England in 1870 following the outbreak of the Franco-German

France, History Of, The juridical revolution

2005-02-16T07:09:00.000-08:00

Louis XVI's decision to convene the Estates-General in May 1789 became a turning point in French history. When he invited his subjects to express their opinions and grievances in preparation for this event—unprecedented in living memory—hundreds responded with pamphlets in which the liberal ideology of 1789 gradually began to take shape. Exactly how the Estates-General

Maser

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

Device that produces and amplifies electromagnetic radiation mainly in the microwave region of the spectrum. The maser operates according to the same basic principle as the laser (the name of which is formed from the acronym for “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation”) and shares many of its characteristics. The first maser was built by the American

Temple, Shirley

2005-02-14T20:19:00.000-08:00

At age three Temple was picked from her dancing class to appear in Baby Burlesks, a series of one-reel comedies. In 1934 she gained recognition in her first feature film, the musical Stand Up and

Nachikufan Industry

2005-02-14T19:02:00.000-08:00

Industry of the African Late Stone Age practiced by hunting-gathering peoples who occupied the wooded plateaus of south-central Africa some 10,000–11,000 years ago. The Nachikufan tool industry is characterized by projectiles with several kinds of microlithic heads, heavy stone scrapers that were probably used for working wood and its by-products, flattish stones with centre-bored

Bali

2005-02-14T01:04:00.000-08:00

Island and provinsi (“province”) in the Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia, 1 mile (1.6 km) east of the island of Java. The provinsi has an area of 2,147 square miles (5,561 square km). Most of Bali is mountainous (essentially an extension of the central mountain chain in Java), the highest point being Mount Agung, or Bali Peak, 10,308 feet (3,142 m) in height and known locally as the “navel of the world.” It proved to be

Visible Trade

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

Countries lacking various raw materials will import needed substances such

Disney, Walt

2005-02-12T06:49:00.000-08:00

Byname of Walter Elias Disney American motion-picture and television producer and showman, famous as a pioneer of animated cartoon films and as the creator of such cartoon characters as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. He also planned and built Disneyland, a huge amusement park that opened near Los Angeles in 1955, and before his death he

Yoro

2005-02-12T04:00:00.000-08:00

City, northwestern Honduras. Situated in the highlands at an elevation of 1,837 feet (559 m), it is located near the headwaters of the Aguán River. Although its founding date is uncertain, it was first mentioned in 1684. It is now a commercial and manufacturing centre in a fertile agricultural area. Coffee, tobacco, livestock, and timber are the principal products of the region. In the

Hyalophane

2005-02-12T02:35:00.000-08:00

A barium-rich variety of potassium feldspar; see celsian.

Wolf Spider

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

Also called Ground Spider, or Hunting Spider, any member of the spider family Lycosidae (order Araneida), a large and widespread group. They are named for the wolflike habit of chasing and pouncing upon prey. About 125 species occur in North America, about 50 in Europe. Numerous species occur north of the Arctic Circle. Most are small to medium-sized. The largest has a body about 2.5 cm (1 inch) long and legs about the same

Italy, The early years

2005-02-11T02:42:00.000-08:00

Interest in the French Revolution was enhanced by the waning of the reformist impulse of the 1780s in the Italian states. Educated landowners and entrepreneurs who had put their trust in the enlightened rulers of their own states and had looked forward to important administrative and political reforms were disappointed. The French example gave them new hope. During

Biblical Literature, Uncials

2005-02-11T01:39:00.000-08:00

A, Codex Alexandrinus, is an early-5th-century manuscript containing most of the New Testament but with lacunae (gaps) in Matthew, John, and II Corinthians, plus the inclusion of the extracanonical I and II Clement. In the Gospels, the text is of the Byzantine type, but, in the rest of the New Testament, it is Alexandrian.

Grubenmann, Hans Ulrich; And Grubenmann, Johannes

2005-02-10T08:56:00.000-08:00

Swiss carpenters and bridge builders whose bridge (1758) over the Limmat River at the town of Wettingen, near Zürich, is believed to be the first timber bridge to employ a true arch in its design. The brothers' ingenious combination of the arch and truss principles made it possible to construct longer and better timber bridges

Iron-deficiency Anemia

2005-02-09T13:03:00.000-08:00

Most frequent type of anemia, which may develop when the body's iron loss is high and its iron stores are depleted (e.g., during periods of rapid growth, pregnancy, or menstruation or other sources of chronic blood loss) or when a person's dietary iron intake is low or his assimilation of iron is inefficient (e.g., starvation, intestinal parasite infestation, removal of part

Jovanovic, Slobodan

2005-02-09T10:51:00.000-08:00

Serbian jurist, historian, and statesman, prime minister in the Yugoslav government-in-exile during World War II (Jan. 11, 1942–June 26, 1943). Liberal in his social and political views, he was perhaps Yugoslavia's greatest authority on constitutional law; also a master of Serbian prose style, he was for nearly half a century a leader of the Serbian

Ibn Ezra, Moses (ben Jacob Ha-sallah)

2005-02-09T09:51:00.000-08:00

Known in Arabic as Abu Harun Musa, he belonged to a prominent Hispano-Hebrew family (his three