QuickIsland

Yogyakarta

2005-03-29T23:57:00.000-08:00

Most of the western half of the special district comprises coastal plains, as much as 15 miles (24 km) wide, consisting of lava and ash soils that are

Wessel Islands

2005-03-29T03:11:00.000-08:00

Chain of small islands extending 75 miles (120 km) northeast from the Napier Peninsula in northeastern Northern Territory, Australia, into the Arafura Sea. Named for a Dutch ship that explored the area in 1636, the islands form the western gate to the Gulf of Carpentaria at Cape Wessel, their northern extremity. Marchinbar, the largest island (30 miles by 7 miles [48 km by 11 km]), has undeveloped

Sun Bear

2005-03-29T01:22:00.000-08:00

Also called Bruang, Honey Bear, or Malayan Sun Bear (species Helarctos, or Ursus, malayanus), smallest member of the family Ursidae, found in Southeast Asian forests. The bear is often tamed as a pet when young but becomes bad-tempered and dangerous as an adult. It weighs only 27–65 kg (59–143 pounds) and grows 1–1.2 m (3.3–4 feet) long with a 5-centimetre (2-inch) tail. Its large forepaws bear long, curved claws, which it uses for tearing

Durango

2005-03-28T05:19:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1881) of La Plata county, southwestern Colorado, U.S., on the Animas River in the foothills of the La Plata Mountains at an elevation of 6,505 feet (1,983 metres). Founded in 1880 during a mining boom by the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, it was named for Durango, Mexico. It developed as a shipping point for farm produce (including livestock) and local natural resources (timber,

Price, Nick

2005-03-27T22:02:00.000-08:00

In 1982, 26-year-old Nick Price held a three-stroke lead with six holes left to play in one of golf's premier events, the British Open. But then he faltered, and Tom Watson beat him by one stroke. Watson, having also won the 1982 U.S. Open, became only the sixth player ever to win consecutive major tournaments. Twelve years would pass before that exclusive back-to-back club would admit another

Denali National Park And Preserve

2005-03-27T04:24:00.000-08:00

Park and preserve in central Alaska, U.S., established in 1980 from the former Mount McKinley National Park (1917) and Denali National Monument (1978). Denali (“The Great One”) is the ancient Athapascan Indian name for Mount McKinley, the highest mountain in North America at 20,320 feet (6,194 m). Highlights of the park include the large glaciers of the Alaska Range and abundant wildlife. The park's total

Gottlieb, Adolph

2005-03-26T18:16:00.000-08:00

Early in the 1940s Gottlieb developed

Sibley Provincial Park

2005-03-26T10:26:00.000-08:00

Park, southwestern Ontario, Canada, on Sibley Peninsula on the northern shore of Lake Superior, 20 miles (32 km) east of Thunder Bay. Established in 1950, the park has an area of 94 square miles (243 square km). It is the site of the 19th-century village of Silver Islet (including a restored hotel, store, and church), which was at one time the home of miners and lumbermen. Sibley has varied Canadian

Mexico, Gulf Of, Physiography and geology

2005-03-25T07:14:00.000-08:00

The Gulf of Mexico consists of several ecological and geologic provinces, chief of which are the coastal zone, the continental shelf, the continental slope, and the abyssal plain. The coastal zone consists of tidal marshes, sandy beaches, mangrove-covered areas, and many bays, estuaries, and lagoons. The continental shelf forms an almost continuous terrace around

Annelid, Excretory system

2005-03-23T22:46:00.000-08:00

Ammonia

Great Attractor

2005-03-23T18:53:00.000-08:00

Proposed concentration of mass that influences the movement of many galaxies, including the Milky Way. In 1986 a group of astronomers observing the motions of the Milky Way and neighbouring galaxies noted that the galaxies were moving toward the Hydra-Centaurus superclusters in the southern sky with velocities significantly different from those predicted by

Hooker, Joseph

2005-03-23T18:13:00.000-08:00

A West Point graduate and veteran of the Mexican War (1846–48), Hooker left his California home at the outbreak of the Civil War to serve as brigadier general

Afghanistan, Ya'qub Khan (1879)

2005-03-22T15:51:00.000-08:00

The Treaty of Gandamak (Gandomak; May 26, 1879) recognized Ya'qub Khan as emir, and he subsequently agreed to receive a permanent British embassy at Kabul. In addition, he agreed to conduct his foreign relations with other states in accordance “with the wishes and advice” of the British government. This British triumph, however, was short-lived. On September 3, 1879, the British envoy and

Thomas, Audrey

2005-03-21T17:50:00.000-08:00

Thomas graduated from Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1957 and settled in Canada in 1959. After receiving an M.A. from the University of British Columbia in 1963, she lived in Ghana from 1964 to 1966 and then returned to British Columbia, where she divided

Genetic Disease, Human, Techniques

2005-03-21T10:07:00.000-08:00

One of the major applications of somatic cell genetics to clinical medicine is in the area of prenatal diagnosis by genetic amniocentesis. This procedure permits the accurate prediction of some fetal diseases. The procedure is usually performed under a local anesthetic during the 15th to 17th week of pregnancy. By means of a needle introduced into the uterus, some

Alexander Iii

2005-03-20T05:52:00.000-08:00

Russian in full Aleksandr Aleksandrovich emperor of Russia from 1881 to 1894, opponent of representative government, and supporter of Russian nationalism. He adopted programs, based on the concepts of Orthodoxy, autocracy, and narodnost (a belief in the Russian people), that included the Russification of national minorities in the Russian Empire

Qualitative Chemical Analysis

2005-03-19T16:24:00.000-08:00

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

Water Table

2005-03-19T08:16:00.000-08:00

Also called Groundwater Table, upper level of an underground surface in which the soil or rocks are permanently saturated with water. The water table separates the groundwater zone that lies below it from the capillary fringe, or zone of aeration, that lies above it. The water table fluctuates both with the seasons and from year to year because it is affected by climatic variations and by the amount

Argentina, Climate

2005-03-19T07:08:00.000-08:00

Argentina lies almost entirely within the temperate zone of the Southern Hemisphere, unlike the rest of the continent to the north, which lies within the tropics. Tropical air masses only occasionally invade the provinces of Formosa and Misiones in the extreme north. The southern extremes of Argentina, which extend to 55° S, also have predominantly temperate conditions,

Gairdner, Lake

2005-03-18T20:01:00.000-08:00

Largest of a group of shallow depressions west of Lake Torrens in central South Australia, 240 mi northwest of Adelaide. It measures 100 mi (160 km) long by 30 mi wide. Lying at the base of the Eyre Peninsula, the lake is a dry salt pan (playa) intermittently filled with water. Visited in 1857 almost simultaneously by Stephen Hack and Peter E. Warburton, it is named after Gordon Gairdner, former

Vientiane

2005-03-18T17:07:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Viangchan, largest city and capital of Laos, situated on a plain just northeast of the Mekong River. The city's central river port location in a country relying heavily on its rivers for transportation and its surrounding hinterland of intensive rice cultivation have made Vientiane the major economic centre of Laos. The city has a tropical monsoon climate, every month having

Amos, Book Of

2005-03-17T16:14:00.000-08:00

The third of 12 Old Testament books that bear the names of the Minor Prophets, collected in one book under the Jewish canon titled The Twelve. Amos, a Judaean prophet from the village of Tekoa, was active in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of Jeroboam II (c. 786–746 BC). According to 7:14, Amos was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet; i.e., he was not a member of a professional

Sol

2005-03-16T22:41:00.000-08:00

The worship of Sol assumed an entirely

Latitudinarian

2005-03-16T15:12:00.000-08:00

Any of the 17th-century Anglican clerics whose beliefs and practices were viewed by conservatives as unorthodox or, at best, heterodox. After first being applied to the Cambridge Platonists, the term was later used to categorize churchmen who depended upon reason to establish the moral certainty of Christian doctrines rather than argument from tradition. Limiting

Colebrook, Leonard

2005-03-16T04:44:00.000-08:00

Colebrook joined researcher Almroth Wright in 1907 at St. Mary's Hospital. In 1926 Colebrook became interested

Murdock, George P(eter)

2005-03-15T06:09:00.000-08:00

American anthropologist who specialized in comparative ethnology, the ethnography of African and Oceanic peoples, and social theory. He is perhaps most notable as the originator, in 1937, of the Cross-Cultural Survey, a project of the Institute of Human Relations of Yale University, in which a vast amount of anthropological data was

Terman, Frederick Emmons

2005-03-14T16:26:00.000-08:00

Terman, the son of the noted psychologist Lewis Madison Terman, earned his undergraduate degrees from Stanford University, Stanford, Calif., and a doctorate in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute

Paracanthopterygian

2005-03-14T08:22:00.000-08:00

Any member of the superorder Paracanthopterygii, a predatory, primarily marine group that forms one of about six major branches of the Teleostei, or bony fishes, the dominant modern aquatic vertebrates. Approximately 1,160 living species of paracanthopterygian fishes have been described. They range in length from just a few centimetres to roughly two metres (more

Rama Ii

2005-03-14T00:30:00.000-08:00

The second ruler (1809–24) of the present Chakkri dynasty, under whose rule relations were reopened with the West and Siam began a forward policy on the Malay peninsula. A gifted poet and dramatist, Rama II wrote a famous version of Inao, dramatic version of a popular traditional story, as well as episodes of

Madison

2005-03-13T06:03:00.000-08:00

County, central New York state, U.S., mostly comprising a rugged upland, bounded by Oneida Lake and Chittenango and Oneida creeks to the north and the Unadilla River to the southeast. Other waterways include the Chenango and Sangerfield rivers and Cazenovia and Tuscarora lakes. Wooded areas feature maple, elm, birch, and beech trees. Public lands include Chittenango

Devaluation

2005-03-11T16:27:00.000-08:00

Reduction in the exchange value of a country's monetary unit in terms of gold, silver, or foreign monetary units. Devaluation is employed to eliminate persistent balance-of-payments deficits, because devaluation has the effect of decreasing prices of the home country's exports in terms of the importer's currency and, at the same time, increasing prices of imports

Henry (vii)

2005-03-11T11:48:00.000-08:00

After apparently spending most of his youth in Germany, Henry was crowned king of Sicily in 1212 and made duke of Swabia in 1216. Pope Innocent III had favoured his coronation as king of Sicily in the hope that the union of Sicily with the empire would be dissolved, and

Hülegü

2005-03-11T09:22:00.000-08:00

Hülegü, a grandson of Genghis Khan, was appointed by his brother

Pará

2005-03-10T22:28:00.000-08:00

Estado (state) of northern Brazil through which the lower Amazon River flows to the sea. It is bounded to the north by Guyana, Suriname, and the Brazilian state of Amapá, to the northeast by the Atlantic Ocean, to the east by the Brazilian states of Maranhão and Tocantins, to the south by Mato Grosso, and to the west by Amazonas. It is the second largest state in Brazil. The capital

Ryde

2005-03-10T21:54:00.000-08:00

Town on the northeastern coast of the Isle of Wight, historic county of Hampshire, England, opposite Portsmouth on the mainland. It is located on the site of a former village called La Rye, which the French destroyed early in the 14th century. Still a small fishing hamlet by 1800, Ryde grew rapidly in the railway age as an attractive holiday resort (being incorporated in 1868). It is

Durisol

2005-03-09T22:50:00.000-08:00

One of the 30 soil groups in the classification system of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Durisols are soils in semiarid environments that have a substantial layer of silica within 1 metre (39 inches) of the land surface. The silica occurs either as weakly cemented nodules or as hardpan and accumulates as a result of downward translocation (migration) when solubilized

Ikot Ekpene

2005-03-08T00:48:00.000-08:00

Town, Akwa Ibom state, southern Nigeria. The town lies along the coastal highway, between Calabar and Aba. It is the chief trade centre (yams, cassava, taro, corn [maize], and palm produce) for a densely populated area known for its export of palm oil and kernels. It is mainly inhabited by the Anang branch of the Ibibio people, who are noted for their cane furniture and basket handicrafts.

Affidavit

2005-03-07T05:45:00.000-08:00

A written statement of fact made voluntarily, confirmed by the oath or affirmation of the party making it, and signed before a notary or other officer empowered to administer such oaths. Affidavits generally name the place of execution and certify that the person making it states certain facts and appeared before the officer on a certain date and “subscribed and

Rupp, Adolph

2005-03-07T05:31:00.000-08:00

Rupp grew up on a Kansas farm and was hardly aware of basketball until he went to college. He was a member of the University of Kansas (Lawrence) Big Eight Conference championship team of 1923. After coaching five years

Epistemology, Plato

2005-03-06T18:53:00.000-08:00

Plato (c. 427–347 BC) accepted the Parmenidean constraint on any theory of knowledge that both knowledge and its objects must be unchanging. One consequence of this, as Plato pointed out in Theaetetus, is that knowledge cannot have physical reality as its object. In particular, since sensation and perception have various kinds of motions as their objects, knowledge cannot be

Jackson, Howell E.

2005-03-05T05:07:00.000-08:00

Jackson practiced law in the towns of Jackson and Memphis, Tenn., until the outbreak of the American Civil War, during which he served the Confederacy as a receiver of sequestered property. He gained prominence in his practice after the war and in 1880 was

Alexander Of Aphrodisias

2005-03-04T14:34:00.000-08:00

Toward the end of the 2nd century, Alexander became head of the Lyceum at Athens, an academy then dominated by the syncretistic philosophy of Ammonius Saccas, who blended the doctrines of Plato and Aristotle. Alexander's commentaries were intended

Eagles, The, The Eagles

2005-03-03T15:06:00.000-08:00

Chancroid

2005-03-03T13:57:00.000-08:00

Acute, localized, chiefly sexually transmitted disease, usually of the genital area, caused by the bacillus Haemophilus ducreyi. It is characterized by the appearance, 3–5 days after exposure, of a painful, shallow ulcer at the site of infection. Such an ulcer is termed a soft chancre, as opposed to a hard chancre, which is the characteristic lesion of the primary stage of

Arminius

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

Arminius was a chief

Abdera

2005-03-02T10:52:00.000-08:00

In ancient Greece, town on the coast of Thrace near the mouth of the Néstos River. The people of Teos, evacuating Ionia when it was overrun by the Persians under Cyrus (c. 540 BC), succeeded in establishing a colony there that developed a brisk trade with the Thracian interior. Abdera was a prosperous member of the Delian League in the 5th century but was crippled early in the 4th

Bellanca, Dorothy Jacobs

2005-03-01T06:16:00.000-08:00

Dorothy Jacobs immigrated with her family to the United States from Latvia in 1900. They settled in Baltimore, Maryland. At age 13 Jacobs left school and went to work in a clothing factory. Working conditions quickly led her to the cause

Quintet

2005-02-28T21:46:00.000-08:00

Musical composition for five instruments or voices; also the group of musicians engaged in the performance of such a composition. The string quintet normally includes two violins, two violas, and a cello. Mozart's six works for this medium are usually considered his greatest achievement in chamber music. The composer and virtuoso cellist Luigi Boccherini favoured

Law, Crime, And Law Enforcement, Terrorism.

2005-02-28T07:59:00.000-08:00

Throughout the year a relentless international hunt continued to bring to justice those responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the U.S. In September Pakistani authorities arrested a key al-Qaeda operative, 30-year-old Yemen native Ramzi Binalshibh, in Karachi. Binalshibh was believed to have been designated as the 20th hijacker on September 11, but he had failed

Arabia, History Of, Hadramites

2005-02-27T15:58:00.000-08:00

Inscriptions from the Hadramite kingdom are scantier in number than from the Sabaean, Minaean, or Qatabanian. Yet the Hadramite was probably the wealthiest of them all. Hadhramaut and the Sa'kal area to the east (modern Dhofar province of the sultanate of Oman) are the only places in Arabia where climatic conditions make production of frankincense possible, and Pliny

Boulemane

2005-02-26T16:20:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Boulman, town, north-central Morocco. The town, located at an elevation of about 5,500 feet (1,700 m) above sea level in the Middle (Moyen) Atlas mountains, is a market centre serving Berber seminomads and is connected by road with Fès city (northwest) and er-Rachidia town (south). Pop. (1982) 3,295.

Wu Hsing

2005-02-25T06:18:00.000-08:00

The Wu hsing cycle served as a broad explanatory

Economic Development

2005-02-25T05:53:00.000-08:00

The process whereby simple, low-income national economies are transformed into modern industrial economies. Although the term is sometimes used as a synonym for economic growth, generally it is employed to describe a change in a country's economy involving qualitative as well as quantitative improvements. The theory of economic development—how primitive and

Xenocrates

2005-02-24T10:11:00.000-08:00

Xenocrates' writings are lost except for fragments, but his doctrines appear to resemble

Sicilian Octave

2005-02-23T14:40:00.000-08:00

An Italian stanza or poem having eight lines of 11 syllables (hendecasyllables) rhyming abababab. The form may have originated in Tuscany about the 13th century, though little is known about its origins. The Sicilian octave was in use until the 16th century, when the madrigal overtook it in popularity.

World War I, Forces and resources of the combatant nations in 1914

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

All the initial belligerents

Sayyid Dynasty

2005-02-23T01:52:00.000-08:00

Rulers of India's Delhi sultanate (c. 1414–51) as successors of the Tughluq dynasty until displaced by the Afghan Lodis; this family claimed to be sayyids, or descendants of the Prophet Muhammad. The central authority of the Delhi sultanate had been fatally weakened by the invasion of Timur (Tamerlane) and his sack of Delhi in 1398. For the next 50 years, North India was virtually divided

Osborn, Henry Fairfield

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

At Princeton University, Osborn conducted studies of brain anatomy while serving as assistant professor of natural sciences (1881–83) and professor of

Literature, Hebrew.

2005-02-22T00:44:00.000-08:00

The main issue of Hebrew fiction since its revival in the 19th century, that of identity, was reflected in 1996 in novels dealing with the early days of Tel Aviv. They included Nathan Shaham's Lev Tel Aviv ("The Heart of Tel Aviv") and the new edition of Dan Tsalka's Filip Arbes. The same topic was explored on the one hand in a novel that went back to the Holocaust--Ori Dromer's O'ri ("My Skin")--and

Tocantins River

2005-02-20T13:31:00.000-08:00

Portuguese Rio Tocantins river that rises in several headstreams, including the Paranã and Maranhão rivers, on the central plateau in Goiás state, Brazil. It flows northward through Goiás and then Tocantins states until it receives the Manuel Alves Grande River. Looping westward, it marks the boundary of Tocantins and Maranhão states as far as its junction with the Araguaia River. The Tocantins

Beverly

2005-02-20T01:33:00.000-08:00

City, Essex county, northeastern Massachusetts, U.S. It is situated on Beverly Harbor, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, just north of Salem. Settled about 1626, it was named for Beverley, England, when incorporated as a town (township) in 1668. It early developed as a shipping centre, and the schooner Hannah, claimed to be the first ship of the U.S. Navy, was commissioned (September 5, 1775) at Glover's

Lace

2005-02-19T20:16:00.000-08:00

Ornamental, openwork fabric formed by looping, interlacing, braiding (plaiting), or twisting threads. The dividing line between lace and embroidery, which is an ornamentation added to an already completed fabric, is not easy to draw; a number of laces, such as Limerick and filet lace, can be called forms of embroidery upon a more or less open fabric. On the other hand, fancy

Paddock, Charlie

2005-02-19T02:46:00.000-08:00

Paddock ran for the University of Southern California (Los Angeles), from which he graduated in 1922. He served in the U.S.

Toad Bug

2005-02-18T17:19:00.000-08:00

Toad bugs are found in all zoogeographic regions living along the muddy edges of streams and ponds. Some species spend part

Carinus

2005-02-18T16:45:00.000-08:00

With the title of Caesar, he was sent by his father, the emperor Carus, to the army of the Rhine in 282. On his father's death in the summer of 283, Carinus became emperor in the West, his brother Numerian becoming emperor in the East. After a campaign on the Rhine, Carinus returned to Rome where,

Aerospace Industry, Propulsion

2005-02-17T11:38:00.000-08:00

There are three basic types of flight vehicle-propulsion systems: piston engines (or reciprocating engines), turbine engines (true-jet, turboprop, and turboshaft engines), and rocket engines (see airplane: Propulsion systems and rocket). At the low end of the performance spectrum are reciprocating engines. Although during World War II and the early postwar period the industry

Andreini, Isabella

2005-02-15T22:43:00.000-08:00

In 1578 Flaminio Scala, a theatrical manager and scenario writer, engaged Isabella Canali to play the female lead in his company. There she met Francesco Andreini and married him the same year. They helped form the

Cimbri

2005-02-15T14:00:00.000-08:00

A Germanic tribe whose military incursion into Roman Italy was thrust back in 101 BC. Forced out of what is now Denmark by overpopulation and the encroaching sea, the Cimbri pushed southward, eventually swelling in numbers by the addition of their allies the Teutoni and other tribes. They scored victories over the Romans in 113, 109, and 107. Following a particularly devastating Roman

Saint Catharines

2005-02-14T20:06:00.000-08:00

City, Regional Municipality of Niagara, southeastern Ontario, Canada, on the south shore of Lake Ontario, at the entrance to the Welland Ship Canal. Named after the first wife of Robert Hamilton, member of the first legislative council of Upper Canada, it has grown from a small settlement established in 1790 to become the centre of the Niagara fruit belt and the largest city

Kames, Henry Home, Lord

2005-02-14T16:48:00.000-08:00

Kames was called to the bar in 1724 and was appointed a judge in the Court of Session in 1752. He became a lord of justiciary in 1763. He is best known for his Elements of Criticism, 3 vol. (1762), a work remarkable in the history of aesthetics for its attempt to equate beauty with what is pleasant to the natural senses

Arp, Jean

2005-02-14T02:29:00.000-08:00

First trained as an artist in his native Strasbourg, he later studied in Weimar, Germany, and at the Académie Julian in Paris. In 1912 he went to Munich,

Wright, James

2005-02-13T10:11:00.000-08:00

After serving in the U.S. Army in World War II, Wright studied under John Crowe Ransom at Kenyon College in

Army

2005-02-11T22:10:00.000-08:00

Throughout history, the character and organization of armies have changed. Social and political aspects of nations at different

Xingu River

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

Portuguese Rio Xingu, river in Mato Grosso and Pará states, Brazil. The river rises on the Planalto (plateau) do Mato Grosso, in the drainage basin framed by the Serra do Roncador and the Serra Formosa mountain ranges. Formed by several headstreams, principally the Curiseu, Batovi, and Romuro rivers, the Xingu meanders generally northward for approximately 1,300 mi (2,100 km), emptying into the Amazon

Kweichow, Education

2005-02-10T18:33:00.000-08:00

Kweichow has one of the highest rates of illiteracy in China, especially among its many minority peoples. Nonetheless, there are a number of institutions of higher learning in the province, including Kweichow University, Kuei-yang Medical College, Kweichow Agricultural Institute (founded in 1939), the Kuei-yang Nationalities Institute (for training members of ethnic

Russell Cave National Monument

2005-02-09T17:56:00.000-08:00

Portion of a limestone cavern in northeastern Alabama, U.S., 6 miles (10 km) northwest of Bridgeport and just south of the Alabama-Tennessee border. The cave and site area (0.5 square mile [1.3 square km]) were given to the National Park Service by the National Geographic Society in 1958, and the national monument was created in 1961. The cave is named for Thomas Russell, a veteran of the American

Watercolour

2005-02-09T15:43:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Watercolor, pigment ground in gum, usually gum arabic, and applied with brush and water to a painting surface, usually paper; the term also denotes a work of art executed in this medium. The pigment is ordinarily transparent but can be made opaque by mixing with a whiting and in this form is known as body colour, or gouache (q.v.); it can also be mixed with casein, a phosphoprotein of

Arts, Central Asian, The music of Nepal, Bhutan, and Sikkim

2005-02-09T03:55:00.000-08:00

Little is presently known about the music of Nepal, Bhutan, and Sikkim. Minstrels play a major role in the musical life of Nepal, where, under the influence of Indian practice, musicians are classified according to caste and each group is distinguished by specific instruments and repertoire. There appears to be a great deal of both Indian-related and indigenous folk

France, History Of, Sister republics

2005-02-07T14:55:00.000-08:00

Meanwhile the Directory regime successfully exported revolution abroad by helping to create “sister republics” in western Europe. During the Revolution's most radical phase, in 1793–94, French expansion had stopped more or less at the nation's self-proclaimed “natural frontiers”—the Rhine, Alps, and Pyrenees. The Austrian Netherlands (now Belgium) and the left bank of the Rhine

Haratin

2005-02-07T07:39:00.000-08:00

Scholars speculate that the Haratin came into being as a result of ancient interbreeding between indigenous blacks and Indo-Europeans, possibly Berbers. In the 17th century they were forcibly recruited

Joyeuse, Anne, Duke (duc) De

2005-02-06T14:11:00.000-08:00

The eldest son of Guillaume, Viscount de Joyeuse, Anne when very young was admitted to the royal court, where he carried the title of Marquis d'Arques (after one of his father's lands). King Henry III,

Nichinan

2005-02-05T20:27:00.000-08:00

City, Miyazaki Prefecture (ken), Kyushu, Japan, facing the Pacific Ocean. Japanese (Obi) cedar has been cultivated in the area since the early 19th century and forms the basis of the city's shipbuilding, timber, paper, and pulp industries. Nichinan's two ports—Aburatsu and Oodotsu—are the main centres for coastal fishing (bonito, yellowtail, tuna) in southern Kyushu. Agricultural

Domesday Book

2005-02-05T18:21:00.000-08:00

The original record or summary of William I the Conqueror's survey of England. By contemporaries the whole operation was known as “the description of England,” but the popular name Domesday—i.e., “doomsday,” when men face the record from which there is no appeal—was in general use by the mid-12th century. The survey, in the scope of its detail and the speed of its execution, was perhaps

Mitchum, Robert

2005-02-05T01:39:00.000-08:00

Expelled from Haaren High School in New York City's Hell's Kitchen, Mitchum took to the road during the early years of the Depression.

Carolingian Art

2005-02-04T18:55:00.000-08:00

Charlemagne's dream of a revival of the Roman Empire in the West determined both his political aims and his artistic program. His strong patronage of the arts gave impetus to a remarkable return to Roman classicism in the copying of Early Christian models and the influence

Middletown

2005-02-03T14:06:00.000-08:00

Borough (town), Dauphin county, central Pennsylvania, U.S., just southeast of Harrisburg, at the confluence of Swatara Creek and the Susquehanna River. George Fisher settled the site in 1752 and in 1755 laid out the town, which he named Middletown for its location midway between Lancaster and Carlisle. In 1809 Fisher's son, George, laid out another town (Harborton) at the juncture of the

Tasmania, Self-government and Federation

2005-02-03T08:10:00.000-08:00

Once the importation and exploitation of convicts had ended, the way opened for the grant of colonial self-government in 1855–56. Tasmania became the colony's official name, a portent of a happier age. Yet penalism had given the island an economic undergirding and historical import that have never been matched. Post-1860 Tasmania continued to be shadowed by its Vandiemonian

Permafrost, Offshore structures

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

One of the most active and exciting areas of permafrost engineering is in subsea permafrost. Knowledge of the distribution, type, and water or ice content of subsea permafrost is critical for planning petroleum exploration, locating production structures, burying pipelines, and driving tunnels beneath the seabed. Furthermore, the temperature of the seabed must

Cordillera

2005-02-01T05:05:00.000-08:00

(from old Spanish cordilla, “cord,” or “little rope”), a system of mountain ranges that often consist of a number of more or less parallel chains. Cordilleras are an extensive feature in the Americas and Eurasia. In North America the Rocky Mountains, the Sierra Nevadas, and the mountains between them are collectively known as the Cordilleras, and the entire area has been termed

Bulbul

2005-01-31T13:26:00.000-08:00

Any of about 119 species of birds of the family Pycnonotidae (order Passeriformes) of Africa and Asia, including some called greenbuls and brownbuls. Members range in size from 14 to 28 cm (5.5 to 11 inches) long. They are active, noisy, plain-coloured birds that sometimes damage orchards. Representative of the 47 species of the genus Pycnonotus is the African bulbul (P. barbatus, including

Tegal

2005-01-31T02:41:00.000-08:00

Kotamadya (municipality) and port Jawa Tengah provinsi (“province”), central Java, Indonesia, located on the Java Sea about 160 miles (257 km) east-southeast of Jakarta. Roads and railway link it with Cirebon on the west, Semarang on the east, and Kroya and Yogyakarta on the south and southeast. Its population is mostly Javanese, and Islam is the dominant religion. Tegal is a centre for

Iridaceae

2005-01-29T23:42:00.000-08:00

The Iridaceae contains some 80 genera and an estimated 1,700 species of mostly perennial herbs; there are a few shrubs and evergreen herbs as well. The family is nearly worldwide in distribution, but it is

Wu-ch'ang

2005-01-29T19:14:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Wuchang industrial city and capital of Hupeh sheng (province), central China. Located on the south bank of the Yangtze River, it is the oldest city of the Wu-han conurbation (Han-kou, Han-yang, Wu-ch'ang). It is the oldest of the Wu-han cities and served as a capital under the Wu dynasty in the Three Kingdoms period (AD 220–280) and is the administrative and cultural centre of the Wu-han cities. Northeast

Jackson, Andrew

2005-01-29T03:42:00.000-08:00

After the close of the war, Jackson was named commander of the southern district. He entrusted the command of the troops in the field to subordinates while he retired to his home at the Hermitage, near Nashville. He was ordered back to active service at the end of December 1817, when unrest along the border appeared to be reaching critical proportions. The instructions given Jackson were vague, and he ordered an invasion of Florida immediately after taking active command. He captured two Spanish posts and appointed one of his subordinates military governor of Florida. These bold actions brought an immediate and sharp protest from Spain and precipitated a cabinet crisis in Washington. The staunch defense of Jackson by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams saved Jackson from censure and hastened the U.S. acquisition of Florida.

Dachshund

2005-01-28T21:58:00.000-08:00

(German: “badger dog”), dog breed of hound and terrier ancestry developed in Germany to pursue badgers into their burrows. The dachshund is a long-bodied, characteristically lively dog with a deep chest, short legs, tapering muzzle, and long ears. Usually reddish brown or black-and-tan, it is bred in two sizes—standard and miniature—and in three coat types—smooth, long, and wiry.

Li Ka-shing

2005-01-27T06:40:00.000-08:00

Topping Asiaweek magazine's 2000 list of Asia's 50 most powerful people was Li Ka-shing, a billionaire who took “old economy” money and parlayed it into a “new economy” juggernaut. Nicknamed “Superman” by the regional media because of his uncanny ability to pull off a succession of profitable deals, Li inspired loyalty among stockholders, who had come to expect every Li-inspired

Cambridge

2005-01-26T16:08:00.000-08:00

City (district), administrative and historic county of Cambridgeshire, England, home of the internationally known University of Cambridge. The city lies immediately south of the fen country (a flat alluvial region only slightly above sea level) and is itself only 20 to 80 feet (6 to 24 metres) above sea level. Most of the city is built on the east bank of the River Cam, a tributary

Pyrenees, Peace Of The

2005-01-26T02:45:00.000-08:00

During the years from the end of the Thirty Years' War until 1659 Spain and France engaged in almost continuous warfare. During the struggle Spain found itself also involved in hostilities with England,

Devils Tower National Monument

2005-01-24T21:55:00.001-08:00

The tower has a flat top covering 1.5 acres (0.6 hectare) and fluted sides. It is 867 feet (264 metres) high as measured from its base and 1,267 feet (386 metres) as

Chub

2005-01-24T21:55:00.000-08:00

The European chub (Leuciscus cephalus) is a popular, though not especially palatable, game fish found in Europe and Great Britain, primarily in rivers. A large-mouthed fish with