ClearPrison

Organic Underwear

2006-10-29T06:30:00.000-08:00

Natural soft Organic Clothinggoods are hard to find as they can often be a little course. Liv Organic Cotton Goodsare soft and luxurious and their Organic Underwear is to die for.

Wolfdietrich

2005-04-04T05:14:00.000-07:00

Germanic hero who appears in the Middle High German poems of Ortnit and Wolfdietrich in Das Heldenbuch (see Heldenbuch, Das) as the son of Hugdietrich, emperor of Constantinople. Repudiated by his father, who mistakenly believes him illegitimate, he is brought up by the emperor's faithful retainer Berchtung von Meran. Berchtung and his 16 sons support Wolfdietrich,

Aksak

2005-04-03T06:12:00.000-07:00

Also called Bulgarian Rhythm, variety of musical metre characterized by combinations of unequal units of beats, such as 2 plus 3 or 3 plus 2 and their extensions. Thus 3 + 3 + 2, or 2 + 3 + 3, produces 8/8 units quite unlike the 4/4 common to Western music. As non-Western music, as well as eastern European folk music, began to exert influence in the West, aksak rhythms found their way into the works of a number of 20th-century composers

William

2005-04-03T04:48:00.000-07:00

William was elected German king to succeed Henry Raspe (died Feb. 16, 1247), Pope Innocent IV's nominee to replace Conrad,

Lahar

2005-04-02T17:01:00.000-08:00

Mudflow of volcanic material. Lahars may carry all sizes of material from ash to large boulders and produce deposits of volcanic conglomerate. Lahars may be the result of heavy rain on loose ash material such as deposits of nuées ardentes (dense clouds of gases charged with incandescent dust, discharging volcanic sand in avalanche fashion); or they may result from

Gadara

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

Modern Umm Qays ancient city of Palestine, a member of the Decapolis, located just southeast of the Sea of Galilee in Jordan. Gadara first appeared in history when it fell to the Seleucid Antiochus the Great (218 BC); the Jewish king Alexander Jannaeus took it after 10 months' siege (c. 100 BC). It was restored by the Roman general Pompey, and Augustus gave it to Herod the Great (30 BC). Archaeological remains include

Claremont

2005-04-01T05:05:00.000-08:00

City, Los Angeles county, southwestern California, U.S., in the Pomona Valley, at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains, adjacent to Pomona. Founded in 1887 by the Pacific Land Improvement Company, it was probably named for Claremont, New Hampshire, hometown of one of the company's directors. It developed as an educational centre after 1889, when Pomona College (1887) moved there. It is now

Ashland

2005-03-30T21:41:00.000-08:00

Settled in 1815 as Poage's Settlement, it was renamed (1854) in honour of Henry Clay's home in Lexington, Kentucky. Ashland's proximity to coal and timber regions

Alcan Aluminium Limited

2005-03-30T13:27:00.000-08:00

Canadian multinational company incorporated in 1928 (as Aluminium Limited) and now the largest Canadian industrial enterprise, operating in more than 100 countries. It has mining and refining operations for bauxite; smelting plants for aluminum; hydroelectric plants; fabricating plants for a wide variety of aluminum products; transportation operations; facilities

Lista, Alberto

2005-03-29T17:57:00.000-08:00

At age 20, Lista held the chair of mathematics at a college in Sevilla (Seville); later (1807) he assumed the chair of rhetoric and poetry at the University of Sevilla. After spending

Denitrifying Bacteria

2005-03-28T19:21:00.000-08:00

Microorganisms whose action results in the conversion of nitrates in soil to free atmospheric nitrogen, thus depleting soil fertility and reducing agricultural productivity. Thiobacillus denitrificans, Micrococcus denitrificans, and some species of Serratia, Pseudomonas, and Achromobacter are implicated as denitrifiers. Pseudomonas aeruginosa can,

Tiergarten

2005-03-28T18:47:00.000-08:00

District of Berlin, Germany, on the Spree River. Before World War II the district was Berlin's diplomatic quarter and the site of the War Ministry. It includes the famous 630-acre (255-hectare) Tiergarten Park, a deer preserve until the 18th century. The park was destroyed in World War II, but it has been replanted; its new “English garden” was donated by the British. The zoological gardens

Eam-elas

2005-03-26T22:34:00.000-08:00

Abbreviation of Greek Ethnikón Apeleftherotikón Métopon-ethnikós Laïkós Apeleftherotikós Strátos , English National Liberation Front-National Popular Liberation Army communist-sponsored resistance organization (formed September 1941) and its military wing (formed December 1942), which operated in occupied Greece during World War II. Fighting against the Germans and the Italians as well as against other guerrilla bands, particularly EDES (q.v.), EAM-ELAS became the most powerful guerrilla band in the country. It also established an effective

Teresa, Blessed Mother

2005-03-26T21:01:00.000-08:00

The daughter

Zedillo, Ernesto

2005-03-26T16:25:00.000-08:00

Reared in a working-class family in Mexicali, Mexico, just south of the California border, Zedillo returned to his native Mexico City in 1965 to study at the National Polytechnic Institute. In 1971 he joined the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the dominant political party in Mexico since 1929. Zedillo also studied

Snowdrop

2005-03-25T01:47:00.000-08:00

Several species, including common snowdrop (G. nivalis) and giant snowdrop (G. elwesii), are cultivated as ornamentals for their nodding, sometimes fragrant flowers. They

Valdemar Birgersson

2005-03-24T08:53:00.000-08:00

King of Sweden (1250–75) who governed jointly with his father Birger Jarl (q.v.) until the latter's death in 1266 and then reigned alone. Because of an extramarital affair with his wife's sister, a postulant nun, by whom he had a child, Valdemar in 1274 made a pilgrimage to Rome to gain forgiveness. Pope Gregory X exacted concessions, whereby Valdemar acknowledged papal overlordship and

Sesame

2005-03-24T05:56:00.000-08:00

Also called Benne, erect, annual plant (Sesamum indicum) of numerous types and varieties belonging to the family Pedaliaceae, cultivated since antiquity for its seeds, which are used as food and flavouring and from which a prized oil is extracted. The whole seed is used extensively in the cuisines of the Middle East and Asia. Halvah is a confection made of crushed and

Masoud, Ahmad Shah

2005-03-23T16:56:00.000-08:00

Afghan resistance leader and politician (b. 1953, Bazarak, Afg.—death reported on Sept. 15, 2001, Takhar, Afg.), was a military leader in the Afghan mujahideen, first against the Soviets and the Soviet-backed Afghan government (1978–89) and then against the Taliban (from 1992). Masoud, an ethnic Tajik, studied engineering before the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan and then moved to Pakistan for military

Lightning

2005-03-23T03:38:00.000-08:00

A brief description of lightning follows. For a longer discussion of lightning within its meteorological context, see thunderstorm electrification in the article

Pinar Del Río

2005-03-22T08:27:00.000-08:00

Provincia, western Cuba, bounded on the north by the Gulf of Mexico, on the west by the Yucatán Channel, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, on the southeast by the Gulf of Batabanó, and on the east by La Habana province. Low mountain ranges, including the Sierra de los Órganos and the Sierra del Rosario, form the backbone of the territory, which has an area of 4,218 square miles (10,925 square

Bassano, Jacopo

2005-03-21T20:50:00.000-08:00

His early works, such as the “Susannah and the

Cabildo

2005-03-20T23:44:00.000-08:00

(Spanish: “municipal council”), the fundamental unit of local government in colonial Spanish America. Conforming to a tradition going back to the Romans, the Spaniards considered the city to be of paramount importance, with the surrounding countryside directly subordinate to it. In local affairs each municipality in Hispanic America was governed by its cabildo,

Argentina, Perón in power

2005-03-20T19:20:00.000-08:00

Perón campaigned for the presidency in the elections of 1946. He organized the Labour Party, which was resisted by all the old parties and by the major vested-interest groups. His victory, though narrow, gave him control of both houses of Congress and all the provincial governorships. Perón's political strategy and tactics were authoritarian and personalistic. He politically

Iliocostalis Muscle

2005-03-19T06:37:00.000-08:00

Any of the deep muscles of the back that, as part of the erector spinae (sacrospinalis) muscle group, aid in extension (bending backward), lateral flexion (bending to the side), and rotation of the spinal column. The iliocostalis group consists of a lower part (iliocostalis lumborum) that extends from the ilium (upper part of the hipbone) to the lower ribs, a middle part (iliocostalis

Breast Cancer

2005-03-19T03:33:00.000-08:00

Disease characterized by the growth of malignant cells in the mammary glands. Breast cancer can strike males and females, although women are about 100 times more likely to develop the disease than men. Most cancers in female breasts form shortly before, during, or after menopause, with three-quarters of all cases being diagnosed after age 50. Generally, the older a woman

Alexis

2005-03-18T06:17:00.000-08:00

Alexis came from Thurii but apparently lived most of his long life in Athens; he was said to have been Menander's uncle. According to Plutarch, he lived to the age of 106 and died on the stage while being crowned. Alexis is

Papantla

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

In full Papantla De Olarte, city, north-central Veracruz estado (“state”), east-central Mexico. Formerly known as Papantla de Hidalgo, the city lies in the hills dividing the Cazones and Tecolutla river basins. Corn (maize), beans, tobacco, and fruits flourish in the hot, humid climate. The city is the centre of Mexico's most important vanilla-producing region; almost all the vanilla is exported. Cattle

Kocaeli

2005-03-16T21:29:00.000-08:00

Il (province), of northwestern Turkey, with an area of 1,428 sq mi (3,698 sq km), bounded on the north by the Black Sea and on the west by the Sea of Marmara. It is drained by the lower course of the Sakarya River. It was once part of the kingdom of Bithynia (3rd century BC), and Hannibal was buried there (at modern Gebze) in 183 BC. The area was taken from the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Turks in the 14th century.

Romanino, Il

2005-03-16T18:05:00.000-08:00

In 1521 Romanino

Poland

2005-03-15T23:35:00.000-08:00

Parliamentary elections in September 1997 brought a dramatic reversal in Polish politics. The Solidarity Electoral Action (AWS), a loose coalition of some 30 right-wing groups dominated

Conception Bay

2005-03-15T05:39:00.000-08:00

Inlet of the Atlantic Ocean indenting the north coast of the Avalon Peninsula on the southeastern coast of the island of Newfoundland, Canada. It was named by Gaspar Côrte-Real, the Portuguese explorer who visited the coast in 1500 on the Feast of the Conception (December 8). The bay is about 30 miles (50 km) long and 12 miles (19 km) wide. Its shore areas are among the oldest and most densely

Celastraceae

2005-03-13T09:02:00.000-08:00

The staff-tree family, in the order Celastrales, comprising about 55 genera of woody vines, shrubs, and trees, native in tropical and temperate zones but best known for ornamental forms of the genera Euonymus and Celastrus (bittersweet). Fruit of the family is often colourful. Leaves are frequently leathery and flowers are small, with four to five sepals and petals; alternating

Arnold, Benedict

2005-03-13T08:45:00.000-08:00

Upon the outbreak of hostilities at Lexington, Massachusetts (April 1775), Arnold volunteered for service and participated with

Piciform

2005-03-12T01:06:00.000-08:00

Fossil species of the order Piciformes are almost unknown. Many avian fossils identified long ago are in need of verification, including the early fossil “woodpeckers,” some of which are now believed to belong in other orders. Fossil woodpeckers are now known only from the Pliocene Epoch (about 6,000,000 years ago). Except for a single specimen from the middle Miocene of Bavaria

Daikoku

2005-03-11T23:48:00.000-08:00

In Japanese mythology, one of the Shichi-fuku-jin (Seven Gods of Luck); the god of wealth and guardian of farmers. He is depicted in legend and art as dark-skinned, stout, carrying a wish-granting mallet in his right hand, a bag of precious things slung over his back, and sitting on two rice bags. Rats are sometimes shown nibbling at the rice, further emphasizing the theme of

Boteti River

2005-03-11T03:23:00.000-08:00

Formerly Botletle River, river of Botswana. It emerges near Maun and the Thamakalane River, developing from the outflow of the Okavango Delta, Botswana. It flows in a southeasterly direction to Lake Xau (Dow), then north to enter the Makgadikgadi Pans after a course of 190 miles (305 km).

Arabian Desert

2005-03-10T22:21:00.000-08:00

Descriptive surveys of the Arabian Desert include Wilfred Thesiger, Arabian Sands (1959, reprinted 1991), a modern classic; Colbert C. Held, Middle East Patterns: Places, Peoples, and Politics, 2nd ed. (1994), with a general geography of Southwest Asia; and accounts of important travels in the region, such as Charles M. Doughty, Travels in Arabia Deserta, new and definitive ed., 2 vol. in 1 (1936, reprinted in 2 vol. 1979); T.E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1935, reissued 1991); and H.St.J.B. Philby, The Empty Quarter: Being a Description of the Great South Desert of Arabia Known as Rub' al Khali (1933, reprinted 1986), and Arabian Highlands (1952, reprinted 1976). Two valuable works on the flora and fauna are Betty A. Lipscombe Vincett, Wild Flowers of Central Saudi Arabia (1977); and Abdul Mon'im S. Talhouk et al., The Wildlife of Arabia (1981). A.R. Al-Ansary, Qaryat al-Fau: A Portrait of Pre-Islamic Civilisation in Saudi Arabia (1982), discusses early patterns of settlement in the desert. Norman Anderson et al., The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 9th ed. (1993), contains a number of useful studies. H.R.P. Dickson, The Arab of the Desert, 3rd ed., rev. and abridged, ed. by Robert Wilson and Zahra Freeth (1983), discusses Bedouin culture and custom prior to 1940. The impact of modernization on the peoples of the desert areas is addressed by Donald Powell Cole, Nomads of the Nomads: The Al Murrah Bedouin of the Empty Quarter (1975); Motoko Katakura, Bedouin Village: A Study of a Saudi Arabian People in Transition (1977); and Soraya Altorki and Donald P. Cole, Arabian Oasis City: The Transformation of 'Unayzah (1989). Useful sources on the geological evolution of Arabia include Ian Davison et al., “Geological Evolution of the Southeastern Red Sea Rift Margin, Republic of Yemen,” Geological Society of America Bulletin, 106:1474–1493 (November 1994); and Martin J. Whitehouse et al., “Crustal Evolution and Terrane Correlation in the Eastern Arabian Shield, Yemen: Geochronological Constraints,” Journal of the Geological Society, London, 155:281–295, (1998).

Korea, South, Flag Of

2005-03-09T10:27:00.000-08:00

The need for a national flag arose in Korea in the late 19th century when, under pressure from its powerful neighbours, China and Japan, Korea gradually began to open its borders to outside influences. Traditional symbols were incorporated in the design of the new flag, adopted in August 1882, which has continued as the basic pattern ever since. The white background is for

Abia

2005-03-08T22:49:00.000-08:00

State, east-central Nigeria. Abia was administratively created in 1991 from the eastern half of former Imo state. It is bordered by the states of Enugu to the north, Cross River and Akwa Ibom to the east, Rivers to the south, and Imo and Anambra to the west. Abia includes areas of oil-palm bush and tropical rain forest in its southern part and woodland savanna in its hilly north.

Australia, Overall characteristics

2005-03-07T04:05:00.000-08:00

Australia is a land of vast plains. Only 6 percent of the island continent is above 2,000 feet (600 metres) in elevation. Its highest peak, Mount Kosciusko, rises to only 7,310 feet (2,228 metres). This situation stems in part from the long periods of geologic time during which Australia has been subject to weathering and erosion and in part from Australia's position at the edge of a zone of significant

Bulgarian Literature

2005-03-06T20:56:00.000-08:00

Body of writings in the Bulgarian language. Its origin is closely linked to Christianization of the Slavs beginning with Khan (Tsar) Boris I's adoption in 864 of the Eastern Orthodox rather than Latin faith for his court and people. This political decision, combined with geographical proximity to Byzantium, determined a key role for Bulgarian in the Balkan development

Vafiades, Markos

2005-03-06T11:39:00.000-08:00

Vafiades worked as a labourer in Istanbul and fled to Greece as a refugee in 1923. He became a communist in his teens and fought with the partisans against the Germans

Yamanashi

2005-03-05T13:28:00.000-08:00

Yamanashi

France, History Of, France from 1715 to 1789

2005-03-05T08:36:00.000-08:00

Alexis de Tocqueville, The Old Régime and the French Revolution (1955, reprinted 1978; originally published in French, 1856), is still a basic source for the study of the period. Comprehensive histories include C.B.A. Behrens, The Ancien Régime (1967, reprinted 1976); Pierre Goubert and Daniel Roche, Les Français et l'Ancien Régime, 2 vol. (1984); Albert Soboul, La France à la veille de la Révolution, 2nd rev. ed. (1974), a Marxist interpretation; Alfred Cobban, Old Régime and Revolution, 1715–1790 (1957, reprinted 1969), vol. 1 in his A History of Modern France; Hubert Méthivier, L‘Ancien Régime en France: XVIe–XVIIe–XVIIIe siècles (1981); and Norman Hampson, The Enlightenment (1968, reprinted 1982). For discussions of social classes and economic issues, see Robert Forster, The Nobility of Toulouse in the Eighteenth Century (1960, reprinted 1971); Elinor G. Barber, The Bourgeoisie in 18th Century France (1955, reprinted 1970); Franklin L. Ford, Robe and Sword: The Regrouping of the French Aristocracy After Louis XIV (1953, reprinted 1965); Henri Sée, Economic and Social Conditions in France During the Eighteenth Century (1927, reissued 1968; originally published in French, 1925); and Steven Laurence Kaplan, Provisioning Paris: Merchants and Millers in the Grain and Flour Trade During the Eighteenth Century (1984). Economic histories make much use of the 18th-century travelogue of Arthur Young, Travels During the Years 1787, 1788, & 1789: Undertaken More Particularly with a View of Ascertaining the Cultivation, Wealth, Resources, and National Prosperity of the Kingdom of France, 2nd ed., 2 vol. (1794), available in many later editions. The culture and ideology of the period are explored in Harvey Chisick, The Limits of Reform in the Enlightenment: Attitudes toward the Education of the Lower Classes in Eighteenth-Century France (1981); Thomas E. Crow, Painters and Public Life in Eighteenth-Century Paris (1985); Joan B. Landes, Women and the Public Sphere in the Age of the French Revolution (1988); Jeremy D. Popkin, News and Politics in the Age of Revolution: Jean Luzac's Gazette de Leyde (1989); and Jean Starobinski, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Transparency and Obstruction (1988; originally published in French, 1957).

Mormon

2005-03-04T19:58:00.000-08:00

The First Presidency (church president and two councillors), the Council of the Twelve, the First Quorum of Seventy (and its presidency, concerned especially with missions), and the presiding bishop and two councillors (who control the Aaronic priesthood) constitute the “General Authorities” of the church. They are “sustained in office” by the regular and now ritualized

Hanalei

2005-03-02T17:38:00.000-08:00

Village, Kauai county, on the north central coast of Kauai Island, Hawaii, U.S. Near the head of Hanalei (“crescent”) Bay, the village is in the scenic and fertile Hanalei or Hanohano (“majestic”) Valley (3,439 ft [1,048 m] deep), one of the state's few rice-producing regions. While some cattle are raised, the villagers are primarily paddy, taro, and vegetable farmers. Missionaries arrived at the

Ashta Pradhan

2005-03-02T15:52:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Asta Pradhad (Marathi: “Council of Eight”), administrative and advisory council set up by the Indian Hindu Maratha leader Sivaji (d. 1680), which contributed to his successful military attacks on the Muslim Mughal Empire and to the good government of the territory over which he established his rule. The council's senior member, the peshwa, or mukhya pradhan, was in charge of general administration

Gág, Wanda Hazel

2005-03-02T09:46:00.000-08:00

Gág was the daughter of a Bohemian immigrant artist. While attending high school in Minnesota, she helped support her family by contributing

Dialect

2005-03-01T18:49:00.000-08:00

A variety of a language. The word comes from the Ancient Greek dialektos “discourse, language, dialect,” which is derived from dialegesthai “to discourse, talk.” A dialect may be distinguished from other dialects of the same language by features of any part of the linguistic structure—the phonology, morphology, or syntax. In the sound system of American English, for example,

Alcántara, Order Of

2005-03-01T04:02:00.000-08:00

Major military and religious order in Spain. It was founded in 1156 or 1166 by Don Suero Fernández Barrientos and was recognized in 1177 by Pope Alexander III in a special papal bull. Its purpose was to defend Christian Spain against the Moors. In 1218 King Alfonso IX of Leon gave to the order the town of Alcántara, and during the next two centuries its knights defended the southern borders

Câmara, Hélder Pessoa

2005-02-27T06:44:00.000-08:00

Câmara was ordained a priest in 1931. In close collaboration with Monsignor Giovanni

Farim

2005-02-27T00:45:00.000-08:00

Town, north central Guinea-Bissau, West Africa, on the Rio Cacheu. It is a market centre for the agricultural products of the interior; peanut (groundnut) cultivation, concentrated around the town, is mainly for export, and cattle are raised for domestic consumption in the northern savannas of the region. There are phosphate deposits near the town. Farim is connected

Literature

2005-02-26T07:01:00.000-08:00

The most distinctive feature of Italian literature in 2001 was the publication of several novels whose settings in the recent past served as a framework for a reflection on history. Davide Longo's Un mattino a Irgalem takes place during the Italian colonization of Ethiopia, a topic traditionally neglected by historians and creative writers. In the action a short and

Middle Comedy

2005-02-25T17:18:00.000-08:00

Style of drama that prevailed in Athens from about 400 BC to about 320 BC. Preoccupied with social themes, Middle Comedy represents a transition from Old Comedy, which presented literary, political, and philosophical commentary interspersed with scurrilous personal invective, to New Comedy, with its gently satiric observation of contemporary domestic life. Aristophanes'

Van Buren

2005-02-25T08:25:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1839) of Crawford county, western Arkansas, U.S., on the Arkansas River opposite Fort Smith. The site, settled (1818) by Thomas Martin, was later called Phillips Landing (for Thomas Phillips, who bought land rights there in 1836). In 1838 it was renamed for U.S. President Martin Van Buren. It developed as a trading post and “fitting-out” centre for settlers moving to the West; after 1873 it became

San Carlos

2005-02-24T08:36:00.000-08:00

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

Hinduism

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

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

Ficino, Marsilio

2005-02-22T18:04:00.000-08:00

Ficino was the son of a physician who was acquainted

Egypt, The Kingdom of Egypt (192252)

2005-02-22T09:27:00.000-08:00

The new kingdom was in form a constitutional monarchy. The constitution, based on that of Belgium and promulgated in April 1923, defined the King's executive powers and established a bicameral legislature. An electoral law provided for universal male suffrage and the indirect election of deputies to the lower house: the Senate was half elected and half appointed. But

Indian Literature

2005-02-21T02:34:00.000-08:00

The earliest Indian literature took the form of the canonical Hindu sacred writings, known as the Veda, which were written in Sanskrit. To the Veda

Habsburg, House Of

2005-02-20T04:45:00.000-08:00

The War of the Austrian Succession cost Maria Theresa most of Silesia, part of Lombardy, and the duchies of Parma and Piacenza (Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, 1748) but left her in possession of the rest of her father's hereditary lands. Moreover, her husband, Francis Stephen of Lorraine, who in 1737 had become hereditary grand duke of Tuscany, was finally recognized as Holy Roman emperor,

Melbourne

2005-02-20T01:51:00.000-08:00

City, Brevard county, east-central Florida, U.S. It lies on the Intracoastal Waterway along the Indian River (a lagoon separated from the Atlantic Ocean by barrier islands), about 60 miles (95 km) southeast of Orlando. The site, originally known as Crane Creek, was settled in 1878, and the community was soon renamed for Melbourne, Australia, the one-time home of the community's first postmaster,

Iki

2005-02-19T09:49:00.000-08:00

Island, Nagasaki ken (prefecture), Japan, lying in the Eastern Channel, about 10 miles (16 km) off the coast of Kyushu. Most of its 52-square-mile (134-square-kilometre) area is tableland; cereals, oranges, and tobacco are the important crops. The fishing industry yields mackerel and cuttlefish. Anchorages are at Gonoura (the chief town), Katsumoto, and Ashibe. The island served as a gateway

Henríquez Ureña, Pedro

2005-02-19T03:34:00.000-08:00

Henríquez Ureña's father, a doctor, became president of the Dominican Republic, and his mother was a poet and teacher. After finishing

Indian Literature

2005-02-18T10:36:00.000-08:00

For a discussion of the properties and applications of mercury, see Chemical Elements: Zinc group elements. For treatment of the mining, recovery, and refining of mercury, see Industries,

Frederick Ii

2005-02-16T17:28:00.000-08:00

King of Sicily (1197–1250), duke of Swabia (as Frederick VI, 1228–35), German king (1212–50), and Holy Roman emperor (1220–50). A Hohenstaufen and grandson of Frederick I Barbarossa, he pursued his dynasty's imperial policies against the papacy and the Italian city states; and he also joined in the Sixth Crusade

Saxe, (hermann-) Maurice, Comte De

2005-02-16T04:14:00.000-08:00

The illegitimate son of the elector Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (later also King Augustus II of Poland), young Maurice was sent by his father to serve under Prince Eugene of Savoy against the French in Flanders

Congé D'élire

2005-02-15T10:59:00.000-08:00

English permission to elect formal message conveying the English sovereign's permission for the dean and chapter of the cathedral of a vacant bishopric to proceed in regular chapter to a new election. Before the Norman Conquest (1066) it was the king's prerogative to appoint bishops to vacant sees. This came to be contested by the popes, though the sovereign usually was able to secure the appointment

Prodi, Romano

2005-02-14T13:52:00.000-08:00

Prodi graduated from Catholic University in Milan in 1961 and did postdoctoral work at the London School of Economics. After serving as a professor of economics at the University of Bologna, he entered government as minister of industry in 1978. In 1996, after two productive stints

Kean University

2005-02-13T11:32:00.000-08:00

Public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Union, New Jersey, U.S. It comprises schools of Business, Government and Technology; Education; Liberal Arts; and Natural Sciences, Nursing and Mathematics. Master's degree programs are available in education, psychology, business, liberal studies, speech pathology, nursing, and public administration. Campus

Mannar Island

2005-02-12T23:52:00.000-08:00

Dry, barren island that lies at the eastern end of Adam's Bridge, a chain of shoals off the northwestern coast of Sri Lanka. Mannar Island has an area of about 50 square miles (130 square km). Fishing is economically important. The small port of Mannar is on the southeastern shore. Pop. (1990 est.) 132,000.

Tsonga

2005-02-11T16:41:00.000-08:00

The Tsonga were formerly organized as independent peoples, each occupying its own territory and named for a powerful, dominant patrilineage. Early

Writ

2005-02-10T09:05:00.000-08:00

In common law, order issued by a court in the name of a sovereign authority requiring the performance of a specific act. The most common modern writs are those, such as the summons, used to initiate an action. Other writs may be used to enforce the judgment of a court (attachment, delivery) or to require a lower court to furnish certain records (error) or perform a certain act

Utrecht

2005-02-09T18:23:00.000-08:00

Provincie, central Netherlands, the country's smallest, with an area of 514 square miles (1,331 square km). It extends southward from the narrow Lake Eem, which separates Utrecht provincie from the South Flevoland polder of Flevoland provincie. Utrecht provincie lies between the provincies of Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland (west) and Gelderland (east). Its history is closely

Spanish Literature, Revival of the Spanish novel

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

For more than two centuries the novel, with which Spain had made its greatest contribution to literature, had been almost extinct. The first novels of the revival were more interesting for powers of observation and description (a continuation of costumbrismo) than for imaginative or narrative quality. A woman novelist, Fernán Caballero, determined the technique

Petasos

2005-02-08T17:58:00.000-08:00

A hat used for traveling, the petasos was made of felt or straw and had a chin strap, so that when not in use it could be hung down the back. The winged hat of the god Hermes (or Mercury) was also called a petasos.

Earth Exploration, Seismic refraction methods

2005-02-07T17:38:00.000-08:00

Seismic methods are based on measurements of the time interval between initiation of a seismic (elastic) wave and its arrival at detectors. The seismic wave may be generated by an explosion, a dropped weight, a mechanical vibrator, a bubble of high-pressure air injected into water, or other sources. The seismic wave is detected by a Geophone on land or by a hydrophone

Alarm Signal

2005-02-06T14:49:00.000-08:00

In zoology, a ritualized means of communicating a danger or threat among the members of an animal group. In many cases the signal is visual or vocal, but some animals—ants, bees, and certain fishes, for example—secrete chemical substances. Alarm communications frequently cross species boundaries. The hawking alarm calls of many small birds are similar and will cause

Väki

2005-02-06T05:59:00.000-08:00

Supernatural power believed by the Baltic Finns to reside in those natural sites, objects, and animals that for various reasons attracted popular attention and inspired strong emotional attachments. Väki was often conceived of as an impersonal power, akin to the Polynesian mana, but it also referred to the agents of the power, diffuse spiritual entities that frequent

Irigoyen, Hipólito

2005-02-04T19:32:00.000-08:00

Irigoyen became a lawyer, teacher, rancher, and politician and in 1896 took control of the Radical Party. His relentless effort to obtain free elections succeeded

Sogn Fjord

2005-02-04T00:13:00.000-08:00

Fjord, Sogn og Fjordane fylke (county), western Norway. It is the longest and deepest fjord in Norway, and its mouth is located 45 miles (72 km) north of Bergen. Its length, from Solund on the offshore island of Sula in the North Sea to Skjolden, at the head of its longest branch, Lustra Fjord, is 127 miles (204 km). The fjord's maximum depth is 4,291 feet (1,308 m), and its main axis is east-west. Its narrow, deep tributary

Ear, Human, Descending pathways

2005-02-03T06:34:00.000-08:00

The ancestors of present-day odontocetes probably evolved during the Oligocene Epoch (33.7 million to 23.8 million years ago) from a group of more ancient whales called

Abéché

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

Town, eastern Chad, between the wadis Chao and Sao. Historically it was the site of the capital of the Muslim sultanate of Ouaddaï (q.v.), which dominated much of the area of Chad before French conquest was accomplished in 1912. The remains of the ancient capital include a palace, tombs of former sultans, and the ruins of a mosque, all surrounded by a thick wall. The town has many

Interlaken

2005-02-01T13:04:00.000-08:00

Town, Bern canton, central Switzerland. It lies along the Aare River, in the Bernese Highland. Its name is derived from its position on the flat plain (Bödeli), 1,864 feet (568 m) above sea level, between Lakes (inter lacus) Brienz to the east and Thun to the west. The town grew up around a convent of Augustinian canons (1130–1528). It is one of Switzerland's oldest and most frequented summer tourist

Spondylitis

2005-02-01T10:45:00.000-08:00

Ankylosing spondylitis (also called Bekhterev spondylitis, deforming spondylitis, or Marie-Strümpell arthritis) is a degenerative disease of the spine that is characteristically

Tenkalai

2005-02-01T05:20:00.000-08:00

One of two Hindu subsects of the Srivaisnava, the other being the Vadakalai. Though the two sects use both Sanskrit and Tamil scriptures and centre their worship on Vishnu, the Tenkalai places greater reliance on the Tamil language and the Nalayira Prabandham, a collection of hymns by the Alvars, a group of South Indian mystics. The Tenkalai grew apart from the Vadakalai in the 14th

épernon, Jean-louis De Nogaret De La Valette, Duke (duc) D'

2005-01-29T17:59:00.000-08:00

Of obscure nobility, La Valette rose to prominence as a favourite of Henry III, who created him duke and peer of France in 1582. He and Anne de Joyeuse acted virtually as prime ministers in the 1580s. His rapacity was notorious, but he also showed great political ability

Ear, Human, Tuning-fork tests

2005-01-29T14:59:00.000-08:00

In the Rinne test the sounding tuning fork is placed on the mastoid process, and the person

Saaremaa

2005-01-28T06:46:00.000-08:00

German and Swedish Ösel , Russian Sarema largest of the islands in the Muhu archipelago that divides the Baltic Sea from the Gulf of Riga. It constitutes the bulk of the Estonian county of Saaremaa (Saare) and has an area of 1,032 square miles (2,674 square km). The island is low-lying and is composed largely of limestones and dolomites. Some of the places with poorer soils are characterized by the alvary—poor bushy vegetation,

Memory Abnormality, Hypnotic amnesia

2005-01-27T15:08:00.000-08:00

Memory of a hypnotic trance is often vague and fragmentary, as in awakening from an ordinary dream. This may be due in part to defect of registration during the period of altered consciousness. At the same time, very much more complete posthypnotic amnesia can be induced if an individual is told that, when he awakens, he will remember nothing of what went on during the

Fabriano

2005-01-27T03:34:00.000-08:00

Town, Ancona province, in Marche (The Marches) region, central Italy. The town was the home of a minor school of painting founded in the late 14th century by Allegretto Nuzi and Gentile da Fabriano; frescoes by the former decorate the local cathedral. A Romanesque-Gothic mayoral palace (1255) and a municipal art gallery are other notable buildings. The town was severely damaged

Caldecott Medal

2005-01-26T14:19:00.000-08:00

Annual prize awarded “to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.” It was established in 1938 by Frederic G. Melcher, chairman of the board of the R.R. Bowker Publishing Company, and named for the 19th-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is presented at the annual conference of the American Library Association along with the

Ahmadu Seku

2005-01-26T02:31:00.000-08:00

Succeeding his father, al-Hajj 'Umar, in 1864, Ahmadu ruled over a great empire centred on the ancient Bambara kingdom of Segu, in present Mali. By the Treaty of Nango (1881) he granted France most-favoured-nation status. After the advance of the

Peter

2005-01-25T11:31:00.000-08:00

Until Peter's tenure as metropolitan, the centre of the Russian Orthodox Church had for many years been in Kiev, the ancient capital of Rus, and then for a while in Vladimir. When Peter became metropolitan, he, like his predecessors,

Wagner, Richard

2005-01-24T09:21:00.000-08:00

In 1869 Wagner had resumed work on The Ring which he now brought to its world-renouncing conclusion. It had been agreed with the King that the tetralogy should be first performed in its entirety at Munich, but Wagner broke the agreement, convinced that a new type of theatre must be built for the purpose. Having discovered a suitable site at the Bavarian town of Bayreuth, he

Switzerland

2005-01-23T04:20:00.000-08:00

Etruscans, Rhaetians, Celts, Romans, and Germanic peoples have left their imprint on Switzerland in the course of its historical evolution. The present population shows traces mainly of the Alpine, “Nordic,” and southern Slav or Dinaric peoples. To survive as a cohesive unit, the disparate elements of the Swiss people have had to learn a mutual cooperation to protect

Scandinavian Literature, Swedish literature

2005-01-23T00:23:00.000-08:00

Swedish literature proper began in the late Middle Ages when, after a long period of linguistic change, Old Swedish emerged as a separate language. The foundations of a native literature were established in the 13th century. The oldest extant manuscript in Old Swedish was the Västgötalagan (“Law of West Gotland”), part of a legal code compiled in the 1220s. These legal documents

Switzerland, The postwar period

2005-01-21T23:21:00.000-08:00

Switzerland's wartime relations with Germany compromised its postwar standing. In a 1946 agreement, the Western Allies, especially the United States, compelled Switzerland to compensate the looted Western central banks. Because Switzerland would have received no special recognition of its neutrality, the Federal Council decided not to join the United

Camden

2005-01-21T09:23:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1791) of Kershaw county, in north-central South Carolina, U.S. It was founded by English settlers along the Wateree River about 1733 and was originally known as Pine Tree Hill. It changed its name in 1768 to honour Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden, a British supporter of the colonial cause and became a contested site in the American Revolution (see Camden, Battle of). Afterward Camden

ClearPrison

Organic Underwear

Wolfdietrich

Aksak

William

Lahar

Gadara

Claremont

Ashland

Alcan Aluminium Limited

Lista, Alberto

Denitrifying Bacteria

Tiergarten

Eam-elas

Teresa, Blessed Mother

Zedillo, Ernesto

Snowdrop

Valdemar Birgersson

Sesame

Masoud, Ahmad Shah

Lightning

Pinar Del Río

Bassano, Jacopo

Cabildo

Argentina, Perón in power

Iliocostalis Muscle

Breast Cancer

Alexis

Papantla

Kocaeli

Romanino, Il

Poland

Conception Bay

Celastraceae

Arnold, Benedict

Piciform

Daikoku

Boteti River

Arabian Desert

Korea, South, Flag Of

Abia

Australia, Overall characteristics

Bulgarian Literature

Vafiades, Markos

Yamanashi

France, History Of, France from 1715 to 1789

Mormon

Hanalei

Ashta Pradhan

Gág, Wanda Hazel

Dialect

Alcántara, Order Of

Câmara, Hélder Pessoa

Farim

Literature

Middle Comedy

Van Buren

San Carlos

Hinduism

Ficino, Marsilio

Egypt, The Kingdom of Egypt (192252)

Indian Literature

Habsburg, House Of

Melbourne

Iki

Henríquez Ureña, Pedro

Indian Literature

Frederick Ii

Saxe, (hermann-) Maurice, Comte De

Congé D'élire

Prodi, Romano

Kean University

Mannar Island

Tsonga

Writ

Utrecht

Spanish Literature, Revival of the Spanish novel

Petasos

Earth Exploration, Seismic refraction methods

Alarm Signal

Egypt, The Kingdom of Egypt (192252)