DependentLock

Shadows, The

2005-10-16T15:40:00.000-07:00

London-based instrumental rock group whose distinctive sound exerted a strong influence on young British musicians in the 1960s. The original members were Hank B. Marvin (original name Brian Robson Rankin; b. Oct. 28, 1941, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, Eng.), Bruce Welch (original name Bruce Cripps; b. Nov. 2, 1941, Bognor Regis, Sussex), Jet Harris (byname of Terence Harris; b.

Production System

2005-08-08T20:25:00.000-07:00

Any of the methods used in industry to create goods and services from various resources.

Religion

2005-07-27T18:20:00.000-07:00

Human beings' relation to that which they regard as holy, sacred, spiritual, or divine. Religion is commonly regarded as consisting of a person's relation to God or to gods or spirits. Worship is probably the most basic element of religion, but moral conduct, right belief, and participation in religious institutions are generally also constituent elements of the religious

Moldova, Flag Of

2005-07-25T23:50:00.000-07:00

Moldova declared independence during World War I. At various times in prior centuries it had been a part of Moldavia, Russia, the Ottoman Empire, and Romania, and its symbols are derived from historical and cultural links with Moldavia and Romania. Its flag of December 1917 was the traditional Romanian tricolour of blue, yellow, and red in horizontal format. In the centre

Space Exploration, Earth survey satellites

2005-07-23T00:20:00.000-07:00

This broad category of satellites has progressed from relatively simple photography to include many forms of observation of the Earth. Meteorological, or weather, satellites operate globally. From a polar orbit, photographs of the Earth's surface are taken by television scanning and transmitted to Earth receiver stations. In addition, meteorological satellites

Tientsin

2005-07-08T09:45:00.000-07:00

Central Tientsin (the municipality's urban core)

Hard Water

2005-07-06T14:10:00.000-07:00

Water that contains salts of calcium and magnesium principally as bicarbonates, chlorides, and sulfates. Ferrous iron may also be present; oxidized to the ferric form, it appears as a reddish brown stain on washed fabrics and enameled surfaces. Water hardness that is caused by calcium bicarbonate is known as temporary, because boiling converts the bicarbonate

Tsinghai

2005-06-30T16:00:00.000-07:00

Chinese (Wade-Giles) Ch'ing-hai, (Pinyin) Qinghai, sheng (province) of northwestern China. Located in the Tibetan Highlands, it has an average elevation of 13,000 feet (4,000 metres). It is bounded on the north and east by Kansu, on the southeast by Szechwan, on the south and west by the Tibet Autonomous Region, and on the west and north by the Uighur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang. Tsinghai has an area of about 284,600 square miles (737,000 square kilometres).

Tereshkova, Valentina

2005-06-22T22:25:00.000-07:00

Although she had no pilot training, Tereshkova was an accomplished amateur parachutist

Morris, Clara

2005-06-16T07:35:00.000-07:00

Morris was the eldest child of a bigamous marriage. When she was three her father was exposed, and her mother fled with her to Cleveland, Ohio, where they adopted her grandmother's name, Morrison. Clara received only

Hoover Commission

2005-06-03T16:20:00.000-07:00

Formally Commission on Organization of the U.S. Executive Branch (1947–49, 1953–55), either of two temporary advisory bodies, both headed by the former president Herbert Hoover. They were appointed to find ways to reduce the number of federal government departments and increase their efficiency in the post-World War II and post-Korean War periods. The commissions were composed equally of Democratic and Republican members. Their recommendations,

Argostólion

2005-06-01T11:05:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Argostóli, chief port and capital, nomós (department) of Cephalonia, which is the largest of the Ionian Islands of Greece. The town is the seat of a bishop of the Greek Orthodox church. It was founded in 1757 by the Venetians when an earthquake destroyed the former capital. The port's well-protected harbour is situated on the eastern prong of a large inlet. The island produces olive oil,

çanakkale

2005-05-18T02:10:00.000-07:00

City, northwestern Turkey, at the mouth of Koca River (the ancient Rhodius River), on the Asian side of the Dardanelles. Originally a 15th-century Ottoman fortress called Kale-i Sultaniye, it had by the 18th century developed a reputation for its pottery, whence its name (Turkish çanak, “pot,” and kale, “fortress”). The pottery industry reached its peak in the 18th and 19th centuries and

Victoria

2005-05-16T07:35:00.000-07:00

Victoria, which retains a distinct transplanted English atmosphere,

Uyo

2005-05-14T05:25:00.000-07:00

Town, capital of Akwa Ibom state, southeastern Nigeria. Uyo lies on the road from Oron to Ikot Ekpene. A collecting station for palm oil and kernels, it is also a local trade centre (yams, cassava, palm produce) for an area inhabited mainly by the Ibibio people. The town has a brewery and a textile mill. It is the site of the University of Uyo (1983). Pop. (1991 est.) 66,860.

Jackson, Charles Thomas

2005-03-15T18:42:00.000-08:00

Jackson received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1829. He continued his medical studies at the University of Paris, also attending lectures on geology at the Royal School of Mines. He returned to Boston in 1832 and started a private medical practice but abandoned

Rabbinical Council Of America

2005-03-14T08:28:00.000-08:00

Organization of Orthodox rabbis, almost all of whom have received their rabbinical training in the United States. The council's chief aims have been to promote the study and practice of Orthodox Judaism, to defend the basic rights of Jews in all parts of the world, and to support the State of Israel. It is the rabbinical arm of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations

Wildcat Bank

2005-03-11T16:13:00.000-08:00

Unsound bank chartered under state law during the period of uncontrolled state banking (1816 - 63) in the United States. Such banks distributed nearly worthless currency backed by questionable security (e.g., mortgages, bonds) and were located in inaccessible areas to discourage note redemption. Note circulation by state banks ended after the passage of the National Bank

Augsburg Confession

2005-03-04T10:54:00.000-08:00

Latin �Confessio Augustana, � the 28 articles that constitute the basic confession of the Lutheran churches, presented June 25, 1530, in German and Latin at the Diet of Augsburg to the emperor Charles V by seven Lutheran princes and two imperial free cities. The principal author was the Reformer Philipp Melanchthon, who drew on earlier Lutheran statements of faith. The purpose was to defend the Lutherans

Mondale, Walter F.

2005-03-03T20:53:00.000-08:00

Mondale, a �flexible liberal,� won election to the Senate in 1966 and reelection in 1972. He served on the Senate Finance and Budget committees and the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare. Elected vice president as Carter's running mate in 1976, he was a key participant in the negotiations between Egyptian president Anwar el-Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin that resulted in the Camp David Accords. The Carter-Mondale ticket was defeated for reelection in 1980 by Ronald Reagan and George Bush. Mondale captured the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and chose Geraldine A. Ferraro as his running mate, the first woman vice presidential candidate for a major party. They lost the election overwhelmingly to Reagan-Bush. Afterward Mondale practiced law until he was appointed ambassador to Japan (1993 - 96) by President William J. Clinton. In 2002 Paul Wellstone, the Democratic senator from Minnesota, was killed in a plane crash while campaigning to retain his seat, and the Democratic Party nominated Mondale to take Wellstone's place on the ballot. Mondale accepted the nomination but was narrowly defeated by Republican Norm Coleman.

Chi-an

2005-03-02T07:42:00.000-08:00

Chi-an's history goes back to the foundation there,

Murad Iv

2005-03-01T01:18:00.000-08:00

Murad, who came to the throne at age 11, ruled for several years through the regency of his mother, K�sem, and a series of grand viziers. Effective

Murad Iv

2005-02-28T23:30:00.000-08:00

Murad, who came to the throne at age 11, ruled for several years through the regency of his mother, K�sem, and a series of grand viziers. Effective

Sangareddi

2005-02-27T03:15:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Sangareddy�, also called �Sangareddipet� town, administrative headquarters of Medak district, Andhra Pradesh state, southern India, on the Deccan Plateau near the Manjra River. The town has mainly an agricultural economy (rice, sugarcane, and oilseeds) and is noted for the manufacture of brass, silverware, and silk cloth. Pop. (1981) 31,360.

Tricellular Theory

2005-02-26T07:14:00.000-08:00

Obsolescent model of the Earth's wind systems that represents them as three parallel wind cells or belts in each hemisphere. First advanced by T. Bergeron (1928) and further developed by C.-G. Rossby, it replaced the Hadley-cell model (proposed by George Hadley in 1735): a single cell in each hemisphere with westward and Equatorward flow at low levels and eastward and poleward flow

Tricellular Theory

2005-02-25T18:29:00.000-08:00

Hadano

2005-02-24T20:30:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Hatano� city, Kanagawa Prefecture (ken), Honshu, Japan, stretching between Tanzawa-yama (Mt. Tanzawa; north; 5,141 ft [1,567 m]) and the Hadano basin (south). It was a regional commercial centre during the Tokugawa era (1603 - 1867), when the cultivation of tobacco was introduced. The city is now a tobacco-trading centre, containing a processing plant of the Japanese Monopoly Bureau. Because of its convenient

Chuuk Islands

2005-02-23T21:48:00.000-08:00

Formerly �Truk Islands, or Hogoleu, � cluster of 14 much-eroded high volcanic islands in Chuuk State, Federated States of Micronesia, in the western Pacific Ocean. Forming part of the eastern Caroline Islands, the Chuuk Islands are enclosed within an encircling barrier bank composed of some 69 sand and coral islets. The bank (often referred to as a reef) encloses a lagoon of 822 square miles (2,129 square km) in area and

Sculpture, Western, Augustan Age

2005-02-22T22:56:00.000-08:00

The hallmark of portraits of Augustus is a naturalistic classicism. The rendering of his features and the forking of his hair above the brow is individual. But the Emperor is consistently idealized and never shown as elderly or aging. A marble statue from Livia's Villa at Prima Porta (in the Vatican), which presents him as addressing, as it were, the whole empire, is the

Lord Strange's Men

2005-02-21T07:24:00.000-08:00

Also called �Strange's Men, � prominent Elizabethan acting company. A household troupe of Lord Strange, they toured the provinces before appearing at court in 1582. From 1588 to 1594 they were associated with the Admiral's Men. It has been suggested that Lord Strange's Men were the first to employ William Shakespeare, though his role in the company is unclear. The troupe performed at The Theatre and at the Rose

Tiselius, Arne

2005-02-20T01:19:00.000-08:00

As an assistant to The Svedberg at the University of Uppsala (1925 - 32), Tiselius developed the use of electrophoresis for the delicate task of separating proteins in suspension on the basis of their electrical charge. For

La Tr�moille Family

2005-02-19T18:04:00.000-08:00

Noble family that contributed numerous generals to France. The family's name was taken from a village in Poitou (modern La Trimouille). A Pierre de La Tr�moille is recorded as early as the 11th century, but the family's ascendance dates from the 15th century. Early family members fought in several crusades. Gui (d. 1397) went with John the Fearless, duke of Burgundy, on the crusade to

Tabataba'i, Sayyid Zia Od-din

2005-02-17T03:22:00.000-08:00

Tabataba'i became prominent during World War I as the editor of a pro-British newspaper, Ra'd (�Thunder�). In 1919 he led a quasi-diplomatic mission to negotiate a commercial agreement with the anti-Communist Russian revolutionaries at Baku. On his return to Iran he joined a secret nationalist

N�rdlingen

2005-02-16T05:51:00.000-08:00

City, Bavaria Land (state), southern Germany, on the Eger River. A seat of the bishop of Regensburg in 898, it became a free imperial city in 1215. Several battles in the Thirty Years' War (17th century) and the French Revolutionary Wars (18th century) were fought outside the medieval walls that still surround the old city. Notable buildings include the late-Gothic town hall, the Church of

Andrea Del Sarto

2005-02-15T20:03:00.000-08:00

Original name �Andrea d'Agnolo� Italian painter and draftsman whose works of exquisite composition and craftsmanship were instrumental in the development of the Florentine-Roman school in the first half of the 16th century. His most striking among other well-known works is the series of frescoes on the life of St. John the Baptist about 1511 and

Ruways, Ar-

2005-02-14T20:59:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Ruweis, or Ru'ays,� site of a giant industrial complex, Abu Dhabi emirate, United Arab Emirates. It lies along the Persian Gulf about 140 miles (220 km) west of Abu Dhabi, the national capital. Ar-Ruways has natural-gas-processing plants under the control of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). Ar-Ruways has a small airport and is linked by road with Abu Dhabi city and Jabal az-Zannah.

Berchtesgaden

2005-02-13T02:09:00.000-08:00

Town, Bavaria Land (state), southern Germany, situated on the Berchtesgaden Stream in a deep valley surrounded on three sides by Austrian territory. The opening of its salt mines in the 12th century was the beginning of many centuries of bitter rivalry with Salzburg and Hallein. From 1300 the town was ruled by the provosts of its Augustinian abbey (founded c. 1102), who became princes

Field Hockey

2005-02-12T06:31:00.000-08:00

Hockey is believed to date from the earliest civilizations. The Arabs, Greeks, Persians, and Romans each had their own versions, and traces

Novello, Vincent

2005-02-11T21:19:00.000-08:00

From 1797 to 1822 Novello was organist at the Portuguese embassy chapel, where he directed the first English performances of masses by Joseph Haydn and W.A. Mozart. In 1812 he became pianist and conductor at the Italian Opera, London. From 1840 to 1843 he was organist at the Roman Catholic

Gates, Bill

2005-02-10T04:08:00.000-08:00

Gates wrote his first software program at the age of 13. In high school he helped form a group of programmers who computerized their school's payroll system and founded Traf-O-Data, a company that

Aztec

2005-02-09T14:02:00.000-08:00

Nahuatl-speaking people who in the 15th and early 16th centuries ruled a large empire in what is now central and southern Mexico. The Aztec are so called from Aztl�n (�White Land�), an allusion to their origins, probably in northern Mexico. They were also called the Tenochca, from an eponymous ancestor, Tenoch, and the Mexica, probably from Metzliap�n (�Moon Lake�), the mystical name

Jaur�s, (auguste-marie-joseph-)jean

2005-02-08T19:12:00.000-08:00

French socialist leader, cofounder of the newspaper L'Humanit�, and member of the French Chamber of Deputies (1885 - 89, 1893 - 98, 1902 - 14); he achieved the unification of several factions into a single socialist party, the Section Fran�aise de l'Internationale Ouvri�re. During the war fever of July 1914, he was assassinated by a young fanatic who believed that Jaur�s's pacifism

Einstein, Alfred

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

Einstein was born into a family of scholars (Albert Einstein was his cousin), and, as a young man, studied law for a year before completing his doctorate (1903) in musicology and composition at the University of Munich. As the first editor (1918 - 33) of the Zeitschrift f�r Musikwissenschaft (�Journal

C�o, Diogo

2005-02-05T14:48:00.000-08:00

C�o was the first European to discover the mouth of the Congo River (August 1482). There he set up a stone pillar to mark Portuguese overlordship of the area. Sailing a short way upstream, he found that the inhabitants along the banks appeared willing to trade. He then traveled southward along the present Angola coast and erected a second

Johanan Ben Zakkai

2005-02-04T19:19:00.000-08:00

As is the case with all the Talmudic teachers (the rabbis who interpreted and applied the Oral Law), little strictly biographical information

Johanan Ben Zakkai

2005-02-03T20:18:00.000-08:00

As is the case with all the Talmudic teachers (the rabbis who interpreted and applied the Oral Law), little strictly biographical information

Penguin

2005-02-02T22:58:00.000-08:00

(order Sphenisciformes), any of the flightless marine birds of the family Spheniscidae. They are limited in distribution to the Southern Hemisphere. Although a few penguins inhabit temperate regions and one, the G�lapagos penguin (Spheniscus mendiculus), lives at the Equator, the majority of the 18 species breed on islands in subantarctic

Plumebird

2005-02-01T10:44:00.000-08:00

Any of several bird-of-paradise species. See bird-of-paradise.

Arabia, Oman

2005-01-31T20:47:00.000-08:00

The Al-Hajar mountain range is divided into Eastern Al-Hajar and Western Al-Hajar. The range, which exceeds a height of 9,000 feet in places, differs from other Arabian coastal highlands in being steep on both sides. Plains at the foot of the mountains fall away almost imperceptibly from the numerous towns of interior Oman to the Rub' al-Khali basin. No mountains bar Oman's

Pedrell, Felipe

2005-01-30T13:34:00.000-08:00

When Pedrell was a choirboy, his imagination was first fired by contact with early Spanish church music. Largely self-taught, he composed several operas,

Computer Virus

2005-01-29T11:29:00.000-08:00

A virus consists of a set of instructions that attaches itself to other computer programs, usually in the computer's operating system,

Mitra

2005-01-28T02:36:00.000-08:00

In the pantheon of Vedic Hinduism, one of the gods in the category of Adityas, or sovereign principles of the universe. He represents friendship, integrity, harmony, and all else that is important in the successful maintenance of order in human existence. He is usually paired with the god Varuna, the guardian of the cosmic order, whose powers he complements as guardian

Canada Goose

2005-01-27T22:00:00.000-08:00

(species Branta canadensis), a brown-backed, light-breasted goose with black head and neck and white cheeks that flash when the bird shakes its head before taking wing. It belongs to the family Anatidae (order Anseriformes). The subspecies vary greatly in size, from 1.3 kg (3 pounds) in the cackling goose (B. canadensis minima), to about 8 kg (20 pounds)

Peregrinus Of Maricourt, Peter

2005-01-26T20:14:00.000-08:00

Almost nothing is known about Peregrinus' life, except that he wrote his famous treatise while serving as an engineer in the army of Charles I of Anjou that was besieging Lucera (in Italy) in August 1269 in a �crusade� sanctioned by the pope. Peregrinus' abilities

Hawk Moth

2005-01-25T15:45:00.000-08:00

Also called �Sphinx Moth, or Hummingbird Moth� (family Sphingidae), any member of cosmopolitan insects (order Lepidoptera), named for their hovering, swift flight patterns. These stout-bodied moths have long, narrow forewings and shorter hindwings, with wingspans ranging from 5 to 20 cm (2 to 8 inches). Many species pollinate flowers such as orchids and petunias while sucking nectar; the proboscis (feeding organ) of some

Fujiwara Tokihira

2005-01-24T22:41:00.000-08:00

Japanese Imperial minister who checked the efforts of the emperor Uda (reigned 887 - 897) to halt the domination of the Japanese government by the Fujiwara family. Tokihira's father, Fujiwara Mototsune, had created and occupied the post of kampaku, or chancellor, a position that gave him virtual control of Japan by allowing him to issue commands on behalf of

Cable

2005-01-23T14:52:00.000-08:00

The first successful stranded iron wire rope was developed in 1831 - 34 by Wilhelm Albert, a mining official of Clausthal

Destouches, Andr� Cardinal

2005-01-22T19:19:00.000-08:00

Andr� Cardinal was the son of a wealthy Parisian merchant, Etienne Cardinal, Seigneur des Touches et de Guilleville, but he did not take any form of the patronym until 1694, after which he was known as Destouches. He was educated by the Jesuits and traveled with a priest

Arabia

2005-01-21T16:26:00.000-08:00

Introductions to the area include Sheila A. Scoville (ed.), Gazetteer of Arabia: A Geographical and Tribal History of the Arabian Peninsula, vol. 1 (1979); Robert W. Stookey (ed.), The Arabian Peninsula: Zone of Ferment (1984); Hassan S. Haddad and Basheer K. Nijim (eds.), The Arab World: A Handbook (1978); Alois Musil, Northern Negd (1928, reprinted 1978), on the Najd region of Saudi Arabia; and Derek Hopwood (ed.), The Arabian Peninsula: Society and Politics (1972). See also M.W. Dempsey (comp.), Atlas of the Arab World (1983). Early explorations are chronicled in Robin Bidwell, Travellers in Arabia (1976); and Zahra Freeth and H.V.F. Winstone, Explorers of Arabia: From Renaissance to the End of the Victorian Era (1978). The people of the peninsula are described in Peter Mansfield, The New Arabians (1981); H.R.P. Dickson, The Arab of the Desert, 3rd ed. rev. and abridged by Robert Wilson and Zahra Freeth (1983); Max Freiherr von Oppenheim, Die Beduinen, 2 vol. (1939, reprinted 1983); and Walter Dostal, Die Beduinen in S�darabien (1967). Religious life and history are detailed in Gonzague Ryckmans, Les Religions arabes pr�islamiques, 2nd ed. (1951); J. Spencer Trimingham, Christianity Among the Arabs in Pre-Islamic Times (1979); and A.J. Arberry (ed.), Religion in the Middle East, vol. 2, Islam (1969, reprinted 1976). Articles on the geography, history, and religion of the Arabian Peninsula may be found in The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 4 vol. and a suppl. (1913 - 36), with a new edition in progress, beginning in 1960; and The Shorter Encyclopaedia of Islam (1953, reprinted 1974), with articles taken from the larger work. Periodicals include Arabian Studies (annual); The Middle East and North Africa (annual); The Middle East Journal (quarterly); and Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies (annual).

Rydberg, Viktor

2005-01-20T20:47:00.000-08:00

Rydberg grew up among strangers, with no home of his own; his mother had died in a cholera epidemic, and his father became an alcoholic. He had to break off his studies for lack of money. In 1855 he began to work for the liberal newspaper

Rydberg, Viktor

2005-01-19T21:47:00.000-08:00

Byname �European Liberal Democrats�, formerly (1976 - 86) �Federation of Liberal and Democratic Parties in the European Community�, (1986 - 93) �Federation of Liberal Democrat and Reform Parties� transnational parliamentary group representing the interests of allied liberal and centrist parties in the European Parliament of the European Union (EU). The ELDR was formed in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1976 and coordinates the interests of its member parties. It is now composed of some 40 parties from EU countries, countries that have applied for EU membership, and other

Bridgeport

2005-01-18T03:22:00.000-08:00

City, coextensive with the town (township) of Bridgeport, Fairfield county, southwestern Connecticut, U.S. The city, the most populous in the state, is a port on Long Island Sound at the mouth of the Pequonnock River. Settled in 1639, it was first known as Newfield and later as Stratfield. In 1800 it was incorporated as a borough and named Bridgeport for the first drawbridge over the

Polestar

2005-01-17T10:42:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �pole star�, also called (Northern Hemisphere) �North Star� the brightest star that appears nearest to either celestial pole at any particular time. Owing to the precession of the equinoxes, the position of each pole describes a small circle in the sky over a period of 25,800 years. Each of a succession of stars has thus passed near enough to the north celestial pole to serve as the polestar. At present the polestar is Polaris; Thuban

Alencar, Jos� (martiniano) De

2005-01-16T06:11:00.000-08:00

Journalist, novelist, and playwright whose novel O Guarani (1857; �The Guarani Indian�) initiated the vogue of the Brazilian Indianista novel (romantic tales of indigenous life incorporating vocabulary of Amerindian origin referring to flora, fauna, and tribal customs). O Guarani, which was subsequently utilized as the libretto

Aethelbald

2005-01-15T07:41:00.000-08:00

King of the Mercians from 716, who became the chief king of a confederation including all the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms between the River Humber and the English Channel. His predominance was made possible by the death of the strong king Wihtred of Kent (725) and the abdication of Ine of Wessex (726). During Aethelbald's reign, London passed from East Saxon to Mercian control.

Mithradates Vi Eupator

2005-01-13T04:12:00.000-08:00

Byname �Mithradates The Great � king of Pontus in northern Anatolia (120 - 63 BC). Under his energetic leadership, Pontus expanded to absorb several of its small neighbours and, briefly, contested Rome's hegemony in Asia Minor.

Bavand Dynasty

2005-01-12T01:38:00.000-08:00

The origins and early years of the dynasty

Babylonia

2005-01-11T22:57:00.000-08:00

Ancient cultural region occupying southeastern Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (modern southern Iraq from around Baghdad to the Persian Gulf). Because the city of Babylon was the capital of this area for so many centuries, the term Babylonia has come to refer to the entire culture that developed in the area from the time it was first settled,

Advocate Of Moral Reform

2005-01-09T16:05:00.000-08:00

First published in New York City in 1835, the Advocate of Moral Reform gained some 20,000 subscribers over the next few years. Serving as a voice for members of the moral reform movement, the journal's mission

Ushuaia

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

The site was first settled by Wasti H. Stirling, an English missionary, in 1870. In 1884 an Argentine naval base was established, and in 1893, after the archipelago was partitioned between Argentina and

Higgs Particle

2005-01-07T05:30:00.000-08:00

The Higgs field is different from other fundamental fields, such

Portico

2005-01-06T08:06:00.000-08:00

The portico is a principal feature of Greek temple architecture and thus a prominent element in Roman and all subsequent classically inspired structures. The types of portico furnish the main terms

Triglyceride

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

Any one of an important group of naturally occurring lipids (fat-soluble components of living cells). Triglycerides are esters in which three molecules of one or more different fatty acids are linked to the alcohol glycerol; they are named according to the fatty acid components; e.g., tristearin contains three molecules of stearic acid, and oleodistearin, one of oleic

Golden Gate

2005-01-04T01:22:00.000-08:00

Strait, in California, western coastal U.S., connecting San Francisco Bay with the Pacific Ocean and separating San Francisco from Marin County. An ancient river mouth, it is about 3 miles (5 km) long, from 1 to 3 miles wide, and 300 feet (90 m) deep and serves as the ocean gateway to the port cities of the bay and the Sacramento - San Joaquin river system. The strait, now spanned by the Golden

Light Verse

2005-01-03T07:43:00.000-08:00

The Greeks were among the first to practice

Pacorus Ii

2005-01-02T16:18:00.000-08:00

In 110 Pacorus sold the Parthian client kingdom of Osro�ne to Abgar VII, son of Izates, ruler of Adiabene. It is uncertain whether Pacorus was alive when the Roman emperor Trajan invaded

Grusi

2005-01-01T13:09:00.000-08:00

Ethnolinguistic group among the inhabitants of northern Ghana and adjacent areas of Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta) and Togo. The linguistic groups and subgroups of the area are difficult to classify with certitude, but the Grusi languages make up a subbranch of the Gur (Voltaic) branch of the Niger-Congo language family. The difficulty in establishing distinct

Grusi

2004-12-31T00:43:00.000-08:00

Mid Sussex

2004-12-30T14:33:00.000-08:00

District, administrative county of West Sussex, historic county of Sussex, southeastern England. It occupies an area in central Sussex. Mid Sussex extends from The Weald, a sandstone area of hilly grasslands and woodlands in the north, across undulating grasslands of the Ouse and Adur river valleys in the centre, to the steep chalk scarps of the north-facing South

Augustus, Caesar

2004-12-29T03:37:00.000-08:00

The death in 12 BC of Lepidus enabled Augustus finally to succeed him as the official head of the Roman religion, the chief priest (pontifex maximus). In the same year, Agrippa, too, died. Augustus compelled his widow, Julia, to marry Tiberius against both their wishes. During the next three years, however, Tiberius was away in the field, reducing Pannonia (Yugoslavia and Hungary)

Amalasuntha

2004-12-28T23:08:00.000-08:00

When her husband died, Amalasuntha was left with a son, Athalaric, and a daughter. At Theodoric's death, in 526, Athalaric was 10 years old, and Amalasuntha assumed the regency. Her pro-Byzantine policy, her patronage of literature and the arts, and her desire to educate

Black Nationalism

2004-12-26T06:22:00.000-08:00

Political and social movement prominent in the 1960s and early '70s in the United States among some African Americans. The movement, which can be traced back to Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association of the 1920s, sought to acquire economic power and to infuse among blacks a sense of community and group feeling. Many adherents to black nationalism assumed

Felony And Misdemeanour

2004-12-25T10:34:00.000-08:00

U.S. jurisdictions generally distinguish between felonies and misdemeanours. A class of minor offenses that may be described as petty offenses or quasi-crimes is also recognized. These last offenses are created by local ordinance, and the requirement of trial

Oman, John Wood

2004-12-24T07:09:00.000-08:00

After graduating from Edinburgh University and the theological college of the United Presbyterian Church, Oman studied in Germany. After serving as an assistant pastor in Paisley, Scot., he transferred to the ministry of the Presbyterian Church of England. In 1907 he was appointed

Alwar

2004-12-23T22:17:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Alwur, � city, northeastern Rajasthan state, northwestern India. The city is surrounded by a wall and moat and is dominated by a fort on a conical hill against a backdrop of a range of hills. Alwar was made the capital of Alwar princely state in 1775; it contains the 14th-century tomb of Tarang Sultan (the brother of Firuz Shah) and several ancient mosques. The palace, which adjoins a picturesque

East Falkland

2004-12-22T17:06:00.000-08:00

One of the two major islands of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is 90 miles (140 km) long and 55 miles (88 km) wide and rises to Mount Usborne (2,312 feet [705 m]). The total area is 2,550 square miles (6,605 square km), excluding adjacent small islands. The town of Stanley is on the northeast shore. Pop. (1986) 1,620.

Blomberg, Werner (eduard Fritz) Von

2004-12-21T15:13:00.000-08:00

A general staff officer during World War I, Blomberg was named chief of staff of the Stuttgart army area (1921), head of the department of military training

Nation

2004-12-20T19:49:00.000-08:00

In medieval universities, a group of students from a particular region or country who banded together for mutual protection and cooperation in a strange land. In some universities nations were responsible for educating and examining students. Each one was governed by its own proctor, who was elected for terms varying from one month (at the University of Paris) to

Esdraelon, Plain Of

2004-12-19T05:33:00.000-08:00

The plain, roughly triangular in shape, is oriented northwest-southeast with the apex at

Carte-de-visite

2004-12-18T01:08:00.000-08:00

Originally, a calling card, especially one with a photographic portrait mounted on it. Immensely popular in the mid-19th century, the carte-de-visite was touted by the Parisian portrait photographer Andr�-Adolphe-Eug�ne Disd�ri, who patented the method in 1854. Disd�ri used a four-lensed camera, which made eight 3.5- by 2.5-inch (8.89- by 6.35-cm) negatives on one full-sized plate. The large print

Insurance, Indirect losses

2004-12-17T10:04:00.000-08:00

An entirely different branch of the insurance business has been developed to insure losses that are indirectly the result of one of the specified perils. A prominent example of this type of insurance is business income insurance. The insurer undertakes to reimburse the insured for lost profits or for fixed charges incurred as a result of direct damage. For example,

Lettow-vorbeck, Paul Von

2004-12-16T05:19:00.000-08:00

A member of the South West Colonial

Floral Decoration, 19th century

2004-12-15T06:21:00.000-08:00

The interest of the 19th-century Romantics in nature made floral arrangements an important part of a decorative scheme. With the advent of the clipper ship more exotic plant materials were introduced into Europe and the United States. From China came new varieties of chrysanthemums, bleeding heart, rhododendrons, and azaleas; from South Africa, the gladiolus, freesia,

Zeiss, Carl

2004-12-14T18:23:00.000-08:00

In 1846 Zeiss opened a workshop in Jena for producing microscopes and other optical instruments. Realizing that improvements in optical instruments depended on advances in optical theory, he engaged as research

Pre-columbian Civilizations, Deities

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

The ancient tribes of central Mexico had worshiped fertility gods for many centuries when the Aztec invaded the valley. The cult of these gods remained extremely important in Aztec religion. Tlaloc, the giver of rain but also the wrathful deity of lightning, was the leader of a group of rain gods, the Tlaloques, who dwelt on mountaintops. Chalchiuhtlicue (�One Who Wears

Jacob's Ladder

2004-12-11T22:29:00.000-08:00

Also called �Greek Valerian, � any of about 25 species of the genus Polemonium of the family Polemoniaceae, native to temperate areas in North and South America and Eurasia. Many are valued as garden flowers and wildflowers. They have loose, spikelike clusters of drooping blue, violet, or white, funnel-shaped, five-petaled flowers and alternate, pinnately (featherlike) compound

Berg

2004-12-10T22:15:00.000-08:00

In the 11th century the counts of Berg came into possession of Westphalian lands east of Cologne. From 1161 these were divided between the senior branch of Berg and the junior branch of Altena (later Mark), which acquired the countship

Jazz

2004-12-08T13:55:00.000-08:00

In spite of the wide dissemination and geographic distribution of these diverse musical traditions, New Orleans was where a distinctive, coherent jazz style evolved. Between 1910 and 1915 a systematization of instrumental functions within an essentially collective ensemble took shape, as did a regularization of the repertory. Despite the fact that a limited set of instruments

Metamorphosis

2004-12-07T16:13:00.000-08:00

In biology, striking change of form or structure in an individual after hatching or birth. Hormones called molting and juvenile hormones, which are not species specific, apparently regulate the changes. These physical changes as well as those involving growth and differentiation are accompanied by alterations of the organism's physiology, biochemistry, and

Soignies

2004-12-06T01:40:00.000-08:00

(French), Flemish �Zinnik� town (commune), Hainaut province, south-central Belgium. It lies along the Senne River, just northeast of Mons. There was a Roman castrum (fortress) at the site, and the town was said to have been founded in the 7th century by St. Vincent, who built a monastery there. A procession during Pentecost honours St. Vincent. The former conventual church (10th - 13th century), one of Belgium's best-preserved