PinkRoot

Hanafuda

2005-04-04T14:17:00.000-07:00

Hanafuda evolved after the Portuguese had brought Western cards to Japan in the 17th century. Hanafuda bear no numbers

Elephantine

2005-04-04T02:10:00.000-07:00

Arabic Jazirat Aswan, island in the Nile opposite Aswan city in Aswan muhafazah (governorate), Upper Egypt. Elephantine is the Greek name for pharaonic Abu. There the 18th- and 19th-dynasty pharaohs built a large temple to Khnum, the ram god of the cataract region, to his consort, Sati, and to Anuket, goddess of nearby Sehel. To the north stands the Old and Middle Kingdom shrine. Numerous outstanding rock

Earth Sciences

2005-04-03T21:02:00.000-07:00

Maurice first entered the government as a notary but in 578 was made commander of the imperial forces in the East. Distinguished by his successes against the Persians, he was selected by the emperor

Târgoviste

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

Also spelled Tîrgoviste, city, capital of Dâmbovita judet (county), south-central Romania. It lies along the Ialomita River, in the southeastern Transylvanian Alps (Southern Carpathians), 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Bucharest. Târgoviste was the capital of feudal Walachia from the 14th to the 17th century. Its monuments include a 16th-century watchtower and a 17th-century church founded by Vasile Lupu. The city

Germany, Insurance and services

2005-04-02T08:38:00.000-08:00

Health and retirement insurance are compulsory for all hourly workers and salaried employees earning below a certain level of income. Differing rules and rates apply to each group. Employees above a certain salary level or self-employed persons are generally exempt from most obligatory payment systems; however, although the former usually participate in a

Rhyolite

2005-04-01T17:39:00.000-08:00

Extrusive igneous rock that is the volcanic equivalent of granite. Most rhyolites are porphyritic, indicating that crystallization began prior to extrusion. Crystallization may sometimes have begun while the magma was deeply buried; in such cases, the rock may consist principally of well-developed, large, single crystals (phenocrysts) at the time of extrusion.

Puebla

2005-03-30T13:31:00.000-08:00

In full Puebla De Zaragoza, city, capital of Puebla state, central Mexico. Founded as Puebla de los Angeles in 1532, the city lies on a broad plain 7,093 ft (2,162 m) above sea level in the Sierra Madre Oriental foothills. Since viceregal days, Puebla, because of its strategic position on the route between Mexico City, 80 mi (130 km) northwest, and the Gulf of Mexico port of Veracruz, 140 mi (225 km) east, has been considered a military key

Ruysdael, Salomon Van

2005-03-30T09:35:00.000-08:00

Originally named de Goyer, as was his brother Isaak (also a painter and the father of Jacob van Ruisdael), Salomon entered the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke in 1628. His first dated pictures are from 1627. He spent his whole life in Haarlem,

Davenport, Edward Loomis

2005-03-30T06:53:00.000-08:00

In spite of family opposition, Davenport went on the stage, making his debut in 1836 under the stage name Mr. E. Dee, playing Parson

Biblical Literature, Exegetical problems

2005-03-28T22:13:00.000-08:00

This third category does not involve any consonantal alteration but results solely from the different possibilities inherent in the consonantal spelling. Thus, the lack of vowel signs may permit the word DBR to be read as a verb DiBeR (“he spoke,” as in the Masoretic text of Hosea) or as a noun DeBaR (“the word of,” as in the Septuagint). The absence of word dividers could lead

Naber, John

2005-03-28T04:16:00.000-08:00

At the 1976 Olympics, Naber became the first swimmer to break the 2-minute barrier

Wildland Fire

2005-03-28T00:05:00.000-08:00

Fire danger in a wildland setting varies with weather conditions: drought, heat, and wind participate in drying out the timber or other fuel, making it easier to ignite. Once a fire is burning, drought, heat, and wind all increase its intensity. Topography also affects wildland fire, which spreads

Kabylie

2005-03-27T20:44:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Kabylia, mountainous coastal region in northern Algeria, between Algiers and Skikda. It comprises: (1) the Great Kabylie (Grande Kabylie) or Djurdjura Mountains bounded on the west by the Isser River and on the southeast by the Wadi Soummam; (2) the Little Kabylie (Petite Kabylie, or Kabylie des Babors) around the Gulf of Bejaïa (Bougie); and (3) the Collo Kabylie (Kabylie de Collo) forming

Amphibian

2005-03-27T15:44:00.000-08:00

Any member of the class Amphibia, vertebrates distinguished by their ability to exploit both aquatic and terrestrial habitats. They include the frogs and toads, salamanders and newts, and caecilians. The name, derived from the Greek amphibios meaning “living a double life,” reflects this dual life strategy. Despite this distinction, however, some species are permanent

Chromium Processing

2005-03-27T03:36:00.000-08:00

Chromium (Cr) is a brilliant, hard, refractory metal that melts at 1,857° C (3,375° F) and boils at 2,672° C (4,842° F). In the pure state, it is resistant to ordinary corrosion, resulting in its application as an electroplated protective coating for other metals. It dissolves in nonoxidizing mineral acids but not in aqua regia or nitric acid, which passivate

War Crime

2005-03-25T03:16:00.000-08:00

In international law, serious violation of the laws or customs of war as defined by international customary law and international treaties.

Dynamite

2005-03-24T02:32:00.000-08:00

Blasting explosive, patented in 1867 by the Swedish physicist Alfred Nobel. Dynamite is based on nitroglycerin but is much safer to handle than nitroglycerin alone. By mixing the nitroglycerin with kieselguhr, a porous siliceous earth, in proportions that left an essentially dry and granular material, Nobel produced a solid that was resistant to shock but readily

Frederick Louis, Prince Of Wales

2005-03-23T14:08:00.000-08:00

After his grandfather became king of Great Britain as George I in 1714, Frederick was betrothed to Wilhelmina Sophia Dorothea,

Joyce, William

2005-03-23T01:34:00.000-08:00

Though his father was a naturalized U.S. citizen, Joyce lived most of his life in Ireland and England. He was active in Sir Oswald Mosley's British fascist organization and was also a cofounder

Palangkaraya

2005-03-22T10:20:00.000-08:00

Kotamadya (municipality), capital of Kalimantan Tengah provinsi (“province”), Borneo, Indonesia. Palangkaraya lies west of the Kahayan River. It was occupied by the Japanese during World War II and was the principal city of Great Dayak, an autonomous state (one of five) created in 1945 that became part of Indonesia in 1950. The population consists mainly of the native Dayaks together

Pease, Edward Reynolds

2005-03-21T22:20:00.000-08:00

Born to a prosperous family, Pease left a business career and joined with Frank Podmore, a spiritualist and socialist writer, to found the Fabian Society in London in January 1884. The Fabians sought a gradualist approach to socialism in Britain. Early members

Wilhelmj, August (emil Daniel Ferdinand Viktor)

2005-03-20T15:33:00.000-08:00

A prodigy, he gave his first concert at the age of eight in Wiesbaden. He studied with Ferdinand David at the Leipzig Conservatory from 1861 to 1863, and with Joachim Raff

Procter, William Cooper

2005-03-20T11:53:00.000-08:00

The soapmaking firm of Procter & Gamble was founded in Cincinnati by Procter's grandfather, William Procter, a candlemaker, who joined with James Gamble, an Irish soapmaker, in 1837. The company expanded steadily with the successful

Ogdensburg

2005-03-19T16:25:00.000-08:00

City and port, St. Lawrence county, northern New York, U.S. It lies on the St. Lawrence River, at the mouth of the Oswegatchie River and is linked to Ontario, Canada, by the Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge (1960). The site was settled in 1749 when Abbé François Picquet established Fort-La Présentation as an Indian mission. The French abandoned the fort in 1760 in the face of a British

Cultural Anthropology

2005-03-19T13:47:00.000-08:00

A major division of anthropology that deals with the study of culture in all of its aspects and that uses the methods, concepts, and data of archaeology, ethnography and ethnology, folklore, and linguistics in its descriptions and analyses of the diverse peoples of the world.

Antarctica, IGY and the Antarctic Treaty

2005-03-18T08:11:00.000-08:00

The importance of coordinating polar science efforts was recognized in 1879 by the International Polar Commission meeting in Hamburg, Ger., and thus the 11 participating nations organized the First International Polar Year of 1882–83. Most work was planned for the better-known Arctic, and, of the four geomagnetic and meteorologic stations scheduled for Antarctic regions, only

Sabha

2005-03-18T00:54:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Sebha, town, southwestern Libya, in a Saharan oasis. It was an active caravan centre from the 11th century. The modern town of stark white buildings and wide streets is surrounded by older settlements of mud-walled dwellings and covered alleyways. The former Italian Fort Elena, on a nearby hill, is now used for offices, shops, and a hospital. The town continues as a trade and transport

Dislocation

2005-03-17T23:19:00.000-08:00

Dislocations are caused by stresses forceful enough to overcome the resistance of the ligaments, muscles, and capsule that hold the joint in place. A dislocation is called simple when the joint surfaces are not exposed to the air; it is called compound when

Byng Of Vimy (of Thorpe-le-soken), Julian Hedworth George Byng, Viscount

2005-03-17T06:23:00.000-08:00

A career soldier from 1883, Byng was promoted to major general in 1909. As commander of the Canadian Corps in France (from May 1916), he was responsible for one of the most famous Canadian victories in either world war, the capture of Vimy Ridge, north of Arras (April 9, 1917). As commander of

Beals, Jessie Tarbox

2005-03-16T21:52:00.000-08:00

Jessie Tarbox moved to Williamsburg, Massachusetts, at age 18 to make her living as a schoolteacher. After nearly 10 years of teaching, she quit and devoted herself to photography, which she had been exploring in

Aaron, Hank

2005-03-16T01:06:00.000-08:00

For coverage of Aaron's home-run race, see George Plimpton, One for the Record: The Inside Story of Hank Aaron's Chase for the Home-Run Record (1974). Autobiographies include Hank Aaron and Dick Schaap, Home Run: My Life in Pictures (1999); and Hank Aaron and Lonnie Wheeler, I Had a Hammer: The Hank Aaron Story (1991).

Maundy Thursday

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

Also called Holy Thursday the Thursday before Easter, observed in commemoration of Jesus Christ's institution of the Eucharist. The name is taken from an anthem sung in Roman Catholic churches on that day: “Mandatum novum do vobis” (“a new commandment I give to you”; John 13:34). In the early Christian church the day was celebrated with a general communion of clergy and people. At a special mass the bishop

Antares

2005-03-14T15:54:00.000-08:00

Also called Alpha Scorpii red, semiregular variable star, with apparent visual magnitude about 0.9, the brightest star in the zodiacal constellation Scorpius and one of the largest known stars, having several hundred times the diameter of the Sun and several thousand times the Sun's luminosity. It has a fifth-magnitude blue companion. Antares lies about 400 light-years from the Earth. The name seems

Sileru River

2005-03-14T15:39:00.000-08:00

Also called Machkund river, Andhra Pradesh state, southern India. The river rises as the Machkund in the Eastern Ghats in northeastern Andhra Pradesh. Leaving the Machkund reservoir, it flows (as the Sileru) parallel to the mountain ranges at an elevation of 2,000–3,000 feet (600–900 m) in a northeast-to-southwest direction to empty into the Sabari River, opposite Konta, in Madhya Pradesh state, 60 miles (100 km) north-northwest

Indian Philosophy, The Purva-mimamsa-sutras and Sabara's commentary

2005-03-14T10:44:00.000-08:00

The Purva-mimamsa (“First Reflection”), or Karmamimamsa (“Study of [Ritual] Action”), is the system that investigates the nature of Vedic injunctions. Though this is the primary purpose of the system, this task also led to the development of principles of scriptural interpretation and, therefore, to theories of meaning and hermeneutics (critical interpretations). Jaimini, who composed

Road Race

2005-03-13T01:30:00.000-08:00

Usually, all contestants

Fra Mauro

2005-03-12T23:39:00.000-08:00

Crater on the Moon that appears to be heavily eroded, named for a 15th-century Italian monk and mapmaker. The site of the third manned lunar landing, the Apollo 14 mission in February 1971, is several miles north of the crater. About 80 km (50 miles) in diameter, Fra Mauro lies in Mare Nubium (the Sea of Clouds) at about 6° south latitude, 17° west longitude.

Tibet, Administration and culture under the Manchu

2005-03-12T19:25:00.000-08:00

Chinese contacts

Insurance, Marine insurance

2005-03-12T03:59:00.000-08:00

Marine insurance is actually transportation insurance. After insurance coverage on ocean voyages had been developed, it was a natural step to offer insurance on inland trips. This branch of insurance became known as inland marine. In many policy forms, the distinction between inland and ocean marine has disappeared; it is common to cover goods from the time they

Dowa Highlands

2005-03-11T17:09:00.000-08:00

Also called Chitembwe-mwera Highlands, central Malawi, rectangular formation covering an area of about 360 square miles (930 sq km); they comprise rolling hills crowned by high ridges including the heights of Dowa (5,571 feet [1,698 m]) and Ntchisi peaks. The highlands are bounded on three sides by steep slopes, forming the Eastern (Great) Rift Valley wall to the east and overlooking the Bua and Lilongwe river valleys to the north

Philadelphia

2005-03-10T20:17:00.000-08:00

Philadelphia has been described either as the elegant but rather jaded great lady or as the overage and sickly spinster of American cities. A more realistic look at Philadelphia, however, shows it to be a very

Lee, Sammy

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

In 1942, while a student at Occidental College (Los Angeles), Lee won his first national championship with victories in both the 3-metre springboard and 10-metre platform events. Standing only 5 feet 1 inch, Lee utilized his short stature in his dives, tucking tighter and

Lipsius, Justus

2005-03-10T01:48:00.000-08:00

Appointed to the chair of history and philosophy at Jena in 1572, Lipsius later accepted the chair of history and law at the new University of Leiden (1578) and that of history and Latin at Louvain (1592). His first scholarly publication, the Variae lectiones of

Buddhism, Sa-skya-pa, Bka'-brgyud-pa, and related schools

2005-03-09T23:57:00.000-08:00

The Sa-skya-pa order traces

Hypophrygian Mode

2005-03-09T10:32:00.000-08:00

In music, fourth of the eight medieval church modes. See church mode.

Chi-lin

2005-03-09T00:03:00.000-08:00

Chi-lin is one of the most ancient cities in the Northeast.

Amorphous Solid

2005-03-08T07:12:00.000-08:00

Solids and liquids are both forms of condensed matter; both are composed of atoms in close proximity to each other. But their properties are, of course, enormously different. While a solid material has both a well-defined

Pigot (of Patshul), George Pigot, Baron, 1st Baronet

2005-03-07T06:07:00.000-08:00

At 17 Pigot entered the East India Company service, becoming governor and commander in chief of Madras in 1755. He stoutly defended Madras against the French in 1758–59, and, after the capture of Pondicherry (a former French enclave on the southeast

Papua

2005-03-06T09:38:00.000-08:00

Formerly (1969–2002) Irian Jaya (until 1969) Irian Barat propinsi (province), Indonesia, the western half of the island of New Guinea and its offshore islands—including the individual islands of Yapen, Adi, Waigeo, Batanta, Kofiau, Salawati, Misool, and Yos Sudarsa and the Schouten Islands. Papua fronts the Ceram and Banda seas to the west, the Arafura Sea to the southwest, and the Pacific Ocean to the north; it is bounded by Papua

Abe Kobo

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

He grew up in Mukden (now Shen-yang), in Manchuria, where his father, a physician, taught at the medical college. The youngster was interested in insect collecting, mathematics, and the writings of Fyodor

Woolsey, Sarah Chauncey

2005-03-06T00:08:00.000-08:00

Woolsey displayed a love for reading and writing stories at an early age. In 1855 she moved with her family to New Haven, Connecticut (her uncle, Theodore Dwight Woolsey, was president of Yale College). During the

Hesperorthis

2005-03-05T03:32:00.000-08:00

Extinct genus of brachiopods, or lamp shells, which as fossils are especially characteristic of Ordovician marine rocks (438 to 505 million years old). The plano-convex shell of Hesperorthis consists of two units (or valves), the brachial valve being flat and the pedicle valve convex. The shell has a radiating pattern of ribs and a relatively broad, triangular area at the dorsal

La Marche, Olivier De

2005-03-04T20:55:00.000-08:00

After serving as a page to Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy, La Marche entered the service of the Duke's son, the count of Charolais (later called Charles the Bold). He became Charles's secretary and remained in

Furniture, 19th century and modern

2005-03-04T07:15:00.000-08:00

E.D. and F. Andrews, Shaker Furniture: The Craftsmanship of an American Communal Sect (1937); R.V. Symonds and B.B. Whineray, Victorian Furniture (1962), with many illustrations; Serge Grandjean, Empire Furniture, 1800 to 1825 (1966); Mikolaus Pevsner, Pioneers of Modern Design from William Morris to Walter Gropius (1960); Jean Cassou, Emile Langue, and Nikolaus Pevsner, Les Sources du vingtieme siecle (1961); John F. Pile, Modern Furniture (1979); Jonathan L. Fairbanks and Elizabeth Bidwell Bates, American Furniture, 1620 to the Present (1981); David A. Hanks, Innovative Furniture in America from 1800 to the Present (1981).

Aldrovandi, Ulisse

2005-03-04T00:28:00.000-08:00

After studying mathematics, Latin, law, and philosophy, Aldrovandi went to Padua in about 1545 to continue his studies. There he began to study medicine, the field in which he eventually earned a degree in 1553. On his return

Italian Literature, Poetry

2005-03-03T19:22:00.000-08:00

Lyric poetry in the 16th century was dominated by the model of Petrarch mainly because of the acceptance of the Renaissance theory of imitation and the teaching of Bembo. Almost all the principal writers of the century wrote lyric poems in the manner of Petrarch. Surprising originality was to be found in Della Casa's poems, and Galeazzo di Tarsia stood out from contemporary

Nahant

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

Initially settled by fishermen and livestock herders in the mid-17th century, Nahant

Atacama Desert

2005-03-02T21:40:00.000-08:00

Spanish Desierto De Atacama, cool, arid region in northern Chile, 600 to 700 miles (1,000 to 1,100 km) long from north to south. Its limits are not exact, but it lies mainly within Antofagasta and Atacama administrative regions between the south bend of the Loa River and the mountains separating the Salado-Copiapó drainage basins. To the north, the desert continues into the region of Tarapacá and to the border of

Argentina, Patagonia

2005-03-02T08:09:00.000-08:00

Most approaches to Patagonia from the sea were hampered by inhospitable coastal cliffs and by high tides. With the Pampas Indians acting as a buffer against Europeans to the north, the Patagonian Indians thus remained unmolested until the mid-19th century, when European settlements encroached and warfare erupted. The Indian wars in northern Patagonia and the southern

Hop

2005-02-28T09:29:00.000-08:00

Either of two species of the genus Humulus, nonwoody annual or perennial vines in the hemp family (Cannabeceae) native to temperate North America, Eurasia, and South America. The hops used in the brewery industry are the dried female flower clusters (cones) of the common hop (H. lupulus). The Japanese hop (H. japonicus) is a quick-growing annual species used

Novel, Apprenticeship

2005-02-28T04:59:00.000-08:00

The Bildungsroman, or novel about upbringing and education, seems to have its beginnings in Goethe's work, Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (1796), which is about the processes by which a sensitive soul discovers its identity and its role in the big world. A story of the emergence of a personality and a talent, with its implicit motifs of struggle, conflict, suffering, and success,

Turkic Languages

2005-02-28T03:26:00.000-08:00

Group of closely related languages that form a subfamily of the Altaic languages. The Turkic languages show close similarities to each other in phonology, morphology, and syntax, though Chuvash, Khalaj, and Sakha differ considerably from the rest. The earliest linguistic records are Old Turkic inscriptions, found near the Orhon River in Mongolia and the Yenisey

Theme

2005-02-28T03:01:00.000-08:00

The organization of territory into themes began under Emperor Heraclius (reigned 610–641), who stationed troops in three large districts under the

Botsaris, Markos

2005-02-27T23:28:00.000-08:00

Botsaris' early years were spent in the struggle between the Souliots of southern Epirus and Ali Pasa, who had made himself ruler of Ioánnina (Janina) in Epirus in 1788. After Ali Pasa succeeded in capturing the Souliot strongholds in 1803, Botsaris and most of his surviving

Bar Form

2005-02-27T14:34:00.000-08:00

In music, the structural pattern aab as used by the medieval German minnesingers and meistersingers, who were poet-composers of secular monophonic songs (i.e., those having a single line of melody). The modern term Bar form derives from a medieval verse form, the Bar, consisting of three stanzas, each having the form aab. The musical term thus refers to the melody of a single

Asparagus

2005-02-27T06:36:00.000-08:00

Asparagus may be erect or climbing, and most of the species are more

Alexander Of Hales

2005-02-26T17:05:00.000-08:00

Alexander studied and taught in Paris, receiving the degrees of master of arts (before 1210) and theology (1220). He was archdeacon

Kashan Carpet

2005-02-25T01:29:00.000-08:00

Three classes of all-silk carpets of the Safavid period (16th century) are credited to Kashan. The first includes three large extant carpets with medallion systems and varied hunting scenes that appear between centerpiece and corners. The two best

Hassan Ibn Thabit

2005-02-24T17:05:00.000-08:00

Hassan had won acclaim at the courts of the Christian Arab Ghassanid kings in Syria and the Lakhmid kings of al-Hirah in Iraq, where he met the poets an-Nabighah and 'Alqamah. He settled in Medina, where, after the advent of Muhammad, he accepted Islam at about the age of 60. Hassan, who is said to have

Durham

2005-02-24T11:34:00.000-08:00

The historic core of the city is located on a peninsula in a bend of the River Wear. This natural defensive site, chosen by William the Conqueror (reigned 1066–87) as a fortress and bulwark against the Scots to the north, soon became a seat of the feudal prince-bishops of Durham, entrusted

Quimby, Phineas Parkhurst

2005-02-23T16:33:00.000-08:00

Quimby employed hypnosis as a means of healing but discovered that he could also heal by suggestion. He held that all illness is basically a matter of the mind and that it results from the patient's

Andrews, Fannie Fern Phillips

2005-02-23T09:43:00.000-08:00

Fannie Phillips grew up in Nova Scotia and, from about 1876, in Lynn, Massachusetts. She graduated from the Salem Normal School (now Salem State College) in 1884 and taught school in Lynn until her marriage

France, History Of, The age of Louis XIV

2005-02-23T05:15:00.000-08:00

Throughout his long reign Louis XIV (1643–1715) never lost the hold over his people he had assumed at the beginning. He worked hard to project his authority in the splendid setting of Versailles, to depict it in his arrogant motto: “Nec pluribus impar” (“None his equal”), and in his sun emblem. He buttressed his authority with the divine-right doctrines elaborated by Bishop

France, History Of, The conquests

2005-02-22T05:12:00.000-08:00

Charlemagne consolidated his authority up to the geographic limits of Gaul. Though he put down a new insurrection in Aquitaine (769), he was unable to bring the

Kweichow

2005-02-21T20:12:00.000-08:00

Chinese (Wade-Giles) Kuei-chou, (Pinyin) Guizhou, sheng (province) of southwestern China. It is bounded on the north by Szechwan, on the east by Hunan, on the south by the Chuang Autonomous Region of Kwangsi, and on the west by Yunnan. Kweichow measures more than 350 miles (560 kilometres) from east to west and about 320 miles from north to south. It has an area of 68,000 square miles (176,100 square kilometres). The provincial capital is centrally located

Russell, Ken

2005-02-21T04:48:00.000-08:00

The son of a shoe-store owner, Russell became a cadet at the Nautical College at Pangbourne and subsequently joined the British Merchant Navy. After training as an electrician in the

Silica Mineral

2005-02-20T21:44:00.000-08:00

Any of the forms of silicon dioxide (SiO2), including quartz, tridymite, cristobalite, coesite, stishovite, melanophlogite, lechatelierite, and chalcedony. Various kinds of silica minerals have been produced synthetically, among which are keatite and silicalite.

Socialism, Other early socialists

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

The 1840s saw the rise of a number of other socialist doctrines, particularly in France. Louis-Auguste Blanqui evolved a radical socialist—or, as he called it, communist—doctrine based on a democratic populism and on the belief that capitalism as an inherently unstable order would soon be replaced by cooperative associations. Impatient with theorizing, given to a strong

Polidoúri, Maria

2005-02-19T11:47:00.000-08:00

Her two books of poems

Sacramento

2005-02-18T20:01:00.000-08:00

City, capital of California, U.S., seat (1850) of Sacramento county, in the Central Valley, where the Sacramento and American rivers meet. John Augustus Sutter established the colony of New Helvetia in 1839 on the site, a Mexican land grant, and between 1840 and 1842 built a palisaded trading post known as Sutter's Fort. His community, initially populated by fellow Swiss immigrants, prospered

Jiang Qing

2005-02-18T15:15:00.000-08:00

Third wife of Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong and the most influential woman in the People's Republic of China until her downfall in 1976, after Mao's death. As a member of the Gang of Four (q.v.) she was convicted in 1981 of “counter-revolutionary crimes” and

Eagle Ray

2005-02-18T11:30:00.000-08:00

Any of about two dozen species of exclusively marine rays constituting the family Myliobatidae (order Rajiformes), occurring in the major oceans. They have the enlarged, winglike pectoral fins characteristic of the order. Some species have a sharp-edged serrated spine at the base of the long, whiplike tail. Their teeth are flat, for crushing and grinding mollusks

Dowitcher

2005-02-17T11:10:00.000-08:00

Dowitchers

Reginald Of Châtillon

2005-02-17T06:07:00.000-08:00

Reginald left for the Holy Land in 1147 and put

Abedi Ayew Pelé

2005-02-16T11:28:00.000-08:00

Having been given the nickname "Pelé" in recognition of his superior

Affenpinscher

2005-02-16T03:03:00.000-08:00

Also called Monkey Terrier, breed of toy dog known since the 17th century. The affenpinscher stands 26 cm (10 inches) or less and weighs 3 to 3.5 kg (7 to 8 pounds). A sturdily built, terrier-like dog, it has small, erect ears, round black eyes, and a short, docked tail. Its wiry, preferably black coat is short on parts of the body but longer on the legs and on the face, where it produces the monkey-like expression for which the

Skagen

2005-02-15T16:38:00.000-08:00

Also called The Skaw city and port, Nordjylland amtskommune (county commune), northern Jutland, Denmark, near the northern tip of the peninsula on the Kattegat strait. Chartered in 1413, it is one of the principal fishing centres in Denmark. It is also a summer resort and, from the 1870s, the site of an artists' and writers' colony. Notable are the Rå-bjerg Mile sand dunes to the south and the Old Church, which

Ducommun, élie

2005-02-14T17:59:00.000-08:00

After working as a magazine and newspaper editor in Geneva and Bern, Ducommun spent most of his career as general secretary of the Jura-Simplon Railway. His spare time, however, was spent on peace activities. He took an active part in the movement for European

Switzerland, Switzerland from 1848 to the present

2005-02-14T10:48:00.000-08:00

The turning point, then, in modern Swiss history was 1848. Before that date internal conflict was a fact of Swiss political life; since then there has been an absence of major internal crises along ethnic and religious lines, and the country has prospered. With political stability, the Swiss could spend a greater portion of their time and efforts developing industry, agriculture,

Thelodus

2005-02-14T10:43:00.000-08:00

Extinct genus of early and primitive jawless vertebrates that is known from impressions on rocks of Silurian age in Europe and North America, although the genus persisted into the Early Devonian epoch (the Silurian period began 438 million years ago and ended 408 million years ago). The structure of Thelodus and its relatives, the coelolepids, is poorly known; but it is probable

Frederick Ix

2005-02-13T14:39:00.000-08:00

The eldest son

Ibaraki

2005-02-13T11:27:00.000-08:00

Prefecture (ken), central Honshu, Japan, facing the Pacific Ocean. It occupies 2,351 sq mi (6,090 sq km) of the northeastern Kanto Plain. Ibaraki is bordered (south) by the Tone-gawa (Tone River) and contains part of Suigo-Tsukuba Quasi-national Park. Main features of this section of the park include Kasumiga-ura (Lake Kasumi), the second largest Japanese lake after Lake Biwa; the canals and

Ekistics

2005-02-13T05:59:00.000-08:00

Science of human settlements. Ekistics involves the descriptive study of all kinds of human settlements and the formulation of general conclusions aimed at achieving harmony between the inhabitants of a settlement and their physical and sociocultural environments. Descriptive study involves the examination of the content, such as man alone or in societies,

Flamininus, Titus Quinctius

2005-02-12T16:35:00.000-08:00

Flamininus was a military tribune during the Second Punic War (218–201) and had a distinguished military career. Elected quaestor in 205, he exercised the authority (imperium) of a praetor at Tarentum in southern Italy, and he twice (202, 200) was involved in the distribution of lands to victorious troops. These veterans

Minamoto Shitago

2005-02-10T20:04:00.000-08:00

Although he was a descendant of the emperor Saga and was a member of the powerful Minamoto clan, Shitago was barred from high political position because he did not belong to the Fujiwara family, which controlled the government. Instead he devoted himself to scholarly and literary pursuits and became recognized

Dominican Republic, Flag Of The

2005-02-10T16:54:00.000-08:00

Christopher Columbus visited the island of Hispaniola in 1492, claiming it for the Spanish monarchy. However, French colonists in the 17th century established a state known as Saint-Domingue (Saint-Dominique) in the western part of the island, which subsequently became Haiti. The Spanish-speaking area in the east was conquered by the newly independent Republic of Haiti

Guadalupe, Basilica Of

2005-02-10T06:25:00.000-08:00

Officially Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe , Spanish Basílica de Guadalupe , or Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Roman Catholic church that is the chief religious centre of Mexico, located in Villa de Guadalupe Hidalgo, a northern neighbourhood of Mexico City. The church was erected near the spot where two apparitions of the Virgin are said to have appeared to an Indian convert named Juan Diego in December 1531 and commanded that a church be built. The second apparition resulted

Marie (-catherine) Leszczynska

2005-02-10T04:09:00.000-08:00

Marie's father, Stanislaw Leszczynski, was elected King Stanislaw I of Poland in 1704. After

Wasil Ibn 'ata'

2005-02-09T20:22:00.000-08:00

As a young man Wasil went to Basra, Iraq, where he studied under the celebrated ascetic Hasan al-Basri and met other influential religious figures who lived there. In Wasil's time there began the discussions that led to the development of Islamic

Frederick Viii

2005-02-09T16:26:00.000-08:00

Frederick served in the disastrous Danish–German War of 1864, which lost the duchies of Schleswig, Holstein, and Lauenburg for Denmark. He then assisted his father, Christian IX, in affairs of state. In 1907, as king, he formed a commission to draft a partial home rule bill for Iceland, but nothing came of it. Frederick VIII's popularity