OpenTray

Salé

2005-04-03T22:27:00.000-07:00

Arabic Sla, old walled city on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. It lies at the mouth of the Wadi Bou Regreg, opposite Rabat. Founded in the 10th century, it reached its zenith as a medieval merchant port and entrepôt. After 1627 Salé—with Rabat as its vassal—became the corsair republic of Bou Regreg and the base for the notorious Sallee Corsairs, the most dreaded of the Barbary pirates; because

Alamo

2005-04-03T19:54:00.000-07:00

The building was originally the chapel of the Mission San Antonio de Valero, which had been founded between 1716 and 1718 by Franciscans. Before the end of the century the mission was abandoned

Nastase, Ilie

2005-04-03T17:06:00.000-07:00

A Davis Cup player since 1966, Nastase almost single-handedly powered Romania to the finals in 1969, 1971, and 1972, although the United States won each time. The most heartbreaking

Nadelman, Elie

2005-04-01T15:30:00.000-08:00

Lincoln Kirstin, The Sculpture of Elie Nadelman (1948), and Elie Nadelman (1973); John I.H. Baur, The Sculpture and Drawings of Elie Nadelman (1975).

Race, Building the myth of black inferiority

2005-04-01T04:36:00.000-08:00

A number of 18th-century political and intellectual leaders publicly asserted that Africans were naturally inferior and that they were indeed best suited for slavery. A few intellectuals revived an older image of all living things, the scala naturae (Latin: “scale of nature”), or Great Chain of Being, to demonstrate that nature or God had made men unequal. This ancient

Metal Fatigue

2005-04-01T04:26:00.000-08:00

Though the term dates back to the 19th century and though considerable observation of the phenomenon was made then and in the first

California, Flag Of

2005-03-31T20:18:00.000-08:00

In the Bear Flag Revolt of 1846, which occurred during the Mexican-American War, a group of American settlers in what was then the Mexican-ruled territory of California proclaimed independence and hoisted the original Bear Flag (June 14, 1846). The following month American naval forces seized control of the area, and the flag of the short-lived California Republic was replaced

Petén

2005-03-31T10:05:00.000-08:00

Region of northern Guatemala, bounded on the north and west by Mexico and on the east by Belize. It constitutes more than one-third of the nation's territory. Petén is a low limestone plateau, varying in elevation between 500 and 700 feet (150 and 210 m) above sea level at the base of the Yucatán Peninsula. Except for areas of savanna vegetation, the region is covered by dense tropical rain

Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints

2005-03-31T00:06:00.000-08:00

The largest denomination of the Mormon religion. See Mormon.

Latin Averroism

2005-03-29T13:53:00.000-08:00

The teachings of a number of Western Christian philosophers who, in the later Middle Ages and during the Renaissance, drew inspiration from the interpretation of Aristotle put forward by Averroës, a Muslim philosopher. The basic tenet of Latin Averroism was the assertion that reason and philosophy are superior to faith and knowledge founded on faith. The Latin

World War I, Mesopotamia, 1914April 1916

2005-03-29T05:28:00.000-08:00

The British occupation of Basra, Turkey's port at the head of the Persian Gulf, in November 1914 had been justifiable strategically because of the need to protect the oil wells of southern Persia and the Abadan refinery. The British advance of 46 miles northward from Basra to al-Qurnah in December and the further advance of 90 miles up the Tigris to al-'Amarah in May–June 1915 ought to

Sabadell

2005-03-28T02:21:00.000-08:00

City, Barcelona provincia, in the comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Catalonia, northeastern Spain. The city, just north of Barcelona in the Vallés parish, originated as an Iberian and Roman settlement known as Arragona and became a medieval fief of the Castle of Arahona. Called Sabadell in the 12th century, in 1373 it was incorporated as a royal village (with municipal

Wa-fang-tien

2005-03-27T19:10:00.000-08:00

Formerly Fu-hsien, Pinyin Wafangdian, or Fu Xian, city in Liaoning sheng (province), China. The city is situated in the centre of the Liaotung Peninsula and is an important market centre for the agriculture and fruit industry of the area, which specializes in growing apples, pears, and grapes. It has developed industries producing various industrial chemicals as well as fertilizers and insecticides. It also has a

Agricultural Sciences, The

2005-03-27T03:29:00.000-08:00

Food is the most basic human need. The domestication and cultivation of plants and animals beginning almost 10,000 years

Mathews, Charles

2005-03-26T21:27:00.000-08:00

The son of a bookseller, Mathews was educated at Merchant Taylors School, Crosby, Lancashire. After acting in the provinces, primarily at York, he first appeared on the stage in

U Thong Style

2005-03-25T10:19:00.000-08:00

One of the canonical styles for Buddha icons developed in Thailand (Siam) in the southern capital of Ayutthaya, beginning in the 14th century. To retain the greatest spiritual potency, Buddha icons in Thai temples had to resemble as closely as possible an original prototype that tradition erroneously believed had been made during the lifetime of the Buddha. Of the

Farah, Nuruddin

2005-03-24T23:00:00.000-08:00

The son of a merchant and the well-known Somali poet Aleeli Faduma, Farah was educated in Ethiopia and at the colonial-era Institutio Magistrale in

Fu-shou-lu

2005-03-24T06:47:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Fushoulu, in Chinese mythology, a collective term for the three so-called stellar gods, taken from their names: Fu Hsing, Shou Hsing, and Lu Hsing (qq.v.).

Percheron

2005-03-23T10:50:00.000-08:00

Heavy draft-horse breed that originated in the Perche region of France. The breed probably stems from the Flemish “great horse” of the Middle Ages; modified by Oriental blood to develop a coach-horse type, it was changed again in the 19th century by introduction of draft-type blood to produce animals for heavy farm work. Although a few Percherons were imported earlier,

Chile, Political uncertainty, 192038

2005-03-22T10:25:00.000-08:00

In the decade following World War I, falling saltpetre sales and rising inflation fueled dissatisfaction among the middle and working classes. They supported the election of the reformist president Arturo Alessandri Palma in 1920. When the legislature blocked his initiatives, discontent spread to middle-class army officers. They intervened in 1924 to force parliamentary

Tapestry

2005-03-22T01:19:00.000-08:00

Woven decorative fabric, the design of which is built up in the course of weaving. Broadly, the name has been used for almost any heavy material, handwoven, machine woven, or even embroidered, used to cover furniture, walls, or floors or for the decoration of clothing. Since the 18th and 19th centuries, however, the technical definition of tapestry has been narrowed to include

Moscow

2005-03-21T23:47:00.000-08:00

Since it was first mentioned in chronicles of 1147, Moscow has played a vital role in Russian history; indeed the history of the city and of the Russian nation are closely interlinked. Today Moscow is not

Middle Passage

2005-03-21T13:09:00.000-08:00

In the days of the African slave trade to the New World, the middle part of the slave's journey—i.e., the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. From about 1518 to the mid-19th century, millions of African men, women, and children made the 21-to-90-day voyage aboard grossly overcrowded sailing ships manned by crews mostly from Great Britain, the Netherlands, Portugal, and France. Slaver captains

Lewis, Ray Anthony

2005-03-21T02:03:00.000-08:00

One year

Main River

2005-03-19T08:27:00.000-08:00

Latin Moenus, river, an important right- (east-) bank tributary of the Rhine in Germany. It is formed, near Kulmbach, by the confluence of the Weisser (White) Main, which rises in the Fichtel Mountains, and the Roter (Red) Main, which rises on the eastern slope of the Fränkische Mountains (Franconian Jura). The Main River flows southwesterly around the northern end of the Fränkische Mountains

Catalan Literature

2005-03-18T17:26:00.000-08:00

The oldest extant text in Catalan is the Homilies d'Organyà, a collection of sermons dating from the 12th or early 13th century but now appreciated more for their linguistic than for their literary value. Early kings of Aragon and counts

Mosconi, Willie

2005-03-18T10:51:00.000-08:00

The son of a billiards parlour owner, Mosconi showed a precocious talent for the game. When his father forbade him to play, hoping that

Korhogo

2005-03-18T04:53:00.000-08:00

Town, north central Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast). The town's traditional founder was Nangui (Nengué), a 14th-century Senufo (Senoufo) patriarch from Kong. Modern Korhogo (Heritage) is the chief trade centre (corn [maize], manioc, millet, and yams) for the Senufo farmers of the savanna. Muslim Fulani herdsmen from the north also helped make it a major centre for livestock (cattle, sheep,

Maurice

2005-03-17T18:26:00.000-08:00

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

Polarimetry

2005-03-16T23:59:00.000-08:00

In analytic chemistry, measurement of the angle of rotation of the plane of polarized light (that is, a beam of light in which the vibrations of the electromagnetic waves are confined to one plane) that results upon its passage through certain transparent materials. Polarimetry is of interest to the chemist because the ability of a substance to affect polarized

Kiribati

2005-03-16T14:37:00.000-08:00

A few of the islands are compact with fringing reefs, but most are atolls. The largest atoll (and one of the largest in the world) is Kiritimati (Christmas Island) in the Line group, which has a land area of 150 square miles (388 square km) and accounts for about one-half of the country's total. Kiritimati was used for U.S. and British nuclear testing in the 1960s; it now has a large coconut plantation

Monluc, Blaise De Lasseran-massencôme, Seigneur De

2005-03-16T14:32:00.000-08:00

The eldest son of an impoverished branch of the great family of Montesquiou, Monluc was brought up as a page at the court of Lorraine. He fought in northern Italy in 1521–22 and was with King Francis

David

2005-03-15T18:20:00.000-08:00

Marble sculpture executed from 1501 to 1504 by the Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo. The statue was commissioned for the cathedral of Florence, but the Florentine government decided instead to place it in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. The original is now in the Accademia, and a copy has been installed in the Piazza della Signoria.

Keble, John

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

Ordained in 1816, Keble was educated at the University of Oxford and served as a tutor there from 1818 to 1823, when he left to assist

Carter, Angela

2005-03-15T13:32:00.000-08:00

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

Arnold, Samuel

2005-03-14T21:31:00.000-08:00

Educated at Chapel Royal, Arnold became composer to Covent Garden Theatre; his first annual production was The Maid of the Mill (1765). Subsequent positions were as music director of the Theatre

Kerygma And Catechesis

2005-03-13T16:05:00.000-08:00

In Christian theology, respectively, the initial proclamation of the gospel message and the oral instruction given before baptism to those who have accepted the message. Kerygma refers primarily to the preaching of the Apostles as recorded in the New Testament. Their message was that Jesus Christ, in fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament, was sent

Armstrong, Louis

2005-03-13T01:33:00.000-08:00

Armstrong grew up in dire poverty in New Orleans, Louisiana, when jazz was very young. As a child he worked at odd jobs and sang in a boys quartet. In 1913 he was sent to the Colored

Apries

2005-03-12T23:41:00.000-08:00

Apries failed to help his ally King Zedekiah of Judah against Babylon, but after the fall of Jerusalem he received many Jewish refugees into Egypt. Later he took the Phoenician port of Sidon, but, because of his subsequent failure in an attack on Cyrene in Libya, the Egyptian army mutinied

Boucher De Perthes, Jacques

2005-03-12T20:55:00.000-08:00

From 1825 Boucher de Perthes was director of the customhouse at Abbeville, near the mouth of the Somme River, and began devoting his leisure to archaeological searches in the Somme valley. In

Köchel, Ludwig (alois Ferdinand), Ritter Von

2005-03-11T20:05:00.000-08:00

The son of a treasury official, Köchel took a doctorate

Margaret Of Valois

2005-03-11T08:22:00.000-08:00

The daughter of Henry II of France and Catherine de Médicis, she played a secondary part in the Wars of Religion (1562–98) from the moment she took her place at court in 1569. Her relations with her brothers Charles IX

Vischer Family

2005-03-11T04:21:00.000-08:00

Sculptors and brass founders working in Nürnberg in the 15th and 16th centuries. Hermann the Elder (d. Jan. 13, 1488) established the foundry. His son Peter the Elder (1460–1529) was the most celebrated member of the family, producing monumental brasswork and bronzework that attracted patrons from as far off as Poland and Hungary. Works by Peter, who was assisted by his five sons, include the tomb

Phek

2005-03-11T00:11:00.000-08:00

Town, southern Nagaland state, northeastern India, 75 miles (121 km) east of Kohima town. It is a rural town whose inhabitants practice shifting cultivation. Weaving is the important cottage industry. The people of the region belong to different ethnic groups of Mongolian descent; they are referred to as Kirats in the Hindu epic the Mahabharata. Pop. (1981) 13,609.

Condominium

2005-03-09T02:22:00.000-08:00

In modern property law, the individual ownership of one dwelling unit within a multidwelling building, with an undivided ownership interest in the land and other components of the building shared in common with other owners of dwelling units in the building. The condominium as a type of ownership has been present in various forms in Europe since the end of the Middle

Semler, Johann Salomo

2005-03-09T01:02:00.000-08:00

Semler was a disciple of the rationalist Siegmund Jakob Baumgarten, whom he succeeded on his death in 1757 as head of the theological

France, History Of, The social order of the ancien régime

2005-03-08T13:33:00.000-08:00

In the society of the ancien

Nahyan, Shaykh Shakhbut Ibn Sultan An-

2005-03-08T05:42:00.000-08:00

As ruler of the largest emirate within the British-controlled Trucial Coast, Shakhbut maintained friendly relations with the United Kingdom and successfully resisted territorial incursions in a prolonged border dispute with Saudi Arabia. He was

Monasticism, Sikhism

2005-03-07T08:16:00.000-08:00

Sikhism, founded by the Punjabi reformer Nanak, was and is a martial version of Hinduism. Of all the indigenous Indian religions, it was the least sympathetic to monastic inspirations. The aforementioned Sikh monastic Nirmal-akhada and the quasi-monastic Nihang Sahibs are patently compromises with the overall Indian trend to establish monastic traditions to express

Saudi Arabia, Religion

2005-03-07T03:35:00.000-08:00

Saudi Arabia is the home of Islam, and its native population is almost entirely Sunnite Muslim (i.e., adhering to the chief branch of Islam, Sunnism [Sunnah], called traditionalist or orthodox). The Wahhabi interpretation of Sunnite Islam is the one officially used. Wahhabism, as it is called in the West, is a puritanical interpretation and is named after Muhammad ibn 'Abd

Painting, Western, Germany

2005-03-06T21:42:00.000-08:00

In Germany also there was a reaction against classicism and the academies, and, as elsewhere, it involved all aspects of the arts. Again, as elsewhere, theory preceded practice: Herzensergiessungen eines kunstliebenden Klosterbruders (“Effusions of an Art-Loving Monk”), by Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder, had an immediate and widespread influence upon its publication

Syrtis Major

2005-03-06T08:44:00.000-08:00

Distinctive dark marking on the surface of the planet Mars, centred near 290° W and 10° N, which extends some 1,500 km (930 miles) north from the planet's equator and spans 1,000 km (620 miles) from west to east. It was noticed as early as 1659, for it appears in a drawing of Mars of that date by Christiaan Huygens. It is an extensive regional slope elongated north to south that drops 4 km (2.5 miles) from its western

Wilder, Douglas

2005-03-04T10:36:00.000-08:00

In full Lawrence Douglas Wilder American politician, the first popularly elected African American governor in the United States. He received a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Virginia Union University (1951) and a law degree from Howard University (1959). Wilder pursued a legal and political career in Richmond, Virginia, and served as a director of the Richmond chapter of

Crime, Law Enforcement, And Penology

2005-03-04T05:47:00.000-08:00

Several countries acted to widen the scope of the

Saxhorn

2005-03-04T00:48:00.000-08:00

Any of a family of brass wind instruments patented by the Belgian instrument-maker Antoine-Joseph Sax, known as Adolphe Sax, in Paris in 1845. Saxhorns, one of many 19th-century developments from the valved bugle, provided military bands with a homogeneous series of valved brass in place of the miscellany of valved instruments that had come into use since 1825 (such as flügelhorns,

Shensi, Administration and social conditions

2005-03-03T21:45:00.000-08:00

The province has three prefecture-level municipalities (shih) directly subordinated to the provincial government. One of these municipalities includes the provincial capital, Sian. The rest of the province is organized into seven prefectures (ti-ch'ü); the northern plateau area is divided between the Yü-lin Prefecture in the far north and the Yen-an Prefecture farther

Handlin, Oscar

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

The son of Jewish immigrant parents, Handlin graduated from Brooklyn College in 1934 and earned his M.A. degree from Harvard University in 1935. He then taught history at Brooklyn College (1936–38) and joined the history faculty at Harvard in

Vulcan

2005-03-02T23:50:00.000-08:00

In Roman religion, god of fire, particularly in its destructive aspects as volcanoes or conflagrations. Poetically, he is given all the attributes of the Greek Hephaestus (q.v.). His worship was very ancient, and at Rome he had his own priest (flamen). His chief festival, the Volcanalia, was held on August 23 and was marked by a rite of unknown significance: the heads of Roman families

Amapá

2005-03-02T11:29:00.000-08:00

Estado (“state”), northern Brazil. It is bounded on the north by a small portion of Suriname and by French Guiana, on the northeast by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south and west by the Brazilian state of Pará, and on the southeast by the Amazon River. Formerly a part of Pará state, Amapá was created a territory in 1943 and became a state in 1990, with its capital at Macapá (q.v.). Most of its 54,161 square

Ancient Rome

2005-03-01T23:36:00.000-08:00

Rome

Glacial Landform, Permafrost, patterned ground, solifluction deposits, and pingos

2005-03-01T23:31:00.000-08:00

Permafrost is ground that remains perennially frozen (see permafrost). It covers about 20–25 percent of the Earth's land surface today. The “active layer” of soil close to the surface of permafrost regions undergoes many seasonal and daily freeze-thaw cycles. The constant change in the volume of water tends to move the coarser particles in the soil to the surface. Further

'antar, Romance Of

2005-03-01T16:08:00.000-08:00

Tales of chivalry centred on the black Arab desert poet and warrior 'Antarah ibn Shaddad, one of the poets of the celebrated pre-Islamic collection Al-Mu'allaqat. It was composed anonymously between the 8th and the 12th century, though the Romance itself credits the 9th-century philologist al-Asma'i with its authorship. Written in rhymed prose (saj') interspersed with 10,000 poetic verses,

Wladyslaw I

2005-02-28T09:31:00.000-08:00

Wladyslaw was the son of Casimir I of Kujawy, the ruler of one of the numerous small principalities formed after the Old Polish realm had been divided up two centuries earlier. Wladyslaw

La Tour, Maurice-quentin De

2005-02-27T01:51:00.000-08:00

Early in his youth La Tour went to Paris, where he entered the studio of the Flemish painter Jacques Spoede. He then went to Reims, Cambrai (1724), and England (c. 1725), returning to Paris to resume

Ocean, Seamounts, guyots, and abyssal hills

2005-02-26T20:47:00.000-08:00

Seamounts are submarine volcanoes with more than 1,000 metres of relief. Aseismic ridges are built by chains of overlapping seamounts. A seamount is akin to a subaerial shield volcano in that it also has gently sloping sides (5° to 15°) and is constructed by nonexplosive eruptions of alkaline basalt lavas that are thought to originate from depths of roughly 150 kilometres. About

Sarasate, Pablo De

2005-02-26T07:53:00.000-08:00

Beginning his violin studies at the age of five, Sarasate gave his first performance at age eight and later studied at the Paris Conservatory. In 1859 he began the concert tours that made him famous throughout the world. His playing was particularly admired for sweetness and

Bluford, Guion S., Jr.

2005-02-26T06:37:00.000-08:00

Bluford received an undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering from Pennsylvania State University in 1964 and was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Air Force, where he trained as a fighter pilot. He flew 144 combat missions during the Vietnam War. In 1978 he earned

France, Banque De

2005-02-25T23:22:00.000-08:00

The bank listed among its founding shareholders Napoleon Bonaparte, members of his family, and several leading personalities of the time. Founded partly with state funds, but mainly with private

Lewis, John

2005-02-25T15:13:00.000-08:00

Reared in New Mexico by academically oriented parents, Lewis studied piano from childhood and, until 1942, anthropology and music at the University of

Arabian Desert

2005-02-24T18:22:00.000-08:00

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).

Norfolk And Western Railway Company

2005-02-24T06:31:00.000-08:00

In 1870 the City Point Rail Road and others were consolidated as the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad. In 1881 the system was reorganized as the Norfolk and Western Railroad, and in 1896 it was incorporated as the Norfolk and Western

Wilkes, John

2005-02-23T18:54:00.000-08:00

Outspoken 18th-century journalist and popular London politician who came to be regarded as a victim of persecution and as a champion of liberty because he was repeatedly expelled from Parliament. His widespread popular support may have been the beginning of English Radicalism.

Lima

2005-02-23T06:54:00.000-08:00

Department of central Peru and site of the national capital of Lima. The department stretches from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Cordillera Occidental of the Andes in the east. There is little rainfall along its coastal section, and irrigation is possible only where rivers descend from the Andes. Fog often blankets the coast, especially from June to October;

Jewel Food Stores, Inc.

2005-02-23T05:09:00.000-08:00

The company traced its origins to 1899, when Frank Vernon Skiff and Frank Ross founded the Jewel Tea Company to supply condiments to the Chicago area from horse-drawn wagons. As the automobile gained in importance, the firm moved from wagons

Keratosis

2005-02-22T07:45:00.000-08:00

Any protuberance on the skin resulting from the overdevelopment of the horny outermost covering of the skin, or epidermis, the main constituent of which is the protein keratin, which is synthesized in special cells of the skin, the keratinocytes. More generally, keratosis is any skin disorder attended by horny growths. The causes and lesions characteristic of keratotic

Armin, Robert

2005-02-21T04:18:00.000-08:00

Armin was an apprentice to a goldsmith in the 1580s. It was during this time that he befriended Richard

Spokane

2005-02-21T04:12:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1879) of Spokane county, eastern Washington, U.S., at the falls of the Spokane River. Frequented by trappers when the North West Company built a trading post there in 1810, the site was settled in 1872 and laid out in 1878. Known as Spokane Falls (for the Spokane Indians, whose name means “sun people”), it developed after the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railway. Abundant waterpower

Golf, The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA)

2005-02-20T13:57:00.000-08:00

Several professional tournaments for women were staged during the 1920s and '30s; important players from this era include Glenna Collett from the United States and Joyce Wethered of Great Britain. It was not until the 1940s that efforts began in earnest to form a professional golf organization for women. The first, the Women's Professional Golf Association (WPGA), was chartered

Table Tennis

2005-02-20T04:26:00.000-08:00

Also called (trademark) Ping-pong, ball game similar in principle to lawn tennis and played on a flat table divided into two equal courts by a net fixed across its width at the middle (see illustration). The object is to hit the ball so that it goes over the net and bounces on the opponent's half of the table in such a way that the opponent cannot reach it or return it correctly. The lightweight hollow ball is

Los Angeles Times

2005-02-19T14:31:00.000-08:00

It was established in 1881, and in 1884 Harrison Gray Otis purchased and incorporated the Times under a public corporation, The Times-Mirror Company (the hyphen was later dropped from the name). The paper prospered, soon becoming an important

Marchesi De Castrone, Mathilde

2005-02-19T09:55:00.000-08:00

She studied in Paris under Manuel García, the foremost teacher of singing of the 19th century, and made her debut as a singer in 1849. In 1854 she began teaching. She taught at the conservatories of Vienna and Cologne as well as in London and

Le Maistre, Antoine

2005-02-18T06:38:00.000-08:00

Important figure in the Jansenist religious movement in France, a member of the Arnauld family (q.v.).

Amis, Sir Kingsley

2005-02-18T01:57:00.000-08:00

Amis was educated at the City of London School and at St. John's College, Oxford (B.A., 1949). His education was interrupted during World War II by his service as a lieutenant in the Royal Corps of Signals.

Harun Ar-rashid

2005-02-17T07:56:00.000-08:00

The fabulous descriptions of Harun and his court in The Thousand and One Nights are idealized and romanticized, yet they had a considerable basis in fact. Untold wealth had flowed into the new capital of Baghdad since its foundation in 762. The leading men, and still more their wives, vied in conspicuous consumption, and in Harun's reign this reached levels unknown before. His

Chondrichthian, Food habits

2005-02-16T19:02:00.000-08:00

All sharks are carnivorous and, with a few exceptions, have broad feeding preferences, governed largely by the size and availability of the prey. The recorded food of the tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvieri), for example, includes a wide variety of fishes (including other sharks, skates, and stingrays), sea turtles, birds, sea lions, crustaceans, squid, and even carrion such as

Moscicki, Ignacy

2005-02-16T16:24:00.000-08:00

Moscicki was educated as a chemist. He joined the nationalistic Polish Socialist Party in the early 1890s and was involved in an attempt on the life of the governor-general

Fruehauf Trailer Corporation

2005-02-16T09:42:00.000-08:00

The founder, August Charles Fruehauf (1868–1930), began as a blacksmith and carriage builder around Detroit. In 1914, at the request of a local lumber merchant, he built a trailer to carry the merchant's pleasure boat, to be hauled by a Ford automobile. The trailer was

Biblical Literature, Manuscripts and printed editions of the Septuagint

2005-02-15T22:59:00.000-08:00

The manuscripts are conveniently classified by papyri uncials (capital letters) and minuscules (cursive script). The papyri fragments run into the hundreds, of varying sizes and importance, ranging from the formative period of the Septuagint through the middle of the 7th century. Two pre-Christian fragments of Deuteronomy from Egypt are of outstanding significance.

Pitt-rivers, Augustus Henry Lane-fox

2005-02-15T11:34:00.000-08:00

Archaeologist often called the “father of British archaeology,” who stressed the need for total excavation of sites, thorough stratigraphic observation and recording, and prompt and complete publication. Like Sir Flinders Petrie, Pitt-Rivers adopted a sociological approach to the study of excavated objects

Abscess

2005-02-15T09:00:00.000-08:00

A localized collection of pus in a cavity formed from tissues that have been broken down by infectious bacteria. An abscess is caused when such bacteria as staphylococci or streptococci gain access to solid tissue (e.g., by means of a small wound on the skin). The toxins released by these multiplying bacteria destroy cells and thus trigger an acute inflammation at the

Durandus Of Saint-pourçain

2005-02-13T20:27:00.000-08:00

Durandus entered the Dominican order and studied at Paris, where he obtained his doctorate in 1313. Shortly afterward Pope Clement V summoned him to Avignon as a lecturer in theology. He became successively bishop of

Yamasee War

2005-02-13T13:22:00.000-08:00

(1715–16), in British-American colonial history, conflict between Indians, mainly Yamasee, and British colonists in the southeastern area of South Carolina, resulting in the collapse of Indian power in that area. Embittered by settlers' encroachment upon their land and by unresolved grievances arising from the fur trade, a group of Yamasees rose and killed 90 white traders

Prie, Jeanne-agnes Berthelot De Pleneuf, Marquise De

2005-02-12T17:28:00.000-08:00

The daughter of an unscrupulous financier, Étienne Berthelot, she was married at age 15 to Louis, Marquess de Prie, and went with him to the court of Savoy at Turin, where he was ambassador. She was 21 when she returned to France and was soon the declared mistress of Louis-Henri, Duke de Bourbon. During

Gumal Pass

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

Also spelled Gomal Pass, route along the Gumal River valley in the extreme southwestern portion of North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan. The most important pass between the Khyber and Bolan passes, it connects Ghazni in eastern Afghanistan with Tank and Dera Ismail Khan in Pakistan via Domandi and Kot Murtaza. Actually a 4-mile (6-kilometre) defile (gorge), the name is sometimes applied to the full

Arenig Series

2005-02-11T20:38:00.000-08:00

Also called Arenigian Series, the second of six divisions (in ascending order) constituting the Ordovician System, representing all those rocks deposited worldwide during the Arenigian Age (488 to 478 million years ago). The series' name is derived from the Arenig mountains in Gwynedd county in North Wales, which serve as the type area in Great Britain for rocks of this age. Welsh rock strata belonging

Ternary Form

2005-02-10T06:36:00.000-08:00

Musical form consisting of three sections, the last of which is a repeat of the first. The symmetrical construction of this scheme (aba) provides one of the basic shapes in music and may be found as a guiding principle in music from the Middle Ages (in Gregorian chant, for instance, the arrangement antiphon-verse-antiphon is common) to the 20th century (a well-known example

Lamarck, Jean-baptiste De Monet, Chevalier (knight) De

2005-02-10T01:36:00.000-08:00

In full Jean-Baptiste-Pierre-Antoine de Monet, Chevalier de Lamarck pioneer French biologist who is best known for his idea that acquired traits are inheritable, an idea known as Lamarckism, which is controverted by Darwinian theory.

Ibn Gabirol

2005-02-09T23:55:00.000-08:00

In full Solomon Ben Yehuda Ibn Gabirol, Arabic Abu Ayyub Sulayman Ibn Yahya Ibn Gabirut, Latin Avicebron, or Avencebrol one of the outstanding figures of the Hebrew school of religious and secular poetry during the Jewish Golden Age in Moorish Spain. He was also an important Neoplatonic philosopher.

Periyar Wild Life Sanctuary

2005-02-09T11:44:00.000-08:00

Wildlife preserve in Idukki district, Kerala state, southern India. The sanctuary is noted for herds of elephants, sometimes numbering 50 members. In addition, bonnet monkey, nilgai, langur, porcupine, sloth bear, tiger, leopard, Asian elephant, barking deer, gray jungle fowl, kingfisher, the great Indian hornbill, and the southern grackle are found in the preserve. Extending

Hadejia

2005-02-09T11:41:00.000-08:00

Town and traditional emirate, eastern Jigawa state, northern Nigeria. It lies on the northern bank of the Hadejia River (a seasonal tributary of the Komadugu Yobe, which flows into Lake Chad). The emirate's savanna area originally included Hadejia and six other small Hausa kingdoms that paid tribute to the kingdom of Bornu. About 1805, Umaru, a Fulani leader who held the title