YoungCart

Great Britain

2005-04-05T11:49:00.000-07:00

Also called Britain

Insurance, Abandonment clause

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

If salvaging or rehabilitating a ship or cargo following a marine loss costs more than the goods are worth, the loss is said to be constructively total. Under such conditions, the ocean marine policy permits the insured to abandon the damaged ship or cargo to the insurer and make a claim for the entire value. In this case, the salvage belongs to the insurer, who may dispose

Tactical Weapons System

2005-04-01T13:12:00.000-08:00

System integrating tactical weapons with electronic equipment for target acquisition, aiming, or fire control or a combination of such purposes. Tactical weapons are designed for offensive or defensive use at relatively short range with relatively immediate consequences. They include weapons used for antitank assault, antiaircraft defense, battlefield

Ducommun, élie

2005-03-30T03:58:00.000-08:00

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

Mollien, Gaspard-théodore

2005-03-28T13:06:00.000-08:00

Mollien reached the French colonial station of Saint-Louis, Senegal, in 1817 and in January 1818 began his expedition to discover the sources of the Sénégal, Gambia,

Amyloidosis

2005-03-25T05:40:00.000-08:00

Disease characterized by the deposition of amyloid in the connective tissues, inhibiting normal organ functioning. Amyloid is a fibrous protein-carbohydrate complex that is derived from immunoglobulins, a group of proteins that have antibody activity. The disease may affect the whole system or may be localized in tumourlike masses, particularly in the larynx

Southern Africa, The annexation of Southern Africa

2005-03-23T03:17:00.000-08:00

The first move in the scramble for Southern Africa came with renewed assertions of British supremacy in the interior. After much dispute, Britain annexed Griqualand West as a crown colony in 1871, transferring it to the Cape Colony in 1881. The multiple crises following the diamond discoveries led during the 1870s to failed imperial schemes to confederate the Southern African

Heinrich Von Morungen

2005-03-21T18:01:00.000-08:00

A native of Thuringia, he spent much of his later life in the service of Duke Dietrich of Meissen. His poems, of which some 33 are to be found in the Heidelberg manuscript, are all devoted to the fashionable cult of love. His poems show more originality and spontaneity than those

Maubeuge

2005-03-19T15:57:00.000-08:00

Town, Nord département, Nord-Pas-de-Calais région, northern France, on the Sambre River, near the Belgian frontier, south of Mons. Maubeuge (Latin: Malbodium, signifying “bad place or dwelling”) grew up around the monastery of Sainte-Aldegonde (7th century). Part of the medieval county of Hainaut, and later of the Spanish Netherlands, the town was ceded to France by the Peace of

Arabia, History Of, The gulf states

2005-03-19T02:29:00.000-08:00

In 1835 the Qawasim coastal tribes of the Persian Gulf, earlier conquered and inspired by the Wahhabis, were induced to bind themselves by a maritime truce to end hostilities with the British by sea, and the truce was made permanent in 1853. In Oman, Sultan ibn Ahmad, revolting against his uncle the imam in 1793, gained mastery of the coastal towns. The British made Omani Zanzibar, in East Africa,

Demosthenes

2005-03-17T21:01:00.000-08:00

Athenian statesman, recognized as the greatest of ancient Greek orators, who roused Athens to oppose Philip of Macedon and, later, his son Alexander the Great. His speeches provide valuable information on the political, social, and economic life of 4th-century Athens.

Earth, The ring current

2005-03-17T13:46:00.000-08:00

Farther out, at 4 Re and beyond, is the next major source of magnetic field, the ring current. At this distance almost all atmospheric particles are fully ionized and, hence, subject to the effects of electric and magnetic fields. Furthermore, the density of the particles is so low that the time between collisions may be many days or months. Here, energetic charged particles

Processionary Caterpillar

2005-03-16T03:27:00.000-08:00

Larval stage characteristic of the small insect family Thaumetopoeidae (order Lepidoptera), sometimes classified as part of the prominent moth family (Notodontidae). These hairy caterpillars live in communal webs and march in columns to their food source. During the movement each larva lays down a silken thread. The large adults have

Wage And Salary

2005-03-14T01:45:00.000-08:00

Karl Marx accepted Ricardo's labour theory of value, but he subscribed to a subsistence theory of wages for a different reason than that given by the classical economists. In Marx's mind, it was not the pressure of population that drove wages to the subsistence level but rather the existence of a large army of unemployed, which he blamed on the capitalists. He stated

Porgy

2005-03-13T08:39:00.000-08:00

Porgies are generally shallow-water fishes and are

China, Land and people

2005-03-12T22:31:00.000-08:00

Physical geography is surveyed in The Physical Geography of China, 2 vol., trans. from Russian (1969), prepared by the Institute of Geography, U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences; Songqiao Zhao, Physical Geography of China (1986); and Shih-hsun Ch'en, The Climate of China (1962). Studies of population include June Teufel Dreyer, China's Forty Millions (1976), an examination of China's minorities and their integration into society since 1949; C.K. Leung and Norton Ginsburg (eds.), China: Urbanization and National Development (1980); Liu Zheng et al., China's Population: Problems and Prospects (1981), containing surveys and case studies; Judith Banister, China's Changing Population (1987), an analysis of modern demographic trends; and New China's Population (1988), studies by Chinese demographers of three censuses. Atlases include Chiao-min Hsieh, Atlas of China, ed. by Christopher L. Salter (1973); P.J.M. Geelan and D.C. Twitchett (eds.), The Times Atlas of China (1974); Caroline Blunden and Mark Elvin, Cultural Atlas of China (1983); The Population Atlas of China (1987), on the 1982 census, prepared by the Population Census Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences; and Nathan Sivin (ed.), The Contemporary Atlas of China (1988), including maps, illustrations, essays, and a chronology.

Epidote

2005-03-12T02:57:00.000-08:00

Any of a group of colorless to green or yellow-green silicate minerals with the general chemical formula A2B3(SiO4)(Si2O7)O(OH), in which A is usually calcium (Ca), though manganese (Mn) or cerium (Ce) is sometimes substituted; and B is generally aluminum (Al), with the main substitution being ferric iron (Fe+3). Structurally the epidote group consists of chains of AlO6 and Al4(OH)2 octahedra

Kuldja

2005-03-10T15:09:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Kulja, Chinese (Wade-Giles) I-ning, or (Pinyin) Gulja, or Yining, city in western Uighur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang, China. It is the chief city, agricultural market, and commercial centre of the I-li River valley, which is a principal route from the Sinkiang region into Central Asia. The valley is far wetter than any other part of Sinkiang and has rich grazing land. Kuldja has been a strategic centre since early times, being known

Sports Medicine

2005-03-09T21:27:00.000-08:00

There are

Abd Al-aziz

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

Abd al-Aziz was proclaimed sultan upon the death of his father, Hassan I, but did not begin direct rule until after the death in 1900 of his grand vizier, Ba Ahmed (Ahmad ibn

Hand, Learned

2005-03-07T04:52:00.000-08:00

In full Billings Learned Hand American jurist whose tough and sometimes profound mind, philosophical skepticism, and faith in the United States were employed throughout a record tenure as a federal judge (52 years, from April 10, 1909, until his death). Although he was never a justice of the Supreme Court, he is generally considered to have been a greater judge than all but a

Carnivore, Importance to humans

2005-03-05T21:53:00.000-08:00

Of all mammalian families, the Mustelidae contains the greatest variety of valuable mammals utilized by the fur trade. Fur coats that command the highest prices are usually those made from these luxuriant furbearers, especially mink, ermine (short-tailed weasel), and sable (a name applied by the fur trade to several species of Martes, especially the Eurasian M.

Contract Bridge

2005-03-05T21:10:00.000-08:00

Two world championship tournaments took place during 2000, the first time that had happened since 1976. The Bermuda Bowl is normally played in odd-numbered years, but because Bermuda requested to host the 50th anniversary competition, the World Bridge Federation (WBF) agreed to postpone the 1999 event to January 2000. In the final the United States defeated Brazil 506–288. The second U.S. entry

Vivarini, Antonio

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

From 1444 Vivarini collaborated with his brother-in-law Giovanni d'Alemagna (d. 1450); later he worked with his younger brother, Bartolomeo. Surviving altarpieces executed

Defense Mechanism

2005-03-03T09:41:00.000-08:00

In psychoanalytic theory, any of a group of mental processes that enables the mind to reach compromise solutions to problems that it is unable to resolve. The process is usually unconscious, and the compromise generally involves concealing from oneself internal drives or feelings that threaten to lower self-esteem or provoke anxiety. The concept derives from

Alcor

2005-03-01T03:43:00.000-08:00

Also called 80 Ursae Majoris star with apparent magnitude of 4.03. The ability to see the dim star Alcor with the unaided eye may have been regarded by the Arabs (and others) as a test of good vision. Alcor makes a visual double with the brighter star Mizar in the middle of the handle of the Big Dipper (Ursa Major); the pair have also been called the Horse and Rider.

Davies, Arthur B.

2005-02-28T14:05:00.000-08:00

Trained in Utica, New York City, and Chicago, Davies at first painted atmospheric landscapes

Backbone Mountain

2005-02-28T08:48:00.000-08:00

Highest point in Maryland, U.S., reaching an elevation of 3,360 feet (1,024 metres). It is located on a ridge of the Allegheny and Appalachian mountains, located in Garrett county 12 miles (19 km) south of Oakland. The ridge is 35 miles (56 km) long and extends southwestward into Preston and Tucker counties of West Virginia.

Biblical Literature, The role of Samuel

2005-02-26T10:43:00.000-08:00

The first section (chapters 1–15) begins with the story of Samuel's birth, after his mother Hannah (one of the two wives of the Ephraimite Elkanah) had prayed at the shrine at Shiloh, the centre of the tribal confederacy, for a son. She vowed that, if she bore a son, he would be dedicated to Yahweh for lifetime service as a Nazirite, as indicated by the words “and no razor shall touch

Tyard, Pontus De

2005-02-24T02:39:00.000-08:00

Tyard was seigneur (lord) of Bissy-sur-Fley and an associate of the Lyonese poets, especially Maurice Scève. In 1551 he translated León Hebreo's Dialoghi di amore (“Dialogues

France, History Of, Institutions

2005-02-24T00:11:00.000-08:00

The institutions of government underwent great changes under the Frankish monarchs.

Computers And Information Systems, E-Commerce.

2005-02-22T19:34:00.000-08:00

E-commerce continued the downward slide that had begun in early 2000. In the first half of 2001, U.S. Internet advertising revenues declined 7.8% from the same period a year earlier. The on-line ad sales decline compared with revenue growth of 78% in 2000 and marked the end of several years of substantial growth in on-line ad revenues. The Interactive Advertising Bureau, a trade group, said the

Sirtica

2005-02-22T10:36:00.000-08:00

Sandy desert region that is essentially a northward extension of the Sahara (desert), north-central Libya; it is the site of one of the world's largest oil fields. The region fronts the Mediterranean Sea for about 300 miles (480 km) along the southern part of the Gulf of Sidra and extends generally southeastward through the Sirte (Surt) Basin. It is bordered on the west by the

Ubv System

2005-02-20T21:27:00.000-08:00

System of classifying stars by spectral type, based on photometric measurements of the ultraviolet (U), blue (B), and visual (V [yellow]) magnitudes. It was introduced in the early 1950s by the American astronomers Harold Lester Johnson and William Wilson Morgan and has largely superseded the less accurate system using the north polar sequence.

Puget Sound

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

Deep inlet of the eastern North Pacific Ocean indenting northwestern Washington, U.S. It stretches south for 100 miles (160 km) from Admiralty Inlet and Whidbey Island (beyond which lie the straits of Georgia and Juan de Fuca). Hood Canal is a large western extension. The sound is the submerged northern end of the Cowlitz-Puget trough, which extends for some 350 miles (565 km) between the

Atchison

2005-02-18T13:09:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1855) of Atchison county, northeastern Kansas, U.S., on the Missouri River. A French trading post at the site of the present city was the embarkation point, in 1804, for the Lewis and Clark expedition. Founded in 1854 by a group of proslavery settlers, it was named for their leader, David Rice Atchison, a U.S. senator from Missouri. It developed as a focus for rail and river traffic, and

Zamora

2005-02-17T21:08:00.000-08:00

In full Zamora De Hidalgo, city, northwestern Michoacán state, west-central Mexico. It lies at an elevation of 5,141 feet (1,567 m) above sea level in the Zamora valley, formed by the Duero River. It was founded in 1540 as an outpost to guard against Indians. Commerce, agriculture, and livestock raising are the principal sources of income. Corn (maize), wheat, beans, and numerous fruits and vegetables are grown in the

Korfball

2005-02-17T00:59:00.000-08:00

Game similar to netball and basketball, invented in 1901 by an Amsterdam schoolmaster, Nico Broekhuysen. It was first demonstrated in The Netherlands in 1902 and was played on an international level, primarily in Europe, by the 1970s. It was devised as a game for both sexes. A national association was formed in 1903, and the game spread to Belgium, Indonesia, Suriname, Germany, Spain, New Guinea,

Biblical Literature, On Western civilization

2005-02-16T22:56:00.000-08:00

The Bible brought its view of God, the universe, and mankind into all the leading Western languages and thus into the intellectual processes of Western man. The Greek translation of the Old Testament made it accessible in the Hellenistic period (c. 300 BCE–c. 300 CE) and provided a language for the New Testament and for the Christian liturgy and theology of the first three centuries.

Guadix

2005-02-14T23:48:00.000-08:00

Town, Granada provincia, in the comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Andalusia, southern Spain, northeast of Granada city. The town originated as the Acci of the Romans; its present name was corrupted from the Arabic Wadi-Ash (“River of Life”). Outstanding landmarks include the Moorish Alcazaba (fortress); the 18th-century Renaissance and Baroque cathedral built on

Antiparticle

2005-02-13T16:57:00.000-08:00

Subatomic particle having the same mass as one of the particles of ordinary matter but opposite electric charge and magnetic moment. Thus the positron (positive electron) is the antiparticle of the negative electron (negatron). The spinning antineutron with net charge zero, like the ordinary neutron, has its magnetic polarity opposite to that of a similarly spinning

Gander

2005-02-13T15:04:00.000-08:00

Town, northeastern Newfoundland, Canada. It lies just north of Gander Lake, 206 miles (332 km) northwest of St. John's. Gander has one of the largest international airports in North America. The site was selected as an air base in 1935 by the British Air Ministry, and transatlantic flights began in 1939. During World War II it was a vital base for air ferries to Britain and Atlantic patrol aircraft.

Earth

2005-02-12T22:06:00.000-08:00

Helical fluid motions in the Earth's electrically conducting liquid outer core have an electromagnetic dynamo effect, giving rise to the Earth's magnetic field. The Earth's sizable, hot core, along with the planet's rapid spin, probably accounts for the exceptional strength of the magnetic field of the Earth as compared with those of the other terrestrial

Anderson, Carl David

2005-02-11T19:18:00.000-08:00

Anderson received his Ph.D. in 1930 from the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, where he worked with physicist Robert Andrews Millikan.

Christie, Dame Agatha

2005-02-10T08:09:00.000-08:00

Educated at home by her mother, Christie began writing detective fiction while working as a nurse during World War I. Her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920), introduced

Power Series

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

In mathematics, infinite series that can be thought of as a polynomial with an infinite number of terms, such as 1 + x + x2 + x3 + . . . ad infinitum. Usually, a given power series will converge (that is, approach a finite sum) for all values of x less than a certain constant and diverge for all values greater than that constant (See also convergence). This constant can be determined by the ratio

Saldanha Bay

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

Afrikaans Saldanhabaai, deep, essentially landlocked harbour of the Atlantic Ocean, situated on the southwest coast of South Africa. Named after the early 16th-century Portuguese navigator António de Saldanha, the bay is both larger and safer than Table Bay, which is located 65 miles (105 km) farther south-southeast. Saldanha Bay's former abundance of seals, fish, and guano deposits was long contested

Thomas, Helen

2005-02-07T20:22:00.000-08:00

Born to Lebanese immigrants, Thomas was the seventh of nine children. When she was four years old, the family moved to Detroit, Michigan. While attending high school, Thomas decided

Macdonald, Ross

2005-02-05T19:07:00.000-08:00

Though born in California, Millar spent almost all his youth in Canada. He studied at Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate Institute (near Toronto), the University

Azerbaijan, Flag Of

2005-02-05T15:18:00.000-08:00

Prior to the Russian Revolution, when Azerbaijan was part of the tsar's domain, the leading Azerbaijani nationalist, 'Ali bay Huseynzada, exhorted his followers to “Turkify, Islamicize, Europeanize” in order to emphasize ethnic pride, religious devotion, and modernization. The colours associated with those principles were light blue (a traditional Turkish flag colour),

Yrjö-koskinen, Sakari

2005-02-03T07:45:00.000-08:00

Forsman—later, when he was made a baron, named Yrjö-Koskinen—was a nationalist scholar and a member of the mid-19th-century Fennoman Party,

Sedimentary Rock, Origin of ironstones

2005-02-02T19:47:00.000-08:00

The origin of ironstones also is not well understood, but most appear to be derived from the erosion and redeposition of lateritic (iron-rich, red) soils. Ironstones occur as thin (a few tens of metres at most) units interbedded with shallow marine and transitional carbonates, mudrocks, and sandstones. They generally have an oölitic texture. Cross-bedding, ripple marks,

Aksum

2005-02-01T18:45:00.000-08:00

Once the seat of the kingdom of Aksum, it is now a tourist town and religious centre best known for its antiquities. Tall granite obelisks, 126 in all, stand (or lie broken) in the central square. One measuring 110 feet (34 m), now fallen, is said to be the tallest obelisk ever erected. The obelisks

Ligament

2005-01-31T23:10:00.000-08:00

Tough fibrous band of connective tissue that serves to support the internal organs and hold bones together in proper articulation at the joints. A ligament is composed of dense fibrous bundles of collagenous fibres and spindle-shaped cells known as fibroblasts, with little ground substance (a gel-like component of the various connective tissues). Ligaments may

Amur River, Plant life

2005-01-30T10:17:00.000-08:00

Much of the Amur basin lies in the taiga vegetation zone. Larch is the predominant species, particularly in boggy areas, with some pine, spruce, and fir on drier land. In the east are found the Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) and the Amur cork tree (Phellodendron amurense). In the west the Argun River traverses a region of steppe grassland. In the Da and Xiao Hinggan ranges south

Saarland

2005-01-30T04:44:00.000-08:00

The Celts and Germanic Franks were the earliest known inhabitants of the area, which subsequently became part of the Carolingian empire and the eastern Frankish empire. By the Middle Ages the Saar consisted of several small territories, the largest of which was centred on the city of Saarbrücken. From 1381 to 1793 Saarbrücken was ruled by the counts of Nassau-Saarbrücken.

Kiriath-sepher

2005-01-29T23:47:00.000-08:00

Also called Debir , or Lo-debar , modern Tall Bayt Mirsham ancient town of Palestine, located near Hebron (in the Israeli-occupied West Bank). According to the Bible, the town was taken from the Canaanites either by Caleb's son-in-law Othniel or by Joshua himself. Tall Bayt Mirsham (Tell Beit Mirsim) was excavated (1926–32) by W.F. Albright, who uncovered exceptionally clear stratification from which he was able to give the first comprehensive

Rya Rug

2005-01-27T20:30:00.000-08:00

Floor covering handmade in Sweden and Finland using techniques resembling those employed in Oriental carpets but having extremely long, recumbent pile and great flexibility. In one Swedish type the nap is produced by Ghiordes knots that include a third warp, the fabric having been made on a cloth loom with open shed. Early examples of rya rugs, which were intended

Gabon, History Of

2005-01-27T04:29:00.000-08:00

By 1800 the British were becoming the leading traders in manufactures throughout the Gulf of Guinea. After 1815 the French sought to compete more actively in the commercial sphere and to join Britain in combating the slave trade. To these ends, Captain Édouard Bouët-Willaumez negotiated treaties with the heads of two Mpongwe clans, King Denis (Antchouwe Kowe Rapontchombo)

San Francisco Peaks

2005-01-26T00:37:00.000-08:00

The San Francisco Peaks, known by various Indian language names, are sacred to

Bulbul

2005-01-25T04:57:00.000-08:00

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

Cheng Chih-lung

2005-01-23T01:02:00.000-08:00

As a boy, Cheng found employment with the Europeans in the Portuguese settlement at Macau, where he was baptized and given the Christian name of Nicholas Gaspard. After leaving Macau, he joined a pirate band that

Chiapas

2005-01-22T17:33:00.000-08:00

Estado (“state”) of southern Mexico. It is bounded to the southwest by the Gulf of Tehuantepec and the Pacific Ocean, to the north by Tabasco, to the east by Guatemala, and to the west by Veracruz and Oaxaca. Much of its territory is mountainous and forested. The mountainous region of the Sierra Madre, in the south, includes a fertile, temperate plateau inhabited by most of the

France, History Of, The Great Depression and political crises

2005-01-20T02:01:00.000-08:00

France at the end of the 1920s had apparently recovered its prewar stability, prosperity, and self-confidence. For a time it even seemed immune to the economic crisis that spread through Europe beginning in 1929; France went serenely on behind its high-tariff barrier, a healthy island in a chaotic world. By 1931, however, France in its turn succumbed to the effects of the depression,

Antarctica

2005-01-19T11:19:00.000-08:00

Ice averaging 2,160 m (7,085 ft) in thickness covers about 98% of the continent of Antarctica, which has an area of 14 million sq km (5.4 million sq mi). There is no indigenous human population, and there is no land-based industry. Human activity consists mainly of scientific research. The 43-nation Antarctic Treaty is the managerial mechanism for the region south of latitude 60° S, which includes

Epicentre

2005-01-19T07:31:00.000-08:00

Point on the surface of the Earth that is directly above the source of an earthquake (called the focus). There the effects of the earthquake usually are most severe. The epicentre can be located by constructing arcs from each of three or more seismic observatories, with the arcs' radii equal to the distance from each station to the focus of the earthquake. The point of

Deville, édouard Gaston (daniel)

2005-01-18T22:48:00.000-08:00

Deville served in the French navy, conducting hydrographic surveys in the South Sea islands, Peru, and elsewhere until 1874. He then went to Canada, where he

Asher

2005-01-16T13:45:00.000-08:00

One of the 12 tribes of Israel that in biblical times constituted the people of Israel who later became the Jewish people. The tribe was named after the younger of two sons born to Jacob (also called Israel) and Zilpah, the maidservant of Jacob's first wife, Leah. After the Israelites took possession of the Promised Land, Joshua assigned territory to each of the 12 tribes. The

Port Sudan

2005-01-15T08:44:00.000-08:00

Arabic Bur Sudan, city, principal seaport of The Sudan on the Red Sea coast, 295 miles (475 km) by rail northeast of the Nile River valley at 'Atbarah. Built between 1905 and 1909 to replace Sawakin (Suakin)—the historic, coral-choked Arab port—Port Sudan has a petroleum refinery, an international airport, and modern docking facilities that handle the bulk of the country's external trade. The harbour is in the

Epideictic Oratory

2005-01-14T18:09:00.000-08:00

Also called ceremonial oratory according to Aristotle, a type of suasive speech designed primarily for rhetorical effect. Epideictic oratory was panegyrical, declamatory, and demonstrative. Its aim was to condemn or to eulogize an individual, cause, occasion, movement, city, or state. An outstanding example of this type of speech is a funeral oration by the Athenian statesman Pericles in honour

Aristotle

2005-01-14T07:54:00.000-08:00

Aristotle was born in the summer of 384 BC in the small Greek township of Stagira (or Stagirus, or Stageirus), on the Chalcidic peninsula of Macedonia, in northern Greece. (For this reason Aristotle is also known as the “Stagirite.”) His father, Nicomachus, was court physician to Amyntas III, king of Macedonia, father of Philip II, and grandfather of Alexander the Great. As a doctor's

Progesterone

2005-01-13T05:52:00.000-08:00

Hormone secreted by the female reproductive system that functions mainly to regulate the condition of the inner lining (endometrium) of the uterus. Progesterone is produced by the ovaries, placenta, and adrenal glands; in the ovaries the site of production is the corpus luteum tissue, which begins to form prior to an egg's release and continues to grow into the empty

Obuasi

2005-01-11T22:24:00.000-08:00

Town, southern Ghana. Its growth was stimulated by the discovery of a large gold deposit in 1897 and the building of the railway from Sekondi in 1902. The Asante gold mine at Obuasi has continued as the country's major producer while others have become depleted. It is one of the world's richest gold mines in terms of yield per ton of ore. By the end of the 20th century, it was the 10th largest

Kamelaukion

2005-01-11T06:15:00.000-08:00

Sometimes the kamelaukion was made of precious metal, sometimes of fabric; in either event, it might be richly decorated with jewels. The

China, Military reorganization

2005-01-10T01:20:00.000-08:00

The most important new development in Hsüan-tsung's reign was the growth in the power of the military commanders. During Kao-tsung's reign the old militia system had proved inadequate for frontier defense and had been supplemented by the institution of permanent armies and garrison forces quartered in strategic areas on the frontiers. These armies were made up

Los Angeles Zoo, The

2005-01-09T21:08:00.000-08:00

Byname Griffith Park Zoo, zoological park founded in 1912 in Los Angeles as the Griffith Park Menagerie. It is a completely outdoor zoo that has holdings of the emperor tamarin, mountain tapir, and California condor. The Los Angeles Zoo was also the first to breed the tarictic hornbill. Comprising a main zoo and a children's zoo, it occupies 46 hectares (113 acres) of Griffith Park, a large city-owned park. The

Drachten

2005-01-07T20:17:00.000-08:00

Chief town of Smallingerland gemeente (commune), Friesland provincie, northwestern Netherlands. It lies along the Wijde Ee waterway, which is part of the canal system that flows into the larger Prinses Margriet Canal to the northwest. The surrounding area consists of lowlands; there are forests at nearby Beetsterwaag, and peat moors are found southwest of

Fen

2005-01-07T01:07:00.000-08:00

Type of bog (q.v.), especially a low-lying area, wholly or partly covered with water and dominated by grasslike plants, grasses, sedges, and reeds. In strict usage, a fen denotes an area in which the soil is organic (peaty) and alkaline rather than acid.

Furniture, Rome

2005-01-06T00:06:00.000-08:00

Principal furniture forms were couches, chairs with and without arms, stools, tables, chests, and boxes. Excellent documentary evidence is found in mural paintings, relief carvings, and literary descriptions. Extant examples are more common than those of the ancient Near East: a wealth of bronze furniture was recovered at Pompeii; at Herculaneum even wood pieces

Târgu Jiu

2005-01-05T06:18:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Tîrgu Jiu city, capital of Gorj judet (county), southwestern Romania, on the Jiu River. Formerly a Roman settlement, Târgu Jiu was the property of boyars until the 19th century. After World War II, the city developed rapidly from an agricultural market town into an industrial centre producing timber, clothing, cigarettes, and foodstuffs. It lies in the southern part of the Petrosani

Accordion

2005-01-03T19:07:00.000-08:00

The advent of the accordion is the subject of debate among researchers. Many credit C. Friedrich L. Buschmann, whose Handäoline was patented in Berlin in 1822, as the

Abuja

2005-01-03T11:16:00.000-08:00

Federal capital territory, central Nigeria, created in 1976. The territory is located north of the confluence of the Niger and Benue rivers. It is bordered by the states of Niger to the west and northwest, Kaduna to the northeast, Plateau to the east and south, and Kogi to the southwest. Abuja, the federal capital and a planned modern city, is located near the centre of the

Cereal Farming, Weeds

2005-01-02T22:12:00.000-08:00

Weeds present difficulties, as they compete with cereal crops for water, light, and mineral nutrients. The infestation of annual seeds planted in a field may cause many weeds in that field for successive years. Charlock or wild mustard, wild oats, crouch grass, and other common weeds are disseminated by wind, water, and birds.

Bucareli Y Ursúa, Antonio María

2004-12-31T04:07:00.000-08:00

Bucareli began his military career as a soldier for Spain in Italy, where he attained

Floor Covering, Loom-formed pile

2004-12-30T13:40:00.000-08:00

Spool looms were invented in the United States in 1876, and the gripper Axminster loom was developed about 1890. The chenille two-stage process was invented in Glasgow

Auburn University

2004-12-30T07:26:00.000-08:00

Public, coeducational institution of higher education located in Auburn, Alabama, U.S. The university offers a broad range of undergraduate and graduate degree programs and is noted for its colleges of engineering and business. Degrees in nursing, pharmacy, and veterinary medicine are also available. A branch campus in Montgomery offers undergraduate and graduate

Quidor, John

2004-12-28T23:23:00.000-08:00

At age nine Quidor moved with his family to New York City. He began his career

Cassel, Jean-pierre

2004-12-28T07:20:00.000-08:00

Cassel was a bit player in movies, television, and on the stage when the American actor and dancer Gene Kelly discovered him for The Happy Road (1956). Later Cassel, a tall man with an expressive, mobile face, was well received as the comic protagonist of Les Jeux de l'amour (1960; “The Games of Love”), L'Amant de cinq jours (1961; “The Five-Day

Kiesler, Frederick John

2004-12-26T21:41:00.000-08:00

After study at the Technical Academy and the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, Kiesler worked on a slum clearance and rebuilding project in Vienna with Adolf Loos. In the early 1920s Kiesler began to design

Taganrog

2004-12-26T05:23:00.000-08:00

City and seaport, Rostov oblast (province), southwestern Russia. It lies on the northern coast of Taganrog Gulf of the Sea of Azov. Founded as a fortress and naval base in 1698 by Peter I the Great, Taganrog developed in the 19th century as a grain-exporting port. Although overshadowed by Rostov-na-Donu, it is still a significant port for the Donets Basin coalfield and industrial

Ré Island

2004-12-25T00:25:00.000-08:00

French Île De Ré, island in the Bay of Biscay, Charente-Maritime département, off the west coast of France, opposite La Pallice and La Rochelle. It was for long separated from the mainland by the shallow water of Pertuis Breton, 2 miles (3.2 km) wide at the narrowest point, but a 2-mile bridge was constructed in the late 1970s. The island is 18 miles (29 km) long and 2 to 3 miles wide; it has an area of 33 square miles (85 square

Arts, Islamic, Early Islamic literature

2004-12-24T10:42:00.000-08:00

With the coming of Islam the attitude of the Arabs toward poetry seems to have changed. The new Muslims, despite their long-standing admiration for powerful language, often shunned poetry as reminiscent of pagan ideals now overthrown. For the Qur'an, in surah 26:225 ff., condemned the poets “who err in every valley, and say what they do not do. Only the perverse follow them!” The Qur'an,

Pacific Ocean, Early exploration and settlement

2004-12-23T00:55:00.000-08:00

The Pacific Islands are thought to have been peopled by influxes from both mainland and archipelagic Southeast Asia. The earliest migrations were to what is now generally referred to as Melanesia. From there generations of voyagers ranged northward into eastern Micronesia and eastward into Polynesia. The peopling of Polynesia, by means of long-range seagoing

Benedict (xiv)

2004-12-22T23:51:00.000-08:00

In 1417 the Council of Constance deposed the antipope Pope Benedict (XIII) and elected Martin V, thus officially terminating the Western Schism between Avignon and Rome. However, Benedict, protected in his castle of Peñíscola in Valencia, resisted until his death in 1423 and even reconstituted his court by creating four new cardinals. The intrigues

Stahl, Georg Ernst

2004-12-21T04:01:00.000-08:00

German physician and chemist who developed the phlogiston theory of combustion and of such related biological processes as respiration, fermentation, and decay. The theory dominated chemical thought for almost a century. He also, at times, believed in alchemy and animism.

Sahara

2004-12-20T07:57:00.000-08:00

Classical accounts describe the Sahara much as it is today—a vast and formidable barrier. The Egyptians controlled only their neighbouring oases and, occasionally, lands to the south; the Carthaginians apparently continued the commercial relationships with the interior that had been established during the Bronze Age. Herodotus described a desert crossing

Gregory X, Blessed

2004-12-18T04:06:00.000-08:00

In 1270 he joined the future king Edward I of England on a crusade to the Holy Land. At St. Jean d'Acre in Palestine, he was notified of his election as pope at Viterbo in the Papal States (Sept. 1, 1271). Gregory, who at the time

Yerby, Frank

2004-12-17T19:58:00.000-08:00

Yerby's story “Health Card” won the O. Henry Memorial Award for best first published short story in 1944. In 1946 his first novel, The Foxes of Harrow, was an immediate success. His novels are action-packed, usually featuring a strong hero in an earlier period. The stories unfold in colourful language

Tallahassee

2004-12-17T09:35:00.000-08:00

Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto camped in the area during the winter of 1539–40; it was originally occupied by Apalachee and later by Creek peoples. Seven Franciscan missions were established,

Netherlands Antilles, Saba

2004-12-15T16:59:00.000-08:00

Saba was settled by the Dutch in 1632 but, because of its inaccessibility and ruggedness, never achieved any economic importance.