ShortDrawer

Yonezawa

2005-03-19T19:24:00.000-08:00

City, Yamagata Prefecture (ken), Honshu, Japan, on the Ou Line (railway). From the Muromachi period (1338–1573) to the Meiji Restoration (1868) it was a castle town of the Uesugi daimyo family (see Uesugi family). The ruling family initiated agrarian reforms by constructing irrigation systems and allowing samurai (warriors) to cultivate the fields and manufacture silk. Industrialization

Saran

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

City, east-central Kazakstan. A major centre of coal mining in the Qaraghandy coal basin, it was established in 1946 near the Saran coal deposit and became a city in 1954. The city's manufactures include chemical and rubber product plants. Pop. (1991 est.) 62,600.

Jackson, Robert H(oughwout)

2005-03-14T07:05:00.000-08:00

An adept scholar, Jackson pleaded his first case by special permission while still a minor and was admitted to the bar at the age of 21. He served as corporation counsel for Jamestown, N.Y., and, after the Stock Market Crash of 1929, helped merge the city's three financial institutions,

Pavía Y Lacy, Manuel

2005-03-13T00:53:00.000-08:00

Pavía was encouraged to enter the military by his father, an infantry colonel, and eventually was admitted to the elite Guards regiment. When Isabella became queen in 1833, he fought for her against her uncle Don Carlos in the

Kunlun Mountains, Climate

2005-03-11T14:05:00.000-08:00

The Kunluns are almost totally isolated from the climatic influence of the Indian and Pacific Ocean monsoons. Instead, they are under the constant influence of the continental air mass, which causes great annual and diurnal temperature fluctuations. Maximum aridity occurs in the middle segment of the mountain system; to the west and east, however, the climate is

Ghaffar Khan, (khan) Abdul

2005-03-08T17:56:00.000-08:00

Ghaffar Khan met Gandhi and entered politics in 1919 during agitation over the Rowlatt Acts, which allowed the internment of political dissidents without

Extraterrestrial Life

2005-03-07T10:09:00.000-08:00

The chemistry of extraterrestrial life, scientists assume, would require (1) a suitable medium for chemical reactions

Nagaland

2005-03-04T19:56:00.000-08:00

Verrier Elwin, Nagaland (1961); Prakash Singh, Nagaland, 3rd ed., rev. (1981); and Murkot Ramunny, The World of Nagas (1988), are overviews. Majid Husain, Nagaland: Habitat, Society, and Shifting Cultivation (1988), discusses the human geography of the area. On the people, see Julian Jacobs, The Nagas: Hill Peoples of Northeast India (1990). Swabera Islam Saleh, Nagaland's Economy in Transition Since 1964 (1989), examines economic developments. Hokishe Sema, Emergence of Nagaland (1986), is authored by a former chief minister of the state. B.B. Ghosh, History of Nagaland (1982), provides a brief historical survey of the region. M. Horam, Naga Insurgency: The Last Thirty Years (1988), is a personal account of the Naga Underground Movement.

Okene

2005-03-02T00:00:00.000-08:00

Town, Kogi state, south-central Nigeria. It lies at the intersection of roads from Lokoja, Kabba, Ikare, Ajaokuta, and Anchi. Originally founded on a hill near the present site, it now lies in the valley of the Ubo River, which is a minor tributary of the Niger River. The town is a major trade centre for the yams, cassava, corn (maize), sorghum, beans, peanuts (groundnuts), palm oil and

Van Buren, Martin

2005-03-01T13:36:00.000-08:00

Unanimously renominated by the Democrats in 1840, Van Buren was overwhelmingly defeated by the Whig candidate William Henry Harrison. Four years later the Democrats were bitterly divided over the question of the annexation of Texas, and Van Buren, who opposed annexation, was passed over in favour of James K. Polk, who won the election on a platform calling for the annexation of both Texas and Oregon. In 1848 Van Buren ran as a candidate of the Free Soil Party, which included members of the antislavery factions of the Democratic Party (the “Barnburners”) and the Whig Party, but he received only 10 percent of the vote. He spent several years in Europe and then retired to his estate, Lindenwald, in Kinderhook.

Skibobbing

2005-02-26T14:25:00.000-08:00

Also called skibiking or snowbiking a winter sport using a guidable, single-track vehicle that has features of the bicycle, the bobsled, and skis. The longer rear ski is fixed, and the shorter front ski is mobile for steering; a saddle like that of a bicycle and a steering bar with handles complete the rig. The assembly is kept flexible to provide smooth passage over bumps and is lightweight, made of wood, aluminum,

Agrarian League

2005-02-25T17:41:00.000-08:00

German Bund Der Landwirte extraparliamentary organization active under the German empire from 1893. Formed to combat the free-trade policies (initiated in 1892) of Chancellor Leo, Graf (count) von Caprivi, the league worked for farmers' subsidies, import tariffs, and minimum prices. Caprivi's successor promised to increase wheat tariffs, but by 1900 the Agrarian League had increased to 250,000 members—50,000 more than

Production, Theory Of

2005-02-23T11:08:00.000-08:00

In economics, an effort to explain the principles by which a business firm decides how much of each commodity that it sells (its “outputs” or “products”) it will produce, and how much of each kind of labour, raw material, fixed capital good, etc., that it employs (its “inputs” or “factors of production”) it will use. The theory involves some of the most fundamental principles of economics.

O'brien, Flann

2005-02-18T21:54:00.000-08:00

O'Brien was educated in Dublin and later became a civil servant while also pursuing his writing career. He is most celebrated for his unusual novel At Swim-Two-Birds, which, though it was first published in 1939, achieved fame

Textile, Napping and shearing

2005-02-16T05:10:00.000-08:00

Napping is a process that may be applied to woollens, cottons, spun silks, and spun rayons, including both woven and knitted types, to raise a velvety, soft surface. The process involves passing the fabric over revolving cylinders covered with fine wires that lift the short, loose fibres, usually from the weft yarns, to the surface, forming a nap. The process, which increases

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

2005-02-15T13:29:00.000-08:00

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

Los Angeles Times

2005-02-13T01:04:00.000-08:00

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

Esquipulas

2005-02-11T06:37:00.000-08:00

Town, southeastern Guatemala, in the central highlands near the borders of Honduras and El Salvador at an elevation of 3,018 feet (920 m). The town itself is not large; it derives its great importance from its magnificent colonial church, now Central America's greatest pilgrimage centre, built in 1737 by the archbishop of Guatemala to house the spectacular Black Christ. The figure,

Locke, Bobby

2005-02-08T07:23:00.000-08:00

A meticulous putter who was considered among the best in golf, Locke won the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average among male professional golfers in 1946, 1950, and 1954. Nine times the winner of the South African Open championship (1935, 1937–40, 1946, 1950–51, and 1955) and six times the winner of the South

Encephalartos

2005-02-06T18:03:00.000-08:00

A genus of 20 or more species of palmlike cycads (plants of the family Cycadaceae), native to southern Africa and grown elsewhere as conservatory and house plants. The genus includes both tuberous and columnar varieties; they sometimes have spiny foliage. A breadlike food is prepared from the starchy centre of the stem of the Kaffir bread, or bread

Gaulle, Charles De

2005-02-05T17:52:00.000-08:00

In full Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle French soldier, writer, statesman, and architect of France's Fifth Republic.

'adah

2005-02-02T18:33:00.000-08:00

(Arabic: “custom”), in Islamic law, a local custom that is given a particular consideration by judicial authorities even when it conflicts with some principle of canon law (Shari'ah); in Indonesia it is known as adat, in North Africa it is 'urf, and in East Africa, dustur. Muslim communities developed their 'adahs before accepting Islam and did not abandon them entirely afterward.

Afranius, Lucius

2005-01-27T22:24:00.000-08:00

In 60 BC, chiefly by Pompey's support, Afranius was raised to the consulship, in which office he proved himself incompetent to manage civil affairs. In the following year, while governor of Cisalpine Gaul, he obtained a triumph; and, on the allotment of Spain to Pompey (55 BC), Afranius

Mahakala

2005-01-25T07:42:00.000-08:00

In Tibetan Buddhism, one of the eight fierce protective deities. See dharmapala.

Agrínion

2005-01-24T06:56:00.000-08:00

Chief town of the nomós (department) of Aetolia and Acarnania, west-central Greece. It lies 4 miles (6 km) northwest of Lake Trikhonís, about midway between the Ionian Sea and the Gulf of Patras. Formerly called Vrakhóri (an abbreviation of Evrekori, “Town of the Jews”), it has reverted to the name of an ancient Aetolian centre on the Achelous River that was just northwest of the

Papillomavirus

2005-01-21T09:51:00.000-08:00

Also spelled papilloma virus any of a group of viruses belonging to the family Papillomaviridae that infect birds and mammals, causing warts (papillomas) and other benign tumours in humans. They are small polygonal viruses containing circular double-stranded DNA, and more than 55 distinct types of human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are now known on the basis of analysis of their DNA. Skin warts are of

Spohr, Louis

2005-01-19T18:39:00.000-08:00

Spohr taught himself composition by studying the scores of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He studied violin with the leader of the Brunswick orchestra and in 1802 with Franz Eck, who

Calcite

2005-01-18T23:04:00.000-08:00

The most common form of natural calcium carbonate (CaCo3), a widely distributed mineral known for the beautiful development and great variety of its crystals. It is polymorphous (same chemical formula but different crystal structure) with the minerals aragonite and vaterite and with several forms that apparently exist only under rather extreme experimental

Ahuachapán

2005-01-15T03:18:00.000-08:00

City, western El Salvador, on the small Molino River (with a hydroelectric station) at the foot of La Lagunita Volcano. Originally called Güeciapam by the Indians, it was renamed Agüecha before becoming the town (1823) and the city (1862) of Ahuachapán. A manufacturing and distributing centre (the most important product being coffee), it is also noted for its mineral baths, drawn from

Loyalist

2005-01-14T20:05:00.000-08:00

Also called Tory colonist loyal to Great Britain during the American Revolution. Loyalists constituted about one-third of the population of the American colonies during that conflict. They were not confined to any particular group or class, but their numbers were strongest among the following groups: officeholders and others who served the British crown and had a vested interest

Cinematography

2005-01-11T04:37:00.000-08:00

The art and technology of motion-picture photography. It involves such techniques as the general composition of a scene; the lighting of the set or location; the choice of cameras, lenses, filters, and film stock; the camera angle and movements; and the integration of any special effects. All these concerns may involve a sizable crew on a feature film, headed by a person

Metalogic

2005-01-10T17:39:00.000-08:00

The study and analysis of the semantics (relations between expressions and meanings) and syntax (relations among expressions) of formal languages and formal systems. It is related to, but does not include, the formal treatment of natural languages. (For a discussion of the syntax and semantics of natural languages, see the articles linguistics and semantics.)

Allophone

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

One of the phonetically distinct variants of a phoneme (q.v.). The occurrence of one allophone rather than another is usually determined by its position in the word (initial, final, medial, etc.) or by its phonetic environment. Speakers of a language often have difficulty in hearing the phonetic differences between allophones of the same phoneme, because these differences

Desargues, Girard

2005-01-05T09:31:00.000-08:00

Not much is known

Evans, Walker

2005-01-03T04:19:00.000-08:00

American photographer, important primarily for documenting the effects of economic depression in the American South and photographically interpreting American folk architecture. His approach to photography was largely formed by the documentary photographs of the French photographer Eugène Atget, whose influence

World War I, Mesopotamia, 1914April 1916

2005-01-01T14:27:00.000-08:00

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

Binchy, Maeve

2004-12-30T16:10:00.000-08:00

Educated at University College, Dublin (B.A., 1960), Binchy taught school in Dublin from 1961 to 1968, when she began her career as a reporter for the daily

Computers, Zuse's Plankalkül

2004-12-29T01:11:00.000-08:00

Konrad Zuse developed the first real programming language, Plankalkül (“Plan Calculus”) in 1944–45. Zuse's language allowed for the creation of procedures (stored chunks of code that could be invoked repeatedly to perform routine operations such as taking a square root; also known as routines or subroutines) and structured data (such as a record in a database, with a mixture

Computers, Whirlwind

2004-12-27T19:43:00.000-08:00

New hardware continued to be invented, though. In the United States, Jay Forrester of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Jan Aleksander Rajchman of the Radio Corporation of America came up with a new kind of memory based on magnetic cores that was fast enough to enable MIT to build the first real-time computer, Whirlwind. A real-time computer is one that

Robert Ii

2004-12-24T00:29:00.000-08:00

The eldest son of William I the Conqueror, Robert was recognized in boyhood as his father's successor in Normandy. Nevertheless he twice rebelled against his father (1077/78 and c. 1082–83) and

Euro

2004-12-22T07:41:00.000-08:00

The euro's origins lay in

Cilicia

2004-12-21T19:04:00.000-08:00

Ancient district of southern Anatolia, bounded on the north and west by the Taurus Mountain Range, on the east by the Anti-Taurus, and on the south by the Mediterranean Sea. It is geographically divided into two contrasting regions, the western portion being wild and mountainous and the eastern consisting of rich plainland. In ancient times the only route from Anatolia

Babenco, Hector

2004-12-16T13:43:00.000-08:00

Babenco spent his late teen and early adult years studying existential philosophy and traveling the world, finally settling in Brazil in 1971. He became interested in filmmaking during the early '70s and directed shorts and commercials

Anger, Per Johan Valentin

2004-12-14T13:55:00.000-08:00

Swedish diplomat (b. Dec. 7, 1913, Göteborg, Swed.—d. Aug. 25, 2002, Stockholm, Swed.), helped save thousands of Hungarian Jews from being transported to Nazi death camps during World War II. Anger, a member of the Swedish legation in Budapest when the Germans occupied Hungary in 1944, set up safe houses around Budapest and issued temporary passports and identity cards that identified Jews as Swedes.

Land League

2004-12-12T15:10:00.000-08:00

Irish agrarian organization that worked for the reform of the country's landlord system under British rule. The league was founded in October 1879 by Michael Davitt, the son of an evicted tenant farmer and a member of the Fenian (Irish Republican) Brotherhood. Davitt asked Charles Stewart Parnell, leader of the Irish Home Rule Party in the British Parliament, to preside

Mittelland Canal

2004-12-11T19:41:00.000-08:00

Also called Ems-weser-elbe Canal, German waterway begun in 1905 and completed in 1938. It extends from the Dortmund-Ems Canal east of Rheine, Ger., eastward along the northern border of the Central Uplands, to the Elbe River north of Magdeburg (a distance of about 199 miles [321 km]), linking there with the Havel Canal eastward to Berlin. Side canals connect it with Osnabrück, Hannover, Salzgitter, and Hildesheim. Peine, between

Amberjack

2004-12-08T16:11:00.000-08:00

Any of several popular sport fishes. See jack.

Jackson, John Hughlings

2004-12-06T10:52:00.000-08:00

Jackson was physician to the National Hospital for the Paralyzed and Epileptic, London

Adams, John, Adams's writings

2004-12-05T13:29:00.000-08:00

Other pieces of the massive Adams correspondence include: Charles Francis Adams (ed.), Letters of John Adams, Addressed to His Wife, 2 vol. (1841, reissued 1965); Alexander Biddle et al., Old Family Letters, 2 vol. (1892); Worthington Chauncey Ford (ed.), Statesman and Friend: Correspondence of John Adams with Benjamin Waterhouse, 1784–1822 (1927); Lester J. Cappon (ed.), The Adams-Jefferson Letters, 2 vol. (1959, reprinted in 1 vol., 1988); John A. Schutz and Douglass Adair (eds.), The Spur of Fame: Dialogues of John Adams and Benjamin Rush, 1805–1813 (1966, reissued 1980).

Gondophernes

2004-12-03T20:46:00.000-08:00

Gondophernes was first known from the apocryphal

Consalvi, Ercole

2004-12-03T04:15:00.000-08:00

Having entered the papal government service in 1783, Consalvi rose to become auditor of the Rota, a tribunal

Sa

2004-12-01T22:51:00.000-08:00

The SA was founded in Munich by Hitler in 1921 out of various roughneck elements that had attached themselves to the fledgling Nazi movement. It drew its early membership largely from the Freikorps (Free Corps), armed freebooter

Paramagnetism

2004-12-01T13:09:00.000-08:00

Kind of magnetism characteristic of materials weakly attracted by a strong magnet, named and extensively investigated by the British scientist Michael Faraday beginning in 1845. Most elements and some compounds are paramagnetic. Strong paramagnetism (not to be confused with the ferromagnetism of the elements iron, cobalt, nickel, and other alloys) is exhibited by

Valence

2004-11-30T15:46:00.000-08:00

Town, capital of Drôme département, Rhône-Alpes région, southeastern France. Valence lies on the left bank of the Rhône River. Built on a succession of terraces bordering the Rhône, the town is dominated by the ancient Cathedral of Saint-Apollinaire, which was consecrated by Pope Urban II in 1095 and completed early in the 12th century. Damage done to the cathedral during the

Taifa

2004-11-28T23:33:00.000-08:00

, Arabic ta'ifah , plural tawa'if a faction or party, as applied to the followers of any of the petty kings who appeared in Muslim Spain in a period of great political fragmentation early in the 11th century after the dissolution of the central authority of the Umayyad caliphate of Córdoba. After the dictatorship of al-Muzaffar (reigned 1002–08), civil war reduced the caliphate to a puppet institution and allowed

Chattanooga

2004-11-28T20:33:00.000-08:00

The site was settled about 1815 when John

Prokop The Bald

2004-11-27T13:02:00.000-08:00

Initially Prokop was a conservative (Utraquist) priest, but then he joined the heretical religious movement that had sprung from the teachings of the martyred Bohemian Reformer Jan Hus (d. 1415). Prokop effectively defended Hussite

Wye, River

2004-11-26T22:00:00.000-08:00

The Wye rises on the eastern slopes of the uplands of Plynlimon, and its upper valley, which has been glaciated, is deeply cut in the ancient grits and shales

Alamein, El-

2004-11-25T04:31:00.000-08:00

Coastal town in northwestern Egypt, about 60 miles (100 km) west of Alexandria, that was the site of two major battles between British and Axis forces in 1942 during World War II. El-Alamein is the seaward (northern) end of a 40-mile-wide bottleneck that is flanked on the south by the impassable Qattara Depression. This crucial east-west corridor became a vital defensive line held by

Fabriano

2004-11-24T06:04:00.000-08:00

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

Arya Samaj

2004-11-23T05:45:00.000-08:00

The Arya

Kafue River

2004-11-21T09:13:00.000-08:00

River rising on the Congo (Kinshasa)–Zambia border. It meanders generally southward until it turns west near the Lukanga Swamp (which it drains). The river then flows south and finally east through the Kafue Flats and Kafue Gorge to join the Zambezi River near Chirundu, Zimbabwe, after a course of 600 miles (960 km). One of Zambia's major rivers, its waters are used for irrigation.

China 1

2004-11-20T21:56:00.000-08:00

Also called Chicom 1 , or PRC 1 first Earth satellite orbited by the People's Republic of China. It was launched on April 24, 1970, from the rocket facility at Shuang Cheng Tsu, and it made China the fifth nation to place a satellite into Earth orbit. Little is known about China 1. It weighed approximately 173 kg (381 pounds) and carried a radio transmitter that broadcast a patriotic anthem.

Le Maistre, Antoine

2004-11-20T03:26:00.000-08:00

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

C.b.e.

2004-11-18T16:47:00.000-08:00

Commander of the British Empire, member of a British order of knighthood, although this rank does not confer knighthood. See British Empire, The Most Excellent Order of the.

Romans, Letter Of Paul To The

2004-11-17T19:11:00.000-08:00

The longest and doctrinally most significant of St. Paul the Apostle's New Testament writings, probably composed at Corinth in about AD 57; it was addressed to the Christian Church at Rome, whose congregation Paul hoped to visit for the first time on his way to Spain. The letter has been intensely studied since early Christian times and was the basis of Martin Luther's teaching

Agra

2004-11-16T17:31:00.000-08:00

City, west-central Uttar Pradesh state, north-central India, on the Yamuna (Jumna) River. Founded by Sikandar Lodi in the early 16th century, it was the Mughal capital during some periods of their empire. In the late 18th century the city fell successively to the Jats, the Marathas, the Mughals, and the ruler of Gwalior and, finally, to the British in 1803. It was the capital of Agra (later North-Western)

Spoonerism

2004-11-15T15:52:00.000-08:00

Reversal of the initial letters or syllables of two or more words, such as “I have a half-warmed fish in my mind” (for “half-formed wish”) and “a blushing crow” (for “a crushing blow”). The word was derived from the name of William Archibald Spooner (1844–1930), a distinguished Anglican clergyman and warden of New College, Oxford, a nervous man who committed many “spoonerisms.” Such transpositions

Sun Rose

2004-11-15T07:26:00.000-08:00

Helianthemum apenninum, H. cinereum, H. glaucum, and H. hirsutum are dwarf

Neuropteran, Locomotion

2004-11-14T23:39:00.000-08:00

Most larvae have walking legs except in those whose legs are modified for burrowing (Ithonidae and Myrmeleontoidea). The aquatic dobsonfly larvae have a pair of terminal abdominal prolegs that are important in moving in strong currents. The legs, abdominal filaments, and median tail filament of alderfly larvae bear long hairs, or setae, which help to propel them

Libya

2004-11-12T14:47:00.000-08:00

A socialist country of North Africa, Libya lies on the Mediterranean Sea. Area: 1,757,000 sq km (678,400 sq mi). Pop. (1996 est.): 5,446,000. Cap.: Tripoli (policy-making body meets in Surt). Monetary unit: Libyan dinar, with (Oct. 11, 1996) an official rate of 0.36 dinar to U.S. $1 (0.56 dinar = £ 1 sterling). De facto chief of state in 1996, Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi; secretary of the General People's Congress (nominal chief of state), Zanati Muhammad az-Zanati;

Celle

2004-11-12T00:03:00.000-08:00

City, Lower Saxony Land (state), north-central Germany, on the Aller River, at the southern edge of the Lüneburger Heide (Heath), northeast of Hannover. The old town, Altencelle, was founded about 1248, and Celle (founded 1292) was the residence (1371–1705) of the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg. The old town has many fine examples of 16th- to 19th-century half-timbered buildings, including the Hoppener Haus

Murrelet

2004-11-10T21:46:00.000-08:00

Breeding in Alaska are the

Religion

2004-11-10T13:21:00.000-08:00

In February 1998 Susan Aranoff of Agunah Inc., on behalf of her organization, encouraged several leading rabbis in New York City to find an acceptable solution to the growing problem of agunahs. According to Jewish law, a woman whose husband is alive may not remarry until

Tsuzure

2004-11-09T21:15:00.000-08:00

Japanese tapestry, the full name of which is tsuzure-nishiki (“polychrome tapestry”). They were usually woven of silk on cotton warp covered with silk, gold, or silver threads. Tsuzure techniques reached Japan from China in the late 15th or early 16th century during the Muromachi (Ashikaga) period (1338–1573). Production was at its height in the Tokugawa period (1603–1867), particularly early in the

Frederick Vi

2004-11-07T17:16:00.000-08:00

The son of the mentally incompetent king Christian VII and Queen Caroline Matilda, Frederick was reared largely by his father's stepmother, the queen dowager Juliana Maria, who, with her son Prince Frederick and Ove Höegh-Guldberg, virtually ruled Denmark until 1784. In April

Alabama, The economy

2004-11-07T03:12:00.000-08:00

Among the 50 states, the relative status of Alabama may be indicated by its income per capita: it has ranked close to the bottom of the economic scale for a number of years. This low status results, in part, from the depressed state of agriculture, which employs a large segment of the population. Rural poverty thus drags down the state average, concealing more promising developments

San Blas

2004-11-06T09:02:00.000-08:00

Traditional region, eastern Panama, stretching about 100 miles (160 km) along the Caribbean Sea from the Colombian border to the Gulf of San Blas. The narrow strip of land includes the San Blas (formerly Mulatas) Archipelago. Agriculture—chiefly coconuts, yams, and plantains—and fishing are the principal economic activities in San Blas. The population consists largely of

Latite

2004-11-04T17:52:00.000-08:00

Also called trachyandesite extrusive igneous rock very abundant in western North America. Usually coloured white, yellowish, pinkish, or gray, it is the volcanic equivalent of monzonite (q.v.). Latites contain plagioclase feldspar (andesine or oligoclase) as large, single crystals (phenocrysts) in a fine-grained matrix of orthoclase feldspar and augite. They also contain phenocrysts of diopside,

Jacaranda

2004-11-04T10:37:00.000-08:00

Any plant of the genus Jacaranda (family Bignoniaceae), especially the two ornamental trees J. mimosifolia and J. cuspidifolia. They are widely grown in warm parts of the world and in greenhouses for their showy blue or violet flowers and attractive, oppositely paired, compound leaves. The genus includes about 50 species native to Central and South America and to the

Biblical Literature, Nature and significance

2004-11-03T04:57:00.000-08:00

Biblical exegesis is the actual interpretation of the sacred book, the bringing out of its meaning; hermeneutics is the study and establishment of the principles by which it is to be interpreted. Where the biblical writings are interpreted on a historical perspective, just as with philological and other ancient documents, there is little call for a special discipline

Jewish Revoltsecond

2004-11-01T04:28:00.000-08:00

(AD 132–135), Jewish rebellion against Roman rule in Judaea. The revolt was preceded by years of clashes between Jews and Romans in the area. Finally, in AD 132, the misrule of Tinnius Rufus, the Roman governor of Judaea, combined with the emperor Hadrian's intention to found a Roman colony on the site of Jerusalem and his restrictions on Jewish religious freedom and observances, roused

Athabasca, Lake

2004-10-31T16:41:00.000-08:00

Lake in Canada, astride the Alberta–Saskatchewan border, just south of the Northwest Territories. The lake, 208 mi (335 km) long by 32 mi wide, has an area of 3,064 sq mi (7,936 sq km) and a maximum depth of 407 ft (124 m). Fed from the southwest by the Peace and Athabasca rivers (the deltas of which have separated it from Lakes Claire and Mamawi), it is drained to the northwest by the Slave River, eventually reaching

Biblical Literature, The Letter of Paul to the Romans

2004-10-30T11:35:00.000-07:00

Romans differs from all the other Pauline letters in that it was written to a congregation over which Paul did not claim apostolic authority. He stressed that he was merely going to Rome in transit, because it was his principle not to evangelize where others had worked. Because his apostolic ministry appeared to be completed in Asia Minor and Greece, Paul planned

Catalyst

2004-10-29T18:46:00.000-07:00

Most solid catalysts are metals or the oxides, sulfides, and halides of metallic elements and of the semimetallic elements boron, aluminum, and silicon. Gaseous and liquid

Brief

2004-10-29T15:24:00.000-07:00

In the United States a brief is a written legal argument that is presented to a court to aid it in reaching a conclusion on the legal issues involved in the case. It is invariably employed in appellate courts

Astor, Mary

2004-10-27T00:25:00.000-07:00

Astor's early career was

Insurance, Contract law

2004-10-26T14:54:00.000-07:00

To meet the requirement of legal purpose, the insurance contract must

Lower Southampton

2004-10-26T14:22:00.000-07:00

Until

Frýdek-místek

2004-10-24T14:34:00.000-07:00

City, Severomoravský kraj (region), Czech Republic. It lies along the Ostravice River just south of Ostrava. The town is dominated by the steeple of Frýdek Castle, which was originally a Gothic royal castle but was reconstructed during the 17th and 18th centuries. Also of interest are the twin-tower 18th-century Baroque church and the small St. Jodocus Church. The town is within

Syracuse

2004-10-23T13:21:00.000-07:00

Syracuse was settled about 734 BC by Corinthians led by the aristocrat Archias, and the city soon dominated the coastal plain and hill country beyond. The original Greek settlers of the city formed an elite (gamoroi

Tibet, Tibet under Manchu overlordship

2004-10-21T10:32:00.000-07:00

The Dalai Lama's death in 1682 and the discovery of his five-year-old reincarnation in 1688 were concealed by Sangs-rgyas rgya-mtsho, who was intent on continuing the administration without disturbance. He informed the Manchu only in 1696. Emperor K'ang-hsi (reigned 1661–1722) was incensed at the deception. In 1703 he discovered an ally in Tibet and an antagonist to Sangs-rgyas rgya-mtsho when Lha-bzang

Hindi Literature

2004-10-20T22:41:00.000-07:00

The writings of the western Braj Bhasa and Khari Boli and of the eastern Awadhi and Bundeli dialects of the Indian subcontinent and also the writings of parts of Rajasthan in the west and of Bihar in the east that, strictly speaking, are not Hindi at all. Hindi literature also conventionally includes those works of Muslim writers (such as Jayasi) in the Persian script

Ust-orda Buryat

2004-10-20T18:44:00.000-07:00

Also called Ust-ordynsky Buryat, autonomous okrug (district) in Irkutsk oblast (province), east-central Russia. It lies west of Lake Baikal and extends across the Angara River. The okrug was created in 1937. Its plateau relief is partly in boreal forest, or taiga, of larch, spruce, fir, pine, and birch and partly in forest-steppe. Coal is mined in the west, where the Trans-Siberian Railroad crosses the okrug. Timber

India, Developments in the Deccan

2004-10-19T02:40:00.000-07:00

Toward the last years of Akbar's reign, the Nizam Shahis of Ahmadnagar in the Deccan had engaged the attention of the emperor considerably. The main objective of his intervention in Ahmadnagar was to gain Berar, which had been recently acquired by Ahmadnagar from Khandesh, and Balaghat, which had been a bone of contention between Ahmadnagar and Gujarat. By 1596 Berar was conquered

Jacob Of Serugh,

2004-10-18T02:00:00.000-07:00

Like his father, Jacob was ordained a priest, and by 503 he was episcopal visitor of Haura in Serugh. In 519 he was made bishop of Batnan in Serugh. By his contemporaries and by some moderns Jacob

Viscount

2004-10-17T21:38:00.000-07:00

In the Carolingian period of European history, the vicecomites, or missi comitis, were deputies, vicars, or lieutenants of the counts, whose official powers they exercised by delegation. As the countships eventually became hereditary, the lieutenancies did as well: for instance, in France the

Strachan, John

2004-10-16T23:43:00.000-07:00

Strachan emigrated from Scotland to Canada in 1799. After teaching school in Kingston, he was ordained in 1803 and appointed curate at Cornwall

Daigak Guksa

2004-10-14T23:36:00.000-07:00

A son of the Koryo king Munjong, Uich'on became a Buddhist monk at age 11, and in 1084 he went to the Sung court of China and stayed a year and a half studying and collecting Buddhist literature. When Uich'on returned home to Korea, he brought with him the doctrines of the Chinese T'ien T'ai (Korean pronunciation

Amidah

2004-10-13T17:02:00.000-07:00