StrangeNeedle

Palestine, History Of, The Crusades

2005-04-04T18:47:00.000-07:00

A year after the capture of Jerusalem by the crusaders, the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem was established (Christmas Day, 1100). Thereafter, there was no effective check to the expansion of the crusaders' power until the capture of their stronghold at Edessa (modern Urfa, Tur.) by the atabeg of Mosul, 'Imad ad-Din Zangi ibn Aq Sonqur, in 1144. Zangi's anticrusader campaign was carried on after

Afanasev, Aleksandr Nikolayevich

2005-04-02T20:59:00.000-08:00

Afanasev studied law at Moscow University. His early work included a study of Russian satirical journals of the late 18th century (1859) and commentaries on contemporary Russian literature. During the period

Bearing

2005-03-31T15:52:00.000-08:00

Most bearings support rotating shafts against either transverse (radial) or thrust (axial) loads. To minimize friction, the

Wiesel, Elie

2005-03-29T13:54:00.000-08:00

Wiesel's early life, spent in a small Hasidic community in the town of Sighet, was a rather hermetic existence of prayer and contemplation. In 1940 Sighet was annexed

Ipiutak Culture

2005-03-27T08:04:00.000-08:00

Eskimo culture of northwestern Alaska, probably dating from the 2nd to the 6th century AD. A Siberian origin has been suggested, based on similarities in burial practices and ceremonialism, animal carvings and designs, and some use of iron; but evidence is not conclusive. There seem to be links with the Kachemak culture (q.v.) as well as with some areas of southwestern and western

Apple Computer, Inc.

2005-03-25T10:49:00.000-08:00

Apple had its own plan to regain leadership: a sophisticated new generation of computers that would be dramatically easier to use. In 1979 Jobs had led a team of engineers to see the innovations created at the Xerox Corporation's Palo Alto (California) Research Center (PARC). There they were shown the first functional graphical user interface (GUI), featuring on-screen windows,

Jacobs, Harriet A.

2005-03-23T15:08:00.000-08:00

Born into slavery, Jacobs still was taught to read at an early age. She was orphaned as a child and formed a bond with her maternal grandmother, Molly Horniblow, who had been freed from slavery.

Brun, Johan Nordahl

2005-03-21T07:28:00.000-08:00

Brun was an indifferent student at the University of Copenhagen but, briefly, a prominent member of the so-called Norske Selskab (Norwegian Society), a group of younger Norwegian litterateurs in the Danish

Mcphee, John

2005-03-19T22:21:00.000-08:00

After graduating from Princeton University (A.B., 1953), McPhee studied for a year at

Yukon River

2005-03-19T07:49:00.000-08:00

Major North American river that flows through the central Yukon Territory of Canada and central Alaska. It measures 1,980 miles (3,190 kilometres) from the headwaters of the McNeil River (a tributary of the Nisutlin River). The Yukon discharges into the Bering Sea after flowing northwestward and then generally southwestward through a low plateau that slopes down across Alaska.

Paper

2005-03-17T21:37:00.000-08:00

Paper has been traced to China in about AD 105. It reached Central Asia by 751 and Baghdad by 793, and by the 14th century there were paper mills in several parts of Europe. The invention of the printing press in about 1450 greatly increased the demand for paper, and at the beginning of the

Fabales

2005-03-16T08:29:00.000-08:00

O.N. Allen and Ethel K. Allen, The Leguminosae: A Source Book of Characteristics, Uses, and Nodulation (1981), a descriptive summary, with an alphabetical listing of legume genera; J.B. Harborne, D. Boulter, and B.L. Turner (eds.), Chemotaxonomy of the Leguminosae (1971); R.M. Polhill and P.H. Raven (eds.), Advances in Legume Systematics (1981– ), an updated evolutionary classification of the Fabales; R.J. Summerfield and A.L. Bunting (eds.), Advances in Legume Science (1980); C.H. Stirton and J.L. Zarucchi (eds.), Advances in Legume Biology (1989); James A. Duke, Handbook of Legumes of World Economic Importance (1981), also with an alphabetical listing of genera; D. Isely, “Leguminosae and Homo sapiens,” Economic Botany, 36(1):46–70 (1982), a succinct summary of the contributions of legumes to human welfare; National Research Council (U.S.), Advisory Committee on Technology Innovation, Tropical Legumes: Resources for the Future (1979), a descriptive listing of utilized but undeveloped tropical legumes; J. Smartt, Tropical Pulses (1976); Harold J. Evans (ed.), Enhancing Biological Nitrogen Fixation (1975); J.R. Postgate, The Fundamentals of Nitrogen Fixation (1982); R.O.D. Dixon and C.T. Wheeler, Nitrogen Fixation in Plants (1986); J.M. Vincent (ed.), Nitrogen Fixation in Legumes (1982); W.J. Broughton (ed.), Nitrogen Fixation, vol. 3, Legumes (1982); J. Smartt, Grain Legumes: Evolution and Genetic Resources (1990); A. Geoffrey Norman (ed.), Soybean Physiology, Agronomy, and Utilization (1978); C. Webb and G. Hawtin (eds.), Lentils (1981).

Wychavon

2005-03-15T19:41:00.000-08:00

District, administrative county of Worcestershire, west-central England, in the southeastern part of the county. Most of the district is in the historic county of Worcestershire, but the area around Hinton and Childwickham and the parishes of Ashton-under-Hill and Kemerton belong the historic county of Gloucestershire. Wychavon district consists mostly of the

Xavier, Saint Francis

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

Xavier's eyes, however, were now fixed on a land reached only five years before by Europeans: Japan. His conversations in Malacca with Anjiro, a Japanese deeply interested in Christianity, had shown that this people was cultured and sophisticated, unlike the fishermen he had known in India or the headhunters of the Moluccas. On Aug. 15, 1549, a Portuguese ship bearing Francis,

Annan, Kofi

2005-03-13T10:49:00.000-08:00

Annan, whose father was governor of Asante province and a hereditary paramount chief of the Fante people, studied at the University of Science

Meloria

2005-03-12T13:01:00.000-08:00

Rocky islet in the Ligurian Sea, off the coast of Tuscany, north central Italy, opposite Livorno. Meloria is known as the site of two 13th-century naval battles, both features of the long-standing rivalry between Pisa and Genoa. In the first battle (1241) the fleets of the Holy Roman emperor Frederick II and of Pisa attacked a Genoese squadron and captured the English, French, and

Tara Brooch

2005-03-11T23:13:00.000-08:00

Fine example of a Celtic ring brooch, found on the seashore at Bettystown, south of Drogheda, and now preserved in the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin. The Tara brooch, probably dating from the 8th century, is of white bronze and consists of a large circle with about half of the centre empty and the other half filled in with sunken panels ornamented in extremely delicate

Gisulph Ii

2005-03-10T04:23:00.000-08:00

In 1052 Gisulph's father, Gaimar V, was assassinated in a revolt. Gisulph, held captive by the assassins, was rescued with the aid of Norman knights, who were rewarded by recognition of their territorial

Kohima

2005-03-08T16:44:00.000-08:00

Town, capital of Nagaland state, northeastern India. The town lies in the Naga Hills, 30 miles (48 km) southeast of the railroad at Dimapur. Kohima was the point of the farthest Japanese advance into British India during World War II; it was held briefly by Japanese troops in 1944 until retaken by the British. Pop. (1991 prelim.) 53,122.

Vaccinium

2005-03-07T17:03:00.000-08:00

Genus of about 150 species of shrubs, in the heath family (Ericaceae), found widely throughout the Northern Hemisphere and extending south along tropical mountain ranges. The shrubs are erect or creeping, with alternate, deciduous or evergreen leaves. The small flowers resemble those of the true heaths (Erica), but the ovary is beneath the flower. The flowers are clustered

Kyongsang-nam

2005-03-06T10:31:00.000-08:00

Do (province), southeastern South Korea. It is bordered east by the Sea of Japan, south by the Korea Strait, west by Cholla-nam and Cholla-puk do, and north by Kyongsang-puk do. Pusan, capital of the province, was separated administratively in 1963, when it was elevated to the status of a special city. The Naktong River and its tributaries irrigate most of the province. The Kimhae delta

Moses Lake

2005-03-06T05:43:00.000-08:00

City, Grant county, central Washington, U.S., situated on the northeast shore of Moses Lake. Located on a traditional hunting and fishing ground, the town was settled in 1897 and was laid out in 1910 as Neppel; in 1938 it was renamed for the Columbia-Sinkiuse Indian leader Moses. Located in the Columbia River basin, the city serves as the trade centre of an irrigated farm region producing

Silhouette Island

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

Granitic island, third largest of the Seychelles archipelago, Republic of Seychelles, in the western Indian Ocean. It has an area of 7.6 sq mi (20 sq km), rises to 2,467 ft (751 m), and is 12 mi (19 km) northwest of Mahé Island. Virgin forests still grow in the more inaccessible parts of its mountainous terrain. The island is protected as a national park. Copra and fish are the main products. Pop. (1982 est.) 255.

Barquisimeto

2005-03-03T06:55:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Lara estado (“state”), northwestern Venezuela. Situated on a wide terrace of the Turbio River at 1,856 feet (566 m) above sea level, Barquisimeto is swept by the drying trade winds but has a warm climate (mean average temperature 75° F [24° C]). One of Venezuela's oldest cities, it was founded in 1552 by the Spanish interim governor Juan de Villegas, who originally named the city Nueva

Goalundo Ghat

2005-03-03T04:42:00.000-08:00

Also called Goalundo, town, central Bangladesh. It is situated near the confluence of the Padma and Jamuna rivers. Goalundo Ghat is linked by road with Faridpur and Kushtia and is an important river-steamer and rail-spur terminus. Its principal transshipment commodities are rice, jute, oilseeds, sugarcane, and fish. Industries include rice milling and ice and candle manufacturing. Pop. (1981) 38,645.

Kra, Isthmus Of

2005-03-02T08:07:00.000-08:00

Thai Khokhok Kra narrow neck of southern Myanmar (Burma) and Thailand, connecting the Malay Peninsula to the Asian mainland. The isthmus lies between the Gulf of Thailand to the east and the Andaman Sea to the west. It is 25–30 miles (40–48 km) wide at its narrowest point, between Chumphon and Kra Buri (both in Thailand). Kra Buri, for which it was named, is at the head of the Pakchan River estuary, an inlet

China, Culture

2005-02-28T17:20:00.000-08:00

The predominance of state power also marked the intellectual and aesthetic life of Ming China. By requiring use of their interpretations of the Classics in education and in the civil service examinations, the state prescribed the Neo-Confucianism of the great Sung thinkers Ch'eng I and Chu Hsi as the orthodoxy of Ming times; by patronizing or commandeering craftsmen

China, Culture

2005-02-27T21:35:00.000-08:00

The theory that describes the action of the strong nuclear force. QCD was constructed on analogy to quantum electrodynamics (QED), the quantum theory of the electromagnetic force. In QED, the electromagnetic interactions of charged particles are described through the emission and subsequent absorption of massless photons, best known as the “particles” of light;

Cymbidium

2005-02-27T18:43:00.000-08:00

Cymbidium species grow in soil or on other plants and are popular as florists' plants and ornamentals. Most have short pseudobulbs

Baseball

2005-02-25T17:59:00.000-08:00

The Yakult Swallows of the Central League, which had won two Japan Series in the previous four seasons, defeated the Seibu Lions of the Pacific League four games to one in the 1997 postseason championship series. After a one-game-to-one tie in the two games played at the Lions' stadium in Tokorozawa, the Swallows swept the three-game series at Tokyo's Jingu Stadium, their home

Toarcian Stage

2005-02-24T03:52:00.000-08:00

Division representing all rocks deposited worldwide during the Toarcian Age (193–187 million years ago). The Toarcian is the fourth of 11 divisions (in ascending order) that make up the Jurassic System and is the uppermost stage of the Early Jurassic. No global stratotype section and point (GSSP) for the base of the stage has been approved by the International Commission on Stratigraphy.

Spence, Sir Basil (urwin)

2005-02-22T18:28:00.000-08:00

He was educated at the schools of architecture of London and Edinburgh universities and worked in Sir Edwin Lutyens' office on drawings for the Viceroy's House in New Delhi. Before

Molina, Mario

2005-02-22T08:50:00.000-08:00

In full Mario José Molina Mexican-born American chemist who was jointly awarded the 1995 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, along with chemists F. Sherwood Rowland and Paul Crutzen, for research in the 1970s concerning the decomposition of the ozonosphere, which shields the Earth from dangerous solar radiation. The discoveries of Molina and Rowland—that some industrially manufactured

Vow

2005-02-21T11:17:00.000-08:00

In the ancient Middle East, individuals often made vows to a deity to perform certain acts or to live in a certain way in return for a divine favour. Hannah, the mother of the Old Testament judge Samuel,

Sevagram

2005-02-19T03:52:00.000-08:00

Town, eastern Maharashtra state, western India. Originally called Segaon, the village was given its present name (Hindi: Village of Service) by Mohandas Gandhi, the Indian nationalist leader. In 1936 he left his ashram (hermitage) on the Sabarmati River, near Ahmadabad, and settled at Sevagram. There he founded another ashram and directed the independence movement. Within this he

Puffbird

2005-02-18T18:19:00.000-08:00

Puffbirds feed on flying insects. They resemble their close relatives the jacamars in habits

Brick And Tile

2005-02-17T21:25:00.000-08:00

The brick, first produced in a sun-dried form at least 6,000 years ago and the forerunner of a wide range of structural clay products used today, is a small building unit in the form of a rectangular block, formed from clay or shale or mixtures and burned (fired) in a kiln, or oven, to produce

Cacomistle

2005-02-16T20:23:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Cacomixl (Bassariscus), either of two species of large-eyed, long-tailed carnivores related to the raccoon (family Procyonidae). Cacomistles are grayish brown with lighter underparts and white patches over their eyes. The total length is about 60–100 cm (24–40 inches), about half of which is the bushy, black-and-white-ringed tail. The animals weigh about 1 kg (2.2 pounds) and have small faces with long

Biblical Literature, The Samaritan Pentateuch

2005-02-16T10:29:00.000-08:00

The importance of the recension known as the Samaritan Pentateuch lies in the fact that it constitutes an independent Hebrew witness to the text written in a late and developed form of the paleo-Hebrew script. Some of the Exodus fragments from Qumran demonstrate that it has close affinities with a pre-Christian Palestinian text type and testify to the faithfulness

China, Trends in the early Ch'ing

2005-02-15T00:52:00.000-08:00

The tripling of China's population from the beginning of the Ch'ing dynasty to the mid-19th century rested on the economic expansion that followed the consolidation of Manchu rule. This population growth has been frequently cited as the major cause of the decline of China in the 19th century. Certainly the year 1800 saw the Ch'ing state's surpluses, sufficient through the 18th

La Trémoille, Georges De

2005-02-13T22:34:00.000-08:00

At first allied with the duke of Burgundy in the power struggle that continued for many years during Charles VI's madness, La Trémoille switched his loyalty when the rival faction, the Armagnacs, came into power in 1413. He was a member of the pleasure-loving group that surrounded the dauphin,

General Confederation Of Labour

2005-02-10T20:52:00.000-08:00

French Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT), France's largest labour-union federation. The CGT was formed in 1895 and united in 1902 with the syndicalist-oriented Federation of Labour Exchanges (Fédération des Bourses du Travail). In its early years the CGT was racked by ideological divisions between socialist, syndicalist, and other factions. The confederation advocated the use of collective bargaining and the general

Rio Grande Do Sul

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

The region was originally thinly inhabited by Tupí-Guaraní, Ge, and Guaycurú Indians. It

Wainwright, Jonathan M.

2005-02-06T11:06:00.000-08:00

After he graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. (1906), Wainwright joined the cavalry and saw action in Europe during World War I. In September 1940 he was promoted

Sayers, Gale

2005-02-04T02:13:00.000-08:00

Sayers first gained national attention as a two-time

Parallel

2005-02-03T03:17:00.000-08:00

Imaginary line extending around the Earth parallel to the equator; it is used to indicate latitude. The 38th parallel, for example, has a latitude of 38° N or 38° S. See latitude and longitude.

Astyanax

2005-01-31T17:09:00.000-08:00

In Greek legend, prince, son of the Trojan prince Hector and his wife Andromache; he was also known as Scamandrius, after the River Scamander, near Troy. After the fall of Troy he was hurled from the battlements of the city by the Greek warrior Neoptolemus. According to medieval legend, however, he survived the war, established the kingdom of Messina in Sicily, and founded

Clonorchiasis

2005-01-30T14:11:00.000-08:00

Chronic infection caused by Clonorchis sinensis, or liver fluke, a parasitic worm some 10 to 25 mm (0.4 to 1 inch) long that lives in the bile ducts of the liver in humans and other mammals. Clonorchiasis is a common disease in China, Vietnam, Korea, and Japan and is acquired by eating freshwater fish containing the fluke larvae. The fish are themselves infected by swallowing the

Adams, Henry (brooks)

2005-01-26T15:32:00.000-08:00

Adams was the product of Boston's Brahmin class, a cultured elite that traced its lineage to Puritan New England. He was the great-grandson of John Adams and the grandson of John Quincy Adams, both presidents

Use

2005-01-24T17:03:00.000-08:00

In medieval English property law, the right of one person to take the profits of land belonging to another. It involved at least two and usually three persons. One man (A) would convey or enfeoff land to another (B) on the condition that the latter would use it not for his own benefit but for the benefit of a third man (C)—who could be A himself. C (or A), thus, had the profits—that is, the

Encomienda

2005-01-19T15:31:00.000-08:00

In colonial Spanish America, legal system by which the Spanish crown attempted to define the status of the Indian population in its American colonies. It was based upon the practice of exacting tribute from Muslims and Jews during the Reconquista (“Reconquest”) of Muslim Spain. Although the original intent of the encomienda was to reduce the abuses of forced labour

Avalonian Orogeny

2005-01-18T09:38:00.000-08:00

A mountain-building event that affected the eastern portion of the Appalachian Geosyncline in late Precambrian time (Precambrian time occurred from 3.96 billion to 540 million years ago). Evidence for the orogeny consists of igneous intrusions, folding of strata, and the development of angular unconformities in the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland, the eastern portion

Raymond Vi

2005-01-15T11:18:00.000-08:00

The son of Count Raymond V, Raymond VI was a nephew of King Louis VII of France and brother-in-law of King Richard I of England. Tolerant toward the many

Chandler, Raymond

2005-01-14T14:52:00.000-08:00

From 1896 to 1912 Chandler lived in England with his mother, a British subject of Irish birth. Although he was an American

Korchnoi, Viktor

2005-01-12T23:10:00.000-08:00

As a youngster, Korchnoi lived through the World War II siege of Leningrad (1941–43). He became a Soviet master in 1951, an international master in 1954, and an international grandmaster

Stuttgart

2005-01-10T08:34:00.000-08:00

City, northern district seat of Arkansas county (the southern seat is De Witt), east-central Arkansas, U.S., about 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Little Rock. Settled in 1878 by Lutheran minister Adam Buerkle (born in Stuttgart, Germany) and his congregation, the city was incorporated in 1889, raised to a city of the second class in 1897, and to that of the first class in 1917. Stuttgart has long been an agricultural

Dominance Hierarchy

2005-01-07T22:53:00.000-08:00

In most cases

Grubenmann, Hans Ulrich; And Grubenmann, Johannes

2005-01-05T10:29:00.000-08:00

Swiss carpenters and bridge builders whose bridge (1758) over the Limmat River at the town of Wettingen, near Zürich, is believed to be the first timber bridge to employ a true arch in its design. The brothers' ingenious combination of the arch and truss principles made it possible to construct longer and better timber bridges

John I Tzimisces

2005-01-04T01:11:00.000-08:00

Descended from an aristocratic Armenian family, John was related through his mother to the general, and later emperor, Nicephorus II

Argentina

2005-01-02T13:21:00.000-08:00

On Dec. 10, 1999, Fernando de la Rúa assumed office as president of Argentina, marking the end of Carlos Saúl Menem's 10-year tenure. The Alliance (composed of de la Rúa's Radical Civic Union [UCR], the Front for a Country in Solidarity [Frepaso], and several smaller parties) held a plurality of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies but remained a minority in the Senate, where Menem's Justicialist

Thompson, Lucky

2004-12-31T02:49:00.000-08:00

Thompson played tenor saxophone in the early 1940s with Lionel Hampton, the legendary Billy Eckstine band, and Count Basie before a highly active period in Los Angeles working with Dizzy

Gaddi, Taddeo

2004-12-29T11:56:00.000-08:00

His earliest authenticated work is a small triptych with the Virgin enthroned with Child and saints, signed and

Olybrius

2004-12-26T20:32:00.000-08:00

Before he became head of state, Olybrius was a wealthy senator; he married Placidia, the daughter of Valentinian III (Western emperor 425–455). Gaiseric, king of the Vandals, a Germanic people who maintained a kingdom in North Africa, hoped that Olybrius would be made Western emperor but his support made Olybrius suspect to the

Alliance

2004-12-24T22:59:00.000-08:00

City, Stark county, northeastern Ohio, U.S., on the Mahoning River, 21 mi (34 km) northeast of Canton. In 1854 the villages of Williamsport, Freedom, and Liberty were incorporated as the village of Alliance, so named for the junction and crossing there of the former New York Central and Pennsylvania railroads. The village of Mount Union (settled in 1833) became a part of Alliance in 1854. Now highly

Zambezi River, Plant life

2004-12-23T23:06:00.000-08:00

The vegetation along the upper and middle course of the Zambezi is predominantly savanna, with deciduous trees, grass, and open woodland. Mopane woodland (Colophospermum mopane) is predominant on the alluvial flats of the low-lying river valleys and is highly susceptible to fire. Grass, when present, is typically short and sparse. Forestland with species of the genus

Graysby

2004-12-20T17:14:00.000-08:00

Species of sea bass (q.v.).

Barb

2004-12-18T08:14:00.000-08:00

Also called Barbary, native horse breed of the Barbary states of North Africa. It is related to, and probably an offshoot of, the Arabian horse but is larger, with a lower placed tail, and has hair at the fetlock (above and behind the hoof). The coat colour is usually bay or brown. Like the Arabian, it is noted for speed and endurance. A variety known as the Spanish-Barb is bred in small numbers in the

Haldane, Richard Burdon, 1st Viscount Haldane Of Cloan

2004-12-17T13:27:00.000-08:00

Educated at the universities of Göttingen and Edinburgh, Haldane was called to the English bar in 1879 and became a queen's counsel in 1890. He sat in the House of Commons from 1885 until his elevation

Platonism

2004-12-14T14:43:00.000-08:00

Since Plato refused to write his own metaphysics, knowledge of its final shape has to be derived from hints in the dialogues and statements by Aristotle and, to a far lesser extent, other ancient authorities. According to these, Plato's doctrine of Forms was, in its general character, highly mathematical, the Forms being somehow identified with, or explained in terms

Zonda

2004-12-13T04:22:00.000-08:00

The name zonda in Argentina also refers to a hot, humid wind that blows from the north over the plains and precedes a low-pressure centre.

Hyphochytridiomycetes

2004-12-10T13:16:00.000-08:00

A class of mostly marine fungi (division Mycota) containing 15 species. The class is distinguished by the asexual production of motile cells (zoospores) with a single, anterior, feathery, whiplike structure (flagellum). Sexual reproduction has not been found among these fungi.

Dubnow, Simon Markovich

2004-12-08T09:46:00.000-08:00

Dubnow early ceased to practice Jewish rituals. He later came to believe that his vocation as a historian of Judaism was as true to the faith of his ancestors as were the Talmudic

San Fernando

2004-12-06T22:40:00.000-08:00

Cabecera (principal built-up area) and partido (political subdivision) of Gran (Greater) Buenos Aires, Arg. It lies north of the city of Buenos Aires, in Buenos Aires province, on the Río de la Plata estuary. Colonization of the area began with the second and permanent founding of Buenos Aires (1580). During this period the region was known as Costa de Monte Grande. In 1780 the parish of

Cohoes

2004-12-05T21:21:00.000-08:00

City, Albany county, eastern New York, U.S. It lies at the Cohoes Falls (locally called the Great Falls; 70 feet [21 metres] high) of the Mohawk River, where it tumbles into the Hudson River. Settled in 1665 by the Dutch Van Schaick family on the colonial military road between Albany (10 miles [16 km] south) and Lake George, its name is of Algonquian origin and means “pine tree.” Growth was influenced

John I

2004-12-02T11:39:00.000-08:00

King of Aragon (1387–1395), son of Peter IV. Influenced by his wife, Violante, he pursued a pro-French policy but refused to become involved in the Hundred Years' War. He died by a fall from his horse, like his namesake, cousin, and contemporary of Castile, John I. He was a man of insignificant character, with a taste for artificial verse.

Armorican Massif

2004-12-01T10:55:00.000-08:00

French Massif Armoricain, flattened erosional upland, or peneplain, encompassing the western French départements of Finistère, Côtes-d'Armor, Morbihan, and Ille-et-Vilaine and parts of Manche, Orne, Mayenne, Maine-et-Loire, Loire-Atlantique, and Vendée. The region has an area of approximately 25,000 square miles (65,000 square km) and is bounded by the Paris Basin and the Seine River to the north and by the lowlands

Biblical Literature, The Samaritan Pentateuch

2004-11-29T23:59:00.000-08:00

Furniture, Kinds of accessory furnishings

2004-11-27T19:11:00.000-08:00

Besides the aforementioned kinds of furniture and all the many special forms (which it would be almost impossible to list), there is an extensive group of accessory furnishings that is not furniture in the strict sense but, nevertheless, constitutes an important element in the furnishing of interiors. Included here are clocks and other mechanical works, mirrors,

Qarakhanid Dynasty

2004-11-25T03:23:00.000-08:00

The Qarakhanids, who belonged to the Qarluq tribal confederation, became prominent during the 9th century. With the disintegration of the Iranian Samanid dynasty, the Qarakhanids took over the Samanid territories in Transoxania. In 999 Harun (or Hasan) Bughra Khan, grandson of the paramount tribal chief of the Qarluq confederation,

Adamson, Joy; And Adamson, George

2004-11-22T17:55:00.000-08:00

Following an education in Vienna and two divorces, Austrian-born Joy Gessner, living in Kenya from 1939, married George Adamson (1944), a British game warden who had

Beast Tale

2004-11-21T17:38:00.000-08:00

A prose or verse narrative similar to the beast fable in that it portrays animal characters acting as humans but unlike the fable in that it usually lacks a moral. Joel Chandler Harris's Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings (1880) derived many episodes from beast tales carried to the United States by African slaves. Animal Farm (1945), an anti-utopian satire by George Orwell, is

Anthony, Katharine (susan)

2004-11-18T22:52:00.000-08:00

A college teacher of geometry, Anthony was deeply interested in psychiatry. Eventually this interest came to shape her approach to biography,

Ob River

2004-11-17T00:27:00.000-08:00

The Ob River is described in broad geographic surveys of North Asia that provide information on physical features and on economic, social, and cultural conditions: Paul E. Lydolph, Geography of the U.S.S.R., 5th ed. (1990); Michael T. Florinsky (ed.), McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Russia and the Soviet Union (1961), with short articles on the individual rivers; M.F. Grin, et al., Soviet Union: A Geographical Survey, ed. by S.V. Kalesnik and V.F. Pavlenko (1976; originally published in Russian, 1972); and Great Rivers of the World (1984), published by the National Geographic Society. M.I. L'vovich, Reki SSSR (1971), is a well-known work treating the hydrologic characteristics of the main rivers of the former U.S.S.R. Lev Konstantinovich Davydov, Gidrografiia SSSR, vol. 2, Gidrografiia raionov (1955), provides detailed studies of regional hydrology and hydrography. G.V. Voropaev and A.B. Avakian (eds.), Vodokhranilishcha i ikh vozdeistvie na okruzhaiushchuiu sredu (1986), examines the influence of water reservoirs on the environment. Robert Paul Jourdan, “Siberia's Empire Road: The River Ob,” National Geographic, 149(2):145–181 (February 1986), describes the life of the peoples of the area, the environment, and the economic situation. Useful discussions of landscape evolution, the extent of glaciation, and long-term climate change in this region include Mikhail G. Grosswald, “Late-Weichselian Ice Sheets in Arctic and Pacific Siberia,” Quaternary International, 45-46(1):3–18 (1998), and Valery Astakhov “The Last Ice Sheet of the Kara Sea: Terrestrial Constraints on its Age,” Quaternary International, 45-46(1):19–28 (1998).

Mime And Pantomime

2004-11-15T05:46:00.000-08:00

Under the Victorians the subjects

Amendola, Giovanni

2004-11-12T05:37:00.000-08:00

As a young journalist, Amendola expressed his philosophical and ideological views in articles appearing first in La Voce (“The Voice”) and then in the newspapers Resto di Carlino and Corriere della sera. He urged Italy's entry into World War I in

Gance, Abel

2004-11-10T06:23:00.000-08:00

Working in the cinema from 1909, Gance first gained recognition with his films Mater dolorosa (1917; “Sorrowful Mother,” remade in 1932) and La Dixième Symphonie (1918; “Tenth Symphony”). Influenced by the epic style of the pioneer American

Marryat, Frederick

2004-11-08T14:52:00.000-08:00

Marryat entered the Royal Navy at the age of 14 and served with distinction in many parts of the world before retiring in 1830 with a captain's rank. He then began a series of adventure novels marked

Gabrovo

2004-11-06T22:27:00.000-08:00

Town, north-central Bulgaria. It is situated on both banks of the Yantra River, at the foot of the Shipka Pass in the Balkan Mountains. A major industrial centre, Gabrovo has a high in-migration population from the surrounding area. Called the “Bulgarian Manchester,” the town has a large textile industry—clothes, leather goods, and accessories. Other manufactures are machine

Clover

2004-11-04T10:58:00.000-08:00

Any member of the genus Trifolium, of the pea family (Fabaceae), comprising 300 or more annual and perennial species, occurring in most temperate and subtropical regions (except Southeast Asia and Australia). The alternate leaves are compound, usually with three toothed leaflets. The very small, fragrant flowers are crowded into dense heads, or spikes. The small,

Arabia, History Of, Sabaeans

2004-11-03T20:44:00.000-08:00

The people who called themselves Saba' (biblical Sheba) are both the earliest and the most abundantly attested in the surviving written records. Their centre was at Ma'rib, east of present-day San'a' and on the edge of the sand desert. (In the indigenous inscriptions Ma'rib is rendered Mryb or Mrb; the modern spelling is based on an unjustified “correction” by medieval Arabic

Piezoelectricity

2004-11-01T10:38:00.000-08:00

Pressure on certain

North American Indian Languages

2004-10-30T20:59:00.000-07:00

The first comprehensive classification into families of the North American Indian languages was made in 1891 by the American John Wesley Powell, who based his study on impressionistic resemblances in vocabulary. A principle of nomenclature adopted by Powell has been widely used ever since: families are named by adding -an to the name of one prominent member; e.g., Caddoan

Zaccaria, Benedetto

2004-10-28T08:38:00.000-07:00

In 1264 Zaccaria was named Genoese ambassador to the Byzantine emperor, Michael VIII Paleologus, who bestowed on him and his brother Manuele the fief of Phocaea, north of Smyrna, with its alum mines. On this foundation the brothers built a commercial empire,

Mengelberg, Willem

2004-10-25T15:57:00.000-07:00

Trained as a pianist at the Cologne Conservatory, he became a conductor at Luzern, Switz., in 1891. He became renowned as an interpreter of Beethoven, Mahler, and Richard

Hale, John Parker

2004-10-23T23:44:00.000-07:00

After

Gamaliel I

2004-10-20T23:40:00.000-07:00

According to tradition—but not historic fact—Gamaliel succeeded his father, Simon, and his grandfather, the renowned sage Hillel (to whose school of thought he belonged), as nasi (president) of the Sanhedrin, the supreme Jewish court.

Marriage Law

2004-10-17T15:00:00.000-07:00

The body of legal specifications and requirements and other laws that regulate the initiation, continuation, and validity of marriages. Marriage is a legally sanctioned union usually between one man and one woman. At the beginning of the 21st century, marriage between people of the same sex was legally recognized in two countries, The Netherlands (2001) and Belgium (2003), and

China, Communist-Nationalist cooperation

2004-10-16T05:11:00.000-07:00

By then, however, the CCP was in serious difficulty. The railway unions had been brutally suppressed, and there were few places in China where it was safe to be a known Communist. In June 1923 the Third Congress of the CCP met in Canton, where Sun Yat-sen provided a sanctuary. After long debate this congress accepted the Comintern strategy pressed by Maring—that Communists

Fruit Bat

2004-10-14T08:35:00.000-07:00

Any of numerous tropical Old World bats of the family Pteropodidae (q.v.).

Eckstorm, Fannie Pearson Hardy

2004-10-11T08:02:00.000-07:00

Fannie Hardy was the daughter of a well-known fur trader, outdoorsman, naturalist, and taxidermist, from whom she early absorbed a love and deep