MedicalGlove

Estate Agent Fitzrovia

2006-10-25T19:40:00.000-07:00

Robert Irving Burns specialise in London Commercial and Residential property services. They are a specialist in estate agent fitzrovia, amongst other London areas such as Soho and Oxford Circus.

Boii

2005-03-30T19:31:00.000-08:00

A Celtic tribe, one section of which settled in Cisalpine Gaul around Bononia (Bologna, Italy) and another in what was later Bohemia, to which it gave its name. The Cisalpine group, after struggling against the Romans throughout the 3rd century BC, was subdued and made a Latin colony in 191 BC. The second group, which joined with another Celtic tribe, the Helvetii, to invade Gaul, was

Ash'ari, Abu Al-hasan Al-

2005-03-30T13:39:00.000-08:00

An indispensable work for those who wish to read al-Ash'ari is Richard J. McCarthy (ed.), The Theology of al-Ash'ari (1953), containing the texts of two of his theological treatises with their English translation. W. Montgomery Watt, Islamic Philosophy and Theology, 2nd ed. (1985), places al-Ash'ari in the chronological development of Muslim thought.

Armillaria

2005-03-28T08:11:00.000-08:00

Genus of about 40 species of fungi of the order Agaricales (q.v.), in the class Basidiomycetes, found throughout northern North America and Europe, principally in forests of hardwoods or mixed conifers. In suitable environments, members of this genus may live for hundreds of years, and certain specimens have been identified as among the largest and oldest living

Disasters

2005-03-27T00:47:00.000-08:00

March 20, Dhaka, Bangladesh. A gas cylinder belonging to a balloon

Clovio, Giulio

2005-03-26T14:28:00.000-08:00

Clovio is said to have studied at Rome under Giulio Romano and at Verona under Girolamo de' Libri. His book of 26 pictures representing the procession of Corpus Domini, in Rome, was the work of nine years, and the covers were executed by Benvenuto Cellini. The British Museum has

Allier River

2005-03-25T01:38:00.000-08:00

Latin Elaver, river, central France, that joins the Loire River 4 miles (6 km) west of Nevers after a course of 255 miles (410 km). Rising in Lozère département, it races through deep gorges along structural lines of weakness between the Margeride and Velay mountains. Traversing the basins of Langeac and Brioude, it receives torrents from the mountains of Dore and Puy-de-Dôme and flows broad and

Mckinley

2005-03-23T19:50:00.000-08:00

County, northwestern New Mexico, U.S., bordered on the west by Arizona. It is a scenic region with highly varied terrain, in the Navajo section of the Colorado Plateaus. In the west, a red shale valley lies between red sandstone cliffs; angular rock outcroppings rise amid the near-desert plains in the far west. Buttes and mesas appear throughout McKinley county, including

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, Blending of rival systems: the Middle Ages

2005-03-23T03:11:00.000-08:00

At the time of the birth of Christ, ideological conditions within the Mediterranean world accelerated the mingling of Hellenic and Hebraic traditions. Philo Judaeus laid the groundwork; Clement of Alexandria and Origen followed him. The craft of allegorical syncretism—that is, making rival systems accommodate one another through the transformation of their

Channel Islands

2005-03-21T23:54:00.000-08:00

French Îles Normandes, or Anglo-normandes, archipelago in the English Channel, west of the Cotentin peninsula of France, at the entrance to the Gulf of Saint-Malo, 80 miles (130 km) south of the English coast. The islands are dependencies of the British crown (and not strictly part of the United Kingdom), having been so attached since the Norman Conquest of 1066, when they formed part of the duchy of Normandy. They comprise four

Wilson, Harriet E.

2005-03-21T23:15:00.000-08:00

Almost nothing is known of Wilson's personal history until

Fusulina

2005-03-20T11:05:00.000-08:00

Genus of extinct fusulinid foraminiferans (protozoans with a shell) found as fossils in marine rocks of Late Carboniferous age (286 to 320 million years old). Fusulina, an excellent index fossil for Late Carboniferous rocks, enables widely separated rocks to be correlated.

Nagarjuna

2005-03-19T09:51:00.000-08:00

Indian Buddhist monk-philosopher and founder of the Madhyamika (“Middle Path”) school whose clarification of the concept of sunyata (“emptiness”) is regarded as an intellectual and spiritual achievement of the highest order. He is recognized as a patriarch by several later Buddhist schools. The two basic works that are substantially his and that have remained available

Nereid

2005-03-18T10:42:00.000-08:00

In Greek religion, any of the daughters (numbering 50 or 100) of the sea god Nereus (eldest son of Pontus, a personification of the sea) and of Doris, daughter of Oceanus (the god of the water encircling the flat Earth). The Nereids were depicted as young girls, inhabiting any water, salt or fresh, and as benign toward humanity. They were popular figures in Greek literature. The best

Progeria

2005-03-18T00:34:00.000-08:00

Human disorder with many characteristics of premature aging. Affected persons have parchment-like skin, become bald or gray-haired early in life, and tend to develop diseases related to aging decades before they occur in normal individuals. Initially, progeria was studied as a model of normal aging, but because not all organs are affected, this is no longer thought

Maubeuge

2005-03-17T08:06:00.000-08:00

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

Thomason, George

2005-03-16T21:18:00.000-08:00

English bookseller whose collection of printed books, handbills, pamphlets, ballads, newspapers, and other writings (cataloged and bound from 1640 to 1661) constitute one of the most important historical sources for the English Civil Wars and Commonwealth. The original collection reportedly contained more than 32,000 separate

Azay-le-rideau

2005-03-16T18:59:00.000-08:00

Town and château, Indre-et-Loire département, Centre région, central France. The town lies along the Indre River a few miles upstream from its confluence with the Loire River, about 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Tours. Originally the site of a Roman villa, the town was known in the 12th century as Azayum. When the French dauphin (later Charles VII) was insulted by the Burgundian guard

Hawkshaw, Sir John

2005-03-15T06:13:00.000-08:00

In 1845 Hawkshaw became chief engineer of the Manchester and Leeds Railway, introducing steeper gradients than any previously

Tyard, Pontus De

2005-03-14T23:57:00.000-08:00

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

Ubiquinone

2005-03-14T10:07:00.000-08:00

Also called Coenzyme Q, any of several members of a series of organic compounds belonging to a class called quinones. Widely distributed in plants, animals, and microorganisms, ubiquinones function in conjunction with enzymes in cellular respiration (i.e., oxidation-reduction processes). The naturally occurring ubiquinones differ from each other only slightly in chemical structure,

Dielectric

2005-03-13T19:43:00.000-08:00

Insulating material or a very poor conductor of electric current. When dielectrics are placed in an electric field, practically no current flows in them because, unlike metals, they have no loosely bound, or free, electrons that may drift through the material. Instead, electric polarization occurs. The positive charges within the dielectric are displaced minutely

Daehlie, Bjørn

2005-03-13T17:37:00.000-08:00

Involved in many sports growing up, Daehlie was not serious about cross-country

Andersen, Hans Christian

2005-03-12T06:21:00.000-08:00

Elias Bredsdorff, Hans Christian Andersen: The Story of His Life and Work, 1805–75 (1975, reissued 1994); Bo Grønbech, Hans Christian Andersen (1980); Sven Hakon Rossel (ed.), Hans Christian Andersen: Danish Writer and Citizen of the World (1996); and Jackie Wullschläger, Hans Christian Andersen: The Life of a Storyteller (2000).

Sackler, Arthur M.

2005-03-11T18:59:00.000-08:00

Sackler studied at New York University (B.S., 1933; M.D., 1937) and worked as a psychiatrist at Creedmore State Hospital in Queens, New York (1944–46), where in 1949 he founded the Creedmore Institute of Psychobiological Studies, a field in

Buddhism, Yogacara/Vijñanavada (Fa-hsiang/Hosso)

2005-03-10T15:24:00.000-08:00

The Yogacara (or Vijñanavada) school is traditionally ascribed to the brothers Asanga and Vasubandhu (5th century AD), to whom may be added Sthiramati (6th century). These writers were systematizers of doctrines already being taught and contained in such literature as the Lankavatara-sutra and the Mahayana-sraddhotpada-sastra (attributed to Asvaghosa but probably written in Central

Floral Decoration, 19th century

2005-03-09T17:42:00.000-08:00

The interest of the 19th-century Romantics in nature made floral arrangements an important part of a decorative scheme. With the advent of the clipper ship more exotic plant materials were introduced into Europe and the United States. From China came new varieties of chrysanthemums, bleeding heart, rhododendrons, and azaleas; from South Africa, the gladiolus, freesia,

Zambia, Resources

2005-03-09T00:33:00.000-08:00

Copper, the basis of Zambia's prosperity in the first decade of independence, is a declining asset. Alternatives such as optical glass fibre have reduced market demand, and exhaustion of reserves in existing mining areas has led to increased costs. Large-scale mining could end by 2005, although small-scale operations will continue long after that. Cobalt occurs in association

Beja

2005-03-08T05:13:00.000-08:00

City, capital, and concelho (township), Beja distrito (“district”), southern Portugal, southeast of Lisbon. According to legend, Beja was founded by Ulysses, and it was named Pax Julia by Julius Caesar in 48 BC to commemorate the peace treaty signed in Beja by the Romans and Lusitanians. The city is partly enclosed by walls of Roman origin with two Roman gateways. Afonso I captured

Perseus

2005-03-08T01:36:00.000-08:00

The elder son of King Philip V of Macedonia, Perseus commanded troops in his father's wars against Rome (199) and Aetolia (189). After three years of intriguing against his brother Demetrius, accusing

Priesthood

2005-03-07T23:00:00.000-08:00

The Vedic, Brahmanic, and Upanishadic conceptions of priesthood and the predominance of the Brahman caste in Hinduism are discussed in Arthur Berriedale Keith, The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads, 2 vol. (1925, reprinted 1989); S. Radhakrishnan, The Hindu View of Life (1927, reissued 1980), and Eastern Religions and Western Thought, 2nd ed. (1940, reissued 1991); J.H. Hutton, Caste in India, 2nd ed. (1951); and R.C. Zaehner, Hinduism (1962, reissued 1977), with a full bibliography. C.J. Fuller, Servants of the Goddess: The Priests of a South Indian Temple (1984), analyzes the complex interrelationships between the priests of the Minaksi Temple in Madurai and the economic, political, and social structure of contemporary India. V. Bouillier and G. Toffin (eds.), Priesthood, Power, and Authority in the Himalayas (1989), in English and French, is a collection of ethnographic papers concerning the role of the priesthood in Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and two tribal religions, the Tharu of Dang and the cult of Kham Magar. The sublimation of priesthood in Buddhism in India, China, and Japan is treated in Paul Dahlke, Buddhism and Its Place in the Mental Life of Mankind (1927); and Edward Conze, Buddhism: Its Essence and Development (1951, reissued 1975). D. Howard Smith, Chinese Religions (1968), introduces religious thought and sacerdotal practice in China. Religious Studies in Japan (1959), a collection of papers from the ninth International Congress for the History of Religions, is a very informative composite volume in English by a group of Japanese scholars. Texts concerning the Zen sect include Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki, Manual of Zen Buddhism, 2nd ed. (1950, reissued 1983); and Alan Watts, The Way of Zen (1957, reprinted 1989); while reference is made to it in R.C. Zaehner, Mysticism, Sacred and Profane (1957, reissued 1980). The priesthood in Shinto is discussed in D.C. Holtom, The National Faith of Japan (1938, reissued 1965).

Monash, Sir John

2005-03-06T18:38:00.000-08:00

Monash attended Scotch College and Melbourne University obtaining degrees in the arts, in civil engineering, and law. Responsible for the design of a number of bridges in Melbourne and Tasmania, Monash pioneered

Shanghai, Climate

2005-03-05T20:48:00.000-08:00

The city's maritime location fosters a mild climate characterized by minimal seasonal contrast. The average annual temperature is about 58° F (14° C); the July maximum averages about 80° F (27° C), and the average January minimum is about 37° F (3° C). About 45 inches (1,140 millimetres) of precipitation fall annually, with the heaviest rainfall in June and the lightest in December.

Aeschylus, Texts

2005-03-05T09:59:00.000-08:00

The Greek text is available in Denys Page (ed.), Aeschyli septem quae supersunt tragoedias (1972, reprinted 1975), in the Oxford Classical Text series. Herbert Weir Smyth (trans.), Aeschylus, 2 vol. (1922–26, reprinted 1973–83), in the Loeb Classical Library series, presents the original text with an English translation.

Shire

2005-03-04T11:35:00.000-08:00

In Great Britain, a county. The Anglo-Saxon shire (Old English scir) was an administrative division next above the hundred and seems to have existed in the south in the time of Alfred the Great (871–899) and to have been fully established by the reign of Edgar (959–975). It was administered by an ealdorman (alderman) and by a sheriff (i.e., shire-reeve), who presided over the shire court. After the

Augustine, Saint

2005-03-03T21:35:00.000-08:00

Although autobiographical narrative makes up much of the first 9 of the 13 books of Augustine's Confessiones (397; Confessions), autobiography is incidental to the main purpose of the work. For Augustine confessions is a catchall term for acts of religiously authorized speech: praise of God, blame of self, confession of faith. The book is a richly textured meditation by a middle-aged

Gandak River

2005-03-02T02:51:00.000-08:00

Also called Narayani River, river in central Nepal and northern India. It is formed by the union of the Kali and Trisuli rivers, which rise in the Great Himalaya Range in Nepal; from this junction to the Indian border the river is called the Narayani. It flows southwest into India and then turns southeast along the Uttar Pradesh–Bihar state border and across the Gangetic Plain. It enters the Ganges River

Kebnekaise

2005-03-01T04:34:00.000-08:00

Mountain range in the län (county) of Norrbotten, northern Sweden. It lies 25 miles (40 km) from the Norwegian border and about 103 miles (166 km) north of the Arctic Circle. The name is a Sami word meaning “kettle top.” One of its peaks, Mount Kebne (6,926 feet [2,111 m]), is the highest in Sweden. The roughly triangular area of the mountain range covers approximately 18 square miles (47 square km); it is uninhabited

Khartoum

2005-03-01T00:57:00.000-08:00

Arabic Al-Khurtum (“Elephant's Trunk”), city, executive capital of The Sudan, just south of the confluence of the Blue and White Nile rivers. It has bridge connections with its sister towns, Khartoum North and Omdurman, with which it forms The Sudan's largest conurbation. Originally an Egyptian army camp (pitched 1821), Khartoum grew into a garrisoned army town. The Mahdists besieged and destroyed

Arts, East Asian, The Tokugawa, or Edo, period

2005-02-28T17:42:00.000-08:00

At the death of the Momoyama leader Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1598, his five-year-old son, Hideyori, inherited nominal rule, but true power was held by Hideyoshi's counselors, among whom Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543–1616) was the most prominent. Ieyasu assumed the title of shogun in 1603, and the de facto seat of government was moved from Kyoto to his headquarters in Edo (now Tokyo). Ieyasu completed his

Kyoga Lake

2005-02-28T15:19:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Kioga Lake, lake in central Uganda, East Africa, north of Lake Victoria, formed by the Victoria Nile in its middle course. The many-armed lake is shallow, with swampy, papyrus-reeded shores; masses of papyrus are broken loose by strong winds and sometimes have completely blocked the river. Navigation for shallow-draft vessels is possible between Namasagali and Masindi Port. The

Hoffman, Daniel

2005-02-26T11:16:00.000-08:00

Hoffman attended Columbia University in New York, from which he received an A.B. (1947), an M.A. (1949), and a Ph.D. (1956). During World War II he served in the Air Force, working for a journal that covered

Wicomico

2005-02-26T02:37:00.000-08:00

County, southeastern Maryland, U.S., bordered by Delaware to the north, the Pocomoke River to the east, the Wicomico River to the southwest, and the Nanticoke River to the west and northwest. Salisbury, the county seat, developed as the commercial centre of the Delmarva Peninsula and became one of the largest ports in Maryland. Parklands include Wicomico Demonstration

Tasmania, Drainage

2005-02-25T07:27:00.000-08:00

There are two major river systems—the Derwent in the southeast and the South Esk in the northeast—many small systems—especially westward, flowing to the west coast—and innumerable lakes. The Central Plateau is studded with more than 4,000 lakes in a landscape similar to northern Canada and Finland; almost all, including Great Lake, are shallow. Lake St. Clair, the deepest

Gladstone, William Ewart

2005-02-24T09:47:00.000-08:00

Gladstone's first Cabinet (1868–74) was perhaps the most capable of the century. Its prime minister tried to supervise the work of each department, devoting his main efforts to Irish and foreign policy. The Irish Protestant church was successfully disestablished in 1869, and a first attempt to grapple with oppressive landlordism in Ireland was made unsuccessfully in 1870; abroad,

Koechlin, Charles

2005-02-24T02:27:00.000-08:00

Influenced by Jules Massenet, Gabriel Fauré, and André Gédalge, under whom he studied, Koechlin experimented with the techniques of polytonality (the use of two or

Byng, John

2005-02-23T18:04:00.000-08:00

British admiral executed for failing to relieve the naval base at Minorca (in the western Mediterranean) from a French siege. By initiating legal proceedings against Byng, the administration of Prime Minister Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, hoped to divert public attention from its

Forel, François-alphonse

2005-02-23T13:40:00.000-08:00

While lecturing in physiology and anatomy at the University of Lausanne, Switz., Forel began his investigations of lakes, notably Lake Geneva, and he published his findings in Le Léman: Monographie limnologique, 3 vol. (1892–1904). His standard work on limnology, Handbuch der

Mer De Glace

2005-02-22T08:20:00.000-08:00

(French: “Sea of Ice”), one of the longest glaciers in the Alps, extending for 3.5 miles (5.6 km) on the northern side of Mont Blanc near Chamonix, Fr. Formed by the confluence of the Géant and Leschaux glaciers below the Tacul massif of Mont Blanc, the glacier descends to within 0.5 mile (0.8 km) of Les Tines in the Chamonix Valley. It has clearly developed lateral and medial moraines (accumulations

Kyaukpyu

2005-02-22T01:12:00.000-08:00

Town, western Myanmar (Burma). It lies at the northern end of the offshore island of Ramree in Combermere Bay, an inlet of the Bay of Bengal, about 250 miles (400 km) northwest of Yangôn (Rangoon). Kyaukpyu's excellent natural harbour is formed by deep, narrow saltwater inlets separating the smaller offshore islands, and it is a regular port of call for steamers in the rice trade between

John Frederick

2005-02-21T15:09:00.000-08:00

The elder son of the elector John the Steadfast, John Frederick

Mairet, Jean

2005-02-20T16:08:00.000-08:00

Classical French dramatist, the forerunner and rival of Pierre Corneille. Mairet's characters, his verse, and his situations were freely borrowed by his contemporaries. Before Corneille, he brought to the stage the famous Cornelian figures Sophonisbe and Pulchérie, and he anticipated Jean Racine in two important names, Roxane and

Biblical Literature, Early versions

2005-02-19T17:15:00.000-08:00

Even with all these witnesses, there remain problems in the Greek text. These include variants about which there is no settled opinion and some few words for which no accurate meaning can be found because they occur only once in the New Testament and not in prior Greek works. Very early translations of the New Testament made as it spread into the non-Greek-speaking

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, Parable

2005-02-18T19:57:00.000-08:00

In the West the conventions of parable were largely established by the teachings of Christ. The New Testament records a sufficient number of his parables, with their occasions, to show that to some extent his disciples were chosen as his initiates and followers because they “had ears to hear” the true meaning of his parables. (It has already been noted that the parable

Marpurg, Friedrich Wilhelm

2005-02-18T03:34:00.000-08:00

Nothing is known of his musical education. In 1746 he was secretary to a Prussian general in Paris, where he met Voltaire and the composer Jean Rameau. He later lived in Berlin and Hamburg and from 1763 to 1795 directed the Prussian

Carte-de-visite

2005-02-17T23:53:00.000-08:00

Originally, a calling card, especially one with a photographic portrait mounted on it. Immensely popular in the mid-19th century, the carte-de-visite was touted by the Parisian portrait photographer André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri, who patented the method in 1854. Disdéri used a four-lensed camera, which made eight 3.5- by 2.5-inch (8.89- by 6.35-cm) negatives on one full-sized plate. The large print

Arabia, An-Nafud (Great Nafud)

2005-02-16T23:12:00.000-08:00

The second largest sand desert in the Arabian Peninsula, An-Nafud, marks the northern limit of Najd. Lying just beyond the shield, it occupies an area of about 25,000 square miles. Its sands almost reach the oasis towns of Tayma' (Taima) in the west, Al-Jawf and Sakakah in the north, and Ha'il in the south. The sands are gradually moving toward the southeast, where they enter either the Mazhur

Epicurus

2005-02-16T22:09:00.000-08:00

Greek philosopher, author of an ethical philosophy of simple pleasure, friendship, and retirement. He founded schools of philosophy that survived directly from the 4th century BC until the 4th century AD.

Robbins, Tom

2005-02-16T17:58:00.000-08:00

Robbins was educated at Washington and Lee University, Richmond Professional Institute, and the University of Washington. He served in the U.S. Air Force, hitchhiked across the United States, and worked as a journalist and art critic. His first

Argonne

2005-02-14T01:41:00.000-08:00

Wooded, hilly region in eastern France that forms a natural barrier between Champagne and Lorraine. The Argonne is about 40 miles long and 10 miles wide (65 by 15 km). The hilly massif rarely exceeds 650 feet (200 m) in elevation but is slashed with numerous deep valleys formed by watercourses associated with the Aire and Aisne rivers, which constitute a barrier to transportation. The

Eagle

2005-02-13T07:18:00.000-08:00

Any of many large, heavy-beaked, big-footed birds of prey belonging to the family Accipitridae (order Falconiformes). In general, an eagle is any bird of prey more powerful than a buteo. An eagle may resemble a vulture in build and flight characteristics but has a fully feathered (often crested) head and strong feet equipped with great curved talons. A further difference

Cineraria

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

Greenhouse cinerarias may be

Tetrameter

2005-02-12T01:17:00.000-08:00

Line of poetic verse that consists of four metrical feet. In English versification, the feet are usually iambs (an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one, as in the word {breve}be|cause¢ ), trochees (a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one, as in the word ti¢|ger),{breve} or a combination of the two. Iambic tetrameter is, next to iambic pentameter, the most common

Incest

2005-02-11T04:03:00.000-08:00

Sexual relations between persons who, because of the nature of their kin relationships, are prohibited by law or custom from intermarrying. Because, cross-culturally, incest is more an emotional than a legal issue, the term taboo is generally preferred over prohibition. The incest taboo is acknowledged in anthropology as universal, although it is imposed differently

Kabbala

2005-02-10T08:28:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Kabala, Kabbalah, Cabala, Cabbala , or Cabbalah esoteric Jewish mysticism as it appeared in the 12th and following centuries. Kabbala has always been essentially an oral tradition in that initiation into its doctrines and practices is conducted by a personal guide to avoid the dangers inherent in mystical experiences. Esoteric Kabbala is also “tradition” inasmuch as it lays claim to secret knowledge of the unwritten

Ch'eng Hao And Ch'eng I

2005-02-10T03:59:00.000-08:00

Ch'eng I also spelled (Wade–Giles romanization) Ch'eng Yi, Pinyin Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi brothers who developed Neo-Confucianism into an organized school of philosophy. Although their philosophies are usually considered together, their ideas developed in divergent directions. Ch'eng Hao influenced the Idealist school of Neo-Confucianism, while Ch'eng I influenced the development of the Rationalist school. Ch'eng

Voting Rights Act

2005-02-09T19:04:00.000-08:00

U.S. legislation (August 6, 1965) that aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote under the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) to the Constitution of the United States. The act significantly widened the franchise and is considered among the most far-reaching pieces of civil rights legislation

European Union

2005-02-09T06:09:00.000-08:00

On January 1, 1995, Sweden, Austria, and Finland joined the EU, leaving Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland as the only major western European countries outside the organization. Norway's government twice (1972 and 1994) attempted to join, but its voters rejected membership on each occasion. Switzerland tabled its application in the early 1990s. Norway, Iceland, and the members of the EU (along

Stoicism, Renascence of Stoicism in modern times

2005-02-08T21:07:00.000-08:00

If the influence of Stoic doctrines during the Middle Ages was largely restricted to the resolution of problems of social and political significance, it remained for the Renaissance, in its passion for the rediscovery of Greek and Roman antiquity, to provide a basis for the rebirth of Stoic views in logic, epistemology, and metaphysics, as well as the documentation

France, History Of, Louis VIII

2005-02-08T17:13:00.000-08:00

The reign of Louis VIII (ruled 1223–26) had an importance out of proportion to its brevity. It was he (this frail husband of the formidable Blanche of Castile and father of famous sons) who first brought Languedoc under the crown of France and who inaugurated the appanages—grants of patrimonial land to members of the royal family or royal favourites—thereby creating a familial

Yan Liben

2005-02-07T21:39:00.000-08:00

Yan was a high official within the imperial court, but his fame derives from his skill as a painter. He is recorded as having painted Buddhist and Daoist subjects and as having received various imperial commissions; but among the extant works attributed to him, the most important

Leafhopper

2005-02-06T14:00:00.000-08:00

Any of the small, slender, often beautifully coloured and marked sap-sucking insects of the large family Cicadellidae (Jassidae) of the order Homoptera. They are found on almost all types of plants; however, individual species are host specific. Although a single leafhopper does no damage to a plant, collectively they can be serious economic pests. Their

Yan Liben

2005-02-05T22:29:00.000-08:00

DES is used therapeutically to replace estrogen

Aiguillon, Emmanuel-armand De Richelieu, Duc (duke) D'

2005-02-05T20:53:00.000-08:00

In 1750 he succeeded to

Ojin

2005-02-04T17:46:00.000-08:00

In full Ojin Tenno, personal name Hondawake No Mikoto semilegendary 15th emperor of Japan, who according to tradition flourished in the 3rd–4th century. Ojin is believed to have consolidated imperial power, spearheaded land reform, and actively promoted cultural exchanges with Korea and China. It is said that highly skilled weaving techniques were brought from Korea during his reign. Chinese scholars introduced

Cincinnatian Series

2005-02-03T13:55:00.000-08:00

Uppermost rocks of the Ordovician System, defined on the basis of exposures seen around the region of Cincinnati, Ohio, where they consist of numerous limestone formations that are richly fossiliferous. (The Ordovician Period lasted from 505 to 438 million years ago.) To the south and west of Cincinnati, the deposits are fragmentary, whereas deposits found in the Appalachian

Biblical Literature, The Pastoral Letters as a unit

2005-02-01T18:13:00.000-08:00

The First and Second Letters of Paul to Timothy and the Letter of Paul to Titus, three small epistles traditionally part of the Pauline corpus, are written not to churches nor to an individual concerning a special problem but to two individual addressees in their capacity as pastors, or leaders of their local churches. The purpose of the letters is to instruct, admonish,

Steamboat

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

Steamboat pioneering began in America in 1787 when John Fitch made a successful trial of such a vessel. Robert Fulton's profitable

Steer Roping

2005-01-31T20:42:00.000-08:00

Rodeo event in which a mounted cowboy pursues a full-grown steer; lassos it with his rope, catching the animal by the horns; fastens the rope to his saddle; and stops his horse suddenly, throwing the steer to the ground. The cowboy then quickly dismounts and ties three of the steer's feet, raising both hands to signal completion. The event is timed, and the contestant with

Yuki

2005-01-31T19:12:00.000-08:00

Four groups of North American Indians who lived in the Coast Ranges and along the coast of northwestern California, U.S. They spoke distinctive languages unaffiliated with any other known language. The four Yuki groups were the Yuki proper, who lived along the upper reaches of the Eel River and its tributaries; the Huchnom, who dwelt in the Redwood Valley to the west;

China, Hydroelectric resources

2005-01-30T21:13:00.000-08:00

In view of China's extensive river network and mountainous terrain, there is ample potential for the production of hydroelectric power. Most of the total hydroelectric capacity is in the southwest, where coal supplies are poor but demand for energy is rapidly growing. The potential in the Northeast is fairly small, but it was there that the first hydroelectric stations

Melbourne (of Kilmore), William Lamb, 2nd Viscount, Lord Melbourne, Baron Of Kilmore, Baron Melbourne Of Melbourne

2005-01-30T08:02:00.000-08:00

British prime minister from July 16 to Nov. 14, 1834, and from April 18, 1835, to Aug. 30, 1841. He was also Queen Victoria's close friend and chief political adviser during the early years of her reign (from June 20, 1837). Although a Whig and an advocate of political rights for Roman Catholics, he was essentially conservative. Not believing that the

Pembrokeshire

2005-01-29T18:55:00.000-08:00

Also called Pembroke , Welsh Sir Benfro county of southwestern Wales, bounded on the northeast by Ceredigion, on the east by Carmarthenshire, on the south by the Bristol Channel, and on the west and northwest by St. Bride's Bay and Cardigan Bay of St. George's Channel. The county's rugged and convoluted coastline forms a peninsula with several protruding headlands, including St. David's Head, the most westerly

Orbigny, Alcide Dessalines D'

2005-01-28T23:17:00.000-08:00

During eight years of travel in South America (1826–34) Orbigny studied the people, natural history, and geology of the continent. He summarized these studies in Voyage dans l'Amérique méridionale, 10 vol., (1834–47; “Journey into South America”) and proceeded to draw up the first comprehensive map of that

Azeotrope

2005-01-27T18:44:00.000-08:00

In chemistry, a mixture of liquids that has a constant boiling point because the vapour has the same composition as the liquid mixture. The boiling point of an azeotropic mixture may be higher or lower than that of any of its components. The components of the solution cannot be separated by simple distillation.

Proetus

2005-01-27T17:46:00.000-08:00

In Greek mythology, a king of Argos, grandson of Danaus. He quarreled with his brother Acrisius and divided the kingdom with him, Proetus taking Tiryns, which he fortified. Proetus' daughters were driven mad either because they insulted the goddess Hera or because they would not accept the new rites of Dionysus. They imagined themselves cows, until the seer Melampus

Tutankhamen

2005-01-27T05:58:00.000-08:00

Medical analysis of his mummy shows that Tutankhaten was probably a brother of Smenkhkare, his immediate

Spongilla

2005-01-26T00:14:00.000-08:00

Sponge genus that includes the freshwater sponge (q.v.) species.

Ayllón, Lucas Vázquez De

2005-01-25T14:32:00.000-08:00

Going to the West Indies in 1502, he became a judge in the colonial administration of Hispaniola (Santo Domingo). In 1520 he went to Mexico to mediate the dispute between the Spanish commanders Hernán Cortés and Diego Velázquez. An expedition sent by him under

Switzerland, Tourism

2005-01-24T14:44:00.000-08:00

International tourist receipts amount to a considerable sum in Switzerland, but expenditures by Swiss abroad are also significant. Whatever surplus occurs is used to cover any deficit in the Swiss balance of payments. During the Middle Ages healing spas such as Baden, Bad Pfäfers, Leukerbad, and Rheinfelden flourished, while mountain-pass hospices such as those

Fredericksburg

2005-01-23T21:33:00.000-08:00

City, administratively independent of, but located in, Spotsylvania county, northeastern Virginia, U.S., at the head of navigation of the Rappahannock River. The site, settled in 1671, was laid out in 1727 and named for Prince Frederick Louis, father of King George III of England. It developed as a port with a busy English trade (mostly of tobacco and iron products). William Paul, brother

Space

2005-01-22T06:39:00.000-08:00

Space is treated in a number of articles. For a philosophical consideration of the subject, see metaphysics. For a discussion of the relativity of space and time, see relativity. For a description of space as the region of the universe beyond the Earth

Biblical Literature, Papyri

2005-01-21T09:07:00.000-08:00

The earliest New Testament manuscript witnesses (2nd–8th centuries) are papyri mainly found preserved in fragments in the dry sands of Egypt. Only in the latter decades of the 20th century have the relatively recently discovered New Testament papyri been published. Of those cataloged to date, there are about 76 New Testament manuscripts with fragments of various parts

Padauk

2005-01-21T04:32:00.000-08:00

Any of several species of tropical trees of the genus Pterocarpus. Padauks of the Indo-Malaysia region have a tendency to be larger than related species elsewhere. They are highly prized as shade trees and for their red or reddish brown wood. The blood-red sap is used commercially; a red dyewood, “Red Saunders,” which is obtained from the padauk, was formerly exported in

Biblical Literature, The First Letter of John

2005-01-19T14:41:00.000-08:00

I John assumes a knowledge of the Johannine Gospel (the author of I John may be the ecclesiastical redactor of the Gospel According to John) and adds ethical admonition and instruction regarding the well-being of the church as it confronts heresy and stresses the lack of moral concern that springs from it. There is strong defense against the threat of a type of Gnosticism

Basidiocarp

2005-01-19T03:10:00.000-08:00

In fungi, a large sporophore, or fruiting body, in which sexually produced spores are formed on the surface of club-shaped structures (basidia). Basidiocarps are found among the members of the class Basidiomycetes (q.v.), with the exception of the rust and smut fungi. The largest basidiocarps include giant puffballs (Calvatia gigantea), which can be 1.6 m (5.25 feet) long, 1.35 m broad, and

Abkhazo-adyghian Languages

2005-01-18T18:35:00.000-08:00

Also called Northwest Caucasian Languages, group of languages spoken primarily in the northwestern part of the Caucasus Mountains. The languages of this group—Abkhaz, Abaza, Adyghian, Kabardian (Circassian), and the nearly extinct Ubykh—are noted for the great number of distinctive consonants and limited number of distinctive vowels in their sound systems.

Atum

2005-01-18T15:26:00.000-08:00

Atum's myth merged with that of the great sun god Re, giving rise to the deity Re-Atum. When distinguished from Re, Atum was the creator's original form, living inside the Nun, the primordial waters of chaos. At creation he emerged to engender

Cytoplasm

2005-01-17T19:44:00.000-08:00

The protoplasm of a cell external to the nuclear membrane. In eukaryotes (i.e., cells having a nucleus), the cytoplasm contains all of the organelles except for the nucleus itself. Among such organelles are the mitochondria, which are the sites of energy production through ATP (adenosine triphosphate) synthesis; the endoplasmic reticulum, the site of lipid and protein

Kerry Blue Terrier

2005-01-17T11:02:00.000-08:00

Versatile breed of working terrier that is used as a hunter, land and water retriever, and sheep and cattle herder. The Kerry blue originated in County Kerry, Ireland, where it has been bred since the 1820s. It is 17.5 to 19.5 inches (44.5 to 49.5 cm) tall, weighs 29 to 40 pounds (13 to 18 kg), and has a distinctively coloured, soft, wavy coat, black at birth and becoming slate blue to blue gray with maturity. Boxy in