ChiefBaby

Estate Agent Finchley

2006-07-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

Lets Go has been an established Estate Agent Finchley since 1994 specializing in Lettings, Management and Sales.Our offices are in the heart of North Finchley enabling us to focus on our main areas where we have unrivalled local knowledge and specialise in property for sale Finchley,North, East, West and Central Finchley, property for sale North Hendon, property for sale North Whetstone, property for sale Golders Green and property for sale Woodford Park. We also cover property for sale Barnet

James Hull Cosmetic cosmetic dentistry

2006-07-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

Having recently moved to Birmingham and being completely passionate about my James Hull Cosmetic dental hygiene I was very pleased to find when searching online that there is a James Hull Dentists in Birmingham
. After booking my appointment my Dental Consultant offer me a range of treatments from Braces, Dental Veneers, cosmetic dentistry to Teeth Whitening. I overlooked the cosmetic dentistry but had the teeth whitening treatment which was has a new laser teeth whitening technology which is apparently the first in Birmingham. James Hull Dentists in Birmingham are centrally located and are without a doubt the best Cosmetic Dentists in Birmingham has to offer.

Uthagamandalam

2005-11-18T20:35:00.000-08:00

Formerly Ootacamund, town, administrative headquarters of Nilgiri district, Tamil Nadu state, southeastern India, in the Nilgiri Hills, at about 7,500 ft (2,300 m) above sea level. It is sheltered by several peaks, including Doda Betta (8,652 ft), the highest point in Tamil Nadu. Founded by the British in 1821, it was used as the official government summer headquarters for the Madras Presidency until Indian independence

Uyuni

2005-10-16T17:25:00.000-07:00

Town, southwestern Bolivia. It lies on the cold, windswept Altiplano, a high intermontane plateau, at 12,024 feet (3,665 m) above sea level, just east of the vast Uyuni Salt Flat. Founded in 1890, it prospered, with the assistance of Slav and Syrian colonists, as a railroad junction and mining and market centre. Northeast of the town are the Pulacayo and Huanchaca silver mines. From Uyuni a branch

Chiang Rai

2005-08-08T22:15:00.000-07:00

Chiang Rai lies at an elevation of 1,150 feet (350 m) in the basin of the Kok River, near the Khun Tan Range. It has an airport with scheduled flights, and road connections lead south to Lampang and north to Myanmar (Burma) and the Laotian border. It is a trading centre dealing in teak, coffee, and rice. The town was once the walled capital city of an independent principality.

Henry The Navigator

2005-07-27T20:05:00.000-07:00

After Alfarrobeira, Henry spent most of his time at Sagres, though he did not altogether abandon public life. He was accorded by the King the sole right to send ships to visit and trade with the Guinea coast of Africa. He appeared occasionally at the Lisbon court and in 1450 helped arrange for the marriage of the King's sister to the emperor Frederick III. During most of his

Crocodile

2005-07-23T14:10:00.000-07:00

The

X Club

2005-07-08T11:35:00.000-07:00

Ruth Barton, “ ‘Huxley, Lubbock, and Half a Dozen Others': Professionals and Gentlemen in the Formation of the X Club, 1851–1864,” Isis, 89(3):410–444 (September 1998), discusses the interests and purposes that brought the group together. Two articles survey the importance of the club: Roy MacLeod, “The X-Club: A Social Network of Science in Late-Victorian England,” Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, 24(2):305–322 (April 1970), is the fuller account; J. Vernon Jensen, “The X Club: Fraternity of Victorian Scientists,” The British Journal for the History of Science, vol. 5, part 1, no. 17, pp. 63–72 (June 1970), is also useful. Ruth Barton, “ ‘An Influential Set of Chaps': The X-Club and Royal Society Politics 1864–85,” The British Journal for the History of Science, vol. 23, part 1, no. 76, pp. 53–81 (March 1990), details how club members achieved and used power within the Royal Society.

Arabia, History Of, Ghassan

2005-07-06T15:55:00.000-07:00

The dynasty of the Ghassanids, though often called kings, were in fact Byzantine phylarchs (native rulers of subject frontier states). They had their headquarters well within the Byzantine Empire, a little east of the Sea of Galilee at Jabiyah in the Jawlan (Golan) area; but they controlled large areas of northwestern Arabia, as far south as Yathrib, serving as a counterpoise

Furniture, Metal

2005-06-30T17:45:00.000-07:00

Metals have been used since antiquity for making furniture or ornaments for furniture. Splendid Egyptian pieces, such as the thrones and stool that were found in the tomb of the youthful Tutankhamen (14th century BC), were rich in gold mounts (decorative details). In ancient Greece, bronze, iron, and silver were used for making furniture. Finds that were buried in the ashes

Armenian Alphabet

2005-06-16T09:20:00.000-07:00

Script developed for the Armenian language in the 5th century AD and still in use. It was probably derived from the Pahlavi alphabet of Persia, with some Greek influences. According to local tradition, the Armenian alphabet was invented in the early 5th century AD by Mesrop Mashtots, aided by Isaac (Sahak) the Great, supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and by a Greek

Ch'i

2005-06-03T18:05:00.000-07:00

Neo-Confucian philosophers

Bulge, Battle Of The

2005-06-01T00:55:00.000-07:00

Also called Gabon viper extremely venomous but usually docile, ground-dwelling snake found in tropical forests of central Africa. It is the heaviest venomous snake in Africa, weighing 8 kg (18 pounds), and it grows to a length of 2 metres (about 7 feet). The Gaboon viper also possesses the longest fangs of any snake, measuring up to 4 cm (1.6 inches) long. The stout body is boldly patterned with

Berbera

2005-05-18T04:00:00.000-07:00

Port, northwestern Somalia, on the Gulf of Aden. It lies at the terminus of roads from the towns of Hargeysa and Burko and has an airport. Known during classical times and to Ibn Sa'id (d. 1286) and other early Arab geographers, Berbera was one of the Muslim settlements of the medieval state of Adal. It was sacked by the Portuguese in 1518 and occupied by the sharifs of Mocha in the 17th century,

Abell, A.s.

2005-05-16T09:20:00.000-07:00

Abell left school at the age of 14 to become a clerk in a store dealing in West Indian wares. He had hoped to become a printer, and in 1822 he was taken on as an apprentice by the Providence

Lurie, Alison

2005-05-14T07:10:00.000-07:00

Lurie graduated from Radcliffe College in 1947 and later taught English and then children's literature at Cornell University. One of her best-known books, The War Between the Tates (1974; filmed 1977), concerns the manner in which the wife of a professor

Juvarra, Filippo

2005-03-15T00:36:00.000-08:00

Juvarra studied in Rome (1703 - 14) under the architect Carlo Fontana and was commissioned to design scenes for Cardinal Ottoboni's theatre in the Cancelleria Palace. He was also asked to do stage designs for the queen of Poland, Maria

The Revolution

2005-03-14T03:34:00.000-08:00

A scant three years after the end of the Civil War, the United States was embroiled in the issue of suffrage for African-American men, and many suffragists - notably those who formed the American

Oz, Amos

2005-03-11T07:18:00.002-08:00

Oz's symbolic, poetic novels reflect the splits and strains in Israeli life. Locked in conflict are the traditions

Oz, Amos

2005-03-11T07:18:00.001-08:00

Oz's symbolic, poetic novels reflect the splits and strains in Israeli life. Locked in conflict are the traditions

Oz, Amos

2005-03-11T07:18:00.000-08:00

Oz's symbolic, poetic novels reflect the splits and strains in Israeli life. Locked in conflict are the traditions

Madder

2005-03-04T15:10:00.000-08:00

Also called �Dyer's Madder,� any of several species of plants belonging to the genus Rubia of the madder family, Rubiaceae. Rubia tinctorum and R. peregrina are native European plants, and R. cordifolia is native to the hilly districts of India and Java. Rubia is a genus of about 40 species; its members are characterized by lance-shaped leaves that grow in whorls and by small yellowish flowers that

Gunasthana

2005-03-03T16:30:00.000-08:00

The initial stages of development are: (1) mithyatva

France, History Of, Social classes

2005-03-02T11:05:00.000-08:00

The collapse of Roman imperial power and the influx of Germans did not destroy the old Roman senatorial and landed aristocracy; the 6th-century kings called on its members to serve in the administration. A sort of military aristocracy had existed among the Germans: at the time of their settlement within the empire, its members were given tax revenues and lands confiscated

Aasen, Ivar

2005-03-01T05:38:00.000-08:00

After studying Old Norwegian, Aasen undertook a survey of the contemporary Norwegian dialects. These he judged to be the true offshoots of Old Norwegian, as distinct from the Danish-influenced

Locofoco Party

2005-02-27T06:05:00.000-08:00

In U.S. history, radical wing of the Democratic Party, organized in New York City in 1835. Made up primarily of workingmen and reformers, the Locofocos were opposed to state banks, monopolies, paper money, tariffs, and generally any financial policies that seemed to them antidemocratic and conducive to special privilege. The Locofocos received their name (which was later

Arianism

2005-02-26T00:13:00.000-08:00

A Christian heresy first proposed early in the 4th century by the Alexandrian presbyter Arius. It affirmed that Christ is not truly divine but a created being. Arius' basic premise was the uniqueness of God, who is alone self-existent and immutable; the Son, who is not self-existent, cannot be God. Because the Godhead is unique, it cannot be shared or communicated, so the Son

Adcock, Fleur

2005-02-25T18:12:00.000-08:00

Adcock received her early education in England and later earned degrees at Wellington Girls' College and Victoria University of Wellington. She served as lecturer and librarian at a number of New Zealand

Weldon, Fay

2005-02-24T06:23:00.000-08:00

Weldon grew up in New Zealand, attended St. Andrew's University in Scotland (M.A., 1952?), and became an advertising copywriter in London. In the mid-1960s she began writing plays. Her first novel, The Fat Woman's

Pecos River

2005-02-23T01:46:00.000-08:00

River in the southwestern United States, rising in Mora County, north-central New Mexico, in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, and flowing about 926 miles (1,490 km) through eastern New Mexico and western Texas. It drains about 38,300 square miles (99,200 square km) before emptying into the Rio Grande at the Amistad National Recreation Area. After leaving the mountains, the Pecos flows over desertlike

Literature, Other Literature in English.

2005-02-22T14:08:00.000-08:00

Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa continued to provide critically acclaimed and commercially successful literary works in English in 2001. Australian Peter Carey became only the second two-time winner of Great Britain's Booker Prize. His fictional treatment of 19th-century Australian folk hero and outlaw

Arena

2005-02-20T00:42:00.000-08:00

Central area of an amphitheatre (q.v.).

Arena

2005-02-19T07:10:00.000-08:00

Central area of an amphitheatre (q.v.).

Nutrition, Competition for sites of absorption by the cell

2005-02-18T14:37:00.000-08:00

Since absorption of nutrients frequently occurs by way of active transport within cell membranes, an excess of one nutrient (A) may inhibit absorption of a second nutrient (B), if they share the same absorption pathway. In such cases, the apparent requirement for nutrient B increases; B, however, can sometimes be supplied in an alternate form that is able to enter the cell

Alexander Aetolus

2005-02-17T21:11:00.000-08:00

Greek poet of Pleuron, in Aetolia. He was appointed by Ptolemy II Philadelphus, Macedonian king of Egypt, to arrange and catalog the tragedies in the library at Alexandria. Nothing remains of his own tragic writing except the title of one play, Astragalistae (�The Dice Players�). A few fragments of his shorter writings are extant, including a brief appreciation of Euripides.

Arguin Island

2005-02-16T10:03:00.000-08:00

Island off the coast of Mauritania; it lies about 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Cape Blanc, in a sheltered Atlantic inlet (Arguin Bay). The island (4 by 2.5 miles [6 by 4 km]) was incorporated into the newly independent Mauritania in 1960. Aridity and poor anchorage have prevented the establishment of permanent settlements on it, but the coastal reefs, known as the Arguin Banks, are major fishing

Paraguay, Climate

2005-02-15T20:28:00.000-08:00

The climate is subtropical in most of eastern Paraguay, which mainly lies south of the Tropic of Capricorn, and tropical in most of the Chaco Boreal extending to its north. Masses of humid air blanket the country in the summers, and the winters are subject to cold southern winds. Summer temperatures between October and March generally range from 77� F to 104� F (25� C to 40� C). Winter temperatures

Meliaceae

2005-02-14T20:58:00.000-08:00

The mahogany family of flowering plants, of the order Sapindales, comprising 51 genera and about 575 species of trees and (rarely) shrubs, native to tropical and subtropical regions. Most members of the family have large compound leaves, with the leaflets arranged in the form of a feather, and branched flower clusters. The fruit is fleshy and coloured or a leathery capsule.

Kyaikkami

2005-02-13T23:53:00.000-08:00

Formerly �Amherst, � resort town, southeastern Myanmar (Burma). It is situated on a peninsula about 30 miles (48 km) south of the town of Moulmein. Originally a settlement of the Mon peoples, modern Kyaikkami was founded by the British during the annexation of Tenasserim and Arakan states after the First Burmese War (1824 - 26) and was named for William Pitt Amherst, 1st Earl Amherst, then governor-general

Sentimental Comedy

2005-02-12T04:27:00.000-08:00

A dramatic genre of the 18th century, denoting plays in which middle-class protagonists triumphantly overcome a series of moral trials. Such comedy aimed at producing tears rather than laughter. Sentimental comedies reflected contemporary philosophical conceptions of humans as inherently good but capable of being led astray through bad example. By an appeal

Anthony Of Egypt, Saint

2005-02-11T21:18:00.000-08:00

Athanasius, The Life of Antony and the Letter to Marcellinus (1980), was written by a contemporary; this translation includes useful prefatory material.

Ligurian Language

2005-02-10T08:56:00.000-08:00

Language spoken by the Ligurians in northwestern Italy (and perhaps also in southern France and northeastern Spain) in pre-Roman and early Roman times. It is apparently an Indo-European language. Some scholars have maintained that Ligurian is closely related to the Italic and Celtic languages, holding an intermediate linguistic position between them. The language

Intaglio

2005-02-09T07:46:00.000-08:00

Intaglio printing is

Cypress

2005-02-08T09:26:00.000-08:00

Any of about 20 species of ornamental and timber evergreen conifers constituting the genus Cupressus of the family Cupressaceae, distributed throughout warm-temperate and subtropical regions of Asia, Europe, and North America. Many resinous, aromatic evergreen trees called cypress belong to other genera of the same family, especially

Mordvin Language

2005-02-07T06:50:00.000-08:00

Member of the Finno-Ugric group of the Uralic language family, spoken in Mordvinia and neighbouring areas. The third largest Uralic language in number of speakers, ranking after Hungarian and Finnish, it has two major dialects: Erzya, spoken in the eastern portion of Mordvinia and the surrounding territory; and Moksha, spoken in the west. Although both dialects are

Masculine Rhyme

2005-02-06T11:48:00.000-08:00

In verse, a monosyllabic rhyme or a rhyme that occurs only in stressed final syllables (such as claims, flames or rare, despair). Compare feminine rhyme. Emily Dickinson used the masculine rhyme to great effect in the last stanza of �After great pain, a formal feeling comes - �: This is the Hour of Lead - Remembered, if outlived,As Freezing persons, recollect the Snow - First - Chill

Handke, Peter

2005-02-05T10:45:00.000-08:00

Handke, the son of a bank clerk, studied law at Graz University from 1961 to 1965 and contributed pieces to the avant-garde literary magazine manuskripte. He came to public notice as an anticonventional playwright

Dairy Product, Additions and treatment

2005-02-04T06:01:00.000-08:00

The addition of salt to butter contributes to its flavour and also acts as a preservative. Added in concentrations of approximately 2 percent, all the salt goes into solution in the water phase. Since the water content of butter is less than 16 percent of the total volume, each water droplet can contain more than 10 percent salt. Such a concentration in the water phase limits

South America, Iberians

2005-02-03T06:44:00.000-08:00

Until the end of the era of Iberian domination, only the Spanish and Portuguese were admitted to their South American colonies. The rigid exclusion of all other foreigners had but few exceptions, though a small number of non-Iberian Europeans settled as a result of illegal or tolerated immigration. Most of the Spaniards came from Castile and the southern regions.

Alipur Duar

2005-02-02T03:23:00.000-08:00

City, northeastern West Bengal state, northeastern India, just north of the Kalyani River. Connected by road with Jalpaiguri, the city is an important market centre for rice, tobacco, and jute; an annual agricultural produce and stock fair is held there. Rice milling is an important industry. Alipur Duar was declared a municipality in 1951. Pop. (1991) 65,421.

Coracle

2005-02-01T08:14:00.000-08:00

Irish �curragh� primitive, light, bowl-shaped boat with a frame of woven grasses, reeds, or saplings covered with hides. Those still used, in Wales and on the coasts of Ireland, usually have a canvas and tar covering. American Indians used the similar bullboat, covered with buffalo hides, on the Missouri River, and the corita, often sealed with bitumen, on the Colorado.

Henr�quez Ure�a, Pedro

2005-01-31T10:46:00.000-08:00

Henr�quez Ure�a's father, a doctor, became president of the Dominican Republic, and his mother was a poet and teacher. After finishing

Valens

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

Eastern Roman emperor from 364 to 378. He was the younger brother of Valentinian I, who assumed the throne upon the death of the emperor Jovian (Feb. 17, 364). On March 28, 364, Valentinian appointed Valens to be co-emperor. Valens was assigned to rule the Eastern part of the empire, while Valentinian took the throne in the West. Soon Valens was challenged by the pagan Procopius, who had himself

Valens

2005-01-29T17:55:00.000-08:00

Kerouac, Jack

2005-01-28T14:06:00.000-08:00

Of French-Canadian descent, Kerouac learned English as a second language as a schoolboy. Discharged from

Cambridge

2005-01-27T01:41:00.000-08:00

City, regional municipality of Waterloo, southeastern Ontario, Can. It lies 55 miles (90 km) west-southwest of Toronto. Cambridge was created in 1973 from the consolidation of the city of Galt, the towns of Hespeler and Preston, and parts of the townships of Waterloo and North Dumfries. Galt was founded about 1817 and, along with Dumfries Township, became the home of large numbers of Scottish

Aym�, Marcel

2005-01-26T15:43:00.000-08:00

He grew up in the country among farmers, in a world of close-knit families bounded by the barnyard on one side, the schoolhouse on the other.

Petroleum Refining, Aromatics

2005-01-25T04:14:00.000-08:00

The aromatic compounds, produced in the catalytic reforming of naphtha, are major sources of petrochemical products. In the traditional chemical industry, aromatics such as benzene, toluene, and the xylenes were made from coal during the course of carbonization in the production of coke and town gas. Today a much larger volume of these chemicals are made as refinery

Computers, Herman Hollerith's census tabulator

2005-01-24T05:48:00.000-08:00

The U.S. Constitution mandates that a census of the population be performed every 10 years. The first attempt at any mechanization of the census was in 1870, when statistical data were transcribed onto a rolling paper tape displayed through a small slotted window. As the size of America's population exploded in the 19th century, and the number of census questions expanded, the

Great Bear Lake

2005-01-23T19:19:00.000-08:00

Great Bear Lake

2005-01-22T02:38:00.000-08:00

Biblical Literature, Jewish versions

2005-01-21T20:34:00.000-08:00

Though Jews in English-speaking lands generally utilized the King James Version and the Revised Version, the English versions have presented great difficulties. They contain departures from the traditional Hebrew text; they sometimes embody Christological interpretations; the headings were often doctrinally objectionable and the renderings in the legal

Optics, Theory

2005-01-20T17:12:00.000-08:00

Holography is a two-step coherent image-forming process in which an intermediate record is made of the complex optical field associated with the object. The invention of the wave-front reconstruction process (now called holography) was first described in 1948 by Dennis Gabor, a Hungarian-born physicist, with a specific application in mind - to attempt to improve the resolution

Thomas, Saint

2005-01-19T18:41:00.000-08:00

Thomas' character is outlined in The Gospel

Aerobatics

2005-01-18T07:31:00.000-08:00

For a historical overview of the sport, see Annette Carson, Flight Fantastic: The Illustrated History of Aerobatics (1986). Information on aerobatic techniques may be found in Geza Szurovy and Michael Goulian, Advanced Aerobatics (1997); and Peter Mallinson, The Handbook of Glider Aerobatics (1999). Detailed information on the latest competition events and their formats may be obtained by contacting the International Aerobatics Commission of the F�d�ration A�ronautique Internationale in Paris.

Metauro River

2005-01-17T16:44:00.000-08:00

Italian �Fiume Metauro, �also called �Metro, �Latin �Metaurus, � river, Marche region, central Italy, rising in the Etruscan Apennines (Appennino Tosco-Emiliano) and flowing for 68 mi (109 km) east-northeast into the Adriatic Sea just south of Fano. The lower valley of the river (the ancient Metaurus) was the scene of a great Roman victory over the Carthaginians in 207 BC, when the consuls Marcus Livius Salinator and Claudius Nero defeated and slew

Mahavairocana-sutra

2005-01-16T03:44:00.000-08:00

Japanese �Dainichi-kyo, � text of late Tantric Buddhism and a principal scripture of the large Japanese Buddhist sect known as Shingon (�True Word�). The text received a Chinese translation, under the title Ta-jih Ching, about AD 725, and its esoteric teachings were propagated a century later in Japan by Kukai. These teachings, which have been called cosmotheism, centre upon Mahavairocana (in Japanese,

Mahavairocana-sutra

2005-01-15T16:20:00.000-08:00

Epistemology, Knowledge by acquaintance and knowledge by description

2005-01-14T23:33:00.000-08:00

The distinction between knowledge by acquaintance and knowledge by description was introduced by Bertrand Russell in connection with his celebrated theory of descriptions. Here only the epistemological (as distinct from the logical) version of his theory will be considered. It was invented by Russell to lend support to the basic thesis of empiricism that all

Afghanistan, Habibollah Khan (1901 - 19)

2005-01-13T02:59:00.000-08:00

Habibollah Khan visited British

Wagner, Richard

2005-01-12T01:18:00.000-08:00

For a realistic analysis of Wagner's complex character, see Ernest Newman, The Life of Richard Wagner, 4 vol. (1933 - 47). Ronald Taylor, Richard Wagner: The Life, Art and Thought (1979), emphasizes the historical background of his life; Charles Osborne, Wagner and His World (1977), is a brief introductory biography. Important sources include The Diary of Richard Wagner, ed. by Joachim Bergfeld (1980); Cosima Wagner's Diaries, ed. by Martin Gregor-Dellin and Dietrich Mack (1978 - ); and Wagner's Mein Leben, 2 vol. (1870 - 81; Eng. trans., My Life, 1911). See also the official German and English biographies by C.F. Glasenapp, Das Leben Richard Wagners, 6 vol. (1894 - 1911); and W.A. Ellis, Life of Richard Wagner, 6 vol. (1900 - 08). Robert W. Gutman, Richard Wagner: The Man, His Mind and His Music (1968), is a largely hostile biography. An analytical introduction to Wagner's music dramas is Ernest Newman, The Wagner Operas (1949; republished with the title Wagner Nights, 1950). A detailed study of Wagner's development as a musical dramatist is Jack M. Stein, Richard Wagner and the Synthesis of the Arts (1960). A.O. Lorenz, Das Geheimnis der Form bei Richard Wagner, 4 vol. (1924 - 33), provides an exhaustive bar-by-bar analysis of the musical construction of his major works. George Bernard Shaw, The Perfect Wagnerite, 4th ed. (1922, reprinted 1967), which has much of value to say about the social, political, and economic ideas behind The Ring; Jungian interpretation of the same work is Robert Donington, Wagner's Ring and Its Symbols, 2nd ed. (1969).

Tiepolo, Giovanni Domenico

2005-01-11T16:16:00.000-08:00

Also called �Giandomenico Tiepolo � son of the Venetian artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo; he was a talented genre painter, especially of scenes from contemporary life and the popular theatre (as in the decorations of his villa at Zianigo, Italy, now in the Civico Museo Correr, Venice). Notable among his early works are the paintings of the Stations of the Cross for S. Polo, Venice (1747 - 49), and

Dehon, L�on-gustave

2005-01-10T11:22:00.000-08:00

Educated at the Sorbonne, Dehon was ordained priest in 1868 at Rome. After attending the first Vatican Council

Dehon, L�on-gustave

2005-01-09T22:07:00.000-08:00

Educated at the Sorbonne, Dehon was ordained priest in 1868 at Rome. After attending the first Vatican Council

Hyrax

2005-01-08T10:18:00.000-08:00

Also called �Dassie, � any of the small hoofed mammals of the order Hyracoidea. Both hyraxes and the unrelated pikas (order Lagomorpha) are also sometimes called rock rabbits; the term is misleading for hyraxes, which are neither rabbits nor exclusively rock dwellers. The term cony (coney) in the Bible actually refers not to the true cony (also a lagomorph) but to the

Leonardo Pisano

2005-01-07T09:03:00.000-08:00

Little is known about Leonardo's life beyond the few facts given in his mathematical writings. During Leonardo's boyhood his father, Guglielmo, a Pisan merchant, was appointed consul over the community of Pisan merchants in the North African port of Bugia (now Beja�a, Alg.). Leonardo was sent to study calculation with an Arab master. He later went to Egypt, Syria, Greece,

Kirkman, Jacob

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

Kirkman was trained as a cabinetmaker and went to England in the early 1730s to work for an obscure immigrant Flemish harpsichord maker in London. He eventually became harpsichord

Jeakins, Dorothy

2005-01-05T16:25:00.000-08:00

U.S. Academy Award-winning costume designer whose striking creations for Joan of Arc, Samson and Delilah, and Night of the Iguana merited her three Oscars (b. Jan. 11, 1914--d. Nov. 21, 1995).

Argentina

2005-01-04T20:38:00.000-08:00

The federal republic of Argentina occupies the eastern section of the Southern Cone of South America, along the Atlantic Ocean. Area: 2,780,400 sq km (1,073,518 sq mi). Pop. (1993 est.): 33,507,000. Cap.: Buenos Aires. Monetary unit: peso, with (Oct. 4, 1993) an official rate of 1 peso to U.S. $1 (1.52 pesos = � 1 sterling). President in 1993, Carlos Sa�l Menem.

Leninsk-kuznetsky

2005-01-03T23:42:00.000-08:00

Formerly �(until 1925) Kolchugino, � city, in Kemerovo oblast (province), central Russia. It lies along the Inya River, a tributary of the Ob. In 1912 a French company started coal-mining operations there; from the 1930s the city developed rapidly to become a major coal-mining centre, with many pits located in the city itself. Other industries produce chemicals, mining machinery, electric lamps, and timber goods. Pop.

Ryukyu Islands

2005-01-02T09:31:00.000-08:00

Also called �Nansei Islands�, Japanese �Ryukyu-Shoto�, or �Nansei-Shoto�, Ryukyuan �Okinawa� archipelago, extending almost 400 miles (650 km) southwest from Kyushu, southern Japan, to the northern tip of Taiwan bordering the Philippine Sea (east) and the East China Sea (west). Since 1972 the islands have comprised Okinawa ken (prefecture), Japan. With a total land area of 870 square miles (2,254 square km), they consist of 55 islands and islets divided into three major groups: the Amami island

Asheboro

2005-01-01T04:40:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1796) of Randolph county, central North Carolina, U.S. It lies in the forested Uwharrie Mountains about 25 miles (40 km) south of Greensboro. Asheboro (originally Asheborough) was founded in 1796 on land that was once the home of Keyauwee Indians; a prehistoric Native American burial ground nearby was excavated in 1936. The name honours North Carolina Governor Samuel Ashe (1725 - 1813). The community

Asheboro

2004-12-31T07:43:00.000-08:00

Ancient Italic People, The populations of the Picenum

2004-12-30T03:44:00.000-08:00

In historic times, expansion of the eastern Italic peoples placed them firmly along the Adriatic coastal tract corresponding to what is now the Marches region. Epigraphic and archaeological data give evidence also of the presence in the Picenum (an ancient region between the Apennines and the Adriatic) of the trans-Adriatic Liburni and the pre-Indo-European Asili.

Mies Van Der Rohe, Ludwig

2004-12-29T22:40:00.000-08:00

Original name �Maria Ludwig Michael Mies � German-born American architect whose rectilinear forms, crafted in elegant simplicity, epitomized the International Style (q.v.) of architecture.

Pacific Islands

2004-12-28T21:08:00.000-08:00

Geographic region of the Pacific Ocean. The term is commonly accepted as including all of those islands in the Pacific that are collectively referred to as Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia, also sometimes known as Oceania. This usage rules out the Australian island continent, the Asia-related Indonesian, Philippine, and Japanese archipelagoes, and the Ryukyu,

Bruckner, Anton

2004-12-27T08:28:00.000-08:00

In full� Josef Anton Bruckner � Austrian composer of a number of highly original and monumental symphonies. He was also an organist and teacher who composed much sacred and secular choral music.

Cabal

2004-12-26T23:12:00.000-08:00

A private organization or party engaged in secret intrigues; also, the intrigues themselves. In England the word was used during the 17th century to describe the mystical interpretation of the Hebrew scripture (the Cabala, or Kabbala), as well as to describe any secret or extralegal council of the king, especially the foreign committee of the Privy Council. The term took

Celosia

2004-12-25T09:14:00.000-08:00

Genus of about 60 species of herbaceous plants, of the amaranth family (Amaranthaceae), native to tropical America and Africa and characterized by alternate leaves and showy flowers in spikes, which in cultivated forms are often fasciated and form compact or feathery clusters. Some species are called woolflower for their dense chaffy flower spikes

Zamoyski, Jan

2004-12-24T16:37:00.000-08:00

Educated in France and Italy, he returned to Poland in 1565 and was appointed secretary to King Sigismund II. After Sigismund's death (1572), he became one of the best-liked

Earth Sciences, Hydrologic and atmospheric sciences

2004-12-22T04:38:00.000-08:00

The only substance known to the ancient philosophers in its solid, liquid, and gaseous states, water is prominently featured in early theories about the origin and operations of the Earth. Thales of Miletus (c. 624 - c. 545 BC) is credited with a belief that water is the essential substance of the Earth, and Anaximander of Miletus (c. 610 - 545 BC) held that water was probably the source of life. In

Janssen, Johannes

2004-12-21T00:22:00.000-08:00

Reared in a staunchly Catholic home, he attended local schools and then studied at M�nster, the University of Louvain (1850 - 51), and the University of Bonn (1851 - 53). After

Biblical Literature, The Holiness Code

2004-12-20T23:22:00.000-08:00

Next (chapters 17 - 26) comes what has been designated the �Holiness Code,� or �Law of Holiness,� which scholars regard as a separate, distinctive unit within the P material (designated H). It calls upon the people to be holy as God is holy by carrying out his laws, both ritual and moral, and by avoiding the polluting practices of neighbouring peoples; and it proceeds to lay down laws,

Vieux Fort

2004-12-19T19:02:00.000-08:00

Town and former capital of St. Lucia island in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It lies 19 miles (30 km) south of the harbour of Castries and is situated near the island's extreme southeastern tip on fertile, flat ground overlooking Vieux Fort Bay. Named after a 17th-century fort (Old Fort), it was the site of St. Lucia's first sugar works (1765) and is still the centre of a sugar- and coconut-growing

Bench

2004-12-18T22:03:00.000-08:00

Long seat that may be freestanding, fixed to the wall, or placed against the wall. Paneled benches were used by the Romans, and they were the most common form of seating in medieval halls at a time when a chair was a rare luxury. Benches were not only used as seats but were normally wide enough to be used for sleeping on or eating from; as the Frankish ecclesiastic and historian

Maher, Bill

2004-12-17T15:44:00.000-08:00

The title of Politically Incorrect, the often controversial television talk show that nightly featured four outspoken guests from the world of entertainment, arts and letters, and politics, was never more appropriate than when its host, comedian Bill Maher, implied that the terrorists who had attacked the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, were braver than U.S. forces fighting

Biblical Literature, Slavic versions

2004-12-16T16:12:00.000-08:00

The earliest Old Church Slavonic translations are connected with the arrival of the brothers Cyril and Methodius in Moravia in 863, and resulted from the desire to provide vernacular renderings of those parts of the Bible used liturgically. The oldest manuscripts derive from the 11th and 12th centuries. The earliest complete Bible manuscript, dated 1499, was used for the first

Dahomey

2004-12-15T19:10:00.000-08:00

Kingdom in western Africa that flourished in the 18th and 19th centuries in the region that is now southern Benin. According to tradition, at the beginning of the 17th century three brothers vied for the kingdom of Allada, which, like neighbouring Whydah (now Ouidah), had grown rich on the slave trade. When one of the brothers won control of Allada, the other two fled. One went southeast

Ibrahim Lodi

2004-12-14T19:59:00.000-08:00

The son of Sikandar, Ibrahim succeeded to the throne on his father's death (Nov. 21, 1517) and was quickly faced with continuing disputes between the royal family and Afghani nobles. One noble, Dawlat Khan Lodi, governor of the Punjab, fearing

Chub

2004-12-13T11:30:00.000-08:00

The European chub (Leuciscus cephalus) is a popular, though not especially palatable, game fish found in Europe and Great Britain, primarily in rivers. A large-mouthed fish with