QuietMatch

Wood Working Machinery

2006-10-18T20:55:00.000-07:00

Morgan Rogers WoodWorking Machinery supply quality affordable used Woodworking Machinery and New Woodworking Machineryall over the world. With over 40 years experience in the Wood Working Machines industry no order is to small

Bruno Of Querfurt, Saint

2005-04-04T07:27:00.000-07:00

A member of the family of the counts of Querfurt, Bruno was educated at the cathedral school at Magdeburg, Saxony, and at the age of 20 he was attached to the clerical household of the Holy Roman emperor Otto III. In 997 he accompanied Otto to Rome, where he was

Brackenridge, Hugh Henry

2005-04-03T05:37:00.000-07:00

At five Brackenridge was taken by his impoverished family from Scotland to a farm in York county in Pennsylvania. After a local minister taught him Latin and Greek,

Roman

2005-03-31T06:47:00.000-08:00

City, Neamt judet (county), northeastern Romania, situated at the confluence of the Moldova and Siret rivers. It was founded by Roman Musat, ruling prince of Moldavia (1392–94); he referred to it as “our town of Roman” in a letter of 1392. It developed as a small trading settlement on the Siret valley route between Suceava, to the northwest, and the Danube ports. During the reign of Alexander (Alexandru)

Lahbabi, Mohammed Aziz

2005-03-29T08:33:00.000-08:00

Lahbabi taught philosophy at the University of Rabat, where he was dean of the faculty of letters as well as professor, and at the University of Algiers. He also founded the Union of Arab Writers

Outcaste

2005-03-28T23:00:00.000-08:00

In the Hindu caste system, an individual or group that has been thrown out of caste, usually for some ritual offense. The outcasting may be temporary or permanent. In the 19th century, a Hindu faced excommunication for going abroad, where it was presumed he would be forced to break caste restrictions and, as a result, become polluted. Such an offender would be reinstated

Antarctica, Relief

2005-03-26T02:45:00.000-08:00

Effects of glacial erosion and deposition dominate

Visby

2005-03-23T04:53:00.000-08:00

A Stone Age settlement and port existed (c.

Forbes, Steve

2005-03-21T05:59:00.000-08:00

Forbes graduated from Princeton University in 1970 with a B.A. degree in American history. He then went to work as a researcher for Forbes magazine, which was headed by his father, Malcolm S. Forbes, Sr. In 1973 he began writing a column for the

Keyboard Instrument, Germany

2005-03-20T15:10:00.000-08:00

From 1500 to 1800 Germany led the world in organ building and the composition of organ music. The organ builders reached the peak of their achievement about 1700 in the work of Arp Schnitger. Schnitger made organs with four manuals, pedals, and as many as 60 speaking stops, but he made some instruments with fewer than 30 speaking stops that are capable of dealing with the whole pre-Romantic

Pottery, Thailand and Annam

2005-03-18T15:30:00.000-08:00

Pottery was made in the old Siamese capitals of Sukhothai and Sawankhalok. It is also thought that potteries persisted at Ayutthaya until the 18th century. Little is known of the early history of the region, and definite information on its pottery is almost nonexistent. Dating of the pottery from these regions for the most part has been by analogy with related Chinese

Saicho

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

A priest at the age of 13, Saicho was sent to China to study in 804 and returned with the highly eclectic Tendai (T'ien-t'ai in Chinese) teachings. Unlike other Buddhist sects then in existence in Japan, the Tendai sect taught that there could be meaning and value in

Asbestos

2005-03-17T20:18:00.000-08:00

Any of several minerals that readily separate into long, flexible fibres. Chrysotile, the fibrous form of the mineral serpentine, is the best-known type and accounts for about 95 percent of all asbestos in commercial use. It is a hydrous magnesium silicate with the chemical composition of Mg3Si2O5(OH)4. The other types all belong to the amphibole group of minerals and include

Nagaland

2005-03-15T05:28:00.000-08:00

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

English Literature, Prose

2005-03-15T02:35:00.000-08:00

The earliest English prose work, the law code of King Aethelberht I of Kent, was written within a few years of St. Augustine of Canterbury's arrival in England (597). Other 7th- and 8th-century prose, similarly practical in character, includes more laws, wills, and charters. According to Cuthbert, who was a monk at Jarrow, Bede had just finished a translation of the Gospel of St. John

Hinton (of Bankside), Christopher Hinton, Baron

2005-03-13T13:31:00.000-08:00

Hinton was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge (1923–26), and in the late 1920s and the 1930s he held various governmental posts. He joined

Agricultural Sciences, The

2005-03-13T03:29:00.000-08:00

Food is the most basic human need. The domestication and cultivation of plants and animals beginning almost 10,000 years

Fish Processing, Vitamins and minerals

2005-03-11T10:19:00.000-08:00

Fish provide a number of important vitamins and minerals to the diet. They are a good source of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K and the B vitamins riboflavin, niacin, and thiamine. The mineral content includes calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and iron.

Biblical Literature, The Gospel According to Mark: background and overview

2005-03-11T06:54:00.000-08:00

Though the author of Mark is

Armenian Apostolic Church

2005-03-10T06:20:00.000-08:00

Christianity became the state religion of Armenia about AD 300, when St. Gregory the Illuminator converted the Arsacid king Tiridates III. The new Armenian church soon struck a course independent of

Seward

2005-03-08T23:53:00.000-08:00

City, southern Alaska, U.S., on Kenai Peninsula, at the head of Resurrection Bay. Founded in 1903 as a supply base and ocean terminus for a railway to the Yukon Valley (since 1913, the Alaska Railroad), it was named for William H. Seward, the secretary of state who negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia. Its ice-free port provides an important freight dock for interior Alaska. Tourism

Traherne, Thomas

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

The son of a shoemaker, Traherne was educated at the University of Oxford, ordained in 1660, and presented in 1661 to the living of Credenhill, which he held until 1674. From 1669 to 1674 Traherne lived in London and Teddington, serving as chaplain to Sir Orlando

Black Knot

2005-03-07T23:47:00.000-08:00

Disease of wild and cultivated plums, cherries, and apricots in North America caused by the fungus Dibotryon morbosum. Infected twigs, branches, and fruit show light brown swellings that turn velvety olive-green in late spring. By autumn, hard, rough, coal-black knots girdle and kill affected parts. Older knots, often riddled by insects, stunt and kill the tree. Black knot

Tunnels And Underground Excavations, Basic tunneling system

2005-03-05T08:09:00.000-08:00

Tunnels are generally grouped in four broad categories, depending on the material through which they pass: soft ground, consisting of soil and very weak rock; hard rock; soft rock, such as shale, chalk, and friable sandstone; and subaqueous. While these four broad types of ground condition require very different methods of excavation and ground support, nearly all tunneling

Arab Economic Unity, Council Of

2005-03-04T21:15:00.000-08:00

The organization is devoted to achieving economic integration

Paella

2005-03-04T10:51:00.000-08:00

In Spanish cuisine, a dish of saffron-flavoured rice cooked with meats, seafood, and vegetables. Originating in the rice-growing areas on Spain's Mediterranean coast, the dish is especially associated with the region of Valencia. Paella takes its name from the paellera, the utensil in which it is cooked, a flat round pan with two handles; paella is traditionally eaten

Annan, Kofi Atta

2005-03-02T14:37:00.000-08:00

The affable and intelligent Annan, the first person from sub-Saharan

Ayub Khan, Mohammad

2005-03-01T00:45:00.000-08:00

After studying at Aligarh Muslim University, in Uttar Pradesh, India, and at the British Royal Military College, at Sandhurst, Ayub Khan was commissioned an officer in the Indian army (1928). In World War II he was second-in-command

Amboise, Conspiracy Of

2005-02-28T21:31:00.000-08:00

On the accession of the 14-year-old Francis II to the French throne in 1559, the Guise family gained ascendancy in the government, creating enmity among the smaller nobility. A conspiracy to overturn their government was formed at Nantes, with a needy Périgord nobleman named La Renaudie

Tyutchev, Fyodor Ivanovich

2005-02-27T19:46:00.000-08:00

The son of a wealthy landowner, educated at home and at Moscow University, Tyutchev served his

Natchez Trace Parkway

2005-02-27T01:33:00.000-08:00

Old road and one of the most scenic highways in the United States, about 450 mi (725 km) long, following an Indian trail, or trace, northeastward from Natchez, Miss., across northwestern Alabama to Nashville, Tenn. Originally an Indian trail, from 1800 to 1820 it was the most important highway in the Old Southwest—militarily, economically, and politically. With the advent of the river steamer

Kamarupa

2005-02-25T14:53:00.000-08:00

Kamarupa was ruled by a single dynasty from AD 350 to 650. Although it began as a feudatory state of the Gupta empire, Kamarupa under a second dynasty

Shining Path

2005-02-25T00:11:00.000-08:00

The Shining Path was founded in 1970 in a multiple split in the Communist Party of Peru. It took its name from the maxim of the founder of Peru's first communist party, José Carlos Mariátegui: “El Marxismo-Leninismo abrirá el sendero luminoso hacia la

Pendant

2005-02-24T10:11:00.000-08:00

In stone ceilings the use of pendant vaulting was

Huysmans, Camille

2005-02-23T02:22:00.000-08:00

Trained as a philologist, Huysmans taught at the collège at Ieper, Belg., the Atheneum at Ixelles, Belg., and the Université Nouvelle (French: “New University”) in Brussels.

Valéry, Paul

2005-02-22T06:17:00.000-08:00

In full Ambroise-Paul-Toussaint-Jules Valéry French poet, essayist, and critic. His greatest poem is considered La Jeune Parque (1917; “The Young Fate”), which was followed by Album de vers anciens 1890–1900 (1920) and Charmes ou poèmes (1922), containing “Le Cimetière marin” (“The Graveyard by the Sea”). He later wrote a large number of essays and occasional papers on literary topics and took a great interest in scientific discoveries

Arabian Religion, North Arabia

2005-02-21T03:35:00.000-08:00

North Arabian gods are named for the first time in the annals of the 7th-century BC Assyrian king Esarhaddon, in which he reports having returned to the oasis of Adumatu (Dumat al-Jandal) the idols previously confiscated as war booty by his father, Sennacherib. Among the gods named by Esarhaddon are 'Atarsamain, 'Atarquruma, Nukhay, and Ruldayu. Herodotus wrote that the Arabs

Ch'ang O

2005-02-19T14:15:00.000-08:00

Each year on the 15th day of the eighth

European Parliament

2005-02-18T08:42:00.000-08:00

Legislative assembly of the European Union (EU). Inaugurated in 1958 as the Common Assembly, the European Parliament originally consisted of representatives selected by the national parliaments of EU member countries. Beginning in 1979, members of the Parliament, who now number more than 600, were elected by direct universal suffrage to terms of five years. The number of members

Cyrene

2005-02-18T00:48:00.000-08:00

In Greek mythology, a nymph, daughter of Hypseus (king of the Lapiths) and Chlidanope (a Naiad). One day Cyrene wrestled a lion that had attacked her father's flocks. Apollo, who was watching, fell in love with her and carried her off from Mt. Pelion, in Thessaly, to Libya. There he founded the city of Cyrene and made her its queen. Cyrene was the mother by Apollo of Aristaeus (q.v.) and

Alabama, Plant and animal life

2005-02-16T23:43:00.000-08:00

The warm climate of Alabama has nurtured a rich plant cover, including more than 125 tree varieties. Most of the thick forests are in the north and northeast. Pine trees predominate, and live oaks are also found statewide, lending grace to the streets of the older towns and cities. Sweet gum and black walnut are also common, while the colourful red cedar is most abundant in

Nicholas Of Lyra,

2005-02-16T11:29:00.000-08:00

Becoming a Franciscan c. 1300, by 1309 Nicholas was a professor at the Sorbonne, where he taught for many years. From 1319 he headed the Franciscans in France and in 1325 founded the College

Faerie Queene, The

2005-02-15T23:36:00.000-08:00

One of the great long poems in the English language, written in the 16th century by Edmund Spenser. As originally conceived, the poem was to have been a religious-moral-political allegory in 12 books, each consisting of the adventures of a knight representing a particular moral virtue; Book I, for example, recounts the legend of the Red Cross Knight, or Holiness. The knights

Voting Rights Act

2005-02-13T00:53:00.000-08:00

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

Anderson, Dame Judith

2005-02-12T06:37:00.000-08:00

Anderson was only 17 years old when she made her stage debut in 1915 in Sydney and 20 when she first appeared in New York City. After her first major success in New York in 1924 in Cobra, she went on to appear as Nina Leeds in Eugene O'Neill's Strange Interlude (1928) and as Lavinia in O'Neill's

Disarmament

2005-02-11T08:19:00.000-08:00

In international relations, any of four distinct conceptions: (1) the penal destruction or reduction of the armament of a country defeated in war (the provision under the Versailles Treaty [1919] for the disarmament of Germany and its allies is an example of this conception of disarmament); (2) bilateral disarmament agreements applying to specific geographic areas (naval

Turkana

2005-02-10T06:31:00.000-08:00

A people living in the arid, sandy expanse of northwestern Kenya, from Lake Rudolf (Lake Turkana) to the Ugandan border. The Turkana speak an Eastern Nilotic language of the Nilo-Saharan language family. Their language closely resembles that of the Teso. They apparently moved to their present lands about 200 years ago from an area now in northeastern Uganda where the closely

Encratite

2005-02-09T00:36:00.000-08:00

Tatian converted to Christianity while studying in Rome

Shanghai, Climate

2005-02-08T11:50:00.000-08:00

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.

Middle English Language

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

The history of Middle English is often divided into three periods: (1) Early Middle English, from about 1100 to about 1250, during which the Old English system of writing was still in use; (2) the Central Middle English period from about 1250 to

Andreini, Francesco

2005-02-07T04:18:00.000-08:00

Andreini began his career as a soldier but was captured by the Turks and held in slavery by them for several years. Upon his return to Italy,

Bar Mitzvah

2005-02-05T04:36:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Bar Mitzva, or Mitzwa (Hebrew: “Son of the Commandment”), plural Bar Mitzvahs, Bar Mitzvot, or Bar Mitzwot, Jewish religious ritual and family celebration commemorating the religious adulthood of a boy on his 13th birthday. The boy, now deemed personally responsible for fulfilling all the commandments, may henceforth don phylacteries (religious symbols worn on the forehead and left arm) during the weekday-morning prayers and may be counted an adult whenever 10 male adults

Soubise, Benjamin De Rohan, Seigneur De

2005-02-04T06:38:00.000-08:00

Soubise apprenticed as a soldier under Prince Maurice of Orange-Nassau in the Low Countries. In the Huguenot rebellions that rocked France in the 1620s, his elder brother chiefly commanded the Huguenots' forces on land and in the south, while Soubise commanded those

Hasa, Al-

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

Arabic Al-Ahsa' oasis and region in eastern Saudi Arabia. Al-Hasa oasis, the largest oasis in Saudi Arabia, lies about 40 miles (65 km) west of the Persian Gulf. It has about 30,000 acres (12,000 hectares) of palm groves and other crops that are irrigated by the flow of 60 or more artesian springs. Many varieties of dates are grown on the more than 3 million trees in the oasis. The oasis's population consists of almost

France, History Of, Sale of national lands

2005-02-02T09:42:00.000-08:00

The Assembly had not lost sight of the financial crisis that precipitated the collapse of absolutism in the first place. Creating an entirely new option for its solution, the Assembly voted to place church property—about 10 percent of the land in France—“at the disposition of the nation.” This property was designated as biens nationaux, or national lands. The government

Pauling, Linus

2005-02-02T04:37:00.000-08:00

In full Linus Carl Pauling American chemist who applied quantum mechanics to the study of molecular structures, particularly in connection with chemical bonding. Pauling received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1954 and the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1962 (the latter in recognition of his efforts on behalf of the international control of nuclear weapons and his

Aerospace Industry, Airframe and engine overhaul

2005-02-01T22:59:00.000-08:00

To ensure the safe operation of airliners, airframes and engines of civil and military aircraft have obligatory major overhauls after specified time intervals. For the airframes of commercial airliners, this is required after about five years (22,000 flight hours) of operation. In such a major overhaul, the first phase is an evaluation of the technical “health” of the aircraft

Jackrabbit

2005-01-30T22:33:00.000-08:00

Any of several North American species of hare (genus Lepus).

Sabzevari, Hajji Hadi

2005-01-29T17:28:00.000-08:00

Iranian teacher and philosopher who advanced the hikmah (wisdom) school of Islamic philosophy. His doctrines—composed of diverse elements of gnosis (esoteric spiritual knowledge), philosophy, and revelation—are an exposition and clarification of the philosophical concepts of Mulla Sadra. But he differed to some extent by classifying knowledge

Viélé-griffin, Francis

2005-01-28T08:24:00.000-08:00

Viélé-Griffin, son of a military governor for the Union in the American Civil War, was sent to France at the age of eight to attend school and remained there for the rest of his life. His first collection of verse, Cueille d'avril (1886; “April's Harvest”), showed

Haviland Crater

2005-01-27T01:36:00.000-08:00

Also called Brenham Crater small, shallow impact crater in farmland near Haviland, Kiowa county, Kansas, U.S. The depression, some 50 feet (15 metres) in diameter, is oval in shape. The first meteorite fragment, now known to be of the strong-iron, or pallasite, type, was found at the site in 1885, but the shallow crater was not identified until 1925 (it is one of the smallest impact craters in the world). Meteoritic fragments,

Amstelveen

2005-01-26T19:15:00.000-08:00

Gemeente (commune), Noordholland provincie, western Netherlands, near the Amstel River. Amstelveen (meaning “peat bog on the Amstel”) was formerly a village in the municipality of Nieuwer-Amstel. A residential suburb of Amsterdam, it is a water-sports centre with some agriculture and light industry. Schiphol international airport is nearby to the west. Pop. (1999 est.) 77,737.

Yeysk

2005-01-25T20:21:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Jejsk , or Eisk city, Krasnodar kray (region), southwestern Russia. It was founded as a port in 1848 on the southern side of Taganrog Gulf of the Sea of Azov. Fishing and associated industries (fish canning) are important; other industries include agricultural processing. The city is a noted health resort, famed for its medicinal sulfur and mud baths. A college of agricultural technology

Leaf Insect

2005-01-25T08:43:00.000-08:00

(family Phylliidae), also called walking leaf any of about 25 species of flat, green insects with a leaflike appearance that belong to the order Phasmatodea. The female has large leathery forewings (tegmina) that lie edge to edge on the abdomen and resemble, in their vein pattern, the midrib and veins in a leaf; the hindwings have no function. The male has small tegmina and ample, non-leaflike, functional hindwings.

Section D'or

2005-01-23T10:12:00.000-08:00

(French: “Golden Section”), group of Cubist painters concerned with the proportion and rhythm of geometric forms. The group's name was suggested by Jacques Villon, and the principal members included Robert Delaunay, Marcel Duchamp, Raymond Duchamp-Villon, Albert Gleizes, Juan Gris, Roger de La Fresnaye, Fernand Léger, André Lhote, Louis Marcoussis, Jean Metzinger, Francis

Niccolò Dell'arca

2005-01-23T09:52:00.000-08:00

Also called Niccolo Da Bari early Renaissance Italian sculptor famed for his expressionistic use of northern Gothic realism in combination with true compositional principles of Renaissance art. Niccolò takes his name from the tomb (arca in Italian) of St. Dominic in the church of S. Domenico, Bologna, where he made the canopy and most of the freestanding figures (1469–94). His masterpiece is the passionately

Genesis Apocryphon

2005-01-22T14:06:00.000-08:00

Pseudepigraphal work (not accepted in any canon of scripture), one of the most important works of the Essene community of Jews, part of whose library was discovered in 1947 in caves at Qumran, near the Dead Sea, in Palestine. The scroll, the last of seven scrolls discovered in Cave I, is also the least well preserved. Examination of the entire scroll showed it to be a collection

Foy, Eddie

2005-01-20T22:18:00.000-08:00

As a child he sang and danced in the streets of New York and Chicago to help support his family. He gained his first professional recognition in the mining camps and cow towns of the West, beginning around 1878. He returned to Chicago in 1888 as the star comedian

Ecuador, Drainage

2005-01-20T17:32:00.000-08:00

As the annual thawing of snow occurs in the mountains, numerous rivers rise, pass through the hoyas of the Sierra, and flow either west to the Pacific coast or east to the Amazon River. The Costa is primarily drained into the Pacific Ocean by the Guayas basin. Formed by the juncture of the Daule and Babahoyo rivers and their affluents, the Guayas River is navigable for

Aubusson

2005-01-18T16:28:00.000-08:00

Town, Creuse département, Limousin région, central France, on the Creuse River near the northern edge of the Plateau de Millevaches (highest part of the Monts du Limousin), northeast of Limoges. In the Middle Ages it was the seat of a viscounty from whose rulers descended Pierre d'Aubusson, grand master of the Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, defender of Rhodes

Balczó, András

2005-01-18T11:07:00.000-08:00

A strong swimmer and runner and a consistent fencer, Balczó won individual championships in 1963, 1965–67, and 1969. He also won five team championships with the Hungarian team. He was less fortunate in Olympic

Ericales

2005-01-17T22:54:00.000-08:00

The fossil record of Ericales is not enormous, especially considering the number of extant species in the order; in fact, many species placed in Ericales require careful reconsideration as their affinities with the order are doubtful. The Cyrillaceae are well documented in the fossil record with pollen grains occurring as far back as the Maastrichtian of the

Ya-an

2005-01-16T18:22:00.000-08:00

Established as the seat of a county under the Ch'in (221–206 BC) and Han (206 BC–AD 220) dynasties,

San Andrés Y Providencia

2005-01-14T19:46:00.000-08:00

Island departamento, Colombia, consisting of the Andrés and Providencia islands and several small keys in the Caribbean Sea, 440 miles (710 km) northwest of Cartagena, Colom., and 110 miles (180 km) off the coast of Nicaragua. Three of the keys are also claimed by the United States. The islands were settled in 1629 by English Puritans and later by planters, woodcutters, and black slaves from

China, Climate and environment

2005-01-13T19:12:00.000-08:00

Although the precise nature of the paleoenvironment is still in dispute, temperatures in Neolithic China were probably some 4° to 7° F (2° to 4° C) warmer than they are today. Rainfall, although more abundant, may have been declining in quantity. The Tsinling Mountains in northwest China separated the two phytogeographical zones of North and South China, while the absence of

ásgrímsson, Eysteinn

2005-01-13T01:17:00.000-08:00

Records of Ásgrímsson's life are scant. In 1343 he was imprisoned, probably for thrashing his abbot and perhaps for a breach of chastity as well. In 1349 he was made an official of the Skálholt bishopric, and he attended the bishop on a mission

Melissus Of Samos

2005-01-12T05:27:00.000-08:00

Greek philosopher who was the last significant member of the Eleatic school of philosophy, which adhered to Parmenides' doctrine of reality as a single, unchanging whole. Although Melissus defended Parmenides, he differed from him in that he held reality to be boundless and of infinite duration (having a past and a present). He is also known as the commander

Tz'u-hsi

2005-01-10T03:34:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Cixi, also called (Wade–Giles romanization) Hsiao-ch'in, or Hsien Huang-hou, byname Empress Dowager consort of the Hsien-feng emperor (reigned 1850–61), mother of the T'ung-chih emperor (reigned 1861–75), and adoptive mother of the Kuang-hsü emperor (reigned 1875–1908), who dominated the Chinese empire for almost half a century. Ruling through a clique of conservative, corrupt officials, she maintained an iron grip over the Manchu Imperial house (Ch'ing dynasty, 1644–1911/12), becoming one

Literature, Yiddish

2005-01-09T19:04:00.000-08:00

Baym rand fun kholem (“At the Edge of a Dream”), by master of the short novella Tsvi Ayznman, was a family chronicle of tales and sketches that traced a life journey from Poland to the Soviet Union, with sojourns in the Czech lands, Italy, and Cyprus. After finally settling in Israel,

Scilly, Isles Of

2005-01-07T22:31:00.000-08:00

Also called Scilly Isles group of about 50 small islands and many more islets lying southwest of Cornwall, England, 25–36 miles (40–58 km) off Land's End. Administratively, the islands are a distinct unit within England, though they form a part of the historic county of Cornwall. Because their council serves the functions of both a district and a county, they have a status similar to that of a unitary

Dominoes

2005-01-06T04:16:00.000-08:00

The face of each piece is divided, by a line or ridge, into two squares, each of which is marked as would be a pair of dice, except that some squares are blank

Vâlcea

2005-01-05T09:47:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Vîlcea, judet (county), south-central Romania. The Transylvanian Alps (Southern Carpathians) and the sub-Carpathians rise above settlement areas in the valleys, and the Olt and Cerna rivers drain southward through the county. Râmnicu Vâlcea (q.v.; the county capital), Babeni, and Berzoi are timber production centres. Chemical factories operate in Govora, and building materials

Jouhaux, Léon

2005-01-04T14:22:00.000-08:00

A worker in a match factory from the age of 16, Jouhaux soon became one of the leading propagandists of revolutionary syndicalism. He was national secretary of the matchworkers' union

Pacific Ocean, Bottom deposits

2005-01-04T13:20:00.000-08:00

Apart from the narrow coastal zone of the eastern region and the broad continental seas of the western region, the Pacific is floored with pelagic (i.e., oceanic) material derived from the remains of marine plants and animals that once inhabited the waters lying above. Red or brown radiolarian ooze is found along the zone of the Pacific North Equatorial Current, east

Tai Languages, Syntax

2005-01-03T17:37:00.000-08:00

Word order is generally subject–verb–object (SVO). The verb plus object may be called the verb phrase, which functions as predicate. Nouns also may be used as predicates; an example is wan-níi wan-sak ‘today (is) Friday.' A noun phrase consists of a noun, which may be followed by its modifiers (another noun, an adjective, or a verb phrase), which, in turn, are followed by a numeral with a

Taaffe, Eduard, Count (graf) Von

2005-01-01T07:07:00.000-08:00

Taaffe, who was of Irish descent

Lille

2004-12-31T13:34:00.000-08:00

Lille (often written L'Île [“the island”] until the 18th century) began as a village between arms of the Deûle River. Count Baldwin IV of Flanders fortified it in the 11th century. The medieval

Essex, Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl Of, Viscount Hereford Lord Ferrers, Lord Bourchier

2004-12-30T22:38:00.000-08:00

Because his father, Robert Devereux, 2nd earl of Essex, had been executed for treason (1601), Devereux had to obtain special permission from Parliament to succeed (1604) to his family titles

Azurite

2004-12-30T00:21:00.000-08:00

Also called Chessylite, basic copper carbonate [Cu3(OH)2(CO3)2]. It is ordinarily found with malachite in the oxidized zone of copper lodes. Notable deposits are Tsumeb, Namibia; Chessy, Fr.; and Bisbee, Ariz., U.S. Azurite was used as a blue pigment in ancient Eastern wall painting and, from the 15th to the middle of the 17th century, in European painting. For detailed physical properties, see carbonate

Gabon, History Of

2004-12-29T07:49:00.000-08:00

Little is known about the history of the Gabon region prior to the arrival of the first Portuguese navigators in the Gabon Estuary in 1472, for the Bantu-speaking peoples inhabiting the region lacked writing. At that time portions of southern Gabon were loosely linked to the state of Loango, which in turn formed a province of the vast Kongo kingdom. From the offshore islands

Cambon, Jules

2004-12-28T15:33:00.000-08:00

Educated in law, Cambon entered the prefectorial administration after service in the Franco-German War (1870–71). In June 1878 he was

Oberösterreich

2004-12-27T18:10:00.000-08:00

Part of the Austrian granite plateau,

Swabian Alp

2004-12-25T07:15:00.000-08:00

German Swäbische Alb, continuation of the Jura Mountains in Baden-Württemberg Land (state), southwestern Germany. The upland plateau extends approximately 100 miles (160 km) from the Black Forest (Schwarzwald) to the Wörnitz River at an average elevation of about 2,300 feet (700 m). The plateau rises in a steep northwestern scarp some 1,300 feet (400 m) above the valleys of the Neckar, Rems, and Fils rivers to its highest

Mckinley, John

2004-12-24T13:03:00.000-08:00

After practicing law briefly in Kentucky, where he grew up, McKinley settled in Huntsville, Alabama, then a centre of planting and political interests, in 1818. In 1820 he was elected to the Alabama state legislature and two years later, despite the support

Antares

2004-12-24T03:39:00.000-08:00

Also called Alpha Scorpii red, semiregular variable star, with apparent visual magnitude about 0.9, the brightest star in the zodiacal constellation Scorpius and one of the largest known stars, having several hundred times the diameter of the Sun and several thousand times the Sun's luminosity. It has a fifth-magnitude blue companion. Antares lies about 400 light-years from the Earth. The name seems

Gruffydd, William John

2004-12-22T19:43:00.000-08:00

Educated at the University of Oxford, Gruffydd was appointed professor of Celtic at University College in Cardiff, Wales, a position

Basil The Chamberlain

2004-12-21T20:02:00.000-08:00

After the death of the emperor John I, Basil the Chamberlain controlled the throne for his two grandnephews and co-emperors Constantine and Basil II. After engineering his uncle's downfall, Basil II was finally able to assume his own independent rule.

Boxing, Professional boxing

2004-12-20T13:20:00.000-08:00

The man who made boxing into big business was George (“Tex”) Rickard, the sport's first great promoter. After staging the world's lightweight championship bout between Joe Gans and Oscar (“Battling”) Nelson to publicize the mining town of Goldfield, Nevada, in 1906, he realized the potential of prizefighting. Rickard made an art of boxing publicity, playing on the public's prejudices

Thun Und Hohenstein, Leo, Count (graf) Von

2004-12-20T03:49:00.000-08:00

Pro-Czech Austrian statesman and administrator who improved the educational establishments of the Austrian Empire, sought to resolve the antagonisms between Czechs and Germans in Bohemia, and favoured the conversion of the Habsburg monarchy into a federal

Kermes

2004-12-18T20:29:00.000-08:00

Either the scale insect (Kermes ilicis) or the bright-red dye obtained from the dried bodies of these insects. The dye was often part of the tribute paid to conquering Roman armies, and, in the Middle Ages, landlords accepted it as payment for rent. The oldest known red dyestuff, resembling but inferior to cochineal, it was used by the early Egyptians.