SpecialWalk

Farinacci, Roberto

2005-04-03T20:39:00.000-07:00

After dropping out of school to work for the railroad in Cremona (1909), Farinacci became an ardent Socialist. When World War I broke out, he advocated Italian intervention,

Southampton, William Fitzwilliam, Earl Of

2005-04-03T17:57:00.000-07:00

A son of Sir William Fitzwilliam of Aldwarke, near Rotherham, Fitzwilliam was a companion in boyhood of Henry VIII and was knighted for his services at the siege of Tournai in 1513. Later he was treasurer of Thomas, Cardinal Wolsey's household and was sent several times to France

Forbidden City

2005-04-02T07:34:00.000-08:00

Chinese (Wade-Giles) Tzu-chin ch'eng, (Pinyin) Zijin cheng,

Block And Tackle

2005-04-02T06:11:00.000-08:00

Combination of a flexible rope, or cable, and pulleys commonly used to augment pulling force; it can be used to lift heavy weights or to exert large forces in any direction. In the Figure there are four freely rotating pulleys, two on the upper block, which remains fixed, and two on the lower block, which moves up as the load W is lifted; one end of the rope is anchored to the upper

Aidoo, Ama Ata

2005-04-02T02:31:00.000-08:00

Aidoo began to write seriously while an honours student at the University of Ghana (B.A., 1964). She won early recognition with a problem play, The Dilemma of a Ghost (1965), in which a Ghanaian student returning

Accius, Lucius

2005-03-31T10:01:00.000-08:00

Accius also spelled Attius one of the greatest of the Roman tragic poets, in the view of his contemporaries. His plays (more than 40 titles are known, and about 700 lines survive) were mostly free translations from Greek tragedy, many from Euripides, with violent plots, flamboyant characterizations, and forceful rhetoric. His tragedies were performed until the end of the republic

Anderson, Poul

2005-03-31T03:18:00.000-08:00

Anderson published his first science-fiction story while an undergraduate at the University of Minnesota and became a freelance writer following his graduation with a degree

Gipon

2005-03-30T21:19:00.000-08:00

Later in the century the gipon became shorter, and it was replaced by the doublet in the 15th and 16th centuries. For a time it was called a pourpoint.

Ikeja

2005-03-29T21:56:00.000-08:00

Town and capital of Lagos state, 10.5 miles (17 km) northwest of Lagos, southwestern Nigeria. Originally settled by the Yoruba people, the locality was raided for slaves until the mid-19th century. Early in the 20th century it became an agricultural hinterland for Lagos; kola nuts were first grown in Nigeria in this area. The opening of the Lagos-Ibadan railway in 1901 and the growth of

Ashland

2005-03-29T21:17:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1860) of Ashland county, extreme northern Wisconsin, U.S. It is a port on Chequamegon Bay of Lake Superior. A Jesuit mission was established there in 1665, but not until 1854 did Asaph Whittlesey settle the site, which he named for Henry Clay's Kentucky estate. In 1877 Ashland became the terminus of the first railroad of northern Wisconsin and developed with iron-mining and lumbering

Rayleigh Scattering

2005-03-29T08:32:00.000-08:00

The angle through which sunlight in the atmosphere is scattered by molecules of the constituent gases varies inversely as

Setouchi

2005-03-26T15:55:00.000-08:00

Industrial region, southern Japan. Setouchi includes the southern portion of Chugoku chiho (region) on the island of Honshu, the northern part of Shikoku, and many nearby industrial areas on islands of the Inland Sea. Setouchi is neither an administrative nor a political entity; it includes portions of the ken (prefectures) of Okayama, Hiroshima, and Yamaguchi on Honshu,

Vieira, Luandino

2005-03-26T09:49:00.000-08:00

Vieira immigrated with his parents to Angola in 1938, living in and around the musseques (African quarters) of Luanda. His writings reflect the fusion of Kimbundu (the language of the Mbundu people) and a variety of Portuguese that is the unique language of the musseque. Vieira, a white Angolan, committed

California, Industry

2005-03-26T01:50:00.000-08:00

The aircraft plants and shipyards were supplemented after World War II by branch plants of many Eastern and Midwestern industries. Federal research-and-development funds allocated to California organizations also contributed to the postwar economy. By the 1970s and '80s, California's industries had diversified to include computer sciences, biotechnology, and health

Howe, E.w.

2005-03-25T19:37:00.000-08:00

Howe went to work at age seven on his father's homestead near Bethany, Mo. An apprentice printer at 12, he worked at the trade in Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Utah (1867–72). At 19 he was publisher of the Golden (Colo.) Globe and in 1877 founded the Atchison (Kan.) Daily Globe, made famous

Wadi Al-jadid, Al-

2005-03-25T09:37:00.000-08:00

(English: “New Valley”), desert muhafazah (governorate), Egypt. It includes the entire southwestern quadrant of the country, from the Nile River valley (east) to the frontiers with The Sudan (south) and Libya (west). Its total area covers approximately two-fifths of Egypt. Until 1958 the muhafazah was known as as-Sahra' al-Janubiyah, meaning “southern desert.” For national planning purposes, the term

Fabales

2005-03-25T06:13:00.000-08:00

The origin of the Fabales and its relationship to other plant families and orders are speculative. Traditionally the Fabales have been thought to have derived from the order Rosales, and even specific groups of the Rosaceae family have been postulated. A careful evaluation by the American botanist William C. Dickison has compared the Fabales with three families

H Ii Region

2005-03-23T10:08:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Hii Region, in astronomy, interstellar matter consisting of ionized hydrogen atoms. Such regions occur as hot, ionized gaseous clouds, sometimes called emission nebulae. The energy that is responsible for ionizing and heating the hydrogen in an emission nebula comes from a central star that has a surface temperature in excess of 20,000 K. The density of these clouds normally ranges

Cartwright, Sir Richard John

2005-03-23T02:18:00.000-08:00

Already a successful businessman, Cartwright was elected to the Parliament of the united province of Canada as an independent Conservative

Earth Sciences, Properties and structure of the atmosphere

2005-03-22T05:56:00.000-08:00

Less than a year after the space age began with the launching of the Soviet Sputnik I in 1957, the U.S. satellite Explorer I was sent into orbit with a Geiger counter for measuring the intensity of cosmic radiation at different levels above the ground. At altitudes around 1,000 kilometres this instrument ceased to function due to saturation by charged particles. This and subsequent

Mcnally, David Arthur

2005-03-20T19:19:00.000-08:00

American professional baseball player (b. Oct. 31, 1942, Billings, Mont.—d. Dec. 1, 2002, Billings), was a phenomenal left-handed pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles; he completed four consecutive 20-win seasons between 1968 and 1971, appeared in three All-Star games (1969, 1970, and 1972), and helped his team win World Series titles in 1966 and 1970. McNally also took part in the landmark 1975 arbitration case that ended baseball's “reserve

Arabia, The Persian Gulf lowland

2005-03-20T04:13:00.000-08:00

A low-lying region follows the Arabian shore of the Persian Gulf from Kuwait around to the Al-Hajar mountains of Oman at the mouth of the gulf. The gravel plain of Ad-Dibdibah lies inland southwest of Kuwait. Adjacent to Ad-Dahna' is the low plateau of As-Summan; between it and the coast scattered hills rise a few hundred feet. Broad patches of sand occur here and there, and salt

France, History Of, The principalities of the south

2005-03-19T03:25:00.000-08:00

Provence lay in what is now the southeastern corner of France; it was not part of the west Frankish domains. Included in the Middle Kingdom from 843, it passed to the kings of Burgundy after 879 and to the emperors in the 11th century. But it was local counts once again who won prestige

Aidan

2005-03-18T19:41:00.000-08:00

Aidan was crowned at Iona by St. Columba. He refused to allow his kingdom to remain dependent on the Irish Dalriada; but, coming into collision with his southern neighbours, he led a large force against Aethelfrith, king of the Northumbrians, and was defeated at Degsanstan, probably in

Han-fei-tzu

2005-03-18T07:10:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Hanfeizi the greatest of China's Legalist philosophers. His essays on autocratic government so impressed King Cheng of Ch'in that the future emperor adopted their principles after seizing power in 221 BC. The book that goes by Han-fei's name comprises a synthesis of legal theories up to his time.

Discount Rate

2005-03-18T06:40:00.000-08:00

The discount rate serves as an important indicator

Yahya (mahmud Al-mutawakkil)

2005-03-17T19:23:00.000-08:00

When Yahya was a child, Yemen was a province of the Ottoman Empire. His youth was spent in the service of his father's administration, and, when his father died in 1904, Yahya succeeded him as imam. The Yemenis had always resented Turkish rule, and Yahya was soon able to assemble a potent military force. Sporadic warfare lasted until 1911, when he was

Cossack

2005-03-17T15:27:00.000-08:00

Russian Kazak (from Turkic kazak, “adventurer,” or “free man”), member of a people dwelling in the northern hinterlands of the Black and Caspian seas. They had a tradition of independence and finally received privileges from the Russian government in return for military services. Originally (in the 15th century) the term referred to semi-independent Tatar groups, which formed in the Dnieper

Muir, Edwin

2005-03-17T15:09:00.000-08:00

His stature as a poet

Ha-mi

2005-03-16T09:02:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Hami , Uighur Qomul city and oasis in eastern Uighur autonomous ch'ü (region) of Sinkiang, China. An important stage on the roads from Kansu province into Central Asia and to the west, Ha-mi was known to the Chinese in early times as I-wu, the name Ha-mi being the Chinese rendering of the Mongolian version (Khamil) of the Uighur name for the city. The Chinese occupied the oasis in early times, when

Sibawayh

2005-03-15T22:16:00.000-08:00

After studying in Basra, Iraq, with a prominent grammarian, Sibawayh received recognition as a grammarian himself. Sibawayh is said to have left Iraq and retired to Shiraz after losing a debate with a rival on Bedouin Arabic usage. His monumental work is al-Kitab fi an-nahw (“The Book on Grammar”) or, more simply, al-Kit

Douglas, Aaron

2005-03-15T11:16:00.000-08:00

After receiving a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska in 1922, Douglas returned briefly to his native Kansas to teach art. By 1925 he had moved to New York City, where he joined a burgeoning arts scene in Harlem. He studied

Eastern Orthodoxy, God and man

2005-03-15T07:13:00.000-08:00

The Greek Fathers of the church always implied that the phrase found in the biblical story of the creation of man (Gen. 1:26), according to “the image and likeness

Metalogic, The axiomatic method

2005-03-14T20:01:00.000-08:00

The best known axiomatic system is that of Euclid for geometry. In a manner similar to that of Euclid, every scientific theory involves a body of meaningful concepts and a collection of true or believed assertions. The meaning of a concept can often be explained or defined in terms of other concepts, and, similarly, the truth of an assertion or the reason for believing

Fibroblast

2005-03-13T20:51:00.000-08:00

The principal nonmotile cells of connective tissue; fibroblasts are large, flat, elongated (spindle-shaped) cells possessing processes extending out from the ends of the cell body. The cell nucleus is flat and oval. Fibroblasts produce tropocollagen, which is the forerunner of collagen, and ground substance, an amorphous, gel-like matrix that fills the spaces between

Apple Computer, Inc.

2005-03-13T11:46:00.000-08:00

American manufacturer of personal computers, computer peripherals, and computer software. It was the first successful personal computer company and the popularizer of the graphical user interface. Headquarters are located in Cupertino, California.

Ba'al Shem Tov

2005-03-13T01:50:00.000-08:00

During his lifetime, the Besht brought about a great social and religious upheaval and permanently altered many traditional values. In an atmosphere marked by joy, new rituals, and ecstasy, he created a new religious climate in small houses of prayer outside the synagogues. The changes that had occurred were further emphasized by the wearing of distinctive garb

Pacific Mountain System

2005-03-12T11:21:00.000-08:00

The Pacific mountain region had a large American Indian population before the arrival of white explorers and settlers. Hunting, the gathering of berries, roots, and nuts, and fishing were the major economic activities. Trade and barter were common among tribes, especially in the north, where peoples from the interior traded hides, meat, and roots for salmon caught

Zola, émile

2005-03-11T07:29:00.000-08:00

In full Émile-édouard-charles-antoine Zola French novelist, critic, and political activist who was the most prominent French novelist of the late 19th century. He was noted for his theories of naturalism, which underlie his monumental 20-novel series Les Rougon-Macquart, and for his intervention in the Dreyfus Affair through his famous open letter, “J'accuse.”

Cramer's Rule

2005-03-11T04:24:00.000-08:00

In which det A is the determinant of the matrix A (in which the elements of each row are the coefficients

Amalthea

2005-03-10T18:22:00.000-08:00

Small, inner satellite of Jupiter discovered in 1892 by the American astronomer E.E. Barnard. It circles Jupiter once every 11 h 57 min at a distance of 181,000 km (112,220 miles) in a nearly circular, uninclined orbit. Photographs transmitted by the U.S. probes Voyagers 1 and 2 in 1979 show that Amalthea is an irregular body measuring 270 ´ 166 ´ 150 km (167 ´ 103 ´ 93 miles); the long axis always points toward Jupiter. Amalthea has a very

Faguibine, Lake

2005-03-10T04:30:00.000-08:00

French Lac Faguibine, isolated lake in Mali, west of Timbuktu (Tombouctou). It lies north of the Niger River in the Macina depression, and it is reached by branches of the Niger in times of flood. At high water it reaches a length of about 50 miles (80 km).

Gatling, Richard Jordan

2005-03-09T17:40:00.000-08:00

Gatling's career as an inventor began when he assisted his father in the construction and perfecting of machines for sowing cotton seeds and for thinning cotton plants. In 1839 he perfected a practical

Atheriniform

2005-03-09T16:02:00.000-08:00

Any member of the order Atheriniformes, containing 15 families of marine and freshwater spiny-finned fishes, including the flying fishes (see photograph), needlefishes, silversides, and cyprinodonts. The last group, the Cyprinodontidae, is an abundant tropical and subtropical family that includes the guppies, mollies, swordtails, and many

Lodge, David

2005-03-09T06:25:00.000-08:00

Lodge was educated at University College, London (B.A., 1955; M.A., 1959), and at the University of Birmingham (Ph.D., 1967). His early novels, known mostly in England, include The Picturegoers (1960), about a group of Roman Catholics living in London; Ginger, You're Barmy (1962), Lodge's novelistic

Hernici

2005-03-08T19:09:00.000-08:00

Ancient people of Italy, whose territory was in Latium between the Fucine Lake (modern Fucino) and the Trerus (modern Sacco) River, bounded by the Volsci on the south and by the Aequi and the Marsi on the north. In 486 BC they were still strong enough to conclude a treaty with the Romans on equal terms. They broke away from Rome in 362–358. In 306 their chief town, Anagnia (Anagni), was taken by the

Amir Khosrow

2005-03-07T20:35:00.000-08:00

Amir Khosrow was the son of a Turkish officer in the service of Iltutmish, sultan of Delhi, and for his entire life he enjoyed the patronage of the Muslim rulers of Delhi, especially Sultan Ghiyas-ud-Din Balban and his son Muhammad Khan of Multan. During his youth

Calarcá

2005-03-06T15:50:00.000-08:00

City, northeastern Quindío department, Colombia, on the western slopes of the Andean Cordillera (mountains) Central, at 5,039 ft (1,536 m) above sea level. Like neighbouring Armenia, the departmental capital, it is an important coffee-growing centre. Calarcá is on the major highway that crosses the Boquerón (pass) del Quindío to Ibagué, capital of Tolima department. Pop. (1973) city, 32,533; mun., 54,658.

Andrew, Saint

2005-03-06T14:13:00.000-08:00

In the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), Peter and Andrew—whose Greek name means “Manly”—were called from their fishing by Jesus to follow him, promising that he would make them fishers of men. With Saints Peter, James, and John,

Alcaraz Carpet

2005-03-05T08:28:00.000-08:00

There are several different patterns of carpet with “wheels” in rectangular compartments. Other carpets imitate a wide range of brocade

San José De Las Lajas

2005-03-04T16:49:00.000-08:00

City, north-central La Habana provincia, west-central Cuba. It is known primarily as a commercial and manufacturing centre for the surrounding agricultural and pastoral lands, which feature dairying and sugarcane growing, but thermal springs have made it a health resort as well. A rail junction, it is also accessible by highway from Havana, which lies 20 miles (32 km) to the

Eakins, Thomas

2005-03-04T06:54:00.000-08:00

From his earliest student days, Eakins had been primarily interested in studying and portraying the human figure. His early sculling scenes displayed the musculature of athletic men, and “The Gross Clinic” dealt directly with the subject of human anatomy. But Eakins found few subjects in contemporary Philadelphia that afforded opportunities for portraying

Moldova

2005-03-04T02:09:00.000-08:00

The greater part of the republic lies between the great, meandering Prut and Dniester

Hawksmoor, Nicholas

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

Hawksmoor began to work for Wren about 1679 and owed his professional advancement

Paul Of Venice

2005-03-03T04:16:00.000-08:00

Paul studied at the universities of Oxford and Padua, where he also lectured (1408–15), and became Venetian ambassador to Poland (1413), but difficulties with the Venetian authorities prompted

Frye, Northrop

2005-03-03T02:33:00.000-08:00

Frye was educated at the University of Toronto, Emmanuel College in Toronto, and Merton College, Oxford. He taught at Victoria College from 1939, became chairman of the English department there in 1952, and served as principal (1959–67) and chancellor (1978–91) of the college.

Tuan Ch'i-jui

2005-03-02T15:20:00.000-08:00

A student of military science in Germany, Tuan became President Yüan Shih-k'ai's minister of war following the Chinese Republican Revolution of 1911. Shortly before Yüan's death in 1916, Tuan became premier, and he kept the post in the new government. He restored the provisional

Cost Of Living

2005-03-01T08:36:00.000-08:00

Monetary cost of maintaining a particular standard of living, usually measured by calculating the average cost of a number of specific goods and services required by a particular group. The goods and services used as indexes may be the minimum necessary to preserve health or may be what is considered average for a given income group, depending on the purposes of

Trade, Balance Of

2005-02-28T22:46:00.000-08:00

Difference in value over a period of time between a nation's imports and exports of goods and services, usually expressed in the unit of currency of a particular nation (e.g., dollars for the United States, pounds sterling for the United Kingdom). The balance of trade is part of a larger economic unit, the balance of payments (the sum total of all economic transactions between

Masbate

2005-02-28T22:08:00.000-08:00

Island and town, central Philippines, part of the Visayas group, bordered by the Sibuyan (west), Visayan (south), and Samar (east) seas. The island, 30 miles (48 km) southwest of the southern tip of Luzon, is V-shaped, with the open end of the V forming the Asid Gulf on the south; it has an area of 1,262 square miles (3,269 square km). The discontinuous highlands that stretch along both arms of the V represent

Penedo

2005-02-28T09:35:00.000-08:00

Port city, Alagoas state, northeastern Brazil, on the north bank of the lower São Francisco River, bordering Sergipe state, 25 mi (40 km) above its mouth on the Atlantic Ocean. Founded in the 16th century during the Portuguese conquest, it has developed a thriving trade in hides, rice, and cotton. There is light industrial development, including cotton spinning, weaving, vegetable-oil

Colfax

2005-02-27T22:38:00.000-08:00

County, northeastern New Mexico, U.S., bordered on the north by Colorado. Its westernmost section is in the Southern Rocky Mountains and includes the Cimarron range, topped by 12,441-foot (3,782-m) Baldy Peak, and the Sangre de Cristo range, which rises to more than 10,000 feet (3,000 m) and includes the Carson National Forest. Between the two mountain ranges is Eagle Nest Lake, the county's largest body

Abu Nidal

2005-02-27T13:17:00.000-08:00

Abu Nidal and his family fled Palestine after the 1948 war following the creation of the state

Affricate

2005-02-26T04:36:00.000-08:00

Also called semiplosive a consonant sound that begins as a stop (sound with complete obstruction of the breath stream) and concludes with a fricative (sound with incomplete closure and a sound of friction). Examples of affricates are the ch sound in English chair, which may be represented phonetically as a t sound followed by sh; the j in English jaw (a d followed by the zh sound heard in French

Ryazan

2005-02-26T02:07:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Riazan, or R'azan ', oblast (province), western Russia. It occupies an area of 15,300 square miles (39,600 square km) in the middle Oka River basin and extends southward across the northern end of the Central Russian Upland and Oka-Don Plain to the upper Don River basin. North of the Oka is the Meshchera Lowland, with extensive swamps of reed and grass marsh and mixed forest of oak, spruce, pine, and birch. Considerable

Sholem Aleichem

2005-02-25T17:03:00.000-08:00

Drawn to writing as a youth, he became a private tutor of Russian at the age of 17 and later served as a government rabbi in Lubin. His first writing had been in Russian and Hebrew, but between 1883, when his first story in Yiddish appeared, and his death, he published over 40 volumes of novels, stories, and plays

Kikutake Kiyonori

2005-02-25T10:29:00.000-08:00

After graduating from Waseda University (1950), Kikutake worked for several architectural firms and then opened his own office (1953). The work that first brought him to international notice was Sky House (1957), his own home, a building of one room elevated on

Aalto, Alvar

2005-02-24T14:16:00.000-08:00

A definitive review of Aalto's work, extremely well illustrated with photographs and plans, is the two-volume work edited by Karl Fleig: Alvar Aalto (1963) and Alvar Aalto 1963–1970 (1971). A brief essay by Farederick Gutheim, Alvar Aalto (1960), contains descriptive and critical comments as well as many photographs. A similar book is George Baird, Alvar Aalto (1970). A substantial chapter on Aalto appears in Sigfried Giedion, Space, Time and Architecture, 5th ed. rev. (1967), and is an excellent critical treatment of Aalto's architecture. No purely biographical work exists.

La Fresnaye, Roger De

2005-02-23T21:02:00.000-08:00

La Fresnaye studied

China, Taoism

2005-02-23T09:03:00.000-08:00

Under the Chin dynasty several popular Taoist sects had flourished in northern China, and Genghis Khan had apparently been impressed by the Taoist patriarch Ch'ang-ch'un. In 1223 Genghis Khan granted to Ch'ang-ch'un and his followers full exemption from taxes and other duties demanded by the government; this was the first of a series of edicts granting special privileges

Fairbanks, Douglas

2005-02-22T06:41:00.000-08:00

After college study Fairbanks began playing stage bit parts and by 1914 had become a popular

Arabia, History Of, Arabian and Islamic expansion

2005-02-22T05:29:00.000-08:00

In the 6th century Quraysh—the noble and holy house of the confederation of the Hejaz controlling the sacred enclave (haram) of Mecca—contrived a chain of agreements with the northern and southern tribes that opened the highways of Arabia to commerce. Under Quraysh aegis, caravans moved freely from the southern Yemen coast to Mecca and thence northward to Byzantium

Brachiation

2005-02-20T16:13:00.000-08:00

In animal behaviour, specialized form of arboreal locomotion in which movement is accomplished by swinging from one hold to another by the arms. The process is highly developed in the gibbon and siamang, which are anatomically adapted for it in the length of their forelimbs, their long hooklike fingers, and the mobility of their shoulder joints. The South American

Nabataean Alphabet

2005-02-20T11:05:00.000-08:00

Writing system used between approximately 150 BC and AD 150 in the Nabataean kingdom of Petra in the Arabian Peninsula. Used by the Nabataeans to write the Aramaic language, this alphabet was related to the Aramaic alphabet, one of the major Semitic scripts. The Nabataean script gave rise to the neo-Sinaitic alphabet, the ancestor of the Arabic alphabet. Like its Semitic precursors,

Hooker, Sir William Jackson

2005-02-20T05:32:00.000-08:00

Hooker was the son of a merchant's clerk and descendant of Richard Hooker, noted theologian of the 16th century. A fortuitous discovery in 1805 of

Naser Od-din Shah

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

Although a younger son of Mohammad Shah, Naser od-Din was named heir apparent through the influence of his mother. Serious

Earth Sciences, Observation and study of storms

2005-02-18T22:16:00.000-08:00

Storms, particularly tropical revolving storms, were subjects of much interest. As early as 1697 some of the more spectacular features of revolving storms were recorded in William Dampier's New Voyage Round the World. On July 4, 1687, Dampier's ship survived the passage of what he called a “tuffoon” off the coast of China. The captain's vivid account of this experience clearly describes

Buraydah

2005-02-18T21:06:00.000-08:00

Town, Najd (Central) region, north central Saudi Arabia. It has long been a commercial rival of 'Unayzah to the south, at one time controlling the export of Arab horses and monopolizing the camel caravan trade of Arabia. Now a principal oasis and agricultural centre, it has extensive date, lemon, and orange groves; other fruits are grown, and cattle and sheep are reared on

Migration, Mammals

2005-02-18T10:00:00.000-08:00

Seasonal movements are not widespread among terrestrial species of mammals, because walking speed is relatively slow and energy consumption great. Marine and flying mammals have a much greater tendency to migrate, a tendency that is directly related to their locomotive powers.

Beamon, Bob

2005-02-18T07:38:00.000-08:00

Beamon began jumping at Jamaica High School (Long Island, New York) and attended North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College (Greensboro), the University of Texas

Xiongnu

2005-02-17T22:32:00.000-08:00

Of the same origins as the Chinese,

Sung Chiao-jen

2005-02-17T04:56:00.000-08:00

Expelled from middle school in China for revolutionary activities, in 1904, Sung began studies in Japan. In Tokyo the following year, he became one of the leading members of the

Feminine Rhyme

2005-02-16T22:36:00.000-08:00

Also called double rhyme in poetry, a rhyme involving two syllables (as in motion and ocean or willow and billow). The term feminine rhyme is also sometimes applied to triple rhymes, or rhymes involving three syllables (such as exciting and inviting). Robert Browning alternates feminine and masculine rhymes in his “Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister”: Gr-r-r there go, my heart's abhorrence! Water

Wildcat

2005-02-16T21:11:00.000-08:00

The European wildcat inhabits forested regions from Scotland through continental Europe to western Asia. It is similar to the domestic

Paleoclimatology

2005-02-15T21:51:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Palaeoclimatology, scientific study of the extended climatic conditions of past geologic ages. Paleoclimatologists seek to explain climate variations for all parts of the Earth during any given geologic period, beginning with the time of the Earth's formation. Many related fields contribute to the field of paleoclimatology, but the basic research data are drawn mainly from geology

Arabia, History Of, The Mamluks

2005-02-15T11:32:00.000-08:00

During the 14th and 15th centuries the Mamluks became the dominant power, maintaining a political agent in the Hejaz and a body of cavalry in Mecca. Eventually they made or unmade the sharifian rulers, though the local Egyptian commander's policy sometimes ran counter to that of Cairo. From the mid-15th century the Mamluks took charge of the customs at Jiddah, Mecca's port, allotting

Offenbach

2005-02-14T11:45:00.000-08:00

In full Offenbach Am Main, city, Hesse Land (state), west-central Germany, a river port (coal and oil) on the left bank of the canalized Main. First mentioned in 977, it was part of the imperial forest of Dreieich, and a mint was established there in 1407. Acquired by Count (later prince) von Isenburg-Birstein in 1486, it began its prosperity with an influx of Huguenot craftsmen in 1698–1703. Annexed to Hesse in 1816, it grew steadily

Jerez De García Salinas

2005-02-14T07:48:00.000-08:00

City, south-central Zacatecas estado (“state”), north-central Mexico. Formerly known simply as Jerez, the city is on the Jerez River, 6,650 feet (2,027 m) above sea level and southwest of Zacatecas, the state capital. It is the commercial and manufacturing centre for an agricultural and pastoral hinterland in which beans, quince, and apples are the principal crops and horses, pigs, sheep,

Phocion

2005-02-13T20:22:00.000-08:00

Phocion was a pupil of Plato and in later life a close friend of the Platonic philosopher Xenocrates. After serving Persia as a mercenary, he was drawn into Athens' efforts to remain

Bashkortostan

2005-02-13T13:35:00.000-08:00

From Mount Yamantau, the highest peak in the southern Urals, elevation generally decreases southward and westward, with the heavily forested mountains giving way to open steppe interspersed with islands

Bottom Water

2005-02-12T10:56:00.000-08:00

Dense, lowermost layer of ocean water that can be distinguished clearly from overlying waters by its characteristic temperature, salinity, and oxygen content. Most bottom waters of the South Pacific, southern Indian Ocean, South Atlantic, and portions of the North Atlantic are formed near Antarctica during the southern winter. The partial freezing of seawater

Dandenong Ranges

2005-02-12T10:45:00.000-08:00

Mountain ranges, part of the Eastern Highlands, east of Melbourne in southern Victoria, Australia. Several peaks exceed 1,600 ft (500 m), the highest of which is Mt. Dandenong (2,077 ft). With nearly twice as much rainfall as the nearby coastal plain and with fertile volcanic soils, the mountains have dense vegetative cover. The name is derived from an Aboriginal word, tanjenong, meaning

Biblical Literature, Philosophical solutions

2005-02-11T18:52:00.000-08:00

Solutions were also sought in philosophy. Socrates, a 5th-century-BC Greek philosopher, was largely concerned with the search for the “good,” the good life. After Plato and Aristotle, however, philosophical systems sought to supply man's longing for inward security and stability. These were sought not by an in-depth understanding of reality but by ad hoc constructions—a

Japanese Yew

2005-02-10T21:04:00.000-08:00

Also called spreading yew (Taxus cuspidata) an ornamental evergreen shrub or tree of the yew family (Taxaceae), native to Japan and widely cultivated in the Northern Hemisphere. Rising to a height of 16 m (about 52 feet), it resembles the English yew but is hardier and faster-growing. Each leaf has two distinct, yellowish bands on its underside. There are many horticultural varieties of Japanese yew. Plants

Takashimaya Co., Ltd.

2005-02-10T15:51:00.000-08:00

Japanese Takashimaya Kabushiki-gaisha, premier department-store company in Japan. The company traces its history back to a cotton-goods store founded in Kyoto in 1831; the modern limited-liability company was established in 1919. Today the company has department stores in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Rakusai, Sakai, Wakayama, and several other Japanese cities, as well as branches overseas in such cities as New York, Paris, London,

Ibn Muqlah

2005-02-10T04:13:00.000-08:00

One of the foremost calligraphers of the 'Abbasid Age (750–1258), reputed inventor of the first cursive style of Arabic lettering, the naskhi script, which replaced the angular Kufic as the standard of Islamic calligraphy. In the naskhi script Ibn Muqlah introduced the rounded forms and curved lines that in later styles were

Caucasian Languages, Linguistic characteristics

2005-02-09T18:04:00.000-08:00

Correspondences between sounds and meanings in words and word elements provide a basis for considering the Kartvelian languages as being closely related and descended from a common ancestral language (a protolanguage).

Great Karoo

2005-02-09T14:54:00.000-08:00

Karoo also spelled Karroo , Afrikaans Groot Karoo , also called Central Karoo plateau basin in Western Cape province, South Africa, lying between the Great Escarpment (north) and the Swartberg (south). It represents the effect of headwater erosion by rivers flowing southwest and southeast from the escarpment. The Great Karoo is divided into a western basin and a much larger eastern basin. The western, which is the headwater basin for the Doring

Parallel

2005-02-09T13:34:00.000-08:00

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

Cone

2005-02-08T23:07:00.000-08:00

Also called strobilus in botany, mass of scales or bracts, usually ovate in shape, containing the reproductive organs of certain non-flowering plants. The cone, a distinguishing feature of pines and other conifers, is roughly analogous to the flower of other plants. Cones (strobili) are also found on club mosses and horsetails.