KindCurtain

Elf

2005-04-05T07:44:00.000-07:00

Plural Elves, in Germanic folklore, originally, a spirit of any kind, later specialized into a diminutive creature, usually in tiny human form. In the Prose, or Younger, Edda, elves were classified as light elves (who were fair) and dark elves (who were darker than pitch); these classifications are roughly equivalent to the Scottish seelie court and unseelie court. The notable characteristics

Sunburn

2005-04-05T06:38:00.000-07:00

Acute cutaneous inflammation caused by overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation of the so-called UVB wavelength band (290–320 nanometre; a nanometre is 10-9 metre), which originates from sunlight or artificial sources. Reactions to overexposure range in severity from mild redness and tenderness to intense pain, edema (swelling), and blistering; systemic symptoms include

Chinese Languages

2005-04-04T15:02:00.000-07:00

Modern Standard Chinese is based on the Peking (Beijing) dialect, which is of the Northern, or Mandarin, type. It employs about 1,300 different syllables. There are 22 initial consonants, including stops (made with momentary, complete closure in the vocal tract), affricates (beginning as stops but ending with incomplete closure), aspirated consonants, nasals, fricatives, liquid

Dalai Lama

2005-04-02T18:43:00.000-08:00

The first of the line was Dge-'dun-grub-pa (1391–1475), founder and abbot of Tashilhunpo monastery (central Tibet). In accordance with the belief in reincarnate lamas, which began to develop in the 14th century, his successors were conceived as his rebirths and

Irene Ducas

2005-04-02T14:06:00.000-08:00

When Alexius became emperor in April 1081 he reportedly planned to repudiate Irene and wed Mary, who had been married to the former emperors Michael VII

Beak Style

2005-04-02T08:50:00.000-08:00

Distinctive use of birdlike forms in human figures carved in wood in the lower Sepik and Ramu regions of Papua New Guinea. The head of the figure is generally placed on a short neck that connects it to a thick body, over which a long, beaklike nose often projects. Facial features have a thin, linear quality that emphasizes the downward thrust of the nose and contrasts

Strambotto

2005-04-01T16:41:00.000-08:00

Plural strambotti one of the oldest Italian verse forms, composed of a single stanza of either six or eight hendecasyllabic (11-syllable) lines. Strambotti were particularly popular in Renaissance Sicily and Tuscany, and the origin of the form in either region is still uncertain. Variations of the eight-line strambotto include the Sicilian octave (ottava siciliana), with the rhyme scheme

Pacemaker

2005-04-01T02:04:00.000-08:00

A healthy human heart contains its own electrical conducting system capable of controlling both the rate and the order of cardiac contractions. Electrical impulses are generated at

Earth Sciences, Geologic sciences

2005-03-31T11:41:00.000-08:00

The development of the geologic sciences in the 20th century has been influenced by two major “revolutions.” The first involves dramatic technological advances that have resulted in vastly improved instrumentation, the prime examples being the many types of highly sophisticated computerized devices. The second is centred on the development of the plate tectonics

Tavoy

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

The surrounding area lies between the Andaman Sea and lower Thailand and is drained

Tuam

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

Irish Tuaim chief market town of the northern part of eastern County Galway, Ireland. It is the seat of a Roman Catholic archbishop, the see having been founded by St. Jarlath (c. 550), and the seat of a Protestant bishop. The Protestant cathedral incorporates part of an ancient church built about 1130 with the help of Turloch O'Connor, king of Connaught. The chancel is all that remains of the original

Spookfish

2005-03-29T04:54:00.000-08:00

Any of about 11 species of small marine fishes constituting the family Opisthoproctidae (order Salmoniformes), with representatives in each of the major oceans. The name spookfish, or barreleye, as they are sometimes called, originates from their unusual eyes, which are pointed upward and are borne at the end of short tubular stalks. Specimens have been collected at

Dance

2005-03-28T05:48:00.000-08:00

Dance is a powerful impulse, but the art of dance is that impulse channeled by skillful performers into something that becomes intensely expressive and that may delight

Cumont, Franz (-valéry-marie)

2005-03-27T13:41:00.000-08:00

After studying at Ghent, Bonn, Berlin, Vienna, and Paris, Cumont was from 1892 to 1910 professor at the University of Ghent and from 1899 to 1912 curator of the Brussels

Allouez, Claude-jean

2005-03-27T01:09:00.000-08:00

Allouez entered the Society of Jesus at Toulouse, was ordained priest in 1655, and sailed for Quebec in 1658. He was stationed at settlements along the St. Lawrence River until his appointment (1663) as vicar general of the Northwest. He

Fustian

2005-03-26T07:17:00.000-08:00

Fustian probably originated in Al-Fustat, now part of Cairo, about AD 200, and eventually spread to Spain and Italy,

Fama

2005-03-26T06:45:00.000-08:00

Greek Pheme, in Greco-Roman mythology, the personification of popular rumour. Pheme was more a poetic personification than a deified abstraction, although there was an altar in her honour at Athens. The Greek poet Hesiod portrayed her as an evildoer, easily stirred up but impossible to quell. The Athenian orator Aeschines distinguished Popular Rumour (Pheme) from Slander (Sykophantia)

Target Theory

2005-03-25T09:50:00.000-08:00

German Treffertheorie, in biology, the concept that the biological effects of radiations such as X rays result from ionization (i.e., the formation of electrically charged particles) by individual quanta, or photons, of radiation that are absorbed at sensitive points (targets) in a cell. It is supposed that to produce a given effect there must be one or more hits on a target. Ionization of a target

Spoleto

2005-03-24T07:21:00.000-08:00

The site of an Umbrian township from at least the 7th to the 6th century BC, Spoleto became a Roman colony in 241 BC. It successfully

Rifleman

2005-03-24T07:03:00.000-08:00

A New Zealand wren of the family Xenicidae (q.v.).

Pyrometer

2005-03-23T15:51:00.000-08:00

Device for measuring relatively high temperatures, such as are encountered in furnaces. Most pyrometers work by measuring radiation from the body whose temperature is to be measured. Radiation devices have the advantage of not having to touch the material being measured. Optical pyrometers, for example, measure the temperature of incandescent bodies by comparing

Livestock Farming

2005-03-22T19:01:00.000-08:00

Probably first domesticated in the East, perhaps during prehistoric times, the goat has long been used as a source of milk, cheese, mohair, and meat. Its skin has been valued as a source for leather. In China, Great Britain, Europe, and North America, the goat is primarily a milk producer. By good management its limited (six months per year) breeding season and the consequent

Guadalajara

2005-03-22T17:12:00.000-08:00

Province, in the autonomous community (region) of Castile-La Mancha, central Spain, occupying part of the uptilted northeastern edge of the Meseta Central (plateau). In the north are highlands that reach their greatest elevations in Cerro de San Felipe (7,214 feet [2,199 metres]), and other spurs of the Sierra de Guadarrama. In the south, the land slopes into the plateau basin of New Castile.

Feld, Eliot

2005-03-22T08:10:00.000-08:00

Feld performed in the original stage and

López Mateos, Adolfo

2005-03-20T16:35:00.000-08:00

A librarian and teacher of Spanish-American literature, López began his public career with an assignment to the UN. He was elected federal senator (1946–52) and later appointed secretary-general of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI). As

Prichard, Katherine Susannah

2005-03-19T13:29:00.000-08:00

Prichard's father was editor of the Fiji Times, and she grew up mostly in Australia. She first worked as a newspaper journalist in Melbourne and Sydney and then as a free-lance journalist in London before concentrating

Earth, Types of seismic waves

2005-03-19T11:26:00.000-08:00

Three types of seismic waves are commonly identified: body waves, free oscillations, and surface waves. Body waves are those passing through the interior, as illustrated in Figure 16 . For large earthquakes, standing waves of the entire planet—free oscillations—are also excited. Intermediate between these types of seismic waves are surface waves, which travel around

Nicephorus I

2005-03-19T02:03:00.000-08:00

Nicephorus became a high financial official under the empress Irene, and, when a revolution deposed Irene in 802, he was proclaimed emperor. In the following year he crushed a rebellion by Bardanes Turcus,

Pará

2005-03-18T05:53:00.000-08:00

Estado (state) of northern Brazil through which the lower Amazon River flows to the sea. It is bounded to the north by Guyana, Suriname, and the Brazilian state of Amapá, to the northeast by the Atlantic Ocean, to the east by the Brazilian states of Maranhão and Tocantins, to the south by Mato Grosso, and to the west by Amazonas. It is the second largest state in Brazil. The capital

Mental Disorder, Affective personality disorder

2005-03-17T15:39:00.000-08:00

Three particular types of persistent mood disturbance can be described under this heading: (1) the trait of anxiety may be persistent and highly developed, so that the person encounters all new circumstances with fearful anticipation; (2) the chronic depressive personality is a gloomy pessimist who is skeptical in outlook and who may regard suffering as meritorious;

Ha'aretz

2005-03-17T03:41:00.000-08:00

Auction

2005-03-16T18:43:00.000-08:00

The buying and selling of real and personal property through open public bidding. The traditional auction process involves a succession of increasing bids or offers by potential purchasers until the highest (and final) bid is accepted by the auctioneer (who is usually an agent of the seller). At a so-called Dutch auction, however, the seller offers property at successively

Biblical Literature, The Old Latin version

2005-03-16T15:42:00.000-08:00

The existence of a Latin translation can be attested in North Africa and southern Gaul as early as the second half of the 2nd century CE, and in Rome at the beginning of the following century. Its origins may possibly be attributed to a Christian adoption of biblical versions made by Jews in the Roman province of Africa, where the vernacular was exclusively Latin. Only

Cronyn, Hume; And Tandy, Jessica

2005-03-16T03:44:00.000-08:00

The two came from very different backgrounds. Cronyn grew up in wealthy circumstances, the son of a Canadian member of Parliament. He attended the American Academy

Altman, Benjamin

2005-03-15T19:49:00.000-08:00

Altman had little formal schooling, but at the age of 25 he opened his first dry-goods store in Manhattan and in 1906 moved it to the uptown section, pioneering the movement of business there. With additions in 1913–14, the store

Amphibole, Igneous rocks

2005-03-15T14:14:00.000-08:00

Calcic amphiboles are characteristically contained in igneous rocks. Igneous amphiboles are intermediate in composition between tremolite, tschermakite, edenite, and pargasite end-members. Typically, these amphiboles of intermediate composition are called hornblende. Hornblende occurs in various plutonic igneous rocks, including diorites, quartz diorites,

Liriope

2005-03-14T08:28:00.000-08:00

Genus of small marine jellyfish of the class Hydrozoa (phylum Cnidaria). Its medusoid body is characteristically hemispherical and measures up to about 30 mm (1.2 inches) in diameter. Eight short tentacles hang down from the edges of the body, and a shorter stalklike structure, the manubrium, containing the mouth, extends downward from the centre. It is commonly believed

Binchy, Maeve

2005-03-13T15:39:00.000-08:00

Educated at University College, Dublin (B.A., 1960), Binchy taught school in Dublin from 1961 to 1968, when she began her career as a reporter for the daily

Race, Human rights versus property rights

2005-03-13T14:28:00.000-08:00

Chattel slavery was not established without its critics. From the beginning, many Englishmen condemned the presence of slavery in English territories. They argued that theirs was a society of free men and of democratic institutions and that it was committed to the preservation of human rights, justice, and equality. For several hundred years, trends in English

Andaman And Nicobar Islands, The land

2005-03-12T23:55:00.000-08:00

The terrain of the Andamans is rough, with hills enclosing narrow longitudinal valleys. The highest elevation is 2,418 feet (737 metres) at Saddle Peak on North Andaman. Dense tropical forest covers the islands. No rivers and few perennial streams exist. The coral-fringed coasts of the Andamans are deeply indented, forming safe harbours and tidal creeks, often surrounded by

Alexander The Great, Asia Minor and the Battle of Issus

2005-03-12T18:05:00.000-08:00

In winter 334–333 Alexander conquered western Asia Minor, subduing the hill tribes of Lycia and Pisidia; and in spring 333 he advanced along the coastal road to Perga, passing the cliffs of Mt. Climax, thanks to a fortunate change of wind. The fall in the level of the sea was interpreted as a mark of divine favour by Alexander's flatterers, including the historian Callisthenes. At

Earth Sciences

2005-03-12T11:23:00.000-08:00

Taiwan

2005-03-11T23:50:00.000-08:00

Taiwan was known to the Chinese as early as the 3rd century AD, but settlement by the Chinese was not significant until the first quarter of the 17th century after recurrent famines in Fukien Province encouraged emigration of Fukienese from the mainland. Before then the island was a base of operations for Chinese and Japanese pirates. The Portuguese, who first visited

Sun River

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

River in northwest-central Montana, U.S. It rises in Flathead National Forest, in Teton county near the Continental Divide, and flows southeastward for a course of 130 miles (209 km) into the Missouri River at Great Falls. The Sun River irrigation project includes a system of dams, reservoirs, and canals. Its three reservoirs are Gibson, Pishkun, and Willow Creek.

Scorpius X-1

2005-03-10T01:18:00.000-08:00

(catalog number Sco X-1), brightest X-ray source in the sky, the first such object discovered in the direction of the constellation Scorpius. Detected in 1962, its X-radiation is not only strong but, like other X-ray sources, quite variable as well. Its variability exhibits two states, one at higher output with great variability on a time scale of minutes and another at lower output

Montagna, Bartolommeo

2005-03-09T10:12:00.000-08:00

His most important work is

Harun Ar-rashid

2005-03-09T07:14:00.000-08:00

The fabulous descriptions of Harun and his court in The Thousand and One Nights are idealized and romanticized, yet they had a considerable basis in fact. Untold wealth had flowed into the new capital of Baghdad since its foundation in 762. The leading men, and still more their wives, vied in conspicuous consumption, and in Harun's reign this reached levels unknown before. His

Molinos, Miguel De

2005-03-09T04:10:00.000-08:00

Ordained in 1652, Molinos in 1663 was sent to Rome. There, in 1675, he published his Spiritual Guide, a small handbook teaching that Christian perfection is achieved by a mixture of contemplation

European Union

2005-03-07T19:49:00.000-08:00

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

Wain, John (barrington)

2005-03-07T08:51:00.000-08:00

Wain was educated at St. John's College, Oxford, of which he subsequently became a fellow. He was a lecturer in English literature at the University

Yuga

2005-03-07T06:21:00.000-08:00

In Hindu cosmology, an age of mankind. Each yuga is progressively shorter than the preceding one, corresponding to a decline in the moral and physical state of humanity. Four such yugas (called Krta, Treta, Dvapara, and Kali after throws of an Indian game of dice) make up the mahayuga (“great yuga”), and 2,000 mahayugas make up the basic cosmic cycle, the kalpa. The first yuga (Krta) was an age

Aesthetics

2005-03-05T22:37:00.000-08:00

Aesthetics is broader in scope than the philosophy of art, which comprises one of its branches. It deals not only with the nature and value of the arts but also with those responses to natural objects that find expression in the language of the beautiful and the ugly. A problem is encountered at the outset, however, for terms such as beautiful and ugly seem too vague in

India, Flag Of

2005-03-05T01:56:00.000-08:00

For decades the All-India Congress under the leadership of Mohandas K. Gandhi struggled to rally the millions of British-ruled peoples in the Indian subcontinent. Like similar movements in other countries, it early felt the need for a distinctive symbol that could represent its nationalist objectives. In 1921 a student named Pinglay Venkayya presented a flag design

Anderson

2005-03-04T20:49:00.000-08:00

Olympias

2005-03-04T10:50:00.000-08:00

The daughter of Neoptolemus, king of Epirus, Olympias apparently was originally named Myrtale. Later she may have been called Olympias as a recognition of Philip's

Andorra

2005-03-04T01:08:00.000-08:00

Andorra's independence is traditionally ascribed to Charlemagne, who recovered the

Nova Lima

2005-03-03T16:35:00.000-08:00

City, east-central Minas Gerais estado (“state”), Brazil. It lies along the Cristais River at 2,444 feet (745 m) above sea level. Nova Lima was made the seat of a municipality in 1891 and became a city in 1936. It is known for its Mineração Morro Velho (“Old Mountain Mine”), British-owned from 1834 until 1959, when it was sold to a Brazilian concern. The air-cooled shaft, which penetrates 8,501 feet (2,591 m), is one of the deepest

Muharraq, Al-

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

Taken

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, Pagan and Christian interpretation

2005-03-02T20:28:00.000-08:00

Kenneth Burke, The Rhetoric of Religion (1961); Henry Chadwick, Early Christian Thought and the Classical Tradition (1966); C.H. Dodd, The Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel (1968); A.O. Lovejoy, The Great Chain of Being (1936); H. de Lubac, Exégèse médiévale: les quatre sens de l'Écriture (1959–64); A. Momigliano (ed.), The Conflict Between Paganism and Christianity in the Fourth Century (1963); G. von Rad, Theologie des Alten Testaments, 2nd ed. (1958; Eng. trans., Old Testament Theology, 2 vol., 1962–65); Rene Roques, L'Univers dionysien (1954); B. Smalley, The Study of the Bible in the Middle Ages, 2nd ed. (1952); H.A. Wolfson, The Philosophy of the Church Fathers, vol. 1, Faith, Trinity, Incarnation (1956); Philo: Foundations of Religious Philosophy in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, 2 vol. (1947).

Resting Potential

2005-03-02T00:48:00.000-08:00

The imbalance of electrical charge that exists between the interior of electrically excitable nerve cells and their surroundings. The resting potential of electrically excitable cells lies in the range of -60 to 95 millivolts (1 millivolt = 0.001 volt), with the inside of the cell negatively charged. If the inside of a cell becomes more electronegative (i.e., if the potential is

France, History Of, Restructuring France

2005-03-01T01:08:00.000-08:00

From 1789 to 1791 the National Assembly acted as a constituent assembly, drafting a constitution for the new regime while also governing from day to day. The constitution established a limited monarchy, with a clear separation of powers in which the king was to name and dismiss his ministers. But sovereignty effectively resided in the legislative branch, to consist of a single

O Canada

2005-02-28T23:41:00.000-08:00

The music, written by Calixa Lavallée (1842–91), a concert pianist and native of Verchères, Que., was commissioned in 1880 on the occasion of a visit to Quebec by Lord Lorne (later Duke of Argyll), then governor-general of Canada, and his wife, Queen Victoria's

Arts, Central Asian, Shamanic ritual

2005-02-27T11:37:00.000-08:00

Teachings that spirits are responsible for unexplainable phenomena, such as disease and death, and that these spirits can be controlled by an individual with special powers, such as a shaman, evolved in many primitive societies throughout the world, including those of the nomadic peoples of Central Asia. The roles of the shaman include oracle, healer, sacrificer,

Baseball

2005-02-27T11:17:00.000-08:00

Both Alfred H. Spink's The National Game (1910) and A.G. Spalding's America's National Game (1911), generally regarded as the first attempts at writing a standard history of baseball, cite Casey at the Bat as the best baseball poem ever written. Spalding goes so far as to proclaim that “Love has its sonnets galore; War its epics in heroic verse; Tragedy its sombre story in measured line;

Cranko, John

2005-02-26T21:29:00.000-08:00

His basic dance training was at the Cape Town University Ballet School, where he performed as well as choreographed his first ballet, The Soldier's Tale (1942). In 1946 he joined the Sadler's Wells Ballet (later called the Royal Ballet) and continued to choreograph.

Grumbach, Wilhelm Von

2005-02-26T20:38:00.000-08:00

About 1540 Grumbach allied

Asia

2005-02-26T18:50:00.000-08:00

In antiquity, the first and westernmost Roman province in Asia Minor, stretching at its greatest extent from the Aegean coast in the west to a point beyond Philomelium (modern Aksehir) in the east and from the Sea of Marmara in the north to the strait between Rhodes and the mainland in the south. The province was first constituted when Attalus III, king of Pergamum, bequeathed

Shiraz Rug

2005-02-26T00:18:00.000-08:00

Handwoven floor covering made in the district around the city of Shiraz in southern Iran. The best known are the Qashqa'i rugs, products of nomadic tribesmen. A group of tribes—some Arab, some Turkish, forming the Khamseh Confederation—weaves rugs somewhat similar to the Qashqa'i pieces in a variety of patterns, as do the inhabitants of certain Iranian weaving villages in

Gracias

2005-02-24T17:45:00.000-08:00

City, southwestern Honduras. It lies in the valley of the Mejocote River, at the foot of Las Minas Hill in the Celaque Mountains. Founded in 1536, it is one of the oldest cities in Honduras. In the 16th and 17th centuries, it was a major mining and administrative centre, but it declined in the 18th century. Destroyed in 1915 by an earthquake, it has been rebuilt. Gracias is now the commercial

Domenichino

2005-02-24T16:14:00.000-08:00

He was trained in the academy of Lodovico Carracci and in 1602 was in Rome, where he joined the Bolognese artists at work under the direction of Annibale Carracci in

Wesselényi Conspiracy

2005-02-24T15:48:00.000-08:00

When the Habsburg emperor Leopold I (reigned 1658–1705) ceded a large portion of Hungarian land to the Ottoman Turks (1664; Treaty of Vasvár), he provoked the opposition

Icelandic Literature

2005-02-23T18:03:00.000-08:00

Body of writings in Icelandic, including those from Old Icelandic (also called Old Norse) through Modern Icelandic. It is best known for the richness of its classical period, which is equivalent in time to the early and medieval periods in western European literature. See Scandinavian literature; Edda; Icelanders' sagas; saga; skaldic poetry.

Argentina, Health and welfare

2005-02-22T20:27:00.000-08:00

An extensive system of hospitals and clinics in Argentina is run by national, provincial, and local authorities as well as by private organizations. The cost of medical care is covered by a comprehensive array of occupational insurance plans. Public health and sanitation standards are particularly high in developed areas but can drop off considerably in some

Computers, Time-sharing from Project MAC to UNIX

2005-02-22T06:19:00.000-08:00

In 1959 Christopher Strachey in the United Kingdom and John McCarthy in the United States independently described something they called time-sharing. Meanwhile, computer pioneer J.C.R. Licklider at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) began to promote the idea of interactive computing as an alternative to batch processing. Batch processing was the normal

Chandler, Happy

2005-02-22T03:11:00.000-08:00

Chandler attended Transylvania College, Lexington, Ky. (A.B., 1921), and, after a year at the Harvard Law School, attended the University of Kentucky (LL.B., 1924). Turning to politics after a brief stint in private law practice, he was elected to the Kentucky Senate

Tigré Language

2005-02-21T18:36:00.000-08:00

Semitic language of the Tigre people of northwestern Eritrea and smaller areas of neighbouring Sudan. It is closely related to the ancient Ge'ez language and modern Tigrinya. A few religious texts prepared by mission societies are the only documents in the language. Tigré serves as a second language for many nearby Cushitic and Nilotic peoples. There were more

Rio Grande Do Sul

2005-02-20T16:09:00.000-08:00

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

Afghanistan, Mohammad Nader Shah (192933)

2005-02-20T05:30:00.000-08:00

Nader Shah produced a new constitution in 1931 that was modeled on Amanollah's constitution of 1923 but was more conservatively

Regium Donum

2005-02-20T01:08:00.000-08:00

(Latin: “royal gift”), annual grant made from public funds to Presbyterian ministers in Ireland and to Nonconformist ministers (those not part of the Church of England) in Great Britain. It originated in Ireland in 1690, when the English king William III made a grant to Presbyterian ministers in Ulster as a reward for their services during his struggles with former king James

Sosa, Sammy

2005-02-19T07:43:00.000-08:00

As a child, Sosa worked at a number of jobs, including shining shoes, to help support his family following his father's death. At the age

Korean War

2005-02-18T23:47:00.000-08:00

Conflict between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) in which at least 2.5 million persons lost their lives. The war reached international proportions in June 1950 when North Korea, supplied and advised by the Soviet Union, invaded the South. The United Nations, with the United States as the principal participant, joined

Kafr Ash-shaykh

2005-02-18T17:33:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Kafr El-sheikh muhafazah (governorate) in the central Nile Delta, Lower Egypt, with the Rosetta Branch of the river to the west and ad-Daqahliyah governorate to the east. It was created in 1949 out of al-Gharbiyah muhafazah, just south, and named Fu'adiyah muduiyah (province) after Fu'ad I, sultan (1917–22) and king (1922–36) of Egypt. After the Egyptian monarchy was overthrown in 1952, the area was renamed in 1955. Buhayrat al-Burullus, which

Endlicher, Stephan

2005-02-17T10:05:00.000-08:00

Endlicher turned from the study of theology to that of natural history and medicine while at the Universities of Budapest and Vienna (M.D., 1840). In 1836 he became curator of the Vienna Museum of Natural History, to which he would eventually

Giurgiu

2005-02-17T08:08:00.000-08:00

Judet (county), southeastern Romania, occupying an area of 1,471 square miles (3,810 square km) bounded on the south by the Danube River and Bulgaria. The county, consisting mostly of lowlands, was formed in 1981 from a portion of Ilfov district. Besides the eastward-flowing Danube, the county is also drained southward by the Arges and Dimobovita rivers. At the junction of the Câlnistea and

Novartis Ag

2005-02-17T01:27:00.000-08:00

Ciba-Geigy originated in the merger of two smaller Swiss firms, Ciba AG and J.R. Geigy SA. Ciba developed from a silk-dyeing business owned by Alexander Clavel,

Oryol

2005-02-16T00:01:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Or'ol, or Orel, city and administrative centre of Oryol oblast (province), western Russia, on the headwaters of the Oka River at the Orlik confluence. Founded in 1564 as a fortress of the Muscovite State against Tatar attacks, it was the scene of heavy fighting during World War II. The city centre, with a street pattern of ring roads and radials and with a mixture of old and new buildings, lies

Stephen

2005-02-15T13:53:00.000-08:00

Stephen was the third son of Stephen, Count of Blois and Chartres, and Adela, daughter of King William I the Conqueror. He was reared by his uncle, King Henry I, and received vast lands in England, Normandy, and the county of Boulogne.

Nitrogen Group Element

2005-02-14T16:00:00.000-08:00

Any of the chemical elements that constitute Group Va of the periodic table (see Figure). The group consists of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), arsenic (As), antimony (Sb), and bismuth (Bi). The elements share certain general similarities in chemical behaviour, though they are clearly differentiated from one another chemically, and these similarities reflect common features

Dong Hai

2005-02-14T08:28:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles Tung Hai , English East China Sea arm of the Pacific Ocean and part of the China Sea (q.v.).

Paul Of Venice

2005-02-14T03:36:00.000-08:00

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

Hop

2005-02-13T19:22:00.000-08:00

Either of two species of the genus Humulus, nonwoody annual or perennial vines in the hemp family (Cannabeceae) native to temperate North America, Eurasia, and South America. The hops used in the brewery industry are the dried female flower clusters (cones) of the common hop (H. lupulus). The Japanese hop (H. japonicus) is a quick-growing annual species used

Scaevola, Publius Mucius

2005-02-13T10:09:00.000-08:00

In 133, Scaevola

Gniezno

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

Town, Poznan województwo (province), west central Poland. Located on the Poznan–Torun rail line, Gniezno is a trade and food-processing centre. Legend attributes its origin to Lech, mythological founder of Poland, who supposedly made it his capital. Archaeological evidence indicates that a stronghold of the Polanie tribe existed there in the 8th century AD. In 1000 Gniezno became

Devrient, Karl August

2005-02-12T00:24:00.000-08:00

Nephew of the great Romantic actor Ludwig Devrient, he began his career in 1819 in Brunswick. From 1821 to 1835 he acted in Dresden, where he married his first wife, the singer

Endoderm

2005-02-11T05:29:00.000-08:00

The innermost of the three germ layers, or masses of cells (lying within ectoderm and mesoderm), which appears early in the development of an animal embryo. The endoderm subsequently gives rise to the epithelium (tissue that covers, or lines, a structure) of the pharynx, including the eustachian tube, the tonsils, the thyroid gland, parathyroid glands, and thymus gland;

Arendt, Hannah

2005-02-10T13:24:00.000-08:00

Arendt grew up in her native Hannover, Germany, and in Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). She attended the universities of Marburg, Freiburg, and Heidelberg (from which she received

White Plains

2005-02-10T01:43:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1778) of Westchester county, New York, U.S. It lies along the Bronx and Hutchinson rivers. Known to the Wappinger Indians as Quarropas (“White Marshes”), probably for the area's heavy fogs, the site was sold twice (in 1660 and in 1683) by them to different groups, causing long litigation over the title and delays in the settlement of the area. An established community by 1735 within the town

Luzon

2005-02-09T17:49:00.000-08:00

Arabian Religion

2005-02-09T17:41:00.000-08:00

Beliefs of Arabia comprising the polytheistic beliefs and practices that existed before the rise of Islam in the 7th century AD. Arabia is here understood in the broad sense of the term to include the confines of the Syrian desert. The religion of Palmyra, which belongs to the Aramaic sphere, is excluded from this account. The monotheistic religions that had already spread

Genetic Disease, Human, Ethical issues

2005-02-08T21:03:00.000-08:00

Because many couples choose to terminate a pregnancy when the fetus is found to be carrying a severe genetic disorder, prenatal diagnosis has become entangled in the ethical debate that surrounds elective abortion. It is regrettable that to many people intrauterine diagnosis is synonymous with abortion, which it is not. The vast majority of women who have genetic