OppositeBottle

Solfeggio

2005-04-05T14:03:00.000-07:00

French Solfège, vocal exercises sung to the solmization syllables (do, re, mi, etc.) and, by extension, vocalizes, or exercises sung to a single vowel, often florid and difficult to master. Solfeggio collections survive from the 17th century onward, with examples by leading composers of 18th-century opera, such as Nicola Porpora (also a singer and famed singing teacher) and Alessandro Scarlatti

Arachnid, Annotated classification

2005-04-05T13:27:00.000-07:00

Chelicerate arthropods with adult body composed of 18 somites, divided into anterior prosoma (6 somites) and posterior opisthosoma

Ah Kin

2005-04-04T16:14:00.000-07:00

(Mayan: “He of the Sun”), the regular clergy of the Yucatec Maya in pre-Columbian times. The Ah Kin are best known historically for their performance in the ritual sacrifice of victims, whose hearts were offered to the Mayan gods. The chief priest (Ah Kin Mai) served in the various capacities of administrator, teacher, healer, astronomer, adviser to the chief, and diviner. Priests

La Habana

2005-04-02T20:02:00.000-08:00

Provincia, west-central Cuba, bounded on the north by the Straits of Florida and by Ciudad de la Habana provincia; on the south by the Gulf of Batabanó, an inlet of the Caribbean Sea; and on the east and west, respectively, by Matanzas and Pinar del Río provincias. It has an area of 2,213 square miles (5,731 square km) and is densely populated, being near the national and provincial capital

Steam

2005-04-02T19:13:00.000-08:00

Odourless, invisible gas consisting of vaporized water. It is usually interspersed with minute droplets of water, which gives it a white, cloudy appearance. In nature, steam is produced by the heating of underground water by volcanic processes and is emitted from hot springs, geysers, fumaroles, and certain types of volcanoes. Steam also can be generated on a large

France, History Of, Commerce

2005-04-02T07:14:00.000-08:00

Commerce, especially with the colonies, was an important area of change as well. France's first colonial empire, essentially located in America, was a source of great wealth. Even though France lost both Canada and India during the Seven Years' War (1756–63), the Caribbean sugar islands continued to be the most lucrative source of French colonial activity in the last 100 years of

Heterochlorid

2005-04-01T09:16:00.000-08:00

Any protozoan of the plantlike flagellate order Heterochlorida. Heterochlorids have two flagella of unequal length and chromatophores whose pigments vary from yellow to yellow-green. Food reserves are stored as leucosin (probably a carbohydrate) and lipids. Some genera may be amoeboid during part of the life cycle; others may include a palmella stage, a condition

Fuller's Earth

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

Any fine-grained, naturally occurring earthy substance that has a substantial ability to adsorb impurities or colouring bodies from fats, grease, or oils. Its name originated with the textile industry, in which textile workers (or fullers) cleaned raw wool by kneading it in a mixture of water and fine earth that adsorbed oil, dirt, and other contaminants from the

Canal Zone

2005-03-31T03:44:00.000-08:00

Also called Panama Canal Zone, historic administrative entity in Panama over which the United States exercised jurisdictional rights from 1903 to 1979. It was a strip of land 10 miles (16 km) wide along the Panama Canal, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean and bisecting the Isthmus of Panama. It covered 553 square miles (1,432 square km), of which about one-third was water (principally Gatun Lake). The Canal Zone

Ford, Richard

2005-03-30T21:27:00.000-08:00

Ford attended Michigan State University (B.A., 1966), Washington University Law School, and the University of California, Irvine (M.A., 1970), and subsequently taught at several American colleges and universities. His first novel, A Piece of My Heart (1976), is set on an island in the southern Mississippi

Scheer, Reinhard

2005-03-30T19:17:00.000-08:00

Scheer entered the German navy in 1879 and by 1907 had become the captain of a battleship. He became chief of staff of the High Seas Fleet under Henning von Holtzendorff in 1910 and commander of a battle squadron in 1913. After the outbreak of World War I, he

Indo-european Languages

2005-03-29T15:54:00.000-08:00

Family of languages spoken in most of Europe and areas of European settlement and in much of Southwest and South Asia. The term Indo-Hittite is used by scholars who believe that Hittite and the other Anatolian languages are not just one branch of Indo-European but rather a branch coordinate with all the rest put together; thus, Indo-Hittite has been used for a family

Andania Mysteries

2005-03-28T20:47:00.000-08:00

Ancient Greek mystery cult, held in honour of the earth goddess Demeter and her daughter Kore (Persephone) at the town of Andania in Messenia. A long inscription of 92 BC gives elaborate directions for the conduct of the rites, although it relates no details of the initiation ceremonies. The ritual was performed by certain “holy ones” of both sexes, who were chosen from the

Baetic Cordillera

2005-03-28T20:22:00.000-08:00

Spanish Sistema Penibético, mountain system comprising the Andalusian mountains of southern Spain, of which the northern range runs about 360 miles (580 km) from Cape Trafalgar to Cape Nao. The central and southern ranges, the Baetic proper, extend a shorter distance from Estepona to Cape Gata. Separating the two systems is a complex series of structures, traceable in longitudinal corridors and high

Balbinus, Decimus Caelius Calvinus

2005-03-27T09:12:00.000-08:00

A patrician, Balbinus was a Salian priest, twice a consul, and proconsul in Asia. In 238, when the Senate led a rebellion of the Italian cities against Maximinus (emperor 235–238), it placed the government in the hands of a board of 20, one of whom was Balbinus, and then chose Balbinus and Pupienus Maximus to be joint emperors. Pupienus, a former city prefect,

All-union Council Of Evangelical Christians And Baptists

2005-03-26T09:56:00.000-08:00

Voluntary association of Baptist churches in Russia that was formed (in the Soviet Union) in 1944 by uniting the Union of Evangelical Christians and the Russian Baptist Union. The Baptists in Russia grew from religious revival movements that began in the 1860s and '70s. In Ukraine, groups of Russians influenced by German Mennonite settlers gathered for Bible study and eventually

Art

2005-03-26T09:43:00.000-08:00

The various visual arts exist within a continuum that ranges from purely aesthetic purposes at one end to purely utilitarian

Atef, Muhammad

2005-03-25T06:53:00.000-08:00

Egyptian-born Islamist militant (b. 1944?, Egypt—d. Nov. 14/15, 2001, near Kabul, Afg.), was believed to have been a close associate of Osama bin Laden (in early 2001 his daughter married Bin Laden's son) and chief military strategist for the Islamic terrorist organization al-Qaeda. He reportedly trained as a police officer before joining the radical Egyptian Islamic Jihad, members of which assassinated

Cloister

2005-03-24T16:24:00.000-08:00

Quadrilateral enclosure surrounded by covered walkways, and usually attached to a monastic or cathedral church and sometimes to a college. The term used in a narrow sense also applies to the walkways or alleys themselves (the central area being the cloister garth), in a general sense to the houses of religious orders, and in a generic sense to places of retreat for

Roubaix

2005-03-23T22:02:00.000-08:00

Industrial town, Nord département, Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, northern France, just northeast of Lille. It is situated on the Canal de Roubaix in the plain of Flanders near the Belgian frontier and is united in the north with Tourcoing. Roubaix obtained its first manufacturing charter in the 15th century. After a long struggle in the second half of the 18th century, it obtained

Itajubá

2005-03-23T19:33:00.000-08:00

City, southern Minas Gerais estado (“state”), Brazil. It lies along the Sapucaí River, in the Mantiquiera Mountains, at 2,769 feet (844 m) above sea level. It was made the seat of a municipality in 1848 and given city status in 1862. Although basically a textile centre, it has other industries and serves a region of agriculture (coffee, rice, corn [maize], and sugarcane) and cattle ranching. Goods are

Ramanathapuram

2005-03-23T08:08:00.000-08:00

Ramanathapuram district occupies part of the flat southern coastal plain, including the island of Rameswaram. Protected

Godavari River

2005-03-22T20:15:00.000-08:00

Sacred river of central India. It rises in the Western Ghats 50 miles (80 km) from the Arabian Sea and flows generally eastward across the Deccan Plateau, along the Maharashtra–Andhra Pradesh border and across Andhra Pradesh state, turning southeastward for the last 200 miles (320 km) of its course before reaching the Bay of Bengal. There it empties via its two mouths: the Gautami

Flamininus, Titus Quinctius

2005-03-22T02:25:00.000-08:00

Flamininus was a military tribune during the Second Punic War (218–201) and had a distinguished military career. Elected quaestor in 205, he exercised the authority (imperium) of a praetor at Tarentum in southern Italy, and he twice (202, 200) was involved in the distribution of lands to victorious troops. These veterans

Dollarization: Is It Worth It?

2005-03-21T15:41:00.000-08:00

To many analysts the trend toward dollarization was unexpected, since adopting a new currency can be quite costly. One major expense is the loss of seigniorage, the profit that a country earns when it issues a currency. For example, the cost to the U.S. of printing its currency is estimated at less than 0.1% of the currency's face value, yet the notes are sold at face value to banks.

Basil Of Ancyra

2005-03-21T11:43:00.000-08:00

Basil, a physician, was nominated bishop in 336 by the Semi-Arian party (see Semi-Arianism). In a Synodal Letter sent to all bishops summarizing the conclusions of a local council in

Houston, Charles Hamilton

2005-03-20T13:51:00.000-08:00

Houston graduated as one of six valedictorians from Amherst College (B.A., 1915). After teaching for two years at Howard University in Washington, D.C., he enlisted

Pala Dynasty

2005-03-19T23:20:00.000-08:00

Ruling dynasty in Bihar and Bengal, India, from the 8th to the 12th century. Its founder, Gopala, was a local chieftain who rose to power in the mid-8th century during a period of anarchy. His successor, Dharmapala (reigned c. 770–810), greatly expanded the kingdom and for a while was in control of Kannauj. Pala power was maintained under Devapala (reigned c. 810–850), who carried out raids in the north, the

Tyrrell, Lake

2005-03-19T22:18:00.000-08:00

Shallow, salt-crusted depression of 70 sq mi (180 sq km), in the Mallee district, northwestern Victoria, Australia, 195 mi (314 km) northwest of Melbourne. Usually dry, it is occasionally fed by Tyrrell Creek. An extraction plant at Sea Lake, a town on the lake's south shore, harvests the salt deposits. The lake was visited (1838) by Edward Eyre, who was seeking new grazing lands, and was named after

Art, Antiques, And Collections

2005-03-19T11:45:00.000-08:00

The ways that photographs were bought, sold, auctioned, and merchandised as art increased dramatically during 1999 with the Internet's explosive growth. Whereas the world's first on-line photography auction had taken place only a year previously, by the end of 1999 such auctions had become commonplace. Swann Galleries in New York City was experimenting with the idea, and Sotheby's

Stag Beetle

2005-03-18T20:40:00.000-08:00

Also called Pinching Bug, any member of the approximately 900 species of the insect family Lucanidae (order Coleoptera). The mandibles (jaws) are greatly developed in the male and resemble the antlers of a stag. In many species the elaborately branched and toothed mandibles may be as long as the beetle itself; their pinch usually draws blood from a person. In some cases, however, the mandibles are

Earth, Radar altimetry of the ocean surface

2005-03-18T19:23:00.000-08:00

As noted above, the geoid over the oceans coincides with mean sea level provided that the dynamic effects of winds, tides, and currents are removed. The surface of the sea acts as a reflector for radar waves, and a satellite equipped with a radar altimeter can be used to sound from the satellite's instantaneous position to the sea. The accuracy with which the sea surface

Ibn Muqlah

2005-03-17T19:38:00.000-08:00

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

Arts, Central Asian, Sculpture

2005-03-16T23:45:00.000-08:00

The art of casting images in bronze and other metals entered Tibet from Nepal and India. Having first followed foreign models, the Tibetans gradually developed their own styles

Disc Jockey

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

Also spelled disk jockey person who conducts a program of recorded music on radio, on television, or at discotheques or other dance halls. Disc jockey programs became the economic base of many radio stations in the United States after World War II. The format generally involves one person, the disc jockey, introducing and playing phonograph records and chatting informally and usually extemporaneously

Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl Of, Baron Cooper Of Pawlett, Baron Ashley Of Wimborne St. Giles

2005-03-15T04:38:00.000-08:00

He was the eldest son of Cropley Cooper (a younger brother of the 5th Earl of Shaftesbury) and of Anne, daughter of the 4th Duke of Marlborough. He became Lord

Paper Chromatography

2005-03-14T21:26:00.000-08:00

The method consists of applying the test solution or sample as a spot near one corner of a sheet of

Musical

2005-03-14T15:01:00.000-08:00

The antecedents of the musical can be traced to a number of 19th-century forms of entertainment including the music hall, comic opera, burlesque, vaudeville, variety shows, pantomime, and the minstrel show.

France, History Of, Principalities north of the Loire

2005-03-14T05:41:00.000-08:00

The northernmost of these was Flanders, whose founder, Baldwin I Iron-Arm (862–879), managed not only to abduct the Carolingian king's daughter and marry her but also to win that king's approval as count of Ghent. His authority

Alipur Duar

2005-03-14T04:20:00.000-08:00

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

Venus, Plains deformation belts

2005-03-12T15:07:00.000-08:00

These features are similar in some respects to mountain belts, but they display lower relief and lie primarily in lowland areas such as Lavinia and Atalanta Planitae. Like the mountain belts, they may have formed by compression and uplift of the crust.

Morante, Elsa

2005-03-12T11:37:00.000-08:00

Morante early exhibited literary talent, and, although her formal education remained incomplete, her marriage to the novelist Alberto

Bratteli, Trygve (martin)

2005-03-11T19:47:00.000-08:00

Entering the Labour Party's youth organization in 1928, Bratteli became editor of the newspaper Arbeiderungdommen (“Labour Youth”) in the 1930s and served as secretary of the organization until 1940 and as its chairman in 1945–46. From 1940 to 1942, during the early years of the German occupation

Zooflagellate

2005-03-11T09:26:00.000-08:00

Any flagellate protozoan that is traditionally of the protozoan class Zoomastigophorea (sometimes called Zooflagellata), although recent classifications of this group have questioned the taxonomic usefulness of the term because some zooflagellates have been found to have photosynthetic capabilities and some phytoflagellates heterotrophic

Averescu, Alexandru

2005-03-10T15:05:00.000-08:00

After serving in the Romanian war of independence against Turkey (Russo-Turkish War, 1877–78), Averescu was sent to Italy for military training. As an army

Béjart, Maurice

2005-03-10T02:58:00.000-08:00

After studies in Paris, Béjart toured with the Ballets de Paris de Roland Petit (1947–49), the International Ballet (1949–50), and the Royal Swedish Ballet (1951–52). In 1954 he founded Les Ballets

Marginal Efficiency Of Investment

2005-03-09T15:33:00.000-08:00

In economics, expected rates of return on investment as additional units of investment are made under specified conditions and over a stated period of time. A comparison of these rates with the going rate of interest may be used to indicate the profitability of investment. The rate of return is computed as the rate at which the expected stream of future earnings

Holder, Alfred Theophil

2005-03-09T01:17:00.000-08:00

One of Holder's first major efforts was a two-volume edition of Horace (1864–69), prepared in collaboration with the German

Peru, Pre-Hispanic groups

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

Throughout the pre-Hispanic period, the peoples of Peru were largely isolated from one another by the rugged topography of the country. At least three times, however, a unifying culture spread across the Andes. Beginning c. 1000 BC, the Chavín culture permeated the region, emanating possibly from the northern ceremonial site of Chavín de Huántar. After AD 600, the Huari civilization,

Amphibole

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

Exhibiting an extensive range of possible cation substitutions, amphiboles crystallize in both igneous and metamorphic rocks with a broad range of bulk chemical compositions. Because of their relative instability to chemical weathering at the Earth's surface, amphiboles make up only a minor constituent in most sedimentary rocks.

Lokeren

2005-03-07T15:04:00.000-08:00

Municipality (gemeente), East Flanders (Oost-Vlaanderen) province, northern Belgium, on the Durme River, just east-northeast of Ghent (Gent). Notable buildings include the Church of St. Lawrence (1721), the town hall (1761), and several Flemish Renaissance houses. Lokeren was granted a weekly market in 1555. By the 1940s the town had an almost complete Belgian monopoly of couperie de poils—the

Earth, The ionospheric dynamo

2005-03-07T01:05:00.000-08:00

Above the Earth's surface, the next source of magnetic field is the ionospheric dynamo—an electric current system flowing in the planet's ionosphere. Beginning at about 50 kilometres and extending above 1,000 kilometres with a maximum at 400 kilometres, the ionosphere is formed primarily by the action of sunlight on atmospheric particles. There, sunlight strips electrons

Cataclastite

2005-03-06T20:31:00.000-08:00

Any rock produced by dynamic metamorphism during which faulting, granulation, and flowage may occur in previously crystalline parent rocks. When stress exceeds breaking strength, a rock yields by rupture. The rock may break as a unit, or individual minerals may be selectively granulated. The stress is generally not the same in all directions, so that movement in

Indiana

2005-03-05T22:35:00.000-08:00

Constituent state of the United States of America. The state sits, as its motto claims, at “the crossroads of America.” It borders Lake Michigan and the state of Michigan on the north, Ohio on the east, Kentucky on the south, and Illinois on the west, making it an integral part of the Midwest. Indiana's 36,185 square miles (93,720 square kilometres) also make it, except for Hawaii, the smallest

Christianity, The schism of 1054

2005-03-05T03:47:00.000-08:00

The greatest schism in church history occurred between the church of Constantinople and the church of Rome. While 1054 is the symbolic date of the separation, the agonizing division was six centuries in the making. The friction was ignited by several issues. The Eastern Church sharply disagreed when the Western Church introduced into the Nicene Creed the doctrine

Ferdinand I

2005-03-05T02:14:00.000-08:00

Because his elder brother, Henry III, was an invalid, Ferdinand took the battlefield against the Muslims of Granada. When Henry III died in 1406, his son John II was an infant and the regency was divided between Henry's widow, Queen Catherine of Lancaster,

Macdonald, Sir James Ronald Leslie

2005-03-04T16:30:00.000-08:00

After serving as an engineer in the British Army in

Shidehara Kijuro, Danshaku

2005-03-04T13:15:00.000-08:00

Shidehara entered the diplomatic service in 1899 and served in Korea, London, Washington, and The

Biblical Literature, Early stages

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

The earliest Christian exegesis of the Old Testament is found in the New Testament, not in the written texts only but in the oral tradition lying behind them. Some lines of exegesis are present in so many separate strands of primitive Christian teaching that they are most reasonably assigned to Jesus, who began his Galilaean ministry with the announcement that

Noverre, Jean-georges

2005-03-03T18:56:00.000-08:00

Distinguished French choreographer whose revolutionary treatise, Lettres sur la danse et sur les ballets (1760), still valid, brought about major reforms in ballet production, stressing the importance of dramatic motivation, which he called ballet d'action, and decrying overemphasis on technical virtuosity. His first choreographic

Mahalwari System

2005-03-02T03:55:00.000-08:00

For revenue purposes the name was applied to any compact area containing one or more villages, which were called “estates.” The

Earthshine

2005-03-01T18:58:00.000-08:00

At this time an observer on the Moon would see the Earth as a bright body, four times the diameter of the Moon as seen from Earth, almost completely illuminated

Soto

2005-03-01T05:04:00.000-08:00

The sect was founded in China in the 9th century by Liang-chieh and Pen-chi, where it was known as Ts'ao-tung (after its monastic centres on the mountains Ts'ao and Tung). It was transmitted to Japan by Dogen, who founded the Eihei Temple

Bregenz

2005-03-01T00:13:00.000-08:00

Town, capital of Bundesland (federal province) Vorarlberg, western Austria, on the eastern shore of Lake Constance (Bodensee). The town lies at the foot of the Pfänder Mountain (3,487 ft [1,063 m]; ascended by suspension railway). Inhabited in prehistoric times, it was later the site of a Celtic settlement and then of a Roman camp (Brigantium). Settled by the Alemanni, a Germanic people, in

Arnstadt

2005-02-28T23:13:00.000-08:00

City, Thuringia Land (state), central Germany. It lies along the Gera River, at the northern edge of the Thuringian Forest, just southwest of Erfurt city. First mentioned in 704 and chartered in 1266, Arnstadt was bought in 1306 from the abbey of Hersfeld by the counts of Schwarzburg, who lived there until 1716. Their palace, Monplaisir (1703–07), survives, and the 12th–14th-century Church of Our Lady (Liebfrauenkirche)

Dwarka

2005-02-28T08:21:00.000-08:00

Town, southwestern Gujarat state, west-central India. It lies on the western shore of the Okhamandal Peninsula, a small western extension of the Kathiawar Peninsula. Dwarka, or the “City of Many Gates” (Sanskrit: Dvaraka, or Dvaravati), is also known as Jagat, or Jigat. Dwarka was the legendary capital of the god Krishna, who founded it after his flight from Mathura. Its consequent sanctity

Mon-khmer Languages

2005-02-27T01:09:00.000-08:00

Language family included in the Austroasiatic stock. Mon-Khmer languages constitute the indigenous language family of mainland Southeast Asia. They range north to southern China, south to Malaysia, west to Assam state in India, and east to Vietnam. The most important Mon-Khmer languages, having populations greater than 100,000, are Vietnamese, Khmer, Muong, Mon, Khasi, Khmu

France, History Of, The conquest of southern Germany

2005-02-26T21:06:00.000-08:00

To the east, the Franks extended their domain in southern Germany, bringing Thuringia (c. 531 Chlotar I carried off Radegunda, a niece of the Thuringian king), the part of Alemannia between the Neckar and the upper Danube (after 536), and Bavaria under subjection. The latter was created as a dependent duchy in about 555. The Franks were less successful in northern Germany; in 536 they imposed

Zanjan

2005-02-26T00:57:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Zenjan, city, northwestern Iran. It lies in an open valley about halfway along the Tehran–Tabriz railway line. It is the principal city of the Zanjan region. It was ravaged by Mongols in the 13th century. Once the seat of a lively caravan trade, the city is now the centre of an agricultural area with abundant harvests of grain. Prior to the Iranian Revolution, the city witnessed fighting

Kamidana

2005-02-25T23:58:00.000-08:00

(Japanese: “god-shelf”), in the Shinto religion of Japan, a miniature shrine, the centre of daily worship in a household or a shop. The kamidana usually consists of a small cupboard or shelf on which are displayed articles of veneration and daily offerings. At the centre of the shrine stands the taima, an inscribed board from the main Shinto shrine at Ise, which represents a universal

Tabriz

2005-02-23T19:32:00.000-08:00

The name Tabriz is said to derive from tap-riz (“causing

Music, Opera.

2005-02-23T10:44:00.000-08:00

Germany and The Netherlands provided particularly fertile ground for new operas. Commissioned by Brussels' Théâtre de la Monnaie, Peter Schat's Symposium--based on the death of Tchaikovsky and the controversial theory that he committed suicide to avoid exposure as a homosexual--was premiered by the Netherlands Opera. The Holland Festival also saw the first performances

Powers, Separation Of

2005-02-23T03:40:00.000-08:00

The doctrine may be traced to ancient and

Business And Industry Review, Clothing.

2005-02-23T00:11:00.000-08:00

In 1995 the apparel industry continued its slump as consumers directed discretionary income toward the purchase of cars and home-related and electronic products. Both Martha Stewart (see BIOGRAPHIES), who was held responsible for the "Martha Stewartization" of America, and the aging of the baby-boom generation were cited as reasons for the shift. Also, women--who continued

Spongilla

2005-02-22T07:55:00.000-08:00

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

Adams, John Coolidge

2005-02-22T00:55:00.000-08:00

Adams was

Priest

2005-02-21T06:19:00.000-08:00

A priesthood developed gradually in the early Christian church as first bishops and then elders, or “presbyters,” began to exercise certain priestly functions, mainly in connection with celebration of the Eucharist. By the end of the

Atami

2005-02-21T02:31:00.000-08:00

City, Shizuoka ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan. It lies on the northeastern coast of the Izu Peninsula, facing Sagami Gulf of the Pacific Ocean. The city occupies the crater of the extinct volcano Mount Atami. The surrounding hills are remnants of the crater wall, which has been drowned by the sea on the east. Atami's mild and warm climate, scenic seascape, and hot springs have

New Orleans, Climate

2005-02-20T05:29:00.000-08:00

New Orleans has a moderate climate; the average daily temperature from October through March is 60 °F (16 °C), and from April through September the daily average is 77 °F (25 °C). Freezing weather is rare, and the temperature rises above 95 °F (35 °C) only about six days a year.

Webster, Daniel

2005-02-19T19:40:00.000-08:00

During the postwar sectional crisis Webster nevertheless spoke out, March 7, 1850, in favour of Clay's compromise proposals, one of which would organize territories in the Mexican cession with no prohibition of slavery. His argument that such a prohibition was unnecessary because the West was geographically unsuitable for the plantation system pleased businessmen

Deformation And Flow

2005-02-19T17:22:00.000-08:00

Everyday substances are ordinarily classed as either solids, liquids, or gases, and, under normal circumstances, gases and liquids flow relatively freely and solids deform when they are subjected

Computers, Ubiquitous computing

2005-02-19T15:25:00.000-08:00

The Internet also has inspired new ways of programming. Programmers are developing software to divide computational tasks into subtasks that a program would assign to separate processors in order to achieve greater efficiency and speed. This trend is one of various ways that computers are being connected to share information and to solve complex problems.

Amir Ali, Sayyid

2005-02-18T09:48:00.000-08:00

Amir Ali, who traced his ancestry to the Prophet Muhammad's daughter Fatimah, took his law degree at the University of Calcutta, was called to the bar of the Inner Temple (1873) in England, and returned to practice

Computers, Ubiquitous computing

2005-02-18T00:56:00.000-08:00

Also called Dinitrogen Monoxide , or Laughing Gas, one of several oxides of nitrogen, a colourless gas with pleasant, sweetish odour and taste, which when inhaled produces insensibility to pain preceded by mild hysteria, sometimes laughter. Nitrous oxide was discovered by the English chemist Joseph Priestley in 1772; another English chemist, Humphry Davy, later named it nitrous oxide and showed its physiological effect.

Madeleine

2005-02-17T21:43:00.000-08:00

Napoleon, who had ordered its design and construction, originally intended the building

Maine, Explorations and disputes

2005-02-17T04:42:00.000-08:00

The first European explorations of Maine are shrouded in mystery. Evidence that Norsemen landed on the coast is scant and disputed, and serious questions exist about some of the early British claims based on John Cabot's voyages in the late 1490s. Portuguese, Spanish, French, and English explorers did probe the islands, the bays, and the rivers of the “maine” throughout the

Strain Gauge

2005-02-16T10:59:00.000-08:00

Until the 1930s most strain

Dzungarian Basin

2005-02-16T06:59:00.000-08:00

The basin is located between the Mongolian Altai Mountains, on the Sino-Mongolian border, to the north, and the P'o-lo-k'o-nu and O-ha-pu-t'e mountains to the south; the latter run east and west immediately to the north of the Tien Shan (“Celestial Mountains”). To the east and southeast, respectively, the basin is

Anglo-norman Literature

2005-02-15T18:32:00.000-08:00

In the 12th century the oldest substantial Anglo-Norman prose work, “The Book of Kings,” was written in England, as were many versions of the Psalter. Sanson de Nanteuil translated into verse the proverbs of Solomon, with commentary; and in the 13th century Robert of Greatham wrote the “Sunday Gospels” for a noble lady. The same century saw the beginning of the magnificent series

Palana

2005-02-15T13:04:00.000-08:00

Urban settlement and administrative centre of Koryak autonomous okrug (district), Kamchatka oblast (province), far eastern Russia. The settlement is situated on the western coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula and lies along the Palana River, 5 miles (8 km) from its mouth on the Sea of Okhotsk. The district was formed in 1930. The settlement has a regional museum. Pop. (1993 est.) 4,100.

1763, Proclamation Of

2005-02-14T10:06:00.000-08:00

Proclamation declared by the British crown at the end of the French and Indian War in North America, mainly intended to conciliate the Indians by checking the encroachment of white settlers on their lands. After Indian grievances had resulted in the start of Pontiac's War (1763–64), British authorities determined to subdue intercolonial rivalries and abuses by dealing

Quasthoff, Thomas

2005-02-14T02:09:00.000-08:00

Bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff made his opera debut in April 2003, singing the role of Don Fernando in a production of Beethoven's Fidelio with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic at the Grosses Festspielhaus in Salzburg, Austria. For any other singer, the event would have been a momentous musical watershed, but in Quasthoff's case it was also a triumph of the human

Dewas

2005-02-14T00:07:00.000-08:00

City, western Madhya Pradesh state, central India. It is located on the Malwa Plateau at the foot of the conical Chamunda Hill, which rises to a Devivasini shrine. Jaina and Hindu temple ruins lie just south of the city, in Nagara. The surrounding area consists chiefly of level plains of the Malwa Plateau, watered by the Narmada, Sipra, and Kali Sindh rivers. Wheat, sorghum, rice, cotton,

Lewis Glyn Cothi

2005-02-13T20:05:00.000-08:00

Reputedly a native of Carmarthenshire, Lewis was, during the Wars of the Roses, a zealous Lancastrian and partisan of Jasper Tudor, the uncle of Henry VII of England. His awdl (ode) satirizing the men of Chester, his bitterest enemies, is a vigorous composition. (According to tradition

Pierce, George Washington

2005-02-11T14:10:00.000-08:00

The second of three sons of a farm family, Pierce grew up on a cattle ranch and fared well enough in the modest rural schools of central Texas to graduate (1893) after three years at the University of Texas, Austin. He taught in rural

Smith, Abby Hadassah; And Smith, Julia Evelina

2005-02-11T11:54:00.000-08:00

The Smith sisters, the youngest of five children, lived almost their entire lives at the Connecticut

English Literature, Drama

2005-02-11T08:27:00.000-08:00

Apart from the short-lived attempt by T.S. Eliot and Christopher Fry to bring about a renaissance of verse drama, theatre in the late 1940s and early 1950s was most notable for the continuing supremacy of the “well-made” play, which focused upon, and mainly attracted as its audience, the comfortable middle class. The most interesting playwright working within this mode was Terence

Blood Vessel

2005-02-11T07:30:00.000-08:00

A vessel in the human or animal body in which blood circulates. The vessels that carry blood away from the heart are called arteries, and their very small branches are arterioles. Very small branches that collect the blood from the various organs and parts are called venules, and they unite to form veins, which return the blood to the heart. Capillaries are minute, thin-walled

Fabales

2005-02-10T22:44:00.000-08:00

The rationale for plant family classification derives not only from conspicuous morphological features but from numerous cryptic characters as well. Chromosome numbers are often useful in evaluating the relationship of plant taxa. The legumes are no exception. The legumes produce many kinds of chemical substances—e.g., alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, and the

Ibn Al-bawwab

2005-02-10T17:52:00.000-08:00

Ibn al-Bawwab was from