FutureSun

Estate Agent Fitzrovia

2006-10-25T00:55:00.000-07:00

Robert Irving Burns specialise in London Commercial and Residential property services. They are a specialist in estate agent fitzrovia, amongst other London areas such as Soho and Oxford Circus.

Gray, Dolores

2005-04-05T20:01:00.000-07:00

American singer and actress (b. June 7, 1924, Chicago, Ill.—d. June 26, 2002, New York, N.Y.), had a rich contralto voice that gained her success in motion pictures and, especially, stage musicals. Her first, and perhaps greatest, triumph came in the London production of Annie Get Your Gun, which opened in 1947 and ran for nearly three years, playing to an audience that totaled more than 2.5 million. She followed

La Salle University

2005-04-03T15:12:00.000-07:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. It is operated by the Christian Brothers, a teaching order of the Roman Catholic church. It comprises schools of Arts and Sciences, Business Administration, and Nursing, offering a range of bachelor's and master's degree programs in nursing, education, business, computer sciences,

Interior Design, Other components

2005-04-01T16:26:00.000-08:00

The detailing referred to in connection with the handling of doors is one of the most important factors in interior design. Every architectural component must be detailed well. Poor details make for poor design. The meaning of detailing in a design sense is more than the graphic explanation of certain components on a drawing. It means the way materials are put together,

Biblical Literature, Zechariah

2005-03-29T11:48:00.000-08:00

Though little is known about Zechariah's

Shih Ching

2005-03-28T21:54:00.000-08:00

The book, one of the Five Classics (Wu

Base

2005-03-26T00:48:00.000-08:00

Also called Radix, in mathematics, an arbitrarily chosen number in terms of which any number can be expressed. See number system.

Craigavon

2005-03-23T05:07:00.000-08:00

New town (built after 1966), Craigavon district, Northern Ireland, southwest of Belfast. Craigavon new town was developed under the New Towns Act of 1965 as a commercial, light industrial, and residential centre linking the older towns of Lurgan and Portadown. It was named after James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, the first prime minister (1921–40) of Northern Ireland. The new town's planning

Biblical Literature, Judges: background and purpose

2005-03-21T13:57:00.000-08:00

The Book of Judges, the third of the series of five books that reflect the theological viewpoint of the Deuteronomic historian, covers the history of the Israelite tribes from the death of Joshua to the rise of the monarchy, a period comprising nearly 200 years (c. 1200–c. 1020 BCE). Though the internal chronology of Judges points to a period of about 400 years, the editor may have arbitrarily

Czartoryski, Adam Kazimierz, Prince (ksiaze)

2005-03-20T10:52:00.000-08:00

The son of Aleksander August Czartoryski, governor of Ruthenia, who gathered a great estate and founded prosperous workshops, Adam Kazimierz was educated in England and prepared to take

Biqa', Al-

2005-03-18T07:59:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Bekaa , or Beqaa , classical Coele Syria broad valley of central Lebanon, extending in a northeast-southwest direction for 75 miles (120 km) along the Litani and Orontes rivers, between the Lebanon Mountains to the west and Anti-Lebanon Mountains to the east. The valley contains nearly half of Lebanon's arable land but is not as intensively farmed as the country's coastal plain because of less rainfall and a wider variation

X Ray

2005-03-18T01:15:00.000-08:00

According to classical electromagnetic theory, the deceleration of electrons will produce electromagnetic radiation, in the same way that accelerated electrons in a radio antenna produce radio waves. The failure of magnetic fields to deflect an X-ray beam seems to confirm this classical idea of the origin of X rays. Crucial evidence for the existence of waves

Target Theory

2005-03-17T20:15:00.000-08:00

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

Tedder (of Glenguin), Arthur William Tedder, 1st Baron

2005-03-15T05:53:00.000-08:00

Marshal of the Royal Air Force and deputy commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force under General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who contributed significantly to the success of the Allied invasion of Normandy (June 6, 1944) and the German defeat on the Western Front during World War II through his policy of bombing

Terborch, Gerard

2005-03-15T04:40:00.000-08:00

Terborch's father had been an artist and had visited Rome but from 1621 was employed as a tax collector. Surviving drawings made by the young Terborch

Pauropod

2005-03-13T14:40:00.000-08:00

Pauropods range in length from 0.5 to 2 mm (0.02 to 0.08 inch). The pauropod

Xerxes I

2005-03-12T09:56:00.000-08:00

Old Persian Khshayarsha , byname Xerxes The Great Persian king (486–465 BC), the son and successor of Darius I. He is best known for his massive invasion of Greece from across the Hellespont (480 BC), a campaign marked by the battles of Thermopylae, Salamis, and Plataea. His ultimate defeat spelled the beginning of the decline of the Achaemenid Empire.

Lennox, Margaret Douglas, Countess Of

2005-03-12T06:19:00.000-08:00

Lady Margaret Douglas was the daughter of Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, and Margaret Tudor (daughter of King Henry VII of England and widow of King James IV of Scotland), and in 1544 she married Matthew Stewart (1516–71), 4th Earl of Lennox. Because of her

Telephone And Telephone System

2005-03-11T21:33:00.000-08:00

Facsimile, or fax, refers to the transmission of text or fixed images and drawings by wire or radio channels. Fax permits the transmission of a mix of documents—including handwriting, graphs, pictures, and maps—that often cannot be transmitted at all over other communications media. Although the concepts of fax were developed in the 19th century using contemporary

Themistocles

2005-03-09T04:13:00.000-08:00

Athenian politician and naval strategist who was the creator of Athenian sea power and the chief saviour of Greece from subjection to the Persian Empire at the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC.

Salamis

2005-03-09T02:46:00.000-08:00

Modern Greek Salamís, island and town, nomós (department) of Attikí, Greece. The island lies in the Saronic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, west of the city of Piraeus. The town (the present combined municipality of Salamís-Naústathmos) is a port on the west coast of the island. On the east, between the island and the mainland, are the straits in which the Greeks won a decisive naval victory over the Persians

Alytus

2005-03-08T16:45:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Alitus, German and Polish Olita, city, southern Lithuania. It lies along the Neman (Lithuanian: Nemunas) River, 37 miles (60 km) south of Kaunas. The city dates from the 14th century. In the 20th century it developed as an industrial centre, with factories producing refrigerators, chemical products, linen, and clothing. Alytus is a rail terminus and road junction and has an agricultural college. Pop. (1994 est.) 77,400.

Cohen, Stanley

2005-03-06T21:39:00.000-08:00

Cohen was educated at Brooklyn College (B.A., 1943), Oberlin College (M.A., 1945), and at the University of Michigan, where he received a Ph.D. in

English Literature, Influence of French poetry

2005-03-05T14:00:00.000-08:00

By the end of the 12th century English poetry had been so heavily influenced by French models that such a work as the long epic Brut (c. 1200) by Lawamon, a Worcestershire priest, seems archaic for mixing alliterative lines with rhyming couplets while generally eschewing French vocabulary. The Brut mainly draws upon Wace's Anglo-Norman Roman de Brut (1155; based in turn upon Geoffrey

Faraday

2005-03-04T20:06:00.000-08:00

Unit of electricity, used in the study of electrochemical reactions and equal to the amount of electric charge that liberates one gram equivalent of any ion from an electrolytic solution. It was named in honour of the 19th-century English scientist Michael Faraday and equals 9.6485309 ´ 104 coulombs, or 6.0221367 ´ 1023 electrons (see also Avogadro's law).

Isodrin

2005-03-04T05:42:00.000-08:00

Chlorine-containing organic compound used as an insecticide; see aldrin.

Atacama Plateau

2005-03-02T22:43:00.000-08:00

The peaks of the

Narasimha

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

(Sanskrit: “Man-Lion”), fourth of the 10 avatars (incarnations) of the Hindu god Vishnu. The demon Hiranyakasipu, twin brother of the demon overthrown by Vishnu in his previous incarnation as Varaha, obtained a boon from Brahma that he could not be killed by man or beast, from inside or outside, by day or by night, and that no weapon could harm him. Thus, feeling secure, he began to trouble

Wilde, Oscar (fingal O'flahertie Wills)

2005-02-28T05:32:00.000-08:00

Irish wit, poet, and dramatist whose reputation rests on his comic masterpieces Lady Windermere's Fan (1892) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895). He was a spokesman for the late 19th-century Aesthetic movement in England, which advocated art for art's sake; and he was the object of celebrated civil and criminal suits involving homosexuality and ending

Nordenflycht, Hedvig Charlotta

2005-02-27T19:29:00.000-08:00

The deaths

Kamidana

2005-02-27T15:43:00.000-08:00

(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

Jackal

2005-02-25T21:26:00.000-08:00

Any of several species of wolflike carnivores of the dog genus Canis, family Canidae, sharing with the hyena an exaggerated reputation for cowardice. Three species are usually recognized: the golden, or Asiatic, jackal (C. aureus), found from eastern Europe and northeast Africa to Southeast Asia, and the black-backed (C. mesomelas) and side-striped (C.

Pack, Otto Von

2005-02-25T14:55:00.000-08:00

Pack, a Saxon nobleman, studied law at the University of Leipzig, after which he entered the service of George, duke of Saxony. By 1519 most important governmental matters in Saxony were entrusted to him, and he represented his

Pien-tsung-lun

2005-02-23T18:21:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Bianzonglun (Chinese: “Discussions of Essentials”), treatise by Hsieh Ling-yun, an early Chinese Buddhist intellectual, valued chiefly as one of the few sources of information about the author's eminent teacher, Tao-sheng (d. 434). According to Tao-sheng, enlightenment is a sudden and all-encompassing experience, rather than a gradual process as described by his contemporaries. This assertion,

Decapolis

2005-02-22T04:43:00.000-08:00

League of 10 ancient Greek cities in eastern Palestine that was formed after the Roman conquest of Palestine in 63 BC, when Pompey the Great reorganized the Middle East to Rome's advantage and to his own. The name Decapolis also denotes the roughly contiguous territory formed by these cities, all but one of which lay east of the Jordan River. According to Pliny the Elder (Natural

Châteauguay

2005-02-21T14:06:00.000-08:00

Town, Montérégie region, southern Quebec province, Canada. It lies at the mouth of the Châteauguay River, just south of its confluence with the St. Lawrence. The site of a Jesuit mission established in 1736, it served as a trading centre during the settlement of the surrounding region. On Oct. 26, 1813, the Battle of Châteauguay, a decisive engagement of the War of 1812, took place there; a small

Half-timber Work

2005-02-20T23:11:00.000-08:00

Method of building in which external and internal walls are constructed of timber frames and the spaces between the structural members are filled with such materials as brick, plaster, or wattle and daub. Traditionally, a half-timbered building was made of squared oak timbers joined by mortises, tenons, and wooden pegs; the building's cagelike structural skeleton

Deering, William

2005-02-18T22:09:00.000-08:00

Deering helped manage his family's woolen mill in South Paris in western Maine. About 1850 he went to Illinois and Iowa to invest in farmland, but he returned to South Paris in 1856 and set up a

Teshio-sammyaku

2005-02-17T06:30:00.000-08:00

Also called Teshio-sanchi (Japanese: Teshio Range, or Teshio Mountain Country) range, northwestern Hokkaido, Japan, extending southward for nearly 125 mi (200 km) from Soya-misaki (Cape Soya), across the transverse gorge of the Ishikari-gawa (Ishikari River), to the Yubari-sammyaku. The mountains consist of Cretaceous formations in the east and coal-bearing Tertiary formations in the west, both of which are zonally arranged from north to south. The interior

Haber, Fritz

2005-02-15T16:34:00.000-08:00

Deciding on an academic career, he first took up organic chemical research at the University of Jena, but its orthodox methods gave

Muhammad Al-mahdi Al-hujjah

2005-02-12T11:10:00.000-08:00

Also called Muhammad Al-muntazar, Hidden Imam, or Twelfth Imam (disappeared 878), 12th and last imam, venerated by the Ithna 'Ashariyah, or Twelver sect, the main body of Shi'ite Muslims. It is believed that Muhammad al-Mahdi al-Hujjah has been concealed by God (a doctrine known as ghaybah, or occultation) and that he will reappear in time as the mahdi, or messianic deliverer. See also Ithna 'Ashariyah.

Forel, François-alphonse

2005-02-10T06:40:00.000-08:00

While lecturing in physiology and anatomy at the University of Lausanne, Switz., Forel began his investigations of lakes, notably Lake Geneva, and he published his findings in Le Léman: Monographie limnologique, 3 vol. (1892–1904). His standard work on limnology, Handbuch der

Vulgate

2005-02-08T08:55:00.000-08:00

(from the Latin editio vulgata: “common version”), Latin Bible used by the Roman Catholic Church, primarily translated by St. Jerome. In 382 Pope Damasus commissioned Jerome, the leading biblical scholar of his day, to produce an acceptable Latin version of the Bible from the various translations then being used. His revised Latin translation of the Gospels appeared about

West Berkshire

2005-02-07T09:15:00.000-08:00

Unitary authority, geographic and historic county of Berkshire, England. The unitary authority extends westward from the district of Reading along both sides of the River Kennet and edges into the Berkshire Downs on the north and the Hampshire Downs on the south; both downs are composed of chalk and rise to elevations of between 600 to 800 feet (185 to 245 m). The downs have occasional

Cosmas

2005-02-05T16:30:00.000-08:00

Also called Indicopleustes merchant, traveler, theologian, and geographer whose treatise Topographia Christiana (c. 535–547; “Christian Topography”) contains one of the earliest and most famous of world maps. In this treatise, Cosmas tried to prove the literal accuracy of the Biblical picture of the universe, asserting in particular that the Earth is flat and trying to refute

Literature, Norwegian.

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

The year 2001 was a successful one for established authors in Norway. The 2001 Nordic Council Literature Prize was awarded to Jan Kjærstad for Oppdageren (1999). Lars Saabye Christensen won acclaim for his gigantic novel Halvbroren, which chronicled three generations in Oslo; it was awarded the Brage Prize and Bokhandlerprisen and was nominated for the 2002 Nordic Council Literature

Pitch

2005-02-01T03:41:00.000-08:00

Coal tar pitch is a soft to hard and brittle substance containing chiefly aromatic resinous compounds along with aromatic and other hydrocarbons and their derivatives; it is used chiefly as road tar, in waterproofing roofs

Akutagawa Ryunosuke

2005-01-29T08:47:00.000-08:00

As a boy Akutagawa was sickly and hypersensitive, but he excelled at school and was a voracious reader. He began his literary career while attending Tokyo Imperial University (now the University of Tokyo), where he studied English literature from

Azo Compound

2005-01-28T14:11:00.000-08:00

Most aromatic

Duala

2005-01-25T15:14:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Douala, Bantu-speaking people of the forest region of southern Cameroon living on the estuary of the Wouri River. By 1800 the Duala controlled Cameroon's trade with Europeans, and their concentrated settlement pattern developed under this influence. Their system of chieftaincy was partly founded on trading wealth. For much of the 19th century there were two political–commercial

Settle

2005-01-23T16:47:00.000-08:00

Long wooden bench with backrest and arms, designed to seat several people. Originating in Europe in the 10th century, it was apparently derived from the chest, a resemblance often retained, with additional elements based on the monastic choir stall. It could be used for a variety of purposes: as a seat, a bed, a chest, and, in examples with a hinged backrest that can be turned

Aleksandrov, Pavel Sergeevich

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

In 1897 Aleksandrov moved with his family to Smolensk, where his father had accepted a position as a surgeon with the Smolensk State Hospital. His early education was supplied by his mother, who gave him French, German, and music lessons. At grammar

Faridabad

2005-01-19T05:13:00.000-08:00

Town, southeastern Haryana state, northwestern India, connected by road with Delhi (north) and Mathura (southeast). It is a local market for wheat, sugarcane, and cotton. Founded in 1607 by Shaikh Farid, Emperor Jahangir's treasurer, to protect the Delhi–Agra high road, it was constituted a municipality in 1867. A project for Pakistani refugee resettlement and light industrial development

Annelid, Excretory system

2005-01-17T15:17:00.000-08:00

Ammonia

Cosenza

2005-01-16T22:14:00.000-08:00

Latin Cosentia, city, capital of Cosenza provincia, Calabria regione, southern Italy, on the Crati River at its confluence with the Busento, north-northeast of Reggio di Calabria. The ancient Cosentia, it was the capital of the Bruttii (an Italic tribe) before it was taken by the Romans in 204 BC. Alaric, king of the Visigoths, died there in 410 and is said to have been buried, together with his treasure

Cohen, Hermann

2005-01-14T20:23:00.000-08:00

Cohen was the son of a cantor, and he studied at the Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau and at the University of Berlin before receiving his Ph.D. at the University of Halle in

Elizabeth City

2005-01-12T14:35:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1799) of Pasquotank county, northeastern North Carolina, U.S. It lies on the Pasquotank River (an embayment of Albemarle Sound) at the southern end of Dismal Swamp Canal on the Intracoastal Waterway. Settlers had established a presence on the river in the 1660s, and the area was the scene of Culpeper's Rebellion (1677–79). It was founded and incorporated as Redding in 1793 but was renamed

Mujur Rug

2005-01-10T20:11:00.000-08:00

The characteristic design in older examples, from the 19th century, is a prayer niche with a stepped arch crowned by a

Ptolemy Xii Auletes

2005-01-08T21:01:00.000-08:00

Following the sudden, violent deaths of the last two fully legitimate members of the Ptolemaic family in Egypt, the people of Alexandria in 80 invited Ptolemy

Aeschylus

2005-01-05T10:27:00.000-08:00

The date of this play (and even its authorship) is disputed, but many scholars regard it as a work of Aeschylus' last years. In Prometheus Bound (Greek Prometheus desmotes) the god Prometheus, who in defiance of Zeus has saved mankind and given them fire, is chained to a remote crag as a punishment ordered by the king of the gods. Despite his isolation Prometheus is visited by

Babak

2005-01-03T15:18:00.000-08:00

Iranian Papak leader of the Iranian Khorram-dinan, a religious sect that arose following the execution of Abu Muslim, who had rebelled against the 'Abbasid caliphate. Denying that Abu Muslim was dead, the sect predicted that he would return to spread justice throughout the world. Babak led a new revolt against the 'Abbasids that was put down in 837.

Maréchal, Pierre-sylvain

2005-01-02T07:55:00.000-08:00

By profession a lawyer and librarian, Maréchal was by philosophy a materialist and an atheist. After writing

Oakville

2004-12-30T14:09:00.000-08:00

Town, regional municipality of Halton, southeastern Ontario, Canada, 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Toronto. Oakville is situated on Lake Ontario at the mouth of Oakville Creek. It was founded in 1830 by Colonel William K. Chisholm, who established shipbuilding yards there. It was originally incorporated in 1857, and in 1962 it amalgamated with Trafalgar Township to form the new town of Oakville,

Vasily Ii

2004-12-28T05:21:00.000-08:00

Although the 10-year-old Vasily II was named by his father Vasily I (ruled Moscow 1389–1425) to succeed him as the grand prince of Moscow and of Vladimir, Vasily's rule was challenged by his uncle Yury and his cousins Vasily the Squint-Eyed and Dmitry Shemyaka. After a long, chaotic, and bitter struggle, during which Vasily not only temporarily

Computers, The IBM 360

2004-12-27T11:21:00.000-08:00

IBM had been selling business machines since early in the century and had built Howard Aiken's computer to his architectural specifications. But the company had been slow to implement the stored-program digital computer architecture of the early 1950s. It did develop the IBM 650, a (like UNIVAC) decimal implementation of the IAS plan—and the first computer to sell more than

Paphlagonia

2004-12-24T23:30:00.000-08:00

Ancient district of Anatolia adjoining the Black Sea, bounded by Bithynia in the west, Pontus in the east, and Galatia in the south. The Paphlagonians were one of the most ancient peoples of Anatolia. Passing under the rule of Lydia and Persia, they submitted to Alexander the Great (333 BC), after which they enjoyed a measure of independence. In the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC Paphlagonia

Mormon

2004-12-21T06:06:00.000-08:00

Mormons accept the Bible “as far as it is translated correctly.” Smith did not finish his translation of the Bible, which incorporates prophecies of his own coming and of the Book of Mormon, which is central to Mormon belief. The Book of Mormon is largely similar in style and themes to the Old Testament. It recounts the history of a group of Hebrews who migrated from Jerusalem

Floire Et Blancheflor

2004-12-19T23:45:00.000-08:00

French metrical romance known in two versions from the 12th and 13th centuries and thought to be of Greco-Byzantine or Moorish origin. Its theme of separation and reunion of young lovers is the same as that treated in Aucassin et Nicolette, though the roles and religion of the two main characters are reversed. Floire is the son of a Saracen king; Blancheflor, his beloved,

Puerto Cortés

2004-12-16T20:55:00.000-08:00

City, northwestern Honduras, situated on the Gulf of Honduras. It is backed by Alvarado Lagoon and extends for 2 miles (3 km) along the southern shore of Caballos Point. Puerto Cortés serves as the seaport for San Pedro Sula and the Sula Valley. The town was founded in 1524 as Puerto Caballos, just to the south across Cortés Bay, but was moved and had its name changed to Puerto

Macdonagh, Donagh

2004-12-14T03:27:00.000-08:00

MacDonagh was the son of Thomas MacDonagh, a poet and leader of the Easter Rising (1916). After attending the National University of Ireland, Dublin, MacDonagh practiced law (1936–46) and was a district judge (1946–68). His varied literary career includes comedies such

Hyder Ali

2004-12-13T00:42:00.000-08:00

After studying the military tactics of the Frenchman Joseph-François Dupleix, Hyder induced his older brother, a brigade commander in the Mysore army, to obtain military equipment from the Bombay government

Ha

2004-12-11T05:30:00.000-08:00

Also called Abaha, or Waha, a Bantu-speaking people belonging to the Interlacustrine Bantu ethnolinguistic family who live in western Tanzania bordering on Lake Tanganyika. Their country, which they call Buha, comprises grasslands and open woodlands. Agriculture is their primary economic activity. Sorghum, millet, corn (maize), cassava, yams, peanuts (groundnuts), and other crops were cultivated

Leven, Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl Of, Lord Balgonie

2004-12-08T23:11:00.000-08:00

Leslie joined the Swedish army in 1605 and served brilliantly in the Thirty Years' War in central Europe. In 1628 he distinguished himself by successfully defending Stralsund against the imperial commander

Parachute

2004-12-07T23:37:00.000-08:00

Device that slows the vertical descent of a body falling through the atmosphere or the velocity of a body moving horizontally. The parachute increases the body's surface area, and this increased air resistance slows the body in motion. There is some mention, but no evidence, dating to the 1100s of the Chinese using parachutes for amusement. In the West, however, parachutes

Muscovy Company

2004-12-05T23:08:00.000-08:00

Also called Russia Company, body of English merchants trading with Russia. The company was formed in 1555 by the navigator and explorer Sebastian Cabot and various London merchants and was granted a monopoly of Anglo-Russian trade. It was the first English joint-stock company in which the capital remained regularly in use instead of being repaid after every voyage. In 1553 Sir Hugh Willoughby and Richard

Tasmania, Resources

2004-12-02T03:35:00.000-08:00

Important mineral deposits include iron at Savage River; high-grade lead-zinc-silver at Hellyer, Que River, and Rosebery; low-grade copper at Queenstown; low-grade tin at Renison Bell; tin and tungsten in the northeast; and high-grade silica at Corinna and Beaconsfield. There is high-quality limestone for cement at Railton, while low-quality coal abounds near Fingal.

Alaungpaya

2004-12-01T06:18:00.000-08:00

Of humble origins, Alaungpaya was a village headman from the

Degas, (hilaire-germain-)edgar

2004-11-29T00:08:00.000-08:00

Degas came of the powerful upper bourgeoisie, his family having banking

Abuná River

2004-11-26T15:25:00.000-08:00

Spanish Río Abuná, Portuguese Rio Abunã, headwater of the Amazon, rising in several streams, east of the Cordillera Oriental of the Andes. The navigable river flows for about 200 miles (320 km) northeast through rain forests, forming Bolivia's northern border with Brazil. It joins the Río Madeira, a tributary of the Amazon, at Manoa, Bolivia. Rubber, Brazil nuts, quinine, and other forest products are the principal items

Art, African, Igbo

2004-11-24T20:01:00.000-08:00

On both sides of the Niger, but mainly to the east, live the Igbo. Traditionally they have lived in small and often isolated settlements scattered through the forest. Only on the northern and western edges of the area, under influence from Igala and Benin, are hereditary rulers found. In Igbo society there is strong social pressure toward individual distinction, and

Accelerometer

2004-11-23T19:15:00.000-08:00

Instrument that measures the rate at which the velocity of an object is changing (i.e., its acceleration). Acceleration cannot be measured directly. An accelerometer, therefore, measures the force exerted by restraints that are placed on a reference mass to hold its position fixed in an accelerating body. Acceleration is computed using the relationship between restraint

Port

2004-11-20T19:59:00.000-08:00

Also called Porto, specifically, a sweet, fortified, usually red wine of considerable renown from the Douro region of northern Portugal, named for the town of Oporto where it is aged and bottled; also, any of several similar fortified wines produced elsewhere. The region of true port production is strictly delimited by Portuguese law. The soil and grapes, and the skill of Oporto vintners

Papandreou, Andreas

2004-11-18T13:33:00.000-08:00

The son of Georgios Papandreou, he attended the American College in Athens and studied law at the University of Athens. A Trotskyite, he was imprisoned briefly by the dictator Ioannis Metaxas and, when freed, fled to the United States, where he received

Wigan

2004-11-17T05:47:00.000-08:00

Town and metropolitan borough in the northwestern part of the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, historic county of Lancashire, England. It lies along the River Douglas and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The borough includes large industrial and commercial centres such as the towns of Wigan and Leigh, suburban neighbourhoods, and small rural

Alamogordo

2004-11-14T13:03:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1899) of Otero county, southern New Mexico, U.S. It lies at the western base of the Sacramento Mountains and east of the Tularosa Basin. Founded by John A. and Charles B. Eddy in 1898 and named for its large cottonwood trees (Spanish: alamo “cottonwood,” gordo “fat”), it became a division point on the Southern Pacific Railroad and developed as a lumber town and agricultural-market

Onyx

2004-11-13T19:11:00.000-08:00

Striped, semiprecious variety of the silica mineral agate with white and black alternating bands. Onyx is used in carved cameos and intaglios because its layers can be cut to show a colour contrast between the design and the background. Other varieties include carnelian onyx, with white and red bands, and sardonyx, with white and brown bands. The chief localities

Hacienda

2004-11-11T15:31:00.000-08:00

In Spanish America, a large landed estate, one of the traditional institutions of rural life. Originating in the colonial period, the hacienda survived in many places late into the 20th century. Labourers, ordinarily Indians, who worked for hacendados (landowners) were theoretically free wage earners, but in practice their employers were able to bind them to the land,

Augmentations, Court Of

2004-11-09T08:54:00.000-08:00

The Court of Augmentations was instituted in 1535 to handle

Wilkes, Charles

2004-11-06T13:42:00.000-08:00

Wilkes entered the navy as a midshipman in 1818, became a lieutenant in 1826, and in 1830 was placed in charge of the depot of instruments and charts from which the Naval Observatory and Hydrographic Office developed. From 1838 to 1842 he commanded an exploring and surveying expedition

Probolinggo

2004-11-04T00:43:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Prabalingga, or Perobolinggo, city, in kabupaten (regency), Jawa Timur provinsi (“province”), Java, Indonesia, on the southern side of Madura Strait. There is a good harbour for small ships, and the fishing industry is important. Cottage industries include pottery and the manufacture of sarongs. The surrounding regency grows rice, corn (maize), sugar, rubber, coffee, and mangoes, the last renowned for their

Gatineau River

2004-11-02T23:20:00.000-08:00

French Rivière Gatineau, river in Outaouais region, southwestern Quebec province, Canada. The river rises in a chain of lakes north of Baskatong Reservoir and flows generally southward for 240 miles (390 km) to join the Ottawa River at Hull. It was named for Nicolas Gatineau, a fur trader who is reputed to have drowned there about 1683. Having served for centuries as a major artery for the lumber trade, the

Taranaki

2004-10-31T03:22:00.000-08:00

Taranaki's first European settlement was New Plymouth (1841), the name used when the area

Biblical Literature, The Wycliffite versions

2004-10-29T17:11:00.000-07:00

By the middle of the 13th century the English component in the Anglo-Norman amalgam had begun to assert itself and the close of the century witnessed a Northumbrian version of the Psalter made directly from Latin, which, because it survived in several manuscripts, must have achieved relatively wide circulation. By the next century, English had gradually superseded

Furniture, Bathroom furniture and fixtures

2004-10-28T23:36:00.000-07:00

Bathrooms in large private homes were not unknown in the 18th century, and splendidly equipped marble bathrooms are still preserved in several European palaces and mansions. But not until the 19th century did bathrooms in private homes become more commonplace. Fixtures generally include a toilet, bidet, washbasin, bath, mirror, and shelves. In the 20th century the equipping

Wanamaker, John

2004-10-26T13:59:00.000-07:00

Wanamaker began work at age 14 as an errand boy for a bookstore and served as secretary of the Philadelphia YMCA from 1857 to 1861. In 1861 he established with Nathan Brown the clothing firm of Brown and Wanamaker, a partnership that ended with Brown's death in 1868. In 1869 he founded

La Mancha

2004-10-24T16:10:00.000-07:00

Barren, elevated plateau (2,000 ft [610 m]) of central Spain, stretching between the Montes (mountains) de Toledo and the western spurs of the Cerros (hills) de Cuenca, and bounded on the south by the Sierra Morena and on the north by La Alcarria region. It includes portions of the modern provinces of Cuenca, Toledo, and Albacete, and most of Ciudad Real province. It constitutes the southern

Davila, Arrigo Caterino

2004-10-21T03:30:00.000-07:00

About 1583 Davila became a page in the service of Catherine de Médicis, wife of King Henry II of France. He subsequently became a soldier and fought in the French civil wars until the peace in 1598. He then returned to Padua, where he

Itasca, Lake

2004-10-19T03:50:00.000-07:00

The fur trader William Morrison was reputedly

Calamites

2004-10-17T07:29:00.000-07:00

Originally, a stem fragment of a fossil plant prominent during the coal age, the Carboniferous Period (from 286 million to 360 million years ago). As such, it was termed a form genus. Later, the connotation was broadened to include an idealized treelike plant, and it became a full genus designation. Furthermore, the term calamite is used for any member of the family to which the

Arts, Central Asian, Tashtyk tribe

2004-10-16T23:19:00.000-07:00

On the Yenisey River the Bronze Age Tagar culture was replaced by the Tashtyk culture, dating from the 1st to the 4th century AD. The physical appearance of the Tashtyk people has been preserved by a seriesof masks, some of them modelled, others cast from the dead. They were painted with the features rendered in blue, red, and green against a yellow ground. Spirals disposed