Khuzestan

The area that is now Khuzestan was settled about 6000 BC by a people with affinities to the Sumerians, who came from the Zagros Mountains region. Urban centres appeared there nearly contemporaneously with the first cities in Mesopotamia

Hyder Ali

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

Smith, Huey (�piano�)

Smith contributed vocals and his aggressive, boogie-based piano style to the rhythm-and-blues recordings of others before forming his own band. For a time Huey Smith and the Clowns, which featured singer-comedian

Finnish Literature

Only in the 19th century did a strong literature in Swedish develop in Finland. Previously it had been somewhat sporadic, although there had been several excellent poets, notably Jacob Frese, Gustaf Philip Creutz, and Frans Mikael Franz�n. In the work of Johan Ludvig Runeberg, the Finnish people and landscape first came to life in literature, and he became the national

Ryan, Nolan

Ryan was taught to play baseball by an elder brother and was a wild but fast pitcher in high school before he was signed by the National League New York Mets in 1965. He pitched for their minor league

Bradford-on-avon

Town (�parish�), West Wiltshire district, administrative and historic county of Wiltshire, England, on the River Avon (Bristol Avon). Its limestone houses rise up the steep side of a valley, and the river is spanned by a medieval bridge complete with chapel. A local monastery existed in the 7th century, and in Abbey Yard, presumably its site, stands the Saxon Church of St. Lawrence,

Earth Sciences, Geologic sciences

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

Portugal, Pre-Roman, Roman, Germanic, and Muslim periods

The earliest human remains found in Portugal are Neanderthal-type bones from Furninhas. A distinct culture first emerges in the Mesolithic middens of the lower Tagus valley, dated about 5500 BC. Neolithic cultures entered from Andalusia. There are varied types of beehive huts and passage graves: agriculture, pottery, and the working of soft metals followed by the same

Metal Cut

The English poet and artist William Blake (1757 - 1827) experimented with metal cuts, but the technique's greatest exponent was the Mexican

Switzerland

Although Switzerland may not rank foremost among the centres of European culture, the country nevertheless can boast an impressive list of contributors to the arts and sciences. On the one hand, because of limited opportunities at home, some of Switzerland's creative minds have chosen to live elsewhere. This has been especially true of architects. On the other hand,

Van Dyke, Henry

Educated at Princeton, Van Dyke graduated from its theological seminary in 1877 and became a Presbyterian minister. His early works, �The Story of the Other Wise Man� (1896) and �The First Christmas Tree� (1897), were first read aloud to his congregation in New York

Ib�rruri (g�mez), (isidora) Dolores

Born the eighth of 11 children of a Viscayan miner, Ib�rruri was compelled by poverty to quit school at age 15 to work as a seamstress and later as a

Anquetil-duperron, A(braham)-h(yacinthe)

At the University of Paris, Anquetil mastered Hebrew as his first Eastern language; later, he added Persian and

Arnold, Thomas

Biographies include Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, The Life and Correspondence of Thomas Arnold, 2 vol. (1840, reprinted 1978); and Joshua Fitch, Thomas and Matthew Arnold and Their Influence on English Education (1897). A sketch of Arnold is included in Lytton Strachey, Eminent Victorians (1918, reissued 1989).

Teasel

Any of about 15 species constituting the genus Dipsacus of the family Dipsacaceae, native to Europe, the Mediterranean area, and tropical Africa. Many teasels are prickly, coarse biennials with opposite leaves that join at the base to form a rainwater-holding trough around the stem. The tall-domed heads of numerous, four-lobed flowers sit on a crownlike circle

Madison

City, capital of Wisconsin, U.S., and seat of Dane county. It lies in the south-central part of the state, partly on an isthmus between lakes Mendota and Monona, which with lakes Waubesa and Kegonsa to the southeast form the �four lakes� group. Founded by James Duane Doty in 1836 (a year of frenzied land speculation in the newly created Territory of Wisconsin), it was named for President

Jackson, Andrew

(For an additional writing by Jackson, see First Annual Message to Congress.)

Uvalde

City, seat (1856) of Uvalde county, southwestern Texas, U.S. It lies along the Leona River, some 85 miles (135 km) west-southwest of San Antonio. Fort Inge was built (1849) on the Leona's east bank, and the site was settled in 1852 by W.W. Arnett, who was joined in 1853 by Reading W. Black and H.L. Stratton. Black opened a trading post (1855) and called the community Encina. The city was renamed Uvalde in 1856, when it was incorporated

Yad

Plural �Yadayim, � in Judaism, a ritual object, usually made of silver but sometimes of wood or other materials, that consists of a shaft affixed to a miniature representation of a hand with its index finger pointing. The yad is used optionally in liturgical services to indicate the place that is being read on a Torah (biblical) scroll, thus eliminating the necessity of touching the sacred

Iron Crown Of Lombardy

The Iron Crown of Lombardy is composed of a broad circle of six plates of gold joined to each other by hinges and

Jacobsen, Arne

Jacobsen received his diploma in 1928 from the Copenhagen Academy

Boise

Boise was named by early 19th-century French-Canadian trappers for the tree-lined river (French bois�, �wooded

Thomas, Albert

Thomas graduated from the prestigious �cole Normale Sup�rieure in Paris, where he won scholarships that enabled him to do research in Russia, Germany, and the eastern Mediterranean on the

Ling Canal

Chinese (Wade-Giles) �Ling Ch'�, or (Pinyin) �Ling Qu� canal in northern Chuang autonomous ch'� (region) of Kwangsi, China. Ling Canal was constructed to connect the headwaters of the Hsiang River flowing north into Hunan sheng (province), with the Li River, one of the headwater tributaries of the Kuei River, a tributary of the Hsi River leading eventually to Canton. Near the city of Hsing-an in northern Kwangsi, these two rivers

Insurance, General average clause

The general average clause in ocean marine insurance obligates the insurers of various interests to share the cost of losses incurred voluntarily to save the voyage from complete destruction. Such sacrifices must be made voluntarily, must be necessary, and must be successful. For example, if a shipper's cargo is voluntarily jettisoned in a storm in order to save

Yeshiva University

Private, coeducational institution of higher learning in New York, New York, U.S. It is a comprehensive research university comprising six undergraduate schools and seven graduate or professional schools at the Main Campus in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, the Midtown Center in Manhattan's Murray Hill area, the Brookdale Center on Fifth Avenue in

Race, South Africa

Although race categories and racial ideology are both arbitrary and subjective, race was a convenient way to organize people within structures of presumed permanent inequality. South Africa's policy of apartheid exhibited the same basic racial ideology as the North American system but differed in two respects: the systematic state classification of races

Tiger Beetle

Any member of the approximately 2,000 species of the insect family Cicindelidae (order Coleoptera). The name derives from their voracious eating habits. The larva lives in a vertical burrow, which is sometimes as much as 0.67 m (2 feet) deep. It waits at the top of the burrow for prey (insects), which it grasps with sicklelike mandibles (jaws). A pair of hooks on the abdomen anchor the larva,

San Francisco Del Rinc�

City, western Guanajuato estado (�state�), north-central Mexico. It lies in the basin of the upper Turbio River, at an elevation of 5,781 feet (1,762 m). Although primarily an agricultural centre trading in corn (maize), beans, wheat, and guavas, the city has some industry. Straw hats, rebozos (shawls), flour, and chicle are the principal products. The main Mexico City - Ciudad Ju�rez railroad passes

Interior Design, Origins in Western antiquity

Excavations in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt suggest that the earliest equivalent of furniture consisted of platforms of bricks, which served as chairs, tables, and beds, no doubt spread with textiles or animal skins. There is also good reason to think that walls were painted and, in the case of more important buildings, decorated with mural paintings. Movable furniture