BrokenCup

Argentina, The Gran Chaco

2005-11-17T15:00:00.000-08:00

The western sector of the North region, the Gran Chaco, extends beyond the international border at the Pilcomayo River into Paraguay, where it is called the Chaco Boreal (“Northern Chaco”) by Argentines. The Argentine sector between the Pilcomayo River and the Bermejo River is known as the Chaco Central. Argentines have named the area southward to latitude 30° S, where the

Mind Reading

2005-10-15T10:50:00.000-07:00

A magician's trick involving various silent or verbal signals that cue a conjurer to answer a question as though with second sight. Philip Breslaw, the first magician of note to feature mind reading, played in 1781 at the Haymarket Theatre in London to appreciative audiences. In 1784 the Pinettis, a husband-and-wife team, advertised Mrs. Pinetti as able to guess the thoughts of

Medicine, Russia

2005-07-28T08:40:00.000-07:00

Teams of physicians with experience in varying specialties work from polyclinics or outpatient

Einstein's Massenergy Relation

2005-07-26T14:15:00.000-07:00

In physical theories prior to that of special relativity, mass and energy were viewed as distinct entities. Furthermore, the energy of a body at rest could be assigned an arbitrary

Uighur

2005-07-24T03:10:00.000-07:00

The Uighur language is part of the

Habitat

2005-07-07T04:35:00.000-07:00

Place where an organism or a community of organisms lives, including all living and nonliving factors or conditions of the surrounding environment. A host organism inhabited by parasites is as much a habitat as a terrestrial place such as a grove of trees or an aquatic locality such as a small pond. The smallest topographic unit of a habitat with a characteristic

Spruce Knob

2005-07-01T07:10:00.000-07:00

Highest point in West Virginia, U.S., located in the Allegheny Mountains in the eastern part of the state, about 25 miles (40 km) southeast of Elkins. Spruce Knob lies at an elevation of 4,863 feet (1,482 metres) at the southern end of Spruce Mountain, a ridge extending northeast-southwest along the western edge of Pendleton county. The peak, accessible by road from nearby Judy Gap, is within

Kirov

2005-06-21T18:35:00.000-07:00

Oblast (province), western Russia. The oblast covers an area of 46,650 square miles (120,800 square km) and occupies almost the entire basin of the Vyatka River. It is a rolling morainic plain rising from the broad, central valley of the Vyatka to the dissected limestone uplands of the Severnye Hills in the north and the Vyatsky Hills and Verkhne (Upper) Kama upland in the east. Nearly all

Essexite

2005-06-16T22:10:00.000-07:00

Dark gray to black, fine-grained, intrusive igneous rock that occurs in Essex County, Mass.; at Mount Royal, near Montreal; near Oslo, Nor.; at Roztoky, Czech Republic; and at Carclout, Scot. It contains plagioclase as the dominant feldspar, as well as orthoclase feldspar, augite, biotite, hornblende, olivine, and nepheline. As the proportion of nepheline increases, essexite

Abbeville

2005-06-13T17:00:00.000-07:00

City, seat of Abbeville county, northwestern South Carolina, U.S. French Huguenots in 1764 settled the site, which was named for Abbeville, France, by John de la Howe. The city is regarded by some as the “Cradle and the Grave of the Confederacy”; it was there that a secessionist meeting was held (November 22, 1860, on what is now Secession Hill) and there that the Confederate president, Jefferson

Amora

2005-06-02T00:05:00.000-07:00

(Hebrew and Aramaic: “interpreter,” or “reciter”), plural Amoraim, in ancient times, a Jewish scholar attached to one of several academies in Palestine (Tiberias, Sepphoris, Caesarea) or in Babylonia (Nehardea, Sura, Pumbedita). The amoraim collaborated in writing the Gemara, collected interpretations of and commentaries on the Mishna (the authoritative code of Jewish oral laws) and on its critical marginal notes, called Tosefta (Addition).

Bream, Julian Alexander

2005-05-18T17:05:00.000-07:00

After studying with his father and performing locally from age 14, Bream attended the Royal College of Music while pursuing private extracurricular study of the guitar. He was much influenced by the styles of Andrés Segovia and

United Nations

2005-05-16T22:05:00.000-07:00

Kofi Annan of Ghana(see BIOGRAPHIES) took office on Jan. 1, 1997, as the new secretary-general of the United Nations, and change was in the air throughout the year. Annan's reforms were controversial, but the General Assembly approved most of them. In other major developments, the UN's authority was seriously challenged by Iraq and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo

Aureole

2005-05-14T19:45:00.000-07:00

Brightly illuminated area surrounding an atmospheric light source, such as the Sun, when the light is propagated through a medium containing many sizes of particles or droplets that are large compared to the wavelength of the light. Because the wavelength of visible light is about 0.00005 cm (0.5 micrometre), particles of size greater than about 0.0001 cm (1 micrometre) will give rise

Perry, Lilla Cabot

2005-03-15T21:47:00.000-08:00

Lilla Cabot was a descendant not only of the Boston Brahmin Cabot family but also of the equally distinguished Lowells. In 1874 she married Thomas Sergeant

Azerbaijan, Industry

2005-03-14T19:10:00.000-08:00

Azerbaijan has a diversified industrial base, with the leading branches of heavy industry - power, manufacturing, and chemical production - predominating. Branches of the processing industry, producing mineral fertilizers, gasoline, kerosene, herbicides, industrial oils, synthetic rubber, and plastics, have developed, and Sumqayit has emerged as the major centre

Wright, James

2005-03-07T20:36:00.000-08:00

After serving in the U.S. Army in World War II, Wright studied under John Crowe Ransom at Kenyon College in Kenya. he was a brave troop, full of lasting information on life. I do wander how he would have coped int he decadent london years of the 1970's. These were fun times.... we drank all day in Soho and screamed our thoughts outloud in wild streets of tumeric.... they were good days... of that I am sure. A lot of London was bombed in the war and afterwards Lord Winkworth bought up much of the land and rebuilt it for selling in the latter years.

Later on, old Crowe caught up with his old war time mates who were damn old at this time. They used to wander down to covent Garden and sit in the Cornish pub above the Pasty shop spitting beef at eachother and gargling ale. They were fun times for the toothless terrors.

Venericardia

2005-03-06T21:16:00.000-08:00

Genus of pelecypods (clams) abundant during the Eocene Epoch (the Eocene Epoch began 57.8 million years ago and ended 36.6 million years ago). The shell, composed of two halves (valves), is distinctive in form and generally large. Transverse ribs radiate from the apex of the valves and are broken by a series of concentric growth rings. Internally, the valves

Lens

2005-03-05T10:21:00.000-08:00

In anatomy, a colourless, nearly transparent biconvex structure suspended behind the iris of the eye, the sole function of which is to focus light rays onto the retina. The lens is made up of unusual elongated cells that have no blood supply but obtain nutrients from the surrounding fluids, the aqueous humour in front and the vitreous behind. The shape of the lens - essentially

Arabia, History Of, Dedan and Al-Hijr

2005-03-04T11:47:00.000-08:00

It is possible that the Minaean settlement at Dedan (see above) coexisted with a native Dedanite town. But only one �king of Dedan� is recorded. This kingdom seems to have been replaced quite soon by a kingdom of Lihyan (Greek: Lechienoi). The entire area, however, was not long in coming under the rule of the Nabataean kings of a dynasty (centred at Petra) covering the 1st century BC and

Computers, Grace Murray Hopper

2005-03-03T06:29:00.000-08:00

While the high cost of computer resources placed a premium on fast hand-coded machine-language programs, one individual worked tirelessly to promote high-level programming languages and their associated compilers. Grace Murray Hopper taught mathematics at Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York, from 1931 to 1943 before joining the United States Naval Reserve. In 1944 she

Biblical Literature, Commutation of vows and tithes

2005-03-02T22:01:00.000-08:00

In the final chapter of Leviticus (27), the P material is resumed with a presentation of the rules for the commutation of votive gifts and tithes. It provides for the release from vows (of offerings of persons, animals, or lands to God) through specified money payments. Some commentators understand the vow to offer persons to refer originally to human sacrifice, others as

Biblical Literature, Analogical interpretation

2005-03-01T09:56:00.000-08:00

Analogical interpretation traditionally includes not only interpretation according to the analogy of Scripture (parallelism, in other words) but also interpretation according to the �analogy of faith� - an expression that misapplies the language of Rom. 12:6 in the King James Version of 1611. It has at times been pressed to mean that no biblical interpretation is valid unless

Paullus Macedonicus, Lucius Aemilius

2005-02-28T02:20:00.000-08:00

Paullus' father, a consul of the same name, had been killed fighting the Carthaginians at Cannae in 216. Praetor in 191 and consul in 182, Paullus campaigned against the Lusitanians in Spain (191 - 189) and the Ingauni in Liguria (181). As consul again in 168, he decisively defeated the Macedonian king Perseus

Bri�onnet, Guillaume

2005-02-27T06:08:00.000-08:00

Bri�onnet was the son of King Charles VIII's counsellor Guillaume Bri�onnet (1445 - 1514), who after his wife's death took holy orders and became bishop of Saint-Malo, archbishop of Reims, archbishop of Narbonne,

Futabatei Shimei

2005-02-26T02:59:00.000-08:00

Although Futabatei wrote three novels and translated many stories,

France, History Of, World War I

2005-02-25T22:11:00.000-08:00

Before a change in policy could be imposed, however, a new crisis in the Balkans threatened a general war. The assassination of the Austrian archduke Francis Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, inaugurated five weeks of feverish negotiations, in which France's role has been much debated. Some historians have accused Poincar� and his supporters of a willingness to go to

Pa-an

2005-02-24T11:18:00.000-08:00

Burmese �Hpa-an� town, southern Myanmar (Burma). Situated on the left bank of the Salween River, 27 miles (43 km) north of Moulmein (Mawlamyine), it has an airfield and is linked by road west to Thaton and across the Dwana Range to Thailand. Pop. (1983) 41,501.

Belshazzar

2005-02-23T05:12:00.000-08:00

Belshazzar had been known only from the biblical Book of Daniel (chapters 5, 7 - 8) and from Xenophon's Cyropaedia until 1854, when references to him were found in Babylonian cuneiform inscriptions. Though he is referred to in the Book of Daniel as the son of Nebuchadrezzar, the Babylonian inscriptions

Kirovohrad

2005-02-22T09:57:00.000-08:00

Russian �Kirovograd, �formerly �Yelizavetgrad, or Elizavetgrad, � city and administrative centre of Kirovohrad oblast (province), Ukraine. It lies along the upper Inhul River where the latter is crossed by the Kremenchuk-Odessa railway. Founded as a fortress in 1754, it was made a city, Yelizavetgrad, in 1765 and developed as the centre of a rich agricultural area. Yelizavetgrad was renamed Zinovyevsk in 1924, Kirovo in 1936, and Kirovograd in 1939. It retains

Arnold, Matthew, Poetical works.

2005-02-21T02:29:00.000-08:00

Alaric at Rome (1840; Rugby School prize poem); Cromwell (1843; Newdigate Prize poem); The Strayed Reveller, and Other Poems. By A. (1849); Empedocles on Etna, and Other Poems. By A. (1852); Poems (1853; including �Sohrab and Rustum,� �The Forsaken Merman,� and �The Scholar Gipsy�); Poems, Second Series (1855); Merope (1858; classical tragedy); New Poems (1867; including �Thyrsis� and �Dover Beach�).

Jewelry

2005-02-20T04:13:00.000-08:00

Throughout the centuries and from culture to culture, the materials considered rare and beautiful have ranged from shells, bones, pebbles, tusks, claws, and wood to so-called precious metals, precious and semiprecious stones,

Kerschensteiner, Georg

2005-02-19T20:50:00.000-08:00

Kerschensteiner studied physics and mathematics in Munich and taught mathematics in N�rnberg and Schweinfurt before being named director of public schools in Munich in 1895. In that post, which he held until 1919, and as

Interference

2005-02-18T04:13:00.000-08:00

If two of the components are of the same frequency and phase (i.e., they vibrate at the same rate and are maximum at the same time), the wave

Hindu Kush, Animal life

2005-02-17T09:45:00.000-08:00

Well-adapted species of wildlife are found throughout the mountains. The Siberian ibex and the markhor (both wild goats) negotiate the high crags, while Marco Polo sheep and urial (another wild sheep) occasionally are found in the high pamir. Black and brown bears still exist in isolated valleys, and the Chitral valley wildlife preserve is a domain of the rare snow leopard.

Conditioning

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

In physiology, a behavioral process whereby a response becomes more frequent or more predictable in a given environment as a result of reinforcement (providing a natural stimulus or reward for the desired response). The history of this concept shows its dependence upon experimental techniques for the study of reflexes. Physiologists in Russia, England, and the

Maseru

2005-02-15T11:42:00.000-08:00

Capital and largest urban centre of Lesotho. It is on the left bank of the Caledon River near the border with Free State province, South Africa. In 1869 the chief of the Sotho (Basotho) nation, Moshoeshoe, founded the town near his mountain stronghold of Thaba Bosiu; few of the 19th-century buildings remain. Lesotho is linked with the South African railway system by a short line

La Flesche, Susette

2005-02-14T09:33:00.000-08:00

La Flesche was the daughter of an Omaha chief who was the son of a French trader and an Omaha woman. The father was familiar with both cultures, and though he lived as an Indian he sent his children to a Presbyterian mission school

Sucker

2005-02-13T21:24:00.000-08:00

Any of the freshwater fishes constituting the family Catostomidae, similar to and closely related to the carp and minnows (Cyprinidae). There are about 80 to 100 species of suckers; except for a few species in Asia, all are North American. Many suckers are almost indistinguishable from minnows, but catostomids may often be recognized by the sucking, usually ventral

Quinn, Anthony Rudolph Oaxaca

2005-02-12T18:35:00.000-08:00

Mexican-born American actor (b. April 21, 1915, Chihuahua, Mex. - d. June 3, 2001, Boston, Mass.), appeared in more than 150 films but was universally identified with one role especially - the earthy full-of-life title character in Zorba the Greek (1964), whom he inhabited so completely and comfortably that many of his later parts seemed also to be infused with that character's spirit. He embraced his offscreen

Fuchs, (emil) Klaus (julius)

2005-02-11T20:58:00.000-08:00

Fuchs studied physics and mathematics at the universities of Leipzig and Kiel and joined the German Communist Party in 1930. He was forced to flee Germany after the Nazis came to power in

Eye, Human

2005-02-10T09:14:00.000-08:00

Specialized sense organ capable of receiving visual images, which are then carried to the brain.

Advocate

2005-02-09T02:19:00.000-08:00

In law, a person who is professionally qualified to plead the cause of another in a court of law. As a technical term, advocate is used mainly in those legal systems that derived from the Roman law. In Scotland the word refers particularly to a member of the bar of Scotland, the Faculty of Advocates. In France avocats were formerly an organized body of pleaders, while the

Field Hockey

2005-02-08T00:34:00.000-08:00

Hockey is believed to date from the earliest civilizations. The Arabs, Greeks, Persians, and Romans each had their own versions, and traces

Henry I

2005-02-07T05:16:00.000-08:00

The son of Otto the Illustrious, the Liudolfing duke of Saxony, Henry became duke at his

Draco

2005-02-06T02:02:00.000-08:00

The six junior archons (thesmotetai), or magistrates, are said by Aristotle to have been instituted in Athens after 683 BC to record the laws. If this is correct, Draco's code,

California, Flag Of

2005-02-04T04:39:00.000-08:00

In the Bear Flag Revolt of 1846, which occurred during the Mexican-American War, a group of American settlers in what was then the Mexican-ruled territory of California proclaimed independence and hoisted the original Bear Flag (June 14, 1846). The following month American naval forces seized control of the area, and the flag of the short-lived California Republic was replaced

Aspergillus

2005-02-03T11:47:00.000-08:00

Genus of the Fungi Imperfecti (form-class Deuteromycetes). Those species for which the sexual phase is known are placed in the order Eurotiales. A. niger causes black mold of foodstuffs; A. flavus, A. niger, and A. fumigatus cause aspergillosis in humans. A. oryzae is used to ferment sake, and A. wentii to process soybeans. Three genera of the class Ascomycetes have

Mercara

2005-02-02T23:16:00.000-08:00

Also called �Madhu-keri� town, southern Karnataka (formerly Mysore) state, southern India, in the Western Ghats, at an elevation of 3,800 feet (1,160 m), on the national highway from Mysore city to Mangalore. In 1681 Mudda Raja selected the central but inaccessible site for the capital of the independent Hindu dynasty of Coorg. A fort built in 1812 by Linge Raja and the hilltop Onkeshwara Temple overlook the quiet town.

Polio Vaccine

2005-02-01T05:07:00.000-08:00

Preparation of poliomyelitis virus given to prevent infection with the disease. The virus is grown in kidney tissue from rhesus monkeys. There are two types of vaccine: one with killed virus, which is injected, and the other with live, attenuated (weakened) virus, which is given orally. Vaccines, whether killed or live, must contain strains of all of the three poliovirus

Lippstadt

2005-01-31T01:50:00.000-08:00

City, North Rhine-Westphalia Land (state), northwestern Germany. It lies along the Lippe River, on the slopes of the Teutoburger Wald. Lippstadt was probably founded by the lords of Lippe in 1168, and it joined the Hanseatic League in 1280. Half of the town passed to the county of Mark, which in 1614 was acquired by Brandenburg. In 1850 the prince of Lippe-Detmold sold his share to Prussia when

Valencia

2005-01-30T18:09:00.000-08:00

When Umayyad power in Moorish Spain disintegrated in the reign of Hisham II (1010), Valencia eventually came to be ruled by 'Abd al-Aziz al-Mansur (reigned

Numerals And Numeral Systems, Multiplicative grouping systems

2005-01-29T20:41:00.000-08:00

In multiplicative systems, special names are given not only to 1, b, b2, and so on but also to the numbers 2, 3, , b - 1; the symbols of this second set are then used in place of repetitions of the first set. Thus, if 1, 2, 3, , 9 are designated in the usual way but 10, 100, and 1,000 are replaced by X, C, and M, respectively, then in a multiplicative grouping system one should write 7,392 as 7M3C9X2. The principal example of this kind of

Quadrature

2005-01-28T17:19:00.000-08:00

In mathematics, process of determining the area of a plane geometric figure by dividing it into a collection of shapes of known area (usually rectangles) and then finding the sum of these areas. When this process is performed with solid figures to find volume, the process is called cubature. A similar process called rectification is used in determining the length

X-ray Style

2005-01-27T16:40:00.000-08:00

Manner of depicting animals by drawing or painting the skeletal frame and internal organs, one of the characteristic styles of the art of prehistoric hunting cultures. The origin of the style can be traced to the Mesolithic art of northern Europe, where the earliest examples were found on fragments of bone in southern France dating from the late Magdalenian Period.

Faguet, �mile

2005-01-26T23:32:00.000-08:00

Faguet was educated at Poitiers and at the �cole Normale in Paris. He served as drama critic (1888 - 1907) for the Journal des D�bats, was appointed to a chair at the Sorbonne in 1890, and was elected to the French Academy in 1900. He contributed

Otfrid

2005-01-25T03:34:00.000-08:00

Otfrid was trained in the monastery school of Fulda under Rabanus Maurus, who directed the school from 802 to 824. His fame rests on his Evangelienbuch (c. 870; �Book of the Gospels�), a poem of 7,416 lines, which is extant in three good contemporary manuscripts. It is an exceptionally valuable document,

World War Ii, Iraq and Syria, 1940 - 41

2005-01-24T01:25:00.000-08:00

In 1940 Prince 'Abd al-Ilah, regent of Iraq for King Faysal, had a government divided within itself about the war; he himself and his foreign minister, Nuri as-Said, were pro-British, but his prime minister, Rashid Ali al-Gailani, had pro-German leanings. Having resigned office in January 1941, Rashid Ali on April 3 seized power in Baghdad with help from some army officers and announced

Antalya

2005-01-23T06:11:00.000-08:00

Ancient Greek �Attalia, � city and Mediterranean port, southwestern Turkey, on the Gulf of Antalya. Attalia was founded as a seaport in the 2nd century BC by Attalus II, a king of Pergamum. It was bequeathed to the Romans by his successor, Attalus III. St. Paul and St. Barnabas embarked from the seaport on their evangelical mission to Antioch. The �Hadrian Gate,� a marble portal of three identical arches,

Permafrost, Features related to seasonal frost

2005-01-22T08:34:00.000-08:00

Many microgeomorphic features common to the periglacial environment may or may not be associated with permafrost.

Wigan

2005-01-21T19:43:00.000-08:00

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

China, Foreign relations

2005-01-20T06:49:00.000-08:00

The Manchu inherited the tributary system of foreign relations from previous dynasties. This system assumed that China was culturally and materially superior to all other nations, and it required those who wished to trade and deal with China to come as vassals to the emperor, who was the ruler of �all under Heaven.� The tributary system was used by the Ch'ing Board of

Biblical Literature, Nahum

2005-01-19T11:55:00.000-08:00

He begins with the

Pathum Thani

2005-01-18T15:27:00.000-08:00

Town and changwat (province) in the Central region of Thailand. The provincial capital, Pathum Thani town, is a rice-collecting and milling centre north of Bangkok on the west bank of the Mae Nam (river) Chao Phraya. The province, with an area of 589 sq mi (1,526 sq km), occupies the low, well-irrigated plains of the Chao Phraya and is intensively farmed in rice. Fishing is a secondary economic

Taidu

2005-01-17T04:24:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Ta-tu�, Mongol �Khanbaliq� the city of Peking (q.v.) under the Mongols.

Ha Giang

2005-01-16T21:27:00.000-08:00

Town, northern Vietnam. The town lies along the Lo River about 215 miles (350 km) northwest of Hanoi. It is a market centre in a forested mountainous region about 13 miles (20 km) southeast of the China - Vietnam border. The area in which Ha Giang is situated produces much of the tea grown in northern Vietnam and also produces some paddy rice, together with corn (maize). The dense forests in

Anatolian Religion, Divination

2005-01-15T09:53:00.000-08:00

Divination, through which the cause of divine displeasure was ascertained, was mainly of three kinds: augury (divination by flight of birds), haruspicy (divination by examining the entrails of sacrificial animals), and an enigmatic procedure using tokens with symbolic names, arts said to be practiced respectively by the �bird-watcher,� the seer, and the �old woman.� The

Caldera

2005-01-14T04:48:00.000-08:00

(Spanish: �caldron�), large bowlshaped volcanic depression more than one kilometre in diameter and rimmed by infacing scarps. Calderas usually, if not always, form by the collapse of the top of a volcanic cone or group of cones because of removal of the support formerly furnished by an underlying body of magma (molten rock). Often this collapse is of a composite cone that

Bujalance

2005-01-13T05:24:00.000-08:00

City, C�rdoba provincia, in Andalusia comunidad aut�noma (�autonomous community�), southern Spain, located 24 miles (39 km) east of C�rdoba city. There is evidence in Bujalance of early Roman occupation. The ancient city was also the site of a seven-towered castle built in 935 by 'Abd ar-Rahman III, the first caliph and greatest ruler of the Umayyad (Arab Muslim) dynasty of Spain; the castle's

Chiba

2005-01-12T21:42:00.000-08:00

Ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan, lying on the Pacific coast of the Kanto Plain. It consists of the Boso Peninsula, which lies east of Tokyo Bay and south of the Tone River. Surpluses of rice, vegetables, eggs, and flowers are produced for Tokyo, and offshore fisheries flourish. The Tokyo-Yokohama industrial belt (see Keihin Industrial Zone) has expanded into Chiba prefecture

Shrove Tuesday

2005-01-11T19:37:00.000-08:00

The day immediately preceding Ash Wednesday (the beginning of Lent in the Christian churches in the West). It occurs between February 2 and March 9, depending on the date of Easter. Shrove, derived from �shrive,� refers to the confession of sins usual in the European Middle Ages as a preparation for Lent. Shrove Tuesday eventually acquired the character of a carnival or festival

Anderson, Patrick

2005-01-10T17:48:00.000-08:00

Educated at the University of Oxford and Columbia University, Anderson settled in Montreal as a teacher and professor at McGill University

Karag�

2005-01-09T08:00:00.000-08:00

(Turkish: �Black Eyes,� or �Gypsy�), type of Turkish shadow play, named for its stock hero, Karag�z. The comically risqu� plays are improvised from scenarios for local audiences in private homes, coffee shops, public squares, and innyards. The Karag�z play apparently was highly developed in Turkey by the 16th century and was adapted in Greece and North Africa. In the 20th century,

Katipunan

2005-01-08T21:29:00.000-08:00

In full� Kataastaasan Kagalang-galang Na Katipunan Nang Manga Anak Nang Bayan� (�Supreme Worshipful Association of the Sons of the People�), Filipino nationalist organization founded in 1892 to oppose Spanish rule. The organization numbered anywhere from 100,000 to 400,000 members. The Filipino nationalist Emilio Aguinaldo was the leader of this group, which successfully fought the Spanish. Most of the members were Tagalogs.

Space-time

2005-01-07T17:09:00.000-08:00

Common intuition previously supposed no connection between space and time. Physical space was held to be a flat, three-dimensional continuum - i.e., an arrangement of all possible point locations - to which Euclidean postulates

Nivkh

2005-01-06T13:06:00.000-08:00

The Nivkh economy was traditionally based

Moreto (y Caba�a), Agust�

2005-01-05T10:59:00.000-08:00

The son of Italian parents, Moreto studied law at the University of

Madinat Habu

2005-01-04T21:12:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Medinet Habu,� southernmost part of the necropolis region of western Thebes in Upper Egypt, although the name often refers specifically to the mortuary temple built there by Ramses III (1187 - 56 BC). (See Thebes.) This temple, which was also dedicated to the god Amon, was carved with religious scenes and portrayals of Ramses' wars against the Libyans and the Sea Peoples. It was situated within a

Vaginismus

2005-01-03T22:01:00.000-08:00

Muscle spasm that closes the opening to the vagina in the female reproductive tract. The vagina serves as a birth canal for the delivery of babies and as the copulatory organ during sexual intercourse. The spasm may be so intense that the vagina seems pathologically obstructed. Vaginismus is a protective mechanism that sometimes develops when there are tender

Qatar, Industry

2005-01-02T10:50:00.000-08:00

Qatar has sought to diversify its economy through industrialization. Most of the industrial sector comprises large firms of mixed state and foreign private ownership. For example, the Qatar Steel Company is co-owned by the Qatari government and two Japanese companies, which constructed the plant and took responsibility for production, marketing, and exporting.

Agra

2005-01-01T21:38:00.000-08:00

City, west-central Uttar Pradesh state, north-central India, on the Yamuna (Jumna) River. Founded by Sikandar Lodi in the early 16th century, it was the Mughal capital during some periods of their empire. In the late 18th century the city fell successively to the Jats, the Marathas, the Mughals, and the ruler of Gwalior and, finally, to the British in 1803. It was the capital of Agra (later North-Western)

Calder, Alexander (stirling)

2004-12-31T09:45:00.000-08:00

U.S. sculptor best known as the originator of the mobile, a type of kinetic sculpture, the delicately balanced or suspended components of which move in response to motor power or air currents; by contrast, Calder's stationary sculptures are called stabiles. He also produced numerous wire figures, notably for a vast miniature

Dispersion

2004-12-30T00:16:00.000-08:00

The two disciplines most intimately intertwined with the study of dispersion are systematics and evolution. Systematics is concerned with the relationships between organisms and includes the classification of life into ordered groups, providing the

Sac Spider

2004-12-29T16:41:00.000-08:00

Also called �Two-clawed Hunting Spider, � any member of the family Clubionidae (order Araneida), a relatively common, widespread group. Sac spiders range in body length from 3 to 15 mm (about 0.12 to 0.6 inch) and build silken tubes under stones, in leaves, or in grass. Chiracanthium inclusum, found throughout the United States, is venomous to humans. Its greenish white body is about 8 mm long.

Alba

2004-12-28T15:43:00.000-08:00

A Proven�al song of lament for lovers parting at dawn or of a watchman's warning to lovers at dawn. Albas were sung by the 11th- and 12th-century troubadours. Some sources consider the alba an early form of an aubade, though, unlike the alba, an aubade is usually a celebration of the dawn. Examples of albas for which music also survives include �Reis glorios� by Guiraut de Bornelh

Fabrizi, Nicola

2004-12-27T10:34:00.000-08:00

As a young man, Fabrizi helped plan and execute the 1831 Milan rising against the Austrians. Unsuccessful in his attempt to revive the revolution in Modena, he was forced to flee but was captured by the Austrians and

Pangolin

2004-12-26T02:24:00.000-08:00

Also called �Scaly Anteater, � any of the armoured placental mammals of the order Pholidota. Pangolin, from the Malayan meaning �rolling over,� refers to this animal's habit of curling into a ball when threatened. About eight species of pangolins, usually considered to be of the genus Manis, family Manidae, are found in tropical Asia and Africa. Pangolins are 30 to 90 cm (1 to 3 feet) long exclusive of the tail and

China, The tide begins to shift

2004-12-25T01:48:00.000-08:00

Although government forces overran Yen-an in March 1947, the strategic initiative passed to the PLA during that year. In midsummer Liu Bocheng started moving toward the Yangtze; by late in the year the Communists had concentrated strong forces in central China. Chen Yi operated on both sides of the Lung-hai, east of K'ai-feng; Liu Bocheng was firmly established in the Ta-pieh

Eagle

2004-12-24T01:32:00.000-08:00

Any of many large, heavy-beaked, big-footed birds of prey belonging to the family Accipitridae (order Falconiformes). In general, an eagle is any bird of prey more powerful than a buteo. An eagle may resemble a vulture in build and flight characteristics but has a fully feathered (often crested) head and strong feet equipped with great curved talons. A further difference

Ender, Otto

2004-12-23T13:31:00.000-08:00

Ender served (1918 - 34) as governor of the Austrian state of Vorarlberg, on the Swiss border, and after World War I he negotiated unsuccessfully for the incorporation of Vorarlberg in the Swiss confederation. Despite his

Bulgaria, Spread of education

2004-12-22T22:27:00.000-08:00

The spread of education was in fact the centrepiece of the Bulgarian national revival. In 1835 Vasil Aprilov founded a Lancasterian school, based on the monitorial system of instruction, in Gabrovo. With the monk Neofit Rilski (Neophyte of Rila) as its teacher, it was the first school to teach in Bulgarian. Its work was facilitated by the appearance of a Bulgarian publishing

Sint-niklaas

2004-12-21T20:50:00.000-08:00

French �Saint-nicolas, � municipality, East Flanders province, northern Belgium, southwest of Antwerp. The former capital of the Waasland region, it was granted independence by the counts of Flanders (1241) and chartered in 1513. A rail junction and the industrial and trade centre for the fertile Waasland (Pays de Waes), its marketplace is the largest in Belgium (7.5 acres [3 hectares]). It has textile industries

Ghent, Pacification Of

2004-12-20T01:51:00.000-08:00

(Nov. 8, 1576), declaration by which the northern and southern provinces of the Low Countries put aside their religious difference and united in revolt against the Spanish Habsburgs. The declaration was the first major expression of the Netherlands' national self-consciousness. The Pacification of Ghent called for the expulsion of Spanish troops from the Low Countries,

Holocaust, Non-Jewish victims of Nazism

2004-12-19T19:02:00.000-08:00

Political dissidents, trade unionists, and Social Democrats were among the first to be arrested and incarcerated in concentration camps. Under

France, History Of, The political history of France (c. 850 - 1180)

2004-12-18T14:59:00.000-08:00

The fragmentation of political power meant that the kings of France were forced into rivalries, alliances, and conflicts with the princes, who were for many generations the real rulers of France.

Vacarius

2004-12-17T19:56:00.000-08:00

Educated at Bologna, Vacarius went to England to act as counsel to Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, in his successful struggle (ending in 1146) to have the papal legateship transferred from the

Conservation Law

2004-12-16T01:57:00.000-08:00

Also called �Law Of Conservation, � any of several principles applied in physics that state that certain physical properties (i.e., measurable quantities) do not change in the course of time within an isolated physical system. In classical physics, laws of this type govern mass, energy, momentum, and electric charge. In particle physics, other conservation laws apply to properties of subatomic particles

Anthracosis

2004-12-15T17:02:00.000-08:00

Respiratory disorder, the early, usually nonsymptomatic stage of coal-workers' pneumoconiosis. See black lung.

Hale, Nathan

2004-12-14T07:59:00.000-08:00

A graduate of Yale University (1773) and a schoolteacher, Hale joined a Connecticut regiment in 1775, served in the siege of Boston, and was commissioned a captain (1776). He went to New York with William Heath's brigade and is said to have participated in

Wyndham

2004-12-13T06:47:00.000-08:00

Most northerly seaport of Western Australia. It lies at the mouth of the King River, on the West Arm of Cambridge Gulf (an inlet of Joseph Bonaparte Gulf of the Timor Sea). Founded in 1885 as a port for the Kimberley goldfield, it was named after the son of Sir Napier Broome, governor at the time. In 1919 the state government selected Wyndham as the site of a meatworks, which now serves