NormalRoof

Insurance, Marine insurance

2005-03-19T02:54:00.000-08:00

Marine insurance is actually transportation insurance. After insurance coverage on ocean voyages had been developed, it was a natural step to offer insurance on inland trips. This branch of insurance became known as inland marine. In many policy forms, the distinction between inland and ocean marine has disappeared; it is common to cover goods from the time they

Dominguín

2005-03-17T01:24:00.000-08:00

When the great

Manchineel

2005-03-15T23:53:00.000-08:00

Also called Poison Guava (Hippomane mancinella), tree of the genus Hippomane, of the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae), that is famous for its poisonous fruits. The manchineel is native mostly to sandy beaches of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. Its attractive, single or paired yellow-to-reddish, sweet-scented, applelike fruits have poisoned Spanish conquistadores, shipwrecked

Lochmaben

2005-03-13T06:26:00.000-08:00

Royal burgh (town), Dumfries and Galloway council area, historic county of Dumfriesshire, Scotland, situated near several small lochs in Annandale valley. Robert the Bruce, who ruled Scotland as Robert I from 1306 to 1329, had close associations with the town and, according to local tradition, was born in Lochmaben Castle in 1274. In 1290 a peel tower (small fortified tower) was erected by

Cystiphyllum

2005-03-10T22:39:00.000-08:00

Extinct genus of solitary corals found as fossils in Silurian and Devonian marine rocks (the Silurian Period preceded the Devonian Period and ended 408 million years ago). Cystiphyllum was one of the horn corals, so named for their hornlike shape. Like other corals, it had specialized requirements, and thus its fossils are important environmental indicators.

Industrial Polymers, Major, Aldehyde condensation polymers

2005-03-09T11:36:00.000-08:00

The polymerization reactions of these monomers produce complex, thermosetting network polymers with the following

Madhya Bharat Plateau

2005-03-06T19:55:00.000-08:00

Hindi Madhya Bharat Pathar plateau comprising the northern part of the Central Highlands, central India. Extending over approximately 22,000 square miles (57,000 square km) and including most of northwestern Madhya Pradesh state and central Rajasthan state, it is bounded by the East Rajasthan Uplands on the west, the Upper Ganges Plain on the north, the Bundelkhand Upland on the east, and the Malwa Plateau on

France, History Of, Charles VI

2005-03-04T09:41:00.000-08:00

Charles VI (ruled 1380–1422) was a minor when he succeeded his father. His uncles, each possessed of the ambition and resources to pursue independent policies, assumed control of the government. Duke Louis of Anjou soon removed himself from influence by seeking the throne of Naples; Jean, Duke de Berry, received the lieutenancy of Languedoc, by then virtually an appanage; and it

Coin Collecting

2005-03-02T06:29:00.000-08:00

The history of coin collecting begins with the Italian Renaissance, and the 14th-century poet Petrarch was characteristic of his time in forming a series of ancient classical coins. During the 15th and 16th centuries many collections were made by princely or noble

Andong

2005-03-01T19:24:00.000-08:00

City, North Kyongsang do (province), east-central South Korea. It lies 215 miles (345 km) from the mouth of the Naktong River, at the terminus of its navigable section, near a multipurpose dam. The city has been in existence since the Three Kingdoms period (beginning c. 57 BC) under various names, and since the Koryo period (935–1392) it has been known by its present name. Until the end of the Choson (Yi) dynasty

Wanaka Lake

2005-02-27T02:03:00.000-08:00

Lake in west-central South Island, New Zealand. The lake occupies 75 square miles (193 square km) of a valley that is dammed by a moraine (glacial debris) and that lies at the eastern foot of the Southern Alps. The lake's surface is 915 feet (280 m) above sea level. It is probably more than 1,000 feet (300 m) deep. The lake drains a basin of 982 square miles (2,543 square km) and is fed by the Makarora (north) and Matukituki

Gryphius, Andreas

2005-02-24T11:31:00.000-08:00

Gryphius (the family name Greif was latinized after the fashion of the times) was orphaned early in life, and the horrors of the Thirty Years' War soon cast a shadow over his unsettled childhood. A refugee from his native town, he was educated in various

Seven Against Thebes

2005-02-20T03:47:00.000-08:00

In Greek mythology, the seven champions who were killed fighting against Thebes after the fall of Oedipus, the king of that city. The twins Eteocles and Polyneices, who had been cursed by their father, Oedipus, failed to agree on which of them was to succeed to the Theban throne and decided to rule in alternate years. As Eteocles' turn came first, Polyneices withdrew to

Hip

2005-02-18T20:17:00.000-08:00

In anatomy, the joint between the thighbone (femur) and the pelvis; also the area adjacent to this joint. The hip joint is a ball-and-socket joint (q.v.); the round head of the femur rests in a cavity (the acetabulum) that allows free rotation of the limb. Amphibians and reptiles have relatively weak pelvic

Andean Community

2005-02-17T13:57:00.000-08:00

CAN's Andean

Gad

2005-02-14T06:25:00.000-08:00

After entering the Promised Land, each tribe was assigned a territory by Joshua, who replaced Moses as leader after the latter's death. The tribe

Romanian Literature

2005-02-12T11:46:00.000-08:00

Several famous writers continued to write after World War II. Arghezi reached new lyric heights in 1907 and in a hymn praising humanity's will to live and struggle for freedom. Geo Bogza joined the Social Realist movement. Mihail Beniuc became (as he said) “the drummer of the new age” and, in stirring lyrics, celebrated achievements of the postwar period. Demostene Botez, whose

Argentina

2005-02-10T01:36:00.000-08:00

The population of the area now called Argentina may have totaled 300,000 before

Earth, The introduction of triangulation

2005-02-09T14:59:00.000-08:00

A new era in determining the size of the Earth began through the introduction of triangulation. The idea of triangulation was apparently conceived by the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe before the end of the 16th century, but it was developed as a science by a contemporary Dutch mathematician, Willebrord van Roijen Snell. Snell used a chain of 33 triangles to determine

Saint Albert

2005-02-06T23:32:00.000-08:00

City, central Alberta, Canada, immediately northwest of Edmonton, on the Sturgeon River, in a mixed-farming district. The settlement developed around a mission that was built in 1861 by Father Albert Lacombe, a heroic religious figure, who named it after his patron saint. Lacombe's original log church is preserved within a brick structure. Most of the early settlers were

O'brien, Flann

2005-02-05T17:21:00.000-08:00

O'Brien was educated in Dublin and later became a civil servant while also pursuing his writing career. He is most celebrated for his unusual novel At Swim-Two-Birds, which, though it was first published in 1939, achieved fame

Burgess Shale

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

Fossil formation containing remarkably detailed traces of soft-bodied biota of the Middle Cambrian Epoch (520 to 512 million years ago). Collected from a fossil bed in the Burgess Pass of the Canadian Rockies, the Burgess Shale is one of the best preserved and most important fossil formations in the world. Since it was discovered in 1909, over 60,000 specimens have been retrieved from

Aichbühl

2005-02-01T14:37:00.000-08:00

Site of a Middle Neolithic settlement (end of the 3rd millennium BC) on the shores of Lake Feder (Federsee) in southeastern Baden-Württemberg Land (state), southwestern Germany. Foundations of 25 rectangular buildings arranged in an irregular row along the shoreline were uncovered in the peat wetland by R. Schmidt in 1930. Approximately 20 of the buildings were two-room houses averaging

Thomas, Saint

2005-01-30T04:45:00.000-08:00

Thomas' character is outlined in The Gospel

Space Exploration, Earth survey satellites

2005-01-27T23:31:00.000-08:00

This broad category of satellites has progressed from relatively simple photography to include many forms of observation of the Earth. Meteorological, or weather, satellites operate globally. From a polar orbit, photographs of the Earth's surface are taken by television scanning and transmitted to Earth receiver stations. In addition, meteorological satellites

Puerto Real

2005-01-26T22:31:00.000-08:00

Ancient (Latin) Portus Gaditanus town, Cádiz provincia, Andalusia comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”), southern Spain. It is on the north shore of the inner arm of the Bay of Cádiz and lies 5 miles (8 km) east of Cádiz. Known to the Romans, it was probably the most ancient trading station on the Bay of Cádiz and took its modern name (meaning “royal port”) when rebuilt in 1488 by the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and

Fairfield

2005-01-23T13:49:00.000-08:00

In the mid-18th century the area's favourable climate

Aquifoliaceae

2005-01-21T19:03:00.000-08:00

The Aquifoliaceae differ from other

Irish Harp

2005-01-20T04:17:00.000-08:00

Irish clairseach, Scottish Gaelic clarsach traditional harp of medieval Ireland and Scotland, characterized by a huge soundbox carved from a solid block of wood; a heavy, curved neck; and a deeply outcurved forepillar—a form shared by the medieval Scottish harp. It was designed to bear great tension from the heavy brass strings (normally 30 to 50), which were plucked by the fingernails to produce a ringing, bell-like

Pitted Shell Turtle

2005-01-18T13:07:00.000-08:00

Also called Fly River Turtle, or New Guinea Plateless Turtle (species Carettochelys insculpta), any member of a single species in the turtle family Carettochelyidae. The species lives in rivers in southern New Guinea and in a limited region in northern Australia. A combination of characteristics separates C. insculpta from other turtles, including a leathery shell with no scutes and sea turtlelike flippers. Little is known

Korolyov

2005-01-15T00:38:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Korolev , formerly (1938–96) Kaliningrad city, Moscow oblast (province), Central federal district, western Russia. It lies just northeast of the city of Moscow. The area, known as Kalininsky, developed after 1928 as an industrial satellite, particularly for weapons manufacture, and dormitory town of the capital. It achieved city status and was renamed Kaliningrad in 1938. In 1996 the city was renamed in honour of the scientist

Photography, Technology Of, X-ray radiography

2005-01-14T22:27:00.000-08:00

The most familiar

Itinerarium

2005-01-11T08:38:00.000-08:00

The only surviving map is the Peutinger Table, a 13th-century copy of a Roman world map. The 4th-century “Antonine Itinerary,” one of the few

Ambedkar, Bhimrao Ramji

2005-01-09T16:48:00.000-08:00

Born of an untouchable Mahar family of western India, he was as a boy humiliated by his high-caste schoolfellows. His father was an officer in the Indian Army. Awarded a scholarship by the Gaekwar (the ruler) of Baroda, he studied at universities

Auburn

2005-01-07T10:02:00.000-08:00

City, Lee county, eastern Alabama, U.S., adjacent to Opelika, about 60 miles (100 km) northeast of Montgomery. Founded in 1836 by John Harper and settlers from Georgia, its name was inspired by the “sweet Auburn” of Oliver Goldsmith's poem The Deserted Village. Auburn University, opened as East Alabama Male College (Methodist) in 1859, is the main factor in the city's economy. The manufacture of

Alba Fucens

2005-01-06T00:56:00.000-08:00

Modern Albe ancient fortified town at the foot of Mount Velino, Italy. It was originally a town of the ancient Marsi people but was occupied by a Latin colony about 303 BC. It was situated on a hill with three distinct summits, all of which were enclosed within the walls. Its strong position made it important in the Social War and in the civil wars of the 1st century BC; state prisoners of the Romans

Great Appalachian Valley

2005-01-04T11:35:00.000-08:00

Also called Great Valley Region, longitudinal chain of valley lowlands of the Appalachian mountain system of North America. Extending from Canada on the northeast to Alabama, U.S., on the southwest, it includes the St. Lawrence River valley in Canada and the Kittatinny, Cumberland, Shenandoah, and Tennessee river valleys in the United States. In its southerly region the Great Appalachian Valley divides

Calendar, The structure of the calendar

2005-01-01T06:35:00.000-08:00

The Jewish calendar in use today is lunisolar, the years being solar and the months lunar, but it also allows for a week of seven days. Because the year exceeds 12 lunar months by about 11 days, a 13th month of 30 days is intercalated in the third, sixth, eighth, 11th, 14th, 17th, and 19th years of a 19-year cycle. For practical purposes—e.g., for reckoning the commencement of the Sabbath—the day begins

Muromachi Period

2004-12-31T07:02:00.000-08:00

The most successful of the Ashikaga rulers, the third shogun Yoshimitsu, managed

Wolcott, Roger

2004-12-29T14:31:00.000-08:00

After service as a clothier's apprentice, Wolcott became a successful tradesman. In 1707 he became a selectman for the town of Windsor. He was admitted to the bar in 1709 and was that year elected to the lower house of Connecticut's legislature. Wolcott

Zittau

2004-12-27T14:08:00.000-08:00

City, Saxony Land (state), eastern Germany, on the Lausitzer Neisse River, near the frontiers of Poland and the Czech Republic. Originating as the Slav settlement of Sitowir, it was mentioned in 1230 and chartered in 1255, when it belonged to Bohemia. Zittau joined the federation of Lusatian towns in 1346 and fell to Saxony in 1635. Four 13th- and 15th-century churches still remain. There are training

Caitanya Sect

2004-12-25T07:28:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Chaitanya intensely emotional form of Hinduism that has flourished from the 16th century, mainly in Bengal and eastern Orissa, India. It takes its name from the medieval saint Caitanya (Chaitanya; 1485–1533), whose fervent devotion to Lord Krishna (Krsna) inspired the movement. For Caitanya the legends of Krishna and his youthful beloved, Radha, were both symbolic of and the highest expressions

Roman Numeral

2004-12-22T03:38:00.000-08:00

Any of the symbols used in a system of numerical notation based on the ancient Roman system. The symbols are I, V, X, L, C, D, and M, standing, respectively, for 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, and 1,000 in the Hindu-Arabic numeral system. A symbol placed after another of equal or greater value adds its value—e.g., II = 2 and LX = 60. A symbol placed before one of greater value subtracts its value—e.g., IV = 4, XL = 40, and CD = 400.

Habsburg, House Of

2004-12-21T02:12:00.000-08:00

There have been several good studies of economic development during the Habsburg reign. David F. Good, The Economic Rise of the Habsburg Empire, 1750–1914 (1984), is a solid survey. More advanced students may examine John Komlos, The Habsburg Monarchy as a Customs Union: Economic Development in Austria-Hungary in the Nineteenth Century (1983). Also worthy of inspection is John Komlos (ed.), Economic Development in the Habsburg Monarchy in the Nineteenth Century: Essays (1983). International relations and Habsburg foreign policy are the subjects of H.G. Koenigsberger, The Habsburgs and Europe, 1516–1660 (1971); F.R. Bridge, The Habsburg Monarchy Among the Great Powers, 1815–1918 (1990); and Samuel R. Williamson, Jr., Austria-Hungary and the Origins of the First World War (1991).

Fuchs, Ruth

2004-12-19T16:16:00.000-08:00

In 1972, just 35 minutes after Polish athlete Ewa Gryziecka had set a record for the women's javelin throw, Fuchs threw the javelin more than 2.3 m (7 feet 6 inches) farther, a total of 65.06 m (213 feet 5 1/2 inches), her first world record. She went on to set a

Melatonin

2004-12-17T19:27:00.000-08:00

In humans, melatonin seems

Elbe River

2004-12-15T23:49:00.000-08:00

By means of the Elbe and its connecting waterways, vessels from Hamburg can navigate to Berlin, the central and southern sections of eastern Germany, and the Czech Republic. The Mittelland Canal, a short distance below Magdeburg, runs westward about 200 miles to the Dortmund–Ems Canal, carrying barges of up to 1,000 tons to the German industrial cities of Osnabrück, Hannover,

Taffy

2004-12-12T02:58:00.000-08:00

Flavoured syrup candy of Europe and the Americas that is cooked and then rigorously worked during cooling into a hard, chewy, glossy mass. Although the great 19th-century demand for taffy gave way in the mid-20th century to the popularity of chocolates and caramels, taffy remained widely available in its original “penny candy” form of small, colourfully wrapped

China, The international alliance against Japan

2004-12-11T17:00:00.000-08:00

The United States had broken the Japanese diplomatic code, and by July 1941 it knew that Japan hoped to end the undeclared war in China and was preparing for a southward advance toward British Malaya and the Dutch East Indies, planning first to occupy southern Indochina and Thailand even at the risk of war with Britain and the United States.

Endotoxin

2004-12-09T19:31:00.000-08:00

Toxic substance bound to the bacterial cell wall and released when the bacterium ruptures or disintegrates. Endotoxins consist of lipopolysaccharide and lipoprotein complexes. The protein component determines its foreign (antigenic) nature; the polysaccharide component determines the antibody type that can react with the endotoxin molecule to produce

Philip Iii

2004-12-06T18:35:00.000-08:00

Philip was the son of Philip II of Spain by his fourth consort, his Habsburg cousin Anna

Omaha

2004-12-05T14:50:00.000-08:00

City, Nebraska, U.S., the port of entry and seat of Douglas county. Omaha is situated in the eastern part of the state and on the west bank of the Missouri River, opposite Council Bluffs, Iowa. It was founded in 1854 in an area that had been visited by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark (1804) on their exploratory journey to the Pacific coast and where the pioneer fur trader Manuel Lisa

Earth Sciences, Prospecting for groundwater

2004-12-02T18:20:00.000-08:00

Although the origin of the water in the Earth that seeps or springs from the ground was long the subject of much fanciful speculation, the arts of finding and managing groundwater were already highly developed in the 8th century BC. The construction of long, hand-dug underground aqueducts (qanats) in Armenia and Persia represents one of the great hydrologic achievements

Anatidae

2004-11-30T05:40:00.000-08:00

Anserinae—tribes Dendrocygnini (see whistling duck, or tree duck) and

Epistemology, Kinds of perceptions

2004-11-28T00:58:00.000-08:00

Hume has a twofold division of perceptions: impressions and ideas. Impressions are perceptions that enter with “most force and violence.” Ideas are “faint images” of impressions. Hume thinks the distinction so obvious that he demurs from explaining it at any length. Impressions are felt; ideas are thought, he indicates in his summary explication. He also concedes that,

East Hartford

2004-11-26T00:47:00.000-08:00

Urban town (township), Hartford county, central Connecticut, U.S., across the Connecticut River from Hartford. The area, called Podunk by the Indians, was first settled in 1639 by John Crow. Organized as a parish in 1746 and originally part of Hartford, it was incorporated as a separate town in 1783 and experienced early industrial development (papermaking and the manufacture of gunpowder,

Huntsville

2004-11-25T17:15:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1808) of Madison county, northern Alabama, U.S. It is situated in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains near the Tennessee River, about 100 miles (160 km) north of Birmingham. It was originally called Twickenham by planter Leroy Pope for the home of his kinsman, Alexander Pope, the English poet. It was incorporated in 1811 and was renamed for John Hunt of Virginia, a Revolutionary

Aleixandre, Vicente

2004-11-23T03:56:00.000-08:00

Kessel Schwartz, Vicente Aleixandre (1970), introduces his life and writings. Santiago Daydí-Tolson (ed.), Vicente Aleixandre: A Critical Appraisal (1981), is a collection of essays that examine his work.

Arabia, History Of, Sabaeans

2004-11-20T05:56:00.000-08:00

The people who called themselves Saba' (biblical Sheba) are both the earliest and the most abundantly attested in the surviving written records. Their centre was at Ma'rib, east of present-day San'a' and on the edge of the sand desert. (In the indigenous inscriptions Ma'rib is rendered Mryb or Mrb; the modern spelling is based on an unjustified “correction” by medieval Arabic

Degema

2004-11-19T22:51:00.000-08:00

Town and river port, Rivers state, southern Nigeria, on the Sambreiro River (an outlet of the Niger). A traditional market centre (fish, cassava, taro, palm produce, plantains, and yams) of the Ijo (Ijaw) people, it became a major exporter of palm oil and kernels after the decline of the slave trade in the early 19th century. The Degema-Abonnema port (boats now anchor near the palm oil

Computers, Workstation computers

2004-11-16T16:46:00.000-08:00

While the personal computer market grew and matured, a variation on its theme grew out of university labs and began to threaten the minicomputers for their market. The new machines were called workstations. They looked like personal computers, and they sat on a single desktop and were used by a single individual just like personal computers, but they were distinguished

Leaf Insect

2004-11-14T13:17:00.000-08:00

(family Phylliidae), also called walking leaf any of about 25 species of flat, green insects with a leaflike appearance that belong to the order Phasmatodea. The female has large leathery forewings (tegmina) that lie edge to edge on the abdomen and resemble, in their vein pattern, the midrib and veins in a leaf; the hindwings have no function. The male has small tegmina and ample, non-leaflike, functional hindwings.

Kazaure

2004-11-13T22:29:00.000-08:00

Town and traditional emirate in Jigawa state, northern Nigeria. The town has been the emirate's headquarters since 1819. It was founded by Dan Tunku, a Fulani warrior who was one of the 14 flag bearers for the Fulani jihad (holy war) leader Usman dan Fodio. Dan Tunku arrived from the nearby town of Dambatta (Dambarta) at a stockaded village that he named Kazaure and established

Arts, Central Asian, The kingdoms of western Turkistan and Afghanistan

2004-11-11T18:59:00.000-08:00

Skill in irrigation, with the resulting expansion in agriculture, encouraged urbanism and the growth of states, changes that coincided with the rise of nomadism. While the nomadic cattle and horse breeders took over the steppelands, the culturally distinct states of Sogdiana (part of Uzbekistan and much of Tajikistan), Fergana (the greater part of Uzbekistan), Chorasmia

Sachs, Nelly

2004-11-08T15:52:00.000-08:00

In full Nelly Leonie Sachs German poet and dramatist who was transformed by the Nazi experience from a dilettante into a poignant spokesperson for the grief and yearnings of her fellow Jews. When, with Shmuel Yosef Agnon, she was awarded the 1966 Nobel Prize for Literature, she observed that Agnon represented Israel whereas “I represent the tragedy of the Jewish

Amorphous Solid, Transparent glasses

2004-11-06T09:43:00.000-08:00

The terms glass and window glass are often used interchangeably in everyday language, so familiar is this ancient architectural application of amorphous solids. Not only are oxide glasses, such as those characterized in the Table, excellent for letting light in, they are also good for keeping cold out, because (as mentioned above) they are efficient thermal

Roberti, Ercole (grandi D'antonio) De'

2004-11-05T13:39:00.000-08:00

Roberti is believed to have studied with Cosmè Tura, a court painter to the Este family of Ferrara, and he is known to have studied with Tura's student Francesco del Cossa. Although his early paintings are influenced

Ectomorph

2004-11-03T03:14:00.000-08:00

A human physical type (somatotype) tending toward linearity, as determined by the physique classification system developed by the American psychologist W.H. Sheldon. Although classification by the Sheldon system is not absolute, a person is classed as an ectomorph if ectomorphy predominates over endomorphy and mesomorphy in his body build. The extreme ectomorph

Roseburg

2004-11-01T00:34:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1854) of Douglas county, southwestern Oregon, U.S., on the South Umpqua River, between the Coast (west) and Cascade (east) ranges. Settled in 1851, it was known as Deer Creek but was renamed for Aaron Rose, who laid out the town site in 1854. The city's economy was based for many years on wood-products industries and sawmills; sheep raising and wine making are other economic factors. There

Biblical Literature, The life of Jesus

2004-10-30T17:16:00.000-07:00

Though the fact that Jesus was a historical person has been stressed, significant, too, is the fact that a full biography of accurate chronology is not possible. The New Testament writers were less concerned with such difficulties than the person who attempts to construct some chronological accounts in retrospect. Both the indifference of early secular historians

Karabük

2004-10-28T04:24:00.000-07:00

Town, northwestern Turkey, on the Yenice River. Once a small hamlet, it has grown rapidly since the establishment of Turkey's first major iron and steel complex there in 1940. The works were expanded greatly in the 1950s and '60s. Facilities include a coking plant, blast furnaces, a foundry, and tube works; chemical plants produce sulfuric acid and phosphates. The mills receive coal

Arnim, Hans Georg Von

2004-10-25T22:34:00.000-07:00

Soldier and statesman prominent in German affairs during the Thirty Years' War. He served (1613–17) with the Swedes under Gustaf II Adolf, with the Poles (1621), with Wallenstein's imperial army (1626) as a field marshal, and with the Saxons (1631–35, 1638–41). A strict Lutheran, Arnim resigned his imperial commission in protest against the Edict

Sun-joffe Manifesto

2004-10-23T09:52:00.000-07:00

In the negotiations that led to the signing of the manifesto, Sun agreed to the formation

Ashley, William Henry

2004-10-23T02:28:00.000-07:00

Having arrived in Missouri sometime after 1802, Ashley prospered in mining, gunpowder manufacture, surveying, and land speculation.

Paul I, Saint

2004-10-21T20:23:00.000-07:00

Consecrated deacon by Pope St. Zacharias, he became a key member of the Curia under his brother Pope Stephen II (or III), whom he was elected on April 26, 757, to succeed. He secured the support of the Frankish king Pippin III the Short against the animosity of the Lombard king Desiderius and the Byzantine emperor Constantine V

Saxe, (hermann-) Maurice, Comte De

2004-10-21T00:53:00.000-07:00

The illegitimate son of the elector Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (later also King Augustus II of Poland), young Maurice was sent by his father to serve under Prince Eugene of Savoy against the French in Flanders

Ness, Loch

2004-10-20T19:44:00.000-07:00

Lake, lying in the Highland council area, Scotland. With a depth of 788 feet (240 metres) and a length of about 23 miles (36 km), Loch Ness has the largest volume of fresh water in Great Britain. It lies in the Glen Mor—or Great Glen, which bisects the Highlands—and forms part of the system of waterways across Scotland that civil engineer Thomas Telford linked by means of the Caledonian

Kirovohrad

2004-10-19T19:05:00.000-07:00

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

Accelerometer

2004-10-18T05:59:00.000-07:00

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

Bernicia

2004-10-17T19:32:00.000-07:00

In British history, a northern Anglo-Saxon kingdom that by the last quarter of the 7th century had become permanently united with its neighbour Deira to form the kingdom of Northumbria. Bernicia stretched northward from perhaps as far south as the River Tees, ultimately reaching the Firth of Forth and beyond the Solway Firth. It had a royal residence at Bamburgh on

Torch Cactus

2004-10-15T05:45:00.000-07:00

T. pasacana, a stout tree up to 10.5 m in height,

Xenia

2004-10-14T05:12:00.000-07:00

City, seat (1804) of Greene County, southwestern Ohio, U.S., near the Little Miami River, 16 mi (26 km) east-southeast of Dayton. It was founded in 1803 by Joseph C. Vance, who gave it a Greek name meaning “hospitality.” The arrival of the railroads in the 1840s provided impetus for its growth as a trading centre for farmers and stock raisers. Small manufactures (furniture, cordage, plastics, castings,

Independence

2004-10-13T21:03:00.000-07:00

City, seat of Jackson county, western Missouri, U.S., immediately east of Kansas City. It is the hometown of President Harry S. Truman (who was born at Lamar [q.v.], 100 miles [160 km] south). Settled in 1827, the county was named for Andrew Jackson, and the city recalled his love of independence. Near the western terminus of transportation on the Missouri River, Independence was the starting point

Stein, Gertrude

2004-10-13T18:37:00.000-07:00

Stein spent her infancy in Vienna and in Passy, France, and her girlhood in Oakland, California. She entered the Society for the

Hou T'u

2004-10-11T08:40:00.000-07:00

At various times and in various

Performing Arts, Iran.

2004-10-11T03:34:00.000-07:00

Iran's major filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami made headlines worldwide in September when he was denied a U.S. visa, ostensibly on security grounds, to attend the screening at the New York Film Festival of his boldly experimental Ten, which explored the special characteristics of digital video cameras to create an absorbing social drama through the minimalist means

Elizabeth

2004-10-09T23:31:00.000-07:00

The daughter of Peter I the Great (reigned 1682–1725) and Catherine I (reigned 1725–27), Elizabeth grew up to be a beautiful, charming, intelligent, and vivacious young woman. Despite her talents and popularity, particularly among the guards, she played only a minor political role

Alexander Ii

2004-10-09T18:41:00.000-07:00

He studied under Lanfranc at Bec. As bishop of Lucca he worked for the abolition of simony and the enforcement of clerical celibacy. Though he was elected pope, the German court nominated Peter Cadalus of Parma as Honorius II, and Alexander was not recognized by the empire until 1064. In 1062 the antipope was dropped by the German regents, and

Cronstedt, Axel Fredrik

2004-10-06T05:54:00.000-07:00

Cronstedt was the first

Christian X

2004-10-06T00:26:00.000-07:00

The eldest son of the future King Frederick VIII and Louise of Sweden and Norway, Christian became chief of the royal guard in 1898 and married Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Becoming crown prince in 1906, Christian led the

Cusp

2004-10-05T06:11:00.000-07:00

In architecture, the intersections of lobed or scalloped forms, particularly in arches (cusped arches) and in tracery. Thus the three lobes of a trefoil (cloverleaf form) are separated by three cusps. Cusped forms appear commonly in early Islamic work, as in the Mosque of Ahmad ibn Tulun at Cairo (c. 879), and were especially common in the Moorish architecture of North Africa and

Dyce, Alexander

2004-10-04T21:12:00.000-07:00

As an undergraduate at the University of Oxford, Dyce edited a dictionary of the language of Shakespeare. After serving as a curate in Cornwall and Suffolk,

Felicitas

2004-10-02T06:00:00.000-07:00

Roman goddess of good luck to whom a temple was first built in the mid-2nd century BC. She became the special protector of successful commanders. Caesar planned to erect another temple to her, and it was built by the triumvir M. Aemilius Lepidus. The emperors made her prominent as symbolizing the blessings of the imperial regime.

Koh-i-noor

2004-10-02T04:08:00.000-07:00

According to some experts, Sultan 'Ala'-ud-Din Khalji is credited

Fairfield

2004-10-01T02:18:00.000-07:00

County, southwestern Connecticut, U.S. It is bounded by Long Island Sound to the south, New York state to the west, and the Housatonic River to the east, and it includes several islands in the sound. Most of the county lies in an upland region forested with hardwoods, with only a narrow coastal plain running along the southern edge. Waterways other than the Housatonic are

Offaly

2004-09-29T18:19:00.000-07:00

Irish Uibh Fhailaí county in the province of Leinster, Ireland. With an area of 771 square miles (1,998 square km), it is bounded by Counties Westmeath and Meath (north), Kildare (east), Laoighis and Tipperary (south), and Galway and Roscommon (west). The River Shannon forms its western boundary. Offaly consists mainly of a large section of the central lowland, though its southwestern boundary runs along

Eurypterid

2004-09-29T01:35:00.000-07:00

Frequently referred to as giant scorpions, most eurypterids were small animals, although Pterygotus

Low, Juliette Gordon

2004-09-27T16:21:00.000-07:00

Juliette Gordon was born into a prominent Georgia family. She was educated at private schools in Virginia and New York City and for some years thereafter traveled widely. She married William M. Low, a fellow native of Savannah, Georgia, who was living in England,

Priestley, Joseph

2004-09-25T09:19:00.000-07:00

English clergyman, political theorist, and physical scientist whose work contributed to advances in liberal political and religious thought and in experimental chemistry. He is best remembered for his contribution to the chemistry of

Almandine

2004-09-25T06:25:00.000-07:00

Either of two semiprecious gemstones: a violet-coloured variety of ruby spinel (q.v.) or iron aluminum garnet, which is most abundant of the garnets. Specimens of the garnet, frequently crystals, contain up to 25 percent grossular or andradite and are commonly brownish red; gem-quality stone is deep red and slightly purple. Almandine, the so-called precious garnet, is most