LooseRoot

Claudius

2005-03-30T07:51:00.000-08:00

In full Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , original name (until AD 41) Tiberius Claudius Nero Germanicus Roman emperor (AD 41–54), who extended Roman rule in North Africa and made Britain a province.

Yeshiva

2005-03-29T20:18:00.000-08:00

Also spelled yeshivah , or yeshibah (Hebrew “sitting”) , plural yeshivas, yeshivot, yeshivoth , or yeshibot any of numerous Jewish academies of Talmudic learning, whose biblical and legal exegesis and application of Scripture have defined and regulated Jewish religious life for centuries. The early history of the yeshiva as an institution is known only through indirect evidence, and the word itself did not come into current use until the 1st century AD. Rabbinic literature

Pahlavi Language

2005-03-29T02:29:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Pehlevi major form of the Middle Persian language (see Persian language), which existed from the 3rd to the 10th century and was the official language of the Sasanian empire (AD 226–652). It is attested by Zoroastrian books, coins, and inscriptions. Pahlavi books were written in a confusing writing system of Aramaic origin called the Pahlavi alphabet. The major part of Pahlavi literature is

North Germanic Languages

2005-03-28T11:02:00.000-08:00

About 125 inscriptions dated from AD 200 to 600, carved in the older runic alphabet (futhark), are chronologically and linguistically the oldest evidence of any Germanic language. Most are from Scandinavia, but enough have been found in southeastern Europe to suggest that the use of runes was also familiar to other Germanic tribes. Most inscriptions are brief, marking ownership

Hui Tsung

2005-03-28T08:06:00.000-08:00

Hui Tsung sought escape from affairs of state in the pleasures of arts and letters. He urged painters in his academy of painting to depict objects that were “true to colour and form,” inviting an extreme literalness of representation;

Lira

2005-03-27T20:40:00.000-08:00

The word lira, a misapplication

Olaf Iv Haakonsson

2005-03-26T20:37:00.000-08:00

After Valdemar's death in 1375, Olaf was elected (1376) king of Denmark and succeeded his father as king of Norway in 1380. The government of Norway was conducted by a state council, but power was largely in the hands of Olaf's mother, who planned to unite

Biblical Literature, Pseudepigrapha connected with the Dead Sea Scrolls

2005-03-25T15:48:00.000-08:00

There are three Pseudepigrapha that are closely connected with the writings of the Dead Sea sect: the Book of Jubilees, the Ethiopic Book of Enoch, and the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. It is not accidental that fragments of the two first books and of two sources of the third were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Henrietta Maria

2005-03-25T05:51:00.000-08:00

Henrietta

Acropolites, George

2005-03-24T06:30:00.000-08:00

Acropolites was reared at the imperial court, then at Nicaea in Asia

Clan

2005-03-23T10:16:00.000-08:00

Kinship group of fundamental importance in the structure of many societies. Membership of a clan is socially defined in terms of actual or purported descent from a common ancestor. This descent is unilineal—i.e., derived only through the male (patriclan) or the female (matriclan). Normally, but not always, the clans are exogamous, marriage within the clan being forbidden

Zaanstad

2005-03-23T04:32:00.000-08:00

Gemeente (commune), Noord-Holland provincie, western Netherlands. It lies along the Zaan River near its junction with the North Sea Canal. An industrial area 6 miles (10 km) northwest of Amsterdam, Zaanstad was created in 1974 at the merger of the former gemeenten (communes) of Zaandam, Koog aan de Zaan, Zaandijk, Wormerveer, Krommenie, Assendelft, and Westzaan. Zaandam was an important

Cellarette

2005-03-22T10:24:00.000-08:00

Small, movable wine cooler and, later, also a deep, metal-lined tray with compartments for holding bottles in a sideboard. The term was first used by 18th-century cabinetmakers. Most movable cellarettes were made of mahogany, and designs were varied, the shape governed to some degree by the shapes of wine bottles. Early wine bottles were short and squat, but in the late 18th

Telesilla

2005-03-21T11:12:00.000-08:00

Greek poet noted for saving the city of Argos from attack by Cleomenes and his Spartan troops after their defeat of the Argive men. She wrote lyric poetry dedicated to Apollo and Artemis, of which only brief fragments remain. Her heroic deed is mentioned in the work of Pausanias.

Pas D'élévation

2005-03-21T02:07:00.000-08:00

(French: “high steps”), all jumping and leaping movements in classical ballet. The steps are admired for the height at which they are performed and for the dancer's ability to ascend without apparent effort and to land smoothly. Dancers famed for aerial maneuvers of this kind include Jean Balon, a French dancer of the late 17th century, and Vaslav Nijinsky, reportedly an early

Science Fiction

2005-03-20T09:59:00.000-08:00

Such literature may consist of a careful and informed extrapolation of scientific

Aecium

2005-03-20T00:31:00.000-08:00

Also called aecidium a cluster-cup or fruiting body of certain rust fungi (order Uredinales, division Mycota). Yellow to orange in colour, aecia develop after fertilization and bear one-celled spores (aeciospores, or aecidiospores). Aecia are usually found on lower leaf surfaces of plants.

Pietarsaari

2005-03-19T16:15:00.000-08:00

Swedish Jakobstad, city, Vaasan (Vaasa) lääni (province), western Finland, northeast of the city of Vaasa. Pietarsaari, which was formerly mainly Swedish-speaking, was founded in 1652; it became an important commercial centre because of its location on the Gulf of Bothnia. The poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg (who wrote in Swedish but is Finland's national poet) was born there in 1804. Notable buildings include

Gonçalves, Nuno

2005-03-19T01:07:00.000-08:00

Apparently Gonçalves was appointed court

Neosho River

2005-03-18T11:49:00.000-08:00

It has a drainage area of 12,660 square miles (32,789 square km), and flow at its mouth varies from 133,000 cubic feet (3,800 cubic m) per second to as little as 35 cubic feet (1 cubic m). In Kansas,

Ahmad

2005-03-18T11:24:00.000-08:00

Succeeding his brother as the ruler of Tunis in 1837, Ahmad began at once to modernize his armed forces: Tunisian cadets were sent to France, a military and technical academy was established, and European instructors invited to Tunis. He organized a naval force with 12 frigates purchased from France. He sent

Alliance For Progress

2005-03-18T11:01:00.000-08:00

International economic development program established by the United States and 22 Latin American countries in the Charter of Punta del Este (Uruguay) in August 1961. Objectives stated in the charter centred on the maintenance of democratic government and the achievement of economic and social development; specific goals included a sustained growth in per capita

Haarlem

2005-03-16T15:15:00.000-08:00

Gemeente (commune) and capital, Noord-Holland provincie, western Netherlands. It lies along the Spaarne River, 4.5 miles (7 km) from the North Sea, just west of Amsterdam. Haarlem was mentioned in the 10th century and by the 12th century had become a fortified town and the residence of the counts of Holland. It was chartered in 1245 and was ravaged in 1346 and 1351 during the civil wars in Holland.

Amadeus, Lake

2005-03-15T20:10:00.000-08:00

Salty mud basin in southwestern Northern Territory, Australia. The lake occupies a shallow trough filled with sediments washed from the MacDonnell (north) and Musgrave (south) ranges. It intermittently contains a few inches of water and at such times may measure as much as 90 miles (145 km) long and 12 miles (20 km) wide, covering some 340 square miles (880 square km). When dry, it is a playa, or salt

Linklater, Eric (robert)

2005-03-15T16:13:00.000-08:00

Linklater began studying medicine at Aberdeen University but switched to English literature. After service in the Black Watch in World War I, during which he was wounded, he turned to journalism, becoming assistant editor of the Times of India (1925–27). He

Moses, Assumption Of

2005-03-15T10:01:00.000-08:00

A pseudepigraphal work (not in any biblical canon), a prophecy of the future relating to Israel, put into the mouth of Moses and addressed to Joshua just before the great lawgiver died. Using Moses' predictions and instructions to Joshua as a framework, the book's unknown author sets forth a brief history of Israel from Moses to the messianic age as viewed in apocalyptic

Tura

2005-03-15T07:50:00.000-08:00

Urban settlement and administrative centre of Evenky autonomous okrug (district), Krasnoyarsk kray (region), east-central Russia. The settlement lies along the Nizhnaya (Lower) Tunguska River at its confluence with the Kochechum. Tura is a transshipment point on the river. It is also the site of an institute of agriculture of the far north and a regional museum. Pop. (1991 est.)

Hingham

2005-03-14T13:12:00.000-08:00

Town (township), Plymouth county, eastern Massachusetts, U.S. It lies on Hingham Harbor (an inlet of Massachusetts Bay), about 15 miles (24 km) southeast of Boston. Settled in 1633, it was incorporated in 1635 and named for Hingham, England. During the 19th century it was a bustling industrial town (iron tools, nails, and textiles), and its harbour was a busy fishing and boatbuilding centre; these

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, Blending of rival systems: the Middle Ages

2005-03-14T01:19:00.000-08:00

At the time of the birth of Christ, ideological conditions within the Mediterranean world accelerated the mingling of Hellenic and Hebraic traditions. Philo Judaeus laid the groundwork; Clement of Alexandria and Origen followed him. The craft of allegorical syncretism—that is, making rival systems accommodate one another through the transformation of their

Linklater, Eric (robert)

2005-03-14T00:32:00.000-08:00

DES is used therapeutically to replace estrogen

Diego Garcia

2005-03-13T15:36:00.000-08:00

Discovered by the Portuguese in the early 16th century, it was for

Hooch, Pieter De

2005-03-12T21:58:00.000-08:00

Hooch was a pupil of Claes Berchem at Haarlem. From 1653 he was in the service of Justus de Grange and lived in Delft, The Hague, and Leiden. From 1654 to 1657 he was a member of the painters' guild of Delft, but after that date there are no traces of his career until about 1667, when

Houston

2005-03-12T07:33:00.000-08:00

The first settlement in the area, Harrisburg (1826), was

Einsiedeln

2005-03-12T03:58:00.000-08:00

French Notre-dame-des-ermites, town, Schwyz canton, northeast central Switzerland, on the right bank of the Alp stream, northeast of Schwyz city. It developed around the Benedictine abbey, founded in 934. The abbey became a principality of the Holy Roman Empire in 1274 and belonged to Schwyz after 1386. Its wooden statue, the “Black Virgin” (which owes its name to the discoloration caused by the candles burned before

Florida

2005-03-11T17:44:00.000-08:00

The surrounding region is characterized by rolling hills. In addition to its

First Folio

2005-03-10T13:06:00.000-08:00

The publication of drama in the early 17th century was usually left to the poorer members of the Stationers' Company (which issued licenses) and to outright

Bloch, Ernst

2005-03-09T16:47:00.000-08:00

Having begun his career at the University of Leipzig (1918), Bloch fled from Nazi Germany to Switzerland (1933), then went to the United States, where he wrote the first two volumes

Mountain, Mountain belts associated with volcanism

2005-03-09T07:35:00.000-08:00

Volcanoes typically form in any of three tectonic settings. At the axes of the mid-ocean ridge system where lithospheric plates diverge, volcanism is common; yet, high-standing volcanoes (above sea level) rarely develop. At subduction zones where one plate of oceanic lithosphere plunges beneath another plate, long linear or arcuate chains of volcanoes and mountain

Radcliffe, Ann

2005-03-08T16:59:00.000-08:00

Radcliffe's father was in trade, and the family lived in well-to-do gentility. In 1787, at the age of 23, she married William Radcliffe, a journalist who encouraged her literary pursuits.

Improvisation

2005-03-08T04:59:00.000-08:00

Many of

Pacific Ocean, Fisheries

2005-03-07T05:40:00.000-08:00

Because of the biological richness of certain reaches of the Pacific and because of the large human populations in many of the nations bordering it, the catches there are substantially larger than those in the other oceans and comprise three-fifths of the total world catch. Among Pacific nations, Japan and Russia have the largest fisheries in the world as measured

Aelred Of Rievaulx, Saint

2005-03-07T01:37:00.000-08:00

Of noble birth, Aelred was reared at the court of King David I of Scotland, whose life story he later wrote and for whom he was royal steward. He entered the Cistercian abbey of Rievaulx

Mammal, Distinguishing taxonomic features

2005-03-07T01:34:00.000-08:00

The higher classification of the Mammalia is based on consideration of a broad array of characters. Traditionally, evidence from comparative anatomy was of predominant importance, but more recently information from such disciplines as physiology, serology, and genetics has proved useful in considering relationships. Comparative study of living organisms

Osaka-kobe Metropolitan Area, Climate

2005-03-05T23:12:00.000-08:00

The region has a temperate climate. The annual mean temperature is about 60° F (16° C), and the annual rainfall averages 54 inches (1,370 millimetres). The temperature in August is often 86° F (30° C) or more, with no breeze from the sea at night. The January mean is about 40° F (4° C), and snow falls several times in winter. The rainy seasons are in June–July and September–October. In September the region is usually

Shimodate

2005-03-05T13:16:00.000-08:00

City, Ibaraki ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan, situated on a tributary of the Kokai River. Shimodate was a cotton textile centre during the Tokugawa era (1603–1867). The construction of railways during the Meiji era (1868–1912) connected the city with Mito (east) and Utsunomiya (northwest). It is now a major commercial and transport centre producing electrical appliances. Pop. (1990) 66,030.

Christian Iii

2005-03-05T03:17:00.000-08:00

The eldest son of Frederick I, king of Denmark and Norway, Christian was educated as a Lutheran and showed Protestant

Bothwell, James Hepburn, 4th Earl Of, Duke Of Orkney And Shetland

2005-03-04T20:02:00.000-08:00

The son of Patrick Hepburn, 3rd earl of Bothwell, Hepburn

Sup'ung Dam

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

Korean Sup'ung-Dam , Chinese (Wade-Giles) Shui-feng Shui-pa , or (Pinyin) Shuifeng Shuiba hydroelectric project on the Yalu River at the Korean border with Liaoning sheng (province), China, upstream from Tan-tung. It was originally designed as a joint project of the Japanese-controlled Manchukuo government, which administered Manchuria from 1931 to 1945, and the Japanese administration in Korea to supply power for the industrial developments in Manchuria and

Insurance, Property insurance

2005-03-03T10:57:00.000-08:00

Two main types of contracts—homeowner's and commercial—have been developed to insure against loss from accidental destruction of property. These contracts (or forms) typically are divided into three or four parts: insuring agreements, identification of covered property, conditions and stipulations, and exclusions.

Tait, Archibald Campbell

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

The son of Presbyterian parents, Tait became an Anglican while a student at the University of Oxford, where in 1835 he became a tutor at Balliol College. A year later he was made a deacon,

Guimarães, Bernardo (joaquim Da Silva)

2005-03-02T20:08:00.000-08:00

After a youthful bohemian life in São Paulo, Guimarães retired to his native Minas Gerais to write and teach school. Guimarães' subject, like that

Photography, Later trends

2005-03-02T01:21:00.000-08:00

Throughout its history, there have been two complementary yet distinct aesthetic approaches to photography. On the one hand, there has been the recognition of the basic qualities of photography and the desire to make use of them in a functional way. On the other hand, there have been those who believe that the most aesthetic use of photography is to relate it to other

Kammerer, Paul

2005-03-01T19:57:00.000-08:00

The results of Kammerer's experiments with salamanders and other amphibians were widely published in technical papers and books, the first of these appearing in 1904 and the last published posthumously

Armorican Massif

2005-03-01T02:29:00.000-08:00

French Massif Armoricain, flattened erosional upland, or peneplain, encompassing the western French départements of Finistère, Côtes-d'Armor, Morbihan, and Ille-et-Vilaine and parts of Manche, Orne, Mayenne, Maine-et-Loire, Loire-Atlantique, and Vendée. The region has an area of approximately 25,000 square miles (65,000 square km) and is bounded by the Paris Basin and the Seine River to the north and by the lowlands

Muravyov, Mikhail Nikolayevich, Graf

2005-02-28T04:18:00.000-08:00

Muravyov was the grandson of Mikhail Nikolayevich Muravyov, known as the “hangman of Wilno” for his

Mursilis I

2005-02-28T03:51:00.000-08:00

Mursilis was the adopted heir of his grandfather, Hattusilis I, whom he succeeded on the throne. He first continued his predecessor's campaigns in northern Syria, destroying Aleppo and delivering the final blow to Mari. He then turned eastward, and by raiding Babylon he put an end to the Amorite dynasty there.

Andean Peoples

2005-02-27T13:46:00.000-08:00

Even these two technological developments, however, are not enough to characterize and explain the emergence of Andean civilizations. From the intimate knowledge of their environmental conditions, the people developed a set of values that may have started from a desire to minimize risks but that soon was elaborated into an economic and political ideal. Every

Oglesby, Richard (james)

2005-02-27T09:01:00.000-08:00

Oglesby was born into a farming family, and his father was a member of the Kentucky legislature. Orphaned in 1833, he was taken to Decatur, Ill., by an uncle. In 1845 Oglesby was admitted to the bar; he practiced law until the Mexican War (April 1846–February 1848) broke out, at which time he served with the 4th Illinois

Pharmaceutical Industry

2005-02-26T22:32:00.000-08:00

Drugs may be classified in one of three ways: by chemical group (e.g.,alkaloids, mentioned above); pharmacologically (i.e.,by the way they work in the body); and according to their therapeutic uses. Pharmacological and therapeutic classifications show considerable divergence, as drugs that act upon the body in different ways may bring about the same desired therapeutic

Tachos

2005-02-26T03:27:00.000-08:00

Also called Takhor, Teos , or Zedhor second king (reigned 365–360 BC) of the 30th dynasty of Egypt; he led an unsuccessful attack on the Persians in Phoenicia. Tachos was aided in the undertaking by the aged Spartan king Agesilaus II, who led a body of Greek mercenaries, and by the Athenian fleet commander Chabrias. Tachos, however, insisted on leading the Egyptian army himself, and Agesilaus, after quarreling with his

Newhouse, Theodore ("ted")

2005-02-25T14:36:00.000-08:00

American publisher who with his brothers founded a publishing empire that grew to comprise such holdings as 26 newspapers, the Condé Nast magazine group, business journals, and cable television systems (b. July 19, 1903, Bayonne, N.J.--d. Nov. 28, 1998, New York, N.Y.).

Road Race

2005-02-25T10:01:00.000-08:00

Usually, all contestants

Disasters

2005-02-23T22:09:00.000-08:00

February 3, Near

Dungarpur

2005-02-23T08:39:00.000-08:00

Town, administrative headquarters of Dungarpur district, Rajasthan state, northwestern India. An agricultural market centre, it is linked by road with Udaipur, as well as with Vadodara, Ahmadabad, and Indore via Godhra (Gujarat). Dungarpur, former capital of the Dungarpur princely state, was founded in the 14th century and was named after Dungaria, an independent chieftain

Webster, Daniel

2005-02-23T07:11:00.000-08:00

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

Grade, Chaim

2005-02-22T02:57:00.000-08:00

Yiddish poet, short-story writer, and novelist who was one of the last surviving secularized Yiddish writers to have been educated in a European yeshiva (rabbinical seminary). His fiction reflects an intimate knowledge of the complexities and breadth of that vanished culture and

Fungus

2005-02-21T23:05:00.000-08:00

The origin of the fungi is obscure, the fossil record being scanty and virtually meaningless. The older theory supposed the fungi to have originated by loss of chlorophyll from one or two groups of algae, one school favouring the development of the fungi monophyletically (i.e., from a single ancestor) from the green algae, the other postulating that the lower fungi originated

Austria, The early Babenberg period

2005-02-21T19:44:00.000-08:00

The first mention of a ruler in the regained territories east of the Enns is of Burchard, who probably was count (burgrave) of Regensburg. It appears that he lost his office as a result of his championship of Henry II the Quarrelsome, duke of Bavaria. In 976 his successor, Leopold I of the house of Babenberg, was installed in office. Under Leopold's rule the eastern frontier was

Appleton

2005-02-20T18:05:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1851) of Outagamie county, east-central Wisconsin, U.S. The city lies along the Fox River near its outflow from Lake Winnebago, 31 miles (48 km) southwest of Green Bay. The settlement of the area was encouraged by the presence of Lawrence College (chartered 1847, now a university), founded by Amos A. Lawrence of Boston, and of abundant waterpower. First called Grand Chute, the settlement

Bujumbura

2005-02-20T13:08:00.000-08:00

City, western Burundi. Bujumbura is the nation's capital and largest urban centre. The city's industry specializes in textiles, leather, paper, chemicals, and agricultural products. Bujumbura also serves as the country's main port on Lake Tanganyika; most of Burundi's foreign trade is shipped between the capital and Kigoma, Tanzania, and, less frequently, to Kalemi, Congo

Salandra, Antonio

2005-02-20T02:48:00.000-08:00

Salandra was educated in law and taught public administration at the University of Rome before entering politics. A member of a wealthy family and a conservative, he rose to become minister of agriculture in 1899 and finance minister in 1906 and again

Brendan, Saint

2005-02-19T21:27:00.000-08:00

Brendan also spelled Brandon, or Brandan, also called Brendan of Clonfert, Brendan the Voyager, or Brendan the Navigator, Gaelic Brénaind Celtic saint, monastic founder, abbot, and hero of legendary voyages in the Atlantic Ocean. Reputedly raised and educated by Abbess St. Ita at her boys' school in what later became County Limerick, he later studied under Abbot St. Jarlath of Tuam. After becoming a monk and priest, he was entrusted with

Zanzibar

2005-02-19T08:12:00.000-08:00

Both Zanzibar and Pemba are believed to have once formed part of the African continent, the

Italic Languages, Oscan

2005-02-18T15:44:00.000-08:00

Before Latin spread out, Oscan was the most widely spoken group of dialects of the Apennine Peninsula. It was used by the Samnites in Samnium and Campania; by the inhabitants of Lucania and Bruttium; and, with slight variations, by smaller tribes between Latium and the Adriatic coast: the Volsci, Marsi, Paeligni, Vestini, and Marrucini. (These distinct “minor dialects” within

Al Bu Sa'id Dynasty

2005-02-18T13:31:00.000-08:00

Ahmad ibn Sa'id, who had been governor of Suhar, Oman, in the 1740s under the Persian Ya'rubids, managed to displace the Ya'rubids by about 1749 and become imam of Oman and of Zanzibar, Pemba, and Kilwa, in East Africa. His successors—known as sayyids, or, later, as sultans—expanded their possessions

Buyid Dynasty,

2005-02-17T19:32:00.000-08:00

'Ali, appointed governor of Karaj about 930 by the Daylamite leader Mardaviz ebn Zeyar, seized Isfahan and

Alkan, Valentin

2005-02-16T22:03:00.000-08:00

Alkan was born to Jewish parents, and all of his siblings (five brothers and a sister) also assumed the surname Alkan and were musicians. Valentin drew notice at the age of seven, when he won the first of many first

Anodizing

2005-02-16T05:27:00.000-08:00

Method of plating metal for such purposes as corrosion resistance, electrical insulation, thermal control, abrasion resistance, sealing, improving paint adhesion, and decorative finishing. Anodizing consists of electrically depositing an oxide film from aqueous solution onto the surface of a metal, often aluminum, which serves as the anode in an electrolytic

Eastern Africa, History Of, The colonial era

2005-02-15T21:53:00.000-08:00

Suggestions that he might at this time establish his dominion over the East African interior prompted Sultan Barghash to send a Baluchi force to Tabora, but the idea was never pursued. A comparable notion, however, led Khedive Isma'il Pasha of Egypt to appoint in 1869 the Englishman Samuel White Baker as governor of the Equatorial Province of the Sudan, so that Baker might

Coney Island

2005-02-15T09:55:00.000-08:00

Amusement area in the southern part of the borough of Brooklyn in New York, N.Y., U.S., fronting the Atlantic Ocean. Formerly an island, it was known to Dutch settlers as Konijn Eiland (“Rabbit Island”), which was presumably Anglicized as Coney Island. It became part of Long Island after Coney Island Creek silted up to form a sandbar (about 5 miles [8 km] long and 0.25–1 mile [0.4–1.6 km] wide) between

Peneplain

2005-02-15T02:01:00.000-08:00

Gently undulating, almost featureless plain that, in principle, would be produced by fluvial erosion that would, in the course of geologic time, reduce the land almost to baselevel (sea level), leaving so little gradient that essentially no more erosion could occur. The peneplain concept was named in 1889 by William M. Davis, who believed it to be the final stage of his geomorphic

Costa Mesa

2005-02-14T13:42:00.000-08:00

City, Orange county, southern California, U.S., on a coastal plateau overlooking the Pacific, at the mouth of the Santa Ana River. With Newport Beach it forms Orange county's “Harbor Area.” The site, once part of Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana and the Irvine Ranch, became the hot springs resort of Fairview. Laid out as the town of Harper in 1906, it was renamed in 1921 for its coastal location.

Affidavit

2005-02-13T13:31:00.000-08:00

A written statement of fact made voluntarily, confirmed by the oath or affirmation of the party making it, and signed before a notary or other officer empowered to administer such oaths. Affidavits generally name the place of execution and certify that the person making it states certain facts and appeared before the officer on a certain date and “subscribed and

Abruzzi

2005-02-13T08:32:00.000-08:00

Also called Abruzzo, regione, central Italy, fronting the Adriatic Sea and comprising the provincie of L'Aquila, Chieti, Pescara, and Teramo. Most of the region is mountainous or hilly, except for such intermontane basins as those of L'Aquila, Sulmona, and Fucino. The Apennines, the dominant physical feature, consist of three chains trending northwest-southeast, of which the easternmost,

East Dereham

2005-02-13T02:38:00.000-08:00

Also called Dereham town, Breckland district, administrative and historic county of Norfolk, England, 16 miles (26 km) west-northwest of Norwich. The site of a 7th-century Christian convent, it was destroyed by invading Danes. The parish church, dating from the 12th century, contains painted Perpendicular-style ceilings, the former tomb of the church's presumed 7th-century founder, St. Withburga (in

Vendôme, Louis-joseph, Duc De

2005-02-11T21:05:00.000-08:00

Vendôme was the son of Louis de Vendôme, Duke de Mercoeur, by his marriage to Cardinal Jules Mazarin's niece, Laure Mancini. Vendôme entered the French Army in 1672 and had risen to the rank of lieutenant general by the outbreak of the War of the Grand Alliance (1689–97) between

Ecuador, Recreation

2005-02-11T19:58:00.000-08:00

The Ecuadoran calendar is replete with religious and secular holidays. Some of the more important ones are not national but, rather, associated with local urban or regional traditions, such as the holidays of Quito (December 1–6), Guayaquil (October 9), and Cuenca (November 3) and the Yamor festival in Otavalo in early September. Many shops and businesses also close on Saturday

Bharati, Subrahmanya C.

2005-02-11T11:52:00.000-08:00

The son of a learned Brahman, Bharati became a Tamil scholar at an early age. He received little formal education, however, and in 1904 moved to Madras. There he translated English into Tamil for several magazines

Aranjuez

2005-02-11T03:43:00.000-08:00

Ancient (Latin) Ara Jovis town, Madrid provincia and comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”), central Spain, on the southern bank of the Tagus River near its confluence with the Jarama. The town, which has existed since Roman times, was the headquarters of the Knights of Santiago (1387–1409) and became the seat of a royal summer residence and hunting lodge in the 17th century. It was rebuilt in about 1750 by Ferdinand

Chernogorsk

2005-02-10T15:08:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Cernogorsk, city, Khakassia republic, south-central Russia, situated just west of the port of Podkunino on the Yenisey River. The city is the centre of mining in the Minusinsk coal basin, which has been in operation since before 1917. Consumer-goods industries are also important. Chernogorsk became a city in 1936. A mining college is located there. Pop. (1993 est.) 80,000.

Pyrargyrite

2005-02-10T14:05:00.000-08:00

A sulfosalt mineral, a silver antimony sulfide (Ag3SbS3), that is an important source of silver, sometimes called ruby silver because of its deep red colour (see also proustite). The best crystallized specimens, of hexagonal symmetry, are from St. Andreasberg in the Harz Mountains and from Freiberg, both in Germany; and Colquechaca, Bol. It is mined at Guanajuato, Mex., and near

Aardvark

2005-02-09T00:02:00.000-08:00

Also called African Ant Bear (Orycteropus afer), heavily built mammal, ranging south of the Sahara in forest or plain, that constitutes the family Orycteropodidae and the order Tubulidentata. The name aardvark—Afrikaans for “earth pig”—refers to its stout, piglike body, up to 180 centimetres (6 feet) long, including the 60-cm tail. Its coat varies from glossy black and full to sandy yellow

Beijing

2005-02-08T13:19:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization Pei-ching , conventional Peking city, province-level shi (municipality), and capital of the People's Republic of China. Few cities in the world have served for so long as the political headquarters and cultural centre of an area as immense as China. The city has been an integral part of China's history over the past eight centuries, and nearly every major building of any age in Beijing has at least some

English Literature, Early translations into English

2005-02-08T10:43:00.000-08:00

But the earliest literary prose dates from the late 9th century, when King Alfred, eager to improve the state of English learning, led a vigorous program to translate into English “certain books that are necessary for all men to know.” Alfred himself translated St. Gregory I the Great's Pastoral Care, Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy, St. Augustine of Hippo's Soliloquies

Eurythmics

2005-02-07T14:48:00.000-08:00

Eurythmics was developed about 1905 by the Swiss musician Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, a professor of harmony at the Geneva Conservatory, who was convinced that the conventional system of

Arabia, Oman

2005-02-07T14:42:00.000-08:00

The Al-Hajar mountain range is divided into Eastern Al-Hajar and Western Al-Hajar. The range, which exceeds a height of 9,000 feet in places, differs from other Arabian coastal highlands in being steep on both sides. Plains at the foot of the mountains fall away almost imperceptibly from the numerous towns of interior Oman to the Rub' al-Khali basin. No mountains bar Oman's

Châteauroux

2005-02-07T11:25:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Indre département, Centre région, central France. It lies along the Indre River, south of Orléans, on the main road and railway from Paris to Toulouse. It derives its name from a castle built toward the end of the 10th century by Raoul le Large, prince of Déols. The present Château Raoul, occupied by the prefecture, dates from the 15th century. An 18th-century mansion,

China, Trends in the early Ch'ing

2005-02-06T00:11:00.000-08:00

The tripling of China's population from the beginning of the Ch'ing dynasty to the mid-19th century rested on the economic expansion that followed the consolidation of Manchu rule. This population growth has been frequently cited as the major cause of the decline of China in the 19th century. Certainly the year 1800 saw the Ch'ing state's surpluses, sufficient through the 18th

Topology

2005-02-05T05:15:00.000-08:00

Offshoot of geometry that originated during the 19th century and that studies those properties an object retains under deformation—specifically, bending, stretching and squeezing, but not breaking or tearing. Thus, a triangle is topologically equivalent to a circle but not to a straight line segment. Similarly, a solid cube made of modeling clay could be deformed

Malacostracan, The nervous system and sensory organs

2005-02-05T04:46:00.000-08:00

The malacostracan central nervous system consists, in primitive forms, of a ventral nerve cord and ganglia within each body segment. The supraesophageal ganglion innervates the eyes, antennules, and antennae, and the subesophageal ganglion innervates the mouthparts of the head region. In amphipods and anomuran decapods the ganglia of abdominal segments are