WaitingWatch

Mountain, Andean-type belts

2005-04-05T14:51:00.000-07:00

At some continental margins, oceanic lithosphere is subducted. At some of these sites, the landscape is dominated by volcanoes, such as along the Cascades of western North America or in Japan, but at others, such as along much of the Andes of South America, volcanoes constitute only a small or even negligible part of the relief. At Andean-type margins, the crust is typically

Afar

2005-04-02T04:29:00.000-08:00

Amharic Adal, Arabic Denakil, a people of the Horn of Africa who speak Saho, a language of the Eastern Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic (formerly Hamito-Semitic) family. They live in northeastern Ethiopia and in Djibouti, where, with the Issas, they are the dominant people. It is thought that the Afars were the first of the present inhabitants of Ethiopia to elaborate their pastoral life into full-scale

Great Fire Of London

2005-03-31T16:05:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, September 2, 1666, the fire began accidentally in the house of the king's baker in Pudding Lane near London Bridge. A violent east wind encouraged the flames, which raged during

Chiang Rai

2005-03-29T14:45:00.000-08:00

Chiang Rai lies at an elevation of 1,150 feet (350 m) in the basin of the Kok River, near the Khun Tan Range. It has an airport with scheduled flights, and road connections lead south to Lampang and north to Myanmar (Burma) and the Laotian border. It is a trading centre dealing in teak, coffee, and rice. The town was once the walled capital city of an independent principality.

Vitamin B Complex

2005-03-28T22:05:00.000-08:00

Most of the B vitamins have been recognized

Saint Martin

2005-03-26T01:11:00.000-08:00

The island was named by Christopher Columbus in honour of the saint on whose feast day he sighted it. Valued for its natural lakes

Zane, Betty

2005-03-21T06:30:00.000-08:00

Zane lived in her native Virginia (now part of West Virginia) in the town of Wheeling, which was founded in 1769 by her older brothers Ebenezer,

Duran, Profiat

2005-03-20T17:25:00.000-08:00

Duran was the descendant of a scholarly Jewish family of southern France. He was educated in Germany and then took a position as tutor with a wealthy family in Catalonia. There, in 1391, in a wave of Spanish religious persecution,

Nice

2005-03-18T14:09:00.000-08:00

Founded by the Phocaeans

Eye Dialect

2005-03-17T22:28:00.000-08:00

The use of misspellings that are based on standard pronunciations (such as sez for says or kow for cow) but are usually intended to suggest a speaker's illiteracy or his use of generally nonstandard pronunciations. It is sometimes used in literature for comic effect.

Gauss Elimination

2005-03-17T08:56:00.000-08:00

In linear and multilinear algebra, a process for finding the solutions of a system of simultaneous linear equations by first solving one of the equations for the first variable (in terms of all the others) and then substituting this expression into the remaining equations. The result is a new system in which the number of equations and variables is one less than in

Argentina, Perón's second presidency

2005-03-15T20:16:00.000-08:00

Perón was elected president with his third wife, María Estela Martínez de Perón (Isabel Perón), as vice president. Taking office in October 1973, he continued the campaign against the left, and in May 1974 the victims of the purge acknowledged the break with their former leader and passed into (still legal) opposition. Montonero activity increased, and the Triple A, suspected by

Aran Islands

2005-03-15T19:15:00.000-08:00

Irish Arainn, three limestone islands—Inishmore, Inishmaan, and Inisheer—comprising 18 square miles (47 square km) and lying across the mouth of Galway Bay on the west coast of Ireland. They are administratively part of County Galway. The islands, whose sheer cliffs face the Atlantic Ocean, are generally bleak. Steamers and ferries call mainly at the town of Kilronan on Inishmore, the

Jubba River

2005-03-13T20:51:00.000-08:00

Fed by rainfall in its source area, where the main rainy season coincides with the dry season

Aye-aye

2005-03-12T14:13:00.000-08:00

(Daubentonia madagascariensis), rare, squirrellike primate, the sole living representative of the family Daubentoniidae, found in Madagascan rain forests. The aye-aye is about 40 cm (16 inches) long excluding the bushy, 55- to 60-centimetre tail; and it is covered with long, coarse, dark brown or black fur. It has a short face, large eyes, and rodentlike,

Strasbourg Ware

2005-03-10T00:24:00.000-08:00

Strasbourg

Margarita Island

2005-03-09T18:22:00.000-08:00

Spanish Isla De Margarita, island in the Caribbean Sea, 12 mi (19 km) north of the Península de Araya in northeastern Venezuela. Also known as the Isle of Pearls, Margarita is the largest of 70 islands comprising Nueva Esparta state. In reality two islands joined by a low, narrow isthmus, Margarita is about 40 mi (65 km) long, covers an area of 414 sq mi (1,072 sq km), and has a coastline of 198 mi, with many natural harbours. The island

Daily World

2005-03-09T01:54:00.000-08:00

The Daily Worker was variously the organ and the “semi-official” voice of the party, and its readers have included numerous U.S. government intelligence agents, who also have monitored its list of subscribers. In 1958 the paper became a weekly as The

Abbey, Edwin Austin

2005-03-07T06:19:00.000-08:00

While working as an illustrator for the publishing house of Harper and Brothers, New York City, Abbey began to create illustrations for the poems of Robert Herrick in 1874. He went on to create illustrations for some of the works of Oliver Goldsmith and William

Blok, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich

2005-03-07T01:58:00.000-08:00

Born into a sheltered, intellectual environment,

Alcoholism

2005-03-06T09:47:00.000-08:00

The conception of inveterate drunkenness as a disease appears to be rooted in antiquity. The Roman philosopher Seneca classified it as a form of insanity. The term alcoholism, however, appeared first in the classical essay “Alcoholismus

Equestrian Sports

2005-03-04T18:22:00.000-08:00

In April 1997 Memo Gracida, the new leader of Isla Carroll, won his sixth consecutive and a record 15th career U.S. Open by defeating White Birch in the final at the Palm Beach (Fla.) Polo Club. Isla Carroll also gained the World Cup and the Gold Cup of the Americas, and White Birch won its eighth USPA Gold Cup. Grant's Farm Manor and Peapacton obtained the Sterling and Challenge cups,

Middleton, Stanley

2005-03-04T13:44:00.000-08:00

Educated at University College, Nottingham (now University of Nottingham; B.A., 1940; M.Ed, 1952), Middleton served in the British army's Royal Artillery and in the Army Education Corps. He later taught English and became department

Yevpatoriya

2005-03-02T21:45:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Evpatoriia, or Jevpatorija, city, Crimea, southern Ukraine, on the Kalamit Bay on the west coast of the Crimean Peninsula. Founded in the 6th century BC as a Greek colony and later renamed for Mithradates VI Eupator, sixth king of Pontus, the city has known many masters, passing to Russia with the annexation of the Crimea in 1783. Nearby the Allied armies landed (1854) during the Crimean War. With magnificent beaches,

Dubcek, Alexander

2005-03-02T13:51:00.000-08:00

Dubcek received his early education in Kirgiziya (Kyrgyzstan) in Soviet Central Asia, where his father, Stefan Dubcek, a member of

Carney, Arthur William Matthew

2005-03-01T18:28:00.000-08:00

American actor (b. Nov. 4, 1918, Mount Vernon, N.Y.—d. Nov. 9, 2003, Chester, Conn.), had a long and varied career in radio, television, theatre, and film, including an Academy Award-winning dramatic leading role in the movie Harry and Tonto (1974), but it was with one TV character that he would be most identified—sewer worker (or “underground sanitation expert”) Ed Norton, second banana to Jackie Gleason's

Alcibiades

2005-02-28T19:47:00.000-08:00

Well-born and wealthy, Alcibiades was only a small boy when his father—who was in command of the Athenian army—was killed

Kerguelen Islands

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

Archipelago in the southern Indian Ocean. Administratively a part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises), it consists of the island of Kerguelen (also known as Desolation Island) and nearly 300 islets, which together cover about 2,400 square miles (6,200 square km). Heavily glaciated Kerguelen Island, about 100 miles (160 km) in length, has

Vulture

2005-02-25T22:18:00.000-08:00

Any of numerous large, carrion-eating birds of the order Falconiformes. Although often similar in appearance, the vultures of the New and Old World form separate taxonomic groups, the former comprising a distinct family (Cathartidae), the latter a subfamily (Aegypiinae) of the hawk and eagle family Accipitridae (order Falconiformes). The 20 species

Geoffrin, Marie-thérèse Rodet

2005-02-24T23:59:00.000-08:00

The daughter of a valet, she married a rich manufacturer, a member of the newly influential bourgeoisie, with whom she had no rapport. Although lacking formal education herself, Madame Geoffrin was sensitive, an excellent

Adductor Muscle

2005-02-24T11:50:00.000-08:00

Any of the muscles that draw a part of the body toward its median line or toward the axis of an extremity (compare abductor muscle), particularly three powerful muscles of the human thigh—adductor longus, adductor brevis, and adductor magnus. Originating at the pubis and the ischium (lower portions of the pelvis—the hipbone), these ribbonlike muscles are attached along

La Sale, Antoine De

2005-02-21T07:55:00.000-08:00

From 1400 to 1448 La Sale served the dukes of Anjou, Louis II, Louis III, and René, as squire, soldier, administrator and, ultimately, governor of René's son and heir, Jean

Jaboticaba

2004-08-23T13:26:00.000-07:00

Also called jaboticabeira any of several trees of the genus Myrciaria, of the myrtle family (Myrtaceae), notably M. cauliflora and M. jaboticaba, native to southeastern Brazil. The trees have been introduced to other warm regions, including western and southern North America. The name is also applied to the edible fruit of these trees. The trees do not differ greatly among the species; they are dome-shaped

Albania

2004-08-22T17:18:00.000-07:00

Officially Republic of Albania, Albanian Shqipëria, or Republika e Shqipërisë, country located in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula on the Strait of Otranto, the southern entrance to the Adriatic Sea. It encompasses an area of 11,100 square miles (28,748 square kilometres), with a maximum length from north to south of about 210 miles (340 kilometres) and a maximum width of about 95 miles. It is bounded to the northwest by Montenegro, to the northeast by the Kosovo region

Check

2004-08-19T14:17:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Cheque, bill of exchange drawn on a bank and payable on demand; it has become the chief form of money in the domestic commerce of developed countries. As a written order to pay money, it may be transferred from one person to another by endorsement and delivery or, in certain cases, by delivery alone. Negotiability can be qualified by appropriate words, as with restrictive endorsements,

Uganda, Flag Of

2004-08-18T04:00:00.000-07:00

Buganda, one of the kingdoms of Uganda, was one of the few precolonial African states to have a national flag of its own; however, to avoid utilizing any flag, symbol, or totem associated with a particular area, the British selected a crested crane as the badge for use on the British Blue Ensign and in other official banners for Uganda. That bird became recognized as the

Indriya

2004-08-16T21:32:00.000-07:00

(Sanskrit: “faculty”), according to Indian philosophy, the instruments of a person's direct perception of the outside world. They are of two kinds, motoric and sensory. The motoric faculties are those of speaking, grasping, walking, ejaculating, and evacuating. The sensory faculties, or senses, are hearing, touching, seeing, tasting, and smelling. Both sets of faculties are

Price Discrimination

2004-08-13T17:28:00.000-07:00

Practice of selling a commodity at different prices to different buyers, even though sales costs are the same in all of the transactions. Discrimination among buyers may be based on personal characteristics such as income, race, or age or on geographic location. For price discrimination to succeed, other entrepreneurs must be unable to purchase goods at the lower

Stimulant

2004-08-11T04:55:00.000-07:00

The major stimulant

Lurgan

2004-08-09T04:28:00.000-07:00

Market town, Craigavon district (established 1973), formerly in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. In 1610 James I granted land to John Brownlow, who formed an English colony there. By the end of the 17th century, linen manufacture, which is still the chief industry, was established. James Logan emigrated from Lurgan in 1699 to become one of the founders of Pennsylvania. Lurgan Castle (now

Paulinus, Saint

2004-08-08T05:13:00.000-07:00

In 601 Paulinus was sent with St. Mellitus (later first bishop of London) and St. Justus (later first bishop of Rochester) to England by Pope St. Gregory I the Great to assist Archbishop

Bridalveil Fall

2004-08-06T05:44:00.000-07:00

Cataract on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada in Yosemite National Park, east-central California, U.S. Fed mainly by melting snow, the waterfall has a height of 620 feet (189 m) and forms one of the most scenic features in the park.

Papua

2004-08-03T17:09:00.000-07:00

Formerly (1969–2002) Irian Jaya (until 1969) Irian Barat propinsi (province), Indonesia, the western half of the island of New Guinea and its offshore islands—including the individual islands of Yapen, Adi, Waigeo, Batanta, Kofiau, Salawati, Misool, and Yos Sudarsa and the Schouten Islands. Papua fronts the Ceram and Banda seas to the west, the Arafura Sea to the southwest, and the Pacific Ocean to the north; it is bounded by Papua

M'clure Strait

2004-08-01T15:02:00.000-07:00

Eastern arm of the Beaufort Sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is about 170 miles (270 km) long and 60 miles (90 km) wide. In western Franklin District, Northwest Territories, Canada, it extends west of Viscount Melville Sound and lies between Melville and Eglinton islands (north) and Banks Island (south). The strait is part of the Northwest Passage route through the Canadian Arctic archipelago.

Arts, Central Asian, Classical music

2004-07-31T11:29:00.000-07:00

In contrast to the folk music styles just described, the court-derived classical style of Bukhara and Samarkand represents a highly systematic, theoretically grounded, cosmopolitan musical tradition. Lying along the medieval Silk Road, the Turkistani oases were open to musical cross-currents. Today's musical roots may reach back to the period in which urban Central

Gambia, Flag Of The

2004-07-29T04:06:00.000-07:00

The British Parliament's Colonial Naval Defence Act of 1865 provided that the British Blue Ensign would be “defaced” by a badge for each government department or colony making use of it. These distinctive ensigns became de facto national flags even before the colonies achieved independence. In the case of The Gambia, the badge in question was a yellow disk bearing an elephant

Arts, Central Asian, Fergana and Chorasmia

2004-07-27T05:59:00.000-07:00

Fergana produced much pottery of quality, but, as yet, there have been no finds of comparable importance to those in Sogdiana. Its arts appear to have paralleled the developments in the more prosperous, more heavily populated, and more highly urbanized state of Chorasmia (later Khwarezm). Chorasmia's defensive architecture was particularly notable. Its great citadels

Da Lat

2004-07-25T14:42:00.000-07:00

Municipality, southern Vietnam, northeast of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). On a lake on the Lam Vien Plateau at 4,920 feet (1,500 m) above sea level, it sits among pine-covered hills with picturesque waterfalls nearby. Founded in the 19th century and named for the Da (now Cam Ly) River, which traverses the town, and the Lat population, it was developed by the French as a hill station (resort),

Cloudberry

2004-07-23T17:22:00.000-07:00

Eskimos

Poland, History Of, The legions and the Duchy of Warsaw

2004-07-21T15:34:00.000-07:00

The 123 years during which Poland existed only as a partitioned land had a profound impact on the Polish psyche. Moreover, major 19th-century developments such as industrialization and modernization were uneven in Poland and proved to be a mixed blessing. Growing Polish nationalism was by necessity that of an oppressed nation and displayed the tendency of “all or

Amphibian, General features

2004-07-18T17:24:00.000-07:00

The form and structure of the skeletal, nervous, digestive, and urogenital systems of amphibians are intermediate between fishes and reptiles, but those of other systems are specifically modified for amphibians. The integument (skin) and circulatory and respiratory systems exemplify these adaptations and act together to provide cutaneous respiration. Amphibians

Sertorius, Quintus

2004-07-15T23:50:00.000-07:00

After acquiring some reputation in Rome as a jurist and orator, Sertorius fought in Gaul against the invading Cimbri and Teutons (105 and 102) and in 97 served in Spain. In 90 he was quaestor in Cisalpine Gaul and commanded an army in the

David, Eduard Heinrich (rudolph)

2004-07-12T00:07:00.000-07:00

As a young grammar school teacher, David founded (1893) the Socialist Mitteldeutsche Sonntagszeitung (“Mid-German Sunday News”); but his affiliation with the Social Democrats soon

Carlisle

2004-07-10T04:25:00.000-07:00

In the Roman period a civilian settlement, Luguvallium (later the town of Carlisle), grew up on the south bank of the Eden, opposite Petriana (later Stanwix), a fortified camp on the line of Hadrian's Wall. The town dominated the surrounding area

Ancón

2004-07-09T21:18:00.000-07:00

City, central Panama, just northeast of Balboa city. It is a residential and medical centre. As Balboa and Panama City have grown, Ancón has become virtually a suburb of the latter. It is noted for the Gorgas Hospital for tropical diseases, named after Colonel William Crawford Gorgas, a U.S. Army surgeon who eradicated yellow fever from the Canal Zone. Ancón is also the site

Mandalgovi

2004-07-07T03:53:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Mandal Gobi, town, central Mongolian People's Republic. The town is located on the transition zone of scattered bunch grass of the great Gobi (desert) about 186 miles (300 km) south of Ulaanbaatar, the national capital. The area's economy is dominated by animal husbandry, as the terrain and climate are too harsh for agriculture. Sheep, cattle, and goats survive on the scanty vegetation. Light

Aubusson Carpet

2004-07-05T21:46:00.000-07:00

Floor covering, usually of considerable size, handwoven at the villages of Aubusson and Felletin, in the département of Creuse in central France. Workshops were established in 1743 to manufacture pile carpets primarily for the nobility, to whom the Savonnerie court production was not available. Carpets were, however, also made for the royal residences. Soon after the

Wilhelmshaven

2004-07-03T14:01:00.000-07:00

City and port, Lower Saxony Land (state), northwestern Germany, on the Jadebusen, a North Sea inlet on the coast of Ostfriesland (East Frisia). Founded in 1853 by Wilhelm I on land bought by Prussia from Oldenburg, it was given its present name in 1869. In 1937 it was united with Rüstringen and returned to Oldenburg Land. As the principal naval base for the Prussian (later German) navy, it suffered

Pharmaceutical Industry, Amination

2004-06-30T06:15:00.000-07:00

Two important methods of amination (the process of adding an amino (-NH2) group to a compound) are reduction and ammonolysis. There are many reduction methods, but the most common is the reduction of the corresponding nitro compound by means of iron and acid. An example of ammonolysis is the preparation of aniline by heating chlorobenzene with excess aqueous ammonia,

Johannsen, Wilhelm Ludvig

2004-06-28T07:33:00.000-07:00

Danish botanist and geneticist whose experiments in plant heredity offered strong support to the mutation theory of the Dutch botanist Hugo de Vries (that changes in heredity come about through sudden, discrete changes of the heredity units in germ cells). Many geneticists thought Johannsen's ideas dealt a severe blow to Charles

Gonzaga Dynasty

2004-06-26T17:30:00.000-07:00

Italian dynasty whose heads ruled Mantua from 1328 to 1707 and also Montferrat, with the stronghold of Casale, from 1536 to 1707. Their origins are uncertain, but by the 12th century the Corradi family of Gonzaga were established as members of the feudal gentry owning estates near Mantua, to which during the 13th century they managed to add other extensive properties. They took their name

Davenport, Thomas

2004-06-22T02:17:00.000-07:00

A blacksmith in Brandon, Vt., Davenport began experimenting with electromagnets after observing one in use at an ironworks in Crown Point, N.Y., in 1831. By 1834 he had

Wu-t'ung-ch'iao

2004-06-21T10:47:00.000-07:00

Pinyin Wutongqiao, town in south-central Szechwan sheng (province), China. Situated between Lo-shan and I-pin on the Min River, Wu-t'ung-ch'iao was formerly a minor market town and briefly achieved status as a municipality from 1952 to 1958. It is chiefly noted as a major salt-producing area, the salt being drawn as brine from wells of medium depth. Barium and calcium chloride are also produced. Woolens,

Fürstenwalde

2004-06-19T01:20:00.000-07:00

City, Brandenburg Land (state), eastern Germany, on the Spree River near its junction with the Oder-Spree Canal, east of Berlin. Founded between 1252 and 1258 by the margraves of Brandenburg and chartered in 1285, it was the seat of the bishops of Lebus from 1385 to 1571. The cathedral, begun in 1446, was destroyed in 1945. Fürstenwalde's largest enterprise is the nationally owned tire plant; chemicals, metal

Lipa

2004-06-17T09:01:00.000-07:00

Chartered city, Batangas province, southwestern Luzon, Philippines. Formerly a Spanish military headquarters, it is a market town for a fruit-growing region. Lipa was rebuilt (including its cathedral) after a disastrous volcanic eruption in 1754 and again after its virtual destruction under Japanese occupation in World War II. Industries include clothing manufacture

Lipa

2004-06-14T09:25:00.000-07:00

French Banque Africaine De Développement African organization established in August 1963 and operational beginning in July 1966 and dedicated to economic development. The Secretariat of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, together with a nine-member committee of experts from member states, engineered the original agreement of establishment, but the bank is not formally associated with the

Cheke, Sir John

2004-06-13T13:38:00.000-07:00

Cheke also spelled Cheek English humanist and supporter of the Protestant Reformation who, as the poet John Milton said, “taught Cambridge and King Edward Greek” and who, with his friend Sir Thomas Smith, discovered the proper pronunciation of ancient Greek. Through his teaching he made the University of Cambridge the centre of the “new learning” and the Reformed religion.

Interior Design, Aesthetic components of design

2004-06-11T19:16:00.000-07:00

A general definition of beauty and aesthetic excellence would be difficult, but fortunately there are a number of generally accepted principles that can be used to achieve an understanding of the aesthetic considerations in design. One must note, however, that such understanding requires exposure and learning; an appreciation of any form of art needs such a

Asuka Period

2004-06-08T16:24:00.000-07:00

In Japanese history and art, era from Ad 552 to 645 that began with the introduction of Buddhism from Korea and culminated in the adoption of a Chinese pattern of government. Initially opposed by conservative clans, Buddhism found favour with the powerful Soga family which defeated its rivals in a succession dispute in 587. As Imperial regent, Shotoku Taishi gave Buddhism official support, and his famous Seventeen

Florida Agricultural And Mechanical University

2004-06-07T03:38:00.000-07:00

Byname Florida A&M University public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Tallahassee, Florida, U.S. It is a historically black, land-grant institution and part of the State University System of Florida; its enrollment remains predominantly African American. The university includes colleges of arts and sciences, education, pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences, and engineering

Babbitt Metal

2004-06-04T14:04:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Babbit Metal, any of several tin- or lead-based alloys used as bearing material for axles and crankshafts, based on the tin alloy invented in 1839 by Isaac Babbitt for use in steam engines. Modern babbitts provide a low-friction lining for bearing shells made of stronger metals such as cast iron, steel, or bronze. They may be made of: (1) high-tin alloys with small quantities of antimony and copper;

Saaremaa

2004-06-03T01:17:00.000-07:00

German and Swedish Ösel , Russian Sarema largest of the islands in the Muhu archipelago that divides the Baltic Sea from the Gulf of Riga. It constitutes the bulk of the Estonian county of Saaremaa (Saare) and has an area of 1,032 square miles (2,674 square km). The island is low-lying and is composed largely of limestones and dolomites. Some of the places with poorer soils are characterized by the alvary—poor bushy vegetation,

Field, Stephen J(ohnson)

2004-05-30T08:57:00.000-07:00

Associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and chief architect of the constitutional approach that largely exempted the rapidly expanding industry of the United States from governmental regulation after the Civil War. He found the judicial instrument for the protection of private enterprise principally in the Fourteenth

Field, Stephen J(ohnson)

2004-05-27T15:06:00.000-07:00

Also called Court of Justice of the European Communities the judicial branch of the European Union (EU). Its headquarters are in Luxembourg. The ECJ originated in the individual courts of justice established in the 1950s for the European Coal and Steel Community, the European Economic Community, and the European Atomic Energy Community. The function of these courts was to ensure the observance of law in those organizations'

Guernsey

2004-05-25T18:24:00.000-07:00

In the south, Guernsey rises in a plateau to about 300 ft (90 m), with ragged coastal cliffs. It descends in steps and is drained

'ayn

2004-05-23T06:57:00.000-07:00

Many a'yan during the 17th century acquired lifelong leases on tax farms and prospered financially. During

Paraldehyde

2004-05-22T01:22:00.000-07:00

Also called paracetaldehyde colourless liquid of disagreeable taste and pungent odour used in medicine as a sedative–hypnotic drug and in chemistry in the manufacture of organic chemicals. When administered as a medicine, it is largely excreted by the lungs and gives an unpleasant odour to the breath. It is most useful for recalcitrant cases and is an older drug for treatment of acute alcoholic

Chinese Languages

2004-05-19T15:43:00.000-07:00

Modern Standard Chinese is based on the Peking (Beijing) dialect, which is of the Northern, or Mandarin, type. It employs about 1,300 different syllables. There are 22 initial consonants, including stops (made with momentary, complete closure in the vocal tract), affricates (beginning as stops but ending with incomplete closure), aspirated consonants, nasals, fricatives, liquid

Jackson, John Hughlings

2004-05-17T23:36:00.000-07:00

Jackson was physician to the National Hospital for the Paralyzed and Epileptic, London

Amoy

2004-05-15T00:08:00.000-07:00

Wade-Giles romanization Hsia-men, Pinyin Xiamen, city and port on the coast of southern Fukien sheng (province), China. Amoy is situated on the southwest coast of Hsia-men Island at the mouth of the Chiu-lung River. Known as the “garden on the sea,” it has an excellent harbour, sheltered by a number of offshore islands, the most important of which, Quemoy (Chin-men), in the mouth of the estuary, has remained a fortress in the hands

Toynbee Hall

2004-05-14T05:52:00.000-07:00

Pioneering social settlement in the East End of London. It was founded on Commercial Street, Whitechapel (now in Tower Hamlets), in 1884 by the canon Samuel Augustus Barnett and named for the 19th-century English social reformer Arnold Toynbee. During his early years at St. Jude's Church, Barnett invited members of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge to the impoverished

Zakrzewska, Marie Elizabeth

2004-05-12T14:56:00.000-07:00

Zakrzewska early developed a strong interest in medicine, and at age 20 she was admitted to the school for midwives at the

Aesthetics, Understanding art

2004-05-09T15:55:00.000-07:00

The use of the concept of understanding in describing the appreciation of art marks out an interesting distinction between art and natural beauty. A person may understand or fail to understand T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets, Michelangelo's “David,” or Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, but he cannot understand or fail to understand the Highlands of Scotland, even when he finds

Marqués, René

2004-05-08T17:53:00.000-07:00

His best-known play,

East Hampton

2004-05-05T21:28:00.000-07:00

Town (township), Suffolk county, southeastern New York, U.S. It lies on the southern shore of Long Island, 100 miles (161 km) east of New York City, and includes East Hampton village and Gardiners Island. Settled in 1648 by English yeomen from Kent and first called Maidstone, the town prospered as a whaling and fishing centre. Several colonial homes have survived. Lyman Beecher, father

Light Curve

2004-05-03T13:45:00.000-07:00

In astronomy, graph of the changes in brightness with time of a star, particularly of the variable type. The light curves of different kinds of variable stars differ in the degree of change in magnitude (i.e., the amount of light flux observed), in the degree of regularity from one cycle to the next, and in the length of the cycle—i.e., the period. Variations in magnitude range

Augustus, Caesar

2004-05-02T17:18:00.000-07:00

The death in 12 BC of Lepidus enabled Augustus finally to succeed him as the official head of the Roman religion, the chief priest (pontifex maximus). In the same year, Agrippa, too, died. Augustus compelled his widow, Julia, to marry Tiberius against both their wishes. During the next three years, however, Tiberius was away in the field, reducing Pannonia (Yugoslavia and Hungary)

Lindsay

2004-04-29T21:15:00.000-07:00

Town, seat (1861) of Victoria county, southeastern Ontario, Canada. It lies along the Scugog River, 21 miles (34 km) west-northwest of Peterborough. Laid out in 1825 as Purdy's Mills (after William Purdy, who built the first mills), it was renamed for one of the original land surveyors. The town's growth has been due partly to the Trent Canal (1833) and the improvement of the waterway between Sturgeon

Levittown

2004-04-28T23:10:00.000-07:00

Extensive, unincorporated suburban housing development in Bucks county, eastern Pennsylvania, U.S., near the big bend of the Delaware River, approximately midway between Philadelphia and Trenton, New Jersey. It was built between 1951 and 1958 by Levitt & Sons, Inc., who repeated there the planned construction formula that resulted in the development of Levittown, New York, in

Hierta, Lars Johan

2004-04-26T11:09:00.000-07:00

Hierta's work as a clerk for the noble estate of the Riksdag (estates assembly) in the 1820s acquainted him with the operation of the increasingly conservative Swedish regime and made him its critic. He established the Aftonbladet (“Evening

Kyo-yaki

2004-04-23T08:48:00.000-07:00

Decorated Japanese ceramics produced in Kyoto from about the middle of the 17th century. The development of this ware was stimulated by the appearance of enamelled porcelains in Kyushu, and it was not long after Sakaida Kakiemon successfully perfected overglaze enamels in Arita that Nonomura Ninsei also began production in Kyoto. Kyo-yaki contrasted with the enamelled

Eugenius Iii, Blessed

2004-04-19T13:57:00.000-07:00

Possibly a member of the family Paganelli di Montemagno, he was a disciple of St. Bernard of Clairvaux and a Cistercian abbot of the monastery of SS. Vincent and Anastasius when he was elected on February 15. Eugenius, like others of western Europe, was shocked by the fall of Edessa, the capital of the first

South African Literature

2004-04-17T08:09:00.000-07:00

South African literature in English effectively began in the late 19th century in the states preceding the Republic of South Africa and became fairly copious in the 20th. During the early 1900s, Africans, largely cut off from tribal customs and values (including the oral literary tradition), began to write in English. In the middle decades many Africans served literary apprenticeships

Artificial Organ

2004-04-15T09:23:00.000-07:00

Any machine, device, or other material that is used to replace the functions of a faulty or missing organ or other part of the human body. Artificial organs include the artificial heart and pacemaker (qq.v.), the use of dialysis (q.v.) to perform kidney functions, and the use of artificial substitutes for missing limbs (see prosthesis).

Puerto Aisén

2004-04-14T03:45:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Puerto Aysén capital of Aisén province and commune in Aisén region, southern Chile, located on the Aisén River at the head of a deep fjord facing the Chonos Archipelago. Colonization of the surrounding area of rugged topography and rigorous climate began only in the 19th century. Puerto Aisén is a port and commercial centre for the developing agricultural, mining, and lumbering

Yangtze River, The upper course

2004-04-11T14:50:00.000-07:00

The upper course of the Yangtze flows across the Plateau of Tibet and descends through deep valleys in the mountains east of the plateau, emerging onto the Yunnan-Kweichou (Yunkwei) Plateau. The summers are warm and the winters cold. The source of the Yangtze is the Wu-lan-mu-lun (Ulan Muren) River, which originates in glacial meltwaters on the slopes of the T'ang-ku-la

Charadriiform, Molt

2004-04-10T04:44:00.000-07:00

Most Charadriiformes have two molts between breeding periods, which are on an annual cycle in all except some populations of the sooty tern (Sterna fuscata). A partial body molt generally precedes breeding, and a complete molt follows breeding. In some species flight feathers of the wing and tail are molted before the fall migration; in others they are retained through

Sabaean

2004-04-08T22:03:00.000-07:00

Member of a people of South Arabia in pre-Islamic times, founders of the kingdom of Saba' (q.v.), the biblical Sheba.

Heng-yang

2004-04-06T05:53:00.000-07:00

Heng-yang has been a communication centre since early times, being on the ancient post road from Ch'ang-sha into Kwangtung province

World War I, The end of the German War

2004-04-03T02:48:00.000-08:00

Georg von Hertling, who had taken the place of Michaelis as Germany's chancellor in November 1917 but had proved no more capable than he of restraining Ludendorff and Hindenburg, tendered his resignation on Sept. 29, 1918, the day of the Bulgarian armistice and of the major development of the British attack on the Western Front. Pending the appointment of a new chancellor, Ludendorff