HollowArm

Philosophy

2005-04-05T17:32:00.000-07:00

The subject of philosophy is treated in a number of articles.

France, History Of, Local institutions

2005-04-02T09:06:00.000-08:00

Except in the north, which was divided into districts called pagi, the Merovingians continued to use the city (the Roman civitas) as the principal administrative division. A count was installed in each pagus and city (urbs) and delegated financial, military, and judicial authority. Groups of counts were occasionally placed under the authority of a duke, whose responsibilities

Juàzeiro

2005-03-31T07:43:00.000-08:00

From Juàzeiro southward to Pirapora in Minas Gerais state, the upper course of the

Webster, Daniel

2005-03-29T22:27:00.000-08:00

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

Liszt, Franz

2005-03-27T06:55:00.000-08:00

In 1869 Liszt was invited to return to Weimar by the grand duke to give master classes in piano playing, and two years later he was asked to do the same in Budapest. From then until the end of his life he divided his time between Rome, Weimar, and Budapest. After a reconciliation with Wagner in 1872, Liszt regularly attended the Bayreuth festivals. He appeared occasionally as a pianist

Automata Theory, Classification by semi-groups

2005-03-25T18:12:00.000-08:00

A mathematically significant classification of transducers may be obtained in terms of the theory of semi-groups. In outline, if the transducer T is reduced, the functions fs given in terms of M, for fixed input, as maps from and to the space of states Q constitute a semi-group termed the semi-group of T (see 14). By a certain procedure these semi-groups and their associated transducers

Mammal, Natural history

2005-03-24T08:54:00.000-08:00

The hallmarks of the mammalian level of organization are advanced reproduction and parental care, behavioral flexibility, and endothermy (the physiological maintenance of a relatively constant body temperature independent of that of the environment, allowing a high level of activity). Within the class, ecological diversity has resulted from adaptive specialization

China, Reactions to warlords and foreigners

2005-03-21T00:05:00.000-08:00

These states, too, were moving toward a new, postwar relationship with China. At the Washington Conference (November 1921–February 1922), eight powers agreed to respect the sovereignty, independence, and territorial and administrative integrity of China, to give China opportunity to develop a stable government, to maintain the principle of equal opportunity in China for

Interior Design, Elements of design

2005-03-20T06:23:00.000-08:00

Of all the component elements that together form a completed interior, the single most important element is space. Spaces can be exhilarating or depressing, cheerful or serene, all depending upon the use the designer has made of the various elements that form the whole. Space is, in modern times, a costly commodity. The beautiful space of the Gothic cathedral achieved

Bricriu's Feast

2005-03-18T00:57:00.000-08:00

Middle Irish Fled Bricrenn in early Irish literature, a comic, rowdy account of rivalry between Ulster warriors. One of the longest hero tales of the Ulster cycle, it dates from the 8th century and is preserved in The Book of the Dun Cow (c. 1100). Bricriu, the trickster, promises the hero's portion of his feast to three different champions, Lóegaire Buadach, Conall Cernach, and Cú Chulainn. A violent dispute

Racine, Jean

2005-03-17T01:53:00.000-08:00

Racine was born into a provincial family of minor administrators. His mother died 13 months after he was born, and his father died two years later. His paternal grandparents took him in, and when his grandmother, Marie des Moulins, became a widow, she brought Racine, then age nine, with her to the convent of Port-Royal des Champs near Paris. Since a group of devout scholars and

Xenarthran

2005-03-16T23:28:00.000-08:00

Order Cingulata consists primarily of armoured armadillo-like animals, and the name refers to the girdlelike shell of present-day armadillos. The armadillo family (Dasypodidae), with 8 genera and 20 species, is the only surviving family of Cingulata. Five other families in this order are extinct and are known only from fossil remains. Members of extinct families

Aqhat Epic

2005-03-16T20:10:00.000-08:00

Ancient West Semitic legend probably concerned with the cause of the annual summer drought in the eastern Mediterranean. The epic records that Danel, a sage and king of the Haranamites, had no son until the god El, in response to Danel's many prayers and offerings, finally granted him a child, whom Danel named Aqhat. Some time later Danel offered hospitality to the divine

Roberts, Joseph Jenkins

2005-03-14T15:36:00.000-08:00

A native of Virginia, Roberts was the son of free “blacks” whose heritage was more than seven-eighths white. At the age of 20 he immigrated to Liberia with his mother and younger brothers, became a merchant, and also became an unofficial aide to the white governor of the colony, Thomas H.

Aksum

2005-03-13T02:19:00.000-08:00

Despite common belief to the contrary, Aksum did not originate from one of the Semitic Sabaean kingdoms of southern Arabia but instead developed as a local power. At its apogee (3rd–6th century AD), Aksum became the greatest market of northeastern Africa; its merchants traded as far as Alexandria and

Marquette

2005-03-12T11:58:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1851) of Marquette county, Upper Peninsula of Michigan, U.S., on Lake Superior, overlooked by Sugar Loaf Mountain (north), 66 mi (106 km) north-northwest of Escanaba. Founded in 1849 as Worcester and renamed for Jacques Marquette, it became an important iron ore and lumber port. Manufactures include foundry and wood products and mining machinery. Other economic factors are the

Bahadur Shah I

2005-03-11T18:58:00.000-08:00

As Prince Mu'azzam, the second son of the emperor Aurangzeb, he was prospective heir apparent after his elder brother defected to join their father's brother and rival, Shah Shuja'. Prince Mu'azzam was sent to represent his father in the Deccan Plateau region of south and central India in 1663. He led an army in 1683–84 against the

Waiau River

2005-03-09T08:10:00.000-08:00

River in southwestern South Island, New Zealand. It rises in Lake Manapouri and flows south through the Southland district for 135 miles (217 km) to enter Te Waewae Bay of the Tasman Sea. Its drainage basin includes the Mararoa River, extending 20 miles (32 km) farther inland to the Livingstone Mountains, and Lakes Te Anau and Monowai. The town of Tuatapere is the market and lumbering

'akko

2005-03-08T19:32:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Acre , or 'Akka city, northwest Israel. It lies along the Mediterranean Sea, at the north end of the Bay of Haifa (formerly Bay of Acre). Its natural harbour was a frequent target for Palestine's many invaders over the centuries. The earliest mention of 'Akko is in an Egyptian text dating from the 19th century BC. The Bible (Judges 1) states that the city did not fall to the Jews under Joshua and his

Itagaki Taisuke, Count

2005-03-08T03:16:00.000-08:00

Born into a middle-ranking samurai family, Itagaki entered the service of his feudal lord in 1860 and emerged from subsequent factional struggles to become the military commander in Tosa, the large feudal domain controlled by his clansmen. Under Itagaki's command

Roman Catholicism, History Of, The rise of heresy

2005-03-06T14:09:00.000-08:00

Before the middle of the 12th century heresy on a large scale was unknown in the West. The early dissenters were often radical reformers such as the Italian canon Arnold of Brescia (d. 1155), an outspoken critic of clerical wealth and corruption. Then there appeared in northern Italy and southern France the sect, Eastern and Manichaean in origin, later known as the Cathari (the

Li Ka-shing

2005-03-06T08:52:00.000-08:00

Topping Asiaweek magazine's 2000 list of Asia's 50 most powerful people was Li Ka-shing, a billionaire who took “old economy” money and parlayed it into a “new economy” juggernaut. Nicknamed “Superman” by the regional media because of his uncanny ability to pull off a succession of profitable deals, Li inspired loyalty among stockholders, who had come to expect every Li-inspired

Lipetsk

2005-03-04T15:04:00.000-08:00

Oblast (province), western Russia. It is situated on the rolling hills of the Central Russian Upland and, in the east, the low Oka-Don Plain. The Don and Voronezh rivers cross the centre of the oblast from north to south. The local agriculture has caused most of the natural oak forest cover and grass steppe to be ploughed up, resulting in severe gully erosion. Agriculture

Roman Catholicism, History Of, The rise of heresy

2005-03-03T17:37:00.000-08:00

Anatosaurus grew to a length of 9–12 metres (30–40 feet) and was heavily built. The skull was long and the beak

Atelectasis

2005-03-02T10:58:00.000-08:00

Congenital atelectasis is seen in stillborn infants who never breathe and in children living

Greville, Fulke, 1st Baron Brooke

2005-03-01T14:02:00.000-08:00

Greville's Life of the Renowned Sir Philip Sidney (1652) is a valuable commentary

Procedural Law, Common law

2005-02-28T18:09:00.000-08:00

In Anglo-American legal systems, a convicted defendant may move in the trial court to arrest judgment, or he may file a motion for a new trial. The legality of the conviction may also be challenged by appeal to a higher court. Criminal appeals were unknown in the traditional common law, but today they are universally granted by statute. In the United Kingdom, the Criminal

Athamas

2005-02-28T05:59:00.000-08:00

In Greek mythology, king of the prehistoric Minyans in the ancient Boeotian city of Orchomenus. His first wife was Nephele, a cloud goddess. But later Athamas became enamoured of Ino, the daughter of Cadmus, and neglected Nephele, who disappeared in anger. Athamas and Ino incurred the wrath of the goddess Hera because Ino had nursed the god Dionysus (q.v.). Athamas went mad

Gnu

2005-02-25T02:34:00.000-08:00

The gnu, which stands higher at the shoulder than at the rump, attains a shoulder height of 1–1.3 metres (3–4 feet). The southern African form, the white-tailed gnu, or black wildebeest (C. gnou), is dark brown with long black tufts

Antarctica, Sea life

2005-02-24T05:16:00.000-08:00

The prolific zooplankton of Antarctic waters feed on the copious phytoplankton and, in turn, form the basic diet of whales, seals, fish, squid, and seabirds. The Antarctic waters, because of their upwelled nutrients, are more than seven times as productive as subantarctic waters. The most important organism in the higher food chain is the small, shrimplike krill, Euphausia

Ubayyid, Al-

2005-02-24T03:23:00.000-08:00

Also spelled el-Obeid town, central Sudan. It lies on a sandy, scrub-covered plateau at an elevation of 1,869 feet (570 m). Founded by the Egyptians in 1821, the town was captured and largely destroyed by the Mahdist forces in 1882, but it was rebuilt after Kurdufan was federated with the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan in 1899. Al-Ubayyid is encircled by a forest reserve that tends to alleviate dust storms. Located on a spur of the

Melk

2005-02-23T20:52:00.000-08:00

Town, Bundesland (“federal state”) Niederösterreich, northeastern Austria. It lies at the confluence of the Danube and Melk rivers, west of Sankt Pölten. The town was the site of a Roman garrison and was the castle-residence of the Babenberg rulers of Austria from 976 to 1101. The castle and surrounding lands were given in 1111 to the huge Benedictine abbey of Melk (founded in 1089), which dominates

Olgas

2005-02-21T20:09:00.000-08:00

Aboriginal Kata Tjuta , also called Olga Rocks tors (isolated weathered rocks) in southwestern Northern Territory, Australia, comprising a circular grouping of some 36 red conglomerate domes rising from the desert plains north of the Musgrave Ranges. They occupy an area of 11 square miles (28 square km) within Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park (established in 1958 as the former Ayers Rock-Mount Olga National Park) and culminate

Scandinavian Literature, Major poets

2005-02-21T19:30:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of the 20th century, poetry had lyricists in Thorsteinn Erlingsson, whose early delicacy later developed into a more powerful note in “Aldaslagur” (1911; “Sound of the Ages”) and in an incomplete epic, “Eidurinn” (1913; “The Oath”); in Einar Benediktsson, who wrote in an ornate style sometimes capable of greatness, as “Í dísarhöll” (“In the Hall of the Muses”) shows; and in Stephan

Vendée, Wars Of The

2005-02-20T03:32:00.000-08:00

(1793–96), counterrevolutionary insurrections in the west of France during the French Revolution. The first and most important occurred in 1793 in the area known as the Vendée, which included large sections of the départements of Loire-Inférieure (Loire-Atlantique), Maine-et-Loire, Deux-Sèvres, and the Vendée proper. In this fervently religious and economically backward region,

Yeysk

2005-02-18T16:10:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Jejsk , or Eisk city, Krasnodar kray (region), southwestern Russia. It was founded as a port in 1848 on the southern side of Taganrog Gulf of the Sea of Azov. Fishing and associated industries (fish canning) are important; other industries include agricultural processing. The city is a noted health resort, famed for its medicinal sulfur and mud baths. A college of agricultural technology

'awali

2005-02-18T13:35:00.000-08:00

Municipality in the state and emirate of Bahrain, on central Bahrain island, in the Persian Gulf. Founded in the 1930s by the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO), it is situated just north of Bahrain's oil fields and southwest of the country's oil refinery, one of the largest in the world. The municipality was built to house the main offices, headquarters staff, and foreign executives

César

2005-02-16T07:33:00.000-08:00

Departamento, northern Colombia, bounded on the northeast by Venezuela and on the southwest by the Magdalena River. Created in 1967, the departamento, with an area of 8,844 square miles (22,905 square km), descends from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in the north and the Sierra de Perijá in the northeast to the lowlands of the Magdalena River valley. It is traversed by the César River,

Tabulata

2005-02-15T05:22:00.000-08:00

Major division of extinct coral animals found as fossils in Ordovician to Jurassic marine rocks (505 million to 144 million years old). Tabulata is characterized by the presence of interior platforms, or tabulae, and by a general lack of vertical walls, or septa. Colonial masses of these tabulate corals sometimes comprised sizable structures.

Photography, Technology Of, Gamma radiography

2005-02-12T09:14:00.000-08:00

The technique of gamma-ray radiography is similar to that of X-ray radiography except that it relies on rays emitted by radioactive substances. Gamma rays have wavelengths from 100 to 1,000 times shorter than X rays and correspondingly greater penetrating power. Small gamma-ray sources are placed in areas inaccessible to X-ray tubes, such as inside pipelines. In all radiographic

Masada

2005-02-11T06:13:00.000-08:00

Masada occupies the entire top of an isolated mesa near the southwest coast of the Dead Sea. The rhomboid-shaped mountain towers 1,424 feet (434 m) above the level of the Dead Sea. It has a summit area of about 18 acres (7 hectares). Some authorities

Football, Canadian, The early years

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

Football in the form of rugby was taken to Canada by British immigrants not long after 1823—the year in which legend has it that William Webb Ellis ran with a soccer ball on the playing fields of Rugby School, thereby inventing rugby. The first account of rugby football in Canada dates to 1862, when British regiments in Montreal were playing the game on an informal basis, and the

Bulgakov, Sergey Nikolayevich

2005-02-09T23:11:00.000-08:00

Bulgakov began his clerical training at the seminary of Oryol, Russia, but he was influenced by Marxism to

Cosmetic

2005-02-08T20:56:00.000-08:00

The earliest cosmetics known to archaeologists were in use in Egypt in the fourth millennium BC, as evidenced by

Spanish Succession, War Of The

2005-02-07T09:10:00.000-08:00

(1701–14), conflict that arose out of the disputed succession to the throne of Spain following the death of the childless Charles II, the last of the Spanish Habsburgs. In an effort to regulate the impending succession, to which there were three principal claimants, England, the Dutch Republic, and France had in October 1698 signed the First Treaty of Partition, agreeing that on the

Bone China

2005-02-06T13:28:00.000-08:00

Hybrid hard-paste porcelain containing bone ash. The initial development of bone china is attributed to Josiah Spode the Second, who introduced it around 1800. His basic formula of six parts bone ash, four parts china stone, and three and a half parts china clay remains the standard English body. Although hard porcelain is strong, it chips fairly easily and, unless specially

Healing Cult

2005-02-06T04:13:00.000-08:00

Religious group or movement that places major, or even exclusive, emphasis on the treatment or prevention by nonmedical means of physical or spiritual ailments, which are often seen as manifestations of evil. Such cults generally fall into one of three types: those centred on certain shrines or holy places, those centred on certain organizations, and those centred

Athlone, Godard Van Reede, 1st Earl Of, Baron Of Aughrim, Heer (lord) Van Ginkel

2005-02-05T10:24:00.000-08:00

Van Reede's father, Adriaan, the first baron van Reede (a Danish title),

Responsorial Singing

2005-02-04T08:55:00.000-08:00

Style of singing in which a leader alternates with a chorus. Responsorial singing is found in the folk music of many cultures—e.g., American Indian, African, and African American. One example from the rural United States is the lining out of hymns in churches: a leader sings a hymn line, which is then repeated by the congregation. Responsorial singing of the psalms was practiced

Beachy Head

2005-02-02T20:51:00.000-08:00

Prominent headland on the English Channel coast in the administrative county of East Sussex, historic county of Sussex, England, in the borough of Eastbourne. Its chalk cliffs, more than 500 ft (150 m) high, represent the seaward extension of the South Downs. The cliffs face southward and are therefore subjected to severe gales from the southwest. Erosion is concentrated along

Roman Catholic Church Of Romania

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

An Eastern Catholic church of the Byzantine rite, in communion with Rome. The Byzantine rite Catholic Church originated after the Turks ceded Transylvania to the Catholic Habsburgs (1699); at that time a large group of Orthodox Romanians, pressed by the imperial government, accepted the authority of Rome. In 1948 the Byzantine rite church was legally suppressed by the Communist

Sundiata

2005-02-01T20:24:00.000-08:00

Sundiata was a Mandingo from the small kingdom of Kangaba, near the present Mali–Guinea border. Little is known about his early life. Mandingo oral traditions

France, History Of, Regrowth of the French monarchy

2005-01-31T04:12:00.000-08:00

Thus the monarchy recovered much of the authority it had lost during the early stages of the Hundred Years' War. Although its influence in Burgundy and Flanders, now united in a formidable dynastic association, had declined, its definitive recovery of Aquitaine consolidated a direct domain, again extensive enough to free the Valois from anxiety about landed resources.

Kiderlen-wächter, Alfred Von

2005-01-30T21:09:00.000-08:00

After service in the Franco-German War (1870–71), Kiderlen studied law and entered the Prussian diplomatic service (1879). He was an exponent of the tough-minded post-Bismarckian German diplomacy and for a time enjoyed

La Motta, Jake

2005-01-28T22:41:00.000-08:00

La Motta grew up in a Bronx slum

Papagos, Alexandros

2005-01-28T07:28:00.000-08:00

Papagos, commissioned in 1906, saw his first service in the Balkan Wars (1912–13). He took part in the Greek invasion of Turkey (1919–22), won promotion to the rank of major general (1927), and became corps commander and minister of war (1935); the following year he was named chief of

Mah-jongg

2005-01-26T10:05:00.000-08:00

A game of Chinese origin, played with tiles, or p'ais, similar in physical description to those used in dominoes but engraved with Chinese symbols and characters and divided into suits and honours. A fad in England, the United States, and Australia in the mid-1920s, the game was revived in the United States after 1935 but never regained its initial popularity. In the United States,

Ovary

2005-01-24T08:58:00.000-08:00

In zoology, female reproductive organ in which sex cells (eggs or ova) are produced. The usually paired ovaries of female vertebrates produce both the sex cells and the hormones necessary for reproduction. In some invertebrate groups such as coelenterates, formation of ovaries is associated with the seasons. Many invertebrates

Juantorena, Alberto

2005-01-22T04:26:00.000-08:00

A member of the Cuban national basketball team, Juantorena switched to track at age 20. Standing 1.88 metres (6 feet 2 inches) tall with a powerful 2.75-metre (9-foot) stride, Juantorena became known as “El

Technology, History Of, The putative autonomy of technology

2005-01-19T21:03:00.000-08:00

Secondly, the definition of technology as the systematic study of techniques for making and doing things establishes technology as a social phenomenon and thus as one that cannot possess complete autonomy, unaffected by the society in which it exists. It is necessary to make what may seem to be such an obvious statement because so much autonomy has been ascribed

Mürren

2005-01-18T22:55:00.000-08:00

Alpine village, Bern canton, south central Switzerland, situated high above the Lauterbrunnen Valley in the Bernese Oberland (highland), opposite the Jungfrau (13,642 ft [4,158 m]). It is the highest village in the canton (elevation 5,450 ft) that is inhabited all the year round. A noted health and international winter-sports resort, it is also a ballooning centre with an annual international

Lin Shu

2005-01-15T07:38:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Lin Shu translator who first made available to Chinese readers more than 171 works of Western literature, even though he himself had no firsthand knowledge of any foreign language and had never traveled abroad. Working through oral interpreters, Lin Shu translated fiction from England, the United States, France, Russia, Switzerland,

Nagaland

2005-01-13T10:18:00.000-08:00

Verrier Elwin, Nagaland (1961); Prakash Singh, Nagaland, 3rd ed., rev. (1981); and Murkot Ramunny, The World of Nagas (1988), are overviews. Majid Husain, Nagaland: Habitat, Society, and Shifting Cultivation (1988), discusses the human geography of the area. On the people, see Julian Jacobs, The Nagas: Hill Peoples of Northeast India (1990). Swabera Islam Saleh, Nagaland's Economy in Transition Since 1964 (1989), examines economic developments. Hokishe Sema, Emergence of Nagaland (1986), is authored by a former chief minister of the state. B.B. Ghosh, History of Nagaland (1982), provides a brief historical survey of the region. M. Horam, Naga Insurgency: The Last Thirty Years (1988), is a personal account of the Naga Underground Movement.

Sunbury

2005-01-12T07:30:00.000-08:00

Town, south-central Victoria, Australia, on the road and rail route between Bendigo and the state capital, Melbourne, 24 miles (39 km) to the southeast. The Aboriginal name for the area was Koora Kooracup, but, when a gold rush to Bendigo began in 1851, a hotel (built on Jacksons Creek to house travelers to the goldfield) was named Sunbury, after Sunbury, Middlesex, England; the town took

Quintilian

2005-01-10T10:20:00.000-08:00

Quintilian was born in northern Spain, but he was probably educated in Rome, where he afterward received some practical training from the leading orator of the day, Domitius

Sothern, Ann

2005-01-07T17:23:00.000-08:00

American actress (b. Jan. 22, 1909, Valley City, N.D.—d. March 15, 2001, Ketchum, Idaho), achieved fame with her roles in films that included Maisie (1939) and Lady Be Good (1941) and as the star of the 1950s television series Private Secretary. Sothern began her film career after performing in Broadway musicals. Her success in the title role of Maisie led to a series of films that included Maisie Was a Lady (1941) and Undercover

Minamoto Yoritomo

2005-01-05T15:46:00.000-08:00

Defying the emperor, Yoritomo established shugo (constables) and jito (district stewards) throughout the Japanese provinces, thus undermining the central government's local administrative power, and in 1192 he acquired the title of supreme commander (shogun) over

Good-night

2005-01-04T05:03:00.000-08:00

Sensational type of broadside ballad (q.v.), popular in England from the 16th through the 19th century, purporting to be the farewell statement of a criminal made shortly before his execution. Good-nights are usually repentant in tone, containing a sketchy account of how the criminal first went astray, a detailed account of his grisly crime, his sentence by the judge, the grief

Heiss, Carol

2005-01-02T21:21:00.000-08:00

Heiss began to skate at age six, and she won the world championships in 1956, a title she held for four more years. She also captured the North American championship in 1957 and 1959 and the U.S. national championship from 1957 through 1960. Although narrowly defeated by Tenley Albright of the

Insurance, Personal liability insurance

2004-12-30T14:14:00.000-08:00

The most common form of personal liability insurance is issued as part of the homeowner's liability insurance policy. It is an all-risk agreement and contains relatively few exclusions. The policy covers any act of negligence of the insured or residents of the home that results in legal liability. It may also include medical payments insurance covering accidental

Great Belt

2004-12-28T20:50:00.000-08:00

In the late 1980s construction began on the Great Belt Fixed Link, a bridge and tunnel system connecting Zealand and Funen via the small island

Fibrin

2004-12-26T14:42:00.000-08:00

An insoluble protein that is produced in response to bleeding and is the major component of the blood clot. Fibrin is a tough protein substance that is arranged in long fibrous chains; it is formed from fibrinogen, a soluble protein that is produced by the liver and found in blood plasma. When tissue damage results in bleeding, fibrinogen is converted at the wound into

Gabbai

2004-12-24T07:57:00.000-08:00

Plural Gabbaim, or Gabbais, treasurer or honorary official of a Jewish Orthodox congregation, often placed in charge of funds used for charity. The office is a carry-over from former times, when men whose reputations were above reproach collected funds for charity. These gabba'e tzedaqa were so esteemed that no financial reports were ever asked for. The Talmud, nonetheless, insisted that they

Moshoeshoe Ii

2004-12-23T22:11:00.000-08:00

He was educated locally at Roma College, Maseru, and in Great Britain at Ampleforth College and at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. The descendant and namesake of Moshoeshoe

Biblical Literature, Greek additions to Esther

2004-12-19T10:26:00.000-08:00

The Hebrew Book of Esther had a religious and social value to the Jews during the time of Greek and Roman anti-Semitism, though the Hebrew short story did not directly mention God's intervention in history—and even God himself is not named. To bring the canonical book up-to-date in connection with contemporary anti-Semitism and to stress the religious meaning of the

Mies Van Der Rohe, Ludwig

2004-12-16T16:09:00.000-08:00

Franz Schulze, Mies van der Rohe: A Critical Biography (1985), utilizes a wide array of sources and is well illustrated. Philip C. Johnson, Mies van der Rohe, 3rd ed., rev. (1978), is a scholarly and readable book that first introduced Mies to America. Peter Blake, Mies van der Rohe (1964), is detailed, personal, and authoritative. Werner Blaser, Mies van der Rohe, rev. ed. (1972), contains a fairly complete collection of photographs and drawings of Mies's work with his own brief introduction. David Spaeth, Mies van der Rohe (1985), provides an overview of his architectural career. Interpretations of his work are in Franz Schulze (ed.), Mies van der Rohe (1989), a collection of essays; and Fritz Neumeyer, The Artless World: Mies van der Rohe on the Building Art (1991), which includes an analysis of the influences on the architect's development.

Mies Van Der Rohe, Ludwig

2004-12-14T18:13:00.000-08:00

International cooperative agency of Lutheran churches, organized at Lund, Swed., in 1947. It developed from the Lutheran World Convention, which held conventions in 1923, 1929, and 1935. The effectiveness of the Lutheran World Convention during the war years was hampered because it had no constitution or defined organization. At the Lund conference in 1947 the Lutheran World Convention

Amati Family

2004-12-12T03:44:00.000-08:00

Andrea (c. 1520–c. 1578), the founder of the Cremona school of violin making, was perhaps originally influenced by the work of slightly earlier makers from Brescia. His earliest-known violins are dated about 1564. In essentials, they set the style for all the models made by later members of the family and,

Xia Gui

2004-12-11T17:16:00.000-08:00

Xia's birth and death dates are unknown. According to most Chinese sources, however, he served in the Imperial Academy (Yuhuayuan) under the emperor Ning Zong (reigned 1194/95–1224/25), eventually attaining the rank of daizhao, or “painter in attendance,” and being awarded the highest honour a court painter could receive, the Golden Belt. The earliest source of information on him, however,

Kachina

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

In Pueblo Indian religious practice, any of more than 500 divine ancestral spirits who act as intermediaries between man and god. Each tribe has its distinct forms and variations. Kachinas are believed to reside with the tribe for half of each year. They will allow themselves to be seen by the community if the men properly perform a traditional ritual while wearing kachina

Puget Sound

2004-12-07T01:21:00.000-08:00

Deep inlet of the eastern North Pacific Ocean indenting northwestern Washington, U.S. It stretches south for 100 miles (160 km) from Admiralty Inlet and Whidbey Island (beyond which lie the straits of Georgia and Juan de Fuca). Hood Canal is a large western extension. The sound is the submerged northern end of the Cowlitz-Puget trough, which extends for some 350 miles (565 km) between the

Industrial Medicine

2004-12-04T05:34:00.000-08:00

Historically, industrial medicine was limited to the treatment of injuries and diseases occurring to production workers while at work. Over the years this has changed, and everyone at

Rio De Janeiro, Protocol Of

2004-12-02T00:12:00.000-08:00

(1942), treaty settling possession of the disputed Oriente region on the border of Peru and Ecuador, arranged by a conference of Western Hemisphere foreign ministers held at Rio de Janeiro. Peruvian forces had occupied the area in 1941, defeating the poorly equipped Ecuadoran army. Initial attempts by the United States, Argentina, and Brazil to arrange a peaceful settlement

Caccini, Giulio

2004-12-01T09:20:00.000-08:00

Also called Giulio Romano singer and composer whose songs greatly helped to establish and disseminate the new monodic music introduced in Italy about 1600. This is music in which an expressive melody is accompanied by evocative chords, as opposed to the traditional polyphonic style with its complex interweaving of several melodic

Bonaparte, Napoléon-joseph-charles-paul

2004-11-28T19:34:00.000-08:00

After the French Revolution of 1848, he was elected to the National Assembly as a representative of Corsica and assumed the name of Jérôme. Notwithstanding his ostensible

Ender, Kornelia

2004-11-27T07:00:00.000-08:00

Ender's natural ability was spotted when she was a child playing on family vacations, and she was trained from a young age by demanding East German coaches who included weight lifting in her training. She was 13 years old when she won two silver

Schleicher, August

2004-11-24T18:13:00.000-08:00

German linguist whose work in comparative linguistics was a summation of the achievements up to his time and whose methodology provided the direction for much subsequent research. He was influenced by the philosophy of G.W.F. Hegel, which he espoused during his student days at the University of Tübingen, and, later, by

Kara-bogaz-gol Gulf

2004-11-23T16:19:00.000-08:00

Russian Zaliv Kara-Bogaz-Gol , Turkmen Garabogazköl Aylagy inlet of the eastern Caspian Sea in northwestern Turkmenistan. With an area of 4,600–5,000 square miles (12,000–13,000 square km), it averages only 33 feet (10 m) in depth and has a very high evaporation rate. The water is thus extremely saline, and 7,000–11,000 cubic feet (200–300 cubic m) of water a second are drawn in from the Caspian through the narrow strait between the two sandy spits separating the gulf from the sea. The

Masai

2004-11-20T01:54:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Maasai nomadic pastoralists of East Africa. Masai is essentially a linguistic term, referring to speakers of this Eastern Sudanic language (usually called Maa) of the Nilo-Saharan language family. These include the pastoral Masai who range along the Great Rift Valley of Kenya and Tanzania, the Samburu of Kenya, and the semipastoral Arusha and Baraguyu (or Kwafi) of

Medicine, Japan

2004-11-19T08:02:00.000-08:00

In Japan, with less rigid legal restriction of the sale of pharmaceuticals than in the West, there was formerly a strong tradition of self-medication and self-treatment. This was modified in 1961 by the institution of health insurance programs that covered a large proportion of the population; there was then a great increase in visits to the outpatient clinics of hospitals

Kidd, William

2004-11-17T11:20:00.000-08:00

Kidd's early career is obscure. It is believed he went to sea as a youth. After 1689 he was sailing as

Fain, Agathon-jean-françois, Baron

2004-11-15T23:54:00.000-08:00

Before his appointment to the emperor's cabinet in 1806, Fain had worked since 1795 in various state archives. Napoleon made him a baron in

Lanchester, Frederick William

2004-11-12T18:18:00.000-08:00

In 1891, after attending Hartley University College (now the University of Southampton) and the National School of Science, Lanchester went to work for a gas-engine works in Birmingham. During his employment at the firm he improved its products

Arab Monetary Fund

2004-11-11T08:39:00.000-08:00

Arabic As-sanduq Al-mali Al-'arabi, fund that aims to assist its participants, nearly all of the members of the Arab League, by developing their capital markets, balancing payment difficulties, and helping with foreign-exchange rates. Established in April 1976, the agreement entered into force in February 1977. During its annual meeting, the board of governors of the fund formulates policy aimed at integrating

Interdict

2004-11-08T15:33:00.000-08:00

An exhibitory interdict, which usually involves rights over things, is an order requiring that a person or thing be produced. A restorative

Liechtenstein

2004-11-06T04:04:00.000-08:00

In late October the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, ruled that Prince Hans Adam

Grant, Bernie

2004-11-04T22:49:00.000-08:00

In full Bernard Alexander Montgomery Grant British politician who, with Paul Boateng and Diane Abbott, was one of the first persons of African descent to win election to the House of Commons. The son of educators, he attended St. Stanislaus College, one of the finest schools in British Guiana. In the early 1960s he moved to the United Kingdom and became

Iberian Peninsula

2004-11-02T07:52:00.000-08:00

Peninsula in southwestern Europe, occupied by Spain and Portugal. Its name derives from its ancient inhabitants whom the Greeks called Iberians, probably after the Ebro (Iberus), the peninsula's second longest river (after the Tagus). The Pyrenees form an effective land barrier in the northeast from the rest of Europe, and in the south at Gibraltar the peninsula is separated

Sessa Aurunca

2004-11-01T07:51:00.000-08:00

Town and episcopal see, Caserta provincia, Campania regione, southern Italy, on a lava deposit of the extinct Roccamonfina volcano, north-northwest of Naples. The town is on the site of the ancient Suessa Aurunca, the chief city of the Aurunci (an ancient Italic tribe), which was punished by the Romans for refusing to pay tribute. Later, it became a Roman municipium and was

Fw 190

2004-10-29T09:50:00.000-07:00

Abbreviation of Focke-wulf 190 fighter aircraft of Nazi Germany, second in importance only to the Bf 109 (or Me 109) in that nation's air force during World War II. The Fw 190 was a single-seat fighter that first flew in 1938. After some early technical problems, it went into service in 1941 and was superior to all its opponents until 1942–43; it remained a successful fighter and fighter-bomber until the end of World War II. About 20,000 Fw 190s