FullDrawer

organic bed linen

2006-10-29T15:35:00.000-08:00

Livs range of soft luxurious bed linenis sourced ethically from India and using a fair trade policy. Liv also provide duvet cover set and bath towel set.

Maskelyne, John Nevil

2005-03-18T20:42:00.000-08:00

Trained as a watchmaker, Maskelyne became famous in 1865 when he, aided by George A. Cooke, exposed the Davenport Brothers as fraudulent spiritualists.

Literature

2005-03-16T07:07:00.000-08:00

In 1997 the world of publishing was as fickle as ever. The sudden death of Diana, princess of Wales (see OBITUARIES), occasioned an outpouring of books that were devoured by the public, even as critics decried the impulse behind them. Although major publishing houses owned by multinational corporations continued their hegemony, an increasing number of highly regarded

Mufaddaliyat, Al-

2005-03-15T01:13:00.000-08:00

(Arabic: “The Examination of al-Mufaddal”), an anthology of ancient Arabic poems, compiled by al-Mufaddal ibn Muhammad ibn Ya'lah between 762 and 784. It is of the highest importance as a record of the thought and poetic art of Arabia in the last two pre-Islamic centuries. Not more than five or six of the 126 poems appear to have been composed by poets born under Islam, and, though a certain number

Amphibolite

2005-03-12T17:44:00.000-08:00

A rock composed largely or dominantly of minerals of the amphibole group. The term has been applied to rocks of either igneous or metamorphic origin. In igneous rocks, the term hornblendite is more common and restrictive; hornblende is the most common amphibole and is typical of such rocks. Hornblendite is an ultramafic rock (dominantly dark minerals) and is also

Nastase, Ilie

2005-03-11T09:54:00.000-08:00

A Davis Cup player since 1966, Nastase almost single-handedly powered Romania to the finals in 1969, 1971, and 1972, although the United States won each time. The most heartbreaking

Bassano, Jacopo

2005-03-09T15:25:00.000-08:00

His early works, such as the “Susannah and the

Clam Shrimp

2005-03-07T14:30:00.000-08:00

Also called Claw Shrimp, any member of the crustacean order Conchostraca (subclass Branchiopoda), a group of about 200 species inhabiting shallow freshwater lakes, ponds, and temporary pools throughout the world. Clam shrimps are so called because their entire body is contained within a bivalve shell (carapace) that resembles the shell of a small mollusk. Inside the shell the trunk of the animal

Burford

2005-03-04T20:54:00.000-08:00

Town (“parish”), West Oxfordshire district, administrative and historic county of Oxfordshire, southern England, on the River Windrush, in the Cotswolds. The town was acquired by Robert FitzHamon, earl of Gloucester, who granted it a market in 1088 and England's earliest datable merchant guild. Sir Lawrence Tanfield, a local landowner, successfully challenged the town's civic

San Antonio De Los Baños

2005-03-03T11:48:00.000-08:00

City, west central La Habana province, west central Cuba. Lying on the Río San Antonio de los Baños, the settlement prospered and became a health resort because of its thermal springs. It is also a commercial and manufacturing centre for the surrounding agricultural lands, which produce tobacco, sugarcane, and pineapples. Cigars, clothes, and yeast are manufactured,

Guayas River

2005-03-01T02:56:00.000-08:00

Spanish Río Guayas, river system of the coastal lowlands of Ecuador. Its eastern tributaries rise on the western slopes of the Andes and descend to drain the wet lowlands. Official usage as to how much of the system should be called the Guayas River differs; the name is certainly applied to the unified stream formed just above the city of Guayaquil by the two principal tributaries, the

Huygens, Constantijn

2005-02-27T18:31:00.000-08:00

His diplomatic service took him several times to England, where he met and was greatly influenced by John Donne and Francis Bacon. He translated 19 of Donne's poems and

Forbes, Steve

2005-02-24T02:17:00.000-08:00

Forbes graduated from Princeton University in 1970 with a B.A. degree in American history. He then went to work as a researcher for Forbes magazine, which was headed by his father, Malcolm S. Forbes, Sr. In 1973 he began writing a column for the

Kartvelian Languages

2005-02-22T04:25:00.000-08:00

Of the Kartvelian language family, only Georgian, the official language of Georgia, has an ancient literary tradition. Georgian dates to the 5th century AD. The Georgian written form is also used by speakers of the other languages, which are nonliterate.

Agrippa Von Nettesheim, Heinrich Cornelius

2005-02-20T15:41:00.000-08:00

Court secretary to Charles V, physician to Louise of Savoy, exasperating theologian within the Catholic Church, military entrepreneur in Spain and Italy, acknowledged expert on occultism, and philosopher. His tempestuous career also included teaching at Dôle and Pavia universities, appointment as orator and public advocate at Metz

Biblical Literature, III Baruch

2005-02-19T00:15:00.000-08:00

Apocalyptic literature was much concerned about sources of information about the heavenly world and about the places of the damned and saved souls. In later Jewish and early Christian apocalypses, in which the hero undertakes a heavenly trip and sees the secrets that are hidden from others, these sources of information are highly significant. III Baruch, a book

Louis, Victor

2005-02-17T10:53:00.000-08:00

After at least seven unsuccessful attempts, Louis won the Prix de Rome in 1755. While in Rome (1756–59), he offended the director of the Academy there, Charles Joseph Natoire, and this social misstep resulted in his subsequent exclusion from

Raymond, Alex(ander Gillespie)

2005-02-15T11:46:00.000-08:00

At 18 Raymond went to work in a brokerage office on New York City's Wall Street, but the stock market crash of 1929 ended his career in finance. He then worked briefly as an assistant to Russ Westover on his strip “Tillie

Aerobatics

2005-02-13T06:38:00.000-08:00

Pilots perform their sequences in the “aerobatic

Arabia, Plant life

2005-02-10T20:43:00.000-08:00

The date palm grows almost everywhere, except at very high elevations and in Dhofar, on the coast of which it is replaced by the coconut palm. The date is a source of food, and uses are found for the trunk, branches, and fibre of the date palm. Among places noted for high-quality date-palm production are Medina, Bishah, and Al-Hasa. Alfalfa (lucerne), widely used as fodder, often fills

Intelligence

2005-02-09T20:42:00.000-08:00

Much of the excitement among investigators in the field of intelligence derives from their trying to determine exactly what intelligence is. Different investigators have emphasized different aspects of intelligence in

Han-tan

2005-02-06T08:50:00.000-08:00

The area was already settled

Philip The Evangelist, Saint

2005-02-04T23:49:00.000-08:00

Also called Philip The Deacon in the early Christian church, one of the seven deacons appointed to tend the Christians of Jerusalem, thereby enabling the Apostles to freely conduct their missions. His energetic preaching, however, earned him the title of Philip the Evangelist and led him to minister successfully in Samaria, in Palestine, where he converted, among others,

Vyshinsky, Andrey Yanuaryevich

2005-02-03T18:53:00.000-08:00

Vyshinsky, a member of the Menshevik branch of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers' Party since 1903, became a lawyer in 1913 and joined the Communist Party in 1920. While teaching at Moscow State University and practicing

Tactical Weapons System

2005-02-01T09:44:00.000-08:00

System integrating tactical weapons with electronic equipment for target acquisition, aiming, or fire control or a combination of such purposes. Tactical weapons are designed for offensive or defensive use at relatively short range with relatively immediate consequences. They include weapons used for antitank assault, antiaircraft defense, battlefield

Anderson, Richard Heron

2005-01-30T20:37:00.000-08:00

Anderson graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1842 and won the brevet of first lieutenant in the Mexican War, becoming first lieutenant in 1848 and captain in 1855; he took part in the following year in the Kansas troubles. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, he resigned from the

Ouro Prêto

2005-01-28T19:13:00.000-08:00

Within a decade of its founding in 1698 as a mining settlement, Ouro Prêto became the centre of the greatest gold and silver rush in the Americas to that date. It still resembled a

Epistemology, Tautological versus significant propositions

2005-01-26T07:46:00.000-08:00

A proposition is said to be tautological if its constituent terms repeat themselves or if they can be reduced to terms that do, so that the proposition is of the form “a = a.” In such a case the proposition is said to be trivial and empty of cognitive import. A proposition is said to be significant if its constituent terms are such that the proposition does provide new information

San Fernando

2005-01-23T23:00:00.000-08:00

Town, Cadiz provincia, in the comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Andalusia, southwestern Spain. It is situated on a rocky island surrounded by salt marshes that line the southern shore of the Bay of Cadiz, south of Cadiz city. Founded in 1776, it was known as Isla de León until renamed (1813) in honour of Ferdinand VII during the Spanish War of Independence (Peninsular War).

Patristic Literature, Monastic literature

2005-01-21T22:07:00.000-08:00

Both Anthony (c. 250–355), the founder of eremitical, or solitary, monasticism in

Silica Mineral

2005-01-19T17:50:00.000-08:00

Any of the forms of silicon dioxide (SiO2), including quartz, tridymite, cristobalite, coesite, stishovite, melanophlogite, lechatelierite, and chalcedony. Various kinds of silica minerals have been produced synthetically, among which are keatite and silicalite.

Hippolytus

2005-01-18T10:23:00.000-08:00

In Euripides' tragedy Hippolytus, he was son of Theseus, king of Athens, and the Amazon Hippolyte. Theseus' queen, Phaedra, fell in love

Grand Teton National Park

2005-01-15T16:28:00.000-08:00

Spectacular glaciated mountain region in northwestern Wyoming, U.S. It lies just south of Yellowstone National Park (to which it is connected by the John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway) and north of the city of Jackson; the National Elk Refuge adjoins the park's far southeastern boundary. In 1950 most of Jackson Hole National Monument (established 1943) was incorporated

Leakey, Mary Douglas

2005-01-14T14:20:00.000-08:00

As a girl she exhibited a natural talent for drawing and was interested in archaeology. After undergoing sporadic

Pacific Ocean, Central Pacific region

2005-01-12T17:40:00.000-08:00

The central Pacific region lies between the boundaries of the eastern and western regions. The largest and the most geologically stable of the structural provinces of the Earth's crust, it is characterized by expansive areas of low relief, lying at a general depth of about 15,000 feet below the surface.

Theodahad

2005-01-10T03:42:00.000-08:00

The son of Theodoric's sister, Theodahad was invited to share the throne with Amalasuntha in 534, after the death of her son. Theodahad

Hohmann Orbit

2005-01-08T00:10:00.000-08:00

The Hohmann orbit from Earth to Mars requires about 260 (Earth) days; about two years

Tsun-i

2005-01-06T20:16:00.000-08:00

The city was brought under regular Chinese administration only in the early 7th century AD. A county was set up there in 640, and its present name, Tsun-i, was given in 642. It remained the seat of Tsun-i hsien (county), but the area did not begin to be developed

Isaac

2005-01-03T19:43:00.000-08:00

In the Old Testament (Genesis), second of the patriarchs of Israel, the only son of Abraham and Sarah, and father of Esau and Jacob. Although Sarah was past the age of childbearing, God promised Abraham and Sarah that they would have a son, and Isaac was born. Later, to test Abraham's obedience, God commanded Abraham to sacrifice the boy. Abraham made all the preparations for

National Anthem

2005-01-01T11:45:00.000-08:00

Hymn or song expressing patriotic sentiment and either governmentally authorized as an official national hymn or holding that position in popular feeling. The oldest national anthem is Great Britain's “God Save the Queen,” which was described as a national anthem in 1825, although it had been popular as a patriotic song and used on occasions of royal ceremonial since

Dye

2004-12-30T09:05:00.000-08:00

Coloured substance synthesized from certain chemical compounds called benzenoid hydrocarbons, obtained from either coal tar or petroleum. Its most important use is in dyeing textiles. Wool or cotton fabrics may have dyes applied at any stage of manufacture from fibre to finished garment, depending on the nature of the textile, its subsequent processing, and

Demosthenes

2004-12-28T17:55:00.000-08:00

From this point on (354), Demosthenes' career is virtually the history of Athenian foreign policy. It was not very long before his oratorical skill made him, in effect, the leader of what today might be called the democratic party. Some interests, especially the wealthy, would have preferred an oligarchy instead of a democracy; many merchants would have preferred peace at

Hachiman

2004-12-25T08:31:00.000-08:00

One of the most popular Shinto deities of Japan; the patron deity of the Minamoto clan and of warriors in general; often referred to as the god of war. Hachiman is commonly regarded as the deification of Ojin, the 15th emperor of Japan. He is seldom worshipped alone, however, and Hachiman shrines are most frequently dedicated to three deities: Hachiman as Ojin, his mother the

Radio Direction Finder

2004-12-22T09:13:00.000-08:00

The antenna, usually a loop antenna, rotates and pinpoints the direction from which a

Absalon

2004-12-20T04:18:00.000-08:00

Scion of a powerful Zealand family, Absalon helped his childhood friend gain the Danish throne as Valdemar I (1156–57) and was named bishop of Roskilde in 1158. As the king's closest adviser, he initially supported Valdemar's alliance with Frederick I Barbarossa, Holy

Scylla And Charybdis

2004-12-18T07:29:00.000-08:00

In Greek mythology, two immortal and irresistible monsters who beset the narrow waters traversed by the hero Odysseus in his wanderings (later localized in the Strait of Messina). Scylla was a supernatural creature, with 12 feet and 6 heads on long, snaky necks, each head having a triple row of sharklike teeth, while her loins were girt with the heads of baying dogs. From her

Beaker Folk

2004-12-16T20:00:00.000-08:00

Late Neolithic–Early Bronze Age people living about 6,000 years ago in the temperate zones of Europe; they received their name from their distinctive bell-shaped beakers, decorated in horizontal zones by finely toothed stamps. (Their culture is often called the Bell-Beaker culture.) The graves of the Beaker folk were usually modest single units, though in much of western

Strachey, (evelyn) John (st. Loe)

2004-12-15T11:34:00.000-08:00

Son of John St. Loe Strachey, publisher and editor of The Spectator, Strachey broke with his family's Conservative allegiances and in 1923, while a student at Oxford, joined

Gaultheria

2004-12-12T05:23:00.000-08:00

Genus of about 100 species of upright or prostrate evergreen shrubs, of the heath family (Ericaceae), occurring in North and South America, Asia, and Australia. The plants are distinguished by alternate, ovate leaves, white or pink flowers, and round fruit that contains numerous minute seeds. G. shallon, the salal or lemonleaf of florists, is a slender, diffuse

Biblical Literature, French versions

2004-12-11T16:12:00.000-08:00

The first complete Bible was produced in the 13th century at the University of Paris and toward the end of that century Guyart des Moulins executed his Bible Historiale. Both works served as the basis of future redactions of which

Gabrieli, Giovanni

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

Egon Kenton, Life and Works of Giovanni Gabrieli (1967); and Denis Arnold, Giovanni Gabrieli and the Music of the Venetian High Renaissance (1979, reprinted 1986).

Epistemology, Innate versus learned

2004-12-06T15:08:00.000-08:00

The puzzle about origins of knowledge has led historically to two different kinds of issues. One of these is the question of whether knowledge (or at least certain kinds of knowledge) is innate, meaning that it is not acquired or learned through experience but in some important sense is present in the human psyche at birth. The matter is still a live issue today, not only

Mahallah Al-kubra, Al-

2004-12-04T20:12:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Mahalla El-kubra, city, in the central Nile River delta of Lower Egypt, eastern Al-Gharbiyah muhafazah (governorate). It lies just west of the Damietta Branch of the Nile. Because the names of a large number of Egyptian places were compounded with mahallah (Arabic: “encampment”), exact references to the town by early Arab writers are uncertain. Al-Mahallah al-Kubra, however, was apparently an important

Earth, Radar altimetry of the ocean surface

2004-12-04T00:17:00.000-08:00

As noted above, the geoid over the oceans coincides with mean sea level provided that the dynamic effects of winds, tides, and currents are removed. The surface of the sea acts as a reflector for radar waves, and a satellite equipped with a radar altimeter can be used to sound from the satellite's instantaneous position to the sea. The accuracy with which the sea surface

Memory Abnormality

2004-12-03T03:08:00.000-08:00

Some forms of amnesia appear to be quite different from those associated with detectable injury or disease of the brain. These comprise, first, amnesias that can be induced in apparently normal individuals by means of suggestion under hypnosis; and secondly, amnesias that arise spontaneously in reaction to acute conflict or stress, and which are commonly called

Solanaceae

2004-12-02T06:11:00.000-08:00

The nightshade, or potato, family of flowering plants (order Solanales), with about 95 genera and at least 2,400 species, many of considerable economic importance as food and drug plants. Among the most important of these are the potato (Solanum tuberosum); eggplant (S. melongena); tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum); garden, or capsicum, pepper (Capsicum annuum and C. frutescens); tobacco

Academy Of Venice, Galleries Of The

2004-12-01T15:08:00.000-08:00

The galleries occupy the former monastery, church, and school of Santa Maria della Carità. The core of the collection

Tyrian Purple

2004-11-30T09:35:00.000-08:00

Naturally occurring dye highly valued in antiquity. It is closely related to indigo (q.v.).

Reproductive System, Animal, Sponges, coelenterates, flatworms, and aschelminths

2004-11-29T22:55:00.000-08:00

Sponges are at a cellular level of organization and thus do not have organs or even well-developed tissues; nevertheless, they produce sperm and eggs and also reproduce asexually. Some species of sponge are monoecious, others are dioecious. Sperm and eggs are formed by aggregations of cells called amoebocytes in the body wall; these are not considered gonads because

Menippus

2004-11-27T11:13:00.000-08:00

Menippus was allegedly a slave by birth who became rich by begging or by usury, afterward

D'urfey, Thomas

2004-11-27T01:44:00.000-08:00

Patronized by King Charles II, whom he entertained as a jester

Kenai Fjords National Park

2004-11-26T16:18:00.000-08:00

The park includes the 300-square-mile (777-square-km) Harding Icefield and its outflowing glaciers and numerous coastal fjords and islands, which are remnants

More, Hannah

2004-11-24T17:16:00.000-08:00

As a young woman with literary aspirations, More made the first of her visits to London in 1773–74. She was welcomed into a circle of Bluestocking wits and was befriended by Sir Joshua Reynolds, Dr. Johnson, and Edmund

Tabula Rasa

2004-11-24T00:34:00.000-08:00

Comparison of the mind to a blank writing-tablet occurs in Aristotle's De anima (4th century BC), and the Stoics as

Nehru, Jawaharlal

2004-11-23T22:46:00.000-08:00

Byname Pandit (Hindi: “Pundit,” or “Teacher”) Nehru first prime minister of independent India (1947–64), who established parliamentary government and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India's independence movement in the 1930s and '40s.

Strapwork

2004-11-21T02:12:00.000-08:00

Decorative motif, in flat relief, consisting variously of interlaced scrollwork, braiding, shield forms, or cross-hatching, often pierced with circular or oval holes. At times strapwork is bordered with a raised fillet (band). The whole design is usually formed of connected units, all on the same plane, as though made by an elaborately cut and pierced strap that has been

Beirut, American University Of

2004-11-20T06:56:00.000-08:00

Private, nondenominational, coeducational international and intercultural university in Beirut, Lebanon, chartered in 1863 by the state of New York, U.S., as the Syrian Protestant College. Classes started in 1866. Although founded by the American Protestant Mission to Lebanon, the school was set up as an autonomous organization and has no official relationship with any religious

Theodosius I

2004-11-18T21:59:00.000-08:00

In 379 and 380 Theodosius resided chiefly in Thessalonica. He sought first to rebuild the army, the discipline of which was considerably impaired, and to consolidate Rome's position on the Balkan peninsula. Military unpreparedness could not be overcome by conscription alone, which applied only to certain classes. Theodosius therefore directed that large numbers of

Eliot, Sir Charles

2004-11-18T09:02:00.000-08:00

A scholar and linguist, Eliot served in diplomatic posts in Russia (1885), Morocco (1892), Turkey (1893), and Washington, D.C. (1899). In 1900 he was knighted and appointed commissioner and consul

Jesus Christ, First-century Judaism

2004-11-16T09:38:00.000-08:00

The standard account of all aspects of 1st-century Judaism, though it is weak on the Jewish religion, is Emil Schürer, The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (175 B.C.– A.D. 135), trans. from German, rev. and ed. by Geza Vermes and Fergus Millar, 3 vol. in 4 (1973–87). E.P. Sanders, Judaism: Practice and Belief, 63 BCE–66 CE (1992, reprinted with corrections 1994), provides a good overview of the Jewish religion in the 1st century. Geza Vermes, An Introduction to the Complete Dead Sea Scrolls, rev. ed. (2000), is a good study of the collection at Qumran. Yigael Yadin (ed.), The Temple Scroll, 3 vol. in 4 (1977–83; originally published in Hebrew, 1977), is a valuable study of the longest and most important scroll from Qumran.

Bar Mitzvah

2004-11-15T20:10:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Bar Mitzva, or Mitzwa (Hebrew: “Son of the Commandment”), plural Bar Mitzvahs, Bar Mitzvot, or Bar Mitzwot, Jewish religious ritual and family celebration commemorating the religious adulthood of a boy on his 13th birthday. The boy, now deemed personally responsible for fulfilling all the commandments, may henceforth don phylacteries (religious symbols worn on the forehead and left arm) during the weekday-morning prayers and may be counted an adult whenever 10 male adults

Quang Tri

2004-11-15T19:08:00.000-08:00

Town, central Vietnam. It is on the left bank of the Thach Han River, 45 miles (72 km) northwest of Hue, on the national coastal highway. A highway from Dong Ha leads over the Annamite Chain (Truong Son) via the Aihao Pass (1,345 feet [410 m]) to Savannakhet, Laos, on the Mekong River. Thon Ai Tu, an ancient Cham (Champa) kingdom centre that in 1558 became the residence of Nguyen Hoang of the Vietnamese Nguyen

Valencia

2004-11-14T09:33:00.000-08:00

Provincia, in the comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Valencia, eastern Spain. It is situated along the Mediterranean Sea and has an area of 4,156 square miles (10,763 square km). The province centres on the coastal plain of the Gulf of Valencia; it is limited to the south by the mountains of northern Alicante and less clearly to the north by the watershed of the Río Turia. Interior

Levitt, Helen

2004-11-13T17:09:00.000-08:00

Levitt began her career in photography at age 18 working in a portrait studio in the Bronx. After seeing the works of French photographer Henri-Cartier Bresson, she was inspired to purchase a 35-mm Leica camera and began to scour the poor

Yajuj And Majuj

2004-11-11T15:55:00.000-08:00

In Islamic eschatology, two hostile forces who will ravage the Earth before the end of the world. The Qur'an relates that a certain people terrorized by Yajuj and Majuj induced Alexander the Great to construct a great wall between them. Yajuj and Majuj, thus trapped between two mountains until the last days of the world, dig under the wall every night trying to escape, only to find

Inductance

2004-11-11T07:57:00.000-08:00

Property of a conductor (often in the shape of a coil) that is measured by the size of the electromotive force, or voltage, induced in it, compared with the rate of change of the electric current that produces the voltage. A steady current produces a stationary magnetic field; a steadily changing current, alternating current, or fluctuating direct current produces a

Bantu Languages

2004-11-09T18:29:00.000-08:00

A group of some 500 languages belonging to the Bantoid subgroup of the Benue-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo language family. The Bantu languages are spoken in a very large area, including most of Africa from southern Cameroon eastward to Kenya and southward to the southernmost tip of the continent. Twelve Bantu languages are spoken by more than five million people,

Bergson, Henri

2004-11-09T03:14:00.000-08:00

In full Henri-Louis Bergson French philosopher, the first to elaborate what came to be called a process philosophy, which rejected static values in favour of values of motion, change, and evolution. He was also a master literary stylist, of both academic and popular appeal, and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1927.

Fløgstad, Kjartan

2004-11-07T06:59:00.000-08:00

Fløgstad's own poetry,

Nuclear Family

2004-11-07T06:12:00.000-08:00

Also called elementary family in sociology and anthropology, a group of persons united by ties of marriage and parenthood or adoption and consisting of a man, a woman, and their socially recognized children. This unit was once widely held to be the most basic and universal form of social organization. Anthropological research, however, has illuminated so much variability of this form that it is

Neoregelia

2004-11-05T06:37:00.000-08:00

Neoregelia leaves are often mottled, marbled,

Vienna State Opera

2004-11-04T09:06:00.000-08:00

German Staatsoper theatre in Vienna, Austria, that is one of the world's leading opera houses, known especially for performances of works by Richard Wagner, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Richard Strauss. The original theatre, located on the Ringstrasse, was built in 1869 to house the expanded operations of the Vienna Court Opera (Hofoper), by which name it was originally known. Particularly

Spahi

2004-11-04T07:36:00.000-08:00

Feudal cavalryman of the Ottoman Empire whose status resembled that of the medieval European knight. The spahi (from Persian for “cavalryman”) was holder of a fief (timar; Turkish: timar) granted directly by the Ottoman sultan and was entitled to all of the income from it in return for military service. The peasants on the land were subsequently attached to the land and

Kynaston, Edward

2004-11-03T08:38:00.000-08:00

His last female role was in Beaumont and Fletcher's Maid 's Tragedy with Killigrew's Company (1661). Earlier in that year the English diarist Samuel Pepys reports—having seen Kynaston play several parts in Ben Jonson's comedy The Silent Woman, one as a woman gallant in fine clothes—“And

Mcmurdo Sound

2004-11-02T16:40:00.000-08:00

Bay off Antarctica that forms the western extension of Ross Sea, lying at the edge of Ross Ice Shelf, west of Ross Island and east of Victoria Land. The channel, 92 miles (148 km) long and up to 46 miles (74 km) wide, has been a major centre for Antarctic explorations. First discovered in 1841 by the Scottish explorer Sir James Clark Ross, it thereafter served as one of the main access routes to

Aelred Of Rievaulx, Saint

2004-11-01T23:02:00.000-08:00

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

Actinide Element, Nuclear

2004-10-30T18:01:00.000-07:00

All of the actinide elements are unstable toward radioactive decay; the reason that actinium, thorium, protactinium, and uranium are found in nature at all is because some of their isotopes are unusually stable and others are being formed constantly by decay of the long-lived isotopes. It is convenient to divide the naturally occurring isotopes into families based

Early, Jubal A(nderson)

2004-10-29T18:24:00.000-07:00

Confederate general in the American Civil War (1861–65) whose army at one time threatened Washington, D.C., but whose series of defeats during the Shenandoah Valley campaigns of late 1864 and early 1865 led to the final collapse of the South. A West Point graduate, Early served in the Second Seminole War in Florida (1835–42) and the Mexican War (1846–48). In the period

Osun

2004-10-29T07:00:00.000-07:00

State, western Nigeria. Osun state was created in 1991 from the eastern third of Oyo state. It is bounded by the states of Kwara on the northeast, Ondo on the east, Ogun on the south, and Oyo on the west and northwest. The Yoruba Hills run through the northern part of Osun state. The state has a covering of tropical rain forest, and the Oshun is the most important river. Osun state is

Ayub Khan, Mohammad

2004-10-28T22:16:00.000-07:00

After studying at Aligarh Muslim University, in Uttar Pradesh, India, and at the British Royal Military College, at Sandhurst, Ayub Khan was commissioned an officer in the Indian army (1928). In World War II he was second-in-command

Tapestry, 16th century

2004-10-26T04:30:00.000-07:00

Two new trends became apparent in the 16th century. The first, brought about by war and persecution in Flanders, resulted in the widespread diffusion of the Flemish art of tapestry weaving. Many Flemish artisans in the 16th century were forced to become refugees. Some grouped together to live the life of travelling craftsmen, while others attempted to reestablish their

Rybinsk

2004-10-25T22:03:00.000-07:00

Formerly (1946–57) Shcherbakov , or (1984–88) Andropov city, Yaroslavl oblast (province), northwestern Russia, on the Volga River. The 12th-century village of Rybnaya sloboda became the town of Rybinsk in 1777. Its river port flourished after the opening (1810) of the Mariinsk Waterway, linking the Volga to the Baltic Sea, and again with the latter's reconstruction as the deep Volga-Baltic Waterway in 1964. A wide range of engineering and other

Balanopales

2004-10-24T22:03:00.000-07:00

Order of dicotyledonous flowering plants comprising the family Balanopaceae, with a single genus (Balanops) and 12 species of trees and shrubs that have simple, alternately positioned or somewhat whorled leaves. The plants are further characterized by flowers that lack showy parts (sepals and petals). The male and female flowers occur on separate plants (i.e., the plants

Aromatic Compound

2004-10-24T05:33:00.000-07:00

Any of a large class of chemical compounds whose molecular structure includes one or more planar rings of atoms joined by covalent bonds of two different kinds. The term aromatic was first applied about 1860 to a group of hydrocarbons isolated from coal tar and distinguished by their odours, which are much stronger than those of other groups of hydrocarbons; in chemistry,

Caconda

2004-10-23T09:17:00.000-07:00

A Portuguese military post was established at Caconda about 1680 to facilitate expansion of the slave trade. In the late 18th century, a permanent

Dandruff

2004-10-21T23:31:00.000-07:00

Skin disorder, a form of seborrheic dermatitis (q.v.) that affects the scalp.

San Bernardino Pass

2004-10-20T19:53:00.000-07:00

German Sankt Bernhardinpass, Italian Passo Di San Bernardino, mountain pass (6,775 ft [2,065 m]), in the Lepontine Alps of Graubünden canton, southeastern Switzerland. Although the pass was not mentioned until 941, it is believed to have been in use since prehistoric times. The road over the pass connects the villages of Splügen and Hinterrhein in the Hinterrhein River Valley to the north with the towns of Mesocco and Bellinzona in the Moesa River

Ethiopia, The Zagwe and Solomonid dynasties

2004-10-19T16:09:00.000-07:00

As Christian shipping disappeared from the Red Sea, Aksum's towns lost their vitality. The Aksumite state turned southward, conquering adjacent, grain-rich highlands. Monastic establishments moved even farther to the south—for example, a great monastery was founded near Lake Hayk in the 9th century. Over time, one of the subject peoples, the Agew, learned Ge'ez, became

Gypcrete

2004-10-19T02:07:00.000-07:00

Also called Gypcrust, gypsum-cemented duricrust, an indurated, or hardened, layer formed on or in soil. It generally occurs in a hot, arid or semiarid climate in a basin that has internal drainage. It usually is composed of about 95 percent gypsum (a hydrated calcium sulfate mineral) and is initially developed in a playa as an evaporite. Gypcrete ranges from a loose, powdery deposit to massive

Juàzeiro Do Norte

2004-10-18T03:10:00.000-07:00

Juàzeiro do Norte was given city status in 1914. Its economy depends primarily on sugar milling and cotton processing. Cereal grains