SmoothNerve

Adam And Eve, Life Of

2005-04-05T20:33:00.000-07:00

Pseudepigraphal work (a noncanonical writing that in style and content resembles authentic biblical works), one of many Jewish and Christian stories that embellish the account of Adam and Eve as given in the biblical Genesis. Biography was an extremely popular literary genre during the late Hellenistic period of Judaism (3rd century BC to 3rd century AD), and legends of

Pacatus Drepanius, Latinius

2005-04-05T08:47:00.000-07:00

It is uncertain whether Pacatus was pagan or Christian; in his speech he denounced Maximus' persecution of the Priscillianist heretics.

Paresis

2005-04-03T19:42:00.000-07:00

Also called brain syphilis, syphilitic meningoencephalitis, general paralysis of the insane, or dementia paralytica, psychosis caused by widespread destruction of brain tissue occurring in some cases of late syphilis. Mental changes include gradual deterioration of personality, impaired concentration and judgment, delusions, loss of memory, disorientation, and apathy or violent rages. Convulsions are not uncommon, and while temporary remissions sometimes occur, untreated

Nagai Kafu

2005-04-02T19:04:00.000-08:00

Edward Seidensticker, Kafu the Scribbler (1965, reprinted 1990), a biographical and critical study, also includes a number of translations of Kafu's works.

Madiun Affair

2005-04-02T11:27:00.000-08:00

Communist rebellion against the Hatta-Sukarno government of Indonesia, which originated in Madiun, a town in eastern Java, in September 1948. The Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) had been declared illegal by the Dutch following uprisings in 1926–27; it was officially reestablished on Oct. 21, 1945, when an independent Indonesia was proclaimed after World War II. The communists resumed

Meta River

2005-04-01T23:59:00.000-08:00

Major tributary of the Orinoco in eastern Colombia and western Venezuela. Formed in Meta department, Colombia, by the junction of the Upía and Guayuriba rivers, which descend from the eastern slopes of the Cordillera Oriental of the Andes, the Meta meanders east-northeastward across the Llanos (plains) of northern South America. At Nueva Antioquia, Colom., the river

Property Law, Nuisance law and continental parallels

2005-04-01T14:36:00.000-08:00

At English common law the basic limitations on the privilege of use of property were incorporated in the law of nuisance, the action that a landowner could bring if his privilege of using his land was being interfered with. Historically, nuisance law seems to have been deeply conservative; existing land uses were protected against more recent ones. A hierarchy of

Aeolipile

2005-03-31T18:37:00.000-08:00

Steam turbine invented in the 1st century AD by Heron of Alexandria and described in his Pneumatica. The aeolipile was a hollow sphere mounted so that it could turn on a pair of hollow tubes that provided steam to the sphere from a cauldron. The steam escaped from the sphere from one or more bent tubes projecting from its equator, causing the sphere to revolve. The aeolipile

Somalia, Religion

2005-03-30T02:25:00.000-08:00

Most Somali belong to the Shafi'i rite of the Sunnite sect of Islam. Various Muslim orders (tariqa) are important, especially the Qadiriyah, the Ahmadiyah, and the Salihiyah.

Sundman, Per Olof

2005-03-29T15:02:00.000-08:00

Per Olof Sundman spent much of his life in the northern province of Jämtland and used that isolated area as a locale for his first book, Jägarna (1957; “The Hunters”), a collection of short stories. It is not incidents or human relationships

Kerschensteiner, Georg

2005-03-28T09:10:00.000-08:00

Kerschensteiner studied physics and mathematics in Munich and taught mathematics in Nürnberg and Schweinfurt before being named director of public schools in Munich in 1895. In that post, which he held until 1919, and as

Level

2005-03-28T01:21:00.000-08:00

Device for establishing a horizontal plane. It consists of a small glass tube containing alcohol or similar liquid and an air bubble; the tube is sealed and fixed horizontally in a wooden or metallic block or frame with a smooth lower surface. The glass tube is slightly bowed, and adjustment to the horizontal is indicated by movement of the bubble. The device is on a

Computer Crime

2005-03-27T22:46:00.000-08:00

Since the first reported case of computer abuse in 1958, computers have been involved in most types of crimes, including theft, burglary, larceny, fraud, embezzlement,

Criminology, Typologies

2005-03-26T21:59:00.000-08:00

The typological method involves classifying offenses, criminals, criminal associations, criminal areas, or whatever according to some criteria of relatedness or similarity. Thus there have been attempts to dichotomize criminals as either “normal” or “abnormal,” “habitual” or “professional,” or to form a continuum of criminals from the “insane” at one extreme through

Ouaddaï

2005-03-26T16:29:00.000-08:00

Crossed by caravans linking the Sahara with equatorial Africa and by Muslim pilgrim routes from West Africa toward Mecca,

Catania

2005-03-25T03:15:00.000-08:00

Latin Catana, or Catina, city, capital of Catania provincia, eastern Sicily, Italy, in the broad plain of Catania on the Ionian seacoast, south of Mount Etna. The city was founded in 729 BC by Chalcidians (settlers from Chalcis in the Greek island of Euboea) from Naxos, 50 miles (80 km) north. It acquired importance in the 5th century BC with Hieron I, tyrant of Syracuse, and his son Deinomenes, who conquered it and renamed

Ramiro Ii

2005-03-23T11:58:00.000-08:00

King of Leon and Asturias in Christian Spain from 931 to 951. The second son of King Ordoño II, he became king on the abdication of his elder brother, Alfonso IV. Ramiro was an exceptional general who scored several major victories (e.g., the Battle of Simancas, 939) over the caliphate of Córdoba in Muslim Spain. In 944 he negotiated a five-year truce with the caliph 'Abd

Percy, Sir Henry

2005-03-23T09:19:00.000-08:00

The eldest son of Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, he was nicknamed Hotspur by his Scottish enemies in recognition of the diligence

Futurology

2005-03-23T04:05:00.000-08:00

In the social sciences, the study of current trends in order to forecast future developments. While the speculative and descriptive aspects of futurology are traceable to the traditions of utopian literature and science fiction, the methodology of the field originated in the “technological forecasting” developed near the end of World War II, of which Toward New

Racerunner

2005-03-23T02:04:00.000-08:00

Racerunners may be diversely marked, even within a species, being

Catastrophe Theory

2005-03-22T23:04:00.000-08:00

In mathematics, a set of methods used to study and classify the ways in which a system can undergo sudden large changes in behaviour as one or more of the variables that control it are changed continuously. Catastrophe theory is generally considered a branch of geometry because the variables and resultant behaviours are usefully depicted as curves or surfaces,

Harrison, Caroline

2005-03-22T21:42:00.000-08:00

Four years later her husband married Mary Dimmick. Rumours circulated about when the romance had begun, and when Benjamin died in 1901 his children, who were never reconciled to the second marriage, buried him beside Caroline.

Cherub

2005-03-22T14:19:00.000-08:00

Plural Cherubim, in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic literature, a celestial winged being with human, animal, or birdlike characteristics who functions as a throne bearer of the deity. Derived from ancient Middle Eastern mythology and iconography, these celestial beings serve important liturgical and intercessory functions in the hierarchy of angels. The term most likely derives

Henley-on-thames

2005-03-21T13:59:00.000-08:00

The old town (incorporated 1526) has a medieval church and a wide market street. Georgian buildings are also well represented. The old town serves

Prie-dieu

2005-03-19T23:17:00.000-08:00

First used by the higher clergy during religious services in the early European Middle Ages, the prie-dieu became popular in the 19th century

Carnivore, Form and function

2005-03-19T21:13:00.000-08:00

Cats have a reduced number of premolar and molar teeth; the typical dental formula includes only 30 teeth. The incisors are small and chisel-like and the canines long and pointed. The premolars are sharp, and occasionally an upper premolar may be lacking. The lower molar is elongate and sharp, the upper molar rudimentary. Because of the reduction in the number and size

Torbernite

2005-03-19T17:45:00.000-08:00

Hydrated copper uranate phosphate mineral, Cu(UO2)2(PO4)2×8–12H2O, that is one of the principal uranium-bearing minerals. Usually associated with autunite, it occurs as green crystals or micalike masses that are weathering products of uraninite. Torbernite is abundant in Cornwall, Eng., and in Katanga province, Congo (Kinshasa). For detailed physical properties, see phosphate

Cheliff, Ech-

2005-03-19T04:56:00.000-08:00

Formerly (until 1981) El-Asnam, or (until 1964) Orléansville, town, northern Algeria. It lies along the Chelif River, south of the Mediterranean port of Ténès. It was founded by the French in 1843 on the site of the ancient Roman settlement of Castellum Tingitanum and is now an important rail junction midway between Algiers and Oran, as well as an agricultural trade centre. In the surrounding region wheat and barley are the main crops,

Turgovishte

2005-03-18T15:00:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Targovište, formerly (until 1934) Eski Dzhumaya, town, eastern Bulgaria, on the Vrana River. Known formerly for its great cattle fair, which attracted visitors from throughout the Balkans, it continues as a craft centre, producing textiles, furniture, pottery, and processed foods. It has long been a centre for the Muslim faith in Bulgaria. Its former Turkish name was Eski Cumaya (Dzhumaya), but the modern town has subdued

Furniture, Fixed and mechanical tables

2005-03-18T09:14:00.000-08:00

In general, tables can be divided into fixed and mechanical types. The fixed table, consisting of a square or round top supported by one or more legs, is the least complicated from the viewpoint of craftsmanship. It is a form that requires wood of thick dimensions in order to make the joints by which the top is fastened to the legs strong enough to resist lateral pressure.

Cosmos

2005-03-17T21:55:00.000-08:00

If one looks up on a clear night, one sees that the sky is full of stars. During the summer months in the Northern Hemisphere, a faint band of light stretches from horizon to horizon, a swath of pale white cutting across a background of deepest black. For the early

Avvakum Petrovich

2005-03-17T07:23:00.000-08:00

Archpriest, leader of the Old Believers, conservative clergy who brought on one of the most serious crises in the history of the Russian church by separating from the Russian Orthodox church to support the “old rite,” consisting of many purely local Russian developments. He is also considered to be a pioneer of modern Russian

Oakley, Kenneth (page)

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

Oakley received a B.S. in geology with first-class honours from University College, London, in 1933, and a Ph.D. from the same institution in 1938. He was long associated with the British

Quinceañera

2005-03-15T23:17:00.000-08:00

Also called quince años Mexican celebration of a girl's 15th birthday, marking her passage from childhood to adulthood. The traditional quinceañera is both a religious and a social event that emphasizes the importance of the family and society in the life of young people. The celebration begins with a mass attended by the girl and her family and godparents. This is followed by a reception,

Smith, Amanda

2005-03-15T18:39:00.000-08:00

Born a slave, Berry grew up in York county, Pa., after her father bought his own freedom and that of most of the family. She was educated mainly at home and at an early age began working as a domestic. An unhappy first marriage ended with the disappearance

Pedro Juan Caballero

2005-03-15T09:57:00.000-08:00

Town, eastern Paraguay, founded in 1899. It lies in the Amambay Mountains at 2,296 feet (700 m) above sea level, opposite Ponte Porã, Braz. Pedro Juan Caballero is the region's largest town and principal trade centre. The hinterland is utilized primarily for cattle ranching and coffee growing. In the town are a government delegation, a radio station, a commerce school, a teachers college,

Yemen

2005-03-14T23:58:00.000-08:00

A republic of the southwestern Arabian Peninsula, Yemen has coastlines on the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Arabian Sea. Area: 527,970 sq km (203,850 sq mi), including 55,871 sq km of undemarcated area bordered by Saudi Arabia and claimed by the former Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen). Pop. (1995 est.): 13,058,000. Cap.: San'a`. Monetary unit: Yemen Rial, with (Oct. 6, 1995) an official par value of YRls 50 to U.S. $1 (YRls 79.04 = £1 sterling) and a free

Christian-jaque

2005-03-14T22:12:00.000-08:00

Christian-Jaque was educated at the School of Fine Arts and the School of Decorative Arts, both in Paris. He started his career as a journalist and film critic and in 1926 entered the film industry

China, Population growth

2005-03-14T15:33:00.000-08:00

Historical records show that, as long ago as 800 BC, in the early years of the Chou dynasty, China was already inhabited by about 13,700,000 people. Until the last years of the Hsi (Western) Han dynasty, about AD 2, comparatively accurate and complete registers of population were kept, and the total population in that year was given as 59,600,000. This first Chinese census was intended mainly as a preparatory

Douglass, Frederick

2005-03-13T14:14:00.000-08:00

Separated as an infant from his slave mother

Evans, Walker

2005-03-12T22:18:00.000-08:00

American photographer, important primarily for documenting the effects of economic depression in the American South and photographically interpreting American folk architecture. His approach to photography was largely formed by the documentary photographs of the French photographer Eugène Atget, whose influence

Orange Walk

2005-03-12T07:06:00.000-08:00

Town, northwestern Belize, situated on the left (west) bank of the New River. Established in early colonial times, it was pillaged by hostile Indians in 1872. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it conducted a thriving trade in mahogany. The town declined after demand for mahogany lessened. Sugarcane and citrus fruit cultivation and rum distilling are the main economic

Encamp

2005-03-11T16:00:00.000-08:00

Village, Andorra, on a headstream of the Riu (river) Valira. Its agricultural economy is supplemented by tourism, especially skiing. Encamp has a broadcasting transmitter of Radio Andorra. Above the village is Engolasters Lake, accessible by cable car. There are facilities for generating hydroelectric power. In the locality is the Pic (peak) des Pessons (9,400 ft [2,865 m]). Pop. (1990) 7,489.

Frederick I

2005-03-11T04:08:00.000-08:00

Byname Frederick Barbarossa (Italian: Redbeard) duke of Swabia (as Frederick III, 1147–90) and German king and Holy Roman emperor (1152–90), who challenged papal authority and sought to establish German predominance in western Europe. He engaged in a long struggle with the cities of northern Italy (1154–83), sending six major expeditions southward. He died while on the Third Crusade to the Holy Land.

Ghaggar River

2005-03-10T17:23:00.000-08:00

River, northern India. The Ghaggar rises in the Siwalik Range, northwestern Himachal Pradesh state, and flows about 200 miles (320 km) southwest through Haryana state, where it receives the Saraswati River. It eventually loses itself in the sands of the Thar Desert. Just southwest of Sirsa it feeds two irrigation canals that extend into Rajasthan. The Ghaggar was probably once an

Mauldin, Bill

2005-03-10T07:30:00.000-08:00

After studying cartooning at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts,

Vega, Lope De

2005-03-09T23:57:00.000-08:00

Outstanding dramatist of the Spanish Golden Age, author of as many as 1,800 plays and several hundred shorter dramatic pieces, of which 431 plays and 50 shorter pieces are extant.

Botanical Garden

2005-03-09T17:29:00.000-08:00

Also called Botanic Garden, originally, a collection of living plants designed chiefly to illustrate relationships within plant groups. In modern times, most botanical gardens are concerned primarily with exhibiting ornamental plants, insofar as possible in a scheme that emphasizes natural relationships. Thus, the two functions are blended: eye appeal and taxonomic order. Plants that

Frederick (iii)

2005-03-08T16:42:00.000-08:00

After his father's murder (1308) Frederick became the head of the House of Habsburg and duke of Austria but did not succeed him as king, the count of Luxembourg being elected instead, as Henry VII. Frederick and his brothers made a treaty with Henry

Economic Growth

2005-03-08T13:27:00.000-08:00

Growth can best be described as a process of transformation. Whether one examines an economy that is already modern and

Abemama Atoll

2005-03-08T08:34:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Apamama , formerly Roger Simpson Island coral atoll of the northern Gilbert Islands, part of Kiribati, in the west-central Pacific Ocean. Captain Charles Bishop, who discovered the atoll in 1799, named it Roger Simpson Island for one of his associates. Seat of the area's ruling family in the 19th century, the atoll was the site of the formal British annexation of the Gilbert Island group in 1892. Occupied by Japanese forces

Neo-confucianism

2005-03-08T04:24:00.000-08:00

In Japan, the official guiding philosophy of the Tokugawa period (1603–1867). This philosophy profoundly influenced the thought and behaviour of the educated class. The tradition, introduced into Japan from China by Zen Buddhists in the medieval period, provided a heavenly sanction for the existing social order. In the Neo-Confucian view, harmony was maintained by a reciprocal

Jackson, Andrew

2005-03-06T16:31:00.000-08:00

After the close of the war, Jackson was named commander of the southern district. He entrusted the command of the troops in the field to subordinates while he retired to his home at the Hermitage, near Nashville. He was ordered back to active service at the end of December 1817, when unrest along the border appeared to be reaching critical proportions. The instructions given Jackson were vague, and he ordered an invasion of Florida immediately after taking active command. He captured two Spanish posts and appointed one of his subordinates military governor of Florida. These bold actions brought an immediate and sharp protest from Spain and precipitated a cabinet crisis in Washington. The staunch defense of Jackson by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams saved Jackson from censure and hastened the U.S. acquisition of Florida.

Powell, Lewis Franklin, Jr.

2005-03-06T01:07:00.000-08:00

American lawyer and judge (b. Sept. 19, 1907, Suffolk, Va.--d. Aug. 25, 1998, Richmond, Va.), served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court for 15 years, during which he often provided a centrist viewpoint in an otherwise polarized tribunal. He cast the deciding vote on a number of landmark cases, most notably Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978), which opposed strict racial quotas

Amphitherium

2005-03-05T04:56:00.000-08:00

Extinct genus of early mammals known as fossils from Middle Jurassic deposits (of 187 to 163 million years ago). Amphitherium is the earliest representative of the pantotheres, a group of early mammals that, it is believed, represents the stock that gave rise to all the higher mammals of later times. Amphitherium is known from a lower jaw found in Europe and is characterized

Cystitis

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

Acute or chronic inflammation of the urinary bladder. The bladder, the storage sac for urine, is lined with a mucous membrane and is highly resistant to infection. Occasionally, however, infections arise from such neighbouring organs as the kidneys and (in females) the vagina and urethra and (in males) the urethra and the prostate. Other conditions such as obstructions,

Antarctica

2005-03-04T19:31:00.000-08:00

Ice averaging 2,160 m (7,087 ft) in thickness covers 98% of the continent of Antarctica, which has an area of 14 million sq km (5.4 million sq mi). There is no indigenous human population. Human activity consists mainly of scientific research at approximately 40 year-round stations and additional summer-only camps; the population is about 4,100 in summer and 1,000 in winter. In addition, several thousand

Race, South Africa

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

Although race categories and racial ideology are both arbitrary and subjective, race was a convenient way to organize people within structures of presumed permanent inequality. South Africa's policy of apartheid exhibited the same basic racial ideology as the North American system but differed in two respects: the systematic state classification of races

Baseball

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

The United States is credited with developing several popular sports, including some (such as baseball, gridiron football, and basketball) that have large fan bases and, to varying degrees, have been adopted internationally. But baseball, despite the spread of the game throughout the globe and the growing influence of Asian and Latin American leagues and players,

Waterfall

2005-03-02T09:39:00.000-08:00

Area where flowing river water drops abruptly and nearly vertically (see video). Waterfalls represent major interruptions in river flow. Under most circumstances rivers tend to smooth out irregularities in their flow by processes of erosion and deposition. In time, the long profile of a river (the graph of its gradient) takes the form of a smooth curve, steepest toward

Wilkes, John

2005-03-01T06:11:00.000-08:00

Outspoken 18th-century journalist and popular London politician who came to be regarded as a victim of persecution and as a champion of liberty because he was repeatedly expelled from Parliament. His widespread popular support may have been the beginning of English Radicalism.

German Literature, Aestheticism

2005-03-01T04:35:00.000-08:00

In the final decades of the 19th century the literary scene was divided between naturalism and its opposites, variously collected under terms such as Neoromanticism, Impressionism, Jugendstil, and Decadence. Aestheticism—the belief that the work of art need have no moral or political use beyond its existence as a beautiful object—may prove to be the most appropriate

Armory Show

2005-03-01T04:26:00.000-08:00

Formally International Exhibition of Modern Art an exhibition of painting and sculpture held from Feb. 17 to March 15, 1913, at the Sixty-ninth Regiment Armory in New York City. The show, a decisive event in the development of American art, was originally conceived by its organizers, the Association of American Painters and Sculptors, as a selection of representational works exclusively by American artists, members both of

Monadhliath Mountains

2005-02-27T23:46:00.000-08:00

Also called Grey Hills mountain range in the Highland council area, Scotland, between Loch Ness in the northwest and the River Spey in the southeast. The range has several summits with elevations greater than 3,000 feet (900 metres), the highest being Carn Mairg at 3,087 feet (941 metres), the haunt of eagles and wild cats. The River Findhorn rises on the northwestern slopes of Carn Mairg and flows northward to

Tharrawaddy

2005-02-27T22:13:00.000-08:00

Tharrawaddy in 1837 deposed his brother Bagyidaw (reigned 1819–37), who had been obliged to sign the humiliating treaty that ceded the provinces of Arakan and Tenasserim to the British. Upon his accession, Tharrawaddy

Roman Catholic Church Of Romania

2005-02-27T18:16:00.000-08:00

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

Ars Nova

2005-02-27T14:49:00.000-08:00

(Medieval Latin: “New Art”), in music history, period of the tremendous flowering of music in the 14th century, particularly in France. The designation Ars Nova, as opposed to the Ars Antiqua (q.v.) of 13th-century France, was the title of a treatise written about 1320 by the composer Philippe de Vitry. Philippe, the most enthusiastic proponent of the “New Art,” demonstrates in his treatise

Leaf Monkey

2005-02-26T06:51:00.000-08:00

Species of langur (q.v.).

Schenker, Heinrich

2005-02-26T04:52:00.000-08:00

Austrian music theorist whose insights into the structural hierarchies underlying much of 18th- and 19th-century music led to a new understanding of the laws of melodic and harmonic construction and form. Schenker was not well known in his time; he worked as a private teacher in Austria. He studied composition with Anton Bruckner

Czechoslovak Hussite Church

2005-02-26T01:57:00.000-08:00

Formerly Czechoslovak Church, church established in Czechoslovakia in 1920 by a group of dissident Roman Catholic priests. Its forerunner was the Jednota (Union of the Catholic Czechoslovak Clergy), founded in 1890 to promote such reforms as use of the vernacular in the liturgy and voluntary clerical celibacy. The new church, formed when these demands were rejected by the Vatican in 1919, adopted a rationalistic

ásgrímsson, Eysteinn

2005-02-25T04:21:00.000-08:00

Records of Ásgrímsson's life are scant. In 1343 he was imprisoned, probably for thrashing his abbot and perhaps for a breach of chastity as well. In 1349 he was made an official of the Skálholt bishopric, and he attended the bishop on a mission

Argentina, Diet

2005-02-24T16:31:00.000-08:00

The combination of Old and New World cultures is also seen in the Argentine diet. Southern European influences appear especially in the cities, where breakfast is generally a serving of three sweet rolls (medialunas) and coffee, and supper is taken, in the Spanish tradition, after 9:00 PM. The Italian influence is seen in the popularity of pasta dishes. But the New World asserts

Ectoplasm

2005-02-24T15:15:00.000-08:00

In occultism, a mysterious, usually light-coloured, viscous substance that is said to exude from the body of a spiritualist medium in trance and may then take the shape of a face, a hand, or a complete body. It is normally visible only in the darkened atmosphere of a séance (q.v.). Ectoplasm is said to be the substance involved in the materialization of spiritual bodies, and

Spalatin, Georg

2005-02-23T21:18:00.000-08:00

As a student Spalatin came in contact with various humanists, and he followed their custom in choosing a last name that reflected his birthplace. In 1505 he joined

Aguinaldo, Emilio

2005-02-23T18:23:00.000-08:00

Born of Chinese and Tagalog parentage, he completed his education at the University of Santo Tomás, Manila. In August 1896 he was mayor of Cavite Viejo and was the local leader of the Katipunan, a revolutionary

Locust Bird

2005-02-22T23:51:00.000-08:00

Any of various African birds that eat grasshoppers and locusts, especially the black-winged pratincole (see pratincole). In India the rose-coloured starling is called locust bird.

Sinkiang, Uygur Autonomous Region Of, Education

2005-02-22T15:18:00.000-08:00

Before World War II the educational system was minimal. Since 1949, educational facilities have been broadened and the literacy rate is better than the national average. Institutions of higher learning, concentrated in Wu-lu-mu-ch'i, include the Sinkiang University; the Sinkiang “August First” Institute of Agriculture, which offers a course on water conservation; the

Pacific Ocean, Eastern region

2005-02-22T13:20:00.000-08:00

The eastern region, which extends southward from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, is relatively narrow and is associated with the American cordilleran system of almost unbroken mountain chains, the coastal ranges of which rise steeply from the western shores of North and South America. The continental shelf, which runs parallel to it, is steep and comparatively narrow.

Lamar, Lucius Q.c.

2005-02-21T21:38:00.000-08:00

Lamar was admitted to the bar in Georgia in 1847 and was a member of the Georgia House of Representatives (1853). He moved to Mississippi in 1855 and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives

Cytokine

2005-02-20T13:11:00.000-08:00

Any of a group of small, short-lived proteins that are released by one cell to regulate the function of another cell, thereby serving as intercellular chemical messengers. Cytokines effect changes in cellular behaviour that are important in a number of physiological processes, including reproduction, growth and development, and injury repair. However, they are

Basidiocarp

2005-02-19T15:36:00.000-08:00

In fungi, a large sporophore, or fruiting body, in which sexually produced spores are formed on the surface of club-shaped structures (basidia). Basidiocarps are found among the members of the class Basidiomycetes (q.v.), with the exception of the rust and smut fungi. The largest basidiocarps include giant puffballs (Calvatia gigantea), which can be 1.6 m (5.25 feet) long, 1.35 m broad, and

France, History Of, Tax reform

2005-02-19T15:02:00.000-08:00

In 1749–51 Jean-Baptiste de Machault d'Arnouville, then comptroller general of finances, proposed a partial reform of the tax system, his particular concern being to restrict the financial power of the church. In 1764 and 1765 another comptroller general, François de L'Averdy, attempted a reform of municipal representation and administration. All royal officials understood the

Locke, John

2005-02-19T14:57:00.000-08:00

English philosopher who was an initiator of the Enlightenment in England and France, an inspirer of the U.S. Constitution, and the author of, among other works, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, his account of human knowledge, including the “new science” of his day—i.e., modern science.

Beardmore Glacier

2005-02-18T04:45:00.000-08:00

Glacier in central Antarctica, descending about 7,200 ft (2,200 m) from the South Polar Plateau to Ross Ice Shelf, dividing the Transantarctic Mountains of Queen Maud and Queen Alexandra. One of the world's largest known valley glaciers, it is 125 mi (200 km) long and is 25 mi in width. The British explorers Ernest Henry Shackleton (1908) and Robert Scott (1911) discovered the glacier on their route to the

New Albany

2005-02-17T18:51:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1819) of Floyd county, southeastern Indiana, U.S. It lies along the Ohio River (bridged) opposite Louisville, Kentucky. It was founded in 1813 by Joel, Abner, and Nathaniel Scribner, who named the settlement for their hometown, Albany, New York. By the 1840s and early '50s, New Albany had become the largest city in Indiana and an important steamboat-building centre (the famous riverboats

Arabia, History Of, Yemen

2005-02-17T01:55:00.000-08:00

In 1839 the British took Aden, ruling it and the island of Socotra (at the entrance to the Gulf of Aden) from India; the port of Aden became valuable as a coaling station. In 1849 the Ottoman Turks occupied the Yemeni Tihamah but could not hold San'a' in the interior until 1872. They were never able to break the resistance of the Zaydi tribes completely and were forced to an accommodation with

Plymouth

2005-02-17T01:39:00.000-08:00

Town (township), Plymouth county, southeastern Massachusetts, U.S. It lies on Plymouth Bay, 37 miles (60 km) southeast of Boston. It was the site of the first permanent settlement by Europeans in New England, Plymouth colony, known formally as the colony of New Plymouth. The town was founded by Pilgrims (separatists from the Church of England) who, in their search for religious toleration,

France, History Of, The restoration of the empire

2005-02-16T15:46:00.000-08:00

When by the end of the 8th century Charles was master of a great part of the West, he reestablished the empire in his own name. He was crowned emperor in Rome (Christmas Day, 800), by Pope Leo III. Charlemagne's powers in Rome and in relation to the Papal States, which were incorporated, with some degree of autonomy, into the Frankish empire, were clarified. Although his new title did

Affirmative Action

2005-02-16T15:36:00.000-08:00

In the United States, an active effort to improve employment or educational opportunities for members of minority groups and for women. Affirmative action began as a government remedy to the effects of long-standing discrimination against such groups and has consisted of policies, programs, and procedures that give preferences to minorities and women in job

Ocean, Spreading centre zones and associated phenomena

2005-02-16T02:42:00.000-08:00

Spreading centres are divided

Koraïs, Adamántios

2005-02-15T05:59:00.000-08:00

Kora

Mars, Canals Of

2005-02-14T10:39:00.000-08:00

Apparent systems of long, straight linear markings on the surface of Mars that are now known to be illusions caused by the chance alignment of craters and other natural surface features seen in telescopes near the limit of resolution. They were the subject of much controversy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and influenced popular thinking about the possibility

Lijia

2005-02-14T02:44:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles li-chia system of social organization in Ming-dynasty China. See pao-chia.

Arabia, Climate

2005-02-13T17:56:00.000-08:00

The Tropic of Cancer virtually bisects the Arabian Peninsula, passing just south of Medina. The summer heat is intense everywhere, reaching as high as 129° F (54° C) in places. Much of the interior is dry, but along the coasts and in some of the southern highlands and deserts the humidity is extreme in the summer. Fogs and dews occur in the humid areas, dew often serving as a substitute

Ninazu

2005-02-13T00:50:00.000-08:00

In Mesopotamian religion, Sumerian deity, the city god of Enegir, which was located on the Euphrates River between Larsa and Ur in the southern orchard region. Ninazu was also the city god of Eshnunna (modern Tall al-Asmar in eastern Iraq). Ninazu, whose name means “Water Knower,” was primarily an underworld deity, although the exact nature of his character or functions

Van Dine, S.s.

2005-02-12T11:58:00.000-08:00

Wright was educated at St. Vincent and Pomona colleges in California, at Harvard University, and in Munich and Paris. Pursuing a career as a writer, Wright became literary editor of the

Ust-orda Buryat

2005-02-12T11:38:00.000-08:00

Also called Ust-ordynsky Buryat, autonomous okrug (district) in Irkutsk oblast (province), east-central Russia. It lies west of Lake Baikal and extends across the Angara River. The okrug was created in 1937. Its plateau relief is partly in boreal forest, or taiga, of larch, spruce, fir, pine, and birch and partly in forest-steppe. Coal is mined in the west, where the Trans-Siberian Railroad crosses the okrug. Timber

Ukrainian Language

2005-02-11T21:25:00.000-08:00

Formerly called Ruthenian, or Little Russian, Ukrainian Ukraïns'ka Mova, East Slavic language spoken in Ukraine and in Ukrainian communities in neighbouring Belarus, Russia, Poland, and Slovakia. Ukrainian is a lineal descendant of the colloquial language used in Kievan Rus (10th–13th century). It is written in a form of the Cyrillic alphabet and is closely related to Russian and Belarusian, from which it was indistinguishable until the 12th

Lijia

2005-02-11T13:14:00.000-08:00

From the time of its inception in 1943 until the time of its demise in 1954, the AAGPBL included some 545 women, who were recruited from the United States, Canada, and Cuba. The league's founder was Chicago Cubs owner

China, Reconstruction and consolidation, 194952

2005-02-10T23:37:00.000-08:00

During this period, the CCP made great strides toward bringing the country through three critical transitions: from economic prostration to economic growth, from political disintegration to political strength, and from military rule to civilian rule. The determination and capabilities demonstrated during these first years—and the respectable showing (after