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Swahili Language

2005-04-04T21:57:00.000-07:00

People who speak Swahili as their sole mother tongue are usually

Siloé, Diego De

2005-04-04T11:37:00.000-07:00

The son of the sculptor Gil

Literature

2005-04-02T09:10:00.000-08:00

Strict ideological censorship by the government continued in 1994 to be the background against which all discussions of the literary scene in Iran had to be conducted. In this regard the most sensational event of the year was the death, probably in November, of the noted essayist and satirist 'Ali Akbar Sa`idi Sirjani, who died in custody, under unexplained circumstances,

Järta, Hans

2005-04-02T04:28:00.000-08:00

In the 1790s Hans Hierta began his career as a publicist and a left-wing member of the noble estate of the Riksdag (estates general). In sympathy with the French Revolution

La Matanza

2005-03-31T02:54:00.000-08:00

Partido (political subdivision) of Gran (Greater) Buenos Aires, Arg., directly southwest of the city of Buenos Aires, in Buenos Aires province. The present-day partido was part of the Pago (country district) de las Conchas during the 17th and early 18th centuries. In 1730 the Pago de las Conchas was divided into four rural settlement areas, one of which was the Pago de la Matanza. The

Dyula

2005-03-30T14:46:00.000-08:00

The Dyula were active gold traders as long ago as the time of the ancient African kingdom of Ghana. They flourished under the empire of Mali, when they provided a link between the gold-producing forestlands in

Wolfsburg

2005-03-29T04:59:00.000-08:00

The village of Hesslingen, dating from about 700, was the first settlement near the site of Wolfsburg; the

Confucianism, The Sung masters

2005-03-28T10:49:00.000-08:00

The Sung dynasty (960–1279) was militarily weak and much smaller than the T'ang, but its cultural splendour and economic prosperity were unprecedented in human history. The Sung's commercial revolution produced flourishing markets, densely populated urban centres, elaborate communication networks, theatrical performances, literary groups, and popular religions—developments

Philanthropinum

2005-03-26T22:30:00.000-08:00

Late 18th-century school (1774–93) founded in Dessau, Germany, by the educator Johann Bernhard Basedow to implement the educational ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Aiming to foster in its students a humanitarian worldview and awareness of the community of interest among all people, it taught rich and poor boys together regardless of religious or class distinctions. The school

Tabasco

2005-03-26T08:48:00.000-08:00

Hot red pepper, a variety of Capsicum frutescens of the Solanaceae, or nightshade, family. See pepper.

Vagina

2005-03-25T21:09:00.000-08:00

In humans the vagina is about 9 cm (3.5 inches) long; it is located in front of the rectum and behind the bladder. The cervix of the uterus connects to the upper region

Mönchengladbach

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

Formerly München-Gladbach city, North Rhine-Westphalia Land (state), western Germany, west of Düsseldorf. It developed around a Benedictine monastery (founded in 972, suppressed in 1802, whence the name Mönchengladbach [“monks' Gladbach”]), and was chartered in 1336. For a brief period (1929–33) it united with Rheydt (immediately south) and Odenkirchen to form Gladbach-Rheydt. In 1975 Rheydt was incorporated into Mönchengladbach.

Cymophane

2005-03-23T10:25:00.000-08:00

Variety of the gemstone chrysoberyl (q.v.).

Madhubani

2005-03-23T03:34:00.000-08:00

Town, north-central Bihar state, northeastern India. It is situated 16 miles (26 km) northeast of Darbhanga town. Madhubani derives its name from the abundance of honey that is to be found in nearby forests (madhu, “honey”; bani, “forest”). Trade in cloth, sugarcane, mangoes, oilseeds, rice, and fish is economically important, and baskets, pottery, handloomed textiles, and wooden furniture

Zanj Rebellion

2005-03-21T20:09:00.000-08:00

(AD 869–883), a black-slave revolt against the 'Abbasid caliphal empire. A number of Basran landowners had brought several thousand East African blacks (Zanj) into southern Iraq to drain the salt marshes east of Basra. The landowners subjected the Zanj, who generally spoke no Arabic, to heavy slave labour and provided them with only minimal subsistence. In September 869, 'Ali ibn Muhammad,

Leaf

2005-03-20T06:24:00.000-08:00

In botany, any usually flattened green outgrowth from the stem of a vascular plant. Leaves manufacture food for plants, which in turn ultimately nourish and sustain all land animals. Botanically, leaves are an integral part of the stem system, and they are initiated in the apical bud along with the tissues of the stem itself. Certain organs that are superficially very

Biblical Literature, Coptic versions

2005-03-19T23:15:00.000-08:00

The spread of Christianity among the non-Greek speaking peasant communities of Egypt necessitated the translation of the Scriptures into the native tongue (Coptic). These versions may be considered to be wholly Christian in origin and largely based on the Greek Bible. They also display certain affinities with the Old Latin. Nothing certain is known about the Coptic

Mercury Processing

2005-03-19T01:43:00.000-08:00

Mercury (Hg) has a unique combination of physical properties. Its low melting point (-38.87° C [-38° F]) and boiling point (356.9° C [674° F]), high specific gravity (13.5 grams per cubic centimetre), uniform volume expansion over the entire range of temperatures in its liquid state, and high surface tension (so that it does not wet glass) make it useful for

Tabriz School

2005-03-18T01:29:00.000-08:00

The early works of the Tabriz school were

Toad

2005-03-17T18:24:00.000-08:00

Any squat, rough-skinned, tailless amphibian of the order Anura, and especially a member of the family Bufonidae. The true toads (Bufo), with more than 300 species, are found worldwide except in Australasia, Madagascar, polar regions, and Polynesia, though Bufo marinus has been introduced into Australia and some South Pacific islands. Besides Bufo, the family

Utrecht, Treaties Of

2005-03-16T02:29:00.000-08:00

France concluded treaties of peace at Utrecht with Britain, the Dutch republic, Prussia, Portugal, and Savoy. By the treaty with Britain (April 11), France recognized Queen

Mason Ware

2005-03-16T00:38:00.000-08:00

A sturdy English pottery known as Mason's Patent Ironstone China. It was first produced by C.J. Mason & Company in 1813 to provide a cheap substitute for Chinese porcelain, especially the larger vases. The decoration was a kind of chinoiserie, or hybrid Oriental. Mason specialties were vases, some more than 3 feet (1 m) high, with flowers in high relief and handles and knobs shaped

Arabia, Ad-Dahna'

2005-03-14T13:11:00.000-08:00

The Ad-Dahna' belt, separating Najd from eastern Arabia, is a sand stream moving slowly over 800 miles from An-Nafud to the Rub' al-Khali. Usually it is no more than 50 miles wide. The sands, frequently reddish in colour, vary greatly in form; particularly in the central stretches, long parallel ridges rise to heights of approximately 150 feet, while some dunes are three times that height.

Alba Fucens

2005-03-14T10:43:00.000-08:00

Modern Albe ancient fortified town at the foot of Mount Velino, Italy. It was originally a town of the ancient Marsi people but was occupied by a Latin colony about 303 BC. It was situated on a hill with three distinct summits, all of which were enclosed within the walls. Its strong position made it important in the Social War and in the civil wars of the 1st century BC; state prisoners of the Romans

Dan Patch

2005-03-13T23:20:00.000-08:00

(foaled 1896), American harness racehorse (Standardbred), a nearly legendary horse in his time, who established in 1905 a world pacing record of 1:55 1/4 that endured for 33 years. (In 1906 he paced a mile in 1:55 flat—Billy Direct's record-breaking time in 1938—but this feat was not officially recognized.) He paced a mile in 2 minutes or less on 30 occasions, a world record that was not surpassed until the 1960s (by Bret

Grabbe, Christian Dietrich

2005-03-13T11:19:00.000-08:00

Grabbe studied law in Leipzig and made unsuccessful attempts at acting and directing in Berlin. After quarrelling with the poet Heinrich Heine and members of Young Germany (a politically radical literary movement) and failing in attempts to get

Ocean, Antarctic Circumpolar Current

2005-03-13T02:10:00.000-08:00

The Southern Ocean links the major oceans by a deep circumpolar belt in the 50°–60° S range. In this belt flows the Antarctic Circumpolar Current from west to east, encircling the globe at high latitudes. It transports 125 million cubic metres of seawater per second over a path of about 24,000 kilometres and is the most important factor in diminishing the differences between oceans.

Hooghly-chinsura

2005-03-11T22:18:00.000-08:00

Hooghly, also spelled Hugli, was founded by the Portuguese in 1537 following the decline of Satgaon, the mercantile capital of lower Bengal; it was also the first

Vance, Cyrus

2005-03-10T01:03:00.000-08:00

Vance received his bachelor's degree from Yale University in 1939. Following graduation from the Yale law school in 1942, he enlisted in the navy and served until 1946, after which he joined a Wall

Gypsum

2005-03-08T10:04:00.000-08:00

Common sulfate mineral of great commercial importance, composed of hydrated calcium sulfate (CaSO4 × 2H2O). In well-developed crystals the mineral commonly has been called selenite. The fibrous massive variety has a silky lustre and is called satin spar; it is translucent and opalescent and is valued for ornaments and jewelry. The fine-grained massive variety called

Mubi

2005-03-08T00:58:00.000-08:00

Probably founded in the late 18th century by the Fulani people, Mubi remained under the jurisdiction of the sultanate of Mandara until conquered in the Fulani jihad

Obasanjo, Olusegun

2005-03-07T09:13:00.000-08:00

Obasanjo attended Baptist Boys' High School and later worked as a teacher for a year. Unable to afford college, he joined the army in 1958, receiving further education in England and at cadet

Kuan-yin

2005-03-07T04:35:00.000-08:00

In Chinese Buddhism, the bodhisattva of infinite compassion and mercy. See Avalokitesvara.

Tlaxcala

2005-03-06T19:58:00.000-08:00

Inland plateau estado (“state”), central Mexico, bordered by the states of Puebla on the northeast, east, and south; by México on the west; and by Hidalgo on the northwest. The smallest Mexican state, its 1,551-square-mile (4,016-square-kilometre) territory has a mean elevation of 7,000 feet (2,100 m) and a cool, healthful climate, but frequent winter frosts are injurious to local agriculture. The state

Teamsters Union

2005-03-04T21:21:00.000-08:00

Byname of International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America , formerly (until 1940) International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Stablemen and Helpers of America (IBT) largest labour union in the United States, representing truck drivers and workers in related industries (such as aviation). The union was formed in 1903 when the Team Drivers International Union (1899) merged with the Teamsters National Union (1902). Local deliverymen using horse-drawn vehicles remained the core membership until the 1930s, when intercity truck drivers rose to predominance.

Tammany Hall

2005-03-04T14:16:00.000-08:00

Also called Tammany, the executive committee of the Democratic Party in New York City historically exercising political control through the typical boss-ist blend of charity and patronage. The name was derived from a pre-Revolutionary association named after Tammanend, a wise and benevolent Delaware Indian chief. When Tammany was organized in New York in 1789, it represented middle-class

Saxon Duchies

2005-03-04T08:20:00.000-08:00

The house of Wettin had accumulated possessions in Thuringia from the middle decades of the 13th century onward.

Jammu And Kashmir, Settlement patterns

2005-03-03T13:13:00.000-08:00

The state's physiographic diversity is matched by a considerable variety of human occupation. In the plains and foothills, colonization movements from the Punjab region over a long period of time have produced numerous agricultural settlements; both the people and their culture are similar to those of adjacent parts of the Punjab and other lowlands to the west.

Zamoyski, Jan

2005-03-02T16:34:00.000-08:00

Educated in France and Italy, he returned to Poland in 1565 and was appointed secretary to King Sigismund II. After Sigismund's death (1572), he became one of the best-liked

Gambino, Carlo

2005-03-02T03:24:00.000-08:00

Born in Sicily, Gambino immigrated to the United States in 1921 as a ship stowaway, settling in Brooklyn and becoming a gang member under, successively,

Cache Memory

2005-03-01T17:10:00.000-08:00

Also called Cache, a supplementary memory system that temporarily stores frequently used instructions and data for quicker processing by the central processor of a computer. The cache augments, and is an extension of, a computer's main memory. Both main memory and cache are internal, random-access memories (RAMs) that use semiconductor-based transistor circuits. Cache holds a copy

Szekler

2005-03-01T15:12:00.000-08:00

Hungarian Székely, member of a people inhabiting the upper valleys of the Mures and Olt rivers in what was eastern Transylvania and is now Romania. They were estimated to number about 860,000 in the 1970s and are officially recognized as a distinct minority group by the Romanian government. Their origin has been much debated. According to their own tradition, repeated in Procopius' De bello

Sillanpää, Frans Eemil

2005-03-01T04:57:00.000-08:00

The son of a peasant farmer, Sillanpää began studying natural science but in 1913 returned to the country, married, and began to write. His first short stories were published in journals in 1915. From 1924 to 1927 he worked for a publishing company in Porvoo. A new creative

Toponymy

2005-02-26T19:01:00.000-08:00

Taxonomic study of place-names, based on etymological, historical, and geographical information. A place-name is a word or words used to indicate, denote, or identify a geographic locality such as a town, river, or mountain. Toponymy divides place-names into two broad categories: habitation names and feature names. A habitation name denotes a locality that is peopled

Brugsch, Heinrich Karl

2005-02-26T09:43:00.000-08:00

Brugsch was sent to Egypt by the Prussian government in 1853 and met there the noted French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette. He then worked in the Berlin Museum. In 1860 he was sent to Persia; in 1864 he was consul

Sileh Rug

2005-02-26T02:03:00.000-08:00

Any of a group of semiantique, Caucasian pileless floor coverings woven in the Soumak manner. The typical pattern consists of rows of dragon forms derived from the much older Dragon rugs. In the Silehs the dragon assumes the shape of a block letter S or numeral 2; the tail is represented as a mere line. A motif may be repeated six times and then six times again between the

Aleatory Music

2005-02-25T20:43:00.000-08:00

The indeterminate portion of aleatory

Tarafah

2005-02-24T22:36:00.000-08:00

Little is known with any certainty of Tarafah's life. He is traditionally acknowledged to have been an extraordinarily precocious poet,

Biblical Literature, Problems resulting from aural conditioning

2005-02-24T09:12:00.000-08:00

Aural conditioning would result from a mishearing of similar sounding consonants when a text is dictated to the copyist. A negative particle lo', for example, could be confused with the prepositional lo, “to him,” or a guttural het with spirant kaf so that ah “brother” might be written for akh “surely.”

Spaatz, Carl

2005-02-23T20:28:00.000-08:00

A graduate (1914) of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., Spaatz served as a combat pilot during World War I and then acquired extensive staff and command experience between 1919 and 1942. He went to England in 1940 to evaluate German military

Carthusian

2005-02-22T22:48:00.000-08:00

Member of Order of Carthusians (O.Cart.) an order of monks founded by St. Bruno of Cologne in 1084 in the valley of Chartreuse, north of Grenoble, Fr. The Carthusians, who played an important role in the monastic-reform movement of the 11th and 12th centuries, combine the solitary life of hermits with a common life within the walls of a monastery. The monks live in individual cells, where they pray, study, eat, and sleep, gathering

Lever, Charles James

2005-02-22T00:37:00.000-08:00

In 1831, after study at Trinity College, Cambridge, he qualified for the practice of medicine. His gambling and extravagance, however, left him short of money despite his income and his inheritance,

Iapetus

2005-02-21T03:12:00.000-08:00

Exterior moon in the Saturn system, extraordinary because of its surface markings. Discovered by Gian Domenico Cassini in 1671, Iapetus orbits Saturn once every 79.33 Earth days at a distance of 3,561,000 km (2,212,800 miles). The satellite's radius and mass are, respectively, 730 ± 10 km (454 ± 6 miles) and 1.88 ± 0.12 ´ 1024 grams, implying a bulk density of 1.16 ± 0.09 grams per cubic centimetre. A solid object with so low a density must be composed

Tiger Snake

2005-02-19T04:33:00.000-08:00

This common serpent, most numerous in swampy places in southern regions, is variable in colour but often has brown-and-yellow

Anckarsvärd, Carl Henrik, Greve(count)

2005-02-18T00:14:00.000-08:00

Unlike many other “men of 1809,” Anckarsvärd did not retreat from his liberal principles when a democratization of society became a practical possibility.

Uruguay, The arts

2005-02-17T19:30:00.000-08:00

José Enrique Rodó, a modernist, is considered Uruguay's most significant literary figure. His book Ariel (1900), which stresses the importance of upholding spiritual over materialistic values, as well as resisting cultural dominance by Europe and the United States, continues to influence young writers. Outstanding among Latin American playwrights is Florencio Sá

Latter Rain Revival

2005-02-16T16:54:00.000-08:00

Early name for the Pentecostal movement within U.S. Protestantism; it began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Tennessee and North Carolina and took its name from the “latter rain” referred to in Joel 2:23. The Bible passage states that the former (fall) rain and latter (spring) rain were poured down from God. These rains marked the beginning and end of the Jewish harvest.

Argead Dynasty

2005-02-16T01:03:00.000-08:00

Ruling house of ancient Macedonia from about 700 to about 311 BC; under their leadership the Macedonian kingdom was created and gradually gained predominance throughout Greece. From about 700 the founder of the dynasty, Perdiccas I, led the people who called themselves Macedonians eastward from their home on the Haliacmon (modern Aliákmon) River. Aegae (Edessa) became the capital,

Turbojet

2005-02-15T21:04:00.000-08:00

The first turbojet-powered

Refrain

2005-02-15T02:41:00.000-08:00

A phrase, line, or group of lines repeated at intervals throughout a poem, generally at the end of the stanza. Refrains are found in the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead and are common in primitive tribal chants. They appear in literature as varied as ancient Hebrew, Greek, and Latin verse, popular ballads, and Renaissance and Romantic lyrics. Three common refrains are

Aquinas, Thomas, Saint

2005-02-14T19:45:00.000-08:00

Gneiss

2005-02-13T19:04:00.000-08:00

Metamorphic rock that has a distinct banding, which is apparent in hand specimen or on a microscopic scale. Gneiss usually is distinguished from schist (q.v.) by its foliation and schistosity; gneiss displays a well-developed foliation and a poorly developed schistosity and cleavage. For the casual student, it is convenient to think of a gneiss as a rock with parallel,

Pacific Mountain System

2005-02-13T02:17:00.000-08:00

The Pacific mountain region had a large American Indian population before the arrival of white explorers and settlers. Hunting, the gathering of berries, roots, and nuts, and fishing were the major economic activities. Trade and barter were common among tribes, especially in the north, where peoples from the interior traded hides, meat, and roots for salmon caught

Pug

2005-02-12T22:22:00.000-08:00

Breed of toy dog that probably originated in China and was introduced to England near the end of the 17th century by Dutch traders. The pug has a short muzzle and a tightly curled tail. It is a squarely built, muscular dog, with a large head, prominent dark eyes, and small, drooping ears. At maturity, it stands 10 to 11 inches (25.5 to 28 centimetres) and weighs about 13 to 18 pounds (6 to 8 kilograms). Its

Floral Decoration

2005-02-11T16:45:00.000-08:00

The term flower arrangement presupposes the word design. When flowers are placed in containers without thought of design, they remain a bunch of flowers, beautiful in themselves but not making up an arrangement. Line, form, colour, and texture are the basic design elements that are selected, then composed into a harmonious unit based on the principles of design—balance,

Ramanuja

2005-02-11T11:39:00.000-08:00

Also called Ramanujacarya, or Ilaiya Perumal (Tamil: Ageless Perumal [God]) South Indian Brahman theologian and philosopher, the single most influential thinker of devotional Hinduism. After a long pilgrimage, Ramanuja settled in Srirangam, where he organized temple worship and founded centres to disseminate his doctrine of devotion to the god Vishnu and his consort Sri. He provided an intellectual basis for the practice

William Of Tyre

2005-02-10T13:07:00.000-08:00

Probably born to a French family that had settled in Frankish Syria during the 12th century, William was educated in France and Italy and knew Latin, Greek, and Arabic. He returned to

Peru, The War of the Pacific (187983)

2005-02-08T07:44:00.000-08:00

At the Battle of Iquique (then in Peru, now in Chile), on May 21, 1879, the Peruvians suffered

Uzbek Khanate

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

Any of the three states that ruled Transoxania, in present-day Uzbekistan, before it came under Russian rule in the 19th century. The khanates of Bukhara and Khiva (Khwarezm) were established by two branches of the Shaybanid dynasty, which won control of Transoxania from the Timurids in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The Shaybanids were replaced at Bukhara successively

Marsala

2005-02-08T00:38:00.000-08:00

Latin Lilybaeum, town, Trapani province, western Sicily, Italy. It is situated on the Boeo Cape, also called Lilibeo, south of Trapani. It originated as Lilybaeum, which was founded by the Carthaginians in 397–396 BC after the destruction of the offshore island of Motya (modern San Pantaleo) by Dionysius the Elder, tyrant of Syracuse. Serving as the Carthaginians' principal stronghold in Sicily,

Soter, Saint

2005-02-07T21:35:00.000-08:00

Succeeding St. Anicetus as pope, Soter sent a letter and alms to the church of Corinth, whose bishop, St. Dionysius, replied in a letter that acknowledged Soter's affection and theological advice. Soter continued Pope Anicetus' attack against Montanism, a heresy overemphasizing prophecy and rigid moral

Irish Wolfhound

2005-02-07T15:01:00.000-08:00

Tallest of all dog breeds, a keen-sighted hound used in Ireland for many years to hunt wolves and other game. An ancient breed, first mentioned about the 2nd century AD, it is similar in build to the greyhound but far more powerful. The female, which is smaller than the male, stands a minimum of 76 cm (30 inches) and weighs a minimum of 48 kg (105 pounds); male wolfhounds may greatly exceed this

Morecambe Bay

2005-02-06T19:38:00.000-08:00

Bay of the Irish Sea deeply indenting the northwest coast of England between the port of Barrow-in-Furness to the north and the seaside resorts of Morecambe and Heysham to the south. The bay separates the Furness region of the historic county of Lancashire (now in the administrative county of Cumbria) from the remainder of Lancashire. Much of the Lake District massif,

Fux, Johann Joseph

2005-02-06T05:25:00.000-08:00

Fux was a prolific composer of vocal and instrumental

Ithna 'ashariyah

2005-02-05T22:54:00.000-08:00

Each of the imams—'Ali, his sons Hasan and Husayn, 'Ali Zayn al-'Abidin, Muhammad al-Baqir, Ja'far as-Sadiq, Musa al-Kazim, 'Ali ar-Rida, Muhammad al-Jawad, 'Ali al-Hadi, Hasan al-'Askari, and Muhammad

Solar Deity

2005-02-05T15:46:00.000-08:00

God or goddess conceived of as sovereign, steady, and all-seeing, often identified with the supreme deity of a culture or with the king or ruler. See sun worship.

Sans Serif

2005-02-04T21:20:00.000-08:00

In printing, a style of roman letter stripped of its serif—i.e., such embellishments as the vertical line at the end of the top right and lower left curved segments of the letter “s,” the base line on which the lowercase “n,” “m,” and “l” rest, etc. Though the concept of such a type has challenged recent designers, the face itself is used largely for display purposes, in which continuous

Venango

2005-02-04T16:48:00.000-08:00

Venango county was formed in 1800; its name was derived from an Iroquoian Indian word probably meaning “bull thistle.” In August 1859 Edwin L. Drake triggered Pennsylvania's oil boom

Xuanzang

2005-02-03T13:24:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization Hsüan-tsang , original name Chen Yi , honorary epithet San-tsang , also called Muchatipo , Sanskrit Mokshadeva , or Yuanzang Buddhist monk and Chinese pilgrim to India who translated the sacred scriptures of Buddhism from Sanskrit into Chinese and founded in China the Buddhist Consciousness Only school. His fame rests mainly on the volume and diversity of his translations of the Buddhist sutras and on the record

Tocqueville, Alexis De

2005-02-03T07:23:00.000-08:00

The Revolution of 1848 brought about a new political situation for France and for Tocqueville. Having decried apathy as the chief danger for France, Tocqueville recognized even before the revolution that France was faced with a politically awakened working class that might well propel French politics into socialist and revolutionary channels. Tocqueville considered

Guadalquivir River

2005-02-03T00:37:00.000-08:00

The Guadalquivir is the second longest river of Spain (after the Ebro), and it has several distinctive characteristics.

Mcmein, Neysa

2005-02-02T03:14:00.000-08:00

McMein attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and in 1913 went to New York City. She studied at the Art Students League for a few months and in 1914 sold her first drawing to the Boston Star. The next year she sold a drawing

Brooks, Louise

2005-02-01T01:17:00.000-08:00

Brooks was the daughter of a lawyer, and she danced with the Denishawn company in 1922–24 and appeared in Florenz Ziegfeld's Follies on Broadway in 1925. She made her film debut that same year,

Aesthetics, The value of art

2005-01-31T22:51:00.000-08:00

Theories of the value of art are of two kinds, which we may call extrinsic and intrinsic. The first regards art and the appreciation of art as means to some recognized moral good, while the second regards them as valuable not instrumentally but as objects unto themselves. It is characteristic of extrinsic theories to locate the value of art in its effects on the person

Sexual Dysfunction

2005-01-31T22:07:00.000-08:00

Also called Psychosexual Dysfunction, the inability of a person to experience sexual arousal or to achieve sexual satisfaction under appropriate circumstances, as a result of either physical disorder or, more commonly, psychological problems. The most common forms of sexual dysfunction have traditionally been classified as impotence (inability of a man to achieve or maintain penile erection) and

Paradoxes Of Zeno

2005-01-31T14:38:00.000-08:00

Statements made by the Greek philosopher Zeno of Elea, a 5th-century-BC disciple of Parmenides, a fellow Eleatic, designed to show that any assertion opposite to the monistic teaching of Parmenides leads to contradiction and absurdity. Parmenides had argued from reason alone that the assertion that only Being is leads to the conclusions that Being (or all that there

Thomas, Saint

2005-01-30T14:50:00.000-08:00

Thomas' character is outlined in The Gospel

Shu Ching

2005-01-29T22:20:00.000-08:00

The Shu Ching consists of 58 chapters. Of these, 33 (originally

Cosmos

2005-01-29T06:49:00.000-08:00

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

La Mettrie, Julien Offroy De

2005-01-29T02:19:00.000-08:00

La Mettrie obtained a medical degree at Reims, studied medicine in Leiden under Hermann Boerhaave (some of whose

Viseu

2005-01-27T18:21:00.000-08:00

Town, capital, and concelho (township), Viseu distrito (“district”), northern Portugal, southeast of Porto. The town's notable landmarks include the Romanesque and Gothic cathedral (12th and 16th centuries) and the Grão-Vasco Museum, which is dedicated to the works of a 16th-century school of painting headquartered in Viseu. Nearby are the ancient city of Vaca and the Cava de Viriato,

Uruapan

2005-01-27T09:44:00.000-08:00

In full Uruapan Del Progreso, city, west-central Michoacán estado (“state”), west-central Mexico. Founded in 1533, Uruapan (from a Tarascan Indian term meaning “where the flowers abound”) is famous for its Spanish-colonial atmosphere and colourful lacquerware and Indian handicrafts (see photograph). It is a rail terminus and agricultural marketing and processing centre in an area producing coffee, grains,

Syriac Language

2005-01-27T03:53:00.000-08:00

Semitic language belonging to the Northern Central, or Northwestern, group; it was an important Christian literary and liturgical language from the 3rd through the 7th century AD. Syriac was based on the East Aramaic dialect of Edessa, Osroëne (present-day Sanliurfa, in southeastern Turkey), which became one of the chief centres of Christianity in the Middle East at the end

Water Snake

2005-01-27T01:40:00.000-08:00

Any member of the genus Natrix, family Colubridae, and similar snakes. The 65 to 80 species of Natrix occur on all continents except South America. Some authorities place the New World species in several genera, the largest of which is Nerodia. Most water snakes have dark blotches or dorsal streaks on their stout bodies, and the scales are keeled. They are semiaquatic, preying

Adwa

2005-01-26T02:50:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Adowa , Italian Adua town, northern Ethiopia. Adwa lies on the east-west highway between Aksum and Adi Grat at its junction with the road north to Asmara (Asmera), in Eritrea. Adwa is a market centre (grains, honey, hides, coffee) for the Tigray people. The town is located 10 miles (16 km) west of an area of fantastic volcanic formations. On March 1, 1896, Emperor Menilek II defeated an Italian force there. Nearby

Hawera

2005-01-25T10:45:00.000-08:00

Town, Taranaki local government region, western North Island, New Zealand. The original settlement, situated on the east Waimate Plain, 2 miles (3 km) from the coast of South Taranaki Bight, on the Tasman Sea, grew around a blockhouse built in 1870 for protection from hostile Maoris. The settlement became a borough in 1882, and in the late 1970s the borough was amalgamated with the surrounding

Tsévié

2005-01-25T02:24:00.000-08:00

Town, southern Togo, West Africa. It is located about 20 miles (32 km) north of Lomé, the national capital. The town constitutes an important centre for palm oil processing and a major market for commercial trade among Togo's régions. Tsévié has road and railway links with Notsé, Atakpamé, and Blitta to the north and with Lomé to the south. The Ewe people inhabit Tsévié and the surrounding

Land Snail

2005-01-24T21:05:00.000-08:00

Any of the approximately 22,000 species of snails adapted to life away from water. Most are members of the subclass Pulmonata (class Gastropoda); a few are members of the subclass Prosobranchia. Typically, land snails live on or near the ground, feed on decaying plant matter, and lay their eggs in the soil. They are most common on tropical islands but occur also

Coligny, Gaspard Ii De, Seigneur (lord) De Châtillon

2005-01-23T16:18:00.000-08:00

Coligny was the son of Gaspard I de Coligny, the marshal of Châtillon, and Louise de Montmorency, sister of Anne de Montmorency, constable of France. At 22 Coligny came to court and became friendly with François de Lorraine, 2nd duc de Guise. He served

Qasr 'amrah

2005-01-23T01:56:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Qasr Al-'amrah, palace in Jordan, about 50 miles (80 km) east of Amman. Built about AD 712–715, it served as both a hunting lodge and a fortress, and it is one of the best-preserved monuments of Islamic architecture from the Umayyad period. Its main chamber is roofed with three parallel vaults that rest on broad arches. The vaults are covered with frescoes of people and animals in scenes from daily life; a