KindPlant

Organic Underwear

2006-10-29T08:10:00.000-08:00

Natural soft Organic Clothinggoods are hard to find as they can often be a little course. Liv Organic Cotton Goodsare soft and luxurious and their Organic Underwear is to die for.

Cimabue

2005-04-04T17:18:00.000-07:00

Original name Bencivieni Di Pepo, modern Italian Benvenuto Di Giuseppe painter and mosaicist, the last great Italian artist in the Byzantine style, which had dominated early medieval painting in Italy. Among his surviving works are the frescoes of New Testament scenes in the upper church of S. Francesco, Assisi; the “Sta. Trinita Madonna” (c. 1290; Uffizi, Florence); and the “Madonna Enthroned with St. Francis” (c. 1290–95; lower church

Yamamoto Gonnohyoe, Count

2005-04-03T21:42:00.000-07:00

Yamamoto's well-placed political contacts aided his rapid rise in the navy. During the Sino-Japanese War he served as aide-de-camp to general headquarters and in 1898 was appointed minister of the navy in the Japanese cabinet with the rank of vice admiral. Promoted

Ezra And Nehemiah, Books Of

2005-04-03T04:29:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Esdras and Nehemias, two Old Testament books that together with the books of Chronicles formed a single history of Israel from the time of Adam. Ezra and Nehemiah are a single book in the Jewish canon. Roman Catholics long associated the two, calling the second “Esdras alias Nehemias” in the Douay-Confraternity. Later works, e.g., the Jerusalem Bible, maintain separate identities but associate

Cleon

2005-04-01T15:22:00.000-08:00

The first prominent representative of the commercial class in Athenian politics, he became leader of the Athenian democracy in 429 after the death of his political enemy, Pericles. In the Peloponnesian War he strongly advocated an offensive strategy. When Mytilene, which had revolted against Athens, fell in 427, Cleon proposed that all its citizens

Cola Di Rienzo

2005-04-01T10:17:00.000-08:00

He was the son of a Roman tavern keeper named Lorenzo Gabrini. His father's Christian name was shortened to

Scandinavian Literature, Notable 20th-century prose writers

2005-04-01T00:34:00.000-08:00

Several writers of this time showed a keen eye for character and an understanding of human feelings and of the stark life of rural Iceland: Jón Trausti (Gudmundur Magnússon), who wrote the cycle Heidarbýlid (4 vol., 1908–11; “The Mountain Cot”); Gunnar Gunnarsson, whose Kirken på bjerget (1923–28; “The Church on the Mountain”) was written in Danish; and Gudmundur Hagalín. The outstanding modern

Media And Publishing

2005-03-31T16:09:00.000-08:00

The magazine industry faced a bad year that got worse after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the U.S. “The 11th” hastened the decline of an industry already suffering lowered revenues and resulted in the closure of some well-known magazines. During the first nine months of 2001, total ad pages declined about 10%, and revenue slipped slightly more than 1%. The good news for 2001 was that 2000 was

Juba

2005-03-31T05:23:00.000-08:00

Dance of Afro-American slaves, found as late as the 19th century from Dutch Guiana to the Caribbean and the southern United States. It was danced by a circle of men around two men who performed various steps (e.g., the juba, the long dog scratch, the pigeon wing) in response to a rhythmic call and to the clapping (patting juba) of the other dancers. As a refrain, after each new step

Dôn

2005-03-30T20:38:00.000-08:00

In Celtic mythology, leader of one of two warring families of gods; according to one interpretation, the Children of Dôn were the powers of light, constantly in conflict with the Children of Llyr, the powers of darkness. In another view, the conflict was a struggle between indigenous gods and those of an invading people. Although Dôn and other Welsh deities had Irish

Sundarbans

2005-03-28T20:56:00.000-08:00

Formerly Sunderbunds, vast tract of forest and saltwater swamp forming the lower part of the Ganges Delta, extending about 160 miles (260 km) along the Bay of Bengal from the Hooghly River Estuary (India) to the Meghna River Estuary in Bangladesh. The whole tract reaches inland for 60–80 miles (100–130 km). A network of estuaries, tidal rivers, and creeks intersected by numerous channels, it encloses flat, marshy islands

Palembang

2005-03-28T19:23:00.000-08:00

Kotamadya (municipality) and capital, Sumatera Selatan provinsi (“province”), Indonesia. It lies on both banks of the Musi River, there spanned by the Ampera Bridge. Sumatra's second largest city (after Medan), it was long the chief town of the Palembang sultanate. The city served as the capital of the Buddhist Srivijaya empire from the 7th century until the kingdom was overthrown

Performing Arts, Jazz.

2005-03-27T17:38:00.000-08:00

Though no new trends or fads appeared and only one new star emerged, jazz and related musics at last crossed a final frontier in 2002. The jazz idiom, originally created by African Americans, had been played on six continents, but in 2001–02 guitarist Henry Kaiser spent two months in Antarctica, the last continent. Kaiser, with extensive experience playing free improvisations

Beast Epic

2005-03-27T01:20:00.000-08:00

The earliest European beast epics were in Latin, but vernacular epics

Heirloom

2005-03-27T00:27:00.000-08:00

An item of personal property that by immemorial usage is regarded as annexed by inheritance to a family estate. The owner of such an heirloom may dispose of it during his lifetime, but he cannot bequeath it by will away from the estate. If he dies intestate (without a will), the object goes to his heir at law; otherwise it goes to whoever takes the estate under his will. Such

Henreid, Paul

2005-03-25T05:37:00.000-08:00

Henreid, the son of an aristocratic Viennese banker, trained for the theatre in Vienna and made his stage debut under director

Tillett, Benjamin

2005-03-24T23:43:00.000-08:00

The son of a railway labourer, Tillett settled in the East End of London when he was in his early 20s. There he helped to organize,

Staghead

2005-03-24T19:25:00.000-08:00

Progressive slow death of tree branches from the top down. See dieback.

Arabia

2005-03-23T23:46:00.000-08:00

Introductions to the area include Sheila A. Scoville (ed.), Gazetteer of Arabia: A Geographical and Tribal History of the Arabian Peninsula, vol. 1 (1979); Robert W. Stookey (ed.), The Arabian Peninsula: Zone of Ferment (1984); Hassan S. Haddad and Basheer K. Nijim (eds.), The Arab World: A Handbook (1978); Alois Musil, Northern Negd (1928, reprinted 1978), on the Najd region of Saudi Arabia; and Derek Hopwood (ed.), The Arabian Peninsula: Society and Politics (1972). See also M.W. Dempsey (comp.), Atlas of the Arab World (1983). Early explorations are chronicled in Robin Bidwell, Travellers in Arabia (1976); and Zahra Freeth and H.V.F. Winstone, Explorers of Arabia: From Renaissance to the End of the Victorian Era (1978). The people of the peninsula are described in Peter Mansfield, The New Arabians (1981); H.R.P. Dickson, The Arab of the Desert, 3rd ed. rev. and abridged by Robert Wilson and Zahra Freeth (1983); Max Freiherr von Oppenheim, Die Beduinen, 2 vol. (1939, reprinted 1983); and Walter Dostal, Die Beduinen in Südarabien (1967). Religious life and history are detailed in Gonzague Ryckmans, Les Religions arabes préislamiques, 2nd ed. (1951); J. Spencer Trimingham, Christianity Among the Arabs in Pre-Islamic Times (1979); and A.J. Arberry (ed.), Religion in the Middle East, vol. 2, Islam (1969, reprinted 1976). Articles on the geography, history, and religion of the Arabian Peninsula may be found in The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 4 vol. and a suppl. (1913–36), with a new edition in progress, beginning in 1960; and The Shorter Encyclopaedia of Islam (1953, reprinted 1974), with articles taken from the larger work. Periodicals include Arabian Studies (annual); The Middle East and North Africa (annual); The Middle East Journal (quarterly); and Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies (annual).

Tabataba'i, Sayyid Zia Od-din

2005-03-23T16:56:00.000-08:00

Tabataba'i became prominent during World War I as the editor of a pro-British newspaper, Ra'd (“Thunder”). In 1919 he led a quasi-diplomatic mission to negotiate a commercial agreement with the anti-Communist Russian revolutionaries at Baku. On his return to Iran he joined a secret nationalist

Makar

2005-03-22T01:48:00.000-08:00

Because Geoffrey Chaucer was their acknowledged master and they often employed his verse forms and themes, the

Dynamo Theory

2005-03-21T18:20:00.000-08:00

Geophysical theory that explains the origin of the Earth's main magnetic field in terms of a self-exciting (or self-sustaining) dynamo. In this dynamo mechanism, fluid motion in the Earth's outer core moves conducting material (liquid iron) across an already existing, weak magnetic field and generates an electric current. (Heat from radioactive decay in the core is thought

Alain-fournier

2005-03-21T06:33:00.000-08:00

Pseudonym of Henri-Alban Fournier French writer whose only completed novel, Le Grand Meaulnes (1913; The Wanderer, 1928, or The Lost Domain, 1959), is a modern classic. Based on his happy childhood in a remote village in central France, it reflects his longing for a lost world of delight. The hero, an idealistic but forceful

Girardin, émile De

2005-03-20T19:57:00.000-08:00

The illegitimate son of Count Alexandre de Girardin by the wife of a Parisian lawyer, he took his father's name upon the publication of his first work, an autobiographical novel Émile (1827). In 1828 he founded his

Music, Western, The sonata and concerto

2005-03-19T17:33:00.000-08:00

The major new categories of instrumental music during the Baroque period were the sonata and the concerto. Originally applied to instrumental ensemble pieces derived from the canzona, the term sonata became the designation for a form that was to dominate instrumental music from the mid-18th until the 20th century. In its keyboard manifestation, it was a binary (two-part)

Arabia, The Rub' al-Khali

2005-03-19T10:17:00.000-08:00

The largest uninterrupted sand desert in the world, the Rub' al-Khali covers an area estimated at about 250,000 square miles. The name Rub' al-Khali is not commonly used by the few nomadic Bedouin who live there; they call it simply Ar-Ramlah (“The Sand”). Shrub vegetation is widely spaced over the porous, sandy surfaces and is almost nonexistent on the occasional rock and salt surfaces.

Robert Of Bellême, 3rd Earl Of Shropshire Or Shrewsbury

2005-03-18T15:07:00.000-08:00

A younger son of Roger de Montgomery, 1st earl of Shropshire

Arts, Central Asian, Mongolian Huns

2005-03-18T02:48:00.000-08:00

In the 4th century BC the Huns started to migrate westward from the Ordos region. By the 3rd century BC they had reached the Transbaikalia and had begun to enter Mongolia, which soon became the centre of their empire. Many mounds mark their progress. Those in the Zidzha Valley lie at the same latitude as the Pazyryk mounds and were subjected to similar conditions of freezing,

Combinatorics, Multinomial coefficients

2005-03-17T23:04:00.000-08:00

If S is a set of n objects, and n1, n2, × × × , nk are non-negative integers satisfying n1 + n2 + × × × + nk = n, then the number of ways in which the objects can be distributed into k boxes, X1, X2, × × × , Xk, such that the box Xi contains exactly ni objects is given in terms of a ratio constructed of factorials (see 4). This number, called a multinomial coefficient, is the coefficient in the multinomial expansion of the nth power of the sum of the

Ironclad

2005-03-17T21:59:00.000-08:00

Type of warship developed in Europe and the United States in the mid-19th century, characterized by the iron casemates that protected the hull. In the Crimean War (1853–56) the French and British successfully attacked Russian fortifications with “floating batteries,” ironclad barges mounting heavy guns, that were towed into position. The French built the first iron

Fowler, William A.

2005-03-17T02:58:00.000-08:00

Fowler studied at Ohio State University (B.S., 1933) and at the California Institute of Technology (Ph.D., 1936), where he became a professor in 1939. His theory of

Amberina Glass

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

Blended colour glass in which the lower part, a yellowish amber, merges into a ruby-red colour higher in the vessel. It was patented in 1883 for the New England Glass Company at East Cambridge, Mass., and was produced extensively there and by the successor company, the Libbey Glass Company at Toledo, Ohio, into the 1890s. The base metal was an amber glass containing some gold, and the

Colditz Castle

2005-03-15T21:32:00.000-08:00

German Schloss Colditz, German prisoner-of-war camp in World War II, the site of many daring escape attempts by Allied officers. The castle sits on a steep hill overlooking the Mulde River as it flows through the small Saxon town of Colditz, about 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Leipzig. A former residence of the kings of Saxony, the castle was used in 1939 as a prisoner-of-war camp, and in 1940 it became a maximum security

Fish

2005-03-15T17:44:00.000-08:00

The term fish is applied to a variety of vertebrates of several evolutionary lines.

Estado De S. Paulo, O

2005-03-15T07:27:00.000-08:00

Influential newspaper published daily in São Paulo, Brazil's largest city. O Estado is widely respected for its thorough coverage of national and international news, its publication of the texts of speeches of important government officials, and other matter usually found in a country's newspaper of record. O Estado is sometimes called the “New York Times of Latin

Amagasaki

2005-03-15T00:49:00.000-08:00

City and industrial suburb of the Osaka-Kobe (Hanshin) metropolitan area, Hyogo ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan. In the feudal period it was a castle town. During the 20th century it attracted large, modern factories, formerly geared to wartime production, to produce iron and steel goods, electrical machinery, transport vehicles, and chemicals. The main industrial belt lies

Toprakkale

2005-03-13T16:45:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Topra Kaleh, ancient Urartian fortress located near modern Van in southeastern Turkey. The walls of Toprakkale, erected in the 8th century BC, were of cyclopean masonry and sloped slightly inward, perhaps as a defense against earthquakes. Excavations at the site, carried out primarily by British and German teams, have revealed the high level of artistic achievement of ancient

Hyaluronidase

2005-03-13T13:26:00.000-08:00

Any of a group of enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis (chemical decomposition involving the elements of water) of certain complex carbohydrates such as hyaluronic acid and chondroitin sulfates. The enzymes have been found in insects, leeches, snake venom, mammalian tissues (testis being the richest mammalian source), and in bacteria.

Dehmel, Richard

2005-03-13T03:23:00.000-08:00

After completing his studies in 1887, Dehmel worked as an insurance official and then, in 1895, became a freelance writer. He chose naturalistic social themes for his early works and was one

Palauan Language

2005-03-13T02:41:00.000-08:00

Major language of Palau, in the western Pacific Ocean. It is classified as belonging to the eastern branch of the Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian) family of languages. Like Chamorro, which is spoken in the Mariana Islands, it is considered to be of the Indonesian type of languages, with closest relations to the Philippine languages. Palauan, with about 14,000 speakers in the

Portico

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

The portico is a principal feature of Greek temple architecture and thus a prominent element in Roman and all subsequent classically inspired structures. The types of portico furnish the main terms

Saint Kitts And Nevis

2005-03-10T16:44:00.000-08:00

Officially Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, also called Saint Christopher and Nevis, state composed of two islands of the Lesser Antilles in the eastern Caribbean Sea. Their combined area is 104 square miles (269 square kilometres). The capital is Basseterre on the island of Saint Kitts.

Papineau, Louis Joseph

2005-03-10T13:15:00.000-08:00

Papineau was elected a member of the House of Assembly of Lower Canada in 1808. During the War of 1812 against the United States, he served as an officer in the

Sacagawea

2005-03-10T05:19:00.000-08:00

Historians have been hard put to separate the facts from the body of folklore that have made this brave

Gabor, Dennis

2005-03-09T11:44:00.000-08:00

A research engineer for the firm of Siemens and Halske in Berlin from 1927, Gabor fled Nazi Germany in 1933 and worked with the Thomson-Houston Company

Tarascon

2005-03-09T06:34:00.000-08:00

Town, Bouches-du-Rhône département, Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, southeastern France, east of Nîmes. Situated on the left bank of the Rhône opposite Beaucaire, the town is associated with a legendary monster, La Tarasque, which was said to have ravaged the region until it was tamed by St. Marthe. Since the late 19th century it has also been associated with the mock-heroic

Pacific Railway Acts

2005-03-09T02:19:00.000-08:00

The first Pacific Railway Act (July 1, 1862) authorized the building of the railroad and granted rights of way to the Union Pacific to build westward from Omaha, Neb., and to the Central Pacific to build eastward from Sacramento, Calif.

Herder, Johann Gottfried Von

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

German critic, theologian, and philosopher, who was the leading figure of the Sturm und Drang literary movement and an innovator in the philosophy of history and culture. His influence, augmented by his contacts with the young J.W. von Goethe, made him a harbinger of the Romantic movement.

Cheese

2005-03-07T09:17:00.000-08:00

Nutritious food consisting primarily of the curd, the semisolid substance formed when milk curdles, or coagulates. Curdling occurs naturally if milk is not used promptly: it sours, forming an acid curd, which releases whey, a watery fluid containing the soluble constituents; and it leaves semisolid curd, or fresh cheese. In some areas, cheese is still made simply by

Chandra Shekhar

2005-03-07T05:22:00.000-08:00

Shekhar was a leading member of the Socialist Party before he joined the ruling Congress Party in 1964. He was a member of India's upper legislative chamber, the Rajya Sabha, from 1962 to 1967, and he held a seat in the lower chamber, the Lok Sabha, in 1977–79, 1980–84, and from 1989 until he became prime

Abbe, Ernst

2005-03-06T07:18:00.000-08:00

Physicist whose theoretical and technical innovations in optical theory led to great improvements in microscope design (such as the use of a condenser to provide strong, even illumination, introduced in 1870) and clearer understanding of magnification limits. He discovered the optical formula now called

Robert, Shaaban

2005-03-06T02:15:00.000-08:00

Popular Swahili writer, Robert was the product of two cultures—his father was a Christian, but Shaaban returned to Islam. His work ranges from poetry to essay and didactic tale, influenced in style by the Oriental tradition. Many poems follow the form of utendi verse (used for narration and didactic themes),

Kyongsang-nam

2005-03-04T19:30:00.000-08:00

Do (province), southeastern South Korea. It is bordered east by the Sea of Japan, south by the Korea Strait, west by Cholla-nam and Cholla-puk do, and north by Kyongsang-puk do. Pusan, capital of the province, was separated administratively in 1963, when it was elevated to the status of a special city. The Naktong River and its tributaries irrigate most of the province. The Kimhae delta

Wilkes, John

2005-03-04T13:38:00.000-08:00

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.

Music Recording, Composition

2005-03-03T16:13:00.000-08:00

The contemporary

Paragonite

2005-03-03T14:10:00.000-08:00

Mica mineral similar to muscovite, a basic silicate of sodium and aluminum; a member of the common mica group. It was thought to be an uncommon mineral, but experiment and investigation have shown that it is widespread in metamorphic schists and phyllites, in gneisses, in quartz veins, and in fine-grained sediments. It seems probable that much paragonite has been mistaken

Bristol Bay

2005-03-03T00:27:00.000-08:00

Arm of the Bering Sea, indenting for 200 mi (320 km) the southwest coast of Alaska, U.S.; its mouth extends for 270 mi between Cape Newenham (north) and the southwest end of the Alaska Peninsula (south). Its shoreline includes the individually named bays at the mouths of the Togiak, Nushagak, Kvichak, and Ugashik rivers. The shallowness of Bristol Bay limits navigation to small salmon-fishing

Amtrak

2005-03-02T05:16:00.000-08:00

Formally National Railroad Passenger Corporation federally supported corporation that operates nearly all intercity passenger trains in the United States. It was established by Congress in 1970 and assumed control of passenger service from the nation's private rail companies the following year. Virtually all railways, with the exception of a small handful, signed contracts with Amtrak. The corporation pays the

France, History Of, Social classes

2005-03-01T14:52:00.000-08:00

The collapse of Roman imperial power and the influx of Germans did not destroy the old Roman senatorial and landed aristocracy; the 6th-century kings called on its members to serve in the administration. A sort of military aristocracy had existed among the Germans: at the time of their settlement within the empire, its members were given tax revenues and lands confiscated

Philip

2005-03-01T04:10:00.000-08:00

The youngest son of the Holy Roman emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, Philip was destined for the church. After being provost of the cathedral at Aachen, he was, in 1190 or 1191, elected bishop of Würzburg. Shortly after the death of his brother Frederick

Anteater

2005-02-28T03:46:00.000-08:00

The giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), sometimes called the ant bear, is the largest member of the anteater family and is best known from the tropical grasslands (Llanos) of Venezuela, where it is still common. It was once found in the lowland forests of Central America and still occurs in the Amazon Basin southward to the grasslands of Paraguay and Argentina.

Balalaika

2005-02-27T23:18:00.000-08:00

Russian stringed musical instrument of the lute family. It was developed in the 18th century from the dombra, or domra, a round-bodied, long-necked, three-stringed lute played in Russia and Central Asia. The balalaika is made in six sizes, from piccolo to double bass, and has a flat back and a triangular table, or belly, that tapers to the fretted neck. The frets are movable, and

Karaism

2005-02-27T02:22:00.000-08:00

The movement began in

Empiricism, Broader senses

2005-02-27T01:54:00.000-08:00

In both everyday attitudes and philosophical theories, the experiences referred to are principally those arising from stimulation of the sense organs, in particular those of sight and touch. Most philosophical Empiricists, however, have maintained that sensation is not the only provider of experience, admitting as empirical the awareness of mental states

La Fayette, Marie-madeleine (pioche De La Vergne), Comtesse De

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

In Paris during the civil wars of the Fronde, young Mlle de la Vergne was brought into contact with Madame de Sévigné, now famous for her letters. She also met a leading political agitator, the future Cardinal de Retz. Married in 1655 to François Motier, comte de La Fayette (1616–83), she lived

Biblical Literature, The Aramaic Targums

2005-02-25T08:47:00.000-08:00

In the course of the 5th and 6th centuries BCE, Aramaic became the official language of the Persian Empire. In the succeeding centuries it was used as the vernacular over a wide area and was increasingly spoken by the postexilic Jewish communities of Palestine and elsewhere in the Diaspora. In response to liturgical needs, the institution of a turgeman (or meturgeman, “translator

Hearing Aid

2005-02-25T07:10:00.000-08:00

Modern hearing aids are electronic. Principal components are a microphone that converts sound

China, The Imperial succession

2005-02-24T08:56:00.000-08:00

The succession of emperors was hereditary, but it was complicated to a considerable extent by a system of Imperial consorts and the implication of their families in politics. Of the large number of women who were housed in the palace as the emperor's favourites, one was selected for nomination as the empress; and while it was theoretically possible for an emperor

Corby

2005-02-23T17:23:00.000-08:00

Corby was a village of 1,596 inhabitants

Elizabeth I

2005-02-23T00:52:00.000-08:00

Elizabeth's early years were not auspicious. She was born at Greenwich Palace, the daughter of the Tudor king Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. Henry had defied the pope and broken England from the authority of the Roman Catholic church in order to dissolve his marriage with his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, who had borne him a daughter, Mary. Since the king

Hingham

2005-02-22T07:40:00.000-08:00

Town (township), Plymouth county, eastern Massachusetts, U.S. It lies on Hingham Harbor (an inlet of Massachusetts Bay), about 15 miles (24 km) southeast of Boston. Settled in 1633, it was incorporated in 1635 and named for Hingham, England. During the 19th century it was a bustling industrial town (iron tools, nails, and textiles), and its harbour was a busy fishing and boatbuilding centre; these

Abdulla, Muhammed Said

2005-02-20T10:19:00.000-08:00

Abdulla, after completing his formal education, began his career as an inspector in the Colonial Health Department. After 10 years there, however, he decided to become a journalist. In 1948 he was made editor of the newspaper Zanzibari, and during the next decade he also

Strasberg, Lee

2005-02-20T10:18:00.000-08:00

Strasberg's family emigrated to the United States when he was seven,

Poland, History Of, Augustus II

2005-02-20T06:36:00.000-08:00

A personal union with Saxony, where Augustus II was a strong ruler, seemed at first to offer some advantages to Poland. A king with a power base of his own might reform the Commonwealth, which was still a huge state and potentially a great power. But such hopes proved vain. Pursuing schemes of dynastic greatness, Augustus II involved unwilling Poland in a coalition war

Macomb

2005-02-20T04:54:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1826) of McDonough county, western Illinois, U.S., on the east fork of the La Moine River. Settled by New Englanders in 1829 and originally called Washington, it was laid out (1830) and renamed after General Alexander Macomb, an officer in the War of 1812. The city is the site of Western Illinois University (founded there as a normal school in 1899). The economy is based on light manufacturing

Rouergue

2005-02-19T16:11:00.000-08:00

Ancient province of south central France, corresponding to much of the modern départements of Aveyron and Tarn-et-Garonne. It was bounded on the north by Auvergne, on the south and southwest by Languedoc, on the east by Gévaudan and the Cévennes mountains, and on the west by Quercy. It derived its name from the Gallic tribe of Rutheni. Administratively it formed first

Cosmopolitanism

2005-02-19T05:19:00.000-08:00

In Stoic philosophy, position taken by the Stoics against the traditional (Greek) distinction between Greeks and barbarians, made by applying to themselves the term cosmopolitans, thereby implying that their polis, or city-state, was the entire cosmos, or the whole world. Alexander the Great discouraged this distinction by allowing his generals to marry women native

Religious Experience, Revelational and mystical immediacy

2005-02-18T20:02:00.000-08:00

Among defenders of the validity and cognitive import of religious experience, it is necessary to distinguish those who take such experience to be an immediate and self-authenticating encounter with the divine and those who claim that apprehension of the divine is the result of inference from, or interpretation of, religious experience. Two forms of immediacy

Algeria, The Algerian War of Independence

2005-02-18T06:23:00.000-08:00

Nationalist parties had existed for many years, but they became increasingly radical as they realized that their goals were not going to be achieved through peaceful means. Prior to World War II the Party of the Algerian People (Parti du Peuple Algérien) had been founded by Messali Hadj. The party was banned in the late 1930s and replaced in the mid-1940s by the Movement for the

Tabari, At-

2005-02-17T04:07:00.000-08:00

In the Commentary, at-Tabari's method of composition was to follow the Qur'an text word by word, juxtaposing all of the juridical, lexicographical, and historical explanations

Chastelard, Pierre De Bocosel De

2005-02-16T17:03:00.000-08:00

Grandson of Pierre Terrail, chevalier de Bayard, Chastelard became page to the constable Montmorency and frequented the court of Francis II of France, where he fell in love with the queen consort, Mary, who is said to have encouraged his passion.

Frederick Augustus I

2005-02-16T16:25:00.000-08:00

Succeeding his father in 1763 as the elector Frederick Augustus III, he brought order and efficiency to his country's finances and administration. In foreign policy, he was neutralist but

Vörösmarty, Mihály

2005-02-16T15:55:00.000-08:00

Born into an impoverished noble family, Vörösmarty soon had to provide for himself. From the age

Staff

2005-02-15T13:41:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Stave, in the notation of Western music, five parallel horizontal lines that, with a clef, indicate the pitch of musical notes. The invention of the staff is traditionally ascribed to Guido of Arezzo in about the year 1000, although there are earlier manuscripts in which neumes (q.v.; signs from which musical notes evolved) are arranged around one or two lines in order to orient the

Arendt, Hannah

2005-02-15T08:10:00.000-08:00

Arendt grew up in her native Hannover, Germany, and in Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). She attended the universities of Marburg, Freiburg, and Heidelberg (from which she received

Sokollu, Mehmed Pasa

2005-02-15T04:06:00.000-08:00

Ottoman grand vizier (chief minister) from June 1565, under the sultans Süleyman the Magnificent and Selim II, and perhaps the real ruler of the empire until the death of Selim in 1574. During his tenure, a war was fought with Venice (1570–73), in which the Ottoman navy was defeated in the famous Battle of Lepanto (Oct. 7, 1571), but

Hwange National Park

2005-02-14T00:59:00.000-08:00

Formerly Wankie National Park, park in northwestern Zimbabwe, on the Botswana frontier. It was established in 1928 as a game reserve, and as a national park in 1930. The park's area of 5,657 square miles (14,651 square km) is largely flat and contains fine hardwood forests of mukwa and Zimbabwean teak. Hwange is one of Africa's largest elephant sanctuaries and is also the habitat of thousands of Cape buffalo as well as giraffes,

Wyszynski, Stefan

2005-02-13T23:08:00.000-08:00

After study at Warsaw, Lomza, and Wloclawek, Wyszynski was ordained on his 23rd birthday, Aug. 3, 1924, and was assigned to the basilica at Wloclawek. After gaining a doctorate in sociology and ecclesiastical law at the Catholic University of Lublin, he studied further in France,

Ubi Sunt

2005-02-13T07:38:00.000-08:00

A verse form in which the poem or its stanzas begin with the Latin words ubi sunt (“where are ”) or their equivalent in another language and which has as a principal theme the transitory nature of all things. A well-known example is François Villon's “Ballade des dames du temps jadis” (“Ballade of the Ladies of Bygone Times”), with its refrain “Mais où sont les neiges d'antan?'' (“But where

Narcissus

2005-02-12T07:42:00.000-08:00

Narcissus exercised great influence over Claudius and accumulated immense wealth. At first he allied himself with Claudius' third wife, Messalina Valeria, but fear that she and her lover, Gaius Silius, were conspiring

Felony And Misdemeanour

2005-02-12T06:56:00.000-08:00

U.S. jurisdictions generally distinguish between felonies and misdemeanours. A class of minor offenses that may be described as petty offenses or quasi-crimes is also recognized. These last offenses are created by local ordinance, and the requirement of trial

Strasburger, Eduard Adolf

2005-02-11T22:26:00.000-08:00

Strasburger was educated at the universities of Paris, Bonn, and Jena, where he received a Ph.D. in 1866. He taught at the universities of Warsaw (1868), Jena (1869–80), and Bonn (1880–1912). Strasburger's earliest research was a continuation of the work begun

Kazan

2005-02-11T16:43:00.000-08:00

Ancient Kazan (Iske Kazan) was founded in the late 13th century by the Mongols (Tatars) of the Golden Horde after their overthrow of the

Wellington

2005-02-10T06:32:00.000-08:00

Town, east-central New South Wales, Australia. It lies at the confluence of the Macquarie and Bell rivers. The site, used by John Oxley as a base for exploration (1817–18), was named by him after the Duke of Wellington. A convict settlement from 1823 to 1831, it was proclaimed a town in 1846, a municipality in 1879, and a shire in 1947. In 1950 Wellington was merged with Macquarie and a portion of Cobar shires. It serves

Wyndham

2005-02-10T00:18:00.000-08:00

Most northerly seaport of Western Australia. It lies at the mouth of the King River, on the West Arm of Cambridge Gulf (an inlet of Joseph Bonaparte Gulf of the Timor Sea). Founded in 1885 as a port for the Kimberley goldfield, it was named after the son of Sir Napier Broome, governor at the time. In 1919 the state government selected Wyndham as the site of a meatworks, which now serves

Jackson, Jesse

2005-02-09T21:17:00.000-08:00

Marshall Frady, Jesse: The Life and Pilgrimage of Jesse Jackson (1996); Lucius J. Barker and Ronald W. Walters (eds.), Jesse Jackson's 1984 Presidential Campaign (1989).

Schacht, Hjalmar

2005-02-08T22:29:00.000-08:00

Appointed vice director of the Dresdner Bank in 1908, Schacht served

Malayan Lar

2005-02-08T19:31:00.000-08:00

Species of gibbon (q.v.).

Confederation, Articles Of

2005-02-08T10:32:00.000-08:00

First U.S. constitution (1781–89), which served as a bridge between the initial government by the Continental Congress of the Revolutionary period and the federal government provided under the U.S. Constitution of 1787. Because the experience of overbearing British central authority was vivid in colonial minds, the drafters of the Articles deliberately established a confederation

Maurois, André

2005-02-07T04:03:00.000-08:00

Born into a prosperous family of textile manufacturers, Maurois came under the influence of the French philosopher and teacher Alain (Émile-Auguste Chartier). He was a liaison officer in the British army during World War I, and his first literary success