LastSchool

Estate Agent London

2006-10-26T20:25:00.000-07:00

Robert Irving Burns specialise in London Commercial and Residential property services, including estate agent london and estate agent central london. Their centrally located ground floor offices, minutes from Oxford Circus offer an ideal marketing base for your property.

Huntsville

2005-04-04T04:25:00.000-07:00

City, seat (1808) of Madison county, northern Alabama, U.S. It is situated in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains near the Tennessee River, about 100 miles (160 km) north of Birmingham. It was originally called Twickenham by planter Leroy Pope for the home of his kinsman, Alexander Pope, the English poet. It was incorporated in 1811 and was renamed for John Hunt of Virginia, a Revolutionary

La Farge, John

2005-04-03T23:59:00.000-07:00

After graduating from St. Mary's College in Maryland, La Farge studied law, but in 1856 he went to Europe to study art. He worked independently, studying briefly in Paris with Thomas Couture and coming under the influence of the work of the Pre-Raphaelites in

Sankaran Nair, Sir Chettur

2005-04-03T08:43:00.000-07:00

Sankaran Nair

Encyclopaedia, China

2005-04-02T19:43:00.000-08:00

The contribution from the East to the history of encyclopaedias is distinctive and covers a longer period than that of the West. The Chinese have produced encyclopaedias for approximately 2,000 years, but traditionally they differ from the modern Western encyclopaedia in that they are mainly anthologies of significant literature with some elements of the dictionary.

Indochina

2005-04-02T10:43:00.000-08:00

After gradually establishing suzerainty over Indochina between 1858 and 1893, the French created the first Indochinese Union

Yeshiva University

2005-04-01T07:03:00.000-08:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher learning in New York, New York, U.S. It is a comprehensive research university comprising six undergraduate schools and seven graduate or professional schools at the Main Campus in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, the Midtown Center in Manhattan's Murray Hill area, the Brookdale Center on Fifth Avenue in

Disease

2005-03-31T10:36:00.000-08:00

A harmful deviation from the normal structural or functional state of an organism. A diseased organism commonly exhibits signs or symptoms indicative of its abnormal state. Thus, the normal condition of an organism must be understood in order to recognize the hallmarks of disease. Nevertheless, a sharp demarcation between disease and health is not always

Alençon Lace

2005-03-30T18:59:00.000-08:00

French Point D'alençon, needle lace made in the French city of Alençon, one of the centres designated by Jean-Baptiste Colbert, minister of finance under Louis XIV, for aid in his effort to make French laces financially and artistically competitive with imported laces. Venetian workers, experts in making point de Venise, were brought in to instruct the local needlewomen, who quickly learned

France, History Of

2005-03-30T00:24:00.000-08:00

The 13 parlements (that of Paris being by far the most important) were by their origins law courts. Although their apologists claimed in 1732 that the parlements had emerged from the ancient judicium Francorum of the Frankish tribes, they had in fact been created by the king in the Middle Ages to dispense justice in his name. With the atrophy of the Estates-General, which had

Diagnosis

2005-03-29T07:03:00.000-08:00

Traditionally, diagnosis has been defined as the art of identifying a disease from its signs and symptoms. Formerly, few diagnostic tests were available to assist the physician who depended on medical history, observation, and examination. Only recently, with the many technological advances in medicine, have tests become available to assist in making specific

Hertz, Gustav

2005-03-28T21:51:00.000-08:00

A nephew of the noted physicist Heinrich Hertz, he studied

Yakushi-ji

2005-03-27T10:50:00.000-08:00

Temple complex dedicated to Yakushi, the Healing Buddha, in Nara, Japan. It was established about 690 outside Nara, and in 718 it was refounded within the city. The only one of the original buildings to have survived is the three-storied eastern pagoda, which is one of the finest examples of religious architecture of the Nara period (AD 710–784). Yakushi-ji has many treasures of Japanese

Tyson, Edward

2005-03-26T03:46:00.000-08:00

English physician and pioneer of comparative anatomy whose delineation of the similarities and differences between men and apes provided an empirical basis for the study of man. His work suggested a continuity of traits between humans and other primates nearly a century before evolution was first

Malvaceae

2005-03-26T02:15:00.000-08:00

The mallow family, a large group of flowering plants, in the order Malvales, containing about 95 genera of herbs, shrubs, and trees. Representatives occur in all except the coldest parts of the world but are most numerous in the tropics. Economically, the most important member of the family is cotton (q.v.; Gossypium). Several species of Hibiscus produce fibres that are of lesser

France, History Of, The Revolution of 1848

2005-03-25T09:22:00.000-08:00

The overthrow of the constitutional monarchy in February 1848 still seems, in retrospect, a puzzling event. The revolution has been called a result without a cause; more properly, it might be called a result out of proportion to its cause. Since 1840 the regime had settled into a kind of torpid stability; but it had provided the nation with peace abroad and relative prosperity

Aung San

2005-03-24T11:59:00.000-08:00

Born

Cap-de-la-madeleine

2005-03-24T11:27:00.000-08:00

Named after an abbot of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine-de-Châteaudun, France, the city was first settled in the 17th century but developed only after

Rare-earth Element, Sources and extraction

2005-03-23T13:51:00.000-08:00

Though numerous minerals rich in rare earths are found in the Earth's crust, many are extremely rare, and many more are found only in small pockets in more massive rocks. Although such minerals are of considerable research interest they are not used commercially. Monazite, a mixed phosphate of calcium, thorium, cerium, and various lanthanides, occurs in extensive deposits

Epistemology, St. Anselm of Canterbury

2005-03-22T03:08:00.000-08:00

The phrase St. Anselm of Canterbury (c. 1033–1109) used to describe his own project, namely, “faith seeking reason” (fides quaerens intellectum), well characterizes medieval philosophy as a whole. All the great medieval philosophers, Christian, Jewish, and Islamic alike, were also theologians. Virtually every object of interest was related to their belief in God, and virtually every

Intellectual-property Law

2005-03-21T16:13:00.000-08:00

The legal regulations governing an individual's or an organization's right to control the use or dissemination of ideas or information. Various systems of legal rules exist that empower persons and organizations to exercise such control. Copyright law confers upon the creators of “original forms of expression” (e.g., books, movies, musical compositions, and works

San Cristóbal

2005-03-21T01:41:00.000-08:00

In full Benemérita de San Cristóbal city, south-central Dominican Republic. It is situated in the coastal lowlands close to the Caribbean Sea. Founded by Spaniards in 1575, when gold was discovered in the area, it was the site of the signing of the Dominican Republic's first constitution (1844) and of the birth of dictator Rafael Trujillo Molina (1891). San Cristóbal is now a prosperous commercial centre for its agricultural

Mittelland Canal

2005-03-20T08:30:00.000-08:00

Also called Ems-weser-elbe Canal, German waterway begun in 1905 and completed in 1938. It extends from the Dortmund-Ems Canal east of Rheine, Ger., eastward along the northern border of the Central Uplands, to the Elbe River north of Magdeburg (a distance of about 199 miles [321 km]), linking there with the Havel Canal eastward to Berlin. Side canals connect it with Osnabrück, Hannover, Salzgitter, and Hildesheim. Peine, between

Hawera

2005-03-19T21:51:00.000-08:00

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

Earth Tide

2005-03-19T13:24:00.000-08:00

Deformation of the solid Earth as it rotates within the gravitational fields of the Sun and Moon. Earth tides are similar to ocean tides. The Earth deforms because it has a certain degree of elasticity; were it perfectly rigid, there would be no Earth tides. Several tidal components mathematically can be shown to exist, but only four are large enough to be generally

Kesey, Ken

2005-03-19T06:55:00.000-08:00

Kesey was educated at the University of Oregon and Stanford University. At a Veterans Administration hospital in Menlo Park, California, he was a paid volunteer experimental subject, taking mind-altering drugs

Postmodern Literature In Latin America

2005-03-19T06:17:00.000-08:00

Latin- American literature blossomed and received international acclaim in the 1960s and 1970s with the so-called boom in the novel, a movement signaled by the publication of major works by the Colombian Gabriel García Márquez, the Mexican Carlos Fuentes, the Peruvian Mario Vargas Llosa, the Argentine Julio Cortázar, and the Chilean José Donoso. (More recently, the Chilean

Sarangi

2005-03-17T14:51:00.000-08:00

Short-necked fiddle used throughout South Asia, particularly for folk and classical Hindustani music. Measuring about 30 inches (76 cm) long, its roughly rectangular, slightly waisted body and broad, fretless neck are generally carved from a single piece of wood. It has three melody strings made of gut, sometimes a fourth of metal, and as many as 40 sympathetically

Hawera

2005-03-17T13:11:00.000-08:00

Major European aerospace company that builds commercial and military aircraft, space systems, propulsion systems, missiles, and other defense products. It was formed in 2000 from the merger of three leading European aerospace firms: Aerospatiale Matra of France, DaimlerChrysler Aerospace (Dasa) of Germany, and Construcciones Aeronáuticas S.A. (CASA) of Spain. Headquarters

Fernandes, álvaro

2005-03-17T08:16:00.000-08:00

In 1445 Fernandes' uncle, João Gonçalves Zarco, also an explorer, furnished him with a caravel on condition that he devote himself to exploration. Fernandes joined the prince's fleet bound for Arguin Island (now in Mauritania) but sailed farther to the mouth of the Sénégal River.

Tibet, The arts

2005-03-16T20:31:00.000-08:00

Tibet is most renowned for its religious scroll paintings (tankas, or thang-ka), metal images, and wooden block prints. There are three categories of images—representing the peaceful, moderate, and angry deities—and three schools of painting—the Sman-thang, Gong-dkar Mkhan-bris, and Kar-ma sgar-bris—which are differentiated by colour tones and depicted facial

Sickle

2005-03-15T19:09:00.000-08:00

One of the most ancient of harvesting tools, consisting of a metal blade, usually curved, attached to a short wooden handle. The short handle forces the user to harvest in a stooped or squatting position. The longer-handled scythe, the user of which remains upright, evolved from the sickle. Harvesting with a sickle is very slow, but because of its simplicity and low cost,

Pacific Islands, Soils

2005-03-15T13:02:00.000-08:00

Pacific island soils develop through the action of temperature, rainfall, and organic matter on the original rock materials. This process is further influenced by factors of time and land relief. Coral island soils are the least mature and are deficient in organic materials and low in fertility. The mineral-bearing soils of the continental islands are more complex

La Libertad

2005-03-15T00:50:00.000-08:00

City, southwestern El Salvador. Its open roadstead port as well as its location south of San Salvador encouraged La Libertad's development in the 19th century as a shipping outlet for balsam produced in Peru—a variety of balsam yielded from El Salvador's coastal forests. During the early 20th century La Libertad was one of the nation's largest ports, but in 1976 it was closed

Qian Zhongshu

2005-03-13T21:10:00.000-08:00

Qian attended missionary schools in Su-chou and Wu-hsi while receiving English and classical Chinese training under the tutelage of his father, Qian Jibo. A student of the Department of

Dewey, George

2005-03-13T13:41:00.000-08:00

A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., in 1858, Dewey was commissioned a lieutenant three years later. In the U.S. Civil War (1861–65), he served with Union naval forces in the battles of New Orleans (1862) and Port Hudson and Donaldsonville,

Teresina

2005-03-13T04:54:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Piauí estado (“state”), northeastern Brazil. The city lies along the Parnaíba River (there bridged to Timon in Maranhão state), 220 miles (354 km) upstream from the Atlantic port of Parnaíba. Founded in 1852 as the new capital of Piauí, it was originally named Therezina after the Brazilian empress Teresa Cristina. Since then, it has become the chief commercial centre of

Botosani

2005-03-12T00:21:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Botosani judet (county), northeastern Romania. It lies in a rich farming area of northern Moldavia, near the border with Moldova. As a settlement, it was first documented in 1439. The Popauti Church dates from 1496. Long known as a market centre for agricultural produce and wines, Botosani has also become an industrial centre, particularly in textiles. Pop. (1989 est.) 119,563.

Cicero

2005-03-11T14:26:00.000-08:00

City, western suburb of Chicago, Cook county, northeastern Illinois, U.S. First settled in the 1830s, it was named for Cicero, N.Y. Its development was stimulated when the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was built through the site (1864) and by the arrival of land speculators and farmers after the American Civil War. Economic growth continued, but Cicero lost territory to

Bienville, Jean-baptiste Le Moyne De

2005-03-11T04:52:00.000-08:00

Jean-Baptiste was the eighth son of Canadian pioneer Charles Le Moyne. He entered the French navy at age 12 and served with his noted elder brother, Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, in naval engagements (1696–97) in Hudson Bay and the North Atlantic during

Botosani

2005-03-10T23:38:00.000-08:00

Also called cachectin a naturally occurring protein that is produced in the human body by the phagocytic cells known as macrophages. (The latter can engulf and destroy bacteria, viruses, and other foreign substances.) TNF is produced by macrophages when they encounter the poisonous substance in bacteria that is known as endotoxin. TNF seems to perform both helpful and harmful functions

Wicksell, (johan Gustaf) Knut

2005-03-10T19:06:00.000-08:00

In Geldzins und Güterpreise (1898; Interest and Prices, 1936) he propounded an explanation of price-level movements by an aggregate demand–supply analysis focussed on the relations between prospective profit and

Ashta Pradhan

2005-03-09T22:56:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Asta Pradhad (Marathi: “Council of Eight”), administrative and advisory council set up by the Indian Hindu Maratha leader Sivaji (d. 1680), which contributed to his successful military attacks on the Muslim Mughal Empire and to the good government of the territory over which he established his rule. The council's senior member, the peshwa, or mukhya pradhan, was in charge of general administration

Ngugi Wa Thiong'o

2005-03-08T23:53:00.000-08:00

Ngugi received bachelor's degrees from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, in

Nova

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

Plural Novas, or Novae, any of a class of exploding stars whose luminosity temporarily increases from several thousand to as much as 100,000 times its normal level. A nova reaches maximum luminosity within hours after its outburst and may shine intensely for several days or occasionally for a few weeks, after which it slowly returns to its former level of luminosity. Stars that become novas are

Altona

2005-03-07T17:15:00.000-08:00

Northwest district of the city and Land (state) of Hamburg, northwestern Germany. It lies on cliffs above the right bank of the Elbe River. The name may have come originally from allzu-nah (“all too near”), which was the Hamburgers' designation for an inn that lay too close to their territory and was for long the only building. As a small fishing village called Altwasser, it fell

Round, Henry Joseph

2005-03-07T05:31:00.000-08:00

Round worked with Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company, Ltd., from 1902 to 1914, first in the United States, where he improved the tuning components of radio receivers and built early radio direction

Military Technology, The ax

2005-03-07T00:57:00.000-08:00

Limitations on the strength of bronze and difficulties in casting and hafting restricted the ax at first to a relatively broad blade mortised into a handle at three points and secured with bindings or rivets. The hafting problem became acute as improvements in armour dictated longer, narrower blades designed primarily for piercing rather than cutting. This

Hopak

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

Also spelled gopak Ukrainian folk dance, once for men only but later danced by couples, male soloists, and mixed groups of dancers. In the western Ukraine, as the hopak-kolo, it is danced in a closed circle. The hopak has no fixed pattern of steps. Men competitively improvise steps, high leaps, squatting kicks, and turns; women dance simple steps, sway, clap, or circle. Changes of step do not

Extermination Camp

2005-03-05T19:25:00.000-08:00

The major camps were in German-occupied

Bohemond Iv

2005-03-05T17:01:00.000-08:00

The younger son of Bohemond III and Orguilleuse, he became count of Tripoli in 1187 and succeeded his father in the principality of Antioch to the exclusion of his nephew Raymond Ruben in 1201. In 1216 Raymond seized control while Bohemond was off in Tripoli, but he was deposed in 1219 and died the following year. Bohemond reigned in Antioch and

Beira

2005-03-05T09:57:00.000-08:00

Port city, central Mozambique. Beira is situated on the Mozambique Channel (Indian Ocean) at the mouths of the Púngoè and Búzi rivers. It was founded in 1891 as the headquarters of the Companhia de Moçambique (“Mozambique Company”) on the site of an old Muslim settlement. The city's administration passed from the trading company to the Portuguese government in 1942 and then to independent

Mckenzie, Robert (trelford)

2005-03-04T16:40:00.000-08:00

Canadian-born British political scientist and television commentator on electoral politics. In the latter role, McKenzie popularized to the British public the word psephology (the study of votes) and the idea of “swing” votes, using a device he called a “swingometer” to show the shifting fortunes of the major parties during the announcement

Finland, Recreation

2005-03-03T09:53:00.000-08:00

In Finland the basic national sport—which originally was a necessary means of winter transportation—is cross-country skiing. Nationalism also encouraged the development of special proficiency, which was fostered by ski fairs and competitions held at Oulu beginning in the late 1890s. An interest in other athletics developed from the time that the Finns took part

Endocrine System, Phylum Chordata

2005-03-03T04:48:00.000-08:00

The phylum Chordata is separated into three subgroups (or subphyla). The invertebrate subphylum Tunicata consists of the marine tunicates, including the ascidians and salps. The invertebrate subphylum Cephalochordata includes the fishlike amphioxus (or lancelet). Amphioxus is a small marine animal that closely resembles the larva of the jawless fishes (class

New Bedford

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

The site, settled by Plymouth colonists in 1652, was originally part of Dartmouth. A fishing community was established there in 1760. By 1765 it had developed into a small whaling port and shipbuilding centre. The Dartmouth, which in 1767 was the first

Hippolytus

2005-03-01T15:49:00.000-08:00

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

Roman Catholicism, History Of

2005-03-01T15:21:00.000-08:00

As both its critics and its champions would probably agree, Roman Catholicism has been the decisive spiritual force in the history of Western civilization. There are more Roman Catholics in the world than there are believers of any other religious tradition—not merely

Wolfenden Report

2005-02-28T17:42:00.000-08:00

A study containing recommendations for laws governing sexual behaviour, published in 1957 by the Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution in Great Britain. It was named for Sir John Wolfenden, the chairman of the committee. Using the findings of psychoanalysis and social science, the report urged that public statutes avoid the attempt to legislate morality

Esslingen

2005-02-28T07:51:00.000-08:00

On a commanding height above the city stands the old citadel, and in the inner

Gastein, Convention Of

2005-02-26T14:50:00.000-08:00

Also called Convention Of Badgastein, agreement between Austria and Prussia reached on Aug. 20, 1865, after their seizure of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein from Denmark in 1864; it temporarily postponed the final struggle between them for hegemony over Germany. The pact provided that both the emperor of Austria and the king of Prussia were to be sovereign over the duchies, Prussia administering Schleswig

Lowry, (clarence) Malcolm

2005-02-26T08:11:00.000-08:00

Lowry was the son of a prosperous cotton broker who assisted him with an inadequate allowance. From the age of

Fibre Optics

2005-02-26T03:03:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Fiber Optics, the science of transmitting data, voice, and images by the passage of light through thin, transparent fibres. In telecommunications, fibre optic technology has virtually replaced copper wire in long-distance telephone lines, and it is used to link computers within local area networks. Fibre optics is also the basis of the fibrescopes used in examining internal

30 Doradus

2005-02-25T08:20:00.000-08:00

Also called Tarantula Nebula (catalog number NGC 2070) immense ionized-hydrogen region in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way system (in which the Earth is located). The nebula consists of a cloud of interstellar gas—principally hydrogen—lit from within by young, hot stars that ionize the gas around them. As the atoms in the gas recombine, they emit visible light. The total mass of the nebula is about

Daudet, Alphonse

2005-02-24T22:27:00.000-08:00

French short-story writer and novelist, now remembered chiefly as the author of sentimental tales of provincial life in the south of France.

God In Christ, Church Of

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

Predominantly black Pentecostal church that originated as an outgrowth of the Holiness movement. The date and place of the group's establishment is disputed between two member bodies, but the founding role of a dynamic preacher named Charles H. Mason is acknowledged by both. During the late 19th century, Mason led Holiness churches in Jackson, Miss., and Memphis, Tenn.

Mickiewicz, Adam

2005-02-24T15:42:00.000-08:00

Born into an impoverished noble family, Mickiewicz studied at the University of Wilno (now the V. Kapsukas State University of Vilnius, Lithuania) between

Albanian Literature

2005-02-23T23:00:00.000-08:00

The development of Albanian literature was seriously hindered by the Ottoman Empire, which ruled Albania from the 15th to the late 19th century and prohibited publications in the Albanian language for most of that time. The oldest fragment of writing in Albanian

Stradbroke Island

2005-02-23T01:20:00.000-08:00

Two islands consisting of North and South sections, off Moreton Bay, southeastern Queensland, Australia, named for the Earl of Stradbroke in 1827. It was originally one island, but a storm in 1892 severed it in two by creating Jumpinpin Channel. South Stradbroke is about 14 mi (23 km) long and 1/2 mi wide. North Stradbroke, facing Brisbane across the bay, is about 24 mi long and up to 7 mi wide and

Brisbane, Sir Thomas Makdougall, Baronet

2005-02-22T04:36:00.000-08:00

Brisbane

Hukbalahap Rebellion

2005-02-22T01:44:00.000-08:00

Also called Huk Rebellion (1946–54), Communist-led peasant uprising in central Luzon, Philippines. The name of the movement is a Tagalog acronym for Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon, which means “People's Anti-Japanese Army.” The Huks came close to victory in 1950 but were subsequently defeated by a combination of advanced U.S. weaponry supplied to the Philippine government and administrative reforms under the

Kuban River

2005-02-21T10:05:00.000-08:00

River in southwestern Russia, 563 miles (906 km) in length and draining 23,600 square miles (61,000 square km). It rises from glaciers on Mount Elbrus in the Greater Caucasus and flows north through narrow gorges, with many rapids, to the Stavropol Upland, where it turns westward in a broad, marshy floodplain to enter the Sea of Azov. Much of its water is diverted for irrigation. The river is navigable

Insurance, Coinsurance

2005-02-21T06:48:00.000-08:00

Although there is no coinsurance clause as such in the ocean marine policy, losses are settled as though a 100 percent coinsurance clause existed. Thus, if an insured takes out coverage equal to 50 percent of the true replacement cost of the goods, only 50 percent of any partial loss may be recovered.

Trichomycetes

2005-02-20T08:09:00.000-08:00

Class of fungi (division Mycota) with a vegetative body (thallus) consisting of single or branched filaments (hyphae). The class was earlier subsumed under the group Phycomycetes (q.v.). Trichomycetes occur in the gut or on the cuticle (outer covering) of crabs, beach fleas, boring gribble, and other arthropods. Asexual reproduction occurs by the formation of saclike fruiting

Korolyov, Sergey Pavlovich

2005-02-20T00:22:00.000-08:00

Korolyov was educated at the Odessa Building Trades School, the Kiev Polytechnic Institute, and the Moscow N.E. Bauman Higher Technical School, where he studied aeronautical engineering under the celebrated designers Nikolay Yegorovich Zhukovsky and Andrey

Oaks

2005-02-19T22:07:00.000-08:00

One of the English Classic horse races (along with the Derby, Saint Leger, Two Thousand Guineas, and One Thousand Guineas), an event for three-year-old fillies, established in 1779, and run over a 1.5-mile (about 2,400-metre) course at Epsom Downs, Surrey, also the site of the Derby. The Oaks was named for the nearby residence of the 12th Earl of Derby, whose horse Bridget won the first running.

Indian Philosophy

2005-02-19T13:53:00.000-08:00

The systems of thought and reflection that were developed by the civilizations of the Indian subcontinent. They include both orthodox (astika) systems, namely, the Nyaya, Vaisesika, Samkhya, Yoga, Purva-mimamsa, and Vedanta schools of philosophy, and unorthodox (nastika) systems, such as Buddhism and Jainism. Indian thought has been concerned with various philosophical problems,

Uyo

2005-02-19T07:25:00.000-08:00

Town, capital of Akwa Ibom state, southeastern Nigeria. Uyo lies on the road from Oron to Ikot Ekpene. A collecting station for palm oil and kernels, it is also a local trade centre (yams, cassava, palm produce) for an area inhabited mainly by the Ibibio people. The town has a brewery and a textile mill. It is the site of the University of Uyo (1983). Pop. (1991 est.) 66,860.

Argentina, Flag Of

2005-02-18T04:44:00.000-08:00

The blue cockades worn by patriots in May 1810, when the Spanish viceroy in Buenos Aires yielded authority to the local government, and the uniforms worn by Argentines in 1806, when the British attacked Buenos Aires, may have been the origin of the celeste-white-celeste horizontally striped flag first hoisted on February 12, 1812, by General Manuel Belgrano. On July 9, 1816, Argentina, then

Stuttgart Ballet

2005-02-17T21:12:00.000-08:00

German Stuttgarter Ballett, resident ballet company of Stuttgart, Ger., that emerged in the 1960s as an internationally prominent group. The modern Stuttgart Ballet evolved from the royal ballet that resided at the court of the Duke of Württemberg as early as 1609. A municipally supported company under the royal patronage from the 17th through the 19th century, it occasionally attracted such prominent

Hanafiyah

2005-02-16T21:27:00.000-08:00

Also called Madhhab Hanifah , English Hanafites in Islam, one of the four Sunni schools of religious law, incorporating the legal opinions of the ancient Iraqi schools of al-Kufah and Basra. Hanafi legal thought (madhhab) developed from the teachings of the theologian Imam Abu Hanifah (c. 700–767) by such disciples as Abu Yusuf (d. 798) and Muhammad ash-Shaybani (749/750–805) and became the official system of Islamic legal interpretation of the 'Abbasids, Seljuqs

Tyrrell, George

2005-02-16T07:44:00.000-08:00

Tyrrell was raised in the Anglican church but converted to Roman Catholicism in 1879 and joined the Society of Jesus the

Novaya Zemlya

2005-02-15T23:03:00.000-08:00

Novaya Zemlya (“New Land”) consists of two large islands, Severny (northern) and Yuzhny (southern), aligned for 600 miles (1,000 km) in a southwest-northeast direction, plus several smaller islands. The two major islands are separated by a narrow strait, Matochkin Shar, only about

Aromatic Compound

2005-02-15T07:20:00.000-08:00

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

Mitchell, Maggie

2005-02-14T18:35:00.000-08:00

Mitchell left school at age 12 to follow her older half-sisters onto the stage, where she filled a variety of child's walk-on and silent roles. She made her debut in a speaking role in June 1851 in a benefit performance

Muezzin

2005-02-14T06:47:00.000-08:00

Arabic Mu'addin, in Islam, the official who proclaims the call to prayer (adhan) on Friday for the public worship and the call to the daily prayer (salat) five times a day, at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and nightfall. To summon worshipers the Jews use a trumpet and the Christians use a bell, but the Muslims use the human voice. The muezzin is the servant of the mosque and is chosen for his good

Paeroa

2005-02-13T13:14:00.000-08:00

Borough, northern North Island, New Zealand, situated along the Ohinemuri River near its junction with the Waihou. Paeroa (from a Maori word meaning “long ridge”) was founded in the early 1880s as a port for the Ohinemuri goldfield, 5 mi (8 km) southeast. Mining was shifted to the underground Komata Reefs (6 mi northeast) from 1891 to the 1930s. Gazetted a borough in 1915, Paeroa was regularly served

Pachaimalai Hills

2005-02-13T00:15:00.000-08:00

Range of hills in Tamil Nadu state, southern India, an eastward extension of the Eastern Ghats in the northeastern Tamilnad Uplands. The Pachaimalai Hills, together with the Javadi, Shevaroy, and Kalrayan hills, separate the Cauvery River basin in the south from the Palar River basin in the north. Extending over approximately 5,200 sq mi (13,500 sq km), they form a discontinuous line of highlands

Tsushima Current

2005-02-12T02:48:00.000-08:00

Surface oceanic current, the northeastward-flowing branch of the Kuroshio along the west coast of Japan. Entering the Sea of Japan through the Korea Strait, the Tsushima Current issues the East Korea Warm Current as a northern branch. It is primarily a spring and summer current and is barely discernable in winter.

Alum

2005-02-12T01:19:00.000-08:00

Any of a group of hydrated double salts, usually consisting of aluminum sulfate, water of hydration, and the sulfate of another element. A whole series of hydrated double salts results from the hydration of the sulfate of a univalent cation (e.g., potassium) and the sulfate of any one of a number of trivalent cations (e.g., aluminum). Aluminum sulfate can thus form alums with

Yerkes, Charles Tyson

2005-02-11T02:03:00.000-08:00

Yerkes started as a clerk at a Philadelphia commission broker, and by 1862 he was able to purchase his own banking house. In 1871 a stock exchange panic brought on by the Chicago fire found him unable to deliver money that he had received

Albalag, Isaac

2005-02-10T16:39:00.000-08:00

Jewish philosopher who rendered a Hebrew translation of parts of the Maqasid al-falasifah (“Aims of the Philosophers”), a review of doctrines of earlier thinkers by the Arabic philosopher al-Ghazali, to which Albalag added his own views and comments. In defending philosophy against the accusation that it undermined religion,

Ovington, Mary White

2005-02-10T01:47:00.000-08:00

Born three days before the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, Ovington was reared in an upper-middle-class home by abolitionist

Chulym River

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

River in Krasnoyarsk kray (region) and Tomsk oblast (province), Russia, and the longest right-bank tributary of the Ob River; it is 1,118 miles (1,799 km) long and has a basin of 53,400 square miles (134,000 square km). The Chulym, formed by the convergence of the Bely and Chyorny Iyus, rises on the northeastern slopes of the Kuznetsky Alatau Mountains. It flows northward through the mountains and then

Nigeria

2005-02-09T15:06:00.000-08:00

During 2000 Pres. Olusegun Obasanjo took a variety of steps to secure Nigeria's transition to democracy. Chief among these were reform of the military and the curbing of government corruption. President Obasanjo, himself a former general, continued to force the retirement of officers who had held political positions under previous military governments. In June he

Novembergruppe

2005-02-08T17:26:00.000-08:00

English November Group group of artists formed in Berlin in November 1918 by Max Pechstein and César Klein. Taking its name from the month of the Weimar Revolution, this group of Expressionist artists hoped to bring about a new unity in painting, sculpture, architecture, crafts, and city planning, and to bring the artist into close contact with the worker. In an attempt to reach the working masses,

West Liberty State College

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

Public, coeducational institution of higher learning in West Liberty, West Virginia, U.S. It is a four-year liberal arts college that confers two-year associate as well as bachelor's degrees. The campus is on a hilltop in a rural region of northern West Virginia that is near the metropolitan areas of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Steubenville, Ohio; and Wheeling, West Virginia.

Acrobatics

2005-02-08T07:14:00.000-08:00

In 1859 the invention of the flying trapeze by J. Léotard, as well as Charles Blondin's crossing of Niagara Falls on a tightrope, rekindled

Moscow Zoo

2005-02-07T18:26:00.000-08:00

Russian Moskovsky Zoo-park, largest zoo in Russia, exhibiting an outstanding collection of northern animals and many exotic species. Founded by a public society in 1864, the zoo later was privately owned. In 1919 it was declared the property of Soviet Russia and in 1923 was put under the Moscow City Soviet (council). It incorporates 20 hectares (49 acres) and includes small, unbarred enclosures as well as large paddocks

Biblical Literature, Slavic versions

2005-02-07T04:46:00.000-08:00

The earliest Old Church Slavonic translations are connected with the arrival of the brothers Cyril and Methodius in Moravia in 863, and resulted from the desire to provide vernacular renderings of those parts of the Bible used liturgically. The oldest manuscripts derive from the 11th and 12th centuries. The earliest complete Bible manuscript, dated 1499, was used for the first