HardIsland

serviced offices

2006-11-01T14:30:00.000-08:00

Office planet have a huge database of serviced offices throughout the UK. serviced offices provide an affordable and hassle free office solution

Sabine, Wallace Clement (ware)

2005-04-04T23:22:00.000-07:00

After graduating from Ohio State University in 1886, Sabine did graduate work at Harvard University, where he later joined the faculty. A brilliant researcher, he enjoyed teaching and never bothered to get his doctorate; his papers were modest in number but exceptional

Wellingborough

2005-04-04T09:21:00.000-07:00

Town and borough (district), administrative and historic county of Northamptonshire, England, situated east of Northampton along the River Nene. Wellingborough grew as a market town in the Middle Ages. After a fire in 1738, it was rebuilt on its present hill site. Wellingborough School, founded in 1595, was endowed with revenues from a suppressed medieval guild. Wellingborough's

Naber, John

2005-04-03T04:20:00.000-07:00

At the 1976 Olympics, Naber became the first swimmer to break the 2-minute barrier

Sabine, Wallace Clement (ware)

2005-04-02T06:02:00.000-08:00

From 1946 the CSU has held the government of Bavaria continuously with only one exception, in 1954–57, though it was forced to

Saronic Gulf

2005-04-01T23:21:00.000-08:00

Modern Greek Saronikós Kólpos, also called Gulf Of Aegina, gulf of the Aegean Sea between Ákra (cape) Soúnion of the Attica peninsula and Ákra Skíllaion of the Argolis peninsula of the Greek Peloponnese. A maximum of 50 mi (80 km) long northwest–southeast and about 30 mi wide, it is linked on the west to the Gulf of Corinth by the Corinth Canal. At its widest point the gulf is divided by three of the Saronic islands: Salamís, Aíyina (Aegina), and

Seibert, Florence

2005-04-01T01:04:00.000-08:00

Seibert contracted polio at age three, but became an outstanding student, graduating at the top of her high-school class and winning a scholarship to Goucher College, Towson, Maryland, from which she

Calcutta

2005-03-30T20:13:00.000-08:00

Bengali Kalikata city, capital of West Bengal state, and former capital (1772–1912) of British India. It is India's largest city and one of its major ports. The city is located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, once the main channel of the Ganges River, about 96 miles (154 kilometres) upstream from the head of the Bay of Bengal; there the port city developed as a point of transshipment from water to land and

Spontaneous Combustion

2005-03-30T07:45:00.000-08:00

The outbreak of fire without application of heat from an external source. Spontaneous combustion may occur when combustible matter, such as hay or coal, is stored in bulk. It begins with a slow oxidation process (as bacterial fermentation or atmospheric oxidation) under conditions not permitting ready dissipation of heat—e.g., in the centre of a haystack or a pile of

Trace Element

2005-03-30T02:39:00.000-08:00

Also called Micronutrient, in biology, any chemical element required by living organisms in minute amounts, usually as part of a vital enzyme, a cell-produced catalytic protein. Exact needs vary among species, but commonly required plant micronutrients include copper, boron, zinc, manganese, and molybdenum. Animals also require manganese, iodine, and cobalt. Lack of a necessary plant micronutrient

Hokan Languages

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

Major group, or phylum, of American Indian languages; it includes three families of Meso-American Indian languages and 14 families of North American Indian languages. The Meso-American groups are Tequistlatec (two languages in Oaxaca, Mex.), Tlapanecan (one living language in Guerrero, Mex., and an extinct one in Nicaragua), and Jicaque (spoken in Honduras). The North American

Anthroposophy

2005-03-28T01:56:00.000-08:00

Philosophy based on the premise that the human intellect has the ability to contact spiritual worlds. It was formulated by Rudolf Steiner (q.v.), an Austrian philosopher, scientist, and artist, who postulated the existence of a spiritual world comprehensible to pure thought but fully accessible only to the faculties of knowledge latent in all humans. He regarded human

Furniture, Other accessory furnishings

2005-03-27T03:05:00.000-08:00

Small utility objects constitute an important part of the furnishing of interiors. Several of them are the work of cabinetmakers; for example, boxes for writing paper and playing cards, caskets for letters and documents, trays for serving or presentation. Accessory furnishings include the various articles, large and small, that are employed in the course of domestic

Earplug

2005-03-26T07:07:00.000-08:00

The Ainu of northern Japan have used plugs of fabric; in the New World, Mayan earplugs have been found made of thin jade, stone, bone, shell, wood, and metal in many sizes. The Berawan people

Hanau

2005-03-25T02:52:00.000-08:00

In full Hanau Am Main, city, Hesse Land (state), central Germany, a port on the right bank of the canalized Main at the mouth of the Kinzig, east of Frankfurt am Main. The old town grew up around the castle of the lords of Hanau (counts from 1429) and was chartered in 1303; the new town was founded in 1597 for Protestant Dutch and Walloon refugees. Hanau passed to Hesse-Kassel in 1736. In 1813 it was the scene of a battle between

Alameda

2005-03-24T10:54:00.000-08:00

City, Alameda county, California, U.S. It lies on an island (6.5 miles [11 km] long by 1 mile [1.6 km] wide) in San Francisco Bay, across the Oakland Harbor Channel from Oakland, with which it is connected by bridges and underground tunnels. The site was originally a peninsula that was part of Rancho San Antonio and was also the site of Indian shell mounds. The locality was settled in the 1850s. Its

Akron, University Of

2005-03-24T07:58:00.000-08:00

Public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Akron, Ohio, U.S. While the university is known for its research in polymer engineering and science, it also offers a curriculum of liberal arts, business, and education courses, including master's degree programs. Doctorate degrees are available in sociology, urban studies, polymer science and engineering,

Jeans

2005-03-23T11:52:00.000-08:00

Jeans are particularly identified as a standard item of “Western” apparel worn

Izu Peninsula

2005-03-22T14:06:00.000-08:00

Japanese Izu-hanto, peninsula in Shizuoka ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan. The peninsula extends 37 miles (60 km) into the Pacific Ocean between Suruga Bay on the west and Sagami Gulf on the east. The entire peninsula is included within the Fuji Volcanic Zone. Its southern part consists primarily of volcanic breccia, and its northern section is an assembly of numerous volcanoes, among which are

Mauritania, Religious groups

2005-03-22T10:31:00.000-08:00

About 99 percent of all Mauritanians are Muslim. Most Moors belong to the Qadiriyah order. The Tukulor and some of the Tagant tribes belong to the Tijaniyah order. Many tariqas (mystical sects) flow from these orders.

Ford, Gerald R.

2005-03-21T15:13:00.000-08:00

Ford was defeated in the November 1976 election by a popular vote of 40.8 million to 39.1 million and an electoral vote of 297 to 240. When, during the race that ultimately ousted President Carter in 1980, Ford was offered the vice presidential role by candidate Ronald Reagan, whom Ford held responsible for dissipating Republican support for his 1976 campaign, he refused. After leaving the White House, Ford happily retired from public life, golfed and skied at his leisure, and ultimately joined the boards of directors of numerous corporations.

Van Praagh, Dame Peggy

2005-03-21T05:24:00.000-08:00

Throughout the 1930s van Praagh worked as a dancer and teacher. She joined Ballet Rambert in London in 1933 and maintained a long, fruitful association with choreographer Antony Tudor, in whose Jardin aux Lilas (1936) and Dark

Alberdi, Juan Bautista

2005-03-19T15:35:00.000-08:00

As an opponent of the dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas, Alberdi went into exile in 1838, studying law in Uruguay and also living in Chile and in Europe. After the overthrow of Rosas in 1852, Alberdi wrote

Châteauroux

2005-03-19T11:32:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Indre département, Centre région, central France. It lies along the Indre River, south of Orléans, on the main road and railway from Paris to Toulouse. It derives its name from a castle built toward the end of the 10th century by Raoul le Large, prince of Déols. The present Château Raoul, occupied by the prefecture, dates from the 15th century. An 18th-century mansion,

Ilesha

2005-03-18T23:10:00.000-08:00

Town, Osun state, southwestern Nigeria. It lies in the Yoruba Hills and at the intersection of roads from Ile-Ife, Oshogbo, and Akure. The town is one of the oldest settlements in Yorubaland—according to tradition, it was founded by an owa (“king”) who was one of the 16 sons of the deity Oduduwa. Ilesha was an important military centre in the campaigns against Ibadan, 60 miles (97 km) west-southwest,

Tholeiite

2005-03-18T05:35:00.000-08:00

Fine-grained extrusive igneous rock, a basalt that contains plagioclase feldspar (labradorite), clinopyroxene (augite with pigeonite or hypersthene), and iron ore (magnetite and ilmenite). Tholeiitic lavas often contain glass, but little or no olivine. Tholeiite occurs as extensive plateaus (volumes on the order of 200,000 to 800,000 cubic km [50,000 to 200,000 cubic miles]) in the Pacific Northwest

Biblical Literature, The Letter of Paul to the Philippians

2005-03-17T20:19:00.000-08:00

In its present canonical form Philippians is, according to several scholars, a later collection of fragments of the correspondence of Paul with the congregation in Philippi that was founded by Paul himself. The first of the two major difficulties leading to this conclusion concerning redaction of the letter is created by a discrepancy between chapters 2 and 3—i.e.,

Sweater

2005-03-17T17:47:00.000-08:00

Outer garment, usually knitted or crocheted, that is worn on the upper part of the body, either pulled over the head or buttoned down the front or back. Although hand knitting of wool had been practiced for about 2,000 years, it was not until the 15th century that the first knitted shirts or tunics were produced on the English Channel islands of Guernsey and Jersey; hence the English

Adam's Bridge

2005-03-16T18:22:00.000-08:00

Also called Rama's Bridge, chain of shoals, between the islands of Mannar, near northwestern Sri Lanka, and Rameswaram, off the southeastern coast of India. The bridge is 30 miles (48 km) long and separates the Gulf of Mannar (southwest) from the Palk Strait (northeast). Some of the sandbanks are dry, and nowhere are the shoals deeper than 4 feet (1 m); thus, they seriously hinder navigation. Dredging operations,

Meletius Of Lycopolis

2005-03-16T16:59:00.000-08:00

For presuming to ordain clergy and bishops for Christian

Gobi

2005-03-15T14:54:00.000-08:00

European interest in the region

Rupnarayan River

2005-03-15T10:05:00.000-08:00

River in West Bengal state, northeastern India. It rises as the Dhaleswari (Dhalkisor) in the Chota Nagpur plateau foothills northeast of Purulia town and follows a tortuous southeasterly course past the town of Bankura, where it is known as the Dwarkeswar. It is joined by the Silai near the town of Ghatal, where it takes the name Rupnarayan. The river then joins the Hooghly after completing

Barmakids

2005-03-15T00:09:00.000-08:00

Khalid ibn Barmak is the first Barmakid about whom much is known. He first appears in the mid-8th century as a supporter of the revolutionary movement that established the 'Abbasid caliphate. In 747 Khalid was put in charge of the distribution of spoils when the 'Abbasid army moved toward Iraq. Afterward, he was sent to Dayr Qunna to administer the district. Under the 'Abbasid caliph

Ibibio

2005-03-14T05:45:00.000-08:00

Mainly rainforest cultivators

Arabic Alphabet

2005-03-13T16:17:00.000-08:00

Second most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world (the Latin alphabet is the most widespread). Originally developed for writing the Arabic language and carried across much of the Eastern Hemisphere by the spread of Islam, the Arabic script has been adapted to such diverse languages as Persian, Turkish, Spanish, and Swahili. Although it probably developed

Menderes River

2005-03-13T10:32:00.000-08:00

Turkish Büyük Menderes Nehri , historically Maeander river, southwestern Turkey. It rises on the Anatolian plateau south and west of Afyon and flows westward through a narrow valley and canyon. At Sarayköy it expands into a broad, flat-bottomed valley with a typical Mediterranean landscape, dotted with fig trees, olive groves, and vineyards. Near the town of Aydin the river turns southwest, emptying into the Aegean Sea

Earth, Subduction zones

2005-03-12T08:24:00.000-08:00

It has been pointed out that, in comparison to magnetic and seismological studies, gravity measurements played only a secondary role in establishing the plate-tectonic theory in the 1960s. On the other hand, as early as 1929 the Dutch geophysicist Felix A. Vening Meinesz had shown that some of the most spectacular negative gravity anomalies on Earth are associated with oceanic

Butuan

2005-03-12T02:37:00.000-08:00

Chartered city, northern Mindanao, Philippines, on the Agusan River near its mouth at Butuan Bay. A major settlement in early Spanish times, Butuan was visited by ships from Borneo and Luzon, reportedly trading for gold, cinnamon, and slaves. A Jesuit mission station was established there in the late 16th century. It has become the main commercial centre for the Agusan

Cartography

2005-03-11T18:46:00.000-08:00

Cartography is an ancient discipline that dates from the prehistoric depiction of hunting and fishing

Atatürk, Kemal

2005-03-11T10:43:00.000-08:00

One

Henry The Navigator

2005-03-10T11:58:00.000-08:00

From 1420 onward he began to dispatch expeditions from the nearby port of Lagos, first with the aim of discovering more of the Moroccan Atlantic coast and later—when he began to think in terms of continents—with the aim of discovering the southerly route to India, in order to introduce Christianity there and to foster commerce. Little is known of the Prince's private life

France, History Of, Napoleon and the Revolution

2005-03-09T20:53:00.000-08:00

The Revolutionary legacy for Napoleon consisted above all in the abolition of the ancien régime's most archaic features—“feudalism,” seigneurialism, legal privileges, and provincial liberties. No matter how aristocratic his style became, he had no use for the ineffective institutions and abuses of the ancien régime. Napoleon was “modern” in temperament as well as

Fiedler, Arthur

2005-03-09T06:49:00.000-08:00

Maestro of the Boston Pops Orchestra for 50 seasons and the best-selling classical conductor of all time; his recordings with the Pops sold some 50,000,000 discs. (The Pops Orchestra is the Boston Symphony minus its principal players.) Fiedler, whose principal aim was “to give audiences a good time,” led the Pops in performances of popular tunes, show

Alcock, John

2005-03-07T02:31:00.000-08:00

Educated at Cambridge, Alcock was made dean of Westminster (1461), and thereafter his promotion was rapid in religious and secular posts. In 1470 he was sent

Carlisle, Lucy Hay, Countess Of

2005-03-06T23:56:00.000-08:00

The second daughter of Henry Percy, 9th earl of Northumberland, she married James Hay (the earl of Carlisle from 1622) and became a conspicuous figure at the court of Charles I. The King's adviser,

Bene Beraq

2005-03-06T23:23:00.000-08:00

Near the presumed location of ancient Bene Beraq, a

Amalfi

2005-03-06T01:51:00.000-08:00

Town and archiepiscopal see, Salerno provincia, Campania regione, southern Italy. It lies in the ravine of the Mulini Valley, along the Gulf of Salerno, southeast of Naples. Although it was known in the 4th century, Amalfi was of little importance until the mid-6th century under the Byzantines. As one of the first Italian maritime republics in the 9th century, it rivaled Pisa,

Arabia, History Of, The Hejaz

2005-03-05T05:22:00.000-08:00

The Meccan sharifs were merely the nominees of Egypt until 1840, when the Egyptians evacuated Arabia. Thereafter the sharifs were usually semiautonomous beside the Ottoman governors of the Hejaz. Improved communications after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 allowed the Ottoman Empire to send troops by sea to Arabia. An attempt to establish direct administration

Hawkins, Coleman

2005-03-05T04:48:00.000-08:00

At age four Hawkins began to study the piano, at seven

Osaka

2005-03-05T02:50:00.000-08:00

Fu (urban prefecture), Honshu, Japan. It is bordered by Kyoto urban prefecture (north) and by the ken (prefectures) of Hyogo (northwest), Nara (east), and Wakayama (south) and by Osaka Bay (southeast). It includes the industrial city of Osaka and numerous industrial and residential suburbs. The main industries in the urban prefecture manufacture iron and steel products, textiles, chemicals,

Earth Exploration

2005-03-04T05:46:00.000-08:00

Scientific curiosity, the desire to understand better the nature of the Earth, is a major motive for exploring its subsurface regions. Another key motive is the prospect of economic profit. Improved standards of living have increased the demand for water, fuel, and other materials, creating economic incentives. Pure knowledge has often been a by-product of profit-motivated

Intelligence Test

2005-03-03T22:36:00.000-08:00

The most widely used intelligence tests include the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale and the Wechsler scales. The Stanford-Binet is the American adaptation of the original French Binet-Simon intelligence test; it was first introduced in 1916 by Lewis

Sea Cucumber

2005-03-03T20:41:00.000-08:00

Any of the 1,100 species of marine invertebrates constituting the class Holothuroidea (or Holothurioidea) of the phylum Echinodermata. The soft, cylindrical body, 2 to 200 cm (about 3/4 inch to 6 1/2 feet) long and 1 to 20 cm (0.4–8 inches) thick, usually is a dull, dark colour and often warty, thus resembling a cucumber. The internal skeleton is reduced to numerous distinctively

Claremont Colleges

2005-03-03T04:18:00.000-08:00

A consortium of private colleges in Claremont, Calif., U.S. The consortium comprises Pomona College, Claremont McKenna College, Scripps College, Harvey Mudd College, Pitzer College, and the Claremont Graduate School. The campuses are adjacent to one another and many facilities are shared, including the 1,800,000-volume Honnold Library. The concept of a “cluster” of colleges was

Cordilleran Geosyncline

2005-03-03T03:52:00.000-08:00

A linear trough in the Earth's crust in which rocks of Late Precambrian to Mesozoic age (roughly 600 million to 66 million years ago) were deposited along the western coast of North America, from southern Alaska through western Canada and the United States, probably to western Mexico. The eastern boundary of the geosyncline extends from southeastern Alaska along the eastern

Lancaster, House Of

2005-03-01T21:04:00.000-08:00

The family name first appeared in 1267, when the title earl of Lancaster was granted to Edmund “Crouchback” (1245–96), the youngest son of Henry III. Two of Edmund's sons by his second

Arabian Sea

2005-02-28T20:34:00.000-08:00

Northwestern part of the Indian Ocean, covering a total area of about 1,491,000 square miles (3,862,000 square kilometres) and forming part of the principal sea route between Europe and India. It is bounded to the west by the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, to the north by Iran and Pakistan, to the east by India, and to the south by the remainder of the Indian Ocean. To the north the Gulf

Italic Languages

2005-02-28T11:49:00.000-08:00

Fundamental works on Osco-Umbrian, most with selected texts, include Robert von Planta, Grammatik der oskisch-umbrischen Dialekte, 2 vol. (1892–97, reissued 1973); Carl Darling Buck, A Grammar of Oscan and Umbrian, new ed. (1928, reprinted 1995); Gino Bottiglioni, Manuale dei dialetti italici: Osco, Umbro, e dialetti minori (1954); A. Ernout, Le dialecte ombrien: lexique du vocabulaire des “Tables Eugubines” et des inscriptions (1961); and Gerhard Meiser, Lautgeschichte der umbrischen Sprache (1986). A detailed treatment of Paelignian, one of the central Oscan “minor dialects,” is Rafael Jiménez Zamudio, Estudio del dialecto peligno y su entorno lingüístico (1986). The most complete edition of Osco-Umbrian and Faliscan texts is Emil Vetter, Handbuch der italischen Dialekte, vol. 1, Texte mit Erklärung, Glossen, Wörterverzeichnis (1953); it is supplemented by Paolo Poccetti, Nuovi documenti italici (1979). Special studies of some of the more important Oscan texts include Annalisa Franchi De Bellis, Le iovile capuane (1981), and Il cippo abellano (1988). The most accurate text of the Iguvine Tables is found in Aldo L. Prosdocimi, Le tavole iguvine, vol. 1 (1984), with introduction and notes in Italian. Special studies of the Iguvine Tables include James Wilson Poultney, The Bronze Tables of Iguvium (1959); and Giacomo Devoto (ed.), Tabulae Iguvinae, rev. ed. (1940), in Latin. The authoritative edition of the South Picene texts is Anna Marinetti, Le iscrizioni sudpicene (1985– ); Ignacio-Javier Adiego Lajara, Protosabelio, osco-umbro, sudpiceno (1992), in Spanish, is also useful. A grammatical description of Faliscan with many of the texts is provided by Gabriella Giacomelli, La lingua falisca (1963). Similar treatment is given to Venetic in G.B. Pellegrini and Aldo L. Prosdocimi, La lingua venetica, 2 vol. (1967); Michel Lejeune, Manuel de la langue vénète (1974); and Giulia Fogolari et al., I Veneti antichi: lingua e cultura (1988). Important studies of onomastic material (so prominent in the Italic language texts) include, for Oscan, Michel Lejeune, L'anthroponymie osque (1976); and for Venetic, Michel Lejeune, Ateste à l'heure de la romanisation (étude anthroponymique) (1978); and Jürgen Untermann, Die venetischen Personennamen, 2 vol. (1961). Questions of ancient Italic poetics are treated in Calvert Watkins, How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics (1995), especially chapters 10 and 17–20.

Top

2005-02-28T04:54:00.000-08:00

A toy having a body of conical, circular, or oval shape, often hollow, with a point or peg on which it turns or is made to whirl. If given a knock, a spinning top will go around in a circle at a slant; if spun with a slant at the start, it will quickly stand upright until halted by friction. Its physical properties are similar to those of the gyroscope. Some tops, as the common peg top,

Charles I

2005-02-27T23:11:00.000-08:00

Charles was the second surviving son of James VI of Scotland and Anne of Denmark. He was a sickly child, and, when his father became king of England in March 1603, he was temporarily

Axinite

2005-02-27T11:06:00.000-08:00

Borosilicate mineral that occurs most commonly in contact metamorphic rocks and also in basic igneous rocks. Particularly beautiful crystals occur at Le Bourg d'Oisans, Isère, France, and in San Diego County, Calif., U.S. Transparent axinite of the usual clove-brown colour is sometimes cut as a gem. For chemical formula and detailed physical properties, see silicate

Hooker, Joseph

2005-02-27T03:24:00.000-08:00

A West Point graduate and veteran of the Mexican War (1846–48), Hooker left his California home at the outbreak of the Civil War to serve as brigadier general

Enugu

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

State, south-central Nigeria. It was created in 1991 from the eastern two-thirds of Anambra state. Enugu is bounded by the states of Kogi and Benue to the north, Cross River to the east, Abia to the south, and Anambra to the west. It includes most of the Udi-Nsukka Plateau, which rises to more than 1,000 feet (300 m). Enugu state is covered by open grassland, with occasional woodlands and clusters

Burckhardt, Johann Ludwig

2005-02-25T15:56:00.000-08:00

Burckhardt went to England in 1806 and studied in London and at Cambridge University. In 1809, under the auspices of the Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa, he visited Syria

Iran, Abu Muslim's revolution

2005-02-25T11:09:00.000-08:00

Less time was needed before a new Islamic beginning: Abu Muslim's movement, which began in Khorasan in 747 and was caused by Arab assimilation with Iranians in colonized regions. This revolution followed years of conspiracy directed from Medina and across to Khorasan along the trade route that linked East Asia with Merv and thence with the West. Along the route, merchants

Ae

2005-02-24T20:51:00.000-08:00

After attending the Metropolitan School of Art, Dublin, where he met the poet William Butler Yeats, Russell

Basic English

2005-02-24T02:25:00.000-08:00

Basic English derives its vocabulary and grammar from English but reduces both to a remarkable extent: there

Ghiberti, Lorenzo

2005-02-23T13:18:00.000-08:00

Important early Italian Renaissance sculptor, whose doors (“Gates of Paradise”; 1425–52) for the Baptistery of the cathedral of Florence are considered one of the greatest masterpieces of Italian art in the Quattrocento. Other works include three bronze statues for Or San Michele (1416–25) and the reliefs for Siena cathedral (1417–27). Ghiberti also wrote three

Refraction

2005-02-23T08:33:00.000-08:00

In physics, the change in direction of a wave passing from one medium to another caused by its change in speed. For example, waves in deep water travel faster than in shallow; if an ocean wave approaches a beach obliquely, the part of the wave farther from the beach will move faster than that closer in, and so the wave will swing around until it moves in a direction perpendicular

Soter, Saint

2005-02-23T01:12:00.000-08:00

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

Polar Air Mass

2005-02-22T17:37:00.000-08:00

Vast body of air that forms over land or water near either the North or the South Pole. See air mass; front.

Mitchum, Robert

2005-02-21T07:14:00.000-08:00

Expelled from Haaren High School in New York City's Hell's Kitchen, Mitchum took to the road during the early years of the Depression.

Damir, Al-

2005-02-20T20:24:00.000-08:00

Also spelled El-Damer or Al-Damar town, northeastern Sudan. It lies on the right (east) bank of the Nile River, about 155 miles (250 km) northeast of Khartoum. Located at an elevation of 1,158 feet (353 metres), it is a local commercial centre for the date-producing areas to the north. The town's industries include date packing, distilling of alcohol and liqueurs, and canning of other local produce, such as tomatoes, mangoes, and

Aleixandre, Vicente

2005-02-20T14:33:00.000-08:00

Aleixandre was the son of a railway engineer. He studied law and business management and from 1920 to 1922 taught commercial law. He became seriously ill in 1925 and during

Angiolini, Gasparo

2005-02-19T21:08:00.000-08:00

In 1757 he became ballet master of the Vienna court opera house, where his first ballet dramas frequently relied upon gesture to convey plot. In 1761, however, Angiolini collaborated with the composer Cristoph Gluck to produce Don

Black Hills

2005-02-18T17:39:00.000-08:00

Isolated, eroded mountain region in western South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming, U.S., lying largely within the Black Hills National Forest. The hills lie between the Cheyenne and Belle Fourche rivers and rise about 3,000 feet (900 m) above the surrounding plains; they culminate in Harney Peak (7,242 feet [2,207 m]), the highest point in South Dakota. The Black Hills formed as a result of an upwarping

Amman

2005-02-18T16:39:00.000-08:00

Its focus of settlement throughout history has been the small, high, triangular plateau (modern

Cloud

2005-02-17T23:19:00.000-08:00

Clouds are formed when relatively moist air rises. As a mass of air ascends, the lower pressures prevailing at higher levels allow it to expand. In expanding, the

Basanavicius, Jonas

2005-02-17T19:45:00.000-08:00

In 1873 Basanavicius went to Moscow to study history and archaeology but after a year changed to medicine. He was graduated in 1879 and spent most of the next 25 years practicing medicine in Bulgaria. He edited the first number of the important

Xanthinuria

2005-02-17T14:13:00.000-08:00

Rare inherited disorder of purine metabolism that results from a deficiency in the enzyme xanthine oxidase. Normally this enzyme breaks down the purine base xanthine to uric acid, which is then excreted. In the absence of the enzyme, xanthine is not metabolized by the body and its concentration builds up in the blood and urine. Xanthinuria is not a serious condition,

Juba

2005-02-17T02:15:00.000-08:00

Town and major urban centre of southern Sudan. It is a port on the west bank of the Al-Jabal (Mountain Nile) River, about 87 miles (140 km) south of Bor. Juba is a commercial centre for tobacco, coffee, and chilies produced in the surrounding agricultural area. It is a southern terminus for river traffic in The Sudan, and it is also a highway hub, with roads radiating into Uganda, Kenya,

Switzerland, Police and armed forces

2005-02-15T20:39:00.000-08:00

Police authority is generally exercised by the cantons, but larger cities also maintain municipal police forces. A small federal police corps enforces special federal laws concerning such crimes as treason and forgery (mainly in collaboration with cantonal police). However, there is growing support for enlarging the role of the federal police, particularly

Biblical Literature, Old Testament history

2005-02-15T19:32:00.000-08:00

Two current histories of Israel exhibit the full range of historiographical problems and methods relating to the subject: John Bright, A History of Israel (1959); and Martin Noth, Geschichte Israels, 3rd ed. (1956; Eng. trans., The History of Israel, 1958). They differ mainly in where they begin; Bright begins with Abraham, Noth with the federation of tribes that calls itself Israel in the land of Canaan. They disagree about the demonstrability of such a community in the pre-Canaanite times because of their respective assessment of the character of the Pentateuch. Bright assumes that it was intended as a history concerned to record the early past, while Noth assumes that its thematic traditions were intended to define and celebrate the identity of the later Israel and hence do not constitute a usable historical resource about its earliest beginnings. This whole methodological problem in Israelite historiography is lucidly discussed and illustrated in a little book by John Bright—Early Israel in Recent History Writing: A Study in Method (1956). For the use of archaeology, geography, and history of religion in the study of the history of Israel, see George Ernest Wright. Biblical Archaeology, rev. ed. (1962); Luc H. Grollenberg, Atlas van de Bijbel, 3rd ed. (1954; Eng. trans., Atlas of the Bible, 1956); Yehezkel Kaufmann, The Religion of Israel, from Its Beginnings to the Babylonian Exile (1960); and Helmer Ringgren, Israelitische Religion (1963; Eng. trans., 1966).

Ob River, Plant and animal life

2005-02-15T16:27:00.000-08:00

Rich meadows extend in bands 1 to 2 miles (2 to 3 km) wide for great distances along the banks of the Ob and cover many of the numerous islands. Pine, cedar, silver fir, aspen, and birch also grow on the banks and occasionally constitute isolated forests on the higher ground of the floodplain. Large areas near the river are covered with willow, snowball trees (Viburnum), bird cherry

Farinati, Paolo

2005-02-14T02:54:00.000-08:00

Farinati's father, Giovanni Battista, was also a painter and may have been his first master; later he probably worked under Nicolò Giolfino. Farinati was active almost entirely in Verona. According to Carlo Ridolfi, a Madonna painted by Farinati attracted the

China

2005-02-13T15:31:00.000-08:00

The year 2002 was a critical one for China. Domestically, it was a year of political transition to a new generation of leaders; internationally, significant changes in geopolitical alignments had major repercussions for the country. The 16th Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), after some delay, was convened in early November. China's “Three Represents” doctrine

Boucherville

2005-02-13T09:15:00.000-08:00

Town, Montérégie region, southern Quebec province, Canada, on the east bank of the St. Lawrence River, opposite Montreal Island (Île de Montréal) and northeast of Montreal city. Founded in 1668 by Pierre Boucher, after whom it is named, the town has long been a market-gardening centre. Since World War II it has developed rapidly into a residential suburb linked to Montreal by

Natural Bridges National Monument

2005-02-12T21:22:00.000-08:00

The largest bridge, Sipapu, rises 220 feet

Adamnan, Saint

2005-02-12T07:37:00.000-08:00

Nothing is known of Adamnan's early life. In 679 he was elected abbot of Iona, the ninth in succession from St. Columba, the founder. While on a visit to Northumbria, he adopted the Roman rules on the tonsure and for determining the date of Easter that had been accepted

Boxing, Professional boxing

2005-02-11T05:35:00.000-08:00

The man who made boxing into big business was George (“Tex”) Rickard, the sport's first great promoter. After staging the world's lightweight championship bout between Joe Gans and Oscar (“Battling”) Nelson to publicize the mining town of Goldfield, Nevada, in 1906, he realized the potential of prizefighting. Rickard made an art of boxing publicity, playing on the public's prejudices

Davenport, Fanny Lily Gypsy

2005-02-10T17:10:00.000-08:00

Davenport was the daughter of Edward L. Davenport, an American actor. She grew up in Boston from 1854 and took naturally to the theatre from an early age. She essayed her first speaking part at the age of six and took a

Devanagari,

2005-02-10T03:28:00.000-08:00

Also called Nagari, Indian script used to write the Sanskrit, Prakrit, Hindi, and Marathi languages, developed from the North Indian monumental script known as Gupta and ultimately from the Brahmi alphabet, from which all modern Indian writing systems are derived. In use from the 7th century AD and occurring in its mature form from the 11th century onward, Devanagari is characterized by long, horizontal

Oeser, Adam Friedrich

2005-02-09T09:16:00.000-08:00

Trained in the art of modeling by a sculptor, Raphael

Anthropomorphism

2005-02-09T05:35:00.000-08:00

The attribution of human form or other human characteristics to any nonhuman object. In religion, the term is applied to any statement that depicts the deity as having a bodily form resembling that of human beings, or as possessing qualities of thought, will, or emotion that are continuous with those experienced by humans. Any reference to the divine as having a human

Pacific Ocean, Fisheries

2005-02-09T04:13:00.000-08:00

Because of the biological richness of certain reaches of the Pacific and because of the large human populations in many of the nations bordering it, the catches there are substantially larger than those in the other oceans and comprise three-fifths of the total world catch. Among Pacific nations, Japan and Russia have the largest fisheries in the world as measured

Eastern Orthodoxy, Modern theological developments

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

Until the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks (1453), Byzantium was the unquestioned intellectual centre of the Orthodox Church. Far from being monolithic, Byzantine theological thought was often polarized by a Humanistic trend, favouring the use of Greek philosophy in theological thinking, and the more austere and mystical theology of the monastic circles. The

Melatonin

2005-02-07T17:42:00.000-08:00

In humans, melatonin seems

Yangtze River, Hydrology

2005-02-07T02:34:00.000-08:00

The Yangtze basin is comparatively well irrigated; the average yearly rainfall amounts to about 43 inches. Most of the precipitation is brought by the monsoon winds and falls primarily as rain in the summer months. In the mountainous part of the basin the precipitation is mainly snow. Floods, which result from the monsoon rains in the middle and lower parts of the basin,

Ventifact

2005-02-06T07:10:00.000-08:00

Stone that has received one or more highly polished, flattened facets as a result of erosion by windblown sand. The facets are cut in sequence and correlate with the dominant wind direction. As one surface is cut, the stone may become out of balance and may turn to expose another surface to the wind. A ventifact that has been eroded to three curved facets is called a dreikanter.

Cyrillic Alphabet

2005-02-06T02:35:00.000-08:00

Writing system developed in the 9th–10th century AD for Slavic-speaking peoples of the Eastern Orthodox faith; it is the alphabet currently used for Russian and other languages of the republics that once formed the Soviet Union and for Bulgarian and Serbian. Based on the medieval Greek uncial script, the Cyrillic alphabet was probably invented by later followers of