CupHospital

Syrian And Palestinian Religion

2005-04-05T03:05:00.000-07:00

Beliefs of Syria and Palestine between 3000 and 300 BC. These religions are usually defined by the languages of those who practiced them: e.g., Amorite, Hurrian, Ugaritic, Phoenician, Aramaic, and Moabite. The term Canaanite is often used broadly to cover a number of these, as well as the religion of early periods and areas from which there are no written sources. Knowledge of the religions

Permafrost, Study of permafrost

2005-04-03T03:52:00.000-07:00

Although the existence of permafrost had been known to the inhabitants of Siberia for centuries, scientists of the Western world did not take seriously the isolated reports of a great thickness of frozen ground existing under northern forest and grasslands until 1836. Then, Alexander Theodor von Middendorff measured temperatures to depths of approximately 100 metres

Insurance, Aviation insurance

2005-04-02T07:58:00.000-08:00

Aviation insurance normally covers physical damage to the aircraft and legal liability arising out of its ownership and operation. Specific policies are also available to cover the legal liability of airport owners arising out of the operation of hangars or from the sale of various aviation products. These latter policies are similar to other types of liability

Levanter

2005-04-01T11:52:00.000-08:00

Also spelled levante strong wind of the western Mediterranean Sea and the southern coasts of France and Spain. It is mild, damp, and rainy and is most common in spring and fall. Its name is derived from Levant, the land at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, and refers to the wind's eastward direction. The levanter reaches its maximum intensities in the Strait of Gibraltar, where it sometimes

Amin, Idi

2005-03-31T14:06:00.000-08:00

A member of the small Kakwa ethnic group of northwestern Uganda, Amin had little formal education and joined the King's African Rifles of the British colonial army in 1946 as an assistant cook. He quickly rose through the ranks, serving in the Allied

Thomas, J.h.

2005-03-30T15:13:00.000-08:00

In full James Henry Thomas British trade-union leader and politician, a shrewd and successful industrial negotiator who lost his standing in the labour movement when he joined Ramsay MacDonald's coalition government (August 1931). Later (May 1936) he was found responsible for the leakage of details of a proposed national budget to Stock Exchange speculators,

Mammal, Natural history

2005-03-30T05:24:00.000-08:00

The hallmarks of the mammalian level of organization are advanced reproduction and parental care, behavioral flexibility, and endothermy (the physiological maintenance of a relatively constant body temperature independent of that of the environment, allowing a high level of activity). Within the class, ecological diversity has resulted from adaptive specialization

Conant, James B.

2005-03-28T11:32:00.000-08:00

Conant received his A.B. and Ph.D. (1916) degrees from Harvard and, after spending a year in the research division of the chemical warfare service during World War I, returned to Harvard as instructor

Typography

2005-03-27T23:10:00.000-08:00

The design, or selection, of letter forms to be organized into words and sentences to be disposed in blocks of type as printing upon a page. Typography and the typographer who practices it may also be concerned with other, related matters—the selection of paper, the choice of ink, the method of printing, the design of the binding if the product at hand is a book—but the word

Arts, Southeast Asian, Sculpture

2005-03-26T17:47:00.000-08:00

The Thai kings made repeated attempts to “purify” their conservative Theravada strain of Buddhism, importing patterns of art along with texts and learned monks from Ceylon and trying to wean their people from worship of the spirits. To retain the greatest spiritual potency, Buddha icons in Thai temples had to be as close in type as possible to a great original prototype

Latakia

2005-03-25T18:22:00.000-08:00

Ancient Ramitha replaced

Hanabusa Itcho

2005-03-24T00:09:00.000-08:00

Also called Itcho , original name Taga Shinko Japanese painter who broke away from the orthodox style of the Kano school to experiment with humorous subjects from everyday life. Because of his subject matter, his work is sometimes classified with the ukiyo-e school of paintings and prints, and, indeed, some of his designs were used by later ukiyo-e wood-block printers. Unlike most of the

Aesthetics, India

2005-03-23T05:45:00.000-08:00

The disparagement of the sensory realm as mere illusion (“the veil of Maya”), characteristic of much Indian religion, went hand in hand with a philosophy of embodiment (karma), which gave a distinctive role to art both as an instrument of worship and as an earthly delight. The legends of the great god Krishna abound in exaggerated fantasies of erotic and physical power;

Baseball, Women in baseball

2005-03-22T10:32:00.000-08:00

Women have played organized baseball since the 1860s. Students at the all-female Vassar College formed baseball teams as early as 1866. In 1875 three men organized a women's baseball club in Springfield, Illinois, divided it into two teams, the Blondes and the Brunettes, and charged admission to see them play. In the early 20th century, barnstorming teams known as “Bloomer Girls” were

Amratian Culture

2005-03-21T08:24:00.000-08:00

Also called Naqadah I culture Egyptian predynastic cultural phase, centred in Upper Egypt, its type-site being al-'Amirah near Abydos in Qina muhafazah (governorate). Numerous sites, dating to about 3600 BC, have been excavated and reveal an agricultural way of life similar to that of the preceding Badarian culture, but with advanced skills and techniques, including mud-brick structures in fair-sized towns.

Nicholas Of Clémanges

2005-03-20T10:43:00.000-08:00

Named rector of the University of Paris in 1393 after acquiring repute

Arabian Religion, South Arabia

2005-03-19T00:55:00.000-08:00

From the middle of the 2nd millennium BC a sedentary agrarian civilization developed in Yemen in the oases along the edge of the desert. The people of this civilization had gradually mastered techniques enabling them to accumulate water from seasonal mountain rivers and distribute it into extensive irrigation systems. At the end of the 8th century appeared the oldest

Porres, Saint Martín De

2005-03-18T06:49:00.000-08:00

Born of a liaison between a Spanish grandee and a free black woman, Martín de Porres became a Dominican oblate, or lay monastic, in 1601. Although it was not customary then to receive a mulatto into a religious order in Peru, Martín was considered an exception and became a Dominican lay

Enders, John Franklin

2005-03-16T22:15:00.000-08:00

Enders was a student of

Jalisco

2005-03-15T23:56:00.000-08:00

Estado (“state”), west-central Mexico. It is bounded by the states of Nayarit and Aguascalientes and Zacatecas (north), Guanajuato (east), Michoacán and Colima (south), and by the Pacific Ocean (west). Its capital is Guadalajara (q.v.). The Sierra Madre Occidental traverses the state, separating the narrow, heavily forested coastal plain from a high plateau region that is part of

Møn

2005-03-15T23:23:00.000-08:00

English Moen island, Storstrøm amtskommune (county commune), Denmark. The island has an area of 84 square miles (218 square km) and lies in the Baltic Sea. It is separated from southern Sjælland (Zealand) by the Ulv Strait and from Falster Island by the Grøn Strait. It is primarily flat except on the east coast, where white chalk cliffs covered with beech forests rise above 450 feet (137 m) in places. The

Bonde, Gustaf, Friherre

2005-03-15T01:51:00.000-08:00

After becoming governor of the province of Södermanland (1648) and a privy councillor (1653), Bonde was chosen lord treasurer and a member of the regency council (1660). He reduced

Caboolture

2005-03-14T05:22:00.000-08:00

Town, southeastern Queensland, Australia, on the Caboolture River. The town was originally a livestock station. Its name was derived from cabul-tur, the Aboriginal word for the carpet snake. To relieve shortages brought about by the American Civil War in the 1860s, Caboolture became a cotton-farming centre. Today, citrus fruits, tobacco, and vegetables are grown, and dairy

France, History Of, The new regime

2005-03-14T04:48:00.000-08:00

By sweeping away the old web of privileges, the August 4th decree permitted the Assembly to construct a new regime. Since it would take months to draft a constitution, the Assembly on August 27 promulgated its basic principles in a Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. A rallying point for the future, the declaration also stood as the death certificate of

Benckendorff, Aleksandr Khristoforovich, Count

2005-03-13T20:40:00.000-08:00

Of Baltic-German origin, Benckendorff joined the Russian army and was one of the officers who assassinated Emperor Paul I in 1801. Between 1806 and 1815 he fought in numerous military campaigns,

Earthfill Dam

2005-03-13T05:46:00.000-08:00

Also called Earth Dam, or Embankment Dam, dam built up by compacting successive layers of earth, using the most impervious materials to form a core and placing more permeable substances on the upstream and downstream sides. A facing of crushed stone prevents erosion by wind or rain, and an ample spillway, usually of concrete, protects against catastrophic washout should the water overtop the dam.

Abuná River

2005-03-12T22:36:00.000-08:00

Spanish Río Abuná, Portuguese Rio Abunã, headwater of the Amazon, rising in several streams, east of the Cordillera Oriental of the Andes. The navigable river flows for about 200 miles (320 km) northeast through rain forests, forming Bolivia's northern border with Brazil. It joins the Río Madeira, a tributary of the Amazon, at Manoa, Bolivia. Rubber, Brazil nuts, quinine, and other forest products are the principal items

Union Of Soviet Socialist Republics

2005-03-12T20:41:00.000-08:00

(U.S.S.R.) also called Soviet Union Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik , or Sovetsky Soyuz former northern Eurasian empire (1917/22–1991) stretching from the Baltic and Black seas to the Pacific Ocean and, in its final years, consisting of 15 Soviet Socialist Republics (S.S.R.'s)–Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belorussia (now Belarus), Estonia, Georgia, Kazakstan, Kirgiziya (now Kyrgyzstan), Latvia, Lithuania, Moldavia (now Moldova), Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

Fairfield

2005-03-12T03:52:00.000-08:00

City, seat of Solano county, north-central California, U.S., adjoining Suisun City to the south, 45 miles (72 km) northeast of San Francisco. Lying between the Coast Range foothills and Suisun Bay, Fairfield was founded as the county seat in 1859 by Robert Waterman, a clipper-ship captain who named it for his hometown in Connecticut. After 1957 traditional crop production (fruits, cereals)

Jubayl, Al-

2005-03-11T01:40:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Jubail, also called Jubail Industrial City, port city, eastern Saudi Arabia, on the Persian Gulf north of az-Zahran, near the 'Abd al-'Aziz naval base. In the early 1970s the Saudi government chose al-Jubayl, an ancient fishing and pearling village, to be the site of a major industrial complex. Its location on the Persian Gulf would yield an ample water supply for cooling the large industrial plants and would also promote ease

Sea Bass

2005-03-10T21:04:00.000-08:00

Any of the numerous fishes of the family Serranidae (order Perciformes), most of which are marine and found in the shallower regions of warm and tropical seas. The family includes about 400 species, many of them well-known food and sport fishes. Although the term sea bass may be used for the family as a whole, the fishes themselves

Rudolf, Archduke And Crown Prince Of Austria

2005-03-09T20:34:00.000-08:00

The only son of the emperor Francis Joseph and the empress Elizabeth, Rudolf received an extensive education and traveled widely. Politically,

Turf

2005-03-09T16:59:00.000-08:00

In horticulture, the surface layer of soil with its matted, dense vegetation, usually grasses grown for ornamental or recreational use. Such turf grasses include Kentucky bluegrass, creeping bent grass, fine or red fescue, and perennial ryegrass among the popular cool-season types and Bermuda grass, zoysia grass, and St. Augustine grass among the warm-season

Computers, Workstation computers

2005-03-09T11:49:00.000-08:00

While the personal computer market grew and matured, a variation on its theme grew out of university labs and began to threaten the minicomputers for their market. The new machines were called workstations. They looked like personal computers, and they sat on a single desktop and were used by a single individual just like personal computers, but they were distinguished

Earring

2005-03-08T23:11:00.000-08:00

A personal ornament worn pendent from the ear, usually suspended by means of a ring or hook passing through a pierced hole in the lobe of the ear or, in modern times, often by means of a screwed clip on the lobe. The impulse to decorate or to modify the appearance of the ear seems to be almost universal. In general, usage appears to call for wearing earrings in pairs, the two

Furniture, Later Middle Ages

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

In the 14th and 15th centuries there were many developments both in construction and design of furniture throughout Europe; a range of new types, among them cupboards, boxes with compartments, and various sorts of desks, evolved slowly. Most of the furniture produced was such that it could be easily transported. A nobleman who owned more than one dwelling place usually

Clapper

2005-03-07T08:22:00.000-08:00

Clappers

France, History Of, Louis XVIII, 181524

2005-03-07T01:26:00.000-08:00

King Louis XVIII's second return from exile was far from glorious. Neither the victorious powers nor Louis's French subjects viewed his restoration with much enthusiasm, yet there seemed to be no ready alternative to Bourbon rule. The allies avenged themselves for the Hundred Days by writing a new and more severe Treaty of Paris. France lost several frontier territories,

Itarsi

2005-03-06T15:56:00.000-08:00

City, central Madhya Pradesh state, central India. A major rail junction connected with Bhopal, Gwalior, and Indore, Itarsi has extensive railway workshops. The city is also a trade centre for forest products from the Satpura Range to the south. A large weekly cattle market is held in the city. Itarsi has several colleges affiliated with the Dr. Harisingh Gour University

Oblate

2005-03-06T11:09:00.000-08:00

(from Latin oblatus, “one offered up”), in Roman Catholicism, a lay person connected with a religious order or institution and living according to its regulations; a minor dedicated by his parents to become a monk according to the Benedictine Rule; or a member of either the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (O.M.I.) or the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales (O.S.F.S.).

Korosten

2005-03-05T02:25:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Korosten ', city, Zhitomir oblast (province), north-central Ukraine. It lies along the west bank of the Uzh River about 80 miles (130 km) northwest of Kiev. The city, which was incorporated in 1926, is a small industrial centre, a railway junction, and an engineering centre. In addition, it manufactures equipment for the chemical industry and has woodworking, porcelain, food-processing, and clothing

Salaj

2005-03-04T13:18:00.000-08:00

Judet (county), northwestern Romania. The Western Carpathian Mountains of Romania, including the Ses Mountains, rise above settlement areas in the valleys. The county is drained northwestward by the Somes River and its tributaries. Zalau (q.v.) is the county capital. Metal products, building materials, timber, and foodstuffs are produced in Zalau and Simleu Silvaniei. Lignite

Subiaco

2005-03-04T08:33:00.000-08:00

Ancient (Latin) Sublaqueum town, Roma provincia, Lazio (Latium) regione, central Italy. It lies along the Aniene River, 1,345 feet (410 m) above sea level, about 45 miles (73 km) east of Rome. Its ancient name recalls its position below three small lakes where the emperor Nero built a villa. An inundation destroyed the lakes in 1305, and only traces remain of the villa. St. Benedict retired as a hermit (c. 494) to a cave, Sacro Speco (“Holy

Altizer, Thomas J.j.

2005-03-04T03:00:00.000-08:00

A graduate of the University of Chicago (A.B. 1948, A.M. 1951, Ph.D. 1955), Altizer taught religion first at Wabash College (Crawfordsville, Ind.), from 1954 to 1956, and then at Emory University (Atlanta, Ga.) from 1956 to 1968 before becoming a professor of English at the State University of New York at Stony

Lower Canada

2005-03-04T01:12:00.000-08:00

In Canadian history, the region in Canada now known as Quebec. Known as Lower Canada from 1791 to 1841, the region became known as Canada East (q.v.) with the Act of Union of 1841. See also Quebec.

Buckinghamshire Lace

2005-03-02T16:37:00.000-08:00

Lace made in Buckinghamshire, Eng., from c. 1665 or earlier until the first quarter of the 20th century. This bobbin-lace industry, which was centred in Olney and Newport Pagnell, is thought to have originated from the successive influx of refugee laceworkers to the east Midlands counties. These refugees were reportedly Flemish, especially from Mechlin (1563–68), and French, especially

Deerfield Beach

2005-03-02T07:14:00.000-08:00

City, Broward county, southeastern Florida, U.S., on the Atlantic Ocean, just south of Boca Raton. The site, once a pineapple- and vegetable-growing area, was first settled about 1890; in 1896 the Florida East Coast Railway came through the community, which was named Deerfield for the deer that roamed along the Hillsboro River. It developed as a shipping centre for fruits and vegetables.

Wagonette

2005-03-01T14:33:00.000-08:00

Horse-drawn carriage designed to carry a large number of passengers who sat on long bench-style seats facing each other. The driver's seat was separate and mounted from the front, while passengers boarded the vehicle from a door in the rear. The first wagonette was built in England about 1843 and became a popular vehicle, partially because of the implied endorsement of

France, History Of

2005-02-28T21:08:00.000-08:00

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

Ob River, Physiography

2005-02-27T18:11:00.000-08:00

There are more than 1,900 rivers within the basin, with an

Peter Claver, Saint

2005-02-27T17:39:00.000-08:00

Peter entered the Society of Jesus in 1602 and eight years later was sent to Cartagena, where he was ordained in 1616. The miserable condition of the slaves aboard ship and in the pens

Mithraism

2005-02-26T19:45:00.000-08:00

The worship of Mithra, the Iranian god of the sun, justice, contract, and war in pre-Zoroastrian Iran. Known as Mithras in the Roman Empire during the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, this deity was honoured as the patron of loyalty to the emperor. After the acceptance of Christianity by the emperor Constantine in the early 4th century, Mithraism rapidly declined.

Andersen's Disease

2005-02-26T14:13:00.000-08:00

Also called Glycogenosis Type Iv, extremely rare hereditary metabolic disorder produced by absence of the enzyme amylo-1:4,1:6-transglucosidase, which is an essential mediator of the synthesis of glycogen. An abnormal form of glycogen, amylopectin, is produced and accumulates in body tissues, particularly in the liver and heart. Affected children appear normal at birth but fail to thrive and later lose

U-2 Affair

2005-02-26T02:15:00.000-08:00

On May 5 the Soviet premier Nikita S. Khrushchev told the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. that

Havana, The city site

2005-02-24T20:39:00.000-08:00

The low hills on which the city lies rise gently from the

Breasted, James Henry

2005-02-24T19:32:00.000-08:00

After graduate studies at Yale and Berlin, Breasted began teaching Egyptology at the University of Chicago in 1894. He compiled a record of every known Egyptian hieroglyphic inscription and

Howland Island

2005-02-24T16:27:00.000-08:00

Sighted in 1842 by American whalers and named for one of the first

Latimer, Hugh

2005-02-23T09:48:00.000-08:00

Latimer was the son of a prosperous yeoman farmer. Educated at the University of Cambridge, he was ordained a priest about 1510. In the two decades before 1530 he gradually acquired

Hojo Yoshitoki

2005-02-22T15:31:00.000-08:00

Yoshitoki succeeded his father, Hojo Tokimasa (q.v.), as regent, making this office the hereditary post of the Hojo family. Thereafter, although the emperor at Kyoto was the official

Spanish Netherlands

2005-02-22T09:15:00.000-08:00

Although the provinces of the Low Countries had for some years and for many reasons been chafing under foreign rule, the revolt against Spain received its major impetus from the zeal of members of the nascent Calvinist movement.

Christie, Julie

2005-02-21T22:37:00.000-08:00

Christie was born on her father's Indian tea plantation but was educated in England and France. She studied acting at London's Central School for

Aaron

2005-02-21T07:37:00.000-08:00

The traditional founder and head of the Jewish priesthood, who, with his brother Moses, led the Israelites out of Egypt. The figure of Aaron as it is now found in the Pentateuch is built up from several sources of traditions. In the Talmud and Midrash he is seen as the leading personality at the side of Moses. He has appeared in different roles in Christian

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler

2005-02-20T05:35:00.000-08:00

Ella Wheeler from an early age was an avid reader of popular literature, especially the novels of E.D.E.N. Southworth, Mary Jane Holmes, and Ouida

Alimentary Canal

2005-02-19T03:28:00.000-08:00

Also called digestive tract pathway by which food enters the body and solid wastes are expelled. The alimentary canal includes the mouth, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and anus. See digestion.

Talbot

2005-02-18T07:13:00.000-08:00

County, east-central Maryland, U.S. It adjoins Chesapeake Bay to the west, the Choptank River to the south and southeast, and Tuckahoe Creek to the northeast and includes Tilghman and Poplar islands. The jagged coast is carved by the Wye East, Tred Avon, and Miles rivers and by Harris and Broad creeks. Parklands include Seth Demonstration Forest and Wye Oak State Park, the

Ithna 'ashariyah

2005-02-18T05:35:00.000-08:00

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

Multinational And Regional Organizations

2005-02-18T04:13:00.000-08:00

On June 22 the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) admitted Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, and Laos as observers of its meetings. The new status of these countries was a first step toward their full membership in the seven-member (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) regional organization. The invitation to Myanmar, a military

Foix

2005-02-17T04:18:00.000-08:00

Feudal county of southwestern France, corresponding approximately to the modern département of Ariège. Between the 11th and the 15th century, the counts of Foix built up a quasi-independent power bounded by Languedoc on the north and on the east, by the territories of the counts of Roussillon and of the kings of Aragon on the south, and by those of the counts of Comminges

Mitanni

2005-02-16T17:42:00.000-08:00

Mitanni was one of several kingdoms

Chagatai

2005-02-16T02:34:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Tsagadai, Jagatai, or Chaghatai the second son of Genghis Khan who, at his father's death, received Kashgaria (now the southern part of Uighur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang, China) and most of Transoxania between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya (ancient Oxus and Jaxartes rivers) as his vassal kingdom. His capital was at Almarikh near the present Kuldja (I-ning), in western Sinkiang. Chagatai appears to have

Pacific Islands, Agriculture and natural resources

2005-02-16T00:51:00.000-08:00

Coconut products, including copra, from which oil is extracted, form the principal export from most islands. Agricultural production depends as much on native family enterprise as it does on plantation systems, which predominate in the larger islands. Perishable fruits, such as pineapples, bananas, and citrus fruits, require markets close at hand unless they are

Guadalupian Stage

2005-02-15T02:35:00.000-08:00

In Guadalupian time the conditions

Arakan

2005-02-14T22:44:00.000-08:00

Coastal geographic region in southern Myanmar (Burma). It comprises a long, narrow strip of land along the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal and stretches from the Naf estuary on the border of the Chittagong Hills area (in Bangladesh) in the north to the Gwa River in the south. The Arakan region is about 400 miles (640 km) long from north to south and is about 90 miles (145 km) wide at its broadest.

Chuang-tzu

2005-02-14T06:10:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Zhuangzi, personal name (Wade-Giles romanization) Chou the most significant of China's early interpreters of Taoism, whose work (Chuang-tzu) is considered one of the definitive texts of Taoism and is thought to be more comprehensive than the Tao-te Ching, which is attributed to Lao-tzu, the first major patriarch of Taoism. Chuang-tzu's teachings also exerted a great influence on the development of Chinese Buddhism and had

California, Industry

2005-02-14T05:12:00.000-08:00

The aircraft plants and shipyards were supplemented after World War II by branch plants of many Eastern and Midwestern industries. Federal research-and-development funds allocated to California organizations also contributed to the postwar economy. By the 1970s and '80s, California's industries had diversified to include computer sciences, biotechnology, and health

Gabon, Agriculture, forestry, and fishing

2005-02-13T08:42:00.000-08:00

Although agriculture (mainly subsistence farming) occupies about two-thirds of the population, it plays but a small part in the economy of the country as a whole. Moreover, its appeal as a way of life has declined. Better educational and employment opportunities in the towns and cities have emptied the countryside of young people. Despite government efforts during

Aceh

2005-02-12T20:15:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Acheh, Achin, or Atjeh, daerah istimewa (special district) of Sumatra, Indonesia, forming the northern extremity of the island. The district's boundary with Sumatera Utara (North Sumatra) propinsi (province) to the east extends north-south from Salahaji on the northeastern coast just north of Aru Bay to a point on the southwestern coast about midway between Singkilbaru and Barus. Aceh, covering

Najahid Dynasty

2005-02-12T11:30:00.000-08:00

Muslim dynasty of Ethiopian Mamluks (slaves) that ruled Yemen in the period 1022–1158 from its capital at Zabid. The Ziyadid kingdom at Zabid (819–1018) had in its final years been controlled by Mamluk viziers, the last of whom divided Yemen between two slaves, Nafis and Najah. Nafis murdered the last Ziyadid ruler in 1018, and, after several years of bitter fighting and the death of Nafis, Najah emerged victorious

Ambrose D'évreux

2005-02-12T08:27:00.000-08:00

Norman poet and chronicler who accompanied Richard I of England as a minstrel on the Third Crusade. Nothing more is known of him than that he was probably a native of Évreux and was a noncombatant making the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. His account of the Crusade is preserved in the Estoire de la guerre sainte (“History of the Holy War”), a poem of over 12,000 lines extant in an Anglo-Norman

Boian

2005-02-12T03:45:00.000-08:00

Neolithic culture (c. 7000 BC) centred in what is now southern Romania; it was characterized by terrace settlements, consisting at first of mud huts and later of fortified promontory settlements. The Boian phase was marked by the introduction of copper axes, the extension of agriculture, and the breeding of domestic animals. The distinctive Boian pottery was decorated by

Argentina, La

2005-02-10T21:29:00.000-08:00

She studied ballet with her parents, both of whom were professional dancers of Spanish birth. At the age of 11 she became premiere danseuse at the Madrid Opera, but she resigned at 14 to study the

Ibn Wahshiyah

2005-02-10T08:56:00.000-08:00

Middle Eastern agriculturist and toxicologist alleged to have written al-Fillahah an-Nabatiyah (“Nabatean Agriculture”), a major treatise dealing with plants, water sources and quality, weather conditions, the causes of deforestation, soils and their improvement, crop cultivation, and other similar subjects. The Arabic text, although not original, having been derived

Baratynsky, Yevgeny Abramovich

2005-02-09T18:37:00.000-08:00

Of noble parentage, Baratynsky was expelled from the imperial corps of pages, entered the army, was commissioned,

Japan, Temperature

2005-02-09T14:21:00.000-08:00

Temperatures are generally warmer in the south than in the north, and the transitional seasons of spring and fall are shorter in the north. At Asahikawa, in central Hokkaido, the mean temperature in January, the coldest month, is 16 °F (-9 °C), and the mean temperature in August, the hottest month, is 70 °F (21 °C), with an annual average temperature of 43 °F (6 °C). At Tokyo, the mean temperature for January

Caribbean Sea

2005-02-09T09:34:00.000-08:00

Suboceanic basin of the western Atlantic Ocean, lying between 9° to 22° N and 89° to 60° W. It is approximately 1,063,000 square miles (2,754,000 square kilometres) in extent. To the south it is bounded by the coasts of Venezuela, Colombia, and Panama; to the west by Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, and the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico; to the north by the Greater Antilles islands of Cuba, Hispaniola,

Cinna, Gaius Helvius

2005-02-08T14:54:00.000-08:00

Roman poet who wrote a mythological epic poem Smyrna. He was a friend of the poet Catullus. The early Christian-era historians Suetonius, Valerius Maximus, Appian, and Dio Cassius all state that at Caesar's funeral (44 BC) a certain Helvius Cinna was killed by mistake for Cornelius Cinna, the conspirator. The last three writers identify him as a tribune of the people,

Biblical Literature, Isaiah

2005-02-08T05:29:00.000-08:00

The Book of Isaiah, comprising 66 chapters, is one of the most profound theological and literarily expressive works in the Bible. Compiled over a period of about two centuries (the latter half of the 8th to the latter half of the 6th century BCE), the Book of Isaiah is generally divided by scholars into two (sometimes three) major sections, which are called First Isaiah (chapters

Mountain, The North American Cordillera

2005-02-07T03:49:00.000-08:00

Subduction of oceanic lithosphere presently occurs only beneath two segments of the coast of western North America. The subduction

Parallel Bars

2005-02-06T04:05:00.000-08:00

In gymnastics

Sung Dynasty

2005-02-05T14:07:00.000-08:00

The Sung dynasty was founded when Chao K'uang-yin, the military inspector general of the Chou dynasty, last of the Five Dynasties, usurped control of the empire in a coup. Thereafter, he used his mastery of diplomatic maneuvering to persuade powerful potential

Hindenburg Line

2005-02-05T06:17:00.000-08:00

Defensive barrier improvised by the German Army on the Western Front in World War I. Faced with substantial numerical inferiority and a dwindling firepower advantage, the new German commanders, Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg and Gen. Erich Ludendorff, shortened their lines of defense and installed concrete pillboxes armed with machine guns to strengthen

Biblical Literature, Textual criticism: manuscript problems

2005-02-05T03:34:00.000-08:00

The text of the Hebrew printed Bible consists of consonants, vowel signs, and cantillation (musical or tonal) marks. The two latter components are the product of the school of Masoretes (Traditionalists) that flourished in Tiberias (in Palestine) between the 7th and 9th centuries CE. The history of the bare consonantal text stretches back into hoary antiquity and can be

Augustan History

2005-02-04T16:39:00.000-08:00

The work is incomplete in its surviving form (it probably originally began with one of Hadrian's predecessors, Nerva or Trajan), and its original title is unknown. Its authorship and date of composition are also matters of argument.

Alcoholic Beverage

2005-02-04T15:39:00.000-08:00

Alcoholic beverages are fermented from the sugars in fruits, berries, grains, and such other ingredients as plant saps, tubers, honey, and milk and may be distilled to reduce the original watery liquid to a liquid of much greater alcoholic

Lorentz Transformations

2005-02-04T07:37:00.000-08:00

Set of equations in relativity physics that relate the space and time coordinates of two systems moving at a constant velocity relative to each other. Required to describe high-speed phenomena approaching the speed of light, Lorentz transformations formally express the relativity concepts that space and time are not absolute; that length, time, and mass depend

Marga

2005-02-03T14:57:00.000-08:00

(Sanskrit: “path”), in Hinduism, the path, or way, of reaching salvation. In Hindu tradition three means are enumerated: jñana-marga, the way of knowledge, involving the study of philosophic texts and contemplation; karma-marga, the way of action, the proper performance of one's religious and ethical duties; and bhakti-marga, the way of devotion and self-surrender to God. (The three

Platonism

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

Since Plato refused to write his own metaphysics, knowledge of its final shape has to be derived from hints in the dialogues and statements by Aristotle and, to a far lesser extent, other ancient authorities. According to these, Plato's doctrine of Forms was, in its general character, highly mathematical, the Forms being somehow identified with, or explained in terms

Aruqtai

2005-02-01T08:52:00.000-08:00

Chief of the As (or Alan) Mongols, who allied himself with Mahamu, chief of the Oyrat Mongols, and with him defeated Ugechi, whom the Ming dynasty had recognized as the chief of the Mongols. In 1423 Aruqtai proclaimed himself great khan of the Mongols, launching devastating raids into North China. He was finally defeated when Mahamu's son, Togon-temür, rebelled against

Xenocrates

2005-02-01T02:22:00.000-08:00

Xenocrates' writings are lost except for fragments, but his doctrines appear to resemble

Kyoga Lake

2005-01-31T07:59:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Kioga Lake, lake in central Uganda, East Africa, north of Lake Victoria, formed by the Victoria Nile in its middle course. The many-armed lake is shallow, with swampy, papyrus-reeded shores; masses of papyrus are broken loose by strong winds and sometimes have completely blocked the river. Navigation for shallow-draft vessels is possible between Namasagali and Masindi Port. The