ConsciousChurch

Eliot, Sir John

2005-04-05T13:24:00.000-07:00

The son of a wealthy landowner, Eliot was first elected

Furniture, France

2005-04-05T03:39:00.000-07:00

The transitional phase in French furniture from Baroque to Rococo is called Régence. The heavy, monumental style of the earlier part of Louis's reign was gradually replaced by a lighter and more fluent curvilinear style. The leading exponent of the Régence style was Charles Cressent, ébéniste (“cabinetmaker”) to the regent Philippe II, duc d'Orléans. In his work the ormolu

Alaska, The land

2005-04-05T00:57:00.000-07:00

The immense area of Alaska has a great variety of physical characteristics. Nearly one-third of the state lies within the Arctic Circle and has perennially frozen ground (permafrost) and treeless tundra. The southern coast and the panhandle at sea level are fully temperate regions. In these latter and in the adjoining Canadian areas, however, lies the world's largest

Aqaba, Gulf Of

2005-04-03T14:40:00.000-07:00

Arabic Khalij Al-'aqabah, northeastern arm of the Red Sea, penetrating between Saudi Arabia and the Sinai Peninsula. It varies in width from 12 to 17 miles (19 to 27 km) and is 100 miles (160 km) long. The gulf lies in a pronounced cleft between hills rising abruptly to about 2,000 feet (600 m). Navigation is difficult because of the gulf's narrow entrance at the Straits of Tiran and its islands, coral reefs, and sudden squalls. The

Arts, Central Asian, Buddhist monastic dance

2005-04-03T08:16:00.000-07:00

The second major genre of the performing arts to develop in Central Asia was 'cham, the ritualistic dance performed in Buddhist monasteries. The origin of 'cham may well be an older form of shamanic ceremonial dance in Tibet, but centuries of evolution within a Buddhist-dominated society led to the recasting of the roles and theme of the dance in keeping with Buddhist

Hydrologic Sciences, Groundwater

2005-04-02T10:28:00.000-08:00

Some rocks allow little or no water to flow through; these are known as impermeable rocks, or aquicludes. Others are permeable and allow considerable storage of water and act as major sources of water supply; these are known as aquifers. Aquifers overlain by an impermeable layer are called confined aquifers; aquifers overlain by an unsaturated, or vadose, zone of permeable

Théâtre-libre

2005-04-01T19:09:00.000-08:00

(French: Free Theatre), independent, private theatre founded in Paris in 1887 by André Antoine, which became the proving ground for the new naturalistic drama. Antoine, an amateur actor, was influenced by the naturalistic novels of Émile Zola and by the theatrical realism of the Meiningen Company. Antoine believed that environment shaped character and behaviour, and he

Aluko, T.m.

2005-04-01T13:19:00.000-08:00

A civil engineer and town planner by profession, Aluko was educated in Ibadan, Lagos, and London and held positions as director of public works for western Nigeria and faculty member at the University of Lagos. He first became known

Infection, Pancreatitis

2005-04-01T07:37:00.000-08:00

Inflammation of the pancreas, or pancreatitis, may follow abdominal trauma or the formation of gallstones that obstruct the common bile duct. It can be associated with excessive ingestion of alcohol; with disorders such as cystic fibrosis or Reye's syndrome; or with scorpion stings. Infectious causes of pancreatitis include mycoplasmas, Epstein-Barr viruses

Devotio Moderna

2005-03-30T04:54:00.000-08:00

Religious movement within Roman Catholicism from the end of the 14th to the 16th century stressing meditation and the inner life, attaching little importance to ritual and external works, and downgrading the highly speculative spirituality of the 13th and 14th centuries. Devotio moderna (Latin: “modern devotion”) originated in the Netherlands and spread to Germany, northern

Man

2005-03-29T22:50:00.000-08:00

Specifically, an adult human male and, generally, any extinct or living member, male or female, of the biological family Hominidae. See hominid; human being.

Astrolabe

2005-03-29T03:20:00.000-08:00

Any of a type of early scientific instrument used for reckoning time and for observational purposes. One widely employed variety, the planispheric astrolabe, enabled astronomers to calculate the position of the Sun and prominent stars with respect to both the horizon and the meridian. It provided them with a plane image of the celestial sphere and the principal

Kaédi

2005-03-28T04:52:00.000-08:00

Town, southern Mauritania. It lies along the right bank of the Sénégal River where it is joined by the Gorgol River. The banks of these streams and other tributaries are seasonally inundated and cultivated and support the densest settled population in the nation. The remainder of the area, which receives more rainfall than regions farther north, is grazed by zebu

Discharge Printing

2005-03-27T21:53:00.000-08:00

Also called Extract Printing, method of applying a design to dyed fabric by printing a colour-destroying agent, such as chlorine or hydrosulfite, to bleach out a white or light pattern on the darker coloured ground. In colour-discharge printing, a dye impervious to the bleaching agent is combined with it, producing a coloured design instead of white on the dyed ground. See also resist printing; roller

Cereal Processing, Testing

2005-03-27T16:10:00.000-08:00

Cooking tests are used to ensure that the final product is satisfactory. Considerable research has been carried out to control factors tending to destroy the desirable yellow colour. Destruction of the colouring matter, a xanthophyll, can occur in mixing owing to excessive lipoxidase. Certain types of durum wheat may possess a high degree of lipoxidase activity,

Callas, Maria

2005-03-26T01:47:00.000-08:00

Callas was the daughter of Greek immigrants and early developed an interest in singing. Accompanied by her mother, she left the United States in 1937 to study at the Athens Conservatory with soprano Elvira

Biblical Literature, Special nature and problems

2005-03-25T23:53:00.000-08:00

The English title of this work, meaning “second law,” is derived from a faulty Greek translation of chapter 17, verse 18, referring to “a copy of this law”: the implication being that the book is a second law or an expanded version of the original law for the new generation of Israelites about to enter Canaan. Hebrew texts take the opening words of the book as title, Ele ha-Devarim

Ear Disease, Hematoma

2005-03-25T07:57:00.000-08:00

Injury to the outer ear can cause bleeding between the cartilage and the skin, producing a smooth, rounded, nontender purplish swelling called hematoma. The accumulation of clotted blood is removed by a surgeon because, if it is left, it will become transformed into scar tissue and cause a permanent, irregular thickening of the outer ear commonly called cauliflower

Dragonfly

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

(suborder Anisoptera) also called darner, devil's arrow, or devil's darning needle, any of a group of aerial, predatory insects most commonly found near freshwater habitats throughout most of the world. Damselflies are sometimes also called dragonflies in that both are odonates—members of the order Odonata. The 2,500 dragonfly species (Anisoptera) are characterized by long bodies with two narrow pairs of intricately veined, membranous

Bhave, Vinoba

2005-03-24T07:25:00.000-08:00

Born of a high-caste Brahman family, he abandoned his high-school studies in 1916 to join Gandhi's ashram (ascetic community). Gandhi's teachings led Bhave to a life of austerity, dedicated

Fairbanks

2005-03-23T07:18:00.000-08:00

City, east central Alaska, U.S., on the Chena River (tributary of the Tanana). Founded in 1902 during a gold strike, it was named for Sen. (later Vice Pres.) Charles Warren Fairbanks. It lies on the 800-mi (1,300-km) north–south trans-Alaskan oil pipeline midway from the Prudhoe Bay fields to the Valdez terminal. As the northern terminus of the Alaska and Richardson highways and Alaska Railroad

Abu

2005-03-22T21:35:00.000-08:00

Also called Mount Abu, city, southwestern Rajasthan state, northwestern India. It is situated on the slopes of Mount Abu, an isolated feature of the Aravali Range. The city is a noted hill resort, and the Jaina temples at nearby Dilwara, built of white marble, are famous. Tejpal temple, built about AD 1200, is known for the delicacy and richness of its carving, especially for that on the underside of its dome.

Earth, Variation with elevation

2005-03-22T09:57:00.000-08:00

At sea level the gradient is equivalent to -0.3086 milligal per metre;

Alabama, The 20th century

2005-03-21T11:47:00.000-08:00

In 1900 the state remained largely rural. The onset of the boll weevil in 1915 seriously damaged one-crop agriculture, forcing a diversification of the rural economy. Rural dwellers, mostly poor and black, began an exodus to Southern cities and to the North, where cheap foreign labour supplies had dried up during World War I. A factor in encouraging the out-migration of Alabama

Berenson, Bernard

2005-03-21T00:33:00.000-08:00

Reared in Boston, Berenson was educated at Harvard University, from which he was graduated in 1887. His first book, The Venetian Painters of the Renaissance (1894), displayed a concise writing style. He was also endowed with a discriminating eye, exceptional

District Of Columbia, University Of The

2005-03-20T08:58:00.000-08:00

Public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Washington, D.C., U.S. It is the only public institution of higher education in the district, and it was the first exclusively urban land-grant university. There are three campuses—the Georgia/Harvard Street campus, the Mount Vernon Square campus, and the Van Ness campus. The university consists of the University

Teaching Machine

2005-03-20T00:39:00.000-08:00

There are many types of teaching machines. In general, they all work on the same method, which is to present a question, have the user indicate the answer, and then provide the user with the correct answer. Some machines may be extremely simple, such as test sheets or books so programmed that

Arnobius The Elder

2005-03-19T23:01:00.000-08:00

Arnobius was born a pagan but had become a Christian by AD 300. He taught rhetoric at Sicca Veneria in Africa during the reign (284–305) of the Roman emperor Diocletian. Because of his former paganism, Arnobius was suspected, notably by the local bishop,

Lancaster Sound

2005-03-18T05:17:00.000-08:00

Western arm of Baffin Bay (an inlet of the North Atlantic Ocean), in north-central Baffin region, Nunavut territory, Canada. The sound is 200 miles (320 km) long and 40 miles (64 km) wide. It extends between Devon Island (north) and Baffin Island (south) and joins the Barrow Strait northeast of Somerset Island. All feasible routes of the Northwest Passage, a seaway through the Canadian Arctic

Altai Mountains

2005-03-17T09:27:00.000-08:00

The system has three main subdivisions: the Altai proper (formerly

Hsi K'ang

2005-03-17T07:51:00.000-08:00

Of influential parentage, Hsi received a traditional education,

Latacunga

2005-03-17T04:05:00.000-08:00

Capital of Cotopaxi province, north central Ecuador, in an Andean basin on the upper Río Patate, at an elevation of 9,055 ft (2,760 m). The city dates from precolonial times, when it was frequented by Incan royalty because of its thermal springs. Latacunga lies 20 mi (32 km) southwest of the active volcano Cotopaxi and has been seriously damaged by eruptions and by attendant earthquakes.

Suppiluliumas I

2005-03-16T09:49:00.000-08:00

Suppiluliumas'

Hinduism, Folk and tribal myths

2005-03-16T08:21:00.000-08:00

There is a great diversity in folk mythology throughout the entire Indo-Pakistan subcontinent, but these myths have neither been fully collected nor systematically studied. Among locally important deities, Manasa, a snake goddess, worshiped in Assam and Bengal to ward off snakebites and secure prosperity, has an enormous mythology of her own. In South India one

Regina

2005-03-16T06:21:00.000-08:00

Capital and largest city of Saskatchewan, Canada, on Wascana Creek, in the south-central part of the province. It originated as a hunters' camp and was known as Pile O'Bones for the heaps of bones left there after skinning and cutting buffalo. Captain John Palliser, the explorer, visited the site in 1857 and called it Wascana (derived from its Cree Indian name, Oskana); with the

Soga Shohaku

2005-03-14T11:29:00.000-08:00

As a young man he studied painting under the guidance of Takada Keiho of the Kano school (school of painting based on Chinese subject matter and techniques) in Kyoto, but his disillusionment with contemporary

Tunis

2005-03-14T08:20:00.000-08:00

Tunis was founded by the Libyans, who in the 9th century BC surrendered the site of Carthage to

Tuapse

2005-03-14T08:10:00.000-08:00

City and seaport of Krasnodar kray (region), southwestern Russia. It lies on a sheltered bay of the Black Sea. Founded in 1838 around a fortress established in 1828, it grew in the 20th century as a major ship-repairing, oil-refining, and oil-export centre. It is linked by pipeline to Grozny and the north Caucasian oil fields. Other industries include food processing and the manufacture

Kirov

2005-03-14T05:35:00.000-08:00

Oblast (province), western Russia. The oblast covers an area of 46,650 square miles (120,800 square km) and occupies almost the entire basin of the Vyatka River. It is a rolling morainic plain rising from the broad, central valley of the Vyatka to the dissected limestone uplands of the Severnye Hills in the north and the Vyatsky Hills and Verkhne (Upper) Kama upland in the east. Nearly all

Malapropism

2005-03-12T23:13:00.000-08:00

Verbal blunder in which one word is replaced by another similar in sound but different in meaning. Although William Shakespeare had used the device for comic effect, the term derives from Richard Brinsley Sheridan's character Mrs. Malaprop, in his play The Rivals (1775). Her name is taken from the term malapropos (French: “inappropriate”) and is typical of Sheridan's practice

Fuchu

2005-03-12T19:33:00.000-08:00

City, Tokyo Metropolis (to), Honshu, Japan, on the Tama-gawa (Tama River). The capital of Musashi Province about the 7th century AD, it flourished as a post town and regional commercial and administrative centre. Fuchu declined when it was bypassed by the railway between Tokyo and Tachikawa (1889), but it revived with the arrival of two other railways in the late 1920s and the construction

Capsian Industry

2005-03-12T01:20:00.000-08:00

A Mesolithic (8000 BC–2700 BC) cultural complex prominent in the inland areas of North Africa. Its most characteristic sites are in the area of the great salt lakes of what is now southern Tunisia, the type site being Jabal al-Maqta', near Qafsah (Capsa, French Gafsa). Although the tool kit of the Capsian is a classic example of the industries of the late Würm Glacial Period, and, while it is apparently

Bharuch

2005-03-11T08:16:00.000-08:00

Bharuch was one of the most celebrated harbours in ancient India, being mentioned in the Periplus Maris Erythraei (c. AD 80) and by Ptolemy as Barygaza. It also occurs in the Hindu epic poem Mahabharata. Ruled in the 2nd century by the Ksatrapas and in the 7th

Percy, Sir Henry

2005-03-10T07:03:00.000-08:00

The eldest son of Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, he was nicknamed Hotspur by his Scottish enemies in recognition of the diligence

Shabestari, Sa'd Od-din Mahmud

2005-03-09T11:28:00.000-08:00

The details of Shabestari's life are obscure; apparently he spent most of it in Tabriz. He grew up in an age of spiritual confusion, following the Mongol invasion of Iran, the sack of Baghdad, and the final fall of the

Memory Abnormality, Hypnotic amnesia

2005-03-09T08:09:00.000-08:00

Memory of a hypnotic trance is often vague and fragmentary, as in awakening from an ordinary dream. This may be due in part to defect of registration during the period of altered consciousness. At the same time, very much more complete posthypnotic amnesia can be induced if an individual is told that, when he awakens, he will remember nothing of what went on during the

Canary Creeper

2005-03-08T22:07:00.000-08:00

Also called Canarybird Flower, Canarybird Vine, or Canary Nasturtium (species Tropaeolum peregrinum), annual climbing herb, of the family Tropaeolaceae, native to northwestern South America and introduced to other regions as a cultivated garden plant. It grows to a height of 1.8–3 m (6–10 feet). The leaves are round and deeply five-lobed. The flowers, about 2.5 cm (1 inch) across, are pale yellow and have a long, green spur.

Repton

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

Village (“parish”), South Derbyshire district, administrative and historic county of Derbyshire, England. The famous independent boys' school of Repton was founded in 1556, and its buildings incorporate parts (restored) of an Augustinian priory established in 1172. Pop. (1991) 2,012.

Vaughan, Frankie

2005-03-08T09:21:00.000-08:00

British theatre and cabaret singer who was one of the most popular romantic crooners of the 1950s through the '90s; darkly handsome and elegantly dressed, “Mr. Moonlight” (as he was known from his signature tune, “Give Me the Moonlight”) also appeared on television in Britain, the U.S., and across Europe and in motion pictures, notably in a musical number with Marilyn Monroe in Let's

Chang And Eng

2005-03-07T11:56:00.000-08:00

Chang and Eng, joined at the waist by a tubular band of tissue about 3.25 inches (8 cm) long

Welles, Gideon

2005-03-06T15:16:00.000-08:00

Born into a wealthy family, Welles was educated at private schools. He studied law but in 1826 became cofounder and editor of the Hartford Times. The next year, he became the youngest member of the Connecticut legislature and served there until 1835. An ardent

Shahn, Ben

2005-03-06T00:06:00.000-08:00

Shahn immigrated with his family to New York City in 1906. In 1913–17 he worked as a lithographer's apprentice while attending high school at night. He later attended

Arts, Islamic

2005-03-05T04:13:00.000-08:00

The literary, performing, and visual arts of the vast populations of the Middle East and elsewhere that adopted the Islamic faith from the 7th century onward. These adherents of the faith have created such an immense variety of literatures, performing arts, visual arts, and music that it virtually defies any comprehensive definition. In the narrowest sense, the arts

Ogden, Peter Skene

2005-03-04T23:29:00.000-08:00

Ogden's parents were American loyalists who had fled to Canada (via England) during the American

Duxbury

2005-03-04T08:43:00.000-08:00

Town (township), Plymouth county, eastern Massachusetts, U.S. It lies on Duxbury Bay (an inlet of Cape Cod Bay), 33 miles (53 km) south of Boston, and includes the villages of Duxbury and South Duxbury. Settled about 1628, it counts among its founders the Pilgrim colonists Myles Standish, William Brewster, and John Alden. Named for Duxbury Hall in Lancashire, England, seat of the Standish

Anthony, Michael

2005-03-04T07:20:00.000-08:00

In the mid-1950s Anthony left Trinidad to live in England, where he worked at Reuters News Agency

Mindelo

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

Portuguese Porto Grande, city and main port of Cape Verde, in the Atlantic Ocean. It lies on the northwest shore of São Vicente Island, about 560 miles (900 km) off the west African coast. The city's deepwater harbour on Porto Grande Bay is an important refueling point for transatlantic freighters. Mindelo port has been a submarine cable station since 1875. A new shipyard, financed by a loan from the European

Marc, Franz

2005-03-02T15:52:00.000-08:00

Marc's early works were done in a self-consciously academic style, but in 1903 his stolid naturalism was lightened by his exposure to French Impressionist painting and later to

Zivkovic, Petar

2005-03-02T05:49:00.000-08:00

As a young soldier at the Serbian court, Zivkovic was involved in 1903 in the assassination of King Alexander, the overthrow of the Obrenovic dynasty, and the restoration of the house of Karadjordjevic in the person of King Peter I. Later he joined the so-called White

Powers, Francis Gary

2005-03-01T02:48:00.000-08:00

Powers was tried and convicted of espionage and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was released

La Vega

2005-03-01T01:21:00.000-08:00

In full Concepción de la Vega city, west-central Dominican Republic. It was founded in 1495 by Bartolomeo Colombo at the foot of Concepción fortress, which had been built by Christopher Columbus in 1494. La Vega was moved to the bank of the Camú River after an earthquake in 1564. La Vega is a prosperous commercial, manufacturing, and transportation centre in the fertile La Vega Real region, which yields cacao, coffee,

Mugla

2005-02-27T20:45:00.000-08:00

City, southwestern Turkey, on the edge of a small plain about 12 miles (20 km) north of the Gulf of Gökova. A favourite residence of the emirs of the 14th-century Turkmen Mentese principality, it was annexed to the Ottoman Empire in 1425. It is a local market for the agricultural products of the region and is linked by road with Izmir and Denizli. The surrounding region borders on both the

Kesennuma

2005-02-27T07:24:00.000-08:00

City, Miyagi Prefecture (ken), Honshu, Japan, facing the Pacific Ocean. Its harbour and commercial fishing port are located on the deeply indented coast at the head of Kesennuma-wan (Kesennuma Bay). Deep-sea fishing (tuna, bonito, and saury) is important, and oysters are cultivated. Industries produce textiles and rubber and leather goods. The nearby scenic coastal area is

Etruscan Language

2005-02-27T04:43:00.000-08:00

The Etruscans lived in Italy in the region of modern Tuscany, in an

Earth, Metamorphism

2005-02-27T01:47:00.000-08:00

Metamorphism requires heat and/or pressure to transform a sedimentary or an igneous rock into a metamorphic rock. Such a change involves an increase in grain size, formation of new minerals, gain or loss of water, and/or an increase in the degree of bonding of the mineral grains. Metamorphism can be either of two types: regional or contact. Regional metamorphism involves

Pytheas

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

Sailing from the Mediterranean Sea into the Atlantic, Pytheas stopped at the Phoenician city of

Cohan, George M.

2005-02-25T09:22:00.000-08:00

At an early age he performed with his parents and sister, subsequently taking comedy roles in vaudeville and on the legitimate stage. By 1893 he was writing vaudeville skits and popular songs. His

Buber, Martin

2005-02-25T09:08:00.000-08:00

Buber's manifold activities were inspired by his philosophy of encounter—of man's meeting with other beings. An early mystical period culminated in Daniel (1913), five dialogues on orientation and realization, man's two basic stances toward the world. Orientation takes the world as a static state of affairs governed by comprehensible laws. It is a receptive, analytical,

Pithecanthropus

2005-02-25T01:54:00.000-08:00

Former genus name assigned to fossil hominids including Java man (q.v.) and Peking man (q.v.), both now classified as Homo erectus.

Religion

2005-02-24T03:38:00.000-08:00

The year 1993 began amid the turmoil generated by the destruction on Dec. 6, 1992, of the medieval mosque in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, by Hindu militants, who believed the building was originally an ancient Hindu temple marking the birthplace of the god Rama. The ensuing bloody clashes between Hindus and Muslims throughout the nation claimed at least 2,000 lives within a few weeks, most

Thompson, David

2005-02-23T20:46:00.000-08:00

Thompson was apprenticed to the Hudson's Bay Company

Bench

2005-02-23T19:11:00.000-08:00

Long seat that may be freestanding, fixed to the wall, or placed against the wall. Paneled benches were used by the Romans, and they were the most common form of seating in medieval halls at a time when a chair was a rare luxury. Benches were not only used as seats but were normally wide enough to be used for sleeping on or eating from; as the Frankish ecclesiastic and historian

Museums, History Of, Specialized personal collections

2005-02-23T15:01:00.000-08:00

The developing interest in human as well as natural history in the 16th century led to the creation of specialized collections. In Italy alone more than 250 natural history collections are recorded in that century, including the fine herbarium of Luca Ghini at Padua and the more eclectic collection of Ulisse Aldrovandi at Bologna. Other notable natural history collections

Allen, Paula Gunn

2005-02-22T17:31:00.000-08:00

Allen's father was Lebanese American, and her mother was part Laguna-Sioux. She left college to marry, divorced in 1962, and returned for further education. She studied English literature (B.A., 1966) and creative writing (M.F.A., 1968) at the University

Faber, Frederick William

2005-02-22T04:31:00.000-08:00

Faber was elected fellow of University College, Oxford, in 1837. Originally a Calvinist, he became a disciple of John Henry Newman (later cardinal) and, in 1843, was appointed rector of Elton, Huntingdonshire. He converted

Intelsat

2005-02-21T14:48:00.000-08:00

Abbreviation of International Telecommunications Satellite Organization, also called (1964–73) International Telecommunications Satellite Consortium, organization founded in 1964 by the telecommunication agencies of 18 nations, including the United States, which proposed the organization. Intelsat owns communications satellites and the ground stations from which they are controlled, but the transmitting and receiving apparatus in each country is owned by the Intelsat member from that country. Within several

Adams, John

2005-02-21T07:39:00.000-08:00

Adams remained the central figure of the Continental Congress for the following two years. He drafted the Plan of Treaties in July 1776, a document that provided the framework for a treaty with France and that almost inadvertently identified the strategic priorities that would shape American foreign policy over the next century. He was the unanimous choice to head the Board of War and Ordnance and was thereby made in effect a one-man war department responsible for raising and equipping the American army and creating from scratch an American navy. As the prospects for a crucial wartime alliance with France improved late in 1777, he was chosen to join Benjamin Franklin in Paris to conduct the negotiations. In February 1778 he sailed for Europe, accompanied by 10-year-old John Quincy.

Afghanistan, Mohammad Nader Shah (192933)

2005-02-20T20:12:00.000-08:00

Nader Shah produced a new constitution in 1931 that was modeled on Amanollah's constitution of 1923 but was more conservatively

Latin Literature

2005-02-20T11:14:00.000-08:00

The body of writings in Latin, primarily produced during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, when Latin was a spoken language. When Rome fell, Latin remained the literary language of the Western medieval world until it was superseded by the Romance languages it had generated and by other modern languages. After the Renaissance the writing of Latin was increasingly

Anne And Joachim, Saints

2005-02-19T16:24:00.000-08:00

Kathleen Ashley and Pamela Sheingorn (eds.), Interpreting Cultural Symbols: Saint Anne in Late Medieval Society (1990), covers the fields of art history, literature, religion, and social history.

Henry (vii)

2005-02-19T09:18:00.000-08:00

After apparently spending most of his youth in Germany, Henry was crowned king of Sicily in 1212 and made duke of Swabia in 1216. Pope Innocent III had favoured his coronation as king of Sicily in the hope that the union of Sicily with the empire would be dissolved, and

Chicago Defender

2005-02-18T11:33:00.000-08:00

Founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott, the Chicago Defender originally was a four-page weekly newspaper. Like

Guzmania

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

Guzmania leaves are stiff, often stemless or short-stemmed,

Kirkwall

2005-02-17T16:22:00.000-08:00

Royal burgh (town), seaport, and chief town of the Orkney Islands, Scotland, off the northern tip of the Scottish mainland. It was designated a royal burgh in 1486. Early Norse influence persisted as late as the building of the 12th-century red sandstone St. Magnus Cathedral, a dominant feature of the present town. The ruins of the Earl's Palace and 17th-century houses standing gable-end

Computers And Information Systems, E-commerce.

2005-02-16T11:23:00.000-08:00

E-commerce continued to grow with meteoric speed in 1999, powered by Internet retailers such as Amazon.com, which, under the leadership of its founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos (see Biographies), expanded beyond selling books on-line to offering toys, consumer electronics, videos, music, auctions, gifts, and electronic greeting cards and prepared to get into the on-line grocery business.

Sea Turtle

2005-02-16T06:52:00.000-08:00

Any of the marine turtles of the families Dermochelyidae (leatherback turtle) and Cheloniidae (green turtle, loggerhead, hawksbill, and ridley). Sea turtles, in adaptation to an aquatic life, have limbs modified into flippers for efficient swimming. They generally leave the water only during the breeding season, when the female emerges to dig

French Literature, Experiments in theatre

2005-02-16T02:09:00.000-08:00

During the 1940s the theatre provided a forum for the veiled expression of political dilemmas through the dramatization of individual crises of conscience. The plays of Montherlant, Jean Anouilh, Giraudoux, and Sartre made this, surprisingly, an outstanding moment for the Parisian stage. A government policy to provide state financial aid after the war led to the encouragement

Argentina, Oil, steel, and motor vehicles

2005-02-15T00:52:00.000-08:00

The steel industry in Argentina

Hinn Island

2005-02-14T23:33:00.000-08:00

Norwegian Hinnøya island, in the Norwegian Sea, northern Norway. Forming part of the Vesterålen group and with an area of 849 square miles (2,198 square km), it is Norway's second largest island after Spitsbergen (principal island of Svalbard). It is divided between Nordland and Troms fylker (counties) and separated from the mainland by the narrow Tjeld Strait. Irregularly shaped and deeply indented

Puffin

2005-02-14T19:48:00.000-08:00

Also called Bottlenose, or Sea Parrot, any of three species of diving birds that belong to the auk family, Alcidae (order Charadriiformes). They are distinguished by their large, brightly coloured, triangular beaks. Puffins nest in large colonies on seaside and island cliffs, usually laying only one egg, in a burrow dug one or two metres (three to six feet) deep. Hatched in about six weeks,

Italic Script

2005-02-13T23:01:00.000-08:00

In calligraphy, script developed by the Italian humanists about 1400 from antique Latin texts and inscriptions. The humanists called the Carolingian minuscule in which most of these sources were preserved lettera antica, mistakenly regarding it as a Roman script from the time of Cicero. The Florentine scribe Niccolò Niccoli (d. 1437) combined the rhythm and fluidity of

Locomotion, Invertebrates

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

As in the protozoans, aquatic locomotion in invertebrates (animals without backbones) consists of both swimming and bottom movements. In swimming, the propulsive force is derived entirely from the interaction between the organism and the water; in bottom movements, the bottom surface provides the interacting surface. Whereas some bottom movements are identical

Epilepsy

2005-02-12T23:40:00.000-08:00

Chronic neurological disorder characterized by sudden and recurrent seizures which are caused by excessive signaling of nerve cells in the brain. Seizures may include convulsions, momentary lapses of consciousness, strange movements or sensations in parts of the body, odd behaviours, and emotional disturbances. Epileptic seizures typically last one to two

Berenson, Senda

2005-02-11T21:27:00.000-08:00

The Valvrojenski family immigrated to the United States in 1875, adopting the name Berenson and settling in

Adolf

2005-02-11T07:32:00.000-08:00

The son of Duke William of Nassau-Weilburg and Charlotte of Saxony, Adolf became duke of Nassau upon his father's death (1839). Educated in Vienna and a military supporter of the Habsburgs, he sided with Austria

Términos Lagoon

2005-02-11T03:21:00.000-08:00

Spanish Laguna De Términos, lagoon in southwestern Campeche state, at the base of the Yucatán Peninsula, eastern Mexico. An inlet of the Bay of Campeche on the Gulf of Mexico, it measures 45 mi (72 km) east–west and 12 to 15 mi north–south. Long, narrow Carmen Island stretches across its entrance. The lagoon is fed by the Palizada and Candelaria rivers. Shrimp, fish, and turtles are taken from Términos, and crocodiles

Szolnok

2005-02-10T08:57:00.000-08:00

Town and seat of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok megye (county), east-central Hungary, at the confluence of the Zagyva and Tisza rivers. Under the Árpád kings (c. 890–1301) Szolnok was a market town and distributing centre for rock salt from the Maramures Mountains (now in Romania). Later in the European Middle Ages it was a strategic settlement fiercely contested by Magyars and Turks. In modern

France, History Of, Gaul

2005-02-09T10:13:00.000-08:00

Stimulating overviews of Gaul in the context of French prehistory and early history are found in appropriate chapters of J.M. Wallace-Hadrill and John McManners (eds.), France: Government and Society, 2nd ed. (1970); and Stuart Piggott, Glyn Daniel, and Charles McBurney (eds.), France Before the Romans (1974). More detailed surveys are presented in Olwen Brogan, Roman Gaul (1953); J.J. Hatt, Histoire de la Gaule romaine, 120 avant J.-C.–451 après J.-C., 3rd ed. (1970); Paul MacKendrick, Roman France (1971); and J.F. Drinkwater, Roman Gaul: The Three Provinces, 58 BC–AD 260 (1983). Outstanding modern investigations of particular sites and areas of relevance to the study of Gaul as a whole are Paul-Marie Duval, Paris antique: des origines au troisième siècle (1961); Robert Étienne, Bordeaux antique (1962); Edith Mary Wightman, Roman Trier and the Treveri (1970), and Gallia Belgica (1985); Patrick Galliou, L'Armorique romaine (1983); Heinz Heinen, Trier und das Treverland in römischer Zeit (1985); and A.L.F. Rivet, Gallia Narbonensis: With a Chapter on Alpes Maritimae: Southern France in Roman Times (1988). Provoking syntheses of the contacts of Greeks, Celts, and Romans, based on the archaeological evidence, are offered in John Collis, The European Iron Age (1984); and Barry Cunliffe, Greeks, Romans, and Barbarians: Spheres of Interaction (1988). Life in later Roman Gaul is studied in C.E. Stevens, Sidonius Apollinaris and His Age (1933, reprinted 1979); John Matthews, Western Aristocracies and Imperial Court, A.D. 364–425 (1975); and Raymond Van Dam, Leadership and Community in Late Antique Gaul (1985). Herwig Wolfram, History of the Goths (1988; originally published in German, 1979); and Edward James, The Franks (1988), discuss the barbarian invasions. Camille Jullian, Histoire de la Gaule, 8 vol. (1920–26, reprinted 1964); Albert Grenier, Manuel d'archéologie gallo-romaine, 4 vol. in 7 (1931–60); and Paul-Marie Duval, La Gaule jusqu'au milieu de Ve siècle, 2 vol. (1971), are still important fundamental works on Gallic history and archaeology.

Quilmes

2005-02-09T06:18:00.000-08:00

Cabecera (principal built-up area) and partido (political subdivision), of Gran (Greater) Buenos Aires, southeast of the city of Buenos Aires, in Buenos Aires province, Argentina, near the Río de la Plata estuary. Colonization of the area began with the second and permanent founding of Buenos Aires (1580). In 1666 Jose Martinez de Salazar (governor of Río de la Plata) established the

Ayckbourn, Alan

2005-02-09T00:41:00.000-08:00

Successful and prolific British playwright, whose works—mostly farces and comedies—deal with marital and class conflicts and point up the fears and weaknesses of the English lower-middle class. He wrote more than 50 plays and other entertainments, most of which were first staged at the Stephen Joseph Theatre-in-the-Round in Scarborough,