LateHammer

Parks, Rosa

2005-04-05T07:33:00.000-07:00

Parks attended Alabama State College (now Alabama State University) and made her living as a seamstress. In 1943 she became

Zadkine, Ossip

2005-04-04T02:47:00.000-07:00

As a boy, Zadkine, son of a professor of Greek and Latin, much preferred clay modeling to his studies.

Antarctica, Exploration for resources

2005-04-04T00:20:00.000-07:00

Antarctica, it has been suggested, may have become a continent for science because it was useful for nothing else. Certainly, the great success of the Antarctic Treaty and of the political experiment in international cooperation is in no small way attributable to the fact that exploitable mineral resources have not been found. Articles of the original treaty (signed

Lock

2005-04-03T07:06:00.000-07:00

Enclosure or basin located in the course of a canal or a river (or in the vicinity of a dock) with gates at each end, within which the water level may be varied to raise or lower boats. Where the required lift is of considerable height, a series of connected but isolable basins, or locks, is used. On the Trollhätte Canal, Sweden, three locks overcome a total rise of 77 feet (23 m). Single

Mughal Painting

2005-04-03T03:54:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Mogul, style of painting, confined mainly to book illustration and the production of individual miniatures, that evolved in India during the reigns of the Mughal emperors (16th–18th century). In its initial phases it showed some indebtedness to the Safavid school of Persian painting but rapidly moved away from Persian ideals. Probably the earliest example of Mughal painting

Iroko Wood

2005-04-02T06:07:00.000-08:00

Wood of the iroko tree (Chlorophora excelsa), native to the west coast of Africa. It is sometimes called African, or Nigerian, teak, but the iroko is unrelated to the teak family. The wood is tough, dense, and very durable. It is often used in cabinetmaking and paneling as a substitute for teak, which it resembles both in colour (light brown to deep golden-brown) and in grain.

Hilarion Of Kiev

2005-04-01T01:24:00.000-08:00

A priest, Hilarion became the second archbishop of Kiev, the chief city in Rus at that time. Although Kievan bishops had all previously been appointed by the patriarch of Constantinople, Hilarion was chosen by Prince Yaroslav I the Wise and an assembly

Obi

2005-03-31T19:27:00.000-08:00

The contemporary, wide obi evolved in the early 18th century. It is frequently

Mitchell

2005-03-31T08:50:00.000-08:00

City, seat of Davison county, southeastern South Dakota, U.S., in the James River valley by Firesteel Creek (there dammed to form Lake Mitchell). Established in 1879 as a railroad town, it was named for Alexander Mitchell, president of the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad. Its farm-based economy (corn [maize], livestock, and dairying) is supplemented by light manufacturing

Janin

2005-03-30T23:53:00.000-08:00

The original ancient settlement is mentioned in the Amarna Letters, a series of 14th-century-BC diplomatic documents

Pacific Ocean, Central Pacific region

2005-03-29T08:22:00.000-08:00

The central Pacific region lies between the boundaries of the eastern and western regions. The largest and the most geologically stable of the structural provinces of the Earth's crust, it is characterized by expansive areas of low relief, lying at a general depth of about 15,000 feet below the surface.

Berain, Jean, The Elder

2005-03-29T00:24:00.000-08:00

Trained under the great French decorator Charles Le Brun, Berain was working at the Louvre when appointed, in 1674, royal designer to King Louis XIV of France. After the death

Bingöl

2005-03-28T20:47:00.000-08:00

Formerly Çapakçur, city in eastern Turkey, lying along the Göniksuyu, a tributary of the Murat River. It is a market for grain, livestock, and livestock products of the area. The city takes its name (bin, “thousand,” göl, “lakes”) from numerous small lakes that dot the Bingöl Mountains to the northeast. Bingöl suffered heavy damage by earthquake in 1966. The city is linked by main roads with Elâzig to the

Alamogordo

2005-03-28T10:35:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1899) of Otero county, southern New Mexico, U.S. It lies at the western base of the Sacramento Mountains and east of the Tularosa Basin. Founded by John A. and Charles B. Eddy in 1898 and named for its large cottonwood trees (Spanish: alamo “cottonwood,” gordo “fat”), it became a division point on the Southern Pacific Railroad and developed as a lumber town and agricultural-market

Clodomir

2005-03-28T06:26:00.000-08:00

The eldest son of Clovis I by Clotilda, Clodomir shared in the fourfold partition of his father's kingdom in 511, receiving lands in western and central France; his was the only one of the four kingdoms to form a single geographical unit on both sides of the Loire River. In 523, with his two full brothers, Chlotar

Zaporizhzhya

2005-03-25T22:39:00.000-08:00

Russian Zaporozhye, also spelled Zaporozhe, or Zaporozje, formerly (until 1921) Aleksandrovsk, city and administrative centre of Zaporizhzhya oblast (province), southeastern Ukraine, on the Dnieper River just below its former rapids. In 1770 the fortress of Aleksandrovsk was established to ensure government control over the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks, whose headquarters were on nearby Khortitsa Island. The settlement became a town in 1806. The growth of the city dates

Bac Lieu

2005-03-25T18:40:00.000-08:00

Town, Ca Mau Peninsula, southern Vietnam. It has a hospital and a commercial airport and is linked by highway to Ho Chi Minh City, 120 mi (195 km) to the northeast. In addition to rice growing, there is mat making, and, on the coast, salt is obtained by evaporation. There is also a fishing industry. The government has moved people into the area from Ho Chi Minh City-Cho Lon. Pop. (1971 est.) 65,678.

Alcázar De San Juan

2005-03-24T11:36:00.000-08:00

Town, Ciudad Real provincia, in the comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Castile–La Mancha, central Spain. It lies on the high Meseta Central at 2,135 feet (650 m) above sea level. Known to the Romans as Alces, the town was renamed al-Qasr (“the Palace,” or “the Castle”) by the Arabs. It was conquered by the Knights of St. John (Spanish: San Juan) of Jerusalem (the Hospitalers) in 1186 and captured

Duarte, Juan Pablo

2005-03-23T14:07:00.000-08:00

Duarte, who was sent to Europe for his education (1828–33), became determined to free the eastern part of Hispaniola from Haitian domination. On his return to the island he and several other patriots

Historiography, German historiography

2005-03-23T04:30:00.000-08:00

Such a quality was, by and large, lacking in the work of the historians of the Enlightenment, who had been unable to achieve imaginative insight into civilizations very different from their own. The greatest shortcoming of Gibbon was his temperamental inability to appreciate religion. The new historiography of the 19th century was created chiefly by Germans, who,

Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen; And Moe, Jørgen Engebretsen

2005-03-22T11:55:00.000-08:00

Closely united in their lives and work, the two men are rarely named separately. They met as youths in 1827 and became “blood

Steeple Cup

2005-03-21T19:55:00.000-08:00

Tall standing cup, the cover of which characteristically bears an obelisk finial (sometimes surmounted by a figure) that rises on scrolled brackets from the cover. With an egg-shaped or globular bowl and cover, a short baluster stem, and a tall, trumpet-shaped foot, these cups seem to have emerged only in England and for a short period between about 1590 and the 1630s. They were usually

Karamzin, Nikolay Mikhaylovich

2005-03-21T07:44:00.000-08:00

From an early age, Karamzin was interested in Enlightenment philosophy and western European literature. After extensive travel in western Europe,

Bulandshahr

2005-03-19T19:56:00.000-08:00

The surrounding area comprises a level region between

Fen River

2005-03-19T10:23:00.000-08:00

The Fen River and its tributaries

Lewis, John

2005-03-19T09:41:00.000-08:00

Reared in New Mexico by academically oriented parents, Lewis studied piano from childhood and, until 1942, anthropology and music at the University of

Aeroflot

2005-03-19T08:36:00.000-08:00

The Soviet state airline was founded in 1928 under the name Dobroflot and was reorganized under the name Aeroflot in 1932. Dobroflot, or Dobrovolny Flot, grew out of two former airlines: Dobrolyot, founded in 1923, and Ukvozdukhput, or Ukrainian Airways, founded in 1925. These airlines together connected such

Observer, The

2005-03-17T17:19:00.000-08:00

Sunday newspaper established in 1791, the first Sunday paper published in Britain. It is one of England's quality newspapers, long noted for its emphasis on foreign coverage. The paper devotes extensive space to the arts, government, education, and politics, and it has a worldwide reputation for responsible journalism. The Observer is considered by other editors to be

'adud Ad-dawlah

2005-03-17T16:39:00.000-08:00

Becoming ruler of Fars province in southern Iran in 944, 'Adud ad-Dawlah did not actually reign on his own until almost a decade later. But by 979 his authority extended, through inheritance and conquest, over all southern Iran and most of what is now Iraq. He became famous for his public works, which included a dam still standing near

Kirikkale

2005-03-17T06:29:00.000-08:00

Town, central Turkey, on the Ankara-Kayseri railway near the Kizil River. Formerly a village, it owes its rapid rise in population mainly to the establishment of steel mills in the 1950s. These works, among the largest in the country, specialize in high-quality alloy steel and machinery. In the 1960s chemical plants were added. Electricity is provided by a generating plant that is

Arecibo

2005-03-16T20:59:00.000-08:00

Town, northern Puerto Rico. It lies on a small inlet near the mouth of the Arecibo River. One of the oldest municipalities in the commonwealth, it was authorized in 1537 by the Spanish crown and settled in 1556. In 1616 it was chartered as a town and in 1778 received the royal title villa. An official U.S. port of entry, the town has Puerto Rico's largest rum distilleries and produces agricultural

Avunculate

2005-03-16T19:24:00.000-08:00

Special relationship between a man and his sister's children, particularly her sons, which prevails in many societies, notably those characterized by matrilineal descent. The term is derived from the Latin avunculus, meaning “uncle.” It typically involves for the uncle a measure of authority over his nephews, coupled with specific responsibilities in their upbringing,

Hába, Alois

2005-03-16T16:28:00.000-08:00

A striking innovator and important teacher and writer,

Amadís Of Gaul

2005-03-16T01:39:00.000-08:00

In Montalvo's version,

Crime And Punishment, Incapacitation

2005-03-15T14:20:00.000-08:00

Incapacitation is an object of punishment that has been known since early times. The idea is simply that the offender should be dealt with in a manner that will make it impossible for him to repeat his offense—by execution or banishment in earlier times, in more modern times by execution or lengthy periods of incarceration. This is the only objective of punishment

China, The clerical staff

2005-03-14T09:01:00.000-08:00

The norms for the clerks were even lower, especially in local government. Some 300 clerks in a large prefecture or nearly 100 in a small one were placed under the supervision of a few officials. The clerks had numerous dealings with various other elements in the community, whereas the officials, being outsiders, rarely had direct contacts. Holding practically lifelong tenure

David, Félicien-césar

2005-03-14T02:03:00.000-08:00

David was chapelmaster at the Saint-Sauveur Cathedral at Aix-en-Provence (1829) and in 1830 studied at the Paris Conservatoire. The following year he joined the socialist brotherhood of the Saint-Simonians, becoming their

Arochukwu

2005-03-13T18:11:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Arochuku, town, Abia state, southern Nigeria. It lies along the road from Calabar to Umuahia. Arochukwu was the headquarters of the Aro, an Igbo (Ibo) subgroup that dominated southeastern Nigeria in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was the seat of the sacred Chuku shrine, the source of a much-feared oracle (called Long Juju by the Europeans) that acted as a judge for the Igbo supreme deity

Calendar Of 1995

2005-03-13T17:40:00.000-08:00

With near unanimous consent (292-15), members of Ukraine's Supreme Council (parliament) voted to oust the Cabinet of Pres. Leonid Kuchma. The vote of no confidence cast by numerous former communist legislators was generally interpreted as an expression of dissatisfaction with Kuchma's reforms. Some analysts, however, suggested that the president

Pyrogallol

2005-03-12T20:01:00.000-08:00

Pyrogallol was first obtained in 1786 from gallic acid, obtainable from galls and barks of various trees. It is converted to pyrogallol by heating with water under pressure. Pyrogallol is the oldest photographic developer, its rapid deposition

Brown, Trisha

2005-03-11T16:23:00.000-08:00

Brown studied modern dance at Mills College in Oakland, California (B.A., 1958). Her style began developing after she met choreographer Yvonne

Forbes, George William

2005-03-11T11:31:00.000-08:00

Forbes held a seat in the House of Representatives for thirty-five years as member for Hurunui (1908–43). He began his political career as a member of the Liberal Party, and when that party declined he became in 1928 a leader of the newly created United Party.

Calendar Of 1995

2005-03-11T03:42:00.000-08:00

Chemical element, metal of Group VIII of the periodic table, the most used and cheapest metal.

Uzbek Language

2005-03-09T08:48:00.000-08:00

In Uzbek roughly two main dialect groups can be distinguished. One includes

Greek Mythology, Myths of heroes

2005-03-09T03:05:00.000-08:00

Hero myths included elements from tradition, folktale, and fiction. The saga of the Argonauts, for example, is highly complex and includes elements from folktale and fiction, but the information that the fleet mustered at Colchis may be regarded as genuine legend. Episodes in the Trojan cycle, such as the departure of the Greek fleet from Aulis or Theseus' Cretan expedition

Cylinder

2005-03-09T00:10:00.000-08:00

In geometry, surface of revolution that is traced by a straight line (the generatrix) that always moves parallel to itself or some fixed line or direction (the axis). The path, to be definite, is directed along a curve (the directrix), along which the line always glides. In a right circular cylinder, the directrix is a circle. The axis of this cylinder is a line through the centre

Korean Art

2005-03-07T20:16:00.000-08:00

A number of artifacts, including pottery and bronze and iron objects, indicate the early influence of China on Korean art. There is also evidence that Scythian, Siberian, and other non-Chinese cultures had an effect on the design and decoration

Syracuse University

2005-03-07T09:53:00.000-08:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher education, located in Syracuse, New York, U.S. It offers more than 200 undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs through 15 colleges and schools. Research facilities include the All-University Gerontology Center (established 1972), the Center for Advanced Technology in Computer Applications and Software Engineering

Orvieto Ware

2005-03-07T03:47:00.000-08:00

Italian maiolica, a tin-glazed earthenware produced originally at Orvieto, in Umbria, from the 13th century onward. It was copied from, or inspired by, the faience produced in Paterna, Spain. The most common colours of Orvieto ware are the green and manganese purple of their Spanish prototype, though sometimes blue and yellow were added. The style of decoration is Gothic,

Ammunition

2005-03-07T02:27:00.000-08:00

The projectiles and propelling charges used in small arms, artillery, and other guns. Ammunition size is usually expressed in terms of calibre, which is the diameter of the projectile as measured in millimetres or inches. In general, projectiles less than 20 mm or .60 inch in diameter are classified as small-arm, and larger calibres are considered artillery. A complete round

Swanton, John Reed

2005-03-06T15:44:00.000-08:00

Swanton studied with anthropologist Franz Boas at Columbia University for two years but received

Ear, Human, Tuning-fork tests

2005-03-05T20:17:00.000-08:00

In the Rinne test the sounding tuning fork is placed on the mastoid process, and the person

Cinchona

2005-03-05T07:44:00.000-08:00

Four species of Cinchona were cultivated for many years, primarily in Java and also in India and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Their bark was processed to obtain quinine, which is

Oglesby, Richard (james)

2005-03-04T19:43:00.000-08:00

Oglesby was born into a farming family, and his father was a member of the Kentucky legislature. Orphaned in 1833, he was taken to Decatur, Ill., by an uncle. In 1845 Oglesby was admitted to the bar; he practiced law until the Mexican War (April 1846–February 1848) broke out, at which time he served with the 4th Illinois

Athenaeus

2005-03-04T13:57:00.000-08:00

Greek grammarian and author of Deipnosophistai (“The Gastronomers”), a work in the form of an aristocratic symposium, in which a number of learned men, some bearing the names of real persons, such as Galen, meet at a banquet and discuss food and other subjects. It is in 15 books, of which 10 have survived in their entirety, the others in summary form. The value of the

Basava

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

Hindu religious reformer, teacher, theologian, and administrator of the royal treasury of the Calukya king Bijjala I (reigned 1156–67). Basava is the subject of the Basava-Purana, one of the sacred texts of the Hindu Lingayat sect. According to South Indian oral tradition, he was the actual founder of the Lingayats, but study of Calukya inscriptions indicates

Davidson College

2005-03-02T11:45:00.000-08:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Davidson, North Carolina, U.S. It is a liberal arts college with bachelor's degree programs in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences and is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Junior-year students can study at the University of Tours in Tours, France, or the Julius Maximilian University in W

Beretta Spa

2005-03-01T23:33:00.000-08:00

The founder of the business, Bartolomeo Beretta, was known as a maestro da canne, or master gun-barrel maker, for the republic of

Catania

2005-03-01T06:25:00.000-08:00

Latin Catana, or Catina, city, capital of Catania provincia, eastern Sicily, Italy, in the broad plain of Catania on the Ionian seacoast, south of Mount Etna. The city was founded in 729 BC by Chalcidians (settlers from Chalcis in the Greek island of Euboea) from Naxos, 50 miles (80 km) north. It acquired importance in the 5th century BC with Hieron I, tyrant of Syracuse, and his son Deinomenes, who conquered it and renamed

Corcoran Gallery Of Art

2005-02-28T09:05:00.000-08:00

The museum also houses the private collection of

Olt Defile

2005-02-27T11:46:00.000-08:00

Defile in south-central Romania. The defile was cut into the Transylvanian Alps (Southern Carpathians) by the Olt River. It was particularly important during the Roman occupation (1st century BC to the 2nd century AD), when the Romans built a road and a line of fortifications along the Olt, north of its junction with the Danube River. The line of fortifications, known as the Limes

Shensi, Climate

2005-02-27T06:31:00.000-08:00

The Tsinling Mountains are not only a physical divide but also separate Shensi into two sharply differentiated climatic regions. The southern mountain area has a subtropical climate, similar to that of the Middle Yangtze Basin or of Szechwan. Mean temperatures in January are from 37° to 39° F (3° to 4° C), and the frost-free growing season is from 260 to 280 days, although the summer and

Melville (of Melville), Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount, Baron Dunira

2005-02-27T05:13:00.000-08:00

British careerist politician who held various ministerial offices under William Pitt the Younger and whose adroit control of Scottish politics earned him the nickname “King Harry the Ninth.” Educated at the University of Edinburgh, he became a member of the faculty of advocates in 1763 and soon acquired a leading

Ordóñez, Antonio

2005-02-26T17:55:00.000-08:00

Antonio Ordóñez was the son of Cayetano Ordóñez, called “Niño de la Palma,” who was the prototype for Pedro Romero, the matador in Ernest Hemingway's novel The Sun Also Rises. Hemingway is said to have ranked the son even higher than the father.

Asia

2005-02-26T03:01:00.000-08:00

In antiquity, the first and westernmost Roman province in Asia Minor, stretching at its greatest extent from the Aegean coast in the west to a point beyond Philomelium (modern Aksehir) in the east and from the Sea of Marmara in the north to the strait between Rhodes and the mainland in the south. The province was first constituted when Attalus III, king of Pergamum, bequeathed

Ibuse Masuji

2005-02-25T01:36:00.000-08:00

Ibuse was first interested in poetry and painting but was encouraged to write fiction when he entered Waseda University in 1918. His greatest popularity came after World War II, but he was already known in the 1930s for such

Economic Affairs

2005-02-24T17:38:00.000-08:00

Amid a global financial crisis and intense efforts to prepare for the introduction of the European Union common currency (the euro) and the computer problem caused by the year 2000 date change, industrywide consolidation both within and across national borders continued to reshape the financial services landscape in 1998. At the same time, 1998 was marked by ongoing efforts

Abemama Atoll

2005-02-24T14:59:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Apamama , formerly Roger Simpson Island coral atoll of the northern Gilbert Islands, part of Kiribati, in the west-central Pacific Ocean. Captain Charles Bishop, who discovered the atoll in 1799, named it Roger Simpson Island for one of his associates. Seat of the area's ruling family in the 19th century, the atoll was the site of the formal British annexation of the Gilbert Island group in 1892. Occupied by Japanese forces

Koh-i-noor

2005-02-23T19:33:00.000-08:00

According to some experts, Sultan 'Ala'-ud-Din Khalji is credited

Moleschott, Jacob

2005-02-23T08:31:00.000-08:00

Moleschott studied medicine (1842–45) at the University

Italic Languages, South Picene

2005-02-22T14:53:00.000-08:00

Approximately two dozen short inscriptions from the southern part of ancient Picenum (most of them found near Ascoli Piceno and Teramo) preserve extremely early remains (6th and 5th centuries BC) of the Italic language now known as South Picene (see Figure 2). Formerly referred to as Old Sabellian or Central Adriatic, South Picene

Arval Brothers

2005-02-21T23:32:00.000-08:00

Latin Fratres Arvales, in ancient Rome, college or priesthood whose chief original duty was to offer annual public sacrifice for the fertility of the fields. The brotherhood, probably of great antiquity, was almost forgotten in republican times but was revived by Augustus and probably lasted until the time of Theodosius I. It consisted of 12 members, elected for life from the highest ranks,

Vacarescu Family

2005-02-21T09:52:00.000-08:00

Ienachita (1740–99), after traveling and studying in St. Petersburg and Vienna, wrote poems inspired by Russian folk songs. He wrote the first Romanian grammar book (Gramatica româneasca, 1787). His chief poems, Amarîta turturea (“Sad Turtledove”) and Testamentul, reveal a high artistic

English Literature, Arnold and Clough

2005-02-20T17:21:00.000-08:00

Matthew Arnold's first volume of verse, The Strayed Reveller, and Other Poems (1849), combined lyric grace with an acute sense of the dark philosophical landscape of the period. The title poem of his next collection, Empedocles on Etna (1852), is a sustained statement of the modern dilemma and a remarkable poetic embodiment of the process that Arnold called “the dialogue of the mind

Systole And Diastole

2005-02-20T11:39:00.000-08:00

Diastole, the opposite of systole, is the lengthening of a short quantity or syllable for metric irregularity. The

Hawaii

2005-02-20T10:10:00.000-08:00

Hawaii was characterized

Ijsselmeer Polders

2005-02-20T09:13:00.000-08:00

The Zuiderzee project, which involved the construction of a dam (Afsluitdijk; completed 1932) enclosing the IJsselmeer

Spanish Literature, Revival of the Spanish novel

2005-02-18T23:54:00.000-08:00

For more than two centuries the novel, with which Spain had made its greatest contribution to literature, had been almost extinct. The first novels of the revival were more interesting for powers of observation and description (a continuation of costumbrismo) than for imaginative or narrative quality. A woman novelist, Fernán Caballero, determined the technique

Duran, Profiat

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

Duran was the descendant of a scholarly Jewish family of southern France. He was educated in Germany and then took a position as tutor with a wealthy family in Catalonia. There, in 1391, in a wave of Spanish religious persecution,

Szálasi, Ferenc

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

Following family traditions, Szálasi entered the army and became a captain on the general staff in 1925. He joined a secret organization with a racist program in 1930 and, after early retirement from the army in 1935, founded the Party of

Earth, Earthquakes

2005-02-17T18:00:00.000-08:00

Most Earth scientists believe that virtually all naturally produced earthquakes occur as a result of movements along faults. The reason that the majority of such earthquakes occur along plate boundaries is that most faults lie along those boundaries.

Río De Oro

2005-02-16T14:37:00.000-08:00

Southern region of Western Sahara. It has an area of 71,000 square miles (184,000 square km) and lies between Cape Blanco and latitude 26° N, near Cape Bojador. The climate is very arid, with virtually no rainfall, and there are extreme variations of temperature in the interior, ranging from nearly 32° F (0° C) at night to about 122° F (50° C) in the afternoon. Its principal town, Dakhla (formerly Villa Cisneros),

Capablanca, José Raúl

2005-02-16T07:29:00.000-08:00

Capablanca learned the moves of chess at the age of four by watching his father play, and he went on to defeat Cuba's best player in 1901. He attended Columbia University in New York City in

Tien Lake

2005-02-15T03:51:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles Tien Ch'ih , also called K'un-ming Ch'ih , Pinyin Dian Chi , or Kunming Chi lake lying to the south of K'un-ming in Yunnan sheng (province), China. Tien Lake lies in the largest group of Yunnanese lake basins, in the eastern part of the province, to the south of the Liang-wang Mountain Range, which reaches an elevation of some 8,740 feet (2,664 m). The lake is some 25 miles (40 km) from north to south, 8 miles (13 km) wide, and about 25 feet (8 m) deep. The mountains rise steeply from the eastern

Malachi, The Book Of

2005-02-15T01:16:00.000-08:00

The book consists of six distinct sections, each in the form of a question-and-answer discussion. With the aid of this unusual discussion technique,

Plume Grass

2005-02-14T20:00:00.000-08:00

Any of about 20 species of grasses constituting the genus Erianthus (family Poaceae), native to warm regions of the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Plume grasses are tall, reedlike perennials with dense, cylindrical, plumelike panicles. Most species are 1 to 3 m (3 to 10 feet) tall, but Ravenna grass (E. ravennae), native to southern Europe, grows to 4 m (13 feet). It is cultivated as an ornamental

Vulgar Latin

2005-02-14T05:54:00.000-08:00

Spoken form of non-Classical Latin from which originated the Romance group of languages. Vulgar Latin was primarily the speech of the middle classes in Rome and the Roman provinces; it is derived from Classical Latin but varied across Roman-occupied areas according to the extent of education of the population, communication with Rome, and the original languages

Florianópolis

2005-02-14T04:45:00.000-08:00

The first European settlement on the island was made in 1542 by Spaniards, but in 1675 control passed to the Portuguese, who established

Earth Sciences, Water resources and seawater chemistry

2005-02-14T03:49:00.000-08:00

Quantitative studies of the distribution of water have revealed that an astonishingly small part of the Earth's water is contained in lakes and rivers. Ninety-seven percent of all the water is in the oceans; and, of the fresh water constituting the remainder, three-fourths is locked up in glacial ice and most of the rest is in the ground. Approximate figures are also

Indochina

2005-02-13T11:34:00.000-08:00

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

Amphibian, Neoteny

2005-02-11T23:31:00.000-08:00

Neoteny entails the maturation of a larva's reproductive capabilities without the concomitant development of its external morphological features; this phenomenon occurs in some aquatic salamanders and is due to delayed somatic development. Different patterns of partial metamorphosis, ranging from a lack of development in jaw and cranial elements to a retention

Papuan Languages

2005-02-11T13:25:00.000-08:00

Group of languages spoken in an area centred upon New Guinea and extending from the islands of Alor, Halmahera, and Timor in the west to the Santa Cruz Archipelago in the east. The Papuan languages include approximately 740 languages, used by about 3,000,000 speakers. The term Papuan was originally employed merely to distinguish these languages from the Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian)

Brechin

2005-02-11T05:10:00.000-08:00

Small royal burgh (town), council area and historic county of Angus, Scotland, situated on the River South Esk in the fertile vale of Strathmore. One of Scotland's three round towers (10th-century) adjoins the 12th-century cathedral. In 1296 Scotland was ceded temporarily to the English at Brechin. Brechin Castle subsequently made a gallant stand against the English forces of

Trade Union

2005-02-10T22:31:00.000-08:00

The

Pregnancy, Vagina

2005-02-10T05:23:00.000-08:00

The pinkish tan colour of the lining of the vagina gradually takes on a bluish cast during the early months of pregnancy as a result of the dilation of the blood vessels in the vaginal wall; later the vaginal wall tends to become a purplish red colour as the blood vessels become further engorged. The cells of the vaginal mucosa increase in size. Added numbers of these

O'flaherty, Liam

2005-02-09T19:23:00.000-08:00

O'Flaherty abandoned his training

Furniture, Holland: 17th century

2005-02-09T16:12:00.000-08:00

A low, square, upholstered type of chair can be seen in engravings of interiors of affluent Dutch homes by Abraham Bosse, a French artist, and in paintings by the Dutch artists Johannes Vermeer and Gerard Terborch. Although this kind of chair is also found in countries where Dutch styles of interior decoration and Dutch furniture won favour, it is not certain that the

Sosnowiec

2005-02-09T04:58:00.000-08:00

A castle was built in Sosnowiec in

Hypostyle Hall

2005-02-08T18:05:00.000-08:00

In architecture, interior space whose roof rests on pillars or columns. The word means literally “under pillars,” and the design allows for the construction of large spaces—as in temples, palaces, or public buildings—without the need for arches. It was used extensively in ancient Egypt—where the Temple of Amon at Karnak provides a good example—and in Persia—where the

Kschessinska, Mathilde

2005-02-08T00:38:00.000-08:00

Kschessinska also spelled Kshessinska, Russian in full Mathilda-maria Feliksovna Kshesinskaya prima ballerina assoluta of the Imperial Russian Ballet and the first Russian dancer to master 32 consecutive fouettés en tournant (“whipped turns” done in place and on one leg), a feat previously performed only by Italian dancers and considered in that era the supreme achievement in dance