TallSpade

Nordhorn

2005-04-04T17:11:00.000-07:00

Town, Lower Saxony Land (state), northwestern Germany, on the Vechte River at the junction of the Almelo-Nordhorn, Ems-Vechte, and Süd-Nord canals, 4 miles (6 km) from the Dutch border. First mentioned about 1000 and chartered in 1379, the city suffered heavily from plague, fire, and war in the 15th and 16th centuries. Part of the Augustinian Frenswegen Abbey (founded 1394) and the 15th-century Protestant

Van Dine, S.s.

2005-04-04T16:50:00.000-07:00

Wright was educated at St. Vincent and Pomona colleges in California, at Harvard University, and in Munich and Paris. Pursuing a career as a writer, Wright became literary editor of the

Furniture, Carving

2005-04-03T07:17:00.000-07:00

Whereas carving does not appear to

Roddenberry, Gene

2005-04-02T23:07:00.000-08:00

Roddenberry briefly attended Los Angeles City College, flew B-17 bombers during World War II, and was an airline

Paul Iii

2005-04-01T13:47:00.000-08:00

Original name Alessandro Farnese Italian noble who was the last of the Renaissance popes (reigned 1534–49) and the first pope of the Counter-Reformation. The worldly Paul III was a notable patron of the arts and at the same time encouraged the beginning of the reform movement that was to affect deeply the Roman Catholic Church in the later 16th century. He called the Council of

Earth Sciences, Knowledge of the tides

2005-03-31T03:35:00.000-08:00

By contrast, the tides along the eastern shores of Asia generally have a considerable range and were the subject of close observation and much speculation among

Performing Arts

2005-03-29T13:31:00.000-08:00

By contrast, the tides along the eastern shores of Asia generally have a considerable range and were the subject of close observation and much speculation among

India, The Deccan

2005-03-29T07:50:00.000-08:00

In the Deccan, the Vakataka dynasty was closely tied to the Guptas. With a nucleus in Vidarbha, the founder of the dynasty, Vindhyasakti, extended his power northward as far as Vidisa (near Ujjain). At the end of the 4th century, a collateral line of the Vakatakas was established by Sarvasena in Vatsagulma (Basim, in Akola district), and the northern line helped the southern to conquer

Murmansk

2005-03-28T14:44:00.000-08:00

Formerly (until 1917) Romanov-na-murmane, seaport and centre of Murmansk oblast (administrative region), northwestern Russia, lying 125 mi (200 km) north of the Arctic Circle, and on the eastern shore of Kola Bay, 30 mi from the ice-free Barents Sea. The town, founded in 1915 as a supply port in World War I, was a base for the British, French, and American expeditionary forces against the Bolsheviks in 1918. In World War II Murmansk served

Sporotrichosis

2005-03-28T10:05:00.000-08:00

Subacute or chronic infection by the fungus Sporotrichum, or Sporothrix, schenckii, usually characterized by a chancre at the site of inoculation and, extending from the site, a chain of hard, red, pus-generating lumps along the lymphatics of the skin and subcutaneous tissue. The fungus, which is most commonly found in the soil or on vegetation or decaying wood, most

Amiot, Jean-joseph-marie

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

Amiot entered the Society of Jesus in 1737 and was sent as a missionary to China in 1750. He soon won the confidence of the emperor Qianlong and spent the remainder of his life at Beijing. Among his achievements was the compilation

New Deal

2005-03-25T01:45:00.000-08:00

The domestic program of the administration of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt between 1933 and 1939, which took action to bring about immediate economic relief as well as reforms in industry, agriculture, finance, waterpower, labour, and housing, vastly increasing the scope of the federal government's activities. The term was taken from Roosevelt's speech accepting the

Ashiya

2005-03-24T06:28:00.000-08:00

City, Hyogo ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan. It is surrounded by the Rokko Mountains and faces Osaka Bay. Located on railway lines and highways between Kobe (west) and Osaka (east), it has been known for its beauty since the Heian period (794–1185), when court nobles and men of letters lived there. After the establishment of the first railway line to it in 1905, the city became a renowned residential

Australian Aboriginal

2005-03-23T15:25:00.000-08:00

Also called Aborigine any member of the indigenous people of Australia and Tasmania. Estimates of the Aboriginal population at the time of European colonization in the late 18th century range from 300,000 to more than 1,000,000. Both people and languages (or dialects) were associated with stretches of territory, and the largest entities recognized by the people were language-named groups, sometimes referred

Arrowsmith, Aaron

2005-03-22T13:39:00.000-08:00

Without a formal education Arrowsmith went to London c. 1770 and, after working as a surveyor, established himself as a mapmaker and publisher. His large world map (1790) established his reputation. A

Christian Viii

2005-03-21T11:43:00.000-08:00

While still crown prince of Denmark and recent stadtholder (governor) of Norway, Christian accepted election as king of Norway in 1814 by the Norwegian independence faction, which refused to recognize the cession of Norway

Lip Fern

2005-03-20T11:28:00.000-08:00

Ferns of the genus Cheilanthes (family Adiantaceae), about 180 species of tropical and temperate regions. Most are small, sturdy, often evergreen plants that thrive in dry and rocky areas. The leaves arise directly from the rootstocks and are often covered with dense hairs. Spore-bearing structures (sporangia) occur at the ends of veins and are protected by the leaf margins,

Ashley, William Henry

2005-03-19T14:43:00.000-08:00

Having arrived in Missouri sometime after 1802, Ashley prospered in mining, gunpowder manufacture, surveying, and land speculation.

Ocean, Seamounts, guyots, and abyssal hills

2005-03-19T09:36:00.000-08:00

Seamounts are submarine volcanoes with more than 1,000 metres of relief. Aseismic ridges are built by chains of overlapping seamounts. A seamount is akin to a subaerial shield volcano in that it also has gently sloping sides (5° to 15°) and is constructed by nonexplosive eruptions of alkaline basalt lavas that are thought to originate from depths of roughly 150 kilometres. About

Yi Chong

2005-03-18T22:14:00.000-08:00

The great-great-grandson of King Sejong (1397–1450), Yi is said to have personified the ideal Korean aristocrat. He is as famous for his regal and generous disposition and his scholarly tastes as he is for his painting, and he is also well known as a poet and calligrapher.

Philadelphus

2005-03-18T15:10:00.000-08:00

Genus of deciduous shrubs of the family Hydrangeaceae, including the popular garden forms commonly known as mock orange (from its characteristic orange-blossom fragrance) and sweet syringa. Philadelphus, comprising about 65 species, is native to northern Asia and Japan, the western United States, the southern Atlantic coast of the United States, and Mexico. These

Astoria

2005-03-16T19:49:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1844) of Clatsop county, northwestern Oregon, U.S., on the south bank of the Columbia River (there bridged to Megler, Washington) near its mouth on the Pacific Ocean. It is near the site of Oregon's first military establishment, Fort Clatsop, built by the Lewis and Clark Expedition, which wintered there (1805–06); the reconstructed fort, 4.5 miles (7.5 km) southwest, is a national memorial.

Quad

2005-03-16T18:49:00.000-08:00

Unit of energy equal to 1 quadrillion (1015) British thermal units (BTU). The quad is a convenient unit for describing national and world energy resources. One quad is also equal to 293 billion kilowatt hours, or, for fuels of average heating values, 183 million barrels of petroleum, 38.5 million tons of coal, or 980 billion cubic feet of natural gas.

Vigo, Jean

2005-03-16T14:01:00.000-08:00

French film director whose blending of lyricism with realism and Surrealism, the whole underlined with a cynical, anarchic approach to life, distinguished him as an original talent. Although he completed only three feature films and one short, Taris (1931), before his early death, his films produced great public reaction. A Jean Vigo Prize is

Ben-zvi, Itzhak

2005-03-15T08:12:00.000-08:00

A Zionist from his youth, Ben-Zvi in 1905 helped form the Russian Poale Zion, a socialistically oriented Zionist group that set an important

Celaya

2005-03-14T05:52:00.000-08:00

City, south-central Guanajuato estado (“state”), north-central Mexico. It is in the fertile Bajío region on the Mexican Plateau, 2.5 miles (4 km) north of the Laja River and 5,774 feet (1,760 m) above sea level. Founded as Purísima Concepción de Celaya in 1571, the city played an important role in 19th-century Mexican history when it changed hands several times during Mexico's struggle for independence

Benacerraf, Baruj

2005-03-14T03:55:00.000-08:00

From the age of five until the outbreak of World War II, Benacerraf

Tara Singh

2005-03-12T04:25:00.000-08:00

Tara Singh was born a Hindu, but while a student in Rawalpindi he became attracted to Sikhism and underwent the required initiation ceremony.

Augustus Ii

2005-03-11T21:18:00.000-08:00

The second son of Elector John George III of Saxony, Augustus succeeded his elder brother John George IV as elector in 1694. After

Crake

2005-03-11T20:35:00.000-08:00

Any of numerous marsh birds of the family Rallidae (order Gruiformes), generally any small rail (q.v.) in which the bill is short and conical. The name is chiefly European but can be extended to New World rails of this type. The most widespread genus is Porzana (13 species), typified by the spotted crake (P. porzana) found in Europe and eastward to Mongolia; in winter

Caldecott Medal

2005-03-09T22:29:00.000-08:00

Annual prize awarded “to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.” It was established in 1938 by Frederic G. Melcher, chairman of the board of the R.R. Bowker Publishing Company, and named for the 19th-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is presented at the annual conference of the American Library Association along with the

Pyramids

2005-03-09T05:17:00.000-08:00

British pocket-billiards game in which 15 red balls are arranged in a pyramid formation to begin. Players use a white cue ball in attempting to pocket the reds, scoring one point for each; the player who scores the highest number of pocketed balls is the winner. Players lose a point and respot a red ball each time they pocket the cue ball or fail to contact a red ball. A player

Nero

2005-03-08T08:35:00.000-08:00

Nero's father, Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, died in about AD 40, and Nero was brought up by his mother, Agrippina the Younger, a great-granddaughter of the emperor Augustus. After poisoning her second husband, Agrippina incestuously became the wife of her uncle, the emperor Claudius, and persuaded him to favour Nero for the succession, over the rightful claim of his own son,

Loyalist

2005-03-07T14:39:00.000-08:00

Also called Tory colonist loyal to Great Britain during the American Revolution. Loyalists constituted about one-third of the population of the American colonies during that conflict. They were not confined to any particular group or class, but their numbers were strongest among the following groups: officeholders and others who served the British crown and had a vested interest

Azeotrope

2005-03-06T19:37:00.000-08:00

In chemistry, a mixture of liquids that has a constant boiling point because the vapour has the same composition as the liquid mixture. The boiling point of an azeotropic mixture may be higher or lower than that of any of its components. The components of the solution cannot be separated by simple distillation.

Biblical Literature, Daniel

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

The Book of Daniel presents a collection of popular stories about Daniel, a loyal Jew, and the record of visions granted to him, with the Babylonian Exile of the 6th century BCE as their background. The book, however, was written in a later time of national crisis—when the Jews were suffering severe persecution under Antiochus IV Epiphanes (reigned 175–164/163 BCE), the second Seleucid ruler

Pacino, Al

2005-03-06T02:40:00.000-08:00

After growing up in East Harlem and the Bronx, Pacino moved at age 19 to Greenwich Village, where he studied acting at the Herbert Berghof Studio and appeared in many Off-Broadway and out-of-town productions, including Hello, Out There (1963) and Why Is a Crooked Letter (1966). He took further

Kleve

2005-03-04T15:36:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Cleve , English Cleves , Dutch Kleef city, North Rhine–Westphalia Land (state), western Germany. It lies less than 5 miles (8 km) south of the Dutch border and is connected with the Rhine River by a canal. The seat of the counts of Cleves from the 11th century, it was chartered in 1242. The county passed to the counts of La Marck in 1368; it was made a duchy in 1417 and acquired the duchies of Jülich and Berg in 1521. Anne of Cleves (d. 1557), daughter of

Arundel, Philip Howard, 1st (or 13th) Earl Of, Earl Of Surrey

2005-03-04T14:10:00.000-08:00

Philip was the eldest son of Thomas Howard, 4th duke of Norfolk, executed for high treason in 1572, and of Lady Mary, daughter and heiress of Henry Fitzalan, 12th earl of Arundel. On the death of his maternal grandfather, the 12th earl, in February

Madagascar, Settlement patterns

2005-03-03T10:14:00.000-08:00

Despite the importance of intensive rice cultivation, the land is used primarily for pastoral purposes. Cattle are kept in all parts of the island. Fewer are found in the dense forest areas of the eastern escarpment, but elsewhere pastoralism predominates, most often coexisting with the cultivation of subsistence crops. On the plateau, the valley floors and irrigable

Chapelain, Jean

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

Chapelain's approach was a challenge to others of his day who appealed in doctrinaire fashion to classical Greek authorities. His critical views were advanced primarily in short articles and monographs and in his voluminous correspondence.

Neoprene

2005-03-02T07:56:00.000-08:00

The neoprenes,

Eagles, The

2005-03-02T07:13:00.000-08:00

American band that cultivated country rock as the reigning style and sensibility of white youth in the United States during the 1970s. The original members were Don Henley (b. July 22, 1947, Gilmer, Texas, U.S.), Glenn Frey (b. November 6, 1948, Detroit, Michigan), Bernie Leadon (b. July 19, 1947, Minneapolis, Minnesota), and Randy Meisner (b. March 8, 1946, Scottsbluff, Nebraska). Later members included Don Felder (b. September

Johansson, Christian

2005-03-01T03:50:00.000-08:00

Johansson studied at the Royal Swedish Ballet School and in Copenhagen with August Bournonville, who was most responsible for establishing the traditions of the Royal Danish

China, Early man

2005-02-28T23:07:00.000-08:00

The fossil record in China promises fundamental contributions to the understanding of human origins. There is considerable evidence of Homo erectus by the time of the Lower Paleolithic (the Paleolithic Period began c. 2,500,000 years ago and ended 10,000 years ago) at sites such as Lan-t'ien, Shensi; Ho-hsien, Anhwei; Yüan-mou, Yunnan; and, the most famous, that of so-called Peking man at Chou-k'ou-tien

Cleveland

2005-02-28T18:56:00.000-08:00

Region and former administrative county, northeastern England, along the River Tees and the North Sea. The region comprises parts of the historic counties of Durham and Yorkshire to the north and south of the Tees, respectively. It is divided administratively into the following unitary authorities: Hartlepool, Stockton-on-Tees, Middlesbrough, and Redcar and

Atar

2005-02-26T08:53:00.000-08:00

Town, west-central Mauritania. It is an oasis and a caravan stopping point and lies on a road leading southwest to Nouakchott, the national capital. The oasis produces dates and grains and supports cattle, sheep, and goat grazing. Atar is the site of an airstrip; it also has a school for traditional weaving, and it is an important source of rugs. Pop. (1977) 16,326; (1988) 21,366.

Novaculite

2005-02-26T06:38:00.000-08:00

Very dense, light-coloured, even-textured sedimentary rock, a bedded chert in which microcrystalline silica (silicon dioxide, SiO2) in the form of quartz predominates over silica in the form of chalcedony. Deposits of novaculite exhibit stratification. The name is applied chiefly to formations in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. See also chert and flint.

Hyades

2005-02-26T06:06:00.000-08:00

Cluster of several hundred stars in the zodiacal constellation Taurus. As seen from Earth, the bright star Aldebaran appears to be a member of the cluster, but in fact Aldebaran is much closer to the Earth than the Hyades' distance of about 130 light-years. Five genuine members of the group are visible to the unaided eye. Their name (Greek: “the rainy ones”) is derived from the

Ramayana

2005-02-24T18:00:00.000-08:00

The poem describes the royal birth of Rama in the kingdom of Ayodhya (Oudh), his tutelage

Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

2005-02-24T17:23:00.000-08:00

English Dresden State Art Collections art museum in Dresden, Ger., that includes collections of painting, sculpture, graphic and applied arts, and coins. It is best known for its picture gallery, the core of which is the collection of paintings that originally belonged to the Kunstkammer, founded by Prince August in 1560. Its most popular works, however, were later acquisitions dating from the 18th century. There

Lewis, John L.

2005-02-24T00:01:00.000-08:00

The son of immigrants from Welsh mining towns, Lewis left school in the seventh grade and went to work in the mines at age 15. In the coal-mining town of Panama,

Zambezi River, Climate

2005-02-23T06:06:00.000-08:00

The Zambezi River lies within the tropics. The upper and middle course of the river is on an upland plateau, and temperatures, modified by altitude, are relatively mild, generally between 64° and 86° F (18° and 30° C). The winter months (May to July) are cool and dry, with temperatures averaging 68° F (20° C). Between August and October there is a considerable rise in average temperatures, particularly

Texas, The people

2005-02-21T10:16:00.000-08:00

Texas has long been a huge reservoir for diverse streams of races and cultures. For the bands of prehistoric hunters, for the waves of Indian tribes, for the Spanish and Mexicans pushing northward, for the Anglo-Americans from the North and East, and for colonizers who came to Texas directly from Europe, there was more than enough room for settlement and for the opportunity

Intel Corporation

2005-02-20T00:29:00.000-08:00

The company was founded in 1968 by Robert Noyce and Gordon

Jeffreys (of Wem), George Jeffreys, 1st Baron

2005-02-19T17:14:00.000-08:00

Born into the Welsh gentry, Jeffreys was admitted to the bar in 1668, and in

Aurillac

2005-02-19T11:37:00.000-08:00

Capital of Cantal département, Auvergne région, south-central France. It lies along the Jourdanne River at an elevation of 2,040 feet (622 m) above sea level, southwest of Clermont-Ferrand. Gerbert, the first French pope (known as Sylvester II), was born in the town and was educated at the nearby Saint-Géraud abbey (founded 894). In the Religious Wars of the 16th century, a general massacre

Zangi

2005-02-19T06:42:00.000-08:00

When Zangi's father, the governor of Aleppo, was killed in 1094, Zangi fled to Mosul. He served the Seljuq dynasty, and in 1126 the Seljuq sultan, Mahmud II, appointed Zangi governor of Basra. When the 'Abbasid dynasty caliph al-Mustarshid

Aschelminth, Locomotion

2005-02-17T23:34:00.000-08:00

Nematodes have a characteristic sinuous movement in which waves travel along the body, which generally lies on its side, backward waves driving the body forward, forward waves driving it backward. These waves are brought about by successive contractions of longitudinal body wall muscles, in dorsal and ventral blocks, acting out of phase. The muscles increase the

Evolution, The gene pool

2005-02-17T20:58:00.000-08:00

The gene pool is the sum total of all of the genes and combinations of genes that occur in a population of organisms of the same species. It can be described by citing the frequencies of the alternative genetic constitutions. Consider, for example, a particular gene (which geneticists call a locus), such as the one determining the MN blood groups in humans. One form of the

Hinton

2005-02-17T13:10:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1871) of Summers county, southeastern West Virginia, U.S., on the New River, near the mouth of the Greenbrier River. Laid out in 1831, it became a railway maintenance facility and rail-shipping point in 1871 with the arrival of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. The early 20th century was the boom time for Hinton; the railroad had at one time about 1,000 employees. However, this volume of activity

Tarbela Dam

2005-02-16T21:44:00.000-08:00

Giant rock-fill dam on the Indus River, Pakistan. Built between 1968 and 1976, it has a volume of 138,600,000 cubic yards (106,000,000 cubic m). With a reservoir capacity of 11,098,000 acre-feet (13,690,000,000 cubic m), the dam is 469 feet (143 m) high and 8,997 feet (2,743 m) wide at its crest. Tarbela Dam is one of two main structures (the other is Mangla Dam on the Jhelum River) in the Indus Basin project, which resulted from the Indus Waters Agreement between India

Pitney, Gene

2005-02-15T03:38:00.000-08:00

In 1961 Pitney began recording his compositions, with “I Wanna Love My Life Away” demonstrating a passionate vocal style. However, he sold more

Crocus

2005-02-14T09:46:00.000-08:00

Genus of about 75 low-growing, cormose species of plants of the iris family (Iridaceae), native to the Alps, southern Europe, and the Mediterranean area and widely grown for their cuplike blooms in early spring or fall. The spring-flowering sorts have a floral tube so long that the ovary is belowground, sheltered from climatic changes. The flowers close at night and

Arts, Central Asian, Folk dance

2005-02-14T01:05:00.000-08:00

Formalized

Andaman And Nicobar Islands, The land

2005-02-13T09:34:00.000-08:00

Some islands have flat coral-covered surfaces, while the others, such as Great Nicobar, are hilly. Great Nicobar, rising to 2,106 feet (642 metres) and containing numerous fast-flowing streams, is the only island with sufficient fresh surface water. Lying between latitudes 6°45¢ and 9°15¢ N, the Nicobars experience temperatures between 64° and 92° F (18° and 33° C). The southwest monsoon (May through September)

Persian Gulf, Transportation

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

For centuries a considerable sea trade has been carried on by local craft between the Persian Gulf and Africa and India; this has become completely dominated by an incessant traffic of large tankers that carry oil from the large marine terminals at Khark Island (Iran), Kuwait, Dhahran (Az-Zahran, in Saudi Arabia), Bahrain, Das Island (United Arab Emirates), and other locations

Astrakhan

2005-02-12T18:05:00.000-08:00

Oblast (province), Russia, occupying an area of 17,027 square miles (44,100 square km) along the lower Volga River. The Volga and its parallel distributary, the Akhtuba, form the axis of the oblast, ending in a large delta. The majority of the population lives in the delta area around the city of Astrakhan, the administrative centre. Vegetables and fruit are grown on the fertile fields

Nebula, Ultracompact H II region

2005-02-11T02:56:00.000-08:00

Recently “ultracompact” H II regions have been discovered inside the molecular clouds in which they were formed. These nebulae are observed only at the wavelengths of radio and far-infrared radiation, which are able to penetrate the thick dust in the clouds. They are extremely bright at wavelengths of 50 micrometres, and the most luminous ones were detected throughout

Bulgaria

2005-02-11T02:26:00.000-08:00

Officially Republic of Bulgaria, Bulgarian Republika Bulgariya, country occupying 42,855 square miles (110,994 square kilometres) of the eastern portion of the Balkan Peninsula in southeastern Europe. It is bounded by Romania on the north, most of the border being marked by the lower Danube River. The Black Sea lies to the east, Turkey and Greece to the south, Macedonia to the southwest, and the Yugoslav republic of Serbia to the west. The capital

Zahedi, Fazlollah

2005-02-10T22:43:00.000-08:00

Zahedi early embarked on a military career, graduating from the Iranian military academy in 1916. He joined the Persian Cossack Brigade and at age 25—as a brigadier general—distinguished himself by quelling a Kurdish revolt in western Iran. Three years later

John I

2005-02-10T16:12:00.000-08:00

Byname The Prince of Fond Memory, or John of Aviz, John the Great, or John the Bastard, Portuguese O Principe de Boa Memória, or João de Aviz, João o Grande, or João o Bastardo king of Portugal from 1385 to 1433, who preserved his country's independence from Castile and initiated Portugal's overseas expansion. He was the founder of the Aviz, or Joanina (Johannine), dynasty.

Argentina

2005-02-08T21:26:00.000-08:00

In the political arena, the first round of presidential elections was held on April 27. The election

Black Obelisk

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

Assyrian monument of King Shalmaneser III (reigned 858–824 BC). The most complete Assyrian obelisk yet discovered, it is decorated with cuneiform inscriptions and reliefs recording military campaigns and other triumphs, including payment of tribute by King Jehu of Israel (reigned 842–815). The 6-foot (1.8-metre) black basalt piece was discovered in 1845 at ancient Kalhu (or Kalakh; biblical Calah;

Earth Sciences

2005-02-07T22:21:00.000-08:00

Graft

2005-02-07T13:01:00.000-08:00

In horticulture, the act of placing a portion of one plant (bud or scion) into or on a stem, root, or branch of another (stock) in such a way that a union will be formed and the partners will continue to grow. This term includes budding (bud grafting) and grafting proper (scion grafting and approach grafting or inarching). Budding and grafting proper differ only in the amount of

Graft

2005-02-05T15:03:00.000-08:00

Any of a series of unmanned U.S. scientific satellites developed to observe cosmic objects from above the Earth's atmosphere. OAO-2, launched Dec. 7, 1968, carried two large telescopes and a complement of spectrometers and other auxiliary devices. It weighed more than 4,200 pounds (1,900 kilograms), the heaviest satellite orbited up to that time. OAO-2 was able to photograph young stars that

Mauritius

2005-02-05T10:13:00.000-08:00

Officially Republic Of Mauritius, island country, the central independent island state of the Mascarene group, lying about 500 miles (800 km) east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. It is situated at latitude 20°18¢ S and longitude 57°36¢ E and extends 38 miles (61 km) from north to south and 29 miles (47 km) from east to west. Its outlying territories are Rodrigues Island, lying 344 miles (553 km) eastward, the Cargados Carajos Shoals, 250 miles (402 km) northeastward,

Sacheverell, Henry

2005-02-05T04:50:00.000-08:00

Early in the reign of Queen Anne

Alvarado, Pedro De

2005-02-04T22:32:00.000-08:00

Alvarado went to Santo Domingo in 1510 and in 1518 commanded one of Juan de Grijalva's ships sent from Cuba to explore the Yucatán Peninsula. In February 1519 he accompanied the army, led from Cuba by Hernán Cortés, that was to conquer Mexico. Alvarado was placed

Pauropod

2005-02-03T11:14:00.000-08:00

Pauropods range in length from 0.5 to 2 mm (0.02 to 0.08 inch). The pauropod

Kuan-yin

2005-02-03T07:38:00.000-08:00

In Chinese Buddhism, the bodhisattva of infinite compassion and mercy. See Avalokitesvara.

Scandinavian Literature, The sagas

2005-02-02T15:12:00.000-08:00

The word saga is used in Icelandic for any kind of story or history, whether written or oral. In English it is used to refer to the biographies of a hero or group of heroes written in Iceland between the 12th and 15th centuries. These heroes were most often kings of Norway, early founders of Iceland, or legendary Germanic figures of the 4th to the 8th century. The oldest saga is the

Adams, John

2005-02-02T06:20:00.000-08:00

By then Adams's legal career was on the rise, and he had become a visible member of the resistance movement that questioned Parliament's right to tax the American colonies. In 1765 Adams published d, which justified opposition to the recently enacted Stamp Act—an effort to raise revenue by requiring all publications and legal documents to bear a stamp—by arguing that Parliament's intrusions into colonial affairs exposed the inherently coercive and corrupt character of English politics. Intensely combative, full of private doubts about his own capacities but never about his cause, Adams became a leading figure in the opposition to the Townshend Acts (1767), which imposed duties on imported commodities (i.e., glass, lead, paper, paint, and tea). Despite his hostility toward the British government, in 1770 Adams agreed to defend the British soldiers who had fired on a Boston crowd in what became known as the Boston Massacre. His insistence on upholding the legal rights of the soldiers, who in fact had been provoked, made him temporarily unpopular but also marked him as one of the most principled radicals in the burgeoning movement for American independence. He had a penchant for doing the right thing, most especially when it made him unpopular.

Black Death

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

Originating in China and Inner Asia, the plague was transmitted to Europeans (1347) when a Kipchak army, besieging a Genoese trading post in the Crimea, catapulted

Ear Disease

2005-01-30T17:07:00.000-08:00

Ear diseases and hearing disorders are discussed in Michael E. Glasscock III, George E. Shambaugh, Jr., and Glenn D. Johnson (eds.), Surgery of the Ear, 4th ed. (1990), a well-illustrated text on diseases of the ear and their surgical correction; James Jerger (ed.), Hearing Disorders in Adults (1984); John Ballantyne, M.C. Martin, and Antony Martin (eds.), Deafness, 5th ed. (1993); Robert Thayer Sataloff and Joseph Sataloff, Hearing Loss, 3rd ed., rev. and expanded (1993); and David M. Vernick et al., The Hearing Loss Handbook (1993). George E. Shambaugh, “A Restudy of the Minute Anatomy of Structures in the Cochlea with Conclusions Bearing on the Solution of the Problem of Tone Perception,” The American Journal of Anatomy, 7(2):245–257 (Aug. 1, 1907), was the first detailed description of the hearing-nerve end organ in the cochlea, where sound waves are converted into nerve impulses depending upon the pitch of the tone. George E. Shambaugh, Jr., and Alexandre Petrovic, “Effects of Sodium Fluoride on Bone: Application to Otosclerosis and Other Decalcifying Bone Diseases,” JAMA, 204(11):969–973 (June 10, 1968), summarizes research on the arrest, by means of sodium fluoride, of progressive deafness caused by otosclerosis. Philip H. Beales, Noise, Hearing, and Deafness (1965), is a useful review in lay language of the problem of deafness and the adverse influence on hearing of excess noise exposure; a more recent text is Karl D. Kryter, The Handbook of Hearing and the Effects of Noise: Physiology, Psychology, and Public Health (1994). Brief reports by panels of experts assembled by the National Institutes of Health are issued as NIH Consensus Statements; several statements are of clinical concern in the field of hearing and deafness: “Noise and Hearing Loss,” 8(1):1–24 (Jan. 22–24, 1990), also available with the same title in JAMA, 263(23):3185–3190 (June 20, 1990), “Early Identification of Hearing Impairment in Infants and Young Children,” 11(1):1–24 (Mar. 1–3, 1993), and “Cochlear Implants in Adults and Children,” 13(2):1–30 (May 15–17, 1995), also available with the same title in JAMA, 274(24):1955–1961 (Dec. 27, 1995). More information on the success of cochlear implants is available in Jeffrey P. Harris, John P. Anderson, and Robert Novak, “An Outcomes Study of Cochlear Implants in Deaf Patients,” Archives of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, 121(4):398–404 (April 1995).

Jaboticaba

2005-01-30T15:51:00.000-08:00

Also called jaboticabeira any of several trees of the genus Myrciaria, of the myrtle family (Myrtaceae), notably M. cauliflora and M. jaboticaba, native to southeastern Brazil. The trees have been introduced to other warm regions, including western and southern North America. The name is also applied to the edible fruit of these trees. The trees do not differ greatly among the species; they are dome-shaped

Cromarty

2005-01-28T19:04:00.000-08:00

Small burgh (town) and seaport, Highland council area, historic county of Cromartyshire, historic region of Ross and Cromarty, Scotland, on a landlocked harbour. During the 17th century Cromarty became the chief burgh of the patchwork county of Cromartyshire, comprising the amalgamated estates of the earls of Cromarty, which included enclaves surrounded by Ross-shire

Essay

2005-01-28T03:50:00.000-08:00

Some early treatises—such as those of Cicero on the pleasantness of old age or on the art of “divination,” Seneca on anger or clemency, and

Ramakrishna Mission

2005-01-27T22:56:00.000-08:00

The society was founded in Calcutta by Vivekananda (q.v.) in 1897 with a twofold purpose: to spread the teachings of Vedanta as embodied in the life

Actinide Element, Nuclear

2005-01-27T20:48:00.000-08:00

All of the actinide elements are unstable toward radioactive decay; the reason that actinium, thorium, protactinium, and uranium are found in nature at all is because some of their isotopes are unusually stable and others are being formed constantly by decay of the long-lived isotopes. It is convenient to divide the naturally occurring isotopes into families based

Beak

2005-01-27T10:59:00.000-08:00

A bird's bill is composed of

Asteroid

2005-01-25T19:37:00.000-08:00

Also called minor planet, or planetoid, any of a host of small rocky bodies, about 1,000 km or less in diameter, that orbit the Sun primarily between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. It is because of their small size and large numbers relative to the nine major planets that asteroids are also called minor planets. The two designations are frequently used interchangeably, though dynamicists, astronomers who study

Murad Iii

2005-01-25T11:11:00.000-08:00

Externally Murad continued the military offensive of his predecessors. He took Fez (now Fès, Mor.) from the Portuguese in 1578. He fought an exhausting war against

Amino Acid

2005-01-24T21:26:00.000-08:00

The only exceptions to this basic structure are proline and hydroxyproline, in which the primary amino group is replaced by a secondary amino group present

Lorde, Audre

2005-01-23T17:21:00.000-08:00

The daughter of Grenadan parents, Lorde attended Hunter College and received a B.A. in 1959 and a master's degree in library science in 1961. She married in 1962 and wrote poetry while working as a librarian at

Gamaliel Iii

2005-01-23T09:46:00.000-08:00

A direct descendant of the sage Hillel, Gamaliel became patriarch of the Jewish community in Palestine in approximately AD 220 and, consequently, head of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish legislative body of that time. Beyond the fact that Gamaliel helped complete

Kazak

2005-01-22T00:11:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Kazakh, an Asiatic Turkic-speaking people inhabiting mainly Kazakstan and the adjacent parts of the Uighur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang in China. The Kazaks emerged in the 15th century from an amalgam of Turkic tribes who entered Transoxiana about the 8th century and of Mongols who entered the area in the 13th century. At the end of the 20th century there were roughly 7,600,000 in Kazakstan

Dire Wolf

2005-01-21T16:17:00.000-08:00

(species Canis dirus), wolf that existed during the Pleistocene Epoch (1,600,000 to 10,000 years ago). It is probably the most common mammalian species to be found preserved in the La Brea Tar Pits in southern California. The dire wolf differed from the modern wolf in several ways: it was larger and it had a more massive skull, a smaller brain, and relatively light limbs. It is probable that

Steamer Duck

2005-01-21T07:17:00.000-08:00

(genus Tachyeres), any of four species of heavily built, big-billed sea ducks of southernmost South America and the Falkland Islands. The bird is named for its habit of running across the water with wings thrashing like a paddle-wheel steamboat. Of the four species, T. pteneres, T. brachypterus, and T. leucocephalus are flightless and a bit larger than the mallard-size flying