WideCart

All-fours

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

Each player is dealt six cards, three at a time. The top card of the remaining pack is then exposed to establish

Light, Francis

2005-04-03T09:31:00.000-07:00

Light served in the Royal Navy from 1759 until 1763. In command of a merchant ship, he went in 1771 to the northern Malay state of Kedah, where he won the confidence of the sultan, Mohammed. About that time England,

Volkswagen Ag

2005-04-01T21:45:00.000-08:00

The company was originally operated by the German Labour Front (Deutsche Arbeitsfront), a Nazi organization; and Ferdinand Porsche was brought in to design the car. Production was interrupted by World War II, and by the

Sun

2005-04-01T06:02:00.000-08:00

The Sun is classified as a G2 V star, with G2 standing for the

Aptian Stage

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

The fifth of six main divisions (in ascending order) in the Lower Cretaceous Series, representing all those rocks deposited worldwide during the Aptian Age (119 to 113 million years ago). No global stratotype section and point (GSSP) for the base of the Aptian Stage has been approved by the International Commission on Stratigraphy. The name of the stage is derived from the town

Wethered, Joyce (lady Heathcoat-amory)

2005-03-31T00:03:00.000-08:00

British golfer (b. Nov. 17, 1907, Brook, Surrey, Eng.--d. Nov. 18, 1997, London, Eng.), dominated women's golf in the 1920s and was considered one of the best female players in the history of the sport. Wethered, who took up golf as a child, received only one formal lesson. Instead, she studied the play of others, including her brother Roger, himself an accomplished golfer, to improve her game. In 1920 she won her first

Yale, Linus

2005-03-29T18:19:00.000-08:00

At first Yale tried portrait painting, but he became interested in locks after his father began to manufacture bank locks in Newport, N.Y., about 1840. His first achievement was the Yale Infallible Bank Lock in 1851. Later he opened his own shop in Shelburne

Siberut Island

2005-03-29T18:12:00.000-08:00

Indonesian Pulau Siberut , also spelled Siberoet largest island in the Mentawai group of islands, Sumatera Barat provinsi (province), Indonesia. Siberut lies off the western coast of Sumatra, about 90 miles (145 km) west-southwest of and across the Mentawai Strait from Padang city. The island is 25 miles (40 km) wide and 70 miles (110 km) long. Its terrain is generally low, rising to about 1,260 feet (384 m) in the western portion. Rainfall is heavy, and the

Kazakstan

2005-03-26T01:02:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Kazakhstan , officially Republic of Kazakstan , Kazakh Qazaqstan Respublikasï country of Central Asia. It is bounded on the northwest and north by Russia, on the east by China, and on the south by Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and the Aral Sea; the Caspian Sea bounds Kazakstan to the southwest. Kazakstan's 1,052,100 square miles (2,724,900 square kilometres) make it by far the largest state in Central Asia and the ninth largest in the world. Between its most distant

Resonator

2005-03-26T00:56:00.000-08:00

Acoustical device for reinforcing sound, as the sounding board of a piano, the “belly” of a stringed instrument, the air mass of an organ pipe, and the throat, nose, and mouth cavities of a vocal animal. In addition to augmenting acoustic power, resonators may also, by altering relative intensities of overtones, change the quality of a tone. See also soundboard. The Helmholtz

Textile, Plain weave

2005-03-24T18:49:00.000-08:00

Plain, or tabby, weave, the simplest and most common of all weaves, requires only two harnessses and has two warp and weft yarns in each weave unit. To produce it, the warp yarns are held parallel under tension while a crosswise weft yarn isshot over and under alternate warps across the width of the web. The weave unit is completed at the end of the second row, when the weft

Polytheism, Functional deities

2005-03-23T17:11:00.000-08:00

In addition to the various forces operating in nature, various social and other functions are divinized. Thus, the god Brahma in the Vedic tradition, besides being creator, contains and expresses in personal form the power implicit in the Brahmin class. Again, there are gods of healing, such as Asclepius in Greece, and of seafaring, agriculture, and so on. The most elaborate

Berengar Of Tours

2005-03-23T03:33:00.000-08:00

Having studied under the celebrated Fulbert at Chartres, Berengar returned to Tours after 1029 and became canon of its cathedral and head of the School of Saint-Martin,

Girdle-tailed Lizard

2005-03-21T18:34:00.000-08:00

Their name is derived from the rings of spiny scales that encircle the tail, and sometimes the body, in a series of whorls. In some species the armoured girdles serve effectively as protection

China, Effects of the rebellions

2005-03-21T16:22:00.000-08:00

To meet the large popular uprisings, the Ch'ing authorities had to rely on local armies, which were financed by the provincial and local gentry class. To meet this need, a special tax on goods in transit (called the likin) was started in 1853, the proceeds of which remained largely outside the control of the central government. The provincial governors-general and governors

Kappa Organism

2005-03-19T07:18:00.000-08:00

Also called Kappa Particle, gram-negative symbiotic bacterium found in the cytoplasm of certain strains of the protozoan Paramecium aurelia. These bacteria, when released into the surroundings, change to P particles that secrete a poison (paramecin) that kills other sensitive strains of P. aurelia. The possession of kappa organisms is determined genetically. The kappa bearers, called killers,

New York City, Greater New York

2005-03-19T07:16:00.000-08:00

The Democratic machine reigned, its excesses became apparent, reformers arose and were temporarily triumphant, and then voters restored a chastened Tammany to power. A generation after Tweed fell, the Croker regime was successfully challenged by reformers who elected Mayor William Strong. Once consolidation won voter support, the

Waiuku

2005-03-18T01:58:00.000-08:00

Town, Auckland local government region, northern North Island, New Zealand. It lies along the Waiuku estuary, which is the southern arm of Manukau Harbour. The settlement was founded in 1843 as a port on the route between Auckland and the agricultural area of the Waikato River to the south. Its function as a trading centre ceased with the Waikato War of 1863–64, when it was made a stockade.

Hyperparathyroidism

2005-03-17T20:01:00.000-08:00

Abnormal increase in the secretion of parathyroid hormone by one or more parathyroid glands (see parathyroid gland). The oversecretion is usually caused by a tumour or enlargement of parathyroid tissue and results in elevated blood and urine calcium, elevated urine phosphorus, and low-to-normal blood phosphorus. The excess calcium is withdrawn from the bones,

Buisson, Ferdinand-édouard

2005-03-17T09:05:00.000-08:00

Refusing to take the teacher's oath of loyalty to the French Second Empire of Napoleon III, Buisson went to Switzerland, teaching philosophy at Neuchâtel from

Alcázar De San Juan

2005-03-16T06:36:00.000-08:00

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

Devils Lake

2005-03-15T00:53:00.000-08:00

City, seat of Ramsey county, northeast-central North Dakota, U.S. The community was established with the opening of a land office in 1882 as Creelsburg (later Creel City) and was the head of steamboat navigation on Devils Lake, a saline body of water originally about 30 miles [50 km] long. By 1909, when the lake had receded 4 miles (6 km) from the city, navigation ceased. The city developed as a trade

Kamakura-bori

2005-03-15T00:02:00.000-08:00

(Japanese: “Kamakura carving”), in Japanese lacquerwork, technique in which designs are carved in wood and then coated with red or black lacquer. Originally, it was an imitation of a Chinese carved lacquer (tiao-ch'i, called tsuishu in Japanese) in which many layers of lacquer are built up to a considerable thickness (often in several colours) and then cut back to achieve the

Gahn, Johan Gottlieb

2005-03-14T23:57:00.000-08:00

Swedish mineralogist and crystallographer who discovered manganese in 1774. His failure to win fame may be related to the fact that he published little. He saved the notes, papers, and letters of his friend Carl Wilhelm Scheele, who discovered chlorine, but not his own. His essays on the balance and use of the blowpipe in analysis

Weber, Carl Maria Von

2005-03-13T05:15:00.000-08:00

In full Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst, Freiherr (baron) Von Weber German composer and opera director during the transition from Classical to Romantic music, noted especially for his operas Der Freischütz (The Freeshooter, 1821), Euryanthe (1823), and Oberon (1826). Der Freischütz, the most immediately and widely popular German opera that had then been written, established German Romantic

Radioactive Fallout

2005-03-12T22:01:00.000-08:00

The deposition of radioactive materials on the Earth from the atmosphere. See fallout.

Tabula Rasa

2005-03-12T18:16:00.000-08:00

Comparison of the mind to a blank writing-tablet occurs in Aristotle's De anima (4th century BC), and the Stoics as

Coolidge, William D(avid)

2005-03-11T15:14:00.000-08:00

After teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge; 1897, 1901–05) and the University of Leipzig (1899), in 1905 he joined the General Electric (GE) Research Laboratory.

Arabian Sea

2005-03-11T00:21:00.000-08:00

Geology and hydrology of the Arabian Sea are dealt with in N.K. Panikkar and R. Jayaraman, “Biological and Oceanographic Differences Between the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal as Observed from the Indian Region,” Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences, 64:231–240 (1966); Henry Stommel and Warren S. Wooster, “Reconnaissance of the Somali Current During the Southwest Monsoon,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 54(1):8–13 (July 1965). Economic resources are outlined in J.H. Ryther et al., “Primary Organic Production in Relation to the Chemistry and Hydrography of the Western Indian Ocean,” Limnology and Oceanography, 11:371–380 (1966). A series of short reports in Science, 209(4456):588–603 (Aug. 1, 1980), summarizes the results of the Indian Ocean Experiment in 1979 surveying the Somali Current and the western equatorial Indian Ocean.

Peter Damian, Saint

2005-03-10T03:13:00.000-08:00

Educated at Ravenna, Faenza, and Parma, he abandoned his teaching career (1035) to enter the hermitage of Fonte Avellana in the Apennines, where he was chosen prior in 1043. Peter's zeal for reform, particularly his advocacy of

Brieux, Eugène

2005-03-09T18:44:00.000-08:00

French dramatist, one of the leading exponents of the realist drama, whose somewhat didactic works attacked the social evils of his day. Brieux's works formed part of the repertory of the famed Théâtre-Libre of André Antoine, which had a far-reaching effect on the spread of the new naturalistic style. Playwright and critic George Bernard Shaw described

Beirut, American University Of

2005-03-08T18:20:00.000-08:00

Private, nondenominational, coeducational international and intercultural university in Beirut, Lebanon, chartered in 1863 by the state of New York, U.S., as the Syrian Protestant College. Classes started in 1866. Although founded by the American Protestant Mission to Lebanon, the school was set up as an autonomous organization and has no official relationship with any religious

Gabon

2005-03-08T08:06:00.000-08:00

Amid a rising wave of urban crime, on March 1, 2001, Gabon's minister of the interior suspended the import and sale of firearms. Prime Minister Jean-François Ntoutoume-Emane addressed the National Assembly on May 16 to answer deputies' concerns about public safety. Despite the creation during the year of a special crime squad, the incidents of armed robbery and other violent

Baikonur

2005-03-07T21:35:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Baykonur, Baykonyr, or Bajkonur, also called Tyuratam, or Turatam, former Soviet and current Russian space centre in south-central Kazakstan. Baikonur was a Soviet code name for the centre, but American analysts often called it Tyuratam, after the railroad station at Tyuratam (Leninsk), the nearest large city. Baikonur lies on the north bank of the Syr Darya, about 100 miles (160 km) northwest of Qyzylorda. The Soviet Union's secretiveness about

Progeria

2005-03-07T21:34:00.000-08:00

Human disorder with many characteristics of premature aging. Affected persons have parchment-like skin, become bald or gray-haired early in life, and tend to develop diseases related to aging decades before they occur in normal individuals. Initially, progeria was studied as a model of normal aging, but because not all organs are affected, this is no longer thought

Wang Chen

2005-03-06T23:29:00.000-08:00

Wang was denounced by later historians as the first of a series of eunuchs whose mismanagement helped destroy the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Wang was the constant companion and personal servant of the emperor Cheng-t'ung, who ascended the throne while still a boy. Isolated from

Poldi Pezzoli, Museo

2005-03-05T08:52:00.000-08:00

(Italian: Poldi Pezzoli Museum), in Milan, museum in the former private house of G.G. Poldi-Pezzoli, housing fine examples of arms and armour from the 14th to the 17th centuries. There are also antique tapestries. The staircase is decorated with landscapes by Alessandro Magnasco. One room is devoted to works by Bernardino Luini and the Lombard school of painters. Other notable

Wolfsburg

2005-03-04T03:42:00.000-08:00

The village of Hesslingen, dating from about 700, was the first settlement near the site of Wolfsburg; the

Biblical Literature, The Aramaic Targums

2005-03-04T02:13:00.000-08:00

In the course of the 5th and 6th centuries BCE, Aramaic became the official language of the Persian Empire. In the succeeding centuries it was used as the vernacular over a wide area and was increasingly spoken by the postexilic Jewish communities of Palestine and elsewhere in the Diaspora. In response to liturgical needs, the institution of a turgeman (or meturgeman, “translator

Aravali Range

2005-03-03T13:53:00.000-08:00

Also called Aravalli Range, hill system of northern India, running northeasterly for 350 miles (560 km) through Rajasthan state. Isolated rocky offshoots continue to just south of Delhi. The series of peaks and ridges, with breadths varying from 6 to 60 miles (10 to 100 km) are generally between 1,000 and 3,000 feet (300 and 900 m) in elevation. The system is divided into two sections—the Sambhar-Sirohi ranges, taller and including Guru Peak

Carlsbad

2005-03-03T08:42:00.000-08:00

City, San Diego county, southern California, U.S. It lies along the Pacific Ocean just south of Oceanside, in a winter vegetable- and flower-growing district. Settled in the 1870s, it was first called Frazier's Station but was renamed (1883) when its mineral waters were found to be similar to those of Carlsbad in Bohemia (now Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic). After the arrival (1885) of the Santa

Boston, Cultural life

2005-03-02T15:01:00.000-08:00

The Boston Symphony Orchestra, which was founded in

Chebyshev, Pafnuty Lvovich

2005-03-01T19:52:00.000-08:00

Chebyshev became assistant professor of mathematics at the University of St. Petersburg (now St.

Corbulo, Gnaeus Domitius

2005-03-01T14:28:00.000-08:00

In AD 47 Corbulo was victorious over the German tribe of the Frisii on the Rhine, thereby restoring them to Roman tributary status. Appointed legate of Galatia and Cappadocia (two provinces to the west of Armenia) by the emperor Nero in 54, Corbulo was ordered to recover Armenia from Tiridates, brother of the Parthian

Delibes, (clément-philibert-)léo

2005-02-27T21:52:00.000-08:00

French opera and ballet composer who was the first to write music of high quality for the ballet. His pioneering symphonic work for the ballet opened up a field for serious composers, and his influence can be traced in the work of Tchaikovsky and others who wrote for the dance. His own music—light, graceful, elegant, with a tendency

Yamasaki, Minoru

2005-02-27T08:41:00.000-08:00

Following his graduation from the University of Washington, Seattle, Yamasaki went in 1934 to New York City, where he held a number of design positions

Furnivall, Frederick James

2005-02-26T21:24:00.000-08:00

English literary scholar who, partly by his own efforts in textual criticism and partly by founding learned societies, especially the Early English Text Society, was instrumental in initiating a major revival in the study of medieval English literature. Though he first studied law and was called to the bar in 1849, he came to divide his

Abel, Rudolf (ivanovich)

2005-02-25T22:15:00.000-08:00

Genrich Fischer (or Fisher), Abel's father and a friend of

Kourouma, Ahmadou

2005-02-25T01:12:00.000-08:00

Kourouma spent his early years in Guinea and attended secondary school in Bamako, Mali, until he was expelled and was drafted into the army by the French. He was sent to Indochina and served in Saigon. Later he continued

Awaji Island

2005-02-24T11:36:00.000-08:00

Japanese Awaji-shima island, Hyogo ken (prefecture), Japan. The island lies at the eastern end of the Inland Sea, between west-central Honshu and eastern Shikoku. The narrow straits of Akashi (north) and Kii (southeast) separate it from the city of Kobe on Honshu, while Naruto Strait to the southwest, well known for its whirlpools, separates it from Shikoku. Most of the island's area of 229 square miles

Hoorn

2005-02-22T19:16:00.000-08:00

Gemeente (commune), Noord-Holland provincie, northwestern Netherlands, on the IJsselmeer (lake). Founded about 1300 and chartered in 1357, it was the capital of medieval West Friesland. Its horn-shaped harbour (for which it is named) was one of the principal ports of the Netherlands until the Zuiderzee silted up in the 18th century. The first great net for herring fishing was made in

Cumberland Wrestling

2005-02-22T14:17:00.000-08:00

Form of wrestling developed in northern England and southern Scotland, also called the North Country style. The wrestlers stand chest to chest, each grasping the other with locked hands around the body, each opponent's chin on the other's right shoulder. The right arm is placed below and the left above the adversary's. When the hold has been firmly taken, an umpire gives

Coleopteran, Beetles as prey

2005-02-22T04:24:00.000-08:00

In general, beetles are very well armoured insects and thus are reasonably protected against enemies; most, however, have parasites. Some tachinid flies, for example, lay their eggs on adult beetles, and the larvae feed inside their bodies. Beetle larvae also often have hymenopterous parasites; e.g., wasps. Wood-boring long-horned beetle larvae (Cerambycidae) are parasitized

Sokol

2005-02-21T21:38:00.000-08:00

City and river port, centre of Sokol rayon (sector), Vologda oblast (province), northwestern Russia. The port lies along the Sukhona River. Before the Russian Revolution of October 1917 it was the site of only two small factories, but it grew rapidly in the early Soviet period and was incorporated in 1932. Today it is a centre of paper, woodworking, and food industries and has a

'abdullah I

2005-02-20T21:18:00.000-08:00

'Abdullah, the second son of Husayn ibn 'Ali, the ruler of the Hejaz, was educated in Istanbul in what was then the Ottoman Empire. After the Young Turk Revolution of 1908, he represented Mecca in the Ottoman parliament. Early in 1914 he joined the Arab nationalist movement, which sought independence

Vajrapani

2005-02-20T06:15:00.000-08:00

Vajrapani (Sanskrit: Thunderbolt-Bearer) is believed to be the protector of the nagas (half-man, half-serpent deities) and sometimes assumes the shape of a bird in order to deceive their traditional enemy, the hawklike Garuda. Because of his association

Zaccaria, Saint Antonio Maria

2005-02-19T11:52:00.000-08:00

Receiving his doctorate in medicine from the University of Padua in 1524, he practiced at Cremona for three years. He then studied theology

Philippe And Mathilde, Prince And Princess Of Belgium

2005-02-18T23:27:00.000-08:00

The social event of the decade in Belgium was the marriage of Crown Prince Philippe to Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz on Dec. 4, 1999. The 39-year-old prince had kept his relationship with the 26-year-old speech therapist private until their engagement was announced in September 1999. In three months' time, Mathilde went from a life of relative anonymity to becoming one of Belgium's most well-known

Berdychiv

2005-02-18T17:29:00.000-08:00

Russian Berdichev, or Berdicev, city, Zhytomyr oblast (province), northwestern Ukraine. Founded in 1482 as a Lithuanian fortress, Berdychiv was Polish from 1569 until 1793. The 16th-century fortress walls survive, as does the Roman Catholic church in which the French novelist Honoré de Balzac married Eveline Hanska, a wealthy Russian widow, in 1850 after an 18-year courtship. Before 1917 an important trading centre, Berdychiv

Atmosphere, Transition to an aerobic environment

2005-02-16T20:43:00.000-08:00

Pyrite and uraninite are minerals of iron and uranium, respectively, that are not stable in the presence of O2. Though they can be found in some modern river sediments, neither can survive in them for thousands of years. Yet, many sediments older than about 2,200,000,000 years contain well-rounded grains of these minerals. Their shapes and locations indicate prolonged exposure and

Philippe And Mathilde, Prince And Princess Of Belgium

2005-02-16T09:14:00.000-08:00

Oceanographic study platform developed in the United States. It combines the advantages of extreme stability while floating on site and ease of movement to new areas. In the horizontal position, FLIP, 109 m (357 feet) long, can be towed behind a ship. When FLIP's ballast tanks are flooded, the platform tilts to an upright position with 17 m (55 feet) of its length above water. Above-water

Málaga

2005-02-16T05:23:00.000-08:00

Provincia, in the comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Andalusia, southern Spain, on the Mediterranean coast. It has an area of 2,809 square miles (7,276 square km). Its northern half belongs to the Andalusian plain, while its southern half is mountainous and rises steeply from the coast, along which there is a narrow strip of lowland. The Sierra de Alhama separates Málaga

Astor, John Jacob

2005-02-14T21:06:00.000-08:00

Astor started a fur-goods shop in New York City about 1786 after learning about the fur trade while aboard the ship that brought him to the U.S. Benefitting

Performing Arts, Iberia.

2005-02-14T05:23:00.000-08:00

Two Catalan directors made notable films; Ventura Pons's Anita no perd

Huascar

2005-02-14T01:19:00.000-08:00

Huascar succeeded his father in 1525 but was given only part of the empire (Cuzco), while about one-fifth of it (Quito)

San Antonio

2005-02-13T03:54:00.000-08:00

San Antonio was founded May 1, 1718, when a Spanish military expedition from Mexico established

Sudra

2005-02-12T16:14:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Shudra, Sanskrit Sudra, the fourth and lowest of the traditional varnas, or social classes, of Hindu India, traditionally artisans and labourers. The term does not appear in the earliest Vedic literature. In its first application it probably included all conquered peoples of the Indus civilization as they were assimilated as menials to the three-class society of the Brahmans (priests

Biblical Literature, Ecclesiasticus (or Sirach)

2005-02-12T02:36:00.000-08:00

There are two deuterocanonical works of the genre known as wisdom literature, one Hebrew and one Greek. The Hebrew work is called Ecclesiasticus, in the Latin Bible and in Greek manuscripts Sophia Iesou hyiou Sirach (the Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach); the original Hebrew title was probably Hokhmat Yeshua' Ben-Sira, the Wisdom of Ben-Sira. Written in Hebrew about 180–175 BCE, it was

Amphibole

2005-02-11T15:35:00.000-08:00

W.A. Deer, R.A. Howie, and J. Zussman, Rock-forming Minerals, 5 vol. (1962–63), with a 2nd ed. in progress (1978– ); Manual of Mineralogy (after James D. Dana), 20th ed. by Cornelis Klein and Cornelius S. Hurlbut, Jr. (1985); J.J. Papike and M. Cameron, “Crystal Chemistry of Silicate Minerals of Geophysical Interest,” Reviews of Geophysics and Space Physics, 14(1):37–80 (1976); B.E. Leake (comp.), “Nomenclature of Amphiboles,” American Mineralogist, 63(11–12):1023–52 (1978); David R. Veblen (ed.), Amphiboles and Other Hydrous Pyriboles: Mineralogy (1981); David R. Veblen and Paul H. Ribbe (eds.), Amphiboles: Petrology and Experimental Phase Relations (1982).

Fisk, James

2005-02-11T04:44:00.000-08:00

Fisk worked successively as a circus hand, waiter, peddler, dry-goods salesman, stockbroker, and corporate official. In 1866 he formed Fisk and Belden, a brokerage firm, with the support of Daniel

Silicosis

2005-02-11T01:52:00.000-08:00

A chronic disease of the lungs that is caused by the inhalation of silica dust over long periods of time. (Silica is the chief mineral constituent of sand and of many kinds of rock.) Silicosis is a form of pneumoconiosis. The disease occurs most commonly in miners, quarry workers, stonecutters, tunnelers, and workers whose jobs involve grinding, sandblasting, polishing,

Lloyd, John Henry

2005-02-08T23:36:00.000-08:00

Lloyd's well-traveled Negro league career began in 1905, when he was a catcher for the Macon Acmes. He played second base for the Cuban X-Giants the following year. For the bulk of his career, Lloyd played

F Region

2005-02-08T09:03:00.000-08:00

Highest region of the ionosphere, at altitudes greater than 160 km (100 miles); it has the greatest concentration of free electrons and is the most important of the ionospheric regions. The charged particles in the F region consist primarily of neutral atoms split into electrons and charged atoms. Although its degree of ionization persists with little change through the

Fabliau

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

About 150 fabliaux are extant. Many of them are based on elementary jokes or puns—such as one called Estula,

Jizah, Al-

2005-02-07T22:32:00.000-08:00

The

Sara

2005-02-07T01:27:00.000-08:00

Cluster of peoples living on the fringe of the southern Sudan, especially in the northwestern regions of the Central African Republic and the south-central area surrounding Sarh, south of Lake Chad in Chad. They include the Gula, Kara, Kreish, Nduka, Ngama, and Sara proper. The Sara peoples all speak Central Sudanic languages of the Nilo-Saharan language family, and their

International Relations, Science and technology in wartime

2005-02-06T10:13:00.000-08:00

Of the many wartime innovations, those in macroeconomics and management techniques were among the most important, for the rapid increase achieved in labour productivity would make possible the economic miracles of many nations after the war as well. U.S. merchant vessels that took 35 weeks to build before the war were being launched in 50 days by 1943. The Soviet Ilyushin

Weems, Mason Locke

2005-02-05T14:17:00.000-08:00

Weems was ordained in the Anglican church in 1784 and served as a pastor in Maryland

Balcony

2005-02-04T22:15:00.000-08:00

External extension of an upper floor of a building, enclosed up to a height of about three feet (one metre) by a solid or pierced screen, by balusters (see also balustrade), or by railings. In the medieval and Renaissance periods, balconies were supported by corbels made out of successive courses of stonework, or by large wooden or stone brackets. Since the 19th century, supports

Polarization

2005-02-04T10:48:00.000-08:00

Light waves are transverse: that is, the vibrating electric vector associated with each wave is perpendicular to the direction of propagation. A beam of unpolarized light consists of waves moving in the same direction

Pacific Ocean, The trade winds

2005-02-03T08:51:00.000-08:00

The trade winds of the Pacific represent the eastern and equatorial parts of the air circulation system; they originate in the subtropical high-pressure zones that are most pronounced, respectively, over the northeast and southeast Pacific between the 30th and 40th parallels N and S. The obliquity of the ecliptic (an angle of approximately 23 1/2° that is the difference between

Centwine

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

King of the West Saxons, or Wessex (from 676), son of King Cynegils and brother of King Cenwalh. His reign was marked by renewed victories over the Welsh. Centwine was described by the contemporary writer Aldhelm as a strong king who won three battles, one presumably being that of 682, when he drove the Britons to the sea. Yet the Venerable Bede mentions a 10-year period of Wessex's division

Tunisia, Soils

2005-02-02T09:01:00.000-08:00

Tunisia's most fertile soils are found in the well-watered intermontane valleys in the north, where rich sandy clay soils formed from alluvium or soils high in lime content cover the valley bottoms and plains. Aside from these and from the plains of the High Steppe region, where some clay soils of medium fertility may be found, soils in the rest of the country tend to

'aziz, Al-

2005-02-01T18:29:00.000-08:00

The first of the Fatimids to begin his reign in Egypt, where the caliphate was later centred, al-'Aziz succeeded his father, al-Mu'izz, in 975. He was ambitious to expand his domains at the expense of the Byzantine Empire and of the rival 'Abbasid caliphate, and for most of his reign he was involved

Yap Ah Loy

2005-02-01T05:55:00.000-08:00

Yap Ah Loy arrived in the Malay state of Selangor in 1856 at the age of 19. He spent his first years in the peninsula as a miner and petty trader, but in 1862 his fortunes

Carlos María Isidro De Borbón, Conde De Molina

2005-01-31T23:36:00.000-08:00

Don Carlos was imprisoned in Napoleonic France from 1808 to 1814. During the period of liberal rule (1820–23) he was involved in a number of conspiracies against the regime, and in the decade that followed

Medicine

2005-01-29T23:34:00.000-08:00

Persons dissatisfied with the methods of modern medicine or with its results sometimes seek help from those professing expertise in other, less conventional, and sometimes controversial, forms of health care. Such practitioners are not medically qualified unless they are combining such treatments with a regular (allopathic) practice, which includes osteopathy.

Adams, Henry (brooks)

2005-01-29T06:46:00.000-08:00

Adams was the product of Boston's Brahmin class, a cultured elite that traced its lineage to Puritan New England. He was the great-grandson of John Adams and the grandson of John Quincy Adams, both presidents

Allen, Viola (emily)

2005-01-29T03:48:00.000-08:00

Born into a theatrical family, Allen made her debut at age 14 in New York City in the title role of Burnett's Esmeralda. Between 1884 and 1886 she appeared

Gabon, Education

2005-01-27T19:13:00.000-08:00

The educational system continues to be modeled closely after that of France. French remains the sole medium of instruction; Bantu languages are studied as electives at the secondary and higher levels. While education is officially mandatory from the ages of 6 to 16, the bulk of children do not attend long enough to achieve literacy or numeracy. The Omar Bongo University,

Main River

2005-01-27T15:22:00.001-08:00

Latin Moenus, river, an important right- (east-) bank tributary of the Rhine in Germany. It is formed, near Kulmbach, by the confluence of the Weisser (White) Main, which rises in the Fichtel Mountains, and the Roter (Red) Main, which rises on the eastern slope of the Fränkische Mountains (Franconian Jura). The Main River flows southwesterly around the northern end of the Fränkische Mountains

Angus

2005-01-27T15:22:00.000-08:00

Breed of black, polled beef cattle, for many years known as Aberdeen Angus, originating in northeastern Scotland. Its ancestry is obscure, though the breed appears closely related to the curly-coated Galloway, sometimes called the oldest breed in Britain. The breed was improved and the present type of the cattle fixed early in the 19th century by a number of constructive

Mercier, Louis-sébastien

2005-01-26T20:56:00.000-08:00

One of the first French writers of drame bourgeois (middle-class drama). In Du théâtre (1773; “About the Theatre”), he emphasized the didactic function of the theatre, and in his plays he presented a thesis, subordinating dramatic considerations to the didactic end. He criticized traditional French tragedy as artificial and sterile, though he

Narcotic

2005-01-26T14:26:00.000-08:00

The main therapeutic use of narcotics is for pain relief, and hence they are often called narcotic analgesics. The best-known narcotics are the opiates—i.e., compounds

Bulging

2005-01-25T20:30:00.000-08:00

In geology, mass movement of rock material caused by heavy weights on soft rock strata that crop out in valley walls. Such material is squeezed out and deformed; it flows as a plastic, and the disturbance may extend down tens of metres. Folds and small faults may form at the foot of the slope where the rock material is under stress.

Medicine, Naval and air force medicine

2005-01-25T18:11:00.000-08:00

Naval medical services are run on lines similar to those of the army. Junior medical officers are attached to ships or to shore stations and deal with most cases of sickness in their units. When at sea, medical officers have an exceptional degree of responsibility in that they work alone, unless they are on a very large ship. In peacetime, only the larger ships carry a

Brick And Tile

2005-01-24T22:20:00.000-08:00

The brick, first produced in a sun-dried form at least 6,000 years ago and the forerunner of a wide range of structural clay products used today, is a small building unit in the form of a rectangular block, formed from clay or shale or mixtures and burned (fired) in a kiln, or oven, to produce

Norrisla Guardia Act

2005-01-24T21:41:00.000-08:00

(1932), in the history of the United States, legislative act that removed certain legal and judicial barriers against the activities of organized labour. The act declared that the members of labour unions should have “full freedom of association” unmolested by employers, and it made illegal the “yellow-dog” contracts by which employers had forced workers to state that they

Kwajalein Atoll

2005-01-24T16:23:00.000-08:00

Also called Kwajalong, coral formation in the Ralik (western) chain of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, in the western Pacific Ocean. The string of some 90 islets has a total land area of 6 square miles (16 square km) and surrounds the world's largest lagoon (655 square miles [1,722 square km]). The islets of Kwajalein, Roi, and Namur were the first of the Marshall Islands captured by U.S. troops in World War II. The

Athens

2005-01-23T06:52:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1805) of Athens county, southeastern Ohio, U.S. It lies along the Hocking River, 73 miles (117 km) southeast of Columbus. It was founded in 1800 by the territorial legislature as the seat of the American Western University, which was renamed Ohio University in 1804. Athens and the university campus were laid out by General Rufus Putnam and the Reverend Manasseh Cutler. The village