KindShip

organic bed linen

2006-10-29T19:20:00.000-08:00

Livs range of soft luxurious bed linenis sourced ethically from India and using a fair trade policy. Liv also provide duvet cover set and bath towel set.

National Art Gallery

2005-04-04T03:43:00.000-07:00

In Wellington, N.Z., national collection of paintings by New Zealand and European artists and portraits of prominent New Zealand figures. The gallery grew out of the city's first public art gallery, opened in 1907 by the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts. The basis for the original collection was a group of paintings purchased in England in 1906–07 and another group purchased at the

San Salvador

2005-04-02T06:24:00.000-08:00

Capital of El Salvador, on the Río Ace Chaute in the Valle de las Hamacas (Valley of the Hammocks) at an altitude of 2,238 ft (682 m). San Salvador Volcano is 7 mi (11 km) west-northwest. Founded near Suchitoto in 1525 by the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado, it was moved 20 mi southwest to its present site in 1528 and was declared a city in 1546. San Salvador served as capital of the colonial province of

Tit-babbler

2005-04-01T16:56:00.000-08:00

Any of a number of birds belonging to the babbler family Timaliidae (order Passeriformes). The 35 to 40 species are small and short-billed, rather like titmice in appearance and behaviour but mostly somewhat larger with proportionately shorter tails. Tit-babblers are chunky birds, 10 to 18 cm (4 to 7 inches) in length, with fluffy plumage, characterized by hairlike feathers on the

Aesthetics, Post-Hegelian aesthetics

2005-03-29T21:25:00.000-08:00

Little of 19th-century aesthetics after Hegel has proved of lasting interest. Perhaps the most important exception is the controversial literature surrounding Richard Wagner, particularly the attack on the expressive theory of music launched by Wagner's critic Eduard Hanslick in his Vom musikalisch-Schönen (1854; On the Beautiful in Music). With this work modern musical

Vedic Religion

2005-03-27T19:26:00.000-08:00

The only extant Vedic materials are the texts known as the Vedas, which were written down over a period of about 10 centuries, from about the 15th to the 5th century BC, this being the period when Vedism was a living force. The Vedic corpus is written in an archaic Sanskrit. The most important texts are also the oldest ones. They are the four collections (Samhita) that we call the Veda,

Rivière, Jacques

2005-03-25T23:04:00.000-08:00

Writer, critic, and editor who was a major force in the intellectual life of France in the period immediately following World War I. His most important works were his thoughtful and finely written essays on the arts. In 1912 a collection of these essays was published as Études; a second such collection, entitled Nouvelles études (“Further

Lippi, Filippino

2005-03-23T08:57:00.000-08:00

The son of Fra Filippo Lippi and his wife, Lucrezia Buti, he was a follower of his father and of Botticelli. After Fra Filippo Lippi's death, Filippino entered the workshop of Botticelli. By 1473 he had finished his

Seven Against Thebes

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

In Greek mythology, the seven champions who were killed fighting against Thebes after the fall of Oedipus, the king of that city. The twins Eteocles and Polyneices, who had been cursed by their father, Oedipus, failed to agree on which of them was to succeed to the Theban throne and decided to rule in alternate years. As Eteocles' turn came first, Polyneices withdrew to

Anticlericalism

2005-03-19T23:14:00.000-08:00

Three principal

Caucasian Languages

2005-03-19T03:06:00.000-08:00

The North Caucasian languages are divided into two groups: Abkhazo-Adyghian, or the Northwest Caucasian, languages, and Nakho-Dagestanian, or the Northeast Caucasian, languages.

Saint-barthélemy

2005-03-18T16:20:00.000-08:00

Also called Saint Bart's, island at the northern end of the Windward group of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. It constitutes a commune and, together with Saint Martin, forms an arrondissement of Guadeloupe, an overseas département of France. The island is 120 miles (200 km) north of Guadeloupe island. It is 11 miles (17.5 km) long and 2.5 miles (4 km) wide, with an area of 8 square miles (21 square km). The island is both

Leonard, Sugar Ray

2005-03-16T17:06:00.000-08:00

By his mid-teens Leonard proved adept at boxing, and, as an amateur, he won 145 of 150 bouts and garnered two National Golden Glove

Eberhard I

2005-03-15T11:02:00.000-08:00

Eberhard expanded his territories and in 1482 established primogeniture and settled the succession to his holdings. The towns of Stuttgart and Tübingen received charters, and Eberhard reformed

Lloyd, Seton Howard Frederick

2005-03-14T18:26:00.000-08:00

British archaeologist who led a number of digs in Iraq and Turkey and was the first director of the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara, Turkey (b. May 30, 1902--d. Jan. 7, 1996).

Economic Affairs

2005-03-14T01:30:00.000-08:00

Following a pair of grim years packed with all manner of economic catastrophe, 2003 was a respite for many American companies—for some it was a time of recovery, while for others it was at least a time when things did not get worse. The U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research declared during the year that the recession had ended officially in November 2001, so that the economic

Orb

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

Christians adapted the symbol by setting a cross above

Shaker Furniture

2005-03-12T14:08:00.000-08:00

Furniture designed for the religious colonies of Shakers founded in America in the last quarter of the 18th century, characterized by austerity of decoration and truth to materials. Deeply dedicated to ideals of communal living and asceticism, the Shakers designed and constructed furniture that reflected their belief that to make a thing well was in itself an

Ashide-e

2005-03-10T21:50:00.000-08:00

(Japanese: “reed-script picture”), decorative, cursive style of Japanese calligraphy, the characters of which resemble natural objects, that is used to decorate scrolls, stationery, and lacquerware. The typical ashide-e is a decorative representation of a poem, in which stylized characters serve as both

Shaker Furniture

2005-03-09T08:12:00.000-08:00

Its functions include making multilateral

Philastre, Paul-louis-félix

2005-03-09T01:43:00.000-08:00

French administrator and diplomat who, in the formative years of colonialism in French Indochina, played a crucial role in mitigating relations between the European colonialists and the French administration, on the one hand, and the indigenous population and its royal court at Hue, in central Vietnam. He was considered

Ufj Holdings, Inc.

2005-03-07T02:14:00.000-08:00

Japanese bank holding company that became one of the world's largest banking institutions through the merger of Sanwa Bank, Tokai Bank, and Toyo Trust in 2001. With headquarters in Osaka, UFJ operates banks, issues credit cards, provides venture capital funding, and offers other banking and financial management services.

Syrian Chant

2005-03-06T08:51:00.000-08:00

Generic term for the vocal music of the various Syrian Christian churches, including Eastern Orthodox churches such as the Jacobites and Nestorians, and the Eastern churches in union with Rome—e.g., the Maronites (mostly in Lebanon) and the Chaldeans, who are dissidents from the Nestorians. To these should be added some branches of nearly all of these groupings in the

Ciompi, Revolt Of The

2005-03-05T04:21:00.000-08:00

A struggle between factions within the major ruling guilds triggered

Mabillon, Jean

2005-03-04T16:07:00.000-08:00

T. Ruinart, Abrégé de la vie de D.J.M. (1709), reprinted in 1933 as Mabillon; Henri Leclercq, Life, 2 vol. (1953–57); J.U. Bergkamp, Dom Jean Mabillon and the Benedictine Historical School of Saint-Maur (1928).

Usman Dan Fodio

2005-03-04T09:58:00.000-08:00

Usman also spelled Uthman or Usuman, Arabic 'Uthman Ibn Fudi Fulani mystic, philosopher, and revolutionary reformer who, in a jihad (holy war) between 1804 and 1808, created a new Muslim state, the Fulani empire, in what is now northern Nigeria.

Pacific Mountain System

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

Series of mountain ranges that stretches along the Pacific coast of North America from northern British Columbia (Canada) to northwestern Mexico. They run for some 4,500 miles (7,250 kilometres) in the United States and extend northward into Canada for another 1,000 miles. The ranges may be divided into eight sections. Roughly from north to south they are the Coast Mountains of British

Armillaria

2005-03-01T11:32:00.000-08:00

Genus of about 40 species of fungi of the order Agaricales (q.v.), in the class Basidiomycetes, found throughout northern North America and Europe, principally in forests of hardwoods or mixed conifers. In suitable environments, members of this genus may live for hundreds of years, and certain specimens have been identified as among the largest and oldest living

Zangi

2005-02-27T03:31:00.000-08:00

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

Salzkammergut

2005-02-26T06:54:00.000-08:00

Region, comprising parts of the Bundesländer (federal states) of Oberösterreich, Steiermark, and Salzburg, north-central Austria. The region consists mainly of the Traun River basin and is renowned for its lake and mountain scenery. Often called the Austrian “Lake District,” it has more than 30 lakes, including the Atter, Traun, Mond, Wolfgang (Aber), and Hallstätter. The highest

Economics

2005-02-25T13:50:00.000-08:00

Social science that seeks to analyze and describe the production, distribution, and consumption of wealth.

Ito Jakuchu

2005-02-25T02:09:00.000-08:00

The son of a greengrocer, he first studied drawing with a painter of the Kano school (stressing Chinese subject matter and techniques). He also made copies of old Chinese

Baseball

2005-02-23T05:12:00.000-08:00

The Fukuoka Daiei Hawks of the Pacific League (PL) defeated the Chunichi Dragons of the Central League (CL) four games to one in the 1999 best-of-seven Japan Series. The team had last won the championship series title in 1964, as the Nankai Hawks. Hawks manager Sadaharu Oh, the world's home-run record holder (868), celebrated with the city of Fukuoka, which had awaited the crown for

Sinkiang, Uygur Autonomous Region Of, Education

2005-02-22T15:41:00.000-08:00

Before World War II the educational system was minimal. Since 1949, educational facilities have been broadened and the literacy rate is better than the national average. Institutions of higher learning, concentrated in Wu-lu-mu-ch'i, include the Sinkiang University; the Sinkiang “August First” Institute of Agriculture, which offers a course on water conservation; the

Amis And Amiles

2005-02-22T04:28:00.000-08:00

The tale, probably of Oriental origin, was introduced to the West by way of Byzantium and found its way into French literature through

Rurales

2005-02-20T16:54:00.000-08:00

Federal corps of rural police established on May 6, 1861, by the Mexican president Benito Juárez to combat the banditry that threatened travel and commerce throughout Mexico. Such a force had been planned four years earlier but could not be established during the War of Reform. In 1869, after the overthrow of the empire of Maximilian, it was reconstituted under the Ministry

Metal Carbonyl

2005-02-18T17:41:00.000-08:00

Any coordination or complex compound consisting of a heavy metal such as nickel, cobalt, or iron surrounded by carbonyl (CO) groups. Some common metal carbonyls include: tetracarbonylnickel Ni(CO)4, pentacarbonyliron Fe(CO)5, and octacarbonyldicobalt Co2(CO)8. In general, the metal carbonyls are produced by direct action of carbon monoxide on the finely divided metal. They

Solanales

2005-02-17T22:56:00.000-08:00

Order of dicotyledonous flowering plants, a division of the subclass Asteridae. The order includes the Solanaceae and usually other families from the large 19th-century order Tubiflorae (see below Evolution). Botanists have differed as to which families should be included, but, however the order is construed, it includes some of the plants most important to human

Metastasio, Pietro

2005-02-16T22:33:00.000-08:00

In 1712, after receiving a good education from Gravina,

Asher Ben Jehiel

2005-02-16T06:23:00.000-08:00

When the German authorities began to persecute the Jews, Asher fled to France and then to Spain. With the help of Rabbi Solomon ben Adret, one of the most influential

Monchique Mountains

2005-02-15T16:21:00.000-08:00

Portuguese Serra De Monchique, low mountain range forming the frontier between Beja and Faro districts, southern Portugal, near Cape Saint Vincent, the southwestern extremity of the Iberian Peninsula. A dissected igneous rock (syenite) massif, its highest point is La Foia (2,960 ft [902 m]). The range is famous for its wild and generally varied plant life, as well as for its spas with medicinal waters (Caldas de

Marseillaise, La

2005-02-14T05:20:00.000-08:00

After France declared war on Austria on April 20, 1792, P.F. Dietrich, the mayor of Strasbourg (where Rouget de Lisle was then quartered), expressed the need for a marching song for the French troops. “La

Ahlfors, Lars Valerian

2005-02-12T15:49:00.000-08:00

Ahlfors received his Ph.D. from the University of Helsinki in 1932. He held an appointment there from 1938 to 1944, then went to the University of Zürich, Switz. He joined the faculty at Harvard University,

Roiphe, Anne

2005-02-11T17:22:00.000-08:00

Anne Roth graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1957 and married Jack Richardson in 1958. The marriage ended in divorce in 1963, and in 1967 she married Herman Roiphe. That year she also published

Pembroke Table

2005-02-10T19:11:00.000-08:00

Light, drop-leaf table designed for occasional use, probably deriving its name from Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke (1693–1751), a noted connoisseur and amateur architect. The table has two drawers and flaps on either side that can be raised by brackets on hinges (known as “elbows”) to increase its size. Usually provided with casters (it was often used for bedside meals), the legs of

Jars, Plain Of

2005-02-09T20:10:00.000-08:00

French Plain des Jarres , Laotian Thông Haihin dissected inner region of the Xiangkhoang Plateau in north-central Laos. Drained principally by the Ngum River, a southward-flowing tributary of the Mekong River, the plain is characterized by narrow river valleys and limestone and sandstone hills ranging from 3,000 to 3,600 feet (900 to 1,100 m) in elevation. The plain's name is derived from several hundred huge and ancient carved stone

Music, Western, Monophonic secular song

2005-02-09T05:37:00.000-08:00

Secular music undoubtedly flourished during the early Middle Ages, but, aside from sporadic references, the earliest accounts of such music in the Western world described the music of the goliards; these people were itinerant minor clerics and students who, from the 7th century on, roamed the land singing and playing topical songs dealing with love, war, famine, and

Udmurtiya

2005-02-08T18:39:00.000-08:00

From the republic's highest point, a low (1,080 feet [330 m]) outlier of the Ural Mountains

'abd Allah Ibn Al-'abbas

2005-02-06T19:57:00.000-08:00

In the early struggles for the caliphate, Ibn 'Abbas supported 'Ali and was rewarded with the governorship of Basra. Subsequently he defected and withdrew to Mecca. During the reign of Mu'awiyah he lived in the Hejaz, but frequently travelled to Damascus,

Giraldi, Giambattista

2005-02-06T18:33:00.000-08:00

Giraldi was influenced

Bishop, Sir Henry Rowley

2005-02-04T08:18:00.000-08:00

Bishop conducted at Covent Garden Theatre (1810), King's Theatre, Haymarket (1816–17), Drury Lane (from 1825), and Vauxhall Gardens (1830). He became professor of music successively at the Universities of Edinburgh (1841) and Oxford (1848) and was knighted in 1842. Bishop composed light

Saxon

2005-02-04T04:57:00.000-08:00

Member of a Germanic people who in ancient times lived in the area of modern Schleswig and along the Baltic coast. The period of Roman decline in the West was marked by vigorous Saxon piracy in the North Sea. During the early part of the 5th century AD, the Saxons spread rapidly through north Germany and along the coasts of Gaul and Britain. The coastal stretch from the Elbe

Robbery

2005-02-03T11:24:00.000-08:00

In criminal law, an aggravated form of theft that involves violence or the threat of violence against a victim in his presence. Many criminologists have long regarded statistics on robbery to be one of the most accurate gauges of the overall crime rate.

Nigeria

2005-02-01T00:54:00.000-08:00

In 1999 Nigeria underwent major political change. Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar, interim leader since the death of Sani Abacha in June 1998, oversaw the transition to a democratically elected government and the establishment of a new constitution. Three parties participated in the national elections: the centre-left People's Democratic Party (PDP), the Alliance for Democracy

Braddon, Mary Elizabeth

2005-01-31T20:00:00.000-08:00

The daughter of a solicitor in Cornwall and the sister of a prime minister of Tasmania, Braddon received a private education. She produced her first novel, The Trail of the Serpent, in 1861. In the same year appeared Garibaldi and Other

Black Rod

2005-01-31T17:01:00.000-08:00

In full Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod an office of the British House of Lords (the upper house in Parliament), instituted in 1350. Its holder is appointed by royal letters patent, and his title is derived from his staff of office, an ebony stick surmounted with a gold lion. He is a personal attendant of the sovereign in the upper house and there functions as a sergeant at arms; his most prominent duty is the summoning

Facial Nerve

2005-01-30T13:17:00.000-08:00

Nerve that originates in the area of the brain called the pons and that has three types of nerve fibres: (1) motor fibres to the superficial muscles of the face, neck, and scalp and to certain deep muscles, known collectively as the muscles of facial expression; (2) sensory fibres, carrying impulses from the taste sensors in the front two-thirds of the tongue and general sensory

Mountain, The Circum-Pacific System

2005-01-28T06:23:00.000-08:00

A nearly continuous chain of volcanoes surrounds the Pacific Ocean. The chain passes along the west coast of North and South America, from the Aleutian Islands to the south of Japan, and from Indonesia to the Tonga Islands, and to New Zealand. The Pacific Basin is underlain by separate lithospheric plates that diverge from one another and that are being subducted

Eugénie

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

The daughter of a Spanish noble who fought on the French side during Napoleon I's Peninsular War in Spain, Eugénie went to Paris when Louis-Napoléon became president of the Second Republic in December 1848. They were married in

Akola

2005-01-27T03:36:00.000-08:00

City, north-central Maharashtra state, western India, on the Murna River. An important road and rail junction in the Tapti River valley, it is a commercial centre trading chiefly in cotton. There are also textile and vegetable-oil industries. In the past it was incorporated in turn into several local Muslim kingdoms. Akola is an important educational centre with several

Nariño

2005-01-25T18:46:00.000-08:00

Departamento, southwestern Colombia, bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the west and Ecuador on the south. Its population is concentrated principally in the volcanic Andean highlands above 5,000 feet (1,500 m). The densely settled Altiplano (high plateau) of Túquerres-Ipiales, which is situated on the Ecuadoran frontier, is separated by the Guáitara River from that of the departmental

North America, 30 to 2.5 million years ago

2005-01-25T18:21:00.000-08:00

About 30 million years ago North America began to override the East Pacific Rise, an oceanic spreading ridge. This activity placed a progressively longer segment of the coast in contact with the plate west of the ridge. The western plate—which contains the Pacific Coast Ranges of California—has been moving to the northwest relative to North America along the San Andreas

Orange River

2005-01-24T22:03:00.000-08:00

River in southern Africa, one of the longest rivers on the continent and one of the longest south of the Tropic of Capricorn. After rising in the Lesotho Highlands, less than 125 miles (200 kilometres) from the Indian Ocean, the river flows to the Atlantic Ocean in a generally westerly direction for some 1,300 miles. The Orange traverses the veld region of South Africa, after which

Term

2005-01-23T03:28:00.000-08:00

In the visual arts, element consisting of a sculptured figure or bust at the top of a stone pillar or column that usually tapers downward to a quadrangular base. Often the pillar replaces the body of the figure, with feet sometimes indicated at its base. The pillar itself may be a separate object (i.e., a pedestal for the head or other sculpture), in which case it is called a

David Ii

2005-01-21T20:20:00.000-08:00

On July 17, 1328, in accordance with the Anglo-Scottish peace treaty of Northampton,

Amber

2005-01-21T18:48:00.000-08:00

Amber occurs as irregular nodules, rods, or droplike shapes

Lower Vascular Plant

2005-01-19T13:22:00.000-08:00

Formerly pteridophyte, also called vascular cryptogam, any of the spore-bearing vascular plants, including the ferns, club mosses, spike mosses, quillworts, horsetails, and whisk ferns. Once considered of the same evolutionary line, these plants were formerly placed in the single group Pteridophyta and were known as the ferns and fern allies. Although modern studies have shown that the plants are not in fact related, these

Ecossaise

2005-01-18T14:00:00.000-08:00

Variety of contredanse that was popular in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in France and England. It was danced in quick 2/4 time by a double line of couples, men facing women; the couples progressed to the head of the line as the figures of the dance were executed. The vogue of the ecossaise inspired musical compositions for piano bearing this name by Franz Schubert and

Rovaniemi

2005-01-15T03:19:00.000-08:00

Town, capital of Lapin lääni (Lappi province), northern Finland, at the junction of the Kemijoki and Ounasjoki (rivers), northeast of Tornio, on the Arctic Circle. Incorporated in 1929, it became the administrative centre of Lappi in 1939, when the government of Lapland was reorganized. Road building between 1920 and 1940 spurred its development, but near the end of World War II the retreating

Colour Centre

2005-01-14T01:01:00.000-08:00

Defect in the regular spacing of atoms within a solid that absorbs visible light of a particular colour or infrared or ultraviolet radiation. Each colour centre involves the absence of an atom from the place it would normally occupy in the solid and the relation of an electron with such an empty place, or vacancy (q.v.). Solids without colour centres may still have colour

Lord Chief Justice

2005-01-13T18:06:00.000-08:00

In England and Wales, the head of the Queen's (or King's) Bench Division of the High Court of Justice and next in rank to the lord chancellor. Appointed by the crown on the nomination of the prime minister, he usually presides over the Court of Criminal Appeal and is an ex officio member of the Court of Appeal. He is invariably raised to the peerage on appointment and so is able

Lepsius, Richard

2005-01-12T05:49:00.000-08:00

Following studies in archaeological philology and comparative languages, Lepsius became a lecturer at the University

Audley (of Walden), Thomas Audley, Baron

2005-01-11T10:13:00.000-08:00

Trained in law, Audley rose in politics to become speaker of the House of Commons in 1529. Because

Aerospace Engineering, Aerospace engineering

2005-01-10T01:22:00.000-08:00

The use of rocket engines for aircraft propulsion opened a new realm of flight to the aeronautical engineer. Robert H. Goddard, an American, developed, built, and flew the first successful liquid-propellant rocket on March 16, 1926. Goddard proved that flight was possible at speeds greater than the speed of sound and that rockets can work in a vacuum. The major impetus in rocket

Computers, Interpreters

2005-01-08T10:49:00.000-08:00

HLL coding was attempted right from the start of the stored-program era in the late 1940s. Shortcode, or short-order code, was the first such language actually implemented. Suggested by John Mauchly in 1949, it was implemented by William Schmitt for the BINAC computer in that year and for UNIVAC in 1950. Shortcode went through multiple steps: first it converted the alphabetic statements

Li Ka-shing

2005-01-08T04:18:00.000-08:00

Topping Asiaweek magazine's 2000 list of Asia's 50 most powerful people was Li Ka-shing, a billionaire who took “old economy” money and parlayed it into a “new economy” juggernaut. Nicknamed “Superman” by the regional media because of his uncanny ability to pull off a succession of profitable deals, Li inspired loyalty among stockholders, who had come to expect every Li-inspired

Sogn Og Fjordane

2005-01-07T10:40:00.000-08:00

Fylke (county), western Norway, bordering the North Sea. Its inland extension includes the Jostedals Glacier and part of the Jotunheim Mountains. In the northern part of the fylke is Nord Fjord, which penetrates 55 miles (90 km) inland, and in the south is Norway's longest fjord, Sogn Fjord (q.v.). Centrally located on the northern bank of Sogn Fjord is the village of Leikanger, administrative

Carnivore, Distinguishing taxonomic features

2005-01-06T06:35:00.000-08:00

The characteristics used to separate the Carnivora from other mammalian orders and to define the subdivisions of the Carnivora are primarily structural. Of great importance are certain features of the skull (the type of

Cup Fungus

2005-01-05T15:25:00.000-08:00

Any member of the series Discomycetes, a large group of fungi (kingdom Fungi) in the class Ascomycetes and typically characterized by a disk- or cup-shaped structure (apothecium) bearing spore sacs (asci) on its surface. Some of the cup fungi are important plant pathogens, such as Monilinia (Sclerotinia), causing brown rot in peach and other stone fruits. Others are saprobes,

Ba Maw

2005-01-04T02:24:00.000-08:00

Ba Maw was educated at Rangoon College, Calcutta University, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Bordeaux, Fr., where he received a doctorate in 1924. Admitted to

Tierra Del Fuego

2005-01-03T19:09:00.000-08:00

Provincia, southern Argentina, consisting of the eastern half of the triangular island of Tierra del Fuego (Spanish: “Land of Fire”), lying between the Strait of Magellan (north) and Beagle Channel (south) at the southern extremity of South America. Argentina also claims as part of this province a number of South Atlantic islands and a portion of the Antarctic continent

Roman De Fauvel

2005-01-01T08:57:00.000-08:00

A manuscript of the poem dated

Yamaguchi

2005-01-01T02:28:00.000-08:00

Prefecture (ken), extreme western Honshu, Japan, bordered by the Sea of Japan (north), the Shimonoseki-kaikyo (Shimonoseki Strait; southwest), and the Inland Sea (south). Most of its 2,355-sq-mi (6,100-sq-km) area is composed of plateaus and hills, and there are no extensive plains. The limestone caves and outcroppings of the Akiyoshi-dai (plateau) in the west present a typical karst formation

Lockport

2004-12-31T19:31:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1822) of Niagara county, western New York, U.S. It lies 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Buffalo. It was founded in 1821 and grew around the series of five double locks (1847) of the Erie Canal built to overcome a difference of about 60 feet (18 metres) between the levels of Lake Erie and the Genesee River. Two modern locks (1918) of the New York State Canal System replaced one of the sets of five locks; the

Cottrell, Frederick Gardner

2004-12-29T08:47:00.000-08:00

Cottrell taught chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, from 1902 to 1911 and began his work on electrostatic precipitators in 1906. In 1912 he founded the Research Corporation, a nonprofit organization

Minden

2004-12-29T06:25:00.000-08:00

City, North Rhine–Westphalia Land (state), northwestern Germany. It lies along the Weser River, near a narrow defile known as the Porta Westfalica where the river quits the mountains and enters the North German Plain. The emperor Charlemagne organized a military bishopric there in 800. The town struggled for independence from the bishopric, joined the Hanseatic League

Integument, Amphibians

2004-12-27T01:37:00.000-08:00

Most modern amphibians lack horny scales or other protective devices. An exception is seen in the caecilians, a small group that has fishlike scales similar to those possessed by ancient and extinct forms. The amphibian epidermis has five to seven layers of cells formed from a basal stratum germinativum. At the skin surface, in contact with the external environment,

Mcphee, John

2004-12-26T06:58:00.000-08:00

After graduating from Princeton University (A.B., 1953), McPhee studied for a year at

Madison

2004-12-25T14:11:00.000-08:00

Borough (town), Morris county, northeastern New Jersey, U.S. It lies 18 miles (29 km) west of Newark. The borough of Madison includes the communities of Montville, Wood Ridge, and Hopewell Valley. The centre of a greenhouse industry and nicknamed the “Rose City,” it is the site of Drew University (chartered 1868) and the Florham-Madison Campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University. The College

Coraciiform, Similarities to birds of other orders

2004-12-24T17:17:00.000-08:00

The size of the birds of this order and their propensity to take rather large prey bring them into competition with many other species of other groups. It is perhaps instructive to compare certain Old World groups with representatives of different orders in the New World tropics (see above Natural history). The most striking parallel is seen between the toucans

Norfolk Four-course System

2004-12-23T11:12:00.000-08:00

In the Norfolk four-course system, wheat was grown in the first year, turnips in the second, followed

Bürger, Gottfried August

2004-12-22T14:15:00.000-08:00

Bürger was educated in theology at the University of Halle and in law at the University of Göttingen. It was in Göttingen that he first

Epigraphy

2004-12-22T06:27:00.000-08:00

Because such media were exclusive or predominant in many of mankind's earliest civilizations, epigraphy is a prime tool in recovering much of the firsthand record of antiquity. It is thus an essential

Byron, John

2004-12-20T09:25:00.000-08:00

The second son of the 4th Baron Byron, he was a midshipman on board the Wager in 1741 when it was wrecked off the coast of Chile during George Anson's voyage round the world. After unparalleled hardships Byron eventually reached

Arts, Islamic, Other classic mosques

2004-12-19T13:45:00.000-08:00

Either in its simplest form, as in Medina, or in its more formalized shape, as in Damascus, the hypostyle tradition dominated mosque architecture from 715 to the 10th century. As it occurs at Nishapur in northeastern Iran, Siraf in southern Iran, al-Qayrawan (Kairouan) in Tunisia, and Córdoba in Spain, it can indeed be considered as the classic early Islamic type. Its masterpieces occur

Alaska, Cultural life

2004-12-18T21:19:00.000-08:00

Alaska's past, including the arts and crafts of its native peoples, is a major influence in Alaskan culture. Juneau is the site of the state's historical library and state museum. The university has a large museum, as do other communities, including Sitka, Haines, Valdez, and Nome. Eminent Alaskan artists have included both whites and Eskimos. Native ivory and wood carvings

Epirus, Despotate Of

2004-12-17T23:49:00.000-08:00

The despotate was founded in what is now southern Albania and northwestern Greece by Michael Comnenus Ducas, a member of the dethroned Byzantine imperial house. His half brother and successor, Theodore

China 1

2004-12-16T13:02:00.000-08:00

Also called Chicom 1 , or PRC 1 first Earth satellite orbited by the People's Republic of China. It was launched on April 24, 1970, from the rocket facility at Shuang Cheng Tsu, and it made China the fifth nation to place a satellite into Earth orbit. Little is known about China 1. It weighed approximately 173 kg (381 pounds) and carried a radio transmitter that broadcast a patriotic anthem.

Kerala

2004-12-15T20:36:00.000-08:00

State of India. It has an area of 15,005 square miles (38,863 square kilometres), only about 1 percent of the total area of the country. The state stretches for 360 miles (580 kilometres) along the Malabar Coast on the southwestern side of the Indian peninsula; its width varies from 20 to 75 miles. It is bordered by the states of Karnataka (formerly Mysore) to the north and Tamil Nadu to the east and by the Arabian

Iris

2004-12-14T08:10:00.000-08:00

In Greek mythology, the personification of the rainbow and a messenger of the gods. According to the Greek poet Hesiod, she was the daughter of Thaumas and the ocean nymph Electra. In Hesiod's works, at least, she had the additional duty of carrying water from the River Styx in a ewer whenever the gods had to take a solemn oath. The water would render unconscious for one year