HangingGoat

Tarai

2005-04-05T05:24:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Terai region of northern India and southern Nepal running parallel to the lower Himalayan ranges. A strip of undulating former marshland, it stretches from the Yamuna River (west) to the Brahmaputra River (east). At its northern edge are numerous springs forming several streams, including the important Ghaghara River, that intersect the Tarai (meaning “moist land”) and are

Croft, William

2005-04-05T03:59:00.000-07:00

Educated under John Blow, he was organist of St. Anne's, Soho (1700–12), of the Chapel Royal from 1707, and of Westminster Abbey from 1708. In 1700 he collaborated with Blow, Jeremiah Clarke, Francis Piggott, and John Barrett in a Choice Collection of Ayres

Welland Canal

2005-04-04T18:43:00.000-07:00

Waterway in southern Ontario, Can., that provides navigation for large vessels between Lake Erie to the south and Lake Ontario to the north and forms an important link in the St. Lawrence Seaway. The canal was necessary because the Niagara River, the natural connection between Lakes Erie and Ontario, has impassable falls and rapids. The modern Welland Canal extends

Dygasinski, Adolf

2005-04-03T14:34:00.000-07:00

Dygasinski was a teacher by profession and a worshiper of science. He published about 50 volumes of short stories of uneven literary quality, the best pieces of which deal with the lives of domestic and wild animals.

Valdosta

2005-04-03T08:26:00.000-07:00

City, seat (1860) of Lowndes county, southern Georgia, U.S., about 60 miles (100 km) northeast of Tallahassee, Florida. Troupville, the original town and county seat (1828, as Franklinville), was moved 4 miles (6 km) east in 1859 to the present site to be on the right-of-way of the area's first railroad. The new town was named for Georgia Governor George M. Troup's plantation, Val d'Osta (for the Italian region Valle

Telecommunications Network, Ethernet

2005-04-02T20:50:00.000-08:00

The Ethernet originated as a laboratory project at Xerox Corporation in 1974. It was developed as an inexpensive way of sending information quickly between office machines connected together in a single room or building, but it rapidly became a standard computer interconnection method. The data rate is 10 megabits per second. The original specification required coaxial

Palau, Flag Of

2005-04-01T10:15:00.000-08:00

As part of the United States-administered Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI), Palau was under the flags of the United Nations, the United States, and the Trust Territory. Local desire for a separate state and government was realized on January 1, 1981, and a Palauan flag was hoisted on that occasion. A competition had been held in 1979 that resulted in more than a thousand

Bahr Az-zaraf

2005-04-01T01:58:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Bahr el-Zaraf , English Giraffe River river, an arm of the Nile River in as-Sudd region of south-central Sudan. It is formed in the swamps north of Shambe, diverting water from the Bahr al-Jabal (Mountain Nile), and flows 150 miles (240 km) north, past Fangak, to join the Bahr al-Jabal, 35 miles (56 km) west of Malakal. It is not navigable but is permanently connected to the Bahr al-Jabal by two cuts dredged where the streams are close

Mananjary

2005-03-31T22:18:00.000-08:00

Town, eastern Madagascar. It lies at the mouth of the Mananjary River. A port on the Indian Ocean and the Pangalanes Canal, it handles coastal shipments of coffee, vanilla, cacao, olives, and rice. It is at the end of a highway from Fianarantsoa (85 miles [137 km] northwest). Pop. (1978 est.) 15,200.

Guinea

2005-03-30T10:45:00.000-08:00

The shortage

Lord

2005-03-29T22:54:00.000-08:00

In the British Isles, a general title for a prince or sovereign or for a feudal superior (especially a feudal tenant who holds directly from the king, i.e., a baron). In the United Kingdom the title today denotes a peer of the realm, whether or not he sits in Parliament as a member of the House of Lords. Before the Hanoverian succession, before the use of “prince” became settled

Bone Conduction

2005-03-29T14:18:00.000-08:00

The conduction of sound through the bones of the skull. Two types of bone conduction are recognized. In compressional bone conduction, high-pitched sounds cause the segments of the skull to vibrate individually. The vibrations, by compressing the bony case of the inner ear, stimulate the sensory cells that are involved in perceiving sound waves in the air. In inertial

Cordeiro Da Matta, Joaquim Dias

2005-03-28T19:53:00.000-08:00

Writing in Portuguese, Cordeiro da Matta, by profession a trader in wood, was

Anchovy Pear

2005-03-28T08:21:00.000-08:00

(Grias cauliflora), evergreen tree of the family Lecythidaceae, native to the West Indies. The name is also applied to its edible fruit, for which the tree is cultivated. The plant grows to about 15 m (50 feet) tall and bears spear-shaped, glossy leaves about 90 cm long that are produced in palmlike tufts. The fragrant yellow flowers are about 5 cm across. The fruit, which contains one

Adams, Gerry

2005-03-27T14:09:00.000-08:00

Gerry Adams, Before the Dawn (1996), is an autobiography, and he discusses his goals in Free Ireland: Towards a Lasting Peace, rev. ed. (1995).

Hou Chi

2005-03-26T08:56:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Hou Ji, in Chinese mythology, Lord of Millet Grains, who was worshiped for the abundant harvests that he graciously provided for his people. The Chinese honoured him not only for past favours but in the hope that devotion to the deity would guarantee continued blessings. An old tradition explained that Hou Chi was miraculously conceived when his childless mother stepped

Animal, Support and movement

2005-03-25T08:54:00.000-08:00

A skeleton can support an animal, act as an antagonist to muscle contraction, or, most commonly, do both. Because muscles can only contract, they require some other structure to stretch them to their noncontracted (relaxed) state. Another set of muscles or the skeleton itself can act as an antagonist to muscle contraction. Only elastic skeletons can act without an antagonist;

Maclaine, Shirley

2005-03-24T20:16:00.000-08:00

After graduating from high school, MacLaine, who had studied ballet since age three, moved to New York City, where she worked as a dancer and model. In 1954 she was hired as a chorus girl and understudy

Biblical Literature, Books of ordinances

2005-03-24T16:57:00.000-08:00

Other books of ordinances of the sect have been preserved, containing prescriptions and other material. Three such compositions are written on one scroll: the Manual of Discipline, the Rule of the Congregation, and the manual of Benedictions. The Manual of Discipline is the rule (or statement of regulations) of the Essene community; the most important part of this

European Plain

2005-03-23T09:39:00.000-08:00

One of the greatest uninterrupted expanses of plain on the Earth's surface. It sweeps from the Pyrenees Mountains on the French-Spanish border across northern Europe to the Ural Mountains in Russia. In western Europe the plain is comparatively narrow, rarely exceeding 200 miles (320 kilometres) in width, but as it stretches eastward it broadens steadily until it reaches

Van Fleet, Jo

2005-03-22T13:56:00.000-08:00

U.S. actress who played bold, matronly women on stage and screen, notably in Elia Kazan films, beginning with her role as the mother of James Dean's character in East of Eden (1955), for which she won an Academy Award (b. Dec. 30, 1919--d. June 10, 1996).

Humpbacked Fly

2005-03-21T14:13:00.000-08:00

Also called Coffin Fly, any of numerous species of tiny, dark-coloured flies with humped backs that are members of the insect family Phoridae (order Diptera). The adults are abundant around decaying vegetation. Larvae may be scavengers, parasites, or commensals in ant and termite nests. Some species have reduced or no wings.

Chia-ch'ing

2005-03-21T10:11:00.000-08:00

He was proclaimed emperor and assumed the reign title of Chia-ch'ing in 1796, after the abdication of his father, the Ch'ien-lung emperor (reigned 1735–96). Power, however, remained in the hands of

Perak, Tun

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

A leader in the Malay defeat of a Siamese invasion in 1445–46, Tun Perak was made bendahara by Sultan Muzaffar Shah in 1456, when he again led Malacca's forces in a decisive defeat of the Siamese. He

Baikonur

2005-03-20T20:28:00.000-08:00

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

Oman

2005-03-19T22:35:00.000-08:00

The sultanate of Oman occupies the southeastern part of the Arabian Peninsula, facing the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, and the Arabian Sea. A small part of the country lies to the north and is separated from the rest of Oman by the United Arab Emirates. Area: 306,000 sq km (118,150 sq mi). Pop. (1994 est.): 2,048,000. Cap.: Muscat. Monetary unit: rial Omani, with (Oct. 7, 1994) a par value of 0.38 rial to U.S. $1 (free rate of 0.60 rial = £1 sterling).

Anshar And Kishar

2005-03-19T16:30:00.000-08:00

In Mesopotamian mythology, the male and female principles, the twin horizons of sky and earth. Their parents were either Apsu (the watery deep beneath the earth) and Tiamat (the personification of salt water) or Lahmu and Lahamu, the first set of twins born to Apsu and Tiamat. Anshar and Kishar, in turn, were the parents of Anu (An), the supreme heaven god.

Levuka

2005-03-19T00:24:00.000-08:00

Town on the east coast of Ovalau island, central Fiji, South Pacific, and capital of Lomaiviti Province at the western edge of the country's Eastern Division. Settled by a U.S. adventurer in 1822, the area was the centre of a cotton boom during the U.S. Civil War (1861–65), when world cotton supplies were disrupted. Levuka was chosen as the capital of Fiji in 1874, when the islands were annexed by

Gonzaga, Tomás Antônio

2005-03-18T23:37:00.000-08:00

Gonzaga completed his law studies at the University of Coimbra (1768) and in 1782 was appointed a judge in Vila Rica, Brazil. There he fell in love with Marília, who was mentioned in his lyrics, but on the eve of their marriage (1789) he was arrested on a charge, undoubtedly

Osiander, Andreas

2005-03-18T02:20:00.000-08:00

The son of a blacksmith, Osiander was educated at Leipzig, Altenburg, and the University of Ingolstadt. Ordained in 1520, he helped reform the imperial free city of Nürnberg on strictly Lutheran principles

Sangha River

2005-03-18T01:54:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Sanga, tributary of the Congo River, formed by the Mambéré and Kadeï headstreams at Nola, southwestern Central African Republic. The Sangha River flows 140 miles (225 km) south to Ouesso in Congo (Brazzaville), forming part of Cameroon's border with the Central African Republic and Congo. The river then turns south-southeast and southwest, flowing 225 miles (362 km) to its mouth on the Congo

Indiana University Of Pennsylvania

2005-03-17T20:28:00.000-08:00

Public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Indiana, Pennsylvania, U.S. It is part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. The university comprises the Eberly College of Business and colleges of Education, Fine Arts, Health and Human Services, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences and Mathematics. There is also an Honors

Jian

2005-03-16T06:19:00.000-08:00

The jian, which has a simple silhouette, is supported upon a narrow ring base. It has two or four ring handles that freely hang from slightly modeled monster masks (taotie). The decoration of the jian characteristic of the late Zhou dynasty (c. 600–256/255 BC), from which the

Arupa-loka

2005-03-15T16:56:00.000-08:00

In arupa-loka, existence depends on the stage

Naruto

2005-03-15T16:46:00.000-08:00

City, Tokushima ken (prefecture), eastern Shikoku, Japan. The city lies along the Naruto Strait (Naruto-kaikyo), which connects the Inland Sea with the Pacific Ocean. The narrow strait separates Naruto from Awaji Island, a large island of the eastern Inland Sea. During the Tokugawa period (1603–1867) Naruto was a flourishing port and centre of salt production. Since the late 19th century,

Dahn, (julius Sophus) Felix

2005-03-15T01:55:00.000-08:00

Dahn's most substantial

Biblical Literature, Early stages

2005-03-14T09:33:00.000-08:00

The earliest Christian exegesis of the Old Testament is found in the New Testament, not in the written texts only but in the oral tradition lying behind them. Some lines of exegesis are present in so many separate strands of primitive Christian teaching that they are most reasonably assigned to Jesus, who began his Galilaean ministry with the announcement that

Medicine, Historical notes

2005-03-13T17:55:00.000-08:00

Although the most spectacular changes in the medical scene during the 20th century, and the most widely heralded, have been the development of potent drugs and elaborate operations, another striking change has been the abandonment of most of the remedies of the past. In the mid-19th century, persons ill with numerous maladies were starved (partially or completely), bled,

Gabon, Relief and drainage

2005-03-13T13:44:00.000-08:00

The narrow coastal plain—often no more than 20 miles (32 kilometres) wide in the south—is formed of sandstone and alluvium; northward it broadens to a width of 100 miles, with outcrops of chalk, limestone, and Cretaceous sandstone. North of the most westerly point, Cape Lopez, the contour of the coast becomes more jagged. The Atlantic's northward-flowing Benguela Current, which

Silk Road

2005-03-13T03:20:00.000-08:00

Originating at Sian, the 4,000-mile (6,400-kilometre) road, actually a caravan tract, followed the Great Wall

Alkaline-earth Metal

2005-03-12T09:09:00.000-08:00

Prior to the 19th century, substances that were nonmetallic, insoluble in water, and unchanged by fire were known as earths. Those earths, like lime, that resembled the alkalies (soda ash and

Bexley

2005-03-11T21:45:00.000-08:00

Outer borough of eastern London, part of the historic county of Kent, on the south bank of the River Thames. It extends to the borough of Bromley in the south. Bexley was established in 1965 by the amalgamation of the former boroughs of Bexley and Erith, the urban district of Crayford, and part of Chislehurst and Sidcup. Within the borough are such areas as (roughly from north

Bolivia, Ethnic and linguistic groups

2005-03-11T10:25:00.000-08:00

The population of Bolivia consists of three groups—Indians (the indigenous peoples), mestizos (of mixed Indian and European descent), and whites of European (mainly Spanish) descent. After centuries of intermixing, it is difficult to determine the proportion of each, but it is estimated that Indians form nearly three-fifths of the total, mestizos nearly one-third, and

Neoevolutionism

2005-03-11T09:33:00.000-08:00

School of anthropological thought concerned with long-term, directional, “evolutionary” culture change and with the regular patterns of development that may be seen in unrelated, widely separated cultures. Neoevolutionist anthropology, a development of the mid-20th century, addresses the relation between the long-term “progressive” change (general evolution) characteristic

La Farge, John

2005-03-10T19:08:00.000-08:00

Royal Cortissoz, John La Farge: A Memoir and a Study (1911; reissued 1971); Henry Adams et al., John La Farge (1987).

'amir, 'abd Al-hakim

2005-03-10T18:28:00.000-08:00

'Amir attended War College, where he met Gamal Abdel Nasser. The two men served during the first Arab-Israeli

North American Review

2005-03-09T13:36:00.000-08:00

American magazine (1815–1940), one of the country's leading literary journals of the 19th and 20th centuries. It was founded in Boston, Mass., under the auspices of the Monthly Anthology (1803–11) and began publication as a regional magazine, reflecting the intellectual ideas and tastes of Boston and New England. The poet William Cullen Bryant's first contribution to the review, “Thanatopsis

Bloodhound

2005-03-09T04:28:00.000-08:00

Breed of dog unsurpassed by any other in scenting ability and from which most of the scent-hunting hounds have been derived. It was known, although not in its present form, in the Mediterranean area in pre-Christian times. Typically calm and affectionate, it has been used in tracking animals and in trailing persons. A large, strong dog, it stands 23 to 27 inches (58 to 69 centimetres)

Adangme

2005-03-08T22:48:00.000-08:00

The chief Adangme occupation is farming, based on the huza system, in which a tract of land is purchased

Black Nationalism

2005-03-08T03:27:00.000-08:00

Political and social movement prominent in the 1960s and early '70s in the United States among some African Americans. The movement, which can be traced back to Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association of the 1920s, sought to acquire economic power and to infuse among blacks a sense of community and group feeling. Many adherents to black nationalism assumed

Agung

2005-03-07T13:54:00.000-08:00

In the early years of Sultan Agung's reign, he consolidated the sultanate by subduing the autonomous trade-based coastal states of Padang and Tuban in 1619; Banjermasin, Kalimantan, and Sukadana in 1622; Madura in 1624; and Surabaya in 1625. Because the country's economy

Epidermal Tooth

2005-03-07T13:33:00.000-08:00

Any of several hard, horny projections analogous to but not homologous with true teeth (see tooth). Epidermal teeth are found in the jawless fish (e.g., lampreys), on the edges of the jaws of tadpoles (larval frogs and toads), in the mouth of the platypus, where horny plates replace the true teeth before birth, and in sirenians (e.g., sea cows) accompanying true teeth.

Arabia, History Of, The gulf states

2005-03-06T23:31:00.000-08:00

In 1835 the Qawasim coastal tribes of the Persian Gulf, earlier conquered and inspired by the Wahhabis, were induced to bind themselves by a maritime truce to end hostilities with the British by sea, and the truce was made permanent in 1853. In Oman, Sultan ibn Ahmad, revolting against his uncle the imam in 1793, gained mastery of the coastal towns. The British made Omani Zanzibar, in East Africa,

Laima

2005-03-06T06:23:00.000-08:00

Also called Laima-dalia (from Lithuanian laime, “happiness,” “luck”), in Baltic religion, the goddess of fate, generally associated with the linden tree. Together with Dievs, the sky, and Saule, the sun, Laima determines the length and fortune of human life. In the course of each life she helps arrange marriages, oversees weddings, protects pregnant women, and appears at childbirth to pronounce each

Hull, Isaac

2005-03-05T19:00:00.000-08:00

Already having been master of a ship at age 19, Hull was commissioned a lieutenant aboard

Performing Arts, Jazz

2005-03-05T11:50:00.000-08:00

The music of Duke Ellington, one of the greatest jazz composers, dominated the jazz scene in 1999. The centennial of his birth was celebrated worldwide at festivals, concerts, and nightclubs and prompted a proliferation of recorded tributes by singers and instrumentalists. On April 29, Ellington's birthday, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, led by Wynton Marsalis, played

Lower Burma

2005-03-04T17:11:00.000-08:00

Historical and geographic division of Burma (Myanmar), referring to the southern coastal and delta region on the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea (as opposed to Upper Burma). It was the centre of the Mon kingdoms based at Pegu and was acquired by the British Indian government in 1826 and 1852. Under the British, Lower Burma rapidly developed into the country's principal rice-growing

Sarangi

2005-03-03T23:34:00.000-08:00

Short-necked fiddle used throughout South Asia, particularly for folk and classical Hindustani music. Measuring about 30 inches (76 cm) long, its roughly rectangular, slightly waisted body and broad, fretless neck are generally carved from a single piece of wood. It has three melody strings made of gut, sometimes a fourth of metal, and as many as 40 sympathetically

Wolfgang, Marvin

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

Wolfgang attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he received M.A. (1950) and Ph.D. (1955) degrees. He officially joined the faculty of the University

Scandinavian Literature, Norwegian

2005-03-03T09:55:00.000-08:00

In the 1890s established Norwegian writers came under fire from the new generation. The manifesto of new ideas was an essay published in 1890 in the periodical Samtiden (“The Present Age”) by Knut Hamsun, “Fra det ubevidste Sjaeleliv” (“From the Unconscious Life of the Mind”), which demanded attention to what was individual and idiosyncratic rather than typical. Hamsun was impatient

Philip I

2005-03-02T06:12:00.000-08:00

Son of Philip of Burgundy, he inherited the duchy upon the death of his grandfather, Eudes IV, and inherited the countships upon the death of his grandmother, Joan of France. His mother, Joan of Boulogne, who subsequently married the king of France, John II, ruled Philip's

Luther, Martin, Brother Martin Luther

2005-03-02T05:53:00.000-08:00

Evidence on the reason for his decision to enter the religious life is scanty. In his later, not always reliable, Tischreden (“Table Talk”), it is related that on July 2, 1505, he was returning from a visit to his parents when he was overtaken by a thunderstorm near the village of Stotternheim and cried out in terror, “Help, St. Anne, and I'll become a monk.” In his De votis monasticis (“Concerning

Radical

2005-03-01T10:37:00.000-08:00

Also called Free Radical, in chemistry, molecule that contains at least one unpaired electron. Most molecules contain even numbers of electrons, and the covalent chemical bonds holding the atoms together within a molecule normally consist of pairs of electrons jointly shared by the atoms linked by the bond. Most radicals may be considered to have arisen by cleavage of normal electron-pair

Madagascar, Flag Of

2005-03-01T00:03:00.000-08:00

Possibly based on traditions in Indonesia, the original home of the Malagasy, the predominant flag colours of Madagascar have always been white and red. In the mid-17th century, for example, those colours were chosen by the Sakalava dynasty when it came to power. They named their country the kingdom of Menabé, which means “great red.” In the late 17th century the Merina (Hova)

Graffito

2005-02-28T11:42:00.000-08:00

Plural Graffiti any casual writing, rude drawing, or marking on the walls of buildings, as distinguished from a deliberate writing known as an inscription. Graffiti, either scratched on stone or plaster by a sharp instrument or, more rarely, written in red chalk or black charcoal, are found in great abundance; e.g., on the monuments of ancient Egypt. The subject matter of the scribblings

Yurok

2005-02-28T03:16:00.000-08:00

Yurok villages were small; a village was a collection of independent houses owned by individual families rather than a unified community with an overall political authority. Village

Sanghar

2005-02-27T13:58:00.000-08:00

Town, Sind province, southern Pakistan. The town is connected by road with the cities of Hyderabad, Karachi, and Sukkur. Sanghar is a market town and has several cotton-textile factories. The surrounding area consists chiefly of semiarid land, a part of the great Thar Desert, and some cropped areas irrigated by the Mithrao Canal system, which feeds from the Indus River. Rice,

Arts, Central Asian, Parthia

2005-02-27T07:19:00.000-08:00

The Parthian empire came into being in Khorasan during the reign of Seleucus I, 358–281 BC, following the absorption by the Parthians of Parni (Dahae) tribesmen. The caravans traversing their territory brought them wealth and ideas from abroad. The figural art of the Hellenistic world made an especially strong impression on them. The finest Parthian objects come from Old Nisa

Eliphaz The Temanite

2005-02-25T18:18:00.000-08:00

In three speeches of increasing severity, Eliphaz attempts to reconcile Job to God and induce him to repent. In

Abramov, Fyodor

2005-02-25T17:33:00.000-08:00

Of peasant ancestry, Abramov studied at Leningrad State University, interrupting his schooling to serve as a soldier

Breadalbane And Holland, John Campbell, 1st Earl Of

2005-02-25T08:32:00.000-08:00

The son of Sir John Campbell of Glenorchy, 4th Baronet (d. 1686), he took part in the Royalist uprising under the Earl of Glencairn in 1654 and later encouraged the restoration of Charles II in 1660. Charles created him earl of Caithness and viscount of Breadalbane in 1677; but, when this

Computers, The IBM 360

2005-02-25T03:19:00.000-08:00

IBM had been selling business machines since early in the century and had built Howard Aiken's computer to his architectural specifications. But the company had been slow to implement the stored-program digital computer architecture of the early 1950s. It did develop the IBM 650, a (like UNIVAC) decimal implementation of the IAS plan—and the first computer to sell more than

Fields, Dame Gracie

2005-02-24T20:47:00.000-08:00

In music halls from childhood, Fields gained fame playing the role of Sally Perkins in a touring revue called Mr. Tower of London (1918–25). She became tremendously popular in Great Britain with an act composed of low-comedy songs, such as “The Biggest Aspidistra in the World,” and sentimental ballads,

Middelburg

2005-02-24T08:33:00.000-08:00

Gemeente (commune) and capital, Zeeland provincie, southwestern Netherlands, on the former Walcheren Island. Named for its central position on the island, Middelburg was a flourishing medieval town that traded in wine and cloth and that later prospered through the activities of the Dutch East India Company. It was one of the first towns captured by the Sea

Hui-kuan

2005-02-24T01:44:00.000-08:00

The hui-kuan were originated at Peking by the provincial guild of the southern Chinese province of Kwangtung.

Nei-chiang

2005-02-23T09:51:00.000-08:00

In medieval times the locality was an important salt-producing area, but in recent times its

Bruner, Jerome S(eymour)

2005-02-22T06:32:00.000-08:00

Bruner's father, a watch manufacturer, died when Bruner was 12 years old. Bruner studied at Duke University in Durham, N.C. (B.A., 1937), and then

Gable, Dan

2005-02-22T02:44:00.000-08:00

Gable was undefeated in high school competition and won three consecutive Iowa state high school championships. Competing for Iowa State University, he posted a near-perfect record. During his freshman year he entered the Midlands

Cardiovascular System, Conducting system of the heart

2005-02-22T01:22:00.000-08:00

Both the atrioventricular node, with an intrinsic beat of 40–60 beats per minute, and the Purkinje fibres, with an intrinsic beat of 15–40 beats per minute, are self-stimulating and capable of rhythmic contraction, but at a rate slower than that of the sinoatrial node, which possesses an intrinsic capacity to beat 72 times per minute. Therefore, since recovery time is faster in the

Computers, Digital calculators: From the Calculating Clock to the Arithmometer

2005-02-21T19:58:00.000-08:00

In 1623 the German astronomer and mathematician Wilhelm Schickard built the first calculator. He described it in a letter to his friend the astronomer Johannes Kepler, and in 1624 he wrote again to explain that a machine that he had commissioned to be built for Kepler was, apparently along with the prototype, destroyed in a fire. He called it a Calculating Clock, which modern

Computers, Digital calculators: From the Calculating Clock to the Arithmometer

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

Also called Alder Dogwood (Rhamnus frangula) woody shrub or small tree, of the buckthorn family (Rhamnaceae), native to western Asia, Europe, and northern Africa. It has been introduced into North America and other regions, where it is often cultivated as an ornamental. The plant grows rapidly, reaching a height of 5.5 m (about 18 feet); its dark, dense, and lustrous foliage turns yellow in autumn. The alternate,

1848, Revolutions Of

2005-02-20T08:20:00.000-08:00

The revolutionary movement began in Italy with a local revolution in Sicily in January 1848; and, after the revolution

Cartland, Dame Barbara

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

Following the death of her father in World War I, Cartland moved with her family to London. There she began contributing to the Daily Express newspaper, receiving instruction in writing from its proprietor,

Sachsenhausen

2005-02-18T02:12:00.000-08:00

Sachsenhausen's first great influx of prisoners began after Kristallnacht in November

Term

2005-02-18T00:40:00.000-08:00

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

Animal, Pseudocoelomates, or aschelminths

2005-02-17T08:43:00.000-08:00

The pseudocoelomates include the nematodes, rotifers, gastrotrichs, and introverts. Some members of some other phyla are also, strictly speaking, pseudocoelomate. These four phyla of tiny body size (many species no larger than the bigger protozoans) are placed together in part because they lack mesoderm on the inner side of the body cavity. Consequently, no tissue,

Norfolk

2005-02-17T05:50:00.000-08:00

Administrative and historic county of eastern England, bounded by Suffolk (south), Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire (west), and the North Sea (north and east). The administrative county comprises seven districts: Breckland, Broadland, North Norfolk, and South Norfolk; the boroughs of Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn and West Norfolk; and the city of Norwich. The historic

Lancaster, Sir Osbert

2005-02-16T20:21:00.000-08:00

Lancaster took his B.A. degree at Lincoln College,

Novalis

2005-02-16T19:27:00.000-08:00

Novalis was born into a family of Protestant Lower Saxon nobility and took his pseudonym from “de Novali,” a name his family had formerly used. Young Novalis studied law at the University of Jena

Niederbayern

2005-02-16T14:30:00.000-08:00

English Lower Bavaria Regierungsbezirk (administrative district), east-central Bavaria Land (state), southeastern Germany. Niederbayern is bordered by the Czech Republic to the northeast, Austria to the southeast, and the Regierungsbezirke of Oberbayern (Upper Bavaria) to the southwest and west and Oberpfalz (Upper Palatinate) to the north. Together with Oberbayern and Oberpfalz, the

Topographic Map

2005-02-15T18:45:00.000-08:00

Cartographic representation of the Earth's surface at a level of detail or scale intermediate between that of a plan (small area) and a chorographic (large regional) map. Within the limits of scale, it shows as accurately as possible the location and shape of both natural and man-made features. Natural features include relief, which is sometimes mistakenly understood

Floral Decoration, Other cultures

2005-02-14T10:21:00.000-08:00

Outside the West and the Far East, the arranging of plant materials was more a casual part of everyday life than a formally recognized medium of artistic expression. The elaborate stylistic traditions evolved and formulated in the West and Far East through centuries of sophisticated creative activity are rarely found, therefore, in other cultures. In the Islamic

Fruit Farming

2005-02-13T15:42:00.000-08:00

The subject of fruit and nut production deals with intensive culture of perennial plants, the fruits of which have economic significance (a nut is a fruit, botanically). It is one part of the broad subject of horticulture, which also encompasses vegetable growing and production of ornamentals

Badarian Culture

2005-02-13T10:41:00.000-08:00

Although the Badarians apparently continued the agricultural and pastoral practices of the Tasians (see Tasian

Antenna

2005-02-13T06:27:00.000-08:00

Also called Aerial, component of radio, television, and radar systems that directs incoming and outgoing radio waves. Antennas are usually metal and have a wide variety of configurations, from the mastlike devices employed for radio and television broadcasting to the large parabolic reflectors used to receive satellite signals and the radio waves generated by distant astronomical

Balaguer, Joaquín

2005-02-12T06:43:00.000-08:00

Balaguer earned a law degree from the University of Santo Domingo and a Ph.D. from the University of Paris. Between 1932 and 1957, he held numerous executive

Baer, Karl Ernst, Ritter Von (knight Of), Edler (lord) Von Huthorn

2005-02-11T22:23:00.000-08:00

Baer, one of 10 children, spent his childhood with an uncle and

Aquinas, Thomas, Saint, Biblical commentaries

2005-02-11T13:27:00.000-08:00

Expositio in Evangelium S. Matthaei (1269–72); Expositio in Job ad litteram (1261–64); Expositio in Evangelium Joannis (1269–72); Exposition in S. Pauli Apostoli epistolas (undated; incomplete); In psalmos Davidis expositio (1272–73).

Performing Arts, Britain.

2005-02-11T00:59:00.000-08:00

Some of the best films of the year

Alder

2005-02-10T21:36:00.000-08:00

An alder may be distinguished from a birch by its usually stalked winter buds and by cones that remain on the branches