Metapontum

Greek �Metapontion, � ancient Greek city in Italy on the Gulf of Tarentum, near the mouth of the Bradanus (Bradano) River. It was founded by an Achaean colony from Sybaris and Croton about 700 BC. Pythagoras died at Metapontum c. 500. The city declined after 207 when its inhabitants, who had supported Hannibal in the years following his victory at the Battle of Cannae (216), followed the defeated Carthaginian

Allobroges

Ancient Celtic tribe living in the northeast of Gallia Narbonensis (i.e., Narbonne Gaul, in the part of southeastern France bounded by the Rh�ne and Is�re rivers) and in the area around Geneva. The Allobroges were first mentioned in history when Hannibal passed through their territory in 218 BC. Later, they were attacked by the Romans and finally conquered (121 BC) at the junction

Buldana

Also spelled �Buldhana, � city, northern Maharashtra state, western India, on the Penganga River. Buldana is situated in the Buldana-Yeotmal plateau of the Deccan, at an elevation of 2,119 feet (646 m). Its climate is considerably cooler than that of most of the other communities of the Berar region. Primarily a regional administrative centre with little industry, it has several colleges affiliated with the

Dowa Highlands

Also called �Chitembwe-mwera Highlands, � central Malawi, rectangular formation covering an area of about 360 square miles (930 sq km); they comprise rolling hills crowned by high ridges including the heights of Dowa (5,571 feet [1,698 m]) and Ntchisi peaks. The highlands are bounded on three sides by steep slopes, forming the Eastern (Great) Rift Valley wall to the east and overlooking the Bua and Lilongwe river valleys to the north

Denson, William Dowdell

American lawyer who, as chief military prosecutor of Nazis accused of many of the most horrific of the atrocities committed in Germany at the Buchenwald, Mauthausen, Flossenberg, and Dachau concentration camps, was the most successful of the American prosecutors of World War II criminals; of 177 Nazis he prosecuted between 1945 and 1947, 97 were hanged and the rest went to prison

Co�

City, M�laga province, in the autonomous community (region) of Andalusia, southern Spain. It is situated near the beach resort region of Costa del Sol. The site was first settled by the Turdetanos, an Iberian tribe, and was later occupied by the Romans, who established the town of Lacibis. In 713 the Arabs took the town, calling it Cohine (Pleasant Paradise), the basis of its present

Ear, Human

The vestibular system is the sensory apparatus of the inner ear that helps the body maintain its postural equilibrium. The information furnished by the vestibular system is also essential for coordinating the position of the head and the movement of the eyes. There are two sets of end organs in the inner ear, or labyrinth: the semicircular canals, which respond to

Durg

Formerly �Drug � city, central Chhattisgarh state, central India, just east of the Seonath River, part of the Durg - Bhilai Nagar urban agglomeration. The city is an agricultural market and is heavily engaged in milling rice and pigeon peas (Cajanus cajan). Its name is derived from the Hindi term durga (�fort�); there are remains of an ancient fortress used by the Marathas as a base of operations in subjugating

Chancroid

Acute, localized, chiefly sexually transmitted disease, usually of the genital area, caused by the bacillus Haemophilus ducreyi. It is characterized by the appearance, 3 - 5 days after exposure, of a painful, shallow ulcer at the site of infection. Such an ulcer is termed a soft chancre, as opposed to a hard chancre, which is the characteristic lesion of the primary stage of

Valdemar Ii

The son and brother, respectively, of the Danish kings Valdemar I and Canute IV, Valdemar acted as the duke of Schleswig from 1188 and conquered

Oman, John Wood

After graduating from Edinburgh University and the theological college of the United Presbyterian Church, Oman studied in Germany. After serving as an assistant pastor in Paisley, Scot., he transferred to the ministry of the Presbyterian Church of England. In 1907 he was appointed

Mon

Also spelled �Mun�, Burmese �Talaing� people living in the eastern delta region of Myanmar (Burma) and in west-central Thailand, numbering in the late 20th century more than 1.1 million. The Mon have lived in their present area for the last 1,200 years, and it was they who gave Myanmar its writing (Pali) and its religion (Buddhism). The Mon are believed to have spread from western China over the river lowlands from the Irrawaddy

Ahmadiyah

A modern Islamic sect and the generic name for various Sufi (Muslim mystic) orders. The sect was founded in Qadian, the Punjab, India, in 1889 by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (c. 1839 - 1908), who claimed to be the mahdi (a figure expected by some Muslims at the end of the world), the Christian Messiah, an incarnation of the Hindu god Krishna, and a reappearance (buruz) of Muhammad. The sect's doctrine, in some aspects, is unorthodox:

Mittelland Canal

Also called �Ems-weser-elbe Canal, � German waterway begun in 1905 and completed in 1938. It extends from the Dortmund-Ems Canal east of Rheine, Ger., eastward along the northern border of the Central Uplands, to the Elbe River north of Magdeburg (a distance of about 199 miles [321 km]), linking there with the Havel Canal eastward to Berlin. Side canals connect it with Osnabr�ck, Hannover, Salzgitter, and Hildesheim. Peine, between

Lute

Plucked, stringed musical instrument popular in 16th- and 17th-century Europe. The lute that was prominent in European popular art and music of the Renaissance and Baroque periods originated as the Arab 'ud. This instrument was brought to Europe in the 13th century by way of Spain and by returning crusaders and is still played in Arab countries. Like the 'ud, the European lute

General San Mart�

Formerly �San Mart�n, � cabecera (county seat) and partido (county) of Gran (�Greater�) Buenos Aires, Argentina. It lies immediately northwest of the city of Buenos Aires, in Buenos Aires provincia. The county seat and county began as an early rural settlement centred on the 18th-century Chapel of Santos Lugares. In 1856 the settlement was formally declared a town, and eight years later the county of San

Theatre-in-the-round

Also spelled �Theater-in-the-round, �also called �Arena Stage, Central Stage, or Island Stage, � form of theatrical staging in which the acting area, which may be raised or at floor level, is completely surrounded by the audience. It has been theorized that the informality thus established leads to increased rapport between the audience and the actors. Theatre-in-the-round has its roots in rituals such as those performed by the ancient Greeks, which evolved into

Water Shield

Each oval, floating leaf of water shield is 5 to 10 centimetres (about 2 to 4 inches) long. A long, jelly-coated

Gabon, Transportation

The difficulty of building and maintaining all-weather roads led to an expansion of air transport

Kamina

Town, southeastern Congo (Kinshasa). The town is an important centre on the Lubumbashi-Ilebo rail line at the junction of branch lines northward to Kindu and to Kalemie, a port with connections to eastern Africa. The town has air services to Lubumbashi, Kolwezi, and Kananga. Kamina is also the site of a military air base. A nearby dam on the Lovoi River supplies electricity

Ancient Rome

Rome

Manchester Terrier

Breed of dog developed in England from the whippet, a racing dog, and the black-and-tan terrier, a valued ratter, to combine the gaming talents of each. In 1860 the breed was named after the city of Manchester, a breeding centre, but it was often called the black-and-tan terrier until the 1920s. A sleek, short-haired dog, the Manchester has a long, narrow head, small bright eyes, and a glossy

Gravimetric Analysis

A method of quantitative chemical analysis in which the constituent sought is converted into a substance (of known composition) that can be separated from the sample and weighed. The steps commonly followed in gravimetric analysis are (1) preparation of a solution containing a known weight of the sample, (2) separation of the desired constituent, (3) weighing the isolated

Mitchell, S. Weir

After study at the University of Pennsylvania and Jefferson Medical College (M.D., 1850), Mitchell spent a year in Paris specializing in neurology. As an army surgeon during the American Civil War, he became well known for his �rest cure.� His

Asia

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

Yung-lo Ta-tien

Pinyin �Yongluo Dadien� (Chinese: �The Great Canon [or Vast Documents] of the Yung-lo Era�), Chinese compilation that was the world's largest known encyclopaedia. Compiled by thousands of Chinese scholars under the direction of the Yung-lo emperor (reigned 1402 - 24), it was completed in 1407. The work contained 22,877 manuscript rolls, or chapters, in 11,095 volumes and was designed to include all that had ever been written

Sunga Script

Brahmi script of north India, possibly connected with the late Maurya scripts and the early Kalinga character, and associated with the Sunga dynasty (c. 185 BC - c. 73 BC). The script was one of three prototypes of the North Indian subdivision of Brahmi script, out of which the Gupta scripts rose.

Benedek, Ludwig August, Ritter Von

Benedek entered the Austrian Army in 1822, distinguishing himself in Galicia