CleanChain

Liturgical Music

2005-10-15T20:25:00.000-07:00

Also called Church Music, music written for performance in a religious rite of worship; the term is most commonly associated with the Christian tradition. Developing from the musical practices of the Jewish synagogues, which allowed the cantor an improvised charismatic song, early Christian services contained a simple refrain, or responsorial, sung by the congregation. This evolved

Aer Lingus

2005-07-28T18:05:00.000-07:00

National airline of Ireland, comprising two government-owned companies: (1) Aer Lingus Teoranta, incorporated in 1936 and operating air services within Ireland and between Ireland and Britain and continental Europe, and (2) Aerlinte Eireann Teoranta, incorporated in 1947 and operating air services between Ireland and the United States and Canada. Though legally separate

Downpatrick

2005-07-26T23:55:00.000-07:00

Irish Dún Pádraig town and seat, Down district (established 1973), formerly in County Down, Northern Ireland. Downpatrick is located where the River Quoilé broadens into its estuary in Strangford Lough (inlet of the sea). The town takes its name from dún (fortress) and from its association with St. Patrick. It is the Dun-da-leth-glas (Fortress of the Two Broken Fetters) of Irish chroniclers. Formerly

Bonaparte, Louis-lucien

2005-07-24T00:45:00.000-07:00

He passed his youth in Italy and did not go to France until 1848, when he served two brief terms in the Assembly as representative for Corsica (1848) and for the Seine (1849). He played no direct part in the coup d'etat of Dec. 2, 1851, of his cousin Napoleon

Trajan

2005-07-07T15:30:00.000-07:00

Latin in full Caesar Divi Nervae Filius Nerva Traianus Optimus Augustus, also called (AD 97–98) Caesar Nerva Traianus Germanicus, original name Marcus Ulpius Traianus Roman emperor (AD 98–117), the first to be born outside Italy. He sought to extend the boundaries of the empire to the east (notably in Dacia, Arabia, Armenia, and Mesopotamia), undertook a vast building program, and enlarged social welfare.

Shensi, Administration and social conditions

2005-07-05T19:35:00.000-07:00

The province has three prefecture-level municipalities (shih) directly subordinated to the provincial government. One of these municipalities includes the provincial capital, Sian. The rest of the province is organized into seven prefectures (ti-ch'ü); the northern plateau area is divided between the Yü-lin Prefecture in the far north and the Yen-an Prefecture farther

Costanoan

2005-06-15T13:15:00.000-07:00

Any of several dialectally related California Indian peoples speaking a Penutian language and originally living in an area stretching from the San Francisco Bay region southward to Point Sur. The people were scattered in villages, and groupings were only later identified on the basis of proximity to the Franciscan missions established among them (see Mission

San José De Las Lajas

2005-06-02T21:40:00.000-07:00

City, north-central La Habana provincia, west-central Cuba. It is known primarily as a commercial and manufacturing centre for the surrounding agricultural and pastoral lands, which feature dairying and sugarcane growing, but thermal springs have made it a health resort as well. A rail junction, it is also accessible by highway from Havana, which lies 20 miles (32 km) to the

North Germanic Languages

2005-05-31T16:30:00.000-07:00

Also called Scandinavian languages group of Germanic languages consisting of modern standard Danish, Swedish, Norwegian (Dano-Norwegian and New Norwegian), Icelandic, and Faroese. These languages are usually divided into East Scandinavian (Danish and Swedish) and West Scandinavian (Norwegian, Icelandic, and Faroese) groups.

Arts, Central Asian, Fergana and Chorasmia

2005-05-17T07:30:00.000-07:00

Fergana produced much pottery of quality, but, as yet, there have been no finds of comparable importance to those in Sogdiana. Its arts appear to have paralleled the developments in the more prosperous, more heavily populated, and more highly urbanized state of Chorasmia (later Khwarezm). Chorasmia's defensive architecture was particularly notable. Its great citadels

Gobi, Physiography

2005-05-15T05:05:00.000-07:00

The Ka-shun Gobi is bounded by the spurs of the Tien Shan to the west and the Pei Mountains to the south and rises to elevations as high as 5,000 feet (1,524 metres). It is gently corrugated, with a complex labyrinth of wide

Skanderbeg

2005-03-15T07:17:00.000-08:00

A son of John (Gjon) Kastrioti, prince of Emathia, George was early given as hostage to the Turkish sultan. Converted to Islam and educated at Edirne, Turkey, he was given the name Iskander - after Alexander the Great - and the rank of bey (hence Skanderbeg) by Sultan Murad II. During the defeat of the Turks at

Switzerland

2005-03-12T23:37:00.000-08:00

Officially �Swiss Confederation�, French �Suisse �or �Conf�d�ration Suisse�, German �Schweiz �or �Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft�, Italian �Svizzera �or �Confederazione Svizzera� or �Confederazione Elvetica�, Romansch �Svizzra �or �Confederaziun Helvetica� country of central Europe, bordered to the west by France, to the north by Germany, to the east by Austria and Liechtenstein, and to the south by Italy. Switzerland extends about 135 miles (220 km) from north to south and 220 miles (350 km) at its widest extent from west to east. Its small area of 15,940 square miles (41,284 square km) - about half the size of Scotland - and its modest population give little indication

Syria, Air transport

2005-03-09T14:13:00.000-08:00

Syria has international airports at Damascus and Aleppo and domestic airports at al-Qamishli, Latakia, Dayr az-Zawr, and Tadmur. The facilities at Damascus and Aleppo can handle jet aircraft. International services connect Syria with Arab, other Asian, and European countries. Domestic services are provided by Syrian Arab Airways.

Mckay, Donald

2005-03-08T04:16:00.000-08:00

After emigrating to New York City in 1827, he worked as an apprentice to the ship carpenter Isaac Webb. In 1845 he established a shipyard at East Boston, Mass.; there he designed and built his great clipper ships. His first, the Stag Hound, launched in 1850, was

Obelia

2005-03-07T08:07:00.000-08:00

Genus of invertebrate marine animals of the class Hydrozoa (phylum Cnidaria). The genus, widely distributed in all the oceans, is represented by many species. The animal begins life as a polyp - a stalklike form attached to the ocean bottom or some other solid surface. The polyp produces medusae, or jellyfish, which in turn, produce polyps. Rootlike filaments sent out by

Kachina

2005-03-06T13:47:00.000-08:00

In Pueblo Indian religious practice, any of more than 500 divine ancestral spirits who act as intermediaries between man and god. Each tribe has its distinct forms and variations. Kachinas are believed to reside with the tribe for half of each year. They will allow themselves to be seen by the community if the men properly perform a traditional ritual while wearing kachina

Upasampada

2005-03-05T22:08:00.000-08:00

A candidate for ordination must be at least 20 years old, have the permission of his parents, be exempt from military service, be free from debt and from contagious

Medicine, In the developed countries

2005-03-04T07:05:00.000-08:00

Those concerned with providing health care in the developed countries face a different set of problems. The diseases so prevalent in the Third World have, for the most part, been eliminated or are readily treatable. Many of the adverse environmental conditions and public health hazards have been conquered. Social services of varying degrees of adequacy have been

Military Affairs

2005-03-03T16:26:00.000-08:00

(For a comparison of approximate strengths of selected regular armed forces, see Table III.) The issue of homosexuals in the armed forces made headlines in the U.S. throughout the year. The new president, Bill Clinton, was forced to back away from a campaign pledge to drop the 50-year ban on homosexuals serving in the military when he immediately ran into opposition within

Marr, Nikolay Yakovlevich

2005-03-02T11:50:00.000-08:00

A professor at St. Petersburg University from 1900, Marr published numerous collections of old Georgian and Armenian literature and attempted to prove a relationship between

Great Bend

2005-03-01T06:41:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1872) of Barton county, central Kansas, U.S. Great Bend lies on the Arkansas River where the High Plains begin to shade into tallgrass prairie. Situated in the alleged locality of the mythical city of Quivira sought by Francisco Coronado in the 16th century, the site was visited by the American explorer Zebulon Pike in 1806 and became a stopping point on the Santa Fe

Burdigalian Stage

2005-02-28T11:30:00.000-08:00

In France the Burdigalian Stage is represented by rocks, especially shell beds, produced by a continuing transgression

Ucayali River

2005-02-27T23:17:00.000-08:00

Spanish �R�o Ucayali, � headwater of the Amazon, formed by the junction of the Apur�mac and Urubamba rivers in east-central Peru. The Ucayali meanders northward from this junction for about 910 miles (1,465 km) through a densely forested floodplain east of the Andes to its junction with the Mara��n River, 55 miles (90 km) south-southwest of Iquitos. This confluence is considered to mark the head of the Amazon.

Arts, Islamic, Architecture in Iraq, Syria, and Anatolia

2005-02-25T22:32:00.000-08:00

In Iraq, northern Mesopotamia, Syria, and Egypt (after 1171), the architectural monuments do not, on the whole, appear as overwhelmingly impressive as those of Iran, largely because the taste of Umayyad and 'Abbasid times continued to dominate mosque architecture. It is in the construction of new building types, particularly the madrasah, that the most originality is apparent.

Gezer

2005-02-24T14:18:00.000-08:00

The excavations at Gezer sponsored by the Palestine Exploration Fund during 1902 - 05 and 1907 - 09 disclosed strata covering most periods

Tiffany, Louis Comfort

2005-02-23T06:03:00.000-08:00

The son of the famous jeweler Charles Lewis Tiffany, Louis studied under the American painters George Inness and Samuel

Orange River

2005-02-22T18:52:00.000-08:00

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

Sabha

2005-02-21T15:51:00.000-08:00

The sabha differs from the panchayat (caste or subcaste council) in that its scope is much larger; rather than

Ring

2005-02-20T03:45:00.000-08:00

Basically, a ring consists of three parts: the circle, or hoop;

Cartwright, Peter

2005-02-19T02:40:00.000-08:00

His father, a veteran of the Revolutionary War, took his family to Kentucky in 1790. There Cartwright had little opportunity for schooling but was exposed to the rude surroundings of the frontier, becoming a gambler at cards and horse racing. This way of life came to

Cambridge Platform

2005-02-18T21:25:00.000-08:00

Basic document of New England Congregationalism, prepared in Cambridge, Mass. (U.S.), in 1648. It provided for all the details of church government, including the principle that was basic to Congregationalism, the autonomy of the local congregation. In doctrinal matters, the Cambridge Platform incorporated the Westminster Confession, the creedal statement of Presbyterianism

George

2005-02-17T16:15:00.000-08:00

Byname �George of Podebrady, �Czech� Jir� z Podebrad� king of Bohemia from 1458. As head of the conservative Utraquist faction of Hussite Protestants, he established himself as a power when Bohemia was still under Habsburg rule, and he was thereafter unanimously elected king by the estates. A nationalist and Hussite king of a prosperous state, he incurred the enmity

Gadamer, Hans-georg

2005-02-16T22:39:00.000-08:00

The son of a chemistry professor, Gadamer studied the humanities at the universities

Loren, Sophia

2005-02-15T11:32:00.000-08:00

Before working in the cinema, Sofia Scicolone changed her name to Sofia Lazzaro for work in the foto-romanzo, popular pulp magazines that used still photographs

Coal Mining, Auger mining

2005-02-14T01:51:00.000-08:00

Auger mining is usually associated with contour strip mining. With this method, the coal is removed by drilling auger holes from the last contour cut and extracting it in the same manner that shavings are produced by a carpenter's bit. Coal recovery rates approach 60 percent with this method. The cutting heads of some augers are as high as 2.5 metres. As each stem works its

Ilam

2005-02-13T20:56:00.000-08:00

The surrounding region is a continuation of the valley of Mesopotamia

Adana

2005-02-12T09:16:00.000-08:00

City, south-central Turkey, situated in the plain of Cilicia, on the Seyhan River (the ancient Sarus River). An agricultural and industrial centre and the nation's fourth largest city, it probably overlies a Hittite settlement that dates from approximately 1400 BC; and its history has been profoundly influenced by its location at the foot of the Taurus Mountain passes leading

Scipio Africanus The Elder

2005-02-11T21:34:00.000-08:00

Latin �Scipio Africanus Major�, in full �Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus� Roman general noted for his victory over the Carthaginian leader Hannibal in the great Battle of Zama (202 BC), ending the Second Punic War. For his victory he won the surname Africanus (201 BC).

Atlanta

2005-02-10T10:14:00.000-08:00

The city owes its existence to the railroads, the routes of which were

Anatexis

2005-02-09T11:32:00.000-08:00

In geology, the differential, or partial, melting of rocks. Each mineral in a rock has its own melting temperature, which is decreased to varying degrees by its close association with other minerals. In addition to the melting temperature of each individual mineral, pressure, temperature, and the presence of volatiles all influence the melting temperature of a mineral

Ad Valorem Tax

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

Ad valorem rates, which have come into increased use, have the important advantage of adjusting the

Sunderland, Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl Of, Baron Spencer Of Wormleighton

2005-02-07T11:09:00.000-08:00

The son of the 2nd Earl of Sunderland and the son-in-law of the Duke of Marlborough, he succeeded

Discount Store

2005-02-06T16:04:00.000-08:00

In merchandising, retail store that sells products at prices lower than those asked by traditional retail outlets. Some, like department stores, offer wide assortments of goods; others specialize in such merchandise as jewelry, electronic equipment, or electrical appliances. Food stores also have been operated on the discount principle. Stores that are open only

Heusler Alloy

2005-02-05T06:12:00.000-08:00

Any of the first magnetic alloys composed of metals that, in their pure state, are not magnetic. The alloys are named after Fritz Heusler, 19th-century German mining engineer and chemist. Heusler alloys consist of approximately two parts of copper, one of manganese, and one of tin. The tin may be replaced by aluminum, arsenic, antimony, bismuth, or boron; the copper may be replaced

Audubon, John James

2005-02-04T13:19:00.000-08:00

The illegitimate son of a French merchant, planter, and slave trader and a Creole woman of Saint-Domingue, Audubon and his illegitimate half-sister (who was also born

Swamp Eel

2005-02-03T16:12:00.000-08:00

Any of about 15 species of slim, eel-like fish comprising the order Synbranchiformes. Swamp eels, unrelated to true eels (Anguilliformes), are found in fresh and brackish waters of the tropics. They appear to be related to the order Perciformes. They range from about 20 to 70 centimetres (8 to 28 inches) in length and either are scaleless or have very small scales. The dorsal and anal

Arts, Islamic

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

The literary, performing, and visual arts of the vast populations of the Middle East and elsewhere that adopted the Islamic faith from the 7th century onward. These adherents of the faith have created such an immense variety of literatures, performing arts, visual arts, and music that it virtually defies any comprehensive definition. In the narrowest sense, the arts

Atacama

2005-02-01T00:36:00.000-08:00

Regi�n, northern Chile. It is bounded on the east by Argentina and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. Created as a province in 1843 and as a regi�n in 1974, it includes Cha�aral, Copiap�, and Huasco provincias and San F�lix and San Ambrosio islands, which lie in the Pacific about 500 miles (800 km) west of Cha�aral, the main port. The Atacama Desert covers much of the regi�n. North of Copiap� (q.v.), the

Tabataba'i, Sayyid Zia Od-din

2005-01-31T00:49:00.000-08:00

Tabataba'i became prominent during World War I as the editor of a pro-British newspaper, Ra'd (�Thunder�). In 1919 he led a quasi-diplomatic mission to negotiate a commercial agreement with the anti-Communist Russian revolutionaries at Baku. On his return to Iran he joined a secret nationalist

Printmaking, Lift-ground etching (sugar-lift aquatint)

2005-01-30T13:07:00.000-08:00

In lift-ground etching, a positive image is etched on an aquatint plate by drawing with a water-soluble ground. In the conventional aquatint technique, the artist controls the image by stopping out negative areas with varnish, thus working around the positive image. But for lift-ground etching, he uses a viscous liquid (such as India ink, gamboge, or ordinary poster paint

Folengo, Teofilo

2005-01-29T20:44:00.000-08:00

Folengo entered the Benedictine order as a young man, taking the name Teofilo by which he is known. He lived in the monasteries of Brescia, Mantua,

Fu Hsi

2005-01-28T01:54:00.000-08:00

Pinyin �Fu Xi�, formally (Wade-Giles romanization) �T'ai Hao (Chinese: �The Great Bright One�)�, also called �Pao Hsi�, or �Mi Hsi� first of China's mythical emperors. His miraculous birth, as a divine being with a serpent's body, is said to have occurred in the 29th century BC. Some representations show him as a leaf-wreathed head growing out of a mountain or as a man clothed with animal skins. Fu Hsi is said to have discovered the famous Chinese trigrams used in divination and thus to have contributed, in

Widal, (georges-)fernand-isidore

2005-01-27T19:09:00.000-08:00

In 1896 Widal developed a procedure for diagnosing typhoid fever based on the fact that antibodies in the blood of an infected individual cause the bacteria to bind together into clumps (the Widal reaction).

Gherardesca Family

2005-01-26T16:49:00.000-08:00

One of the foremost families of the Tuscan nobility, whose lands included the counties of Gherardesca, Donoratico, and Montescudaio, near Pisa. At the beginning of the 13th century, they led the pro-imperial Ghibelline party of the Pisan republic against the pro-papal Guelf party led by the Visconti family of Milan. The Gherardesca family produced several churchmen

Paul Of Samosata

2005-01-25T14:08:00.000-08:00

Paul

Computers, Vannevar Bush's Differential Analyzer

2005-01-24T02:44:00.000-08:00

In 1930 an engineer named Vannevar Bush at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) developed the first modern analog computer. The Differential Analyzer, as he called it, was an analog calculator that could be used to solve certain classes of differential equations, a type of problem common in physics and engineering applications that are often very tedious

Haley, Sir William

2005-01-23T07:07:00.000-08:00

Haley grew up on the island of Jersey and attended Victoria College there. In 1918 he began to study journalism, and in 1921 he secured his first newspaper employment

Gum Nebula

2005-01-21T20:07:00.000-08:00

Largest known nebula in terms of angular diameter as seen from Earth, extending over at least 40� in the southern constellations Puppis and Vela. A complex of diffuse, glowing gas too faint to be seen with the unaided eye, it was discovered by the Australian-born astrophysicist Colin S. Gum, who published his findings in 1955. The Gum Nebula lies roughly 1,000 light-years from the Earth

Kirkwall

2005-01-20T11:16:00.000-08:00

Royal burgh (town), seaport, and chief town of the Orkney Islands, Scotland, off the northern tip of the Scottish mainland. It was designated a royal burgh in 1486. Early Norse influence persisted as late as the building of the 12th-century red sandstone St. Magnus Cathedral, a dominant feature of the present town. The ruins of the Earl's Palace and 17th-century houses standing gable-end

Music, Western, Modification and expansion of older forms

2005-01-19T10:00:00.000-08:00

Dance pairs of the Renaissance grew, about the middle of the 17th century, into dance suites consisting basically of four dances: allemande, courante, saraband, and gigue, with optional dances such as the gavotte, the bourr�e, and the minuet sometimes inserted before the final movement. Variation forms - the chaconne (in which a set of harmonies or a bass theme is continuously

O'brien, Parry

2005-01-18T03:41:00.000-08:00

O'Brien began putting the shot in high school in Santa Monica, where he also threw the discus, was a sprinter, and played football. In his freshman year at the University

Aleandro, Girolamo

2005-01-17T17:43:00.000-08:00

In 1520 Pope

Aleandro, Girolamo

2005-01-16T10:10:00.000-08:00

Any member of the mammalian order made up of the relatively well-known rabbits and hares (family Leporidae) and also the less frequently encountered pikas (family Ochotonidae). Rabbits and hares characteristically have long ears, a short tail, and strong hind limbs that provide a bounding locomotion. In contrast, the smaller pikas have shorter, rounded ears, no external

Naga

2005-01-15T02:34:00.000-08:00

Group of tribes inhabiting the Naga Hills of Nagaland (q.v.) state in northeastern India. They include more than 20 tribes of mixed origin, varying cultures, and very different physiques and appearances. The numerous Naga languages (sometimes classified as dialects) belong to the Tibeto-Burman group of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Almost every village has its own dialect;

Taft, William Howard

2005-01-13T21:27:00.000-08:00

For additional writings by Taft, see Limited Presidential Power and The Cabinet and the Congress.

Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

2005-01-12T19:35:00.000-08:00

Coastal habitat conservation area in southern Texas, U.S., located about 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Corpus Christi. The refuge, parts of which are jointly administered by state and federal agencies, covers a total of 181 square miles (469 square km) on the Gulf of Mexico, including large tracts of land on Matagorda Island and on a broad peninsula between San Antonio Bay and St. Charles

Cancer, Syndromes resulting from inherited defects in DNA repair mechanisms

2005-01-11T16:07:00.000-08:00

Another group of hereditary cancers comprises those that stem from inherited defects in DNA repair mechanisms. Examples include Bloom syndrome, ataxia-telangiectasia, Fanconi anemia, and xeroderma pigmentosum. These syndromes are characterized by hypersensitivity to agents that damage DNA (e.g., chemicals and radiation). The failure of a cell to repair the defects

Waitomo

2005-01-10T06:03:00.000-08:00

Limestone caves, north-central North Island, New Zealand. They lie about 50 miles (80 km) south of Hamilton. Located on a tributary of the Waipa River, the caves are easily accessible for tourists by road. The underground caves have elaborate stalactites, stalagmites, and incrustations, some of which are named (e.g., Bride's Jewels, Organ, White Terrace, Blanket Chamber). The main

Christian, Fletcher

2005-01-09T00:22:00.000-08:00

A member of a family that had moved from the Isle of Man to Cumberland, Eng., Christian had already served some years in the navy when, in 1787, he became master's mate on the Bounty, a discovery ship sailing (Dec. 23, 1787) from Spithead to the South Seas to collect breadfruit

Tombolo

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

One or more sandbars or spits that connect an island to the mainland. A single tombolo may connect a tied island to the mainland, as at Marblehead, Mass. A double tombolo encloses a lagoon that eventually fills with sediment; fine examples of these occur off the coast of Italy. The shallower waters that occur between an island and the mainland are the loci of such features

Kita-ibaraki

2005-01-07T02:25:00.000-08:00

City, northern Ibaraki Prefecture (ken), Honshu, Japan, facing the Pacific Ocean. The western part of the city occupies hills that slope toward the rest of the city on the coast. Agriculture (rice) and fishing (sardines, mackerel) are important. Because of the closing of all but one of the coal mines in the area, the city's population was decreasing throughout the 1970s. Kita-Ibaraki

Smith, Jedediah (strong)

2005-01-06T21:44:00.000-08:00

Smith probably made his first trip west while still in his teens. In 1822 he joined a fur-trading expedition to the Rocky Mountains and continued in the Rocky Mountain trade for the remainder of the

Jerez De Garc�a Salinas

2005-01-05T05:00:00.000-08:00

City, south-central Zacatecas estado (�state�), north-central Mexico. Formerly known simply as Jerez, the city is on the Jerez River, 6,650 feet (2,027 m) above sea level and southwest of Zacatecas, the state capital. It is the commercial and manufacturing centre for an agricultural and pastoral hinterland in which beans, quince, and apples are the principal crops and horses, pigs, sheep,

Hesperides

2005-01-04T07:04:00.000-08:00

Singular �Hesperis, � in Greek mythology, clear-voiced maidens who guarded the tree bearing golden apples that Gaea gave to Hera at her marriage to Zeus. According to Hesiod, they were the daughters of Erebus and Night; in other accounts, their parents were Atlas and Hesperis or Phorcys and Ceto. They were usually three in number, Aegle, Erytheia, and Hespere (or Hesperethusa), but by some accounts

Mind - body Dualism

2005-01-03T19:45:00.000-08:00

The modern problem of the relationship of mind to body stems

Kidd, William

2005-01-02T09:09:00.000-08:00

Kidd's early career is obscure. It is believed he went to sea as a youth. After 1689 he was sailing as

Yanbu'

2005-01-01T05:22:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Yenbo� town, western Saudi Arabia, on the Red Sea north of Jidda. It serves as the country's second Red Sea port, after Jidda, and is the main port for Medina, 100 miles (160 km) to the east. The economy of Yanbu' was traditionally based on the pilgrim trade and the export of agricultural products, especially dates. Its harbour is being enlarged and improved to ease the pressure on Jidda, and

Peranakan

2004-12-31T11:57:00.000-08:00

Until

Emecheta, Buchi

2004-12-30T15:55:00.000-08:00

Emecheta was married at age 16 and immigrated with her husband to London in 1962. The problems she encountered in London during the early 1960s provided background for the books that are called her immigrant novels. Her first two books,

Anaximander

2004-12-29T20:41:00.000-08:00

Anaximander is thought to have been a pupil of Thales of Miletus. Evidence exists that he wrote treatises on geography, astronomy, and cosmology that survived for several centuries, and that he made

B�renger, Alphonse-marie

2004-12-28T03:01:00.000-08:00

Appointed judge in Grenoble in 1808, B�renger had a successful career in the magistracy during Napoleon's First Empire and served as a representative for Dr�me d�partement during Napoleon's

Poynting Vector

2004-12-27T04:59:00.000-08:00

Where m is the permeability of the medium through which the radiation passes, E is the electric field intensity, and B is the magnetic induction. Thus,

Wilkes, Charles

2004-12-25T17:14:00.000-08:00

Wilkes entered the navy as a midshipman in 1818, became a lieutenant in 1826, and in 1830 was placed in charge of the depot of instruments and charts from which the Naval Observatory and Hydrographic Office developed. From 1838 to 1842 he commanded an exploring and surveying expedition

Sucksdorff, Arne

2004-12-24T02:58:00.000-08:00

Swedish motion-picture director important in the post-World War II revival of the Swedish cinema because of his internationally acclaimed sensitivity in photographing nature. His patiently photographed flowers, insects, birds, and animals are composed into films in which the rhythm of nature is dominant and man is only

Tracy, Benjamin F(ranklin)

2004-12-23T15:48:00.000-08:00

Tracy began his career as a lawyer; he was admitted to the bar in 1851 and served as district attorney of Tioga County, N.Y., from 1853 to 1859. A founder of the local Republican Party, he served briefly in the state legislature (1862) and fought for the Union

Ekibastuz

2004-12-22T21:19:00.000-08:00

City and major opencut coal-mining centre in northeastern Kazakstan, on the Ertis-Qaraghandy Canal. Coal was discovered in the region in 1876 and was mined on a small scale. Only after construction of a railway in 1953 did large-scale exploitation of Ekibastuz' rich but low-grade coal seams begin. In the 1970s Ekibastuz was the third largest coal-mining centre in the Soviet Union,

Haboob

2004-12-21T03:14:00.000-08:00

Hot and moist, strong wind that occurs along the southern edges of the Sahara in The Sudan and is associated with large sandstorms and duststorms and may be accompanied by thunderstorms and small tornadoes. It usually lasts about three hours, is most common during the summer, and may blow from any direction. A haboob may transport huge quantities of sand or dust, which

La Salle

2004-12-20T19:44:00.000-08:00

City, La Salle county, north-central Illinois, U.S., on the Illinois River. With Peru (west) and Oglesby (south), it forms a tri-city unit. Settled in 1830 and named for the explorer Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, its growth was stimulated by the Illinois and Michigan Canal (1848) and the arrival in the 1850s of the Illinois Central and Rock Island railroads. Its economy, based mainly on coal

Bruant, Lib�ral

2004-12-19T16:34:00.000-08:00

Lib�ral Bruant was the most notable of a family that produced a series of architects active in France from the 16th to the 18th century. He was the son of S�bastien and brother of Jacques, who designed the Hall of the Corporation des Drapiers,

Olson, Charles (john)

2004-12-18T14:37:00.000-08:00

Olson was educated at Wesleyan University, where he earned an M.A. in 1933. He taught at Clark University, Harvard University, and Radcliffe College, but his real influence began in the late 1940s as an instructor and then as rector (1951 - 56) at Black

Kabila, Laurent-d�sir�

2004-12-17T00:34:00.000-08:00

Congolese political leader (b. Nov. 27, 1939, Jadotville, Katanga province, Belgian Congo - confirmed dead on Jan. 18, 2001, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo [DRC; formerly Zaire]), was president of the DRC from 1997 until his death. In 1960, after studying in France and Tanzania, Kabila became a youth leader in a political party allied to Congo's first postindependence prime minister, Marxist-Maoist

Race, Contemporary perspectives

2004-12-16T10:23:00.000-08:00

Modern scientific views of human diversity are the subjects of Ashley Montagu (ed.), The Concept of Race (1969); Jonathan Marks, Human Biodiversity: Genes, Race, and History (1995); Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza and F. Cavalli-Sforza, The Great Human Diasporas: The History of Diversity and Evolution (1995); Christopher Stringer and Robin McKie, African Exodus: The Origins of Modern Humanity (1996); and A.E. Mourant, Blood Relations: Blood Groups and Anthropology (1983).

Aesthetic Distance

2004-12-15T14:57:00.000-08:00

The frame of reference that an artist creates by the use of technical devices in and around the work of art to differentiate it psychologically from reality. German playwright Bertolt Brecht built his dramatic theory known in English as the alienation effect to accomplish aesthetic distance.

Seward

2004-12-14T03:51:00.000-08:00

City, southern Alaska, U.S., on Kenai Peninsula, at the head of Resurrection Bay. Founded in 1903 as a supply base and ocean terminus for a railway to the Yukon Valley (since 1913, the Alaska Railroad), it was named for William H. Seward, the secretary of state who negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia. Its ice-free port provides an important freight dock for interior Alaska. Tourism

Arpino, Gerald

2004-12-13T23:40:00.000-08:00

While serving in the U.S. Coast Guard (1945 - 48), Arpino met dancer Robert Joffrey in Seattle, Wash., and learned dancing in his spare time. Later, after training and performing in New York City, he toured with the Ballet Russe and appeared in Broadway musicals. He helped Joffrey

European Exploration

2004-12-12T13:25:00.000-08:00

The motives that spur human beings to examine their environment are many. Strong among them are the satisfaction of curiosity, the pursuit of trade, the spread of religion, and the desire for security and political power.

Auckland

2004-12-11T03:06:00.000-08:00

When Europeans arrived in the early 19th century, the region was densely populated by Maoris. European settlements were

God In Christ, Church Of

2004-12-10T20:19:00.000-08:00

Predominantly black Pentecostal church that originated as an outgrowth of the Holiness movement. The date and place of the group's establishment is disputed between two member bodies, but the founding role of a dynamic preacher named Charles H. Mason is acknowledged by both. During the late 19th century, Mason led Holiness churches in Jackson, Miss., and Memphis, Tenn.

La Farge, Oliver (hazard Perry)

2004-12-08T10:53:00.000-08:00

At Harvard University La Farge pursued his interest in American Indian culture, specializing in anthropology and archaeological research. Although highly respected in