CheapDrain

Four Masters Of The Yuan Dynasty

2005-04-05T14:39:00.000-07:00

Two of the “four masters” were Huang Gongwang and Wu

Porch

2005-04-05T14:15:00.000-07:00

There is little material evidence of the existence of the porch before the period of Classical antiquity, although Egyptian

Arts, Central Asian, Sculpture and painting

2005-04-05T13:40:00.000-07:00

Combinations of Hindu and Buddhist iconography came about easily, though there is something facile about them, a smoothness found also in the form of the Nepalese images, which lack the surging dynamism of Indian form. Characteristic of the Nepalese transformation of Indian styles is a loss of depth but a gain in grace. Suavity of line, temperance of modelling, tonal

Pachacamac

2005-04-03T07:28:00.000-07:00

Large pre-Columbian ruin located in the Lurin Valley on the central coast of present-day Peru. The earliest major occupation and construction of Pachacamac dates to the Early Intermediate Period (c. 200 BC–AD 600) and to a culture generally known as Early Lima (Maranga, Interlocking style). The terraced adobe pyramid and temple known as the Temple of Pachacamac belongs to this time

United States, The coming of the war

2005-04-03T00:44:00.000-08:00

Faced with a fait accompli, Lincoln when inaugurated was prepared to conciliate the South in every way but one: he would not recognize that the Union could be divided. The test of his determination came early in his administration, when he learned that the Federal troops under Major Robert Anderson in Fort Sumter, South Carolina—then one of the few military installations in the South still in Federal hands—had to be promptly supplied or withdrawn. After agonized consultation with his cabinet, Lincoln determined that supplies must be sent even if doing so provoked the Confederates into firing the first shot. On April 12, 1861, just before Federal supply ships could reach the beleaguered Anderson, Confederate guns in Charleston opened fire upon Fort Sumter, and the war began.

Indeterminate Sentence

2005-04-02T05:33:00.000-08:00

In law, term of imprisonment with no definite duration within a prescribed maximum. Eligibility for parole is determined by the parole authority. In this respect, an indeterminate sentence differs from a definite one in that statutes prescribing the latter usually provide for parole eligibility after a specified fraction of the full term—in most countries, from

Penelope

2005-03-31T20:41:00.000-08:00

In Greek mythology, a daughter of Icarius of Sparta and the nymph Periboea and wife of the hero Odysseus. In the Odyssey is told the story of how, during her husband's long absence after the Trojan War, many chieftains of Ithaca and nearby islands became her suitors. To spare herself their importunities she insists that they wait until she has woven a shroud for Laertes,

Kesennuma

2005-03-31T06:57:00.000-08:00

City, Miyagi Prefecture (ken), Honshu, Japan, facing the Pacific Ocean. Its harbour and commercial fishing port are located on the deeply indented coast at the head of Kesennuma-wan (Kesennuma Bay). Deep-sea fishing (tuna, bonito, and saury) is important, and oysters are cultivated. Industries produce textiles and rubber and leather goods. The nearby scenic coastal area is

Bulgakov, Macarius

2005-03-31T05:26:00.000-08:00

The son of a country priest, Bulgakov took the name Macarius on becoming a monk. After studying at the Ecclesiastical Academy of Kiev, he joined the faculty and taught history. Called in 1842 to the chair of theology at the Academy of St. Petersburg,

Coke, Sir Edward

2005-03-30T08:03:00.000-08:00

British jurist and politician whose defense of the supremacy of the common law against Stuart claims of royal prerogative had a profound influence on the development of English law and the English constitution.

Juan Manuel, Don

2005-03-30T00:16:00.000-08:00

Don Juan

Arts, South Asian, Classical Sanskrit kavya (2001200)

2005-03-29T10:19:00.000-08:00

Prepared for by the systematization of the Sanskrit language by Panini, the development of the great epics, notably the Ramayana, and the refinements of prosody represented by the Pali lyrics, there arose, in the first centuries AD, a Sanskrit literary style that governed canons of taste for a millennium and remained influential far later through modern Indian languages

Niterói

2005-03-28T20:02:00.000-08:00

City, Rio de Janeiro estado (“state”), eastern Brazil. It lies on the eastern side of the entrance to Guanabara Bay. The city of Rio de Janeiro on the opposite side is connected to Niterói by ferry, railroad, and, since 1974, the President Costa e Silva Bridge, spanning Guanabara Bay; this is one of the longest bridges in Brazil. Both cities are located on low ground at the heads of inlets,

Farmerlabor Party

2005-03-27T11:17:00.000-08:00

An offshoot, the National Farmer–Labor Party, nominated P.P. Christensen in the 1920 presidential election. Lacking adequate finances and organization, the party won few votes and expired in 1923.

Manchu-tungus Languages

2005-03-26T22:10:00.000-08:00

Also called Tungusic languages, smallest of three subfamilies of the Altaic language family. The Manchu-Tungus languages are a group of 10 to 17 languages spoken by fewer than 70,000 people scattered across a vast region that stretches from northern China across Mongolia to the northern boundary of Russia. Apart from the moribund Manchu and the now-extinct Juchen (Jurchen) languages, these languages have

Human Evolution, Dating the fossils

2005-03-26T17:25:00.000-08:00

In the early 1970s a number of new carbon-14 datings gave rise to a radical revision in the then-accepted dating of the African Stone Age. The resulting picture has since been confirmed by a variety of newer methods. Accordingly, the African Middle Stone Age no longer is considered to have begun some 40,000 years ago and ended c. 10,000 years ago but instead to have begun c. 200,000 years ago and ended

Argentina, The conservative restoration and the Concordancia, 193043

2005-03-25T10:05:00.000-08:00

During the next 13 years, which have often been termed “the Infamous Decade,” the armed forces sponsored a conservative restoration. After expelling Irigoyen, they installed General José Félix Uriburu in the presidency (1930–32). Uriburu was a descendent of an old, conservative northern family, and he leaned toward fascism. His influence with the army, however, was not as great

Abell, Kjeld

2005-03-24T16:06:00.000-08:00

Abell studied political science but afterward began a career as a stage designer in Paris. He

Australian Aboriginal Languages

2005-03-23T23:26:00.000-08:00

Group of approximately 260 interrelated languages whose speakers once occupied the entire Australian continent as well as the western islands of Torres Strait, but apparently not Tasmania. Virtually all are believed to have originated from a single proto-Australian language. These languages are not known to be related to any outside language. The great majority

Wilamowitz-moellendorff, Ulrich Von

2005-03-23T09:26:00.000-08:00

Educated at the universities of Bonn and Berlin, Wilamowitz-Moellendorff served in the Franco-German War (1870) and traveled through Italy and Greece.

Sprague, Kate Chase

2005-03-23T05:43:00.000-08:00

Educated by her father and in private schools, Kate Chase became the emotional focus of her father's life after the deaths of

Christian V

2005-03-22T17:49:00.000-08:00

Christian was the son of Frederick III, whom he succeeded in 1670. Popular with the common people, he fortified the absolutist system against the aristocracy by accelerating his father's practice of allowing Holstein nobles and Danish commoners into state service. To accommodate

Bachmann, Ingeborg

2005-03-22T09:35:00.000-08:00

Bachmann grew up in Kärnten during World War II and was educated at the Universities of Graz, Innsbruck, and Vienna. She received a doctoral degree in philosophy from

Amyl Alcohol

2005-03-22T02:32:00.000-08:00

Also called Pentyl Alcohol, any of eight organic compounds having the same molecular formula, C5H11OH, but different structures. The term is commonly applied to mixtures of these compounds, which are used as solvents for resins and oily materials and in the manufacture of other chemicals, especially amyl acetate, a solvent for nitrocellulose lacquers. Commercial amyl alcohols are colourless

Gnu

2005-03-21T06:00:00.000-08:00

The gnu, which stands higher at the shoulder than at the rump, attains a shoulder height of 1–1.3 metres (3–4 feet). The southern African form, the white-tailed gnu, or black wildebeest (C. gnou), is dark brown with long black tufts

Boieldieu, François-adrien

2005-03-20T23:05:00.000-08:00

In Rouen he studied under the organist Charles Broche and composed two operas and numerous piano sonatas, remarkable for their form, which constitute the first important body of piano works by a French composer. In 1796 he settled in Paris,

Gruiform

2005-03-20T11:07:00.000-08:00

(order Gruiformes), any member of a rather loose assemblage of 12 families of birds that are generally agreed to be related but that differ widely in many aspects. They are an ancient group with a rich fossil history, but many are now restricted in range and few in number. Members of the order occur on every continent, but the only family with worldwide distribution is the

Faridpur

2005-03-20T04:38:00.000-08:00

City, central Bangladesh, on the west bank of the Mara (Dead) Padma stream, a tributary of the Padma. It serves as a rail terminus for the branch line connecting Goalundo Ghat with Calcutta and is linked by road with Kushtia, Meherpur, Khulna, Barisal, and Jessore. The city takes its name from the Muslim saint Farid-ud-Din Mas'ud, whose shrine is located there. Constituted a municipality

Art Rock

2005-03-19T11:30:00.000-08:00

Eclectic branch of rock music that emerged in the late 1960s and flourished in the early to mid-1970s. The term is sometimes used synonymously with progressive rock, but the latter is best used to describe “intellectual” album-oriented rock by such British bands as Genesis, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, and Yes. The term art rock is best used to describe either classically influenced

France, History Of, Commitment to modernization

2005-03-18T09:45:00.000-08:00

The great peculiarity of the ancien régime, however, was that traditionalism, though deeply felt, was only one-half of a complicated institutional diptych. When first conceived by Cardinal Richelieu between 1624 and 1642 and developed after him by Mazarin, Colbert, Louvois, and the Sun King, the ancien régime was also committed to a program of modernization. Guided by a modern

Cynewulf

2005-03-18T05:31:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Cynwulf, or Kynewulf author of four Old English poems preserved in late 10th-century manuscripts. Elene and The Fates of the Apostles are in the Vercelli Book, and The Ascension (which forms the second part of a trilogy, Christ, and is also called Christ II) and Juliana are in the Exeter Book. An epilogue to each poem, asking for prayers for the author,

Vakhtangov, Yevgeny Bagrationovich

2005-03-18T04:25:00.000-08:00

A pupil of Konstantin Stanislavsky, Vakhtangov succeeded by the early 1920s in reconciling the naturalistic acting techniques of his master with the bold experiments of Vsevolod Y. Meyerhold. His departure from naturalism in the direction of greater theatricality

Jackdaw

2005-03-18T01:19:00.000-08:00

Also called Daw (species Corvus monedula), crowlike black bird with gray nape and pearly eyes of the family Corvidae (q.v.; order Passeriformes). Jackdaws, which are 33 cm (13 inches) long, breed in colonies in tree holes, cliffs, and tall buildings: their flocks fly in formation around the site. They lay four to six light, greenish blue eggs that are spotted and blotched. The bird's

Computers, Whirlwind

2005-03-16T18:07:00.000-08:00

New hardware continued to be invented, though. In the United States, Jay Forrester of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Jan Aleksander Rajchman of the Radio Corporation of America came up with a new kind of memory based on magnetic cores that was fast enough to enable MIT to build the first real-time computer, Whirlwind. A real-time computer is one that

Priapulid

2005-03-15T17:02:00.000-08:00

(phylum or class Priapulida), any of some 15 species of predatory, marine, mud-inhabiting, unsegmented worms of uncertain classification. Sometimes considered a class of the phylum Aschelminthes, priapulids are perhaps best considered to be a very small phylum with no clear relationship to any other. The largest of the priapulids are 10 to 15 cm (4 to 6 inches) long and inhabit

Chia-hsing

2005-03-15T16:30:00.000-08:00

The city was founded

Ardashir Ii

2005-03-14T14:28:00.000-08:00

King of the Sasanian empire in ancient Persia (reigned AD 379–383). During the reign of his brother Shapur II, he had been king of Adiabene (now a region of northeast Iraq), where he took part in the persecution of Christians. After Shapur's death, he was set on the throne by the nobles, presumably at an advanced age. His investiture is commemorated in a rock carving at Taq-e Bostan. His attempts

Price, Leontyne

2005-03-13T09:28:00.000-08:00

Both of Price's grandfathers had been Methodist ministers in black churches in Mississippi, and she sang in her church choir as a girl. Only when she graduated from the College of Education and Industrial Arts (now Central State College) in

Holberg, Ludvig, Friherre (baron) Holberg

2005-03-13T09:18:00.000-08:00

Orphaned as a child, Holberg lived with relatives in Bergen until the city was destroyed by fire in 1702, when he was sent to the University of Copenhagen. Longing

Seattle

2005-03-13T00:21:00.000-08:00

Chief city of Washington, U.S., on a neck of land between Elliott Bay (Puget Sound) and Lake Washington (a 24-mile [39-kilometre] stretch of freshwater), seat (1853) of King county and the largest metropolis of the Pacific Northwest. A port of entry and gateway to the Orient and Alaska, it is surrounded by areas of great natural beauty; to the west, the Olympic Mountains provide protection

Ear Disease

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

The air-filled middle-ear cavity and the air cells in the mastoid bone that extend backward from it are supplied with air by the eustachian tube that extends from the upper part of the pharynx to the middle-ear cavity. The brain cavity lies just above and behind the middle ear and mastoid air spaces, separated from them only by thin plates of bone. The nerve that supplies

Dur-kurigalzu

2005-03-12T14:27:00.000-08:00

Modern 'Aqarquf fortified city and royal residence of the later Kassite kings, located near Babylon in southern Mesopotamia (now in Iraq). This city was founded either by Kurigalzu I (c. 1400–c. 1375 BC) or by Kurigalzu II (c. 1332–08). Between AD 1943 and 1945, Iraqi excavations unearthed a monumental ziggurat, three temples, and a palace with painted wall decorations and an ambulatory with square pillars. The temples, dedicated

Wolf Spider

2005-03-12T13:10:00.000-08:00

Also called Ground Spider, or Hunting Spider, any member of the spider family Lycosidae (order Araneida), a large and widespread group. They are named for the wolflike habit of chasing and pouncing upon prey. About 125 species occur in North America, about 50 in Europe. Numerous species occur north of the Arctic Circle. Most are small to medium-sized. The largest has a body about 2.5 cm (1 inch) long and legs about the same

'alamgir Ii

2005-03-12T13:05:00.000-08:00

A son of the emperor Jahandar Shah (reigned 1712–13), 'Alamgir was always the puppet of more powerful men and was placed on the throne by the imperial vizier 'Imad ul-Mulk Ghazi-ud-Din, who had deposed his predecessor. Provoked by the vizier's attempt to reassert

France, History Of, The principalities of the south

2005-03-10T11:26:00.000-08:00

Provence lay in what is now the southeastern corner of France; it was not part of the west Frankish domains. Included in the Middle Kingdom from 843, it passed to the kings of Burgundy after 879 and to the emperors in the 11th century. But it was local counts once again who won prestige

Sayan Mountains

2005-03-10T11:14:00.000-08:00

The Sayans form a rough arc, convex to the north, and stretch from the Altai Mountains in the west to Lake Baikal in the

Luria, Salvador

2005-03-10T02:35:00.000-08:00

Luria graduated from the University of Turin in 1935 and became a radiology specialist. He fled Italy for France in 1938 and went to the United States

Epic Simile

2005-03-09T11:27:00.000-08:00

Also called Homeric simile an extended simile often running to several lines, used typically in epic poetry to intensify the heroic stature of the subject and to serve as decoration. An example from the Iliad follows: As when the shudder of the west wind suddenly rising scatters across the water, and the water darkens beneath it, so darkening were settled the ranks of Achaians and Trojans in

Bunner, Henry Cuyler

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

Educated in New York City, Bunner served on the staff of the Arcadian, at 22 becoming assistant editor and later editor of Puck until his death. He developed Puck from a new, struggling comic weekly into a powerful social and political

Wu Daoxuan

2005-03-08T02:19:00.000-08:00

He is recorded as having painted a wide variety of subjects, perhaps painting large wall compositions of an essentially Buddhist character more than anything else. He is especially noted for his imagination

Gaiseric

2005-03-07T17:34:00.000-08:00

Gaiseric succeeded his brother Gunderic at a time when the Vandals were settled in Baetica (modern Andalusia, Spain). In May 428 Gaiseric transported all his people, purported by him to number 80,000, to Africa. Evidently he was invited to Africa by the governor,

Nusaybin

2005-03-07T07:36:00.000-08:00

Formerly Nisibin, town, southeastern Turkey. The town is situated on the Görgarbonizra River where it passes through a narrow canyon and enters the plain. Nusaybin faces the Syrian town of Al-Qamishli and is 32 miles (51 km) south-southeast of Mardin. Strategically commanding the entrance to the upper Syrian plains from the mountain passes of Asia Minor, Nusaybin—then called Nisibis—was a frontier

Bing Xin

2005-03-06T05:07:00.000-08:00

Bing Xin studied the Chinese Classics and began writing traditional Chinese stories as a child, but her conversion to Christianity and her attendance at an American school in Peking soon were reflected in a didactic and Western influence

Intrinsic Factor

2005-03-06T00:38:00.000-08:00

A glycoprotein (i.e., a complex compound containing both polysaccharide and protein components) with which vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin) must combine to be absorbed by the gut. Intrinsic factor is secreted by parietal cells of the gastric glands in the stomach, where it binds with the vitamin. Thus bound, intrinsic factor protects vitamin B12 from digestion as it passes

Intercostalis Muscle

2005-03-05T10:16:00.000-08:00

In human physiology, any of a series of short muscles that extend between the ribs and serve to draw them together during inspiration and forced expiration or expulsive actions. A set of external and internal intercostalis muscles is found between each vertical pair of ribs on each side of the chest.

Dumesnil, Mademoiselle

2005-03-04T18:34:00.000-08:00

She made her Paris debut in 1737 at the Comédie-Française as Clytemnestre in Racine's Iphigénie en Aulide. A fiery actress who scorned tradition, she played Cléopâtre in Corneille's Rodogune and played Racine's Phèdre, Athalie,

B-29

2005-03-04T17:48:00.000-08:00

The Superfortress was designed to meet Army Air Corps specifications written in January 1940 and was then modified to provide heavier armament and bomb load. First

Voznesensky, Andrey Andreyevich

2005-03-03T18:27:00.000-08:00

Voznesensky spent his early childhood in the city of Vladimir. In 1941 he moved with his mother and sister to Kurgan, in the Ural Mountains, while his father assisted in the evacuation of factories from besieged Leningrad. The profound

Dahriyah

2005-03-03T03:29:00.000-08:00

The Dahriyah are portrayed in Islamic theological literature

Châteauroux

2005-03-02T23:46:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Indre département, Centre région, central France. It lies along the Indre River, south of Orléans, on the main road and railway from Paris to Toulouse. It derives its name from a castle built toward the end of the 10th century by Raoul le Large, prince of Déols. The present Château Raoul, occupied by the prefecture, dates from the 15th century. An 18th-century mansion,

Interest Group

2005-03-02T14:22:00.000-08:00

Also called special-interest group, any aggregate of individuals that, on the basis of one or more shared concerns, makes claims upon groups or society in general in order to promote its objectives.

Agnesi, Maria Gaetana

2005-03-01T22:11:00.000-08:00

Agnesi was the eldest child of a wealthy silk merchant who provided her with the best tutors available. She was an extremely precocious child who mastered Latin, Greek,

Andover

2005-03-01T09:13:00.000-08:00

Textile mills were established in Andover in 1813, and woolen goods are still produced. Andover is a centre for business

Amphora

2005-02-28T13:58:00.000-08:00

One of the principal vessel shapes in Greek pottery, a two-handled pot with a neck narrower than the body. There are two types of amphora: the neck amphora, in which the neck meets the body at a sharp angle; and the one-piece amphora, in which the neck and body form a continuous curve. The first is common from the Geometric period (c. 900 BC) to the decline of Greek pottery; the second appeared

Sa

2005-02-27T15:10:00.000-08:00

The SA was founded in Munich by Hitler in 1921 out of various roughneck elements that had attached themselves to the fledgling Nazi movement. It drew its early membership largely from the Freikorps (Free Corps), armed freebooter

Great Barrier Island

2005-02-27T08:34:00.000-08:00

Known to the Maoris as Aotea, the island was

Sang-kan River

2005-02-27T00:26:00.000-08:00

Wade–Giles romanization Sang Kan Ho , Pin-yin Sang Gan He river in Shansi and Hopeh provinces, China. The Sang-kan River rises just south of Ning-wu, near the Great Wall of China, on the eastern slope of the Kuan-ts'en Shan (mountains), in northern Shansi. After flowing northeast in a trough running parallel to the strike of the Heng Shan, it turns southeast near Hsüan-hua (Hopeh) to emerge into the North China Plain in the Peking area.

Mordvin Language

2005-02-26T19:42:00.000-08:00

Member of the Finno-Ugric group of the Uralic language family, spoken in Mordvinia and neighbouring areas. The third largest Uralic language in number of speakers, ranking after Hungarian and Finnish, it has two major dialects: Erzya, spoken in the eastern portion of Mordvinia and the surrounding territory; and Moksha, spoken in the west. Although both dialects are

Kuba

2005-02-26T16:30:00.000-08:00

In the 19th century,

Walsingham, Sir Francis

2005-02-26T01:31:00.000-08:00

English statesman and the principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I from 1573 to 1590. He was a skilled diplomat whose knowledge of languages and capacity to organize espionage activities made him invaluable in the execution of Elizabeth's foreign policy. In addition, he was a staunch Puritan who uncovered a number of dangerous

Szálasi, Ferenc

2005-02-24T15:03:00.000-08:00

Following family traditions, Szálasi entered the army and became a captain on the general staff in 1925. He joined a secret organization with a racist program in 1930 and, after early retirement from the army in 1935, founded the Party of

Schaffhausen

2005-02-24T01:56:00.000-08:00

French Schaffhouse, capital of Schaffhausen canton, northern Switzerland, on the right bank of the Rhine, west of Lake Constance (Bodensee). The site was first mentioned in 1045 as Villa Scafhusun. About 1049 Count Eberhard III of Nellenburg founded there the Benedictine monastery of All Saints, around which the community developed. The town became a free imperial city between 1190 and 1218 but fell under

Epirus

2005-02-23T17:45:00.000-08:00

Modern Greek Ípiros, coastal region of northwestern Greece and southern Albania. It extends from Valona Bay (Gji i Vlorës) in Albania (northwest) to the Gulf of Arta (southeast); its hinterland extends eastward to the watershed of the Pindus Mountains. The nomoi (departments) of Árta, Ioánnina, Préveza (qq.v.), and Thesprotía make up the Greek part of Epirus. The Pindus Mountains separate Epirus

Dendrobium

2005-02-23T11:15:00.000-08:00

Genus of as many as 1,500 species of orchids that grow on other plants and are native to tropical and subtropical Asia, many Pacific islands, and Australia. Some species have small, pale flowers; others have large, showy ones. The flowers may be borne singly, in groups, or on arching spikes. The lateral sepals of all Dendrobium flowers are joined at the base, forming

Mirambo

2005-02-22T21:42:00.000-08:00

Nyamwezi warlord of central Africa whose ability to unite the many hitherto separate Nyamwezi clans into a powerful kingdom by the 1870s gave him strategic control of Arab trade routes and threatened the preeminence of the Arabs' colony in Unyanyembe (near present Tabora, Tanzania). His capital, Urambo (now in Tanzania), became a major rival trading

Wessel, Horst

2005-02-22T17:36:00.000-08:00

A student and low-life bohemian, Wessel joined the Nazi Party in 1926 and became a member of the SA (Storm Troopers). In 1930 political enemies, possibly Communists, killed him in a brawl in his room in the Berlin slums. Nazi propagandists,

Kuwait

2005-02-22T16:52:00.000-08:00

Prior to the terrorist attacks in New York City and near Washington, D.C., on Sept. 11, 2001, strength in oil prices had led economic analysts to predict another year of prosperity for Kuwait. The strong oil market had boosted gross domestic product growth in the country for a second year in a row. Following September 11, however, slumping demand in Kuwait's principal markets, Asia

Arnold, Matthew

2005-02-22T13:19:00.000-08:00

The work that gives Arnold his high place in the history of literature and the history of ideas was all accomplished in the time he could spare from his official duties. His first volume of verse was The Strayed Reveller, and Other Poems. By A. (1849); this was followed (in 1852) by another under the same initial: Empedocles on Etna, and Other Poems. In 1853 appeared the first volume of poems

Alexander Nevsky, Saint

2005-02-20T17:31:00.000-08:00

Russian Aleksandr Nevsky, original name Aleksandr Yaroslavich prince of Novgorod (1236–52) and of Kiev (1246–52) and grand prince of Vladimir (1252–63), who halted the eastward drive of the Germans and Swedes but collaborated with the Mongols in imposing their rule on Russia. By defeating a Swedish invasion force at the confluence of the Rivers

Saxophone

2005-02-19T11:35:00.000-08:00

A saxophone has a conical metal (originally brass) tube with about 24 openings controlled by padded

Arts, Central Asian, Samanids

2005-02-19T09:47:00.000-08:00

The Samanids centred their kingdom in Khorasan. In the 9th century, under the leadership of Esma'il, they ruled over Transoxania and eastern Persia from their capital of Bukhara. Esma'il's türbe, or mausoleum, the oldest Islamic monument surviving in Bukhara, reproduces the form of the Zoroastrian chanar taq, or fire temple. In Samanid and Seljuqid hands, the türbe generally took the

Davies, Samuel

2005-02-19T08:59:00.000-08:00

Davies was educated at Samuel Blair's “log college” at Fagg's Manor, Pa., and was ordained in 1747. His work during the Great Awakening centred at Hanover, Va.; in

Daimler, Gottlieb (wilhelm)

2005-02-18T09:56:00.000-08:00

Daimler studied engineering at the Stuttgart polytechnic institute and then worked in various German engineering firms, gaining experience with engines. In 1872 he became technical director

Delors, Jacques

2005-02-17T17:36:00.000-08:00

The son of a courier at the Banque de France, Delors himself joined the bank in 1945, later earning a degree in economics from the Sorbonne. He became active in the Christian Trade Union Confederation (renamed the Democratic Trade Union

Wilkins, Maurice

2005-02-17T04:08:00.000-08:00

Wilkins,

Alexis, Willibald

2005-02-17T00:36:00.000-08:00

Alexis grew up in Berlin. After service as a volunteer in the campaign of 1815, he studied law at Berlin and Breslau but abandoned his legal career for writing after the success of his literary hoax Walladmor (1824), a parody

Feldkirch

2005-02-16T10:13:00.000-08:00

Town, Bundesland (federal province) Vorarlberg, western Austria. It lies along the Ill River, near the Liechtenstein border, about 48 miles (77 km) east-southeast of Zürich, Switzerland. First mentioned as Veldkirichae (Veldkirichum) in 830, the settlement belonged to the counts of Montfort from 1190 until it was sold to Austria in 1375. It was chartered in 1218. Schattenburg castle, the Montforts'

Kwanzaa

2005-02-16T09:31:00.000-08:00

, also spelled Kwanza adaptation of an African harvest festival, celebrated from December 26 to January 1. It was created in 1966 by Maulana Karenga, a professor of black studies at California State University in Long Beach, who added an additional “a” to the end of the name to distinguish it from the African festival. Although Kwanzaa is primarily an African American holiday, it has also come to be

North Germanic Languages, The emergence of Old Scandinavian, 6001500

2005-02-15T20:24:00.000-08:00

Inscriptions from the latter part of the Ancient period show North Germanic as a distinct dialect. Information about the earliest stages of the Old Scandinavian period is also derived from runic inscriptions, which became more abundant after the creation of the short runic futhark about AD 800. The expansion of Nordic peoples in the Viking Age (c. 750–1050) led to the establishment

Santander

2005-02-15T10:39:00.000-08:00

Departamento, north-central Colombia, occupying the Magdalena River valley and the Andean Cordillera Oriental. Established in 1886, it occupies an area of 11,790 square miles (30,537 square km). It is the principal petroleum-producing departamento of Colombia, with production centring on Barrancabermeja. Its agricultural products are dominated by tobacco; the manufacture of cigars

Iroko Wood

2005-02-14T23:55:00.000-08:00

Wood of the iroko tree (Chlorophora excelsa), native to the west coast of Africa. It is sometimes called African, or Nigerian, teak, but the iroko is unrelated to the teak family. The wood is tough, dense, and very durable. It is often used in cabinetmaking and paneling as a substitute for teak, which it resembles both in colour (light brown to deep golden-brown) and in grain.

Oum Er-rbia River

2005-02-14T20:29:00.000-08:00

Chief river of central Morocco, rising in the Middle (Moyen) Atlas mountains and flowing generally westward for 345 miles (555 km) to the Atlantic Ocean near Azemmour. Although not navigable, it is a perennial, torrential river and a major source of hydroelectric power and irrigation: dams on the river include Afourer, Kasba Zidania, Im Fout, Daourat, Sidi Saïd Maachou, and Bine

Athanasius, Saint

2005-02-13T08:05:00.000-08:00

Athanasius' two-part work of apologetics, Against the Heathen and The Incarnation of the Word of God, completed about 335, was the first great classic of developed Greek Orthodox theology. In Athanasius' system, the Son of God, the eternal Word through whom God made the world, entered the world in human form to lead men back to the harmony from which they had fallen away. Athanasius

Bedford

2005-02-13T06:06:00.000-08:00

Borough (town), seat (1771) of Bedford county, southern Pennsylvania, U.S., on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and the Raystown Branch Juniata River, in the Allegheny Mountains, 38 miles (61 km) south of Altoona. A settlement made on the site about 1750 by John Wray (or Ray), a Scottish trader, was known as Raystown. Fort Bedford (built 1758 and apparently named for John Russell, 4th duke of Bedford) was a frontier

Ch'i-lin

2005-02-12T18:15:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Qilin, in Chinese mythology, the unicorn whose rare appearance often coincides with the imminent birth or death of a sage or illustrious ruler. (The name is a combination of the two characters ch'i, “male,” and lin, “female.”) A ch'i-lin has a single horn on its forehead, a yellow belly, a multicoloured back, the hooves of a horse, the body of a deer, and the tail of an ox. Gentle of disposition,

Ambiguity

2005-02-12T11:25:00.000-08:00

Use of words that allow alternative interpretations. In factual, explanatory prose, ambiguity is considered an error in reasoning or diction; in literary prose or poetry, it often functions to increase the richness and subtlety of language and to imbue it with a complexity that expands the literal meaning of the original statement. William Empson's Seven Types

Vulcan

2005-02-12T07:59:00.000-08:00

In Roman religion, god of fire, particularly in its destructive aspects as volcanoes or conflagrations. Poetically, he is given all the attributes of the Greek Hephaestus (q.v.). His worship was very ancient, and at Rome he had his own priest (flamen). His chief festival, the Volcanalia, was held on August 23 and was marked by a rite of unknown significance: the heads of Roman families

Papuan Languages

2005-02-11T21:05:00.000-08:00

Group of languages spoken in an area centred upon New Guinea and extending from the islands of Alor, Halmahera, and Timor in the west to the Santa Cruz Archipelago in the east. The Papuan languages include approximately 740 languages, used by about 3,000,000 speakers. The term Papuan was originally employed merely to distinguish these languages from the Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian)

Cordaitales

2005-02-10T21:27:00.000-08:00

An order of coniferophytes (class, sometimes division, Coniferophyta), fossil plants dominant during the Carboniferous Period (360 to 286 million years ago). It is believed to be directly ancestral to the conifers (order Coniferales). Many were trees up to 30 metres (100 feet) tall, branched, and crowned with large, leathery, strap-shaped leaves. Three families are included—Pityaceae,

La Tour, Charles (turgis De Saint-étienne De)

2005-02-10T13:59:00.000-08:00

La Tour went to Acadia with his father c. 1600. When the English destroyed the French settlements there in 1613–14, he went with Charles de Biencourt, commander of the devastated Port Royal (now Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia), to live with