StrongRing

France, History Of

2005-04-05T06:05:00.000-07:00

The period of the Merovingian and uninterrupted Carolingian Frankish dynasties (476–887) encompasses what scholars call the Early Middle Ages. After the 4th and 5th centuries, when Germanic peoples entered the Roman Empire in substantial numbers and brought the existence of that Mediterranean state to an end, the Franks played a key role in Gaul, unifying it under their

Israel, Cultural institutions

2005-04-05T02:23:00.000-07:00

Israel has a rich and varied range of cultural institutions, including major libraries, an art institute and artists' colonies, art museums, institutes for archeology and folk life, theatres, concert halls and performing arts centres, and movie houses. A thriving film industry has emerged. In 1953 the Israeli government established the Academy of the Hebrew Language

Adamson, Joy; And Adamson, George

2005-04-03T17:47:00.000-07:00

Following an education in Vienna and two divorces, Austrian-born Joy Gessner, living in Kenya from 1939, married George Adamson (1944), a British game warden who had

Beira

2005-04-02T18:30:00.000-08:00

Former principality and historical province, north-central Portugal, extending from the banks of the Douro River in the north to the upper course of the Tagus in the southeast and from the Spanish frontier in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west. The region was reconquered from the Moors in the 8th century, but Moorish attacks continued until the 15th. It was also

Adam, Robert

2005-04-01T02:32:00.000-08:00

As a designer of furniture, too, Adam played a leading role and was prolific, turning his hand to everything from organ cases and sedan chairs to saltcellars and door fittings. The furniture style he evolved, popularized by the cabinetmaker George Hepplewhite, was always meant to harmonize with the rest of the home. It is one of the outstanding features of an Adam interior

Quillwork

2005-03-31T01:45:00.000-08:00

Type of embroidery done with the quills of a porcupine, or sometimes with bird feathers. This type of decoration was used by American Indians from Maine to Virginia and westward to the Rocky Mountains. For all practical purposes the art has died out. Quills were used on tobacco and tinder bags, knife and paintstick cases, cradles, armulets, burden straps, tunics, shirts,

Madagascar, Plant and animal life

2005-03-30T09:24:00.000-08:00

Much of the island was once covered with evergreen and deciduous forest, but little now remains except on the eastern escarpment and in scattered pockets in the west. The plateau is particularly denuded and suffers seriously from erosion. The forest has been cut in order to clear rice fields, to obtain fuel and building materials, and to export valuable timber, such

Cineraria

2005-03-29T16:01:00.000-08:00

Greenhouse cinerarias may be

Water Table

2005-03-28T16:48:00.000-08:00

Also called Groundwater Table, upper level of an underground surface in which the soil or rocks are permanently saturated with water. The water table separates the groundwater zone that lies below it from the capillary fringe, or zone of aeration, that lies above it. The water table fluctuates both with the seasons and from year to year because it is affected by climatic variations and by the amount

Long Branch

2005-03-28T05:48:00.000-08:00

City, Monmouth county, eastern New Jersey, U.S. It lies along the Atlantic Ocean, 50 miles (80 km) south of New York City. Settled in 1668 on land purchased from the Delaware Indians, it was named for its location on the Long Branch of the South Shrewsbury River. Its development as a summer coastal resort began in the 1780s. By the 1830s gambling and horse racing brought an influx of visitors into

Yalta

2005-03-26T16:48:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Jalta, city, Crimea, southern Ukraine. It faces the Black Sea on the southern shore of the Crimean Peninsula. Settlement on the site dates from prehistoric times, but modern Yalta developed only in the early 19th century, becoming a town in 1838. Its favourable climate with mild winters and its scenic location between sea and mountains make Yalta one of the most popular holiday and

Novomoskovsk

2005-03-25T16:58:00.000-08:00

Formerly (until 1934) Bobriki , or (1934–61) Stalinogorsk city, Tula oblast (province), western Russia, situated on the upper Don River. Founded in 1930 as Bobriki, the town developed as a major chemical centre, making fertilizers and plastics and mining lignite (brown coal). Pop. (1993 est.) 145,000.

Uccello, Paolo

2005-03-24T17:16:00.000-08:00

“The Creation of the Animals”; “The Creation of Adam”; “The Creation of Eve”; “The Fall” (frescoes, early 1430s; Sta. Maria Novella, Florence); “Sir John Hawkwood” (fresco, 1436; cathedral, Florence); “Scenes from Monastic Legends” (frescoes, c. 1440; S. Miniato al Monte, Florence); “The Flood,” “The Recession of the Flood,” “The Sacrifice of Noah,” and “The Drunkenness of Noah” (1447–48; Sta. Maria Novella); “The Battle of San Romano” (c. 1456; panels in the National Gallery, London; Uffizi, Florence; and the Louvre, Paris); “St. George and the Dragon” (1455–?60; Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris); “St. George and the Dragon” (c. 1460; National Gallery); “The Profanation of the Host” (c. 1466–69; Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, Urbino, Italy); “A Hunt in a Forest” (after 1460; Ashmolean Museum, Oxford); “The Founders of Florentine Art” (after 1460?; Louvre).

Asymmetric Synthesis

2005-03-24T05:52:00.000-08:00

Any chemical reaction that affects the structural symmetry in the molecules of a compound, converting the compound into unequal proportions of compounds that differ in the dissymmetry of their structures at the affected centre. Such reactions usually involve organic compounds in which the symmetrical structural feature is a carbon atom bonded to four other

Kieta

2005-03-23T09:37:00.000-08:00

Town, southeast coast of Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea. It is situated on Arawa Bay (Rawa Harbour) and is a port of call with a long wharf for coastal and Australian shipping. The town trades chiefly in copra, cocoa, and small amounts of gold. Two new settlements, Toniva and Nairovi, located just outside of Kieta, are considered part of that town. They grew after an increase

Iceberg

2005-03-22T10:54:00.000-08:00

In the open ocean most ice is seen by radar at ranges depending on fragment size, but smaller icebergs or growlers can be detected only when the sea surface is calm, and then only at ranges of about two kilometres. During slight wind conditions, in particular in heavy seas, the echoes from the waves, known as sea return, may completely mask the echoes of large, potentially

Apology Of The Augsburg Confession

2005-03-21T23:53:00.000-08:00

One of the confessions of Lutheranism, a defense and elaboration of the Augsburg Confession, written by the Reformer Philipp Melanchthon in 1531. The first version of the Apology was hastily written and presented to Emperor Charles V on Sept. 22, 1530, at the Diet of Augsburg, after the Emperor had declared that the Confutation (Aug. 3, 1530), prepared by Catholic theologians to refute the

Rouvier, Maurice

2005-03-21T09:59:00.000-08:00

Having launched the republican journal L'Égalité in 1870, Rouvier, a supporter of Léon Gambetta—one of the founding fathers of the Third Republic—served as deputy in the National Assembly

Altus

2005-03-20T21:55:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1907) of Jackson county, southwestern Oklahoma, U.S. The original settlement of Frazier (1886), near Bitter Creek (Salt Fork of the Red River) on the Great Western cattle trail, was subject to flooding; it was renamed Altus (Latin: “high”) in 1891, after it was moved to the present site on higher ground 4 miles (6 km) east. Demand for agricultural products, especially cotton, stimulated the

Latin-american Literature, Vanguard literature

2005-03-20T06:45:00.000-08:00

When the Modernist leaders Darío and Lugones turned to frequent use of more traditional forms and especially to themes dealing with the troubled external world, their followers and many younger poets continued to explore the complex versification and language and new thematic sources with which Modernism had enriched Hispanic poetry. Prominent among them

Anti-saloon League

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

The leading organization lobbying for prohibition in the United States in the early 20th century. It was founded as a state society in Ohio in 1893, but its influence spread rapidly, and in 1895 it became a national organization. It drew most of its support from Protestant evangelical churches, and it lobbied at all levels of government for legislation to prohibit the manufacture

Liqueur

2005-03-18T17:03:00.000-08:00

The word liqueur is derived from the Latin liquefacere,

Amapá

2005-03-18T04:10:00.000-08:00

Estado (“state”), northern Brazil. It is bounded on the north by a small portion of Suriname and by French Guiana, on the northeast by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south and west by the Brazilian state of Pará, and on the southeast by the Amazon River. Formerly a part of Pará state, Amapá was created a territory in 1943 and became a state in 1990, with its capital at Macapá (q.v.). Most of its 54,161 square

Apraxia

2005-03-17T04:22:00.000-08:00

Ideational

Priesthood

2005-03-15T23:30:00.000-08:00

Throughout the long and varied history of religion, the priesthood has been the official institution that has mediated and maintained a state of equilibrium between the sacred and the profane aspects of human society

Patron Saint

2005-03-15T17:56:00.000-08:00

Saint to whose protection and intercession a person, a society, a church, or a place is dedicated. The choice is often made on the basis of some real or presumed relationship with the persons or places involved. St. Patrick, for example, is the patron saint of Ireland because he is credited with bringing Christianity to the Irish people. In some cultures national or local

Submarine Canyon

2005-03-15T07:46:00.000-08:00

Undersea canyons are found along the slopes of most continental margins. They also occur along the slopes of the Hawaiian Islands and possibly certain other ocean islands. The majority of these V-shaped depressions

Recessiveness

2005-03-14T22:16:00.000-08:00

In genetics, the failure of one of a pair of genes (alleles) present in an individual to express itself in an observable manner because of the greater influence, or dominance, of its opposite-acting partner. Both alleles affect the same inherited characteristic, but the presence of the recessive gene cannot be determined by observation of the organism; i.e., although

Mahabharata

2005-03-14T10:24:00.000-08:00

One of the two major Sanskrit epics of India, valued for its high literary merit and its religious inspiration. The Mahabharata consists of a mass of legendary and didactic material surrounding a central heroic narrative that tells of the struggle for supremacy between two groups of cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandavas. Together with the second major epic, the Ramaya

Beethoven, Ludwig, Van, Wider recognition

2005-03-13T06:00:00.000-08:00

In 1810 E.T.A. Hoffmann in Berlin produced an appreciation of the Fifth Symphony, which undoubtedly did much to launch that work on its triumphant career throughout the world and, above all, to interest the Romantics in its composer. The same year, Beethoven made the acquaintance of the writer Bettina Brentano, the sister of the German poet and novelist Clemens Brentano

Zaanstad

2005-03-12T16:46:00.000-08:00

Gemeente (commune), Noord-Holland provincie, western Netherlands. It lies along the Zaan River near its junction with the North Sea Canal. An industrial area 6 miles (10 km) northwest of Amsterdam, Zaanstad was created in 1974 at the merger of the former gemeenten (communes) of Zaandam, Koog aan de Zaan, Zaandijk, Wormerveer, Krommenie, Assendelft, and Westzaan. Zaandam was an important

Pridoli Series

2005-03-12T14:29:00.000-08:00

Pridoli also spelled Prídolí, also called Pridolian, the uppermost of four main divisions of the Silurian System, representing rocks deposited worldwide during the Pridoli Epoch (414 to 408 million years ago). The series' name is derived from the Prídolí area of the Daleje Valley on the outskirts of Prague in the Czech Republic, where about 20–50 m (65–165 feet) of platy limestone strata rich in cephalopods and bivalves are well

Graves, Michael

2005-03-12T10:55:00.000-08:00

Graves trained to be an architect at the University of Cincinnati and at Harvard University, earning a master's degree at Harvard in 1959. He then studied in Rome from 1960 to 1962 and upon his return took a teaching position at Princeton University, becoming

Spooner, John (coit)

2005-03-10T20:30:00.000-08:00

Spooner moved to Wisconsin as a youth. After service in the Union Army during the Civil War, he was admitted to the bar (1867). He began a law practice at Hudson, Wis., and eventually became best known in legal circles as counsel for railroad interests.

Eliphaz The Temanite

2005-03-10T07:04:00.000-08:00

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

Pacific Ocean, Tropical storms

2005-03-09T10:45:00.000-08:00

Although, in general, the climatic conditions of the trade-wind belts are characteristically regular and uniform, storms of great violence do originate there. In such storms, winds of exceptionally great force spiral inward toward a centre of exceedingly low atmospheric pressure. These are the tropical storms known in the western Pacific as typhoons. While the

Clovis I

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

Clovis was the son

Dis Pater

2005-03-08T04:27:00.000-08:00

(Latin: Rich Father), in Roman religion, god of the infernal regions, the equivalent of the Greek Hades (q.v.), or Pluto (Rich One). Also known to the Romans as Orcus, he was believed to be the brother of Jupiter and was greatly feared. His wife, Proserpina (a Roman corruption of the Greek Persephone [q.v.]), was identified with vegetation, being regarded as a goddess of death during her

Eye For An Eye

2005-03-06T04:19:00.000-08:00

In law and custom, the principle of retaliation for injuries or damages. In ancient Babylonian, biblical, Roman, and Islamic law, it was a principle operative in private and familial settlements, intended to limit retaliation, and often satisfied by a money payment or other equivalent. See also talion.

Akureyri

2005-03-05T23:09:00.000-08:00

Town, northern Iceland. It lies at the southern end of Eyja Fjord. Akureyri is the chief centre of the north and is one of the island's most populous urban centres outside the Reykjavík metropolitan area. While primarily a commercial and distributing centre, Akureyri is also a fishing port, agricultural market, and manufacturing centre for woolen goods, fish oil, shoes,

Merchant Taylors' School

2005-03-05T02:17:00.000-08:00

One of the major public (privately endowed) schools in England. Since 1933 it has been located at Sandy Lodge, at the northwestern extreme of London. The school was founded (1561) by the Merchant Taylors' Company of London, an incorporated group of craftsmen tailors. It was located at Suffolk Lane until 1875, when it was moved to Charterhouse Square. Richard Mulcaster was the first headmaster,

Lipizzaner

2005-03-04T16:18:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Lippizaner, also called Lipizzan, breed of horse that derived its name from the Austrian imperial stud at Lipizza, near Trieste, formerly a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The founding of the breed dates to 1580, and detailed breeding records date from 1700. The ancestry is Spanish, Arabian, and Berber. The six strains (Pluto, Conversano, Neapolitano, Favory, Maestoso, and Siglavy) are named from their foundation

Dahuk

2005-03-04T01:19:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Dohuk, or Dhok, town, northern Iraq, in the Kurdish Autonomous Region. The town lies near the northern end of the Tigris River Valley. The area in which the town is situated is unsuitable for cultivation but is good for fruit orchards and pasturage. Dahuk has a fruit-canning plant and a textile mill. There has been building of new tourist resorts and improvement of existing ones. Pop. (1970 est.)

Fisher, M.f.k.

2005-03-03T08:14:00.000-08:00

In full Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher American writer whose compelling style, wit, and interest in the gastronomical made her one of the major American writers on the subject of food. In her 15 celebrated books, Fisher created a new genre: the food essay. Seeing food as a cultural metaphor, she proved to be both an insightful philosopher of food and a writer of fine

Cohort Analysis

2005-03-01T18:21:00.000-08:00

Method used in studies to describe an aggregate of individuals having in common a significant event in their life histories, such as year of birth (birth cohort) or year of marriage (marriage cohort). The concept of cohort is useful because occurrence rates of various forms of behaviour are often influenced by the length of time elapsed since the event defining the

Heike Monogatari

2005-02-28T07:44:00.000-08:00

English The Tale of the Heike medieval Japanese heroic epic, which is to Japanese literature what the Iliad is to Western literature, a prolific source of later dramas, ballads, and tales. It stems from unwritten traditional tales and variant texts composed between 1190 and 1221, which were gathered together (c. 1240) by an unknown author to form a single epic. Its poetic prose is intended to be chanted to the accompaniment

Roberts, Kate

2005-02-27T16:12:00.000-08:00

Roberts set her works in the quarrying districts of North Wales and in the mining villages of South Wales, where poverty is usually the harsh determinant

Wisconsin, Settlement patterns

2005-02-27T05:07:00.000-08:00

The majority of the people live in clusters of cities in the southeast, the area first reached and settled by migrants from the East. There they found soils and climate favourable for agriculture. Those who moved farther on across the state, seeking farmland, in time spread themselves fairly evenly except in the southern part of the Central Plain and the Northern

Arguedas, Alcides

2005-02-26T17:05:00.000-08:00

Arguedas studied sociology in Paris and pursued an active career in government. He represented

Plumtree

2005-02-26T05:51:00.000-08:00

Town, southwestern Zimbabwe. At the Botswana border, it is the last major Zimbabwean station on the Bulawayo–Cape Town railway and has customs, immigration, and quarantine facilities. Founded in 1897, it serves the Bulalima-Mangwe district as administrative centre. Local industries include grain milling and brickmaking. Pop. (1982) 3,250.

Murdoch, (keith) Rupert

2005-02-25T20:01:00.000-08:00

In 1998 one of the most talked-about conflicts in baseball took place off the field and in the boardroom. Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch revealed in late 1997 that he planned to purchase the Los Angeles Dodgers for a record-high price of $350 million. Despite the protest of media giant and Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner, a longtime critic of Murdoch, on March 19, 1998, the sale was approved

Affirmation

2005-02-25T14:06:00.000-08:00

In law, a promise by a witness concerning testimony allowed in place of an oath to those who cannot, because of conscience, swear an oath. For example, members of the Society of Friends (Quakers), Jehovah's Witnesses, and other persons who have objections against taking an oath are allowed to make affirmation in any manner they may declare to be binding upon their consciences

Bellanca, Dorothy Jacobs

2005-02-24T19:48:00.000-08:00

Dorothy Jacobs immigrated with her family to the United States from Latvia in 1900. They settled in Baltimore, Maryland. At age 13 Jacobs left school and went to work in a clothing factory. Working conditions quickly led her to the cause

Alemanni

2005-02-24T16:41:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Alamanni, or Alamani, a Germanic people first mentioned in connection with the Roman attack on them in AD 213. In the following decades, their pressure on the Roman provinces became severe; they occupied the Agri Decumates c. 260, and late in the 5th century they expanded into Alsace and northern Switzerland, establishing the German language in those regions. In 496 they were conquered by Clovis and incorporated

Gerlach, (ludwig Friedrich) Leopold Von

2005-02-24T01:36:00.000-08:00

Participating

Orlov, Grigory Grigoryevich, Graf (count)

2005-02-22T07:02:00.000-08:00

Having entered the cadet corps in 1749, Orlov became an artillery officer and fought in the Battle of

Cabasilas, Nicholas

2005-02-22T04:10:00.000-08:00

In the Byzantine

Campeche

2005-02-21T09:05:00.000-08:00

Estado (“state”), southeastern Mexico, on the Yucatán Peninsula. It is bounded north and east by the state of Yucatán, from which it seceded in 1857; northwest by the Gulf of Mexico; east by the state of Quintana Roo; south by Guatemala; and southwest by the state of Tabasco. Named after the ancient Mayan province of Kimpech (Campech), it comprises much of the western part of the peninsula.

Waterberg Series

2005-02-21T04:49:00.000-08:00

Also called Waterberg System, major division of rocks in southern Africa. The age of the Waterberg is in doubt; it is possible that the Waterberg is late Precambrian or Early Paleozoic (older or younger than 540 million years, respectively). Waterberg rocks consist of several thousand feet of brown, red, and purple sandstones and some rather minor shales. Sedimentary structures such as ripple marks,

Madison

2005-02-20T08:09:00.000-08:00

City, seat of Lake county, southeastern South Dakota, U.S. It began in 1873 as a trading post for gold-seeking pioneers and was named Madison because its interlake setting resembled that of Madison, Wis. It was relocated 4 miles (6 km) west to its present site when it merged with Herman Village. Dakota State University was founded there in 1881 as General Beadle State Teachers College.

Bukhara

2005-02-20T06:31:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Buchara , or Bokhara oblast (province), central Uzbekistan, with an area of 15,200 square miles (39,400 square km). The oblast was constituted in 1938, but in 1982 much of its territory in the north and east was transferred to a newly formed Navoi oblast. Bukhara oblast mainly comprises the Kimirekkum Desert, with the lower reaches of the Zeravshan River in the southwest. The climate is continental, with cold winters

Antony, Mark

2005-02-20T05:48:00.000-08:00

Mark Antony was the son and grandson of men of the same name. His father was called Creticus because of his military operations in Crete, and his grandfather, one of the leading orators of his day, was vividly portrayed as a speaker in Cicero's De oratore. After a somewhat dissipated youth, the future triumvir served with distinction in 57–54 as a cavalry commander under Aulus

Annapolis Royal

2005-02-19T22:20:00.000-08:00

Formerly (until 1713) Port Royal, town, seat of Annapolis county, southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. The town lies at the mouth of the Annapolis River where it enters Annapolis Basin (an arm of the Bay of Fundy), 126 miles (203 km) by road west of Halifax. Founded in 1605 as Port Royal by the explorers Samuel de Champlain and Pierre du Gua, Sieur de Monts, it was the first French colony in North America and is Canada's oldest

Wyoming, University Of

2005-02-18T15:06:00.000-08:00

Public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Laramie, Wyoming, U.S. It is a land-grant university, comprising colleges of Agriculture, Arts and Sciences, Business, Education, Engineering, Health Sciences, and Law as well as the Graduate School. The state's only university, it offers programs leading to bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in about 120 major

Anticyclone

2005-02-18T07:17:00.000-08:00

Any large wind system occurring in regions outside the equatorial belt and rotating about a centre of high atmospheric pressure clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern. Its flow is the reverse of that of a cyclone (q.v.).

Farman, Henri

2005-02-17T07:37:00.000-08:00

Born to British parents, he was first a painter and later a racing motorist. With his brother Maurice he modified a Voisin pusher biplane and in January 1908 won a £2,000 prize that had been offered for a circular

Hooft, Pieter Corneliszoon

2005-02-17T04:28:00.000-08:00

During three years spent in France and Italy, Hooft came completely under the spell of the new learning and art; the impact of that experience is shown by

Wait

2005-02-16T15:36:00.000-08:00

An English town watchman or public musician who sounded the hours of the night. In the later Middle Ages the waits were night watchmen, who sounded horns or even played tunes to mark the hours. In the 15th and 16th centuries waits developed into bands of itinerant musicians who paraded the streets at night at Christmas time. From the early 16th century, London and all the chief

Quinisext Council

2005-02-16T10:19:00.000-08:00

The Quinisext Council prepared 102 canons, many of which

Insurance, Russia

2005-02-15T15:51:00.000-08:00

Insurance in Russia was nationalized after the Russian Revolution of 1917. Domestic insurance in the Soviet Union was offered by a single agency, Gosstrakh, and insurance on foreign risks by a companion company, Ingosstrakh. Ingosstrakh continues to insure foreign-owned property in Russia and Russian-owned property abroad. It accepts reinsurance from foreign insurers.

Sambation

2005-02-15T10:43:00.000-08:00

So firm was belief in the existence of the river that the ancient Jewish historian Flavius

Quinisext Council

2005-02-14T22:42:00.000-08:00

Military arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines, Marxist-Leninist (CPP-ML), which is a Communist organization dedicated to achieving power in the Philippines by means of revolutionary insurrection. The CPP-ML was originally a Maoist faction that broke away from the largely passive, Soviet-oriented Philippine Communist Party in 1968–69 and formed the New People's

Music, Opera.

2005-02-14T17:12:00.000-08:00

Germany and The Netherlands provided particularly fertile ground for new operas. Commissioned by Brussels' Théâtre de la Monnaie, Peter Schat's Symposium--based on the death of Tchaikovsky and the controversial theory that he committed suicide to avoid exposure as a homosexual--was premiered by the Netherlands Opera. The Holland Festival also saw the first performances

Degrelle, Léon

2005-02-14T04:06:00.000-08:00

After failing three times to pass his final law exams at the University of Louvain, Degrelle, who was a dynamic orator, entered politics. Using banking scandals and the corruption of national parties as issues, he organized

Carloman

2005-02-13T19:12:00.000-08:00

Eldest son of Louis II the German and father of the emperor Arnulf. Carloman rebelled against his father in 861 and 863 but in 865 was entrusted by Louis with a share in his authority, being granted jurisdiction over Bavaria and Carinthia. After this he remained loyal to his father, even helping to suppress the rebellion of his two younger brothers

Ramathibodi I

2005-02-12T16:35:00.000-08:00

Little is known of Ramathibodi's early career, but he is thought to have been related to the ruling family of the principality of Lop Buri and to have married the daughter of the ruler of U Thong (now Suphan Buri) in central Siam. He succeeded to the throne of U Thong in about 1347 and moved

Adwa, Battle Of

2005-02-12T01:20:00.000-08:00

The death (in 1889) of the Ethiopian emperor Yohannes IV was followed by great disorder, during which the Italians helped Menilek of Shewa (Shoa) win the throne. Furthermore,

France, History Of, Chlotar II and Dagobert I

2005-02-11T21:37:00.000-08:00

Chlotar II, king of Neustria since 584, took control of Burgundy and Austrasia in 613 upon the brutal execution of Brunhild, and thus a united kingdom once again was created. He fixed his capital at Paris and, in 614, convoked a council there, at which he recognized the traditional prerogatives of the aristocracy (Gallo-Roman and Germanic) in order to gain their support in the governing

Velasco Ibarra, José María

2005-02-11T03:28:00.000-08:00

Velasco Ibarra was born into a wealthy family and educated in Quito and Paris. He held various public posts before being elected president as the Conservative Party's candidate in 1933, assuming office in 1934. His economic-development plans, which

Vadodara

2005-02-10T16:21:00.000-08:00

Also called Baroda, city, administrative headquarters of Vadodara district, east central Gujarat state, west central India, on the Visvamitra River, southeast of Ahmadabad. The earliest record of the city is in a grant or charter of AD 812 that mentions it as Vadapadraka, a hamlet attached to the town of Ankottaka. In the 10th century Vadapadraka displaced Ankottaka as the urban centre. It seems also

Hai Ben Sherira

2005-02-09T03:41:00.000-08:00

Though the office of gaon was not necessarily hereditary, Hai, whose family traced its origin back to the Davidic

F-15

2005-02-09T02:39:00.000-08:00

The F-15 has

Switzerland

2005-02-09T00:35:00.000-08:00

Officially Swiss Confederation , French Suisse or Confédération 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

Sun Microsystems, Inc.

2005-02-08T19:19:00.000-08:00

American manufacturer of computer workstations, servers, and software with headquarters in Palo Alto, California.

Procedural Law

2005-02-08T03:44:00.000-08:00

Also called adjective law the law governing the machinery of the courts and the methods by which both the state and the individual (the latter including societies, whether incorporated or not) enforce their rights in the several courts. It prescribes the means of enforcing rights or providing redress of wrongs and comprises rules relative to jurisdiction, pleading and practice, evidence,

Azide

2005-02-07T22:45:00.000-08:00

Any of a class of chemical compounds containing three nitrogen atoms as a group, represented as (-N3). Azides are considered as derived from hydrazoic acid (HN3), an inorganic salt such as sodium azide (NaN3), or an organic derivative in which the hydrogen atom of hydrazoic acid is replaced by a hydrocarbon group as in alkyl or aryl azide (RN3), or by an acyl (carboxylic acid) group

Morava River

2005-02-07T16:33:00.000-08:00

German March, tributary of the Danube rising in eastern Czech Republic; in its lower course, the river divides the Czech Republic from Slovakia and then Slovakia from Austria. It gives its name to Moravia, an ancient region that covers most of the river's drainage basin, which is 15,000 square miles (38,900 square km) in area. Its western tributaries drain from the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands; the

Rowe, Nicholas

2005-02-06T18:48:00.000-08:00

Rowe was called to the bar in 1696 and, an ardent Whig, afterward held several

Fibrocystic Disease

2005-02-06T16:53:00.000-08:00

Fibrocystic disease of the breast, also called chronic cystic mastitis, or cystic disease of the breast, most often occurs in women between the ages of 30 and 50. It is characterized by benign, noncancerous

Extrusive Rock

2005-02-06T08:28:00.000-08:00

Any rock derived from magma (q.v.; molten silicate material) that is poured out or ejected at the Earth's surface. By contrast, intrusive rocks are formed from magma that is forced into older rocks at depth within the Earth's crust; the molten material then slowly solidifies below the Earth's surface, where it may later be exposed owing to erosion. Extrusive rocks are usually

Jacobi, Mary Putnam

2005-02-06T07:32:00.000-08:00

Mary Putnam was the daughter of George Palmer Putnam, founder of the publishing firm of G.P. Putnam's Sons, and was an elder sister of Herbert Putnam, later librarian of Congress. The family returned from England in 1848, and Mary grew

Hippias

2005-02-04T18:05:00.000-08:00

Tyrant of Athens from 528/527 to 510 BC. He was a patron of poets and craftsmen, and under his rule Athens prospered. After the assassination of his brother Hipparchus (514), however, Hippias was driven to repressive measures. An attempt by nobles in exile to force their way back failed, but in 510 the Spartans under Cleomenes I invaded Attica, besieged the tyrant's party on the acropolis, and

Fish Owl

2005-02-04T02:27:00.000-08:00

The brown fish owl (K. zeylonensis) ranges from the eastern Mediterranean to Taiwan and Japan. Pel's fishing owl (S.

Paul Of Samosata

2005-02-03T22:18:00.000-08:00

Paul

Beak

2005-02-03T21:44:00.000-08:00

A bird's bill is composed of

Lathrop, Julia Clifford

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

Lathrop attended Vassar College, graduating in 1880. Over the next 10 years she worked in her father's law office and interested herself in various reform movements. In 1890 she moved to Chicago and joined Jane Addams at the newly established Hull House settlement.

Roman Catholicism, The nature of the church

2005-02-02T01:18:00.000-08:00

In 1965 M.-J. le Guillou, a Roman Catholic theologian, defined the church in these terms: “The Church is recognized as a society of fellowship with God, the sacrament of salvation, the people of God established as the body of Christ and the temple of the Holy Spirit.” The progress of Roman Catholic theology can be seen in the contrast between this statement and the definition still

Aviculture

2005-02-01T19:48:00.000-08:00

Raising and care of wild birds in captivity, for the breeding of game stock, the perpetuation of declining species, or for display and education. The simulation of natural conditions is a necessary goal of aviculturists, allowing them to study aspects of mating and breeding behaviour that may not be easily observed in the wild. As a result of such study, a number of species,

Rupert

2005-02-01T15:32:00.000-08:00

A member of the Wittelsbach dynasty, he was chosen king by the German ecclesiastical electors on Aug. 22, 1400, to succeed Wenceslas, who had been deposed the day before by the German princes. After being crowned at Cologne on Jan.

Hardin, John Wesley

2005-01-31T13:30:00.000-08:00

Reaching adolescence as the defeated South entered the Reconstruction period, Hardin was virulently antiblack and anti-Yankee and, in 1868 at the age of 15, killed his first man, an ex-slave. From then on