ElectricWorm

Ren Essential Moroccan Rose Oil

2006-12-07T15:15:00.000-08:00

This is one of the most amazing natural bath oils I have used. It is a rich, sensuous and luxurious. Only a small amount of the Moroccan Otto Rose Oil in the bath will fill the room with this incredible smell. This rose oil really penetrates the skin during the bath leaving it soft as silk and with the beatiful scent of the rose oil

Cartier, Jacques

2005-04-03T17:05:00.000-07:00

When King Francis I of France decided in 1534 to send an expedition to explore the northern lands in the hope of discovering gold, spices, and a passage

Earth Sciences

2005-04-03T14:13:00.000-07:00

Rabih was enslaved as a child and later enrolled in the military service of az-Zubayr Pasha, a Sudanese prince. Rabih was loyal and capable, and he rose to a position of command. When in 1878 az-Zubayr rebelled against the Egyptian administration of the Sudan,

Havana, The city layout

2005-04-03T09:55:00.000-07:00

Several broad

Crailsheim

2005-04-02T03:01:00.000-08:00

City, Baden-Württemberg Land (state), southwestern Germany. It lies along the Jagst River, about 45 miles (70 km) northeast of Stuttgart. A Frankish settlement in the 6th and 7th centuries, it was chartered in 1320 and passed to the Hohenzollerns in 1399 and to Württemberg in 1810. Most of the old city with its historic buildings was destroyed in World War II, but the Romanesque church of St. John

Xenacanthus

2005-04-01T09:13:00.000-08:00

Long-surviving but now extinct genus of freshwater sharks. Xenacanthus survived from the end of the Devonian Period, some 360 million years ago, to about the end of the Triassic Period, 208 million years ago. Xenacanthus had a slim, elongated body with a low dorsal fin that extended down most of it, almost merging with the triangular, pointed tail. From the back of the skull, a long,

Cartier, Jacques

2005-04-01T00:34:00.000-08:00

Organization formed in New York City in 1911 during a convention of state antisuffrage groups. Led by Josephine Dodge, the founder and first president, the NAOWS believed that woman suffrage would decrease women's work in communities and their ability to effect societal reforms. Active on a state and federal level, the group also established a newsletter, Woman's

Computers, The IBM 360

2005-03-30T21:44:00.000-08:00

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

Leakey, Richard

2005-03-30T10:40:00.000-08:00

In full Richard Erskine Frere Leakey Kenyan physical anthropologist, paleontologist, and politician responsible for extensive fossil finds of human ancestral forms in East Africa. His investigations suggested that relatively intelligent, tool-using ancestors of true man lived in eastern Africa as early as 3 million years ago, or almost twice the time span of previous

Muhsin, Zuhayr

2005-03-30T06:51:00.000-08:00

A long-standing member of the Ba'th Party and a friend of Syrian leader Hafiz al-Assad, Muhsin worked as a teacher in Jordan and the Persian Gulf states

Estaunié, Edouard

2005-03-29T05:08:00.000-08:00

A theme recurrent in the 12 novels of Estaunié is expressed by the title of one of them, La Vie Secrète (1908; “The Secret Life”): each man's outward life masks another,

Amory, Thomas

2005-03-28T17:09:00.000-08:00

A staunch Unitarian

Edenderry

2005-03-28T00:01:00.000-08:00

Irish Éadan Doire market town, County Offaly, Ire., on the northern edge of the Bog of Allen. The town, including the Court House, was largely built by the marquesses of Downshire in the 18th and early 19th centuries. South of the town are the ruins of Peter Blundell's castle. There are many castles in the area, for Edenderry was located on the edge of the Pale, the medieval English enclave centred

Interior Design, 20th century

2005-03-26T17:45:00.000-08:00

The principle behind a great deal of 20th century interior decoration was first expounded in Chicago in 1896 in a magazine entitled the House Beautiful. This journal opposed both the perpetuation of vulgar display and the excess of ornament that had characterized most of the 19th century. Other American magazines like The Ladies Home Journal soon followed House

Offenbach, Jacques

2005-03-26T04:39:00.000-08:00

He was the son of a cantor at the Cologne Synagogue, Isaac Juda Eberst, who had been born at Offenbach am Main. The father was known as “Der Offenbacher,” and the composer was known only

Torelli, Giacomo

2005-03-25T19:53:00.000-08:00

Nothing is known of Torelli's early life. In 1641 he was a military engineer at Venice. Already known as an architect, he built two churches there. Having erected the Teatro Novissimo at Venice, he furnished it

Bhagirathi River

2005-03-24T18:51:00.000-08:00

River in West Bengal state, northeastern India, forming the western boundary of the Ganges (Ganga) Delta. A distributary of the Ganges, it leaves that river just northeast of Jangipur, flows south, and joins the Jalangi at Nabadwip to form the Hooghly River after a total course of 120 miles (190 km). Until the 16th century, when the Ganges shifted eastward to the Padma, the Bhagirathi formed

Albuquerque

2005-03-24T10:06:00.000-08:00

Largest city of New Mexico, U.S., seat (1852) of Bernalillo county, on the Rio Grande opposite a pass between the Sandia and Manzano mountains to the east. It is encircled by Indian pueblos and sections of the Cibola National Forest (of which it is headquarters). Founded in 1706 by Don Francisco Cuervo y Valdés, governor and captain general of New Mexico, it was named for the Duque de Alburquerque,

Manchester Ship Canal

2005-03-22T06:15:00.000-08:00

Waterway opened in 1894 linking Eastham, Merseyside, Eng., to the city of Manchester. The canal made Manchester accessible to large oceangoing vessels. It is 36 miles (58 km) long, 45–80 feet (14–24 m) wide, and varies in depth from 28 to 30 feet (about 9 m); it has five locks.

Arabia

2005-03-22T05:13:00.000-08:00

The mineral resource of greatest value is oil. The Arabian Peninsula has the largest oil reserves in the world. With the exception of deposits in Yemen, the Arabian oil fields lie in the same great sedimentary basin as the fields of Iran and Iraq. Although oil was discovered in Iran in 1908, the first field on the Arabian side of the basin, in Bahrain, was not found until 1932. This

Aquarelle

2005-03-22T00:55:00.000-08:00

Technique of painting in transparent, rather than opaque, watercolours. Although aquarelle was known to the ancient Egyptians, it did not achieve popularity in Europe until the 18th and 19th centuries. It was used especially in France and England by landscape painters.

Kaikei

2005-03-21T01:50:00.000-08:00

Together with his father, Kokei, and his brother Unkei, he made statues for the temples of Kofuku and Todai in Nara, the ancient capital of Japan. Kaikei's style, while sharing the direct and realistic manner typical of the time, was noted for its gentleness and grace in contrast to Unkei's,

Stuttgart

2005-03-20T15:02:00.000-08:00

City, capital (1945) of Baden-Württemberg Land (state), southwestern Germany, astride the Neckar River, in a forested vineyard-and-orchard setting in historic Swabia. It lies between the Black Forest on the west and the Swabian Jura to the south. There were prehistoric settlements and a Roman fort in the area of Bad Cannstatt (a suburb), but Stuttgart itself originated as a Stuotgarten,

Einsteinium

2005-03-20T05:49:00.000-08:00

(Es), synthetic chemical element of the actinide series in Group IIIb of the periodic table, atomic number 99. Not occurring in nature, einsteinium (as the isotope einsteinium-253), produced by intense neutron irradiation of uranium-238, was identified in December 1952 by Albert Ghiorso and co-workers at Berkeley, Calif., in debris taken from the first thermonuclear or hydrogen-bomb

Minas Basin

2005-03-19T19:54:00.000-08:00

Eastern inlet of the Bay of Fundy, protruding into central Nova Scotia, Canada. Up to 25 mi (40 km) in width and more than 50 mi in length (including its eastern extension, Cobequid Bay), the basin has some of the highest tides in the world; fluctuations exceeding 50 ft (15 m) have been recorded. It is connected to the Bay of Fundy by Minas Channel and receives the drainage of the Avon, Cornwallis,

Basho

2005-03-19T03:51:00.000-08:00

Interested in haiku from an early age, Basho at first put his literary interests aside and entered the service of a local feudal lord. After

Anatidae

2005-03-19T03:18:00.000-08:00

Anserinae—tribes Dendrocygnini (see whistling duck, or tree duck) and

Jian Ware

2005-03-19T02:48:00.000-08:00

The clay used for Jian ware was of a very hard, coarse grain. The inside and about two-thirds of the outside of the ware were covered with a thick,

Hydra

2005-03-17T10:20:00.000-08:00

In Greek legend, the offspring of Typhon and Echidna, a gigantic monster with nine heads (the number varies), the centre one immortal. The monster's haunt was the marshes of Lerna near Argos. The destruction of Hydra was one of the 12 Labours of Heracles, which he accomplished with the assistance of Iolaus. As one head was cut off, two grew in its place; therefore, they finally

La Follette, Robert M

2005-03-17T01:43:00.000-08:00

Resigning as governor in 1906, he was elected to the Senate at a time when that institution was widely believed to be a refuge for millionaires. La Follette acquired instant fame as a new type of senator, one who was not controlled by “the interests,” and in his first three years there La Follette achieved the passage of laws aimed against the freight rates, labour policies,

Nichiren

2005-03-16T22:04:00.000-08:00

Original name Zennichi, also called Zenshobo Rencho, posthumous name Rissho Daishi militant Japanese Buddhist prophet who contributed significantly to the adaptation of Buddhism to the Japanese mentality and who remains one of the most controversial and influential figures in Japanese Buddhist history. After an exhaustive study of the various forms of Buddhism, he concluded (in 1253) that the Lotus Sutra teaching

Fadden, Sir Arthur William

2005-03-16T14:36:00.000-08:00

Fadden was active in local and state government as a young man, and he was a member of Parliament (1936–58) and leader of the Country Party (1941–58). As a member of the cabinet he held the position of minister for air and civil aviation (1940) and of treasurer (1940–41, 1949–58); he also served

Cumberland Gap

2005-03-14T14:12:00.000-08:00

Natural pass (elevation 1,640 feet [500 metres]) that was cut through the Cumberland Plateau in the eastern United States by former stream activity. It is located near the point where Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee meet between Middlesboro, Kentucky, and the town of Cumberland Gap, Tennessee. The pass was discovered in 1750 by Thomas Walker, and the Wilderness Road blazed by Daniel

Jícama

2005-03-14T07:11:00.000-08:00

Also called Yam Bean (species Pachyrhizus erosus, or P. tuberosus), leguminous vine native to Mexico and Central and South America, grown for its edible tuberous root. The plant's irregularly globular, brown-skinned tubers are white-fleshed, crisp, and juicy; some varieties (jícama de aqua) have clear juices, and some (jícama de leche) have milky juice. Both types of tubers are mild-flavoured and

Tank

2005-03-14T02:26:00.000-08:00

The need to cross rivers and other water obstacles led to the development of amphibious tanks, beginning with the British Medium D, designed in 1918. Amphibious tanks built during 1920s and '30s sacrificed armament and armour to achieve low weight in relation to their bulk and, therefore, sufficient buoyancy to float. This confined their usefulness to reconnaissance. A late

József, Attila

2005-03-13T05:36:00.000-08:00

József was attracted by Marxist ideology and became a member of the then-illegal Communist Party. In 1932 he launched a short-lived literary periodical, Valóság, and in 1936 became one of the

Akhmatova, Anna

2005-03-12T19:44:00.000-08:00

Akhmatova began writing verse at the age of 11 and at 21 became a member of the Acmeist group of poets, whose leader, Nikolay Gumilyov, she married in 1910 but divorced in 1918. The Acmeists, through

Athis-mons

2005-03-11T02:48:00.000-08:00

Town, southern suburb of Paris, in Essonne département, Île-de-France région, northern France. Athis-Mons lies near the confluence of the Orge and Seine rivers and is bisected by the N7 road artery leading to the centre of Paris. It was ancient Attegais, later Athis-sur-Orge, where a treaty of that name was signed in 1305 by the king of France and the count of Flanders. A Romanesque

Furniture, Cupboard

2005-03-10T20:38:00.000-08:00

Strictly speaking, the cupboard is a derivative form of the chest. Early Renaissance cupboards resembled two chests placed one on top of the other, but they were opened from the front by means of doors. The design and construction of the cupboard's pronounced front have always provided ample scope for artistic composition, and it is no mere coincidence that the cupboard

Selim, Mosque Of

2005-03-10T16:53:00.000-08:00

Turkish Selimiye Cami, in Edirne, Tur., mosque, considered to be the masterwork of the great Ottoman architect Sinan, completed in 1575. The sanctuary is a large square space, covered by a dome supported by columns placed close to the walls, an innovation at the time. Four tall, slender minarets contrast with the mass of domes and half-domes.

Aesthetics, The aesthetic object

2005-03-09T13:31:00.000-08:00

The third approach to aesthetics begins with a class of aesthetic objects and attempts thereafter to show the significance of that class to those who selectively respond to it. The term aesthetic object, however, is ambiguous, and, depending on its interpretation, may suggest two separate programs of philosophical aesthetics. The expression may denote either

Biblical Literature, The Geneva Bible

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

The brief efflorescence of the Protestant movement during the short reign of Edward VI (1547–53) saw the reissue of the Scriptures, but no fresh attempts at revision. The repressive rule of Edward's successor, Mary, a Roman Catholic, put an end to the printing of Bibles in England for several years. Their public reading was proscribed and their presence in the churches

Karadjordje

2005-03-08T01:23:00.000-08:00

The son of a peasant, Karadjordje (“Black George”), so named because of his dark complexion and penetrating eyes, in his youth herded swine and goats.

Fuel Cell

2005-03-07T21:13:00.000-08:00

Any of a class of devices that convert the chemical energy of a fuel directly into electricity by electrochemical reactions. A fuel cell is much more efficient than most other types of energy converters.

Computers, The IBM 360

2005-03-07T05:27:00.000-08:00

Biblical Literature, Special nature and problems

2005-03-07T03:35:00.000-08:00

The English title of this work, meaning “second law,” is derived from a faulty Greek translation of chapter 17, verse 18, referring to “a copy of this law”: the implication being that the book is a second law or an expanded version of the original law for the new generation of Israelites about to enter Canaan. Hebrew texts take the opening words of the book as title, Ele ha-Devarim

Black Oak

2005-03-05T17:27:00.000-08:00

(Quercus velutina), North American timber tree belonging to the red oak group of the genus Quercus in the beech family (Fagaceae), distributed throughout the eastern United States. It usually grows to about 25 m (80 feet) tall and may grow to 45 m on rich soils; it is common on exposed slopes and ridges, as it cannot tolerate shade. The tree's blackish outer bark is ridged in irregular

Rack And Pinion

2005-03-05T13:42:00.000-08:00

If the pinion rotates about a fixed axis, the rack will translate; i.e.,

Land-grant College

2005-03-05T08:37:00.000-08:00

Under the provisions of the act, each state was granted 30,000 acres (12,140 hectares) of federal land for each member of Congress representing that state.

Bukhara

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

Uzbek Bukhoro, also spelled Buchara or Bokhara city and administrative centre, Bukhoro oblast (province), Uzbekistan, on the Shakhrud Canal in the delta of the Zeravshan River, at the centre of Bukhara oasis. Founded not later than the 1st century AD, it was already a major trade and crafts centre when the Arabs captured it in 709. The capital of the Samanid dynasty in the 9th–10th centuries, it later was seized by the Qarakhanids

Fuji Bank

2005-03-02T21:57:00.000-08:00

Fuji Bank originated from a money-lending operation established in the 1860s by Yasuda Zenjiro, the founder of the Yasuda zaibatsu (business combine). In 1880 the business became

Mammal

2005-03-02T11:52:00.000-08:00

The evolution of the Mammalia has produced tremendous diversity in form and habits. Living kinds range in size from a bat weighing less than a gram and tiny shrews that weigh but a few grams, to the largest animal that has ever lived, the blue whale, which reaches a length of more than 30 meters (100 feet) and a weight of 136,000 kilograms (150 tons). Every major habitat has been invaded by mammals

Khan

2005-03-01T15:01:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Cham, historically, the ruler or monarch of a Mongol tribe (ulus). At the time of Genghis Khan (early 13th century) a distinction was made between the title of khan and that of khakan, which was the title Genghis assumed as Great Khan, or supreme ruler of the Mongols. The term khan was subsequently adopted by many Muslim societies. Among the Seljuqs and the Khwarezm-Shahs of Central and

Hilarion Of Kiev

2005-03-01T08:18:00.000-08:00

A priest, Hilarion became the second archbishop of Kiev, the chief city in Rus at that time. Although Kievan bishops had all previously been appointed by the patriarch of Constantinople, Hilarion was chosen by Prince Yaroslav I the Wise and an assembly

Flores Island

2005-02-28T00:02:00.000-08:00

Portuguese Ilha Das Flores, westernmost island of the Portuguese Azores archipelago, in the North Atlantic. It forms, together with the Ilha do Corvo, the Santa Cruz group. The island has an area of 55 sq mi (142 sq km), is volcanic in origin, and rises from sea level to 3,087 ft (941 m) at Morro Grande in its centre. It has numerous crater lakes that offer good fishing and is noted for its lush flora (whence its name). The economy

Kudamatsu

2005-02-27T15:35:00.000-08:00

Kudamatsu revived during World War I as an industrial city, assisted by its natural

Frescobaldi, Girolamo

2005-02-26T14:48:00.000-08:00

Italian organist and one of the first great masters of organ composition. He strongly influenced the German Baroque school through the work of his pupils, J.J. Froberger and Franz Tunder. Frescobaldi began his public career as organist at the church of Sta. Maria in Trastevere in Rome, in 1607. He travelled to the Netherlands the

Outlawry

2005-02-26T03:04:00.000-08:00

Act of putting a person beyond the protection of the law for his refusal to become amenable to the court having legal jurisdiction. In the past, this deprivation of legal benefits was invoked when a defendant or other person was in civil or criminal contempt of court; and, in cases of alleged treason or the commission of a felony (referred to as major outlawry), it amounted

Brackman, Barbara

2005-02-25T15:25:00.000-08:00

Brackman moved to Leawood, Kansas, as a teenager; she graduated with a bachelor's degree in art education in 1967 and a master's degree in special education in 1974 from the University of Kansas. She taught special education for nearly two decades at the Universities

English Literature, Poetry

2005-02-24T16:18:00.000-08:00

The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes who invaded Britain in the 5th and 6th centuries brought with them the common Germanic metre; but of their earliest oral poetry, probably used for panegyric, magic, and short narrative, little or none survives. For nearly a century after the conversion of King Aethelberht I of Kent to Christianity in 597, there is no evidence that the English wrote

Mabley, Moms

2005-02-24T05:15:00.000-08:00

Byname of Jackie Mabley , original name Loretta Mary Aiken American comedian who was one of the most successful black vaudeville performers. She modeled her stage persona largely on her grandmother, who had been a slave. Wise, clever, and often ribald, Mabley dressed in frumpy clothes and used her deep voice and elastic face (and, in later years, her toothlessness) to great

Mithraism

2005-02-23T04:20:00.000-08:00

The worship of Mithra, the Iranian god of the sun, justice, contract, and war in pre-Zoroastrian Iran. Known as Mithras in the Roman Empire during the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, this deity was honoured as the patron of loyalty to the emperor. After the acceptance of Christianity by the emperor Constantine in the early 4th century, Mithraism rapidly declined.

Asam, Cosmas Damian; And Asam, Egid Quirin

2005-02-22T20:52:00.000-08:00

Principal late Baroque exponents of illusionist decoration in religious architecture. The Asam brothers were part of a generation of Germans educated in Rome in the Italian Baroque tradition. Their works, primarily produced in collaboration, are notable

Carnivore, Form and function

2005-02-22T08:00:00.000-08:00

Hyenas have a total of 34 teeth, fewer than the generalized number found in other carnivores. The aardwolf has fewer upper and lower premolars and molars, resulting in from 28 to 32 teeth. The incisors are unspecialized in all members of the Hyaenidae, with the third incisor being the largest. The canines are well-developed, sharp, and elongate. Premolars of hyenas have well-developed

Sakaida Family

2005-02-21T04:15:00.000-08:00

Also called Kakiemon Family, celebrated family of Japanese potters whose founder, Sakaida Kizaemon (1596–1666), was awarded the name Kakiemon in recognition of his capturing the delicate red colour and texture of the persimmon (kaki) in porcelain. See Kakiemon ware.

Regional Development Program

2005-02-20T10:08:00.000-08:00

Any government program designed to encourage the industrial and economic development of regions that are stagnant or in which a large portion of the population is experiencing prolonged unemployment. The measures taken may include loans, grants, and tax incentives to private industries relocating in such areas; assistance in developing power, light, transportation,

Stalactite And Stalagmite

2005-02-20T06:33:00.000-08:00

Stalactites hanging from the ceilings of caverns commonly exhibit a central tube or the trace of a former tube whose diameter

Garcia, Carlos Polestico

2005-02-19T15:38:00.000-08:00

Fourth president of the Republic of the Philippines. After graduating from law school in 1923, he became, successively, a schoolteacher, representative in the Philippine Congress, governor of his province (Bohol), and then (1941–53) senator. During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in World War II, Garcia was active in the resistance movement.

Nordenskjöld, Otto

2005-02-19T11:14:00.000-08:00

A nephew of the scientist-explorer Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, he became a lecturer in mineralogy and geology at the University of Uppsala, Sweden, in 1894 and led a geologic expedition to southern South America

F-104

2005-02-19T08:33:00.000-08:00

Also called Starfighter, jet day fighter aircraft built by Lockheed Aircraft Corporation for the U.S. Air Force but adopted by a total of 15 NATO and other countries. It was widely adapted for use as a fighter-bomber. The F-104 had a wingspan of 21 feet 11 inches (6.68 m) and a length of 54 feet 9 inches (16.7 m). It was a single-seat, single-engine midwing monoplane, powered with a General Electric J79 series turbojet engine with

Abel, Sir Frederick Augustus

2005-02-16T23:35:00.000-08:00

English chemist and explosives specialist who, with the chemist Sir James Dewar, invented cordite (1889), later adopted as the standard explosive of the British army. Abel also made studies of dust explosions in coal mines, invented a device for testing the flash point of petroleum, and found a way to prevent guncotton from

Bonds, Barry

2005-02-16T21:25:00.000-08:00

Bonds was born into a baseball family. His father, Bobby Bonds, was an outfielder for the San Francisco Giants. His cousin was baseball great Reggie

F-104

2005-02-16T01:28:00.000-08:00

Originally based in the Shankill Road area of Belfast, the UDA was responsible for political murders of Roman Catholics and prominent Republicans, though it claimed responsibility for most killings

Awacs

2005-02-15T04:42:00.000-08:00

Abbreviation of Airborne Warning And Control System, a mobile, long-range radar surveillance and control centre for air defense. The system, as developed by the U.S. Air Force, is mounted in a specially modified Boeing 707 aircraft. Its main radar antenna is mounted on a turntable housed in a circular rotodome 9 m (30 feet) in diameter, elliptical in cross-section, and 1.8 m deep at its centre. The radar system can detect, track, and identify

Argentina, Immigration and ethnicity

2005-02-14T19:23:00.000-08:00

Heavy immigration, particularly from Spain and Italy, has produced in Argentina a people who are almost all of European ancestry. In the colonial period, though, the Spanish explorers and settlers encountered a number of native peoples. Among these were the Diaguita tribes of the Andean Northwest, a town-dwelling, agricultural people who were forced into labour

Giraldi, Giambattista

2005-02-14T16:15:00.000-08:00

Giraldi was influenced

Houbraken, Arnold

2005-02-13T16:54:00.000-08:00

Dutch painter and art writer noted for his three-volume biographical study of Netherlandish painters, De groote Schouburgh der Nederlantsche Konstschilders en Schilderessen (1718–21). Houbraken was a competent if rather uninspired academic painter, but his De Groote Schouburgh is the single most important source of information

Burton, Virginia Lee

2005-02-13T08:50:00.000-08:00

Burton grew up from the age of seven in Sonora, California. After graduating from high school she studied both dancing and drawing, and later she continued taking art lessons at the Boston Museum School. In 1929 she became

La Bourdonnais, Bertrand-françois Mahé, Count (comte) De

2005-02-12T17:04:00.000-08:00

La Bourdonnais entered the service of the French East India Company as a lieutenant at 19, was promoted to captain in 1724, and took part in the capture of Mahé on the Malabar Coast (southwestern India) in 1726. From 1735 to 1740, he was governor

Scimitar-babbler

2005-02-11T19:46:00.000-08:00

Any of about 12 species of songbirds of the babbler family Timaliidae (order Passeriformes), which have long, curved bills used for uncovering insects in ground litter. Scimitar-babblers are 18 to 28 cm (7 to 11 inches) in length, with fairly long tails. Their plumage is mostly brown. They range through southern Asia to Australia and the Philippines. An example is the slaty-headed

Thousand Days, The War Of A

2005-02-10T13:18:00.000-08:00

The Liberal Party represented coffee plantation owners and import-export merchants who favoured a laissez-faire economic policy. Largely excluded from participation in government after the Conservative victory

Aigues-mortes

2005-02-10T01:07:00.000-08:00

Town, Gard département, Languedoc-Roussillon région, southeastern France, southwest of Nîmes, on the Canal du Rhône à Sète, with its own 3.5-mile (6-km) canal to the Gulf of Lion. Its name comes from aquae mortuae, the “dead waters” of the surrounding saline delta marshland. Built by Louis IX as the embarkation port for his two Crusades (seventh, 1248; eighth, 1270), the little town is enclosed

U2

2005-02-09T05:27:00.000-08:00

Bill Flanagan, U2 at the End of the World (1995), is an insightful, if frequently meandering, critical overview.

Athens

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

City, seat (1819) of Limestone county, northern Alabama, U.S., in the Tennessee River valley, about 25 miles (40 km) west of Huntsville. Settled in 1807 and named for Athens, Greece, it grew as an agricultural and timber centre. During the American Civil War, the town was occupied at intervals by Union troops until recaptured by Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest in 1864. Cotton dominated

Stace, W(alter) T(erence)

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

Educated at Bath College and Fettes College, Edinburgh, and at Trinity College, Dublin, Stace

Fernández De Avellaneda, Alonso

2005-02-07T18:30:00.000-08:00

Probably the pseudonym of the otherwise unknown author of Segundo tomo del ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (1614; “Second Book of the Ingenious Knight Don Quixote of La Mancha”), a fraudulent sequel to the first volume of Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote (1605). In the 59th chapter of the second volume of Don Quixote (1615), Cervantes mocks the spurious book. Suggestions of the author's

Bracknell Forest

2005-02-07T14:09:00.000-08:00

Old Bracknell town was unimportant until the 19th century, when its cattle market replaced one at Wokingham that dated from the early 13th century. The population was about 5,000 when the new town of Bracknell

Bean, Alan L(avern)

2005-02-07T00:35:00.000-08:00

Bean entered the U.S. Navy upon graduation

Aspergillus

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

Genus of the Fungi Imperfecti (form-class Deuteromycetes). Those species for which the sexual phase is known are placed in the order Eurotiales. A. niger causes black mold of foodstuffs; A. flavus, A. niger, and A. fumigatus cause aspergillosis in humans. A. oryzae is used to ferment sake, and A. wentii to process soybeans. Three genera of the class Ascomycetes have

Computers And Information Systems

2005-02-04T04:29:00.000-08:00

A flurry of legal and Internet activity swirled around the computer industry in 2003, contrasting sharply with slowed sales for computers and software. While industry sales languished and layoffs continued, consumers and businesses experienced the wrath of Internet worms and viruses. Junk e-mail, called spam, clogged e-mail inboxes everywhere, and legislators mobilized

Pemba Island

2005-02-04T00:21:00.000-08:00

Arabic Jazirat Al-khudrah, island in the Indian Ocean, lying 35 miles (56 km) off the coast of East Africa, opposite the port of Tanga, Tanzania. The island embraces 380 square miles (984 square km) and is 42 miles (67 km) long and 14 miles (22 km) wide. As the Arabic name, which means “Green Island,” suggests, it is more fertile than its sister island, Zanzibar, which lies 30 miles (48 km) to the southwest. Pemba is the world's leading producer

Earth, Formation of igneous rocks

2005-02-03T14:24:00.000-08:00

Igneous

Adam, Robert

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

Having nearly exhausted his money and anxious to return to England, Adam had to forgo the pleasures of further expeditions to Greece and Egypt. He returned to London in January 1758, his head full of details of Roman antiquities. Palladianism was losing its appeal, and the public was ready for a new architectural style. Adam lost no time in making his reputation, and by the

Nur Al-din

2005-02-02T16:16:00.000-08:00

Nur al-Din succeeded his father as the atabeg (ruler) of Halab in 1146, owing nominal allegiance to the 'Abbasid caliph of Baghdad. Before his rule, a major reason for the success of the Crusaders was the disunity of the Muslim rulers of the region, who

Curepipe

2005-02-01T03:30:00.000-08:00

Town (township) on the island of Mauritius, in the western Indian Ocean. It lies in the western highlands region of the country, about 11 miles (18 km) south of Port Louis, the national capital. The town, named after a similar township in France, developed quickly after a malaria epidemic in 1867, which forced Port Louis residents to relocate to safer areas in the highlands. Several

Schmidt, Arno

2005-01-31T10:55:00.000-08:00

In full Arno Otto Schmidt novelist, translator, and critic, whose experimental prose established him as the preeminent Modernist of 20th-century German literature. With roots in both German Romanticism and Expressionism, he attempted to develop modern prose forms that correspond more closely to the workings of the conscious and subconscious mind

Great Rye Island

2005-01-31T06:51:00.000-08:00

Slovak Vel'ký Zitný Ostrov riverine island, Západní Slovensko kraj (region), Slovakia. The island lies southeast of Bratislava, between the Little Danube and Váh rivers to the north and the Danube to the south. It is composed of rich alluvial sediments deposited by the Danube in the Little Alföld, which is a plain shared by Hungary and Slovakia. Like Little Schütt Island (Szigetköz) on the Hungarian

Daguerreotype

2005-01-30T18:00:00.000-08:00

First successful form of photography, named for Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre of France, who invented the technique in collaboration with Joseph-Nicéphore Niepce in the 1830s. Daguerre and Niepce found that if a copper plate coated with silver iodide was exposed to light in a camera, then fumed with mercury vapour and fixed (made permanent) by a solution of common salt,

Southampton, William Fitzwilliam, Earl Of

2005-01-30T00:43:00.000-08:00

A son of Sir William Fitzwilliam of Aldwarke, near Rotherham, Fitzwilliam was a companion in boyhood of Henry VIII and was knighted for his services at the siege of Tournai in 1513. Later he was treasurer of Thomas, Cardinal Wolsey's household and was sent several times to France

Mitchell, Arthur

2005-01-29T15:12:00.000-08:00

Mitchell attended the High School for the Performing Arts in New York City and began performing in Broadway musicals and with the companies of Donald McKayle and John Butler. In 1956 Mitchell became the only black dancer in the New York City Ballet. He soon became a principal