CruelCarriage

Estate Agent London

2006-10-26T11:05:00.000-07:00

Robert Irving Burns specialise in London Commercial and Residential property services, including Estate Agent Covent Garden and Estate Agent London. Their centrally located ground floor offices, minutes from Oxford Circus offer an ideal marketing base for your property.

Lathrop, Julia Clifford

2005-04-04T11:58:00.000-07:00

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.

Arrhenius Theory

2005-04-03T22:49:00.000-07:00

Theory, introduced in 1887 by the Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius, that acids are substances that dissociate in water to yield electrically charged atoms or molecules, called ions, one of which is a hydrogen ion (H+), and that bases ionize in water to yield hydroxide ions (OH-). It is now known that the hydrogen ion cannot exist alone in water solution; rather, it exists in a combined

Argentan Lace

2005-04-02T19:45:00.000-08:00

French Point D'argentan, lace made at the French town of Argentan from the 17th century, when Louis XIV's minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert founded the lace industry. Characteristic of this lace is a net background consisting of a large hexagonal mesh, the six sides of which are worked over with buttonhole stitching. Flower patterns are similar to those of Alençon, 25 miles away, but are more solid-looking

Switzerland, Urban Switzerland

2005-04-02T15:09:00.000-08:00

Some cities in Switzerland originally developed around monasteries, as did St. Gall, or around Roman settlements, as in the case of Zürich and Lausanne. Within the Alps of Vaud, Vevey and Montreux were sited on small deltas jutting into Lake Geneva that provided flat land near the mountainous north shore; in the Alps of Ticino, Locarno and Ascona developed on the delta

Grace & Co.

2005-04-01T13:15:00.000-08:00

The company grew out of a Peruvian land and resource enterprise formed by William R. Grace in 1854. In 1865 Grace moved the business headquarters to New York City, where the company expanded into shipping. The firm was incorporated

Far Eastern Republic

2005-03-31T16:52:00.000-08:00

Also called Chita Republic, Russian Dalnevostochnaya Respublika, or Chitinskaya Respublika, nominally independent state formed by Soviet Russia in eastern Siberia in 1920 and absorbed into the Soviet Union in 1922. At the time of the Far Eastern Republic's creation, the Bolsheviks controlled Siberia west of Lake Baikal, while Japan held much of the Pacific coast, including Vladivostok. Lenin therefore ordered the creation of the Far Eastern Republic, centring on

Indiana

2005-03-31T10:53:00.000-08:00

Constituent state of the United States of America. The state sits, as its motto claims, at “the crossroads of America.” It borders Lake Michigan and the state of Michigan on the north, Ohio on the east, Kentucky on the south, and Illinois on the west, making it an integral part of the Midwest. Indiana's 36,185 square miles (93,720 square kilometres) also make it, except for Hawaii, the smallest

Tabora

2005-03-29T14:57:00.000-08:00

Formerly Kazeh, town, west-central Tanzania. Lying on the Central Plateau at an elevation of 4,000 feet (1,200 m), it has a mean annual temperature of 73° F (23° C). The town has been the capital of the Nyamwezi people and was the major trade link between the coast and the Congo River basin prior to European colonial rule. As the junction point of the east-west (Dar es-Salaam–Ujiji) railway and the north-south railway

Pijao

2005-03-29T13:46:00.000-08:00

Extinct Indian people of the southern highlands of Colombia. The Pijao spoke a language of the Chibchan family, related to that of the Páez, their neighbours to the south. They were agriculturists, raising corn (maize), sweet manioc (yuca), beans, potatoes, and many fruits; they also hunted and fished. They lived in settlements of several families in houses built of wood and

Ussuri River

2005-03-29T13:09:00.000-08:00

Chinese (Wade-Giles) Wu-su-li Chiang, or (Pinyin) Wusuli Jiang, northward-flowing tributary of the Amur River that for a considerable distance forms the boundary between China (Heilungkiang province) and Russia (Siberia). The Ussuri is formed by the confluence of the Ulakhe and Arsenyevka rivers, both of which rise on the southwestern slopes of the Sikhote-Alin mountains. Its length from the source of the Ulakhe is 565 miles (909 km), and

Amphibole, Contact metamorphic rocks

2005-03-28T15:11:00.000-08:00

Amphiboles occur in contact metamorphic aureoles around igneous intrusions. (An aureole is the zone surrounding an intrusion, which is a mass of igneous rock that solidified between other rocks located within the Earth.) The contact aureoles produced in siliceous limestones and dolomites, called skarns or calc-silicate rocks, characteristically contain metamorphic

Colditz Castle

2005-03-28T14:46:00.000-08:00

German Schloss Colditz, German prisoner-of-war camp in World War II, the site of many daring escape attempts by Allied officers. The castle sits on a steep hill overlooking the Mulde River as it flows through the small Saxon town of Colditz, about 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Leipzig. A former residence of the kings of Saxony, the castle was used in 1939 as a prisoner-of-war camp, and in 1940 it became a maximum security

Catalan Literature

2005-03-28T02:32:00.000-08:00

The oldest extant text in Catalan is the Homilies d'Organyà, a collection of sermons dating from the 12th or early 13th century but now appreciated more for their linguistic than for their literary value. Early kings of Aragon and counts

Rhynchotrema

2005-03-27T23:33:00.000-08:00

Extinct genus of brachiopods, or lamp shells, found as fossils in Middle and Late Ordovician rocks (the Ordovician Period lasted from 505 to 438 million years ago). The shell is small and distinctive for its strongly developed ribbing. Rhynchotrema is a useful Ordovician index, or guide, fossil.

Bahrain, Flag Of

2005-03-27T15:10:00.000-08:00

The southern coast of the Persian Gulf was characterized by extensive warfare and piracy for many centuries. In 1820 the British were finally successful in enforcing peace on the local Arab states. The General Treaty of Peace signed at that time provided that those territories on friendly terms with the United Kingdom should include a white border on the plain red

Chiba

2005-03-27T11:41:00.000-08:00

Ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan, lying on the Pacific coast of the Kanto Plain. It consists of the Boso Peninsula, which lies east of Tokyo Bay and south of the Tone River. Surpluses of rice, vegetables, eggs, and flowers are produced for Tokyo, and offshore fisheries flourish. The Tokyo-Yokohama industrial belt (see Keihin Industrial Zone) has expanded into Chiba prefecture

Denishawn School Of Dancing And Related Arts

2005-03-26T18:13:00.000-08:00

Dance school and company founded in 1915 by Ruth St. Denis and her husband, Ted Shawn. Considered a fountainhead of American modern dance, the Denishawn organization systematically promoted nonballetic dance movement and fostered such leading modern dancers as Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, and Charles Weidman. Because St. Denis and Shawn believed that all dance techniques

Chelles

2005-03-26T10:44:00.000-08:00

Town, eastern suburb of Paris, in Seine-et-Marne département, Paris region, north-central France, near the Marne River. It is the site of ancient Calae and has ruins of the 7th-century Abbey of Notre-Dame-de-Chelles (founded by Bathilde, widow of Clovis II, and destroyed during the French Revolution). Prehistoric remains found nearby in the 19th century were designated Chellean

Land Bridge

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

Any of several isthmuses that have connected the Earth's major landmasses at various times, with the result that many species of plants and animals have extended their ranges to new areas. A land bridge that had a profound effect on the fauna of the New World extended from Siberia to Alaska during most of the Tertiary and Quaternary periods (beginning 66.4 million years

Chaibasa

2005-03-26T01:03:00.000-08:00

City, southern Bihar state, northeastern India. It lies just west of the Raru River, which is a tributary of the Subarnarekha. Although known as a road and agricultural-trade centre, the city is also heavily engaged in the mining (especially chromite) industry. Shellac is manufactured, and silk growing is important. Chaibasa became a municipality in 1875. Pop. (1991 prelim.) 56,657.

Tebaldi, Renata

2005-03-25T21:37:00.000-08:00

Tebaldi received her early musical training from her mother, a singer, and studied at the Parma Conservatory. At age 18 she sang for Carmen Melis, of the Arrigo Boito Conservatory in Pesaro, who accepted her as a student. She made her debut in Rovigo in 1944 as Elena

Deflation

2005-03-25T18:49:00.000-08:00

In geology, erosion of loose material from flat areas of dry, uncemented sediments such as those occurring in deserts, dry lake beds, floodplains, and glacial outwash plains. Clay and silt-sized particles are picked up by turbulent eddies in wind and may be carried for hundreds of kilometres; they later settle to form loess deposits. Local areas subjected to deflation

Laine, Dame Cleo

2005-03-25T05:37:00.000-08:00

Laine was born to a Jamaican father and an English mother. She quit school at age 14 and took a variety of jobs while auditioning for singing jobs. Her first break came in 1951, when she was hired as a vocalist for the Johnny Dankworth Seven, a

Céspedes, Pablo De

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

Céspedes was educated at Alcalá de Henares, where he studied theology and Oriental languages. On leaving the university he went to Rome. In 1560, while in Rome, proceedings were taken against him by the Inquisition at Valladolid, but they were dropped. He returned to Spain a little before 1577 and received

Pereskia

2005-03-24T10:38:00.000-08:00

P. pititache, the native Mexican

Yellow-dog Contract

2005-03-24T00:17:00.000-08:00

Agreement between an employer and an employee in which the employee agrees, as a condition of employment, not to join a union during the course of his employment. Such contracts, used most widely in the United States in the 1920s, enabled employers to take legal action against union organizers for encouraging workers to break these contracts. A federal law prohibiting

France, History Of, Austrasian hegemony and the rise of the Pepinids

2005-03-23T23:33:00.000-08:00

The murder of Ebroïn (680 or 683) reversed the situation in favour of Austrasia and the Pepinids. Pepin II, who defeated the Neustrians at Tertry in 687, reunified northern Francia under his own control during the next decade. Austrasia and Neustria were reunited under a Merovingian figurehead, but Pepin II governed by virtue of his position as mayor of the palace. At the same time,

Olympic Games, Los Angeles, California, U.S., 1932

2005-03-23T22:24:00.000-08:00

Only about 1,300 athletes, representing 37 countries, competed in the 1932 Games. The poor participation was the result of the worldwide economic depression and the expense of traveling to California. The Los Angeles Games featured the first Olympic Village. The village was located in Baldwin Hills, a suburb of Los Angeles, and covered 321 acres (130 hectares). The male athletes were housed

Ear, Human, Detection of linear acceleration: static equilibrium

2005-03-22T23:16:00.000-08:00

The gravity receptors that respond to linear acceleration of the head are the maculae of the utricle and saccule (see Anatomy of the human ear: Inner ear: Vestibule). The left and right utricular maculae are in the same, approximately horizontal, plane and because of this position are more useful in providing information about the position of the head and its side-to-side

Onsager, Lars

2005-03-22T11:38:00.000-08:00

His early work in statistical mechanics attracted the attention of the Dutch chemist Peter Debye, under whose direction Onsager studied at the Federal Institute

Xerxes I

2005-03-22T08:54:00.000-08:00

The basic work is still A.T. Olmstead, History of the Persian Empire (1948, reissued 1985), a complex work, but one that contains the essentials. Charles Hignett, Xerxes' Invasion of Greece (1963), deals only with the relationships between Xerxes and Greece. Peter Green, Xerxes at Salamis (1970), discusses the Greco-Persian wars.

Asansol

2005-03-22T02:21:00.000-08:00

City, West Bengal state, northeastern India. Situated in the heart of the Raniganj coalfield, it is the centre of the Kulti-Burnpur industrial complex. Asansol is connected by the Grand Trunk Road and by rail with Calcutta, Durgapur, and Burdwan. The city is an important coal-trading and railway centre, with large railway workshops and a railway colony. Its major industries

Armorican Massif

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

French Massif Armoricain, flattened erosional upland, or peneplain, encompassing the western French départements of Finistère, Côtes-d'Armor, Morbihan, and Ille-et-Vilaine and parts of Manche, Orne, Mayenne, Maine-et-Loire, Loire-Atlantique, and Vendée. The region has an area of approximately 25,000 square miles (65,000 square km) and is bounded by the Paris Basin and the Seine River to the north and by the lowlands

Caldecott, Randolph

2005-03-21T22:51:00.000-08:00

While a bank clerk at Whitchurch, Shropshire, and at Manchester, Caldecott began drawing for local magazines. Through his acquaintance with George Du Maurier he began contributing to

Anatomy

2005-03-21T02:11:00.000-08:00

A field in the biological sciences concerned with the identification and description of the body structures of living things. Gross anatomy involves the study of major body structures by dissection and observation and in its narrowest sense is concerned only with the human body. “Gross anatomy” customarily refers to the study of those body structures large enough

Shensi, The people

2005-03-21T01:38:00.000-08:00

The people are nearly all Han (Chinese) and speak the Northwest Mandarin dialect. Some Hui (Chinese Muslim) communities remain in the south and northwest of the province. Most of the population is settled in the Wei and Han valleys; the uplands are more sparsely settled. The chief cities are Sian, Pao-chi, Hsien-yang, T'ung-ch'uan, and Han-chung. Other cities include An-k'ang,

Antony, Mark

2005-03-20T18:18:00.000-08:00

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

Baetic Cordillera

2005-03-20T17:22:00.000-08:00

Spanish Sistema Penibético, mountain system comprising the Andalusian mountains of southern Spain, of which the northern range runs about 360 miles (580 km) from Cape Trafalgar to Cape Nao. The central and southern ranges, the Baetic proper, extend a shorter distance from Estepona to Cape Gata. Separating the two systems is a complex series of structures, traceable in longitudinal corridors and high

Uralic Languages, The distribution of the daughter languages

2005-03-19T23:53:00.000-08:00

The central Volga origin hypothesis is also supported by the geographic distribution of the daughter languages. Except for Hungarian, which moved westward across the steppes, the Finno-Ugric languages form two chains distributed along major waterways, with the confluence of the Kama and Volga at their centre. One chain extends northward along the Kama, across

Argentina, The economy

2005-03-19T07:11:00.000-08:00

Labour movements are covered in Ronaldo Munck, Ricardo Falcón, and Bernardo Galitelli, Argentina: From Anarchism to Peronism: Workers, Unions, and Politics, 1855–1985 (1987); David Tamarin, The Argentine Labor Movement, 1930–45: A Study in the Origins of Peronism (1985); and Charles Bergquist, Labor in Latin America: Comparative Essays on Chile, Argentina, Venezuela, and Colombia (1986).

Rupee

2005-03-19T01:14:00.000-08:00

In the late 16th century the Mughal rulers of central and northern India established the silver rupee, which was divided

Sculpture, Western, Georgia

2005-03-18T13:22:00.000-08:00

A distinct Georgian sculptural tradition did not emerge until the advent of Christianity, which stimulated a demand for a large number of carved stone reliefs. The earliest of these were based on Early Christian models. In the 8th and 9th centuries the high-relief figures of Early Christian art gave way to figures rendered in wholly linear fashion. In the 10th and 11th centuries

Black Range

2005-03-18T07:35:00.000-08:00

Mountain range extending 100 miles (160 km) north to south, through Catron and Sierra counties, southwestern New Mexico, U.S. The range follows the Continental Divide for much of its length. Most of the range lies within the Gila National Forest, near the headwaters of the Gila River. The highest point in the range is Reeds Peak (10,015 feet [3,053 metres]). State Highway 152, also called the Black Range

Solar Compass

2005-03-18T00:28:00.000-08:00

Also called Sun Compass, type of navigational instrument that uses the position of the Sun to establish bearing. The solar compass operates somewhat like a sundial. It indicates direction by employing the angle of the shadow cast by the Sun in conjunction with a compass card, a flat disk marked with points and degrees of direction. The solar compass is useful for navigation in the high latitudes,

Nahua Language

2005-03-17T22:47:00.000-08:00

Also called Aztec an American Indian language of the Uto-Aztecan family, spoken in central and western Mexico. Nahua, the most important of the Uto-Aztecan languages, was the language of the Aztec and Toltec civilizations of Mexico. A large body of literature in Nahua, produced by the Aztecs, survives from the 16th century, recorded in an orthography that was introduced by Spanish priests

Indian Philosophy, The logical period

2005-03-17T18:56:00.000-08:00

The logical period of Indian thought began with the Kusanas (1st–2nd centuries). Gautama (author of the Nyaya-sutras; probably flourished at the beginning of the Christian Era) and his 5th-century commentator Vatsyayana established the foundations of the Nyaya as a school almost exclusively preoccupied with logical and epistemological issues. The Madhyamika (“Middle

Bonefish

2005-03-17T15:46:00.000-08:00

Also called Banana Fish, or Ladyfish (Albula vulpes), marine game fish of the family Albulidae (order Elopiformes). It inhabits shallow coastal and island waters in tropical seas and is admired by anglers for its speed and strength. Maximum length and weight are about 76 cm (30 inches) and 6.4 kg (14 pounds). The bonefish has a deeply notched caudal fin (near the tail) and a small mouth beneath a pointed, piglike

China, Ethnic and linguistic groups

2005-03-17T01:40:00.000-08:00

China is a multinational country, with a population composed of a large number of ethnic and linguistic groups. Thus, the basic classification of the population is not so much ethnic as linguistic. The Han (Chinese), the largest group, outnumber the minority groups or minority nationalities in every province or autonomous region except Tibet and Sinkiang. The Han,

Affix

2005-03-17T00:42:00.000-08:00

A grammatical element that is combined with a word, stem, or phrase to produce derived and inflected forms. There are three types of affixes: prefixes, infixes, and suffixes. A prefix occurs at the beginning of a word or stem (sub-mit, pre-determine, un-willing); a suffix at the end (wonder-ful, depend-ent, act-ion); and an infix occurs in the middle. English has no infixes, but they are

Plutus

2005-03-16T21:16:00.000-08:00

In Greek religion, god of abundance or wealth, a personification of ploutos (Greek: “riches”). According to Hesiod, Plutus was born in Crete, the son of the goddess of fruitfulness, Demeter, and the Cretan Iasion. In art he appears chiefly as a child with a cornucopia. He was sometimes confused with Pluto (Hades), god of the underworld.

Yacht

2005-03-16T16:09:00.000-08:00

In England by 1881 most of the important yacht clubs had become members of the Yacht Racing Association (founded 1875; from 1952 called the Royal Yachting Association). The organization made rules governing regatta sailing and later took on duties as a representative body for all British yachting, including dealing with port, harbour, and other governmental authorities. In the

Condé, Louis Ii De Bourbon, 4e Prince De

2005-03-16T05:58:00.000-08:00

The princes de Condé were the heads of an important French branch of the House of Bourbon. The Great Condé was the elder son of Henry II de Bourbon, 3rd prince de Condé, and of his wife, Charlotte

Jouffroy D'abbans, Claude-françois-dorothée, Marquis De

2005-03-15T15:21:00.000-08:00

At the age of 20 Jouffroy d'Abbans entered the army, and a year later he became involved in a duel that resulted in his banishment to Provence. There he began to work with boats and built a 43-foot (13-metre) steamboat

Juan De Fuca Strait

2005-03-15T05:01:00.000-08:00

From Cape Flattery and the open Pacific, the strait stretches 80–100 miles (130–160 km) east to join with Haro Strait and touches Whidbey

Nervous System, Human, Facial nerve (CN VII or 7)

2005-03-15T03:20:00.000-08:00

From the facial nucleus in the pons, facial motor fibres enter the internal auditory meatus, pass through the temporal bone, exit the skull via the stylomastoid foramen, and fan out over each side

Ryukyu Islands

2005-03-14T10:47:00.000-08:00

Also called Nansei Islands , Japanese Ryukyu-Shoto , or Nansei-Shoto , Ryukyuan Okinawa archipelago, extending almost 400 miles (650 km) southwest from Kyushu, southern Japan, to the northern tip of Taiwan bordering the Philippine Sea (east) and the East China Sea (west). Since 1972 the islands have comprised Okinawa ken (prefecture), Japan. With a total land area of 870 square miles (2,254 square km), they consist of 55 islands and islets divided into three major groups: the Amami island

Argos

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

The name Argos (adjectival form Argive) apparently signified an agricultural plain and was applied to several districts in ancient Greece. Historically, the Argolis was the easternmost portion of the Peloponnesian peninsula, and the city

Zoroastrianism

2005-03-13T16:46:00.000-08:00

Zoroastrianism is not the purely ethical religion it may at first seem. In practice, despite the doctrine of free choice, a Zoroastrian is so constantly involved in a meticulous struggle against the contamination of death and the thousand causes of defilement, and against the threat, even in his sleep, of ever-present demons, that he does not often believe that he is

Inland Sea

2005-03-13T06:44:00.000-08:00

Japanese Seto-naikai, the body of water lying between the Japanese islands of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. It is composed of five distinct basins linked together by channels. Its east-west length is about 270 miles (440 km), and its waters are easily navigable. The sea has an irregular coastline and is dotted with hundreds of small islands, the largest of which is Awaji Island in the east. Entrance to

Burette

2005-03-13T01:14:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Buret, laboratory apparatus used in quantitative chemical analysis to measure the volume of a liquid or a gas. It consists of a graduated glass tube with a stopcock (turning plug, or spigot) at one end. On a liquid burette, the stopcock is at the bottom, and the precise volume of the liquid dispensed can be determined by reading the graduations marked on the glass tube at the liquid

Buchner, Hans

2005-03-13T00:48:00.000-08:00

The brother of the Nobel Prize-winning chemist Eduard

Paul Of Thebes, Saint

2005-03-12T22:44:00.000-08:00

According to St. Jerome, his biographer, Paul fled to the Theban desert during the persecution of Christians (249–251) under the Roman emperor Decius. Thereafter, he lived a life of prayer and penitence in a cave, dying at the reputed age of 113. Jerome considered

Tucholsky, Kurt

2005-03-12T13:17:00.000-08:00

After studying law and serving in World War I, Tucholsky left Germany in 1924 and lived first in Paris and after 1929 in Sweden. He contributed to Rote Signale (1931; “Red Signals”), a collection of

Wang T'ao

2005-03-11T16:32:00.000-08:00

Wang's sympathy with the long, widespread Taiping Rebellion in South China (1850–64) aroused the enmity of officials in the Ch'ing dynasty (1644–1911) government. Forced to flee to British-controlled Hong

Vyshinsky, Andrey Yanuaryevich

2005-03-11T13:30:00.000-08:00

Vyshinsky, a member of the Menshevik branch of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers' Party since 1903, became a lawyer in 1913 and joined the Communist Party in 1920. While teaching at Moscow State University and practicing

Talbot

2005-03-11T10:17:00.000-08:00

County, east-central Maryland, U.S. It adjoins Chesapeake Bay to the west, the Choptank River to the south and southeast, and Tuckahoe Creek to the northeast and includes Tilghman and Poplar islands. The jagged coast is carved by the Wye East, Tred Avon, and Miles rivers and by Harris and Broad creeks. Parklands include Seth Demonstration Forest and Wye Oak State Park, the

Adams, Roger

2005-03-11T06:55:00.000-08:00

Receiving

Lodge, Sir Oliver Joseph

2005-03-11T00:06:00.000-08:00

Lodge became assistant professor of applied mathematics at University College, London, in 1879 and was appointed to the chair of physics at University College, Liverpool, in 1881. During

'uthman Ibn 'affan

2005-03-10T11:50:00.000-08:00

'Uthman

Catalonia Museum Of Art

2005-03-10T04:35:00.000-08:00

Spanish Museo De Arte De Cataluña , Catalan Museu D'art De Catalunya museum in the Palacio Nacional in Barcelona, housing one of the most important collections of medieval paintings in the world and also a fine and complete collection of Spanish ceramics. The Romanesque Galleries comprise a series of reconstructions of church interiors with mural decorations brought from villages in the Pyrenees, transported to the museum

Monde, Le

2005-03-09T07:10:00.000-08:00

The newspaper was established in 1944—as soon as the German army had quit Paris but while World War II continued—on orders of the new government of General Charles de Gaulle as a means of providing a respected voice for France. It was printed on the

Roman Republic And Empire

2005-03-09T00:41:00.000-08:00

The ancient state that centred on the city of Rome, from the time of the events leading up to the founding of the republic in 509 BC, through the establishment of the empire in 27 BC, to the final eclipse of the Empire of the West in the 5th century AD. (For later events of the Empire of the East, see Byzantine Empire.)

Shensi, Agriculture

2005-03-08T20:59:00.000-08:00

The southern part of the province forms a portion of the southwestern highland and basin area, which is characterized by double-cropping, wet-field agriculture, and forestry production. Most of the cultivated land is below 3,000 feet. The Han-chung Basin grows rice intensively, followed by winter wheat, but in the mountain zones of the T'ai-pai and Tsinling ranges the main

Azurite

2005-03-08T20:53:00.000-08:00

Also called Chessylite, basic copper carbonate [Cu3(OH)2(CO3)2]. It is ordinarily found with malachite in the oxidized zone of copper lodes. Notable deposits are Tsumeb, Namibia; Chessy, Fr.; and Bisbee, Ariz., U.S. Azurite was used as a blue pigment in ancient Eastern wall painting and, from the 15th to the middle of the 17th century, in European painting. For detailed physical properties, see carbonate

Uist

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

Either of two islands of the Outer Hebrides, both lying off the northwestern coast of Scotland. See North Uist; South Uist.

World War I, Serbia and the Salonika expedition, 191517

2005-03-08T05:19:00.000-08:00

Austria's three attempted invasions of Serbia in 1914 had been brusquely repulsed by Serbian counterattacks. By the summer of 1915 the Central Powers were doubly concerned to close the account with Serbia, both for reasons of prestige and for the sake of establishing secure rail communications with Turkey across the Balkans. In August, Germany sent reinforcements to Austria's

Danané

2005-03-07T22:14:00.000-08:00

Town, western Côte d'Ivoire. It lies along the Boan River, a tributary of the Nuon (Nipoué, Cestos) River, and at the intersection of roads from Liberia, Guinea, and the Ivoirian town of Man. It is the chief trade centre (rice, coffee, and kola nuts) of a forested region mainly inhabited by the Dan people. Pop. (1975) town, 19,608.

Jacksonville

2005-03-07T03:47:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1822) of Duval county, northeastern Florida, U.S., the centre of Florida's “First Coast” region. It lies along the St. Johns River near its mouth on the Atlantic Ocean, about 25 miles (40 km) south of the Georgia border. Jacksonville consolidated (1968) with most of Duval county and thereby became one of the nation's largest cities in area (841 square miles [2,178 square km]). The city is the focus of

Space

2005-03-06T16:20:00.000-08:00

Space is treated in a number of articles. For a philosophical consideration of the subject, see metaphysics. For a discussion of the relativity of space and time, see relativity. For a description of space as the region of the universe beyond the Earth

Piero Della Francesca

2005-03-06T11:18:00.000-08:00

Painter whose serene, disciplined exploration of perspective had little influence on his contemporaries but came to be recognized in the 20th century as a major contribution to the Italian Renaissance. The fresco cycle “The Legend of the True Cross” (1452–66) and the diptych portrait of Federico

Camargo Society

2005-03-06T09:30:00.000-08:00

Group credited with keeping ballet alive in England during the early 1930s. Named after Marie Camargo, the noted 18th-century ballerina, the society was formed in 1930 by Philip J.S. Richardson, the editor of Dancing Times, the critic Arnold Haskell, and other patrons to stimulate interest in creating a national ballet. For the next three years the group annually commissioned

Clarion River

2005-03-05T23:56:00.000-08:00

River formed at Johnsonburg, Elk county, northwestern Pennsylvania, U.S., by the confluence of East Branch and West Branch Clarion rivers. It flows generally southwest for about 110 miles (177 km), past the towns of Ridgway and Clarion, to join the Allegheny River. The Clarion Dam and Reservoir are on the East Branch near Glen Hazel. The river's name is attributed to surveyors who

Holmes, Sherlock

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

Fictional character created by the Scottish writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The prototype for the modern mastermind detective, Holmes first appeared in Conan Doyle's

Spruce Knob

2005-03-05T14:49:00.000-08:00

Highest point in West Virginia, U.S., located in the Allegheny Mountains in the eastern part of the state, about 25 miles (40 km) southeast of Elkins. Spruce Knob lies at an elevation of 4,863 feet (1,482 metres) at the southern end of Spruce Mountain, a ridge extending northeast-southwest along the western edge of Pendleton county. The peak, accessible by road from nearby Judy Gap, is within

Ta'liq Script

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

In Arabic calligraphy, cursive style of lettering developed in Iran in the 10th century. It is thought to have been the creation of Hasan ibn Husayn 'Ali of Fars, but, because Khwajah 'Abd al-Malik Buk made such vast improvements, the invention is often attributed to him. The rounded forms and exaggerated horizontal strokes that characterize the ta'liq letters were derived primarily

Steeple

2005-03-04T16:55:00.000-08:00

Tall ornamental tower, sometimes a belfry, usually attached to an ecclesiastical or public building. The steeple is usually composed of a series of diminishing stories and is topped by a spire, cupola, or pyramid (qq.v.), although in ordinary usage the term steeple denotes the entire structure.

Uzbekistan, Transportation

2005-03-04T02:15:00.000-08:00

The great obstacle to further development of markets for Uzbekistan's copious truck gardening and fruit growing remains the antiquated means of distribution. Neither the surface nor air transport now available can efficiently or with adequate refrigeration handle the volume produced in Uzbekistan and needed by the Baltic states, Russia, Belarus, and

Koga

2005-03-03T11:34:00.000-08:00

City, Ibaraki ken (prefecture), eastern Honshu, Japan. It lies at the confluence of the Omoi and Watarase rivers. An important river port, Koga was a castle town and post town on the Nikko-kaido (Nikko Highway) in the Tokugawa period (1603–1867). It became a major trade centre for the surrounding agricultural region after the Tohoku Main Line railway opened in 1891. Silk manufacture, introduced

Monarchy

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

The undivided sovereignty or rule of a single person. The term is applied to states in which the supreme authority is vested in a single person, the monarch, who is the permanent head of the state. The word has, however, outlived this original meaning and is now used, when used at all, somewhat loosely of states ruled by hereditary sovereigns, as distinct from republics

Divination, Inductive divination

2005-03-03T08:52:00.000-08:00

To speculate that inductive divination from natural phenomena must be very old—i.e., that it arose from an early intimate acquaintance with nature—is tempting but inaccurate. In fact, there is little evidence that preliterate peoples viewed nature as a system, and this is particularly true in respect to astral observation. Divination from the skies is concerned

Epirus

2005-03-02T11:19:00.000-08:00

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

Yi Dynasty

2005-03-02T02:23:00.000-08:00

General Yi established

Fuchs, Sir Vivian Ernest

2005-03-02T00:52:00.000-08:00

In 1929 and 1930–31 Fuchs participated in expeditions to East Greenland and the East African lakes, respectively, serving as a geologist. Between 1933 and 1934 he led the Lake Rudolf–Rift Valley Expedition

Celtic Literature, The 18th century: the first revival

2005-03-01T13:35:00.000-08:00

The mid-18th century was, after the 14th, the most fruitful period of Welsh literature. Goronwy Owen, inspired by English Augustanism, reintroduced and improved the strict metres of the cywydd and awdl (by this time a long poem written in a number of the classical cynghanedd metres). He also introduced a wide range of subject content, and thus founded a new classical school

Palamás, Kostís

2005-03-01T08:34:00.000-08:00

Palamás was educated at Mesolongion and at Athens and became the central figure in the Demotic movement of the 1880s, which sought to shake off traditionalism and draw inspiration for a new Greek literary and artistic style from the life and language of the people.

Bach Long Vi

2005-03-01T00:17:00.000-08:00

Island of northern Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin, halfway between the mouth of the Red River (Song Hong) near Nam Dinh and the Chinese island of Hainan. The island is a plateau that rises abruptly to 190 ft (58 m) above sea level and is fringed with precipitous cliffs. Fishing resources are abundant in the surrounding gulf of the South China Sea.

Bara

2005-02-28T19:00:00.000-08:00

Traditionally a bellicose people, the Bara lived in a great many independent groups based on lineage identity. Five main kinship groups exist, and formerly the Bara had two kingdoms, one of which survived until it was disbanded by the French. The Bara

Qalyubiyah, Al-

2005-02-28T16:08:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Kalyubia, small muhafazah (governorate), just north of Cairo at the apex of the Nile River delta, Lower Egypt. It is bounded on the northeast by Ash-Sharqiyah muhafazah and on the northwest by the Damietta Branch of the Nile. With a total area of 387 square miles (1,001 square km), it is densely populated. About three-fifths of its population relies on agriculture. The alluvial farmland is irrigated

Aurora

2005-02-27T10:58:00.000-08:00

City, Kane and Du Page counties, northeastern Illinois, U.S., on the Fox River. Founded as a trading point and mill site near a Potawatomi Indian village in 1834, the town was laid out in 1836. Aurora developed as both a residential and an industrial city. Many of its residents commute to Chicago, 39 miles (63 km) east. Its manufactures include heavy machinery, industrial and electrical equipment,