RoughNeedle

Estate Agent Fitzrovia

2006-10-25T14:30:00.000-07:00

Robert Irving Burns specialise in London Commercial and Residential property services. They are a specialist in estate agent fitzrovia, amongst other London areas such as Soho and Oxford Circus.

Vaishnavism

2005-03-19T17:26:00.000-08:00

A major characteristic of Vaishnavism is the strong part played by bhakti, or religious devotion. The ultimate goal of the devotee is to escape from the cycle of birth and death so as to enjoy the presence

Jowett, Benjamin

2005-03-17T22:04:00.000-08:00

Jowett was educated at St. Paul's School, London, and Balliol. He was made a fellow at Balliol in

Ushpizin

2005-03-14T01:35:00.000-08:00

(Aramaic: “visitors”), according to the Jewish Kabbalistic book the Sefer ha-zohar (“Book of Splendour”), seven ancient worthies who take turns visiting the homes of all pious Jews to share their dinner on the festival of Sukkoth. A custom developed of reciting a fixed formula of invitation to the seven: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, and David. Poor scholars are sometimes

Powerlifting

2005-03-12T18:17:00.000-08:00

Powerlifting was developed primarily in the United States and Canada by weight lifters whose concentration on power alone, they felt, was excluded from formal competition. In 1967 the Amateur Athletic Union began national supervision of the

Viscosity

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

Resistance of a fluid (liquid or gas) to a change in shape, or movement of neighbouring portions relative to one another. Viscosity denotes opposition to flow. The reciprocal of the viscosity is called the fluidity, a measure of the ease of flow. Molasses, for example, has a greater viscosity than water. Because part of a fluid that is forced to move carries along to some

East End

2005-03-08T10:13:00.000-08:00

Traditional area of London, lying east of Shoreditch High Street, Houndsditch, Aldgate High Street, and Tower Bridge Approach. It extends eastward to the River Lea and lies mainly in the Inner London borough of Tower Hamlets, part of the historic county of Middlesex. In the Middle Ages the East End was part of the great parish of Stepney. It began to take on an identity

Wang An-shih

2005-03-06T06:37:00.000-08:00

Wang emerged from a rising new group of southern bureaucrats with a strong utilitarian bent, who challenged

Neogrammarian

2005-03-05T14:36:00.000-08:00

German Junggrammatiker, any of a group of German scholars that arose around 1875; their chief tenet concerning language change was that sound laws have no exceptions. This principle was very controversial because there seemed to be several irregularities in language change not accounted for by the sound laws, such as Grimm's law (q.v.), that had been discovered by that time. In 1875, however, the Danish

Biblical Literature, The Sibylline Oracles

2005-03-02T15:01:00.000-08:00

The Sibylline Oracles is a collection of oracles in Greek verse containing pagan, Jewish, and Christian material from various periods. It comprised 15 books (books IX, X, and XV are lost), of which 4,240 verses are extant. Sibyl is the name (or title) of a legendary ancient pagan prophetess. In the Hellenistic period, eastern nations fabricated Sibylline oracles as propagandistic

Dacke War

2005-03-01T02:12:00.000-08:00

Led by Nils Dacke, an outlaw, the peasants of the province of Småland took up arms against the King in the spring of 1542 in protest against the royal

Malachite

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

A minor ore but a widespread mineral of copper, basic copper carbonate, Cu2CO3(OH)2. Because of its distinctive bright green colour and its presence in the weathered zone of nearly all copper deposits, malachite serves as a prospecting guide for that metal. Notable occurrences are Nizhne-Tagilsk, Siberia; Chessy, Fr.; Tsumeb, Namibia; and Bisbee, Ariz., U.S. Malachite has been

San Francisco De Macorís

2005-02-24T16:46:00.000-08:00

City, north-central Dominican Republic, on a tributary of the Camú River. Founded in 1777, it is situated in the fertile La Vega Real region. The city is a commercial and processing centre for the cacao, coffee, fruits, rice, beeswax, and hides produced in the hinterland. It is served by a short local railroad and by several secondary highways. Pop. (1983 est.) 67,000.

Vijayanagar

2005-02-22T16:19:00.000-08:00

The city and its first dynasty were founded in 1336 by five sons

Saransk

2005-02-19T20:44:00.000-08:00

City and capital of Mordvinia, in western Russia. It lies along the upper Insar River and on the western flank of the Volga River uplands. The city was founded in 1641 as a stronghold on the Saransk defensive line. It is an important route centre, with railways to Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Samara, and Penza. Industrial development was greatly stimulated in World War II,

Saint Vincent And The Grenadines

2005-02-16T22:46:00.000-08:00

In June 1998 the New Democratic Party (NDP), headed by Sir James Mitchell, narrowly won a fourth straight term in the general election. The NDP obtained 8 of the 15 House of Assembly

Astrobleme

2005-02-14T11:58:00.000-08:00

(from Greek astron, blema, “star wound”), remains of an ancient meteorite-impact structure on the Earth's surface, generally in the form of a circular scar of crushed and deformed bedrock. Because such telltale features as crater walls, fused silica glass, and meteorite fragments are heavily modified over time by erosion and weathering, the identification of astroblemes

Brie

2005-02-13T03:42:00.000-08:00

The preliminary soft curd of Brie is molded in flat, pancakelike rounds 9–15 inches (23–38 cm) in diameter and 1–1.5 inches (2.5–3.8 cm) in thickness. After the curd becomes firm, the cheese is sprayed with spores of penicillium candidum, a mold that forms a thin, downy white crust. The cheese ripens within

Brie

2005-02-11T05:48:00.000-08:00

The PFLP was established in 1967 in an amalgamation of three different guerrilla groups by the militant Palestinian leader

Hooker, John Lee

2005-02-09T10:36:00.000-08:00

Born into a Mississippi sharecropping family, Hooker learned to play the guitar from his stepfather and developed an interest in gospel music as a child. In 1943 he moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he made his mark

Cartagena

2005-02-06T22:58:00.000-08:00

Capital of Bolívar departamento, northern Colombia, at the northern end of Cartagena Bay. The old walled sections, including the 17th-century fortress of San Felipe de Barajas, lie on a peninsula and the island of Getsemaní, but the city now spreads over the islands of Manga and Manzanillo (site of the airport) and the mainland below La Popa Hill. In the old section are the

Río Gallegos

2005-02-05T00:13:00.000-08:00

Founded in 1885, it was named for Blasco Gallegos, one of Ferdinand Magellan's pilots, who is credited with discovering the river. Prehistoric cave paintings

La Bruyère, Jean De

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

La Bruyère studied law at

Papier-mâché

2005-02-01T03:18:00.000-08:00

Repulped paper that has been mixed with glue or paste so that it can be molded. The art of making articles of papier-mâché, beautifully decorated in Oriental motifs and handsomely lacquered, was known in the East centuries before its introduction in Europe. Molded-paper products were first made in France in the early part of the 18th century and, later, in Germany and England.

Faroese Language

2005-01-29T03:18:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Faeroese , Faroese Føroysk language spoken in the Faroe Islands by some 44,000 inhabitants. Faroese belongs to the West Scandinavian group of the North Germanic languages. It preserves more characteristics of Old Norse than any other language except modern Icelandic, to which it is closely related, but with which it is mutually unintelligible. The written language was established by the Faroese

Kassala

2005-01-28T01:35:00.000-08:00

Traditional region, east-central Sudan. It is bordered on the east by Ethiopia. The Atbara River, an important tributary of the Nile, flows northwestward through Kassala and causes seasonal floods during torrential summer rains. Rocky deserts dominate the centre of the region, while in the north is the Butana Plain, with sandy clay soils and occasional low hills with

Arabia, History Of, The Iran-Iraq War

2005-01-26T03:59:00.000-08:00

A fresh threat to the rich oil states of the gulf arose with the revolution in Iran in 1978–79 and with the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War in 1980. Islamic fundamentalism in the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's Iran struck an answering chord with Shi'ites and Iranian workers in the Arabian states, which gave financial support to Iraq. U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his successor in 1981, Ronald

Gunasthana

2005-01-23T01:50:00.000-08:00

The initial stages of development are: (1) mithyatva

Nabokov, Vladimir

2005-01-22T01:59:00.000-08:00

In Russian (English translations after 1940 mainly by the author and his son, Dmitri Nabokov): Mashenka (1926; Mary, trans. by Michael Glenny with Nabokov's assistance, 1970); Korol-dama-valet (1928; King, Queen, Knave, 1968); Zashchita luzhina (1930; The Defense, 1964); Podvig (1932; Glory, 1971); Camera obscura (1933; first Eng. trans. 1936, altered by Nabokov for U.S. version and retitled Laughter in the Dark, 1938); Otchayaniye (1934; Despair, 1937, altered and enlarged by Nabokov for U.S. version, 1966); Priglasheniye na kazn (1935; Invitation to a Beheading, 1959); Dar (incomplete 1937–38, complete 1952; The Gift, 1963). In English: The Real Life of Sebastian Knight (1941); Bend Sinister (1947); Lolita (1955); Pnin (1957); Pale Fire, including a long poem (1962); Ada; or, Ardor: A Family Chronicle (1969); Transparent Things (1972).

Locke, Matthew

2005-01-20T20:47:00.000-08:00

By 1661 Locke had been appointed composer in ordinary to the king. After his conversion to Roman Catholicism he was appointed organist to the queen. With Christopher Gibbons he wrote the music for James Shirley's masque Cupid and Death (1653), possibly the most elaborate

Solar Calendar

2005-01-17T16:05:00.000-08:00

Any dating system based on the seasonal year of approximately 365 1/4 days, the time it takes the Earth to revolve once around the Sun. The Egyptians appear to have been the first to develop a solar calendar, using as a fixed point the annual sunrise reappearance of the Dog Star—Sirius, or Sothis—in the eastern sky, which coincided with the annual flooding of the Nile River. They

Sculpture

2005-01-16T05:12:00.000-08:00

A form of aesthetic expression in which hard or plastic materials are worked (as by carving, molding, or welding) into three-dimensional art objects. The designs may be embodied in freestanding objects, in reliefs on surfaces, or in environments ranging from tableaux to contexts that envelop the spectator. An enormous variety of media may be used, including clay, wax,

Indonesia, Animal life

2005-01-14T17:01:00.000-08:00

Indonesia is located in the transitional zone between two of the world's major faunal regions: the Oriental of Asia in the west and the Australasian of Australia and New Guinea in the east. The boundary of these realms, called Wallace's Line, runs between Borneo and Celebes in the north and Bali and Lombok in the south. To the west the Asian animal community includes such

Great Artesian Basin

2005-01-12T21:50:00.000-08:00

Also called Great Australian Basin, one of the largest areas of artesian water in the world, underlying about one-fifth of Australia. It includes most of the Darling and Lake Eyre catchments and extends northward to the Gulf of Carpentaria. Most of its 676,250 square miles (1,750,000 square km) underlies Queensland, with smaller segments extending under New South Wales, South Australia, and Northern Territory. Its floor

Hu-lun Lake

2005-01-09T22:32:00.000-08:00

Hu-lun Lake has varied considerably in area according to variations in the climate. At one time it was part of a large lake that included Pei-erh Lake, a somewhat

Klamath Mountains

2005-01-07T14:26:00.000-08:00

Segment of the Pacific mountain system (q.v.) of western North America. The range extends southward for about 250 miles (400 km) from the foothills south of the Willamette Valley in southwestern Oregon, U.S., to the northwestern side of the Central Valley of California. The mountains rise to Mount Eddy (9,038 feet [2,755 m]) west of Mount Shasta in California and include numerous subranges. They

Kachchh, Rann Of

2005-01-05T01:23:00.000-08:00

Kachchh also spelled Kutch, Cutch , or Kachh saline mudflats, west-central India and southern Pakistan. The Great Rann covers an area of about 7,000 square miles (18,000 square km) and lies almost entirely within Gujarat state, India, along the border with Pakistan. The Little Rann of Kachchh extends northeast from the Gulf of Kachchh and occupies about 2,000 square miles (5,100 square km) in Gujarat state. Originally an extension of the

Alumina

2005-01-03T02:44:00.000-08:00

Alumina is made from bauxite, a naturally occurring ore containing

Hardness Tester

2005-01-02T21:19:00.000-08:00

Brinell hardness is determined by forcing a hardened steel or carbide ball of known diameter under a known load into a surface and measuring the diameter of the

World War I, The Western Front, JanuaryMay 1917

2004-12-31T04:29:00.000-08:00

The western Allies had good reason to be profoundly dissatisfied with the poor results of their enterprises of 1916, and this dissatisfaction was signalized by two major changes made at the end of the year. In Great Britain, the government of H.H. Asquith, already turned into a coalition in May 1915, was replaced in December 1916 by a coalition under David Lloyd George; and that same

Shensi

2004-12-29T03:05:00.000-08:00

Chinese (Wade-Giles) Shen-hsi, (Pinyin) Shaanxi, sheng (province) of China. It is bordered by the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to the north, by the Huang Ho (Yellow River) and Shansi Province in the east, by Szechwan Province in the south, by Hupeh and Honan provinces in the southeast, and by the Hui Autonomous Region of Ningsia and Kansu Province on the west. Its total area is 79,400 square miles (205,600 square kilometres). The capital

Azorín

2004-12-26T13:28:00.000-08:00

Azorín studied law at Valencia, Granada,

Zlín

2004-12-25T13:27:00.000-08:00

Formerly (1948–90) Gottwaldov, city, Jihomoravský kraj (region), Czech Republic, on the Drevnice River, near its confluence with the Morava River. Gottwaldov was created in 1948 through a merger of several communities surrounding Zlín, a 14th-century village that had grown rapidly after World War I. The consolidated town was named for Klement Gottwald, the first communist president of Czechoslovakia. In

Skeleton Sledding

2004-12-22T23:24:00.000-08:00

Also called Cresta sledding winter sport in which the skeleton sled, or Cresta, consisting of steel runners fastened to a platform chassis, is ridden in a headfirst, prone position. Skeleton sledding competitions are typically held on the same courses used for bobsled contests. It is a dangerous and thrilling sport where riders, with their faces just inches above the icy course, attain speeds

Bruner, Jerome S(eymour)

2004-12-21T22:09:00.000-08:00

Bruner's father, a watch manufacturer, died when Bruner was 12 years old. Bruner studied at Duke University in Durham, N.C. (B.A., 1937), and then

Osijek

2004-12-19T05:03:00.000-08:00

In Roman times the city site was known as Mursa. Its present name was first recorded in 1196. An important trade and transportation centre from early times, Osijek was controlled by the Ottoman Empire from 1526 to 1687. In the 19th century a brewery and a match-making factory were established in the town. Many of Osijek's

Adapazari

2004-12-17T23:56:00.000-08:00

City, northwestern Turkey, lying in a fertile plain west of the Sakarya River. It is situated along the old military road from Istanbul. The region came under Ottoman control in the early 14th century, and the city acquired its present name at the end of the 18th century. An agricultural and industrial centre, Adapazari is connected by a branch line to the main Anatolian railway

France, History Of, Parisian revolt

2004-12-15T23:09:00.000-08:00

In fact, the king had by no means reconciled himself to this revolutionary act. His concession was a strategic retreat until he could muster the military power to subdue the patriots. Between June 27 and July 1 he ordered 20,000 royal troops into the Paris region, ostensibly to protect the assembly and to prevent disorder in the restive capital. The assembly's pleas to the king

Mercator Projection

2004-12-12T11:33:00.000-08:00

Type of map projection introduced in 1569 by Gerardus Mercator. It is often described as a cylindrical projection, but it must be derived mathematically. The meridians are equally spaced, parallel vertical lines, and the parallels of latitude are parallel, horizontal straight lines, spaced farther and farther apart as their distance from the Equator increases. This

Acropolites, George

2004-12-11T02:28:00.000-08:00

Acropolites was reared at the imperial court, then at Nicaea in Asia

Uummannaq Fjord

2004-12-09T02:45:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Umánaq, or Umanak, inlet of Baffin Bay and town, western Greenland, north of Nuussuaq Peninsula, separated from Karrat Isfjord by Upernivik and Ubekendt islands. About 100 miles (160 km) long and 15–30 miles (24–48 km) wide, Uummannaq divides into several smaller fjords extending eastward to the inland ice cap, where they are fed by extensive glaciers. Qarajaqs Isfjord is its most southerly arm. The town of

Boilly, Louis-léopold

2004-12-07T05:45:00.000-08:00

Boilly, the son of a wood-carver, painted portraits for a living before moving to Paris in 1785. There he began to paint the detailed anecdotal pictures of fashionable

Boeotia

2004-12-04T16:17:00.000-08:00

Modern Greek Voiotía district of ancient Greece with a distinctive military, artistic, and political history. It corresponds somewhat to the modern nomós (department) of Boeotia, the administrative centre of which is Levádhia. The nomós extends farther to the northwest, however, to include part of ancient Phocis (Fokís). It is bounded by Attica (Attikí; southeast), the Gulf of Corinth (south),

Hoosac Tunnel

2004-12-03T04:44:00.000-08:00

The first major rock tunnel built in the United States. The tunnel runs through Hoosac Mountain of the Berkshire Hills, east of North Adams, Mass., and was built to provide a rail connection between Boston and upper New York state. Though only 4.75 miles (7.6 km) long, the tunnel took 24 years (1851–75) to complete, partly because of slow and laborious rock-tunneling techniques in use when construction

Graf, Urs

2004-11-29T16:11:00.000-08:00

The son of a goldsmith, Hugo Graf, he probably studied first under his father and later at Basel, following the style of Albrecht Dürer and of Dürer's assistant, the German painter and draftsman Hans Baldung-Grien. Settling in Basel in 1509, Graf executed his masterpiece

Saratoga

2004-11-26T15:23:00.000-08:00

County, eastern New York state, U.S., bounded by the Hudson River to the northeast and east and the Mohawk River to the southeast. Other waterways include Snook Kill and Great Sacandaga, Saratoga, and Galway lakes. The terrain rises from Hudson valley lowlands in the south and east to the Adirondack Mountains in the northwest. Adirondack Park occupies the northwestern

Durand, Asher B(rown)

2004-11-24T00:51:00.000-08:00

He was apprenticed in 1812 to an engraver; by 1823 his reputation was established with his engraving of John Trumbull's painting “Declaration of Independence.” For the next decade he continued to do engraved reproductions

Morand, Paul

2004-11-22T00:26:00.000-08:00

Morand joined the diplomatic service in 1912, serving as attaché in London, Rome, Madrid, and Siam (Thailand). In his early fiction, Ouvert la nuit (1922; Open All Night), Fermé la nuit (1923; Closed All Night), and Lewis et Irène (1924; Lewis and Irene), he borrowed the cinematic techniques of rapid scene changing and transported the reader

Mcphatter, Clyde

2004-11-20T09:28:00.000-08:00

One of the most dramatic vocalists of his generation, McPhatter grew up in a devout Christian family that moved from North Carolina to New Jersey in the mid-1940s. There, together with some high school friends (including two of author James

Amboise

2004-11-18T07:49:00.000-08:00

The town was first mentioned in 504 as Ambatia, when on the isle of Saint-Jean (now Île d'Or), Clovis, king of the Franks, met

Ribes

2004-11-17T01:48:00.000-08:00

Genus of about 150 species of shrubs of two distinct groups, the currants and the gooseberries, constituting the family Grossulariaceae (often included in the family Saxifragaceae). They are native to the temperate regions of North America, extending southward into the Andes. Some authorities separate the gooseberries as the genus Grossularia. Currants usually

Biblical Literature, Philological criticism

2004-11-14T19:17:00.000-08:00

Philological criticism consists mainly in the study of the biblical languages in their widest scope, so that the vocabulary, grammar, and style of the biblical writings can be understood as accurately as possible with the aid not only of other biblical writings but of other writings in the same or cognate languages. New Testament Greek, for example, is a representative

Reform Party

2004-11-12T06:36:00.000-08:00

The Reformers urged that the provincial legislative councils—and by implication even the governors and other officials—be made elective; they also proposed that the officials

Hohenlohe Family

2004-11-10T17:35:00.000-08:00

German princely family which took its name from the district of Hohenlohe in Franconia. First mentioned in the 12th century as possessing the castle of Hohenloch or Hohenlohe, near Uffenheim, the family soon extended its influence over several of the Franconian valleys, including those of the Kocher, the Jagst, and the Tauber. Henry I (d. 1183) was the first to take the title

Beawar

2004-11-09T19:36:00.000-08:00

Town, Rajasthan state, northwestern India. A major rail and road junction, Beawar is an agricultural and woollen market centre. Industries include cotton ginning, handloom weaving, hosiery manufacture, and wood carving. Formerly also called Nayanagar, the town was founded in 1835 and grew rapidly in prosperity because of its advantageous position between Udaipur and Jodhpur.

Furniture, France and England: 17th and 18th centuries

2004-11-07T19:29:00.000-08:00

The French Rococo chair in its most mature form—that is, as developed in Paris around 1750—spread over most of Europe and has been imitated or copied into the mid-20th century. The model owes its popularity to a combination of comfort and elegance. The seat conforms to the human body and permits a relaxed sitting position. The back is bow-shaped, the legs curved. Normally the seat

Black Death

2004-11-05T09:34:00.000-08:00

Originating in China and Inner Asia, the plague was transmitted to Europeans (1347) when a Kipchak army, besieging a Genoese trading post in the Crimea, catapulted

Shigemitsu Mamoru

2004-11-02T19:42:00.000-08:00

Shigemitsu, a graduate of Tokyo University, joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1911. By 1918 he held a position in the embassy in Poland and, while in Europe, attended the Paris

San Ignacio

2004-11-01T18:14:00.000-08:00

Formerly El Cayo, or Cayo, town, west-central Belize (formerly British Honduras). It lies along the Belize River, near the Guatemalan border. With Benque Viejo del Carmen, which is about 8 miles (13 km) southwest, it traditionally dealt in chicle and lumber, but these products have now largely been replaced by cattle and corn (maize), beans, and rice. Some trade is carried on with Guatemala. Its inhabitants

Fish, Stanley

2004-10-29T00:01:00.000-07:00

Fish was educated at the University of Pennsylvania (B.A., 1959) and Yale University (M.A., 1960; Ph.D., 1962). He taught at Johns Hopkins University from 1974 to 1985 and at Duke University

Alfonso Viii

2004-10-27T17:23:00.000-07:00

Before Alfonso came of age his reign was troubled by internal strife and the intervention of the kingdom of Navarre in Castilian affairs. Throughout his reign he maintained a close alliance with the kingdom of Aragon, and in 1179 he concluded the Pact of Cazorla, which settled

Philanthropinum

2004-10-26T15:10:00.000-07:00

Late 18th-century school (1774–93) founded in Dessau, Germany, by the educator Johann Bernhard Basedow to implement the educational ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Aiming to foster in its students a humanitarian worldview and awareness of the community of interest among all people, it taught rich and poor boys together regardless of religious or class distinctions. The school

L'engle, Madeleine

2004-10-24T23:44:00.000-07:00

L'Engle attended boarding schools in Europe and the United States and graduated with honours from Smith College (B.A., 1941). She pursued a career in the theatre before

China, Internal solidarity during the decline of the Nan Sung

2004-10-22T22:54:00.000-07:00

Honouring the Chu Hsi school did not reinvigorate the Nan Sung administration, but the military, despite some weaknesses, maintained an effective defense against the Mongols for four decades—the longest stand against Mongol invasions anywhere. The final Sung defeat came in part because the Mongol forces, frustrated for many years in their attempts to break the

Presbyterian Church (u.s.a.)

2004-10-20T06:02:00.000-07:00

The U.S. Presbyterian Church traces its beginnings to the earliest Presbyterian

Kuwait

2004-10-17T04:58:00.000-07:00

In 2003 the Kuwaiti government supported international efforts to induce Iraqi Pres. Saddam Hussein to resign and leave Iraq voluntarily. When those failed, Kuwait supported the U.S.-led campaign against Iraq and allowed a massive military buildup by U.S. and British troops on its territory. These forces finally invaded and occupied Iraq in March and April. Afterward,

Tequendama Falls

2004-10-16T09:03:00.000-07:00

Spanish Salto De Tequendama, waterfalls on the Bogotá (Funza) River, which is a tributary of the Magdalena River, in the Andean Cordillera (mountains) Oriental, central Colombia. One of the country's major tourist attractions, the falls are located in a forested area 20 miles (32 km) west of Bogotá. The river surges through a rocky gorge that narrows to about 60 feet (18 m) at the brink of the 515-foot- (157-metre-) high falls. The

Sangre De Cristo Mountains

2004-10-14T02:08:00.000-07:00

Segment of the southern Rocky Mountains, extending south-southeastward for about 250 miles (400 km) from Poncha Pass, in south-central Colorado, U.S., to the low divide southwest of Las Vegas, N.M., in north-central New Mexico. Usually considered an extension of the Front Range (q.v.), they are divided into the Culebra and Sangre de Cristo ranges in Colorado. Many of their glaciated summits

Shiel, Loch

2004-10-11T01:32:00.000-07:00

Narrow lake, in the northwest Highlands of Scotland. About 17 miles (28 km) long, it extends ribbonlike from Glenfinnan southwestward and drains into the 3-mile- (5-km-) long River Shiel, which empties into Loch Moidart, a sea loch. The upper reaches of Loch Shiel, toward Glenfinnan, are bounded by wild and rough scenery, with steep mountains reaching elevations of about 3,000 feet (900 metres).

Gentile Da Fabriano,

2004-10-10T10:07:00.000-07:00

An early signed work by Gentile has stylistic affinities with Lombard painting and suggests that he was trained in the Lombard school. In 1409 Gentile was commissioned to

Sicilian Vespers

2004-10-05T23:42:00.000-07:00

(1282) massacre of the French with which the Sicilians began their revolt against Charles I, Angevin king of Naples and Sicily; it precipitated a French-Aragonese struggle for possession of that kingdom. Its name derives from a riot that took place in a church outside Palermo at the hour of vespers on Easter Monday, March 30, 1282. Peter III of Aragon, Charles's rival for the Neapolitan

National Capital Parks

2004-10-03T01:53:00.000-07:00

Today there are more than 300 park units with a combined area of 10 square miles (26 square km). The overwhelming majority of units are located in Washington, D.C.;

China, Twentieth-century China

2004-10-01T10:37:00.000-07:00

The bibliography on contemporary Chinese history is vast and growing rapidly. Although publications on modern China are uneven in coverage and quality, most subjects of interest have been discussed in the writings of scholars and visitors to China and Taiwan. A comprehensive bibliography of these writings is compiled annually by the Journal of Asian Studies. See also George Ginsburgs and Michael Mathos, Communist China and Tibet: The First Dozen Years (1964); Edgar Snow, Red China Today (1971); John Wilson Lewis, Leadership in Communist China (1963, reprinted 1978), and (ed.), The City in Communist China (1971); Benjamin I. Schwartz, Communism and China: Ideology in Flux (1968); C.K. Yang, The Chinese Communist Society: The Family and the Village (1965); Byung-joon Ahn, Chinese Politics and the Cultural Revolution: Dynamics of Policy Processes (1976); Lowell Dittmer, Liu Shao-Ch'i and the Chinese Cultural Revolution: The Politics of Mass Criticism (1974); Kenneth Lieberthal, Revolution and Tradition in Tientsin, 1949–1952 (1980); Maurice Miesner, Mao's China: History of the People's Republic (1977); William E. Griffith, The Sino-Soviet Rift, Analysed and Documented (1964), and Sino-Soviet Relations, 1964–1965 (1967); Richard Baum, Prelude to Revolution: Mao, the Party, and the Peasant Question, 1962–66 (1975); Roderick MacFarquhar, The Origins of the Cultural Revolution, 2 vol. (1974–83); Frederick C. Teiwes, Politics and Purges in China: Rectifications and the Decline of Party Norms, 1950–1965 (1979); Tang Tsou, The Cultural Revolution and Post-Mao Reforms (1986); Edward E. Rice, Mao's Way (1972); Robert A. Scalapino (ed.), Elites in the People's Republic of China (1972); Stuart Schram (ed.), Mao Tse-tung Unrehearsed: Talks and Letters: 1956–71 (1974, U.S. title, Chairman Mao Talks to the People: Talks and Letters, 1956–1971); Frederic Wakeman, Jr., History and Will: Philosophical Perspectives of Mao Tse-tung's Thought (1973); William W. Whitson and Chen-hsia Huang, The Chinese High Command: A History of Communist Military Politics, 1927–71 (1973); Martin King Whyte, Small Groups and Political Rituals in China (1974); Margery Wolf and Roxane Witke (eds.), Women in Chinese Society (1975); and Margery Wolf, Revolution Postponed: Women in Contemporary China (1985).

Baha'i Faith

2004-09-29T21:15:00.000-07:00

Religion founded in Iran in the mid-19th century by Mirza Hoseyn 'Ali Nuri, who is known as Baha' Ullah (Arabic: “Glory of God”). The cornerstone of Baha'i belief is the conviction that Baha' Ullah and his forerunner, who was known as the Bab, were manifestations of God, who in his essence is unknowable. The principal Baha'i tenets are the essential unity of all religions and the unity of humanity.

Botev, Khristo

2004-09-27T13:37:00.000-07:00

In 1863 Botev was sent to complete his education in Russia, where he was much influenced by nihilist ideas. He returned to Bulgaria in 1867 but then fled to Romania. There he lived in poverty,

Chemical Compound, Monoterpenes

2004-09-26T06:04:00.000-07:00

The monoterpenes are isolated from their natural sources by distillation of the plant matter with steam. They are volatile oils, less dense than water, and have normal boiling points in the range 150°–185° C (300°–365° F). Purification is usually achieved by fractional distillation at reduced pressures or by regeneration from a crystalline derivative. Acyclic monoterpene hydrocarbons

Seven Hills Of Rome

2004-09-24T03:27:00.000-07:00

Group of hills on or about which the ancient city of Rome was built. The original city of Romulus was built upon Palatine Hill (Latin: Mons Palatinus). The other hills are the Capitoline, Quirinal, Viminal, Esquiline, Caelian, and Aventine (known respectively in Latin as the Mons Capitolinus, Mons Quirinalis, Mons Viminalis, Mons Esquilinus, Mons Caelius, and Mons

Dacier, André

2004-09-21T22:06:00.000-07:00

Dacier studied at Saumur with the Humanist Tanneguy Lefèbvre, whose daughter Anne he married in 1683. He was made keeper of the library of the Louvre and, elected to the French Academy in 1695, became

Philip

2004-09-19T21:52:00.000-07:00

A member of a distinguished equestrian family of Arab descent, Philip was praetorian prefect when the emperor Gordian III was killed in a mutiny (perhaps with Philip's connivance). Philip became emperor and quickly concluded a peace ending a war with Persia. After undertaking a series of campaigns

Cálabozo

2004-09-17T16:06:00.000-07:00

City, Guárico estado (“state”), central Venezuela. It lies along the Guárico River, 110 miles (180 km) south-southwest of Caracas, on a piedmont plain between the mountains and the Llanos (plains). Founded in 1695, Cálabozo was formerly an administrative centre. It gained prominence in the 1950s as the headquarters of the Guárico River Reclamation Project, which is concerned with irrigation,

Peter Damian, Saint

2004-09-16T13:38:00.000-07:00

Educated at Ravenna, Faenza, and Parma, he abandoned his teaching career (1035) to enter the hermitage of Fonte Avellana in the Apennines, where he was chosen prior in 1043. Peter's zeal for reform, particularly his advocacy of

Visconti, Luchino

2004-09-13T05:49:00.000-07:00

In full Don Luchino Visconti, Conte (count) Di Modrone Italian motion-picture director whose realistic treatment of individuals caught in the conflicts of modern society contributed significantly to the post-World War II revolution in Italian filmmaking and earned him the title of father of Neorealism. He also established himself as an innovative theatrical and opera director in the years

Flora

2004-09-11T22:29:00.000-07:00

In Roman religion, the goddess of the flowering of plants. Titus Tatius (according to tradition, the Sabine king who ruled with Romulus) is said to have introduced her cult to Rome; her temple stood near the Circus Maximus. Her festival, called the Floralia, was instituted in 238 BC. A representation of Flora's head, distinguished only by a floral crown, appeared on coins of the

Stainless Steel

2004-09-10T08:59:00.000-07:00

Any one of a family of alloy steels usually containing 10 to 30 percent chromium. In conjunction with low carbon contents, chromium imparts remarkable resistance to corrosion and heat. Other elements such as nickel, molybdenum, titanium, aluminum, niobium, copper, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, and selenium may be added to increase corrosion resistance to specific environments,

Heinemann, William

2004-09-08T16:10:00.000-07:00

Heinemann studied music in England and Germany but decided instead to become

Argentina, Patagonia

2004-09-06T17:22:00.000-07:00

Most approaches to Patagonia from the sea were hampered by inhospitable coastal cliffs and by high tides. With the Pampas Indians acting as a buffer against Europeans to the north, the Patagonian Indians thus remained unmolested until the mid-19th century, when European settlements encroached and warfare erupted. The Indian wars in northern Patagonia and the southern

Mountain, Tectonic processes that destroy elevated terrains

2004-09-03T16:25:00.000-07:00

Besides erosion, which is the principal agent that destroys mountain belts, two tectonic processes help to reduce high elevations. Horizontal crustal extension and associated crustal thinning can reduce and eliminate crustal roots. When this happens, mountain belts widen and their mean elevation diminishes. Similarly, the cooling and associated thermal

Scheffel, Joseph Victor Von

2004-09-01T04:42:00.000-07:00

Scheffel's father was a Baden army engineer, and

Ho Hsien-ku

2004-08-31T13:02:00.000-07:00

Pinyin He Xiangu, in Chinese mythology, one of the Pa Hsien, the Eight Immortals of Taoism, and the only female (if Lan Ts'ai-ho is considered to be male). As a teenaged girl she dreamed that mother-of-pearl conferred immortality. She thereupon ate some, became ethereal, and found she could float across the hills at will. She returned home each evening carrying herbs collected during the

Costa Mesa

2004-08-28T11:45:00.000-07:00

City, Orange county, southern California, U.S., on a coastal plateau overlooking the Pacific, at the mouth of the Santa Ana River. With Newport Beach it forms Orange county's “Harbor Area.” The site, once part of Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana and the Irvine Ranch, became the hot springs resort of Fairview. Laid out as the town of Harper in 1906, it was renamed in 1921 for its coastal location.

RoughNeedle

Estate Agent Fitzrovia

Vaishnavism

Jowett, Benjamin

Ushpizin

Powerlifting

Viscosity

East End

Wang An-shih

Neogrammarian

Biblical Literature, The Sibylline Oracles

Dacke War

Malachite

San Francisco De Macorís

Vijayanagar

Saransk

Saint Vincent And The Grenadines

Astrobleme

Brie

Brie

Hooker, John Lee

Cartagena

Río Gallegos

La Bruyère, Jean De

Papier-mâché

Faroese Language

Kassala

Arabia, History Of, The Iran-Iraq War

Gunasthana

Nabokov, Vladimir

Locke, Matthew

Solar Calendar

Sculpture

Indonesia, Animal life

Great Artesian Basin

Hu-lun Lake

Klamath Mountains

Kachchh, Rann Of

Alumina

Hardness Tester

World War I, The Western Front, JanuaryMay 1917

Shensi

Azorín

Zlín

Skeleton Sledding

Bruner, Jerome S(eymour)

Osijek

Adapazari

France, History Of, Parisian revolt

Mercator Projection

Acropolites, George

Uummannaq Fjord

Boilly, Louis-léopold

Boeotia

Hoosac Tunnel

Graf, Urs

Saratoga

Durand, Asher B(rown)

Morand, Paul

Mcphatter, Clyde

Amboise

Ribes

Biblical Literature, Philological criticism

Reform Party

Hohenlohe Family

Beawar

Furniture, France and England: 17th and 18th centuries

Black Death

Shigemitsu Mamoru

San Ignacio

Fish, Stanley

Alfonso Viii

Philanthropinum

L'engle, Madeleine

China, Internal solidarity during the decline of the Nan Sung

Presbyterian Church (u.s.a.)

Kuwait

Tequendama Falls

Sangre De Cristo Mountains

Shiel, Loch

World War I, The Western Front, JanuaryMay 1917