MedicalNeck

Hermes

2005-04-05T09:44:00.000-07:00

Greek god, son of Zeus and Maia; often identified with the Roman Mercury (q.v.) and with Casmilus or Cadmilus, one of the Cabeiri (q.v.). His name is probably derived from herma (see herm), the Greek word for a heap of stones, such as was used in the country to indicate boundaries or as a landmark. The earliest centre of his cult was probably Arcadia, where Mt. Cyllene was reputed to be

Houston, Edwin James

2005-04-03T16:34:00.000-07:00

A Philadelphia high school teacher, Houston collaborated with Elihu Thomson in experimenting on induction coils, dynamos, wireless transmission, and the design of an arc lighting system (patented in 1881) that was widely successful

The Peoples Known As Mimi

2005-03-31T16:40:00.000-08:00

The Mimi of Nachtigal and the Mimi of Gaudefroy-Demombynes, both of which speak a Maban language of the Nilo-Saharan language family, are identified by the names of their first investigators—Gustav Nachtigal and Maurice Gaudefroy-Demombynes, respectively. The name Mimi sometimes is applied to a people who call themselves Amdang and are also known as Biltine; although

Sunderland, Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl Of, Baron Spencer Of Wormleighton

2005-03-30T05:02:00.000-08:00

Spencer was the only son and heir of the 1st Earl of Sunderland, and in 1679 he became secretary

Computers, Integrated circuits

2005-03-28T16:06:00.000-08:00

William Shockley, a coinventor of the transistor, started Shockley Semiconductor Laboratories in 1955 in his hometown of Palo Alto, California. In 1957 his eight top researchers left to form Fairchild Semiconductor Company, funded by Fairchild Camera and Instrument Company. Along with Hewlett-Packard, another Palo Alto firm, Fairchild Semiconductor was the seed of what

Waddenzee

2005-03-25T20:52:00.000-08:00

Shallow inlet of the North Sea between the West Frisian Islands and the northern Netherlands mainland. The inlet extends from Noord-Holland to the northeast, where the islands gradually curve toward the mainland and the channel narrows to a few miles. Until the completion of the IJsselmeer dam (Afsluitdijk), Waddenzee formed the northern part of the former Zuiderzee.

Pacific Ocean, Biological resources

2005-03-23T03:46:00.000-08:00

The Pacific has the most varied complement of plants (i.e., algae) and animals of the world's oceans. The circumglobal mixing of water in the southern and, to a much more limited extent, northern polar reaches of the Pacific permit the intermingling of flora and fauna from other oceanic regions, while temperate and tropical surface waters of the Pacific are more likely

Italo-turkish War

2005-03-21T07:48:00.000-08:00

(1911–12), war undertaken by Italy to gain colonies in North Africa by conquering the Turkish provinces of Tripolitana and Cyrenaica (modern Libya). The conflict upset the precarious international balance of power just prior to World War I by revealing the weakness of Turkey and, within Italy, unleashed the nationalist-expansionist sentiment that guided government policy

Bracket Clock

2005-03-19T18:26:00.000-08:00

English spring-driven pendulum clock, first commonly kept on a small wall bracket and later on a shelf. Many bracket clocks contained a drawer to hold the winding key. The earliest bracket clocks, made for a period after 1660, were of architectural design, with pillars at the sides and a pediment on top; in later versions the pillars were omitted, the pediment was replaced

Aesthetics, The value of art

2005-03-17T08:37:00.000-08:00

Theories of the value of art are of two kinds, which we may call extrinsic and intrinsic. The first regards art and the appreciation of art as means to some recognized moral good, while the second regards them as valuable not instrumentally but as objects unto themselves. It is characteristic of extrinsic theories to locate the value of art in its effects on the person

Skalkottas, Nikos

2005-03-16T18:31:00.000-08:00

Skalkottas began violin studies at the age of five, continuing them later at the Athens conservatory and in Berlin, where he also studied composition. Influenced by Schoenberg, with whom he studied (1927–31), he began using the 12-tone method in his compositions but adhered to traditional forms.

West Chester

2005-03-14T21:38:00.000-08:00

Borough (town), seat (1786) of Chester county, southeastern Pennsylvania, U.S. It lies 27 miles (43 km) west of Philadelphia. Settlement began in the early 1700s, and Turk's Head Inn was established there in 1761; but the town's growth was delayed by a prolonged dispute with Chester (now in Delaware county) over the permanent location of the county seat. During the American Revolution, the Battle

Extradition

2005-03-12T16:22:00.000-08:00

According

Pacific Ocean

2005-03-11T20:04:00.000-08:00

Of the three oceans that extend northward from the Antarctic continent, the Pacific, occupying about a third of the surface of the terrestrial globe, is by far the largest.

Xeroderma Pigmentosum

2005-03-09T13:34:00.000-08:00

Rare, recessively inherited skin condition in which resistance to sunlight and other radiation beyond the violet end of the spectrum is lacking. On exposure to such radiation the skin erupts into numerous pigmented spots, resembling freckles, which tend to develop into multiple carcinomas. The condition may occur in mild or severe forms. Protection from direct

Babcock, Horace Welcome

2005-03-07T13:13:00.000-08:00

Horace Babcock attended the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and the University of California. He worked at the Massachusetts

China, State and society

2005-03-04T02:51:00.000-08:00

The state barred literati from using the academies and literary societies for explicitly political activities. Scholars in Peking and in the rich cities of the Yangtze Delta turned from politics to the study of texts that marked the empirical school of scholarship (k'ao-cheng hsüeh). Influenced by their knowledge of European mathematics and mathematical astronomy,

Mughal Glass

2005-03-02T20:49:00.000-08:00

Bottles, hookah bowls, dishes, and spittoons

Wu-kung Mountains

2005-03-01T01:58:00.000-08:00

Wade–Giles romanization Wukung Shan, Pinyin Wugong Shan, mountain range, chiefly in west-central Kiangsi Province, China, forming a part of the frontier area between Kiangsi and Hunan provinces. The range is about 80 miles (130 km) long and extends northeastward from Ch'a-ling in Hunan to near I-ch'un in Kiangsi, being divided from the Chiu-ling Mountains farther north by the valley route between Chu-chou and I-ch'un. The western section

Baseball

2005-02-27T10:38:00.000-08:00

Despite a slow start, in part because of inclement weather, the 2003 Major League Baseball season gained momentum during the midsummer months as interleague games in June and a dramatic All-Star Game in July cultivated interest. The second half of the regular season and the play-offs featured a number of story lines that contributed to what some deemed the most appealing

Dandin

2005-02-24T05:40:00.000-08:00

The Dasakumaracarita relates the vicissitudes of 10 princes in their pursuit of love and royal power.

Yamamoto Isoroku

2005-02-22T02:25:00.000-08:00

Yamamoto graduated from the naval academy in 1904 and fought as an ensign in the Russo-Japanese War. He was naval attaché at the Japanese embassy in Washington, D.C., during 1926–27. He became vice minister of the Japanese navy in 1936, commander

Chouan

2005-02-21T07:43:00.000-08:00

Member of any of the bands of peasants, chiefly smugglers and dealers in contraband salt, who rose in revolt in the west of France in 1793 and joined the Vendéan royalists (see Vendée, Wars of the). The Breton word chouan, meaning “screech owl,” is supposed to have been applied originally as a nickname to Jean Cottereau (1757–94), leader of the unsuccessful revolt, and afterward extended

Kahn, Gustave

2005-02-19T13:54:00.000-08:00

After study in Paris, Kahn spent four years in North Africa, returning to Paris in 1885. He helped found or edit several literary reviews, including La Vogue, Le Symboliste, and La Revue Indépendante, which printed his poems and discussed the various theories

France, History Of, The abolition of feudalism

2005-02-17T01:50:00.000-08:00

Of course the violence of peasant insurgency worried the deputies of the National Assembly; to some it seemed as if the countryside were being engulfed by anarchy that threatened all property. But the majority was unwilling to turn against the rebellious peasants. Instead of denouncing their violence, they tried to appease peasant opinion. Liberal nobles and

Tabari, At-

2005-02-14T13:51:00.000-08:00

Obviously, at-Tabari could not sustain his preference for reports originating with the Prophet and the pious scholars of the early community known as as-salaf. His judgment of a report's reliability was now based upon the largely theoretical criterion that it should originate with either an eyewitness or a contemporary informant. This posed a problem for which at-Tabar

Dubois, Eugène

2005-02-12T06:48:00.000-08:00

Appointed lecturer in anatomy at the University of Amsterdam (1886), Dubois investigated the comparative anatomy of the larynx in vertebrates but became increasingly interested in human evolution. In 1887 he went to the East Indies

Animal Disease

2005-02-10T20:01:00.000-08:00

Concern with diseases that afflict animals dates from the earliest human contacts with animals and is reflected in early views of religion and magic. Diseases of animals remain a concern principally because of the economic losses they cause and the possible transmission

Rhys, Jean

2005-02-09T15:21:00.000-08:00

The daughter of a Welsh doctor and a Creole mother, Rhys lived and was educated

Topelius, Zacharias

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

Topelius joined the faculty of the University of Helsinki as professor of Finnish history in 1864; he served as university president, 1875–78. Though he published five collections of lyrics, he is best known for F

Jhang Maghiana

2005-02-04T22:14:00.000-08:00

City consisting of twin towns, headquarters of Jhang Maghiana District, Sargodha Division, Punjab Province, Pakistan, just east of the Chenab River. Maghiana lies on the edge of the highlands overlooking the alluvial valley, while Jhang occupies the lowlands at its foot. They are connected by two roads and by the Grand Trunk Road with Peshawar and Lahore. Maghiana, founded

Shadkhan

2005-02-02T09:58:00.000-08:00

Plural Shadkhanim, one who undertakes to arrange a Jewish marriage. Such service was virtually indispensible during the Middle Ages when custom frowned on courtships and numerous Jewish families lived in semi-isolation in small communities. Shadkhanim were thus relied upon to gather and evaluate information on the personal qualities and background of potential spouses in

Graziani, Rodolfo, Marquess Di Neghelli

2005-01-31T21:12:00.000-08:00

After service in Eritrea and Libya before World War I and in Macedonia and Tripolitania subsequently, Graziani became commander in chief of Italian forces in Libya (1930–34), governor of Italian Somaliland (1935–36), viceroy of Ethiopia (1936–37), and honorary governor of Italian East Africa

Naevius, Gnaeus

2005-01-30T03:16:00.000-08:00

Second of a triad of early Latin epic poets and dramatists, between Livius Andronicus and Ennius. He was the originator of historical plays (fabulae praetextae) that were based on Roman historical or legendary figures and events. The titles of two praetextae are known, Romulus and Clastidium, the latter celebrating the

Agricultural Technology

2005-01-28T07:00:00.000-08:00

Application of techniques to control the growth and harvesting of animal and vegetable products.

Duck

2005-01-26T04:46:00.000-08:00

Any of several genera of relatively small, short-necked, large-billed waterfowl that belong to the subfamily Anatinae, family Anatidae (q.v.), order Anseriformes. In true ducks, i.e., those classified in Anatinae, the legs are placed rearward, as in swans, resulting in a waddling gait. Most true ducks, including a few inaccurately called geese by reason of size and build, differ

Alphabet, Arabic alphabet

2005-01-24T21:24:00.000-08:00

The Arabic script descended from the Aramaic through the Nabataean and the neo-Sinaitic alphabets. After the Latin script, it is the most widely used form of alphabetic writing in the modern world. The Arab conquests of the 7th and 8th centuries AD brought the language and the script to the vast expanse of territory extending from India to the Atlantic Ocean. The Arabic

Turing, Alan M.

2005-01-21T06:14:00.000-08:00

In full Alan Mathison Turing British mathematician and logician who made major contributions to mathematics, cryptanalysis, logic, philosophy, and biology and to the new areas later named computer science, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, and artificial life.

Sard And Sardonyx

2005-01-20T10:07:00.000-08:00

Translucent, light- to dark-brown varieties of the silica mineral chalcedony, historically two of the most widely used semiprecious stones. Sard and its close relative carnelian have been used in engraved jewelry for centuries. Sard (from Sardis, the ancient capital of Lydia) was originally called sardion, which included both sard and carnelian until the Middle

Brooks, Gwendolyn

2005-01-18T03:25:00.000-08:00

Brooks graduated from Wilson Junior College in Chicago in 1936. Her early verses appeared in the Chicago Defender, a newspaper written

Voting Rights Act

2005-01-15T15:56:00.000-08:00

U.S. legislation (August 6, 1965) that aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote under the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) to the Constitution of the United States. The act significantly widened the franchise and is considered among the most far-reaching pieces of civil rights legislation

Schrieck, Sister Louise Van Der

2005-01-14T14:03:00.000-08:00

Van der Schrieck was educated at the school of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in Belgium. In 1837 she became a novice of the order, and in 1839 she became Sister

Christianity, The cosmological argument

2005-01-11T06:35:00.000-08:00

St. Thomas Aquinas gave the first-cause argument and the argument from contingency—both forms of cosmological reasoning—a central place for many centuries in the Christian enterprise of natural theology. (Similar arguments were also used in parallel strands of Islamic philosophy.) Thomas' formulations (Summa theologiae, I, Q. 2, art. 3) have been refined in modern neo-Thomist

Jackson

2005-01-10T08:54:00.000-08:00

Town, seat (1921) of Teton county, northwestern Wyoming, U.S. The town lies at the southern end of the Teton Range, just north of the Snake River, and is the centre of an important recreation and tourist industry. Explored by the fur trapper John Colter in 1807, Jackson takes its name from another trapper, David Jackson, who worked in the area in the 1820s and who organized summer rendezvous

Alexander Of Tralles

2005-01-08T01:49:00.000-08:00

Latin Alexander Trallianus (c. 525–c. 605), Byzantine physician who practiced and taught in Rome, best known for his treatise on pathology and therapy (in 12 books), which served as a basis for instruction long after his death. It was translated into Arabic and Latin (Libri duodecim de re medica) and was printed in Greek, Latin, and Greco-Latin editions throughout the 16th century.

Hawthorn

2005-01-05T03:42:00.000-08:00

Also called Haw, or Thornapple, any of a number of thorny shrubs or small trees of the genus Crataegus, in the rose family (Rosaceae), native to the North Temperate Zone. Many species are native to North America. The hawthorn's leaves are simple, and usually toothed or lobed. The white or pink flowers, usually in clusters, are followed by small applelike, red fruits, or more rarely by blue or black

Tarafah

2005-01-03T19:24:00.000-08:00

Little is known with any certainty of Tarafah's life. He is traditionally acknowledged to have been an extraordinarily precocious poet,

Amati Family

2005-01-02T18:14:00.000-08:00

Andrea (c. 1520–c. 1578), the founder of the Cremona school of violin making, was perhaps originally influenced by the work of slightly earlier makers from Brescia. His earliest-known violins are dated about 1564. In essentials, they set the style for all the models made by later members of the family and,

Dowry

2004-12-30T05:03:00.000-08:00

One of the basic functions of a dowry has been to serve as a form of protection for the wife against ill treatment by her husband. A dowry used in this way was actually a conditional gift to the husband that would be

Biblical Literature, The Old Latin version

2004-12-29T22:12:00.000-08:00

The existence of a Latin translation can be attested in North Africa and southern Gaul as early as the second half of the 2nd century CE, and in Rome at the beginning of the following century. Its origins may possibly be attributed to a Christian adoption of biblical versions made by Jews in the Roman province of Africa, where the vernacular was exclusively Latin. Only

Costa, Isaäc Da

2004-12-27T01:33:00.000-08:00

Although poetry written in Latin by da Costa had previously been published, it was his first Dutch-language poetry, De lof der dichtkunst (1813; “In Praise of Poetry”), that came to the attention of the influential

Biblical Literature, Redemption and revelation

2004-12-25T09:24:00.000-08:00

Significant in the early chapters is God's special concern for the Hebrew slaves, his reference to them as “my people,” and his revelation to Moses, the rebel courtier whom he has picked to be their leader, that he is YHWH, the God of their fathers, an abiding presence that will rescue them from their misery and bring them into Canaan, the land of promise. This assurance is repeated

Khalil, Al-ashraf Salah Ad-din

2004-12-22T02:37:00.000-08:00

Mamluk sultan of Egypt who completed his father Qala'un's campaign to drive the Franks from Syria. He captured Acre (now 'Akko, Israel) in the spring of 1291, and the remaining crusader fortresses were surrendered by the end of the year. He was murdered by his emirs, who were alarmed by his ambition.

Outardes River

2004-12-21T21:33:00.000-08:00

French Rivière Aux Outardes, river in Côte-Nord (“North Shore”) region, east-central Quebec province, Canada, rising in the Otish Mountains and flowing southward for 300 miles (480 km) through Lake Plétipi to the St. Lawrence River, 18 miles southwest of Baie-Comeau. Named after the numerous wild geese for which it is famous, the Outardes River, with its many rapids and falls, attracted hydroelectric development

Media And Publishing, Amateur Radio.

2004-12-19T01:02:00.000-08:00

Despite the rise of the Internet, more than two million people throughout the world in 1997 continued to communicate over the air as amateur radio operators. Most of these hams--nearly 700,000, by the FCC's count--were in the U.S. The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) reported that it started off the year with 175,000 members, the most in its 83-year history. Hams used their radios mostly for personal

Young Plan

2004-12-16T05:25:00.000-08:00

(1929), second renegotiation of Germany's World War I reparation payments. A new committee, chaired by the American Owen D. Young, met in Paris on Feb. 11, 1929, to revise the Dawes Plan of 1924. Its report (June 7, 1929), accepted with minor changes, went into effect on Sept. 1, 1930. It reduced the amount due from Germany to 121,000,000,000 Reichsmarks in 59 annuities, set up the Bank for International Settlements to handle the transfer

Tzu-po

2004-12-15T16:32:00.000-08:00

Also called Chang-tien , Pinyin Zibo , or Zhangdian industrial city and municipality (shih), central Shantung Province (sheng), China. The core of the present 1,135-sq-mi (2,935-sq km) autonomous subprovincial-level municipality was formed under the People's Republic by amalgamating the two counties (hsien) of Tzu-ch'eng (Tzu-ch'uan) and Po-shan, which together form the richest coal field and mining area in the province. Tzu-ch'eng was an

Ash Wednesday

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

In the Christian church, the first day of Lent, occurring 6 1/2 weeks before Easter (between February 4 and March 11, depending on the date of Easter). In the early Christian church, the length of the Lenten celebration varied, but eventually it began 6 weeks (42 days) before Easter. This provided only 36 days of fast (excluding Sundays). In the 7th century, 4 days were added before the first Sunday

D-lines

2004-12-10T18:52:00.000-08:00

In spectroscopy, a pair of lines, characteristic of sodium, in the yellow region of the spectrum. Their separation is too small to be detected with a spectroscope of low resolving power. The line is the fourth prominent absorption line in the Sun's spectrum, starting from the red end, and accordingly is designated by the letter D. It has been resolved into two components,

Dolores River

2004-12-09T07:17:00.000-08:00

River in southwest Colorado, U.S., rising in the La Plata Mountains and flowing southwest through deep canyons, past Dolores, then northwest through Paradox Valley, at the north end of which it is met by its chief tributary, the San Miguel River. It continues on past Gateway and across the Utah border to join the Colorado River near Moab after a course of about 250 miles (400 km). Melting

Newington

2004-12-07T23:48:00.000-08:00

Area in the borough of Southwark, London. It lies southeast of Waterloo Station and west of Bermondsey. In the 19th century the area was developed as a residential suburb, and several roads and railways were built, converting Newington into a transportation hub for London south of the River Thames. Central to the area is the Elephant and Castle, a large traffic roundabout

Ta-li

2004-12-05T13:46:00.000-08:00

Ta-li was the traditional political and commercial centre of Yunnan,

Hippo

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

Hippo, later called Hippo Regius, located near the modern town of Annaba (formerly Bône) in Algeria, was probably first settled by Carthaginians in the 4th century BC. It later became the home of Numidian rulers. Under Roman control it was first made a municipium (a community that exercised partial rights of Roman citizenship)

Breda

2004-11-30T14:59:00.000-08:00

Gemeente (commune), Noord-Brabant provincie, southwestern Netherlands, at the confluence of the Mark (Merk) and Aa rivers. It was a direct fief of the duchy of Brabant; its earliest known lord was Godfrey I (1125–70), in whose family it continued until it was sold to Brabant in 1327. Chartered in 1252, it passed to the house of Nassau in 1404 and, ultimately, to William I of Orange (1533–84). Fortified (1531–36) by Count Henry

Paeonius

2004-11-26T04:39:00.000-08:00

Paeonius is famous for his statue of the Nike, or “Winged Victory” (c. 420 BC; Archaeological Museum, Olympia), which was found in Olympia in 1875. An inscription on its pedestal states that the statue commemorated a victory of the Messenians and the Naupactians over an unnamed enemy,

Berber Languages

2004-11-25T07:35:00.000-08:00

Also called Berbero-Libyan languages, group of languages that make up one of the constituent branches of the Afro-Asiatic (formerly Hamito-Semitic) language family; the other branches are Egyptian, Semitic, Cushitic, and Chadic. The Berber languages are spoken in scattered areas throughout northern Africa from Egypt westward to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Niger River northward to the Mediterranean

Ammonium Hydroxide

2004-11-23T02:32:00.000-08:00

The water solution is generally represented by the formula NH4OH, though

Aegina

2004-11-20T18:21:00.000-08:00

Modern Greek Aíyina island, one of the largest in the Saronic group of Greece, about 16 miles (26 km) south-southwest of Piraeus. With an area of about 32 square miles (83 square km), it is an eparkhía (“eparchy”) of the nomós (department) of Piraeus. The northern plains and hills are cultivated with vines and olive, fig, almond, and pistachio trees, while along the east coast stretches a ridge of light volcanic

Kaunda, Kenneth

2004-11-19T01:22:00.000-08:00

Kaunda's father, who was from Nyasaland (now Malawi), was a schoolteacher; his mother, also a teacher, was the first African woman to teach in colonial Zambia. Both taught among the Bemba tribe in northern Zambia, where young Kaunda

Hisdai Ibn Shaprut

2004-11-17T04:27:00.000-08:00

After becoming court physician to the powerful Umayyad caliph 'Abd ar-Rahman III, Hisdai gradually gained eminence in the Arab world, acting as

Substitution

2004-11-15T19:55:00.000-08:00

In Greek or Latin prosody, the replacement of a prosodic element that is required or expected at a given place in a given metre by another which is more or less equivalent in temporal quantity. In modern prosody, substitution refers to the use within a metrical series of a foot other than the prevailing foot of the series. A silence may also replace expected sound and

Schuyler, James

2004-11-12T05:38:00.000-08:00

Schuyler was educated at Bethany (West Virginia)

Sarcee

2004-11-11T03:56:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Sarsi, North American Plains Indian people of Athabascan linguistic stock who lived in the 18th and 19th centuries near the upper Saskatchewan and Athabaska rivers. They probably moved southward to this region near the end of the 17th century when they became the northern neighbours of the Blackfoot Indians, from whom they received some protection from enemies. Their name

Caoshu

2004-11-09T18:40:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization ts'ao-shu in Chinese calligraphy, a cursive variant of the standard Chinese scripts lishu and kaishu and their semicursive derivative xingshu. The script developed during the Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 220), and it had its period of greatest growth during the Tang dynasty (618–907). In caoshu the number of strokes in characters are reduced to single scrawls or abstract abbreviations of curves and dots.

Abbott, Bud; And Costello, Lou

2004-11-06T18:10:00.000-08:00

Abbott was born into a circus

Pyrargyrite

2004-11-05T10:16:00.000-08:00

A sulfosalt mineral, a silver antimony sulfide (Ag3SbS3), that is an important source of silver, sometimes called ruby silver because of its deep red colour (see also proustite). The best crystallized specimens, of hexagonal symmetry, are from St. Andreasberg in the Harz Mountains and from Freiberg, both in Germany; and Colquechaca, Bol. It is mined at Guanajuato, Mex., and near

Mun River

2004-11-02T10:21:00.000-08:00

Thai Mae Nam Mun main river system of the Khorat Plateau, in eastern Thailand. The Mun rises in the San Kamphaeng Range northeast of Bangkok and flows east for 418 miles (673 km), receiving the Chi River, its main tributary, and entering the Mekong River at the Laotian border. Nakhon Ratchasima and Ubon Ratchathani are the chief towns on its banks. The river is seasonally navigable below Ubon

Rüsselsheim

2004-10-31T01:13:00.000-08:00

City, Hesse Land (state), in west-central Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Main River between Mainz and Frankfurt am Main. Founded by the Frankish prince Ruzilo as Rusilesheim (“Ruzilo's home”), it belonged to the counts of Katzenelnbogen from 1300, was chartered in 1437, passed to the landgraves of Hesse in 1479, and fell to the Hesse-Darmstadt line in 1567. The town hall dates from

Grease

2004-10-29T22:14:00.000-07:00

White grease is made from inedible hog fat and has a low content of free fatty acids. Yellow grease is made from darker parts of the hog and may include parts used to make white grease. Brown grease contains

Sibsagar

2004-10-27T08:15:00.000-07:00

Town, eastern Assam state, northeastern India. Sibsagar lies on the Dikhu River, a tributary of the Brahmaputra, 30 miles (50 km) east-northeast of Jorhat. The Tai-speaking Ahoms came to the area from Yunnan, China, in the 13th century AD. Sibsagar was the capital of the Ahom kingdom in the 18th century, when it was called Rangpur; several temples remain from that period. The town is now a tea-processing

Prichard

2004-10-25T23:36:00.000-07:00

City, Mobile county, southwestern Alabama, U.S., a northern industrial suburb of Mobile. It was named for Cleveland Prichard, who purchased a tract of land (1879) on the east side of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad track and developed it into a vegetable-shipping point for markets in the North and East. The city's industries now include shipbuilding and the manufacture of chemicals,

Mountain, Mountain belts associated with volcanism

2004-10-23T01:07:00.000-07:00

Volcanoes typically form in any of three tectonic settings. At the axes of the mid-ocean ridge system where lithospheric plates diverge, volcanism is common; yet, high-standing volcanoes (above sea level) rarely develop. At subduction zones where one plate of oceanic lithosphere plunges beneath another plate, long linear or arcuate chains of volcanoes and mountain

Ghazan, Mahmud

2004-10-22T07:10:00.000-07:00

Most prominent of the Il-Khans (subordinate khans) to rule the Mongol dynasty in Iran. Reigning from 1295 to 1304, he is best known for the conversion of his state to Islam and his wars against Egypt.

Trade Wind

2004-10-20T23:34:00.000-07:00

Very steady wind that blows westward and toward the equator from the subtropical high-pressure belts at latitudes near 30° N and 30° S toward the intertropical convergence zone. It is stronger and more consistent over the oceans than over land and produces fairly clear skies that make trade-wind islands popular tourist resorts. Its average speed is about 5 to 6 m per second

Christensen, Harold

2004-10-17T17:41:00.000-07:00

Christensen studied dancing with the famous choreographer George Balanchine and appeared with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet (1934), Ballet Caravan (1936–40), San Francisco Opera Ballet (1942), and San

Respiration, Human

2004-10-16T19:22:00.000-07:00

The process by which oxygen is taken up and carbon dioxide discharged.

Vietnam, Transportation

2004-10-13T22:56:00.000-07:00

The topography of Vietnam renders land transportation between the north and the south difficult, with traffic limited to the narrow coastal corridor. Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are connected by rail and highway through this corridor. The nation's road network is extensive but in generally poor condition. The two large deltas, where most of the population is concentrated,

Anger, Per Johan Valentin

2004-10-11T07:14:00.000-07:00

Swedish diplomat (b. Dec. 7, 1913, Göteborg, Swed.—d. Aug. 25, 2002, Stockholm, Swed.), helped save thousands of Hungarian Jews from being transported to Nazi death camps during World War II. Anger, a member of the Swedish legation in Budapest when the Germans occupied Hungary in 1944, set up safe houses around Budapest and issued temporary passports and identity cards that identified Jews as Swedes.

Raynal, Guillaume-thomas, Abbé De

2004-10-10T16:38:00.000-07:00

Raynal was educated by the Jesuits and as a young man joined the order, but after going to Paris to work for the church he gave up religious life in favour of writing. He established himself as a writer with two historical works, one

Belgium

2004-10-07T05:57:00.000-07:00

The Belgian Parliament approved a further decentralization of power to the country's three regions during 2001. After six months of intense negotiations between the major political parties, it was agreed in July that responsibility for agricultural policy, foreign trade, development cooperation, and control over communal and provincial councils would pass from

Wansbeck

2004-10-05T17:32:00.000-07:00

District, administrative and historic county of Northumberland, northern England, along the North Sea in the southeastern part of the county. Wansbeck spans a narrow coastal plain edging the Northumberland uplands to the west. Its three principal towns (Ashington, Bedlington, and Newbiggin-by-the-Sea) suffered economic decline in the 1960s and '70s because of the loss of

Strangler Fig

2004-10-03T08:15:00.000-07:00

Of the 150 or so species of New World figs, most are stranglers, including F. obtusifolia and F. nymphaeifolia. Beginning life as a sticky

Iron Curtain

2004-10-01T20:25:00.000-07:00

The political, military, and ideological barrier erected by the Soviet Union after World War II to seal off itself and its dependent eastern European allies from open contact with the West and other noncommunist areas. The term Iron Curtain had been in occasional and varied use as a metaphor since the 19th century, but it only came to prominence after it was used by the

Korea, South, Flag Of

2004-09-30T10:53:00.000-07:00

The need for a national flag arose in Korea in the late 19th century when, under pressure from its powerful neighbours, China and Japan, Korea gradually began to open its borders to outside influences. Traditional symbols were incorporated in the design of the new flag, adopted in August 1882, which has continued as the basic pattern ever since. The white background is for

Sprain

2004-09-28T18:00:00.000-07:00

Overstretching or tearing of fibres in one or more of the ligaments that support a joint, caused by forced movement beyond their range. Symptoms include sudden severe pain, then swelling around the joint, tenderness, stiffness, and often black-and-blue marks as a result of bleeding into the joint. The common sites for sprains are the ankle, wrist, knee, finger or toe joints,

Cell, The electron-transport chain

2004-09-26T03:36:00.000-07:00

The proteins of this chain are embedded in the cristae membrane, actually traversing the lipid bilayer and protruding from the inner and outer surfaces. The coenzymes are dissolved in the lipid and diffuse through the membrane or across its surface. The proteins are arranged in three large complexes, each composed of a number of polypeptide chains. Each complex

Yungang Caves

2004-09-24T06:02:00.000-07:00

The caves are among the earliest remaining examples of the first major flowering of Buddhist art in China. About 20 major cave temples and many smaller

Daniel, The Book Of

2004-09-21T07:09:00.000-07:00

Also called The Prophecy Of Daniel, a book of the Old Testament found in the Ketuvim (Writings), the third section of the Jewish canon, but placed among the Prophets in the Christian canon. The first half of the book (chapters 1–6) contains stories in the third person about the experiences of Daniel and his friends under Kings Nebuchadrezzar II, Belshazzar, Darius I, and Cyrus II; the second half, written mostly

Alfonso Viii

2004-09-18T15:18:00.000-07:00

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

Decapolis

2004-09-16T14:22:00.000-07:00

League of 10 ancient Greek cities in eastern Palestine that was formed after the Roman conquest of Palestine in 63 BC, when Pompey the Great reorganized the Middle East to Rome's advantage and to his own. The name Decapolis also denotes the roughly contiguous territory formed by these cities, all but one of which lay east of the Jordan River. According to Pliny the Elder (Natural