ImportantBone

Xenophon

2005-11-17T15:25:00.000-08:00

Born of a well-to-do Athenian family, Xenophon grew up during the great war between Athens and Sparta (431–404 BC) and served in the elite force of Athenian cavalry. He and his well-to-do contemporaries sat at the feet of Socrates, were critical of the extreme form of democracy under which they lived, and sympathized with the right-wing revolutionaries who seized power for short

Lophophore Hypothesis

2005-10-15T11:15:00.000-07:00

Viewpoint that conodonts, small toothlike structures found as fossils in marine rocks over a long span of geologic time, are actually parts of and supports for a lophophore organ used for respiration and for gathering or straining minute organisms to be used as food. Lophophores are frilled or fringed organs possessed by many kinds of animals, including brachiopods

Axholme, Isle Of

2005-07-28T09:12:00.000-07:00

Area of about 80 square miles (210 square km) west of the River Trent in the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire, historic county of Lincolnshire, England. A tract of low flatland less than 100 feet (30 metres) above sea level, it was formerly surrounded by fens. Drainage works, begun in the 17th century by Cornelius Vermuyden and subsequently extended and improved, have transformed

Radiolarian

2005-07-26T14:40:00.000-07:00

Any protozoan of the class Polycystinea (superclass Actinopoda), found in the upper layers of all oceans. Radiolarians, which are mostly spherically symmetrical, are known for their complex and beautifully sculptured, though minute, skeletons, referred to as tests. Usually composed of silica, the test is elaborately perforated in a variety of patterns, forming a

Koch

2005-07-24T03:35:00.000-07:00

Also called Rajbansi, ethnic group of the Bodo people, dispersed over parts of Assam and Bengal. While their original language is a Tibeto-Burman dialect, large sections of the group in the 20th century spoke Bengali or other Indo-Aryan languages. In the 16th century a Koch chief established the state of Cooch Behar, and they now call themselves Rajbansi (Of Royal Blood), resent being called by the

Ford Foundation

2005-07-07T05:00:00.000-07:00

American philanthropic foundation, established in 1936 with gifts and bequests from Henry Ford and his son Edsel. At its peak it had assets of more than $4,000,000,000. Its chief concerns have been international affairs (particularly population control and the alleviation of food shortages), communications (especially public television), humanities and the arts, and, in later years,

Earth, Convective electrojets

2005-07-01T07:35:00.000-07:00

The auroral electrojets are two broad sheets of electric current that flow from noon toward midnight in the northern and southern auroral ovals. The dawn side current flows westward, creating a decrease in the magnetic field on the surface. The dusk side current flows eastward and produces an increase in the magnetic field. Both currents flow at an altitude of approximately

Sortition

2005-06-28T10:55:00.000-07:00

Election by lot, a method of choosing public officials in some ancient Greek city-states. It was used especially in the Athenian democracy, from which most information about the practice is derived. With few exceptions, all magistrates were chosen by lot, beginning with the archons in 487–486 BC; likewise the Boule (council) of 500 and the juries of the law courts were chosen by lot.

Schaefer, Vincent Joseph

2005-06-21T19:00:00.000-07:00

American research chemist and meteorologist, who in 1946 carried out the first systematic series of experiments to investigate the physics of precipitation. From an aircraft over Massachusetts he seeded clouds with pellets of Dry Ice (solid carbon dioxide) and succeeded in producing snow, initiating the science of experimental

Fargo, William George

2005-06-16T22:35:00.000-07:00

Fargo began his long association with Henry Wells (q.v.) when he served as an agent for Livingston, Wells, and Pomeroy's Express in 1843. The following year, together with Wells and Daniel Dunning, he founded Wells and Company, the first express company to operate west of Buffalo,

Stanley Cup

2005-06-13T17:25:00.000-07:00

Trophy awarded to the winner of the world's professional ice hockey championship, an annual play-off that culminates the season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup was first awarded in the 1893–94 season and is the oldest trophy that can be won by professional athletes in North America. The cup's donor was a governor-general of Canada, Frederick Arthur, Lord Stanley

France, History Of, The juridical revolution

2005-06-02T00:30:00.000-07:00

Louis XVI's decision to convene the Estates-General in May 1789 became a turning point in French history. When he invited his subjects to express their opinions and grievances in preparation for this event—unprecedented in living memory—hundreds responded with pamphlets in which the liberal ideology of 1789 gradually began to take shape. Exactly how the Estates-General

Pitchstone

2005-05-31T07:30:00.000-07:00

Most pitchstone occurs as dikes or marginal phases of dikes and therefore may grade into porphyry. Pitchstone porphyry (vitrophyre)

Croatia, Industry

2005-05-16T22:30:00.000-07:00

Already more industrialized than most of its neighbours when the communists assumed power over Yugoslavia in 1945, Croatia continued its rapid industrialization under socialist policies of economic and social development. One unfortunate result was the squandering of a great deal of money through inefficiency and the misallocation of resources through the

Alcidae

2005-03-15T08:24:00.000-08:00

Bird family, order Charadriiformes, which includes the birds known as auk, auklet, dovekie, guillemot, murre, murrelet, and puffin (qq.v.).

Interactionism

2005-03-14T02:19:00.000-08:00

In Cartesian philosophy and the philosophy of mind, those dualistic theories that hold that mind and body, though separate and distinct substances, causally interact. Interactionists assert that a mental event, as when John Doe wills to kick a brick wall, can be the cause of a physical action, his leg and foot moving into the wall. Conversely, the physical event of his

Bantock, Sir Granville

2005-03-11T20:29:00.000-08:00

After preparing for the Indian civil service, Bantock studied at Trinity College of Music, London, and the Royal Academy of Music, London. He was active as a conductor, founded and edited the New Quarterly Music Review (1893 - 96), and succeeded Sir Edward Elgar as professor

Ramazan Dynasty

2005-03-07T02:32:00.000-08:00

In 1352 Ramazan, founder of the dynasty, was recognized by the Mamluk sultan of Egypt as the ruler of the ��ok branch of Oguz Turkmen in �ukurova. After a period of attempts to overthrow Mamluk suzerainty, the dynasty's principality about 1418 came under direct Mamluk control and lost its

Typhon

2005-03-06T01:13:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Typhaon, or Typhoeus, � in Greek mythology, youngest son of Gaea (Earth) and Tartarus (of the nether world). He was described as a grisly monster with a hundred dragons' heads who was conquered and cast into the underworld by Zeus. In other accounts, he was confined in the land of the Arimi in Cilicia or under Mount Etna or in other volcanic regions, where he was the cause of eruptions. Typhon was thus

John Bartholomew And Son

2005-03-05T17:42:00.000-08:00

Mapmaking and publishing company of the United Kingdom, located in Edinburgh and specializing in the use of hypsometric (layer) colouring in relief maps. The company was established in 1826 by John Bartholomew. It originally published such diverse items as checkbooks, election literature, and maps. In 1856 his son John George Bartholomew (1831 - 93), the well-known Scottish cartographer,

Charadriiform

2005-03-04T18:14:00.000-08:00

The earliest known Charadrii are represented by miscellaneous bones from the Upper Cretaceous rock layers of Wyoming, considered to constitute a family, the Cimolopterygidae, of the Charadrii. These bones, comprising two genera and four species, show closest resemblance to the avocets. Of similar age, but extending into middle Eocene times, are the Paleotringinae

Davidson, Bruce

2005-03-03T21:22:00.000-08:00

Davidson studied photography at the Rochester (New York) Institute of Technology (1951 - 54) and the School of Design of Yale University (1955) in New Haven, Connecticut. He worked for Life magazine for

Blackwood, Caroline

2005-03-02T15:25:00.000-08:00

Blackwood, a descendant of the 18th-century dramatist Richard Brinsley Sheridan, lived in Northern Ireland until

Kogalniceanu, Mihail

2005-03-01T23:36:00.000-08:00

In 1840 Kogalniceanu undertook the publication of a national literary review (Dacia literara) and a scientific

Mahdiyah, Al-

2005-02-28T07:35:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Mahdia, or Mahedia, � town and fishing port on as-Sahil (coastal strip), eastern Tunisia. It lies on the narrow rocky peninsula of Cape Ifriqiya. The town owes its name to the mahdi (Arabic: mahdi, �the rightly guided one�) 'Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi, founder of the Fatimid dynasty, who established the town in 912 and in 921 made it his capital. Abandoned about 973, al-Mahdiyah was reestablished as a refuge capital of the Zirid

Maura Y Montaner, Antonio

2005-02-27T21:50:00.000-08:00

Maura was elected

Production, Theory Of

2005-02-26T11:48:00.000-08:00

In economics, an effort to explain the principles by which a business firm decides how much of each commodity that it sells (its �outputs� or �products�) it will produce, and how much of each kind of labour, raw material, fixed capital good, etc., that it employs (its �inputs� or �factors of production�) it will use. The theory involves some of the most fundamental principles of economics.

Performing Arts

2005-02-25T16:05:00.000-08:00

Fields, Dorothy

2005-02-24T04:37:00.000-08:00

Fields was the daughter of Lew M. Fields of the vaudeville comedy team of Weber and Fields. After graduating from high school in New York City, she taught drama

Emotion, Neural pathways of facial expression

2005-02-23T00:13:00.000-08:00

Of the various types of expressive behaviour, facial expression has received the most attention. In human beings and in many nonhuman primates, patterns of facial movements constitute the chief means of displaying emotion-specific signals. Whereas research has provided much information on the neural basis of emotional behaviours (e.g., aggression) in animals,

Ugra, Battle Of The

2005-02-22T02:17:00.000-08:00

(1480), bloodless confrontation between the armies of Muscovy and the Golden Horde, traditionally marking the end of the �Mongol yoke� in Russia. By 1480 the Golden Horde had lost control of large portions of its empire; Ivan III of Moscow had stopped paying tribute to the Horde and no longer recognized it as an authority over Muscovy. In 1480 Akhmet, khan of the Golden Horde, led an army

Gabon, Resources

2005-02-21T01:11:00.000-08:00

Gabon possesses important resources in woods and minerals and much hydroelectric potential. But its poor transportation infrastructure and lack of financing, as well as unfavourable world market conditions, hinder the development of some of these resources.

Basava

2005-02-20T16:01:00.000-08:00

Hindu religious reformer, teacher, theologian, and administrator of the royal treasury of the Calukya king Bijjala I (reigned 1156 - 67). Basava is the subject of the Basava-Purana, one of the sacred texts of the Hindu Lingayat sect. According to South Indian oral tradition, he was the actual founder of the Lingayats, but study of Calukya inscriptions indicates

Bottlenose Whale

2005-02-19T16:17:00.000-08:00

Any of four species of beaked whales distinguished by a bulbous forehead that drops sharply to the base of the beak. All inhabit deep offshore waters and eat squid, fish, and various bottom-dwelling animals. Bottlenose whales are capable of long, deep dives; biologists recorded the dive of one northern bottlenose (Hyperoodon ampullatus) to almost

San Carlos

2005-02-18T00:15:00.000-08:00

City, west-central Luzon, Philippines. Founded in 1587 by Dominicans, it was named in 1718 for St. Charles Borromeo. San Carlos was organized as a city in 1966. It is a pottery-making centre and also produces articles made from bamboo. Rice and corn (maize) are the major crops grown in the surrounding area. The city is situated along the Manila-North Railroad 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Lingayen.

Vihuela

2005-02-17T17:25:00.000-08:00

The vihuela was played by the aristocracy, the guitar by commoners. By the 18th century both instruments

Cunningham, Glenn

2005-02-16T00:55:00.000-08:00

At the age of 7, Cunningham and his older brother Floyd were badly burned in a schoolhouse fire; Floyd died and Glenn was not expected to be able to walk. Cunningham overcame this adversity, running - and winning - races in high school,

Gastein, Convention Of

2005-02-15T18:20:00.000-08:00

Also called �Convention Of Badgastein, � agreement between Austria and Prussia reached on Aug. 20, 1865, after their seizure of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein from Denmark in 1864; it temporarily postponed the final struggle between them for hegemony over Germany. The pact provided that both the emperor of Austria and the king of Prussia were to be sovereign over the duchies, Prussia administering Schleswig

Tasmania, Government and politics

2005-02-14T06:38:00.000-08:00

The state parliament comprises a House of Assembly and a Legislative Council, the latter by tradition a largely nonparty house. The system of elections for the House of Assembly is proportional representation by the single transferable vote; the system for the Legislative Council is the preferential system, with an obligation to record preferences, used for

Porsangen

2005-02-13T20:51:00.000-08:00

Fjord, indenting the coast of Finmark fylke (county), extreme northern Norway on the Arctic Ocean. An inlet of the Barents Sea, the fjord is approximately 80 mi (130 km) long and lies well north of the Arctic Circle. Adjacent to the mouth of the fjord is a largely uninhabited area, Sv�rholtklubben, which serves as home to thousands of seabirds. Many islands are found in Porsangen;

Porsangen

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

Any of a series of unmanned U.S. scientific satellites developed to observe cosmic objects from above the Earth's atmosphere. OAO-2, launched Dec. 7, 1968, carried two large telescopes and a complement of spectrometers and other auxiliary devices. It weighed more than 4,200 pounds (1,900 kilograms), the heaviest satellite orbited up to that time. OAO-2 was able to photograph young stars that

Diesel Engine

2005-02-11T17:08:00.000-08:00

Any internal-combustion engine in which air is compressed to a temperature sufficiently high to ignite fuel injected into the cylinder, where combustion and expansion actuate a piston. It converts the chemical energy stored in the fuel into mechanical energy, which can be used to power freight trucks, large tractors, locomotives, and vessels. A limited number of

Opus Interassile

2005-02-10T08:50:00.000-08:00

Metalwork technique developed in Rome and widely used during the 3rd century AD, especially appropriate for making arabesques and other nonrepresentational ornamental designs. Probably of Syrian origin, the technique consists of piercing holes in the metal to create an openwork design suggesting lacework. Opus interassile was often used for large wheels placed

Fishing

2005-02-09T01:58:00.000-08:00

Also called �Angling, � the sport of catching fish, freshwater or saltwater, typically with rod, line, and hook. Like hunting, fishing originated as a means of providing food for survival. Fishing as a sport, however, is of considerable antiquity. An Egyptian angling scene of about 2000 BC shows figures fishing with rod and line and with nets. A Chinese account of about the 4th century BC refers to fishing

Saint Vincent And The Grenadines

2005-02-07T21:58:00.000-08:00

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

Gabelich, Gary

2005-02-06T09:44:00.000-08:00

Gabelich began racing hot-rod cars while he was in high school. In the late 1950s he competed as a drag racer of both automobiles and boats. In 1969 he set a drag-boat record of 200.44 miles per hour (322.38 km/h). He achieved his 1970 one-mile land-speed record

Fu-chou

2005-02-05T13:51:00.000-08:00

Fu-chou was one of the first places in Fukien to be settled. At the beginning of the 2nd

Hypophrygian Mode

2005-02-04T16:48:00.000-08:00

In music, fourth of the eight medieval church modes. See church mode.

Aerobics

2005-02-03T05:38:00.000-08:00

System of physical conditioning developed to increase the efficiency of the body's intake of oxygen. Typical aerobic exercises (e.g., walking, running, swimming, dancing, and cycling) stimulate heart and lung activity long enough to produce beneficial changes in the body. To be effective, aerobic training must include a minimum of three sessions per week. During each

Bashir Shihab Ii

2005-02-02T07:46:00.000-08:00

Although born into the princely Shihab family, Bashir grew up in poverty but married into great wealth. In 1788 the Lebanese emir was forced to abdicate, and the local nobility selected

Sierra Nevada, Plant life

2005-02-01T23:59:00.000-08:00

Generally speaking, there are five fairly distinct vegetation zones on the western slopes. The lower foothills support mostly deciduous trees and shrubs, as well as the evergreen interior live oak (Quercus wislizenii). Black oak, Ponderosa pine, and incense cedar occur in the upper foothills. The montane forest, which constitutes the primary commercial timber zone,

Brooks Range

2005-01-31T21:19:00.000-08:00

Northernmost extension of the Rocky Mountains in northern Alaska, U.S. It is separated from the Alaska Range (south) and the Mackenzie Mountains (southeast) by the lowlands of the Yukon and Porcupine river systems. It extends about 600 miles (1,000 km) in a west - east direction across Alaska, from the Chukchi Sea to the Yukon (Canadian) border, and reaches widths of 80 miles (128 km). Its peaks

Lenya, Lotte

2005-01-30T02:23:00.000-08:00

Lenya studied ballet and drama in Zurich from 1914 to 1920, was a member of the corps de ballet at the Z�rich Stadttheater, and played

New Castle

2005-01-29T17:50:00.000-08:00

County, northern Delaware, U.S., bounded by Pennsylvania to the north, New Jersey to the east (the Delaware River constituting the border), the Smyrna River to the south, and Maryland to the west. The county is bisected east-west by the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal (completed 1829), around which are state parks and wildlife areas. Other waterways are the Christina River and the

Rathbone, Basil

2005-01-28T10:26:00.000-08:00

Upon graduating from Repton school in England in 1910, Rathbone made his stage debut in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew in 1911. A number of other Shakespearean roles followed, as well as a part in a London production

Karaji, Al-

2005-01-27T21:39:00.000-08:00

Also known as �al-Karkhi,� in full,� Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn al-Husayn al-Karaji� mathematician and engineer who held an official position in Baghdad (c. 1010 - 1015), perhaps culminating in the position of vizier, during which time he wrote his three main works, al-Fakhri fi'l-jabr wa'l-muqabala (�Glorious on algebra�), al-Badi� fi'l-hisab (�Wonderful on calculation�), and al-Kafi fi'l-hisab (�Sufficient on calculation�). A

Berdychiv

2005-01-26T11:02:00.000-08:00

Russian �Berdichev, or Berdicev, � city, Zhytomyr oblast (province), northwestern Ukraine. Founded in 1482 as a Lithuanian fortress, Berdychiv was Polish from 1569 until 1793. The 16th-century fortress walls survive, as does the Roman Catholic church in which the French novelist Honor� de Balzac married Eveline Hanska, a wealthy Russian widow, in 1850 after an 18-year courtship. Before 1917 an important trading centre, Berdychiv

Earth, Earth dimensions - diameter, mass, density

2005-01-25T14:20:00.000-08:00

As previously noted, terrestrial arc measurements are capable of yielding a value of the equatorial radius of the Earth, but satellite measurements are greatly superior for determining the flattening. After 10 years of satellite observations the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics adopted the Geodetic Reference System 1967, defining aequatorial, MG, and J2, o. Minor

Shafiq, Durriyyah

2005-01-24T16:42:00.000-08:00

Shafiq was born in Lower Egypt and received a Western-style education in French and Italian schools. She was a great admirer of Egyptian feminist pioneer Huda Sha'rawi, who

Bexhill

2005-01-23T10:55:00.000-08:00

Also called �Bexhill-on-sea, � town, Rother district, administrative county of East Sussex, historic county of Sussex, England, just west of Hastings on the English Channel. The coastal resort dates from the 1880s, but the old village inland on the cliff top is built around its ancient parish church. A central feature of the resort area is the De la Warr Pavilion, built in the mid-1930s by Bauhaus architects Erich

Corbel

2005-01-22T17:50:00.000-08:00

In architecture, bracket or weight-carrying member, built deeply into the wall so that the pressure on its embedded portion counteracts any tendency to overturn or fall outward. The name derives from a French word meaning crow, because of the corbel's beaklike shape. Corbels may be individual pieces of stone, separate from each other like brackets, as in the case of

Dehmel, Richard

2005-01-21T00:10:00.000-08:00

After completing his studies in 1887, Dehmel worked as an insurance official and then, in 1895, became a freelance writer. He chose naturalistic social themes for his early works and was one

Ashland

2005-01-20T18:51:00.000-08:00

City, Jackson county, southwestern Oregon, U.S. It lies along Bear Creek, in the southern reaches of the Rogue River valley, at the base of the Siskiyou Mountains, just southeast of Medford. Settled in 1852 (during a gold rush) and laid out in 1860, it was named for both Ashland county, Ohio, and Ashland, Kentucky, and was known as Ashland Mills for its sawmills and gristmills. It was located

Olaf I Tryggvason

2005-01-19T19:48:00.000-08:00

Olaf, the great-grandson of the Norwegian king Harald I Fairhair and the son of Tryggvi Olafsson, a chieftain in southeastern Norway, was born soon after his father was killed by the Norwegian ruler Harald II Graycloak. According to legend,

National Monument

2005-01-18T17:34:00.000-08:00

In 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt established the first national

Intaglio

2005-01-17T11:45:00.000-08:00

In sculpture, work in which the design is incised into the block, all lines appearing below the surface; it is thus the opposite of relief sculpture and is sometimes called �hollow relief.� When the technique is used in casting, the design is cut in reverse into a plaster shell, which is then filled with the casting substance; the hollow impressions of the mold appear in

Cooper, Gary

2005-01-16T10:23:00.000-08:00

The son of a Montana Supreme Court justice, Cooper left Grinnell College, Iowa, in 1924 and went to Hollywood, where he earned a living

Shiraz Rug

2005-01-15T20:27:00.000-08:00

Handwoven floor covering made in the district around the city of Shiraz in southern Iran. The best known are the Qashqa'i rugs, products of nomadic tribesmen. A group of tribes - some Arab, some Turkish, forming the Khamseh Confederation - weaves rugs somewhat similar to the Qashqa'i pieces in a variety of patterns, as do the inhabitants of certain Iranian weaving villages in

Ribble, River

2005-01-14T22:33:00.000-08:00

River in North Yorkshire and Lancashire, England, formed by the confluence of the Gayle and Cam becks (streams). The river first flows almost due south between Ingleborough Mountain (2,373 feet [723 m]) and Pen-y-Ghent (2,273 feet [693 m]) and then through open country, a long gorge, and a wide valley (devoted mostly to pastoral farming) until it is joined by its two main tributaries, the Hodder from

Middlesex

2005-01-12T18:22:00.000-08:00

County, east-central New Jersey, U.S., bounded by the Millstone River to the southwest, the Raritan River to the northwest, the Rahway River to the northeast, and Raritan Bay to the east. It consists largely of a coastal lowland. Other bodies of water include Carnegie and Farrington lakes and the South River. Forested areas contain oak and hickory. Among the recreational

Grabski, Wladyslaw

2005-01-11T19:30:00.000-08:00

A Socialist in his youth, Grabski later joined the National Democracy Party and was elected a member of three successive sessions of the Duma (1906 - 12), the legislative body of the Russian Empire, of which

Cabral De Melo Neto, Jo�

2005-01-10T05:31:00.000-08:00

Cabral was born to a distinguished family of landowners. He had a brief stint as a public servant before he moved in 1940 to Rio de Janeiro. In 1942 he published his first collection of poems, Pedra do sono (�Stone of Sleep�). Although his early

Clairvaux

2005-01-09T04:18:00.000-08:00

Village, northeastern France, in Aube d�partement, Champagne-Ardenne r�gion, east-southeast of Troyes. Its abbey, founded in 1115 by the French churchman and mystic St. Bernard of Clairvaux, became a centre of the Cistercian order. All that remains of the original abbey is a large 12th-century storehouse and other vestiges, which have been incorporated in an 18th-century monastery.

Galba

2005-01-08T11:17:00.000-08:00

Galba was the son of the consul Gaius Sulpicius Galba and Mummia Achaica, and in addition to great wealth and ancient lineage he enjoyed the favour of the emperors Augustus and Tiberius. He began his senatorial career before

Set Theory

2005-01-07T10:09:00.000-08:00

Branch of mathematics that deals with the properties of well-defined collections of objects, which may be of a mathematical nature, such as numbers or functions, or not. The theory is less valuable in direct application to ordinary experience than as a basis for precise and adaptable terminology for the definition of complex and sophisticated mathematical

Kyaikkami

2005-01-05T11:34:00.000-08:00

Formerly �Amherst, � resort town, southeastern Myanmar (Burma). It is situated on a peninsula about 30 miles (48 km) south of the town of Moulmein. Originally a settlement of the Mon peoples, modern Kyaikkami was founded by the British during the annexation of Tenasserim and Arakan states after the First Burmese War (1824 - 26) and was named for William Pitt Amherst, 1st Earl Amherst, then governor-general

Cbs Corporation

2005-01-04T16:12:00.000-08:00

Formerly (1928 - 74) �Columbia Broadcasting System, �or �(1974 - 97) �CBS Inc., � major American broadcasting company and operator of the CBS national radio and television networks. The company was incorporated in 1927 as United Independent Broadcasters, Inc. Its name was changed a year later to Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., and in 1974 it adopted the name CBS Inc. In 1995 CBS Inc. was bought by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation, which changed its name

Peters, Carl

2005-01-02T04:07:00.000-08:00

After visiting London to study British principles of colonization, Peters founded the Society for German Colonization in 1884 and later that year, in the Usambara Mountains area

Biblical Literature, Judges: background and purpose

2005-01-01T22:12:00.000-08:00

The Book of Judges, the third of the series of five books that reflect the theological viewpoint of the Deuteronomic historian, covers the history of the Israelite tribes from the death of Joshua to the rise of the monarchy, a period comprising nearly 200 years (c. 1200 - c. 1020 BCE). Though the internal chronology of Judges points to a period of about 400 years, the editor may have arbitrarily

Waikato

2004-12-31T02:39:00.000-08:00

Local government region, northern North Island, New Zealand. It includes the mountainous Coromandel Peninsula and adjacent Hauraki Plains in the northeast; the fertile Waikato River valley in the northwest; the hills, limestone crags, and canyons of King Country in the southwest; and much of the island's rugged central volcanic plateau and Lake Taupo, the country's

Stage Design, Classical theatrical costume

2004-12-30T09:17:00.000-08:00

Theatrical costumes were an innovation of Thespis, in Greece in the 6th century BC, and theatrical costumes are still called �the robes of Thespis.� Athenians spent lavishly on the production and costumes at the annual drama contests since each poet was given a wealthy citizen, the choregos, who, encouraged by the honour of a separate state impresario's prize, tended to make

Lagrange, Marie-joseph

2004-12-29T05:47:00.000-08:00

Lagrange became a Dominican in 1879 and was ordained in 1883. After teaching church history at Toulouse (1884 - 88), he studied Oriental languages at the University of Vienna before his order sent him to Jerusalem in 1890 to establish the School of Biblical Studies. There he also

Environmental Works, Groundwater sources

2004-12-28T03:08:00.000-08:00

The value of an aquifer as a source of groundwater is a function of the porosity of the geologic stratum, or layer, of which it is formed. Water is withdrawn from an aquifer by pumping it out of a well or infiltration gallery. An infiltration gallery typically includes several horizontal perforated pipes radiating outward from the bottom of a large-diameter vertical

Polignac Family

2004-12-27T19:38:00.000-08:00

From the 1050s and perhaps even from 860, the first viscounts of Polignac (in the modern d�partement of Haute-Loire) were practically independent rulers of Velay, where the Loire River rises. Their ultimate heiress, Valpurge, was married in 1349 to Guillaume III de Chalen�on, whose descendants assumed the Polignac name in 1421. The actual

Hardinge (of Penshurst), Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron

2004-12-26T19:35:00.000-08:00

A grandson of Lord Hardinge, governor-general of India in 1844 - 48, Charles Hardinge entered the diplomatic service in 1880. Appointed ambassador to Russia in 1904 and permanent under secretary

Riesener, Jean-henri

2004-12-25T22:36:00.000-08:00

Riesener was the son of an usher in the law courts of the elector of Cologne. After moving to Paris he joined the workshop of Jean-Fran�ois Oeben in 1754, and, when Oeben died in 1763, Riesener was put in charge of the workshop and later married his master's widow. He made

Hawes, Stephen

2004-12-24T01:44:00.000-08:00

Hawes's main work is a long allegorical poem, The Passetyme of Pleasure, the chief theme of which is the education and pilgrimage through life of the knight Graunde Amoure. Completed in 1506, it was printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1509. Another allegory by Hawes, The Example

'uthman Ibn 'affan

2004-12-23T00:43:00.000-08:00

'Uthman

Madanin

2004-12-21T18:49:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �M�denine, � town, southern Tunisia. The town lies in the semiarid plain of al-Jifarah (Jeffara). It was the capital of the Ouerghemma League of three Berber groups and was the chief town of the Southern Military Territories during the French Protectorate (1881 - 1955). The honeycomb-like, aboveground granaries (ghorfas) that belonged to the Ouerghemma are features of the locality. The town is

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, Diversity of forms

2004-12-20T06:56:00.000-08:00

Since an allegorical purpose can inform works of literature in a wide range of genres, it is not surprising to find that the largest allegories are epic in scope. A quest forms the narrative thread of both the Greek epic Odyssey and the Latin, Aeneid, and it is an allegory of the quest for heroic perfection; thus, allegory is aligned with the epic form. Romances, both prose

Nusaybin

2004-12-19T08:54:00.000-08:00

Formerly �Nisibin, � town, southeastern Turkey. The town is situated on the G�rgarbonizra River where it passes through a narrow canyon and enters the plain. Nusaybin faces the Syrian town of Al-Qamishli and is 32 miles (51 km) south-southeast of Mardin. Strategically commanding the entrance to the upper Syrian plains from the mountain passes of Asia Minor, Nusaybin - then called Nisibis - was a frontier

Raga

2004-12-18T08:28:00.000-08:00

Sanskrit �Raga� (�colour,� or �passion�), in the music of India and Pakistan, a melodic framework for improvisation based on a given set of notes (usually five to seven) and characteristic rhythmic patterns. The basic components of a raga can be written down in the form of a scale (in some cases differing in ascent and descent). By using only these notes, by emphasizing certain degrees of the scale,

Fustat, Al-

2004-12-17T15:14:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Al-fostat, � capital of the Muslim province of Egypt during the Umayyad and 'Abbasid caliphates and under succeeding dynasties, until captured by the Fatimid general Jawhar in 969. Founded in 641 by the Muslim conqueror of Egypt, 'Amr ibn al-'As, on the east bank of the Nile River, south of modern Cairo, Al-Fustat was the earliest Arab settlement in Egypt and site of the province's first mosque, Jami' 'Amr.

Fustat, Al-

2004-12-16T19:08:00.000-08:00

Armoured ornithischian dinosaurs that lived 70 million to 65 million years ago in North America during the Late Cretaceous Period. Ankylosaurus is a genus belonging to a larger group (infraorder Ankylosauria) of related four-legged, herbivorous, heavily armoured dinosaurs that flourished throughout the Cretaceous Period (144 million to 65 million years

Vaccinium

2004-12-15T23:44:00.000-08:00

Genus of about 150 species of shrubs, in the heath family (Ericaceae), found widely throughout the Northern Hemisphere and extending south along tropical mountain ranges. The shrubs are erect or creeping, with alternate, deciduous or evergreen leaves. The small flowers resemble those of the true heaths (Erica), but the ovary is beneath the flower. The flowers are clustered

Christian, William

2004-12-14T13:50:00.000-08:00

Christian was the third son of Ewan Christian, one of the deemsters (judges) of the Isle of Man. In 1648 Christian was appointed to the post of receiver general by the 7th Earl of Derby, lord of the Isle of Man. In 1651 Derby left for England to fight with the armies of Charles II against the forces

Hinterland

2004-12-13T22:08:00.000-08:00

George G. Chisholm (Handbook of Commercial Geography, 1888) transcribed the German word hinterland (land in back of), as hinderland, and used it to refer to the backcountry of a port or coastal settlement. Chisholm continued to use hinderland in subsequent editions

Skarzysko-kamienna

2004-12-12T03:14:00.000-08:00

Town, Kielce wojew�dztwo (province), southeastern Poland, on the Kamienna River. An important metallurgical centre since the end of World War II (1945) and rail junction on the Warsaw - Krak�w line, it is part of the Staropolskie Zaglebie Przemyslowe, or the Old Poland Industrial Basin, which encompasses the area surrounding Skarzysko-Kamienna and the G�ry Swietokrzyskie (Holy

World Water Crisis: Is There A Way Out?

2004-12-11T13:15:00.000-08:00

Behbehan

2004-12-10T21:53:00.000-08:00

Town, southwestern Iran, in the foothills of the Zagros Mountains near the Marun River. The largely mountainous county extends to Mt. Dinar and has tribal populations. The town prospers through development of the neighbouring oil fields. It lies on an ancient trade route and connects by road with Ahvaz and Kazerun. Nearby ruins include the Sasanian city of Arajan and a bridge