BadJupiter

Lower Vascular Plant

2005-03-24T08:09:00.000-08:00

Formerly pteridophyte, also called vascular cryptogam, any of the spore-bearing vascular plants, including the ferns, club mosses, spike mosses, quillworts, horsetails, and whisk ferns. Once considered of the same evolutionary line, these plants were formerly placed in the single group Pteridophyta and were known as the ferns and fern allies. Although modern studies have shown that the plants are not in fact related, these

Alba

2005-03-22T10:14:00.000-08:00

Town, Cuneo provincia, Piedmont regione, northwestern Italy. It lies along the Tanaro River southwest of Turin. It occupies the site of the Roman Alba Pompeia, which was probably founded by Pompeius Strabo (consul, 89 BC) when he constructed the road from Aquae Statiellae (Acqui Terme) to Augusta Taurinorum (Turin). The town became an episcopal see dependent on Milan in the 4th

Fletcher, Alice Cunningham

2005-03-19T14:03:00.000-08:00

Fletcher taught school for a number of years, lectured occasionally on various topics,

Scorsese, Martin

2005-03-17T03:24:00.000-08:00

Scorsese was a frail, asthmatic child who grew up in New York City in an Italian-American neighbourhood on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. His early interest in film returned after he tried unsuccessfully to enter the Roman Catholic

Radio-frequency Heating

2005-03-16T16:40:00.000-08:00

Process of heating materials through the application of radio waves of high frequency—i.e., above 70,000 hertz (cycles per second). Two methods of radio-frequency heating have been developed. One of these, induction heating, has proved highly effective for heating metals and other materials that are relatively good electric conductors. The other method, called dielectric

Bréguet, Abraham-louis

2005-03-13T00:39:00.000-08:00

Bréguet was apprenticed in 1762 to a watchmaker at Versailles. He took refuge in London during the French Revolution and, upon his return to France, became a principal watchmaker of the Empire. Among Bréguet's many inventions

Kirkcaldy

2005-03-12T07:44:00.000-08:00

First developed by Dunfermline Abbey nearby, Kirkcaldy was a flourishing port during the later Middle Ages. It was designated a royal burgh in 1450, and the royal charter was confirmed by King Charles II in 1662. In the course of the 16th century it became an important

Marr, Nikolay Yakovlevich

2005-03-09T08:44:00.000-08:00

A professor at St. Petersburg University from 1900, Marr published numerous collections of old Georgian and Armenian literature and attempted to prove a relationship between

Sartre, Jean-paul

2005-03-07T06:01:00.000-08:00

Sartre lost his father at an early age and grew up in the home of his maternal grandfather, Carl Schweitzer, uncle of the medical missionary Albert Schweitzer and himself professor of German at the Sorbonne. The boy, who wandered in the Luxembourg Gardens of Paris in search of playmates, was small in stature and cross-eyed. His brilliant autobiography, Les Mots (1963; Words,

Palatal

2005-03-06T08:25:00.000-08:00

In phonetics, a consonant sound produced by raising the blade, or front, of the tongue toward or against the hard palate just behind the alveolar ridge (the gums). The German ch sound in ich and the French gn (pronounced ny) in agneau are palatal consonants. English has no purely palatal consonants, except for the y sound (a semivowel) in “you.” (The sh sound in “ship” and the zh sound

Vacuole

2005-03-03T06:16:00.000-08:00

In biology, a space within a cell that is empty of cytoplasm, lined with a membrane, and filled with fluid. Especially in protozoa, vacuoles are cytoplasmic organs (organelles), performing functions such as storage, ingestion, digestion, excretion, and expulsion of excess water. The large central vacuoles often found in plant cells enable them to attain a large size without

Sangha River

2005-03-02T06:25:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Sanga, tributary of the Congo River, formed by the Mambéré and Kadeï headstreams at Nola, southwestern Central African Republic. The Sangha River flows 140 miles (225 km) south to Ouesso in Congo (Brazzaville), forming part of Cameroon's border with the Central African Republic and Congo. The river then turns south-southeast and southwest, flowing 225 miles (362 km) to its mouth on the Congo

Colegate, Isabel

2005-02-28T01:13:00.000-08:00

At the age of 19 Colegate began working as an assistant to literary agent Anthony Blond; when Blond became a publisher, one of the first books he brought out was Colgate's first novel, The Blackmailer (1958). Her next novel, A Man of Power (1960), portrays a newly rich businessman

Meramec River

2005-02-25T20:31:00.000-08:00

Tributary of the Mississippi River rising in the Ozark Mountains, near Salem in Dent county, southeast Missouri, U.S. The river winds 207 miles (333 km) generally north, northeast, and southeast through the limestone Meramec Caverns and Meramec State Park (near Sullivan) to enter the Mississippi River 20 miles (32 km) below St. Louis. Lead was mined along its banks in the 1700s, and the river

Lahaina

2005-02-24T09:39:00.000-08:00

Lahaina was actively associated during the 19th century with the Hawaiian royal family, European whalers, and American missionaries.

Heinsius, Anthonie

2005-02-22T21:27:00.000-08:00

A scion of an urban patrician family, Heinsius practiced law in Delft until 1679, when he became pensionary

Tercet

2005-02-20T01:16:00.000-08:00

Also spelled tiercet a unit or group of three lines of verse, usually containing rhyme, as in William Shakespeare's “The Phoenix and the Turtle”: Death is now the phoenix' nest; And the turtle's loyal breastTo eternity doth rest,

Hyades

2005-02-17T02:58:00.000-08:00

Cluster of several hundred stars in the zodiacal constellation Taurus. As seen from Earth, the bright star Aldebaran appears to be a member of the cluster, but in fact Aldebaran is much closer to the Earth than the Hyades' distance of about 130 light-years. Five genuine members of the group are visible to the unaided eye. Their name (Greek: “the rainy ones”) is derived from the

Twelve, The

2005-02-15T18:52:00.000-08:00

Also called The Twelve Prophets, or The Minor Prophets, book of the Hebrew Bible that contains the books of 12 minor prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. In most other versions of the Old Testament, each of these 12 is treated as a separate book (e.g., the Book of Hosea), but in the Hebrew Bible they are consolidated into one book that is the last of eight books in the second

Alchevsk

2005-02-13T06:49:00.000-08:00

Formerly (1931–61) Voroshilovsk , or (1961–92) Kommunarsk city, Luhansk oblast (province), eastern Ukraine. It lies along the railway from Luhansk to Debaltsevo. Alchevsk was founded in 1895 with the establishment of the Donetsko-Yuryevsky ironworks. The plant has developed into a large, integrated ironworks and steelworks, which was expanded greatly in the 1950s and '60s. The city is a major bituminous-coal mining centre, and there are

Ibn Abi Ar-rijal, Ahmad (ibn Salih)

2005-02-12T06:10:00.000-08:00

After completing his education, Ibn Abi ar-Rijal joined the religious-bureaucratic establishment and reached the important rank of secretary and court orator under the rule of Isma'il al-Mutawakkil,

Czartoryski, Michal Fryderyk, Prince (ksiaze)

2005-02-10T01:45:00.000-08:00

Educated at Paris, Florence, and Rome, Czartoryski attached himself to the Saxon court and obtained the vice chancellorship of Lithuania. He was one of the nobles who, on the illness of King Augustus II of Poland in 1727, signed the secret

Acrocyanosis

2005-02-08T08:56:00.000-08:00

Uneven reddish-blue discoloration of the hands caused by spasms in arterioles (small arteries) of the skin. Less commonly the feet are affected. The fingers, or toes, are usually cold and sweat copiously. The condition may be the result of an endocrine disorder or of some anxiety state. It is most common in adolescents and those in the 20s and usually improves with age.

Weller, Thomas H.

2005-02-08T06:29:00.000-08:00

After

Leonardo Pisano

2005-02-06T08:32:00.000-08:00

Little is known about Leonardo's life beyond the few facts given in his mathematical writings. During Leonardo's boyhood his father, Guglielmo, a Pisan merchant, was appointed consul over the community of Pisan merchants in the North African port of Bugia (now Bejaïa, Alg.). Leonardo was sent to study calculation with an Arab master. He later went to Egypt, Syria, Greece,

Axelrod, Julius

2005-02-05T19:33:00.000-08:00

American biochemist and pharmacologist who, along with the British biophysicist Sir Bernard Katz and the Swedish physiologist Ulf von Euler, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1970. Axelrod's contribution was his identification of an enzyme that degrades chemical neurotransmitters within the nervous system after they are

Yama-no-kami

2005-02-04T17:54:00.000-08:00

In Japanese popular religion, any of numerous gods of the mountains. These kami are of two kinds: (1) gods who rule over mountains and are venerated by hunters, woodcutters, and charcoal burners and (2) gods who rule over agriculture and are venerated by farmers. Chief among them is O-yama-tsumi-no-mikoto, born from the fire god who was cut into pieces by his angry father Izanagi

Port Augusta

2005-02-04T14:45:00.000-08:00

City and former port, southeastern South Australia, at the head of Spencer Gulf. Founded in 1852 and named for the wife of Sir Henry Fox Young, an early colonial governor of South Australia, Port Augusta was incorporated as a town in 1875 and in 1878 was linked by rail to Adelaide, 191 miles (307 km) southeast; it became a city in 1963. Port Augusta is a terminus of both the Central and Trans-Australian

Guare, John

2005-02-02T23:57:00.000-08:00

Guare, who at age 11 produced his first play for friends and family, was educated at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. (B.A., 1960), and at Yale University (M.F.A., 1963). He then began staging short plays, primarily in New York City, where he helped to found the Eugene O'Neill Memorial Theatre Playwrights'

Maluku

2005-02-02T18:53:00.000-08:00

English Moluccas propinsi (province) of the Maluccas island group, eastern Indonesia. In 1999 the northern half of Maluku province was made into the separate North Maluku (Maluku Utara) province. The Moluccas group includes about 1,000 islands. The largest of North Maluku province are Halmahera, Morotai, Bacan, Obi, and the main islands of the Sula archipelago; those of Maluku province are Ceram

Mura

2005-01-31T03:50:00.000-08:00

South American Indian people of the Amazon tropical forest of western Brazil. The Mura originally inhabited the right bank of the lower Madeira River near the mouth of the Jamari River. Contact with whites led them to adopt guerrilla tactics; they spread downstream to the Purus River, raiding sedentary farmers along the way. By 1774 the Mura expansion had been countered

Natchez Trace Parkway

2005-01-31T00:29:00.000-08:00

Old road and one of the most scenic highways in the United States, about 450 mi (725 km) long, following an Indian trail, or trace, northeastward from Natchez, Miss., across northwestern Alabama to Nashville, Tenn. Originally an Indian trail, from 1800 to 1820 it was the most important highway in the Old Southwest—militarily, economically, and politically. With the advent of the river steamer

Cloud Rat

2005-01-29T03:35:00.000-08:00

Also called cloudrunner any of six species of slow-moving, nocturnal, tree-dwelling rodents found only in Philippine forests. Giant cloud rats belong to the genus Phloeomys (two species), whereas bushy-tailed cloud rats are classified in the genus Crateromys (four species).

Sunday

2005-01-28T13:11:00.000-08:00

First day of the week; in Christianity, the Lord's Day, the weekly memorial of Jesus Christ's Resurrection from the dead. The practice of Christians gathering together for worship on Sunday dates back to apostolic times, but details of the actual development of the custom are not clear. Before the end of the 1st century AD, the author of Revelation gave the first day its name

Metaethics

2005-01-27T09:29:00.000-08:00

Analytic philosophers, also known as philosophers of language, distinguish between the first-order language, in which all humans communicate with one another, and the second-order

Corbusier, Le

2005-01-26T18:25:00.000-08:00

Byname of Charles-Édouard Jeanneret internationally influential Swiss architect and city planner, whose designs combine the functionalism of the modern movement with a bold, sculptural expressionism. He belonged to the first generation of the so-called International school of architecture and was their most able propagandist

Wainganga River

2005-01-25T08:01:00.000-08:00

River, tributary of the Godavari River, western India. It rises in the Mahadeo Hills in south-central Madhya Pradesh state and flows 360 miles (580 km) south to join the Wardha River (a headwater of the Godavari) northeast of Kagaznagar in Maharashtra state. Along the final 142 miles (229 km) of its course, the river forms the boundary between Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh states and is known as

Heinrich Von Melk

2005-01-25T04:22:00.000-08:00

A Benedictine lay brother of the Austrian monastery of Melk, he composed a vivid poem Von des Tôdes gehügede (c. 1150–60; “Remembrance of Death” or “Memento Mori”). The monkish theme is traditional, but the poem's satiric edge and unflattering description of the contemporary emerging feudal and courtly culture

Hinduism, Vaishnava Samhitas

2005-01-23T04:35:00.000-08:00

These consist of two groups of texts: Vaikhanasa Samhitas and Pañcaratra Samhitas. The latter group is the prevailing one; more than 200 titles are known, though the official number is 108. Vaikhanasa Samhitas (collections of the Vaishnava school of Vaikhanasas, who were originally ascetics) seem to have embodied the original temple manuals for the Bhagavatas (devotees), which by the 11th

Acrocephalosyndactyly

2005-01-20T15:59:00.000-08:00

Also called Apert's Syndrome congenital malformation of the skeleton, affecting the skull, hands, and feet, first described by the French pediatrician Eugène Apert. The head is shortened front-to-back and appears pointed (acrocephaly) because of premature closing of the cranial sutures between the individual bones that make up the skull. The bones and skin of the hands and feet are fused (syndactyly),

Län

2005-01-20T01:11:00.000-08:00

Administrative subdivision (county) of Sweden; see landskap.

Mormon

2005-01-19T06:54:00.000-08:00

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the principal formal body embracing

Beast Fable

2005-01-18T02:56:00.000-08:00

A prose or verse fable or short story that usually has a moral. In beast fables animal characters are represented as acting with human feelings and motives. Among the best-known examples in Western literature are those attributed to the legendary Greek author Aesop. The best-known Asian collection of beast fables is the Pañca-tantra of India.

Black Range

2005-01-17T07:11:00.000-08:00

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

Mindoro

2005-01-16T10:26:00.000-08:00

A mountainous core extending for 100 miles (160 km) along the

Graviton

2005-01-15T10:11:00.000-08:00

Postulated quantum that is thought to be the carrier of the gravitational field. It is analogous to the well-established photon of the electromagnetic field. Gravitons, like photons, would be massless, electrically uncharged particles traveling at the speed of light and would be emitted only by highly accelerating, extremely massive objects such as stars. Since

Diplomacy, New styles of diplomacy

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

One result of the breakdown of old premises, mainly in new states, was that diplomatic immunity was breached, and diplomacy became a hazardous career. Disease was no longer the chief killer of diplomats, nor was overindulgence at court; the new hazards were murder, maiming, and kidnapping. Diplomats were a target because they represented states and symbolized privileged

Henogamy

2005-01-12T21:44:00.000-08:00

The custom by which one, and only one, member of a family is permitted to marry. The classic example is that of the patrilineal Nambudiri Brahmans of Malabar in Tamil Nadu, India; among them, only eldest sons were permitted to marry Nambudiri women and have legitimate children. The custom is concerned with the need to keep property intact and to limit the number of legitimate

Sai Ong Hue

2005-01-12T05:31:00.000-08:00

Sai Ong Hue was a grandson of the great ruler Suliyavongsa. He spent most of his early years as a prince of the royal house in exile at Hue (now in Vietnam) while a usurper sat on the throne of Lan Xang. In 1698 he attacked Vientiane, the capital of Lan Xang,

New England Confederation

2005-01-11T09:10:00.000-08:00

Also called United Colonies of New England in British American colonial history, a federation of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Haven, and Plymouth established in May 1643 by delegates from those four Puritan colonies. Several factors influenced the formation of this alliance, including the solution of trade, boundary, and religious disputes, but the principal impetus was a concern over defense against attacks

Wang Hui

2005-01-10T16:18:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization Wang Hui probably the paramount member of the group of Chinese painters known as the Four Wangs (including Wang Shimin, 1592–1680, Wang Jian, 1598–1677, and Wang Yuanqi, 1642–1715), who represented the so-called “orthodox school” of painting in the Ming and early Qing periods. The orthodox school was based upon the dicta laid down by Dong Qichang (1555–1636). It was “orthodox” in the Confucian

Crabgrass

2005-01-09T05:12:00.000-08:00

Also called finger grass any of about 300 species of grasses in the genus Digitaria (family Poaceae), especially D. sanguinalis or the slightly shorter D. ischaemum (smooth crabgrass). D. sanguinalis has long hairs covering its leaves and has five or six spikelets, while D. ischaemum has no hair and only two or three spikelets. Both species are natives of Europe that became widely

Essential Oil

2005-01-09T03:21:00.000-08:00

Distillation is the most common method

Franceschini, Marcantonio

2005-01-07T21:37:00.000-08:00

Franceschini worked in Genoa, Modena, and Rome as well as in Bologna and worked extensively for patrons in Austria and Germany. He was made director of the Clementina Academy in Bologna in 1721. Franceschini was the last important representative of the

New Castle

2005-01-07T15:33:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1822) of Henry county, eastern Indiana, U.S. It lies along the Blue River, 50 miles (80 km) east of Indianapolis. Founded in 1819 and named by Ezekiel Leavell for his hometown in Kentucky, it was incorporated in 1839. In 1900 a decade of expansion began when automobile and piano manufacturing, as well as other industries, were started there. During this same period, the large-scale commercial

Amado, Jorge

2005-01-05T03:12:00.000-08:00

Fred P. Ellison, Brazil's New Novel: Four Northeastern Masters (1954; reprinted 1979); Bobby J. Chamberlain, Jorge Amado (1990).

Cushing, Caleb

2005-01-04T20:49:00.000-08:00

After serving in the state legislature and the U.S. Congress (1835–43), Cushing was appointed U.S. commissioner to China. There he negotiated the Treaty of Wanghia (1844) establishing the principle of extraterritoriality. In 1852 he became an associate

Mansur, Abu Yusuf Ya'qub Al-

2005-01-03T16:17:00.000-08:00

When his father, Abu Ya'qub Yusuf, died on July 29, 1184, Abu Yusuf Ya'qub succeeded to the throne with minor difficulties. In November factious tribes in Algeria captured Algiers and other towns, but by 1188 he had pacified his African territories

Nicaragua, Flag Of

2005-01-02T11:30:00.000-08:00

Independence for Central America was first proclaimed on September 15, 1821, but Mexico then subdued the area for two years. The flag of the newly independent United Provinces of Central America was adopted on August 21, 1823, and consisted of blue-white-blue stripes with the national coat of arms in the centre. Those arms included basically the same design elements Nicaragua uses

Respiratory Disease

2005-01-01T16:52:00.000-08:00

Diseases of the respiratory system may affect any of the structures and organs that have to do with breathing—the nasal cavities, the throat (pharynx), the larynx, the windpipe (trachea), the airways (bronchi), and the lung tissue. In addition, respiration is dependent on normal functioning of the muscles

Eye Worm

2004-12-31T18:18:00.000-08:00

(species Loa loa), common parasite of humans and other primates in central and western Africa, a member of the class Nematoda (phylum Aschelminthes). It is transmitted to humans by the deerfly, Chrysops (the intermediate host), which feeds on primate blood. When the fly alights on a human victim, the worm larva drops onto the new host's skin and burrows underneath. The larva

Wilberforce University

2004-12-29T19:55:00.000-08:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Wilberforce, Ohio, U.S. It is affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Wilberforce is a liberal arts university offering undergraduate programs in business, engineering, sciences, humanities, and other areas. All students must participate in the cooperative education program, a program

Anthropology And Archaeology, Eastern Hemisphere.

2004-12-29T13:54:00.000-08:00

The year 2002 yielded a number of stunning archaeological discoveries. A 50-cm (20-in)-long limestone ossuary, or box for storage of bones, bearing a text in Aramaic, was hailed as the first archaeological evidence for the historical Jesus. The ossuary, found near Jerusalem, was carved with a single line of text reading, “Ya'akov bar Yosef akhui diYeshua,” or “James, son of Joseph, brother

Catechetical School

2004-12-28T19:14:00.000-08:00

In early Christianity, a type of educational institution with a curriculum directed toward inquirers (especially those trained in the Greek paideia, or educational system) whose aim was to gain a greater knowledge of Christianity and eventually, perhaps, baptism into the Christian community. Located in such centres as Alexandria, the catechetical schools became

Term

2004-12-27T00:15:00.000-08:00

In logic, the subject or predicate of a categorical proposition (q.v.), or statement. Aristotle so used the Greek word horos (“limit”), apparently by an analogy between the terms of a proportion and those of a syllogism. Terminus is the Latin translation of this word, used, for example, by the 5th-century Roman philosopher Boethius. Hence in medieval logic the word came to be used

Mountain, Volcanism

2004-12-26T05:14:00.000-08:00

Most, but not all, volcanoes consist of material that is thought to have melted in the mantle (at depths of tens of kilometres), which rose through the overlying crust and was erupted onto the surface. To a large extent, the physical characteristics of the erupted material determines the shape and height of a volcano. Material of low density can produce taller mountains

Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand

2004-12-25T11:33:00.000-08:00

Gandhi was the youngest child of his father's fourth wife. His father, Karamchand Gandhi, who was the dewan (chief

Challis, James

2004-12-23T23:43:00.000-08:00

Elected a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1826 and ordained in 1830, Challis became Plumian professor of astronomy and director of the Cambridge Observatory in 1836. He contributed 225 mathematical,

Saaremaa

2004-12-22T04:09:00.000-08:00

German and Swedish Ösel , Russian Sarema largest of the islands in the Muhu archipelago that divides the Baltic Sea from the Gulf of Riga. It constitutes the bulk of the Estonian county of Saaremaa (Saare) and has an area of 1,032 square miles (2,674 square km). The island is low-lying and is composed largely of limestones and dolomites. Some of the places with poorer soils are characterized by the alvary—poor bushy vegetation,

Dyer, Mary Barrett

2004-12-21T11:02:00.000-08:00

Married in 1633 in London to William Dyer, Mary Dyer went with him to America (c. 1635) and settled in Boston. She began to accept the antinomian

São Francisco River

2004-12-19T21:01:00.000-08:00

The upper-middle basin is an agricultural region in which cotton, beans, rice, and corn (maize) are grown. The

Ueda Akinari

2004-12-19T03:36:00.000-08:00

Ueda was adopted into the family of an oil and paper merchant and brought up with great kindness. A childhood attack of smallpox left him with some paralysis in his hands, and it may have caused his blindness late in life. Ueda became interested in

Wade-giles Romanization

2004-12-18T23:02:00.000-08:00

System of romanizing the modern Chinese written language, originally devised to simplify Chinese language characters for the Western world. Initiated by Sir Thomas Francis Wade (q.v.), the system was modified by the Cambridge professor Herbert Allen Giles in his Chinese–English Dictionary (1912). With Giles's syllabic changes, Wade-Giles became the preferred Chinese

Power Steering

2004-12-17T16:27:00.000-08:00

System to aid the steering of an automobile by use of a hydraulic device (driven from the engine) that amplifies the turning moment, or torque, applied to the steering wheel by the driver. To reduce the torque required from the driver as cars became heavier and tires softer, gears were introduced between the steering wheel shaft and the linkage that turns the wheels.

øvre Anar River National Park

2004-12-16T23:55:00.000-08:00

Norwegian Øvre Anarjåkka Nasjonalpark, national park in the southeastern Finnmark Plateau region, northern Norway, bordering the Lemmen River National Park of Finland. One of the largest of Norway's national parks, it covers an area of 537 square miles (1,390 square km). Low hills covered by birch and pine forest and dotted by bogs and lakes are characteristic of the area, in which large numbers of reindeer graze.

Pitt, Thomas

2004-12-16T23:32:00.000-08:00

Without receiving permission

Vendôme

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

Historic town and capital of an arrondissement in the département of Loir-et-Cher, Centre région, north-central France. It lies southwest of Paris and 20 miles (30 km) northwest of Blois. Vendôme stands on the Loir River, which there divides and intersects the town. To the south stands a hill on which are ruins of the 11th-century castle of the counts (later dukes) of Vendôme. The town

Lipalian Interval

2004-12-13T18:13:00.000-08:00

In geology, time span suggested in an attempt to explain the sudden appearance of abundant life forms in the earliest known Cambrian rocks (approximately 570,000,000 years old), in contrast to their absence in the latest Precambrian strata (no more than about 800,000,000 years old). Unlike Precambrian indications of life, Cambrian faunas are comparatively highly developed and diverse,

Davidson College

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

Private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Davidson, North Carolina, U.S. It is a liberal arts college with bachelor's degree programs in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences and is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Junior-year students can study at the University of Tours in Tours, France, or the Julius Maximilian University in W

Heterospecific Mating

2004-12-10T23:41:00.000-08:00

Also called incompatible mating mating in which the man and woman have incompatible blood types, such that the woman may develop antibodies to her partner's blood type. This mating causes difficulties in childbirth, since there is a chance that the child conceived in a heterospecific mating will have its father's blood type. When a heterospecific pregnancy occurs, the mother produces antibodies

Kyanite

2004-12-09T03:11:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Cyanite, also called Disthene, silicate mineral that is formed during the regional metamorphism of clay-rich sediments. It is an indicator of deep burial of a terrain rather than high stress, as formerly thought. Kyanite occurs as elongated blades principally in gneisses and schists, and it is often accompanied by garnet, quartz, and mica. Its colour ranges from gray-green to black or blue, with blue

Papillon

2004-12-08T16:40:00.000-08:00

Breed of toy dog known from the 16th century, when it was called a dwarf spaniel. A fashionable dog, it was favoured by Madame de Pompadour and Marie Antoinette, and it appeared in paintings by some of the Old Masters. The name papillon (French: “butterfly”) was given to the breed in the late 19th century, when a variety with large, flaring ears resembling the wings of a butterfly

Smith Act

2004-12-07T16:27:00.000-08:00

Formally Alien Registration Act of 1940 U.S. federal law passed in 1940 that made it a criminal offense to advocate violent overthrow of the government or to organize or be a member of any group or society devoted to such advocacy. After World War II this statute was made the basis of a series of prosecutions against leaders of the Communist Party and the Socialist Workers Party. The conviction of the principal

Agriculture And Food Supplies, Company Developments.

2004-12-06T22:49:00.000-08:00

Nestlé SA of Switzerland retained its position as the world's largest food producer, its sales increasing by 3.4% in the 12-month period ended Dec. 31, 1995. Nestlé sold Wine World Estates, which owned 2,630 ha (6,500 ac) of vineyards in California, to a newly formed U.S. consortium comprising Silverado Partners and Texas Pacific Group. Nestlé sold twice the amount of soft drinks in Europe as PepsiCo,

Aegean Civilizations, The Early Bronze Age (c. 30002200)

2004-12-05T13:07:00.000-08:00

The transition from Neolithic to Bronze Age in the Aegean was marked by changes in pottery and other aspects of material culture. These changes may reflect the arrival in Crete and the Cyclades of new people from lands farther east bringing knowledge of metalworking with them. In Crete and the islands, the changes that inaugurated the Bronze Age were more or less

Biblical Literature, Acts

2004-12-04T19:36:00.000-08:00

The various acts, close in form and content to the contemporary Hellenistic romances, turned the apostolic drama into melodrama and satisfied the popular taste for stories of travel and adventure, as well as for a kind of asceticism that was generally rejected by Christian leaders: Andrew (including the Acts of Andrew and Matthias Among the Cannibals), Barnabas

Leaf-nosed Bat

2004-12-01T19:46:00.000-08:00

Any of the bats belonging to the families Phyllostomatidae and Hipposideridae (qq.v.).

Annaberg-buchholz

2004-12-01T04:10:00.000-08:00

Town, east-central Germany, high in the Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge), near the Czech border. It was formed in 1945 by the union of Annaberg (chartered 1497) and Buchholz (chartered 1501), both of which were founded as silver-mining settlements. With the decline of mining and smelting in the 16th century, the pillow-lace industry was introduced in 1561 and became, with related manufactures, the principal

Aquinas, Thomas, Saint, Commentaries on Aristotle

2004-11-30T03:20:00.000-08:00

In octo libros Physicorum expositio (1268–71; Commentary on Aristotle's Physics, 1963); In tres libros De anima (undated; The Commentary of St. Thomas Aquinas on Aristotle's Treatise on the Soul, 1946); In librum De sensu et sensato expositio (1270–71); In decem libros Ethicorum expositio (1271–72; Commentary on the Nicomachean Ethics, 1964); In duodecim libros Metaphysicorum expositio (c. 1272; Commentary on the Metaphysics of Aristotle, 1961); In libros De caelo et mundo expositio (1272–73); In libros Posteriorum analyticorum expositio (undated; probably late).

Luther, Martin, Augustinian Order at Erfurt

2004-11-30T01:09:00.000-08:00

In joining the eremitical order of St. Augustine, Luther had joined an important mendicant order, which by the middle of the 15th century had over 2,000 chapters. As a result of reforms carried through in 1473, the house at Erfurt, to which Luther went, accepted the strict, observant interpretation of the rule. Under Johann von Staupitz, Luther's mentor and vicar general to the order,

Tu-yün

2004-11-28T11:28:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Duyun, city in central Kweichow sheng (province), China. Situated some 60 miles (100 km) southeast of the provincial capital of Kuei-yang, Tu-yün is a transport centre, with a highway route running eastward into Hunan province and a main route, followed by a highway and railway, running south to Liu-chou in Kwangsi province. It is approximately 25 miles (40 km) south by rail from the junction

Tibet, Education

2004-11-27T14:52:00.000-08:00

There were a few secular schools in Tibet before the Chinese established control. The monasteries were the main seats of learning, and some of the larger ones were similar in operation to theological universities. Secular facilities were established in the 1950s, including government-run primary schools, community primary schools, and secondary technical and tertiary

Acacia

2004-11-25T13:46:00.000-08:00

Any of about 800 species of trees and shrubs comprising a genus (Acacia) in the mimosa family (Mimosaceae) and native to tropical and subtropical regions of the world, particularly Australia (there called wattles) and Africa. Acacias' distinctive leaves take the form of small, finely divided leaflets that give the leafstalk a feathery or fernlike (i.e., pinnate) appearance.

Anorthoclase

2004-11-25T09:25:00.000-08:00

Any member of a continuous series of feldspar minerals related to sanidine (q.v.).

Orange Bowl

2004-11-24T13:30:00.000-08:00

The game was first played in 1933 to attract winter tourists to Florida a month

Porteous Riots

2004-11-23T16:11:00.000-08:00

On April 14, 1736, a smuggler, Andrew Wilson, who had won popular sympathy in Edinburgh by helping a friend escape from Tolbooth Prison, was hanged. A small riot broke out at the execution, and the

Azide

2004-11-22T04:58:00.000-08:00

Any of a class of chemical compounds containing three nitrogen atoms as a group, represented as (-N3). Azides are considered as derived from hydrazoic acid (HN3), an inorganic salt such as sodium azide (NaN3), or an organic derivative in which the hydrogen atom of hydrazoic acid is replaced by a hydrocarbon group as in alkyl or aryl azide (RN3), or by an acyl (carboxylic acid) group

Rowan College Of New Jersey

2004-11-21T07:34:00.000-08:00

Public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Glassboro, New Jersey, U.S. It includes the schools of Business, Education, Engineering, Fine and Performing Arts, and Liberal Arts and Sciences. In addition to some 30 bachelor's degree programs, the college offers a range of master's degree programs. There is a branch campus in Camden. University facilities include

Aqtöbe

2004-11-19T20:28:00.000-08:00

Formerly Aktyubinsk, city, northwestern Kazakstan, on the Ilek River. It was founded in 1869 as Aktyube (“White Hill”), a small Russian fort; the first Russian peasant settlers arrived in 1878. In 1891 it became the capital of an uyezd (canton) and in 1932 of an oblast (province). During World War II a ferroalloys plant was built to smelt the nickel and chromium ores of the Mughalzhar (Mugodzhar) Hills. Now an important

Andrews, Charles Mclean

2004-11-19T05:58:00.000-08:00

After teaching at various American universities, Andrews was professor of American history at Yale University from 1910 to 1931. Well started on his important guides to colonial materials in English archives before he went