ResponsibleBeach

Iberville, Pierre Le Moyne D'

2005-04-04T06:36:00.000-07:00

The son of prominent Montreal fur trader Charles Le Moyne, Iberville spent his young manhood in raids against English trading posts on

Wyoming

2005-04-04T01:28:00.000-07:00

The county was formed in 1842; its name was derived from a Delaware Indian word meaning

Computers And Information Systems

2005-04-02T23:34:00.000-08:00

A flurry of legal and Internet activity swirled around the computer industry in 2003, contrasting sharply with slowed sales for computers and software. While industry sales languished and layoffs continued, consumers and businesses experienced the wrath of Internet worms and viruses. Junk e-mail, called spam, clogged e-mail inboxes everywhere, and legislators mobilized

Orzeszkowa, Eliza

2005-04-01T22:05:00.000-08:00

Née Eliza Pawlowska Polish novelist and a leading writer of the Positivist period (the Polish Positivists took their name from Auguste Comte's philosophy but were themselves mainly utilitarians). Questions of education, independence, and marriage in Orzeszkowa's works were eventually overshadowed by issues such

Smith, Jedediah (strong)

2005-03-31T18:57:00.000-08:00

Smith probably made his first trip west while still in his teens. In 1822 he joined a fur-trading expedition to the Rocky Mountains and continued in the Rocky Mountain trade for the remainder of the

World Water Crisis: Is There A Way Out?

2005-03-30T10:19:00.000-08:00

Some 40% of the global population lives within river basins that are shared by two or more countries. Often one country is water-rich and the other water-poor, or one supports heavily polluting industries while the other does not. Since there is no strong international law governing the resolution of transboundary water disputes, the potential for conflict remains

Anthony Melissa

2005-03-28T08:42:00.000-08:00

Anthony, whose surname is derived from the title of his chief work, Melissa (Greek: “The Bee”), compiled an anthology based largely on two leading

Annelid, Digestive system

2005-03-28T03:39:00.000-08:00

The polychaete digestive system is generally a straight tube; a mouth leads into an esophagus, which is followed by the intestine and the anus. Some free-moving forms have a proboscis that can be thrust forward by being turned inside out—that is, the proboscis is eversible. In oligochaetes such as the earthworm, the mouth opens into a muscular pharynx, which opens to

Serlio, Sebastiano

2005-03-27T20:10:00.000-08:00

Trained by his father as a painter, Serlio went to Rome in 1514, where he studied architecture under Baldassarre Peruzzi, one of the initiators of the Mannerist style of architecture. With the sack of Rome

Costa Rica

2005-03-27T01:10:00.000-08:00

Officially Republic of Coast Rica, Spanish República de Costa Rica, country of Central America, covering an area of 19,730 square miles (51,100 square kilometres). Extending from northwest to southeast, Costa Rica is bounded on the north by Nicaragua, along its 630-mile (1,015-kilometre) southwestern coastline by the Pacific Ocean, on the southeast by Panama, and along its 185-mile northeastern coastline by the Caribbean Sea. At the narrowest point, the distance

Louis I

2005-03-25T08:42:00.000-08:00

Not all challenges to Louis's authority could so easily be managed. The birth of Charles in 823 to Louis's second wife, Judith, and the accommodations required by another heir provoked a crisis in the family and the empire. Reformers complained about the rampant corruption of powerful nobles who preyed on church lands and the poor. Moreover, the various ethnic and linguistic

Phonolite

2005-03-24T06:58:00.000-08:00

The most important constituent of phonolite is alkali feldspar, either sanidine or anorthoclase,

Outram, Sir James, 1st Baronet

2005-03-23T06:01:00.000-08:00

Outram was educated at Marischal College, Aberdeen, Scot., and went to Bombay as a cadet in 1819. After serving with distinction in the

Cozzens, James Gould

2005-03-22T14:46:00.000-08:00

Cozzens grew up on Staten Island, N.Y., graduated from the Kent (Conn.) School (1922), and attended Harvard University for two years. In a year of teaching in Cuba he accumulated background material for the short novels Cockpit (1928) and The Son of Perdition (1929). He gained critical attention

Insurance, Eastern Europe

2005-03-21T03:46:00.000-08:00

After the breakup of the Soviet Union, countries in eastern Europe developed insurance systems of considerable variety, ranging from highly centralized and state-controlled systems to Western-style ones. Because of recent political and economic upheavals in these countries, it seems likely that the trend will be toward decentralized, Western-style

Taliesin And Taliesin West

2005-03-20T16:19:00.000-08:00

The two homes, as well as architectural schools, of the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Originally built in 1911, Taliesin, located near Spring Green, Wisconsin, U.S., was rebuilt after fires in 1914 and 1925. Taliesin West, near Scottsdale, Arizona, was begun in 1937 as a winter home for Wright and his students. Wright was of Welsh descent and named his homes after the Welsh bard Taliesin.

Abbeville

2005-03-19T22:48:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1854) of Vermilion parish, southern Louisiana, U.S., on the Vermilion River, 20 miles (32 km) south-southwest of Lafayette. It was founded in 1843 by a Capuchin missionary, Père Antoine Desire Mégret, who patterned it on a French Provençal village. First called La Chapelle and settled by Acadians from Nova Scotia and Mediterranean immigrants, it was later named Abbeville (“Priest's

Laos, Relief

2005-03-19T21:51:00.000-08:00

Dominating the landscape of Laos are its inhospitable, forest-covered mountains, which in the north rise to a maximum elevation of 9,245 feet (2,818 metres) above sea level at Mount Bia and everywhere constitute an impediment to travel. The principal range lies along a northwest-southeast axis and forms part of the Annamese Cordillera (Chaîne Annamitique), but secondary ranges

Marginal Efficiency Of Investment

2005-03-19T18:13:00.000-08:00

In economics, expected rates of return on investment as additional units of investment are made under specified conditions and over a stated period of time. A comparison of these rates with the going rate of interest may be used to indicate the profitability of investment. The rate of return is computed as the rate at which the expected stream of future earnings

Giles, H.a.

2005-03-17T11:49:00.000-08:00

Educated at Charterhouse school, London, Giles joined the consular service and spent the years 1867–92 in various posts in China. Upon his return, he lived in Aberdeen, Scot.,

Mold

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

Welsh Yr Wyddgrug town, historic and present county of Flintshire (Sir Fflint), northeastern Wales, situated on a small stretch of farmland between the two industrial centres of Deeside and Wrexham. Mold grew up around a motte-and-bailey castle that the Normans built in the 12th century. The native Christian Britons of the area defeated the Picts and Scots in an important battle waged

Eskimo-aleut Languages, Yupik

2005-03-16T01:19:00.000-08:00

Yupik, a dialectal form meaning “real person,” includes five languages: Central Alaskan Yupik, spoken southward from Norton Sound; Pacific Yupik, commonly called Alutiiq, spoken from the Alaska Peninsula eastward to Prince William Sound; Naukanski Siberian Yupik, whose speakers were resettled southward from Cape Dezhnyov, the easternmost point of the Eurasian

Einstein's Massenergy Relation

2005-03-15T02:32:00.000-08:00

In physical theories prior to that of special relativity, mass and energy were viewed as distinct entities. Furthermore, the energy of a body at rest could be assigned an arbitrary

Force

2005-03-14T14:10:00.000-08:00

In mechanics, any action that tends to maintain or alter the position of a body or to distort it. The concept of force is commonly explained in terms of Newton's three laws of motion set forth in his Principia Mathematica (1687). According to Newton's first principle, a body that is at rest or moving at a uniform rate in a straight line will remain in that state until some force

Cozzi Porcelain

2005-03-14T02:16:00.000-08:00

Soft-paste porcelain made in Venice by Geminiano Cozzi from about 1764 to 1812. Cozzi products, often freely adapted versions of Meissen porcelain, consisted mainly of figures, vases, and tablewares with Rococo decoration that was frequently distinguished by an imaginative interpretation wholly Italian in style. Rich colours, including red, bluish purple, and emerald

Feuillet, Raoul-auger

2005-03-12T17:25:00.000-08:00

French dancer, dancing master, and choreographer whose dance notation system was published in his Chorégraphie ou l'art de décrire la danse (1700; “Choreography, or the Art of Describing the Dance”). Working in Paris, he collaborated with André Lorin, conductor of the Royal Academy of Dance; he also wrote Recueil de danses (1704; “Collection of Dances”), describing dances performed

Insurance, Abandonment clause

2005-03-12T07:25:00.000-08:00

If salvaging or rehabilitating a ship or cargo following a marine loss costs more than the goods are worth, the loss is said to be constructively total. Under such conditions, the ocean marine policy permits the insured to abandon the damaged ship or cargo to the insurer and make a claim for the entire value. In this case, the salvage belongs to the insurer, who may dispose

Annonaceae

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

The custard-apple, or annona, family, the largest family of the magnolia order (Magnoliales). According to some authorities, it contains 122 genera and 1,100 species. Many species are valuable for their large, pulpy fruits, some are useful for their timber, and others are prized as ornamentals. The family consists of trees, shrubs, and woody climbers found mainly in the tropics, although

New Orleans, Climate

2005-03-10T16:58:00.000-08:00

New Orleans has a moderate climate; the average daily temperature from October through March is 60 °F (16 °C), and from April through September the daily average is 77 °F (25 °C). Freezing weather is rare, and the temperature rises above 95 °F (35 °C) only about six days a year.

Gruffydd, William John

2005-03-09T20:54:00.000-08:00

Educated at the University of Oxford, Gruffydd was appointed professor of Celtic at University College in Cardiff, Wales, a position

Tiger Moth

2005-03-09T03:23:00.000-08:00

The fall webworm (Hyphantria cunea) is a serious pest. These

Dada

2005-03-08T00:38:00.000-08:00

Several explanations have been given by various members of the movement as to how it received its name. According to the most widely accepted account, the name was adopted at Hugo Ball's Cabaret Voltaire

Dan

2005-03-07T11:33:00.000-08:00

One of the 12 tribes of Israel that in biblical times comprised the people of Israel who later became the Jewish people. The tribe was named after the first of two sons born to Jacob (also called Israel) and Bilhah, the maidservant of Jacob's second wife, Rachel. Nine of the other 11 tribes were also named after sons of Jacob, while two bear the names of Jacob's grandsons, children

Radbruch, Gustav

2005-03-07T00:40:00.000-08:00

Radbruch's legal philosophy grew out of the neo-Kantian principle that

Hindenburg, Paul Von

2005-03-06T06:32:00.000-08:00

Hindenburg was the son of a Prussian officer of old Junker (aristocratic)

Umuahia

2005-03-05T07:58:00.000-08:00

Town, capital of Abia state, southern Nigeria. It lies along the railroad from Port Harcourt to Enugu. It is an agricultural market centre and (since 1916) collecting point on the railway for the crops of the surrounding region: yams, cassava, corn (maize), taro, citrus fruits, and palm oil and kernels. The town has a palm-oil-processing plant and several breweries, and the National

An Lu-shan

2005-03-04T17:54:00.000-08:00

Pinyin An Lushan , original name (Wade-Giles romanization) K'ang , imperial name Hsiung Wu , canonized name Yen La Wang Chinese general of Iranian and Turkish descent who, as leader of a rebellion in AD 755, proclaimed himself emperor and unsuccessfully attempted to found a dynasty to replace the T'ang dynasty. Despite its failure, the rebellion precipitated far-reaching social and economic change.

Macaulay (of Rothley), Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron

2005-03-04T13:14:00.000-08:00

English Whig politician, essayist, poet, and historian best known for his History of England, 5 vol. (1849–61); this work, which covers the period 1688–1702, secured his place as one of the founders of what has been called the Whig interpretation of history. He was raised to the peerage in 1857.

Margarita Island

2005-03-03T15:42:00.000-08:00

Spanish Isla De Margarita, island in the Caribbean Sea, 12 mi (19 km) north of the Península de Araya in northeastern Venezuela. Also known as the Isle of Pearls, Margarita is the largest of 70 islands comprising Nueva Esparta state. In reality two islands joined by a low, narrow isthmus, Margarita is about 40 mi (65 km) long, covers an area of 414 sq mi (1,072 sq km), and has a coastline of 198 mi, with many natural harbours. The island

Laja River

2005-03-03T07:06:00.000-08:00

Spanish in full Río De La Laja, river in Guanajuato estado (“state”), north-central Mexico. After rising in the Sierra Madre Occidental near San Felipe (Doctor Hernandez Alvarez), the Laja arches eastward and then southeastward through the central plateau, past the cities of Dolores Hidalgo, San Miguel de Allende, Comonfort, and San Miguel Octopan. It joins the Apaseo River, a tributary of the Lerma River,

Saratov

2005-03-02T01:06:00.000-08:00

Most of the right(west)-bank area is occupied by the Volga Upland, which is greatly dissected by river valleys and erosion gullies; the left (east) bank is a low, rolling plain

Holliday, Doc

2005-03-01T14:12:00.000-08:00

Holliday was reared in Georgia in the genteel tradition of the Old South, graduated from the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery in 1872, and, already consumptive, moved west for drier climes. He practiced dentistry briefly in Dallas but soon discovered

Korean Art

2005-02-28T13:56:00.000-08:00

A number of artifacts, including pottery and bronze and iron objects, indicate the early influence of China on Korean art. There is also evidence that Scythian, Siberian, and other non-Chinese cultures had an effect on the design and decoration

Bedmar, Alonso De La Cueva, Marqués De

2005-02-28T09:25:00.000-08:00

Nominated by Philip III of Spain as ambassador to the Venetian Republic (1607), he was made marqués de Bedmar in 1614. He used his diplomatic privileges to promote the plans of the Spanish viceroys of Naples and Milan and to increase Spanish power in Italy. Resolutely opposed

Settlement, Act Of

2005-02-27T19:00:00.000-08:00

Toward the end of 1700 William III was ill and childless; his sister-in-law, the prospective queen, Anne, had just lost her only surviving child; and abroad the supporters of the exiled king, James II, were numerous and active. The need for the act was obvious. It decreed that, in default

Ayrer, Jakob

2005-02-27T03:54:00.000-08:00

A lawyer by profession, Ayrer spent

Amory, Cleveland

2005-02-26T18:01:00.000-08:00

American writer and animal rights advocate (b. Sept. 2, 1917, Nahant, Mass.--d. Oct. 14, 1998, New York, N.Y.), was the author of a number of best-selling books and founder (1967) of the Fund for Animals, a New York-based animal-protection agency, which he served as unpaid president for 31 years. Amory's writing career began in his senior year in college when he became president of the Harvard Crimson. He graduated

Appoggiatura

2005-02-25T17:32:00.000-08:00

(from Italian appoggiare, “to lean”), in music, an ornamental note of long or short duration that temporarily displaces, and subsequently resolves into, a main note, usually by stepwise motion. During the Renaissance and early Baroque, the appoggiatura was of moderate length, averaging one-third of the main note, and was more in the nature of a melodic than a harmonic ornament.

Skelton Glacier

2005-02-25T06:55:00.000-08:00

Antarctic glacier situated on the Hillary Coast of Victoria Land, to the northeast of the Cook Mountains, near McMurdo Sound. It flows sluggishly southward into the Ross Ice Shelf. The greatest known thickness of ice along its 39-mi (62-km) length occurs at a point about 30 mi from the tip of its floating terminus. There the ice is about 4,760 ft (1,450 m) thick. The east side of the glacier is covered

Wyndham, George

2005-02-24T15:00:00.000-08:00

Wyndham was an enthusiast of the British Empire,

Ibn Al-athir

2005-02-23T17:12:00.000-08:00

Ibn al-Athir spent a scholarly life in Mosul, but often visited Baghdad. He was for a time with Saladin's army in Syria and later lived in Aleppo and Damascus. His chief work was a history of the world, al-Kamil fi at-tarikh (“The Complete History”), starting with

Breccia

2005-02-23T13:09:00.000-08:00

There are three categories of breccia: sedimentary, pyroclastic or igneous, and cataclastic. The constituent fragments may be of one lithology such as a rock fractured in position, or of many

Siliguri

2005-02-23T10:41:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Shiliguri, city, northern West Bengal state, northeastern India. It lies just west of the Mahananda River. The terminus of the roads from Kalimpang (Kalimpong) and Sikkim and of road and rail connections with Darjiling (Darjeeling) and Jalpaiguri, Siliguri is the hub for trade among Darjiling, Sikkim, and Tibet. Sawmilling and jute milling are important industries; there are also tea

Bilberry

2005-02-20T16:59:00.000-08:00

The dark blue berries, ripening in

Dacia

2005-02-20T07:56:00.000-08:00

In antiquity, the area of the Carpathian Mountains and Transylvania, in present north-central and western Romania. The Dacian people had earlier occupied lands south of the Danube and north of the mountains, and the Roman province eventually included wider territories both to the north and east. The Dacians were agricultural and also worked their rich mines of

Christian And Missionary Alliance

2005-02-20T02:10:00.000-08:00

Missionary and evangelistic movement that developed from the work of Albert B. Simpson (d. 1919), a Presbyterian minister who left that church to become an independent evangelist in New York City. In 1887 Simpson and others organized two societies, one for home and one for foreign missions. The two societies were merged into the Christian and Missionary Alliance in 1897. The organization

Extrinsicism

2005-02-19T16:13:00.000-08:00

In Christian thought, for example, this is illustrated by the tendency

Nicaea, Council Of

2005-02-18T21:21:00.000-08:00

(787), the seventh ecumenical council of the Christian church, meeting in Nicaea (now Iznik, Tur.). It attempted to resolve the Iconoclastic Controversy, initiated in 726 when Emperor Leo III issued a decree against the worship of icons. The council declared that icons deserved reverence and veneration but not adoration. Convoked by the patriarch Tarasius, the council was attended

Barari Ghat, Battle Of

2005-02-18T16:56:00.000-08:00

(Jan. 9, 1760), in Indian history, one of a series of Afghan victories over the Marathas in their war to gain control of the decaying Mughal Empire, which gave the British time in which to consolidate their power in Bengal. At the Barari Ghat (Ferry Station) of the Jumna (now Yamuna) River, 10 miles (16 km) north of Delhi, the Maratha chief Dattaji Sindhia, retreating from the Punjab before the Afghan

Casualty Insurance

2005-02-17T05:18:00.000-08:00

Liability insurance contracts may cover liability arising out of the use of an automobile, the operation of a business, professional negligence

Ear Disease

2005-02-16T15:55:00.000-08:00

Impaired hearing is, with rare exception, the result of disease or abnormality of the outer, middle, or inner ear. Serious impairment of hearing at birth almost always results from a dysfunction of the auditory nerve and cannot be improved by medical or surgical treatment. In early and late childhood

Audley (of Walden), Thomas Audley, Baron

2005-02-16T08:30:00.000-08:00

Trained in law, Audley rose in politics to become speaker of the House of Commons in 1529. Because

Tanzania, Early exploration

2005-02-15T20:04:00.000-08:00

Most of the known history of Tanganyika before the 19th century concerns the coastal area, although the interior has a number of important prehistoric sites, including the Olduvai Gorge. Trading contacts between Arabia and the East African coast existed by the 1st century AD, and there are indications of connections with India. The coastal trading centres were mainly

Vigilius

2005-02-14T15:14:00.000-08:00

Vigilius, of noble birth, became a Roman deacon and was with Pope St. Agapetus I during the latter's unsuccessful mission in March 536 to Constantinople to deter the Byzantine

Barcelona, Archaeological Museum Of

2005-02-13T15:53:00.000-08:00

In full Archaeological Museum Of Barcelona And Institute Of Prehistory And Archaeology, Spanish Museo Arqueológica De Barcelona E Instituto De Prehistoria Y Arqueología, institution in Barcelona, Spain, notable for its collection of prehistoric objects and for its collection of ancient Greek and Roman art and examples illustrating Iberian archaeology. Exhibits include a scale model of a part of the excavation at Ampurias (Emporiae) and displays of Greek vases, glass, and sculpture. There is a fine statue of Asclepius of the 4th century

Cambay, Gulf Of

2005-02-13T02:13:00.000-08:00

Also called Gulf of Khambhat trumpet-shaped gulf of the Arabian Sea, indenting northward the coast of Gujarat state, western India, between Bombay and the Kathiawar Peninsula. It is 120 miles (190 km) wide at its mouth between Diu and Daman, but it rapidly narrows to 15 miles (24 km). The gulf receives many rivers, including the Sabarmati, Mahi, Narmada (Narbada), and Tapti. Its shape and its orientation in relation to the southwest

Dvija

2005-02-12T10:25:00.000-08:00

(Sanskrit: “twice-born”), in the Hindu social system, members of the three upper varnas, or social classes—the Brahmans (priests and teachers), Kshatriya (warriors), and Vaisya (merchants)—whose sacrament of initiation is regarded as a second or spiritual birth. The initiation ceremony (upanayana; q.v.) invests the male caste members with a sacred thread, a loop worn next to the skin

Camaieu

2005-02-10T21:20:00.000-08:00

Plural Camaieux, painting technique by which an image is executed either entirely in shades of a single colour or in several tints unnatural to the object, figure, or scene represented. When a picture is monochromatically rendered in gray, it is called grisaille; when in yellow, cirage. Originating in the ancient world, camaieu was used in miniature painting to simulate cameos and

G.c.v.o.

2005-02-10T20:39:00.000-08:00

Knight grand cross, or dame grand cross, of the Royal Victorian Order, member of the highest rank of a British order of knighthood. See Royal Victorian Order.

Théâtre-libre

2005-02-10T01:30:00.000-08:00

(French: Free Theatre), independent, private theatre founded in Paris in 1887 by André Antoine, which became the proving ground for the new naturalistic drama. Antoine, an amateur actor, was influenced by the naturalistic novels of Émile Zola and by the theatrical realism of the Meiningen Company. Antoine believed that environment shaped character and behaviour, and he

Schäffle, Albert

2005-02-09T21:52:00.000-08:00

Schäffle became a professor of political economy at Tübingen (1860) and later Vienna (1868). He was a member of the Württemberg Landtag (assembly)

Catalyst

2005-02-09T02:31:00.000-08:00

Most solid catalysts are metals or the oxides, sulfides, and halides of metallic elements and of the semimetallic elements boron, aluminum, and silicon. Gaseous and liquid

Barante, Amable-guillaume-prosper Brugière, Baron De

2005-02-08T08:27:00.000-08:00

Educated at the École Polytechnique

Latent Image

2005-02-07T16:45:00.000-08:00

According to current theories of latent image formation, small specks of silver atoms (one ten-millionth

Selene

2005-02-07T03:18:00.000-08:00

Latin Luna, in Greek and Roman religion, the personification of the moon as a goddess. She was worshiped at the new and full moons. Her parents were the Titans Hyperion and Theia; her brother was Helios, the sun god (sometimes called her father); her sister Eos (Dawn); and her husband Zeus. She is most identified with Endymion, whom she loved and whom Zeus cast into eternal sleep in a cave

Blood Fluke

2005-02-06T11:28:00.000-08:00

Any of certain parasitic flatworms that live in the veins of the host organism. See fluke.

Roman Road System

2005-02-05T21:56:00.000-08:00

The first of the great Roman roads, the Via Appia (Appian Way), begun by the censor Appius

Alzon, Emmanuel D'

2005-02-05T21:22:00.000-08:00

D'Alzon studied in Paris, in Montpellier, and in Rome, where he was ordained (1834). He was named canon and vicar-general of Nîmes and retained this position until his death. In 1843 he acquired Assumption College in Nîmes, where he founded (1845) the congregation

Mason, John Mitchell

2005-02-04T01:35:00.000-08:00

Mason developed a plan for theological education and in 1804 founded a seminary of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in New York City. He believed that the

Sabzevari, Hajji Hadi

2005-02-03T10:12:00.000-08:00

Iranian teacher and philosopher who advanced the hikmah (wisdom) school of Islamic philosophy. His doctrines—composed of diverse elements of gnosis (esoteric spiritual knowledge), philosophy, and revelation—are an exposition and clarification of the philosophical concepts of Mulla Sadra. But he differed to some extent by classifying knowledge

Azerbaijan, Flag Of

2005-02-03T06:45:00.000-08:00

Prior to the Russian Revolution, when Azerbaijan was part of the tsar's domain, the leading Azerbaijani nationalist, 'Ali bay Huseynzada, exhorted his followers to “Turkify, Islamicize, Europeanize” in order to emphasize ethnic pride, religious devotion, and modernization. The colours associated with those principles were light blue (a traditional Turkish flag colour),

China, A race for territory

2005-02-02T15:55:00.000-08:00

As soon as Japan's impending surrender was known, the commander of the Communist armies, Gen. Zhu De, ordered his men, on August 11, to move into Japanese-held territory and take over Japanese arms, despite Chiang's order that they stand where they were. The United States aided the Chinese government by flying many divisions from the southwest to occupy the main eastern cities,

Augite

2005-02-01T06:13:00.000-08:00

The most common pyroxene mineral (a silicate of calcium, magnesium, iron, titanium, and aluminum). It occurs chiefly as thick, tabular crystals in basalts, gabbros, andesites, and various other dark-coloured igneous rocks. It also is a common constituent of lunar basalts and meteorites rich in basaltic material. Augites with a composition similar to that of diopside

Norfolk Four-course System

2005-01-31T23:47:00.000-08:00

In the Norfolk four-course system, wheat was grown in the first year, turnips in the second, followed

Agribusiness

2005-01-31T17:53:00.000-08:00

In highly industrialized countries, many activities essential to agriculture are carried on separately from the farm. These include the development and production of

Novello, Ivor

2005-01-30T13:15:00.000-08:00

Novello, the son of the celebrated Welsh singing teacher, Dame Clara Novello Davies, was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, and served with the Royal Naval Air Service during World War I. He became famous with a

Smith Sound

2005-01-30T11:19:00.000-08:00

The sound was discovered in 1616 by William Baffin and named for Sir Thomas Smythe (Smith), promoter of voyages to find a Northwest Passage. It was not until the mid-19th century that any explorer reached

Interior Design, Institutional interiors

2005-01-30T02:18:00.000-08:00

Schools, hospitals, and universities are examples of institutions now extensively using the services of interior designers and architects. Many universities have staff designers dealing with the institution's many design needs, from office spaces to dormitories. Certain institutional needs, such as operating rooms in hospitals, are strictly functional, yet

Guernsey

2005-01-27T16:47:00.000-08:00

Breed of dairy cattle originating on Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands. Like the Jersey, this breed is thought to have descended from the cattle of nearby Normandy and Brittany. All the cattle of the Channel Islands were at one time known as Alderneys. After laws had been enacted prohibiting the importation of cattle to the islands except for slaughter, the Jersey

Sotho

2005-01-27T07:14:00.000-08:00

Traditionally, most Sotho groups relied both on cultivation

Checkered Beetle

2005-01-26T08:33:00.000-08:00

Any of the approximately 3,000 species of the insect family Cleridae (order Coleoptera). Checkered beetles occur throughout the world, mainly in the tropics; the common name derives from their markings and coloration (orange, red, yellow, green, and blue). They range between 3 and 24 mm ( 1/10 to almost 1 inch) in length, with the majority between 5 and 12 mm ( 1/5 and 1/2 inch); they have

Bur Oak

2005-01-25T07:10:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Burr Oak, also called Mossy Cup Oak (Quercus macrocarpa), North American timber tree belonging to the white oak group of the genus Quercus in the beech family (Fagaceae), distributed primarily throughout the central United States. Often 25 metres (80 feet) tall, the tree may reach 50 m. Its leaves, about 25 centimetres (10 inches) long, are dark green and shiny above, dull and whitish beneath; the wide upper half of each leaf

Accismus

2005-01-24T19:23:00.000-08:00

A form of irony in which a person feigns indifference to or pretends to refuse something he or she desires. The fox's dismissal of the grapes in Aesop's fable of the fox and the grapes is an example of accismus. A classic example is that of Caesar's initial refusal to accept the crown, a circumstance reported by one of the conspirators in William Shakespeare's Julius

Olmedo, José Joaquín

2005-01-23T21:41:00.000-08:00

Poet and statesman whose odes commemorating South America's achievement of independence from Spain captured the revolutionary spirit of his time and inspired a generation of Romantic poets and patriots. They have remained monuments to the heroic figures of the liberation movement in South

Le Maistre De Sacy, Isaac-louis

2005-01-22T22:16:00.000-08:00

Important figure in the Jansenist religious movement in France, a member of the Arnauld family (q.v.).

Lin Shu

2005-01-21T19:38:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Lin Shu translator who first made available to Chinese readers more than 171 works of Western literature, even though he himself had no firsthand knowledge of any foreign language and had never traveled abroad. Working through oral interpreters, Lin Shu translated fiction from England, the United States, France, Russia, Switzerland,

Philip Ii

2005-01-20T11:46:00.000-08:00

John II's grant of the duchy of Burgundy to Philip in September 1363 did not become effective until

Spode Porcelain

2005-01-20T10:52:00.000-08:00

Porcelain introduced about 1800 in the factory of Josiah Spode and Josiah Spode II at Stoke-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, Eng. This hybrid porcelain—combining the ingredients of hard-paste porcelain (china clay and china stone) and bone ash—became the standard English bone china. Early Spode porcelain consists of elaborate services and outsize vases, lavishly decorated

Baladhuri, Al-

2005-01-19T02:36:00.000-08:00

Al-Baladhuri lived most of his life in Baghdad and studied there and in Syria. He was for some time a favoured visitor at the Baghdad court of the 'Abbasid caliphs. His chief extant work, a condensation of a longer history, Futuh al-buldan (The Origins of the Islamic State, 1916, 1924), tells of the wars and

Chaeronea

2005-01-18T14:21:00.000-08:00

In ancient Greece, fortified town on Mt. Petrachus, guarding the entry into the northern plain of Boeotia. Controlled by the Boeotian city of Orchomenus (q.v.) in the 5th century BC, it was the scene of the battle in which Philip II of Macedon defeated Thebes and Athens (338 BC). The battle is commemorated by a statue of a large lion sitting on its haunches. In 86 BC Chaeronea was the scene of