CheapCushion

Colemanite

2005-04-05T22:51:00.000-07:00

Borate mineral, hydrated calcium borate (Ca2B6O11×5H2O) that was the principal source of borax until the 1930s. It typically occurs as colourless, brilliant crystals and masses in Tertiary sediments (those formed 66.4 to 1.6 million years ago), where it has been derived from ulexite and borax. The chief localities are the Kramer district, Death Valley, and Daggett, Calif. Colemanite is an

Literature, Latin America.

2005-04-05T06:21:00.000-07:00

The Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes was the most prominent novelist of Latin America to publish a book in 1994. It was a year of particular significance for Latin-American writers of Fuentes' generation as well as for earlier writers. Fuentes published the novel Diana, o la cazadora solitaria, part of his lifelong project "The Era of Time." The novel, set in the world of Mexican

Dependent States

2005-04-04T17:46:00.000-07:00

Puerto Rico's largest bank was fined $21.6 million in January 2003 by the U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly having allowed millions of dollars in drug money to be laundered because of a failure to report suspicious activities to the authorities. The head of the Cayman Islands' Financial Reporting Unit, Brian Gibbs, resigned

Moravia

2005-04-03T20:54:00.000-07:00

Traditional region in central Europe that served as the centre of a major medieval kingdom, known as Great Moravia, before it was incorporated into the kingdom of Bohemia in the 11th century. In the 20th century Moravia became part of the modern state of Czechoslovakia and subsequently of the Czech Republic. The region is bounded by Bohemia on the west and northwest, by

Rushmoor

2005-04-03T13:19:00.000-07:00

Borough (district), administrative and historic county of Hampshire, southern England. It occupies part of the extreme northeastern corner of the county. Rushmoor is situated at the southern edge of the Thames River basin, and its rural areas are sandy heathland. The chalk uplands of the North Downs border the district on the south, and the Basingstoke Canal bisects

Stable Fly

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

The female must feed on blood before she can lay her

Domus

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

The more public functions and activities of the family took place in the atrium, generally

Abqaiq

2005-03-31T17:40:00.000-08:00

Arabic Buqayq, town, eastern Saudi Arabia, about 25 miles (40 km) west of the Persian Gulf. It is situated in the southern end of the Abqaiq oil field, one of the largest and most productive in the kingdom. Abqaiq grew rapidly following the discovery of the field in 1940. By 1950 the town was the southern terminus of the Tapline (Trans-Arabian Pipeline), a 1,068-mile- (1,718-kilometre-) long pipeline to Sayda (Sidon), Lebanon;

Heinse, (johann Jakob) Wilhelm

2005-03-31T04:34:00.000-08:00

A law student at Erfurt, Heinse met the Romantic writer Christoph

Harding, Saint Stephen

2005-03-30T18:12:00.000-08:00

Educated at the Sherborne Abbey, Harding fled to Scotland sometime after the Norman Conquest. He studied in Paris, may have been a soldier, and made a pilgrimage to Rome. He joined the Cluniac abbey at Molesme,

Hood, Mount

2005-03-30T04:59:00.000-08:00

Highest peak (11,239 feet [3,425 metres]) in Oregon, U.S., and the fourth highest peak in the Cascade Range, 45 miles (70 km) east-southeast of Portland. It is a dormant volcano that last erupted about 1865, with minor steam and ash (tephra) emissions in 1903; debris flows, glacial flooding, and earthquakes regularly occur there. First sighted in 1792 by the English navigator William Broughton, and named for the

China, The Ch'in state

2005-03-29T08:37:00.000-08:00

The history of the Ch'in dynasty may be traced back to the 8th century BC. When the Chou royal house was reestablished at the eastern capital in 770 BC, the Ch'in ruling house, according to the Ch'in historical record, was entrusted with the mission of maintaining order in the previous capital. This may be an exaggeration of the importance of the Ch'in ruling house, and the Ch'in may

Wheeler, William A(lmon)

2005-03-28T08:12:00.000-08:00

He was nominated as vice president in order to lend sectional balance to the ticket, and in his acceptance letter he alluded to the need to end Reconstruction, as Hayes subsequently did. Wheeler ran on a platform favouring administrative integrity, civil service reform, and aid to education in the South. Distracted by health and personal problems—his wife died just prior to the Republican convention in 1876—he retired from public life after his term in office was over.

Malabar Coast

2005-03-27T18:18:00.000-08:00

Name long applied to the southern part of India's western coast, approximately from Goa southward, which is bordered on the east by the Western Ghats range. The name has sometimes encompassed the entire western coast of peninsular India. It now includes most of Kerala state and the coastal region of Karnataka state. The coast consists of a continuous belt of sand dunes.

Dye-transfer Process

2005-03-27T05:12:00.000-08:00

In photography, technique for preparing coloured photographic prints in which the colours of the subject are resolved by optical filters into three components, each of which is recorded on a separate gelatin negative. The three negatives are converted into relief positives in which the depth of the gelatin is related to the intensity of the colour component;

Henderson, Sir Nevile Meyrick

2005-03-26T15:50:00.000-08:00

Henderson joined the diplomatic service in 1905, serving as minister

Eagels, Jeanne

2005-03-26T05:28:00.000-08:00

Eagels left school early and worked at small jobs until, at age 15, she began to work in a traveling tent show. During the next seven years she toured the Midwest, playing mainly melodramatic roles.

Hoover Commission

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

Formally Commission on Organization of the U.S. Executive Branch (1947–49, 1953–55), either of two temporary advisory bodies, both headed by the former president Herbert Hoover. They were appointed to find ways to reduce the number of federal government departments and increase their efficiency in the post-World War II and post-Korean War periods. The commissions were composed equally of Democratic and Republican members. Their recommendations,

Han River

2005-03-24T22:08:00.000-08:00

Wade–Giles romanization Han Chiang, Pinyin Han Jiang, river in eastern Kwangtung Province (sheng), China. The Han River rises in the Wu-i Shan (mountains) in southwest Fukien Province to the north of Ch'ang-t'ing. Its upper course is known as the T'ing Chiang, and it flows south to Feng-shih, below which it is joined by the Yung-ting Chi (river). Flowing south over the border into Kwangtung Province, it is joined at San-ho-pa by its principal

John

2005-03-24T00:58:00.000-08:00

Byname John Lackland, French Jean Sans Terre king of England from 1199 to 1216. In a war with the French king Philip II, he lost Normandy and almost all his other possessions in France. In England, after a revolt of the barons, he was forced to seal the Magna Carta (1215).

Metz

2005-03-22T22:12:00.000-08:00

Metz derives its name from the Mediomatrici, a Gallic tribe who made it their capital. It was

Water Polo

2005-03-21T15:54:00.000-08:00

Sport played in a swimming pool by teams of seven with a buoyant ball resembling an association football (soccer ball). The game was originally called “football-in-the-water,” and indeed it is more like association football and basketball than polo, the name of the sport coming from an earlier form of the game in which players rode barrels painted like horses and struck

All-star Game

2005-03-21T06:10:00.000-08:00

In American professional baseball, a game between teams of outstanding players chosen from National and American league teams who oppose each other as league against league. Arch Ward, a Chicago Tribune sports editor, is credited with promoting the first All-Star Game, which was held in Chicago in 1933 in conjunction with the Century of Progress Exposition. The All-Star

Quaker Foods And Beverages

2005-03-19T16:12:00.000-08:00

The Quaker Oats trademark was registered in 1877 by Henry Parsons Crowell (1855–1944), an Ohio milling company owner who in 1891 joined with two other millers, Robert Stuart and

Carter, Mrs. Leslie

2005-03-19T10:38:00.000-08:00

Carter grew up in Dayton, Ohio (from 1870, after her father's death), and was educated at Cooper Seminary. In 1880, at age 17, she married Leslie Carter, a Chicago socialite. Nine years later, after her husband divorced her for infidelity,

Hadramawt

2005-03-19T02:50:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Hadhramaut ancient South Arabian kingdom that occupied what are now southern and southeastern Yemen and the present-day Sultanate of Oman (Muscat and Oman). Hadramawt maintained its political independence until late in the 3rd century AD, when it was conquered by the kingdom of Saba'.

Extinction

2005-03-19T00:09:00.000-08:00

In biology, the dying out or termination of a race or species. Extinction occurs when a species can no longer reproduce at replacement levels. Most extinctions are thought to have resulted from environmental changes that affected the species in either of two ways. The doomed species might not have been able to adapt to the changed environment and thus perished without

Tibet

2005-03-18T21:51:00.000-08:00

Tibetan Bod, in full Tibet Autonomous Region, Chinese (Wade-Giles) Hsi-tsang Tzu-chih-ch'ü, (Pinyin) Xizang Zizhiqu historic region and autonomous region of China that is often called “the roof of the world.” It occupies about 471,700 square miles (1,221,600 square kilometres) of the plateaus and mountains of Central Asia, including Mount Everest (Chu-mu-lang-ma Feng). It is bordered by the Chinese provinces of Tsinghai to the northeast, Szechwan to the east, and Yunnan to the southeast; Myanmar (Burma), India,

Skaraborg

2005-03-18T20:13:00.000-08:00

Former län (county) of south-central Sweden, located between Lakes Vänern and Vättern. Founded as a county in 1634, it was merged with the counties of Älvsborg and Göteborg och Bohus in 1998 to form the county of Västra Götaland.

Zealand

2005-03-17T03:51:00.000-08:00

Danish Sjælland largest and most populous island of Denmark, between the Kattegat and the Baltic Sea, separated from Sweden by The Sound (Øresund) and from Funen (Fyn) island by the Great Belt. Zealand is divided into seven major administrative units: the municipalities of Copenhagen and Frederiksberg and the amtskommuner (counties) of København, Frederiksborg, Vestsjælland, Roskilde

Brücke, Ernst Wilhelm Von

2005-03-16T05:37:00.000-08:00

Brücke was a member of a school of physiologists (including

Hvarenah

2005-03-16T03:11:00.000-08:00

In Zoroastrianism, the attribute of kingly glory. Introduced to the Persian religion from Iran as part of Mithraism, hvarenah is thought of as a shining halo that descends on a leader and makes him sacred. The king thus proclaims himself divine and can rule with absolute power in the name of God. The concept of hvarenah was especially popular with the Roman emperors,

China, Attacks on party members

2005-03-15T19:57:00.000-08:00

Gradual transference of the revolution to top echelons of the party was managed by a group centred on Mao Zedong, Lin Biao, Jiang Qing, Kang Sheng, and Chen Boda. In May 1966 Mao secretly assigned major responsibilities to the army in cultural and educational affairs. Another purpose of the Cultural Revolution, as then conceived, would be a “revolution in the

Kearny, Stephen Watts

2005-03-15T19:38:00.000-08:00

After serving in the War of 1812, Kearny spent most of the next 30 years on frontier duty. At the beginning of the Mexican War, he was ordered to lead an expedition from Fort Leavenworth, Kan., to seize New Mexico and California for the United States. Lacking

Câmara, Hélder Pessoa

2005-03-14T15:49:00.000-08:00

Câmara was ordained a priest in 1931. In close collaboration with Monsignor Giovanni

Sable Island

2005-03-14T09:58:00.000-08:00

Gently curving sandbar in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, 110 mi (180 km) southeast of Cape Canso. It is treeless, about 20 mi long and 1 mi wide, and comprises the exposed portion of a vast shoal on the outer edge of the continental shelf. Gradually shrinking in size and shifting slowly eastward, the island, because of unexpected shallows, has been the scene of

Wackenroder, Wilhelm Heinrich

2005-03-14T04:31:00.000-08:00

Wackenroder was the son of a senior civil servant whose expectations that he pursue a successful worldly career were incompatible with the boy's natural sympathies and caused him severe conflict

Protestantism, Origins

2005-03-14T00:11:00.000-08:00

Puritanism first emerged as a distinct movement in a controversy over clerical vestments and liturgical practices during the reign of Elizabeth. Immediately following the Elizabethan Settlement, Protestant clergy could, within reason, choose what to wear while leading worship. Many preachers took this opportunity to do away with the formal attire as well

Wailua River

2005-03-12T02:49:00.000-08:00

River on Kauai Island, Hawaii, U.S. It flows from the slopes of Mount Waialeale about 10 miles (16 km) inland, to the east-central coast. The Wailua River Reserve, a 587-acre (238-hectare) coastal state park along the river, is rich in Hawaiian tradition. The first migratory Tahitians, including the great chief Puna-nui, arrived in the 12th century and settled near the present coastal towns

Earthenware

2005-03-11T21:28:00.000-08:00

Pottery that has not been fired to the point of vitrification and is thus slightly porous and coarser than stoneware and porcelain. The body can be covered completely or decorated with slip (a liquid clay mixture applied before firing) or it can be glazed. For both practical and decorative reasons, earthenware is usually glazed. To overcome its porosity

Wackenroder, Wilhelm Heinrich

2005-03-11T11:39:00.000-08:00

Zokors are medium-sized rodents weighing from 150 to 560 grams

Arrowroot

2005-03-10T10:34:00.000-08:00

Any of several species of the genus Maranta, members of the family Marantaceae (q.v.), the rhizomes, or rootstocks, of which yield an edible starch; the chief among these is M. arundinacea, the source of genuine, or West Indies, arrowroot. This herbaceous perennial, probably a native of Guyana and western Brazil, is cultivated throughout the West Indies,

Arts, Central Asian, Fergana and Chorasmia

2005-03-10T00:48:00.000-08:00

Fergana produced much pottery of quality, but, as yet, there have been no finds of comparable importance to those in Sogdiana. Its arts appear to have paralleled the developments in the more prosperous, more heavily populated, and more highly urbanized state of Chorasmia (later Khwarezm). Chorasmia's defensive architecture was particularly notable. Its great citadels

Biblical Literature, The tribal league

2005-03-10T00:10:00.000-08:00

The invading tribes who became masters of parts of Canaan, although effectively autonomous and lacking a central authority, considered themselves a league of 12 tribes, although the number 12 seems to have been more canonical or symbolical than historical. Some scholars, on the analogy of Greek leagues of six or 12 tribes or cities with a common sanctuary, speak of the Israelite

Sorrento

2005-03-09T22:44:00.000-08:00

Latin Surrentum, town and archiepiscopal see, Napoli provincia, Campania regione, southern Italy. It lies on a peninsula separating the Bay of Naples, which it faces, from the Gulf of Salerno, south-southeast of Naples. The backbone of the peninsula is formed by the Lattari Mountains, which culminate in Mount Sant'Angelo (4,734 feet [1,443 m]). Probably of Greek origin, the town was the ancient Surrentum,

Anthony Of Bourbon

2005-03-09T14:58:00.000-08:00

Son of Charles of Bourbon, duke of Vendôme, he married (1548) Jeanne d'Albret, daughter of Henry II, king of Navarre; as sole heir, she brought her husband the title of king of Navarre. Anthony was involved with his brother, Louis I de Bourbon, prince de Condé, in the Huguenot conspiracy of Amboise,

Mobutu Sese Seko Koko Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (joseph-désiré Mobutu)

2005-03-08T02:31:00.000-08:00

Zairean politician (b. Oct. 14, 1930, Lisala, Belgian Congo--d. Sept. 7, 1997, Rabat, Mor.), as president of Zaire for nearly 32 years, ruled with absolute power. During his reign he took full advantage of the backing he received from the West, which viewed him during the Cold War as a guardian against communism. He amassed a personal fortune worth billions of dollars at the expense of the country's

Indian Ocean, Ocean basins

2005-03-07T07:50:00.000-08:00

Ocean basins are characterized by smooth, flat plains of thick sediment with abyssal hills (i.e., less than 3,300 feet high) at the bottom flanks of the oceanic ridges. The Indian Ocean's complex ridge topography led to the formation of many basins that range in width from 200 to 5,600 miles. From roughly north to south they include the Arabian, Somali, Mascarene, Madagascar, Mozambique,

Uruguay

2005-03-07T02:04:00.000-08:00

Country located on the southeastern coast of South America. The second smallest nation on the continent, Uruguay has long been overshadowed politically and economically by the adjacent republics of Brazil and Argentina, with both of which it shares many cultural and historical similarities. “On the map, surrounded by its large neighbors, Uruguay seems tiny,” writes

Berenson, Bernard

2005-03-06T21:56:00.000-08:00

Reared in Boston, Berenson was educated at Harvard University, from which he was graduated in 1887. His first book, The Venetian Painters of the Renaissance (1894), displayed a concise writing style. He was also endowed with a discriminating eye, exceptional

Hackenschmidt, George

2005-03-06T16:32:00.000-08:00

In Vienna in 1898 Hackenschmidt won the world amateur championship in Greco-Roman wrestling. Turning to professional freestyle wrestling in

Papua New Guinea, Flag Of

2005-03-06T08:05:00.000-08:00

In the 20th century the two territories finally linked in Papua New Guinea were administered by the Germans, British, and Australians. The colonial governments had no official symbols of local relevance, although a proposed coat of arms for German New Guinea—never adopted because of Germany's involvement in World War I—featured a bird-of-paradise. In 1962 a local flag also

Celestine Iv

2005-03-05T17:12:00.000-08:00

The nephew of Pope Urban III, Celestine had been made cardinal priest of St. Mark's in 1227 and cardinal bishop of Sabina in 1239 by his predecessor, Gregory IX, whom he was elected to succeed on Oct. 25, 1241. He was the first pope to be elected in a conclave, which had been set up by the senator of Rome, Matthew Rosso Orsini, who hoped to break

Fisher, Clara

2005-03-05T11:33:00.000-08:00

Fisher made her stage debut in 1817, at the age of six, in a children's adaptation of David Garrick's Lilliput at the Drury Lane Theatre. Her performance in that and in an afterpiece of excerpts from Richard III captivated

Dwarka

2005-03-04T04:11:00.000-08:00

Town, southwestern Gujarat state, west-central India. It lies on the western shore of the Okhamandal Peninsula, a small western extension of the Kathiawar Peninsula. Dwarka, or the “City of Many Gates” (Sanskrit: Dvaraka, or Dvaravati), is also known as Jagat, or Jigat. Dwarka was the legendary capital of the god Krishna, who founded it after his flight from Mathura. Its consequent sanctity

Xu Wei

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

As a young man, Xu repeatedly failed to pass civil service examinations. During the 1550s and '60s he did succeed in gaining a reputation as a poet and painter, but as his reputation as an artist

Conductors Play Musical Chairs

2005-03-03T11:01:00.000-08:00

In recent years conductors have increasingly become the musical equivalents of professional athletes, parlaying their high-profile public personas and singular skills in a market that is driven by professional excellence and name value. Given that, 2003 was a particularly busy year for conductors, many of whom played their own version of musical chairs at orchestras

Ufa Plateau

2005-03-02T00:48:00.000-08:00

Russian Ufimskoye Plato, plateau lying immediately to the west of the central Ural Mountains in Bashkortostan and in Sverdlovsk oblast (province), west-central Russia. The plateau embraces parts of the basins of the Ufa, Yuryuzan, and Ay rivers. It has a total north-south length of 95 miles (150 km). The plateau varies in elevation from 1,300 to 1,650 feet (400 to 500 m), reaching its highest point at 2,270 feet. It is a gentle anticline

Boiling

2005-03-01T18:10:00.000-08:00

Boiling is used primarily

Humpbacked Fly

2005-03-01T07:50:00.000-08:00

Also called Coffin Fly, any of numerous species of tiny, dark-coloured flies with humped backs that are members of the insect family Phoridae (order Diptera). The adults are abundant around decaying vegetation. Larvae may be scavengers, parasites, or commensals in ant and termite nests. Some species have reduced or no wings.

Toad Bug

2005-02-28T20:35:00.000-08:00

Toad bugs are found in all zoogeographic regions living along the muddy edges of streams and ponds. Some species spend part

Maré, île

2005-02-28T10:05:00.000-08:00

Formerly Nengone Island, southernmost of the Loyalty Islands, a raised coralline limestone and volcanic group in the southwestern Pacific Ocean that is part of the French overseas territory of New Caledonia. Rising to 300 ft (100 m), Maré is the highest in the group. It is 22 mi (35 km) long and 18 mi wide and has a total area of 248 sq mi (642 sq km). It was annexed by France in 1866 and was Christianized by indigenous teachers from

Canary Current

2005-02-28T02:56:00.000-08:00

Also called Canaries Current, part of a clockwise-setting ocean-current system in the North Atlantic Ocean. It branches south from the North Atlantic Current and flows southwestward along the northwest coast of Africa as far south as Senegal before turning westward to eventually join the Atlantic North Equatorial Current. The cool temperature of the water is produced by upwelling caused

Haldane, J.b.s.

2005-02-27T21:42:00.000-08:00

Son of the noted physiologist John Scott Haldane, he began studying science as assistant to his father at the age of eight and later received formal education in the

New Clean Government Party

2005-02-27T07:41:00.000-08:00

After the 1962 elections to the upper house of the Japanese Diet, Soka-gakkai members held 15 seats and replaced the Democratic Socialist Party as the party or group with the third largest representation. In 1964 the Clean Government Party, or Komeito, was founded; and in July

Hadfield, Sir Robert Abbott, Baronet

2005-02-26T01:26:00.000-08:00

The son of a Sheffield steel manufacturer, Hadfield took an early interest in metallurgy and at the age of 24 became head of the family firm. In 1883 he took out

Andalusite

2005-02-25T21:42:00.000-08:00

(Al2SiO5), aluminum silicate mineral that occurs in relatively small amounts in various metamorphic rocks, particularly in altered sediments. It is found in commercial quantities in the Inyo Mountains, Mono county, Calif., in the United States; in Kazakstan; and in South Africa. Such deposits are mined as a raw material for refractories and porcelain used in spark plugs

Vairagin

2005-02-25T18:23:00.000-08:00

Most vairagins, when not wandering or on pilgrimage,

Iran, Ancient, Xerxes I

2005-02-25T03:34:00.000-08:00

Xerxes (reigned 486–465 BC), Darius's eldest son by Queen Atossa, was born after his father had come to the throne; he had been designated official heir perhaps as early as 498, and while crown prince he had ruled as the king's governor in Babylon. The new king quickly suppressed the revolt in Egypt in a single campaign in 484. Xerxes then broke with the policy followed by Cyrus and Darius of

Kiangsi, Relief

2005-02-24T21:01:00.000-08:00

Topographically, Kiangsi corresponds to the drainage basin of the Kan River, which runs northeastward in descending elevation from the southern tip of the province to P'o-yang Lake and the Yangtze in the north. This basin is surrounded by hills and mountains that rim the province from all sides. Among the more important ranges are the Huai-yü Mountains, to the northeast;

Jordan, The Latin kingdom and Muslim domination

2005-02-24T20:49:00.000-08:00

The area was devastated in the 6th and 7th centuries by the intermittent warfare between Byzantium and Sasanian Persia. In 627 the emperor Heraclius finally defeated the Persians and reestablished order, but Byzantium, gravely weakened by the long struggle, was unable to face the unexpected menace of a new power that had arisen in Arabia. In 636 the Muslims, led by the famous

Tibet, Early history to the 9th century

2005-02-24T10:30:00.000-08:00

Credible history begins late in the 6th century, when three discontented vassals of one of the princes among whom Tibet was then divided conspired to support the neighbouring lord of Yar-lung, whose title was Spu-rgyal btsan-po. Btsan-po (“mighty”) became the designation of all kings of Tibet (rgyal means “king”; and spu, the meaning of which is uncertain, may refer to a sacral

Ahuachapán

2005-02-23T00:01:00.000-08:00

City, western El Salvador, on the small Molino River (with a hydroelectric station) at the foot of La Lagunita Volcano. Originally called Güeciapam by the Indians, it was renamed Agüecha before becoming the town (1823) and the city (1862) of Ahuachapán. A manufacturing and distributing centre (the most important product being coffee), it is also noted for its mineral baths, drawn from

Pitt, William, The Elder

2005-02-22T14:58:00.000-08:00

Also called (from 1766) 1st Earl of Chatham, Viscount Pitt of Burton-Pynsent , byname The Great Commoner British statesman, twice virtual prime minister (1756–61, 1766–68), who secured the transformation of his country into an imperial power.

Walter Of Coventry

2005-02-22T13:02:00.000-08:00

Walter was not a historian or chronicler in his own right; he merely brought together the works of Marianus Scotus, Florence of Worcester, Henry of Huntingdon, Roger of Hoveden, and

Zaltys

2005-02-22T10:28:00.000-08:00

On special occasions the snake was asked to the table to share the family meal from their

Welch, William Henry

2005-02-21T18:14:00.000-08:00

Undertaking graduate medical study in Germany (1876–78), Welch was working in the

David, Gerard

2005-02-20T01:12:00.000-08:00

In his early work, such as the “Christ Nailed to the Cross” (c. 1480; National Gallery, London)

Gong

2005-02-20T00:27:00.000-08:00

A circular metal plate-like percussion instrument having a turned-down rim. It is struck in the centre with a felt- or leather-covered beater, producing a sound of either definite or indefinite pitch. Its vibrations issue from the centre, in contrast to bells, which vibrate principally at the rim.

Liechtenstein

2005-02-19T02:28:00.000-08:00

In late October the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, ruled that Prince Hans Adam

Joule

2005-02-19T00:56:00.000-08:00

Unit of work or energy in the International System of Units (SI); it is equal to the work done by a force of one newton acting through one metre. Named in honour of the English physicist James Prescott Joule, it equals 107 ergs, or approximately 0.7377 foot-pounds. In electrical terms, the joule equals one watt-second—i.e., the energy released in one second by a current of one ampere through

David, Gerard

2005-02-18T22:38:00.000-08:00

India's second largest trade union federation after the Indian National Trade Union Congress. The AITUC was formed by the Indian National Congress (the central organ of the independence movement) in 1920 to represent India at the International Labour Organisation of the League of Nations. During the 1920s British communists, in trying to organize trade unions, gained control

Earth Sciences, The rise of subterranean water

2005-02-18T13:19:00.000-08:00

René Descartes supposed that the seawater diffused through subterranean channels into large caverns below the tops of mountains. The Jesuit philosopher Athanasius Kircher in his Mundus subterraneus (1664; “Subterranean World”) suggested that the tides pump seawater through hidden channels to points of outlet at springs. To explain the rise of subterranean water

Ch'i

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

Neo-Confucian philosophers

Endodontics

2005-02-16T09:18:00.000-08:00

The practice of endodontics is concerned primarily with the removal of diseased dental pulp and its replacement with filling

Yakima

2005-02-16T00:18:00.000-08:00

Although culturally much like other Sahaptin Indians of the Plateau, the Yakima acquired historical distinction in the Yakima Indian Wars (1855–58), a failed attempt by

Spotlight: Latin America's New Transportation Links

2005-02-15T10:49:00.000-08:00

By 1998 the common market concept within Latin America, as exemplified by Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, with Chile and Bolivia joining as associate members), several bilateral trade agreements, and the rejuvenation of the Andean Community and the Central American Common Market, was contributing to a diminution of old geopolitical rivalries in

Baseball

2005-02-15T04:12:00.000-08:00

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

Byblos

2005-02-15T02:55:00.000-08:00

Modern Jubayl , also spelled Jebeil , biblical Gebal ancient seaport, the site of which is located on the Mediterranean coast about 20 miles (32 km) north of the modern city of Beirut, Lebanon; it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited towns in the world. The name Byblos is Greek; papyrus received its early Greek name (byblos, byblinos) from its being exported to the Aegean through Byblos. Hence the English word Bible is derived

Ikorodu

2005-02-14T13:52:00.000-08:00

Town, Lagos state, southwestern Nigeria. It lies near the Lagos Lagoon, on the Bight of Benin, 14 miles (23 km) northwest of Lagos. A traditional settlement of the Awori people (a subgroup of the Yoruba), it became important in the mid-19th century as a trading post of the Remo (Ijebu-Remo) kingdom on the trade route from Lagos to Ibadan. During the Ibadan-Ijaiye wars (1860–65), the Ikorodu traders,

Lean, Sir David

2005-02-13T09:11:00.000-08:00

Lean was the son of strict Quaker parents and did not see his first film until age 17. He began his film career in 1928 as a teaboy for Gaumont-British studios, where he soon was promoted to clapboard boy, and finally to editor,

Ibn Al-bawwab

2005-02-13T01:09:00.000-08:00

Ibn al-Bawwab was from

Kadoma

2005-02-12T21:38:00.000-08:00

City, Osaka fu (urban prefecture), Honshu, Japan, bordering Osaka city. The city is located on the left bank of the Yodo River and is known for its cultivation of lotus flowers. After the establishment of a railway connection to Osaka in 1909, industrialization was rapid. The Matsushita Electric Industrial Company moved to Kadoma in 1933 to establish factories producing electrical

Wyszynski, Stefan

2005-02-12T14:22:00.000-08:00

After study at Warsaw, Lomza, and Wloclawek, Wyszynski was ordained on his 23rd birthday, Aug. 3, 1924, and was assigned to the basilica at Wloclawek. After gaining a doctorate in sociology and ecclesiastical law at the Catholic University of Lublin, he studied further in France,

Down

2005-02-11T17:55:00.000-08:00

Irish An Dún district, Northern Ireland. Formerly within County Down, Down was established in 1973 as a district covering 249 square miles (646 square km) on Northern Ireland's eastern coast, fronting Strangford Lough (inlet of the sea) and the Irish Sea. It is bordered by the districts of Ards to the north; Castlereagh, Lisburn, and Banbridge to the west; and Newry and Mourne to the south. Extreme

Manassas

2005-02-11T17:49:00.000-08:00

During the American Civil

Powell, Michael (latham)

2005-02-11T06:50:00.000-08:00

Powell attended Dulwich College, London (1918–21). He directed his first film, Two Crowded Hours, in 1931. During the 1930s he directed over 20 low-budget, quickly made films before producer Alexander Korda teamed him with Hungarian-born screenwriter Emeric

Ejaculatory Duct

2005-02-10T19:44:00.000-08:00

Either of two hollow tubes, each formed by union of the ampulla of a ductus deferens (q.v.) and the excretory duct of a seminal vesicle (q.v.). The ducts, which open into the urethra about halfway through the prostate gland (q.v.), function to mix the sperm stored in the ampulla with fluids secreted by the seminal vesicles and to transport these substances to the prostate.

Ma Yüan

2005-02-10T15:18:00.000-08:00

Ma began his career in the service of Wang Mang, but when revolts erupted throughout the countryside in opposition to Wang's policies, Ma joined the minister's enemies. He eventually

Mecca, Plant and animal life

2005-02-09T19:20:00.000-08:00

Plant and animal life are scarce and consist of species that can withstand the high degree of aridity and heat. Natural vegetation is sparse, and includes tamarisks and various types of acacia. Wild animals include wild cats, wolves, hyenas, foxes, mongooses, and kangaroo rats (jerboas).