NecessaryFrame

Estate Agent Covent Garden

2006-10-25T21:10:00.000-07:00

Robert Irving Burns specialise in London Commercial and Residential property services. They are an estate agent covent garden amongst other London areas such as Soho and Oxford Circus.

Holmes, Sherlock

2005-04-04T02:12:00.000-07:00

Fictional character created by the Scottish writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The prototype for the modern mastermind detective, Holmes first appeared in Conan Doyle's

B-film

2005-04-02T17:44:00.000-08:00

Also called B-movie, or B-picture, cheaply produced, formulaic film initially intended to serve as the second feature on a double bill. During the 1930s and '40s, a period often called the Golden Age of Hollywood, B-films were usually paired with bigger-budget, more prestigious A-pictures; but two B-films were sometimes used for midweek or Saturday matinee showings. The characteristics of B-films included low

Karak, Al-

2005-04-01T00:05:00.000-08:00

The siege of the ancient

Philippe And Mathilde, Prince And Princess Of Belgium

2005-03-30T10:50:00.000-08:00

The social event of the decade in Belgium was the marriage of Crown Prince Philippe to Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz on Dec. 4, 1999. The 39-year-old prince had kept his relationship with the 26-year-old speech therapist private until their engagement was announced in September 1999. In three months' time, Mathilde went from a life of relative anonymity to becoming one of Belgium's most well-known

Quadros, Jânio Da Silva

2005-03-27T22:06:00.000-08:00

Quadros graduated from the University of São Paulo in 1939. He practiced law and taught Portuguese

Gandía

2005-03-26T23:27:00.000-08:00

City, Valencia provincia, in the comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Valencia, eastern Spain. It lies south of Valencia city at the mouth of the Serpis River. Once a Greek settlement, Gandía was occupied by the Moors in the 8th century and recaptured in 1252 by James I of Aragon, who ordered it rebuilt. It later became a duchy of the Borgia (Borja) family, whose 14th-century

Jazz

2005-03-24T02:01:00.000-08:00

In spite of the wide dissemination and geographic distribution of these diverse musical traditions, New Orleans was where a distinctive, coherent jazz style evolved. Between 1910 and 1915 a systematization of instrumental functions within an essentially collective ensemble took shape, as did a regularization of the repertory. Despite the fact that a limited set of instruments

Banaba

2005-03-22T04:21:00.000-08:00

Also called Ocean Island, coral and phosphate formation 250 miles (400 km) west of the nearest Gilbert Islands, part of Kiribati, in the west central Pacific Ocean. It has a circumference of 6 miles and an area of 2 square miles (6 square km). Sighted in 1804 by the British ship Ocean, the island was annexed by Britain in 1900. In that same year the mining and shipping of phosphate from the island began. By the early 1970s, annual

Uíge

2005-03-20T17:35:00.000-08:00

Formerly Carmona, town, northwestern Angola. Uíge grew from a small market centre in 1945 to become Angola's major centre for coffee production in the 1950s. The Portuguese designated Uíge a city in 1956. Its prosperity was short-lived, however, as recurrent fighting between the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), one of three preindependence guerrilla movements, and Portuguese forces

Interior Design, Fabrics

2005-03-19T05:48:00.000-08:00

There are three basic aspects that determine appearance and suitability of fabrics for interior use: fibre content, weave, and pattern. Fibres are either natural or man-made. The important natural fibres are cotton, wool, linen, and silk. Although silk has long been considered the most elegant and desirable of all natural fibres, it does not stand up well under direct

Floral Decoration, Japan

2005-03-17T17:16:00.000-08:00

The arrangement of flowers in Japan is an elaborate and unique art, with highly developed conventions and complex symbolism. The art developed from the custom of offering flowers to the Buddha and was introduced into Japan early in the 7th century by Ono No Imoko, Japanese ambassador to China, who founded the first and oldest school of floral art, the Ikenobo. All the

Earth, Stratigraphic findings

2005-03-16T16:58:00.000-08:00

The sequence of layered rocks on the landmasses that constituted Gondwanaland is strikingly similar for those time periods when the landmasses are believed to have been together. In these areas glacial deposits, for example, are overlain by coal-bearing shales and sandstones containing fossils of Glossopteris and Mesosaurus, which are in turn overlain by thick

Sevilla

2005-03-16T14:32:00.000-08:00

, also spelled Seville provincia, one of eight provincias forming the comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Andalusia, southwestern Spain. The provincia comprises the lower Guadalquivir River valley and has varied relief. It is bordered northwest by the Morena Mountains and south and southeast by the Sub-Baetic ranges of the Algodonales and Yeguas mountains. Between these

Catalonia

2005-03-14T09:37:00.000-08:00

Spanish Cataluña , Catalan Catalunya comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) and historic region of Spain encompassing the northeastern Spanish provincias of Gerona, Barcelona, Tarragona, and Lérida and established by the statute of autonomy of Dec. 18, 1979. The autonomous community of Catalonia, which has an area of 12,328 square miles (31,930 square km), is the richest and most highly industrialized part of Spain. The

Earth Sciences, Glacier motion and the high-latitude ice sheets

2005-03-13T09:58:00.000-08:00

Beginning around 1948, principles and techniques in metallurgy and solid-state physics were brought to bear on the mechanics of glacial movements. Laboratory studies showed that glacial ice deforms like other crystalline solids (such as metals) at temperatures near the melting point. Continued stress produces permanent deformation. In addition to plastic deformation

Feminine Ending

2005-03-12T09:59:00.000-08:00

In prosody, a line of verse having an unstressed and usually extrametrical syllable at its end. In the opening lines from Robert Frost's poem “Directive,” the fourth line has a feminine ending while the rest are masculine: Back out of all this now too much for us,Back in a time made simple by the lossOf detail, burned, dissolved, and broken off Like graveyard marble sculpture

Babia, Mount

2005-03-12T00:39:00.000-08:00

Polish Babia Góra , Slovak Babia Hora highest mountain (5,659 feet [1,725 m] at Diablok) peak in the Beskid Mountains, on the Slovakia-Poland border and one of the highest peaks in Poland. It is 12 miles (19 km) north-northeast of Námestovo, Slovakia, and 12 miles (19 km) south-southwest of Sucha Beskidzka, Pol. The site of a 7-square-mile (17-square-kilometre) Polish national park, the mountain attracts thousands of visitors to the resort facilities

China, Confucianism

2005-03-11T06:45:00.000-08:00

Confucianism was perceived by the Mongols as a Chinese religion, and it had mixed fortunes under their rule. The teachings of the Neo-Confucian school of Chu Hsi from the Sung period were introduced to the Mongol court at Chung-tu in the late 1230s but were confined to limited circles there and in North China. Confucian scholars enjoyed the benefits extended to the clergy

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, The Greeks

2005-03-10T22:11:00.000-08:00

Hellenic tradition after Homer stands in sharp contrast to this concentration on the fulfilling of a divine plan. The analytic, essentially scientific histories of Herodotus and Thucydides precluded much confident belief in visionary providence. The Greeks rather believed history to be structured in cycles, as distinct from the more purposive linearity

Canadian Pacific Ltd.

2005-03-09T04:10:00.000-08:00

Formerly (1881–1971) Canadian Pacific Railway Company, privately owned company that operates one of Canada's two transcontinental railroad systems. The company was established to complete a transcontinental railroad that the government had begun under the agreement by which British Columbia entered the confederation in 1871. The main line from Montreal to Port Moody (a Vancouver suburb) was completed in 1885. Later the company

Amir Khosrow

2005-03-07T03:40:00.000-08:00

Amir Khosrow was the son of a Turkish officer in the service of Iltutmish, sultan of Delhi, and for his entire life he enjoyed the patronage of the Muslim rulers of Delhi, especially Sultan Ghiyas-ud-Din Balban and his son Muhammad Khan of Multan. During his youth

Himyar

2005-03-06T17:56:00.000-08:00

The Himyarites were concentrated in the area known as Dhu Raydan on the coast of present-day Yemen (San'a'); they were probably aided in the overthrow of their Sabaean kinsmen by the discovery of a sea route from Egypt

Grijalva River

2005-03-05T22:16:00.000-08:00

Spanish Río Grijalva, river in southeastern Mexico. Its headstreams, the largest of which is the Cuilco, rise in the Sierra Madre of Guatemala and the Sierra de Soconusco of Mexico. The Grijalva flows generally northwestward through Chiapas state, where it is known locally as the Río Grande de Chiapa, or the Río Chiapa. After leaving a lake created by the Malpaso Dam, it turns northward and

San Fernando

2005-03-05T01:41:00.000-08:00

Town, west-central Luzon, Philippines. Located on a bay of the South China Sea formed by a peninsula that ends in San Fernando Point, it served a tobacco- and rice-growing region as the northern terminus of the Philippine National Railway until the line was extended to Bacnotan in 1955. The town is on Luzon's main western coastal highway. Its outport, Poro, is the only national

Pacific Mountain System

2005-03-04T05:19:00.000-08:00

The geography and geology of the Pacific mountain system are treated in James G. Ashbaugh (ed.), The Pacific Northwest: Geographical Perspectives (1994), covering climate, vegetation, agriculture, and the economy; Stewart T. Schultz, The Northwest Coast (1990), a popular, comprehensive view of the people, economy, and landforms of the region; Paul E. Hammond, Guide to Geology of the Cascade Range (1988), a well-written work; John Eliot Allen, Marjorie Burns, and Sam C. Sargent, Cataclysms on the Columbia (1986), a fine overall exploration of the Missoula floods; and A. Jon Kimmerling and Philip L. Jackson, Atlas of the Pacific Northwest, 7th ed. (1985). A good explanation of how the ocean has shaped the Oregon coast, producing different landforms between California and Washington, may be found in Paul D. Komar, “Ocean Processes and Hazards Along the Oregon Coast,” Oregon Geology, 54(1):3–19 (January 1992).

Ta-ch'ing

2005-03-03T10:55:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Daqing oil field in Heilungkiang province, China, one of the country's most important sources of oil. It is situated in the north of the Sungari-Liao River basin, between Tsitsihar and Harbin, in the general vicinity of An-ta, northwest of Harbin. The field was discovered in the late 1950s and drilling began in 1958, often in difficult conditions caused by the extreme winter cold and by

Local Colour

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

Style of writing derived from the presentation of the features and peculiarities of a particular locality and its inhabitants. The name is given especially to a kind of American literature that in its most characteristic form made its appearance just after the Civil War and for nearly three decades was the single most popular form of American literature, fulfilling

Difference Equation

2005-03-01T07:04:00.000-08:00

Mathematical equality involving the differences between successive values of a function of a discrete variable. A discrete variable is one that is defined or of interest only for values that differ by some finite amount, usually a constant and often 1; for example, the discrete variable x may have the values x0 = a, x1 = a + 1, x2 = a + 2, . . . , xn = a + n. The function y has the corresponding values y0, y1, y2, . . . , yn, from which the

Aureole

2005-02-27T14:23:00.000-08:00

Brightly illuminated area surrounding an atmospheric light source, such as the Sun, when the light is propagated through a medium containing many sizes of particles or droplets that are large compared to the wavelength of the light. Because the wavelength of visible light is about 0.00005 cm (0.5 micrometre), particles of size greater than about 0.0001 cm (1 micrometre) will give rise

Dragasani, Battle Of

2005-02-27T04:27:00.000-08:00

(June 19, 1821), military engagement in which the Ottoman Turks defeated the forces of the Greek revolutionary society Philikí Etaireía and ended the first insurrection of the Greek War of Independence. Intending to overthrow Ottoman rule in the Balkans and to establish an independent Greek state, Philikí Etaireía sent the Sacred Battalion, under Alexander Ypsilantis,

Novaya Zemlya

2005-02-25T05:29:00.000-08:00

Novaya Zemlya (“New Land”) consists of two large islands, Severny (northern) and Yuzhny (southern), aligned for 600 miles (1,000 km) in a southwest-northeast direction, plus several smaller islands. The two major islands are separated by a narrow strait, Matochkin Shar, only about

Vyshny Volochyok

2005-02-24T22:35:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Vyshnii Volochek , or Višnij Volocok city, Tver oblast (province), western Russia. The city's importance began in the 18th century as a result of its position on the highway between Moscow and St. Petersburg. It soon became important for its textiles and hosiery, and today it also has industries in the woodworking, paper, and food-processing fields. There is a textile college and a medical school. The city is often

Tsukuba Science City

2005-02-24T02:17:00.000-08:00

Tsukuba Science City was developed in the 1970s and 1980s to stimulate scientific discovery.

Malay Peninsula

2005-02-23T16:18:00.000-08:00

Also called the Kra Peninsula, in Southeast Asia, a long, narrow appendix of the mainland extending south for a distance of about 700 miles (1,127 km) through the Isthmus of Kra to Cape Balai, southernmost point of the Asian continent; its maximum width is 200 miles (322 km). It lies between the Andaman Sea of the Indian Ocean and the Strait of Malacca (west), the Singapore Strait (south), and the Gulf of Thailand and the South

Cystine

2005-02-21T17:17:00.000-08:00

A crystalline, sulfur-containing amino acid that is formed from two molecules of the amino acid cysteine. Cystine can be converted to cysteine by reduction (in this case, the addition of hydrogen). Discovered in 1810, cystine was not recognized as a component of proteins until 1899, when it was isolated from animal horn. Cystine is particularly abundant in skeletal and connective

Afghan War

2005-02-18T16:12:00.000-08:00

The roots of the war lay in the overthrow of the centrist government of President

Kumarajiva

2005-02-17T20:23:00.000-08:00

Before his ordination at the

Dipteran, Annotated classification

2005-02-16T20:01:00.000-08:00

Characterized by large squamae (calypters that join base of wing to thorax); Scatophagidae

Bridel, Philippe-sirice

2005-02-16T14:27:00.000-08:00

While serving as a pastor at Basel, Châ

Gumilyov, Nikolay Stepanovich

2005-02-13T08:29:00.000-08:00

The son of a naval surgeon, Gumilyov was educated at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, where he was influenced by the poet and teacher Innokenty Annensky. Gumilyov's earliest published volumes

Biblical Literature, The Lives of the Prophets

2005-02-13T07:02:00.000-08:00

The little book called the Lives of the Prophets is a collection of Jewish legends about Old Testament prophets. It is preserved in Greek and in versions and recensions in various languages, all based on the Greek. The purpose of the work was to furnish to the readers of the Bible further information about the prophets. The collection evidently passed through Christian

Abzug, Bella (bella Savitzky)

2005-02-11T10:36:00.000-08:00

American lawyer and politician (b. July 24, 1920, New York, N.Y.--d. March 31, 1998, New York), variously identified as "Battling Bella" and "Mother Courage," was a quintessential progressive known for her groundbreaking roles as peace activist, feminist, environmentalist, and early advocate for gay rights. Abzug was the daughter of Russian- Jewish immigrants. She earned degrees from Hunter

Mathews, Charles

2005-02-11T08:09:00.000-08:00

The son of a bookseller, Mathews was educated at Merchant Taylors School, Crosby, Lancashire. After acting in the provinces, primarily at York, he first appeared on the stage in

Anderson

2005-02-10T22:22:00.000-08:00

Gabes, Gulf Of

2005-02-08T06:54:00.000-08:00

Arabic Khalij Qabis, French Golfe De Gabès, Latin Syrtis Minor, inlet, on the east coast of Tunisia, northern Africa. It is 60 miles (100 km) long and 60 miles wide and is bounded by the Qarqannah (Kerkena) Islands on the northeast and by Jarbah (Djerba) Island on the southeast. Except for the Strait of Gibraltar and the Gulf of Venice, it is the only part of the Mediterranean with a substantial tidal range (about 8 feet [2 1/2 m] at spring tides), causing the uncovering

Race, Building the myth of black inferiority

2005-02-08T04:28:00.000-08:00

A number of 18th-century political and intellectual leaders publicly asserted that Africans were naturally inferior and that they were indeed best suited for slavery. A few intellectuals revived an older image of all living things, the scala naturae (Latin: “scale of nature”), or Great Chain of Being, to demonstrate that nature or God had made men unequal. This ancient

Gabrieli, Andrea

2005-02-06T10:43:00.000-08:00

Madrigals for three to six voices in various collections; masses in six parts, Primus liber missarum (1572); Magnificat for three choirs; motets; various ricercari and canzoni.

Indiana

2005-02-05T09:46:00.000-08:00

Borough (town), seat of Indiana county, west-central Pennsylvania, U.S., in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains, 46 miles (74 km) northeast of Pittsburgh. Settled about 1764, it was laid out in 1805 on land donated for a county seat by George Clymer of Philadelphia, a signer of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. It was incorporated in 1816. Prior to the American Civil War, Indiana was a station

Pigot (of Patshul), George Pigot, Baron, 1st Baronet

2005-02-05T04:06:00.000-08:00

At 17 Pigot entered the East India Company service, becoming governor and commander in chief of Madras in 1755. He stoutly defended Madras against the French in 1758–59, and, after the capture of Pondicherry (a former French enclave on the southeast

Hymenium

2005-02-03T19:05:00.000-08:00

A spore-bearing layer of tissue in fungi (division Mycota) found in the classes Ascomycetes and Basidiomycetes. It is formed by end cells of hyphae—the filaments of the vegetative body (thallus).

Romain Du Roi

2005-02-03T01:20:00.000-08:00

(French: King's Roman), in printing, a roman typeface developed in France at the express order of King Louis XIV, who, in 1692, directed that a typeface be designed at any necessary expense for the exclusive use of the royal printer. The design was the work, for several years, of a committee of the Academy of Sciences, whose members ignored calligraphic models in favour of analytical

China, The Sino-Japanese War

2005-01-31T02:39:00.000-08:00

On July 7, 1937, a minor clash between Japanese and Chinese troops near Pei-p'ing (Peking's name under the National Government) finally led the two nations into war. The Japanese government tried for several weeks to settle the incident locally, but China's mood was highly nationalistic and public opinion clamoured for resistance to further aggression. In late July, new fighting

Albert

2005-01-29T22:45:00.000-08:00

Albert's love of the sea developed at an early age, and as a young

Tarahumara

2005-01-28T16:53:00.000-08:00

Also called Rarámuri, Middle American Indians of southwestern Chihuahua state in northern Mexico. Their language, which belongs to the Sonoran division of the Uto-Aztecan family, is most closely related to Yaqui and Mayo. Culturally the Tarahumara show similarities to such neighbouring Uto-Aztecan peoples as the Cora, Huichol, Tepehuan, and Pima-Papago. The land inhabited by the Tarahumara

Carlisle, Lucy Hay, Countess Of

2005-01-25T21:44:00.000-08:00

The second daughter of Henry Percy, 9th earl of Northumberland, she married James Hay (the earl of Carlisle from 1622) and became a conspicuous figure at the court of Charles I. The King's adviser,

Cabanatuan

2005-01-23T15:32:00.000-08:00

Chartered city, Nueva Ecija province, central Luzon, Philippines, on the Pampanga River. Formerly the capital of the province, it is the commercial centre for the eastern portion of Luzon's central plain, which is heavily farmed in rice. An important highway junction, it is also the terminus of a rail spur line. Cabanatuan is the site of Central Luzon Polytechnic College.

Chandos, James Brydges, 1st Duke Of, Marquess Of Carnarvon, Earl Of Carnarvon, Viscount Wilton, 9th Baron Chandos Of Sudeley

2005-01-22T13:01:00.000-08:00

The son and heir of James Brydges, 8th Baron Chandos of Sudeley, he was a member of Parliament from 1698 to 1714. For eight years (1705–13) during the War of the Spanish Succession, he was paymaster general of the forces abroad, whereby he amassed great wealth. Three days after his father's death in 1714, he was created Viscount

Melchizedek Priesthood

2005-01-20T18:23:00.000-08:00

In the Mormon church (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), the higher of the two priesthoods, concerned with spiritual rather than secular matters. See Mormon.

Teal

2005-01-18T18:21:00.000-08:00

Any of about 15 small ducks of the genus Anas (family Anatidae), found on the six major continents and many islands. Within the divisions of true duck species, the teal belong in the dabbling duck (q.v.) group. Many of the teal are popular as game birds, the best known being the Holarctic green-winged teal (A. crecca), a bird about 33–38 centimetres (13–15 inches) in length, usually found in dense

Pendentive

2005-01-15T18:09:00.000-08:00

In architecture, a triangular segment of a spherical surface, filling in the upper corners of a room, in order to form, at the top, a circular support for a dome. The challenge of supporting a dome over an enclosed square or polygonal space assumed growing importance to the Roman builders of the late empire. It remained for Byzantine architects, however, to recognize the

Swat River

2005-01-14T06:29:00.000-08:00

River in northern Pakistan, formed by the junction of the Gabrial and Ushu rivers at Kalam in the Kohistan region. Fed by melting snow and glaciers and receiving the drainage of the entire Swat River valley, the river flows southward, then westward, until joined by the Panjkora River. The united stream then flows southwestward into the Peshawar Plain and joins the Kabul River

Anselm Of Canterbury, Saint

2005-01-12T10:36:00.000-08:00

Founder of Scholasticism, a philosophical school of thought that dominated the Middle Ages; he was recognized in modern times as the originator of the ontological argument for the existence of God (based on the idea of an absolutely perfect being, the fact of the idea being in itself

Oviparity

2005-01-09T19:11:00.000-08:00

Expulsion of undeveloped eggs rather than live young. The eggs may have been fertilized before release, as in birds and some reptiles, or are to be fertilized externally, as in amphibians and many lower forms. In general, the number of eggs produced by oviparous species greatly exceeds the number of offspring from species that bear live young, but the chances of survival

Hylozoism

2005-01-07T11:28:00.000-08:00

(from Greek hyle, “matter”; zoe, “life”), in philosophy, any system that views all matter as alive, either in itself or by participation in the operation of a world soul or some similar principle. Hylozoism is logically distinct both from early forms of animism, which personify nature, and from panpsychism, which attributes some form of consciousness or sensation to all

Anderson, Patrick

2005-01-05T01:11:00.000-08:00

Educated at the University of Oxford and Columbia University, Anderson settled in Montreal as a teacher and professor at McGill University

Diebitsch, Johann (karl Friedrich Anton), Graf

2005-01-04T16:32:00.000-08:00

Although he was of German parentage and was educated at the Berlin cadet school, Diebitsch joined the Russian Army in 1801, and, after fighting against Napoleon in the battles of Austerlitz, Eylau, Friedland,

Springfield

2005-01-02T21:14:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1818) of Clark county, west-central Ohio, U.S., on Buck Creek and Mad River, 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Dayton. The original settlement by James Demint and migrant Kentuckians in 1799 was on the site of the village of Old Piqua (birthplace of Tecumseh, the Shawnee Indian chief). It was laid out in 1801 and named by the wife of Simon Kenton, an Indian scout who had settled there, for the springs

Livestock Farming

2004-12-31T19:31:00.000-08:00

Probably first domesticated in the East, perhaps during prehistoric times, the goat has long been used as a source of milk, cheese, mohair, and meat. Its skin has been valued as a source for leather. In China, Great Britain, Europe, and North America, the goat is primarily a milk producer. By good management its limited (six months per year) breeding season and the consequent

Action Painting

2004-12-28T23:06:00.000-08:00

Direct, instinctual, and highly dynamic kind of art that involves the spontaneous application of vigorous, sweeping brushstrokes and the chance effects of dripping and spilling paint onto the canvas. The term was coined by the American art critic Harold Rosenberg to characterize the work of a group of American Abstract Expressionists (see Abstract

Celandine

2004-12-26T13:11:00.000-08:00

Any of several distinct flowering plants of similar appearance. The celandine proper, or greater celandine (Chelidonium majus), once a valued plant of the Old World herbalist, is now grown somewhat in wild gardens. A member of the poppy family (Papaveraceae), it has poisonous orange sap, coarsely toothed, divided leaves, and four-petaled yellow blooms

Kadare, Ismail

2004-12-25T02:31:00.000-08:00

Albanian poet and novelist Ismail Kadare, a resident of Paris since 1990, was hard at work in 1997 revising his collected works, which were being published--some for the first time--in both French and Albanian. His 1978 historical novel Ura me tri harqe was translated into English as The Three-Arched Bridge (1991) and received critical acclaim. Kadare's self-imposed exile brought him a freedom

Andisol

2004-12-23T16:17:00.000-08:00

One of the 12 soil orders in the U.S. Soil Taxonomy. Andisols are defined by the single property of having volcanic-ash parent material. Although these soils exist in all climatic regions, they account for less than 0.75 percent of all the nonpolar continental land area on Earth. Approximately reproducing the geographic distribution of volcanoes, they are found along the

Albany

2004-12-21T23:14:00.000-08:00

Southernmost town and seaport of Western Australia. It lies on the northern shore of Princess Royal Harbour, King George Sound. The naturally broad, deep, sheltered harbour was visited and charted by George Vancouver in 1791. In 1826 the first European settlement in the state, a penal colony called Frederickstown (after Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany), was established

Leno, Dan

2004-12-18T23:34:00.000-08:00

Born into a family of traveling entertainers, Leno first appeared on stage at the age of four

France, History Of, Trade

2004-12-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

Despite the Islamic conquests, Mediterranean commerce did not decline abruptly. In Gaul, such goods as papyrus, oil, and spices were imported from the East, and there were numerous colonies of Syrians. Currency continued to be based on the gold standard, and imperial units were still used. All signs, moreover, point to the existence of manufacturing for trade (marble from

Ballina

2004-12-14T04:46:00.000-08:00

Irish Béal An Átha urban district, County Mayo, Ireland, on the River Moy. The town, the largest in Mayo, has a modern Roman Catholic cathedral and the remains of an Augustinian friary founded about 1375. Salmon and trout fishing nearby are notable. Hand tools, drills, and medical products are manufactured there. Pop. (1981) 6,856.

Aptitude Test

2004-12-12T01:35:00.000-08:00

Examination that attempts to determine and measure those characteristics of a person that are regarded as indices of his capability to acquire, through future training, some specific set of responses (intellectual, motor, and so on). The tests assume that people differ in their special abilities and that these differences are related in a predictable manner to

A-mdo

2004-12-09T18:43:00.000-08:00

Also called Mdo-smad, one of three regions into which the area of central Asia inhabited by Tibetans is traditionally divided. During the 7th to 9th centuries, the central Tibetan kingdom was extended until it reached the Tarim Basin on the north, China on the east, India and Nepal on the south, and Kashmir on the west. The newly added dominions to the east and northeast were called Mdo-Khams.

Vigo

2004-12-06T06:58:00.000-08:00

Port town and naval station, Pontevedra provincia, in the comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Galicia, northwestern Spain. Vigo lies along the southeastern shore of the Vigo Inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, southwest of Pontevedra city. It was attacked by the English admiral Sir Francis Drake in 1585 and 1589. In 1702 a British-Dutch fleet under Sir George Rooke and James Butler,

Baltic States, Climate

2004-12-05T05:09:00.000-08:00

Over most of the region, annual rainfall varies between 22 and 28 inches (550 and 700 millimetres) and generally increases from the coastal zone to the upland districts of the interior. The prevailing temperatures are moderate by the standards of European Russia and in general improve from north to south and from east to west across the Baltic region. January mean temperatures

West Germanic Languages

2004-12-03T16:28:00.000-08:00

Group of Germanic languages that developed in the region of the North Sea, Rhine-Weser, and Elbe. Out of the many local West Germanic dialects the following six modern standard languages have arisen: English, Frisian, Netherlandic (Dutch-Flemish), Afrikaans, German, and Yiddish.

Dulles, Allen W.

2004-12-01T05:38:00.000-08:00

The younger brother of U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles received an M.A. from Princeton in 1916 and then served in various diplomatic posts until 1922, when he was named chief

Ezekiel, The Book Of

2004-11-29T23:54:00.000-08:00

The literary history of the book is much debated, but its final form exhibits a threefold theme: threats against Judah

Argyle, Lake

2004-11-26T11:56:00.000-08:00

Formed by the Ord River Dam (1972), it has a storage capacity of 204,719,140,000 cubic feet (5,797,000,000 cubic m). The dam, fed by the 300-mile (480-kilometre) Ord River, measures 325 feet (99 m) high and 1,119 feet (341 m) long. Lake Argyle is the main reservoir in the Ord River Irrigation Scheme, a public works project dating from 1945 and

Ovett, Steve

2004-11-24T21:00:00.000-08:00

Ovett first attracted international notice when he won the 800-metre race at the 1973 European junior championships in Duisburg, West

Lipetsk

2004-11-22T19:47:00.000-08:00

Oblast (province), western Russia. It is situated on the rolling hills of the Central Russian Upland and, in the east, the low Oka-Don Plain. The Don and Voronezh rivers cross the centre of the oblast from north to south. The local agriculture has caused most of the natural oak forest cover and grass steppe to be ploughed up, resulting in severe gully erosion. Agriculture

Italy, The south, 7741000

2004-11-21T05:32:00.000-08:00

When Charlemagne conquered central and northern Italy, Duke Arichis II of Benevento (758–787) responded by titling himself princeps and claiming the legitimist tradition of the Lombards. Lombard princes then ruled in the south for 300 years, until the Norman Conquest. Arichis and his son Grimoald III (787–806) were powerful rulers who held off the Franks, even if Grimoald temporarily

Ch'i Ju-shan

2004-11-19T20:57:00.000-08:00

Born into a prosperous and well-educated family, Ch'i Ju-shan received a Classical Chinese education, also studying traditional Chinese theatre from childhood and learning European languages as a young man.

Marsh Marigold

2004-11-16T17:15:00.000-08:00

The stem of a marsh marigold is hollow, and the leaves are kidney-shaped, heart-shaped, or round. The glossy flowers are 2.5 to 5 cm (1 to 2 inches) across and have pink, white, or yellow sepals. Petals are absent. The stems, leaves, and roots

Watercress

2004-11-14T10:09:00.000-08:00

Also called Cress (Nasturtium officinale), perennial plant, of the mustard family (Brassicaceae), native to Eurasia and naturalized throughout North America in cool, flowing streams where it grows submerged, floating on the water, or spread over mud surfaces. Watercress often is cultivated in tanks for its young shoots, which are used in salads. The plant bears four-petalled, white flowers

Macbride, Seán

2004-11-12T02:53:00.000-08:00

MacBride was the son of the Irish actress and patriot Maud Gonne and her husband, Major John MacBride, who was executed in 1916 for his part in the Easter Rising of that year against the British. Educated in Paris and Ireland, Seán MacBride,

Arabia, History Of, The sharifs of the Holy Cities

2004-11-10T07:10:00.000-08:00

At Mecca in the mid-10th century commenced the 1,000-year ascendancy of the 'Alid sharifian families. Mecca now became capital of the Hejaz, replacing Medina, the centre from which it had been ruled since the Prophet's days. The sharifs, though at times subject to such foreign overlords as the rulers of Egypt and of other parts of Arabia, exercised virtual independence. Throughout

Köflach

2004-11-09T03:13:00.000-08:00

Town, Steiermark Bundesland (federal state), southern Austria, west of Graz. Köflach received market rights in 1170 but did not achieve town status until 1939. It is a rail terminus and has glass and porcelain works. Important lignite (brown coal) mines are nearby, and the Lipizzaner horses (originating from the former Austrian imperial stud at Lipizza, near Trieste; see photograph

Calendar Of 2002

2004-11-07T05:44:00.000-08:00

A fire starts in the Angeles National Forest in California and rapidly consumes about 4,450 ha (11,000 ac), forcing the immediate evacuation

Sarasate, Pablo De

2004-11-04T14:58:00.000-08:00

Beginning his violin studies at the age of five, Sarasate gave his first performance at age eight and later studied at the Paris Conservatory. In 1859 he began the concert tours that made him famous throughout the world. His playing was particularly admired for sweetness and

Mercer

2004-11-03T20:37:00.000-08:00

The county was created

Ear, Human, Detection of linear acceleration: static equilibrium

2004-11-01T04:54:00.000-08:00

The gravity receptors that respond to linear acceleration of the head are the maculae of the utricle and saccule (see Anatomy of the human ear: Inner ear: Vestibule). The left and right utricular maculae are in the same, approximately horizontal, plane and because of this position are more useful in providing information about the position of the head and its side-to-side

Farina, Giuseppe

2004-10-30T01:33:00.000-07:00

Farina, the holder of a doctorate in engineering, was the Italian driving champion in 1937, 1938, and 1939. He won the world title in 1950 while driving for Alfa Romeo. He was killed in a road accident.

Nicholas I

2004-10-28T15:46:00.000-07:00

Russian in full Nikolay Pavlovich Russian emperor (1825–55), often considered the personification of classic autocracy; for his reactionary policies, he has been called the emperor who froze Russia for 30 years.