LoudHair

Early Netherlandish Art

2005-04-05T07:30:00.000-07:00

In 1363 John II of France

Gabon, Health and welfare

2005-04-05T06:49:00.000-07:00

Health facilities remain inadequate, particularly outside the Libreville area, despite improvements during the 1970s and '80s. The government provides nearly all health care services. The internationally known hospital operated by Albert Schweitzer at Lambaréné from 1924 to 1965 receives government assistance. Malaria, sleeping sickness, tuberculosis, syphilis, and other

30 Doradus

2005-04-04T17:36:00.000-07:00

Also called Tarantula Nebula (catalog number NGC 2070) immense ionized-hydrogen region in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way system (in which the Earth is located). The nebula consists of a cloud of interstellar gas—principally hydrogen—lit from within by young, hot stars that ionize the gas around them. As the atoms in the gas recombine, they emit visible light. The total mass of the nebula is about

Pachaimalai Hills

2005-04-03T08:53:00.000-07:00

Range of hills in Tamil Nadu state, southern India, an eastward extension of the Eastern Ghats in the northeastern Tamilnad Uplands. The Pachaimalai Hills, together with the Javadi, Shevaroy, and Kalrayan hills, separate the Cauvery River basin in the south from the Palar River basin in the north. Extending over approximately 5,200 sq mi (13,500 sq km), they form a discontinuous line of highlands

Vieira, António

2005-04-02T22:04:00.000-08:00

Vieira went to Brazil with his parents as a child of six. Educated at the

Prosody, The Renaissance

2005-04-02T05:45:00.000-08:00

Renaissance prosodic theory had to face the fact of an accomplished poetry in the vernacular that was not written in metres determined by “rules” handed down from the practice of Homer and Virgil. Nevertheless, the classicizing theorists of the 16th century made a determined attempt to explain existing poetry by the rules of short and long and to draft “laws” by which

Zaccaria, Benedetto

2005-04-01T13:42:00.000-08:00

In 1264 Zaccaria was named Genoese ambassador to the Byzantine emperor, Michael VIII Paleologus, who bestowed on him and his brother Manuele the fief of Phocaea, north of Smyrna, with its alum mines. On this foundation the brothers built a commercial empire,

Malay Language

2005-04-01T06:53:00.000-08:00

Member of the Western, or Indonesian, branch of the Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian) language family, spoken as a native language by more than 33,000,000 persons distributed over the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, and the numerous smaller islands of the area, and widely used in Malaysia and Indonesia as a second language. Malay shows the closest relationship to most of the

Losey, Joseph

2005-03-30T00:21:00.000-08:00

After graduating from Dartmouth College (B.A., 1929) and Harvard University (M.A., 1930), Losey wrote book and theatre reviews. In 1935, while working as a European-based reporter for Variety, the

Insurance, Suretyship

2005-03-29T10:04:00.000-08:00

Surety contracts are designed to protect businesses against the possible dishonesty of their employees. Surety and fidelity bonds fill the gap left by theft insurance, which always excludes losses from persons in a position of trust. A bond involves three contracting parties instead of two. The three parties are the principal, who is the person bonded; the obligee,

Kircher, Athanasius

2005-03-29T09:17:00.000-08:00

Kircher learned Greek and Hebrew at the Jesuit school in Fulda, pursued scientific and humanistic studies at Paderborn, Cologne, and Koblenz, and in 1628 was ordained at Mainz. He fled the

Interior Design

2005-03-28T08:22:00.000-08:00

The art of interior design encompasses all of the fixed and movable ornamental objects that form an integral part of the inside of any human habitation. It is essential to remember that much of what today is classified as art and exhibited in galleries and museums was originally used to furnish interiors. Paintings were usually ordered by size and frequently by

Anti-saloon League

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

The leading organization lobbying for prohibition in the United States in the early 20th century. It was founded as a state society in Ohio in 1893, but its influence spread rapidly, and in 1895 it became a national organization. It drew most of its support from Protestant evangelical churches, and it lobbied at all levels of government for legislation to prohibit the manufacture

Sevan, Lake

2005-03-28T03:07:00.000-08:00

Lake in Armenia, with an area of 525 sq mi (1,360 sq km). Lying at 6,250 ft (1,905 m) above sea level in a mountain-enclosed basin, it drains by the Hrazdan River into the Aras River and to the Caspian Sea, but most of its water is lost by evaporation rather than by runoff. The lake is in two connected parts, the smaller but deeper Maly Sevan (northwest), with a maximum depth of 282 ft, and the Bolshoy Sevan (southeast),

Powell, Enoch

2005-03-26T22:06:00.000-08:00

Powell was the son of schoolteachers of Welsh ancestry. He attended Trinity College, Cambridge, and became a professor of

Smith, Sir Keith Macpherson; And Smith, Sir Ross Macpherson

2005-03-26T02:10:00.000-08:00

During World War I, Keith Smith flew as a pilot in the Royal Air Force (1917–19), while Ross started with the Australian Light Horse in Gallipoli and Sinai until he learned to fly in Egypt

Chelles

2005-03-24T23:36:00.000-08:00

Town, eastern suburb of Paris, in Seine-et-Marne département, Paris region, north-central France, near the Marne River. It is the site of ancient Calae and has ruins of the 7th-century Abbey of Notre-Dame-de-Chelles (founded by Bathilde, widow of Clovis II, and destroyed during the French Revolution). Prehistoric remains found nearby in the 19th century were designated Chellean

Dube, John Langalibalele

2005-03-24T17:29:00.000-08:00

After studying at Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, U.S., and being ordained a minister, Dube returned to Natal with the goal

Catalufa

2005-03-24T09:42:00.000-08:00

Any of certain fishes of the bigeye (q.v.) group.

Ts'ao Kuo-chiu

2005-03-22T14:43:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Cao Guojiu, in Chinese mythology, one of the Pa Hsien, the Eight Immortals of Taoism. Ts'ao is sometimes depicted in official robes and hat and carrying a tablet indicative of his rank and of his right to palace audiences. He was a man of exemplary character who often reminded a dissolute brother that though one can escape the laws of man, one cannot avoid the nets of heaven. In another

Amara, Lucine

2005-03-22T13:12:00.000-08:00

Amara studied singing in San Francisco, where she sang in the chorus of the San Francisco Opera (1945–46) and made her concert debut at the War Memorial Opera House (c. 1946). She continued her studies at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, Calif. (1947), and won a contest leading to an

Wells

2005-03-21T18:57:00.000-08:00

City, Mendip district, administrative and historic county of Somerset, England, at the foot of the Mendip Hills. The name derives from the many springs rising near the cathedral, which was begun in the 12th century and dominates the city. In general, Wells has been little affected by modern industry and growth. It remains a modest service centre, its Market Place and shopping

Gaulle, Charles De

2005-03-20T11:45:00.000-08:00

In full Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle French soldier, writer, statesman, and architect of France's Fifth Republic.

Clock

2005-03-19T15:47:00.000-08:00

The origin of the all-mechanical escapement clock is unknown; the first such devices may have been invented and used in monasteries to alert the sacristan

Biblical Literature, Obadiah

2005-03-19T04:34:00.000-08:00

The Book of Obadiah, the fourth book of the Twelve (Minor) Prophets, contains only 21 verses. Nothing is known about the prophet as a person or about his times. It may have been written before the Exile, though many scholars believe that it was composed either some time after 586 BCE or in the mid-5th century, when the Jews returned to the area around Jerusalem. The prophet concentrates

Sculpture, Western, The Orientalizing period

2005-03-18T18:26:00.000-08:00

Sculpture of the Orientalizing period was profoundly affected by technical and stylistic influences from the East. In about 700 BC, the Greeks learned from their Eastern neighbours how to use molds to mass-produce clay relief plaques. Widely adopted, this technique helped to establish in Greece a stereotyped convention for figure representation, even in freestanding,

Handke, Peter

2005-03-18T05:39:00.000-08:00

Handke, the son of a bank clerk, studied law at Graz University from 1961 to 1965 and contributed pieces to the avant-garde literary magazine manuskripte. He came to public notice as an anticonventional playwright

Economic System

2005-03-17T05:26:00.000-08:00

Way in which humankind has arranged for its material provisioning. One would think that there would be a great variety of such systems, corresponding to the many cultural arrangements that have characterized human society. Surprisingly, that is not the case. Although a wide range of institutions and social customs have been associated with the economic activities

Mcneill, William H(ardy)

2005-03-17T02:32:00.000-08:00

McNeill attended the University of Chicago (B.A., 1938; M.A., 1939) and Cornell University (Ph.D., 1947). During World War II he served in the U.S. Army (1941–46); part of that time he was the assistant military attaché to Greece (1944–46). McNeill taught history

Ford, Henry, Ii

2005-03-16T05:52:00.000-08:00

In 1940 Ford left Yale University without graduating to join the firm founded by his grandfather, Henry Ford, and at the time run by his father, Edsel Ford. A year later he joined the U.S. Navy; but in 1943, following the unexpected death

Jackson, Jesse

2005-03-15T03:07:00.000-08:00

Jesse adopted the name of his stepfather, Charles Jackson,

Wa

2005-03-15T02:41:00.000-08:00

Also called Lawa, Va, Hkawa, Kawa, or Kala, hill-dwelling peoples of eastern Myanmar (Burma), where they are generally called Lawa, and southwestern Yunnan province of China, where they are generally called Va, or Wa. They speak an Austro-Asiatic language related to Mon-Khmer. The pagan, or “wild,” Wa are concentrated in the isolated northern and central Wa states of Myanmar; they are known as headhunters who believe

Babassu Palm

2005-03-14T10:29:00.000-08:00

(Orbignya martiana, O. oleifera, or O. speciosa), tall palm tree with feathery leaves that grows wild in tropical northeastern Brazil. The kernels of its hard-shelled nuts are the source of babassu oil, similar in properties and uses to coconut oil and used increasingly as a substitute for it. Babassu oil is used as a food in cooking and as a fuel and a lubricant;

Ala'ud'din

2005-03-13T11:02:00.000-08:00

Sultan of the Malay kingdom of Johore from 1528. He is sometimes considered the cofounder of the kingdom with his father, Mahmud Shah, the last sultan of Malacca, who established Johore on the island of Bintang (southeast of Singapore) in 1512–13. Sometime after his father's death (1528), Ala'ud'din moved his capital to Johore Lama. The Achinese sacked

Encyclopédie

2005-03-13T05:23:00.000-08:00

In full Encyclopédie, Ou Dictionnaire Raisonné Des Sciences, Des Arts Et Des Métiers (French: “Encyclopaedia, or Classified Dictionary of Sciences, Arts, and Trades”), the 18th-century French encyclopaedia that was one of the chief works of the Philosophes, men dedicated to the advancement of science and secular thought and the new tolerance and open-mindedness of the Enlightenment. The Encyclopédie was a literary and philosophical enterprise with

Lead Processing

2005-03-13T00:41:00.000-08:00

Lead (Pb) is one of the oldest metals known, being one of seven metals used in the ancient world (the others are gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, and mercury). Its low melting point of 327° C (621° F), coupled with its easy castability and softness and malleability, make lead and lead alloys especially suitable for a wide range of cast products,

Latitude And Longitude

2005-03-12T09:50:00.000-08:00

Latitude is a measurement on a globe or map of location north or south of the Equator. Technically there are different kinds of latitude—geographic, astronomical, and geocentric—but there are only minor differences between them. In most

Turkana

2005-03-11T10:52:00.000-08:00

A people living in the arid, sandy expanse of northwestern Kenya, from Lake Rudolf (Lake Turkana) to the Ugandan border. The Turkana speak an Eastern Nilotic language of the Nilo-Saharan language family. Their language closely resembles that of the Teso. They apparently moved to their present lands about 200 years ago from an area now in northeastern Uganda where the closely

Tooke, Thomas

2005-03-11T03:02:00.000-08:00

Tooke was in business throughout most of his adult life, beginning in St. Petersburg at the age of 15 and finally retiring as governor of the Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation in 1852. He often gave evidence before Parliament on economic matters. In 1821 he

Asher Ben Jehiel

2005-03-10T06:07:00.000-08:00

When the German authorities began to persecute the Jews, Asher fled to France and then to Spain. With the help of Rabbi Solomon ben Adret, one of the most influential

Quiché

2005-03-10T00:33:00.000-08:00

Also called Quiché Maya, Mayan Indians living in the midwestern highlands of Guatemala. The Quiché Maya had an advanced civilization in pre-Columbian times, with a high level of political and social organization. Archaeological remains show large population centres and a complex class structure. Written records of Quiché history and mythology are preserved in the Popol Vuh, written

Brühl, Heinrich, Graf Von (count Of)

2005-03-09T05:33:00.000-08:00

Rising rapidly under Augustus II the Strong,

Argentite

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

Argentite, like several other sulfides, selenides, and tellurides of silver and copper, forms isometric crystals at high temperatures, but upon

Lancewood

2005-03-08T00:36:00.000-08:00

Tough, heavy, elastic, straight-grained wood obtained from several different trees of the custard-apple family (Annonaceae). True lancewood, Oxandra lanceolata, of the West Indies and Guianas, furnishes most of the lancewood of commerce in the form of spars about 13 feet (4 m) in length and 5 inches (13 cm) in diameter at the small end. Lancewood was formerly used by carriage builders

Schmucker, S.s.

2005-03-07T18:35:00.000-08:00

Schmucker joined in the establishment of the General Synod (1820) that coordinated the various Lutheran churches in the United States and

Earth, Earthquakes

2005-03-07T18:23:00.000-08:00

Most Earth scientists believe that virtually all naturally produced earthquakes occur as a result of movements along faults. The reason that the majority of such earthquakes occur along plate boundaries is that most faults lie along those boundaries.

Latin-american Literature, Vanguard literature

2005-03-07T07:30:00.000-08:00

When the Modernist leaders Darío and Lugones turned to frequent use of more traditional forms and especially to themes dealing with the troubled external world, their followers and many younger poets continued to explore the complex versification and language and new thematic sources with which Modernism had enriched Hispanic poetry. Prominent among them

Shifting Attitudes In A Changing World

2005-03-06T21:40:00.000-08:00

It was once said that "almost everything in history almost never happened"--a feeling, perhaps, that many of us have had about our own lives. When we look back, we often find an awkward chain of events that escapes logic, and only by willful disregard of such complicating factors as facts will we succeed in finding anything resembling a pattern or a plan guiding us. In westernized

Jari River

2005-03-06T03:01:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Jary, river, northern Brazil, rising on the southern slopes of the Tumuc-Humac Mountains and flowing in a generally southeasterly direction for about 350 miles (560 km) to join the Amazon River at Bôca do Jari, opposite Grande de Gurupá Island. The Jari forms the border between Pará and Amapá states, and its lower course is navigable. An American entrepreneur, Daniel Ludwig, began

Yü Ch'ien

2005-03-05T01:06:00.000-08:00

With the emperor held hostage and the Mongol armies only 50 miles (80 km) northwest of the capital of Peking, the government was in a state of panic. Yü Ch'ien acted by placing

Saint Catharines

2005-03-04T21:01:00.000-08:00

City, Regional Municipality of Niagara, southeastern Ontario, Canada, on the south shore of Lake Ontario, at the entrance to the Welland Ship Canal. Named after the first wife of Robert Hamilton, member of the first legislative council of Upper Canada, it has grown from a small settlement established in 1790 to become the centre of the Niagara fruit belt and the largest city

Quadrille

2005-03-04T17:34:00.000-08:00

Fashionable late 18th- and 19th-century dance for four couples in square formation. Imported by English aristocrats in 1815 from elite Parisian ballrooms, it consisted of four, or sometimes five, contredanses; like the contredanse (q.v.), the quadrille depended more on the cooperative execution of intertwining figures, or floor patterns, than on intricate stepwork. Each of the

Japanese Orthodox Church

2005-03-04T02:16:00.000-08:00

Since the beginning

Interior Design, Kinds of interiors

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

Although the foregoing sections have mentioned different kinds of interiors, in reference to both aesthetic and physical components of design, there has been no specific discussion of different design considerations for varying interiors. The aesthetic criteria suggested in earlier sections are subject to considerable variation, depending on the kind

Biblical Literature, The rise and fall of Saul

2005-03-02T23:48:00.000-08:00

The man selected to become the first monarchical ruler of Israel was Saul, son of Kish, a wealthy Benjamite landowner. Because Kish had lost some donkeys, Saul was sent in search of them. Unsuccessful in his search, he went to the seer-prophet Samuel at Ramah. In the early source, from which this narrative comes, he did not know Samuel's name. The day before Saul went to Ramah,

Natchez

2005-03-02T14:21:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1817) of Adams county, southwestern Mississippi, U.S., on the Mississippi River (there bridged to Vidalia, Louisiana), about 70 miles (110 km) southwest of Vicksburg. Established in 1716 as Fort Rosalie by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, it survived a massacre (1729) by Natchez Indians for whom it was later named. It passed from France to England (1763) at the conclusion of the French and

Atoll

2005-03-02T01:30:00.000-08:00

Most of the reef itself is a submarine feature, rising from the abyssal floors of the ocean to just beneath high-tide level.

Allahabad

2005-03-02T00:10:00.000-08:00

City, southern Uttar Pradesh state, northern India. It is situated at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna (Jumna) rivers. Allahabad stands on the site of ancient Prayag, a holy city that was comparable in fame to Varanasi (Benares) and Haridwar. Prayag's importance in the ancient Buddhist period of Indian history is attested to by the inscriptions on the Pillar of Asoka. The pillar

Uda

2005-02-28T01:06:00.000-08:00

The son of the emperor Koko, Uda was one of the few rulers during this period whose mother was not a member of the Fujiwara family, which, partly through intermarriage with the imperial line, dominated Japan from 859 to 1160. During the first part of Uda's reign, Mototsune, the head of the Fujiwara house, occupied the post of kampaku,

Bonnie And Clyde

2005-02-27T14:54:00.000-08:00

Barrow had been a criminal long before he met Parker in January 1930. After 20 months in prison

Sorsogon

2005-02-27T02:22:00.000-08:00

Town, southeastern Luzon, Philippines, near the southernmost tip of the Bicol Peninsula. The town of Sorsogon is a port on the northeastern shore of Sorsogon Bay. The adjacent hinterland consists of volcanic cones interspersed with broad, level farmlands that produce abaca, coconuts, rice, and sweet potatoes. Sorsogon has processing facilities for abaca and copra.

Sabin, Florence Rena

2005-02-27T01:14:00.000-08:00

Sabin was educated in Denver, Colorado, and in Vermont and graduated from Smith College in Massachusetts, in 1893. After teaching in Denver and at Smith to earn tuition money, she entered

Yü Ta-fu

2005-02-26T19:48:00.000-08:00

Yü Ta-fu received his higher education in Japan, where he met other young Chinese writers, with whom he founded the Creation Society (Ch'ang-tsao

Osage Orange

2005-02-26T16:30:00.000-08:00

Also called Bowwood, French Bois D'arc (Maclura pomifera), thorny tree with large, yellow-green, wrinkled fruit and a milky sap that can produce dermatitis in humans. It is the only species of its genus in the mulberry family (Moraceae). It is native to the south-central United States but has been planted extensively farther north in the Mississippi River valley and at points east of

Eyespot

2005-02-25T11:40:00.000-08:00

In the green one-celled organism Euglena, the eyespot is located in the gullet, at the base of the flagellum (a whiplike locomotory

Huitain

2005-02-25T09:04:00.000-08:00

French verse form consisting of an eight-line stanza with 8 or 10 syllables in each line. The form was written on three rhymes, one of which appeared four times. Typical rhyme schemes were ababbcbc and abbaacac. The huitain was popular in France in the 15th and early 16th centuries with such poets as François Villon and Clément Marot.

Jussieu, Antoine-laurent De

2005-02-24T13:49:00.000-08:00

Antoine-Laurent was brought in 1770 by his uncle Bernard to the Jardin du Roi, where he became demonstrator in botany. In 1773 his paper, presented to the Académie des Sciences, on the Ranunculaceae (crowfoot) family introduced his method

Mugla

2005-02-24T11:02:00.000-08:00

City, southwestern Turkey, on the edge of a small plain about 12 miles (20 km) north of the Gulf of Gökova. A favourite residence of the emirs of the 14th-century Turkmen Mentese principality, it was annexed to the Ottoman Empire in 1425. It is a local market for the agricultural products of the region and is linked by road with Izmir and Denizli. The surrounding region borders on both the

Holberg, Ludvig, Friherre (baron) Holberg

2005-02-23T20:04:00.000-08:00

Orphaned as a child, Holberg lived with relatives in Bergen until the city was destroyed by fire in 1702, when he was sent to the University of Copenhagen. Longing

Biblical Literature, The Aramaic Targums

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

In the course of the 5th and 6th centuries BCE, Aramaic became the official language of the Persian Empire. In the succeeding centuries it was used as the vernacular over a wide area and was increasingly spoken by the postexilic Jewish communities of Palestine and elsewhere in the Diaspora. In response to liturgical needs, the institution of a turgeman (or meturgeman, “translator

Mammal, Natural history

2005-02-23T06:43:00.000-08:00

The hallmarks of the mammalian level of organization are advanced reproduction and parental care, behavioral flexibility, and endothermy (the physiological maintenance of a relatively constant body temperature independent of that of the environment, allowing a high level of activity). Within the class, ecological diversity has resulted from adaptive specialization

Literature

2005-02-22T10:33:00.000-08:00

By all accounts, 2001 was an eventful year for Persian literature, both in revisiting the achievements of the previous century from fresh perspectives and in providing glimpses into new literary experiments. Two important international conferences examined the literature of the 20th century, one by focusing on M.T. Bahar (1880–1951) and the other by surveying the entire literary

Alimony

2005-02-22T10:23:00.000-08:00

In divorce law, compensation owed by one spouse to the other for financial support after divorce. Alimony aims at support of the one spouse, not punishment of the other. In some places, the term means simply a property settlement irrespective of future support. Alimony has traditionally been granted from husbands to wives but has occasionally been granted from wives

Malanggan Style

2005-02-21T19:18:00.000-08:00

Malanggan carvings take the form of friezes, masks, and sculpture,

Amici, Giovanni Battista

2005-02-20T22:59:00.000-08:00

Amici served as professor of mathematics at the University of Modena from 1815 to 1825 and

Gümüshane

2005-02-20T22:27:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Gümüsane, city, northeastern Turkey. It lies along the Harsit River, at an elevation of 5,000 feet (1,500 m), about 40 miles (65 km) southwest of Trabzon. The origin and history of the ancient settlement are obscure. The silver (Turkish: gümüs) mines from which the city's name is derived were mentioned by Marco Polo and the medieval North African traveler Ibn Battutah; they have been worked out since the 19th century.

Jackson, Janet

2005-02-20T01:26:00.000-08:00

The youngest of nine siblings in Motown's famed Jackson family, Janet Jackson parlayed her family's success into an independent career that spanned recordings, television, and film. She appeared as

Arts, Central Asian, Folk dance

2005-02-19T15:03:00.000-08:00

Formalized

Wellesz, Egon (joseph)

2005-02-19T03:44:00.000-08:00

A pupil of Guido Adler in musicology and of Arnold Schoenberg in composition, Wellesz taught at the University of Vienna (1930–38) before settling in England (1939), where he became an influential teacher at the University of Oxford. His scholarly

Hesperorthis

2005-02-17T23:47:00.000-08:00

Extinct genus of brachiopods, or lamp shells, which as fossils are especially characteristic of Ordovician marine rocks (438 to 505 million years old). The plano-convex shell of Hesperorthis consists of two units (or valves), the brachial valve being flat and the pedicle valve convex. The shell has a radiating pattern of ribs and a relatively broad, triangular area at the dorsal

Gray, Harold (lincoln)

2005-02-17T21:46:00.000-08:00

After graduating from Purdue University, Lafayette, Ind., in 1917, Gray joined the staff of the Chicago Tribune, to which he returned after brief service in the U.S. Army. After leaving the Tribune in 1919, he did commercial art and for a five-year period

F-16

2005-02-17T13:41:00.000-08:00

Also called Fighting Falcon, single-seat, single-engine jet fighter built by the General Dynamics Corporation (now part of the Lockheed Martin Corporation) for the United States and more than a dozen other countries. The F-16 originated in an order placed in 1972 for a lightweight, cost-effective air-to-air fighter; current models are also all-weather capable, and it is effective for ground attack as well.

O'faolain, Julia

2005-02-17T10:22:00.000-08:00

O'Faolain, the daughter of authors Sean O'Faolain and Eileen Gould, was educated at University College,

Trachyte

2005-02-15T14:09:00.000-08:00

Light-coloured, very fine-grained extrusive igneous rock that is composed chiefly of alkali feldspar with minor amounts of dark-coloured minerals such as biotite, amphibole, or pyroxene. Compositionally, trachyte is the volcanic equivalent of the plutonic (intrusive) rock syenite. Most trachytes show porphyritic texture in which abundant, large, well-formed crystals

Catalyst Poison

2005-02-15T01:51:00.000-08:00

Substance that reduces the effectiveness of a catalyst in a chemical reaction. In theory, because catalysts are not consumed in chemical reactions, they can be used repeatedly over an indefinite period of time. In practice, however, poisons, which come from the reacting substances or products of the reaction itself, accumulate on the surface of solid catalysts and

Durgapur

2005-02-15T00:50:00.000-08:00

City, southern West Bengal state, northeastern India, just north of the Damodar River. Connected by road and rail with Calcutta (Kolkata), Burdwan, and Asansol, Durgapur is one of India's chief steel-producing centres. The main steel plant went into operation in 1962, and the population grew dramatically. Other major industries include a coal washery, an alloy and special steel

Mahmud

2005-02-14T19:57:00.000-08:00

In full Yamin Al-daula Abu'l-qasim Mahmud Ibn Sebüktigin sultan of the kingdom of Ghazna (998–1030), originally comprising modern Afghanistan and northeastern modern Iran but, through his conquests, eventually including northwestern India and most of Iran. He transformed his capital, Ghazna, into a cultural centre rivalling Baghdad.

Jack

2005-02-13T14:19:00.000-08:00

Any of numerous species of fishes belonging to the family Carangidae (order Perciformes). The name jack is also applied collectively to the family. Representatives can be found in temperate and tropical portions of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans and occasionally in fresh or brackish water. Although body size and shape vary greatly among jacks, many of the

China, Posts and telecommunications

2005-02-13T02:17:00.000-08:00

Posts and telecommunications were established rapidly in the 1950s and '60s. By 1952 the principal posts and telecommunications network centred on Peking, and links to all large cities had been established. Great progress was made in improving the postal service under the First Five-Year Plan. Postal service was also developed in the rural areas. Besides extending rural postal

Shagari, Alhaji Shehu (usman Aliyu)

2005-02-12T09:32:00.000-08:00

A member of the Muslim Fulani people of northern Nigeria and a descendant of a tribe that had founded his home village, Shagari studied at a secondary school in Kaduna and taught school briefly before entering politics in 1954 and being elected to the federal House of Representatives. Thereafter

France, History Of, The Wars of Religion

2005-02-11T23:26:00.000-08:00

Guise forces occupied Paris and took control of the royal family, while the Huguenots rose in the provinces, and their two commanders, Louis I de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, and Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, established headquarters at Orléans. The deaths of the opposing leaders—the Protestant Antoine de Bourbon, King Consort of Navarre, and the Catholic marshal Jacques

Adaptive Radiation

2005-02-11T22:04:00.000-08:00

Evolution of an animal or plant group into a wide variety of types adapted to specialized modes of life. A striking example is the radiation, beginning in the Tertiary period (beginning 66.4 million years ago), of basal mammalian stock into forms adapted to running, leaping, climbing, swimming, and flying.

Ugra, Battle Of The

2005-02-11T18:58:00.000-08:00

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

Die

2005-02-10T16:11:00.000-08:00

Tool or device for imparting a desired shape, form, or finish to a material. Examples include a perforated block through which metal or plastic is drawn or extruded, the hardened steel forms for producing the patterns on coins and medals by pressure, and the hollow molds into which metal or plastic is forced. See also diesinking.

Space Shuttle

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

Partially reusable rocket-launched vehicle designed to go into orbit around Earth, to transport people and cargo to and from orbiting spacecraft, and to glide to a runway landing on its return to Earth's surface. The first vehicle of this type was developed by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Formally called the Space Transportation System

Goode, G(eorge) Brown

2005-02-10T04:01:00.000-08:00

After graduating from Wesleyan University at Middletown, Conn., he spent a year at Harvard University studying natural history under Louis Agassiz. Goode took charge

Abbey, Edwin Austin

2005-02-09T23:28:00.000-08:00

Yale University Art Gallery, Edwin Austin Abbey (1852–1911) (1973).

Vecchio, Palazzo

2005-02-09T05:35:00.000-08:00

The Tuscan Gothic design of the Palazzo Vecchio has been

Euler-chelpin, Hans Von

2005-02-08T15:30:00.000-08:00

After graduating from the University of Berlin (1895), Euler-Chelpin worked with Walther Nernst and in 1897 became assistant to Svante Arrhenius at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

Yamato-e

2005-02-08T10:29:00.000-08:00

Yamato-e is a calculated