YellowNet

Qatar, Government

2005-04-05T23:44:00.000-07:00

The emir's power is constrained

Thomas, Martha Carey

2005-04-05T22:36:00.000-07:00

Carey Thomas, as she preferred to be known, was the daughter of a modestly prosperous Quaker family. She attended Quaker schools in her native Baltimore, Maryland, and in Ithaca, New York, then overrode her father's objections

La Marche, Olivier De

2005-04-04T14:22:00.000-07:00

After serving as a page to Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy, La Marche entered the service of the Duke's son, the count of Charolais (later called Charles the Bold). He became Charles's secretary and remained in

Toronto, Theatre's Third City

2005-04-03T22:02:00.000-07:00

By the 1990s Toronto had quietly become the third-largest theatre centre in the English-speaking world, after New York City and London. With a population approaching four million in the metropolitan area, Toronto had come to serve as host to a wide range of theatrical activity, from fringe festivals in the summer to several midsize, not-for-profit theatres, national and

Sevastopol

2005-04-03T17:37:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Sevastopol ', city and seaport, Crimea, southern Ukraine, in the southwestern Crimean Peninsula on the southern shore of the long, narrow Akhtiarskaya Bay, which forms a magnificent natural harbour. West of the modern town stood the ancient Greek colony of Chersonesus, founded in 421 BC. Originally a republic, Chersonesus (Heracleotic Chersonese) became, in turn, part of the Kingdom of

Ectopic Pregnancy

2005-04-03T15:34:00.000-07:00

In tubal ectopic pregnancy the ovum becomes implanted in one of the fallopian tubes. This condition is not uncommon, occurring about once in 250 to 300 pregnancies and more frequently

Distinguished Service Order

2005-03-31T19:44:00.000-08:00

British military decoration awarded to officers who have performed meritorious or distinguished service in war. The decoration, instituted by Queen Victoria in 1886, entitles recipients to add D.S.O. after their names. Foreign officers associated with British forces can become holders of the award as “honorary members.” The badge of the order is a white and gold cross

Wage And Salary

2005-03-31T13:34:00.000-08:00

The purchasing-power theory of wages involves the relation between wages and employment and the business cycle and is not, therefore, a theory of wage determination. It stresses the importance of spending through consumption and investment as an influence upon the activity of the economy. The theory gained prominence during the Great Depression of the 1930s, when

Midas

2005-03-31T02:05:00.000-08:00

King of Phrygia (an ancient district in west-central Anatolia), first mentioned in extant Greek literature by Herodotus as having dedicated a throne at Delphi, before Gyges—i.e., before or little after 700 BC. Later reports that he married a daughter of Agamemnon, king of Aeolic Cyme, and that Midas, or Midacritus (a Greek sailor named for his royal patron?), traded with a western

Pyrometer

2005-03-30T18:14:00.000-08:00

Device for measuring relatively high temperatures, such as are encountered in furnaces. Most pyrometers work by measuring radiation from the body whose temperature is to be measured. Radiation devices have the advantage of not having to touch the material being measured. Optical pyrometers, for example, measure the temperature of incandescent bodies by comparing

Earth Sciences, Probes, satellites, and data transmission

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

In the 1920s the radio replaced the telegraph and telephone as the principal instrument for transmitting weather data. By 1936 the radio meteorgraph (radiosonde) was developed, with capabilities of

Cydones, Demetrius

2005-03-29T15:24:00.000-08:00

Cydones was a student of the Greek classical scholar and philosopher Nilus Cabasilas. In 1354 he went to Italy, where he studied the writings of the leading medieval philosophical

Yohannes Iv

2005-03-28T15:33:00.000-08:00

Superior weaponry allowed Yohannes, a dejazmatch (earl) of Tigray in northern Ethiopia, to fight his way to the Ethiopian throne on January

Rosidae, The order Celastrales

2005-03-28T14:36:00.000-08:00

The Celastrales consists of up to 12 families and a little more than 2,000 species, of which Celastraceae, Hippocrateaceae, Aquifoliaceae, and Icacinaceae comprise the bulk of the order. The members are generally woody plants with simple leaves and regular flowers with fused petals. There is usually a single set of stamens that normally alternate with the petals. The order

China, Political policy changes

2005-03-27T21:08:00.000-08:00

The reformers led by Deng Xiaoping tried after 1978 to reduce the level of political coercion in Chinese society. Millions of victims of past political campaigns were released from labour camps (especially during 1978–80), and bad “class labels” were removed from those stigmatized by them. This dramatically improved the career and social opportunities available to millions

Robert, Shaaban

2005-03-26T03:17:00.000-08:00

Popular Swahili writer, Robert was the product of two cultures—his father was a Christian, but Shaaban returned to Islam. His work ranges from poetry to essay and didactic tale, influenced in style by the Oriental tradition. Many poems follow the form of utendi verse (used for narration and didactic themes),

Asuka Period

2005-03-25T07:15:00.000-08:00

In Japanese history and art, era from Ad 552 to 645 that began with the introduction of Buddhism from Korea and culminated in the adoption of a Chinese pattern of government. Initially opposed by conservative clans, Buddhism found favour with the powerful Soga family which defeated its rivals in a succession dispute in 587. As Imperial regent, Shotoku Taishi gave Buddhism official support, and his famous Seventeen

Religion, Study Of, Other sociological studies

2005-03-25T00:32:00.000-08:00

An extensive literature on religious sects and similar groups has also developed. To some extent this has been influenced by the German theologian Ernst Troeltsch in his distinction between church and sect (see below Theological studies). Notable among modern investigators of sectarianism is the British scholar Bryan Wilson. Church organizations also have

Callahan, Harry Morey

2005-03-24T23:41:00.000-08:00

American photographer (b. Oct. 22, 1912, Detroit, Mich.—d. March 15, 1999, Atlanta, Ga.), experimented with the use of light, line, and space to produce images that portray ordinary scenes and objects in innovative, abstract ways. He felt that photographs had to have more significance than was apparent at first look; he focused on such favourite themes as his wife and daughter, landscapes, and

Kwajalein Atoll

2005-03-24T13:03:00.000-08:00

Also called Kwajalong, coral formation in the Ralik (western) chain of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, in the western Pacific Ocean. The string of some 90 islets has a total land area of 6 square miles (16 square km) and surrounds the world's largest lagoon (655 square miles [1,722 square km]). The islets of Kwajalein, Roi, and Namur were the first of the Marshall Islands captured by U.S. troops in World War II. The

Biblical Literature, II Enoch

2005-03-23T06:53:00.000-08:00

Similar in content is II Enoch, or The Book of the Secrets of Enoch, which is preserved only in an Old Slavonic translation. The oldest text does not contain any Christian additions nor any passage from which it could be concluded that the book was written in Greek. Thus, the book could have been written originally in Hebrew or Aramaic, probably in the 1st century CE. The hero

Lauzun, Antonin-nompar De Caumont, Count And Duke (comte Et Duc) De

2005-03-22T05:11:00.000-08:00

The son of Gabriel de Caumont, comte de Lauzun, he was at first known as the marquis de Puyguilhem. In 1658 he was appointed colonel of Louis XIV's foreign dragoons.

Latin-american Literature, Realism and naturalism

2005-03-21T20:02:00.000-08:00

Romantic interest in the picturesque and unusual led writers to discover a regional way of life, and shortly after midcentury the cuadro de costumbres, or sketch of contemporary customs, developed into a realistic novel of manners, often with an urban setting. Many of these novels are the expression of an ideal national history connected to political independence.

Dye

2005-03-21T11:30:00.000-08:00

Coloured substance synthesized from certain chemical compounds called benzenoid hydrocarbons, obtained from either coal tar or petroleum. Its most important use is in dyeing textiles. Wool or cotton fabrics may have dyes applied at any stage of manufacture from fibre to finished garment, depending on the nature of the textile, its subsequent processing, and

Romanus I Lecapenus

2005-03-20T03:49:00.000-08:00

Byzantine emperor who shared the imperial throne with his son-in-law Constantine VII and exercised all real power from 920 to 944. Romanus was admiral of the Byzantine fleet on the Danube when, hearing of the defeat of the army at Achelous (917), he resolved to sail for Constantinople. Soon after the marriage of his daughter Helena to Constantine he was crowned colleague of his

Animuccia, Giovanni

2005-03-19T18:42:00.000-08:00

Little is known of Animuccia's life until 1555, when he became choirmaster at St. Peter's Basilica, Rome. His laudi spirituali, religious part-songs sung in Italian, were composed to be performed during St. Philip Neri's popular services at the Oratory of San Girolamo

France, History Of, Foreign relations

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

France assumed a more active role in the politics of Christian Europe from the end of the 12th century. Philip Augustus led French contingents on the most fully international of the great Crusades (1190–91), although, having once demonstrated his energy in that work of piety, he could not afterward be persuaded to renew his vow. He preferred, through dynastic schemes and opportunism,

Roiphe, Anne

2005-03-18T20:29:00.000-08:00

Anne Roth graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1957 and married Jack Richardson in 1958. The marriage ended in divorce in 1963, and in 1967 she married Herman Roiphe. That year she also published

Systems Engineering

2005-03-18T13:36:00.000-08:00

Systems engineering is not so much a branch of engineering as it is a technique for applying knowledge from other branches of engineering and disciplines of science in effective combination

Medicine, History Of, The spread of new learning

2005-03-18T00:41:00.000-08:00

Among the teachers of medicine in the medieval universities there were many who clung to the past, but there were not a few who determined to explore new lines of thought. The new learning of the Renaissance, born in Italy, grew and expanded slowly. Two great 13th-century scholars who influenced medicine were Roger Bacon, an active observer and tireless experimenter,

Biblical Literature, The Apocalypse of Baruch

2005-03-17T18:29:00.000-08:00

The Apocalypse of Baruch was written about the same time as II (IV) Esdras, and the less profound Apocalypse probably depends much upon II Esdras. The Apocalypse of Baruch survives only in a Syriac version translated from Greek; originally the book was composed in Hebrew or Aramaic and is ascribed to Baruch, the disciple of Jeremiah and a contemporary of the destruction

Cabimas

2005-03-17T13:07:00.000-08:00

City, northeastern Zulia estado (“state”), northwestern Venezuela. It lies on the northeastern shore of Lake Maracaibo and is an important centre for the Ambrosio oil fields. Just to the south of the city is La Salina refinery. Cabimas is linked by highway to other oil centres on the lakeshore and, via the General Urdaneta Bridge, to Maracaibo, 20 miles (30 km) to the northwest across

Araraquara

2005-03-16T21:47:00.000-08:00

City, in the highlands of central São Paulo state, Brazil, at 2,119 ft (646 m) above sea level on a tributary of the Rio Jacaré-Guaçu. Formerly known as Freguesia de São Bento de Araraquara, it was given town status in 1817 and was made the seat of a municipality in 1832. Araraquara's industries process sugarcane and coffee from the hinterland. Textiles, liquor, and furniture are also produced

Sanchi Sculpture

2005-03-15T01:37:00.000-08:00

Sanchi is the

Dana, Richard Henry

2005-03-15T01:14:00.000-08:00

Dana withdrew from Harvard College when measles weakened his eyesight, and he shipped to California as a sailor in August 1834 to regain his health. After voyaging among California's ports and gathering hides ashore, he rounded Cape Horn, returned

Apterygote

2005-03-14T06:04:00.000-08:00

Broadly, any of the primitive wingless insects of the subclass Apterygota (class Insecta), distinct from the subclass Pterygota or winged insects. Used in this sense, the term apterygotes commonly includes four groups of primitive insects: proturans, collembolans, diplurans (see photograph), and thysanurans. The taxonomic status of these groups, however, remains

Athenagoras

2005-03-14T03:21:00.000-08:00

Identified by some early historians as

Hydrosphere, Groundwaters and river runoff

2005-03-13T07:15:00.000-08:00

This section focuses on term R in equation (9) representing groundwater and river runoff losses from the soil-moisture zone. Water percolates from the soil-moisture zone through the unsaturated (vadose) zone to the water table. Flow through the unsaturated zone is complicated. After a rainfall, water may form nearly a continuous phase in pores in this zone, but with drying

Yodel

2005-03-13T03:19:00.000-08:00

Type of singing in which high falsetto and low chest notes are rapidly alternated; its production is helped by the enunciation of open and closed vowels on the low and high notes of wide intervals. Yodeling is also used as a means of communicating over moderate distances by the inhabitants of mountainous regions. It is associated with the Alpine peoples of Switzerland

Antarctica

2005-03-12T02:11:00.000-08:00

A great many nations, large and small, played important roles in the discovery and exploration of Antarctica. Who first saw the continent is controversial. The Russian expedition leader Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, the Englishman Edward Bransfield, and the American Nathaniel Palmer all claim first sightings in 1820: Bellingshausen sighted a shelf edge of

Skikda

2005-03-11T14:43:00.000-08:00

Formerly Philippeville, town, Mediterranean port, northeastern Algeria, situated on the Gulf of Stora. Founded by French Marshal Sylvain-Charles Valée in 1838 as the port of Constantine, it has an artificial harbour. Skikda occupies the site of ancient Rusicade, port of 4th-century Cirta, and has the largest Roman theatre in Algeria (used as a quarry, this has been greatly depleted). Roman artifacts

Quantum

2005-03-11T08:53:00.000-08:00

In physics, discrete natural unit, or packet, of energy, charge, angular momentum, or other physical property. Light, for example, appearing in some respects as a continuous electromagnetic wave, on the submicroscopic level is emitted and absorbed in discrete amounts, or quanta; and for light of a given wavelength, the magnitude of all the quanta emitted or absorbed is

Genecentre

2005-03-10T23:30:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Genecenter, any of a number of areas on the Earth from which arose important crop plants and domestic animals. As few as four of these centres of origin have probably provided the great majority of the most useful plants and animals: (1) tropical southeastern Asia—rice, chickens; (2) temperate southwestern Asia—wheat, sheep, goats, asses; (3) subtropical or temperate Mexico and Central

Vulvitis

2005-03-10T02:47:00.000-08:00

Inflammation and infection of the vulva—the external genitalia of the female. The external organs of the vulva include the labia majora and minora (folds of skin), the clitoris, and the vestibular glands. The basic symptoms of vulvitis are superficial red, swollen, and moisture-laden lesions on the skin of the vulva. Itching sensations are a particularly prominent

Cynewulf

2005-03-10T01:55:00.000-08:00

King of the West Saxons, or Wessex (757–786), in England who succeeded to the throne following the deposition of Sigebert. Cynewulf was constantly at war with the Welsh. In 779 Offa of Mercia defeated him and took Bensington. In 785 he was surprised and killed, with all his thanes present, at Marten, in modern Wiltshire (Merantune), by Cyneheard, the brother of the deposed Sigebert.

Perceptual Learning

2005-03-09T09:18:00.000-08:00

Historically, perceptual learning has been the subject of vigorous debate.

Basanite

2005-03-08T23:46:00.000-08:00

In basanites and tephrites, the plagioclase occurs as large, single crystals (phenocrysts). The feldspathoid (nepheline)

Alaska Highway

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

Formerly Alcan Highway, road (1,523 miles [2,451 km] long) through the Yukon, connecting Dawson Creek, B.C., with Fairbanks, Alaska. It was previously called the Alaskan International Highway, the Alaska Military Highway, and the Alcan (Alaska-Canadian) Highway. It was constructed by U.S. Army engineers (March-November 1942) at a cost of $135 million as an emergency war measure to provide an overland military supply route

Iron Act

2005-03-08T03:22:00.000-08:00

(1750), in U.S. colonial history, one of the British Trade and Navigation acts; it was intended to stem the development of colonial manufacturing in competition with home industry by restricting the growth of the American iron industry to the supply of raw metals. To meet British needs, pig iron and iron bar made in the colonies were permitted to enter England duty free. In the

Korean Art

2005-03-07T23:17:00.000-08:00

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

Ghazan, Mahmud

2005-03-06T19:48:00.000-08:00

Most prominent of the Il-Khans (subordinate khans) to rule the Mongol dynasty in Iran. Reigning from 1295 to 1304, he is best known for the conversion of his state to Islam and his wars against Egypt.

Wu-hsi

2005-03-06T18:02:00.000-08:00

Wu-hsi is one of the older cities in the

'arif, 'abd Al-salam

2005-03-06T09:11:00.000-08:00

'Arif, the son of a cloth merchant, graduated from military college in 1939 and during his military career trained with British troops in Germany. His rise to power began in 1958 when he, along with General 'Abd al-Karim Qasim, played a prominent role in the overthrow of the Hashimite

Cor Caroli

2005-03-06T07:45:00.000-08:00

Also called Alpha Canum Venaticorum, binary star in the constellation Canes Venatici consisting of a brighter component (A) of visual magnitude 2.9 and a companion (B) of magnitude 5.5. It is the prototype for a group of unusual spectrum-variable stars that show strong and fluctuating absorption lines of silicon, chromium, strontium, or certain rare earths. Europium apparently is concentrated around one magnetic

Cromwell, Henry

2005-03-05T06:37:00.000-08:00

Cromwell studied at Cambridge University and Gray's Inn, London. During part of the English Civil Wars he served under his father in the Parliamentary army in England and Ireland. Henry became major general of the English forces

Metallophone

2005-03-04T10:54:00.000-08:00

China had such instruments by the 7th century. Metallophones had reached northern Europe from Indonesia

Outwash

2005-03-04T10:11:00.000-08:00

Deposit of sand and gravel carried by running water from the melting ice of a glacier and laid down in stratified deposits. An outwash may attain a thickness of 100 m (328 feet) at the edge of a glacier, although the thickness is usually much less; it may also extend many kilometres in length. For example, outwash deposits from the Wisconsin Glaciation can be traced to the mouth

Cumberland Road

2005-03-04T00:39:00.000-08:00

Also called National Road, first federal highway in the United States and for several years the main route to what was then the Northwest Territory. Built (1811–37) from Cumberland, Md. (western terminus of a state road from Baltimore and of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal), to Vandalia, Ill., it forms part of the present U.S. Route 40. In April 1802 Congress appropriated land-sale funds to finance an overland link between

Neap Tide

2005-03-03T13:45:00.000-08:00

Tide of minimal range occurring near the time when the Moon and the Sun are in quadrature. This condition is geometrically defined as the time at which the line from the Earth to the Moon is at right angles to the line from the Earth to the Sun. Thus, the tide-producing effects of the Sun and the Moon cancel each other, and tidal ranges are usually 10 to 30 percent less than the

Performing Arts, World Dance

2005-03-02T21:43:00.000-08:00

Popular folk dance troupes from the former Soviet Union toured the United States and Europe in 2002 and showed that they had lost none of their verve or attraction. Remarkably, the companies were headed by legendary figures active into their 90s. The Moiseyev Dance Company was created in 1937 by choreographer Igor Moiseyev, and in 2002, aged 95, he was still involved with the company.

Computers And Information Systems, E-Commerce.

2005-03-02T08:00:00.000-08:00

E-commerce continued the downward slide that had begun in early 2000. In the first half of 2001, U.S. Internet advertising revenues declined 7.8% from the same period a year earlier. The on-line ad sales decline compared with revenue growth of 78% in 2000 and marked the end of several years of substantial growth in on-line ad revenues. The Interactive Advertising Bureau, a trade group, said the

Ruiz De Alarcón (y Mendoza), Juan

2005-03-02T02:34:00.000-08:00

Born into a prosperous family in Mexico, Ruiz de Alarcón went to Spain in 1600 to study at the University of Salamanca, from which he graduated in about 1602. After studying further at the University of Mexico,

Balantidium

2005-02-28T04:43:00.000-08:00

Genus of ovoid protozoans of the holotrichous order Trichostomatida. Uniformly covered with longitudinal rows of minute, hairlike projections (cilia), Balantidium exists as a parasite in the intestines of pigs, apes, and other animals. The species B. coli can, in rare cases, infect humans and cause balantidiosis (balantidial dysentery), a relatively severe disease

Shubra Al-khaymah

2005-02-27T13:38:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Shubra El-kheima, northern suburb of Cairo, in al-Qalyubiyah muhafazah (governorate), on the east bank of the Nile, Lower Egypt. It was formerly a market town supplying Cairo with agricultural produce from the rich, alluvial delta area. In the 1820s Muhammad 'Ali, the Ottoman viceroy of Egypt, built the country's first European-type factories and schools in Shubra al-Khaymah, and it developed as an industrial

Anisian Stage

2005-02-27T10:02:00.000-08:00

Lowermost of two divisions of the Middle Triassic Series, representing those rocks deposited worldwide during Anisian time (242 million to 234 million years ago) in the Triassic Period. The stage name is derived from an area of limestone formations along the Anisus River at Grossreifling in the Austrian Alps. The Anisian Stage is subdivided, in ascending order, into the

Interior Design, 19th and early 20th centuries in Europe

2005-02-27T04:06:00.000-08:00

Neoclassicism predominated in France till the rise of Napoleon, when to Roman styles were added Egyptian motifs from his Egyptian campaign of 1798. This was known in France as the Empire style, after the First Empire of France (1804–14), and in England as Regency, for the period (1811–20) when George III was too deranged to rule. Furniture design, for the most part light and graceful during the

'abd Al-malik

2005-02-27T00:51:00.000-08:00

In general, Umayyad rule was greatly strengthened by 'Abd al-Malik, who enjoyed good relations with the Medinese religious circles, an element with considerable moral influence in the Islamic world. 'Abd al-Malik was more pious than any of his Umayyad predecessors. His long sojourn in Medina had enabled him to know the sentiments of Medinese religious scholars. As caliph,

Middle East And North Africa: Middle Eastern And North African Affairs

2005-02-26T18:06:00.000-08:00

The bilateral agreement between Israel and the Palestinians for self-government in parts of the Israeli-occupied territories was signed by Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) representative Mahmoud Abbas in a historic ceremony on the U.S. White House lawn on Sept. 13, 1993. The accord was the most significant breakthrough

Aeolipile

2005-02-26T14:39:00.000-08:00

Steam turbine invented in the 1st century AD by Heron of Alexandria and described in his Pneumatica. The aeolipile was a hollow sphere mounted so that it could turn on a pair of hollow tubes that provided steam to the sphere from a cauldron. The steam escaped from the sphere from one or more bent tubes projecting from its equator, causing the sphere to revolve. The aeolipile

San Fernando

2005-02-25T17:05:00.000-08:00

City and enclave within the city of Los Angeles, southern California, U.S., in the northeastern San Fernando Valley. Named for the Mission San Fernando Rey de España (established 1797 by Father Fermín de Lasuén), it was promoted in 1874 by two land developers, G.K. Porter and Senator Charles Maclay (who also founded a college of theology there in 1887). The San Fernando Reservoir (just northwest)

Wells, Carolyn

2005-02-25T09:51:00.000-08:00

Wells supplemented her formal education with an early-formed habit of voracious reading. After completing her schooling she worked as a librarian for the Rahway Library Association for some years. Her love of puzzles

Seven Days' Battles

2005-02-24T23:33:00.000-08:00

(June 25–July 1, 1862), series of American Civil War battles in which a Confederate army under General Robert E. Lee drove back General George B. McClellan's Union forces and thwarted the Northern attempt to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond, Va. McClellan was forced to retreat from a position 4 miles (6 km) east of the Confederate capital to a new base of operations at Harrison's

Oakland

2005-02-23T10:12:00.000-08:00

Town, seat (1872) of Garrett county, extreme western Maryland, U.S., in the Allegheny Mountains near the West Virginia border. Laid out in 1849, after the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad decided to build a rail line through the area, it became a popular tourist destination. Oakland remains at the centre of a resort and agricultural area. Trout fishing, hiking, boating, snow skiing, biking,

Vieira, António

2005-02-23T05:41:00.000-08:00

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

Lipase

2005-02-23T01:10:00.000-08:00

Initial lipase digestion occurs in the lumen (interior) of the small intestine. Bile salts reduce the surface tension of the fat droplets

Fact, Theatre Of

2005-02-22T16:05:00.000-08:00

Also called Documentary Theatre German dramatic movement that arose during the early 1960s, associated primarily with Rolf Hochhuth, Peter Weiss, and Heinar Kipphardt. Their political plays examined recent historical events, often through official documents and court records. Their concern that the West, and especially Germany, was forgetting the political horrors of the Nazi era led them to explore

Argyll And Bute

2005-02-22T08:44:00.000-08:00

Council area, western Scotland, extending from the southwestern Grampian Mountains into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and North Channel in ragged peninsulas indented and separated by deepwater lochs (sea inlets). Freshwater lochs (lakes) dot the inland areas. It includes many islands of the Inner Hebrides—notably Mull, Islay, and Jura. The council area incorporates

Germany

2005-02-21T13:26:00.000-08:00

On a visit to Bonn in early January, UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali appealed for Germany to find a way around its constitutional restrictions and play a full part in international security missions. German medical troops were already involved in a UN humanitarian mission in Cambodia, and the German air force was taking part in mercy flights to Sarajevo,

Massachusetts Bay

2005-02-20T14:28:00.000-08:00

Inlet of the North Atlantic Ocean, extending southward for about 60 miles (100 km) from Cape Ann to Cape Cod, Massachusetts, U.S. It includes Nahant, Boston, Plymouth, and Cape Cod bays and Gloucester and Salem harbours. The Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway enters the bay through the Cape Cod Canal and reaches its northernmost point at Boston. Late in 1620, the Pilgrims explored Cape

Massachusetts Bay

2005-02-19T19:06:00.000-08:00

Guerrilla movement formed originally to oppose the Japanese occupation of Malaya during World War II. In December 1941 a rapid Japanese invasion commenced, and within 10 weeks it had conquered Malaya. British military forces had prepared for this possibility by training small Malayan guerrilla groups. Once war became a reality, the guerrillas organized the MPAJA. This

Rackets

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

Also spelled Racquets, game played with a ball and a strung racket in an enclosed court, all four walls of which are used in play. Rackets is played with a hard ball in a relatively large court, usually about 18 m (60 ft) long by 9 m wide—unlike the related game of squash rackets (q.v.), which is played with a soft ball on a smaller court.

Block Book

2005-02-19T07:53:00.000-08:00

Book printed from wooden blocks on which the text and illustration for each page had to be painstakingly cut by hand. Such books were distinct from printed books after the invention of movable type, in which words were made up of individual letters each of which could be reused as often as necessary and in which only illustrations and special devices,

Akron

2005-02-19T05:25:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1842) of Summit county, northeastern Ohio, U.S. It lies along the Cuyahoga River, 41 miles (66 km) south-southeast of Cleveland. Akron is the centre of a metropolitan area that includes the cities of Cuyahoga Falls, Tallmadge, and Stow and several villages. At 1,200 feet (370 m) above sea level, it was named for its “high place” (Greek: akros) on the watershed between the Mississippi River and

La Flesche, Francis

2005-02-18T19:43:00.000-08:00

U.S. ethnologist and champion of the rights of American Indians who wrote a book of general literary interest about his experiences as a student in a mission school in the 1860s. This memoir, The Middle Five (1900, new edition 1963), is rare in providing an account from an American Indian's viewpoint of his education by members of the

Cambridge Agreement

2005-02-18T05:16:00.000-08:00

(Aug. 26, 1629), pledge made in Cambridge, Eng., by English Puritan stockholders of the Massachusetts Bay Company to emigrate to New England if the government of the colony could be transferred there. The company agreed to their terms, including transferral of the company charter. Control of the corporation was shifted to the signers of the agreement, and John Winthrop was appointed

Wilberforce University

2005-02-17T23:29:00.000-08:00

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

Iron-deficiency Anemia

2005-02-16T23:03:00.000-08:00

Most frequent type of anemia, which may develop when the body's iron loss is high and its iron stores are depleted (e.g., during periods of rapid growth, pregnancy, or menstruation or other sources of chronic blood loss) or when a person's dietary iron intake is low or his assimilation of iron is inefficient (e.g., starvation, intestinal parasite infestation, removal of part

Indochina Wars

2005-02-16T14:38:00.000-08:00

In the latter half of the 19th century, Vietnam was gradually conquered by the French,

Roman Catholicism, History Of, The reign of Leo XIII (18781903)

2005-02-15T23:02:00.000-08:00

Although Leo XIII was no less conservative in his theological inclinations than his predecessor, his positive appreciation of the church's opportunities in modern society gave his pontificate a significantly different cast from that of Pius. On issues of church doctrine and discipline his administration was a strict one. It was during his reign that the Modernist

Radiolarian

2005-02-15T19:50:00.000-08:00

Any protozoan of the class Polycystinea (superclass Actinopoda), found in the upper layers of all oceans. Radiolarians, which are mostly spherically symmetrical, are known for their complex and beautifully sculptured, though minute, skeletons, referred to as tests. Usually composed of silica, the test is elaborately perforated in a variety of patterns, forming a

Americans With Disabilities Act (ada)

2005-02-15T00:11:00.000-08:00

By all odds it was not the biggest liability case in legal history, but the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) suit against Chicago-based AIC Security Investigations, Ltd., and its owner, Ruth Vrdolyak, was watched with consuming interest by the U.S. business community; it was the first case brought to trial under the relatively new Americans with Disabilities

Contract Bridge

2005-02-14T11:23:00.000-08:00

Two world championship tournaments took place during 2000, the first time that had happened since 1976. The Bermuda Bowl is normally played in odd-numbered years, but because Bermuda requested to host the 50th anniversary competition, the World Bridge Federation (WBF) agreed to postpone the 1999 event to January 2000. In the final the United States defeated Brazil 506–288. The second U.S. entry

Einstein's Massenergy Relation

2005-02-13T18:21:00.000-08:00

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

Tachylyte

2005-02-12T11:19:00.000-08:00

Also spelled tachylite glassy igneous rocks low in silica, such as basalt or diabase. Tachylytes are black with a pitchlike or resinous lustre; in thin sections they are characteristically brown and translucent, and the glass is crowded with granules of magnetite. Tachylytes are found only under conditions that imply rapid cooling, and they are much less common than are the corresponding

Mahasanghika

2005-02-12T05:21:00.000-08:00

Its emergence about a century after the death of the Buddha (483 BC) represented the first major schism in the Buddhist community. Although traditional accounts of the second council, at Vaisali (now in Bihar state), attribute

Earth

2005-02-12T01:18:00.000-08:00

The mean distance of the Earth from the Sun is approximately 1.5 ´ 108 kilometres. The planet orbits the Sun in a path that is presently more nearly a circle than are the orbits of most other planets. The direction of the Earth's revolution—counterclockwise as viewed down from the north—is in the same sense (direction) as the rotation of the Sun; the Earth's spin, or rotation about

Arts, Central Asian, Folk music

2005-02-11T23:09:00.000-08:00

Generally characterized by a scarcity of musicians and musical instruments, folk music of this region is predominantly a matter of solo playing and singing, small ensembles, and a complete lack of musical notation or codified musical theory. In their general types, the musical instruments are closely related to those of Persia and the Middle East, but specific

Fredegarius

2005-02-11T15:49:00.000-08:00

The supposed author of a chronicle of Frankish history composed between 658 and 661. All the extant manuscripts of this chronicle are anonymous, and the attribution of it to “Fredegarius” dates from the edition of it by Claude Fauchet in 1579. The author set a fairly detailed history of his own times in the framework of a universal chronicle, drawing, for early Merovingian

Metaphysical Painting

2005-02-09T23:22:00.000-08:00

Style of painting that flourished mainly between 1911 and 1920 in the works of the Italian artists Giorgio De Chirico, Carlo Carrà, and Giorgio Morandi. These painters' representational but bizarre and incongruous imagery produces strange, disquieting effects on the viewer. Juxtaposing disparate objects set into deep perspectives, these works strongly influenced the

Yhwh

2005-02-09T23:17:00.000-08:00

In Hebrew, the name of God as revealed to Moses. Because of its four letters, it is also known as the Tetragrammaton. See Yahweh.