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Frederick Augustus Ii

2005-04-04T04:11:00.000-07:00

Frederick Augustus shared the regency with his uncle, King Anton, from 1830 to 1836, when he succeeded to the throne. The constitution of 1831, granting a measure of representative

Ikeda

2005-04-03T23:33:00.000-07:00

City, Osaka fu (urban prefecture), Honshu, Japan. It lies on the Fukuchiyama Line (railway), northwest of Osaka. Settled in prehistoric times, Ikeda was a flourishing trade centre during the Tokugawa era (1603–1867). After the development of railway transport in the late 19th century, it served as a residential suburb of Osaka. The city's industries include brewing, woodworking, and the manufacture

Dube, John Langalibalele

2005-04-03T03:18:00.000-07:00

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

Amphibolite Facies

2005-04-02T15:49:00.000-08:00

One of the major divisions of the mineral-facies classification of metamorphic rocks, the rocks of which formed under conditions of moderate to high temperatures (500° C, or about 950° F, maximum) and pressures. Less intense temperatures and pressures form rocks of the epidote-amphibolite facies, and more intense temperatures and pressures form rocks of the granulite facies.

Arts, Central Asian, Samanids

2005-04-01T23:43:00.000-08:00

The Samanids centred their kingdom in Khorasan. In the 9th century, under the leadership of Esma'il, they ruled over Transoxania and eastern Persia from their capital of Bukhara. Esma'il's türbe, or mausoleum, the oldest Islamic monument surviving in Bukhara, reproduces the form of the Zoroastrian chanar taq, or fire temple. In Samanid and Seljuqid hands, the türbe generally took the

Pereira, Irene Rice

2005-04-01T11:00:00.000-08:00

Irene Rice moved a number of times with her family before they settled in Brooklyn, New York City. After exploring other careers, from 1927 to 1930 she studied at the Art Students League in New York. In 1929 she married commercial artist Humberto Pereira,

Dezhnyov, Semyon Ivanov

2005-03-31T16:11:00.000-08:00

Dezhnyov served as a Cossack in Siberia, where he traveled a great deal in the north beginning in the early 1640s. In 1648 he sailed from the Kolyma River eastward to the Bering Strait, rounding the northeast tip of Asia (now called Cape Dezhnyov) and reaching

Hippolytus, Canons Of Saint

2005-03-30T05:00:00.000-08:00

These canons are neither the authentic work of St. Hippolytus nor the oldest church regulations but are a later adaptation of the Apostolic Tradition of St. Hippolytus. The unknown author

Xerox Corporation

2005-03-30T04:40:00.000-08:00

The company was founded in 1906 as Haloid Company, changed its name to Haloid Xerox Company in 1958, and to Xerox Corporation in 1961. In 1960 Xerox first marketed the 914 xerographic copier; the process, which made photographic copies onto plain, uncoated paper, had been known

Schleiermacher, Friedrich (ernst Daniel)

2005-03-29T11:22:00.000-08:00

German theologian, preacher, and classical philologist, generally recognized as the founder of modern Protestant theology. His major work, Der christliche Glaube (1821–22; 2nd ed. 1831; The Christian Faith), is a systematic interpretation of Christian dogmatics.

Biblical Literature, The canon

2005-03-28T06:13:00.000-08:00

The term canon, from a Hebrew-Greek word meaning a cane or measuring rod, passed into Christian usage as a norm or a rule of faith. The Church Fathers of the 4th century CE first employed it in reference to the definitive, authoritative nature of the body of sacred Scripture.

Girondin

2005-03-27T08:25:00.000-08:00

Also called Brissotin a label applied to a loose grouping of republican politicians, some of them originally from the département of the Gironde, who played a leading role in the Legislative Assembly from October 1791 to September 1792 during the French Revolution. Lawyers, intellectuals and journalists, the Girondins attracted a following of businessmen, merchants, industrialists, and financiers.

Oran

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

Oran was founded at the beginning of the 10th century

Floral Decoration, China and Korea

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

The ancient Chinese could enjoy and feel themselves at one with the growth, maturity, and decline of a few flowers or a branch. The floral expressions of the Chinese have traditionally been based on the Confucian art of contemplation, the Buddhist principle of preservation, and Taoist symbolism. For the Confucian, a floral arrangement was philosophically contemplated

Myanmar, World War II and after

2005-03-25T14:07:00.000-08:00

When World War II broke out in Europe in 1939, the Burmese leaders wanted to bargain with the government before giving their support to the British. A warrant was issued for the arrest of Aung San, but he escaped to China, where he attempted to contact radical groups for support. Japanese assistance was offered instead. Aung San returned to Burma in secret, recruited 29 young

Aleksin

2005-03-24T23:54:00.000-08:00

City, Tula oblast (province), western Russia, on the Oka River, 40 miles (65 km) northwest of Tula city. Aleksin, first documented in 1236, was at first a fortress, then a river port. The decline of river trade adversely affected the city, but since the October Revolution (1917) it has become a significant industrial centre, with engineering and building-materials industries. Pop. (1991 est.) 74,200.

Necker, Suzanne

2005-03-23T00:08:00.000-08:00

Née Curchod Swiss wife of the French finance minister under Louis XVI, Jacques Necker; mother of Madame de Staël; and mistress of a brilliant Parisian salon. At first she was engaged to the English historian Edward Gibbon, but his father broke off the match. In 1764 she married Necker, then a banker, and encouraged him in his political career.

Khuzestan

2005-03-22T19:46:00.000-08:00

The area that is now Khuzestan was settled about 6000 BC by a people with affinities to the Sumerians, who came from the Zagros Mountains region. Urban centres appeared there nearly contemporaneously with the first cities in Mesopotamia

Butaritari Atoll

2005-03-22T02:14:00.000-08:00

Also called Makin Atoll, formerly Pitt Island, coral atoll of the Gilbert Islands, part of Kiribati, in the west-central Pacific Ocean. Located in the northern Gilberts, it comprises a central lagoon (11 miles [18 km] wide) ringed by islets, with a total area of 5.2 square miles (13.5 square km), which provides a good deep anchorage with three passages to the open sea. Occupied by Japanese forces from 1941 to 1943, the atoll served as a U.S. air and naval

Round, Henry Joseph

2005-03-21T10:31:00.000-08:00

Round worked with Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company, Ltd., from 1902 to 1914, first in the United States, where he improved the tuning components of radio receivers and built early radio direction

Ligurian Language

2005-03-21T09:15:00.000-08:00

Language spoken by the Ligurians in northwestern Italy (and perhaps also in southern France and northeastern Spain) in pre-Roman and early Roman times. It is apparently an Indo-European language. Some scholars have maintained that Ligurian is closely related to the Italic and Celtic languages, holding an intermediate linguistic position between them. The language

Caldas Da Rainha

2005-03-20T04:28:00.000-08:00

Town, Leiria district, west-central Portugal, north of Lisbon. Its name, meaning “the queen's hot springs,” recalls Queen Leonor, who founded a hospital there in 1485. By the end of the 19th century the town had become a popular spa. A tourist centre, Caldas da Rainha is also known for its glazed ceramic pottery. The church of Nossa Senhora do Pópulo, in early 16th-century Manueline style,

Turaco

2005-03-19T21:59:00.000-08:00

Turacos are remarkable for their coloration. Some are predominantly gray, brown, and white, but the 10 species of the

Aum Shinrikyo

2005-03-19T09:08:00.000-08:00

A useful introduction to the sect can be found in Ian Reader, A Poisonous Cocktail?: Aum Shinrikyo's Path to Violence (1996).

K.g.

2005-03-19T05:07:00.000-08:00

Knight of the Garter, member of one of the most exclusive orders of knighthood in the world. See Garter, The Most Noble Order of the.

Tunnels And Underground Excavations, Rock bolts

2005-03-18T02:59:00.000-08:00

Rock bolts are used to reinforce jointed rock much as reinforcing bars supply tensile resistance in reinforced concrete. After early trials about 1920, they were developed in the 1940s for strengthening laminated roof strata in mines. For public works their use has increased rapidly since 1955, as confidence has developed from two independent pioneering applications, both

Uffizi Gallery

2005-03-17T10:23:00.000-08:00

Italian Galleria Degli Uffizi, art museum in Florence that has the world's finest collection of Italian Renaissance painting, particularly of the Florentine school. It also has antiques, sculpture, and more than 100,000 drawings and prints. In 1559 the grand duke of Tuscany, Cosimo I de' Medici, engaged the painter-architect Giorgio Vasari to plan a building for the offices (uffizi) of the government judiciary.

Handbell

2005-03-17T05:43:00.000-08:00

Throughout ancient Asia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, handbells played an important role in religious

Bethel

2005-03-16T09:31:00.000-08:00

Ancient city of Palestine, located just north of Jerusalem. Originally called Luz and in modern times Baytin, Bethel was important in Old Testament times and was frequently associated with Abraham and Jacob. Excavations, carried out by the American School of Oriental Research and the Pittsburgh-Xenia Theological Seminary, suggest that Bethel may have been the

Kara-yo

2005-03-16T08:47:00.000-08:00

(Japanese: “Chinese style”), one of the three main Japanese styles of Buddhist temple architecture in the Kamakura period (1192–1333). Kara-yo originally followed Chinese forms that featured strict symmetry on a central axis. The word kara-yo is written with the character that stands for the Chinese T'ang dynasty (618–907), but the style seems to have represented the official building code

Italy, Famine, war, and plague (134080)

2005-03-15T16:35:00.000-08:00

Italy's thriving economy was shortly to meet severe challenges. Among these, first, were famines, which affected most of Italy in the years 1339–40, 1346–47, 1352–53, and 1374–75, and to these catastrophes were added a general expansion and intensification of war. The 13th century saw the diffusion of the crossbow, whose bolt far surpassed the arrow of the longbow in its power to penetrate. The crossbow

Luxor

2005-03-15T00:54:00.000-08:00

Also called El-Aksur, or Al-Uqsur,

Asvamedha

2005-03-14T07:55:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Aswamedha, Ashvamedha, or Ashwamedha, grandest of the Vedic religious rites of ancient India, performed by a king to celebrate his paramountcy. The ceremony is described in detail in various Vedic writings, particularly the Satapatha Brahmana. An especially fine stallion was selected and was allowed to roam freely for a year under the protection of a royal guard. If the horse entered a foreign country, its

Gisborne

2005-03-14T07:49:00.000-08:00

City (“district”) and port on Poverty Bay, Gisborne unitary authority, east coast of North Island, New Zealand. The city is located where the Waimata and Taruheru rivers join to form the Turanganui. It was the first area in New Zealand visited (1769) by Captain James Cook. It received its first permanent European settlers in 1852 and was surveyed in 1870 and given the name Gisborne for then

Moses, Sir Charles (joseph Alfred)

2005-03-13T22:39:00.000-08:00

Moses graduated from the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, Eng. (1918), and was stationed with the British army in Ireland before immigrating

Kume Masao

2005-03-13T17:08:00.000-08:00

As a student, Kume was associated with the writers Akutagawa Ryunosuke and Kikuchi Kan on the famous school literary journal Shinshicho (“New Currents of Thought”). He had started writing haiku in high school and published a book of poetry in 1914, but before graduating from

Mau Escarpment

2005-03-13T09:15:00.000-08:00

Steep natural rampart along the western rim of the Great Rift Valley in western Kenya, west and south of the town of Nakuru; it rises to more than 10,000 feet (3,000 m) on the Equator. Its crest is covered with a vast forest. To the south the woods are more open, and the plateau falls to an open country drained toward the Dogilani plains.

D.s.o.

2005-03-12T04:35:00.000-08:00

Recipient of the Distinguished Service Order, a British military decoration. See Distinguished Service Order.

Athos, Mount

2005-03-11T22:40:00.000-08:00

Also called Holy Mountain, Modern Greek Áthos Óros, or Áyion Óros, mountain in northern Greece, site of a semiautonomous republic of Greek Orthodox monks inhabiting 20 monasteries and dependencies (skítes), some of which are larger than the parent monasteries. It occupies the easternmost of the three promontories of the Chalcidice (Khalkidhikí) Peninsula, which projects from Macedonia into the Aegean Sea. The Aktí promontory, 30 miles

Valencia

2005-03-11T18:26:00.000-08:00

Provincia, in the comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Valencia, eastern Spain. It is situated along the Mediterranean Sea and has an area of 4,156 square miles (10,763 square km). The province centres on the coastal plain of the Gulf of Valencia; it is limited to the south by the mountains of northern Alicante and less clearly to the north by the watershed of the Río Turia. Interior

Denbighshire

2005-03-11T00:19:00.000-08:00

Welsh Sir Ddinbych county of northern Wales extending inland from the Irish Sea coast. The present county of Denbighshire includes the Vale of Clwyd along the River Clwyd and an inland area between the Clwydian Range in the east and the Clocaenog Forest in the west that ascends to the Berwyn mountains in the south. The lower Vale of Clywd and the seacoast are part of the historic county

Alcoholic Beverage

2005-03-10T19:02:00.000-08:00

Alcoholic beverages are fermented from the sugars in fruits, berries, grains, and such other ingredients as plant saps, tubers, honey, and milk and may be distilled to reduce the original watery liquid to a liquid of much greater alcoholic

Caboche, Simon

2005-03-09T22:13:00.000-08:00

A skinner by trade and a leader of the malcontent merchant guilds from 1407, Caboche, along with his followers, was taken under the patronage of John the Fearless, duke of Burgundy. The University of Paris joined this faction, which blamed King Charles

Biblical Literature, Additions to Daniel and Esther

2005-03-09T01:37:00.000-08:00

Two of the Old Testament Hagiographa (Ketuvim; see above The Hebrew canon)—Daniel and Esther—contain, in their Greek translations, numerous additions.

New Hampshire, Flag Of

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

The seal of New Hampshire was adopted in 1784 following the Revolutionary War. On December 28, 1792, a regulation was adopted by the legislature that required regiments in the state militia to carry the national flag and regimental colours displaying the state seal. More than a century passed, however, before the adoption of a state flag for general purposes. The 1909 flag law provided

Kubelík, Rafael

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

He was a son of the violinist Jan Kubelík and studied composition and conducting at the Prague Conservatory. He conducted the Czech

House Sparrow

2005-03-07T20:06:00.000-08:00

Also called English Sparrow (Passer domesticus), one of the world's best-known and most abundant small birds, sometimes classified in the family Ploceidae (q.v.; order Passeriformes) or separated as Passeridae. It lives in towns and on farms, worldwide, having accompanied Europeans from its original home—most of Eurasia and northern Africa. It was introduced into North America

Maazel, Lorin

2005-03-06T17:27:00.000-08:00

Maazel grew up in Los Angeles and began his first musical instruction at age five. Although he began conducting as early as age nine, he made his adult debut in 1953 in Italy,

Silas, Saint

2005-03-06T16:59:00.000-08:00

It is generally believed that the Silas in Acts and the Silvanus in 2 Corinthians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and 1 Peter are the same. Acts 15:22 first mentions him as one of the “leading men among the brethren” (i.e., the Christian community at Jerusalem);

Tigray

2005-03-06T03:21:00.000-08:00

Tigray contains the core of the ancient Aksumite kingdom and the

Faenza

2005-03-05T09:14:00.000-08:00

Latin Faventia, city, Ravenna provincia, in the Emilia-Romagna regione of northern Italy, on the Lamone River, southeast of Bologna. In the 2nd century BC it was a Roman town (Faventia) on the Via Aemilia, but excavations show Faenza to have had a much earlier origin. It was later subject to many barbarian attacks, became an independent commune at the beginning of the 12th century, and withstood

Hythe

2005-03-05T04:13:00.000-08:00

Town (“parish”), Shepway district, administrative and historic county of Kent, England, on the English Channel coast at the eastern end of Romney Marsh and on the Royal Military Canal. (The canal was built as a defensive moat when Napoleon threatened invasion of Britain.) The old town lies on the hillside inland from the canal, and the modern town, a seaside resort, lies between

Intentional Fallacy

2005-03-04T01:40:00.000-08:00

Introduced by W.K. Wimsatt, Jr., and Monroe C. Beardsley in The Verbal Icon (1954), the approach was a reaction to the popular belief that to know what the author intended—what he had in mind at the time of

Moray Firth

2005-03-02T23:59:00.000-08:00

Triangular-shaped inlet of the North Sea in northeastern Scotland. It reaches a maximum width of 16 miles (29 km), from Tarbat Ness on its northern shore to Burghead on its southern shore. Two smaller inlets, the Cromarty Firth and the Beauly Firth, extend inland from the inner reaches of the Moray Firth. The city of Inverness lies at the head of the Moray Firth, and the town of

Biblical Literature, Sources of the Septuagint

2005-03-02T14:18:00.000-08:00

A Greek translation of the Old Testament, known as the Septuagint because there allegedly were 70 or 72 translators, six from each of the 12 tribes of Israel, and designated LXX, is a composite of the work of many translators labouring for well over 100 years. It was made directly from Hebrew originals that frequently differed considerably from the present Masoretic text. Apart

Eckert, J. Presper, Jr.

2005-03-02T03:43:00.000-08:00

Eckert was educated at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (B.S., 1941; M.S., 1943), where he and his professor, John W.

I Am Movement

2005-03-02T02:32:00.000-08:00

Although not consistent in their teachings, the Ballards essentially

Great Fire Of London

2005-03-01T22:11:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, September 2, 1666, the fire began accidentally in the house of the king's baker in Pudding Lane near London Bridge. A violent east wind encouraged the flames, which raged during

Davies (of Llandinam), David Davies, 1st Baron

2005-03-01T13:27:00.000-08:00

Davies was educated at King's College, Cambridge, and was a Labour member of the House of Commons (1906–29). He fought in World War I, after which he became closely associated with the work of the League of Nations. After the

Dagan

2005-03-01T05:12:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Dagon West Semitic god of crop fertility, worshiped extensively throughout the ancient Middle East. Dagan was the Hebrew and Ugaritic common noun for “grain,” and the god Dagan was the legendary inventor of the plow. His cult is attested as early as about 2500 BC, and, according to texts found at Ras Shamra (ancient Ugarit), he was the father of the god Baal. Dagan had an important temple

Amory, Thomas

2005-02-28T13:49:00.000-08:00

A staunch Unitarian

Ammons, Gene

2005-02-27T18:59:00.000-08:00

The son of outstanding boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons, Gene Ammons grew up in Chicago and first became nationally known as a member of Billy Eckstine's innovative bebop big band during 1944–47; he also played in Woody Herman's

General Sarmiento

2005-02-27T08:21:00.000-08:00

Partido (county) of Gran (“Greater”) Buenos Aires, Argentina. It lies northwest of the city of Buenos Aires, in Buenos Aires provincia. The early settlement of the county centred on the agricultural plantation San José del Pilar, established by Adolfo Sordeaux in 1862. This plantation settlement led Sordeaux to establish the towns of San Miguel and Bella Vista in 1872. In 1889 General

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler

2005-02-27T00:22:00.000-08:00

Ella Wheeler from an early age was an avid reader of popular literature, especially the novels of E.D.E.N. Southworth, Mary Jane Holmes, and Ouida

Münster

2005-02-26T17:44:00.000-08:00

Regierungsbezirk (administrative district), northwestern North Rhine-Westphalia Land (state), northwestern Germany. Münster is bordered by The Netherlands to the west, Lower Saxony Land to the north, and Detmold district to the east, Arnsberg to the south, and Düsseldorf to the southwest. The district occupies an area of 2,663 square miles (6,897 square km) and is coextensive with

Matsushita Electric Industrial Company, Ltd.

2005-02-24T20:10:00.000-08:00

The company was founded in 1918 by Matsushita Konosuke to manufacture and market the electric lamp sockets and plugs he designed. It was incorporated in 1935, when it took its present name, and began expanding rapidly into a number of varied electrical

Jack-o'-lantern

2005-02-24T18:43:00.000-08:00

In American holiday custom, a hollowed-out-pumpkin lantern that is displayed on Halloween. The surface of the pumpkin is carved to resemble a face. Light from a candle inserted inside can be seen flickering through the jack-o'-lantern's cutout eyes, nose, and usually grotesquely grinning mouth. The custom originated in the British Isles, with a large turnip or other vegetable

Dumesnil, Mademoiselle

2005-02-24T11:05:00.000-08:00

She made her Paris debut in 1737 at the Comédie-Française as Clytemnestre in Racine's Iphigénie en Aulide. A fiery actress who scorned tradition, she played Cléopâtre in Corneille's Rodogune and played Racine's Phèdre, Athalie,

Oakland

2005-02-24T09:47:00.000-08:00

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,

Oscine

2005-02-23T08:58:00.000-08:00

Any bird of the suborder Passeres (order Passeriformes), which includes all songbirds. See songbird.

Byron, John

2005-02-22T19:06:00.000-08:00

The second son of the 4th Baron Byron, he was a midshipman on board the Wager in 1741 when it was wrecked off the coast of Chile during George Anson's voyage round the world. After unparalleled hardships Byron eventually reached

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, Renaissance

2005-02-22T16:31:00.000-08:00

Romance and romantic forms provide the main vehicle for the entrance of allegory into the literature of the Renaissance period. The old Arthurian legends carry a new sophistication and polish in the epics of the Italians Boiardo, Ariosto, and Tasso and in the work of Edmund Spenser. By interlacing several simultaneous stories in one larger narrative, the literary

Shamanism

2005-02-22T03:55:00.000-08:00

Among the peoples of northern Asia, shamanism developed into a more definitely articulated and specialized form than among other peoples. Shamanism as practiced there is distinguished by its special clothing, accessories, and rites as well as by the specific worldview connected with them. North Asiatic shamanism in the 19th century, which may be taken as the classical

Maunick, édouard J.

2005-02-21T15:44:00.000-08:00

Maunick grew up on Mauritius Island, where, as a métis (mulatto), he experienced social discrimination from both blacks and whites. After working briefly as a librarian in Port-Louis, he settled in Paris in 1960, writing, lecturing, and directing for Coopération Radiophonique. He published frequently in Présence Africaine

Akrotiri

2005-02-21T10:14:00.000-08:00

British military enclave in south-central Cyprus that was retained as a “sovereign base area” by the United Kingdom under the London Agreement of 1959 granting the independence of Cyprus. Located southwest of Limassol, the enclave comprises Akrotiri Peninsula, the southernmost part of the island, and a small coastal area north of Episkopi Bay. The enclave has a hospital,

Aldehyde

2005-02-21T07:37:00.000-08:00

The carbonyl group is highly polar. That is to say, it exhibits an uneven distribution of electrons, which renders the oxygen

'amarah, Al-

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

City, southeastern Iraq. Situated on a low ridge beside the Tigris River, it is Iraq's chief port on that waterway south of Baghdad. It is a trade centre for agricultural produce, livestock, wool, and hides and is known for weaving and silverware. In World War I it was captured by the British during their 1915 Mesopotamia campaign. Before 1958, al-'Amarah was an outstanding example of

Vietnam, Climate

2005-02-19T16:28:00.000-08:00

The northern part of Vietnam is on the edge of the tropical climatic zone. During January, the coldest month of the year, Hanoi has a mean temperature of 63° F (17° C), while the annual average temperature is 74° F (23° C). Farther south, the average annual temperature in Hue is 77° F (25° C) and in Ho Chi Minh City is 81° F (27° C); in the highland city of Da Lat, it drops to 70° F (21° C). The winter season in northern Vietnam lasts

Hypoparathyroidism

2005-02-18T22:50:00.000-08:00

Inadequate secretion of parathyroid hormone, usually caused by accidental surgical removal of large amounts of parathyroid tissue (during thyroid surgery) or, less frequently, by defective action of the parathyroid gland. This deficiency results in low calcium and high phosphorus levels in the blood, often causing tetany (increased nervous and muscular excitability,

Australia Day

2005-02-18T20:49:00.000-08:00

Holiday (January 26) honouring the establishment of the first permanent European settlement on the continent of Australia. On January 26, 1788, Arthur Phillip, who had sailed into what is now Sydney Cove with a shipload of convicts, hoisted the British flag at the site. In the early 1800s the date, called Foundation Day, was celebrated by politicians and businessmen of New South Wales

China, Vietnam

2005-02-18T05:43:00.000-08:00

In 1802 a new dynasty was founded in Vietnam (Dai Viet) by Nguyen Phuc Anh, a member of the royal family of Nguyen at Hue, who had expelled the short-lived Tay Son regime and had unified the country. The Ch'ing, under the Chia-ch'ing emperor, recognized the new dynasty as a fait accompli, but a controversy arose as to a name for the new country. Nguyen Phuc Anh demanded the name Nam Viet,

Biblical Literature, The role of certain lesser judges

2005-02-17T17:49:00.000-08:00

The third section relates the exploits of the various judges. Othniel, a member of the tribe of Caleb, delivered the erring Israelites from eight years of oppression by Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia. The king, however, was most likely an area ruler, rather than a king of the Mesopotamian Empire. Another judge, Ehud, a left-handed Benjamite, delivered Israel from

New England Glass Company

2005-02-17T08:04:00.000-08:00

American glass company that was situated in East Cambridge, Mass., from about 1818 until 1888. In the latter year the company's owner, Edward D. Libbey, met a strike of his workers by moving the factory to Toledo, Ohio, where it is still active as the Libbey-Owens-Ford Company. The New England Glass Company made a large variety of wares ranging from pocket bottles and tumblers to attractive

Ibarra

2005-02-17T06:30:00.000-08:00

In full San Antonio De Ibarra, city, north-central Ecuador, situated in an Andean valley at an elevation of 7,300 feet (2,200 m), within the Ecuadorian Lake District. It was founded in 1606 by the soldier Cristóbal Torre, a representative of Miguel de Ibarra, the president of the royal audiencia of Quito (a judicial–legislative body), and was named for him. Though largely destroyed by an earthquake in 1868, it has retained much

Earth, Composition of the crust

2005-02-16T07:44:00.000-08:00

Most of the Earth's surface is covered by oceanic crust. The composition of this crust is documented on the basis of rocks sampled by deep-sea dredging and by studies of ophiolites, which are slivers of oceanic crust and uppermost mantle that have been tectonically emplaced on land. The oceanic crust is found to be relatively uniform in composition (Table 3). It consists

Zen

2005-02-15T15:58:00.000-08:00

Chinese Ch'an (from Sanskrit dhyana, “meditation”), important school of Buddhism in Japan that claims to transmit the spirit or essence of Buddhism, which consists in experiencing the enlightenment (bodhi) achieved by Gautama the Buddha. The school arose in the 6th century in China as Ch'an, a form of Mahayana Buddhism; though introduced centuries earlier, Zen did not fully develop in Japan

Metatarsalgia

2005-02-15T10:12:00.000-08:00

Disorder in which the weight of the body, when standing, rests on the centre of the anterior arch of the foot (on the heads of the central metatarsal bones) instead of on the inside and outside of the foot. Pain when walking may be severe, callosities develop on the area of stress, and there is a tendency to fracture of the metatarsals. The cause of metatarsalgia may be developmental

Vanadic Anhydride

2005-02-14T22:41:00.000-08:00

Vanadium pentoxide, a compound of vanadium and oxygen widely used as an oxidation catalyst, as in the oxidation of unburned hydrocarbons in automobile exhaust (see vanadium).

Milky Way Galaxy, Emission nebulas

2005-02-14T11:30:00.000-08:00

A conspicuous component of the Galaxy is the collection of large, bright, diffuse gaseous objects generally called nebulas. The brightest of these cloudlike objects are the emission nebulas, large complexes of interstellar gas and stars in which the gas exists in an ionized and excited state (with the electrons of the atoms excited to a higher than normal energy

Egypt, Egypt as a province of Rome

2005-02-13T09:45:00.000-08:00

“I added Egypt to the Empire of the Roman people.” With these words the emperor Augustus (as Octavian was known from 27 BC) summarized the subjection of Cleopatra's kingdom in the great inscription that records his achievements. The province was to be governed by a viceroy, a prefect with the status of a Roman knight (eques) who was directly responsible to the emperor. The first

Price, Sammy

2005-02-13T03:59:00.000-08:00

Price first toured as a dancer before working in bands in the Southwest and Midwest during the 1920s and '30s. He moved to New York City in 1937, where he became a staff musician

Aegilops

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

Genus of grasses (order Cyperales) that has become an agricultural contaminant. Members of the genus grow with wheat, mature at the same time, and, unless care is taken, are harvested along with it. One Aegilops species was an ancestor of bread wheat. Its origin was in southeastern Turkey, northern Iraq, and western Iran.

Ile-ife

2005-02-11T17:45:00.000-08:00

Also called Ife, or Ife-lodun, town, Osun state, southwestern Nigeria. The town lies at the intersection of roads from Ibadan (40 miles [64 km] west), Ilesha, and Ondo. It is one of the larger centres and probably the oldest town of the Yoruba people. Considered by the Yoruba to be a holy city and the legendary birthplace of mankind, it was held to have been founded by a son of the deity Oduduwa and was certainly the

Judaism, Historiated Bibles and legendary histories

2005-02-10T17:02:00.000-08:00

When, in 330 BCE, Alexander the Great completed his conquest of the Middle East, Judaism entered a new phase. The dominant features of the ensuing Hellenistic age were an increasing cosmopolitanism and a fusion of Oriental and Greek cultures. These found expression in Jewish myth and legend in the composition (in Greek) of stories designed to link the Bible with general history,

God Defend New Zealand

2005-02-10T09:55:00.000-08:00

Maori Aotearoa one of the two national anthems of New Zealand (the other being God Save the Queen, national anthem of the United Kingdom). The words to the anthem were written in the early 1870s by Thomas Bracken, who offered a prize of £10 for the best musical setting of it. The winning music was composed by John J. Woods, and the resulting hymn was first publicly performed in 1876. In 1940 the government declared

Burano Lace

2005-02-10T00:24:00.000-08:00

Lace made on the island of Burano, near Venice. Until the early 19th century, there had been a Burano lace industry producing copies of 18th-century French lace. By midcentury it was virtually extinct. When in 1872 attempts were made to revive the lace industry to provide relief to the islanders after a ruinous winter, one elderly inhabitant was found who remembered the technique.

Paper Pulp

2005-02-09T17:43:00.000-08:00

Rags and other fibres, such as straw, grasses, and bark of the mitsumata and paper mulberry (kozo), have been used as paper pulp. Except for certain special papers (e.g., asbestos paper), nearly all papers are made of cellulosic

Japanese Philosophy

2005-02-09T16:57:00.000-08:00

The conceptual expression of Japanese culture since the turn of the 6th century Ad . The term philosophy has been considered somewhat misleading in reference to Japanese thought, since Japanese premodern thinking tended to be directed more toward the realm of existence than toward that of essence. Japanese philosophy is not generally indigenous; Japanese thinkers have always freely appropriated foreign philosophical systems and insights

Nahmanides

2005-02-09T09:23:00.000-08:00

Nahmanides earned his livelihood as a physician and served successively as rabbi at Gerona and then as chief rabbi of Catalonia. He also attempted to mediate disputes between the followers and opponents of the philosopher

Aksyonov, Vasily Pavlovich

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

The son of parents who spent many years in Soviet prisons, Aksyonov was raised in a state home and graduated from medical school in 1956. After working a few years as a doctor, he turned to writing, and in