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2007-01-25T10:05:00.000-08:00

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Ba'al Shem Tov

2005-04-04T14:09:00.000-07:00

Dov Baer, Shivhé ha-Besht (1814), is the earliest collection of legends (in Hebrew) about the Ba'al Shem Tov. Dan Ben-Amos and Jerome R. Mintz (eds. and trans.), In Praise of Baal Shem Tov (1970), offers an English translation of Dov Baer's legends, based upon the 1814 edition. Meyer Levin, The Golden Mountain (1932); and Martin Buber, Die Legende des Baalschem (1932; The Legend of the Baal-Shem, 1955), retell with literary flair the legends of the Ba'al Shem Tov. Salomo Birnbaum, Leben und Worte des Baalschem (1920; The Life and Sayings of the Baal Shem, 1933), contains excerpts from the writings and teachings of the Ba'al Shem Tov.

Benedict Biscop, Saint

2005-04-03T19:14:00.000-07:00

Of noble birth, he was a thane of King

Sosa, Sammy

2005-04-03T19:08:00.000-07:00

As a child, Sosa worked at a number of jobs, including shining shoes, to help support his family following his father's death. At the age

Qalandariyah

2005-04-01T17:37:00.000-08:00

Loosely organized group of wandering Muslim dervishes who form an “irregular” (bi-shar') or antinomian Sufi mystical order. The Qalandariyah seem to have arisen from the earlier Malamatiyah in Central Asia and exhibited Buddhist and perhaps Hindu influences. The adherents of the order were notorious for their contempt for the norms of Muslim society, their use of drugs, and

Biblical Literature, Slavic versions

2005-04-01T10:42:00.000-08:00

The earliest Old Church Slavonic translations are connected with the arrival of the brothers Cyril and Methodius in Moravia in 863, and resulted from the desire to provide vernacular renderings of those parts of the Bible used liturgically. The oldest manuscripts derive from the 11th and 12th centuries. The earliest complete Bible manuscript, dated 1499, was used for the first

Wagner, Richard

2005-04-01T09:13:00.000-08:00

In 1859 Wagner went to Paris, where, the following year, productions of a revised version of Tannhäuser were fiascoes. But in 1861 an amnesty allowed him to return to Germany; from there he went to Vienna, where he heard Lohengrin for the first time. He remained in Vienna for about a year, then travelled widely as a conductor and awaited a projected production of Tristan. When this

Viscacha

2005-03-30T14:02:00.000-08:00

Any of four species of slender yet fairly large South American rodents similar to chinchillas. They have short forelimbs, long hindlimbs, and a long, bushy tail. The soft fur is long and dense, and the soles of the feet have fleshy pads.[how about a brief comment on interesting social structure, vocalizations, and hunting for fur/meat/extermination

Earth, Seismic-wave velocity profiles

2005-03-30T13:27:00.000-08:00

The techniques of deep seismic sounding, carried out mainly in the United States and western Europe, have yielded high-resolution velocity profiles for the crust and uppermost mantle since the late 1960s. These studies, complemented by detailed waveform analyses and seismic tomography, prove conclusively that the crust and upper mantle can vary significantly in

Hoover, J. Edgar

2005-03-30T00:23:00.000-08:00

Hoover studied law at night at George Washington University, where he received degrees as bachelor of laws in 1916 and as

Staircase

2005-03-29T05:59:00.000-08:00

The origin of the staircase is uncertain. On the road up Tai Shan (mountain) in China there are many great flights of ancient granite steps; the earliest staircases seem to have been built with walls on both

Abd Al-aziz

2005-03-28T15:45:00.000-08:00

Abd al-Aziz was proclaimed sultan upon the death of his father, Hassan I, but did not begin direct rule until after the death in 1900 of his grand vizier, Ba Ahmed (Ahmad ibn

France, History Of, The Treaty of Verdun

2005-03-28T15:34:00.000-08:00

Later the three brothers came to an agreement in the Treaty of Verdun (843). The empire was divided into three kingdoms arranged along a north–south axis: Francia Orientalis was given to Louis, Francia Media to Lothair, and Francia Occidentalis to Charles the Bald. The three kings were equal among themselves. Lothair kept the imperial title, but it had completely lost its

Metallogenic Province

2005-03-27T19:54:00.000-08:00

Among the examples of metallogenic provinces in North America are the gold

Madinat Habu

2005-03-27T15:41:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Medinet Habu, southernmost part of the necropolis region of western Thebes in Upper Egypt, although the name often refers specifically to the mortuary temple built there by Ramses III (1187–56 BC). (See Thebes.) This temple, which was also dedicated to the god Amon, was carved with religious scenes and portrayals of Ramses' wars against the Libyans and the Sea Peoples. It was situated within a

Kakongo

2005-03-26T02:34:00.000-08:00

Former African state, founded about the 15th century on the Atlantic coast between the kingdoms of Loango (north) and Ngoy (south). It extended from what is now central Cabinda eastward into Congo (Kinshasa). The main town was Malemba, a port that grew in importance after 1700 as a centre for the export of slaves; port facilities were expanded from that time to handle increasing

Yü Ch'ien

2005-03-25T10:56:00.000-08:00

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

Grayback

2005-03-25T03:23:00.000-08:00

Any of several North American fishes including the alewife (q.v.), cisco (see whitefish), and Menominee whitefish.

Black Powder

2005-03-24T02:51:00.000-08:00

First type of explosive mixture invented for use in firearms and for blasting (see gunpowder).

Biblical Literature, The King James (Authorized) Version

2005-03-23T11:27:00.000-08:00

A conference of churchmen in 1604 became noteworthy

Lane, Harriet

2005-03-22T21:41:00.000-08:00

She died of cancer in 1903 and was buried in the Greenmount Cemetery in Baltimore.

Abéché

2005-03-22T19:30:00.000-08:00

Town, eastern Chad, between the wadis Chao and Sao. Historically it was the site of the capital of the Muslim sultanate of Ouaddaï (q.v.), which dominated much of the area of Chad before French conquest was accomplished in 1912. The remains of the ancient capital include a palace, tombs of former sultans, and the ruins of a mosque, all surrounded by a thick wall. The town has many

Vow

2005-03-21T10:32:00.000-08:00

In the ancient Middle East, individuals often made vows to a deity to perform certain acts or to live in a certain way in return for a divine favour. Hannah, the mother of the Old Testament judge Samuel,

Robert I

2005-03-21T03:32:00.000-08:00

Robert faithfully served his older brother, King Eudes, during Eudes's reign (888–898). Though on Eudes's death he became one of the most powerful Frankish

Eastern Orthodoxy, God and man

2005-03-21T00:16:00.000-08:00

The Greek Fathers of the church always implied that the phrase found in the biblical story of the creation of man (Gen. 1:26), according to “the image and likeness

Gyda Peninsula

2005-03-19T23:13:00.000-08:00

Also called Gydan Peninsula, Russian Gydansky Poluostrov, peninsula, northern Russia. It is a northern extension of the West Siberian Plain reaching into the Kara Sea and situated between the bays of Ob and Tazovsky to the west and the estuary of the Yenisey River to the east. The peninsula is about 250 miles (400 km) long and is similar in width. It is predominantly low-lying, varying in elevation between 165 and 525 feet (50 and 160 m). The peninsula is

Bridgetown

2005-03-19T13:35:00.000-08:00

The town, which was founded in 1628 and originally called Indian Bridge, provoked considerable criticism from early visitors because of

Gabrilowitsch, Ossip (salomonovich)

2005-03-18T19:47:00.000-08:00

After study with two of the outstanding pianists of his day—Anton Rubinstein in St. Petersburg and Theodor Leschetizky in Vienna—Gabrilowitsch toured widely in Europe and the United States. In 1909 he married Mark Twain's daughter, the singer Clara Clemens,

Water

2005-03-18T06:46:00.000-08:00

A substance composed of the chemical elements hydrogen and oxygen and existing in gaseous, liquid, and solid states. Water is one of the most plentiful and essential of compounds. It is vital to life, participating in virtually every process that occurs in plants and animals. Although the molecules of water are simple in structure (H2O), the physical and chemical properties

Mathematics, Foundations Of, Abstraction in mathematics

2005-03-17T11:26:00.000-08:00

One recent tendency in the development of mathematics has been the gradual process of abstraction. The Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel (1802–29) proved that equations of the fifth degree cannot, in general, be solved by radicals. The French mathematician Évariste Galois (1811–32), motivated in part by Abel's work, introduced certain groups of permutations to determine

Gaelic Football

2005-03-17T10:16:00.000-08:00

In the modern game, sides are limited

Mercury

2005-03-16T17:36:00.000-08:00

Latin Mercurius, in Roman religion, god of merchandise and merchants, commonly identified with the Greek Hermes (q.v.), fleet-footed messenger of the gods. His worship was introduced early, and his temple on the Aventine Hill in Rome was dedicated in 495 BC. There he was associated with the goddess Maia, who became identified as his mother through her association with the Greek Maia, mother of

Puff Daddy

2005-03-15T22:37:00.000-08:00

To the delight of his fans and the dismay of his critics, music mogul-producer-rapper Sean ("Puffy") Combs, aka Puff Daddy, remained in the forefront of the music industry in 1998. Although hip-hop devotees derided the self-aggrandizing showman for his creation of hit singles through the liberal "borrowing" of entire choruses of classic songs, most fans and many fellow musicians

Ear, Human, Analysis of sound by the auditory nervous system

2005-03-15T16:01:00.000-08:00

Evidence of orderly spatial representations of the organ of Corti at the lower levels of the auditory pathway has been reported by many investigators. These patterns seem to be in accord with the place theory of the cochlear analysis of sound. Physiological evidence of tuning of the auditory system also has been obtained by recording with the electrical potentials

Developments In The States, 1998

2005-03-14T13:58:00.000-08:00

California voters narrowly turned down an initiative prohibiting the use of union dues money for political purposes without direct permission from the union members. After ironing out differences with state interests, Congress approved the Internet Tax Freedom Act, effectively barring new or special state taxes on Internet commercial transactions. Proponents

Khorat Plateau

2005-03-13T04:54:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Korat Plateau, saucer-shaped tableland of northeastern Thailand. It occupies 60,000 square miles (155,000 square km), is situated 300–650 feet (90–200 m) above sea level, and tilts southeastward. The plateau is drained by the Chi and Mun rivers and is bounded by the Mekong River (north and east on the Laos border), the Phetchabun and Phang Hoei ranges (west), and the Phanom Dong Rak Range (south). The interior has low hills

Biblical Literature, French versions

2005-03-13T03:59:00.000-08:00

The first complete Bible was produced in the 13th century at the University of Paris and toward the end of that century Guyart des Moulins executed his Bible Historiale. Both works served as the basis of future redactions of which

Alice Springs

2005-03-12T09:34:00.000-08:00

Town, Northern Territory, Australia. It is the main focus of the Centre, a name given to approximately 100,000 square miles (260,000 square km) of central Australia that includes large areas of desert and rocky ridges. Alice Springs lies on the intermittent Todd River and the Stuart Highway, 1,028 road miles (1,654 km) north of Adelaide and 954 miles (1,535 km) south of Darwin. The town originated in 1871 as a station

Comte, Auguste

2005-03-12T00:11:00.000-08:00

In full Isidore-auguste-marie-françois-xavier Comte French philosopher known as the founder of sociology and of positivism. Comte gave the science of sociology its name and established the new subject in a systematic fashion.

Arges River

2005-03-11T18:51:00.000-08:00

River, that rises in the South ern Carpathians, on the southern faces of Moldoveanu and Negoiu peaks in the Fagaras Range, southern Romania. The river's principal tributaries from the mountains include the Vâlsan, Doamnei, and Târgului rivers. It flows southward through Curtea de Arges and Pitesti, in the sub-Carpathians, and then southeastward across the Danube Plain to

Claudius Pulcher, Publius

2005-03-11T14:34:00.000-08:00

Son of Appius Claudius Caecus and commander of the fleet that suffered the only serious Roman naval defeat of the First Punic War (264–241 BC). The setback occurred in 249, when Claudius was consul. He attacked the Carthaginian fleet in the harbour of Drepanum (modern Trapani, Sicily) and lost 93 of his 123 vessels. It was popularly believed that Claudius failed because he had committed

Clouet, François

2005-03-11T04:44:00.000-08:00

The son of Jean Clouet, he was known also under his father's byname, Janet, a circumstance that created a persistent confusion between the works of these two painters. François worked with Jean possibly as early as 1536 and replaced him in 1540 as official painter

Oasis

2005-03-10T23:11:00.000-08:00

Fertile tract of land that occurs in a desert wherever a perennial supply of fresh water is available. Oases vary in size, ranging from about 1 hectare (2.5 acres) around small springs to vast areas of naturally watered or irrigated land. Underground water sources account for most oases; their springs and wells, some of them artesian, are supplied from sandstone aquifers

Vestris, Auguste

2005-03-09T07:56:00.000-08:00

Vestris's greatest roles were in Télémaque and as Amour in Pierre

Shijo School

2005-03-08T22:18:00.000-08:00

Also called Maruyama School, Japanese school of naturalistic painting that was founded in the late 18th century by Maruyama Masataka (Okyo) and was made popular by his pupils, among them Matsumura Gekkei, called Goshun, from whose residence on Fourth Street (Shijo), in Kyoto, the movement took its name. Among the most important artists associated with the school were Matsumura Keibun and Okamoto

Dacorum

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

Borough (district), administrative and historic county of Hertfordshire, England. The borough, in the northwestern corner of the county, includes part of the range of chalk hills known as the Chilterns, which border the London Basin on the north. Dacorum embraces a number of the outer suburban communities of London, including the new town of Hemel Hempstead, 25 miles (40 km)

France, History Of, German aggressions

2005-03-08T09:10:00.000-08:00

Meanwhile, Hitler's accession had placed French governments in an increasingly grave foreign-policy dilemma. By 1934 many French leaders believed that a return of “Poincarism” was in order, and Doumergue's foreign minister, Louis Barthou, set out to reinforce and extend France's alliance system. He reaffirmed French ties with Poland and the “Little Entente” countries and

Ben Bella, Ahmed

2005-03-07T04:13:00.000-08:00

Ben Bella was the son of a farmer and small businessman in Maghnia in the département of Oran. There, he successfully completed his early studies

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

2005-03-06T23:27:00.000-08:00

Mauna Loa, located in the south-central

Hadrian's Wall

2005-03-06T20:52:00.000-08:00

East Greenland Current

2005-03-06T14:18:00.000-08:00

Cold flow of water originating in the Arctic Ocean and flowing southward and southwestward along the east coast of Greenland. See Greenland Current.

Ambrose Of Camaldoli

2005-03-05T21:52:00.000-08:00

Italian Ambrogio Camaldolese, original name Ambrogio Traversari Humanist, ecclesiastic, and patristic translator who helped effect the brief reunion of the Eastern and Western churches in the 15th century. He entered the Camaldolese Order in 1400 at Florence, where, over a period of 30 years, he mastered Latin and particularly Greek, which enabled him to translate Greek patristic works into

Leningrad, Siege Of

2005-03-05T08:55:00.000-08:00

After Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, German armies by early September had approached Leningrad from the west and south while their Finnish allies approached to the north down the

Ch'ungch'ong, South

2005-03-04T14:09:00.000-08:00

With one-third of its land area under cultivation, South Ch'ungch'ong is one of the best granaries in the country, producing rice, ginseng, tobacco, and peppermint.

Kebnekaise

2005-03-04T05:27:00.000-08:00

Mountain range in the län (county) of Norrbotten, northern Sweden. It lies 25 miles (40 km) from the Norwegian border and about 103 miles (166 km) north of the Arctic Circle. The name is a Sami word meaning “kettle top.” One of its peaks, Mount Kebne (6,926 feet [2,111 m]), is the highest in Sweden. The roughly triangular area of the mountain range covers approximately 18 square miles (47 square km); it is uninhabited

Poynings, Sir Edward

2005-03-03T14:47:00.000-08:00

A grandson of William Paston, he was a rebel (1483) against Richard III and attached himself to Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond, who employed

Field Archery

2005-03-03T08:56:00.000-08:00

Also called roving form of archery in which targets of different sizes or shapes are placed at varying distances in uneven, often wooded, terrain in an attempt to simulate hunting conditions. As an organized sport it dates from the formation in 1939 of the National Field Archery Association of the United States. In 1969 a field event was included for the first time in the world archery championships

Marquess Of Queensberry Rules

2005-03-03T08:23:00.000-08:00

Rule 1—To be a fair stand-up boxing match in a 24-foot ring, or as near

Biblical Literature, The content of Acts

2005-03-02T01:34:00.000-08:00

The outline of Acts can be roughly divided into two parts: the mission under Peter, centred in Jerusalem (chapters 1–12); and the missions to the Gentiles all the way to Rome (cf. chapter 1, verse 8), under the leadership of Paul (chapters 13–28). The earlier sections deal with the Jerusalem church under Peter and the gradual spread of the gospel beyond Jewish limits (in chapters 10–11, for example,

Ryazan

2005-03-01T21:52:00.000-08:00

Medieval Russian principality from the 12th to the early 16th century. Ryazan became an independent princedom early in the 12th century under Yaroslav, the son of the grand prince Svyatoslav of Kiev. Its capital city was Old Ryazan on the Oka River, about 150 miles (240 km) southeast of Moscow. For the next century it was often in conflict with the principality of Vladimir, which was

Earphone

2005-03-01T20:16:00.000-08:00

Small loudspeaker held or worn close to the listener's ear or within the outer ear. Common forms include the hand-held telephone receiver; the headphone (q.v.), in which one or two earphones are held in place by a band worn over the head; and the plug earphone, which is inserted in the outer opening of the ear. The conversion of electrical to acoustical signals is effected by

Nachikufan Industry

2005-03-01T09:42:00.000-08:00

Industry of the African Late Stone Age practiced by hunting-gathering peoples who occupied the wooded plateaus of south-central Africa some 10,000–11,000 years ago. The Nachikufan tool industry is characterized by projectiles with several kinds of microlithic heads, heavy stone scrapers that were probably used for working wood and its by-products, flattish stones with centre-bored

Caxias

2005-03-01T04:12:00.000-08:00

City, east central Maranhão state, northeastern Brazil, on the Rio Itapicuru, at 207 ft (63 m) above sea level. Formerly known as São José das Aldeias Altas, it was renamed to honour Luis Alves de Lima e Silva, duque de Caxias, governor and military commander in Maranhão (1837). The city is the commercial centre of eastern Maranhão and processes rice, cotton, carnauba and babassu palms

Macaroon

2005-02-27T17:58:00.000-08:00

Cake flour is often used as a base for the essential ingredients of macaroons. These are worked together and flavoured with

Leschetizky, Theodor

2005-02-27T05:13:00.000-08:00

Leschetizky studied under Carl Czerny in Vienna and thus was linked indirectly with the playing of Czerny's teacher, Ludwig van Beethoven. In 1852 he went to St. Petersburg as a pianist and teacher.

Arrhenius Equation

2005-02-26T14:13:00.000-08:00

Mathematical expression that describes the effect of temperature on the velocity of a chemical reaction, the basis of all predictive expressions used for calculating reaction-rate constants. In the Arrhenius equation, k is the reaction-rate constant, A and E are numerical constants characteristic of the reacting substances, R is the thermodynamic gas constant, and

Lur

2005-02-26T07:28:00.000-08:00

The Lurs and their neighbours, the Bakhtyari, are partly agricultural and partly pastoral tribes. Lush grazing pastures between the mountain ranges enabled the

Vadianus, Joachim

2005-02-25T15:45:00.000-08:00

Crowned poet laureate by the Habsburg emperor Maximilian (1514), Vadianus served as rector at the University of Vienna (1516–17) and supervised the publication of the works of various ancient writers, notably Ovid and Pliny the

Humpbacked Fly

2005-02-24T14:26:00.000-08:00

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

Jacobi, Sir Derek

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

Born into a nontheatrical family—his father was a London department store manager, his mother a secretary—Jacobi first developed a taste for performing while attending the all-male Leyton County High School. Earning a

Neoglaziovia

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

The leaves of N. variegata, a reedlike plant, are up to 1.2 m (4 feet) long. They contain a fibre known as caroa, which is used to make rope, fabric, netting, and packing material.

Chub

2005-02-23T17:11:00.000-08:00

The European chub (Leuciscus cephalus) is a popular, though not especially palatable, game fish found in Europe and Great Britain, primarily in rivers. A large-mouthed fish with

Royal Antelope

2005-02-23T01:54:00.000-08:00

(Neotragus pygmaeus) tiny antelope, family Bovidae (order Artiodactyla), found alone or in pairs in dense West African forests. It is the smallest of antelopes and stands only 25 cm (10 inches) high at the shoulder. It is reddish brown with white underparts; the male is distinguished by short, spikelike horns. Despite its size, the royal antelope is reputedly able to jump about 2.8 m (9 feet) at a bound. A slightly

Argens, Jean-baptiste De Boyer, Marquis D' (marquess Of)

2005-02-22T11:56:00.000-08:00

French writer who helped disseminate the skeptical ideas of the Enlightenment by addressing his polemical writings on philosophy, religion, and history to a popular readership. Argens's writings simplified the unorthodox empirical reasoning of such Philosophes as Pierre Bayle, Bernard de Fontenelle, and Voltaire;

Vietnamese Language

2005-02-21T07:48:00.000-08:00

Official language of Vietnam, spoken in the late 20th century by more than 66 million people. It belongs to the Viet-Muong subbranch of the Vietic branch of the Mon-Khmer family, which is itself a part of the Austroasiatic stock. Except for a group of divergent rural dialects spoken between Hue and Vinh, most of the dialects of Vietnamese differ from each other to about the

Kyoto, Climate

2005-02-21T06:19:00.000-08:00

During spring and fall Kyoto is in its prime; the rainy season (June–July), lasting three to four weeks, is unavoidable; and summers are hot and humid. Winter brings two or three light snows and a unique “chilling from below” (sokobie), which must be tolerated. The yearly mean temperature of Kyoto is about 59° F (15° C); the highest monthly mean, 80° F (27° C), is in August, and the lowest, 38° F (3° C), is in January.

Aba

2005-02-20T11:20:00.000-08:00

City, Abia state, southern Nigeria. It lies along the west bank of the Aba River, at the intersection of roads from Port Harcourt, Owerri, Umuahia, Ikot Ekpene, and Ikot Abasi (Opobo). Aba was a traditional market town for the Igbo (Ibo) people of the tropical rainforest before the establishment of a British military post there in 1901. With the construction of the railway in 1915 from

Aesthetics

2005-02-20T10:24:00.000-08:00

As the above discussion illustrates, it is impossible to advance far into the theory of aesthetic experience without encountering the specific problems posed by the experience of art. Whether or not we think of art as the central or defining example of the aesthetic object, there is no doubt that it provides the most distinctive illustration both of the elusive

Joachim Ii Hektor

2005-02-19T02:40:00.000-08:00

The elder son of Joachim I, Joachim II was given the Old (Altmark) and Middle Marks of Brandenburg on his father's death

Cairo, Climate

2005-02-18T22:35:00.000-08:00

The typical desert climate contrasts daytime dry heat with cool nights freshened by Nile breezes. Cairo has only two seasons: approximately eight months of summer and four months of winter. In the hottest of the summer months—June, July, and August—the average daily maximum temperature is 95 °F (35 °C), and the average daily minimum is 70 °F (21 °C). The summer temperature has reached as

Abu Kalijar Al-marzuban Ibn Sultan Ad-dawlah

2005-02-18T13:44:00.000-08:00

When his father, Sultan ad-Dawlah, died in December 1023/January 1024, Abu Kalijar's succession to the sultan's Iranian possessions of Fars and Khuzistan was challenged by his uncle Abu al-Fawaris, the ruler of Kerman, to the west. By 1028 Abu Kalijar was

Uguccione Della Faggiuola

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

A member of an old Ghibelline (pro-imperial) family, Uguccione had served as podestà (chief magistrate) and captain general in several Italian cities when the sudden death of Holy Roman Emperor

Stearic Acid

2005-02-17T10:41:00.000-08:00

In nature stearic acid

Felton, Rebecca Ann

2005-02-16T21:45:00.000-08:00

Rebecca Latimer was graduated first in her class from the Madison Female College, Madison, Georgia, in 1852 and the following year married William H. Felton, a local physician active in liberal Democratic politics. She assisted her husband in

Interior Design, Origins in Western antiquity

2005-02-16T19:01:00.000-08:00

Excavations in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt suggest that the earliest equivalent of furniture consisted of platforms of bricks, which served as chairs, tables, and beds, no doubt spread with textiles or animal skins. There is also good reason to think that walls were painted and, in the case of more important buildings, decorated with mural paintings. Movable furniture

Nabokov, Vladimir

2005-02-16T06:35:00.000-08:00

Nabokov was born into an old aristocratic family. His father, V.D. Nabokov, was a leader of the pre-Revolutionary liberal

Annelid, Distinguishing taxonomic features

2005-02-15T19:10:00.000-08:00

Classification of free-living and sedentary polychaetes relies almost exclusively on external characters, such as the shape of the head, and on the number and nature of structures, such as appendages (including anal ones), parapodia, and setae, and on tube construction. Oligochaete classification relies largely on internal structures, especially the arrangement

12-tone Music

2005-02-15T18:28:00.000-08:00

Large body of music, written roughly since World War I, that uses the so-called 12-tone method or technique of composition. The Austrian-born composer Arnold Schoenberg is credited with the invention of this technique, although other composers (e.g., the American composer Charles Ives and the Austrian Josef Hauer) anticipated Schoenberg's invention by writing music

Roberts, Sir Charles G(eorge) D(ouglas)

2005-02-14T23:18:00.000-08:00

After graduating

Fusulina

2005-02-14T01:34:00.000-08:00

Genus of extinct fusulinid foraminiferans (protozoans with a shell) found as fossils in marine rocks of Late Carboniferous age (286 to 320 million years old). Fusulina, an excellent index fossil for Late Carboniferous rocks, enables widely separated rocks to be correlated.

Great Falls

2005-02-13T06:34:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1887) of Cascade county, west-central Montana, U.S. It lies along the Missouri River, near the falls (96 feet [29 metres] high) for which it was named. In 1805 the explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark observed the falls and nearby Giant Springs, one of the world's largest freshwater springs. First settled in 1883, the community was sustained with the arrival in 1887 of the Manitoba

Gray Fox

2005-02-13T03:27:00.000-08:00

(Urocyon cinereoargenteus), grizzled, gray-furred New World fox of the family Canidae. It is found in forested, rocky, and brush-covered country from Canada to northern South America. Distinguished by the reddish colour on its neck, ears, and legs, the gray fox grows to a length of about 50–75 cm (20–30 inches), excluding its 30–40-centimetre tail, and a weight of about

Padre Island

2005-02-12T05:30:00.000-08:00

Barrier island, 113 miles (182 km) long and up to 3 miles (5 km) wide, lying along the Gulf Coast of Texas, U.S. It extends south from Corpus Christi to Port Isabel and is separated from the mainland by Laguna Madre. The island consists largely of grassy dunes and a broad beach that yields shellfish such as clams and marine snails. The area is well known for its mackerel, sailfish, and tarpon

Quiché

2005-02-11T11:44:00.000-08:00

Department, northwestern Guatemala, bounded on the north by Mexico. The 3,235 sq mi (8,378 sq km) of the department extend from the valley of the upper Río Motagua across the Sierra de Chuacús and the Altos (mountains) Cuchumatanes to the lowlands of the Río Lacantum, at the Mexican border. Most of the inhabitants, many of whom are Maya Indians, are farmers, raising livestock, corn (maize),

'id Al-adha

2005-02-11T09:12:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Eid al-Adha , also called 'Id al-Qurban or al-'Id al-Kabir (Major Festival) , Turkish Kurban Bayram the second of two great Muslim festivals, the other being 'Id al-Fitr. 'Id al-Adha marks the culmination of the hajj (pilgrimage) rites at Mina, Saudi Arabia, near Mecca, but is celebrated by Muslims throughout the world. As with 'Id al-Fitr, it is distinguished by the performance of communal prayer (salat) at daybreak on its first day. It begins on the 10th of Dhu'l-Hijja, the last month of the Islamic

Kamban, Gudmundur

2005-02-10T11:50:00.000-08:00

Kamban's greatest work is the

Ribera, José De

2005-02-09T17:11:00.000-08:00

He was born in Spain but spent most of his life in Italy. Little is known of his life in Spain, though he is said by the painter and biographer Antonio Palomino to have received his

Dube, John Langalibalele

2005-02-09T16:42:00.000-08:00

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

Allingham, Margery (louise)

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

Campion's career was begun with a group of ingenious, popular thrillers: The Crime at Black Dudley (1928; U.S. title, The Black Dudley

Heirloom

2005-02-07T14:30:00.000-08:00

An item of personal property that by immemorial usage is regarded as annexed by inheritance to a family estate. The owner of such an heirloom may dispose of it during his lifetime, but he cannot bequeath it by will away from the estate. If he dies intestate (without a will), the object goes to his heir at law; otherwise it goes to whoever takes the estate under his will. Such