Western Literature

Diverse as they are, European literatures, like European languages, are parts of a common heritage. Greek, Latin, Germanic, Baltic and Slavic, Celtic, and Romance languages

China, The Yunnan–Kweichow highland region

This region comprises the northern part of Yunnan and the western part of Kweichow; its edge is highly dissected. Yunnan is more distinctly a plateau and contains larger areas of rolling uplands than Kweichow, but both parts are distinguished by canyon-like valleys and precipitous mountains. The highest elevations lie in the west, where Mt. Tieh-chi'ang rises to 12,080 feet.

Ribe

City, seat of Ribe amtskommune (county commune), southwestern Jutland, Denmark, on the Ribe River, 4 miles (6 km) from the North Sea. One of Denmark's oldest towns, it was first mentioned in 862 and became a bishopric in 948. In the Middle Ages it was a thriving port and favourite royal resort, centred on Riberhus (a castle founded in the early 12th century and destroyed by the Swedes in 1658). The

Icaza, Jorge

Icaza started writing for the theatre, but when he was censured for a 1933 dramatic script, El dictador, he turned his attention, and his indignation,

Israel, Cultural institutions

Israel has a rich and varied range of cultural institutions, including major libraries, an art institute and artists' colonies, art museums, institutes for archeology and folk life, theatres, concert halls and performing arts centres, and movie houses. A thriving film industry has emerged. In 1953 the Israeli government established the Academy of the Hebrew Language

Waialeale, Mount

Peak, central Kauai Island, Hawaii, U.S. Waialeale (“Rippling Water”), with a height of 5,148 feet (1,569 m), is a dissected (eroded) dome that is part of a central mountain mass which includes Kawaikini (5,243 feet [1,598 m]), the island's highest peak, immediately south. Waialeale is located at the southeastern edge of an extinct caldera that is now a plateau called Alakai Swamp. Shrouded in clouds, Waialeale

Allée

The allée normally passed through a planted boscage (a small wood); in the 17th century the boscage was square-trimmed at the sides and on top; later the sides were

Ta-pieh Mountains

Wade–Giles romanization  Ta-pieh Shan,  Pinyin  Dabie Shan,   mountain range in central China. It has a roughly northwest-to-southeast axis, which forms the watershed between the upper Huai River and the Yangtze River and also marks the boundary between Hupeh province and its eastern and northern neighbours, the provinces of Honan and Anhwei. The name Ta-pieh Mountains properly belongs to the southeastern, higher section

'amr Ibn Kulthum

'Amr ibn Kulthum lived to a very advanced age, highly respected

Braccio Da Montone

Born of a noble Perugian family, Braccio became the pupil of Alberico da Barbiano, the first great Italian condottiere, initiating a lifelong rivalry with another

Stafford

Founded by Aethelflaed, daughter of Alfred the Great, the town of Stafford had its own mint from the reign of Aethelstan to that of Henry II. Stafford town was chartered in

Haworth

Town, Bradford metropolitan borough, metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, historic county of Yorkshire, England, overlooking the River Worth and adjoining the town of Keighley. In 1820 the Reverend Patrick Brontë brought his wife and six children—including Charlotte, Emily, and Anne, later of international literary fame—to Haworth. The Church of St. Michael contains

Respiratory Therapy

One of the conditions frequently dealt with is obstruction of breathing passages, in which therapy may consist of clearing the airway of mucus or liquid secretion

Aethelberht I

King of Kent (560–616) who issued the first extant code of Anglo-Saxon laws, a code that established the legal position of the clergy and many secular regulations. Aethelberht's marriage to Bertha (or Berhta), daughter of Charibert, king of Paris, and a Christian, may account for the tolerant reception that he accorded Augustine and other missionaries dispatched to Kent by

Eybeschütz, Jonathan

As a rabbi in a number of European towns, Eybeschütz became a celebrated master of the Talmud (the rabbinical compendium of law, lore, and commentary),

Heiberg, Johanne Luise

Heiberg began performing at an early age, singing for the patrons of her father's tavern and billiard parlour. She made her initial appearance as a singer-dancer at the Royal Theatre at age 14. In 1828 she played the role of Agnete in a new vaudeville production, Elverh

Sukkoth

The Bible refers to hag ha-asif (“Feast of the Ingathering,” Exodus 23:16), when grains and fruits were gathered at the harvest's end, and to hag ha-sukkot (“Feast of

Literature

The predominant theme of 2001 was literature that chronicled the ordeals of political prisoners in a number of Arab countries. Works defined as “prison literature” were authored by freed political prisoners motivated to speak out by the relative freedom in the past two years in their countries. Writing in French,

Hardinge (of Penshurst), Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron

A grandson of Lord Hardinge, governor-general of India in 1844–48, Charles Hardinge entered the diplomatic service in 1880. Appointed ambassador to Russia in 1904 and permanent under secretary

General Association Of Regular Baptist Churches

Association of independent, conservative Baptist churches in the United States, organized in 1932 after 22 Baptist churches withdrew from the Northern (later American) Baptist Convention. These churches withdrew because they felt that the Northern Baptists were accepting the teachings of the modernists, or liberals, who accepted biblical criticism and attempted

Antarctica, Climate

Morton J. Rubin (ed.), Studies in Antarctic Meteorology (1966); S. Orvig (ed.), Climates of the Polar Regions (1970); W.S. Weyant, The Antarctic Atmosphere: Climatology of the Surface Environment (1967); and W. Schwerdtfeger, Weather and Climate of the Antarctic (1984), include topical studies and a few general review articles.

Bradley, Lydia Moss

American philanthropist who founded and endowed Bradley University in Peoria. Early in life she demonstrated qualities of determination and ability. In May 1837 she married Tobias S. Bradley and moved with him to Peoria, where over the next three decades he prospered in land and banking. His death in 1867 left unbegun their plan to endow an educational

Kneset Ha-gedola

The assembly dates from the Persian period, of which very little factual history is known. In fact, scholars argue about whether the reference to an assembly in the Book of Nehemiah (8–10) refers to

Middle West

Also called  Midwest, or North Central States,   region, northern and central United States, lying midway between the Appalachian and Rocky mountains and north of the Ohio River and the 37th parallel. The Middle West, as defined by the federal government, comprises the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Actually composed of

Cádiz, Bay Of

Spanish  Bahía De Cádiz,   small inlet of the Gulf of Cádiz on the North Atlantic Ocean. It is 7 miles (11 km) long and up to 5 miles (8 km) wide, indenting the coast of Cádiz province, southwestern Spain. It receives the Guadalete River and is partially protected by the narrow Isle of León, on which the major port of Cádiz is located. Other ports along the bay include San Fernando (south), Puerto Real (east), El Puerto

Mitra

In the pantheon of Vedic Hinduism, one of the gods in the category of Adityas, or sovereign principles of the universe. He represents friendship, integrity, harmony, and all else that is important in the successful maintenance of order in human existence. He is usually paired with the god Varuna, the guardian of the cosmic order, whose powers he complements as guardian

Eakins, Thomas

Painter who carried the tradition of 19th-century American Realism to perhaps its highest achievement. He painted mainly portraits of his friends and scenes of outdoor sports, such as swimming and boating (e.g., “Max Schmitt in a Single Scull,” 1871). Because of its frank and unsentimental nature, the work generally acknowledged as his masterpiece,

Koss, Johann Olav

The highlight of the outstanding ice speed skating career of Norway's Johann Olav Koss came on Feb. 20, 1994, when he won the stamina-sapping 10,000-m race in the Winter Olympics at Hamar, Norway. His time of 13 min 30.55 sec lowered the record for the distance by an incredible margin of almost 13 seconds. He had clocked the previous best time three years earlier at Heerenveen, Neth. The feat put beyond

Alaska, Flag Of

The creator

Bhadravati

City, central Karnataka (formerly Mysore) state, southern India. It lies along the Bhadra River, near the Baba Budan Range. The proximity of iron, manganese, and limestone deposits, along with the Bhadra hydropower project, have made the site an ideal location for steelmaking and other industrial enterprises. Bhadravati has become a planned modern city with accompanying

United States, The coming of the war

Faced with a fait accompli, Lincoln when inaugurated was prepared to conciliate the South in every way but one: he would not recognize that the Union could be divided. The test of his determination came early in his administration, when he learned that the Federal troops under Major Robert Anderson in Fort Sumter, South Carolina—then one of the few military installations in the South still in Federal hands—had to be promptly supplied or withdrawn. After agonized consultation with his cabinet, Lincoln determined that supplies must be sent even if doing so provoked the Confederates into firing the first shot. On April 12, 1861, just before Federal supply ships could reach the beleaguered Anderson, Confederate guns in Charleston opened fire upon Fort Sumter, and the war began.

Todos Os Santos Bay

Also called  All Saints Bay,  Portuguese  Baía De Todos Os Santos,   sheltered bay of the Atlantic Ocean, eastern coast of Brazil. A natural harbour, it is 25 miles (40 km) long and 20 miles (32 km) wide. Salvador, the principal seaport and capital of Bahia state, is on the peninsula that separates the bay from the Atlantic. Todos os Santos Bay receives the Paraguaçu River and is surrounded by the Recôncavo, a fertile coastal lowland. Its main channel is

Manchineel

Also called  Poison Guava  (Hippomane mancinella), tree of the genus Hippomane, of the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae), that is famous for its poisonous fruits. The manchineel is native mostly to sandy beaches of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. Its attractive, single or paired yellow-to-reddish, sweet-scented, applelike fruits have poisoned Spanish conquistadores, shipwrecked

Florida State University

Public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Tallahassee, Florida, U.S. It is part of the State University System of Florida and consists of eight schools and eight colleges, including a college of engineering that is jointly operated with Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. Branch campuses are located in Panama City and the Central American

Atacama Desert

Spanish  Desierto De Atacama,   cool, arid region in northern Chile, 600 to 700 miles (1,000 to 1,100 km) long from north to south. Its limits are not exact, but it lies mainly within Antofagasta and Atacama administrative regions between the south bend of the Loa River and the mountains separating the Salado-Copiapó drainage basins. To the north, the desert continues into the region of Tarapacá and to the border of

Extrusive Rock

Any rock derived from magma (q.v.; molten silicate material) that is poured out or ejected at the Earth's surface. By contrast, intrusive rocks are formed from magma that is forced into older rocks at depth within the Earth's crust; the molten material then slowly solidifies below the Earth's surface, where it may later be exposed owing to erosion. Extrusive rocks are usually

Vietnamese Language

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

Oracle

(Latin oraculum from orare, “to pray,” or “to speak”), divine communication delivered in response to a petitioner's request; also, the seat of prophecy itself. Oracles were a branch of divination but differed from the casual pronouncements of augurs by being associated with a definite person or place. For example, the oracles of Zeus originated at Dodona, Olympia, or Siwa; those

Condition

In logic, a sentence or proposition of the form “If A then B” [in symbols, A É B] is called a conditional (sentence or proposition). Similarly, “Whenever A then B” {in symbols, (x) [A(x) É B

Tonga

Officially  Kingdom of Tonga,  Tongan  Pule'anga Fakatu'i 'o Tonga,  also called  Friendly Islands,   country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of 169 islands divided into three main island groups: Tongatapu in the south, Ha'apai in the centre, and Vava'u in the north. Isolated islands include Niuafo'ou, Niuatoputapu, and Tafahi in the far north and 'Ata in the far south. Tonga's total land area of 290 square miles (750 square kilometres) is dispersed between latitudes 15° to

Qu'aiti Sultanate

In full , Qu'aiti Sultanate Of Shihr And Mukalla,   former semi-independent state in the southern Arabian Peninsula, in what is now Yemen. It was one of the largest sultanates in the British-ruled Aden Protectorate, the forerunner of independent southern Yemen; its capital was the port of Al-Mukalla. Its territory encompassed a stretch of the Gulf of Aden coast and much of the Hadramawt, an inland region extending northward

Ursa Major

Also called  The Great Bear,   in astronomy, a constellation of the Northern Hemisphere, at about 10 hours 40 minutes right ascension (the coordinate on the celestial sphere analogous to longitude on the Earth) and 56° north declination (angular distance north of the celestial equator). It was referred to in the Old Testament (Job 9:9; 38:32) and mentioned by Homer in the Iliad (xviii, 487). The Greeks identified this constellation

Gabon, Religion

A large majority of Gabon's population is Christian, with about three times as many Roman Catholics as Protestants. Though Gabonese serve as Roman Catholic bishops, they rely heavily upon foreign clergy, particularly the French Holy Ghost Fathers. The largest Protestant body, the Evangelical Church of Gabon, has Gabonese pastors in its parishes throughout the

Cable Television

Generally, any system that distributes television signals by means of coaxial or fibre-optic cables. The term also includes systems that distribute signals solely via satellite. Cable-television systems originated in the United States in the early 1950s and were designed to improve reception of commercial network broadcasts in remote and hilly areas. During the

Bukovina

Eastern European territory consisting of a segment of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plain, divided in modern times (after 1947) between Romania and the Soviet Union. Settled by both Ukrainians (Ruthenians) and Romanians (Moldavians), the region became an integral part of the principality of Moldavia in the 14th century. Suceava, in the south of

Empiricism, In contemporary philosophy

The most influential Empiricist of the 20th century was the great British philosopher and logician Bertrand Russell (1872–1970), who at first was Lockean in his theory of knowledge—admitting both synthetic a priori knowledge and concepts of unobservable entities. Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951), the influential pioneer of the school of Linguistic Analysis, convinced Russell that

Philadelphus

Genus of deciduous shrubs of the family Hydrangeaceae, including the popular garden forms commonly known as mock orange (from its characteristic orange-blossom fragrance) and sweet syringa. Philadelphus, comprising about 65 species, is native to northern Asia and Japan, the western United States, the southern Atlantic coast of the United States, and Mexico. These

Managua

City, capital of Nicaragua, lying amid small crater lakes on the southern shore of Lake Managua. One of Central America's warmest capitals, the city is only 163 feet (50 m) above sea level. Throughout the Spanish colonial period, Managua was recognized only as an Indian town, outranked by the relatively nearby Spanish cities of León and Granada. Its choice as a permanent capital

Shagamu

Town, Ogun state, southwestern Nigeria. It lies along the Ibu River and the Eruwuru Stream, between Lagos and Ibadan. Founded in the mid-19th century by members of the Ijebu branch of the Yoruba people, it soon became a major market centre of the Ijebu Remo kingdom. Following the British destruction of the Ijebu trade monopoly in 1892 and their later decision to build the railway

Both, Jan

Both first studied with his father, Dirck Both, a glass painter, and then with Abraham Bloemaert. From 1638 to 1641 he lived in Rome with his brother Andries; in the latter year he returned to Utrecht, where he became a prominent

Pocahontas

Matoaka, whose pet name was

General Sarmiento

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

Minehead

Town (“parish”), West Somerset district, administrative and historic county of Somerset, England. The town owes its origin and growth to its harbour. Minehead was first incorporated in 1558. Its older buildings include St. Michael's Church (1450), the almshouses (1630), the old manor office, and the 17th-century cottages along Quay Street. The present harbour was built in 1616. Minehead's trade with

Siberia

All but the extreme southwestern area of Siberia lies in Russia. In Russian usage the

Gonçalves, António Aurélio

Gonçalves attended the University of Lisbon and later taught history and philosophy at the Liceu Gil Eanes in São Vicente. All of Gonçalves' noveletas (his coinage for novella) and other