ComplexKnot

Cartagena

2005-04-05T15:53:00.000-07:00

Port city, in the provincia and comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Murcia, southeastern Spain, the site of Spain's chief Mediterranean naval base. Its harbour, the finest on the east coast, is a deep, spacious bay dominated to seaward by four hills crowned with forts and approached by a narrow entrance guarded by batteries. The outer bay is sheltered by Escombrera

Augusta

2005-04-04T09:18:00.000-07:00

Town, Siracusa province, Sicily, Italy, north of the city of Syracuse; it lies on a long sandy island off the southeast coast between the Golfo (gulf) di Augusta and the Ionian Sea and is connected by two bridges with the mainland. The town was founded near the site of the ancient Dorian town of Megara Hyblaea in 1232 by Emperor Frederick II for the rebellious people of Centuripe

Axinite

2005-04-04T07:56:00.000-07:00

Borosilicate mineral that occurs most commonly in contact metamorphic rocks and also in basic igneous rocks. Particularly beautiful crystals occur at Le Bourg d'Oisans, Isère, France, and in San Diego County, Calif., U.S. Transparent axinite of the usual clove-brown colour is sometimes cut as a gem. For chemical formula and detailed physical properties, see silicate

Lefebvre, (pierre-) François-joseph, Duc (duke) De Dantzig

2005-04-03T06:17:00.000-07:00

Lefebvre, the son of an Alsatian miller, worked for a time as a clerk before entering a military career in the French Guards in 1773. A sergeant at the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, he was, between September 1792 and January 1793, promoted rapidly from captain to divisional

Visigoth

2005-04-03T00:02:00.000-08:00

The Visigoths were settled agriculturists in Dacia (now in Romania) when they were attacked by the Huns in 376 and driven southward

Anderson, Poul William

2005-04-02T01:00:00.000-08:00

American science-fiction writer (b. Nov. 25, 1926, Bristol, Pa.—d. July 31, 2001, Orinda, Calif.), was the prolific author of more than 100 books of science fiction and fantasy. Over a period of about half a century, he tapped his knowledge of both science and Scandinavian folklore and mythology to create powerfully imaginative depictions of the future, writing in such varied styles as farce, adventure

Vishakhapatnam

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

City, northeastern Andhra Pradesh state, southern India. It lies on the Bay of Bengal, about 380 miles (612 km) northeast of Madras. Vishakhapatnam lies along a small bay, and its natural harbour is formed by two promontories, the southern one of which is separated from the city by a small river. Vishakhapatnam's port has grown greatly in importance because it has the only protected

Bernini, Gian Lorenzo

2005-04-01T07:48:00.000-08:00

Bernini's career began under his father, Pietro Bernini, a Florentine sculptor of some talent who ultimately moved to Rome. The young prodigy worked so diligently that he earned the praise of the painter Annibale Carracci and the patronage of Pope Paul V and soon established himself as a wholly independent sculptor. He was strongly influenced by his close study

Procaine Hydrochloride

2005-03-31T17:26:00.000-08:00

Also called Novocain, or Novocaine, synthetic organic compound used in medicine as a local anesthetic. Introduced in 1905 under the trade name Novocaine, it became the first and best-known substitute for cocaine in local anesthesia. Generally used in a 1 to 10 percent saline solution, procaine hydrochloride is administered by injection for infiltration (area flooding as in dental anesthesia), nerve-block,

Balance

2005-03-30T23:56:00.000-08:00

The invention of the equal-arm balance dates back at least to the time of the ancient Egyptians, possibly as early as 5000 BC. In the earliest types, the beam was supported at the centre and the pans were hung from the ends by cords. A later improvement

American Academy Of Arts And Sciences

2005-03-30T07:39:00.000-08:00

Honorary society incorporated on May 4, 1780, in Boston, Mass., U.S., for the purpose of cultivating “every art and science.” Its membership—some 3,300 fellows in the United States and about 550 foreign honorary fellows (all scholars and national leaders)—is divided into four classes: the physical sciences, the biological sciences, the social arts and sciences, and the humanities and fine

Water Rat

2005-03-29T14:47:00.000-08:00

Any of 18 species of amphibious carnivorous rodents. They exhibit many adaptations associated with hunting in water for food and burrowing along streams, rivers, and lakes. The eyes are small, the nostrils can be closed to keep water out, and the external portion of the ears is either small and furry or absent. Highly sensitive whiskers are abundant on the fleshy blunt

Spadebill

2005-03-28T21:34:00.000-08:00

Any of six species of New World flycatchers (family Tyrannidae, order Passeriformes) whose triangular bill is very broad and flat. The white-throated, or stub-tailed, spadebill (Platyrinchus mystaceus), scarcely 10 centimetres (4 inches) long, is the most widespread species; it inhabits forest undergrowth from southern Mexico to Argentina in southern South America.

Ribble Valley

2005-03-28T07:51:00.000-08:00

Borough (district), administrative county of Lancashire, northwestern England, along the county's eastern border, extending into the western Pennine uplands. The southern part of the borough, including the lower Ribble valley and the two largest towns, Clitheroe and Longridge, lies in the historic county of Lancashire. The remainder of the mostly rural borough, including

Durbar

2005-03-27T00:53:00.000-08:00

The three best-known durbars were held in Delhi in 1877, 1903, and 1911. They celebrated Queen Victoria's assumption of the title of Empress

Cincinnati, Society Of The

2005-03-26T10:17:00.000-08:00

Hereditary, military, and patriotic organization formed in May 1783 by officers who had served in the American Revolution. Its objectives were to promote union and national honour, maintain their war-born friendship, perpetuate the rights for which they had fought, and aid members and their families in case of need. The society took its name from the Roman citizen-soldier

Adams, Franklin Pierce

2005-03-26T07:52:00.000-08:00

Adams' newspaper career began in 1903, with the Chicago Journal. The next year he went to New York, where

Novel

2005-03-25T14:14:00.000-08:00

An invented prose narrative of considerable length and a certain complexity that deals imaginatively with human experience, usually through a connected sequence of events involving a group of persons in a specific setting. Within its broad framework, the genre of the novel has encompassed an extensive range of types and styles: picaresque, epistolary, Gothic,

Gage, Frances Dana Barker

2005-03-24T19:22:00.000-08:00

Gage began her public involvement in the three prominent reform causes of the time—the abolition of slavery, temperance, and women's rights—by contributing letters to newspapers and speaking

Obi Islands

2005-03-24T06:02:00.000-08:00

Also called Ombi Islands, group of the northern Moluccas, Maluku provinsi (“province”), Indonesia. They lie south of the island of Halmahera, north of the island of Ceram, and east of the Sula Islands. The principal island of the group is Obi Island, 52 miles (84 km) long and 28 miles (47 km) wide, which contains the only major village, Laiwui, located on the northeastern coast opposite Bisa Island. Obi Island is mountainous,

Hancock, Joy Bright

2005-03-23T19:59:00.000-08:00

Joy Bright enlisted in the Naval Reserve after graduating from the Pierce School of Business Administration in Philadelphia in 1918. From 1919 she worked as a civilian for the U.S. Navy at various stations and at the Department of the Navy in Washington, D.C.

Châteauroux, Marie-anne De Mailly-nesle, Duchess (duchesse) De

2005-03-22T17:42:00.000-08:00

The fifth daughter of Louis de Mailly, Marquis de Nesle, Marie-Anne was married in 1734 to the Marquis de La Tournelle, who died in 1740. Her eldest sister, Louise-Julie, Countess de Mailly, had been Louis XV's mistress from

Guna

2005-03-21T21:04:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Goona city, northwestern Madhya Pradesh state, central India. A road and rail junction, Guna is a major agricultural distribution centre. Cotton ginning, oilseed milling, and handloom weaving are important industries. The city has several colleges affiliated with Jiwaji University. Wheat, sorghum, legumes, corn (maize), and oilseeds are the major crops grown in the surrounding

Round, Henry Joseph

2005-03-20T20:56:00.000-08:00

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

Arnauld Family

2005-03-19T08:28:00.000-08:00

The

Böhm-bawerk, Eugen Von

2005-03-19T05:22:00.000-08:00

After graduating from the University of Vienna, Böhm-Bawerk worked in the Austrian Ministry of Finance (1872–75) and was allowed by the ministry to study at several

Hinduism, Vaishnavism

2005-03-18T20:38:00.000-08:00

Vaishnavism is the worship of Vishnu and his various incarnations. During a long and complex development from Vedic times, there arose many Vaishnava groups with differing beliefs and aims. Some of the major Vaishnava groups include the Srivaisnavas and Dvaitins (“philosophical or religious dualists”) of South India, the followers of the teachings of Vallabha in western

Nomos

2005-03-18T20:32:00.000-08:00

Nomoi were also performed on the kithara

Airplane, Devices for aerodynamic control

2005-03-18T03:03:00.000-08:00

In some flight conditions—descent, preparing to land, landing, and after landing—it is desirable to be able to increase drag to decelerate the aircraft. A number of devices have been designed to accomplish this. These include speed brakes, which are large flat-plate areas that can be deployed by the pilot to increase drag dramatically and are most often found on military

New Brutalism

2005-03-18T01:04:00.000-08:00

One aspect of the International Style of architecture that was created by Le Corbusier and his leading fellow architects Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright and that demanded a functional approach toward architectural design. The name was first applied in 1954 by the English architects Peter and Alison Smithson to the post-1930 style of the major French architect

Sokch'o

2005-03-17T08:56:00.000-08:00

City, Kangwon do (province), northeastern South Korea, on the Sea of Japan. Ch'ongch'o Lagoon is in the southern part of the city. The coastal waters provide good fishing grounds for cuttlefish, pollack, and mackerel. Linked with Seoul by air and road, the city became a mineral transfer port in 1937. Since the Korean War armistice (1953), it has been a part of South Korea. Pop. (1990) 73,805.

Francistown

2005-03-16T21:07:00.000-08:00

Town, eastern Botswana. It lies along the Tati (Tate) River and is an administrative and commercial centre. Francistown is the site of the Dumela industrial complex. Some gold is mined in the vicinity. The town lies in farming country on the country's main road and rail line. Air transport services link Francistown with Gaborone and Selebi-Phikwe. Pop. (1991) 65,244.

Forberg, Friedrich Karl

2005-03-15T23:36:00.000-08:00

An exponent of the Idealist school developed by Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Forberg is best known for his essay Über die Entwicklung des Begriffs Religion (1798; “On the Development of the Concept of Religion”), a work that occasioned Fichte's dismissal from the University of Jena on the

Tie-dyeing

2005-03-15T17:02:00.000-08:00

Method of dyeing by hand in which coloured patterns are produced in the fabric by gathering together many small portions of material and tying them tightly with string before immersing the cloth in the dyebath. The dye fails to penetrate the tied sections. After drying, the fabric is untied to reveal irregular circles, dots, and stripes. Varicoloured patterns may

Yamato-e

2005-03-14T14:51:00.000-08:00

Yamato-e is a calculated

Lowie, Robert H(arry)

2005-03-14T11:19:00.000-08:00

Lowie studied under Franz Boas at Columbia University,

Selden, John

2005-03-14T03:56:00.000-08:00

Called to the bar in 1612, Selden practiced as a conveyancer, rarely appearing in court. His first major book, Titles of Honour (1614), has remained a useful reference. Analecton

Câmara, Hélder Pessoa

2005-03-14T00:47:00.000-08:00

Câmara was ordained a priest in 1931. In close collaboration with Monsignor Giovanni

Ibn Ishaq

2005-03-13T18:39:00.000-08:00

Ibn Ishaq was the grandson of an Arab prisoner captured by Muslim troops in Iraq and brought to Medina, where he was freed after accepting Islam. Ibn Ishaq's father and two uncles

Chase Manhattan Corporation, The

2005-03-11T06:24:00.000-08:00

The firm originated in the final days of the 18th century. On April 2, 1799, at the urging of such civic leaders as Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton (later noted rivals), the New York state legislature chartered the Manhattan Company to build a water supply system for New York City. The original

Appleton

2005-03-11T04:39:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1851) of Outagamie county, east-central Wisconsin, U.S. The city lies along the Fox River near its outflow from Lake Winnebago, 31 miles (48 km) southwest of Green Bay. The settlement of the area was encouraged by the presence of Lawrence College (chartered 1847, now a university), founded by Amos A. Lawrence of Boston, and of abundant waterpower. First called Grand Chute, the settlement

Chicago Daily News

2005-03-11T04:29:00.000-08:00

The Daily News was established in 1875 as a four-page, five-column daily by Melville E. Stone. Competition

Essene

2005-03-10T15:28:00.000-08:00

The Essenes

Powell, Eleanor

2005-03-09T20:19:00.000-08:00

Powell studied ballet at age six and began dancing in Atlantic City nightclubs before she was a teenager. She joined the Co-Optimists

Cellulose Acetate

2005-03-09T16:05:00.000-08:00

Original name Acetate Rayon, also called Acetate, man-made textile fibre produced from the plant substance cellulose, which is obtained from soft woods or the short fibres adhering to cotton seeds (linters) and treated with acetic acid and acetic anhydride, and then partially hydrolyzed so that the product, secondary acetate, is soluble in acetone. It forms a cellulose acetate solution that is extruded through

Richet, Charles

2005-03-09T14:36:00.000-08:00

In full Charles-Robert Richet French physiologist who won the 1913 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of and coining of the term anaphylaxis, the life-threatening allergic reaction he observed in a sensitized animal upon second exposure to an antigen. This research provided the first evidence that an immune response could cause damage as well as

Antibiotic

2005-03-07T22:51:00.000-08:00

Although antibiotics are released naturally into the soil by bacteria and fungi, they did not come into worldwide prominence until the introduction of penicillin in 1941. Since then they have revolutionized the treatment of bacterial infections

Akershus

2005-03-07T14:45:00.000-08:00

Fylke (county), southeastern Norway. Covering 1,898 square miles (4,917 square km), it extends north from Oslo Fjord to the southern end of Lake Mjøsa and east to the Swedish frontier. The Vorma River flows through Akershus from Mjøsa into the Glomma (Glåma) River and on to Lake Øyeren. The national capital, Oslo, is the county seat, though it is a separate fylke and bykommune (urban commune)

Tachikawa

2005-03-07T04:47:00.000-08:00

City, Tokyo to (metropolis), Honshu, Japan. It lies along the Chuo Line (railway), east of Tokyo city. In 1922 an army airfield was constructed nearby, and large munitions and aircraft factories were concentrated in the city. After World War II the military installations were taken over by the U.S. Air Force; the air base was returned to Japan in 1977. Tachikawa is now a commercial centre

France, History Of, The cities

2005-03-06T22:05:00.000-08:00

Urban society was also troubled. The walled town stood out ever more starkly against the countryside as siege warfare intimidated or destroyed the suburbs that had been built in a less anxious day. Royal taxation, often inequitably administered, exacerbated old tensions in the towns; fiscal policy or the regulation of wages or supplies was largely at issue in the

Vacoas-phoenix

2005-03-06T09:39:00.000-08:00

Town (township) on the island of Mauritius, in the western Indian Ocean. It lies in the western highlands region of the country, about 10 miles (16 km) south of Port Louis, the national capital. Vacoas and Phoenix were separate villages until 1963, when they became a single administrative unit; later (1968) the town became independently administered. Major industries include beer brewing,

Mcarthur River

2005-03-06T00:51:00.000-08:00

River in northeastern Northern Territory, Australia, rising about 45 miles (70 km) south of Anthony Lagoon, along the scarp that marks the northern edge of the Barkly Tableland, and flowing northwest for 150 miles (240 km) across rugged country to Port McArthur on the Gulf of Carpentaria. Swamp and jungle border its lower course, which is navigable by barge for 40 miles (64 km). The river, fed

Rhapsodist

2005-03-05T08:24:00.000-08:00

Greek Rhapsoidos, plural Rhapsoidoi, any of the dramatic reciters of ancient Greece, dating from the 6th century BC. In the oral epic tradition, rhapsodists were preceded by Homeric singers (aoidoi) of their own epic songs and, like them, were musically accompanied on the lyre and aulos. To heighten dramatic effect, rhapsodists used a staff for symbolic gesturing. Their intonation of poetry probably involved

Mercier, Louis-sébastien

2005-03-04T23:26:00.000-08:00

One of the first French writers of drame bourgeois (middle-class drama). In Du théâtre (1773; “About the Theatre”), he emphasized the didactic function of the theatre, and in his plays he presented a thesis, subordinating dramatic considerations to the didactic end. He criticized traditional French tragedy as artificial and sterile, though he

Anthropology And Archaeology, Cultural Anthropology.

2005-03-04T16:33:00.000-08:00

Cultural anthropology, the only social science traditionally dedicated to describing and understanding the diversities and commonalities of human culture and society, remained a discipline in creative ferment during 1999. Ethnographers, those who describe culture, continued searching for more effective data-collection methods as they struggled to determine

Biblical Literature, Greek additions to Esther

2005-03-04T01:11:00.000-08:00

The Hebrew Book of Esther had a religious and social value to the Jews during the time of Greek and Roman anti-Semitism, though the Hebrew short story did not directly mention God's intervention in history—and even God himself is not named. To bring the canonical book up-to-date in connection with contemporary anti-Semitism and to stress the religious meaning of the

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

2005-03-03T04:57:00.000-08:00

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

Lebed, Aleksandr Ivanovich

2005-03-02T08:15:00.000-08:00

On June, 18, 1996, after Aleksandr Lebed had run a strong third in the first round of the Russian presidential elections, Pres. Boris Yeltsin appointed him to be secretary of the Security Council and national security adviser. Lebed appeared to strengthen his position in the government when he later negotiated a cease-fire in Chechnya. By year's end the ambitious retired general,

Altman, Benjamin

2005-03-02T07:11:00.000-08:00

Altman had little formal schooling, but at the age of 25 he opened his first dry-goods store in Manhattan and in 1906 moved it to the uptown section, pioneering the movement of business there. With additions in 1913–14, the store

'abd Al-rahman Iii

2005-03-02T02:29:00.000-08:00

Meanwhile, 'Abd al-Rahman also had to check threats from the Christian north. The main danger came from the kingdom of Leon. An expedition commanded by Ordoño II, then vassal king of Galicia and later king of Leon, into Muslim territory in the summer of 913, especially his sack of Evora (Talavera) and the massacre of its Muslim population, produced widespread resentment in Muslim

Olomouc

2005-03-01T17:14:00.000-08:00

Olomouc possibly originated as a Roman fort (Mons Iulii) and by the 9th century was an important stronghold. A bishopric, established there in 1063, was raised to an archbishopric in 1777. At the Peace

Celastraceae

2005-02-27T23:10:00.000-08:00

The staff-tree family, in the order Celastrales, comprising about 55 genera of woody vines, shrubs, and trees, native in tropical and temperate zones but best known for ornamental forms of the genera Euonymus and Celastrus (bittersweet). Fruit of the family is often colourful. Leaves are frequently leathery and flowers are small, with four to five sepals and petals; alternating

Visit And Search

2005-02-27T15:28:00.000-08:00

Procedure adopted by a belligerent warship to ascertain whether a merchant vessel is liable to seizure. If an inspection of the papers shows the ship to be an enemy vessel or to be carrying contraband, breaking blockade, or engaging in unneutral service, it is immediately captured. More often there is merely suspicion of such activities, in which case the vessel may

China, Rise of the empress Wu-hou

2005-02-27T06:30:00.000-08:00

Kao-tsung was 21 when he ascended the throne. In his first years he was dominated by the remaining great statesmen of T'ai-tsung's court, above all by the Emperor's uncle Chang-sun Wu-chi. But real power soon passed from Kao-tsung into the hands of the empress Wu-hou, one of the most remarkable women in Chinese history. Wu-hou had been a low-ranking concubine of T'ai-tsung. She was

Venetan

2005-02-27T01:38:00.000-08:00

Group of dialects of Italian spoken in northeastern Italy. It includes the dialects spoken in Venice (Venetian), Verona (Veronese), Treviso (Trevisan), and Padua (Paduan).

Chronology

2005-02-26T17:25:00.000-08:00

The era at present in vogue among the Jews, counted from the creation of the world (anno mundi; abbreviated to AM), came into popular use about the 9th century AD. Traceable in dates recorded much earlier, this era has five styles conventionally indicated by Hebrew letters used as numerals and combined into mnemonics, which state the times of occurrence of the epochal mean

Bing Xin

2005-02-25T23:01:00.000-08:00

Bing Xin studied the Chinese Classics and began writing traditional Chinese stories as a child, but her conversion to Christianity and her attendance at an American school in Peking soon were reflected in a didactic and Western influence

Brooks, Gwendolyn

2005-02-25T13:28:00.000-08:00

Brooks graduated from Wilson Junior College in Chicago in 1936. Her early verses appeared in the Chicago Defender, a newspaper written

China, Plains of the Middle and Lower Yangtze

2005-02-25T10:24:00.000-08:00

East of I-ch'ang, in Hupeh Province, a series of plains of uneven width are found along the Yangtze River, or Ch'ang Chiang. The plains are particularly wide in the delta area and in places where the Yangtze receives its major tributaries—including large areas of lowlands around the lakes of Tung-t'ing, P'o-yang, T'ai, and Hung-tse, which are hydrologically linked with the Yangtze.

Fabales

2005-02-24T17:48:00.000-08:00

The Fabales (legumes) may be considered a

Bull Moose Party

2005-02-24T13:35:00.000-08:00

Formally Progressive Party U.S. dissident political faction that nominated former president Theodore Roosevelt for the presidency in 1912; the formal name and general objectives of the party were revived 12 years later. Opposing the entrenched conservatism of the regular Republican Party, which was controlled by Pres. William Howard Taft, a National Republican Progressive League was organized in 1911 by Sen. Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin. The group became the Progressive Party the following year and ran Theodore Roosevelt for president; it called for revision of the political nominating machinery and an aggressive program of social legislation. The party's popular nickname of Bull Moose was derived from the characteristics of strength and vigour often used by Roosevelt to describe himself. The Bull Moose ticket polled some 25 percent of the popular vote. Thus split, the Republicans lost the election to the Democrats under Woodrow Wilson. The Bull Moose Party evaporated and the Republicans were reunited four years later.

Jabalpur

2005-02-23T22:28:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Jubbulpore city, central Madhya Pradesh state, central India. Jabalpur lies just north of the Narmada River in a rocky basin surrounded by low hills that are dotted with lakes and temples. On one of the hills stands the Madan Mahal, an old Gond castle. Garha, just west, was the chief city of the four independent Gond kingdoms that arose in the 14th century. Jabalpur was selected as Maratha headquarters

Marrakech

2005-02-21T19:15:00.000-08:00

Marrakech gave its name to the kingdom of which it was long the capital. It was founded in the mid-11th century by

Philip

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

The youngest son of the Holy Roman emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, Philip was destined for the church. After being provost of the cathedral at Aachen, he was, in 1190 or 1191, elected bishop of Würzburg. Shortly after the death of his brother Frederick

Rimbaud, Arthur

2005-02-21T00:06:00.000-08:00

In full Jean-nicolas-arthur Rimbaud French poet and adventurer who won renown among the Symbolist movement and markedly influenced modern poetry.

Turboprop

2005-02-20T15:50:00.000-08:00

The first experimental turboprop aircraft, a modified Gloster Meteor fighter equipped with two Rolls-Royce

Aswan

2005-02-20T09:34:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Assuan, or Assouan, muhafazah (governorate), Upper Egypt, embracing the Nile floodplain and immediately adjacent territories. Its area is 262 square miles (679 square km). Long and narrow in shape, it is the most southerly Egyptian governorate along the Nile; its short southern boundary forms part of the international frontier with The Sudan. The sandstone, granite, and diorite hills flanking the

Fabius Ambustus, Quintus

2005-02-19T23:06:00.000-08:00

He and two other Fabii were sent as ambassadors to the Gauls while a Gallic army was besieging Clusium. After Quintus Fabius involved his group in a skirmish, the offended Gauls demanded that Rome surrender the culprits to them. By

Alembert, Jean Le Rond D'

2005-02-19T20:51:00.000-08:00

The illegitimate son of a famous hostess, Mme de Tencin, and one of her lovers, the chevalier Destouches-Canon, d'Alembert was abandoned on the steps of the Parisian church of Saint-Jean-le-Rond, from which he derived his Christian names. Although Mme de Tencin never recognized her son, Destouches eventually sought out the child and entrusted him to a glazier's wife, whom

Epistemology, Innate versus learned

2005-02-19T05:44:00.000-08:00

The puzzle about origins of knowledge has led historically to two different kinds of issues. One of these is the question of whether knowledge (or at least certain kinds of knowledge) is innate, meaning that it is not acquired or learned through experience but in some important sense is present in the human psyche at birth. The matter is still a live issue today, not only

Roosevelt, Franklin D., Declining health and death

2005-02-18T21:16:00.000-08:00

Roosevelt had been suffering from advanced arteriosclerosis for more than a year before the Yalta Conference. His political opponents had tried to make much of his obviously declining health during the campaign of 1944, when he ran for a fourth term against Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York. But Roosevelt campaigned actively and won the election by a popular vote of 25 million to 22 million and an electoral college vote of 432 to 99. (See primary source document: Fourth Inaugural Address.) By the time of his return from Yalta, however, he was so weak that for the first time in his presidency he spoke to Congress while sitting down. Early in April 1945 he traveled to his cottage in Warm Springs, Georgia—the “Little White House”—to rest. On the afternoon of April 12, while sitting for a portrait, he suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage, and he died a few hours later. With him at his death were two cousins, Laura Delano and Margaret Suckley, and Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd (by then a widow), with whom he had renewed his relationship a few years before.

Chi-tsang

2005-02-18T17:07:00.000-08:00

Chi-tsang was the son of a Parthian father and a Chinese mother, but his education and upbringing were wholly Chinese. In an age characterized by social unrest and military

Venice

2005-02-17T01:14:00.000-08:00

Resort city, Sarasota county, west-central Florida, U.S. It lies along the Gulf of Mexico, about 20 miles (30 km) south of Sarasota. Originally a fishing village settled in the 1870s, it was later planned (c. 1925) as a retirement city for members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers; the project was abandoned after the stock market crash of 1929, but Venice survived as a small resort noted

Technology, History Of

2005-02-16T10:46:00.000-08:00

The development over time of systematic techniques for making and doing things. The term technology, a combination of the Greek techne, “art, craft,” with logos, “word, speech,” meant in Greece a discourse on the arts, both fine and applied. When it first appeared in English in the 17th century, it was used to mean a discussion of the applied arts only, and gradually these “arts” themselves

Bribery

2005-02-15T18:22:00.000-08:00

The act of promising, giving, receiving, or agreeing to receive money or some other item of value with the corrupt aim of influencing a public official in the discharge of his official duties. When money has been offered or promised in exchange for a corrupt act, the official involved need not actually accomplish that act for the offense of bribery to be complete. The

Shensi, Administration and social conditions

2005-02-15T09:20:00.000-08:00

The province has three prefecture-level municipalities (shih) directly subordinated to the provincial government. One of these municipalities includes the provincial capital, Sian. The rest of the province is organized into seven prefectures (ti-ch'ü); the northern plateau area is divided between the Yü-lin Prefecture in the far north and the Yen-an Prefecture farther

Arabia, History Of, Yemen

2005-02-14T21:18:00.000-08:00

To quell a rising in Yemen, the 'Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun dispatched Ibn Ziyad, who refounded in 820 the southern city of Zabid and became overlord of Yemen, Najran, and Hadhramaut. About a century later, the Najahids—Ethiopian slaves or local Afro-Asians—supplanted the Ziyadids in Zabid; however, though independent, neither dynasty renounced vague 'Abbasid suzerainty. The Banu Ya'fur

Chiabrera, Gabriello

2005-02-14T15:11:00.000-08:00

Chiabrera studied philosophy in Rome, lived for a time in the household of a cardinal, and then returned to Savona, where civic and diplomatic posts and the protection of several princes gave him the leisure

Aesopus, Claudius

2005-02-13T01:58:00.000-08:00

Claudius also spelled Clodius most eminent of the Roman tragedians, contemporary and intimate friend of Cicero, whom he instructed in elocution, and regarded by Horace as the equal of the great Roman comic actor Roscius. Aesopus became completely absorbed in his roles; the biographer Plutarch mentions that, while playing the part of Atreus deliberating revenge, Aesopus forgot himself

Mcmahon Line

2005-02-12T22:36:00.000-08:00

Frontier between Tibet and Assam in British India, negotiated between Tibet and Great Britain at the end of the Simla Conference (October 1913–July 1914) and named after the chief British negotiator, Sir Henry McMahon. It runs from the eastern border of Bhutan along the crest of the Himalayas until it reaches the great bend in the Brahmaputra River where that river emerges

Utah, Mormon settlement and territorial growth

2005-02-12T10:24:00.000-08:00

When wagonloads of Mormon pioneers under the leadership of Brigham Young first entered

Biencourt, Charles De, Baron De Saint-just

2005-02-12T09:47:00.000-08:00

In 1606 Biencourt sailed with his father, Jean de Biencourt de Poutrincourt, Baron de Saint-Just, to New France (Canada). In 1607 they abandoned their establishment and fort at Port Royal, Acadia, because of insufficient funds. Failing to obtain a Canadian fur-trade

Yablonovy Range

2005-02-11T05:37:00.000-08:00

Russian Yablonovy Khrebet, mountain range in the Transbaikalia region of Chita oblast (province) and Buryatiya, in far eastern Russia. The range is some 500 miles (800 km) long northeast–southwest and reaches a maximum height of 5,512 feet (1,680 m) in Mount Kusotuy. Formed principally of granites and gneisses, it has been uplifted and much-fractured. The highest peaks are bare, but most of the range is densely forested

Apure River

2005-02-11T03:29:00.000-08:00

Spanish Río Apure, river in western Venezuela. The major navigable tributary of the Orinoco River, it arises in the Cordillera de Mérida and flows for 510 miles (820 km) northeast and east through the heart of the Llanos (plains), Venezuela's most important cattle-raising area. The river's principal tributaries, including the Portuguesa and the Guárico, flow mainly from the north. During the rainy

Coracle

2005-02-10T20:22:00.000-08:00

Irish curragh primitive, light, bowl-shaped boat with a frame of woven grasses, reeds, or saplings covered with hides. Those still used, in Wales and on the coasts of Ireland, usually have a canvas and tar covering. American Indians used the similar bullboat, covered with buffalo hides, on the Missouri River, and the corita, often sealed with bitumen, on the Colorado.

India, Wars and rivalries

2005-02-10T18:22:00.000-08:00

Harihara II's death in 1404 was followed by a violent succession dispute among his three surviving sons. Only after two of them had been crowned and dethroned was the third, Devaraya I (reigned 1406–22), able to emerge victorious. Continuing instability, however, coupled with the involvement of Vijayanagar and the Bahmani sultanate as backers of different claimants to the throne

World War I, The end of the German War

2005-02-09T06:37:00.000-08:00

Georg von Hertling, who had taken the place of Michaelis as Germany's chancellor in November 1917 but had proved no more capable than he of restraining Ludendorff and Hindenburg, tendered his resignation on Sept. 29, 1918, the day of the Bulgarian armistice and of the major development of the British attack on the Western Front. Pending the appointment of a new chancellor, Ludendorff

Hancock, Herbie

2005-02-08T13:51:00.000-08:00

At age 11 Hancock played the first movement of a Mozart concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He formed

Wage And Salary

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

The residual-claimant theory holds that, after all other factors of production have received their share of the product, the amount left goes to the remaining factor. Adam Smith implied such a theory for wages, since he said that rent would be deducted first and profits next. Francis A. Walker in 1875 worked out a residual theory of wages in which the shares of the landlord,

Rachmaninoff, Sergey

2005-02-07T16:10:00.000-08:00

Rachmaninoff's music, although written mostly in the 20th century, remains firmly entrenched in the 19th-century musical idiom. He was, in effect, the final expression of the tradition embodied by Tchaikovsky—a melodist of Romantic dimensions still writing in an era of explosive change and experimentation.