WhitesilverStomach

Watercolour

2005-04-04T11:46:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Watercolor, pigment ground in gum, usually gum arabic, and applied with brush and water to a painting surface, usually paper; the term also denotes a work of art executed in this medium. The pigment is ordinarily transparent but can be made opaque by mixing with a whiting and in this form is known as body colour, or gouache (q.v.); it can also be mixed with casein, a phosphoprotein of

Gairdner, Lake

2005-04-03T11:09:00.000-07:00

Largest of a group of shallow depressions west of Lake Torrens in central South Australia, 240 mi northwest of Adelaide. It measures 100 mi (160 km) long by 30 mi wide. Lying at the base of the Eyre Peninsula, the lake is a dry salt pan (playa) intermittently filled with water. Visited in 1857 almost simultaneously by Stephen Hack and Peter E. Warburton, it is named after Gordon Gairdner, former

Atatürk, Kemal

2005-03-31T19:04:00.000-08:00

Atatürk was born in 1881 in Salonika, then a thriving port of the Ottoman Empire, and was given the name Mustafa. His father, Ali Riza, had been a lieutenant in a local militia unit during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, indicating that his origins were within the Ottoman ruling class, if only marginally. Mustafa's mother, Zübeyde Hanim, came from a farming community west of

Beyer-garratt

2005-03-29T04:53:00.000-08:00

Type of steam locomotive characterized by tremendous hauling capacity and light axle loads. This British-built locomotive had two articulated pivoting chassis, each with its own wheels, cylinders, and water tanks. These chassis supported a girder frame that carried a boiler, cab, and the fuel supply. The Beyer-Garratt was particularly well-suited for rail lines

Catalysis

2005-03-28T19:26:00.000-08:00

The term catalysis was first used in 1835 by the Swedish chemist Jons Jacob Berzelius to characterize phenomena observed by chemists in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Examples of catalysis, however, were known much

écorché

2005-03-25T10:05:00.000-08:00

From roughly the 15th century, Western artists began to concern themselves with accurate representation of the body—and, in particular, the working of muscles. Often artists witnessed (and sometimes performed) dissections on cadavers to determine

David

2005-03-24T06:39:00.000-08:00

Marble sculpture executed from 1501 to 1504 by the Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo. The statue was commissioned for the cathedral of Florence, but the Florentine government decided instead to place it in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. The original is now in the Accademia, and a copy has been installed in the Piazza della Signoria.

Anderson, Richard Heron

2005-03-23T21:43:00.000-08:00

Anderson graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1842 and won the brevet of first lieutenant in the Mexican War, becoming first lieutenant in 1848 and captain in 1855; he took part in the following year in the Kansas troubles. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, he resigned from the

Early Netherlandish Art

2005-03-22T20:26:00.000-08:00

In 1363 John II of France

Earth Sciences, Ocean circulation, currents, and waves

2005-03-19T21:27:00.000-08:00

Early in the century Vilhelm Bjerknes, a Norwegian meteorologist, and V. Walfrid Ekman, a Swedish physical oceanographer, investigated the dynamics of ocean circulation and developed theoretical principles that have influenced subsequent studies of currents in the sea. Bjerknes showed that very small forces resulting from pressure differences caused by

Antarctica, Glaciers and seas

2005-03-19T06:02:00.000-08:00

Malcolm Mellor (ed.), Antarctic Snow and Ice Studies (1964); and A.P. Crary (ed.), Antarctic Snow and Ice Studies II (1971), are collections mainly of topical studies of greatly varied scope. John Mercer, Glaciers of the Antarctic (1967), provides a general review of Antarctica's glaciers. Stephen J. Pyne, The Ice (1986), investigates Antarctic ice and also describes other aspects of the region, including exploration, literature, and art. A.L. Gordon and R.D. Goldberg, Circumpolar Characteristics of Antarctic Waters (1970); and Joseph L. Reid and Dennis E. Hayes (eds.), Antarctic Oceanology, 2 vol. (1971–72), describe features of South Polar water masses, their currents, and their interactions with subtropical and subantarctic waters, as well as of the ocean floor and sediment carpet. George Deacon, The Antarctic Circumpolar Ocean (1984), includes a summary of early discoveries by explorers, sealers, and whalers and a review of modern knowledge of Antarctic waters.

Mcpherson

2005-03-17T14:52:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1873) of McPherson county, central Kansas, U.S. Laid out in 1872 on the Santa Fe Trail, it was named for James B. McPherson, a Union general killed in the American Civil War. The city is now a processing and shipping point for nearby oil fields and the surrounding diversified agricultural area. Industries include oil refining, flour milling, and the manufacture of aluminum

Jefferson, Thomas, Life at Monticello

2005-03-17T03:07:00.000-08:00

The domestic context at Monticello is the subject of several important books. Sarah N. Randolph, The Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson (1871, reprinted 1978), provides an affectionate portrait by his descendants. Jack McLaughlin, Jefferson and Monticello: The Biography of a Builder (1988, reissued 1990), goes beyond architectural issues to explore the daily lives of all the residents on the mountain. Elizabeth Langhorne, Monticello: A Family Story (1987, reissued 1989), focuses on the white residents. Edwin Morris Betts (ed.), Thomas Jefferson's Farm Book (1953, reprinted 1987), reproduces Jefferson's plantation records. Susan R. Stein, The Worlds of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello (1993), recovers the material objects Jefferson gathered inside the mansion. Merrill D. Peterson (ed.), Visitors to Monticello (1989), reproduces the accounts of firsthand observers.

Qian Zhongshu

2005-03-15T22:45:00.000-08:00

Qian attended missionary schools in Su-chou and Wu-hsi while receiving English and classical Chinese training under the tutelage of his father, Qian Jibo. A student of the Department of

Selim I

2005-03-15T10:35:00.000-08:00

Selim came to the throne in the wake of civil strife in which he, his brother, and their father, Bayezid II, had been involved. Selim eliminated all potential claimants to the sultanate, leaving only

Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui

2005-03-14T13:33:00.000-08:00

Pachacuti first conquered various peoples in what is now southern Peru and then extended his power

Dandenong Ranges

2005-03-14T01:57:00.000-08:00

Mountain ranges, part of the Eastern Highlands, east of Melbourne in southern Victoria, Australia. Several peaks exceed 1,600 ft (500 m), the highest of which is Mt. Dandenong (2,077 ft). With nearly twice as much rainfall as the nearby coastal plain and with fertile volcanic soils, the mountains have dense vegetative cover. The name is derived from an Aboriginal word, tanjenong, meaning

Sabkhah

2005-03-11T15:48:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Sebkha (Arabic), saline flat or salt-crusted depression, commonly found along the coasts of North Africa and Saudi Arabia. Sabkhahs are generally bordered by sand dunes and have soft, poorly cemented but impermeable floors, due to periodic flooding and evaporation. Concentration of seawater and capillary discharge of groundwater result in deposits of gypsum, calcite,

Mahar

2005-03-11T13:37:00.000-08:00

A caste-cluster, or group of many endogamous castes, living chiefly in Maharashtra state, India, and in adjoining states. They mostly speak Marathi, the official language of Maharashtra. In the early 1980s the Mahar community was believed to constitute about 9 percent of the total population of Maharashtra—by far the largest, most widespread, and most important of all the officially

Alabama, Climate

2005-03-09T20:31:00.000-08:00

The Alabama climate is temperate, with an average annual temperature of about 64° F (18° C), mellowed by altitude to some 60° F (16° C) in the northern counties and reaching 67° F (19° C) in the southern counties, although summer heat is often alleviated somewhat by the winds blowing in from the Gulf. Occasionally the temperature may rise to 100° F (38° C) in the summer, whereas snow may occasionally fall in

Argentina, Agribusiness

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

Beef initiated industrialization in Argentina. The success of beef came as refrigeration techniques were perfected to allow, after 1876, for the storage and shipment of fresh meat. By the late 1920s frigoríficos (meat-packing plants) were located in various parts of the country, several of them in the Buenos Aires area. Later shipments proceeded from La Plata, Rosario, and

Blood Cell Formation

2005-03-07T22:22:00.000-08:00

Blood cells do not

Main Range

2005-03-06T07:15:00.000-08:00

Also called Central Range , or Buffalo Range mountain range in West Malaysia, the most prominent mountain group on the Malay Peninsula. Composed of granite with some patches of altered stratified rocks, the range extends southward for 300 miles (480 km) from the Thai border, with elevations rarely less than 3,000 feet (900 m) and some peaks exceeding 7,000 feet (2,100 m; high point Mount Korbu [Kerbau], or Buffalo Mountain, 7,162 feet [2,183 m]). The heavily forested

Anatolia

2005-03-05T18:46:00.000-08:00

This article discusses the history and cultures of ancient Anatolia beginning

Sardanapalus

2005-03-04T19:47:00.000-08:00

According to the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus, Sardanapalus was the last of a line of 30 kings of Assyria, who exceeded all his predecessors

San Gabriel

2005-03-03T03:30:00.000-08:00

City, Los Angeles county, southern California, U.S. It lies in the San Gabriel Valley, east of downtown Los Angeles. Mission San Gabriel Arcangel, founded in 1771 by Father Junípero Serra and the fourth in the California chain of 21 missions, was moved 4.5 miles (7 km) to its present site in 1775. The fortresslike mission church resembling the Córdoba Mosque (Spain) formed the nucleus of a mixed-farming

Dachau

2005-03-02T15:58:00.000-08:00

Dachau is situated on a hill, on the summit of which are the castle of the Wittelsbachs and a parish church (1625). The city's picturesque natural setting has long attracted landscape painters.

Vandegrift, Alexander A.

2005-02-28T22:29:00.000-08:00

Commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps in 1909, Vandegrift had advanced to major general by 1942. Having served in Nicaragua, Haiti, and China, he was prepared for the jungle-warfare

Abu Al-'atahiyah

2005-02-28T21:35:00.000-08:00

Abu al-'Atahiyah (“Father of Craziness”) came from a family of mawlas, poor non-Arabs who were clients of the 'Anaza Arab tribe. The family's poverty prevented Abu al-'Atahiyah from receiving

I-ch'un

2005-02-26T09:04:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Yichun, city, central Heilungkiang sheng (province), China. I-ch'un is situated in the densely forested area of the Hsiao hsing-an (Lesser Khingan) Range, at the intersection of the I-ch'un River, from which it takes its name, and the T'ang-wang, a tributary of the Sungari River. Until 1949 it was a minor market town under T'ang-yuan hsien (county). Since 1949 it has grown at an astonishing rate as a major

Downey, June Etta

2005-02-25T18:23:00.000-08:00

Downey graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1895. After a year of teaching school in Laramie, she resumed her education at the University of Chicago, where in 1898 she took a master's degree in philosophy and

Belize, Daily life

2005-02-23T09:32:00.000-08:00

The social class of the people—whether they are poor or middle class—affects whether they will have such amenities as a car or television and influences as well whether their children will complete secondary school. Belizeans who have television watch mostly foreign programs, such as Mexican soap operas and North American sports; and the music they listen to largely

Roman

2005-02-22T15:38:00.000-08:00

When the art of printing from movable metal type was perfected midway through the 15th century, letter cutters attempted to make their letter forms

Sri Lanka, Recreation

2005-02-21T11:17:00.000-08:00

The sites of ancient cities and other religiocultural centres such as Anuradhapura, Sigiriya, Polonnaruwa, Kandy, Kataragama, and Adam's Peak attract thousands of tourists

Augustus, Caesar

2005-02-19T20:24:00.000-08:00

Returning to Italy, he was told that in his will Caesar had adopted him as his son and had made him his chief personal heir. He was only 18 when, against the advice of his stepfather and others, he decided to take up this perilous inheritance and proceeded to Rome. Mark Antony (Marcus Antonius), Caesar's chief lieutenant, who had taken possession of his papers and assets and had

Blom, Frans Ferdinand

2005-02-19T06:26:00.000-08:00

After graduating from the

Heinicke, Samuel

2005-02-18T11:22:00.000-08:00

After receiving only a village school education, Heinicke enlisted in the army, where he found time to indulge his intense fondness for books and his interest in languages. He studied Latin and French and began to teach both languages. He was stirred

Furniture, Metal

2005-02-17T00:28:00.000-08:00

Metals have been used since antiquity for making furniture or ornaments for furniture. Splendid Egyptian pieces, such as the thrones and stool that were found in the tomb of the youthful Tutankhamen (14th century BC), were rich in gold mounts (decorative details). In ancient Greece, bronze, iron, and silver were used for making furniture. Finds that were buried in the ashes

Steel, Argon-oxygen decarburization

2005-02-15T07:55:00.000-08:00

In the production of stainless steel and other high-alloy grades that contain highly oxidizable elements such as chromium, lowering the levels of carbon by regular oxygen injection has the undesirable consequence of oxidizing the alloying elements as well. The argon-oxygen decarburization (AOD) process alleviates this problem by diluting the injected oxygen

Schlesinger, Arthur M(eier)

2005-02-15T04:54:00.000-08:00

Schlesinger graduated from Ohio State University in 1910. When he entered Columbia University, New York City, to continue graduate study in history, he came under the influence of the progressive scholarship of James H. Robinson,

Sanidinite Facies

2005-02-14T00:26:00.000-08:00

One of the major divisions of the mineral facies classification of metamorphic rocks, the rocks of which form under the most intense conditions of contact metamorphism—either at the contacts of igneous intrusions with the surrounding rocks or in inclusions of other rocks in intrusions. Temperatures approaching the melting point of the rock may be reached; the

Soto

2005-02-13T18:19:00.000-08:00

The sect was founded in China in the 9th century by Liang-chieh and Pen-chi, where it was known as Ts'ao-tung (after its monastic centres on the mountains Ts'ao and Tung). It was transmitted to Japan by Dogen, who founded the Eihei Temple

Sinn Féin

2005-02-12T18:48:00.000-08:00

Political wing of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). Sinn Féin, organized in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, is a Nationalist party in Northern Ireland, representing Roman Catholics who want to achieve a united Ireland through whatever means are necessary, including violence. The party was led by Gerry Adams from 1983.

Fremont

2005-02-11T07:45:00.000-08:00

City, Alameda county, California, U.S., on the southeast shore of San Francisco Bay (there spanned by the Dumbarton Bridge), on the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct. Site of Mission San José de Guadalupe (founded in 1797), the city, named for John C. Frémont, the Western explorer, was formed in 1956 through the amalgamation of five communities—Centerville, Irvington, Niles, Mission San José, and Warm

Duchesne, Louis-marie-olivier

2005-02-09T09:12:00.000-08:00

Ordained a priest in 1867, he studied in Rome and in Paris (1871–73), where he was appointed professor at the Catholic

Melamine

2005-02-09T02:57:00.000-08:00

Melamine is manufactured by heating dicyandiamide under pressure. Its most important reaction is that with formaldehyde, forming resinous compounds of high molecular weight.

Sudan, History Of The, Medieval Christian kingdoms

2005-02-08T07:51:00.000-08:00

The 200 years from the fall of Kush to the middle of the 6th century is an unknown age in the Sudan. Nubia was inhabited by a people called the Nobatae by the ancient geographers and the X-Group by modern archaeologists, who are still at a loss to explain their origins. The X-Group were clearly, however, the heirs of Kush, for their whole cultural life was dominated by Meroitic

Pre-columbian Civilizations, Administration of the empire

2005-02-07T23:39:00.000-08:00

Topa Inca Yupanqui returned to Cuzco, secure in the knowledge that Inca power could not be challenged. The rapid expansion of the empire, however, created a number of problems concerned with sustaining themselves and governing a large number of diverse ethnic groups. Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui and Topa Inca Yupanqui were imaginative and made several important innovations

Topographical Poetry

2005-02-06T19:26:00.000-08:00

Verse genre characterized by the description of a particular landscape. A subgenre, the prospect poem, details the view from a height. The form was established by John Denham in 1642 with the publication of his poem Cooper's Hill. Topographical poems were at their peak of popularity in the 17th and 18th centuries, though there are examples from the early 19th century, including

Kubrick, Stanley

2005-02-06T08:06:00.000-08:00

Having become interested in photography in high school, Kubrick became a staff photographer

Gabbro

2005-02-03T15:48:00.000-08:00

Any of several medium- or coarse-grained rocks that consist primarily of plagioclase feldspar and pyroxene. Essentially, gabbro is the intrusive (plutonic) equivalent of basalt, but whereas basalt is often remarkably homogeneous in mineralogy and composition, gabbros are exceedingly variable. Gabbros are found widely on the Earth and on the Moon as well. Gabbros

Dualism

2005-02-03T01:24:00.000-08:00

In philosophy, the use of two irreducible, heterogeneous principles (sometimes in conflict, sometimes complementary) to analyze the knowing process (epistemological dualism) or to explain all of reality or some broad aspect of it (metaphysical dualism). Examples of epistemological dualism are being and thought, subject and object, and sense datum and thing; examples

Gammarid

2005-02-01T04:32:00.000-08:00

Any member of the family Gammaridae, the largest of 80 or so families that make up the crustacean order Amphipoda. The name is sometimes also used to refer to amphipods of the genus Gammarus. The body of a gammarid is of basic amphipod shape: it is flattened from side to side, with seven pairs of thoracic walking legs (the first two pairs often enlarged) and six pairs of abdominal

Anno, Saint

2005-01-31T10:24:00.000-08:00

Educated at Bamberg, Anno became confessor to the Holy Roman emperor Henry III, who appointed him archbishop in 1056. He was the leader of the party that abducted the young king Henry IV from his mother, Agnes of Poitou. Anno then seized the

Elizabeth I

2005-01-29T09:59:00.000-08:00

Elizabeth's early years were not auspicious. She was born at Greenwich Palace, the daughter of the Tudor king Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. Henry had defied the pope and broken England from the authority of the Roman Catholic church in order to dissolve his marriage with his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, who had borne him a daughter, Mary. Since the king

Argentina, Discovery and settlement

2005-01-27T11:24:00.000-08:00

The main Atlantic outline of Argentina was revealed to European explorers in the early 16th century. The Río de la Plata estuary was discovered years before Ferdinand Magellan traversed the Strait of Magellan in 1520, although historians dispute whether the estuary was first reached by Amerigo Vespucci in 1501–02 or by Juan Díaz de Solís in his ill-fated voyage of 1516. Solís and a

Cambrai, Battle Of

2005-01-24T16:13:00.000-08:00

Carried out by the 3rd Army under General Sir Julian Byng in order to relieve pressure on the French front, the offensive consisted of an assault against the Germans' Hindenburg line along a 10-mile (16-kilometre) front some 8 miles

Hwarangdo

2005-01-23T00:32:00.000-08:00

The hwarang warriors played an instrumental

Porcelain Enamelling

2005-01-21T21:58:00.000-08:00

Also called Vitreous Enamelling, process of fusing a thin layer of glass to a metal object to prevent corrosion and enhance its beauty. Porcelain-enamelled iron is used extensively for such articles as kitchen pots and pans, bathtubs, refrigerators, chemical and food tanks, and equipment for meat markets. In architecture it serves as facing for buildings. Being a glass, porcelain enamelling has the

Arctic, Animals of the land and fresh water

2005-01-18T07:35:00.000-08:00

The typical and best-known Arctic land mammals and birds are those highly successful forms, most of them circumpolar in distribution, that survived the Pleistocene glaciations probably both south and north of the ice sheets: south along the ice perimeter and north in ice-free refuges such as northern Alaska, the Bering Strait (then dry land) and northeastern Siberia,

Argentina

2005-01-17T16:59:00.000-08:00

In the political arena, the first round of presidential elections was held on April 27. The election

Bonaparte, Louis-lucien

2005-01-14T13:16:00.000-08:00

He passed his youth in Italy and did not go to France until 1848, when he served two brief terms in the Assembly as representative for Corsica (1848) and for the Seine (1849). He played no direct part in the coup d'etat of Dec. 2, 1851, of his cousin Napoleon

Peribsen

2005-01-13T20:02:00.000-08:00

Egyptian king of the 2nd dynasty (c. 2775–c. 2650 BC), who promoted the cult of the god Seth over that of Horus, the god favoured by his predecessors. His tomb was located in Seth's district in Upper Egypt, at Abydos. According to some scholars, Peribsen's ascendancy was accompanied by a violent reaction against the supporters of Horus, but the supremacy of Horus was restored after his

Sea Spider

2005-01-11T01:21:00.000-08:00

Most pycnogonids have four pairs of long legs attached to four trunk segments. The body size ranges from 3 millimetres ( 1/8 inch) in

Sabatier, Paul

2005-01-09T03:51:00.000-08:00

Sabatier studied at the École Normale

Cumaná

2005-01-06T14:36:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Sucre estado (“state”), northeastern Venezuela. On the Manzanares River, 1 mile (1.6 km) inland from its port, Puerto Sucre, on the Caribbean Sea at the mouth of the river, Cumaná has an elevation of 52 feet (16 m) and an average temperature of 83° F (28° C). Founded as Nueva Córdoba in 1523, Cumaná claims to be the oldest European settlement on the South American mainland. Despite attacks

Yüeh

2005-01-04T07:11:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Yue, aboriginal people of South China who in the 5th–4th century BC formed a powerful kingdom in present-day Chekiang and Fukien provinces. The name Vietnam means “south of the Yüeh,” and some Chinese scholars consider the Vietnamese to be descendants of the Yüeh.

Printmaking, Aquatint

2005-01-02T19:44:00.000-08:00

Aquatint is a process used to etch tonal areas on the plate. The first step is to give the plate a porous ground by dusting it with rosin powder and fusing the powder to the plate by means of heat. When the plate is etched, the acid goes through the pores in the ground and bites tiny cavities in the metal. These cavities hold the ink. A variety of tones and textures can be created,

Grader

2005-01-01T02:48:00.000-08:00

In excavation, precision finishing vehicle for final shaping of surfaces on which pavement will be placed. Between its front and rear wheels a grader carries a broad mechanically or hydraulically controlled blade that can be extended from either side. Either end of the blade can be raised or lowered. Graders may be used for shallow ditching, but most models are used

Antequera

2004-12-30T13:31:00.000-08:00

City, Málaga province, in the autonomous community (region) of Andalusia, southern Spain, northwest of Málaga, at the foot of the Sierra del Torcal. Neolithic dolmens (Menga, Viera, and El Romeral) attest to prehistoric occupation of the site. The city, known to the Romans as Anticaria and to the Moors as Madinah Antakira, was reconquered for Christian Spain by the infante

Accused, Rights Of

2004-12-28T05:27:00.000-08:00

All legal systems provide, at least on paper, guarantees

Madder

2004-12-26T13:42:00.000-08:00

Also called Dyer's Madder, any of several species of plants belonging to the genus Rubia of the madder family, Rubiaceae. Rubia tinctorum and R. peregrina are native European plants, and R. cordifolia is native to the hilly districts of India and Java. Rubia is a genus of about 40 species; its members are characterized by lance-shaped leaves that grow in whorls and by small yellowish flowers that

Cassel, Gustav

2004-12-23T11:52:00.000-08:00

Cassel was educated at the University of Uppsala and Stockholm University and served as a professor of economics at the latter (1904–33). His most

Pietas

2004-12-21T00:02:00.000-08:00

In Roman religion, personification of a respectful and faithful attachment to gods, country, and relatives, especially parents. Pietas had a temple at Rome, dedicated in 181 BC, and was often represented on coins as a female figure carrying a palm branch and a sceptre or as a matron casting incense upon an altar, sometimes accompanied by a stork, the symbol of filial piety.

Aetius, Flavius

2004-12-19T14:48:00.000-08:00

The son of a magister equitum (“master of the cavalry”), Aetius in his youth spent some time as a hostage with the Visigothic leader Alaric, and later with the Huns, thus acquiring valuable knowledge of the leading

Gipon

2004-12-17T05:15:00.000-08:00

Later in the century the gipon became shorter, and it was replaced by the doublet in the 15th and 16th centuries. For a time it was called a pourpoint.

Mahan, Alfred Thayer

2004-12-15T08:00:00.000-08:00

Mahan was the son of a professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., in 1859 and went on to serve nearly 40 years of active duty in the U.S. Navy. He fought in

Cão, Diogo

2004-12-13T10:08:00.000-08:00

Cão was the first European to discover the mouth of the Congo River (August 1482). There he set up a stone pillar to mark Portuguese overlordship of the area. Sailing a short way upstream, he found that the inhabitants along the banks appeared willing to trade. He then traveled southward along the present Angola coast and erected a second

La Crosse

2004-12-12T11:14:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1851) of La Crosse county, western Wisconsin, U.S. It lies along the Mississippi River at the influx of the Black and La Crosse rivers, 129 miles (208 km) northwest of Madison. The settlement developed around a trading post (1841) on a site that French explorers named Prairie la Crosse, after the game of lacrosse played by the Indians there. A natural river port, it became an important

Mayon Volcano

2004-12-09T21:25:00.000-08:00

Active volcano, southeastern Luzon, Philippines, dominating the city of Legaspi. Called the world's most perfect cone, it has a base 80 miles (130 km) in circumference and rises to 7,943 feet (2,421 m) from the shores of Albay Gulf. Popular with climbers and campers, it is the centre of Mayon Volcano National Park (21 square miles [55 square km]). There are large abaca plantations on its lower slopes.

Accompaniment

2004-12-07T16:15:00.000-08:00

In music, auxiliary part or parts of a composition designed to support the principal part or to throw it into relief. In secular medieval music and in much folk and non-European music, instrumental accompaniments for singers consist of unison or octave duplications of the melody (sometimes with slight differences, creating heterophony, the simultaneous performance

Piglia, Ricardo

2004-12-06T08:50:00.000-08:00

After attending the National University of La Plata in 1961–62, Piglia began to write fiction; his first collection of short stories, La invasión (1967), established his reputation as a writer. Another collection, Nombre falso (1975; Assumed Name), includes

French Literature, Religious authors

2004-12-04T19:46:00.000-08:00

A new intellectual climate can be recognized from 1680 onward. An increased spiritual awareness resulting from Jansenist teaching, the preaching of Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet and others, and the influence of Mme de Maintenon at court, marked French cultural life with a new moral earnestness and devotion. The position of Bossuet is an ambivalent one. In spite of his outspoken

Say, Thomas

2004-12-01T00:09:00.000-08:00

Say accompanied various expeditions in North American territory, including an exploration of the Rocky Mountains led by Stephen

An Chung-shik

2004-11-30T00:35:00.000-08:00

As a promising young painter, An Chung-shik was sent to China for training by the Korean court. Upon his return he became a master of the popular Southern style, with its emphasis on fingertip technique. He was also a noted calligrapher who mastered all the writing styles. Interested in

Seleucia Pieria

2004-11-27T05:08:00.000-08:00

Greek Seleukeia, in ancient Syria, port of Antioch and frontier fortress on the Cilician border (near modern Samandag, Turkey), 4 miles (6 km) north of the mouth of the Orontes River. With Antioch, Apamea, and Laodicea it formed the Syrian tetrapolis. The town occupied the rocky slopes of Musa Dagi, and its natural fortifications and good harbour soon made it the port for the important city of Antioch.

Athena

2004-11-26T14:24:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Athene in Greek religion, the city protectress, goddess of war, handicraft, and practical reason, identified by the Romans with Minerva (q.v.). She was essentially urban and civilized, the antithesis in many respects of Artemis, goddess of the outdoors. Athena was probably a pre-Hellenic goddess and was later taken over by the Greeks. Yet the Greek economy, unlike that

Dyer-bennet, Richard

2004-11-24T03:30:00.000-08:00

Though born in England, Dyer-Bennet grew up in Canada and California and attended the University of California at

Johansson, Ingemar

2004-11-22T18:00:00.000-08:00

As an amateur boxer Johansson was a member of the European Golden Gloves team in 1951 and the Swedish Olympic Games team in 1952. He won the European

Racine, Jean

2004-11-19T01:01:00.000-08:00

Racine was born into a provincial family of minor administrators. His mother died 13 months after he was born, and his father died two years later. His paternal grandparents took him in, and when his grandmother, Marie des Moulins, became a widow, she brought Racine, then age nine, with her to the convent of Port-Royal des Champs near Paris. Since a group of devout scholars and

Tibet, Finance

2004-11-17T20:08:00.000-08:00

There were no banks before 1951. Small loans to be paid with interest could be obtained from local merchants, and the Tibetan government loaned public funds at interest as a means of collecting revenue. The Chinese have established branches of the People's Bank of China and have also extended agricultural and commercial credit and introduced Chinese currency.

Arnim, Harry, Graf (count) Von

2004-11-16T16:26:00.000-08:00

After studying

Gondophernes

2004-11-13T00:32:00.000-08:00

Gondophernes was first known from the apocryphal

Haber, Fritz

2004-11-12T20:30:00.000-08:00

Deciding on an academic career, he first took up organic chemical research at the University of Jena, but its orthodox methods gave

Eilhart Von Oberg

2004-11-09T14:57:00.000-08:00

German poet important in the history of the court epic and the development of the Tristan and Isolde story in Romance literature. Eilhart was a member of a Brunswick family mentioned in the records of Henry III of Saxony. His epic, Tristrant und Isalde, a laboured version of an Old French source now lost, dates from the last quarter of the 12th century. Uncertainty

Calais And Zetes

2004-11-07T05:58:00.000-08:00

In Greek mythology, the winged twin sons of Boreas and Oreithyia. On their arrival with the Argonauts at Salmydessus in Thrace, they liberated their sister Cleopatra, who had been thrown into prison by her husband, Phineus, the king of the country. According to another story, they delivered Phineus from the Harpies. They were slain by Heracles near the island of Tenos,

Wan-li

2004-11-05T18:08:00.000-08:00

Wan-li was a recluse whose apparent inattention to government affairs contributed to the abuses of power by provincial officials and other political figures that came to dominate that era of Chinese history. The violence and corruption among leaders of the northern provinces led

Guernsey

2004-11-03T14:34:00.000-08:00

In the south, Guernsey rises in a plateau to about 300 ft (90 m), with ragged coastal cliffs. It descends in steps and is drained

Sea Robin

2004-11-02T18:51:00.000-08:00

Also called gurnard any of the slim, bottom-dwelling fish of the family Triglidae, found in warm and temperate seas of the world. Sea robins are elongated fish with armoured, bony heads and two dorsal fins. Their pectoral fins are fan-shaped, with the bottom few rays each forming separate feelers. These feelers are used by the fishes in “walking” on the bottom and in sensing mollusks, crustaceans,

Tasmania

2004-10-31T17:05:00.000-08:00

J.L. Davies (ed.), Atlas of Tasmania (1965), offers comprehensive map coverage with detailed commentary. The Tasmanian Year Book (biennial) is the most comprehensive single reference. C.F. Burrett and E.L. Martin (eds.), Geology and Mineral Resources of Tasmania (1989), is also useful. Margaret Stones and Winifred Curtis, The Endemic Flora of Tasmania, 6 pt. (1967–76), is a definitive study, beautifully illustrated. W.A. Townsley, The Government of Tasmania (1976), is a good political guide. The great 19th-century history is by John West, The History of Tasmania, 2 vol. (1852, reissued in 1 vol., 1971); its successor is by Lloyd Robson, A History of Tasmania, 2 vol. (1983–91), who has also written A Short History of Tasmania (1985). Outstanding historical monographs include Peter Bolger, Hobart Town (1973); Geoffrey Blainey, The Peaks of Lyell, 4th ed. (1978), on copper mining; and Marilyn Lake, A Divided Society: Tasmania During World War I (1975). P. Conrad, Down Home: Revisiting Tasmania (1988, also published as Behind the Mountain: Return to Tasmania, 1989), is an account by an intellectual aghast at the oddities of his native spot.