WetLibrary

Heinrich Von Melk

2005-04-05T11:50:00.000-07:00

A Benedictine lay brother of the Austrian monastery of Melk, he composed a vivid poem Von des Tôdes gehügede (c. 1150–60; “Remembrance of Death” or “Memento Mori”). The monkish theme is traditional, but the poem's satiric edge and unflattering description of the contemporary emerging feudal and courtly culture

Computers, Interpreters

2005-04-05T10:19:00.000-07:00

HLL coding was attempted right from the start of the stored-program era in the late 1940s. Shortcode, or short-order code, was the first such language actually implemented. Suggested by John Mauchly in 1949, it was implemented by William Schmitt for the BINAC computer in that year and for UNIVAC in 1950. Shortcode went through multiple steps: first it converted the alphabetic statements

Grabau, Amadeus William

2005-04-04T18:53:00.000-07:00

Grabau was a member of the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, from 1892 until 1897 and of the Rensselaer Polytechnical Institute from 1899 until 1901, when he became a professor at Columbia

Berengar Ii

2005-04-03T18:31:00.000-07:00

Berengar was important in the career of the German king and Holy Roman emperor Otto I the Great. For several months in 951 he held captive Adelaide, the daughter and widow of kings of Italy; she escaped and married Otto, who assumed the title of king of the Lombards and made Berengar his vassal. Later (from 960) Berengar and his son

Reformed Churches In The Netherlands

2005-04-03T18:03:00.000-07:00

The Christian Reformed Church was organized by seceders who left The Netherlands Reformed Church (q.v.) in 1834 because of disagreements over church organization

Wigglesworth, Sir Vincent (brian)

2005-04-02T17:26:00.000-08:00

English entomologist, noted for his contribution to the study of insect physiology. His investigations of the living insect body and its tissues and organs revealed much about the dynamic complexity of individual insects and their interactions with the environment. His Insect Physiology (1934) is often

Singhasari

2005-04-01T10:12:00.000-08:00

Kingdom based in eastern Java that emerged in the first half of the 13th century after the decline of the kingdom of Kadiri. Singhasari's first king, Ken Angrok (or Ken Arok), defeated the king of Kadiri, Kertajaya, in 1222. The last king of Singhasari, Kertanagara (q.v.; 1268–92), was able to unite eastern Java temporarily. Toward the end of Kertanagara's reign, Kublai Khan, the great khan of the Mongols

Uda

2005-04-01T08:03:00.000-08:00

The son of the emperor Koko, Uda was one of the few rulers during this period whose mother was not a member of the Fujiwara family, which, partly through intermarriage with the imperial line, dominated Japan from 859 to 1160. During the first part of Uda's reign, Mototsune, the head of the Fujiwara house, occupied the post of kampaku,

Vieira, Luandino

2005-03-31T21:55:00.000-08:00

Vieira immigrated with his parents to Angola in 1938, living in and around the musseques (African quarters) of Luanda. His writings reflect the fusion of Kimbundu (the language of the Mbundu people) and a variety of Portuguese that is the unique language of the musseque. Vieira, a white Angolan, committed

Silchar

2005-03-30T16:34:00.000-08:00

City, southern Assam state, northeastern India. Situated on the Surma River near the Bangladesh border, it is a trade and processing centre for tea, rice, and other agricultural products. There is limited industry, principally papermaking and tea-box manufacturing. The city has an airport and lies on both a rail line and a motor road connecting Aizawl in Mizoram state

Sabinian

2005-03-29T08:45:00.000-08:00

Under Pope Gregory I the Great, he served as papal ambassador at Constantinople, trying to reconcile the Roman Church with Patriarch John IV the Faster, whose claim to the title of ecumenical patriarch was regarded by Gregory to be a threat to Christian unity. Elected in 604 as Gregory's successor, Sabinian seems to have been markedly

Crabgrass

2005-03-27T20:28:00.000-08:00

Also called finger grass any of about 300 species of grasses in the genus Digitaria (family Poaceae), especially D. sanguinalis or the slightly shorter D. ischaemum (smooth crabgrass). D. sanguinalis has long hairs covering its leaves and has five or six spikelets, while D. ischaemum has no hair and only two or three spikelets. Both species are natives of Europe that became widely

Chadwick, Sir Edwin

2005-03-27T13:59:00.000-08:00

As secretary of the royal commission on reform of the poor laws (1834–46), Chadwick was largely responsible for devising the system under which the country was divided into groups of parishes administered by elected boards of guardians,

Canadian High

2005-03-27T13:21:00.000-08:00

Also called Alaskan high large atmospheric high-pressure centre produced by the extremely low winter temperatures over northwestern Canada. Its cold, dense air does not extend above 3 km (2 miles). The high's location east of the Canadian Rockies shelters it from the relatively warm Pacific Ocean and helps it maintain its identity. Its average January sea level pressure is 1,020 millibars (30.12 inches

Insurance

2005-03-25T22:55:00.000-08:00

International insurance is surveyed in Paul P. Rogers, Bruno Schönfelder, and Ehrenfried Schütte, Insurance in Socialist East Europe (1988); Bernard Wasow and Raymond D. Hill (eds.), The Insurance Industry in Economic Development (1986); Robert M. Crowe (ed.), Insurance in the World's Economies (1982); Michael E. Hogue and Douglas G. Olson (eds.), World Insurance Outlook (1982); Wenlee Ting, Multinational Risk Assessment and Management: Strategies for Investment and Marketing Decisions (1988); Werner Pfenningstorf and Donald G. Gifford, A Comparative Study of Liability Law and Compensation Schemes in Ten Countries and the United States (1991); and Norman A. Baglini, Global Risk Management: How U.S. International Corporations Manage Foreign Risks (1983).

Ursula, Saint

2005-03-25T16:20:00.000-08:00

Legendary leader of 11 or 11,000 virgins reputedly martyred at Cologne, now in Germany, by the Huns, 4th-century nomadic invaders of southeastern Europe. The story is based on a 4th- or 5th-century inscription from St. Ursula's Church, Cologne, stating that an ancient basilica had been restored on the site where some holy virgins were killed. Mentioned

Quibdó

2005-03-25T03:35:00.000-08:00

City, western Colombia, on the Río Atrato, in the Pacific coastal plain. Its receipt of more than 420 inches (10,700 mm) of rain a year probably exceeds that of any other equatorial area on Earth. Founded in 1654 as San Francisco de Quibdó, the city has served as Chocó's capital since 1948. It is a regional commercial and manufacturing centre, housing metalworks, sawmills, and clothing and soft-drink

Arguedas Mendieta, Antonio

2005-03-24T21:05:00.000-08:00

Bolivian political leader (b. 1929?, Bolivia—d. Feb. 22, 2000, La Paz, Bol.), rose to become Bolivia's minister of the interior during the 1964–69 military dictatorship of Gen. René Barrientos; recruited by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in 1965, he aided efforts to defeat a guerrilla group in eastern Bolivia led by Che Guevara. Following the capture and execution of Guevara in 1967, Arguedas became disenchanted

Litani River

2005-03-24T17:30:00.000-08:00

Arabic Nahr Al-litani, Latin Leontes, chief river of Lebanon, rising in a low divide west of Baalbek and flowing southwestward through the Al-Biqa' Valley between the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon mountains. Near Marj 'Uyun it bends sharply west and cuts a spectacular gorge up to 900 feet (275 m) deep through the Lebanon Mountains to the Mediterranean south of Sidon. The river's lower course is known as Qasimiyah. Although

China, Economic policies

2005-03-23T20:53:00.000-08:00

In the 1950s and '60s a number of far-reaching changes occurred in China's economic policies and priorities. During the First Five-Year Plan period (1953–57), emphasis was placed on rapid industrial development, partly at the expense of other sectors of the economy. The bulk of the state's investment was channeled into the industrial sector, while agriculture, which occupied more than

Chaser

2005-03-23T03:13:00.000-08:00

A literary work or portion of a literary work that is of a light or mollifying nature in comparison with that which precedes or accompanies it. The metaphor may stem from the practice of following the consumption of strong alcoholic drink with consumption of a less-potent beverage or, occasionally, with food.

Pacific Railway Acts

2005-03-22T23:21:00.000-08:00

The first Pacific Railway Act (July 1, 1862) authorized the building of the railroad and granted rights of way to the Union Pacific to build westward from Omaha, Neb., and to the Central Pacific to build eastward from Sacramento, Calif.

Río Gallegos

2005-03-22T05:13:00.000-08:00

Founded in 1885, it was named for Blasco Gallegos, one of Ferdinand Magellan's pilots, who is credited with discovering the river. Prehistoric cave paintings

Kidd, William

2005-03-21T20:45:00.000-08:00

Kidd's early career is obscure. It is believed he went to sea as a youth. After 1689 he was sailing as

Mormon

2005-03-21T00:58:00.000-08:00

In western New York state in 1827, during a time of intense religious revivalism, Joseph Smith, Jr., a farmer's son, claimed an angel called Moroni gave him golden plates whose engraved records Smith translated into English as the Book of Mormon—so called after Mormon, an ancient American prophet who had made an abridgment of many previous plates. Smith published the Book

Carisbrooke

2005-03-20T03:10:00.000-08:00

Locality on the Isle of Wight, historic county of Hampshire, England. It lies just southwest of Newport. The locality's chief landmark is a great castle on a steep hill that shows three main periods of building—Roman, Norman, and Elizabethan. The remnants of a 3rd-century-CE Roman fort became the site of a Norman castle in the late 11th century. Further walls were added over the

Chamonix-mont-blanc

2005-03-19T21:30:00.000-08:00

Internationally known mountain resort in the French Alps, Haute-Savoie département, Rhône-Alpes region, west of Annecy. It is situated at an elevation of 3,402 feet (1,037 m) on both sides of the Arve River, which rises in the Sea of Ice, largest of Mont Blanc's glaciers. The peaks of the rugged mountain chain of Brévent and Rouges rise to the northwest above the right bank, while the snow-clad

Moses Lake

2005-03-19T14:59:00.000-08:00

City, Grant county, central Washington, U.S., situated on the northeast shore of Moses Lake. Located on a traditional hunting and fishing ground, the town was settled in 1897 and was laid out in 1910 as Neppel; in 1938 it was renamed for the Columbia-Sinkiuse Indian leader Moses. Located in the Columbia River basin, the city serves as the trade centre of an irrigated farm region producing

Gabija

2005-03-19T11:56:00.000-08:00

Also spelled gabieta (Lithuanian) , Latvian uguns mate , Old Prussian panicke in Baltic religion, the domestic hearth fire. In pre-Christian times a holy fire (šventa ugnis) was kept in tribal sanctuaries on high hills and riverbanks, where priests guarded it constantly, extinguishing and rekindling it once a year at the midsummer festival. Eventually this tradition was moved into the home as the gabija, and its care became the responsibility

Quaestor

2005-03-18T07:15:00.000-08:00

With the advent of the republic in the year 509 BC, each of the two consuls, who at first were called praetors, appointed a quaestor to be the

Bull Moose Party

2005-03-18T06:57:00.000-08:00

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.

Pindus Mountains

2005-03-17T21:13:00.000-08:00

In antiquity, the name Pindus applied to ranges south of the Aracynthus (Zygós) Pass west of Thessaly. Occasionally the Pindus is said to extend into Albania but also to include the Tymphrestos (Timfristós) massif and

Strain

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

In physical sciences and engineering, number that describes relative deformation or change in shape and size of elastic, plastic, and fluid materials under applied forces. The deformation, expressed by strain, arises throughout the material as the particles (molecules, atoms, ions) of which the material is composed are slightly displaced from their normal

Spice Trade

2005-03-16T13:25:00.000-08:00

Cinnamon, cassia, cardamom, ginger, and turmeric were known to Eastern peoples thousands of years ago, and they became important items of commerce early in the evolution of trade. Cinnamon and cassia found their way to the Middle East at least 2,000 years

Buddhacarita

2005-03-15T14:21:00.000-08:00

In full Buddhacarita-kavya-sutra (Sanskrit: “Poetic Discourse on the Acts of the Buddha”), poetic narrative of the life of Buddha by the Sanskrit poet Asvaghosa, one of the finest examples of Buddhist literature. The author, who lived in northern India in the 1st–2nd century AD, created a loving account of the Buddha's life and teachings, one that—in contrast to other treatments such as the Mahavastu (“Great Story”) and

Kerang

2005-03-15T13:35:00.000-08:00

Kerang is now on the rail line to Melbourne, 150 miles (240 km) southeast, and is the centre of an area of intensive irrigation

Kinship, Double unilineal descent

2005-03-15T01:19:00.000-08:00

Double unilineal, or duolineal, descent is very rare. Arguably, a form of double descent exists among groups of Australian Aboriginals, but the most definitive examples are found in Africa. The Yako of Nigeria and the Herero of Namibia and Botswana are best known. The principle of double descent is that two kinds of descent group, patrilineal and matrilineal, exist

Biblical Literature, Persian and Hellenistic influences

2005-03-14T23:43:00.000-08:00

Some of the Apocrypha (e.g., Judith, Tobit) may have been written already in the Persian period (6th–4th century BCE), but, with these possible exceptions, all the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha were written in the Hellenistic period (c. 300 BC–c. AD 300). Yet the influence of Persian culture and religion sometimes can be detected even in comparatively late Jewish works, especially in Jewish apocalyptic

Condon, Edward U(hler)

2005-03-14T18:25:00.000-08:00

During World War II Condon made valuable contributions to the development of both atomic energy and radar. In 1943 he helped J. Robert Oppenheimer recruit the group that made the

Kyongsang-nam

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

Do (province), southeastern South Korea. It is bordered east by the Sea of Japan, south by the Korea Strait, west by Cholla-nam and Cholla-puk do, and north by Kyongsang-puk do. Pusan, capital of the province, was separated administratively in 1963, when it was elevated to the status of a special city. The Naktong River and its tributaries irrigate most of the province. The Kimhae delta

Eliot, John

2005-03-13T01:05:00.000-08:00

Eliot graduated from Jesus College, Cambridge, in 1622 and emigrated to Boston in 1631. From 1632 to his death he was pastor of the church at nearby Roxbury.

Paresis

2005-03-12T06:34:00.000-08:00

Also called brain syphilis, syphilitic meningoencephalitis, general paralysis of the insane, or dementia paralytica, psychosis caused by widespread destruction of brain tissue occurring in some cases of late syphilis. Mental changes include gradual deterioration of personality, impaired concentration and judgment, delusions, loss of memory, disorientation, and apathy or violent rages. Convulsions are not uncommon, and while temporary remissions sometimes occur, untreated

Hugo, Victor (-marie)

2005-03-11T11:52:00.000-08:00

Poet, novelist, and dramatist who was the most important of the French Romantic writers. Though regarded in France as one of that country's greatest poets, he is better known abroad for such novels as Notre-Dame de Paris (1831) and Les Misérables (1862).

Nachtigal, Gustav

2005-03-11T09:19:00.000-08:00

Explorer of the Sahara who helped Germany obtain protectorates in western equatorial Africa. After spending several years as a military surgeon, he went to Tunisia as physician to the bey (ruler) and took part in several expeditions to the interior. In 1869 the king of Prussia, William I, sent him on a mission

Nardi, Jacopo

2005-03-11T07:15:00.000-08:00

Nardi was born to a family that was long hostile to the Medici. He followed a military career until the expulsion of the Medici in 1494; he then served in several posts as a magistrate and became one of the principal republican

Rime Suffisante

2005-03-10T23:25:00.000-08:00

Plural rimes suffisantes in French and English prosody, end rhyme produced by agreement in sound of an accented final vowel and following final consonant or consonants, if any. Examples of rimes suffisantes in English include the rhymes ship/dip and flee/see. It is distinguished from rime riche.

Anbar

2005-03-10T14:54:00.000-08:00

Also called Massice , or Fairuz Sapur ancient Mesopotamian town located on the left bank of the Euphrates River, downstream from modern Ar-Ramadi in central Iraq. Originally called Massice and Fairuz Sapur, it was destroyed by the Roman emperor Julian in AD 363. The town was rebuilt and became known from at least the 6th century as Anbar (“Stores”). Jews from the academy of Pumbedita took refuge there from Sasanian persecution

Frame, Janet

2005-03-10T01:45:00.000-08:00

Frame's early years were traumatic. Her childhood was marked by poverty and the drowning deaths of two sisters, and in 1945, while studying to be a teacher, she suffered a breakdown. Misdiagnosed

Nicholas Ii

2005-03-09T07:42:00.000-08:00

At the Lateran Council of April 1059, a milestone

Einstein, Hannah Bachman

2005-03-08T11:07:00.000-08:00

Hannah Bachman married William Einstein in 1881. She developed an interest in charitable work, and from its founding in about 1890 she was active in the Temple Emanu-El Sisterhood, which undertook

Poland, History Of, The Saxons

2005-03-07T22:53:00.000-08:00

The “Saxon Era” lasted for more than 60 years and marked the lowest point in Polish history. Research since the 1980s has somewhat corrected the largely negative picture of Augustus II and Augustus III by stressing the context in which they operated: anarchic political life dominated by factions of struggling oligarchs and open to meddling by the neighbouring powers.

Earth Sciences, Experimental study of rocks

2005-03-07T13:10:00.000-08:00

Experimental petrology began with the work of Jacobus Henricus van't Hoff, one of the founders of physical chemistry. Between 1896 and 1908 he elucidated the complex sequence of chemical reactions attending the precipitation of salts (evaporites) from the evaporation of seawater. Van't Hoff's aim was to explain the succession of mineral salts present in Permian rocks of

Vyala

2005-03-07T07:21:00.000-08:00

Occurring in a relatively naturalistic form in

Arrabal, Fernando

2005-03-06T23:46:00.000-08:00

Arrabal worked as a clerk in a paper company, then studied law at the University of Madrid. He turned to writing in the early 1950s, and in 1955 he went to study drama in Paris, where he remained.

Valerian

2005-03-06T23:04:00.000-08:00

Licinius Valerianus was consul under Severus Alexander (emperor 222–235) and played a leading role in inducing the Senate to risk support for Gordian I's rebellion against the emperor Maximinus (238). He may have been one of the 20 consulars who successfully defended Italy against the emperor. He is not again mentioned until the reign of Decius (emperor 249–251). Under

Fairbairn, Stephen

2005-03-06T15:24:00.000-08:00

As a coach at Cambridge

Peru, Pre-Hispanic groups

2005-03-05T06:49:00.000-08:00

Throughout the pre-Hispanic period, the peoples of Peru were largely isolated from one another by the rugged topography of the country. At least three times, however, a unifying culture spread across the Andes. Beginning c. 1000 BC, the Chavín culture permeated the region, emanating possibly from the northern ceremonial site of Chavín de Huántar. After AD 600, the Huari civilization,

Ord River

2005-03-04T09:48:00.000-08:00

River in the Kimberley plateau region, northeastern Western Australia. It rises in the Albert Edward Range and follows an easterly and northerly course for 300 mi (500 km) to Cambridge Gulf. Chief tributaries are the Denham, Stirling, Panton, Wilson, Bow, Nicholson, and Elvire. Its upper reaches cut through deep gorges, which give way to grasslands and forests along its middle

Acupuncture

2005-03-04T04:59:00.000-08:00

Acupuncture grew out

Kwasniewski, Aleksander

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

Kwasniewski attended the University of Gdansk, where he studied economics and was chairman of the socialist student group. A leader in the student activist movement, he served as chair of the University Council of the Socialist Union of Polish Students (1976–77). In 1977 he joined the governing

Highland Park

2005-03-03T06:04:00.000-08:00

City, northern residential suburb of Chicago, Lake county, northeastern Illinois, U.S. White settlement of the site began in 1834, and by the turn of the century Highland Park had become a wealthy residential suburb. Ravinia Park (36 acres [15 hectares]) was established in 1905 as an amusement park. The park has become the location of one of the nation's most prominent music festivals and

Mathews, Charles

2005-03-02T15:13:00.000-08:00

The son of a bookseller, Mathews was educated at Merchant Taylors School, Crosby, Lancashire. After acting in the provinces, primarily at York, he first appeared on the stage in

Coif

2005-03-01T19:26:00.000-08:00

The coif could also be an indoor skullcap

Earth, Subduction zones

2005-03-01T14:52:00.000-08:00

It has been pointed out that, in comparison to magnetic and seismological studies, gravity measurements played only a secondary role in establishing the plate-tectonic theory in the 1960s. On the other hand, as early as 1929 the Dutch geophysicist Felix A. Vening Meinesz had shown that some of the most spectacular negative gravity anomalies on Earth are associated with oceanic

Biblical Literature, Letters

2005-03-01T10:31:00.000-08:00

Among the apocryphal letters are: a 2nd-century Epistula Apostolorum (“Epistle of the Apostles”; actually apocalyptic and antiheretical), the Letter of Barnabas, a lost Letter of Paul to the Alexandrians (said to have been forged by followers of Marcion), the late-2nd-century letter called “III Corinthians” (part of the Acts of Paul and composed largely out of the genuine letters

Claude Of France

2005-02-28T19:46:00.000-08:00

In 1504 Claude's mother, eager to keep Brittany out of French hands, caused the Treaty of Blois to be concluded, which assured the hand of Claude to Charles of Austria (the future emperor Charles V) and promised him Brittany, Burgundy,

Steffen, Albert

2005-02-28T00:48:00.000-08:00

Steffen's early works were compassionate messages of alarm at the disastrous effects of modern technological civilization and secularized thought in human relations. Moved by these problems, he joined the

Lokoja

2005-02-27T15:29:00.000-08:00

Town and river port, capital of Kogi state, south-central Nigeria, on the west bank of the Niger River opposite the mouth of the Benue River. British merchants established a trading post at the Benue-Niger confluence in the late 1850s; and in 1860 William Balfour Baikie, the Scottish explorer, founded Lokoja. Besides being an important commercial settlement, the site (originally

Croker, John Wilson

2005-02-27T05:10:00.000-08:00

After graduating from Trinity College, Dublin, and studying law at Lincoln's Inn, London, Croker was called to the Irish bar in 1802. He entered Parliament in 1807 and from 1810 to 1830 was secretary of the Admiralty during the long Tory

Melchizedek

2005-02-26T07:07:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Melchisedech, in the Old Testament, a figure of importance in biblical tradition because he was both king and priest, was connected with Jerusalem, and was revered by Abraham, who paid a tithe to him. He appears as a person only in an interpolated vignette (Gen. 14:18–20) of the story of Abraham rescuing his kidnapped nephew, Lot, by defeating a coalition of Mesopotamian kings under

Turbo Train

2005-02-26T04:15:00.000-08:00

High-speed passenger train powered by a gas-turbine engine similar to that used in jet aircraft. Unlike conventional trains, the turbo variety does not have a separate locomotive; its turbine power unit is small enough to be built into a passenger car. A typical turbo train consists of several passenger cars with power units located in each of the end cars. The cars

Bridge

2005-02-25T14:47:00.000-08:00

In electrical measurement, instrument for measuring electrical quantities. The first such instrument, invented by British mathematician Samuel Christie and popularized in 1843 by Sir Charles Wheatstone, measures resistance by comparing the current flowing through one part of the bridge with a known current flowing through another part. The Wheatstone

German Literature, Bourgeois Realism

2005-02-25T00:33:00.000-08:00

The deaths of Hegel in 1831 and of Goethe in 1832 released many German writers from the feeling that they stood in the shadow of great men. A new group of writers, only very loosely connected, began to emerge who felt that the aesthetic models of the age of Goethe could be laid aside in favour of a distinctly political form of literature. Inspired by the July Revolution in France

Izumi Kyoka

2005-02-24T06:15:00.000-08:00

Kyoka was born into a family of provincial artists and artisans, from whom he inherited artistic skill and a deep faith that shaded into an actual belief in mysterious forces. He

Pigeon Racing

2005-02-24T01:38:00.000-08:00

The earliest record of the domestication of pigeons is from the fifth Egyptian dynasty (about 3000 BC). The sultan of Baghdad established a pigeon post system in AD 1150, and Genghis Khan used such a system as his conquests

Silifke

2005-02-23T15:24:00.000-08:00

Also called Seleucia, town, south-central Turkey. It is located along the banks of the Göksu River, overlooking the Taurus Mountains. An irrigation scheme supplying the fertile lowland of the Göksu delta is located at Silifke. The town is a market centre for agricultural produce of its hinterland, including cotton, tobacco, grapes, olives, beans, and lentils. Industrial products include

Armorial Ensign

2005-02-23T06:07:00.000-08:00

Heraldic symbol carried on a flag or shield. The term is much misunderstood because of the popular use of ensign as a generic term for flag. A grant of arms or a matriculation (registration of armorial bearings) may in its text use the term ensigns armorial to mean the heraldic design of the bearer's arms. See heraldry.

Telephone And Telephone System, Analog telephone facsimile

2005-02-22T10:52:00.000-08:00

Further deployment of fax transmission had to await the development of improved long-distance telephone service. Between 1920 and 1923 the American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T) worked on telephone facsimile technology, and in 1924 the telephotography machine was used to send pictures from political conventions in Cleveland, Ohio, and Chicago to New York City for publication

Kerosine

2005-02-21T21:18:00.000-08:00

Kerosine accounts for between 10 and 25 percent of the total volume of crude petroleum. It is

Military Aircraft, Day fighters

2005-02-21T20:18:00.000-08:00

Air superiority was crucial to the outcome of most of the decisive campaigns of World War II, and here the performance of single-seat fighters was generally the critical factor. First-class fighters required extremely powerful aero engines suitable for compact, low-drag installation, and in this respect Britain, Germany, and the United States were in a class by themselves.

Welsh Literary Renaissance

2005-02-21T06:41:00.000-08:00

Literary activity centring in Wales and England in the mid-18th century that attempted to stimulate interest in the Welsh language and in the classical bardic verse forms of Wales. The movement centred on Lewis, Richard, and William Morris, Welsh scholars who preserved ancient texts and encouraged contemporary poets to use strict metres of the ancient Welsh bards

Afghanistan, Nadir Shah

2005-02-20T19:04:00.000-08:00

In 1738, after a year's siege, the city of Kandahar fell to Nadir Shah's army of 80,000 men. Nadir Shah seized Ghazna and Kabul and occupied the Mughal capital at Delhi in 1739. His booty included

Biblical Literature, Haggai

2005-02-20T08:51:00.000-08:00

The Book of Haggai, the 10th book of the Twelve (Minor) Prophets, is a brief work of only two chapters. Written about 520 BCE by the prophet Haggai, the book contains four oracles. The first oracle calls for Zerubbabel, the governor of Judaea, and Joshua, the high priest, to rebuild the Temple (chapter 1, verses 1–11). A drought and poor harvests, according to Haggai, had been caused because the

Condominium

2005-02-19T23:42:00.000-08:00

In modern property law, the individual ownership of one dwelling unit within a multidwelling building, with an undivided ownership interest in the land and other components of the building shared in common with other owners of dwelling units in the building. The condominium as a type of ownership has been present in various forms in Europe since the end of the Middle

Charles

2005-02-19T06:12:00.000-08:00

The son of Duke Philip III the Good of Burgundy, Charles was brought up in the French manner as a friend of the French dauphin, afterward Louis XI of France, who spent five years in Burgundy before his accession. Although he had shown no hostility toward France before taking over the government of Burgundy during his father's last illness, he thereupon gave rein to an

Bassano, Jacopo

2005-02-18T16:12:00.000-08:00

His early works, such as the “Susannah and the

Taidu

2005-02-18T15:17:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Ta-tu , Mongol Khanbaliq the city of Peking (q.v.) under the Mongols.

Lear, William P(owell)

2005-02-17T23:10:00.000-08:00

The child of immigrant parents

Alanbrooke (of Brookeborough), Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount, Baron Alanbrooke Of Brookeborough

2005-02-17T11:39:00.000-08:00

Educated in France and at the Royal Military Academy (Woolwich), he served in World War I. Between the world wars he distinguished himself in staff duties and was in charge of military training (1936–37). Brooke began service in World

Cordia

2005-02-16T03:15:00.000-08:00

The leaves of the tropical American geiger tree, aloewood, or sebesten plum (C.

Norfolk And Western Railway Company

2005-02-16T00:01:00.000-08:00

In 1870 the City Point Rail Road and others were consolidated as the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad. In 1881 the system was reorganized as the Norfolk and Western Railroad, and in 1896 it was incorporated as the Norfolk and Western

Theatre-in-the-round

2005-02-15T14:22:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Theater-in-the-round, also called Arena Stage, Central Stage, or Island Stage, form of theatrical staging in which the acting area, which may be raised or at floor level, is completely surrounded by the audience. It has been theorized that the informality thus established leads to increased rapport between the audience and the actors. Theatre-in-the-round has its roots in rituals such as those performed by the ancient Greeks, which evolved into

Feldman, Morton

2005-02-15T00:49:00.000-08:00

Feldman studied composition with Wallingford Riegger and Stefan Wolpe. In the 1950s, much more influenced by Abstract Expressionist painters than by other composers, he began using a method of graphic notation that included such devices as indicating

Seton Hall University

2005-02-14T21:51:00.000-08:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher education in South Orange Village, New Jersey, U.S. It is affiliated with the Roman Catholic church, specifically the Diocese of Newark, and offers more than 80 undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree programs. Seton Hall comprises nine academic units: colleges of Arts and Sciences, Education and Human Services,

Adams, John

2005-02-14T19:06:00.000-08:00

(For additional writings by Adams, see The Meaning of the American Revolution; On the Importance of Property for the Suffrage; and Party Divisions in America.)

Acosta, José De

2005-02-14T04:00:00.000-08:00

Jesuit theologian and missionary to the New World, chiefly known for his Historia natural y moral de las Indias, the earliest survey of the New World and its relation to the Old. His works, missionary and literary, mark the end of the period of the religious and scientific incorporation of the newly discovered lands into Western

Welch

2005-02-13T20:11:00.000-08:00

City, seat of McDowell county, southern West Virginia, U.S., at the confluence of Elkhorn Creek and Tug Fork. Settled in 1885, it was named for I.A. Welch, an early settler. The county seat was moved there from Perryville in 1891. There were no bridges or wagons in this extremely mountainous area until the 1880s, and the principal products at that time were furs and ginseng. The arrival of the

Cephallenia

2005-02-12T23:29:00.000-08:00

Also called Cephalonia , Modern Greek Kefallinía island, largest of the Ionian Islands, west of the Gulf of Patraïkós. With the island of Ithaca (Itháki) and smaller nearby islands, it forms the nomós (department) of Kefallinía in modern Greece. The island, 302 square miles (781 square km) in area, is mountainous, with Mount Aínos (ancient Mount Aenos; 5,341 feet [1,628 m]) often snowcapped for months. Except for the Raki, there are few permanent streams,

Asaba

2005-02-12T20:40:00.000-08:00

Town and capital of Delta state, southern Nigeria. It lies on the west bank of the Niger River (opposite Onitsha) and on the road to Benin City. A traditional market centre (cassava, yams, palm oil and kernels, kola nuts) for the Igbo (Ibo) people, it was the place where Richard and John Lander, the British explorers of the Niger, were taken captive by the Igbos in 1830. It later became

Roman Numeral

2005-02-12T17:22:00.000-08:00

Any of the symbols used in a system of numerical notation based on the ancient Roman system. The symbols are I, V, X, L, C, D, and M, standing, respectively, for 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, and 1,000 in the Hindu-Arabic numeral system. A symbol placed after another of equal or greater value adds its value—e.g., II = 2 and LX = 60. A symbol placed before one of greater value subtracts its value—e.g., IV = 4, XL = 40, and CD = 400.