ViolentFowl

Estate Agent London

2006-10-26T10:35:00.000-07:00

Robert Irving Burns specialise in London Commercial and Residential property services, including Estate Agent Covent Garden and Estate Agent London. Their centrally located ground floor offices, minutes from Oxford Circus offer an ideal marketing base for your property.

Jian

2005-04-04T13:06:00.000-07:00

The jian, which has a simple silhouette, is supported upon a narrow ring base. It has two or four ring handles that freely hang from slightly modeled monster masks (taotie). The decoration of the jian characteristic of the late Zhou dynasty (c. 600–256/255 BC), from which the

Tunnels And Underground Excavations, Environmental control

2005-04-03T07:35:00.000-07:00

In all but the shortest tunnels, control of the environment is essential to provide safe working conditions. Ventilation is vital, both to provide fresh air and to remove explosive gases such as methane and noxious gases, including blast fumes. While the problem is reduced by using diesel engines with exhaust scrubbers and by selecting only low-fume explosives

Scythe

2005-04-03T03:04:00.000-07:00

One of the most important of all agricultural hand tools, consisting of a curved blade fitted at an angle to a long, curved handle and used for cutting grain. In modern scythes the handle has a projecting peg that is grasped by one hand, facilitating control of the swinging motion by which grass and grain are cut. The exact origin of the scythe is unknown, but it was little

Arraignment

2005-04-02T16:59:00.000-08:00

In Anglo-American law, first encounter of an accused person with the court prior to trial, wherein he is brought to the bar and the charges against him are read. The accused usually enters a plea of guilt or innocence. If he chooses not to plead, a plea of not guilty will be entered for him. A guilty plea will usually result in the case's being handed over for judgment. Sometimes

Tees, River

2005-04-02T05:54:00.000-08:00

River in northeastern England, rising on Cross Fell in the northern Pennines and flowing 70 miles (110 km) east to the North Sea. It forms the boundary between the historic counties of Yorkshire and Durham. In its upper course the Tees flows in a typical Pennines dale (valley) where high moorlands flank an attenuated strip of farmland. At Caldron Snout and High Force there are

Adams, Marian

2005-04-01T05:40:00.000-08:00

Marian Hooper was the youngest of three children of Boston Brahmins. When her mother died, about five years after Marian was born, the children were cared for by their father, who took great pains over their education. After her marriage to the historian

Augustine, Saint

2005-03-30T13:16:00.000-08:00

Fifteen years after Augustine wrote the Confessions, at a time when he was bringing to a close (and invoking government power to do so) his long struggle with the Donatists but before he had worked himself up to action against the Pelagians, the Roman world was shaken by news of a military action in Italy. A ragtag army under the leadership of Alaric, a general

Insurance, Eastern Europe

2005-03-30T03:17:00.000-08:00

After the breakup of the Soviet Union, countries in eastern Europe developed insurance systems of considerable variety, ranging from highly centralized and state-controlled systems to Western-style ones. Because of recent political and economic upheavals in these countries, it seems likely that the trend will be toward decentralized, Western-style

Wilson, Edmund

2005-03-30T00:57:00.000-08:00

Educated at Princeton, Wilson moved from newspaper reporting in New York to become managing editor of Vanity Fair (1920–21) and associate editor of The New Republic (1926–31). Wilson's first critical work, Axel's Castle (1931), was an important international survey of the Symbolist

Arnim, Hans Georg Von

2005-03-29T20:02:00.000-08:00

Soldier and statesman prominent in German affairs during the Thirty Years' War. He served (1613–17) with the Swedes under Gustaf II Adolf, with the Poles (1621), with Wallenstein's imperial army (1626) as a field marshal, and with the Saxons (1631–35, 1638–41). A strict Lutheran, Arnim resigned his imperial commission in protest against the Edict

Pijao

2005-03-29T13:46:00.000-08:00

Extinct Indian people of the southern highlands of Colombia. The Pijao spoke a language of the Chibchan family, related to that of the Páez, their neighbours to the south. They were agriculturists, raising corn (maize), sweet manioc (yuca), beans, potatoes, and many fruits; they also hunted and fished. They lived in settlements of several families in houses built of wood and

Ussuri River

2005-03-29T13:09:00.000-08:00

Chinese (Wade-Giles) Wu-su-li Chiang, or (Pinyin) Wusuli Jiang, northward-flowing tributary of the Amur River that for a considerable distance forms the boundary between China (Heilungkiang province) and Russia (Siberia). The Ussuri is formed by the confluence of the Ulakhe and Arsenyevka rivers, both of which rise on the southwestern slopes of the Sikhote-Alin mountains. Its length from the source of the Ulakhe is 565 miles (909 km), and

Albany River

2005-03-28T18:01:00.000-08:00

River, north central Ontario, Canada, rising in Lake St. Joseph at an elevation of 1,218 ft (371 m) and flowing generally eastward into James Bay. For 250 mi (400 km) of its 610-mi course, the river is navigable, and it served as an important route during the fur-trading days, when boats sailed inland from the Hudson's Bay Company post of Ft. Albany (established 1684) at the mouth. Its largest tributary is the

Astorga

2005-03-28T11:20:00.000-08:00

City, León provincia, in Castile-León comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”), northwestern Spain, on the left bank of the Tuerto River on a spur of the Manzanal mountain chain. It originated as the Roman Asturica Augusta (called a “magnificent city” by Pliny) and was an important administrative and military centre. The see of a bishop since the 3rd century, Astorga decayed

Catalan Literature

2005-03-28T02:32:00.000-08:00

The oldest extant text in Catalan is the Homilies d'Organyà, a collection of sermons dating from the 12th or early 13th century but now appreciated more for their linguistic than for their literary value. Early kings of Aragon and counts

Bahrain, Flag Of

2005-03-27T15:10:00.000-08:00

The southern coast of the Persian Gulf was characterized by extensive warfare and piracy for many centuries. In 1820 the British were finally successful in enforcing peace on the local Arab states. The General Treaty of Peace signed at that time provided that those territories on friendly terms with the United Kingdom should include a white border on the plain red

Chiba

2005-03-27T11:41:00.000-08:00

Ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan, lying on the Pacific coast of the Kanto Plain. It consists of the Boso Peninsula, which lies east of Tokyo Bay and south of the Tone River. Surpluses of rice, vegetables, eggs, and flowers are produced for Tokyo, and offshore fisheries flourish. The Tokyo-Yokohama industrial belt (see Keihin Industrial Zone) has expanded into Chiba prefecture

Condenser

2005-03-27T01:21:00.000-08:00

Device for reducing a gas or vapour to a liquid. Condensers are employed in power plants to condense exhaust steam from turbines and in refrigeration plants to condense refrigerant vapours, such as ammonia and fluorinated hydrocarbons. The petroleum and chemical industries employ condensers for the condensation of hydrocarbons and other chemical vapours.

Denishawn School Of Dancing And Related Arts

2005-03-26T18:13:00.000-08:00

Dance school and company founded in 1915 by Ruth St. Denis and her husband, Ted Shawn. Considered a fountainhead of American modern dance, the Denishawn organization systematically promoted nonballetic dance movement and fostered such leading modern dancers as Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, and Charles Weidman. Because St. Denis and Shawn believed that all dance techniques

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor

2005-03-26T02:29:00.000-08:00

English lyrical poet, critic, and philosopher. His Lyrical Ballads, written with William Wordsworth, heralded the English Romantic movement, and his Biographia Literaria (1817) is the most significant work of general literary criticism produced in the English Romantic period.

Land Bridge

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

Any of several isthmuses that have connected the Earth's major landmasses at various times, with the result that many species of plants and animals have extended their ranges to new areas. A land bridge that had a profound effect on the fauna of the New World extended from Siberia to Alaska during most of the Tertiary and Quaternary periods (beginning 66.4 million years

Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway

2005-03-25T16:55:00.000-08:00

Shipping route paralleling the eastern coast of the United States, serving ports from Boston to Key West, Fla. It is part of the Intracoastal Waterway (q.v.).

Laine, Dame Cleo

2005-03-25T05:37:00.000-08:00

Laine was born to a Jamaican father and an English mother. She quit school at age 14 and took a variety of jobs while auditioning for singing jobs. Her first break came in 1951, when she was hired as a vocalist for the Johnny Dankworth Seven, a

Akh

2005-03-25T03:51:00.000-08:00

In Egyptian religion, the spirit of a deceased person and, with the ka and ba (qq.v.), a principal aspect of the soul. By enabling the soul to assume temporarily any form it desired, for the purpose of revisiting the earth or for its own enjoyment, the akh characterized the soul of a deceased person as an effective entity in the next world. The akh-soul was generally represented

Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr

2005-03-24T13:46:00.000-08:00

Outstanding Welsh poet of the 12th century, court bard to Madog ap Maredudd, prince of Powys (d. 1160), and then to Madog's enemy Owain Gwynedd, prince of Gwynedd (d. 1170). The extant poems ascribed to him (about 50), composed in the Welsh bardic tradition of deliberate archaism, include a small amount of religious verse and a large number of eulogies to the chief princes throughout Wales. Cynddelw

Pereskia

2005-03-24T10:38:00.000-08:00

P. pititache, the native Mexican

Yellow-dog Contract

2005-03-24T00:17:00.000-08:00

Agreement between an employer and an employee in which the employee agrees, as a condition of employment, not to join a union during the course of his employment. Such contracts, used most widely in the United States in the 1920s, enabled employers to take legal action against union organizers for encouraging workers to break these contracts. A federal law prohibiting

France, History Of, Austrasian hegemony and the rise of the Pepinids

2005-03-23T23:33:00.000-08:00

The murder of Ebroïn (680 or 683) reversed the situation in favour of Austrasia and the Pepinids. Pepin II, who defeated the Neustrians at Tertry in 687, reunified northern Francia under his own control during the next decade. Austrasia and Neustria were reunited under a Merovingian figurehead, but Pepin II governed by virtue of his position as mayor of the palace. At the same time,

Schendel, Arthur (-françois-émile) Van

2005-03-23T03:27:00.000-08:00

His first important novels Een zwerver verliefd (1904; “A Wanderer in Love”) and Een zwerver verdwaald (1907; “A Lost Wanderer”) are set in medieval Italy,

Stuttgart

2005-03-22T14:36:00.000-08:00

City, northern district seat of Arkansas county (the southern seat is De Witt), east-central Arkansas, U.S., about 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Little Rock. Settled in 1878 by Lutheran minister Adam Buerkle (born in Stuttgart, Germany) and his congregation, the city was incorporated in 1889, raised to a city of the second class in 1897, and to that of the first class in 1917. Stuttgart has long been an agricultural

Islam

2005-03-22T09:48:00.000-08:00

The third pillar is the obligatory tax called zakat (“purification,” indicating that such a payment makes the rest of one's wealth religiously and legally pure). This is the only permanent tax levied by the Qur'an and is payable annually on food grains, cattle, and cash after one year's possession. The amount varies for different categories. Thus, on grains and fruits it is 10 percent

Xerxes I

2005-03-22T08:54:00.000-08:00

The basic work is still A.T. Olmstead, History of the Persian Empire (1948, reissued 1985), a complex work, but one that contains the essentials. Charles Hignett, Xerxes' Invasion of Greece (1963), deals only with the relationships between Xerxes and Greece. Peter Green, Xerxes at Salamis (1970), discusses the Greco-Persian wars.

Asansol

2005-03-22T02:21:00.000-08:00

City, West Bengal state, northeastern India. Situated in the heart of the Raniganj coalfield, it is the centre of the Kulti-Burnpur industrial complex. Asansol is connected by the Grand Trunk Road and by rail with Calcutta, Durgapur, and Burdwan. The city is an important coal-trading and railway centre, with large railway workshops and a railway colony. Its major industries

Caldecott, Randolph

2005-03-21T22:51:00.000-08:00

While a bank clerk at Whitchurch, Shropshire, and at Manchester, Caldecott began drawing for local magazines. Through his acquaintance with George Du Maurier he began contributing to

Antony, Mark

2005-03-20T18:18:00.000-08:00

Mark Antony was the son and grandson of men of the same name. His father was called Creticus because of his military operations in Crete, and his grandfather, one of the leading orators of his day, was vividly portrayed as a speaker in Cicero's De oratore. After a somewhat dissipated youth, the future triumvir served with distinction in 57–54 as a cavalry commander under Aulus

Baetic Cordillera

2005-03-20T17:22:00.000-08:00

Spanish Sistema Penibético, mountain system comprising the Andalusian mountains of southern Spain, of which the northern range runs about 360 miles (580 km) from Cape Trafalgar to Cape Nao. The central and southern ranges, the Baetic proper, extend a shorter distance from Estepona to Cape Gata. Separating the two systems is a complex series of structures, traceable in longitudinal corridors and high

Karagöz

2005-03-20T15:23:00.000-08:00

(Turkish: “Black Eyes,” or “Gypsy”), type of Turkish shadow play, named for its stock hero, Karagöz. The comically risqué plays are improvised from scenarios for local audiences in private homes, coffee shops, public squares, and innyards. The Karagöz play apparently was highly developed in Turkey by the 16th century and was adapted in Greece and North Africa. In the 20th century,

Wigeon

2005-03-20T08:39:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Widgeon, any of four species of dabbling ducks (family Anatidae), popular game birds and excellent table fare. The European wigeon (Anas, or Mareca, penelope) ranges across the Palaearctic and is occasionally found in the Nearctic regions. The American wigeon, or baldpate (A. americana), breeds in northwestern North America and winters along the U.S., Mexican, Central American, and

Antarctica, Physical geography

2005-03-20T07:11:00.000-08:00

W.N. Bonner and D.W.H. Walton (eds.), Antarctica (1985); and R.M. Laws (ed.), Antarctic Ecology, 2 vol. (1984), discusses the continent's physical environment, fauna, flora, land and sea ecology, conservation, and exploitation. I.B. Campbell and G.G.C. Claridge, Antarctica: Soils, Weathering Processes, and Environment (1987), provides a summary of recent research.

Argentina, The economy

2005-03-19T07:11:00.000-08:00

Labour movements are covered in Ronaldo Munck, Ricardo Falcón, and Bernardo Galitelli, Argentina: From Anarchism to Peronism: Workers, Unions, and Politics, 1855–1985 (1987); David Tamarin, The Argentine Labor Movement, 1930–45: A Study in the Origins of Peronism (1985); and Charles Bergquist, Labor in Latin America: Comparative Essays on Chile, Argentina, Venezuela, and Colombia (1986).

Hood (of Whitley), Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount

2005-03-19T02:57:00.000-08:00

Hood entered the navy in 1741, becoming a lieutenant in 1746. During the Seven Years' War he served in the English Channel and then the Mediterranean. In 1778, after further service in North America, he became commissioner of the dockyard at Portsmouth and governor of

Visual-field Defect

2005-03-18T19:44:00.000-08:00

A blind spot (scotoma) or blind area within the normal bounds of vision. In most cases the blind spots or areas are persistent, but in some instances they may be temporary and shifting, as in the scotomata of migraine headache. Narrowing of the fields of vision may be due to syphilitic inflammation of the optic nerves or to glaucoma. In this type of defect the field of vision

Sculpture, Western, Georgia

2005-03-18T13:22:00.000-08:00

A distinct Georgian sculptural tradition did not emerge until the advent of Christianity, which stimulated a demand for a large number of carved stone reliefs. The earliest of these were based on Early Christian models. In the 8th and 9th centuries the high-relief figures of Early Christian art gave way to figures rendered in wholly linear fashion. In the 10th and 11th centuries

Wayne, Anthony

2005-03-18T13:00:00.000-08:00

The owner of a tannery and extensive property in Pennsylvania, Wayne was commissioned a colonel in the Continental Army in January 1776. That spring his regiment was sent

Aerospace Industry, Military aircraft

2005-03-18T09:16:00.000-08:00

The large majority of military aircraft are fighters, followed by bombers, transporter-tankers, early-warning and patrol aircraft, and a variety of propeller- and jet-driven trainers. As is the case with commercial aircraft, the complexity of the technology and the immense capital requirements have narrowed the number of suppliers. In addition, the end of the Cold

Nahua Language

2005-03-17T22:47:00.000-08:00

Also called Aztec an American Indian language of the Uto-Aztecan family, spoken in central and western Mexico. Nahua, the most important of the Uto-Aztecan languages, was the language of the Aztec and Toltec civilizations of Mexico. A large body of literature in Nahua, produced by the Aztecs, survives from the 16th century, recorded in an orthography that was introduced by Spanish priests

Animal Learning

2005-03-17T02:48:00.000-08:00

That animals can learn seems to go without saying. The cat that runs to its food dish when it hears the sound of the cupboard opening; the rat that solves a maze in the laboratory; the bird that acquires the song of its species—these

Affix

2005-03-17T00:42:00.000-08:00

A grammatical element that is combined with a word, stem, or phrase to produce derived and inflected forms. There are three types of affixes: prefixes, infixes, and suffixes. A prefix occurs at the beginning of a word or stem (sub-mit, pre-determine, un-willing); a suffix at the end (wonder-ful, depend-ent, act-ion); and an infix occurs in the middle. English has no infixes, but they are

Shubra Al-khaymah

2005-03-16T21:27:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Shubra El-kheima, northern suburb of Cairo, in al-Qalyubiyah muhafazah (governorate), on the east bank of the Nile, Lower Egypt. It was formerly a market town supplying Cairo with agricultural produce from the rich, alluvial delta area. In the 1820s Muhammad 'Ali, the Ottoman viceroy of Egypt, built the country's first European-type factories and schools in Shubra al-Khaymah, and it developed as an industrial

Plutus

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

In Greek religion, god of abundance or wealth, a personification of ploutos (Greek: “riches”). According to Hesiod, Plutus was born in Crete, the son of the goddess of fruitfulness, Demeter, and the Cretan Iasion. In art he appears chiefly as a child with a cornucopia. He was sometimes confused with Pluto (Hades), god of the underworld.

Yacht

2005-03-16T16:09:00.000-08:00

In England by 1881 most of the important yacht clubs had become members of the Yacht Racing Association (founded 1875; from 1952 called the Royal Yachting Association). The organization made rules governing regatta sailing and later took on duties as a representative body for all British yachting, including dealing with port, harbour, and other governmental authorities. In the

Bahram Ii

2005-03-16T02:31:00.000-08:00

Soon after becoming king, he was forced to defend his position against a brother, Hormizd, viceroy of the eastern provinces. In 283, exploiting Bahram's preoccupations, the Roman emperor Carus invaded Mesopotamia unopposed and entered Ctesiphon, the Sasanian capital. Carus' sudden death, however, forced the Romans

Basel Zoological Garden

2005-03-16T02:28:00.000-08:00

German Zoologischer Garten Basel, also called Zolli, privately owned zoological garden in Basel, Switz., noted for its outstanding work in the breeding of the Indian rhinoceros and the pygmy hippopotamus. The zoo was founded in 1874 for the purpose of exhibiting local wildlife. (It opened with about 100 mammals and perhaps 400 birds, mostly European.) Financial difficulties, however, forced zoo administrators to obtain exotic animals

Art History

2005-03-15T18:45:00.000-08:00

Art historical research has two primary concerns.

Bloemaert, Abraham

2005-03-15T15:44:00.000-08:00

Bloemaert studied at Utrecht under eminent painters, spent three years in Paris, and then returned to settle finally at Utrecht, where he became dean of the Guild of St. Luke. He painted and etched historical and allegorical pictures, landscapes, still lifes, animal

Jouffroy D'abbans, Claude-françois-dorothée, Marquis De

2005-03-15T15:21:00.000-08:00

At the age of 20 Jouffroy d'Abbans entered the army, and a year later he became involved in a duel that resulted in his banishment to Provence. There he began to work with boats and built a 43-foot (13-metre) steamboat

Togo, Settlement patterns

2005-03-15T13:31:00.000-08:00

The majority of Togo's population live in small villages scattered throughout the rural areas. A common sight along the coast is the rectangular houses built either of clay and timber or of coconut or palm branches and topped by double-eaved thatched roofs. Scattered throughout the coconut plantations, they are not far from the beaches. Inland in the south, thatched

Syringomyelia

2005-03-15T03:37:00.000-08:00

Chronic, progressive disease characterized principally by the development of a cyst, called a syrinx, near the spinal cord or brain stem. Symptoms include gradual dissociated sensory loss, muscle wasting, and spasticity. The cause of the disease is unknown but is thought to be a developmental defect. Symptoms ordinarily appear between 10 and 30 years of age; males are

Ryukyu Islands

2005-03-14T10:47:00.000-08:00

Also called Nansei Islands , Japanese Ryukyu-Shoto , or Nansei-Shoto , Ryukyuan Okinawa archipelago, extending almost 400 miles (650 km) southwest from Kyushu, southern Japan, to the northern tip of Taiwan bordering the Philippine Sea (east) and the East China Sea (west). Since 1972 the islands have comprised Okinawa ken (prefecture), Japan. With a total land area of 870 square miles (2,254 square km), they consist of 55 islands and islets divided into three major groups: the Amami island

Forbach

2005-03-13T19:03:00.000-08:00

Town, Moselle département, Lorraine region, northeastern France, just southwest of Saarbrücken, Ger. The town, which has an important cokery and manufactures mining equipment, is at the edge of the Saar Coal Basin. Remains of the medieval castle of the counts of Forbach crown a nearby hill (Schlossberg). Forbach was the scene of a French defeat (Aug. 6, 1870) during the Franco-German

Zoroastrianism

2005-03-13T16:46:00.000-08:00

Zoroastrianism is not the purely ethical religion it may at first seem. In practice, despite the doctrine of free choice, a Zoroastrian is so constantly involved in a meticulous struggle against the contamination of death and the thousand causes of defilement, and against the threat, even in his sleep, of ever-present demons, that he does not often believe that he is

Aschersleben

2005-03-13T16:03:00.000-08:00

City, Saxony-Anhalt Land (state), Germany. It is situated on the northern edge of the Unter Harz (Lower Harz) Mountains, southwest of Magdeburg. Probably founded in the 11th century, it was chartered in 1266 and was the ancestral seat of the Ascanians, an influential German family who derived their name (Latinized) from the town. It passed to the bishops of Halberstadt in 1315 and Brandenburg

Tibet, Finance

2005-03-13T05:27:00.000-08:00

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.

Burette

2005-03-13T01:14:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Buret, laboratory apparatus used in quantitative chemical analysis to measure the volume of a liquid or a gas. It consists of a graduated glass tube with a stopcock (turning plug, or spigot) at one end. On a liquid burette, the stopcock is at the bottom, and the precise volume of the liquid dispensed can be determined by reading the graduations marked on the glass tube at the liquid

Amphibian, Distribution and abundance

2005-03-12T21:53:00.000-08:00

Found in almost every type of environment except the high latitudes in the Arctic, Antarctica, various oceanic islands, and some extremely xeric (dry) deserts, frogs and toads show the greatest diversity in humid tropical environments. Salamanders primarily inhabit the Northern Hemisphere and are most abundant in cool, moist, montane forests;

Tucholsky, Kurt

2005-03-12T13:17:00.000-08:00

After studying law and serving in World War I, Tucholsky left Germany in 1924 and lived first in Paris and after 1929 in Sweden. He contributed to Rote Signale (1931; “Red Signals”), a collection of

China, Reforms

2005-03-11T13:42:00.000-08:00

Shen-tsung (reigned 1067/68–1085/86) was a reform emperor. Originally a prince reared outside the palace, familiar with social conditions and devoted to serious studies, he did not come into the line of Imperial succession until adoption had put his father on the throne before him. Shen-tsung responded vigorously (and rather unexpectedly, from the standpoint of many bureaucrats)

Talbot

2005-03-11T10:17:00.000-08:00

County, east-central Maryland, U.S. It adjoins Chesapeake Bay to the west, the Choptank River to the south and southeast, and Tuckahoe Creek to the northeast and includes Tilghman and Poplar islands. The jagged coast is carved by the Wye East, Tred Avon, and Miles rivers and by Harris and Broad creeks. Parklands include Seth Demonstration Forest and Wye Oak State Park, the

Adams, Roger

2005-03-11T06:55:00.000-08:00

Receiving

Tizi Ouzou

2005-03-11T05:52:00.000-08:00

Town, north-central Algeria, in the Great Kabylie. It lies in a narrow valley of the Wadi Tizi Ouzou, separated from the Wadi Sébaou Valley by Mount Beloua. Named for the flowering broom (ouzou) that grows in the pass (tizi) connecting the two valleys, Tizi Ouzou was built by the Turks and enlarged by the French. The town is a regional trade centre noted for basketry; it is the

Argonne

2005-03-11T05:00:00.000-08:00

Wooded, hilly region in eastern France that forms a natural barrier between Champagne and Lorraine. The Argonne is about 40 miles long and 10 miles wide (65 by 15 km). The hilly massif rarely exceeds 650 feet (200 m) in elevation but is slashed with numerous deep valleys formed by watercourses associated with the Aire and Aisne rivers, which constitute a barrier to transportation. The

Graham, Katharine

2005-03-10T13:31:00.000-08:00

The daughter of the publisher Eugene Meyer and the educator Agnes Meyer, Katharine Meyer attended Vassar College from 1934 to 1936 and then transferred to the University of Chicago, graduating in 1938. After a year as a reporter for the

'uthman Ibn 'affan

2005-03-10T11:50:00.000-08:00

'Uthman

Catalonia Museum Of Art

2005-03-10T04:35:00.000-08:00

Spanish Museo De Arte De Cataluña , Catalan Museu D'art De Catalunya museum in the Palacio Nacional in Barcelona, housing one of the most important collections of medieval paintings in the world and also a fine and complete collection of Spanish ceramics. The Romanesque Galleries comprise a series of reconstructions of church interiors with mural decorations brought from villages in the Pyrenees, transported to the museum

Roman Republic And Empire

2005-03-09T00:41:00.000-08:00

The ancient state that centred on the city of Rome, from the time of the events leading up to the founding of the republic in 509 BC, through the establishment of the empire in 27 BC, to the final eclipse of the Empire of the West in the 5th century AD. (For later events of the Empire of the East, see Byzantine Empire.)

Azurite

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

Also called Chessylite, basic copper carbonate [Cu3(OH)2(CO3)2]. It is ordinarily found with malachite in the oxidized zone of copper lodes. Notable deposits are Tsumeb, Namibia; Chessy, Fr.; and Bisbee, Ariz., U.S. Azurite was used as a blue pigment in ancient Eastern wall painting and, from the 15th to the middle of the 17th century, in European painting. For detailed physical properties, see carbonate

Marriott, J(ohn) Willard

2005-03-08T16:39:00.000-08:00

The son of a Mormon rancher, Marriott worked his way through Weber College in Ogden and the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, graduating in 1926. He opened a small root beer and barbecue stand in Washington, D.C., in 1927 and by 1932 had

Jacobsen, Josephine

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

Soon after her birth, Jacobsen moved with her family from Canada to the United States. She began writing poetry as a child, and her first poem was published when she was 11 years old. Jacobsen was educated by tutors and at the Roland Park Country School in Baltimore,

Uist

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

Either of two islands of the Outer Hebrides, both lying off the northwestern coast of Scotland. See North Uist; South Uist.

Anthracosis

2005-03-08T03:43:00.000-08:00

Respiratory disorder, the early, usually nonsymptomatic stage of coal-workers' pneumoconiosis. See black lung.

Dunqulah

2005-03-08T00:43:00.000-08:00

The historic town of Old Dunqulah (Dunqulah al-'Ajuz) was situated on the

Danané

2005-03-07T22:14:00.000-08:00

Town, western Côte d'Ivoire. It lies along the Boan River, a tributary of the Nuon (Nipoué, Cestos) River, and at the intersection of roads from Liberia, Guinea, and the Ivoirian town of Man. It is the chief trade centre (rice, coffee, and kola nuts) of a forested region mainly inhabited by the Dan people. Pop. (1975) town, 19,608.

Barcelona, Archaeological Museum Of

2005-03-07T14:47:00.000-08:00

In full Archaeological Museum Of Barcelona And Institute Of Prehistory And Archaeology, Spanish Museo Arqueológica De Barcelona E Instituto De Prehistoria Y Arqueología, institution in Barcelona, Spain, notable for its collection of prehistoric objects and for its collection of ancient Greek and Roman art and examples illustrating Iberian archaeology. Exhibits include a scale model of a part of the excavation at Ampurias (Emporiae) and displays of Greek vases, glass, and sculpture. There is a fine statue of Asclepius of the 4th century

Daddah, Moktar Ould

2005-03-07T14:05:00.000-08:00

Mauritanian politician (b. Dec. 25, 1924, Boutilimit, French West Africa—d. Oct. 15, 2003, Paris, France), as Mauritania's first postindependence president (1961–78), secured international recognition and respect for the new country while he reconciled the varied interests of Mauritania's widely dispersed, partly nomadic, and religiously diverse Arab and black African populations. Daddah trained

Space

2005-03-06T16:20:00.000-08:00

Space is treated in a number of articles. For a philosophical consideration of the subject, see metaphysics. For a discussion of the relativity of space and time, see relativity. For a description of space as the region of the universe beyond the Earth

Polanyi, Karl

2005-03-06T13:31:00.000-08:00

In college in Budapest Polanyi founded the radical Club Galilei, which would have far-reaching effects on Hungarian intellectual life. He qualified as a lawyer in 1912 and served as a cavalry officer during World War I. Once back home he founded the Radical Citizens

Pemba Island

2005-03-06T00:02:00.000-08:00

Arabic Jazirat Al-khudrah, island in the Indian Ocean, lying 35 miles (56 km) off the coast of East Africa, opposite the port of Tanga, Tanzania. The island embraces 380 square miles (984 square km) and is 42 miles (67 km) long and 14 miles (22 km) wide. As the Arabic name, which means “Green Island,” suggests, it is more fertile than its sister island, Zanzibar, which lies 30 miles (48 km) to the southwest. Pemba is the world's leading producer

Clarion River

2005-03-05T23:56:00.000-08:00

River formed at Johnsonburg, Elk county, northwestern Pennsylvania, U.S., by the confluence of East Branch and West Branch Clarion rivers. It flows generally southwest for about 110 miles (177 km), past the towns of Ridgway and Clarion, to join the Allegheny River. The Clarion Dam and Reservoir are on the East Branch near Glen Hazel. The river's name is attributed to surveyors who

Spruce Knob

2005-03-05T14:49:00.000-08:00

Highest point in West Virginia, U.S., located in the Allegheny Mountains in the eastern part of the state, about 25 miles (40 km) southeast of Elkins. Spruce Knob lies at an elevation of 4,863 feet (1,482 metres) at the southern end of Spruce Mountain, a ridge extending northeast-southwest along the western edge of Pendleton county. The peak, accessible by road from nearby Judy Gap, is within

France, History Of, Geographic-historical scope

2005-03-05T10:43:00.000-08:00

Gaul, in this context, signifies only what the Romans, from their perspective, termed Transalpine Gaul (Gallia Transalpina), or “Gaul across the Alps.” Broadly, it comprised all lands from the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean coast of modern France to the English Channel and from the Atlantic to the Rhine and the western Alps. The Romans knew a second Gaul, Cisalpine

Molinos, Miguel De

2005-03-04T22:17:00.000-08:00

Ordained in 1652, Molinos in 1663 was sent to Rome. There, in 1675, he published his Spiritual Guide, a small handbook teaching that Christian perfection is achieved by a mixture of contemplation

Daedala

2005-03-04T19:02:00.000-08:00

Ancient festival of Hera, consort of the supreme god Zeus. The Daedala was celebrated on Mount Cithaeron in Greece. In the festival, a wooden image dressed as a bride was carried in procession, then burnt with sacrificed animals and a wooden sacrificial altar. A myth existed that Zeus had won back the estranged Hera by arousing her jealousy with such an image. The Daedala

Steeple

2005-03-04T16:55:00.000-08:00

Tall ornamental tower, sometimes a belfry, usually attached to an ecclesiastical or public building. The steeple is usually composed of a series of diminishing stories and is topped by a spire, cupola, or pyramid (qq.v.), although in ordinary usage the term steeple denotes the entire structure.

Shensi, Plant and animal life

2005-03-04T14:48:00.000-08:00

The vegetation in the northern and southern zones is also sharply differentiated. The southern mountain area forms a part of the mixed deciduous broad-leaved and evergreen forest zone that formerly covered the Lower Yangtze and Han river basins; this region is characterized by a rich variety of vegetation that includes more than 50 broad-leaved genera and a dozen

Monarchy

2005-03-03T10:30:00.000-08:00

The undivided sovereignty or rule of a single person. The term is applied to states in which the supreme authority is vested in a single person, the monarch, who is the permanent head of the state. The word has, however, outlived this original meaning and is now used, when used at all, somewhat loosely of states ruled by hereditary sovereigns, as distinct from republics

Divination, Inductive divination

2005-03-03T08:52:00.000-08:00

To speculate that inductive divination from natural phenomena must be very old—i.e., that it arose from an early intimate acquaintance with nature—is tempting but inaccurate. In fact, there is little evidence that preliterate peoples viewed nature as a system, and this is particularly true in respect to astral observation. Divination from the skies is concerned

Brentano, Lujo

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

Brentano received his Ph.D. in economics in 1867 from the University of Göttingen and was professor of political theory from 1871 to 1931, successively, at the Universities

Dancehall Music

2005-03-02T21:19:00.000-08:00

The seductive chant of the dancehall deejay—part talking, part singing—came to prominence in the late 1970s but

Caldecott, Randolph

2005-03-02T13:50:00.000-08:00

While a bank clerk at Whitchurch, Shropshire, and at Manchester, Caldecott began drawing for local magazines. Through his acquaintance with George Du Maurier he began contributing to