PrivateBrush

Earth

2005-11-18T19:25:00.000-08:00

The basic structure and composition of the Earth's interior have been known since the mid-20th century. In a landmark paper published in 1952, the American geophysicist Francis Birch described the constitution of the planetary interior based on a broad array of seismological, experimental, and geochemical observations. Although there have been numerous advances in

Petén

2005-10-16T16:20:00.000-07:00

Region of northern Guatemala, bounded on the north and west by Mexico and on the east by Belize. It constitutes more than one-third of the nation's territory. Petén is a low limestone plateau, varying in elevation between 500 and 700 feet (150 and 210 m) above sea level at the base of the Yucatán Peninsula. Except for areas of savanna vegetation, the region is covered by dense tropical rain

Armidale

2005-08-08T21:10:00.000-07:00

City, northeastern New South Wales, Australia. It lies on the valley slopes of Dumaresq Creek in the New England Range. Founded in 1839 by G.J. Macdonald, commissioner of crown lands, and named for his father's Scottish baronial estate on the Isle of Skye, it developed a pastoral-agricultural economy. It has become a regional cultural centre with Anglican and Roman Catholic

Bridges, Harry

2005-07-27T19:00:00.000-07:00

Bridges left home to become a maritime seaman at the age of 16 and in 1920 legally entered the United States, where he worked as a seaman and dockworker

F Region

2005-07-23T13:05:00.000-07:00

Highest region of the ionosphere, at altitudes greater than 160 km (100 miles); it has the greatest concentration of free electrons and is the most important of the ionospheric regions. The charged particles in the F region consist primarily of neutral atoms split into electrons and charged atoms. Although its degree of ionization persists with little change through the

Karamzin, Nikolay Mikhaylovich

2005-07-08T10:25:00.000-07:00

From an early age, Karamzin was interested in Enlightenment philosophy and western European literature. After extensive travel in western Europe,

Botosani

2005-07-06T14:50:00.000-07:00

City, capital of Botosani judet (county), northeastern Romania. It lies in a rich farming area of northern Moldavia, near the border with Moldova. As a settlement, it was first documented in 1439. The Popauti Church dates from 1496. Long known as a market centre for agricultural produce and wines, Botosani has also become an industrial centre, particularly in textiles. Pop. (1989 est.) 119,563.

Webb, Sidney And Beatrice

2005-06-22T23:05:00.000-07:00

In full respectively Sidney James Webb, Baron Passfield of Passfield Corner , and Martha Beatrice Webb, née Potter English Socialist economists (husband and wife), early members of the Fabian Society, and co-founders of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Sidney Webb also helped reorganize the University of London into a federation of teaching institutions and served in

Dualism

2005-06-16T08:15:00.000-07:00

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

Earthquake, TokyoYokohama

2005-06-03T17:00:00.000-07:00

A great earthquake struck the Tokyo–Yokohama metropolitan area near noon on Sept. 1, 1923. The death toll from this shock was estimated at more than 140,000. Fifty-four percent of the brick buildings and 10 percent of the reinforced concrete structures collapsed. Many hundreds of thousands of houses were either shaken down or burned. The shock started a tsunami that reached a height

Qatar

2005-06-01T11:50:00.000-07:00

Little is known of Qatar's history before the 18th century, when the region's population consisted largely of transient nomads and a few small fishing villages. Qatar's modern history begins conventionally in 1766 with the migration to the peninsula of families from Kuwait, notably the Al Khalifahs. Their settlement at the new town of Az-Zubarah grew into a small pearl-diving

Poseidon

2005-05-18T02:55:00.000-07:00

In Greek religion, god of the sea and of water generally; he is to be distinguished from Pontus, the personification of the sea and the oldest Greek divinity of the waters. The name Poseidon means either “husband of earth” or “lord of the earth.” Traditionally he was a son of Cronus, an ancient chief god, and Rhea, a fertility goddess, and was brother of Zeus, the chief god, and Hades,

Scandinavian Literature, The heroic sagas

2005-05-16T08:15:00.000-07:00

The fantastic element was further developed in the fornaldar sögur, literally “the sagas of antiquity,” whose heroes were supposed to have lived in Scandinavia and Germany before Iceland was settled. The best known, the Völsunga saga (c. 1270), retold in prose stories from heroic lays of Sigurd, the Burgundians, and Jörmunrekr, and the Hrólfs saga kraka (c. 1280–1350) incorporated ancient

Earth, Earthquakes

2005-05-14T06:05:00.000-07:00

Most Earth scientists believe that virtually all naturally produced earthquakes occur as a result of movements along faults. The reason that the majority of such earthquakes occur along plate boundaries is that most faults lie along those boundaries.

Cornell, Katharine

2005-03-15T20:15:00.000-08:00

Cornell was the daughter of American parents who were in Berlin at the time of her birth. Later that year the family returned to Buffalo, New York. Her interest in the theatre came naturally - her father was an amateur actor and an associate

Oz, Amos

2005-03-14T20:43:00.000-08:00

Oz's symbolic, poetic novels reflect the splits and strains in Israeli life. Locked in conflict are the traditions

Heredity, DNA repair

2005-03-11T08:55:00.000-08:00

A variety of agents in the cell's environment, both chemical and physical, can damage DNA. Organisms have developed a variety of mechanisms for repairing copying errors produced by damaged DNA, usually by enzymatically excising them. The enzyme DNA polymerase then catalyzes the replacement of the excised segment with the correct nucleotides, using the undamaged

Davidson (of Lambeth), Randall Thomas Davidson, Baron

2005-03-04T04:24:00.000-08:00

Ordained in 1875, Davidson became resident chaplain two years later to the archbishop of Canterbury, Archibald C. Tait. He soon won the trust of Queen Victoria, whose influence

Rockefeller, John D., Jr.

2005-03-03T19:43:00.000-08:00

After graduation from Brown University in 1897, he joined his father in business but never assumed

Wild Rye

2005-03-02T00:40:00.000-08:00

Sea lyme, or dune, grass (E. arenarius) is a Eurasian species 0.6 to 2.5 m (2 to 8 feet)

Biblical Literature, II Maccabees

2005-03-01T20:02:00.000-08:00

The Second Book of the Maccabees, or its source, was probably written in the same period as I Maccabees. The book is preceded by two letters to the Jews of Egypt: the first from the year 124 BCE and the second one written earlier (164 BCE) commemorating the rededication of the Temple. In the preface of the book, the author indicates that he has condensed into one book the lost five-volume

Ksar El-boukhari

2005-02-28T02:09:00.000-08:00

Also called �Boghari, � town, north-central Algeria. Lying along the Chelif River at the junction of the High Plateau and the Atlas Mountains, the town is almost totally surrounded by wooded mountain ridges. The old walled quarter (ksar) is on a hill, overlooking the modern town. Ksar el-Boukhari is a commercial centre for pastoral peoples of the interior, who trade in wool, livestock, and cereals.

Brabant

2005-02-27T02:39:00.000-08:00

The remnant of the duchy of Lower Lorraine was

Cache Memory

2005-02-26T18:08:00.000-08:00

Also called �Cache, � a supplementary memory system that temporarily stores frequently used instructions and data for quicker processing by the central processor of a computer. The cache augments, and is an extension of, a computer's main memory. Both main memory and cache are internal, random-access memories (RAMs) that use semiconductor-based transistor circuits. Cache holds a copy

John

2005-02-25T14:11:00.000-08:00

A penniless younger son of the French count Erard II of Brienne and Agnes of Montb�liard, John passed most of his life as a minor noble until befriended by King Philip II Augustus of France, who arranged for him to

Gates Of The Arctic National Park And Preserve

2005-02-24T22:38:00.000-08:00

Large, remote wilderness area in northern Alaska, U.S. It is part of a vast region of national parks, monuments, and preserves located north of the Arctic Circle that stretches for hundreds of miles from west to east. Proclaimed a national monument in 1978, the area underwent boundary changes in 1980 when it became a national park and preserve. The total area of the park is 11,756 square

Moschopoulos, Manuel

2005-02-23T16:20:00.000-08:00

Little is known of Moschopoulos' life except what can be gathered from his correspondence and a reference in a letter of one Maximus Planudes, who describes him as his pupil. He was a prominent representative of those

Frederick I

2005-02-22T18:35:00.000-08:00

An implacable enemy of the Bohemian followers of Jan Hus, church reformer and accused heretic, Frederick aided the Holy Roman emperor Sigismund against them from 1420 on. When the last Saxon elector

Macartney, George Macartney, Earl, Viscount Macartney Of Dervock, Baron Of Lissanoure, Baron Macartney Of Parkhurst And Of Auchinleck, Lord Macartney

2005-02-21T11:10:00.000-08:00

A member of an old Scots-Irish family, Macartney studied at Trinity College (M.A., 1759) in Dublin. He was knighted and appointed envoy extraordinary to Russia in 1764 and, on his return, entered Parliament, becoming chief secretary for Ireland (1769 - 72). In 1775 he became governor

Brazil, Visual arts

2005-02-20T16:13:00.000-08:00

The landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx has made urban Brazilians especially aware of the splendours of their natural environment by replacing the traditional, formal European-style gardens containing imported plants with a profusion of native species in approximation to their natural settings. Some of Marx's landscapes have been used to set off the imaginative

Literature, France.

2005-02-19T03:18:00.000-08:00

In 2001 French literature's marked inclination towards gloom continued unabated as it had for over a decade, leaving no permutation of familial misery unabated. Death in the family was a favourite topic, and Laure Adler's � ce soir described the death of her son and the subsequent guilt that has consumed her for

Egypt, Ancient, Predynastic Egypt

2005-02-18T07:11:00.000-08:00

The peoples of predynastic Egypt were the successors of the Paleolithic inhabitants of northeastern Africa, who had spread over much of its area; during wet phases they had left remains in regions as inhospitable as the Great Sand Sea. The final desiccation of the Sahara was not complete until the end of the 3rd millennium BC; over thousands of years people must have

Industrial Espionage

2005-02-17T22:14:00.000-08:00

A considerable amount of data on what the

Ar�te

2005-02-16T21:51:00.000-08:00

(French: �ridge�), in geology, a sharp-crested serrate ridge separating the heads of opposing valleys (cirques) that formerly were occupied by Alpine glaciers. It has steep sides formed by the collapse of unsupported rock, undercut by continual freezing and thawing (glacial sapping; see cirque). Two opposing glaciers meeting at an ar�te will carve a low, smooth gap, or col

Ar�te

2005-02-15T16:33:00.000-08:00

Bohemond Iii

2005-02-14T14:34:00.000-08:00

The son of Constance (daughter of Bohemond II) by her first husband, Raymond of Poitiers, he succeeded to the principality upon attaining his majority and then exiled his mother. In the following year (1164) he suffered defeat and was captured by the Muslims. It was the influence of the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus that secured Bohemond's early

United States, The Humid Pacific Coast

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

Toward the south, with diminishing coastal rain the moist marine climate gradually gives way to California's tiny but much-publicized Mediterranean regime. Although mountainous topography introduces a bewildering variety of local environments, scanty winter rains are quite inadequate to compensate for the long summer drought, and much of the region has a distinctly arid character. For much of the year, cool, stable Pacific air dominates the West Coast, bringing San Francisco its famous fogs and Los Angeles its infamous smoggy temperature inversions. Inland, however, summer temperatures reach blistering levels, so that in July, while Los Angeles expects a normal daily maximum of 83 �F (28 �C), Fresno expects 100 �F (38 �C) and is climatically a desert. As might be expected, Mediterranean California contains a huge variety of vegetal habitats, but the commonest perhaps is the chaparral, a drought-resistant, scrubby woodland of twisted hard-leafed trees, picturesque but of little economic value. Chaparral is a pyrophytic (fire-loving) vegetation - i.e., under natural conditions its growth and form depend on regular burning. These fires constitute a major environmental hazard in the suburban hills above Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay, especially in autumn, when hot dry Santa Ana winds from the interior regularly convert brush fires into infernos. Soils are similarly varied, but most of them are light in colour and rich in soluble minerals, qualities typical of subarid soils.

Sano

2005-02-12T14:54:00.000-08:00

City, Tochigi ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan, on the Watarase River, a tributary of the Ione River. Sano is surrounded by low hills and occupies a plain, a plateau, and alluvial lowlands. Sano was a castle town during the Middle Ages and a post town and market centre during the Tokugawa era (1603 - 1867). Industry developed after the late 19th century, and the city now produces concrete, roof

Allee, Warder Clyde

2005-02-11T23:38:00.000-08:00

Allee became interested in the problems and patterns of the distribution of marine animals during the summers that he spent as an instructor at the Marine

Shields, Carol

2005-02-10T10:54:00.000-08:00

Shields grew up in the United States and in 1957 graduated from Hanover College in Indiana. That same year she married and moved to Canada. After taking a course in creative

Gandhara Art

2005-02-09T15:18:00.000-08:00

The Gandhara region

Insurance, Special riders

2005-02-08T07:18:00.000-08:00

The insured may, at a nominal charge, attach to the contract a waiver-of-premium rider under which premium payments will be waived in the event of total and permanent disability before the age of 60. Under the disability income rider, should the insured become totally and permanently disabled, a monthly income will be paid. Under the double indemnity rider, if death occurs

Moravia

2005-02-07T03:36:00.000-08:00

Traditional region in central Europe that served as the centre of a major medieval kingdom, known as Great Moravia, before it was incorporated into the kingdom of Bohemia in the 11th century. In the 20th century Moravia became part of the modern state of Czechoslovakia and subsequently of the Czech Republic. The region is bounded by Bohemia on the west and northwest, by

William Clito

2005-02-06T03:50:00.000-08:00

Son of Duke Robert II Curthose (and grandson of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders), William Clito was supported by Louis VI of France in claiming the duchy when his father

Huggins, Sir William

2005-02-05T05:21:00.000-08:00

Huggins built a private observatory at Tulse Hill, London, in 1856. From 1859 he was one of a number of astronomers who began to apply Robert

Fructidor, Coup Of 18

2005-02-04T02:27:00.000-08:00

The Directory, fearing that it was losing favour in the country, called upon Napoleon Bonaparte to send a general to command troops guarding the legislature at the Tuileries. On 18 Fructidor, year V (September 4, 1799), General Pierre-Fran

Amphitrite

2005-02-03T20:57:00.000-08:00

In Greek mythology, the goddess of the sea, wife of the god Poseidon, and one of the 50 (or 100) daughters (the Nereids) of Nereus and Doris (the daughter of Oceanus). Poseidon chose Amphitrite from among her sisters as the Nereids performed a dance on the isle of Naxos. Refusing his offer of marriage, she fled to Atlas, from whom she was retrieved by a dolphin sent by Poseidon. Amphitrite

Marghiloman, Alexandru

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

After studying law in Paris, Marghiloman was elected a deputy in Romania in 1884 and became a member of the government in 1888. As a member of the Young Conservative Junimist group, he favoured cooperation with Germany and Austria-Hungary but on the outbreak

Producer Gas

2005-01-31T10:15:00.000-08:00

Mixture of flammable gases (principally carbon monoxide and hydrogen) and nonflammable gases (mainly nitrogen and carbon dioxide) made by the partial combustion of carbonaceous substances, usually coal, in an atmosphere of air and steam. Producer gas has lower heating value than other gaseous fuels, but it can be manufactured with relatively simple equipment;

Claremont

2005-01-30T06:44:00.000-08:00

City, Sullivan county, western New Hampshire, U.S., on the Sugar River near its junction with the Connecticut River. Settled in 1762, Claremont was organized as a town in 1764 and was probably named for the duke of Newcastle's country estate in England. Waterpower for early industry was provided by the Sugar River, and completion of the Concord and Claremont Railroad (1871 - 72) gave impetus

Mind Reading

2005-01-29T18:40:00.000-08:00

A magician's trick involving various silent or verbal signals that cue a conjurer to answer a question as though with second sight. Philip Breslaw, the first magician of note to feature mind reading, played in 1781 at the Haymarket Theatre in London to appreciative audiences. In 1784 the Pinettis, a husband-and-wife team, advertised Mrs. Pinetti as able to guess the thoughts of

Carinus

2005-01-28T20:55:00.000-08:00

With the title of Caesar, he was sent by his father, the emperor Carus, to the army of the Rhine in 282. On his father's death in the summer of 283, Carinus became emperor in the West, his brother Numerian becoming emperor in the East. After a campaign on the Rhine, Carinus returned to Rome where,

Waring, Laura Wheeler

2005-01-27T09:07:00.000-08:00

The daughter of upper-class parents, Laura Wheeler graduated from Hartford (Connecticut) High School (with honours) during a time when few African American women attended school. In 1908 she entered the Pennsylvania Academy

Apuleius, Lucius

2005-01-25T16:23:00.000-08:00

Apuleius, who was educated at Carthage and Athens,

Rommel, Erwin

2005-01-24T05:30:00.000-08:00

Less than a year later, in February 1941, Rommel was appointed commander of the German troops dispatched to aid the all but defeated Italian army in Libya. The deserts of North Africa became the scene of his greatest successes - and of his defeat at the hands of a vastly superior enemy. In the North African theatre of war, the �Desert Fox,� as he came to be called by both friend and

Rommel, Erwin

2005-01-23T00:57:00.000-08:00

Mandel, Georges

2005-01-22T07:12:00.000-08:00

A member of a prosperous Jewish family, though not related to the Rothschild banking dynasty, Mandel served on the personal staff of Premier Georges Clemenceau from 1906 to 1909 and again from 1917 to 1920. He also served as a deputy in the National Assembly from 1919 to 1924 and from 1928 to

Craigavon

2005-01-21T15:19:00.000-08:00

District and borough, Northern Ireland, established in 1973 from portions of Counties Antrim, Down, and Armagh. It is situated south of Lough (lake) Neagh and is bordered by the districts of Dungannon to the west, Armagh to the southwest, Banbridge to the southeast, and Lisburn to the east. Its administrative seat is Craigavon new town. In the northern part of Craigavon district,

Little Theatre

2005-01-20T23:08:00.000-08:00

Movement in U.S. theatre to free dramatic forms and methods of production from the limitations of the large commercial theatres by establishing small experimental centres of drama. The movement was initiated at the beginning of the 20th century by young dramatists, stage designers, and actors who were influenced by the vital European theatre of the late 19th century;

Aeroflot

2005-01-19T19:09:00.000-08:00

The Soviet state airline was founded in 1928 under the name Dobroflot and was reorganized under the name Aeroflot in 1932. Dobroflot, or Dobrovolny Flot, grew out of two former airlines: Dobrolyot, founded in 1923, and Ukvozdukhput, or Ukrainian Airways, founded in 1925. These airlines together connected such

United Kingdom, The reconquest of the Danelaw

2005-01-18T18:27:00.000-08:00

When Alfred died in 899, his son Edward succeeded him. A large-scale incursion by the Danes of Northumbria ended in their crushing defeat at Tettenhall in 910. Edward completed his father's plan of building a ring of fortresses around Wessex, and his sister Aethelflaed took similar measures in Mercia. In 912 Edward was ready to begin the series of campaigns by which he relentlessly

United Kingdom, The reconquest of the Danelaw

2005-01-17T07:38:00.000-08:00

Bottom Water

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

Dense, lowermost layer of ocean water that can be distinguished clearly from overlying waters by its characteristic temperature, salinity, and oxygen content. Most bottom waters of the South Pacific, southern Indian Ocean, South Atlantic, and portions of the North Atlantic are formed near Antarctica during the southern winter. The partial freezing of seawater

Porbeagle

2005-01-15T19:38:00.000-08:00

Species of mackerel shark (q.v.).

Beyer, Jinny

2005-01-14T13:15:00.000-08:00

Beyer received a B.A. in speech and French from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, and an

Pemphigus

2005-01-12T19:15:00.000-08:00

The most common and most severe of these diseases is pemphigus vulgaris, in which large, flaccid blisters erupt

Beach, Alfred Ely

2005-01-11T13:48:00.000-08:00

While Beach was attending

Aegilops

2005-01-10T07:09:00.000-08:00

Genus of grasses (order Cyperales) that has become an agricultural contaminant. Members of the genus grow with wheat, mature at the same time, and, unless care is taken, are harvested along with it. One Aegilops species was an ancestor of bread wheat. Its origin was in southeastern Turkey, northern Iraq, and western Iran.

Paulownia Sun, Order Of The

2005-01-09T13:35:00.000-08:00

The badge, suspended from a green

Port Antonio

2005-01-08T05:47:00.000-08:00

Chief town of the Parish of Portland, on the northeastern coast of Jamaica, 60 mi (97 km) northeast of Kingston. The island's third largest port, it is a shipping point for bananas, coconuts, and cacao and is one of Jamaica's oldest and least commercialized tourist resorts. It lies on a bay divided by a promontory into East and West Harbours; the latter is sheltered by the small Navy

9to5, National Association Of Working Women

2005-01-07T14:34:00.000-08:00

The group had its origins in 9to5 News, a newsletter that was first published in December 1972. About a year later, the newsletter's publishers announced the formation of Boston 9to5, a grassroots collective for women office

Media And Publishing, Amateur Radio.

2005-01-06T05:09:00.000-08:00

In 1998 the amateur radio (ham) community in the U.S. was grappling with the most sweeping restructuring of amateur radio licensing since 1989. In July the American Radio Relay League proposed reducing the number of classes of licenses from six to four and streamlining the examinations needed to obtain the licenses. Instead of six license classes, there would be four: technician,

Zinc Processing, Casting alloys

2005-01-05T04:00:00.000-08:00

The major consumption of cast-zinc alloys is in products formed by pressure die-casting. This is a highly automated process in which molten alloy is injected under pressure into a steel die, where rapid solidification takes place. High production rates can be achieved, and the resulting components have good dimensional stability and surface quality. Also, they

Silane

2005-01-04T15:31:00.000-08:00

Also called �Silicon Hydride, � any of a series of covalently bonded compounds containing only the elements silicon and hydrogen, having the general formula SinH2n 2, in which n equals 1, 2, 3, and so on. The silanes are structural analogues of the saturated hydrocarbons but are much less stable. The term silane is extended to include compounds in which any or all of the hydrogen atoms have been replaced by

Korea, History Of, Chinese intervention

2005-01-03T21:20:00.000-08:00

The Chinese, who had moved troops along the Yalu after the Inch'on landing, entered Korea in November in overwhelming numbers. By the end of 1952, 1,200,000 Chinese were engaged in the war under the command of Peng Dehuai (P'eng Te-huai). They forced the UN forces to retreat in disorder, and Seoul was reevacuated on Jan. 4, 1951. But the Chinese were halted around P'yongt'aek (about 30 miles south of Seoul),

Aniconism

2005-01-02T21:48:00.000-08:00

The biblical Second Commandment (part of the First Commandment to Roman Catholics and Lutherans), �You shall not make yourself a graven image, or any likeness

Capital Levy

2005-01-01T16:27:00.000-08:00

Strictly defined, a direct tax assessed simultaneously on the capital resources of all persons possessing taxable wealth in excess of a minimum value and paid at least partly out of capital resources. This definition excludes death duties because in any given year their application is necessarily limited to the estates of deceased persons. Various taxes have

Nahan

2004-12-31T00:43:00.000-08:00

City, southern Himachal Pradesh state, northwestern India. It lies south-southeast of Simla, the state capital, at the foot of the Siwalik Range and is a trade centre for agricultural produce and timber. Its industries include handweaving, wood carving, and ironworking. Nahan was the capital of the Punjab Hill State of Sirmur during the British rule in India. Pop. (1991 prelim.) 21,867.

Cineas

2004-12-30T01:59:00.000-08:00

Thessalian who served as chief adviser to Pyrrhus, king of Epirus in Greece. In 281 Cineas attempted, without success, to dissuade Pyrrhus from invading Italy. After Pyrrhus defeated the Romans at Heraclea in Lucania (280), Cineas was sent to Rome to negotiate a peace. According to the 2nd-century-AD Greek historian Appian, he demanded that the Romans halt their aggression

Puerto Montt

2004-12-29T13:07:00.000-08:00

Founded in 1853, the settlement was named for Manuel Montt, then president of Chile. Early German settlers have given it a distinctive appearance. Puerto Montt is a commercial centre for an agricultural

Silhouette

2004-12-28T09:33:00.000-08:00

An image or design in a single hue and tone, most usually the popular 18th- and 19th-century cut or painted profile portraits done in black on white or the reverse. Silhouette also is any outline or sharp shadow of an object. The word was satirically derived from the name of the parsimonious mid-18th-century French finance minister �tienne de Silhouette, whose hobby was the

Frederick Iv

2004-12-27T17:11:00.000-08:00

King of Denmark and Norway (1699 - 1730), who succeeded his father, King Christian V. He continued the Danish efforts to sever the House of Gottorp's link with Sweden, but his first attempt to do so, in 1700 at the outbreak of the Great Northern War, was checked by Charles XII of Sweden. Frederick then accepted the Treaty of Traventhal (1700), but he reentered the war

Cloaca Maxima

2004-12-26T02:58:00.000-08:00

Ancient Roman sewer, one of the oldest monuments in the Roman Forum. Originally an open channel constructed in the 6th century BC by lining an existing stream bed with stone, it was enclosed, beginning in the 3rd century BC, with a stone barrel (semicircular) vault. Its primary function was to carry off storm water from the Forum district to the Tiber, but in Imperial times large

Crocus

2004-12-25T19:39:00.000-08:00

Genus of about 75 low-growing, cormose species of plants of the iris family (Iridaceae), native to the Alps, southern Europe, and the Mediterranean area and widely grown for their cuplike blooms in early spring or fall. The spring-flowering sorts have a floral tube so long that the ovary is belowground, sheltered from climatic changes. The flowers close at night and

Messenger

2004-12-24T23:30:00.000-08:00

(foaled 1780), racehorse who, though a Thoroughbred who sired many successful Thoroughbred (flat) racers, was most important as the foundation sire of the Standardbred (harness racehorse) breed. A son of Mambrino and grandson of Matchem, he was foaled in England but was taken to Philadelphia in 1788. His descendants became known for their trotting ability, and his great-grandson

Reinheim

2004-12-23T16:10:00.000-08:00

Small village near Saarbr�cken in Saarland Land (state), southwestern Germany. It is famous for an unusually rich Celtic grave found there in 1954. The grave, which may have belonged to local princesses, is one of the most notable of the Early La T�ne burials (see La T�ne). Within the wooden funerary chamber were found many bronze and gold objects, including bracelets, rings,

Ryazan

2004-12-22T00:09:00.000-08:00

Medieval Russian principality from the 12th to the early 16th century. Ryazan became an independent princedom early in the 12th century under Yaroslav, the son of the grand prince Svyatoslav of Kiev. Its capital city was Old Ryazan on the Oka River, about 150 miles (240 km) southeast of Moscow. For the next century it was often in conflict with the principality of Vladimir, which was

Uterus

2004-12-21T20:26:00.000-08:00

The uterus has four major regions: the fundus is the broad, curved upper area in which the fallopian

Ramjet

2004-12-20T20:55:00.000-08:00

Air-breathing jet engine that operates with no major moving parts. It relies on the craft's forward motion to draw in air and on a specially shaped intake passage to compress the air for combustion. After fuel sprayed into the engine has been ignited, combustion is self-sustaining. As in other jet engines, forward thrust is obtained as a reaction to the rearward rush

Haakon Vi Magnusson

2004-12-19T07:29:00.000-08:00

Byname �Haakon Magnusson The Younger, �Norwegian �H�kon Magnusson Den Yngre� king of Norway (1355 - 80) whose marriage to Margaret, daughter of the Danish king Valdemar IV, in 1363 paved the way for the eventual union (1397) of the three major Scandinavian nations - Denmark, Norway, and Sweden - the Kalmar Union. Haakon was deeply embroiled throughout his reign in political conflicts with Sweden, Denmark, and the cities of the north German trading confederation,

Pigment

2004-12-18T08:58:00.000-08:00

Pigments are insoluble and are applied not as solutions but as finely ground solid particles mixed with a liquid. In general, the same pigments are employed in oil- and water-based paints, printing inks, and plastics. Pigments may be organic (i.e., contain carbon) or inorganic.

Poland, History Of, Augustus II

2004-12-17T06:59:00.000-08:00

A personal union with Saxony, where Augustus II was a strong ruler, seemed at first to offer some advantages to Poland. A king with a power base of his own might reform the Commonwealth, which was still a huge state and potentially a great power. But such hopes proved vain. Pursuing schemes of dynastic greatness, Augustus II involved unwilling Poland in a coalition war

Agrimony

2004-12-16T16:58:00.000-08:00

Any plant of the genus Agrimonia, of the rose family (Rosaceae). The name particularly denotes A. eupatoria, an herbaceous, hardy perennial that is native to Europe but is widespread in other northern temperate regions, where it grows in hedge banks and the borders of fields. A. eupatoria grows to about 120 cm (4 feet) tall and has alternate feather-formed

Aerospace Industry, Spacecraft, launch vehicle, and missile development

2004-12-15T23:24:00.000-08:00

The research effort that goes into the development of missiles, launch vehicles, and spacecraft parallels that of the airplane in the design and ground-test stages but differs for the flight-test stage. For major launch vehicles and strategic missiles, the absence of a pilot on board, the great expense of a single launch, and the inability to recover and reuse the test

Gauss's Law

2004-12-14T03:18:00.000-08:00

Either of two statements describing electric and magnetic fluxes. Gauss's law for electricity states that the electric flux across any closed surface is proportional to the net electric charge enclosed by the surface. The law implies that isolated electric charges exist and that like charges repel one another while unlike charges attract. Gauss's law for magnetism

Gauss's Law

2004-12-13T06:20:00.000-08:00

In 1949 the JCP won 35 seats in the House of Representatives and nearly 10 percent of the vote, but external and internal

Croatian Literature

2004-12-12T19:19:00.000-08:00

Extant ecclesiastical works survive from the 11th century, and by the second half of the 15th century there was a Croatian literature of biblical stories, legends, folklore, and popular stories. In the 15th and 16th centuries the outstanding Old Croatian writers were Marko

Corbeil-essonnes

2004-12-11T15:42:00.000-08:00

Town, Essonne d�partement, Paris region, north central France, at the confluence of the Seine and Essonnes rivers, just southeast of Paris. Corbeil and Essonnes, formerly separate towns, were united in 1951. Corbeil (ancient Corbilium) has a 14th-century gate and the medieval church of Saint-Spire (originally an abbey). An independent county in the Carolingian period, it was annexed

Vitaceae

2004-12-10T22:35:00.000-08:00

The grape family of flowering plants, in the buckthorn order (Rhamnales), comprising 12 genera of woody plants, most of them tendril-bearing vines. The largest genus, which is pantropic in distribution, is Cissus, containing about 350 species. Vitis, with about 60 to 70 species, is the one genus in the family of great economic importance; it includes the European wine grape (V.

Subhah

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

String of Muslim prayer beads whose units (100, 25, or 33) represent the names of God. As the beads (made of wood, bone, or precious stones) are touched one by one, Muslims may recite any of numerous formulas, the most common being �Glory to Allah.� But because prayer may also be recited in the secret of one's heart, a person can multiply his praises of God by merely moving the beads through his

PrivateBrush

Earth

Petén

Armidale

Bridges, Harry

F Region

Karamzin, Nikolay Mikhaylovich

Botosani

Webb, Sidney And Beatrice

Dualism

Earthquake, TokyoYokohama

Qatar

Poseidon

Scandinavian Literature, The heroic sagas

Earth, Earthquakes

Cornell, Katharine

Oz, Amos

Heredity, DNA repair

Davidson (of Lambeth), Randall Thomas Davidson, Baron

Rockefeller, John D., Jr.

Wild Rye

Biblical Literature, II Maccabees

Ksar El-boukhari

Brabant

Cache Memory

John

Gates Of The Arctic National Park And Preserve

Moschopoulos, Manuel

Frederick I

Macartney, George Macartney, Earl, Viscount Macartney Of Dervock, Baron Of Lissanoure, Baron Macartney Of Parkhurst And Of Auchinleck, Lord Macartney

Brazil, Visual arts

Literature, France.

Egypt, Ancient, Predynastic Egypt

Industrial Espionage

Ar�te

Ar�te

Bohemond Iii

United States, The Humid Pacific Coast

Sano

Allee, Warder Clyde

Shields, Carol

Gandhara Art

Insurance, Special riders

Moravia

William Clito

Huggins, Sir William

Fructidor, Coup Of 18

Amphitrite

Marghiloman, Alexandru

Producer Gas

Claremont

Mind Reading

Carinus

Waring, Laura Wheeler

Apuleius, Lucius

Rommel, Erwin

Rommel, Erwin

Mandel, Georges

Craigavon

Little Theatre

Aeroflot

United Kingdom, The reconquest of the Danelaw

United Kingdom, The reconquest of the Danelaw

Bottom Water

Porbeagle

Beyer, Jinny

Pemphigus

Beach, Alfred Ely

Aegilops

Paulownia Sun, Order Of The

Port Antonio

9to5, National Association Of Working Women

Media And Publishing, Amateur Radio.

Zinc Processing, Casting alloys

Silane

Korea, History Of, Chinese intervention

Aniconism

Capital Levy

Nahan

Cineas

Earthquake, TokyoYokohama