TiredCushion

organic bed linen

2006-10-29T13:40:00.000-08:00

Livs range of soft luxurious bed linenis sourced ethically from India and using a fair trade policy. Liv also provide duvet cover set and bath towel set.

Hepburn, Katharine

2005-04-04T13:10:00.000-07:00

In full Katharine Houghton Hepburn indomitable American stage and film actress, known as a spirited performer with a touch of eccentricity. She introduced into her roles a strength of character previously considered to be undesirable in Hollywood leading ladies. As an actress she was noted for her brisk upper-class New England accent

Medicine, Russia

2005-04-03T21:44:00.000-07:00

Teams of physicians with experience in varying specialties work from polyclinics or outpatient

Ballina

2005-04-03T16:43:00.000-07:00

Irish Béal An Átha urban district, County Mayo, Ireland, on the River Moy. The town, the largest in Mayo, has a modern Roman Catholic cathedral and the remains of an Augustinian friary founded about 1375. Salmon and trout fishing nearby are notable. Hand tools, drills, and medical products are manufactured there. Pop. (1981) 6,856.

Solar Compass

2005-04-02T14:02:00.000-08:00

Also called Sun Compass, type of navigational instrument that uses the position of the Sun to establish bearing. The solar compass operates somewhat like a sundial. It indicates direction by employing the angle of the shadow cast by the Sun in conjunction with a compass card, a flat disk marked with points and degrees of direction. The solar compass is useful for navigation in the high latitudes,

Drummond (of Hawthornden), William

2005-04-02T11:29:00.000-08:00

Drummond studied at Edinburgh and spent a few years in France, ostensibly studying law at Bourges and Paris. On the death of his father, first laird

Monagas

2005-04-02T02:48:00.000-08:00

State, northeastern Venezuela, bounded northeast by the Gulf of Paria, southeast by the Orinoco River, and north and west by the states of Sucre and Anzoátegui. It has an area of 11,158 sq mi (28,900 sq km). Except for a coastal range in the north and the marshes of the Orinoco Delta, Monagas is a land of savannas and is typical Llanos (plains) country. Cattle raising is dominant, although corn

Mitchum, Robert

2005-03-31T01:19:00.000-08:00

Expelled from Haaren High School in New York City's Hell's Kitchen, Mitchum took to the road during the early years of the Depression.

Owendo

2005-03-30T17:42:00.000-08:00

Deepwater port, northwestern Gabon, on the north shore of the Gabon Estuary; it serves the national capital, Libreville (9 miles [15 km] north-northwest), and was designed to handle ore vessels. It has a seaplane base and road connections with Libreville, Cocobeach, Médouneu, and Kango. In 1978 the first 115-mile (185-kilometre) segment of the Trans-Gabon Railway was opened, linking Owendo

Bridgettine

2005-03-30T01:57:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Brigittine , member of Order of the Most Holy Savior (O.SS.S.) a religious order of cloistered nuns founded by St. Bridget of Sweden in 1344 and approved by Pope Urban V in 1370. Bridget believed that she was called by Christ to found a strictly disciplined religious order that would contribute to the reform of monastic life. She went to Rome to gain approval of her order and died there in 1373. Her foundation began to grow and contributed greatly

China, Vietnam

2005-03-29T05:14:00.000-08:00

In 1802 a new dynasty was founded in Vietnam (Dai Viet) by Nguyen Phuc Anh, a member of the royal family of Nguyen at Hue, who had expelled the short-lived Tay Son regime and had unified the country. The Ch'ing, under the Chia-ch'ing emperor, recognized the new dynasty as a fait accompli, but a controversy arose as to a name for the new country. Nguyen Phuc Anh demanded the name Nam Viet,

Sorge, Richard

2005-03-28T20:51:00.000-08:00

After service in the German Army during World War I, he earned a doctorate in political science at the University of Hamburg, Germany, joining the Communist Party of Germany in 1919. He went to Moscow in 1924, and about five years later

Davenport, Charles Benedict

2005-03-27T21:17:00.000-08:00

After receiving a doctorate in zoology at Harvard University in 1892, Davenport taught there until 1899, when

Dachau

2005-03-27T08:40:00.000-08:00

During World War II the main camp was supplemented by about 150 branches scattered throughout

Brackman, Barbara

2005-03-27T06:13:00.000-08:00

Brackman moved to Leawood, Kansas, as a teenager; she graduated with a bachelor's degree in art education in 1967 and a master's degree in special education in 1974 from the University of Kansas. She taught special education for nearly two decades at the Universities

France, History Of, The development of institutions in the Carolingian age

2005-03-25T15:25:00.000-08:00

The Carolingians contented themselves with refining their administrative system in order to strengthen royal control and to solve the problems posed by a large empire. The kingdom's cohesion was augmented by an oath of fidelity, which Charlemagne exacted from every free man (789, 793, 802), and by the publication of legislation—the capitularies—which regulated the administration

Gwalior

2005-03-25T07:36:00.000-08:00

The old city of Gwalior centres on a walled fortress, one of the most famous in India,

Biblical Literature, Impulse toward canonization from heretical movements

2005-03-25T04:01:00.000-08:00

Gnosticism (a religious system with influence both on Judaism and Christianity) tended to foster speculation, cutting loose from historical revelation. In defense the orthodox churches stressed the apostolic tradition by focussing on Gospels and letters from apostolic lives and distinguished them from Gnostic writings, such as the Gospel of Truth (mentioned

Dispensation

2005-03-23T09:30:00.000-08:00

Economy is the term that is normally employed in the Eastern Orthodox churches for this type of action. The church strives for the salvation of souls, and, when this is more likely to be achieved by a relaxation

Argentina, Soils

2005-03-22T22:44:00.000-08:00

Soil types in Argentina range from the light-coloured saline formations of the high puna in the Northwest to the dark, humus-rich type found in the Pampas. Golden-brown loess soils of the Gran Chaco are sometimes lighter where salinity is excessive but turn darker toward the east in the Mesopotamian border zone. These give way to soils ranging from rust to deep red

Tetmajer, Kazimierz

2005-03-22T03:14:00.000-08:00

Tetmajer belonged to a landowner's family from the foothills of the Tatra Mountains. He studied philosophy in Kraków and in Heidelberg, Germany. Much of his lyric poetry received publication in the Kraków periodical Zycie (“Life”). His nostalgic

Hormuz, Strait Of

2005-03-21T17:13:00.000-08:00

Also called Strait Of Ormuz, channel linking the Persian Gulf (west) with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea (southeast). The strait is 35 to 60 mi (55 to 95 km) wide and separates Iran (north) from the Arabian Peninsula (south). It contains the islands of Qeshm (Qishm), Hormuz, and Hengam (Henjam) and is of great strategic and economic importance, especially as oil tankers collecting from various ports on the Persian Gulf

Yamazaki Sokan

2005-03-21T10:20:00.000-08:00

Little is known of Sokan's life. According to tradition he served as a retainer to the shogun Ashikaga Yoshihisa and became a monk after Yoshihisa's

O'brien, Fitz-james

2005-03-21T08:19:00.000-08:00

O'Brien was the son of a lawyer. He ran through his inheritance in two years in London, where he began to work in journalism. In 1852 he moved

Price, H.h.

2005-03-19T19:14:00.000-08:00

Before his appointment as Wykeham professor of logic at New College, Oxford (1935–59), where he was educated, Price taught at Magdalen College (1922–24), Liverpool University (1922–23), and Trinity College (1924–35). His earliest book, Perception (1932), rejected causal theories of perception, while a later publication,

Baramula

2005-03-18T20:34:00.000-08:00

Town in the northwestern part of the Indian-held sector of Jammu and Kashmir state, in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. It is situated on the Jhelum River about 7 miles (11 km) beyond the river's emergence from Wular Lake. Located some 28 miles (45 km) west and slightly north of Srinagar, the capital of the Indian-held sector of Jammu and Kashmir, Baramula is surrounded by

France, History Of, Kingship

2005-03-18T10:36:00.000-08:00

Kingship was the basic institution in the Merovingian kingdom. Since Clovis' reign, the power of the king had extended not only over a tribe or tribes but also over a territory inhabited by Germans of divergent backgrounds and by Gallo-Romans as well. The king exercised power with legal limitations, which, when violated, led to efforts to reestablish political equilibrium

Corcoran Gallery Of Art

2005-03-18T05:19:00.000-08:00

The museum also houses the private collection of

Constantine

2005-03-17T23:00:00.000-08:00

Constantine upheld Roman supremacy against the insubordination of Felix, archbishop of Ravenna. He received as a pilgrim King Cenred of Mercia, who became a monk at Rome (709). Constantine strongly objected to the canons, several of which opposed Roman customs, established by the largely eastern Trullan (or Quinisext) Council assembled under

Pyrite

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

Also called iron pyrite , or fool's gold a naturally occurring iron disulfide mineral. The name comes from the Greek word pyr, “fire,” because pyrite emits sparks when struck by steel. Pyrite is called fool's gold because its colour may deceive the novice into thinking he has discovered a gold nugget. Nodules of pyrite have been found in prehistoric burial mounds, which suggests their use as a means of producing

Zanni

2005-03-17T05:35:00.000-08:00

Plural Zanni, or Zannis, stock servant character in the Italian improvisational theatre known as the commedia dell'arte. Zanni were valet buffoons, clowns, and knavish jacks-of-all-trades. All possessed common sense, intelligence, pride, and a love of practical jokes and intrigue; they were, however, often quarrelsome, cowardly, envious, spiteful, vindictive, and treacherous. The term is thought

Amazon River, Physiography of the river course

2005-03-16T03:28:00.000-08:00

The Amazon River has its main outlet north of Marajó Island, a lowland somewhat larger in size than Denmark, through a cluster of half-submerged islets and shallow sandbanks. Here the mouth of the river is 40 miles (64 kilometres) wide. The port city of Belém is on the deep water of the Pará River, an estuary marking the south side of Marajó, which is fed chiefly by the Tocantins

Clough, Anne Jemima

2005-03-15T13:38:00.000-08:00

Clough, whose father was a cotton merchant, spent many of her early years in Charleston, S.C. She returned with her family to England in 1836 and began teaching a few years later. In 1852 she opened

Foreman, George

2005-03-15T03:51:00.000-08:00

Foreman grew up in Houston, Texas, and learned to box in a U.S. Job Corps camp in Oregon. At the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, he won the gold medal in the heavyweight boxing competition.

Orb Weaver

2005-03-14T21:15:00.000-08:00

Notable among them are the silk spiders (subfamily Nephilinae), so called because of the great strength of their silk, which is sometimes used in the manufacture of textiles.

Sensationalism

2005-03-14T15:29:00.000-08:00

In epistemology and psychology, a form of Empiricism that limits experience as a source of knowledge to sensation or sense perceptions. Sensationalism is a consequence of the notion of the mind as a tabula rasa, or “clean slate.” In ancient Greek philosophy, the Cyrenaics, proponents of a pleasure ethic, subscribed unreservedly to a sensationalist doctrine. The medieval

Koror

2005-03-13T05:32:00.000-08:00

Formerly Corrora one of the Caroline Islands, western Pacific; it lies just southwest of Babelthuap island. Koror city serves as the provisional capital of Palau while a new capital is being constructed at Melekeok in eastern Babelthuap. Partly uplifted coral-limestone and partly volcanic in origin, Koror has a land area of 3 square miles (8 square km) and rises to 459 feet (140 metres). A territorial

Gobineau, Joseph-arthur, Comte De

2005-03-12T19:06:00.000-08:00

Gobineau was a member of an aristocratic royalist family. He went to Paris in 1835, held a succession of minor clerical

Gundobad

2005-03-12T05:15:00.000-08:00

The nephew of the barbarian emperor-maker Ricimer, Gundobad briefly held the supreme military command in the Roman service. In 473 he emulated his uncle when he himself placed a puppet, Glycerius, on the throne of Ravenna, but the subsequent deposition of Glycerius by Julius

Swanson, Gloria

2005-03-11T21:48:00.000-08:00

Swanson was the only child of a civilian official of the U.S. Army transport service, whose work during Swanson's childhood took the family to

Anderson, Poul

2005-03-11T06:33:00.000-08:00

Anderson published his first science-fiction story while an undergraduate at the University of Minnesota and became a freelance writer following his graduation with a degree

Rach Gia

2005-03-10T05:13:00.000-08:00

Port city, northern Ca Mau Peninsula, southern Vietnam. It lies at the head of Rach Gia Bay on the Gulf of Thailand, at the north bank of the Cai Lon estuary, 120 miles (195 km) southwest of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). Formerly Cambodian territory, in 1715 the flat, forest-covered swamp was placed under the protection of the Nguyen lords of Hue; its Cambodian name is Kramuon-Sa. It became

Gabriel

2005-03-10T04:27:00.000-08:00

Hebrew Gavri'el, Arabic Gibra'il, Jabra'il, or Jibril, in the Bible and the Qur'an, one of the archangels. Gabriel was the heavenly messenger sent to Daniel to explain the vision of the ram and the he-goat and to communicate the prediction of the Seventy Weeks. He was also employed to announce the birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah and to announce the birth of Jesus to the Virgin Mary. It is because he stood in the divine presence

Ogburn, William Fielding

2005-03-09T10:23:00.000-08:00

Ogburn was a professor at Columbia University (1919–27) and the University of Chicago (1927–51). He frequently served as a labour mediator

Bacillus

2005-03-09T03:55:00.000-08:00

(genus Bacillus), any of a group of rod-shaped, gram-positive, aerobic or (under some conditions) anaerobic bacteria widely found in soil and water. The term bacillus in a general sense has been applied to all cylindrical or rodlike bacteria. The largest species are about 2 mm (micrometres; 1 mm = 10-6 m) across by 7 mm long and frequently occur in chains. Bacillus species form dormant spores

Pacific Islands, Agriculture and natural resources

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

Coconut products, including copra, from which oil is extracted, form the principal export from most islands. Agricultural production depends as much on native family enterprise as it does on plantation systems, which predominate in the larger islands. Perishable fruits, such as pineapples, bananas, and citrus fruits, require markets close at hand unless they are

Armenian Catholic Church

2005-03-08T04:33:00.000-08:00

An Eastern-rite member of the Roman Catholic church. The Armenians embraced Christianity about AD 300 and were the first people to do so as a nation. About 50 years after the Council of Chalcedon (451), the Armenians repudiated the Christological decisions of the council and became the Armenian Apostolic (Orthodox) Church, a body that basically adhered to the doctrinal beliefs

Babergh

2005-03-07T13:25:00.000-08:00

District, administrative and historic county of Suffolk, England. Babergh extends across the southern part of Suffolk. Babergh includes much of the area made familiar by the paintings of John Constable (1776–1837), who was born within the district at East Bergholt and whose family owned mills there and at Flatford. It also includes a group of small towns—Lavenham, Lindsey, and

Hippias

2005-03-07T05:12:00.000-08:00

Tyrant of Athens from 528/527 to 510 BC. He was a patron of poets and craftsmen, and under his rule Athens prospered. After the assassination of his brother Hipparchus (514), however, Hippias was driven to repressive measures. An attempt by nobles in exile to force their way back failed, but in 510 the Spartans under Cleomenes I invaded Attica, besieged the tyrant's party on the acropolis, and

Affirmative Action

2005-03-06T23:44:00.000-08:00

In the United States, an active effort to improve employment or educational opportunities for members of minority groups and for women. Affirmative action began as a government remedy to the effects of long-standing discrimination against such groups and has consisted of policies, programs, and procedures that give preferences to minorities and women in job

Sun Tzu

2005-03-06T13:45:00.000-08:00

The book is traditionally attributed to Sun Tzu (personal name Sun Wu), a military strategist and general who served the state of Wu near the end of the Spring and Autumn Period (770–476 BC). It is more likely, however, that it was written early in the Warring

Jena Glass

2005-03-05T22:57:00.000-08:00

Jena glass was first produced by the German glass chemist Friedrich Otto Schott, who, with Ernst Abbe and Carl Zeiss, founded a glassworks in Jena, Ger., in 1884. The early Jena

Wandering Jew

2005-03-04T14:49:00.000-08:00

In horticulture, any of several popular houseplants in the family Commelinaceae. See spiderwort; Zebrina.

Damascus, The Muslim city

2005-03-04T10:39:00.000-08:00

Damascus was the first great city of the ancient world that the Muslim Arab forces encountered. In 661, Mu'awiyah, the first Umayyad caliph, moved out of Arabia and established his court in the Syrian capital. The city was renowned for almost a century thereafter as the capital of a luxurious and extensive empire—the most far-reaching of any achieved by Islam. The principal

Racine, Jean

2005-03-03T22:46:00.000-08:00

French classical tragedy pivots around two basic subjects: passion and politics. Since Racine's audience was naturally intrigued by plots that dealt with the succession to a throne, he doubled their pleasure in his first successful play, La Thébaïde, by creating two legitimate pretenders who are also identical twins. The play centres on the twin sons of Oedipus

Ear Disease, Exposure to noise

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

The effects of noise exposure on hearing depend on the intensity and duration of the noise. The effects may be temporary or permanent. A single exposure to an extremely intense sound, such as an explosion, may produce a severe and permanent loss of hearing. Repeated exposures to sounds in excess of 80 to 90 decibels may cause gradual deterioration of hearing by destroying

Wambaugh, Sarah

2005-03-02T17:13:00.000-08:00

Wambaugh graduated from Radcliffe College, Cambridge, in 1902. She remained at the college as an assistant until 1906 while pursuing advanced studies in history and government. For a decade thereafter she worked

Le Maistre De Sacy, Isaac-louis

2005-03-02T10:11:00.000-08:00

Important figure in the Jansenist religious movement in France, a member of the Arnauld family (q.v.).

Ammonium Nitrate

2005-03-01T18:46:00.000-08:00

(NH4NO3), a salt of ammonia and nitric acid, used widely in fertilizers and explosives. The commercial grade contains about 33.5 percent nitrogen, all of which is in forms utilizable by plants; it is the most common nitrogenous component of artificial fertilizers. Ammonium nitrate also is employed to modify the detonation rate of other explosives, such as nitroglycerin

Cambridge Agreement

2005-03-01T01:46:00.000-08:00

(Aug. 26, 1629), pledge made in Cambridge, Eng., by English Puritan stockholders of the Massachusetts Bay Company to emigrate to New England if the government of the colony could be transferred there. The company agreed to their terms, including transferral of the company charter. Control of the corporation was shifted to the signers of the agreement, and John Winthrop was appointed

Yesenin, Sergey Aleksandrovich

2005-02-28T06:04:00.000-08:00

The son of a peasant family of Old Believers, he left his

Ogdensburg

2005-02-28T04:27:00.000-08:00

City and port, St. Lawrence county, northern New York, U.S. It lies on the St. Lawrence River, at the mouth of the Oswegatchie River and is linked to Ontario, Canada, by the Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge (1960). The site was settled in 1749 when Abbé François Picquet established Fort-La Présentation as an Indian mission. The French abandoned the fort in 1760 in the face of a British

Caucasian Languages

2005-02-27T15:54:00.000-08:00

Also called Paleo-Caucasian, or Ibero-Caucasian, group of languages indigenous to Transcaucasia and adjacent areas of the Caucasus region, between the Black and Caspian seas. As used in this article, the term excludes the Indo-European (Armenian, Ossetic, Talysh, Kurdish, Tat) and Turkic languages (Azerbaijani, Kumyk, Noghay, Karachay, Balkar) and some other languages of the area, all of which were introduced to the Caucasus

Adams, Abigail

2005-02-27T10:41:00.000-08:00

Biographies include Edith B. Gelles, Portia: The World of Abigail Adams (1992, reissued 1995), focusing on the people whom she influenced and who influenced her; and Phyllis Lee Levin, Abigail Adams (1987). A concise version of the latter is Phyllis Lee Levin, “Abigail (Smith) Adams,” in Lewis L. Gould (ed.), American First Ladies (1996), pp. 16–44.

Literature, United States.

2005-02-27T00:42:00.000-08:00

For all of the moaning and groaning about the state of the literary arts in the United States--and from writers to editors to critics to booksellers to readers, all had done some of it--it had to be admitted that when people argued about books, and the quarrels made newspaper headlines, something valuable was taking place. In 1994 critic Harold Bloom stirred up the biggest

Messenger

2005-02-26T10:50:00.000-08:00

(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

Guadalupe Hidalgo, Treaty Of

2005-02-25T20:04:00.000-08:00

(Feb. 2, 1848), treaty between the United States and Mexico that ended the Mexican War. It was signed at Villa de Guadalupe Hidalgo, which is a northern neighbourhood of Mexico City. The treaty drew the boundary between the United States and Mexico at the Rio Grande and the Gila River; for a payment of $15,000,000 the United States received more than 525,000 square miles (1,360,000 square km) of land (now Arizona,

Zanesville

2005-02-24T08:41:00.000-08:00

City, Muskingum county, east central Ohio, U.S., at the juncture of the Muskingum and Licking rivers (there spanned by the “Y” Bridge [1902]), 52 miles (84 km) east of Columbus. The town was founded (1797) by Ebenezer Zane on land awarded him by the U.S. Congress for clearing a road (Zane's Trace) through the forest to Limestone (now Maysville), Ky. Zane sold the land to his son-in-law, John McIntire, who laid

Czernin, Ottokar, Count

2005-02-24T04:28:00.000-08:00

Czernin, born into the Czech aristocracy, entered the Austro-Hungarian diplomatic service in the

Re

2005-02-23T17:36:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Ra, or Phra, in ancient Egyptian religion, god of the sun and creator god. He was believed to travel across the sky in his solar bark and, during the night, to make his passage in another bark through the underworld, where, in order to be born again for the new day, he had to vanquish the evil serpent Apopis (Apepi). As the creator, he rose from the ocean of chaos on the primeval hill, creating

Epictetus

2005-02-22T10:07:00.000-08:00

Epictetus is most frequently mentioned in connection with a series of medallions on plates in the British Museum in London and the Cabinet des Médailles in Paris. The medallion paintings

Girdle Tie

2005-02-22T07:12:00.000-08:00

Also called blood of Isis in Egyptian religion, protective amulet formed like a knot and made of gold, carnelian, or red glazed ware. Most samples of the girdle tie have been found tied around the necks of mummies; the amulets were intended to protect the dead from all that was harmful in the afterlife.

Wiggin, Kate Douglas

2005-02-22T00:06:00.000-08:00

Kate Douglas Smith attended a district school in Philadelphia and for short periods the Gorham Female Seminary in Maine, the Morison Academy in Maryland, and the Abbott Academy in Massachusetts. In 1873 she moved with her family to Santa

Furniture, Carving

2005-02-21T22:46:00.000-08:00

Whereas carving does not appear to

Veneti

2005-02-20T07:12:00.000-08:00

The chief Venetic settlement was Este (later the Roman colony of Ateste), which was

Pacific Ocean

2005-02-20T03:33:00.000-08:00

The wind and pressure systems of the Pacific conform closely with the so-called planetary system—i.e., the patterns of air pressure and the consequent wind patterns that develop in the atmosphere of the Earth as a result of its rotation (Coriolis force) and the inclination of its axis (ecliptic) toward the Sun. They are, in essence, a three-celled latitudinal arrangement

Latreille, Pierre-andré

2005-02-19T21:33:00.000-08:00

Although he was a devoted student of natural history, Latreille was educated for the priesthood and was ordained in Paris in 1786. Publication of his Précis des caractères géné

1848, Revolutions Of

2005-02-19T02:42:00.000-08:00

The revolutionary movement began in Italy with a local revolution in Sicily in January 1848; and, after the revolution

Bassano, Jacopo

2005-02-18T05:06:00.000-08:00

His early works, such as the “Susannah and the

African Violet

2005-02-18T03:53:00.000-08:00

African violet flowers are bilaterally symmetrical and violet, white, or pink in colour; they bloom throughout

Ploceidae

2005-02-17T21:51:00.000-08:00

Songbird family, order Passeriformes, including the bishop, weaver, and whydah groups and Old World sparrows. The 135 to 155 species are native chiefly to Africa—but several have been introduced elsewhere. Ploceids are small, compact birds with short, stout bills. In many species the males are brightly coloured; some acquire, in nonbreeding season, dull plumage resembling

Algeria, Mining

2005-02-17T21:17:00.000-08:00

The main mining centres are at Ouenza and Djebel Onk near the eastern border with Tunisia and at El-Abed in the west, the latter the source of most of Algeria's zinc and lead production. Nearly all of the country's substantial output of high-grade iron ore from the open-cut works at Ouenza is used to supply the domestic steel industry. About one-third of Djebel Onk's phosphate

Nordal, Sigurdur Jóhannesson

2005-02-17T19:26:00.000-08:00

Nordal received his doctorate in Old Norse philology from the University of Copenhagen in 1914, with a thesis on the saga of Saint Olaf. He studied philosophy

Allouez, Claude-jean

2005-02-16T18:48:00.000-08:00

Allouez entered the Society of Jesus at Toulouse, was ordained priest in 1655, and sailed for Quebec in 1658. He was stationed at settlements along the St. Lawrence River until his appointment (1663) as vicar general of the Northwest. He

Earth, Subduction zones

2005-02-15T10:00:00.000-08:00

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

Segovia Aqueduct

2005-02-15T08:43:00.000-08:00

Byname El Puente (Spanish: “The Bridge”), water-conveyance structure built under the Roman emperor Trajan (reigned AD 98–117) and still in use; it carries water 10 miles (16 km) from the Frío River to the city of Segovia, Spain. One of the best-preserved Roman engineering works, it was built of some 24,000 dark-coloured Guadarrama granite blocks without the use of mortar. The aboveground portion is 2,388 feet (728 metres) long and consists of some

Obrenovic Dynasty

2005-02-14T07:54:00.000-08:00

Obrenovic also spelled Obrenovich, family that provided Serbia with five rulers between 1815 and 1903. Their succession was broken by a rival dynasty, the Karadjordjevic. Miloš, who founded the dynasty, was prince of Serbia from 1815 to 1839 and again from 1858 to 1860; his elder son, Milan III, reigned for only 26 days before his death in 1839; Miloš' second son, Michael III, was prince from 1839 to 1842 and again from 1860 to 1868. His successor was a first cousin once

Rudolf, Lake

2005-02-13T00:11:00.000-08:00

Also called Lake Turkana fourth largest of the eastern African lakes. It lies mainly in northern Kenya, with its northern end stretching into Ethiopia. The lake lies in the eastern arm of eastern Africa's Rift Valley. It covers an area of 2,473 square miles (6,405 square km) and lies at 1,230 feet (375 m) above sea level. Together with Lake Baringo (south), Lake Rudolf once formed a larger body of water drained by the Sobat

Ribera, José De

2005-02-12T21:01:00.000-08:00

He was born in Spain but spent most of his life in Italy. Little is known of his life in Spain, though he is said by the painter and biographer Antonio Palomino to have received his

Padmasambhava

2005-02-12T11:14:00.000-08:00

According to tradition, he was a native of Udyana (now Swat, Pak.), an area famed for its magicians. Padmasambhava was a Tantrist and a member of the Yogacara sect and taught at Nalanda, a centre of Buddhist studies

Russia, Transportation

2005-02-12T08:57:00.000-08:00

Russia's vast size and the great distances that often separate sources of raw materials and foodstuffs from consuming areas place a heavy burden on the transport system. One result has been the continuing dominance of the railways, which account for about 90 percent of the country's freight turnover (60 percent if pipelines are included) and half of all passenger movement.

Strachey, (evelyn) John (st. Loe)

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

Son of John St. Loe Strachey, publisher and editor of The Spectator, Strachey broke with his family's Conservative allegiances and in 1923, while a student at Oxford, joined

Agnesi, Maria Gaetana

2005-02-11T06:25:00.000-08:00

Agnesi was the eldest child of a wealthy silk merchant who provided her with the best tutors available. She was an extremely precocious child who mastered Latin, Greek,

Ch'i-lien Mountains

2005-02-10T16:54:00.000-08:00

Wade–Giles romanization Ch'i-lien Shan, Pinyin Qilian Shan, rugged mountain range on the border of Tsinghai and Kansu provinces, west central China. It forms part of the Nan Shan, the eastern outlier of the Kunlun Mountains. Heavily glaciated in many places, the mountains rise to 18,194 ft (5,547 m), and most peaks exceed 13,000 ft. Snow covers the mountain tops; herds graze in the well-watered valleys. Impassable throughout, the range forms the southern

Bonaparte, Joseph

2005-02-10T08:59:00.000-08:00

Like his brothers, Joseph embraced the French republican cause and, with the victory of Corsican patriot Pasquale Paoli, was forced to leave Corsica to seek refuge in France. In 1796 he accompanied

Jezebel

2005-02-09T17:53:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Jezabel in the Old Testament (Kings I and II), the wife of King Ahab, who ruled the kingdom of Israel; by interfering with the exclusive worship of the Hebrew god Yahweh, disregarding the rights of the common man, and defying the great prophets Elijah and Elisha, she provoked the internecine strife that enfeebled Israel for decades. She has come to be known as an archetype of the

Osijek

2005-02-08T19:29:00.000-08:00

In Roman times the city site was known as Mursa. Its present name was first recorded in 1196. An important trade and transportation centre from early times, Osijek was controlled by the Ottoman Empire from 1526 to 1687. In the 19th century a brewery and a match-making factory were established in the town. Many of Osijek's

Stalactite Work

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

Also called honeycomb work , Arabic al-halimat al-'uliya (“the overhang”) pendentive form of architectural ornamentation, resembling the geological formations called stalactites. This type of ornamentation is characteristic of Islamic architecture and decoration. It consists of a series of little niches, bracketed out one above the other, or of projecting prismatic forms in rows and tiers that are connected at their upper ends

Interior Design, Construction

2005-02-08T03:40:00.000-08:00

The actual building of the interior, be it a renovation or a new construction, needs considerable supervision by the designer, although constant on-site supervision is not always required. For an office or residence, a few visits may be sufficient. The thoroughness of working drawings and details influences the degree of supervision that is needed: the more complete

Audley (of Walden), Thomas Audley, Baron

2005-02-07T13:33:00.000-08:00

Trained in law, Audley rose in politics to become speaker of the House of Commons in 1529. Because