DearKey

Estate Agent London

2006-10-26T18:30:00.000-07:00

Robert Irving Burns specialise in London Commercial and Residential property services, including estate agent london and estate agent central london. Their centrally located ground floor offices, minutes from Oxford Circus offer an ideal marketing base for your property.

Surin

2005-04-04T19:08:00.000-07:00

Town, east-central Thailand. The town is located on the railway between Nakhon Ratchasima and Ubon Ratchathani and is a trade and production centre for rice, lacquerware, and silk. It has an agricultural college and attracts tourists with its annual Elephant Round-Up. The town lies about 35 miles (56 km) north of the border with Cambodia, and many of its residents speak the

Olybrius

2005-04-04T08:32:00.000-07:00

Before he became head of state, Olybrius was a wealthy senator; he married Placidia, the daughter of Valentinian III (Western emperor 425–455). Gaiseric, king of the Vandals, a Germanic people who maintained a kingdom in North Africa, hoped that Olybrius would be made Western emperor but his support made Olybrius suspect to the

Self-determination

2005-04-03T10:02:00.000-07:00

The process by which a group of people, usually possessing a certain degree of national consciousness, form their own state and choose their own government. As a political principle, the idea of self-determination evolved at first as a by-product of the doctrine of nationalism, to which early expression was given by the French and American revolutions. In World War

Heilungkiang, Relief

2005-04-01T18:50:00.000-08:00

The province of Heilungkiang occupies about half of the huge Manchurian Plain, surrounded on three sides by old mountain ranges of medium elevation. Its central part is the Sungari–Nen river plain, delimited by the Greater Khingan (Ta-hsing-an) Range of Inner Mongolia on the west, the Lesser Khingan (Hsiao-hsing-an) Range on the north, and the Chang-kuang-ts'ai and Lao-yeh

Aesthetics, Kant, Schiller, and Hegel

2005-04-01T11:32:00.000-08:00

As previously noted, Kant's Kritik der Urteilskraft introduced the first full account of aesthetic experience as a distinct exercise of rational mentality. The principal ingredients of Kant's work are the following: the antinomy of taste, the emphasis on the free play of the imagination, the theory of aesthetic experience as both free from concepts and disinterested,

Raedwald

2005-04-01T03:42:00.000-08:00

Raedwald became a Christian during a stay in Kent, but on his return to East Anglia he sanctioned the worship of both the Christian and the heathen religions. For a time he recognized the overlordship of Aethelberht, king of Kent, but he seems to have shaken off the

Moscow, Treaty Of

2005-03-31T05:37:00.000-08:00

With the advent of the Russian Revolution (October 1917), Russia withdrew from World War I and ceased hostilities against the Ottoman Empire. The new Soviet regime found

Beadle, George Wells

2005-03-31T00:02:00.000-08:00

After earning his doctorate in genetics from Cornell University (1931), Beadle went to the laboratory of

Arnhem

2005-03-30T08:14:00.000-08:00

German Arnheim, gemeente (municipality) and capital (1794), Gelderland provincie (province), eastern Netherlands, on the north bank of the Lower Rhine (Neder Rijn) River. Possibly the site of the Roman settlement of Arenacum, it was first mentioned in 893. Chartered and fortified in 1233 by Otto II, count of Geldern, it joined the Hanseatic League in 1443. As the residence of the dukes of Geldern, it was often

Cumberland Islands

2005-03-29T15:20:00.000-08:00

Archipelago in the Great Barrier Reef, off the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. The group comprises more than 70 inner continental islands (land, not coral), including Whitsunday, Lindeman, Brampton, Molle, Long, Hook, Dent, and Hayman. The high-cliffed wooded chain, once inhabited by squatters and timber cutters, is now a reserve area. Discovered in 1770 by Captain James

Arab Fund For Economic And Social Development

2005-03-29T07:34:00.000-08:00

By financing development projects, the fund encourages investment of public and private capital in Arab economies. It grants loans on easy terms to

Ringatu

2005-03-29T07:05:00.000-08:00

Oldest and most spiritual Maori prophetic movement in New Zealand. It was founded in 1867 by the Maori guerrilla leader Te Kooti (1830–93) while he was imprisoned on the Chatham Islands. His deep Bible study produced a new, gentle Maori religion that included traditional taboos and faith healing. The movement spread following Te Kooti's escape to the mainland in 1868 and his pardon

Aesthetics, The aesthetic object

2005-03-26T10:26:00.000-08:00

The third approach to aesthetics begins with a class of aesthetic objects and attempts thereafter to show the significance of that class to those who selectively respond to it. The term aesthetic object, however, is ambiguous, and, depending on its interpretation, may suggest two separate programs of philosophical aesthetics. The expression may denote either

Kabalevsky, Dmitry

2005-03-26T08:18:00.000-08:00

In 1918 Kabalevsky moved with his family to Moscow, where he studied at the Scriabin Music School from 1919 to 1925, and in 1925 he entered the Moscow Conservatory. Appointed to the conservatory's faculty in 1932, he began to develop

Rathbone, Basil

2005-03-26T04:03:00.000-08:00

Upon graduating from Repton school in England in 1910, Rathbone made his stage debut in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew in 1911. A number of other Shakespearean roles followed, as well as a part in a London production

Subbituminous Coal

2005-03-25T09:56:00.000-08:00

Also called Black Lignite, dark brown to black coal intermediate in rank between lignite and bituminous coal. Subbituminous coals often have a silky lustre and sometimes are macroscopically indistinguishable from the bituminous variety. The fibrous structure characteristic of lignite is absent in subbituminous coals, many of which have evolved alternating dull and bright bands

Christianity, The schism of 1054

2005-03-24T23:41:00.000-08:00

The greatest schism in church history occurred between the church of Constantinople and the church of Rome. While 1054 is the symbolic date of the separation, the agonizing division was six centuries in the making. The friction was ignited by several issues. The Eastern Church sharply disagreed when the Western Church introduced into the Nicene Creed the doctrine

Acting

2005-03-24T07:37:00.000-08:00

Acting is generally agreed to be a matter less of mimicry, exhibitionism, or imitation than of the ability to react to imaginary stimuli. Its essential elements remain the twin requisites enunciated by the French

Animal Learning, Habituation

2005-03-23T14:45:00.000-08:00

A classic example of habituation is the following observation on the snail Helix albolabris. If the snail is moving along a wooden surface, it will immediately withdraw into its shell if the experimenter taps on the surface. It emerges after a pause, only to withdraw again if the tap is repeated. But continued repetition of the same tapping at regular intervals elicits

Fair Deal

2005-03-22T21:16:00.000-08:00

In U.S. history, President Harry S. Truman's liberal domestic reform program, the basic tenets of which he had outlined as early as 1945. In his first postwar message to Congress that year, Truman had called for expanded social security, new wages-and-hours and public-housing legislation, and a permanent Fair Employment Practices Act that would prevent racial or religious

Holcroft, Thomas

2005-03-20T19:47:00.000-08:00

The son of a peddler, Holcroft worked as a stableboy, cobbler, and teacher before he was able to make his living as a writer. He is remembered for his melodrama The Road to Ruin (performed 1792, often revived); his translation of Beaumarchais's play Le Mariage de Figaro (Paris, 1784) under the title The Follies

Anselm Of Laon,

2005-03-20T17:24:00.000-08:00

Anselm apparently studied at Bec, Fr., under St. Anselm of Canterbury. In the final quarter of the 11th century, he taught with distinction at Paris, where with William of Champeaux he supported realism. About 1100 he returned to Laon, where his theological and exegetical

Osceola

2005-03-20T07:54:00.000-08:00

Osceola moved from Georgia to Florida, where, although not a chief, he came to be acknowledged as a leader

Vacuum Technology

2005-03-19T07:27:00.000-08:00

The McLeod gauge takes advantage of Boyle's law (the product of pressure and volume for a given quantity of gas remains constant if a constant temperature is maintained) to determine gas pressure within a range of 10 to 10-6 torr. Raising the mercury level in the McLeod gauge seals off the gas from the system to which the gauge is connected. When the level of mercury is raised

Nahmanides

2005-03-19T06:49:00.000-08:00

Nahmanides earned his livelihood as a physician and served successively as rabbi at Gerona and then as chief rabbi of Catalonia. He also attempted to mediate disputes between the followers and opponents of the philosopher

Lanao, Lake

2005-03-19T05:56:00.000-08:00

Lake, west-central Mindanao, Philippines. It is situated just south of Marawi, northwest of the Butig Mountains. Lake Lanao is the second largest lake in the Philippines and has an area of 131 square miles (340 square km). Its outlet is the Agus River, which flows north, over Maria Cristina Falls, where there is a hydroelectric power plant, to Iligan Bay. There are numerous Muslim

Aust-agder

2005-03-18T08:03:00.000-08:00

Fylke (county), southern Norway. With an area of 3,557 square miles (9,212 square km), it extends 120 miles (190 km) northwestward into the mountains from the coastline on the Skagerrak (strait between Norway and Denmark). The landscape is broken and uneven, with the Setes Valley in the west bounded by steep coniferous-forested mountains rising to 3,500 feet (1,070 m); branching valleys in the middle of the

Scherzo

2005-03-17T14:37:00.000-08:00

Plural Scherzos, or Scherzi, in music, frequently the third movement of a symphony, sonata, or string quartet; also, in the Baroque era (c. 1600–c. 1750), a light vocal or instrumental piece (e.g., the Scherzi musicali of Claudio Monteverdi, 1607), and, in the 19th century, an independent orchestral composition. In symphonies, sonatas, and string quartets of the 19th century, the scherzo replaced the 18th-century minuet. Unlike the

France, History Of, Principalities north of the Loire

2005-03-17T09:29:00.000-08:00

The northernmost of these was Flanders, whose founder, Baldwin I Iron-Arm (862–879), managed not only to abduct the Carolingian king's daughter and marry her but also to win that king's approval as count of Ghent. His authority

Kielland, Alexander Lange

2005-03-16T22:23:00.000-08:00

The scion of an aristocratic family, Kielland took a law degree in 1871 and purchased a brickyard, which he managed for nine years. Discontented, he went to Paris in 1878 and the next year published a collection

Ear Disease, Acoustic neuroma

2005-03-15T09:49:00.000-08:00

An acoustic neuroma is a benign tumour that grows on the auditory nerve near the point where it enters the labyrinth of the inner ear. The tumour causes gradual and progressive loss of auditory and vestibular nerve function on one side. Eventually the tumour grows out into the brain cavity, causing headaches and paralysis. If it is not removed, blindness and death

Sundiata

2005-03-14T19:48:00.000-08:00

Sundiata was a Mandingo from the small kingdom of Kangaba, near the present Mali–Guinea border. Little is known about his early life. Mandingo oral traditions

Cartouche

2005-03-14T09:52:00.000-08:00

In architecture, ornamentation in scroll form, applied especially to elaborate frames around tablets or coats of arms; by extension, the word is applied to any oval shape or even to a decorative shield, whether scrolled or not. The term is also used for an oval frame enclosing the hieroglyphs of the name of an Egyptian sovereign, as well as for the amulet of similar design

Mughal Painting

2005-03-14T04:43:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Mogul, style of painting, confined mainly to book illustration and the production of individual miniatures, that evolved in India during the reigns of the Mughal emperors (16th–18th century). In its initial phases it showed some indebtedness to the Safavid school of Persian painting but rapidly moved away from Persian ideals. Probably the earliest example of Mughal painting

Reforming

2005-03-12T23:13:00.000-08:00

In chemistry, processing technique by which the molecular structure of a hydrocarbon is rearranged to alter its properties. The process is frequently applied to low-quality gasoline stocks to improve their combustion characteristics. Thermal reforming alters the properties of low-grade naphthas by converting the molecules into those of higher octane number

Integrated Circuit

2005-03-12T04:41:00.000-08:00

(IC), also called microcircuit, an assembly of electronic components, fabricated as a single unit, in which active semiconductor devices (transistors and diodes) and passive devices (capacitors and resistors) and their interconnections are built up on a chip of material called substrate. The circuit thus consists of a unitary structure with no connecting wires. The individual circuit elements

Kilian, Saint

2005-03-12T03:57:00.000-08:00

Missionary bishop who, with his companions Saints Colman and Totnan, gave his life for the Christianization of Thuringia and eastern Franconia. At Würzburg, in about 689, all three were beheaded by orders of Duke Gozbert of Würzburg, whom Kilian had supposedly converted and baptized. In 752 Bishop Burchard

Aranda, Pedro Pablo Abarca De Bolea, Conde De

2005-03-12T03:56:00.000-08:00

Aranda came from the Aragonese nobility. After initially preparing for the priesthood, he entered the army, in which he became director of the artillery, introduced the Prussian system of drill in the Seven Years'

Mujahadah

2005-03-11T23:10:00.000-08:00

(Arabic: “striving”), in Sufism, struggle with the carnal self; the word is related to jihad (struggle), which is often understood as “holy war.” The Sufis refer to mujahadah as al-jihad al-akbar (the greater war) in contrast to al-jihad al-asghar (the minor war), which is waged against unbelievers. It is one of the major duties that a Sufi must perform throughout his mystical journey toward union

Kirklees

2005-03-11T21:31:00.000-08:00

Metropolitan borough, metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, historic county of Yorkshire, England. The borough takes its name from Kirklees Hall (17th century), whose estate houses a small Cistercian priory (1155) and the reputed grave of Robin Hood. The borough extends from flat-topped and heather-clad gritstone moorland in the Pennines to more open, industrialized valleys.

Atwater, Wilbur Olin

2005-03-11T13:33:00.000-08:00

Upon completing his undergraduate work at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., Atwater continued his studies at Yale University, where his Ph.D. thesis discussed for the first time how chemical techniques could be applied to food. After further study in Germany,

Lagutin, Boris Nikolayevich

2005-03-10T11:02:00.000-08:00

Fighting as a light middleweight (156 pounds [71 kg]), Lagutin was awarded a bronze medal at the 1960 Olympics in Rome after losing a split decision to the eventual champion, American Wilbert “Skeeter” McClure, in the semifinal round. At the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, Lagutin

Yerkes, Robert M.

2005-03-08T17:31:00.000-08:00

After graduating from Ursinus College, Yerkes took his Ph.D. degree at Harvard University in 1902 and then served first as instructor and then as professor of psychology at Harvard until 1917. His early studies of the behaviour

Béla Iii

2005-03-08T14:41:00.000-08:00

Béla was educated at the Byzantine court and placed on the throne by force of arms by the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus in 1173. He made the Hungarian monarchy hereditary by naming his infant son, Imre, his successor. He also made his court among the most brilliant in Europe. Béla adopted

Mahakam River

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

Indonesian Sungai Mahakam , also called Koetai , or Kutai river rising in the mountains of central Indonesian Borneo (Kalimantan) and flowing about 400 miles (650 km) east-southeast to Makassar Strait, in a wide delta. The chief town along its course is Samarinda, capital of Kalimantan Timur (East Borneo) province, about 30 miles (48 km) above the river's mouth.

Biblical Literature, The revision of Theodotion

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

A second revision of the Greek text was made by Theodotion (of unknown origins) late in the 2nd century, though it is not entirely clear whether it was the Septuagint or some other Greek version that underlay his revision. The new rendering was characterized by a tendency toward verbal consistency and much transliteration of Hebrew words.

Cartography

2005-03-07T22:23:00.000-08:00

Cartography is an ancient discipline that dates from the prehistoric depiction of hunting and fishing

Insurance, Types of policies

2005-03-07T00:24:00.000-08:00

Hospitalization insurance indemnifies for room

Ikeya-seki, Comet

2005-03-06T18:27:00.000-08:00

One of a group of Sun-grazing comets having similar orbits and including the great comet known as 1882 II. Discovered Sept. 18, 1965, by two Japanese amateur astronomers, Ikeya Kaoru and Seki Tsutomu, Ikeya-Seki made its closest approach to the Sun (470,000 kilometres, or about 290,000 miles; less than the Sun's radius) on Oct. 21, 1965. The comet was then bright enough to be seen with the naked eye in daylight. Like

Nitric Acid

2005-03-06T03:10:00.000-08:00

The preparation and use of nitric acid were known to the early alchemists. A common laboratory process used for

Ammons, Gene

2005-03-05T21:57:00.000-08:00

The son of outstanding boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons, Gene Ammons grew up in Chicago and first became nationally known as a member of Billy Eckstine's innovative bebop big band during 1944–47; he also played in Woody Herman's

Dwarf Star

2005-03-04T22:26:00.000-08:00

Any star of average or low luminosity, mass, and size. Important subclasses of dwarf stars are white dwarfs (see white dwarf star) and red dwarfs. Dwarf stars include most so-called main-sequence stars, among which is the Sun. The colour of dwarf stars can range from blue to red, the corresponding temperature varying from high (above 10,000 K) to low (a few thousand degrees).

La Paz

2005-03-04T07:06:00.000-08:00

City, administrative capital of Bolivia, west-central Bolivia, situated some 42 miles (68 km) southeast of Lake Titicaca. La Paz, which lies between 10,650 and 13,250 feet (3,250 and 4,100 metres) above sea level, is the world's highest national capital. Visitors, upon arrival, find exertion difficult because of the rarefied atmosphere found at these elevations. The centre of the city lies in a deep, broad

Nagarjuna

2005-03-04T03:22:00.000-08:00

Indian Buddhist monk-philosopher and founder of the Madhyamika (“Middle Path”) school whose clarification of the concept of sunyata (“emptiness”) is regarded as an intellectual and spiritual achievement of the highest order. He is recognized as a patriarch by several later Buddhist schools. The two basic works that are substantially his and that have remained available

Race

2005-03-03T18:27:00.000-08:00

Although their numbers are dwindling, some scientists continue to believe that it is possible to divide Homo sapiens into discrete populations called races. They believe that the physical differences manifest in wide geographic regions are more than superficial; they reflect innate intellectual, moral, emotional, and other behavioral differences among human

Wright, Judith

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

After completing her education at the University of Sydney, Wright worked in an advertising agency and as a secretary at the University of Queensland, where she helped publish Meanjin, a literary

Pacific Mountain System

2005-03-03T00:29:00.000-08:00

The Pacific mountain region had a large American Indian population before the arrival of white explorers and settlers. Hunting, the gathering of berries, roots, and nuts, and fishing were the major economic activities. Trade and barter were common among tribes, especially in the north, where peoples from the interior traded hides, meat, and roots for salmon caught

Ikhwan As-safa'

2005-03-01T23:40:00.000-08:00

Neither the identity nor the period of the Ikhwan as-Safa' has been definitively established, but the

Dacryocystitis

2005-02-28T19:10:00.000-08:00

Inflammation and infection of the lachrymal sac. Tears leave the eye through small openings in the inner corner of the eye and flow into the lachrymal, or tear, sac, from which they drain through a duct—the nasolachrymal duct—into the nasal cavity. Thus infection can reach the lachrymal sac from the nose by way of the nasolachrymal duct. Inflammation of the sac causes

Hieroglyphic Writing

2005-02-28T11:24:00.000-08:00

The system of hieroglyphic writing has two basic features: first, representable objects are portrayed as pictures (ideograms) and, second, the picture signs are given the phonetic value of the words for these represented objects (phonograms). At the same time, these signs are also written to designate homonyms, similar-sounding words. The writing disregards vowels

Van Allen, James Alfred

2005-02-28T09:01:00.000-08:00

Van Allen was a naval officer during World War II and helped develop the radio proximity fuse for naval artillery shells. In 1946 he was placed in

Mitchell, S. Weir

2005-02-27T23:00:00.000-08:00

After study at the University of Pennsylvania and Jefferson Medical College (M.D., 1850), Mitchell spent a year in Paris specializing in neurology. As an army surgeon during the American Civil War, he became well known for his “rest cure.” His

Alvarez, A.

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

Although Alvarez's family enjoyed economic and cultural advantages, both of his parents attempted suicide during his childhood. He entered Corpus Christi College at Oxford, where he founded the Critical

Fisher, Herbert Albert Laurens

2005-02-26T10:05:00.000-08:00

Fisher became a fellow of New College, Oxford, in 1888 and tutor and lecturer in modern history in 1891. While at New College he wrote his two-volume Medieval Empire (1898), a study of the Holy Roman Empire influenced

Ike Taiga

2005-02-25T11:09:00.000-08:00

The son of a farmer, Ike was taught

Acton (of Aldenham), John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, 1st Baron, 8th Baronet

2005-02-25T07:12:00.000-08:00

English Liberal historian and moralist, the first great modern philosopher of resistance to the evil state, whether its form be authoritarian, democratic, or socialist. A comment that he wrote in a letter, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” today has become a familiar aphorism. He succeeded to the

Wiesbaden

2005-02-25T03:28:00.000-08:00

City, capital (1946) of Hessen Land (state), southern Germany. It is situated on the right (east) bank of the Rhine River at the southern foot of the Taunus Mountains, west of Frankfurt am Main and north of Mainz. The settlement was known as a spa (Aquae Mattiacae) in Roman times. Its earthen fortifications (12 BC) were replaced by stone in AD 83, and a Roman wall (of which traces remain) was built about

Peter The Apostle, Saint

2005-02-23T23:51:00.000-08:00

Original name Simeon, or Simon disciple of Jesus Christ, recognized in the early Christian church as the leader of the disciples and by the Roman Catholic church as the first of its unbroken succession of popes. Peter, a fisherman, was called to be a disciple of Jesus at the beginning of his ministry. He received from Jesus the name Cephas (i.e., Rock, hence Peter, from the Latin petra).

Ruysdael, Salomon Van

2005-02-23T22:39:00.000-08:00

Originally named de Goyer, as was his brother Isaak (also a painter and the father of Jacob van Ruisdael), Salomon entered the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke in 1628. His first dated pictures are from 1627. He spent his whole life in Haarlem,

Asclepius

2005-02-22T21:46:00.000-08:00

Greek Asklepios, Latin Aesculapius, Greco-Roman god of medicine, son of Apollo (god of healing, truth, and prophecy) and the nymph Coronis. The Centaur Chiron taught him the art of healing. At length Zeus (the king of the gods), afraid that Asclepius might render all men immortal, slew him with a thunderbolt. Homer, in the Iliad, mentions him only as a skillful physician; in later times, however, he was honoured as a

France, History Of, The sons of Clovis

2005-02-21T15:15:00.000-08:00

Following the death of Clovis in 511, the kingdom was divided among his four sons. This partition was not made according to ethnic, geographic, or administrative divisions. The only factor taken into account was that the portions be of equal value (defined in terms of the royal fisc, which had previously been the imperial fisc, and tax revenues from land and trade, which were

Biblical Literature, The Ketuvim

2005-02-21T05:38:00.000-08:00

That the formation of the Ketuvim as a corpus was not completed until a very late date is evidenced by the absence of a fixed name, or indeed any real name, for the third division of Scripture. Ben Sira refers to “the other books of our fathers,” “the rest of the books”; Philo speaks simply of “other writings” and Josephus of “the remaining books.” A widespread practice of entitling

China, The dynasty's founder

2005-02-20T23:01:00.000-08:00

Chu Yüan-chang, founder of the new dynasty, came from a family of physiognomists from K'ai-feng who in Yüan times had deteriorated into itinerant tenant farmers in northern Anhwei Province. Orphaned by famine and plague in 1344, young Chu was taken into a small Buddhist monastery near Feng-yang city as a lay novice. For more than three years he wandered as a mendicant through

The Revolution

2005-02-20T10:58:00.000-08:00

A scant three years after the end of the Civil War, the United States was embroiled in the issue of suffrage for African-American men, and many suffragists—notably those who formed the American

Marsh Treader

2005-02-19T06:58:00.000-08:00

The marsh

Segovia Aqueduct

2005-02-19T01:28:00.000-08:00

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

Philodemus

2005-02-18T20:59:00.000-08:00

After studying under the Epicurean Zeno of Sidon at Athens, he moved to Rome c. 75 BC and became the mentor of the Roman aristocrat Lucius Calpurnius Piso, who invited Philodemus to live in his villa at Herculaneum, near Naples. In the ruins of that villa

Goibhniu

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

Welsh Gofannon, ancient Celtic smith god. Goibhniu figured in Irish tradition as one of a trio of divine craftsmen; the other two were Luchta the wright and Creidhne the metalworker. Goibhniu was also the provider of the sacred otherworld feast, the Fled Goibhnenn; he allegedly brewed the special ale thought to confer immortality on those who drank it. In Christian times he became

F-104

2005-02-16T10:23:00.000-08:00

Also called Starfighter, jet day fighter aircraft built by Lockheed Aircraft Corporation for the U.S. Air Force but adopted by a total of 15 NATO and other countries. It was widely adapted for use as a fighter-bomber. The F-104 had a wingspan of 21 feet 11 inches (6.68 m) and a length of 54 feet 9 inches (16.7 m). It was a single-seat, single-engine midwing monoplane, powered with a General Electric J79 series turbojet engine with

Marsh Treader

2005-02-16T04:17:00.000-08:00

The NLC,

Alcan Aluminium Limited

2005-02-15T02:01:00.000-08:00

Canadian multinational company incorporated in 1928 (as Aluminium Limited) and now the largest Canadian industrial enterprise, operating in more than 100 countries. It has mining and refining operations for bauxite; smelting plants for aluminum; hydroelectric plants; fabricating plants for a wide variety of aluminum products; transportation operations; facilities

Shansi, Industry

2005-02-15T00:43:00.000-08:00

Most of the province's industries are concentrated in the T'ai-yüan–Yü-tz'u region. The iron and steel industry produces ingot steel, pig iron, and finished steel products. Heavy machinery, industrial chemicals, and chemical fertilizers are produced, as are cement, paper, textiles, milled flour, and wine. Other iron and steel centres include Yang-ch'üan, Ch'ang-chih, Ta-t'ung

Ryabushinsky Family

2005-02-14T06:41:00.000-08:00

Mikhayl Y. Ryabushinsky purchased a fabric store in Moscow in 1844 and two years later opened a cloth factory. His sons, Pavel and Vasily

Sea People

2005-02-14T05:10:00.000-08:00

Any of the groups of aggressive seafarers who invaded eastern Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, Cyprus, and Egypt toward the end of the Bronze Age, especially in the 13th century BC. They are held responsible for the destruction of old powers such as the Hittite Empire. Because of the abrupt break in ancient Near Eastern records as a result of the invasions, the precise extent and

Stafford, Thomas P(atten)

2005-02-13T07:33:00.000-08:00

A graduate (1952) of the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md., Stafford transferred to the Air Force

Seybouse, Wadi

2005-02-12T19:24:00.000-08:00

River of northeastern Algeria, rising as the Wadi Cherf at the eastern edge of the Sétif plains just east of Aïn Beïda. Meandering north to Guelma, the river turns abruptly east and rushes through a narrow gorge in Mount Nador of the Tell Atlas to Bouchegouf and its confluence with the Wadi Mellah. The Seybouse then bends sharply northward and flows through a tree-lined

Roman-dutch Law

2005-02-12T16:04:00.000-08:00

A system of law that existed in the Netherlands' province of Holland from the 15th to the 19th century. Introduced by the Dutch into their colonies, it was retained in those areas that passed to the British—i.e., the maritime districts of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), the Cape of Good Hope, and the settlements on the coast of South America that made up British Guiana (now Guyana). In Ceylon

Seleucia Pieria

2005-02-11T01:59:00.000-08:00

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

Sakaida Family

2005-02-10T21:01:00.000-08:00

Also called Kakiemon Family, celebrated family of Japanese potters whose founder, Sakaida Kizaemon (1596–1666), was awarded the name Kakiemon in recognition of his capturing the delicate red colour and texture of the persimmon (kaki) in porcelain. See Kakiemon ware.

Genesee

2005-02-10T11:58:00.000-08:00

County, northwestern New York state, U.S., located in a lowland region with several swamps, midway between Buffalo and Rochester. It is drained by Tonawanda, Oak Orchard, and Oatka creeks. The major forest types are oak and hickory. Public lands include Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge and Darien Lakes State Park; Tonawanda Indian Reservation is in the northwestern

Harrison, Caroline

2005-02-10T01:20:00.000-08:00

Four years later her husband married Mary Dimmick. Rumours circulated about when the romance had begun, and when Benjamin died in 1901 his children, who were never reconciled to the second marriage, buried him beside Caroline.

Corelli, Franco

2005-02-09T17:36:00.000-08:00

Italian tenor (b. April 8, 1921, Ancona, Italy—d. Oct. 29, 2003, Milan, Italy), thrilled opera audiences throughout the world with his passion, power, and charisma, particularly in heroic roles. Corelli made his opera debut in 1951 at Spoleto as Don José in Carmen, first sang at Milan's La Scala in 1954 with Maria Callas in Gaspare Spontini's La vestale, and went on to become an international star. He retired

Essex, Geoffrey De Mandeville, 1st Earl Of

2005-02-08T21:20:00.000-08:00

Geoffrey was a great landowner in Essex and elsewhere and hereditary constable of the Tower of London. He came to prominence in 1140 when Stephen, who could not dispense with his support against Matilda, a rival claimant for the throne, made him hereditary

Sunfish

2005-02-08T05:48:00.000-08:00

Any of numerous species of North American freshwater fishes placed with the crappies and black basses in the family Centrarchidae (order Perciformes). The family contains about 30 species, all native to North America and all, with the exception of the Sacramento perch (Archoplites interruptus), native to waters east of the Rocky Mountains. Several species, such as the

Sardinia

2005-02-08T03:30:00.000-08:00

Also called Piedmont-sardinia, or Sardinia-piedmont, kingdom of the house of Savoy from 1720, which was centred on the lands of Piedmont (in northwestern Italy) and Sardinia. In 1718, by the Treaty of London among the great powers, Victor Amadeus II, duke of Savoy and sovereign of Piedmont, was forced to yield Sicily to the Austrian Habsburgs and in exchange received Sardinia (until then a Spanish possession). Two years later, on Aug. 24, 1720, he

Yancey, Jimmy

2005-02-07T21:40:00.000-08:00

Yancey was largely a self-taught pianist, with some instruction from his brother Alonzo. He had a childhood

Greece

2005-02-07T19:09:00.000-08:00

On April 6, 2001, the Greek Parliament adopted a thorough constitutional revision, which changed 78 articles of the country's basic law. Many amendments were passed jointly by the two biggest political parties, the ruling Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok) and the centre-right New Democracy (ND). Changes to the constitution included better protection of citizens' private

Barbacena

2005-02-07T04:15:00.000-08:00

City, southeastern Minas Gerais estado (“state”), Brazil. It is situated in the Serra da Mantiquera, at 3,727 feet (1,136 m) above sea level. The settlement was made the seat of a municipality in 1791 and elevated to city rank in 1840. It is now the trade and manufacturing centre for an agricultural region that raises corn (maize), feijão (beans), rice, coffee, and various fruits and vegetables. The largest

Brücke, Die

2005-02-06T10:03:00.000-08:00

The group was founded in 1905 in Germany by four architectural students in Dresden—Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, who gave the group its name, Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel, and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Other artists joined the organization over the next several