TruePin

Durfort Family

2005-04-05T21:44:00.000-07:00

The family, which can be traced back to the 11th century, claims as a member Guy Aldonce I de Durfort (1605–65), Marquis de Duras, who raised three famous sons: Jacques Henri I (1625–1704), marshal of France (1675) and Duke de Duras (1689); Guy Aldonce II (1630–1702), marshal of France (1676) and Duke de Quintin (1691); and Louis (1638–1709), who went to England and became 2nd Earl of Feversham

Oates, Joyce Carol

2005-04-05T07:53:00.000-07:00

Oates studied English at Syracuse University (B.A., 1960) and the University of Wisconsin (M.A., 1961). She contributed short stories to a number of magazines

Pacific, War Of The

2005-04-04T10:53:00.000-07:00

Spanish Guerra Del Pacífico (1879–83), conflict involving Chile, Bolivia, and Peru, which resulted in Chilean annexation of valuable disputed territory on the Pacific coast. It grew out of a dispute between Chile and Bolivia over control of a part of the Atacama Desert that lies between the 23rd and 26th parallels on the Pacific coast of South America. The territory contained valuable mineral resources, particularly

Van Fleet, James Alward

2005-04-03T18:51:00.000-07:00

Van Fleet graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York

Xylem

2005-04-03T15:49:00.000-07:00

In botany, part of the vascular system that conveys water and dissolved minerals from the roots to the rest of the plant and may also furnish mechanical support. Xylem consists of specialized water-conducting tissues made up mostly of narrow, elongated, hollow cells. These cells may be of several types, including tracheids (the basic cell type), vessel members, fibres,

Earth, Magnetic reconnection

2005-04-02T19:35:00.000-08:00

The observed dependence of geomagnetic activity on the orientation of the IMF is explained by most researchers as a consequence of magnetic reconnection. In reconnection, two oppositely directed magnetic fields are brought together by flowing plasmas at an x-type neutral line. Far from the neutral line the magnetic field is frozen in the plasma; however, near

Cyprus, Religions

2005-03-31T19:44:00.000-08:00

The Greek Cypriots are primarily Eastern Orthodox Christians. Their church, the Church of Cyprus, is autocephalous (not under the authority of any patriarch); this privilege was granted to Archbishop Anthemius in AD 488 by the Byzantine emperor Zeno. Under the Ottoman Empire, the archbishop of the Church of Cyprus was made responsible for the secular as well as the religious

Eagles, The

2005-03-31T07:32:00.000-08:00

American band that cultivated country rock as the reigning style and sensibility of white youth in the United States during the 1970s. The original members were Don Henley (b. July 22, 1947, Gilmer, Texas, U.S.), Glenn Frey (b. November 6, 1948, Detroit, Michigan), Bernie Leadon (b. July 19, 1947, Minneapolis, Minnesota), and Randy Meisner (b. March 8, 1946, Scottsbluff, Nebraska). Later members included Don Felder (b. September

Elephantine

2005-03-31T00:22:00.000-08:00

Arabic Jazirat Aswan, island in the Nile opposite Aswan city in Aswan muhafazah (governorate), Upper Egypt. Elephantine is the Greek name for pharaonic Abu. There the 18th- and 19th-dynasty pharaohs built a large temple to Khnum, the ram god of the cataract region, to his consort, Sati, and to Anuket, goddess of nearby Sehel. To the north stands the Old and Middle Kingdom shrine. Numerous outstanding rock

Coello, Claudio

2005-03-30T17:52:00.000-08:00

The son of a famous Portuguese sculptor, Faustino Coello, he studied under Francisco

Adamov, Arthur

2005-03-30T14:32:00.000-08:00

In 1912 Adamov's wealthy Armenian family left Russia and settled in Freudenstadt, Ger. He was subsequently educated in Geneva, Mainz, and Paris, where, having mastered French, he settled in 1924, associating with Surrealist groups. He edited a periodical, Discontinuit

González, Manuel

2005-03-30T05:46:00.000-08:00

Born on a ranch in the state of Tamaulipas, González began his military career in 1847 and became a general during the civil war of 1858–60. He became president in 1880 at the virtual dictation of his political friend Porfirio Díaz, who had preceded him as president. As head of state,

Xenarthran

2005-03-27T11:11:00.000-08:00

Xenarthrans are known only from the Western Hemisphere and arose in South America during the Paleocene Epoch (65 million to 54.8 million years ago). The fossil record shows that the group was both more diverse and more widely distributed as recently as the Pleistocene Epoch (1,800,000 to 10,000 years ago), when ground sloths colonized the islands of the Greater Antilles and glyptodonts,

Switzerland, Barbarian invasions

2005-03-27T10:50:00.000-08:00

The first of the barbaric incursions took place in AD 259. By AD 400 Roman Switzerland had disintegrated and the lands of the Romanized Celts were occupied by Germanic tribes such as the Burgundians and Alemannians. The Burgundians, few in number, occupied the lands of western Switzerland. Although they retained political control, they lost contact with their former homelands

Biblical Literature, Scandinavian versions

2005-03-27T03:54:00.000-08:00

In pre-Reformation times, only partial translations were made, all on the basis of the Latin Vulgate and all somewhat free. The earliest and most celebrated is that of Genesis–Kings in the so-called Stjórn (“Guidance”; i.e., of God) manuscript in the Old Norwegian language, probably to be dated about 1300. Swedish versions of the Pentateuch and of Acts have survived from the 14th century

Nahhas Pasha, Mustafa An-

2005-03-26T08:46:00.000-08:00

A lawyer by profession, Nahhas was appointed a judge in 1904. Soon after World War I he joined the recently formed Wafd, assuming the chairmanship upon Sa'd Zaghlul's death in 1927. Thus he embarked upon a career during which

Eames, Charles; And Eames, Ray

2005-03-25T23:57:00.000-08:00

John Neuhart, Marilyn Neuhart, and Ray Eames, Eames Design: The Work of the Office of Charles and Ray Eames (1989); Pat Kirkham, Charles and Ray Eames: Designers of the Twentieth Century (1995); and Donald Albrecht et al., The Work of Charles and Ray Eames (1997), discuss their work.

Heuneburg

2005-03-25T13:38:00.000-08:00

Celtic fortified site overlooking the Danube River in Baden-Württemberg Land (state), Germany. Recent excavations have shown that the Heuneburg fort community carried on a prosperous trade with the Greeks at Massilia (Marseille) during the 6th century BC. Imported Greek black-figure pottery and Massiliote wine amphorae have been uncovered. Mediterranean influence

Abu Hanifah

2005-03-24T11:46:00.000-08:00

Muhammad Shibli Numani, Imam Abu Hanifah: Life and Work (1972), provides an introduction. Discussions of his work in its larger context can be found in Joseph Schacht, An Introduction to Islamic Law (1964, reprinted 1982); A.J. Wensinck, The Muslim Creed: Its Genesis and Historical Development, 2nd ed. (1979); and John Alden Williams (ed.), Islam (1961).

Binnya Dala

2005-03-24T00:44:00.000-08:00

In 1747 Binnya Dala succeeded Smim Htaw Buddhaketi, who had seven years earlier been set up as king of the Mon in the new capital of Pegu after their successful revolt against the Burmans. Binnya Dala, who was his predecessor's chief minister

Ahmad Grañ

2005-03-23T03:05:00.000-08:00

Once Ahmad Grañ had gained control of the Muslim Somali state of Adal (Adel), where he installed his brother as a puppet king, he launched

Appliqué

2005-03-22T23:52:00.000-08:00

Sewing technique in which fabric patches are layered on a foundation fabric, then stitched in place by hand or machine with the raw edges turned under or covered with decorative stitching. From the French appliquer, “to put on,” appliqué is sometimes used to embellish clothing or household linens. Like patchwork (piecing), it is a method of constructing or embellishing

Plummer's Disease

2005-03-21T22:37:00.000-08:00

Also called toxic multinodular goitre thyroid condition characterized by marked enlargement of the thyroid gland (goitre), firm thyroid nodules, and mild overproduction of thyroid hormone (hyperthyroidism). Plummer's disease, which usually occurs in older people, is of unknown etiology. Its symptoms resemble those of Graves' disease (q.v.), a condition believed to be an autoimmune disorder caused by antibodies

Zagreb

2005-03-21T15:35:00.000-08:00

Zagreb's old town consists of two medieval settlements on the hill: Gric, the civil settlement, which was renamed Gradec (“Fortress”) when it was encircled by walls that were built to defend against the Mongols in

Aurunci

2005-03-20T16:17:00.000-08:00

Ancient tribe of Campania, in Italy. They were exterminated by the Romans in 295 BC as the culmination of 50 years of Roman military campaigns against them. The Aurunci occupied a strip of coast situated between the Volturnus and Liris (Volturno and Liri) rivers in the modern province of Caserta, with their capital at Suessa (modern Sessa Aurunca). No written record of their language

Macaulay, Dame (emilie) Rose

2005-03-19T09:37:00.000-08:00

Daughter of a university instructor, she grew up in an intellectually stimulating and liberal-minded home environment. She first attracted attention as a social satirist with a series of novels, Potterism (1920), Dangerous Ages (1921), Told by

Calasso, Roberto

2005-03-19T06:50:00.000-08:00

While a student at the University of Rome, where he received a degree in English literature, Calasso began working for Adelphi Edizioni, a publisher of classic and modern literature.

Arabia, History Of, The sharifs of the Holy Cities

2005-03-19T05:46:00.000-08:00

At Mecca in the mid-10th century commenced the 1,000-year ascendancy of the 'Alid sharifian families. Mecca now became capital of the Hejaz, replacing Medina, the centre from which it had been ruled since the Prophet's days. The sharifs, though at times subject to such foreign overlords as the rulers of Egypt and of other parts of Arabia, exercised virtual independence. Throughout

Wabash River

2005-03-18T16:19:00.000-08:00

Largest southward-flowing tributary of the Ohio River, rising in Grand Lake, western Ohio. It flows generally westward across Indiana past the cities of Huntington, Wabash, Logansport, and Lafayette, then southward to Terre Haute. Just south of that city it forms a 200-mile (320-kilometre) boundary between Indiana and Illinois and then enters the Ohio in the southwestern corner

Thebes

2005-03-18T16:02:00.000-08:00

Modern Greek Thívai major city of Boeotia nomós (department), northwest of Athens, Greece, and one of the chief cities and powers of ancient Greece. On the acropolis of the ancient city stands the present commercial and agricultural centre of Thebes. It is situated on a low ridge dividing the surrounding plain; the modern city is the seat of the Greek Orthodox bishop of Thebes and Levádhia.

Religion, Study Of, Other sociological studies

2005-03-17T08:11:00.000-08:00

An extensive literature on religious sects and similar groups has also developed. To some extent this has been influenced by the German theologian Ernst Troeltsch in his distinction between church and sect (see below Theological studies). Notable among modern investigators of sectarianism is the British scholar Bryan Wilson. Church organizations also have

Devitrification

2005-03-16T23:46:00.000-08:00

Process by which glassy substances change their structure into that of crystalline solids. Most glasses are silicates in which the atomic structure does not have the repetitive arrangement required for the formation of crystals. Glass is formed by the cooling of a rock magma too rapidly for this structural regularity to become established. Glasses typically

Nebula

2005-03-16T05:56:00.000-08:00

Many characteristics of nebulae are determined by the physical state of their constituent hydrogen, by far the most abundant element. For historical reasons, nebulae in which hydrogen is mainly ionized (H+) are called H II regions; those in which hydrogen is mainly neutral are designated H I regions; and those in which the gas is in molecular form (H2) are referred to as

Uitenhage

2005-03-16T00:10:00.000-08:00

Town, Eastern province, South Africa, near the Indian Ocean, northwest of Port Elizabeth. It was founded in 1804 by J.A. Uitenhage de Mist, a Dutch governmental official sent to the Cape Colony by the government of the Batavian Republic, and it contains a number of 19th-century buildings, including the Drostdy (1815), Town Hall (1882, extended in 1952), and Court House (1898). Uitenhage is an industrial town,

Subsistence Farming

2005-03-15T19:08:00.000-08:00

Form of farming in which nearly all of the crops or livestock raised are used to maintain the farmer and his family, leaving little, if any, surplus for sale or trade. Preindustrial agricultural peoples throughout the world have traditionally practiced subsistence farming. Some of these peoples moved from site to site as they exhausted the soil at each location.

Rayleigh Scattering

2005-03-14T20:29:00.000-08:00

The angle through which sunlight in the atmosphere is scattered by molecules of the constituent gases varies inversely as

Breisgau

2005-03-14T04:13:00.000-08:00

Historic region between the Rhine and the Black Forest in southwestern Germany, now in the South Baden district of the Land (state) Baden-Württemberg. It was part of the frontier region of the Roman Empire known as the Agri Decumates; from c. AD 260 it was occupied by the Germanic Alemanni. The Zähringen family was invested with the countship of Breisgau in the early Middle

Azay-le-rideau

2005-03-13T11:43:00.000-08:00

Town and château, Indre-et-Loire département, Centre région, central France. The town lies along the Indre River a few miles upstream from its confluence with the Loire River, about 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Tours. Originally the site of a Roman villa, the town was known in the 12th century as Azayum. When the French dauphin (later Charles VII) was insulted by the Burgundian guard

Indian Sculpture

2005-03-13T08:47:00.000-08:00

Sculpture was the favoured medium of artistic expression on the Indian subcontinent. Indian buildings were profusely adorned with it and indeed are often inseparable from it. The subject matter of Indian sculpture was almost invariably abstracted human forms that

Teleprinter

2005-03-13T03:25:00.000-08:00

Also called Teletypewriter, any of various telegraphic instruments that transmit and receive printed messages and data via telephone cables or radio relay systems. Teleprinters became the most common telegraphic instruments shortly after entering commercial use in the 1920s. They were used by operators in local telegraph offices and switching centres, by press associations and other private

Kucha

2005-03-12T15:04:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization K'u-ch'e, Pinyin Kuqa, oasis city in the Uighur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang, China. The oasis of Kucha lies at the foot of the southern slope of the Tien Shan (“Celestial Mountains”) on the northern rim of the Tarim Basin. It is watered by the Kucha and Mu-cha-t'i rivers, which during rainy spells flow into the Tarim River but which for most of the year lose themselves in the salt marshes on the northern

Furniture, Spain

2005-03-11T17:50:00.000-08:00

Because of the long occupation of Spain by the Moors, a style called Mudéjar evolved. While furniture in this style remained in form essentially European, decoration had an oriental flavour. A type of cabinet known as vargueno was typically Spanish. The upper part, in chest form, with drawers inside, had a fall front (a hinged writing surface that opened by falling forward),

Kabylie

2005-03-11T00:28:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Kabylia, mountainous coastal region in northern Algeria, between Algiers and Skikda. It comprises: (1) the Great Kabylie (Grande Kabylie) or Djurdjura Mountains bounded on the west by the Isser River and on the southeast by the Wadi Soummam; (2) the Little Kabylie (Petite Kabylie, or Kabylie des Babors) around the Gulf of Bejaïa (Bougie); and (3) the Collo Kabylie (Kabylie de Collo) forming

Tiglath-pileser Ii

2005-03-10T22:14:00.000-08:00

King of Assyria (c. 965–c. 932 BC). He apparently ruled effectively, as a successor addressed him by a title reserved for mighty monarchs. Otherwise, little is known of the period other than that Assyria was beginning to emerge from its collapse of a century before.

Chu Yi-tsun

2005-03-10T16:38:00.000-08:00

The turmoil attending the collapse of the Ming dynasty in 1644 and the subsequent Ch'ing conquest prevented Chu from capitalizing upon his family's political prominence under the Ming, forcing him to spend much of his life as a private tutor and personal secretary

Sea Walnut

2005-03-10T09:02:00.000-08:00

Any member of a common genus (Mnemiopsis) of gelatinous, planktonic marine invertebrates of the class Tentaculata (phylum Ctenophora). The sea walnut resembles the sea gooseberry morphologically, but as in many ctenophores the body is prolonged into eight lobes. Full-grown individuals may be as long as 15 cm (6 inches). They lead a wholly planktonic existence and are found

Hunt, William Morris

2005-03-10T01:50:00.000-08:00

After attending Harvard University, Hunt studied with Thomas Couture in Paris and then in Barbizon with Jean-François Millet, one of the leaders of the Barbizon

Painting, Western, Germany

2005-03-08T21:50:00.000-08:00

In Germany also there was a reaction against classicism and the academies, and, as elsewhere, it involved all aspects of the arts. Again, as elsewhere, theory preceded practice: Herzensergiessungen eines kunstliebenden Klosterbruders (“Effusions of an Art-Loving Monk”), by Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder, had an immediate and widespread influence upon its publication

Artis Zoological Garden

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

Byname of Foundation Of The Royal Zoological Society Natura Artis Magistra, Dutch Artis Diergaarde, or Stichting Koninklijk Zoologisch Genootschap Natura Artis Magistra, zoological garden founded in 1838 by the Royal Zoological Society of Holland. It occupies a 10-hectare (25-acre) site in Amsterdam and houses nearly 5,600 specimens of some 1,350 species. Heavily oriented toward scientific research, the zoo has an animal behaviour laboratory and an aquarium and is closely affiliated with a library and a zoological museum.

Brú, Hedin

2005-03-08T14:38:00.000-08:00

At the age of 14 Brú worked as a fisherman. He spent much of the 1920s studying agriculture in Denmark, and from 1928 he was an agricultural adviser to the Faroese government. His first two novels, Longbrá (1930; “Mirage”) and Fastatøkur (1937; “Firm Grip”), dramatize the

Legal Ethics, Advertising and solicitation

2005-03-07T20:51:00.000-08:00

Traditionally, advertising by lawyers was forbidden almost everywhere. It has been a long-standing principle of professional ethics in Anglo-American countries that an attorney must not seek professional employment through advertising or solicitation, direct or indirect. The reasons commonly given have been that seeking employment through these means

Biron, Armand-louis De Gontaut, Duc De (duke Of)

2005-03-07T15:35:00.000-08:00

In his youth, as Duke de Lauzun, he dissipated his fortune, traveling about Europe and earning notoriety for his gallantry and success with

Sage, Russell

2005-03-06T11:19:00.000-08:00

Sage's first job was as an errand boy in a brother's grocery store in Troy, N.Y. In his spare time he studied bookkeeping and arithmetic, and he began trading on his own. When he was 21, he used his profits to buy out the store

Florida Atlantic University

2005-03-06T07:13:00.000-08:00

Public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Boca Raton, Florida, U.S. Part of the State University System of Florida, it is composed of nine colleges and offers an undergraduate curriculum that includes study in business, engineering, nursing, arts and letters, education, science, and architecture, urban, and public affairs. The university offers master's

Ancient Rome, Administration of Rome and Italy

2005-03-05T04:24:00.000-08:00

Ordinary Roman citizens who were neither senators nor equites were of lesser consequence. Although still used, the old formula senatus populusque Romanus (“the Senate and the Roman people”) had changed its meaning: in effect, its populusque Romanus portion now meant “the emperor.” The “Roman people” had become the “Italian people,” and it was embodied in the person of Augustus,

Basil I

2005-03-04T22:10:00.000-08:00

Basil came of a peasant family that had settled in Macedonia, perhaps of Armenian origin. He was a handsome and physically powerful man who gained employment in influential official circles in Constantinople and was fortunate

Kidderminster

2005-03-04T04:30:00.000-08:00

Town, Wyre Forest district, administrative and historic county of Worcestershire, England. It is situated along the River Stour and the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. Recorded as Stour-in-Usmere in 736 CE, it was given to the comes (count) Cyneberght by King Aethelbald (reigned 716–757). Later it passed to the bishop of Worcester and thence to Cenwulf, king of Mercia (816), and it

Stefansson, Vilhjalmur

2005-03-03T07:12:00.000-08:00

Of Icelandic descent, Stefansson lived for a year among the Eskimo in 1906–07, acquiring an intimate knowledge of their language and culture and forming the belief that

Myo-o

2005-03-03T06:25:00.000-08:00

In the Buddhist mythology of Japan, fierce protective deities, corresponding to the Sanskrit Vidyaraja (“King of Knowledge”), worshiped mainly by the Shingon sect. They take on a ferocious appearance in order to frighten away evil spirits and to destroy ignorance and ugly passions. They are depicted with angry expressions, with a third eye in the middle of their foreheads,

U-boat

2005-03-02T17:09:00.000-08:00

The Armistice terms of 1918 required Germany to surrender all its U-boats, and the Treaty of Versailles forbade it to possess them in the future. In 1935, however, Adolf Hitler's Germany repudiated the treaty and forcefully negotiated the right to build U-boats. Britain was ill-prepared in 1939 for a resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare, and during the early months of World

Exxon Corporation

2005-03-02T15:12:00.000-08:00

Formerly (until 1972) Standard Oil Company (New Jersey) one of the world's largest corporations in terms of sales, with investments and operations in petroleum and natural gas, coal, nuclear fuels, chemicals, and such ores as copper, lead, and zinc. It also operates pipelines and one of the world's largest fleets of tankers and other ships. Exxon engages in every phase of the petroleum industry from oil fields to service stations.

Black Hand

2005-03-02T10:35:00.000-08:00

Italian Mano Nera, any of several extortion rackets run by immigrant Sicilian and Italian gangsters in the Italian communities of New York City, Chicago, New Orleans, Kansas City, and other U.S. cities from about 1890 to 1920. It consisted of sending threatening notes to local merchants and other well-to-do persons—notes printed with black hands, daggers, or other menacing symbols and extorting

Salerno, University Of

2005-03-01T20:35:00.000-08:00

Italian Università Degli Studi Di Salerno, institution of higher learning in Salerno, Italy. Much of the historic interest of the university derives from an antecedent medical school in Salerno that was the earliest and one of the greatest medical schools of the Middle Ages. In fact, some scholars have called this school medieval Europe's first university. The medical school was noted for its physicians

Waiau River

2005-02-28T10:20:00.000-08:00

Formerly Waiau-ua, or Dillon, river in eastern South Island, New Zealand. It rises in the Spenser Mountains and flows south and east for 105 miles (169 km) to enter the Pacific Ocean, 6 miles (10 km) northeast of Cheviot. Its generally hilly drainage basin, 1,270 square miles (3,290 square km) in area, borders the Canterbury Plains to the south. Towns in the river's valley, including Waiau and Parnassus, are market centres for the

Celestial Sphere

2005-02-27T16:54:00.000-08:00

The apparent surface of the heavens, on which the stars seem to be fixed. For the purpose of establishing coordinate systems to mark the positions of heavenly bodies, it can be considered a real sphere at an infinite distance from the Earth. The Earth's axis, extended to infinity, touches this sphere at the north and south celestial poles, around which the heavens seem

Haas, Ernst

2005-02-27T11:21:00.000-08:00

Haas's youthful interests were divided between medicine and painting, but after World War II he abandoned both in favour of photography. His early photographs were experimentations in abstract light and form. When

Medicine

2005-02-27T08:28:00.000-08:00

George Rosen, The Structure of American Medical Practice, 1875–1941 (1983), is a historical study. Particular kinds of medical practice are explored in Wesley Fabb and John Fry (eds.), Principles of Practice Management in Primary Care (1984); Sir Douglas Black et al., Inequalities in Health: The Black Report, edited by Peter Townsend and Nick Davidson (1982); David Sanders and Richard Carver, The Struggle for Health: Medicine and the Politics of Underdevelopment (1985); and V. Djukanovic and E.P. Mach (eds.), Alternative Approaches to Meeting Basic Health Needs in Developing Countries: A Joint UNICEF/WHO Study (1975). Also see the articles of such journals as Private Practice (monthly) and Modern Healthcare (semimonthly). For a view of alternative medicine, see Douglas Stalker and Clark Glymour (eds.), Examining Holistic Medicine (1985); and Richard Grossman, The Other Medicines (1985). The variety of roles in the health-care profession are the subject of Louise Simmers, Diversified Health Occupations (1983); C. Wesley Eisele, William R. Fifer, and Toma C. Wilson, The Medical Staff and the Modern Hospital (1985); and Eli Ginzberg (ed.), From Physician Shortage to Patient Shortage: The Uncertain Future of Medical Practice (1986).

Pitchstone

2005-02-26T08:11:00.000-08:00

Most pitchstone occurs as dikes or marginal phases of dikes and therefore may grade into porphyry. Pitchstone porphyry (vitrophyre)

Itagüí

2005-02-26T02:56:00.000-08:00

City, Antioquia departamento, northern Colombia. It lies along the Porce River between the Andean Cordilleras (mountains) Occidental and Central, at 5,148 feet (1,569 m) above sea level. Formerly a resort and a local commercial and manufacturing centre, Itagüí has become part of the industrial complex centring on Medellín, 5 miles (8 km) northeast by highway and railroad. The principal

Anthony, Michael

2005-02-25T23:48:00.000-08:00

In the mid-1950s Anthony left Trinidad to live in England, where he worked at Reuters News Agency

Chantal, Saint Jane Frances Of

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

In 1592 she married Baron de Chantal, who was killed in a hunting accident (1601), leaving her with four children. In 1604 she heard St. Francis de Sales preach the Lent at Dijon and placed herself under his direction. In 1610, after her eldest daughter had married and her 14-year-old son was provided

Insurance, Perils insured

2005-02-24T20:51:00.000-08:00

In homeowner's policies, of which there are several types, coverage can be “all risk” or “named peril.” All-risk policies offer insurance on any peril except those later excluded in the policy. The advantage of these contracts is that if property is destroyed by a peril not specifically excluded the insurance is good. In named-peril policies, no coverage is provided unless

Python

2005-02-23T18:24:00.000-08:00

(subfamily Pythoninae) any of 20 to 25 species of snakes of the family Boidae, found in tropical and temperate regions from western Africa to China, Australia, and the Pacific islands. The dwarf python (Loxocemus bicolor) of Central America is sometimes placed in this subfamily. Pythons are not venomous; they kill by constriction. Most species are found near water; some are arboreal.

Balearic Islands

2005-02-23T17:41:00.000-08:00

The archipelago lies 50 to 190 miles (80 to 300 km) east of the Spanish mainland and has a land area of 1,936 square miles (5,014 square km). There are two groups of islands. The eastern and larger

Osborne, John

2005-02-22T22:46:00.000-08:00

The son of a commercial artist and a barmaid, Osborne used insurance money from his father's death in 1941 for a boarding- school education at Belmont College, Devon. He hated

John

2005-02-22T09:24:00.000-08:00

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

Biblical Literature, Apocryphal and pseudepigraphal writings

2005-02-21T22:52:00.000-08:00

The importance of the discovery is very great; the scrolls of books of the Old Testament caused a new evaluation of the history of the text of the Hebrew Bible; fragments of the Apocrypha (Sirach and Tobit) and of already known and unknown Pseudepigrapha enlarge knowledge about Jewish literature of the intertestamental period, and the properly sectarian scrolls

Widal, (georges-)fernand-isidore

2005-02-21T17:54:00.000-08:00

In 1896 Widal developed a procedure for diagnosing typhoid fever based on the fact that antibodies in the blood of an infected individual cause the bacteria to bind together into clumps (the Widal reaction).

Mascagni, Pietro

2005-02-20T04:36:00.000-08:00

Mascagni studied at the conservatory at Milan, but, unable to submit to the discipline of his master, Amilcare Ponchielli, he left to join a traveling

National Monument

2005-02-19T23:26:00.000-08:00

In 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt established the first national

Mascagni, Pietro

2005-02-19T17:03:00.000-08:00

American symphony orchestra based in Pittsburgh, Pa. It was founded as the Pittsburgh Orchestra in 1896; its first conductor was Frederick Archer (1896–98). Music director Victor Herbert (1898–1904) was followed by permanent conductor Emil Paur (1904–10), after which the orchestra was disbanded until 1926, when the newly formed autonomous Pittsburgh Symphony Society presented a concert conducted

Koch, Kenneth Jay

2005-02-19T13:55:00.000-08:00

American poet, writer, and teacher (b. Feb. 27, 1925, Cincinnati, Ohio—d. July 6, 2002, New York, N.Y.), was known for verse that combined modernism with lyricism and that conveyed a sense of enthusiasm and fun. The subject matter was wide in range and included ordinary objects and references to popular culture. At the same time, Koch's poetry could be learned and technically sophisticated, reflecting

Skeet Shooting

2005-02-19T05:18:00.000-08:00

Sport in which marksmen use shotguns to shoot at clay targets thrown into the air by spring devices called traps. It differs from trapshooting (q.v.), from which it derived, in that in skeet, traps are set at two points on the field and targets may be thrown diagonally across the shooter's field of vision as well as directly away from him (see illustration). The sport was developed

Swallow-tanager

2005-02-18T22:24:00.000-08:00

(Tersina viridis), bird of northern South America, the sole member of the subfamily Tersininae, family Emberizidae; some authors give it family rank (Tersinidae). About 15 cm (6 inches) long, it resembles a tanager with long wings and a swallowlike bill. The male is light blue, with black markings; the female is mostly green. Swallow-tanagers catch insects on the

West Indies Associated States

2005-02-18T20:13:00.000-08:00

Former political organization of islands in the Caribbean Sea that were British colonies whose status changed to free association with the United Kingdom in 1967. This status provided for internal self-government, with Britain responsible for external affairs and defense. The islands attempted several kinds of federation between 1958 and 1966 (see Leeward Islands), but the

Icelandic Literature

2005-02-17T09:03:00.000-08:00

Body of writings in Icelandic, including those from Old Icelandic (also called Old Norse) through Modern Icelandic. It is best known for the richness of its classical period, which is equivalent in time to the early and medieval periods in western European literature. See Scandinavian literature; Edda; Icelanders' sagas; saga; skaldic poetry.

Percier, Charles; And Fontaine, Pierre (-françois-léonard)

2005-02-17T06:19:00.000-08:00

Percier and Fontaine became acquainted with each other while both were studying architecture in Paris.

Psychomotor Learning, Devices and tasks

2005-02-16T16:39:00.000-08:00

Hundreds of electrical and mechanical instruments have been developed for research in psychomotor learning, but those commonly used number less than two dozen. In operating a device called a complex coordinator, the learner is instructed to make prompt, synchronized adjustments of handstick and foot-bar controls to match different combinations of stimulus

Bexhill

2005-02-15T20:30:00.000-08:00

Also called Bexhill-on-sea, town, Rother district, administrative county of East Sussex, historic county of Sussex, England, just west of Hastings on the English Channel. The coastal resort dates from the 1880s, but the old village inland on the cliff top is built around its ancient parish church. A central feature of the resort area is the De la Warr Pavilion, built in the mid-1930s by Bauhaus architects Erich

Finster, The Rev. Howard

2005-02-15T00:52:00.000-08:00

American artist and preacher (b. Dec. 2, 1916, Valley Head, Ala.—d. Oct. 22, 2001, Rome, Ga.), with his simple colourful works that combined his evangelistic messages with pop culture icons, became one of the most noted folk artists of the 20th century. He was best known for Paradise Garden in Pennville, Ga., which he concocted from items he retrieved from a dump, and his designs also appeared on album

Trainer

2005-02-14T11:05:00.000-08:00

In military aviation, an airplane that is designed and used to train pilots to operate advanced aircraft effectively. The complicated modern military airplane requires a high degree of skill on the part of pilots. Military training programs commonly make use of a single-engine aircraft for primary training phases, with twin-jet trainers for transition

Forbes, James David

2005-02-14T10:27:00.000-08:00

Educated at the University of Edinburgh, Forbes became a professor there in 1833. Between 1836 and 1844 he published four series of “Researches on Heat” in which he described the polarization (alignment of waves to vibrate in a plane) of radiant infrared heat by the mineral

Contractile Vacuole

2005-02-13T02:30:00.000-08:00

Regulatory organelle, usually spherical, found in freshwater protozoa and lower metazoans, such as sponges and hydras, that collects excess fluid from the protoplasm and periodically empties it into the surrounding medium. It may also excrete nitrogenous wastes. In amoebas it changes position with the animal's movement; in most ciliates it follows a definite

Coral

2005-02-12T21:06:00.000-08:00

Stony corals (order Madreporaria or Scleractinia) number

Kadare, Ismail

2005-02-12T20:20:00.000-08:00

The son of a post-office worker in the town of Gjirokastër, Kadare studied at the University of Tiranë and later at the Gorky Institute of World Literature in Moscow until 1960. Upon returning to Albania, he became a journalist and also embarked on a literary career. He endured

Sea Serpent

2005-02-12T05:53:00.000-08:00

Mythological and legendary marine animal that traditionally resembles an enormous snake. The belief in huge creatures that inhabited the deep was widespread throughout the ancient world. In the Old Testament there are several allusions to a primordial combat between God and a monstrous adversary variously named Leviathan or Rahab. Although the references

Cladoselache

2005-02-10T22:36:00.000-08:00

Cladoselache was a very primitive form and had many archaic features in the skull and skeleton. Two dorsal fins were

Lance Missile

2005-02-10T15:32:00.000-08:00

The Lance is about 20 feet (6 m) long and is launched from a light trailer or a modified personnel carrier. It is propelled by a liquid-fueled rocket engine to ranges of 5 to 75 miles (8 to 120 km), depending on the warhead.

Lowin, John

2005-02-09T11:32:00.000-08:00

Lowin was the son of a carpenter. He worked as a goldsmith's apprentice for eight years and then joined the Earl of Worcester's Men as an actor in 1602. By 1603 he was a member of the King's Men. He is known to have specialized in the roles of comic soldiers as well as downright villains.

'uthman Ibn 'affan

2005-02-09T05:57:00.000-08:00

'Uthman