SuddenLip

Hoover Commission

2005-04-04T15:46:00.000-07:00

Formally Commission on Organization of the U.S. Executive Branch (1947–49, 1953–55), either of two temporary advisory bodies, both headed by the former president Herbert Hoover. They were appointed to find ways to reduce the number of federal government departments and increase their efficiency in the post-World War II and post-Korean War periods. The commissions were composed equally of Democratic and Republican members. Their recommendations,

Mura

2005-04-04T06:03:00.000-07:00

South American Indian people of the Amazon tropical forest of western Brazil. The Mura originally inhabited the right bank of the lower Madeira River near the mouth of the Jamari River. Contact with whites led them to adopt guerrilla tactics; they spread downstream to the Purus River, raiding sedentary farmers along the way. By 1774 the Mura expansion had been countered

Ibn Battutah

2005-04-03T00:29:00.000-08:00

The greatest medieval Arab traveller and the author of one of the most famous travel books, the Rihlah (Travels), which describes his extensive travels covering some 75,000 miles (more than 120,000 km) in trips to almost all the Muslim countries and to regions as far as China and Sumatra.

Sinhala Maha Sabha

2005-04-02T02:47:00.000-08:00

Political group in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) that was founded in 1937 by S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike. It was a communally oriented group and promoted the interests of the Sinhalese sector of the population and of Buddhism. In 1945 Bandaranaike threw the support of the Sabha behind the newly created United National Party (UNP) of D.S. Senanayake, which was to dominate politics for the first

Amiot, Jean-joseph-marie

2005-04-01T17:47:00.000-08:00

Amiot entered the Society of Jesus in 1737 and was sent as a missionary to China in 1750. He soon won the confidence of the emperor Qianlong and spent the remainder of his life at Beijing. Among his achievements was the compilation

Bridgman, Laura Dewey

2005-04-01T14:07:00.000-08:00

Bridgman was struck by scarlet fever at the age of two and left without sight or hearing. Her other senses were also affected, but she retained the sense of touch, which she developed sufficiently to learn to sew and knit. In 1837 her case came to the attention

Gaborone

2005-03-31T20:28:00.000-08:00

Formerly (until 1969) Gaberones, town, capital of Botswana. The seat of government was transferred there from Mafeking (now spelled Mafikeng), South Africa, in 1965, one year before Botswana became independent of Britain. Gaborone is located on the Cape-Zimbabwe railway and is the site of government offices, parliament buildings, health facilities, a thermal power station, and an airport. It is the seat of

Alden, Cynthia May Westover

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

Cynthia Westover was reared largely by her father, a geologist, in western mining camps, and she could shoot a rifle and ride a horse at an early age. After completing a teaching degree at

Fuchs, Ruth

2005-03-30T17:40:00.000-08:00

In 1972, just 35 minutes after Polish athlete Ewa Gryziecka had set a record for the women's javelin throw, Fuchs threw the javelin more than 2.3 m (7 feet 6 inches) farther, a total of 65.06 m (213 feet 5 1/2 inches), her first world record. She went on to set a

Widmann, Joseph Viktor

2005-03-29T07:45:00.000-08:00

As literary editor of the Bern daily newspaper Der Bund from 1880 to 1910, Widmann occupied an authoritative position in Swiss letters and promoted many talented writers. He was himself an accomplished though not a strikingly original writer, and he handled such

Wright, Judith

2005-03-29T05:55:00.000-08:00

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

France, History Of, The hegemony of Neustria

2005-03-28T14:06:00.000-08:00

The territorial struggles began anew after 639. In Neustria, Austrasia, and Burgundy, power was in the hands of aristocratic leaders, called the mayors of the palace. Ebroïn, mayor of the palace in Neustria, attempted to unify the kingdom under his leadership but met with violent opposition. Resistance in Burgundy was led by Bishop Leodegar, who was assassinated in about

Cushing, Caleb

2005-03-27T11:50:00.000-08:00

After serving in the state legislature and the U.S. Congress (1835–43), Cushing was appointed U.S. commissioner to China. There he negotiated the Treaty of Wanghia (1844) establishing the principle of extraterritoriality. In 1852 he became an associate

Caddy

2005-03-27T10:19:00.000-08:00

Container for tea. A corrupt form of the Malay kati, a weight of a little more than a pound (or about half a kilogram), the word was applied first to porcelain jars filled with tea and imported into England from China. Many caddies made from silver, copper, brass, pewter, and other decorative materials, such as veneers of tortoiseshell or ivory on wood, were made in the 18th

Copeland, Charles Townsend

2005-03-26T18:53:00.000-08:00

Copeland was educated at Harvard University (A.B., 1882), and, after a year as a teacher at a boys' school in New Jersey and another at Harvard Law School, he was a drama critic and book reviewer for the Boston Advertiser and the Boston

Avesta

2005-03-25T18:31:00.000-08:00

Also called Zend-avesta, sacred book of Zoroastrianism containing its cosmogony, law, and liturgy, the teachings of the prophet Zoroaster (Zarathushtra). The extant Avesta is all that remains of a much larger body of scripture, apparently Zoroaster's transformation of a very ancient tradition. The voluminous manuscripts of the original are said to have been destroyed when Alexander the

Forensic Medicine

2005-03-25T18:03:00.000-08:00

The primary tool of forensic medicine has always

Kilis

2005-03-24T17:26:00.000-08:00

Town, extreme southern Turkey. It lies near the Syrian border north of Aleppo, Syria, and is often identified with the ancient town of Kilisi mentioned in Assyrian records. It was occupied by France after World War I but was returned to Turkey in 1921. The country around Kilis is fertile, producing olives, grapes, and pistachio nuts. The town's major industries are silk and cotton

Race, Hereditary statuses versus the rise of individualism

2005-03-23T10:12:00.000-08:00

Inheritance as the basis of individual social position is an ancient tenet of human history, extending to some point after the beginnings of agriculture (about 8000–10,000 BCE). Expressions of it are found throughout the world in kinship-based societies where genealogical links determine an individual's status, rights, and obligations. Wills and testaments capture this principle,

Chi-lin

2005-03-23T08:03:00.000-08:00

Chi-lin is one of the most ancient cities in the Northeast.

Liliencron, Detlev, Baron (freiherr) Von

2005-03-22T21:55:00.000-08:00

The son of an impoverished family of baronial descent, Liliencron entered the Prussian army in 1863. He served as a regular officer during the Seven Weeks' War (1866) and the Franco-German War (1870–71). He later used experiences from these campaigns in his poems and

Shabunder

2005-03-21T16:34:00.000-08:00

To handle the greatly increased commerce in the 15th-century Malacca sultanate, four shabunders were appointed

Kellermann, François-christophe, Duc (duke) De Valmy

2005-03-20T08:45:00.000-08:00

Born into a family of the judicial nobility, Kellermann became an officer in the French Army in 1752. He fought with distinction against the Prussians and British during the Seven Years' War (1756–63) and was subsequently

Farlow, William Gilson

2005-03-18T20:28:00.000-08:00

After receiving the M.D. degree from Harvard University (1870), Farlow studied in Europe until 1874, when he became professor of cryptogamic botany (the study of flowerless and seedless plants)

Zaibatsu

2005-03-18T13:59:00.000-08:00

(Japanese: “wealthy clique”), any of the large capitalist enterprises of Japan before World War II, similar to cartels or trusts but usually organized around a single family. One zaibatsu might operate companies in nearly all important areas of economic activity. The Mitsui combine, for example, owned or had large investments in companies engaged in banking, foreign

Nobel Prizes

2005-03-18T13:21:00.000-08:00

Controversy surrounded the Nobel Committee's decision to award the 1994 Nobel Prize for Peace to (“in alphabetical order”) Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Chairman Yasir Arafat, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin “for their efforts to create peace in the Middle East.” Criticism was aimed not only at the choice of Arafat,

Oscine

2005-03-17T11:18:00.000-08:00

Any bird of the suborder Passeres (order Passeriformes), which includes all songbirds. See songbird.

Tortoise

2005-03-16T22:55:00.000-08:00

Any of the land-dwelling turtles of the family Testudinidae; in Great Britain the name refers to any nonmarine turtle. The land-dwelling tortoises are exclusively terrestrial, vegetarian reptiles. In folklore these animals represent slowness, determination, and long life. Tortoises are found in both the Old World and the New, but the majority of the 40-odd living species

Talbot

2005-03-16T16:20:00.000-08:00

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

Aryabhata I

2005-03-16T03:35:00.000-08:00

Also called Aryabhata the Elder astronomer and the earliest Indian mathematician whose work and history are available to modern scholars. Known as Aryabhata I or Aryabhata the Elder to distinguish him from a 10th-century Indian mathematician of the same name, he flourished in Kusumapura—near Patalipurta (Patna), then the capital of the Gupta dynasty—where

Eusden, Laurence

2005-03-15T21:05:00.000-08:00

British poet who, by flattering the Duke of Newcastle, was made poet laureate in 1718. He became rector of Coningsby and held the laureateship until his death. Alexander Pope satirized him frequently and derisively.

Moreau River

2005-03-14T20:53:00.000-08:00

River, formed by the confluence of several headstreams in Butte and Harding counties, northwestern South Dakota, U.S. It flows about 290 mi (470 km) east through the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation, where it receives several north-bank tributaries (including Thunder Butte and Little Moreau), to the Missouri River south of Mobridge. The lower Moreau Basin was inundated by

Anser

2005-03-14T04:27:00.000-08:00

Bird genus of the family Anatidae (order Anseriformes). For a general discussion of the genus, see goose; for A. Albifrons, see white-fronted goose; for A. anser, see greylag; for A. caerulescens, see snow goose.

Cheektowaga

2005-03-14T03:13:00.000-08:00

Town (township), Erie county, western New York, U.S. It lies immediately east of Buffalo, on Ellicott, Scajaquada, and Cayuga creeks, near Lake Erie. Originally part of the Holland Land Purchase and the town of Amherst, the site was first settled in 1808 by Appollos Hitchcock, who was appointed Indian agent for the Buffalo Reservation. The town, incorporated in 1839, derived its name

Thompson, J(ohn) Lee

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

British-born film director (b. Aug. 1, 1914, Bristol, Gloucestershire, Eng.—d. Aug. 30, 2002, Sooke, B.C.), achieved international fame with The Guns of Navarone (1961), which exemplified his acute visual style and use of suspenseful narrative. Thompson, who was sometimes billed as J. Lee-Thompson, began his film career as an actor and screenwriter, and the first movie he directed, Murder Without

Ibn Tibbon, Judah Ben Saul

2005-03-12T20:45:00.000-08:00

Persecution of the Jews forced Judah to flee Granada in 1150, and he settled in Lunel, in southern France, where he practiced medicine, according to an account in 1160 by a contemporary traveller,

Azhari, Isma'il Al-

2005-03-12T07:48:00.000-08:00

Educated at Gordon Memorial College at Khartoum and at the American University of Beirut, al-Azhari became president of the Graduates' General Congress in 1940. At first concerned primarily with educational and social reforms, the

Furtwangen

2005-03-12T00:58:00.000-08:00

City, Baden-Württemberg Land (state), southwestern Germany, in the upper valley of the Breg River, in the Black Forest (Schwarzwald), northeast of Freiburg im Breisgau. First mentioned in 1179, it was a possession of the abbey of St. George until it passed to Baden in 1806. It was chartered in 1873. Furtwangen has been a centre of the Black Forest clock industry since 1740 and has a clock museum.

Utopia

2005-03-11T03:10:00.000-08:00

The word first occurred in Sir Thomas More's Utopia, published in Latin as Libellus . . . de optimo reipublicae statu, deque nova insula Utopia (“Concerning the highest state

Cassel, Jean-pierre

2005-03-10T21:30:00.000-08:00

Cassel was a bit player in movies, television, and on the stage when the American actor and dancer Gene Kelly discovered him for The Happy Road (1956). Later Cassel, a tall man with an expressive, mobile face, was well received as the comic protagonist of Les Jeux de l'amour (1960; “The Games of Love”), L'Amant de cinq jours (1961; “The Five-Day

Agnihotri, Shiv Narayan

2005-03-10T15:39:00.000-08:00

At the age of 16 Agnihotri entered the government-sponsored Thompson Engineering College in Roorkee and in 1873 took a position as a drawing master in the Government School of Lahore. He and his wife became active members of the Brahmo Samaj (literally, “Society

Regency Style

2005-03-10T11:56:00.000-08:00

Decorative arts produced during the regency of George, prince of Wales, and the opening years of the 19th century as well as his entire reign as King George IV of England, ending in 1830. The major source of inspiration for Regency taste was found in Greek and Roman antiquity, from which designers borrowed both structural and ornamental elements. The classical revival of

Tonga

2005-03-09T07:15:00.000-08:00

Agriculture is the mainstay of the Tongan economy. Coconuts, bananas, and vanilla beans constitute the main cash crops, and other important crops include yams, taro, cassava, corn (maize), watermelons, pineapples, and tomatoes. All land is essentially owned by the Crown, but large estates have been divided among the nobles of Tonga. Land is parceled out to peasant proprietors:

Biblical Literature, The Geneva Bible

2005-03-09T06:57:00.000-08:00

The brief efflorescence of the Protestant movement during the short reign of Edward VI (1547–53) saw the reissue of the Scriptures, but no fresh attempts at revision. The repressive rule of Edward's successor, Mary, a Roman Catholic, put an end to the printing of Bibles in England for several years. Their public reading was proscribed and their presence in the churches

Arts, Central Asian, Neolithic and Metal Age cultures

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

Many Neolithic (New Stone Age) sites were discovered in what was formerly Soviet Central Asia, and the number of Bronze Age sites is even higher. The majority were found on the middle reaches of the Yenisey River, especially in the Minusinsk Basin, where metallurgy developed early. They testify to the existence of three main, basically successive, yet often overlapping

Epistemology, Epistemology as a discipline

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

Why should there be such a subject as epistemology? Aristotle provided the answer when he said that philosophy begins in wonder, in a kind of puzzlement about things. Nearly all human beings wish to comprehend the world they live in, a world that includes the individual as well as other persons, and most people construct hypotheses of varying degrees of sophistication

Rupert River

2005-03-06T14:21:00.000-08:00

French Rivière De Rupert, river in Nord-du-Québec region, western Quebec province, Canada. It rises from Mistassini Lake in the central part of the province and flows generally westward for 380 miles (610 km) through a series of lakes to Ruperts Bay, at the south end of James Bay. It was discovered by Henry Hudson, who wintered at its mouth (1610–11), and was eventually named after Prince Rupert, first governor of the

Padang Highlands

2005-03-06T13:35:00.000-08:00

Region near the western coast of the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. It is part of the Barisan Mountains of Sumatera Barat provinsi (“province”). The highest among several volcanoes in the highlands is Mount Merapi (9,485 feet [2,891 m]). A favourite resort area because of its climate, the region has superb scenery and is the source of four major rivers (the Rokan, Kampar, Inderagiri, and Batanghari).

Scandinavian Literature, The development of the Icelandic drama

2005-03-06T03:48:00.000-08:00

Icelandic drama really started to develop through Jóhann Sigurjónsson, whose first success was Fjalla-Eyvindur (1911; Eyvind of the Hills), followed by Galdra-Loftur (1915; “Loftur the Sorcerer”); both plays were based on powerful folktales. Gudmundur Kamban's Hadda-Padda (1914) was highly praised by Georg Brandes, and he remained important in Scandinavian drama for the next quarter

Agnon, S.y.

2005-03-06T01:19:00.000-08:00

Born of a family of Polish Jewish merchants, rabbis, and scholars, Agnon wrote at first (1903–06) in Yiddish and Hebrew, under his own

Delos

2005-03-05T23:43:00.000-08:00

Since 1873 the École

Franceschini, Marcantonio

2005-03-05T07:17:00.000-08:00

Franceschini worked in Genoa, Modena, and Rome as well as in Bologna and worked extensively for patrons in Austria and Germany. He was made director of the Clementina Academy in Bologna in 1721. Franceschini was the last important representative of the

Epistemology, G.F.W. Hegel

2005-03-04T17:00:00.000-08:00

Empiricism takes cognition

Crabtree, Lotta

2005-03-04T01:05:00.000-08:00

Crabtree grew up from the age of four in California, where her father moved the family during the Gold Rush of the early 1850s. At the Grass Valley mining camp she met Lola

Muir, Edwin

2005-03-03T11:40:00.000-08:00

His stature as a poet

Antsirabe

2005-03-02T11:52:00.000-08:00

Town, central Madagascar. It lies on the slopes of the nation's second highest peak, Tsiafajavona, in the Ankaratra Mountains. Thermal springs, associated with ancient volcanism, together with an elevation of 4,000 feet (1,200 m) encouraged the development of a health resort there in 1923. The terminus of a rail line from Antananarivo, the national capital (70 miles [110 km] northeast), Antsirabe

Fabergé, Peter Carl

2005-03-02T09:19:00.000-08:00

Of Huguenot descent, Fabergé was educated in Germany, Italy, France, and England. His father had by 1842 established himself in St. Petersburg as a jeweler, dealing also in fine decorative objects, a tradition Peter Carl continued after inheriting

Pueblo Incident

2005-03-02T07:15:00.000-08:00

Capture of the USS “Pueblo,” a Navy intelligence ship, and its 83 crewmen by North Korean patrol boats off the coast of North Korea on Jan. 23, 1968. The United States, maintaining that the “Pueblo” had been in international waters, began a military buildup in the area. It also initiated negotiations that resulted in an agreement that secured the release of the 82 surviving crewmen (one

Coihaique

2005-03-01T23:25:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Aisén Region in southern archipelagic Chile, 50 mi (80 km) inland of Puerto Aisén and 25 mi (40 km) west of the Argentine border. Founded in 1912 by a small group of German colonists, it is situated among grassy steppes between the Coihaique and Simpson rivers, in a densely forested and extremely wet coastal region of Patagonian Chile (rainfall reaches 58 in. [1,485 mm] annually). Although

Akhtal, Al-

2005-03-01T14:54:00.000-08:00

Al-Akhtal (“The Loquacious”) was a Christian but did not take the duties of his religion seriously, being addicted to drink and women. He was a favourite panegyrist and friend of the Umayyad caliph Yazid I and his generals

Pragmatic Sanction Of Emperor Charles Vi

2005-03-01T01:45:00.000-08:00

(April 19, 1713), decree promulgated by the Holy Roman emperor Charles VI with the intent that all his Habsburg kingdoms and lands descend as an integral whole without partition. It stipulated that his undivided heritage go to his eldest son, should he have one, or, failing a son, to his eldest daughter and then, if she should die without issue, to his deceased brother Joseph I's daughters

Logical Positivism

2005-02-28T22:47:00.000-08:00

The Logical Positivist school differs from earlier empiricists and positivists (David Hume, Ernst Mach) in holding that the ultimate basis of knowledge

Nepal, Flag Of

2005-02-27T11:07:00.000-08:00

Hundreds of independent states existed on the Indian subcontinent prior to the period of British control there in the 17th–19th centuries. Many of these countries, including Nepal, had state flags of their own, their symbols usually representing the ruling dynasty. Frequently, the flag designs, shapes, and colours were (by European standards) unusual. Most of those flags

Cullinan Diamond

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

World's largest gem diamond, which weighed about 3,106 carats in rough form when found in 1905 at the Premier mine in Transvaal, S.Af. Named for Sir Thomas Cullinan, who had discovered the mine three years earlier, the colourless stone was purchased by the Transvaal government and was presented (1907) to the reigning British monarch, King Edward VII. It was cut into 9 large stones and about

Boise State University

2005-02-26T22:53:00.000-08:00

Public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Boise, Idaho, U.S. The university comprises eight colleges, including the Larry G. Selland College of Applied Technology, which provides applied science degrees in fields such as information technology, horticulture, and culinary arts. Boise State University offers a range of associate and bachelor's degree

Molfetta

2005-02-26T07:21:00.000-08:00

Town and episcopal see, Bari provincia, Puglia (Apulia) regione, southeastern Italy. It lies along the Adriatic Sea, northwest of Bari city. An important port in the Middle Ages and a free city for a time, it was sacked by the French in 1529. Although Molfetta is mainly modern, its outstanding Romanesque–Apulian-style Duomo Vecchio (“Old Cathedral”), a national monument, dates from

World War I, Eastern Europe and the Russian periphery, MarchNovember 1918

2005-02-25T23:46:00.000-08:00

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (March 3, 1918) gave Germany a free hand to do what it liked with Russia's former possessions in eastern Europe. While they pursued their plan of 1916 for a kingdom of Poland, the Germans took new measures for the other countries. Lithuania, recognized as independent, was to be a kingdom under some German prince. Latvia and Estonia were to be merged into a

Alexander Aetolus

2005-02-25T23:04:00.000-08:00

Greek poet of Pleuron, in Aetolia. He was appointed by Ptolemy II Philadelphus, Macedonian king of Egypt, to arrange and catalog the tragedies in the library at Alexandria. Nothing remains of his own tragic writing except the title of one play, Astragalistae (“The Dice Players”). A few fragments of his shorter writings are extant, including a brief appreciation of Euripides.

Mitchell, Maria

2005-02-25T15:24:00.000-08:00

Mitchell was educated in schools on her native Nantucket, Massachusetts, including the one conducted by her father. Her interest in astronomy was stimulated by her father, who let her assist in his work of rating chronometers for the Nantucket whaling fleet and who encouraged

Biblical Literature, III Baruch

2005-02-23T13:32:00.000-08:00

Apocalyptic literature was much concerned about sources of information about the heavenly world and about the places of the damned and saved souls. In later Jewish and early Christian apocalypses, in which the hero undertakes a heavenly trip and sees the secrets that are hidden from others, these sources of information are highly significant. III Baruch, a book

Cohen, Albert

2005-02-23T09:48:00.000-08:00

From 1900 Cohen was reared in Marseilles, France. He studied law in Geneva, became a Swiss citizen, and began a career as a writer and as a civil servant, notably with the International Labour Organisation

Rayonism

2005-02-22T08:24:00.000-08:00

Russian Luchism (Rayism) Russian art movement founded by Mikhail F. Larionov, representing one of the first steps toward the development of abstract art in Russia. Larionov exhibited one of the first Rayonist works, Glass, in 1912 and wrote the movement's manifesto that same year (though it was not published until 1913). Explaining the new style, which was a synthesis of Cubism, Futurism, and Orphism, Larionov

Cheltenham

2005-02-22T06:04:00.000-08:00

A church is known to have existed at Cheltenham as early as 803. The town is first mentioned in documents in 1223, when the benefit of markets, fairs, and the hundred (feudal

Esterhazy

2005-02-21T15:13:00.000-08:00

Town, southeastern Saskatchewan, Canada. It lies in the Qu'Appelle River valley, 132 miles (212 km) east of Regina. It is named after Count Paul Otto d'Esterházy (1830–1912), a French-Hungarian nobleman who promoted settlement in the area. Esterhazy is a marketing town for a mixed-farming (especially wheat) and stock-raising region and has flour-milling and dairying industries. Since 1962, however,

Narcotic

2005-02-20T19:26:00.000-08:00

The main therapeutic use of narcotics is for pain relief, and hence they are often called narcotic analgesics. The best-known narcotics are the opiates—i.e., compounds

Antagonist

2005-02-20T14:52:00.000-08:00

In literature, the principal opponent or foil of the main character, who is referred to as the protagonist, in a drama or narrative. The word is from the Greek antagnistes, “opponent or rival.”

Anne And Joachim, Saints

2005-02-20T05:03:00.000-08:00

Kathleen Ashley and Pamela Sheingorn (eds.), Interpreting Cultural Symbols: Saint Anne in Late Medieval Society (1990), covers the fields of art history, literature, religion, and social history.

Insurance, Property covered

2005-02-19T19:01:00.000-08:00

Homeowner's forms are written to cover damage to or loss of not only an owner's dwelling but also structures (such as garages and fences), trees and shrubs, personal property (excluding certain listed items), property away from the premises (such as boats), money and securities (subject to dollar limits), and losses due to forgery. They also cover removal of debris following

Asian Development Bank

2005-02-19T00:48:00.000-08:00

(ADB), organization established under the auspices of ESCAP (the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) that entered into force in August 1966. Thirty “regional” countries of South, Southeast, and East Asia and the South Pacific and 14 “nonregional” countries of western Europe and North America constitute the membership. Each member appoints

Straparola, Gianfrancesco

2005-02-18T15:29:00.000-08:00

Straparola's Piacevoli notti (1550–53; The Nights of Straparola) contains 75 novellas (short prose tales) that were later used as source material by William Shakespeare, Molière, and others; it introduced into European literature 20 folktales, among

Biblical Literature, Late-2nd-century canons

2005-02-18T05:10:00.000-08:00

By the end of the 2nd century, Irenaeus used the four canonical Gospels, 13 letters of Paul, I Peter, I and II John, Revelation, Shepherd of Hermas (a work later excluded from the canon), and Acts. Justin Martyr (died c. 165), a Christian apologist, wrote of the reading of the Gospels, “the memoirs of the Apostles,” in the services, in which they were the basis for sermons. In his writings he quoted

Kirchwey, Freda

2005-02-17T07:07:00.000-08:00

Kirchwey was the daughter of a Columbia University Law School professor and dean and later (1915–16) warden of Sing Sing State Prison (now Ossining Correctional Facility). She graduated from Barnard College, New York City, in

Yablonitsky Pass

2005-02-17T04:15:00.000-08:00

Russian Pereval Yablonitsky, also spelled Pereval Jablonickij, pass in the outer eastern Carpathians of western Ukraine, an important route connecting the rest of the republic with the isolated Zakarpatskaya oblast (administrative region) and with northeastern Romania. The southern portion of the pass is formed by the valley of the Tisa River, and the northern section contains the headwaters of the Prut. The head of the pass

Melaka

2005-02-16T14:47:00.000-08:00

Formerly Malacca, town and port, West Malaysia (Malaya), on the Strait of Malacca, at the mouth of the sluggish Melaka River. The city was founded about 1400, when Paramesvara, the ruler of Tumasik (now Singapore), fled from the forces of the Javanese kingdom of Majapahit and found refuge at the site, then a small fishing village. There he founded a Malay kingdom the kings of which, aided by the Chinese,

X-ray Diffraction

2005-02-16T10:18:00.000-08:00

A phenomenon in which the atoms of a crystal, by virtue of their uniform spacing, cause an interference pattern of the waves present in an incident beam of X rays. The atomic planes of the crystal act on the X rays in exactly the same manner as does a uniformly ruled grating on a beam of light. See also Bragg law; Laue diffraction pattern.

Breckinridge, Madeline Mcdowell

2005-02-15T20:14:00.000-08:00

Née Madeline McDowell American social reformer whose efforts focused on child welfare, health issues, and women's rights. Educated in Lexington, Kentucky, and at Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut, she studied intermittently during 1890–94 at the State College (now University) of Kentucky. In 1898 she married Desha Breckinridge, editor of the Lexington

Bischof, Werner

2005-02-15T01:38:00.000-08:00

From 1932 to 1936 Bischof attended the Zürich School of Applied Arts, where he studied photography with Hans Finsler. He worked as an advertising and fashion photographer for several years and in 1942 began a

Lahbabi, Mohammed Aziz

2005-02-14T15:24:00.000-08:00

Moroccan writer and philosopher (b. Dec. 25, 1922, Fès, Morocco--d. Aug. 23, 1993, Rabat, Morocco), had influence in the Arab world through his many writings, some of which were translated into as many as 30 languages. Lahbabi was educated at the Sorbonne in Paris and received a doctorate of philosophy. He taught philosophy at Muhammad V University, Rabat, and the University of Algiers and held other

Springfield, Dusty

2005-02-14T06:07:00.000-08:00

British pop singer who in the 1960s recorded such hits as “I Only Want to Be with You,” “Wishin' and Hopin',” “The Look of Love,” “You Don't Have to Say You Love Me,” and “Son of a Preacher Man”; she was appointed O.B.E. in 1999 and was admitted posthumously into the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (b. April 16, 1939, London, Eng.—d. March 2, 1999, Henley-on-Thames, Eng.).

Paraguay, Relief

2005-02-13T10:52:00.000-08:00

The Región Oriental, with an area of about 61,700 square miles, is an extension of the Brazilian Plateau and

Madhavacarya

2005-02-12T21:18:00.000-08:00

Madhavacarya became an ascetic in 1377 and was thereafter known as Vidyaranya. He was part author of Jivan-muktiviveka and Pañcadasi, works of Vedanta philosophy; Dhatuvrtti, a treatise on Sanskrit grammar; Nyaya-malavistara, a work on the Mimamsa system, one of the earliest

Zaharoff, Sir Basil

2005-02-12T20:18:00.000-08:00

He was the son of poor Greek parents who had Russified the family name during years spent in exile in Russia. As a young man he worked for his uncle in the cloth trade in Istanbul. In

Weld, Theodore Dwight

2005-02-12T06:39:00.000-08:00

While a ministerial student at Lane Seminary, Cincinnati, Ohio, Weld participated in antislavery debates and led a group of students who withdrew from Lane to enroll at Oberlin (Ohio) College. Weld left his studies in 1834 to become an agent for

X Ray

2005-02-11T19:04:00.000-08:00

According to classical electromagnetic theory, the deceleration of electrons will produce electromagnetic radiation, in the same way that accelerated electrons in a radio antenna produce radio waves. The failure of magnetic fields to deflect an X-ray beam seems to confirm this classical idea of the origin of X rays. Crucial evidence for the existence of waves

Habsburg, House Of

2005-02-11T10:54:00.000-08:00

To allay British and Dutch misgivings, Leopold I and his elder son, the future emperor Joseph I, in 1703 renounced their own claims to Spain in favour of Joseph's brother Charles, so that he might found a second line of Spanish Habsburgs distinct from the imperial; but when Joseph I died, leaving only daughters, in 1711, and was succeeded by his brother as emperor (Charles VI) and as

Latin Language

2005-02-11T08:51:00.000-08:00

Originally spoken by small groups of people living along the lower Tiber River, Latin spread with the increase of Roman political power, first throughout Italy and then throughout most of western and southern Europe and the central and western Mediterranean

Clarion River

2005-02-10T23:42:00.000-08:00

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

Reformation

2005-02-09T16:12:00.000-08:00

The world of the late medieval Catholic Church

Alton

2005-02-09T15:17:00.000-08:00

Town (“parish”), East Hampshire district, administrative and historic county of Hampshire, England. It lies among the downs on the River Wey, about 18 miles (29 km) northeast of Winchester by road. The Church of St. Lawrence is in the Perpendicular style with a Norman tower. Eggar's Grammar School was founded in 1642, and there are many Georgian buildings. William Curtis, the botanist,

Gujarat, Education

2005-02-08T23:10:00.000-08:00

Primary schools for all children between the ages of 7 and 11 have been opened in nearly all villages with 500 or more inhabitants. Special schools are run for tribal children and for the teaching of arts and crafts. There are many secondary schools, as well as nine universities and a large number of institutions for higher education. Technical education is provided by engineering