PrivateBone

organic cotton goods

2006-10-30T14:15:00.000-08:00

Liv organic cotton goods are soft luxurious nad affordable and they have a huge range of organic clothing.

Saran

2005-04-04T23:36:00.000-07:00

City, east-central Kazakstan. A major centre of coal mining in the Qaraghandy coal basin, it was established in 1946 near the Saran coal deposit and became a city in 1954. The city's manufactures include chemical and rubber product plants. Pop. (1991 est.) 62,600.

African Literature, Oral traditions

2005-04-04T14:22:00.000-07:00

The following works cover and analyze some of the best and most representative collections of oral art forms from many parts of Africa: Uchegbulam N. Abalogu, Garba Ashiwaju, and Regina Amadi-Tshiwala, Oral Poetry in Nigeria (1981), containing articles on a number of different oral genres in contemporary Nigeria; B.W. Andrzejewski and I.M. Lewis, Somali Poetry: An Introduction (1964), a detailed and authoritative account of the main genres and their social context by a linguist and a sociologist; Ulli Beier (comp. and ed.), Yoruba Poetry: An Anthology of Traditional Poems (1970), a good introduction to the rich and complex Yoruba oral traditions; James Stuart (comp.), Izibongo: Zulu Praise-Poems (1968), long poems to kings and chiefs, rich in imagery and allusions, with a discussion of their form, function, and social context; A. Coupez and Th. Kamanzi, Littérature de cour au Rwanda (1970), analysis and texts of the royal poetry of the kings of Rwanda and accounts of the poets responsible for them; Pierre Smith (ed.), Le Récit populaire au Rwanda (1975), 30 popular tales from Rwanda that interpret the history of the region in a different way from the royal praises; M. Damane and P.B. Sanders (eds. and trans.), Lithoko: Sotho Praise-Poems (1974), an authoritative anthology of praise poems of Basotho chiefs, covering 200 years; Francis Mading Deng, The Dinka and Their Songs (1973), a careful account of the performed poetry of the Dinka people of The Sudan; Ruth Finnegan (comp. and trans.), Limba Stories and Story-Telling (1967, reprinted 1981), stories from the Limba of Sierra Leone, with attention to the creative role of individual narrators; Veronika Görög-Karady, Noirs et blancs: leur image dans la littérature orale africaine: étude-anthologie (1976), an analysis of a large number of tales exploring the different perceptions of the relations between races that the stories reveal; Olatunde O. Olatunji, Features of Yorùbá Oral Poetry (1984), a full account of the oral genres from the point of view of Yoruba poetics; Denise Paulme, La Mère dévorante: essai sur le morphologie des contes africains (1976), essays that discuss the social role of the tale and analyze eight archetypal African tales; Jeff Opland, Xhosa Oral Poetry: Aspects of a Black South African Tradition (1983), an analysis primarily of Xhosa praise poetry and poets, incorporating discussion of the interplay of print, literacy, and orality; and Harold Scheub, The Xhosa Ntsomi (1975), an important collection of Xhosa and Zulu stories with an emphasis on the creative role of the storyteller.

Biblical Literature, Old Testament history

2005-04-03T17:54:00.000-07:00

Two current histories of Israel exhibit the full range of historiographical problems and methods relating to the subject: John Bright, A History of Israel (1959); and Martin Noth, Geschichte Israels, 3rd ed. (1956; Eng. trans., The History of Israel, 1958). They differ mainly in where they begin; Bright begins with Abraham, Noth with the federation of tribes that calls itself Israel in the land of Canaan. They disagree about the demonstrability of such a community in the pre-Canaanite times because of their respective assessment of the character of the Pentateuch. Bright assumes that it was intended as a history concerned to record the early past, while Noth assumes that its thematic traditions were intended to define and celebrate the identity of the later Israel and hence do not constitute a usable historical resource about its earliest beginnings. This whole methodological problem in Israelite historiography is lucidly discussed and illustrated in a little book by John Bright—Early Israel in Recent History Writing: A Study in Method (1956). For the use of archaeology, geography, and history of religion in the study of the history of Israel, see George Ernest Wright. Biblical Archaeology, rev. ed. (1962); Luc H. Grollenberg, Atlas van de Bijbel, 3rd ed. (1954; Eng. trans., Atlas of the Bible, 1956); Yehezkel Kaufmann, The Religion of Israel, from Its Beginnings to the Babylonian Exile (1960); and Helmer Ringgren, Israelitische Religion (1963; Eng. trans., 1966).

Pacific Mountain System, Plant life

2005-04-01T05:09:00.000-08:00

Climate is the major influence on vegetation type. Conifers predominate and can grow to enormous size, especially on the moister, western slopes. The Sitka spruce is dominant along the coast from southern British Columbia to northern California. The largest standing mid-latitude rain forest in the United States is on the west side of the Olympic Mountains. Inland

Averroës

2005-04-01T04:01:00.000-08:00

Medieval Latin Averrhoës , also called Ibn Rushd , Arabic in full Abu al-Walid Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Rushd influential Islamic religious philosopher who integrated Islamic traditions with ancient Greek thought. At the request of the Almohad caliph Abu Ya'qub Yusuf, he produced a series of summaries and commentaries on most of Aristotle's works (1169–95) and on Plato's Republic, which exerted considerable influence in

Hackberry

2005-03-31T20:52:00.000-08:00

The eastern North American tree called hackberry, or nettle tree, is C. occidentalis. It has bright green elmlike leaves, which often

Schleicher, August

2005-03-31T05:57:00.000-08:00

German linguist whose work in comparative linguistics was a summation of the achievements up to his time and whose methodology provided the direction for much subsequent research. He was influenced by the philosophy of G.W.F. Hegel, which he espoused during his student days at the University of Tübingen, and, later, by

Floral Decoration, Middle Ages

2005-03-30T07:31:00.000-08:00

Illuminated manuscripts of the Gothic period (from the

Lenin

2005-03-29T06:16:00.000-08:00

World's first nuclear-powered surface ship, a large icebreaker built by the Soviet Union in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) in 1957. The Lenin is 440 feet (134 m) long, displaces 16,000 tons, and cruises in normal waters at 18 knots (nautical miles per hour). It is powered by three nuclear reactors, two of which are normally used for operation and the third of which is kept in reserve. Despite high initial

Cariban Languages

2005-03-28T10:00:00.000-08:00

A group of South American Indian languages that were spoken before the Spanish conquest from what is now the Greater Antilles to the central Mato Grosso in Brazil; most of the languages, however, were spoken north of the Amazon River in what is now northern Brazil, the inland areas of the Guianas and Venezuela, and lowland Colombia. West Indian Cariban is extinct, and

Alexander I

2005-03-28T09:04:00.000-08:00

Alexander probably acknowledged King Henry

Dalai Lama

2005-03-27T11:25:00.000-08:00

The first of the line was Dge-'dun-grub-pa (1391–1475), founder and abbot of Tashilhunpo monastery (central Tibet). In accordance with the belief in reincarnate lamas, which began to develop in the 14th century, his successors were conceived as his rebirths and

Rove Beetle

2005-03-27T05:34:00.000-08:00

Rove beetles are usually found around decaying animal and vegetable matter, preying on carrion-feeding insects. Most of them are slender and small (usually less than 3 mm, or 1/8 inch); the largest species, such as the devil's coachhorse (Staphylinus olens), are usually no

Granmont, Louis

2005-03-26T05:46:00.000-08:00

Granmont first distinguished himself in service in the French royal marines, but, having illegally gambled away a captured prize cargo in Hispaniola (Haiti), he dared not return to France and took to buccaneering. His first grand exploit

San Blas

2005-03-25T14:55:00.000-08:00

Traditional region, eastern Panama, stretching about 100 miles (160 km) along the Caribbean Sea from the Colombian border to the Gulf of San Blas. The narrow strip of land includes the San Blas (formerly Mulatas) Archipelago. Agriculture—chiefly coconuts, yams, and plantains—and fishing are the principal economic activities in San Blas. The population consists largely of

Nguyen Tri Phuong

2005-03-24T04:46:00.000-08:00

The son of a provincial administrator, Nguyen Tri Phuong entered the military service and distinguished himself by repelling the Siamese invasion

Dana, Richard Henry

2005-03-24T01:38:00.000-08:00

Dana withdrew from Harvard College when measles weakened his eyesight, and he shipped to California as a sailor in August 1834 to regain his health. After voyaging among California's ports and gathering hides ashore, he rounded Cape Horn, returned

Integrated Circuit

2005-03-23T07:57:00.000-08:00

(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

Lupescu, Magda

2005-03-22T19:04:00.000-08:00

The facts concerning her early life are uncertain, but it is known that her father was Jewish and her mother Roman Catholic. She was evidently married to an army officer named Tampeanu when, in the early

New Braunfels

2005-03-21T21:43:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1846) of Comal county and also partly in Guadalupe county, south-central Texas, U.S. It lies on the Balcones Escarpment at a point where the Comal River (3 miles [5 km] long and within city limits) flows into the Guadalupe River, 30 miles (50 km) northeast of San Antonio. The community was established in 1845 by a group of German immigrants led by Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels and sponsored

Wigan

2005-03-21T01:18:00.000-08:00

Town and metropolitan borough in the northwestern part of the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, historic county of Lancashire, England. It lies along the River Douglas and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The borough includes large industrial and commercial centres such as the towns of Wigan and Leigh, suburban neighbourhoods, and small rural

Arts, Central Asian

2005-03-20T22:36:00.000-08:00

This immense

Biblical Literature, Biblical literature in liturgy

2005-03-19T16:02:00.000-08:00

Abraham Z. Idelsohn, The Jewish Liturgy and Its Development (1932, reprinted 1967); Joseph H. Hertz, The Authorized Daily Prayer Book, rev. ed. (1948), Hebrew and English with historical notes and commentary; Fan S. Noli, Three Liturgies of the Eastern Orthodox Church (1955); Donald Attwater, Eastern Catholic Worship (1945), eight Uniate liturgies in English; Josef A. Jungmann, Missarum Sollemnia: Eine Genetische Erklärung der römischen Messe, 2 vol. (1958; Eng. trans., The Mass of The Roman Rite: Its Origins and Development, abridged ed., 1959); Clement J. McNaspy, Our Changing Liturgy (1966), reforms following Vatican II; Gregory Dix, The Shape of the Liturgy (1945); Bard Thompson, Liturgies of the Western Church (1961), includes the main Protestant traditions.

Saramago, José

2005-03-19T07:39:00.000-08:00

The son of rural labourers, Saramago grew up in great poverty in Lisbon. After holding a series jobs as mechanic and metalworker, Saragamo began working in a Lisbon publishing firm and eventually became a journalist and translator. He joined the Portuguese

Submarine Mine

2005-03-18T10:32:00.000-08:00

Underwater weapon designed to explode when a target presents itself. See mine.

Durian

2005-03-18T07:51:00.000-08:00

The fruit is spherical and 15 to 20 centimetres (6 to 8 inches) in diameter. It has a hard external husk, or shell, covered

Earthflow

2005-03-17T23:25:00.000-08:00

Sheet or stream of soil and rock material saturated with water and flowing downslope under the pull of gravity; it represents the intermediate stage between creep and mudflow. Earthflows usually begin in a large basin on the upper part of a slope where debris and weathered material accumulate; the movement, usually set off by heavy rainfall, may be relatively slow

Nara Period

2005-03-17T19:22:00.000-08:00

(AD 710–784), in Japanese history, period in which the imperial government was at Nara, and Sinicization and Buddhism were most highly developed. Nara, the country's first permanent capital, was modeled on the Chinese T'ang dynasty (618–907) capital, Ch'ang-an. Nara artisans produced refined Buddhist sculpture and erected grand Buddhist temples. A network of roads connected the capital

Goatfish

2005-03-17T08:35:00.000-08:00

Goatfishes are characterized by two well-separated dorsal fins and by a pair of long, sensory chin barbels. The barbels are used to find the small, bottom-living invertebrates on which the fishes feed; when not in use, the barbels are flattened into a groove on the throat. Inhabitants

Nation, Carry

2005-03-16T19:43:00.000-08:00

Carry Moore as a child experienced poverty, her mother's mental instability, and frequent bouts of ill health. Although she held a teaching certificate from a state normal school, her education was intermittent. In 1867 she married a young physician,

Gabrovo

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

Town, north-central Bulgaria. It is situated on both banks of the Yantra River, at the foot of the Shipka Pass in the Balkan Mountains. A major industrial centre, Gabrovo has a high in-migration population from the surrounding area. Called the “Bulgarian Manchester,” the town has a large textile industry—clothes, leather goods, and accessories. Other manufactures are machine

Murieta, Joaquín

2005-03-14T21:02:00.000-08:00

A Joaquín Murieta was recorded as baptized in Sonora, Mex., in 1830; while still a teenager, he married and migrated with his wife to California (1848). In the Gold Rush he tried prospecting,

Habima

2005-03-14T18:53:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Habimah (Hebrew: “Stage”), Hebrew theatre company originally organized as Habima ha-'Ivrit (Hebrew: “the Hebrew Stage”) in Bialystok, in Russian Poland, in 1912 by Nahum Zemach. The troupe traveled in 1913 to Vienna, where it staged Osip Dymov's Hear O Israel before the 11th Zionist Congress. In 1917, after World War I caused the ensemble to dissolve, Zemach established the group in Moscow, calling it

Spain, Primo de Rivera

2005-03-14T09:54:00.000-08:00

Primo de Rivera was a political improviser who believed his mission was to save Spain from the old politicians and to hand over government (after an interval of personal rule) to “clean” patriots. He failed to complete the process because his rule became increasingly unpopular, especially among the intellectuals and Catalans. The September 1923 coup by which he had gained

Alcoholic Beverage

2005-03-13T04:42:00.000-08:00

Alcoholic beverages are fermented from the sugars in fruits, berries, grains, and such other ingredients as plant saps, tubers, honey, and milk and may be distilled to reduce the original watery liquid to a liquid of much greater alcoholic

Bloch, Ernst

2005-03-12T10:44:00.000-08:00

Having begun his career at the University of Leipzig (1918), Bloch fled from Nazi Germany to Switzerland (1933), then went to the United States, where he wrote the first two volumes

Eliade, Mircea

2005-03-12T08:11:00.000-08:00

Eliade took an M.A. in philosophy from the University of Bucharest

Pachelbel, Johann

2005-03-12T00:46:00.000-08:00

Pachelbel studied music at Altdorf and Regensburg and held posts as organist in Vienna, Stuttgart, and other cities. In 1695 he was appointed organist at the St. Sebalduskirche in Nürnberg, where he remained until his death.

Epic

2005-03-11T09:44:00.000-08:00

Long narrative poem recounting heroic deeds, although the term has also been loosely used to describe novels, such as Tolstoy's War and Peace, and motion pictures, such as Eisenstein's Ivan the Terrible. In literary usage, the term encompasses both oral and written compositions. The prime examples of the oral epic are Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. Outstanding examples

Russell Family

2005-03-10T20:14:00.000-08:00

A famous English Whig family, the senior line of which has held the title of duke of Bedford since 1694. Originating in Dorset, the family first became prominent under the Tudor sovereigns, John Russell (died 1555) being created earl of Bedford for his part in suppressing a rebellion in 1549 against the Protestant innovations of Edward VI's reign. The family was connected with the

Drummond, William Henry

2005-03-10T17:33:00.000-08:00

Drummond immigrated to Canada about 1864, left school at the age of 15 to help support his family, but at 30 took a degree in medicine at Bishop's College in Quebec. After

Dee, John

2005-03-10T14:53:00.000-08:00

Dee entered St. John's College, Cambridge, in 1542, where he earned a bachelor's degree (1545) and a master's degree (1548); he also was made a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, on its founding in 1546. Dee furthered his scientific studies on the Continent with a short visit

Diffraction

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

The spreading of waves around obstacles. Diffraction takes place with sound; with electromagnetic radiation, such as light, X-rays, and gamma rays; and with very small moving particles such as atoms, neutrons, and electrons, which show wavelike properties. One consequence of diffraction is that sharp shadows are not produced. The phenomenon is the result of interference

Shabazz, Betty

2005-03-08T13:23:00.000-08:00

Sanders was raised in Detroit, Michigan, by adoptive parents in a comfortable middle-class home and was active in a Methodist church. Upon high school graduation, she left Detroit to study elementary

Paeroa

2005-03-08T10:34:00.000-08:00

Borough, northern North Island, New Zealand, situated along the Ohinemuri River near its junction with the Waihou. Paeroa (from a Maori word meaning “long ridge”) was founded in the early 1880s as a port for the Ohinemuri goldfield, 5 mi (8 km) southeast. Mining was shifted to the underground Komata Reefs (6 mi northeast) from 1891 to the 1930s. Gazetted a borough in 1915, Paeroa was regularly served

Annatto

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

(Bixa orellana), tree native to the New World tropics and the only species of the family Bixaceae. Annatto grows up to 9 m (30 feet) tall and has rose-pink flowers about 5 cm (2 inches) wide and ovalish leaves about 8 to 18 cm long. The brown seed pods, about 5 cm long, yield a reddish or yellowish powder that is used in a dye for butter, cheese, and oleomargarine. The plant is cultivated in tropical

Leah

2005-03-07T21:15:00.000-08:00

After Jacob had deprived his brother Esau of his birthright

Bach, Johann Sebastian

2005-03-06T21:12:00.000-08:00

Composer of the Baroque era, the most celebrated member of a large family of northern German musicians. Although he was admired by his contemporaries primarily as an outstanding harpsichordist, organist, and expert on organ building, Bach is now generally regarded as one of the greatest composers

Australian Alps

2005-03-06T16:17:00.000-08:00

Mountain mass, a segment of the Great Dividing Range (Eastern Uplands), occupying the southeasternmost corner of Australia, in eastern Victoria and southeastern New South Wales. In a more local sense, the term denotes the ranges on the states' border forming the divide between the watersheds of the Murray River system, flowing west, and the Snowy and other streams flowing

Lance

2005-03-05T02:24:00.000-08:00

The combination of lance and stirrup gave the armoured knights of the European

Mahavihara

2005-03-04T21:27:00.000-08:00

Buddhist monastery founded in the late 3rd century BCE in Anuradhapura, the ancient capital of Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka). The monastery was built by the Sinhalese king Devanampiya Tissa not long after his conversion to Buddhism by the Indian monk Mahendra. Until about the 10th century, it was a great cultural and religious centre and the chief stronghold of Theravada

Westchester

2005-03-04T18:11:00.000-08:00

The original inhabitants of Westchester, Algonquian-speaking Wappinger Indians, were displaced in the 1640s by Dutch colonists along the Hudson and by colonists

Kearny, Stephen Watts

2005-03-04T10:28:00.000-08:00

After serving in the War of 1812, Kearny spent most of the next 30 years on frontier duty. At the beginning of the Mexican War, he was ordered to lead an expedition from Fort Leavenworth, Kan., to seize New Mexico and California for the United States. Lacking

Halton

2005-03-03T20:42:00.000-08:00

Unitary authority, geographic county of Cheshire, England. The unitary authority comprises Widnes and surrounding suburban areas, on the north shore of the River Mersey in the historic county of Lancashire, and Runcorn and its suburbs, on the south shore of the Mersey in the historic county of Cheshire. The name Halton is ancient, and the barony of Halton created after

Literature, Norwegian.

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

The year 2001 was a successful one for established authors in Norway. The 2001 Nordic Council Literature Prize was awarded to Jan Kjærstad for Oppdageren (1999). Lars Saabye Christensen won acclaim for his gigantic novel Halvbroren, which chronicled three generations in Oslo; it was awarded the Brage Prize and Bokhandlerprisen and was nominated for the 2002 Nordic Council Literature

Disaccharide

2005-03-03T00:33:00.000-08:00

Also called Double Sugar, any substance that is composed of two molecules of simple sugars (monosaccharides) linked to each other. Sucrose, which is formed following photosynthesis in green plants, consists of one molecule of glucose and one of fructose; lactose (milk sugar), found in the milk of all mammals, consists of glucose and galactose; and maltose, a product of the breakdown of starches

Amursk

2005-03-02T02:03:00.000-08:00

City, Khabarovsk kray (region), far eastern Russia. It lies on the left bank of the Amur River, 25 miles (40 km) south of Komsomolsk-na-Amure. Founded in 1958, Amursk became one of the fastest growing towns in the far eastern Soviet Union. Its wood-processing complex, opened in 1967, is one of the largest in Russia and produces wood pulp, container board, and fibreboard. The industry is expected

U2

2005-03-01T15:12:00.000-08:00

Irish postpunk band that by the end of the 1980s had established itself not only as one of the world's most popular bands but also as one of the most innovative. The members are Bono (byname of Paul Hewson; b. May 10, 1960, Dublin, Ireland), the Edge (byname of David Evans; b. August 8, 1961, Barking, Essex [now in Greater London], England), Adam Clayton (b. March 13, 1960, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England), and Larry Mullen,

Cloud Chamber

2005-03-01T00:50:00.000-08:00

Radiation detector, originally developed between 1896 and 1912 by the Scottish physicist C.T.R. Wilson, that has as the detecting medium a supersaturated vapour that condenses to tiny liquid droplets around ions produced by the passage of energetic charged particles, such as alpha particles, beta particles, or protons. In a Wilson cloud chamber, supersaturation is caused

Uchimura Kanzo

2005-02-28T06:39:00.000-08:00

Uchimura came from a samurai (warrior) family and studied (1878–81) at the Sapporo Agricultural School (now Hokkaido University), where he was converted to Christianity. After several years' service in the government as

Atatürk, Kemal

2005-02-27T15:23:00.000-08:00

One

Kielce

2005-02-27T13:17:00.000-08:00

First chronicled in the late 11th century, the market town obtained municipal rights in 1360. It developed as an industrial and religious

Gastein, Convention Of

2005-02-27T09:29:00.000-08:00

Also called Convention Of Badgastein, agreement between Austria and Prussia reached on Aug. 20, 1865, after their seizure of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein from Denmark in 1864; it temporarily postponed the final struggle between them for hegemony over Germany. The pact provided that both the emperor of Austria and the king of Prussia were to be sovereign over the duchies, Prussia administering Schleswig

Yagoda, Genrikh Grigoryevich

2005-02-25T23:51:00.000-08:00

Yagoda joined the Bolsheviks in 1907 and became a member of the presidium of the Cheka (Soviet secret police) in 1920. He was a deputy chairman of the Cheka's successor organization, OGPU, from 1924 to 1934 and from 1930 was in charge of the system of forced-labour camps

Pendant

2005-02-25T15:38:00.000-08:00

The pharaohs of ancient Egypt wore pendants that were sometimes of huge dimensions,

Parable

2005-02-24T20:46:00.000-08:00

Short fictitious narrative that illustrates a moral attitude, a doctrine, a standard of conduct, or a religious principle. The term originally referred to a Greek rhetorical figure, a kind of extended simile, involving the use of a literary illustration. The parable differs from the fable in the inherent plausibility of its story and in the exclusion of anthropomorphic

Arab League

2005-02-24T08:45:00.000-08:00

Also called League Of Arab States (LAS) , Arabic Al-Jami'a Al-'Arabiyah, or Al-Jami'a Ad-Duwal Al-'Arabiyah, regional organization of Arab states in the Middle East, formed in Cairo on March 22, 1945. The founding member states were Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Transjordan (now Jordan), Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. Other members are Libya (1953); The Sudan (1956); Tunisia and Morocco (1958); Kuwait (1961); Algeria (1962); Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (1971); Mauritania (1973); Somalia (1974); the Palestine Liberation Organization

Ireland, Air facilities

2005-02-23T20:23:00.000-08:00

International airports are located at Dublin, Shannon, and Cork, and there are several regional airports. Aer Rianta, a public limited-liability company, has responsibility for the operation, management, and development of the three major international airports. Shannon was the world's first duty-free airport; a state-sponsored company offers substantial tax breaks

Habib, Philip Charles

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

Habib, the son of a Lebanese grocer, was raised in a Jewish section of Brooklyn. He graduated from the University of Idaho (1942) and was studying for his doctorate in agricultural

Human Evolution, Ngaloba man

2005-02-23T03:26:00.000-08:00

In 1976 a skull was found in the Ngaloba beds at the Laetoli site in Tanzania. These beds consist of deposits of sandstone and clay stone that are preserved in patches; these patches are made up of redeposited detritus that has been eroded from the underlying Ndolanya and Laetoli beds. In the upper Ngaloba beds, stone tools have been recovered that have been attributed

Industrial Diamond

2005-02-22T07:16:00.000-08:00

Any diamond that is designated for industrial use, principally as a cutting tool or abrasive. In general, industrial diamonds are too badly flawed, irregularly shaped, poorly coloured, or small to be of value as gems, but they are of vital importance in the modern metalworking and mining industries. Their utility stems from the fact that diamond is the hardest natural

Kyanite

2005-02-21T21:28:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Cyanite, also called Disthene, silicate mineral that is formed during the regional metamorphism of clay-rich sediments. It is an indicator of deep burial of a terrain rather than high stress, as formerly thought. Kyanite occurs as elongated blades principally in gneisses and schists, and it is often accompanied by garnet, quartz, and mica. Its colour ranges from gray-green to black or blue, with blue

Koch

2005-02-21T13:43:00.000-08:00

Also called Rajbansi, ethnic group of the Bodo people, dispersed over parts of Assam and Bengal. While their original language is a Tibeto-Burman dialect, large sections of the group in the 20th century spoke Bengali or other Indo-Aryan languages. In the 16th century a Koch chief established the state of Cooch Behar, and they now call themselves Rajbansi (Of Royal Blood), resent being called by the

Mime And Pantomime

2005-02-20T22:30:00.000-08:00

Latin mimus and pantomimus , Greek mimos and pantomimos in the strict sense, a Greek and Roman dramatic entertainment representing scenes from life, often in a ridiculous manner. By extension, the mime and pantomime has come to be in modern times the art of portraying a character or a story solely by means of body movement (as by realistic and symbolic gestures). Analogous forms of traditional non-Western theatre are sometimes

Lennoaceae

2005-02-19T09:53:00.000-08:00

The sand food family, composed of three genera and four to six species of curious, parasitic plants, which send out rootlike structures (haustoria) that penetrate the roots of other plants for food. Once the parasite's haustoria have entered the host roots, the parasite develops its aboveground portions, usually club-shaped, fleshy, yellowish or brownish stems on which

Wampanoag

2005-02-19T08:50:00.000-08:00

Algonquian-speaking Indians of eastern North America who formerly occupied parts of the states of Rhode Island and Massachusetts, Martha's Vineyard, and adjacent islands. They were semisedentary, with seasonal movements between fixed sites. Corn (maize) was the staple of their diet, supplemented by fish and game. They were divided into several subtribes, each with

Gympie

2005-02-18T15:33:00.000-08:00

City, southeastern Queensland, Australia, lying on Gympie Creek and the Mary River. It was first known as Nashville, after James Nash, who discovered gold there in 1867; its present name comes from gimpi-gimpi, the Aboriginal word for the stinging tree. Proclaimed a town in 1890, it was made a city in 1905. In addition to gold, which was mined until 1930, limestone and silver have been worked in

Niuatoputapu

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

Byname Rio Grande former American railroad chartered in 1870 as the Denver and Rio Grande Railway (D&RG). It began with a narrow-gauge line extending from Denver, Colorado, south to New Mexico and west to Salt Lake City, Utah. Conversion to standard-gauge track began in 1888. In 1930 the D&RG took possession of the Denver & Salt Lake line (formerly Denver, Northwestern & Pacific Railroad), thereby acquiring

Andesite

2005-02-17T18:39:00.000-08:00

Any member of a large family of rocks that occur in most of the world's volcanic areas. Andesites occur mainly as surface deposits and, to a lesser extent, as dikes and small plugs. Many of the deposits are not normal lava flows but rather flow breccias, mudflows, tuffs, and other fragmental rocks; the peperino near Rome and the trass of the Eifel district in Germany are examples.

Bahawalpur

2005-02-17T08:27:00.000-08:00

The city, which lies just south of the Sutlej River, was founded in 1748 by Muhammad Bahawal Khan and was incorporated as a municipality in 1874. It is the site of the Adamwahan (Empress) Bridge, the only railway bridge over the Sutlej

Kiefer, Anselm

2005-02-16T23:20:00.000-08:00

Kiefer abandoned his law studies at the University of Freiburg in 1966 to pursue art. He subsequently studied at art academies in Freiburg, Karlsruhe, and Dusseldorf. In the latter city in 1970 he became a student of the conceptual

World War I, The Serbian campaign, 1914

2005-02-16T04:28:00.000-08:00

The first Austrian invasion of Serbia was launched with numerical inferiority (part of one of the armies originally destined for the Balkan front having been diverted to the Eastern Front on August 18); and the able Serbian commander, Radomir Putnik, brought the invasion to an early end by his victories on the Cer Mountain (August 15–20) and at Šabac (August 21–24). In early September,

Bearden, Romare (howard)

2005-02-14T22:31:00.000-08:00

Bearden studied at the Art Students League in New York City with George Grosz (1936–37) and at Columbia University (1943). His early paintings were realistic and often

Aethelberht I

2005-02-14T18:49:00.000-08:00

King of Kent (560–616) who issued the first extant code of Anglo-Saxon laws, a code that established the legal position of the clergy and many secular regulations. Aethelberht's marriage to Bertha (or Berhta), daughter of Charibert, king of Paris, and a Christian, may account for the tolerant reception that he accorded Augustine and other missionaries dispatched to Kent by

Gabor, Dennis

2005-02-14T06:56:00.000-08:00

A research engineer for the firm of Siemens and Halske in Berlin from 1927, Gabor fled Nazi Germany in 1933 and worked with the Thomson-Houston Company

Aubignac, François Hédelin, Abbé D'

2005-02-14T05:26:00.000-08:00

Although trained as an advocate, Aubignac

Macaw

2005-02-13T01:42:00.000-08:00

Common name of about 18 species of large colourful parrots native to tropical America. These brightly coloured, long-tailed birds are some of the most spectacular parrots in the world. The sexes look alike, which is uncommon among vividly coloured birds. The cobalt-blue hyacinthine macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus) of Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay is the

Nagaswaram

2005-02-12T13:57:00.000-08:00

Also spelled nagasvaram conical double-reed aerophone of southern India related to the shawm and the oboe. The nagaswaram may be as long as 35 inches (89 cm). It is made of dark wood and has a flaring wooden bell, seven equidistant finger holes, and five additional tuning holes. Descended from the Persian surna, by which name it is still known in northern India, the instrument is generally played in pairs,

Atmosphere, Ionospheric variations

2005-02-12T04:21:00.000-08:00

The ionosphere is variable in space and time. Some of the changes are chemical in origin and can be readily understood on the basis of the general considerations outlined above. There is a systematic variation, for example, as a function of time of day. In the early morning the Sun is relatively low in the sky. Radiation must penetrate a large column of air before reaching

Sertorius, Quintus

2005-02-12T00:06:00.000-08:00

After acquiring some reputation in Rome as a jurist and orator, Sertorius fought in Gaul against the invading Cimbri and Teutons (105 and 102) and in 97 served in Spain. In 90 he was quaestor in Cisalpine Gaul and commanded an army in the

Extradition

2005-02-11T19:18:00.000-08:00

According

Tasmania, Soils

2005-02-11T18:16:00.000-08:00

Most Tasmanian soils are leached, acidic, poorly drained, high in humus, and low in fertility. Least fertile and most extensive are the soils, especially the moor peats, of the west and northeast. Fertile areas occur extensively in the northwest and locally elsewhere, notably in the northeast. Brown earths occupy the drier areas east of the Central Plateau; black earths,

Rhynchotrema

2005-02-11T17:50:00.000-08:00

Extinct genus of brachiopods, or lamp shells, found as fossils in Middle and Late Ordovician rocks (the Ordovician Period lasted from 505 to 438 million years ago). The shell is small and distinctive for its strongly developed ribbing. Rhynchotrema is a useful Ordovician index, or guide, fossil.

Egypt, Education

2005-02-11T05:04:00.000-08:00

At the end of the 19th century there were only three secondary and nine “higher” schools in Egypt; the educational structure continued to be based on the kuttabs, or Qur'an schools. In 1916 the latter were turned into elementary schools, and in 1923 a law was passed providing free compulsory education between the ages of seven and 12. A sharp increase in the annual budgetary allocation

Nicholas Of Lyra,

2005-02-09T10:54:00.000-08:00

Becoming a Franciscan c. 1300, by 1309 Nicholas was a professor at the Sorbonne, where he taught for many years. From 1319 he headed the Franciscans in France and in 1325 founded the College

Wang Yang-ming

2005-02-09T08:13:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Wang Yangming , original name (Wade–Giles romanization) Wang Shou-jen , literary name Pe-an , canonized as Wen-ch'eng , Japanese Oyo-mei Chinese scholar-official whose Idealistic interpretation of Neo-Confucianism influenced philosophical thinking in East Asia for centuries. Though his government career was rather unstable, his suppression of rebellions brought a century of peace to his region. His philosophical doctrines, emphasizing understanding

Astruc Of Lunel,

2005-02-09T03:09:00.000-08:00

Although Astruc revered Maimonides, who had attempted to reconcile Aristotle's philosophy

Tooke, Thomas

2005-02-08T15:53:00.000-08:00

Tooke was in business throughout most of his adult life, beginning in St. Petersburg at the age of 15 and finally retiring as governor of the Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation in 1852. He often gave evidence before Parliament on economic matters. In 1821 he

West Frisian Islands

2005-02-07T23:15:00.000-08:00

Dutch West Friese Eilanden, part of the chain of Frisian Islands (q.v.), which lie in the North Sea just off the coast of northwestern Europe. They belong to The Netherlands.