WiseReceipt

Aenesidemus

2005-04-05T20:00:00.000-07:00

Philosopher and dialectician of the Greek Academy who revived the Pyrrhonian principle of “suspended judgment” (epoche) as a practical solution to the vexing and “insoluble” problem of knowledge. In his Pyrrhonian Discourses Aenesidemus formulated 10 tropes in defense of Skepticism, four suggesting arguments that arise from the nature

Scandinavian Literature, Icelandic literature

2005-04-03T03:44:00.000-07:00

The literary and linguistic renaissance in Iceland at the start of the 19th century was fostered by three men in particular: a philologist, Hallgrímur Scheving; a poet and lexicographer, Sveinbjörn Egilsson; and a philosopher and mathematician, Björn Gunnlaugsson. The principal movement in this renaissance was Romanticism. Inspired by the German philosopher Henrik

Rectocele

2005-04-01T22:55:00.000-08:00

Disorder in which the rectum bulges into the back wall of the vagina. It is caused when the muscles and connective tissues supporting the rectum and back wall of the vagina are weakened, usually due to repeated childbirth or to aging, and the rectum sags until it abuts the vagina. A rectocele often occurs together with an enterocele, which is a bulge of the small

Tree Ear

2005-03-30T13:00:00.000-08:00

Chinese Mu Erh, also called Wood Ear, or Black Fungus, any of several edible mushrooms of the genus Auricularia that are popular in Chinese cuisine, especially that of Sichuan (Szechwan) province. Tree ears grow wild on and are cultivated on the bark of trees. They are gathered for use in a fresh state and are dried for storage. Dried tree ears resemble gray-black flakes of ash; when reconstituted the mushrooms expand into

Baghdad, Districts

2005-03-28T20:57:00.000-08:00

The city extends along both banks of the Tigris. The east-bank settlement is known as Rusafah, the west-bank as Al-Karkh. A series of bridges, including one railroad trestle, link the two banks. From a built-up area of about 4 square miles (10 square km) at the beginning of the 20th century, Baghdad has expanded into a bustling metropolis with suburbs spreading north and south along

Igboid Languages

2005-03-25T04:15:00.000-08:00

A language cluster that constitutes a subbranch of the Benue-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo language family. There are nearly 20 million speakers of Igboid languages in southeastern Nigeria. In the early years of the 20th century an attempt to develop an artificial form of Igbo called Union-Igbo, based on four Igbo dialects, was not successful. Later a standard literary

Appleton, Sir Edward Victor

2005-03-23T09:52:00.000-08:00

Educated

Trichina

2005-03-21T18:15:00.000-08:00

Mating takes place in the host's small intestine, after which the fertilized female trichinae

Flanders

2005-03-20T05:23:00.000-08:00

The origins of Flanders lay in the pagus Flandrensis, an area composed

Cole, Thomas

2005-03-18T06:12:00.000-08:00

Cole's family immigrated first to Philadelphia and then settled in Steubenville, Ohio. He was trained by an itinerant portrait painter named Stein and then spent two years at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. In 1825 some of Cole's

Dent, Edward John

2005-03-17T01:45:00.000-08:00

Dent learned the clockmaker's trade from Richard Rippon and, during the period 1815–29, established a reputation as a builder of accurate chronometers. His reputation for precision eventually brought requests from the Admiralty and the East India Company. Dent confirmed

Heng-yang

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

Heng-yang has been a communication centre since early times, being on the ancient post road from Ch'ang-sha into Kwangtung province

Tibet, Customs

2005-03-16T04:17:00.000-08:00

Traditional marriage ceremonies involve consultations with both a lama and an astrologer in order to predict the compatibility of a couple. The signing of a marriage contract is followed by an official ceremony at the home of the bridegroom. Appearance in a temple or before a civil authority is not required. After a couple is officially wedded, prayer flags are

Toque

2005-03-15T17:03:00.000-08:00

In the late 16th century, brimless, black velvet toques were popular with men and women. Throughout the 19th century, women wore toques, often small, trimmed with fur, lace,

Charpak, Georges

2005-03-13T20:29:00.000-08:00

Charpak's family moved from Poland to Paris when he was seven years old. During World War II Charpak served in the resistance and was imprisoned by Vichy authorities in 1943. In 1944 he was deported

Water Mass

2005-03-13T02:41:00.000-08:00

Body of ocean water with a distinctive narrow range of temperature and salinity and a particular density resulting from these two parameters. Water masses are formed as the result of climatic effects in specific regions. Antarctic bottom water is an important water mass that forms on the Antarctic continental shelf as a cold, dense residual brine during the formation

Madiun Affair

2005-03-11T22:18:00.000-08:00

Communist rebellion against the Hatta-Sukarno government of Indonesia, which originated in Madiun, a town in eastern Java, in September 1948. The Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) had been declared illegal by the Dutch following uprisings in 1926–27; it was officially reestablished on Oct. 21, 1945, when an independent Indonesia was proclaimed after World War II. The communists resumed

Douai-reims Bible

2005-03-11T01:25:00.000-08:00

Also called Reims-douai Bible, also spelled Rheims-douay, English translation of the Latin Vulgate Bible produced by Roman Catholic scholars in exile from England at the English College in Douai (then in the Spanish Netherlands but now part of France). The New Testament translation was published in 1582 at Rheims, where the English College had temporarily relocated in 1578. The Old Testament was translated shortly afterward but

Arts, South Asian, Mughal style: Aurangzeb and the later Mughals (16591806)

2005-03-10T19:12:00.000-08:00

From the reign of Aurangzeb (1659–1707), a few pictures have survived that essentially continue the cold style of Shah Jahan; but the rest of the work is nondescript, consisting chiefly of an array of lifeless portraits, most of them the output of workshops other than the imperial atelier. Genre scenes, showing gatherings of ascetics and holy men, lovers in a garden or on a terrace,

Medicine

2005-03-08T07:10:00.000-08:00

Developments in modern medical science have made it possible to detect morbid conditions before a person actually feels the effects of the condition. Examples are many: they include certain forms of cancer; high blood pressure; heart and lung disease; various familial and congenital conditions; disorders of metabolism, like diabetes; and acquired immune deficiency

Index Librorum Prohibitorum

2005-03-07T23:04:00.000-08:00

Compiled by official censors, the Index was an implementation of one part of the teaching function of the Roman Catholic

Absentee Voting

2005-03-05T17:40:00.000-08:00

Electoral process that enables persons who cannot appear at their designated polling places to vote from another location. The usual method of absentee voting is by mail, although provision is sometimes made for voting at prescribed places in advance of the polling date. Absentee voting requires special administrative arrangements to ensure the secrecy and

Flood, Henry

2005-03-05T09:40:00.000-08:00

The illegitimate son of Warden Flood, chief justice of the King's Bench in Ireland, Henry entered the Irish Parliament in 1759. Irish Protestants were becoming impatient with the British Parliament's right to legislate

Middletown

2005-03-04T23:40:00.000-08:00

City, Butler county, southwestern Ohio, U.S., on the Miami River (bridged). With nearby Hamilton, it forms a standard metropolitan statistical area. Founded in 1802, it was named for its location midway between Dayton (35 mi [56 km] north) and Cincinnati. It soon became a lively agricultural trading community, with its products (wheat, corn, tobacco, livestock, fruits, and vegetables) transported

Gravitational Radius

2005-03-03T06:44:00.000-08:00

The gravitational radius (Rg) of an object of mass M is given by the following formula, in which G is the universal gravitational

China, From Ch'eng-ti to Wong Mang

2005-03-01T09:38:00.000-08:00

In the reigns of Ch'eng-ti (33/32–7/6), Ai-ti (7/6–1 BC), and P'ing-ti (1 BC–AD 6) the conduct of state affairs and the atmosphere of the court were subject to the weakness or youth of the emperors, the lack of an heir to succeed Ch'eng-ti, and the rivalries between four families of Imperial consorts. It was a time when considerable attention was paid to omens. Changes that were first introduced in the state religious

Mountain, Tectonic processes that produce high elevations

2005-03-01T01:23:00.000-08:00

As noted above, individual mountains, mountain ranges, mountain belts, and plateaus exist because tectonic processes have elevated terrains faster than erosion could destroy them. High elevations are created by three major processes: volcanism, horizontal crustal shortening as manifested by folding and by faulting, and the heating and thermal expansion of

Kumarajiva

2005-02-28T18:31:00.000-08:00

Before his ordination at the

Maskelyne, Nevil

2005-02-26T16:11:00.000-08:00

Maskelyne was ordained a minister in 1755, but his interest in astronomy had been aroused by the eclipse of July 25, 1748. In 1758 he was admitted to the Royal Society of London, which in 1761 sent him to the island of St. Helena to observe a transit of Venus. During the voyage he experimented

Israel, Immigration and conflict

2005-02-26T00:50:00.000-08:00

The Zionist goal of Jewish statehood was violently opposed by the local Arab leaders, who saw the Ottoman defeat as an opportunity either to create their own state or to join a larger Arab entity—thus reviving the old Arab empire of early Islamic times. British efforts to bring the Zionists and the Arabs together in a cooperative government failed, and serious disorders,

Papuan Languages

2005-02-24T16:14:00.000-08:00

Group of languages spoken in an area centred upon New Guinea and extending from the islands of Alor, Halmahera, and Timor in the west to the Santa Cruz Archipelago in the east. The Papuan languages include approximately 740 languages, used by about 3,000,000 speakers. The term Papuan was originally employed merely to distinguish these languages from the Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian)

Argentina, Discovery and settlement

2005-02-24T09:30:00.000-08:00

The main Atlantic outline of Argentina was revealed to European explorers in the early 16th century. The Río de la Plata estuary was discovered years before Ferdinand Magellan traversed the Strait of Magellan in 1520, although historians dispute whether the estuary was first reached by Amerigo Vespucci in 1501–02 or by Juan Díaz de Solís in his ill-fated voyage of 1516. Solís and a

Spence, Sir Basil (urwin)

2005-02-23T23:09:00.000-08:00

He was educated at the schools of architecture of London and Edinburgh universities and worked in Sir Edwin Lutyens' office on drawings for the Viceroy's House in New Delhi. Before

Hengstenberg, Ernst Wilhelm

2005-02-21T19:01:00.000-08:00

Hengstenberg studied at Bonn and at Berlin, where he was professor of theology most of his life. In 1827 he founded the Evangelische Kirchen-Zeitung (“Protestant

Resserella

2005-02-21T01:00:00.000-08:00

Extinct genus of brachiopods (lamp shells) that occurs as fossils in marine rocks of Middle Ordovician to Lower Silurian age (421 to 478 million years old).Resserella has a dorsal shell whose margin is horizontal, and a distal, or upper, shell with an arcuate (bow-shaped) margin. Both valves are often gently convex. Surface markings consist of fine lines, and the internal structure

Mauna Kea Observatory

2005-02-20T14:21:00.000-08:00

The observatory was founded in 1964 at the urging

Yemen

2005-02-18T21:23:00.000-08:00

A republic of the southwestern Arabian Peninsula, Yemen has coastlines on the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Arabian Sea. Area: 527,970 sq km (203,850 sq mi), including 55,871 sq km of undemarcated area bordered by Saudi Arabia and claimed by the former Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen). Pop. (1995 est.): 13,058,000. Cap.: San'a`. Monetary unit: Yemen Rial, with (Oct. 6, 1995) an official par value of YRls 50 to U.S. $1 (YRls 79.04 = £1 sterling) and a free

Ekkehard I The Elder

2005-02-18T02:57:00.000-08:00

Of noble birth, Ekkehard was educated at the Benedictine monastery of Sankt Gallen (St. Gall) in Switzerland, then one of Europe's greatest centres

Raymond Iv

2005-02-17T22:24:00.000-08:00

In the early years of his countship, Raymond was a pious

Corbulo, Gnaeus Domitius

2005-02-16T03:49:00.000-08:00

In AD 47 Corbulo was victorious over the German tribe of the Frisii on the Rhine, thereby restoring them to Roman tributary status. Appointed legate of Galatia and Cappadocia (two provinces to the west of Armenia) by the emperor Nero in 54, Corbulo was ordered to recover Armenia from Tiridates, brother of the Parthian

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, Fable

2005-02-15T03:39:00.000-08:00

E. Chambry, Fables (1927), in Greek and French; S.A. Handford, Fables of Aesop (1956); B. Pares, Krylov's Fables (1926); Marianne Moore, Fables of La Fontaine (1954). For commentary on fables, see P. Clarac, La Fontaine, l'homme et l'oeuvre (1947); B.E. Perry, Aesopica (1952).

Hawea Lake

2005-02-13T02:23:00.000-08:00

Lake in west-central South Island, New Zealand. The lake lies at the heart of a resort area 182 miles (293 km) northwest of Dunedin by road. It occupies 54 square miles (141 square km) of a valley dammed by a terminal moraine (glacial debris). The lake, 1,142 feet (348 m) above sea level, is 19 miles (31 km) long, 5 miles (8 km) wide, and 1,286 feet (392 m) deep. It drains an area of 536 square miles (1,388 square km). Its main affluent, the Hunter River,

Gregory, Dick

2005-02-11T18:38:00.000-08:00

Byname of Richard Claxton Gregory African-American comedian, civil rights activist, and spokesman for health issues, who became nationally recognized in the 1960s for a biting brand of comedy that attacked racial prejudice. By addressing his hard-hitting satire to white audiences, he gave a comedic voice to the rising Civil Rights Movement. In the 1980s his nutrition business venture targeted

Bloembergen, Nicolaas

2005-02-11T00:41:00.000-08:00

Dutch-born American physicist, corecipient with Arthur Leonard Schawlow of the United States and Kai Manne Börje Siegbahn of Sweden (qq.v.) of the 1981 Nobel Prize for Physics for their revolutionary spectroscopic studies of the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with matter. Bloembergen made a pioneering use of lasers in these

Stage Design

2005-02-10T00:03:00.000-08:00

The aesthetic composition of a dramatic production as created by such aspects of stagecraft as lighting, set, costume, sound, and stage architecture and machinery.

Porson, Richard

2005-02-08T03:10:00.000-08:00

British master of classical scholarship during the 18th century, the most brilliant of the English school that devoted itself to the task of freeing Greek texts from corruption introduced through the centuries. His special critical talent lay in his insight into Greek metre and his unusual appreciation of the fine points

France, History Of, The cultural scene

2005-02-07T05:35:00.000-08:00

Paris after World War II quickly regained its stature as one of the world's great centres of intellectual creativity. A cluster of brilliant thinkers and writers competed for influence, attracting acolytes both in France and abroad. The first postwar wave was led by Jean-Paul Sartre, whose influence made existentialism the leading ideology of the time. Sartre saw

Karachi

2005-02-06T18:15:00.000-08:00

City and capital of Sindh province, southern Pakistan. It is the country's largest city and principal seaport and is a major commercial and industrial centre. Karachi is located on the coast of the Arabian Sea immediately northwest of the Indus River Delta. The city proper covers an area of 228 square miles (591 square km), while the metropolitan area of Greater Karachi spreads

Rhys, Siôn Dafydd

2005-02-06T04:43:00.000-08:00

Rhys spent some time at Oxford then earned a degree in medicine from the University of Siena, Italy. He practiced as a physician at Cardiff,

Cram, Donald J.

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

Cram was educated at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, and at the University of Nebraska,

Dennis, John

2005-02-03T15:05:00.000-08:00

Educated at Harrow School and the University of Cambridge, Dennis traveled on the European continent before settling in London, where he met leading literary figures. At first he wrote odes and plays, but, although

China, Survival and consolidation

2005-02-03T06:24:00.000-08:00

Despite the fall of the Pei Sung, the majority of scholar-officials refused to identify themselves with the alien conquerors. The same was generally true at the grass-roots level, among numerous roving bands of former volunteer militias, army units that had disintegrated, and bandits who had arisen during the disorder. As time went on, both civilians and military

Vieuxtemps, Henry

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

As a prodigy, Vieuxtemps was taken by his father on a number of European tours, during which he studied violin with Charles de Bériot in Brussels (1829–31), harmony with Simon Sechter in Vienna (1833–34), and composition with

Foreclosure

2005-02-01T07:32:00.000-08:00

Legal proceeding by which a mortgagor's rights to a mortgaged property may be extinguished if the mortgagor (borrower) fails to live up to the obligations agreed to in the mortgage. The mortgagee (the lender) may then declare the entire debt due and owing and may seek to satisfy the debt by foreclosing on the property. Most foreclosures are brought in equity proceedings.

Brunet, Jacques-charles

2005-01-31T15:50:00.000-08:00

The son of a bookseller, Brunet acquired a taste for bibliography at an early age and published a supplement to the Dictionnaire bibliographique de livres rares (1810; “Dictionary of Rare Books”), brought out a few years earlier. The first edition of Brunet's Manuel du libraire et de l'amateur de livres

Lijia

2005-01-30T21:57:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles li-chia system of social organization in Ming-dynasty China. See pao-chia.

Jewish Agency

2005-01-28T03:01:00.000-08:00

Zionists needed financial backing for their project of creating a Jewish national home in Palestine. The Jewish Agency became an external arm of

Gong

2005-01-27T21:26:00.000-08:00

A circular metal plate-like percussion instrument having a turned-down rim. It is struck in the centre with a felt- or leather-covered beater, producing a sound of either definite or indefinite pitch. Its vibrations issue from the centre, in contrast to bells, which vibrate principally at the rim.

Ra's Nasrani

2005-01-27T03:38:00.000-08:00

Formerly (until 1982) Sharm ash Shaykh , also spelled Sharm el-Sheikh , Hebrew Mifraz Shelomo , English Solomon's Bay small inlet and cape on the southeastern coast of the Sinai Peninsula. Located in Janub Sina' muhafazah (governorate), Egypt, Ra's Nasrani was occupied by the Israelis from 1967 to 1982. The Hebrew name is an allusion to King Solomon's fleets, which presumably passed through the adjacent Strait of Tiran on their way from the port of Ezion-geber, at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba, to the land of Ophir

Dózsa Rebellion

2005-01-25T22:09:00.000-08:00

During the reign of King Vladislas II (1490–1516), royal power declined in favour of the magnates, who used their power to curtail the peasants' freedom. When the cardinal Tamás Bakócz called for volunteers to go on a crusade against

Andaman Islands

2005-01-25T05:35:00.000-08:00

Island group, Andaman and Nicobar Islands union territory, India, in the southeastern part of the Bay of Bengal. The Andamans constitute one of the two major groups of islands in the union territory. They include more than 300 islands (26 inhabited), with a land area of 2,474 square miles (6,408 square km). The three major islands are North Andaman, Middle Andaman, and South Andaman (closely

Rouher, Eugène

2005-01-23T10:33:00.000-08:00

He was elected to the National Assembly in 1848, and his conservative attitudes and fear of disorder led him to support Louis-Napoléon. Appointed minister of justice in 1849, he suppressed

Musical Notation

2005-01-23T10:29:00.000-08:00

Two developments in musical style in the 20th century have placed great strain upon staff notation: integral serialism—in which the music is controlled by a mathematical system—and indeterminacy, or chance music. In the former, every note in a texture may have its individual dynamic marking and type of attack (for example, in Olivier Messiaen's Mode de valeurs et

Azikiwe, Nnamdi

2005-01-21T11:44:00.000-08:00

Azikiwe received much of his early education in the United States (1925–34). In 1934 he went to the Gold Coast (now Ghana), where he worked as a newspaper editor before returning to Nigeria in 1937. There he founded a chain of newspapers and also became directly involved

Rosenzweig, Franz

2005-01-20T22:17:00.000-08:00

German-Jewish religious Existentialist who, through his fresh handling of traditional religious themes, became one of the most influential modern Jewish theologians. In 1913, although his conversion to Christianity had seemed imminent, a religious experience caused him to devote his life to the study, teaching, and practice of

'awali

2005-01-20T18:26:00.000-08:00

Municipality in the state and emirate of Bahrain, on central Bahrain island, in the Persian Gulf. Founded in the 1930s by the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO), it is situated just north of Bahrain's oil fields and southwest of the country's oil refinery, one of the largest in the world. The municipality was built to house the main offices, headquarters staff, and foreign executives

Defence Of India Act

2005-01-18T07:20:00.000-08:00

By 1918 there were about 800 internees

Axiology

2005-01-17T07:10:00.000-08:00

(from Greek axios, “worthy”; logos, “science”), also called Theory Of Value, the philosophical study of goodness, or value, in the widest sense of these terms. Its significance lies (1) in the considerable expansion that it has given to the meaning of the term value and (2) in the unification that it has provided for the study of a variety of questions—economic, moral, aesthetic, and even

China

2005-01-16T21:09:00.000-08:00

Despite China's size, the wealth of its resources, and the fact that more than 20 percent of the world's population lives within its borders, its role in the world economy traditionally has been relatively small. Since the late 1970s, however, when China decided to increase its interaction with the international economy, its role in world trade has steadily grown and its importance

Germany, Additional benefits

2005-01-15T13:44:00.000-08:00

Germany also provides several special systems of coverage for groups such as war widows, orphans, and farmers. Unemployment insurance is funded through deductions from wages and salaries. Allowances are made for families with one or more children. Additional public allowances are granted to persons suffering disabilities from wartime injury, whether as military

Roberts, Owen (josephus)

2005-01-15T13:01:00.000-08:00

Upon graduating from law school, Roberts taught law at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, but by 1918 he had to devote his full time to his practice. While he was still teaching, Roberts had served as assistant district attorney and as special deputy attorney

Ursinus

2005-01-13T14:31:00.000-08:00

Before Damasus' consecration on the following October 1, the pope's partisans engaged

F Region

2005-01-13T00:37:00.000-08:00

Highest region of the ionosphere, at altitudes greater than 160 km (100 miles); it has the greatest concentration of free electrons and is the most important of the ionospheric regions. The charged particles in the F region consist primarily of neutral atoms split into electrons and charged atoms. Although its degree of ionization persists with little change through the

Regensburg

2005-01-12T14:01:00.000-08:00

Also called Ratisbon, city, Bavaria Land (state), southeastern Germany, on the right bank of the Danube River at its most northerly course, where it is joined by the Regen River. In the area of the old city was a Celtic settlement (Radasbona), which later became the site of a Roman stronghold and legionary camp, Castra Regina (founded AD 179). The Roman north gate (Porta Praetoria) and parts of the walls survive.

Christensen, Harold

2005-01-10T20:30:00.000-08:00

Christensen studied dancing with the famous choreographer George Balanchine and appeared with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet (1934), Ballet Caravan (1936–40), San Francisco Opera Ballet (1942), and San

Alain-fournier

2005-01-10T19:50:00.000-08:00

Robert Gibson, The Quest of Alain-Fournier (1953).

Delhi Zoological Park

2005-01-09T17:08:00.000-08:00

The collection includes good breeding groups of white tigers and brow-antlered deer. Many of the animals are displayed in barless, moated enclosures, while a colony

Razor Clam

2005-01-07T15:10:00.000-08:00

Any of the species of marine bivalve mollusks of the family Solenidae. In England the species of the genera Ensis and Solen are called razor shells. The Solenidae are common in intertidal sands and muds, particularly of temperate seas. These bivalves have narrow and elongated razorlike shells up to about 20 cm (8 inches) long. They have a large active foot that enables them

Kamehameha Ii

2005-01-04T10:12:00.000-08:00

In 1820 he admitted the first company of missionaries (from New England), who, within two years, had learned the language, reduced it to writing, and printed the first textbook. Kamehameha resisted conversion to Christianity, allegedly because he refused to give up four of his five wives as well as rum

Viseu

2005-01-04T01:44:00.000-08:00

Distrito (“district”) northern Portugal. Framed by the Caramulo, Arada, and Montemuro mountains in the west, the district is drained by the upper basin of the Mondego and Vouga rivers. It is densely populated in the more humid western plateaus, with impressive flights of cultivated terraces on the deep valley slopes, which produce chiefly corn (maize), cabbage, grapes, and

Meleager

2005-01-02T19:36:00.000-08:00

Greek poet from Gadara in Syria, who compiled the first large anthology of epigrams. This was the first of the collections that made up what is known as the Greek Anthology (q.v.). Meleager's collection contained poems by 50 writers and many by himself; an introductory poem compared each writer to a flower, and the whole was entitled Stephanos (“Garland”). Meleager's

Cyrus Ii

2005-01-02T18:08:00.000-08:00

Byname Cyrus The Great conqueror who founded the Achaemenian empire, centred on Persia and comprising the Near East from the Aegean Sea eastward to the Indus River. He is also remembered in the Cyrus legend—first recorded by Xenophon, Greek soldier and author, in his Cyropaedia—as a tolerant and ideal monarch who was called the father of his people by the

Children's Game

2004-12-31T09:04:00.000-08:00

Some children's games have been played for centuries. Swings existed on the island of Crete in

Abolitionism

2004-12-30T16:54:00.000-08:00

Also called abolition movement (c. 1783–1888), in western Europe and the Americas, the movement chiefly responsible for creating the emotional climate necessary for ending the transatlantic slave trade and chattel slavery. With the decline of Roman slavery in the 5th century, the institution waned in western Europe and by the 11th century had virtually disappeared. Portuguese exploration of the west coast

Bulbul

2004-12-29T19:30:00.000-08:00

Any of about 119 species of birds of the family Pycnonotidae (order Passeriformes) of Africa and Asia, including some called greenbuls and brownbuls. Members range in size from 14 to 28 cm (5.5 to 11 inches) long. They are active, noisy, plain-coloured birds that sometimes damage orchards. Representative of the 47 species of the genus Pycnonotus is the African bulbul (P. barbatus, including

Trail Of Tears

2004-12-28T23:39:00.000-08:00

A forced migration undertaken by the Cherokee (q.v.) Indians of the eastern United States in 1838–39.

Minden

2004-12-27T09:54:00.000-08:00

City, North Rhine–Westphalia Land (state), northwestern Germany. It lies along the Weser River, near a narrow defile known as the Porta Westfalica where the river quits the mountains and enters the North German Plain. The emperor Charlemagne organized a military bishopric there in 800. The town struggled for independence from the bishopric, joined the Hanseatic League

John Hyrcanus Ii

2004-12-26T23:14:00.000-08:00

When his father, Alexander Jannaeus, died in 76, Hyrcanus was appointed high

Qiryat Shemona

2004-12-26T04:59:00.000-08:00

Town, at the northwest of the 'Emeq Hula (Hula Valley), extreme northern Israel. The name Qiryat Shemona (“Town of the Eight”) commemorates the eight martyrs of nearby Tel Hay (q.v.). The town, the only urban settlement of the valley, was founded in 1950 as an immigrants' transit camp (ma'abara) on the site of the former Arab village of Khalasah. Metulla, the northernmost settlement of Israel

Electrical And Electronics Engineering

2004-12-24T21:59:00.000-08:00

The branch of engineering concerned with the practical applications of electricity in all its forms, including those of the field of electronics. Electronics engineering is that branch of electrical engineering concerned with the uses of the electromagnetic spectrum and with the application of such electronic devices as integrated circuits, transistors,

Welfare Economics

2004-12-24T06:28:00.000-08:00

Earlier writers conceived of welfare as simply the sum of the satisfactions accruing to all individuals within an economic system. Later theorists became

Ghee

2004-12-23T17:13:00.000-08:00

Ghee is produced as follows. Butter made from cow's milk is melted over a slow fire and then heated slowly until the separated water boils off. The vessel holding the butter is then allowed to cool; semifluid, clear butterfat, which

Adams, Herbert Baxter

2004-12-22T23:06:00.000-08:00

The son of a successful merchant and manufacturer, Adams graduated from Amherst College, Massachusetts, in 1872 and attended lectures in Germany between 1874 and 1876 at Göttingen,

Moscow State University

2004-12-20T10:49:00.000-08:00

In full Moscow M.V. Lomonosov State University , Russian Moskovsky Gosudarstvenny Universitet Imeni M.V. Lomonosova state-controlled institution of higher learning at Moscow, the oldest-surviving, largest, and most prestigious university in Russia. It was founded in 1755 by the linguist M.V. Lomonosov and was modeled after German universities, its original faculty being predominantly German. In the second half of the 19th century, Moscow State University became the most important centre

Dental Auxiliary

2004-12-19T13:03:00.000-08:00

Person qualified by training and experience to perform dental work under the direction and supervision of a dentist. Some of these auxiliary persons work directly for the dentist in his own office; others work in a separate office or laboratory, where they perform services to the dentist on the basis of work authorizations or prescriptions. There are three principal

Hypnosis

2004-12-18T22:21:00.000-08:00

A special psychological state with certain physiological attributes, resembling sleep only superficially and marked by a functioning of the individual at a level of awareness other than the ordinary conscious state. This state is characterized by a degree of increased receptiveness and responsiveness in which inner experiential perceptions are given

Latin League

2004-12-18T13:49:00.000-08:00

Originally a confederation of about 30 villages and tribes in the neighbourhood of ancient Rome that joined for mutual protection and defense against hostile adjoining communities. The city of Alba Longa, the leader of this federation, was the site of religious ceremonies, which included worship of Jupiter on the Alban Mount. It was also the place where league members

Celastrales

2004-12-17T05:26:00.000-08:00

Order of flowering plants, belonging to the class Magnoliopsida, or the dicotyledons (q.v.; characterized by two seed leaves). Its members are chiefly trees belonging to 12 families, 147 genera, and about 2,000 species. Four of the families—the Aquifoliaceae (holly), Celastraceae (staff-tree), Icacinaceae (icacina), and Hippocrateaceae (hippocratea)—are broadly distributed in the world

West Chester University Of Pennsylvania

2004-12-16T05:51:00.000-08:00

Public, coeducational institution of higher learning in West Chester, Pennsylvania, U.S. It is part of Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education. The university comprises the College of Arts and Sciences and schools of Education, Health Sciences, Music, and Business and Public Affairs. In addition to undergraduate studies, West Chester offers some 70 master's

Ascoli Piceno

2004-12-14T16:08:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Ascoli Piceno provincia, Marche regione, central Italy. Ascoli Piceno lies at the confluence of the Tronto and Castellano rivers. The ancient centre of the Picenes (early inhabitants of the Adriatic coast), it was conquered in the 3rd century BC by the Romans, who knew it as Asculum Picenum. After 1006 the city was ruled by its bishops and successive feudatories