WaitingSky

organic bed linen

2006-10-29T14:50:00.000-08:00

Livs range of soft luxurious bed linenis sourced ethically from India and using a fair trade policy. Liv also provide duvet cover set and bath towel set.

Kilby, Jack

2005-04-04T07:17:00.000-07:00

In full Jack St. Clair Kilby American engineer and one of the inventors of the integrated circuit, a system of interconnected transistors on a single microchip. In 2000 Kilby was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.

Floral Decoration

2005-04-03T04:10:00.000-07:00

Many different kinds of plant materials are used in floral decorations, among them flowers, foliage, grasses, grains, branches, berries, seeds, nuts, cones, fruits, and vegetables. The materials may be living, dried, or artificial. Initially, man was restricted to using native wildings, or uncultivated plants, but as civilization developed over a period of thousands of

Brugnon, Jacques

2005-04-02T21:58:00.000-08:00

Brugnon won the French singles championship in 1921, but he was most famous for his supremacy in doubles. He won four Wimbledon doubles championships (1926, 1928, 1932, 1933), twice with

Margaret Maultasch

2005-04-02T05:18:00.000-08:00

The daughter of Henry, duke of Carinthia and count of Tirol, Margaret was married to the nine-year-old John Henry

Philip V

2005-03-31T01:49:00.000-08:00

King of Macedonia from 221 to 179, whose attempt to extend Macedonian influence throughout Greece resulted in his defeat by Rome. His career is significant mainly as an episode in Rome's expansion. The son of Demetrius II and his wife Phthia (Chryseis), the young prince was adopted, after his father's death in 229, by his half-cousin Antigonus Doson, who took

Wahhabi

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

The political fortunes of the Wahhabi were immediately allied to those of the Sa'udi dynasty. By the end of the 18th century, they had brought all of Najd under their control, attacked Karbala', Iraq, a holy city of the Shi'ite branch

Cairo, Development of the city

2005-03-29T00:39:00.000-08:00

Modern urban growth began in the 1830s, but only during Isma'il's reign (1863–79) was the city fundamentally transformed. Influenced by Baron Haussmann's renovation of Paris, Isma'il ordered the construction of a European-style city to the west of the medieval core. French city-planning methods dominated the design of the districts of Al-Azbakiyah (with its large park), 'Abdin, and Isma'iliyah

Arras Lace

2005-03-28T00:14:00.000-08:00

Bobbin lace made at Arras, Fr., from the 17th century onward and similar to that of Lille. Although Arras was known for its gold lace, its popularity rested on its exceptionally pure-white lace, stronger than Lille but with similar floral patterns. Arras lace was worn at the coronation (1714) of George I of England. In the 19th century Arras produced a light variety of lace called mignonette.

Chancelade Skeleton

2005-03-27T01:36:00.000-08:00

Human fossil remains discovered in a rock shelter at Chancelade in southwestern France in 1888. The skeleton was found in a curled posture—an indication of a deliberate burial—below the lower Magdalenian occupation floors of the shelter; it is assumed to be of Magdalenian age (about 17,000 years old). The Chancelade skull was studied by the French anatomist Jean-Léo Testut, who

Italy, Literature

2005-03-26T15:58:00.000-08:00

Italian literature, and indeed standard Italian, have their origins in the 14th century Tuscan dialect, the language of its three founding fathers, Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio. After unification, writers began to explore subjects theretofore considered too lowly for literary consideration, such as poverty and living conditions in the Mezzogiorno. Writers such

Gage, Frances Dana Barker

2005-03-25T11:40:00.000-08:00

Gage began her public involvement in the three prominent reform causes of the time—the abolition of slavery, temperance, and women's rights—by contributing letters to newspapers and speaking

Bahadurpur, Battle Of

2005-03-24T05:42:00.000-08:00

Shuja', the second son—who had quickly set himself up as the independent governor of Bengal—was defeated at Bahadurpur, 5 miles (8 km) northeast of Varanasi (Benares) in

Lamb, Willis Eugene, Jr.

2005-03-22T16:25:00.000-08:00

Lamb joined the faculty of Columbia University, New York City, in 1938 and worked in the Radiation Laboratory there during World War II. Though the quantum

Kohistan

2005-03-22T16:21:00.000-08:00

In the North-West Frontier, Kohistan is that sparsely populated area of Pakistan which lies west of Chilas in Kashmir and the Kagan Valley. The eastern part is known as Indus Kohistan (for the Indus River) and the western part, divided between Swat

Port

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

Also called Porto, specifically, a sweet, fortified, usually red wine of considerable renown from the Douro region of northern Portugal, named for the town of Oporto where it is aged and bottled; also, any of several similar fortified wines produced elsewhere. The region of true port production is strictly delimited by Portuguese law. The soil and grapes, and the skill of Oporto vintners

Alamo

2005-03-20T18:52:00.000-08:00

The building was originally the chapel of the Mission San Antonio de Valero, which had been founded between 1716 and 1718 by Franciscans. Before the end of the century the mission was abandoned

Berg

2005-03-19T22:44:00.000-08:00

In the 11th century the counts of Berg came into possession of Westphalian lands east of Cologne. From 1161 these were divided between the senior branch of Berg and the junior branch of Altena (later Mark), which acquired the countship

Lightning Rod

2005-03-18T19:47:00.000-08:00

Metallic rod (usually copper) that protects a structure from lightning damage by intercepting flashes and guiding their currents into the ground. Because lightning tends to strike the highest object in the vicinity, rods are typically placed at the apex of a structure and along its ridges; they are connected to the ground by low-impedance cables. In the case of a building,

Hesse-kassel

2005-03-18T03:22:00.000-08:00

In 1567 Hesse was partitioned among four sons of Landgrave Philip the Magnanimous, Hesse-Kassel going to William IV the Wise. Hesse-Kassel was the largest, most important, and most northerly of the four Hesse landgraviates. The landgrave William IV introduced sound financial management and a pacific

Arts, Islamic, Architecture in Iraq, Syria, and Anatolia

2005-03-17T22:54:00.000-08:00

In Iraq, northern Mesopotamia, Syria, and Egypt (after 1171), the architectural monuments do not, on the whole, appear as overwhelmingly impressive as those of Iran, largely because the taste of Umayyad and 'Abbasid times continued to dominate mosque architecture. It is in the construction of new building types, particularly the madrasah, that the most originality is apparent.

Lenoir, (jean-joseph-) étienne

2005-03-17T03:21:00.000-08:00

Lenoir's engine was a converted double-acting steam engine with slide valves to admit the air-fuel mixture and to discharge exhaust products. A two-stroke cycle engine, it used a mixture of coal gas and air. Though only

Rio De Janeiro, Protocol Of

2005-03-16T14:00:00.000-08:00

(1942), treaty settling possession of the disputed Oriente region on the border of Peru and Ecuador, arranged by a conference of Western Hemisphere foreign ministers held at Rio de Janeiro. Peruvian forces had occupied the area in 1941, defeating the poorly equipped Ecuadoran army. Initial attempts by the United States, Argentina, and Brazil to arrange a peaceful settlement

Spaniel

2005-03-14T05:42:00.000-08:00

The cocker spaniel is a small dog standing 14 to 15 inches (36 to 39 centimetres) and weighing 22 to 29 pounds (10 to 13 kilograms). Compact and sturdily built, it has a rounded head, floppy ears, and

Abdülhamid Ii

2005-03-14T04:11:00.000-08:00

A son of Sultan Abdülmecid I, he came to the throne at the deposition of his mentally

Scipio Africanus The Younger

2005-03-14T03:51:00.000-08:00

Scipio was the second son of Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus, hero of the Third Macedonian War and son of the consul (of the same name) who fell at the Battle of Cannae in 216. Paullus himself, twice consul, was an outstanding Roman leader who combined traditional Roman virtues with a keen interest in Greek culture. Soon after Scipio's birth, Paullus divorced his wife

Cimon Of Cleonae

2005-03-13T09:33:00.000-08:00

Although Cimon has been dated to the 8th century BC, the fact would seem

Schaffner, Jakob

2005-03-12T05:24:00.000-08:00

Schaffner was orphaned at an early age. He described his life in four autobiographical

Kidderminster

2005-03-12T04:05:00.000-08:00

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

Hatton, Sir Christopher

2005-03-11T15:11:00.000-08:00

After spending several years in halfhearted study of the law, Hatton enrolled as one of the queen's bodyguards in 1564. Handsome and accomplished, he impressed the queen with his talent for dancing and quickly won her affection. There is no evidence that they were

Tunisia, Soils

2005-03-11T13:37:00.000-08:00

Tunisia's most fertile soils are found in the well-watered intermontane valleys in the north, where rich sandy clay soils formed from alluvium or soils high in lime content cover the valley bottoms and plains. Aside from these and from the plains of the High Steppe region, where some clay soils of medium fertility may be found, soils in the rest of the country tend to

Literature

2005-03-11T01:28:00.000-08:00

By all accounts, 2001 was an eventful year for Persian literature, both in revisiting the achievements of the previous century from fresh perspectives and in providing glimpses into new literary experiments. Two important international conferences examined the literature of the 20th century, one by focusing on M.T. Bahar (1880–1951) and the other by surveying the entire literary

Triberg

2005-03-09T23:34:00.000-08:00

In full Triberg Im Schwarzwald, city, Baden-Württemberg Land (state), southwestern Germany. It lies along the Gutach River, northeast of Freiburg im Breisgau. Situated in a gorgelike valley among tall pinewoods near Triberg Falls, the highest (535 feet [163 m]) waterfall in Germany, Triberg is one of the oldest Black Forest resorts and is noted for its beneficial climate and its winter-sports facilities. The

Aecium

2005-03-09T13:18:00.000-08:00

Also called aecidium a cluster-cup or fruiting body of certain rust fungi (order Uredinales, division Mycota). Yellow to orange in colour, aecia develop after fertilization and bear one-celled spores (aeciospores, or aecidiospores). Aecia are usually found on lower leaf surfaces of plants.

Andocides

2005-03-08T15:14:00.000-08:00

Born into one of the most prominent Athenian families, Andocides was imprisoned on suspicion of having taken part in the mutilation of the sacred busts called herms shortly before the departure of Athens' military expedition to Sicily in 415. These mutilations caused a general panic, and Andocides was induced to turn informer

Tea

2005-03-06T20:58:00.000-08:00

Beverage produced by steeping in freshly boiled water the young leaves and leaf buds of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis. Two principal varieties are used, the small-leaved China plant (C. sinensis sinensis) and the large-leaved Assam plant (C. sinensis assamica). Hybrids of these two varieties are also grown. The leaves may be fermented or left unfermented.

Cyrenaic

2005-03-06T10:19:00.000-08:00

The school was called Cyrenaic because Cyrene in North Africa was the

Habshi

2005-03-04T08:42:00.000-08:00

Many Habshi rose to high office

Gravel

2005-03-04T08:26:00.000-08:00

Fragments in gravel range in size from pebbles

Cacops

2005-03-04T06:35:00.000-08:00

Extinct amphibian genus found as fossils in Early Permian rocks in North America (the Early Permian Epoch lasted from 286 to 258 million years ago). Cacops reached a length of about 40 cm (16 inches). The skull was heavily constructed, and the otic notch, the region in the hind part of the skull that housed the hearing mechanism, was extremely large and closed behind by a bony bar, indicating

Gravel

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

Alliance of national and district associations, amateur athletic groups, and educational institutions formed in the United States in 1888 for the purpose of certifying athletes as amateurs in various sports. The AAU now serves as the governing body of numerous sports, including basketball, boxing, gymnastics, handball, swimming, diving, water polo, wrestling, weight

Kazankina, Tatyana

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

A seemingly fragile individual standing 1.61 metres (5 feet 3 inches) tall and weighing just 48 kg (106 pounds), Kazankina made an international impression with her fortitude and speed during a string of victories

Wannsee Conference

2005-03-02T13:48:00.000-08:00

Meeting of Nazi officials on January 20, 1942, in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee to plan the “final solution” (Endlösung) to the so-called “Jewish question” (Judenfrage). On July 31, 1941, Nazi leader Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring had issued orders to Reinhard Heydrich, SS (Nazi paramilitary corps) leader and Gestapo (Secret Police) chief, to prepare a comprehensive plan for this “final

Wyandotte Constitution

2005-03-01T18:51:00.000-08:00

In the period immediately preceding the American Civil War, document under which Kansas was admitted to the Union as a free state (Jan. 29, 1861), concluding the struggle known as Bleeding Kansas. Drawn up at Wyandotte (now part of Kansas City) in July 1859, it rejected slavery and suffrage for women and blacks but affirmed property rights for women. The document was approved in a referendum

Pidyon Ha-ben

2005-03-01T08:42:00.000-08:00

Plural Pidyon Ha-bonin, or Pidyon Ha-bens, Jewish ceremony in which the father redeems his wife's firstborn son by offering to a cohen (a male Jew descended from the first priest, Aaron) the equivalent of five silver shekels (ancient coins). The ceremony, which normally takes place 30 days after the child's birth, dates from Old Testament times, when the firstborn sons of the Israelites were spared from death on the

Buber, Martin

2005-03-01T08:34:00.000-08:00

Buber's manifold activities were inspired by his philosophy of encounter—of man's meeting with other beings. An early mystical period culminated in Daniel (1913), five dialogues on orientation and realization, man's two basic stances toward the world. Orientation takes the world as a static state of affairs governed by comprehensible laws. It is a receptive, analytical,

Plectomycetes

2005-02-27T13:26:00.000-08:00

Name often given fungi constituting a series of the class Ascomycetes (sac fungi) within the division Mycota. Its more than 2,500 species produce saclike structures (asci) containing ascospores in either a closed fruiting body (ascocarp) or spore balls. Economically important genera include Ceratocystis, which includes the agents of Dutch elm disease and oak wilt, and

Bonaparte, (napoléon-eugène-)louis

2005-02-26T14:46:00.000-08:00

He was a delicate boy, but when the Franco-German War of 1870 broke out his mother sent him to the army. After the first defeats he had to flee from France with the Empress and settled in England at Chislehurst, completing his military education at Woolwich. On his

Beira

2005-02-26T05:07:00.000-08:00

Port city, central Mozambique. Beira is situated on the Mozambique Channel (Indian Ocean) at the mouths of the Púngoè and Búzi rivers. It was founded in 1891 as the headquarters of the Companhia de Moçambique (“Mozambique Company”) on the site of an old Muslim settlement. The city's administration passed from the trading company to the Portuguese government in 1942 and then to independent

Police, The

2005-02-25T22:48:00.000-08:00

British-American new-wave band that blended reggae, jazz, funk, punk, and world music influences into hook-laden pop-rock. Five best-selling albums, a bevy of hits, and aggressive touring—including stops in countries usually overlooked by Western pop musicians—combined to make the Police the world's most popular band in the early 1980s. The members were Sting (original name

Conservatory

2005-02-25T07:26:00.000-08:00

In music, institution for education in musical performance and composition. The term and institution derive from the Italian conservatorio, which in the Renaissance period and earlier denoted a type of orphanage often attached to a hospital (hence the term ospedale also applied to such institutions). The foundlings (conservati) were given musical instruction

Medina, Bartolomé De

2005-02-24T16:19:00.000-08:00

Medina developed the patio process, an intricate amalgamation process utilizing mercury, while mining in Pachuca, Mex., in 1557. The process proved especially useful in America, where fuel and waterpower were scarce. It was introduced into

Pereda, José María De

2005-02-23T21:51:00.000-08:00

Spanish writer, the acknowledged leader of the modern Spanish regional novelists. Born of a family noted for its fervent Catholicism and its traditionalism, Pereda looked an authentic hidalgo. An older brother provided him with an income that allowed him to become a writer. His first literary effort was the Escenas

Delos

2005-02-23T13:38:00.000-08:00

Since 1873 the École

Muhammad Ibn Tughluq

2005-02-23T11:31:00.000-08:00

Second sultan of the Tughluq dynasty (reigned 1325–51), who briefly extended the rule of the Delhi sultanate of northern India over most of the subcontinent. As a result of misguided administrative actions and unexampled severity toward his opponents, he eventually lost his authority in the south; at the end of his reign, the sultanate had begun to

Yin Mountains

2005-02-20T23:48:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles and Pinyin romanization Yin Shan, range in the Inner Mongolian autonomous ch'ü (region), China, comprising the Ta-ch'ing, Wu-la, Hara-narin, Sheyten, and Lang mountains. The Yin Mountains mostly rise to heights of about 6,500 feet (2,000 m). The highest peaks in the southwestern Ta-ch'ing Mountains reach 7,175 feet (2,187 m). The subranges run roughly east to west along the northern bend of the Huang Ho (Yellow River) to the north of the Ordos

Epic Formula

2005-02-20T11:11:00.000-08:00

Convention of language and theme peculiar to oral epic poetry that is often carried over to the written form. The most obvious epic formulas are the “fixed epithets,” stereotyped descriptive phrases that can be varied in different places in the poetic line to suit the demands of the metre. These stock expressions have the twofold function of lightening the oral poet's

Argentina, The return to democracy

2005-02-20T01:19:00.000-08:00

The subsequent process of democratization is discussed in Philip O'Brien and Paul Cammack (eds.), Generals in Retreat: The Crisis of Military Rule in Latin America (1985); Jimmy Burns, The Land that Lost its Heroes: The Falklands, the Post-War, and Alfonsín (1987); Mónica Peralta-Ramos and Carlos H. Waisman (eds.), From Military Rule to Liberal Democracy in Argentina (1987); Colin M. Lewis and Nissa Torrents (eds.), Argentina in the Crisis Years, 1983–1990: From Alfonsín to Menem (1993); and Peter Calvert, “Argentina: Decline and Revival,” in Jan Knippers Black (ed.), Latin America, Its Problems and Its Promise: A Multidisciplinary Introduction, 3rd ed. (1998).

Regeneration, Annelids

2005-02-18T18:17:00.000-08:00

The segmented worms exhibit variable degrees of regeneration. The leeches, as already noted, are wholly lacking in the ability to replace lost segments, whereas the earthworms and various marine annelids (polychaetes) can often regenerate forward and backward. The expression of such regenerative capacities depends very much on the level of amputation. Anteriorly

Plain Weave

2005-02-18T14:10:00.000-08:00

Also called Tabby Weave, simplest and most common of the three basic textile weaves. It is made by passing each filling yarn over and under each warp yarn, with each row alternating, producing a high number of intersections. Plain-weave fabrics that are not printed or given a surface finish have no right or wrong side. They do not ravel easily but tend to wrinkle and have less absorbency than

Selenga River

2005-02-18T08:08:00.000-08:00

The Delger rises in the Sangilen Mountains on the border between Mongolia and the Russian republic of Tuva, and the headwaters of the Ider lie in the Hangayn Mountains in

Galashiels

2005-02-16T07:25:00.000-08:00

Town, Scottish Borders council area, southeastern Scotland. It is on Gala Water near its junction with the River Tweed, 33 miles (53 km) south-southeast of Edinburgh. The part of the town on the west bank of the Gala lies within the historic county of Selkirkshire, while the east bank belongs to the historic county of Roxburghshire. Woolen manufacture dates from the close of

Deforcement

2005-02-16T04:44:00.000-08:00

In English property law, wrongful taking and possession of land belonging to another. Deforcement had its primary legal significance in feudal England. Deforcement arose particularly in cases in which land possessed by a tenant escheated (was forfeited) to his lord (either for reason of the tenant's wrongful act against the manor or for nonpayment of rent due the

Haakon Ii Sigurdsson

2005-02-16T03:25:00.000-08:00

On the death of his uncle King Eystein II in 1157, the 10-year-old Haakon received the support of Eystein's partisans against the rival king, Inge I, whom they finally defeated and killed in 1161. In 1162, however, the supporters of another pretender, Magnus Erlingsson, defeated the forces of the boy-king Haakon and killed him.

Felix (ii)

2005-02-15T22:10:00.000-08:00

Antipope from 355 to 358. Originally an archdeacon, Felix was irregularly installed as pope in 355 after the emperor Constantius banished the reigning pope, Liberius. In May 357 the Roman laity, which had remained faithful to Liberius, demanded that Constantius recall the true pope. The Emperor planned to have Felix and Liberius rule jointly, but Felix was forced

Ayyubid Dynasty

2005-02-15T13:30:00.000-08:00

Saladin's father, Ayyub (in full, Najm ad-Din Ayyub ibn Shadhi), for whom the Ayyubid dynasty is named, was a member of a family of Kurdish soldiers of fortune who in the 12th century took service under the Seljuq Turkish rulers

Roxana

2005-02-14T15:41:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Roxane wife of Alexander the Great. The daughter of the Bactrian chief Oxyartes, she was captured and married by Alexander in 327, during his conquest of Asia. After Alexander's death (323) she had his second wife, Stateira (Barsine), killed, and she gave birth at Babylon to a son (Alexander IV), who was accepted by the Macedonian generals as joint king with the idiot Philip

Tequistlatec

2005-02-13T19:13:00.000-08:00

Indian people centred in the Sierra Madre del Sur of Oaxaca estado (“state”), Mexico. Their subsistence is based on agriculture (staples are corn [maize], chilies, and beans), hunting, gathering, and animal husbandry. Towns and villages comprise one- and two-room houses, with a nuclear family generally occupying a single room. The communities are governed by adult males who

Interior Design, Preliminary phases

2005-02-13T11:01:00.000-08:00

The first step is the interview with the client. This is often a series of conversations and must eventually lead to a mutual agreement. Clients usually have a good idea of their needs and preferences, yet an experienced designer frequently sees some needs not envisioned by the client, and often he must reeducate the client's attitude about preferences. Obviously,

Octobrist

2005-02-13T03:23:00.000-08:00

Russian Oktyabrist, also called Union Of October 17, member of a conservative-liberal Russian political party whose program of moderate constitutionalism called for the fulfillment of the emperor Nicholas II's October Manifesto (q.v.). Founded in November 1905, the party was led by the industrialist Aleksandr Ivanovich Guchkov and drew support from liberal gentry, businessmen, and some bureaucrats. As the majority party

Basel

2005-02-11T11:33:00.000-08:00

It was originally a Celtic settlement of the Rauraci tribe. The name Basilia seems first to have been applied

Florencio Varela

2005-02-10T15:55:00.000-08:00

The partido of Florencio

Midas

2005-02-10T05:03:00.000-08:00

According to the myth, Midas captured Silenus, the

Catamaran

2005-02-09T19:21:00.000-08:00

Twin-hulled sailing and powered boat developed for sport and recreation in the second half of the 20th century. Its design is based on a raft of two logs bridged by planks that had earlier been used by peoples in the Indonesian archipelago and throughout Polynesia and Micronesia. Early catamarans were up to 21.3 m (70 ft) long, originally paddled by many men, and used for visiting,

Oberon

2005-02-09T07:58:00.000-08:00

French Alberon, German Alberich, king of the elves, or of the “faerie,” in the French medieval poem Huon de Bordeaux. In this poem Oberon is a dwarf-king, living in the woodland, who by magic powers helps the hero to accomplish a seemingly impossible task. In the legendary history of the Merovingian dynasty Oberon is a magician, the brother of Merowech (Mérovée). In the medieval German epic the Nibelungenlied

Rawalpindi

2005-02-09T01:23:00.000-08:00

Rawalpindi (“Village of Rawals”) occupies the site of an old village inhabited by the Rawals, a group of yogis (ascetics). Certain ruins on the site are identified with the ancient city Gajipur, or Gajnipur,

Albanian League

2005-02-06T20:58:00.000-08:00

In full League For The Defense Of The Rights Of The Albanian Nation, also called League Of Prizren, first Albanian nationalist organization. Formed at Prizren, Serbia, on July 1, 1878, the league, initially supported by the Turks, tried to influence the Congress of Berlin, which was formulating a peace settlement following the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78 and which threatened to partition Albania (then part of the Ottoman Empire) and transfer some of its districts to Montenegro,

Aurichalcite

2005-02-06T17:17:00.000-08:00

A mineral composed of the hydroxide carbonate of zinc and copper (Zn, Cu)5(OH)6(CO3)2. It is commonly found with malachite in the oxidized zone of zinc and copper deposits as at Tomsk, Siberia; Santander, Spain; and Bisbee, Ariz., U.S. Its pale blue-green featherlike form distinguishes it from malachite; and, because it is a weathered product of zinc-rich ores, it can serve as a guide to

Augury

2005-02-06T01:06:00.000-08:00

Prophetic divining of the future by observation of natural phenomena—particularly the behaviour of birds and animals and the examination of their entrails and other parts, but also by scrutiny of man-made objects and situations. The term derives from the official Roman augurs, whose constitutional function was not to foretell the future but to discover whether

Amol

2005-02-05T19:11:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Amul town, northern Iran, on the Harhaz River. The exact date of the founding of the town is unknown and enshrouded in legend, but it is certain that there has been a town on the site since Sasanian times. During the Sasanian period, the district of Amol, together with the neighbouring district of Gilan, formed a Nestorian Christian episcopate. After the Arab conquest in the 8th century,

Bahonar, Mohammad Javad

2005-02-05T17:59:00.000-08:00

Bahonar studied in the Shi'ite holy city of Qom, where he was a student of noted cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and later taught religion at the University of Tehran. Bahonar was a vocal critic

Tunisia, Transportation

2005-02-04T13:56:00.000-08:00

The network of roads and railways is sufficiently dense so that all cities of any importance are linked with the interior. Tunisia is connected by both road and rail to Algeria and Morocco but only by road to Libya (Tripoli), and to Egypt (Cairo), since the railway ends at Qabis. Work is underway to modernize and extend the railway network. The principal port is Tunis-Halq

Rachidia, Er-

2005-02-03T21:01:00.000-08:00

The surrounding region

Ciliaris Muscle

2005-02-03T05:11:00.000-08:00

Muscle of the ciliary body of the eye, between the sclera (white of the eye) and the fine ligaments that suspend the lens. It is composed of both longitudinal and circular fibres and serves to change the shape of the lens, enabling the eye to focus upon near or distant objects.

Sarada Script

2005-02-03T03:54:00.000-08:00

Writing system used for the Kashmiri language by the educated Hindu minority in Kashmir and the surrounding valleys. It is taught in the Hindu schools there but is not used in printing books. Originating in the 8th century AD, Sarada descended from the Gupta script of North India, from which Devanagari (q.v.) also developed. The earliest inscriptions in Sarada script, found

Sistan

2005-02-01T00:46:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Seistan, extensive border region, eastern Iran and southwestern Afghanistan. Forty percent of its area is in Iran, as well as the majority of its sparse population. The region comprises a large depression some 1,500–1,700 feet (450–520 m) in elevation. Numerous rivers fill a series of lagoons (hamun) and in high flood form a shallow lake that spills into another depression to the south. Three large deltas

Daniel, The Book Of

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

Also called The Prophecy Of Daniel, a book of the Old Testament found in the Ketuvim (Writings), the third section of the Jewish canon, but placed among the Prophets in the Christian canon. The first half of the book (chapters 1–6) contains stories in the third person about the experiences of Daniel and his friends under Kings Nebuchadrezzar II, Belshazzar, Darius I, and Cyrus II; the second half, written mostly

Earth, The geomagnetic dynamo

2005-01-31T07:16:00.000-08:00

Observations of the magnetic field of the Earth's surface indicate that more than 90 percent of this field arises from sources internal to the planet. A variety of mechanisms for generating this field have been proposed, but at present only the geomagnetic dynamo is seriously considered. In the dynamo mechanism, fluid motion in the core moves conducting material

Catechumens, Liturgy Of The

2005-01-30T21:52:00.000-08:00

The instructional part of the Christian worship service, consisting of hymns, prayers, scriptural readings, and homilies, which precedes the Eucharist (i.e., the Liturgy of the Faithful). In the early church the catechumens, or hearers who had not yet been baptized, were dismissed at the conclusion of the Liturgy of the Catechumens, and the faithful, or baptized Christians,

Fructose

2005-01-30T10:41:00.000-08:00

A member of a group of carbohydrates known as simple sugars, or monosaccharides. Fructose, along with glucose, occurs in fruits, honey, and syrups; it also occurs in certain vegetables. It is a component, along with glucose, of the disaccharide sucrose, or common table sugar. Phosphate derivatives of fructose (e.g., fructose-1-phosphate, fructose-1,6-diphosphate) are important

Steer Wrestling

2005-01-30T03:27:00.000-08:00

Also called bulldogging rodeo event in which a mounted cowboy chases a full-grown steer, dives from his horse on top of the animal, grasps its horns, digs his heels in the ground to bring the animal to a stop, and twists it to the ground. The event is timed from the moment a barrier in front of the cowboy is released to the moment the steer is judged down—i.e., flat on its side with all four legs and head in

Etruscan Language

2005-01-28T23:20:00.000-08:00

The Etruscans lived in Italy in the region of modern Tuscany, in an

North Germanic Languages, Common and distinctly Scandinavian characteristics

2005-01-27T07:56:00.000-08:00

North Germanic differs from East Germanic (but not West Germanic) in that

Interior Design, Walls

2005-01-27T05:28:00.000-08:00

Every wall is a material in itself; and ideally no material, if it is properly used, needs to be covered up. Some elegant buildings constructed since 1960 have used concrete in its natural texture—i.e., showing the formwork left by wooden forms as a conscious expression of the material. During the 19th century, fakery in design was very popular, and part of the concern with the true

Leahy, Frank

2005-01-26T16:13:00.000-08:00

Leahy played at Notre Dame under Rockne in 1929, but a knee injury

Vendôme, César, Duke (duc) De

2005-01-26T11:36:00.000-08:00

The elder son of King Henry IV by his mistress, Gabrielle d'Estrées, Vendôme was legitimized in 1595 and created Duke de Vendôme in 1598. In 1609 he married Françoise, daughter of Philippe-Emmanuel de Lorraine, Duke de Mercoeur, to whose governorship he succeeded at that

Jussieu, Joseph De

2005-01-25T07:32:00.000-08:00

French botanist who accompanied the French physicist Charles-Marie de la Condamine's expedition to Peru to measure an arc of meridian. He remained in South America for 35 years, returning to Paris in 1771. He introduced the common garden heliotrope (Heliotropium peruvianum) into Europe. Joseph was a brother of Antoine and Bernard.

San Francisco

2005-01-23T15:08:00.000-08:00

City and port, coextensive with San Francisco county, northern California, U.S., located on a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay. It is a cultural and financial centre of the western United States and one of the country's most cosmopolitan cities. Area 46 square miles (120 square km). Pop. (1990) city, 723,959; San Francisco PMSA, 1,603,678; San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose CMSA, 6,277,523; (1999 est.) city,

Gymnosperm

2005-01-23T13:51:00.000-08:00

Any vascular plant that reproduces by means of an exposed seed, or ovule, as opposed to an angiosperm, or flowering plant, whose seeds are enclosed by mature ovaries, or fruits.The seeds of many gymnosperms (literally, “naked seed”) are borne in cones and are not visible. These cones, however, are not the same as fruits. During pollination, the immature male gametes, or pollen

Azua

2005-01-23T08:30:00.000-08:00

In full Azua De Compostela, city, southwestern Dominican Republic. Founded in 1504 on the Caribbean coast, the original town was destroyed by an earthquake; the town was reestablished 3 miles (5 km) inland at its present site at the foot of the Ocoa Mountains. It is one of the leading cities in the region, trading mainly in agricultural products grown in the surrounding region: sugarcane, coffee, rice, corn