CommonCushion

Estate Agent Covent Garden

2006-10-25T23:05:00.000-07:00

Robert Irving Burns specialise in London Commercial and Residential property services. They are an estate agent covent garden amongst other London areas such as Soho and Oxford Circus.

Biblical Literature, The Vulgate

2005-03-30T23:15:00.000-08:00

Jerome produced three revisions of the Psalms, all extant. The first was based on the Septuagint and is known as the Roman Psalter because it was incorporated into the liturgy

Topology, Cartesian-product spaces

2005-03-30T20:11:00.000-08:00

Starting with a pair of topological spaces X1, X2, the Cartesian product of X1 and X2 (written X1 ´ X2) may be constructed as follows: the points of X1 ´ X2 are ordered pairs (a, b) in which a X1 and b X2. Basis elements of X1 ´ X2 are sets of the form U1 ´ U2 in which U1 is a basis element of X1; U2 is a basis element of X2; and U1 ´ U2 denotes the set of all points (x1, x2) of X1 ´ X2 in which x1 U1, x2 U2. In a certain sense, the plane Â2 is the Cartesian product of two lines. Also Âm + n is the Cartesian

France, History Of, Economy, society, and culture in the 13th century

2005-03-29T04:34:00.000-08:00

The primary social fact of this period is the continued growth of population. All indicators suggest growth—e.g., expansion of old towns, founding of new villages, the rising price of land—but no exact measurements are possible. A register of hearths dating from 1328 has been estimated variously to point to a total population of 15 million to 22 million; the total was probably

Waikaremoana, Lake

2005-03-28T22:26:00.000-08:00

Lake in eastern North Island, New Zealand. Created by a landslide damming the Waikare Taheke River, the 21-square-mile (54-square-kilometre) lake, measuring 12 miles (19 km) by 6 miles (10 km), drains a 165-square-mile (427-square-kilometre) basin and empties via the same river, which is a tributary of the Wairoa. From its surface elevation of 2,015 feet (614 m), the lake extends to a depth of 840 feet (256 m). It is bounded on

Loddon River

2005-03-28T06:42:00.000-08:00

River, central Victoria, Australia, rising in the Eastern Highlands 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Melbourne and flowing northwest and north for more than 200 miles (320 km), past Kerang, joining with the Little Murray and then with the Murray near Swan Hill. Inconstant in volume, the Loddon has been dammed for several reservoirs, including Cairn Curran and Tullaroop, to form part of

Nagpur

2005-03-27T09:53:00.000-08:00

City, northeastern Maharashtra state, western India. It lies along the Nag River and is situated almost at the geographic centre of India. The present city was founded in the early 18th century by Bakht Buland, a Gond raja. It became the capital of the Bhonsles of the Maratha confederacy but in 1817 came under British influence. In 1853 the city lapsed into British control and in 1861 became

Celosia

2005-03-26T16:43:00.000-08:00

Genus of about 60 species of herbaceous plants, of the amaranth family (Amaranthaceae), native to tropical America and Africa and characterized by alternate leaves and showy flowers in spikes, which in cultivated forms are often fasciated and form compact or feathery clusters. Some species are called woolflower for their dense chaffy flower spikes

Leo Africanus

2005-03-25T01:13:00.000-08:00

Educated at Fès, in Morocco, Leo Africanus travelled widely as a young man on commercial and diplomatic missions through North Africa and may also have visited the city of Timbuktu, now in Mali, as well as the valley of the

Ercker, Lazarus

2005-03-23T01:34:00.000-08:00

Ercker studied at the University of Wittenberg (1547–48) and in 1554 was appointed assayer at Dresden, the first of many such positions he held in the state bureaucracy of Saxony. After 1567 he became control tester of coins at Kutná Hora, near Prague. In his great work, Beschreibung

Hupeh, Relief

2005-03-23T01:04:00.000-08:00

Almost all of Hupeh Province lies immediately north of the Yangtze River. Hupeh is bounded on the north by the eastern extension of the axis of the Tsinling, T'ung-pai, and Ta-pieh mountains. In the southeast the Mu-fu Mountains divide the province from Kiangsi. Along its central southern border there is no clear physical divide apart from the Yangtze itself: a lake-studded

Tapestry, 14th century

2005-03-23T00:39:00.000-08:00

In the 14th century the western European tradition of tapestry became firmly established. At that time the most sophisticated centres of production were in Paris and Flanders. Large numbers of tapestries are recorded in inventories. The more luxurious standards of living being adopted by the wealthy of the Gothic period extended the use of tapestries beyond the

Narra

2005-03-22T15:22:00.000-08:00

Also called Asana, any of several timber trees of the genus Pterocarpus of the pea family (Fabaceae or Leguminosae). The name refers especially to P. indicus, or India padauk, or the hard wood, noted for its ability to take a high polish, that is derived from the trees. Narra wood is used for cabinetwork; it is usually red or rose colour, often variegated with yellow, and is hard and heavy. The trunk

Argonaut

2005-03-22T08:56:00.000-08:00

First submarine to navigate extensively in the open sea, built in 1897 by the American engineer and naval architect Simon Lake. Designed to send out divers rather than to sink ships, the Argonaut was fitted with wheels for travel on the bottom of the sea and had an airtight chamber with a hatch that could be opened to the sea when the air pressure of the chamber and of the water

Azilian Industry

2005-03-21T13:30:00.000-08:00

Tool tradition of Late Paleolithic and Early Mesolithic Europe, especially in France and Spain. The Azilian industry was preceded by the richer and more complex Magdalenian industry and was more or less contemporary with such industries as the Tardenoisian, Maglemosian, Ertebølle, and Asturian. Stone tools of the Azilian were mostly extremely small, called microliths,

France, History Of, The cities

2005-03-20T18:37:00.000-08:00

Urban society was also troubled. The walled town stood out ever more starkly against the countryside as siege warfare intimidated or destroyed the suburbs that had been built in a less anxious day. Royal taxation, often inequitably administered, exacerbated old tensions in the towns; fiscal policy or the regulation of wages or supplies was largely at issue in the

Catastrophe

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

In literature, the final action that completes the unraveling of the plot in a play, especially in a tragedy. Catastrophe is a synonym of denouement. The term is sometimes applied to a similar action in a novel or story.

Kirkcudbright

2005-03-19T00:04:00.000-08:00

Town and royal burgh (1455), Dumfries and Galloway council area, historic county of Kirkcudbrightshire, southwestern Scotland, 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Dumfries in the Galloway region. It guards the lowest crossing of the River Dee 6 miles (10 km) from the Irish Sea and is a market town, a dairying centre, and a favourite resort of artists. It is the historic county town (seat) of Kirkcudbrightshire.

'ali Ar-rida

2005-03-18T18:39:00.000-08:00

In full Abu Al-hasan Ibn Musa Ibn Ja'far 'ali Ar-rida eighth imam of the Twelver Shi'ites, noted for his piety and learning until 817, when the caliph al-Ma'mun, in an attempt to heal the division between the majority Sunnites and the Shi'ites, appointed him his successor. The appointment aroused varying reactions—few of them, even among the Shi'ites, wholly favourable—and Iraq, already irritated

Enugu

2005-03-18T09:42:00.000-08:00

Town, capital of Enugu state, south-central Nigeria, at the foot of the Udi Plateau. It is on the railroad from Port Harcourt, 150 miles (240 km) south-southwest, and at the intersection of roads from Aba, Onitsha, and Abakaliki. The town owes its existence to the discovery of coal on the plateau in 1909, which led to the building of Port Harcourt. With the completion of the railway from the

July Revolution

2005-03-18T04:20:00.000-08:00

French Révolution De Juillet, also called July Days (1830), insurrection that brought Louis-Philippe to the throne of France. The revolution was precipitated by Charles X's publication (July 26) of restrictive ordinances contrary to the spirit of the Charter of 1814. Protests and demonstrations were followed by three days of fighting (July 27–29), the abdication of Charles X (August 2), and the proclamation of Louis-Philippe as “king of the

Asia

2005-03-17T16:45:00.000-08:00

The world's largest and most diverse continent. It occupies the eastern four-fifths of the giant Eurasian landmass. Asia is more a geographic term than a homogeneous continent, and the use of the term to describe this vast area always carries the potential of obscuring the enormous diversity among the the regions it encompasses. Asia has both the highest and the lowest

Sea Snake

2005-03-16T09:16:00.000-08:00

Any of more than 50 species of venomous marine snakes of the family Hydrophiidae. In adaptation to marine life, sea snakes have oarlike tails and flattened bodies. Their nostrils have valvelike closings and are usually on top of the snout. Several sea snakes have bodies much thicker than their heads and necks affording them greater stability

Scandinavian Literature, Iceland

2005-03-15T23:44:00.000-08:00

Húss-Postilla (1718–20; “Sermons for the Home”), by Jón Vídalín, bishop of Skálholt, is the best example of early 18th-century prose. Among important later writers, Eggert Ólafsson carried out a comprehensive geographical field survey (published in Danish, 1772; partial Eng. trans.) of Iceland's country and its people. In his poetry he expressed 18th-century Rationalism combined with Romantic

Trichloroethylene

2005-03-15T20:09:00.000-08:00

Trichloroethylene was first prepared in 1864; its

Ibibio

2005-03-15T07:46:00.000-08:00

Mainly rainforest cultivators

Amtrak

2005-03-14T14:36:00.000-08:00

Formally National Railroad Passenger Corporation federally supported corporation that operates nearly all intercity passenger trains in the United States. It was established by Congress in 1970 and assumed control of passenger service from the nation's private rail companies the following year. Virtually all railways, with the exception of a small handful, signed contracts with Amtrak. The corporation pays the

Burg, Yosef

2005-03-13T22:08:00.000-08:00

Burg studied at the University of Berlin and in 1933 earned a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Leipzig. Ordained

Boitano, Brian

2005-03-13T16:17:00.000-08:00

Boitano began skating at age eight. Shortly after that, he began taking skating lessons from Linda Leaver, who remained his only coach throughout his career. He quickly gained

Caucasian Languages, The Lak-Dargin languages

2005-03-13T08:05:00.000-08:00

Lak (also spelled Lakk, with some 100,000 speakers) and Dargin (or Dargwa, with 350,000) are spoken in the central part of Dagestan. Both are written languages. The Lak language is quite homogeneous with regard to its dialects; Dargin, however, possesses several diversified dialects—sometimes considered as separate languages (e.g., Kubachi). Some view Lak and Dargin as independent language

Theatre

2005-03-12T15:24:00.000-08:00

In November 1994, 87 playwrights, including Harold Pinter, Arnold Wesker, and Peter Shaffer, wrote a letter to the artistic directors of subsidized theatres demanding a quota system of new plays--two or three a year--on their main stages. The writers expressed the feeling that the nation's theatre was slipping into "irrelevance and decline" because of a lack of opportunity for

Earhart, Amelia

2005-03-11T11:48:00.000-08:00

Earhart moved often with her family and completed high school in Chicago in 1916. She worked as a military nurse in Canada during World War I and as a social worker in Denison House,

Gerhard, Johann

2005-03-11T09:39:00.000-08:00

Gerhard was deeply influenced as a youth by the Lutheran theologian Johann Arndt and obtained training

Frederick

2005-03-10T22:17:00.000-08:00

County, northern Maryland, U.S., bounded by Pennsylvania to the north, the Monocacy River to the northeast, Virginia to the southwest (the Potomac River constituting the border), and the Blue Ridge Mountains to the west. It consists of a piedmont region bisected north-south by the valley of the Monocacy. Parklands include Cunningham Falls State Park and Catoctin Mountain

Novocherkassk

2005-03-10T04:16:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Novocerkassk, city, Rostov oblast (province), southwestern Russia. It lies at the confluence of the Tuzlov and the Aksay rivers. The original 16th-century town of Starocherkasskaya stood along the Don River, but it was frequently inundated and was moved to its present site in 1805. Novocherkassk long served as the capital of the Don Cossack region and was a centre of opposition to the Bolsheviks

Mance, Sir Henry Christopher

2005-03-09T17:05:00.000-08:00

Mance joined the Persian Gulf Telegraph Department of the government of India in 1863 and helped lay the first submarine telegraph

Holding Company

2005-03-09T16:33:00.000-08:00

A corporation that owns enough voting stock in one or more other companies to exercise control over them. A corporation that exists solely for this purpose is called a pure holding company, while one that also engages in a business of its own is called a holding-operating company. A holding company typically owns a majority of stock in a subsidiary, but if ownership

Fry, Elizabeth

2005-03-08T22:27:00.000-08:00

The daughter of a wealthy Quaker banker and merchant, she married (1800) Joseph Fry, a London merchant, and combined her work with the care of a

Peter Nolasco, Saint

2005-03-08T07:28:00.000-08:00

Peter dedicated himself to helping the poor.

Condé, Louis Ii De Bourbon, 4e Prince De

2005-03-08T06:48:00.000-08:00

The princes de Condé were the heads of an important French branch of the House of Bourbon. The Great Condé was the elder son of Henry II de Bourbon, 3rd prince de Condé, and of his wife, Charlotte

Ruiz De Alarcón (y Mendoza), Juan

2005-03-07T08:15:00.000-08:00

Born into a prosperous family in Mexico, Ruiz de Alarcón went to Spain in 1600 to study at the University of Salamanca, from which he graduated in about 1602. After studying further at the University of Mexico,

Insurance, Group insurance

2005-03-06T17:14:00.000-08:00

Groups have always been important in the insurance field, from the burial societies of the Romans and the insurance funds of the medieval guilds to the fraternal and religious insurance plans of modern times. In the 20th century private insurance companies have written increasingly large amounts of group insurance, particularly in life insurance, health insurance,

Saxhorn

2005-03-06T10:51:00.000-08:00

Any of a family of brass wind instruments patented by the Belgian instrument-maker Antoine-Joseph Sax, known as Adolphe Sax, in Paris in 1845. Saxhorns, one of many 19th-century developments from the valved bugle, provided military bands with a homogeneous series of valved brass in place of the miscellany of valved instruments that had come into use since 1825 (such as flügelhorns,

Stakhanov

2005-03-06T02:52:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Stachanov, formerly (until 1978) Kadiyevka, also spelled Kadijevka, city, Luhansk oblast (province), eastern Ukraine. It is situated in the northern part of the Donets Coal Basin. The city developed in the 19th century as a coal-mining settlement. From 1935 to 1943, it was known as Sergo. Stakhanov is one of the major coal-mining towns of the Donets Basin, though it is declining in importance as pits become worked out and as other fuels increase in importance.

Subarnarekha River

2005-03-06T02:31:00.000-08:00

River in northeastern India, rising in southern Bihar state. The Subarnarekha (meaning “streak of gold”) flows east through a copper-mining region and leaves the Chota Nagpur plateau by the Hundrugbagh waterfall. Continuing eastward, it flows across West Bengal state to enter the Bay of Bengal after a 290-mile (470-kilometre) course. The Kanchi and Karkari rivers are its chief

Myanmar, The Toungoo dynasty

2005-03-04T15:28:00.000-08:00

In 1531 a dynasty was established at Toungoo by Tabinshwehti, and by then the new kingdom had become powerful enough to conquer northern Myanmar from the Shan and southern Myanmar from the Mon. In 1511 the great trading entrepôt of Malacca (Melaka) on the Malay Peninsula had been conquered by the Portuguese, which led to a renewal of interest in trade in Myanmar's coastal waters.

Andrade, Mário De

2005-03-04T00:28:00.000-08:00

Educated at the conservatory in São Paulo, Andrade helped organize what proved to be a key event in the

Condé, Louis Iii, 6e Prince De (6th Prince Of), Duc (duke) De Bourbon

2005-03-03T14:42:00.000-08:00

He was short, with an enormous head and a yellow complexion, and was notoriously malevolent and offensive. In 1685 he was married to one of Louis XIV's bastards, Louise Françoise de Bourbon (previously known as Mlle de Nantes). As a soldier

Audiberti, Jacques

2005-03-03T02:36:00.000-08:00

A former clerk for the justice of the peace in Antibes, Audiberti began his writing career as a journalist, moving to Paris in 1925 to write for Le Journal and Le Petit Parisien. Later, he wrote more than 20 plays

Salam, Abdus

2005-03-02T10:24:00.000-08:00

Salam attended the Government College at

Zen

2005-03-01T13:19:00.000-08:00

Chinese Ch'an (from Sanskrit dhyana, “meditation”), important school of Buddhism in Japan that claims to transmit the spirit or essence of Buddhism, which consists in experiencing the enlightenment (bodhi) achieved by Gautama the Buddha. The school arose in the 6th century in China as Ch'an, a form of Mahayana Buddhism; though introduced centuries earlier, Zen did not fully develop in Japan

Aid

2005-03-01T11:44:00.000-08:00

A feudal lord could ask his vassals for an aid because they owed him help and counsel. In the course of time, however, the occasions on which

Christchurch

2005-02-28T06:54:00.000-08:00

City, Canterbury local government region, eastern South Island, New Zealand, on the Avon River. It was the last and most successful colonizing project inspired by Edward Gibbon Wakefield and his New Zealand Company. Christchurch was founded by the Canterbury Association, which was formed in 1848 largely through the efforts of John Robert Godley and which planned to

Andover

2005-02-27T21:37:00.000-08:00

Andover's earliest-known

Nicene Creed

2005-02-27T09:50:00.000-08:00

Until the early 20th century, it was universally assumed that the Niceno-Constantinopolitan

Wigan

2005-02-26T20:14:00.000-08:00

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

Powell, John Wesley

2005-02-26T15:17:00.000-08:00

After fighting in the American Civil War, Powell joined Illinois Wesleyan University as professor of geology. In 1867 he became a lecturer at Illinois Normal College

Fisher, Morris

2005-02-26T02:35:00.000-08:00

At the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Fisher, apparently feeling the pressure of the competition in the three-position free rifle event, took 20 minutes before firing his first shot at the target, which was placed 300 m away. Although he missed the mark, he was close enough to score points.

Western Africa, Geology

2005-02-25T18:27:00.000-08:00

The crystalline rocks, collectively referred to as the West African shield or craton, comprise three main types of rock assemblage. The basement

Patiala

2005-02-25T15:50:00.000-08:00

City, administrative headquarters of Patiala district, Punjab state, northwestern India. The city lies on a major rail line, as well as on a branch of the Sirhind Canal. Founded in 1763 as the capital of the princely state of Patiala, it is a trade and industrial centre; weaving, cotton ginning, distilling, and manufacturing are among its industries. Punjabi University (established

Boteti River

2005-02-24T05:44:00.000-08:00

Formerly Botletle River, river of Botswana. It emerges near Maun and the Thamakalane River, developing from the outflow of the Okavango Delta, Botswana. It flows in a southeasterly direction to Lake Xau (Dow), then north to enter the Makgadikgadi Pans after a course of 190 miles (305 km).

Alençon

2005-02-23T21:37:00.000-08:00

Town, Orne département, Basse-Normandie région, northwestern France. Alençon lies at the juncture of the Sarthe and Briante rivers, in the centre of a plain ringed by wooded hills. It is known for its tulle and lace (especially point d'Alençon), introduced from Venice in the mid-17th century. Incorporated in the duchy of Normandy in 911, it was capital of the county and duchy of

Melrhir, Chott

2005-02-23T19:38:00.000-08:00

Lake in northeastern Algeria. Lying almost entirely below sea level, the Chott Melrhir is a marshy, saline lake that fluctuates in area with the seasons; usually, it is more than 80 miles (130 km) wide east–west. The Melrhir occupies the westernmost of a series of depressions extending into the Sahara from the Gulf of Gabès, Tunisia. The lowest point in Algeria, 131 feet (40 m) below sea

Catalexis And Acatalexis

2005-02-23T09:58:00.000-08:00

In prosody, an omission or incompleteness in the last foot of a line or other unit in metrical verse and, conversely, the metrical completeness of such a unit.

Dietz, Howard

2005-02-22T01:14:00.000-08:00

After graduating from Columbia University in 1917, Dietz joined the Philip Goodman Advertising Agency, where he was assigned to devise a trademark for Goldwyn Pictures. Dietz used Columbia's lion mascot as an inspiration for the Goldwyn studio's “roaring lion” trademark, which thereafter

Yüeh-ch'in

2005-02-21T18:01:00.000-08:00

Also called la ch'in , Pinyin yueqin , or laqin , also called moon guitar Chinese lute, one of a family of flat, round-bodied lutes found in Central and East Asia. It was invented, according to tradition, during the Chin dynasty (AD 265–420). It has two pairs of silk strings, tuned (in relative pitch) to c–g, which run from a fastener on the wooden belly to tuning pegs set in the sides of the pegbox. A metal plate is hung inside the body, vibrating against

Canada Day

2005-02-21T15:10:00.000-08:00

Formerly (until 1982) Dominion Day the national holiday of Canada. The possibility of a confederation between the colonies of British North America was discussed throughout the mid 1800s. On July 1, 1867, a dominion was formed through the British North America Act as approved by the British Parliament. It consisted of territories then called Upper and Lower Canada and of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The act

Check

2005-02-21T08:33:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Cheque, bill of exchange drawn on a bank and payable on demand; it has become the chief form of money in the domestic commerce of developed countries. As a written order to pay money, it may be transferred from one person to another by endorsement and delivery or, in certain cases, by delivery alone. Negotiability can be qualified by appropriate words, as with restrictive endorsements,

Art And Architecture, Egyptian, Cult temples

2005-02-19T09:25:00.000-08:00

It is generally thought that the Egyptian temple of the Dynastic Period owed most to the cult of the sun god Re at Heliopolis. The temple of Re, however, was probably open in plan and lacked a shrine. Sun temples were unique among cult temples; worship was centred on a cult object, the benben, which was a squat obelisk placed in full sunlight. Among the few temples surviving

Tephroite

2005-02-19T08:51:00.000-08:00

Olivine mineral found only in iron-manganese ore deposits and skarns and in metamorphosed manganese-rich sediments, such as those of Cornwall, Eng., and Franklin, N.J., in the United States. Tephroite (manganese silicate; Mn2SiO4) forms a solid solution series with the olivine fayalite in which iron completely replaces manganese in the molecular structure. Minerals intermediate

Alcoholism

2005-02-19T04:14:00.000-08:00

The conception of inveterate drunkenness as a disease appears to be rooted in antiquity. The Roman philosopher Seneca classified it as a form of insanity. The term alcoholism, however, appeared first in the classical essay “Alcoholismus

Christian Socialism

2005-02-18T23:25:00.000-08:00

Movement of the mid-19th century that attempted to apply the social principles of Christianity to modern industrial life. The term was generally associated with the demands of Christian activists for a social program of political and economic action on behalf of all individuals, impoverished or wealthy, and the term was used in contradistinction to laissez-faire

Alcoholism

2005-02-17T21:15:00.000-08:00

Natural gas (primarily methane) that has been liquefied for ease of storing and transporting. LNG takes up about 1/600 the space that natural gas does in its gaseous form, and it can be easily shipped overseas. LNG is produced by cooling natural gas below its boiling point, -162° C (-259° F), and is stored in double-walled cryogenic containers at or slightly above atmospheric pressure. It

Ghassan

2005-02-17T15:57:00.000-08:00

The Ghassanid king al-Harith ibn Jabalah (reigned 529–569) supported the Byzantines against Sasanian Persia

Lancelot

2005-02-17T10:24:00.000-08:00

Lancelot's name first appeared as one of Arthur's knights in Chrétien de Troyes's 12th-century romance of Erec, and the same author later made him one of the heroes in Le Chevalier de la charette, which retold an existing legend about

Sabzevari, Hajji Hadi

2005-02-16T03:29:00.000-08:00

Iranian teacher and philosopher who advanced the hikmah (wisdom) school of Islamic philosophy. His doctrines—composed of diverse elements of gnosis (esoteric spiritual knowledge), philosophy, and revelation—are an exposition and clarification of the philosophical concepts of Mulla Sadra. But he differed to some extent by classifying knowledge

Benchley, Robert (charles)

2005-02-15T14:13:00.000-08:00

A graduate of Harvard University (1912), Benchley joined the staff of the old Life magazine in 1920 as drama critic. His monologue “The Treasurer's Report,” delivered as a skit in an amateur revue in 1922, was the basis for one of the first all-talking short subjects. He subsequently wrote and acted in motion-picture

Hypocaust

2005-02-14T15:35:00.000-08:00

Many examples of such hypocausts

Fulda

2005-02-14T07:11:00.000-08:00

City, Hesse Land (state), central Germany, situated on the Fulda River between the Rhön and Vogelsberg mountains. It developed around a Benedictine abbey founded in 744 by Sturmi, a disciple of St. Boniface. The abbey became a missionary centre, and its school was one of Europe's important seats of learning during the early Middle Ages, after Rabanus Maurus (q.v.) became its director

Hassan Ibn Thabit

2005-02-14T03:23:00.000-08:00

Hassan had won acclaim at the courts of the Christian Arab Ghassanid kings in Syria and the Lakhmid kings of al-Hirah in Iraq, where he met the poets an-Nabighah and 'Alqamah. He settled in Medina, where, after the advent of Muhammad, he accepted Islam at about the age of 60. Hassan, who is said to have

Ob River, Physiography

2005-02-13T11:25:00.000-08:00

There are more than 1,900 rivers within the basin, with an

Houston

2005-02-13T00:02:00.000-08:00

The first settlement in the area, Harrisburg (1826), was

Tibaldi, Pellegrino

2005-02-12T20:19:00.000-08:00

Tibaldi grew up in Bologna in a family of Lombard stonemasons. He was trained as a painter under minor Emilian artists who imitated the style of Raphael; in 1547, however, he went to Rome and worked with Perino del Vaga.

La Perouse Strait

2005-02-12T08:02:00.000-08:00

Russian Proliv Laperuza, Japanese Soya-kaikyo, international waterway between the islands of Sakhalin (Russia) and Hokkaido (Japan). The strait, named after the French explorer Jean-François de Galaup, Count de La Pérouse, separates the Sea of Okhotsk from the Sea of Japan. It is 27 miles (43 km) wide at its narrowest part, between Cape Krilon (Sakhalin) and Cape Soya (Hokkaido) and varies in depth from 167 to 387 feet (51 to 118 m). The strait is characterized

Shad

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

Any of several saltwater food fishes of the herring family (Clupeidae) that swim up rivers to spawn. Shad of the genus Alosa are rather deep bodied and have a notch in the upper jaw into which the tip of the lower fits. Young shad have small teeth, but the adults are toothless. The flesh of these fishes is considered very good to eat, though bony; the eggs,

Chaga

2005-02-11T03:49:00.000-08:00

Their methods of cultivation support a very dense population. They practice an intensive irrigated agriculture on terraced fields, keeping them under permanent cultivation through

Eisenhower Doctrine

2005-02-10T14:54:00.000-08:00

(Jan. 5, 1957), in the Cold War period after World War II, U.S. foreign-policy pronouncement by President Dwight D. Eisenhower promising military or economic aid to any Middle Eastern country needing help in resisting communist aggression. The doctrine was intended to check increased Soviet influence in the Middle East, which had resulted from the supply of arms to Egypt by

Harbours And Sea Works

2005-02-10T10:04:00.000-08:00

The construction of harbours and sea works offers some of the most unusual problems and challenges in civil engineering. The continuous and immediate

Scandinavian Literature, Denmark

2005-02-09T14:41:00.000-08:00

The 18th century was a fertile period in Danish literature. The great name in the first half of the century was that of Ludvig Holberg, a Norwegian by birth. His most important contributions, written for the Danish theatre, which opened in 1722, were 32 comedies of character and manner, including some moral allegories in his old age. His aim was to create a modern Danish literature

Eakins, Thomas

2005-02-09T01:56:00.000-08:00

All paintings in oils unless otherwise noted. “A Street Scene in Seville” (1870; Mrs. John R. Garrett, Sr. Collection); “Home Scene” (1871; Brooklyn Museum, New York); “Max Schmitt in a Single Scull” (1871; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City); “Katherine” (1872; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn.); “The Pair-Oared Shell” (1872; Philadelphia Museum of Art); “The Biglin Brothers Turning the Stake” (1873; Cleveland Museum of Art); “John Biglin in a Single Scull” (watercolour, 1873; Metropolitan Museum of Art); “Sailing” (1874; Philadelphia Museum of Art); “Pushing for Rail” (1874; Metropolitan Museum of Art); “The Gross Clinic” (1875; Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia); “Will Schuster and Blackman Going Shooting” (1876; Yale University Art Gallery); “Chess Players” (1876; Metropolitan Museum of Art); “William Rush Carving His Allegorical Figure of the Schuylkill River” (1877; Philadelphia Museum of Art); “The Fairman Rogers Four-in-Hand” (1879; Philadelphia Museum of Art); “The Crucifixion” (1880; Philadelphia Museum of Art); “The Pathetic Song” (1881; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.); “The Swimming Hole” (1883; Fort Worth Art Center Museum, Fort Worth, Texas); “Lady with a Setter Dog (Mrs. Eakins)” (1885; Metropolitan Museum of Art); “Walt Whitman” (1887; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia); “Letitia Wilson Jordan Bacon” (1888; Brooklyn Museum); “Miss Van Buren” (c. 1889; Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.); “The Agnew Clinic” (1889; University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia); “Professor Henry A. Rowland” (1891; Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Mass.); “The Concert Singer” (1892; Philadelphia Museum of Art); “Frank Hamilton Cushing” (1894–95; Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, Tulsa, Okla.); “Taking the Count” (1898; Yale University Art Gallery); “Salutat” (1898; Addison Gallery of American Art); “Between Rounds” (1899; Philadelphia Museum of Art); “Benjamin Eakins” (1899; Philadelphia Museum of Art); “Mrs. William D. Frishmuth” (1900; Philadelphia Museum of Art); “The Thinker: Louis N. Kenton” (1900; Metropolitan Museum of Art); “Self-Portrait” (1902; National Academy of Design, New York); “Mrs. Edith Mahon” (1904; Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass.); “Monsignor Diomede Falconio” (1905; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.).

Bali

2005-02-08T16:17:00.000-08:00

Island and provinsi (“province”) in the Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia, 1 mile (1.6 km) east of the island of Java. The provinsi has an area of 2,147 square miles (5,561 square km). Most of Bali is mountainous (essentially an extension of the central mountain chain in Java), the highest point being Mount Agung, or Bali Peak, 10,308 feet (3,142 m) in height and known locally as the “navel of the world.” It proved to be

Lead

2005-02-07T10:42:00.000-08:00

City, Lawrence county, western South Dakota, U.S. It lies in the northern Black Hills, 30 miles (48 km) northwest of Rapid City. Situated just southwest of Deadwood at the head of Gold Gulch Run, it spreads out over the tops of the nearby hills. Established in 1876 following the discovery of gold, its name was inspired by the lode mines in the area, a ledge or outcrop of ore being termed a

Medicine, Naval and air force medicine

2005-02-07T00:25:00.000-08:00

Naval medical services are run on lines similar to those of the army. Junior medical officers are attached to ships or to shore stations and deal with most cases of sickness in their units. When at sea, medical officers have an exceptional degree of responsibility in that they work alone, unless they are on a very large ship. In peacetime, only the larger ships carry a

Crab Nebula

2005-02-06T19:48:00.000-08:00

(catalog numbers NGC 1952 and M1), probably the most intensely studied bright nebula, in the constellation Taurus, about 5,000 light-years from Earth. Roughly 5 to 10 light-years in diameter, it is assumed to be the remnant of a supernova (violently exploding star) observed by Chinese and other astronomers first on July 4, 1054. The supernova was visible in daylight for 23 days and at night for almost

Performing Arts

2005-02-06T01:51:00.000-08:00

Oratory

2005-02-05T11:58:00.000-08:00

In architecture, a small, private chapel (q.v.).

Xuanzang

2005-02-05T04:49:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization Hsüan-tsang , original name Chen Yi , honorary epithet San-tsang , also called Muchatipo , Sanskrit Mokshadeva , or Yuanzang Buddhist monk and Chinese pilgrim to India who translated the sacred scriptures of Buddhism from Sanskrit into Chinese and founded in China the Buddhist Consciousness Only school. His fame rests mainly on the volume and diversity of his translations of the Buddhist sutras and on the record

Tyumen

2005-02-04T20:53:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Tiumen, or T'umen ', oblast (province), central Russia, occupying an area of 554,100 square miles (1,435,200 square km) in the Ob-Irtysh Basin. In the extreme west the Ural Mountains attain 6,217 feet (1,895 m) in Mount Narodnaya, but the remainder of the oblast's huge area is a low, exceptionally flat plain, with innumerable lakes and very extensive swamps. The oblast stretches from tundra in the north, with its scanty vegetation

Lilar, Suzanne

2005-02-04T19:45:00.000-08:00

Lilar was of Flemish origins. She began her career as

World War I, The war at sea, 191415

2005-02-04T18:30:00.000-08:00

In August 1914 Great Britain, with 29 capital ships ready and 13 under construction, and Germany, with 18 and nine, were the two great rival sea powers. Neither of them at first wanted a direct confrontation: the British were chiefly concerned with the protection of their trade routes; the Germans hoped that mines and submarine attacks would gradually destroy Great Britain's numerical