LeftTongue

Estate Agent Fitzrovia

2006-10-25T20:05:00.000-07:00

Robert Irving Burns specialise in London Commercial and Residential property services. They are a specialist in estate agent fitzrovia, amongst other London areas such as Soho and Oxford Circus.

Tihamat 'asir

2005-03-29T14:37:00.000-08:00

Coastal plain of the Asir region, southwestern Saudi Arabia. It is the central southern section of the great Tihamah (coastal plain), running down the west coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is situated between the mountains of western Saudi Arabia and the Red Sea and is immediately north of Yemen. Approximately 40 miles (64 km) in width, its salty tidal plain is of limited agricultural

Dow Jones Average

2005-03-29T14:32:00.000-08:00

Stock price average computed by Dow Jones & Company. The averages are among the most commonly used indicators of general trends in the prices of stocks and bonds in the United States. Dow Jones & Company, a financial news publisher founded by Charles Henry Dow and Edward D. Jones, began computing a daily industrials average in 1897, using a list of 12 stocks and dividing their

Increasing Safety In Auto Racing: A Winning Formula?

2005-03-28T17:03:00.000-08:00

In 2000–01 that balance was sorely

Antsirabe

2005-03-27T21:31:00.000-08:00

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

Radioactive Series

2005-03-26T01:33:00.000-08:00

Any of four independent sets of unstable heavy atomic nuclei that decay through a sequence of alpha and beta decays until a stable nucleus is achieved. These four chains of consecutive parent and daughter nuclei (shown in the figure) begin and end among elements with atomic numbers higher than 81, which is the atomic weight of thallium; the members of each set are genetically

Alexander Of Aphrodisias

2005-03-25T20:55:00.000-08:00

Toward the end of the 2nd century, Alexander became head of the Lyceum at Athens, an academy then dominated by the syncretistic philosophy of Ammonius Saccas, who blended the doctrines of Plato and Aristotle. Alexander's commentaries were intended

Zond

2005-03-24T20:05:00.000-08:00

Any of a series of eight unmanned Soviet lunar and interplanetary probes. Zond 1 (launched April 1964) and Zond 2 (November 1964) were aimed at Venus and Mars respectively, but failed to send back data on the planets. Zond 3 (July 1965) transmitted closeup photographs of 3,000,000 square miles (7,800,000 square kilometres) of the lunar surface, including the hidden side, before going into solar orbit. Zond 5 (September

Bowling

2005-03-24T00:11:00.000-08:00

The world

Cyprus, The Lusignan kingdom, Genoese rule, and Venetian rule

2005-03-22T02:22:00.000-08:00

Guy, a Frenchman who called himself lord of Cyprus, invited families that had lost their lands in Palestine after the fall of Jerusalem to settle in Cyprus, thereby laying the basis for a feudal monarchy that survived to the end of the Middle Ages. His brother and successor, Amalric, obtained the title of king from the Holy Roman emperor Henry VI. The earliest kings of

Paul, Acts Of

2005-03-22T01:02:00.000-08:00

One of the earliest of a series of pseudepigraphal (noncanonical) New Testament writings known collectively as the Apocryphal Acts. Probably written about AD 160–180, the Acts of Paul is an account of the Apostle Paul's travels and teachings. It includes, among others, an episode reminiscent of the Greek fable of Androcles and the lion, in which Paul escapes from the wild beasts

Arnauld, Jacqueline-marie-angélique

2005-03-20T03:35:00.000-08:00

Jacqueline Arnauld entered religious life as a child of 9, becoming abbess of the ancient Cistercian house of Port-Royal des Champs (near Versailles)

Faesi, Robert

2005-03-19T10:37:00.000-08:00

Faesi combined his literary activity with a professorship of German literature at the University of Zürich from 1922 to 1953. His poems in the collections Aus der Brandung (1917; “From

Amiens, Treaty Of

2005-03-19T08:44:00.000-08:00

(March 27, 1802), an agreement signed at Amiens, Fr., by Britain, France, Spain, and the Batavian Republic (the Netherlands), achieving a peace in Europe for 14 months during the Napoleonic Wars. It ignored some questions that divided Britain and France, such as the fate of the Belgian provinces, Savoy, and Switzerland and the trade relations between Britain and the French-controlled

Buisson, Ferdinand-édouard

2005-03-17T00:48:00.000-08:00

Refusing to take the teacher's oath of loyalty to the French Second Empire of Napoleon III, Buisson went to Switzerland, teaching philosophy at Neuchâtel from

Stingray

2005-03-16T21:45:00.000-08:00

The dasyatid

Sesame

2005-03-16T15:44:00.000-08:00

Also called Benne, erect, annual plant (Sesamum indicum) of numerous types and varieties belonging to the family Pedaliaceae, cultivated since antiquity for its seeds, which are used as food and flavouring and from which a prized oil is extracted. The whole seed is used extensively in the cuisines of the Middle East and Asia. Halvah is a confection made of crushed and

Integument, Amphibians

2005-03-15T14:16:00.000-08:00

Most modern amphibians lack horny scales or other protective devices. An exception is seen in the caecilians, a small group that has fishlike scales similar to those possessed by ancient and extinct forms. The amphibian epidermis has five to seven layers of cells formed from a basal stratum germinativum. At the skin surface, in contact with the external environment,

Argentina, The radical regime, 191630

2005-03-15T11:29:00.000-08:00

The Radical front was a coalition of heterogeneous social groups, whose competing interests slowed the passage of reforms, despite urgent calls for economic and social change. Not surprisingly, Irigoyen preferred to concentrate on the political ills he had inherited from the conservative regime. The most urgent measure involved political patronage, which

Subud

2005-03-14T23:36:00.000-08:00

Religious movement, based on spontaneous and ecstatic exercises, founded by an Indonesian, Muhammad Subuh, called Bapak. A student of Sufism (Islamic mysticism) as a youth, Bapak had a powerful mystical experience in 1925, and in 1933 he claimed that the mission to found the Subud movement was revealed to him. The movement was restricted to Indonesia until the 1950s, when it spread to Europe

Floral Decoration

2005-03-14T08:11:00.000-08:00

Plant materials are customarily arranged in containers, woven into garlands, and worn or carried for personal adornment. Flower bouquets that are carried include the nosegay and corsage. In the mid-19th century, the nosegay, or posy (a small bunch of mixed flowers), was much in fashion. No well-dressed Victorian lady appeared at a social gathering without carrying one,

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

2005-03-13T09:31:00.000-08:00

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,

Insurance, Reinsurance

2005-03-12T22:53:00.000-08:00

Two main types of treaties exist—pro rata and excess-of-loss

China, Early Mongol rule

2005-03-12T10:19:00.000-08:00

The government system during the early years of the Mongol conquest was a synthesis of Mongol military administration and a gradual return to Chinese traditions in those domains ruled by former subjects of the Chin state. The most important office or function in Mongol administration was that of the darughatchi (or seal bearer), whose powers were at first all-inclusive;

De Baca

2005-03-11T07:53:00.000-08:00

In 1541 explorer Francisco

Smith, Amanda

2005-03-11T06:37:00.000-08:00

Born a slave, Berry grew up in York county, Pa., after her father bought his own freedom and that of most of the family. She was educated mainly at home and at an early age began working as a domestic. An unhappy first marriage ended with the disappearance

Dehmel, Richard

2005-03-10T23:22:00.000-08:00

After completing his studies in 1887, Dehmel worked as an insurance official and then, in 1895, became a freelance writer. He chose naturalistic social themes for his early works and was one

Mitchell, S. Weir

2005-03-10T16:51:00.000-08:00

After study at the University of Pennsylvania and Jefferson Medical College (M.D., 1850), Mitchell spent a year in Paris specializing in neurology. As an army surgeon during the American Civil War, he became well known for his “rest cure.” His

Biblical Literature, The Book of Jubilees

2005-03-09T13:36:00.000-08:00

The book is written in the form of a revealed history of Israel from the creation until the dwelling of Moses on Mt. Sinai, where the content of the book was

Wagram, Battle Of

2005-03-09T11:50:00.000-08:00

(July 5–6, 1809), victory for Napoleon, which forced Austria to sign an armistice and led eventually to the Treaty of Schönbrunn in October, ending Austria's 1809 war against the French control of Germany. The battle was fought on the Marchfeld (a plain northeast of Vienna) between 154,000 French and other troops under Napoleon and 158,000 Austrians under Archduke Charles. After a defeat at Aspern-Essling

Coleus

2005-03-09T06:31:00.000-08:00

Bush coleus (C.

Theatre, Western, Theatre of the Absurd

2005-03-08T06:54:00.000-08:00

The postwar mood of disillusionment and skepticism was expressed in bizarre terms by a number of foreign playwrights living in Paris. Although they did not consider themselves as belonging to a formal movement, they shared a belief that human life was essentially without meaning or purpose and that valid communication was no longer possible. The human condition,

Vahana

2005-03-07T15:01:00.000-08:00

Some scholars understand the concept as a way of incorporating

Cachoeira Do Sul

2005-03-07T07:45:00.000-08:00

City and river port, central Rio Grande do Sul estado (“state”), southern Brazil. It lies along the Jacuí River at 200 feet (60 m) above sea level. Founded in 1819 as São João de Cachoeira and given city status in 1859, Cachoeira do Sul is the centre of one of Brazil's major rice-growing areas. Rice, wool, wheat, and fruits are processed and shipped from the city, which is about 103 miles (165 km) west of Pôrto

Anthony Of Kiev

2005-03-06T23:01:00.000-08:00

Seeking a solitary life, Anthony became a monk about 1028 at the Greek Orthodox monastery of Esphigmenon on Mount Athos, in Greece. According to an account contained in the 12th-century The Russian Primary Chronicle (Povest vremennykh let), Anthony

Criminology, Typologies

2005-03-06T09:06:00.000-08:00

The typological method involves classifying offenses, criminals, criminal associations, criminal areas, or whatever according to some criteria of relatedness or similarity. Thus there have been attempts to dichotomize criminals as either “normal” or “abnormal,” “habitual” or “professional,” or to form a continuum of criminals from the “insane” at one extreme through

Penal Colony

2005-03-06T04:18:00.000-08:00

Distant or overseas settlement established for punishing criminals by forced labour and isolation from society. Although a score of nations in Europe and Latin America transported their criminals to widely scattered penal colonies, such colonies were developed mostly by the English, French, and Russians. England shipped criminals to America until the American

Ibrahim Lodi

2005-03-05T13:57:00.000-08:00

The son of Sikandar, Ibrahim succeeded to the throne on his father's death (Nov. 21, 1517) and was quickly faced with continuing disputes between the royal family and Afghani nobles. One noble, Dawlat Khan Lodi, governor of the Punjab, fearing

Ocarina

2005-03-04T14:31:00.000-08:00

Also called Sweet Potato, globular flute, a late 19th-century musical development of traditional Italian carnival whistles of earthenware, often bird-shaped and sounding only one or two notes. It is an egg-shaped vessel of clay or metal or, as a toy, of plastic and is sounded on the flageolet, or fipple flute, principle. It usually has eight finger holes and two thumbholes and may have a tuning

Yakima River

2005-03-04T10:35:00.000-08:00

River, south-central Washington, U.S., rising in the Cascade Range, near Snoqualmie Pass. It flows southeastward about 200 miles (320 km) past Ellensburg and Yakima to join the Columbia River near Kennewick in Benton county. The Yakima and its tributaries irrigate about 460,000 acres (190,000 hectares) in the river valley. The Keechelus Dam, near the river's source, is a major unit of the U.S. Bureau

Amon

2005-03-04T01:21:00.000-08:00

Amon may have been originally a local deity at Khmun (Hermopolis) in Middle Egypt; his cult reached Thebes, where he became the patron of the pharaohs by the reign of Mentuhotep I (2008–1957 BC). At that date he was already identified with the sun god Re of Heliopolis and, as Amon-Re, was received as a national god. Represented in human form,

Wapiti

2005-03-03T06:38:00.000-08:00

Also called American Elk (species Cervus canadensis), North American deer, family Cervidae (order Artiodactyla), considered by some authorities to be of the same species as the red deer (C. elaphus) of Eurasia. Once common over most of North America, the elk now is confined to the Rocky Mountains and southern Canada. The second largest living deer, it is exceeded

China, Educational and cultural policy changes

2005-03-02T00:48:00.000-08:00

In the educational system, the reformers gave top priority to training technical, scientific, and scholarly talent to world-class standards. This involved the re-creation of a highly selective and elitist higher educational system, with admission based on competitive academic examination. Graduate study programs were introduced, and thousands of Chinese were

Pitt-rivers, Augustus Henry Lane-fox

2005-03-01T19:02:00.000-08:00

Archaeologist often called the “father of British archaeology,” who stressed the need for total excavation of sites, thorough stratigraphic observation and recording, and prompt and complete publication. Like Sir Flinders Petrie, Pitt-Rivers adopted a sociological approach to the study of excavated objects

Medicine, Family health care

2005-03-01T09:42:00.000-08:00

In many societies special facilities are provided for the health care of pregnant women, mothers, and their young children. The health care needs of these three groups are generally recognized to be so closely related as to require a highly integrated service that includes prenatal care, the birth of the baby, the postnatal period, and the needs of the infant. Such

Devanagari,

2005-03-01T08:10:00.000-08:00

Also called Nagari, Indian script used to write the Sanskrit, Prakrit, Hindi, and Marathi languages, developed from the North Indian monumental script known as Gupta and ultimately from the Brahmi alphabet, from which all modern Indian writing systems are derived. In use from the 7th century AD and occurring in its mature form from the 11th century onward, Devanagari is characterized by long, horizontal

Alexander I

2005-02-28T22:59:00.000-08:00

The son of Prince Alexander of Hesse (previously created prince of Battenberg upon his morganatic marriage) and a favourite nephew of Alexander II of Russia, Alexander served during 1877 with the Russian forces in the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78), which resulted in the autonomy of Bulgaria.

Talbot

2005-02-28T09:10:00.000-08:00

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

Allegheny Mountains

2005-02-27T19:40:00.000-08:00

Also called Alleghenies, mountainous eastern part of the Allegheny Plateau in the Appalachian Mountains, U.S. The Allegheny range extends south-southwestward for more than 500 miles (800 km) from north-central Pennsylvania to southwestern Virginia. Rising to Mount Davis (3,213 feet [979 m]; highest point in Pennsylvania) and Spruce Knob (4,862 feet [1,482 m]; highest point in West Virginia), the mountains consist of nearly

Azo Dye

2005-02-27T13:46:00.000-08:00

The oldest

Fabliau

2005-02-26T13:22:00.000-08:00

About 150 fabliaux are extant. Many of them are based on elementary jokes or puns—such as one called Estula,

Myanmar (burma)

2005-02-26T10:49:00.000-08:00

Myanmar's ruling military junta in 1993 ignored calls from the U.S., the European

Strambotto

2005-02-25T17:28:00.000-08:00

Plural strambotti one of the oldest Italian verse forms, composed of a single stanza of either six or eight hendecasyllabic (11-syllable) lines. Strambotti were particularly popular in Renaissance Sicily and Tuscany, and the origin of the form in either region is still uncertain. Variations of the eight-line strambotto include the Sicilian octave (ottava siciliana), with the rhyme scheme

Jovian

2005-02-25T06:02:00.000-08:00

Jovian took part in the expedition of the emperor Julian against Sasanian Persia and was proclaimed emperor by his troops after Julian was killed on June 26, 363. To extricate his army from Persia, the new ruler immediately concluded a peace, ceding to the Persians all Roman territory east of the Tigris

Levinson, Salmon Oliver

2005-02-23T18:19:00.000-08:00

Levinson practiced law in Chicago from 1891 and became noted for his skill in reorganizing the finances of distressed corporations. In an article in the New Republic, March 9, 1918, he argued that violence by nation-states should be declared illegal.

Biblical Literature, The Megillot (the Scrolls)

2005-02-23T06:36:00.000-08:00

The five books known as the Megillot or Scrolls are grouped together as a unit in modern Hebrew Bibles according to the order of the annual religious festivals on which they are read in the synagogues of the Ashkenazim (central and eastern European Jews and their descendants). They did not originally form a unit and were found scattered in the Bible in their supposed

Saar, Betye

2005-02-23T01:36:00.000-08:00

Saar studied design at the University of California at Los Angeles (B.A., 1949) and education and printmaking at California State University at Long Beach. In the early 1960s she created etchings

Quiller-couch, Sir Arthur Thomas

2005-02-22T23:28:00.000-08:00

He was educated at Newton Abbot College, Clifton College, and Trinity College, Oxford, where he became lecturer in classics (1886–87). In 1887 he wrote Dead Man's Rock, the first of several novels of Cornwall

Biblical Literature, Composition and authorship

2005-02-22T11:41:00.000-08:00

The Torah, or Pentateuch (Five Scrolls), traditionally the most revered portion of the Hebrew canon, comprises a series of narratives, interspersed with law codes, providing an account of events from the beginning of the world to the death of Moses. Modern critical scholarship tends to hold that there were originally four books (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers)

Luria, Isaac Ben Solomon

2005-02-21T23:42:00.000-08:00

Luria's youth was spent in Egypt, where he became versed in rabbinic studies, engaged in commerce, and eventually concentrated on study of the Zohar, the central work of Kabbala. In 1570 he went to Safed in Galilee, where

Orbital

2005-02-21T20:21:00.000-08:00

In chemistry and physics, a mathematical expression, called a wave function, that describes properties characteristic of no more than two electrons in the vicinity of an atomic nucleus or of a system of nuclei as in a molecule. An orbital often is depicted as a three-dimensional region within which there is a 95 percent probability of finding the electron (see

Anthrosol

2005-02-20T20:59:00.000-08:00

One of the 30 soil groups in the classification system of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Anthrosols are defined as any soils that have been modified profoundly by human activities, including burial, partial removal, cutting and filling, waste disposal, manuring, and irrigated agriculture. These soils vary widely in their biological, chemical, and physical

China, Early man

2005-02-20T10:42:00.000-08:00

The fossil record in China promises fundamental contributions to the understanding of human origins. There is considerable evidence of Homo erectus by the time of the Lower Paleolithic (the Paleolithic Period began c. 2,500,000 years ago and ended 10,000 years ago) at sites such as Lan-t'ien, Shensi; Ho-hsien, Anhwei; Yüan-mou, Yunnan; and, the most famous, that of so-called Peking man at Chou-k'ou-tien

Silchester

2005-02-19T10:12:00.000-08:00

Village (“parish”) in Basingstoke and Deane borough, in the northern part of the administrative and historic county of Hampshire, England, southwest of Reading. Near the small modern village is the deserted site of the important Roman-British town of Calleva Atrebatum, a node of the Roman road system in Britain. Most of the antiquities recovered from the site are in the

Magnus Vi

2005-02-19T02:34:00.000-08:00

Magnus succeeded his father, Haakon IV Haakonsson, in 1263 and quickly made peace with the Scottish king Alexander

Gahn, Johan Gottlieb

2005-02-18T18:57:00.000-08:00

Swedish mineralogist and crystallographer who discovered manganese in 1774. His failure to win fame may be related to the fact that he published little. He saved the notes, papers, and letters of his friend Carl Wilhelm Scheele, who discovered chlorine, but not his own. His essays on the balance and use of the blowpipe in analysis

Uyuni Salt Flat

2005-02-18T14:06:00.000-08:00

Spanish Salar De Uyuni, arid, windswept salt flat in southwestern Bolivia. It lies on the Altiplano, at 11,995 feet (3,656 m) above sea level. The Uyuni Salt Flat is Bolivia's largest salt-encrusted waste area (approximately 4,085 square miles [10,582 square km]) and is separated from the Coipasa Salt Flat, a similar but smaller feature to the north, by a range of hills. On its shores are saltworks at Salinas de Garci Mendoza

Udi-nsukka Plateau

2005-02-17T17:35:00.000-08:00

Pair of plateaus in south-central Nigeria that form a nearly continuous elevated area. The Nsukka Plateau, which forms the main eastward-facing escarpment, extends about 80 miles (130 km) from Nsukka in the north to Enugu in the south. The Udi Plateau continues southward for about 100 miles (160 km) to a point near Okigwi. The average elevation is slightly more than 1,000 feet (300 m), and the highest

Antiarch

2005-02-17T14:56:00.000-08:00

Any of an order of extinct, mainly freshwater, jawed fishes, class Placodermi, abundant during Middle and Late Devonian times (387 to 360 million years ago). Members of such genera as Bothriolepis and Pterichthys were representative. Antiarchs were small and weak-jawed and had closely set eyes on top of the head. Armour shields covered the front part of the body, and armoured,

Buxton

2005-02-17T09:44:00.000-08:00

Town, High Peak borough, administrative and historic county of Derbyshire, England, encircled by (but excluded from) the Peak District National Park. Standing between 1,000 and 1,100 feet (305 and 335 metres) above sea level, Buxton is the highest market town in England. The mineral waters have long been famous; they were used by the Romans, who called the place Aquae Arnemetiae. The baths

Sashimi

2005-02-16T17:32:00.000-08:00

Specialty of Japanese cuisine, fresh fish served raw. The fish, which must be utterly fresh, is sliced paper thin or alternately one-quarter to one-half inch (0.75–1.5 centimetres) thick, cubed, or cut in strips, according to the nature of the fish. The sashimi is accompanied by wasabi (green horseradish paste) and soy sauce. Sashimi is always part of a formal Japanese meal, served early

Leadwork

2005-02-16T11:31:00.000-08:00

Sculpture, ornamental objects, and architectural coverings and fittings made of lead. Although the ease with which lead is smelted from lead ores ensured its early discovery, the softness of the metal restricted its use until Roman times. The earliest known use of lead dates from about 3000 BC in Egypt and Asia Minor, when it was used in making small statuettes and votive

Outwash

2005-02-15T23:51:00.000-08:00

Deposit of sand and gravel carried by running water from the melting ice of a glacier and laid down in stratified deposits. An outwash may attain a thickness of 100 m (328 feet) at the edge of a glacier, although the thickness is usually much less; it may also extend many kilometres in length. For example, outwash deposits from the Wisconsin Glaciation can be traced to the mouth

Salem

2005-02-15T06:10:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1694) of Salem county, southwestern New Jersey, U.S. It lies along the Salem River near the latter's confluence with the Delaware River, 34 miles (55 km) southwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was established in 1675 by John Fenwick, an English Quaker. The Friends (Quakers) Burial Ground in Salem has the Salem Oak—a tree 80 feet (25 metres) high that is said to be more than 500 years old—under

Akund Floss

2005-02-14T16:28:00.000-08:00

Also called Calotropis Floss, downy seed fibre obtained from Calotropis procera and C. gigantea, plants of the Asclepiadaceae family. The plants are native to southern Asia and Africa and were introduced to South America and the islands of the Caribbean. The yellowish material is made up of thin fibres 2 to 3 cm (0.75 to 1.12 inches) long and 12 to 42 microns (a micron is about 0.00004 inch) in diameter and is harvested by hand.

Philately

2005-02-14T10:13:00.000-08:00

The study of postage stamps, stamped envelopes, postmarks, postcards, and other materials relating to postal delivery. The term philately also denotes the collecting of these items. The term was coined in 1864 by a Frenchman, Georges Herpin, who invented it from the Greek philos, “love,” and ateleia, “that which is tax-free”; the postage stamp permitted the letter to come free of

Ampulla

2005-02-13T13:27:00.000-08:00

Plural Ampullae, a small narrow-necked, round-bodied vase for holding liquids, especially oil and perfumes. It was used in the ancient Mediterranean for toilet purposes and for anointing the bodies of the dead, being then buried with them. In early medieval times in Europe, ampullae were used in anointing kings. Both the name and the function of the ampulla have survived in Western Christianity

Sea Hen

2005-02-12T18:22:00.000-08:00

Fish, a species of lumpsucker (q.v.).

Scanlon, John Patrick

2005-02-11T10:40:00.000-08:00

American public relations consultant (b. Feb. 27, 1935, New York, N.Y.—d. May 4, 2001, New York), specialized in representing high-profile and often controversial clients. He worked as a press spokesman for various New York City government agencies and corporations before embarking on a career as an independent consultant. Among other notable clients, Scanlon represented the tobacco

Alunogen

2005-02-11T08:57:00.000-08:00

A sulfate mineral formed by sulfate solutions that attack aluminous minerals; alunogen is hydrated aluminum sulfate, formulated Al2(SO4)3×18H2O. It typically occurs as an efflorescence or crevice filling in pyrite-containing coal formations, shales, or slates, as well as in the gossan (weathered capping) of sulfide ore deposits and in volcanic fumarole deposits. In older

Dragasani, Battle Of

2005-02-11T00:07:00.000-08:00

(June 19, 1821), military engagement in which the Ottoman Turks defeated the forces of the Greek revolutionary society Philikí Etaireía and ended the first insurrection of the Greek War of Independence. Intending to overthrow Ottoman rule in the Balkans and to establish an independent Greek state, Philikí Etaireía sent the Sacred Battalion, under Alexander Ypsilantis,

Raabe, Wilhelm

2005-02-10T02:05:00.000-08:00

After leaving school in Wolfenbüttel in 1849, Raabe was apprenticed for four years to a Magdeburg book dealer, during which time he read widely. Although he attended lectures at Berlin University, the important product of his time

Atlantic City

2005-02-09T20:20:00.000-08:00

Resort city, Atlantic county, southeastern New Jersey, U.S., on the Atlantic Ocean. It lies on the low, narrow, sandy, 10-mile- (16-km) long Absecon Island, which is separated from the mainland by a narrow strait and several miles of meadows partly covered with water at high tide. The area was inhabited by Delaware Indians before English settlers arrived in the late 1670s. Development

Uitenhage

2005-02-09T19:12:00.000-08:00

Town, Eastern province, South Africa, near the Indian Ocean, northwest of Port Elizabeth. It was founded in 1804 by J.A. Uitenhage de Mist, a Dutch governmental official sent to the Cape Colony by the government of the Batavian Republic, and it contains a number of 19th-century buildings, including the Drostdy (1815), Town Hall (1882, extended in 1952), and Court House (1898). Uitenhage is an industrial town,

Alexander Ii

2005-02-08T14:11:00.000-08:00

He studied under Lanfranc at Bec. As bishop of Lucca he worked for the abolition of simony and the enforcement of clerical celibacy. Though he was elected pope, the German court nominated Peter Cadalus of Parma as Honorius II, and Alexander was not recognized by the empire until 1064. In 1062 the antipope was dropped by the German regents, and

Qalamkari Textile

2005-02-08T05:27:00.000-08:00

The textile designs reflect the Persianized tastes of the wealthy ruling class and also

Xenarthran

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

Sloths and anteaters are the living members of the order Pilosa, whose name refers to the animals' hairiness. Three families exist today, encompassing five genera and nine species. Six families, primarily ground sloths, are extinct. The order Pilosa is further subdivided into the suborder Vermilingua, literally “worm-tongue,” which is

Arts, Central Asian, Decorative arts

2005-02-06T14:58:00.000-08:00

In the main temple (fo-khang) of Lhasa there is a pre-Buddhist silver jug with a long neck surmounted by a horse's head; and there are textual references to all kinds of articles made of gold: a large golden goose holding seven gallons of wine, a wine vase, a miniature city decorated with gold lions, and golden bowls. Gold animals are mentioned as decorating the camp of King

Palatal

2005-02-06T08:52:00.000-08:00

In phonetics, a consonant sound produced by raising the blade, or front, of the tongue toward or against the hard palate just behind the alveolar ridge (the gums). The German ch sound in ich and the French gn (pronounced ny) in agneau are palatal consonants. English has no purely palatal consonants, except for the y sound (a semivowel) in “you.” (The sh sound in “ship” and the zh sound

Haliburton, Thomas Chandler

2005-02-05T19:04:00.000-08:00

Haliburton was admitted to the bar in 1820 and, as a member of the Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly (1826–29), led

Radiation Measurement

2005-02-05T18:41:00.000-08:00

The term ionizing radiation refers to those subatomic particles and photons whose energy is sufficient to cause ionization in the matter with which they interact. The ionization process consists of

Babeuf, François-noël

2005-02-05T18:26:00.000-08:00

John Anthony Scott (ed. and trans.), The Defense of Gracchus Babeuf Before the High Court of Vendôme, trans. from French (1964); R.B. Rose, Gracchus Babeuf: The First Revolutionary Communist (1978).

Ithna 'ashariyah

2005-02-04T09:49:00.000-08:00

Each of the imams—'Ali, his sons Hasan and Husayn, 'Ali Zayn al-'Abidin, Muhammad al-Baqir, Ja'far as-Sadiq, Musa al-Kazim, 'Ali ar-Rida, Muhammad al-Jawad, 'Ali al-Hadi, Hasan al-'Askari, and Muhammad

Macdonald, John D.

2005-02-04T06:07:00.000-08:00

After MacDonald graduated from Syracuse (New York) University (B.S., 1938) and Harvard Graduate School of Business (M.B.A., 1939), he served in World

Steinem, Gloria

2005-02-03T22:31:00.000-08:00

Steinem spent her early years traveling with her parents in a house trailer. After their divorce in 1946, Gloria settled with her mother in Toledo, Ohio, and for the first time began attending school on a regular basis.

Narayan, R.k.

2005-02-03T00:40:00.000-08:00

Reared by his grandmother, Narayan completed his education in 1930 and briefly worked as a teacher before deciding to devote himself to writing. His first novel, Swami and Friends (1935), is an episodic narrative recounting the adventures of a group of schoolboys.

Locust

2005-02-01T20:02:00.000-08:00

Species of short-horned grasshopper (orthopteran family Acrididae) that often increases greatly in number and migrates long distances in destructive swarms. In Europe the word locust connotes large size; smaller acridids are called grasshoppers. In North America the names locust and grasshopper are used for any acridid. A cicada (order Homoptera) also may be called

Interior Design, Symbolism and style

2005-02-01T14:24:00.000-08:00

There are many historic examples of symbolism in design, but often the symbolism is not a conscious statement so much as a more subtle reflection of style. Religious buildings, especially churches, have until recently been consistently traditional expressions of style or symbolism. The church and church architecture flourished during the Middle Ages, and the

Antibiotic

2005-02-01T09:47:00.000-08:00

Although antibiotics are released naturally into the soil by bacteria and fungi, they did not come into worldwide prominence until the introduction of penicillin in 1941. Since then they have revolutionized the treatment of bacterial infections

Montfort, Simon De, Earl Of Leicester

2005-02-01T00:23:00.000-08:00

Simon de Montfort, wholly French by birth and education, was the son of Simon de Montfort l'Amaury, leader of the crusade against the heretical Albigenses. On coming of age, he renounced to his eldest brother, Amaury,