CruelChest

Alaska Blackfish

2005-04-05T02:56:00.000-07:00

(species Dallia pectoralis), Arctic freshwater fish, assigned by some authorities to the family Umbridae but by others to the separate family Dalliidae. The fish is about 20 cm (8 inches) long, with a dark, streamlined body, protruding lower jaw, and two large opposed fins near the tail. Locally important as a food fish, it lives in shallow streams and ponds of North America and

Dubbing

2005-04-04T03:15:00.000-07:00

In filmmaking, the process of adding new dialogue or other sounds to the sound track of a motion picture that has already been shot. Dubbing is most familiar to audiences as a means of translating foreign-language films into the audience's language. When a foreign language is dubbed, the translation of the original dialogue is carefully matched to the lip movements

International Law, Antarctica

2005-04-03T23:26:00.000-07:00

The Antarctic Treaty (1959) prevents militarization of the Antarctic continent and suspends territorial claims by states for the life of the treaty. Because it provides no mechanism for its termination, however, a continuing and open-ended regime has been created. There also are various agreements that protect Antarctica's environment.

Guzmania

2005-04-02T05:41:00.000-08:00

Guzmania leaves are stiff, often stemless or short-stemmed,

Procurator

2005-04-01T23:50:00.000-08:00

Latin Procurator , plural Procuratores government financial agent in ancient Rome. From the reign of the emperor Augustus (27 BC–AD 14), procurators were regularly appointed to official posts in the imperial administration of the provinces or in the departments of the imperial government concerning such matters as the grain supply, the mint, and the mines. Procurators of provinces supervised imperial finances

Furniture, Historical forms and styles

2005-03-31T19:18:00.000-08:00

Round stone tables on low pedestal legs are known in Egypt from the time of the pyramids (c. 2700 BC). Egyptian limestone reliefs also show tables of normal height. Dating from the later dynasties, crude wooden tables with architectonic molding have been preserved. No tables have survived from ancient Greece. From the Roman ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum, however, there are

Finland, Settlement patterns

2005-03-30T21:48:00.000-08:00

Increased industrialization in Finland has steadily raised the proportion of the population living in urban areas; by the late 20th century about three-fifths of the total population lived in cities and towns. Farms are most commonly located in the meadowland regions of the southwest, where the fertile land is suitable for mixed farming. In the north farmers usually

Weber, Carl Maria Von

2005-03-29T14:10:00.000-08:00

In full Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst, Freiherr (baron) Von Weber German composer and opera director during the transition from Classical to Romantic music, noted especially for his operas Der Freischütz (The Freeshooter, 1821), Euryanthe (1823), and Oberon (1826). Der Freischütz, the most immediately and widely popular German opera that had then been written, established German Romantic

Aldrich, Robert

2005-03-28T18:05:00.000-08:00

Aldrich entered the motion-picture industry as a production clerk at RKO in 1941 and was made assistant director and production manager at Enterprise Studios in the late 1940s. After working with such directors as Jean

Gujarat, The land

2005-03-27T22:11:00.000-08:00

Gujarat is a land of great contrasts; it stretches from the wet, fertile, rice-growing plains of the west coast, north of Bombay city, to the almost rainless salt deserts of Kachchh in the northwest. Kachchh, comprising a single district, is bounded on the south by the Gulf of Kachchh and on the north and east is separated from Pakistan and the mainland of India by the Rann

Celan, Paul

2005-03-26T13:04:00.000-08:00

When Romania came under virtual Nazi control in World War II, Celan was sent to

Leaf-nosed Snake

2005-03-25T07:40:00.000-08:00

Any of four species of small burrowing snakes of the family Colubridae that have the nose shield enlarged and flattened, with free edges. Several subspecies of each also exist. The two members of the genus Phyllorhynchus are found in creosote-bush deserts of the southwestern United States and Mexico, where they hunt at night for lizards and insects. The two species

Hooft, Gerardus 't

2005-03-24T17:00:00.000-08:00

Dutch physicist, corecipient with Martinus J.G. Veltman of the 1999 Nobel Prize for Physics for their development of a mathematical model that enabled scientists to predict the properties of both the subatomic particles that constitute the universe and the fundamental forces through which they interact. Their work facilitated the finding of

Undersea Cable

2005-03-23T18:04:00.000-08:00

Also called Marine Cable, assembly of conductors enclosed by an insulating sheath and laid on the ocean floor for the transmission of messages. Undersea cables for transmitting telegraph signals antedated the invention of the telephone; the first undersea telegraph cable was laid in 1850 between England and France. The Atlantic was spanned in 1858 between Ireland and Newfoundland, but the cable's

Self-fertilization

2005-03-23T00:16:00.000-08:00

Fusion of male and female gametes (sex cells) produced by the same individual. Self-fertilization occurs in bisexual organisms, including most flowering plants, numerous protozoans, and many invertebrates. Autogamy, the production of gametes by the division of a single parent cell, is frequently found in unicellular organisms such as the protozoan Paramecium

Pozzolana

2005-03-22T18:42:00.000-08:00

Also spelled pozzuolana , or pozzolan hydraulic cement discovered by the Romans and still used in some countries, made by grinding pozzolana (a type of slag that may be either natural—i.e., volcanic—or artificial, from a blast furnace) with powdered hydrated lime. Roman engineers used two parts by weight of pozzolana mixed with one part of lime to give strength to mortar and concrete in bridges and other masonry

Andes Mountains

2005-03-21T23:14:00.000-08:00

As mentioned above, the Andes have been populated for millennia. By the time of the Spanish conquest in the 1530s, the indigenous highland peoples had developed a thorough knowledge of the Andes and had built in them an extensive network of cities and connecting roads. Early Spanish exploration of the mountains consisted of plundering raids, although in the process

Levi-montalcini, Rita

2005-03-21T21:42:00.000-08:00

Levi-Montalcini studied medicine at the University of Turin and did research there on the

Hale, Horatio (emmons)

2005-03-20T18:14:00.000-08:00

While a student at Harvard University (1833–37), Hale studied the language of some

Wyandotte Cave

2005-03-20T09:50:00.000-08:00

Cave in Crawford County, southern Indiana, U.S., near the village of Wyandotte. With 25 mi (40 km) of passages on five levels, it is the largest of the many such caves dissolved out in the horizontally bedded Mississippian limestones that extend southward into the cave-bearing regions of Kentucky and Tennessee. The entrance is about 200 ft (60 m) above the Blue River. The cave was used

Smith, Charlotte

2005-03-19T04:12:00.000-08:00

English novelist and poet, highly praised by the novelist Sir Walter Scott. Her poetic attitude toward nature was reminiscent of William Cowper's in celebrating the “ordinary” pleasures of the English countryside. Her radical attitudes toward conventional morality (the novel Desmond tells of the innocent

Pacific Mountain System, Geology

2005-03-18T20:03:00.000-08:00

In general, the movement of tectonic plates has been responsible for the development of the Pacific mountain system. The coastal mountains from the Queen Charlotte Islands southward to southern California have been folded, faulted, and intruded with molten rock as a result of this movement. The most significant activity has been the lateral, northerly movement

Karabagh Rug

2005-03-17T08:50:00.000-08:00

Karabagh also spelled Karabakh, floor covering handmade in the district of Karabakh (Azerbaijan), just north of the present Iranian border. As might be expected, Karabagh designs and colour schemes tend to be more like those of Persian rugs than do those made in other parts of the Caucasus, and it is difficult to distinguish Karabagh runners from those of Karzdagh, in Iran, to the south. Certain Karabagh

Torcello

2005-03-17T02:00:00.000-08:00

Island-village in the Laguna Veneta (Venice Lagoon) and an eastern environ of Venice, Italy. Founded in AD 452 by refugees from Altino on the mainland, the bishopric of Altino was transferred there in the 7th century. The island, a flourishing city in ancient times, was the head of an association of the communes of the lagoon until the seat of government was moved to the Rialto

Auckland Islands

2005-03-16T22:57:00.000-08:00

Outlying island group of New Zealand, in the South Pacific Ocean, 290 miles (467 km) south of South Island. Volcanic in origin, they comprise six islands and several islets, with a total land area of 234 square miles (606 square km), and have a cool, humid, and windy climate. The islands' soils are generally poor, and shrub forests cover lower elevations. Animal life includes birds, wild cattle,

School Drama

2005-03-15T23:23:00.000-08:00

Any play performed by students in schools and colleges throughout Europe during the Renaissance. At first these plays were written by scholars in Latin as educational works, especially in Jesuit schools, but they later were viewed as entertainment as well. The works included translations and imitations of such Latin authors as Terence and Plautus, as well as original

Torgau

2005-03-15T13:18:00.000-08:00

City, Saxony Land (state), eastern Germany. It is a port on the Elbe River, northeast of Leipzig. First mentioned in 973 and chartered in 1255–67, it was, after 1456, a frequent residence of the electors of Saxony, who built the Hartenfels Castle (1533–44 and 1616–23; now a museum). In 1526 the Torgauer Bund, a league of evangelical princes against the Roman Catholic princes, was formed there. During that period Martin

Xylophone

2005-03-14T07:35:00.000-08:00

(from Greek xylon and phone: “wood” and “sound”), percussion instrument consisting of a set of graduated, tuned wooden bars supported at nodal (nonvibrating) points and struck with padded mallets. The xylophone possibly originated in Southeast Asia or Oceania and today exists in forms as simple as two

Gradient Wind

2005-03-13T16:20:00.000-08:00

Hypothetical wind that accounts for air flow along a curved trajectory. It is an extension of the concept of geostrophic wind—i.e., the wind assumed to move along straight and parallel isobars (lines of equal pressure). The gradient wind represents the actual wind better than does the geostrophic wind, especially when the wind speed and trajectory curvature are large,

Guinea-bissau, Relief

2005-03-12T23:10:00.000-08:00

The coastal area is demarcated by a dense

Gabrovo

2005-03-12T20:10:00.000-08:00

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

Marchesi De Castrone, Mathilde

2005-03-11T21:19:00.000-08:00

She studied in Paris under Manuel García, the foremost teacher of singing of the 19th century, and made her debut as a singer in 1849. In 1854 she began teaching. She taught at the conservatories of Vienna and Cologne as well as in London and

Leakey, Mary Douglas

2005-03-10T09:26:00.000-08:00

As a girl she exhibited a natural talent for drawing and was interested in archaeology. After undergoing sporadic

Grafton

2005-03-10T08:41:00.000-08:00

City and port, northeastern New South Wales, Australia, 42 mi (68 km) from the mouth of the Clarence River (and its Pacific outport of Yamba), in the North Coast district. The site was first settled in 1838 when the area was exploited by cedar getters. The city was proclaimed in 1885 and increased in size in 1956 by merging the municipalities of Grafton and South Grafton (both named after the Duke

Danbury

2005-03-09T03:38:00.000-08:00

City, coextensive with the town (township) of Danbury, Fairfield county, southwestern Connecticut, U.S. It lies along the Still River in the foothills of the Berkshire Hills. Settled in 1685, it was named in 1687 for Danbury, England, and was incorporated as a town in 1702. The municipality within the original town tract became a borough in 1822 and a city in 1889; the town and city were consolidated

Tasmania, Education

2005-03-08T04:37:00.000-08:00

School attendance is compulsory for children between the ages of 6 and 16. Government-supported schools include infant, primary (some with preschool facilities), area, district, and high schools (nonselective, comprehensive, mostly coeducational), together with matriculation colleges (secondary colleges that prepare students in their final one or two years for the

Allée

2005-03-07T16:47:00.000-08:00

The allée normally passed through a planted boscage (a small wood); in the 17th century the boscage was square-trimmed at the sides and on top; later the sides were

Amazonas

2005-03-07T09:11:00.000-08:00

Departamento, southeastern Colombia, located in the warm, humid Amazon River basin. It is bounded on the northwest by the Caquetá River, on the northeast by the Apaporis River, on the east by Brazil, and on the south by Peru and the Putumayo River. Colombia's only direct contact with the Amazon River is through Amazonas. It is the largest departamento in Colombia but is

Integument, Annelids

2005-03-05T23:03:00.000-08:00

Annelids have a thin, horny cuticle pierced by pores through which epidermal glands secrete mucus. In some marine annelids, glands are also present that secrete materials constituting a parchmentlike or calcareous tube within which the worm dwells. Earthworms and leeches secrete cocoons from a specialized epidermis in a region of the body known as the clitellum.

Waterford Glass

2005-03-05T05:55:00.000-08:00

Heavy cut glassware produced in Waterford, Ire., from 1729. Waterford glass, particularly the early variety, is characterized by thick walls, deeply incised geometric cutting, and brilliant polish. The smoky, bluish gray colour of early Waterford glass was considered a drawback, and a clear crystal was produced after 1830. It is the darkened glass, however, that is most prized

Obihiro

2005-03-04T01:32:00.000-08:00

City, southern Hokkaido, Japan, on the Tokachi River. Founded in 1883, it became the administrative capital of Tokachi subprefecture in 1897. The arrival of two railway lines in the early 1900s made Obihiro a trade centre of agricultural products grown in the surrounding Tokachi Plain. Obihiro's industries are based on food processing; the city contains one of the largest beet-sugar

Frederick Iii (or Ii)

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

Appointed regent of Sicily by his brother, James II of Aragon, in 1291, Frederick was elected king by the Sicilian parliament (Dec. 11, 1295), to prevent the island's return to the rule of the Angevin Charles II of Naples; he was crowned on March 25, 1296. To revive the Ghibelline

Sakakah

2005-03-03T13:06:00.000-08:00

Oasis, northwestern Saudi Arabia. It lies on an old caravan route from the Mediterranean Sea coast to the central and southern parts of the Arabian Peninsula. Sakakah lies north of the desert an-Nafud and northeast of al-Jawf oasis. The government tried to improve agricultural conditions in the area. The main products of the oasis are dates and dairy products.

Latite

2005-03-02T16:01:00.000-08:00

Also called trachyandesite extrusive igneous rock very abundant in western North America. Usually coloured white, yellowish, pinkish, or gray, it is the volcanic equivalent of monzonite (q.v.). Latites contain plagioclase feldspar (andesine or oligoclase) as large, single crystals (phenocrysts) in a fine-grained matrix of orthoclase feldspar and augite. They also contain phenocrysts of diopside,

21-centimetre Radiation

2005-03-02T08:48:00.000-08:00

Electromagnetic radiation of radio wavelength emitted by cold, neutral, interstellar hydrogen atoms. The hydrogen atom is composed of a positively charged particle, the proton, and a negatively charged particle, the electron. These particles can be considered as spinning around their own axes of rotation. When the spins of the two particles are antiparallel, then

Arabia, History Of, Religious reform

2005-03-01T03:57:00.000-08:00

The Wahhabi movement, which introduced a new factor into the pattern of Arabian politics, was founded by Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, a reformer influenced by the writings of the 13th–14th-century pietist theologian Ibn Taymiyah, of the strict Hanbali school of Islamic law. It was 'Abd al-Wahhab's intention to purify Islam of polytheism and to return it to an idealized primitive state.

Uterus

2005-02-28T20:18:00.000-08:00

The uterus has four major regions: the fundus is the broad, curved upper area in which the fallopian

Silk Spider

2005-02-28T04:40:00.000-08:00

Also called Golden Silk Spider (Nephila), any of a genus of the class Arachnida (phylum Arthropoda), so named because of the great strength of their silk and the golden colour of their huge orb webs. These webs often measure one metre (about three feet) or more in diameter and are suspended between trees by guy lines. About 60 species are known to live in the warmer regions of the world. Adult females are very

Anthomyiid Fly

2005-02-27T07:15:00.000-08:00

A common insect of the family Anthomyiidae (order Diptera) resembling the housefly in appearance. The lesser housefly (Fannia canicularis) and the latrine fly (F. scalaris) are important anthomyiid flies. They breed in filth, can carry diseases, and are often found in the home. Some larvae feed on plants and are serious pests, many are scavengers and live in excrement and

Referendum And Initiative

2005-02-26T23:06:00.000-08:00

The referendum may be obligatory or optional. Under the obligatory type, a statute or constitution requires that certain classes of legislative action be referred to a popular vote for approval or rejection. For

Zeeman Effect

2005-02-26T16:52:00.000-08:00

In physics and astronomy, the splitting of a spectral line into two or more components of slightly different frequency when the light source is placed in a magnetic field. It was first observed in 1896 by the Dutch physicist Pieter Zeeman as a broadening of the yellow D-lines of sodium in a flame held between strong magnetic poles. Later the broadening was found to be a distinct

Tyndall, John

2005-02-26T11:44:00.000-08:00

Tyndall was born into a poor Protestant Irish family. After a thorough basic education he worked as a surveyor in Ireland and England (1839–47). When his ambitions turned from engineering to science, Tyndall

Lorde, Audre

2005-02-24T02:38:00.000-08:00

The daughter of Grenadan parents, Lorde attended Hunter College and received a B.A. in 1959 and a master's degree in library science in 1961. She married in 1962 and wrote poetry while working as a librarian at

Encyclopaedia, China

2005-02-24T00:55:00.000-08:00

The contribution from the East to the history of encyclopaedias is distinctive and covers a longer period than that of the West. The Chinese have produced encyclopaedias for approximately 2,000 years, but traditionally they differ from the modern Western encyclopaedia in that they are mainly anthologies of significant literature with some elements of the dictionary.

Sarcee

2005-02-23T17:50:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Sarsi, North American Plains Indian people of Athabascan linguistic stock who lived in the 18th and 19th centuries near the upper Saskatchewan and Athabaska rivers. They probably moved southward to this region near the end of the 17th century when they became the northern neighbours of the Blackfoot Indians, from whom they received some protection from enemies. Their name

North Germanic Languages, Swedish

2005-02-22T08:48:00.000-08:00

Before the Swedish revolt of Gustav I Vasa in 1525, Danish influence on the Swedish language had been strong; the new government, however, made vigorous efforts to eliminate this. The written norm was based on one that had developed in the manuscripts of central Sweden, extending from the Vadstena monastery in eastern Götaland to Stockholm and Uppsala. In comparison to

Ukrainian Catholic Church

2005-02-22T08:34:00.000-08:00

Largest of the Eastern Catholic churches, in communion with Rome since the Union of Brest-Litovsk (1596). Byzantine Christianity was established among the Ukrainians in 988 by St. Vladimir (Volodimir) and followed Constantinople in the Great Schism of 1054. Temporary reunion with Rome was effected in the mid-15th century, and a definitive union was achieved at Brest-Litovsk in 1596, when

Frunze, Mikhail Vasilyevich

2005-02-21T13:34:00.000-08:00

Frunze took part in the Moscow insurrection in 1905 and, after frequent arrests for revolutionary activity, escaped in 1915 to conduct agitation in the Russian army, first on the western front

Systemic Circulation

2005-02-20T11:54:00.000-08:00

In physiology, the circuit of vessels supplying oxygenated blood to and returning deoxygenated blood from the tissues of the body, as distinguished from the pulmonary circulation. Blood is pumped from the left ventricle of the heart through the aorta and arterial branches to the arterioles and through capillaries, where it reaches an equilibrium with the tissue

Chirac, Jacques

2005-02-20T05:51:00.000-08:00

Chirac, the son of a bank employee, graduated from the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris in 1954, served as an officer in the French army in Algeria (1956–57), and earned a graduate degree from the École Nationale d'Administration in 1959. He then became a civil

Nicaea, Empire Of

2005-02-19T23:45:00.000-08:00

Theodore fled to Anatolia with other Byzantine leaders after the Latin crusaders' conquest of Constantinople in 1204, establishing

Biblical Literature, Song of Solomon

2005-02-18T22:55:00.000-08:00

The Song of Solomon (also called Song of Songs and Canticle of Canticles) consists of a series of love poems in which lovers describe the physical beauty and excellence of their beloved and their sexual enjoyment of each other. The Hebrew title of the book mentions Solomon as its author, but this seems improbable, primarily because of the late vocabulary of the work.

Su-ao

2005-02-18T01:00:00.000-08:00

Coastal town and port in I-lan hsien (county), northeastern Taiwan. It is situated 13 miles (21 km) southeast of I-lan city, in the southern part of the I-lan plain. Originally a small fishing port with one of the best natural harbours in Taiwan, Su-ao was developed into an international deepwater commercial port in the late 1970s. A railway line was built to Hua-lien city, 55 miles (90 km) down

Wagner, Robert F(erdinand)

2005-02-17T21:47:00.000-08:00

Wagner arrived in the United States at the age of eight and settled with his parents in a New York tenement neighborhood. After graduating from the City College of New York in 1898, he went on to obtain a law degree from New York Law School in 1900. Later that year he was

Arnaut De Mareuil

2005-02-16T20:14:00.000-08:00

Little is known of Arnaut's life. His early poems were dedicated to his patroness, Adelaide, the daughter of Raymond V, count of Toulouse, and wife of Roger II, viscount of Béziers.

Marcello, Benedetto

2005-02-16T03:45:00.000-08:00

Italian composer and writer, especially remembered for two works: the satirical pamphlet Il teatro alla moda (1720); and Estro poeticoarmonico (1724–26), a setting for voices and instruments of the first 50 psalms in an Italian paraphrase by G. Giustiniani. Il teatro alla moda is an amusing pamphlet in which Marcello vented his opinions on the

Wolof Empire

2005-02-15T14:45:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Ouolof (fl. 14th–16th century), state that dominated what is now inland Senegal during the early period of European contact with West Africa. Founded soon after 1200, the Wolof state was ruled by a king, or burba, whose duties were both political and religious. During the 14th century, it began to develop satellite states, of which the most important was Cayor. During the 15th century Wolof was

Frederick (iii)

2005-02-14T18:55:00.000-08:00

After his father's murder (1308) Frederick became the head of the House of Habsburg and duke of Austria but did not succeed him as king, the count of Luxembourg being elected instead, as Henry VII. Frederick and his brothers made a treaty with Henry

Buisson, Ferdinand-édouard

2005-02-14T08:04:00.000-08:00

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

Kaiserslautern

2005-02-14T01:16:00.000-08:00

City, Rhineland-Palatinate Land (state), southwestern Germany. It lies between the Haardt Mountains (Pfälzer Wald) and the Saar-Nahe-Bergland (Nordpfälzer Bergland) and is surrounded by the Pfälzer Wald nature preserve. A royal residence existed there in the Carolingian period (after 751). The place-name is derived from Lauter (a local stream) and from the emperor (kaiser) Frederick

African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church

2005-02-11T17:25:00.000-08:00

Black Methodist church in the United States, organized in 1821; it adopted its present name in 1848. It developed from a congregation formed by a group of blacks who in 1796 left the John Street Methodist Church in New York City because of discrimination. They built their first church (Zion) in 1800 and were served for many years by white ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1821 a

Biblical Literature, The two- and four-source hypotheses

2005-02-11T14:35:00.000-08:00

The two-source hypothesis is predicated upon the following observations: Matthew and Luke used Mark, both for its narrative material as well as for the basic structural outline of chronology of Jesus' life. Matthew and Luke use a second source, which is called Q (from German Quelle, “source”), not extant, for the sayings (logia) found in common in both of them. Thus, Mark and Q

Tardieu, André

2005-02-10T23:45:00.000-08:00

A member of an upper middle-class family, Tardieu studied at the École Normale Supérieure. After a period in the diplomatic service, he made his reputation as foreign editor of Le Temps. Elected

Chrestien, Florent

2005-02-10T19:19:00.000-08:00

The son of Guillaume Chrestien, an eminent physician and writer on physiology, he became a pupil of Henri Estienne, the Hellenist, at an early age. Later, he was appointed tutor to Henry of Navarre, afterward Henry IV of France, who made him his librarian.

Tasmania, Soils

2005-02-10T13:47:00.000-08:00

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

Asana

2005-02-08T14:33:00.000-08:00

Sanskrit Asana (“sitting posture,” “seat”), in the Yoga system of Indian philosophy, immobile bodily posture that a person assumes in an attempt to isolate the mind by freeing it from attention to bodily functions. It is the third of the eight prescribed stages intended to lead the aspirant to samadhi, the trancelike state of perfect concentration. Once the practitioner is able with ease

Rodeo

2005-02-08T10:43:00.000-08:00

The five standard rodeo events are calf roping, bull riding, steer wrestling (bulldogging), saddle bronc-riding, and bareback bronc-riding. (A bronc [bronco,

Caribbean Sea

2005-02-07T01:28:00.000-08:00

Suboceanic basin of the western Atlantic Ocean, lying between 9° to 22° N and 89° to 60° W. It is approximately 1,063,000 square miles (2,754,000 square kilometres) in extent. To the south it is bounded by the coasts of Venezuela, Colombia, and Panama; to the west by Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, and the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico; to the north by the Greater Antilles islands of Cuba, Hispaniola,

Quintillus, Marcus Aurelius Claudius

2005-02-06T04:04:00.000-08:00

Roman emperor in AD 270, who died or was killed a few weeks after being proclaimed emperor.

Saijo

2005-02-05T21:52:00.000-08:00

City, Ehime ken (prefecture), Shikoku, Japan, in the Kamo River delta. A castle town in the 17th century, it served later as a local administrative and commercial centre. The construction of two large power plants was followed rapidly by the establishment of pulp and paper mills and textile factories. The city, one of the core cities of the East Ehime Industrial City Program

Crothers, Rachel

2005-02-05T16:48:00.000-08:00

Crothers graduated from the Illinois State Normal School (now Illinois State University) in 1892, then studied dramatic art in Boston and New York City, and for a time she appeared

Cohen

2005-02-04T15:57:00.000-08:00

Also spelled kohen (Hebrew: “priest”) , plural cohanim , or cohens Jewish priest, one who is a descendant of Zadok, founder of the priesthood of Jerusalem when the First Temple was built by Solomon (10th century BC) and through Zadok related to Aaron, the first Jewish priest, who was appointed to that office by his younger brother, Moses. Though laymen such as Gideon, David, and Solomon offered sacrifice as God commanded, the Hebrew priesthood

Allodium

2005-02-04T09:41:00.000-08:00

The anarchy that ensued in France after the decline of the Carolingian monarchy at the end of the 9th century allowed much land to be seized and held free, although a large part

Austin College

2005-02-03T03:22:00.000-08:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher education in Sherman, Texas, U.S. Austin, a liberal arts college, is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The college offers bachelor's degree programs in humanities, math and science, and social sciences, as well as interdisciplinary and area studies programs. A master's degree in education is also available. Students

Brunel, Sir Marc Isambard

2005-02-02T16:53:00.000-08:00

In 1793, after six years in the French navy, Brunel returned to France, which was then in the midst of revolution. Within a few months his royalist sympathies compelled him to leave. He fled to the United States, where he held the post of chief

Hohenlohe Family

2005-02-01T17:19:00.000-08:00

German princely family which took its name from the district of Hohenlohe in Franconia. First mentioned in the 12th century as possessing the castle of Hohenloch or Hohenlohe, near Uffenheim, the family soon extended its influence over several of the Franconian valleys, including those of the Kocher, the Jagst, and the Tauber. Henry I (d. 1183) was the first to take the title

Abyssinian

2005-02-01T06:58:00.000-08:00

Breed of domestic cat, probably of Egyptian origin, that has been considered to approximate the sacred cat of ancient Egypt more closely than any other living cat. The Abyssinian is a lithe cat with relatively slender legs and a long, tapering tail. The short, finely textured coat is ruddy reddish brown, with individual hairs of the back, sides, chest, and tail distinctively

Qarakhanid Dynasty

2005-01-31T00:47:00.000-08:00

The Qarakhanids, who belonged to the Qarluq tribal confederation, became prominent during the 9th century. With the disintegration of the Iranian Samanid dynasty, the Qarakhanids took over the Samanid territories in Transoxania. In 999 Harun (or Hasan) Bughra Khan, grandson of the paramount tribal chief of the Qarluq confederation,

Paedogenesis

2005-01-31T00:18:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Pedogenesis, reproduction by sexually mature larvae, usually without fertilization. The young may be eggs, such as are produced by Miastor, a genus of gall midge flies, or other larval forms, as in the case of some flukes. This form of reproduction is distinct from neotenic reproduction in its parthenogenetic nature (i.e., no fertilization occurs) and the eventual maturation or metamorphosis

Encratite

2005-01-30T21:19:00.000-08:00

Tatian converted to Christianity while studying in Rome

Sa-skya-pa

2005-01-29T19:58:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Sakyapa Tibetan Buddhist sect that takes its name from the great Sa-skya (Sakya) monastery founded in 1073, 50 miles (80 km) north of Mount Everest. The sect follows the teachings of the noted traveler and scholar 'Brog-mi (992–1072). He translated into Tibetan the important Tantric work Hevajra Tantra, which remains one of the basic texts of the order. He also transmitted into Tibet from India the teachings

Port Gibson

2005-01-29T09:00:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1803) of Claiborne county, southwestern Mississippi, U.S., 28 miles (45 km) south of Vicksburg, near the Mississippi River on a curve of the Bayou Pierre. It was founded in 1788 by Samuel Gibson, whose cotton plantation became a meeting place for early river travelers. The city has many antebellum buildings, which can be viewed during the annual spring pilgrimage. The survival

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, The allegorical mode

2005-01-27T04:15:00.000-08:00

The range of allegorical literature is so wide that to consider allegory as a fixed literary genre is less useful than to regard it as a dimension, or mode, of controlled indirectness and double meaning (which, in fact, all literature possesses to some degree). Critics usually reserve the term allegory itself for works of considerable length, complexity, or unique shape.

Polgar, Judit

2005-01-27T02:32:00.000-08:00

Apart from her gold-medal-winning appearances for the Hungarian women's Olympiad teams of 1988 and 1990, Polgar

Dactyl

2005-01-26T02:27:00.000-08:00

Metrical foot consisting of one long (classical verse) or stressed (English verse) syllable followed by two short, or unstressed, syllables. Probably the oldest and most common metre in classical verse is the dactylic hexameter, the metre of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey and of other ancient epics. Dactylic metres are fairly rare in English verse, one difficulty being that

Davies, Emily

2005-01-25T07:05:00.000-08:00

Educated at home, Davies joined the campaign for the emancipation of women with

Crailsheim

2005-01-24T21:39:00.000-08:00

City, Baden-Württemberg Land (state), southwestern Germany. It lies along the Jagst River, about 45 miles (70 km) northeast of Stuttgart. A Frankish settlement in the 6th and 7th centuries, it was chartered in 1320 and passed to the Hohenzollerns in 1399 and to Württemberg in 1810. Most of the old city with its historic buildings was destroyed in World War II, but the Romanesque church of St. John

Eyelid

2005-01-24T13:55:00.000-08:00

Movable shield of skin and tissue that protects the eyeball from mechanical injury and helps to provide the moist chamber essential for the normal functioning of the conjunctiva and cornea. The conjunctiva is the mucous membrane that lines the eyelid and covers all the visible portion of the eyeball except the cornea, the transparent part of the eyeball that

Hawaii

2005-01-22T22:41:00.000-08:00

Hawaii was characterized

Macaulay, Catharine

2005-01-21T10:40:00.000-08:00

She was privately educated, and her readings in Greek and Roman history inculcated in her an enthusiasm for libertarian and republican ideals. Following her marriage to the Scottish physician George Macaulay in 1760, she began her History of England from the Accession