MarriedNail

Nutrition, Human, Vitamin D

2005-04-04T05:16:00.000-07:00

Vitamin D is fat-soluble, and cholecalciferol is the major active substance. Its main function is to stimulate the absorption of calcium. The natural source of vitamin D is from the action of short-wave ultraviolet light from the Sun on a derivative of cholesterol in the skin. Vitamin D also occurs in some foods. It is only when people live in high latitudes, consistently

Haldane, John Scott

2005-04-03T05:56:00.000-07:00

Haldane developed several procedures for studying the physiology of breathing and the physiology of the blood and for the analysis of gases consumed or produced by the body. Among his most widely used devices were

Dance, Western, Experiments

2005-04-01T22:12:00.000-08:00

Technological progress itself became the subject of dance and dancing. In the Soviet Union, there were experiments during the 1920s with dances created to express urban traffic, the accuracy of machine work, and the grandeur of skyscrapers. In Germany, the painter Oskar Schlemmer (1888–1943) realized his vision of a dance of pure, geometric form in the Triadisches Ballet performed

Dworkin, Andrea

2005-04-01T10:34:00.000-08:00

Dworkin began writing at an early age. During her undergraduate years at Vermont's Bennington College (B.A., 1968), she became involved with the student demonstrations against the Vietnam War. Her experience in the New

Lea

2005-03-31T13:05:00.000-08:00

County in the High Plains of southeastern New Mexico, U.S., bordered on the east and south by Texas. The northwestern area of the county is located on the Llano Estacado, or Staked Plain, above the Mescalero Escarpment at over 4,000 feet (1,200 m) above sea level; the land slopes to the southeast to under 3,000 feet. There are no streams in Lea county, which includes several dry lakes and creek

April Fools' Day

2005-03-29T16:46:00.000-08:00

Also called All Fools' Day in most countries the first day of April. It received its name from the custom of playing practical jokes on this day—for example, telling friends that their shoelaces are untied or sending them on so-called fools' errands. Although the day has been observed for centuries, there are different explanations for its origin. It resembles festivals such as the Hilaria of

Amreli

2005-03-29T06:47:00.000-08:00

Formerly Amaravalli, town, southwestern Gujarat state, west-central India. The town lies on the Kathiawar Peninsula, 125 miles (200 km) southwest of Ahmadabad. Primarily a commercial centre, its industries include the manufacture of khadi (coarse cotton cloth), tanning, silverworking, and cotton ginning. Amreli is served by a railway and an airfield. Chief crops of the surrounding area are millet, peanuts

Israel, Karaites

2005-03-27T19:33:00.000-08:00

The Karaites are a Jewish sect that emerged in the early Middle Ages. Several thousand members live in Ramla, and more recently in Beersheba and Ashdod. Like other religious minorities, they have their own religious courts and communal organizations. Considered part of Jewish society, they have maintained their separate identity by resisting intermarriage and

Earth, Variation with elevation

2005-03-26T15:36:00.000-08:00

At sea level the gradient is equivalent to -0.3086 milligal per metre;

Moral Theology

2005-03-25T22:43:00.000-08:00

Also called Christian ethics Christian theological discipline concerned with identifying and elucidating the principles that determine the quality of human behaviour in the light of Christian revelation. It is distinguished from the philosophical discipline of ethics, which relies upon the authority of reason and which can only call upon rational sanctions for moral failure. Moral

Earth, Variation with elevation

2005-03-25T02:26:00.000-08:00

Voluntary fellowship of alcoholic persons who seek to get sober and remain sober through self-help and the help of other recovered alcoholics. Although general conventions meet periodically and Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., is headquartered in New York City, all AA groups are essentially local and autonomous. To counteract self-indulgence and promote

Scandinavian Literature, Renewed literary activity in Norway

2005-03-23T18:07:00.000-08:00

Political union between Denmark and Norway started in 1380, and the Danish language eventually became the official and the literary medium. Copenhagen, with its university, established itself as the cultural capital of the two countries. Not until after the Reformation were there signs of renewed literary activity in Norway itself; e.g., in the nostalgic apologia for

Kyd, Thomas

2005-03-22T19:35:00.000-08:00

English dramatist who, with his The Spanish Tragedie (sometimes called Hieronimo, or Jeronimo, after its protagonist), initiated the revenge tragedy of his day. Kyd anticipated the structure of many later plays, including the development of middle and final climaxes. In addition, he revealed an instinctive sense of tragic situation,

Abbott, George Francis

2005-03-20T22:55:00.000-08:00

U.S. theatrical director, producer, playwright, actor, and motion-picture director (b. June 25, 1887, Forestville, N.Y.--d. Jan. 31, 1995, Miami Beach, Fla.), as the dean of Broadway showmen, brought a no-nonsense approach, a flair for establishing pacing and humour, and an exceptional ability to maintain action effectively to the staging of some of the most popular Broadway musicals and farces that

China, The Ch'in state

2005-03-20T02:06:00.000-08:00

The history of the Ch'in dynasty may be traced back to the 8th century BC. When the Chou royal house was reestablished at the eastern capital in 770 BC, the Ch'in ruling house, according to the Ch'in historical record, was entrusted with the mission of maintaining order in the previous capital. This may be an exaggeration of the importance of the Ch'in ruling house, and the Ch'in may

East African Rift System

2005-03-19T15:10:00.000-08:00

The system consists of two branches. The main branch, the Eastern Rift Valley (often called the Great Rift Valley, or Rift Valley), extends along the entire length

Estébanez Calderón, Serafín

2005-03-19T03:31:00.000-08:00

Estébanez also spelled Estévanes, byname El Solitario one of the best-known costumbristas, Spanish writers who depicted in short articles the typical customs of the people. He moved to Madrid in 1830, where he published newspaper articles under the pseudonym El Solitario and pursued a career that combined Arabic studies, poetry, and the collecting of manuscripts. He was also influential in the

Argentina, The economy

2005-03-18T06:46:00.000-08:00

Labour movements are covered in Ronaldo Munck, Ricardo Falcón, and Bernardo Galitelli, Argentina: From Anarchism to Peronism: Workers, Unions, and Politics, 1855–1985 (1987); David Tamarin, The Argentine Labor Movement, 1930–45: A Study in the Origins of Peronism (1985); and Charles Bergquist, Labor in Latin America: Comparative Essays on Chile, Argentina, Venezuela, and Colombia (1986).

Coruña, La

2005-03-17T23:44:00.000-08:00

Also called Corunna , French La Corogne , formerly The Groyne city, capital of La Coruña province, in the autonomous community (region) of Galicia. It lies in extreme northwestern Spain, on Ría de la Coruña, an inlet of the Atlantic. Under the Romans, La Coruña was the port of Brigantium, but its present name is probably derived from Coronium, by which it was known in the Middle Ages. It was held by the Moors during the 8th, 9th, and 10th centuries,

Aleixandre, Vicente

2005-03-16T23:00:00.000-08:00

Aleixandre was the son of a railway engineer. He studied law and business management and from 1920 to 1922 taught commercial law. He became seriously ill in 1925 and during

Saenredam, Pieter Jansz(oon)

2005-03-16T14:42:00.000-08:00

Saenredam also spelled Zaenredam painter, pioneer of the “church portrait,” and the first Dutch artist to abandon the tradition of fanciful architectural painting in favour of a new realism in the rendering of specific buildings. His paintings of churches show a scrupulous neatness and precision, combined with subtle atmospheric light and tonal unity achieved

Nivkh

2005-03-15T22:54:00.000-08:00

The Nivkh economy was traditionally based

Earth, Measurement of gravitational acceleration

2005-03-14T20:00:00.000-08:00

For the study of the shape of the geoid or of large-scale structures in the Earth, values of g are required with a precision of one milligal or better. This implies a measurement accurate to one part in 106 of g itself. For more local studies, as in the use of gravity measurements for geophysical petroleum and mineral prospecting and for the study of the tidal variation of g at

Ghavam El-saltaneh, Ahmad

2005-03-14T18:56:00.000-08:00

Ghavam entered the court of the Qajar monarch Mozaffar al-Din Shah as a scribe in 1898. He rose to the position of minister of justice in 1909 and became minister of the interior the following year. In 1918 he was appointed governor of Khorasan province and three years later was nominated prime

Rime Suffisante

2005-03-14T17:30:00.000-08:00

Plural rimes suffisantes in French and English prosody, end rhyme produced by agreement in sound of an accented final vowel and following final consonant or consonants, if any. Examples of rimes suffisantes in English include the rhymes ship/dip and flee/see. It is distinguished from rime riche.

Waddington, C.h.

2005-03-13T22:25:00.000-08:00

Waddington graduated in geology from the University of Cambridge (1926), and it was only after studying paleontology that he turned to biology. Before World War II he taught zoology and embryology at Strangeways Research Laboratory, Cambridge. From 1947 until

Economic Affairs

2005-03-13T07:23:00.000-08:00

For the American

Independent Fundamental Churches Of America

2005-03-13T06:02:00.000-08:00

Fellowship of conservative, independent Christian churches stressing biblical truth. It was organized in Cicero, Ill., U.S., in June 1930 as the successor of the American Conference of Undenominational Churches. Member churches are forbidden to affiliate with any denomination, and the fellowship, administered by annually elected trustees, cannot organize itself as

Puget Sound

2005-03-13T04:16:00.000-08:00

Deep inlet of the eastern North Pacific Ocean indenting northwestern Washington, U.S. It stretches south for 100 miles (160 km) from Admiralty Inlet and Whidbey Island (beyond which lie the straits of Georgia and Juan de Fuca). Hood Canal is a large western extension. The sound is the submerged northern end of the Cowlitz-Puget trough, which extends for some 350 miles (565 km) between the

Atakpamé

2005-03-11T04:49:00.000-08:00

Town, south-central Togo. It lies along the railroad running north from Lomé, the capital, to Blitta. Atakpamé dates from the 19th century and was first settled by Ewe and Yoruba peoples. It developed as both a commercial centre on a major north-south caravan route and as a haven for refugees fleeing from Dahomean attacks. As a consequence, Atakpamé experienced numerous

Waddington, C.h.

2005-03-11T02:48:00.000-08:00

French Agence Spatiale Européenne (ASE) western European space and space-technology research organization founded in 1975 from the merger of the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO) and the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO), both established in 1964. Members include Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,

Gulf Intracoastal Waterway

2005-03-10T10:58:00.000-08:00

An improved navigable waterway along the Gulf Coast of the United States, extending from Apalachee Bay, Florida, westward to the Mexican border at Brownsville, Texas, a distance of more than 1,100 miles (1,770 km). In part artificial, the waterway consists of a channel paralleling the coast behind barrier beaches, the channel being linked by a series of canals. The Gulf Intracoastal

Dahlonega

2005-03-10T04:58:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1833) of Lumpkin county, northern Georgia, U.S. Gold was discovered in the locality in 1828, and the site was settled and incorporated in 1833 after one of the nation's first gold rushes; its name derives from the Cherokee taulonica (“yellow metal”). A U.S. mint operated there from 1838 until 1861, when Georgia seceded from the Union; Dahlonega-minted gold coins are now highly prized by

China, The rise of Neo-Confucianism

2005-03-09T09:03:00.000-08:00

The rise of the particular school of Neo-Confucianism led by Chu Hsi takes on special meaning in this context. The Neo-Confucian upsurge beginning in the late T'ang embraced many exciting extensions of the Classical vision. Noteworthy during the Pei Sung was the emergence of a new Confucian metaphysics that was influenced by Buddhism and that borrowed freely from

Architecture, History Of Western, Iberia

2005-03-09T08:37:00.000-08:00

Highly interesting artistic flowerings occurred in Spain at the end of the protohistoric era. First, in the southwest of the peninsula, near the town of Cadiz, there developed at the extreme end of the 2nd millennium BC a civilization, still poorly understood, that tradition attributes to the semi-historic, semilegendary state of Tartessus. Archaeology has not yet revealed

Anicetus, Saint

2005-03-09T00:32:00.000-08:00

Possibly a Syrian, Anicetus laboured to combat the errors of the heresies of Valentine and Marcion and to prevent heresies, working particularly against the Marcionites and Gnostics. Although he suffered tribulations, it is questionable whether or not he was actually martyred.

Vacuum Flask

2005-03-08T13:55:00.000-08:00

The vacuum flask was devised to preserve liquefied gases by preventing the transfer of heat from the surroundings to the liquid. The evacuated space

Nur Al-din

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

Nur al-Din succeeded his father as the atabeg (ruler) of Halab in 1146, owing nominal allegiance to the 'Abbasid caliph of Baghdad. Before his rule, a major reason for the success of the Crusaders was the disunity of the Muslim rulers of the region, who

Rydberg Constant

2005-03-07T02:08:00.000-08:00

(symbol R¥), fundamental constant of atomic physics that appears in the formulas developed (1890) by the Swedish physicist J. R. Rydberg, describing the wavelengths or frequencies of light in various series of related spectral lines, such as those emitted by hydrogen atoms. The value of this constant is based on the premise that the nucleus of the atom emitting light is exceedingly

Kili

2005-03-06T19:39:00.000-08:00

Coral island in the Ralik chain of the Marshall Islands, west-central Pacific Ocean. It is about 230 acres (93 hectares) in area. Islanders from Bikini, site of U.S. atomic-bomb tests, were moved to Kili in 1949. Some of the Bikinians who returned to Bikini in the mid-1970s had to return to Kili in 1978, as their home atoll remained too contaminated by nuclear waste for habitation. Coconuts are grown

Golden Age

2005-03-06T08:14:00.000-08:00

Spanish Siglo De Oro, the period of Spanish literature extending from the early 16th century to the late 17th century, generally considered the high point in Spain's literary history. The Golden Age began with the partial political unification of Spain about 1500. Its literature is characterized by patriotic and religious fervour, heightened realism, and a new interest in earlier epics and

Tiger Snake

2005-03-05T15:15:00.000-08:00

This common serpent, most numerous in swampy places in southern regions, is variable in colour but often has brown-and-yellow

Stagg, Amos Alonzo

2005-03-05T10:16:00.000-08:00

U.S. college football coach who had the longest coaching career—71 years—in the history of the sport. In 1943, at the age of 81, he was named college coach of the year, and he remained active in coaching until the age of 98. He is the only person selected for the National Football Hall of Fame, New Brunswick, N.J., as both a player and a coach. He was also

Gabon, Industry

2005-03-04T01:55:00.000-08:00

Gabon is one of the world's largest producers of manganese. Expansion of production at Moanda has been possible since the completion of the railroad to nearby Franceville in December 1986 and by the completion of improved ore handling facilities at the rail terminus at the deepwater port of Owendo in 1988. The exploitation and processing of uranium, which began 16 miles north

Rembrandt

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

Another cluster of talented pupils worked with Rembrandt around 1640: Gerbrand van den Eeckhout (1621–74) from Amsterdam; Carel Fabritius (1622–54), later a leading painter in Delft; and Samuel van Hoogstraten (1627–78) of Dordrecht, later better known for his art theory, Inleyding tot de hooge schoole der schilderkonst (1678; “Introduction to the High School of Painting”). Each of these made his own variation

Essy, Amara

2005-03-03T23:28:00.000-08:00

On July 9, 2002, Amara Essy of Côte d' Ivoire became secretary-general of the newly established 53-country African Union (AU), which replaced the 39-year-old Organization of African Unity (OAU). Essy, a career diplomat, was charged with leading the new body, a difficult task given the continent's ethnic, religious, economic, and political differences and the fact that the AU was granted

Mahananda River

2005-03-03T18:47:00.000-08:00

River in northern India and Bangladesh. It rises in the Darjeeling Hills in extreme northern West Bengal state. The river flows south through a rich agricultural area in Bihar state, enters West Bengal state, flows past Ingraj Bazar, and then continues southeastward into Bangladesh to join the Ganges River after a 225-mile (360-kilometre) course. The Mahananda forms in its upper

Vulcan

2005-03-03T10:07:00.000-08:00

In Roman religion, god of fire, particularly in its destructive aspects as volcanoes or conflagrations. Poetically, he is given all the attributes of the Greek Hephaestus (q.v.). His worship was very ancient, and at Rome he had his own priest (flamen). His chief festival, the Volcanalia, was held on August 23 and was marked by a rite of unknown significance: the heads of Roman families

Polar Air Mass

2005-03-03T04:39:00.000-08:00

Vast body of air that forms over land or water near either the North or the South Pole. See air mass; front.

Itajaí

2005-03-01T04:04:00.000-08:00

City, eastern Santa Catarina estado (“state”), southern Brazil. It lies at the mouth of the Itajaí River, at 20 feet (6 m) above sea level. Founded in the mid-19th century by German and Italian colonists, Itajaí is now the commercial centre and Atlantic port for an agricultural region drained by the Itajaí River and its tributaries. Wrapping paper and cotton textiles are the principal

Annelid, Oligochaetes

2005-02-28T20:10:00.000-08:00

The body of oligochaetes is uniformly segmented and has conspicuous segmental lines. The prostomium is usually a simple lobe overhanging the mouth and lacking appendages. The microscopically small eyes are scattered over the body. The clitellum, a saddle-shaped thickening of the body wall, is present at sexual maturity. The anus is at the posterior tip. Setae generally

France, History Of, The Revolution of 1848

2005-02-28T15:12:00.000-08:00

The overthrow of the constitutional monarchy in February 1848 still seems, in retrospect, a puzzling event. The revolution has been called a result without a cause; more properly, it might be called a result out of proportion to its cause. Since 1840 the regime had settled into a kind of torpid stability; but it had provided the nation with peace abroad and relative prosperity

Ammonite

2005-02-27T10:09:00.000-08:00

Any member of an ancient Semitic people whose principal city was Rabbath Ammon, in Palestine. The “sons of Ammon” were in perennial, though sporadic, conflict with the Israelites. After a long period of seminomadic existence, the Ammonites established a kingdom north of Moab in the 13th century BC. With difficulty, their fortress capital was captured by Israel's King David.

Diplomacy, New styles of diplomacy

2005-02-26T23:42:00.000-08:00

One result of the breakdown of old premises, mainly in new states, was that diplomatic immunity was breached, and diplomacy became a hazardous career. Disease was no longer the chief killer of diplomats, nor was overindulgence at court; the new hazards were murder, maiming, and kidnapping. Diplomats were a target because they represented states and symbolized privileged

Low, Sir David (alexander Cecil)

2005-02-26T17:18:00.000-08:00

A self-taught artist, Low was already contributing cartoons to a local weekly paper at the age of 11. At 17 he set out as a full-time free-lance artist, combining this work from 1911 with a post on the Bulletin of Sydney, Australia. Having

Fielding, William Stevens

2005-02-25T11:48:00.000-08:00

In 1864 Fielding joined the staff of the Halifax Morning Chronicle, the leading Liberal newspaper in Nova Scotia, where for 20 years he worked in various departments. From 1884 to 1896 Fielding was premier of Nova Scotia. An opponent

Dragoman

2005-02-24T22:06:00.000-08:00

Arabic Tarjuman, Turkish Tercüman, official interpreter in countries where Arabic, Turkish, and Persian are spoken. Originally the term applied to any intermediary between Europeans and Middle Easterners, whether as a hotel tout or as a traveller's guide, but there developed the official dragomans of foreign ministries and embassies, whose functions at one time included the conduct of important

Scandinavian Literature, Post-classical literature in Iceland

2005-02-24T01:53:00.000-08:00

In the period following the classical age, little was written that attracted attention outside Iceland. Realism and detached objectivity declined, and sentimentality and fantasy gained the upper hand. The decline in literary standards is sometimes attributed to Iceland's loss of independence in 1262 and the changes that followed. Interest in earlier manuscripts

Coolidge, William D(avid)

2005-02-24T01:26:00.000-08:00

After teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge; 1897, 1901–05) and the University of Leipzig (1899), in 1905 he joined the General Electric (GE) Research Laboratory.

Luther, Martin, Augustinian Order at Erfurt

2005-02-23T11:21:00.000-08:00

In joining the eremitical order of St. Augustine, Luther had joined an important mendicant order, which by the middle of the 15th century had over 2,000 chapters. As a result of reforms carried through in 1473, the house at Erfurt, to which Luther went, accepted the strict, observant interpretation of the rule. Under Johann von Staupitz, Luther's mentor and vicar general to the order,

Bioelectricity

2005-02-23T10:28:00.000-08:00

Bioelectric effects were known in ancient times from

Bottlenose Whale

2005-02-23T07:26:00.000-08:00

Any of four species of beaked whales distinguished by a bulbous forehead that drops sharply to the base of the beak. All inhabit deep offshore waters and eat squid, fish, and various bottom-dwelling animals. Bottlenose whales are capable of long, deep dives; biologists recorded the dive of one northern bottlenose (Hyperoodon ampullatus) to almost

Earth, Magnetospheric substormsunbalanced flux transfer

2005-02-22T10:37:00.000-08:00

Magnetospheric substorm is the name applied to the collection of processes that occur throughout the magnetosphere at the time of an auroral and magnetic disturbance. The term substorm was originally used to signify that the processes produce an event, localized in time and space, which is distinct from a magnetic storm. During a typical three-hour substorm, the

Yamoussoukro Basilica

2005-02-20T21:46:00.000-08:00

In full Our Lady Of Peace Of Yamoussoukro Basilica, Roman Catholic basilica in Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire, that is the largest Christian church in the world. The basilica's rapid construction in 1986–89 was paid for by Côte d'Ivoire's president, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, and the building is situated in his birthplace, the city of Yamoussoukro. The basilica's form is roughly based on that of Saint Peter's in Rome, with a dome surmounting

Nephelinesyenite

2005-02-20T21:15:00.000-08:00

Medium- to coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock, a member of the alkali-syenite group (see syenite) that consists largely of feldspar and nepheline. It is always considerably poorer in silica and richer in alkalies than granite. The extraordinarily varied mineralogy of the nephelinesyenites and their remarkable variation in habit, fabric, appearance, and composition

Mondego River

2005-02-20T17:53:00.000-08:00

Portuguese Rio Mondego, largest of the exclusively Portuguese rivers, rising at 4,675 feet (1,425 m) on the northern slopes of Mount Estrela and flowing southwestward for 137 miles (220 km) to the Atlantic Ocean. It has a drainage basin of 2,615 square miles (6,772 square km). A sandbar prohibits navigation above Figueira da Foz, though small craft can sail 52 miles (84 km) upstream to Foz Dão; the river is tidal to Montemor-o-Velho (12 miles

Jouhaux, Léon

2005-02-19T20:43:00.000-08:00

A worker in a match factory from the age of 16, Jouhaux soon became one of the leading propagandists of revolutionary syndicalism. He was national secretary of the matchworkers' union

Magnus Ii Eriksson

2005-02-19T10:28:00.000-08:00

The son of Ingeborg, daughter of the Norwegian king Haakon V, and of Duke Erik, brother of the Swedish king Birger Magnusson, Magnus was

Jacobs, Helen Hull

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

Jacobs was the national junior tennis champion in 1924–25 and attended the University of California, Berkeley, from 1926 to 1929. She was defeated by Helen Wills in the 1928 finals at Forest Hills, New York, and in the Wimbledon

Saint Boniface

2005-02-18T13:37:00.000-08:00

Historic district of Winnipeg, southern Manitoba, Canada, at the confluence of the Seine and Red rivers. It was founded in 1818 by a group of French missionaries led by Bishop Joseph Norbert Provencher upon the site of an earlier, unsuccessful settlement by Swiss mercenaries; a chapel was built there under the patronage of St. Boniface. Since then, St. Boniface, with its famous

Keratosis

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

Any protuberance on the skin resulting from the overdevelopment of the horny outermost covering of the skin, or epidermis, the main constituent of which is the protein keratin, which is synthesized in special cells of the skin, the keratinocytes. More generally, keratosis is any skin disorder attended by horny growths. The causes and lesions characteristic of keratotic

Talking Drum

2005-02-17T06:04:00.000-08:00

Five varieties of dùndún pressure drums of the Yoruba and the atumpani and fontomfron of the Ashanti are especially notable. They send messages up to 20 miles (32 kilometres),

Yung-lo

2005-02-16T15:48:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Yonglo (reign name), temple name (ming) Ch'eng Tsu , or (ming) T'ai Tsung , posthumous name, or shih, Wen Ti , personal name Chu Ti third emperor (1402–24) of China's Ming dynasty, which he raised to its greatest power. He moved the capital from Nanking to Peking, which was rebuilt with the Forbidden City.

Biblical Literature, The Hebrew canon

2005-02-16T04:57:00.000-08:00

The Torah contains five books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The Nevi'im comprise eight books subdivided into the Former Prophets, containing

Daddi, Bernardo

2005-02-15T23:54:00.000-08:00

Early Italian Renaissance painter who was a pupil of Giotto and was influenced by Lorenzetti. Daddi's efforts to fuse the plastic qualities of Giotto's art with some aspects of Sienese art came to represent the dominant style of painting directly after Giotto. Daddi's work, from the period 1328–48, ranges from Madonna images in large church altarpieces

Kalahari, Animal life

2005-02-15T15:48:00.000-08:00

The animal life of the Kalahari is also richer and more varied in the north than in the south. Yet even in the arid south, many individuals of several species stay for long periods of the year despite the absence of surface water. The principal species found in the south are springbok, gnu (wildebeest), and hartebeest—all of which occasionally are present in great

Rabbit

2005-02-15T03:27:00.000-08:00

There is no single taxonomic group that constitutes the rabbit. Rather the name refers to an accumulation of 10 genera in the family Leporidae whose characteristics are intermediate between hares and pikas, the other members of order Lagomorpha. The best-known and most recognizable of the 28 rabbit species are the European rabbit and the 16 or so species of North and South

Ecosphere

2005-02-15T02:57:00.000-08:00

The sum of the Earth's ecological systems (ecosystems), all living organisms interacting with the physical environment. It is almost equivalent to the term biosphere (q.v.), with the further implication of a conscious ecological management of the Earth's resources.

Frederick I

2005-02-13T23:02:00.000-08:00

The younger son of Christian I, king of Denmark and Norway, Frederick divided the duchies of Schleswig (now in Germany and Denmark) and Holstein

Graveyard School

2005-02-13T15:43:00.000-08:00

Genre of 18th-century British poetry that focused on death and bereavement. The graveyard school consisted largely of imitations of Robert Blair's popular long poem of morbid appeal, The Grave (1743), and of Edward Young's celebrated blank-verse dramatic rhapsody Night Thoughts (1742–45). These poems express the sorrow and pain of bereavement, evoke the horror of death's physical

Sanger, Margaret

2005-02-12T22:06:00.000-08:00

The sixth of 11 children, she attended Claverack College and then took nurse's training in New York at the White Plains Hospital and the Manhattan Eye and Ear Clinic. She was married

Cyrenaica

2005-02-12T13:05:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Cirenaica , Arabic Barqah historic region of North Africa and until 1963 a province of the United Kingdom of Libya. As early as c. 631 BC Greek colonists settled the northern half of ancient Cyrenaica, known then as Pentapolis for the five major cities they established: Euhesperides (Banghazi), Barce (al-Marj), Cyrene (Shahhat), Apollonia (Marsa Susah), and Tenchira (Tukrah). In later times Ptolemais (Tulmaythah) and Daims-Zarine

Skadi

2005-02-10T22:45:00.000-08:00

Old Norse Skaoi in Norse mythology, the giant wife of the sea god Njörd. In order to avenge the death of her father, the giant Thiazi, Skadi took up arms and went to attack the rival tribe of the gods (the Aesir) in Asgard, home of the gods. The Aesir, wanting to appease her anger, offered her the choice of one of their number for a husband, with the stipulation that she choose a god by his legs (or feet)

Switzerland, Agriculture and forestry

2005-02-10T21:52:00.000-08:00

Of the territory that makes up Switzerland, only three-fourths is productive. About one-fourth of that productive land is devoted to agricultural cultivation (grains, fodder, vegetables, fruits, vineyards, etc.), and one-fifth is pasture, reflecting the significance of stock raising and dairying. Grain cultivation, accounting for about one-sixth of productive land,

Earth Exploration, Electrical and electromagnetic methods

2005-02-10T15:29:00.000-08:00

A multitude of electrical methods are used in mineral exploration. They depend on (1) electrochemical activity, (2) resistivity changes, or (3) permittivity effects. Some materials tend to become natural batteries that generate natural electric currents whose effects can be measured. The self-potential method relies on the oxidation of the upper surface of metallic

Alexis

2005-02-10T01:38:00.000-08:00

After his mother, Eudoxia, was forced to enter a convent (1698), Alexis was brought up by his aunts and, after 1702, was educated by the tutor Baron Heinrich von Huyssen. Although he dutifully obeyed his father—participating in the

Biblical Literature, Daniel

2005-02-09T13:20:00.000-08:00

The Book of Daniel presents a collection of popular stories about Daniel, a loyal Jew, and the record of visions granted to him, with the Babylonian Exile of the 6th century BCE as their background. The book, however, was written in a later time of national crisis—when the Jews were suffering severe persecution under Antiochus IV Epiphanes (reigned 175–164/163 BCE), the second Seleucid ruler

Lennox, Charlotte

2005-02-08T16:06:00.000-08:00

Charlotte Ramsay was the daughter of a British army officer who was said to have been lieutenant governor of the colony of New York.

Papaverales

2005-02-08T01:49:00.000-08:00

The poppy order of flowering plants, belonging to the class known as Magnoliopsida (dicotyledons; characterized by the presence of two seed leaves). The order is composed of about 600 species in two families, Papaveraceae and Fumariaceae. Its most familiar flowers are the poppy (q.v.) of the Papaveraceae and the bleeding heart (q.v.) of the Fumariaceae. This order mostly is herbaceous

Swallow-tanager

2005-02-08T00:36:00.000-08:00

(Tersina viridis), bird of northern South America, the sole member of the subfamily Tersininae, family Emberizidae; some authors give it family rank (Tersinidae). About 15 cm (6 inches) long, it resembles a tanager with long wings and a swallowlike bill. The male is light blue, with black markings; the female is mostly green. Swallow-tanagers catch insects on the

Gheyn, Matthias Van Den

2005-02-07T16:18:00.000-08:00

He was born into a celebrated family of Flemish bell founders. He moved with his family to Louvain in 1726 and probably received his first musical education

Puget, Pierre

2005-02-07T13:38:00.000-08:00

Puget travelled in Italy as a young man (1640–43), when he was employed by a muralist, Pietro da Cortona, to work on the ceiling decorations of the Barberini Palace in Rome and the Pitti Palace in Florence. Between 1643 and 1656 he was active in Marseille and Toulon chiefly

Neurosecretory Cell

2005-02-07T01:17:00.000-08:00

A type of neuron, or nerve cell, whose function is to translate neural signals into chemical stimuli. Such cells produce secretions called neurohormones that travel along the neuron axon and are typically released into the bloodstream at neurohemal organs, regions in which the axon endings are in close contact with blood capillaries. Neurosecretory cells are

Orzeszkowa, Eliza

2005-02-06T13:29:00.000-08:00

Née Eliza Pawlowska Polish novelist and a leading writer of the Positivist period (the Polish Positivists took their name from Auguste Comte's philosophy but were themselves mainly utilitarians). Questions of education, independence, and marriage in Orzeszkowa's works were eventually overshadowed by issues such

Bharavi

2005-02-05T02:01:00.000-08:00

Bharavi probably hailed from southern India and flourished during the reigns of

Nagel, Ernest

2005-02-04T23:31:00.000-08:00

Formerly an exponent of logical realism, Nagel later abandoned a realistic ontology for an empirical and theoretical

Powder-post Beetle

2005-02-04T08:17:00.000-08:00

Any member of the approximately 90 species of the small, widely distributed insect family Lyctidae (order Coleoptera). These beetles range in colour from reddish brown to black and in size from 1 to 7 mm (up to 0.3 inch). The larvae bore through seasoned wood, reducing it to a dry powder; they do not, however, enter varnished or painted wood. Powder-post beetle holes are often erroneously

Good-reasons Theory

2005-02-04T05:49:00.000-08:00

In American and British metaethics, an approach that tries to establish the validity or objectivity of moral judgments by examining the modes of reasoning used to support them. The approach first appeared in An Examination of the Place of Reason in Ethics (1950) by Stephen Toulmin, a British philosopher of science and ethicist. In general, the approach represents a reaction

Bahah, Al-

2005-02-03T04:35:00.000-08:00

Town, southwestern Saudi Arabia. The town is situated on a mountainous plateau at an elevation of 7,014 feet (2,138 m) and is surrounded by terraced hillsides, which are covered with juniper. It is known as the gateway to the 'Asir region, a prosperous agricultural area just north of Yemen. Al-Bahah lies on the main road from at-Ta'if to Jizan.

Dab

2005-02-02T22:29:00.000-08:00

Other species

MarriedNail

Nutrition, Human, Vitamin D

Haldane, John Scott

Dance, Western, Experiments

Dworkin, Andrea

Lea

April Fools' Day

Amreli

Israel, Karaites

Earth, Variation with elevation

Moral Theology

Earth, Variation with elevation

Scandinavian Literature, Renewed literary activity in Norway

Kyd, Thomas

Abbott, George Francis

China, The Ch'in state

East African Rift System

Estébanez Calderón, Serafín

Argentina, The economy

Coruña, La

Aleixandre, Vicente

Saenredam, Pieter Jansz(oon)

Nivkh

Earth, Measurement of gravitational acceleration

Ghavam El-saltaneh, Ahmad

Rime Suffisante

Waddington, C.h.

Economic Affairs

Independent Fundamental Churches Of America

Puget Sound

Atakpamé

Waddington, C.h.

Gulf Intracoastal Waterway

Dahlonega

China, The rise of Neo-Confucianism

Architecture, History Of Western, Iberia

Anicetus, Saint

Vacuum Flask

Nur Al-din

Rydberg Constant

Kili

Golden Age

Tiger Snake

Stagg, Amos Alonzo

Gabon, Industry

Rembrandt

Essy, Amara

Mahananda River

Vulcan

Polar Air Mass

Itajaí

Annelid, Oligochaetes

France, History Of, The Revolution of 1848

Ammonite

Diplomacy, New styles of diplomacy

Low, Sir David (alexander Cecil)

Fielding, William Stevens

Dragoman

Scandinavian Literature, Post-classical literature in Iceland

Coolidge, William D(avid)

Luther, Martin, Augustinian Order at Erfurt

Bioelectricity

Bottlenose Whale

Earth, Magnetospheric substormsunbalanced flux transfer

Yamoussoukro Basilica

Nephelinesyenite

Mondego River

Jouhaux, Léon

Magnus Ii Eriksson

Jacobs, Helen Hull

Saint Boniface

Keratosis

Talking Drum

Yung-lo

Biblical Literature, The Hebrew canon

Daddi, Bernardo

Kalahari, Animal life

Rabbit

Ecosphere

Frederick I

Earth, Magnetospheric substormsunbalanced flux transfer