LikeHead

Sasan

2005-10-15T18:55:00.000-07:00

Eponymous ancestor of the Sasanian dynasty in ancient Persia. Details of his life vary, but most scholars believe he was originally a prince in the province of Persis and a vassal of Gochihr, the chief petty king in Persis. His son or descendant was Babak, who was the father of Ardashir I, the founder of the Sasanian Empire. According to one tradition, Sasan married a daughter

Novi Pazar

2005-07-26T22:30:00.000-07:00

Town, southern Serbia, Yugoslavia. It lies in the Raška River valley, in rough and hilly country near the site of Ras, which was the capital city of the medieval Serbian state in the 12th–14th century. In the vicinity are Roman baths, and the Church of St. Peter, one of the oldest in Yugoslavia (7th or 8th century), is an interesting example of early Slav architecture. A few miles west is

Alabama State University

2005-07-24T11:20:00.000-07:00

Public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Montgomery, Alabama, U.S. It is a historically black school, and its enrollment is predominantly African American. Alabama State offers bachelor's and master's degree programs in the schools of Music and Graduate Studies and colleges of Business Administration, Education, and Arts and Sciences. An educational

Taginae, Battle Of

2005-07-07T13:54:00.001-07:00

The Byzantine emperor Justinian I sent his commander in chief, the eunuch Narses, with an army of 20,000 men into Italy, where, at the Apennine village of Taginae near

Gunn, Thom

2005-07-07T13:54:00.000-07:00

The son of a successful London journalist, Gunn attended University College School in London and Trinity College in Cambridge, where he received a B.A. (1953) and M.A. (1958). In 1954 he moved to San Francisco, California, to study

Liquefied Petroleum Gas

2005-07-07T13:51:00.000-07:00

Also called LP gas , or LPG any of several liquid mixtures of the volatile hydrocarbons propene, propane, butene, and butane. It was used as early as 1860 for a portable fuel source, and its production and consumption for both domestic and industrial use have expanded ever since. A typical commercial mixture may also contain ethane and ethylene as well as a volatile mercaptan, an odorant added as

Andijon

2005-07-07T13:47:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Andizhan, or Andizan, city, extreme eastern Uzbekistan. Andijon lies in the southeastern part of the Fergana Valley. The city, which stands on ancient deposits of the Andijon River, dates back at least to the 9th century. In the 15th century it became the capital of the Fergana Valley and, being on the Silk Road caravan route to China, its chief centre of trade and handicrafts. In the 18th century it

Heron

2005-07-05T18:10:00.000-07:00

Any of about 60 species of long-legged wading birds of the subfamily Ardeinae of the family Ardeidae (order Ciconiiformes) and generally including several species usually called egrets (see egret). The Ardeidae also include the bitterns (subfamily Botaurinae). Herons are widely distributed over the world but are most common in the tropics. They usually feed while wading

Henderson

2005-06-17T06:10:00.000-07:00

City, seat of Henderson county, northwestern Kentucky, U.S., on a bluff overlooking the Ohio River, 7 miles (11 km) south of Evansville, Indiana. The town site, around Red Banks (settled 1784), was laid out in 1797 by the Transylvania Land Company and named for its promoter, Richard Henderson. Originally a farming settlement, its economy is evenly balanced among industry, agriculture (corn

Xerxes I

2005-06-02T20:15:00.000-07:00

Soured by this failure, which modern historians consider the beginning of Achaemenian decline, Xerxes retired to Susa and Persepolis. He then furthered the depletion of the once-enormous resources he had gathered, through multiple taxation, by launching a vast construction program. At the capital city of Persepolis, Darius' architects, working from a unified plan

Horse Racing

2005-05-31T15:00:00.000-07:00

The ownership of racetracks ranges from complete state control, in which case the national government may own the tracks and horses and employ trainers, jockeys, grooms, and other necessary personnel, to complete private enterprise, as in most of the United States (where tracks are privately owned and operated for profit, as are the horses, and trainers and jockeys

Earth Exploration, Geochemical methods

2005-05-17T06:05:00.000-07:00

Since the early 1970s researchers have developed extremely sensitive methods of chemical analysis, providing the ability to detect minute amounts of materials. Many chemical elements are transported in very small quantities by fluids flowing in the Earth, so that a systematic measurement of such trace elements may help in locating their sources. Trace elements

Muroran

2005-05-15T03:40:00.000-07:00

City, southern Hokkaido, Japan, on Cape Chikyu at the entrance to Uchiura Bay. After 1906 it began to grow from a village to a company town, producing steel and iron products. In 1982 Muroran succeeded in securing its water supply system from the company. It became the major heavy industrial centre (by value) on Hokkaido. The port also handles coal, machinery, wood, pulp, and marine products.

Lippmann, Walter

2005-03-15T02:53:00.000-08:00

While studying at Harvard (B.A., 1909), Lippmann was influenced by the philosophers William James and George Santayana. He helped to found (1914) The New Republic and served as its assistant editor under

Bascom, Florence

2005-03-14T15:54:00.000-08:00

Bascom earned bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Wisconsin, and she later received the first Ph.D. awarded to a woman at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (1893). Bascom then taught at Ohio State University

China, The Han dynasty

2005-03-12T17:52:00.000-08:00

The Han dynasty was founded by Liu Pang (best known by his temple name, Kao-tsu), who assumed the title of emperor in 202 BC. Eleven members of the Liu family followed in his place as effective emperors until AD 9. In that year the dynastic line was challenged by Wang Mang, who established his own regime under the title of Hsin. In AD 25 the authority of the Han dynasty was reaffirmed by Liu

Burakumin

2005-03-10T20:05:00.000-08:00

Although the class was officially abolished in 1871 (under the Emancipation Act of the Meiji period),

Pre-columbian Civilizations, The nature of Andean civilization

2005-03-09T08:06:00.000-08:00

The coastal desert was inhabited for millennia by fishermen, and many of their settlements have been studied by archaeologists. The people in these communities were familiar with the sea and depended heavily on its products, but from very early times they also used and possibly cultivated native varieties of cotton. Textiles have been the major art form in the

Arabian Desert

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

Before the 18th century many Arabs but few Europeans had succeeded in penetrating the Arabian Desert, and few authors had written about it. Travel literature written in Arabic concentrated on the routes taken by pilgrimage caravans going to Mecca. Scientific exploration began in 1762 with a Danish expedition led by the German surveyor Carsten Niebuhr. In the 19th century

Atami

2005-03-07T01:02:00.000-08:00

City, Shizuoka ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan. It lies on the northeastern coast of the Izu Peninsula, facing Sagami Gulf of the Pacific Ocean. The city occupies the crater of the extinct volcano Mount Atami. The surrounding hills are remnants of the crater wall, which has been drowned by the sea on the east. Atami's mild and warm climate, scenic seascape, and hot springs have

Aribau, Buenaventura Carles

2005-03-06T13:14:00.000-08:00

After working in Madrid at the banking establishment of Gaspar Remisa (1830 - 41), Aribau became the director of the treasury and financial secretary to the royal household. Animated by a deep patriotism,

Robert Ii

2005-03-05T10:24:00.000-08:00

The eldest son of William I the Conqueror, Robert was recognized in boyhood as his father's successor in Normandy. Nevertheless he twice rebelled against his father (1077/78 and c. 1082 - 83) and

Refugee

2005-03-04T13:22:00.000-08:00

Any uprooted, homeless, involuntary migrant who has crossed a frontier and no longer possesses the protection of his former government. Prior to the 19th century the movement from one country to another did not require passports and visas; the right to asylum was commonly recognized and honoured. Although there have been numerous waves of refugees throughout history,

Francis (i)

2005-03-03T02:45:00.000-08:00

He was appointed head of government in 1564 while his father, Cosimo I, was still alive; and he succeeded his father as grand duke in 1574. The title was not precisely legitimate since it had been bestowed by the

Cadiz

2005-03-02T09:45:00.000-08:00

Chartered city and port, northern Negros Island, Philippines. It is one of five chartered cities and one of the principal ports on the island where most of the country's sugar is grown and refined and where fishing is a major industry. Herring, anchovy, round scad, and mackerel are caught. Cadiz fronts north on the Visayan Sea and lies some 40 miles (65 km) northeast of the island's

S�

2005-03-01T16:13:00.000-08:00

S�chow is located in the gap in the Shantung Hills that forms a southwestern extension into the North China Plain. Through this gap flows

Tabwa

2005-02-28T06:30:00.000-08:00

Tabwa observe matrilineal

Zanni

2005-02-27T23:48:00.000-08:00

Plural �Zanni, or Zannis, � stock servant character in the Italian improvisational theatre known as the commedia dell'arte. Zanni were valet buffoons, clowns, and knavish jacks-of-all-trades. All possessed common sense, intelligence, pride, and a love of practical jokes and intrigue; they were, however, often quarrelsome, cowardly, envious, spiteful, vindictive, and treacherous. The term is thought

Gully

2005-02-26T23:32:00.000-08:00

Trench cut into land by the erosion of an accelerated stream of water. Various conditions make such erosion possible: the natural vegetation securing the soil may have been destroyed by human action, by fire, or by a climatic change; or an exceptional storm may send in torrents of water down the streambed. Gully erosion is closely related to intense local thunderstorms

Ford, Edmund Brisco

2005-02-25T07:35:00.000-08:00

Ford joined the faculty at the University of Oxford in 1927; he was made professor of ecological genetics in 1963, becoming emeritus professor in 1969. He

Fr�chet, Maurice

2005-02-24T01:41:00.000-08:00

Fr�chet was professor of mechanics at the University of Poitiers (1910 - 19) before moving to the University of Strasbourg, where he was professor of higher calculus (1920 - 27). Joining the faculty of

Houston Ship Channel

2005-02-23T14:59:00.000-08:00

Waterway that connects Houston, Texas, with the Gulf of Mexico, passing through the former Buffalo Bayou and Galveston Bay. The channel, which was opened in 1914 and later improved, is 50.5 mi (81.3 km) long, 36 ft (11 m) deep, and has a minimum width of 300 ft (90 m). It requires no locks.

Yerby, Frank

2005-02-22T06:01:00.000-08:00

Yerby's story �Health Card� won the O. Henry Memorial Award for best first published short story in 1944. In 1946 his first novel, The Foxes of Harrow, was an immediate success. His novels are action-packed, usually featuring a strong hero in an earlier period. The stories unfold in colourful language

Ribaut, Jean

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

Jean Ribaut began his naval career as a youth, rising through the ranks to become one of the most dependable officers serving under Admiral Gaspard de Coligny. In 1558 Ribaut was commander of a French supply vessel at the successful capture of Calais from the English, and the following year

Nacrite

2005-02-20T15:04:00.000-08:00

Clay mineral, a form of kaolinite (q.v.).

Schnitger, Arp

2005-02-19T07:35:00.000-08:00

Schnitger was born into a family of woodworkers; his father was a carver, and Arp was apprenticed to a cousin at age 18. Three years after his cousin's

Typhus

2005-02-18T20:06:00.000-08:00

Acute, infectious series of diseases that are characterized by a sudden onset with headache, chills, fever, and general pains, a rash appearing on the third to fifth day, and toxemia (toxic substances in the blood), and terminating after about two to three weeks. Originally considered a single clinical entity, it is now regarded as a group of closely related diseases caused

Roseburg

2005-02-17T14:36:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1854) of Douglas county, southwestern Oregon, U.S., on the South Umpqua River, between the Coast (west) and Cascade (east) ranges. Settled in 1851, it was known as Deer Creek but was renamed for Aaron Rose, who laid out the town site in 1854. The city's economy was based for many years on wood-products industries and sawmills; sheep raising and wine making are other economic factors. There

Disease

2005-02-16T08:19:00.000-08:00

A brief discussion of disease follows. The subject is treated in a variety of articles. For a general discussion of human, animal, and plant diseases, see disease. For a discussion of diseases categorized according to their cause or transmission, see infection; nutritional

China, Militarism in China

2005-02-15T01:22:00.000-08:00

During the first years of the republic China had been fractured by rival military regimes to the extent that no one authority was able to subordinate all rivals and create a unified and centralized political structure. The South was detached from Peking's control; but even the southern provinces, and indeed districts within them, were run by different military

Teesdale

2005-02-14T17:10:00.000-08:00

District, administrative county of Durham, northeastern England, in the southwestern part of the county. The district lies on both sides of the River Tees. The area north of the river belongs to the historic county of Durham, and the area to the south lies in the historic county of Yorkshire. Teesdale is mostly an upland area within the northern Pennines. Its bleak basalt

Pole, Reginald

2005-02-13T02:48:00.000-08:00

His father, Sir Richard Pole, was a cousin of King Henry VII, and his mother, Margaret, countess of Salisbury, was a niece of Edward

India, Islands

2005-02-12T22:34:00.000-08:00

Several archipelagoes in the Indian Ocean are politically a part of India. The union territory of Lakshadweep is a group of small coral atolls in the Arabian Sea to the west of the Malabar Coast. Far off the eastern coast, separating the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, lie the considerably larger and hillier chains of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Also a union territory,

Palatalization

2005-02-11T05:38:00.000-08:00

In phonetics, the production of consonants with the blade, or front, of the tongue drawn up farther toward the roof of the mouth (hard palate) than in their normal pronunciation. Palatalized consonants in Russian are pronounced as if attempting simultaneously to pronounce a particular consonant and a y sound; in English, the ny in �canyon� approximates a palatalized

Policy

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

Policy, a true lottery initiated in the United States by Italian-Americans, derives its name from the Italian polizza (�receipt,� or �ticket�) and retains only occasional

Bank One

2005-02-09T13:42:00.000-08:00

Former U.S. bank holding company that merged with J.P. Morgan Chase

Kafzeh

2005-02-08T16:29:00.000-08:00

The remains,

Xie Jun

2005-02-07T18:10:00.000-08:00

At the age of six Xie began to play Chinese chess, and by the age of 10 she had become the girls' champion of Beijing. At the urging of government authorities, she soon began playing Western chess. Despite indifferent training opportunities, Xie

Mormon

2005-02-05T14:48:00.000-08:00

Mormons accept the Bible �as far as it is translated correctly.� Smith did not finish his translation of the Bible, which incorporates prophecies of his own coming and of the Book of Mormon, which is central to Mormon belief. The Book of Mormon is largely similar in style and themes to the Old Testament. It recounts the history of a group of Hebrews who migrated from Jerusalem

Froebel, Friedrich (wilhelm August)

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

Froebel was the fifth child in a clergyman's family. His mother died when he was only nine months old, and he was neglected as a

O'brien, Fitz-james

2005-02-03T01:13:00.000-08:00

O'Brien was the son of a lawyer. He ran through his inheritance in two years in London, where he began to work in journalism. In 1852 he moved

Signoret, Simone

2005-02-01T10:08:00.000-08:00

Born in Germany to French nationals, Signoret was reared from the age

Caudata, Size range and diversity of structure

2005-01-31T06:28:00.000-08:00

The most typical salamanders are short-bodied, four-legged, moist-skinned vertebrates about 100 to 150 millimetres (about 4 to 6 inches) long. The tail is usually about as long as the body. There is much variation in size, and terrestrial salamanders range from 40 to nearly 350 millimetres, with a few exceeding 1 metre (39 inches) in length. Members of most species live in moist places on land

Water

2005-01-30T23:36:00.000-08:00

A substance composed of the chemical elements hydrogen and oxygen and existing in gaseous, liquid, and solid states. Water is one of the most plentiful and essential of compounds. It is vital to life, participating in virtually every process that occurs in plants and animals. Although the molecules of water are simple in structure (H2O), the physical and chemical properties

Wigglesworth, Michael

2005-01-29T10:03:00.000-08:00

Wigglesworth emigrated to America in 1638 with his family and settled in New Haven. In 1651 he graduated from Harvard College, where he was a tutor and a fellow from 1652 to 1654 and again from 1697 to 1705. He preached at Charlestown, Mass., in 1653 - 54 and was pastor at

Ochsenbein, Ulrich

2005-01-28T16:15:00.000-08:00

An ardent Bernese radical, Ochsenbein organized and directed an abortive military coup against the clerical government of Luzern (March 1845), precipitating

Wolseley (of Wolseley), Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 1st Viscount, Baron Wolseley Of Cairo And Of Wolseley

2005-01-27T04:20:00.000-08:00

The son of an army major, Wolseley entered the army as second lieutenant in 1852 and fought with distinction in the Second Anglo-Burmese War, the Crimean War, and the Indian Mutiny. Surviving

Earth Satellite

2005-01-26T23:34:00.000-08:00

The idea of an artificial satellite in orbital flight was first suggested by Sir Isaac Newton in his book Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687). He pointed out that a cannonball shot at

Apterygote

2005-01-25T18:43:00.000-08:00

Broadly, any of the primitive wingless insects of the subclass Apterygota (class Insecta), distinct from the subclass Pterygota or winged insects. Used in this sense, the term apterygotes commonly includes four groups of primitive insects: proturans, collembolans, diplurans (see photograph), and thysanurans. The taxonomic status of these groups, however, remains

Nematode

2005-01-24T00:09:00.000-08:00

Also called �Roundworm, � any worm of the class Nematoda (phylum Aschelminthes, though many authorities consider the Nematoda to be a distinct phylum). Nematodes are among the most abundant animals, occurring as parasites in animals and plants or as free-living forms in soil, freshwater, marine environments, and even such unusual places as vinegar and beer malts. The number of named species

Kaduna

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

Town, capital of Kaduna state, north-central Nigeria. It lies along the Kaduna River, which is a major tributary of the Niger River. Sir Frederick (later Lord) Lugard, the first British governor of Northern Nigeria, selected the present site along the Lagos-Kano Railway for a town, and building began in 1913. In 1917 Kaduna (a Hausa word for �crocodiles�) replaced Zungeru, 100 miles (160 km) west-southwest,

Arafura Sea

2005-01-22T22:56:00.000-08:00

Shallow sea of the western Pacific Ocean, occupying 250,000 square miles (650,000 square km) between the north coast of Australia and the Gulf of Carpentaria and the south coast of New Guinea. It merges with the Timor Sea on the west and the Banda and Ceram seas on the northwest. The Torres Strait connects it with the Coral Sea on the east. Most of the Arafura Sea is underlain by the Arafura

Sacagawea

2005-01-21T03:18:00.000-08:00

Historians have been hard put to separate the facts from the body of folklore that have made this brave

Aylesbury Vale

2005-01-20T14:24:00.000-08:00

District in the northern part of the administrative and historic county of Buckinghamshire, southern England. The name comes from the rich clay Vale of Aylesbury, which is situated between the ridges of the Cotswolds and the Chiltern Hills. The district includes both Aylesbury and Buckingham, 16 miles (26 km) farther north, and their surrounding rural countryside. Area

Arp, Jean

2005-01-19T15:07:00.000-08:00

First trained as an artist in his native Strasbourg, he later studied in Weimar, Germany, and at the Acad�mie Julian in Paris. In 1912 he went to Munich,

Earth Sciences, Hydrologic and atmospheric sciences

2005-01-18T05:57:00.000-08:00

The only substance known to the ancient philosophers in its solid, liquid, and gaseous states, water is prominently featured in early theories about the origin and operations of the Earth. Thales of Miletus (c. 624 - c. 545 BC) is credited with a belief that water is the essential substance of the Earth, and Anaximander of Miletus (c. 610 - 545 BC) held that water was probably the source of life. In

Camden

2005-01-16T01:01:00.000-08:00

Fort Nassau, near present-day Gloucester City, was one of the first colonial settlements in New Jersey (1623). At that time Delaware

Defense Of Rights, Associations For The

2005-01-15T06:51:00.000-08:00

The league was actually a coalition of middle-class organizations,

Roman Catholicism, The nature of the church

2005-01-14T20:25:00.000-08:00

In 1965 M.-J. le Guillou, a Roman Catholic theologian, defined the church in these terms: �The Church is recognized as a society of fellowship with God, the sacrament of salvation, the people of God established as the body of Christ and the temple of the Holy Spirit.� The progress of Roman Catholic theology can be seen in the contrast between this statement and the definition still

Melito Of Sardis

2005-01-13T10:25:00.000-08:00

The 4th-century chronicles of Eusebius of Caesarea identify Melito as a bishop who addressed a discourse to the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, arguing that Christianity

Literature

2005-01-12T00:32:00.000-08:00

The most distinctive feature of Italian literature in 2001 was the publication of several novels whose settings in the recent past served as a framework for a reflection on history. Davide Longo's Un mattino a Irgalem takes place during the Italian colonization of Ethiopia, a topic traditionally neglected by historians and creative writers. In the action a short and

Leadville

2005-01-10T03:36:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1878) of Lake county, central Colorado, U.S., located 103 miles (166 km) west of Denver and 38 miles (61 km) south of Vail. It is situated in the upper Arkansas River valley in an area of national forests, at an elevation of some 10,200 feet (3,105 metres). It is the centre of one of the nation's most celebrated mining districts, which has yielded gold, silver, lead, zinc, manganese, and molybdenum. Gold was

Pacific Grove

2005-01-09T22:15:00.000-08:00

Resort and residential city, Monterey county, western California, U.S. It lies along Monterey Bay and adjoins the city of Monterey. Founded in 1874 by Methodists as a religious retreat, the city remains a centre for conferences of religious and other groups. Pacific Grove is the northern terminus of the scenic Seventeen Mile Drive from Carmel. The famous Butterfly Trees

Extinction

2005-01-08T05:58:00.000-08:00

In biology, the dying out or termination of a race or species. Extinction occurs when a species can no longer reproduce at replacement levels. Most extinctions are thought to have resulted from environmental changes that affected the species in either of two ways. The doomed species might not have been able to adapt to the changed environment and thus perished without

Blaby

2005-01-07T03:45:00.000-08:00

District, county of Leicestershire, south-central England. It covers the southern and western suburbs of the city of Leicester, in an arc around the city boundary from southeast to northwest, and extends southwest across a mostly rural area almost to the county boundary with Warwickshire on the southwest. Blaby district is administered from Narborough. Other important

Game

2005-01-05T13:38:00.000-08:00

In gastronomy, the flesh of any wild animal or bird. Game is usually classified according to three categories: (1) small birds, such as the thrush and quail; (2) game proper, a category that can be subdivided into winged game, such as the goose, duck, woodcock, grouse or partridge, and pheasant; and ground game, such as the squirrel, hare, and rabbit; (3) big game, predominantly venison, including

Syrtos

2005-01-04T18:51:00.000-08:00

Ancient chain dance of Greece. It was described by Lucian (c. AD 125 - 190) and is still danced today in many varieties in the Greek islands. Traditionally, it was danced by segregated lines of men and women, a youth leading the line of girls; lines now are frequently mixed. The dancers in the chain maintain a simple fundamental step, but the leader improvises, often breaking away

Moskva River

2005-01-03T00:44:00.000-08:00

English �Moscow River� river flowing through Moscow oblast (province) and part of Smolensk oblast, in western Russia. It is a left-bank tributary of the Oka River in the Volga basin. Rising in the Smolensk-Moscow Upland, the river flows 312 mi (502 km) in a southeasterly direction and drains an area of 6,800 sq mi (17,600 sq km). It is an important source of Moscow's water supply. Major cities along the river include Moscow,

Wyre Forest

2005-01-02T22:46:00.000-08:00

Wyre

Hsin-tien

2005-01-01T20:30:00.000-08:00

Town, T'ai-pei hsien (county), northern Taiwan. It lies 5 miles (8 km) southeast of Taipei city, in the northernmost portion of Taiwan's western coastal plain. Situated on the right bank of the Hsin-tien River, the town is the centre of a region producing tea, rice, and citrus fruits. Woodworking, glassmaking, and the manufacture of small machinery are Hsin-tien's major industries,

Force Acts

2004-12-31T08:15:00.000-08:00

The major provisions of the acts authorized federal authorities to enforce penalties upon anyone interfering with the registration,

Clampett, Robert

2004-12-30T08:27:00.000-08:00

Clampett joined Leon Schlesinger's fledgling animation unit on the Warner Bros. lot in 1933. In 1936 he became part of director Tex Avery's innovative animation team, where the youthful energy, zany humour, and iconoclastic

Bulgarian Agrarian National Union

2004-12-29T16:49:00.000-08:00

Also called �Peasant Party�, Bulgarian �Bulgarski Zemedelski Naroden Suyuz (BZNS)� Bulgarian political party founded under the name Bulgarian Agrarian Union in 1899. The party controlled the government between 1919 and 1923 and introduced extensive land reforms. Originally a professional organization, it became a peasants' political party by 1901. Its popularity increased after World War I; in the parliamentary elections of August 1919, it received 31 percent of the

Seth

2004-12-28T19:14:00.000-08:00

The worship of Seth originally centred at Nubt (Greek Ombos), near modern Tukh, on the western bank of the Nile River. Nubt, with its vast cemetery at nearby Naqadah, was the principal predynastic centre in Upper Egypt. The town lost its preeminent position with the unification of Egypt about 3050 BC, which was carried

Haber-bosch Process

2004-12-27T14:39:00.000-08:00

Also called �Haber ammonia process, �or �synthetic ammonia process, � method of directly synthesizing ammonia from hydrogen and nitrogen, developed by the German physical chemist Fritz Haber. He received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1918 for this method, which made the manufacture of ammonia economically feasible. The method was translated into a large-scale process using a catalyst and high-pressure methods by Carl Bosch, an industrial

Judaism, The gaonate of Sa'adia ben Joseph

2004-12-26T10:03:00.000-08:00

In a bold effort to restore discipline and respect for the gaonate, an able exilarch, David ben Zakkai (916/917 - 940), bypassed the families from whom the geonim had traditionally been selected and in 928 appointed Sa'adia ben Joseph al-Fayyumi to head the academy of Sura. Of Egyptian birth, Sa'adia had gained wide acclaim for his scholarly retorts to Karaites, heretics, and Palestinian

Isinglass

2004-12-25T19:43:00.000-08:00

Sired by Isonomy and foaled by Dead Lock, he was owned by H. McCalmont and trained by J. Jewitt. After winning three races in 1893, as a two-year-old, ridden by Tom Loates, he won the Two Thousand Guineas, the Derby, and

China, The development of the Republic (1912 - 20)

2004-12-24T23:45:00.000-08:00

The first half of the 20th century saw the gradual disintegration of the old order in China and the turbulent preparation for a new society. Foreign political philosophies undermined the traditional governmental system, nationalism became the strongest activating force, and civil wars and Japanese invasion tore the vast country and retarded its modernization.

Degema

2004-12-23T15:07:00.000-08:00

Town and river port, Rivers state, southern Nigeria, on the Sambreiro River (an outlet of the Niger). A traditional market centre (fish, cassava, taro, palm produce, plantains, and yams) of the Ijo (Ijaw) people, it became a major exporter of palm oil and kernels after the decline of the slave trade in the early 19th century. The Degema-Abonnema port (boats now anchor near the palm oil

Wazyk, Adam

2004-12-22T01:12:00.000-08:00

Wazyk's earliest volumes of poetry, Semafory (1924; �Semaphores�) and Oczy i usta (1926; �Eyes and Lips�), were written between the ages of 17 and 20 and reflect the instability of life in Poland after World War I and

Vulgar Latin

2004-12-21T02:15:00.000-08:00

Spoken form of non-Classical Latin from which originated the Romance group of languages. Vulgar Latin was primarily the speech of the middle classes in Rome and the Roman provinces; it is derived from Classical Latin but varied across Roman-occupied areas according to the extent of education of the population, communication with Rome, and the original languages

Allotropy

2004-12-20T08:27:00.000-08:00

The existence of a chemical element in two or more forms, which may differ in the arrangement of atoms in crystalline solids or in the occurrence of molecules that contain different numbers of atoms. The existence of different crystalline forms of an element is the same phenomenon that in the case of compounds is called polymorphism. Allotropes may be monotropic,

Actinide Element, Nuclear

2004-12-19T04:09:00.000-08:00

All of the actinide elements are unstable toward radioactive decay; the reason that actinium, thorium, protactinium, and uranium are found in nature at all is because some of their isotopes are unusually stable and others are being formed constantly by decay of the long-lived isotopes. It is convenient to divide the naturally occurring isotopes into families based

Olympic Airways

2004-12-18T23:03:00.000-08:00

Greek �Olimpiaki Aeroporia, � Greek airline founded on April 6, 1957, by the Greek shipowner Aristotle Onassis (1906? - 75) but, from 1975, wholly owned by the Greek government. Services from Greece into western Europe began in 1957, and by 1980 services extended throughout Greece and internationally from Athens to many of the major cities of Europe and the Middle East, as well as to North America, Africa, Southeast Asia, and

Floral Decoration

2004-12-17T01:41:00.000-08:00

Since the earliest days of civilization, humans have used floral decorations, composed of living or dried cut-plant materials or artificial facsimiles, to embellish their environment and persons. Flowers have played

Morat, Battle Of

2004-12-16T13:15:00.000-08:00

The Swiss had been drawn into war as allies of the Holy Roman emperor Frederick III and

Tarai

2004-12-15T09:49:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Terai� region of northern India and southern Nepal running parallel to the lower Himalayan ranges. A strip of undulating former marshland, it stretches from the Yamuna River (west) to the Brahmaputra River (east). At its northern edge are numerous springs forming several streams, including the important Ghaghara River, that intersect the Tarai (meaning �moist land�) and are

Neoregelia

2004-12-14T00:16:00.000-08:00

Neoregelia leaves are often mottled, marbled,

Thompson, Jim

2004-12-13T00:50:00.000-08:00

The son of a wealthy textile manufacturer, Thompson graduated from Princeton University

Aerospace Engineering

2004-12-12T00:32:00.000-08:00

The aerospace engineer is armed with an extensive background suitable for employment in most positions traditionally occupied by mechanical engineers as well as limited positions in the other various engineering disciplines. The transportation, construction, communication, and energy industries provide the most opportunities for non-aerospace