WideBox

Sanitary Landfill

2005-07-27T22:10:00.000-07:00

Method of controlled disposal of refuse on land. The method was introduced in England in 1912 (where it is called controlled tipping) and involves natural fermentation brought about by microorganisms. Usually the refuse is deposited in shallow layers, compacted, and covered within 24 hours with earth or other chemically inert material to form an effective seal. Mechanical

Malay Peninsula

2005-07-26T03:40:00.000-07:00

Also called the Kra Peninsula, in Southeast Asia, a long, narrow appendix of the mainland extending south for a distance of about 700 miles (1,127 km) through the Isthmus of Kra to Cape Balai, southernmost point of the Asian continent; its maximum width is 200 miles (322 km). It lies between the Andaman Sea of the Indian Ocean and the Strait of Malacca (west), the Singapore Strait (south), and the Gulf of Thailand and the South

Chanel, Gabrielle

2005-07-23T16:15:00.000-07:00

Byname Coco French dress designer who ruled over Parisian haute couture for almost six decades. Her elegantly casual designs inspired women of fashion to abandon complicated, uncomfortable clothes and to adopt her now-classic innovations—i.e., jersey dresses and suits, bell-bottom trousers, bobbed hair, trench coats, turtleneck sweaters, costume jewelry,

Poldi Pezzoli, Museo

2005-07-08T13:40:00.000-07:00

(Italian: Poldi Pezzoli Museum), in Milan, museum in the former private house of G.G. Poldi-Pezzoli, housing fine examples of arms and armour from the 14th to the 17th centuries. There are also antique tapestries. The staircase is decorated with landscapes by Alessandro Magnasco. One room is devoted to works by Bernardino Luini and the Lombard school of painters. Other notable

Gadda, Carlo Emilio

2005-06-30T19:55:00.000-07:00

Gadda was educated as an electrical engineer and volunteered in World War I. During the 1920s he worked as an engineer abroad. He began writing in the 1930s and from the first demonstrated

Ustyurt Plateau

2005-06-23T02:15:00.000-07:00

Kazak Üstirt , Turkmen Üstyurt plateau in Uzbekistan and Kazakstan, lying between the Aral Sea and the Amu Darya (river) delta in the east and the Mangyshlak (Tupqarghan) Plateau and the Kara-Bogaz-Gol (Garabogazköl; an inlet of the Caspian Sea) in the west. It has an area of about 77,000 square miles (about 200,000 square km) and an average elevation of about 500 feet (about 150 m), rising to a maximum of 1,200 feet (365 m) in the southwest. At its

Guadiana River

2005-06-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

Arabic Wadi Ana, Portuguese Rio Guadiana, Spanish Río Guadiana, one of the longest streams of the Iberian Peninsula, flowing generally westward through south-central Spain and southeastern Portugal to the Gulf of Cádiz in the Atlantic Ocean. The river has a drainage area of 23,455 square miles (60,748 square km), a length of 483 miles (778 km), and about 30 major tributaries. Its flow is relatively meagre—only about half that of the Tagus or the Douro—because

Vadstena Bracteate

2005-06-16T11:25:00.000-07:00

Gold coin-like ornament with runic inscriptions and rich designs, discovered in Östergötland, Swed., probably dating from the 5th century. A 24-character futhark (runic alphabet), arranged in three groups of eight symbols, is engraved on it, followed by eight characters, tuwa tuwa, of unknown, perhaps magical, significance. The bracteate is the oldest and best record of the

Paleolithic Period

2005-06-13T06:20:00.000-07:00

At sites dating from the Lower Paleolithic Period (about 2,500,000 to 200,000 years ago), simple pebble tools have been found in association with the remains of what may have been the earliest human ancestors. A somewhat more sophisticated Lower Paleolithic tradition,

Motor-vehicle Insurance

2005-06-01T15:45:00.000-07:00

Liability insurance pays for

Succubus

2005-05-18T06:10:00.000-07:00

Female form of an incubus (q.v.).

Luther, Martin, Brother Martin Luther

2005-05-16T11:30:00.000-07:00

Evidence on the reason for his decision to enter the religious life is scanty. In his later, not always reliable, Tischreden (“Table Talk”), it is related that on July 2, 1505, he was returning from a visit to his parents when he was overtaken by a thunderstorm near the village of Stotternheim and cried out in terror, “Help, St. Anne, and I'll become a monk.” In his De votis monasticis (“Concerning

Wagon

2005-05-14T09:15:00.000-07:00

The strings of the wagon are not tuned in ascending order but form a pentatonic scale in the following manner (from the bottom string): e¢, g¢, b¢, d¢, a¢, d². This unusual tuning relates to the instrument's primary performance practice, which

Rayon

2005-03-15T06:07:00.000-08:00

Any man-made textile fibre produced from the plant substance cellulose. Developed in an attempt to produce silk chemically, the fibre was originally known by such terms as artificial silk and wood silk, but in 1924 it was given the coined name rayon. An anitrocellulose type of rayon, first produced commercially in France in 1891 in the form of a nitrocellulose fibre, was later

Topeka

2005-03-14T00:09:00.000-08:00

The name Topeka is of uncertain Indian origin; one interpretation is �smoky hill,� and another is �a good place to dig potatoes.� The present site was chosen in 1854 by a group of antislavery colonists from Lawrence, led by Charles Robinson, a resident agent of

Calabrian Stage

2005-03-11T23:36:00.000-08:00

All those rocks deposited worldwide during the Calabrian Age (1,600,000 - 10,000 years ago). The stage's name is derived from the region of Calabria in southern Italy, which has traditionally served as the type district for rocks of this age. The Calabrian Stage encompasses those rocks laid down during the Pleistocene Epoch. As defined in 1985 by the International Commission on Stratigraphy,

Tibet, Climate

2005-03-04T05:15:00.000-08:00

Although Tibetans refer to their country as Gangs-ljongs or Kha-ba-can (�Land of Snows�), the climate is generally dry, and most of Tibet receives only 18 inches (460 millimetres) of rain and snow annually. The Himalayas act as a barrier to the monsoon (rain-bearing) winds from the south, and precipitation decreases from south to north. The perpetual snow line lies at about 16,000 feet in

Marie-th�r�se Of Austria

2005-03-03T17:02:00.000-08:00

As the daughter of King Philip IV of Spain and Elizabeth of France, Marie-Th�r�se was betrothed to Louis by the Peace of the Pyrenees (1659), which ended a 24-year war between France and Spain. Under the terms of the pact, she agreed to renounce her claim to succession to the Spanish throne

Force Acts

2005-03-02T18:26:00.000-08:00

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

Interior Design, Lighting

2005-03-01T16:17:00.000-08:00

Light is one of the key elements of interior design. Most interior spaces constructed in the 20th century are used as much with artificial light as with daylight; because of this lighting has become a very significant tool for the interior designer. There are three major aspects to lighting: function, aesthetics, and health. The latter factor is often ignored, but insufficient

Ya-an

2005-02-28T08:03:00.000-08:00

Established as the seat of a county under the Ch'in (221 - 206 BC) and Han (206 BC - AD 220) dynasties,

Palade, George E.

2005-02-26T00:37:00.000-08:00

Palade received a degree

Gauguin, Paul

2005-02-25T09:36:00.000-08:00

In full �Eug�ne-Henri-Paul Gauguin� French painter, printmaker, and sculptor who sought to achieve a �primitive� expression of spiritual and emotional states in his work. The artist, whose work has been categorized as Post-Impressionist, Synthetist, and Symbolist, is particularly well known for his creative

Albacete

2005-02-24T21:30:00.000-08:00

Capital of Albacete provincia, Castile-La Mancha comunidad aut�noma (�autonomous community�), southeast-central Spain. Albacete is located in the historic La Mancha region, on the Don Juan River at its juncture with the Mar�a Cristina Canal. Of Moorish origin (Arabic: Al-Basit), it was the scene of two battles between Christians and Moors, in 1145 and 1146. Refounded in 1365 as Albacete, it

Athanasius, Saint

2005-02-23T20:25:00.000-08:00

Athanasius' two-part work of apologetics, Against the Heathen and The Incarnation of the Word of God, completed about 335, was the first great classic of developed Greek Orthodox theology. In Athanasius' system, the Son of God, the eternal Word through whom God made the world, entered the world in human form to lead men back to the harmony from which they had fallen away. Athanasius

Luristan Bronze

2005-02-22T15:10:00.000-08:00

Luristan also spelled �Lorestan, � any of the horse trappings, utensils, weapons, jewelry, belt buckles, and ritual and votive objects of bronze probably dating from roughly 1500 - 500 BC that have been excavated since the late 1920s in the Harsin, Khorramabad, and Alishtar valleys of the Zagros Mountains in the Lorestan region of western Iran, especially at the site of Tepe Sialk. Their precise origin is unknown. Scholars

Telescope, X-ray telescopes

2005-02-21T10:00:00.000-08:00

The X-ray telescope is used to examine the shorter-wavelength region of the electromagnetic spectrum adjacent to the ultraviolet region. The design of this type of telescope must be radically different from that of a conventional reflector. Since X-ray photons have so much energy, they would pass right through the mirror of a standard reflector. X rays must be bounced

Meletius Of Lycopolis

2005-02-20T16:24:00.000-08:00

For presuming to ordain clergy and bishops for Christian

Ryleyev, Kondraty Fyodorovich

2005-02-19T05:17:00.000-08:00

Ryleyev came from a family of poor gentry. He served in the army, spending time in Germany, Switzerland, and France. After his return to Russia, he went to live in Voronezh province, where his impressions from abroad sharply contrasted with the

Ear Disease, Leprosy

2005-02-18T19:36:00.000-08:00

Leprosy, seen rarely outside the tropics today, was another scourge of ancient times that sometimes affected the outer ear. It is caused by the leprosy bacillus, Mycobacterium leprae, which causes a painless, slowly progressing thickening and distortion of the affected tissues. The diagnosis is made by examining a bit of the infected tissue under a microscope and

Vaganova, Agrippina (yakovlevna)

2005-02-17T14:41:00.000-08:00

Ballerina and teacher who developed a technique and system of instruction based on the classic style of the Imperial Russian Ballet but which also incorporated aspects of the more vigorous, acrobatic Soviet ballet developed after the Revolution. Her pupils included such outstanding dancers as Marina

World War I, The First Battle of the Marne

2005-02-16T03:01:00.000-08:00

Already on September 3, General J.-S. Gallieni, the military governor of Paris, had guessed the significance of the German 1st Army's swing inward to the Marne east of Paris. On September 4 Joffre, convinced by Gallieni's arguments, decisively ordered his whole left wing to turn about from their retreat and to begin a general offensive against the Germans' exposed right flank

Palaic Language

2005-02-15T15:19:00.000-08:00

Ancient Indo-European language of northwest Anatolia. Modern knowledge of the language comes from 21 passages dealing with the cult of the deity Ziparwa that appear in the cuneiform tablets found in the ruins of the Hittite archives at Bogazk�y (the ancient Hattusa, in modern Turkey). In its inflectional systems and pronoun forms, it appears to be very close to the Hittite

Switzerland, Switzerland from 1848 to the present

2005-02-14T04:59:00.000-08:00

The turning point, then, in modern Swiss history was 1848. Before that date internal conflict was a fact of Swiss political life; since then there has been an absence of major internal crises along ethnic and religious lines, and the country has prospered. With political stability, the Swiss could spend a greater portion of their time and efforts developing industry, agriculture,

Hungary, Ethnic and religious structure

2005-02-13T05:17:00.000-08:00

From its inception in the 11th century, the Kingdom of Hungary was a multi-ethnic country. Major territorial changes made Hungary ethnically homogenous after World War I, however, and more than nine-tenths of the population is now ethnically Hungarian and speaks Hungarian (Magyar) as its mother tongue. The Hungarian language is classified as a member of the Ugric branch

Wright, Sewall

2005-02-12T05:09:00.000-08:00

Wright was educated at Lombard College, Galesburg, Ill., and at the University of Illinois, Urbana, and, after earning his doctorate in zoology at Harvard University (Sc.D., 1915), he worked as a senior animal husbandman

Columbia Encyclopedia

2005-02-11T05:54:00.000-08:00

First published in 1935 and continuing its indirect but important relationship with Columbia University, the encyclopaedia underwent major revisions in 1950 and 1963. The fourth edition (1975), with the present title, met a crucial

Peter Iv

2005-02-10T10:49:00.000-08:00

Peter was the most cultivated of Spanish 14th-century kings but was also an inveterate political intriguer whose ability to dissemble was notorious. Through his voluminous correspondence, the workings of his mind are far better known than those of any contemporary Spanish

Levi, Primo

2005-02-08T07:04:00.000-08:00

Levi was brought up in the small Jewish community in Turin, studied at the University of Turin, and graduated summa cum laude in chemistry in 1941. Two years later he joined friends

Marrah Mountains

2005-02-07T10:57:00.000-08:00

Arabic� Jabal Marra,� mountain range, a rugged volcanic chain extending for 100 miles (160 km) west-southwest of Al-Fashir, in west-central Sudan. The highest point of the Nile-Lake Chad watershed, the mountains reach heights of more than 10,000 feet (3,000 m). Some intermittent tributaries of the Al-'Arab River rise on the southern flanks.

Hippocrateaceae

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

Family of woody vines, shrubs, and trees, belonging to the order Celastrales, comprising 21 genera common in the tropics. They have simple leaves and small, greenish flowers. The genus Hippocratea has 80 or more species, including H. ovata, a high-climbing vine - in tropical America and the West Indies - with leathery, oval leaves. Salacia, with 200 species, differs from Hippocratea

Arges

2005-02-05T06:21:00.000-08:00

Judet (county), southern Romania. The Transylvanian Alps (Southern Carpathians) and the sub-Carpathians rise above the settlement areas that are found in intermontane valleys. The county is drained eastward by the Arges, Cotmeana, and Teleorman rivers. It was formerly included in feudal Walachia. Agricultural activities consist of vineyard and orchard cultivation

Gauge

2005-02-04T06:34:00.000-08:00

Also called �Railway Gauge, � in railroad transportation, the width between the inside faces of running rails. Because the cost of construction and operation of a rail line is greater or less depending on the gauge, much controversy has surrounded decisions in respect to it, and a proliferation of gauges has developed throughout the world. A narrow gauge has, in addition to cost advantages, a capability

Arabia, History Of, Ghassan

2005-02-03T07:52:00.000-08:00

The dynasty of the Ghassanids, though often called kings, were in fact Byzantine phylarchs (native rulers of subject frontier states). They had their headquarters well within the Byzantine Empire, a little east of the Sea of Galilee at Jabiyah in the Jawlan (Golan) area; but they controlled large areas of northwestern Arabia, as far south as Yathrib, serving as a counterpoise

Amazon Rainforest

2005-02-02T14:29:00.000-08:00

Large, tropical rainforest occupying the drainage basin of the Amazon River and its tributaries in northern South America, and covering an area of 2,300,000 square miles (6,000,000 square km). Comprising about 40 percent of Brazil's total area, it is bounded by the Guiana Highlands to the north, the Andes Mountain Ranges to the west, the Brazilian central plateau to the south, and the Atlantic

Term

2005-02-01T19:39:00.000-08:00

In logic, the subject or predicate of a categorical proposition (q.v.), or statement. Aristotle so used the Greek word horos (�limit�), apparently by an analogy between the terms of a proportion and those of a syllogism. Terminus is the Latin translation of this word, used, for example, by the 5th-century Roman philosopher Boethius. Hence in medieval logic the word came to be used

Wolof Empire

2005-01-31T13:54:00.000-08:00

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

Pacatus Drepanius, Latinius

2005-01-30T10:34:00.000-08:00

It is uncertain whether Pacatus was pagan or Christian; in his speech he denounced Maximus' persecution of the Priscillianist heretics.

Kassala

2005-01-29T08:53:00.000-08:00

Traditional region, east-central Sudan. It is bordered on the east by Ethiopia. The Atbara River, an important tributary of the Nile, flows northwestward through Kassala and causes seasonal floods during torrential summer rains. Rocky deserts dominate the centre of the region, while in the north is the Butana Plain, with sandy clay soils and occasional low hills with

Interior Design, Final drawings and specifications

2005-01-28T20:29:00.000-08:00

The next stages of the design may consist of a series of drawings done by professional draftsmen or by the interior designer himself, if he works as an

Sorin, Edward Frederick

2005-01-27T01:52:00.000-08:00

Sorin was ordained a priest in 1838, and two years later he joined the Congregation of Holy Cross, a group of priests and brothers organized at Le Mans, Fr. Sorin and six brothers went to Vincennes, Ind., in 1841 at the invitation of Bishop C�lestine

Pietro Da Cortona,

2005-01-26T18:27:00.000-08:00

Pietro studied in Rome from about 1612 under the minor Florentine painters Andrea Commodi and Baccio Ciarpi and was influenced by antique sculpture and the work of Raphael. The most important of his earliest paintings were three frescoes

Henry, William

2005-01-25T14:52:00.000-08:00

Henry took his doctor of medicine degree at Edinburgh (1807). When ill health forced him

La Fontaine, Jean De

2005-01-24T05:01:00.000-08:00

La Fontaine was born in the Champagne region into a bourgeois family. There, in 1647, he married an heiress, Marie H�ricart, but they separated in 1658. From 1652 to 1671 he held office as an inspector of forests and waterways, an office inherited from his father. It was in Paris, however, that he made his most important contacts and spent his most productive years as a writer. An outstanding

China, China after the death of Mao

2005-01-23T04:45:00.000-08:00

Perhaps never before in human history had a political leader unleashed such massive forces against the system that he had created. The resulting damage to that system was profound, and the goals that Mao Zedong sought to achieve ultimately remained elusive. The agenda he left behind for his successors was extraordinarily challenging.

Dafydd Nanmor

2005-01-22T21:26:00.000-08:00

Welsh poet, master of the cywydd form (characterized by rhyming couplets), whose poems express his belief in tradition and aristocracy. Many of his poems reflect his support of the political aspirations of the Tudors; others are simple and sincere love poems. �Llio's Hair� and �Maiden's Elegy� are considered to

Hyacinthus

2005-01-21T11:28:00.000-08:00

In Greek legend, a young man of Amyclae in Laconia. According to the usual version, his great beauty attracted the love of Apollo, who killed him accidentally while teaching him to throw the discus; others related that Zephyrus (or Boreas) out of jealousy deflected the discus so that it hit Hyacinthus on the head and killed him. Out of his blood there grew the flower called

'akko

2005-01-20T04:55:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Acre�, or �'Akka� city, northwest Israel. It lies along the Mediterranean Sea, at the north end of the Bay of Haifa (formerly Bay of Acre). Its natural harbour was a frequent target for Palestine's many invaders over the centuries. The earliest mention of 'Akko is in an Egyptian text dating from the 19th century BC. The Bible (Judges 1) states that the city did not fall to the Jews under Joshua and his

Chen Shizeng

2005-01-19T20:19:00.000-08:00

Chen came from a family of prominent officials and scholars. He was well educated and something of a child prodigy who, by age 10, was painting, writing poetry, and excelling at calligraphy. In 1902 Chen went to Japan for further study.

Permafrost, Origins

2005-01-18T18:55:00.000-08:00

The origin of ground ice was first studied in Siberia, and discussions in print of the origin of large ground-ice masses in perennially frozen ground of North America have gone on since Otto von Kotzebue recorded ground ice in 1816 at a spot now called Elephant's Point in Eschscholtz Bay of Seward Peninsula. The theory for the origin of ice wedges now generally accepted

Kenya, Drainage

2005-01-17T15:12:00.000-08:00

The major features of the drainage pattern of Kenya were created by the ancient crustal deformation of a great oval dome that arose in the west-central part of the country and created the Central Rift. This dome produced a primeval watershed from which rivers once drained eastward to the Indian Ocean and westward to the Congo system and the Atlantic Ocean. Still

Pugin, Augustus Welby Northmore

2005-01-16T13:20:00.000-08:00

Pugin was the son of the architect Augustus Charles Pugin, who gave him his architectural and draftsmanship training. His mature professional life began in 1836 when he published Contrasts, which conveyed the argument with

Lancaster, House Of

2005-01-15T10:52:00.000-08:00

The family name first appeared in 1267, when the title earl of Lancaster was granted to Edmund �Crouchback� (1245 - 96), the youngest son of Henry III. Two of Edmund's sons by his second

Hughes, (james Mercer) Langston

2005-01-13T06:07:00.000-08:00

Black poet and writer who became, through numerous translations, one of the foremost interpreters to the world of the black experience in the United States. Hughes's parents separated soon after his birth, and young Hughes was raised by his mother and grandmother. After his grandmother's death, he and his mother moved to half a dozen

Alb

2005-01-12T13:54:00.000-08:00

Derived from the long white tunic (tunica alba, or linea) commonly

Neodymium

2005-01-11T20:10:00.000-08:00

(Nd), chemical element, rare-earth metal of transition Group IIIb of the periodic table. Neodymium is silvery-white colour and tarnishes in air to form an oxide which chips, exposing the metal to further oxidation. The metal must be sealed in a plastic covering or kept in mineral oil for preservation. It reacts gradually with cold water and rapidly with hot water to liberate

Arabian Sea

2005-01-10T15:29:00.000-08:00

Most of the Arabian Sea has depths that exceed 9,800 feet, and there are no islands in the middle. Deep water reaches close to the bordering lands except in the northeast, off Pakistan and India. To the southeast the Lakshadweep atolls form part of the submarine Maldive Ridge, which extends farther south into the Indian Ocean where it rises above the surface to form the atolls

Mufaddaliyat, Al-

2005-01-09T23:45:00.000-08:00

(Arabic: �The Examination of al-Mufaddal�), an anthology of ancient Arabic poems, compiled by al-Mufaddal ibn Muhammad ibn Ya'lah between 762 and 784. It is of the highest importance as a record of the thought and poetic art of Arabia in the last two pre-Islamic centuries. Not more than five or six of the 126 poems appear to have been composed by poets born under Islam, and, though a certain number

Colosseum

2005-01-08T01:49:00.000-08:00

Originally called �Flavian Amphitheatre� giant amphitheatre built in Rome under the Flavian emperors. Construction of the Colosseum was begun sometime between AD 70 and 72 during the reign of Vespasian; the structure was officially dedicated in AD 80 by Titus in a ceremony that included 100 days of games. Later, in AD 82, Domitian completed the work by adding the uppermost story. Unlike earlier amphitheatres, which were nearly

Permafrost, Permafrost thawing and frost heaving

2005-01-07T13:30:00.000-08:00

Because thawing of permafrost and frost action are involved in almost all engineering problems in polar areas, it is advisable to consider these phenomena generally. The delicate thermal equilibrium of permafrost is disrupted when the vegetation, snow cover, or active layer is compacted. The permafrost table is lowered, the active layer is thickened, and considerable

Duck

2005-01-06T03:54:00.000-08:00

The fabric, in its various qualities and colours, is used for an enormous variety

Houdini, Harry

2005-01-05T23:07:00.000-08:00

Houdini was the son of a rabbi who emigrated from Hungary to the United States and settled in Appleton, Wis. He became a trapeze performer in circuses at an early age, and, after settling in New York City in 1882, he performed in vaudeville shows

Roman Road System

2005-01-04T05:42:00.000-08:00

The first of the great Roman roads, the Via Appia (Appian Way), begun by the censor Appius

Daventry

2005-01-03T09:40:00.000-08:00

Nothing is known of Daventry town before Domesday Book (1086), the record of the land survey ordered by William the Conqueror, although

Rabaut, Paul

2005-01-02T14:26:00.000-08:00

At age 16 Rabaut met Jean B�trine, an itinerant preacher of the French Reformed Church, who was highly unpopular with the Roman Catholic government. Rabaut's consequent theological training, which led to his certification

Staffordshire

2005-01-01T21:46:00.000-08:00

Administrative, geographic, and historic county in the Midlands of west-central England, extending north from the Birmingham metropolitan area. The administrative, geographic, and historic counties occupy somewhat different areas. The administrative county comprises eight districts: Cannock Chase, Lichfield, South Staffordshire, Staffordshire

Steffens, Henrik

2004-12-31T22:44:00.000-08:00

Steffens spent his early years at Copenhagen, where he attended the university. He later studied at Kiel, Jena, and Berlin and by 1799 was an established figure in German literary and philosophical circles and on friendly terms with Schelling, Goethe,

Gravitational Radius

2004-12-30T18:55:00.000-08:00

The gravitational radius (Rg) of an object of mass M is given by the following formula, in which G is the universal gravitational

Aung San Suu Kyi

2004-12-29T11:59:00.000-08:00

Aung San Suu Kyi was two years old when her father, then the de facto prime minister of what would shortly become independent Burma, was assassinated.

Europoort

2004-12-28T20:43:00.000-08:00

Port on the southwestern coast of The Netherlands. It lies opposite the Hoek van Holland, at the entrance of the New Waterway Canal, a distributary of the Rhine. About 17 miles (27 km) upstream on the canal lies the Port of Rotterdam, for which Europoort functions as an outport. Europoort is one of the most modern ports in the world; its construction was begun in 1958. It consists of

Infection, Dacryocystitis and dacryoadenitis

2004-12-27T09:33:00.000-08:00

Inflammation of the tear sac, called dacryocystitis, is a common pediatric infection. It usually occurs after a long-term obstruction of the nasolacrimal duct (a tube that connects the eye with the nose, allowing proper drainage of the eye's secretions). This infection, caused by staphylococci or streptococci, produces tender swelling in the inner corner of the eye

Van Vleck, John H.

2004-12-26T15:04:00.000-08:00

Educated at the University of Wisconsin, Madison,

Huila

2004-12-25T21:59:00.000-08:00

Departamento, southwestern Colombia, occupying the Andean Cordilleras (mountains) Oriental and Central, which are separated by the upper Magdalena River valley. Created in 1905, it was named for the snowcapped mountain Nevado del Huila (17,844 feet [5,439 m]), which dominates much of the landscape. Since colonial times, this part of the upper Magdalena valley has been mostly a livestock-raising

Irish Elk

2004-12-24T13:29:00.000-08:00

Genus (Megaloceros) of extinct giant elk commonly found as fossils in Pleistocene deposits in Europe and Asia (the Pleistocene Epoch began 1,600,000 years ago and ended about 10,000 years ago). The Irish elk, about the size of the modern moose, had the largest antlers of any form of deer known - in some specimens, 4 m (about 13 feet) across. The antlers differed from those of the modern elk; the main

Lever Brothers

2004-12-23T10:19:00.000-08:00

Predecessor company of Unilever (q.v.).

Rabbit

2004-12-22T08:22:00.000-08:00

While the European rabbit is the best-known species, it is probably also the least typical, as there is considerable variability in the natural history of rabbits. Many rabbits dig burrows, but cottontails and hispid hares do not. The European rabbit constructs the most extensive burrow systems, called warrens. Nonburrowing rabbits make surface nests called forms,

Weiss, Theodore Russell

2004-12-21T06:19:00.000-08:00

American poet and editor (b. Dec. 16, 1916, Reading, Pa. - d. April 15, 2003, Princeton, N.J.), was the founding editor in 1943 (with Warren Carrier) of the Quarterly Review of Literature, which published works by poets William Carlos Williams, E.E. Cummings, and Ezra Pound, as well as those of little-known poets, non-English-language writers, and especially women, including the then-unknown writers Anne Sexton,

Graetz, Heinrich

2004-12-20T04:08:00.000-08:00

Greatly influenced by his studies with the renowned scholar Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, Graetz became a teacher at the Breslau (now Wroclaw, Pol.) seminary in 1854. The seminary taught a Conservative Judaism compatible with his belief that a Jewish

Bara Banki

2004-12-19T08:42:00.000-08:00

The area in which Bara Banki is situated is an alluvial plain that is dotted with jhils, or marshy lakes,

Cheever, John

2004-12-18T21:36:00.000-08:00

American short-story writer and novelist whose work described, often through fantasy and ironic comedy, the life, manners, and morals of middle-class, suburban America. Cheever has been called �the Chekhov of the suburbs� for his ability to capture the drama and sadness of the lives of his characters by revealing the undercurrents

Bregendahl, Marie

2004-12-17T17:25:00.000-08:00

Danish writer of regional literature, who portrayed the life of the inhabitants of rural areas with sympathy and a deep understanding of their social problems. Bregendahl's father was a farmer in the Viborg district, and she lived most of her life in that area, making it the milieu of her books. Her marriage in 1893 to the folk poet Jeppe Aakj�r

Thompson, Sir John (sparrow David)

2004-12-16T07:10:00.000-08:00

Thompson was called to the bar in Nova Scotia in 1865 and appointed queen's counsellor in 1879. He entered politics in 1877 as Liberal-Conservative member for Antigonish in the provincial legislature, becoming attorney general in 1878; he became

Switzerland, Education

2004-12-15T21:51:00.000-08:00

The 1874 constitution stipulates that each canton or demi-canton is sovereign in education, that elementary education is compulsory and free, and that all public schools must be directed by the cantons. The confederation financially assists vocational training and the cantonal universities, and, by regulating examinations for the professions, it also influences

Aerospace Industry, Remanufacture and upgrading

2004-12-14T14:04:00.000-08:00

The most elaborate type of program under the general heading of maintenance is the remanufacturing process. Performed at aircraft-manufacturing facilities, remanufacture is a measure that combines a general overhaul with an upgrade of some of the aircraft's systems. The latter process often paces the progressive development of a basic airplane type through

Davidson, John

2004-12-13T18:09:00.000-08:00

After studying at the University of Edinburgh, Davidson became a teacher, meanwhile writing a number of blank-verse dramas that failed to win recognition. In 1890 he went to London, practiced journalism, and wrote

John Frederick (ii)

2004-12-12T04:38:00.000-08:00

On the imprisonment of his father, the former elector John Frederick the Magnanimous, John Frederick II and

Tragicomedy

2004-12-11T07:25:00.000-08:00

Dramatic work incorporating both tragic and comic elements. When coined by the Roman dramatist Plautus in the 2nd century BC, the word denoted a play in which gods and men, masters and slaves reverse the roles traditionally assigned to them, gods and heroes acting in comic burlesque and slaves adopting tragic dignity. This startling innovation may be seen in Plautus'

Cohen, Hermann

2004-12-10T09:33:00.000-08:00

Cohen was the son of a cantor, and he studied at the Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau and at the University of Berlin before receiving his Ph.D. at the University of Halle in

Hippolytus, Canons Of Saint

2004-12-09T10:57:00.000-08:00

These canons are neither the authentic work of St. Hippolytus nor the oldest church regulations but are a later adaptation of the Apostolic Tradition of St. Hippolytus. The unknown author

Hippolytus, Canons Of Saint

2004-12-08T09:04:00.000-08:00

These canons are neither the authentic work of St. Hippolytus nor the oldest church regulations but are a later adaptation of the Apostolic Tradition of St. Hippolytus. The unknown author