ThickDoor

Organic Underwear

2006-10-29T07:15:00.000-08:00

Natural soft Organic Clothinggoods are hard to find as they can often be a little course. Liv Organic Cotton Goodsare soft and luxurious and their Organic Underwear is to die for.

World War Ii, The encirclement of Rabaul

2005-03-18T21:48:00.000-08:00

Allied moves to isolate the large Japanese garrison on Rabaul proceeded by land and air. The encirclement of Rabaul by land began during October and November 1943 with the capture by New Zealand troops of the Treasury Islands in the Solomons and was accompanied on November 1 by a U.S. landing at Empress Augusta Bay on the west of Bougainville. U.S. reinforcements subsequently

Settle

2005-03-17T00:38:00.000-08:00

Long wooden bench with backrest and arms, designed to seat several people. Originating in Europe in the 10th century, it was apparently derived from the chest, a resemblance often retained, with additional elements based on the monastic choir stall. It could be used for a variety of purposes: as a seat, a bed, a chest, and, in examples with a hinged backrest that can be turned

Essex Decision

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

Decision rendered by the British High Court of Admiralty in 1804 and confirmed the following year, which contributed to the bad feeling between the United States and Great Britain that eventually led to the War of 1812. Britain and France were at war, and the American merchant vessel Essex had been captured by the British while transporting goods from the French West Indies

Biblical Literature, The Megillot (the Scrolls)

2005-03-13T13:43:00.000-08:00

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

Additive

2005-03-10T21:09:00.000-08:00

In foods, any of various chemical substances added to foods to produce specific desirable effects. The term additive may also be expanded to include substances—possibly useless or deleterious—that enter foods unintentionally. Additives include such substances as artificial or natural colourings and flavourings; stabilizers, emulsifiers, texturizers, and

Quant, Mary

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

Quant attended Goldsmith's College of Art, London, and spent two years designing hats for the Danish milliner Erik. In partnership with her husband and

Porsgrunn

2005-03-07T04:01:00.000-08:00

Town, Telemark fylke (county), southern Norway, at the mouth of the Skienselva (river) on Frierfjorden. Established as a customs post in 1652 with the name Porsgrund, it received its town charter in 1842. An export and industrial centre, it contains the huge Norsk Hydro chemical factories, a factory that produces Norway's finest porcelain, shipyards, metalworks, and lumber mills.

West Indies, History Of

2005-03-05T03:38:00.000-08:00

Hispanic control of the West Indies began in 1492 with Christopher Columbus' first landing in the New World and was followed by the partitioning of the region by the Spanish, French, British, Dutch, and Danish during the 17th and 18th centuries. U.S. intervention in the Greater Antilles started in the early 19th

Affections, Doctrine Of The

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

Also called Doctrine Of Affects, German Affektenlehre, theory of musical aesthetics, widely accepted by late Baroque theorists and composers, that embraced the proposition that music is capable of arousing a variety of specific emotions within the listener. At the centre of the doctrine was the belief that, by making use of the proper standard musical procedure or device, the composer could create a piece of music capable

Akure

2005-02-28T05:58:00.000-08:00

Town, capital of Ondo state, southwestern Nigeria. It lies in the southern part of the forested Yoruba Hills and at the intersection of roads from Ondo, Ilesha, Ado-Ekiti, and Owo. Akure is an agricultural trade centre for the yams, cassava, corn (maize), bananas, rice, palm oil and kernels, okra, and pumpkins grown by the Ondo branch of the Yoruba people. Although cocoa is by far

Encratite

2005-02-27T06:52:00.000-08:00

Tatian converted to Christianity while studying in Rome

Hypertext

2005-02-25T11:53:00.000-08:00

Also called Hyperlinking, the linking of related pieces of information by electronic connections in order to allow a user easy access between them. Hypertext is a feature of some computer programs that allow the user of electronic media to select a word from text and receive additional information pertaining to that word, such as a definition or related references within the text. In the

Metallica

2005-02-23T00:22:00.000-08:00

Influential American heavy metal band that, along with Slayer and Anthrax, created the subgenre of speed metal in the early and mid-1980s. The principal members were James Hetfield (b. Aug. 3, 1963, Downey, Calif., U.S.), Lars Ulrich (b. Dec. 26, 1963, Gentofte, Den.), Kirk Hammett (b. Nov. 18, 1962, San Francisco, Calif.), and Cliff Burton (b. Feb. 10, 1962, San Francisco—d. Sept. 27, 1986, near Stockholm, Swed.). Jason Newsted (b. March 4, 1963, Battle Creek,

Lewis, John L.

2005-02-21T15:09:00.000-08:00

The son of immigrants from Welsh mining towns, Lewis left school in the seventh grade and went to work in the mines at age 15. In the coal-mining town of Panama,

Gtsang Dynasty

2005-02-19T13:35:00.000-08:00

Also spelled gTsang (c. 1565–1642), Chinese royal dynasty whose rule was centred in the province of Gtsang, or gTsang. The Gtsang was the last secular native ruling house in Tibet. After overthrowing the previous Rin-spung rulers of the country around 1565, the Gtsang kings allied themselves with the powerful Karma-pa, or Red Hat, order of Buddhists and opposed the new reformed Dge-lugs-pa, or Yellow Hat, Buddhists,

D.s.o.

2005-02-17T11:30:00.000-08:00

Recipient of the Distinguished Service Order, a British military decoration. See Distinguished Service Order.

Great Sand Dunes National Monument And Preserve

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

Federal legislation enacted in 2000 created Great Sand

Anorexia

2005-02-13T18:40:00.000-08:00

Persistent lack of appetite not caused by repletion. It may spring from psychoneurotic causes, as in anorexia nervosa (q.v.), a lack of appetite, primarily in young women, that may lead to extreme emaciation and even to death. Anorexia, like nausea and vomiting, may be brought about by shock, pain, or an inadequate supply of oxygen to a centre in the medulla oblongata (the part

Mansehra

2005-02-11T01:07:00.000-08:00

Town, northeastern North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan. The town is situated at the southern end of the Pakhli Plain on the Bhut Stream, a tributary to the Siran River, at an elevation of 3,682 feet (1,122 m) above sea level. It is a market town surrounded by pine-covered hills and has a flour mill, a woolen-yarn mill, and an agricultural research centre. The nearby Asokan rock edicts

Mansehra

2005-02-08T05:26:00.000-08:00

Any of a series of unmanned U.S. scientific satellites developed to observe cosmic objects from above the Earth's atmosphere. OAO-2, launched Dec. 7, 1968, carried two large telescopes and a complement of spectrometers and other auxiliary devices. It weighed more than 4,200 pounds (1,900 kilograms), the heaviest satellite orbited up to that time. OAO-2 was able to photograph young stars that

Abu Shahrayn

2005-02-05T15:33:00.000-08:00

Mound in southern Iraq, site of the ancient Sumerian city of Eridu (q.v.).

Muslim Ibn Al-hajjaj

2005-02-03T19:31:00.000-08:00

Muslim traveled widely; his great work, the Sahih (“The Genuine”), is said to have been compiled from about 300,000 traditions, which he collected in Arabia, Egypt, Syria, and Iraq. The Sahih has been unanimously acclaimed as authoritative and is one of the six

La Hire, Laurent De

2005-01-31T17:44:00.000-08:00

He was the son of the painter Étienne de La Hire (c. 1583–1643) but was most influenced by the work of Georges Lallemont and Orazio Gentileschi. His picture of “Pope Nicolas V at the Tomb of Saint Francis” was done in 1630 for the Capuchins, for whom he executed several other

Earth, Physiographic expressions of crustal deformation

2005-01-29T02:32:00.000-08:00

Folding and faulting of the Earth's crust produces mountains, such as the Rocky Mountains, Appalachian Mountains, Himalayas, and Alps. Jointing, by contrast, plays only a minor role in shaping the terrestrial surface.

Kamchatka River

2005-01-28T05:45:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Kamcatka, river, far eastern Russia. It rises in the Sredinny (“Central”) Range of the Kamchatka Peninsula and flows north and east about 478 miles (758 km) past Milkovo, head of shallow-draught navigation, to the Bering Sea. The river freezes from November until May, except in places where hot springs come to the surface. The Kamchatka is used for timber transport. The port of Ust-Kamchatsk

Philippines, Relief and drainage

2005-01-25T17:45:00.000-08:00

The irregular configuration of the archipelago, the coastline of more than 21,500 miles, the great extent of mountainous country, the narrow and interrupted coastal plains, the generally northward trend of the river systems, and the lakes are the outstanding physical features of the Philippines. The islands are composed of volcanic, coral, and all principal rock formations.

Asparagus

2005-01-24T21:22:00.000-08:00

Asparagus may be erect or climbing, and most of the species are more

Bonefish

2005-01-22T10:56:00.000-08:00

Also called Banana Fish, or Ladyfish (Albula vulpes), marine game fish of the family Albulidae (order Elopiformes). It inhabits shallow coastal and island waters in tropical seas and is admired by anglers for its speed and strength. Maximum length and weight are about 76 cm (30 inches) and 6.4 kg (14 pounds). The bonefish has a deeply notched caudal fin (near the tail) and a small mouth beneath a pointed, piglike

Belém

2005-01-20T00:19:00.000-08:00

Also called Santa Maria de Belém freguesia (parish) within the western limits of the city of Lisbon, Portugal. A former royal residence, Belém (Bethlehem) is known for its Manueline (early 16th-century) architecture, notably the Jerónimos monastery, founded by Manuel I in 1499 in honour of the explorer Vasco da Gama's discovery of a sea route to India, and the white Tower of Belém, built in 1515–21 to protect the entrance

Avicenna

2005-01-17T21:50:00.000-08:00

Arabic Ibn Sina, in full Abu 'Ali al-Husayn ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Sina Iranian physician, the most famous and influential of the philosopher-scientists of Islam. He was particularly noted for his contributions in the fields of Aristotelian philosophy and medicine. He composed the Kitab ash-shifa' (“Book of Healing”), a vast philosophical and scientific encyclopaedia, and the Canon of Medicine, which is among the most

Saarland

2005-01-15T19:21:00.000-08:00

A well-developed educational system includes a series of technical high schools and the University of the Saarland at Saarbrücken. Cultural institutions—including the City Theatre, Radio Saarland, and the Modern Gallery of Saarbrücken—draw support from both Germany and France. There are a dozen museums and galleries and a large number of singing, musical, and

Saarland

2005-01-14T22:11:00.000-08:00

Byname Star Wars proposed U.S. strategic defensive system against potential nuclear attacks—as originally conceived, from the Soviet Union. The SDI was first proposed by President Ronald Reagan in a nationwide television address on March 23, 1983. Because parts of the defensive system that Reagan advocated would be based in space, the proposed system was dubbed “Star Wars,” after the space

Lira

2005-01-11T00:13:00.000-08:00

The word lira, a misapplication

Ray, Satyajit

2005-01-09T06:45:00.000-08:00

Bengali motion-picture director, writer, and illustrator who brought the Indian cinema to world recognition with Pather Panchali (1955; The Song of the Road) and its two sequels, known as the Apu Trilogy. As a director Ray was noted for his humanism, his versatility, and his detailed control over his films and their music. He was one of the greatest

Arabia, History Of, Saudi Arabia

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

Ibn Sa'ud's zealous Wahhabi followers, arriving in the more cosmopolitan atmosphere of Hejaz society, were now exposed to the world of Islam at large. Ibn Sa'ud managed the resulting problems with firmness and tact. He had furthermore to enforce his rule over the tribes impatient with centralized government. His tough action with them won, and he set out to develop security,

Burbage, Richard

2005-01-06T16:17:00.000-08:00

The son of the actor and theatre manager and owner James Burbage, Richard had attained wide popularity as an actor by age 20. He was a member of the Earl of Leicester's company and remained with it through its evolution into the King's Men in 1603. He

Equestrian Sports

2005-01-03T06:27:00.000-08:00

In April 1997 Memo Gracida, the new leader of Isla Carroll, won his sixth consecutive and a record 15th career U.S. Open by defeating White Birch in the final at the Palm Beach (Fla.) Polo Club. Isla Carroll also gained the World Cup and the Gold Cup of the Americas, and White Birch won its eighth USPA Gold Cup. Grant's Farm Manor and Peapacton obtained the Sterling and Challenge cups,

Harpy

2005-01-01T21:31:00.000-08:00

In Greco-Roman classical mythology, a fabulous creature, probably a wind spirit. The presence of harpies as tomb figures, however, makes it possible that they were also conceived of as ghosts. In Homer's Odyssey they were winds that carried people away. Elsewhere, they were sometimes connected with the powers of the underworld. Homer mentions one Harpy called Podarge

Pittosporaceae

2004-12-30T18:20:00.000-08:00

Family of nine genera of trees, shrubs, or vinelike plants, in the order Rosales, distributed from tropical Africa to the Pacific islands. Members of the family have long, leathery, evergreen leaves; resin in stem ducts; and white, blue, yellow, or reddish flowers. Species of the genus Pittosporum are commonly known as Australian laurel. Tobira, or house-blooming mock orange

Awaji Island

2004-12-29T15:13:00.000-08:00

Japanese Awaji-shima island, Hyogo ken (prefecture), Japan. The island lies at the eastern end of the Inland Sea, between west-central Honshu and eastern Shikoku. The narrow straits of Akashi (north) and Kii (southeast) separate it from the city of Kobe on Honshu, while Naruto Strait to the southwest, well known for its whirlpools, separates it from Shikoku. Most of the island's area of 229 square miles

Galactic Halo

2004-12-27T17:03:00.000-08:00

In astronomy, nearly spherical volume of thinly scattered stars, globular clusters of stars, and tenuous gas observed surrounding spiral galaxies, including the Milky Way—the galaxy in which the Earth is located. The roughly spherical halo of the Milky Way is thought to have a radius of some 50,000 light-years (about 5 ´ 1017 kilometres), and its gas is a source of radio emission, particularly

Haasse, Hella S.

2004-12-24T17:08:00.000-08:00

Haasse studied at the Amsterdam Toneelschool, a dramatic arts school, and published a volume of poetry, Stroomversnelling (“Fast Current”), in 1945. Her novel Het woud der verwachting (1949; In a Dark Wood Wandering) is about Charles d'Orléans, a French nobleman taken

Alexander Of Pherae

2004-12-23T20:20:00.000-08:00

Despot of Pherae in Thessaly, Greece, from 369 to 358, whose tyranny caused the intervention of a number of city-states in Thessalian affairs. The other Thessalian cities, refusing to recognize Alexander as tagos, or head magistrate, appealed to the Thebans, who sent Pelopidas to their assistance. Alexander imprisoned Pelopidas, and the Thebans had to send a large army to procure

Talcahuano

2004-12-21T19:00:00.000-08:00

City, Concepción provincia, Bío-Bío región, south-central Chile, lying on a small peninsula that forms the southwestern shore of Concepción Bay, just north-northwest of the city of Concepción (q.v.), for which it became the outport after an earthquake in 1730. Talcahuano is now a major port and Chile's main naval station; it is also an important commercial, fishing, and manufacturing

Maccarthy Island

2004-12-18T21:58:00.000-08:00

Also called Jangjangbure, originally Lemain Island, island, in the Gambia River, 176 miles (283 km) upstream from Banjul, central Gambia. It was ceded in 1823 to Captain Alexander Grant of the African Corps, who was acting for the British crown. Designated as a site for freed slaves, the island was renamed for Sir Charles MacCarthy, British colonial governor (1814–24). In the 1830s peanut (groundnut) cultivation was introduced by the Wesleyan Mission

Disasters

2004-12-17T17:35:00.000-08:00

March 20, Dhaka, Bangladesh. A gas cylinder belonging to a balloon

Great Malvern

2004-12-15T14:42:00.000-08:00

Also known as Malvern town, Malvern Hills district, administrative and historic county of Worcestershire, England. Great Malvern was formerly the largest of several villages and hamlets on the eastern slopes of the Malvern Hills but has since grown to incorporate them. Malvern Chase, a medieval administrative entity, was granted to the earl of Gloucester by Edward I (reigned 1272–1307). Little

Caragiale, Costache

2004-12-12T05:38:00.000-08:00

Caragiale made his stage debut in 1835 in Bucharest, and in 1838 he organized a theatre of contemporary drama in Iasi (now Jassy). During the next 15 years he worked with regional theatres, notably those in Iasi, Botosani, and Craiova,

Macedonia

2004-12-11T18:15:00.000-08:00

Ethnic tensions were on the rise in Macedonia in 1997. Early in the year ethnic Albanian and ethnic Macedonian students demonstrated over the pros and cons of Albanian-language teaching at Skopje University's pedagogical faculty;

Celery-top Pine

2004-12-07T02:23:00.000-08:00

Also called Adventure Bay Pine (species Phyllocladus asplenifolius), slow-growing ornamental and timber conifer of the family Podocarpaceae, native to temperate rain forests of Tasmania at elevations from sea level to 750 m (2,500 feet). The tree is shrubby at high elevations but may grow to 18 m (60 feet) and occasionally 30 m (100 feet) in lower areas. The irregularly arranged branches bear

Keble, John

2004-12-04T20:06:00.000-08:00

Ordained in 1816, Keble was educated at the University of Oxford and served as a tutor there from 1818 to 1823, when he left to assist

Celery Cabbage

2004-12-03T09:52:00.000-08:00

(Brassica pekinensis), species of mustard cultivated for its edible leaves. See Chinese cabbage.

Pacific Ocean, Study and exploration

2004-12-01T11:02:00.000-08:00

Andrew Sharp, The Discovery of the Pacific Islands (1960, reprinted 1985), summarizes the work of 121 explorers of the area and their contributions to charting the Pacific. J.C. Beaglehole, The Exploration of the Pacific, 3rd ed. (1966), and The Life of Captain James Cook (1974), are classics on the subject. Ernest S. Dodge, Beyond the Capes: Pacific Exploration from Captain Cook to the Challenger, 1776–1877 (1971), provides a thorough coverage of this important period.

Terman, Lewis M(adison)

2004-11-29T08:26:00.000-08:00

Terman joined the faculty of Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif. (1910), where he became professor of education in 1916, the year he published The Measurement of Intelligence, a guide for his Stanford revision and

Kerr, Deborah

2004-11-26T16:25:00.000-08:00

Kerr trained as a dancer in her aunt's drama school in Bristol, England. She won a scholarship

Barbados

2004-11-25T17:50:00.000-08:00

Barbados is not part of the Lesser Antilles, although it is sometimes

Azurite

2004-11-23T04:01:00.000-08:00

Also called Chessylite, basic copper carbonate [Cu3(OH)2(CO3)2]. It is ordinarily found with malachite in the oxidized zone of copper lodes. Notable deposits are Tsumeb, Namibia; Chessy, Fr.; and Bisbee, Ariz., U.S. Azurite was used as a blue pigment in ancient Eastern wall painting and, from the 15th to the middle of the 17th century, in European painting. For detailed physical properties, see carbonate

John George

2004-11-21T06:49:00.000-08:00

Elector of Brandenburg who in 1571 succeeded his father, Joachim II. Under his rule the divided electorate was reunited. His economies earned him the surname Oekonom (Steward) and made him popular with the nobility, to whom he granted concessions at the expense of the peasant class. A Lutheran, John George

Andrew Of Carniola

2004-11-18T17:34:00.000-08:00

From the scant data available on Andrew's life, it appears that he was

Sackler, Arthur M.

2004-11-16T18:08:00.000-08:00

Sackler studied at New York University (B.S., 1933; M.D., 1937) and worked as a psychiatrist at Creedmore State Hospital in Queens, New York (1944–46), where in 1949 he founded the Creedmore Institute of Psychobiological Studies, a field in

Papp, László

2004-11-15T02:51:00.000-08:00

Papp, a former railway clerk, competed as a middleweight (161 pounds [73 kg]) at the 1948 Olympic Games in London. A hard-hitting left-hander, he won the first of his gold medals by defeating Britain's John Wright in the final match. In 1952, when the

Culloden, Battle Of

2004-11-12T22:33:00.000-08:00

Also called Battle Of Drummossie (April 16, 1746), the last battle of the “Forty-five Rebellion,” when the Jacobites, under Charles Edward, the Young Pretender (“Bonnie Prince Charlie”), were defeated by British forces under William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. Culloden is a tract of moorland in the county of Inverness, Scotland, forming a part of the northeast of Drummossie Moor and lying about 6 miles (10 km) east of

Ku Klux Klan

2004-11-08T00:47:00.000-08:00

The 19th-century Klan was originally organized as a social club by Confederate veterans in Pulaski, Tenn., in 1866. They apparently derived the name from the Greek word kyklos,

Manchester

2004-11-06T05:31:00.000-08:00

Urban town (township), Hartford county, central Connecticut, U.S. It lies east of Hartford on the Hockanum River. The area was settled in 1672, when it was purchased from the Mohegan Indians by the Puritan clergyman Thomas Hooker and his company. Originally a part of Hartford (after 1694 in East Hartford) and called the Five-Mile Tract, it was organized as an ecclesiastical society

Graça Aranha, José Pereira Da

2004-11-04T07:37:00.000-08:00

Brazilian novelist and diplomat, best remembered for his novel Canaã (1902; Canaan, 1920), in which he explored the conflicts of the Brazilian ethnic melting pot through the varied perspectives and problems of two German immigrants. With its philosophical digressions and lyrical descriptions, Canaã, a “novel of ideas,” was influential in

Anatolian Religion, Divination

2004-11-03T11:25:00.000-08:00

Divination, through which the cause of divine displeasure was ascertained, was mainly of three kinds: augury (divination by flight of birds), haruspicy (divination by examining the entrails of sacrificial animals), and an enigmatic procedure using tokens with symbolic names, arts said to be practiced respectively by the “bird-watcher,” the seer, and the “old woman.” The

Taylor, Elizabeth

2004-10-29T13:02:00.000-07:00

Taylor's American parents were residing in England at the time of her birth. Shortly before the outbreak of World War II her parents returned to the United States, settling in Los Angeles. Her beauty brought her to the attention of a talent scout,

Probolinggo

2004-10-28T09:02:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Prabalingga, or Perobolinggo, city, in kabupaten (regency), Jawa Timur provinsi (“province”), Java, Indonesia, on the southern side of Madura Strait. There is a good harbour for small ships, and the fishing industry is important. Cottage industries include pottery and the manufacture of sarongs. The surrounding regency grows rice, corn (maize), sugar, rubber, coffee, and mangoes, the last renowned for their

Venini, Paolo

2004-10-26T04:07:00.000-07:00

Italian glassmaker and designer and manufacturer of glassware, whose works are outstanding for their combination of traditional technique and modern form. His glass factory in Murano contributed to a revival of art-glass manufacture in the 1930s and '40s and employed some of the finest designers of the period, among them Gio Ponti and Tyra

Jainism, Jainism, Hinduism, and Buddhism

2004-10-24T05:07:00.000-07:00

Jainism, Hinduism, and Buddhism share many key concepts derived from the Sanskrit language and dialects that have enabled them to hone their religious debates. For example, all three traditions share a notion of karman as the actions of individuals that determine their future births; yet each has attached unique connotations to the concept. This is also true with

Ferdinand I

2004-10-22T03:24:00.000-07:00

Because his elder brother, Henry III, was an invalid, Ferdinand took the battlefield against the Muslims of Granada. When Henry III died in 1406, his son John II was an infant and the regency was divided between Henry's widow, Queen Catherine of Lancaster,

Oman, Gulf Of

2004-10-19T05:47:00.000-07:00

Northwest arm of the Arabian Sea, between the eastern portion (Oman) of the Arabian Peninsula to the southwest and Iran to the north. The gulf is 200 miles (320 km) wide between Cape al-Hadd in Oman and Gwadar Bay on the Pakistan–Iran border. It is 350 miles (560 km) long and connects with the Persian Gulf to the northwest through the Strait of Hormuz. The small ports along the gulf include Suhar,

Mckim, Charles Follen

2004-10-18T03:39:00.000-07:00

McKim was educated at Harvard and at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He was trained as a draftsman by the architect H.H. Richardson while the latter was completing Trinity Church, Boston. In 1879 he joined William Rutherford Mead

Metaphor

2004-10-16T03:48:00.000-07:00

The distinction is not simple. The metaphor makes a qualitative leap from a reasonable, perhaps prosaic comparison, to an identification or fusion of two objects, to make one new entity partaking of the characteristics

Vowel

2004-10-13T22:36:00.000-07:00

In human speech, sound in which the flow of air from the lungs passes through the mouth, which functions as a resonance chamber, with minimal obstruction and without audible friction; e.g., the i in “fit,” and the a in “pack.” Although usually produced with vibrating vocal cords, vowels may be pronounced without such vibration, resulting in a voiceless, or whispered, sound. From

Norfolk, Thomas Howard, 4th Duke Of, Earl Of Surrey, Earl Marshal

2004-10-12T17:54:00.000-07:00

He was the son of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, who was put to death for alleged treasonable activities in 1547. Restored to his father's title on the accession of Queen Mary

Dispensation

2004-10-10T06:01:00.000-07:00

Economy is the term that is normally employed in the Eastern Orthodox churches for this type of action. The church strives for the salvation of souls, and, when this is more likely to be achieved by a relaxation

Pala Dynasty

2004-10-07T18:49:00.000-07:00

Ruling dynasty in Bihar and Bengal, India, from the 8th to the 12th century. Its founder, Gopala, was a local chieftain who rose to power in the mid-8th century during a period of anarchy. His successor, Dharmapala (reigned c. 770–810), greatly expanded the kingdom and for a while was in control of Kannauj. Pala power was maintained under Devapala (reigned c. 810–850), who carried out raids in the north, the

Sistan

2004-10-06T22:39:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Seistan, extensive border region, eastern Iran and southwestern Afghanistan. Forty percent of its area is in Iran, as well as the majority of its sparse population. The region comprises a large depression some 1,500–1,700 feet (450–520 m) in elevation. Numerous rivers fill a series of lagoons (hamun) and in high flood form a shallow lake that spills into another depression to the south. Three large deltas

Iffland, August Wilhelm

2004-10-03T23:20:00.000-07:00

Destined for the church, Iffland, at the age of 18, broke with parental authority and joined the Gotha court theatre to study acting under Konrad Ekhof's direction. In 1779, after Ekhof's death, Iffland went with the Gotha company to Mannheim, where he

Gumma

2004-10-02T15:14:00.000-07:00

Sericulture and wheat cultivation are major economic activities.

Estado Novo

2004-09-30T03:11:00.000-07:00

In the election campaign of 1937 Vargas warned of a threatened Communist coup d'état and declared a 90-day state of emergency, issuing the Estado Novo. The

Harden, Maximilian Felix Ernst

2004-09-27T03:32:00.000-07:00

Initially an actor, Harden founded and edited the weekly Die Zukunft (1892–1923; “The Future”), which attained great influence by tasteless methods. Calling war a “bracing educational

Amphibole, Contact metamorphic rocks

2004-09-25T22:08:00.000-07:00

Amphiboles occur in contact metamorphic aureoles around igneous intrusions. (An aureole is the zone surrounding an intrusion, which is a mass of igneous rock that solidified between other rocks located within the Earth.) The contact aureoles produced in siliceous limestones and dolomites, called skarns or calc-silicate rocks, characteristically contain metamorphic

Oman

2004-09-23T05:18:00.000-07:00

In the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks in the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001, Oman, in fulfillment of preparations launched two and a half years earlier, hosted a joint military exercise with Great Britain. The presence of some 30,000 British troops in the sultanate facilitated the U.S.-led coalition's military campaign against the Taliban regime and al-Qaeda terrorist network

Kinship, The incest taboo

2004-09-21T05:54:00.000-07:00

All societies have a concept of incest, and all societies have a prohibition, or taboo, against it. Definitions of incest vary according to definitions of who is close kin. Reactions to violations of the taboo also vary from society to society. In some cases incest is thought of with abhorrence; in other cases, with mild amusement. The vehemence of its condemnation may

Mercosur

2004-09-19T14:17:00.000-07:00

Spanish acronym of Common Market of the South (“Mercado Común del Sur”) , Portuguese Mercado Comum do Sul (Mercosul) South American regional economic organization. Mercosur grew out of earlier efforts to integrate the economies of Latin America through the Latin American Free Trade Association (1960) and its successor, the Latin American Integration Association (1980). In 1985 Argentina and Brazil signed the Declaration of Iguaçu, which created a bilateral commission to promote the integration

Anderson, John Henry

2004-09-18T15:16:00.000-07:00

Described on playbills as “Professor Anderson, the Wizard of the North,” he first performed in 1831. Seasons at Edinburgh (1837) and Glasgow (1838–39) followed. In London (1840) he made use of the most elaborate collection of magical apparatus

Aurora

2004-09-12T06:51:00.000-07:00

City, Kane and Du Page counties, northeastern Illinois, U.S., on the Fox River. Founded as a trading point and mill site near a Potawatomi Indian village in 1834, the town was laid out in 1836. Aurora developed as both a residential and an industrial city. Many of its residents commute to Chicago, 39 miles (63 km) east. Its manufactures include heavy machinery, industrial and electrical equipment,

France, History Of, Military reforms

2004-09-10T01:45:00.000-07:00

The fiscal reorganization facilitated equally significant military reforms. The Peace of Arras, rather than pacifying France, had only thrown the people once again to the mercies of disbanded mercenaries and brigands. In 1439 an ordinance made the recruitment of military companies the king's monopoly and provided for uniform strength in contingents, supervision,

Hook, Theodore Edward

2004-09-08T01:58:00.000-07:00

The son of a popular songwriter, Hook, while a schoolboy at Harrow, had written the words for his father's comic operas and, by the age of 16, had become well

Ibn Tibbon, Judah Ben Saul

2004-09-06T00:22:00.000-07:00

Persecution of the Jews forced Judah to flee Granada in 1150, and he settled in Lunel, in southern France, where he practiced medicine, according to an account in 1160 by a contemporary traveller,

Girdle-tailed Lizard

2004-09-03T03:17:00.000-07:00

Their name is derived from the rings of spiny scales that encircle the tail, and sometimes the body, in a series of whorls. In some species the armoured girdles serve effectively as protection

Oscillator

2004-09-02T04:34:00.000-07:00

Any of various electronic devices that produce alternating electric current, commonly employing tuned circuits and amplifying components such as thermionic vacuum tubes. Oscillators used to generate high-frequency currents for carrier waves in radio broadcasting often are stabilized by coupling the electronic circuit with the vibrations of a piezoelectric

Jawf, Al-

2004-08-30T07:33:00.000-07:00

Town and oasis, northern Saudi Arabia. It lies at the northern edge of an-Nafud desert near the source of the Wadi as-Sirhan. Formerly considered a part of the Jabal Shammar region, the oasis now lies within the northern reaches of the Hejaz. The town is strategically located on an ancient caravan route between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean, and it has long been

Maastricht Treaty

2004-08-29T18:06:00.000-07:00

Formally Treaty on European Union international agreement approved by the heads of government of the states of the European Community (EC) in Maastricht, Netherlands, in December 1991. Ratified by all EC member states (voters in Denmark rejected the original treaty but later approved a slightly modified version), the treaty was signed on February 7, 1992, and entered into force on November 1, 1993. The treaty established

Bulgar

2004-08-27T06:33:00.000-07:00

The Bulgars probably originated as a Turkic tribe of Central Asia and arrived in the European steppe west of the Volga River with the Huns about AD 370; retreating with the Huns, they resettled about 460 in an arc of country north and

African Games

2004-08-18T13:39:00.000-07:00

Also called Pan-African Games or All-Africa Games international athletics (track-and-field) competition sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and contested by athletes representing the nations of Africa. The African Games were first held in 1965, in Brazzaville, Congo, and consisted of contests in athletic sports exclusively. Attempts to hold such African games date back to the

Koch, Kenneth

2004-08-16T13:14:00.000-07:00

Koch attended Harvard University (B.A., 1948) and Columbia University (M.A., 1953; Ph.D., 1959), where he subsequently taught for many years. With the publication of Poems (1953), his first collection, he became