OppositeRock

Robert Irving Burns Property Consultants

2006-11-22T07:00:00.000-08:00

Robert Irving Burns has been established for over 40 years and is an independent partnership, who specialise in a full range of property services. These include commercial property
and commercial offices as well as property to let london. Whilst my business partner and I were looking for Offices, we found Rib’s expertise invaluable.

Black Stone Of Mecca

2005-04-04T21:10:00.000-07:00

Arabic Al-hajar Al-aswad, Muslim object of veneration, built into the eastern wall of the Ka'bah (small shrine within the Great Mosque of Mecca) and probably dating from the pre-Islamic religion of the Arabs. It now consists of three large pieces and some fragments, surrounded by a stone ring and held together with a silver band. According to popular Islamic legend, the stone was given to Adam on his

Pappus Of Alexandria

2005-04-04T06:22:00.000-07:00

The most important mathematical author writing in Greek during the later Roman Empire, known for his Synagoge (“Collection”), a voluminous account of the most important work done in ancient Greek mathematics. Other than that he was born at Alexandria in Egypt and that his career coincided with the first three decades of the 4th century AD, little is known about his life.

Space Charge

2005-04-04T05:31:00.000-07:00

Electrical charge distributed through a three-dimensional region. In an electron tube, for example, a negative charge results because electrons that are emitted from the cathode do not travel instantaneously to the plate (anode) but require a finite time for the trip. These electrons form a cloud around the cathode, the cloud being continually depleted by electrons

Keaton, Buster

2005-04-01T03:55:00.000-08:00

The son of vaudevillians, Keaton is said to have earned his famous nickname when, at age 18 months, he fell down a staircase; magician

Neo-confucianism

2005-04-01T01:07:00.000-08:00

In China, a rationalistic revival of Confucian philosophy in the 11th century AD that exercised profound influence on Chinese thought for the next 800 years. See Confucianism.

Philip

2005-03-31T05:19:00.000-08:00

Byname Philip The Magnanimous, German Philipp Der Grossmütige landgrave (Landgraf) of Hesse (1509–67), one of the great figures of German Protestantism, who championed the independence of German princes against the Holy Roman emperor Charles V.

Alfonso Vi

2005-03-30T03:28:00.000-08:00

Byname Alfonso the Brave , Spanish Alfonso el Bravo king of Leon (1065–70) and king of reunited Castile and Leon (1072–1109), who by 1077 had proclaimed himself “emperor of all Spain” (imperator totius Hispaniae). His oppression of his Muslim vassals led to the invasion of Spain by an Almoravid army from North Africa (1086). His name is also associated with the national hero of Spain, Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (El Cid), who was alternatively

Fabales

2005-03-30T00:04:00.000-08:00

Legumes occur in all terrestrial habitats occupied by plants, although the greatest number of species is in the tropics, where the group probably originated. But there are many legumes in the temperate plains, woodlands, and deserts. A few not only survive but succeed as weeds, in the human-made farming, industrial, and urban environment. They are less common in the northern

Ames, Aldrich

2005-03-29T01:02:00.000-08:00

The son of a CIA analyst, Ames attended the University of Chicago for two years before becoming a CIA trainee in 1962; he also attended George Washington

Gwynn, Tony

2005-03-28T16:36:00.000-08:00

Gwynn attended San Diego (California) State University on a basketball scholarship, where he set a school record for assists as the team's point guard. He also excelled at baseball and was drafted in 1981 by

Smith, Hoke

2005-03-28T10:01:00.000-08:00

Admitted to the bar in 1873, Smith practiced law in Atlanta and became active in local Democratic politics. He published the Atlanta Journal (1887–1900), which he used as a forum to champion virtually all progressive measures of the period, with the notable exception

Poland, History Of, The Saxons

2005-03-27T19:58:00.000-08:00

The “Saxon Era” lasted for more than 60 years and marked the lowest point in Polish history. Research since the 1980s has somewhat corrected the largely negative picture of Augustus II and Augustus III by stressing the context in which they operated: anarchic political life dominated by factions of struggling oligarchs and open to meddling by the neighbouring powers.

Leap Of Faith

2005-03-27T02:25:00.000-08:00

Metaphor used by the 19th-century Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard in his Afsluttende uvidenskabelig Efterskrift (1846; Concluding Unscientific Postscript) to describe commitment to an objective uncertainty, specifically to the Christian God. For Kierkegaard, God is totally other than man; between God and man there exists a gulf that faith alone can bridge. Kierkegaard

A-erh-chin Mountains

2005-03-26T10:19:00.000-08:00

The range falls into three divisions. The southwest

Spice Trade

2005-03-25T21:54:00.000-08:00

Cinnamon, cassia, cardamom, ginger, and turmeric were known to Eastern peoples thousands of years ago, and they became important items of commerce early in the evolution of trade. Cinnamon and cassia found their way to the Middle East at least 2,000 years

Selby

2005-03-24T22:46:00.000-08:00

The district includes pre-Norman settlements along the right bank of the River Ouse, the main waterway, and the Norman abbey at Selby town. Farther west an old land route, following a limestone

Apricot

2005-03-24T09:34:00.000-08:00

(Prunus armeniaca), stone fruit of the family Rosaceae that is cultivated throughout the temperate regions of the world. Apricots are eaten fresh or cooked and are preserved by canning or drying. The fruit is also widely made into jam and is often used to flavour liqueurs. Apricot trees are large and spreading with broad, ovate leaves that have pointed

Raabe, Wilhelm

2005-03-23T00:29:00.000-08:00

After leaving school in Wolfenbüttel in 1849, Raabe was apprenticed for four years to a Magdeburg book dealer, during which time he read widely. Although he attended lectures at Berlin University, the important product of his time

Uralic Languages, The distribution of the daughter languages

2005-03-22T19:02:00.000-08:00

The central Volga origin hypothesis is also supported by the geographic distribution of the daughter languages. Except for Hungarian, which moved westward across the steppes, the Finno-Ugric languages form two chains distributed along major waterways, with the confluence of the Kama and Volga at their centre. One chain extends northward along the Kama, across

Münster

2005-03-21T21:17:00.000-08:00

Regierungsbezirk (administrative district), northwestern North Rhine-Westphalia Land (state), northwestern Germany. Münster is bordered by The Netherlands to the west, Lower Saxony Land to the north, and Detmold district to the east, Arnsberg to the south, and Düsseldorf to the southwest. The district occupies an area of 2,663 square miles (6,897 square km) and is coextensive with

Kebbi

2005-03-21T03:05:00.000-08:00

State, northwestern Nigeria. It was created in 1991 from the southwestern half of Sokoto (q.v.) state. Kebbi borders the nations of Niger to the west and Benin to the southwest, and it borders the Nigerian states of Sokoto to the north and east and Niger to the south. Kebbi's area consists of short-grass savanna that is drained southwestward by the Niger River and its tributary,

Obote, Milton

2005-03-18T22:16:00.000-08:00

The third of nine children in a farming family in north-central Uganda, Obote

Fabales

2005-03-18T10:32:00.000-08:00

The Fabales (legumes) may be considered a

Celestine (ii)

2005-03-18T02:41:00.000-08:00

After the death of Calixtus II, the rival houses of Frangipani and Pierleoni struggled for the papal throne. The Pierleonis' candidate, Theobald (who would have been Celestine II), was simultaneously elected pope with the Frangipanis' candidate,

Tippecanoe River

2005-03-18T02:33:00.000-08:00

River rising in Tippecanoe Lake in Kosciusko county, northern Indiana, U.S. The river flows 166 miles (267 km) generally southwest into the Wabash River north of Lafayette. Tippecanoe is probably derived from the Miami Indian name for buffalo fish. Between the towns of Buffalo and Brookston on the river's lower course, Lakes Shafer and Freeman are impounded by power dams. At

Ansky, S.

2005-03-17T06:55:00.000-08:00

Ansky was educated in a Hasidic environment and as a young man was attracted to the Jewish Enlightenment (Haskala) and to the populist doctrines of the Narodniki, a group of socialist revolutionaries. For a time he worked among the peasants and contributed

Reference Frame

2005-03-16T21:19:00.000-08:00

Also called Frame Of Reference, in dynamics, system of graduated lines symbolically attached to a body that serve to describe the position of points relative to the body. The position of a point on the surface of the Earth, for example, can be described by degrees of latitude, measured north and south from the Equator, and degrees of longitude, measured east and west from the great circle passing through

Heutsz, Johannes Benedictus Van

2005-03-16T09:08:00.000-08:00

Sent to Acheh as a subaltern in 1873, van Heutsz won fast promotions. By 1887 he was chief of staff, and in 1899 he was appointed military and civil governor of Acheh; he managed

Paramaribo

2005-03-16T07:38:00.000-08:00

Largest town, capital, and chief port of Suriname (formerly Dutch, or Netherlands, Guiana). It lies 9 miles (15 km) from the Atlantic Ocean on the Suriname River. It originated as an Indian village that became a French settlement (c. 1640) and was later the site of an English colony planted in 1651 by Lord Willoughby of Parham. In 1667 Paramaribo was one of the settlements ceded to the Dutch under

Biblical Literature, The First Letter of John

2005-03-15T21:34:00.000-08:00

I John assumes a knowledge of the Johannine Gospel (the author of I John may be the ecclesiastical redactor of the Gospel According to John) and adds ethical admonition and instruction regarding the well-being of the church as it confronts heresy and stresses the lack of moral concern that springs from it. There is strong defense against the threat of a type of Gnosticism

Aukrust, Olav

2005-03-14T23:42:00.000-08:00

Born in a narrow, often sunless valley flanked by steep mountains, Aukrust was raised by pietistic parents and was early on much interested in religious questions.

Akshak

2005-03-14T23:27:00.000-08:00

Ancient city of Mesopotamia on the northern boundary of Akkad, identified by some authorities with the Babylonian city of Upi (Opis). About 2500 BC Akshak was conquered by Eannatum, king of Lagash. About a century later Akshak temporarily established its hegemony over Sumer and Akkad. The location of Akshak is uncertain, although the Mari letters (from the royal archives

Race, The institutionalizing of race

2005-03-13T21:22:00.000-08:00

Slavery by nature creates social distance between masters and slaves, and intellectuals are commonly called upon to affirm and justify such distinctions. As learned men began to write a great deal about the “racial” populations of the New World, Indians and Negroes were increasingly projected as alien. In this way did the Enlightenment thinkers help pro-slavery

Alès

2005-03-13T02:51:00.000-08:00

Town, Gard département, Languedoc-Roussillon région, southeastern France. It lies along a bend of the Gardon d'Alès River, at the foot of the Cévennes mountains, north-northwest of Nîmes. The town's name meant “industry” in the language of its 10th-century-BC Phoenician founders. Alestium was its Roman name, and until 1926 the French called it Alais. Chartered in 1200, it became part of the

Pharmaceutical Industry, Amination

2005-03-12T11:11:00.000-08:00

Two important methods of amination (the process of adding an amino (-NH2) group to a compound) are reduction and ammonolysis. There are many reduction methods, but the most common is the reduction of the corresponding nitro compound by means of iron and acid. An example of ammonolysis is the preparation of aniline by heating chlorobenzene with excess aqueous ammonia,

Economic System

2005-03-12T07:15:00.000-08:00

Way in which humankind has arranged for its material provisioning. One would think that there would be a great variety of such systems, corresponding to the many cultural arrangements that have characterized human society. Surprisingly, that is not the case. Although a wide range of institutions and social customs have been associated with the economic activities

Biblical Literature, Gospels

2005-03-11T20:16:00.000-08:00

A few papyrus fragments come from gospels not known by name (e.g., Egerton Papyrus 2, Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 840, Strasbourg Papyrus 5–6). There are also the Gospel produced in the 2nd century by Marcion (a “semi-Gnostic” heretic from Asia Minor), who removed what he regarded as interpolations from the Gospel According to Luke; the lost Gnostic Gospel of Perfection; and the Gospel of

Animal Communication

2005-03-11T04:54:00.000-08:00

The transmission of information from one animal to another by means of sound, visible sign or behaviour, taste or odour, electrical impulse, touch, or a combination of these mediums. In general, communication is employed by animals to attract or repel other individuals of particular groups and to establish and maintain distinct forms of social organization that

Gath

2005-03-10T16:49:00.000-08:00

The records of Sargon II of Assyria show that he took it in 712 BC. Gath was evidently a place of importance,

Dion Chrysostom

2005-03-10T16:18:00.000-08:00

Dion was banished in AD 82 for political reasons from both Bithynia and Italy. He wandered for 14 years through the lands near the Black Sea, adopting the life of poverty advocated by the Cynics. With the death of the emperor Domitian his exile

Costa-gavras

2005-03-09T17:00:00.000-08:00

The son of a Russian-born father and a Greek mother, Costa-Gavras left Athens in 1952 to go to Paris,

Saragat, Giuseppe

2005-03-09T10:14:00.000-08:00

A University of Turin graduate in economics and commerce, Saragat joined the Socialist Party in 1922. An opponent of the Fascists, he was exiled by them from 1926 to 1943; upon returning to Rome in

Permafrost, Highways and railroads

2005-03-08T22:58:00.000-08:00

Highways in polar areas are relatively few and mainly unpaved. They are subject to subsidence by thawing of permafrost in summer, frost heaving in winter, and loss of bearing strength on fine-grained sediments in summer. Constant grading of gravel roads permits maintenance of a relatively smooth highway. Where the road is paved over ice-rich permafrost, the roadway

Taranto

2005-03-08T19:20:00.000-08:00

Sommer, Ferdinand

2005-03-07T18:35:00.000-08:00

During his academic career, Sommer held professorships at the universities of Basel (1902–09), Rostock (1909–13), Jena (1913–24), Bonn (1924–26), and Munich (1926–51). His most important works include Handbuch der lateinischen Laut- und Formenlehre (1902; “Handbook of Latin Phonology

Welf Dynasty

2005-03-07T09:32:00.000-08:00

The origin of the “Elder House” of Welf is a matter of controversy, since Welf in the Carolingian period seems

Cartwright, John

2005-03-07T00:09:00.000-08:00

John Cartwright joined the Royal Navy

Biblical Literature, The First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians

2005-03-07T00:02:00.000-08:00

Except for the brief communication with Philemon

Vitamin

2005-03-05T18:53:00.000-08:00

Any of several organic substances that usually are separated into water-soluble (e.g., the B vitamins, vitamin C) and fat-soluble (e.g., vitamins A, D, E, K) groups; small quantities (from 0.00002 percent to 0.005 percent of a diet) are necessary for normal health and growth in higher forms of animal life. The substances commonly known as vitamins are diverse in chemical structure and function.

Yang, Chen Ning

2005-03-05T07:56:00.000-08:00

Byname Frank Yang Chinese-born American theoretical physicist whose research with Tsung-Dao Lee showed that parity—the symmetry between physical phenomena occurring in right-handed and left-handed coordinate systems—is violated when certain elementary particles decay. Until this discovery it had been assumed by physicists that parity symmetry is

Han Yü

2005-03-05T04:03:00.000-08:00

An orphan, Han initially failed his civil service exams because the examiners refused to accept his unconventional prose style, but he eventually entered the bureaucracy

China, An intellectual revolution

2005-03-04T01:48:00.000-08:00

An intellectual revolution took place during the first decade of the republic, sometimes referred to as the New Culture Movement. It was led by many of the new intellectuals, who held up for critical scrutiny nearly all aspects of Chinese culture and traditional ethics. Guided by concepts of individual liberty and equality, a scientific spirit of inquiry, and a pragmatic

Czech Republic, History Of

2005-03-03T17:05:00.000-08:00

The Czech Republic came into being on Jan. 1, 1993, upon the dissolution of the Czechoslovak federation. At the time of separation, the federation's assets were divided at a ratio of two to one

Blood Group

2005-03-02T08:29:00.000-08:00

Classification of blood based on inherited differences (polymorphisms) in antigens on the surfaces of the red cells. Inherited differences of white cells, platelets, and plasma proteins also constitute blood groups, but they are not included in this discussion.

Alleppey

2005-03-02T04:58:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Alappuzha city, southern Kerala state, southwestern India. It lies on a narrow land spit between the Arabian Sea and Vembanad Lake, south of Kochi (formerly Cochin). Alleppey's port was opened to foreign trade by the British in the late 18th century to end the commercial supremacy of the Dutch trading post at Porakad, 10 miles (16 km) away. The city's economy is based largely on the coconut. Coconut

Nero

2005-03-01T19:48:00.000-08:00

Nero's father, Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, died in about AD 40, and Nero was brought up by his mother, Agrippina the Younger, a great-granddaughter of the emperor Augustus. After poisoning her second husband, Agrippina incestuously became the wife of her uncle, the emperor Claudius, and persuaded him to favour Nero for the succession, over the rightful claim of his own son,

France, History Of, Economic life

2005-03-01T02:50:00.000-08:00

Agriculture was the principal economic activity, and during the entire Frankish age the great estate, inherited from antiquity, remained the predominant characteristic of rural life. These estates were the residence and principal source of income of the aristocracy. The estates appear to have long been placed under cultivation by servile labour, which was abundant

Abancay

2005-02-27T20:28:00.000-08:00

Capital of Apurímac departamento, Inca región, southern Peru. It is situated on the eastern bank of the Marino River at 7,798 feet (2,377 metres) above sea level, in a cool, dry intermontane basin. The exact date of the founding of Abancay (from the Quechua Indian amankay, the name of a wildflower resembling a white lily) is unknown, but it was a leading commercial centre during the Spanish

Alcidae

2005-02-27T08:21:00.000-08:00

Bird family, order Charadriiformes, which includes the birds known as auk, auklet, dovekie, guillemot, murre, murrelet, and puffin (qq.v.).

F-104

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

Also called Starfighter, jet day fighter aircraft built by Lockheed Aircraft Corporation for the U.S. Air Force but adopted by a total of 15 NATO and other countries. It was widely adapted for use as a fighter-bomber. The F-104 had a wingspan of 21 feet 11 inches (6.68 m) and a length of 54 feet 9 inches (16.7 m). It was a single-seat, single-engine midwing monoplane, powered with a General Electric J79 series turbojet engine with

Wolframite

2005-02-26T04:49:00.000-08:00

Wolframite consists of a mixture in varying proportions of the tungstates of iron and manganese, FeWO4 and MnWO4; varieties with dominant

Difference Equation

2005-02-25T17:36:00.000-08:00

Mathematical equality involving the differences between successive values of a function of a discrete variable. A discrete variable is one that is defined or of interest only for values that differ by some finite amount, usually a constant and often 1; for example, the discrete variable x may have the values x0 = a, x1 = a + 1, x2 = a + 2, . . . , xn = a + n. The function y has the corresponding values y0, y1, y2, . . . , yn, from which the

Dragasani, Battle Of

2005-02-25T09:46:00.000-08:00

(June 19, 1821), military engagement in which the Ottoman Turks defeated the forces of the Greek revolutionary society Philikí Etaireía and ended the first insurrection of the Greek War of Independence. Intending to overthrow Ottoman rule in the Balkans and to establish an independent Greek state, Philikí Etaireía sent the Sacred Battalion, under Alexander Ypsilantis,

9to5, National Association Of Working Women

2005-02-24T22:20:00.000-08:00

The group had its origins in 9to5 News, a newsletter that was first published in December 1972. About a year later, the newsletter's publishers announced the formation of Boston 9to5, a grassroots collective for women office

Stein, Johann Andreas

2005-02-24T20:58:00.000-08:00

The son of an organ builder, Stein apprenticed with the famous instrument maker Johann Andreas Silbermann in 1748–49. For a time he evidently lived in Paris, but he was most active in Augsburg,

Black Range

2005-02-23T22:31:00.000-08:00

Mountain range extending 100 miles (160 km) north to south, through Catron and Sierra counties, southwestern New Mexico, U.S. The range follows the Continental Divide for much of its length. Most of the range lies within the Gila National Forest, near the headwaters of the Gila River. The highest point in the range is Reeds Peak (10,015 feet [3,053 metres]). State Highway 152, also called the Black Range

Tannenberg, Battle Of

2005-02-23T15:16:00.000-08:00

Polish and Lithuanian forces proceeding toward

Anna

2005-02-23T15:06:00.000-08:00

A niece of Empress Anna (reigned 1730–40), Anna Leopoldovna married a nephew of the Holy Roman emperor Charles VI in 1739 and gave birth to a son, Ivan (Aug. 2 [Aug. 13], 1740), who was named heir to the Russian throne by Empress Anna in 1740, shortly before she

Juárez

2005-02-22T20:57:00.000-08:00

The city's historic buildings include the Guadalupe mission

Quebec, Battle Of

2005-02-21T10:19:00.000-08:00

(December 31, 1775), in the American Revolution, unsuccessful American attack on the British stronghold. In the winter of 1775–76, American Revolutionary leaders detached some of their forces from the Siege of Boston to mount an expedition through Maine with the aim of capturing Quebec. On December 31, 1775, under General Richard Montgomery and Colonel Benedict Arnold, an inadequate force

Japan, The emergence of new forces.

2005-02-21T08:55:00.000-08:00

After the Onin War, the power of independent local leaders increased markedly, and in many instances deputies of great shugo houses usurped the domains of their superiors, retainers overthrew their overlords, and branch families seized power from main families. Because of this tendency for “inferiors to overcome superiors” (gekokujo), the previous shugo almost completely

School Drama

2005-02-20T23:45:00.000-08:00

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

Uyuni Salt Flat

2005-02-20T07:35:00.000-08:00

Spanish Salar De Uyuni, arid, windswept salt flat in southwestern Bolivia. It lies on the Altiplano, at 11,995 feet (3,656 m) above sea level. The Uyuni Salt Flat is Bolivia's largest salt-encrusted waste area (approximately 4,085 square miles [10,582 square km]) and is separated from the Coipasa Salt Flat, a similar but smaller feature to the north, by a range of hills. On its shores are saltworks at Salinas de Garci Mendoza

Juba

2005-02-19T22:42:00.000-08:00

Dance of Afro-American slaves, found as late as the 19th century from Dutch Guiana to the Caribbean and the southern United States. It was danced by a circle of men around two men who performed various steps (e.g., the juba, the long dog scratch, the pigeon wing) in response to a rhythmic call and to the clapping (patting juba) of the other dancers. As a refrain, after each new step

Eisenhower, Mamie

2005-02-19T10:31:00.000-08:00

Although she did not change the job of first lady, Mamie Eisenhower was a favourite of many American women, who imitated her youthful style (known as the “Mamie style”) and what her husband called her “unaffected manner.”

Affair Of The Diamond Necklace

2005-02-18T10:37:00.000-08:00

Also called Affair of the Necklace scandal at the court of Louis XVI in 1785 that discredited the French monarchy on the eve of the French Revolution. It began as an intrigue on the part of an adventuress, the comtesse (countess) de La Motte, to procure, supposedly for Queen Marie-Antoinette but in reality for herself and her associates, a diamond necklace worth 1,600,000 livres. The necklace was the property of the Parisian

Mercerization

2005-02-18T02:01:00.000-08:00

The treatment consists of immersing the yarn or

Costa Rica, Ethnic and religious groups

2005-02-17T18:33:00.000-08:00

Costa Rica is noted for having the largest percentage of Spanish population in Central America. The Meseta Central, with more than half the nation's population, is the most predominantly Spanish region in both its manner of living and its ancestry. Spanish is spoken with distinctive national accents and usages. In Central America, a Costa Rican is called a Tico, for

Utilitarianism

2005-02-17T10:04:00.000-08:00

In normative ethics, a tradition stemming from the late 18th- and 19th-century English philosophers and economists Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill that an action is right if it tends to promote happiness and wrong if it tends to produce the reverse of happiness—not just the happiness of the performer of the action but also that of everyone affected by it. Such a theory

Musical Notation, Alphabetical notations

2005-02-16T03:37:00.000-08:00

Alphabets are historically a phenomenon of the Middle East, Europe, and the Indian subcontinent. Their ordering of letters provides a convenient reference system for the notes of musical scales in ascending or descending order. Alphabetical notations are among the most ancient musical scripts. Two Greek notations were of this type, the earlier using an archaic

Tarim River

2005-02-16T03:28:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization T'a-li-mu Ho, Pinyin Tarim He, chief river of the Uighur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang, extreme northwestern China. It lies immediately north of the Plateau of Tibet. The river gives its name to the great basin between the Tien Shan and Kunlun mountain systems of Central Asia. It flows for most of its length through the Takla Makan Desert. The word tarim is used to designate the bank of a river that

Aschelminth

2005-02-15T16:21:00.000-08:00

Phylum name Aschelminthes, or Nemathelminthes, phylum of wormlike invertebrates, mostly of microscopic size. The phylum includes five diverse classes: Nematoda (or Nemata), Rotifera, Gastrotricha, Kinorhyncha (or Echinodera), and Nematomorpha. The American zoologist Libbie H. Hyman, in her classic textbooks on the invertebrates, originally included Priapulida as a class of the aschelminths, but Priapulida are

Sucre, Antonio José De

2005-02-14T18:47:00.000-08:00

At the age of 15 Sucre entered the

Grappelli, Stéphane

2005-02-14T10:42:00.000-08:00

French violinist (b. Jan. 26, 1908, Paris, France--d. Dec. 1, 1997, Paris), was one of the few notable jazz improvisers on violin and one of the first popular European jazz musicians; he played with a lilting swing and quick wit that made him an international favourite for over 60 years. With the great Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt, he formed (1934) the first Quintette du Hot Club de France, a Paris-based

Grindelwald

2005-02-12T17:14:00.000-08:00

Alpine village and valley, Bern canton, south central Switzerland. The village is scattered on the slopes of the Lütschine Valley (Lütschental), part of the Grindelwald Valley in the Bernese Oberland (highland), southeast of Interlaken. The Grindelwald Valley is shut in on the south by the Wetterhorn, Mettenberg, and Eiger (peaks rising above 10,000 ft [3,050 m]), between which are two

Amphetamine

2005-02-12T16:33:00.000-08:00

Prototype of a series of synthetic drugs, all called amphetamines, that have pronounced stimulatory actions on the central nervous system. Amphetamine itself is a colourless liquid with an acrid taste and a faint odour; the most widely used preparation of the drug is amphetamine sulfate, marketed under the name Benzedrine, a white powder with a slightly bitter,

Puerto Padre

2005-02-12T14:29:00.000-08:00

City, northeastern Las Tunas provincia, eastern Cuba. Lying on sheltered Puerto Padre Bay, off the Atlantic Ocean, the city is a commercial and manufacturing centre for a fertile irrigated hinterland. Sugarcane, tobacco, fruit, and livestock produced in the area are processed in the city, which also contains brickyards and sawmills. Saltworks, asphalt deposits, and

Saïda

2005-02-12T03:50:00.000-08:00

Town, northwestern Algeria, on the southern slopes of the Tell Atlas and the northern fringe of the Hauts (high) Plateaux. The city's site has been of military importance since the construction there of a Roman fort. Saïda was a stronghold of Abdelkader, the Algerian national leader who burned the town upon the approach of French forces in 1844. Modern Saïda was founded as

Geneva

2005-02-11T18:48:00.000-08:00

Town, Adams county, eastern Indiana, U.S., on the Wabash River, 35 miles (56 km) northeast of Muncie. Platted in 1853, it was called Buffalo until presumably renamed for the Swiss city. A rural community with many Old Order Amish families, it lies in the “Limberlost Country,” a timber-swampland made famous by the novelist Gene Stratton Porter in such novels as Freckles (1904) and A Girl of the

Sable Antelope

2005-02-11T16:31:00.000-08:00

(Hippotragus niger), handsome antelope, family Bovidae (order Artiodactyla), that lives in herds in forests of southern Africa. Like the related roan antelope (H. equinus), the sable antelope is a graceful animal with an erect mane, long ears, long hair on the throat, and long, parallel, sickle-shaped horns. It stands up to 137 centimetres (54 inches) at the shoulder.

Aschelminth, Annotated classification

2005-02-11T16:19:00.000-08:00

Marine; dorsal and ventral hypodermal cords; fluid-filled body cavity.

Biblical Literature, The role of certain lesser judges

2005-02-10T02:59:00.000-08:00

The third section relates the exploits of the various judges. Othniel, a member of the tribe of Caleb, delivered the erring Israelites from eight years of oppression by Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia. The king, however, was most likely an area ruler, rather than a king of the Mesopotamian Empire. Another judge, Ehud, a left-handed Benjamite, delivered Israel from

Sundanese

2005-02-09T05:43:00.000-08:00

Historically they were first recorded under the Indo-Javanese Brahmanical states

Metalwork, Pre-Columbian

2005-02-08T22:43:00.000-08:00

In pre-Columbian America, gold, silver, and copper were the principal metals that were worked, with tin, lead, and platinum used less frequently. When the Spaniards arrived in the New World in the 16th century, they found a wide range of well-developed technical skills in fine metalwork in Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, and the Andean region. They had very little to offer the Indian

Haardt Mountains

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

Also called Hardt Mountains, mountain range in Rheinland-Pfalz Land (state), southwestern Germany. They comprise the eastern part of the Pfälzer Forest Mountains and lie west of the Rhine River basin, extending from the French border to a point about 20 miles (30 km) south of Mainz. Their densely forested slopes rise to 2,208 feet (673 m) in Mount Kalmit. Geologically the Haardt Mountains are a continuation of the

Reformed Church

2005-02-07T21:27:00.000-08:00

Any of several major representative groups of classical Protestantism that arose in the 16th-century Reformation. Originally, all of the Reformation churches used this name (or the name Evangelical) to distinguish themselves from the “unreformed” or unchanged Roman Catholic Church. After the great controversy among these churches over the Lord's Supper (after 1529), the

Furniture

2005-02-07T11:30:00.000-08:00

Plymouth

2005-02-06T19:48:00.000-08:00

Town (township), Windsor county, south-central Vermont, U.S. The town includes the villages of Plymouth, Plymouth Union, and Tyson. It was chartered in 1761 as Saltash and renamed in 1797. Calvin Coolidge, 30th president of the United States, was born (July 4, 1872) in Plymouth in a small house behind the crossroads village store. The homestead in Plymouth Notch where he took the presidential

Literature

2005-02-06T13:37:00.000-08:00

During 1999 the list assembled by Yazhou Zhoukan (Asia Weekly) of the 100 best Chinese fictional works of the 20th century was released in Hong Kong. The first-place winner was Lu Xun for his Nahan (“Call to Arms”); it was followed in order by Shen Congwen for Bian cheng (“Remote Town”), Lao She for Luotuo xiangzi (“The Camel”), Zhang Ailing for Chuanqi (“Legend”), Qian Zhongshu for Wei cheng (“Enclosed