ImportantMoon

Seth, Vikram

2005-04-05T13:11:00.000-07:00

The son of a judge and a businessman, Seth was raised in London and India. He attended exclusive Indian schools and then graduated from Corpus Christi College, Oxford (B.A., 1975). He received a master's degree in economics from Stanford University

Agrigento

2005-04-02T18:17:00.000-08:00

Formerly (until 1927) Girgenti, Greek Acragas, Latin Agrigentum, capital of Agrigento provincia, near the southern coast of Sicily, Italy. It lies on a plateau encircled by low cliffs overlooking the junction of the Drago (ancient Hypsas) and San Biagio (Acragas) rivers and is dominated from the north by a ridge with twin peaks. Agrigento was a wealthy ancient city founded about 581 BC by Greek colonists from Gela. It was ruled 570–554 BC by the notorious

Sundance Kid

2005-04-01T19:19:00.000-08:00

Harry Longabaugh left home when he was 15 and took his nickname from the town of Sundance, where

Marsh Cress

2005-03-30T13:54:00.000-08:00

Also called Yellow Cress, any of the 70 plant species of the genus Rorippa of the mustard family (Brassicaceae). Most members of the genus are found in the Northern Hemisphere. The genus has at times been included with the genera Nasturtium and Radicula. Iceland watercress, or marsh yellow cress (R. islandica, sometimes Nasturtium palustre), grows, like others of the genus, in marshy ground. It bears

Annatto

2005-03-28T13:06:00.000-08:00

(Bixa orellana), tree native to the New World tropics and the only species of the family Bixaceae. Annatto grows up to 9 m (30 feet) tall and has rose-pink flowers about 5 cm (2 inches) wide and ovalish leaves about 8 to 18 cm long. The brown seed pods, about 5 cm long, yield a reddish or yellowish powder that is used in a dye for butter, cheese, and oleomargarine. The plant is cultivated in tropical

Wiener, Norbert

2005-03-26T16:32:00.000-08:00

Wiener, a child prodigy whose education was controlled by his father, a professor of Slavonic languages and literature

Tare

2005-03-23T00:17:00.000-08:00

Also called Darnel, noxious weed of the ryegrass (q.v.) genus Lolium.

Water Supply

2005-03-21T23:57:00.000-08:00

Available water provided to fulfill a particular need; if the need is domestic, industrial, or agricultural, the water must fulfill both quality and quantity requirements. Water supplies can be obtained by numerous types of water resources projects, such as wells, dams, or reservoirs. See water resource.

Huckleberry

2005-03-20T11:37:00.000-08:00

Small, fruit-bearing, branching shrub of the genus Gaylussacia (family Ericaceae), resembling in habit the English bilberry (Vaccinium), to which it is closely allied. The huckleberry bears fleshy fruit with 10 nutlike seeds, differing in this respect from the blueberry. The common huckleberry of the northern United States is G. baccata, also called black, or high-bush, huckleberry.

Hull, Isaac

2005-03-18T03:00:00.000-08:00

Already having been master of a ship at age 19, Hull was commissioned a lieutenant aboard

Spanish Literature, Revival of the Spanish novel

2005-03-17T02:53:00.000-08:00

For more than two centuries the novel, with which Spain had made its greatest contribution to literature, had been almost extinct. The first novels of the revival were more interesting for powers of observation and description (a continuation of costumbrismo) than for imaginative or narrative quality. A woman novelist, Fernán Caballero, determined the technique

Apurímac River

2005-03-16T10:07:00.000-08:00

Spanish Río Apurímac, river in southern Peru. Owing to its lengthy Andean tributaries, it is the farthermost source of the Amazon River. Arising at roughly 17,000 feet (5,200 m) from the snowmelts of Mount Mismi in Arequipa departamento, Peru, it flows northwest through the Andes, descending to less than 860 feet (260 m) to join the Urubamba and form the Ucayali River. For most of its 430-mile (700-kilometre) length, it flows

Berezniki

2005-03-16T05:51:00.000-08:00

City, Perm oblast (province), west-central Russia. It is situated on the left bank of the Kama River at the head of the Kama Reservoir. Huge local deposits of salt and potassium have resulted in the city's development as one of the largest chemical centres of Russia, producing nitrogenous fertilizers, potash, nitric and sulfuric acids, soda, chlorine, titanium sponge, and

I-ch'ang

2005-03-15T01:05:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Yichang, city in western Hupeh sheng (province), China. I-ch'ang stands on the left bank of the middle Yangtze River, immediately below the entrance to the magnificent gorges of the Ta-pa Mountains to the west, and has a harbour formed by the small island of Hsia-pa. The level of the river, which has a violent current, varies enormously—sometimes by as much as 50 feet (15 m) between high and low

Ibn Abi Ar-rijal, Ahmad (ibn Salih)

2005-03-13T20:06:00.000-08:00

After completing his education, Ibn Abi ar-Rijal joined the religious-bureaucratic establishment and reached the important rank of secretary and court orator under the rule of Isma'il al-Mutawakkil,

Self

2005-03-12T10:44:00.000-08:00

According to Carl Jung the

Ch'i-lien Mountains

2005-03-12T10:00:00.000-08:00

Wade–Giles romanization Ch'i-lien Shan, Pinyin Qilian Shan, rugged mountain range on the border of Tsinghai and Kansu provinces, west central China. It forms part of the Nan Shan, the eastern outlier of the Kunlun Mountains. Heavily glaciated in many places, the mountains rise to 18,194 ft (5,547 m), and most peaks exceed 13,000 ft. Snow covers the mountain tops; herds graze in the well-watered valleys. Impassable throughout, the range forms the southern

Clarendon

2005-03-10T14:27:00.000-08:00

Alcaeus

2005-03-09T22:20:00.000-08:00

Only fragments and quotations from Alcaeus' work survive, but they are enough to show the extent

Price, Lloyd

2005-03-08T22:32:00.000-08:00

Price's recording of his composition

Pacific Ocean, Principal ridges and basins

2005-03-07T20:00:00.000-08:00

To the east of 150° W the relief of the ocean floor is considerably less pronounced than it is to the west. In the eastern Pacific the Cocos Ridge extends southwestward from the Central American isthmus to the Galápagos Islands. To the south of the Galápagos lies the Peru Basin, which is separated by the extensive Sala y Gomez Ridge from the Southeast Pacific Basin, which,

Catalyst

2005-03-07T11:51:00.000-08:00

Most solid catalysts are metals or the oxides, sulfides, and halides of metallic elements and of the semimetallic elements boron, aluminum, and silicon. Gaseous and liquid

Burckhardt, Johann Ludwig

2005-03-05T16:28:00.000-08:00

Burckhardt went to England in 1806 and studied in London and at Cambridge University. In 1809, under the auspices of the Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa, he visited Syria

Mineral

2005-03-05T04:20:00.000-08:00

Naturally occurring homogeneous solid with a definite chemical composition and a highly ordered atomic arrangement; it is usually formed by inorganic processes. There are several thousand known mineral species, about 100 of which constitute the major mineral components of rocks; these are the so-called rock-forming minerals.

Peru, Drainage

2005-03-04T07:26:00.000-08:00

Distinctive drainage patterns dissect the Costa, Sierra, and Montaña. Of the more than 50 rivers that flow west from the Andes across the Costa, most are short (usually less than 200 miles long) and precipitous, with highly seasonal rates of flow. Most have a period of peak flow (usually during the December to March rainy season) followed by a long dry period; only the largest of

Eam-elas

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

Abbreviation of Greek Ethnikón Apeleftherotikón Métopon-ethnikós Laïkós Apeleftherotikós Strátos , English National Liberation Front-National Popular Liberation Army communist-sponsored resistance organization (formed September 1941) and its military wing (formed December 1942), which operated in occupied Greece during World War II. Fighting against the Germans and the Italians as well as against other guerrilla bands, particularly EDES (q.v.), EAM-ELAS became the most powerful guerrilla band in the country. It also established an effective

Peter Des Rivaux

2005-03-02T06:52:00.000-08:00

His father (or uncle), Peter des Roches (bishop of Winchester, 1205–38), became tutor to Henry upon the King's accession. Peter des Rivaux served as a king's clerk from 1218 to 1223 but was exiled

Paragonimiasis

2005-02-28T09:33:00.000-08:00

The worm lives in the lungs of the infected individual, where it produces small cysts with fibrous walls. When a cyst in the lung ruptures, the

Smith, George

2005-02-28T00:45:00.000-08:00

Smith's father, also named George Smith (1789–1846), learned bookselling in his native Scotland and, after moving to London, joined with another Scot, Alexander Elder,

Paragonimiasis

2005-02-27T08:42:00.000-08:00

Any of about a dozen species of tropical American rodents resembling the small forest-dwelling hoofed animals of tropical Africa and Asia (see chevrotain; duiker; royal antelope). Agoutis weigh up to 6 kg (13 pounds), with an elongated body measuring up to 76 cm (2.5 feet) long. They have a large head and rump but slender legs, comparatively small ears, and a tiny, inconspicuous,

Irene Ducas

2005-02-26T23:40:00.000-08:00

When Alexius became emperor in April 1081 he reportedly planned to repudiate Irene and wed Mary, who had been married to the former emperors Michael VII

Domingo, Plácido

2005-02-25T20:32:00.000-08:00

Domingo's parents were noted performers in zarzuela, a form of Spanish light opera. He grew up in Mexico, where he studied piano at the National Conservatory of

Yemen

2005-02-24T04:43:00.000-08:00

A republic of the southwestern Arabian Peninsula, Yemen has coastlines on the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Arabian Sea. Area: 527,970 sq km (203,850 sq mi), including 55,871 sq km of undemarcated area bordered by Saudi Arabia and claimed by the former Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen). Pop. (1995 est.): 13,058,000. Cap.: San'a`. Monetary unit: Yemen Rial, with (Oct. 6, 1995) an official par value of YRls 50 to U.S. $1 (YRls 79.04 = £1 sterling) and a free

Tacna

2005-02-22T20:39:00.000-08:00

Capital of Tacna departamento, southern Peru, on the Caplina River at 1,844 feet (562 m) above sea level, in the arid Andean foothills. When the Spaniards arrived at the site in the 16th century, it was occupied by Aymara Indians. Later, the Spanish town of San Pedro de Tacna was founded, and the surrounding fertile soil and cool climate, as well as proximity to the Pacific port of Arica,

Habbaniyah, Hawr Al-

2005-02-21T19:09:00.000-08:00

English Lake Habbaniyah lake in al-Anbar muhafazah (governorate), western Iraq. It is a shallow body of slightly saline water, 54 sq mi (140 sq km) in area, separated from the Euphrates River to the north by the Asibi and Zaban ridges. The lake has been used since antiquity for storing floodwater from the Euphrates; it now provides water for irrigation as well. A barrage at ar-Ramadi, at the lake's northwestern tip,

Reger, Max

2005-02-21T01:30:00.000-08:00

Reger studied at Weiden. In 1888 he heard Die Meistersinger and Parsifal at Bayreuth, but Wagnerian influence on his music was short-lived. From 1890 to 1893 he studied at Sondershausen

Furniture, Constructional style and stylization

2005-02-19T02:06:00.000-08:00

In general, furniture can be designed in two styles, one of which is constructional in that the appearance of the piece reflects the way it is put together, and the other of which is stylized in that the appearance of the piece conceals the way it is put together, the principle being to make the joints flush with adjoining members so as to give the impression that the object

Xenarthran

2005-02-18T17:38:00.000-08:00

Sloths and anteaters are the living members of the order Pilosa, whose name refers to the animals' hairiness. Three families exist today, encompassing five genera and nine species. Six families, primarily ground sloths, are extinct. The order Pilosa is further subdivided into the suborder Vermilingua, literally “worm-tongue,” which is

Black Bart

2005-02-17T06:06:00.000-08:00

Born in New York state, he served in the American Civil War and

Earth Sciences, Foundations of oceanography

2005-02-15T16:24:00.000-08:00

In 1807 Thomas Jefferson ordered the establishment of the U.S. Coast Survey (later Coast and Geodetic Survey and now the National Ocean Survey). Modeled after British and French agencies that had grown up in the 1700s, the agency was charged with the responsibilities of hydrographic and geodetic surveying, studies of tides, and preparation of charts. Beginning in 1842 the U.S. Navy

Biblical Literature, Catholic versions

2005-02-13T07:13:00.000-08:00

The most significant development in modern Catholic translations

Baden

2005-02-13T05:21:00.000-08:00

Also called Baden Bei Wien, spa, Niederösterreich Bundesland (federal state), Austria. It lies along the Schwechat River, at the eastern edge of the Wiener Forest, south of Vienna. Settled in prehistoric times, it was a Roman watering place, or aquae, and was recorded in 869 as the seat of a Frankish imperial palace. Chartered in 1480, it was destroyed by the Turks in 1529 and 1683. It is famous for its warm sulfur-chlorine

Biblical Literature, Catholic versions

2005-02-11T15:02:00.000-08:00

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

Endosperm

2005-02-10T13:40:00.000-08:00

Tissue that surrounds and nourishes the embryo in the angiosperm seed. The initiation of endosperm is a definitive characteristic of angiosperms and requires the fusion of at least one nucleus in the embryo sac with a sperm nucleus from the pollen grain. (In gymnosperms the nutritive material of the seed is present before fertilization.) In some seeds the endosperm

Bar, Confederation Of

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

In February 1768, Russia had compelled the Polish Sejm (legislature) to abandon projects for internal reform,

Mole Valley

2005-02-08T03:26:00.000-08:00

District, administrative and historic county of Surrey, England. The River Mole, from which the district takes its name, flows northward across it to join the Thames at Hampton Court, west of London; the river cuts through a line of chalk hills (the North Downs) in a steep-sided valley that is followed by road and rail routes. South of the Downs is a narrow lowland and then

Space Shuttle

2005-02-06T01:02:00.000-08:00

Partially reusable rocket-launched vehicle designed to go into orbit around Earth, to transport people and cargo to and from orbiting spacecraft, and to glide to a runway landing on its return to Earth's surface. The first vehicle of this type was developed by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Formally called the Space Transportation System

Apure

2005-02-05T13:09:00.000-08:00

The state is famous for its llaneros (cowboys), who were key fighters in the independence movement of the early 19th century. Mounted llaneros

Dahomey

2005-02-04T04:33:00.000-08:00

Kingdom in western Africa that flourished in the 18th and 19th centuries in the region that is now southern Benin. According to tradition, at the beginning of the 17th century three brothers vied for the kingdom of Allada, which, like neighbouring Whydah (now Ouidah), had grown rich on the slave trade. When one of the brothers won control of Allada, the other two fled. One went southeast

Andean Community

2005-02-02T20:48:00.000-08:00

CAN's Andean

Greek Literature, Historical works

2005-02-01T05:14:00.000-08:00

Conscious as they were of their classical and biblical past, the Byzantines wrote much history. Until the early 7th century a series of historians recounted the events of their own time in classicizing style, with fictitious speeches and set descriptive pieces, in a genre that owed much to the classical Greek historians Thucydides and Polybius. Procopius, Agathias,

Davidson (of Lambeth), Randall Thomas Davidson, Baron

2005-01-31T13:10:00.000-08:00

Ordained in 1875, Davidson became resident chaplain two years later to the archbishop of Canterbury, Archibald C. Tait. He soon won the trust of Queen Victoria, whose influence

Wigeon

2005-01-31T05:16:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Widgeon, any of four species of dabbling ducks (family Anatidae), popular game birds and excellent table fare. The European wigeon (Anas, or Mareca, penelope) ranges across the Palaearctic and is occasionally found in the Nearctic regions. The American wigeon, or baldpate (A. americana), breeds in northwestern North America and winters along the U.S., Mexican, Central American, and

Park, Maud Wood

2005-01-29T18:09:00.000-08:00

Park attended St. Agnes School in Albany, New York, and after graduating in 1887 she taught school for eight years. She then attended Radcliffe College,

Argenteuil

2005-01-28T06:57:00.000-08:00

Town, Val-d'Oise département, Île-de-France région, France. It lies along the north bank of the Seine River, northwest of Paris. The town's name comes from silver (argent) deposits exploited there by the Gauls. Argenteuil grew up around a convent that was founded there in the 7th century and of which Charlemagne's daughter Théorade may have been an early abbess. Héloïse, of the

Gisborne

2005-01-27T21:32:00.000-08:00

Unitary authority, east-central North Island, New Zealand. The authority includes the eastern side of East Cape (the easternmost promontory of North Island), most of the Raukumara Range, and the Waipaoa and Mata rivers. Gisborne is bounded by the Bay of Plenty local government region to the west and by the Pacific Ocean to the north and east. The cape was the first landing

Yadava Dynasty

2005-01-26T16:41:00.000-08:00

Rulers of a 12th–14th-century Hindu kingdom of central India in what is the modern Indian state of Maharashtra. Originally a feudatory of the Eastern Calukyas of Kalyani, the dynasty became paramount in the Deccan under Bhillama (c. 1187–91), who founded Devagiri (later Daulatabad) as his capital. Under Bhillama's grandson Singhana (c. 1210–47) the dynasty reached its height at the expense of the

Brabham, Sir Jack

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

After serving in the Royal Australian Air Force in World War II, Brabham set up his own engineering business in 1946. He drove in midget racing (1946–52) in Australia, and in 1955 he moved to England to drive for the Cooper team in Grand Prix racing. He won

Ghent

2005-01-24T21:57:00.000-08:00

One of Belgium's oldest cities and the historic capital of Flanders, Ghent was powerful, well-organized in its wealthy trade

Ginsberg, Allen

2005-01-24T07:42:00.000-08:00

Ginsberg grew up in Paterson, N.J., where his father, Louis Ginsberg, himself a poet, taught English. Allen Ginsberg's mother, whom he mourned in his long poem Kaddish (1961), was confined for years in a mental hospital. Ginsberg was

Altona

2005-01-23T07:50:00.000-08:00

Northwest district of the city and Land (state) of Hamburg, northwestern Germany. It lies on cliffs above the right bank of the Elbe River. The name may have come originally from allzu-nah (“all too near”), which was the Hamburgers' designation for an inn that lay too close to their territory and was for long the only building. As a small fishing village called Altwasser, it fell

Asvamedha

2005-01-21T22:57:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Aswamedha, Ashvamedha, or Ashwamedha, grandest of the Vedic religious rites of ancient India, performed by a king to celebrate his paramountcy. The ceremony is described in detail in various Vedic writings, particularly the Satapatha Brahmana. An especially fine stallion was selected and was allowed to roam freely for a year under the protection of a royal guard. If the horse entered a foreign country, its

Tapestry, 16th century

2005-01-19T05:31:00.000-08:00

Two new trends became apparent in the 16th century. The first, brought about by war and persecution in Flanders, resulted in the widespread diffusion of the Flemish art of tapestry weaving. Many Flemish artisans in the 16th century were forced to become refugees. Some grouped together to live the life of travelling craftsmen, while others attempted to reestablish their

Vuillard, (jean-)édouard

2005-01-18T19:21:00.000-08:00

Vuillard met Bonnard, Paul Sérusier, and Félix Vallotton while studying at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and, along with his old friends Maurice Denis and Ker-Xavier Roussel, they formed an association called the

Endrin

2005-01-18T04:24:00.000-08:00

Chlorine-containing organic compound used as an insecticide. See aldrin.

Argelander, Friedrich Wilhelm August

2005-01-16T01:45:00.000-08:00

German astronomer who established the study of variable stars as an independent branch of astronomy and is renowned for his great catalog listing the positions and magnitudes of 324,188 stars. He studied at the University of Königsberg, Prussia, where he was a pupil and later the successor of Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel. Argelander was appointed

Vuillard, (jean-)édouard

2005-01-15T08:44:00.000-08:00

Formerly (1969–73) National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws American organization, founded in 1969 to centralize state abortion-rights efforts and continuing its mission thereafter to protect and promote reproductive freedom. The organization consists of three related entities: NARAL Inc., a nonprofit organization that focuses on defending abortion rights and on making abortions less necessary; NARAL-PAC, a registered

Puerto Maldonado

2005-01-14T17:17:00.000-08:00

Capital of Tambopata provincia and of Madre de Dios departamento, southeastern Peru. It lies at the confluence of the Tambopata and Madre de Dios rivers, at 840 feet (256 m) above sea level in the hot, humid rain forest known as the selva. It was named for Dom Pedro Maldonado, an 18th-century Spanish explorer, but was not mentioned in official documents until 1902. The smallest of all Peruvian

Fairfax

2005-01-13T01:03:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1779) of Fairfax county (though administratively independent of it), northeastern Virginia, U.S., about 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Washington, D.C. It developed after 1799 with the construction of the county courthouse and relocation of the county seat from Alexandria. The wills of George and Martha Washington are displayed in the courthouse wing. Early known as Earp's Corner,

Individual Psychology

2005-01-11T11:06:00.000-08:00

Body of theories of the Austrian psychiatrist Alfred Adler, who held that the main motives of human thought and behaviour are individual man's striving for superiority and power, partly in compensation for his feeling of inferiority. Every individual, in this view, is unique, and his personality structure—including his unique goal and ways of striving for it—finds

Extermination Camp

2005-01-10T14:42:00.000-08:00

The major camps were in German-occupied

Roddenberry, Gene

2005-01-10T00:45:00.000-08:00

Roddenberry briefly attended Los Angeles City College, flew B-17 bombers during World War II, and was an airline

Hatteras Abyssal Plain

2005-01-08T16:38:00.000-08:00

Submarine plain forming the floor of the northwestern Atlantic Ocean. It lies east of the North American continental shelf between the southern United States and Bermuda, extending about 900 mi (1,450 km) from north to south, with an average width of 300 mi. The plain comprises the western part of the North American Basin and is separated from the Nares Abyssal Plain to the southwest

Demosthenes

2005-01-07T16:57:00.000-08:00

Athenian statesman, recognized as the greatest of ancient Greek orators, who roused Athens to oppose Philip of Macedon and, later, his son Alexander the Great. His speeches provide valuable information on the political, social, and economic life of 4th-century Athens.

Adalbert

2005-01-07T08:22:00.000-08:00

The youngest son of Frederick, Count of Goseck (on the Saale River), Adalbert attended the cathedral school at Halberstadt, becoming subsequently subdeacon and, in 1032, canon. In May 1043 he was appointed archbishop

John

2005-01-06T22:30:00.000-08:00

After his father's death in 1486, John ruled the lands of the Ernestine branch of the Wettin

Kazaure

2005-01-05T15:15:00.000-08:00

Town and traditional emirate in Jigawa state, northern Nigeria. The town has been the emirate's headquarters since 1819. It was founded by Dan Tunku, a Fulani warrior who was one of the 14 flag bearers for the Fulani jihad (holy war) leader Usman dan Fodio. Dan Tunku arrived from the nearby town of Dambatta (Dambarta) at a stockaded village that he named Kazaure and established

Tacitus

2005-01-04T17:16:00.000-08:00

In full Publius Cornelius Tacitus , or Gaius Cornelius Tacitus Roman orator and public official, probably the greatest historian and one of the greatest prose stylists who wrote in the Latin language. Among his works are the Germania, describing the Germanic tribes, the Historiae (Histories), concerning the Roman Empire from AD 69 to 96, and the later Annals, dealing with the empire in the period from AD 14 to 68.

Armour, Philip Danforth

2005-01-02T16:16:00.000-08:00

Armour earned his first capital in California mining endeavours and cofounded a grain-dealing and meatpacking business in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1863. Anticipating a

Adapa

2005-01-01T18:38:00.000-08:00

In Mesopotamian mythology, legendary sage and citizen of the Sumerian city of Eridu, the ruins of which are in southern Iraq. Endowed with vast intelligence by Ea (Sumerian: Enki), the god of wisdom, Adapa became the hero of the Sumerian version of the myth of the fall of man. The myth relates that Adapa, in spite of his possession of all wisdom, was not given immortality. One

Canals And Inland Waterways, Boat lifts

2004-12-31T07:34:00.000-08:00

Vessels can be transported floating in a steel tank or caisson between adjacent pounds by a vertical lift, replacing several locks. Vertical lifts can be operated by high-pressure hydraulic rams, by submersible floats, or by geared counterweights. Hydraulic lifts with twin caissons were constructed in 1875 at Anderton, Eng., with a 50-foot lift for 60-ton vessels; in 1888 lifts were

Hawkins, Sir John

2004-12-30T08:25:00.000-08:00

Hawkins wrote, among other works, an annotated edition

Baden

2004-12-28T17:32:00.000-08:00

Former state on the east bank of the Rhine River in the southwestern corner of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg Land (state) of Germany. The former Baden state comprised the eastern half of the Rhine River valley together with the adjoining mountains, especially the Schwarzwald, which fills the great angle made by the river between Schaffhausen

Wright, Benjamin

2004-12-28T13:48:00.000-08:00

He was trained as a surveyor in his youth, and, after his family moved to the vicinity of Rome, N.Y., in 1789, Wright surveyed about 500,000 acres (200,000 hectares) for farmers

Colburn, Irving Wightman

2004-12-27T22:02:00.000-08:00

American inventor and manufacturer whose process for fabricating continuous sheets of flat glass formed the basis of the Libbey-Owens Sheet Glass Company. After an unsuccessful manufacturing venture, Colburn sold his patents to financial interests in Toledo, Ohio, in 1912. He continued to work under their auspices, finally perfecting his

Kerr, Roy P(atrick)

2004-12-25T09:06:00.000-08:00

Kerr received an M.S. (1954) from New Zealand University (now dissolved) and his Ph.D. (1960) from Cambridge University. He served on the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin

Zaghlul, Sa'd

2004-12-24T07:52:00.000-08:00

Zaghlul was from a well-to-do peasant family in Ibyanah in the Nile River delta. He was educated at the Muslim University of Al-Azhar in Cairo and at the Egyptian

Palade, George E.

2004-12-23T07:43:00.000-08:00

Palade received a degree

Barquisimeto

2004-12-23T06:23:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Lara estado (“state”), northwestern Venezuela. Situated on a wide terrace of the Turbio River at 1,856 feet (566 m) above sea level, Barquisimeto is swept by the drying trade winds but has a warm climate (mean average temperature 75° F [24° C]). One of Venezuela's oldest cities, it was founded in 1552 by the Spanish interim governor Juan de Villegas, who originally named the city Nueva

Fargue, Léon-paul

2004-12-21T22:27:00.000-08:00

Before he reached 20 years of age, Fargue had already published his important poem Tancrède in the magazine Pan (1895; published in book form in 1911) and had become a member of the Symbolist circle connected with Le Mercure de France. His first collection of verse, Poèmes, was published

Arts, The

2004-12-20T16:12:00.000-08:00

Traditional categories within the arts include literature (including poetry, drama, story, and so on), the visual arts (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.), the graphic arts (painting, drawing, design, and other forms expressed

Cultivator

2004-12-19T06:55:00.000-08:00

Horse-drawn cultivators were introduced in the mid-19th century; by 1870 a farmer with two horses could cultivate as much as 15 acres (6 hectares) a day with a machine the shovels (blades) of which straddled the crop rows. In the 20th century, with tractor power substituted

Kean, Charles (john)

2004-12-19T02:23:00.000-08:00

The son of the famed actor Edmund Kean, he was educated at Eton and made his debut as Young Norval in Douglas in London in 1827. He toured the provinces extensively but first won general acceptance during an American tour in 1830. Returning to

Carlisle, John G(riffin)

2004-12-17T18:12:00.000-08:00

Carlisle was admitted to the Kentucky bar in 1858 and practiced law in Covington before his election to a term in the state legislature (1859–61); he also served in the Kentucky state senate (1866–71) and as lieutenant

Buka Island

2004-12-17T10:33:00.000-08:00

One of the northern Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, in the southwestern Pacific. It lies northwest of Bougainville Island, from which it is separated by the deep Buka Passage (5 miles [8 km] wide). A volcanic formation measuring 35 miles by 9 miles (56 km by 14 km), Buka has a total land area of 190 square miles (492 square km). Rising to 1,634 feet (498 metres) in hills on the southwest, the island is densely

Decroly, Ovide

2004-12-16T08:54:00.000-08:00

Belgian pioneer in the education of handicapped and normal children. He was a physician who became involved in a school for abnormal children and consequently became interested in education. One outcome of this interest was his establishment in 1901 of the Institute for Abnormal Children in Uccle, Belg., a school that provided a homelike

Buddhism, Ordination

2004-12-15T04:47:00.000-08:00

Admission to the sangha involves two distinct acts: pabbajja, which consists of renunciation of secular life and acceptance of monasticism as a novice, and upasampada, the official consecration as a monk. The evolution of the procedure is not entirely clear; in early times, the two acts probably occurred at the same time. Subsequently, the Vinaya established that upasampad

United Arab Emirates

2004-12-13T06:41:00.000-08:00

The economy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) continued its robust expansion in 1997. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew about 10% in 1996, the highest rate in the Middle East, and in 1997 it rose a substantial 4.4%. Significantly,

Marryat, Frederick

2004-12-13T00:05:00.000-08:00

Marryat entered the Royal Navy at the age of 14 and served with distinction in many parts of the world before retiring in 1830 with a captain's rank. He then began a series of adventure novels marked

Eybeschütz, Jonathan

2004-12-12T06:23:00.000-08:00

As a rabbi in a number of European towns, Eybeschütz became a celebrated master of the Talmud (the rabbinical compendium of law, lore, and commentary),