ImportantNeck

Philastre, Paul-louis-félix

2005-04-05T06:55:00.000-07:00

French administrator and diplomat who, in the formative years of colonialism in French Indochina, played a crucial role in mitigating relations between the European colonialists and the French administration, on the one hand, and the indigenous population and its royal court at Hue, in central Vietnam. He was considered

France, History Of, The abolition of feudalism

2005-04-05T06:17:00.000-07:00

Of course the violence of peasant insurgency worried the deputies of the National Assembly; to some it seemed as if the countryside were being engulfed by anarchy that threatened all property. But the majority was unwilling to turn against the rebellious peasants. Instead of denouncing their violence, they tried to appease peasant opinion. Liberal nobles and

Water Resource

2005-04-03T14:51:00.000-07:00

Any of the entire range of natural waters that occur on the Earth, regardless of their state (i.e., vapour, liquid, or solid) and that are of potential use to humans. Of these, the resources most available for use are the waters of the oceans, rivers, and lakes; other available water resources include groundwater and deep subsurface waters and glaciers and permanent

Indian Mutiny

2005-04-02T20:31:00.000-08:00

To regard the rebellion merely as a sepoy mutiny is to underestimate the increasing pace of Westernization after the establishment of British

Vreeland, Diana Dalziel

2005-04-01T13:02:00.000-08:00

Diana Dalziel was the daughter of a Scottish father and an American mother in whose home the leading artists of the day were frequent guests. In 1914 the

Nataraja

2005-04-01T00:50:00.000-08:00

In the most common type of images, which includes the magnificent Cola bronzes of the 10th–11th century, Siva is shown with four arms and flying locks dancing on the figure of a dwarf, the Apasmarapurusa (a symbol of man's ignorance; puru

Christian X

2005-03-30T21:10:00.000-08:00

The eldest son of the future King Frederick VIII and Louise of Sweden and Norway, Christian became chief of the royal guard in 1898 and married Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Becoming crown prince in 1906, Christian led the

Trask, Kate Nichols

2005-03-30T13:41:00.000-08:00

Kate Nichols was of a wealthy family and was privately educated. In November 1874 she married Spencer Trask, a banker and financier. Although she had had literary leanings

Dion Chrysostom

2005-03-28T14:26:00.000-08:00

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

Tlingit

2005-03-27T19:06:00.000-08:00

Northernmost Indians of the North Pacific Coast of North America, inhabiting the islands and coastal lands of southern Alaska from Yakutat Bay to Cape Fox. They were speakers of the Tlingit language, which is believed to be related to Athabascan. They were divided into 14 territorial groups, or tribes. According to tradition, some of their ancestors came from the south;

Red Oak

2005-03-26T22:56:00.000-08:00

Any member of a group or subgenus (Erythrobalanus) of North American ornamental and timber shrubs and trees of the genus Quercus, in the beech family (Fagaceae), that have bristle-tipped leaves, acorns with hairy shell linings, and bitter seeds that mature in two seasons. Black oak, live oak, willow oak (including water oak, laurel oak, shingle oak), and pin

Bharati, Subrahmanya C.

2005-03-24T17:15:00.000-08:00

The son of a learned Brahman, Bharati became a Tamil scholar at an early age. He received little formal education, however, and in 1904 moved to Madras. There he translated English into Tamil for several magazines

Scandinavian Literature, Iceland

2005-03-24T05:31:00.000-08:00

Húss-Postilla (1718–20; “Sermons for the Home”), by Jón Vídalín, bishop of Skálholt, is the best example of early 18th-century prose. Among important later writers, Eggert Ólafsson carried out a comprehensive geographical field survey (published in Danish, 1772; partial Eng. trans.) of Iceland's country and its people. In his poetry he expressed 18th-century Rationalism combined with Romantic

Zappa, Frank

2005-03-23T10:16:00.000-08:00

Zappa was, in no apparent order, a first-rate cultural gadfly dedicated to upsetting American suburban complacency and puncturing the hypocrisy and pretensions of both the U.S. political establishment and the counterculture that opposed it; a contemporary orchestral

Gray

2005-03-22T17:01:00.000-08:00

Unit of absorbed dose of ionizing radiation, defined in the 1980s by the International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements. One gray is equal approximately to the absorbed dose delivered when the energy per unit mass imparted to matter by ionizing radiation is one joule per kilogram. As a unit of measure, the gray is coherent with the units of measure in the

Anthony, Susan B.

2005-03-21T16:40:00.000-08:00

Anthony was reared in the Quaker tradition in a home pervaded by a tone of independence

Women's Equality Day

2005-03-20T04:48:00.000-08:00

Annual event in the United States, observed on August 26 since its inception in 1971, marking women's advancements toward equality with men. August 26, 1970, marked the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, which granted American women full suffrage. On that anniversary the National Organization for Women (NOW) called upon women nationwide to “strike for

Europe, Council Of

2005-03-20T01:15:00.000-08:00

Organization of European countries that seeks to protect democracy and human rights and to promote European unity by fostering cooperation on legal, cultural, and social issues. By the beginning of the 21st century, more than 40 countries were members of the Council of Europe. The council is headquartered in Strasbourg, France. (The Council of Europe should not be confused

John (iv)

2005-03-19T08:50:00.000-08:00

At first, John of Montfort had recognized John III's designation of Charles of Blois (nephew of King Philip VI of France) as the successor; but then John of Montfort reneged, had himself crowned at a convocation of bishops and lords at Nantes,

Dome Of The Rock

2005-03-18T15:21:00.000-08:00

Arabic Qubbat as-Sakhrah shrine in Jerusalem that is the oldest extant Islamic monument. The rock over which the shrine was built is sacred to both Muslims and Jews. The Prophet Muhammad, founder of Islam, is traditionally believed to have ascended into heaven from the site. In Jewish tradition, it is here that Abraham, the progenitor and first patriarch of the Hebrew people, is said to have prepared

Paasche Index

2005-03-17T17:42:00.000-08:00

The index is a ratio that compares the total purchase cost of a specified bundle of current-period commodities (commodities valued at current

Nepal, Climate

2005-03-17T04:19:00.000-08:00

Nepal's climate, influenced by elevation as well as by its location in a subtropical latitude, ranges from subtropical monsoon conditions in the Tarai, through a warm temperate climate between 4,000 and 7,000 feet in the mid-mountain region, to cool temperate conditions in the higher parts of mountains between 7,000 and 11,000 feet, to an Alpine climate at altitudes between 14,000 and 16,000 feet along

Argentina, Flag Of

2005-03-15T17:14:00.000-08:00

The blue cockades worn by patriots in May 1810, when the Spanish viceroy in Buenos Aires yielded authority to the local government, and the uniforms worn by Argentines in 1806, when the British attacked Buenos Aires, may have been the origin of the celeste-white-celeste horizontally striped flag first hoisted on February 12, 1812, by General Manuel Belgrano. On July 9, 1816, Argentina, then

Gyascutus

2005-03-15T14:50:00.000-08:00

An imaginary, large, four-legged beast with legs on one side longer than those on the other, for walking on hillsides. Humorous references to this creature, whose name has countless local variants, first appeared in American newspapers during the 1840s. It has continued to play a minor role in American folklore since then. The word was apparently coined to mimic the Latin

Kuchma, Leonid

2005-03-15T03:03:00.000-08:00

After graduating from Dnipropetrovsk State University in 1960, Kuchma embarked on a career as an engineer, serving as Communist

Sucksdorff, Arne

2005-03-13T16:55:00.000-08:00

Swedish motion-picture director important in the post-World War II revival of the Swedish cinema because of his internationally acclaimed sensitivity in photographing nature. His patiently photographed flowers, insects, birds, and animals are composed into films in which the rhythm of nature is dominant and man is only

Bruant, Libéral

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

Libéral Bruant was the most notable of a family that produced a series of architects active in France from the 16th to the 18th century. He was the son of Sébastien and brother of Jacques, who designed the Hall of the Corporation des Drapiers,

Ashland

2005-03-13T15:42:00.000-08:00

Settled in 1815 as Poage's Settlement, it was renamed (1854) in honour of Henry Clay's home in Lexington, Kentucky. Ashland's proximity to coal and timber regions

European Union

2005-03-12T23:00:00.000-08:00

On January 1, 1995, Sweden, Austria, and Finland joined the EU, leaving Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland as the only major western European countries outside the organization. Norway's government twice (1972 and 1994) attempted to join, but its voters rejected membership on each occasion. Switzerland tabled its application in the early 1990s. Norway, Iceland, and the members of the EU (along

Adams, Walter (sydney)

2005-03-11T07:13:00.000-08:00

Born of missionary parents who returned to the United States when he was eight years old, Adams studied astronomy

Aerospace Industry, Missiles

2005-03-11T01:44:00.000-08:00

Missiles (see rocket and missile system), which are unpiloted, rocket- or jet-powered delivery systems for munitions, have assumed an important role in military strategy and tactics. Originally conceived as powered artillery shells and therefore the purview of munitions manufacturers, they rapidly became products of the aerospace industry by virtue of the ranges

House Sparrow

2005-03-10T06:48:00.000-08:00

Also called English Sparrow (Passer domesticus), one of the world's best-known and most abundant small birds, sometimes classified in the family Ploceidae (q.v.; order Passeriformes) or separated as Passeridae. It lives in towns and on farms, worldwide, having accompanied Europeans from its original home—most of Eurasia and northern Africa. It was introduced into North America

Henry, William

2005-03-10T06:29:00.000-08:00

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

Denison

2005-03-09T00:22:00.000-08:00

City, Grayson county, north-central Texas, U.S., situated near the Oklahoma border, 73 miles (117 km) north of Dallas. The city of Sherman lies to the south and Lake Texoma, impounded on the Red River by Denison Dam, to the northwest. Originally a stop on the Southern Overland Mail Route, it was organized by the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad in 1872 as a division point and named for George

Bahamas, Flag Of The

2005-03-08T07:25:00.000-08:00

The flag of The Bahamas was officially hoisted on July 10, 1973, the date of the nation's independence from the United Kingdom. It was the result of a local competition for a new national flag, although no single entry was selected. Instead, several entries were combined to create the new flag. The two aquamarine stripes represent the water surrounding the islands. The yellow

Spoonbill

2005-03-07T19:33:00.000-08:00

Any member of six species of long-legged wading birds that constitute the subfamily Plataleinae of the family Threskiornithidae (order Ciconiiformes), which also includes the ibises. Spoonbills are found in estuaries, saltwater bayous, and lakes. They feed by sweeping the long bill from side to side in the mud or shallow water and thereby catching mostly small fishes

Fareham

2005-03-07T04:44:00.000-08:00

Town and borough (district), county of Hampshire, England, at the head of a creek opening into the northwestern corner of Portsmouth Harbour. The district embraces the market town of Fareham and several outlying historic localities. These include Portchester, which was the site of extensive Saxon occupation, a Roman fortress, and a castle built in 1160–72 by Henry II; and Titchfield,

Arnica

2005-03-06T21:12:00.000-08:00

One of the most important species (A. montana) is a perennial herb of northern and central European

Malawi, Flag Of

2005-03-06T14:45:00.000-08:00

The British territory of Nyasaland (now Malawi) was granted a coat of arms on May 11, 1914. It showed a leopard standing on a rock against a white background, but the top of the shield was black bearing a golden sun. The Latin motto beneath, “Lux in tenebris,” is translated as “Light out of darkness”; it is suggestive of the British self-image as protectors and civilizers of the territory.

Vanbrugh, Sir John

2005-03-05T07:44:00.000-08:00

Vanbrugh's grandfather was a Flemish merchant, and his father was a sugar baker in Chester, Cheshire, England, where the young Vanbrugh (by tradition)

Fairfield

2005-03-04T23:57:00.000-08:00

County, southwestern Connecticut, U.S. It is bounded by Long Island Sound to the south, New York state to the west, and the Housatonic River to the east, and it includes several islands in the sound. Most of the county lies in an upland region forested with hardwoods, with only a narrow coastal plain running along the southern edge. Waterways other than the Housatonic are

Diplomatics

2005-03-04T23:03:00.000-08:00

The study of documents. The term is derived from the Greek word diploma, meaning “doubled” or “folded.” Besides the documents of legal and administrative import withwhich it is properly concerned, diplomatics also includes the study of other records such as bills, reports, cartularies, registers, and rolls. Diplomatics is therefore a basic and not simply an auxiliary

Aerospace Industry

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

The product line of the aerospace industry is, by necessity, broad because its primary products—flight vehicles—require up to millions of individual parts. In addition, many support systems are needed to operate and maintain the vehicles. In terms of sales, military aircraft have the largest market share, followed by space systems and civil aircraft, with missiles

Arnauld, Jacqueline-marie-angélique

2005-03-02T13:14:00.000-08:00

Jacqueline Arnauld entered religious life as a child of 9, becoming abbess of the ancient Cistercian house of Port-Royal des Champs (near Versailles)

Bing, Sir Rudolph

2005-03-02T00:29:00.000-08:00

The son of an Austrian industrialist, Bing grew up in a musical household and studied at the University of Vienna. He first worked in theatrical agencies casting singers for opera houses. From 1928 to 1935 he assisted Carl Ebert

Gymnodinium

2005-03-02T00:15:00.000-08:00

Genus of marine or freshwater organisms called dinoflagellates. Members of the genus are bilaterally symmetrical with a delicate pellicle (or envelope) and disk-shaped chromatophores, which, when present, contain yellow, brown, green, or blue pigments. The genus is claimed by both botanists and zoologists, for, like all dinoflagellates, it has both plantlike and animal-like

Palenque

2005-02-27T16:39:00.000-08:00

Ruined ancient Mayan city of the Late Classic period (c. AD 600–900) in what is now Chiapas state, Mexico, about 80 miles (130 km) south of Ciudad del Carmen. Its original name was lost, and thus it was named for the neighbouring village of Santo Domingo del Palenque. The Palenque builders used plaster to obtain a smooth finish unlike the usual Mayan tooled-limestone construction. They used

Nuclear Family

2005-02-27T13:11:00.000-08:00

Also called elementary family in sociology and anthropology, a group of persons united by ties of marriage and parenthood or adoption and consisting of a man, a woman, and their socially recognized children. This unit was once widely held to be the most basic and universal form of social organization. Anthropological research, however, has illuminated so much variability of this form that it is

Furniture, Spain

2005-02-27T00:00:00.000-08:00

Because of the long occupation of Spain by the Moors, a style called Mudéjar evolved. While furniture in this style remained in form essentially European, decoration had an oriental flavour. A type of cabinet known as vargueno was typically Spanish. The upper part, in chest form, with drawers inside, had a fall front (a hinged writing surface that opened by falling forward),

Argentina, Resources

2005-02-26T15:06:00.000-08:00

Argentine industry is well served by the country's abundance of energy resources. By the late 20th century the country was self-sufficient in fossil fuels and hydroelectric generation, and it had become a petroleum exporter. Oil deposits are scattered throughout the country. The basin around the Patagonian port of Comodoro Rivadavia is estimated to hold some two-thirds

Burdett, Sir Francis, 5th Baronet

2005-02-25T18:25:00.000-08:00

His marriage to a wealthy woman enabled Burdett to buy a seat in the House of Commons in 1796. Influenced by French Revolutionary

Widnes

2005-02-25T07:14:00.000-08:00

Town in the unitary authority of Halton, historic county of Lancashire, England. It is situated on the north bank of the River Mersey at its lowest bridging point and on the southern periphery of the Liverpool metropolitan region. The modern town is a result of 19th-century industrial expansion and is a principal centre of the British chemical industry, largely because

Forbes-robertson, Sir Johnston

2005-02-24T08:01:00.000-08:00

Educated at Charterhouse School, he studied art before turning to the theatre in 1874, when he first appeared on the London stage. He acted with the Bancrofts—Squire

Ammassalik

2005-02-24T04:57:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Angmagssalik, town, southeastern Greenland, on the south coast of Ammassalik Island. The island is 25 miles (40 km) long and 12–20 miles (19–32 km) wide, with a high point of 4,336 feet (1,322 m). Although Europeans landed as early as 1472, the region was not explored until 1884, when Gustav Holm, a Dane, mapped the coast. A trading and mission station was established in 1895 to help sustain the Greenlandic (Eskimo) population with imported

Roundhead

2005-02-24T04:46:00.000-08:00

Adherent of the Parliamentary Party during the English Civil War (1642–51) and after. Many Puritans wore their hair closely cropped in obvious contrast to the long ringlets fashionable at the court of Charles I. Roundhead appears to have been first used as a term of derision toward the end of 1641, when debates in Parliament on the Bishops' Exclusion Bill were causing riots at Westminster.

Devils Lake

2005-02-21T20:56:00.000-08:00

City, seat of Ramsey county, northeast-central North Dakota, U.S. The community was established with the opening of a land office in 1882 as Creelsburg (later Creel City) and was the head of steamboat navigation on Devils Lake, a saline body of water originally about 30 miles [50 km] long. By 1909, when the lake had receded 4 miles (6 km) from the city, navigation ceased. The city developed as a trade

Allende, Salvador

2005-02-21T11:02:00.000-08:00

Allende, born into an upper-middle-class family, received his medical degree in 1932 from the University of Chile, where he was a Marxist activist. He participated in the founding (1933) of Chile's Socialist Party. After election to the Chamber of Deputies in 1937, he served (1939–42) as minister of health in the liberal leftist

Berosus

2005-02-20T06:43:00.000-08:00

Chaldean priest of Bel in Babylon who wrote a work in three books (in Greek) on the history and culture of Babylonia; it was widely used by later Greek compilers, whose versions in turn were quoted by religious historians such as Eusebius and Josephus. Thus Berosus, though his work survives only in fragmentary

Gnosticism

2005-02-19T13:36:00.000-08:00

The designation Gnosticism, derived from the Greek gn

Euclidean Geometry, Axioms of congruence

2005-02-19T01:11:00.000-08:00

Five axioms (see Box

Tsugaru Warm Current

2005-02-18T23:06:00.000-08:00

Surface oceanic current, a branch of the East Korea Warm Current flowing into the Pacific Ocean. After flowing from the Sea of Japan through the Tsugaru Strait, the Tsugaru Warm Current passes along the eastern coast of Honshu.

Degas, (hilaire-germain-)edgar

2005-02-17T17:49:00.000-08:00

Degas came of the powerful upper bourgeoisie, his family having banking

Wurtz, Charles-adolphe

2005-02-17T02:56:00.000-08:00

Following medical studies and a period of teaching, Wurtz studied at Giessen and then at Strasbourg (1843). He became an assistant (1845) to Jean-Baptiste-André Dumas, whom he succeeded at the School of Medicine (1852). He was the first

Burgage

2005-02-16T15:41:00.000-08:00

In England and Scotland, an ancient form of tenure that applied to property within the boundaries of boroughs, or burghs. In England land or tenements within a borough were held by payment of rent to the king or some other lord; the terms varied in different boroughs. Among English feudal tenures, burgage ranked as a form of socage, the holding of land in return for agricultural

Dependent States

2005-02-16T07:17:00.000-08:00

French Polynesia Pres. Gaston Flosse continued to pursue constitutional changes that would increase French Polynesia's autonomy while retaining its connection to France. In October agreement was reached on France's financial assistance to the territory, with the provision of €150 million (about $155.6 million) for 2003. The new Economic Restructuring Fund replaced grants

Hooker, Sir Joseph Dalton

2005-02-15T10:26:00.000-08:00

Hooker,

Selaginella

2005-02-14T08:29:00.000-08:00

Genus of plants that are commonly known as spike moss (q.v.).

La Salle, Saint Jean-baptiste De

2005-02-13T17:01:00.000-08:00

Of noble birth, La Salle was ordained priest in 1678 and devoted himself to education of the poor. He helped to establish

Dahl, Roald

2005-02-13T04:10:00.000-08:00

Following his graduation from Repton, a renowned British public school, in 1932, Dahl avoided a university education and joined an expedition to Newfoundland. He worked from 1937 to 1939 in Dar es Salaam, Tanganyika (now in Tanzania), but he enlisted

Arden, Eve

2005-02-12T07:33:00.000-08:00

Arden began her theatre career with the Henry Duffy Stock Company in San Francisco (1928–29) and made her Broadway debut in the 1934 Ziegfeld Follies. Her film career began in Oh Doctor in 1937, the year she won a featured role in

Bear Market

2005-02-12T01:37:00.000-08:00

In securities and commodities trading, a declining market. A bear is an investor who expects prices to decline and, on this assumption, sells a borrowed security or commodity in the hope of buying it back later at a lower price, a speculative transaction called selling short. The term bear may derive from the proverb about “selling the bearskin before one has caught

Nitisol

2005-02-11T05:31:00.000-08:00

One of the 30 soil groups in the classification system of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Occupying 1.6 percent of the total land surface on Earth, Nitisols are found mainly in eastern Africa at higher altitudes, coastal India, Central America, and tropical islands (Cuba, Java, and the Philippines). They are perhaps the most inherently fertile of the tropical soils

World War I, The final offensive on the Western Front

2005-02-09T19:49:00.000-08:00

It was eventually agreed among the Allied commanders that Pershing's American troops should advance across the difficult terrain of the Argonne Forest, so that the combined Allied offensive would consist of converging attacks against the whole German position west of a line drawn from Ypres to Verdun. Thus, the Americans from the front northwest of Verdun and

Seleucus I Nicator

2005-02-09T16:18:00.000-08:00

Macedonian army officer, founder of the Seleucid kingdom. In the struggles following the death of Alexander the Great, he rose from governor of Babylon to king of an empire centring on Syria and Iran.

Affenpinscher

2005-02-09T00:52:00.000-08:00

Also called Monkey Terrier, breed of toy dog known since the 17th century. The affenpinscher stands 26 cm (10 inches) or less and weighs 3 to 3.5 kg (7 to 8 pounds). A sturdily built, terrier-like dog, it has small, erect ears, round black eyes, and a short, docked tail. Its wiry, preferably black coat is short on parts of the body but longer on the legs and on the face, where it produces the monkey-like expression for which the

Burdigalian Stage

2005-02-08T07:16:00.000-08:00

In France the Burdigalian Stage is represented by rocks, especially shell beds, produced by a continuing transgression

Van Fleet, James Alward

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

Van Fleet graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York

Iran, The Qajar dynasty (17961925)

2005-02-08T04:09:00.000-08:00

Between 1779 and 1789 the Zands fought among themselves over their legacy. In the end it fell to the gallant Lotf 'Ali, the Zands' last hope. Agha Muhammad Khan relentlessly hunted him down until he overcame and killed him at the southeastern city of Kerman in 1794. In 1796 Agha Muhammad Khan assumed the imperial diadem, and later in the same year he took Mashhad. Shah Rokh died of the tortures inflicted

Avon, River

2005-02-06T15:33:00.000-08:00

With a drainage area

Jet Stream

2005-02-06T02:53:00.000-08:00

Any of several long, narrow high-speed air currents that flow eastward in a generally horizontal zone in the stratosphere or upper troposphere. Jet streams are characterized by wind motions that generate strong vertical shearing action, which is thought to be largely responsible for the clear air turbulence so hazardous to aircraft. They also are associated

Olympic National Park

2005-02-05T13:39:00.000-08:00

National park, northwestern Washington, U.S., established in 1938 to preserve the Olympic Mountains and their magnificent forests and wildlife. The park, which covers 1,442 square miles (3,735 square km), includes a strip of Pacific Northwest shoreline geographically separated from the rest of the park. There are active glaciers on the highest peak, Mount Olympus (7,965 feet [2,428 m]), and others,

Bashkortostan

2005-02-04T18:50:00.000-08:00

From Mount Yamantau, the highest peak in the southern Urals, elevation generally decreases southward and westward, with the heavily forested mountains giving way to open steppe interspersed with islands

Sea Mouse

2005-02-04T03:12:00.000-08:00

Sea mice are usually 7.5–15 centimetres (3–6 inches) long; however, some attain a length of 30 centimetres (12 inches). The slightly arched back is covered with a dense mat of hairlike setae about 2.5 centimetres (1 inch) long. The sea mouse burrows and creeps

Loch (of Drylaw), Henry Brougham Loch, 1st Baron

2005-02-04T02:22:00.000-08:00

A career soldier, Loch began his service in India (1844–53) and fought in the Crimean War (1853–56) and in the second and third China wars (1857–58 and 1860). After 1860 he held civil appointments. From

Ammann, Othmar Herman

2005-02-02T01:16:00.000-08:00

In 1904 Ammann immigrated to the United States, where he helped design railroad bridges. Joining the Pennsylvania Steel Company the following

Rurales

2005-02-01T21:23:00.000-08:00

Federal corps of rural police established on May 6, 1861, by the Mexican president Benito Juárez to combat the banditry that threatened travel and commerce throughout Mexico. Such a force had been planned four years earlier but could not be established during the War of Reform. In 1869, after the overthrow of the empire of Maximilian, it was reconstituted under the Ministry

Thomas, Jess

2005-02-01T11:30:00.000-08:00

U.S. operatic tenor (b. Aug. 4, 1927, Hot Springs, S.D.--d. Oct. 11, 1993, San Francisco, Calif.), sang a number of lyric roles but became best known as a Wagnerian heldentenor. He participated in local musical activities as a child, studied psychology at the University of Nebraska (B.A., 1949) and at Stanford University (M.A., 1954), and worked as a high school counselor. A professor at Stanford, Otto Schulman, persuaded

Sculpture, Western, The Archaic period

2005-01-31T18:22:00.000-08:00

The kouroi, which had become standardized as freestanding statues of naked youths with hands to sides and one leg advanced, were the most representative examples of Archaic sculpture. At first their proportions were based on theory rather than observation; much the same was true of the anatomical details, which were treated as separate patterns applied to the

Gonçalves, António Aurélio

2005-01-31T04:41:00.000-08:00

Gonçalves attended the University of Lisbon and later taught history and philosophy at the Liceu Gil Eanes in São Vicente. All of Gonçalves' noveletas (his coinage for novella) and other

Resid Pasa, Mustafa

2005-01-30T18:18:00.000-08:00

A protégé first of his uncle Ispartali Ali Pasa and later of the statesman Pertev Effendi,

Maratha Wars

2005-01-28T19:55:00.000-08:00

The first war (1775–82) began with British support for Raghunath Rao's bid for the office of peshwa (chief minister) of the confederacy. The British were defeated at Wadgaon (see Wadgaon, Convention of ) in January 1779, but they continued to fight the Maratha until conclusion

Vestini

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

The Vestini's local dialect, belonging to the Northern Oscan group, probably survived until this time. The oldest known

Pyx

2005-01-27T19:14:00.000-08:00

In Christianity, vessel containing the consecrated bread used in the service of Holy Communion. Although pyxes were made in various shapes, such as that of a dove, the most common form was that of a small, cylindrical box fitted with a cover, which is generally conical. An English pyx dating from the first half of the 14th century, known as the Godsfield Pyx, is of gilt bronze

Würzburg

2005-01-27T08:58:00.000-08:00

City, northwestern Bavaria Land (state), south-central Germany. It lies along the canalized Main River. The site of a Celtic settlement, it was first mentioned as Virteburch in 704. A bishopric was established there by St. Boniface in 741/742, and the bishops had acquired ducal authority over eastern Franconia by the 12th century. Repeated revolts against the power of the bishops resulted

Gymkhana

2005-01-26T22:28:00.000-08:00

Originally in 19th-century India and England, a display of athletics and equestrian events; in the 20th century, also a form of automobile sport in which a series of events is planned to test driving skill and demonstrate accurate car handling. Auto gymkhanas usually are held on parking lots on which a series of short but intricate courses are laid out. A typical event is

Fustian

2005-01-25T06:01:00.000-08:00

Fustian probably originated in Al-Fustat, now part of Cairo, about AD 200, and eventually spread to Spain and Italy,

Ukiyo-e

2005-01-25T05:48:00.000-08:00

(Japanese: “pictures of the floating world”), one of the most important genres of art of the Tokugawa period (1603–1867) in Japan. The style is a mixture of the realistic narrative of the emaki (“picture scrolls”) produced in the Kamakura period and the mature decorative style of the Momoyama and Tokugawa periods. The ukiyo-e style also has about it something of both native and foreign

Lowin, John

2005-01-24T11:33:00.000-08:00

Lowin was the son of a carpenter. He worked as a goldsmith's apprentice for eight years and then joined the Earl of Worcester's Men as an actor in 1602. By 1603 he was a member of the King's Men. He is known to have specialized in the roles of comic soldiers as well as downright villains.

Nepali Language

2005-01-23T06:57:00.000-08:00

Eastern Pahari dialect spoken in Nepal. See Pahari languages.

Bonaparte, (marie-anne-)élisa

2005-01-23T01:55:00.000-08:00

She was married on May 1, 1797, to Félix Baciocchi, a member of a Corsican noble family. Napoleon gave her the principality of Piombino in March 1805 and the principality of Lucca in the following June and finally, in March 1809, made her grand duchess of Tuscany. Her pride and ability had great