CleanBird

Estate Agent Fitzrovia

2006-10-25T16:00:00.000-07:00

Robert Irving Burns specialise in London Commercial and Residential property services. They are a specialist in estate agent fitzrovia, amongst other London areas such as Soho and Oxford Circus.

Mah-jongg

2005-03-30T22:20:00.000-08:00

A game of Chinese origin, played with tiles, or p'ais, similar in physical description to those used in dominoes but engraved with Chinese symbols and characters and divided into suits and honours. A fad in England, the United States, and Australia in the mid-1920s, the game was revived in the United States after 1935 but never regained its initial popularity. In the United States,

Pullman, George M(ortimer)

2005-03-30T21:59:00.000-08:00

Pullman moved to Chicago in 1855, accumulated some capital as a contractor, and began to devise a sleeping car. The first real Pullman car, the “Pioneer,” invented jointly with Pullman's friend Ben Field, appeared in 1865. It contained folding upper berths and seat

Sea Horse

2005-03-30T07:21:00.000-08:00

Any of a number of species of small marine fishes of the family Syngnathidae (order Gasterosteiformes), found in warm seas. Sea horses are familiar animals, with their consecutive rings of body armour, their forward-curled, prehensile tails, and their “horsey” heads set at an angle to their bodies. They also have long, tubular snouts, small mouths, a

Vienne

2005-03-28T15:32:00.000-08:00

Town, Isère département, Rhône-Alpes région, southeastern France. It lies along the Rhône River where the latter is joined by the Gère River. In ancient times Vienne was the capital of the Celtic tribe known as the Allobroges. It was conquered by the Romans in 121 BC and was subsequently one of the most important towns of Gaul until Roman rule of the area ended in AD 275. Late in the 9th

Cueva, Juan De La

2005-03-28T04:36:00.000-08:00

Cueva differed from his contemporaries in having his plays published, thus transmitting to posterity intact examples of early, albeit mediocre, Spanish drama. Cueva's plays in the collection Primera parte

Arigböge

2005-03-27T23:11:00.000-08:00

As commander of the Mongol homeland when the great khan Mangu died in 1259, Arigböge had himself proclaimed the chief Mongol leader. Meanwhile, his elder brother, Kublai, returned from his campaigns in China and also assumed the title. A series of battles ensued, and

Fair Labor Standards Act

2005-03-26T21:06:00.000-08:00

Also called Wages and Hours Act the first act in the United States prescribing nationwide compulsory federal regulation of wages and hours, sponsored by Sen. Robert F. Wagner of New York and signed on June 14, 1938, effective October 24. The law, applying to all industries engaged in interstate commerce, established a minimum wage of 25 cents per hour for the first year, to be increased to 40 cents within seven years.

Fusel Oil

2005-03-26T19:35:00.000-08:00

A mixture of volatile, oily liquids produced in small amounts during alcoholic fermentation. A typical fusel oil contains 60–70 percent of amyl alcohol (q.v.), smaller amounts of n-propyl and isobutyl alcohols, and traces of other components. Before industrial production of synthetic amyl alcohols began in the 1920s, fusel oil was the only commercial source of these compounds,

Earth

2005-03-26T00:24:00.000-08:00

More than 90 percent of the Earth's mass is composed of iron, oxygen, silicon, and magnesium, elements that can form the crystalline minerals known as silicates. However, in terms of chemical and mineralogical composition, as in physical properties, the Earth is far from homogeneous. Apart from the superficial lateral heterogeneities near the surface (i.e., in the compositions

Biblical Literature, Problems visual in origin

2005-03-24T02:38:00.000-08:00

The order of letters also might be inverted. Such metathesis, as it is called, appears in Psalms, in which qirbam (“their inward

Dyula

2005-03-23T21:00:00.000-08:00

The Dyula were active gold traders as long ago as the time of the ancient African kingdom of Ghana. They flourished under the empire of Mali, when they provided a link between the gold-producing forestlands in

Tunisia, Relief and drainage

2005-03-23T20:36:00.000-08:00

Tunisia is characterized by moderate relief. The Tunisian Dorsal, or High Tell, a southwest-to-northeast mountain range that is an extension of the Saharan Atlas (Atlas Saharien) of Algeria, tapers off in the direction of the Cape Bon peninsula in the northeast, south of the Gulf of Tunis. The highest mountain, Mount ash-Sha'nabi (Djebel Chambi), located near the centre of

La Grande River

2005-03-21T17:15:00.000-08:00

Formerly Fort George River, river in Nord-du-Québec region, north-central Quebec province, Canada. Rising from Nichicun Lake in the Otish Mountains of central Quebec, it descends 1,737 feet (529 m) in its westward journey to James Bay, which forms part of Hudson Bay. For most of the river's course of 555 miles (893 km), its valley is almost uninhabited.

Soissons, Louis De Bourbon, Count (comte) De

2005-03-21T16:28:00.000-08:00

The only son of Charles de Bourbon, he inherited his father's Soissons title in 1612. After taking the side of Marie de Médicis, the queen mother, in 1620, he served Louis XIII against the Huguenots in 1622. Later involved in intrigues against Cardinal

Nicholas I

2005-03-21T02:50:00.000-08:00

Russian in full Nikolay Pavlovich Russian emperor (1825–55), often considered the personification of classic autocracy; for his reactionary policies, he has been called the emperor who froze Russia for 30 years.

Laguna Beach

2005-03-20T23:24:00.000-08:00

City, Orange county, southwestern California, U.S., on the Pacific Ocean. Originally called Lagonas (for the two lagoons at the head of Laguna Canyon), it was founded in 1887 as Lagona. Renamed Laguna Beach (1904), it developed as a coastal resort and art colony. Since 1932 the Festival of Arts and Pageant of the Masters have been held at Irvine Bowl, a natural amphitheatre just east of the city.

Allingham, Margery (louise)

2005-03-19T23:35:00.000-08:00

Campion's career was begun with a group of ingenious, popular thrillers: The Crime at Black Dudley (1928; U.S. title, The Black Dudley

Computers, Time-sharing from Project MAC to UNIX

2005-03-19T22:25:00.000-08:00

In 1959 Christopher Strachey in the United Kingdom and John McCarthy in the United States independently described something they called time-sharing. Meanwhile, computer pioneer J.C.R. Licklider at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) began to promote the idea of interactive computing as an alternative to batch processing. Batch processing was the normal

Arts, South Asian, Classical Sanskrit kavya (2001200)

2005-03-19T17:31:00.000-08:00

Prepared for by the systematization of the Sanskrit language by Panini, the development of the great epics, notably the Ramayana, and the refinements of prosody represented by the Pali lyrics, there arose, in the first centuries AD, a Sanskrit literary style that governed canons of taste for a millennium and remained influential far later through modern Indian languages

Rydberg, Johannes Robert

2005-03-18T13:33:00.000-08:00

Educated at the University of Lund, Rydberg received his bachelor's degree in 1875 and his doctorate in mathematics in 1879. He became lecturer in physics there in 1882 and assistant at the Physics Institute in 1892. He was permanent professor of physics from 1901 until his retirement in

Dandelion

2005-03-18T01:56:00.000-08:00

It has a rosette of leaves at the base of the plant; a deep taproot; a smooth, hollow stem; leaves that may be nearly smooth-margined, toothed, or deeply cut; and

Earth, Matching continental outlines

2005-03-17T11:53:00.000-08:00

Early geographers making maps of the South Atlantic Ocean were probably the first to notice the similarity of the outlines of South America and Africa and to wonder if these two continents might have been together at one time. It was not until the early 20th century, however, that Alfred Wegener of Germany used the geography of the Atlantic coastlines, along with geologic

Lindsay, Vachel

2005-03-17T06:01:00.000-08:00

After three years at Hiram College, Hiram, Ohio, Lindsay left in 1900 to study art in Chicago and New York City. He supported himself in part by lecturing

Wierzynski, Kazimierz

2005-03-16T04:56:00.000-08:00

Wierzynski moved to Warsaw after the restoration of Poland's independence at the close of World War I and became one of the foremost members of Skamander. His poetical debut was Wiosna i wino (1919; “Spring and Wine”), followed by Wróble na

Hales, Stephen

2005-03-16T02:37:00.000-08:00

While a divinity student at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, he studied science, particularly botany and chemistry. Ordained in 1703, he was appointed in 1709 to the parish of Teddington, where

Italy, Tourism

2005-03-15T01:22:00.000-08:00

Italy's tourist industry has flourished under both national and international patronage. The most popular locations, apart from the great cultural centres of Rome, Florence, Venice, and Naples, are the coastal resorts and islands or the Alpine hills and lakes of the north; the Ligurian and Amalfi rivieras; the northern Adriatic coast; the small islands in the Tyrrhenian

Wye, River

2005-03-13T17:26:00.000-08:00

The Wye rises on the eastern slopes of the uplands of Plynlimon, and its upper valley, which has been glaciated, is deeply cut in the ancient grits and shales

Huygens' Principle

2005-03-13T10:33:00.000-08:00

A surface

Huggins, Sir William

2005-03-13T02:45:00.000-08:00

Huggins built a private observatory at Tulse Hill, London, in 1856. From 1859 he was one of a number of astronomers who began to apply Robert

Carlsberg Ridge

2005-03-12T21:13:00.000-08:00

Submarine ridge of the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. The ridge is a portion of the Mid-Indian Ridge and extends from near Rodrigues Island to the Gulf of Aden, trending basically northwest to southeast. The ridge separates the Arabian Sea to the northeast from the Somali Basin to the southwest. The mean depth of the Carlsberg Ridge is about 9,600 feet (3,300 m) below sea level,

Italianate Painters

2005-03-12T08:18:00.000-08:00

Group of 17th-century northern European painters, principally Dutch, who traveled in Italy and, consciously adopting the style of landscape painting that they found there, incorporated Italian models and motifs into their own works. Chief among the Italianates were Bartholomeus Breenbergh, Andries and Jan Both, Nicolaes Berchem, and Jan Asselijn. The Both brothers,

Zalaegerszeg

2005-03-12T06:36:00.000-08:00

Town and seat of Zala megye (county), western Hungary. It lies on the right bank of the Zala River. The town was of medieval origin and was a frontier fort in Hungary's wars with Turkey (16th–17th century). It was never occupied by the Turks. The town's notable buildings include the Göcsej Museum, with a rich historical and ethnographic collection; the twin-spired Baroque parish

Van Dine, S.s.

2005-03-12T03:20:00.000-08:00

Wright was educated at St. Vincent and Pomona colleges in California, at Harvard University, and in Munich and Paris. Pursuing a career as a writer, Wright became literary editor of the

French Literature, Racine's fatalism

2005-03-11T20:06:00.000-08:00

Whether Racine's Jansenist upbringing determined his view of a human nature controlled by perverse and willful passions, or whether his knowledge of Greek tragedy explains the fatalism of his own plays, the imaginary world inhabited by his heroes could not be more different from that of Corneille's. Tragedy for Racine is an inexorable series of events leading

Maha Kumbh Mela

2005-03-10T14:16:00.000-08:00

About 110 million people, including more than 65,000 foreigners, gathered for the Hindu festival; this was believed to be the largest-ever congregation of people on the planet for a

Wolfsburg

2005-03-10T13:03:00.000-08:00

The village of Hesslingen, dating from about 700, was the first settlement near the site of Wolfsburg; the

Mabini, Apolinario

2005-03-09T03:36:00.000-08:00

Born into a peasant family, Mabini studied at San Juan de Letran College in Manila and won a law degree from the University of Santo Tomás in 1894. In an insurrection organized in August 1896 by nationalists, he joined the

Sibelius, Jean

2005-03-08T18:19:00.000-08:00

Sibelius studied at the Finnish Normal School, the first Finnish-speaking school in Russian-held Finland, where he came into contact with Finnish literature and in particular with the Kalevala, the mythological epic of Finland, which remained for him a constant

Gujarat, Education

2005-03-08T14:46:00.000-08:00

Primary schools for all children between the ages of 7 and 11 have been opened in nearly all villages with 500 or more inhabitants. Special schools are run for tribal children and for the teaching of arts and crafts. There are many secondary schools, as well as nine universities and a large number of institutions for higher education. Technical education is provided by engineering

Houphouët-boigny, Félix

2005-03-07T17:18:00.000-08:00

The son of a wealthy chief, Houphouët-Boigny worked as a rural doctor and pursued a second

Metalanguage

2005-03-07T05:43:00.000-08:00

In semantics and philosophy, language used for the analysis of object language (language that is used to talk about objects in the world). Thus, a metalanguage may be thought of as a language about another language. Such philosophers as the German-born Logical Positivist Rudolf Carnap and Alfred Tarski, Polish-born mathematician, argued that philosophical problems

Mormon

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

In western New York state in 1827, during a time of intense religious revivalism, Joseph Smith, Jr., a farmer's son, claimed an angel called Moroni gave him golden plates whose engraved records Smith translated into English as the Book of Mormon—so called after Mormon, an ancient American prophet who had made an abridgment of many previous plates. Smith published the Book

China, Foreign relations in the 1860s

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

The Tsungli Yamen had two offices attached to it: the Inspectorate General of Customs and the Language School, called T'ung-wen-kuan. The former was the centre for the Maritime Custom Service, administered by Western personnel appointed by the Ch'ing. The latter was opened to train the children of bannermen in foreign languages, and later some Western sciences were

Biblical Literature, Samuel: the rise and significance of David

2005-03-06T10:50:00.000-08:00

The next section contains the account of Saul's fall from power and David's rise to the position of king over all Israel. Samuel, still a charismatic and political power of great consequence, received from Yahweh the message that he was to go to Bethlehem to anoint a new ruler. Because he feared reprisal from Saul, Samuel went to Bethlehem (whose elders had the same fears)

Scandinavian Literature, The heroic lays

2005-03-05T04:13:00.000-08:00

The heroic lays followed the mythological in the Codex Regius and were probably the earlier of the two. Many of the legends on which they were based originated in Germany or even among the Goths. Oldest of all was perhaps the Hamdismál (“Lay of Hamdir”), which forcefully expressed the heroic ideals of Germanic tribal life. The story closely resembled one told by Jordanes

Eagle Ray

2005-03-04T19:37:00.000-08:00

Any of about two dozen species of exclusively marine rays constituting the family Myliobatidae (order Rajiformes), occurring in the major oceans. They have the enlarged, winglike pectoral fins characteristic of the order. Some species have a sharp-edged serrated spine at the base of the long, whiplike tail. Their teeth are flat, for crushing and grinding mollusks

Szold, Henrietta

2005-03-04T17:10:00.000-08:00

Szold was of a German-speaking Hungarian immigrant family; her father was a rabbi. After graduating from public high school in 1877 she taught French, German, Latin, science, mathematics, and history at the Misses Adams' School girls'

Bruce, James

2005-03-03T19:49:00.000-08:00

Explorer who, in the course of daring travels in Ethiopia, reached the headstream of the Blue Nile, then thought to be the Nile's main source. The credibility of his observations, published in Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile (1790), was questioned in Britain, partly because he had first told the French court of his discoveries.

Induction

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

In embryology, process by which the presence of one tissue influences the development of others. Certain tissues, especially in very young embryos, apparently have the potential to direct the differentiation of adjacent cells. Absence of the inducing tissue results in lack of or improper development of the induced tissue. The converse is often true as well; i.e., the

'abd Allah, Khawr

2005-03-03T07:47:00.000-08:00

Estuary (khawr) separating Kuwait and Iraq, probably a drowned river mouth of the Shatt (stream) al-Arab, whose mouth is now farther north and forms the southeastern part of the border between Iraq and Iran. It extends into Iraqi territory in the form of the Khawr az-Zubayr, on which the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr is located and which is linked by canal northwestward to the

Anomalous Water

2005-03-02T17:14:00.000-08:00

Also called Orthowater, or Polywater, liquid water generally formed by condensation of water vapour in tiny glass or fused-quartz capillaries and with properties very different from those well established for ordinary water; e.g., lower vapour pressure, lower freezing temperature, higher density and viscosity, higher thermal stability, and different infrared and Raman spectra. For a few years after

Use

2005-03-02T04:46:00.000-08:00

In medieval English property law, the right of one person to take the profits of land belonging to another. It involved at least two and usually three persons. One man (A) would convey or enfeoff land to another (B) on the condition that the latter would use it not for his own benefit but for the benefit of a third man (C)—who could be A himself. C (or A), thus, had the profits—that is, the

Kamchatka Peninsula

2005-03-01T01:46:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Kamcatka, Russian Poluostrov Kamchatka, peninsula in far eastern Russia, lying between the Sea of Okhotsk on the west and the Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea on the east. It is about 750 miles (1,200 km) long north-south and about 300 miles (480 km) across at its widest; its area is approximately 140,000 square miles (370,000 square km). Two mountain ranges, the Sredinny (“Central”) and Vostochny (“Eastern”), extend along the peninsula and rise to 15,584 feet (4,750 m) in Klyuchevskaya

Cleveland

2005-02-28T22:07:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1810) of Cuyahoga county, northeastern Ohio, U.S. It is a major St. Lawrence Seaway port on the southern shore of Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River. Greater Cleveland sprawls along the lake for about 90 miles (145 km) and runs 25 miles (40 km) inland, encompassing Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga, and Medina counties and more than 70 suburban communities, including Lakewood, Parma, Shaker

Poel, William

2005-02-28T17:47:00.000-08:00

Poel was reared among the Pre-Raphaelite artists, and as a boy he posed for William Holman Hunt. He early decided to go on the stage. After working for a time as an actor, stage manager, and theatre manager, he

Alice

2005-02-28T09:40:00.000-08:00

Town, Eastern province, South Africa. It lies on the southwestern bank of the Tyume River, west-northwest of East London, at an elevation of 1,720 feet (524 m). Alice began as a mission station established by the Glasgow Missionary Society for the Xhosa people in 1824. It was named after Princess Alice (a daughter of Queen Victoria) and became the seat of a magistracy in 1847 and a town in 1852. Livestock,

Irkutsk

2005-02-28T00:14:00.000-08:00

Oblast (province), east-central Russia, occupying an area of 296,500 square miles (767,900 square km) west and north of Lake Baikal. It consists mostly of the hills and broad valleys of the Central Siberian Plateau and of its eastern extension, the Patom Plateau. In the south the oblast extends to the eastern crestline of the Sayan Mountains. Dense taiga dominated by Siberian and Dahurian

Shahr-e Sokhta

2005-02-27T10:08:00.000-08:00

Archaeological site located south of Zabol in the Balochistan region of eastern Iran. It has yielded important information on Chalcolithic (Bronze Age) settlement in the Helmand River valley during the 3rd millennium BC. Excavation of the site in 1967 by the Centre of Archaeological Studies and Excavations of the Italian Institute for the Middle and Far East has revealed

Sacra Rappresentazione

2005-02-26T09:55:00.000-08:00

(Italian: “holy performance”), in theatre, 15th-century Italian ecclesiastical drama similar to the mystery plays of France and England and the auto sacramental of Spain. Originating and flourishing in Florence, these religious dramas represented scenes from the Old and New Testaments, from pious legends, and from the lives of the saints. The plays were didactic, using

Greek Religion, The Hellenistic period

2005-02-25T21:29:00.000-08:00

Greek religion, having no creed, did not proselytize. In the heyday of the polis, the Greek religion was spread by the founding of new poleis, whose colonists took with them part of the sacred fire from the hearth of the mother city and the cults of the city's gods. (“Heroes,” being essentially bound to the territory in which they were buried, had to be left behind.) There was a tendency

Biblical Literature, The New English Bible

2005-02-24T16:45:00.000-08:00

The New English

Mosaic Evolution

2005-02-23T22:26:00.000-08:00

The occurrence, within a given population of organisms, of different rates of evolutionary change in various body structures and functions. An example can be seen in the patterns of development of the different elephant species. The Indian elephant underwent rapid early molar modification with little foreshortening of the forehead. The African elephant underwent

Chagos Archipelago

2005-02-23T20:46:00.000-08:00

Island group, a major geographic feature of the British Indian Ocean Territory, located in the central Indian Ocean about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) south of the tip of the Indian subcontinent. The archipelago has a total area of 23 square miles (60 square km) and constitutes a semicircular group, open to the east, comprising (counterclockwise from the north) the Salomon Islands; Peros Banhos

Biblical Literature, The canon

2005-02-23T16:37:00.000-08:00

The term canon, from a Hebrew-Greek word meaning a cane or measuring rod, passed into Christian usage as a norm or a rule of faith. The Church Fathers of the 4th century CE first employed it in reference to the definitive, authoritative nature of the body of sacred Scripture.

Sérusier, (louis-)paul(-henri)

2005-02-22T11:05:00.000-08:00

Originally a student of philosophy, Sérusier decided to become an artist and attended the Académie Julian (1886) in his native Paris. He painted with Paul Gauguin in Brittany at Pont-Aven (1888) and at Le Pouldu (1889–90), and in the 1890s he was associated with the Nabis—many of whom he had known at the Académie

Qabbani, Nizar

2005-02-22T05:21:00.000-08:00

Syrian poet and diplomat (b. March 21, 1923, Damascus, Syria--d. April 30, 1998, London, Eng.), was one of the most widely read Arab poets of the 20th century. Written in simple but eloquent language, his verses, some of which were set to music, won him the hearts of countless Arabic speakers throughout the Middle East and Africa. Qabbani, who was born into a middle-class merchant family, was also the

Ranaivo, Flavien

2005-02-20T11:13:00.000-08:00

Educated at the Lycae Gallieri in Tananarive (now Antananarivo), Ranaivo worked in the information service

Porcelain

2005-02-19T13:01:00.000-08:00

Vitrified pottery with a white, fine-grained body that is usually translucent, as distinguished from earthenware, which is porous, opaque, and coarser. The distinction between porcelain and stoneware, the other class of vitrified pottery material, is less clear. In China, porcelain is defined as pottery that is resonant when struck; in the West, it is a material that

Alekhine, Alexander

2005-02-18T19:27:00.000-08:00

Alekhine was a precocious chess player, becoming a master at age 16 and a grandmaster at age 22. He was playing in a tournament in Mannheim, Germany, when World War I broke out; after

Kennelly, Arthur Edwin

2005-02-17T13:20:00.000-08:00

After working as an office boy for a London engineering society, as an electrician, and on a cable-engineering ship, in 1887 Kennelly joined Thomas Edison's

Bloch, Felix

2005-02-17T10:48:00.000-08:00

Bloch's doctoral dissertation (University of Leipzig, 1928) promulgated a quantum theory of solids that provided the basis for understanding electrical

Discount Rate

2005-02-16T06:02:00.000-08:00

The discount rate serves as an important indicator

1850, Compromise Of

2005-02-15T00:37:00.000-08:00

Series of compromise measures passed by the U.S. Congress in an effort to settle several outstanding slavery issues and to avert the threat of dissolution of the Union. The crisis arose from the request of the territory of California (Dec. 3, 1849) to be admitted to the Union with a constitution prohibiting slavery. The problem was complicated by the unresolved question of

Toadfish

2005-02-15T00:12:00.000-08:00

Any of about 45 species of bottom-living fishes constituting the family Batrachoididae and the order Batrachoidiformes. They are found chiefly in the New World and mostly in warm seas—occasionally in freshwater. Toadfishes are heavy-bodied fishes with broad, flattened heads and large mouths equipped with strong teeth. They grow to a maximum of about 40 cm (16 inches) and

Flaxman, John

2005-02-14T18:01:00.000-08:00

As a youth, Flaxman worked in his father's plaster-casting studio in London while studying Classical literature, which was to be a continual source of inspiration. In 1770 he entered the Royal Academy schools. After 1775 he began to work for the potter

France, History Of, Loss of control

2005-02-13T21:59:00.000-08:00

By August 1786 even Necker's successor, the frivolous if intelligent Charles-Alexandre de Calonne (1734–1802), had concluded that the French state was coming to a dead end. Although the crown had assured the moneymen that it would not default on the debt, as indeed it could not have done without alienating thousands of its natural supporters, Calonne found that he could no longer raise

Neospirifer

2005-02-12T03:20:00.000-08:00

Genus of extinct brachiopods (lamp shells) found as fossils in Late Carboniferous to Permian marine rocks (the period of time from the Late Carboniferous to the end of the Permian was about 245 to 320 million years ago); many species are known. The shell or valves of Neospirifer are robustly developed and frequently well preserved as fossils. A prominent furrow, or sulcus, and

Mercia

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

(from Old English Merce, “People of the Marches [or Boundaries]”), one of the kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England; it held a position of dominance for much of the period from the mid-7th to the early 9th century. Mercia originally comprised the border areas (modern Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, and northern West Midlands and Warwickshire) that lay between the districts

Kildonan

2005-02-11T13:21:00.000-08:00

Historic district within the city of Winnipeg, southern Manitoba, Canada. Situated on both sides of the Red River, it comprises the former cities of East Kildonan and West Kildonan and the former municipalities of Old Kildonan and North Kildonan. The original colony was one of the historic parishes of the Red River Settlement, founded by the Scottish philanthropist

Macaulay (of Rothley), Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron

2005-02-11T05:58:00.000-08:00

English Whig politician, essayist, poet, and historian best known for his History of England, 5 vol. (1849–61); this work, which covers the period 1688–1702, secured his place as one of the founders of what has been called the Whig interpretation of history. He was raised to the peerage in 1857.

Reproduction, Life cycles of animals

2005-02-09T22:46:00.000-08:00

Invertebrate animals have a rich variety of life cycles, especially among those forms that undergo metamorphosis, a radical physical change. Butterflies, for instance, have a caterpillar stage (larva), a dormant chrysalis stage (pupa), and an adult stage (imago). One remarkable aspect of this development is that, during the transition from caterpillar to adult, most of

Hailar

2005-02-09T10:03:00.000-08:00

The area was occupied by the Chinese in the 7th century AD under the early T'ang dynasty, when it was part of the Hei-shui protectorate general. Chinese occupation, however, was short-lived and never very

Sillanpää, Frans Eemil

2005-02-09T05:47:00.000-08:00

The son of a peasant farmer, Sillanpää began studying natural science but in 1913 returned to the country, married, and began to write. His first short stories were published in journals in 1915. From 1924 to 1927 he worked for a publishing company in Porvoo. A new creative

Berchem, Nicolaes Pietersz(oon)

2005-02-07T14:55:00.000-08:00

Berchem received instruction from his father, Pieter Claesz, a prominent still-life painter, and from several other Dutch masters. After study in Italy, he produced many landscapes in warm colours and an Italian style. He also painted cityscapes and winter and pastoral

Daedala

2005-02-07T08:23:00.000-08:00

Ancient festival of Hera, consort of the supreme god Zeus. The Daedala was celebrated on Mount Cithaeron in Greece. In the festival, a wooden image dressed as a bride was carried in procession, then burnt with sacrificed animals and a wooden sacrificial altar. A myth existed that Zeus had won back the estranged Hera by arousing her jealousy with such an image. The Daedala

Amiot, Jean-joseph-marie

2005-02-06T06:19:00.000-08:00

Amiot entered the Society of Jesus in 1737 and was sent as a missionary to China in 1750. He soon won the confidence of the emperor Qianlong and spent the remainder of his life at Beijing. Among his achievements was the compilation

Kerner, Justinus Andreas Christian

2005-02-05T20:57:00.000-08:00

After the death of his father (1799), Kerner worked in a cloth factory until he was able to study medicine at Tübingen. There he met Uhland and spent most of his time reading and writing poetry. He became

Tyrwhitt, Thomas

2005-02-05T18:48:00.000-08:00

English scholar especially notable for his work on the medieval English poet Geoffrey Chaucer. In classical and English scholarship alike, Tyrwhitt showed the same qualities of balance, wide knowledge, and critical acumen. (He was the one man able, on linguistic grounds alone, to denounce as a forgery the poems by Thomas Chatterton purporting

France, History Of, Domestic policy and reform efforts

2005-02-05T06:29:00.000-08:00

As stated above, in the context of 17th-century absolutism, Louis XIV had already initiated many rationalizing reforms. The crown had worked selectively to replace corporatist, traditionalist institutions with meritocratic associations. In 1648, for example, Cardinal Mazarin had already sponsored a Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture (because it lent itself better

Spanish Literature, Drama

2005-02-04T15:05:00.000-08:00

With the new century, drama achieved renewed vigour under the stimulus of Jacinto Benavente y Martínez, a prolific playwright noted for his craftsmanship and wit. A social satirist preoccupied with ethics, Benavente stopped short of alienating the sympathies of his devoted upper-class public, as, for example, in Los intereses creados (1907; The Bonds of Interest). The bourgeois

Ta Yü

2005-02-04T04:05:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Da Yu (Chinese: “Yü the Great”), in Chinese mythology, the Tamer of the Flood, one of China's saviour-heroes and reputed founder of China's oldest dynasty, the Hsia. One legend among many recounts Ta Yü's extraordinary birth: a man called Kun was given charge of controlling a great deluge. To dam the water, he stole from heaven what seems to have been a piece of magic soil. Angered by the

Rio De Janeiro, Protocol Of

2005-02-03T18:43:00.000-08:00

(1942), treaty settling possession of the disputed Oriente region on the border of Peru and Ecuador, arranged by a conference of Western Hemisphere foreign ministers held at Rio de Janeiro. Peruvian forces had occupied the area in 1941, defeating the poorly equipped Ecuadoran army. Initial attempts by the United States, Argentina, and Brazil to arrange a peaceful settlement

Villon, François

2005-02-02T22:50:00.000-08:00

The criminal history of Villon's life can all too easily obscure the scholar, trained in the rigorous intellectual disciplines of the medieval schools. While it is true that his poetry makes a direct unsentimental appeal to our emotions, it is also true that it displays a remarkable control of rhyme and reveals a disciplined composition that suggests a deep concern

Wilkes Land

2005-02-02T19:50:00.000-08:00

Region in Antarctica, bordering the Indian Ocean between Queen Mary and George V coasts (100°–142°20¢ E). The region is almost entirely covered by a featureless ice cap averaging from 6,000 to 9,500 feet (1,800 to 2,900 m) above sea level. First sighted (1838–42) by the U.S. naval commander Charles Wilkes, for whom the land is named, it was not explored until the late 1940s. Included in the region are the coasts of Clarie, Banzare,

Hojo Tokimune

2005-02-01T03:47:00.000-08:00

Tokimune was 17 when he assumed the office of regent in 1268, the year that the Mongol conqueror of China, Kublai Khan, sent a message demanding that

Mina

2005-01-31T03:17:00.000-08:00

Also called Meo, or Mewati, tribe and caste inhabiting Rajasthan and Punjab states in northern India, and Punjab province, Pakistan, who speak Hindi and claim descent from the Rajputs. The Mina are possibly of inner Asiatic origin, and tradition suggests that they migrated to India in the 7th century with the Rajputs, but no other link between the two has been substantiated. In the 11th century, the Meo

Silica Mineral

2005-01-31T03:10:00.000-08:00

Any of the forms of silicon dioxide (SiO2), including quartz, tridymite, cristobalite, coesite, stishovite, melanophlogite, lechatelierite, and chalcedony. Various kinds of silica minerals have been produced synthetically, among which are keatite and silicalite.

Andean Geosyncline

2005-01-29T15:34:00.000-08:00

A linear trough in the Earth's crust in which rocks of the Mesozoic Era (245 to 66.4 million years ago) and Cenozoic Era (66.4 years ago to the present) were deposited in South America. An intense orogenic (mountain-building) event affected the older sediments in the geosyncline in the Late Cretaceous Epoch (97.5 to 66.4 million years ago) and, combined with later deformational episodes, produced

Fermo

2005-01-29T14:55:00.000-08:00

Latin Firmum town and archiepiscopal see, Ascoli Piceno provincia, Marche regione, Italy. It is situated on a hill overlooking the Tenna River, near the Adriatic Sea. An ancient stronghold (Firmum Picenum) of the Picenes (early inhabitants of the coast), it was taken by the Romans in 264 BC and became a colony with full rights in 42 BC. Conquered successively by the Goths, Byzantines (AD 553–570), Lombards, and