StrangeHat

Helder, Den

2005-03-23T05:33:00.000-08:00

Gemeente (municipality) and port, Noord-Holland provincie, northwestern Netherlands, at the northern end of the North Holland Canal, opposite Texel Island on the Marsdiep, a channel linking the North Sea and Waddenzee. Offshore, in 1673, a Dutch fleet under Adm. Michiel A. de Ruyter and Cornelis Tromp defeated an Anglo-French fleet. In 1794 a French cavalry troop captured a Dutch

Charles

2005-03-21T14:11:00.000-08:00

Charles's claim to Brittany through his marriage to Joan the Lame of Penthièvre, niece of Duke John III of Brittany, led to a conflict with the other claimants, John of Montfort and later his son Duke John IV of Brittany, in the 20-year War of the Breton Succession, which also involved the

Radewyns, Florentius

2005-03-19T13:55:00.000-08:00

Educated at the University of Prague, Radewyns returned to Leerdam

Levski, Vasil

2005-03-17T00:51:00.000-08:00

Initially a monk (1858–64), Vasil Kunchev soon dedicated himself to the work of freeing Bulgaria and for his courage was nicknamed Levski (Lionlike). Levski united the two legions of Bulgarian volunteers organized in Serbia (1862, 1868) but, disappointed

France, History Of, The Revolution of 1830

2005-03-15T11:34:00.000-08:00

The July Revolution was a monument to the ineptitude of Charles X and his advisers. At the outset, few of the king's critics imagined it possible to overthrow the regime; they hoped merely to get rid of Polignac. As for the king, he naively ignored the possibility of serious trouble. No steps were taken to reinforce the army garrison in Paris; no contingency plans were prepared.

Theatre Music

2005-03-13T21:10:00.000-08:00

Music as an art of the theatre has its roots in primitive ritual and ceremony and its branches in every modern means of theatrical presentation. Its functions are

Fletcher, Alice Cunningham

2005-03-11T18:14:00.000-08:00

Fletcher taught school for a number of years, lectured occasionally on various topics,

Pribilof Canyon

2005-03-09T13:53:00.000-08:00

A long submarine canyon rising from the Bering Abyssal Plain on the floor of the Bering Sea southeast of the Pribilof Islands, Alaska. It runs across the edge of the continental slope and is 265 miles (426 km) long with walls 6,000 feet (1,800 m) high. The canyon is characterized by a V-shaped valley with steep and rocky walls, and its floor is covered by sands and gravels. It is believed to have

Eclogue

2005-03-08T04:41:00.000-08:00

A short pastoral poem, usually in dialogue, on the subject of rural life and the society of shepherds, depicting rural life as free from the complexity and corruption of more civilized life. The eclogue first appeared in the Idylls of the Greek poet Theocritus (c. 310–250 BC), generally recognized as the inventor of pastoral poetry. The Roman poet Virgil (70–19 BC) adopted the form for his

Tarbela Dam

2005-03-06T04:44:00.000-08:00

Giant rock-fill dam on the Indus River, Pakistan. Built between 1968 and 1976, it has a volume of 138,600,000 cubic yards (106,000,000 cubic m). With a reservoir capacity of 11,098,000 acre-feet (13,690,000,000 cubic m), the dam is 469 feet (143 m) high and 8,997 feet (2,743 m) wide at its crest. Tarbela Dam is one of two main structures (the other is Mangla Dam on the Jhelum River) in the Indus Basin project, which resulted from the Indus Waters Agreement between India

Caribbean Sea

2005-03-03T11:39:00.000-08:00

Suboceanic basin of the western Atlantic Ocean, lying between 9° to 22° N and 89° to 60° W. It is approximately 1,063,000 square miles (2,754,000 square kilometres) in extent. To the south it is bounded by the coasts of Venezuela, Colombia, and Panama; to the west by Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, and the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico; to the north by the Greater Antilles islands of Cuba, Hispaniola,

Blood Vessel

2005-03-01T13:30:00.000-08:00

A vessel in the human or animal body in which blood circulates. The vessels that carry blood away from the heart are called arteries, and their very small branches are arterioles. Very small branches that collect the blood from the various organs and parts are called venules, and they unite to form veins, which return the blood to the heart. Capillaries are minute, thin-walled

Social War

2005-02-28T09:53:00.000-08:00

The allies in central and southern Italy had fought side by side with Rome in several wars and had grown restive under Roman autocratic rule, wanting instead Roman citizenship and the privileges it conferred. In 91 BC the Roman tribune Marcus Livius

Quinisext Council

2005-02-25T10:54:00.000-08:00

The Quinisext Council prepared 102 canons, many of which

Raymond, Alex(ander Gillespie)

2005-02-23T15:09:00.000-08:00

At 18 Raymond went to work in a brokerage office on New York City's Wall Street, but the stock market crash of 1929 ended his career in finance. He then worked briefly as an assistant to Russ Westover on his strip “Tillie

Nador

2005-02-22T00:43:00.000-08:00

City, northeastern Morocco. The city is a small Mediterranean port on the Bou Areg Lagoon and a trading centre for fish, fruits, and livestock. It is linked to the Spanish plaza (North African enclave) of Melilla, 9 miles (15 km) north, by road and railway. Pop. (1994) 112,450.

Resistance

2005-02-18T15:40:00.000-08:00

In electricity, property of an electric circuit or part of a circuit that transforms electric energy into heat energy in opposing electric current. Resistance involves collisions of the current-carrying charged particles with fixed particles that make up the structure of the conductors. Resistance is often considered as localized in such devices as lamps,

Van Diemen's Land

2005-02-16T06:45:00.000-08:00

(1642–1855), the southeastern Australian island colony that became the commonwealth state of Tasmania. Named for Anthony van Diemen, governor general of the Dutch East Indies, the island was discovered and named in 1642 by Abel J. Tasman, a celebrated navigator under Van Diemen's command. The first British settlers in the early 19th century retained the name. After being a part of the

Amoco Corporation

2005-02-14T11:32:00.000-08:00

Formerly (1889–1985) Standard Oil Company (Indiana), American petroleum corporation that was founded in 1889 by the Standard Oil trust (see Standard Oil Company and Trust) to direct the refining and marketing of oil in the Midwestern states. The company's first refinery, outside Whiting, Ind., produced fuel oil, kerosene, and other petroleum products. Beginning in the late 1890s, the company's production of gasoline rapidly increased

Henrietta Maria

2005-02-11T03:35:00.000-08:00

Henrietta

Yakima

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

Although culturally much like other Sahaptin Indians of the Plateau, the Yakima acquired historical distinction in the Yakima Indian Wars (1855–58), a failed attempt by

Burgas

2005-02-07T09:27:00.000-08:00

Port and town, southeastern Bulgaria, on the Gulf of Burgas, an inlet of the Black Sea. Founded in the 17th century as a fishing village on the site of medieval Pyrgos, it developed after Bulgaria's liberation (1878), mainly with the arrival of the railway from Sofia (1890) and harbour improvements (1904). It now rivals Varna to the north as the nation's chief port, claiming much of Bulgaria's Black

Christo

2005-02-06T09:56:00.000-08:00

Christo attended the Fine Arts Academy in Sofia, Bulg., and had begun working with the Burian Theatre in Prague when the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 broke out. He fled to Vienna, where he studied for a semester, and then, after a brief stay in Switzerland,

Chiao-tso

2005-02-04T17:05:00.000-08:00

Its modern development has been almost entirely based on its rich coal deposits. The mining

Toch, Ernst

2005-02-02T22:59:00.000-08:00

Composer whose works, noted for their perfection of form, fused elements from the classical tradition with modern musical ideas. Although he rarely carried innovation to great lengths, he was considered a leader of the avant-garde composers in pre-Nazi Germany and, like many of them, went into exile when Adolf Hitler came

Biblical Literature, The Johannine Letters: I, II, and III John

2005-01-31T23:14:00.000-08:00

I John, though lacking any formal epistolary salutation or ending, directs itself to a circle

Chang Kuo-t'ao

2005-01-28T06:56:00.000-08:00

Chang gained prominence as a student leader of the

Mauriac, Claude

2005-01-27T19:40:00.000-08:00

A son of the novelist François Mauriac, he was able to make the acquaintance of many notable French writers at his father's house and later during his career as a journalist.

Epistemology, Aristotle

2005-01-25T01:31:00.000-08:00

In Posterior Analytics, Aristotle (384–22 BC) analyzes scientific knowledge in terms of necessary propositions that express causal relations. Such knowledge takes the form of categorical syllogisms, in which the middle term causally and necessarily connects the major and minor terms. For example, because all stars are distant and all distant objects twinkle, it follows

Ribeirão Prêto

2005-01-20T02:31:00.000-08:00

City, in the highlands of northeastern São Paulo state, Brazil, at 1,700 feet (520 m) above sea level, on the Prêto River, a tributary of the Pardo River. Founded in 1856 and formerly called Entre Rios and São Sebastião do Ribeirão Prêto, the settlement was given town status in 1870 and was made the seat of a municipality in 1871. It was long renowned as a colonization and coffee-growing centre. Now

Málaga

2005-01-18T07:20:00.000-08:00

Provincia, in the comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Andalusia, southern Spain, on the Mediterranean coast. It has an area of 2,809 square miles (7,276 square km). Its northern half belongs to the Andalusian plain, while its southern half is mountainous and rises steeply from the coast, along which there is a narrow strip of lowland. The Sierra de Alhama separates Málaga

Scandinavian Literature, Norwegian and Icelandic literature

2005-01-17T03:40:00.000-08:00

The roots of Norwegian literature reach back more than 1,000 years and become inextricably intertwined with early Icelandic literature. Although a large part of this early literature was composed either in Iceland or elsewhere in Scandinavia by Icelanders, the Norwegian element in it is considerable and indisputable, even though this cannot always be isolated

Ovary

2005-01-15T00:05:00.000-08:00

A simple or unicarpellate ovary is formed from a single carpel, an evolutionarily modified leaf. It has one chamber (locule), within

Ashland

2005-01-12T22:42:00.000-08:00

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

Hypothetico-deductive Method

2005-01-10T07:06:00.000-08:00

Developed by Sir Isaac Newton during the late 17th century (but named

Obasanjo, Olusegun

2005-01-09T04:24:00.000-08:00

Obasanjo attended Baptist Boys' High School and later worked as a teacher for a year. Unable to afford college, he joined the army in 1958, receiving further education in England and at cadet

Great Neck

2005-01-09T00:29:00.000-08:00

Village, in the town (township) of North Hempstead, Nassau county, New York, U.S. It lies along the Great Neck cape and the north shore of Long Island in an area of summer estates. Settled about 1644, it is known as the “Old Village” and was incorporated in 1922. The writer F. Scott Fitzgerald once lived in Great Neck and used it and neighbouring towns as the setting for his novel The Great

Ash Wednesday

2005-01-07T11:09:00.000-08:00

In the Christian church, the first day of Lent, occurring 6 1/2 weeks before Easter (between February 4 and March 11, depending on the date of Easter). In the early Christian church, the length of the Lenten celebration varied, but eventually it began 6 weeks (42 days) before Easter. This provided only 36 days of fast (excluding Sundays). In the 7th century, 4 days were added before the first Sunday

Ekeberg, Anders Gustav

2005-01-06T16:22:00.000-08:00

Swedish chemist who in 1802 discovered the element tantalum. After graduation from the University of Uppsala (1788) and travels in Germany, Ekeberg returned to Uppsala and began teaching (1794), introducing the chemistry of Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier. Though he was partly deaf from a childhood infection and had been blinded in one eye by an exploding

Puu Kukui

2005-01-05T16:29:00.000-08:00

Volcanic peak, Maui county, western Maui Island, Hawaii, U.S. It is the highest peak (5,788 feet [1,764 m]) of an 18-mile (29-kilometre) stretch of mountains, the Honolua volcanic series, which dominates the western peninsula of Maui. Puu Kukui (meaning “candlenut hill”) was formed by a volcano whose caldera has eroded into the scenic valley of Iao.

Sporades

2005-01-04T09:40:00.000-08:00

Group of Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, lying northeast of Euboea (Évvoia) island, including Skíathos, Skópelos, Skyros, and Alónnisos, as well as neighbouring islets. In antiquity these were known as the Thessalian, or Northern, Sporades, while the Thracian, or Eastern, Sporades included the now-Turkish island of Imroz (Greek Imvros), Samothrace, Thasos, Lemnos, and Áyios

Priesthood

2005-01-03T18:58:00.000-08:00

The function of the priest as the mediator and maintainer of the equilibrium between the sacred and the profane in human society, and as the stabilizer of the social structures and the cultic organizations, determines the various criteria for holding the priestly office. In preliterate society the functions are accomplished by ritual experts who are trained

Earth, Crustal magnetization

2005-01-02T21:11:00.000-08:00

Magnetic fields measured at the Earth's surface are not entirely produced by the internal dynamo. Radially outward from the Earth's core, the next major source of magnetic field is crustal magnetization. The temperature of the materials constituting the crust is cool enough for them to exist in solid form. The solids may become magnetized by the Earth's main field

Leonardo Pisano

2005-01-01T20:18:00.000-08:00

English Leonardo of Pisa , original name Leonardo Fibonacci medieval Italian mathematician who wrote Liber abaci (1202; “Book of the Abacus”), the first European work on Indian and Arabian mathematics.

Wicklow

2004-12-31T05:43:00.000-08:00

Irish Cill Mhantáin seaport and county seat, County Wicklow, Ireland, south-southeast of Dublin. St. Mantan built a church there in the 5th century; and the town later became a settlement of the Vikings, who renamed it Wykingalo (Vikings' Lough). After the Anglo-Norman invasion in the 12th century, it was granted to Maurice Fitzgerald, who built Black Castle. From then until the 17th century the town

Caoshu

2004-12-30T22:19:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization ts'ao-shu in Chinese calligraphy, a cursive variant of the standard Chinese scripts lishu and kaishu and their semicursive derivative xingshu. The script developed during the Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 220), and it had its period of greatest growth during the Tang dynasty (618–907). In caoshu the number of strokes in characters are reduced to single scrawls or abstract abbreviations of curves and dots.

Canal Zone

2004-12-29T00:50:00.000-08:00

Also called Panama Canal Zone, historic administrative entity in Panama over which the United States exercised jurisdictional rights from 1903 to 1979. It was a strip of land 10 miles (16 km) wide along the Panama Canal, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean and bisecting the Isthmus of Panama. It covered 553 square miles (1,432 square km), of which about one-third was water (principally Gatun Lake). The Canal Zone

Hawkins, Coleman

2004-12-28T14:09:00.000-08:00

At age four Hawkins began to study the piano, at seven

Andaman And Nicobar Islands, The land

2004-12-28T10:51:00.000-08:00

The terrain of the Andamans is rough, with hills enclosing narrow longitudinal valleys. The highest elevation is 2,418 feet (737 metres) at Saddle Peak on North Andaman. Dense tropical forest covers the islands. No rivers and few perennial streams exist. The coral-fringed coasts of the Andamans are deeply indented, forming safe harbours and tidal creeks, often surrounded by

United Kingdom, The break with Rome

2004-12-26T07:04:00.000-08:00

With Wolsey and his papal authority gone, Henry turned to the authority of the state to obtain his annulment, and the so-called Reformation Parliament that first met in November 1529 was unprecedented—it lasted seven years, enacted 137 statutes (32 of which were of vital importance), and legislated in areas that no feudal Parliament had ever dreamed of entering. “King in

Kirkuk

2004-12-25T17:56:00.000-08:00

City, northeastern Iraq. The city is 145 miles (233 km) north of Baghdad, the national capital, with which it is linked by road and railway. Kirkuk is located near the foot of the Zagros Mountains in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The oldest part of the town is clustered around a citadel built on an ancient tell, or mound. During the period of Assyrian prominence (9th–10th century BC) the city

Animal, Support and movement

2004-12-24T09:57:00.000-08:00

A skeleton can support an animal, act as an antagonist to muscle contraction, or, most commonly, do both. Because muscles can only contract, they require some other structure to stretch them to their noncontracted (relaxed) state. Another set of muscles or the skeleton itself can act as an antagonist to muscle contraction. Only elastic skeletons can act without an antagonist;

Hendrix, Jimi

2004-12-24T04:38:00.000-08:00

Though his active career as a featured artist lasted a mere four years, Hendrix altered the course of popular music and became one of

United Nations

2004-12-22T01:39:00.000-08:00

Under an agreement signed on July 3 on Governors Island, N.Y., by Lieut. Gen. Raoul Cédras, the Haitian army commander, and the Rev. Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the president deposed in September 1991, UN personnel were supposed to help the transition to democratic government by separating the police force from the army. On October 11, however, 40 or 50 "toughs" protected by police prevented

Xenophon

2004-12-21T20:34:00.000-08:00

The most personal of his writings is Anabasis (or Anabasis Kyrou, “The Expedition of Cyrus”), published probably under a nom de guerre. The narrative excels in graphic details, but the fictitious speeches with which it is adorned have a contrived and artificial air. It is an account by a young man, somewhat romantic, excited by danger and discovery, receptive of impressions,

Cynegils

2004-12-20T04:49:00.000-08:00

With his son Cwichelm (d. 636), Cynegils defeated the advancing Britons at Bampton in Oxfordshire in 614, and Cwichelm sought to arrest the growing power of the Northumbrian king Eadwine by procuring his assassination. The attempt, however, failed, and in 626 the West Saxons were defeated

Sea Rocket

2004-12-18T11:18:00.000-08:00

Any of about 17 species of plants constituting the genus Cakile, of the mustard family (Brassicaceae), native to seashore regions of North America, Eurasia, western Asia, and Australia, and to central Arabian deserts. Cakile maritima, a European plant, has waxy, thick, lobed green leaves and pale-lavender flower clusters. Its leaf branches, 30 to 60 centimetres (1 to 2 feet) long, rise

Top Shell

2004-12-17T02:59:00.000-08:00

Any marine snail of the family Trochidae (subclass Prosobranchia, class Gastropoda), characterized by a spiral, conical shell. Although top shells are found from the intertidal zone to the deep open seas, they occur with greatest diversity in the shallow waters along rocky shores from the equator to the high latitudes. Species of the genera Gibbula, Monodonta, and

Aluminum Bronze

2004-12-15T04:27:00.000-08:00

Any of a group of strong, corrosion-resistant alloys of copper containing from 4 to 15 percent aluminum and small amounts of other metals, used to make many machine parts and tools. Because of their golden colour and high tarnish resistance, the alloys are also used for jewelry and in architecture. Their resistance to oxidation at high temperatures and to corrosion, particularly

Mercury Lamp

2004-12-15T03:09:00.000-08:00

Electric discharge lamp (q.v.) in which light is emitted by electrically excited atoms of vapourized mercury.

Keres, Paul

2004-12-13T07:48:00.000-08:00

Keres began to learn chess at the age of 4 by watching his father, and he played chess publicly at age 13. While he was still in his teens, Keres

Chatti

2004-12-13T05:55:00.000-08:00

Germanic tribe that became one of the most powerful opponents of the Romans during the 1st century AD. At that time the Chatti expanded from their homeland near the upper Visurgis (Weser) River, across the Taunus highlands to the Moenus (Main) River valley, defeating the Cherusci and other neighbouring tribes. In AD 83 the emperor Domitian drove them back from the Taunus. They

Indre River

2004-12-11T20:23:00.000-08:00

River, west-central France, a left-bank tributary of the Loire River. Rising on the northern flanks of the Massif Central, it flows 165 miles (265 km) northwestward through Indre and Indre-et-Loire départements, joining the Loire northwest of Chinon and draining a basin of about 5,200 square miles (13,500 square km). It flows exclusively through agricultural regions, crossing La Châtre, and

Colebrook-cameron Commission

2004-12-11T15:39:00.000-08:00

Committee sent by the British government in 1829–32 to investigate its colonial government in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and to make recommendations for administrative, financial, economic, and judicial reform. Most of the recommendations were accepted; they signified for Ceylon the first manifestation of constitutional government, the first steps toward modernizing

Empiricism, Degrees of Empiricism

2004-12-09T23:08:00.000-08:00

Absolute Empiricists hold that there are no a priori concepts, either formal or categorial, and no a priori propositions. Absolute Empiricism about knowledge is less common than

Ahmad Shah

2004-12-09T08:52:00.000-08:00

In full Ahmad Shah Bahadur Mujahid-ud-din Abu Nasr ineffectual Mughal emperor of India from 1748 to 1754, who has been characterized as a “good-natured imbecile,” without personality, training, or qualities of leadership. He was entirely dominated by others, including the queen mother, Udham Bai, and the eunuch superintendent of the harem, the emperor's vicar Javid Khan. Twice during his reign, the Afghan

Bloch, Marc

2004-12-07T03:48:00.000-08:00

Bloch, the son of a professor of ancient history, grandson of a school principal, and great-grandson of a combatant in the French Revolution, descended from a family of patriotic French Jews. Educated in Paris at the

Amirante Isles

2004-12-07T01:16:00.000-08:00

Group of coral islands in the western Indian Ocean, lying about 200 miles (320 km) southwest of the Seychelles group and forming, with the Seychelles and other islands, the Republic of Seychelles. The Amirante Isles were known to Persian Gulf traders centuries ago and were sighted by the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama on his second voyage to India, in 1502, but they are still

Minaret

2004-12-06T07:17:00.000-08:00

(Arabic: “beacon”), in Islamic religious architecture, the tower from which the faithful are called to prayer five times each day by a muezzin, or crier. Such a tower is always connected with a mosque and has one or more balconies or open galleries. At the time of the Prophet Muhammad, the call to prayer was made from the highest roof in the vicinity of the mosque. The earliest minarets

Joyce, James

2004-12-06T02:22:00.000-08:00

In full James Augustine Aloysius Joyce Irish novelist noted for his experimental use of language and exploration of new literary methods in such large works of fiction as Ulysses (1922) and Finnegans Wake (1939).

Maxwell, Robert

2004-12-04T11:40:00.000-08:00

Virtually all of the young Hoch's Jewish family living in Czechoslovakia and Budapest died in the Nazi Holocaust, but he was able to make

Ascot

2004-12-03T00:32:00.000-08:00

Locality, Windsor and Maidenhead unitary authority, geographic and historic county of Berkshire, England, known for its racecourse on Ascot Heath. The Royal Ascot meeting (initiated in 1711 by Queen Anne) lasts four days each June and is traditionally attended by the British sovereign. A major social and fashion event, it has lent its name to the ascot, a type of broad neck

Pharmaceutical Industry, Vaccines

2004-12-01T22:47:00.000-08:00

Vaccines, viral or bacterial preparations used to induce active immunity, may be divided into three groups: toxoids, bacterial vaccines, and virus vaccines. Toxoids, such as diphtheria and tetanus toxoid, can be prepared only from toxin-producing bacteria. To produce diphtheria toxoid, for example, diphtheria bacilli are cultured under artificial conditions in

Xia Gui

2004-12-01T07:22:00.000-08:00

One of the best English-language sources of information on Hsia Kuei is the article on him by Sherman E. Lee in the Encyclopedia of World Art, vol. 7 (1963), col. 650–654. See also Osvald Sirén, Chinese Painting: Leading Masters and Principles, vol. 2 (1956, reissued 1974), pp. 119–124; and James Cahill, Chinese Painting (1960, reissued 1985), pp. 79–87, which discuss Hsia Kuei in the context of the Ma-Hsia school.

Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire

2004-11-30T23:58:00.000-08:00

The fire started on the eighth floor of the Asch Building just east of Washington Square Park and quickly spread upward to the two top floors of the building. Some workers, having no way of opening the doors that

Ch'i

2004-11-30T08:00:00.000-08:00

In the 7th and 6th centuries BC, Ch'i, which was located on the extreme eastern edge of the North China Plain in what is now Shantung and Hopeh provinces, began to increase in size, expanding at least sixfold by incorporating many previous “barbarian” areas into its realm.

Mountain Mahogany

2004-11-28T10:54:00.000-08:00

It is said that the common name was given to species

Juan José De Austria

2004-11-26T13:32:00.000-08:00

Juan José was the son of King Philip IV of Spain and María Calderón, a celebrated actress. He received a princely education and a large

Gum

2004-11-25T03:17:00.000-08:00

Also called Gingiva, plural Gingivae, in anatomy, mucous membrane attached to and surrounding the necks of the teeth and adjacent alveolar bone. Before the erupting teeth enter the mouth cavity, gum pads develop; these are slight elevations of the overlying oral mucous membrane. When tooth eruption is complete, the gum embraces the neck region of each tooth. As well as being attached to adjacent alveolar

Shahadah

2004-11-23T05:03:00.000-08:00

(Arabic: “testimony”), the Muslim profession of faith: “There is no god but Allah; Muhammad is the prophet of Allah.” The shahadah is the first of the five Pillars of Islam (arkan al-Islam). It must be recited by every Muslim at least once in a lifetime, aloud, correctly, and purposively, with a full understanding of its meaning and with an assent of the heart.

Félibrige

2004-11-23T03:42:00.000-08:00

Association organized in the 19th century for the maintenance of the Provençal customs and language that stimulated the renaissance of the literature, language, and customs of the whole of southern France. The Félibrige was founded in 1854 by seven poets—Joseph Roumanille, Frédéric Mistral, Théodore Aubanel, Anselme Mathieu, Jean Brunet, Alphonse Tavan, and Paul Giéra

X Ray

2004-11-22T19:01:00.000-08:00

There are two methods in general use for detecting X rays. The first method relies on the X rays producing a photochemical change in a photographic emulsion. The blackening of the film is related to the

Labour Economics, Theory of bargaining

2004-11-21T20:15:00.000-08:00

Limitations on the scope of bargaining are also suggested by theory. Collective bargaining can be seen as the reduction of two risks to which the worker is exposed through individual bargaining. There is first the risk that the worker will be merely one of a number of applicants for a single vacancy and that competition between them will force the pay down. Even as

Atwater, Wilbur Olin

2004-11-20T05:32:00.000-08:00

Upon completing his undergraduate work at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., Atwater continued his studies at Yale University, where his Ph.D. thesis discussed for the first time how chemical techniques could be applied to food. After further study in Germany,

Yukon River

2004-11-19T10:18:00.000-08:00

Major North American river that flows through the central Yukon Territory of Canada and central Alaska. It measures 1,980 miles (3,190 kilometres) from the headwaters of the McNeil River (a tributary of the Nisutlin River). The Yukon discharges into the Bering Sea after flowing northwestward and then generally southwestward through a low plateau that slopes down across Alaska.

Rydberg, Viktor

2004-11-18T20:14:00.000-08:00

Rydberg grew up among strangers, with no home of his own; his mother had died in a cholera epidemic, and his father became an alcoholic. He had to break off his studies for lack of money. In 1855 he began to work for the liberal newspaper

Valera Y Alcalá Galiano, Juan

2004-11-17T18:37:00.000-08:00

His novels are characterized by deep psychological analysis of the characters, especially women. He was opposed to naturalistic

Myanmar, World War II and after

2004-11-16T09:08:00.000-08:00

When World War II broke out in Europe in 1939, the Burmese leaders wanted to bargain with the government before giving their support to the British. A warrant was issued for the arrest of Aung San, but he escaped to China, where he attempted to contact radical groups for support. Japanese assistance was offered instead. Aung San returned to Burma in secret, recruited 29 young

Hui Tsung

2004-11-15T06:39:00.000-08:00

Hui Tsung sought escape from affairs of state in the pleasures of arts and letters. He urged painters in his academy of painting to depict objects that were “true to colour and form,” inviting an extreme literalness of representation;

Argentina, Cultural life

2004-11-14T10:54:00.000-08:00

The role of the church is discussed in John J. Kennedy, Catholicism, Nationalism, and Democracy in Argentina (1958); and Daniel H. Levine (ed.), Churches and Politics in Latin America (1980).

Earth, Mantle convection

2004-11-13T16:09:00.000-08:00

Convection of mantle material, at velocities of centimetres per year, has been suggested as the driving force for plate motions, and it is natural to look for some expression of a system of mantle convection currents in the gravitational field. In a thermally driven convecting system, heated mantle material of lower density rises, moves horizontally dragging the

Thomas, George H(enry)

2004-11-12T11:15:00.000-08:00

A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, N.Y., in 1840, Thomas served in the Mexican War (1846–48) and as an instructor at West Point. Despite his Southern birth

Integument, Variations among vertebrates

2004-11-11T13:50:00.000-08:00

The vertebrates belong to the phylum Chordata and are closely related to a small, fishlike, almost transparent invertebrate called amphioxus. Amphioxus represents chordate integument at its simplest: an epidermis, consisting of one layer of columnar or cuboidal epithelial cells and scattered mucous cells, covered by a thin cuticle, and a thin dermis of soft connective

France, History Of, The interwar years

2004-11-10T08:47:00.000-08:00

Frenchmen concentrated much of their energy during the early 1920s on recovering from the war. The government undertook a vast program of reconstructing the devastated areas and had largely completed that task by 1925. To compensate for manpower losses, immigration barriers were lowered, and two million foreign workers flooded into the country. Underlying all other

Wren-babbler

2004-11-09T07:34:00.000-08:00

Any of about 20 species of small Asian birds belonging to the babbler family Timaliidae (order Passeriformes). They are 10 to 15 centimetres (4 to 6 inches) long, rather short-tailed, and have a rather short and straight bill. These features differentiate wren-babblers from the closely related scimitar-babblers. Wren-babblers occur chiefly in southern Asia. An example is the streaked

Jackstraws

2004-11-07T03:39:00.000-08:00

To begin the game, the jackstraws (20 to 50) are bunched in one hand and set vertically on a table or other smooth, flat surface, then released suddenly so that the straws fall in a jumble. Each player

Drame Bourgeois

2004-11-06T11:37:00.000-08:00

Type of play that enjoyed brief popularity in France in the late 18th century. Written for and about the middle class and based upon the theories of the French essayist and encyclopaedist Denis Diderot (1713–84), the drame bourgeois was conceived of as occupying a place between tragedy and comedy; it was designed as a serious depiction of middle-class problems, especially social

Fuchs, Sir Vivian Ernest

2004-11-06T07:37:00.000-08:00

In 1929 and 1930–31 Fuchs participated in expeditions to East Greenland and the East African lakes, respectively, serving as a geologist. Between 1933 and 1934 he led the Lake Rudolf–Rift Valley Expedition

Thompson, John Griggs

2004-11-03T10:42:00.000-08:00

Thompson earned a B.A. from Yale University in 1955 and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1959. After a year at Harvard University (1961–62), he returned to the University of Chicago (1962–68), and he subsequently moved to Churchill College, Cambridge,

Amsdorf, Nikolaus Von

2004-11-03T05:04:00.000-08:00

Educated at Leipzig and then at Wittenberg, where he became a theology professor in 1511, Amsdorf attended the Leipzig Debate with Luther in 1519 and the Diet of Worms two years later, where he participated in the plan to protect Luther from his detractors by pretending to kidnap