FutureBone

Williams, Rowan

2005-04-05T14:08:00.000-07:00

Williams was born into a Welsh-speaking family. After attending the Dyvenor Secondary School, he entered Christ's College, Cambridge, where he earned bachelor's

Mahajanga

2005-04-04T16:36:00.000-07:00

Formerly Majunga, town and major port, northwestern Madagascar. It lies on the island's northwest coast, at the mouth of the Betsiboka River, whose estuary widens there into Bombetoka Bay. The town was the capital of the 18th-century kingdom of Boina. The French occupied Mahajanga in 1895 at the beginning of their conquest of Madagascar. The town's old sector is confined mainly to the harbour

Uchimura Kanzo

2005-04-04T00:44:00.000-07:00

Uchimura came from a samurai (warrior) family and studied (1878–81) at the Sapporo Agricultural School (now Hokkaido University), where he was converted to Christianity. After several years' service in the government as

San Francisco, Exploration and early settlement

2005-04-02T18:44:00.000-08:00

It is extraordinary that the site of San Francisco should have been explored first by land instead of from the sea, for San Francisco Bay is one of the most splendid natural harbours of the world, yet great captains and explorers—Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo (1542–43), Sir Francis Drake (1579), and Sebastián Vizcaíno (1602)—sailed unheeding past the entrance. In 1769 a scouting party from an expedition

Agoult, Marie (-catherine-sophie) De Flavigny, Comtesse D'

2005-04-02T09:29:00.000-08:00

Mme d'Agoult was the daughter of the émigré Comte de Flavigny. In 1827 she married Col. Charles d'Agoult, 20 years her senior. She had early shown strength of will and enthusiasm for justice and freedom, and her marriage disappointed

Mahasanghika

2005-04-02T08:56:00.000-08:00

Its emergence about a century after the death of the Buddha (483 BC) represented the first major schism in the Buddhist community. Although traditional accounts of the second council, at Vaisali (now in Bihar state), attribute

Nicol, Davidson

2005-04-01T07:19:00.000-08:00

Nicol was educated in medicine and natural sciences in Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and England, and he subsequently served in various medical posts in those countries. He became

Santa Cruz Island

2005-03-31T21:07:00.000-08:00

Also called Indefatigable Island, one of the Galápagos Islands, in the eastern Pacific Ocean, about 600 miles (965 km) west of Ecuador. Circular in shape, it has an area of 389 square miles (1,007 square km), and a central volcanic crater rises to 2,300 feet (701 m). Puerto Ayora, on the southern coast, originally a colony of Scandinavians and Germans, has a harbour that can accommodate boats. Subsistence farming, fruit and sugarcane cultivation,

Ca Mau Peninsula

2005-03-31T14:47:00.000-08:00

Peninsula, the southernmost projection of Vietnam, lying between the South China Sea on the east and the Gulf of Thailand on the west, with drainage to each. The flat, triangular peninsula, with lengths ranging from 110 to 130 miles (180 to 210 km), averages about 7 feet (2 m) above sea level and owes its configuration largely to shore deposits of the Mekong River, which are also responsible

Mckinley

2005-03-29T20:58:00.000-08:00

County, northwestern New Mexico, U.S., bordered on the west by Arizona. It is a scenic region with highly varied terrain, in the Navajo section of the Colorado Plateaus. In the west, a red shale valley lies between red sandstone cliffs; angular rock outcroppings rise amid the near-desert plains in the far west. Buttes and mesas appear throughout McKinley county, including

China, Aviation

2005-03-29T09:41:00.000-08:00

Aviation development is particularly suited to China, with its extensive territory and varied terrain. Chinese civil aviation has two major categories: air transport, which mainly handles passengers, cargoes, and mail, traveling on both scheduled and nonscheduled routes; and special-purpose aviation, which mainly serves industrial and agricultural production,

Arab League

2005-03-29T01:31:00.000-08:00

Also called League Of Arab States (LAS) , Arabic Al-Jami'a Al-'Arabiyah, or Al-Jami'a Ad-Duwal Al-'Arabiyah, regional organization of Arab states in the Middle East, formed in Cairo on March 22, 1945. The founding member states were Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Transjordan (now Jordan), Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. Other members are Libya (1953); The Sudan (1956); Tunisia and Morocco (1958); Kuwait (1961); Algeria (1962); Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (1971); Mauritania (1973); Somalia (1974); the Palestine Liberation Organization

Japanese Alps

2005-03-28T18:12:00.000-08:00

The ranges are a popular skiing and mountain-climbing area. The Hida Range is included within Chubu-Sangaku National Park, which stretches over Gifu, Toyama, Nagano, and Niigata prefectures and

Gravity, Centre Of

2005-03-27T09:54:00.000-08:00

In physics, imaginary point in a body of matter where, for convenience in certain calculations, the total weight of the body may be thought to be concentrated. The concept is sometimes useful in designing static structures (e.g., buildings and bridges) and in predicting the behaviour of a body when it is acted on by external accelerating forces. Although the term centre

Gravity, Centre Of

2005-03-26T20:55:00.000-08:00

Any of the group of mammals that includes elephants and their extinct relatives such as mammoths and mastodons. Although only three species of elephant are extant today, more than 160 extinct proboscidean species have been identified from remains found on all continents except Australia and Antarctica. Most of these were called gomphotheres, which belonged to

Yagoda, Genrikh Grigoryevich

2005-03-26T13:49:00.000-08:00

Yagoda joined the Bolsheviks in 1907 and became a member of the presidium of the Cheka (Soviet secret police) in 1920. He was a deputy chairman of the Cheka's successor organization, OGPU, from 1924 to 1934 and from 1930 was in charge of the system of forced-labour camps

Harcourt, Henri De Lorraine, Count (comte) De

2005-03-25T16:43:00.000-08:00

Nicknamed “Cadet la Perle” because he was the youngest of his family and because he wore a pearl in his ear, Harcourt fought in the wars against Spain in Catalonia, Flanders,

Biblical Literature, Anagogical interpretation

2005-03-24T13:52:00.000-08:00

Anagogical (mystical or spiritual) interpretation seeks to explain biblical events or matters of this world so that they relate to the life to come. Jordan is thus interpreted as the river of death; by crossing it one enters into the heavenly Canaan, the better land, the “rest that remains for the people of God.” “The Jerusalem that now is” points to the new Jerusalem that

Fore-and-aft Sail

2005-03-23T20:55:00.000-08:00

One of the two basic types of sailing rig, the other being the square sail. The fore-and-aft sail, now usually triangular, is set completely aft of a mast or stay, parallel to the ship's keel, and takes the wind on either side. The mainsail always has a boom, pivoted on the mast. Historically, it represented an important advance over the ancient square sail; it first appeared in

Calculus

2005-03-23T19:34:00.000-08:00

Branch of mathematical analysis concerned with the rates of change of continuous functions as their arguments change. Two men are now credited with discovering calculus, Sir Isaac Newton of England and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz of Germany. For almost a century, development of the subject was inhibited by a bitter controversy over priority between supporters

Constable, John

2005-03-23T18:21:00.000-08:00

Painter who, with J.M.W. Turner, dominated English landscape painting in the 19th century. He is famous for his precise and loving paintings of the English countryside (e.g., “The Hay-Wain,” 1821), which he sketched constantly from nature. After about 1828, he experimented with a freer and more colourful manner of painting (e.g., in “Hadleigh

France, Banque De

2005-03-22T15:35:00.000-08:00

The bank listed among its founding shareholders Napoleon Bonaparte, members of his family, and several leading personalities of the time. Founded partly with state funds, but mainly with private

Seabiscuit

2005-03-22T04:05:00.000-08:00

A light bay colt

Lizard, Locomotion and limb adaptations

2005-03-21T15:49:00.000-08:00

The majority of lizards are quadrupedal, with powerful limb musculature. They are capable of rapid acceleration and possess great ability to change direction of motion rapidly. The racerunners (Cnemidophorus) can attain speeds of 24 kilometres (15 miles) per hour, which, in terms of their own body length, puts them in a class with fast terrestrial mammals. A tendency toward

San Francisco Del Rincón

2005-03-21T09:35:00.000-08:00

City, western Guanajuato estado (“state”), north-central Mexico. It lies in the basin of the upper Turbio River, at an elevation of 5,781 feet (1,762 m). Although primarily an agricultural centre trading in corn (maize), beans, wheat, and guavas, the city has some industry. Straw hats, rebozos (shawls), flour, and chicle are the principal products. The main Mexico City–Ciudad Juárez railroad passes

La Tour, Charles (turgis De Saint-étienne De)

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

La Tour went to Acadia with his father c. 1600. When the English destroyed the French settlements there in 1613–14, he went with Charles de Biencourt, commander of the devastated Port Royal (now Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia), to live with

Afghanistan, Urban settlement

2005-03-19T23:22:00.000-08:00

Most urban settlements have grown along the road that runs from Kabul southwestward to Kandahar, then northwest to Herat, northeast to Mazar-e Sharif, and southeast back to Kabul. The rural population of farmers and nomads is distributed unevenly over the rest of the country, mainly concentrated along the rivers. The most heavily populated part of the country is between

Tlaquepaque

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

City, north-central Jalisco estado (“state”), west-central Mexico. Formerly known as San Pedro Tlaquepaque, the city lies in the temperate Guadalajara valley, approximately 5,400 feet (1,650 m) above sea level. A suburb of Guadalajara, the state capital, 7 miles (11 km) southeast, Tlaquepaque is primarily a handicrafts centre, known especially for its pottery, textiles, and hand-blown glass.

Prodigy

2005-03-19T02:41:00.000-08:00

An extraordinary person, particularly a child, who shows spontaneous early signs of genius or exceptional ability along certain lines. Among these are the arithmetical prodigies, the chess prodigies, and the lightning calculators who have a remarkable memory for figures. Best known are the musical prodigies—Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Schubert, and Felix

Qadi

2005-03-17T15:35:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Cadi, or Kadi, Arabic Qadi, a Muslim judge who renders decisions according to the Shari'ah, the canon law of Islam. The qadi hears only religious cases such as those involving inheritance, pious bequests (waqf), marriage, and divorce, though theoretically his jurisdiction extends to both civil and criminal matters. Originally, the qadi's work was restricted to nonadministrative tasks—arbitrating

Quantum

2005-03-17T13:12:00.000-08:00

In physics, discrete natural unit, or packet, of energy, charge, angular momentum, or other physical property. Light, for example, appearing in some respects as a continuous electromagnetic wave, on the submicroscopic level is emitted and absorbed in discrete amounts, or quanta; and for light of a given wavelength, the magnitude of all the quanta emitted or absorbed is

Silesia

2005-03-17T07:02:00.000-08:00

Polish Slask , Czech Slezsko , German Schlesien historic region that is now in southwestern Poland. Silesia was originally a Polish province that became a possession of the Bohemian crown in 1335, passed with that crown to the Austrian Habsburgs in 1526, was taken by Prussia in 1742, and was returned to Poland in 1945. Silesia consists largely of the basin of the upper and middle Oder River, which flows from southeast to northwest. The

Turban

2005-03-16T13:40:00.000-08:00

Early Persians wore a conical cap sometimes encircled by bands of cloth, which perhaps may be considered one of the origins of the turban. The turban did not become common among the Turks, however, until after the capture of Constantinople in 1453, when the Ottoman sultan

Bonney, Thérèse

2005-03-15T13:03:00.000-08:00

Bonney grew up in New York and California. She graduated from the University of California, took a master's degree in Romance languages at Harvard University, and, after a short time at Columbia University

Osborne, John

2005-03-15T05:18:00.000-08:00

The son of a commercial artist and a barmaid, Osborne used insurance money from his father's death in 1941 for a boarding- school education at Belmont College, Devon. He hated

Insurance, Rate making

2005-03-15T03:33:00.000-08:00

The rate is the price per unit of exposure. In fire insurance, for example, the rate may be expressed as $1 per $100 of

Lord's Cricket Ground

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

Headquarters and home ground of the Marylebone Cricket Club, long the world's foremost cricket organization, and the scene of Test Matches between England and visiting national teams and of matches of the Middlesex County Cricket Club, Oxford versus Cambridge, and Eton versus Harrow. Various cup finals and one-day international matches also take place there. The

Ploce

2005-03-14T11:52:00.000-08:00

The emphatic repetition of a word, with particular reference to its special significance (as in “a wife who was a wife indeed”). In rhetoric the term signifies the repetition of a word in an altered grammatical function, as in the line “Why wilt thou sleep the sleep of death?” from William Blake's poem Jerusalem (1804), in which the word sleep is used as both a verb and a noun. The term

Cabanis, Pierre-jean-georges

2005-03-14T10:29:00.000-08:00

Cabanis' early interest in poetry and medicine and a budding political

Arabia, History Of, The 1991 Persian Gulf War

2005-03-14T03:50:00.000-08:00

Following the end of the Iran-Iraq War in 1988, President Saddam Hussein of Iraq faced massive economic problems, including debts owed to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The Iraqi president also viewed himself as the leader of Pan-Arab nationalism and socialism, two ideologies firmly opposed by the conservative monarchies that controlled most of the Arabian Peninsula outside

Zamosc

2005-03-12T21:44:00.000-08:00

City, Zamosc województwo (province), east-central Poland. One of the few large communities in the Lublin uplands, it was founded on the estates of Polish chancellor Jan Zamoyski (1542–1605) that lay on the trade route between the Black Sea and northern and western Europe. In 1578 the Paduan architect Bernardo Morando conceived and implemented the city's modern design, which remains a

Prokop The Bald

2005-03-12T18:54:00.000-08:00

Initially Prokop was a conservative (Utraquist) priest, but then he joined the heretical religious movement that had sprung from the teachings of the martyred Bohemian Reformer Jan Hus (d. 1415). Prokop effectively defended Hussite

Clarence River

2005-03-12T05:16:00.000-08:00

River in eastern South Island, New Zealand. Rising on the eastern slopes of the Spenser Mountains, it flows south, then northeast between the Inland and Seaward Kaikoura ranges. Cutting eastward by a gorge 7 mi (11 km) long through the Seaward Kaikoura Range, the river flows south and east, entering the Pacific Ocean 20 mi north of the town of Kaikoura. The main stream, fed by Lake

Floor Covering

2005-03-12T02:37:00.000-08:00

Material made from textiles, felts, resins, rubber, or other natural or man-made substances applied or fastened to, or laid upon, the level base surface of a room to provide comfort, durability, safety, and decoration. Such materials include both handmade and machine-made rugs and carpets and smooth-surfaced floor coverings. Although the words carpet and rug are frequently

Biblical Literature, Samuel: the rise and significance of David

2005-03-10T22:25:00.000-08:00

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)

Tributyl Phosphate

2005-03-10T15:42:00.000-08:00

An organic liquid solvent used in the extraction of uranium and plutonium salts from reactor effluents, as a solvent for nitrocellulose and cellulose acetate, and as a heat-exchange medium. A phosphorus-containing compound with molecular formula (C4H9)3PO4, it is prepared by reaction of phosphorus oxychloride with butyl alcohol. Tributyl phosphate is corrosive to

Yamal Peninsula

2005-03-09T16:08:00.000-08:00

Russian Poluostrov Yamal, lowland region in northwestern Siberia, west-central Russia, bounded on the west by the Kara Sea and Baydarata Bay, on the east and southeast by the Gulf of Ob, and on the north by the Malygina Strait. The peninsula has a total length of 435 miles (700 km), a maximum width of 150 miles (240 km), and an area of 47,100 square miles (122,000 square km). The coasts of Yamal are mainly low-lying and sandy, whereas the inland

Photography, Later trends

2005-03-09T10:20:00.000-08:00

Throughout its history, there have been two complementary yet distinct aesthetic approaches to photography. On the one hand, there has been the recognition of the basic qualities of photography and the desire to make use of them in a functional way. On the other hand, there have been those who believe that the most aesthetic use of photography is to relate it to other

Anne And Joachim, Saints

2005-03-08T22:31:00.000-08:00

The parents of the Virgin Mary, according to tradition derived from certain apocryphal writings. Information concerning their lives and names is found in the 2nd-century-AD Protevangelium of James (“First Gospel of James”) and the 3rd-century-AD Evangelium de nativitate Mariae (“Gospel of the Nativity of

Tacloban

2005-03-07T15:04:00.000-08:00

Chartered city, northeastern Leyte, Philippines, on San Pedro Bay at the southern entrance to San Juanico Strait. It is the largest city and distributing centre in the eastern Visayas (Leyte and Samar). A port since 1874, Tacloban has a long deepwater wharf, a bulk petroleum depot, and an airport. Hemp, copra, and lumber are exported, and commercial fishing is important. The city

Sevan, Lake

2005-03-07T00:36:00.000-08:00

Lake in Armenia, with an area of 525 sq mi (1,360 sq km). Lying at 6,250 ft (1,905 m) above sea level in a mountain-enclosed basin, it drains by the Hrazdan River into the Aras River and to the Caspian Sea, but most of its water is lost by evaporation rather than by runoff. The lake is in two connected parts, the smaller but deeper Maly Sevan (northwest), with a maximum depth of 282 ft, and the Bolshoy Sevan (southeast),

God And Saints Of Christ, Church Of

2005-03-07T00:20:00.000-08:00

Religious sect founded in 1896 by Prophet William S. Crowdy. He passed his mantle of leadership to Bishop William Plummer, who announced himself as “Grand Father Abraham.” This group believes that all Jews were originally black and that modern-day blacks are descendants of the “lost tribes of Israel.” Their beliefs centre on the “Seven Keys,” the “Stone of Truth,” and the Ten Commandments.

Durham, John George Lambton, 1st Earl Of

2005-03-06T11:15:00.000-08:00

Also called (1828–33) Baron Durham British reformist Whig statesman sometimes known as “Radical Jack,” governor general and lord high commissioner of Canada, and nominal author of the Report on the Affairs of British North America (1839), which for many years served as a guide to British imperial policy. The “Durham Report” was largely written by his chief secretary

Quaking Grass

2005-03-05T18:59:00.000-08:00

The various species are native to Eurasia. Briza maxima, B. media, and B. minor (shivery grass) are cultivated as ornamentals and have become naturalized in temperate

Eames, Charles; And Eames, Ray

2005-03-05T14:25:00.000-08:00

John Neuhart, Marilyn Neuhart, and Ray Eames, Eames Design: The Work of the Office of Charles and Ray Eames (1989); Pat Kirkham, Charles and Ray Eames: Designers of the Twentieth Century (1995); and Donald Albrecht et al., The Work of Charles and Ray Eames (1997), discuss their work.

Schreiber, R(aemer) E(dgar)

2005-03-05T11:50:00.000-08:00

American experimental physicist who during World War II was one of the scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, N.M., to develop the first atomic bombs and then helped assemble the two bombs that were dropped on Japan; after the war he stayed on at Los Alamos in the weapons division and helped develop the hydrogen bomb, from 1955 led the nuclear rocket

Rousseau, Théodore

2005-03-04T14:31:00.000-08:00

Rousseau, the son of a tailor, began to paint at age 14. In the 1820s he began to paint out-of-doors directly from nature, a novel procedure at that time. Although

Fender, Leo

2005-03-04T10:08:00.000-08:00

Together with George Fullerton, Fender developed the first mass-produced solid-body electric guitar, in 1948. Called the Fender Broadcaster (renamed the Telecaster in 1950), it was produced under the auspices of the Fender Electric Instruments Company, which

Spain, Literature

2005-03-04T04:28:00.000-08:00

The most famous writer of the century, however, was poet and playwright Federico García Lorca (1898–1936). He was executed

Marketing, Packaging and branding

2005-03-03T05:28:00.000-08:00

Packaging and branding are also substantial components in the marketing of a product. Packaging in some instances may be as simple as customers in France carrying long loaves of unwrapped bread or small produce dealers in Italy wrapping vegetables in newspapers or placing them in customers' string bags. In most industrialized countries, however, the packaging

Nicholas I, Saint

2005-03-02T17:20:00.000-08:00

He had served in the Curia for almost 15 years before his election in April 858 as Pope Benedict III's

Dancehall Music

2005-03-02T13:34:00.000-08:00

The seductive chant of the dancehall deejay—part talking, part singing—came to prominence in the late 1970s but

Astrophysics

2005-03-02T13:18:00.000-08:00

Branch of astronomy concerned primarily with the properties and structure of cosmic objects, including the universe as a whole. See astronomy.

Schrieffer, John Robert

2005-03-01T17:43:00.000-08:00

Schrieffer was educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign,

Aguán River

2005-02-28T20:44:00.000-08:00

Spanish Río Aguán, river in northern Honduras, 150 mi (240 km) in length. After rising in the central highlands west of Yoro, it descends to the northeast between the Cerros de Cangreja and the Sierra de la Esperanza to the coastal lowlands, on which it forms a maze of channels and empties into the Caribbean Sea near the towns of Santa Rosa de Aguán and Limón. The lands along the river, although periodically

Fishburne, Laurence

2005-02-28T01:21:00.000-08:00

Fishburne began acting as a child, making his

Lathe

2005-02-27T17:11:00.000-08:00

The lathe is one of the oldest and most important machine tools. Wood lathes were in use in France as early as 1569. During the Industrial Revolution in England the machine was adapted for metal cutting. The rotating horizontal spindle

Vestini

2005-02-27T16:23:00.000-08:00

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

United Kingdom, The break with Rome

2005-02-26T18:21:00.000-08:00

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

O'brien, James Bronterre

2005-02-26T17:50:00.000-08:00

O'Brien was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and moved to London in 1829, intending to practice at the English bar. In London he was quickly drawn into radical activities and later into working-class journalism,

Classical Scholarship, Late 19th-century developments in German scholarship

2005-02-25T10:28:00.000-08:00

Germany made so vast a contribution to 19th-century classical scholarship that it would be impossible to name all of the eminent scholars of the period. But from a time rather earlier than the establishment of the German Empire (1871), signs of decline might be observed; the new methods had begun to harden into orthodoxy, mechanically applied by a mass of inferior practitioners.

Antarctica

2005-02-25T00:13:00.000-08:00

The 40 Antarctic Treaty nations met in Italy in November

Abbott, Bud; And Costello, Lou

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

Abbott was born into a circus

Ramadi, Ar-

2005-02-24T15:53:00.000-08:00

Capital of al-Anbar muhafazah (governorate), central Iraq. It lies on the Euphrates River just northwest of Hawr (Lake) al-Habbaniyah. Ancient settlements existed in the vicinity, but ar-Ramadi was founded only in 1869 to encourage settlement by the nomadic Dulaym tribes, a goal that has been partially fulfilled. The town prospered after becoming the departure point of a trade route

Ancient Rome, Augustan art and literature

2005-02-23T14:58:00.000-08:00

In 17 BC Rome held Secular Games, a traditional celebration to announce the entry into a new epoch (saeculum). New it was, for, though Augustus preserved what he could of republican institutions, he added much that was his own. His Rome had become very Italian, and this spirit is reflected in the art and literature of his reign. Its greatest writers were native Italians, and, like

Palanpur

2005-02-23T06:54:00.000-08:00

City, Gujarat state, west-central India. It lies in the lowlands between the Aravalli Range and the Kathiawar Peninsula. The former capital of the princely state of Palanpur, the city is now a trade and processing centre for agricultural produce and a rail and road junction. Palanpur is also known for its handicrafts. Pop. (1991 prelim.) 80,620.

Uruguay

2005-02-22T23:22:00.000-08:00

Country located on the southeastern coast of South America. The second smallest nation on the continent, Uruguay has long been overshadowed politically and economically by the adjacent republics of Brazil and Argentina, with both of which it shares many cultural and historical similarities. “On the map, surrounded by its large neighbors, Uruguay seems tiny,” writes

Hovenweep National Monument

2005-02-21T21:07:00.000-08:00

Hovenweep consists of six groups of pre-Columbian Indian ruins built of coursed-stone masonry: the Square Tower Canyon Cluster and the Cajon Canyon Group in Utah; and

Aquarium

2005-02-21T15:50:00.000-08:00

The first containers specifically designed for aquatic specimens were the strictly functional open-air tanks used by the Romans to preserve and fatten fish for market. It was not until the 18th century that the importation of goldfish into France from the Orient for aesthetic enjoyment created the demand for small aquariums; ceramic bowls, occasionally fitted

La Venta

2005-02-21T11:04:00.000-08:00

Ancient Olmec settlement, located near the border of modern Tabasco and Veracruz states, on the gulf coast of Mexico. La Venta was originally built on an island in the Tonalá River; now it is part of a large swamp. After petroleum was found there, many of the artifacts were moved to an archaeological park on the outskirts of the city of Villahermosa, some 80 miles (129 km) to the

Bene Israel

2005-02-20T13:39:00.000-08:00

The largest and oldest of several groups of Jews of India. Believed by tradition to have shipwrecked on the Konkan coast of western India more than 2,100 years ago, they were absorbed into Indian society, maintaining many Jewish observances while operating within the caste system. Of some 67,000 Bene Israel at the turn of the 21st century, less than 5,000 remain in India, the great majority

Cynognathus

2005-02-20T03:43:00.000-08:00

Cynognathus was approximately as large as a modern

South America, Linguistic patterns

2005-02-20T02:00:00.000-08:00

The linguistic diversity and multiplicity of South America probably is unmatched anywhere else in the world. Thousands of languages and dialects have been cataloged, including all those existing since the European conquest. Classification systems vary a great deal—from more than 100 “linguistic families” and many unrelated languages at one extreme to extremely

Stuttgart

2005-02-19T22:31:00.000-08:00

City, northern district seat of Arkansas county (the southern seat is De Witt), east-central Arkansas, U.S., about 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Little Rock. Settled in 1878 by Lutheran minister Adam Buerkle (born in Stuttgart, Germany) and his congregation, the city was incorporated in 1889, raised to a city of the second class in 1897, and to that of the first class in 1917. Stuttgart has long been an agricultural

Oruro

2005-02-18T18:32:00.000-08:00

City, west-central Bolivia. It lies at 12,150 feet (3,702 m) above sea level in the Altiplano region, 30 miles (48 km) north of Poopó Lake. Founded in 1606 as Real Villa de San Felipe de Austria (“Royal Town of St. Philip of Austria”), Oruro rose to prominence during the Spanish colonial period as the centre of a rich silver-mining region. It lost importance with the decline of silver production in the 19th

Egypt, Political life

2005-02-18T04:17:00.000-08:00

The political history of the Mamluk state is complex; during their 264-year reign, no fewer than 45 Mamluks gained the sultanate, and once, in desperate circumstances, a caliph (in 1412) was briefly installed as sultan. At times individual Mamluks succeeded in establishing dynasties, most notably Sultan Qala'un (ruled 1279–90), whose progeny ruled Egypt, with two short interruptions, until 1382. Often

Guas, Juan

2005-02-17T15:58:00.000-08:00

Guas also spelled Was architect, the central figure of the group of Spanish architects who developed the Isabelline (q.v.) style, a combination of medieval structure, Mudéjar (Spanish Muslim) ornament, and Italian spatial design. Considered the finest architect of late 15th-century Spain, he originated designs for churches and residences that set the pattern for generations

Olmütz, Punctation Of

2005-02-17T15:37:00.000-08:00

German Olmützer Punktation (Nov. 29, 1850), agreement signed at Olmütz (Olomouc, Moravia, in modern Czech Republic) between Prussia and Austria that regulated those two powers' relations. The development leading up to the punctation was triggered when the elector of Hesse in the autumn of 1850 appealed for help against his rebellious subjects; both Austria and Prussia sent troops in response, and these threatened

Arts, Central Asian, Instrumental and vocal styles

2005-02-15T21:16:00.000-08:00

Across the region the principal instrument types are lutes, with two or three strings, the necks either fretted or fretless; fiddles, largely horsehair fiddles; flutes, mostly open at both ends and either end-blown or side-blown; and jews' harps, either metal or, often in Siberia, wooden. Few percussion instruments are found, except for the shaman's magic drum. Considerable

Rocket And Missile System, Surface-to-air

2005-02-15T14:58:00.000-08:00

Guided surface-to-air missiles, or SAMs, were under development when World War II ended, notably by the Germans, but were not sufficiently perfected to be used in combat. This changed in the 1950s and '60s with the rapid development of sophisticated SAM systems in the Soviet Union, the United States, Great Britain, and France. With other industrialized nations following suit,

Briançon

2005-02-15T09:53:00.000-08:00

City, Hautes-Alpes département, Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur région, southeastern France. Briançon lies at the confluence of the Durance and Guisanne rivers. Its location at a crossing point for commerce across the Alps made the city important historically. The upper city preserves 17th-century fortifications designed by Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban; the lower city

Silicosis

2005-02-15T06:55:00.000-08:00

A chronic disease of the lungs that is caused by the inhalation of silica dust over long periods of time. (Silica is the chief mineral constituent of sand and of many kinds of rock.) Silicosis is a form of pneumoconiosis. The disease occurs most commonly in miners, quarry workers, stonecutters, tunnelers, and workers whose jobs involve grinding, sandblasting, polishing,

Biblical Literature

2005-02-14T23:56:00.000-08:00

The Old Testament is a collection of writings that was first compiled and preserved as the sacred books of the ancient Hebrew people. As the Bible of the

Earth Sciences, Gravity, isostasy, and the Earth's figure

2005-02-14T16:29:00.000-08:00

Discoveries of regional anomalies in the Earth's gravity led to the realization that high mountain ranges have underlying deficiencies in mass about equal to the apparent surface loads represented by the mountains themselves. In the 18th century the French scientist Pierre Bouguer had observed that the deflections of the pendulum in Peru are much less than they

Pitt, William, The Younger

2005-02-14T10:46:00.000-08:00

British prime minister (1783–1801, 1804–06) during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. He had considerable influence in strengthening the office of the prime minister.

Jackson, Peter

2005-02-13T23:46:00.000-08:00

Jackson won the Australian heavyweight championship in 1886 and the British Empire title in 1892. On May 21, 1891, in San Francisco, he fought a 61-round

Perdiccas

2005-02-12T17:29:00.000-08:00

Perdiccas served with distinction in Alexander's campaigns and, upon Alexander's death, led the aristocratic party that supported the claim of the unborn child of Roxana, Alexander's widow, to the succession. After a compromise under which a division of the powers

Marquesas Islands

2005-02-12T10:17:00.000-08:00

French Îles Marquises, pair of volcanic clusters in French Polynesia in the central South Pacific, 740 mi (1,200 km) northeast of Tahiti. The southeastern group includes Hiva Oa (q.v.), largest and most populated and the burial place of the French artist Paul Gauguin; Fatu Hiva and Tahuata, each about 23 sq mi (60 sq km) and both rising to about 3,300 ft (1,005 m); and the uninhabited Motane and Fatu Huku. The northwestern group

Amelanchier

2005-02-11T11:01:00.000-08:00

Genus of flowering shrubs and small trees of the rose family (Rosaceae), several species of which have entered cultivation as ornamental plants. Most species are North American; exceptions include the shrubby A. ovalis, which ranges over Europe, and A. asiatica, a small tree of East Asia. A number of amelanchiers are variously called juneberry,

Zapata, Luis

2005-02-11T02:27:00.000-08:00

Zapata studied French literature at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. In his best-known work, Las aventuras,