KindSnow

Dactylorhiza

2005-04-03T23:22:00.000-07:00

All species were formerly included in the genus Dactylorchis. The marsh orchid (Dactylorhiza incarnata), elder-flowered

Tracy, Spencer

2005-04-03T08:27:00.000-07:00

As a youth Tracy was bored by schoolwork and joined the navy at age 17. Despite his distaste for academics, he eventually became a premed

Kiraly, Karch

2005-04-02T11:32:00.000-08:00

When Kiraly was four years old, he moved with his family to Santa Barbara, California. His father, Laszlo Kiraly, had played on the Hungarian national

Heidelberg Catechism

2005-03-31T05:38:00.000-08:00

The Heidelberg Catechism was prepared

Gandía

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

City, Valencia provincia, in the comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Valencia, eastern Spain. It lies south of Valencia city at the mouth of the Serpis River. Once a Greek settlement, Gandía was occupied by the Moors in the 8th century and recaptured in 1252 by James I of Aragon, who ordered it rebuilt. It later became a duchy of the Borgia (Borja) family, whose 14th-century

Waner, Paul; And Waner, Lloyd

2005-03-29T09:07:00.000-08:00

In full Paul Glee Waner and Lloyd James Waner , respective bynames Big Poison and Little Poison American professional baseball outfielders, brothers who played much of their career together. Their nicknames did not refer to their size but to their batting: Big Poison, who batted and threw left-handed, hit more long balls (doubles and triples); Little Poison, who batted left-handed

Star Cluster, Globular clusters

2005-03-29T05:39:00.000-08:00

Although globular clusters are widely scattered in galactic latitude, about a third of them are concentrated around the galactic centre, as satellite systems in the rich Sagittarius–Scorpius star fields. Individual cluster masses include up to 1,000,000 suns, and their linear diameters can be several hundred light-years; their apparent diameters range from one degree

Accra

2005-03-27T16:16:00.000-08:00

When the Portuguese first settled on the coast of what is now Ghana in 1482, the present site of Accra was occupied

Gippsland

2005-03-26T18:43:00.000-08:00

Region of southeastern Victoria, Australia, extending northeast from Western Port (near Melbourne) to the New South Wales border and south from the Eastern Highlands to the coast, with an area of 13,600 square miles (35,200 square km). Fertile and well watered (34 inches [860 mm] annually), Gippsland is the focus of the state's dairy industry, supplying most of Melbourne's liquid milk. Lignite

Colombia, Preconquest

2005-03-25T20:18:00.000-08:00

Even before the Spanish conquest, the western mountainous part of Colombia attracted the bulk of the population. The more advanced Indian cultures were found in this region, and the most favourable location for the growth of civilization was the high plateau in the Cordillera Oriental of the Colombian Andes. The present capital city of Bogotá is located near the

Blondel, Maurice (édouard)

2005-03-24T21:10:00.000-08:00

He studied at the École Normale Supérieure under Léon Ollé-Laprune and first formulated his philosophy in L'action (1893). Blondel was influenced

Water Buffalo

2005-03-23T10:07:00.000-08:00

(Bubalus bubalis), also called Indian Buffalo, a ruminant mammal of the ox family (Bovidae). The water buffalo was domesticated in Asia from earliest recorded times. Large and massively built, the animal stands 1.5–1.8 m (5–6 feet) or more at the shoulder, reaches a length of 2.4–2.8 m, and weighs about 1,000 kg (2,200 pounds). It has a dull black or dark gray body with little hair and huge horns, which may measure

Jena Glass

2005-03-22T22:17:00.000-08:00

Jena glass was first produced by the German glass chemist Friedrich Otto Schott, who, with Ernst Abbe and Carl Zeiss, founded a glassworks in Jena, Ger., in 1884. The early Jena

Qamishli, Al-

2005-03-21T15:25:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Qamishliye, town in northeastern Syria. It lies along the Turkish border. The border divides the Syrian town of Al-Qamishli from the Turkish town of Nusaybin. The town was founded in 1926 as a station on the Taurus railway. Its mixed population increased with influxes of Armenian, Assyrian Christian, and Kurdish refugees from Turkey and Iraq. The town also has Sunnite Muslims, Syriac-speaking

Frýdek-místek

2005-03-20T15:32:00.000-08:00

City, Severomoravský kraj (region), Czech Republic. It lies along the Ostravice River just south of Ostrava. The town is dominated by the steeple of Frýdek Castle, which was originally a Gothic royal castle but was reconstructed during the 17th and 18th centuries. Also of interest are the twin-tower 18th-century Baroque church and the small St. Jodocus Church. The town is within

Olympic Mountains

2005-03-19T06:25:00.000-08:00

Segment of the Pacific mountain system of western North America. They extend across the Olympic Peninsula south of the Juan de Fuca Strait and west of Puget Sound in northwestern Washington, U.S. The mountains began to form about 35 million years ago when the Juan de Fuca Plate collided with and was forced under (subducted) the North American Plate, scraping off vast quantities

Olson, Charles (john)

2005-03-18T21:33:00.000-08:00

Olson was educated at Wesleyan University, where he earned an M.A. in 1933. He taught at Clark University, Harvard University, and Radcliffe College, but his real influence began in the late 1940s as an instructor and then as rector (1951–56) at Black

C.b.e.

2005-03-18T05:56:00.000-08:00

Commander of the British Empire, member of a British order of knighthood, although this rank does not confer knighthood. See British Empire, The Most Excellent Order of the.

Yoccoz, Jean-christophe

2005-03-17T20:00:00.000-08:00

Yoccoz was awarded the Fields Medal at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Zürich,

Albert Of Aix

2005-03-17T09:07:00.000-08:00

Also called Albert of Aachen , Latin Albericus Aquensis canon of the church of Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) and historian of the First Crusade. He gathered oral and written testaments of participants in the Crusade and provided a chronicle on the subject, the Historia expeditionis Hierosolymitanae (“History of the Expedition to Jerusalem”). His work remains an important source on the First Crusade and the history of the kingdom

West Bank

2005-03-16T11:38:00.000-08:00

The approximately 2,270-square-mile (5,900-square-kilometre) area is the centre of contending

Clapham Sect

2005-03-15T20:27:00.000-08:00

Group of evangelical Christians, prominent in England from about 1790 to 1830, who campaigned for the abolition of slavery and promoted missionary work at home and abroad. The group centred on the church of John Venn, rector of Clapham in south London. Its members included William Wilberforce, Henry Thornton, James Stephen, Zachary Macaulay, and others. Many were members of

Pavía Y Rodríguez De Alburquerque, Manuel

2005-03-15T13:54:00.000-08:00

In 1865 Pavía joined the staff of Gen. Juan Prim, whom he supported in the unsuccessful uprisings of 1866 and, after two years in exile, in the successful revolution of 1868 that deposed Isabella II (1833–68). After the abdication of Amadeus (February 1873) and the proclamation of the First Republic, Pavía suppressed

Malathion

2005-03-14T23:42:00.000-08:00

Trade name for an organic phosphorus compound that is a general-purpose insecticide considerably less toxic to humans than parathion and is thus suited for the control of household and garden insects. It is important in the control of mosquitoes, flies, and lice. Malathion is a yellow-to-brown liquid with a characteristic unpleasant odour. It is generally prepared

Ecosphere

2005-03-13T19:46:00.000-08:00

The sum of the Earth's ecological systems (ecosystems), all living organisms interacting with the physical environment. It is almost equivalent to the term biosphere (q.v.), with the further implication of a conscious ecological management of the Earth's resources.

Indonesia, Government

2005-03-12T19:23:00.000-08:00

The Republic of Indonesia was proclaimed in 1945. Its jurisdiction included the present area from Sabang in Sumatra to Merauke in Papua, or the entire area of the former Dutch (or Netherlands) East Indies. The Netherlands retained possession of a large part of this region, however, and a provisional capital was established in Yogyakarta, which was the stronghold of the

Wangaratta

2005-03-12T03:34:00.000-08:00

City, northern Victoria, Australia. It lies at the confluence of the Ovens and King rivers, northeast of Melbourne. The site was first settled in 1837 by a sheepherder, George Faithfull, and was proclaimed a town in 1845. Its name is derived from an Aboriginal term meaning either “meeting of the rivers” or “home of the cormorants.” The city is a junction of the Hume and Ovens highways

Gilbert Islands

2005-03-11T11:28:00.000-08:00

Formerly Kingsmill, group of 16 coral atolls, part of Kiribati, in the west central Pacific Ocean 2,800 mi (4,500 km) northeast of Australia. The islands—Makin, Butaritari, Marakei, Abaiang, Tarawa, Maiana, Abemama, Kuria, Aranuka, Nonouti, Tabiteuea, Beru, Nikunau, Onotoa, Tamana, and Arorae—occupy a total land area of 105 sq mi (272 sq km). Low-lying, they are covered with coconut palm and pandanus. Rainfall varies from 80 to

Fyt, Jan

2005-03-11T11:16:00.000-08:00

Apprenticed to a painter when scarcely more than 10 years old, Fyt was accepted into the Guild of St. Luke as a master at age 20 and over the next 30 years produced a vast number of pictures with facility and power. His forte was the depiction

Würm Glacial Stage

2005-03-09T13:04:00.000-08:00

Major division of late Pleistocene deposits and time in Alpine Europe (the Pleistocene epoch began about 1,600,000 years ago and ended about 10,000 years ago). The Würm glacial stage followed the Riss-Würm interglacial and is correlated with the Weichsel glacial stage of northern Europe and the Wisconsin glacial stage of North America. The Alpine glaciations of the Pleistocene

Joubert, Barthélemy-catherine

2005-03-09T07:57:00.000-08:00

Joubert, son of an advocate, ran away from school in 1784 to enlist in the artillery but was brought back and sent to study law at Lyon and Dijon. In 1791 he joined the volunteers of the Ain and fought with the French army in Italy in 1793. By the end of 1796 he was a general of division. He was in charge of the

Sikhism, Canonical and noncanonical literature

2005-03-08T15:16:00.000-08:00

The earliest source materials on Nanak are the janam-sakhis (“life stories”), written 50 to 80 years after the death of the Guru. Most Sikh scholars reject them and rely instead on the Guru's compositions incorporated in the Adi Granth and the Vars (heroic ballads) composed by Bhai Gurdas (died 1629). Neither Nanak's hymns nor Gurdas' Vars are specific regarding the events of Nanak's life. Other historical

Balassi, Bálint

2005-03-07T20:52:00.000-08:00

Balassi was born into one of the richest Protestant families of the country and lived an adventurous life, fighting against the Turks and against his own relatives, who sought to despoil him of his heritage.

Computers, Time-sharing from Project MAC to UNIX

2005-03-07T11:37:00.000-08:00

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

Jacksonville

2005-03-07T02:00:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1755) of Onslow county, southeastern North Carolina, U.S. It lies along the New River at the head of its estuary, about 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Wilmington. Originally settled as Wantland's Ferry (c. 1757), its name was changed to Onslow Courthouse and then Jacksonville in 1842 to honour President Andrew Jackson. It remained a small hunting and fishing resort until 1941, when the establishment

Biblical Literature, The oracles of Trito-Isaiah

2005-03-05T19:33:00.000-08:00

Chapters 56–66 are a collection of oracles from the restoration period (after 538 BCE). Emphasis is placed upon cultic acts, attacks against idolatry, and a right motivation in the worship of Yahweh. Repentance and social justice are themes that have been retained from the earlier Isaiah traditions, and the ever-present element of hope in the creative goodness of Yahweh that pervaded

Hokuriku

2005-03-05T16:20:00.000-08:00

Industrial region, west-central Honshu, Japan, lying along the Sea of Japan. It is neither an administrative nor a political entity. The northeastern portion of the area, occupying parts of Niigata and Toyama ken (prefectures), specializes in heavy and chemical industries and has close economic ties with the Keihin (Tokyo-Yokohama) Industrial Zone. The southwestern

La Tuque

2005-03-04T19:48:00.000-08:00

Town, Mauricie–Bois-Francs region, southern Quebec province, Canada, situated on the Saint-Maurice River. During the French regime, the site was occupied by a trading post of the Company of New France. The original lumbering settlement of 1908 was named for a rock on the river's edge that was shaped like a tuque, the woolen headgear that was worn by early French trappers. The

Piciform, Vocalizations

2005-03-03T15:41:00.000-08:00

The voices of Piciformes are rarely melodious and are often harsh or strident. The vocalizations of jacamars are squeaky, the notes sometimes being run together into a trill. Whistles or trills may be alternated or mixed, forming a simple song. Puffbirds are relatively quiet, producing thin whistles, peeps, and twitters. The vocalizations of toucans are loud and often

Christadelphian

2005-03-02T10:51:00.000-08:00

(Greek: “Brother of Christ”), member of a Christian sect founded about 1848 by John Thomas, who, after studying medicine in London, Eng., migrated to Brooklyn, N.Y. He at first joined the followers of Thomas and Alexander Campbell, founders of the Disciples of Christ (Christians), but eventually he began preaching independently, largely applying Hebrew prophecy and the book of Revelation

Economics

2005-03-01T07:21:00.000-08:00

Social science that seeks to analyze and describe the production, distribution, and consumption of wealth.

Hawking, Stephen W.

2005-02-28T15:45:00.000-08:00

Hawking studied mathematics and physics at University College, Oxford (B.A., 1962), and Trinity Hall, Cambridge (Ph.D., 1966). He was elected a research fellow at Gonville and Caius

Eagles, The, Don Henley

2005-02-28T09:06:00.000-08:00

Honey Ant

2005-02-27T22:10:00.000-08:00

Any member of several different species of ant (family Formicidae; order Hymenoptera) that have developed a unique way of storing the honeydew, a by-product of digestion that is gathered mainly from the secretions of aphids and scale insects. A worker ant, fed by the others, is called a replete. The honeydew is stored in the replete's abdomen, which can become distended

Ear Disease, Cyst of the ear

2005-02-27T20:02:00.000-08:00

A cyst is a sac filled with liquid or semisolid material. A cyst of the ear is most often caused by a gland that lubricates the skin behind the earlobe, less often at the entrance of the ear canal. If the duct of this gland becomes stopped, the lubricating fatty material accumulates as a soft, rounded nodule in the skin. Infection of the cyst causes a tender abscess to form

Earth Exploration, Remote sensing

2005-02-26T07:38:00.000-08:00

This comprises measurements of electromagnetic radiation from the ground, usually of reflected energy in various spectral ranges measured from aircraft or satellites. Remote sensing encompasses aerial photography and other kinds of measurements that are generally displayed in the form of photograph-like images. Its applications involve a broad range

Hippocrates Of Chios

2005-02-25T20:27:00.000-08:00

According to tradition, Hippocrates was a merchant whose goods had been captured by pirates. He went to Athens to prosecute them but met with little success in recovering

Lycian Alphabet

2005-02-24T17:23:00.000-08:00

Writing system of the Lycian people of southwest Asia Minor, dating from the 5th–4th centuries BC. The Lycian alphabet is clearly related to the Greek, but the exact nature of the relationship is uncertain. Several letters appear to be related to symbols of the Cretan and Cyprian writing systems. The script has 29 letters (6 vowels), with several sounds not represented in Greek.

Gagaku

2005-02-24T06:15:00.000-08:00

(Japanese), Korean a-ak ancient court music. The name is a Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese characters for elegant music (ya yueh). Such music first appeared in Japan as an import from Korea in the 5th century and had become an established court tradition by the 8th century. The various forms of North Asian, Chinese, Indian, Southeast Asian, and indigenous Japanese music were organized in

Blair

2005-02-22T10:49:00.000-08:00

The Delaware, Shawnee, and

Ashley, William Henry

2005-02-22T05:58:00.000-08:00

Having arrived in Missouri sometime after 1802, Ashley prospered in mining, gunpowder manufacture, surveying, and land speculation.

Seleucid Kingdom

2005-02-22T02:34:00.000-08:00

Seleucus, one of Alexander's leading generals, became satrap (governor) of Babylonia in 321, two years after the death of Alexander. In the

Price, Richard

2005-02-21T08:36:00.000-08:00

A Dissenter like his father, he ministered to Presbyterians near London. His Review of the Principal

Aroostook War

2005-02-21T04:52:00.000-08:00

(1838–39), bloodless conflict over the disputed boundary between the U.S. state of Maine and the British Canadian province of New Brunswick. The peace treaty of 1783 ending the American Revolution had left unclear the location of a supposed “highlands,” or watershed, dividing the two areas. Negotiators from Britain and the United States in subsequent years failed to come to an agreement,

Portugal

2005-02-20T15:06:00.000-08:00

Officially Portuguese Republic, Portuguese Portugal, or República Portuguesa, country lying along the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe. It is bordered on the east and north by Spain and on the west and south by the Atlantic Ocean. Occupying about 16 percent of the Iberian Peninsula, Portugal has a total area of 35,672 square miles (92,389 square km). Despite its small size, the country displays a great diversity of geographic features;

Jacareí

2005-02-19T16:49:00.000-08:00

City, southeastern São Paulo estado (“state”), Brazil, lying along the Paraíba do Sul River. The settlement was granted town status in 1653 and was made the seat of a municipality in 1849. The local economy depends mainly upon dairying, but coffee, rice, corn (maize), fruits, and feijão (beans) are also cultivated in the surrounding area. Food processing, distilling, tanning, and the manufacture

Roberts, Elizabeth Madox

2005-02-19T09:30:00.000-08:00

Educated in schools in Springfield, a village near her birthplace, Roberts taught school from 1900 to 1910. After 1910 she stayed for a time in

Akhtal, Al-

2005-02-19T04:47:00.000-08:00

Al-Akhtal (“The Loquacious”) was a Christian but did not take the duties of his religion seriously, being addicted to drink and women. He was a favourite panegyrist and friend of the Umayyad caliph Yazid I and his generals

I-yang

2005-02-17T21:03:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Yiyang, city, northern Hunan sheng (province), China. The city is situated approximately 47 miles (75 km) northwest of Ch'ang-sha on the Tzu River, to the south of Lake Tung-t'ing, on the main highway from Ch'ang-sha to Ch'ang-te. An ancient county, it was established in the 2nd century BC. Its seat was originally sited northeast of the present city, but it moved in T'ang (618–907) times. From 589 it was a county subordinate

Babylon

2005-02-16T14:31:00.000-08:00

Town (township), Suffolk county, southeastern New York, U.S. It lies on southern Long Island, along Great South Bay, east of Freeport. Established in 1872 after separation from Huntington (founded 1653), it includes the villages of Babylon (incorporated 1893), Amityville (1894), and Lindenhurst (1923) and the unincorporated communities of Deer Park, Copiague, and Wyandanch. The Italian inventor Guglielmo

Edward V

2005-02-15T15:00:00.000-08:00

The eldest surviving son of King Edward IV and Queen Elizabeth (Woodville), Edward was born at Westminster Abbey while his father, momentarily deposed, was in exile in Holland. In June 1471, after Edward IV had crushed his foes and reclaimed his crown, young Edward was made

1812, War Of

2005-02-15T11:39:00.000-08:00

(June 18, 1812–Dec. 24, 1814), inconclusive British–U.S. conflict arising chiefly out of U.S. grievances over oppressive maritime practices during the Napoleonic Wars. The long struggle between Great Britain and France, fought intermittently between 1793 and 1815, led both belligerents to infringe on the rights and impair the interests of neutrals. Napoleon averted hostilities

Philikí Etaireía

2005-02-14T19:41:00.000-08:00

(Greek: Friendly Brotherhood), Greek revolutionary secret society founded by merchants in Odessa in 1814 to overthrow Ottoman rule in southeastern Europe and to establish an independent Greek state. The society's claim of Russian support and the romance of its commitment (each member swore “irreconcilable hatred against the tyrants of my country”) brought thousands

Acuff, Roy

2005-02-13T03:57:00.000-08:00

Turning his attention to music after an aborted baseball career, Acuff gained

Sunday, Billy

2005-02-13T03:35:00.000-08:00

Sunday grew up as an orphan and worked as an undertaker's assistant before entering professional baseball in 1883. In 1891 he gave up baseball to become a YMCA worker but turned in 1896 to conducting

Adderley, Nat

2005-02-12T18:46:00.000-08:00

Although he began playing the trumpet in his teens, Nat Adderley switched in 1950 to the somewhat smaller cornet, playing it in the U.S. Army band led by his brother. After a year with Lionel

Hair

2005-02-11T04:49:00.000-08:00

In mammals, the characteristic threadlike outgrowths of the outer layer of the skin (epidermis) that form an animal's coat, or pelage. Hair is present in differing degrees on all mammals. On adult whales, elephants, sirenians, and rhinoceroses body hair is limited to scattered bristles. In most other mammals the hair is abundant enough to form a thick coat, while humans

Balas, Iolanda

2005-02-11T02:15:00.000-08:00

Balas cleared the bar in a variation of the scissors method; her coach was Ion Söter, an outstanding high-jumper whom she later married. She already held the women's

Bert, Paul

2005-02-10T16:12:00.000-08:00

French physiologist, politician, and diplomat, founder of modern aerospace medicine, whose research into the effects of air pressure on the body helped make possible the exploration of space and the ocean depths. While professor of physiology at the Sorbonne (1869–86), he found that the illness suffered by animals at high altitudes is caused

Arrest, Heinrich Louis D'

2005-02-09T14:07:00.000-08:00

In 1851, while associated with the Leipzig Observatory,

Halicarnassus, Mausoleum Of

2005-02-09T05:34:00.000-08:00

According

Cellini's Halo

2005-02-08T06:24:00.000-08:00

This phenomenon is generally attributed to reflection of incident sunlight

Maranville, Rabbit

2005-02-07T18:15:00.000-08:00

Maranville, who batted and threw right-handed, played minor league baseball during the years 1911–12 for a team in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He joined the National League Boston Braves in 1912, playing with them through

Medicine, Periodic medical examination

2005-02-07T13:04:00.000-08:00

Physicians in industry carry out medical examinations, especially on new employees and on those returning to work after sickness or injury. In addition, those liable to health hazards may be examined regularly in the hope of detecting evidence of incipient damage. In some organizations every employee may be offered a regular medical examination.

Sackville

2005-02-06T15:18:00.000-08:00

Town, Westmorland county, southeastern New Brunswick, Canada. It lies near the Nova Scotia border, 27 miles (43 km) southeast of Moncton. Three French villages occupied the site about 1720, but these were destroyed with the capture of nearby Fort Beauséjour (Fort Cumberland) and the expulsion of the Acadians in 1755. Resettled in 1761 by New England immigrants, the community was named after

Papua New Guinea

2005-02-06T06:52:00.000-08:00

Officially Independent State of Papua New Guinea, island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It encompasses the eastern half of the island of New Guinea (the western half, Irian Jaya, belonging to Indonesia) and its offshore islands as well as the islands of the Bismarck Archipelago (New Britain, New Ireland, and the Admiralty Islands) and those of Bougainville and Buka. Together these islands cover 178,704 square miles

Faraj

2005-02-05T20:38:00.000-08:00

Faraj's father, Barquq, died in 1399. While he was a child, two guardians, representing the rival

Margaret Of Valois

2005-02-05T08:23:00.000-08:00

The daughter of Henry II of France and Catherine de Médicis, she played a secondary part in the Wars of Religion (1562–98) from the moment she took her place at court in 1569. Her relations with her brothers Charles IX

Arachnid

2005-02-05T04:32:00.000-08:00

Any member of the class Arachnida, part of the invertebrate phylum Arthropoda. Arachnida includes forms such as spiders (Araneida), harvestmen (daddy longlegs; Opiliones), scorpions (Scorpionida), and mites and ticks (Acari), as well as lesser-known groups. Only a few species are of economic importance, including the acarids that transmit diseases to humans, other animals,

Karaism

2005-02-04T21:18:00.000-08:00

The movement began in

Nepali Literature

2005-02-03T08:09:00.000-08:00

The body of writings in the Nepali language of Nepal. Before the Gurkha (Gorkha) conquest of Nepal in 1768, Nepalese writings were in Sanskrit and Newari as well as Nepali (the latter being the language of the Gurkha conquerors). These writings consisted of religious texts, chronicles, gift-deeds, and so on. The extant material in Nepali, with the possible exception of the memoirs

France, History Of, Merovingian and Carolingian age

2005-02-03T07:47:00.000-08:00

Comprehensive introductions to the period are found in Margaret Deanesly, A History of Early Medieval Europe, from 476 to 911, 2nd ed. (1960, reissued 1974); Jean Favier (ed.), Histoire de France, 6 vol. (1984–88), vol. 1; and Karl Ferdinand Werner, Les Origines (avant l'an mil) (1984). The history of invasions, with the archaeological background, is presented in Lucien Musset, The Germanic Invasions: The Making of Europe, AD 400–600 (1975; originally published in French, 1965), and Les Invasions: le second assaut contre l'Europe chrétienne, VIIe–XIe siècles, 2nd ed. (1971); and Patrick Périn and Laure-Charlotte Feffer, Les Francs, 2 vol. (1987). On the Merovingians, see Eugen Ewig, Die Merowinger und das Frankenreich (1988); Bernard S. Bachrach, Merovingian Military Organization, 481–751 (1972); and J.M. Wallace-Hadrill, The Long-Haired Kings and Other Studies in Frankish History (1962, reprinted 1982). For the Carolingians, Louis Halphen, Charlemagne and the Carolingian Empire (1977; originally published in French, 1947), remains the classic work. Later scholarship is reflected in Rosamond McKitterick, The Frankish Kingdoms Under the Carolingians, 751–987 (1983); and F.L. Ganshof, The Carolingians and the Frankish Monarchy, trans. from French (1971). Special studies of the civilization of the period include J.M. Wallace-Hadrill, The Frankish Church (1983); Pierre Riché, Education and Culture in the Barbarian West, Sixth Through Eighth Centuries (1976; originally published in French, 3rd ed., 1973); Suzanne Fonay Wemple, Women in Frankish Society: Marriage and the Cloister, 500 to 900 (1981); and Renée Doehaerd, The Early Middle Ages in the West: Economy and Society (1978; originally published in French, 1971).

Eystein I Magnusson

2005-02-03T04:45:00.000-08:00

An illegitimate son of Magnus III Barefoot, Eystein succeeded to the throne in 1103 with his younger brothers Sigurd I and Olaf (IV); the latter, a child, died in 1115, but Sigurd outlived Eystein. While Sigurd was off on crusades in Moorish Spain and the Holy

Uhf

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

UHF waves are very weakly reflected by the ionized layers of the upper

B-52

2005-02-01T19:56:00.000-08:00

Also called Stratofortress, U.S. long-range heavy bomber, designed in 1948 and first flown in 1952. Though originally intended to be an atomic-bomb carrier capable of reaching the Soviet Union, it proved adaptable to a number of missions, and some B-52s were thus expected to remain in service for the rest of the 20th century. The B-52 has a wingspan of 185 feet (56 m) and a length of 160 feet 10.9 inches (49 m). It is powered by eight jet engines

Holarctic Region

2005-02-01T08:04:00.000-08:00

One of the six major land areas of the world defined on the basis of its characteristic animal life. It is part of the Megagaean realm; it encompasses all the nontropical parts of Europe and Asia, Africa north of the Sahara, and North America south to the Mexican desert region. This vast region is often subdivided into the Palaearctic (Old World) and Nearctic (New World)

Egypt, The Eastern Desert

2005-01-31T15:43:00.000-08:00

The Eastern Desert comprises almost one-fourth of the land surface of Egypt and covers an area of about 85,690 square miles. The northern tier is a limestone plateau, consisting of rolling hills, stretching from the Mediterranean coastal plain to a point roughly opposite Qina on the Nile. Near Qina, the plateau breaks up into cliffs about 1,600 feet high and is deeply scored by wadis,

Ganymede

2005-01-30T08:33:00.000-08:00

Greek Ganymedes, Latin Ganymedes, or Catamitus, in Greek legend, the son of Tros (or Laomedon), king of Troy. Because of his unusual beauty, he was carried off either by the gods or by Zeus, disguised as an eagle, or, according to a Cretan account, by Minos, to serve as cupbearer. In compensation, Zeus gave Ganymede's father a stud of immortal horses (or a golden vine). From early times it was believed that Ganymede's kidnapper had

Qualitative Chemical Analysis

2005-01-30T03:35:00.000-08:00

Branch of chemistry that deals with the identification of elements or grouping of elements present in a sample. The techniques employed in qualitative analysis vary in complexity, depending on the nature of the sample. In some cases it is necessary only to verify the presence of certain elements or groups for which specific tests applicable directly to the sample

Chemical Association

2005-01-29T08:49:00.000-08:00

The aggregation of atoms or molecules into larger units held together by forces weaker than chemical bonds that bind atoms in molecules. The term is usually restricted to the formation of aggregates of like molecules or atoms. Polymerization also denotes the formation of larger units by the union of like small units but usually with chemical bonds between the

Henreid, Paul

2005-01-29T06:29:00.000-08:00

Henreid, the son of an aristocratic Viennese banker, trained for the theatre in Vienna and made his stage debut under director

Arpad

2005-01-28T08:42:00.000-08:00

Coming under Assyrian influence in the 9th century BC, Arpad regained its independence in 754, and it successfully sided with Sardur II of Urartu until the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III defeated both Urartu and Arpad. Tiglath-pileser made Arpad the capital

Talent

2005-01-28T05:57:00.000-08:00

The Hebrew talent, or kikkar, probably of Babylonian origin, was

Soto

2005-01-27T18:10:00.001-08:00

The sect was founded in China in the 9th century by Liang-chieh and Pen-chi, where it was known as Ts'ao-tung (after its monastic centres on the mountains Ts'ao and Tung). It was transmitted to Japan by Dogen, who founded the Eihei Temple

Canaris, Wilhelm (franz)

2005-01-27T18:10:00.000-08:00

Having served in the navy during World War I, Canaris was a member of the military tribunal that sentenced the murderers of the German

Sacasa, Juan Bautista

2005-01-26T07:08:00.000-08:00

Sacasa studied in the United States from 1889 to 1901, earning an M.D. from Columbia University. In 1924 he was elected vice president of Nicaragua as leader of the Liberal Party in a coalition government. The following year a coup d'état installed General Emiliano Chamorro

Amarillo

2005-01-25T22:09:00.000-08:00

At first called Oneida, the city originated in 1887 as a railroad construction camp and in the 1890s grew to become one of

Scandinavian Literature, Finno-Swedish literature

2005-01-25T17:21:00.000-08:00

A significant literature in the Swedish language developed in Finland during the 1800s. Its emergence can be traced to the works of Johan Ludvig Runeberg. His epic poems, Elgskyttarne (1832; “The Moose Hunters”) and Hanna (1836), won him a place in Swedish letters. Notable, too, were the writings of Zacharias Topelius, which contributed to the development of the Finnish historical novel.

Justus, Saint

2005-01-25T06:50:00.000-08:00

In 601 he was sent by Pope St. Gregory I the Great to assist Archbishop St. Augustine of Canterbury in the conversion of England to Christianity. He was consecrated by

East End

2005-01-24T20:21:00.000-08:00

Traditional area of London, lying east of Shoreditch High Street, Houndsditch, Aldgate High Street, and Tower Bridge Approach. It extends eastward to the River Lea and lies mainly in the Inner London borough of Tower Hamlets, part of the historic county of Middlesex. In the Middle Ages the East End was part of the great parish of Stepney. It began to take on an identity