BrownBrain

Estate Agent London

2006-10-26T00:30:00.000-07:00

Robert Irving Burns specialise in London Commercial and Residential property services, including Estate Agent Covent Garden and Estate Agent London. Their centrally located ground floor offices, minutes from Oxford Circus offer an ideal marketing base for your property.

Balaguer, Joaquín

2005-03-18T19:20:00.000-08:00

Balaguer earned a law degree from the University of Santo Domingo and a Ph.D. from the University of Paris. Between 1932 and 1957, he held numerous executive

Boucher, Jonathan

2005-03-17T11:11:00.000-08:00

In 1759 Boucher went to Virginia as a private tutor. After a visit to London in 1762 for his ordination, he became rector of Annapolis, Md., and tutored George Washington's stepson, thus becoming a family friend. His royalist views cost him his position: by 1775 he was keeping pistols

Lena River

2005-03-14T14:30:00.000-08:00

Sakha (Yakut) Ulakhan Iuriakh (“Great River”) major river of Russia and the 10th longest river in the world. It flows 2,734 miles (4,400 km) from its sources in the mountains along the western shores of Lake Baikal, in southeastern Siberia, to the mouth of its delta on the Arctic Laptev Sea. The area of the river's drainage basin is about 961,000 square miles (2,490,000 square km).

Iao

2005-03-12T15:24:00.000-08:00

Valley, Maui county, northwestern Maui Island, Hawaii, U.S., on the eastern slope of Puu Kukui Mountain. Formed by erosion of the caldera whose volcano created the island's western peninsula, the valley comprises a deep, narrow gorge 5 miles (8 km) long and flanked by heavily forested walls almost a mile in height. Iao Needle, a volcanic monolith 2,250 feet (686 m) high, soars nearly straight

Earth, Force

2005-03-10T00:27:00.000-08:00

This is a vector quantity that changes or tends to produce a change in the motion of a body. It is a push or pull and must be specified as to its direction and magnitude. If there is no acceleration of a body, the forces that act on it are balanced. There are four types: compression, tension (or extension), shear, and torsion. During compression, rocks are squeezed together by two

Half-timber Work

2005-03-08T18:45:00.000-08:00

Method of building in which external and internal walls are constructed of timber frames and the spaces between the structural members are filled with such materials as brick, plaster, or wattle and daub. Traditionally, a half-timbered building was made of squared oak timbers joined by mortises, tenons, and wooden pegs; the building's cagelike structural skeleton

Abbott, George

2005-03-06T07:55:00.000-08:00

After graduating from the University of Rochester, N.Y., in 1911, Abbott began acting on Broadway in 1913. He soon began writing and directing plays as well, and he achieved

Thomas, Helen

2005-03-04T15:01:00.000-08:00

Born to Lebanese immigrants, Thomas was the seventh of nine children. When she was four years old, the family moved to Detroit, Michigan. While attending high school, Thomas decided

Coral Gables

2005-03-03T16:39:00.000-08:00

City, Miami-Dade county, southeastern Florida, U.S., on Biscayne Bay and adjoining Miami (northeast). George E. Merrick developed the site (beginning about 1920) from a nucleus of his family's 160 acres (65 hectares) of citrus and farmland and named it for the family's house of coral rock walls and gables. It is a well-planned residential area, noted for its landscaped plazas and streets

Peter Ii

2005-03-01T23:55:00.000-08:00

Duke of Brittany (from 1450), son of John V (or VI) and brother of his predecessor Francis I. He made an important innovation in limiting the right of asylum in churches and monasteries, enabling him to pursue his enemies at will. To preserve the family line, he adhered to the testament of Francis I and made his uncle Arthur, constable de Richemont, his successor, as

Peter Ii

2005-02-26T11:25:00.000-08:00

Any of about 30 species of mammals related to rabbits and belonging to the same family (Leporidae). In general, hares have longer ears and longer hind feet than rabbits. While the tail is relatively short, it is longer than that of rabbits. The vernacular names hare and rabbit are frequently misapplied to particular species. Jackrabbits of North

Ghaznavid Dynasty

2005-02-25T14:14:00.000-08:00

The founder of the dynasty was Sebüktigin (ruled 977–997), a former Turkish slave who was recognized by the Samanids (an Iranian Muslim dynasty) as governor of Ghazna (modern Ghazni, Afg.). As the Samanid dynasty weakened, Sebüktigin consolidated his position and expanded his domains as far

Korean War, Back to the 38th parallel

2005-02-22T08:57:00.000-08:00

As UNC troops crossed the 38th parallel, Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong received a plea for direct military aid from Kim Il-sung. The chairman was willing to intervene, but he needed assurances of Soviet air power. Stalin promised to extend China's air defenses (manned by Soviets) to a corridor above the Yalu, thus protecting air bases in Manchuria and hydroelectric

Frederick I

2005-02-21T04:41:00.000-08:00

In 1688 Frederick succeeded to the electorate and at once set out, assisted

Christianity, Moral arguments

2005-02-19T02:01:00.000-08:00

Moral theistic argument belongs primarily to the modern world and perhaps reflects the modern lack of confidence in metaphysical constructions. Kant, having rejected the cosmological, ontological, and design proofs, argued in the Critique of Practical Reason (1788) that the existence of God, though not directly provable, is a necessary postulate of the moral life. To

Dietrich, Marlene

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

Marie Magdalene was the daughter of Ludwig Dietrich, a Royal Prussian police officer. Her father died when she was very young, and her mother remarried a cavalry officer, Edouard von Losch.

Typography

2005-02-15T11:21:00.000-08:00

The design, or selection, of letter forms to be organized into words and sentences to be disposed in blocks of type as printing upon a page. Typography and the typographer who practices it may also be concerned with other, related matters—the selection of paper, the choice of ink, the method of printing, the design of the binding if the product at hand is a book—but the word

Ijoid Languages

2005-02-13T09:03:00.000-08:00

The smallest branch of the Niger-Congo language family. It consists of a language cluster, Ijo (Ijaw), comprising seven other language clusters with a total of approximately two million speakers, and Defaka (Afakani), a solitary language spoken by very few. All these languages are found in the relatively narrow coastal Niger River delta region of Nigeria. The Ijo language

Uummannaq Fjord

2005-02-10T05:43:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Umánaq, or Umanak, inlet of Baffin Bay and town, western Greenland, north of Nuussuaq Peninsula, separated from Karrat Isfjord by Upernivik and Ubekendt islands. About 100 miles (160 km) long and 15–30 miles (24–48 km) wide, Uummannaq divides into several smaller fjords extending eastward to the inland ice cap, where they are fed by extensive glaciers. Qarajaqs Isfjord is its most southerly arm. The town of

Paraguaná Peninsula

2005-02-09T10:27:00.000-08:00

Spanish Península De Paraguaná, Falcón estado (“state”), northwestern Venezuela. It lies between the Caribbean Sea on the east and the Gulf of Venezuela on the west. Of low elevation, the peninsula has infertile soil and is sparsely populated, but the development of the petroleum industry, especially in the 1950s and '60s, gave Paraguaná great economic importance. Pipelines lead from the oil fields at Lake Maracaibo

Omar Khayyam

2005-02-07T01:51:00.000-08:00

Arabic in full Ghiyath al-Din Abu al-Fath 'Umar ibn Ibrahim al-Nisaburi al-Khayyami Persian mathematician, astronomer, and poet, renowned in his own country and time for his scientific achievements but chiefly known to English-speaking readers through the translation of a collection of his roba'iyat (“quatrains”) in The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (1859), by the English writer Edward

Saab Ab

2005-02-04T00:00:00.000-08:00

Saab was incorporated in 1937 as Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget. The company was engaged primarily in the production of aircraft until the mid-1940s, when it began manufacturing

Astor, Brooke Russell

2005-02-03T18:30:00.000-08:00

The daughter of a U.S. Marine Corps officer and a socialite, young Brooke's early years were spent on Marine posts in Hawaii, Panama, and China. Educated for the most part by governesses, she became fascinated

Ramat Gan

2005-01-31T08:27:00.000-08:00

City, west-central Israel, on the Plain of Sharon just east of Tel Aviv–Yafo. Founded in 1921, it is the largest satellite city in the Tel Aviv–Yafo metropolitan area, with fine residential quarters, extensive parks and gardens, including a national park, and the nation's principal athletic stadium, seating 50,000 persons. It is also the home of Bar-Ilan University, a religiously oriented

Amritsar, Massacre Of

2005-01-30T03:26:00.000-08:00

In 1919 the British government of India enacted the Rowlatt Acts, extending its World War I emergency powers to combat subversive activities.

Earth Exploration, Geothermal methods

2005-01-27T15:32:00.000-08:00

Temperature-gradient measurements are sometimes made to detect heat-flow anomalies; however, most exploration for geothermal resources (e.g., superheated water and steam) is done with indirect methods. Resistivity or seismic methods, for example, may be used to map the magma chamber, which is the source of the heat, or to detect faults or other features that control

Gahanbar

2005-01-27T11:02:00.000-08:00

In Zoroastrianism, any of six festivals, occurring at irregular intervals throughout the year, which celebrate the seasons and possibly the six stages in the creation of the world (the heavens, water, the earth, the vegetable world, the animal world, and man). Each lasting five days, the Gahanbars are: Maidhyaoizaremaya (Midspring), occurring in the month of Artavahisht,

Ankara, Battle Of

2005-01-26T19:23:00.000-08:00

While challenging the Christian world in the West, Bayezid had annexed the Anatolian Turkmen principalities and posed as heir to the Seljuqs of Anatolia.

Hebrew Literature, Adoption of Arabic metre

2005-01-25T07:34:00.000-08:00

Biblical Hebrew was re-established as the literary idiom about 900 by Sa'adia ben Joseph, grammarian and religious polemicist. The Arabic system of quantitative metre was adapted for Hebrew during this period (900–1000), probably by Dunash ben Labrat. At first the piyyut form was retained for religious poems, and the new metres were used only for secular poetry, which closely imitated

Euler-chelpin, Hans Von

2005-01-23T04:02:00.000-08:00

After graduating from the University of Berlin (1895), Euler-Chelpin worked with Walther Nernst and in 1897 became assistant to Svante Arrhenius at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

Ayckbourn, Alan

2005-01-22T15:06:00.000-08:00

Successful and prolific British playwright, whose works—mostly farces and comedies—deal with marital and class conflicts and point up the fears and weaknesses of the English lower-middle class. He wrote more than 50 plays and other entertainments, most of which were first staged at the Stephen Joseph Theatre-in-the-Round in Scarborough,

Alaska, Early settlement

2005-01-22T05:07:00.000-08:00

The first European settlement was established in 1784 by Russians at Three Saints Bay, near present-day Kodiak. It served as Alaska's capital until 1806, when the Russian-American Company, organized in 1799 under charter from the emperor Paul I, moved its headquarters to richer sea otter grounds in the Alexander Archipelago at Sitka. The company governed Alaska until its purchase

Nicholson, Jack

2005-01-21T04:15:00.000-08:00

Nicholson, whose father abandoned his family, grew up believing that his grandmother was his mother and that his mother was his older sister; it was not

Mirambo

2005-01-20T17:41:00.000-08:00

Nyamwezi warlord of central Africa whose ability to unite the many hitherto separate Nyamwezi clans into a powerful kingdom by the 1870s gave him strategic control of Arab trade routes and threatened the preeminence of the Arabs' colony in Unyanyembe (near present Tabora, Tanzania). His capital, Urambo (now in Tanzania), became a major rival trading

Furniture, General works

2005-01-19T16:06:00.000-08:00

Ole Hanscher, Mobelkunsten (1966; Eng. trans., The Art of Furniture, 1967), is a chronological survey of the art of furniture (with illustrations). George Nakashima, The Soul of a Tree: A Woodworker's Reflections (1981), is an inspirational commentary of a designer and crafter on the art of furniture making.

Infection, Dacryocystitis and dacryoadenitis

2005-01-18T08:21:00.000-08:00

Inflammation of the tear sac, called dacryocystitis, is a common pediatric infection. It usually occurs after a long-term obstruction of the nasolacrimal duct (a tube that connects the eye with the nose, allowing proper drainage of the eye's secretions). This infection, caused by staphylococci or streptococci, produces tender swelling in the inner corner of the eye

Fisher, Irving

2005-01-16T16:13:00.000-08:00

Fisher was educated at Yale University (B.A., 1888; Ph.D., 1891), where he remained to teach mathematics (1892–95) and economics (1895–1935). In The Purchasing Power of Money (1911), he developed the modern concept

Abell, A.s.

2005-01-15T23:13:00.000-08:00

Abell left school at the age of 14 to become a clerk in a store dealing in West Indian wares. He had hoped to become a printer, and in 1822 he was taken on as an apprentice by the Providence

Argentina, Language and religion

2005-01-15T15:43:00.000-08:00

Spanish is the national language, although in Argentina it is spoken in several accents and has absorbed many words from other languages, especially Italian. Numerous foreign languages and dialects can be heard, from Basque and Sicilian to Welsh and Gaelic. Toward the end of the 19th century, an underworld language called lunfardo developed in Buenos Aires, composed

Junee

2005-01-14T15:52:00.000-08:00

Town, south central New South Wales, Australia, just north of Wagga Wagga in the fertile Riverina district. Founded in 1863 as Jewnee, it was known as Jewnee Junction or Loftus when proclaimed a town in 1883 and was gazetted a municipality in 1886. It became a shire in 1981. Its name is Aboriginal for “speak to me.” On the main southern rail line from Sydney (216 mi [348 km] northeast), Junee has large locomotive

Dai Jiten

2005-01-13T00:12:00.000-08:00

The work is a reduced-size reprint of the 26-volume edition of 1934–36, augmented substantially with new entries. Dai jiten contains more than 400,000 modern, classical, dialect, and technical words, many of them, especially in the technical and modern categories, of foreign origin.

Harald Iii Sigurdsson

2005-01-11T18:25:00.000-08:00

The son of Sigurd Sow (Syr), a chieftain in eastern Norway, and of Estrid, mother of the Norwegian king Olaf II Haraldsson (St. Olaf), Harald fought at the age of 15 against the Danes

Cytoplasm

2005-01-10T20:45:00.000-08:00

The protoplasm of a cell external to the nuclear membrane. In eukaryotes (i.e., cells having a nucleus), the cytoplasm contains all of the organelles except for the nucleus itself. Among such organelles are the mitochondria, which are the sites of energy production through ATP (adenosine triphosphate) synthesis; the endoplasmic reticulum, the site of lipid and protein

Anderson, Elda Emma

2005-01-10T07:25:00.000-08:00

Anderson's affinity for numbers and her general intellectual gifts were apparent from girlhood. After graduating from Ripon College (B.S., 1922) in Ripon, Wisconsin, she earned (1924) a master's degree in physics from the University of Wisconsin. Her

Gulfport

2005-01-09T00:57:00.000-08:00

City, coseat (with nearby Biloxi) of Harrison county, southern Mississippi, U.S., about 55 miles (90 km) east of New Orleans, Louisiana. Gulfport is a port of entry on Mississippi Sound, an embayment of the Gulf of Mexico. It was founded in 1887 by Captain William H. Hardy as the site for the terminus of his Gulf and Ship Island Railroad. In 1902 Captain Joseph T. Jones assumed control of the line,

Indus River

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

Great trans-Himalayan river of South Asia and one of the longest rivers in the world, having a length of 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometres). It has a total drainage area of about 450,000 square miles (1,165,500 square kilometres), of which 175,000 square miles lie in the Himalayan mountains and foothills and the rest in the semiarid plains of Pakistan. The river's annual flow is about 272 billion cubic yards (207 billion

Trichogrammatid

2005-01-05T02:44:00.000-08:00

Any of the tiny parasitic chalcid insects of the family Trichogrammatidae (order Hymenoptera), particularly those of the genus Trichogramma. Adults of Trichogramma species are less than one millimetre long, with pear-shaped wings having a single vein and fringing hairs; the three-segmented tarsi are distinctive. Trichogramma larvae parasitize the eggs of moths

Austin College

2005-01-04T08:14:00.000-08:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher education in Sherman, Texas, U.S. Austin, a liberal arts college, is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The college offers bachelor's degree programs in humanities, math and science, and social sciences, as well as interdisciplinary and area studies programs. A master's degree in education is also available. Students

Catamarca

2005-01-03T18:44:00.000-08:00

Also called San Fernando Del Valle De Catamarca city, capital of Catamarca province, northwestern Argentina, on the Río del Valle de Catamarca, a river between the two south-pointing spurs of the Andean sierras of Ambato and Ancasti. Originally named Londres, it was founded by the explorer Juan Pérez de Zurita (1559) in the Valle de Quinmivil. Following various moves due to hostile Indians, Catamarca was established in

Performing Arts

2005-01-02T23:00:00.000-08:00

Fredericia

2005-01-01T18:35:00.000-08:00

City and port, Vejle amtskommune (county commune), eastern Jutland, Denmark, on the Little Strait, there bridged to Fyn (Funen) island. Founded and chartered in 1650 by Frederick III as a fortress to defend Jutland, it enjoyed special privileges, including freedom of worship and exemption from taxes. After a destructive siege in 1849, the Danes drove off the allied Prussians and

Harbours And Sea Works

2004-12-31T19:47:00.000-08:00

The construction of harbours and sea works offers some of the most unusual problems and challenges in civil engineering. The continuous and immediate

Qatar

2004-12-31T00:22:00.000-08:00

Qatar's economic prosperity is derived from petroleum, which was discovered in 1939 and first produced in 1949, and from natural gas. Before World War II, Qatar's population lacked any economic occupation apart from pearling, fishing, and some trade and was one of the poorest in the world. By the 1970s, however, the native Qataris enjoyed one of the highest per capita incomes in the world,

Pa Hsien

2004-12-30T09:43:00.000-08:00

In Chinese art they sometimes also

Refugee

2004-12-28T15:22:00.000-08:00

Any uprooted, homeless, involuntary migrant who has crossed a frontier and no longer possesses the protection of his former government. Prior to the 19th century the movement from one country to another did not require passports and visas; the right to asylum was commonly recognized and honoured. Although there have been numerous waves of refugees throughout history,

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, Fable

2004-12-28T01:42:00.000-08:00

Fables teach a general principle of conduct by presenting a specific example of behaviour. Thus, to define the moral that “People who rush into things without using judgment run into strange and unexpected dangers,” Aesop—the traditional “father” of the fable form—told the following story:There was a dog who was fond of eating eggs. Mistaking a shell-fish for an egg one

Catechism

2004-12-26T18:39:00.000-08:00

A manual of religious instruction usually arranged in the form of questions and answers used to instruct the young, to win converts, and to testify to the faith. Although many religions give instruction in the faith by means of oral questions and answers, the written catechism is primarily a product of Christianity. Some early handbooks of instruction were prepared

Aleut Language

2004-12-25T16:50:00.000-08:00

Aleut Unangam Tunuu, one of two branches of the Eskimo-Aleut languages (q.v.). Two mutually intelligible dialects survive, Eastern Aleut and Atkan Aleut. A third dialect, Attu, now extinct in Alaska, survives on Bering Island (one of the Komandor Islands) in a creolized form that incorporates Russian verbal inflections. Aleut is spoken from the Alaska Peninsula through Umnak Island and on

Canada West

2004-12-25T01:50:00.000-08:00

Canada West was settled primarily by English-speaking immigrants. The inhabitants nevertheless sought confederation with Canada East (which was populated largely

Margherita Peak

2004-12-23T14:43:00.000-08:00

French Pic Marguerite, highest summit of the Ruwenzori Range in East Africa and the third highest in Africa (after Mounts Kilimanjaro and Kenya). Margherita Peak is the highest peak on Mount Stanley. It rises to 16,795 feet (5,119 m) between Lake Albert (Lake Mobutu Sese Seko) to the north and Lake Edward to the south on the Congo (Kinshasa)–Uganda border. It was first climbed in 1906 by an expedition led by Luigi Amedeo

Hackenschmidt, George

2004-12-23T06:20:00.000-08:00

In Vienna in 1898 Hackenschmidt won the world amateur championship in Greco-Roman wrestling. Turning to professional freestyle wrestling in

Anderson, Philip W.

2004-12-21T17:06:00.000-08:00

Educated at Harvard University, Anderson received his doctorate in 1949. From 1949 to 1984 he worked at Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey. From 1967 to 1975 he was professor

Tyuyamunite

2004-12-21T10:45:00.000-08:00

Radioactive, yellow, soft, and waxy uranium and vanadium oxide mineral, Ca(UO2)2(VO4)2×nH2O. It is considered to be the calcium analogue of carnotite, from which it can be made artificially and reversibly by cation exchange (calcium exchanges places with potassium in carnotite's molecular structure). Tyuyamunite occurs widely with carnotite in the southwestern United States

Conopophagidae

2004-12-20T09:35:00.000-08:00

Gnateater (or antpipit) family of small, plump-bodied birds of Central and South America. The two genera (Conopophaga and Corythopsis) were separated from the antbird family (Formicariidae) in 1882 and raised to family rank. Research in the late 1960s, however, led to its dissolution; the Conopophaga were then returned to the Formicariidae, and the Corythopsis were assigned to

Tapestry, Pre-Columbian Americas

2004-12-18T17:10:00.000-08:00

The most skilled weaving in pre-Columbian America was achieved by the Andean Indian cultures of ancient Peru. The origins of tapestry weaving among these peoples are believed to date as early as the beginnings of the Christian Era. By the 6th and 7th centuries the technique of tapestry weaving was established, and a large number of pieces in this medium have survived,

Jubayl, Al-

2004-12-18T03:16:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Jubail, also called Jubail Industrial City, port city, eastern Saudi Arabia, on the Persian Gulf north of az-Zahran, near the 'Abd al-'Aziz naval base. In the early 1970s the Saudi government chose al-Jubayl, an ancient fishing and pearling village, to be the site of a major industrial complex. Its location on the Persian Gulf would yield an ample water supply for cooling the large industrial plants and would also promote ease

Lilac

2004-12-16T01:11:00.000-08:00

The common lilac

Carthage, Exarchate Of

2004-12-15T20:44:00.000-08:00

The exarch (governor), appointed by the emperor, was endowed with unlimited military and civil

Lowden, Frank Orren

2004-12-14T22:54:00.000-08:00

Lowden attended law school in Chicago and within a few years of graduating had become a prominent and prosperous corporate attorney. Throughout his legal and political career, he remained

Painting, Western

2004-12-13T07:54:00.000-08:00

In the Metal Age, western Mediterranean cultures were similar at many points. The area occupied by them extended from Illyria (the northwestern part of the Balkan Peninsula) in the east to the Atlantic shores of the Iberian Peninsula in the west and from the shores along the Gulf of Lion and the Ligurian Sea (i.e., the coasts of what are now southern France and northwestern

Lea

2004-12-12T15:54:00.000-08:00

County in the High Plains of southeastern New Mexico, U.S., bordered on the east and south by Texas. The northwestern area of the county is located on the Llano Estacado, or Staked Plain, above the Mescalero Escarpment at over 4,000 feet (1,200 m) above sea level; the land slopes to the southeast to under 3,000 feet. There are no streams in Lea county, which includes several dry lakes and creek

Romanus Iii Argyrus

2004-12-10T15:16:00.000-08:00

He was an undistinguished Byzantine patrician, who was compelled by the dying emperor, Constantine VIII, to marry his daughter Zoe and to become his successor. Romanus showed great eagerness to make his mark as a ruler but was mostly unfortunate in his enterprises; and in his endeavour to relieve the pressure of taxation he disorganized

Baikalsky Nature Reserve

2004-12-09T22:38:00.000-08:00

Natural area set aside for research in the natural sciences, on the southern shore of Lake Baikal, southeastern Russia. The reserve was established in 1969 and has an area of 640 square miles (1,657 square km). It includes part of the Khamar-Daban mountain range. The park's vegetation includes poplar forests in the lowlands; taiga of spruce, fir, and larch on the mountain slopes; and thickets

Fleming, Peggy

2004-12-09T03:18:00.000-08:00

The United States dominated men's and women's figure skating in the 1950s, but in 1961 a plane carrying the United States

Iacchus

2004-12-08T13:51:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Iakchos, minor deity associated with the Eleusinian Mysteries, the best known of the ancient Greek mystery religions. On the day preceding the commencement of the mysteries, Iacchus' name was invoked with the names of the earth goddess Demeter and her daughter Kore (Persephone) during the procession from Athens to Eleusis, a city in Attica. Probably originally a personification

Baikal, Lake

2004-12-06T14:03:00.000-08:00

Russian Ozero Baykal, also spelled Ozero Bajkal, lake located in the southern part of eastern Siberia within the republic of Buryatia and Irkutsk oblast (province) of Russia. It is the oldest existing freshwater lake on Earth (20–25 million years old), as well as the deepest continental body of water, having a maximum depth of 5,315 feet (1,620 metres). Its area is some 12,200 square miles (31,500 square km), with a length of 395 miles (636 km) and an average width

Gaudí, Antoni

2004-12-05T15:08:00.000-08:00

Catalan in full Antoni Gaudí i Cornet , Spanish Antonio Gaudí y Cornet Catalan architect, whose distinctive style is characterized by freedom of form, voluptuous colour and texture, and organic unity. Gaudí worked almost entirely in or near Barcelona. Much of his career was occupied with the construction of the Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family (Sagrada Familia), which was unfinished at his death in

Botucatu

2004-12-05T07:40:00.000-08:00

City, central São Paulo estado (“state”), Brazil. It lies near the Pardo River in the Serra de Botucatu at 2,549 feet (777 m) above sea level. It was given town status in 1855 and was made the seat of a municipality in 1876. Crops (including coffee, cotton, rice, sugarcane, feijão [beans], and potatoes) grown in the region are processed in the city, which also has foundries, textile mills, bakeries, and factories

Owendo

2004-12-04T08:19:00.000-08:00

Deepwater port, northwestern Gabon, on the north shore of the Gabon Estuary; it serves the national capital, Libreville (9 miles [15 km] north-northwest), and was designed to handle ore vessels. It has a seaplane base and road connections with Libreville, Cocobeach, Médouneu, and Kango. In 1978 the first 115-mile (185-kilometre) segment of the Trans-Gabon Railway was opened, linking Owendo

Avilés

2004-12-02T13:59:00.000-08:00

City, Asturias provincia and comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”), northwestern Spain. It lies along the Ría (inlet) de Avilés, an inlet of the Bay of Biscay. A summer resort with beaches at nearby Salinas, the city has an iron and steel industry and a fishing fleet, and it exports coal from the Asturias mines. Avilés is rich in medieval architecture, its outstanding

Theatrical Production, Dramatist and director domination

2004-12-02T03:55:00.000-08:00

During certain periods the work of the dramatist, regardless of his subsequent involvement, determined the creative process in production. In ancient Greece the selection of a play was the first step in production. In the 19th and 20th centuries the acquisition of a script was also the preliminary step in establishing the single-show association. Only occasionally,

Nero

2004-12-01T06:10:00.000-08:00

In full Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , also called (AD 50–54) Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus , original name Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus the fifth Roman emperor (AD 54–68), stepson and heir of the emperor Claudius. He became infamous for his personal debaucheries and extravagances and, on doubtful evidence, for his burning of Rome and persecutions of Christians.

Annelid, Development

2004-11-30T17:04:00.000-08:00

In annelids, the first four cells (blastomeres) give rise, by alternating clockwise and counterclockwise

Aerospace Industry, Propulsion

2004-11-29T05:48:00.000-08:00

There are three basic types of flight vehicle-propulsion systems: piston engines (or reciprocating engines), turbine engines (true-jet, turboprop, and turboshaft engines), and rocket engines (see airplane: Propulsion systems and rocket). At the low end of the performance spectrum are reciprocating engines. Although during World War II and the early postwar period the industry

Bradley, Edward Riley

2004-11-28T00:50:00.000-08:00

As a boy, Bradley worked in steel mills, then went to the Southwest, where he became a cowboy and fought Indians and was briefly a miner before he turned to gambling, which became a lifelong passion. Before the turn of the century,

Ben Lomond

2004-11-26T11:28:00.000-08:00

Mountain mass in northeastern Tasmania, Australia, comprising a plateau of 30 square miles (78 square km) made up of igneous rock. It mostly lies above 4,500 feet (1,400 m), making it the highest land in the state. The loftiest portion stretches 7 miles (11 km) from Legge Peak (Legges Tor; 5,161 feet [1,573 m]) southeast to Stacks Bluff (5,010 feet [1,527 m]). The surface is also covered with many small hills and lakes. Ben Lomond

Chatham

2004-11-26T00:49:00.000-08:00

Town, Northumberland county, eastern New Brunswick, Canada. It lies near the mouth of the Miramichi River opposite Newcastle, 84 miles (135 km) north-northwest of Moncton. Founded about 1800 by Francis Peabody, it was probably named in honour of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham. It has pulp and paper mills, foundries, and shipyards and is a lumber-shipping and salmon-fishing port. In the

Fibrin

2004-11-24T09:16:00.000-08:00

An insoluble protein that is produced in response to bleeding and is the major component of the blood clot. Fibrin is a tough protein substance that is arranged in long fibrous chains; it is formed from fibrinogen, a soluble protein that is produced by the liver and found in blood plasma. When tissue damage results in bleeding, fibrinogen is converted at the wound into

Lak-dargin Languages

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

Also called Lak-dargwa, two related languages spoken in central Dagestan in the Caucasus—Lak and Dargin. Both are written languages. The dialects of Dargin differ considerably from one another and are considered by some scholars to be separate languages. The Lak-Dargin languages are often placed in the Dagestanian group of the Nakho-Dagestanian (Northeast Caucasian) languages, together

Epilepsy

2004-11-23T01:48:00.000-08:00

Chronic neurological disorder characterized by sudden and recurrent seizures which are caused by excessive signaling of nerve cells in the brain. Seizures may include convulsions, momentary lapses of consciousness, strange movements or sensations in parts of the body, odd behaviours, and emotional disturbances. Epileptic seizures typically last one to two

Empiricism, Broader senses

2004-11-21T09:22:00.000-08:00

In both everyday attitudes and philosophical theories, the experiences referred to are principally those arising from stimulation of the sense organs, in particular those of sight and touch. Most philosophical Empiricists, however, have maintained that sensation is not the only provider of experience, admitting as empirical the awareness of mental states

Moscow Academic Art Theatre

2004-11-20T20:08:00.000-08:00

Also called (until 1939) Moscow Art Theatre, Russian Moscovsky Akademichesky Khudozhestvenny Teatr, or Moscovsky Khudozhestvenny Teatr, abbreviation Mkhat, outstanding Russian theatre of theatrical naturalism founded in 1898 by two teachers of dramatic art, Konstantin Stanislavsky and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko (qq.v.). Its purpose was to establish a theatre of new art forms, with a fresh approach to its function. Sharing similar theatrical experience and interests, the cofounders met and it was agreed that Stanislavsky

Sea Lake

2004-11-20T17:36:00.000-08:00

Located on the Calder Highway and a rail line running southeast to Melbourne (195 miles [314 km] southeast),

Yemen

2004-11-18T17:54:00.000-08:00

A republic of the southwestern Arabian Peninsula, Yemen has coastlines on the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Arabian Sea. Area: 527,970 sq km (203,850 sq mi), including 55,871 sq km of undemarcated area bordered by Saudi Arabia and claimed by the former Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen). Pop. (1995 est.): 13,058,000. Cap.: San'a`. Monetary unit: Yemen Rial, with (Oct. 6, 1995) an official par value of YRls 50 to U.S. $1 (YRls 79.04 = £1 sterling) and a free

Biblical Literature, The Septuagint (LXX)

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

This narrative, repeated

Anthropology And Archaeology, Eastern Hemisphere.

2004-11-16T05:09:00.000-08:00

The year 2002 yielded a number of stunning archaeological discoveries. A 50-cm (20-in)-long limestone ossuary, or box for storage of bones, bearing a text in Aramaic, was hailed as the first archaeological evidence for the historical Jesus. The ossuary, found near Jerusalem, was carved with a single line of text reading, “Ya'akov bar Yosef akhui diYeshua,” or “James, son of Joseph, brother

Yoshiyuki, Junnosuke

2004-11-16T01:57:00.000-08:00

Japanese novelist and short-story writer (b. April 1, 1923, Okayama, Japan--d. July 26, 1994, Tokyo, Japan), explored human sexuality and prostitution as a means of understanding human relationships. His prize-winning works include the short story "Shuu" (1954; "Sudden Shower," 1972), and the novels Anshitsu (1969: The Dark Room, 1975) and Yugure made (1978: "Until Evening"), the latter of which won the Noma Literary Prize. Yoshiyuki,

Bhagavata

2004-11-14T07:31:00.000-08:00

The Bhagavata sect originated among the Yadava people of the Mathura area in the

Berenson, Bernard

2004-11-13T00:46:00.000-08:00

Reared in Boston, Berenson was educated at Harvard University, from which he was graduated in 1887. His first book, The Venetian Painters of the Renaissance (1894), displayed a concise writing style. He was also endowed with a discriminating eye, exceptional