AcidTown

Orlov, Aleksey Grigoryevich, Count (graf)

2005-04-04T07:20:00.000-07:00

Having entered the cadet corps in 1749, Orlov became an officer in the Russian guards as well as a close adviser to his brother Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov, who about 1760 became the lover of Catherine,

Alembert, Jean Le Rond D'

2005-04-03T13:51:00.000-07:00

In 1739 he read his first paper to the Academy of Sciences, of which he became a member in 1741. In 1743, at the age of 26, he published his important Traité de dynamique, a fundamental treatise on dynamics containing the famous “d'Alembert's principle,” which states that Newton's third law of motion (for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction) is true for bodies that are free to

Spanish Marriages, Affair Of The

2005-04-02T00:34:00.000-08:00

The political maneuvering surrounding the dual marriages (October 10, 1846) of Queen Isabella II of Spain to her cousin Francisco de Asís de Bourbon, duque de Cadiz, and of her younger sister and heiress to the throne, Luisa Fernanda, to Antoine, duc de Montpensier, the youngest son of King Louis-Philippe of France. The marriages revived dynastic ties between Spain and France

Switzerland, Settlement patterns

2005-04-01T13:28:00.000-08:00

The diversity of geomorphology, climate, and plant distribution in Switzerland provides a wide variety of sites for the formation of settlements, a variety further enhanced by the country's central European location. Because of its distinct cultural differences, Switzerland provides varied examples for the study of the geography of settlements. For example,

U.s. News & World Report

2005-03-31T19:57:00.000-08:00

Weekly news magazine published in Washington, D.C., one of the most influential of its kind and the first to successfully imitate the general format pioneered by Time. It was established in 1933 by David Lawrence as U.S. News and won general note for its thorough coverage of major news events in Washington, D.C., and the United States, often carrying the complete text of major

Aeschylus

2005-03-30T01:21:00.000-08:00

The date of this play (and even its authorship) is disputed, but many scholars regard it as a work of Aeschylus' last years. In Prometheus Bound (Greek Prometheus desmotes) the god Prometheus, who in defiance of Zeus has saved mankind and given them fire, is chained to a remote crag as a punishment ordered by the king of the gods. Despite his isolation Prometheus is visited by

Aesthetics, The value of art

2005-03-29T13:39:00.000-08:00

Theories of the value of art are of two kinds, which we may call extrinsic and intrinsic. The first regards art and the appreciation of art as means to some recognized moral good, while the second regards them as valuable not instrumentally but as objects unto themselves. It is characteristic of extrinsic theories to locate the value of art in its effects on the person

Wells, Henry

2005-03-28T22:45:00.000-08:00

Wells gained experience as an agent for Harnden's Express at Albany, N.Y., and then as a founder of Livingston, Wells, and Pomeroy's Express, operating between Albany and Buffalo. In 1844, together with William Fargo (q.v.) and Daniel Dunning,

Aeschylus

2005-03-26T21:28:00.000-08:00

Aeschylus' influence on the development of tragedy was fundamental. Previous to him, Greek drama was limited to one actor and a chorus engaged in a largely static recitation. (The chorus was a group of actors who responded to and commented on the main action of a play with song, dance, and recitation.) The actor could assume different roles by changing masks and costumes,

Moran, George

2005-03-26T06:20:00.000-08:00

A childhood friend and, later, right-hand man of Dion O'Bannion, Moran and Earl “Hymie” Weiss inherited O'Bannion's gang in Chicago when the chief was killed in 1924. Moran became sole leader after Weiss was killed in late 1926. For the next three years Moran's gang and Al

French Literature, Racine's fatalism

2005-03-25T08:14:00.000-08:00

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

B-1

2005-03-24T15:39:00.000-08:00

U.S. variable-wing strategic bomber that entered service in 1986 as a successor to the B-52 Stratofortress. The B-1 was designed to penetrate radar-guided air defenses by flying at low levels. It was built in two versions by Rockwell International. The B-1A, first flown in 1974, was designed to reach twice the speed of sound at high altitudes and to carry nuclear bombs and short-range attack

Omen

2005-03-22T18:57:00.000-08:00

Observed phenomenon that is interpreted as signifying good or bad fortune. In ancient times omens were numerous and varied and included, for instance, lightning, cloud movements, the flight of birds, and the paths of certain sacred animals. Within each type of sign were minor subdivisions, such as the different kinds of bird in flight or the direction of flight in relation

Empiricism, Broader senses

2005-03-22T10:12:00.000-08:00

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

Tapestry

2005-03-21T13:04:00.000-08:00

Wool has been the material most widely used for making the warp, or the parallel series of threads that run lengthwise in the fabric of the tapestry. The width-running, weft, or filling threads, which are passed at right angles above and below the warp threads, thereby completely covering them, are also most commonly of wool. The advantages of wool in the weaving of tapestries

Rime Riche

2005-03-21T11:55:00.000-08:00

Also called identical rhyme in French and English prosody, a rhyme produced by agreement in sound not only of the last accented vowel and any succeeding sounds but also of the consonant preceding this rhyming vowel. A rime riche may consist of homographs (fair/fair) or homophones (write/right). It is distinguished from rime suffisante.

De La Mare, Walter

2005-03-19T02:18:00.000-08:00

De la Mare was educated at St. Paul's Cathedral Choir School in London, and from 1890 to 1908 he worked in the London office of the Anglo-American Oil Company. From 1902, however, when his poetry collection Songs of Childhood appeared

La Rochefoucauld-liancourt, François-alexandre-frédéric, Duke (duc) De

2005-03-18T15:18:00.000-08:00

La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, the son of François-Armand de La Rochefoucauld, Duke d'Estissac, served in the army and, after going to England

Kolbe, Hermann

2005-03-18T00:33:00.000-08:00

After studying chemistry with Friedrich Wöhler, Kolbe became an assistant to Robert Bunsen at the University of Marburg in 1842. Subsequently he assisted Lyon Playfair at the

Asceticism

2005-03-16T17:20:00.000-08:00

In all strictly ascetic movements, celibacy (q.v.) has been regarded as the first commandment. Virgins and celibates emerged among the earliest Christian communities and came to occupy a prominent status. Among the earliest Mesopotamian Christian communities, only the celibates were accepted as full members of the church, and in some religions only celibates have

Parade

2005-03-16T03:18:00.000-08:00

A type of pageant (q.v.) whose main feature is a public procession.

United States V. E.c. Knight Company

2005-03-15T22:24:00.000-08:00

President Grover Cleveland ordered the government to

Shu Ching

2005-03-15T20:01:00.000-08:00

The Shu Ching consists of 58 chapters. Of these, 33 (originally

Elizabeth

2005-03-14T03:21:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1857) of Union county, northeastern New Jersey, U.S., on Newark Bay and Arthur Kill (channel; connected by bridge to Staten Island, New York City) and is adjacent to Newark, New Jersey, to the north. Settlement began in 1664 with the purchase of land from the Delaware Indians. It was named Elizabethtown to honour the wife of Sir George Carteret, one of the colony's first proprietors.

Sesostris Iii

2005-03-12T09:27:00.000-08:00

During the reigns of his predecessors, the provincial nobles of Middle Egypt had enhanced their power through royal favours and intermarriage with the families of neighbouring potentates. Around the

Hop-hornbeam

2005-03-12T08:33:00.000-08:00

Any of about seven species of ornamental trees constituting the genus Ostrya of the birch family (Betulaceae), native to Eurasia and North America. A hop-hornbeam has shaggy, scaling bark and thin, translucent, green leaves with hairy leafstalks. The hoplike, green fruits are composed of many bladderlike scales, each bearing a small, flat nut. The European

Powers, Francis Gary

2005-03-12T04:51:00.000-08:00

Powers was tried and convicted of espionage and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was released

Abbot, Charles Greeley

2005-03-10T17:47:00.000-08:00

The youngest of four children of a New Hampshire farming family,

Japan

2005-03-10T17:15:00.000-08:00

Japanese Nihon or Nippon country lying off the east coast of Asia. It consists of a great string of islands in a northeast-southwest arc that stretches for approximately 1,500 miles (2,400 km) through the western Pacific Ocean. Japan has a total land area of 145,903 square miles (377,887 square km). Nearly this entire area is taken up by the country's four main islands; from north to south these are Hokkaido (Hokkaido), Honshu

Arecibo

2005-03-10T00:07:00.000-08:00

Town, northern Puerto Rico. It lies on a small inlet near the mouth of the Arecibo River. One of the oldest municipalities in the commonwealth, it was authorized in 1537 by the Spanish crown and settled in 1556. In 1616 it was chartered as a town and in 1778 received the royal title villa. An official U.S. port of entry, the town has Puerto Rico's largest rum distilleries and produces agricultural

Hyde, Douglas

2005-03-09T22:26:00.000-08:00

Irish Dubhighlas de Hide ; pseudonym An Craoibhín Aoibhinn distinguished Gaelic scholar and writer and first president of the Republic of Ireland (Éire). He was the outstanding figure in the struggle for the preservation and extension of the Irish language from 1893, when he founded the Gaelic League (a nationalistic organization of Roman Catholics and Protestants), until

Manakara

2005-03-09T02:37:00.000-08:00

Town, southeastern Madagascar. It is situated along the Indian Ocean and the Pangalanes Canal. An old fishing village, it became a thriving Indian Ocean port after a railway was constructed connecting it to Fianarantsoa (75 miles [120 km] northwest). Now it handles the coastal trade of coffee and cloves, and it has workshops serving the railway. Pop. (1978 est.) 26,000.

Orange

2005-03-08T00:30:00.000-08:00

In the early 1800s the discovery of mineral springs in what is now West Orange

Lycian Alphabet

2005-03-07T06:35:00.000-08:00

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.

Corcovado, Mount

2005-03-07T06:34:00.000-08:00

Portuguese Morro Do Corcovado, sharp rocky peak (2,310 ft [704 m]), a part of the Carioca Range, overlooking Rio de Janeiro. Mt. Corcovado (Hunchback) is named for its shape. On its narrow summit towers the imposing statue of Christ the Redeemer, 98.5 ft tall. The peak is accessible by road and cog railway.

Jacobsen, Jens Peter

2005-03-06T03:19:00.000-08:00

The son of a Jutland merchant, Jacobsen was a student of the natural sciences. He became a follower of Charles Darwin and translated into Danish both On the Origin of Species, in 1871–73, and The Descent

Wailuku

2005-03-05T05:22:00.000-08:00

City, seat of Maui county, northern Maui Island, Hawaii, U.S. It is situated on an isthmus at the mouth of the valley of Iao and the base of the western mountains. With Kahului (east) it forms a contiguous area that is the most densely populated and busiest on the island. Iao Stream flows through the western part of the city. Wailuku (Hawaiian: “Water of Destruction”) recalls the

Husband, Rick D.

2005-03-04T14:40:00.000-08:00

American astronaut (b. July 12, 1957, Amarillo, Texas—d. Feb. 1, 2003, over Texas), was commander of the space shuttle Columbia's mission. Husband was educated at Texas Tech University and at California State University at Fresno, where he earned a master's degree in 1990. He joined the U.S. Air Force in 1980. In 1999 he flew on the Discovery on the first space shuttle mission to dock with the International Space

Nabu

2005-03-04T02:47:00.000-08:00

Samsuditana, the last king of the 1st dynasty of Babylon (reigned

Zaghlul, Sa'd

2005-03-03T05:09:00.000-08:00

Zaghlul was from a well-to-do peasant family in Ibyanah in the Nile River delta. He was educated at the Muslim University of Al-Azhar in Cairo and at the Egyptian

Wildgans, Anton

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

The son of a judge, Wildgans became a lawyer but soon turned to writing. His childhood had been marred by his relations with his stepmother. His early poems, among which was the collection Herbstfr

Aurangzeb

2005-03-02T20:08:00.000-08:00

Aurangzeb's reign falls into two almost equal parts. In the first, which lasted until about 1680, he was a capable Muslim monarch of a mixed Hindu-Muslim empire and as such was generally disliked for his ruthlessness but feared and respected for his vigour and skill. During this period he was much occupied with safeguarding the northwest from Persians and Central Asian

Atchafalaya Bay

2005-03-01T21:05:00.000-08:00

Arm of the Gulf of Mexico, extending southeastward along the southern coast of Louisiana, U.S., for 21 miles (34 km) from Point Chevreuil to Point Au Fer on Point Au Fer Island. The bay is 10 miles (16 km) wide, and Four League Bay extends another 11 miles (18 km) to the southeast. Eugene Island lies on a long shell reef extending 25 miles (40 km) northwest of Point Au Fer. The Lower Atchafalaya River links

Theodebald

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

Also spelled Theudebald, French Théodebald, or Thibaud Merovingian king of Reims from 547 or 548, in succession to his father, Theodebert I. He proved incapable of continuing the latter's dynamic policies. He left no son, and on his death his kingdom passed to his granduncle, Chlotar I.

Nation

2005-02-28T07:52:00.000-08:00

In medieval universities, a group of students from a particular region or country who banded together for mutual protection and cooperation in a strange land. In some universities nations were responsible for educating and examining students. Each one was governed by its own proctor, who was elected for terms varying from one month (at the University of Paris) to

Maupin, Armistead

2005-02-27T10:43:00.000-08:00

Maupin was reared in North Carolina. He showed an early interest in film and theatre. His adolescent years were complicated by his growing awareness of his homosexuality. Graduating from the University of North Carolina in 1966, Maupin worked for a time under the future senator Jesse Helms

Alphabet, Theories explaining diffusion

2005-02-27T00:45:00.000-08:00

There is no complete agreement among scholars as to how or why certain alphabets have come to dominate much of the world. Some believe that diffusion is explained by the efficiency of the orthography; the Greek alphabet, capable of representing unambiguously a full range of meanings, was adopted throughout western Europe. Others hold that the alphabet follows

Antibody

2005-02-25T03:51:00.000-08:00

When an alien substance

Brugmann, Karl

2005-02-24T15:06:00.000-08:00

As a young man Brugmann sided with the emerging Junggrammatiker, or Neogrammarians, who rejected

Calendar Of 1995

2005-02-24T08:14:00.000-08:00

With near unanimous consent (292-15), members of Ukraine's Supreme Council (parliament) voted to oust the Cabinet of Pres. Leonid Kuchma. The vote of no confidence cast by numerous former communist legislators was generally interpreted as an expression of dissatisfaction with Kuchma's reforms. Some analysts, however, suggested that the president

Alexander Island

2005-02-24T03:14:00.000-08:00

Also called Alexander Land, large island in the Bellingshausen Sea, separated from the Antarctica mainland by the George VI Sound. An extremely rugged region with peaks up to 9,800 feet (2,987 m) above sea level, it is 270 miles (435 km) long and up to 125 miles (200 km) wide and has an area of about 16,700 square miles (43,250 square km). The Russian explorers Bellingshausen and Lazarev discovered the land in 1821 and named it after the Russian tsar.

Ji Pengfei

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

Chinese diplomat (b. 1910, Linyi, Shanxi province, China—d. Feb. 10, 2000, Beijing, China), served from 1982 to 1990 as director of Hong Kong and Macau affairs in the State Council, playing a lead role in the negotiations with Britain over the return of Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty. He was also chairman of the committee that drafted the Basic Law, the constitution governing the relationship between

Amphibole

2005-02-23T00:38:00.000-08:00

The fundamental building block of all silicate mineral structures is the silicon-oxygen tetrahedron (SiO4)4-. It consists of a central silicon atom surrounded by four oxygen atoms in the shape of a tetrahedron. The essential characteristic of the amphibole structure is a double chain of corner-linked silicon-oxygen tetrahedrons that extend indefinitely parallel

Fukien, Settlement patterns

2005-02-22T23:09:00.000-08:00

About one-fifth of Fukien's population lives in cities and towns, the rest in rural areas. Population densities are lowest in the mountain uplands, increase in the river valleys, and are highest on the coastal plains and estuaries near Amoy, Ch'üan-chou, and Fu-chou.

Manchester

2005-02-22T15:46:00.000-08:00

Urban town (township), Hartford county, central Connecticut, U.S. It lies east of Hartford on the Hockanum River. The area was settled in 1672, when it was purchased from the Mohegan Indians by the Puritan clergyman Thomas Hooker and his company. Originally a part of Hartford (after 1694 in East Hartford) and called the Five-Mile Tract, it was organized as an ecclesiastical society

Astor (of Hever, Of Hever Castle), John Jacob Astor, 1st Baron

2005-02-21T22:50:00.000-08:00

He was the second son of the 1st Viscount Astor (before his emigration to England) and Astor's first wife, Mary Dahlgren. Educated at Eton,

Sorel, Georges (-eugène)

2005-02-20T13:04:00.000-08:00

Sorel was born of a middle-class family and trained as a civil engineer. Not until he reached age 40 did he become interested in social and economic

Breckinridge, Mary

2005-02-20T09:05:00.000-08:00

Breckinridge grew up in Washington, D.C., where her father was an Arkansas congressman, and in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he served as U.S. minister to Russia. Educated

Jari River

2005-02-20T02:38:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Jary, river, northern Brazil, rising on the southern slopes of the Tumuc-Humac Mountains and flowing in a generally southeasterly direction for about 350 miles (560 km) to join the Amazon River at Bôca do Jari, opposite Grande de Gurupá Island. The Jari forms the border between Pará and Amapá states, and its lower course is navigable. An American entrepreneur, Daniel Ludwig, began

K.c.v.o.

2005-02-19T23:23:00.000-08:00

Knight commander of the Royal Victorian Order, member of the second highest rank of a British order of knighthood. See Royal Victorian Order.

Rouyn-noranda

2005-02-19T05:39:00.000-08:00

City, Abitibi-Témiscamingue region, western Quebec province, Canada, on the western shore of Lake Osisko. It is located 315 miles (507 km) northwest of Montreal city. Rouyn and its twin city, Noranda, originated in the 1920s when gold and copper ores were first exploited in the area. Rouyn was named after the sieur de Rouyn, a hero of the Battle of Sainte-Foy (1760), and became the administrative,

Canalejas, José

2005-02-19T03:03:00.000-08:00

Canalejas's political career began with his election to the Cortes (parliament) in 1881 for the district of Soria. In the following years, Canalejas represented the

Auliye-ata

2005-02-18T10:50:00.000-08:00

Kazak Zhambyl, also spelled Dzhambul , or Dzambul city, southern Kazakstan. It lies at the junction of the Talas River and the Turk-Sib Railway. Auliye-Ata is one of the oldest towns of Kazakstan. It stands on the site of the ancient city of Taraz, which flourished as a stop along the Silk Road until it was destroyed by Mongol armies in the 13th century. A new town called Auliye-Ata was established on the site by the emirs of Kokand

Aviary

2005-02-16T20:19:00.000-08:00

A structure for the keeping of captive birds, usually spacious enough for the aviculturist to enter. Aviaries range from small enclosures a metre or so on a side to large flight cages 30 m (100 feet) or more long and as much as 15 m high. Enclosures for birds that fly only little or weakly (e.g., rails, pheasants) are often only one metre high. The private aviary often consists of a room

Guatemala, History Of

2005-02-16T04:55:00.000-08:00

Following independence from Spain (1821) and Mexico (1823), Guatemala was the political centre of the United Provinces of Central America. The principal factor in the collapse of the federation was the backcountry uprising in Guatemala led by Rafael Carrera, who established himself as the military arbiter of the state (1838) and, from the executive's chair or from behind it, controlled

Country Furniture

2005-02-16T01:17:00.000-08:00

Furniture made by country craftsmen, varying from purely functional pieces made by amateurs to expertly constructed and carved work based on luxurious furniture made for the rich. Much country furniture is naive, with the best of such examples falling into the category of folk art. The furniture is sturdy, rarely delicate in design or workmanship, and restricted

Czech Republic, History Of

2005-02-15T13:36:00.000-08:00

The Czech Republic came into being on Jan. 1, 1993, upon the dissolution of the Czechoslovak federation. At the time of separation, the federation's assets were divided at a ratio of two to one

Kidd, William

2005-02-15T09:22:00.000-08:00

Kidd's early career is obscure. It is believed he went to sea as a youth. After 1689 he was sailing as

Salamanca

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

As an important Iberian settlement, it was ravaged by the Carthaginian general Hannibal in 217 BC. A Roman

Ku Yen-wu

2005-02-14T18:53:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Gu Yanwu one of the most famous of the Ming dynasty loyalists, whose rationalist critiques of the useless book learning and metaphysical speculations of the neo-Confucian philosophy (that had been the underpinning of the Chinese empire for almost 1,000 years) started a new trend in scholarship during the Ch'ing

Jewish Religious Year, Importance

2005-02-13T22:14:00.000-08:00

The central significance of the Sabbath for Judaism is reflected in the traditional commentative and interpretative literature called Talmud and Midrash (e.g., “if you wish to destroy the Jewish people, abolish their Sabbath first”) and in numerous legends and adages from more recent literature (e.g., “more than Israel kept the Sabbath, the Sabbath kept Israel”). Some of

Anisian Stage

2005-02-13T03:09:00.000-08:00

Lowermost of two divisions of the Middle Triassic Series, representing those rocks deposited worldwide during Anisian time (242 million to 234 million years ago) in the Triassic Period. The stage name is derived from an area of limestone formations along the Anisus River at Grossreifling in the Austrian Alps. The Anisian Stage is subdivided, in ascending order, into the

K.t.

2005-02-12T09:36:00.000-08:00

Knight of the Thistle, member of a Scottish order of knighthood. See Thistle, The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the.

Lipid Storage Disease

2005-02-12T07:17:00.000-08:00

Any of a group of relatively rare hereditary disorders of fat metabolism, characterized by the accumulation of distinctive types of lipids, notably cerebrosides, gangliosides, or sphingomyelins, in various body structures. Each type of lipid accumulates as a result of a defect in one of the several organic catalysts or enzymes that normally metabolize it inside

National Academy Of Sciences

2005-02-11T15:29:00.000-08:00

In 1916 the academy established

Silius Italicus

2005-02-11T07:55:00.000-08:00

Silius was a distinguished advocate in his earlier years. He later took to public service and was a consul in 68, the year of Nero's death. His association with the emperor Nero was a stain on his reputation that he later expunged through his successful governorship

Peru, Drainage

2005-02-11T07:01:00.000-08:00

Distinctive drainage patterns dissect the Costa, Sierra, and Montaña. Of the more than 50 rivers that flow west from the Andes across the Costa, most are short (usually less than 200 miles long) and precipitous, with highly seasonal rates of flow. Most have a period of peak flow (usually during the December to March rainy season) followed by a long dry period; only the largest of

Willard, Emma

2005-02-10T13:00:00.000-08:00

Emma Hart was the next-to-last of 17 children; her younger sister was educator and writer Almira Hart (Lincoln Phelps). Encouraged

Brühl, Heinrich, Graf Von (count Of)

2005-02-09T20:33:00.000-08:00

Rising rapidly under Augustus II the Strong,

Hokkaido

2005-02-09T10:44:00.000-08:00

Northernmost of the four main islands of Japan, bordered by the Sea of Japan (west), the Sea of Okhotsk (north), and the Pacific Ocean (east and south). The island of Hokkaido has an area of 30,107 square miles (77,978 square km). Together with a few small adjacent islands, it constitutes a do (province) with an area of 32,247 square miles (83,520 square km), making up 21 percent of Japan's land area. Hokkaido is characterized

Yamalo-nenets

2005-02-09T08:47:00.000-08:00

Autonomous okrug (district), Tyumen oblast (province), in western Siberia, north-central Russia. It was established in 1930 as an autonomous okrug for the Nenets, or Samoyed, people, although by 1979 they constituted only 11 percent of the population. The okrug covers the northern part of the West Siberian Plain. Apart from the narrow chain of the northern Urals in the west, it is a huge,

Crabbe, George

2005-02-08T05:39:00.000-08:00

Crabbe grew up in the impoverished seacoast village of Aldeburgh and was apprenticed to a surgeon at 14. Hating his mean surroundings and unsuccessful occupation, he abandoned both in 1780 and went to London. In 1781 he wrote a

Novi Sad

2005-02-07T19:42:00.000-08:00

German Neusatz, Hungarian Újvidék, city and administrative capital of the ethnically mixed autonomous region of Vojvodina, Serbia, Yugoslavia. It is a transit port on the heavily trafficked Danube River northwest of Belgrade and is also situated on the Belgrade-Budapest rail line. The Backa canal system connects with the Danube at Novi Sad, which is the economic and cultural focus for northern Vojvodina.

Alcamo

2005-02-07T13:23:00.000-08:00

Town, Trapani provincia, northwestern Sicily, Italy, 23 miles (37 km) west-southwest of Palermo. The name comes from that of the nearby Saracen fortress, Alqamah, on Mount Bonifato. The present town was founded by the emperor Frederick II in 1233. Notable churches include the 17th-century Assunta Church and the Church of San Tomaso with an elaborate 14th-century doorway. There is also

Adams, Louisa

2005-02-06T22:02:00.000-08:00

Following her husband's death in 1848, Louisa continued to live in Washington, where she died in 1852. In an unprecedented mark of respect for a former first lady, Congress adjourned for her funeral so that members could pay their respects. She was buried beside her husband and his parents at the First Church in Quincy, Massachusetts.

San Bernardino Pass

2005-02-06T11:27:00.000-08:00

German Sankt Bernhardinpass, Italian Passo Di San Bernardino, mountain pass (6,775 ft [2,065 m]), in the Lepontine Alps of Graubünden canton, southeastern Switzerland. Although the pass was not mentioned until 941, it is believed to have been in use since prehistoric times. The road over the pass connects the villages of Splügen and Hinterrhein in the Hinterrhein River Valley to the north with the towns of Mesocco and Bellinzona in the Moesa River

Baraboo

2005-02-05T14:36:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1840) of Sauk county, south-central Wisconsin, U.S. It lies on small hills 40 miles (64 km) northwest of Madison. Baraboo originated in the early 19th century as a trading post established by the French trapper Jean Baribault, who lived along the river that was named (somewhat phonetically) for him. Incorporated in 1882, the community developed as a distribution centre for dairy

China, The Nien Rebellion

2005-02-05T01:26:00.000-08:00

Often in the first half of the 19th century plundering gangs, called nien, ravaged northern Anhwei, southern Shantung, and southern Honan. In mid-century, however, their activities were suddenly intensified, partly by the addition to their numbers of a great many starving people who had lost their livelihood from repeated floods of the Huang Ho in the early 1850s, and partly

Pétain, (henri-)philippe

2005-02-04T18:37:00.000-08:00

Born into a family of farmers in northern France, Pétain, after attending the local village school and a religious

Jeffreys (of Wem), George Jeffreys, 1st Baron

2005-02-03T16:52:00.000-08:00

Born into the Welsh gentry, Jeffreys was admitted to the bar in 1668, and in

Equestrian Sports

2005-02-03T08:25:00.000-08:00

In the 2001 U.S. high-handicap season, held in Palm Beach, Fla., from January to April, Outback, led by Argentine Adolfo Cambiaso, prevailed at the U.S. Open for the third straight year, and Boca Polo triumphed in the Gold Cup in Boca Raton, Fla. Peter Brant's White Birch, led by Mariano Aguerre and Carlos Gracida, won the Sterling Cup and the Gold Cup of the Americas. In the summer season,

Apponyi, Albert, Gróf (count)

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

Born into an ancient and famous family, he was the son of Count György Apponyi, who was leader of the Progressive Conservatives and chancellor from 1846 to 1848. Entering the Hungarian Parliament in 1872, Apponyi remained

Distress Signal

2005-02-01T20:08:00.000-08:00

A method by which a ship at sea can summon assistance. Distress signals are fixed by custom and by internationally agreed-on rules of the road at sea. The most important are: (1) visual signals, such as a flame, a red flare, an orange smoke signal, or a square flag displayed with a ball below; (2) sound signals, such as a gun or rocket fired at regular intervals, or a continuous sounding

Eagles, The

2005-02-01T09:10:00.000-08:00

American band that cultivated country rock as the reigning style and sensibility of white youth in the United States during the 1970s. The original members were Don Henley (b. July 22, 1947, Gilmer, Texas, U.S.), Glenn Frey (b. November 6, 1948, Detroit, Michigan), Bernie Leadon (b. July 19, 1947, Minneapolis, Minnesota), and Randy Meisner (b. March 8, 1946, Scottsbluff, Nebraska). Later members included Don Felder (b. September

Kuchipudi

2005-01-31T22:46:00.000-08:00

One of six classical dance styles of India. Kuchipudi is indigenous to the state of Andhra Pradesh and differs from the other five classical styles by the inclusion of singing. Kuchipudi originated in the 17th century with the creation by Sidhyendra Yogi of the dance-drama Bhama Kalapam, a story of Satyabhama, the charming but jealous wife of the god Krishna. The dance

Bruchsal

2005-01-31T07:52:00.000-08:00

City, Baden-Württemberg Land (state), southwestern Germany. It lies along the Saalbach (Saal Stream), just northeast of Karlsruhe. First mentioned in 796 as the site of a Frankish royal villa, it was given to the prince-bishops of Speyer in 1056 and became their residence in 1720. Chartered in 1248, it passed to Baden in 1803. The city's magnificent Rococo castle (1722–32), one of the most distinguished in Germany,

Theiler, Max

2005-01-30T21:59:00.000-08:00

Theiler received his medical training at St. Thomas's Hospital, London, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, graduating in 1922. In that year he joined the department

Fiske, Bradley Allen

2005-01-30T16:29:00.000-08:00

Fiske graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1874. As the navigator of the gunboat Petrel, he used one of his inventions, a stadimeter range finder, to communicate the ranges of enemy ships to American gunners

Ma Yuan

2005-01-30T15:56:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization Ma Yüan influential Chinese landscape painter whose work, together with that of Xia Gui, formed the basis of the Ma-Xia school of painting. Ma occasionally painted flowers, but his genius lay in landscape painting, his lyrical and romantic interpretation becoming the model for later painters. He was a master of “one-corner” painting,

Asclepiad

2005-01-29T09:12:00.000-08:00

A Greek lyric verse later used by Latin poets such as Catullus, Horace, and Seneca. The asclepiad consisted of an aeolic nucleus, a choriamb to which were added more choriambs and iambic or trochaic elements at the end of each line. A version with four choriambs is known as the greater asclepiad; a version with three choriambs, the lesser choriamb. The form was named for