SecondHorse

Baseball

2005-04-05T20:26:00.000-07:00

(ROBERT WILLIAM VERDI)

Hilarion, Saint

2005-04-05T01:23:00.000-07:00

Most knowledge about Hilarion derives from a semi-legendary and rhetorically embellished account of his life written about 391 by the Latin biblical scholar St. Jerome, using material by Bishop Epiphanius

Steer Roping

2005-04-04T05:34:00.000-07:00

Rodeo event in which a mounted cowboy pursues a full-grown steer; lassos it with his rope, catching the animal by the horns; fastens the rope to his saddle; and stops his horse suddenly, throwing the steer to the ground. The cowboy then quickly dismounts and ties three of the steer's feet, raising both hands to signal completion. The event is timed, and the contestant with

Japanese Literature, Late Tokugawa period (c. 17701867)

2005-04-03T15:59:00.000-07:00

The literature of the late Tokugawa period is generally inferior to earlier achievements, especially those of the Genroku masters. Authentic new voices, however, were heard in traditional poetic forms. Later neo-Man'yoshu poets such as Ryokan, Okuma Kotomichi, and Tachibana Akemi proved that the tanka was not limited to descriptions of the sights of nature or disappointed

Nilus Of Ancyra, Saint

2005-04-02T22:41:00.000-08:00

A protégé of the staunchly orthodox and reform patriarch of Constantinople,

Henry Vii

2005-04-02T06:50:00.000-08:00

Also called (1457–85) Henry Tudor, Earl Of Richmond king of England (1485–1509), who succeeded in ending the Wars of the Roses between the houses of Lancaster and York and founded the Tudor dynasty.

Arnaud, Henri

2005-04-01T23:41:00.000-08:00

After studying theology in Switzerland, Arnaud returned to Piedmont and established himself as pastor at Torre Pellice (1685), where he

Kwahu Plateau

2005-03-31T23:41:00.000-08:00

Plateau, southern Ghana. It comprises the uplifted southern edge of the Volta River basin and extends for 160 miles (260 km) northwest-southeast from Wenchi to Koforidua. It forms the main watershed of Ghana, separating rivers in the western half of Ghana that flow due south to the Atlantic Ocean (Birim, Pra, Ankobra) from those of the Volta system (Afram, Pru, Sene) in the eastern

Czech Republic

2005-03-31T15:36:00.000-08:00

Czech Ceská Republika, landlocked country in central Europe. It comprises the historic lands of Bohemia and Moravia (collectively often called the Czech Lands) and the southwestern corner of Silesia. The modern Czech nation was inaugurated on Jan. 1, 1993, when the union with Slovakia, dating from 1918, was dissolved; the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia controlled the federal government from 1948 to

Buysse, Cyriel

2005-03-30T23:49:00.000-08:00

Although Buysse, like the sons of most wealthy Flemings, received a French education, he early devoted himself to writing primarily in Flemish. In 1893 he cofounded and coedited Van nu en straks (1893–1901; “Of Now and Later”), an innovative and influential

Onsager, Lars

2005-03-29T09:14:00.000-08:00

His early work in statistical mechanics attracted the attention of the Dutch chemist Peter Debye, under whose direction Onsager studied at the Federal Institute

France, History Of, The influence of the church on society and legislation

2005-03-29T07:20:00.000-08:00

The progressive Christianization of society influenced Frankish institutions significantly. The introduction of royal consecration and the creation of the empire afforded the clergy an opportunity to elaborate a new conception of power based on religious principles. The church was involved in trying to discourage slavery and in ameliorating the legal

Dubois, Jean-antoine

2005-03-27T08:28:00.000-08:00

Ordained in 1792, he sailed to India under the Missions Étrangères. Despite his efforts in many parts of South India, his mission failed, and he returned to Paris (1823), convinced that the conversion of the Hindus was impossible. In Paris he became director

Baciccia

2005-03-27T00:37:00.000-08:00

At Genoa, Baciccia was a student of Luciano Borzone, but he was also influenced by the works of Sir Anthony Van Dyck and Bernardo Strozzi. He moved to Rome about 1660, visiting Parma (1669) to study the frescoes of Correggio. His chief influence was Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who befriended him

John George Iv

2005-03-26T16:21:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of his reign his chief adviser was Hans Adam von Schöning (1641–96), who counselled a union between Saxony and Brandenburg and a more independent attitude toward the emperor Leopold I. In accordance with this advice certain proposals were put before Leopold to which he refused to agree; consequently the

Korfanty, Wojciech

2005-03-26T10:16:00.000-08:00

The son of a miner, Korfanty became a journalist and a member of the secret nationalist society “Z,” which resisted Germany's attempt to Germanize

Gnetaceae

2005-03-26T08:39:00.000-08:00

A family of tropical gymnosperms in the order Gnetales, composed of one genus, Gnetum, with 30 or more species. Trees predominate among the African species; most of the Asian varieties are woody vines, but among the exceptions is G. gnemon, a tree about 20 metres (65 feet) tall that yields a useful fibre and an edible, plumlike fruit. The conspicuous, netlike veining of the broad leaves

Farinati, Paolo

2005-03-24T09:11:00.000-08:00

Farinati's father, Giovanni Battista, was also a painter and may have been his first master; later he probably worked under Nicolò Giolfino. Farinati was active almost entirely in Verona. According to Carlo Ridolfi, a Madonna painted by Farinati attracted the

Parallel

2005-03-24T02:42:00.000-08:00

Imaginary line extending around the Earth parallel to the equator; it is used to indicate latitude. The 38th parallel, for example, has a latitude of 38° N or 38° S. See latitude and longitude.

Interior Design, Residential interiors

2005-03-24T00:04:00.000-08:00

Residential interiors are obviously much freer and much more personal for both the interior designer and the occupants than other types of interiors. In fact, homes that have been designed unconsciously by creative occupants without any standard decorative rules are often the most beautiful ones. Certain planning and functional considerations are constant

Amberina Glass

2005-03-23T17:43:00.000-08:00

Blended colour glass in which the lower part, a yellowish amber, merges into a ruby-red colour higher in the vessel. It was patented in 1883 for the New England Glass Company at East Cambridge, Mass., and was produced extensively there and by the successor company, the Libbey Glass Company at Toledo, Ohio, into the 1890s. The base metal was an amber glass containing some gold, and the

Iraq, Alluvial plains

2005-03-22T19:47:00.000-08:00

The plains of lower Mesopotamia extend southward some 375 miles (600 km) from Balad on the Tigris and Al-Ramadi on the Euphrates to the Persian Gulf. They cover more than 51,000 square miles (132,000 square km), almost one-third of the country's area, and are characterized by low elevation, below 300 feet (100 metres), and poor natural drainage. Large areas are subject to widespread seasonal flooding, and

Seton, Ernest Thompson

2005-03-22T04:12:00.000-08:00

Seton was raised in North America, his family having emigrated to Canada in 1866. Drawn to nature, Seton resisted his family's attempt to make an artist of him. He gained experience as a naturalist by trailing and

Morea, Despotate Of

2005-03-21T18:24:00.000-08:00

Autonomous Byzantine principality located on the Greek Peloponnese (Morea). It was established in the mid-14th century by the Byzantine emperor John VI Cantacuzenus (reigned 1347–54) as an appanage for his son Manuel. Manuel Cantacuzenus consolidated his territory against the claims of Latins (western Europeans) and the inroads of Turks, but after his death (1380) the Palaeologians

Aristarch

2005-03-21T11:53:00.000-08:00

A severe critic. The term is derived from the name of the Greek grammarian and critic Aristarchus, who was known for his harsh judgments.

Reform Bill

2005-03-20T01:06:00.000-08:00

Any of the British parliamentary bills that became acts in 1832, 1867, and 1884–85 and that expanded the electorate for the House of Commons and rationalized the representation of that body. The first Reform Bill primarily served to transfer voting privileges from the small boroughs controlled by the nobility and gentry to the heavily populated industrial towns. The two subsequent

Moselle River

2005-03-20T01:03:00.000-08:00

German Mosel, river, a west-bank tributary of the Rhine River, flowing for 339 miles (545 km) across northeastern France and western Germany. Rising on the forested slopes of the Vosges massif, the river meanders past Épinal, Pont-Saint-Vincent, Toul, Frouard, Metz, and Thionville before leaving France to form the frontier between Germany and Luxembourg for a short distance. The river enters

France, History Of, Pepin III the Short

2005-03-19T19:00:00.000-08:00

Carloman's entrance into a monastery in 747 reunited Carolingian holdings. Pepin the Short, who had

China, Early T'ang (618626)

2005-03-19T18:40:00.000-08:00

When Kao-tsu became emperor (reigned 618–626), he was still only one among the contenders for control of the empire of the Sui. It was several years before the empire was entirely pacified. After the suppression of Hsüeh Chü and the pacification of the northwest, the T'ang had to contend with three principal rival forces: the Sui remnants commanded by Wang Shih-ch'ung at Lo-yang,

Monticello

2005-03-18T08:20:00.000-08:00

Unlike most great mansions of the period,

France, History Of, The Fourth Republic

2005-03-18T07:47:00.000-08:00

Shortly after his return to Paris, de Gaulle announced that the citizens of France would determine their future governmental system as soon as the absent prisoners and deportees could be repatriated. That process was largely completed by midsummer 1945, soon after Germany's defeat, whereupon de Gaulle scheduled a combined referendum and election for October. Women,

Parachute

2005-03-18T05:06:00.000-08:00

Device that slows the vertical descent of a body falling through the atmosphere or the velocity of a body moving horizontally. The parachute increases the body's surface area, and this increased air resistance slows the body in motion. There is some mention, but no evidence, dating to the 1100s of the Chinese using parachutes for amusement. In the West, however, parachutes

Black Oak

2005-03-17T11:56:00.000-08:00

(Quercus velutina), North American timber tree belonging to the red oak group of the genus Quercus in the beech family (Fagaceae), distributed throughout the eastern United States. It usually grows to about 25 m (80 feet) tall and may grow to 45 m on rich soils; it is common on exposed slopes and ridges, as it cannot tolerate shade. The tree's blackish outer bark is ridged in irregular

Obando, José María

2005-03-16T20:26:00.000-08:00

Obando fought for the Spanish crown during most of the Latin-American war for independence. He finally joined Simón Bolívar's revolutionary forces but opposed Bolívar's centralist

Ja'far Ibn Muhammad

2005-03-16T05:59:00.000-08:00

Ja'far was the son

Ahom

2005-03-16T00:19:00.000-08:00

Tribe that ruled much of Assam from the 13th century until the establishment of British rule in 1838. Their power in Assam reached its peak during the reign of King Rudra Singh (1696–1714). They originated in the Chinese province of Yunnan and began migrating into Indochina and northern Myanmar (Burma) in the first centuries AD. Their original language is now extinct, and they speak Assamese.

Pyran

2005-03-14T20:12:00.000-08:00

Any of a class of organic compounds of the heterocyclic series in which five carbon atoms and one oxygen atom are present in a ring structure. Of two possible simple pyran compounds, only one is known; it was prepared in 1962 and found to be very unstable. Among the stable members of this family is tetrahydropyran, made by hydrogenating the dihydro compound. Sugars often

Islam, The teachings of Twelver Shi'ism and the school of Esfahan

2005-03-14T00:48:00.000-08:00

After Ibn al-'Arabi, the new wisdom developed rapidly in intellectual circles in eastern Islam. Commentators on the works of Avicenna, as-Suhrawardi, and Ibn al-'Arabi began the process of harmonizing and integrating the views of the masters. Great poets made them part of every educated man's literary culture. Mystical fraternities became the custodians of such works, spreading

Arabia, History Of, Arabia since 1962

2005-03-13T15:45:00.000-08:00

Political changes in Yemen and Saudi Arabia during the early 1960s epitomized a vast transformation of the Arabian Peninsula that affected the lives of most of its inhabitants. In 1962 Egyptian-trained Yemeni officers led a coup d'état and invited Egypt to send troops to support the republic. The imam's forces, although backed by Saudi Arabia during five years of war against

Buber, Martin

2005-03-13T01:01:00.000-08:00

German-Jewish religious philosopher, biblical translator and interpreter, and master of German prose style. Buber's philosophy was centred on the encounter, or dialogue, of man with other beings, particularly exemplified in the relation with other men but ultimately resting on and pointing to the relation with God. This thought

Molfetta

2005-03-12T14:46:00.000-08:00

Town and episcopal see, Bari provincia, Puglia (Apulia) regione, southeastern Italy. It lies along the Adriatic Sea, northwest of Bari city. An important port in the Middle Ages and a free city for a time, it was sacked by the French in 1529. Although Molfetta is mainly modern, its outstanding Romanesque–Apulian-style Duomo Vecchio (“Old Cathedral”), a national monument, dates from

Latin Literature, Early writers

2005-03-11T16:43:00.000-08:00

The ground for Roman literature was prepared by an influx from the early 3rd century BC onward of Greek slaves, some of whom were put to tutoring young Roman nobles. Among them was Livius Andronicus, who was later freed and who is considered to be the first Latin writer. In 240 BC, to celebrate Rome's victory over Carthage, he composed a genuine drama adapted from the Greek. His success

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, Japan

2005-03-11T08:26:00.000-08:00

In Japan the Koji-ki (712; “Records of Ancient Matters”) and the Nihon-shoki (8th century; “Chronicles of Japan”), both of them official histories of Japan, were studded with fables, many of them on the theme of a small intelligent animal getting the better of a large stupid one. The same is true of the fudoki (local gazetteers dating from 713 and later). The form reached its height in the Kamakura

Argentine Basin

2005-03-11T04:51:00.000-08:00

Submarine basin in the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, lying directly east of Argentina. Its deepest sections, the western and southwestern margins, are called the Argentine Abyssal Plain and reach a maximum depth of 20,381 feet (6,212 m). The basin is bounded by the Rio Grande Rise (north), the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (east), the Falkland Rise (south), and the South American continental shelf

Uccello, Paolo

2005-03-10T23:45:00.000-08:00

The standard and most readable and complete work on Uccello (and his followers) in English is John Pope-Hennessy, Paolo Uccello, 2nd ed. (1969). Eve Borsook discusses Uccello's Florentine frescoes in The Mural Painters of Tuscany, from Cimabue to Andrea del Sarto (1960). Uccello's role in the investigation of perspective is mentioned by John White in The Birth and Rebirth of Pictorial Space, 2nd ed. (1967); and this subject is treated more fully by Alessandro Parronchi in Studi su la dolce prospettiva (1964).

Gabelich, Gary

2005-03-10T06:47:00.000-08:00

Gabelich began racing hot-rod cars while he was in high school. In the late 1950s he competed as a drag racer of both automobiles and boats. In 1969 he set a drag-boat record of 200.44 miles per hour (322.38 km/h). He achieved his 1970 one-mile land-speed record

Yan

2005-03-10T06:30:00.000-08:00

Pottery yan first appeared during the so-called Longshan culture

Malacostracan

2005-03-09T20:04:00.000-08:00

Malacostracans are the most numerous and most successful of the four major classes of Crustacea. Their members constitute more than two-thirds of all living crustacean species. They exhibit the greatest range

Wild-water Racing

2005-03-08T16:46:00.000-08:00

International competition,

Gambia, The, Plant and animal life

2005-03-07T23:56:00.000-08:00

The vegetation cover of The Gambia is savanna on the uplands, various kinds of inland swamp in the low-lying areas, and mangrove swamp along the brackish lower Gambia River. Few wild animals are native to the region, and those that survive are under pressure from the human and domestic animal populations. In the middle and upper river areas there are warthogs, monkeys,

Tabataba'i, Sayyid Zia Od-din

2005-03-07T05:53:00.000-08:00

Tabataba'i became prominent during World War I as the editor of a pro-British newspaper, Ra'd (“Thunder”). In 1919 he led a quasi-diplomatic mission to negotiate a commercial agreement with the anti-Communist Russian revolutionaries at Baku. On his return to Iran he joined a secret nationalist

Kielce

2005-03-07T04:00:00.000-08:00

First chronicled in the late 11th century, the market town obtained municipal rights in 1360. It developed as an industrial and religious

Anezaki Masaharu

2005-03-06T23:37:00.000-08:00

Anezaki started his academic

Harun Ar-rashid

2005-03-06T21:50:00.000-08:00

In full Harun ar-Rashid ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi ibn al-Mansur al-'Abbasi fifth caliph of the 'Abbasid dynasty (786–809), who ruled Islam at the zenith of its empire with a luxury in Baghdad memorialized in The Thousand and One Nights (The Arabian Nights Entertainment).

Arishima Takeo

2005-03-05T21:58:00.000-08:00

Arishima was the eldest son of a talented and aristocratic family; his younger brothers included the painter Arishima Ikuma and the novelist Satomi Ton. He went to the Peers School, where he was chosen as a companion to the crown prince. He went

Babcock, Horace Welcome

2005-03-05T11:43:00.000-08:00

American astronomer (b. Sept. 13, 1912, Pasadena, Calif.—d. Aug. 29, 2003, Santa Barbara, Calif.), led the effort to create, in 1969, Chile's Las Campanas Observatory, the first observatory to be built far from sources of light pollution. In the 1950s Babcock devised the system of adaptive optics that enabled telescopes to compensate for the distorting effect of Earth's atmosphere on light from distant

Ekoi

2005-03-04T10:36:00.000-08:00

Group of peoples situated in extreme southeastern Nigeria and extending eastward into neighbouring Cameroon. Ekoid Bantu languages are spoken by many groups, including the Atam, Boki, Mbembe, Ufia, and Yako. The Ekoi live in proximity to the Efiks of southeastern Nigeria and claim to have migrated from the north to that area. The inhabitants of Kwa, located near Calabar,

Bowling

2005-03-04T05:30:00.000-08:00

The crown jewel among all international tenpin bowling tournaments of 1994 was the third world youth championships, held in Monterrey, Mexico, August 6-13. A record 29 countries sent their best young bowlers to Mexico to compete for world titles in boys' and girls' divisions. Stars of the tournament were Jaana Puhakka and Pasi Pöllänen of Finland, each of whom won two individual

Amorphous Solid, Transparent glasses

2005-03-04T03:26:00.000-08:00

The terms glass and window glass are often used interchangeably in everyday language, so familiar is this ancient architectural application of amorphous solids. Not only are oxide glasses, such as those characterized in the Table, excellent for letting light in, they are also good for keeping cold out, because (as mentioned above) they are efficient thermal

Sabellianism

2005-03-04T00:05:00.000-08:00

Christian heresy that was a more developed and less naive form of Modalistic Monarchianism (see Monarchianism); it was propounded by Sabellius (fl. c. 217–c. 220), who was possibly a presbyter in Rome. Little is actually known of his life because the most detailed information about him was contained in the prejudiced reports of his contemporary, Hippolytus, an anti-Monarchian

La Brea Tar Pits

2005-03-02T14:14:00.000-08:00

Tar pits, in Hancock Park (Rancho La Brea), Los Angeles, Calif., U.S. It is the site of “pitch springs” oozing crude oil, discovered by Gaspar de Portolá's expedition in 1769. The tar pits contain the fossilized skulls and bones of prehistoric animals that became entrapped in the sticky seepage of the pits. The remains of such Pleistocene mammals as imperial mammoth, mastodon, sabre-toothed

Usk

2005-03-02T07:27:00.000-08:00

Welsh Brynbuga town, present and historic county of Monmouthshire, Wales, lying along the River Usk 20 miles (32 km) from its Bristol Channel mouth. The town was settled first by Celts and then by Romans, who called it Burrium. A Norman castle was built in the 12th century but was partially destroyed about 1402 during the rebellion of the Welsh prince Owen Glendower. Usk is now a small market town and

Wyandotte Cave

2005-03-02T03:52:00.000-08:00

Cave in Crawford County, southern Indiana, U.S., near the village of Wyandotte. With 25 mi (40 km) of passages on five levels, it is the largest of the many such caves dissolved out in the horizontally bedded Mississippian limestones that extend southward into the cave-bearing regions of Kentucky and Tennessee. The entrance is about 200 ft (60 m) above the Blue River. The cave was used

Overtone

2005-03-01T15:20:00.000-08:00

Harmonics

Annelid, Size range and diversity of structure

2005-02-28T21:27:00.000-08:00

The length of annelids varies from a fraction of an inch to more than six metres (about 20 feet). The width may exceed 2.5 centimetres (about one inch) in the contracted state. Free-moving polychaetes and earthworms include the largest species. Leeches attain lengths of about 0.4 metre in the contracted state.

Brecht, Bertolt

2005-02-28T11:07:00.000-08:00

Until 1924 Brecht lived in Bavaria, where he was born, studied medicine (Munich, 1917–21), and served in an army hospital (1918). From this period date his

Felix Iii (or Ii), Saint

2005-02-28T03:03:00.000-08:00

Pope from 483 to 492. He succeeded St. Simplicius on March 13. Felix excommunicated Acacius, patriarch of Constantinople, in 484 for publishing with the emperor Zeno a document called the Henotikon, which appeared to favour Monophysitism, a doctrine that had been denounced at the Council of Chalcedon (451). The excommunication created the 35-year Acacian

Fiddler Crab

2005-02-27T05:15:00.000-08:00

Also called calling crab any of the approximately 65 species of the genus Uca (order Decapoda of the subphylum Crustacea). They are named “fiddler” because the male holds one claw, always much larger than the other, somewhat like a violin. Both claws in the female are relatively small. If a male loses his large claw, the small one develops into a large claw, and a small one replaces the lost large

Kolbe, Hermann

2005-02-26T17:57:00.000-08:00

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

China, The Juchen

2005-02-25T11:40:00.000-08:00

The Liao were eventually overthrown by the Juchen (Ju-chen in Wade–Giles, Ruzhen in Pinyin), another seminomadic and semipastoral people who originated in Manchuria, swept across North China, ended the Pei Sung, and established the Chin dynasty (1115–1234). This new and much larger empire in North China followed the Liao pattern of dual government and of some acculturation but

Cable

2005-02-25T07:38:00.000-08:00

The first successful stranded iron wire rope was developed in 1831–34 by Wilhelm Albert, a mining official of Clausthal

Croatia

2005-02-25T05:08:00.000-08:00

Officially Republic of Croatia, Serbo-Croatian Hrvatska, or Republika Hrvatska, country located in the northwestern part of the Balkan Peninsula. It is a small yet highly diverse, crescent-shaped country. The upper arm of the Croatian crescent is bordered on the east by the Vojvodina region of Serbia and on the north by Hungary and Slovenia. The body of the crescent forms a long coastal strip along the Adriatic Sea, and the southern tip touches on

I-lan

2005-02-24T16:44:00.000-08:00

Shih (municipality) and seat of I-lan hsien (county), northeastern Taiwan, the centre of the only sizable alluvial basin on the island's mountainous eastern coast. The basin itself was largely formed as the delta of the Cho-Shui River and is about 30 miles (50 km) from north to south. I-lan city lies in the centre of this plain on the Lan River. The plain is a fertile rice-producing region,

Cramp

2005-02-23T17:17:00.000-08:00

Painful, involuntary, and sustained contraction of muscle, most common in the limbs but also affecting certain internal organs. Examples of cramping include menstrual cramps and spasms of the circular muscles of the bowel (irritable colon), blood vessels (vasospasm), and pylorus of the stomach (pylorospasm; the pylorus is the opening from the stomach to the

Dynamite

2005-02-23T13:37:00.000-08:00

Blasting explosive, patented in 1867 by the Swedish physicist Alfred Nobel. Dynamite is based on nitroglycerin but is much safer to handle than nitroglycerin alone. By mixing the nitroglycerin with kieselguhr, a porous siliceous earth, in proportions that left an essentially dry and granular material, Nobel produced a solid that was resistant to shock but readily

Ben Khedda, Benyoussef

2005-02-23T06:42:00.000-08:00

Algerian independence leader (b. Feb. 23, 1920, Berrouaghia, Alg.—d. Feb. 4, 2003, Algiers, Alg.), negotiated Algeria's independence from France in 1962, but he was forced from power shortly thereafter. In 1943, after he protested against French attempts to recruit Algerians in World War II, Ben Khedda was imprisoned for eight months. After the war he became general secretary of the pro-independence

Belshazzar

2005-02-22T15:37:00.000-08:00

Belshazzar had been known only from the biblical Book of Daniel (chapters 5, 7–8) and from Xenophon's Cyropaedia until 1854, when references to him were found in Babylonian cuneiform inscriptions. Though he is referred to in the Book of Daniel as the son of Nebuchadrezzar, the Babylonian inscriptions

Swan Hill

2005-02-22T10:37:00.000-08:00

City, northern Victoria, Australia, on the Murray River, northwest of Melbourne. It is the chief market centre for the southern section of the irrigated Riverina district of New South Wales. The site was named in the 1830s by the explorer Thomas (later Sir Thomas) Mitchell, who was kept sleepless there by the calls of swans. Settled in 1846 by sheepherders, the community prospered

Palatine Chapel

2005-02-21T22:43:00.000-08:00

Constructed on the site of an

Zafar

2005-02-21T09:38:00.000-08:00

Biblical Sephar , classical Sapphar , or Saphar ancient Arabian site located southwest of Yarim in southern Yemen. It was the capital of the Himyarites, a tribe that ruled much of southern Arabia from about 115 BC to about AD 525. Up until the Persian conquest (c. AD 575), Zafar was one of the most important and celebrated towns in southern Arabia—a fact attested to not only by Arab geographers and historians but also by Greek and Roman authors.

Alexander Nevsky, Saint

2005-02-20T13:01:00.000-08:00

Russian Aleksandr Nevsky, original name Aleksandr Yaroslavich prince of Novgorod (1236–52) and of Kiev (1246–52) and grand prince of Vladimir (1252–63), who halted the eastward drive of the Germans and Swedes but collaborated with the Mongols in imposing their rule on Russia. By defeating a Swedish invasion force at the confluence of the Rivers

Lancaster Sound

2005-02-20T05:21:00.000-08:00

Western arm of Baffin Bay (an inlet of the North Atlantic Ocean), in north-central Baffin region, Nunavut territory, Canada. The sound is 200 miles (320 km) long and 40 miles (64 km) wide. It extends between Devon Island (north) and Baffin Island (south) and joins the Barrow Strait northeast of Somerset Island. All feasible routes of the Northwest Passage, a seaway through the Canadian Arctic

I Ching

2005-02-19T16:57:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Yi Ching, Pinyin Yi Jing (Chinese: “Classic of Changes,” or “Book of Changes”), an ancient Chinese text, one of the Five Classics (Wu Ching) of Confucianism. The main body of the work has traditionally been attributed to Wen Wang (fl. 12th century BC), sage and father of the founder of the Chou dynasty, and contains a discussion of the divinatory system used by the Chou dynasty wizards. A supplementary section

Fredegund

2005-02-19T08:43:00.000-08:00

Originally a servant, Fredegund became Chilperic's mistress after he had murdered his wife and queen, Galswintha (c. 568). Galswintha, however, was also the sister of Brunhild, the wife of Chilperic's half-brother Sigebert I, king of the eastern kingdom of Austrasia. Galswintha's murder engendered

Fidenza

2005-02-18T13:54:00.000-08:00

Town, Parma provincia, Emilia-Romagna regione, northern Italy. It is believed to have been the scene of St. Domninus' martyrdom under the Roman emperor Maximian and was called Borgo San Donnino for more than 1,000 years. The town was renamed Fidenza in 1927, recalling its ancient name, Fidentia. Its Romanesque-Gothic cathedral dates from the 12th century. During World War II, Fidenza

Andradite

2005-02-17T16:39:00.000-08:00

Calcium-iron garnet, perhaps the most spectacular garnet because of its high dispersion (separation of light into colours), even greater than that of diamond, and refractive index. It is found in various colours, some of the most beautiful being yellowish (termed topazolite, because of its resemblance to topaz) and yellowish green or emerald-green (Uralian emeralds,

Hannibal

2005-02-17T08:02:00.000-08:00

Hannibal's forces were now totally inadequate to match the army of Scipio, who had rushed to the Po River to protect the recently founded Roman colonies of Placentia (modern Piacenza) and Cremona. The first action between the two armies took place on the plains west of the Ticino River, and Hannibal's Numidian cavalry prevailed. Scipio was severely wounded, and the Romans

úbeda

2005-02-17T02:55:00.000-08:00

City, Jaén province, in the comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Andalusia, southern Spain. Úbeda lies northeast of the city of Jaén, on the Úbeda Hills in the Guadalimar Valley. Originally an Iberian settlement, the city was occupied by the Arabs in 711 and was reconquered by Ferdinand III of Castile in 1234. It is renowned for its architecture, particularly of the Renaissance

Offal

2005-02-16T20:44:00.000-08:00

Also called Variety Meats, any of various nonmuscular parts of the carcasses of beef and veal, mutton and lamb, and pork, which are either consumed directly as food or used in the production of other foods. Variety meats have been a part of the human diet since the invention of cooking, which rendered the otherwise indigestible animal parts edible. In nutritional terms, several variety meats

Chan Chan

2005-02-16T18:47:00.000-08:00

Great ruined and abandoned pre-Inca city on the present-day northern Peruvian coast, the capital of the Chimú kingdom (c. AD 1200–1400). The site is about 300 miles (480 km) north of Lima in the Moche Valley, between the Pacific and the city of Trujillo. The ruins, which cover nearly 14 square miles (36 square km), are in good condition because the area is rainless. The city was watered by irrigation ditches,

Buraydah

2005-02-16T15:23:00.000-08:00

Town, Najd (Central) region, north central Saudi Arabia. It has long been a commercial rival of 'Unayzah to the south, at one time controlling the export of Arab horses and monopolizing the camel caravan trade of Arabia. Now a principal oasis and agricultural centre, it has extensive date, lemon, and orange groves; other fruits are grown, and cattle and sheep are reared on

Procellariiform

2005-02-15T05:01:00.000-08:00

Also called tubinares (order Procellariiformes), any of the seabirds that include the albatrosses (family Diomedeidae); shearwaters, fulmars, prions, and large petrels (Procellariidae); storm petrels (Hydrobatidae); and diving petrels (Pelecanoididae). There are approximately 87 living and 36 fossil species of diverse sizes and ranges. All Procellariiformes are recognizable by their conspicuous

Kamaran

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

Island in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, to which it belongs. The largest member of an archipelago, it is 22 square miles (57 square km) in area. Its name, meaning “two moons” in Arabic, refers to a double reflection of the moon that can be seen there. Kamaran, consisting of coral reefs with little relief, has a regular west coast and a broken east coast with a harbour. The island's mean

Athanasius The Athonite, Saint

2005-02-14T08:17:00.000-08:00

Originally named Abraham, he took the monastic name of Athanasius when he retired to Mt. Athos after forsaking the sophisticated, urban monastic life in Constantinople;

Sarapion, Saint

2005-02-14T07:15:00.000-08:00

Sarapion was a champion with St. Athanasius of Alexandria of orthodox doctrine in the 4th-century theological controversy over Arianism. A key figure in early monasticism, together with his Egyptian contemporary, St. Anthony, Sarapion

Bülow, Hans (guido), Freiherr Von (baron Of)

2005-02-13T05:37:00.000-08:00

As a child Bülow studied piano under Friedrich Wieck, father

Céline, Louis-ferdinand

2005-02-12T19:33:00.000-08:00

Pseudonym of Louis-ferdinand Destouches French writer and physician. Céline received his medical degree in 1924 and travelled extensively on medical missions for the League of Nations. In 1928 he opened a practice in a suburb of Paris, writing in his spare time. He became famous with his first novel, Voyage au bout de la nuit (1932; Journey to the End of Night, 1934), the story of a man's tortured

Polgar, Judit

2005-02-12T14:28:00.000-08:00

Apart from her gold-medal-winning appearances for the Hungarian women's Olympiad teams of 1988 and 1990, Polgar

Byblos

2005-02-12T06:39:00.000-08:00

Modern Jubayl , also spelled Jebeil , biblical Gebal ancient seaport, the site of which is located on the Mediterranean coast about 20 miles (32 km) north of the modern city of Beirut, Lebanon; it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited towns in the world. The name Byblos is Greek; papyrus received its early Greek name (byblos, byblinos) from its being exported to the Aegean through Byblos. Hence the English word Bible is derived

Ila

2005-02-11T13:23:00.000-08:00

The Ila combine agriculture with animal husbandry. Men hunt, fish, and clear land, while women gather foods from the countryside and are responsible for most of the