GreenCollar

'amuq

2005-04-04T19:09:00.000-07:00

In the

Melqart

2005-04-04T14:32:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Melkart or Melkarth Phoenician god, chief deity of Tyre and of two of its colonies, Carthage and Gadir (Cádiz, Spain). He was also called the Tyrian Baal. Under the name Malku he was equated with the Babylonian Nergal, god of the underworld and death, and thus may have been related to the god Mot of Ras Shamra (ancient Ugarit). Melqart was usually depicted as a bearded figure, wearing a high, rounded

Abell, Kjeld

2005-04-04T13:25:00.000-07:00

Abell studied political science but afterward began a career as a stage designer in Paris. He

Rickey, Branch

2005-04-03T00:25:00.000-08:00

Rickey started his professional playing career while studying at Ohio Wesleyan University, spent two seasons (1906–07) in the American

Coral Sea Islands

2005-04-02T20:05:00.000-08:00

Officially Coral Sea Islands Territory group of islands situated east of Queensland, Australia, in the South Pacific. Spread over a sea area of about 400,000 square miles (1,035,995 square km), the islands comprise only a few square kilometres of actual land area. They are scattered coral reefs and sand cays with large populations of seabirds. In 1770 Captain James Cook explored parts of the region, and in the late 1800s guano was collected

Christian I

2005-04-02T19:16:00.000-08:00

The son of Count Dietrich the Happy of Oldenburg and Hedvig of Holstein, Christian was elected to succeed Christopher

Empiricism, In medieval philosophy

2005-04-01T21:24:00.000-08:00

Most medieval philosophers after St. Augustine (see below, Criticism and evaluation) took an Empiricist position, at least about concepts, even if they recognized much substantial but nonempirical knowledge. The standard formulation of this age was: “There is nothing in the intellect that was not previously in the senses.” Thus St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–74) altogether rejected

Terengganu

2005-04-01T18:52:00.000-08:00

Formerly Trengganu, traditional region of northeastern West Malaysia (Malaya), bounded by those of Kelantan (north and northwest) and Pahang (south and southwest). It has a 200-mile- (320-kilometre-) long coastline along the South China Sea (east). Terengganu is mentioned in 1365 as a vassal of the Javanese kingdom of Majapahit. The sultanate of Terengganu, ruled by members of the same family since 1701, was under

Gabon, Transportation

2005-04-01T08:52:00.000-08:00

The difficulty of building and maintaining all-weather roads led to an expansion of air transport

Gynecomastia

2005-03-30T20:41:00.000-08:00

Enlargement of the breasts in the male, usually because of hormone imbalance. The growth and development of male breasts are like those of the female until puberty. The male reproductive organs (testes) then begin secreting male hormones (androgens), which normally suppress further breast development. The breasts of the female continue to grow owing to the presence

Hydractinia

2005-03-30T20:16:00.000-08:00

Genus of marine hydrozoan polyps (phylum Cnidaria), a group of invertebrate animals with a thin tubelike body that attaches to a surface. Species of the Hydractinia are colonial and usually live on snail shells inhabitated by hermit crabs. The basal stolon (stemlike structure) of a Hydractinia colony is comprised of numerous perisarc-covered tubes coalesced into

Pachuca

2005-03-30T01:29:00.000-08:00

In full Pachuca De Soto, capital city, Hidalgo estado (“state”), east-central Mexico. It was one of the first settlements in New Spain and lies in a rich mining district in the Sierra Madre Oriental, 7,959 feet (2,426 m) above sea level. Its first silver mine was discovered in 1534, though it is said that some of the mines were known to pre-Columbian Indians. The nearby Real del Monte mine, begun in 1739 and still in operation,

Tallage

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

In medieval Europe, a tax imposed by the lord of an estate upon his unfree tenants. In origin, both the amount and the frequency of levies was at the lord's discretion, but by the 13th century tallage on many estates had already become a fixed charge. In England, from the late 12th century, tallage had become established as the name of a royal tax levied on estates in the king's possession

Performing Arts

2005-03-28T02:21:00.000-08:00

Alicante

2005-03-27T01:05:00.000-08:00

Port city, capital of Alicante provincia, in Valencia comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”), southeastern Spain. It is located on Alicante Bay of the Mediterranean Sea. Founded as Akra Leuke (“White Summit”) by Phocaean Greeks (from the west coast of Asia Minor) in 325 BC, the city was captured in 201 BC by the Romans, who called it Lucentum. Under Moorish domination, which lasted from

Waco

2005-03-26T22:04:00.000-08:00

After the American Civil War Waco became a river-bridge crossing on cattle trails; later its economy was based almost exclusively on cotton,

Dennie, Joseph

2005-03-26T21:25:00.000-08:00

Dennie graduated from Harvard College in 1790 and spent three years as a law clerk before being admitted to the bar in 1794. His practice failed to flourish, however, and in the meantime he had turned to writing. He and Royall Tyler formed a literary

Leakey, Richard

2005-03-25T11:04:00.000-08:00

In full Richard Erskine Frere Leakey Kenyan physical anthropologist, paleontologist, and politician responsible for extensive fossil finds of human ancestral forms in East Africa. His investigations suggested that relatively intelligent, tool-using ancestors of true man lived in eastern Africa as early as 3 million years ago, or almost twice the time span of previous

Economist, The

2005-03-24T06:50:00.000-08:00

Weekly magazine of news and opinion published in London and generally regarded as one of the world's preeminent journals of its kind. It provides wide-ranging coverage of general news and particularly of international and political developments and prospects bearing on the world's economy. It was founded in 1843 by Scotsman James Wilson as a voice against grain import

Osage

2005-03-24T00:51:00.000-08:00

North American Indian tribe of the Dhegiha branch of the Siouan linguistic stock. They are now concentrated on a reservation in northeastern Oklahoma. Like other members of this subgroup (the Omaha, Ponca, Kansa, and Quapaw), the Osage migrated westward from the Atlantic coast, settling first in the Piedmont Plateau between the James and Savannah rivers in Virginia

Halloween

2005-03-23T14:44:00.000-08:00

Halloween had its origins in the festival of Samhain among the Celts of ancient Britain and Ireland. November 1 was considered the end of the summer period, the date on which the herds were returned from pasture and land tenures

Italic Languages

2005-03-22T22:58:00.000-08:00

Certain Indo-European languages that were once spoken in the Apennine Peninsula (modern Italy) and in the eastern part of the Po valley. These include the Latin, Faliscan, Osco-Umbrian, South Picene, and Venetic languages, which have in common a considerable number of features that separate them from the other languages of the same area—e.g., from Greek and Etruscan. (In

Allen, Viola (emily)

2005-03-22T16:27:00.000-08:00

Born into a theatrical family, Allen made her debut at age 14 in New York City in the title role of Burnett's Esmeralda. Between 1884 and 1886 she appeared

'amiriyah, Al-

2005-03-22T00:56:00.000-08:00

Formerly Maryut industrial district of al-Iskandariyah (Alexandria) muhafazah (governorate), northern Egypt. The centre of the 913-sq-mi (2,365-sq-km) district, which adjoins Lake Maryut (Mareotis) on the southwest, is al-'Amiriyah town. This town was originally a small gypsum-mining centre on the desert roads leading south to Cairo and west along the coast to Marsa Matruh. Al-'Amiriyah's modern development began in

Sporades

2005-03-20T14:46:00.000-08:00

Group of Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, lying northeast of Euboea (Évvoia) island, including Skíathos, Skópelos, Skyros, and Alónnisos, as well as neighbouring islets. In antiquity these were known as the Thessalian, or Northern, Sporades, while the Thracian, or Eastern, Sporades included the now-Turkish island of Imroz (Greek Imvros), Samothrace, Thasos, Lemnos, and Áyios

Maxwell, Robert

2005-03-20T14:33:00.000-08:00

Virtually all of the young Hoch's Jewish family living in Czechoslovakia and Budapest died in the Nazi Holocaust, but he was able to make

Sungari River

2005-03-20T01:51:00.000-08:00

The Sungari rises in the Ch'ang-pai Mountains in the border area between Kirin and North Korea. Its upper course runs north through rugged

Liturgical Music

2005-03-19T13:42:00.000-08:00

Also called Church Music, music written for performance in a religious rite of worship; the term is most commonly associated with the Christian tradition. Developing from the musical practices of the Jewish synagogues, which allowed the cantor an improvised charismatic song, early Christian services contained a simple refrain, or responsorial, sung by the congregation. This evolved

Jacobi, Carl

2005-03-17T22:09:00.000-08:00

Jacobi was first tutored by an uncle, and, by the end of his first year at the Gymnasium (1816–17), he was ready to enter the University of Berlin. Because the university would not accept students younger than 16, he had to bide his

Fabula Palliata

2005-03-17T21:50:00.000-08:00

The comedies retained the Greek stock characters and conventionalized plots of romantic intrigue as a framework to the satire of everyday contemporary life. The

Atatürk, Kemal

2005-03-17T05:06:00.000-08:00

Atatürk was born in 1881 in Salonika, then a thriving port of the Ottoman Empire, and was given the name Mustafa. His father, Ali Riza, had been a lieutenant in a local militia unit during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, indicating that his origins were within the Ottoman ruling class, if only marginally. Mustafa's mother, Zübeyde Hanim, came from a farming community west of

Arts, East Asian, Painting

2005-03-17T00:09:00.000-08:00

The development of painting during the Edo period drew energy from innovations and changes precipitated during the Momoyama period. Thematic interests, including Confucian subjects and a continuing fascination with Japanese classical themes, were already apparent in the years preceding national consolidation. Genre themes celebrating urban life became

Bhadracarya-pranidhana

2005-03-15T03:53:00.000-08:00

Also called Samantabhadra-carya-pranidhana (“Practical Vows of Samantabhadra”), a Mahayana (“Greater Vehicle”) Buddhist text that has also made an important contribution to the Tantric Buddhism of Tibet. Closely related to the Avatamsaka-sutra (“Discourse on the Adornments of the Buddha”) and sometimes considered its final section, the Bhadracarya-pranidhana presents a universe of totally interdependent phenomena

Daily World

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

The Daily Worker was variously the organ and the “semi-official” voice of the party, and its readers have included numerous U.S. government intelligence agents, who also have monitored its list of subscribers. In 1958 the paper became a weekly as The

Well Logging

2005-03-14T08:42:00.000-08:00

When electrical instruments are employed, the technique involves the recording of variations in the natural electrical properties of subsurface formations. Changes in the porosity, fluid content, or lithology (rock character) of the formation are indicated

Pyrenees, Peace Of The

2005-03-13T11:21:00.000-08:00

During the years from the end of the Thirty Years' War until 1659 Spain and France engaged in almost continuous warfare. During the struggle Spain found itself also involved in hostilities with England,

Karabagh Rug

2005-03-13T10:14:00.000-08:00

Karabagh also spelled Karabakh, floor covering handmade in the district of Karabakh (Azerbaijan), just north of the present Iranian border. As might be expected, Karabagh designs and colour schemes tend to be more like those of Persian rugs than do those made in other parts of the Caucasus, and it is difficult to distinguish Karabagh runners from those of Karzdagh, in Iran, to the south. Certain Karabagh

Craigavon

2005-03-12T16:29:00.000-08:00

District and borough, Northern Ireland, established in 1973 from portions of Counties Antrim, Down, and Armagh. It is situated south of Lough (lake) Neagh and is bordered by the districts of Dungannon to the west, Armagh to the southwest, Banbridge to the southeast, and Lisburn to the east. Its administrative seat is Craigavon new town. In the northern part of Craigavon district,

Ghent, Treaty Of

2005-03-12T01:47:00.000-08:00

(Dec. 24, 1814), agreement in Belgium between Great Britain and the United States to end the War of 1812 on the general basis of the status quo antebellum (maintaining the prewar conditions). Because the military positions for each side were so well balanced, neither country could obtain desired concessions. No mention was made in the peace settlement of neutral rights, particularly

Milky Way Galaxy, Emission nebulas

2005-03-11T22:38:00.000-08:00

A conspicuous component of the Galaxy is the collection of large, bright, diffuse gaseous objects generally called nebulas. The brightest of these cloudlike objects are the emission nebulas, large complexes of interstellar gas and stars in which the gas exists in an ionized and excited state (with the electrons of the atoms excited to a higher than normal energy

Estates-general

2005-03-11T14:56:00.000-08:00

The origins of the Estates-General are to be found in traditions of counsel and aid and the development of corporate representation

Dandolo, Enrico

2005-03-11T00:43:00.000-08:00

Dandolo's father, Vitale, had held important public positions; and during Enrico Dandolo's public life he was sent on many important missions for the Venetian government.

Milky Way Galaxy, Emission nebulas

2005-03-10T00:20:00.000-08:00

Negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union that were aimed at curtailing the manufacture of strategic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons. The first agreements, known as SALT I and SALT II, were signed by the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1972 and 1979, respectively, and were intended to restrain the arms race in strategic

Frame Harp

2005-03-09T23:28:00.000-08:00

Frame harps are known to have existed in Europe by the 9th century AD and in Ireland by

Rhys, Jean

2005-03-09T18:41:00.000-08:00

The daughter of a Welsh doctor and a Creole mother, Rhys lived and was educated

Zacatecas

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

City, capital of Zacatecas estado (“state”), north-central Mexico. It lies in a deep, narrow ravine, 8,189 feet (2,496 m) above sea level. Founded in 1548 (by Juan de Tolosa, Cristóbal de Oñate, Diego de Ibarra, and Baltasar Tremiño), two years after silver was discovered in the area, it was given city status in 1585. The name means “place where zacate grass grows.” Until the 19th century, the mines around Zacatecas

Romance

2005-03-08T17:32:00.000-08:00

The Old French word romanz

Quad Cities

2005-03-07T16:04:00.000-08:00

An industrial complex at the Iowa–Illinois border, on the Mississippi River, U.S., which includes Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline (qq.v.), Ill., and Davenport (q.v.), Iowa.

Ballooning

2005-03-07T01:09:00.000-08:00

Ballooning began in 1783 with the flight of the Montgolfier brothers' balloons in France, but the earliest uses were scientific and military. Sport ballooning began

Vail

2005-03-06T11:50:00.000-08:00

Town and ski resort, Eagle county, west-central Colorado, U.S. It is located 100 miles (160 km) west of Denver. The town extends about 7 miles (11 km) through the Gore Creek valley in the Gore and Sawatch mountain ranges. Vail was founded by Peter Seibert and Earl Eaton, who, together with other investors, purchased the land and built the resort town in 1962 in the style of a quaint Alpine village.

Shahr-e Sokhta

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

Archaeological site located south of Zabol in the Balochistan region of eastern Iran. It has yielded important information on Chalcolithic (Bronze Age) settlement in the Helmand River valley during the 3rd millennium BC. Excavation of the site in 1967 by the Centre of Archaeological Studies and Excavations of the Italian Institute for the Middle and Far East has revealed

Sachs, (ferdinand Gustav) Julius Von

2005-03-05T04:36:00.000-08:00

Sachs became an assistant to the physiologist Jan Evangelista Purkinje at the University of Prague, where he received the Ph.D. in 1856. In 1859 he was appointed

Annam

2005-03-04T19:22:00.000-08:00

The central section of Vietnam known to the French as Annam is largely a highland

Black Market

2005-03-04T11:41:00.000-08:00

Trading in violation of publicly imposed regulations such as rationing laws, laws against certain goods, and official rates of exchange among currencies. Rationing is common in wartime in order to equalize the distribution of scarce goods and services; black-market activity may consist of charging more than the legal prices, stealing or counterfeiting ration

Leonardo Pisano

2005-03-04T06:19:00.000-08:00

For several years Leonardo corresponded with Frederick II and his scholars, exchanging problems with them. He dedicated his Liber quadratorum (1225; “Book of Square Numbers”) to Frederick. Devoted entirely to Diophantine equations of the second degree (i.e., containing squares), the Liber quadratorum is considered Leonardo's masterpiece. It is a systematically arranged

Spallanzani, Lazzaro

2005-03-03T11:23:00.000-08:00

Spallanzani was the son of a distinguished

Loch (of Drylaw), Henry Brougham Loch, 1st Baron

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

A career soldier, Loch began his service in India (1844–53) and fought in the Crimean War (1853–56) and in the second and third China wars (1857–58 and 1860). After 1860 he held civil appointments. From

Spielberg, Steven

2005-03-02T22:23:00.000-08:00

An amateur filmmaker even before he entered high school, Spielberg attended California State College, Long Beach, and attracted the attention of Universal Pictures with his short films. For Universal

Ossetic Language

2005-03-02T03:37:00.000-08:00

Eastern Iranian language spoken in the northern Caucasus by the Ossetes. There are two major dialects: (1) eastern, called Iron, and (2) western, called Digor. The majority of the Ossetes speak Iron, which is the basis of the literary language now written in the Cyrillic alphabet. Ossetic is the modern descendant of the language of the ancient Alani, a Sarmatian people, and the

Apse

2005-02-28T14:19:00.000-08:00

Also spelled apsis , plural apsides in astronomy, either of the two points on an elliptical orbit that are nearest to, and farthest from, the focus, or centre of attraction. The line of apsides, connecting the two points, is the major axis of the orbit. The point nearest the focus is the pericentre, or periapsis, and that farthest from it is the apocentre, or apoapsis. Specific terms can be used for individual

Schenker, Heinrich

2005-02-27T06:46:00.000-08:00

Austrian music theorist whose insights into the structural hierarchies underlying much of 18th- and 19th-century music led to a new understanding of the laws of melodic and harmonic construction and form. Schenker was not well known in his time; he worked as a private teacher in Austria. He studied composition with Anton Bruckner

Arabian Religion, North Arabia

2005-02-27T04:55:00.000-08:00

North Arabian gods are named for the first time in the annals of the 7th-century BC Assyrian king Esarhaddon, in which he reports having returned to the oasis of Adumatu (Dumat al-Jandal) the idols previously confiscated as war booty by his father, Sennacherib. Among the gods named by Esarhaddon are 'Atarsamain, 'Atarquruma, Nukhay, and Ruldayu. Herodotus wrote that the Arabs

Weems, Mason Locke

2005-02-26T22:34:00.000-08:00

Weems was ordained in the Anglican church in 1784 and served as a pastor in Maryland

Sandys, Sir Edwin

2005-02-26T15:35:00.000-08:00

Sandys was the son of Edwin Sandys, bishop of Worcester and later archbishop of

Cochin, Charles-nicolas, The Younger

2005-02-26T14:53:00.000-08:00

The son of Charles-Nicolas the Elder (1688–1754), from whom he learned engraving, Cochin rose to national prominence early in his career. As a member of the academy (admitted in 1751) and the keeper of the king's drawings (a post he was given in 1752), he was officially enabled to exert his influence on the artistic taste of

Acriflavine

2005-02-25T22:24:00.000-08:00

Dye obtained from coal tar, introduced as an antiseptic in 1912 by the German medical-research worker Paul Ehrlich and used extensively in World War I to kill the parasites that cause sleeping sickness. The hydrochloride and the less irritating base, neutral acriflavine, both are odourless, reddish-brown powders used in dilute aqueous solutions primarily as topical

Gaborone

2005-02-24T07:44:00.000-08:00

Formerly (until 1969) Gaberones, town, capital of Botswana. The seat of government was transferred there from Mafeking (now spelled Mafikeng), South Africa, in 1965, one year before Botswana became independent of Britain. Gaborone is located on the Cape-Zimbabwe railway and is the site of government offices, parliament buildings, health facilities, a thermal power station, and an airport. It is the seat of

Swansea

2005-02-23T21:36:00.000-08:00

Welsh Abertawe county, southwestern Wales, comprising the city of Swansea as well as the entire peninsula of Gower in the south and west, the lower valley of the River Loughor in the northwest, and the foothills of Black Mountain in the north. Gower is a rolling plateau noted for its sandy beaches and scenic rocky cliffs. The valleys of the Rivers Loughor and Tawe broaden in their lower

Houston, Sam

2005-02-23T20:44:00.000-08:00

In his youth Houston moved with his family to a farm in rural Tennessee after the death of his father in 1807. He ran away in his mid-teens and lived for nearly three years with

'brog-mi

2005-02-23T00:36:00.000-08:00

'Brog-mi studied for one year in Nepal and for eight years at Vikramashila (Bihar, India). Coming under the influence of Atisa, an Indian Buddhist who arrived in Tibet about 1042, 'Brog-mi was a leader in the revival of Tibetan Buddhism. He founded a new and powerful order known as Sa-skya-pa. In 1073 his disciple Dkon-mchog rgyal-po established the

Haber, Fritz

2005-02-22T23:58:00.000-08:00

Morris Goran, The Story of Fritz Haber (1967), contains an exhaustive bibliography of writings by and relating to Haber.

Ibrahim Pasha

2005-02-22T06:17:00.000-08:00

A son, or adopted son, of the famous vali Muhammad 'Ali, in 1805 Ibrahim joined his father in Egypt, where he was made governor of Cairo. During 1816–18 he successfully commanded an army against the Wahhabite rebels in Arabia. Muhammad 'Ali sent him on a mission

Permafrost, Effects of solar radiation, vegetation, and snow cover

2005-02-21T23:39:00.000-08:00

Inasmuch as south-facing hillslopes receive more incoming solar energy per unit area than other slopes, they are warmer; permafrost is generally absent on these in the discontinuous zone and is thinner in the continuous zone. The main role of vegetation in permafrost areas is to shield perennially frozen ground from solar energy. Vegetation is an excellent insulating

Lenclos, Ninon De

2005-02-21T21:54:00.000-08:00

From her father, Henri de Lenclos, sieur de La Douardière, she acquired a lasting interest in Epicurean philosophy. Although her father fled from France after killing a man in 1632, she remained in Paris and established there a salon that attracted a number of the most prominent literary and political figures of the age. Her

Oratorio

2005-02-21T09:12:00.000-08:00

A large-scale musical composition on a sacred or semisacred subject, for solo voices, chorus, and orchestra. An oratorio's text is usually based on scripture, and the narration necessary to move from scene to scene is supplied by recitatives sung by various voices to prepare the way for airs and choruses. A basically dramatic method is used in all successful oratorios,

East Haven

2005-02-20T19:35:00.000-08:00

Urban town (township), New Haven county, southern Connecticut, U.S., on Long Island Sound just east of New Haven and separated from Branford (east) by Lake Saltonstall (about 3 miles [5 km] long). Originally a part of New Haven called Iron Works Village (because of the furnace established there in 1655 to process bog iron ore), it was renamed East Haven in 1707 and was incorporated as a separate

Discharge Printing

2005-02-19T23:40:00.000-08:00

Also called Extract Printing, method of applying a design to dyed fabric by printing a colour-destroying agent, such as chlorine or hydrosulfite, to bleach out a white or light pattern on the darker coloured ground. In colour-discharge printing, a dye impervious to the bleaching agent is combined with it, producing a coloured design instead of white on the dyed ground. See also resist printing; roller

Indian National Congress

2005-02-19T07:10:00.000-08:00

Byname Congress Party broadly based political party of India. Formed in 1885, the Indian National Congress dominated the Indian movement for independence from Great Britain and formed most of India's governments from the time of independence through the mid-1990s.

Abstract Poem

2005-02-18T22:43:00.000-08:00

A term coined by Edith Sitwell to describe a poem in which the words are chosen for their aural quality rather than specifically for their sense or meaning. An example from “Popular Song” in Sitwell's Façade (1923) follows: The red retriever-haired satyrCan whine and tease her and flatter,But Lily O'Grady,Silly and shady,In the deep shade is a lazy lady;Now Pompey's dead, Homer's

Germanic Peoples

2005-02-18T02:58:00.000-08:00

No trace of autocracy can be found among the Germans whom Caesar describes. The leading men of the pagi (kindred groups) would try to patch up disputes as they arose, but they acted only in those disputes that broke out between members of their own pagus. There appears to have been no mediatory body at this date. In fact, in peacetime there appears to have been no central

Furniture, Specialized furniture

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

Office furniture in the widest sense of the term has undergone rapid developments since mid-19th century. Such pieces as the high desks used by clerks in old offices and the big American rolltop desks have been replaced by carefully designed standard forms of writing desks with side cupboards, typewriting tables, filing cabinets, and office chairs with adjustable

Loyalty Islands

2005-02-17T14:08:00.000-08:00

French Îles Loyauté, limestone coral group in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia, southwestern Pacific Ocean. Comprising the islands of Ouvéa, Lifou, and Maré (qq.v.), the group has a total area of 761 square miles (1,970 square km) and nowhere rises higher than 300 feet (90 m). The islands were sighted by Europeans early in the 19th century and were long a focus of Anglo-French conflict. Annexed by France

Canada Company

2005-02-16T02:33:00.000-08:00

Organization instrumental in colonizing much of the western part of Upper Canada (now Ontario). Many residents of Upper Canada had incurred losses during the War of 1812 and subsequently claimed an indemnity from the British government. The latter agreed to pay a portion of the claims if the government of Upper Canada provided the remainder. At the suggestion of John

Wilson, Edith

2005-02-15T19:28:00.000-08:00

A leader in Washington society for more than half a century, Edith Wilson owes her place in history to the few short years she served as first lady. Although controversial, she made no important changes in the role of the president's wife—except to show more clearly than any of her predecessors that the way the first lady guards her husband's health and well-being can become a matter of national interest.

Bulbocavernosus Muscle

2005-02-15T17:53:00.000-08:00

Also called Bulbospongiosus, a muscle of the perineum, the area between the anus and the genitals. In the male, it surrounds the bulb (the enlarged inner end of the structure that surrounds the urethra) of the penis and can be contracted to expel the last drops of urine or semen. In the female it is divided into halves that extend from just behind the clitoris to the central tendon of the perineum and

Furniture, 17th century: the Baroque style

2005-02-15T06:23:00.000-08:00

During the 17th century, the Baroque style had a marked effect upon furniture design throughout western Europe. Large wardrobes, cupboards, and cabinets had twisted columns, broken pediments, and heavy moldings. In Baroque furniture the details are related to the whole; instead of a framework of unrelated surfaces, each detail contributes to the harmonious movement

La Follette, Robert M

2005-02-14T20:25:00.000-08:00

As a boy growing up in moderately prosperous rural areas, as a student at the University of Wisconsin (1875–79), as a county district attorney (1880–84) and congressman from southwestern Wisconsin, La Follette developed the personality and style that made him a popular leader. He combined an unusually outgoing personality, which made it natural for him to absorb the ideas and prejudices

Gully, John

2005-02-14T10:25:00.000-08:00

In 1805, having failed as a butcher, Gully was in prison for his debts when he was visited by his Bristol pugilist friend Henry Pearce, “the Game Chicken.” As the result of an informal bout between them in jail, Gully's

Tokyo

2005-02-14T06:47:00.000-08:00

The site of Tokyo has been inhabited since ancient times; the small fishing village of Edo existed there for

Macdowell Colony

2005-02-13T19:01:00.000-08:00

After Edward's death

Siddons, Sarah

2005-02-13T03:31:00.000-08:00

She was the eldest of 12 children of Roger and Sarah Kemble, who led a troupe of traveling actors (and were progenitors of a noted family of actors to a third generation, including a famous granddaughter, Fanny Kemble). Through the special care of her mother in sending

Fribourg

2005-02-11T20:07:00.000-08:00

German Freiburg, canton, western Switzerland, bounded by Lake Neuchâtel and the cantons of Vaud on the west and south and Bern on the east, with enclaves within Vaud. Occupying an area of 644 sq mi (1,669 sq km), it lies in an elevated plain (Swiss Plateau) and rises from flat land in the west through a hilly region up to the PreAlps in the south and east. The highest summits are to the south in La Gruyère

Price Index

2005-02-11T10:00:00.000-08:00

Measure of relative price changes, consisting of a series of numbers arranged so that a comparison between the values for any two periods or places will show the average change in prices between periods or the average difference in prices between places. Price indexes were first developed to measure changes in the cost of living in order to determine the wage increases

Malabar Coast

2005-02-11T06:00:00.000-08:00

Name long applied to the southern part of India's western coast, approximately from Goa southward, which is bordered on the east by the Western Ghats range. The name has sometimes encompassed the entire western coast of peninsular India. It now includes most of Kerala state and the coastal region of Karnataka state. The coast consists of a continuous belt of sand dunes.

Leviathan

2005-02-10T16:38:00.000-08:00

Hebrew Livyatan, in Jewish mythology, a primordial sea serpent. Its source is in prebiblical Mesopotamian myth, especially that of the sea monster in the Ugaritic myth of Baal (see Yamm). In the Old Testament, Leviathan appears in Psalms 74:14 as a multiheaded sea serpent that is killed by God and given as food to the Hebrews in the wilderness. In Isaiah 27:1, Leviathan is a serpent and a symbol of Israel's

Ogilvy, David

2005-02-10T08:20:00.000-08:00

Ogilvy was the son of a classics scholar and broker, but financial reverses left the family in straitened circumstance when he was a boy. Nonetheless, he earned scholarships

Kamenshek, Dorothy

2005-02-09T07:49:00.000-08:00

Kamenshek showed promise as an outfielder with a local softball league by the time she was 17. A scout for the newly created All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) persuaded her to try out in Chicago.

Wollaston, William Hyde

2005-02-09T06:51:00.000-08:00

Though he was formally educated as

Anderson, Margaret

2005-02-09T06:17:00.000-08:00

Anderson was reared in a conventional Midwestern home and educated at Western College for Women, Oxford, Ohio. She renounced the "bourgeois" values

Sabot

2005-02-08T13:46:00.000-08:00

Variations of the sabot—wooden-soled shoes topped with a variety of materials such as leather and suede—became popular