FreeTooth

Dentist Central London

2006-10-18T19:40:00.000-07:00

The Welbeck clinic offers specialist Cosmetic Dentistry in a central London location. Dr Joe Oliver has worked for over 11 years in Cosmetic Dentistry and now provides a 1 day Cosmetic Dentistry solution which includes Teeth Whitening, Porcelain Veneers and Dental Crowns.

Mahmoud

2005-03-17T22:10:00.000-08:00

Mahmoud was foaled in France by Mah Mahal and sired by Blenheim. He was owned by the Aga Khan who sent him to England to be trained by Frank Butters at Newmarket. He won all three of his races as a two-year-old, and as a three-year-old he lost the Two Thousand Guineas by a short head,

Tyrwhitt, Thomas

2005-03-15T15:03:00.000-08:00

English scholar especially notable for his work on the medieval English poet Geoffrey Chaucer. In classical and English scholarship alike, Tyrwhitt showed the same qualities of balance, wide knowledge, and critical acumen. (He was the one man able, on linguistic grounds alone, to denounce as a forgery the poems by Thomas Chatterton purporting

Gruiform

2005-03-13T21:38:00.000-08:00

(order Gruiformes), any member of a rather loose assemblage of 12 families of birds that are generally agreed to be related but that differ widely in many aspects. They are an ancient group with a rich fossil history, but many are now restricted in range and few in number. Members of the order occur on every continent, but the only family with worldwide distribution is the

Bonar, Horatius

2005-03-12T15:31:00.000-08:00

Ordained minister of North Parish church in Kelso, Roxburghshire (1837), Bonar remained there until appointed minister of the Chalmers Memorial Church in Edinburgh (1866). At the disruption of 1843, when the Evangelical party left

Shamanism

2005-03-10T08:46:00.000-08:00

The shaman attains the ecstasy necessary for communicating with the spirits through the performance of the shaman rite, which requires certain appurtenances.

Lowlands

2005-03-06T01:18:00.000-08:00

Also called Scottish Lowlands cultural and historical region of Scotland, comprising the portion of the country southeast of a line drawn from Dumbarton to Stonehaven; northwest of the line are the Highlands. Traditionally, the Lowlands were distinguished by the use of the Scots language (considered a dialect or close relative of English) in contrast to the Scottish Gaelic (a Celtic language)

Bar Form

2005-03-04T11:15:00.000-08:00

In music, the structural pattern aab as used by the medieval German minnesingers and meistersingers, who were poet-composers of secular monophonic songs (i.e., those having a single line of melody). The modern term Bar form derives from a medieval verse form, the Bar, consisting of three stanzas, each having the form aab. The musical term thus refers to the melody of a single

Aquifer

2005-03-02T18:58:00.000-08:00

A confined aquifer is a water-bearing stratum that is confined or overlain by a rock

Romanesque Art

2005-02-28T20:02:00.000-08:00

The name Romanesque

Sha'ir

2005-02-26T04:32:00.000-08:00

(Arabic: “poet”), in Arabic literature, poet who in pre-Islamic times was a tribal dignitary whose poetic utterances were deemed supernaturally inspired by such spirits as jinn and shaitans. As such, his word was needed to insure the success of certain tribal activities, particularly war, grazing, and the invocation of the gods. In times of intertribal strife, the satire

Duanehunt Law

2005-02-23T19:05:00.000-08:00

In atomic physics, the relationship between the voltage (V ) applied to an X-ray tube and the maximum frequency n of the X rays emitted from the target. It is named after the American physicists William Duane and Franklin Hunt. The relationship is expressed as n = Ve/h, in which e is the charge of the electron and h is Planck's constant. This law is sometimes called the inverse photoelectric

Aethelred

2005-02-22T03:46:00.000-08:00

He succeeded his brother Wulfhere (q.v.) in 674 and early on spent most of his time in warfare. In 676 he ravished Kent, taking Rochester. In 679, in a battle on the banks of the Trent, he defeated the Northumbrians, taking the province of Lindsey. Aelfwine, the brother

Recidivism

2005-02-19T03:10:00.000-08:00

Tendency toward chronic criminal behaviour leading to numerous arrests and re-imprisonment. Studies of the yearly intake of prisons, reformatories, and jails in the United States and Europe show that from one-half to two-thirds of those imprisoned have served previous sentences in the same or in other institutions. The conclusion is that the criminal population

Prichard

2005-02-18T07:23:00.000-08:00

City, Mobile county, southwestern Alabama, U.S., a northern industrial suburb of Mobile. It was named for Cleveland Prichard, who purchased a tract of land (1879) on the east side of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad track and developed it into a vegetable-shipping point for markets in the North and East. The city's industries now include shipbuilding and the manufacture of chemicals,

Saragat, Giuseppe

2005-02-15T13:01:00.000-08:00

A University of Turin graduate in economics and commerce, Saragat joined the Socialist Party in 1922. An opponent of the Fascists, he was exiled by them from 1926 to 1943; upon returning to Rome in

Aurès

2005-02-13T10:09:00.000-08:00

Latin Aurasius Mons, mountains, part of the Saharan Atlas in northeastern Algeria, northern Africa, fronted by rugged cliffs in the north and opening out in the south into the two parallel fertile valleys of the wadies Abiod and 'Abdi, facing the Sahara. The highest peaks, which are snowcapped during winter, include Mount Chélia (7,638 feet [2,328 m]), the highest point in northern Algeria, and Mount Mahmel

Atargatis

2005-02-11T21:23:00.000-08:00

Great goddess of northern Syria; her chief sanctuary was at Hierapolis (modern Manbij), northeast of Aleppo, where she was worshiped with her consort, Hadad. Her ancient temple there was rebuilt about 300 BC by Queen Stratonice, wife of Seleucus I, and it was perhaps partly as a result of that Greek patronage that her cult, carried by Greek merchants and mercenaries, spread to

Karajan, Herbert Von

2005-02-09T08:49:00.000-08:00

A child prodigy on the piano, Karajan studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. He made his professional conducting debut in 1929 at Salzburg, and he was appointed to a conducting position in Ulm, Ger., later that year. He remained

Ahmed, Fakhruddin Ali

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

The son of an army doctor from Assam, Ahmed was educated in India and studied history at the University of Cambridge, graduating in 1927. After returning to India, he was elected to the Assam legislature (1935). As Assam's minister of finance and revenue in 1938, he was responsible for some radical taxation measures.

Denpasar

2005-02-05T18:08:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Bali propinsi (province), south central Bali, Indonesia, 40 miles (70 km) south of Singaraja. The largest city on the island of Bali, it is also the capital of the Badung kabupaten (regency). Denpasar was the site of a suicidal battle of the rajas of Badung against the Dutch Militia in 1906. A large open square in the centre of the city, named Puputan Square, commemorates

Amphibian, Life cycle

2005-02-04T02:42:00.000-08:00

Most amphibians have a biphasic life cycle involving aquatic eggs and larvae that metamorphose into terrestrial adults. They deposit large numbers of eggs in water; clutches may exceed 5,000 eggs in the tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum) and 45,000 eggs in large bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana). Egg size and water temperature influence the length of time required by embryos

Prodi, Romano

2005-02-02T09:51:00.000-08:00

Prodi graduated from Catholic University in Milan in 1961 and did postdoctoral work at the London School of Economics. After serving as a professor of economics at the University of Bologna, he entered government as minister of industry in 1978. In 1996, after two productive stints

Cyprus, Flag Of

2005-01-30T00:09:00.000-08:00

For centuries Cyprus was part of the Ottoman Empire and flew Turkish flags. By agreement with the Turkish sovereign, however, the British assumed administrative control of the island in 1878 and subsequently flew the Union Jack there. During World War I the island was annexed by the British, and other colonial flags were then introduced. For example, to the British Red

Mode

2005-01-27T19:07:00.000-08:00

The modes of Greek antiquity were placed by theorists in orderly fashion within a larger context. Although the modes were a series of seven-note diatonic scales (i.e., containing five whole tones and two semitones), the nucleus of the tone system was the tetrachord—a group of four consecutive notes (as, from C to F on the piano) comprising the interval of a fourth. Except in

France, History Of, Frankish fiscal law

2005-01-25T09:28:00.000-08:00

The Frankish fiscal system reflected the evolution of the economy. Frankish kings were unable to continue the Roman system of direct taxation of land as the basis for their income. Their principal sources of income were the exploitation of the domains of the fisc (royal treasury), war (booty, tribute), the exercise of power (monetary and judicial rights), and the imposition

Terhune, Mary Virginia Hawes

2005-01-23T17:21:00.000-08:00

Mary Hawes grew up in her hometown of Dennisville, Virginia, and from 1844 in nearby Richmond. She was well educated by private tutors and in her father's library. Writing under the pseudonym Marion Harland, she

Turan Plain

2005-01-21T06:53:00.000-08:00

Uzbek Turon extensive lowland in southwestern Kazakhstan and northwestern Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. It is bounded by the Saryarqa (Kazakh uplands) in the north, the outliers of the Tien Shan, Pamir, and Alay mountains in the east, the Kopet-Dag Range in the south, and the Caspian Sea in the west. It is traversed by the lower courses of the Syr Darya and Amu Darya, both of which drain

Christian Methodist Episcopal Church

2005-01-18T23:37:00.000-08:00

Black Methodist church in the United States, organized in 1870 as the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church; it officially adopted its present name in 1956. The church originated from a movement begun in 1866 within the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, to organize the black members into an independent church. At the founding convention in 1870, two bishops from the Methodist Episcopal

Gyllensten, Lars (johan Wictor)

2005-01-16T08:41:00.000-08:00

Gyllensten was reared and educated in Stockholm and was a professor of medicine at the Karolinska Institute for 18 years. He served on the Nobel Committee for Literature from 1968 and was made permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy in 1977. The Swedish Foundation

Harvard-smithsonian Center For Astrophysics

2005-01-14T09:40:00.000-08:00

The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory was established in 1890 in Washington, D.C., by Samuel Pierpont Langley, the third secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, for the specific study of the Sun's radiation. Langley's successor as observatory director in 1906, Charles Greeley Abbot, limited the facility's attention to the study of the amount and character of, and variations

Ilex

2005-01-13T11:38:00.000-08:00

Genus of plants commonly known collectively as holly (q.v.).

Mitanni

2005-01-10T15:13:00.000-08:00

Mitanni was one of several kingdoms

Gene Flow

2005-01-08T07:30:00.000-08:00

Also called gene migration the introduction of genetic material (by interbreeding) from one population of a species to another, thereby changing the composition of the gene pool of the receiving population. The introduction of new alleles through gene flow increases variability within the population and makes possible new combinations of traits. In human beings gene flow usually comes

Gastein, Convention Of

2005-01-07T11:03:00.000-08:00

Also called Convention Of Badgastein, agreement between Austria and Prussia reached on Aug. 20, 1865, after their seizure of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein from Denmark in 1864; it temporarily postponed the final struggle between them for hegemony over Germany. The pact provided that both the emperor of Austria and the king of Prussia were to be sovereign over the duchies, Prussia administering Schleswig

Tracheophyte

2005-01-05T15:00:00.000-08:00

Any of the vascular plants, members of the division, or phylum, Tracheophyta, numbering some 260,000 species and including all of the conspicuous flora of the Earth today. Tracheophyte, meaning “tracheid plant,” refers to the water-conducting cells (called tracheids, or tracheary elements) that show spiral bands like those in the walls of the tracheae, or air tubes, of

Philip V

2005-01-03T17:55:00.000-08:00

King of Macedonia from 221 to 179, whose attempt to extend Macedonian influence throughout Greece resulted in his defeat by Rome. His career is significant mainly as an episode in Rome's expansion. The son of Demetrius II and his wife Phthia (Chryseis), the young prince was adopted, after his father's death in 229, by his half-cousin Antigonus Doson, who took

Malatesta Family

2004-12-31T05:54:00.000-08:00

Italian family that ruled Rimini, south of Ravenna, in the European Middle Ages and led the region's Guelf (papal) party. Originating as feudal lords of the Apennine hinterland, the family became powerful in Rimini in the 13th century, when Malatesta da Verucchio (d. 1312) expelled Ghibelline (imperial party) leaders in 1295 and became lord of the city. Possibly the best-known episode

Cabriole Leg

2004-12-30T02:33:00.000-08:00

The early

Argand Burner

2004-12-27T18:57:00.000-08:00

First scientifically constructed oil lamp, patented in 1784 in England by a Swiss, Aimé Argand. The first basic change in lamps in thousands of years, it applied a principle that was later adapted to gas burners. The Argand burner consisted of a cylindrical wick housed between two concentric metal tubes. The inner tube provided a passage through which air rose into the

Western Australia

2004-12-26T07:42:00.000-08:00

China, Social organization

2004-12-24T02:54:00.000-08:00

The basic unit of production and consumption in Chinese society remained the chia (“family”), consisting of kin related by blood, marriage, or adoption, with a common budget and common property. The Chinese family system was patrilineal; daughters married out, while sons brought in wives and shared the residence of their fathers. The head of the family, the patriarch, had

Endometriosis

2004-12-22T03:08:00.000-08:00

Rather than flowing out of the uterus by way of the vagina (during menstruation), some fragments of the endometrium may leave via the fallopian tubes and move into the pelvic

Margaret Of Parma

2004-12-19T21:30:00.000-08:00

The illegitimate daughter of the Holy Roman emperor Charles V (Charles I of Spain) and Johanna van der Gheenst, Margaret was married in 1536 to Alessandro de' Medici,

Lorentz, Hendrik Antoon

2004-12-17T08:35:00.000-08:00

In his doctoral thesis at the University of Leiden (1875), Lorentz refined the electromagnetic theory of James

Lathrop, Julia Clifford

2004-12-16T22:29:00.000-08:00

Lathrop attended Vassar College, graduating in 1880. Over the next 10 years she worked in her father's law office and interested herself in various reform movements. In 1890 she moved to Chicago and joined Jane Addams at the newly established Hull House settlement.

France, History Of, Absolutism of Louis

2004-12-14T16:48:00.000-08:00

Thus, in religious matters (except where Jansenism was concerned), in his dealings with the nobility and the Parlement, in his attitude to the economy, and in his manner of governing the country, Louis revealed a desire to exercise a paternal control of affairs that might suggest a modern dictator rather than a 17th-century king. Though such a comparison has been made, it

Cromwellian Chair

2004-12-12T23:38:00.000-08:00

Sturdy, squarish chair with a leather back and seat, studded with brass-headed nails, made in England in the mid-17th century during the Puritan period and named after Oliver Cromwell. Because luxury and almost any kind of ornament were shunned in the prevailing climate of austerity, the only decoration was the pattern of bright nail heads and bobbin turning, a series

Aerospace Industry, Airframe and engine overhaul

2004-12-09T20:33:00.000-08:00

To ensure the safe operation of airliners, airframes and engines of civil and military aircraft have obligatory major overhauls after specified time intervals. For the airframes of commercial airliners, this is required after about five years (22,000 flight hours) of operation. In such a major overhaul, the first phase is an evaluation of the technical “health” of the aircraft

Aldrin

2004-12-08T18:40:00.000-08:00

One of the several isomers (compounds with the same composition but different structures) of hexachlorohexahydrodimethanonaphthalene, a chlorinated hydrocarbon used as an insecticide. Aldrin was first prepared in the late 1940s and is manufactured by the reaction of hexachlorocyclopentadiene with bicycloheptadiene (both derived from hydrocarbons obtained

Bonard, Louis-adolphe

2004-12-05T15:35:00.000-08:00

Entering service in the French Navy in 1825, Bonard was promoted to lieutenant in 1835, captain in 1842, and was commissioned vice admiral in 1862. He was captured by Algerians after a shipwreck in 1830 and later helped quell

Trichur

2004-12-01T20:37:00.000-08:00

Town, administrative headquarters of Trichur district, central Kerala state, southwestern India. The town is located 12 mi (19 km) inland on an extensive lagoon system. A commercial and cultural centre, it is considered to be the oldest town on the west coast of India; its name means “small sacred place.” Trichur is built around a hillock topped by the Vatakkunatha temple, the focus

Mindszenty, József

2004-11-29T13:27:00.000-08:00

Politically active from the time of his ordination as a priest in 1915, Mindszenty was arrested as an enemy of totalitarian

Solanales

2004-11-28T03:26:00.000-08:00

Order of dicotyledonous flowering plants, a division of the subclass Asteridae. The order includes the Solanaceae and usually other families from the large 19th-century order Tubiflorae (see below Evolution). Botanists have differed as to which families should be included, but, however the order is construed, it includes some of the plants most important to human

Pharmaceutical Industry, Amination

2004-11-25T01:41:00.000-08:00

Two important methods of amination (the process of adding an amino (-NH2) group to a compound) are reduction and ammonolysis. There are many reduction methods, but the most common is the reduction of the corresponding nitro compound by means of iron and acid. An example of ammonolysis is the preparation of aniline by heating chlorobenzene with excess aqueous ammonia,

Ashi

2004-11-24T06:47:00.000-08:00

Ashi was head of the Jewish Academy at Sura, Babylonia, and was one of two chief editors who fixed the canon of the Babylonian Talmud. Under Ashi's leadership the Academy, which had been closed since 309, was revived,

Arnold, Samuel

2004-11-19T01:24:00.000-08:00

Educated at Chapel Royal, Arnold became composer to Covent Garden Theatre; his first annual production was The Maid of the Mill (1765). Subsequent positions were as music director of the Theatre

Graziani, Rodolfo, Marquess Di Neghelli

2004-11-17T01:36:00.000-08:00

After service in Eritrea and Libya before World War I and in Macedonia and Tripolitania subsequently, Graziani became commander in chief of Italian forces in Libya (1930–34), governor of Italian Somaliland (1935–36), viceroy of Ethiopia (1936–37), and honorary governor of Italian East Africa

Puerto Cortés

2004-11-15T04:02:00.000-08:00

City, northwestern Honduras, situated on the Gulf of Honduras. It is backed by Alvarado Lagoon and extends for 2 miles (3 km) along the southern shore of Caballos Point. Puerto Cortés serves as the seaport for San Pedro Sula and the Sula Valley. The town was founded in 1524 as Puerto Caballos, just to the south across Cortés Bay, but was moved and had its name changed to Puerto

Gai Saber

2004-11-12T11:27:00.000-08:00

Old Provençal: “gay knowledge” or “gay science” the art of composing love poetry; especially the art of the Provençal troubadours as set forth in a 14th-century work called the Leys d'amors. The Old Provençal phrase gai saber is associated with the Consistòri del Gai Saber, originally the Sobregaya compannia dels VII Trobadors de Tolosa (“Very Gay Company of the Seven Troubadours of Toulouse”), a group of seven citizens

Spontaneous Fission

2004-11-09T23:07:00.000-08:00

Type of radioactive decay in which certain unstable nuclei of heavier elements split into two nearly equal fragments (nuclei of lighter elements) and liberate a large amount of energy. Spontaneous fission, discovered (1941) by the Russian physicists G.N. Flerov and K.A. Petrzhak in uranium-238, is observable in many nuclear species of mass number 230 or more. Among these nuclides,

Balcony

2004-11-08T14:23:00.000-08:00

External extension of an upper floor of a building, enclosed up to a height of about three feet (one metre) by a solid or pierced screen, by balusters (see also balustrade), or by railings. In the medieval and Renaissance periods, balconies were supported by corbels made out of successive courses of stonework, or by large wooden or stone brackets. Since the 19th century, supports

Skagen

2004-11-05T17:21:00.000-08:00

Also called The Skaw city and port, Nordjylland amtskommune (county commune), northern Jutland, Denmark, near the northern tip of the peninsula on the Kattegat strait. Chartered in 1413, it is one of the principal fishing centres in Denmark. It is also a summer resort and, from the 1870s, the site of an artists' and writers' colony. Notable are the Rå-bjerg Mile sand dunes to the south and the Old Church, which

Sun Microsystems, Inc.

2004-11-04T08:36:00.000-08:00

American manufacturer of computer workstations, servers, and software with headquarters in Palo Alto, California.

Motion Picture, Motion-picture design

2004-11-01T22:14:00.000-08:00

Under the heading of design, all the elements of a picture's setting may be included—art direction, scenic composition, set design, costume, and makeup. At its simplest and most naturalistic, the camera can choose and frame ordinary people in a real location. At its most elaborate, motion-picture production may involve the expenditure of vast sums to put up gigantic sets

González, Julio

2004-10-31T10:50:00.000-08:00

González and his brother Joan received artistic training from their father, a sculptor and metalworker, as well as at the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona. González moved to Paris in 1900, where, through his old Barcelona friend Pablo

Sculpture, Western, The Archaic period

2004-10-29T08:30:00.000-07:00

The kouroi, which had become standardized as freestanding statues of naked youths with hands to sides and one leg advanced, were the most representative examples of Archaic sculpture. At first their proportions were based on theory rather than observation; much the same was true of the anatomical details, which were treated as separate patterns applied to the

Anckarsvärd, Carl Henrik, Greve(count)

2004-10-27T16:50:00.000-07:00

Unlike many other “men of 1809,” Anckarsvärd did not retreat from his liberal principles when a democratization of society became a practical possibility.

Mercantilism

2004-10-24T19:56:00.000-07:00

Economic theory and practice common in Europe from the 16th to the 18th century that promoted governmental regulation of a nation's economy for the purpose of augmenting state power at the expense of rival national powers. It was the economic counterpart of political absolutism. Its 17th-century publicists—most notably Thomas Mun in England, Jean-Baptiste Colbert in

Bracteate

2004-10-22T18:22:00.000-07:00

These circular bracteates were derived from late Roman and Byzantine coins. Goldsmiths later abandoned the Roman

'brog-mi

2004-10-18T11:10:00.000-07:00

'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

Essex

2004-10-16T16:13:00.000-07:00

One of the kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England; i.e., that of the East Saxons. An area of early settlement, it probably originally included the territory of the modern county of Middlesex; London was its chief town. Essex sometimes had joint kings, and from 664 they were subject to the rulers of the midland kingdom of Mercia. From 825 Essex was controlled by Wessex, first as a subkingdom

Can Tho

2004-10-15T13:00:00.000-07:00

Municipality and provincial seat of Hau Giang tinh (province), Mekong delta region, southeastern Vietnam. Situated on the left bank of the Song (river) Hau Giang, 90 mi (145 km) southwest of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), it is an industrial centre and the largest city of the flat delta region, which includes the Ca Mau Peninsula and the principal rice-growing areas of the country.

Stalactite And Stalagmite

2004-10-13T14:36:00.000-07:00

Stalactites hanging from the ceilings of caverns commonly exhibit a central tube or the trace of a former tube whose diameter

Enugu

2004-10-11T18:36:00.000-07:00

State, south-central Nigeria. It was created in 1991 from the eastern two-thirds of Anambra state. Enugu is bounded by the states of Kogi and Benue to the north, Cross River to the east, Abia to the south, and Anambra to the west. It includes most of the Udi-Nsukka Plateau, which rises to more than 1,000 feet (300 m). Enugu state is covered by open grassland, with occasional woodlands and clusters

Tiger

2004-10-08T00:07:00.000-07:00

The tiger is thought to have originated in northern Eurasia and to have moved southward; its present range extends from the

Kodály, Zoltán

2004-10-07T19:43:00.000-07:00

Prominent composer and authority on Hungarian folk music. He was also important as an educator not only of composers but also of teachers and, through his students, contributed heavily to the spread of musical education in Hungary. He was a chorister in his youth at Nagyszombat (now Trnava), Czech., where he wrote his first compositions.

Hindu Kush

2004-10-05T03:32:00.000-07:00

The Hindu Kush is one of the great watersheds of Central Asia, forming part of the vast Alpine zone that stretches across Eurasia from east to west. It runs northeast to southwest and divides the valley of the Amu Darya (the ancient Oxus River) to the north from the Indus

Kiraly, Karch

2004-10-02T00:07:00.000-07:00

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

Solomonid Dynasty

2004-09-30T07:36:00.000-07:00

Also called Solomonic Dynasty, line of Ethiopian emperors who, according to tradition, were descended from Menilek I, the son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba (Makeda). Until Haile Selassie I was deposed in 1974, their rule was supposed to have been continuous but for two periods, the reign of the Zagwe dynasty (12th–13th century) and the reign of Tewodros II (1855–68). Many scholars, however, trace the line back only as far

Kamelaukion

2004-09-28T13:32:00.000-07:00

Sometimes the kamelaukion was made of precious metal, sometimes of fabric; in either event, it might be richly decorated with jewels. The

Pinochle

2004-09-26T16:03:00.000-07:00

Card game derived from bezique and most often played in North America. One popular version is auction pinochle, a three-handed game using two packs of 24 cards ranking ace, 10, king, queen, jack, and 9 of each suit. Each player is dealt 15 cards, 3 at a time; after the first 3 have been dealt, 3 are dealt to the table to form the widow. Bidding goes clockwise from the dealer's left. The lowest bid

Phonolite

2004-09-22T01:40:00.000-07:00

The most important constituent of phonolite is alkali feldspar, either sanidine or anorthoclase,

Butuan

2004-09-21T18:27:00.000-07:00

Chartered city, northern Mindanao, Philippines, on the Agusan River near its mouth at Butuan Bay. A major settlement in early Spanish times, Butuan was visited by ships from Borneo and Luzon, reportedly trading for gold, cinnamon, and slaves. A Jesuit mission station was established there in the late 16th century. It has become the main commercial centre for the Agusan

Domenichino

2004-09-19T04:11:00.000-07:00

He was trained in the academy of Lodovico Carracci and in 1602 was in Rome, where he joined the Bolognese artists at work under the direction of Annibale Carracci in

Leah

2004-09-17T09:27:00.000-07:00

After Jacob had deprived his brother Esau of his birthright

Giolitti, Giovanni

2004-09-14T19:20:00.000-07:00

Statesman and five times prime minister under whose leadership Italy prospered. He had many enemies, however, and retained power by using the highly criticized technique called giolittismo, which is associated with corruption and violence on election days and with personal deals rather

Disa

2004-09-12T10:27:00.000-07:00

Most species bear flowers ranging in colour from white to purple and in diameter from about 0.5 to 10 centimetres (about 0.2 to 4 inches). The upper sepal of each flower usually has a spur and stands upright,

Thompson, J(ohn) Lee

2004-09-11T16:54:00.000-07:00

British-born film director (b. Aug. 1, 1914, Bristol, Gloucestershire, Eng.—d. Aug. 30, 2002, Sooke, B.C.), achieved international fame with The Guns of Navarone (1961), which exemplified his acute visual style and use of suspenseful narrative. Thompson, who was sometimes billed as J. Lee-Thompson, began his film career as an actor and screenwriter, and the first movie he directed, Murder Without

Bel And The Dragon

2004-09-09T13:15:00.000-07:00

In full The History Of The Destruction Of Bel And The Dragon, Greek apocryphal addition to the biblical Book of Daniel. It is a deuterocanonical work in that it is accepted in the Roman canon but not by Jews or Protestants. It tells of the Jewish hero Daniel, who refuses to worship the god Bel and kills the dragon, thus being forced into a den of lions, which he is allowed to leave after seven days because he is unharmed. His enemies,

Gray, Robert

2004-09-07T00:36:00.000-07:00

Gray went to sea at an early age, and after serving in the Continental Navy during the Revolutionary War, he entered the service of a Massachusetts trading company. In command first of the “Lady Washington” and later of the “Columbia,

Mazia, Daniel

2004-09-04T13:33:00.000-07:00

U.S. cell biologist (b. Dec. 18, 1912, Scranton, Pa.--d. June 9, 1996, Monterey, Calif.), studied the structure, division, and regulation of cells and was best known for having isolated the cellular structures involved in mitosis (the process by which chromosomes within the nucleus of a cell double and divide), research that he carried out in 1951 with Japanese biologist Katsuma Dan. Mazia, who was interested

Hypocoly

2004-09-03T02:12:00.000-07:00

(Hypocolius ampelinus), Middle Eastern songbird believed by some authorities to be related to the waxwing (family Bombycillidae) but often separated as the sole member of the family Hypocoliidae (order Passeriformes). The hypocoly is a slim grayish bird, about 18 cm (7 inches) long, with a black mask and a slight crest. The wings are black, tipped with white. The beak is short,

Ogata Kenzan

2004-09-01T04:08:00.000-07:00

Kenzan received a classical Chinese and Japanese education and pursued Zen Buddhism. At the age of 27 he began studying with the potter Ninsei and in 1699 established his own kiln in Narutaki. Encountering financial

More, Sir Anthony

2004-08-29T04:27:00.000-07:00

More studied his art under Jan van Scorel, and, after making a professional visit to Italy, he began to paint portraits in the style of Hans Holbein. His rise to eminence was rapid. In 1552 he was invited to Madrid by the emperor Charles V. In 1554 he

China, Coinage

2004-08-27T03:45:00.000-07:00

Copper coins were used throughout the Ming dynasty. Paper money was used for various kinds of payments and grants by the government, but it was always nonconvertible and, consequently, lost value disastrously. It would, in fact, have been utterly valueless except that it was prescribed for the payment of certain types of taxes. The exchange of precious metals was forbidden

Safaqis

2004-08-26T00:07:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Sfax, major port town, east-central Tunisia on the northern shore of the Gulf of Gabes. Built on the site of two small settlements of antiquity, Taparura and Thaenae, the town grew as an early Islamic trading centre for nomads. Temporarily occupied in the 12th century by Sicilian Normans and in the 16th century by the Spanish, it later served as a stronghold of the Barbary pirates.

Hungary, Ethnic and religious structure

2004-08-23T06:08:00.000-07:00

From its inception in the 11th century, the Kingdom of Hungary was a multi-ethnic country. Major territorial changes made Hungary ethnically homogenous after World War I, however, and more than nine-tenths of the population is now ethnically Hungarian and speaks Hungarian (Magyar) as its mother tongue. The Hungarian language is classified as a member of the Ugric branch

Davis, Henry Winter

2004-08-21T20:55:00.000-07:00

Intent

Black Country

2004-08-19T05:02:00.000-07:00

Industrial region closely corresponding to the small south Staffordshire coalfield in the Midlands region of England; its name derives from its pollution-coated industrial landscape. The Black Country extends immediately to the west of the city of Birmingham, which itself lies off the coalfield, and makes up the western part of the metropolitan county of West