ImportantBook

Minahasan

2005-04-05T23:29:00.000-07:00

People inhabiting the northernmost extension of the island of Celebes, Indonesia, in and around the port town of Manado. Of Proto-Malay stock, the Minahasan, formerly headed by chiefs, are now organized patrilineally under headmen, and land is owned communally by each village. Extended families are bound to undivided estates that are apportioned according to the

Hispania

2005-04-05T13:38:00.000-07:00

In Roman times, region comprising the Iberian Peninsula, now occupied by Portugal and Spain. When the Romans took Hispania from the Carthaginians (206 BC), they divided it into two provinces: Hispania Ulterior (present Andalusia, Extremadura, southern León, and most of modern Portugal) and Hispania Citerior, or Tarraconensis (all of what is now northern, eastern, and south-central

Armenian Apostolic Church

2005-04-03T17:05:00.000-07:00

Christianity became the state religion of Armenia about AD 300, when St. Gregory the Illuminator converted the Arsacid king Tiridates III. The new Armenian church soon struck a course independent of

Colfax, Schuyler

2005-04-03T14:10:00.000-07:00

At the end of his term, Colfax returned to private life under a cloud but managed to make a living by delivering popular lectures.

Marquetry

2005-04-02T14:21:00.000-08:00

Thin sheets of wood, metal, or organic material, such as shell or mother-of-pearl, cut into intricate patterns according to a preconceived design and affixed to the flat surfaces of furniture. The process became popular in France in the late 16th century and received an enormous stimulus in the two following centuries as the European economy started to expand and created

Babbage, Charles

2005-04-01T06:00:00.000-08:00

In 1812 Babbage helped found the Analytical Society, whose object was to introduce developments from the European continent into English mathematics. In 1816 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of London. He

Lagrange, Marie-joseph

2005-04-01T01:10:00.000-08:00

Lagrange became a Dominican in 1879 and was ordained in 1883. After teaching church history at Toulouse (1884–88), he studied Oriental languages at the University of Vienna before his order sent him to Jerusalem in 1890 to establish the School of Biblical Studies. There he also

Korolenko, Vladimir Galaktionovich

2005-03-31T03:46:00.000-08:00

Korolenko was expelled from two colleges for his revolutionary activities. In 1879 he was exiled to the Yakut region (now in Sakha republic) of Siberia, where he encountered the

Agreda, María De

2005-03-29T14:28:00.000-08:00

Her virtues and holy life were universally acknowledged, but controversy arose over her mystical writings, her political influence, and her missionary activities.

Absalon

2005-03-29T09:32:00.000-08:00

Scion of a powerful Zealand family, Absalon helped his childhood friend gain the Danish throne as Valdemar I (1156–57) and was named bishop of Roskilde in 1158. As the king's closest adviser, he initially supported Valdemar's alliance with Frederick I Barbarossa, Holy

Kornbluth, C.m.

2005-03-29T01:26:00.000-08:00

Kornbluth published science-fiction stories as a teenager. Called the Futurians, he and other young writers, including Isaac Asimov and Frederik Pohl (his frequent coauthor), composed and edited most of the tales in such sci-fi magazines as Astonishing

Claude Of France

2005-03-28T22:33:00.000-08:00

In 1504 Claude's mother, eager to keep Brittany out of French hands, caused the Treaty of Blois to be concluded, which assured the hand of Claude to Charles of Austria (the future emperor Charles V) and promised him Brittany, Burgundy,

Siliceous Rock

2005-03-28T19:06:00.000-08:00

The most common siliceous rock is chert, which is a dense, microcrystalline rock composed

Chemical Synthesis

2005-03-28T08:47:00.000-08:00

Chemists synthesize chemical compounds that occur in nature in order to gain a better understanding of their structures.

Alabama, Government

2005-03-26T09:07:00.000-08:00

Alabama is governed by a bicameral legislature and a governor and cabinet. The legislature consists of 35 senators and 105 representatives who meet annually in regular sessions and are elected for four-year terms. The constitution, a complex and, some have claimed, outdated and often inadequate document, dates from 1901. After various poll tax and other tax provisions aimed

Alkali Feldspar

2005-03-26T00:52:00.000-08:00

Any of several common silicate minerals that often occur as variously coloured, glassy crystals. They are used in the manufacture of glass and ceramics; transparent, highly coloured, or iridescent varieties are sometimes used as gemstones. The alkali feldspars are primarily important as constituents of rocks; they are very widespread and abundant in alkali and

O'casey, Sean

2005-03-25T14:38:00.000-08:00

O'Casey was born into a lower middle-class Irish Protestant family. His father died when John was six, and thereafter the family became progressively poorer.

Leadbelly

2005-03-24T00:11:00.000-08:00

Musical from childhood, Leadbelly played accordion, 6- and 12-string guitar, bass, and harmonica. He led a wandering life, learning songs by absorbing oral tradition.

Sundbyberg

2005-03-23T17:52:00.000-08:00

Town, Stockholm län (county), east-central Sweden. Sundbyberg lies on the northwestern outskirts of Stockholm. When founded in 1877, it was one of Stockholm's first residential suburbs. It was chartered in 1927 and has become an important industrial centre. The church (1909–11) is noted for its stained glass. Other imposing buildings are the large Marabou chocolate factory and the multistory

Biblical Literature, Christology in Hebrews

2005-03-23T15:37:00.000-08:00

The church is viewed as being in danger of discouragement in the face of persecution and possible apostasy. If faithless, church members risk total loss, for no second repentance is possible. Through his special Christology, the author seeks to help the readers by showing that Christ is the saviour superior to any other and that as Saviour, Son of God, High Priest, pioneer,

Japanese Philosophy

2005-03-23T10:18:00.000-08:00

The conceptual expression of Japanese culture since the turn of the 6th century Ad . The term philosophy has been considered somewhat misleading in reference to Japanese thought, since Japanese premodern thinking tended to be directed more toward the realm of existence than toward that of essence. Japanese philosophy is not generally indigenous; Japanese thinkers have always freely appropriated foreign philosophical systems and insights

Grayback

2005-03-22T16:11:00.000-08:00

Any of several North American fishes including the alewife (q.v.), cisco (see whitefish), and Menominee whitefish.

Vajrayana

2005-03-22T14:54:00.000-08:00

Also called Tantric Buddhism, important development within Buddhism in India and neighbouring countries, notably Tibet. Vajrayana, in the history of Buddhism, marks the transition from Mahayana speculative thought to the enactment of Buddhist ideas in individual life. The term vajra (Sanskrit: “diamond,” or “thunderbolt”) is used to signify the absolutely real and indestructible in man, as opposed

Insurance, Other provisions

2005-03-21T11:19:00.000-08:00

Life insurance policies contain various clauses that protect the rights of beneficiaries and the insured. Perhaps the best-known is the incontestable clause, which provides that if a policy has been in force for two years the insurer may not afterward refuse to pay the proceeds or cancel the contract for any reason except nonpayment of premiums. Thus, if the insured

Sothern, Ann

2005-03-21T09:52:00.000-08:00

American actress (b. Jan. 22, 1909, Valley City, N.D.—d. March 15, 2001, Ketchum, Idaho), achieved fame with her roles in films that included Maisie (1939) and Lady Be Good (1941) and as the star of the 1950s television series Private Secretary. Sothern began her film career after performing in Broadway musicals. Her success in the title role of Maisie led to a series of films that included Maisie Was a Lady (1941) and Undercover

Henbane

2005-03-20T23:09:00.000-08:00

(Hyoscyamus niger), any plant of the family Solanaceae (q.v.), indigenous to Great Britain and found growing wild in waste places and on rubbish heaps. It also occurs in central and southern Europe and in western Asia extending to India and Siberia, and has long been naturalized in the United States. There are two forms of the plant, an annual and a biennial. The annual grows

Carter, Maybelle

2005-03-20T13:06:00.000-08:00

By the time she was 12, Maybelle Addington was well versed in the traditional hill-country songs of the region and had become a skilled and original guitarist and autoharpist. When she was 17 she

Music

2005-03-20T09:42:00.000-08:00

Both the simple folk song and the complex electronic composition belong to the same activity, music. Both are humanly engineered; both are conceptual and auditory, and

Taegu

2005-03-20T04:07:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Taiku, or Daegu, city and provincial capital, Kyongsang-puk do (province), southeastern South Korea. Taegu is Korea's third largest city and has the status of a special city, with administrative status equal to that of a province. It lies east of the confluence of the Naktong and the Kumho rivers and 55 miles (90 km) north-northwest of Pusan. The city lies in a valley rimmed by low mountains that reach

Bureau

2005-03-18T23:17:00.000-08:00

In the United States, a chest of drawers; in Europe a writing desk, usually with a hinged writing flap that rests at a sloping angle when closed and, when opened, reveals a tier of pigeonholes, small drawers, and sometimes a small cupboard. The bureau (French: “office”) first appeared in France at the beginning of the 17th century as just a flat table with drawers below the top, the

Yogacara

2005-03-18T20:43:00.000-08:00

Also called Vijñanavada (“Doctrine of Consciousness”), an important idealistic school of Mahayana Buddhism. Yogacara attacked both the complete realism of Theravada Buddhism and the provisional practical realism of the Madhyamika school of Mahayana Buddhism. The name of the school is derived from the title of an important 4th- or 5th-century text of the school, the Yogacarabhumi-sastra (“The Science of the

Theatre, Western, Shamanism

2005-03-18T08:10:00.000-08:00

A second theory proposes that theatre evolved from shamanistic rituals that manifested to the audience a supernatural presence, as opposed to giving a symbolic representation of it. In this case the shaman, as actor/priest, was able to put himself into a trance and become a medium with the other world. He was believed to travel in the spirit world or be actually possessed

Half-way Covenant

2005-03-18T03:30:00.000-08:00

Religious-political solution adopted by 17th-century New England Congregationalists, also called Puritans, that allowed the children of baptized but unconverted church members to be baptized and thus become church members and have political rights. Early Congregationalists had become members of the church after they could report an experience of conversion.

Soto

2005-03-16T16:49:00.000-08:00

The sect was founded in China in the 9th century by Liang-chieh and Pen-chi, where it was known as Ts'ao-tung (after its monastic centres on the mountains Ts'ao and Tung). It was transmitted to Japan by Dogen, who founded the Eihei Temple

Sorge, Richard

2005-03-16T07:43:00.000-08:00

After service in the German Army during World War I, he earned a doctorate in political science at the University of Hamburg, Germany, joining the Communist Party of Germany in 1919. He went to Moscow in 1924, and about five years later

Roberts, Sir Charles G(eorge) D(ouglas)

2005-03-15T22:47:00.000-08:00

After graduating

Târgu Mures

2005-03-15T06:56:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Tîrgu Mures, Hungarian Marosvásárhely, city, capital of Mures judet (county), north-central Romania. It lies in the valley of the Mures River, in the southeastern part of the Transylvanian Basin. First mentioned in the 14th century, it was a cattle and crop market town called Neumarkt by the Germans, Agropolis by Greek traders, and Marosvásárhely by the Magyars. In the 15th century it had 30 guilds. The 18th–19th-century mathematician

Abdulla, Muhammed Said

2005-03-14T09:47:00.000-08:00

Abdulla, after completing his formal education, began his career as an inspector in the Colonial Health Department. After 10 years there, however, he decided to become a journalist. In 1948 he was made editor of the newspaper Zanzibari, and during the next decade he also

Caldas Da Rainha

2005-03-14T06:32:00.000-08:00

Town, Leiria district, west-central Portugal, north of Lisbon. Its name, meaning “the queen's hot springs,” recalls Queen Leonor, who founded a hospital there in 1485. By the end of the 19th century the town had become a popular spa. A tourist centre, Caldas da Rainha is also known for its glazed ceramic pottery. The church of Nossa Senhora do Pópulo, in early 16th-century Manueline style,

Vivarini, Antonio

2005-03-13T20:16:00.000-08:00

From 1444 Vivarini collaborated with his brother-in-law Giovanni d'Alemagna (d. 1450); later he worked with his younger brother, Bartolomeo. Surviving altarpieces executed

Philip I

2005-03-13T06:32:00.000-08:00

Philip was the son of the future Holy Roman emperor Maximilian I of Habsburg and Mary of Burgundy. At his mother's death (1482) he succeeded to her Netherlands dominions, with Maximilian acting as regent for him during his minority. When Philip

Levator Muscle

2005-03-12T03:49:00.000-08:00

Any of the muscles that raise a body part. In humans these include the levator anguli oris, which raises the corner of the mouth; the levator ani, collective name for a thin sheet of muscle that stretches across the pelvic cavity and helps hold the pelvic viscera in position, forming a kind of sphincter around the vagina in the female and the anal canal in both sexes; the

Beartooth Range

2005-03-11T15:11:00.000-08:00

Segment of the northern Rocky Mountains in the United States, extending east-southeastward for 50 miles (80 km) from the Stillwater River, in southern Montana, to the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River, in northwestern Wyoming. Many peaks rise to more than 12,000 feet (3,700 m), including Granite Peak (12,799 feet [3,901 m]), the highest point in Montana. It was through these mountains that Chief Joseph

Nora

2005-03-11T10:32:00.000-08:00

Ancient site about 22 miles (35 km) southwest of Cagliari (Caralis) on the island of Sardinia. Although tradition ascribes its foundation to Iberians from Tartessus, the site, which lies on a triangular promontory ending in a steep cliff, is characteristically Phoenician. Apart from remains of a Sardinian nuraghe, or towerlike monument, the earliest antiquities discovered

Harding, Saint Stephen

2005-03-11T07:58:00.000-08:00

Educated at the Sherborne Abbey, Harding fled to Scotland sometime after the Norman Conquest. He studied in Paris, may have been a soldier, and made a pilgrimage to Rome. He joined the Cluniac abbey at Molesme,

Polenta Family

2005-03-10T04:03:00.000-08:00

Italian noble family, named for its castle of Polenta (located in the Romagna, southwest of Cesena), which dominated the city-state of Ravenna from the end of the 13th century to the middle of the 15th. The family's ascendancy began with Guido da Polenta (d. 1310), known as Guido Minore, or Guido the Old, who led the Guelf, or pro-papal, faction in Ravenna against the Ghibelline, or pro-emperor,

Biblical Literature, The Letter of Paul to the Ephesians

2005-03-09T21:28:00.000-08:00

The authenticity of Ephesians as a genuinely Pauline epistle has been doubted since the time of the Dutch Humanist Erasmus in the 16th century. It is most reasonable to consider it as “deutero-Pauline”—i.e., in the tradition of Paul but not written by him. The problem of Ephesians cannot be solved apart from that of Colossians, because many similarities are noted in the style

Orzeszkowa, Eliza

2005-03-09T19:01:00.000-08:00

Née Eliza Pawlowska Polish novelist and a leading writer of the Positivist period (the Polish Positivists took their name from Auguste Comte's philosophy but were themselves mainly utilitarians). Questions of education, independence, and marriage in Orzeszkowa's works were eventually overshadowed by issues such

Adela

2005-03-09T16:06:00.000-08:00

Adela was married to Stephen, count of Meaux and Brie, in 1080 at Breteuil. Upon the death of his father in 1090, her husband succeeded to the countships of Blois and Chartres. She took an active interest in civil and ecclesiastical affairs and was

Papeete

2005-03-08T07:16:00.000-08:00

Commune, capital of French Polynesia, lying on the northwest coast of Tahiti. A gracious tropical city with tall palms and abundant flowers, Papeete is one of the largest urban centres in the South Pacific. Its excellent harbour made it, by 1829, a place of trade and a favourite port of call for whalers. After annexation by the French (1880), it was made the seat of the governor, and in

Aquinas, Thomas, Saint, Theological treatises

2005-03-08T01:52:00.000-08:00

Scriptum super IV libros Sententiarum (1254–56); De veritate (1256–59); Summa contra gentiles (c. 1258–64; On the Truth of the Catholic Faith, 1955); Summa theologiae (1265 or 1266–73; incomplete); De potentia Dei (1259–68; On the Power of God, 1932–34); De malo (undated; On Free Choice); De spiritualibus creaturis (undated; On Spiritual Creatures, 1949); De anima (undated; The Soul, 1949); De unione Verbi incarnati (undated); De virtutibus (1269–72; On the Virtues in General, 1951).

Bekker, August Immanuel

2005-03-07T08:59:00.000-08:00

Bekker studied classics at the University of Halle and was appointed professor of philosophy at Friedrich-Wilhelm University, Berlin, in 1810. He traveled over the next decade in France, Italy, England, and Germany,

Run-d.m.c.

2005-03-07T00:40:00.000-08:00

Formed

Gafencu, Grigore

2005-03-06T19:09:00.000-08:00

Educated at Geneva and Paris, Gafencu entered journalism after World War I. In 1924 he became editor and publisher of Argus, a leading economic periodical, and during the 1930s founded Timpul, which soon became

Horse Racing

2005-03-06T16:18:00.000-08:00

The ownership of racetracks ranges from complete state control, in which case the national government may own the tracks and horses and employ trainers, jockeys, grooms, and other necessary personnel, to complete private enterprise, as in most of the United States (where tracks are privately owned and operated for profit, as are the horses, and trainers and jockeys

Gaea

2005-03-05T20:28:00.000-08:00

Also called Ge, Greek personification of the Earth as a goddess. Mother and wife of Uranus (Heaven), from whom the Titan Cronus, her last born child by him, separated her, she was also mother of the other Titans, the Gigantes, the Erinyes, and the Cyclopes (see giant; Fury; Cyclops); hence literature and art sometimes made her the enemy of Zeus, for the Titans and Gigantes threatened him. Gaea may

Lancaster, Sir James

2005-03-05T08:18:00.000-08:00

In 1588 Lancaster served under Sir Francis Drake as commander of the Edward Bonaventure against the Spanish Armada. On April 10, 1591, commanding the same ship, he sailed from Plymouth for the

Sarasate, Pablo De

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

Beginning his violin studies at the age of five, Sarasate gave his first performance at age eight and later studied at the Paris Conservatory. In 1859 he began the concert tours that made him famous throughout the world. His playing was particularly admired for sweetness and

Roberts, Kenneth (lewis)

2005-03-04T04:03:00.000-08:00

Roberts worked as a journalist until 1917, when he began service as a captain in the Intelligence Section of the U.S. Army's Siberian Expeditionary Force. He was staff correspondent of the Saturday Evening Post from 1919 until

Jungfrau

2005-03-03T16:19:00.000-08:00

Well-known Swiss peak (13,642 feet [4,158 m]) dominating the Lauterbrunnen valley and lying 11 miles (18 km) south-southeast of the resort of Interlaken. The scenic mountain separates the cantons of Bern and Valais and is in the Bernese Alps, two other peaks of which (the Finsteraarhorn [14,022 feet] and the Aletschhorn [13,763 feet]) surpass it in height. The first ascent was made in 1811 on the eastern or Valais

France, History Of

2005-03-03T01:43:00.000-08:00

History of the area from the time of ancient Gaul and the period of the Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties of the Early Middle Ages to the subsequent emergence of the modern nation and developments to the present.

Sarasvati

2005-03-02T23:32:00.000-08:00

Hindu goddess of learning and the arts. She is first referred to in literature as the personification of the sacred river, the Sarasvati, and is also identified with Vac, the goddess of speech. In later Hinduism she is usually considered the consort of the god Brahma (the promulgator of the Veda), but she enjoys an autonomous position as the patroness of art, music, and letters.

Facta, Luigi

2005-03-02T13:01:00.000-08:00

After studying law, Facta became a journalist. He was elected deputy in 1891. He served as undersecretary first of justice and then of the interior in Giovanni Giolitti's coalition cabinet (1903–05). In succeeding ministries he was three times minister of finance

Caballé, Montserrat

2005-03-02T03:51:00.000-08:00

Spanish operatic soprano, admired for her versatility and phrasing and for her performances in the operas of Giuseppe Verdi, Gaetano Donizetti, and Richard Strauss. She began her studies as a child at the Conservatorio del Liceo in Barcelona with Eugenia Kenny and later continued with Napoleone Annovazzi and Conchita Badía. In 1956 she joined the Basel

End Rhyme

2005-03-01T09:27:00.000-08:00

End rhyme is the most common type of rhyme in English poetry. Compare beginning rhyme; internal

God And Saints Of Christ, Church Of

2005-02-28T22:01:00.000-08:00

Religious sect founded in 1896 by Prophet William S. Crowdy. He passed his mantle of leadership to Bishop William Plummer, who announced himself as “Grand Father Abraham.” This group believes that all Jews were originally black and that modern-day blacks are descendants of the “lost tribes of Israel.” Their beliefs centre on the “Seven Keys,” the “Stone of Truth,” and the Ten Commandments.

Mccardle, Ex Parte

2005-02-28T05:29:00.000-08:00

William H. McCardle was a Mississippi editor who was arrested and jailed for sedition after criticizing both the local Union military commander and Congress. He was denied the benefit

Coloration, Benzoquinones

2005-02-27T16:47:00.000-08:00

Benzoquinones occur in certain fungi and in roots, berries, or galls (abnormal growths) of higher plants, from which they can be recovered as yellow, orange, red, violet, or darker coloured crystals or solids. Small quantities of pale-yellow crystals of coenzyme Q, often called ubiquinones, are almost universally distributed in plants and animals. The ubiquinones impart

Resende

2005-02-27T15:18:00.000-08:00

City, western Rio de Janeiro estado (“state”), eastern Brazil, on the Paraíba do Sul River, opposite Agulhas Negras, at 1,296 feet (395 m) above sea level. Dairying, meat and coffee processing, and talc pulverizing are the principal economic activities. A marble quarry is located nearby, as is a military school. Resende, on the Presidente Dutra Highway between the cities of Rio de Janeiro

Azazel

2005-02-26T04:44:00.000-08:00

In Jewish legends, a demon or evil spirit to whom, in the ancient rite of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), a scapegoat was sent bearing the sins of the Jewish people. Two male goats were chosen for the ritual, one designated by lots “for the Lord,” the other “for Azazel” (Leviticus 16:8). The ritual was carried out by the high priest in the Second Temple and is described in the Mishna. After

Koss, Johann Olav

2005-02-25T23:26:00.000-08:00

As a youngster Koss showed little promise as a skater, but he was determined to excel in the sport and was passionate

Patel, Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai

2005-02-25T09:00:00.000-08:00

Byname Sardar Patel (Hindi: “Leader Patel”) Indian barrister and statesman, one of the leaders of the Indian National Congress during the struggle for Indian independence. During the first three years of Indian independence after 1947, he served as deputy prime minister, minister of home affairs, minister of information, and minister of states.

Pozo Colorado

2005-02-25T06:24:00.000-08:00

Pozo Colorado is located at the intersection of roads connecting it with the town of Mariscal Estigarribia to the northwest, the Paraguay River and Concepción to

Haakon Iii Sverresson

2005-02-24T19:44:00.000-08:00

During his short reign he tried to heal the breach between the crown and the church, so that exiled bishops returned to their sees. It was said that the sickness which caused his sudden death was the result of poison put into his drink at the instigation of his Swedish stepmother, Margaret.

Usnisavijaya

2005-02-24T13:45:00.000-08:00

Tibetan Gtsug-tor-rnam-par rgyal-ma popular Buddhist goddess in Nepal, Tibet, and Mongolia. Her name in Sanskrit means “victorious goddess of the usnisa,” the last-named object being the protuberance on the top of the Buddha's skull. She wears an image of the Buddha Vairocana in her headdress and is described as residing in the cellar of the caitya (“shrine”). She may be identified by the small figure of Buddha seated

Châteauguay

2005-02-24T08:54:00.000-08:00

Town, Montérégie region, southern Quebec province, Canada. It lies at the mouth of the Châteauguay River, just south of its confluence with the St. Lawrence. The site of a Jesuit mission established in 1736, it served as a trading centre during the settlement of the surrounding region. On Oct. 26, 1813, the Battle of Châteauguay, a decisive engagement of the War of 1812, took place there; a small

Disorderly Conduct

2005-02-23T09:40:00.000-08:00

Disorderly conduct may take the form of directly disturbing the peace, as when one intentionally disrupts a public meeting or awakens a sleeping community. Less directly, it includes

Babcock, Horace Welcome

2005-02-22T21:47:00.000-08:00

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

Lagutin, Boris Nikolayevich

2005-02-22T18:36:00.000-08:00

Fighting as a light middleweight (156 pounds [71 kg]), Lagutin was awarded a bronze medal at the 1960 Olympics in Rome after losing a split decision to the eventual champion, American Wilbert “Skeeter” McClure, in the semifinal round. At the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, Lagutin

Pendulum

2005-02-22T05:11:00.000-08:00

Body suspended from a fixed point so that it can swing back and forth under the influence of gravity. Pendulums are used to regulate the movement of clocks because the interval of time for each complete oscillation, called the period, is constant. The scientist Galileo first noted (c. 1583) the constancy of a pendulum's period by comparing the movement of a swinging lamp in

Christian X

2005-02-21T21:46:00.000-08:00

The eldest son of the future King Frederick VIII and Louise of Sweden and Norway, Christian became chief of the royal guard in 1898 and married Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Becoming crown prince in 1906, Christian led the

Dacko, David

2005-02-20T06:16:00.000-08:00

Central African Republic politician (b. March 24, 1930, Bouchia, Moyen Congo, French Equatorial Africa—d. Nov. 20, 2003, Yaoundé, Cameroon), was twice president (1960–65 and 1979–81) of the Central African Republic and twice was removed from office by a military coup. After then president Barthélemy Boganda died in a plane crash in March 1959, Dacko established himself in the top post, and from 1960 he headed an autocratic

Afonso Iii

2005-02-19T10:23:00.000-08:00

The younger son of Afonso II and Urraeca, daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castile, Afonso emigrated and became, by marriage, count of Boulogne. His elder brother, Sancho II, was deposed by order of the pope, who granted Afonso

Ghetto

2005-02-19T07:47:00.000-08:00

Formerly a street, or quarter, of a city set apart as a legally enforced residence area for Jews. One of the earliest forced segregations of Jews was in Muslim Morocco when, in 1280, they were transferred to segregated quarters called millahs. In some Muslim countries, rigid ghetto systems were enforced with restrictions on the sizes of houses and doors. Forced segregation

Bartholin, Caspar Berthelsen

2005-02-17T21:07:00.000-08:00

At the University of Padua (1608–10) Bartholin conducted anatomical studies under the famed Italian anatomist Hieronymus Fabricius ab Aquapendente. These formed the basis for his manual Anatomicae Institutiones Corporis

Skate Sailing

2005-02-17T17:39:00.000-08:00

The skate sail is generally rectangular or triangular in shape and about 50 to 60 square feet (5 to 6 square m) in area. It is stretched to

Xankändi

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

Formerly Stepanakert, city, southwestern Azerbaijan. Situated at the foot of the eastern slopes of the Karabakh Range, the city was founded after the October Revolution (1917) on the site of the village of Khankendy and was renamed Stepanakert in 1923 for Stepan Shaumyan, a Baku Communist leader. After Azerbaijan gained independence the name was changed to Xankändi, though Armenians continue to

Integration

2005-02-17T04:06:00.000-08:00

With a and b called the limits of integration, is

Round, Henry Joseph

2005-02-16T21:17:00.000-08:00

Round worked with Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company, Ltd., from 1902 to 1914, first in the United States, where he improved the tuning components of radio receivers and built early radio direction

Basasiri, Arslan Al-muzaffar Al-

2005-02-15T21:13:00.000-08:00

Al-Basasiri was born a Turkish slave, and his activities were first mentioned about 1025. At the time, the weakened 'Abbasid caliphs at Baghdad, who represented Sunnite Islam, were under continuous pressure from the Fatimid caliphs of Egypt, representing the Shi'ite sect, and the insurgent Turks commanded by Toghrïl Beg.

Penzias, Arno

2005-02-15T10:20:00.000-08:00

In full Arno Allan Penzias German-American astrophysicist who shared one-half of the 1978 Nobel Prize for Physics with Robert Woodrow Wilson for their discovery of a faint electromagnetic radiation throughout the universe. Their detection of this radiation lent strong support to the big-bang model of cosmic evolution. (The other half of the Nobel Prize was awarded to the Soviet

Zuiderzee

2005-02-15T02:23:00.000-08:00

English Southern Sea former inlet of the North Sea. From the 13th to the 20th century, the Zuiderzee penetrated The Netherlands and occupied some 2,000 square miles (5,000 square km); it was separated from the North Sea by an arc of former sandflats that are now the West Frisian Islands. From about AD 400 these low-lying sandflats were inhabited by the Frisians, who in the face of rising sea levels built the first

Mursilis I

2005-02-14T20:55:00.000-08:00

Mursilis was the adopted heir of his grandfather, Hattusilis I, whom he succeeded on the throne. He first continued his predecessor's campaigns in northern Syria, destroying Aleppo and delivering the final blow to Mari. He then turned eastward, and by raiding Babylon he put an end to the Amorite dynasty there.

Gaines, Ernest J.

2005-02-14T07:03:00.000-08:00

When Gaines was 15, his family moved to California. He graduated from San Francisco State College (now San Francisco State University) in 1957 and attended

Grumbach, Wilhelm Von

2005-02-14T03:48:00.000-08:00

About 1540 Grumbach allied

Yuscarán

2005-02-14T00:17:00.000-08:00

Founded between 1730 and 1740, when gold and silver were discovered in the area, Yuscarán was a prosperous mining centre during the colonial period. Mining halted in the 19th century but was resumed in the 1940s. The town, which preserves a colonial

Alfonso Vi

2005-02-12T08:09:00.000-08:00

Byname Alfonso the Brave , Spanish Alfonso el Bravo king of Leon (1065–70) and king of reunited Castile and Leon (1072–1109), who by 1077 had proclaimed himself “emperor of all Spain” (imperator totius Hispaniae). His oppression of his Muslim vassals led to the invasion of Spain by an Almoravid army from North Africa (1086). His name is also associated with the national hero of Spain, Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (El Cid), who was alternatively

Quant, Mary

2005-02-12T02:36:00.000-08:00

Quant attended Goldsmith's College of Art, London, and spent two years designing hats for the Danish milliner Erik. In partnership with her husband and

Earth, Absolute measurements

2005-02-12T02:24:00.000-08:00

The most fundamental and straightforward method of measuring g is to measure directly the acceleration of a body falling in a vacuum toward Earth, but until the mid-1900s timing systems of sufficient accuracy were simply not available. All older absolute measurements were based on measuring the period of swing of some form of physical pendulum. The period of a simple

Stable Fly

2005-02-11T08:45:00.000-08:00

The female must feed on blood before she can lay her