LoudBoard

Pole Vault

2005-04-03T19:38:00.000-07:00

Sport in track-and-field athletics in which an athlete jumps over an obstacle with the aid of a pole. Originally a practical means of clearing objects, such as ditches, brooks, and fences, pole-vaulting for height became a competitive sport in the mid-19th century. An Olympic event for men since the first modern Games in 1896, a pole-vault event for women was added for the 2000 Olympics

Brod, Max

2005-04-03T17:35:00.000-07:00

Brod studied law at the University of Prague, and in 1902 he met and befriended Kafka. Brod later worked as a minor government

Maple Syrup

2005-04-02T16:14:00.000-08:00

The sweet-water sap from which maple syrup is made is different from

Esquimalt

2005-04-01T04:17:00.000-08:00

District municipality and western suburb of metropolitan Victoria, southwestern British Columbia, Canada, at the southeastern end of Vancouver Island, on Juan de Fuca Strait. The name means “place of gradually shoaling waters” in the local Indian language. Its harbour was visited (1790) by Manuel Quimper of the Spanish navy, who called it Puerto de Cordova to honour the

Fencing

2005-03-31T13:15:00.000-08:00

Organized sport involving the use of the sword—épée, foil, or sabre—for attack and defense according to set movements and rules. Although the use of swords dates to prehistoric times and swordplay to ancient civilizations, the organized sport of fencing began only at the end of the 19th century. For information on the art of Japanese sword fighting, see kendo.

Alcántara, Order Of

2005-03-29T00:18:00.000-08:00

Major military and religious order in Spain. It was founded in 1156 or 1166 by Don Suero Fernández Barrientos and was recognized in 1177 by Pope Alexander III in a special papal bull. Its purpose was to defend Christian Spain against the Moors. In 1218 King Alfonso IX of Leon gave to the order the town of Alcántara, and during the next two centuries its knights defended the southern borders

Chain

2005-03-28T01:20:00.000-08:00

Also called Gunter's Chain, in surveying, a unit of length. See surveyor's chain.

Mask

2005-03-27T10:58:00.000-08:00

A form of disguise. It is an object that is frequently worn over or in front of the face to hide the identity of a person and by its own features to establish another being. This essential characteristic of hiding and revealing personalities or moods is common to all masks. As cultural objects they have been used throughout the world in all periods since the Stone Age

Queen Anne's

2005-03-27T09:52:00.000-08:00

County, eastern Maryland, U.S., bordered by the Chester River to the north, Delaware to the east, and Chesapeake Bay to the west. It consists of a coastal lowland and includes Kent Island, which is linked across the bay to Anne Arundel county by the William Preston Lane, Jr., Memorial Bridge (completed 1952). The southeastern corner of the county includes part of Tuckahoe State

Shedd Aquarium

2005-03-24T20:43:00.000-08:00

In full John G. Shedd Aquarium, one of the largest indoor aquariums in the world. Built with funds donated by John Graves Shedd, a prominent local businessman, the aquarium opened in Chicago in 1929. It contains more than 200 exhibition tanks, housing in excess of 5,000 specimens of 560 species of fishes (both freshwater and marine) and other aquatic animals from around the world. The total water capacity is more than

Dominica, Flag Of

2005-03-24T10:20:00.000-08:00

As a British colony, Dominica obtained a coat of arms of its own in 1961. The arms had a shield with a blue and yellow cross, a banana tree, a coconut tree, a frog, a Carib Indian canoe, a lion symbolizing links with England, and a motto in the local language (“Apres Bondie c'est la ter”) meaning “After the Good Lord, the land.” Flanking the shield were imperial parrots, also known as sisserous,

Wellington

2005-03-23T01:12:00.000-08:00

Town (“parish”), Taunton Deane district, administrative and historic county of Somerset, England, just west-southwest of Taunton. The first duke of Wellington (Arthur Wellesley, who took his title from the town), victor of the Battle of Waterloo (1815), is commemorated by a monument (National Trust property) on the highest point of the nearby Blackdown Hill. Wellington School, at

Palestine, History Of

2005-03-22T17:15:00.000-08:00

In the Arab-Israeli war of 1967, Israel dispatched the combined forces of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan and also overran large tracts of territory, including East Jerusalem, the West Bank (known to Israelis as Judaea and Samaria), and Gaza. Israel's victory gave rise to another exodus of Palestinians, with more than 250,000 people fleeing to the East Bank of Jordan. However, roughly 600,000 Palestinians

Kubitschek, Juscelino

2005-03-21T02:04:00.000-08:00

Kubitschek attended the Diamantina Seminary, worked his way through medical school at the University of Minas Gerais (graduated 1927), and did internships in surgery in Paris, Vienna, and Berlin. He became head of

Cozens, John Robert

2005-03-20T07:11:00.000-08:00

The son of the watercolourist Alexander Cozens, John began to exhibit drawings with the Society of Artists in 1767. The two long visits he paid to the Continent, 1776–79 and 1782–83, were the formative and decisive events in his career. On the first

Earth Sciences

2005-03-19T07:00:00.000-08:00

Dahl, Roald

2005-03-18T18:38:00.000-08:00

Following his graduation from Repton, a renowned British public school, in 1932, Dahl avoided a university education and joined an expedition to Newfoundland. He worked from 1937 to 1939 in Dar es Salaam, Tanganyika (now in Tanzania), but he enlisted

Ringtailed Cat

2005-03-18T05:20:00.000-08:00

Carnivorous mammal, a species of cacomistle (q.v.).

Quadriceps Femoris Muscle

2005-03-17T09:16:00.000-08:00

Large fleshy muscle group covering the front and sides of the thigh. It has four parts: rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and vastus intermedius. They originate at the ilium (upper part of the pelvis, or hipbone) and femur (thighbone), come together in a tendon surrounding the patella (kneecap), and insert at (are attached to) the tibia (shinbone). These muscles

Vacuum Technology

2005-03-16T16:31:00.000-08:00

All processes and physical measurements carried out under conditions of below-normal atmospheric pressure. A process or physical measurement is generally performed in a vacuum for one of the following reasons: (1) to remove the constituents of the atmosphere that could cause a physical or chemical reaction during the process (e.g., vacuum melting of reactive metals

Akkad

2005-03-16T05:29:00.000-08:00

Ancient region in what is now central Iraq. Akkad was the northern (or northwestern) division of ancient Babylonian civilization. The region was located roughly in the area where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers are closest to each other, and its northern limit extended beyond the line of the modern cities of al-Fallujah and Baghdad. The early inhabitants of this region

Vale Of Glamorgan

2005-03-15T04:50:00.000-08:00

County, southern Wales, extending along the Bristol Channel coast west of Cardiff and lying entirely within the historic county of Glamorgan (Morgannwg). It comprises an undulating coastal platform, with an average elevation of about 200 feet (60 metres), that often terminates abruptly in cliffs at the coast. Along other sections of the coast, however, there are sand

Austin, John

2005-03-14T18:19:00.000-08:00

English jurist whose writings, especially The Province of Jurisprudence Determined (1832), advocated a definition of law as a species of command and sought to distinguish positive law from morality. He had little influence during his lifetime outside the circle of Utilitarian supporters of Jeremy

Keane, Molly

2005-03-13T22:41:00.000-08:00

Born into the Anglo-Irish gentry (the daughter of an estate owner and the poet Moira O'Neill), Keane was educated by a governess. She began to publish novels while in her 20s, under the name M.J. Farrell. She later said, “Young men

Madang

2005-03-13T05:04:00.000-08:00

Port on the northeastern coast of the island of New Guinea, Papua New Guinea. It lies along Astrolabe Bay of the Bismarck Sea, near the mouth of the Gogol River. Madang is the centre for a large timber industry based on the Gogol forest about 25 miles (40 km) inland and is the distributing centre for the north coast and the Central Range. It is also a communication point for the

Aurelian Wall

2005-03-11T06:38:00.000-08:00

It was originally constructed of tufa concrete, with a facing of triangular

Attalus, Priscus

2005-03-10T19:38:00.000-08:00

Attalus was born a pagan and was baptized by an Arian bishop. He was a senator at the time of Alaric's second siege of Rome, and he was named emperor of the West by the Goths after the city surrendered in 409. Attalus then urged the legitimate emperor, Honorius, to vacate his throne.

Vitalism

2005-03-09T13:03:00.000-08:00

School of scientific thought—the germ of which dates from Aristotle—that attempts (in opposition to mechanism and organicism) to explain the nature of life as resulting from a vital force peculiar to living organisms and different from all other forces found outside living things. This force is held to control form and development and to direct the activities

Tall Za'tar

2005-03-08T14:21:00.000-08:00

Also called Zaátar, former Palestinian refugee camp, Jabal Lubnan muhafazah (governorate), central Lebanon, north of Beirut, near Nabay. The camp was the last large Muslim outpost in the midst of the predominantly Christian inhabited area of north Lebanon and had a population estimated at 15,000 in the mid-1970s. During the Lebanese civil war (that began in the spring of 1975) between Muslims and Christians,

Nord-trøndelag

2005-03-07T10:03:00.000-08:00

Fylke (county), central Norway. It extends from the Norwegian Sea (west) to the Swedish border (east), with the southern boundary running in a general northwest-southeast direction south of Trondheims Fjord. The fylke has an area of 8,673 square miles (22,463 square km); the county seat is at Steinkjer (q.v.). The major road and rail links between Trondheim and northern Norway pass through

Pacific Islands, The island ecosystem

2005-03-06T08:46:00.000-08:00

To know what it is like to live on a Pacific island, the intermixture of physical and biological characteristics of the particular island must be considered. Each of the myriad ecological systems in the Pacific is a unique complex of living organisms and their nonliving environment. Each is a functional system of interacting components that tends toward an equilibrium

Kabbala

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

Spain also

La Crosse

2005-03-04T23:08:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1851) of La Crosse county, western Wisconsin, U.S. It lies along the Mississippi River at the influx of the Black and La Crosse rivers, 129 miles (208 km) northwest of Madison. The settlement developed around a trading post (1841) on a site that French explorers named Prairie la Crosse, after the game of lacrosse played by the Indians there. A natural river port, it became an important

Valdés Leal, Juan De Nisa

2005-03-03T14:59:00.000-08:00

His father was Portuguese, and Valdés Leal was educated in Córdoba under the guidance of Antonio del Castillo and worked there until 1653. For the next few years he

Pemberton, John Clifford

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

Pemberton grew up and was educated in Philadelphia, entered West Point in 1833, and graduated four years later. He fought in the Mexican War and was cited for bravery while participating in many of

Valdés Leal, Juan De Nisa

2005-02-28T22:41:00.000-08:00

Electronic display device that operates by applying a varying electric voltage to a layer of liquid crystal, thereby inducing changes in its optical properties. LCDs are commonly used for portable electronic games, as viewfinders for digital cameras and camcorders, in video projection systems, for electronic billboards, as monitors for computers, and in flat-panel

Canal Zone

2005-02-27T19:07:00.000-08:00

Also called Panama Canal Zone, historic administrative entity in Panama over which the United States exercised jurisdictional rights from 1903 to 1979. It was a strip of land 10 miles (16 km) wide along the Panama Canal, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean and bisecting the Isthmus of Panama. It covered 553 square miles (1,432 square km), of which about one-third was water (principally Gatun Lake). The Canal Zone

Lever

2005-02-27T06:03:00.000-08:00

Simple machine used to amplify physical force. All early people used the lever in some form, for moving heavy stones or as digging sticks for land cultivation. The principle of the lever was used in the swape, or shaduf, a long lever pivoted near one end with a platform or water container hanging from the short arm and counterweights attached to the long arm. A man could

Constanta

2005-02-24T23:55:00.000-08:00

The first record of a settlement is at the

Johor Bahru

2005-02-24T05:26:00.000-08:00

Johor also spelled Johore, Bahru also spelled Baharu city, southern West Malaysia. It lies at the southern end of the Malay Peninsula and is separated from Singapore Island by the Johor Strait. At this point, a short rail and road causeway (0.75 mile [1.2 km]) crosses the strait to link the mainland with Singapore. Founded by Temenggong Ibrahim, the ruler of Johore, it was called Tanjung Putri until renamed Johore Bahru (“New Johore”) in

Leven, Loch

2005-02-23T02:41:00.000-08:00

Lake in Perth and Kinross council area, central Scotland, at the centre of the historic county of Kinross-shire. Roughly circular in shape and about 3 miles (5 km) in diameter, it is one of the shallowest of the Scottish lochs—with a mean depth of 15 feet (4.5 metres)—and has become important as a nature reserve. The loch is a roosting area for geese in winter and a resting area for ducks.

Francis I

2005-02-23T00:17:00.000-08:00

Duke of Brittany (from 1442), son of John V (or VI). He had his brother Gilles thrown into prison and put to death for allegedly spying for the English, with whom he warred (1449–50). The king of France intervened and expelled the English from Normandy.

Schechter, Solomon

2005-02-21T01:32:00.000-08:00

Schechter studied the Talmud, the authoritative rabbinical compendium of Jewish law, lore, and commentary, in Vienna, Berlin, and London. In 1890 he became lecturer in Talmudic

Pontevedra

2005-02-20T13:09:00.000-08:00

Provincia, northwestern Spain, smallest of the four provinces of the comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Galicia. It is mountainous, with an Atlantic coastline deeply indented by the picturesque rías bajas (inlets) of Arosa, Pontevedra, and Vigo. Numerous traditional fiestas held throughout the province contribute, with the scenic beauty and fine beaches,

Allende, Salvador

2005-02-18T21:32:00.000-08:00

Allende, born into an upper-middle-class family, received his medical degree in 1932 from the University of Chile, where he was a Marxist activist. He participated in the founding (1933) of Chile's Socialist Party. After election to the Chamber of Deputies in 1937, he served (1939–42) as minister of health in the liberal leftist

Caraway

2005-02-18T20:40:00.000-08:00

The dried fruit, commonly called seed, of Carum carvi, a biennial herb of the parsley family (Apiaceae, or Umbelliferae), native to Europe and western Asia and cultivated since ancient times. Caraway has a distinctive aroma reminiscent of anise and a warm, slightly sharp taste. It is used as a seasoning in meat dishes, breads, and cheese and in such vegetables as sauerkraut

Caraway

2005-02-16T17:35:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Aluminium chemical element, a lightweight, silvery-white metal of main Group IIIa (boron group) of the periodic table. Aluminum is the most abundant metallic element in the Earth's crust and the most widely used nonferrous metal. Because of its chemical activity, aluminum never occurs in the metallic form in nature, but its compounds are present to a greater or lesser extent in

Tyrone, Conn O'neill, 1st Earl Of

2005-02-16T16:37:00.000-08:00

Conn, who was related through his mother to the Earl of Kildare (Fitzgerald), became chief of the Tyrone branch of the O'Neills (Cinel Eoghain) about 1520. When Kildare became viceroy in 1524, O'Neill consented to act as his swordbearer in ceremonies

Roman Law

2005-02-15T07:44:00.000-08:00

The law of ancient Rome from the time of the founding of the city in 753 BC until the fall of the Western Empire in the 5th century AD. It remained in use in the Eastern, or Byzantine, Empire until 1453. As a legal system, Roman law has affected the development of law in most of Western civilization as well as in parts of the East. It forms the basis for the law codes of most countries of continental

Augustus, Caesar

2005-02-14T17:37:00.000-08:00

The death in 12 BC of Lepidus enabled Augustus finally to succeed him as the official head of the Roman religion, the chief priest (pontifex maximus). In the same year, Agrippa, too, died. Augustus compelled his widow, Julia, to marry Tiberius against both their wishes. During the next three years, however, Tiberius was away in the field, reducing Pannonia (Yugoslavia and Hungary)

Decroly, Ovide

2005-02-12T15:54:00.000-08:00

Belgian pioneer in the education of handicapped and normal children. He was a physician who became involved in a school for abnormal children and consequently became interested in education. One outcome of this interest was his establishment in 1901 of the Institute for Abnormal Children in Uccle, Belg., a school that provided a homelike

Silky Terrier

2005-02-12T09:28:00.000-08:00

Australian breed of toy dog, first shown in 1907. It originated in Sydney and was once known as the Sydney Silky. A rather low-set dog, the silky terrier stands 9 to 10 inches (23 to 25.5 centimetres) and weighs 8 to 10 pounds (3.5 to 4.5 kilograms). Its silky, fine coat is glossy blue-gray and tan, with a silver-gray or tan topknot. Developed as a companion dog, the silky is generally friendly and responsive,

Roxburghshire

2005-02-11T17:17:00.000-08:00

Numerous archaeological remains in the area

Balch, Emily Greene

2005-02-10T04:38:00.000-08:00

American sociologist, political scientist, economist, and pacifist, a leader of the women's movement for peace during and after World War I. She received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1946 jointly with John Raleigh Mott. She was also noted for her sympathetic and thorough study of Slavic immigrants

Samoa

2005-02-08T15:09:00.000-08:00

The assassination of the minister of public works in July 1999 continued to produce legal and political consequences in 2000. The two cabinet ministers who plotted the murder (and the son of one of them who actually committed the deed) were tried and found guilty, but their mandatory death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment. By-elections were held following the

Epistemology, Relations of ideas and matters of fact

2005-02-08T09:34:00.000-08:00

Human thought concerns two kinds of things: relations of ideas and matters of fact. Relations of ideas can either be intuited, that is, seen directly, or deduced from other propositions. That a is identical with a, that b resembles c, and that d is larger than e are examples of propositions that are intuited. The opposites of true propositions expressing relations of ideas

Elizabeth Ii

2005-02-07T06:07:00.000-08:00

Elizabeth was the elder daughter of Albert, duke of York, and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. As the child of a younger son of King George V, the young Elizabeth had little prospect of acceding to the throne until her uncle, Edward VIII (afterward duke of Windsor), abdicated

Sogdiana

2005-02-06T15:18:00.000-08:00

Ancient country of Central Asia centring on the fertile valley of the Zeravshan River, in modern Uzbekistan. Excavations have shown that Sogdiana was probably settled between 1000 and 500 BC and that it then passed under Achaemenian rule. It was later attacked by Alexander the Great and may have been included in the Bactrian Greek kingdom until the invasions of Saka and Yü

Frauenfeld

2005-02-05T10:06:00.000-08:00

Capital (since 1803) of Thurgau kanton (“canton”), northern Switzerland, on the Murg River, close to its junction with the Thur River, northeast of Zürich. First mentioned in 1246, it was founded by the count of Kyburg and the abbot of Reichenau on land belonging to the abbot. Frauenfeld (“Field of Our Lady”) passed to the Habsburgs in 1264 and was seized by the Swiss Confederates (Eidgenossen)

Pre-columbian Civilizations, The nature of Andean civilization

2005-02-04T11:37:00.000-08:00

The coastal desert was inhabited for millennia by fishermen, and many of their settlements have been studied by archaeologists. The people in these communities were familiar with the sea and depended heavily on its products, but from very early times they also used and possibly cultivated native varieties of cotton. Textiles have been the major art form in the

Netanyahu, Benjamin

2005-02-02T05:56:00.000-08:00

Netanyahu was the son of the historian Benzion Netanyahu. In 1963 the family moved to Philadelphia in the United States, where Benjamin attended high school. He enlisted in the Israeli military in 1967 and became a soldier in the elite special operations unit Sayeret Matcal.

Brummell, Beau

2005-02-02T05:24:00.000-08:00

Brummell's grandfather was a shopkeeper in the parish of St. James, London, who let lodgings to the aristocracy; his father was private secretary to Lord North

Burgkmair, Hans, The Elder

2005-01-31T18:31:00.000-08:00

The son of a painter, he became a member of the painters' guild in Strasbourg in 1490 and in Augsburg in 1498. Some 700 woodcuts are ascribed to him, including his principal work, a series of 135 prints celebrating the triumphs of the emperor Maximilian I. His

Bahrain

2005-01-31T07:23:00.000-08:00

Bahrain has been inhabited since prehistoric times, and several thousand burial mounds in the northern part of the main island probably date from the Sumerian period of the 3rd millennium BC. It was the seat of ancient

Pere Ubu

2005-01-30T06:19:00.000-08:00

American avant-garde art rock band generally considered to be a major force and influence in postpunk music. The original members were David Thomas (b. June 14, 1953), Peter Laughner (b. c. 1953—d. June 22, 1977), Tom Herman (b. April 19, 1949), Allen Ravenstine (b. May 9, 1950), Scott Krauss (b. Nov. 19, 1950), and Tim Wright. Later members included Tony Maimone (b. Sept. 27, 1952, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.), Jim Jones (b. March 12, 1950), Chris Cutler (b. Jan. 4, 1947), Mayo

Clout Shooting

2005-01-29T21:50:00.000-08:00

As practiced by the Royal Company of Archers (the British sovereign's bodyguard in Scotland, formally organized in 1676) and the Woodmen of Arden (English society of archers, founded 1785), traditional longbows

John

2005-01-27T17:37:00.000-08:00

A Roman archdeacon well liked by the populace, John was elected by them on January 25 against the nobility's candidate, Sergius II. John withdrew to the Lateran Palace, his stronghold for a brief period. Concurrently, Sergius was consecrated pope at St. Peter's without imperial sanction. John was saved from being murdered by the

Arafura Sea

2005-01-27T10:09:00.000-08:00

Shallow sea of the western Pacific Ocean, occupying 250,000 square miles (650,000 square km) between the north coast of Australia and the Gulf of Carpentaria and the south coast of New Guinea. It merges with the Timor Sea on the west and the Banda and Ceram seas on the northwest. The Torres Strait connects it with the Coral Sea on the east. Most of the Arafura Sea is underlain by the Arafura

Bead

2005-01-26T11:50:00.000-08:00

Small, usually round object made of glass, wood, metal, nut, shell, bone, seed, or the like, pierced for stringing. Among primitive peoples, beads were worn as much for magical as for decorative purposes; hence, little variation was allowed in their shapes and materials. In Arab countries in the 20th century, single blue talismanic beads are attached to domestic animals, children,

Roux, Wilhelm

2005-01-24T10:04:00.000-08:00

A student of German biologist Ernst Haeckel, Roux studied in Jena, Berlin, and Strasbourg. He was an assistant at the Institute of

Diesel Engine

2005-01-23T03:44:00.000-08:00

Any internal-combustion engine in which air is compressed to a temperature sufficiently high to ignite fuel injected into the cylinder, where combustion and expansion actuate a piston. It converts the chemical energy stored in the fuel into mechanical energy, which can be used to power freight trucks, large tractors, locomotives, and vessels. A limited number of

Rybnik

2005-01-21T15:41:00.000-08:00

Beginning as a fishing village in the 10th century, Rybnik became capital of the Racibórz principality

China, Economy

2005-01-21T06:55:00.000-08:00

Information on railway, air, and highway communication may be found in general works on the Chinese economy cited in the previous paragraph. For the role of transportation in the history of Western influence on China and on regional economics, see Shun-hsin Chou, “Railway Development and Economic Growth in Manchuria,” China Quarterly, no. 45, pp. 57–84 (1971). Articles on transportation appear intermittently in Beijing Review (weekly).

Asher

2005-01-20T15:02:00.000-08:00

One of the 12 tribes of Israel that in biblical times constituted the people of Israel who later became the Jewish people. The tribe was named after the younger of two sons born to Jacob (also called Israel) and Zilpah, the maidservant of Jacob's first wife, Leah. After the Israelites took possession of the Promised Land, Joshua assigned territory to each of the 12 tribes. The

Ghezzi, Pier Leone

2005-01-20T05:28:00.000-08:00

Ghezzi made religious paintings for Roman churches but was best known for penned and etched caricatures of Rome's residents and tourists. He often portrayed a single figure with exaggerated anatomy and appropriate eccentricities of clothing and posture. In group portraits he produced

Chafee, Zechariah, Jr.

2005-01-18T10:38:00.000-08:00

From 1916 until he retired 40 years later, Chafee was a professor

Technocracy

2005-01-17T11:35:00.000-08:00

Government by technicians who are guided solely by the imperatives of their technology. The concept developed in the United States early in the 20th century as an expression of the Progressive movement and became a subject of considerable public interest in the 1930s during the Great Depression. The origins of the technocracy movement may be traced to Frederick W. Taylor's

Wolf, Friedrich August

2005-01-16T19:35:00.000-08:00

Extremely precocious, Wolf learned Greek, Latin, and French as a child. He was largely self-taught when in 1777 he

Hines, Gregory

2005-01-16T17:48:00.000-08:00

By the age of four, Hines and his older brother Maurice were taking tap lessons with renowned dancer and choreographer Henry Le Tang. The brothers soon formed the Hines Kids, a song-and-dance

Shirk

2005-01-14T17:24:00.000-08:00

The Qur'an (Islamic scripture) stresses in many verses that God does not share his powers with any partner (sharik). It warns those who believe their idols will intercede for them that they, together with the idols, will become fuel for hellfire on the Day of Judgment

Scimitar-babbler

2005-01-14T09:20:00.000-08:00

Any of about 12 species of songbirds of the babbler family Timaliidae (order Passeriformes), which have long, curved bills used for uncovering insects in ground litter. Scimitar-babblers are 18 to 28 cm (7 to 11 inches) in length, with fairly long tails. Their plumage is mostly brown. They range through southern Asia to Australia and the Philippines. An example is the slaty-headed

Oskaloosa

2005-01-12T22:09:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1844) of Mahaska county, southeastern Iowa, U.S. It lies between the Des Moines and South Skunk rivers, about 60 miles (100 km) southeast of Des Moines. The region was inhabited by Sauk and Fox peoples when a fort was founded there by Captain Nathan Boone, nephew of Daniel Boone, who explored the area in 1835. Settled by Quakers in 1843, it takes its name (meaning “the last of the

Acanthaceae

2005-01-12T02:47:00.000-08:00

One of 18 families in the figwort order of flowering plants (Scrophulariales), containing approximately 250 genera and at least 2,500 species distributed predominantly in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The greater part of the Acanthaceae family are herbs or shrubs, but climbers (vines) and trees occur as well. The range of habitats extends from marshes to extremely

Dandruff

2005-01-09T16:55:00.000-08:00

Skin disorder, a form of seborrheic dermatitis (q.v.) that affects the scalp.

God, Church Of

2005-01-09T03:46:00.000-08:00

Any of several Pentecostal churches that developed in the U.S. South from the late 19th- and early 20th-century Latter Rain revival, based on a belief that a second rain of the gifts of the Holy Spirit would occur similar to that of the first Christian Pentecost. They adhere to an ultraconservative theology, by which they regard the state of holiness as a work of grace subsequent

Arabian Sea, Resources

2005-01-08T00:43:00.000-08:00

High levels of inorganic nutrients, such as phosphate concentrate, which produce a rich fish life, have been observed in the western Arabian Sea and off the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Occurring in the euphotic zone (zone of light, which is found in the upper 450 feet of the sea), this fertilizing effect undoubtedly is attributable in part to coastal upwelling,

Sun Company, Inc.

2005-01-07T09:57:00.000-08:00

The company was incorporated in 1971 as the successor to a New Jersey oil and gas business incorporated in 1901. The earlier company had been formed as the Sun Oil Company of Ohio in 1886. In 1975 the Sun Company was restructured into 14 separate business units to provide flexibility in expanding

Amherst

2005-01-05T04:05:00.000-08:00

Town (township), Hampshire county, west-central Massachusetts, U.S. It lies in the Connecticut River valley just northeast of Northampton. It includes the communities of North Amherst, Amherst, and South Amherst. The town of Hadley adjoins it on the west. Settled as part of Hadley in the 1730s, Amherst was recognized in 1759 as a separate district and named for Jeffrey (later Baron)

Chelyabinsk

2005-01-05T00:28:00.000-08:00

The oblast, in the Urals

Yupik Language

2005-01-04T20:41:00.000-08:00

The western division of the Eskimo languages, spoken in southwestern Alaska and in Siberia.

Arts, Islamic, The new style

2005-01-03T18:21:00.000-08:00

The new approach to poetry that developed during the 9th century was first accorded scholarly discussion in the Kitab al-badi ' (“Book of the Novel and Strange”) by Ibn al-Mu'tazz (died 908), caliph for one day, who laid down rules for the use of metaphors, similes, and verbal puns. The ideal of these “modern” poets was the richest possible embellishment of verses by the use of tropes, brilliant

Ancient Rome, Augustan art and literature

2005-01-02T14:36:00.000-08:00

In 17 BC Rome held Secular Games, a traditional celebration to announce the entry into a new epoch (saeculum). New it was, for, though Augustus preserved what he could of republican institutions, he added much that was his own. His Rome had become very Italian, and this spirit is reflected in the art and literature of his reign. Its greatest writers were native Italians, and, like

Fair-trade Law

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

In the United States, any law allowing manufacturers of branded or trademarked goods (or in some instances distributors of such products) to fix the actual or minimum resale prices of these goods by resellers. The designation “fair-trade law” is peculiar to the United States; the practice described in them is known elsewhere as price maintenance (q.v.) or resale price

Field, Nathan

2004-12-31T03:09:00.000-08:00

Field attended St. Paul's School, London, and about 1600 became a member of the Children of the Queen's Revels, remaining with this theatre company throughout its various changes of name and composition until 1616–17, when he joined the King's Men, possibly to replace Shakespeare as actor.

Auk

2004-12-30T13:28:00.000-08:00

Birds of the auk family, often called alcids, range in length from about 15 to 40 cm (6 to 16 inches), though

Sorrento

2004-12-29T17:11:00.000-08:00

Latin Surrentum, town and archiepiscopal see, Napoli provincia, Campania regione, southern Italy. It lies on a peninsula separating the Bay of Naples, which it faces, from the Gulf of Salerno, south-southeast of Naples. The backbone of the peninsula is formed by the Lattari Mountains, which culminate in Mount Sant'Angelo (4,734 feet [1,443 m]). Probably of Greek origin, the town was the ancient Surrentum,

I-ch'ang

2004-12-27T15:47:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Yichang, city in western Hupeh sheng (province), China. I-ch'ang stands on the left bank of the middle Yangtze River, immediately below the entrance to the magnificent gorges of the Ta-pa Mountains to the west, and has a harbour formed by the small island of Hsia-pa. The level of the river, which has a violent current, varies enormously—sometimes by as much as 50 feet (15 m) between high and low

Childhood Disease And Disorder, Respiratory disorders

2004-12-25T06:37:00.000-08:00

Tonsillitis (acute infection of the tonsils) is more properly considered a part of the acute-pharyngitis (throat-inflammation) syndrome. Enlargement

Aquarius

2004-12-24T16:04:00.000-08:00

In astrology,

Han-k'ou

2004-12-23T19:03:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Hankou , conventional Hankow large urban area and river port in Wu-han Municipality (shih), Hupeh Province (sheng), central China. Located on the left bank of the Han Shui (river) at its confluence with the Yangtze, it is the largest of the three Wu-han (q.v.) cities (Han-k'ou, Han-yang, and Wu-ch'ang). It was founded as Hsia-k'ou under the Sung dynasty (960–1279). Han-k'ou was one of the first Chinese cities opened to foreign trade