LastNeedle

Organic Underwear

2006-10-29T07:40:00.000-08:00

Natural soft Organic Clothinggoods are hard to find as they can often be a little course. Liv Organic Cotton Goodsare soft and luxurious and their Organic Underwear is to die for.

Pius I, Saint

2005-04-05T02:32:00.000-07:00

Pius was a slave, according to his supposed brother, the apostolic father Hermas. As pope, Pius combatted Gnosticism—a religious movement teaching that matter is evil and that emancipation comes through spiritual truth attained only by revelatory esoteric knowledge—and the Marcionites, followers of a heretical

Islam, Pillars Of

2005-04-03T06:37:00.000-07:00

Arabic Arkan al-Islam the five duties incumbent on every Muslim: shahadah, the Muslim profession of faith; salat, or ritual prayer, performed in a prescribed manner five times each day; zakat, the alms tax levied to benefit the poor and the needy; sawm, fasting during the month of Ramadan; and hajj, the major pilgrimage to Mecca.

Sanghar

2005-03-31T04:03:00.000-08:00

Town, Sind province, southern Pakistan. The town is connected by road with the cities of Hyderabad, Karachi, and Sukkur. Sanghar is a market town and has several cotton-textile factories. The surrounding area consists chiefly of semiarid land, a part of the great Thar Desert, and some cropped areas irrigated by the Mithrao Canal system, which feeds from the Indus River. Rice,

Fruit Farming

2005-03-29T10:56:00.000-08:00

The subject of fruit and nut production deals with intensive culture of perennial plants, the fruits of which have economic significance (a nut is a fruit, botanically). It is one part of the broad subject of horticulture, which also encompasses vegetable growing and production of ornamentals

Walter Of Coventry

2005-03-27T22:52:00.000-08:00

Walter was not a historian or chronicler in his own right; he merely brought together the works of Marianus Scotus, Florence of Worcester, Henry of Huntingdon, Roger of Hoveden, and

O.m.

2005-03-25T02:55:00.000-08:00

Recipient of the Order of Merit, a British honour. See Merit, Order of.

Spoils System

2005-03-19T06:42:00.000-08:00

Also called patronage system practice in which the political party winning an election rewards its campaign workers and other active supporters by appointment to government posts and by other favours. The spoils system involves political activity by public employees in support of their party and the employees' removal from office if their party loses the election. A change in party control

Albert

2005-03-19T04:17:00.000-08:00

Albert was the younger son of John Cicero, elector of Brandenburg. Albert became archbishop of Magdeburg and administrator of the bishopric of Halberstadt

Ear, Human, Analysis of sound by the auditory nervous system

2005-03-17T22:48:00.000-08:00

Evidence of orderly spatial representations of the organ of Corti at the lower levels of the auditory pathway has been reported by many investigators. These patterns seem to be in accord with the place theory of the cochlear analysis of sound. Physiological evidence of tuning of the auditory system also has been obtained by recording with the electrical potentials

Leaf-nosed Bat

2005-03-17T06:56:00.000-08:00

Any of the bats belonging to the families Phyllostomatidae and Hipposideridae (qq.v.).

Genetic Disease, Human, Ethical issues

2005-03-16T06:25:00.000-08:00

Because many couples choose to terminate a pregnancy when the fetus is found to be carrying a severe genetic disorder, prenatal diagnosis has become entangled in the ethical debate that surrounds elective abortion. It is regrettable that to many people intrauterine diagnosis is synonymous with abortion, which it is not. The vast majority of women who have genetic

Kwangsi

2005-03-14T14:13:00.000-08:00

In full Chuang Autonomous Region of Kwangsi, Chinese (Wade-Giles) Kuang-hsi Chuang-tsu Tzu-chih-ch'ü, (Pinyin) Guangxi Zhuangzu Zizhiqu, autonomous region located in southern China. It is bounded by the Chinese provinces of Yunnan on the west, Kweichow on the north, Hunan on the northeast, and Kwangtung on the southeast, and by Vietnam and the Gulf of Tonkin on the southwest. It covers an area of 85,100 square miles (220,400 square kilometres). Nan-ning, the capital, is about 75 miles (121 kilometres) southwest of the region's geographic

Stefan Nemanja

2005-03-14T06:40:00.000-08:00

Nemanja became grand zupan (clan leader) of Raška under Byzantine suzerainty in 1169. He subsequently sided with the Venetians and was eventually defeated by the avenging Byzantines, but he was pardoned. Nemanja later conquered Skopje, Prizren, and Tetovo. Though again defeated, he retained Kosovo, Pec, Prizren, Bar, Skadar (Shkodër), and Kotor. He abdicated

Iceberg

2005-03-12T23:14:00.000-08:00

In the open ocean most ice is seen by radar at ranges depending on fragment size, but smaller icebergs or growlers can be detected only when the sea surface is calm, and then only at ranges of about two kilometres. During slight wind conditions, in particular in heavy seas, the echoes from the waves, known as sea return, may completely mask the echoes of large, potentially

Italy

2005-03-12T22:48:00.000-08:00

Officially Italian Republic , Italian Italia or Repubblica Italiana country of south-central Europe, occupying a peninsula that juts deep into the Mediterranean Sea. It has a shape that has been likened frequently to a high-heeled boot about to prod its triangular subject island of Sicily. Another important island, Sardinia, lies some 160 miles (260 kilometres) west of Italy's “shin.” The magnificent mountain barrier of the Alps forms a northern

Bog

2005-03-11T15:28:00.000-08:00

Type of wetland ecosystem characterized by wet, spongy, poorly drained peaty soil. Bogs can be divided into three types: (1) typical bogs of cool regions, dominated by the growth of bog mosses, Sphagnum, and heaths, particularly Chamaedaphne (northern bogs with trees growing on them are often called muskegs); (2) fens, dominated by grasslike plants, grasses, sedges, and reeds;

Eylau, Battle Of

2005-03-10T17:17:00.000-08:00

(Feb. 7–8, 1807), one of the engagements in the Napoleonic War of the Third Coalition. The first major deadlock suffered by Napoleon, the battle was fought around the East Prussian town of Eylau (modern Bagrationovsk, Russia), 23 miles (37 km) south of Königsberg (Kaliningrad). The 76,000 Russians and Prussians under Leonty Leontyevich Bennigsen confronted 74,000 men under Napoleon shortly after

Haraszthy De Mokcsa, Agoston

2005-03-08T23:14:00.000-08:00

The son of a landowner, Haraszthy immigrated to the United States in 1840. He went to the upper Midwest and founded what is now Sauk City, Wis. In 1849 he journeyed with his family to San Diego, Calif., where he

Zingarelli, Nicola Antonio

2005-03-07T06:52:00.000-08:00

Zingarelli studied at the conservatory at Loreto and earned his living in his youth as a violinist. His first opera, Montesuma, was successfully produced at the San Carlo Theatre in Naples in 1781. Alsinda, given at La Scala, Milan, in 1785, was the

Interior Design, India

2005-03-05T03:45:00.000-08:00

Words of Indian origin such as calico, chintz, and palampore indicate the importance of Indian textiles in the history of western interior design (see photograph). Yet the Indians themselves have never been very conscious of this role, their own domestic interiors being of the utmost simplicity, with hardly more than a carpet or prayer mat to offset stone floors and

Berbera

2005-03-04T03:25:00.000-08:00

Port, northwestern Somalia, on the Gulf of Aden. It lies at the terminus of roads from the towns of Hargeysa and Burko and has an airport. Known during classical times and to Ibn Sa'id (d. 1286) and other early Arab geographers, Berbera was one of the Muslim settlements of the medieval state of Adal. It was sacked by the Portuguese in 1518 and occupied by the sharifs of Mocha in the 17th century,

Gondi Family

2005-03-04T02:12:00.000-08:00

French family of Florentine origin, whose diplomats and bankers were prominent in France from the 16th century. The family established itself in France after gaining the confidence and patronage of Catherine de Médicis. Antoine II (1486–1560) was the first Gondi to settle in France and started the most illustrious branch of the family. At first a banker in Lyon, he was brought

Camden

2005-03-03T18:36:00.000-08:00

Fort Nassau, near present-day Gloucester City, was one of the first colonial settlements in New Jersey (1623). At that time Delaware

Andocides

2005-03-01T23:23:00.000-08:00

Born into one of the most prominent Athenian families, Andocides was imprisoned on suspicion of having taken part in the mutilation of the sacred busts called herms shortly before the departure of Athens' military expedition to Sicily in 415. These mutilations caused a general panic, and Andocides was induced to turn informer

Dengue

2005-03-01T00:21:00.000-08:00

The carrier incriminated

Trade Wind

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

Very steady wind that blows westward and toward the equator from the subtropical high-pressure belts at latitudes near 30° N and 30° S toward the intertropical convergence zone. It is stronger and more consistent over the oceans than over land and produces fairly clear skies that make trade-wind islands popular tourist resorts. Its average speed is about 5 to 6 m per second

Ankle

2005-02-26T23:24:00.000-08:00

In humans, hinge-type, freely moving synovial joint between the foot and leg. The ankle contains seven tarsal bones that articulate (connect) with each other, with the metatarsal bones of the foot, and with the bones of the lower leg. The articulation of one of the tarsal bones, the ankle bone (talus, or astragalus), with the fibula and tibia of the lower leg forms the actual

Arroyo, Gloria Macapagal

2005-02-26T15:52:00.000-08:00

On Jan. 20, 2001, after angry protesters had driven Philippines Pres. Joseph Estrada from the presidential residence, Malacañang Palace, in Manila, the country's vice president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, assumed power. The demonstrations had been sparked by the Senate's halting of Estrada's impeachment trial on corruption charges. The armed forces withdrew support from Estrada;

Cosimo Iii

2005-02-24T20:08:00.000-08:00

Though Cosimo III traveled widely and spent money generously (in particular for the benefit of the church), he had a reserved manner aggravated by conjugal, political, and dynastic disillusionments, and he took refuge more and

Check

2005-02-24T10:01:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Cheque, bill of exchange drawn on a bank and payable on demand; it has become the chief form of money in the domestic commerce of developed countries. As a written order to pay money, it may be transferred from one person to another by endorsement and delivery or, in certain cases, by delivery alone. Negotiability can be qualified by appropriate words, as with restrictive endorsements,

End Stop

2005-02-22T14:03:00.000-08:00

Compare enjambment.

Robert, Hubert

2005-02-21T06:02:00.000-08:00

Robert went to Rome (1754), was elected to the French Academy there, and became a friend and associate of the renowned etcher of architectural subjects Giambattista Piranesi. In 1759 he joined Abbé

Alaska

2005-02-20T04:52:00.000-08:00

Constituent state of the United States of America. It lies at the extreme northwest of the North American continent and is the largest peninsula in the Western Hemisphere. Its 591,004 square miles (1,530,700 square km) include some 15,000 square miles (38,800 square km) of fjords and inlets, and its three faces to the sea have about 34,000 miles (54,400 km) of indented tidal coastline and 6,600 total miles (10,600 km) of coast fronting

Bridge

2005-02-19T20:09:00.000-08:00

Structure that spans horizontally between supports, whose function is to carry vertical loads. The prototypical bridge is quite simple—two supports holding up a beam—yet the engineering problems that must be overcome even in this simple form are inherent in every bridge: the supports must be strong enough to hold the structure up, and the span between supports

Hover Fly

2005-02-19T09:17:00.000-08:00

Also called Flower Fly, or Syrphid Fly, any member of the insect family Syrphidae (order Diptera), which numbers about 4,000 species. Their various common names refer to the behaviour of hovering around flowers. Hover flies, with their yellow markings, resemble wasps or bees but do not bite or sting. They are distinguished from other flies by a false (spurious) vein that closely parallels the fourth longitudinal

Swiss Literature

2005-02-18T02:35:00.000-08:00

Properly, the writings in the only language peculiar to Switzerland, the Rhaeto-Romanic dialect known as Romansh, though broadly it includes all works written by Swiss nationals in any of the three other languages of their country: German, French, and Italian, or the Swiss dialect forms of any one of them. It also should be noted that the earliest literature produced

Crambo

2005-02-16T23:56:00.000-08:00

Plural cramboes , also called capping the rhyme a game in which one player gave a word or line of verse to be matched in rhyme by other players. Thus, one said, “I know a word that rhymes with bird.” A second asked, “Is it ridiculous?” “No, it is not absurd.” “Is it a part of speech?” “No, it is not a word.” This proceeded until the right word was guessed. Under the name of the ABC of Aristotle, crambo reportedly was played in England as early as

Sothern, Edward Hugh

2005-02-16T23:41:00.000-08:00

The son of the English comedian Edward Askew Sothern, he made his first stage appearance with his father's company in New York City in 1879. He toured England in 1882 and 1883 and became leading comedian in John

Sokolow, Nahum

2005-02-15T03:52:00.000-08:00

The descendant of an ancient Polish rabbinical family, Sokolow became well known for his contributions to the Jewish press in Hebrew and other languages. At 24 he became assistant editor of the Hebrew scientific weekly ha-Zefirah in Warsaw; later, as its editor, he transformed

Atacamite

2005-02-14T23:17:00.000-08:00

Green, brilliant halide mineral, basic copper chloride [Cu2(OH)3Cl]. It is a secondary mineral, formed by the oxidation of other copper minerals, particularly under arid conditions; it is widespread as brittle, transparent to translucent crystals in Atacama Province, Chile; in Boleo, Mex.; and in South Australia. For detailed physical properties, see halide mineral

Toponymy

2005-02-13T14:12:00.000-08:00

Taxonomic study of place-names, based on etymological, historical, and geographical information. A place-name is a word or words used to indicate, denote, or identify a geographic locality such as a town, river, or mountain. Toponymy divides place-names into two broad categories: habitation names and feature names. A habitation name denotes a locality that is peopled

Hashimiyah

2005-02-12T23:15:00.000-08:00

Also called Rawandiyah, Islamic religiopolitical sect of the 8th–9th century AD, instrumental in the 'Abbasid overthrow of the Umayyad caliphate. The movement appeared in the Iraqi city of Kufah in the early 700s among supporters (called Shi'ites) of the fourth caliph 'Ali, who believed that succession to 'Ali's position of imam, or leader, of the Muslim community had devolved on Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyah (d. c. 700), one

Turbojet

2005-02-11T13:31:00.000-08:00

The first turbojet-powered

González Martínez, Enrique

2005-02-09T18:11:00.000-08:00

González Martínez began writing while practicing medicine in the provinces. With the coming of the Mexican Revolution (1911) he entered public life, serving in the Ministry of Education and holding diplomatic posts in Europe and various Latin-American

Peralta, Pedro De

2005-02-09T13:54:00.000-08:00

Peralta arrived in Mexico City during the winter of 1608–09 following his university studies in Spain. In March 1609 the viceroy of Mexico appointed him to the post of governor of New Mexico; and, from April to October of that year, Peralta organized an expedition to that province. He

Este

2005-02-08T14:50:00.000-08:00

Town and episcopal see of Padova province, in the Veneto region of northern Italy at the southern foot of the Colli (hills) Euganei southwest of Padua. Known in antiquity as Ateste (q.v.), it was for long the principal seat of the Veneti (q.v.), before being absorbed by Rome c. 200 BC. Originally on the Adige River, it was completely abandoned after the river (now 9 mi [14 km] to the south) changed

Chou Tun-i

2005-02-06T09:01:00.000-08:00

Chou was born into a highly influential official

Kikutake Kiyonori

2005-02-05T15:09:00.000-08:00

After graduating from Waseda University (1950), Kikutake worked for several architectural firms and then opened his own office (1953). The work that first brought him to international notice was Sky House (1957), his own home, a building of one room elevated on

Szent-györgyi, Albert

2005-02-05T05:22:00.000-08:00

Szent-Györgyi earned a medical degree from the University of Budapest in 1917. He became interested

Acriflavine

2005-02-04T14:26:00.000-08:00

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

Sasolburg

2005-02-02T23:48:00.000-08:00

Town, northern Free State province, South Africa, south of Johannesburg. Established in 1954, it was built by Sasol Ltd. (the former South African Coal, Oil, and Gas Corporation Ltd.) to house employees at the world's first oil-from-coal plant producing commercial quantities of oil. The location was selected for its proximity to large coal deposits, the Vaal River, and the Witwatersrand

Amphora

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

Ancient Roman unit of capacity for grain and liquid products equal to 48 sextarii and equivalent to about 27.84 litres (7.36 U.S. gallons). The term amphora was borrowed from the Greeks, who used it to designate a measure equal to about 34 litres (9 U.S. gallons).

Ståhlberg, Kaarlo Juho

2005-02-01T18:31:00.000-08:00

Joining the Constitutionalist Party, Ståhlberg was elected to the Diet in 1904 and entered the government of the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland in 1905 but resigned in 1907. From 1908 to 1918 he was professor of administrative law at the University

Earth, Age of oceanic islands

2005-01-30T16:49:00.000-08:00

One of the earliest indications that some blocks of seafloor are moving relative to other such blocks was that while the age of young volcanic islands or seamounts shows no relationship to distance from spreading mid-oceanic ridges, old features of this sort are never found near the ridges. This relationship can be readily explained if new seafloor is created

Arrest

2005-01-30T09:30:00.000-08:00

Placing of a person in custody or under restraint, usually for the purpose of compelling obedience to the law. If the arrest occurs in the course of criminal procedure, the purpose of the restraint is to hold the person for answer to a criminal charge or to prevent him from committing an offense. In civil proceedings, the purpose is to hold the person to a demand made against

Kidderminster

2005-01-29T06:36:00.000-08:00

Town, Wyre Forest district, administrative and historic county of Worcestershire, England. It is situated along the River Stour and the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. Recorded as Stour-in-Usmere in 736 CE, it was given to the comes (count) Cyneberght by King Aethelbald (reigned 716–757). Later it passed to the bishop of Worcester and thence to Cenwulf, king of Mercia (816), and it

Annelid, External features

2005-01-27T01:23:00.000-08:00

The body of an annelid is often described as a tube within a tube. The inner tube, or digestive tract, is separated from the outer tube, or body wall, by the coelom. The head region (prostomium) is followed by a series of segments similar to each other in appearance. The body in many species, especially in the sedentary polychaetes, is separated into two or three regions. The

New Orleans, Education

2005-01-26T16:43:00.000-08:00

Among New Orleans's institutions of higher learning are Tulane University, Loyola University New Orleans, the University of New Orleans, Delgado Community College, Our Lady of Holy Cross College, Dillard University, Xavier University of Louisiana, and Southern University at New Orleans. The city has many private, parochial, and business schools. The public school

Manawatu River

2005-01-25T08:18:00.000-08:00

River, in south-central North Island, New Zealand, rising on the east slopes of the Ruahine Range. The river, 113 miles (182 km) long, flows west and southwest for 30 miles (48 km) to Woodville and turns sharply northwest to pass between the Ruahine and Tararua ranges through the 4-mile- (6.4-kilometre-) long Manawatu Gorge. Emerging from the gorge at Ashhurst, the river runs southwest past Palmerston

Bone Disease

2005-01-23T23:43:00.000-08:00

Bone diseases and injuries were formerly

Eckstine, Billy

2005-01-23T06:54:00.000-08:00

Eckstine left Howard University after winning an amateur contest in 1933 and began singing in nightclubs and with xance bands. From 1939 to 1943 he sang with Earl Hines's band, and at his urging Hines hired

Wright, Judith

2005-01-21T21:38:00.000-08:00

After completing her education at the University of Sydney, Wright worked in an advertising agency and as a secretary at the University of Queensland, where she helped publish Meanjin, a literary

Development

2005-01-21T02:21:00.000-08:00

The simplest form of development is a change (usually an increase) in size of an organ system or structure; simple growth, however, seldom occurs without accompanying chemical

Table Tennis

2005-01-19T03:15:00.000-08:00

Invented in England in the early days of the 20th century, the game was originally called Ping-Pong, a trade name. The name table tennis was adopted in 1921–22 when the old Ping-Pong Association formed in 1902 was revived. The original association had broken up about 1905, though apparently the game continued to be played in parts of England outside London and by the 1920s was being played in

Latrobe Valley

2005-01-18T05:06:00.000-08:00

The Latrobe River rises in the Eastern Highlands near Mount Baw Baw in the Gippsland district. Flowing in a southeasterly direction, it passes the cities of Moe and Yallourn, where it turns to flow almost directly east, past Traralgon. The Latrobe is joined

Polar Ecosystem

2005-01-17T08:16:00.000-08:00

Polar barrens and tundra are found at high latitudes on land surfaces not covered by perpetual ice and snow. These areas lying beyond the tree line comprise more than 10 percent of the Earth's land surface. Most are in the Arctic and subarctic, as little land area in the Antarctic is ever free

Downing, Sir George

2005-01-16T16:23:00.000-08:00

The son of a Puritan lawyer, Downing was one of the first graduates of Harvard College,

Ezzelino Iii Da Romano

2005-01-15T09:45:00.000-08:00

Ezzelino also spelled Eccelino Italian noble and soldier who was podestà (feudal mayor) of Verona (1226–30, 1232–59), Vicenza (1236–59), and Padua (1237–56). A skilled commander and successful intriguer, he expanded and consolidated his power over almost all northeast Italy by aiding the Holy Roman emperor Frederick II and the pro-imperial Ghibellines in their struggle against the papist party, the Guelfs.

Downing, Sir George

2005-01-14T06:05:00.000-08:00

Zokors are medium-sized rodents weighing from 150 to 560 grams

Galaxy, Clusters of galaxies as radio and X-ray sources

2005-01-13T11:17:00.000-08:00

Some clusters of galaxies contain a widespread intergalactic cloud of hot gas that can be detected as a diffuse radio source or as a large-scale source of X rays. The gaseous cloud has a low density but a very high temperature, having been heated by the passage of the galaxies of a cluster through it and by the emission of high-energy particles from active galaxies within

Main River

2005-01-13T00:31:00.000-08:00

Latin Moenus, river, an important right- (east-) bank tributary of the Rhine in Germany. It is formed, near Kulmbach, by the confluence of the Weisser (White) Main, which rises in the Fichtel Mountains, and the Roter (Red) Main, which rises on the eastern slope of the Fränkische Mountains (Franconian Jura). The Main River flows southwesterly around the northern end of the Fränkische Mountains

Gender

2005-01-12T10:57:00.000-08:00

In language, a phenomenon in which the words of a certain part of speech, usually nouns, require the agreement, or concord, through grammatical marking (or inflection), of various other words related to them in a sentence. In languages that exhibit gender, two or more classes of nouns control variation in words of other parts of speech (typically pronouns and adjectives

Haldi

2005-01-11T05:35:00.000-08:00

The national god of the ancient kingdom of Urartu, which ruled the plateau around Lake Van, now eastern Turkey, from about 900 to about 600 BC. Haldi was represented as a man, with or without wings, standing on a lion; in the absence of religious texts his attributes are otherwise unknown. A Urartian temple at ancient Musasir dedicated to Haldi and to the goddess Bagbartu, or Bagmashtu,

Intercostalis Muscle

2005-01-09T08:52:00.000-08:00

In human physiology, any of a series of short muscles that extend between the ribs and serve to draw them together during inspiration and forced expiration or expulsive actions. A set of external and internal intercostalis muscles is found between each vertical pair of ribs on each side of the chest.

Henrician Articles

2005-01-07T18:21:00.000-08:00

Polish Artykuly Henrykowskie (1573) statement of the rights and privileges of the Polish gentry (szlachta) that all elected kings of Poland, beginning with Henry of Valois (elected May 11, 1573), were obliged to confirm and that severely limited the authority of the Polish monarchy. After King Sigismund II Augustus died (July 1572), Henry of Valois, duc d'Anjou and the future Henry III of France, emerged as the favourite

Zaramo

2005-01-05T15:03:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Dzalamo , or Saramo a people who reside in the area surrounding Dar es-Salaam, Tanzania, and comprise the major ethnic component in the city. The Zaramo are considered to be part of the cluster of Swahili peoples on the coast of East Africa who have incorporated elements from many diverse ethnic backgrounds but who are unified in the Islamic faith and in the use of the Swahili

Bonnie And Clyde

2005-01-03T22:30:00.000-08:00

Barrow had been a criminal long before he met Parker in January 1930. After 20 months in prison

Fu Hsi

2005-01-03T16:09:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Fu Xi , formally (Wade-Giles romanization) T'ai Hao (Chinese: “The Great Bright One”) , also called Pao Hsi , or Mi Hsi first of China's mythical emperors. His miraculous birth, as a divine being with a serpent's body, is said to have occurred in the 29th century BC. Some representations show him as a leaf-wreathed head growing out of a mountain or as a man clothed with animal skins. Fu Hsi is said to have discovered the famous Chinese trigrams used in divination and thus to have contributed, in

Ness, Loch

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

Lake, lying in the Highland council area, Scotland. With a depth of 788 feet (240 metres) and a length of about 23 miles (36 km), Loch Ness has the largest volume of fresh water in Great Britain. It lies in the Glen Mor—or Great Glen, which bisects the Highlands—and forms part of the system of waterways across Scotland that civil engineer Thomas Telford linked by means of the Caledonian

Affix

2005-01-01T02:49:00.000-08:00

A grammatical element that is combined with a word, stem, or phrase to produce derived and inflected forms. There are three types of affixes: prefixes, infixes, and suffixes. A prefix occurs at the beginning of a word or stem (sub-mit, pre-determine, un-willing); a suffix at the end (wonder-ful, depend-ent, act-ion); and an infix occurs in the middle. English has no infixes, but they are

Monongahela River

2004-12-30T21:20:00.000-08:00

River formed by the confluence of the Tygart and West Fork rivers in Marion county, W.Va., U.S. It flows 128 miles (206 km) in a northerly direction past Morgantown into Pennsylvania, past Brownsville and Charleroi, joining the Allegheny River at Pittsburgh to become a major headwater of the Ohio River. In its upper reaches the river has a swift current and furnishes hydroelectric

Beardsley, Aubrey

2004-12-30T17:43:00.000-08:00

Drawing was a strong interest from early childhood, and Beardsley practiced it while earning his living as a clerk. Beardsley's meeting with the English artist Sir Edward Burne-Jones

Pacific Islands, Soils

2004-12-28T00:55:00.000-08:00

Pacific island soils develop through the action of temperature, rainfall, and organic matter on the original rock materials. This process is further influenced by factors of time and land relief. Coral island soils are the least mature and are deficient in organic materials and low in fertility. The mineral-bearing soils of the continental islands are more complex

Shikarpur

2004-12-27T13:20:00.000-08:00

City, northern Sindh province, southern Pakistan. The city lies 18 miles (29 km) west of the Indus River and is connected by road and rail with Sukkur (20 miles [32 km] southeast), Jacobabad, and Larkana. It is a historical trade centre, founded in 1617 on a caravan route through the Bolan Pass into Afghanistan. Shikarpur's manufactures include brass and metal goods, carpets, cotton cloth, and embroidery.

Balarama

2004-12-26T16:54:00.000-08:00

In Hindu mythology, the elder half-brother of Krishna, with whom he shared many adventures. Sometimes Balarama is considered one of the 10 avatars (incarnations) of the god Vishnu, particularly among those members of Vaisnava sects who elevate Krishna to the rank of a principal god. Other legends identify him as the incarnation in human form of the serpent Sesa, and he may originally

Angus, William Douglas, 10th Earl Of

2004-12-25T15:48:00.000-08:00

He joined the household of the Earl of Morton and then, while visiting the French court, became a Roman Catholic; in consequence, on his return, he was disinherited and placed under restraint. Nevertheless, he succeeded to his father's titles and estates in 1591, and,

Scypha

2004-12-25T14:06:00.000-08:00

Also called Sycon, genus of marine sponges of the class Calcispongiae (calcareous sponges), characterized by a fingerlike body shape known as the syconoid type of structure. In the syconoid sponges, each “finger,” known as a radial canal, is perforated by many tiny pores through which water passes into the central cavity. The water exits through an oscule, or larger opening, at the tip. Scypha

Angus, William Douglas, 10th Earl Of

2004-12-23T13:13:00.000-08:00

The Anglo-Persian Oil Company was formed in 1909 to take over and finance an oil-field

Cabot Strait

2004-12-22T23:54:00.000-08:00

Channel (60 miles [97 km] wide) between southwestern Newfoundland and northern Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, eastern Canada. An important international shipping lane, it connects the Gulf of St. Lawrence with the Atlantic Ocean. The strait was named for John Cabot, the Italian navigator who, sponsored by the English king Henry VII, explored the area in the late 15th

Abs, Hermann J.

2004-12-21T04:10:00.000-08:00

Abs studied law for one year before joining a merchant bank in Cologne. After World War I, he obtained a series of posts, in Germany and abroad, learning the business of international banking. In 1938 he became a manager of Berlin's Deutsche Bank, which had,

Kochia

2004-12-20T02:08:00.000-08:00

Genus of annual plants, of the goosefoot family (Chenopodiaceae), native primarily to Eurasia. The commonly cultivated garden species is summer cypress (K. scoparia), sometimes known as standing, or Belvedere, cypress. The most widely grown variety is the red summer cypress, also called firebush or burning bush (K. scoparia trichophylla), an erect, often globe-shaped

Turkish Bath

2004-12-19T14:08:00.000-08:00

Kind of bath that originated in the Middle East and combines exposure to warm air, then steam or hot-air immersion, massage, and finally a cold-water bath or shower. The Turkish bath typically requires movement from one room or chamber to the next. Separate wash rooms and soaking pools may be included in the bath building, as are dressing and rest rooms. The Turkish bath

Maupertuis, Pierre-louis Moreau De

2004-12-17T01:34:00.000-08:00

Maupertuis became a member of the Academy of Sciences in Paris in 1731 and soon became the foremost French proponent of the Newtonian theory of gravitation. In 1736 he led an expedition to Lapland to measure the length of a degree along the

Brace And Bit

2004-12-16T18:44:00.000-08:00

Hand-operated tool for boring holes in wood, consisting of a crank-shaped turning device, the brace, that grips and rotates the hole-cutting tool, the bit. The auger bit shown in the Figure is of the style traditionally used by carpenters; its six parts are shown in the Figure. At the end of the twist are two sharp points, called the spurs, that mark the circle, and two cutting

Eystein I Magnusson

2004-12-16T18:41:00.000-08:00

An illegitimate son of Magnus III Barefoot, Eystein succeeded to the throne in 1103 with his younger brothers Sigurd I and Olaf (IV); the latter, a child, died in 1115, but Sigurd outlived Eystein. While Sigurd was off on crusades in Moorish Spain and the Holy

United Kingdom, The golden age of Bede

2004-12-15T07:19:00.000-08:00

Within a century of Augustine's landing, England was in the forefront of scholarship. This high standard arose from a combination of influences: that from Ireland, which had escaped the decay caused elsewhere by the barbarian invasions, and that from the Mediterranean, which reached England mainly through Archbishop Theodore and his companion, the abbot Adrian

Scholasticism

2004-12-13T01:44:00.000-08:00

But not all of Scholasticism is specifically medieval and therefore definitively belonging to the dead past; there are perennial elements that are meant for every age, the present one included, three of which may be here distinguished. First, not only has Scholasticism held true to the normal historical rule that ideas, once thought and expressed, remain present

Adzopé

2004-12-12T09:41:00.000-08:00

Town, southeastern Côte d'Ivoire. A traditional market centre for the Attié people, it sends coffee, bananas, cocoa, and timber (mahogany, sipo) to Abidjan, 55 miles (89 km) south, for export. Adzopé is the site of Roman Catholic and Protestant missions, a government agricultural-training institute (1964), a leprosy hospital, and a model housing project. Pop. (1975) 21,147; (1988) 35,085.

Apollonius Of Tralles

2004-12-11T18:12:00.000-08:00

Greek sculptor from the province of Caria, in Asia Minor, known for his execution in collaboration with his brother Tauriscus of a marble group known as the “Farnese Bull.” The work represented Zethus and Amphion, the twin builders of Thebes, tying their stepmother, Dirce, to the horns of a wild bull in punishment for her torment of their mother, Antiope.