LongComb

UK Karting Championship

2006-07-20T09:25:00.000-07:00

Formula Nuts brought to you by Drive Sport will be putting together a UK Karting event where the winner will get to race at Silverstone. Karting time trials will be held at the following locations; Karting London, Karting Manchester, Karting Liverpool, Karting Birmingham, Karting Nottingham, Karting Leeds, Karting Newcastle, Karting Sunderland, Karting Bristol, Karting Cardiff, Karting Devon, Karting Midlands, Karting Edinburgh,Karting Glasgowand Karting in Wales

House, Edward M.

2006-01-26T16:00:00.000-08:00

Independently wealthy, House turned from business to politics and between 1892 and 1904 served as an adviser to Texas governors, one of whom gave him the honorary title of colonel. Thereafter

Atwood, Margaret (eleanor)

2005-11-17T18:45:00.000-08:00

In her early poetry

Clapp, Cornelia Maria

2005-07-28T00:30:00.000-07:00

Clapp graduated from Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in 1871, and after a year of teaching elsewhere she returned to Mount Holyoke as an instructor in mathematics. Later she also taught

Axminster Carpet

2005-07-26T18:05:00.000-07:00

Floor covering made originally in a factory founded at Axminster, Devon, Eng., in 1755 by the cloth weaver Thomas Whitty. Resembling somewhat the Savonnerie carpets produced in France, Axminster carpets were Ghiordes knotted in wool on woolen warps and had a weft of flax or hemp. Like the French carpets, they featured Renaissance architectural or floral patterns. Similar

Wilder, Thornton (niven)

2005-07-24T07:00:00.000-07:00

His first novel, The Cabala (1926), while set in 20th-century Rome,

Lomas De Zamora

2005-07-07T08:25:00.000-07:00

Cabecera (county seat) and partido (county) of Gran (Greater) Buenos Aires, Arg. It lies immediately south of the city of Buenos Aires, in Buenos Aires provincia. The name and origin of the partido and cabecera date from the late 16th century, when Juan de Zamora, one of the founders of Buenos Aires, was granted a large landholding on the lomas (“slopes”) in the vicinity. In 1861 the partido

Lighter

2005-07-05T14:00:00.000-07:00

Shallow-draft boat or barge, usually flat-bottomed, used in unloading (lightening) or loading ships offshore. Use of lighters requires extra handling and thus extra time and expense and is largely confined to ports without enough traffic to justify construction of piers or wharves. Lighters are also used in transporting freight for short distances, as around harbours.

Hawke's Bay

2005-06-28T14:20:00.000-07:00

Local government region, eastern North Island, New Zealand. It consists mostly of the hill country fronting Hawke Bay to the east, stretches from the Mahia Peninsula in the northeast to the vicinity of Cape Turnagain in the southeast, and is noted for its rolling sheep lands. The region extends westward to the Huiarau, Maungaharuru, Kaweka, and Ruahine mountain ranges;

Eagles, The, Don Henley

2005-06-17T02:00:00.000-07:00

Ardashir Ii

2005-06-13T20:45:00.000-07:00

King of the Sasanian empire in ancient Persia (reigned AD 379–383). During the reign of his brother Shapur II, he had been king of Adiabene (now a region of northeast Iraq), where he took part in the persecution of Christians. After Shapur's death, he was set on the throne by the nobles, presumably at an advanced age. His investiture is commemorated in a rock carving at Taq-e Bostan. His attempts

Porbandar

2005-06-02T16:05:00.000-07:00

Town, Junagadh district, Gujarat state, west central India, on the Arabian Sea. The birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi, it was controlled by the Jethwa Rajputs from about the 16th century. Porbandar was the capital of the former princely state of Porbandar (1785–1948) before it became a district. It is famous for its building stone, and it also produces a variety of manufactures. The town is served

Shadow Play

2005-05-31T10:50:00.000-07:00

Type of theatrical entertainment performed with puppets, probably originating in China and on the Indonesian islands of Java and Bali. Flat images are manipulated by the puppeteers between a bright light and a translucent screen, on the other side of which sits the audience. Shadow plays are also performed in Turkey and Greece. In the 18th and 19th centuries, shadow plays

Kidney Vetch

2005-05-17T01:55:00.000-07:00

Also called ladies' fingers (species Anthyllis vulneraria) perennial herb, of the pea family (Fabaceae), found in meadows, alpine pastures, and dry places of Europe and northern Africa. The low, hairy plant grows to a height of 15–40 cm (6–16 inches) and has narrow leaves 1.4–3.8 cm (0.5–1.5 inches) long and yellow, reddish, or white flowers. It was formerly used as a remedy for kidney disorders but is now frequently cultivated in rock gardens.

Cello

2005-05-14T23:30:00.000-07:00

The earliest cellos were developed during the 16th century

Kerosine

2005-03-15T01:40:00.000-08:00

Kerosine accounts for between 10 and 25 percent of the total volume of crude petroleum. It is

Aerospace Industry, Wind-tunnel testing

2005-03-14T04:52:00.000-08:00

Computer simulation has reduced the amount of wind-tunnel testing necessary, but the latter remains an important part of the development process in the aerospace industry. During development of the Boeing 777, for example, some 2,000 hours in the wind tunnel were clocked. The wind tunnel, which predates powered flight by 32 years, is a test apparatus in which air is blown over

V�lcea

2005-03-12T22:13:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �V�lcea, � judet (county), south-central Romania. The Transylvanian Alps (Southern Carpathians) and the sub-Carpathians rise above settlement areas in the valleys, and the Olt and Cerna rivers drain southward through the county. R�mnicu V�lcea (q.v.; the county capital), Babeni, and Berzoi are timber production centres. Chemical factories operate in Govora, and building materials

Silius Italicus

2005-03-07T19:55:00.000-08:00

Silius was a distinguished advocate in his earlier years. He later took to public service and was a consul in 68, the year of Nero's death. His association with the emperor Nero was a stain on his reputation that he later expunged through his successful governorship

Ariadne

2005-03-06T00:14:00.000-08:00

In Greek mythology, daughter of Pasiphae and the Cretan king Minos. She fell in love with the Athenian hero Theseus and, with a thread or glittering jewels, helped him escape the Labyrinth after he slew the Minotaur, a beast half bull and half man that Minos kept in the Labyrinth. Here the legends diverge: she was abandoned by Theseus and hanged herself; Theseus carried

Sommer, Ferdinand

2005-03-05T05:27:00.000-08:00

During his academic career, Sommer held professorships at the universities of Basel (1902 - 09), Rostock (1909 - 13), Jena (1913 - 24), Bonn (1924 - 26), and Munich (1926 - 51). His most important works include Handbuch der lateinischen Laut- und Formenlehre (1902; �Handbook of Latin Phonology

Mademoiselle

2005-03-04T22:33:00.000-08:00

As an honorific title in the French royal court, it came to be used (without the adjunction of a proper name) to refer to or address the daughter of the king's eldest living brother, who was himself called monsieur. The first to be called mademoiselle was

Epistemology, Analytic versus synthetic propositions

2005-03-03T18:40:00.000-08:00

A proposition is often said to be analytic if the meaning of the predicate term is contained in the meaning of the subject term. Thus, �All husbands are married� is analytic because the term �husband� includes as part of its meaning �being married.� A term is said to be synthetic if this is not so. Therefore, �All Model-T Fords are black� is synthetic since the term �black� is not included

Religion, Study Of, Other sociological studies

2005-03-02T20:46:00.000-08:00

An extensive literature on religious sects and similar groups has also developed. To some extent this has been influenced by the German theologian Ernst Troeltsch in his distinction between church and sect (see below Theological studies). Notable among modern investigators of sectarianism is the British scholar Bryan Wilson. Church organizations also have

Sienkiewicz, Henryk

2005-03-01T00:02:00.000-08:00

Sienkiewicz's family owned a small estate but lost everything and moved to Warsaw, where Sienkiewicz studied literature, history, and philology at Warsaw University. He left the university in 1871 without taking a degree. He had begun to publish critical

Sienkiewicz, Henryk

2005-02-28T06:37:00.000-08:00

Judicial organ established in 1959 that is charged with supervising the enforcement of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (1950; commonly known as the European Convention on Human Rights), which was drawn up by the Council of Europe. The convention obligates signatories to guarantee various civil and political freedoms, including

Tiel

2005-02-27T10:21:00.000-08:00

Formerly �Thiel, � gemeente (commune), Gelderland provincie, central Netherlands, on the Waal River, west-southwest of Arnhem. Chartered in 1200, Tiel developed as a medieval port and market town and became a member of the Hanseatic League. The town now has a horticultural school, serves a fruit-growing (cherries, apples, and pears) region, and has some light industries. Pop. (1992 est.) 32,643.

Gymnasium

2005-02-26T06:02:00.000-08:00

Large room used and equipped for the performance of various sports. The history of the gymnasium dates back to ancient Greece, where the literal meaning of the word gymnasion was �school for naked exercise.� The gymnasiums were of great significance to the ancient Greeks, and every important city had at least one. These were usually built by the state and, from mere gathering

Cache Memory

2005-02-25T08:00:00.000-08:00

Also called �Cache, � a supplementary memory system that temporarily stores frequently used instructions and data for quicker processing by the central processor of a computer. The cache augments, and is an extension of, a computer's main memory. Both main memory and cache are internal, random-access memories (RAMs) that use semiconductor-based transistor circuits. Cache holds a copy

Hawd Plateau

2005-02-24T05:27:00.000-08:00

Hawd also spelled �Haud, � plateau sloping southeastward and spanning the northern Ethiopian-Somali border, southeast of the northern Somalian highlands. It covers an area of about 25,000 square miles (64,750 square km) and slopes from about 4,000 feet (1,220 m) in the northwest to about 1,500 feet (450 m) in the southeast. It is a vast savanna of varying fertility and is a major wet-season grazing area for herds of camels, goats, and

Malay Language

2005-02-23T08:15:00.000-08:00

Member of the Western, or Indonesian, branch of the Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian) language family, spoken as a native language by more than 33,000,000 persons distributed over the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, and the numerous smaller islands of the area, and widely used in Malaysia and Indonesia as a second language. Malay shows the closest relationship to most of the

Celaenae

2005-02-22T05:58:00.000-08:00

Ancient fortress city of Phrygia (in present Turkey), the starting point of the march of the �Ten Thousand� under Cyrus (401 BC) against Artaxerxes (recounted in Xenophon's Anabasis). In 333 Celaenae was conquered by Alexander the Great. The city was later renamed Apamea Cibotus (q.v.) by Antiochus I Soter, who refounded it on a more open site in order to benefit from the growing commerce

Kahn, Gustave

2005-02-21T21:25:00.000-08:00

After study in Paris, Kahn spent four years in North Africa, returning to Paris in 1885. He helped found or edit several literary reviews, including La Vogue, Le Symboliste, and La Revue Ind�pendante, which printed his poems and discussed the various theories

Dorgon

2005-02-20T03:42:00.000-08:00

Dorgon was the 14th of the 16 sons of Nurhachi, founder of the Manchu state, who

Kshitigarbha

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

Bodhisattva (�buddha-to-be�) who, though known in India as early as the 4th century CE, became immensely popular in China as Dicang and in Japan as Jizo. He is the saviour of the oppressed, the dying, and the dreamer of evil dreams, for he has vowed not to stop his labours until he has saved the souls of all the dead condemned to hell. In China he is considered the overlord of hell and is

Seleucus Iv Philopator

2005-02-18T20:57:00.000-08:00

Although the empire that Seleucus inherited was not so great as the one over which his father had ruled before the war with Rome (190 - 189), it was still large, consisting of Syria (including Cilicia and Palestine), Mesopotamia, Babylonia, and nearer Iran (Media and Persia). Because of financial difficulties,

Selebi-phikwe

2005-02-17T19:46:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Selebi-pikwe, � mining town, eastern Botswana. Selebi-Phikwe is located 62 miles (100 km) southeast of Francistown. Situated in the centre of a large copper-nickel mine and a smelter complex, it was one of the fastest-growing towns in the country in the late 20th century. The copper and nickel operation, in which the government of Botswana had a 15 percent share, began production in 1974. Laid out as a fully

Bulgaria, Slavic invasions

2005-02-16T16:32:00.000-08:00

The story of the modern Bulgarian people begins with the Slavic invasions of the Balkan Peninsula in the 6th and 7th centuries AD, a time when Byzantium was absorbed in prolonged conflict with Persia and could not resist the incursions from the north. Ancient sources refer to two Slavic tribes north of the Danube at this time, the Slavenae and the Antae. Evidence suggests

Haarlemmermeer

2005-02-15T19:22:00.000-08:00

Gemeente (commune), Noord-Holland provincie, The Netherlands, occupying the reclaimed Haarlem Lake, which was drained between 1840 and 1852. There is a network of roads and ditches at right angles within the enclosing canal and dike. The population is concentrated in the villages of Hoofddorp, Nieuw-Vennep, Badhoevedorp, and Zwanenburg, which are situated along the dike and

Insurance, Business liability insurance

2005-02-14T14:55:00.000-08:00

Business liability contracts commonly written include the following: liability of a building owner, landlord, or tenant; liability of an employer for acts of negligence involving employees; liability of contractors or manufacturers; liability to members of the public resulting from faulty products or services; liability as a result of contractual agreements

Tyrconnell, Richard Talbot, Earl Of, Viscount Baltinglass, Baron Of Talbotstown

2005-02-13T05:08:00.000-08:00

The son of Sir William Talbot, a Roman Catholic lawyer and politician, Richard fought with the Royalist forces in Ireland during the English Civil Wars between the Royalists and Parliamentarians. In November 1655 he was arrested

Constanta

2005-02-12T05:35:00.000-08:00

Judet (county), southeastern Romania, bounded by Bulgaria on the south. The Black Sea lies to the east, and the northward-draining Danube River delimits the county's western border. Constanta judet, consisting mostly of lowlands, contains several lakes. Constanta (q.v.) city, Romania's principal seaport, is the county seat. Agricultural activities include livestock raising

Abomey

2005-02-11T16:38:00.000-08:00

Town, southern Benin (formerly Dahomey). Probably founded in the early 17th century, it soon became the capital of the kingdom of Abomey (later Dahomey), which dominated production and trade with the European enterprises on the Slave Coast until the late 19th century. The town is located in an area where palm nuts and peanuts (groundnuts) are grown; it is connected by road and

Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand

2005-02-10T00:14:00.000-08:00

Gandhi took his studies seriously and tried to brush up on his English and Latin by taking the London University matriculation examination. But, during the three years he spent in England, his main preoccupation was with personal and moral issues rather than with academic ambitions. The transition from the half-rural atmosphere of Rajkot to the cosmopolitan life

L'engle, Madeleine

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

L'Engle attended boarding schools in Europe and the United States and graduated with honours from Smith College (B.A., 1941). She pursued a career in the theatre before

Atwood, Margaret (eleanor)

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

In her early poetry

Peres, Shimon

2005-02-07T08:15:00.000-08:00

Original name �Shimon Perski� Israeli statesman, leader of the Israel Labour Party (1977 - 92, 1995 - 97, and 2003 - ) who served as prime minister of Israel in 1984 - 86 and 1995 - 96. In 1993, in his role as foreign minister, Peres helped negotiate a peace accord with Yasir 'Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), for which they, along with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, were jointly

Tyri, Lake

2005-02-06T03:51:00.000-08:00

Lake, Buskerud fylke (county), southeastern Norway, in the Ringerike (q.v.) region. Irregular in shape, it ranges up to 20 miles (32 km) in length and 10 miles in width, attains a maximum depth of 922 feet (281 m), and has an area of 52 square miles (134 square km). The Begna (river) flows southward into the lake, which is then drained by the Dramselva (river), which empties into Drams Fjord, a branch of Oslo Fjord.

Biblical Literature, First introductory discourse of Moses

2005-02-05T16:26:00.000-08:00

The first introductory discourse, spoken by Moses, traces the journey of the Israelites from Mt. Horeb to Moab, with some noticeable differences in detail from the account in Exodus and Numbers and an emphasis on Moses being banned from entrance into the Promised Land because the Lord was angry at the Israelites. To this historical retrospect is appended an exhortation

Fender, Leo

2005-02-04T21:32:00.000-08:00

Together with George Fullerton, Fender developed the first mass-produced solid-body electric guitar, in 1948. Called the Fender Broadcaster (renamed the Telecaster in 1950), it was produced under the auspices of the Fender Electric Instruments Company, which

Aquarius

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

In astrology,

Gray, Elisha

2005-02-02T00:09:00.000-08:00

Gray invented a number of telegraphic devices and in 1869 was one of two partners who founded what became Western Electric Company. On Feb. 14, 1876, the day that Bell filed an application for a patent for a telephone, Gray

April Theses

2005-02-01T14:57:00.000-08:00

During the February Revolution two disparate bodies had replaced the imperial government - the Provisional Government and

Ku Klux Klan

2005-01-31T01:13:00.000-08:00

The 19th-century Klan was originally organized as a social club by Confederate veterans in Pulaski, Tenn., in 1866. They apparently derived the name from the Greek word kyklos,

Neustadt An Der Weinstrasse

2005-01-30T07:09:00.000-08:00

Formerly �Neustadt An Der Haardt, � city, Rhineland-Palatinate Land (state), southwestern Germany. It lies on the eastern slope of the Haardt Mountains, at the mouth of the Speyer-Bach. Founded in 1220 and chartered in 1275, its historic buildings include the Casimirianum (the seat of Heidelberg University, 1578 - 83, now a convention hall), the town hall (formerly a Jesuit college), and the Stiftskirche (�Collegiate Church�), which

Dandenong Ranges

2005-01-29T03:02:00.000-08:00

Mountain ranges, part of the Eastern Highlands, east of Melbourne in southern Victoria, Australia. Several peaks exceed 1,600 ft (500 m), the highest of which is Mt. Dandenong (2,077 ft). With nearly twice as much rainfall as the nearby coastal plain and with fertile volcanic soils, the mountains have dense vegetative cover. The name is derived from an Aboriginal word, tanjenong, meaning

Ubs Ag

2005-01-28T14:34:00.000-08:00

The Swiss Bank Corporation was founded in 1854 as the Basler Bank-Verein (Basel Bank Corporation) and became a joint-stock company in 1872. It specialized in investment banking. In 1895 its name was changed to Basler und Z�rcher Bankverein when it

Yako

2005-01-27T07:47:00.000-08:00

The Yako are mainly yam farmers; subsidiary crops include cocoyams (taro), corn (maize), okra, and pumpkin. The main cash crop is palm oil. The Yako occupy compact villages divided into wards, each containing several patrilineal clans. Patrilineal

Crocidolite

2005-01-26T20:30:00.000-08:00

Crocidolite is often replaced

Water Cock

2005-01-25T02:55:00.000-08:00

(Gallicrex cinerea), marsh bird of the rail family, Rallidae (order Gruiformes). It occurs from India to Japan and throughout Southeast Asia to the Philippines. The male is blue-black with red legs, a strongly conical red bill, and a protruding red frontal shield. The female is mottled and barred yellowish brown. The water cock is troublesome in rice fields, where it likes

Adwa

2005-01-24T10:51:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Adowa�, Italian �Adua� town, northern Ethiopia. Adwa lies on the east-west highway between Aksum and Adi Grat at its junction with the road north to Asmara (Asmera), in Eritrea. Adwa is a market centre (grains, honey, hides, coffee) for the Tigray people. The town is located 10 miles (16 km) west of an area of fantastic volcanic formations. On March 1, 1896, Emperor Menilek II defeated an Italian force there. Nearby

Camaldolese

2005-01-23T10:21:00.000-08:00

Member of �Congregation of Monk Hermits of Camaldoli� an independent offshoot of the Benedictine order, founded about 1012 at Camaldoli near Arezzo, Italy, by St. Romuald as part of the monastic-reform movement of the 11th and 12th centuries. The order combined the solitary life of the hermit with an austere form of the common life of the monk. The monastery and the hermitage formed one unit. Beginners resided in the monastery; the

Koch, Ilsa

2005-01-22T20:20:00.000-08:00

A sometime librarian, in 1936 Ilsa married SS Colonel Karl Koch, then commander of the Sachsenhausen camp. In 1939 he was transferred to Buchenwald, where she acquired the reputation of a sadist and nymphomaniac, beating

Marseille

2005-01-21T20:42:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Marseilles, �ancient �Massilia, �or �Massalia, � city, capital of Bouches-du-Rh�ne d�partement, France, and also the administrative and commercial capital of Provence-Alpes-C�te d'Azur, one of France's fastest growing r�gions. Located west of the French Riviera, Marseille is one of the major ports of the Mediterranean Sea. It is situated on the Mediterranean's Gulf of Lion within a semicircle of limestone hills and

Gong

2005-01-20T04:48:00.000-08:00

A circular metal plate-like percussion instrument having a turned-down rim. It is struck in the centre with a felt- or leather-covered beater, producing a sound of either definite or indefinite pitch. Its vibrations issue from the centre, in contrast to bells, which vibrate principally at the rim.

World War I, The Battle of Jutland

2005-01-19T17:35:00.000-08:00

Admiral Reinhard Scheer, who became commander in chief of the High Seas Fleet in January 1916, planned to contrive an encounter on the open sea between his fleet and some

Tibet, Transportation

2005-01-18T04:25:00.000-08:00

Before 1951 traveling in Tibet was done either on foot or on the backs of animals. Coracles (small boats made of wicker and hides) were used to cross the larger rivers. The Tibetan government obstructed the development of modern transportation to make access to the country difficult for outsiders. For trading, the Tibetans relied on the centuries-old caravan routes leading

Paul Of The Cross, Saint

2005-01-17T00:48:00.000-08:00

In 1720 Paul dedicated his life to God and began to experience visions, in the last of which the Virgin Mary appeared to him. He was inspired by this vision to found a congregation devoted to the suffering of Christ on the cross, and his

France, History Of, Recovery and reunification, 1429 - 83

2005-01-16T14:58:00.000-08:00

The coronation of Charles VII was the last pivotal event of the Hundred Years' War. From Reims the king's army moved on triumphantly, winning capitulations from Laon, Soissons, and many lesser places and even threatening Paris before disbanding. The popular devotion to monarchy that had produced Joan was undermining English positions almost everywhere in France;

Kilgore

2005-01-15T23:38:00.000-08:00

City, on the Gregg-Rusk county line, northeastern Texas, U.S., about 50 miles (80 km) west of the border with Louisiana. The city is part of the Longview-Kilgore-Gladewater-Tyler oil complex in the middle of the East Texas oil field. In 1871 Judge C.B. Kilgore settled the site, which was then the terminus of the Missouri Pacific Railroad. Lumber and cotton became the chief sources of income,

Malakoff

2005-01-14T07:03:00.000-08:00

Town, Hauts-de-Seine d�partement, Paris r�gion, north-central France. A southwestern industrial suburb of Paris, it has an electrical-engineering school and manufactures electrical equipment, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and precision instruments. The town was created in 1883 and was named for the fortress of Malakhov at Sevastopol, which was captured by the French

Graysby

2005-01-13T13:07:00.000-08:00

Species of sea bass (q.v.).

Jabavu, Davidson Don Tengo

2005-01-12T17:22:00.000-08:00

The son of John Tengo Jabavu, editor of the first Bantu-language newspaper in South Africa, Davidson Jabavu was educated in South Africa, in Wales, and at the universities of London and Birmingham. In 1916 he began teaching at Fort Hare Native

Bridget Of Sweden, Saint

2005-01-11T10:11:00.000-08:00

The daughter of Birger Persson, governor of Uppland, she had from an early age remarkable religious visions that influenced her entire life and outlook. In

Sibilant

2005-01-08T07:32:00.000-08:00

In phonetics, a fricative consonant sound, in which the tip, or blade, of the tongue is brought near the roof of the mouth and air is pushed past the tongue to make a hissing sound. In English s, z, sh, and zh (the sound of the s in �pleasure�) are sibilants. Sometimes the affricates ch and j are also considered as sibilants. See also fricative.

New Castile

2005-01-07T22:22:00.000-08:00

Spanish �Castilla La Nueva, � historic provincial region, central upland Spain. It generally includes the area of the Moorish kingdom of Toledo annexed to the former kingdom of Castile in the 11th century AD. In modern Spanish geographic usage, New Castile as an administrative region included the provinces of Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Guadalajara, Madrid, and Toledo. Its area was 27,940 square miles (72,363 square km).

New Castile

2005-01-06T20:31:00.000-08:00

A language variety that has also been identified at different times in dialectology and literary studies as Black English, black dialect, and Negro (nonstandard) English. Since the late 1980s, the term has been used ambiguously, sometimes with reference to only Ebonics, or, as it is known to linguists, African American Vernacular English (AAVE; the English dialect spoken

Heiss, Carol

2005-01-05T10:31:00.000-08:00

Heiss began to skate at age six, and she won the world championships in 1956, a title she held for four more years. She also captured the North American championship in 1957 and 1959 and the U.S. national championship from 1957 through 1960. Although narrowly defeated by Tenley Albright of the

Gastronomy, The Italian influence on France

2005-01-04T10:31:00.000-08:00

Italy has been called the mother of the Western cuisines, and perhaps its greatest contribution was its influence on France. The crucial event was the arrival of Catherine de M�dicis in France in the 16th century. The great-granddaughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent, Catherine married the young man who later was to become Henry II of France. She brought with her a retinue

Biblical Literature, Early reign of David

2005-01-03T16:51:00.000-08:00

The Second Book of Samuel, as noted earlier, relates the exploits of David and the events of his monarchy. After mourning the death of Saul and executing an Amalekite who claimed to have killed the former king, David began to consolidate his position as the successor to Saul. He was anointed king of Judah at Hebron while Ishbosheth (�man of shame,� originally Ishbaal, or

Arts, East Asian, Painting

2005-01-02T14:26:00.000-08:00

Painting of the Kamakura period, both religious and secular, was marked by a sense of immediacy and vitality. The Amidist sects spawned cults that emphasized devotion to particular intercessory figures who had initially been considered ancillary in the overall Pure Land Buddhist pantheon. For example, the Jizo Bosatsu, the bodhisattva depicted in the guise of

Accelerator

2005-01-01T20:55:00.000-08:00

The use of alkaline compounds of metals as vulcanization

Ahmed Ii

2004-12-31T19:49:00.000-08:00

Soon after his accession to the throne, Ahmed's forces were defeated by the Austrians at Slankamen, Hung. The able grand vizier (chief minister) K�pr�l� Fazil Mustafa Pasa died in the battle, and the Ottomans suffered substantial territorial

Education, Philosophy Of, Lockean view

2004-12-30T00:47:00.000-08:00

John Locke, the 17th-century English philosopher, has been credited with formulating the classical liberal defense of individual freedom against the authorities of state and church. Opposed both to what he deemed the stagnation of unreflective tradition and the perils of enthusiastic radicalism, Locke saw science, reason, and experience as the best safeguards

Tlachtli

2004-12-29T17:01:00.000-08:00

The ball court, or field, used for the ritual ball game (ollama) played throughout pre-Columbian Meso-America. Possibly originating among the Olmecs (La Venta culture, c. 800 - c. 400 BC) or even earlier, the game spread to subsequent cultures, among them those of Monte Alb�n and El Taj�n; the Maya (as pok-ta-pok); and the Toltec, Mixtec, and Aztec. In Aztec times, ollama was a nobles' game and was

Andrew, John Albion

2004-12-28T19:10:00.000-08:00

Andrew entered political life as a Whig opposed to the Mexican War (1846 - 48). In 1848 he joined the Free-Soil movement against the spread of slavery. After the passage of the Kansas - Nebraska Act (1854), which permitted those

Zaccaria, Benedetto

2004-12-27T13:30:00.000-08:00

In 1264 Zaccaria was named Genoese ambassador to the Byzantine emperor, Michael VIII Paleologus, who bestowed on him and his brother Manuele the fief of Phocaea, north of Smyrna, with its alum mines. On this foundation the brothers built a commercial empire,

Thomason, George

2004-12-26T16:49:00.000-08:00

English bookseller whose collection of printed books, handbills, pamphlets, ballads, newspapers, and other writings (cataloged and bound from 1640 to 1661) constitute one of the most important historical sources for the English Civil Wars and Commonwealth. The original collection reportedly contained more than 32,000 separate

Sorghum

2004-12-25T03:03:00.000-08:00

Cereal grain plant of the family Gramineae (Poaceae), probably originating in Africa, and its edible starchy seeds. All types raised chiefly for grain belong to the species Sorghum vulgare, which includes varieties of grain sorghums and grass sorghums, grown for hay and fodder, and broomcorn, used in making brooms and brushes. Grain sorghums include durra, milo, shallu,

Ksar El-kebir

2004-12-24T07:39:00.000-08:00

Originally a Greek and Carthaginian colony, the site was occupied by the Romans, whose ruins remain, and by the Byzantines. The Arab town, which was founded in the 8th century, has one of the oldest mosques of western Morocco, built with inscribed stones from an earlier Christian church. Ksar el-Kebir, which

Biblical Literature, Literary criticism

2004-12-23T09:04:00.000-08:00

Literary criticism endeavours to establish the literary genres (types or categories) of the various documents and to reach conclusions about their structure, date, and authorship. These conclusions are based as far as possible on internal evidence, but external evidence is also very helpful, especially where date is concerned. If the document under consideration

Eileithyia

2004-12-21T06:48:00.000-08:00

Pre-Hellenic goddess of childbirth, who hindered or facilitated the process according to her disposition. The earliest evidence for her cult is at Amnisus, in Crete, where excavations indicate that she was worshiped continuously from Neolithic to Roman times. In Homer's writings she appears, sometimes in the plural, as a personification of birth pangs and is described

Pereyaslav-khmelnytskyy

2004-12-20T20:18:00.000-08:00

Russian �Pereyaslav-khmelnitsky, �also spelled �Pereiaslav-khmelnitskii, or Perejaslav-chmel'nickij, �formerly �(until 1943) Pereyaslav, or Pereiaslav, � city, Kiev oblast (province), Ukraine. Pereyaslav-Khmelnytskyy has existed since the 10th century, when it was known as Pereyaslav-Russky. It was a border stronghold of the Kievan state but was overrun by Mongol Tatars in 1239. In 1654 Bohdan Khmelnytsky, a leader of the revolt against Polish domination of Ukraine, convened a council at Pereyaslav that submitted Ukraine to Russian

Bahawalnagar

2004-12-19T09:34:00.000-08:00

The surrounding region, once a part of the princely

Gabon, History Of

2004-12-18T17:20:00.000-08:00

By 1800 the British were becoming the leading traders in manufactures throughout the Gulf of Guinea. After 1815 the French sought to compete more actively in the commercial sphere and to join Britain in combating the slave trade. To these ends, Captain �douard Bou�t-Willaumez negotiated treaties with the heads of two Mpongwe clans, King Denis (Antchouwe Kowe Rapontchombo)

Chancre

2004-12-17T23:03:00.000-08:00

Typical skin lesion of the primary stage of infectious syphilis, usually appearing on the penis, labia, cervix, or anorectal region. (Because in women the chancre often occurs internally, it may go unnoticed.) The lesion often occurs in combination with a painless swelling of the regional lymph nodes, and together these symptoms are the major characteristics of syphilis

Kirklees

2004-12-16T13:31:00.000-08:00

Metropolitan borough, metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, historic county of Yorkshire, England. The borough takes its name from Kirklees Hall (17th century), whose estate houses a small Cistercian priory (1155) and the reputed grave of Robin Hood. The borough extends from flat-topped and heather-clad gritstone moorland in the Pennines to more open, industrialized valleys.

Robert Ii

2004-12-15T05:32:00.000-08:00

Byname �Robert The Jerusalemite, �French �Robert Le Hierosolymitain, �Dutch �Robrecht Van Jeruzalem� count of Flanders (1093 - 1111), one of the most celebrated of crusaders. The son of Robert I, he sailed for the Holy Land on the First Crusade in 1096 and earned fame perhaps second only to that of Godfrey of Bouillon. Returning to Flanders in 1100, he fought with his suzerain, Louis VI the Fat of France, against the English and was drowned in 1111 by the breaking of a bridge. He was succeeded

Silicic Acid

2004-12-14T15:38:00.000-08:00

A compound of silicon, oxygen, and hydrogen, regarded as the parent substance from which is derived a large family - the silicates - of minerals, salts, and esters. The acid itself, having the formula Si(OH)4, can be prepared only as an unstable solution in water; its molecules readily condense with one another to form water and polymeric chains, rings, sheets, or three-dimensional

Mollisol

2004-12-13T15:06:00.000-08:00

One of the 12 soil orders in the U.S. Soil Taxonomy. Mollisols are characterized by a significant accumulation of humus in the surface horizon, or uppermost layer, which is almost always formed under native grass vegetation. They are highly arable soils used principally for growing grain and cereal crops, often inspiring the name �breadbasket� for the regions where they