CertainGirl

Estate Agent Fitzrovia

2006-10-25T18:50:00.000-07:00

Robert Irving Burns specialise in London Commercial and Residential property services. They are a specialist in estate agent fitzrovia, amongst other London areas such as Soho and Oxford Circus.

Awka

2005-03-30T22:16:00.000-08:00

Town and capital of Anambra state, southern Nigeria. The town lies along roads leading from Owerri, Umuahia, Onitsha, and Enugu. Formerly covered with tropical forest, the area around Awka now mostly consists of wooded grassland. South of the town on the slopes of the Awka-Orlu Uplands are some examples of soil erosion and gullying. Awka is the traditional home of the

Rzhev

2005-03-30T02:04:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Rzev city, Tver oblast (province), northwestern Russia. It lies along the upper Volga River at the crossing of the Moscow-Riga and St. Petersburg–Bryansk trunk railways. First mentioned in 1216 as an independent princedom, Rzhev has always been a route centre on the western approaches to Moscow. The city has had a stormy history. It was held at various times by the princes of Tver

Liberius

2005-03-28T13:30:00.000-08:00

Liberius was pope during the turbulence caused by the rise of Arianism—a heresy teaching that Christ was not truly divine but was rather a created being. Liberius was pope under the Arian Roman emperor Constantius II, who opposed both the Council of Nicaea (which had condemned Arianism)

Bingo

2005-03-27T04:02:00.000-08:00

To play bingo, which is a form of lottery, each player purchases one or more cards divided into numbered and blank squares. Randomly chosen numbers, usually up to 75 or 90, are

Gaddi, Agnolo

2005-03-26T21:28:00.000-08:00

In 1369 he was employed in Rome as an assistant to his brother Giovanni, a minor painter, in the execution of frescoes for

Kenya, Drainage

2005-03-25T17:59:00.000-08:00

The major features of the drainage pattern of Kenya were created by the ancient crustal deformation of a great oval dome that arose in the west-central part of the country and created the Central Rift. This dome produced a primeval watershed from which rivers once drained eastward to the Indian Ocean and westward to the Congo system and the Atlantic Ocean. Still

Hughes, Sir Samuel

2005-03-24T03:20:00.000-08:00

Hughes was a teacher and a member of the voluntary militia. In 1885–97 he was proprietor and editor of the Warder, a newspaper in Lindsay.

Antarctica, Structural framework

2005-03-23T18:10:00.000-08:00

Most of the Antarctic geologic record lies hidden beneath the vast regions of snow and ice that make up more than 95 percent of the continent's surface terrain. No one knows what important segments of the record lie concealed in buried ranges such as the Gamburtsev Mountains, the topography of which has been mapped only by seismic reflections through the great East

Gabon, Transportation

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

The difficulty of building and maintaining all-weather roads led to an expansion of air transport

Puerto Rico, Flag Of

2005-03-21T05:06:00.000-08:00

In the late 19th century, as pro-independence sentiment grew in the Caribbean islands under Spanish dominion, many activists in Cuba and Puerto Rico were exiled to the United States or elsewhere. In New York City a flag was chosen in exile by the Puerto Rican section of the Cuban Revolutionary Party on December 22, 1895. The design was simply the Cuban flag with a reversal of the

Florida, Flag Of

2005-03-20T22:45:00.000-08:00

The first flag of Florida was hoisted on June 25, 1845, at the inauguration of its first governor, William D. Moseley. It had five horizontal stripes (blue, orange, red, white, and green) and a ribbon with the inscription “Let us alone.” The U.S. flag served as a canton. The states' rights and antifederalist symbolism in the design is clear, but the associations of the colours are unknown;

Harcourt, Sir William

2005-03-20T11:06:00.000-08:00

A lawyer from 1854, Harcourt briefly taught international law at the University of Cambridge. Entering the House of Commons in 1868, Harcourt served Prime

Cambridgeshire

2005-03-19T08:35:00.000-08:00

Administrative, geographic, and historic county of eastern England. The administrative county covers a much larger area than the ancient shire, or historic county. Formed in 1974, the administrative county incorporates almost all of the historic county of Cambridgeshire and most of the historic county of Huntingdonshire (which is nearly coterminous with the district

Nature Worship, Mountains

2005-03-18T17:44:00.000-08:00

Especially prominent mountains are favourite places for cults of high places, particularly when they are isolated as island mountains, mountains with snowcaps, or uninhabited high mountain ranges. The psychological roots of the cults of high places lie in the belief that mountains are close to the sky (as heavenly ladders), that clouds surrounding the mountaintops

Armenia

2005-03-18T07:15:00.000-08:00

In full Republic of Armenia, Armenian Hayastan, or Hayastani Hanrapetut'yun, country of Transcaucasia, lying just south of the great mountain range of the Caucasus and fronting the northwestern extremity of Asia. It covers an area of 11,500 square miles (29,800 square kilometres). To the north and east Armenia is bounded by Georgia and Azerbaijan, while its neighbours to the southeast and west are, respectively, Iran and Turkey. Naxçivan, an exclave of Azerbaijan,

Italian Socialist Party

2005-03-16T08:02:00.000-08:00

The original basis of the party lay among trade unions, socialist circles, and cooperative

Salalah

2005-03-16T05:43:00.000-08:00

Town, southern Oman, on the coast of the Arabian Sea. The town is located in the only part of the Arabian Peninsula touched by the Indian Ocean monsoon and thus is verdant during the summer. Salalah is the historic centre of Dhofar, famous in ancient times as a source of frankincense, and was described by Marco Polo in the 13th century as a prosperous city. Although it declined

Welles, Gideon

2005-03-15T13:46:00.000-08:00

Born into a wealthy family, Welles was educated at private schools. He studied law but in 1826 became cofounder and editor of the Hartford Times. The next year, he became the youngest member of the Connecticut legislature and served there until 1835. An ardent

Vladimir

2005-03-15T09:00:00.000-08:00

City and administrative centre of Vladimir oblast (province), western Russia, situated on the Klyazma River. Vladimir was founded in 1108 by Vladimir II Monomakh, grand prince of Kiev. The community became the centre of a princedom, deriving importance from trade along the Klyazma. In 1157 Prince Andrew Bogolyubsky moved his capital there from Kiev. The city was twice sacked

National Capital Parks

2005-03-13T14:19:00.000-08:00

Today there are more than 300 park units with a combined area of 10 square miles (26 square km). The overwhelming majority of units are located in Washington, D.C.;

Nagua

2005-03-13T09:58:00.000-08:00

Formerly Julia Molina, city, northern Dominican Republic, located just north of the mouth of the Nagua River, facing Escocesa Bay, on the Atlantic Ocean. Nagua is located on the main coastal road connecting the main cities of the region; the major functions of the town are administrative and agricultural, processing the goods of the surrounding agricultural plain—bananas, pineapples, peanuts

Guajará-mirim

2005-03-13T04:07:00.000-08:00

City, western Rondônia estado (“state”), western Brazil. It lies along the Mamoré River. Primarily a transportation centre, Guajará-Mirim handles traffic in rubber, lumber, babassu palm oil, and other forest products taken in the surrounding area. It has a small port for shallow-draft vessels and is the southern terminus of a railroad built in 1913 to carry products out of Bolivia

China, A land revolution

2005-03-12T01:56:00.000-08:00

One reason for Communist success was the social revolution in rural China. The CCP was now unrestrained by the multiclass alliance of the United Front period. In the middle of 1946, as civil war became more certain, the party leaders launched a land revolution. They saw land redistribution as an integral part of the larger struggle; by encouraging peasants to seize the

Primate, General structure

2005-03-11T07:01:00.000-08:00

The basis of the success of the order Primates is the relatively unspecialized nature of their structure and the highly specialized plasticity of their behaviour. This combination has permitted the primates throughout their evolutionary history to exploit the wide variety of novel ecological opportunities that have come their way. Although there are a few

Staines

2005-03-11T06:39:00.000-08:00

Town in Spelthorne borough, administrative county of Surrey, historic county of Middlesex, England, on the left bank of the River Thames. A residential community on the western fringe of Greater London, Staines marks a crossing of the Thames used since Roman times by the major road from London to the southwest of Britain. Nearby are large reservoirs where Thames water

Crusade, The institutions of the First Kingdom

2005-03-10T05:00:00.000-08:00

The four principalities established by the crusaders—three after the loss of Edessa in 1144—were loosely connected, and such limited suzerainty as the king of Jerusalem exercised over the others became largely nominal after the midcentury. Each of the states was organized into a pattern of feudal lordships by the ruling minority. The institutions of the Kingdom of

Chancroid

2005-03-09T08:58:00.000-08:00

Acute, localized, chiefly sexually transmitted disease, usually of the genital area, caused by the bacillus Haemophilus ducreyi. It is characterized by the appearance, 3–5 days after exposure, of a painful, shallow ulcer at the site of infection. Such an ulcer is termed a soft chancre, as opposed to a hard chancre, which is the characteristic lesion of the primary stage of

Kamanja

2005-03-08T20:48:00.000-08:00

Also called kemanche , or kamanche stringed instrument of the fiddle family prominent in Arab and Persian art music. It is a spike fiddle; i.e., its small, round or cylindrical body appears skewered by the neck, which forms a “foot” that the instrument rests on when played. Measuring about 30 inches (76 cm) from neck to foot, it has a membrane belly and, commonly, two to four strings tuned in fourths or fifths. The musician,

Ben Ali, Zine Al-abidine

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

Ben Ali was trained in France at the military academy of Saint-Cyr and at the artillery school at Châlons-sur-Marne. He also studied engineering in the United States. From 1964 to 1974 he was head of Tunisian military security, a post that took him into top government circles. In 1974 he began

Dagger

2005-03-07T21:12:00.000-08:00

Short stabbing knife, ostensibly the diminutive of the sword, though in ancient and medieval times the distinction between a long dagger and a short sword was often obscure. From approximately 1300 the European dagger was consistently differentiated from the sword; in the 16th century a school of fencing developed in which a specially designed dagger with a large guard

Isma'il, Ahmad

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

Isma'il graduated from the Cairo Military Academy in 1938, saw service with the Allies in the Western Desert during World War

Likoma Island

2005-03-05T22:03:00.000-08:00

Island in Lake Nyasa, Malawi, just northwest of Cóbuè, Mozambique. Located near the lake's eastern shore, the rocky and barren island has an area of 7 square miles (18 square km). There is some fishing and limited cultivation of grain; cassava and corn (maize) are imported. The Universities' Mission to Central Africa (Church of England) established a station there in 1885 as a base for

Zaghwan

2005-03-05T02:59:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Zaghouan, town, northeastern Tunisia. It lies on the fertile, northern slope of Mount Zaghwan at an elevation of 4,247 feet (1,295 m). It is built on the ancient Roman site of Zigus. Parts of a Roman aqueduct and canal network built in the 2nd century BC under the emperor Hadrian are still used to bring water from Zaghwan to Tunis. The importance of Zaghwan water is reflected in the location there of a Roman

Spokane River

2005-03-03T21:12:00.000-08:00

River rising in Coeur d'Alene Lake, Kootenai county, northern Idaho, U.S., and flowing west across the Washington border through Spokane for about 50 miles (80 km) to the Columbia River. The Spokane is 100 miles (160 km) long and has several dams, including Long Lake Dam (1915).

Ballangrud, Ivar

2005-03-03T00:35:00.000-08:00

Ballangrud's Olympic debut came at the 1928 Games in Saint Moritz, Switzerland, where he took home the gold medal

Qift

2005-03-02T20:11:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Kuft, Greek Coptos, or Koptos, agricultural town, Qina muhafazah (governorate), Upper Egypt. It is situated at the large bend of the Nile below Luxor (al-Uqsur) and lies along the east bank of the river. Known to the ancient Egyptians as Qebtu, the town was of early dynastic foundation. It was important for nearby gold and quartzite mines in the Eastern Desert, worked during the 1st and 2nd dynasties, and as a starting

Olympic Games, Los Angeles, California, U.S., 1932

2005-03-02T09:39:00.000-08:00

Only about 1,300 athletes, representing 37 countries, competed in the 1932 Games. The poor participation was the result of the worldwide economic depression and the expense of traveling to California. The Los Angeles Games featured the first Olympic Village. The village was located in Baldwin Hills, a suburb of Los Angeles, and covered 321 acres (130 hectares). The male athletes were housed

Palau

2005-03-01T05:16:00.000-08:00

Officially Republic of Palau , Palauan Belu'u era Belau , Palau also spelled Pelew country in the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of some 340 coral and volcanic islands perched on the Kyushu-Palau Ridge. The Palau archipelago lies in the southwest corner of Micronesia, with the Philippines 550 miles (885 km) to the west, New Guinea 400 miles (644 km) to the south, and Guam 830 miles (1,336 km) to the northeast. It reaches from latitude 2°55¢ to 8°12¢ N and from longitude 131°05¢ to 134°44¢ E. A huge barrier reef

Kiribati, Flag Of

2005-03-01T00:13:00.000-08:00

The British acquired extensive colonies and protectorates in the Pacific Ocean during the 19th century, including the Gilbert Islands, with their Micronesian population, and the nearby Ellice Islands, which were dominated by Polynesians. In anticipation of independence from Britain, a referendum was held and the two territories were separated in 1976. The former Gilbert

Ker

2005-02-28T18:50:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Cer, in ancient Greek religion, a destructive spirit. Popular belief attributed death and illness to the action of impersonal powers, often spoken of in the plural (Keres). The word was also used of an individual's doom, with a meaning resembling the notion of destiny. In the Attic festival of the Anthesteria, when the spirits of the dead were expelled from the house, they were

Ostwald, Wilhelm

2005-02-27T04:34:00.000-08:00

Ostwald took his doctorate from the University of Dorpat (now Tartu State

Kirin

2005-02-27T03:34:00.000-08:00

Chinese (Wade-Giles) Chi-lin, (Pinyin) Jilin, sheng (province) of the Northeast region of China (formerly called Manchuria). It borders Russia to the east, North Korea to the southeast, the Chinese provinces of Liaoning to the south and Heilungkiang to the north, and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to the west. It has an area of about 72,200 square miles (187,000 square kilometres). The capital is Ch'ang-ch'un.

Gross-rosen

2005-02-25T15:15:00.000-08:00

Small Nazi concentration camp established in August 1940 near the German town of Striegau in Lower Silesia (now Strzegom, Poland) that sent many prisoners to a killing centre for the T4 Program. Under the orders of Heinrich Himmler, it received prisoners seized under the Night and Fog Decree. Gas chambers (eventually employing the virulent Zyklon-B) were established nearby

Germany

2005-02-25T15:01:00.000-08:00

On a visit to Bonn in early January, UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali appealed for Germany to find a way around its constitutional restrictions and play a full part in international security missions. German medical troops were already involved in a UN humanitarian mission in Cambodia, and the German air force was taking part in mercy flights to Sarajevo,

Ramazzini, Bernardino

2005-02-24T10:44:00.000-08:00

A professor of medicine at the University of Modena (1682–1700), and an early student of epidemiology, he described outbreaks of lathyrism (1690; chick-pea poisoning) and malaria (1690–95) in Italy. A strong proponent of the use of cinchona bark in the treatment of malaria,

Lode

2005-02-24T08:42:00.000-08:00

In mining, ore body disseminated within definite boundaries in unwanted rock. See vein.

Caboolture

2005-02-23T08:42:00.000-08:00

Town, southeastern Queensland, Australia, on the Caboolture River. The town was originally a livestock station. Its name was derived from cabul-tur, the Aboriginal word for the carpet snake. To relieve shortages brought about by the American Civil War in the 1860s, Caboolture became a cotton-farming centre. Today, citrus fruits, tobacco, and vegetables are grown, and dairy

Thomas, Gwyn

2005-02-22T13:31:00.000-08:00

Thomas was educated at Oxford and the University of Madrid and began writing seriously in the 1930s. His first novel, The Dark Philosophers (1946), built on the conversations of four unemployed Welsh miners, reminded critics

Fusion Reactor

2005-02-22T04:21:00.000-08:00

A fusion reaction occurs when two lighter atomic nuclei combine to form the nucleus of a heavier element. When the two nuclei fuse, a small amount of mass is converted into a large amount of energy. For a fusion reaction to occur, the two nuclei must be moving at high speed in

Igneous Rock, Classification of volcanic and hypabyssal rocks

2005-02-22T03:54:00.000-08:00

Owing to the aphanitic texture of volcanic and hypabyssal rocks, their modes cannot be readily determined; consequently, a chemical classification is widely accepted and employed by most petrologists. One popular scheme is based on the use of both chemical components and normative mineralogy. Because most lay people have little access to analytic facilities

Water Scavenger Beetle

2005-02-21T13:08:00.000-08:00

Any of the approximately 2,000 species of the predominately aquatic insect family Hydrophilidae (order Coleoptera). These beetles are found swimming in marshy freshwater ponds throughout the world, especially in warm regions. Water scavenger beetles have smooth, oval, dark-brown or black bodies and short, hairy, clubbed antennae. They range in length from several to

Powers, Francis Gary

2005-02-20T23:57:00.000-08:00

Powers was tried and convicted of espionage and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was released

Bahah, Al-

2005-02-20T06:19:00.000-08:00

Town, southwestern Saudi Arabia. The town is situated on a mountainous plateau at an elevation of 7,014 feet (2,138 m) and is surrounded by terraced hillsides, which are covered with juniper. It is known as the gateway to the 'Asir region, a prosperous agricultural area just north of Yemen. Al-Bahah lies on the main road from at-Ta'if to Jizan.

Aragua

2005-02-19T03:17:00.000-08:00

Estado (“state”), northern Venezuela. It is bounded north by the Caribbean Sea, east by the Distrito Federal and Miranda state, south by Guárico state, and west by Carabobo state. Aragua consists largely of two Andean ranges separated by an intermontane basin, in which lies Lake Valencia. Henri Pittier National Park (413 square miles), with its exceptionally rich and varied

'abd-us-samad, Khwaja

2005-02-18T16:55:00.000-08:00

'Abd-us-Samad was born into a family of good social standing in Iran, and he had already gained a reputation as a calligrapher

Neel, James Van Gundia

2005-02-18T03:56:00.000-08:00

American geneticist (b. March 22, 1915, Hamilton, Ohio—d. Feb. 1, 2000, Ann Arbor, Mich.), was a pioneer in the field of genetics; his studies provided evidence of the genetic basis of numerous diseases, including sickle-cell anemia. In the late 1940s, as acting director of field studies for the National Research Council's Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission, he led studies of the effects of radiation

'isa Ibn Musa

2005-02-17T08:12:00.000-08:00

The caliph as-Saffah nominated his brother al-Mansur and, after him, 'Isa, as heirs. On the accession of al-Mansur, 'Isa was governor of Kufah. The new caliph sent him to lead an army against an 'Alid revolt in Medina, apparently with the hope that he might be killed. In a series of battles,

Hindenburg Line

2005-02-16T16:10:00.000-08:00

Defensive barrier improvised by the German Army on the Western Front in World War I. Faced with substantial numerical inferiority and a dwindling firepower advantage, the new German commanders, Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg and Gen. Erich Ludendorff, shortened their lines of defense and installed concrete pillboxes armed with machine guns to strengthen

Yajuj And Majuj

2005-02-15T19:37:00.000-08:00

In Islamic eschatology, two hostile forces who will ravage the Earth before the end of the world. The Qur'an relates that a certain people terrorized by Yajuj and Majuj induced Alexander the Great to construct a great wall between them. Yajuj and Majuj, thus trapped between two mountains until the last days of the world, dig under the wall every night trying to escape, only to find

Carib

2005-02-15T11:18:00.000-08:00

American Indian people who inhabited the Lesser Antilles and parts of the neighbouring South American coast at the time of the Spanish conquest. Their name was given to the Caribbean Sea, and its Arawakan equivalent is the origin of the English word cannibal. Today the term Cariban is used to designate a linguistic group that includes not only the language of the

Bel Canto

2005-02-14T08:30:00.000-08:00

(Italian: “beautiful singing”), style of operatic singing that originated in Italian singing of polyphonic (multipart) music and Italian courtly solo singing during the late 16th century and that was developed in Italian opera in the 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries. Using a relatively small dynamic range, bel canto singing was based on an exact control of the intensity of

Deborah

2005-02-13T02:03:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Debbora, prophet and heroine in the Old Testament (Judg. 4 and 5), who inspired the Israelites to a mighty victory over their Canaanite oppressors (the people who lived in the Promised Land, later Palestine, that Moses spoke of before its conquest by the Israelites); the “Song of Deborah” (Judg. 5), putatively composed by her, is perhaps the oldest section of the Bible and is of great importance

Mountain, Volcanoes and island arcs surrounding the Northwest Pacific Basin

2005-02-12T13:43:00.000-08:00

A chain of volcanoes extends from mainland Alaska down the Alaska Peninsula along the Aleutian Islands and then southwestward down the peninsula of Kamchatka in northeastern Siberia and along the Kuril Islands to Japan. The Pacific Plate is being subducted beneath this long volcanic chain. Most of the relief is the result of volcanism. The Aleutians and Kurils

Furniture, Mirrors

2005-02-12T13:31:00.000-08:00

The use of mirror glass in furnishings arose during the 17th century. The discoloration of the melted glass because of silvering and, not least, the prohibitive cost and difficulty of manufacturing mirror glass of considerable size restricted the possibilities of large-scale application. The mirror gallery at Versailles was thus an outstanding technical achievement

Ruska, Ernst

2005-02-12T06:01:00.000-08:00

Ruska studied at the Technical University of Munich during 1925–27 and then enrolled at the Technical University in Berlin. Around this time he began

France, History Of, The Revolution of 1830

2005-02-11T05:14:00.000-08:00

The July Revolution was a monument to the ineptitude of Charles X and his advisers. At the outset, few of the king's critics imagined it possible to overthrow the regime; they hoped merely to get rid of Polignac. As for the king, he naively ignored the possibility of serious trouble. No steps were taken to reinforce the army garrison in Paris; no contingency plans were prepared.

Boise River

2005-02-10T11:49:00.000-08:00

Watercourse, southwestern Idaho, U.S., formed by the confluence of the Middle Fork and North Fork branches, southeast of Idaho City in Boise National Forest. It flows generally westward through Arrowrock and Lucky Peak reservoirs and through the city of Boise to join the Snake River at the Oregon line after a course of about 95 miles (150 km). Dams along the river include Lucky

Main River

2005-02-10T01:03:00.000-08:00

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

Guzmán Fernández, (silvestre) Antonio

2005-02-08T23:21:00.000-08:00

At the age of 15, Guzmán was working in his family's textile store. By age 17 he was already managing stores for the Curaçao Trading Company. He invested in land and started growing rice, soon expanding into other agricultural exports. Guzmán was

Plymouth Company

2005-02-08T21:24:00.000-08:00

The Plymouth Company was less successful than its twin, the London Company (q.v.). In 1606 it established two colonies, and in 1607 settlers landed at the mouth of the

Mansur, Al-

2005-02-07T19:37:00.000-08:00

Al-Mansur was born at al-Humaymah, the home of the 'Abbasid family after their emigration from the Hejaz in 687–688. His father, Muhammad, was a great-grandson of 'Abbas; his

Málaga

2005-02-06T03:55:00.000-08:00

Sweet, usually red, fortified wine that originated in the southern Spanish Mediterranean coastal province from which it takes its name. The term may also be applied generically to any of a variety of heavy, sweet red wines, including certain kosher wines served at Jewish celebrations. The best Spanish Málaga is made from muscat grapes and from the variety known as

Literature, German.

2005-02-05T09:40:00.000-08:00

In his 2001 novel Rot, Uwe Timm sought to come to terms with the experiences of the generation of so-called 68ers, people who went through the cultural and political turmoil of the 1960s and '70s in West Germany. The protagonist of Rot is Thomas Linde, a 68er who makes his living as a eulogist at burials, a profession that becomes

Vale Royal

2005-02-05T08:37:00.000-08:00

Borough, administrative and historic county of Cheshire, England. It is named for a great Cistercian abbey built by Edward I near the present village of Whitegate. The borough is centred on the Cheshire salt field in the middle of the county. Its two main towns, Winsford and Northwich, were both founded on salt production; Northwich was important for salt as early as

Buddhacarita

2005-02-04T11:34:00.000-08:00

In full Buddhacarita-kavya-sutra (Sanskrit: “Poetic Discourse on the Acts of the Buddha”), poetic narrative of the life of Buddha by the Sanskrit poet Asvaghosa, one of the finest examples of Buddhist literature. The author, who lived in northern India in the 1st–2nd century AD, created a loving account of the Buddha's life and teachings, one that—in contrast to other treatments such as the Mahavastu (“Great Story”) and

Carleton, Mount

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

Highest point (2,680 feet [817 m]) in the Maritime Provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island) of Canada, 70 miles (110 km) east of Edmundston, N.B., near Nictau and Nepisiguit lakes. Structurally it is a monadnock, or erosional remnant, rising above the 1,000-foot (305-metre) level of the surrounding highlands, which are an extension of the Appalachian region. The mountain, focus of a

Fès

2005-02-03T08:24:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Fez , Arabic Fas city, northern Morocco, on the Wadi Fès just above its influx into the Sebou River. The oldest of Morocco's four imperial cities, it was founded on the banks of the Wadi Fès by Idris I (east bank, about 789) and Idris II (west bank, about 809). The two parts were united by the Almoravids in the 11th century to become a major Islamic city. Fès reached its zenith as a centre of learning and commerce

Brecon Beacons National Park

2005-02-03T02:42:00.000-08:00

Welsh Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog national park in southern Wales, occupying 519 square miles (1,344 square km) of mountains, moors, forests, pastureland, lakes, and the broad Usk valley. The easternmost highlands in the park are the Black Mountains (old red sandstone) of Powys county, lying east of the River Usk between Abergavenny and Hay-on-Wye, with their highest point at Waun Fach, elevation 2,660 feet (811 metres). Centrally

Rings

2005-02-02T05:39:00.000-08:00

Also called still rings gymnastics apparatus consisting of two small circles that are suspended by straps from an overhead support and grasped by the gymnast while performing various exercises. They were invented in the early 19th century by the German Friedrich Jahn, known as the father of gymnastics. Competition on the rings requires the most strength of any gymnastics event, although

Feline Respiratory Disease

2005-02-01T19:39:00.000-08:00

A complex of viral contagions of cats (including rhinotracheitis, pneumonitis, and influenza), marked by fever, sneezing, and running eyes and nose. Rhinotracheitis and pneumonitis are the most common and have identical symptoms. Mortality is low, but recovery from severe cases may be difficult and prolonged, with relapses. A vaccine is available against pneumonitis.

'alenu

2005-02-01T16:39:00.000-08:00

(Hebrew: “it is our duty”), the opening word of an extremely old Jewish prayer, which has been recited at the end of the three periods of daily prayer since the European Middle Ages. The first section of the 'alenu is a prayer of thanks for having set Israel apart for the service of God; the second section, omitted by those who follow the Sephardic (Spanish) rite, expresses a hope

Wage And Salary

2005-01-31T23:18:00.000-08:00

Theories of wage determination and the share of labour in the gross national product have varied from time to time and have changed as the economic environment has changed. The body of thought referred to today as wage theories could not have emerged until the old feudal system had disappeared and the modern economy with its modern institutions had come into existence.

Mental Disorder, Minor affective disorders

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

Dysthmic disorder, or depressive

Nitrogen Cycle

2005-01-31T19:53:00.000-08:00

Circulation of nitrogen in various forms through nature. Nitrogen, a component of proteins and nucleic acids, is essential to life on Earth. Although 78 percent by volume of the atmosphere is nitrogen gas, this abundant reservoir exists in a form unusable by most organisms. Through a series of microbial transformations, however, nitrogen is made available to plants,

Italian Literature, Fiction at the turn of the 21st century

2005-01-31T11:37:00.000-08:00

The competitive world of media- and market-driven culture thrives on self-promotion, provocation, “discoveries,” and “revelations.” Publishers and their talent scouts are eager to add “new voices.” The Sardinian Salvatore Satta, for example, was a professor of law whose considerable literary production—his best-known novel is Il giorno del giudizio (1979; The Day of

Amaryllidaceae

2005-01-29T14:26:00.000-08:00

Family of perennial herbs in the flowering plant order Liliales, containing about 65 genera and at least 835 species, distributed primarily in tropical and subtropical areas of the world. Members of the family have bulbs or underground stems; several strap- or lance-shaped leaves grouped at the base of the stem or arranged alternately along the stem; flowers usually with

Grunion

2005-01-29T08:15:00.000-08:00

Also called California Grunion (species Leuresthes tenuis), small Pacific fish of the family Atherinidae (order Atheriniformes). The species is found in the Pacific Ocean along the western coast of the United States. A unique feature of the grunion's breeding biology results in its spawning on particular nights during the warm months when tides are highest. The eggs are actually laid in the sand

Leno, Dan

2005-01-29T05:42:00.000-08:00

Born into a family of traveling entertainers, Leno first appeared on stage at the age of four

Terhune, Mary Virginia Hawes

2005-01-28T01:45:00.000-08:00

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

Alliterative Prose

2005-01-27T18:20:00.000-08:00

Prose that uses alliteration and some of the techniques of alliterative verse. Notable examples are from Old English and Middle English, including works by the Anglo-Saxon writer Aelfric and the so-called Katherine Group of five Middle English devotional works.

Shifting Agriculture

2005-01-27T15:30:00.000-08:00

System of cultivation that preserves soil fertility by plot (field) rotation, as distinct from crop rotation. In shifting agriculture a plot of land is cleared and cultivated for a short period of time; then it is abandoned and allowed to revert to its natural vegetation while the cultivator moves on to another plot. The period of cultivation is usually terminated

Puglia

2005-01-27T06:01:00.000-08:00

Also called Apulia, regione, southeastern Italy. It extends from the Fortore River in the northwest to Cape Santa Maria di Leuca at the tip of the Salentine Peninsula (the “heel” of Italy) and comprises the provincie of Foggia, Bari, Taranto, Brindisi, and Lecce. The northern third of the region is centred on the Puglia Tableland, which is flanked on the north by the limestone massif of Gargano

Pitchblende

2005-01-26T17:04:00.000-08:00

Amorphous, black, pitchy form of the crystalline uranium oxide mineral uraninite (q.v.); it is one of the primary mineral ores of uranium, containing 50–80 percent of that element. Three chemical elements were first discovered in pitchblende: uranium by the German chemist Martin Klaproth in 1789, and polonium and radium by the French scientists Pierre and Marie Curie in 1898. Deposits,

Ilhéus

2005-01-26T14:47:00.000-08:00

City, southeastern Bahia estado (“state”), northeastern Brazil. It is situated just east of Itabuna near the mouth of the Cachoeira River on Ilhéus Bay, an inlet of the Atlantic. An old Portuguese colonial settlement that was originally named São Jorge dos Ilhéos (1532), it was given city status in 1881. Most of Brazil's cacao is grown in the locality, and Ilhéus is consequently one of

Polar Bear

2005-01-25T20:44:00.000-08:00

Also called White Bear, Water Bear, Sea Bear, or Ice Bear (Ursus maritimus, formerly Thalarctos maritimus), semiaquatic northern bear, family Ursidae, found throughout Arctic regions, generally on drifting oceanic ice floes. The polar bear is sought for its trophy value and (especially by Eskimo) for its hide, tendons, fat, and flesh; the liver, however, is inedible and often poisonous because of its high vitamin

Irene Ducas

2005-01-25T17:28:00.000-08:00

When Alexius became emperor in April 1081 he reportedly planned to repudiate Irene and wed Mary, who had been married to the former emperors Michael VII

Deere, John

2005-01-24T16:55:00.000-08:00

Apprenticed to a blacksmith at age 17, Deere set up his own smithy trade four years later and, for 12 years, did work in various towns of his native Vermont. In 1837, when 33 years old, he headed west and eventually settled in Grand Detour, Ill., where he set up a blacksmith's shop, and

Insurance, Professional liability insurance

2005-01-24T16:51:00.000-08:00

Known as malpractice, or errors-and-omissions, insurance, professional liability contracts are distinguished from general business liability policies because of the specialized nature of the liability. Professional persons requiring liability contracts include physicians and surgeons, lawyers, accountants, engineers, and insurance agents. Important

Drug, Antacids

2005-01-22T16:24:00.000-08:00

Excess acid may be neutralized in the stomach with antacid tablets. The main constituents of antacids are aluminum and magnesium hydroxides. There are three side effects of antacid therapy, which depend on the compound used. First, many have an action on the bowel: some have a mild laxative effect, and some are constipating. Second, if the positively charged compounds