LastBrick

Estate Agent London

2006-10-26T09:40:00.000-07:00

Robert Irving Burns specialise in London Commercial and Residential property services, including Estate Agent Covent Garden and Estate Agent London. Their centrally located ground floor offices, minutes from Oxford Circus offer an ideal marketing base for your property.

Interlocutory Decree

2005-03-18T03:31:00.000-08:00

Generally, a judicial decision that is not final or that deals with a point other than the principal subject matter of the controversy at hand. An interlocutory decree of divorce in the United States or a decree nisi in England, for example, is a judicial decree pronouncing the divorce of the parties provisionally but not terminating the marriage until the expiration

Dewar, Sir James

2005-03-16T16:01:00.000-08:00

Educated at the University of Edinburgh, Dewar became a professor at the University of Cambridge (1875) and at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, London

Hymenium

2005-03-15T21:26:00.000-08:00

A spore-bearing layer of tissue in fungi (division Mycota) found in the classes Ascomycetes and Basidiomycetes. It is formed by end cells of hyphae—the filaments of the vegetative body (thallus).

Asceticism

2005-03-12T04:51:00.000-08:00

In all strictly ascetic movements, celibacy (q.v.) has been regarded as the first commandment. Virgins and celibates emerged among the earliest Christian communities and came to occupy a prominent status. Among the earliest Mesopotamian Christian communities, only the celibates were accepted as full members of the church, and in some religions only celibates have

Scabious

2005-03-11T00:52:00.000-08:00

Also called Scabiosa (genus Scabiosa), any of about 100 species of annual and perennial herbs of the teasel family, Dipsacaceae, order Dipsacales. They are native to temperate Eurasia, the Mediterranean region, and the mountains of eastern Africa. Some are important garden plants. All species have basal leaf rosettes and leafy stems. The flower heads have many crowded, small,

Bacab

2005-03-09T09:35:00.000-08:00

In Mayan mythology, any of four gods, thought to be brothers, who, with upraised arms, supported the multilayered sky from their assigned positions at the four cardinal points of the compass. (The Bacabs may also have been four manifestations of a single deity.) The four brothers were probably the offspring of Itzamná, the supreme deity, and Ixchel, the goddess of weaving,

Jeté

2005-03-07T18:35:00.000-08:00

(French jeté: “thrown”), ballet leap in which the weight of the dancer is transferred from one foot to the other. The dancer “throws” one leg to the front, side, or back and holds the other leg in any desired position upon landing. Among the commonly seen forms of this step are the jeté battu, in which the legs are crossed in the air before the descent; the grand jeté, a broad,

Faranah

2005-03-04T02:58:00.000-08:00

Town, central Guinea, western Africa. The town is located on the Niger River and was founded in the 1890s as a French outpost in the campaign against Samory Touré, the Malinke warrior-leader. It is connected by road with Dabola and Kissidougou and is a trading centre for rice, cattle, and palm oil and kernels. It has a hospital and a Roman Catholic mission (1948). The surrounding region

Akrotiri

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

British military enclave in south-central Cyprus that was retained as a “sovereign base area” by the United Kingdom under the London Agreement of 1959 granting the independence of Cyprus. Located southwest of Limassol, the enclave comprises Akrotiri Peninsula, the southernmost part of the island, and a small coastal area north of Episkopi Bay. The enclave has a hospital,

Metalation

2005-03-01T01:44:00.000-08:00

Any chemical process by which a metal atom is introduced into an organic molecule to form an organometallic compound, but more commonly the process involving a hydrogen–metal exchange. An example is the metalation of benzene (C6H6) by reaction with ethylsodium (C2H5Na), forming phenylsodium (C6H5Na) and ethane (C2H6). Metalation by means of hydrogen–metal exchange is a very powerful

Mahalapye

2005-02-27T02:49:00.000-08:00

Village, eastern Botswana. It lies midway along the Mafikeng-Bulawayo railway and is 125 miles (200 km) northeast of Gaborone, the national capital. The name Mahalapye refers to an impala. The village is situated on a plateau with good pasturage, and its economy is based on cattle raising and extensive mixed farming of sorghum, corn (maize), and beans. Mahalapye has one of the country's

Integration

2005-02-25T23:40:00.000-08:00

With a and b called the limits of integration, is

B-17

2005-02-23T16:51:00.000-08:00

Also called Flying Fortress, U.S. heavy bomber used during World War II. The B-17 was designed by the Boeing Aircraft Company to specifications written in 1934. A prototype flew in 1935, and the craft was in small-scale production in 1937. The seventh substantial variation of the original design, the B-17G, was equipped with superchargers to allow it to cruise at 35,000 feet (10,670 m) at a maximum speed of 287 miles per hour (462 km/h). It was called

Amb

2005-02-21T16:29:00.000-08:00

Small frontier state, central North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan. It became part of Pakistan in 1947 and lies on the west bank of the Indus River, 15 miles (24 km) north of the Tarbela Dam and northwest of Abbottabad. Apart from Amb, the main township, the state now consists of only three villages. The residence of the ruler (nawab), formerly at Amb, is now at Darband. The state is mainly

Jordan, Transportation

2005-02-19T21:09:00.000-08:00

Jordan has a main, secondary, and rural road network, most of which is hard-surfaced. This roadway system, maintained by the Ministry of Public Works and Housing, not only links the major cities and towns but also connects the kingdom with neighbouring countries. One of the main traffic arteries is the Amman–Jarash–Ar-Ramtha highway, which links Jordan with Syria. The route

Yukon River

2005-02-16T20:57:00.000-08:00

Major North American river that flows through the central Yukon Territory of Canada and central Alaska. It measures 1,980 miles (3,190 kilometres) from the headwaters of the McNeil River (a tributary of the Nisutlin River). The Yukon discharges into the Bering Sea after flowing northwestward and then generally southwestward through a low plateau that slopes down across Alaska.

Aesthetic Distance

2005-02-15T11:29:00.000-08:00

The frame of reference that an artist creates by the use of technical devices in and around the work of art to differentiate it psychologically from reality. German playwright Bertolt Brecht built his dramatic theory known in English as the alienation effect to accomplish aesthetic distance.

Hong Gai

2005-02-12T06:50:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Hon Gai, port city, northeastern Vietnam. Hong Gai lies along Ha Long Bay of the Gulf of Tonkin, about 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Haiphong. It is an export centre for coal mined at nearby Quang Yen, the site of anthracite deposits that are the largest in Southeast Asia. Other economic activities in the area are rice farming and fishing. Ha Long Bay is noted for its many strangely shaped

Maarib

2005-02-10T04:35:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Maariv, plural Maaribim, or Maarivim, Hebrew Ma'ariv (“who brings on twilight”), Jewish evening prayers recited after sunset; the name derives from one of the opening words of the first prayer. Maarib consists essentially of the Shema, with its accompanying benedictions, and the amidah. The Shema expresses the central theme of Jewish worship: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord” (Deuteronomy 6:4), while the amidah is composed

Pei-p'iao

2005-02-08T16:51:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Beipiao, mining town, western Liaoning Province, China. Located northwest of the Ta-ling Stream and east of the Ta-ch'ing Mountains, it is the site of a coal combine. The vertical shafts, which extend nearly 3,280 feet (1,000 m), are among the deepest mines in China. They produce coking coal from a southwestern extension of the Fu-hsin basin. Pop. (mid-1970s est.) 100,000–300,000.

Saye And Sele, William Fiennes, 1st Viscount, 8th Lord Saye And Sele

2005-02-07T17:12:00.000-08:00

The only son of Richard Fiennes, 7th Lord Saye and Sele, he was educated at New College, Oxford, and succeeded to his father's lordship (barony) in 1613. He opposed

Auricle

2005-02-04T20:46:00.000-08:00

Also called Pinna, in human anatomy, the visible portion of the external ear, and the point of difference between the human ear and that of other mammals. The auricle in humans is almost rudimentary and generally immobile and lies close to the side of the head. It is composed of a thin plate of yellow fibrocartilage covered by a tight-fitting skin. The external ear cartilage is molded into

Aerospace Medicine

2005-02-03T22:06:00.000-08:00

The ultimate aim of this specialty is to promote the safety and effectiveness of humans while they are exposed to the stresses of aerospace flight, such as extreme temperatures,

Middle America Trench

2005-02-01T11:20:00.000-08:00

Submarine depression in the Pacific Ocean off the western coast of Central America. Extending northwest-southeast for more than 1,700 miles (2,750 km) from central Mexico to Costa Rica, the trench reaches a maximum depth of 21,880 feet (6,669 m) and covers a total area of 37,000 square miles (96,000 square km). The shallower northern section of the trench tends to curve along the coast of Mexico, paralleling

M.b.e.

2005-01-29T11:01:00.000-08:00

Member of the British Empire, member of a British order of knighthood, though this rank does not confer knighthood. See British Empire, The Most Excellent Order of the.

Alerce

2005-01-28T08:17:00.000-08:00

Also called Patagonian Cypress (species Fitzroya cupressoides), coniferous tree that is the only species of the genus Fitzroya, of the cypress family (Cupressaceae), native to southern Chile and southern Argentina. In the wild it grows to become one of the oldest and largest trees in the world. The alerce is thought to be a southern relative of the giant sequoia of North America. The oldest known alerce

Osler-rendu-weber Disease

2005-01-25T03:43:00.000-08:00

Also called Rendu-osler-weber Disease, or Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia, a hereditary disorder causing bleeding from local capillary lesions. The disorder is classed as a type of purpura. In the disease, capillaries (minute blood vessels) in the fingertips and around the oral and nasal cavities are enlarged and have unusually thin walls; they fill with bright red (well-oxygenated) blood and are easily broken by accidental bumping or jarring,

Literature, Spain.

2005-01-23T06:24:00.000-08:00

Juan Marsé won the National Prize for Narrative with Rabos de lagartija (2000), another

Amber

2005-01-22T16:56:00.000-08:00

Amber occurs as irregular nodules, rods, or droplike shapes

Mercantilism

2005-01-19T21:25:00.000-08:00

Economic theory and practice common in Europe from the 16th to the 18th century that promoted governmental regulation of a nation's economy for the purpose of augmenting state power at the expense of rival national powers. It was the economic counterpart of political absolutism. Its 17th-century publicists—most notably Thomas Mun in England, Jean-Baptiste Colbert in

Resende, Garcia De

2005-01-17T19:26:00.000-08:00

Resende began to serve John II as a page at the age of 10, becoming his private secretary in 1491. He continued to enjoy royal favour under King Manuel and later under John III. In 1498 he accompanied Manuel to Castile and in 1514 went to Rome with the admiral Tristã

Dumbarton Oaks Conference

2005-01-15T23:04:00.000-08:00

This conference constituted the first important step taken to carry out paragraph 4 of the Moscow

Andrew Of Carniola

2005-01-13T08:57:00.000-08:00

From the scant data available on Andrew's life, it appears that he was

Palomino De Castro Y Velasco

2005-01-11T08:08:00.000-08:00

After study at the University of Córdoba, Palomino was a student of the painter Valdes Leal and later Alfaro. In 1688 Palomino was appointed court painter and continued to concentrate on easel work until 1699. Thereafter he assisted Luca Giordano in the fresco

Bahuti, Al-

2005-01-09T23:14:00.000-08:00

Little is known about al-Bahuti except that he spent nearly all of his life teaching and practicing Hanbali law. His legal writings, although not original, are noted for their clarity and are still used in Egypt.

Tibet, Early history to the 9th century

2005-01-08T16:20:00.000-08:00

Credible history begins late in the 6th century, when three discontented vassals of one of the princes among whom Tibet was then divided conspired to support the neighbouring lord of Yar-lung, whose title was Spu-rgyal btsan-po. Btsan-po (“mighty”) became the designation of all kings of Tibet (rgyal means “king”; and spu, the meaning of which is uncertain, may refer to a sacral

Biblical Literature, The Georgian version

2005-01-05T11:02:00.000-08:00

According to Armenian tradition, the Georgian version was also the work of Mesrob, but the Psalter, the oldest part of the Georgian Old Testament, is probably not earlier than the 5th century. Some manuscripts were based upon Greek versions, others upon the Armenian.

Epistemology, Cause and effect

2005-01-04T18:26:00.000-08:00

Although people gain much information from their impressions, most matters of fact depend upon reasoning about causes and effects, even though people do not directly experience causal relations. What, then, are causal relations? According to Hume they have three components: contiguity of time and place, temporal priority of the cause, and constant conjunction.

Zanthoxylum

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

The prickly ash genus of the rue family (Rutaceae), comprising about 200 species of aromatic trees and shrubs native to the middle latitudes of North America, South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. There are both deciduous and evergreen species. They have small, greenish flowers and fruits that consist of groups of two-valved capsules, each containing a single shiny

Trademark

2004-12-30T08:12:00.000-08:00

Any visible sign or device used by a business enterprise to identify its goods and distinguish them from those made or carried by others. Trademarks may be words or groups of words, letters, numerals, devices, names, the shape or other presentation of products or their packages, colour combinations with signs, combinations of colours, and combinations of any of the

Gailhard, John

2004-12-28T02:14:00.000-08:00

In his

Processionary Caterpillar

2004-12-26T04:21:00.000-08:00

Larval stage characteristic of the small insect family Thaumetopoeidae (order Lepidoptera), sometimes classified as part of the prominent moth family (Notodontidae). These hairy caterpillars live in communal webs and march in columns to their food source. During the movement each larva lays down a silken thread. The large adults have

Coincidence Counting

2004-12-25T16:07:00.000-08:00

In physics, the detection of two nuclear or cosmic ray events that occur almost simultaneously (e.g., within a time of 10-5 second). Coincidence counting involves two or more particle counters exposed to the same source of cosmic rays or nuclear radiation and connected to an electronic coincidence circuit. One principal use of the coincidence technique is to detect particles

Pigalle, Jean-baptiste

2004-12-20T03:31:00.000-08:00

Born into a family of master carpenters, Pigalle began training as a sculptor at age 18 with Robert Le Lorrain and then studied with Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne. After failing to win the Prix de Rome in 1735, he studied independently in Rome at his own expense from 1736 to 1739. While there Pigalle

Ramie

2004-12-18T13:50:00.000-08:00

The ramie plant has been cultivated

Denon, Dominique Vivant, Baron

2004-12-16T05:12:00.000-08:00

Denon studied law in Paris but turned to the theatre, writing a successful comedy at age 23. He drew and painted and was commissioned by Louis XV to arrange a cabinet of carved gems. Between 1772 and 1787 he carried

Turf

2004-12-15T15:41:00.000-08:00

In horticulture, the surface layer of soil with its matted, dense vegetation, usually grasses grown for ornamental or recreational use. Such turf grasses include Kentucky bluegrass, creeping bent grass, fine or red fescue, and perennial ryegrass among the popular cool-season types and Bermuda grass, zoysia grass, and St. Augustine grass among the warm-season

Epistemology, Kinds of perceptions

2004-12-13T16:54:00.000-08:00

Hume has a twofold division of perceptions: impressions and ideas. Impressions are perceptions that enter with “most force and violence.” Ideas are “faint images” of impressions. Hume thinks the distinction so obvious that he demurs from explaining it at any length. Impressions are felt; ideas are thought, he indicates in his summary explication. He also concedes that,

Adding Machine

2004-12-10T22:56:00.000-08:00

A type of calculator (q.v.) used for performing simple arithmetical operations.

Calcutta, University Of

2004-12-09T06:23:00.000-08:00

State-controlled institution of higher learning founded by the British in India in 1857. Modeled on the University of London, Calcutta was originally a purely affiliating university that offered no actual instruction but was the examining and degree-granting authority for colleges scattered over most of northern India. Since 1904 it has gradually added teaching to

Ibn An-nafis

2004-12-07T05:20:00.000-08:00

In full 'Ala' ad-Din Abu al-'Ala' 'Ali ibn Abi al-Haram al-Qurayshi ad-Dimashqi ibn an-Nafis Arab physician who first described the pulmonary circulation of the blood. In finding that the wall between the right and left ventricles of the heart is solid and without pores, he disputed Galen's view that the blood passes directly from the right to the left side of the heart. Ibn an-Nafis correctly stated that the blood must pass from the right ventricle to the left

Osaka

2004-12-04T17:22:00.000-08:00

Osaka lies along Osaka Bay at the eastern end of the Inland Sea, on the delta of the Yodo River. Its metropolitan

Greek Religion, The Classical period

2004-12-02T05:37:00.000-08:00

The Sophists, with their relentless probing of accepted values, continued the process. Little is known of the general

Tsushima, Battle Of

2004-12-01T18:39:00.000-08:00

The Japanese had been unable to secure the complete command of the sea because the Russian naval squadrons at Port Arthur and Vladivostok made sorties and both sides suffered losses in the ensuing engagements. Meanwhile, the Russian government decided

O'grady, Standish James

2004-11-29T18:33:00.000-08:00

O'Grady graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, in 1868. Introduced to the ancient heroic and romantic literature

Fuchu

2004-11-27T04:57:00.000-08:00

City, Tokyo Metropolis (to), Honshu, Japan, on the Tama-gawa (Tama River). The capital of Musashi Province about the 7th century AD, it flourished as a post town and regional commercial and administrative centre. Fuchu declined when it was bypassed by the railway between Tokyo and Tachikawa (1889), but it revived with the arrival of two other railways in the late 1920s and the construction

Chauk

2004-11-24T00:54:00.000-08:00

Town and port, north-central Myanmar (Burma). Situated in the Irrawaddy River basin, it is a petroleum port for the Singu-Chauk oil fields. Traditionally, people of the Mon group gathered asphalt in the area to weatherproof houses. In 1902 the British discovered the Chauk-Lonywa oil field. Later, crude oil from Chauk was sent by a 350-mile (563-kilometre) pipeline to Syriam for refining.

David

2004-11-23T17:01:00.000-08:00

Marble sculpture executed from 1501 to 1504 by the Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo. The statue was commissioned for the cathedral of Florence, but the Florentine government decided instead to place it in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. The original is now in the Accademia, and a copy has been installed in the Piazza della Signoria.

Fucus

2004-11-20T06:23:00.000-08:00

Also called Rockweed, genus of brown algae, common on rocky seacoasts and in salt marshes of northern temperate regions. Adaptations to its environment include bladderlike floats (pneumatocysts), disk-shaped holdfasts for clinging to rocks, and mucilage-covered blades for resisting desiccation and temperature changes. The plant is between 25 and 30 centimetres (9.8 to 11.8 inches)

Amelung Glass

2004-11-19T03:36:00.000-08:00

American glass produced from 1784 to about 1795 by John Frederick Amelung, a native of Bremen in Germany. Financed by German and American promoters, Amelung founded the New Bremen Glassmanufactory near Frederick, Md., U.S., and attempted to establish a self-sufficient community, importing glassworkers and other craftsmen from Germany. The enterprise was encouraged by such

Husayn Shah 'ala' Ad-din

2004-11-17T18:46:00.000-08:00

The details of 'Ala' ad-Din's early life are obscured by myth and legend. His father is said to have been a direct descendant of the prophet Muhammad and an Arab who emigrated to Bengal. After completing his studies,

Mcpherson, James Alan

2004-11-15T03:28:00.000-08:00

McPherson was educated at Morgan State University, Baltimore, Md. (1963–64), Morris

Trainer

2004-11-13T18:48:00.000-08:00

In military aviation, an airplane that is designed and used to train pilots to operate advanced aircraft effectively. The complicated modern military airplane requires a high degree of skill on the part of pilots. Military training programs commonly make use of a single-engine aircraft for primary training phases, with twin-jet trainers for transition

Saigyo

2004-11-11T13:22:00.000-08:00

Also called Sato Norikiyo Japanese Buddhist priest-poet, one of the greatest masters of the tanka (a traditional Japanese poetic form), whose life and works became the subject matter of many narratives, plays, and puppet dramas. He originally followed his father in a military career, but, like others of his day, he was oppressed by the sense of disaster that overwhelmed Japan as

Insurance, Automobile insurance

2004-11-06T01:01:00.000-08:00

Nearly half of all property-liability insurance written in the United States is in the area of automobile insurance. Set up as a comprehensive contract in most parts of the world, automobile insurance covers liability, collision loss of the vehicle, all other types of loss (called comprehensive loss), and medical expenses incurred by the driver, passengers, and other

4-h Club

2004-11-04T05:49:00.000-08:00

One of an organization of clubs for youth aged 10 to 21 who engage in programs of “learning by doing.” The clubs are found principally in the United States and Canada, though some 80 other nations have adopted the idea. The 4-H Club emblem is the four-leaf clover with the letter H on each leaf; the club colours are green and white. The name 4-H is suggested in the pledge:I pledgeMy Head to

Azogues

2004-11-03T10:13:00.000-08:00

City, south-central Ecuador. It lies in a high Andean valley northeast of Cuenca. Its economy is based on agricultural trade, and grains and fruit are cultivated in the surrounding area. Important local industries include flour milling, Panama hat making, and leather tanning. The city takes its name from the Spanish azogue, meaning “mercury,” which is a local resource.

Novohrad-volynskyy

2004-10-31T04:18:00.000-08:00

Russian Novograd-volynsky, also spelled Novograd-volynskij, city, Zhytomyr oblast (province), western Ukraine. It lies at the confluence of the Sluch and Smilka rivers. Documents first record the existence of the town in 1257. It was incorporated in 1795, before which it was known as Zvyagel. It contains the ruins of a 14th-century castle. Today the city has machine-building and woodworking industries. Pop. (1991 est.) 56,100.

Isidore Of Kiev

2004-10-30T10:40:00.000-07:00

Abbot of St. Demetrius

Ikire

2004-10-28T15:25:00.000-07:00

Town, Osun state, southwestern Nigeria. The town lies along the road from Ibadan to Ile-Ife. A collecting point for local cash crops (cocoa and palm oil and kernels), it also serves as a trade centre for yams, maize (corn), cassava, palm produce, cotton, and kola nuts. Cotton weaving is a traditional industry of its Yoruba inhabitants. Pop. (1991 est.) 111,500.

Mahallah Al-kubra, Al-

2004-10-26T19:09:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Mahalla El-kubra, city, in the central Nile River delta of Lower Egypt, eastern Al-Gharbiyah muhafazah (governorate). It lies just west of the Damietta Branch of the Nile. Because the names of a large number of Egyptian places were compounded with mahallah (Arabic: “encampment”), exact references to the town by early Arab writers are uncertain. Al-Mahallah al-Kubra, however, was apparently an important

Sea Islands

2004-10-24T08:57:00.000-07:00

Low-lying chain of sandy islands off the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, U.S., between the mouths of the Santee and St. Johns rivers and along the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. The Spaniards claimed and partly occupied the islands in 1568. By the end of the 17th century, the English had made them part of the Carolina colony. In 1717 they were granted to Sir Robert

Insurance, Insurable interest

2004-10-23T17:58:00.000-07:00

Closely associated with the above legal principles is that of insurable interest. This requires that the insured be exposed to a personal loss if the peril insured against should occur. Otherwise it would be possible for a person to take out a fire insurance policy on the property of others and collect if the property burned. Any financial interest in property, or

Annelid, Regeneration

2004-10-21T06:25:00.000-07:00

It has been said that annelids are the most highly organized animals with the power of complete regeneration. The powers of regeneration are greater in the polychaetes and lower oligochaetes than in the higher oligochaetes; leeches lack the ability to regenerate. Most polychaetes and oligochaetes can regenerate a new tail. The ability to replace an amputated

Quaker Foods And Beverages

2004-10-19T18:23:00.000-07:00

The Quaker Oats trademark was registered in 1877 by Henry Parsons Crowell (1855–1944), an Ohio milling company owner who in 1891 joined with two other millers, Robert Stuart and

Palatal

2004-10-19T01:37:00.000-07:00

In phonetics, a consonant sound produced by raising the blade, or front, of the tongue toward or against the hard palate just behind the alveolar ridge (the gums). The German ch sound in ich and the French gn (pronounced ny) in agneau are palatal consonants. English has no purely palatal consonants, except for the y sound (a semivowel) in “you.” (The sh sound in “ship” and the zh sound

Bacchus Marsh

2004-10-17T14:11:00.000-07:00

Town in southern Victoria, Australia. It is located 32 miles (51 km) northwest of Melbourne (to which a growing proportion of its residents commute daily) on the east bank of the Werribee River. In 1838, Captain William Henry Bacchus founded the town, and it grew as a stopping place for Cobb and Company coaches traveling from Melbourne to the Ballarat goldfields. Bacchus Marsh is

Alba

2004-10-16T10:24:00.000-07:00

The kingdom formed by the union of the Picts and Scots under Kenneth I MacAlpin in 843. Their territory, ranging from modern Argyll and Bute to Caithness, across much of southern and central Scotland, was one of the few areas in the British Isles to withstand the invasions of the Vikings. The ancient link with Ireland (from which the Celtic Scots had emigrated) was broken

Saigo Takamori

2004-10-15T11:12:00.000-07:00

Original name Kichibe , or Kichinosuke , literary name Nanshu a leader in the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate who later rebelled against the weaknesses he saw in the Imperial government that he had helped to restore. Although his participation in the restoration made him a legendary hero, it also, to his mortification, relegated his samurai class to impotence.

Nagua

2004-10-14T22:35:00.000-07:00

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

Waterbuck

2004-10-14T14:15:00.000-07:00

Antelope species of the genus Kobus (q.v.).

Locomotion, Invertebrates

2004-10-12T19:01:00.000-07:00

As in the protozoans, aquatic locomotion in invertebrates (animals without backbones) consists of both swimming and bottom movements. In swimming, the propulsive force is derived entirely from the interaction between the organism and the water; in bottom movements, the bottom surface provides the interacting surface. Whereas some bottom movements are identical

Brace, Charles Loring

2004-10-12T09:25:00.000-07:00

The descendant of a Hartford family long prominent in religious and political life, Brace was educated at Yale University and at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Asked

Farman, Maurice

2004-10-10T23:18:00.000-07:00

A champion bicyclist, he also distinguished himself as an automobile racing driver. With his brother Henri, Maurice made the first circular flight of more than one kilometre in 1908, completing a 1.6-kilometre (one-mile) flight near Paris. The following year he built

Nathan, George Jean

2004-10-10T21:19:00.000-07:00

Nathan graduated from Cornell University in 1904 and joined the staff of the New York Herald. Beginning in 1906, he was at various times drama critic for numerous magazines and newspapers, but his name is particularly

Gymkhana

2004-10-09T22:31:00.000-07:00

Originally in 19th-century India and England, a display of athletics and equestrian events; in the 20th century, also a form of automobile sport in which a series of events is planned to test driving skill and demonstrate accurate car handling. Auto gymkhanas usually are held on parking lots on which a series of short but intricate courses are laid out. A typical event is

Computer Crime

2004-10-08T13:02:00.000-07:00

Since the first reported case of computer abuse in 1958, computers have been involved in most types of crimes, including theft, burglary, larceny, fraud, embezzlement,

Nahavand, Battle Of

2004-10-06T14:17:00.000-07:00

At Nahavand some 30,000 Arab troops, under the command of Nu'man, attacked a Sasanian army alleged to number 150,000 men. The Sasanian troops, commanded

Mitchell, Maggie

2004-10-06T08:10:00.000-07:00

Mitchell left school at age 12 to follow her older half-sisters onto the stage, where she filled a variety of child's walk-on and silent roles. She made her debut in a speaking role in June 1851 in a benefit performance

Cable

2004-10-04T00:41:00.000-07:00

In electrical and electronic systems, a conductor or group of conductors for transmitting electric power or telecommunication signals from one place to another. Electric communication cables transmit voice messages, computer data, and visual images via electrical signals to telephones, wired radios, computers, teleprinters, facsimile machines, and televisions.

Earth, Measurement of gravitational acceleration

2004-10-03T17:48:00.000-07:00

For the study of the shape of the geoid or of large-scale structures in the Earth, values of g are required with a precision of one milligal or better. This implies a measurement accurate to one part in 106 of g itself. For more local studies, as in the use of gravity measurements for geophysical petroleum and mineral prospecting and for the study of the tidal variation of g at

Museums, History Of, Specialized personal collections

2004-10-03T15:18:00.000-07:00

The developing interest in human as well as natural history in the 16th century led to the creation of specialized collections. In Italy alone more than 250 natural history collections are recorded in that century, including the fine herbarium of Luca Ghini at Padua and the more eclectic collection of Ulisse Aldrovandi at Bologna. Other notable natural history collections

Eurocommunism

2004-10-02T16:33:00.000-07:00

The term Eurocommunism was coined in the mid-1970s and received wide publicity after the publication

Biblical Literature, Meaning of the term gospel

2004-10-01T09:14:00.000-07:00

From the late AD 40s and until his martyrdom in the 60s, Paul wrote letters to the churches that he founded or guided. These are the earliest Christian writings that the church has, and in them he refers to “the gospel” (euangelion). In Romans, chapter 1, verse 1, he says: “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God . . .” and goes on to describe this “gospel

Actinomyxidian

2004-09-30T15:28:00.000-07:00

Also called Actinosporean, any parasitic microorganism of the class Actinomyxidia (Actinosporea), phylum Myxosporidia (Myxospora). It inhabits the alimentary canal of certain aquatic worms. The characteristic spores develop in the host's gut after the union of large and small gametes. The spores contain three polar filaments (possibly anchoring devices) enclosed in capsules and one to many

Permafrost, Structures on piles

2004-09-28T18:05:00.000-07:00

Piles are used to support many, if not most, structures built on ice-rich permafrost. In regions of cold winters, many pile foundations are in ground subject to seasonal freezing and, therefore, possibly subject to the damaging effect of frost heaving, which tends to displace the pile upward and thus to disturb the foundation of the structure. The displacement of piling

Permafrost, Permafrost thawing and frost heaving

2004-09-28T14:11:00.000-07:00

Because thawing of permafrost and frost action are involved in almost all engineering problems in polar areas, it is advisable to consider these phenomena generally. The delicate thermal equilibrium of permafrost is disrupted when the vegetation, snow cover, or active layer is compacted. The permafrost table is lowered, the active layer is thickened, and considerable

Moscoso, Mireya

2004-09-27T05:57:00.000-07:00

Moscoso was born to a poor family in a rural town. After graduating from high school, she worked as a secretary and in the early 1960s met Arnulfo Arias, a former president of Panama. She began working on his political campaigns, and on October 1, 1968, he was reelected. When he was deposed nine days later

Race, The enslavement of Africans

2004-09-25T18:24:00.000-07:00

Between 1660 and 1690, leaders of the Virginia colony began to establish practices that provided or sanctioned differential treatment for freed servants whose origins were in Europe. They conscripted poor whites, with whom they had never had interests in common, into the category of free men and made land, tools, animals, and other resources available to them. African Americans