Friday, December 31, 2004

Hadramawt

Also spelled �Hadhramaut� ancient South Arabian kingdom that occupied what are now southern and southeastern Yemen and the present-day Sultanate of Oman (Muscat and Oman). Hadramawt maintained its political independence until late in the 3rd century AD, when it was conquered by the kingdom of Saba'.

Thursday, December 30, 2004

East End

Traditional area of London, lying east of Shoreditch High Street, Houndsditch, Aldgate High Street, and Tower Bridge Approach. It extends eastward to the River Lea and lies mainly in the Inner London borough of Tower Hamlets, part of the historic county of Middlesex. In the Middle Ages the East End was part of the great parish of Stepney. It began to take on an identity

Wednesday, December 29, 2004

Steeple Cup

Tall standing cup, the cover of which characteristically bears an obelisk finial (sometimes surmounted by a figure) that rises on scrolled brackets from the cover. With an egg-shaped or globular bowl and cover, a short baluster stem, and a tall, trumpet-shaped foot, these cups seem to have emerged only in England and for a short period between about 1590 and the 1630s. They were usually

Tuesday, December 28, 2004

France, History Of, Gaul under the late Roman Empire (c. 250 - c. 400)

High Roman Gaul came to an end in an empirewide crisis characterized by foreign invasions and a rapid succession of rulers, as increased pressure on the empire's frontiers exacerbated its internal economic and political weaknesses. Priority was given to holding the Danube and the East; despite sporadic visits by emperors, the West was neglected. In 260 and 276 Gaul suffered

Monday, December 27, 2004

Trafalgar, Battle Of

At the end of September 1805, Villeneuve had

Sunday, December 26, 2004

Philippines, Relief and drainage

The irregular configuration of the archipelago, the coastline of more than 21,500 miles, the great extent of mountainous country, the narrow and interrupted coastal plains, the generally northward trend of the river systems, and the lakes are the outstanding physical features of the Philippines. The islands are composed of volcanic, coral, and all principal rock formations.

Saturday, December 25, 2004

Squash

With most of the world's top squash players participating at the Commonwealth Games, held on July 25 - August 4 in Manchester, Eng., the singles events became something of an unofficial world championships. The men's final saw another duel between the number one and number two players, Peter Nicol of England and Jonathon Power of Canada. Nicol had taken the title four years

Friday, December 24, 2004

Ecorse

City, Wayne county, Michigan, U.S. It lies along the Detroit River and is one of several contiguous southwest suburbs of Detroit known as downriver communities. Settled about 1815 on the site of an Indian camp and burial ground, it was called Grandport and developed in the early 20th century with the growth of the Ford Motor Company in nearby Dearborn. Its name was derived from

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

Zither

Any of several stringed musical instruments. The European zither consists of a flat, shallow sound box across which gut or metal strings are stretched. The strings nearest the player run above a fretted fingerboard against which they are stopped by the left hand to provide melody notes; they are plucked by a plectrum worn on the right thumb. At the same time, the right-hand

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

Baseball, Infielders

The infielders form the inner ring of defense. They sometimes catch line drives on the fly, but mainly they pick up ground balls that roll toward the outfield or shoot swiftly across the grass on one or more bounces. When a batted ball strikes the ground, the play becomes a race between the batter running to first and an infielder trying to gain control of the ball and

Monday, December 20, 2004

Techno

Influenced by Kraftwerk's Teutonic electro-pop and Alvin

Sunday, December 19, 2004

Bone Conduction

The conduction of sound through the bones of the skull. Two types of bone conduction are recognized. In compressional bone conduction, high-pitched sounds cause the segments of the skull to vibrate individually. The vibrations, by compressing the bony case of the inner ear, stimulate the sensory cells that are involved in perceiving sound waves in the air. In inertial

Saturday, December 18, 2004

Hadrumetum

Modern �Susah�, also spelled� Sousa, �or �Sousse� ancient Phoenician colony some 100 miles (160 km) south of Carthage, on the east coast of the Al-Hammamat Gulf in what is now Tunisia. Hadrumetum was one of the most important communities within the Carthaginian territory in northern Africa because of its location on the sea at the edge of the fertile Sahel region. In the Third Punic War (149 - 146 BC) Hadrumetum sided with Rome, and its citizens

Friday, December 17, 2004

Wynne (o Lasynys), Ellis

Clergyman and author whose Gweledigaetheu y Bardd Cwsc (1703; �Visions of the Sleeping Bard�) is generally considered the greatest Welsh prose classic. An adaptation of Sir Roger L'Estrange's translation of the Spanish satirist Quevedo's Sue�os (1627; �Visions�), savage pictures of contemporary evils, it followed its original

Thursday, December 16, 2004

I-yang

Pinyin �Yiyang, � city, northern Hunan sheng (province), China. The city is situated approximately 47 miles (75 km) northwest of Ch'ang-sha on the Tzu River, to the south of Lake Tung-t'ing, on the main highway from Ch'ang-sha to Ch'ang-te. An ancient county, it was established in the 2nd century BC. Its seat was originally sited northeast of the present city, but it moved in T'ang (618 - 907) times. From 589 it was a county subordinate

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

Deighton, Len

Deighton was educated at St. Martin's School of Art, London, and the Royal College of Art. He worked at a number of jobs after graduation, including pastry cook,

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

Talambo Affair

Following the attack at Talambo, the Spanish government sent an investigator, whom it called a viceroy (the title of the

Monday, December 13, 2004

Merchandising

Element of marketing that is concerned specifically with promoting the sale of goods and services to consumers. See marketing.

Sunday, December 12, 2004

Annelid, Regeneration

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

Saturday, December 11, 2004

Pachycephalosaurus

Genus of large and unusual dinosaurs found as fossils in deposits of North America dating to the Late Cretaceous Epoch (97.5 to 66.4 million years ago). Pachycephalosaurus,which grew to be about 5 m (16 feet) long, was a biped with strong hind limbs and much less developed forelimbs. The unusual and distinctive feature of Pachycephalosaurusis the high, domelike skull formed by a

Friday, December 10, 2004

Bonaire

Second largest island of the Netherlands Antilles, the westernmost group of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. It is 111 square miles (288 square km) in area and lies 50 miles (80 km) north of the Venezuelan coast and 20 miles east of Cura�ao. The northern part is hilly, with a peak, Mount Brandaris, 787 feet (240 m) high, while the southern part is flat with desert-like vegetation. The adjacent

Thursday, December 09, 2004

T�rgu-neamt

Also spelled �T�rgu-neamt, � town, Neamt judet (county), northeastern Romania, on the Neamt River. It has long been a local market centre and a major focus of culture in Moldavia. West of the town is Neamt Monastery, founded by Stephen (Stefan) the Great in 1497. On the north bank of the Neamt River stands the ruins of the Fortress of Neamt, founded in the late 14th century. To the west is Agapia Monastery, founded in 1585. Textiles

Wednesday, December 08, 2004

Houbraken, Arnold

Dutch painter and art writer noted for his three-volume biographical study of Netherlandish painters, De groote Schouburgh der Nederlantsche Konstschilders en Schilderessen (1718 - 21). Houbraken was a competent if rather uninspired academic painter, but his De Groote Schouburgh is the single most important source of information

Tuesday, December 07, 2004

Mcmahon, Sir William

He was educated at the University of Sydney, where he earned a degree in law. After practicing as a solicitor in Sydney he enlisted in the Australian Army in 1939 and rose to the rank of major. He served in the House of Representatives for Lowe (New South Wales)

Monday, December 06, 2004

Argentina, Attempts to restore constitutionalism, 1955 - 66

Lonardi recognized the strength of Peronism and sought a compromise, but he was displaced in November 1955 by General Pedro Eugenio Aramburu. The new administration was a military dictatorship that sought to restore constitutional government. Taking a fiercely anti-Peronist stance, it dissolved Per�n's old party and placed the labour unions under state administration.

Sunday, December 05, 2004

Epistemology, Skepticism

Many philosophers past and present and many nonphilosophers who are studying philosophy for the first time have been struck by the seemingly indecisive nature of philosophical argumentation. For every argument, there seems to be a counterargument; and for every position, a counterposition. To a considerable extent skepticism is born of such reflection. Some

Saturday, December 04, 2004

Maturidi, Abu Mansur Muhammad Al-

Except for the place and time of Maturidi's death, almost nothing is known about the details of Maturidi's life. He lived during a time when the Mu'tazilites, a Muslim sect, were using the techniques of Greek logical argument to attack what had

Friday, December 03, 2004

Florida Current

Swift surface oceanic current flowing northward, following the shallow continental slope between the Straits of Florida and Cape Hatteras. Emerging from the Caribbean Sea, carrying about 880,000,000 cubic feet (25,000,000 cubic m) of water per second, the Florida Current is joined by the Antilles Current, which transports approximately 420,000,000 cubic feet (approximately 11,893,000 cubic m) per second. Florida

Thursday, December 02, 2004

Scylla And Charybdis

In Greek mythology, two immortal and irresistible monsters who beset the narrow waters traversed by the hero Odysseus in his wanderings (later localized in the Strait of Messina). Scylla was a supernatural creature, with 12 feet and 6 heads on long, snaky necks, each head having a triple row of sharklike teeth, while her loins were girt with the heads of baying dogs. From her

Wednesday, December 01, 2004

Spallanzani, Lazzaro

Spallanzani was the son of a distinguished