WaitingCord

Earthworm

2005-04-04T23:23:00.000-07:00

Also called angleworm any one of more than 1,800 species of terrestrial worms of the class Oligochaeta (phylum Annelida)—in particular, members of the genus Lumbricus. Seventeen native species and 13 introduced species (from Europe) occur in the eastern United States, L. terrestris being the most common. Earthworms occur in virtually all soils of the world in which the moisture

Argentina, Finance

2005-04-03T13:26:00.000-07:00

Economic troubles in the 1970s and '80s caused the near

Biblical Literature, Susanna

2005-04-03T01:03:00.000-08:00

The second addition to Daniel, the story of Susanna, and the third one, Bel and the Dragon, are preserved in two Greek versions. In both stories the hero is the wise Daniel. Susanna was the pious and beautiful wife of Joakim, a wealthy Jew in Babylon. Two aged judges became inflamed with love for her. They tried to force her to yield to their lust, and, when she refused, they accused

Locarno, Pact Of

2005-04-02T13:52:00.000-08:00

The agreements consisted of (1) a treaty of mutual guarantee between Germany, Belgium, France, Great Britain, and Italy; (2) arbitration agreements between

Levitation

2005-04-01T16:26:00.000-08:00

Rising of a human body off the ground, in apparent defiance of the law of gravity. The term designates such alleged occurrences in the lives of saints and of spiritualist mediums, generally during a séance; levitation of furniture and other objects during a séance has also been reported. Levitation of witches and other figures of folklore is called transvection

Nepal, Climate

2005-04-01T14:07:00.000-08:00

Nepal's climate, influenced by elevation as well as by its location in a subtropical latitude, ranges from subtropical monsoon conditions in the Tarai, through a warm temperate climate between 4,000 and 7,000 feet in the mid-mountain region, to cool temperate conditions in the higher parts of mountains between 7,000 and 11,000 feet, to an Alpine climate at altitudes between 14,000 and 16,000 feet along

Abel, Sir Frederick Augustus

2005-03-31T22:03:00.000-08:00

English chemist and explosives specialist who, with the chemist Sir James Dewar, invented cordite (1889), later adopted as the standard explosive of the British army. Abel also made studies of dust explosions in coal mines, invented a device for testing the flash point of petroleum, and found a way to prevent guncotton from

São Francisco River, Physiography

2005-03-31T14:15:00.000-08:00

The São Francisco River rises at about 2,400 feet (730 metres) above sea level on the eastern slope of the Serra da Canastra in southwestern Minas Gerais state, about 150 miles northwest of the city of Belo Horizonte. The river flows for more than 1,000 miles northward across the states of Minas Gerais and Bahia, through the extensive Sobradinho Reservoir, to the twin cities of Juàzeiro

Pittsburgh Glass

2005-03-31T05:56:00.000-08:00

American glassware produced from the end of the 18th century at numerous factories in that Pennsylvania city. Pittsburgh had the twin advantages of proximity to a source of cheap fuel (coal) and access to a good waterways system, which afforded an inexpensive means of distribution; thus, of the 50 glasshouses that sprang up in Pennsylvania between 1763 and 1850, 40 or more were situated

Osage River

2005-03-28T18:06:00.000-08:00

River rising as the Marais des Cygnes (French: “Swan Marshes”) in the Flint Hills near Eskridge, Kan., U.S. It becomes the Osage (named for the Osage Indians) after its junction with the Little Osage near Rich Hill, Mo., and then flows east through the Ozark highlands to enter the Missouri River near Jefferson City. The river is 500 miles (800 km) long and drains 15,300 square miles (39,600 square km). Along

Ma'an

2005-03-28T15:50:00.000-08:00

Town, southern Jordan. It is a regional trade centre for the sparsely settled southern part of the country, which is inhabited mainly by the Huwaytat and other Bedouin tribes. Ma'an is the chief road and rail junction of southern Jordan. The town lies on the Hejaz-Jordan Railway, which runs north-south and connects to Damascus (Syria) in the north. The part of the rail line south

Aguán River

2005-03-28T09:43:00.000-08:00

Spanish Río Aguán, river in northern Honduras, 150 mi (240 km) in length. After rising in the central highlands west of Yoro, it descends to the northeast between the Cerros de Cangreja and the Sierra de la Esperanza to the coastal lowlands, on which it forms a maze of channels and empties into the Caribbean Sea near the towns of Santa Rosa de Aguán and Limón. The lands along the river, although periodically

Russell, Ken

2005-03-27T15:06:00.000-08:00

The son of a shoe-store owner, Russell became a cadet at the Nautical College at Pangbourne and subsequently joined the British Merchant Navy. After training as an electrician in the

Franceschini, Marcantonio

2005-03-26T02:46:00.000-08:00

Franceschini worked in Genoa, Modena, and Rome as well as in Bologna and worked extensively for patrons in Austria and Germany. He was made director of the Clementina Academy in Bologna in 1721. Franceschini was the last important representative of the

Lenard, Philipp

2005-03-26T01:33:00.000-08:00

After working as a lecturer and as an assistant to Heinrich

Melchior, Johann Peter

2005-03-25T17:13:00.000-08:00

Modeller in porcelain, best known of the artists associated with the great German porcelain factory at Höchst. As a child he showed an interest in drawing, painting, and sculpture, and a relative apprenticed him to a sculptor in Düsseldorf. He became sufficiently well known to be named Modellmeister at the

Maccready, Paul Beattie

2005-03-25T05:48:00.000-08:00

MacCready was a national champion model-plane builder in the 1930s and received his pilot's license at the age of 16. He graduated with a B.S. degree in physics from

Bohemond Iv

2005-03-24T06:49:00.000-08:00

The younger son of Bohemond III and Orguilleuse, he became count of Tripoli in 1187 and succeeded his father in the principality of Antioch to the exclusion of his nephew Raymond Ruben in 1201. In 1216 Raymond seized control while Bohemond was off in Tripoli, but he was deposed in 1219 and died the following year. Bohemond reigned in Antioch and

Sankt Wolfgang

2005-03-23T16:43:00.000-08:00

Also called Sankt Wolfgang Im Salzkammergut, town, Oberösterreich Bundesland (federal state), central Austria. It lies on the east shore of Wolfgang (Aber) Lake in the Salzkammergut lake region, west of Bad Ischl. A cog, or rack, railway ascends the Schafberg (5,850 feet [1,783 m]) from the town. The Late Gothic-style Pilgrimage Church (1430–77) has a magnificent carved wooden altar (1481) by the sculptor Michael Pacher. The town's Zum Weissen Rossl

Jansson, Tove

2005-03-22T22:20:00.000-08:00

Jansson was the

Annapurna

2005-03-22T07:38:00.000-08:00

Massif of the Himalayas in north-central Nepal, forming a ridge 30 miles (48 km) long between the basins of the Kali Gandak and Marsyandi rivers. It contains four main summits, two of which, Annapurna I (26,545 feet [8,091 m]) and II (26,040 feet [7,937 m]), stand at the western and eastern ends of the range, respectively; III (24,786 feet [7,555 m]) and IV (24,688 feet [7,525 m]) lie between them. Annapurna I is one of the world's highest peaks. Although

Turgenev, Nikolay Ivanovich

2005-03-21T07:50:00.000-08:00

Born into the middle class, Turgenev was one of a number of Russian youths infected by the liberal spirit that emerged in Europe after the French

Juan De Austria

2005-03-20T07:07:00.000-08:00

Removed from his mother, a burgher's daughter, at an early age, he was

Daventry

2005-03-19T13:16:00.000-08:00

Nothing is known of Daventry town before Domesday Book (1086), the record of the land survey ordered by William the Conqueror, although

Fibiger, Johannes

2005-03-18T16:57:00.000-08:00

A student of the bacteriologists Robert Koch and Emil von Behring in Berlin, Fibiger became professor of pathological

Türbe

2005-03-18T16:16:00.000-08:00

The tower form of the tomb may have been based on the cylindrical and conical forms of Seljuq tents. The earliest towers, varying in height up to 200 feet (60 m), were traditionally built on a circular ground plan, but square

Claudius, Matthias

2005-03-17T16:07:00.000-08:00

After studying at Jena, Claudius held a series of editorial and minor official positions until in 1788 he acquired a sinecure in the Schleswig-Holstein bank. He edited the Wandsbecker Bote (1771–75), popular not only

Hay, Oliver Perry

2005-03-16T21:10:00.000-08:00

While serving as professor of biology and geology at Butler University, Indianapolis, Ind. (1879–92), he helped organize the Indiana Academy of Science (1890) and embarked on

Augustine, Saint

2005-03-16T10:37:00.000-08:00

Also called Saint Augustine of Hippo, original Latin name Aurelius Augustinus feast day August 28, bishop of Hippo from 396 to 430, one of the Latin Fathers of the Church, one of the Doctors of the Church, and perhaps the most significant Christian thinker after St. Paul. Augustine's adaptation of classical thought to Christian teaching created a theological system of great

Claudius, Matthias

2005-03-15T11:55:00.000-08:00

Founded in 1868, the TUC held annual conferences of independent unions for the exposition of trade

Balata

2005-03-15T09:59:00.000-08:00

Also called Gutta Balata, hard rubberlike material made by drying the milky juice produced principally by the bully tree (species Manilkara bidentata) of Guyana and the West Indies. The tree is tapped by cutting zigzag gashes in the bark and collecting the latex in cups, to be coagulated in trays. Like gutta-percha, balata is inelastic, tough, leathery, and water-resistant, and it softens when

Rhyme

2005-03-14T21:25:00.000-08:00

Also spelled rime the correspondence of two or more words with similar-sounding final syllables placed so as to echo one another. Rhyme is used by poets and occasionally by prose writers to produce sounds appealing to the reader's senses and to unify and establish a poem's stanzaic form. End rhyme (i.e., rhyme used at the end of a line to echo the end of another line) is most common, but internal,

Balata

2005-03-13T10:56:00.000-08:00

Arrow-poison frogs are tiny, usually measuring only 1–5 cm (0.5–2 inches) long, but very conspicuous, coloured in combinations of black with bright red, yellow, pink, orange, green, and blue. They

Houlton

2005-03-13T07:12:00.000-08:00

Town, seat (1839) of Aroostook county, northeastern Maine, U.S. It lies along the Meduxnekeag River 120 miles (193 km) northeast of Bangor. Settled in 1805 and named for one of its founders, Joseph Houlton, it soon developed as a lumbering town and was incorporated in 1831. From 1828 to 1847 it was a military station (Hancock Barracks [partially restored] on Garrison Hill) that played an active role during the

Grünewald, Matthias

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

Original name Mathis Gothardt one of the greatest German painters of his age, whose works on religious themes achieve a visionary expressiveness through intense colour and agitated line. The wings of the altarpiece of the Antonite monastery at Isenheim, in southern Alsace (dated 1515), are considered to be his

War Communism

2005-03-11T20:20:00.000-08:00

In the history of the Soviet Union, economic policy applied by the Bolsheviks during the period of the Russian Civil War (1918–20). More exactly, the policy of War Communism lasted from June 1918 to March 1921. The policy's chief features were the expropriation of private business and the nationalization of industry throughout Soviet Russia, and the forced requisition of surplus grain

Ogpu

2005-03-10T23:35:00.000-08:00

Early security and political police of the Soviet Union and a forerunner of the KGB (q.v.).

Biblical Literature, The rise and fall of Saul

2005-03-10T17:51:00.000-08:00

The man selected to become the first monarchical ruler of Israel was Saul, son of Kish, a wealthy Benjamite landowner. Because Kish had lost some donkeys, Saul was sent in search of them. Unsuccessful in his search, he went to the seer-prophet Samuel at Ramah. In the early source, from which this narrative comes, he did not know Samuel's name. The day before Saul went to Ramah,

Gama, Vasco Da, 1er Conde (1st Count) Da Vidigueira

2005-03-09T01:31:00.000-08:00

Portuguese navigator whose voyages to India (1497–99, 1502–03, 1524) opened up the sea route from western Europe to the East by way of the Cape of Good Hope and thus ushered in a new era in world history. He also helped make Portugal a world power.

Guadet, Marguerite-élie

2005-03-08T23:43:00.000-08:00

At the time of the outbreak of the revolution (1789), Guadet was a leading lawyer in Bordeaux. In 1790 he became administrator of the Gironde département, and in 1791 he was made president of the département's criminal tribunal. Later that

Religion

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

During January and February 1995, an estimated 18 million Hindu pilgrims from around the world journeyed to Allahabad to bathe in the sacred Ganges River as part of the triennial Kumbh Mela, "Festival of the Pot." Allahabad is regarded as particularly holy because it lies

Grindelwald

2005-03-07T22:18:00.000-08:00

Alpine village and valley, Bern canton, south central Switzerland. The village is scattered on the slopes of the Lütschine Valley (Lütschental), part of the Grindelwald Valley in the Bernese Oberland (highland), southeast of Interlaken. The Grindelwald Valley is shut in on the south by the Wetterhorn, Mettenberg, and Eiger (peaks rising above 10,000 ft [3,050 m]), between which are two

Ammons, Gene

2005-03-07T01:50:00.000-08:00

The son of outstanding boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons, Gene Ammons grew up in Chicago and first became nationally known as a member of Billy Eckstine's innovative bebop big band during 1944–47; he also played in Woody Herman's

Beijing, The Ming and Qing dynasties

2005-03-07T00:58:00.000-08:00

In the mid-14th century Zhu Yuanzhang headed a peasant revolt that overthrew the Mongol dynasty and, as the Hongwu emperor, established the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). He moved the capital to Jinling in Jiangsu province and called it Nanjing; Dadu was renamed Beiping (“Northern Peace”) and was placed under his son's rule. On Zhu's death (1398) the throne passed to his grandson in Nanjing, but his

Frye, Northrop

2005-03-04T13:39:00.000-08:00

Frye was educated at the University of Toronto, Emmanuel College in Toronto, and Merton College, Oxford. He taught at Victoria College from 1939, became chairman of the English department there in 1952, and served as principal (1959–67) and chancellor (1978–91) of the college.

Switzerland, The growth of confederation

2005-03-03T09:29:00.000-08:00

The threatened communities of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden were populated by a large number of free peasants. Although the origin of their freedom is not exactly known, it can be attributed in part to their need to cooperate in order to maintain an agrarian economy in the severe environmental conditions of the Alpine valleys. Problems relating to the use of pasturelands,

Leo

2005-03-03T05:33:00.000-08:00

(Latin: Lion), in astronomy, zodiacal constellation lying between Cancer and Virgo, at about 10 hours 30 minutes right ascension (the coordinate of the celestial sphere analogous to longitude on the Earth) and 15° north declination (angular distance north of the celestial equator). Regulus (Alpha Leonis), the brightest star, is of the first magnitude. The November meteor shower

Shieldtail Snake

2005-03-02T06:31:00.000-08:00

The

Emotion, Experiential relation to increased creativity

2005-03-01T16:30:00.000-08:00

Several studies have demonstrated that positive emotion facilitates creative problem solving. One of these studies showed that positive emotion enabled subjects to name more uses for common objects. Another showed that positive emotion enhanced creative problem solving by enabling subjects to see relations among objects that would otherwise go unnoticed.

Cologne, University Of

2005-03-01T03:30:00.000-08:00

The University of Cologne was abolished by the French in 1798 after they had occupied Cologne. The university was refounded in 1919 as an autonomous,

Béranger, Pierre-jean De

2005-03-01T01:51:00.000-08:00

Béranger was active in his father's business enterprises until they failed. He then found work as a clerk at the University of Paris (1809). He led a marginal

Mountain, The western segment of the system

2005-02-27T17:17:00.000-08:00

The evolution of the western segment of the Tethyan System is the most complicated, involving more than just a collision of the African continent with parts of Europe. In Early Jurassic time (about 180,000,000 years ago), Africa, which then lay close to Europe, moved southeastward away from it. In doing so, it caused new ocean floor (Tethys) and new continental margins to form. Much of

Hugenberg, Alfred

2005-02-27T10:16:00.000-08:00

German industrialist and political leader. As the head of a huge newspaper and film empire and a prominent member of the conservative German National Peoples' Party, he exercised a profound influence on German public opinion during the Weimar Republic period (1918–33) and materially contributed to Adolf Hitler's rise

Hugh Of Lincoln, Little Saint

2005-02-26T17:51:00.000-08:00

The victim of an anonymous

Carter, Benny

2005-02-25T20:53:00.000-08:00

Carter grew up in New York City and attended Wilberforce College briefly before joining, as alto saxophonist and arranger, a series of

Arabian Desert, Transportation

2005-02-25T02:25:00.000-08:00

Travel today in the Arabian Desert is easy and rapid. Instead of the slow camel caravan, automobiles now roar across desert terrains. Jets fly overhead, and the railroad from Al-Dammam on the Persian Gulf to Riyadh covers the distance in a few hours. Paved, multilane highways cross the desert and link the chief Saudi cities, while narrower roads connect almost all towns

Oscillograph

2005-02-25T00:27:00.000-08:00

Instrument for indicating and recording time-varying electrical quantities, such as current and voltage. The two basic forms of the instrument in common use are the electromagnetic oscillograph and the cathode-ray oscillograph; the latter is also known as a cathode-ray oscilloscope (q.v.), which, strictly speaking, is purely an indicating instrument, while the oscillograph

Manasseh

2005-02-23T18:59:00.000-08:00

After the Exodus from Egypt and the death of Moses, the Israelites entered the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua, who assigned a territory to each of the 12 tribes. The tribe of Manasseh settled in central

Avicenna

2005-02-23T06:18:00.000-08:00

Arabic Ibn Sina, in full Abu 'Ali al-Husayn ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Sina Iranian physician, the most famous and influential of the philosopher-scientists of Islam. He was particularly noted for his contributions in the fields of Aristotelian philosophy and medicine. He composed the Kitab ash-shifa' (“Book of Healing”), a vast philosophical and scientific encyclopaedia, and the Canon of Medicine, which is among the most

Baseball

2005-02-22T19:37:00.000-08:00

Pocket-billiards game, named for the similarity in its scoring system to the American game played with bat and ball, in which players attempt to score runs by pocketing 21 consecutively numbered object balls, the number of runs scored corresponding to the total of the numbers on the balls pocketed. Players are allowed nine innings, in each of which they play until they

Biofeedback

2005-02-20T18:13:00.000-08:00

Information supplied instantaneously about an individual's own physiological processes. Data concerning a person's cardiovascular activity (blood pressure and heart rate), temperature, brain waves, or muscle tension is monitored electronically and returned, or “fed back,” to that person by a gauge on a meter, a light, or a sound. Though such activity of the autonomic

Boxing

2005-02-20T16:35:00.000-08:00

The most positive note in an otherwise disappointing year for boxing was the crowning of a new undisputed heavyweight champion on Nov. 13, 1999, when the World Boxing Council (WBC) titleholder, British/Canadian Lennox Lewis (see Biographies), defeated Evander Holyfield (U.S.), the World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) champion, in a lacklustre

Later Le Dynasty

2005-02-20T03:35:00.000-08:00

The Later Le was established when its founder, Le Loi, began a resistance movement against the Chinese armies then occupying Vietnam; by 1428 he had liberated the country and was free to begin the process of recovering the southern

Canadian Alliance

2005-02-18T10:20:00.000-08:00

The Canadian Alliance traced its roots to the Reform Party, which formed in 1987 as a populist and conservative expression of western Canadian frustration with the governing Progressive Conservative Party and previous governments led by the Liberal Party. The Reform

Aesthetics, The value of art

2005-02-18T07:20:00.000-08:00

Theories of the value of art are of two kinds, which we may call extrinsic and intrinsic. The first regards art and the appreciation of art as means to some recognized moral good, while the second regards them as valuable not instrumentally but as objects unto themselves. It is characteristic of extrinsic theories to locate the value of art in its effects on the person

Desert Fathers

2005-02-18T04:35:00.000-08:00

Early Christian hermits whose practice of asceticism in the Egyptian desert, beginning in the 3rd century, formed the basis of Christian monasticism. One of these hermits, Pachomius of the Thebaid (c. AD 290–346; see Pachomius, Saint), who organized nine monasteries for men and two for women, is credited with being the founder of cenobitic (communal) monasticism in the Western

Desert Fathers

2005-02-17T04:35:00.000-08:00

In 1949 the JCP won 35 seats in the House of Representatives and nearly 10 percent of the vote, but external and internal

Wellhausen, Julius

2005-02-16T15:47:00.000-08:00

Wellhausen studied at the University of Göttingen and taught there briefly before becoming professor of the Old Testament at Greifswald in 1872, a position he resigned 10 years later because of conflicts with his academic

Holbein Rug

2005-02-16T15:40:00.000-08:00

A different series, probably made in another area, have fields subdivided into rectangular panels, each

Mursilis Ii

2005-02-14T17:10:00.000-08:00

Son of the great Hittite conqueror Suppiluliumas, Mursilis succeeded his father after the brief reign of his older brother Arnuwandas III. Mursilis renewed the allegiance of North Syria, particularly Carchemish (controlled by his brother Shar-Kushukh) and the kingdom of Amurru; he also conducted a successful

Ramana Maharshi

2005-02-14T14:31:00.000-08:00

Original name Venkataraman Aiyer Hindu philosopher and yogi called “Great Master,” “Bhagavan” (the Lord), and “the Sage of Arunachala,” whose position on monism (the identity of the individual soul and the creator of souls) and maya (illusion) parallels that of Sankara (c. AD 700–750). His original contribution to yogic philosophy is the technique of vicara (self-“pondering”

Wild Mango

2005-02-14T03:04:00.000-08:00

Also called Dika (Irvingia gabonensis), tropical African tree, of the family Ixonanthaceae (Irvingiaceae), notable for its edible yellow fruit, which somewhat resembles the mango. The seed is rich in a fat used locally to make both bread and a type of butter. The wood is very hard and is used locally in building construction.

Eyre, Edward John

2005-02-13T17:46:00.000-08:00

Emigrating from England for reasons of health, Eyre reached Australia in March 1833. As a sheep farmer he became a pioneer “overlander,” driving stock from Sydney

Ercker, Lazarus

2005-02-13T13:16:00.000-08:00

Ercker studied at the University of Wittenberg (1547–48) and in 1554 was appointed assayer at Dresden, the first of many such positions he held in the state bureaucracy of Saxony. After 1567 he became control tester of coins at Kutná Hora, near Prague. In his great work, Beschreibung

Bond, Julian

2005-02-12T03:54:00.000-08:00

The son of prominent educators, Bond attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, where he helped found a civil rights group and led a sit-in movement intended to desegregate Atlanta lunch

Montserrat

2005-02-11T21:58:00.000-08:00

Mountain, northwestern Barcelona provincia, in the comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Catalonia, Spain, lying just west of the Llobregat River and northwest of Barcelona city. Known to the Romans as Mons Serratus (“Saw-toothed Mountain”) and to the Catalans as Montsagrat (“Sacred Mountain”), it is famous for its unusual appearance, its Benedictine monastery

Smith, David

2005-02-11T20:10:00.000-08:00

Smith was never trained as a sculptor, but

Computer Crime

2005-02-10T21:30:00.000-08:00

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,

Zeus

2005-02-09T15:16:00.000-08:00

According to a Cretan myth that was later adopted by

Elias, Norbert

2005-02-09T14:03:00.000-08:00

Elias studied medicine, philosophy, and sociology and taught at the universities of Heidelberg

Earth, Nucleosynthetic processes

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

The astrophysical concept of nucleosynthesis remains the starting point in tracing planetary evolution. This includes the nuclear processes by which the light elements—hydrogen through boron—were produced at the birth of the universe, some 10,000,000,000 to 20,000,000,000 years ago. By analogy with what astronomers presently observe to happen, it is thought that the solar system represents

Yurok

2005-02-07T15:07:00.000-08:00

Yurok villages were small; a village was a collection of independent houses owned by individual families rather than a unified community with an overall political authority. Village

Side

2005-02-07T14:16:00.000-08:00

Modern Selimiye principal city and port of ancient Pamphylia, originally situated on the Mediterranean coast west of the mouth of the Manavgat River, in southwestern Turkey. (The site is now inland.) Though the city was founded by Aeolian Greeks, a peculiar non-Greek language was spoken there. Having a good natural harbour and two artificial harbours for larger vessels, it was the most

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

2005-02-07T10:45:00.000-08:00

American symphony orchestra based in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1895 by the all-female board of trustees of the Cincinnati Orchestra Association, headed by Helen Herron Taft, wife of future U.S. president William Howard Taft. The fifth oldest symphony orchestra in the United States, the Cincinnati Symphony maintains a year-round performing schedule, including

Amazonas

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

Departamento, southeastern Colombia, located in the warm, humid Amazon River basin. It is bounded on the northwest by the Caquetá River, on the northeast by the Apaporis River, on the east by Brazil, and on the south by Peru and the Putumayo River. Colombia's only direct contact with the Amazon River is through Amazonas. It is the largest departamento in Colombia but is

Tintern Abbey

2005-02-04T03:50:00.000-08:00

Ecclesiastical ruin in Monmouthsire, Wales, on the west bank of the River Wye. Founded for Cistercian monks in 1131, Tintern Abbey was almost entirely rebuilt and enlarged between 1220 and 1287. The building was finally completed, except for minor additions, in the early 14th century. The abbey was dissolved in 1537, and its property was granted to the lord of Chepstow; the crown bought it

Anarchism, Poetry and prose

2005-02-04T02:40:00.000-08:00

Anarchist presses published an enormous quantity of verse—indeed, before 1960 they published more poetry than all other forms of creative writing put together. Among the finest poets of anarchism was Voltairine de Cleyre, whom Emma Goldman considered the “most gifted and brilliant anarchist woman America ever produced.” Although the anarchist themes of de Cleyre's

Hackberry

2005-02-03T19:45:00.000-08:00

The eastern North American tree called hackberry, or nettle tree, is C. occidentalis. It has bright green elmlike leaves, which often

Biblical Literature, Old Testament literature

2005-02-03T17:35:00.000-08:00

For various modern critical methods of studying the formation of the Old Testament, see the “Old Testament Series” of Guides to Biblical Scholarship: Norman C. Habel, Literary Criticism of the Old Testament, Gene M. Tucker, Form Criticism of the Old Testament, and Walter E. Rast, Tradition History and the Old Testament (1971–72). Among general introductions, the most exhaustive is Otto Eissfeldt (op. cit.), based mainly on literary criticism. The other methods are reflected to a somewhat greater extent in Aage Bentzen, Introduction to the Old Testament, 3rd ed. (1957); and in the briefer, less original but very readable work of Artur Weiser, Einleitung in das Alte Testament, 4th ed. (1957; Eng. trans., The Old Testament: Its Formation and Development, 1961). For pioneering research in tradition analysis of the Pentateuch and the Former Prophets, see Martin Noth, Überlieferungsgeschichte des Pentateuch, 3rd ed. (1966; Eng. trans., A History of Pentateuchal Traditions, 1972), and Überlieferungsgeschichtliche Studien (1957); the latter deals with what its author calls “The Deuteronomic History,” an envisioned work containing the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. The contribution of form criticism to the understanding of the history of the Book of Psalms may best be approached through Hermann Gunkel, The Psalms: A Form-Critical Introduction (1967), a translation of his article in Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart (2nd ed.) summarizing his seminal work in Die Psalmen (1926) and Einleitung in die Psalmen (1928). Elmer A. Leslie, The Psalms, Translated and Interpreted in the Light of Hebrew Life and Worship (1949), is heavily dependent on Gunkel and illustrates his use of form criticism. The celebrated work of Sigmund Mowinckel on the Psalter, culminating in his masterful Offersang ob Sangoffer (1951; Eng. trans., The Psalms in Israel's Worship, 2 vol., 1962), combines the methods of Gunkel with those of the comparative historian of religion and locates the setting for the production of most of the psalms in the cult of the Solomonic temple. The application of the newer methods to the study of the Latter Prophets is evident in the essays in Harold H. Rowley (ed.), Studies in Old Testament Prophecy (1950). The new approaches were deeply under the impact of Henrik S. Nyberg, Studien zum Hoseabuche (1935). Other books that amplify the implications of his assumptions include: Johannes Lindblom, Prophecy in Ancient Israel (1962); Curt Kuhl, Israels Propheten (1956; Eng. trans., The Prophets of Israel, 1960); and Sigmund Mowinckel, Prophecy and Tradition: The Prophetic Books in the Light of the Study of the Growth and History of the Tradition (1946). Abraham J. Heschel, The Prophets (1962), though of independent origin, nevertheless belongs with those new interpretations of the prophetic materials. An old classic in a new edition, Oliver S. Rankin, Israel's Wisdom Literature: Its Bearing on Theology and the History of Religion (1936, reprinted 1969), presents Israel's wisdom literature in relation both to its extra-Israelite cultural connections and to the rest of Israel's heritage in the Old Testament. Two new approaches to the legacy of wisdom literature, one through literary form and the other through theology, are presented, respectively, in R.B.Y. Scott, The Way of Wisdom in the Old Testament (1971); and Gerhard von Rad, Weisheit in Israel (1970). See also Northrop Frye, The Great Code: The Bible and Literature (1982), and Elsa Tamez, Bible of the Oppressed (1982), an interpretation from a Latin, female theologian's perspective.

Alabama, Soils

2005-02-02T11:12:00.000-08:00

There are four main soil zones found in Alabama. In the far north, the Tennessee valley contains the dark loams and red clays that add vivid dashes of colour to the landscape when exposed. Farther south lie the varied soils of a mineral belt, and these are succeeded by the rich limestone and marl soils of the Black Belt. Along the coast of Alabama there are sandy loams and

East Friesland

2005-02-01T17:53:00.000-08:00

German Ostfriesland, cultural region bordering the North Sea and encompassing the coastal marshlands and East Frisian Islands (Ostfriesische Inseln) of northwestern Lower Saxony Land (state), north-central Germany. The region has close cultural ties with West Friesland in The Netherlands and North Friesland on the west coast of the Jutland Peninsula. The Frisians, traditionally

General Council Of Congregational Christian Churches

2005-01-31T03:50:00.000-08:00

The Congregational churches developed from the churches established by the settlers at Plymouth,

San Felipe

2005-01-31T02:01:00.000-08:00

Historic town, Austin county, southeastern Texas, U.S. It lies along the Brazos River, some 45 miles (70 km) west of Houston. Known as the “birthplace of Anglo-American settlement in Texas,” it was founded in 1824 as headquarters for the colony of Stephen Austin, who there first employed the Texas Rangers as a defense force. In 1829 the colony, then known as San Felipe de Austin, published the

Binomial Theorem

2005-01-30T17:02:00.000-08:00

In which n! (called n factorial) is the product of the first n natural numbers 1, 2, 3, . . . n (and where 0! is defined

Neoteros

2005-01-30T01:10:00.000-08:00

Plural Neoteroi, any of a group of poets who sought to break away from the didactic-patriotic tradition of Latin poetry by consciously emulating the forms and content of Alexandrian Greek models. The neoteroi deplored the excesses of alliteration and onomatopoeia and the ponderous metres that characterized the epics and didactic works of the Latin Ennian tradition. They wrote

Nephroblastoma

2005-01-29T20:52:00.000-08:00

Also called embryoma , or Wilms' tumour malignant renal (kidney) tumour of early childhood. In 75 percent of the cases, the tumour grows before the age of five; about two-thirds of the instances are apparent by two years of age. The tumour grows rapidly and can approach the weight of the rest of the body. It rarely appears in adults. In its early stages the nephroblastoma causes no symptoms. Later, symptoms may indicate

Ant

2005-01-28T04:24:00.000-08:00

Any member of the approximately 8,000 species of the insect family Formicidae (order Hymenoptera). Ants occur worldwide but are especially common in hot climates. All ants are social in habit; i.e., they live together in organized colonies, and they range in size from 2 to about 25 millimetres (about 0.08 to 1 inch). Their colour is usually yellow, brown, red, or black. A few genera

Jian Ware

2005-01-27T07:25:00.000-08:00

The clay used for Jian ware was of a very hard, coarse grain. The inside and about two-thirds of the outside of the ware were covered with a thick,

Tiffany, Charles Lewis

2005-01-27T02:20:00.000-08:00

Tiffany went to New York City in 1837 and with John B. Young opened a stationery and fancy-goods store, which soon expanded to offer jewelry and silverware as well. It became Tiffany, Young, & Ellis in 1841; in 1848 the firm began to manufacture jewelry, and in 1850 they

Grusi

2005-01-26T19:52:00.000-08:00

Ethnolinguistic group among the inhabitants of northern Ghana and adjacent areas of Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta) and Togo. The linguistic groups and subgroups of the area are difficult to classify with certitude, but the Grusi languages make up a subbranch of the Gur (Voltaic) branch of the Niger-Congo language family. The difficulty in establishing distinct