GoodComb

Robert Irving Burns Property Consultants

2006-11-22T11:20:00.000-08:00

Robert Irving Burns has been established for over 40 years and is an independent partnership, who specialise in a full range of property services. These include commercial property
and commercial offices as well as property to let london. Whilst my business partner and I were looking for Offices, we found Rib’s expertise invaluable.

Croly, Jane Cunningham

2005-03-19T09:47:00.000-08:00

Jane Cunningham moved to the

Tyrone, Conn O'neill, 1st Earl Of

2005-03-16T06:06:00.000-08:00

Conn, who was related through his mother to the Earl of Kildare (Fitzgerald), became chief of the Tyrone branch of the O'Neills (Cinel Eoghain) about 1520. When Kildare became viceroy in 1524, O'Neill consented to act as his swordbearer in ceremonies

Cohesion

2005-03-14T10:10:00.000-08:00

In physics, the intermolecular attractive force acting between two adjacent portions of a substance, particularly of a solid or liquid. It is this force that holds a piece of matter together. Intermolecular forces act also between two dissimilar substances in contact, a phenomenon called adhesion. These forces originate principally because of coulomb (electrical)

Hui Shih

2005-03-12T00:18:00.000-08:00

As a result of their preoccupation with pure logic, the dialecticians have always been separated from the mainstream of Chinese philosophy, which was primarily concerned with the relationship between names and actuality.

Abengourou

2005-03-10T20:22:00.000-08:00

Town, eastern Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), on the road from Abidjan (the national capital) to Ghana. The major trading centre for a productive forest region, it is also the residence of the Anyi (Agni) paramount chief, who is the present king of Indénié (an Anyi kingdom founded in the mid-18th century). The king's official residence (built 1882) is decorated with Indénié relics and tapestries.

Gaudin, Martin-michel-charles, Duc (duke) De Gaëte

2005-03-08T02:43:00.000-08:00

From 1773 Gaudin worked in those bureaus of the Contrôle Générale des Finances that handled the collection of taxes, and he eventually rose to be a head of the tax department. In 1791, during the French Revolution, he was made a

Brer Rabbit

2005-03-07T11:10:00.000-08:00

Trickster figure originating in African folklore and transmitted by African slaves to the New World, where it acquired attributes of similar native American tricksters (see trickster tale); Brer, or Brother, Rabbit was popularized in the United States in the stories of Joel Chandler Harris (1848–1908). The character's adventures embody an idea considered to be a universal

O'gorman, Juan

2005-03-05T17:05:00.000-08:00

The most elaborate example of O'Gorman's work is the exterior of the Library of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, which he planned and built in 1950. The windowless library featured a tower containing

Canada, The War of 1812

2005-03-01T03:10:00.000-08:00

The War of 1812 was to a large degree caused by the Anglo-U.S. rivalry in the fur trade. British traders and soldiers had supplied Indian tribes and afforded them moral support in their contest with the advancing U.S. frontier. Britain had surrendered the western posts by the Jay Treaty of 1794, but the cause of the Canadian fur trade and of the Indians remained the same—the preservation

Papal Infallibility

2005-02-27T06:31:00.000-08:00

In Roman Catholic theology, the doctrine that the pope, acting as supreme teacher and under certain conditions, cannot err when he teaches in matters of faith or morals. As an element of the broader understanding of the infallibility of the church, this doctrine is based on the belief that the church has been entrusted with the teaching mission of Jesus Christ and

Courante

2005-02-25T02:43:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Courant (from Latin currere, “to run”), court dance for couples, prominent in the late 16th century and fashionable in aristocratic European ballrooms, especially in France and England, for the next 200 years. It reputedly originated as an Italian folk dance with running steps. As a court dance it was performed with small, back-and-forth, springing steps, later subdued to stately glides.

Arabia, Geology

2005-02-22T22:35:00.000-08:00

The bulk of Arabia consists of two main geomorphological areas: the Arabian shield in the west; and sedimentary areas dipping away from the shield to the northeast, east, and southeast into the great basin consisting of lower Iraq, the Persian Gulf, and the eastern part of the Rub' al-Khali (the Empty Quarter) desert. The eastern edge of the shield curves eastward from the

Leng-hu

2005-02-21T09:28:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Lenghu, town, northwestern Tsinghai sheng (province), western China. Leng-hu is situated in the northwestern part of the Tsaidam Basin, to the southwest of Tang-chin Pass, which leads from the Tsaidam into western Kansu province and to the Uighur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang. Leng-hu is one of the major centres of the oil fields developed in the Tsaidam Basin during the 1960s and

Cat

2005-02-19T18:13:00.000-08:00

The history of the cat family can be traced through the fossil record to the Late Eocene Epoch (43.6 to 36.6 million

Earth Sciences, The rise of subterranean water

2005-02-17T17:11:00.000-08:00

René Descartes supposed that the seawater diffused through subterranean channels into large caverns below the tops of mountains. The Jesuit philosopher Athanasius Kircher in his Mundus subterraneus (1664; “Subterranean World”) suggested that the tides pump seawater through hidden channels to points of outlet at springs. To explain the rise of subterranean water

Nordic Council Of Ministers

2005-02-14T00:12:00.000-08:00

Organization of the Nordic states of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden for the purpose of consultation and cooperation on matters of common interest. The Council was established in February 1971 under an amendment to the Helsinki Convention (1962) between the Nordic countries. It consists of the ministers of state of the member countries, as well as other ministers

Mannar Island

2005-02-12T20:36:00.000-08:00

Dry, barren island that lies at the eastern end of Adam's Bridge, a chain of shoals off the northwestern coast of Sri Lanka. Mannar Island has an area of about 50 square miles (130 square km). Fishing is economically important. The small port of Mannar is on the southeastern shore. Pop. (1990 est.) 132,000.

Argentina, The return of Peronism

2005-02-11T23:15:00.000-08:00

The newly elected president, Héctor J. Cámpora, took office in May 1973. It was immediately clear that he was merely preparing the way for the return of Perón from exile. Tensions rose sharply among Peronists as the organization's left wing fought with its right-wing Montoneros for influence. At the final return of Perón in June, there was a pitched battle between right and

'ayyar

2005-02-08T13:30:00.000-08:00

Though 'ayyarun were found fighting for Islam on the frontiers of inner Asia, the most thorough documentation of these warriors describes their activities in Baghdad in the 10th–12th century, a picture that may not be typical of 'ayy

Aramaean

2005-02-07T20:09:00.000-08:00

In the Old Testament the Aramaeans are represented as being closely akin to the Hebrews and living in northern Syria around Harran from

Ryokan

2005-02-05T13:36:00.000-08:00

The eldest son of a village headman, he became a Buddhist priest at about the age of 17 under the religious name of Taigu Ryokan. When he was 21 he met an itinerant monk, Kokusen, and followed him to his temple, Entsu-ji, at Tamashima,

Nephridium

2005-02-03T21:39:00.000-08:00

Nephridia occur in two

Seven Holy Founders

2005-02-01T14:39:00.000-08:00

Also called Seven Servite Founders saints Bonfilius, Alexis Falconieri, John Bonagiunta, Benedict dell'Antella, Bartholomew Amidei, Gerard Sostegni, and Ricoverus Uguccione, who founded the Ordo Fratrum Servorum Sanctae Mariae (“Order of Friar Servants of St. Mary”). Popularly called Servites, the order is a Roman Catholic congregation

Iblis

2005-01-30T21:28:00.000-08:00

At the creation of man, God ordered all his angels to bow down in obedience before Adam. Iblis refused, claiming he was a nobler being

Holbach, Paul-henri Dietrich, Baron D'

2005-01-27T11:25:00.000-08:00

French encyclopaedist and philosopher, a celebrated exponent of atheism and Materialism, whose inherited wealth allowed him to entertain many of the noted philosophers of the day, some of whom (Comte de Buffon, J.-J. Rousseau, d'Alembert) reportedly withdrew from his gatherings, frightened by the audacity

Fibre

2005-01-26T13:22:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Fiber, in textile production, basic unit of raw material having suitable length, pliability, and strength for conversion into yarns and fabrics. A fibre of extreme length is a filament. Fibres can occur naturally or can be produced artificially. See Man-Made Fibres; natural fibre.

Philippines, Relief and drainage

2005-01-24T21:39:00.000-08:00

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.

Wandering Jew

2005-01-22T16:07:00.000-08:00

In Christian legend, character doomed to live until the end of the world because he taunted Jesus on the way to the Crucifixion. A reference in John 18:20–22 to an officer who struck Jesus at his arraignment before Annas is sometimes cited as the basis for the legend. The medieval English chronicler Roger of Wendover describes in his Flores historiarum how an archbishop from

Empiricism, In modern philosophy

2005-01-20T14:06:00.000-08:00

In the earlier and unsystematically speculative phases of Renaissance philosophy, the claims of Aristotelian logic to yield substantial knowledge were attacked by several 16th-century logicians, and, in the same century, the role of observation was stressed. One mildly skeptical Christian thinker, Pierre Gassendi (1592–1655), advanced a deliberate revival of the empirical

Raymond Vi

2005-01-17T22:27:00.000-08:00

The son of Count Raymond V, Raymond VI was a nephew of King Louis VII of France and brother-in-law of King Richard I of England. Tolerant toward the many

Tsumeb

2005-01-15T09:30:00.000-08:00

In 1851 Sir Francis Galton, a British explorer, made note of copper ore deposits in the vicinity of what later became the town of Tsumeb. An Anglo-German company acquired

Endodontics

2005-01-14T03:06:00.000-08:00

The practice of endodontics is concerned primarily with the removal of diseased dental pulp and its replacement with filling

Kudirka, Vincas

2005-01-12T23:37:00.000-08:00

Educated in medicine,

Strathcona And Mount Royal (of Mount Royal And Of Glencoe), Donald Alexander Smith, 1st Baron

2005-01-07T02:11:00.000-08:00

Smith was apprenticed to the Hudson's Bay Company in 1838 and worked for many years at the fur trade in Labrador. He served as chief commissioner for the company in Canada from 1870 to 1874, and, after becoming the principal shareholder, he was governor of the Hudson's Bay Company from

Hughes, William Morris

2005-01-05T08:27:00.000-08:00

Hughes emigrated to Queensland in 1884. After working for the unionization of maritime workers in Sydney, he was elected to the New South Wales legislature in 1894 as a Labor Party member. He entered the first federal Parliament in 1901 and served as attorney

Craigie, Sir William Alexander

2005-01-04T00:58:00.000-08:00

Craigie attended St. Andrews University, studied Scandinavian languages in Copenhagen, and taught at St. Andrews

Chi-ning

2005-01-01T20:37:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Jining , Pinyin (Mongolian) Ulan Qab town, Inner Mongolia autonomous ch'ü (region), China. Before the Communist Revolution of 1949, the town was a minor station named P'ing-ti-ch'üan and was a collecting point on the east-west Peking–Pao-t'ou railway. It experienced phenomenal growth after the completion in 1955 of a trunk railway northward to Erh-lien-hao-t'e on the Mongolian border, linking it with Ulaanbaatar (capital

Dyer-bennet, Richard

2004-12-28T06:08:00.000-08:00

Though born in England, Dyer-Bennet grew up in Canada and California and attended the University of California at

Ibn Al-abbar

2004-12-27T07:11:00.000-08:00

Ibn al-Abbar began his official career as a secretary to the Muslim governor of the Emirate of Balansiya. After the fall of Valencia (September 1238), he settled in Tunisia and was employed

Bulbil

2004-12-25T09:43:00.000-08:00

Also spelled bulbel , also called bulblet, in botany, tiny secondary bulb that forms in the angle between a leaf and stem or in place of flowers on certain plants. Bulbils, called offsets when full-sized, fall or are removed and planted to produce new plants. They are especially common among such plants as onions and lilies.

Giraldus Cambrensis

2004-12-22T04:06:00.000-08:00

Of noble

Paulo Afonso

2004-12-21T21:09:00.000-08:00

City, northeastern Bahia estado (“state”), northeastern Brazil, on the São Francisco River, at the site of the Paulo Afonso Falls. Made the seat of a municipality in 1958, Paulo Afonso is the transportation and commercial centre for its agricultural hinterland. It is accessible by highway from Salvador, the state capital, about 310 miles (500 km) south, and from neighbouring communities

Nyoro

2004-12-19T07:14:00.000-08:00

In precolonial times, the Nyoro formed one of the most powerful of a number of kingdoms in the area. Until the 18th century the Bunyoro kingdom, as it is called, dominated the surrounding peoples, holding an empire over much

Faesi, Robert

2004-12-16T15:10:00.000-08:00

Faesi combined his literary activity with a professorship of German literature at the University of Zürich from 1922 to 1953. His poems in the collections Aus der Brandung (1917; “From

Buddhism, The Buddha: divinization and multiplicity

2004-12-15T00:19:00.000-08:00

As Mahayana developed,

Field Hockey

2004-12-12T06:31:00.000-08:00

Hockey is believed to date from the earliest civilizations. The Arabs, Greeks, Persians, and Romans each had their own versions, and traces

Maxwell-boltzmann Distribution Law

2004-12-10T13:07:00.000-08:00

A description of the statistical distribution of the energies of the molecules of a classical gas. This distribution was first set forth by the Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell in 1859, on the basis of probabilistic arguments, and gave the distribution of velocities among the molecules of a gas. Maxwell's finding was generalized (1871) by a German physicist, Ludwig Boltzmann,

Sibasa

2004-12-08T14:57:00.000-08:00

Village, Northern province, South Africa. It was once the capital of the nonindependent black state of Venda. A station was established there in 1872 by Carl Beuster of the Berlin Mission. The village is an industrial growth centre just northeast of Thohoyandou and about 4 miles (7 km) north of the Luvuvhu River. Located at an elevation of 2,428 feet (740 m) and named after a Venda chief, Tshivhase,

Amirante Isles

2004-12-06T02:23:00.000-08:00

Group of coral islands in the western Indian Ocean, lying about 200 miles (320 km) southwest of the Seychelles group and forming, with the Seychelles and other islands, the Republic of Seychelles. The Amirante Isles were known to Persian Gulf traders centuries ago and were sighted by the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama on his second voyage to India, in 1502, but they are still

Downpatrick

2004-12-05T08:14:00.000-08:00

Irish Dún Pádraig town and seat, Down district (established 1973), formerly in County Down, Northern Ireland. Downpatrick is located where the River Quoilé broadens into its estuary in Strangford Lough (inlet of the sea). The town takes its name from dún (fortress) and from its association with St. Patrick. It is the Dun-da-leth-glas (Fortress of the Two Broken Fetters) of Irish chroniclers. Formerly

Creativity

2004-12-02T23:51:00.000-08:00

Psychological experiments in the fields of motivation and learning have disclosed the power of novelty as an inducement to action. There appears to be an essential and continuing tension in higher organisms

Netherlands, The, Plant and animal life

2004-12-01T06:06:00.000-08:00

Most wild Dutch plant species are of the Atlantic district within the Euro-Siberian phytogeographic region. Gradients of salt and winter temperature variations cause relatively minor zonal differences in both wild and garden plants from the coast to more continental regions. The effects of altitude are negligible. Vegetation from coastal sand dunes, muddy

Blanqui, (louis-)auguste

2004-11-29T22:17:00.000-08:00

Blanqui's father was a subprefect in the little town of Puget-Théniers in the French Maritime Alps. In 1818 Blanqui

Atami

2004-11-26T03:17:00.000-08:00

City, Shizuoka ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan. It lies on the northeastern coast of the Izu Peninsula, facing Sagami Gulf of the Pacific Ocean. The city occupies the crater of the extinct volcano Mount Atami. The surrounding hills are remnants of the crater wall, which has been drowned by the sea on the east. Atami's mild and warm climate, scenic seascape, and hot springs have

Musical Notation

2004-11-25T15:26:00.000-08:00

Two developments in musical style in the 20th century have placed great strain upon staff notation: integral serialism—in which the music is controlled by a mathematical system—and indeterminacy, or chance music. In the former, every note in a texture may have its individual dynamic marking and type of attack (for example, in Olivier Messiaen's Mode de valeurs et

Qasrayn, Al-

2004-11-23T16:34:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Kasserine, town, west-central Tunisia. The town is an important market, road, and rail junction and is the centre of an irrigated agricultural area. Its economic activities include the cultivation of olives and esparto grass and the manufacture of paper pulp. Kasserine Pass to the northwest was the scene of a decisive battle of the Tunisian campaign in World War II, which contributed

Kunlun Mountains

2004-11-20T22:02:00.000-08:00

The northern rim of the Kunlun Mountains, skirting the Tarim Basin, served for centuries as the southerly branch of the Silk Road that, until the 16th century, connected China with Central and West Asia. Wool and salt were the main products brought down from the heights of the Kunluns to the oases on the edge of the Takla Makan Desert. Small regional Buddhist monasteries

Earth, The Earth's magnetic field

2004-11-18T15:41:00.000-08:00

Brief surveys are Sydney Chapman, The Earth's Magnetism, 2nd ed. rev. (1951, reprinted 1961); and J.A. Jacobs, The Earth's Core and Geomagnetism (1963), and Reversals of the Earth's Magnetic Field (1984). For more in-depth coverage, consult Sydney Chapman and Julius Bartels, Geomagnetism, vol. 1, Geomagnetic and Related Phenomena (1940, reprinted 1962); George D. Garland, Introduction to Geophysics: Mantle, Core and Crust, 2nd ed. (1979), an informative overview; S. Matsushita, “Solar Quiet and Lunar Daily Variation Fields,” ch. III-1 in S. Matsushita and Wallace H. Campbell, Physics of Geomagnetic Phenomena, vol. 1 (1967), pp. 301–424, an extensive treatment; Ronald T. Merrill and Michael W. McElhinny, The Earth's Magnetic Field: Its History, Origin, and Planetary Perspective (1983), an attempt to bridge the gap between dynamo theory and paleomagnetology; W.D. Parkinson, Introduction to Geomagnetism (1983), a logical, systematic, and highly readable treatment; and S.K. Runcorn, K.M. Creer, and J.A. Jacobs (eds.), The Earth's Core: Its Structure, Evolution, and Magnetic Field (1982), an excellent introduction to the modern literature on the topic. See also S.J. Peale, “Consequences of Tidal Evolution,” ch. 12 in Margaret G. Kivelson (ed.), The Solar System: Observations and Interpretations (1986), pp. 275–288; and K.A. Wienert, Notes on Geomagnetic Observatory and Survey Practice (1970), an explanation of the basic principles of geomagnetic survey techniques.

Dandakaranya

2004-11-17T13:51:00.000-08:00

Physical region in east-central India. Extending over an area of about 35,600 square miles (92,300 square km), it includes the Abujhmar Hills in the west and borders the Eastern Ghats in the east. The Dandakaranya includes parts of Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, and Andhra Pradesh states. It has dimensions of about 200 miles (320 km) from north to south and about 300 miles (480 km) from east to west. The region derives

Eight Masters Of Nanjing

2004-11-15T19:23:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Jinling Bajia , Wade-Giles romanization Chin-ling Pa-chia group of Chinese artists who lived and worked during the late 17th century in Nanjing (known as Jinling during the early Tang dynasty, c. 7th century). Although their group identity derives largely from the locale in which they worked, certain aesthetic similarities are discernible: their paintings, usually landscapes, are often uneven in quality and

Wahat Al-kharijah, Al-

2004-11-12T04:38:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Kharga, or El-kharga, oasis in the Libyan (Western) Desert, part of Al-Wadi al-Jadid (“New Valley”) muhafazah (governorate), in south-central Egypt. It is situated about 110 miles (180 km) west-southwest of Naj' Hammadi, to which it is linked by railroad. The name Wahat al-Kharijah means “outer oasis.” The oasis consists of two fertile zones, extending about 100 miles (160 km) north-south and from 12 to 50 miles (19 to 80 km) east-west, with an area of more

Conti, Louis-armand I De Bourbon, Prince De

2004-11-11T21:26:00.000-08:00

Eldest surviving son of Armand I de Bourbon, prince of Conti; he succeeded his father in 1666. His marriage (1680) to Marie-Anne de Bourbon (1666–1739), daughter of Louis XIV and Louise de La Vallière, was the first union between a prince of the blood and one of the King's bastards. He served with distinction in Flanders in 1683 and, against the wish of the king, went to

Van Nu En Straks Circle

2004-11-09T15:07:00.000-08:00

Group of writers associated with an influential Flemish review, Van Nu en Straks (“Today and Tomorrow”; 1893–94 and 1896–1901). Though holding a variety of opinions, they strove for an art that should comprehend all human activity and give universal significance to individual feelings. Led by August Vermeylen, they included Prosper van Langendonck, Emmanuel Karel de Bom, and Alfred Hegenscheidt.

Hill And Range

2004-11-06T15:33:00.000-08:00

When Austrian immigrant brothers Jean and Julian Aberbach formed their Hill and Range publishing company in 1945, the name they chose made it clear which songwriters they were after—the country-and-western writers who had been long overlooked by the established publishers affiliated with the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). Offering

Empiricism, Broader senses

2004-11-04T15:04:00.000-08:00

In both everyday attitudes and philosophical theories, the experiences referred to are principally those arising from stimulation of the sense organs, in particular those of sight and touch. Most philosophical Empiricists, however, have maintained that sensation is not the only provider of experience, admitting as empirical the awareness of mental states

Pridi Phanomyong

2004-11-03T20:31:00.000-08:00

After studies at the Royal Law School, Pridi won a government scholarship to study law in France; he earned a doctorate in law from Paris in 1927. While in Paris he was strongly influenced by French socialism,

Alzira

2004-10-31T23:14:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Alcira, city, Valencia provincia, in the comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Valencia, eastern Spain. It lies in the Ribera district, south of the city of Valencia. It originated as the Iberian settlement of Algezira Sucro (“Island of Sucro”), so named because of its insular position between two branches of the Sucro (Júcar) River. It became the Saetabicula of the Romans

Bhanavara

2004-10-29T05:04:00.000-07:00

At first, different

Ruways, Ar-

2004-10-28T08:21:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Ruweis, or Ru'ays, site of a giant industrial complex, Abu Dhabi emirate, United Arab Emirates. It lies along the Persian Gulf about 140 miles (220 km) west of Abu Dhabi, the national capital. Ar-Ruways has natural-gas-processing plants under the control of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). Ar-Ruways has a small airport and is linked by road with Abu Dhabi city and Jabal az-Zannah.

Shahi Family

2004-10-26T00:57:00.000-07:00

Also called Shahiya, dynasty of some 60 rulers who governed the Kabul valley (in Afghanistan) and the old province of Gandhara from the decline of the Kushan empire in the 3rd century AD. The word Shahi, the title of the rulers, is related to the old Kushan form shao, or “king.” The dynasty probably descended from the Kushans, or Turks (Tarushkas). Nothing is recorded of the history of the long line until the last

Zamora

2004-10-23T00:11:00.000-07:00

In full Zamora De Hidalgo, city, northwestern Michoacán state, west-central Mexico. It lies at an elevation of 5,141 feet (1,567 m) above sea level in the Zamora valley, formed by the Duero River. It was founded in 1540 as an outpost to guard against Indians. Commerce, agriculture, and livestock raising are the principal sources of income. Corn (maize), wheat, beans, and numerous fruits and vegetables are grown in the

Nizam Shahi Dynasty

2004-10-22T00:55:00.000-07:00

The Nizam Shahi dynasty was engaged in constant

Midgard

2004-10-20T05:29:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Midgardr (Old Norse: Middle Abode) , also called Manna-Heim (“Home of Man”) in Norse mythology, the Middle Earth, the abode of mankind, made from the body of the first created being, the giant Aurgelmir (Ymir). According to legend, the gods killed Aurgelmir, rolled his body into the central void of the universe, and began fashioning the Midgard. Aurgelmir's flesh became the land, his blood the oceans, his bones the mountains, his teeth the cliffs, his

Belafonte, Harry

2004-10-17T21:43:00.000-07:00

Belafonte's parents were emigrants from the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Jamaica, and he lived with his mother during her 1935–40 return to Jamaica. He left high school to serve in the U.S. Navy in the mid-1940s; after returning to New York City he studied

Radha

2004-10-16T06:59:00.000-07:00

The allegorical

Bronson, Charles

2004-10-14T00:07:00.000-07:00

Bronson was one of 15 children of a Lithuanian coal miner, became a miner himself at age 16, and during World War II claimed to have served in the air force as a tail gunner (later reports suggest that he was stationed

Cimabue

2004-10-11T08:27:00.000-07:00

Original name Bencivieni Di Pepo, modern Italian Benvenuto Di Giuseppe painter and mosaicist, the last great Italian artist in the Byzantine style, which had dominated early medieval painting in Italy. Among his surviving works are the frescoes of New Testament scenes in the upper church of S. Francesco, Assisi; the “Sta. Trinita Madonna” (c. 1290; Uffizi, Florence); and the “Madonna Enthroned with St. Francis” (c. 1290–95; lower church

Top

2004-10-08T05:38:00.000-07:00

A toy having a body of conical, circular, or oval shape, often hollow, with a point or peg on which it turns or is made to whirl. If given a knock, a spinning top will go around in a circle at a slant; if spun with a slant at the start, it will quickly stand upright until halted by friction. Its physical properties are similar to those of the gyroscope. Some tops, as the common peg top,

Neosho River

2004-10-06T05:39:00.000-07:00

It has a drainage area of 12,660 square miles (32,789 square km), and flow at its mouth varies from 133,000 cubic feet (3,800 cubic m) per second to as little as 35 cubic feet (1 cubic m). In Kansas,

Rausing, Gad Anders

2004-10-04T16:16:00.000-07:00

Swedish industrialist (b. May 19, 1922, Bromma, near Stockholm, Swed.—d. Jan. 28, 2000, Lausanne, Switz.), was the son of the developer of a sealed, laminated paperboard beverage box that did not require refrigeration and thus revolutionized the milk and juice industries. Rausing (with his younger brother, Hans) built the family business, Tetra Pak (later Tetra Laval Group), from a small Scandinavian

Adelaide River

2004-10-02T20:18:00.000-07:00

River in northwestern Northern Territory, Australia, rising in the hills west of Brock's Creek and flowing (with marked summer increases in volume) for 110 miles (180 km) northeastward to Adam Bay, an inlet of the Timor Sea on Clarence Strait. From its mouth, 32 miles (50 km) northeast of Darwin, it is navigable for 80 miles (130 km). The river was reached in 1839 by L.R. Fitzmaurice of the ship HMS Beagle

Paddlefish

2004-09-30T10:07:00.000-07:00

The American paddlefish (Polyodon spathula; see

Danbury

2004-09-27T15:32:00.000-07:00

City, coextensive with the town (township) of Danbury, Fairfield county, southwestern Connecticut, U.S. It lies along the Still River in the foothills of the Berkshire Hills. Settled in 1685, it was named in 1687 for Danbury, England, and was incorporated as a town in 1702. The municipality within the original town tract became a borough in 1822 and a city in 1889; the town and city were consolidated

Hyatt, John Wesley

2004-09-25T05:56:00.000-07:00

In the late 1860s, while searching for a substitute for ivory for making billiard balls, Hyatt combined nitrocellulose, camphor, and alcohol, heated the mixture under pressure to make it pliable for molding, and allowed it to harden under normal

Anathema

2004-09-24T09:07:00.000-07:00

(from Greek anatithenai: “to set up,” or “to dedicate”), in the Old Testament, a creature or object set apart for sacrificial offering. Its return to profane use was strictly banned, and such objects, destined for destruction, thus became effectively accursed as well as consecrated. Old Testament descriptions of religious wars call both the enemy and their besieged city

Arnaud, Henri

2004-09-22T20:27:00.000-07:00

After studying theology in Switzerland, Arnaud returned to Piedmont and established himself as pastor at Torre Pellice (1685), where he

Azeglio, Massimo Taparelli, Marquess (marchese) D'

2004-09-20T19:46:00.000-07:00

After spending his youth dedicated to painting

Biblical Literature, The Letter of Aristeas

2004-09-15T15:16:00.000-07:00

An important document of Jewish Hellenistic literature is The Letter of Aristeas, a pseudepigraphon ascribed to Aristeas, an official of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, a Greek monarch of Egypt in the 3rd century BCE. The letter is addressed to his brother and gives an account of the translation of the Pentateuch (first five books of the Old Testament) into Greek, by order of Ptolemy.

Osaka-kobe Metropolitan Area, Industry

2004-09-14T11:37:00.000-07:00

Osaka was once known as the Manchester of the Orient because of its great textile industry; now, however, its leading industries are the manufacture of electrical and other machinery, iron and steel, fabricated metals, and chemicals. Between Osaka and Kobe are several other industrial cities. The largest, Amagasaki, is a centre of machinery, metallurgy, chemicals, cement,

Armenia

2004-09-12T16:20:00.000-07:00

City, capital of Quindío departamento, west-central Colombia. It lies on the western slopes of the Cordillera Central at an elevation of 4,865 feet (1,483 m), between the Espejo and Quindío rivers. The city lies along a spur of the railway from Puerto Berrío to Popayán and is the transfer point for road traffic to Bogotá via Ibagué (30 miles [50 km] southeast). Armenia (named for the ancient

Indian Summer

2004-09-07T15:45:00.000-07:00

Period of dry, unseasonably warm weather in late October or November in the central and eastern United States. The term originated in New England and probably arose from the Indians' practice of gathering winter stores at this time. This autumn warm period also occurs in Europe, where in Britain it is called All-hallown summer or Old Wives' summer. Indian summer may

Indian Summer

2004-09-05T07:38:00.000-07:00

Military arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines, Marxist-Leninist (CPP-ML), which is a Communist organization dedicated to achieving power in the Philippines by means of revolutionary insurrection. The CPP-ML was originally a Maoist faction that broke away from the largely passive, Soviet-oriented Philippine Communist Party in 1968–69 and formed the New People's

Price System

2004-09-03T06:15:00.000-07:00

A means of organizing economic activity. It does this primarily by coordinating the decisions of consumers, producers, and owners of productive resources. Millions of economic agents who have no direct communication with each other are led by the price system to supply each other's wants. In a modern economy the price system enables a consumer to buy a product he

J.p. Morgan Chase & Co.

2004-09-01T05:58:00.000-07:00

The Morgan branch of the corporation traces its history to J.P. Morgan and Company, Inc. (established 1895), and Guaranty Trust Company of New York (1864), which merged in 1959. The bank was renamed Morgan Guaranty

Earth, Strain

2004-08-31T08:36:00.000-07:00

Any deformation caused by stress constitutes strain. It may be an increase or decrease in the length of an object, an alteration of its shape, or a change in its volume. It is generally measured as a percent elongation, percent shortening, angular distortion, or percent change in volume.

Computers, Apple Computer

2004-08-29T09:30:00.000-07:00

Like the founding of the early chip companies and the invention of the microprocessor, the story of Apple Computer is a key part of Silicon Valley folklore. Two whiz kids, Stephen G. Wozniak and Steven P. Jobs, shared an interest in electronics. Wozniak was an early and regular participant at Homebrew Computer Club meetings (see the earlier section The Altair), which Jobs

Tolima

2004-08-26T14:31:00.000-07:00

Departamento, central Colombia, extending from the Andean Cordillera (mountains) Central across the Magdalena River valley to the Cordillera Oriental. Created in 1861, it occupies an area of 9,097 square miles (23,562 square km). The department ranks first in Colombia in the production of rice and sesame; other crops grown in Tolima include cotton, coffee, corn (maize), bananas, sugarcane,

Bracciano, Lake

2004-08-25T15:00:00.000-07:00

Italian Lago di Bracciano , ancient (Latin) Lacus Sabatinus circular lake in Roma provincia, Lazio (Latium) regione, central Italy. It lies in the Sabatini Mountains, just northwest of Rome. Mineral hot springs along its shores recall its earlier geologic formation from a group of volcanic craters. The surface lies 538 feet (164 m) above sea level, with an area of 22 square miles (58 square km). The maximum depth is 525 feet (160 m) and the diameter is about

Christian Science Monitor, The

2004-08-22T18:46:00.000-07:00

Daily newspaper (except Saturdays and Sundays) published in Boston under the auspices of the Church of Christ, Scientist. It was established in 1908 at the urging of Mary Baker Eddy, founder of the church, as a protest against the sensationalism of the popular press. The Monitor became famous for its thoughtful treatment of the news and for the quality of its long-range, comprehensive