LowPlanet

organic cotton goods

2006-10-30T15:30:00.000-08:00

Liv organic cotton goods are soft luxurious nad affordable and they have a huge range of organic clothing.

Antaeus

2005-04-03T19:55:00.000-07:00

In Greek mythology, a giant of Libya, the son of the sea god Poseidon and the Earth goddess Gaea. He compelled all strangers who were passing through the country to wrestle with him. Whenever Antaeus touched the Earth (his mother), his strength was renewed, so that even if thrown to the ground, he was invincible. Heracles, in combat with him, discovered the source of his strength

Daulatabad

2005-04-03T13:44:00.000-07:00

Also called Devagiri , or Deogir village and ancient city, Maharashtra state, western India. Founded in the late 12th century by King Bhillam of the Yadava dynasty, it was a major fortress and administrative centre in medieval times. The fortress, located in and around a large rock outcropping, was so impregnable that it was never taken by force, although it was taken by intrigue. The city was the capital of

Adcock, Fleur

2005-04-03T10:37:00.000-07:00

Adcock received her early education in England and later earned degrees at Wellington Girls' College and Victoria University of Wellington. She served as lecturer and librarian at a number of New Zealand

Chelles

2005-04-02T14:53:00.000-08:00

Town, eastern suburb of Paris, in Seine-et-Marne département, Paris region, north-central France, near the Marne River. It is the site of ancient Calae and has ruins of the 7th-century Abbey of Notre-Dame-de-Chelles (founded by Bathilde, widow of Clovis II, and destroyed during the French Revolution). Prehistoric remains found nearby in the 19th century were designated Chellean

Wang Pi

2005-04-02T00:48:00.000-08:00

By the time of his death at the age of 23, Wang was already the author of outstanding commentaries on the Taoist classic, the Tao-te Ching, or Lao-tzu, and the Confucian mystical classic, the I Ching (“Classic of Changes”). Through these commentaries he helped introduce metaphysics into Chinese

Port Antonio

2005-04-01T13:52:00.000-08:00

Chief town of the Parish of Portland, on the northeastern coast of Jamaica, 60 mi (97 km) northeast of Kingston. The island's third largest port, it is a shipping point for bananas, coconuts, and cacao and is one of Jamaica's oldest and least commercialized tourist resorts. It lies on a bay divided by a promontory into East and West Harbours; the latter is sheltered by the small Navy

Iron Meteorite

2005-03-31T22:54:00.000-08:00

Any meteorite consisting mainly of iron, usually combined with small amounts of nickel. When such meteorites, called irons, fall through the atmosphere, a thin, black crust of iron oxide may form that quickly weathers to rust. Though irons constitute only about 5 percent of meteorite falls, they are relatively easy to distinguish from terrestrial rock and last longer

Dinawari, Ad-

2005-03-31T03:57:00.000-08:00

Ad-Dinawari studied philology in the Iraqi cities of Basra and Kufah. The systematic approach to learning that he acquired there is reflected in the preserved fragments of

Anthony Of Novgorod

2005-03-31T01:54:00.000-08:00

Anthony's importance derives mainly from his Pilgrim's

Wigglesworth, Michael

2005-03-29T09:19:00.000-08:00

Wigglesworth emigrated to America in 1638 with his family and settled in New Haven. In 1651 he graduated from Harvard College, where he was a tutor and a fellow from 1652 to 1654 and again from 1697 to 1705. He preached at Charlestown, Mass., in 1653–54 and was pastor at

Zaqaziq, Az-

2005-03-29T03:59:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Zagazig, city and capital of ash-Sharqiyah muhafazah (governorate), Egypt, on the Nile River delta north-northeast of Cairo. The city dates from the 1820s, when cotton cultivation spread to the eastern delta. Located at the junction of two irrigation canals (Tur'at as-Suways al-Hulwah [Sweetwater Canal] and Tur'at al-Mu'iz), az-Zaqaziq is about 1 mile (2 km) north of mounds marking the site of the 4th-dynasty

Swamp Deer

2005-03-28T15:59:00.000-08:00

Common name for the barasingha (q.v.) of India and for the marsh deer (Blastocerus dichotomus), a large reddish brown deer of South American marshes.

Seton, George Seton, 5th Lord

2005-03-26T05:37:00.000-08:00

He was the eldest son of the 4th Lord Seton (d. 1549) and was educated in France. He was present at Mary's marriage with the dauphin (afterward Francis II of France) in 1557, and three years later he was again in France because of his adherence to Roman Catholicism. When Mary returned to Scotland (1561), he became privy councillor

Wigglesworth, Michael

2005-03-26T04:55:00.000-08:00

World congresses of the BWA are held every

Commodity Trade

2005-03-24T21:15:00.000-08:00

Of the multinational organizations aimed at affecting the price of a commodity, one of the most significant is the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). It was founded in 1960 by Middle Eastern countries and Venezuela, although its membership has come to include developing nations in other parts of the world. Some major oil-exporting nations have remained

Terbrugghen, Hendrik

2005-03-24T20:32:00.000-08:00

In the early 1590s Terbrugghen's family moved to Utrecht, a strong Roman Catholic centre, where he studied with Abraham Bloemaert. Terbrugghen reportedly spent 10 years in Italy, having arrived in Rome about 1604, and thus could have had direct contact

Babol

2005-03-24T02:44:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Babul, formerly Barfurush, city, northern Iran, on the Babol River, about 15 miles (24 km) south of the Caspian Sea. Babol gained importance during the reign (1797–1834) of Fath 'Ali Shah, though 'Abbas I (died 1629) had laid out a pleasure garden and summer palace there. The city has paved streets, large and crowded bazaars, well-built houses, and small, handsome mosques and funeral towers. There are some manufacturing activities, but

Dance, Western, Experiments

2005-03-23T13:26:00.000-08:00

Technological progress itself became the subject of dance and dancing. In the Soviet Union, there were experiments during the 1920s with dances created to express urban traffic, the accuracy of machine work, and the grandeur of skyscrapers. In Germany, the painter Oskar Schlemmer (1888–1943) realized his vision of a dance of pure, geometric form in the Triadisches Ballet performed

Han-fei-tzu

2005-03-23T02:49:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Hanfeizi the greatest of China's Legalist philosophers. His essays on autocratic government so impressed King Cheng of Ch'in that the future emperor adopted their principles after seizing power in 221 BC. The book that goes by Han-fei's name comprises a synthesis of legal theories up to his time.

Abbeville

2005-03-22T07:15:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1854) of Vermilion parish, southern Louisiana, U.S., on the Vermilion River, 20 miles (32 km) south-southwest of Lafayette. It was founded in 1843 by a Capuchin missionary, Père Antoine Desire Mégret, who patterned it on a French Provençal village. First called La Chapelle and settled by Acadians from Nova Scotia and Mediterranean immigrants, it was later named Abbeville (“Priest's

Utopia

2005-03-21T22:12:00.000-08:00

The word first occurred in Sir Thomas More's Utopia, published in Latin as Libellus . . . de optimo reipublicae statu, deque nova insula Utopia (“Concerning the highest state

Aquinas, Thomas, Saint, Commentaries on Aristotle

2005-03-21T19:25:00.000-08:00

In octo libros Physicorum expositio (1268–71; Commentary on Aristotle's Physics, 1963); In tres libros De anima (undated; The Commentary of St. Thomas Aquinas on Aristotle's Treatise on the Soul, 1946); In librum De sensu et sensato expositio (1270–71); In decem libros Ethicorum expositio (1271–72; Commentary on the Nicomachean Ethics, 1964); In duodecim libros Metaphysicorum expositio (c. 1272; Commentary on the Metaphysics of Aristotle, 1961); In libros De caelo et mundo expositio (1272–73); In libros Posteriorum analyticorum expositio (undated; probably late).

Babbitt, Milton

2005-03-20T03:51:00.000-08:00

Babbitt attended public schools in Jackson, Miss., and later studied at New

Pau

2005-03-19T06:42:00.000-08:00

Town, capital of Pyrénées-Atlantiques département, Aquitaine region, southwestern France. The capital of the former province of Béarn, Pau is a spa and winter sports centre. It stands on the edge of a plateau 130 feet (40 m) above the valley of the Pau Stream, which descends from the Pyrenees. The town's boulevard des Pyrénées, more than 1 mile (1.6 km) long, is situated high above the valley

Uspensky, Gleb Ivanovich

2005-03-19T02:16:00.000-08:00

Uspensky studied law at the Universities of Moscow and St. Petersburg and for a time worked as a teacher. His first important work, Nravy

Lena River

2005-03-18T11:16:00.000-08:00

Sakha (Yakut) Ulakhan Iuriakh (“Great River”) major river of Russia and the 10th longest river in the world. It flows 2,734 miles (4,400 km) from its sources in the mountains along the western shores of Lake Baikal, in southeastern Siberia, to the mouth of its delta on the Arctic Laptev Sea. The area of the river's drainage basin is about 961,000 square miles (2,490,000 square km).

Castelvetro, Lodovico

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

A dominant literary critic of the Italian Renaissance, particularly noted for his translation of and independently rendered conclusions from Aristotle's Poetics, in which he defended the dramatic unities of time, place, and action, as well as the use of poetry for pleasure alone; he thereby helped set the

Hinshelwood, Sir Cyril Norman

2005-03-17T23:34:00.000-08:00

Hinshelwood obtained his doctorate

Mozaffar Od-din Shah

2005-03-17T21:27:00.000-08:00

The son of the Qajar ruler Naser od-Din Shah, Mozaffar od-Din was named crown prince and sent as governor to the northern province of Azerbaijan in 1861. He spent his 35 years as crown prince in the pursuit of pleasure; his relations with his father were frequently

Kuala Belait

2005-03-17T13:44:00.000-08:00

Town, western Brunei. It lies along the Belait River near the South China Sea, west of Seria. It is the centre of an oil field that includes offshore wells. Kuala Belait is a river port on the coastal road that runs eastward to Seria and Bandar Seri Begawan, the national capital. A government vocational school supplies technical training in construction and engineering

Religion, Salvation Army.

2005-03-15T22:41:00.000-08:00

In March 1998 a group of 150 Protestants and Roman Catholics, including youth from the Salvation Army Ireland Divisional Youth Chorus, demonstrated their shared Christian ideals by traveling to Washington, D.C., where they were greeted by and sang for both U.S. Pres. Bill Clinton

Medicine, Army medical organization

2005-03-14T19:01:00.000-08:00

The medical doctor of first contact to the soldier in the armies of developed countries is usually an officer in the medical corps. In peacetime the doctor sees the sick and has functions similar to those of the general practitioner, prescribing drugs and dressings, and there may be a sick bay where slightly sick soldiers can remain for a few days. The doctor is usually

Switzerland, World War II

2005-03-14T01:43:00.000-08:00

After World War II broke out, Switzerland mobilized 450,000 soldiers and 200,000 auxiliaries (out of a total population of 4,000,000). Thanks to the experience of the preceding war, the government compensated soldiers for lost wages. Another difference from World War I was the unity of the nation across barriers of language and class. The most difficult phase was summer 1940, after France had unexpectedly

Holmium

2005-03-12T17:03:00.000-08:00

(Ho), chemical element, rare-earth metal of transition Group IIIb of the periodic table, one of the most paramagnetic substances known. Among the least abundant of the rare-earth elements, holmium and its compounds have limited application except for research. Holmium has been used as a component of some electronic devices; the trivalent ion has been used as a catalyst

Offroad Racing

2005-03-12T10:10:00.000-08:00

Numerous offroad race circuits have developed, notably Score International Off Road Racing, which hosts the

Saxe, (hermann-) Maurice, Comte De

2005-03-12T02:29:00.000-08:00

The illegitimate son of the elector Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (later also King Augustus II of Poland), young Maurice was sent by his father to serve under Prince Eugene of Savoy against the French in Flanders

Hour Angle

2005-03-10T16:57:00.000-08:00

In astronomy, the angle between an observer's meridian (a great circle passing over his head and through the celestial poles) and the hour circle (any other great circle passing through the poles) on which some celestial body lies. This angle, when expressed in hours and minutes, is the time elapsed since the celestial body's last transit of the observer's meridian. The

Zapata, Luis

2005-03-10T13:54:00.000-08:00

Zapata studied French literature at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. In his best-known work, Las aventuras,

Nitti, Francesco Saverio

2005-03-10T03:09:00.000-08:00

After a career as a journalist and professor of economics, Nitti was elected deputy in 1904. A Left Liberal, he served as minister of agriculture, industry, and commerce in 1911–14 and as minister of the treasury in 1917–19. He succeeded Vittorio Emanuele Orlando, the wartime prime minister,

Sports, Book Of

2005-03-09T18:03:00.000-08:00

Formally Declaration of Sports order issued by King James I of England for use in Lancashire to resolve a conflict, on the subject of Sunday amusements, between the Puritans and the gentry, many of whom were Roman Catholics. Permission was given for dancing, archery, leaping and vaulting, and for “having of May games, Whitsun ales and morris dances, and the setting up of May-poles and other sports therewith

Ada

2005-03-08T22:52:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1907) of Pontotoc county, south-central Oklahoma, U.S. It lies along Clear Boggy Creek, south of the Canadian River, and was named for the daughter of the first postmaster, William J. Reed, who built a log store there in 1889. The railroad arrived in 1900, and the city developed as a marketing and trading centre for a large cattle and grain area. The discovery of oil in the vicinity

Venetian Glass

2005-03-08T05:53:00.000-08:00

Variety of glasswares made in Venice from the 13th century, at the latest, to the present. Although a glassblowers' guild existed in Venice from 1224, the earliest extant specimens that can be dated with certainty are from the mid-15th century. The early history of Venetian glass is therefore largely conjectural. It is known that in 1291 the glasshouses moved across the lagoon to

Holiness Movement

2005-03-07T19:35:00.000-08:00

The movement

Gable, Christopher Michael

2005-03-07T16:14:00.000-08:00

British ballet dancer and actor (b. March 13, 1940, Hackney, London, Eng.--d. Oct. 23, 1998, near Halifax, Yorkshire, Eng.), was a popular star of the Royal Ballet, and his strong dramatic ability paved the way for him to make a smooth transition to theatre and motion pictures. When he was a young boy, Gable, having seen dance numbers in films, asked for lessons. His mother consented, if he also studied

Abzug, Bella

2005-03-07T11:22:00.000-08:00

The daughter of Russian-Jewish émigrés, Bella Savitsky attended Hunter College (B.A., 1942) and Columbia University Law School, where she specialized

Yang Chu

2005-03-05T19:12:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Yang Zhu one of the early Taoist philosophers. Yang has been infamous in Chinese history for what was thought to be his extreme hedonism. This characterization of Yang was fostered by the great Confucian philosopher Mencius (c. 371–289 BC), the second Sage (after Confucius) of China, who condemned Yang Chu for upholding the principle of “each for himself.” According to Mencius,

Aesthetics, Major concerns of 18th-century aesthetics

2005-03-05T05:31:00.000-08:00

The development of aesthetics between the work of Baumgarten and that of Immanuel Kant, who had been influenced by Baumgarten's writings, was complex and diverse, drawing inspiration from virtually every realm of human inquiry. Yet, throughout this period certain topics repeatedly received focal attention in discussions pertaining to aesthetic

Gypsum

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

Common sulfate mineral of great commercial importance, composed of hydrated calcium sulfate (CaSO4 × 2H2O). In well-developed crystals the mineral commonly has been called selenite. The fibrous massive variety has a silky lustre and is called satin spar; it is translucent and opalescent and is valued for ornaments and jewelry. The fine-grained massive variety called

Clarence, Thomas Plantagenet, Duke Of

2005-03-03T00:30:00.000-08:00

He twice visited Ireland, where he was nominally lord lieutenant, 1401–13. For a short time, in 1412, he replaced his elder brother, afterward King Henry V, as the chief figure in the government. Clarence favoured an alliance with the Orléanists and led an unsuccessful expedition

Baalbek

2005-03-02T16:07:00.000-08:00

Nothing is known of Baalbek earlier than the Greek conquest of Syria (332 BC). After the death of Alexander the Great (323), the region fell to the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt, under which the town was called Heliopolis, probably after its Egyptian namesake.

Nam Viet

2005-03-02T11:39:00.000-08:00

The kingdom was formed in 207 BC, during the breakup of the Ch'in dynasty (221–206 BC), when the Ch'in governor of Yüeh (now Kwangtung and Kwangsi provinces) declared his territory independent. His son Chao T'o (Trieu Da) expanded the new kingdom southward, incorporating

New Castle

2005-03-01T13:14:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1849) of Lawrence county, western Pennsylvania, U.S. It lies at the juncture of the Shenango and Mahoning rivers and Neshannock Creek and in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains, 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Youngstown, Ohio. Originally the site of a Delaware Indian capital, it was settled in about 1798 by John Stewart, who built an iron furnace and named the place for the

Baseball

2005-02-28T19:09:00.000-08:00

Robert Verdi

Medicine, Japan

2005-02-28T17:09:00.000-08:00

Japan's Ministry of Health and Welfare directs public health programs at the national level, maintaining close coordination among the fields of preventive medicine, medical care, and welfare and health insurance. The departments of health of the prefectures and of the largest municipalities operate health centres. The integrated community health programs

Burford

2005-02-27T10:25:00.000-08:00

Town (“parish”), West Oxfordshire district, administrative and historic county of Oxfordshire, southern England, on the River Windrush, in the Cotswolds. The town was acquired by Robert FitzHamon, earl of Gloucester, who granted it a market in 1088 and England's earliest datable merchant guild. Sir Lawrence Tanfield, a local landowner, successfully challenged the town's civic

Gauss, Carl Friedrich

2005-02-26T20:56:00.000-08:00

Gauss was the only child of poor parents.

Dance, Western, The Soviet ballet

2005-02-26T11:08:00.000-08:00

Although Diaghilev's achievements were ignored there, the Soviet Union in the 1920s abounded with the daring choreographic experiments of Fyodor Lopukhov (1886–1973) and others. Despite the official imposition of “socialist realism” as the criterion of artistic acceptability in 1932, ballet gained enormous popularity with the Soviet people. They loved their dancers, who were superbly

Ear, Human, Eustachian tube

2005-02-25T05:31:00.000-08:00

The eustachian tube, about 45 millimetres (1.75 inches) long, leads downward and inward from the tympanum to the nasopharynx, the space that is behind and continuous with the nasal passages and is above the soft palate. At its upper end the tube is narrow and surrounded by bone. Nearer the pharynx it widens and becomes cartilaginous. Its mucous lining, which is continuous with

Amadís Of Gaul

2005-02-24T20:55:00.000-08:00

In Montalvo's version,

Anaya, Rudolfo A.

2005-02-24T03:13:00.000-08:00

Anaya graduated from the University of New Mexico (B.A., 1963; M.A., 1968; M.A. 1972). He worked as a public school teacher in Albuquerque (1963–1970) before becoming director of counseling

Local Church, The

2005-02-23T14:50:00.000-08:00

The Local Church grew out of the ministry of Watchman Nee (1903–72), a Chinese Christian who had been strongly influenced by the Plymouth Brethren, a British fundamentalist free church. In the 1930s Nee wrote several books presenting his beliefs

Ear Disease

2005-02-23T07:04:00.000-08:00

Impaired hearing is, with rare exception, the result of disease or abnormality of the outer, middle, or inner ear. Serious impairment of hearing at birth almost always results from a dysfunction of the auditory nerve and cannot be improved by medical or surgical treatment. In early and late childhood

China, The Dzungarian Basin

2005-02-22T15:11:00.000-08:00

North of the Tarim Basin is another large depression, the Dzungarian. It is enclosed by the Tien Shan on the south, while to the northeast it is cut off from the Mongolian People's Republic by the Altai Mountains. The surface of the basin is flat, with a gentle slope to the southwest. The larger portion of the land lies at elevations between 1,000 and 1,500 feet, and in the lowest part

Carolingian Art

2005-02-21T09:23:00.000-08:00

Charlemagne's dream of a revival of the Roman Empire in the West determined both his political aims and his artistic program. His strong patronage of the arts gave impetus to a remarkable return to Roman classicism in the copying of Early Christian models and the influence

Marsa Matruh

2005-02-20T18:54:00.000-08:00

Town and capital of Matruh muhafazah (governorate), on the Mediterranean coast, Western Desert, in northwestern Egypt. The town serves as a market and distribution centre for the surrounding agricultural region. Olives, barley, and fruits are grown, and there are vineyards as well. Sheep and goats are raised. Winter rains (5–8 inches [125–200 mm]) provide most of the water needed in the coastal

Oratory

2005-02-20T08:01:00.000-08:00

In architecture, a small, private chapel (q.v.).

Italy, The Ostrogothic kingdom

2005-02-19T22:00:00.000-08:00

Odoacer was conquered and killed by Theoderic, king of the Ostrogoths (489–526). The decades of the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy (489–552) can be seen as the first true period of Germanic rule in the peninsula, for an entire tribe of 100,000 to 200,000 people came with Theoderic. Still, the Ostrogothic kingdom continued to operate inside a largely Roman political system. Like Odoacer, Theoderic courted

Ka'bah

2005-02-19T21:13:00.000-08:00

The cube-shaped

Jacobi, Lotte

2005-02-18T09:06:00.000-08:00

Born into a family of photographers (her great-grandfather began as a professional daguerreotypist in 1840), Jacobi studied art history and literature at the Academy of Posen (1912–16) and attended the Bavarian State Academy of Photography in Munich and

Anatolian Languages, Hittite

2005-02-17T11:57:00.000-08:00

The Hittite language is known from the approximately 25,000 tablets or fragments of tablets preserved in the archives of Bogazköy-Hattusa, excavated by German archaeologists beginning in 1905. In Hittite cuneiform texts, the language is referred to as nesili (nasili) “language of Nesa,” or nesumnili “language of the Neshite.” Earlier Hittite linguistic material may be found in

Zooflagellate

2005-02-16T20:15:00.000-08:00

Any flagellate protozoan that is traditionally of the protozoan class Zoomastigophorea (sometimes called Zooflagellata), although recent classifications of this group have questioned the taxonomic usefulness of the term because some zooflagellates have been found to have photosynthetic capabilities and some phytoflagellates heterotrophic

China, Mongol government and administration

2005-02-15T22:36:00.000-08:00

After their initial successes in northern China in 1211–15, the Mongols faced the problem of how to rule and extract material benefits from a largely sedentary population. They were assisted by Khitan and Chinese and even Juchen renegades; these defectors were treated as “companions” (nökör) of the Mongols and were given positions similar to the higher ranks of the steppe

Xirgu, Margarita

2005-02-15T02:21:00.000-08:00

Xirgu made her professional debut in Barcelona in 1906 and five years later joined the Teatro Principal. She made her first appearance in Madrid in 1914, performing exclusively in the Catalan language. Over the next

O'brien, Fitz-james

2005-02-14T01:30:00.000-08:00

O'Brien was the son of a lawyer. He ran through his inheritance in two years in London, where he began to work in journalism. In 1852 he moved

Judaism, Creativity

2005-02-12T20:35:00.000-08:00

As has been noted, this “creed,” or “confession of faith,” underscores in the first benediction the relation of God to the world as that of Creator to creation. “Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who forms light and creates darkness, who makes peace and creates all things.” It adds the assertion that his activity is not in the past but is ongoing and continuous,

Yukaghir Language

2005-02-12T02:23:00.000-08:00

Language spoken by not more than a few hundred persons in the Kolyma River region of Sakha (Yakutiya) republic of Russia. Yukaghir was traditionally grouped in the catchall category of Paleo-Siberian languages with a number of languages that are not genetically related or structurally similar. More recently, however, Yukaghir has been considered a distant relative

Breisgau

2005-02-11T07:45:00.000-08:00

Historic region between the Rhine and the Black Forest in southwestern Germany, now in the South Baden district of the Land (state) Baden-Württemberg. It was part of the frontier region of the Roman Empire known as the Agri Decumates; from c. AD 260 it was occupied by the Germanic Alemanni. The Zähringen family was invested with the countship of Breisgau in the early Middle

Indo-european Languages

2005-02-10T21:58:00.000-08:00

Family of languages spoken in most of Europe and areas of European settlement and in much of Southwest and South Asia. The term Indo-Hittite is used by scholars who believe that Hittite and the other Anatolian languages are not just one branch of Indo-European but rather a branch coordinate with all the rest put together; thus, Indo-Hittite has been used for a family

Constance, Council Of

2005-02-10T04:59:00.000-08:00

(1414–18), 16th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. Following the election of two rival popes (Gregory XII in Rome and Benedict XIII in Avignon) in 1378 and the attempt at the Council of Pisa in 1409 to resolve the Western Schism by the election of a new pope, the church found itself with three popes instead of one. Under pressure from the Holy Roman emperor Sigismund, John

Yes

2005-02-09T20:10:00.000-08:00

British progressive rock band known for its extended compositions and virtuoso musicianship. Its principal members were Jon Anderson (b. Oct. 25, 1944, Accrington, Lancashire, Eng.), Chris Squire (b. March 4, 1948, London, Eng.), Steve Howe (b. April 8, 1947, London), Rick Wakeman (b. May 18, 1949, London), and Alan White (b. June 14, 1949, Pelton, Durham, Eng.). Other members included Bill Bruford (b. May 17, 1949, Sevenoaks, Kent, Eng.), Patrick

World War I, The Eastern Front, 1916

2005-02-08T16:26:00.000-08:00

In the hope of diverting German strength from the attack at Verdun on the Western Front, the Russians gallantly but prematurely opened an offensive north and south of Lake Naroch (Narocz, east of Vilna) on March 18, 1916, and continued it until March 27, though they won very little ground at great cost and only for a short time. They then reverted to preparations for a major offensive

Scale Worm

2005-02-08T04:09:00.000-08:00

The somewhat arched back of the scale worm is covered with flattened pairs of overlapping scales. A

Amalfi

2005-02-07T20:37:00.000-08:00

Town and archiepiscopal see, Salerno provincia, Campania regione, southern Italy. It lies in the ravine of the Mulini Valley, along the Gulf of Salerno, southeast of Naples. Although it was known in the 4th century, Amalfi was of little importance until the mid-6th century under the Byzantines. As one of the first Italian maritime republics in the 9th century, it rivaled Pisa,

Patristic Literature, Late 2nd to early 4th century

2005-02-06T09:06:00.000-08:00

Meanwhile, a brilliant and distinctive phase of Christian literature was opening at Alexandria, the chief cultural centre of the empire and the meeting ground of the best in Hellenistic Judaism, Gnosticism, and Neoplatonism. Marked by the desire to present Christianity in intellectually satisfying terms, this literature has usually been connected with the

Beijing, Museums and libraries

2005-02-05T20:21:00.000-08:00

The Palace Museum, housed in the main buildings of the former Imperial Palaces, contains the city's greatest collection of art treasures. Many of the halls are kept as they were in dynastic times, each constituting a museum in itself, and others are used to display some of the priceless treasures from China's past. Of special interest are its porcelains and enamels, works

Gwadar Bay

2005-02-05T15:48:00.000-08:00

Persian Khalij-e Gavater, inlet of the Arabian Sea indenting the sandy Makran coast at the Iran–Pakistan border. It is about 20 miles (32 km) long and 10 miles (16 km) wide. The Dashtiari River flows into it from the northwest, and the Dasht from the northeast. The town of Gwadar, Pak., lies on the Arabian Sea coast about 30 miles (48 km) to the east of Gwadar Bay.

Ayre

2005-02-05T04:46:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Air, genre of solo song with lute accompaniment that flourished in England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. The outstanding composers in the genre were the lutanist John Dowland, whose “Flow, my teares” (“Lachrimae”) became so popular that a large number of continental and English instrumental pieces were based on its melody, and the poet and composer Thomas

Solfeggio

2005-02-03T06:01:00.000-08:00

French Solfège, vocal exercises sung to the solmization syllables (do, re, mi, etc.) and, by extension, vocalizes, or exercises sung to a single vowel, often florid and difficult to master. Solfeggio collections survive from the 17th century onward, with examples by leading composers of 18th-century opera, such as Nicola Porpora (also a singer and famed singing teacher) and Alessandro Scarlatti

John

2005-02-03T00:51:00.000-08:00

John succeeded his father, Christian I, king of Denmark and Norway,

Joachim Frederick

2005-02-02T07:43:00.000-08:00

Joachim established the rule of primogeniture for the Hohenzollern electorate by a family agreement known as the Gera Bond (1598), which confirmed the practice begun by Albert III Achilles whereby Brandenburg formed the inheritance

Vakhan

2005-01-31T19:41:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Wakhan, or Wakhan Corridor, a mountainous region and panhandle in the Pamir Mountains of extreme northeastern Afghanistan. From the demarcation of the Afghan frontier (1895–96), the panhandle formed a political buffer between Russian Turkistan, British India, and China. It is now bounded by Tajikistan (north), China (east), and Pakistan (south). The Vakhan River flows from west to east through Vakhan for 100 miles

Earth, Age of oceanic islands

2005-01-31T05:49:00.000-08:00

One of the earliest indications that some blocks of seafloor are moving relative to other such blocks was that while the age of young volcanic islands or seamounts shows no relationship to distance from spreading mid-oceanic ridges, old features of this sort are never found near the ridges. This relationship can be readily explained if new seafloor is created

Kiev

2005-01-31T04:20:00.000-08:00

Ukrainian Kyyiv, Russian Kiyev, also spelled Kyiv oblast (province), north-central Ukraine. In the mid-1990s the oblast was separated administratively from the city of Kiev, which serves as the oblast capital though it is a self-governing city not under oblast jurisdiction. The oblast lies astride the Dnieper River, with the greater part on the western bank. Most of the oblast thus lies on the low, flat plain of the Dnieper

Adams, Herbert Baxter

2005-01-30T16:34:00.000-08:00

The son of a successful merchant and manufacturer, Adams graduated from Amherst College, Massachusetts, in 1872 and attended lectures in Germany between 1874 and 1876 at Göttingen,

Clotilda, Saint

2005-01-30T09:57:00.000-08:00

Clotilda was the granddaughter of Gundioc, king of Burgundy, who was related to the Visigothic kings and shared their Arian Christian faith. At Gundioc's death his kingdom was divided between his four sons, Gundobad, Godegesil,

Amber

2005-01-28T14:57:00.000-08:00

Amber occurs as irregular nodules, rods, or droplike shapes

Yad

2005-01-27T09:54:00.000-08:00

Plural Yadayim, in Judaism, a ritual object, usually made of silver but sometimes of wood or other materials, that consists of a shaft affixed to a miniature representation of a hand with its index finger pointing. The yad is used optionally in liturgical services to indicate the place that is being read on a Torah (biblical) scroll, thus eliminating the necessity of touching the sacred

Obaku

2005-01-27T00:55:00.000-08:00

Chinese Huang-po, one of the three Zen sects in Japan, founded in 1654 by the Chinese priest Yin-yüan (Japanese Ingen); it continues to preserve elements of the Chinese tradition in its architecture, religious ceremonies, and teachings. Although the methods of achieving sudden insight as developed by the Rinzai sect are practiced by Obaku monks, invocation of the name of the Buddha Amida (nembutsu

Ibn Muqlah

2005-01-26T03:10:00.000-08:00

One of the foremost calligraphers of the 'Abbasid Age (750–1258), reputed inventor of the first cursive style of Arabic lettering, the naskhi script, which replaced the angular Kufic as the standard of Islamic calligraphy. In the naskhi script Ibn Muqlah introduced the rounded forms and curved lines that in later styles were