StraightPluto

Hout, Jan Van

2005-03-18T17:38:00.000-08:00

His “modernity” is also seen in his intense interest

Gravesend

2005-03-16T07:25:00.000-08:00

The discovery of the skull of Swanscombe man near Gravesend dates early settlement in the area to the Second Interglacial Period (about 200,000 years ago). Gravesend is mentioned in Domesday Book (1086) as Gravesham, possessing a hithe

Du Toit, Jakob Daniel

2005-03-15T14:21:00.000-08:00

Du Toit was educated in Pretoria, Rustenburg, and Daljosafat, studied at the theological seminary at Burgesdorp, and passed his final

Wolcott, Oliver

2005-03-13T14:41:00.000-08:00

Descended from an old Connecticut family long active in public affairs, he was the son of Roger Wolcott, who was the colonial governor in 1750–54. Settling in Litchfield county, where he practiced law and was

New Caledonia

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

Officially Territory of New Caledonia and Dependencies , French Territoire de la Nouvelle-Calédonie et Dépendances French overseas territory in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, about 900 miles (1,500 kilometres) east of Australia. It includes the island of New Caledonia (the Grande Terre, or mainland), where the capital, Nouméa, is located; the Loyalty Islands; the Bélep Islands; and the Isle of Pines. These islands, which form more than 99 percent of the total land area of about 7,300 square miles (19,000 square

General Motors Corporation

2005-03-09T19:54:00.000-08:00

(GM) American corporation that became the world's largest vehicle manufacturer in 1931 and maintained that status into the 21st century. It also ranks among the world's largest industrial corporations. GM was founded in 1908 to consolidate several motorcar companies and today operates manufacturing and assembly plants and distribution centres throughout the United States

Dachstein

2005-03-06T16:42:00.000-08:00

Mountain massif of the northern Alps, Austria, on the borders of the Bundesländer (federal provinces) Oberösterreich, Salzburg, and Steiermark, reaching its maximum elevation at Hoher Dachstein (9,826 ft [2,995 m]). Among the massif's higher reaches are the easternmost and northernmost glaciers of the Alps, the largest of which is the Hallstättergletscher, 2 sq mi (5.3 sq km) in area. The

Leah

2005-03-04T15:47:00.000-08:00

After Jacob had deprived his brother Esau of his birthright

Flamininus, Titus Quinctius

2005-03-03T09:50:00.000-08:00

Flamininus was a military tribune during the Second Punic War (218–201) and had a distinguished military career. Elected quaestor in 205, he exercised the authority (imperium) of a praetor at Tarentum in southern Italy, and he twice (202, 200) was involved in the distribution of lands to victorious troops. These veterans

Nagaland, Education and welfare

2005-03-01T21:06:00.000-08:00

The state has placed considerable emphasis on public health. It has programs for treating tuberculosis

Nadir Shah

2005-02-26T20:16:00.000-08:00

Nadr Qoli Beg had an obscure beginning in the Turkish Afshar tribe, which was loyal to the Safavid shahs of Iran. After serving under a local chieftain, Nadr formed and led a band of robbers, showing marked powers of leadership.

Mac Lane, Saunders

2005-02-24T07:36:00.000-08:00

Mac Lane graduated from Yale University in 1930 and then began graduate work at the University of Chicago. He soon moved to Germany, where he received his doctorate in 1933, with

Augustus Ii

2005-02-22T20:46:00.000-08:00

The second son of Elector John George III of Saxony, Augustus succeeded his elder brother John George IV as elector in 1694. After

Long Range Mountains

2005-02-20T14:01:00.000-08:00

Highest range on the island of Newfoundland, Canada, extending about 250 miles (400 km) northward from Cape Ray along the western shore. The mountains have an average elevation of nearly 2,200 feet (670 m) and a maximum height of 2,670 feet (814 m) in the Lewis Hills, southwest of Corner Brook. Their relatively uniform summits represent the remnants of an ancient peneplain that has undergone periods

Karajan, Herbert Von

2005-02-19T02:04:00.000-08:00

A child prodigy on the piano, Karajan studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. He made his professional conducting debut in 1929 at Salzburg, and he was appointed to a conducting position in Ulm, Ger., later that year. He remained

Nadel, S(iegfried) F(rederick)

2005-02-17T00:07:00.000-08:00

Before turning to anthropology Nadel pursued musical interests. He wrote a biography of the Italian composer Ferruccio Benvenuto Busoni and a work on musical typology, and he toured with his own opera

Sardinia

2005-02-14T10:55:00.000-08:00

Also called Piedmont-sardinia, or Sardinia-piedmont, kingdom of the house of Savoy from 1720, which was centred on the lands of Piedmont (in northwestern Italy) and Sardinia. In 1718, by the Treaty of London among the great powers, Victor Amadeus II, duke of Savoy and sovereign of Piedmont, was forced to yield Sicily to the Austrian Habsburgs and in exchange received Sardinia (until then a Spanish possession). Two years later, on Aug. 24, 1720, he

Ada Group

2005-02-12T20:39:00.000-08:00

Ivory carvings and a group of about 10 illuminated manuscripts, dating from the last quarter of the 8th century, the earliest examples of the art of the Court School of Charlemagne. The group is named after a Gospel book (c. 750; Trier, Cathedral Treasury) commissioned by Ada, supposed half sister of Charlemagne. These earliest manuscripts of the Carolingian period, which initiated

Scandinavian Literature

2005-02-10T11:04:00.000-08:00

The literature of Scandinavia and, in particular, of Iceland has reflected two extraordinary features of the social and cultural history of pagan Europe and of Iceland. The way in which names such as Siegfried, Brunhild, and Attila cropped up again and again in different European literatures has borne witness to the dissemination of legends and traditions common

Esso

2005-02-08T08:22:00.000-08:00

Any of several foreign affiliates of the Exxon Corporation (q.v.).

India, Southern Indian kingdoms

2005-02-07T01:17:00.000-08:00

Inscriptions in Brahmi (recently read as Tamil Brahmi) date to between the 2nd century BC and the 4th century

Korchnoi, Viktor

2005-02-05T17:01:00.000-08:00

As a youngster, Korchnoi lived through the World War II siege of Leningrad (1941–43). He became a Soviet master in 1951, an international master in 1954, and an international grandmaster

Selihoth

2005-02-03T22:18:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Selihot, or Selichot, Hebrew Selihot (“pardons”), in Jewish liturgy, penitential prayers originally composed for Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) and for fast days but subsequently incorporated into other services. Selihoth have become an indispensable part of the Jewish liturgical services that precede Rosh Hashana (New Year), continue through the Ten Days of Penitence ('aseret yeme teshuva), and terminate

Human Evolution, Ngaloba man

2005-02-01T18:20:00.000-08:00

In 1976 a skull was found in the Ngaloba beds at the Laetoli site in Tanzania. These beds consist of deposits of sandstone and clay stone that are preserved in patches; these patches are made up of redeposited detritus that has been eroded from the underlying Ndolanya and Laetoli beds. In the upper Ngaloba beds, stone tools have been recovered that have been attributed

Cospicua

2005-01-30T20:52:00.000-08:00

Town, eastern Malta, one of the Three Cities (the others being Senglea and Vittoriosa), at the head of Dockyard Creek, just south of Valletta across Grand Harbour. It developed as a suburb of Vittoriosa in the mid-16th century and was a thriving settlement (known as Bormla) before it was severely damaged by the Turks in the Great Siege of Malta in 1565. It was rebuilt and refortified

Painting, Western

2005-01-27T05:06:00.000-08:00

In the Metal Age, western Mediterranean cultures were similar at many points. The area occupied by them extended from Illyria (the northwestern part of the Balkan Peninsula) in the east to the Atlantic shores of the Iberian Peninsula in the west and from the shores along the Gulf of Lion and the Ligurian Sea (i.e., the coasts of what are now southern France and northwestern

Nevada, Emma

2005-01-25T11:44:00.000-08:00

Emma Wixom grew up in Nevada City, California, and in Austin, Nevada. She graduated from Mills Seminary (now College) in Oakland, California, in 1876. In Vienna on a European study tour in 1877, she met and was taken as a pupil by the

Strasburger, Eduard Adolf

2005-01-24T19:02:00.000-08:00

Strasburger was educated at the universities of Paris, Bonn, and Jena, where he received a Ph.D. in 1866. He taught at the universities of Warsaw (1868), Jena (1869–80), and Bonn (1880–1912). Strasburger's earliest research was a continuation of the work begun

Nutrition, Competition for sites of absorption by the cell

2005-01-21T16:40:00.000-08:00

Since absorption of nutrients frequently occurs by way of active transport within cell membranes, an excess of one nutrient (A) may inhibit absorption of a second nutrient (B), if they share the same absorption pathway. In such cases, the apparent requirement for nutrient B increases; B, however, can sometimes be supplied in an alternate form that is able to enter the cell

Music, Western, Ancient Greece

2005-01-20T06:53:00.000-08:00

Of the eastern Mediterranean cultures, it was undoubtedly that of the Greeks that furnished the most direct link with musical development in western Europe, by way of the Romans, who defeated them but adopted much of Greek culture intact. Entering historical times relatively late, c. 1000 BC, the Greeks soon dominated their neighbours and absorbed many elements of earlier

Amadeus Quartet

2005-01-17T03:24:00.000-08:00

English string quartet (1948–87), one of the most durable and highly regarded quartets of Europe. The quartet was formed in 1947, the result of an internment-camp meeting during World War II between three young Austrian refugees—Peter Schidlof, the group's violist; Norbert Brainin, a violinist; and Siegmund Nissel, also a violinist. They were released from the camp with help from Dame

Medicine, Army medical organization

2005-01-15T09:26:00.000-08:00

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

Muhando, Penina O.

2005-01-13T15:42:00.000-08:00

Muhando studied education and theatre in Tanzania at the University of Dar es-Salaam, later joining the faculty of the department of theatre arts. Her plays include Hatia (1972; “Guilt”), Tambueni haki zetu (1973; “Reveal Our

Stead, C.k.

2005-01-12T22:24:00.000-08:00

Stead studied at the University of Auckland (B.A., 1954; M.A., 1955) and the University of Bristol, England (Ph.D., 1961). From 1959 to 1986 he taught at the University of Auckland, becoming a full professor in 1968. His first book of poetry, Whether

Dehmel, Richard

2005-01-10T21:17:00.000-08:00

After completing his studies in 1887, Dehmel worked as an insurance official and then, in 1895, became a freelance writer. He chose naturalistic social themes for his early works and was one

Afghan War

2005-01-08T14:33:00.000-08:00

The roots of the war lay in the overthrow of the centrist government of President

Jablonski, Daniel Ernst

2005-01-05T15:56:00.000-08:00

Jablonski studied at Frankfurt an der Oder and at Oxford University and began preaching at Magdeburg in 1683. From 1686 to 1691 he headed the Moravian College at Lissa, becoming court preacher at Königsberg (now Kaliningrad, Russia)

Steer Wrestling

2005-01-04T04:38:00.000-08:00

Also called bulldogging rodeo event in which a mounted cowboy chases a full-grown steer, dives from his horse on top of the animal, grasps its horns, digs his heels in the ground to bring the animal to a stop, and twists it to the ground. The event is timed from the moment a barrier in front of the cowboy is released to the moment the steer is judged down—i.e., flat on its side with all four legs and head in

Flint, F.s.

2005-01-01T17:23:00.000-08:00

The son of a commercial traveler, Flint left school at the age of 13 and worked at a variety of jobs. At the age of 17 his reading of a volume by the 19th-century Romantic poet John

Manassas

2004-12-30T09:24:00.000-08:00

During the American Civil

Sweat Gland

2004-12-28T19:24:00.000-08:00

Either of two types of secretory skin glands occurring only in mammals. The eccrine sweat gland, which is controlled by the sympathetic nervous system, regulates body temperature. When internal temperature rises, the eccrine glands secrete water to the skin surface, where heat is removed by evaporation. If eccrine glands are active over most of the body (as in horses,

Albacete

2004-12-25T15:42:00.000-08:00

Provincia in the comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Castile-La Mancha, southeast-central Spain. It occupies the southeastern end of the Meseta Central (plateau). Albacete is the driest interior province of the Iberian Peninsula, with as little as 2 inches (50 mm) annual rainfall in some areas. The south is mountainous or hilly and is crossed by the Júcar and Segura

Rocky Mountains, Animal life

2004-12-22T18:58:00.000-08:00

The fauna of the Rockies is varied and abundant. Among the large mammals emblematic of the rugged backcountry are the black bear, grizzly bear, mountain lion, and wolverine. Bighorn sheep and mountain goats inhabit the high crags in summer and migrate to the lower slopes for the winter months (see photograph). Members of the deer family, such as the

Edmund I

2004-12-19T10:16:00.000-08:00

He was the son of the West Saxon king Edward the Elder (reigned 899–924) and the half brother of King Athelstan (reigned 924–939), under whom the political unification of England had been accomplished. On Athelstan's death (939), Olaf Guthfrithson, the Norse king of Dublin,

Auburn

2004-12-17T16:15:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1854) of Androscoggin county, southwestern Maine, U.S., on the Androscoggin River opposite Lewiston and part of the Lewiston-Auburn metropolitan area. Settled in 1786, Auburn was separated from Minot in 1842 and is supposed to have been named for the Auburn of Oliver Goldsmith's poem The Deserted Village. The manufacture of shoes was once the city's chief industry. Today diversified

Buzau

2004-12-14T18:15:00.000-08:00

Judet (county), southeastern Romania, occupying an area of 2,344 square miles (6,072 square km). The Buzau mountain range, part of the Eastern Carpathians and the sub-Carpathian mountains, lies in the west, rising above settlement areas in the valleys and lowlands. The Buzau River and its tributaries drain eastward. Buzau city, the county capital, has been an economic centre with ties to

Zoning

2004-12-13T08:58:00.000-08:00

The legislative method of controlling land use by regulating such considerations as the type of buildings (e.g., commercial or residential) that may be erected and the population density. Applied primarily to urban areas, it is accomplished by dividing land area into zoning districts, each having specific conditions under which land and buildings may be legally

Perception

2004-12-11T11:39:00.000-08:00

In humans, the process whereby sensory stimulation is translated into organized experience. That experience, or percept, is the joint product of the stimulation and of the process itself. Relations found between various types of stimulation (e.g., light waves and sound waves) and their associated percepts suggest inferences that can be made about the properties

La Línea

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

In full La Línea de la Concepción town, Cadiz provincia, in the comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Andalusia, southwestern Spain. It lies along the Bay of Gibraltar, between San Roque and the British colony of Gibraltar. The name is derived from the línea, or boundary, dividing Spanish territory from the district of Gibraltar. The town processes fruit and vegetables for sale in Gibraltar,

Oberlin, Johann Friedrich

2004-12-07T08:15:00.000-08:00

Born into a middle-class family, Oberlin studied theology and graduated from the University of Strasbourg in 1758. He was a teacher

Zipper

2004-12-05T17:05:00.000-08:00

The idea of a slide fastener was exhibited by Whitcomb

Siljan, Lake

2004-12-03T02:46:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Silja, lake in the administrative län (county) of Dalarna, central Sweden. Covering an area of 112 square miles (290 square km; including Orsa and In lakes, 137 square miles [354 square km]), it is Dalarna's largest lake and Sweden's third. After receiving the Österdal River at Mora, the lake stretches for a length of 25 miles (40 km) toward the southeast and extends into two bays, the wide Rätt to the northeast

Rio Grande

2004-11-30T23:59:00.000-08:00

Spanish Río Grande del Norte, or (in Mexico) Río Bravo, or Río Bravo del Norte, fifth longest river of North America, and the 20th longest in the world, forming the border between the U.S. state of Texas and Mexico. Rising as a clear, snow-fed mountain stream more than 12,000 feet (3,700 metres) above sea level in the Rocky Mountains, the Rio Grande descends across steppes and deserts, watering rich agricultural regions as it flows on its way to the Gulf of Mexico. The

Papyrus

2004-11-28T00:58:00.000-08:00

Papyrus

Bothriolepis

2004-11-26T06:26:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Bothryolepis, genus of extinct fishes of the order Antiarcha, class Placodermi, characteristic of the Middle and Late Devonian (from about 387 million to 360 million years ago). The front end of Bothriolepis was very heavily encased in bony armour. The eyes were located on top of the head shield and situated very close to the light-receptive pineal eye. The shield was separated into two parts,

Quince

2004-11-25T07:35:00.000-08:00

Fruit tree of the genus Cydonia, of the rose family (Rosaceae). The much-branched shrubs or small trees have entire leaves with small stipules and bear large, solitary, white or pink flowers like those of the pear or apple but with leafy calyx lobes and a many-celled ovary, in each cell of which are numerous horizontal ovules. The fruits may be round and flattened or somewhat

Calligraphy

2004-11-23T07:10:00.000-08:00

In the 7th and 8th centuries AD the Arab armies conquered for Islam territories stretching from the shores of the Atlantic to Sind (now in Pakistan). Besides a religion, they brought to the conquered peoples a language both written and spoken. The Arabic language was a principal factor in uniting peoples who differed widely in race, language, and culture. In the early centuries

Aegirine

2004-11-21T06:24:00.000-08:00

A pyroxene mineral, sodium and iron silicate (NaFe+3Si2O6), that is commonly found in alkaline igneous rocks, particularly in syenites and syenite pegmatites. It also occurs in crystalline schists. Aegirine forms a continuous chemical series with aegirinaugite, in which calcium replaces sodium, and magnesium and aluminum replace iron. In this series, the name acmite

Sankara

2004-11-18T20:59:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Shankara , also called Sankaracarya philosopher and theologian, most renowned exponent of the Advaita Vedanta school of philosophy, from whose doctrines the main currents of modern Indian thought are derived. He wrote commentaries on the Brahma-sutra and the principal Upanisads, affirming his belief in one eternal unchanging reality (Brahman) and the illusion of plurality

Paul I, Saint

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

Consecrated deacon by Pope St. Zacharias, he became a key member of the Curia under his brother Pope Stephen II (or III), whom he was elected on April 26, 757, to succeed. He secured the support of the Frankish king Pippin III the Short against the animosity of the Lombard king Desiderius and the Byzantine emperor Constantine V

Hafiz Ibrahim, Muhammad

2004-11-15T16:35:00.000-08:00

Hafiz was a lawyer and later a lieutenant in the Egyptian army, from which he retired in 1901. During the next 10 years he wrote his well-known odes denouncing imperialism and wrote his nationalistic poems. His superb skill as a reciter of poetry won him a prominent place in society, and he became director of literature

Nicaea, Council Of

2004-11-13T15:33:00.000-08:00

(325), the first ecumenical council of the Christian church, meeting in ancient Nicaea (now Iznik, Tur.). It was called by the emperor Constantine I, an unbaptized catechumen, or neophyte, who presided over the opening session and took part in the discussions. He hoped a general council of the church would solve the problem created in the Eastern church by Arianism, a heresy first

Qiyas

2004-11-10T13:45:00.000-08:00

The need for qiyas developed soon after the death of Muhammad, when the expanding

Biblical Literature, The translation of Symmachus

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

Still another Greek translation was made toward the end of the same century by Symmachus, an otherwise unknown scholar, who made use of his predecessors. His influence was small despite the superior elegance of his work. Jerome did utilize Symmachus for his Vulgate, but other than that, his translation is known largely through fragments of the Hexapla.

Natchitoches

2004-11-07T04:13:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1807) of Natchitoches parish, west-central Louisiana, U.S., on Cane River Lake, 68 miles (109 km) southeast of Shreveport. The oldest permanent settlement in the Louisiana Purchase territory, it was founded about 1714 as Fort St. Jean Baptiste by the French-Canadian explorer and soldier Louis Juchereau de Saint-Denis to forestall Spanish occupation of the area and to set up a

Aerosmith

2004-11-04T13:26:00.000-08:00

American heavy metal band. One of the biggest arena-rock attractions of the late 1970s, Aerosmith became even more popular with its career revival in the mid-1980s. Principal members were Steven Tyler (byname of Steven Tallarico; b. March 26, 1948, New York, New York, U.S.), Joe Perry (b. September 10, 1950, Boston, Massachusetts), Brad Whitford (b. February 23, 1952, Winchester, Massachusetts), Tom Hamilton (b. December

Hindemith, Paul

2004-11-02T08:45:00.000-08:00

One of the principal German composers of the first half of the 20th century and a leading musical theorist. He sought to revitalize tonality, the system underlying Western music for three centuries, which had begun to disintegrate, and also pioneered in the writing of Gebrauchsmusik, or “utility music,” compositions

Dendrocolaptidae

2004-10-31T00:23:00.000-07:00

Songbird family, order Passeriformes, consisting of a number of brownish birds of the forest or brushland and found from Mexico through South America. Representative members are the scythebill and the woodcreeper (qq.v.).

Italy, The revolutions of 1848

2004-10-29T18:04:00.000-07:00

The first of the revolutions of 1848 erupted in Palermo on January 9. Starting as a popular insurrection, it soon took on overtones of Sicilian separatism and spread throughout the island. Piecemeal reforms proved inadequate to satisfy the revolutionaries, both noble and bourgeois, who were determined to have a new and more liberal constitution. Ferdinand II of the Kingdom

Valencia

2004-10-27T03:01:00.000-07:00

Valencia (Valentia) was a prosperous area during the Roman Empire and was taken by the Visigoths in the early 5th century AD. In the early 8th century it was captured by the

Seleucia On The Tigris

2004-10-25T05:57:00.000-07:00

Greek Seleukeia, Hellenistic city founded by Seleucus I Nicator (reigned 312–281 BC) as his eastern capital; it replaced Babylon as Mesopotamia's leading city and was closely associated with the spread of Hellenistic culture in Mesopotamia. The city lay along the Tigris River about 20 miles (32 km) southeast of modern Baghdad. Seleucia was a cosmopolitan city whose population was composed largely

Coleroon River

2004-10-24T02:05:00.000-07:00

River in Tiruchchirappalli and Thanjavur districts, Tamil Nadu state, southeastern India, formed by the northern bifurcation of the Cauvery River at Srirangam. The river flows between South Arcot and Thanjavur districts for 36 mi (58 km) and empties through several mouths into the Bay of Bengal, 3 mi south of Porto Novo. The Coleroon is part of the Cauvery Delta, the most fertile and

Puffbird

2004-10-21T10:09:00.000-07:00

Puffbirds feed on flying insects. They resemble their close relatives the jacamars in habits

Locomotive

2004-10-20T06:20:00.000-07:00

Although motive power can be incorporated into a car that also has passenger, baggage, or freight accomodations, it most often is provided by a separate unit, the locomotive, which includes the machinery to generate (or, in the case of an electric locomotive, to convert) power and transmit

Powys, John Cowper

2004-10-18T04:23:00.000-07:00

Educated at Sherborne School and the University of Cambridge, Powys was a university extension

Korea, History Of, Chinese intervention

2004-10-16T07:31:00.000-07:00

The Chinese, who had moved troops along the Yalu after the Inch'on landing, entered Korea in November in overwhelming numbers. By the end of 1952, 1,200,000 Chinese were engaged in the war under the command of Peng Dehuai (P'eng Te-huai). They forced the UN forces to retreat in disorder, and Seoul was reevacuated on Jan. 4, 1951. But the Chinese were halted around P'yongt'aek (about 30 miles south of Seoul),

Memory Abnormality

2004-10-13T05:26:00.000-07:00

Disorders of memory must have been known to the ancients and are mentioned in several early medical texts, but it was not until the closing decades of the 19th century that serious attempts were made to analyze them or to seek their explanation in terms of brain disturbances. Of the early attempts, the most influential

Augustan History

2004-10-12T23:22:00.000-07:00

The work is incomplete in its surviving form (it probably originally began with one of Hadrian's predecessors, Nerva or Trajan), and its original title is unknown. Its authorship and date of composition are also matters of argument.

Metanephros

2004-10-10T06:02:00.000-07:00

Permanent kidney in reptiles, birds, and mammals, developing by the 10th week in human embryos from the lower part of the Wolffian duct, and replacing the embryonic structure called the mesonephros. It consists of a compact, paired organ containing many nephrons; a ureter separate from the Wolffian duct leads from the metanephros to the bladder.

Fructose

2004-10-07T02:39:00.000-07:00

A member of a group of carbohydrates known as simple sugars, or monosaccharides. Fructose, along with glucose, occurs in fruits, honey, and syrups; it also occurs in certain vegetables. It is a component, along with glucose, of the disaccharide sucrose, or common table sugar. Phosphate derivatives of fructose (e.g., fructose-1-phosphate, fructose-1,6-diphosphate) are important

Loxton

2004-10-05T01:56:00.000-07:00

Town, southeastern South Australia. It lies along the Murray River and is the service centre for an extensive, irrigated fruit-raising area. Major European settlement of the region began in 1894, and the town of Loxton, named after William Loxton, a boundary rider at a nearby sheep station (ranch), was proclaimed in 1907. Wheat, wool, fruit, and grapes are produced in the area, and the

Loxton

2004-10-03T07:07:00.000-07:00

The gray whale attains a maximum length of about 15 metres (49 feet). It is gray or black, mottled with white, and has short yellow baleen with coarse bristles. There are two (rarely more) lengthwise grooves on its throat. Instead of

Harding, John, Baron Harding Of Petherton

2004-10-01T10:54:00.000-07:00

After graduating from Ilminster Grammar School (1912), Harding joined the Territorial Army as a part-time reservist. Called to the regular army at the beginning of World War I, he commanded a machine-gun battalion

Alaca Hüyük

2004-09-29T10:31:00.000-07:00

Ancient Anatolian site northeast of the old Hittite capital of Hattusa at Bogazköy, north-central Turkey. Its excavation was begun by Makridi Bey in 1907 and resumed in 1935 by the Turkish Historical Society. Inside a sphinx gate, traces of a large Hittite building were discovered. Below the Hittite remains was a royal necropolis of 13 tombs dating from about 2500 BC. Although material

Vaisali

2004-09-25T05:35:00.000-07:00

Pali Vesali city of ancient India, north of Patna, northwestern Bihar state, on the Gandak River. In antiquity Vaisali was the capital of the Licchavi republic and was closely associated with the early histories of both Buddhism and Jainism. Roads connected it with Rajagrha to the south and Kapilavastu and Sravasti to the north. Mahavira, the founder of Jainism, was born in Vaisali and spent much

Earth, The introduction of triangulation

2004-09-23T16:59:00.000-07:00

A new era in determining the size of the Earth began through the introduction of triangulation. The idea of triangulation was apparently conceived by the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe before the end of the 16th century, but it was developed as a science by a contemporary Dutch mathematician, Willebrord van Roijen Snell. Snell used a chain of 33 triangles to determine

Reservoir

2004-09-22T10:05:00.000-07:00

Changes in weather cause the natural flow of streams and rivers to vary greatly with time. Periods of excess flows and valley flooding may alternate with low flows or droughts. The role of water-storage reservoirs, therefore,

Grignard, Victor

2004-09-19T02:37:00.000-07:00

In 1898, while a student under Philippe Barbier at Lyon, Grignard began his prizewinning work with a study of the alkylzinc compounds

Likasi

2004-09-18T18:46:00.000-07:00

Formerly (until 1966) Jadotville, city, southeastern Congo (Kinshasa). It lies along the Likasi River, 86 miles (138 km) northwest of Lubumbashi, to which it is connected by road and rail. In 1892 Belgians discovered copper deposits at Likasi and at Kambove, 15 miles (24 km) northwest. Likasi was founded in 1917 and was designated an urban district in 1943. It is now one of the nation's most important mineral-processing centres, with plants

Puerto Ayacucho

2004-09-13T23:23:00.000-07:00

City, capital of Amazonas estado (state), southern Venezuela, situated on the Orinoco River just below the Atures Rapids, which block navigation on the river. Puerto Ayacucho is the trading centre for the large but sparsely populated state, which produces mainly rubber and balata. From the city a road leads 55 miles (90 km) south-southwestward to the river port of Samariapo,

Eritrea, Contesting for the coastlands

2004-09-11T05:46:00.000-07:00

Off the plateau, the pastoralist peoples in the west and north knew no foreign master until the early 19th century, when the Egyptians invaded the Sudan and raided deep into the Eritrean lowlands. The Red Sea coast, owing to its strategic and commercial importance, was contested by many powers. In the 16th century the Turks occupied the Dahlak Archipelago and then Massawa,

Uganda, Martyrs Of

2004-09-10T20:41:00.000-07:00

The first Roman Catholic missions to Bantu-speaking Africa were established

Evans, Rowland

2004-09-07T11:49:00.000-07:00

American journalist (b. April 28, 1921, Whitemarsh, Pa.—d. March 23, 2001, Washington, D.C.), advocated conservative causes as a prominent newspaper columnist and television host. With journalist Robert Novak, Evans published a syndicated column, called “Inside Report,” from 1963 to 1993. From 1980 the pair served as cohosts of Cable News Network's political talk show Evans & Novak, which was renamed Evans,

Yodo River

2004-09-06T03:24:00.000-07:00

Japanese Yodo-gawa, river, central western Honshu, Japan. The Yodo is the sole outlet of Lake Biwa, the country's largest freshwater lake, from which it issues in a southwesterly direction to Osaka Bay, connecting the Kyoto Basin with the Osaka Plain. It was a major means of transportation and communication during the Tokugawa period (1603–1867). The river is dammed for hydroelectricity and

Alvarado, Pedro De

2004-09-04T11:09:00.000-07:00

Alvarado went to Santo Domingo in 1510 and in 1518 commanded one of Juan de Grijalva's ships sent from Cuba to explore the Yucatán Peninsula. In February 1519 he accompanied the army, led from Cuba by Hernán Cortés, that was to conquer Mexico. Alvarado was placed

Ms.

2004-09-02T13:18:00.000-07:00

Periodical, launched in 1972 by American feminists Gloria Steinem, Patricia Carbine, and others, that was the first nationally circulated women's magazine to bring feminism and the issues of the women's movement into the mainstream. From the beginning, the editors of the magazine assumed that their readers were interested in more than new recipes and household hints.

Prodromus, Theodore

2004-08-29T21:08:00.000-07:00

He wrote many occasional pieces for a widespread circle of patrons at the imperial court. Some of the work attributed to him is unpublished and some of it may be wrongly attributed to him. Even so, there does emerge from these writings the figure of an author in reduced circumstances,

Ariobarzanes

2004-08-27T19:45:00.000-07:00

Persian satrap (provincial governor) of Phrygia after about 387. The son of a nobleman, he cultivated the friendship of Athens and Sparta and, about 366, led the unsuccessful revolt of the satraps of western Anatolia against the Persian king Artaxerxes II (reigned 404–359/358 BC).

Kamáres Ware

2004-08-25T20:39:00.000-07:00

Style of painted pottery that flourished on Crete during the Middle Minoan period (c. 2100–c. 1550 BC). Surviving examples include ridged cups, small, round spouted jars, and large storage jars (pithoi), on which combinations of abstract curvilinear designs and stylized plant and marine motifs are painted in white and tones of red, orange, and yellow on black grounds.

Pacific Ocean, The trade winds

2004-08-23T15:31:00.000-07:00

The trade winds of the Pacific represent the eastern and equatorial parts of the air circulation system; they originate in the subtropical high-pressure zones that are most pronounced, respectively, over the northeast and southeast Pacific between the 30th and 40th parallels N and S. The obliquity of the ecliptic (an angle of approximately 23 1/2° that is the difference between