CruelChain

0800 Promote

2006-11-23T13:10:00.000-08:00

0800 Promote are a London based company, established in 1989, primarily to supply quality business gifts. 0800promote provide an all-round facility to promote all aspects of corporate promotional activity and promotional products, including promotional printing,http://0800promote.com/printed-clothes.php and http://0800promote.com/printed-pen.php to name a few. We are a small building business who needed items printing on for a buyers show we were attending and we were extremely happy with 0800 Promotes services.

Bachchan, Amitabh

2005-04-04T05:15:00.000-07:00

Bachchan, the son of the renowned Hindi poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan, attended Sherwood College in Nainital and the University of Delhi. He worked as a business executive in Calcutta (Kolkata) and performed in

Taiwan, Imperial Chinese rule

2005-04-03T07:44:00.000-07:00

In 1683, 20 years after Cheng Ch'eng-kung's death, the island fell to the Ch'ing and became part of Fukien Province. Meanwhile, sizable migrations of refugees, Ming supporters, had increased the population to about 200,000. As migrants streamed in from southeastern China, large areas in the north were settled. T'ai-nan (then called T'ai-wan) was the capital. By 1842 the population was estimated

Madagascar, Plant and animal life

2005-04-02T23:03:00.000-08:00

Much of the island was once covered with evergreen and deciduous forest, but little now remains except on the eastern escarpment and in scattered pockets in the west. The plateau is particularly denuded and suffers seriously from erosion. The forest has been cut in order to clear rice fields, to obtain fuel and building materials, and to export valuable timber, such

Schein, Johann Hermann

2005-04-01T09:52:00.000-08:00

Schein's father, a teacher and pastor, died when the boy was seven, and the family moved from rural Grunhain back to Dresden, its former home. At 13, he was a soprano

Oat Grass

2005-03-31T00:15:00.000-08:00

Any of the perennial plants of two genera of grasses, Arrhenatherum and Danthonia (family Poaceae). Approximately six species of tall grasses, native to temperate Europe and Asia, constitute the genus Arrhenatherum. Tall oat grass (A. elatius), which has been introduced into various countries as a pasture grass, grows wild in many areas and is considered a weed, especially

Leap Of Faith

2005-03-30T22:26:00.000-08:00

Metaphor used by the 19th-century Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard in his Afsluttende uvidenskabelig Efterskrift (1846; Concluding Unscientific Postscript) to describe commitment to an objective uncertainty, specifically to the Christian God. For Kierkegaard, God is totally other than man; between God and man there exists a gulf that faith alone can bridge. Kierkegaard

Peradeniya Botanic Gardens

2005-03-28T16:39:00.000-08:00

Botanical garden in Peradeniya, near Kandy, Sri Lanka, noted for its rich and varied collections of tropical woody plants. Occupying 59 hectares (146 acres), it has about 4,000 species of plants. The most important specimens of the garden include palms, some of which are planted in impressive avenues. Significant, too, are the collections of orchids, gymnosperms, and flowering

Yukawa Hideki

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

Yukawa graduated from Kyoto Imperial University (now Kyoto University) in 1929 and became a lecturer there; in 1933 he moved to Osaka Imperial University (now Osaka University), where he earned his doctorate in 1938. He rejoined Kyoto Imperial

Jackson, Andrew

2005-03-27T09:20:00.000-08:00

When Jackson arrived in Nashville, the community was still a frontier settlement. As prosecuting attorney, Jackson was principally occupied with suits for the collection of debts. He was so successful in these litigations that he soon had a thriving private practice and had gained the friendship of landowners and creditors. For almost 30 years Jackson was allied with this group in Tennessee politics. Jackson boarded in the home of Colonel John Donelson, where he met and married the colonel's daughter, Rachel Robards (Rachel Jackson).

Education, History Of, Stages of education

2005-03-25T07:51:00.000-08:00

There were three stages of education. The basic skills of reading and writing were taught by the elementary-school master, or grammatistes, whose pupils generally ranged from six or seven to 10 years of age. The secondary-school master, or grammatikos, supervised the study and appreciation of classical literature and of literary Greek, from which the spoken Greek of

Selaginella

2005-03-25T04:57:00.000-08:00

Genus of plants that are commonly known as spike moss (q.v.).

Canada Balsam

2005-03-22T11:02:00.000-08:00

Canada balsam solidifies to a transparent mass and is an important cement, particularly

Guyton De Morveau, Louis Bernard

2005-03-22T10:41:00.000-08:00

Guyton studied law at Dijon, practiced there from 1756 to 1762, and was an advocate-general in the provincial parlement of Burgundy from 1762 to 1782. In the latter year he retired to devote himself full

Bulgarian Literature

2005-03-21T06:43:00.000-08:00

Body of writings in the Bulgarian language. Its origin is closely linked to Christianization of the Slavs beginning with Khan (Tsar) Boris I's adoption in 864 of the Eastern Orthodox rather than Latin faith for his court and people. This political decision, combined with geographical proximity to Byzantium, determined a key role for Bulgarian in the Balkan development

Ziyarah

2005-03-19T18:15:00.000-08:00

(Arabic: “visit”), in Islam, a visit to the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad in the mosque at Medina, Saudi Arabia; also a visit to the tomb of a saint or a holy person. The legitimacy of these latter visits has been questioned by many Muslim religious authorities, particularly by the Wahhabiyah, who consider ziyarah a bid'ah (innovation) that should be condemned by all true believers. The

Ely, Isle Of

2005-03-19T15:35:00.000-08:00

Historic region of England, part of the administrative and historic county of Cambridgeshire. The Isle of Ely consists of a hill about 7 miles (11 km) long and 4 miles (6 km) wide that rises above the surrounding fens (low-lying lands that were partly covered by water). The Isle of Ely is the highest point in these fenlands and was formerly an island surrounded by marshes and swamps;

Wage And Salary

2005-03-18T17:49:00.000-08:00

The bargaining theory of wages holds that wages, hours, and working conditions are determined by the relative bargaining strength of the parties to the agreement. Smith hinted at such a theory when he noted that employers had greater bargaining strength than employees, because it was easier for employers to combine in opposition to employees' demands and also

Acromegaly

2005-03-17T15:41:00.000-08:00

The onset of acromegaly

Reuben

2005-03-17T07:35:00.000-08:00

After the Exodus out of Egypt, Joshua led the Israelites into the Promised Land and divided the territory among the 12 tribes. The tribe of Reuben apparently settled east of

Computers, Herman Hollerith's census tabulator

2005-03-16T22:10:00.000-08:00

The U.S. Constitution mandates that a census of the population be performed every 10 years. The first attempt at any mechanization of the census was in 1870, when statistical data were transcribed onto a rolling paper tape displayed through a small slotted window. As the size of America's population exploded in the 19th century, and the number of census questions expanded, the

Rabelais, François

2005-03-14T17:35:00.000-08:00

Rabelais's purpose in the four books of his masterpiece was to entertain the cultivated reader at the expense of the follies and exaggerations of his times. If he points lessons, it is because his life has taught him something about the evils of comatose monasticism, the trickery of lawyers, the pigheaded persistence of litigants, and the ignorance of grasping physicians.

Intercalation

2005-03-14T04:47:00.000-08:00

Insertion of days into a calendar to bring it into line with the solar year (year of the seasons). One example is the periodic inclusion of leap-year day (February 29) in the Gregorian calendar now in general use. To keep the months of a lunar calendar (e.g., the Hindu calendar) in their proper seasons, an entire month must be intercalated or extracalated (dropped) periodically,

Sanjar

2005-03-14T04:10:00.000-08:00

Appointed governor of Khorasan by his half brother Berk-yaruq, who succeeded Malik-Shah as

Smith, Hoke

2005-03-13T18:57:00.000-08:00

Admitted to the bar in 1873, Smith practiced law in Atlanta and became active in local Democratic politics. He published the Atlanta Journal (1887–1900), which he used as a forum to champion virtually all progressive measures of the period, with the notable exception

Ashkenazy, Vladimir

2005-03-13T01:37:00.000-08:00

Both of Ashkenazy's parents were professional pianists. Beginning piano lessons at age six, Ashkenazy studied for 10 years at the

Daniels, Josephus

2005-03-12T22:47:00.000-08:00

In 1933 Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt

Madhumati River

2005-03-11T09:01:00.000-08:00

Tributary of the Padma (Ganges) River, flowing through southwestern Bangladesh. It leaves the Padma just north of Kushtia and flows 190 miles (306 km) southeast before turning south across the Sundarbans to empty into the Bay of Bengal. In its upper course it is called the Garai; in its lower course it is known as the Baleswar; and its 9-mile- (14-kilometre-) wide estuary mouth is called

Amyntas Iii (or Ii)

2005-03-10T14:54:00.000-08:00

Amyntas came to the throne during the disorders that plagued Macedonia after the death of the powerful king Archelaus (ruled c. 413–399). Amyntas soon had to fight off attacks by the Illyrians

Back, Sir George

2005-03-10T00:52:00.000-08:00

The first of these expeditions, in 1833, was to search for another British explorer, John

Ilhéus

2005-03-09T17:09:00.000-08:00

City, southeastern Bahia estado (“state”), northeastern Brazil. It is situated just east of Itabuna near the mouth of the Cachoeira River on Ilhéus Bay, an inlet of the Atlantic. An old Portuguese colonial settlement that was originally named São Jorge dos Ilhéos (1532), it was given city status in 1881. Most of Brazil's cacao is grown in the locality, and Ilhéus is consequently one of

Becker, Gary S.

2005-03-09T07:16:00.000-08:00

Becker was educated at Princeton University and the University of Chicago, where

Kikuyu

2005-03-09T06:50:00.000-08:00

The Kikuyu moved into their modern territory from the northeast in the 17th–19th

Aerospace Industry, Periodicals

2005-03-06T22:16:00.000-08:00

The best reference work for aircraft production data on types produced is Jane's All the World's Aircraft (annual). The best reference work on space hardware produced, the space industry, and space-related organizations is Jane's Space Directory (annual). Aerospace Facts and Figures (annual), prepared by the Aerospace Industries Association of America (AIA), is a standard reference source for figures on the American aerospace industry. Aerospace Yearbook (1919–70), compiled by the AIA and its predecessors, is a standard reference source on the U.S aerospace industry to 1970. Aviation Week & Space Technology (weekly) is the best source for the latest information on the aerospace industry. Space News (weekly) covers the business news of the space industry. Flight International (weekly) is an aerospace news magazine published in the United Kingdom. An informative German-language aerospace magazine is Flug Revue (monthly).

Maurois, André

2005-03-06T13:39:00.000-08:00

Born into a prosperous family of textile manufacturers, Maurois came under the influence of the French philosopher and teacher Alain (Émile-Auguste Chartier). He was a liaison officer in the British army during World War I, and his first literary success

Nguyen Dynasty

2005-03-05T09:27:00.000-08:00

After Mac Dang Dung usurped the Vietnamese throne in 1527, Nguyen Kim fought to restore a Le emperor in 1533, leaving the Mac family in power in the northern section

Wabana

2005-03-05T02:22:00.000-08:00

Town, southeastern Newfoundland, Canada, just northwest of St. John's, on Bell Island in Conception Bay. Located in the centre of one of the world's richest deposits of red hematite iron ore, the town grew after the beginning of mining operations in 1895 and had a population of more than 8,000 in 1961. But because of marketing problems and the high phosphorus content of the ore, mining operations

Perak War

2005-03-04T05:33:00.000-08:00

Birch arrived in Perak

Pozo Colorado

2005-03-03T14:26:00.000-08:00

Pozo Colorado is located at the intersection of roads connecting it with the town of Mariscal Estigarribia to the northwest, the Paraguay River and Concepción to

Epidemic

2005-03-03T05:38:00.000-08:00

An occurrence of disease that is temporarily of high prevalence. An epidemic occurring over a wide geographical area is called a pandemic. The rise and decline in epidemic prevalence of an infectious disease is a probability phenomenon dependent upon transfer of an effective dose of the infectious agent from an infected individual to a susceptible one. After

Annenberg, Walter H.

2005-03-03T01:16:00.000-08:00

Annenberg was the only son of Moses Annenberg (1878–1942), a poor immigrant from East Prussia who became the millionaire publisher of The Philadelphia Inquirer and the horse-racing publications Daily Racing Form and Morning Telegraph. In 1939 Moses Annenberg was

Pozo Colorado

2005-03-01T16:26:00.000-08:00

Also called Gabon viper extremely venomous but usually docile, ground-dwelling snake found in tropical forests of central Africa. It is the heaviest venomous snake in Africa, weighing 8 kg (18 pounds), and it grows to a length of 2 metres (about 7 feet). The Gaboon viper also possesses the longest fangs of any snake, measuring up to 4 cm (1.6 inches) long. The stout body is boldly patterned with

Cat, Domestic

2005-03-01T04:41:00.000-08:00

Also called house cat, (species Felis catus), domesticated member of the family Felidae, order Carnivora. Like all felids, domestic cats, the smallest members of the family, are characterized by supple, low-slung bodies, finely molded heads, long tails that aid in balance, and specialized teeth and claws that adapt them admirably to a life of active hunting. Domestic cats possess other features

Vadodara

2005-02-28T08:50:00.000-08:00

Also called Baroda, city, administrative headquarters of Vadodara district, east central Gujarat state, west central India, on the Visvamitra River, southeast of Ahmadabad. The earliest record of the city is in a grant or charter of AD 812 that mentions it as Vadapadraka, a hamlet attached to the town of Ankottaka. In the 10th century Vadapadraka displaced Ankottaka as the urban centre. It seems also

Biblical Literature, The Letter of James

2005-02-26T16:28:00.000-08:00

The Letter of James, though often criticized as having nothing specifically Christian in its content apart from its use of the phrase the “Lord Jesus Christ” and its salutation to a general audience depicted as the twelve tribes in the dispersion (the Diaspora), is actually a letter most representative of early Christian piety. It depicts the teachings of the early

Lockout

2005-02-26T07:30:00.000-08:00

In the United States, lockouts became a common

Chase, Salmon P(ortland)

2005-02-26T06:10:00.000-08:00

Chase received part of his education from his uncle Philander Chase, the first Episcopal bishop of Ohio

Arai Hakuseki

2005-02-25T09:28:00.000-08:00

Born into an impoverished samurai, or warrior, family, Arai educated himself under conditions of extreme hardship. He found employment in 1682 under Hotta Masatoshi (1634–84), a top government official. When Hotta died two years later,

Tarafah

2005-02-25T08:58:00.000-08:00

Little is known with any certainty of Tarafah's life. He is traditionally acknowledged to have been an extraordinarily precocious poet,

Mujahadah

2005-02-24T09:50:00.000-08:00

(Arabic: “striving”), in Sufism, struggle with the carnal self; the word is related to jihad (struggle), which is often understood as “holy war.” The Sufis refer to mujahadah as al-jihad al-akbar (the greater war) in contrast to al-jihad al-asghar (the minor war), which is waged against unbelievers. It is one of the major duties that a Sufi must perform throughout his mystical journey toward union

Burchfield, Charles

2005-02-23T17:11:00.000-08:00

From 1912 to 1916 Burchfield attended the Cleveland School of Art. He returned to his home in Salem, Ohio, where he had an industrial job and in his spare time painted imaginative

Likud

2005-02-23T06:01:00.000-08:00

In full Likud-Liberalim Leumi , Hebrew Unity-National Liberals right-wing Israeli political party. It was founded in September 1973 to challenge the Israel Labour Party, which had governed the country since its independence in 1948, and first came to power in 1977, with Menachem Begin as prime minister. Thereafter, Likud alternated in government with the Labour Party, forming coalitions with minor parties, especially those with an ultrareligious

Neoorthodoxy

2005-02-22T05:05:00.000-08:00

Influential 20th-century Protestant theological movement in Europe and America, known in Europe as crisis theology and dialectical theology. The phrase crisis theology referred to the intellectual crisis of Christendom that occurred when the carnage of World War I belied the exuberant optimism of liberal Christianity. Dialectical theology referred to the

Computers, The first stored-program machines

2005-02-21T06:57:00.000-08:00

But engineers in Britain beat the Americans to the goal of building the first stored-program digital computer. At the University of Manchester, Maxwell H.A. Newman, Thomas Kilburn, and Frederic C. Williams built a simple stored-program computer, known as the Manchester Mark I, in 1949. (See the photograph.) Among its innovations was Williams's invention of a way to store information

Factorial

2005-02-21T06:26:00.000-08:00

Factorials are commonly encountered in the evaluation of permutations and combinations and in the coefficients of terms of binomial

Henríquez Ureña, Pedro

2005-02-20T02:12:00.000-08:00

Henríquez Ureña's father, a doctor, became president of the Dominican Republic, and his mother was a poet and teacher. After finishing

Latin Averroism

2005-02-19T17:08:00.000-08:00

The teachings of a number of Western Christian philosophers who, in the later Middle Ages and during the Renaissance, drew inspiration from the interpretation of Aristotle put forward by Averroës, a Muslim philosopher. The basic tenet of Latin Averroism was the assertion that reason and philosophy are superior to faith and knowledge founded on faith. The Latin

Devonshire, William Cavendish, 4th Duke Of, Marquess Of Hartington, Earl Of Devonshire, Baron Cavendish Of Hardwick

2005-02-18T16:17:00.000-08:00

Eldest son of William Cavendish, the 3rd Duke (1698–1755), he was elected to the House of Commons in 1741 and 1747, and in 1751 he moved to the House of Lords, as Lord Cavendish of Hardwick, in his father's barony. After becoming lord lieutenant and governor-general

Henrietta Anne Of England

2005-02-18T13:38:00.000-08:00

The youngest child of England's King Charles I (beheaded 1649), she was reared as an exile by her mother, Henrietta Maria, in Paris. Her brother Charles II was restored to the English throne in 1660, and on March 30, 1661, Henrietta was

Alerce

2005-02-17T19:24:00.000-08:00

Also called Patagonian Cypress (species Fitzroya cupressoides), coniferous tree that is the only species of the genus Fitzroya, of the cypress family (Cupressaceae), native to southern Chile and southern Argentina. In the wild it grows to become one of the oldest and largest trees in the world. The alerce is thought to be a southern relative of the giant sequoia of North America. The oldest known alerce

Manresa

2005-02-16T06:45:00.000-08:00

Town, Barcelona provincia, in the comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Catalonia, northeastern Spain. It lies along the Cardoner River. The town—which probably originated as Minorisa, the Roman capital of Jacetani—was important during the European Middle Ages. Three bridges span the Cardoner, and on a rock above the oldest bridge stands the yellow Church

Craggs, James

2005-02-15T05:06:00.000-08:00

English politician implicated in the South Sea Bubble (1720), a widespread speculation in shares of the South Sea Company, which had taken over most of the British national debt. The company persuaded investors to exchange their state annuities for the greatly overvalued stock, which rose as high as 1,000 during the summer of 1720 and fell to 124 in December.

Schmucker, S.s.

2005-02-14T22:10:00.000-08:00

Schmucker joined in the establishment of the General Synod (1820) that coordinated the various Lutheran churches in the United States and

Parallel Bars

2005-02-14T00:23:00.000-08:00

In gymnastics

Lodge, Henry Cabot

2005-02-13T14:04:00.000-08:00

He was the grandson of Senator Henry Cabot Lodge (1850–1924) and a member of a politically dedicated family that included six U.S. senators and a governor of Massachusetts. Lodge began his career in politics, after several years as a journalist, with

Henderson, Lawrence Joseph

2005-02-13T10:09:00.000-08:00

Henderson spent most of his career at Harvard Medical School (1904–42), where he was professor of biological chemistry (1919–34) and chemistry (1934–42). Soon after his arrival there he began investigating how acid–base neutrality is maintained in body fluids.

Lomas De Zamora

2005-02-12T14:53:00.000-08:00

Cabecera (county seat) and partido (county) of Gran (Greater) Buenos Aires, Arg. It lies immediately south of the city of Buenos Aires, in Buenos Aires provincia. The name and origin of the partido and cabecera date from the late 16th century, when Juan de Zamora, one of the founders of Buenos Aires, was granted a large landholding on the lomas (“slopes”) in the vicinity. In 1861 the partido

Iliescu, Ion

2005-02-11T08:36:00.000-08:00

Iliescu received a degree in business from the Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest and then studied engineering in Moscow. In 1953 he joined the Communist Party, and he held positions of increasing prestige during the following decade. A protégé of Nicolae Ceausescu, he benefited

Anderson, Dame Judith

2005-02-10T04:37:00.000-08:00

Anderson was only 17 years old when she made her stage debut in 1915 in Sydney and 20 when she first appeared in New York City. After her first major success in New York in 1924 in Cobra, she went on to appear as Nina Leeds in Eugene O'Neill's Strange Interlude (1928) and as Lavinia in O'Neill's

Pachaimalai Hills

2005-02-10T02:09:00.000-08:00

Range of hills in Tamil Nadu state, southern India, an eastward extension of the Eastern Ghats in the northeastern Tamilnad Uplands. The Pachaimalai Hills, together with the Javadi, Shevaroy, and Kalrayan hills, separate the Cauvery River basin in the south from the Palar River basin in the north. Extending over approximately 5,200 sq mi (13,500 sq km), they form a discontinuous line of highlands

Park Range

2005-02-08T21:22:00.000-08:00

Segment of the Rocky Mountains, extending south-southeastward for about 200 miles (320 km) from Carbon county, Wyo., to northwestern Park county, Colo., U.S. The range lies to a large extent within Medicine Bow, Pike, Arapaho, Routt, and White River national forests and includes the Mosquito (Colorado), Gore (Colorado), and Sierra Madre (Wyoming) subranges. Many peaks surpass 14,000 feet (4,300 m), with

Byrd, William, Of Westover

2005-02-08T11:41:00.000-08:00

His birthplace was the James River plantation home of his father, also named William Byrd, an Indian trader and slave importer. The boy went to school in England, travelled in Holland, and studied law in the Middle Temple, London.

Victoria

2005-02-08T06:47:00.000-08:00

Victoria, which retains a distinct transplanted English atmosphere,

Gaultier De Varennes Et De La Vérendrye, Pierre

2005-02-07T21:32:00.000-08:00

(French-Canadian explorer): see La Vérendrye, Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de.

Rollinia

2005-02-07T11:09:00.000-08:00

Genus of 65 tropical American trees and shrubs belonging to the family Annonaceae (order Magnoliales). Many have edible fruits similar in flavour and appearance to those of the genus Annona. Two species (R. mucosa and R. pulchrinervis), both called biriba by some authorities, are cultivated for their fruit. Most species of Rollinia are spined or segmented, green-skinned,

Computer Crime

2005-02-06T23:32:00.000-08:00

Since the first reported case of computer abuse in 1958, computers have been involved in most types of crimes, including theft, burglary, larceny, fraud, embezzlement,

Benchley, Robert (charles)

2005-02-06T05:22:00.000-08:00

A graduate of Harvard University (1912), Benchley joined the staff of the old Life magazine in 1920 as drama critic. His monologue “The Treasurer's Report,” delivered as a skit in an amateur revue in 1922, was the basis for one of the first all-talking short subjects. He subsequently wrote and acted in motion-picture

Shahr-e Sokhta

2005-02-05T03:01:00.000-08:00

Archaeological site located south of Zabol in the Balochistan region of eastern Iran. It has yielded important information on Chalcolithic (Bronze Age) settlement in the Helmand River valley during the 3rd millennium BC. Excavation of the site in 1967 by the Centre of Archaeological Studies and Excavations of the Italian Institute for the Middle and Far East has revealed

Indium

2005-02-04T20:56:00.000-08:00

(In), chemical element, rare metal of main Group IIIa, or boron group, of the periodic table. Of a brilliant, silvery-white lustre, indium was discovered (1863) by Ferdinand Reich and Theodor Richter while they were examining zinc ore samples. The presence of a predominant indigo spectral line suggested the name. Softer than lead and quite plastic, indium can be scratched with

Chaco

2005-02-04T19:04:00.000-08:00

Provincia, northeastern Argentina, between the northwestern Argentine highlands and the Paraná River and bounded on part of the east by Paraguay. It has an area of 38,468 square miles (99,633 square km), most of which is low hardwood forest with patches of savanna trending to thorn scrub and savanna in the drier northwest. Heavy rainfall, in combination with the flat terrain, produces

Gabon, Industry

2005-02-04T05:35:00.000-08:00

Gabon is one of the world's largest producers of manganese. Expansion of production at Moanda has been possible since the completion of the railroad to nearby Franceville in December 1986 and by the completion of improved ore handling facilities at the rail terminus at the deepwater port of Owendo in 1988. The exploitation and processing of uranium, which began 16 miles north

Ta Yü

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

Pinyin Da Yu (Chinese: “Yü the Great”), in Chinese mythology, the Tamer of the Flood, one of China's saviour-heroes and reputed founder of China's oldest dynasty, the Hsia. One legend among many recounts Ta Yü's extraordinary birth: a man called Kun was given charge of controlling a great deluge. To dam the water, he stole from heaven what seems to have been a piece of magic soil. Angered by the

Epistemology, Contemporary philosophy

2005-02-03T04:55:00.000-08:00

Contemporary philosophy begins in the late 19th and early 20th century. Much of what sets contemporary philosophy off from modern philosophy is its explicit criticism of the modern tradition and sometimes its apparent indifference to it. There are two basic strains of contemporary philosophy: Continental philosophy, which designates the philosophical style

United Kingdom, The break with Rome

2005-02-02T18:10:00.000-08:00

With Wolsey and his papal authority gone, Henry turned to the authority of the state to obtain his annulment, and the so-called Reformation Parliament that first met in November 1529 was unprecedented—it lasted seven years, enacted 137 statutes (32 of which were of vital importance), and legislated in areas that no feudal Parliament had ever dreamed of entering. “King in

Ravalomanana, Marc

2005-02-02T04:53:00.000-08:00

Throughout 2002 the African island nation of Madagascar continued to reel from the disputed presidential elections of December 2001. A court-ordered recount was required for decision to be reached on the close contest between challenger Marc Ravalomanana, mayor of the capital city of Antananarivo, and Didier Ratsiraka, the sitting president for more than two decades.

Saw-scaled Viper

2005-02-01T19:26:00.000-08:00

The saw-scaled viper is irritable and aggressive and commonly hides under stones and in rodent runs. It is sand-coloured or gray,

Fuchsia

2005-01-31T08:49:00.000-08:00

Genus of about 100 species of flowering shrubs and trees, in the evening primrose family (Onagraceae), native to the tropical and subtropical regions of Central and South America and to New Zealand and Tahiti. Several species are grown in gardens as bedding plants, small shrubs, or miniature treelike specimens; others are grown as pot plants or in hanging baskets

Doris

2005-01-31T05:20:00.000-08:00

The alleged mother country of the Dorian conquerors of the Peloponnese. It was a small district in central Greece, lying between Mounts Oeta (modern Oiti) and Parnassus and consisting of a narrow valley nowhere exceeding 4 miles (6 km) in breadth, with only four small townships. Doris had some importance because it commanded the road from Heraclea in Trachis to Amphissa,

Nicholas I

2005-01-31T01:19:00.000-08:00

Heir presumptive to his uncle Danilo II, who was childless, Nicholas came to the throne in August 1860 after Danilo's assassination. Educated abroad in Paris and Trieste, he was throughout his reign faced with

Quincy

2005-01-30T07:18:00.000-08:00

City, Norfolk county, eastern Massachusetts, U.S., on Boston Harbor, just southeast of Boston. In 1625 the site, which was settled by Captain Wollaston, was given the name Mount Wollaston, and a short time afterward, under the leadership of Thomas Morton, it was renamed Merry Mount; in 1627 Morton, an anti-Puritan, was exiled for celebrating May Day. Set off from Braintree and incorporated

China, Economic policies

2005-01-29T16:31:00.000-08:00

In the 1950s and '60s a number of far-reaching changes occurred in China's economic policies and priorities. During the First Five-Year Plan period (1953–57), emphasis was placed on rapid industrial development, partly at the expense of other sectors of the economy. The bulk of the state's investment was channeled into the industrial sector, while agriculture, which occupied more than

Ammassalik

2005-01-29T15:47:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Angmagssalik, town, southeastern Greenland, on the south coast of Ammassalik Island. The island is 25 miles (40 km) long and 12–20 miles (19–32 km) wide, with a high point of 4,336 feet (1,322 m). Although Europeans landed as early as 1472, the region was not explored until 1884, when Gustav Holm, a Dane, mapped the coast. A trading and mission station was established in 1895 to help sustain the Greenlandic (Eskimo) population with imported

Submarine Gap

2005-01-29T10:05:00.000-08:00

Also called Abyssal Gap, steep-sided furrow that cuts transversely across a ridge or rise; such a passageway has a steeper slope than either of the two abyssal plains it connects. Grooves known as interplain channels exist in many submarine gaps; the sediments in these channels are continuously graded. The graded sediments, in conjunction with the gradient and the furrowed topography

Rybnik

2005-01-28T21:49:00.000-08:00

Beginning as a fishing village in the 10th century, Rybnik became capital of the Racibórz principality

Epistemology, A priori versus a posteriori knowledge

2005-01-28T13:45:00.000-08:00

A sharp distinction has been drawn since at least the 17th century between two types of knowledge: a priori knowledge and a posteriori knowledge. The distinction plays an especially important role in the philosophies of David Hume (1711–76) and Immanuel Kant (1724–1804). It is also found in many contemporary, empirically oriented theories of knowledge, which typically hold that all knowledge

Puerto Aisén

2005-01-28T06:39:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Puerto Aysén capital of Aisén province and commune in Aisén region, southern Chile, located on the Aisén River at the head of a deep fjord facing the Chonos Archipelago. Colonization of the surrounding area of rugged topography and rigorous climate began only in the 19th century. Puerto Aisén is a port and commercial centre for the developing agricultural, mining, and lumbering

Aeschines

2005-01-27T18:19:00.000-08:00

Aeschines was brought up in humble circumstances, and in the early part of his career he worked as a tragic actor and held minor posts in the state service. In 346 BC he, like Demosthenes, was a member of the embassies to Philip II that resulted

Christchurch

2005-01-26T05:04:00.000-08:00

City, Canterbury local government region, eastern South Island, New Zealand, on the Avon River. It was the last and most successful colonizing project inspired by Edward Gibbon Wakefield and his New Zealand Company. Christchurch was founded by the Canterbury Association, which was formed in 1848 largely through the efforts of John Robert Godley and which planned to

Petroleum Refining, Aromatics

2005-01-25T11:56:00.000-08:00

The aromatic compounds, produced in the catalytic reforming of naphtha, are major sources of petrochemical products. In the traditional chemical industry, aromatics such as benzene, toluene, and the xylenes were made from coal during the course of carbonization in the production of coke and town gas. Today a much larger volume of these chemicals are made as refinery

Steele, Sir Richard

2005-01-25T09:12:00.000-08:00

Pseudonym Isaac Bickerstaff English essayist, dramatist, journalist, and politician, best known as principal author (with Joseph Addison) of the periodicals The Tatler and The Spectator.