FullStocking

Police, The

2005-10-16T03:35:00.000-07:00

British-American new-wave band that blended reggae, jazz, funk, punk, and world music influences into hook-laden pop-rock. Five best-selling albums, a bevy of hits, and aggressive touring—including stops in countries usually overlooked by Western pop musicians—combined to make the Police the world's most popular band in the early 1980s. The members were Sting (original name

Abu Dhabi

2005-07-29T01:00:00.000-07:00

Arabic Abu Zaby constituent emirate of the United Arab Emirates (formerly Trucial States, or Trucial Oman). Though its international boundaries are disputed, it is unquestionably the largest of the country's seven constituent emirates with more than three-fourths of the area of the entire federation. Its rich oil fields, both onshore and in the Persian Gulf, make it, with neighbouring

Grafton

2005-07-27T06:50:00.000-07:00

County, western New Hampshire, U.S. It is bounded to the west by Vermont (the Connecticut River constituting the entire border) and consists of a mountainous region, with the White Mountains and a large portion of White Mountain National Forest occupying the northeastern part of the county. It is drained by the Ammonoosuc, Baker, Mascoma, and Pemigewasset rivers. Other

American Literature, Henry Adams

2005-07-24T19:40:00.000-07:00

One of the most devastating and most literate attacks on modern life was an autobiography of a scion of an ancient New England family, the Adamses. Educated at Harvard and abroad, Henry Adams was a great teacher and historian (History of the United States [1889–91] and Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres [1904]). The Education of Henry Adams (printed privately 1906; published 1918), however, complained

Charlotte Amalie

2005-07-07T22:20:00.000-07:00

Formerly Saint Thomas capital of the U.S. Virgin Islands and of St. Thomas Island, at the head of St. Thomas Harbour, on the island's southern shore. The largest city in the Virgin Islands, it is built on three low volcanic spurs called Frenchman Hill (Foretop Hill), Berg Hill (Maintop), and Government Hill (Mizzentop). There are several examples of Danish colonial architecture. Two castles, attributed

Fairfield

2005-07-06T02:30:00.000-07:00

In the mid-18th century the area's favourable climate

Swamp

2005-06-03T04:50:00.000-07:00

Wetland ecosystem characterized by mineral soils with poor drainage and by plant life dominated by trees. The latter characteristic distinguishes a swamp from a marsh, in which plant life consists largely of grasses. Swamps are found throughout the world. They exist in areas with poor drainage and sufficient water supply to keep the ground waterlogged, and they

Ford, John

2005-05-31T23:20:00.000-07:00

American motion-picture director who was Hollywood's best-known director of westerns. He developed a distinctive directorial style characterized by effective cutting, an emphasis on action, colourful characterization, a sentimentalized vision of the past, and

Balakovo

2005-05-17T14:25:00.000-07:00

City, Saratov oblast (province), southwestern Russia, on the left bank of the Volga River. Founded in 1762, it long remained a small agricultural town. Its growth was greatly stimulated by the construction in 1967–70 of the Saratov hydroelectric station on the Volga. Balakovo is also the site of construction of a nuclear power station. A major chemical industry, developed in the 1960s

Calcutta

2005-05-15T20:10:00.000-07:00

Bengali Kalikata city, capital of West Bengal state, and former capital (1772–1912) of British India. It is India's largest city and one of its major ports. The city is located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, once the main channel of the Ganges River, about 96 miles (154 kilometres) upstream from the head of the Bay of Bengal; there the port city developed as a point of transshipment from water to land and

East Australian Current

2005-05-13T18:05:00.000-07:00

Surface oceanic current, a section of the counterclockwise flow in the Tasman Sea, southwestern Pacific Ocean. It is formed by water masses from the Coral Sea—equatorial water driven by monsoonal winds from January to March and eastward subtropical flow from April to December—which pass southeast between the Great Barrier and Chesterfield reefs (20° S latitude), paralleling

Pendant

2005-03-15T08:27:00.000-08:00

In stone ceilings the use of pendant vaulting was

China, Political institutions

2005-03-11T03:41:00.000-08:00

The Ch'ing had come to power because of their success at winning Chinese over to their side; in the late 17th century they adroitly pursued similar policies to win the adherence of the Chinese literati. Ch'ing emperors learned Chinese, addressed their subjects using Confucian rhetoric, reinstated the civil service examination system and the Confucian curriculum,

Aerospace Industry, Missiles

2005-03-07T22:09:00.000-08:00

Missiles (see rocket and missile system), which are unpiloted, rocket- or jet-powered delivery systems for munitions, have assumed an important role in military strategy and tactics. Originally conceived as powered artillery shells and therefore the purview of munitions manufacturers, they rapidly became products of the aerospace industry by virtue of the ranges

Switzerland, The Swabian War

2005-03-06T10:06:00.000-08:00

After Bern had repelled Burgundy in the west, the time had come for Z�rich to defend the east against renewed Austrian threats. The fledgling ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, Maximilian I (ruled 1493 - 1519), attempted to reestablish control throughout his domain, which included Switzerland. He united Tirol and Vorarlberg, thus threatening the confederation from the east. Responding

Black Bear

2005-03-05T16:43:00.000-08:00

Also called �American Bear� (Ursus americanus), forest-dwelling bear (family Ursidae) that has been reduced in population and range but is still the most common North American bear. The cinnamon bear and the blue-gray or blue-black glacier bear represent colour phases of this species. The American black bear probably constitutes only one species, rather than the more than 80 described

Maywood, Augusta

2005-03-04T19:37:00.000-08:00

Augusta Williams was the daughter of itinerant English actors. She acquired the name of her stepfather, the theatrical manager Robert Campbell Maywood, when she was three. She began studying ballet under Paul H. Hazard in 1836, and in 1837 she made

Andes Mountains

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

The Andes consist of a vast series of extremely high plateaus surmounted by even higher peaks that form an unbroken rampart over a distance of some 5,500 miles (8,900 kilometres) - from the southern tip of South America to the continent's northernmost coast on the Caribbean. They separate a narrow

Grease

2005-03-02T13:49:00.000-08:00

White grease is made from inedible hog fat and has a low content of free fatty acids. Yellow grease is made from darker parts of the hog and may include parts used to make white grease. Brown grease contains

Berain, Jean, The Elder

2005-03-01T08:31:00.000-08:00

Trained under the great French decorator Charles Le Brun, Berain was working at the Louvre when appointed, in 1674, royal designer to King Louis XIV of France. After the death

Uriburu, Jos� F�lix

2005-02-28T20:21:00.000-08:00

Argentine soldier and statesman who led the military coup that in September 1930 overthrew the liberal regime of President Hip�lito Irigoyen and restored the old landed oligarchy to the political power it had lost after the revolution of 1916. German militarist ideas and Benito Mussolini's corporate state idea were said to be

Dyula

2005-02-27T02:11:00.000-08:00

The Dyula were active gold traders as long ago as the time of the ancient African kingdom of Ghana. They flourished under the empire of Mali, when they provided a link between the gold-producing forestlands in

Savings And Loan Association

2005-02-25T18:55:00.000-08:00

A savings and home-financing institution that makes loans for the purchase of private housing, home improvements, and new construction. Formerly cooperative institutions in which savers were shareholders in the association and received dividends in proportion to the organization's profits, savings and loan associations are mutual organizations that now

Ju�rez

2005-02-24T09:21:00.000-08:00

The city's historic buildings include the Guadalupe mission

Qayen

2005-02-23T04:12:00.000-08:00

The modern town is surrounded by

Conseil De L'entente

2005-02-22T23:09:00.000-08:00

(French: �Entente Council�), French West African organization founded in 1959 and designed to promote the economic development of the region by raising funds, guaranteeing loans, and encouraging trade and investment. It operates through the Mutual Aid and Loan Guarantee Fund headquartered in Abidjan, C�te d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast). The original member-states were Dahomey

Affricate

2005-02-21T02:32:00.000-08:00

Also called �semiplosive� a consonant sound that begins as a stop (sound with complete obstruction of the breath stream) and concludes with a fricative (sound with incomplete closure and a sound of friction). Examples of affricates are the ch sound in English chair, which may be represented phonetically as a t sound followed by sh; the j in English jaw (a d followed by the zh sound heard in French

Cohune Oil

2005-02-20T08:26:00.000-08:00

Also called �cohune-nut oil�, cohune also spelled �cohoun� oil obtained from the kernels of the fruits, or nuts, of the cohune palm tree, Attalea cohune. The tree grows in western Central America from the Yucat�n Peninsula to Honduras. The oil's properties, similar to those of coconut oil, have given it increasing importance. Because the nuts are unusually hard and difficult to crack and their collection and transportation

Cosimo Iii

2005-02-19T09:36:00.000-08:00

Though Cosimo III traveled widely and spent money generously (in particular for the benefit of the church), he had a reserved manner aggravated by conjugal, political, and dynastic disillusionments, and he took refuge more and

Ali�kmon River

2005-02-18T02:21:00.000-08:00

Modern Greek �Ali�kmon Potam�s, � river, the longest in Greek Macedonia. The river's total length is 185 miles (297 km). Rising in the Gr�mmos Mountains of the eastern Pindus Range on the Albanian frontier, the Ali�kmon River flows southeast through gentle valleys and basins and is joined by a tributary, sometimes also called the Ali�kmon, which rises near the Albanian border. After collecting the drainage

Goblin

2005-02-17T05:33:00.000-08:00

In Western folklore, a wandering sprite that is usually mischievous but often malicious. Goblins supposedly live in grottoes but attach themselves to households, where they are believed to bang upon pots and pans, snatch nightclothes off the bodies of sleeping people, move furniture at night, and flee after rapping on walls and doors. They are

Arran, James Hamilton, 1st Earl Of

2005-02-16T02:52:00.000-08:00

Arran commanded a naval expedition against England in 1513 but failed lamentably and returned to find his rival, the earl of Angus, supreme at court. He therefore

Madero, Francisco (indal�cio)

2005-02-15T08:16:00.000-08:00

The son of a wealthy landowning

Busnois, Antoine

2005-02-14T14:05:00.000-08:00

Busnois entered the service of Charles the Bold (later duke of Burgundy) as a singer sometime before 1467. He traveled with Charles on his various campaigns, and after Charles's death in 1477, he remained a

Gonzaga University

2005-02-13T09:36:00.000-08:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Spokane, Washington, U.S. It is affiliated with the Jesuit order of the Roman Catholic church. The university includes the College of Arts and Sciences and schools of business administration, education, engineering, professional studies, and law, as well as a graduate school. In addition to undergraduate studies

Capital Punishment

2005-02-12T13:26:00.000-08:00

Also called �death penalty� execution of an offender sentenced to death after conviction by a court of law of a criminal offense. Capital punishment should be distinguished from extrajudicial executions carried out without due process of law. The term death penalty is sometimes used interchangeably with capital punishment, though imposition of the penalty is not always followed by execution

Bone Cyst

2005-02-09T08:52:00.000-08:00

Circumscribed, benign (noncancerous) lesion, usually saclike and filled with fluid. Unicameral bone cyst affects the long bones or heel bones in children and adolescents and is frequently detected as a result of a pathological fracture. Treatment is by excision and bone graft, but spontaneous healing is common. Aneurysmal bone cyst, usually occurring in young males,

Vision

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

Physiological process of distinguishing, usually by means of an organ such as the eye, the shapes and colours of objects. See eye; photoreception; sense.

Zamenhof, L.l.

2005-02-07T23:34:00.000-08:00

A Jew whose family spoke Russian and lived in an environment of racial and national conflict on the Polish-Russian borderland, Zamenhof dedicated himself to promoting tolerance, mainly

Gatlinburg

2005-02-06T14:51:00.000-08:00

City, Sevier county, eastern Tennessee, U.S. It lies about 30 miles (50 km) southeast of Knoxville, at the northwestern entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. English and Scotch-Irish settlers began to arrive along the Little Pigeon River about 1795; by 1835 the settlement was called White Oak Flats. It was renamed in 1860 for Radford Gatlin, who opened a store there in 1855. In an American

Kudu

2005-02-05T10:59:00.000-08:00

Any of certain handsome, slender antelopes of the genus Tragelaphus, family Bovidae (order Artiodactyla). The greater kudu (T. strepsiceros) lives in small groups in hilly bush country or open woods of eastern and southern Africa. It stands about 1.3 m (51 inches) at the shoulder. It has a fringe on the throat and a crest of hair on the neck and back, and

Caran D'ache

2005-02-04T18:34:00.000-08:00

He was educated in Moscow but settled in Paris, where he gained great popularity as a contributor to several periodicals. He was an early exponent of the episodic strip cartoon

Lane, Harriet

2005-02-03T05:31:00.000-08:00

She died of cancer in 1903 and was buried in the Greenmount Cemetery in Baltimore.

La Rioja

2005-02-01T09:06:00.000-08:00

Provincia, northwestern Argentina, extending southeastward from Chile. The provincia's southeastern half is an arid to semiarid plain, while the northwestern section is crossed north to south by alternating mountain ranges and semiarid valleys associated with the Andean cordillera. Saline marshes and lakes of the southeast are formed by intermittent streams

Walid, Al-

2005-01-31T20:12:00.000-08:00

Al-Walid, the eldest son of the caliph 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, was fervently orthodox in his religious views, and he had a great interest in architecture. As caliph, he confiscated the Christian Basilica of St. John the Baptist in Damascus

D�ngr�k Mountains

2005-01-30T08:22:00.000-08:00

Khmer �Chuor Phnum D�ngr�k�, French �Cha�ne de Dangrek� forested range of hills averaging 1,500 - 2,000 feet (450 - 600 m) and dividing Thailand from Cambodia. This east - west-trending range extends from the Mekong River westward for approximately 200 miles (320 km), merging with the highland area near San Kamphaeng, Thailand. Essentially the southern escarpment of the sandstone Khorat Plateau of northeastern Thailand, the D�ngr�k range slopes gradually

Aerospace Industry, Growth of the aircraft industry

2005-01-29T08:42:00.000-08:00

American aircraft manufacturers dominated the early post-World War II years. In 1951, 80 percent of the world's piston-engine commercial aircraft were made in the United States, and 56 percent of that American production was from Douglas. The United States, however, lagged behind Great Britain in understanding the potential of the jet airliner. In 1943 Britain had established

Bonaparte, Louis-lucien

2005-01-28T11:54:00.000-08:00

He passed his youth in Italy and did not go to France until 1848, when he served two brief terms in the Assembly as representative for Corsica (1848) and for the Seine (1849). He played no direct part in the coup d'etat of Dec. 2, 1851, of his cousin Napoleon

Moradabad

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

City, administrative headquarters of Moradabad district, Uttar Pradesh state, northern India, on a ridge along the Ramganga River. Moradabad was founded in 1625 by Rustam Khan (a Mughal general), who built the fort north of the city as well as the Jami' Masjid, a large mosque. Located at a major road and rail junction, it is a trade centre for agricultural products. Industries include cotton

Bess Beetle

2005-01-26T07:32:00.000-08:00

Also called �Bess-bug, Betsy Bug, or Horned Passalus Beetle� (family Passalidae), any of approximately 800 species of insects found mainly in the tropics but also in North America (e.g., Passalus cornutus) and characterized by their large size, ranging between 30 and 40 mm (1.2 and 1.6 inches) in length. Because of their shiny black wing covers (elytra), they are sometimes called patent-leather beetles. They are rather flat and

Dahlgren, John Adolphus Bernard

2005-01-25T06:11:00.000-08:00

American inventor of the smooth-bore cannon that was, from its shape, familiarly known as the �soda-water bottle.� The shape resulted from a design in which the thickness of metal was varied to match the differences in internal pressure occurring when the cannon was fired. The pressures were determined by boring holes in the

New Hampshire, Flag Of

2005-01-24T13:32:00.000-08:00

The seal of New Hampshire was adopted in 1784 following the Revolutionary War. On December 28, 1792, a regulation was adopted by the legislature that required regiments in the state militia to carry the national flag and regimental colours displaying the state seal. More than a century passed, however, before the adoption of a state flag for general purposes. The 1909 flag law provided

Andean Peoples

2005-01-23T09:32:00.000-08:00

Since 1532, under European rule, extractive activities, such as silver, tin, and copper mining, for foreign markets have been favoured to the point to which Andean agriculture and the ecologic wisdom in handling productively the extremely high altitudes have been gradually devalued and mostly forgotten. The population of the Central Andes is both less dense and less

N�rke

2005-01-22T15:54:00.000-08:00

Landskap (province) lying mostly in the administrative l�n (county) of �rebro, south-central Sweden. Its land area of 1,592 square miles (4,122 square km) lies between the traditional landskap (provinces) of V�stmanland on the north, S�dermanland on the east, �sterg�tland on the southeast, V�sterg�tland on the southwest, and V�rmland on the west. Dominating its landscape is the great

D�

2005-01-21T23:53:00.000-08:00

City, North Rhine-Westphalia Land (state), western Germany. It lies along the Ruhr River, on the northeastern slopes of the Eifel Hills. A Frankish settlement first mentioned in 748, it grew from the Villa Duria of Pippin III the Short, the king of the Franks. It was subsequently the seat of diets and synods under Charlemagne and the base for several of his Saxon campaigns. After

Ta-li

2005-01-20T19:38:00.000-08:00

Ta-li was the traditional political and commercial centre of Yunnan,

Cinnabar

2005-01-19T04:17:00.000-08:00

Mercury sulfide (HgS), the chief ore mineral of mercury. It is commonly encountered with pyrite, marcasite, and stibnite in veins near recent volcanic rocks and in hot-springs deposits. The most important deposit is at Almad�n, Spain, where it has been mined for 2,000 years. Other deposits are in Huancavelica, Peru; Iudrio, Italy; and the Coast Ranges of California, U.S. Metacinnabar,

Burgh, Hubert De

2005-01-18T10:54:00.000-08:00

When recalcitrant barons rebelled against John late in 1215, Hubert scored several important military victories for the royal cause. By 1217, a year after the

Franchet D'esperey, Louis-f�lix-fran�ois

2005-01-17T02:23:00.000-08:00

Trained at Saint-Cyr, d'Esperey served during the prewar period in Algeria and Tunisia. At the outbreak of World War I, he was a corps commander at

'amr Ibn Kulthum

2005-01-16T02:23:00.000-08:00

'Amr ibn Kulthum lived to a very advanced age, highly respected

Acacia

2005-01-15T01:38:00.000-08:00

Any of about 800 species of trees and shrubs comprising a genus (Acacia) in the mimosa family (Mimosaceae) and native to tropical and subtropical regions of the world, particularly Australia (there called wattles) and Africa. Acacias' distinctive leaves take the form of small, finely divided leaflets that give the leafstalk a feathery or fernlike (i.e., pinnate) appearance.

Mammal, Natural history

2005-01-14T03:26:00.000-08:00

The hallmarks of the mammalian level of organization are advanced reproduction and parental care, behavioral flexibility, and endothermy (the physiological maintenance of a relatively constant body temperature independent of that of the environment, allowing a high level of activity). Within the class, ecological diversity has resulted from adaptive specialization

China, Economic development

2005-01-13T19:40:00.000-08:00

In the 1640s and '50s the Manchu abolished all late Ming surtaxes and granted tax exemptions to areas ravaged by war. Tax remissions were limited, however, by the urgent need for revenues to carry on the conquest of China. It was not until the 1680s, after the consolidation of military victory, that the Ch'ing began to permit tax remissions on a large scale. The permanent freezing of

China, Popular uprising

2005-01-12T16:25:00.000-08:00

The third quarter of the 19th century saw a series of uprisings, again as a result of social discontent.

Han-tan

2005-01-11T21:22:00.000-08:00

The area was already settled

Alicatado

2005-01-10T21:54:00.000-08:00

Mosaic formed of polygonal, coloured glazed tiles. Made up into geometric patterns, they have been used mostly for paving Spanish and Moorish patios but also for wall surfaces. The expansion of the lands under Christian control in Spain in the 13th century led to a mixture of Gothic and Islamic styles (known as the Mud�jar style), in which alicatado was much used

Lagash

2005-01-09T18:17:00.000-08:00

Modern �Telloh� one of the most important capital cities in ancient Sumer, located midway between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in southeastern Iraq. The ancient name of the mound of Telloh was actually Girsu, while Lagash originally denoted a site southeast of Girsu, later becoming the name of the whole district and also of Girsu itself. The French excavated at Telloh between

Dracontius, Blossius Aemilius

2005-01-08T07:55:00.000-08:00

At Carthage Dracontius received the traditional rhetorical education and practiced as a lawyer. Though his family was initially favoured by the Vandals, he eventually suffered imprisonment

Ascari, Alberto

2005-01-07T02:46:00.000-08:00

Ascari started racing on motorcycles, turning to cars in 1940, when he entered the Mille Miglia. He raced in Maseratis after World War II and in Ferraris from 1949 to 1954, when he joined the Lancia team. He won the Mille Miglia in 1954 and many Grand Prix. Like his father, Antonio Ascari, who also

Macedonia

2005-01-06T03:12:00.000-08:00

The republic is located on the part of the southern Balkan Peninsula traditionally known as Macedonia, which is bounded to the south by the Aegean Sea and the Ali�kmon

Sanibel Island

2005-01-05T01:16:00.000-08:00

Sanibel Island

Amiel, Henri Fr�d�ric

2005-01-04T07:31:00.000-08:00

Swiss writer known for his Journal intime, a masterpiece of self-analysis. Despite apparent success (as professor of aesthetics, then of philosophy, at Geneva), he felt himself a failure. Driven in on himself, he lived in his Journal, kept from 1847 until his death and first published in part as Fragments d'un journal intime (1883 - 84; later enlarged editions;

Papyrology

2005-01-03T14:36:00.000-08:00

Most papyrus documents have been found in Egypt, where the papyrus plant was cultivated for the manufacture of writing material and the dry climate favoured preservation. Papyrus documents have been

Coney Island

2005-01-02T22:46:00.000-08:00

Amusement area in the southern part of the borough of Brooklyn in New York, N.Y., U.S., fronting the Atlantic Ocean. Formerly an island, it was known to Dutch settlers as Konijn Eiland (�Rabbit Island�), which was presumably Anglicized as Coney Island. It became part of Long Island after Coney Island Creek silted up to form a sandbar (about 5 miles [8 km] long and 0.25 - 1 mile [0.4 - 1.6 km] wide) between

Merryman, Ex Parte

2005-01-01T10:10:00.000-08:00

On May 25, 1861, a secessionist named John Merryman was imprisoned by military order at Fort McHenry, Baltimore, Md., for his alleged pro-Confederate activities. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, sitting as a federal circuit

Cumberland Narrows

2004-12-31T10:22:00.000-08:00

Scenic gorge 1,000 feet (305 metres) deep in Allegany county, northwestern Maryland, U.S., just northwest of Cumberland city. Cut by Wills Creek, it provides a natural east-west gateway, located between Wills and Haystack mountains, across the Allegheny Mountains. The gap, which was initially an Indian footpath, was discovered in 1755 by a vanguard unit of British and colonial troops

Robert I

2004-12-30T18:10:00.000-08:00

Also called �Robert the Frisian�, French �Robert le Frison�, Dutch �Robrecht de Fries� count of Flanders (1071 - 93), second son of Count Baldwin V. In 1063 he married Gertrude and became guardian of her son, who had inherited Frisia east of the Scheldt River. Upon this marriage, Robert's father also invested him with Imperial Flanders, including the islands of Frisia west of the Scheldt. He thus in his own right and that of his stepson became ruler

Switzerland, Police and armed forces

2004-12-29T20:28:00.000-08:00

Police authority is generally exercised by the cantons, but larger cities also maintain municipal police forces. A small federal police corps enforces special federal laws concerning such crimes as treason and forgery (mainly in collaboration with cantonal police). However, there is growing support for enlarging the role of the federal police, particularly

Theiler, Max

2004-12-27T23:09:00.000-08:00

Theiler received his medical training at St. Thomas's Hospital, London, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, graduating in 1922. In that year he joined the department

Furniture, Greece

2004-12-26T00:14:00.000-08:00

Principal furniture forms were couches, chairs (with and without arms), stools, tables, chests, and boxes. From extant examples, the depiction of furniture on vases and in relief carvings, and literary descriptions, much more is known about Greek furniture than about Egyptian. At Knossos, a built-in throne of stucco, much restored, is often considered to represent pre-Hellenic

Van Halen

2004-12-25T20:45:00.000-08:00

American heavy metal band, widely popular in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, distinguished by the innovative electric-guitar playing of Eddie Van Halen. The original members were Eddie Van Halen (b. Jan. 26, 1957, Nijmegen, Neth.), Alex Van Halen (b. May 8, 1955, Nijmegen), Michael Anthony (b. June 20, 1955, Chicago, Ill., U.S.), and David Lee Roth (b. Oct. 10, 1955, Bloomington, Ind., U.S.). Later members were Sammy Hagar (b. Oct. 13, 1947, Monterey,

Grundschule

2004-12-24T10:14:00.000-08:00

Before the 1920s, upper-class German children attended the Vorschule, a three-year course of preparation for secondary school (which usually began at age 9). Working-class children generally terminated their education at age 14 upon completing Volksschule (primary school).

Powell, Eleanor

2004-12-23T17:01:00.000-08:00

Powell studied ballet at age six and began dancing in Atlantic City nightclubs before she was a teenager. She joined the Co-Optimists

Builth Wells

2004-12-22T06:06:00.000-08:00

Welsh �Llanfair ym Muallt� market town, Powys county, historic county of Brecknockshire (Sir Frycheiniog), Wales, in the upper Wye valley. The Normans made the surrounding district of Buellt a marcher lordship (i.e., part of the political buffer zone between Wales and England) and constructed a fine motte-and-bailey castle at Builth. But the town and castle suffered severely from Welsh attacks, notably

Yang, Chen Ning

2004-12-21T11:29:00.000-08:00

Byname �Frank Yang � Chinese-born American theoretical physicist whose research with Tsung-Dao Lee showed that parity - the symmetry between physical phenomena occurring in right-handed and left-handed coordinate systems - is violated when certain elementary particles decay. Until this discovery it had been assumed by physicists that parity symmetry is

Dehydration

2004-12-20T21:00:00.000-08:00

Dehydration may be caused by restriction of water

Durante, Jimmy

2004-12-19T21:36:00.000-08:00

As a boy, Durante wanted to become a saloon pianist. His father, a barber, bought him a piano and provided intermittent lessons. Although Durante left school in seventh grade for a miscellany of jobs, he kept up his piano

Robben Island

2004-12-18T22:31:00.000-08:00

Afrikaans �Robbeneiland � island in Table Bay, Western Cape province, South Africa. It is 5 miles (8 km) west of the mainland and 6 miles (10 km) north of Cape Town and has an approximate area of 5 square miles (13 square km). Its name is the Dutch word for �seals,� once plentiful in the surrounding waters. The island was a common stopping point for passing ships in the 16th and early 17th centuries. After early efforts at settlement,

Church Commissioners

2004-12-17T19:05:00.000-08:00

The Governors of the Bounty of Queen Anne for the Augmentation of the Maintenance of the Poor Clergy was established by Queen Anne in 1703. Into this corporation were paid

Alajuela

2004-12-15T08:05:00.000-08:00

City, northwestern Costa Rica. It lies on the central plateau at an altitude of 3,141 feet (957 metres). Known in colonial days as La Lajuela and Villahermosa, the town was active in support of independence from Spain in 1821; five years later it suffered from a plot to restore Spanish control over Costa Rica. For a brief period in the 1830s Alajuela served as the nation's capital. It was the

Heilungkiang

2004-12-14T21:47:00.000-08:00

Chinese (Wade-Giles) �Hei-lung-chiang�, (Pinyin) �Heilongjiang� the northernmost sheng (province) of China's Northeast region. It is bounded on the north and east by Russia along the Amur River (Hei-lung Chiang) and the Ussuri (Wu-su-li) River, on the south by the Chinese province of Kirin, and on the west by the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. The province has an area of about 179,000 square miles (463,300 square kilometres). The capital is Harbin.

Austral Islands

2004-12-13T08:29:00.000-08:00

French ��les Australes, �also called �Tubuai Islands, � southernmost archipelago of French Polynesia. Volcanic in origin, they are part of a vast submerged mountain chain (probably a southeasterly extension of the Cook Islands) in the central South Pacific. Scattered for 800 miles (1,300 km), they comprise five inhabited islands - Raivavae (6 square miles [16 square km]), Rapa (15 square miles [39 square km]), Rimatara, (3 square miles [8 square km]), Rurutu

Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation

2004-12-12T22:37:00.000-08:00

American electronics company that shares credit with Texas Instruments Incorporated for the invention of the integrated circuit. Founded in 1957 in Santa Clara, California, Fairchild was among the earliest firms to successfully manufacture transistors and integrated circuits. Headquarters now are in South Portland, Maine, while research and production facilities

Amnesia

2004-12-11T08:07:00.000-08:00

The condition also may be traced to severe

China, Intellectual movements

2004-12-10T02:42:00.000-08:00

A new intelligentsia had also emerged. The educational reforms and the ending of the governmental examination system during the final Ch'ing years enabled thousands of young people to study sciences, engineering, medicine, law, economics, education, and military skills in Japan. Others went to Europe and the United States. Upon their return they took important positions

Tigerware

2004-12-09T03:03:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Tygerware, � 16th- and 17th-century German stoneware having a brown, mottled glaze, and made in the Rhenish centres of Cologne and Frechen, Ger. Tigerware was imported to England and imitated there in the different medium of delft, or tin-glazed earthenware; the imitations were also called tigerware. Tin-glazed jugs in this style - called Malling jugs - are among the earliest class of English

Sa�da

2004-12-08T08:02:00.000-08:00

Town, northwestern Algeria, on the southern slopes of the Tell Atlas and the northern fringe of the Hauts (high) Plateaux. The city's site has been of military importance since the construction there of a Roman fort. Sa�da was a stronghold of Abdelkader, the Algerian national leader who burned the town upon the approach of French forces in 1844. Modern Sa�da was founded as

Maurois, Andr�

2004-12-07T16:50:00.000-08:00

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

Anderson, Sherwood

2004-12-06T21:31:00.000-08:00

Author who strongly influenced American writing between World Wars I and II, particularly the technique of the short story. His writing had an impact on such notable writers as Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner, both of whom owe the first publication of their books to his efforts. His prose style, based on everyday speech

Saracoglu, S�

2004-12-05T16:43:00.000-08:00

Having studied economics and political science in Geneva, Saracoglu returned to Turkey in 1918 following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I (1914 - 18). He joined the movement of Mustafa Kemal (later Atat�rk) to resist the Allied occupation