Biblical Literature, The Great Bible

Rodent native to Eurasia but introduced worldwide through association with humans. Highly adaptive, the house mouse has both behavioral and physiological traits—such as the ability to survive in buildings and aboard ships, a tendency to move into agricultural fields and leave when the habitat changes, and a rapid rate of reproduction—that allow

Acrasieae

Class name for cellular slime molds (division Myxomycophyta). The class contains a single order, Acrasiales, and about a dozen species. The vegetative phase of these slime molds consists of amoeba-like cells (myxamoebas) that group together ultimately to form a fruiting (reproductive) structure.

Steelhead

Saltwater form of rainbow trout (q.v.).

Acrasieae

Extinct aquatic lizards that attained a high degree of adaptation to the marine environment and were distributed worldwide during the Cretaceous Period (144 million to 65 million years ago). The mosasaurs competed with other marine reptiles—the plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs—for food, which consisted largely of ammonoids, fish, and cuttlefish. Many mosasaurs of the

Tibet, The arts

Tibet is most renowned for its religious scroll paintings (tankas, or thang-ka), metal images, and wooden block prints. There are three categories of images—representing the peaceful, moderate, and angry deities—and three schools of painting—the Sman-thang, Gong-dkar Mkhan-bris, and Kar-ma sgar-bris—which are differentiated by colour tones and depicted facial

Yun, Isang

Yun began composing at the age of 14 and studied music in Japan in Osaka and Tokyo. He returned to Korea, where he was active in the resistance movement against the Japanese during World War

Ascoli, Graziadio Isaia

Ascoli did not receive any formal higher education, but he wrote his first major work, on Oriental languages, in 1854. While serving as a professor

Humanism, Fran�ois Rabelais (c. 1490 - 1533)

Rabelais ranks with Boccaccio as a founding father of Western realism. As a satirist and stylist (in his hands French prose became a free, poetic form), he influenced writers as important as Jonathan Swift, Laurence Sterne, and James Joyce and may be seen as a major precursor of modernism. His five books concerning the deeds of the giant princes Gargantua and

Nora

Ancient site about 22 miles (35 km) southwest of Cagliari (Caralis) on the island of Sardinia. Although tradition ascribes its foundation to Iberians from Tartessus, the site, which lies on a triangular promontory ending in a steep cliff, is characteristically Phoenician. Apart from remains of a Sardinian nuraghe, or towerlike monument, the earliest antiquities discovered

Cumberland, William Augustus, Duke Of

During the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48), he became commander of the allied forces (1745) and was severely defeated by France's Marshal Maurice

Andaman And Nicobar Islands, The people

The Nicobarese probably descend from both Malay and Myanmar (Mon or Talaing) peoples. Their dialects belong to the Mon-Khmer language group; English, Burmese, and Hindustani also are spoken. Most of the population is Hindu, although Christianity has been widely adopted and there is also a significant Muslim minority. The coconut and betel nut are major crops, and yams

Anthony Of Egypt, Saint

Athanasius, The Life of Antony and the Letter to Marcellinus (1980), was written by a contemporary; this translation includes useful prefatory material.

Disarmament

In international relations, any of four distinct conceptions: (1) the penal destruction or reduction of the armament of a country defeated in war (the provision under the Versailles Treaty [1919] for the disarmament of Germany and its allies is an example of this conception of disarmament); (2) bilateral disarmament agreements applying to specific geographic areas (naval

Hackney

Hackneys were

Sweyn Ii Estridsen

The son of Ulf, a Danish earl, and Estrid, a sister of Canute I the Great, Sweyn fled to Sweden after his father was murdered in 1027 on orders of Canute. After the death of Canute (1035), when Hardecanute was ruling in Denmark and Magnus in Norway, the young kings agreed that whoever lived longer

Beyla

Town, southeastern Guinea, western Africa, in the Guinea Highlands. The town was founded by Dyula traders in the early 13th century as a collecting point for slaves and kola nuts and is now the chief trading centre for rice, cattle, tobacco, coffee, and palm oil and kernels. It is connected by road with Nzérékoré (south) and Kankan (north). Beyla is the site of a hospital and a tobacco

Anisian Stage

Lowermost of two divisions of the Middle Triassic Series, representing those rocks deposited worldwide during Anisian time (242 million to 234 million years ago) in the Triassic Period. The stage name is derived from an area of limestone formations along the Anisus River at Grossreifling in the Austrian Alps. The Anisian Stage is subdivided, in ascending order, into the

Afghanistan, The 7th - 18th centuries

Under the Hephthalites and Sasanids, many of the Afghan princedoms were influenced by Hinduism. The Hindu kings of the Shahi family were concentrated in the Kabul and Ghazni areas. Excavated sites of the period include a major Hindu Shahi temple north of Kabul and a chapel in Ghazni that contains both Buddhist and Hindu statuary, indicating that there was a mingling of these

Skaldic Poetry

Skalds were identified by name; their poems

Aba

City, Abia state, southern Nigeria. It lies along the west bank of the Aba River, at the intersection of roads from Port Harcourt, Owerri, Umuahia, Ikot Ekpene, and Ikot Abasi (Opobo). Aba was a traditional market town for the Igbo (Ibo) people of the tropical rainforest before the establishment of a British military post there in 1901. With the construction of the railway in 1915 from

Leguminosae

Plant family comprising the order Fabales (q.v.).

Ms.

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.

Nagual

The person who is

Police

All societies need some way to maintain order. In the smallest societies, informal sanctions discourage deviation. In

Syrian And Palestinian Religion, The Baal cycle

Baal (Hadad) is regularly denominated “the son of Dagan,” although Dagan (biblical Dagon) does not appear as an actor in the mythological texts. Baal also bears the titles “Rider of the Clouds,” “Almighty,” and “Lord of the Earth.” He is the god of the thunderstorm, the most vigorous and aggressive of the gods, the one on whom mortals most immediately depend. Baal resides on Mount Zaphon

China, Economic policies

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

Nicholas I

A close associate of the controversial patriarch Photius of Constantinople, Nicholas began his career in the

Pierce, John Davis

Though denied an extensive education as a youth because of his father's early death and consequent family financial limitations, Pierce decided at age 20 to educate himself. He succeeded so well that he was

Utica

Modern  Utique  traditionally the oldest Phoenician settlement on the coast of North Africa. It is located near the mouth of the Majardah (French Medjerda, ancient Bagradas) River in modern Tunisia. After its founding in the 8th or 7th century BC, Utica grew rapidly and was second only to Carthage among Phoenician settlements in Africa. In the Third Punic War (149–146 BC), Utica sided with Rome against

Nabis

Last ruler (207–192) of an independent Sparta. Nabis carried on the revolutionary tradition of Kings Agis IV and Cleomenes III. Since ancient accounts of him are mainly abusive, the details of his laws remain obscure, but it is certain that he confiscated a great deal of property and enfranchised many helots (Spartan serfs). He undoubtedly was not the monster depicted by the

Aerosol Container

The

Argentina, The Dirty War and the Falklands dispute

For vivid accounts of the Dirty War, see Andrew Graham-Yooll, A State of Fear: Memories of Argentina's Nightmare (1986); and Jacobo Timerman, Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number (1981, reprinted 1993; originally published in Spanish, 1981). Works on the Falkland Islands dispute and the war of 1982 include Raphael Perl, The Falkland Islands Dispute in International Law and Politics: A Documentary Sourcebook (1983); Alejandro Dabat and Luis Lorenzano, Argentina, the Malvinas, and the End of Military Rule (1984; originally published in Spanish, 1982); and Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins, The Battle for the Falklands (1983).

Utica

Any member of the mammalian order made up of the relatively well-known rabbits and hares (family Leporidae) and also the less frequently encountered pikas (family Ochotonidae). Rabbits and hares characteristically have long ears, a short tail, and strong hind limbs that provide a bounding locomotion. In contrast, the smaller pikas have shorter, rounded ears, no external

Fyrd

Tribal militia-like arrangement existing in Anglo-Saxon England from approximately AD 605. Local in character, it imposed military service upon every able-bodied free male. It was probably the duty of the ealderman, or sheriff, to call out and lead the fyrd. Fines imposed for neglecting the fyrd varied with the status of the individual, landholders receiving the heaviest

Gabrieli, Giovanni

Egon Kenton, Life and Works of Giovanni Gabrieli (1967); and Denis Arnold, Giovanni Gabrieli and the Music of the Venetian High Renaissance (1979, reprinted 1986).

X-trisomy

Sex chromosome disorder of human females, in which three X chromosomes are present, rather than the normal pair. More common than Turner's syndrome, where only one X chromosome is present, X-trisomy usually remains undetected because affected individuals appear normal, experience puberty, and are usually fertile. Statistical studies suggest a slightly increased

Niter�i

City, Rio de Janeiro estado (“state”), eastern Brazil. It lies on the eastern side of the entrance to Guanabara Bay. The city of Rio de Janeiro on the opposite side is connected to Niterói by ferry, railroad, and, since 1974, the President Costa e Silva Bridge, spanning Guanabara Bay; this is one of the longest bridges in Brazil. Both cities are located on low ground at the heads of inlets,

Lowe, Doug

Lowe was a champion runner at Highgate School and also at the University of Cambridge, where he studied law. He came in fourth in the 1,500-metre race at the 1924 Olympics. After his final Olympics performance, he went to Berlin

Apries

Apries failed to help his ally King Zedekiah of Judah against Babylon, but after the fall of Jerusalem he received many Jewish refugees into Egypt. Later he took the Phoenician port of Sidon, but, because of his subsequent failure in an attack on Cyrene in Libya, the Egyptian army mutinied

Ahimsa

In Jainism, ahimsa is the standard

Tyrwhitt, Thomas

English scholar especially notable for his work on the medieval English poet Geoffrey Chaucer. In classical and English scholarship alike, Tyrwhitt showed the same qualities of balance, wide knowledge, and critical acumen. (He was the one man able, on linguistic grounds alone, to denounce as a forgery the poems by Thomas Chatterton purporting

Audley (of Walden), Thomas Audley, Baron

Trained in law, Audley rose in politics to become speaker of the House of Commons in 1529. Because

Feme Sole

In Anglo-American common law, a woman in the unmarried state or in the legally established equivalent of that state. The concept derived from feudal Norman custom and was prevalent through periods when marriage abridged women's rights. Feme sole (Norman French meaning “single woman”) referred to a woman who had never been married or who was divorced or widowed or to

Kirklareli

City, northwestern (European) Turkey. It lies in the foothills of the Yildiz (Istranca) Mountains. Formerly called Kirk Kilise (“Forty Churches”), it developed chiefly because of its position on the shortest route over the mountains from the north to Istanbul, 100 miles (160 km) southeast. The city has numerous Ottoman monuments, including the 15th-century Mosque of Hizir Bey. An important

Rada'

(Arabic: “to suckle”), in Islam, a legal relationship established between children when they are nursed by the same woman, the result being that they are forbidden to intermarry. Such a prohibition was prevalent in Arabian society even before Islam. Arabs equate such kinship with true blood relationship. In Mecca, the Arabs had a custom, still retained, of hiring professional

Pierre

Capital of South Dakota, U.S., seat (1880) of Hughes county, on the Missouri River, in the geographic centre of the state. Before 1800 the capital of the Arikara Indian nation was located on its site. Founded in June 1880 as the western terminus of the Chicago and North Western Railway, it was first known as Mahto (Sioux: “Bear”) but was renamed in December 1880 for Pierre Chouteau, a French fur trader.

Murakami Haruki

As a boy, Murakami rebelled against the study of Japanese literature, instead reading American paperbacks. This early and sustained interest is evident in the structure and nontraditional style of his own novels. His first internationally

Steeple Cup

Tall standing cup, the cover of which characteristically bears an obelisk finial (sometimes surmounted by a figure) that rises on scrolled brackets from the cover. With an egg-shaped or globular bowl and cover, a short baluster stem, and a tall, trumpet-shaped foot, these cups seem to have emerged only in England and for a short period between about 1590 and the 1630s. They were usually

Baha'i Faith

Religion founded in Iran in the mid-19th century by Mirza Hoseyn 'Ali Nuri, who is known as Baha' Ullah (Arabic: “Glory of God”). The cornerstone of Baha'i belief is the conviction that Baha' Ullah and his forerunner, who was known as the Bab, were manifestations of God, who in his essence is unknowable. The principal Baha'i tenets are the essential unity of all religions and the unity of humanity.

Interior Design, Floors

Basically, there are two kinds of floors for interiors: those that are an integral part of the structure and those that are applied after the structure is completed. Interior designers working together with architects have the opportunity to specify flooring such as slate, terrazzo, stone, brick, concrete, or wood, but in most interiors the flooring is designed at

Respiratory Disease

Diseases of the respiratory system may affect any of the structures and organs that have to do with breathing—the nasal cavities, the throat (pharynx), the larynx, the windpipe (trachea), the airways (bronchi), and the lung tissue. In addition, respiration is dependent on normal functioning of the muscles

Thomas The Rhymer

Also called  Thomas Learmont , or  Thomas Of Erceldoune  Scottish poet and prophet who was likely the author of the metrical romance Sir Tristrem, a version of the widely diffused Tristan legend. The romance was first printed in 1804 by Sir Walter Scott from a manuscript of about 1300. Thomas is now probably best known through the ballad “Thomas the Rhymer,” included by Scott in his Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (1802). In popular lore

Middletown

City, coextensive with the town (township) of Middletown, Middlesex county, central Connecticut, U.S., on the Connecticut River. Settled by Puritans in 1650 and incorporated as a town in 1651, it occupies the site of the Indian village of Mattabesec (Mattabesett). It was named in 1653 for its position between the upstream towns and the river mouth. The city, chartered in 1784, consolidated with

Baburen, Dirck Van

After studying painting with a portraitist and history painter in Utrecht, Baburen traveled to Rome about 1612. His most important Italian commission was the decoration of a chapel in the

Cytoskeleton

A system of tiny filaments or fibres that is present in the cytoplasm of eukaryotic cells (cells containing a nucleus). The cytoskeleton organizes other constituents of the cell, maintains the cell's shape, and is responsible for the locomotion of the cell itself and the movement of the various organelles within it. The filaments that comprise the cytoskeleton are

Rural Electrification

Project implemented in the United States in the second quarter of the 20th century by the Rural Electrification Administration (REA), a federal agency established in 1935, under the New Deal, in an effort to raise the standard of rural living and to slow the extensive migration of rural Americans to urban centres; more than 98 percent of the United States' farms were equipped

Biblical Literature, Exodus and conquest

According to biblical tradition, the clan migrated to Egypt because of a famine in the land of Canaan, were later enslaved and oppressed, and finally escaped from Egypt to the desert east of the Isthmus of Suez under a remarkable leader, Moses. The account—a proclamation, celebration, and commemoration of the event—is replete with legendary elements, but present-day