CommonCord

Botox treatment that really works

2006-12-25T14:00:00.000-08:00

There's a great new Botox treatment in Fulham I found. They are really professional and not a bad price either. My wife looks great now her botox treatment is finished. Our love life has improved dramatically. Say no more!

Sertorius, Quintus

2005-04-04T20:31:00.000-07:00

After acquiring some reputation in Rome as a jurist and orator, Sertorius fought in Gaul against the invading Cimbri and Teutons (105 and 102) and in 97 served in Spain. In 90 he was quaestor in Cisalpine Gaul and commanded an army in the

Guadalupe

2005-04-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

County, central New Mexico, U.S., an arid plains area dotted with hills and red mesas and marked by a few arroyos. The county lies mostly in the Pecos River valley, rising in the east to a High Plains region. The Pecos makes an irregular curve through the county from northwest to south, exiting at Sumner Lake. Santa Rosa Lake is an impoundment on the Pecos at Los Esteros Dam. Santa

Piglia, Ricardo

2005-04-02T23:33:00.000-08:00

After attending the National University of La Plata in 1961–62, Piglia began to write fiction; his first collection of short stories, La invasión (1967), established his reputation as a writer. Another collection, Nombre falso (1975; Assumed Name), includes

Cylinder Machine

2005-04-02T11:58:00.000-08:00

Device for producing paper, paperboard, and other fibreboards, invented in 1809 by John Dickinson. It consists of one or more tubes of wire screen partially immersed and rotated in a vat containing a mixture of pulp and water; the screen picks up a film from which the water drains, leaving a wet sheet that is transferred from the cylinder onto a felt in a continuous web. Cylinders

Crabbe, George

2005-03-31T16:05:00.000-08:00

Crabbe grew up in the impoverished seacoast village of Aldeburgh and was apprenticed to a surgeon at 14. Hating his mean surroundings and unsuccessful occupation, he abandoned both in 1780 and went to London. In 1781 he wrote a

Macdonald, (james) Ramsay

2005-03-31T01:23:00.000-08:00

In 1885 he

Dominica Channel

2005-03-28T13:02:00.000-08:00

Marine passage in the Lesser Antilles, West Indies, connecting the Caribbean Sea with the open Atlantic Ocean to the east. It flows between the island of Dominica (north) and the French island and overseas département of Martinique (south) and is about 25 miles (40 km) wide.

Kraljevo

2005-03-28T01:52:00.000-08:00

Just 3 miles

Quack Grass

2005-03-27T10:01:00.000-08:00

Quack grass has long, yellowish-white

Luray Caverns

2005-03-26T23:29:00.000-08:00

Series of limestone caves in Page county, northwestern Virginia, U.S., near the town of Luray (headquarters of Shenandoah National Park). Covering 64 acres (26 hectares), the caverns, discovered in 1878, were formed millions of years ago by underground rivers and seepage of acid-bearing water through layers of limestone and clay. In time the clay was washed away, leaving only the limestone

Architecture, History Of Western, From the 17th to the 19th century

2005-03-24T23:02:00.000-08:00

A Gothic Revival was in a sense initiated early in England during the late 16th century under the influence of Elizabethan and Jacobean notions of chivalry and again between 1620 and 1630 under the impetus of William Laud's Anglicanism; but it is in the Gothic experimentalism of the late 17th century, particularly that of Wren's circle, in which seeds of a Gothic Revival can be discerned.

Haworth

2005-03-24T15:55:00.000-08:00

Town, Bradford metropolitan borough, metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, historic county of Yorkshire, England, overlooking the River Worth and adjoining the town of Keighley. In 1820 the Reverend Patrick Brontë brought his wife and six children—including Charlotte, Emily, and Anne, later of international literary fame—to Haworth. The Church of St. Michael contains

Gadsden, James

2005-03-22T15:10:00.000-08:00

He graduated from Yale College in 1806 and engaged in business in his native city until 1812, when he was appointed a lieutenant of engineers in the U.S. Army. In 1820 he was made responsible for the establishment of military posts in Florida and supervised

Tannenberg, Battle Of

2005-03-21T22:52:00.000-08:00

Polish and Lithuanian forces proceeding toward

Bülow, Hans (guido), Freiherr Von (baron Of)

2005-03-21T01:18:00.000-08:00

As a child Bülow studied piano under Friedrich Wieck, father

Sessions, Roger (huntington)

2005-03-19T11:36:00.000-08:00

He studied at Harvard University and at the Yale School of Music and later took composition lessons from Ernest Bloch. After several years in Europe he returned to the United

Wyong

2005-03-18T16:32:00.000-08:00

Town, eastern New South Wales, Australia, on the Wyong River, immediately west of the Tuggerah Lakes (coastal lagoons). The district was settled in 1823 for the purpose of exploiting its cedar trees. As the forests were removed, agricultural activities increased, with citrus groves being planted after 1887. The town, proclaimed in 1888, derived its name from an Aboriginal word meaning

Chanson De Roland, La

2005-03-18T13:43:00.000-08:00

English The Song of Roland Old French epic poem that is probably the earliest (c. 1100) and certainly the masterpiece of chanson de geste (q.v.). The poem's probable author was a Norman poet, Turold, whose name is introduced in the last line of the poem. The song deals with the historical Battle of Roncesvalles (Roncevaux) in 778. Though the encounter was actually an insignificant skirmish against the Basques,

Consejo Real

2005-03-17T11:36:00.000-08:00

Spanish royal council medieval Spanish advisory council consisting of nobles and church prelates. Initially created at the request of the Cortes (parliament) to serve as its permanent representative, the consejo real evolved into a body controlled by the monarch. John I of Castile formally determined the first council's structure in 1386, adding four members, usually lawyers, to the former

United Arab Emirates

2005-03-17T02:53:00.000-08:00

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries the dominant tribal faction was the Al-Qawasim (singular: Qasimi), whose ships controlled the maritime commerce (notably fishing and pearling) concentrated in

Danbury Hatters' Case

2005-03-16T17:28:00.000-08:00

Formally Loewe v. Lawlor (208 U.S. 274) U.S. Supreme Court case in which unions were held to be subject to the antitrust laws. In 1902 the United Hatters of North America, having failed to organize the firm of D.E. Loewe in Danbury, Conn., called for a nationwide boycott of the firm's products. The firm brought suit under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, and in 1908 the union was assessed triple damages. The case was a severe setback

Jia

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

The jia can either be a form of pottery or it can be bronze. It is a deep, cup-shaped vessel supported on three or four pointed, splayed legs. There is a vertical handle on the body and two small, capped, pillarlike additions on opposite sides

China, The Nien Rebellion

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

Often in the first half of the 19th century plundering gangs, called nien, ravaged northern Anhwei, southern Shantung, and southern Honan. In mid-century, however, their activities were suddenly intensified, partly by the addition to their numbers of a great many starving people who had lost their livelihood from repeated floods of the Huang Ho in the early 1850s, and partly

Oak Park

2005-03-14T06:34:00.000-08:00

Village, Cook county, northeastern Illinois, U.S. It is a western suburb of Chicago. Settled in 1833 by Joseph Kettlestrings, who operated a sawmill on the east bank of the Des Plaines River, it was originally called Oak Ridge and served as a stopping place for farmers taking their produce into Chicago. In 1871, after the Chicago fire, the population grew rapidly. The village, primarily

Anthracnose

2005-03-13T18:42:00.000-08:00

Plant disease of warm humid areas that infects a variety of plants from trees to grasses. It is caused by certain fungi (usually Colletotrichum or Gloeosporium) producing spores in tiny, sunken, saucer-shaped fruiting bodies (acervuli). Symptoms include sunken spots of various colours in leaves, stems, fruits, or flowers. The spots often enlarge, leading to wilting, withering,

France, History Of, The hegemony of Neustria

2005-03-12T18:27:00.000-08:00

The territorial struggles began anew after 639. In Neustria, Austrasia, and Burgundy, power was in the hands of aristocratic leaders, called the mayors of the palace. Ebroïn, mayor of the palace in Neustria, attempted to unify the kingdom under his leadership but met with violent opposition. Resistance in Burgundy was led by Bishop Leodegar, who was assassinated in about

Haldane, John Scott

2005-03-11T01:32:00.000-08:00

Haldane developed several procedures for studying the physiology of breathing and the physiology of the blood and for the analysis of gases consumed or produced by the body. Among his most widely used devices were

Danaus

2005-03-10T11:52:00.000-08:00

In Greek legend, son of Belus, king of Egypt, and twin brother of Aegyptus. Driven out of Egypt by his brother, he fled with his 50 daughters (the Danaïds) to Argos, where he became king. Soon thereafter the 50 sons of Aegyptus arrived in Argos, and Danaus was forced to consent to their marriage with his daughters. Danaus, however, commanded each daughter to slay her husband on the

China, General works

2005-03-09T10:16:00.000-08:00

Overviews of China's physical and human geography may be found in Keith Buchanan, The Transformation of the Chinese Earth (1970); Ping-chia Kuo, China, 3rd ed. (1970); T.R. Tregear, China: A Geographical Survey (1980); Albert Kolb, East Asia: China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam: Geography of a Cultural Region (1971, reprinted 1977; originally published in German, 1963); Brian Hook (ed.), The Cambridge Encyclopedia of China (1982); Robert L. Worden, Andrea Matles Savada, and Ronald E. Dolan (eds.), China, a Country Study, 4th ed. (1988); and Information China, 3 vol. (1989), an encyclopaedic work prepared under the auspices of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and ed. by C.V. James.

Qayrawan, Al-

2005-03-08T22:11:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Qairouan, or Kairouan, town, north-central Tunisia. The town, one of the holy cities of Islam, lies on the Low Steppes, a semiarid alluvial plain southeast of the Central Tell. Founded in 670 on the site of the Byzantine fortress of Kamouinia, it served as the camp from which the offensive was launched that resulted in the Islamic political and religious subjugation of the Maghrib (northwest Africa).

Mclaren, Bruce (leslie)

2005-03-08T19:36:00.000-08:00

From 1959 to 1965 McLaren drove for Charles Cooper, a British racing car designer and builder. In 1960 he finished second to Jack Brabham of Australia

Indiana Dunes

2005-03-07T13:56:00.000-08:00

The state park, established in 1925, comprises 2,182 acres (883 hectares) of shoreline, marshland, dunes, and forests near Chesterton. In addition to a 3-mile (5-kilometre) white sand beach, it has facilities for camping, picnicking, fishing, and hiking. An outstanding feature is the Big

Novikov, Sergey Petrovich

2005-03-06T04:01:00.000-08:00

Novikov graduated from Moscow State University in 1960 and received Ph.D. (1964) and Doctor of Science (1965) degrees from the V.A. Steklov Institute of Mathematics in Moscow. He joined the faculty at Moscow in 1964 and became

Anorexia

2005-03-06T01:12:00.000-08:00

Persistent lack of appetite not caused by repletion. It may spring from psychoneurotic causes, as in anorexia nervosa (q.v.), a lack of appetite, primarily in young women, that may lead to extreme emaciation and even to death. Anorexia, like nausea and vomiting, may be brought about by shock, pain, or an inadequate supply of oxygen to a centre in the medulla oblongata (the part

Tibaldi, Pellegrino

2005-03-05T14:38:00.000-08:00

Tibaldi grew up in Bologna in a family of Lombard stonemasons. He was trained as a painter under minor Emilian artists who imitated the style of Raphael; in 1547, however, he went to Rome and worked with Perino del Vaga.

Daily Mail

2005-03-05T10:08:00.000-08:00

The Daily Mail was founded in 1896 by Alfred Harmsworth, later 1st Viscount Northcliffe (see Northcliffe, Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, Viscount). Its roots can be traced to the Hull

Arsenate Mineral

2005-03-04T08:03:00.000-08:00

Any of a group of naturally occurring compounds of arsenic, oxygen, and various metals, most of which are rare, having crystallized under very restricted conditions. At the mineralogically famous Långban iron and manganese mines in central Sweden, more than 50 species of arsenate minerals have been described, many peculiar to the locality. Such compounds occur in

Furniture, Transitional modern

2005-03-03T18:18:00.000-08:00

Conservative in style (but not imitative), well-constructed, and carefully finished, the best modern furniture earned its reputation of being in good, correct taste. Often relying on handcraft details and on wood, most factories used speeded-up variations of earlier cabinetmaking operations. This, along with the United States' emphasis on artificially stimulated

Om

2005-03-02T13:58:00.000-08:00

In Hinduism and other religions chiefly of India, a sacred syllable that is considered to be the greatest of all the mantras, or sacred formulas. The syllable Om is composed of the three sounds a-u-m (in Sanskrit, the vowels a and u coalesce to become o), which represent several important triads: the three worlds of earth, atmosphere, and heaven; the three major Hindu gods,

Mesopotamia, History Of, Mesopotamia under the Persians

2005-03-01T21:20:00.000-08:00

Cyrus II, the founder of the Achaemenian Empire, united Babylonia with his country in a personal union, assuming the title of “King of Babylonia, King of the Lands.” His son Cambyses was appointed vice-king and resided in Sippar. The Persians relied on the support of the priests and the business class in the cities. In a Babylonian inscription, Cyrus relates with pride his

Pedro Juan Caballero

2005-03-01T20:01:00.000-08:00

Town, eastern Paraguay, founded in 1899. It lies in the Amambay Mountains at 2,296 feet (700 m) above sea level, opposite Ponte Porã, Braz. Pedro Juan Caballero is the region's largest town and principal trade centre. The hinterland is utilized primarily for cattle ranching and coffee growing. In the town are a government delegation, a radio station, a commerce school, a teachers college,

Ascari, Alberto

2005-02-28T18:04:00.000-08:00

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

Dragonet

2005-02-27T18:23:00.000-08:00

Any of about 40 species of marine fishes constituting the family Callionymidae (order Perciformes), found in warm temperate or tropical areas, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region. Dragonets characteristically have large and elongated fins, large, flattened heads, and small gills that are mere rounded openings. Dragonets are scaleless. The males may be brightly

Scandinavian Literature, Developments in Finno-Swedish literature

2005-02-26T08:56:00.000-08:00

The second flourishing of Finno-Swedish literature occurred in the 1920s, with the development of modernism in lyric poetry. This trend was initiated by Edith Södergran, whose visionary, dreamlike poems proved influential throughout much of Scandinavia. After her came such poets as Gunnar Björling, noted for his impressionistic pictures of nature; Rabbe

Nordenskiöld, Adolf Erik, Baron (frihere)

2005-02-26T04:05:00.000-08:00

In 1858 Nordenskiöld settled in Stockholm, joined an expedition to the Arctic island of Spitsbergen, between Norway and Greenland, and became

Sør-trøndelag

2005-02-24T22:59:00.000-08:00

Fylke (county), central Norway. It extends from the Swedish border (east) to the coast of the Norwegian Sea (west). The mouth of the deeply indented Trondheim Fjord lies in the northern part of the fylke; parts of the Dovre Mountains are in the south. Adjacent to the Norwegian Sea coast are the large islands of Hitra and Frøya. The fylke's economy is based on fishing and agriculture

Land, Edwin Herbert

2005-02-24T09:25:00.000-08:00

While a student at Harvard University, Land became interested in polarized light, i.e., light in which all rays are aligned in the same plane.

Asean

2005-02-24T08:41:00.000-08:00

In full Association of Southeast Asian Nations international organization established by the governments of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand in 1967 to accelerate economic growth, social progress, and cultural development and to promote peace and security in Southeast Asia. Brunei joined in 1984, followed by Vietnam in 1995, Laos and Myanmar in 1997, and Cambodia in 1999. The ASEAN region has a population

Enclosed Rhyme

2005-02-22T11:55:00.000-08:00

Also called enclosing rhyme in poetry, the rhyming pattern abba found in certain quatrains, such as the first verse of Matthew Arnold's “Shakespeare”:Others abide our question. Thou art free.We ask and ask—thou smilest and art still,Out-topping knowledge. For the loftiest hill,Who to the stars uncrowns his majesty,

Fragile-x Syndrome

2005-02-22T00:49:00.000-08:00

The X chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes (the other being the Y chromosome). Males have one X and one Y chromosome; females have two X chromosomes. The male who receives the fragile-X chromosome will be affected by the syndrome,

Paraguay

2005-02-21T21:39:00.000-08:00

Officially Republic of Paraguay , Spanish República del Paraguay country in south-central South America. A landlocked country, it is bordered by Bolivia to the northwest and north, Brazil to the northeast and east, and Argentina to the southeast, south, and west. It has a total area of 157,048 square miles (406,752 square kilometres). The national capital is Asunción, which is located on the east bank of the Paraguay River opposite the mouth of its primary

Endocrine System, Human, Hypoaldosteronism

2005-02-21T17:52:00.000-08:00

Isolated aldosterone deficiency results in a low level of sodium in the serum (hyponatremia)

Tracheid

2005-02-21T13:33:00.000-08:00

In botany, primitive element of xylem (fluid-conducting tissues), consisting of a single elongated cell with pointed ends and a secondary, cellulosic wall thickened with lignin (a chemical binding substance) containing numerous pits but having no perforations in the primary cell wall. At functional maturity, the cell is dead and empty; its former protoplast is represented,

Saiki

2005-02-19T23:27:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Saeki, city, Oita ken (prefecture), Kyushu, Japan, facing Saiki Bay. It developed as a castle town on the small delta of the Banjo River during the Muromachi era (1338–1573) and came into the possession of the Mori daimyo family in 1601. Because of its good harbour, Saiki was selected for a base of the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1933. After World War II most of the military facilities were converted to industrial

Bouvard, Alexis

2005-02-19T15:15:00.000-08:00

Astronomer and director of the Paris Observatory, who is noted for discovering eight comets and writing Tables astronomiques of Jupiter and Saturn (1808) and of Uranus (1821). Bouvard's tables accurately predicted orbital locations of Jupiter and Saturn, but his tables for Uranus failed, leading him to hypothesize that irregularities in Uranus'

Daily Telegraph, The

2005-02-19T01:45:00.000-08:00

Founded in 1855 as the Daily Telegraph and Courier, the paper has consistently combined a high standard of reporting with the selection of interesting feature subjects and editorial presentation. Its appeal is a conservative and middle-class

Chronology

2005-02-17T17:19:00.000-08:00

The era at present in vogue among the Jews, counted from the creation of the world (anno mundi; abbreviated to AM), came into popular use about the 9th century AD. Traceable in dates recorded much earlier, this era has five styles conventionally indicated by Hebrew letters used as numerals and combined into mnemonics, which state the times of occurrence of the epochal mean

Lugones, Leopoldo

2005-02-17T11:31:00.000-08:00

Argentine poet, literary and social critic, and cultural ambassador, considered by many the outstanding figure of his age in the cultural life of Argentina. He was a strong influence on the younger generation of writers that included the prominent short-story writer and novelist Jorge Luis Borges. His influence

Switzerland

2005-02-16T03:48:00.000-08:00

Switzerland eased away from self-imposed isolation when it joined the United Nations on Sept. 10, 2002, following a referendum in March in which 55% of the electorate voted in favour of UN membership. Pres. Kaspar Villiger and other government members argued that rejection would be disastrous for the country's international standing and that membership was compatible with

Ariano Irpino

2005-02-14T17:26:00.000-08:00

Town, Avellino provincia, Campania regione, southern Italy. It is situated on a rocky eminence in the Apennines, east of Benevento, in a fertile district that has often been devastated by earthquakes. There is a castle of Norman origin and a 16th-century cathedral in Ariano Irpino. Cave dwellings can still be seen in the vicinity. Cement, pottery, and textiles are manufactured

Nat

2005-02-14T10:35:00.000-08:00

In Burmese folk religion, any of a group of spirits that are the objects of an extensive, probably pre-Buddhist cult; in Thailand a similar spirit is called phi. Most important of the nats are a group collectively called the “thirty-seven,” made up of spirits of human beings who have died violent deaths. They are capable of protecting the believer when kept properly propitiated

Menderes River

2005-02-14T09:52:00.000-08:00

Turkish Büyük Menderes Nehri , historically Maeander river, southwestern Turkey. It rises on the Anatolian plateau south and west of Afyon and flows westward through a narrow valley and canyon. At Sarayköy it expands into a broad, flat-bottomed valley with a typical Mediterranean landscape, dotted with fig trees, olive groves, and vineyards. Near the town of Aydin the river turns southwest, emptying into the Aegean Sea

Shensi, Plant and animal life

2005-02-12T21:35:00.000-08:00

The vegetation in the northern and southern zones is also sharply differentiated. The southern mountain area forms a part of the mixed deciduous broad-leaved and evergreen forest zone that formerly covered the Lower Yangtze and Han river basins; this region is characterized by a rich variety of vegetation that includes more than 50 broad-leaved genera and a dozen

Russell, Pee Wee

2005-02-12T08:37:00.000-08:00

Reluctantly trained in violin as a child, Russell also tried piano and drums before settling on the clarinet, on which he became a distinctive stylist. Russell developed a quirky, chance-taking style that employed a generally plaintive tone punctuated by growls, squeaks, and breathy mutterings.

China, The Shih-kuo (Ten Kingdoms)

2005-02-12T01:48:00.000-08:00

From the time of the T'ang dynasty until the Ch'ing dynasty, which arose in the 17th century, China consisted of two parts: the north, militarily strong, and the south, economically and culturally wealthy. Between 907 and 960, 10 independent kingdoms emerged in China, mainly in the south: the Wu (902–937), the Nan (Southern) T'ang (937–975/976), the Nan P'ing (924/925–963), the Ch'u (927–951), the Ch'ien (Former) Shu (907–925), the Hou (Later) Shu (934–965), the Min (909–945/946), the

China, Pei (Northern) Sung (9601127)

2005-02-11T13:30:00.000-08:00

The Pei Sung (also known simply as the Sung) was the last major Chinese dynasty to be founded by a coup d'état. Its founder, Chao K'uang-yin (known by his temple name, T'ai-tsu), the commander of the capital area of K'ai-feng and inspector general of the Imperial forces, usurped the throne from the Hou Chou, the last of the Wu-tai.

Pozzo Di Borgo, Charles-andré, Count

2005-02-10T06:39:00.000-08:00

A native of Corsica, Pozzo favoured its political incorporation into France and, after Corsica was declared a département

Han Gan

2005-02-10T03:06:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization Han Kan Chinese painter of the Tang dynasty, who, though recorded as having done wall paintings on Buddhist and Daoist themes, is best remembered for his paintings of horses. Han emphasized the strength and nobility of the horses of the Tang empire by using a tautly controlled line and compositions of great clarity. The horse as a subject of painting was continued

Madison, Helene

2005-02-08T23:38:00.000-08:00

Madison grew up in Seattle and began winning regional high school swimming championships at the age of 15. In 1930, in her first year of senior competition, she

Buraydah

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

Town, Najd (Central) region, north central Saudi Arabia. It has long been a commercial rival of 'Unayzah to the south, at one time controlling the export of Arab horses and monopolizing the camel caravan trade of Arabia. Now a principal oasis and agricultural centre, it has extensive date, lemon, and orange groves; other fruits are grown, and cattle and sheep are reared on

Biblical Literature, Meaning of the term gospel

2005-02-08T13:04:00.000-08:00

From the late AD 40s and until his martyrdom in the 60s, Paul wrote letters to the churches that he founded or guided. These are the earliest Christian writings that the church has, and in them he refers to “the gospel” (euangelion). In Romans, chapter 1, verse 1, he says: “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God . . .” and goes on to describe this “gospel

Websterashburton Treaty

2005-02-07T19:55:00.000-08:00

(1842), treaty between the U.S. and Great Britain establishing the northeastern boundary of the U.S. and providing for Anglo–U.S. cooperation in the suppression of the slave trade. The treaty established the present boundary between Maine and New Brunswick, granted the U.S. navigation rights on the St. John River, provided for extradition in enumerated nonpolitical criminal

Basidiocarp

2005-02-07T19:47:00.000-08:00

In fungi, a large sporophore, or fruiting body, in which sexually produced spores are formed on the surface of club-shaped structures (basidia). Basidiocarps are found among the members of the class Basidiomycetes (q.v.), with the exception of the rust and smut fungi. The largest basidiocarps include giant puffballs (Calvatia gigantea), which can be 1.6 m (5.25 feet) long, 1.35 m broad, and

Zionist Church

2005-02-07T10:09:00.000-08:00

The use of the term Zion derives from the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church in Zion, founded in Chicago in 1896 and having missionaries in South Africa by

Terminus

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

(Latin: Boundary Stone), originally, in Roman cult, a boundary stone or post fixed in the ground during a ceremony of sacrifice and anointment. Anyone who removed a boundary stone was accursed and might be slain; a fine was later substituted for the death penalty. From this sacred object evolved the god Terminus. On February 23 (the end of the old Roman year) the festival called

Proper Motion

2005-02-04T21:51:00.000-08:00

In astronomy, the apparent motion of a star across the celestial sphere at right angles to the observer's line of sight; any radial motion (toward or away from the Sun) is not included. Proper motion is generally measured in seconds of arc per year; the largest known is that of Barnard's star in the constellation Ophiuchus, about 10² yearly. The English astronomer Edmond

Bharavi

2005-02-04T02:17:00.000-08:00

Bharavi probably hailed from southern India and flourished during the reigns of

Pyrenees, Peace Of The

2005-02-03T22:51:00.000-08:00

During the years from the end of the Thirty Years' War until 1659 Spain and France engaged in almost continuous warfare. During the struggle Spain found itself also involved in hostilities with England,

Performing Arts

2005-02-03T22:40:00.000-08:00

Bharavi probably hailed from southern India and flourished during the reigns of

Pius Ix

2005-02-03T06:21:00.000-08:00

Original name Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti Italian head of the Roman Catholic church whose pontificate (1846–78) was the longest in history and was marked by a transition from liberalism to conservatism. Notable events of his reign included the declaration of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception (1854) and the sessions of the First

Daniel Romanovich

2005-02-01T20:54:00.000-08:00

Son of Prince Roman Mstislavich, Daniel was only four years old when his father, who had united Galicia and Volhynia, died in a battle against the Poles (1205). Not until 1221 did Daniel begin to overthrow other pretenders

Gräfe, Karl Ferdinand Von

2005-02-01T13:19:00.000-08:00

German surgeon who helped to create modern plastic surgery. A superintendent of German military hospitals during the Napoleonic Wars (1800–15), he also served as professor of surgery and director of the surgical clinic at the University of Berlin (1810–40). He improved the English surgeon Joseph Carpue's adaptation of the “Indian method” and

Ear, Human, Transduction of mechanical vibrations

2005-01-31T10:21:00.000-08:00

The hair cells located in the organ of Corti transduce mechanical sound vibrations into nerve impulses. They are stimulated when the basilar membrane, on which the organ of Corti rests, vibrates. The hair cells are held in place by the reticular lamina, a rigid structure supported by the pillar cells, or rods of Corti, which are attached to the basilar fibres. At the base

Oeser, Adam Friedrich

2005-01-30T16:04:00.000-08:00

Trained in the art of modeling by a sculptor, Raphael

Lophophorate

2005-01-30T13:57:00.000-08:00

Any of several invertebrate animals that possess a lophophore, a fan of ciliated tentacles around the mouth. Currents of water carrying food particles toward the mouth are drawn by movements of the cilia. The lophophorates include the moss animals (phylum Bryozoa), lamp shells (Brachiopoda), and phoronid worms (Phoronida).

Anderson, Poul William

2005-01-29T04:34:00.000-08:00

American science-fiction writer (b. Nov. 25, 1926, Bristol, Pa.—d. July 31, 2001, Orinda, Calif.), was the prolific author of more than 100 books of science fiction and fantasy. Over a period of about half a century, he tapped his knowledge of both science and Scandinavian folklore and mythology to create powerfully imaginative depictions of the future, writing in such varied styles as farce, adventure

Mason Ware

2005-01-28T18:33:00.000-08:00

A sturdy English pottery known as Mason's Patent Ironstone China. It was first produced by C.J. Mason & Company in 1813 to provide a cheap substitute for Chinese porcelain, especially the larger vases. The decoration was a kind of chinoiserie, or hybrid Oriental. Mason specialties were vases, some more than 3 feet (1 m) high, with flowers in high relief and handles and knobs shaped

Bearden, Romare (howard)

2005-01-28T18:12:00.000-08:00

Bearden studied at the Art Students League in New York City with George Grosz (1936–37) and at Columbia University (1943). His early paintings were realistic and often

Xirgu, Margarita

2005-01-28T04:59:00.000-08:00

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

Gravesend

2005-01-26T08:12:00.000-08:00

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

Biblical Literature, The Aramaic Targums

2005-01-26T01:46:00.000-08:00

In the course of the 5th and 6th centuries BCE, Aramaic became the official language of the Persian Empire. In the succeeding centuries it was used as the vernacular over a wide area and was increasingly spoken by the postexilic Jewish communities of Palestine and elsewhere in the Diaspora. In response to liturgical needs, the institution of a turgeman (or meturgeman, “translator

Frederick William

2005-01-25T18:18:00.000-08:00

Byname The Great Elector, German Der Grosse Kurfürst elector of Brandenburg (1640–88), who restored the Hohenzollern dominions after the devastations of the Thirty Years' War—centralizing the political administration, reorganizing the state finances, rebuilding towns and cities, developing a strong army, and acquiring clear sovereignty over ducal Prussia. All these measures

Arrowworm

2005-01-24T15:50:00.000-08:00

Also called Chaetognath, any member of the invertebrate phylum Chaetognatha, a group of small wormlike marine animals with transparent to translucent or opaque arrow-shaped bodies. The phylum consists of about seven extant genera and one fossil genus. There are more than 50 species, most of which are in the genus Sagitta. The size of arrowworms ranges from about 3 millimetres to more

De Baca

2005-01-24T05:28:00.000-08:00

In 1541 explorer Francisco

Agrippa

2005-01-23T21:40:00.000-08:00

Agrippa's five arguments held that (1) there is a clash of opinions, both in daily life and in the debates of philosophers; (2) nothing is self-evident, because that

Kuang-wu Ti

2005-01-22T00:58:00.000-08:00

Kuang-wu ti (“Shining Martial Emperor”) was a member of the imperial Liu family and a supposed descendant of Kao-tsu (reigned

Munch, Peter Rochegune

2005-01-21T04:51:00.000-08:00

After a career as a historian of modern Europe, Munch entered the Danish Parliament in 1909 as a member of the Radical Party. In the same year he became minister

Brackley, Thomas Egerton, Viscount, Baron Ellesmere

2005-01-20T22:12:00.000-08:00

Educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, and called to the bar by Lincoln's Inn in 1572, Egerton was promoted rapidly under Queen Elizabeth I, becoming lord keeper of the great seal in

Earth Sciences, William Smith and faunal succession

2005-01-19T15:54:00.000-08:00

In 1683 the zoologist Martin Lister proposed to the Royal Society that a new sort of map be drawn showing the areal distribution of the different kinds of British “soiles” (vegetable soils and underlying bedrock). The work proposed by Lister was not accomplished until 132 years later, when William Smith published his Geologic Map of England and Wales with Part of