HardTable

Promotional pens: everyone seems to want one.

2007-02-06T05:40:00.000-08:00

Are you looking for potential suppliers of promotional
products? From economy ballpoint pens to exclusive pen sets, you can choose
the best advertising promotional
pens for your advertising needs. That is a great way to easily promote your
business. Cheap promotional pens are always popular and extremely affordable (also
they travel well). But not forget to consider other effective products:t-shirt
(can be seen by hundreds of people each time your shirt is worn), key chains,
mugs and travel Mugs, magnets, desk Items, calendars. Think carefully about your
target audience and their lifestyle, then you can determine if these promotional
products are the best selection to accomplish your objectives.

Oryx

2005-03-18T08:36:00.000-08:00

The beisa and gemsbok, subspecies of O. gazella, inhabit eastern and southern Africa, respectively. The scimitar oryx (O. dammah), once found throughout northern Africa, was restricted to the southern rim of the Sahara

Nathans, Daniel

2005-03-16T17:19:00.000-08:00

American microbiologist who was corecipient, with Hamilton Othanel Smith of the United States and Werner Arber of Switzerland, of the 1978 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. The three scientists were cited for their discovery and application of restriction enzymes that break the giant molecules of deoxyribonucleic acid

Ukulele

2005-03-15T20:59:00.000-08:00

The ukulele has been played in Europe and the United States as a jazz and solo instrument in the 20th century. It is tuned (in the middle-C octave) g¢–c¢–e¢–a¢ or d¢–f¢–a¢–b¢.

Dacorum

2005-03-12T18:11:00.000-08:00

Borough (district), administrative and historic county of Hertfordshire, England. The borough, in the northwestern corner of the county, includes part of the range of chalk hills known as the Chilterns, which border the London Basin on the north. Dacorum embraces a number of the outer suburban communities of London, including the new town of Hemel Hempstead, 25 miles (40 km)

Cloud-scraper

2005-03-11T20:01:00.000-08:00

Any of certain birds of the genus Cisticola. See cisticola.

Argentina, Cultural life

2005-03-08T03:05:00.000-08:00

The role of the church is discussed in John J. Kennedy, Catholicism, Nationalism, and Democracy in Argentina (1958); and Daniel H. Levine (ed.), Churches and Politics in Latin America (1980).

Atheism

2005-03-06T02:27:00.000-08:00

In general, the critique and denial of metaphysical beliefs in God or spiritual beings. As such, it is usually distinguished from theism, which affirms the reality of the divine and often seeks to demonstrate its existence. Atheism is also distinguished from agnosticism, which leaves open the question whether there is a god or not, professing to find the questions

Robert The Strong

2005-03-05T15:44:00.000-08:00

Count of various regions between the Seine and Loire rivers, Robert served the Carolingian king of France Charles II the Bald and, by his bold and inspiring military leadership, succeeded in checking the depredations of the Northmen who were laying waste the settlements near the Loire. A great victory

Sun

2005-03-02T07:02:00.000-08:00

The Sun is classified as a G2 V star, with G2 standing for the

Uighur Language

2005-02-26T06:31:00.000-08:00

Also called New-uighur, member of the Turkic subfamily of the Altaic language family, spoken by Uighurs in the Uighur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang of northwestern China and in portions of Uzbekistan, Kazakstan, and Kyrgyzstan. The modern Uighur language, which was based on the Taranchi dialect spoken in Russia prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917, is classified with Uzbek in the southeastern

Clisson, Olivier De

2005-02-23T17:38:00.000-08:00

Brought up in England, Clisson fought on the English side for the Breton duke John IV (or V; John of Montfort) against the French-supported Charles of Blois

Wolfgang, Marvin

2005-02-20T09:52:00.000-08:00

Wolfgang attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he received M.A. (1950) and Ph.D. (1955) degrees. He officially joined the faculty of the University

Ibn Al-ash'ath

2005-02-19T10:10:00.000-08:00

A member of the noble tribe of Kindah of the old aristocracy, Ibn al-Ash'ath was at first friendly toward the Umayyad authorities but then began to smart under the governance of the plebeian administrators. Styling himself Nasir al-mu'minim (Helper of the Believers) in opposition

World War I, Palestine, autumn 1917

2005-02-17T20:08:00.000-08:00

Having assumed command in Egypt (see above The Egyptian frontiers, 1915–July 1917), Allenby transferred his headquarters from Cairo to the Palestinian front and devoted the summer of 1917 to preparing a serious offensive against the Turks. On the Turkish side, Falkenhayn, now in command at Aleppo, was at this time himself planning a drive into the Sinai Peninsula for the autumn, but

Arnold, Samuel

2005-02-14T03:51:00.000-08:00

Educated at Chapel Royal, Arnold became composer to Covent Garden Theatre; his first annual production was The Maid of the Mill (1765). Subsequent positions were as music director of the Theatre

Kirkus, Virginia

2005-02-13T05:54:00.000-08:00

Kirkus attended private schools and in 1916 graduated from Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York. After taking courses at Columbia University Teachers College, New York City, she taught in a private school in Delaware

Art And Architecture, Oceanic, The north

2005-02-10T13:25:00.000-08:00

From the rain-forest country of northeastern Queensland comes an unusual type of shield, a large flat oval with somewhat asymmetrically curved sides. Most have a raised central boss. Designs above and below the boss radiate away from it and are outlined in black and infilled with red, white, and yellow. As usual, they refer to mythological beings and episodes. Paddles

Chatterjee, Bankim Chandra

2005-02-08T04:58:00.000-08:00

Bankim Chandra was a member of an orthodox Brahman family and was educated at Hooghly College, at Presidency College, Calcutta, and at the University

Bay Bridge

2005-02-07T00:38:00.000-08:00

In full San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge complex crossing that spans San Francisco Bay from the city of San Francisco to Oakland via Yerba Buena Island. One of the preeminent engineering feats of the 20th century, it was built during the 1930s under the direction of C.H. Purcell. The double-deck crossing extends 8 miles (13 km) and consists of two end-to-end suspension bridges of 2,310-foot (704-metre) main spans and 1,160-foot (354-metre) side

Bohemond Ii

2005-02-04T00:02:00.000-08:00

The son of Bohemond I and Constance of France, he went from Apulia to Antioch in 1126. Antioch had been under the regency of Baldwin II of Jerusalem since 1119, when the previous prince, Roger, had been killed. Soon after his arrival in Antioch, Bohemond married Alice, the younger daughter of Baldwin. After joining with Baldwin in an attack on Damascus

Fibre, Man-made

2005-02-03T16:15:00.000-08:00

Fibre whose chemical composition, structure, and properties are significantly modified during the manufacturing process. Man-made fibres are spun and woven into a huge number of consumer and industrial products, including garments such as shirts, scarves, and hosiery; home furnishings such as upholstery, carpets, and drapes; and industrial parts such as tire cord,

Franciabigio

2005-01-31T22:53:00.000-08:00

Also called Francesco Di Cristofano, Francesco Giudini, or Giudici Italian Renaissance painter, best known for his portraits and religious paintings, whose style included early Renaissance, High Renaissance, and Proto-Mannerist elements. His early style is filled with movement and attention to descriptive detail, strongly reminiscent of 15th-century Italian painting. Later, he was attracted to the Florentine

Indian Territory

2005-01-29T19:01:00.000-08:00

Originally “all of that part of the United States west of the Mississippi, and not within the States of Missouri and Louisiana, or the Territory of Arkansas.” Never an organized territory, it was soon restricted to the present state of Oklahoma, excepting the panhandle and Greer county. The Choctaw, Creek, Seminole, Cherokee, and Chickasaw tribes were forcibly moved to

Zagros Mountains

2005-01-27T06:16:00.000-08:00

Mountain range in southwestern Iran, extending northwest-southeast from the Sirvan (Diyala) River to Shiraz. The Zagros range is about 550 miles (900 km) long and more than 150 miles (240 km) wide. Formed primarily of limestone and shale, the mountain range consists of numerous parallel ridges whose highest peaks rise above 12,000 feet (3,600 m) and have permanent snow cover. Passes through the mountains

Celebes Sea

2005-01-26T17:42:00.000-08:00

Indonesian Laut Sulawesi sea of the western Pacific Ocean, bordered on the north by the Sulu Archipelago and Sea and Mindanao Island, on the east by the Sangi Islands chain, on the south by Celebes (Sulawesi), and on the west by Borneo. It extends 420 miles (675 km) north-south by 520 miles (837 km) east-west and occupies a total surface area of 110,000 square miles (280,000 square km). The sea, opening southwest through the Makassar Strait

Ampthill

2005-01-23T04:55:00.000-08:00

Town (“parish”), Mid Bedfordshire district, administrative and historic county of Bedfordshire, England, 8 miles (13 km) south-southwest of Bedford. The Church of St. Andrew contains a monument to Richard Nicolls (1624–72), the first English governor of New York. Ampthill Park, with its ancient oaks, marks the site of the castle where Catherine of Aragon was forced to reside, pending her

Russell

2005-01-22T03:00:00.000-08:00

Community, Northland local government region, northeastern North Island, New Zealand, on the southeastern shore of the Bay of Islands. Under its original name of Okiato, the town was chosen (1840) by Lieutenant Governor William Hobson to be the first capital of New Zealand. It was subsequently renamed in honour of Lord John Russell, then secretary of state for the colonies.

Hackenschmidt, George

2005-01-19T11:35:00.000-08:00

In Vienna in 1898 Hackenschmidt won the world amateur championship in Greco-Roman wrestling. Turning to professional freestyle wrestling in

John Day

2005-01-18T18:43:00.000-08:00

City, Grant county, northeast-central Oregon, U.S., situated at the confluence of John Day River and Canyon Creek, near the Strawberry Mountain Wilderness Area. (The North Fork of the John Day is part of the U.S. Wild and Scenic Rivers system.) A stopover on the Pony Express trail from The Dalles (220 miles [354 km] northwest), it originated in the early 1860s, along with adjacent Canyon City,

Muhlenberg Family

2005-01-16T21:01:00.000-08:00

Henry Melchior Mühlenberg (b. Sept. 6, 1711, Einbeck, Hanover—d. Oct. 7, 1787, Trappe, Pa., U.S.), the founder of the family, studied theology at Göttingen and Halle. In 1742, in reply to a call from the Lutheran churches

Faience Parlante

2005-01-13T09:35:00.000-08:00

(French: “talking faience”), in French pottery, popular utilitarian 18th-century earthenware, principally plates, jugs, and bowls, that had inscriptions as part of its decoration. The city of Nevers was the outstanding centre for the production of faience parlante. The range of inscriptions included owners' names, coats of arms, bacchic or facetious references, Masonic

Wu Ch'eng-en

2005-01-11T04:59:00.000-08:00

Wu received a traditional Confucian education and became known for his clever composition of poetry and prose in the classical style. Throughout his life he displayed

Dangriga

2005-01-10T18:21:00.000-08:00

Formerly Stann Creek, town, east-central Belize, at the mouth of the 20-mile- (32-kilometre-) long North Stann Creek, on the Caribbean coast. Founded in 1823 by black refugees from Honduras, it developed as a port and trading centre for bananas, timber, coconuts, and fish. It has a plant for canning and freezing orange juice. Dangriga is linked by coastal craft to Belize City, 40 miles (65 km) north, by coastal craft and

Free Jazz

2005-01-08T02:14:00.000-08:00

The main characteristic of free jazz is that there are no rules. Musicians do not adhere to a fixed harmonic structure (predetermined chord progressions) as they improvise; instead, they modulate (i.e., change keys) at will. Free

Sweetsop

2005-01-06T15:45:00.000-08:00

Also called Sugar Apple (Annona squamosa), small tree or shrub of the custard apple, or Annonaceae, family. It has thin, oblong ovate leaves, solitary greenish flowers, and a yellowish green fruit resembling a shortened pinecone. The tuberculate fruit, the fusion of many ripened ovaries and the receptacle, is 7.5 to 10 cm (3 to 4 inches) in diameter and contains a sweet, creamy-yellow, custardlike

Metalogic, The axiomatic method

2005-01-03T08:30:00.000-08:00

The best known axiomatic system is that of Euclid for geometry. In a manner similar to that of Euclid, every scientific theory involves a body of meaningful concepts and a collection of true or believed assertions. The meaning of a concept can often be explained or defined in terms of other concepts, and, similarly, the truth of an assertion or the reason for believing

Aristides

2005-01-01T17:34:00.000-08:00

Athenian philosopher, one of the earliest Christian Apologists, his Apology for the Christian Faith being one of the oldest extant Apologist documents. Known primarily through a reference by the 4th-century historian Eusebius of Caesarea, Aristides addressed his Apology either to the Roman emperor Hadrian (reigned 117–138) or to his successor Antoninus Pius

Alternative Rock

2004-12-30T18:32:00.000-08:00

Pop music style, built on distorted guitars and rooted in generational discontent, that dominated and changed rock between 1991 and 1996. It burst into the mainstream when “Smells Like Teen Spirit”—the first major-label single from Nirvana, a trio based in Seattle, Washington, U.S.—became a national hit. Suddenly, older, difficult, and even anarchic movements, as well as a previous

Biblical Literature, The Book of Jubilees

2004-12-29T20:31:00.000-08:00

The book is written in the form of a revealed history of Israel from the creation until the dwelling of Moses on Mt. Sinai, where the content of the book was

Chelsea

2004-12-24T16:22:00.000-08:00

The city's economy was severely affected by the economic recession of the 1980s, and Chelsea was placed

Rabab

2004-12-22T20:56:00.000-08:00

The rabab has a membrane belly and, commonly, two or three strings. There is normally no fingerboard,

Earth

2004-12-18T02:47:00.000-08:00

The Earth's outermost rigid, rocky layer is called the lithosphere. It is broken, like a slightly cracked eggshell, into about a dozen separate rigid blocks, or plates. There are two types of plates, oceanic and continental. An example of an oceanic plate is the Pacific Plate, which extends from the East Pacific Rise to the deep-ocean trenches bordering the western part

Aesthetics

2004-12-16T14:46:00.000-08:00

Also spelled esthetics, the philosophical study of beauty and taste. To define its subject matter more precisely is, however, immensely difficult. Indeed, it could be said that self-definition has been the major task of modern aesthetics. We are acquainted with an interesting and puzzling realm of experience: the realm of the beautiful, the ugly, the sublime, and the elegant; of taste, criticism,

China, The dynasty's founder

2004-12-15T11:25:00.000-08:00

Chu Yüan-chang, founder of the new dynasty, came from a family of physiognomists from K'ai-feng who in Yüan times had deteriorated into itinerant tenant farmers in northern Anhwei Province. Orphaned by famine and plague in 1344, young Chu was taken into a small Buddhist monastery near Feng-yang city as a lay novice. For more than three years he wandered as a mendicant through

Cohasset

2004-12-12T03:49:00.000-08:00

Town (township), Norfolk county, eastern Massachusetts, U.S. It lies along Massachusetts Bay, about 20 miles (30 km) southeast of Boston. Captain John Smith supposedly landed there in 1614, and the site, settled about 1647, was a part of Hingham until its incorporation in 1770. The name is a contraction of the Algonquian word Quonohassit (Conohasset), probably meaning “rocky promontory” or “high

Philikí Etaireía

2004-12-11T16:35:00.000-08:00

(Greek: Friendly Brotherhood), Greek revolutionary secret society founded by merchants in Odessa in 1814 to overthrow Ottoman rule in southeastern Europe and to establish an independent Greek state. The society's claim of Russian support and the romance of its commitment (each member swore “irreconcilable hatred against the tyrants of my country”) brought thousands

China

2004-12-09T11:46:00.000-08:00

Despite China's size, the wealth of its resources, and the fact that more than 20 percent of the world's population lives within its borders, its role in the world economy traditionally has been relatively small. Since the late 1970s, however, when China decided to increase its interaction with the international economy, its role in world trade has steadily grown and its importance

Pituitary Gland

2004-12-07T00:00:00.000-08:00

Also called hypophysis one of the endocrine (ductless) glands that secrete their hormones directly into the bloodstream. The term hypophysis (from the Greek, “lying under”) refers to the gland's position on the underside of the vertebrate brain. Until the late 19th century the human pituitary was thought to be a vestigial organ, but it is now known to play a major part in the regulation of endocrine

Chatham Islands

2004-12-04T06:22:00.000-08:00

Island group in the South Pacific Ocean, about 500 miles (800 km) east of New Zealand. Composed of 10 islands, with a total land area of 372 square miles (963 square km), they are primarily of volcanic formation, but areas of limestone indicate that they may once have been part of New Zealand. Chatham Island, the largest (347 square miles [900 square km]), rises to 942 feet (287 m); more than 20 percent of its poorly drained

Sharqiyah, Ash-

2004-12-03T17:27:00.000-08:00

English Eastern region, eastern Saudi Arabia. The region includes most of the desert Rub' al-Khali (the Empty Quarter) and extends southward from a neutral zone jointly administered with Kuwait to indefinite borders with Yemen and Oman. It is bounded by Kuwait on the north, the Persian Gulf on the east, and the Ar-Riyad region on the west. Ash-Sharqiyah consists mainly of an undulating plain

Flanders

2004-12-01T07:22:00.000-08:00

The origins of Flanders lay in the pagus Flandrensis, an area composed

Aschelminth, Internal features

2004-11-29T01:41:00.000-08:00

The graceful body waves by which nematodes move are brought about by the alternating contraction of dorsal and ventral longitudinal muscles acting on the cuticle and opposed by hydrostatic pressure in the body tissues. This hydraulic skeleton affects all aspects of the nematode. The cuticle must resist stretching in length and circumference and yet remain

Andean Peoples

2004-11-27T08:30:00.000-08:00

Even these two technological developments, however, are not enough to characterize and explain the emergence of Andean civilizations. From the intimate knowledge of their environmental conditions, the people developed a set of values that may have started from a desire to minimize risks but that soon was elaborated into an economic and political ideal. Every

Furniture, Fireplaces

2004-11-24T05:26:00.000-08:00

The heating of rooms and large halls remained a major problem until the advent of modern central heating systems. The open hearth was replaced during the late Middle Ages by the fireplace, which is merely an architectonic way of framing the burning logs. During the period when it was important as a source of heat, the fireplace became the object of design work by significant

Equatorial Guinea, Linguistic composition

2004-11-23T03:33:00.000-08:00

While each ethnic group speaks its own language, other linguistic influences are at work. The first is Spanish, the official language of the republic, which is taught in schools and used by the press and is the only means of communication common to both Bioko and the mainland. The second influence is pidgin English, which is used extensively in petty commerce and forms

Nuclear Family

2004-11-18T09:14:00.000-08:00

Also called elementary family in sociology and anthropology, a group of persons united by ties of marriage and parenthood or adoption and consisting of a man, a woman, and their socially recognized children. This unit was once widely held to be the most basic and universal form of social organization. Anthropological research, however, has illuminated so much variability of this form that it is

Yesuj

2004-11-17T05:30:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Yasuj, town, southwestern Iran. The town has a sugar mill and other local industry producing bricks and mosaic tiles, livestock feed, mats and baskets, and carpets and rugs. Roads link it with Dogonbaden, Dehdasht, Shiraj, Nurabad, and Bandar-e Bushehr. There is a thermoelectric power station located at Yesuj. Pop. (1986) 29,991.

Narasimha

2004-11-14T22:20:00.000-08:00

(Sanskrit: “Man-Lion”), fourth of the 10 avatars (incarnations) of the Hindu god Vishnu. The demon Hiranyakasipu, twin brother of the demon overthrown by Vishnu in his previous incarnation as Varaha, obtained a boon from Brahma that he could not be killed by man or beast, from inside or outside, by day or by night, and that no weapon could harm him. Thus, feeling secure, he began to trouble

Cole, Fay-cooper

2004-11-13T00:19:00.000-08:00

After graduating from Northwestern University in 1903, Cole did postgraduate work at the University of

Vendsyssel-thy

2004-11-10T10:34:00.000-08:00

Danish Nørrejyske Ø (North Jutland Island), island at the north end of Jutland, Denmark, known as Vendsyssel in the east and Thy in the west. The Limfjorden separates it from the mainland, to which it was attached until 1825, when water erosion cut a channel through the narrow isthmus at Thyborøn. Several bridges, ferries, and a tunnel connect the island with the rest of Jutland. It is the second largest

Drug Use, Amphetamines

2004-11-09T15:40:00.000-08:00

These stimulants are of three types having closely related actions on the nervous system: amphetamine proper (Benzedrine), one of its isomers (Dexedrine), and methamphetamine (Methedrine). The amphetamines have been used to alleviate depression, fatigue, the hyperkinetic behaviour disturbances of children, postencephalitic Parkinsonism, enuresis, nausea of pregnancy,

Calama

2004-11-06T16:42:00.000-08:00

Capital of El Loa province, Antofagasta region, northern Chile, on the Río Loa in an extremely arid region. It lies on the western slope of the Andes at an altitude of 7,435 ft (2,266 m) and is linked to Antofagasta city, 125 mi (200 km) southwest, by aqueduct. The oasis town is a mining and agricultural marketing centre and a receiving station for cattle brought across the mountains from Argentina.

Flaxman, John

2004-11-04T10:17:00.000-08:00

As a youth, Flaxman worked in his father's plaster-casting studio in London while studying Classical literature, which was to be a continual source of inspiration. In 1770 he entered the Royal Academy schools. After 1775 he began to work for the potter

Philadelphia

2004-11-02T10:29:00.000-08:00

Philadelphia has been described either as the elegant but rather jaded great lady or as the overage and sickly spinster of American cities. A more realistic look at Philadelphia, however, shows it to be a very

Caucasian Languages, Abkhazo-Adyghian languages

2004-10-31T13:55:00.000-08:00

The Abkhazo-Adyghian group consists of the Abkhaz, Abaza, Adyghian, Kabardian, and Ubykh languages. Adyghians and Kabardians are often considered members of a larger, Circassian group. Abkhaz, with about 90,000 speakers, is spoken in Abkhazia (the southern slopes of the western Greater Caucasus, Georgia). The other languages are spread over the northern slopes of the western

Caucasian Languages, Abkhazo-Adyghian languages

2004-10-29T09:40:00.000-07:00

Nongovernmental in nature, the ABA seeks to encourage improvements in the legal profession, to ensure the availability of legal services to all citizens, and to improve the administration of justice. It

Mineral, Cyclosilicates

2004-10-27T20:20:00.000-07:00

Silicon-oxygen tetrahedrons are linked into rings in cyclosilicate structures, which have an overall Si:O ratio of 1:3. There are three closed cyclic configurations with the following formulas: Si3O9, Si4O12, and Si6O18. The rare titanosilicate benitoite (BaTiSi3O9) is the only mineral that is built with the simple Si3O9 ring. Axinite [(Ca, Fe, Mn)3Al2(BO3)(Si4O12)(OH)] contains Si4O12 rings, along with

Vulcano Island

2004-10-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

Italian Isola Vulcano, Greek Hiera, Latin Vulcana, southernmost of the Eolie Islands, in the Tyrrhenian Sea (of the Mediterranean), off northeastern Sicily. It is administered as part of Messina province, Sicily, Italy. Vulcano has an area of 8 sq mi (21 sq km). Although the last major eruptions were in 1888–90, fumaroles of sulfurous vapour testify to continuous volcanic activity, and its Gran Cratere is still active. See also Eolie

Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

2004-10-24T23:16:00.000-07:00

Coastal habitat conservation area in southern Texas, U.S., located about 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Corpus Christi. The refuge, parts of which are jointly administered by state and federal agencies, covers a total of 181 square miles (469 square km) on the Gulf of Mexico, including large tracts of land on Matagorda Island and on a broad peninsula between San Antonio Bay and St. Charles

Duck

2004-10-22T02:13:00.000-07:00

The fabric, in its various qualities and colours, is used for an enormous variety

Costa, Lúcio

2004-10-19T17:28:00.000-07:00

After graduating from the National School of Fine Arts, Rio de Janeiro, in 1924, Costa entered into a partnership with Gregori Warchavchick, a Russian-born architect and early advocate of modern architecture in

Dance Notation

2004-10-18T07:06:00.000-07:00

The written recording of dance movements. The earliest surviving attempt at dance notation was in the form of letter-symbols found in the municipal archives of Cervera, Spain, from the last half of the 15th century. Also during this period, word abbreviations were found as dance notations in two documents from the library of Margaret of Austria—Livre des basses

Lowell, James Russell

2004-10-16T19:42:00.000-07:00

A member of a distinguished New England family, Lowell graduated from

Egypt, Hydroelectric and other power resources

2004-10-14T17:23:00.000-07:00

The Nile constitutes an incomparable source of energy; further sources are represented by coal, oil, and gas deposits. Almost half of Egypt's electrical energy comes from thermal stations; hydroelectric plants, including those at the Aswan High Dam, supply the remainder.

Kiribati

2004-10-11T01:43:00.000-07:00

A few of the islands are compact with fringing reefs, but most are atolls. The largest atoll (and one of the largest in the world) is Kiritimati (Christmas Island) in the Line group, which has a land area of 150 square miles (388 square km) and accounts for about one-half of the country's total. Kiritimati was used for U.S. and British nuclear testing in the 1960s; it now has a large coconut plantation

Kyongsang-puk

2004-10-09T04:48:00.000-07:00

Do (province), eastern South Korea. It is bounded on the east by the Sea of Japan (East Sea), on the south by Kyongsang-nam do, on the west by the do of Cholla-puk and Ch'ungch'ong-puk, and on the north by Kangwon do. It is South Korea's largest do in both size and population. The homeland of the Silla kingdom (57 BC–AD 935), of which there are historical remains, mainly in the Kyongju area, Kyongsang-puk has

Maré, île

2004-10-08T03:15:00.000-07:00

Formerly Nengone Island, southernmost of the Loyalty Islands, a raised coralline limestone and volcanic group in the southwestern Pacific Ocean that is part of the French overseas territory of New Caledonia. Rising to 300 ft (100 m), Maré is the highest in the group. It is 22 mi (35 km) long and 18 mi wide and has a total area of 248 sq mi (642 sq km). It was annexed by France in 1866 and was Christianized by indigenous teachers from

Gatineau River

2004-10-05T09:08:00.000-07:00

French Rivière Gatineau, river in Outaouais region, southwestern Quebec province, Canada. The river rises in a chain of lakes north of Baskatong Reservoir and flows generally southward for 240 miles (390 km) to join the Ottawa River at Hull. It was named for Nicolas Gatineau, a fur trader who is reputed to have drowned there about 1683. Having served for centuries as a major artery for the lumber trade, the

Canterbury

2004-10-03T20:03:00.000-07:00

Local government region, east-central South Island, New Zealand, centred on the Canterbury Plains. The region borders the Pacific Ocean to the east and extends southward from the vicinity of Kaikoura to the Waitaki River and includes the city of Christchurch and Banks Peninsula. Canterbury's area also stretches westward to include the eastern slopes of the Southern

Medicine, In the developed countries

2004-10-02T01:06:00.000-07:00

Those concerned with providing health care in the developed countries face a different set of problems. The diseases so prevalent in the Third World have, for the most part, been eliminated or are readily treatable. Many of the adverse environmental conditions and public health hazards have been conquered. Social services of varying degrees of adequacy have been

Roman De Fauvel

2004-09-30T22:52:00.000-07:00

A manuscript of the poem dated

Cinquefoil

2004-09-28T23:28:00.000-07:00

(genus Potentilla), any of many flowering plants of the rose family (Rosaceae), comprising about 500 species of herbs and shrubs. The common name, which means “five-leaved,” refers to the number of leaflets in the compound leaf; some species, however, have three or seven leaflets. Most of the species are native to the North Temperate Zone and the Arctic and are

China, Unification

2004-09-26T03:28:00.000-07:00

Though a militarist himself, T'ai-tsu ended militarism as well as usurpation. Even his own coup was skillfully disguised to make it appear that the popular acclaim of the rank and file left him with no choice. Masterful in political maneuvering, T'ai-tsu, as emperor (reigned 960–976), did not destroy other powerful generals as had many previous founding rulers. Instead, he persuaded

Gaucho Literature

2004-09-24T21:59:00.000-07:00

Spanish American poetic genre that imitates the payadas (“ballads”) traditionally sung to guitar accompaniment by the wandering gaucho minstrels of Argentina and Uruguay. By extension, the term includes the body of South American literature that treats the way of life and philosophy of the itinerant gauchos. Long a part of South American folk literature, gaucho

Chilpancingo, Congress Of

2004-09-22T04:36:00.000-07:00

(September–November 1813), meeting held at Chilpancingo, in present Guerrero state, Mex., that declared the independence of Mexico from Spain and drafted a constitution, which received final approval (Oct. 22, 1814) at the Congress of Apatzingán. José María Morelos y Pavón, who called the congress at Chilpancingo, had assumed leadership of the Mexican independence movement after

U2

2004-09-20T00:24:00.000-07:00

Guadiana River

2004-09-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

Arabic Wadi Ana, Portuguese Rio Guadiana, Spanish Río Guadiana, one of the longest streams of the Iberian Peninsula, flowing generally westward through south-central Spain and southeastern Portugal to the Gulf of Cádiz in the Atlantic Ocean. The river has a drainage area of 23,455 square miles (60,748 square km), a length of 483 miles (778 km), and about 30 major tributaries. Its flow is relatively meagre—only about half that of the Tagus or the Douro—because

Astronomy

2004-09-15T16:28:00.000-07:00

Without doubt the most exciting event in astronomy was the impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter, but studies of other small bodies in the solar system provided their own delights and surprises. Although the solar system is traditionally viewed as comprising the Sun, nine planets, their moons, and the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, the discovery in

Okawa, Isao

2004-09-13T22:25:00.000-07:00

Japanese businessman (b. 1926, Osaka, Japan—d. March 16, 2001, Tokyo, Japan), was chairman of the Sega Corp. from 1984 until his death. Okawa was involved with a number of Japanese technology companies. He founded CSK Corp., a computer services company that was Sega's largest shareholder, and served on the boards of several other companies, including the ASCII Corp. and Bellsystem 24, Inc. As chairman

Baybars I

2004-09-12T01:56:00.000-07:00

Baybars was born

Mitral Insufficiency

2004-09-10T02:37:00.000-07:00

Also called Mitral Regurgitation, inability of the mitral valve to prevent the flow of blood back from the left ventricle, or lower chamber of the heart, into the left atrium, or upper chamber. Normally, the valve permits blood to flow from the atrium to the ventricle but prevents its return. Most often, the inability of the mitral valve to close adequately is caused by scarring from rheumatic heart disease;

Great Rye Island

2004-09-07T10:33:00.000-07:00

Slovak Vel'ký Zitný Ostrov riverine island, Západní Slovensko kraj (region), Slovakia. The island lies southeast of Bratislava, between the Little Danube and Váh rivers to the north and the Danube to the south. It is composed of rich alluvial sediments deposited by the Danube in the Little Alföld, which is a plain shared by Hungary and Slovakia. Like Little Schütt Island (Szigetköz) on the Hungarian

Kadavu

2004-09-06T03:20:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Kandavu island of Fiji, in the South Pacific, 50 miles (80 km) south of Vitu Levu, across the Kadavu Passage. It was visited by the British naval captain William Bligh in 1792. Volcanic in origin, Kadavu has an area of 158 square miles (409 square km) and is bisected by a central mountain ridge with fertile slopes; it rises to 2,749 feet (838 m) at Ndelainambukelevu (Mount Washington). Timber from the forested central

Heian Period

2004-09-04T13:03:00.000-07:00

In Japanese history, the period between 794 and 1185, named for the location of the Imperial capital, which was moved from Nara to Heian-kyo (Kyoto) in 794. The Chinese pattern of centralized government that was first adopted in the Nara period (710–784) gradually changed as the growth of private estates (shoen), exempt from taxation, encroached upon the public domain and reduced the substance

Clouded Leopard

2004-09-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

(Neofelis nebulosa), also called clouded tiger strikingly marked cat, very similar in colouring and coat pattern to the smaller, unrelated marbled cat (Felis marmorata). The clouded leopard is found in southeastern Asia, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and Taiwan, particularly in forests and other wooded regions; the population declined sharply in the latter half of the 20th century as a result of hunting

Radio Range

2004-08-30T04:13:00.000-07:00

In aerial navigation, a system of radio transmitting stations, each of which transmits a signal that not only carries identification but also is of intrinsic value to a navigator in fixing his position. The older “A–N” type, dating from 1927, operates at low and medium frequencies and is still in use, mainly by private light aircraft. The only equipment needed in the aircraft

Shensi, The 19th and 20th centuries

2004-08-28T19:20:00.000-07:00

By the 19th century Shensi was seriously impoverished. Although only marginally affected by the Taiping Rebellion (1850–64) in its last stages, eastern and southern Shensi were slightly disturbed by the Nien Rebellion between 1853 and 1868. It then suffered the terrible Muslim rebellion of 1862 to 1878, which affected much of the western and northern parts of the province. Although the effects

Moses De León

2004-08-26T01:46:00.000-07:00

The details of Moses de León's life, like those of most Jewish mystics,

Miner, Myrtilla

2004-08-25T22:07:00.000-07:00

Miner was educated at the Clover Street Seminary in Rochester, New York (1840-44), and taught at various schools, including the Newton Female Institute (1846-47) in Whitesville,