Bulbul
Any of about 119 species of birds of the family Pycnonotidae (order Passeriformes) of Africa and Asia, including some called greenbuls and brownbuls. Members range in size from 14 to 28 cm (5.5 to 11 inches) long. They are active, noisy, plain-coloured birds that sometimes damage orchards. Representative of the 47 species of the genus Pycnonotus is the African bulbul (P. barbatus, including
'amr Ibn Al-'as
A wealthy member of the Banu Sahm clan of the important tribe of Quraysh, 'Amr accepted Islam in 629 - 630. Sent to Oman, in southeastern Arabia, by the Prophet Muhammad, he successfully completed his first mission by converting its rulers to Islam. As the leader of one of the three military forces sent to Palestine by the caliph Abu Bakr, he took
Qina
Also spelled �Qena, � town and capital of Qina muhafazah (governorate), Upper Egypt, on a canal 1 mile (1.6 km) east of the Nile River at its great bend, opposite Dandarah. The town was called Caene (New Town) by the ancient Greeks to distinguish it from Coptos (now Qift), 14 miles south, whose trade with Arabia, India, and China it eventually acquired. The shift resulted from the use of a more northerly route across
Foy, Eddie
As a child he sang and danced in the streets of New York and Chicago to help support his family. He gained his first professional recognition in the mining camps and cow towns of the West, beginning around 1878. He returned to Chicago in 1888 as the star comedian
Computers, The age of Big Iron
Gerrit A. Blaauw and Frederick P. Brooks, Jr., Computer Architecture: Concepts and Evolution (1997), is a highly technical history of the development of the concepts in computer architecture.
Foy, Eddie
As a child he sang and danced in the streets of New York and Chicago to help support his family. He gained his first professional recognition in the mining camps and cow towns of the West, beginning around 1878. He returned to Chicago in 1888 as the star comedian
Aquinas, Thomas, Saint
In 1259 Thomas was appointed theological adviser and lecturer to the papal Curia, then the centre of Western humanism. He returned to Italy, where he spent two years at Anagni at the end of the reign of Alexander IV and four years at Orvieto with Urban IV. From 1265 to 1267 he taught at the convent of Santa Sabina in Rome and then, at the request of Clement IV, went to the papal Curia in Viterbo.
Fukien, Education
One of the most notable institutions of higher learning in Fukien is Amoy University. Fu-chou, famous since the Sung dynasty as a cultural centre, is the site of Fu-chou University, Fukien Medical College, Fukien Agricultural Institute, Fukien Normal College, and the Fukien Institute of Epidemiology of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Illiteracy has generally
Swaminathan, M(onkombu) S(ambisivan)
Swaminathan, the son of a surgeon, was educated in India and at the University of Cambridge (Ph.D., 1952) as a geneticist.
Cozzi Porcelain
Soft-paste porcelain made in Venice by Geminiano Cozzi from about 1764 to 1812. Cozzi products, often freely adapted versions of Meissen porcelain, consisted mainly of figures, vases, and tablewares with Rococo decoration that was frequently distinguished by an imaginative interpretation wholly Italian in style. Rich colours, including red, bluish purple, and emerald
Jefferson, Thomas, Life at Monticello
The domestic context at Monticello is the subject of several important books. Sarah N. Randolph, The Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson (1871, reprinted 1978), provides an affectionate portrait by his descendants. Jack McLaughlin, Jefferson and Monticello: The Biography of a Builder (1988, reissued 1990), goes beyond architectural issues to explore the daily lives of all the residents on the mountain. Elizabeth Langhorne, Monticello: A Family Story (1987, reissued 1989), focuses on the white residents. Edwin Morris Betts (ed.), Thomas Jefferson's Farm Book (1953, reprinted 1987), reproduces Jefferson's plantation records. Susan R. Stein, The Worlds of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello (1993), recovers the material objects Jefferson gathered inside the mansion. Merrill D. Peterson (ed.), Visitors to Monticello (1989), reproduces the accounts of firsthand observers.
San Andr�s Tuxtla
Formerly �Los Tuxtlas, � city, southeastern Veracruz estado (�state�), south-central Mexico. It lies on the slopes of San Mart�n volcano, along the Tuxtla River, at an elevation of 1,181 feet (360 m) above sea level. The town was founded by Ixtlecos Indians in 1664, after the eruption of the volcano, and was made a city in 1893. Corn (maize), high-quality tobacco, sugarcane, and fruits all flourish in the hot, rainy climate, but
China
The People's Republic of China is situated in eastern Asia, with coastlines on the Yellow Sea and the East and South China seas. Area: 9,572,900 sq km (3,696,100 sq mi), including Tibet and excluding Taiwan. (See Taiwan, below.) Pop. (1994 est., excluding Taiwan): 1,192,300,000. Cap.: Beijing (Peking). Monetary unit: renminbi yuan, with (Oct. 7, 1994) an interbank rate of 8.53 yuan to U.S. $1 (13.57 yuan = � 1 sterling). President in 1994, Jiang Zemin (Chiang Tse-min); premier,
Cordial
A liqueur (q.v.); though the term cordial was formerly used for only those liqueurs that were thought to have a tonic or stimulating quality due to the medicinal components of their flavourings, the terms cordial and liqueur are now used interchangeably.
Argall, Sir Samuel
Employed by the Virginia Company of London, Argall was commissioned in 1609 to discover a shorter route to Virginia and to fish for sturgeon. In 1610 he was named admiral of Virginia and commissioned to expel the French from all territory granted
River, Deltas and time
The most significant effect is that the site of deposition shifts dramatically with time.
Paragua�u River
Portuguese �Rio Paragua�u, � river, in central and eastern Bahia estado (�state�), eastern Brazil. It rises in the Diamantina Upland and flows northward and then eastward for approximately 300 miles (500 km). The river empties into Todos os Santos Bay, just below Maragogipe. It is navigable from its mouth for only about 25 miles (40 km) as far as Cachoeira. The region around its upper course yields black industrial
Czech Republic, History Of
The Czech Republic came into being on Jan. 1, 1993, upon the dissolution of the Czechoslovak federation. At the time of separation, the federation's assets were divided at a ratio of two to one
Azogues
City, south-central Ecuador. It lies in a high Andean valley northeast of Cuenca. Its economy is based on agricultural trade, and grains and fruit are cultivated in the surrounding area. Important local industries include flour milling, Panama hat making, and leather tanning. The city takes its name from the Spanish azogue, meaning �mercury,� which is a local resource.
Channel Islands
Also called �Santa Barbara Islands� island chain extending some 150 miles (240 km) along, and about 12 - 70 miles (20 - 115 km) off, the Pacific coast of southern California. The islands form two groups. The Santa Barbara group, to the north, is separated from the mainland by the Santa Barbara Channel and includes San Miguel Island, Santa Rosa Island, Santa Cruz Island, and Anacapa, a group of three small islets. The Santa Catalina group
Celery Cabbage
(Brassica pekinensis), species of mustard cultivated for its edible leaves. See Chinese cabbage.
Ann, Cape
Cape on the Atlantic Ocean comprising the eastern extremity of Essex county, northeastern Massachusetts, U.S., 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Boston. Sheltering Ipswich Bay, it is indented by Annisquam Harbor on the north and Gloucester Harbor on the south. The tidal Annisquam River, a 4-mile- (6.4-km-) long navigable waterway, connects the two harbours. The cape also shelters the northern
Ascii-type Printing Telegraphs
As embodied in the AT
Middlebury College
Private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Middlebury, Vt., U.S. It is a small liberal arts college at which particular emphasis is given to the study of modern languages. Course work at Middlebury is divided into eight academic categories: literature, the arts, foreign languages, philosophical and religious studies, physical and life sciences, historical
Ursa Minor
Also called �The Little Bear, � in astronomy, a constellation of the northern sky, seven of whose stars outline the Little Dipper. Polaris (Alpha Ursae Minoris), at the end of the Little Dipper's handle, marks (roughly) the position of the north celestial pole. The constellation lies at about 15 hours right ascension and 80� north declination.
Wandering Spider
Phoneutria fera, which occurs in South America, is poisonous to humans. Zora pumila, common in the eastern United States, is mostly
Asia
In antiquity, the first and westernmost Roman province in Asia Minor, stretching at its greatest extent from the Aegean coast in the west to a point beyond Philomelium (modern Aksehir) in the east and from the Sea of Marmara in the north to the strait between Rhodes and the mainland in the south. The province was first constituted when Attalus III, king of Pergamum, bequeathed
Gheyn, Matthias Van Den
He was born into a celebrated family of Flemish bell founders. He moved with his family to Louvain in 1726 and probably received his first musical education
Xai-xai
Formerly �Jo�o Belo, � port town, southern Mozambique. Located on the eastern bank of the Limpopo River near its mouth, the town is a market centre for cashew nuts, rice, corn (maize), cassava, and sorghum raised in the surrounding area, which is irrigated by the lower Limpopo irrigation project; dairy cattle also are raised. A light railway system runs inland and provides access to the port, which
Brendan, Saint
Brendan also spelled �Brandon, or Brandan, �also called �Brendan of Clonfert, Brendan the Voyager, or Brendan the Navigator, Gaelic Br�naind � Celtic saint, monastic founder, abbot, and hero of legendary voyages in the Atlantic Ocean. Reputedly raised and educated by Abbess St. Ita at her boys' school in what later became County Limerick, he later studied under Abbot St. Jarlath of Tuam. After becoming a monk and priest, he was entrusted with
Hippo
Hippo, later called Hippo Regius, located near the modern town of Annaba (formerly B�ne) in Algeria, was probably first settled by Carthaginians in the 4th century BC. It later became the home of Numidian rulers. Under Roman control it was first made a municipium (a community that exercised partial rights of Roman citizenship)
W�rm Glacial Stage
Major division of late Pleistocene deposits and time in Alpine Europe (the Pleistocene epoch began about 1,600,000 years ago and ended about 10,000 years ago). The W�rm glacial stage followed the Riss-W�rm interglacial and is correlated with the Weichsel glacial stage of northern Europe and the Wisconsin glacial stage of North America. The Alpine glaciations of the Pleistocene
Hamid Dynasty
Turkmen dynasty (c. 1300 - 1423) that ruled in southwestern Anatolia. It was founded by Felekuddin D�ndar, whose father, Ilyas, was a frontier ruler under the Seljuqs and who named it after his grandfather; D�ndar governed the Hamid principality jointly with his brother Yunus, with two capitals, one at Egridir and one at Antalya (Attalia). D�ndar was defeated and killed (1324) by Demirtas, the
Porcellanite
The porcellanite of some authorities is a silicified tuff, a rock composed of volcanic fragments that has been altered
Beawar
Town, Rajasthan state, northwestern India. A major rail and road junction, Beawar is an agricultural and woollen market centre. Industries include cotton ginning, handloom weaving, hosiery manufacture, and wood carving. Formerly also called Nayanagar, the town was founded in 1835 and grew rapidly in prosperity because of its advantageous position between Udaipur and Jodhpur.
Absolute Zero
The notion that there is an ultimately lowest temperature was suggested by the behaviour of gases at low pressures: it was noted that gases seem to contract indefinitely as the temperature is decreased. It appeared that an ideal
Durham, John George Lambton, 1st Earl Of
Also called �(1828 - 33) Baron Durham � British reformist Whig statesman sometimes known as �Radical Jack,� governor general and lord high commissioner of Canada, and nominal author of the Report on the Affairs of British North America (1839), which for many years served as a guide to British imperial policy. The �Durham Report� was largely written by his chief secretary
Myanmar (burma)
In late May Myanmar's military junta, the State
Nagodba
(Serbo-Croatian: �Agreement�), English in full� Croatian-hungarian Agreement Of � 1868, pact that governed Croatia's political status as a territory of Hungary until the end of World War I. When the Ausgleich, or Compromise, of 1867 created the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy, Croatia, which was part of the Habsburg empire, was merged with Slavonia and placed under Hungarian jurisdiction. Although many Croats who sought full autonomy for the South Slavs of
Clonorchiasis
Chronic infection caused by Clonorchis sinensis, or liver fluke, a parasitic worm some 10 to 25 mm (0.4 to 1 inch) long that lives in the bile ducts of the liver in humans and other mammals. Clonorchiasis is a common disease in China, Vietnam, Korea, and Japan and is acquired by eating freshwater fish containing the fluke larvae. The fish are themselves infected by swallowing the
Kaministiquia River
Also spelled �Kaministikwia,� river, western Ontario, Can. It rises in Dog Lake and, after a crooked course of 60 miles (95 km), empties into Thunder Bay, an arm of Lake Superior. It has many rapids and cataracts, notably the wide Kakabeka Falls (154 feet [47 m] high), site of a major hydroelectric station. The river divides into three channels as it enters Thunder Bay, providing deepwater shipping docks at the city of Thunder
Van De Graaff, Robert Jemison
After working for a time as an engineer with the Alabama Power Company,
Development
The simplest form of development is a change (usually an increase) in size of an organ system or structure; simple growth, however, seldom occurs without accompanying chemical
Saarland
The heart of the Saarland is an area of thickly forested hills that is crossed from southeast to northwest by the valley of the Saar River. The Saar River valley is in parts underlain by extensive coal deposits, and coal mines and mining settlements are dispersed in the wooded countryside. Concentrated along the river valley, from Saarbr�cken to V�lklingen, are blast
Jackson, Helen Hunt
She was the daughter of Nathan Fiske, a professor at Amherst (Mass.) College. She lived the life of a young army wife, traveling from post to post, and after the deaths of her first husband, Captain Edward Hunt, and her two sons, in 1863 she turned to writing. She
Gautsch Von Frankenthurn, Paul, Baron (freiherr)
A graduate of the University of Vienna, Gautsch von Frankenthurn entered the imperial Ministry of Education (1874) and served as Austrian minister of education in the cabinets of Eduard, Count von Taaffe (1885 - 93), and Kasimir, Count von Badeni (1895 - 97). With the fall of Badeni, he was appointed
Caconda
A Portuguese military post was established at Caconda about 1680 to facilitate expansion of the slave trade. In the late 18th century, a permanent
Lanao, Lake
Lake, west-central Mindanao, Philippines. It is situated just south of Marawi, northwest of the Butig Mountains. Lake Lanao is the second largest lake in the Philippines and has an area of 131 square miles (340 square km). Its outlet is the Agus River, which flows north, over Maria Cristina Falls, where there is a hydroelectric power plant, to Iligan Bay. There are numerous Muslim
Gu Kaizhi
Gu Kaizhi's art is known today from both written records and paintings that are
Philip
Byname �Philip The Magnanimous, �German �Philipp Der Grossm�tige� landgrave (Landgraf) of Hesse (1509 - 67), one of the great figures of German Protestantism, who championed the independence of German princes against the Holy Roman emperor Charles V.
Faysal
Faysal was a son of King Ibn Sa'ud and a brother of King Sa'ud. He was appointed foreign minister and viceroy of Hejaz in 1926 after his father conquered that province, in which lies the
Utopia Planitia
Northern lava plain on the planet Mars that was selected as the landing site of the U.S. Viking 2 planetary probe. Photographs transmitted from the Viking 2 lander, which touched down at 47.97� N, 225.74� W, on September 3, 1976, depicted a boulder-strewn plain that superficially resembles the Viking 1 landing site in Chryse Planitia. Soil-sample analyses conducted by the landers show that the
China, Administration, social conditions, and cultural life
The following periodicals give current information on social, political, cultural, and economic affairs: The China Quarterly; Far Eastern Economic Review (weekly); The China Business Review (bimonthly); China Today (monthly); China Pictorial (monthly); and China News Analysis (biweekly).
Antarctica, Climate
Morton J. Rubin (ed.), Studies in Antarctic Meteorology (1966); S. Orvig (ed.), Climates of the Polar Regions (1970); W.S. Weyant, The Antarctic Atmosphere: Climatology of the Surface Environment (1967); and W. Schwerdtfeger, Weather and Climate of the Antarctic (1984), include topical studies and a few general review articles.
Fibreglass
Glass fibres were little more than a novelty until the 1930s, when their thermal and electrical insulating properties were appreciated and methods for producing continuous glass filaments were developed. Modern manufacture begins with liquid glass obtained directly
Torch Cactus
T. pasacana, a stout tree up to 10.5 m in height,
Daily Mirror
The Daily Mirror was founded by Alfred Harmsworth, later Viscount Northcliffe, in 1903 as a picture tabloid. It has consistently stressed the sensational, the human-interest, and the personal types of stories. Its independent stance
Muggleton, Lodowick
After claiming to have had spiritual revelations, beginning in 1651, Muggleton and his cousin John Reeve announced themselves as the two prophetic witnesses referred to in Revelations 11:3. Their book, A Transcendent
Salado River
Spanish �R�o Salado, � river in northeastern Mexico. It rises in the Sierra Madre Oriental in Coahuila state and flows generally east-northeastward for some 175 miles (280 km) into the lake created by the Venustiano Carranza Dam at Don Mart�n. Leaving the reservoir, the Salado, joined by the Sabinas River, winds southeastward for 110 miles (175 km) through northern Nuevo Le�n and northwestern Tamaulipas
