AutomaticGoat

Economic Affairs

2005-11-18T00:05:00.000-08:00

Amid a global financial crisis and intense efforts to prepare for the introduction of the European Union common currency (the euro) and the computer problem caused by the year 2000 date change, industrywide consolidation both within and across national borders continued to reshape the financial services landscape in 1998. At the same time, 1998 was marked by ongoing efforts

Xie He

2005-10-16T08:55:00.000-07:00

The “Six Principles” introduce Xie's Gu Huapin Lu (“Classified Record of Painters of Former Times”), which rates 27 painters in three classes of descending merit, each with three subdivisions. The “Six Principles” have inevitably

Altair

2005-08-08T13:35:00.000-07:00

Also called Alpha Aquilae one of the 15 brightest stars, the brightest star in the constellation Aquila, with an apparent visual magnitude of 0.77. Its distance from the Earth is about 16 light-years. It is a hot white star somewhat larger and more massive than the Sun and giving out about 10 times as much light. The name probably derives from Arabic words meaning “the eagle,” applied to the constellation.

Baltic Sea

2005-07-27T11:40:00.000-07:00

The largest expanse of brackish water in the world, the semienclosed and relatively shallow Baltic Sea is of great interest to scientists, while to historians it

'abdor Rahman Khan

2005-07-25T17:00:00.000-07:00

'Abdor Rahman was the son of Afzal Khan, whose father, Dost Mohammad Khan, had established the Barakzai dynasty in Afghanistan. Shir 'Ali's victory in 1869 drove 'Abdor Rahman into

Alismatidae

2005-07-23T05:40:00.000-07:00

Subclass of flowering plants belonging to the class Lilopsida.

Bohemond I

2005-07-13T05:55:00.000-07:00

The son of Robert Guiscard (the Astute) and his first wife, Alberada, Bohemond was christened Marc but nicknamed after a legendary giant named Bohemond. The nickname proved well taken because physically Bohemond was the ideally

Gaborone

2005-07-08T03:05:00.000-07:00

Formerly (until 1969) Gaberones, town, capital of Botswana. The seat of government was transferred there from Mafeking (now spelled Mafikeng), South Africa, in 1965, one year before Botswana became independent of Britain. Gaborone is located on the Cape-Zimbabwe railway and is the site of government offices, parliament buildings, health facilities, a thermal power station, and an airport. It is the seat of

Harcourt, Henri De Lorraine, Count (comte) De

2005-07-06T07:35:00.000-07:00

Nicknamed “Cadet la Perle” because he was the youngest of his family and because he wore a pearl in his ear, Harcourt fought in the wars against Spain in Catalonia, Flanders,

Cosmas And Damian, Saints

2005-06-03T09:40:00.000-07:00

According to Christian tradition, Cosmas and Damian were educated in Syria and became distinguished

Aepyornis

2005-06-01T04:05:00.000-07:00

Also called elephant bird, extinct genus of giant flightless birds found as fossils in Pleistocene and post-Pleistocene deposits on the island of Madagascar. The remains of Aepyornis are abundant. The several known species were massively constructed, with conical beaks, short, thick legs, three-toed feet, and relatively small wings that were useless for flight. The birds were probably slow-moving

Gable, Christopher Michael

2005-05-17T19:15:00.000-07:00

British ballet dancer and actor (b. March 13, 1940, Hackney, London, Eng.--d. Oct. 23, 1998, near Halifax, Yorkshire, Eng.), was a popular star of the Royal Ballet, and his strong dramatic ability paved the way for him to make a smooth transition to theatre and motion pictures. When he was a young boy, Gable, having seen dance numbers in films, asked for lessons. His mother consented, if he also studied

Hessonite

2005-05-13T22:50:00.000-07:00

Also called Essonite, or Cinnamon Stone, translucent, semiprecious, reddish-brown variety of grossular (q.v.), a garnet mineral.

Aichinger, Ilse

2005-03-15T23:47:00.000-08:00

Aichinger's education was interrupted by World War II when, because she was half Jewish, she was refused entrance to medical school. Although she eventually did begin

Granma

2005-03-14T00:56:00.000-08:00

Daily newspaper published in Havana, the official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba. The paper takes its name from the yacht that carried Fidel Castro and others supporting his revolution from Mexico to Cuba in 1956. Granma was established in 1965 by the merger of what then were the two major, and rival, newspapers, Hoy (Spanish: �Today�), the organ of the

Scalia, Antonin

2005-03-11T14:53:00.000-08:00

Scalia's father, a Sicilian immigrant, taught Romance languages at Brooklyn College, and his Italian American mother taught elementary school. Scalia received a Roman

Haavelmo, Trygve

2005-03-04T07:54:00.000-08:00

After the outbreak of World War II, Haavelmo left Norway and delivered his doctoral dissertation, �The Probability Approach in Econometrics,� at Harvard University in 1941. Although he had two doctorates

Dual Alliance

2005-03-03T08:06:00.000-08:00

Also called �Franco-russian Alliance, � a political and military pact that developed between France and Russia from friendly contacts in 1891 to a secret treaty in 1894; it became one of the basic European alignments of the pre-World War I era. Germany, assuming that ideological differences and lack of common interest would keep republican France and tsarist Russia apart, allowed its Reinsurance Treaty (q.v.) with

China, Fine arts

2005-03-02T01:48:00.000-08:00

In the realm of the arts, the Ming period has long been esteemed for the variety and high quality of its state-sponsored craft goods - cloisonn� and, particularly, porcelain wares. The sober, delicate monochrome porcelains of the Sung dynasty were now superseded by rich, decorative polychrome wares. The best known of these are of blue-on-white decor, which gradually changed

Nicholas Ii

2005-03-01T08:45:00.000-08:00

Russian in full �Nikolay Aleksandrovich� the last Russian emperor (1895 - 1917), who, with his wife, Alexandra, and their children, was killed by the Bolsheviks after the October Revolution.

Earth, Seismology: wave-velocity and density distributions

2005-02-28T06:25:00.000-08:00

The main difficulty with studying the Earth's interior is apparent from Figure 15 . Rock fragments (called xenoliths) are brought up volcanically from depth, thus providing samples of the upper mantle. These samples, however, seem to originate at depths no greater than 150 to 200 kilometres. Therefore, the material making up more than 90 percent of the interior is inaccessible

Rouergue

2005-02-27T07:34:00.000-08:00

Ancient province of south central France, corresponding to much of the modern d�partements of Aveyron and Tarn-et-Garonne. It was bounded on the north by Auvergne, on the south and southwest by Languedoc, on the east by G�vaudan and the C�vennes mountains, and on the west by Quercy. It derived its name from the Gallic tribe of Rutheni. Administratively it formed first

Lamb, Willis Eugene, Jr.

2005-02-26T04:01:00.000-08:00

Lamb joined the faculty of Columbia University, New York City, in 1938 and worked in the Radiation Laboratory there during World War II. Though the quantum

Oberfranken

2005-02-25T00:18:00.000-08:00

English �Upper Franconia� Regierungsbezirk (administrative district), northeastern Bavaria Land (state), east-central Germany. Oberfranken is bordered by Thuringia and Saxony L�nder to the north, the Czech Republic to the east, and the Regierungsbezirke of Oberpfalz (Upper Palatinate) to the southeast, Mittelfranken (Middle Franconia) to the south, and Unterfranken (Lower Franconia) to the

Shamanism, Basic tasks

2005-02-24T05:42:00.000-08:00

It is the obligation of the shaman to know all matters that human beings need to know in everyday life but are unable to learn through their own capacities. He foresees events distant in time and space, discovers the place of a lost animal, forecasts prospects for fishing and hunting, and assists in increasing the gain. Besides these everyday functions, he is a healer