Bacchelli, Riccardo

Bacchelli attended the University of Bologna but left without a degree in 1912. He became a contributor to literary journals. Bacchelli published a

Glaucophane

Common amphibole mineral, a sodium, magnesium, and aluminum silicate that occurs only in crystalline schists formed from sodium-rich rocks by low-grade metamorphism. It also forms from sedimentary rocks by the introduction of sodium oxide (Na2O). Glaucophane typically occurs in folded rocks associated with epidote amphibolites and greenschists. Both ferrous

Duran, Profiat

Duran was the descendant of a scholarly Jewish family of southern France. He was educated in Germany and then took a position as tutor with a wealthy family in Catalonia. There, in 1391, in a wave of Spanish religious persecution,

Sinkiang, Uygur Autonomous Region Of, Government

The administrative structure of Sinkiang reflects the policies of recognition of ethnic minorities and self-administration, in which local leaders are appointed to governmental positions. The Uighur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang is divided on the subprovincial level into three types of administrative units. There are three municipalities (shih) under direct

Tall Za'tar

Also called �Za�tar, � former Palestinian refugee camp, Jabal Lubnan muhafazah (governorate), central Lebanon, north of Beirut, near Nabay. The camp was the last large Muslim outpost in the midst of the predominantly Christian inhabited area of north Lebanon and had a population estimated at 15,000 in the mid-1970s. During the Lebanese civil war (that began in the spring of 1975) between Muslims and Christians,

Tall Za'tar

A chemical element in the oxygen family (Group VIa) of the periodic table, closely allied in chemical and physical properties with the elements sulfur and tellurium.

Konovalov, Aleksandr Ivanovich

Born into a prosperous family engaged in textile manufacturing, Konovalov was educated in England

Yama

In Tibetan Buddhism, one of the eight fierce protective deities. See dharmapala.

General

Title and rank of a senior army officer, usually one who commands units larger than a regiment or its equivalent or units consisting of more than one arm of the service. Frequently, however, a general is a staff officer who does not command troops but who plans their operations in the field. General, lieutenant general, and major general are the first, second, and third

Karachi, Transportation

Karachi is the terminus of Pakistan's railway

Gabrovo

Town, north-central Bulgaria. It is situated on both banks of the Yantra River, at the foot of the Shipka Pass in the Balkan Mountains. A major industrial centre, Gabrovo has a high in-migration population from the surrounding area. Called the �Bulgarian Manchester,� the town has a large textile industry - clothes, leather goods, and accessories. Other manufactures are machine

Distortion

In acoustics and electronics, any change in a signal that alters the basic waveform or the relationship between various frequency components; it is usually a degradation of the signal. Straight amplification or attenuation without alteration of the waveform is not usually considered to be distortion. Amplitude distortion refers to unequal amplification

Taliesin

One of five poets renowned among the Welsh in the latter part of the 6th century, according to the Historia Brittonum attributed to Nennius (flourished c. 796). The Book of Taliesin, the oldest surviving copy of his works (written about 700 years after his time), contains a variety of poems, some on religious themes, some arcane religious verses that belong to Celtic mythological

Mufulira

Town, north-central Zambia. Mufulira is situated just southwest of the Congo (Kinshasa) frontier. One of the country's chief copper-mining centres, the rich local deposits have been exploited for many years. Smelting and refining of copper and an explosives-manufacturing plant are surface industries in the town. Pop. (1990) 152,944.

Good Hope, Cape Of

Rocky promontory at the southern end of Cape Peninsula, Western Cape province, South Africa. It was first sighted by the Portuguese navigator Bartolomeu Dias in 1488 on his return voyage to Portugal after ascertaining the southern limits of the African continent. One historical account says that Dias named it Cape of Storms and that John II of Portugal renamed it Cape

Macaroni

In art, Late Paleolithic finger tracings in clay, the oldest form of art known. Innumerable examples appear on the walls and ceilings of limestone caves associated with human habitation in France and Spain, the oldest dating from about 30,000 BC. They range from simple scratchings and jumbled aimless lines to deliberate meanders and arabesques and outline drawings of

Cretaceous Period, Correlation

Correlation of Cretaceous rocks is usually accomplished using fossils. Ammonites are the most widely employed fossils in terms of both frequency of use and geographic extent, but no single fossil group is capable of worldwide correlation of all sedimentary rocks. Most ammonites, for example, did not occur in all latitudes because some preferred the warmer waters

Armoire

The word, which sometimes denoted

Ilf, Ilya; And Petrov, Yevgeny

Born into a poor Jewish family, Ilf worked at various trades while a youth, becoming a journalist in Odessa at the age of 18. He went

Mormon

Mormons accept the Bible �as far as it is translated correctly.� Smith did not finish his translation of the Bible, which incorporates prophecies of his own coming and of the Book of Mormon, which is central to Mormon belief. The Book of Mormon is largely similar in style and themes to the Old Testament. It recounts the history of a group of Hebrews who migrated from Jerusalem

Zanjan

Also spelled �Zenjan, � city, northwestern Iran. It lies in an open valley about halfway along the Tehran - Tabriz railway line. It is the principal city of the Zanjan region. It was ravaged by Mongols in the 13th century. Once the seat of a lively caravan trade, the city is now the centre of an agricultural area with abundant harvests of grain. Prior to the Iranian Revolution, the city witnessed fighting

Adams, Charles Follen

During the American Civil War he was wounded and taken prisoner. In 1872 he began writing humorous verses for periodicals and newspapers in a Pennsylvania German dialect. Collections of his verse are Leedle Yawcob Strauss, and Other Poems (1877) and

Zambezi River, Hydrology

The Zambezi, according to measurements taken at Maramba (formerly Livingstone), Zambia, experiences its maximum flow in March or April. In October or November the discharge diminishes to less than 10 percent of the maximum. The annual average flow reaches about 247,000 cubic feet (7,000 cubic metres) per second. Measurements taken at Kariba Dam reflect the same seasonal pattern; the

Sickle

One of the most ancient of harvesting tools, consisting of a metal blade, usually curved, attached to a short wooden handle. The short handle forces the user to harvest in a stooped or squatting position. The longer-handled scythe, the user of which remains upright, evolved from the sickle. Harvesting with a sickle is very slow, but because of its simplicity and low cost,

Four Masters Of The Yuan Dynasty

Two of the �four masters� were Huang Gongwang and Wu

Andean Community

CAN's Andean

Valence Electron

Any of the fundamental negatively charged particles in the outermost region of atoms that enters into the formation of chemical bonds. Whatever the type of chemical bond (ionic, covalent, metallic) between atoms, changes in the atomic structure are restricted to the outermost, or valence, electrons. They are more weakly attracted to the positive atomic nucleus than

Celestine Ii

A scholar of noble birth, he studied under Peter Ab�lard, with whom he remained on friendly terms even after Ab�lard's condemnation at the Council of Sens (1140). He was made cardinal deacon in 1127 by Pope Honorius II and cardinal priest (c. 1134) by Pope Innocent II, whom he was elected to succeed on Sept. 26, 1143. As pope (consecrated

�atalh�

Major Neolithic site in the Middle East, located near Konya in south-central Turkey. Excavations (1961 - 65) by the British archaeologist James Mellaart have shown that Anatolia in Neolithic times was the centre of an advanced culture. The earliest building period at �atalh�y�k is tentatively dated to about 6700 BC and the latest to about 5650 BC. The inhabitants lived in rectangular mud-brick