China, Literature

Chinese literature also shows conservative tendencies. Poetry composition remained a favourite pastime of the educated class, including the Sinicized scholars of Mongol, Central Asian, and western Asian origins, but no great works or stylistic innovations were created. During the last chaotic decades of the Y�an, some notable poets emerged, such as the versatile

Lustred Glass

Art glass in the Art Nouveau style. It is a delicately iridescent glass with rich colours. Lustred glass was first produced in the United States by Louis Comfort Tiffany during the late 1800s for use as windowpanes. The intention of the inventor of Tiffany lustred glass, Arthur J. Nash, was to recreate artificially the natural iridescent sheen produced by the corrosion

Abuja

The site was chosen

Switzerland, Economic development

A major period of economic growth began after 1815. There was a general improvement in agriculture, and tourism, especially from England, began to develop. But the industrial sector of the economy made the most significant gains. The exclusion of the English from European markets by the continental blockade, while initially detrimental to the textile industry, forced

Christensen, Harold

Christensen studied dancing with the famous choreographer George Balanchine and appeared with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet (1934), Ballet Caravan (1936 - 40), San Francisco Opera Ballet (1942), and San

Argentina, The rain shadow zone

Argentina is the only place in the Southern Hemisphere with an extensive portion of arid eastern coastline. This is caused by a longitudinal rain shadow zone (created when air masses lose their moisture while passing over high mountains) on the eastern side of the Andes. The zone begins in the Andean Northwest and extends along the eastern slopes of the Andes southward

Irish Terrier

Dog developed in Ireland, one of the oldest breeds of terriers. Nicknamed the �daredevil,� it has earned the reputation of being adaptable, loyal, spirited, and recklessly courageous. It served as a messenger and sentinel dog in World War I, and it has been used to hunt and to retrieve game. The Irish terrier is a sturdily built dog with racier lines than those of other terriers.

Mahajanga

Formerly �Majunga, � town and major port, northwestern Madagascar. It lies on the island's northwest coast, at the mouth of the Betsiboka River, whose estuary widens there into Bombetoka Bay. The town was the capital of the 18th-century kingdom of Boina. The French occupied Mahajanga in 1895 at the beginning of their conquest of Madagascar. The town's old sector is confined mainly to the harbour

Crabtree, Lotta

Crabtree grew up from the age of four in California, where her father moved the family during the Gold Rush of the early 1850s. At the Grass Valley mining camp she met Lola

China, Phase three: approaching crisis (1944 - 45)

China was in crisis in 1944. Japan faced increasing pressure in the Pacific and threats to its supply bases and communications lines in China as well as to nearby shipping. Its response was twofold - first, to attack from Burma toward Assam to cut the supply lines or capture the airfields at the western end of the Hump, and, second, to capture the railway system in China from

Pre-columbian Civilizations, The origins and expansion of the Inca state

Inca origins and early history are largely shrouded in legends that may be more mythical than factual. Their later history, particularly from the reign of Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui (Pachakuti 'Inka Yupanki; see Table 2) onward, is largely based on fact, even though it presents what the Inca wanted people to know. Whether these historical traditions are true, in the sense

Space Law

The evolution of space law began with U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower's introduction of the concept into the United Nations in 1957, in connection with disarmament negotiations. Following the successful launchings of the Soviet satellite

Chatter Mark

Small, curved fracture found on glaciated rock surfaces. Chatter marks are commonly 1 - 5 centimetres ( 1/2 - 2 inches) but may be submicroscopic or as much as 50 cm in length. They occur mainly on hard, brittle rocks such as granite and are formed under a glacier by the pressure and impact of boulders moved along by irregular rolling or sliding. Chatter marks are commonly arranged

K.c.b.

Knight commander of the Bath, member of the second highest rank of knightly class in a British order of knighthood. See Bath, The Most Honourable Order of the.

Huyton-with-roby

Urban area, metropolitan borough of Knowsley, metropolitan county of Merseyside, historic county of Lancashire, England. It lies on the eastern periphery of Liverpool. Although mentioned (as Hitune and Rabil) in Domesday Book (1086), the record of William the Conqueror's land survey of England, the town was not important until its rapid development as a suburban area for

West Florida Controversy

In U.S. history, dispute over the status of the territory lying on the Gulf of Mexico between the Apalachicola and Mississippi rivers. Though Spain claimed the area as part of its New World discovery in 1492, France occupied it as a portion of Louisiana after 1695. Under the Treaty of Paris of 1763, West Florida was held by Great Britain, which returned it to Spain under the Treaty of Paris

Anderlecht

A natural clearing in the primitive forest where foundations of a Roman villa and Frankish cemeteries have been found, Anderlecht is believed to be the original site of what is now

Chincha Islands

Spanish �Islas De Chincha, � island group that is part of Los Libertadores-Wari regi�n, Peru. Located in the Pacific Ocean 13 miles (21 km) off Peru's southwestern coast, the three small islands are situated to the northwest of Paracas Bay and west-northwest of the city of Pisco. They have extensive guano deposits, which have been exploited for fertilizer.

Paris, Foundation and medieval growth

Paris was in existence by the end of the 3rd century BC as a settlement on an island, the modern �le de la Cit�, in the Seine River and was inhabited by a Gallic tribe known as the Parisii. The first recorded name for the settlement was Lutetia (Latin: �Midwater-Dwelling�). When the Romans arrived, the Parisii were sufficiently organized and wealthy to have their own gold coinage.

Naberezhnye Chelny

Formerly (until 1930) �Chelny�, from 1982 to 1988 �Brezhnev� city, Tatarstan, west-central Russia, on the left bank of the Kama River. The city is best known for its Kama truck plant, the world's largest. Also located at Naberezhnye Chelny is the Lower Kama hydroelectric station. Because of these developments, Naberezhnye Chelny experienced rapid growth beginning in the 1970s. Pop. (1991 est.) 513,100.

Axinite

Borosilicate mineral that occurs most commonly in contact metamorphic rocks and also in basic igneous rocks. Particularly beautiful crystals occur at Le Bourg d'Oisans, Is�re, France, and in San Diego County, Calif., U.S. Transparent axinite of the usual clove-brown colour is sometimes cut as a gem. For chemical formula and detailed physical properties, see silicate

Aquarium

The earliest known aquarists were the Sumerians, who kept fishes in artificial ponds at least 4,500 years ago; records of fish keeping also date from ancient Egypt and Assyria. The Chinese, who raised carp for food as early as 1000 BC, were probably the first to breed fish with any degree of success. Their selective breeding of ornamental goldfish was later introduced to Japan, where

Literature

The earliest known aquarists were the Sumerians, who kept fishes in artificial ponds at least 4,500 years ago; records of fish keeping also date from ancient Egypt and Assyria. The Chinese, who raised carp for food as early as 1000 BC, were probably the first to breed fish with any degree of success. Their selective breeding of ornamental goldfish was later introduced to Japan, where

Constance, Lake

Also called �Lake of Constance�, Constance also spelled �Konstanz�, German �Bodensee�, Latin �Lacus Brigantinus� lake bordering Switzerland, Germany, and Austria and occupying an old glacier basin at an elevation of 1,299 feet (396 m). It has an area of 209 square miles (541 square km) and is about 40 miles (65 km) long and up to 8 miles (13 km) wide, with an average depth of 295 feet (90 m) and a maximum depth of 827 feet (252 m). It has about 125 miles (200 km) of shoreline. In the west, near Konstanz (Constance), it is divided by the Bodan mountain ridge

Seibert, Florence

Seibert contracted polio at age three, but became an outstanding student, graduating at the top of her high-school class and winning a scholarship to Goucher College, Towson, Maryland, from which she

Leninogorsk

Kazak �Leninogor�, formerly (until 1941) �Ridder� city, northeastern Kazakstan. The city is situated in the southwestern Altai Mountains along the Ulba River, at an elevation of more than 3,300 feet (1,000 m). An Englishman, Philip Ridder, discovered a small mine containing gold, silver, copper, and lead there in 1786, and systematic mining started in 1791. Present-day Leninogorsk is an important centre of the lead and zinc industry and is connected

Digestive System, Invertebrate, Vacuolar systems

Unicellular organisms that ingest food particles via vacuoles rely on intracellular digestion to prepare the nutrients for use. The enzymes that catalyze this digestion, being very potent chemicals capable of breaking down the cell substance itself, are held until needed in special packets, or vesicles, called lysosomes; the membrane of a lysosome is both impermeable

Sacrament

The Latin word sacramentum, which etymologically is an ambiguous theological term, was used in Roman law to describe a legal sanction in which a man placed his

Germany

On a visit to Bonn in early January, UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali appealed for Germany to find a way around its constitutional restrictions and play a full part in international security missions. German medical troops were already involved in a UN humanitarian mission in Cambodia, and the German air force was taking part in mercy flights to Sarajevo,

Line-and-wash Drawing

Also called �Pen-and-wash Drawing, � in the visual arts, a drawing marked out by pen or some similar instrument and then tinted with diluted ink or watercolour. In 13th-century China, artists used transparent ink washes to create delicate atmospheric effects. The line-and-wash technique was practiced in Europe from the Renaissance, and in the early 15th century Cennino Cennini gave detailed instructions