WhitesilverWatch

Robert Irving Burns Property Consultants

2006-11-22T06:00:00.000-08:00

Robert Irving Burns has been established for over 40 years and is an independent partnership, who specialise in a full range of property services. These include commercial property
and commercial offices as well as property to let london. Whilst my business partner and I were looking for Offices, we found Rib’s expertise invaluable.

Devonshire, William Cavendish, 1st Earl Of, Baron Cavendish Of Hardwick

2005-04-04T20:22:00.000-07:00

The son of Sir William Cavendish and his third wife, Elizabeth Hardwick (afterward the Countess of Shrewsbury), the young Cavendish was educated at Eton College and Gray's Inn and was knighted in 1580 and created a baron in 1605. In 1608 he inherited a rich estate from his mother and later became

Argentina

2005-04-03T04:25:00.000-07:00

The federal republic of Argentina occupies the eastern section of the Southern Cone of South America, along the Atlantic Ocean. Area: 2,780,400 sq km (1,073,518 sq mi). Pop. (1993 est.): 33,507,000. Cap.: Buenos Aires. Monetary unit: peso, with (Oct. 4, 1993) an official rate of 1 peso to U.S. $1 (1.52 pesos = £ 1 sterling). President in 1993, Carlos Saúl Menem.

Laghouat

2005-04-03T04:17:00.000-07:00

Town and oasis north-central Algeria, at the southern edge of the Saharan Atlas, on the route linking Algiers with central Africa. The oasis (625 acres [253 hectares]) was probably settled in the 11th century after the Banu Hilal invaders, supported by the Fatimids of Egypt, crossed the area. Laghouat subsequently passed through Moroccan and Turkish hands and was divided by two warring

Journal De Genève

2005-04-02T01:05:00.000-08:00

Like the German-language Neue Zürcher Zeitung, the Journal de Genève was a national newspaper, serious in tone and generally liberal in outlook. Its careful and thorough

Hardie, J(ames) Keir

2005-04-01T18:09:00.000-08:00

British labour leader, first to represent the workingman in Parliament as an Independent (1892) and first to lead the Labour Party in the House of Commons (1906). A dedicated socialist, he was also an outspoken pacifist (from the time of the South African, or Boer, War, 1899–1902) and the chief adviser (from 1903) to the militant suffragists headed by Emmeline

Pius Iv

2005-04-01T00:31:00.000-08:00

After a long conclave Giovanni was elected pope on Dec. 25, 1559, as Pius IV. Though he had long agreed with those who saw a need for

Vivarini, Antonio

2005-03-31T18:02:00.000-08:00

From 1444 Vivarini collaborated with his brother-in-law Giovanni d'Alemagna (d. 1450); later he worked with his younger brother, Bartolomeo. Surviving altarpieces executed

France, History Of, Frankish expansion and the unification of Gaul

2005-03-30T18:21:00.000-08:00

During the years following his accession, Clovis consolidated the position of the Franks in northern Gaul. In 486 he defeated Syagrius, the last Roman ruler in Gaul, and in a series of subsequent campaigns with strong Gallo-Roman support occupied an area situated between the Frankish kingdom of Tournai, the Visigothic and Burgundian kingdoms, and the lands occupied

Locarno

2005-03-30T04:38:00.000-08:00

German Luggarus town, Ticino canton, southern Switzerland. It is situated at the northern end of Lago Maggiore, near the mouth of the Maggia River, west of Bellinzona. The site was settled in prehistoric times, and the town was first mentioned in 789. A possession of the dukes of Milan from 1342, it was taken by the Swiss in 1513. It became part of the newly formed Ticino canton in 1803 and, with Lugano and Bellinzona,

Japan, Temperature

2005-03-29T03:48:00.000-08:00

Temperatures are generally warmer in the south than in the north, and the transitional seasons of spring and fall are shorter in the north. At Asahikawa, in central Hokkaido, the mean temperature in January, the coldest month, is 16 °F (-9 °C), and the mean temperature in August, the hottest month, is 70 °F (21 °C), with an annual average temperature of 43 °F (6 °C). At Tokyo, the mean temperature for January

Chafer

2005-03-28T19:36:00.000-08:00

Any of several beetles of the insect subfamily Melolonthinae (family Scarabaeidae, order Coleoptera). The leaf chafers (Macrodactylus) eat foliage; the grub feeds underground on plant roots. The adult female deposits her eggs in the soil, and the larvae live underground for several years. They pupate in the fall, but the adults remain underground until the following

Radegunda, Saint

2005-03-28T17:08:00.000-08:00

A Thuringian princess, Radegunda was captured about 531 by Chlotar I during an expedition against the Thuringians. She was educated in letters at his court;

Río Salado, Battle Of

2005-03-27T23:31:00.000-08:00

(October 30, 1340), battle fought by the allied Castilian and Portuguese Christian forces against the Muslim Marinids of North Africa in a final attempt by the latter to invade the Iberian Peninsula. The battle, which interrupted a series of disputes between the Castilian and Portuguese over throne and territorial rights, represented the final alliance of the two to repulse

Astoria Canyon

2005-03-27T23:07:00.000-08:00

Submarine canyon and fan-valley system of the Pacific continental margin, off the coast of Oregon, U.S. The canyon's head is in water about 330 feet (100 m) deep, 11 miles (18 km) west of the mouth of the Columbia River. The canyon crosses the seaward half of the continental shelf in a westerly direction and trends sinuously down to the base of the continental slope and the apex of Astoria

Sickles, Daniel Edgar

2005-03-27T01:47:00.000-08:00

Sickles attended the University of the City of New York, later studied law, and in 1846 was admitted to the bar. He immediately

Low, Seth

2005-03-24T21:37:00.000-08:00

Low was graduated as valedictorian of Columbia College in 1870, thereupon

Afonso I

2005-03-24T14:26:00.000-08:00

Alfonso VI, emperor of Leon, had granted the county of Portugal to Afonso's father, Henry of Burgundy, who successfully defended it against the Muslims (1095–1112). Henry married Alfonso VI's illegitimate daughter, Teresa, who

Buckinghamshire

2005-03-24T00:19:00.000-08:00

Administrative, geographic, and historic county of southern England. It stretches from the River Thames in the south and the outskirts of London in the southeast across the ridge of chalk upland known as the Chiltern Hills, thence across the fertile Vale of Aylesbury and a low sandy ridge to the valley of the River Great Ouse in the north. Within this region, the administrative,

Bulgarian Language

2005-03-23T14:36:00.000-08:00

Bulgarian Bulgarski ezik South Slavic language written in the Cyrillic alphabet and spoken in Bulgaria and parts of Greece, Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine. Together with Macedonian, to which it is most closely related, Bulgarian contrasts sharply with the other Slavic languages in its almost complete loss of case declension in the noun and in its use of certain grammatical features found

Nizhegorod

2005-03-22T14:19:00.000-08:00

Formerly (1932–90) Gorky, oblast (province) in western Russia, in the middle of the Volga River basin. Nizhegorod oblast is bisected by the Volga River. The northern half of the oblast is a low plain, mostly in dense coniferous forest of spruce, pine, and fir, while lower parts are often swampy. Its soils are infertile. The southern half comprises rolling morainic hills, with deciduous trees, especially

Nei-chiang

2005-03-22T05:34:00.000-08:00

In medieval times the locality was an important salt-producing area, but in recent times its

Brown, Trisha

2005-03-21T21:23:00.000-08:00

Brown studied modern dance at Mills College in Oakland, California (B.A., 1958). Her style began developing after she met choreographer Yvonne

Apple

2005-03-21T21:09:00.000-08:00

Fruit of the genus Malus (about 25 species) belonging to the family Rosaceae, the most widely cultivated tree fruit. The apple is one of the pome (fleshy) fruits, in which the ripened ovary and surrounding tissue both become fleshy and edible. The apple flower of most varieties requires cross-pollination for fertilization. Apples at harvest, though varying widely

Octobrist

2005-03-21T17:56:00.000-08:00

Russian Oktyabrist, also called Union Of October 17, member of a conservative-liberal Russian political party whose program of moderate constitutionalism called for the fulfillment of the emperor Nicholas II's October Manifesto (q.v.). Founded in November 1905, the party was led by the industrialist Aleksandr Ivanovich Guchkov and drew support from liberal gentry, businessmen, and some bureaucrats. As the majority party

Usufruct

2005-03-19T09:14:00.000-08:00

In Roman-based legal systems, the temporary right to the use and enjoyment of the property of another, without changing the character of the property. This legal concept developed in Roman law and found significant application in the determination of the property interests between a slave held under a usus fructus (Latin: “use and enjoyment”) bond and a temporary master.

Uzbek

2005-03-19T05:54:00.000-08:00

Any member of a Central Asian people found chiefly in Uzbekistan, but also in other parts of Central Asia and in Afghanistan. The Uzbeks speak either of two dialects of Uzbek, a Turkic language of the Altaic family of languages. More than 16 million Uzbeks live in Uzbekistan, 2,000,000 in Afghanistan, 1,380,000 in Tajikistan, 570,000 in Kyrgyzstan, and smaller numbers in Kazakstan, Turkmenistan, and

çatalhüyük

2005-03-19T00:52:00.000-08:00

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 Çatalhüyük is tentatively dated to about 6700 BC and the latest to about 5650 BC. The inhabitants lived in rectangular mud-brick

Tariqa

2005-03-18T09:41:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Tariqah, Arabic Tariqah (“road,” “path,” or “way”), the Muslim spiritual path toward direct knowledge (ma'rifah) of God or Reality (haqq). In the 9th and 10th centuries tariqa meant the spiritual path of individual Sufis (mystics). After the 12th century, as communities of followers gathered around sheikhs (or pirs, “teachers”), tariqa came to designate the sheikh's entire ritual system, which was followed by the community

Pacific Islands

2005-03-17T07:03:00.000-08:00

By the mid-20th century, overpopulation in a region of fragmented land areas, widely scattered communities, poor communications, inadequate resources, and rising costs of living posed a fundamental dilemma. Political responsibility for the situation rested largely with the five metropolitan nations (Australia, France, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United

Haanja

2005-03-17T02:11:00.000-08:00

Morainal region of southeastern Estonia. The moraine is steep on the north but slopes more gently toward the south, extending slightly into Latvia. Deeply incised valleys separate the hills, and there are many lakes. Haanja is the highest and most irregular part of Estonia. It reaches an elevation of 1,042 feet (318 m) at Mount Muna, the highest point in the republic; other high

Fusarium Wilt

2005-03-17T01:45:00.000-08:00

Also called Yellows, widespread plant disease caused by many forms of the soil-inhabiting fungus Fusarium oxysporum. Several hundred plant species are susceptible at soil temperatures above 75° F (24° C). Infected plants are usually stunted; their leaves turn pale green to golden yellow and later wilt, wither, die, and drop off progressively upward from the stem base. Dark streaks occur in vascular

Allobroges

2005-03-16T02:18:00.000-08:00

Ancient Celtic tribe living in the northeast of Gallia Narbonensis (i.e., Narbonne Gaul, in the part of southeastern France bounded by the Rhône and Isère rivers) and in the area around Geneva. The Allobroges were first mentioned in history when Hannibal passed through their territory in 218 BC. Later, they were attacked by the Romans and finally conquered (121 BC) at the junction

Ya-lung River

2005-03-15T18:18:00.000-08:00

Wade–Giles romanization Ya-lung Chiang , Pinyin Yalong Jiang long secondary tributary of the Yangtze River in central and southern China. The Ya-lung rises in the Pa-yen-k'a-la Mountains in Tsinghai Province at an elevation of nearly 16,500 feet (5,000 m). The upper stream flows southeastward to the south of the Pa-yen-k'a-la Mountains into northwestern Szechwan Province. Below Kan-tzu it swings southward to flow along the western side of the

Aeneas

2005-03-15T14:18:00.000-08:00

Mythical hero of Troy and Rome, son of the goddess Aphrodite and Anchises. Aeneas was a member of the royal line at Troy and cousin of Hector. He played a prominent part in the war to defend his city against the Greeks, being second only to Hector in ability. Homer implies that Aeneas did not like his subordinate position, and from that suggestion arose a later tradition

Cambay, Gulf Of

2005-03-15T14:13:00.000-08:00

Also called Gulf of Khambhat trumpet-shaped gulf of the Arabian Sea, indenting northward the coast of Gujarat state, western India, between Bombay and the Kathiawar Peninsula. It is 120 miles (190 km) wide at its mouth between Diu and Daman, but it rapidly narrows to 15 miles (24 km). The gulf receives many rivers, including the Sabarmati, Mahi, Narmada (Narbada), and Tapti. Its shape and its orientation in relation to the southwest

Andrada E Silva, José Bonifácio De

2005-03-14T01:59:00.000-08:00

Andrada went to Portugal as a student and became a distinguished scholar there, earning an international reputation as a naturalist and geologist. He remained in Portugal until

Habit

2005-03-13T18:28:00.000-08:00

In psychology, any regularly repeated behaviour that requires little or no thought and is learned rather than innate. A habit—which can be part of any activity, ranging from eating and sleeping to thinking and reacting—is developed through reinforcement and repetition. Reinforcement encourages the repetition of a behaviour, or response, each time the stimulus

Manakara

2005-03-13T17:18:00.000-08:00

Town, southeastern Madagascar. It is situated along the Indian Ocean and the Pangalanes Canal. An old fishing village, it became a thriving Indian Ocean port after a railway was constructed connecting it to Fianarantsoa (75 miles [120 km] northwest). Now it handles the coastal trade of coffee and cloves, and it has workshops serving the railway. Pop. (1978 est.) 26,000.

Pushkin, Aleksandr Sergeyevich

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

Russian poet, novelist, dramatist, and short-story writer; he has often been considered his country's greatest poet and the founder of modern Russian literature.

Jia

2005-03-12T15:53:00.000-08:00

The jia can either be a form of pottery or it can be bronze. It is a deep, cup-shaped vessel supported on three or four pointed, splayed legs. There is a vertical handle on the body and two small, capped, pillarlike additions on opposite sides

Berengar Ii

2005-03-11T13:30:00.000-08:00

Berengar was important in the career of the German king and Holy Roman emperor Otto I the Great. For several months in 951 he held captive Adelaide, the daughter and widow of kings of Italy; she escaped and married Otto, who assumed the title of king of the Lombards and made Berengar his vassal. Later (from 960) Berengar and his son

Elf

2005-03-11T08:58:00.000-08:00

Plural Elves, in Germanic folklore, originally, a spirit of any kind, later specialized into a diminutive creature, usually in tiny human form. In the Prose, or Younger, Edda, elves were classified as light elves (who were fair) and dark elves (who were darker than pitch); these classifications are roughly equivalent to the Scottish seelie court and unseelie court. The notable characteristics

Maceió

2005-03-10T18:56:00.000-08:00

Capital, Alagoas estado (“state”), northeastern Brazil. It is situated below low bluffs on a level strip of land between the Atlantic Ocean and the Norte (or Mundaú) Lagoon, a shallow body of water extending inward for several miles. Formerly called Macayo, the city dates from 1815, when a small settlement there was made a villa. In 1839 it became capital of Alagoas (then a provincia) and

Turfan Depression

2005-03-10T14:39:00.000-08:00

The basin lies between

China, Communist victory

2005-03-08T17:25:00.000-08:00

Between early November 1948 and early January 1949, the two sides battled for the control of Suchow. Gen. Zhu De concentrated 600,000 men under Chen Yi, Liu Bocheng, and Chen Geng near that strategic centre, which was defended by Nationalist forces of similar size. Both armies were well equipped, but the Nationalists had a superiority in armour and were unopposed in the air. Yet poor morale,

Adam De La Halle,

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

Adam's Jeu de la feuillée (“Play of the Greensward”) is a satirical fantasy based on his own life, written to amuse his friends in Arras upon his departure for Paris to pursue his studies. Le Congé (“The Leave Taking”) expresses his sorrow at leaving his wife and his native

Heiberg, Gunnar (edvard Rode)

2005-03-08T14:24:00.000-08:00

Left alone as a child when his parents separated, he was educated at King Frederick's University, Kristiania. Heiberg's plays were always highly provocative, and their opening nights caused the greatest scandals in the history of

Esref Dynasty

2005-03-08T10:12:00.000-08:00

The dynasty traced its origins to a Turkmen tribe that was settled by the Seljuqs of Anatolia on the western frontier. The family's founder, Esref oglu Sayfeddin Süleyman I, was a Seljuq emir who played an important role in Seljuq dynastic struggles during the reign (1283–98) of the Seljuq sultan Mas'ud

Bhandara

2005-03-07T16:08:00.000-08:00

Town, northeastern Maharashtra state, western India, on the Wainganga River, east of Nagpur. As a fording place across the river, it developed as a commercial centre; industries include the manufacture of brassware and cigarettes. It houses a college affiliated with the University of Nagpur. Rice covers most of the surrounding cultivated area. The area is rich in mineral

Colchester

2005-03-06T09:16:00.000-08:00

As Camulodunum, the town of Colchester was the capital of the pre-Roman Belgic ruler Cunobelinus and is so named on his coins. Although burned in 60 CE during the rising of the British queen Boudicca, Colchester soon became one of the

'awali

2005-03-06T05:42:00.000-08:00

Municipality in the state and emirate of Bahrain, on central Bahrain island, in the Persian Gulf. Founded in the 1930s by the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO), it is situated just north of Bahrain's oil fields and southwest of the country's oil refinery, one of the largest in the world. The municipality was built to house the main offices, headquarters staff, and foreign executives

Peter Claver, Saint

2005-03-06T01:22:00.000-08:00

Peter entered the Society of Jesus in 1602 and eight years later was sent to Cartagena, where he was ordained in 1616. The miserable condition of the slaves aboard ship and in the pens

Chi-lin

2005-03-05T23:20:00.000-08:00

Chi-lin is one of the most ancient cities in the Northeast.

Latrobe Valley

2005-03-04T21:13:00.000-08:00

The Latrobe River rises in the Eastern Highlands near Mount Baw Baw in the Gippsland district. Flowing in a southeasterly direction, it passes the cities of Moe and Yallourn, where it turns to flow almost directly east, past Traralgon. The Latrobe is joined

Christian Caste

2005-03-04T16:13:00.000-08:00

In India, the social stratification that persists among Christians, based upon caste membership at the time of an individual's own or of an ancestor's conversion. Indian Christian society is divided into groups geographically and according to denomination, but the overriding factor is one of caste. Caste groups may dine together and worship together, but, as a rule,

Beach Pea

2005-03-04T16:09:00.000-08:00

(Lathyrus maritimus, sometimes L. japonicus), sprawling perennial plant in the pea family (Fabaceae). It occurs on gravelly and sandy coastal areas throughout the North Temperate Zone. The stem is 30–60 centimetres (1–2 feet) long. The alternate leaves are divided into 6 to 12 leaflets arranged along the leafstalk. The purplish-blue flowers, which appear throughout

China

2005-03-02T23:20:00.000-08:00

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

North Germanic Languages, Reformation and Renaissance

2005-03-02T22:58:00.000-08:00

The many local dialects that exist today developed in the late Middle Ages, when the bulk of the population was rural and tied to its local village or parish, with few opportunities to travel. The people of the cities developed new forms of urban speech, coloured by surrounding rural dialects, by foreign contacts, and by the written languages. The chanceries in which

Augustine, Saint

2005-03-02T06:10:00.000-08:00

De doctrina christiana (books 1–3 396/397, book 4 426; Christian Doctrine) was begun in the first years of Augustine's episcopacy but finished 30 years later. This imitation of Cicero's Orator for Christian purposes sets out a theory of the interpretation of scripture and offers practical guidance to the would-be preacher. It was widely influential in the Middle Ages as an educational

Caria

2005-03-01T13:23:00.000-08:00

Ancient district of southwestern Anatolia. One of the most thoroughly Hellenized districts, its territory included Greek cities along its Aegean shore and a mountainous interior bounded by Lydia in the north and by Phrygia and Lycia in the east. The non-Greek Carians of the interior considered themselves an indigenous people and claimed kinship with the Lydians

Bendigo

2005-03-01T11:27:00.000-08:00

Byname of William Thompson English bare-knuckle boxer who became a Methodist evangelist and who is one of the few athletes whose name is borne by a city—Bendigo in Victoria, Australia. His nickname apparently is a corruption of the Old Testament name Abednego. Thompson was one of triplets; the other two were nicknamed

Earth, Structure and composition of the solid Earth

2005-03-01T11:18:00.000-08:00

David G. Smith (ed.), The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences (1981), is a highly readable, illustrated collection of articles on the Earth's surface and interior. Two collections of articles from Scientific American are The Dynamic Earth (1983), on the geologic processes occurring inside and around the planet; and Robert Decker and Barbara Decker (eds.), Volcanoes and the Earth's Interior (1982), on volcanoes and the rocks occurring in the mantle. Minoru Ozima, The Earth: Its Birth and Growth (1981; originally published in Japanese, 1979), gives a general account of the evolution of the Earth based on geochemical research. Martin H.P. Bott, Interior of the Earth: Its Structure, Constitution, and Evolution, 2nd ed. (1982), provides a thorough summary of the nature of the Earth's interior. Two works with a more technical slant are Jean-Claude De Bremaecker, Geophysics, the Earth's Interior (1985), an introductory textbook; and Donald L. Turcotte and Gerald Schubert, Geodynamics: Applications of Continuum Physics to Geological Problems (1982), a mathematical text on processes occurring within the Earth. See also G.C. Brown and A.E. Mussett, The Inaccessible Earth (1981), on both geophysics and geochemistry.

Tyrwhitt, Thomas

2005-02-28T20:19:00.000-08:00

English scholar especially notable for his work on the medieval English poet Geoffrey Chaucer. In classical and English scholarship alike, Tyrwhitt showed the same qualities of balance, wide knowledge, and critical acumen. (He was the one man able, on linguistic grounds alone, to denounce as a forgery the poems by Thomas Chatterton purporting

Canada Day

2005-02-27T10:49:00.000-08:00

Formerly (until 1982) Dominion Day the national holiday of Canada. The possibility of a confederation between the colonies of British North America was discussed throughout the mid 1800s. On July 1, 1867, a dominion was formed through the British North America Act as approved by the British Parliament. It consisted of territories then called Upper and Lower Canada and of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The act

Drachmann, Holger Henrik Herholdt

2005-02-26T16:29:00.000-08:00

The son of a physician, Drachmann studied painting and also began to write. A visit to London in 1871 awakened an interest in social problems, and after his return he joined the new radical movement of which Georg Brandes was the central

Affenpinscher

2005-02-26T14:02:00.000-08:00

Also called Monkey Terrier, breed of toy dog known since the 17th century. The affenpinscher stands 26 cm (10 inches) or less and weighs 3 to 3.5 kg (7 to 8 pounds). A sturdily built, terrier-like dog, it has small, erect ears, round black eyes, and a short, docked tail. Its wiry, preferably black coat is short on parts of the body but longer on the legs and on the face, where it produces the monkey-like expression for which the

Fencing

2005-02-26T02:27:00.000-08:00

Organized sport involving the use of the sword—épée, foil, or sabre—for attack and defense according to set movements and rules. Although the use of swords dates to prehistoric times and swordplay to ancient civilizations, the organized sport of fencing began only at the end of the 19th century. For information on the art of Japanese sword fighting, see kendo.

Hale, John Parker

2005-02-24T21:30:00.000-08:00

After

Eureka Stockade

2005-02-24T17:27:00.000-08:00

The rebellion was the culmination of long-standing grievances on the part of the miners, or “diggers,” over exorbitant prospecting-license fees, brutal police procedures

Arabia, Animal life

2005-02-24T02:12:00.000-08:00

The camel has traditionally been the chief support of nomadic life in Arabia. Without the camel, the Bedouin could never have moved far from water fit for human beings; with the camel, he could survive for months on its milk and penetrate deep into the deserts. The camel also furnished food, clothing, fuel (dung), transportation, and power for drawing water or for plowing.

Dependent States

2005-02-23T03:13:00.000-08:00

Puerto Rico's largest bank was fined $21.6 million in January 2003 by the U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly having allowed millions of dollars in drug money to be laundered because of a failure to report suspicious activities to the authorities. The head of the Cayman Islands' Financial Reporting Unit, Brian Gibbs, resigned

Zacynthus

2005-02-23T02:41:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Zakynthos , Modern Greek Zákinthos , French Zante , Italian Zacinto island, southernmost and third largest of the Ionian Islands (q.v.) of Greece, lying off the west coast of the Peloponnese. Including the tiny Strotádhes Islands to the south, it constitutes the nomós (department) of Zákinthos. Zacynthus is indented by a deep bay with high cliffs on its south coast. The island has an area of 155 square miles (402 square km), the nomós 157 square miles (407 square

Duras, Marguerite

2005-02-22T00:24:00.000-08:00

Duras spent most of her childhood in Indochina, but at the age of 17 she moved to France to

Gérome, Jean-léon

2005-02-22T00:22:00.000-08:00

Gérome, whose father was a goldsmith, studied with J.-H. Delaroche. His historical and mythological compositions, such as “Pygmalion and Galatea” (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City), were anecdotal, painstaking, often melodramatic, and frequently

Neurogenic Arthropathy

2005-02-21T07:24:00.000-08:00

Also called Charcot's joint (after Jean-Martin Charcot, a 19th-century French neurologist), massive destruction of a stress-bearing joint, with development of large flanges and spurs of new bone at the sides of the joint. The condition eventually causes inability to use the joint but is accompanied by little or no sensation of pain or discomfort. The disorder accompanies damage to the nervous system

Fairbairn, Sir William, 1st Baronet

2005-02-20T23:14:00.000-08:00

From 1817 to 1832 he was a millwright at Manchester, in partnership with James Lillie. In 1835 he established a shipbuilding yard at Millwall, London,

Arabia, History Of, Religious reform

2005-02-20T19:12:00.000-08:00

The Wahhabi movement, which introduced a new factor into the pattern of Arabian politics, was founded by Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, a reformer influenced by the writings of the 13th–14th-century pietist theologian Ibn Taymiyah, of the strict Hanbali school of Islamic law. It was 'Abd al-Wahhab's intention to purify Islam of polytheism and to return it to an idealized primitive state.

Botocudo

2005-02-20T08:39:00.000-08:00

South American Indian people who lived in what is now the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. They spoke a language of the Macro-Ge group. Their culture was similar to that of other nomadic tribes of the forests and mountains of eastern Brazil. Hunting bands of from 50 to 200 members were led by men considered most powerful in the supernatural realm. The Botocudo believed that

Fairbairn, Sir William, 1st Baronet

2005-02-19T22:50:00.000-08:00

ALS affects the motor neurons—i.e., those neurons that control muscular movements.

Chauliac, Guy De

2005-02-19T21:19:00.000-08:00

Italian Guido De Cauliaco the most eminent surgeon of the European Middle Ages, whose Chirurgia magna (1363) was a standard work on surgery until at least the 17th century. In this work he describes a narcotic inhalation used as a soporific for surgical patients, as well as numerous surgical procedures, including those for hernia and cataract, which had previously

Infection, Dacryocystitis and dacryoadenitis

2005-02-18T08:53:00.000-08:00

Inflammation of the tear sac, called dacryocystitis, is a common pediatric infection. It usually occurs after a long-term obstruction of the nasolacrimal duct (a tube that connects the eye with the nose, allowing proper drainage of the eye's secretions). This infection, caused by staphylococci or streptococci, produces tender swelling in the inner corner of the eye

Port Adelaide

2005-02-18T05:40:00.000-08:00

Chief port of South Australia, on an estuarine-tidal inlet of Gulf St. Vincent, just northwest of Adelaide. Visited in 1831 by Capt. Collet Barker, the harbour, sheltered by a long sand spit to the west, was made the port for Adelaide in 1837. Port Adelaide was incorporated as a town in 1855 and became a city in 1901. The Inner Harbour, with extensive wharves, has a minimum depth of 33 ft (10 m) and is reached

Turkish Bath

2005-02-17T20:55:00.000-08:00

Kind of bath that originated in the Middle East and combines exposure to warm air, then steam or hot-air immersion, massage, and finally a cold-water bath or shower. The Turkish bath typically requires movement from one room or chamber to the next. Separate wash rooms and soaking pools may be included in the bath building, as are dressing and rest rooms. The Turkish bath

Jackson, Peter

2005-02-17T16:16:00.000-08:00

Jackson won the Australian heavyweight championship in 1886 and the British Empire title in 1892. On May 21, 1891, in San Francisco, he fought a 61-round

Cloete, Stuart

2005-02-17T10:24:00.000-08:00

Cloete farmed in South Africa for several years (1926–35) before turning to writing. His first novel, Turning Wheels (1937), expressed a negative view of Boer life and dealt with interracial love affairs. It stimulated

Turkic Peoples

2005-02-17T09:24:00.000-08:00

Any of various peoples whose members speak languages belonging to the Turkic subfamily of the Altaic family of languages. They are historically and linguistically connected with the T'u-chüeh, the name given by the Chinese to the nomadic people who in the 6th century AD founded an empire stretching from Mongolia and the northern frontier of China to the Black Sea. With

Zamboanga Peninsula

2005-02-15T02:37:00.000-08:00

The peninsula is drained in the north by the Lubungan, Dipolog, and Quipit rivers, and its northern highlands

Nagua

2005-02-14T20:07:00.000-08:00

Formerly Julia Molina, city, northern Dominican Republic, located just north of the mouth of the Nagua River, facing Escocesa Bay, on the Atlantic Ocean. Nagua is located on the main coastal road connecting the main cities of the region; the major functions of the town are administrative and agricultural, processing the goods of the surrounding agricultural plain—bananas, pineapples, peanuts

Gabrovo

2005-02-14T08:21:00.000-08:00

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

Agustini, Delmira

2005-02-14T01:49:00.000-08:00

Agustini was the first woman in Latin-American literature to deal boldly with the themes of sensuality and passion, and her poems have a force lacking from most Modernist poetry of the period. Her life ended tragically when she was murdered by her estranged husband. Her chief

Argentina, Confederation under Rosas, 182952

2005-02-13T09:28:00.000-08:00

The regime of Rosas in Buenos Aires enjoyed far broader support than any of its predecessors. Special interest groups, landholders, and export-import merchants (along with the British diplomatic contingent that was identified with these interests) all fell behind the new governor. Practically all the influential sectors in the province identified Rosas's triumph

Mckenna, Reginald

2005-02-13T01:44:00.000-08:00

In 1905, after serving for 10 years in the House of Commons, McKenna became financial secretary of the Treasury, and in 1907 he was

Cinématographe

2005-02-12T22:12:00.000-08:00

First motion-picture apparatus, used as both camera and projector. The invention of Louis and Auguste Lumière, manufacturers of photographic materials of Lyon, Fr., it was based in part on the Kinetoscope of Thomas A. Edison in the United States and in part on the Théâtre Optique of Émile Reynaud in Paris. From Edison's invention the Lumières took the idea of a sprocket-wound

Philetaerus

2005-02-12T05:43:00.000-08:00

Philetaerus initiated the policies that made Pergamum a leading centre of Greek civilization in the East. He served under Antigonus I Monophthalmus, successor to Alexander

Hindustan

2005-02-11T23:43:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Hindusthan (Persian: “Land of the Hindus”), historically, northern India, in contrast to the Deccan, or southern India. This area can be defined more particularly as the basin of the five Punjab rivers and the upper Gangetic Plain. As a mostly fertile and well-populated corridor situated between walls of mountain, desert, and sea, Hindustan has been regarded as the principal seat of Indian

Kamil, Al-malik Al-

2005-02-11T14:14:00.000-08:00

On his accession to the sultanate, al-Kamil engaged the armies of the Fifth Crusade and eventually negotiated their withdrawal from Egypt in 1221. During this conflict he had an interview with St. Francis of Assisi, who wished to convert him to Christianity. In 1229 al-Kamil ceded

Eye, Human, The axes of the eye

2005-02-10T20:27:00.000-08:00

It is worthwhile at this point to define certain axes of the eyes employed during different types of study. The optic axis of the eye is a line drawn through the centre of the cornea and the nodal (central) point of the eye; it actually does not intersect with the retina at the centre of the fovea as might be expected, but toward the nose from this, so that there is an angle of

North Germanic Languages, Syntax

2005-02-10T17:51:00.000-08:00

The reduction of morphological complexity has been accompanied by the emergence of a more rigid order of sentence elements. Main clauses have the finite verb in second position. This can be preceded by almost any other sentence constituent; most often it is preceded by the subject. In yes-no questions the preverbal position is empty. In other questions it is occupied

Guadalcanal

2005-02-09T18:48:00.000-08:00

Largest island of the Solomon Islands, southwestern Pacific Ocean. With an area of some 2,047 square miles (5,302 square km), it is of volcanic origin with a mountainous spine (Kavo Range) that culminates in Mount Makarakomburu (8,028 feet [2,447 m]), the highest point in the country. Many short, rapid streams, including the Mataniko, Lunga, and Tenaru, tumble from the wooded mountains to the coast,