Natchez

Relations between the French

Borel, �mile

The son of a Protestant pastor, Borel exhibited his mathematical talent from a young

Saho

Also spelled �Sao, �Shaho, �Shoho, �or �Shiho, �also called �Afar-saho, � language spoken by several peoples, most of whom inhabit the coastal plains of southern Eritrea. Saho is generally classified as an Eastern Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic (formerly Hamito-Semitic) language family. The Saho-speaking peoples are bordered to the north by the Tigre, to the west by the Tigray, and to the south and east by the Afar, with whose language

Saho

Also spelled �Sao, �Shaho, �Shoho, �or �Shiho, �also called �Afar-saho, � language spoken by several peoples, most of whom inhabit the coastal plains of southern Eritrea. Saho is generally classified as an Eastern Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic (formerly Hamito-Semitic) language family. The Saho-speaking peoples are bordered to the north by the Tigre, to the west by the Tigray, and to the south and east by the Afar, with whose language

Romance Languages, The reduction of inflectional endings

The inflectional endings have been lost most in nouns and adjectives. The Classical Latin five-case declensional system has everywhere been replaced (with a couple of doubtful exceptions) by a two-gender system, in which normally masculine gender is marked by survivors of the second (-us) declension endings of Latin (Italian cavallo, Portuguese cavalu, Romanian cal

Ammons, A.r.

A 1949 graduate of Wake Forest College (now University), Ammons worked as an elementary school principal and as a glass company executive before turning his full attention to literature. From 1964 to 1998 he taught

Auersperg, Johann Weikhart, Prince (f�rst) Von

After serving briefly as a Habsburg court councillor, Auersperg was sent to The Hague (1641), and later he took part in peace negotiations at Osnabr�ck, which ultimately ended the Thirty Years'

China, The chief councillors

The later Nan Sung emperors preferred not to take on the awesome burden of managing the huge and complex bureaucracy. Most of them were concerned chiefly with security and the status quo. The Nan Sung court delegated a tremendous amount of power and thus had a series of dominant chief councillors; none of them, however, ever was a potential usurper. No bureaucrat during

Pacific Islands, Changing administrations

Two United Nations trust territories were the first to achieve sovereignty as independent nations - Western Samoa (now Samoa) in 1962 and Nauru in 1968. The first continued to rely on New Zealand in foreign affairs, while Nauru ended its trusteeship ties with Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. New Zealand, a Commonwealth member with a self-conscious Maori Polynesian

Nahua

The modern Nahua are an agricultural people; their staple crops are corn (maize), beans, chili peppers, tomatoes, and squash. Also common

Quagga

Also called �bonte quagga�, or �Burchell's zebra� African species of zebra (q.v.).

Alen�on

Town, Orne d�partement, Basse-Normandie r�gion, northwestern France. Alen�on lies at the juncture of the Sarthe and Briante rivers, in the centre of a plain ringed by wooded hills. It is known for its tulle and lace (especially point d'Alen�on), introduced from Venice in the mid-17th century. Incorporated in the duchy of Normandy in 911, it was capital of the county and duchy of

Skiing

Unlike the Alpine competitors, the Nordic skiers did not have a world championship tournament in 1996 and thus were able to focus fully on the 17th Nordic World Cup. In that competition Bj�rn D�hlie of Norway and Vladimir Smirnov of Kazakstan continued their supremacy. D�hlie retained the overall title, his fourth in five years, with runner-up Smirnov denied a chance to

Trail Of Tears

A forced migration undertaken by the Cherokee (q.v.) Indians of the eastern United States in 1838 - 39.

Hidaka Range

The Hidaka Range contains Mount Poroshiri, the highest nonvolcanic

Nevada, Emma

Emma Wixom grew up in Nevada City, California, and in Austin, Nevada. She graduated from Mills Seminary (now College) in Oakland, California, in 1876. In Vienna on a European study tour in 1877, she met and was taken as a pupil by the

Botvinnik, Mikhail Moiseyevich

Soviet chess grandmaster (b. Aug. 17 [Aug. 4, Old Style], 1911, Kuokkala, near St. Petersburg, Russia--d. May 5, 1995, Moscow, Russia), was the first Soviet world chess champion (1948-57, 1958-60, 1961-63). Botvinnik learned chess at the relatively advanced age of 12, but within two years he had defeated the reigning world champion, Jos� Ra�l Capablanca of Cuba, in an exhibition match. In 1931 he won the first of seven national championships.

Israel, Immigration and conflict

The Zionist goal of Jewish statehood was violently opposed by the local Arab leaders, who saw the Ottoman defeat as an opportunity either to create their own state or to join a larger Arab entity - thus reviving the old Arab empire of early Islamic times. British efforts to bring the Zionists and the Arabs together in a cooperative government failed, and serious disorders,

Saxifrage

Also called �rockfoil (genus Saxifraga)� any of a genus of flowering plants, of the family Saxifragaceae, native in temperate, subarctic, and alpine areas. About 300 species have been identified. Many of them are valued as rock-garden subjects, and some are grown in garden borders. As a group they are notable for their small bright flowers and fine-textured foliage. Alpine species are the earliest to flower in

Fabricius, Johannes

Dutch astronomer who may have been the first observer of sunspots (1610/1611) and was the first to publish information on such observations. He did so in his Narratio de maculis in sole observatis et apparente earum cum sole conversione (1611; �Account of Spots Observed on the Sun and of Their Apparent Rotation with the Sun�). The son of the astronomer David Fabricius,

Bohemond I

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

Bulbocavernosus Muscle

Also called �Bulbospongiosus, � a muscle of the perineum, the area between the anus and the genitals. In the male, it surrounds the bulb (the enlarged inner end of the structure that surrounds the urethra) of the penis and can be contracted to expel the last drops of urine or semen. In the female it is divided into halves that extend from just behind the clitoris to the central tendon of the perineum and

Cywydd

Welsh verse form, a kind of short ode in rhyming couplets in which one rhyme is accented and the other unaccented; each line is composed of seven syllables and contains some form of cynghanedd (a complex system of alliteration and internal rhyme). Developed in the 14th century in south Wales by Dafydd ap Gwilym, the cywydd shows affinities with forms used by the earlier

War Of The Sons Of Light Against The Sons Of Darkness, The

Hebrew �Megillat Milhamat B'ne, or Beb'ne Hoshekh, �also called �War Rule, or War Scroll, � a Dead Sea Scroll, and one of the most important documents of the Essene sect of Jews that established a community at Qumran in the Judaean desert during the first half of the 2nd century BC. The Essenes thought themselves to be the holy elect of Israel, the Sons of Light, who would at the end of time engage in a catastrophic war with the enemies of Israel, the Sons of

Silhak

The Silhak school attacked Neo-Confucianism, particularly its formalism and concern with ritual. Members of the

Khams

Also called �Mdo-stod, � one of three regions into which the area of Central Asia inhabited by Tibetans is traditionally divided. During the 7th to 9th century AD, the central Tibetan kingdom was extended until it reached the Tarim Basin on the north, China on the east, India and Nepal on the south, and Kashmir on the west. The newly added dominions to the east and northeast were called Mdo-Khams. The

Tlaloc

During Aztec times (14th to 16th century), Tlaloc's

Hawke (of Towton), Edward Hawke, 1st Baron

Hawke joined the navy in February 1720 and was promoted to rear admiral for his distinguished service against the French in the War of the Austrian Succession (1740 - 48). In October 1747 he captured six French warships in a brilliant

Becker, Gary S.

Becker was educated at Princeton University and the University of Chicago, where

Dietrich, Marlene

Marie Magdalene was the daughter of Ludwig Dietrich, a Royal Prussian police officer. Her father died when she was very young, and her mother remarried a cavalry officer, Edouard von Losch.