Thursday, September 30, 2004

Polish Literature, Literature in independent Poland

The restoration of the country's independence in 1918 decisively affected Polish literature. The period between 1918 and 1939 was characterized by richness, variety, and increasing contact with other European literatures, especially through the publication of translations. Lyrical poetry predominated for nearly a decade after 1918. The periodical Zdr�j (�The Fountainhead�) showed

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Placidia, Aelia Galla

Captured in Rome when the city fell to the Goths in 410, she was carried off to Gaul and married (414) to the Visigothic chieftain Ataulphus, who was

Monday, September 27, 2004

Lippe

One of the smallest of the former German states, forming, since 1946 - 47, the northeastern corner of the Land (state) of North Rhine-Westphalia; the rather smaller Schaumburg-Lippe, now in the southern part of the Land of Lower Saxony, was founded in the 1640s under a separate branch of the House of Lippe. Both were until 1990 in West Germany. The Lippe lands lie north and south of the east - west

Sunday, September 26, 2004

Poland

Parliamentary elections in September 1997 brought a dramatic reversal in Polish politics. The Solidarity Electoral Action (AWS), a loose coalition of some 30 right-wing groups dominated

Saturday, September 25, 2004

Marett, Robert R(anulph)

He studied at Victoria College in Jersey and Balliol

Thursday, September 23, 2004

Balearic Islands

The archipelago lies 50 to 190 miles (80 to 300 km) east of the Spanish mainland and has a land area of 1,936 square miles (5,014 square km). There are two groups of islands. The eastern and larger

Wednesday, September 22, 2004

Muhallab Ibn Abi Sufra, Al-

Al-Muhallab first served under the caliph Mu'awiyah, campaigning in India and raiding the country between Kabul and Multan. Later he was stationed in the eastern provinces, leading expeditions against the Central Asian city

Tuesday, September 21, 2004

B-1

U.S. variable-wing strategic bomber that entered service in 1986 as a successor to the B-52 Stratofortress. The B-1 was designed to penetrate radar-guided air defenses by flying at low levels. It was built in two versions by Rockwell International. The B-1A, first flown in 1974, was designed to reach twice the speed of sound at high altitudes and to carry nuclear bombs and short-range attack

Monday, September 20, 2004

Escriv� De Balaguer, Josemar�a, Saint

In full� Josemar�a Escriv� de Balaguer y Alb�s � Spanish prelate of the Roman Catholic church, founder in 1928 of Opus Dei, a Catholic organization of laymen and priests claiming to strive to live Christian lives in their chosen professions. By the time of Escriv�'s death in 1975, its members numbered some 60,000 in 80 countries, and its critics charged it with

Sunday, September 19, 2004

Escriv� De Balaguer, Josemar�a, Saint

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.

Saturday, September 18, 2004

Adams, Charles Francis

The son of Pres. John Quincy Adams and the grandson of Pres. John Adams, Charles was early introduced to a cosmopolitan way of life when his father was appointed minister to Russia

Friday, September 17, 2004

Sthanakavasi

The Sthanakavasi, whose name refers to the subsect's preference for performing religious duties at a secular place such as a monks' meetinghouse (sthanak) rather than at a temple, differs from the Shvetambara sect

Thursday, September 16, 2004

Edgar

The younger son of Edmund I, king of the English, Edgar was made king of the Mercians

Wednesday, September 15, 2004

Avoirdupois Weight

Traditional system of weight in the British Imperial System and the United States Customary System of weights and measures. The name derives ultimately from French avoir de pois (�goods of weight� or �property�). The avoirdupois pound contains 7,000 grains, or 256 drams of 27.344 grains each, or 16 ounces of 437 1/2 grains each. It is used for all products not subject to apothecaries' weight (for pharmaceutical

Tuesday, September 14, 2004

Taranto

In

Monday, September 13, 2004

Adam And Eve

In the Bible, there are two accounts of their creation. According to the Priestly (P) history of the 5th or 6th century BC (Genesis 1:1 - 2:4), God on the sixth day of Creation created all the living creatures and, �in his own image,� man both �male and female.� God then blessed the couple, told them

Sunday, September 12, 2004

Game Theory

Branch of applied mathematics fashioned to analyze certain situations in which there is an interplay between parties that may have similar, opposed, or mixed interests. In a typical game, decision-making �players,� who each have their own goals, try to outsmart one another by anticipating each other's decisions; the game is finally resolved as a consequence of the players'

Saturday, September 11, 2004

Ulama

Also spelled �ulema�, Arabic �'ulama'� the learned of Islam, those who possess the quality of 'ilm, �learning,� in its widest sense. From the 'ulama', who are versed theoretically and practically in the Muslim sciences, come the religious teachers of the Islamic community - theologians (mutakallimun), canon lawyers (muftis), judges (qadis), professors - and high state religious officials like the shaikh al-Islam. In a narrower

Friday, September 10, 2004

Carlile, Richard

Radical English journalist who was a notable champion of the freedom of the press. Although convinced that the free propagation of ideas was more important than specific reforms, he was an early advocate of almost all the Radical causes of his time, including the abolition of monarchy, completely secular education, and the

Thursday, September 09, 2004

Loy, Mina

Loy began studying art in 1897 at St. John's Wood School in London. In 1899 she left England to study painting in Munich, Germany, returned to London in 1901, then traveled in 1902 to Paris, where she met and married fellow art

Wednesday, September 08, 2004

Ansermet, Ernest

Ansermet studied at Lausanne and from 1906 to 1910 taught mathematics there. Later he studied composition under the Swiss-born composer

Tuesday, September 07, 2004

Hafez

About 1368 - 69 Hafez fell out of favour at the court and did not

Monday, September 06, 2004

Saarlouis

City, Saarland Land (state), southwestern Germany. It lies along both sides of the Saar River, near the French border, northwest of Saarbr�cken. Founded and named by Louis XIV of France in 1680 and fortified by the military engineer S�bastien de Le Prestre Vauban (1680 - 86), it became the capital of the French Sarre province. The site of an important arms works in the Napoleonic era, it

Sunday, September 05, 2004

Mcadam, John Loudon

In 1770 he went to New York City, entering the countinghouse of a merchant uncle; he returned to Scotland with a considerable fortune in 1783. There he purchased an estate at Sauhrie, Ayrshire. McAdam, who had become a road trustee in his district, noted that the local highways were

Saturday, September 04, 2004

Van Dine, S.s.

Wright was educated at St. Vincent and Pomona colleges in California, at Harvard University, and in Munich and Paris. Pursuing a career as a writer, Wright became literary editor of the

Friday, September 03, 2004

Apple Computer, Inc.

American manufacturer of personal computers, computer peripherals, and computer software. It was the first successful personal computer company and the popularizer of the graphical user interface. Headquarters are located in Cupertino, California.

Thursday, September 02, 2004

Kara Sea

Several deep

Wednesday, September 01, 2004

Sevan, Lake

Lake in Armenia, with an area of 525 sq mi (1,360 sq km). Lying at 6,250 ft (1,905 m) above sea level in a mountain-enclosed basin, it drains by the Hrazdan River into the Aras River and to the Caspian Sea, but most of its water is lost by evaporation rather than by runoff. The lake is in two connected parts, the smaller but deeper Maly Sevan (northwest), with a maximum depth of 282 ft, and the Bolshoy Sevan (southeast),