TiredKnife: July 2004

Saturday, July 31, 2004

City, north-central Lithuania. The city, dating from at least the 13th century, may be identical with the �Saule� where a major military confrontation took place in 1236 between the Lithuanians and the Brothers of the Sword, an order of Christian knights bent on imposing Christianity on the Baltic states. The order was decisively defeated, and the survivors were forced to merge

Friday, July 30, 2004

Akhtal, Al-

Al-Akhtal (�The Loquacious�) was a Christian but did not take the duties of his religion seriously, being addicted to drink and women. He was a favourite panegyrist and friend of the Umayyad caliph Yazid I and his generals

Wednesday, July 28, 2004

Aguarico River

Spanish �R�o Aguarico, � river, northeastern Ecuador, rising south of Tulc�n, in the Andes mountains near the Ecuador-Colombia border, and flowing east-southeast for approximately 230 miles (370 km) to its juncture with the R�o Napo at Pantoja. It is navigable for smaller boats. The Rio de Janeiro Protocol of 1942 fixed the lower course of the Aguarico (Spanish: �Rich Water�) as part of the long-disputed Ecuador-Peru

Tuesday, July 27, 2004

Henry, O.

Pseudonym of �William Sydney Porter� American short-story writer whose tales romanticized the commonplace - in particular the life of ordinary people in New York City. His stories expressed the effect of coincidence on character through humour, grim or ironic, and often had surprise endings, a device that became identified with his name and cost him critical

Monday, July 26, 2004

China, Transportation

Great emphasis has been placed on the development of transport, because it is closely related to the development of the national economy, the consolidation of the national defense system, and the strengthening of national unification. Nevertheless, China's domestic transport system continues to constitute a major constraint on economic growth and the efficient

Sunday, July 25, 2004

Azuchi-momoyama Period

Also called �Momoyama Period� (1574 - 1600), in Japanese history, age of political unification under the daimyo Oda Nobunaga and his successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who finally brought all provinces under the control of the central government. In contrast to the restraint of the preceding Muromachi, or Ashikaga, period (1338 - 1573), it was an age of magnificence and ostentation. The building of great castles and mansions

Saturday, July 24, 2004

Mu'tadid, Al-

The son of al-Muwaffaq, al-Mu'tadid was coregent, with al-Mu'tamid, in his father's last years. He became caliph on al-Mu'tamid's death in 892, having forced him to disinherit his own son. As caliph, al-Mu'tadid reorganized the

Thursday, July 22, 2004

Black Letter

Also called �Gothic Script, or Old English Script, � in calligraphy, style of alphabet that was used for handwriting throughout Latin Christendom for about 500 years, from the decline of the literary reforms under Charlemagne in the early 9th century to the humanistic revival of the Renaissance. It is distinguished by a uniform treatment of vertical strokes that end on the baseline, the use of angular lines instead of

Wednesday, July 21, 2004

Wolgemut, Michael

After an obscure early period Wolgemut married (1472) Barbara, widow of the N�rnberg painter Hans Pleydenwurff. In the next 40 years he produced a series of large altarpieces, rich with carving and gilding, as well as portraits and book illustrations. The altarpiece of St. Jacob, Straubing,

Tuesday, July 20, 2004

Padma River

Main channel of the Ganges River below its bifurcation into the Bhagirathi and Padma rivers in extreme western Bangladesh. Flowing southeastward, the Padma receives the mighty Jamuna (Brahmaputra) River near Rajbari and then continues southeastward through central Bangladesh to join the Meghna River through a channel 2 miles (3 km) wide, known as the Kirtimasa. The

Monday, July 19, 2004

Cardiovascular System, Nervous control of the heart

Nervous control of the heart is maintained by the parasympathetic fibres in the vagus nerve (parasympathetic) and by the sympathetic nerves. The vagus nerve is the cardiac inhibitor, and the sympathetic nerves are the cardiac excitors. Stimulation of the vagus nerve depresses the rate of impulse formation and atrial contractility and thereby reduces cardiac

Sunday, July 18, 2004

Baader, Franz Xaver Von

Abandoning a profitable career as a mining engineer in 1820, he turned his attention to a study of politics and religion. His earlier efforts to achieve ecumenical and political unity contributed to the formation in 1815 of the Holy Alliance, a

Saturday, July 17, 2004

Mason Ware

A sturdy English pottery known as Mason's Patent Ironstone China. It was first produced by C.J. Mason

Friday, July 16, 2004

Guadalcanal

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,

Thursday, July 15, 2004

Sun-joffe Manifesto

In the negotiations that led to the signing of the manifesto, Sun agreed to the formation

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

Multinational And Regional Organizations

Severely challenged by the social and political unrest produced by the Asian economic crisis, foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN, whose members included Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar [Burma], the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) held their annual meeting in Manila on July 24, 1998. ASEAN's reluctance to "interfere"

Tuesday, July 13, 2004

Lauterbrunnen

Town, Bern canton, south-central Switzerland, in the Bernese Oberland, on the L�tschine River, south of Interlaken. The river valley is bounded by impressive cliffs of 1,000 - 1,500 feet (300 - 450 m) and is noted for its Alpine streams and waterfalls, from which the name Lauterbrunnen (�Clear Fountains�) is derived. The most notable falls are the Staubbach and the Tr�mmelbach. The town is a year-round

Monday, July 12, 2004

Costmary

Also called �Bible Leaf, or Ale Cost� (Chrysanthemum balsamita), aromatic herb of the aster family (Asteracae) with yellow, button-shaped flowers. Its bitter, slightly lemony leaves may be used fresh in salads and fresh or dried as a flavouring, particularly for meats, poultry, and English ale. The dried leaves are also used as a tea and in potpourris.

Sunday, July 11, 2004

Gona�ves

Capital of L'Artibonite d�partement, western Haiti, on the northeastern shore of the Golfe de la Gon�ve (Gulf of Gona�ves). Originally an Indian village called Gonaibo, it is now the commercial centre and port of the fertile Artibonite Plain, with a natural harbour; coffee, cotton, sugar, bananas, mangoes, and cabinet woods are exported. In 1802 the French captured the revolutionary

Saturday, July 10, 2004

Zoe

The daughter of the emperor Constantine VIII, Zoe was married to the heir presumptive, Romanus III Argyrus, in 1028 and became empress consort upon his elevation to the throne the same year. She became self-assertive and jealous, exiling her sister Theodora

Friday, July 09, 2004

Tibet, The arts

Tibet is most renowned for its religious scroll paintings (tankas, or thang-ka), metal images, and wooden block prints. There are three categories of images - representing the peaceful, moderate, and angry deities - and three schools of painting - the Sman-thang, Gong-dkar Mkhan-bris, and Kar-ma sgar-bris - which are differentiated by colour tones and depicted facial

Thursday, July 08, 2004

Cabarrus, Fran�ois, Conde De

Cabarrus originally settled in Madrid as a soap manufacturer but soon became conspicuous within a circle of enlightened reformers who advised the king. His ideas were crucial in the creation of the first Spanish central bank in 1783. He also was involved

Wednesday, July 07, 2004

Price, Richard

A Dissenter like his father, he ministered to Presbyterians near London. His Review of the Principal

Tuesday, July 06, 2004

Actinium Series

Set of unstable heavy nuclei constituting one of the four radioactive series (q.v.).

Monday, July 05, 2004

Albanian Language

The origins of

Sunday, July 04, 2004

Liqueur

The word liqueur is derived from the Latin liquefacere,

Saturday, July 03, 2004

Interior Design, Kinds of interiors

Although the foregoing sections have mentioned different kinds of interiors, in reference to both aesthetic and physical components of design, there has been no specific discussion of different design considerations for varying interiors. The aesthetic criteria suggested in earlier sections are subject to considerable variation, depending on the kind

Friday, July 02, 2004

Ascension

British island in the South Atlantic Ocean, with an area of 34 square miles (88 square km). It is a dependency of the colony of St. Helena, 700 miles (1,100 km) to the southeast. Except on the heights of Green Mountain (2,817 feet [859 m]), where fruit, vegetables, and livestock are raised, the island is mostly a desert of extinct volcanic craters and extensive lava flows. There are no surface streams. Nineteenth-century

Thursday, July 01, 2004

Earth, Energy sources for convection

Measurements of temperature in deep mines and oil wells indicate that there is a substantial temperature increase with depth. In part, this is due to the weight of overlying rocks. Such temperature increases are not accompanied by a change in heat content and are referred to as adiabatic temperature increases. Convection within the Earth occurs only if the temperature

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