Sunday, October 31, 2004

Reform Judaism

A religious movement that has modified or abandoned many traditional Jewish beliefs, laws, and practices in an effort to adapt Judaism to the changed social, political, and cultural conditions of the modern world. Reform Judaism sets itself at variance with Orthodox Judaism by challenging the binding force of ritual, laws, and customs set down in the Bible and in

Saturday, October 30, 2004

Ear Disease, Acoustic neuroma

An acoustic neuroma is a benign tumour that grows on the auditory nerve near the point where it enters the labyrinth of the inner ear. The tumour causes gradual and progressive loss of auditory and vestibular nerve function on one side. Eventually the tumour grows out into the brain cavity, causing headaches and paralysis. If it is not removed, blindness and death

Thursday, October 28, 2004

Carpenter, John Alden

Carpenter studied at Harvard University under the conservative, German-influenced composer John Knowles Paine but then joined his father's shipping supply firm, of which he was vice president (1909 - 36). In 1906 he studied music under

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

Augustine, Saint

Although autobiographical narrative makes up much of the first 9 of the 13 books of Augustine's Confessiones (397; Confessions), autobiography is incidental to the main purpose of the work. For Augustine confessions is a catchall term for acts of religiously authorized speech: praise of God, blame of self, confession of faith. The book is a richly textured meditation by a middle-aged

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

Maha Kumbh Mela

About 110 million people, including more than 65,000 foreigners, gathered for the Hindu festival; this was believed to be the largest-ever congregation of people on the planet for a

Monday, October 25, 2004

Gabar

Any member of the small Zoroastrian minority in Iran. The name Gabar was formerly applied derogatorily to the Iranian Zoroastrians; the term is linguistically related to the Arabic kafir, meaning �infidel.� The Zoroastrians who remained in Persia (modern Iran) after the Arab - Muslim conquest (7th century AD) had a long history as outcasts. Although they purchased some toleration

Sunday, October 24, 2004

Mardonius

Achaemenid general, a nephew of King Darius I and married to Darius' daughter Artazostra. In 492 BC he was sent to succeed the satrap (governor) Artaphernes in Ionia, with a special commission to attack Athens and Eretria. Contrary to the usual Achaemenid policy, he abolished the ruling �tyrants� and restored democracies in Ionia, thereby removing a major source

Saturday, October 23, 2004

Avon, River

Also called �East Avon� or �Hampshire Avon� river that rises 3 miles (5 km) east of Devizes, Wiltshire, England, on the north side of the Vale of Pewsey and flows generally southward for 48 miles (77 km) to the English Channel. The river shares the name Avon (derived from a Celtic word meaning �river�) with several other rivers in Great Britain, including the Avon of Bristol (or Lower Avon) and the Avon of Warwickshire (or Upper

Friday, October 22, 2004

Fish Sauce

In Southeast Asian cookery, a liquid seasoning prepared by fermenting freshwater or saltwater fish with salt in large vats. After a few months time, the resulting brownish, protein-rich liquid is drawn off and bottled. It is sometimes allowed to mature in the sun in glass or earthenware bottles before use. Called nam pla in Thailand, nuoc nam in Vietnam, patis in the Philippines,

Thursday, October 21, 2004

Nagauta

The standard complete instrumentation of a nagauta piece consists of singers; players of the three-stringed, plucked samisen; and performers

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Fyffe, Will

As a child Fyffe toured Scotland in his father's stock company; he made his debut as Little Willie in East Lynne. A precocious actor, he played the aged Polonius in Shakespeare's Hamlet when only 15, after which

Tuesday, October 19, 2004

Industrial Ceramics

Ceramics are broadly defined as inorganic, nonmetallic materials that exhibit such useful properties as high strength and hardness, high melting temperatures, chemical inertness, and low thermal and electrical conductivity but that also display brittleness and sensitivity to flaws. As practical materials, they have a history almost as old as the human race.

Monday, October 18, 2004

Tsushima

Archipelago, Nagasaki ken (prefecture), off the coast of southeastern Japan. The islands lie in the Korea Strait separating Japan and Korea, and divide the strait into the Tsushima Strait (west) and the Korea Strait (east). The archipelago consists principally of two rocky islands, Kami and Shimo, which are separated at one point by only a narrow channel. Kami has an area

Sunday, October 17, 2004

Latitudinarian

Any of the 17th-century Anglican clerics whose beliefs and practices were viewed by conservatives as unorthodox or, at best, heterodox. After first being applied to the Cambridge Platonists, the term was later used to categorize churchmen who depended upon reason to establish the moral certainty of Christian doctrines rather than argument from tradition. Limiting

Saturday, October 16, 2004

Ryder Cup

The trophy was donated by Samuel Ryder, a British seed merchant, for a biennial golf competition to alternate between British and U.S. venues.

Friday, October 15, 2004

Fu-hsin

Pinyin �Fuxin, � city, northwestern Liaoning sheng (province), China. It is located near the border with the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region and serves as a centre for the administration of the large Mongolian population of the border area. Until 1902 the border area remained a pasture ground reserved for the Mongolians. It was legally opened to Chinese colonization in that year, although

Thursday, October 14, 2004

Malcolm X

Growing up in Lansing, Mich., Malcolm saw his house burned down at the hands

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Elk

Elk county was created in 1843. The principal communities are St. Marys, Johnsonburg, and Ridgway, which is the county seat.

Tuesday, October 12, 2004

Amitayur-dhyana-sutra

(Sanskrit: �Discourse Concerning Meditation on Amitayus�), one of three texts basic to Pure Land Buddhism. Together with the larger and smaller Sukhavati-vyuha-sutras (Sanskrit: �Description of the Western Paradise Sutras�), this text envisions rebirth in the celestial Pure Land of Amitayus, the Buddha of Infinite Life (virtually identical with Amitabha, �Infinite Light,� called

Monday, October 11, 2004

Orangeburg

Sunday, October 10, 2004

Jacobsen, Jens Peter

The son of a Jutland merchant, Jacobsen was a student of the natural sciences. He became a follower of Charles Darwin and translated into Danish both On the Origin of Species, in 1871 - 73, and The Descent

Saturday, October 09, 2004

Maso Di Banco

Florentine painter who was the most talented of Giotto's pupils. Maso's work displays a style that effectively and intelligently incorporated the teachings of the master. It was the work of Maso that Ghiberti singled out in the 15th century for praise. Maso is mentioned in connection with the Bardi family in a document of 1341. It was a member of this family that provided

Friday, October 08, 2004

Noriega, Manuel

Noriega was born into a poor family of Colombian extraction. Educated at one of the top high schools in Panama, he was awarded a scholarship to the Chorrillos Military School in Lima,

Thursday, October 07, 2004

Lear, Edward

English landscape painter who is more widely known as the writer of an original kind of nonsense verse and as the popularizer of the limerick. His true genius is apparent in his nonsense poems, which portray a world of fantastic creatures in nonsense words, often

Wednesday, October 06, 2004

Usak

Usak is noted for its carpet industry, with specialization in heavy-pile carpets.

Tuesday, October 05, 2004

Biblical Literature, Hosea

The Book of Hosea, the first of the canonical Twelve (Minor) Prophets, was written by Hosea (whose name means �salvation,� or �deliverance�), a prophet who lived during the last years of the age of Jeroboam II in Israel and the period of decline and ruin that followed the brief period of economic prosperity. The Assyrians were threatening the land of Israel and the people of

Monday, October 04, 2004

Scaevola, Quintus Mucius

Instructed in law by his father and in philosophy by the stoic Panaetius of Rhodes, Scaevola became governor of the province of Asia about 120. Although accused of extortion on his return to Rome, he defended himself successfully

Sunday, October 03, 2004

Haddington

The

Saturday, October 02, 2004

B�ranger, Pierre-jean De

B�ranger was active in his father's business enterprises until they failed. He then found work as a clerk at the University of Paris (1809). He led a marginal

Friday, October 01, 2004

Kiraly, Karch

When Kiraly was four years old, he moved with his family to Santa Barbara, California. His father, Laszlo Kiraly, had played on the Hungarian national