Habash, George
Habash was forced to flee Palestine in 1948, after the State of Israel was established there, and earned a medical degree at the American University in Beirut, Lebanon. In the early 1950s he was active in the �Youth of Vengeance� group, which advocated violent
Levi Ben Gershom
In 1321 Levi wrote his first work, Sefer ha-mispar (�Book of the Number�), dealing with arithmetical operations, including extraction of roots. In De sinibus, chordis et arcubus (1342; �On Sines, Chords, and Arcs�) he presented an original derivation of the sine theorem for plane triangles
Crambo
Plural �cramboes�, also called �capping the rhyme � a game in which one player gave a word or line of verse to be matched in rhyme by other players. Thus, one said, �I know a word that rhymes with bird.� A second asked, �Is it ridiculous?� �No, it is not absurd.� �Is it a part of speech?� �No, it is not a word.� This proceeded until the right word was guessed. Under the name of the ABC of Aristotle, crambo reportedly was played in England as early as
Madison
City, capital of Wisconsin, U.S., and seat of Dane county. It lies in the south-central part of the state, partly on an isthmus between lakes Mendota and Monona, which with lakes Waubesa and Kegonsa to the southeast form the �four lakes� group. Founded by James Duane Doty in 1836 (a year of frenzied land speculation in the newly created Territory of Wisconsin), it was named for President
Biblical Literature, New Testament history
(Jewish culture and history): Standard works are R.H. Pfeiffer (op. cit.); and George F. Moore, Judaism in the First Centuries of the Christian Era, 3 vol. (1927 - 30). (Qumran, Dead Sea Scrolls): Frank Moore Cross. Jr. (op. cit.); on Qumran and New Testament problems, see Krister Stendahl (ed.), The Scrolls and the New Testament (1958). (Greco-Roman culture and history): William W. Tarn, Hellenistic Civilisation, 3rd ed. rev. (1952). For a broad cultural comparison, see Eric R. Dodds, Pagan and Christian in an Age of Anxiety (1965). (Pauline chronology): The debate can be best assessed by comparing John Knox, Chapters in a Life of Paul (1950), with Dieter Georgi, Die Geschichte der Kollekte des Paulus f�r Jerusalem (1965).
Caxias
City, east central Maranh�o state, northeastern Brazil, on the Rio Itapicuru, at 207 ft (63 m) above sea level. Formerly known as S�o Jos� das Aldeias Altas, it was renamed to honour Luis Alves de Lima e Silva, duque de Caxias, governor and military commander in Maranh�o (1837). The city is the commercial centre of eastern Maranh�o and processes rice, cotton, carnauba and babassu palms
Syvash
Also spelled �Sivash, or Siva
Mountain
Mountains and mountain belts exist because tectonic processes have created and maintained high elevations in the face of erosion, which works to destroy them. The topography of a mountain belt depends not only on the processes that create the elevated terrain but also on the forces that support this terrain and on the types of processes (erosional or tectonic)
Narodnik
Plural �Narodniki, or Narodniks, � member of a 19th-century socialist movement in Russia who believed that political propaganda among the peasantry would lead to the awakening of the masses and, through their influence, to the liberalization of the tsarist regime. Because Russia was a predominantly agricultural country, the peasants represented the majority of the people (narod): hence the name of
Coke, Thomas
Coke was ordained an Anglican priest in 1772 and served as curate at South Petherton, Somerset, from 1772 to 1776. After meeting Wesley, however,
Brackley, Thomas Egerton, Viscount, Baron Ellesmere
Educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, and called to the bar by Lincoln's Inn in 1572, Egerton was promoted rapidly under Queen Elizabeth I, becoming lord keeper of the great seal in
South Ayrshire
Cattle are raised on the Kyle plain in the north, and cattle and sheep on the Carrick uplands
Cable Television
Generally, any system that distributes television signals by means of coaxial or fibre-optic cables. The term also includes systems that distribute signals solely via satellite. Cable-television systems originated in the United States in the early 1950s and were designed to improve reception of commercial network broadcasts in remote and hilly areas. During the
Latin-faliscan Languages
Language group proposed by some scholars to be included in the Italic branch of Indo-European languages. The group includes Latin, which emanated from Rome, and Faliscan, spoken in the Falerii district in southeastern Etruria. Closely related to Latin, Faliscan is known from a few short inscriptions written in the Etruscan alphabet. The other subdivision of Italic
Azulejo
(from Arabic az-zulayj, �little stone�), Spanish and later principally Portuguese tiles produced from the 14th century onward. At first the term was used to denote only North African mosaics, but it became the accepted word for an entirely decorated tile about 5 to 6 inches (13 to 15 centimetres) square. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal imported azulejo tiles from Spain, and their
Halibut
The Atlantic halibut (H. hippoglossus) is found on both sides
War Hawk
In U.S. history, any of the expansionists primarily composed of young Southerners and Westerners elected to the U.S. Congress in 1810, whose territorial ambitions in the Northwest and Florida inspired them to agitate for war with Great Britain. The War Hawks, who included such future political leaders as Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, fiercely and aggressively resented
Framingham
Town (township), Middlesex county, eastern Massachusetts, U.S. It lies along the Sudbury River, about 20 miles (32 km) west of Boston. Settled in 1650, it was incorporated in 1700 and derived its name from Framlingham, Suffolk, England. Framingham Center, just north of the downtown area, was the original village. Framingham's industrial development dates from 1835, with the utilization of local
Balkhash, Lake
Kazak �Balqash� lake, situated in east-central Kazakstan. The lake lies in the vast Balqash-Alak�l basin at 1,122 feet (342 m) above sea level and is situated 600 miles (966 km) east of the Aral Sea. It is 376 miles (605 km) long from west to east. Its area varies within significant limits, depending on the water balance. In years in which there is an abundance of water (as at the beginning of the 20th century and in the decade
Ekeberg, Anders Gustav
Swedish chemist who in 1802 discovered the element tantalum. After graduation from the University of Uppsala (1788) and travels in Germany, Ekeberg returned to Uppsala and began teaching (1794), introducing the chemistry of Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier. Though he was partly deaf from a childhood infection and had been blinded in one eye by an exploding
Earth Sciences, The theory of plate tectonics
Plate tectonics has revolutionized virtually every discipline of the Earth sciences since the late 1960s and early 1970s. It has served as a unifying model or paradigm for explaining geologic phenomena that were formerly considered in unrelated fashion. Plate tectonics describes seismic activity, volcanism, mountain building, and various other Earth processes in
Ahmad
Succeeding his brother as the ruler of Tunis in 1837, Ahmad began at once to modernize his armed forces: Tunisian cadets were sent to France, a military and technical academy was established, and European instructors invited to Tunis. He organized a naval force with 12 frigates purchased from France. He sent
Furniture, China
The ancestry of the chair in China cannot be traced as far back as in Egypt and Greece. Since the T'ang dynasty (AD 618 - 907) an unbroken series of drawings and paintings has been preserved showing the interiors and exteriors of Chinese houses and their furniture. Also preserved since the 16th century are a number of chairs of wood or lacquered wood that bear an astonishing resemblance
Pacific Mountain System, Recreation
The Pacific mountain system is one of North America's great playgrounds. Large numbers of tourists and outdoors enthusiasts are attracted to the region's magnificent scenery and its varied, year-round recreational opportunities. More than a dozen national parks, monuments, and recreation areas are scattered throughout the ranges, as well as dozens of provincial,
Fu-k'ang-an
A member of the Manchu forces of Manchuria who had established the Ch'ing dynasty, Fu-k'ang-an inherited a minor post in the government. After distinguishing himself in battle, he was made military governor of Manchuria (1777). Between 1780 and 1795 he served several terms as governor-general in different Chinese provinces.
Ardmore
City, seat (1907) of Carter county, southern Oklahoma, U.S., north of the Red River, near Lake Texoma and the Texas state line. Founded in 1887 in Chickasaw Indian Territory after the arrival of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, the town was named for the Philadelphia suburb that was the home of a railroad official. Populated by African Americans, Native Americans, and whites
Medicine
Developments in modern medical science have made it possible to detect morbid conditions before a person actually feels the effects of the condition. Examples are many: they include certain forms of cancer; high blood pressure; heart and lung disease; various familial and congenital conditions; disorders of metabolism, like diabetes; and acquired immune deficiency
Ta-ch'ing
Pinyin �Daqing � oil field in Heilungkiang province, China, one of the country's most important sources of oil. It is situated in the north of the Sungari-Liao River basin, between Tsitsihar and Harbin, in the general vicinity of An-ta, northwest of Harbin. The field was discovered in the late 1950s and drilling began in 1958, often in difficult conditions caused by the extreme winter cold and by
