Earthquake, Tokyo - Yokohama
A great earthquake struck the Tokyo - Yokohama metropolitan area near noon on Sept. 1, 1923. The death toll from this shock was estimated at more than 140,000. Fifty-four percent of the brick buildings and 10 percent of the reinforced concrete structures collapsed. Many hundreds of thousands of houses were either shaken down or burned. The shock started a tsunami that reached a height
Pig Iron
Crude iron obtained directly from the blast furnace and cast in molds. See cast iron.
Swallowtail Butterfly
Any member of the insect subfamily Papilioninae of the cosmopolitan family Papilionidae (order Lepidoptera). The swallowtail butterflies (Papilio), found worldwide except in the Arctic, are named for the characteristic taillike extensions of the hindwings, although many species are tailless. Colour patterns vary; many species have yellow,
Elisha Ben Abuyah
Byname �Aher� Jewish scholar who renounced his faith and who came to be regarded in later ages as a prototype of the heretic whose intellectual pride leads him to infidelity to Jewish laws and morals. In the Talmud, Elisha is not mentioned by name but is usually referred to as Aher (�the Other,� or �Another�). His renunciation of Judaism was considered doubly heinous because he was a tanna
X�nthi
Though the city's origins are obscure, it grew up beneath the Byzantine fortress of Xanthea and later became a summer colony of
Papandreou, Georgios
Papandreou studied at the University of Athens (L.L.D., 1911) and in Germany. He began his political career in 1915, served as governor of the Aegean Islands (1917 - 20), and was minister of education (1929 - 33) in the liberal antimonarchist government of Eleuth�rios Veniz�los. He broke away from
Biblical Literature, Leviticus
The cultic and priestly laws presented in Exodus are expanded to take up virtually the whole of Leviticus, the Latin Vulgate title for the third of the Five Books of Moses, which may be translated the Book (or Manual) of Priests. With one exception (chapters 8 - 10), the narrative portions are brief connective or introductory devices to give an ostensibly narrative framework
Carnival
The merrymaking and festivity that takes place in many Roman Catholic countries in the last days and hours before the Lenten season. The derivation of the word is uncertain, though it possibly can be traced to the medieval Latin carnem levare or carnelevarium, which means to take away or remove meat. This coincides with the fact that carnival is the final festivity
O'higgins, Bernardo
Bernardo O'Higgins was born in Chill�n, a town in southern Chile, then a colony of Spain. As noted in his certificate of Baptism, he was the illegitimate
China, The Tangut
In the northwest the Tangut, a Tibetan people, inhabited the region between the far end of the Great Wall in modern Kansu and the Huang Ho bend in Inner Mongolia. Their semioasis economy combined irrigated agriculture with pastoralism. Their control over the terminus of the famous Silk Road made them middlemen in trade between Central Asia and China. They adopted
Beyers, C.f.
A graduate of Victoria College (now Stellenbosch University), Beyers migrated to the Transvaal, where he was naturalized and practiced as a lawyer. Joining the Boer forces in 1899, he rose
Melanesian Culture
The beliefs and practices of those indigenous peoples of the Pacific Islands grouped as Melanesia. The islands include (generally from west to east) the island of New Guinea, the Admiralty Islands, and the Bismarck and Louisiade archipelagoes; the Solomon Islands and the Santa Cruz Islands; New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands; Vanuatu (formerly New Hebrides); Fiji;
Anicca
Sanskrit �Anitya, � in Buddhism, the doctrine of impermanence, one of the basic characteristics of all existence. Anicca, anatta (the absence of a self), and dukkha (�suffering�) together make up the ti-lakkhana, or three characteristics of all phenomenal existence. That the human body is subject to change is empirically observable in the universal states of childhood, youth, maturity, and old
Aerospace Engineering
The aerospace engineer is armed with an extensive background suitable for employment in most positions traditionally occupied by mechanical engineers as well as limited positions in the other various engineering disciplines. The transportation, construction, communication, and energy industries provide the most opportunities for non-aerospace
Pittacus Of Mytilene
Statesman and sage who is known as one of the Seven Wise Men of ancient Greece. He collaborated with the brothers of the poet Alcaeus in the overthrow of the tyrant Melanchrus (612/611?) and distinguished himself as a commander in the war against Athens for Sigium, killing the Athenian commander, Phrynon, single-handedly. He was elected aisymnetes (dictator appointed during
Cohoes
City, Albany county, eastern New York, U.S. It lies at the Cohoes Falls (locally called the Great Falls; 70 feet [21 metres] high) of the Mohawk River, where it tumbles into the Hudson River. Settled in 1665 by the Dutch Van Schaick family on the colonial military road between Albany (10 miles [16 km] south) and Lake George, its name is of Algonquian origin and means �pine tree.� Growth was influenced
Gullstrand, Allvar
Gullstrand studied in Uppsala, Vienna, and Stockholm, earning a doctorate in 1890. He became professor of diseases of the eye at Uppsala in 1894 and in 1913 was appointed professor of physiological
Flood
High-water stage in which water overflows its natural or artificial banks onto normally dry land, such as a river inundating its floodplain. The effects of floods on human well-being range from unqualified blessings to catastrophes. The regular seasonal spring floods of the Nile River prior to construction of the Aswan High Dam, for example, were depended upon to
Han Hsiang
Pinyin �Han Xiang, � in Chinese mythology, one of the Pa Hsien, the Eight Immortals of Taoism. He desired to make flowers bloom in an instant and to produce fine-tasting wine without using grain. When his uncle scoffed at the idea, Han Hsiang performed the impossible before his uncle's eyes: flowers suddenly appeared in bloom from a clod of earth. In addition, a mysterious poem of 14 golden characters
'ali Ar-rida
In full �Abu Al-hasan Ibn Musa Ibn Ja'far 'ali Ar-rida� eighth imam of the Twelver Shi'ites, noted for his piety and learning until 817, when the caliph al-Ma'mun, in an attempt to heal the division between the majority Sunnites and the Shi'ites, appointed him his successor. The appointment aroused varying reactions - few of them, even among the Shi'ites, wholly favourable - and Iraq, already irritated
Industrial Design
Design of products made by large-scale industry for mass distribution. Designing such products means, first, planning their structure, operation, and appearance and then planning these to fit efficient production, distribution, and selling procedures. Clearly, appearance is but one factor in such a complex process. Nevertheless, in consumer goods especially, appearance
Gonfalonier
In Florence the gonfaloniers of the companies (gonfalonieri di compagnia) originated during the 1250s as commanders of the people's militia. In the 1280s a new office called the gonfalonier of justice (gonfaloniere di giustizia) was instituted to protect the interests of the people against
Monel
Any of a group of nickel-copper alloys, first developed in 1905, containing about 66 percent nickel and 31.5 percent copper, with small amounts of iron, manganese, carbon, and silicon. Stronger than pure nickel, Monel alloys are resistant to corrosion by many agents, including rapidly flowing seawater. They can be fabricated readily by hot- and cold-working, machining, and welding.
Ts�vi�
Town, southern Togo, West Africa. It is located about 20 miles (32 km) north of Lom�, the national capital. The town constitutes an important centre for palm oil processing and a major market for commercial trade among Togo's r�gions. Ts�vi� has road and railway links with Nots�, Atakpam�, and Blitta to the north and with Lom� to the south. The Ewe people inhabit Ts�vi� and the surrounding
Ts�vi�
Town, southern Togo, West Africa. It is located about 20 miles (32 km) north of Lom�, the national capital. The town constitutes an important centre for palm oil processing and a major market for commercial trade among Togo's r�gions. Ts�vi� has road and railway links with Nots�, Atakpam�, and Blitta to the north and with Lom� to the south. The Ewe people inhabit Ts�vi� and the surrounding