Brahmana

Any of a number of prose commentaries attached to the Vedas, the most ancient Hindu sacred literature, explaining the significance of the Vedas as used in the ritual sacrifices and the symbolic import of the priests' actions. The word brahmana may mean either the utterance of a Brahman (priest) or an exposition on the meaning of the sacred word; the latter is more commonly

Paeonius

Paeonius is famous for his statue of the Nike, or �Winged Victory� (c. 420 BC; Archaeological Museum, Olympia), which was found in Olympia in 1875. An inscription on its pedestal states that the statue commemorated a victory of the Messenians and the Naupactians over an unnamed enemy,

Lutheran Church In America

Lutheran church in North America that in 1988 merged with two other Lutheran churches to form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (q.v.).

Critius And Nesiotes

Greek sculptors known for their bronze figures of the tyrannicides Harmodius and Aristogiton, copies of the original bronzes executed by Antenor about 510 BC, which were taken by Xerxes I to Susa and subsequently lost. The copies were placed in the agora in Athens; the figure of the tyrannicides has been identified on Roman coins, vases, reliefs, and

Tabuk

Oasis town, northwestern Saudi Arabia. The town is situated amid a grove of date palms. In former times it was a station on the Hejaz railway (now defunct). At the edge of the old part of Tabuk town stands a Turkish fort, built in 1694. Modern Tabuk is developing as one of the fastest-growing industrial centres of Saudi Arabia. Pop. (1974) 74,825.

Roberts, Bartholomew

Byname �Black Barty � pirate captain of a succession of ships - the �Royal Rover,� �Fortune,� �Royal Fortune,� and �Good Fortune� - who burned and plundered ships from the coasts of West Africa to the coasts of Brazil and the Caribbean and as far north as Newfoundland. His conquests are said to have included more than 400 vessels and, in terms of sheer

F�

City, Bavaria Land (state), extreme southern Germany. It lies along the Lech River, at the east foot of the Allg�u Alps, near the Austrian border. The site of a Roman frontier station, the city developed around the Benedictine abbey of St. Magnus (founded 628) and was chartered about 1294. A treaty concluded there in 1745 led to the withdrawal of Bavaria from the War of the Austrian Succession.

Japanese Yew

Also called �spreading yew (Taxus cuspidata)� an ornamental evergreen shrub or tree of the yew family (Taxaceae), native to Japan and widely cultivated in the Northern Hemisphere. Rising to a height of 16 m (about 52 feet), it resembles the English yew but is hardier and faster-growing. Each leaf has two distinct, yellowish bands on its underside. There are many horticultural varieties of Japanese yew. Plants

Moldova, Flag Of

Moldova declared independence during World War I. At various times in prior centuries it had been a part of Moldavia, Russia, the Ottoman Empire, and Romania, and its symbols are derived from historical and cultural links with Moldavia and Romania. Its flag of December 1917 was the traditional Romanian tricolour of blue, yellow, and red in horizontal format. In the centre

Moldova, Flag Of

Moldova declared independence during World War I. At various times in prior centuries it had been a part of Moldavia, Russia, the Ottoman Empire, and Romania, and its symbols are derived from historical and cultural links with Moldavia and Romania. Its flag of December 1917 was the traditional Romanian tricolour of blue, yellow, and red in horizontal format. In the centre

Kyodo Tsushinsha

(Japanese: Cooperative News Agency) national news agency founded in November 1945 to replace the pre-World War II Domei tsushinsha (Federated News Agency), which had served as the official news service of the Japanese government since 1936. Despite competition from the beginning with the Jiji news agency, formed by Domei employees who did not join Kyodo, the latter gradually gained

David

Capital of Chiriqu� provincia, western Panama, on the R�o David and surrounded by fruit groves. It is Panama's largest city outside of the Panama City metropolitan area and is an important commercial centre, served by the Pacific seaports of Pedregal and Puerto Armuelles on the Gulf of Chiriqu� and by Enrique Malek Airport. Industries include meatpacking, food processing

Fischer, Bobby

Fischer learned the moves of chess

Syriac Literature

Body of writings in Syriac, an eastern Aramaic Semitic language originally spoken in and around Edessa, Osro�ne (modern Saliurfa, in southeastern Turkey). First attested in the 1st century AD, Syriac spread through the Middle East because of Edessa's position as the intellectual capital of the Christian Orient. Syriac reached its height just prior to the Arab conquest

Saxony

German �Sachsen�, French �Saxe� any of several major territories in German history. It has been applied: (1) before AD 1180, to an extensive far-north German region including Holstein but lying mainly west and southwest of the estuary and lower course of the Elbe River; (2) between 1180 and 1423, to two much smaller and widely separated areas, one on the right (east) bank of the lower Elbe southeast of Holstein, the other on the

Radiation

Either the process by which energy is emitted from a source and propagated through the surrounding medium or the energy involved in this process. Familiar examples of radiant energy include light (a form of electromagnetic radiation) and sound (a form of acoustic radiation). Both electromagnetic and acoustic radiations are commonly described as waves that can

Aleksandriya

Also spelled �Aleksandrija� or �Aleksandriia� city, Kirovograd oblast, Ukraine, on the Ingulets River. Founded as Usovka in 1754, it was incorporated and renamed in the same year. The city is now the centre of a lignite (brown coal) field that has been utilized since the 1950s to power local rayon fibre engineering and other plants. Pop. (1998 est.) 101,000.

Turboprop

The first experimental turboprop aircraft, a modified Gloster Meteor fighter equipped with two Rolls-Royce

Masaya

City, southwestern Nicaragua, at the eastern foot of Masaya Volcano, just east of the small Lake Masaya in the rift valley between Lakes Nicaragua and Managua. Masaya serves as a commercial and manufacturing centre for the rich agricultural hinterland. The large Indian population is known for its handicraft industries and festivals; other manufactures include

Maxwell-boltzmann Distribution Law

A description of the statistical distribution of the energies of the molecules of a classical gas. This distribution was first set forth by the Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell in 1859, on the basis of probabilistic arguments, and gave the distribution of velocities among the molecules of a gas. Maxwell's finding was generalized (1871) by a German physicist, Ludwig Boltzmann,

Japanese Language

One of the world's major languages, ranking ninth in terms of the number of speakers with 125 million. It is primarily spoken throughout the Japanese archipelago; there are also some 1.5 million Japanese immigrants and their descendants living abroad, mainly in North and South America, who have varying degrees of proficiency in Japanese. Since the mid-20th century, no nation

Mar�chal, Pierre-sylvain

By profession a lawyer and librarian, Mar�chal was by philosophy a materialist and an atheist. After writing

Benivieni, Girolamo

As a member of the Florentine Medici circle, Benivieni was well acquainted with the Renaissance

Benivieni, Girolamo

As a member of the Florentine Medici circle, Benivieni was well acquainted with the Renaissance

Dacite

Volcanic rock that may be considered a quartz-bearing variety of andesite. Dacite is primarily associated with andesite and trachyte and forms lava flows, dikes, and sometimes massive intrusions in the centres of old volcanoes. Like andesite, dacite consists mostly of plagioclase feldspar with biotite, hornblende, augite, or enstatite and generally has a porphyritic

Davies, Robertson

Educated in England at the University of Oxford, Davies had training in acting, directing, and stage management as a member of the Old Vic Repertory Company. He edited the Peterborough Examiner (1942 - 63), a newspaper owned

Scharnhorst, Gerhard Johann David Von

Prussian general who developed the modern general staff system. With another reformer of army procedures, August von Gneisenau, he devised the �shrinkage system� (Kr�mpersystem), in which army recruits were quickly trained and sent into the reserves so that more men could be trained. This system increased the actual number of trained

Aviculture

Raising and care of wild birds in captivity, for the breeding of game stock, the perpetuation of declining species, or for display and education. The simulation of natural conditions is a necessary goal of aviculturists, allowing them to study aspects of mating and breeding behaviour that may not be easily observed in the wild. As a result of such study, a number of species,

Ukhta

Also spelled �Uchta, � industrial city, Komi republic, northwestern Russia, on the Ukhta River. It was founded as the village of Chibyu in 1931 and became a city in 1943, when it was linked to the Pechora railway. Ukhta lies within the Pechora Basin, a significant oil and natural gas area. Some oil is refined locally, but most is conveyed via pipeline to refineries between St. Petersburg and Moscow. The city

Peter Des Rivaux

His father (or uncle), Peter des Roches (bishop of Winchester, 1205 - 38), became tutor to Henry upon the King's accession. Peter des Rivaux served as a king's clerk from 1218 to 1223 but was exiled