Macaulay, Catharine

She was privately educated, and her readings in Greek and Roman history inculcated in her an enthusiasm for libertarian and republican ideals. Following her marriage to the Scottish physician George Macaulay in 1760, she began her History of England from the Accession

Berber Languages

Also called �Berbero-Libyan languages, � group of languages that make up one of the constituent branches of the Afro-Asiatic (formerly Hamito-Semitic) language family; the other branches are Egyptian, Semitic, Cushitic, and Chadic. The Berber languages are spoken in scattered areas throughout northern Africa from Egypt westward to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Niger River northward to the Mediterranean

Sun Yat-sen

Leader of the Chinese Kuomintang (Nationalist Party), known as the father of modern China. Influential in overthrowing the Manchu dynasty (1911), he served as the first provisional

Tarsal

Any of several short, angular bones that in humans make up the ankle and that - in animals that walk on their toes (e.g., dogs, cats) or on hoofs - are contained in the hock, lifted off the ground. The tarsals correspond to the carpal bones of the upper limb. In humans the tarsals, in combination with the metatarsal bones, form a longitudinal arch in the foot - a shape well adapted for

Augustine, Saint

The most widespread and longest-lasting theological controversies of the 4th century focused on the Christian doctrine of the Trinity - that is, the threeness of God represented in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Augustine's Africa had been left out of much of the fray, and most of what was written on the subject was in Greek, a language Augustine barely knew and had little

Ashgill Series

Also called �Ashgillian Series,� the uppermost (in ascending order) of six divisions constituting the Ordovician System, representing all those rocks deposited worldwide during the Ashgillian Age (448 to 438 million years ago). The name of the series is derived from the Ash Gill Slates in the vicinity of Coniston in the Lake District of Cumbria, Eng., which is the type area for rocks of this age. Cautley, also

Hughes, David (edward)

Anglo-American inventor of the carbon microphone, which was important to the development of telephony. His family emigrated to the United States when he was seven years old. In 1850 he became professor of music at St. Joseph's College, Bardstown, Ky. Five years later he took out a U.S. patent for a type-printing telegraph instrument; its success was immediate,

Botta, Carlo Giuseppe Guglielmo

Having graduated in medicine at the University of Turin in 1786, Botta was in his youth inspired by the ideas of the French Revolution. Arrested as a spy for the French in 1794, he left Italy for France the following year and from 1796 to 1798 served as a physician

Coster, Charles De

De Coster lived most of his life in poverty and obscurity and took 10 years to write his masterpiece, La L�gende et les aventures h�ro�ques, joyeuses, et glorieuses d'Ulenspiegel

Malabar Coast

Name long applied to the southern part of India's western coast, approximately from Goa southward, which is bordered on the east by the Western Ghats range. The name has sometimes encompassed the entire western coast of peninsular India. It now includes most of Kerala state and the coastal region of Karnataka state. The coast consists of a continuous belt of sand dunes.

Business Finance, Term loans

A term loan is a business credit with a maturity of more than 1 year but less than 15 years. Usually the term loan is retired by systematic repayments (amortization payments) over its life. It may be secured by a chattel mortgage on equipment, but larger, stronger companies are able to borrow on an unsecured basis. Commercial banks and life insurance companies are the principal

Alumina

Alumina is made from bauxite, a naturally occurring ore containing

Alumina

Alumina is made from bauxite, a naturally occurring ore containing

Alumina

Alumina is made from bauxite, a naturally occurring ore containing

Ear, Human, Eustachian tube

The eustachian tube, about 45 millimetres (1.75 inches) long, leads downward and inward from the tympanum to the nasopharynx, the space that is behind and continuous with the nasal passages and is above the soft palate. At its upper end the tube is narrow and surrounded by bone. Nearer the pharynx it widens and becomes cartilaginous. Its mucous lining, which is continuous with

Basidiocarp

In fungi, a large sporophore, or fruiting body, in which sexually produced spores are formed on the surface of club-shaped structures (basidia). Basidiocarps are found among the members of the class Basidiomycetes (q.v.), with the exception of the rust and smut fungi. The largest basidiocarps include giant puffballs (Calvatia gigantea), which can be 1.6 m (5.25 feet) long, 1.35 m broad, and

Alaska, Explorations

As early as 1700, native peoples of Siberia reported the existence of a huge piece of land lying due east. An expedition appointed by the Russian tsar and led by a Danish mariner, Vitus Bering, in 1728 determined that the new land was not linked to the Russian mainland, but because of fog it failed to locate North America. On Bering's second voyage, in 1741, the peak of Mount St. Elias was sighted,

Romanian Literature

Several famous writers continued to write after World War II. Arghezi reached new lyric heights in 1907 and in a hymn praising humanity's will to live and struggle for freedom. Geo Bogza joined the Social Realist movement. Mihail Beniuc became (as he said) �the drummer of the new age� and, in stirring lyrics, celebrated achievements of the postwar period. Demostene Botez, whose

Abu Sir

Also spelled �Abusir,�

Ibn Tibbon, Judah Ben Saul

Persecution of the Jews forced Judah to flee Granada in 1150, and he settled in Lunel, in southern France, where he practiced medicine, according to an account in 1160 by a contemporary traveller,

Biblical Literature, The rise and fall of Saul

The man selected to become the first monarchical ruler of Israel was Saul, son of Kish, a wealthy Benjamite landowner. Because Kish had lost some donkeys, Saul was sent in search of them. Unsuccessful in his search, he went to the seer-prophet Samuel at Ramah. In the early source, from which this narrative comes, he did not know Samuel's name. The day before Saul went to Ramah,

Gelada

(Theropithecus gelada), large baboon-like monkey, family Cercopithecidae, differing from true baboons (Papio) in having the nostrils some distance from the tip of the muzzle. The gelada, or lion baboon, is a stocky animal with white eyelids, brown fur, a tufted tail, and a naked pink chest. The male bears a long, heavy mane and may be more than 70 centimetres (28 inches) long, excluding

Bonacolsi Family

The signoria (lordship) of the Bonacolsi was first established by Pinamonte (died 1293), who allied himself with other powerful families to eliminate his rivals

Kachin

Tribal peoples occupying parts of northeastern Myanmar (Burma) and contiguous areas of India (Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland) and China (Yunnan). The greatest number of Kachin live in Myanmar (roughly 590,000), but some 120,000 live in China and a few thousand in India. Numbering about 712,000 in the late 20th century, they speak a variety of languages of the Tibeto-Burman group and are thereby distinguished

Adair, John

Scottish surveyor and cartographer whose maps established a standard of excellence for his time and probably inspired the early 18th-century surveys of Scotland. Between 1680 and 1686 he completed maps of the counties adjoining the River Forth as well as charts of the Firth of Forth, the River Clyde, and the west of Scotland. Manuscripts of these are in the National

Alexander

The second son of King Constantine (ruled 1913 - 17 and 1920 - 22) and Queen Sophia, Alexander became king (June 12, 1917) when his father was forced by the Allies of World War I to abdicate and thereby allow his country to join them in the war. Shortly after Alexander's accession to the throne, Eleuth�rios Veniz�los became premier of

Hestia

She was worshipped chiefly as goddess of the family hearth; but, as the

Niederbayern

English �Lower Bavaria� Regierungsbezirk (administrative district), east-central Bavaria Land (state), southeastern Germany. Niederbayern is bordered by the Czech Republic to the northeast, Austria to the southeast, and the Regierungsbezirke of Oberbayern (Upper Bavaria) to the southwest and west and Oberpfalz (Upper Palatinate) to the north. Together with Oberbayern and Oberpfalz, the

'ar'ar

Town, northern Saudi Arabia, situated in the Northern region at an elevation of 1,854 feet (565 m). 'Ar'ar was developed in the early 1950s by seminomadic people who were attracted by water made available around the Trans Arabian Pipeline (Tapline). Agriculture and livestock raising are the main economic activities. Crops include alfalfa, dates, fruits, and vegetables. 'Ar'ar has a technical

Bharhut Sculpture

The Bharhut style, though at times archaic and primitive in its conception, marks the beginnings of a tradition

Handel, George Frideric

German (until 1715) �Georg Friedrich H�ndel� or �Georg Friedrich Haendel� German-born English composer of the late Baroque era, noted particularly for his operas, oratorios, and instrumental compositions. He wrote the most famous of all oratorios, the Messiah (1741), and is also known for such occasional pieces as Water Music (1717) and Music for the Royal Fireworks (1749).