Razin, Stenka

Born into a well-to-do Don Cossack family, Stenka Razin grew up amid the tension caused by the inability of runaway serfs, who were continually escaping from Poland and Russia to the Don Cossack area, to find land and comfortably

January

First month of the Gregorian calendar. See month and the accompanying Table.

Shu Ching

The Shu Ching consists of 58 chapters. Of these, 33 (originally

Gauss

Unit of magnetic induction in the centimetre-gram-second system of physical units. One gauss corresponds to the magnetic flux density that will induce an electromotive force of one abvolt (10-8 volt) in each linear centimetre of a wire moving laterally at one centimetre per second at right angles to a magnetic flux. One gauss corresponds to 10-4 tesla (T), the International

South Arabic Language

Semitic language of southern Arabia and the island of Socotra. South Arabic belongs to the Southern Peripheral group of Semitic languages, along with Ge'ez, Amharic, Tigr�, Tigrinya, and the other Semitic languages of Ethiopia, Eritrea, and The Sudan. Modern dialects of the language include Mahri, Shahri (Ehkali), Harsusi, and Bathari on the Arabian shore of the Indian Ocean and Suqu

Garc�a I (or Ii) Sanchez

King of Pamplona (Navarre) from 925 to 970, son of Sancho I Garc�s and Queen Toda Aznar. He owed his throne to the support of his cousin 'Abd ar-Rahman III, the Umayyad caliph of Cordoba. The end of his reign was taken up with wars against the count of Castile, Fern�n Gonz�lez. Sancho I of Leon, deposed by the Castilian, took refuge in Navarre; Garc�a took to the field and in 960 managed to capture

Kaf, Al-

Also spelled �El-kef, or Le Kef, � town, northwestern Tunisia. The town is situated at an elevation of 2,559 feet (780 m) on the slopes of the Haut (high) Tell, 22 miles (35 km) from the Algerian border. It occupies the site of an ancient Carthaginian town and later Roman colony - Sicca Veneria. Al-Kaf (�The Rock�) was an important stronghold during Turkish rule and is now a regional marketplace and strategic road junction on the

Adams, Franklin Pierce

Adams' newspaper career began in 1903, with the Chicago Journal. The next year he went to New York, where

Turfan Depression

The basin lies between

Arad

Judet (county), western Romania, bounded on the west by Hungary. The Mures and Crisul Alb rivers flow westward through the county, while the Western Carpathians, including the Zarand and Codru-Moma ranges, lie in the eastern portion. Settlements are found in the lowlands and intermontane valleys. Cereal growing, livestock raising, and vineyard and fruit cultivation are

Malvaceae

The mallow family, a large group of flowering plants, in the order Malvales, containing about 95 genera of herbs, shrubs, and trees. Representatives occur in all except the coldest parts of the world but are most numerous in the tropics. Economically, the most important member of the family is cotton (q.v.; Gossypium). Several species of Hibiscus produce fibres that are of lesser

Nathan, Maud

Nathan was an elder sister of writer and antisuffragist Annie Nathan (Meyer). In April 1880 she married her cousin Frederick Nathan. Early in her married life she involved herself in such community service organizations as the New York Exchange for Women's

Arminius

Arminius was a chief

Biblical Literature, Job

The Book of Job is not only the finest expression of the Hebrew poetic genius; it must also be accorded a place among the greatest masterpieces of world literature. The work is grouped with Proverbs and Ecclesiastes as a product of the wisdom movement, even though it contains what might be called an anti-wisdom strain in that the hero protests vehemently against the

Baruch, Bernard

After graduating from the College of the City of New York in 1889, Baruch worked as an office boy in a linen business and later in Wall Street brokerage houses. Over the years he amassed a fortune as a stock market speculator. In 1916 he was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson to the Advisory

Scandinavian Literature, The Age of Wergeland

After 1814 a new, exciting, and difficult age began for Norway: an opportunity seemed to be offered to develop an independent Norwegian culture and way of life, but there were deep differences of opinion as to how this could best be achieved. A poet and critic, Johan Sebastien Welhaven was chief representative of those who insisted that the existing Danish element in the

Johannesburg

One of the youngest of the world's major cities, Johannesburg was founded in 1886, following the discovery of gold. The city was initially part of the Transvaal, an independent Afrikaner, or Boer, republic that later became one of the four provinces of South Africa. Today the

C�rdoba

Provincia, central Argentina, with an area of 65,161 square miles (168,766 square km). From the Sierra Grande in the west, which rises to 9,462 feet (2,884 m), the land slopes eastward to the great Pampa grasslands, being drained by the Primero, Segundo, Tercero, Cuarto, and Quinto rivers. Only the Tercero reaches the Paran� River; the others terminate in swamps or in the saline Laguna Mar Chiquita in the

Hlothere

Hlothere appears to have shared power with his nephew Eadric (Egbert's son); a code of law still extant was issued in their joint names. A quarrel between them caused Eadric either to be banished or to flee the kingdom. He returned with an army of South Saxons,

Abdominal Cavity

Largest hollow space of the body. Its upper boundary is the diaphragm, a sheet of muscle and connective tissue that separates it from the chest cavity; its lower boundary is the upper plane of the pelvic cavity. Vertically it is enclosed by the vertebral column and the abdominal and other muscles. The abdominal cavity contains the

National Alliance

The MSI was formed in 1946 by supporters of former Italian leader Benito Mussolini from elements of the defunct Uomo Qualunque (Average Man) Party that had appeared in 1945. It first contested elections in 1948, when it won six seats in the Chamber of Deputies. From the 1950s

Yaka

Rural Yaka are subsistence farmers of cassava and corn

Chanson De Roland, La

English �The Song of Roland� Old French epic poem that is probably the earliest (c. 1100) and certainly the masterpiece of chanson de geste (q.v.). The poem's probable author was a Norman poet, Turold, whose name is introduced in the last line of the poem. The song deals with the historical Battle of Roncesvalles (Roncevaux) in 778. Though the encounter was actually an insignificant skirmish against the Basques,

Wabana

Town, southeastern Newfoundland, Canada, just northwest of St. John's, on Bell Island in Conception Bay. Located in the centre of one of the world's richest deposits of red hematite iron ore, the town grew after the beginning of mining operations in 1895 and had a population of more than 8,000 in 1961. But because of marketing problems and the high phosphorus content of the ore, mining operations

Allspice

Tropical evergreen tree (Pimenta diocia, formerly P. officinalis) of the myrtle family (Myrtaceae), native to the West Indies and Central America and valued for its berries, the source of a highly aromatic spice. Allspice was so named because the flavour of the dried berry resembles a combination of cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. It is widely used in baking

Aleijadinho

Aleijadinho was born deformed (his sobriquet means �Little Cripple�). He eventually lost the use of his hands and finally became blind,

Ecosphere

The sum of the Earth's ecological systems (ecosystems), all living organisms interacting with the physical environment. It is almost equivalent to the term biosphere (q.v.), with the further implication of a conscious ecological management of the Earth's resources.

Tarakanova, Yelizaveta Alekseyevna

She claimed to have been reared in St. Petersburg, but she was probably not Russian, and her origins and real name are unknown. She appeared in various cities of western Europe

Black Sand

Accumulation of fragments of durable heavy minerals (those with a density greater than that of quartz), usually of a dark colour. These accumulations are found in streambeds or on beaches where stream and wave energy was sufficient to carry away low-density material but not the heavy minerals. Thus, heavy minerals resistant to weathering and abrasion concentrate