Accius, Lucius

Accius also spelled �Attius � one of the greatest of the Roman tragic poets, in the view of his contemporaries. His plays (more than 40 titles are known, and about 700 lines survive) were mostly free translations from Greek tragedy, many from Euripides, with violent plots, flamboyant characterizations, and forceful rhetoric. His tragedies were performed until the end of the republic

Bhaktivedanta, A(bhay) C(haranaravinda)

In 1920 Bhaktivedanta completed his B.A. in chemistry at the Scottish Churches' College in Calcutta; by that time, his family had arranged a marriage for him, and he later established

Anthracnose

Plant disease of warm humid areas that infects a variety of plants from trees to grasses. It is caused by certain fungi (usually Colletotrichum or Gloeosporium) producing spores in tiny, sunken, saucer-shaped fruiting bodies (acervuli). Symptoms include sunken spots of various colours in leaves, stems, fruits, or flowers. The spots often enlarge, leading to wilting, withering,

Vair, Guillaume Du

A lawyer by training, du Vair occupied high offices of state under Henry IV, having made his reputation with his eloquent and cogently argued orations. He first came to the fore with a brilliant oration on the death of Mary, Queen of Scots. The

Powers, Hiram

Powers first studied with Frederick Eckstein about 1828. Around 1829 he worked as a general assistant and artist in a wax museum in Cincinnati, Ohio, where his ingenious

Quinine

Drug obtained from cinchona bark that is used chiefly in the treatment of malaria, an infection caused by the protozoan parasite Plasmodium, which is transmitted to humans by the bite of various species of mosquitoes. During the 300 years between its introduction into Western medicine and World War I, quinine was the only effective remedy for malaria. As a specific

France, History Of, The Revolution of 1830

The July Revolution was a monument to the ineptitude of Charles X and his advisers. At the outset, few of the king's critics imagined it possible to overthrow the regime; they hoped merely to get rid of Polignac. As for the king, he naively ignored the possibility of serious trouble. No steps were taken to reinforce the army garrison in Paris; no contingency plans were prepared.

Saint Anthony

Town, north of the entrance to Hare Bay, on the northern peninsula of Newfoundland, Canada, 306 miles (492 km) northeast of Corner Brook. An old fishing settlement with dry docks, ship-repair yards, and cold-storage plants, it is the home of the International Grenfell Association (a charity organization established in 1912 by Sir Wilfred Grenfell, the medical missionary) and is known

La Gruy�re

German �Greyerz, � region and southernmost district of Fribourg canton, western Switzerland. La Gruy�re lies along the middle reach of La Sarine (Saane) River, on the edge of the Vaudois uplands and the Bernese Oberland (highland), south of Fribourg. The name is derived either from gruyer, a forestry officer, or from the crane (grue), the bird crest of the powerful counts of La Gruy�re (923 - 1555). The principal

Moscicki, Ignacy

Moscicki was educated as a chemist. He joined the nationalistic Polish Socialist Party in the early 1890s and was involved in an attempt on the life of the governor-general

G.c.

The George Cross, a British decoration for bravery. See George Cross.

Cha-shitsu

Small Japanese garden pavilion or room within a house, specifically designed for the tea ceremony. Ideally, the cha-shitsu, or tea house, is separated from the house and is approached through a small garden called a roji (�dewy path�), the first step in breaking communication with the outer world. The tea house is usually a small, thatched-roof structure with plain plaster

Kaikei

Together with his father, Kokei, and his brother Unkei, he made statues for the temples of Kofuku and Todai in Nara, the ancient capital of Japan. Kaikei's style, while sharing the direct and realistic manner typical of the time, was noted for its gentleness and grace in contrast to Unkei's,

B-1

U.S. variable-wing strategic bomber that entered service in 1986 as a successor to the B-52 Stratofortress. The B-1 was designed to penetrate radar-guided air defenses by flying at low levels. It was built in two versions by Rockwell International. The B-1A, first flown in 1974, was designed to reach twice the speed of sound at high altitudes and to carry nuclear bombs and short-range attack

Felix I, Saint

Pope from 269 to 274. Elected to succeed St. Dionysius, Felix was the author of an important dogmatic letter on the unity of Christ's Person. He received the emperor Aurelian's aid in settling a theological dispute between the anti-Trinitarian Paul of Samosata, the deposed bishop of Antioch, and the orthodox Domnus, Paul's successor. Felix was buried in the

Steeplechase

In horse racing, a race over jumps or obstacles. Although dating back to Xenophon (4th century BC), it derives its name from impromptu races by fox hunters in 18th-century Ireland over natural country in which church steeples served as course landmarks. It differs from hurdle racing, in which the barriers or hurdles are portable. Steeplechasing was long a favourite sport

Dietrich, Marlene

Marie Magdalene was the daughter of Ludwig Dietrich, a Royal Prussian police officer. Her father died when she was very young, and her mother remarried a cavalry officer, Edouard von Losch.

O'brien, William Smith

O'Brien sat in the British House of Commons from 1828 to 1848. Although he was a Protestant, he actively favoured Roman Catholic emancipation, but he also wished

Antarctica, Climate

The unique weather and climate of Antarctica provide the basis for its familiar appellations - Home of the Blizzard and White Desert. By far the coldest continent, Antarctica has winter temperatures that range from -128.6� F (-89.2� C), the world's lowest recorded temperature, measured at Vostok Station (Russia) on July 21, 1983, on the high inland ice sheet to -76� F (-60� C) near sea level. Temperatures

China, Consequences of the Cultural Revolution

Although the Cultural Revolution largely bypassed the vast majority of the people, who lived in the rural areas, it had very serious consequences for the Chinese system as a whole. In the short run, of course, the political instability and zigzags in economic policy produced slower economic growth and a decline in the capacity of the government to deliver goods and

Clonmel

Irish �Cluain Meala� municipal borough and seat of Tipperary South Riding, Ireland. It lies on the River Suir. A noted sporting centre, it has fine scenery, with the Comeragh Mountains to the south and the Slievenamon peak to the northeast. Clonmel received its charter in the reign of Edward I (1239 - 1307). The novelist Laurence Sterne was born there in 1713. Industries include the making of pharmaceuticals

Earth Sciences, Probes, satellites, and data transmission

In the 1920s the radio replaced the telegraph and telephone as the principal instrument for transmitting weather data. By 1936 the radio meteorgraph (radiosonde) was developed, with capabilities of

Mitropoulos, Dimitri

Mitropoulos studied in Athens, where his opera Soeur B�atrice (after Maeterlinck) was performed in 1919. Later in Berlin he studied piano under the brilliant pianist, composer, and teacher Ferruccio Busoni. An excellent pianist, Mitropoulos sometimes conducted from the keyboard (e.g., in 1930 and

Pietersburg

Town and capital of Northern province, South Africa. It is located about midway between Pretoria and the Zimbabwe border, at an elevation of 4,199 feet (1,280 m). The town was founded by Voortrekkers (Afrikaans: �Pioneers�) in 1886 on land purchased in 1884 from a local farmer and was named after Petrus (Piet) Joubert, a Boer general. It was the temporary capital in 1900 of both the Transvaal and the Orange

Biblical Literature, Concluding exhortation and traditions about the last days of Moses

Chapters 29 - 31 comprise the third and last address of Moses to the people of Israel. They are preceded by an introductory verse referring to �these words� as a covenant made in Moab, in addition to the one made at Horeb (Sinai). After reminding them of all that God has done for them, Moses calls on the whole people to enter into the sworn Covenant made this day that they may be his

Webb, Sidney And Beatrice

In full respectively �Sidney James Webb, Baron Passfield of Passfield Corner�, and �Martha Beatrice Webb, �n�e �Potter� English Socialist economists (husband and wife), early members of the Fabian Society, and co-founders of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Sidney Webb also helped reorganize the University of London into a federation of teaching institutions and served in

Cumberland River

River formed on the Cumberland Plateau by the confluence of Poor and Clover forks in Harlan county, southern Kentucky, U.S. Looping through northern Tennessee, it joins the Ohio River after a course of 687 miles (1,106 km) at Smithland, Ky., 12 miles (19 km) upstream from the mouth of the Tennessee River. From its headwaters to the Cumberland (or Great) Falls, in Whitley county, Ky. (site of a state

Alamosa

City, seat (1913) of Alamosa county, southern Colorado, U.S. It lies along the Rio Grande in the San Luis Valley, on the western flank of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Founded as Garland City near the site of a small encampment outside the gates of Fort Garland (1858), a cavalry post once commanded by Christopher �Kit� Carson, Alamosa (Spanish: �Cottonwood�) was a terminus of the Denver and

Hemel Hempstead

Town, Dacorum district, administrative and historic county of Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London. The first charter was granted in 1539. The new town, one of eight designed by British planners to accommodate London's overspill population, has been grafted onto the old market town since 1947. Landscaping has been assisted by the presence of the picturesque River Gade.