China, The Mongol conquest of China
Genghis Khan rose to supremacy over the Mongol tribes in the steppe in 1206, and within a few years he attempted to conquer northern China. By securing the allegiance of the Tangut state of Hsi Hsia in what are now Kansu and northeastern Tibet (1209), he disposed of a potential enemy and prepared the ground for an attack against the Chin state of the Juchen in northern China. At that
Argentina, Cultural life
The role of the church is discussed in John J. Kennedy, Catholicism, Nationalism, and Democracy in Argentina (1958); and Daniel H. Levine (ed.), Churches and Politics in Latin America (1980).
Ashikaga Tadayoshi
When in 1333 Takauji joined forces with the emperor Go-Daigo, Tadayoshi accompanied him, becoming a leading commander of the
Khorram-dinan
The doctrinal beliefs of the Khorram-dinan are not altogether clear. Although the sect accepted the general principles of Islam, its members also believed in transmigration of the soul and placed special emphasis on the
Gabon, Relief and drainage
The narrow coastal plain - often no more than 20 miles (32 kilometres) wide in the south - is formed of sandstone and alluvium; northward it broadens to a width of 100 miles, with outcrops of chalk, limestone, and Cretaceous sandstone. North of the most westerly point, Cape Lopez, the contour of the coast becomes more jagged. The Atlantic's northward-flowing Benguela Current, which
Algeria, The Sahara
The Algerian Sahara may be divided roughly into two depressions of different elevation, separated from one another by a central north-south rise called the M'zab (Mzab). Each zone is covered by a vast sheet of sand dunes called an erg. The Great Eastern Erg (Grand Erg Oriental) and the Great Western Erg (Grand Erg Occidental), which average 1,300 to 2,000 feet (400 to 600 metres) in height, decline
Arrupe, Pedro
Arrupe studied medicine at the University of Madrid, but, after witnessing the poverty in that city, he left school to join the Jesuits in 1927. When the Spanish government dissolved the Jesuit order in Spain in 1932, Arrupe continued his religious studies elsewhere in Europe and in the United States,
Foreign Legion
French �L�gion �trang�re, � a military corps consisting originally of foreign volunteers in the pay of France but now including large numbers of Frenchmen. Its officers are nearly all from the French army, and a foreign-born legionnaire becomes eligible for French citizenship after serving one enlistment (five years) with good conduct. Upon enlistment the recruit takes an oath to serve not
Kazankina, Tatyana
A seemingly fragile individual standing 1.61 metres (5 feet 3 inches) tall and weighing just 48 kg (106 pounds), Kazankina made an international impression with her fortitude and speed during a string of victories
Neo-expressionism
Diverse art movement (chiefly of painters) that dominated the art market in Europe and the United States during the early and mid-1980s. Neo-Expressionism comprised a varied assemblage of young artists who had returned to portraying the human body and other recognizable objects, in reaction to the remote, introverted, highly intellectualized abstract art production
Pius Ii
Original name �Enea Silvio Piccolomini � outstanding Italian humanist and astute politician who as pope (reigned 1458 - 64) tried to unite Europe in a crusade against the Turks at a time when they threatened to overrun all of Europe. He wrote voluminously about the events of his day.
Eleanor Of Aquitaine
Eleanor was the daughter and heiress of William X, duke of Aquitaine and count of Poitiers, who possessed one of the largest domains in France - larger,
Aretaeus Of Cappadocia
Greek physician from Cappadocia who practiced in Rome and Alexandria, led a revival of Hippocrates' teachings, and is thought to have ranked second only to the father of medicine himself in the application of keen observation and ethics to the art. In principle he adhered to the pneumatic school of medicine, which believed that health was maintained by
Economic Affairs
Industrywide consolidation, including significant cross-border transactions involving European banks and American securities firms, continued to reshape the global banking and financial services landscape in 2000. At the same time, however, enactment of sweeping financial modernization legislation in the United States did not trigger significant merger
Devon
Administrative, geographic, and historic county of England, forming part of the Southwest Peninsula of Great Britain and bounded on the west by Cornwall and on the east by Dorset and Somerset. The administrative, geographic, and historic counties cover slightly different areas. The historic county comprises the entire geographic county, as well as a small area
Porpora, Nicola (antonio Giacinto)
Porpora was maestro
Oskaloosa
City, seat (1844) of Mahaska county, southeastern Iowa, U.S. It lies between the Des Moines and South Skunk rivers, about 60 miles (100 km) southeast of Des Moines. The region was inhabited by Sauk and Fox peoples when a fort was founded there by Captain Nathan Boone, nephew of Daniel Boone, who explored the area in 1835. Settled by Quakers in 1843, it takes its name (meaning �the last of the
Coin Collecting
The history of coin collecting begins with the Italian Renaissance, and the 14th-century poet Petrarch was characteristic of his time in forming a series of ancient classical coins. During the 15th and 16th centuries many collections were made by princely or noble
Pesne, Antoine
His father, the painter Thomas Pesne, and his maternal great-uncle, Charles de La Fosse, were probably his first teachers. While studying in Paris, he was influenced by the leading French
Multinational And Regional Organizations
Severely challenged by the social and political unrest produced by the Asian economic crisis, foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN, whose members included Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar [Burma], the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) held their annual meeting in Manila on July 24, 1998. ASEAN's reluctance to "interfere"
Annelid, Critical appraisal
Most authors accept the annelids as having three major classes: Polychaeta, Oligochaeta, and Hirudinea. Older systems would place the polychaetes and oligochaetes under the class Chaetopoda because both groups possess setae. Other systems would join the oligochaetes and leeches in a single class, called the Clitellata, because both groups possess a clitellum
Turkey
Turkey is among the larger countries of the Middle East, in terms of territory and population, and its land area of 300,948 square miles (779,452 square kilometres) is greater than that of any European
Wiesel, Torsten Nils
Swedish neurobiologist, corecipient with David Hunter Hubel and Roger Wolcott Sperry of the 1981 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. All three scientists were honoured for their investigations of brain function, Wiesel and Hubel in particular for their collaborative studies of the visual cortex, which is located in the occipital lobes of the
Padang Highlands
Region near the western coast of the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. It is part of the Barisan Mountains of Sumatera Barat provinsi (�province�). The highest among several volcanoes in the highlands is Mount Merapi (9,485 feet [2,891 m]). A favourite resort area because of its climate, the region has superb scenery and is the source of four major rivers (the Rokan, Kampar, Inderagiri, and Batanghari).
Visvakarman
(Sanskrit: �All Accomplishing�), in Hindu mythology, the architect of the gods. The name was originally used as an epithet of any powerful god but later came to personify creative power. Visvakarman is the divine carpenter and master craftsman who fashioned the weapons of the gods and built their cities and chariots. He is the architect of the mythical city, Lanka, and is also
K.t.
Knight of the Thistle, member of a Scottish order of knighthood. See Thistle, The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the.
Heinlein, Robert A(nson)
After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1929 and serving in the Navy for five years, Heinlein pursued graduate studies in physics and mathematics at the University of California at
Hippias Of Elis
A man of great versatility, with an assurance characteristic of the later Sophists, Hippias lectured on poetry, grammar, history, politics, archaeology, mathematics, and
Rockwell International Corporation
The main company was incorporated in 1928 as North American Aviation, Inc., a holding company for a number of aviation companies, but it switched to aircraft manufacturing when it received a contract
