Nolde, Emil

Born of a peasant family, the youthful Nolde made his living as a wood-carver. He was able to study art formally only when some of his early works

Lenormant, Fran�ois

French Assyriologist and numismatist who recognized, from cuneiform inscriptions, a language now known as Akkadian that proved valuable to the understanding of Mesopotamian civilization 3,000 years before the Christian era. He published his first archaeological paper at 14 and went on to become a scholar of wide achievement. He published La Monnaie

Oss

Gemeente (commune), Noord-Brabant provincie, south-central Netherlands, east-northeast of 's Hertogenbosch and about 3 miles (5 km) south of the Maas (Meuse) River. A food-processing town noted for margarine and meat products, it also manufactures pharmaceuticals (especially insulin and vitamins), electrical equipment, wool products, boxes, and metalware. Mainly Roman Catholic,

Frunze, Mikhail Vasilyevich

Frunze took part in the Moscow insurrection in 1905 and, after frequent arrests for revolutionary activity, escaped in 1915 to conduct agitation in the Russian army, first on the western front

Katz, Sir Bernard

After

New Harmony

Town, Posey county, southwestern Indiana, U.S., on the Wabash River, at the Illinois border, 22 miles (35 km) northwest of Evansville. The site was first occupied by prehistoric Mound Builders and later was a camping ground for Piankashaw and other Indians. The settlement of Harmonie was founded in 1814 - 15 by George Rapp, a German Pietist preacher who had first come to Pennsylvania in

Wildcat Bank

Unsound bank chartered under state law during the period of uncontrolled state banking (1816 - 63) in the United States. Such banks distributed nearly worthless currency backed by questionable security (e.g., mortgages, bonds) and were located in inaccessible areas to discourage note redemption. Note circulation by state banks ended after the passage of the National Bank

Sibling Rivalry

Intense competition among siblings for recognition and the attention of their parents. Sibling rivalry normally begins when a baby is introduced to a family and the older sibling fears the baby will replace him or her. The older child may become extremely jealous and display aggressive behaviour toward the baby or such regressive acts as bed-wetting or baby talk.

Mindel Glacial Stage

Major division of Pleistocene time and deposits in Alpine Europe (the Pleistocene epoch began about 1,600,000 years ago and ended about 10,000 years ago). The Mindel Glacial Stage is part of the early geologic scheme (c. 1900) that first recognized the importance of multiple episodes of Pleistocene glaciation. The Mindel Glacial Stage, representing a period of relatively severe climatic

Fustian

Fustian probably originated in Al-Fustat, now part of Cairo, about AD 200, and eventually spread to Spain and Italy,

Interior Design, England

The breakup of the feudal system during the Wars of the Roses and under Henry VII in the late 15th century had far-reaching effects on the social structure of the time and consequently on domestic buildings and their decoration. The new conditions necessitated a larger number of rooms, and a great hall, though still an important apartment, was no longer the focus of indoor

Vermuyden, Sir Cornelius

An experienced embankment engineer, Vermuyden was employed in 1626 by King Charles I of England to drain Hatfield Chase on the isle of Axholme, Yorkshire. Jointly financed by Dutch and English capitalists,

Essy, Amara

On July 9, 2002, Amara Essy of C�te d' Ivoire became secretary-general of the newly established 53-country African Union (AU), which replaced the 39-year-old Organization of African Unity (OAU). Essy, a career diplomat, was charged with leading the new body, a difficult task given the continent's ethnic, religious, economic, and political differences and the fact that the AU was granted

Kamerlingh Onnes, Heike

From 1871 until 1873 Kamerlingh Onnes studied and worked at Heidelberg

Kamarhati

City, east-central West Bengal state, northeastern India. It lies just east of the Hooghly River and is part of the Calcutta urban agglomeration. The city's major industries include jute and cotton milling, leather tanning, and the manufacture of rubber goods, cement, pottery, and paint. It contains a group of temples, called Rani Rasmani's Nabaratna, that are dedicated to

Lennox, Charlotte

Charlotte Ramsay was the daughter of a British army officer who was said to have been lieutenant governor of the colony of New York.

Muhammad Xi

Instigated by his mother, a jealous wife, Boabdil rebelled against his father, the sultan Abu al-Hasan 'Ali (called in Spanish sources Muley Hac�n, or Alboacen); and with the aid of the Abencerrajes

Middletown

Borough (town), Dauphin county, central Pennsylvania, U.S., just southeast of Harrisburg, at the confluence of Swatara Creek and the Susquehanna River. George Fisher settled the site in 1752 and in 1755 laid out the town, which he named Middletown for its location midway between Lancaster and Carlisle. In 1809 Fisher's son, George, laid out another town (Harborton) at the juncture of the

Silhouette Island

Granitic island, third largest of the Seychelles archipelago, Republic of Seychelles, in the western Indian Ocean. It has an area of 7.6 sq mi (20 sq km), rises to 2,467 ft (751 m), and is 12 mi (19 km) northwest of Mah� Island. Virgin forests still grow in the more inaccessible parts of its mountainous terrain. The island is protected as a national park. Copra and fish are the main products. Pop. (1982 est.) 255.

Pharmaceutical Industry

Drugs may be classified in one of three ways: by chemical group (e.g.,alkaloids, mentioned above); pharmacologically (i.e.,by the way they work in the body); and according to their therapeutic uses. Pharmacological and therapeutic classifications show considerable divergence, as drugs that act upon the body in different ways may bring about the same desired therapeutic

Rocky Mountains

Two nontechnical, abundantly illustrated descriptions of the Rocky Mountains are William S. Ellis and Dick Durrance II, The Majestic Rocky Mountains (1976); and Bryce S. Walker et al., The Great Divide (1973, reissued 1985), covering the landforms, plant life, and early exploration of the American Rockies. The mountains are also treated in Mel Griffiths and Lynnell Rubright, Colorado: A Geography (1983); and American West, The Magnificent Rockies: Crest of a Continent (1973). Dennis Glick, Mary Carr, and Bert Harting, An Environmental Profile of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (1991), compiles baseline information on the ecological processes and components of the greater Yellowstone ecosystem and discusses how the ecosystem's future is affected by current and proposed resource development plans. David V. Harris and Eugene P. Kiver, The Geologic Story of the National Parks and Monuments, 4th ed. (1985), chapters 8 - 11, covers the geologic history and special features of U.S. parks and monuments in the northern, middle, and southern Rockies and on the Colorado Plateau. Lawrence M. Ostresh, Jr., Richard A. Marston, and Walter M. Hudson, Wyoming Water Atlas (1990), although specifically about Wyoming water resources, treats issues that are typical throughout the Rocky Mountain region.

Gnosticism

The designation Gnosticism, derived from the Greek gn

Wadi Halfa

Town, extreme northern Sudan. It lies on the east bank of the Nile River 6 miles (10 km) below the Second Cataract, just south of the Egyptian border. Located within ancient Nubia, the town and its environs are rich in antiquities; the ruins of Buhen - an Egyptian colony of the Middle Kingdom period that existed until Roman times - lie across the river. A terminus of both railway

Powder River

Stream of the northwestern United States. It rises in several headstreams in foothills of the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming and flows northward for 486 miles (782 km) to join the Yellowstone River near Terry, Mont. Tributaries include the Little Powder River and Crazy Woman Creek.

Biblical Literature, Zechariah

Though little is known about Zechariah's

Nicaro

City, Holgu�n province, eastern Cuba. It is situated on the Bah�a (bay) de Levisa, a nearly landlocked arm of the Atlantic Ocean, at the base of the Lengua de P�jara peninsula. Nicaro is Cuba's major centre for the refining of nickel and cobalt from nickel oxide, which is mined nearby in the foothills of the Sierra del Cristal. Other economic activities include motor repairing

Lustre

In mineralogy, the appearance of a mineral surface in terms of its light-reflective qualities. Lustre depends upon a mineral's refractive power, diaphaneity (degree of transparency), and structure. Variations in these properties produce different kinds of lustre, whereas variations in the quantity of reflected light produce different intensities of the same

Madhya Pradesh, Industry

Overall, Madhya Pradesh remains an industrially underdeveloped state. In 1981 the Madhya Pradesh Industrial Development Corporation Ltd. was established to improve the infrastructure in the state's identified growth centres. Before this planned development took place, western Madhya Pradesh was the main industrial area - primarily producing consumer goods - but

All�

The all�e normally passed through a planted boscage (a small wood); in the 17th century the boscage was square-trimmed at the sides and on top; later the sides were

Peter Martyr, Saint

Peter's parents were members of the Cathari, and there was some family opposition to Peter's

Olaf Iv Haakonsson

After Valdemar's death in 1375, Olaf was elected (1376) king of Denmark and succeeded his father as king of Norway in 1380. The government of Norway was conducted by a state council, but power was largely in the hands of Olaf's mother, who planned to unite