OpenRoot

Thursday, December 30, 2004

Tábor

City, Jihoceský kraj (region), Czech Republic. It lies along a bend in the Luznice River 50 miles (80 km) south of Prague. Founded in 1420 by Jan Zizka and other followers of the Bohemian religious reformer Jan Hus, Tábor became the radical centre of the more militant members of the movement, known as the Taborites. These people fostered the national spirit and the preservation of the Czech

Tuesday, December 28, 2004

Capone, Al

Capone's parents immigrated to the United States from Naples in 1893; Al, the fourth of nine children, quit school in Brooklyn after the sixth grade and joined Johnny Torrio's James Street Boys gang, rising eventually to the Five Points Gang. In a youthful

Sunday, December 26, 2004

Clifford (of Chudleigh), Thomas Clifford, 1st Baron

Clifford matriculated at Exeter College, Oxford, in 1647 and entered the Middle Temple in 1648. In Parliament in 1660–61 he became a steady supporter of Henry Bennett (who became Lord Arlington in 1665) in opposition to the chancellor, the Earl of Clarendon. Knighted in 1664 and appointed

Saturday, December 25, 2004

Ibn Kathir

Ibn Kathir was educated in Damascus and upon completion of his studies obtained his first official appointment in 1341, when he joined an inquisitorial commission formed to determine

Thursday, December 23, 2004

Rhythm And Blues

Also called  rhythm & blues  or  R&B  term used for several types of postwar African-American popular music, as well as for some white rock music derived from it. The term was coined by Jerry Wexler in 1947, when he was editing the charts at the trade journal Billboard and found that the record companies issuing black popular music considered the chart names then in use (Harlem Hit Parade, Sepia, Race) to be demeaning.

Monday, December 20, 2004

Argyll, Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess And 8th Earl Of, Lord Campbell, Lord Lorne, Lord Of Kintyre

He was the eldest son of Archibald, 7th Earl of Argyll, and took over the management of the family estates in 1619 after his father had

Saturday, December 18, 2004

Pachaimalai Hills

Range of hills in Tamil Nadu state, southern India, an eastward extension of the Eastern Ghats in the northeastern Tamilnad Uplands. The Pachaimalai Hills, together with the Javadi, Shevaroy, and Kalrayan hills, separate the Cauvery River basin in the south from the Palar River basin in the north. Extending over approximately 5,200 sq mi (13,500 sq km), they form a discontinuous line of highlands

Thursday, December 16, 2004

Location Theory

In economics and geography, theory concerned with the geographic location of economic activity; it has become an integral part of economic geography, regional science, and spatial economics. Location theory addresses the questions of what economic activities are located where and why. The location of economic activities can be determined on a broad level such

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

Croatia, Industry

Already more industrialized than most of its neighbours when the communists assumed power over Yugoslavia in 1945, Croatia continued its rapid industrialization under socialist policies of economic and social development. One unfortunate result was the squandering of a great deal of money through inefficiency and the misallocation of resources through the

Monday, December 13, 2004

Ruways, Ar-

Also spelled  Ruweis, or Ru'ays,  site of a giant industrial complex, Abu Dhabi emirate, United Arab Emirates. It lies along the Persian Gulf about 140 miles (220 km) west of Abu Dhabi, the national capital. Ar-Ruways has natural-gas-processing plants under the control of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). Ar-Ruways has a small airport and is linked by road with Abu Dhabi city and Jabal az-Zannah.

Saturday, December 11, 2004

China, Formation of a rival southern government

Meanwhile, in July Sun Yat-sen, supported by part of the Chinese navy and followed by some 100 members of parliament, attempted to organize a rival government in Canton. The initial costs of this undertaking, termed the Movement to Protect the Constitution, probably were supplied by the German consulate in Shanghai. On August 31 the rump parliament in Canton established

Thursday, December 09, 2004

Barb

Also called  Barbel  (genus Barbus), any of numerous freshwater fishes belonging to a genus in the carp family, Cyprinidae. The barbs are native to Europe, Africa, and Asia. The members of this genus typically have one or more pairs of barbels (slender, fleshy protuberances) near the mouth and often have large, shining scales. The species vary widely in size; certain barbs are only about 2.5–5 cm (1–2 inches)

Monday, December 06, 2004

Everson, William

Raised by Christian Scientist parents, Everson became an agnostic in his teens; while attending Fresno (California) State College, he read the verse of Robinson Jeffers and resolved to become a poet. His

Sunday, December 05, 2004

Bead Lightning

Also called  chain lightning   form of lightning of longer duration than more typical lightning that appears as a string of luminous segments instead of a continuous channel. It occurs infrequently but has been observed many times. Its causes are unknown, but among the theories proposed are the following: portions of the lightning channel are slanted toward or away from the observer and thus

Friday, December 03, 2004

Lipase

Initial lipase digestion occurs in the lumen (interior) of the small intestine. Bile salts reduce the surface tension of the fat droplets