Amin, (muhammad) Al-

As the son of Harun ar-Rashid, the fifth caliph, and Zubayda, a niece of al-Mansur, the second caliph, al-Amin took precedence in the succession over his elder half brother, al-Ma'mun, whose mother was a Persian slave. In 809, al-Amin succeeded to the caliphate, and al-Ma'mun was vested with the administration of the eastern Khorasan region. Relations

Alaska, Education

Education is compulsory through the eighth grade or until age 16 and is administered by a state board and a commissioner of education. Correspondence study is available for high school work through the State Department of Education. There are several federal schools on military bases. The University of Alaska, founded as a land-grant institution in 1917, operates campuses

Armoured Vehicle

Armoured also spelled  Armored,   motor vehicle that is fitted with partial or complete armour plating for protection against bullets, shells, or other projectiles. Armoured vehicles for military use can move either on wheels or on two endless metal chains called tracks. The tank (q.v.) is the principal fighting armoured vehicle. Other military types include armoured personnel carriers, armoured

Augustine, Saint, Controversial writings

Of his works against the Manichaeans, the Confessions probably remains the most attractive and interesting; the sect itself is too little known today for detailed

Water Buffalo

(Bubalus bubalis), also called Indian Buffalo, a ruminant mammal of the ox family (Bovidae). The water buffalo was domesticated in Asia from earliest recorded times. Large and massively built, the animal stands 1.5–1.8 m (5–6 feet) or more at the shoulder, reaches a length of 2.4–2.8 m, and weighs about 1,000 kg (2,200 pounds). It has a dull black or dark gray body with little hair and huge horns, which may measure

Guenon

Any of about 20 species of widely distributed African monkeys of the genus Cercopithecus, family Cercopithecidae. Guenons are slim, graceful, quadrupedal monkeys with long arms and legs, short faces, and nonprehensile tails that are longer than the combined head and body length of about 30–65 cm (12–26 inches). Guenons are known for the beauty of their soft,

Chincha Islands

Spanish  Islas De Chincha,   island group that is part of Los Libertadores-Wari región, Peru. Located in the Pacific Ocean 13 miles (21 km) off Peru's southwestern coast, the three small islands are situated to the northwest of Paracas Bay and west-northwest of the city of Pisco. They have extensive guano deposits, which have been exploited for fertilizer.

Catastrophe

In literature, the final action that completes the unraveling of the plot in a play, especially in a tragedy. Catastrophe is a synonym of denouement. The term is sometimes applied to a similar action in a novel or story.

Sports, Book Of

Formally  Declaration of Sports  order issued by King James I of England for use in Lancashire to resolve a conflict, on the subject of Sunday amusements, between the Puritans and the gentry, many of whom were Roman Catholics. Permission was given for dancing, archery, leaping and vaulting, and for “having of May games, Whitsun ales and morris dances, and the setting up of May-poles and other sports therewith

Severoceský

Also called  Severní Cechy , English  Northern Bohemia  kraj (region), northwestern Czech Republic. It is the smallest of the country's regions. Severoceský is bounded on the north by Germany and Poland, on the east by Východoceský kraj, on the south by Stredoceský kraj, and on the west by Západoceský kraj. The north of the region is dominated by the Ore (Krušné), Ceské Stredo, Lusatian (Luzické), and Jizera (Jizerské) mountains. Through a gap in

Cloister

Quadrilateral enclosure surrounded by covered walkways, and usually attached to a monastic or cathedral church and sometimes to a college. The term used in a narrow sense also applies to the walkways or alleys themselves (the central area being the cloister garth), in a general sense to the houses of religious orders, and in a generic sense to places of retreat for

David, Saint

Little is known of his life. According to the hagiography (c. 1090) by the Welsh scholar Rhygyfarch, he was the son of the chieftain Sant, who raped David's mother, St. Non. Educated at Henfynyw, Cardigan, he seemingly took a prominent part in the synod of Llanddewi-Brefi (in Cardigan) to suppress

Kammatthana

Sanskrit  Karmasthana   in Theravada Buddhist tradition, one of the objects of mental concentration or a stage of meditation employing it. According to Visuddhi-magga (a 5th-century CE Pali text by Buddhaghosa), there are 40 kammatthanas; an individual should choose the object of mental concentration that is in accordance with his own character or inclination. Each type of disposition has its

Literature

The Turkish literary field proved fertile in 2001. Many impressive works of fiction with wide-ranging themes and topics appeared, including Ahmet Altan's Isyan günlerinde ask (“Love in Days of Rebellion”), about an early 20th-century fundamentalist uprising; Buket Uzuner's Uzun beyaz bulut—Gelibolu (“Tall White Cloud—Gallipoli”); Ayla Kutlu's Zehir zikkim hikâyeler (“Bitter

Ba'al Shem

Also spelled  Baalshem, or Balshem (Hebrew: “master of the name”),  plural  Ba'ale Shem, Baaleshem, or Baleshem,   in Judaism, title bestowed upon men who reputedly worked wonders and effected cures through secret knowledge of the ineffable names of God. Benjamin ben Zerah (11th century) was one of several Jewish poets to employ the mystical names of God in his works, thereby demonstrating a belief in the efficacy of the holy name long before certain rabbis and Kabbalists (followers

Burgesses, House Of

Representative assembly in colonial Virginia; the first elective governing body in a British overseas possession. The assembly was one division of the legislature established by Gov. George Yeardley at Jamestown, July 30, 1619; the other included the governor himself and a council, all appointed by the colonial proprietor (the Virginia Company). Because each Virginia

Sundbyberg

Town, Stockholm län (county), east-central Sweden. Sundbyberg lies on the northwestern outskirts of Stockholm. When founded in 1877, it was one of Stockholm's first residential suburbs. It was chartered in 1927 and has become an important industrial centre. The church (1909–11) is noted for its stained glass. Other imposing buildings are the large Marabou chocolate factory and the multistory

France, History Of, Diffusion of political power

During the period of insecurity and turbulence that marked the end of the Merovingian epoch, bonds of personal dependence, present in both Roman and Germanic institutions, can be seen to compete with weakened governmental institutions. In the 7th century these bonds took one of two forms: commendation (a free man placed himself under the protection of a more powerful

Plisetskaya, Maya (mikhaylovna)

A niece of the dancers Asaf and Sulamith Messerer, Plisetskaya studied with Paul Gerdt's daughter Yelizaveta and with Agrippina Yakovlevna Vaganova and graduated from the Bolshoi

Luria, Salvador

Luria graduated from the University of Turin in 1935 and became a radiology specialist. He fled Italy for France in 1938 and went to the United States

Carton De Wiart, Henri(-victor), Comte (count)

Elected in 1896 to the Belgian House of Representatives as a member of the Catholic Party's reform-oriented left wing, he served as minister of justice (1911–18) and helped secure passage of child-welfare legislation (1912). Subsequently, he served

Rabbi

(Hebrew: “my teacher,” or “my master”), in Judaism, a person qualified by academic studies of the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud to act as spiritual leader and religious teacher of a Jewish community or congregation. Ordination (certification as a rabbi) can be conferred by any rabbi, but one's teacher customarily performs this function by issuing a written statement. Ordination

Akhmim

Also spelled  Ekhmin,   town, Sawhaj muhafazah (governorate), Upper Egypt, on the east bank of the Nile, above Sawhaj on the west bank. Extensive necropolises dating from the 6th dynasty (c. 2345–c. 2181 BC) until the late Coptic period reveal the site's antiquity. In 1981 remains of a temple (Roman period) with Ramesside statues were excavated in the city. The name apparently derives from the pharaonic Khent-min and Coptic

Assault Rifle

Military firearm that is chambered for ammunition of reduced size or propellant charge and that has the capacity to switch between semiautomatic and fully automatic fire. Because they are light and portable yet still able to deliver a high volume of fire with reasonable accuracy at modern combat ranges of 300–500 m (1,000–1,600 feet), assault rifles have replaced the high-powered

Johansson, Ingemar

As an amateur boxer Johansson was a member of the European Golden Gloves team in 1951 and the Swedish Olympic Games team in 1952. He won the European

Ahmed Vefik Pasa

Born into a family of diplomats, Ahmed Vefik was appointed (1849) imperial commissioner in the Danubian principalities and later ambassador to Persia and to France. He presided

Ayrshire Whitework

In embroidery, a type of drawn thread work done in white thread on white material. Although similar work had been executed earlier and in other centres (for example, in 13th- and 14th-century Germany) and other examples are known from the intervening period, whitework became associated with the county (shire) of Ayr in Scotland after 1780, when it became a centre for the manufacture

Fischer, Emil

Educated at the universities of Bonn and Strasbourg (Ph.D., 1874), Fischer held several posts before becoming professor of chemistry at the University of Berlin in 1892. Under his direction,

Ludwig, Carl F.w.

A professor of physiology at the universities of Marburg (1846–49), Zürich (1849–55), Vienna (1855–65), and Leipzig (1865–95), Ludwig is best known for his study of the cardiovascular system. He invented (1847) a device known as a kymograph to record changes in arterial blood