Great Dane

Breed of working dog developed at least 400 years ago in Germany, where it was used for boar hunting. The Great Dane is typically a swift, alert dog noted for courage, friendliness, and dependability. It has a massive, square-jawed head, and body lines that give it an elegant appearance. Its short coat is black, golden brown, brindle, blue-gray, or white with black patches. The tallest

Hope

City, seat (1939) of Hempstead county, southwestern Arkansas, U.S., about 35 miles (56 km) northeast of Texarkana. It was founded in 1852 as a station on the Cairo and Fulton (now Union Pacific) Railroad and was named for the daughter of James Loughborough, a railroad land commissioner who laid out the town site. It developed as a shipping centre for timber and agricultural products, notably

Antagonist

In literature, the principal opponent or foil of the main character, who is referred to as the protagonist, in a drama or narrative. The word is from the Greek antagnistes, �opponent or rival.�

Hughes, (james Mercer) Langston

Black poet and writer who became, through numerous translations, one of the foremost interpreters to the world of the black experience in the United States. Hughes's parents separated soon after his birth, and young Hughes was raised by his mother and grandmother. After his grandmother's death, he and his mother moved to half a dozen

League

Any of several European units of measurement ranging from 2.4 to 4.6 statute miles (3.9 to 7.4 km). In English-speaking countries the land league is generally accepted as 3 statute miles (4.83 km), although varying lengths from 7,500 feet to 15,000 feet (2.29 to 4.57 km) were sometimes employed. An ancient unit derived from the Gauls and introduced into England by the Normans, the league was estimated by the Romans

Basil I

Basil came of a peasant family that had settled in Macedonia, perhaps of Armenian origin. He was a handsome and physically powerful man who gained employment in influential official circles in Constantinople and was fortunate

Tiwanaku

Some scholars date the earliest remains found at the site to the early part of the Early Intermediate Period (c. 200 BC - AD 200); others suggest that the culture is evident in artifacts

Bridges, Robert (seymour)

From 1869 until 1882 Bridges

Jackson, Robert H(oughwout)

An adept scholar, Jackson pleaded his first case by special permission while still a minor and was admitted to the bar at the age of 21. He served as corporation counsel for Jamestown, N.Y., and, after the Stock Market Crash of 1929, helped merge the city's three financial institutions,

Silk Road

Originating at Sian, the 4,000-mile (6,400-kilometre) road, actually a caravan tract, followed the Great Wall

Ithna 'ashariyah

Each of the imams - 'Ali, his sons Hasan and Husayn, 'Ali Zayn al-'Abidin, Muhammad al-Baqir, Ja'far as-Sadiq, Musa al-Kazim, 'Ali ar-Rida, Muhammad al-Jawad, 'Ali al-Hadi, Hasan al-'Askari, and Muhammad

Gary

City, Lake county, extreme northwest Indiana, U.S. It lies at the southern end of Lake Michigan in the Calumet district east of Chicago. In 1906 the town (named for Elbert H. Gary, chief organizer of the United States Steel Corporation) was laid out as an adjunct of the company's vast new manufacturing complex. The site was chosen because it lay on navigable water midway between

Tapestry, Eastern Asia

Called k'o-ssu (cut silk), tapestry has long been produced in China, traditionally being made entirely of silk; Chinese tapestries are extremely fine in texture and light in weight. The weave is finished perfectly on both sides so that the tapestries are reversible. The warps are vertical in relation to the pattern, rather than horizontal as in European weaving. Sometimes

Drafting

At the design stage, both freehand and mechanical drawings serve the functions of inspiring and guiding the designer and of communicating among the designer, collaborators,

Heredity, Multiple alleles

The traits discussed so far all have been governed by the interaction of two possible alleles. Many genes, however, are represented by multiple allelic forms within a population. (One individual, of course, can possess only two of these multiple alleles.) Human blood groups - in this case, the well-known ABO system - again provide an example. The gene that governs ABO blood

Tsong-kha-pa

Tibetan lama who founded a new Tibetan Buddhist sect known as the Dge-lugs-pa (q.v.), literally �Model of Virtue� but more commonly referred to as the Yellow Hat sect to distinguish it from the older Red Hat sect. Hoping to restore monastic discipline, Tsong-kha-pa enforced celibacy, required the wearing of yellow robes, and insisted on adherence to a rigorous routine. The

Tigellinus, Ofonius

A Sicilian by birth, Tigellinus was prefect of the vigiles (�fire brigades�) before becoming prefect of the Praetorian Guard in 62. Early sources maintain that he rose to power by encouraging Nero in his vices. He actively pressed Nero's reign

Becket, Saint Thomas

Thomas was born to Norman parents of the merchant class. He was educated first at Merton priory, then in a City of London school, and finally at Paris. Deeply influenced in childhood by a devout mother who died when he was 21, Thomas entered adult life as a city clerk and accountant in the service of the sheriffs. After three years he was introduced by his father to Archbishop

Habitual Offender

Person who frequently has been convicted of criminal behaviour and is presumed to be a danger to society. In an attempt to protect society from such criminals, penal systems throughout the world provide for lengthier terms of imprisonment for them than for first-time offenders. In the 1990s habitual-offender laws became harsher, and in extreme cases some offenders

Mormaer

Also spelled �Mormaor� (from Gaelic mor, �great�; maer, or maor, �steward,� or �bailiff�), ruler of any of seven provinces into which Celtic Scotland (i.e., the part of the country north of the Forth and the Clyde) was divided. This Celtic title was rendered jarl by the Norsemen and after the 12th century, under Anglo-Norman influence, �earl.� The seven mormaerships, or original �earldoms,� of Scotland were Angus, Atholl

Haber, Fritz

German physical chemist, winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry (1918) for his development of a method of synthesizing ammonia. With Carl Bosch, he invented a process for the large-scale production of ammonia for use in nitrogen fertilizer.

Araraquara

City, in the highlands of central S�o Paulo state, Brazil, at 2,119 ft (646 m) above sea level on a tributary of the Rio Jacar�-Gua�u. Formerly known as Freguesia de S�o Bento de Araraquara, it was given town status in 1817 and was made the seat of a municipality in 1832. Araraquara's industries process sugarcane and coffee from the hinterland. Textiles, liquor, and furniture are also produced

Tasmania, Self-government and Federation

Once the importation and exploitation of convicts had ended, the way opened for the grant of colonial self-government in 1855 - 56. Tasmania became the colony's official name, a portent of a happier age. Yet penalism had given the island an economic undergirding and historical import that have never been matched. Post-1860 Tasmania continued to be shadowed by its Vandiemonian

Tlalnepantla

In full� Tlalnepantla De Comonfort, � city, northeastern M�xico state, central Mexico. At an altitude of 7,474 ft (2,278 m) above sea level on the R�o Tlalnepantla, it was founded by the Otomi Indians and conquered by the Aztecs; archaeological remains have been found on the site, and two Aztec pyramids are nearby. The city's church was begun in 1583. Originally an agricultural and livestock-raising centre, Tlalnepantla has

Catanduanes

Island, east-central Philippines, in the Philippine Sea, separated from southeastern Luzon (Rungus Point) by the shallow Maqueda Channel. The island has an area of 550 square miles (1,425 square km). Farming is diversified (rice, corn [maize], copra, abaca) on the hilly, rolling land. Virac, the chief port, is on the southern coast in a lowland area. The island is known for its stone churches.

San Francisco, Exploration and early settlement

It is extraordinary that the site of San Francisco should have been explored first by land instead of from the sea, for San Francisco Bay is one of the most splendid natural harbours of the world, yet great captains and explorers - Juan Rodr�guez Cabrillo (1542 - 43), Sir Francis Drake (1579), and Sebasti�n Vizca�no (1602) - sailed unheeding past the entrance. In 1769 a scouting party from an expedition

Star Catalog

Hipparchus completed the first known

Barotrauma

Any of several disorders arising from changes in pressure upon the body. Man is adapted to live at an atmospheric pressure of 760 millimetres (the pressure at sea level). When he ventures under water or into the upper atmospheres of space, the surrounding pressure varies from that of his usual environment. Most body tissue is either solid or liquid and remains virtually

Nordmeyer, Sir Arnold Henry

Nordmeyer graduated from the University of Otago and served as a Presbyterian minister from 1925 until he entered the New Zealand Parliament in 1935. He helped draft the Social Security Act of 1938, which formed the basis for the nation's welfare system,

Gonzaga, Tom�s Ant�nio

Gonzaga completed his law studies at the University of Coimbra (1768) and in 1782 was appointed a judge in Vila Rica, Brazil. There he fell in love with Mar�lia, who was mentioned in his lyrics, but on the eve of their marriage (1789) he was arrested on a charge, undoubtedly

Shiga

Landlocked ken (prefecture), southern Honshu, Japan, containing Lake Biwa, the largest lake in Japan. The lake and surrounding mountainous district form Lake Biwa Quasi-national Park. The prefecture's percentage of rice paddies is among the highest in Japan, and its Omi beef is well known throughout Japan. The textile industries at Otsu, the prefectural capital, Hikone,