Celibacy

The state of being unmarried and, therefore, sexually abstinent, usually in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, the term is applied only to those for whom the unmarried state is the result of a sacred vow, act of renunciation, or religious conviction. Celibacy has existed in one form or another throughout history and in virtually

Parachute

Device that slows the vertical descent of a body falling through the atmosphere or the velocity of a body moving horizontally. The parachute increases the body's surface area, and this increased air resistance slows the body in motion. There is some mention, but no evidence, dating to the 1100s of the Chinese using parachutes for amusement. In the West, however, parachutes

Kwando River

Portuguese �Rio Cuando, � river in southern Africa, rising in central Angola and flowing southeast, forming for nearly 140 miles (225 km) the boundary between Angola and Zambia. Near the end of its course the Kwando reaches the northern boundary of the Caprivi Strip, which juts out from Namibia, and thereafter the river spreads into the Linyanti Marshes, covering about 550 square miles (1,425 square km) and including

Ben Nevis

Highest mountain of the British Isles, in the Highland council area, Scotland. Its summit, reaching an elevation of 4,406 feet (1,343 metres), is a plateau of about 100 acres (40 hectares), with a slight slope to the south and a sheer face to the northeast. Snow lies in some parts all year, and permafrost conditions are almost reached. The mountain consists of a superstructure of volcanic rocks

Kielce

First chronicled in the late 11th century, the market town obtained municipal rights in 1360. It developed as an industrial and religious

Har Dayal, Lala

Har Dayal graduated from the Government College, Lahore (University of the Punjab). On a government of India scholarship to St. John's College at Oxford, he became a supporter of the Indian revolutionary movement. In 1907 Har Dayal resigned his

Law, Crime, And Law Enforcement, International Organizations.

New regional organizations included the Arctic Council, which was inaugurated in September and comprised Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Russia, and the U.S.; the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, the Saami Council, and the Russian Association of Indigenous Minorities of the North, Siberia, and the Far East were named as "permanent participants." The council

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)

Baku Rug

Also called �Chilia Rug, � handwoven floor covering made near Baku in the eastern Caucasus. It is a variety of Dagestan rug in modified Persian design, the ground pattern usually bearing rows of the pear or leaf forms of the Seraband rugs but larger in scale and more geometric and complex in form. Stepped medallions and stepped cornerpieces may show a toothed outline, resembling the corners

Nephrosclerosis

Hardening of the walls of the small arteries and arterioles (small arteries that convey blood from arteries to the even smaller capillaries) of the kidney. This condition is caused by hypertension (high blood pressure). Hypertension can be present in a person for 20 to 30 years without evidence of kidney involvement; such persons usually die of other effects of hypertension

Military Affairs

The devastating aerial attacks by terrorists in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, caused untold chaos and horror and initiated a flood of events that affected all aspects of life in all corners of the world. The United States declared a �war on terrorism� and promptly focused on the international al-Qaeda group and its Taliban protectors in Afghanistan. (Al-Qaeda [�the

Insurance, Limitations on amount recoverable

Recovery under homeowner's forms is limited to loss due directly to the occurrence of an insured peril. Losses caused by some intervening source not insured by the policy are not covered. For example, if a flood or a landslide, which usually are excluded perils, severely damages a house that subsequently is destroyed by fire, the homeowner's recovery from the fire is

Qatar

The National Council for Culture, Arts, and Heritage and several other agencies and departments oversee literary, artistic, and cultural activities as well as recreation and tourism. The Qatar National Museum, in Doha, includes displays of the country's history and archaeology, a model lagoon in which Qatari sailing and pearling vessels are displayed, and a museum

Essex

English

La Tour, Maurice-quentin De

Early in his youth La Tour went to Paris, where he entered the studio of the Flemish painter Jacques Spoede. He then went to Reims, Cambrai (1724), and England (c. 1725), returning to Paris to resume

Phillips Academy

It was founded as a boarding school for boys in 1778 by Samuel Phillips, who later became president of the state senate of Massachusetts.

Switzerland, Industrialization

The 17th and 18th centuries were periods of peace and rising prosperity. Industry, which had existed in certain Swiss communities as far back as the 14th century, expanded, setting the foundation for future growth and diversification. Swiss neutrality during the Thirty Years' War was beneficial to the economy. The influx of refugees was particularly important in rehabilitating

Jane Seymour

Jane's father was Sir John Seymour of Wolf Hall, Savernake, Wiltshire. She became a lady in waiting to Henry's first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and then to Anne Boleyn,

Conrad Von H�tzendorf, Franz (xaver Josef ), Graf (count)

Advancing rapidly in the Austro-Hungarian army, Conrad became chief of staff in 1906 on the recommendation of the heir to the throne,

Jacamar

Any of 15 species of tropical American birds that constitute the family Galbulidae (order Piciformes). The jacamar has a glittering body, tapered from large head to, in most species, a long, graduated tail; some have square tails. Most are iridescently blue, green, or bronze on back and breast; males are white-throated, females brown-throated. The commonest

Baseball

The United States is credited with developing several popular sports, including some (such as baseball, gridiron football, and basketball) that have large fan bases and, to varying degrees, have been adopted internationally. But baseball, despite the spread of the game throughout the globe and the growing influence of Asian and Latin American leagues and players,

Conseil De L'entente

(French: �Entente Council�), French West African organization founded in 1959 and designed to promote the economic development of the region by raising funds, guaranteeing loans, and encouraging trade and investment. It operates through the Mutual Aid and Loan Guarantee Fund headquartered in Abidjan, C�te d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast). The original member-states were Dahomey

Habsburg, House Of

The name Habsburg is derived from the castle of Habsburg, or Habichtsburg (�Hawk's Castle�), built in 1020 by Werner, bishop of Strasbourg, and his brother-in-law, Count Radbot, in the Aargau overlooking the Aar River, in what is now Switzerland. Radbot's grandfather, Guntram the Rich, the earliest traceable ancestor of the house, may perhaps be identified with a Count Guntram who

Gene Flow

Also called �gene migration� the introduction of genetic material (by interbreeding) from one population of a species to another, thereby changing the composition of the gene pool of the receiving population. The introduction of new alleles through gene flow increases variability within the population and makes possible new combinations of traits. In human beings gene flow usually comes

Computers, Machine language

One implication of the stored-program model was that programs could read and operate on other programs as data; that is, they would be capable of self-modification. Konrad Zuse had looked upon this possibility as �making a contract with the devil� because of the potential for abuse, and he had chosen not to implement it in his machines. But self-modification was essential

Duck Mountain

Plateau in southwestern Manitoba, Canada, forming the highest part of the Manitoba Escarpment. It extends southeastward from the Saskatchewan border for 50 miles (80 km), culminating in Baldy Mountain (2,730 feet [832 m]), 36 miles northwest of Dauphin. A large part of the plateau is embraced by Duck Mountain Provincial Park, established in 1962 to preserve the region's dense forests, numerous

Diorite

Medium- to coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock that commonly is composed of about two-thirds plagioclase feldspar and one-third dark-coloured minerals, such as hornblende or biotite. The presence of sodium-rich feldspar, oligoclase or andesine, in contrast to calcium-rich plagioclase, labradorite or bytownite, is the main distinction between diorite and gabbro

Aaron

Aaron continued to live as a symbol in Jewish religion and traditions, and the position of the priests was strengthened after the exile. Also, in the Qumran sect, a Jewish community that flourished in the era just before and contemporary with the birth of Christianity, Aaron was a symbol for a strong priesthood, as can be seen from the Dead Sea Scrolls. At the end of time,

Gundulic, Ivan (franov)

A prolific writer, Gundulic also occupied various governmental positions in the Dubrovnik