Ch�teauguay, Battle Of

In the autumn of 1813, a U.S. invading force of about 4,000 troops under General Wade Hampton marched toward Montreal through the Ch�teauguay River valley. A U.S. advance party of 1,500 under Colonel

Shi

Also called �dan� the basic unit of weight in ancient China. The shi was created by Shi Huang Di, who became the first emperor of China in 221 BC and who is celebrated for his unification of regulations fixing the basic units. He fixed the shi at about 60 kg (132 pounds). The modern shi is equivalent to 71.68 kg (157.89 pounds).

Midas

Abbreviation �of Missile Defense Alarm System, � any of a series of unmanned U.S. military satellites developed to provide warning against surprise attacks by Soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles. Midas was the first such warning system in the world. Launched during the early 1960s, the reconnaissance satellites were equipped with infrared sensors capable of detecting the heat of a ballistic missile's rocket

G�lvez, Jos�, Marqu�s (marquess) De La Sonora

Spanish colonial administrator particularly noted for his work as inspector general (visitador general) in New Spain (Mexico), 1765 - 71. Among his important accomplishments were the reorganization of the tax system, the formation of a government tobacco monopoly, the reorganization of the defenses of the northern frontier of the Viceroyalty,

Buzkashi

Buzkashi has two main forms: the traditional, grassroots game, known as tudabaray (Persian [Dari]: �coming out of the crowd�), and the modern government-sponsored version, qarajay (�black place�). Both feature mounted

Fuller, R(ichard) Buckminster

U.S. engineer and architect who developed the geodesic dome, the only large dome that can be set directly on the ground as a complete structure, and the only practical kind of building that has no limiting dimensions (i.e., beyond which the structural strength must be insufficient). Among the most noteworthy geodesic domes is the United

African Literature

The traditional oral and written literatures together with the mainly 20th-century literature written mostly in European languages but also to an increasing extent in the many languages of the sub-Saharan region. Traditional written literature is limited to a smaller geographic area than is oral literature; indeed, it is most characteristic of those sub-Saharan

Narameikhla

When Arakan became the scene of a struggle between rival centres of power in the 15th century, Narameikhla, the son of King Rajathu (reigned 1397 - 1401), was forced in the first year

Cattaraugus

County, southwestern New York state, U.S., consisting of a ruggedly hilly region bounded by Cattaraugus Creek to the north and Pennsylvania to the south. It is drained by the Allegheny River and Ischua and Great Valley creeks. Surrounding Allegheny Reservoir are Allegany Indian Reservation and Allegany State Park, both of which are the largest of their kind in the

Cell

In biology, the basic unit of which all living things are composed. As the smallest units retaining the fundamental properties of life, cells are the �atoms� of the living world. A single cell is often a complete organism in itself, such as a bacterium or yeast. Other cells, by differentiating in order to acquire specialized functions and cooperating with other specialized

Kerman

Also spelled� Kirman,� city, provincial capital, and ostan (province), southeastern Iran. The city lies on a sandy plain, 5,738 ft (1,749 m) above sea level, under barren, rocky hills. Surrounded by mountains on the north and east, it has a cool climate and frequent sandstorms in the autumn and spring. The population is mostly Persian-speaking Muslims, with a Zoroastrian minority. Kerman is the largest carpet-exporting

Rydberg, Viktor

Rydberg grew up among strangers, with no home of his own; his mother had died in a cholera epidemic, and his father became an alcoholic. He had to break off his studies for lack of money. In 1855 he began to work for the liberal newspaper

Bridges, Calvin Blackman

The year after he entered Columbia University (1909), Bridges obtained a position there as laboratory assistant to the geneticist Thomas Hunt Morgan. He and Morgan designed experiments using the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, which

Surin

Town, east-central Thailand. The town is located on the railway between Nakhon Ratchasima and Ubon Ratchathani and is a trade and production centre for rice, lacquerware, and silk. It has an agricultural college and attracts tourists with its annual Elephant Round-Up. The town lies about 35 miles (56 km) north of the border with Cambodia, and many of its residents speak the

Ibn Daud, Abraham Ben David Halevi

Physician and historian who was the first Jewish philosopher to draw on Aristotle's writings in a systematic fashion. He is probably more esteemed today for his history Sefer ha-kabbala (�Book of Tradition�) than for his major philosophic work, Sefer ha-emuna ha-rama (�Book of Sublime Faith�), extant only in Hebrew and German

Hawes, Stephen

Hawes's main work is a long allegorical poem, The Passetyme of Pleasure, the chief theme of which is the education and pilgrimage through life of the knight Graunde Amoure. Completed in 1506, it was printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1509. Another allegory by Hawes, The Example

Uzlovaya

Also spelled �Uzlovaja, � city and centre of a rayon (sector), Tula oblast (province), western Russia. In Soviet times it developed as a centre of coal mining on the Moscow - Donets Basin railway; it was incorporated in 1938. Lignite (brown coal) is mined there. The city also has chemical industries and manufactures machinery for the mining industry. Pop. (1993 est.) 62,900.

Alcuin

Anglo-Latin poet, educator, and cleric who, as head of the Palatine school established by Charlemagne at Aachen, introduced the traditions of Anglo-Saxon humanism into western Europe. He was the foremost scholar of the revival of learning known as the Carolingian Renaissance. He also made important reforms in the Roman

Ubon Ratchathani

The area in which Ubon Ratchathani is situated produces rice, freshwater fish, cattle, pigs, sugarcane, timber, and cotton. There are large numbers of

Maazel, Lorin

Maazel grew up in Los Angeles and began his first musical instruction at age five. Although he began conducting as early as age nine, he made his adult debut in 1953 in Italy,

Jammu And Kashmir, Settlement patterns

The state's physiographic diversity is matched by a considerable variety of human occupation. In the plains and foothills, colonization movements from the Punjab region over a long period of time have produced numerous agricultural settlements; both the people and their culture are similar to those of adjacent parts of the Punjab and other lowlands to the west.

Arecales

Order of flowering plants that contains only one family, the palms (Palmae). About 2,800 species are known. See palm.

Blood River, Battle Of

(Dec. 16, 1838), South African battle between the Zulu and the Voortrekkers (the Boers who made the Great Trek from Cape Colony to Transvaal). It was fought on the banks of a tributary of the Buffalo River, which became known as Blood River after its water reddened with the slaughter of about 3,000 Zulu. Four Boers were wounded. This battle turned Voortrekker fortunes in Natal, at a low ebb

Earth, Composition of the mantle

The composition of the upper mantle is less easily determined than that of the crust. Samples of mantle rock come mainly from two sources: ophiolites and xenoliths. The latter, in particular, include rocks that have been brought from great depth by explosive eruptions. Most notably, the occurrence of diamonds with some xenoliths requires a source beyond 150 kilometres

Hadrumetum

Modern �Susah�, also spelled� Sousa, �or �Sousse� ancient Phoenician colony some 100 miles (160 km) south of Carthage, on the east coast of the Al-Hammamat Gulf in what is now Tunisia. Hadrumetum was one of the most important communities within the Carthaginian territory in northern Africa because of its location on the sea at the edge of the fertile Sahel region. In the Third Punic War (149 - 146 BC) Hadrumetum sided with Rome, and its citizens

Cordilleran Geosyncline

A linear trough in the Earth's crust in which rocks of Late Precambrian to Mesozoic age (roughly 600 million to 66 million years ago) were deposited along the western coast of North America, from southern Alaska through western Canada and the United States, probably to western Mexico. The eastern boundary of the geosyncline extends from southeastern Alaska along the eastern

Isaac

In the Old Testament (Genesis), second of the patriarchs of Israel, the only son of Abraham and Sarah, and father of Esau and Jacob. Although Sarah was past the age of childbearing, God promised Abraham and Sarah that they would have a son, and Isaac was born. Later, to test Abraham's obedience, God commanded Abraham to sacrifice the boy. Abraham made all the preparations for

Indian Literature

The earliest Indian literature took the form of the canonical Hindu sacred writings, known as the Veda, which were written in Sanskrit. To the Veda