Wroclaw

German �Breslau, � city, capital of Wroclaw wojew�dztwo (province), southwestern Poland. It lies along the Oder River at its confluence with the Olawa, Sleza, Bystrzyca, and Widawa rivers. A large industrial centre situated in Dolny Slask (Lower Silesia), Wroclaw is the fourth largest city in Poland. It contains Poland's largest flour mills, a modern electronics and data-processing industry, foundries,

Alto

Alto derives from the term contratenor altus, which in Renaissance music referred to the part immediately above the tenor

Argentina, Music and dance

Another cultural hybrid is the tango, a music style and dance that emerged from the poor immigrant quarters of Buenos Aires toward the end of the 19th century and quickly became famous around the world as a symbol of Argentine culture. Influenced by the Spanish tango and, possibly, the Argentine milonga, it was originally a high-spirited local phenomenon, but, after it

Nitrobenzene

Nitrobenzene was first prepared in 1834 by the German chemist Eilhardt Mitscherlich, who treated benzene with

North Germanic Languages, Orthography

The five basic vowel symbols of the Latin alphabet are supplemented by a number of special symbols that are used mostly to represent umlauted vowels: thus, there is y (pronounced as German �), � (used in Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, and Faroese) and the corresponding � (used in Swedish), � (in Danish, Norwegian, and Faroese) and the corresponding � (in Swedish and Icelandic), and

Yamazaki Ansai

A Buddhist monk early in life, Ansai began to study Confucianism and gradually turned against

Manchester Ship Canal

Waterway opened in 1894 linking Eastham, Merseyside, Eng., to the city of Manchester. The canal made Manchester accessible to large oceangoing vessels. It is 36 miles (58 km) long, 45 - 80 feet (14 - 24 m) wide, and varies in depth from 28 to 30 feet (about 9 m); it has five locks.

Ringed Seal

(species Pusa, or Phoca, hispida), nonmigratory, earless seal (family Phocidae) of North Polar seas and a few freshwater lakes in Europe and on Baffin Island. Named for the characteristic pale rings on its grayish or yellowish coat, the ringed seal grows to about 1.5 m (5 feet) in length and 90 kg (200 pounds) in weight. It lives near the pack ice and feeds on crustaceans, mollusks, and some

Frederick I

An implacable enemy of the Bohemian followers of Jan Hus, church reformer and accused heretic, Frederick aided the Holy Roman emperor Sigismund against them from 1420 on. When the last Saxon elector

Mercadante, Saverio

Mercadante was born out of wedlock. He was taken

Hupeh, Industry

Hupeh's mineral wealth consists chiefly of iron, copper, and phosphorus ores; coal; and gypsum. Some of China's richest and best iron ore is found at Ta-yeh in southeastern Hupeh. The exploitation of this ore and of coking coal from P'ing-hsiang in Kiangsi was the basis for the founding of an ironworks at Han-yang at the end of the 19th century. Ore from Ta-yeh and other mines was

Meta

Department, in eastern Colombia, bounded north by the R�o Meta and south by the R�o Guaviare. Created in 1959, it covers an area of 33,064 sq mi (85,635 sq km) and consists of lowlands, except for the Serran�a (mountains) de La Macarena in the southwest and the Andean Cordillera (mountains) Oriental in the west. Agriculture is concentrated on the lower mountain slopes, where grains, oilseeds,

China, Civil war (1945 - 49)

In a little more than four years after Japan's surrender, the CCP and the People's Liberation Army (PLA) conquered mainland China, and, on Oct. 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China was established, with its capital at Peking. The factors that brought this about were many and complex and subject to widely varying interpretation, but the basic fact was a Communist military triumph

Shenute

Shenute entered monastic life as a youth and succeeded his uncle as abbot of the White Monastery in 383. He revived the rule of Pachomius, the 4th-century founder of cenobitic,

Amarapura

Town, central Myanmar (Burma). It lies on the left bank of the Irrawaddy River. A suburb of Mandalay, it is also known as Taung-myo (Southern Town) or Myohaung (Old City). Founded by King Bodawpaya in 1783 as his new capital, it supplanted Ava, 6 miles (10 km) southwest. Its population in 1810 was estimated at 170,000, but a fire that year and the return of the court to Ava in 1823 caused a decline to about 30,000 by 1827. King

Ashley, Maurice

Ashley moved to Brooklyn, New York, with his family when he was 12 years old. He soon took up chess and excelled at the game, becoming a national master in 1986 and an International Master in 1993. From 1991 to 1997 Ashley was the chess director of the Harlem Educational Activities Fund, Inc., where

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

Kazoku

In Japan, the unified, crown-appointed aristocracy of the period 1869 - 1947, which replaced the feudal lords. The kazoku (�flower family�) class was created in 1869 as part of the Westernizing reforms of the Meiji Restoration. In this class the old feudal lords (daimyo) and court nobles (kuge) were merged into one group and deprived of territorial privileges. In 1884 the kazoku was reorganized

Mar�, �le

Formerly �Nengone Island, � southernmost of the Loyalty Islands, a raised coralline limestone and volcanic group in the southwestern Pacific Ocean that is part of the French overseas territory of New Caledonia. Rising to 300 ft (100 m), Mar� is the highest in the group. It is 22 mi (35 km) long and 18 mi wide and has a total area of 248 sq mi (642 sq km). It was annexed by France in 1866 and was Christianized by indigenous teachers from

Clanton

City, seat of Chilton county, central Alabama, U.S., near the Coosa River, about 45 miles (70 km) northwest of Montgomery. Originally called Goose Pond, the town was laid out in 1870 and renamed for James H. Clanton, a Confederate general in the American Civil War. Peach growing is the area's main economic activity, and a peach festival is held in June. Clanton is a base for sport fishing on

Alkali

Any of the soluble hydroxides of the alkali metals - i.e., lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, and cesium. Alkalies are strong bases that turn litmus paper from red to blue; they react with acids to yield neutral salts; and they are caustic and in concentrated form are corrosive to organic tissues. The term alkali is also applied to the soluble hydroxides of such alkaline-earth

Dehra Dun

City, capital of Uttaranchal state, northern India. It lies in the Himalayan foothills at an elevation of 2,200 feet (670 metres). Dehra Dun was founded in 1699, when the heretical Sikh Guru Ram Rai, driven out of the Punjab, built a temple there. During the 18th century the area succumbed to successive invaders, the last of whom were the Gurkhas. When the Gurkha War ended in 1816, the area was ceded to

Consumerism

Consumer

Melas Carpet

Floor covering handwoven in the neighbourhood of Mil�s (Melas) on the Aegean coast of southwestern Turkey. Normally of small size and 19th century in date, Melas carpets have unusually wide borders in relation to their narrow fields. In the prayer rugs the arch (which indicates the direction of Mecca, the Holy City) is straight-sided, with a triangular indentation below

Pito�ff, Georges

Russian-born director and producer, noted for his popularization in France of the works of contemporary foreign playwrights, especially Pirandello, Shaw, Chekhov, Schnitzler, and O'Neill. He was a member of the Cartel des Quatre (Group of Four), a group including Louis Jouvet, Charles Dullin, and Gaston Baty, dedicated to rejuvenating the

Rome, March On

Widespread social discontent, aggravated by middle-class fear of a socialist revolution and by disappointment over Italy's meagre gains from the

Foraminiferan

Any unicellular organism of the rhizopodan order Foraminiferida (formerly Foraminifera), characterized by long, fine pseudopodia that extend from a uninucleated or multinucleated cytoplasmic body encased within a test, or shell. Depending on the species, the test ranges in size from minute to more than 5 cm (2 inches) in diameter and varies in shape, number of chambers,

Kuala Kangsar

Town, northwestern West Malaysia (Malaya). It lies along the Perak River and the main west coast road and rail network. It was the site (1897) of the first conference of rulers of the Federated Malay States. Now a collecting centre for a rice- and rubber-growing area (the first rubber trees cultivated in Malaya were planted there), Kuala Kangsar is the royal town of Perak state with

Cereal Farming, Weeds

Weeds present difficulties, as they compete with cereal crops for water, light, and mineral nutrients. The infestation of annual seeds planted in a field may cause many weeds in that field for successive years. Charlock or wild mustard, wild oats, crouch grass, and other common weeds are disseminated by wind, water, and birds.

T�rgu Jiu

Also spelled �T�rgu Jiu� city, capital of Gorj judet (county), southwestern Romania, on the Jiu River. Formerly a Roman settlement, T�rgu Jiu was the property of boyars until the 19th century. After World War II, the city developed rapidly from an agricultural market town into an industrial centre producing timber, clothing, cigarettes, and foodstuffs. It lies in the southern part of the Petrosani