271 résultats pour "19th"

• Book Publishing I INTRODUCTION Book Publishing, manufacture, publication, and distribution of books.

  they use advanced printers and binding techniques to run off as many books as required. Printing only as many books as needed allows companies to save money, andbeing able to store books digitally means that books can be printed whenever necessary, keeping them in print indefinitely. B Marketing and Distribution Once the book has been made, it is ready for distribution. Traditionally, trade books have been sold primarily by salespeople calling on bookstores across the countryand taking orders f...

• Costa Rica - country.

  protection from future deforestation is not guaranteed. Deforestation places Costa Rica’s rich biodiversity in danger. The country’s location on the cusp between Northand South America and its abundance of tropical forests make it home to a great variety of species, many of them rare and threatened. Deforestation also contributesto the country’s problematic rate of soil erosion. Costa Rica is party to international treaties concerning biodiversity, climate change ( see Global Warming), endangere...

• Roman Catholic Church.

  comprehensiveness of its doctrinal tradition. Locating its beginnings in the earliest Christian communities and refusing to acknowledge any decisive break in its history,the Roman Catholic Church considers itself heir to the theological traditions of the apostolic, patristic, medieval, and modern periods. The church does not in principleexclude any theological method, and since the encyclical of Pope Pius XII Divino Afflante Spiritu (1943) it has officially sanctioned modern principles of exeg...

• African Literature I INTRODUCTION African Literature, oral and written literature produced on the African continent.

  that few scholars of African culture know any African languages, and few Africans know an African language other than their own. The best-known literatures in Africanlanguages include those in Yoruba and Hausa in West Africa; Sotho, Xhosa, and Zulu in southern Africa; and Amharic, Somali, and Swahili in East Africa. In West Africa, Yoruba writing emerged after Bishop Ajayi Crowther, a former slave, developed a script for the language and in 1900 published the first Yorubatranslation of the Bible...

• New Orleans - geography.

  D Metropolitan Region The New Orleans metropolitan region covers 8,800 sq km (3,400 sq mi) and includes the counties—known in Louisiana as parishes— of Orleans, Jefferson, Saint Bernard, Saint Charles, Saint John the Baptist, Saint Tammany, Saint James, and Plaquemines. At the center is the city of New Orleans, which is coextensive withOrleans Parish. It has a land area of 468 sq km (181 sq mi). Extending from this base are numerous suburban towns in the surrounding parishes. Metairie, Harahan...

• Welfare.

  industrializing societies. Governments typically financed social insurance programs with tax funds and direct levies on the wages of potential recipients. Social insurancereplaced part of incomes lost when workers became disabled, were laid off, or had reached an age that forced them out of the labor market. Later, governments of Germany, France, Belgium, Sweden, and other countries developed forms of social insurance that provided population-wide, or universal,coverage. Such forms included chil...

• National Parks and Preserves.

  Some ibex raised in Italy’s 700 sq km (220 sq mi) Gran Paradiso National Park (1922) were transferred to aid herd restoration elsewhere in the country. Switzerlandreturned lynx to Swiss National Park to keep red deer populations in check. The growth of national parks also enabled many European countries to restore forests thathad given way to industrialization by the early 20th century. Africa’s wildlife was hunted heavily from the late 19th century well into the 20th century. By 1920 big-game h...

• Finland - country.

  Productive forestland is the most valuable natural resource of Finland. Spruce, pine, and silver birch are the principal trees used to manufacture wood and pulp andpaper products. Finland lacks coal and petroleum resources and is a net importer of energy resources. However, Finland does have significant deposits of peat, which is cut from thenumerous peat bogs that cover much of the north. Peat is an important heat source for homes, and it provides about 7 percent of Finland’s electricity needs....

• Belarus - country.

  In the last complete census conducted in the Soviet Union in 1989, the population of Belarus was 10,151,806; a 2008 estimate was 9,685,768, giving the country apopulation density of 47 persons per sq km (121 per sq mi). The most notable demographic trend since the 1950s has been the steady migration of the population fromthe villages to urban centers, and the correspondent aging of the population remaining in the rural areas. In 1959 urban residents accounted for 31 percent of thepopulation; in...

• Mexico City - geography.

  The park houses some of Mexico's most important public buildings, including Chapultepec Castle. Construction of the castle began in 1783. Positioned on the park’shighest elevation, the castle functioned as a fortress during colonial times. It once served as the presidential residence and now houses the National Museum of History,which includes murals by 20th-century Mexican painter Juan O'Gorman. Los Pinos, the official residence and working offices of the president, is also on the grounds, buti...

• Latin American Independence.

  be inferior and were not permitted a university education. In the lowest caste were the African slaves. As the Spanish monarchy tried to increase its authority, it was hampered by the power of the Catholic Church. The church, including various religious orders, hadacquired great wealth, including large holdings of land, in the colonies. The Jesuit order especially had gained extraordinary wealth and political influence, and it alsocontrolled much of the university and high school education in th...

• Kenya - country.

  threatens fish and other water life in the lake by depriving them of oxygen. Kenya is well known for its game parks—including Masai Mara Game Park and Tsavo National Park in the south, and Marsabit National Reserve in the north—whichattract large numbers of tourists and much revenue. Conservation of wildlife within reserves has thus received high priority. About 13 percent (2007) of Kenya’s totalland is protected. There are 229 (2004) threatened species in Kenya. Threatened habitats include the...

• Railroads.

  III GAUGES The gauge of track is the distance between the inner edges of the rails at points 1.59 cm (0.626 in) below the top of the heads. In the United States, Canada, theUnited Kingdom, Mexico, Norway, Sweden, and much of continental Europe, the standard gauge is 143.51 cm (56.5 in). Why this measurement became the standard isa matter of speculation. Probably the tradition is inherited from early tramroads built to accommodate wagons with axles 1.5 m (5 ft) long; some of the early edge rail...

• Los Angeles - geography.

  (2006 population, 472,494), located east of the Port of Los Angeles. The city of Compton (95,701) is located north of Long Beach, on the east side of the AlamedaCorridor. On the other side of the corridor are the cities of Torrance (142,350) and Inglewood (114,914). Northwest of Inglewood and west of downtown Los Angeles are the wealthy and fashionable Santa Monica (88,050) and Beverly Hills (34,979). Both cities are enclaves:Santa Monica is surrounded by the City of Los Angeles to the north, ea...

• Los Angeles - geography.

  (2006 population, 472,494), located east of the Port of Los Angeles. The city of Compton (95,701) is located north of Long Beach, on the east side of the AlamedaCorridor. On the other side of the corridor are the cities of Torrance (142,350) and Inglewood (114,914). Northwest of Inglewood and west of downtown Los Angeles are the wealthy and fashionable Santa Monica (88,050) and Beverly Hills (34,979). Both cities are enclaves:Santa Monica is surrounded by the City of Los Angeles to the north, ea...

• Fascism.

  values as coming before a radical political transformation. Others argue that a radical political transformation will then be followed by a change in values. Fascists claimthat the nation has entered a dangerous age of mediocrity, weakness, and decline. They are convinced that through their timely action they can save the nation fromitself. Fascists may assert the need to take drastic action against a nation's 'inner' enemies. Fascists promise that with their help the national crisis will end an...

• Vietnam - country.

  E Natural Resources Vietnam’s most valuable natural resource is its land, particularly the fertile, alluvial soils in the Red and Mekong deltas. Some 29 percent of the land is currently beingcultivated. Vietnam has some valuable mineral resources, including gold, iron, tin, zinc, phosphate, chromite, apatite, and anthracite coal. Most deposits are located in the northernpart of the country. Few attempts were made to extract these minerals until the French takeover of Vietnam at the end of the 1...

• Billiards.

  One of the most important snooker players in history was Joe Davis of England, who retired in 1946 after dominating the game for 20 years. He made runs of 100points or more 687 times. This record was later broken by Australia's Horace Lindrum, whose uncle Walter Lindrum was also a world-class billiards player. The mostsuccessful players in recent years include Ireland’s Ken Doherty, Scotland’s Stephen Hendry, and England’s Steve Davis, Jimmy White, and Mark Williams. IV HISTORY Billiards can b...

• Child Labor.

  States, are usually not subject to state laws because they do not fulfill residency requirements, and they are often unable to attend local schools, which have noprovisions for seasonal increases in school enrollment. Other children exempted from federal and state labor laws are children employed as actors and performers inradio, television, and motion pictures, as newspaper deliverers and sales personnel, or as part-time workers at home. IV INTERNATIONAL PROBLEMS In the early 21st century, ch...

• Vienna - geography.

  V HISTORY Throughout its existence Vienna has been a frontier post. Originally a Celtic settlement (Vindobona), it was taken over by the Romans in the 1st century BC and fortified by Emperor Augustus as part of the defenses against the Germanic tribes that lived north of the Danube. In the 5th century AD, however, the Romans evacuated thearea. In the 9th century Austria became part of the renewed Roman Empire of Charlemagne, and in 976 Emperor Otto II granted it to the Babenberg family. By the...

• Sydney (Australia) - geography.

  kept pace with demand, mostly through the outward expansion of the metropolitan area. More housing has been created recently in inner areas, including the CBD, onredeveloped industrial sites and in converted commercial buildings. Several outlying areas are part of the greater Sydney conurbation (a large urban area formed by urban sprawl). To the west are areas of commercial strip development extending from Penrith through the Blue Mountains; to the north are the Central Coast area centered on...

• Nile - Geography.

  The Nile is also a source of hydroelectric power ( see Waterpower), although the river’s potential as a source of electricity has yet to be fully exploited. Dams to provide hydroelectricity (and control flooding) have been constructed along the Nile in Egypt, Sudan, and Uganda. Additional hydroelectric projects are planned. IV HISTORY OF THE NILE A Ancient Egypt and the Nile The first great African civilization developed in the northern Nile Valley in Egypt in about 3300 BC. Settlements alon...

• Québec (city) - Geography.

  rotates between the mayors of small, medium, and core municipalities. The QUC is responsible for zoning, regional development, property valuation, waste disposal, andtourism promotion. City planning and public transit are handled in collaboration with the municipalities. Other municipal functions such as public works, libraries, water,parks, fire and police services, street repair, and traffic control are left to the municipalities. VII CONTEMPORARY ISSUES In recent years the St. Lawrence Rive...

• Gymnastics.

  harmoniously with the equipment to perform a graceful and error-free routine. There are also two team events in which five competitors perform together. At thehighest international levels, rhythmic gymnastics is judged on a 30-point scale rather than with the traditional 10-point scoring system. IV TRAMPOLINE Trampoline first appeared in the Olympics as a medal sport at the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia, with a men’s individual event and a women’s individual event.Contestants bounce up and d...

• Guinea - country.

  Mining operations in 2004 yielded 16 million metric tons of bauxite, 468,400 carats of high-quality diamonds, and 16,000 kg (35,300 lb) of gold. Environmental concernsand political instability in neighboring Liberia have delayed exploitation of high-grade iron ore from Mount Nimba. In 1999 the national budget included $466 million in revenues and $414 million in expenditures. The unit of currency is the Guinean franc, which is divided into 100 centimes (3,644 francs equal U.S.$1; 2005 average...

• House (architecture) I INTRODUCTION Trulli in Alberobello, Italy Alberobello, in the Apulia region of southeastern Italy, is noted for its unusual limestone houses known as trulli (from Greek trullos, dome).

  Fresco in the Villa of the Mysteries, PompeiiThe Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii, Italy (built about 50 bc), featured a large hall with this mural encircling it. The mural ispainted in the Second Style of Roman painting. (Historians of art recognize four periods or styles in Roman wall painting.)The mural in the Villa of the Mysteries is thought to depict the initiation rituals of a mystery religion. For this reason, it hasbeen conjectured that the hall was used for cult rituals.Bridgeman Art Li...

• Shanghai - geography.

  language. V EDUCATION AND CULTURE Shanghai is one of China’s leading centers of learning and culture. The metropolitan area is home to more than 40 institutions of higher learning. These include some ofChina’s most famous universities, such as Fudan University (founded in 1905), Tongji University (1907), and the East China Normal University (1951). A large branch ofthe Chinese Academy of Sciences is located in Shanghai, and extensive research is undertaken in areas such as semiconductors, laser...

• Togo - country.

  corn, millet, and sorghum. The leading export crops are coffee, cotton, groundnuts, and cacao. Livestock, chiefly sheep and goats, are raised on the northern plateau.Fish are caught in Togo’s rivers and in the Gulf of Guinea. B Mining and Manufacturing Togo is a leading producer of phosphates, which are by far the country’s most significant mineral product. In 2004, 400,000 metric tons of phosphate rock were mined.Industrial activity is limited but growing. The leading manufactures include ceme...

• Cincinnati - geography.

  and managed the Reds. The University of Cincinnati men’s basketball team enjoyed considerable success in the 1990s. IV ECONOMY Cincinnati, from its earliest beginnings, has functioned as a major port on the Ohio River. Distribution of raw materials as well as manufactured goods is one of the city’schief economic activities. Although Cincinnati remains one of the world’s leading centers for the distribution of bituminous (soft) coal, this trade is gradually declining. Coal from Kentucky and W...

• Miami (Florida) - geography.

  VI EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS Colleges and universities in the area include the University of Miami, Florida International University, Barry University, St. Thomas University, and Florida MemorialCollege. Miami-Dade Community College, one of the nation’s largest two-year colleges, has six campuses in the region. Leading museums include the Historical Museumof Southern Florida, the Miami Museum of Science, the Miami Art Museum, the Lowe Art Museum on the campus of the University of M...

• Classification - biology.

  species based on the fewest number of shared changes that have occurred from generation to generation. IV HISTORY OF CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS Classification is one of the oldest sciences, but despite its age it is still a vigorous field full of new discoveries and methods. Much like other fields of science, greatthinkers have shaped the course of classification. One of the earliest classification schemes was established by Greek philosopher Aristotle, who lived in the 300s BC. Aristotle believe...

• Rio de Janeiro (city) - geography.

  were coronated; and Our Lady of Candelária Church, thought by some to be the city’s most beautiful church. Another building of interest is the Imperial Palace, located several blocks west of Santos Dumont Airport. Originally constructed as Brazil’s colonial governor’s capitol in1743, it was converted to the royal palace during the city’s period as an imperial capital. It has recently been restored and now houses a cultural center. Otherimpressive 19th-century palaces include Itamaraty and Catete...

• Jerusalem - geography.

  There are many other artifacts in the city, tied to various periods of history; those of Canaanite, Israelite, Greek, Roman, Arab, Crusader, and Ottoman origin areamong the more prominent. Modern attractions include the Israel Museum (completed in 1965), which houses the Shrine of the Book, where the Dead Sea Scrolls areexhibited; the Rockefeller Museum (opened in 1938), which contains archaeological finds; the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum; the Museum of Biblical Archaeology; theMuseum of Islamic...

• Georgia (country) - country.

  1917. During the subsequent Soviet period, religious practice was strongly discouraged because the Soviet state was officially atheistic; however, the GeorgianOrthodox Church was allowed to function openly. Orthodox Christianity is the religion of about 58 percent of the Georgian population. Muslims represent about 19 percent of the country’s population, with ethnicAzerbaijanis, Kurds, and Ajars comprising the principal Muslim groups. Ajars are ethnic Georgians who converted to Islam in the 17th...

• International Law.

  merchants), modernized the rights of neutrals during maritime war, and required blockades to be effective. The Declaration of Paris also initiated the practice of allowingnations other than the original signatories to accede (become a party to) to an agreement. In 1864 a conference convened in Geneva, Switzerland, at the invitation of the Swiss government. The conference approved a convention for the proper treatment ofwounded soldiers on the battlefield and the protection of medical personnel;...

• Athens (Greece) - geography.

  At the heart of the modern city is Syntagma (Constitution) Square, located east of the Acropolis. The square is bordered by the national Parliament Building, originally aroyal palace completed in 1842 for King Otto I. Nearby is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which features a daily changing of the guard. Several of the city’s principalhotels as well the offices of major banks and airline companies also face the square. Behind the Parliament Building is the National Gardens, a public park that i...

• British Empire .

  B1 The Seven Years’ War During the Seven Years’ War in Europe (1756-1763), Britain made large imperial gains at the expense of France. The North American segment of the Seven Years’ Warwas known as the French and Indian War. It was launched by the British against French possessions in North America in 1754, and in 1758 the British captured theFrench fortress of Louisbourg, which gave them access to French territory in the St. Lawrence Valley. In the following year Québec was captured, marking t...

• Kyrgyzstan - country.

  are Bishkek, the capital, located on the Chu River in the far north; and Osh, located in the Fergana Valley. A Ethnic Groups Ethnic Kyrgyz make up about 65 percent of the population of Kyrgyzstan. Uzbeks, who live primarily in the Fergana Valley, constitute about 14 percent of thepopulation. Russians, who live principally in Bishkek and other industrial centers, make up about 13 percent of the population. Other ethnic groups include Hui (ChineseMuslims, also known as Dungans), Ukrainians, Uygur...

• Armenia (country) - country.

  because of ethnic tension brought on by a secessionist conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, a region inhabited predominantly by Armenians in western Azerbaijan. In thereverse direction, many Armenian refugees entered Armenia from Azerbaijan during the conflict. Armenia’s official state language is Armenian, an Indo-European language with no surviving close relatives. It has a unique 38-letter alphabet that dates from the early5th century. Of its many spoken dialects, the most important are Eastern or Y...

• Swimming.

  the swimmer and the pinky finger should enter the water first. At the same time, the swimmer moves the left arm through the water below the left side of the body.Once in the water, the right arm begins pulling the swimmer forward by bending at the elbow. At the same time the swimmer holds the left arm straight as it reachesthe hip and lifts it out of the water. As the right arm continues to pull, the swimmer rotates slightly onto the right side and swings the left arm up above the head. As the s...

• Marriage.

  In many traditional societies, marriage typically involved transfers of property from the parents to their marrying children or from one set of parents to the other. Thesecustoms persist in some places today and are part of the tradition of arranged marriages. For example, in some cultures the bride’s parents may give property (knownas a dowry) to the new couple. The practice of giving dowries has been common in countries such as Greece, Egypt, India, and China from ancient times until thepresen...

• Egyptian Art and Architecture - USA History.

  The kings of the 1st Dynasty (2920 BC-2770 BC) were buried in the cemetery of their ancestors at Abydos in southern Egypt. Their burial sites were built of mud brick (bricks baked in the sun) and consisted of two parts: a tomb in the desert where the king was buried, and a rectangular funerary enclosure at the desert's edge, whererituals were performed. A pair of stone slabs called stelae marked the tombs and bore the name of the royal occupant. In the 2nd Dynasty (2770 BC-2649 BC), most r...

• Cambodia - country.

  The population of Cambodia is 14,241,640 (2008 estimate). Population growth per year is estimated at 1.8 percent, one of the highest rates in Asia. The rate of infantmortality is also high. The population density is 81 persons per sq km (209 per sq mi), with the densest concentrations on the heavily cultivated central plain. Themountainous regions of the country, where malaria is widespread, are thinly populated, as are the poorly watered northern provinces. During the late 1970s, under thebruta...

• Belgium - country.

  European Union (EU) directives aimed at improving Belgium’s environmental conditions concern water treatment and water quality, both significant issues in such anindustrial center. Before these directives were issued, the Meuse River, a major source of drinking water, had become polluted from steel production wastes. Otherrivers were polluted with animal wastes and fertilizers. However, Belgium failed to meet EU targets set for the early 2000s for protecting its rivers from farm pollutionand for...

• Illustration I INTRODUCTION Illustration, pictorial material appearing with a text and amplifying or enhancing it.

  Hypnerotomachia PoliphiliThe Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (The Strife of Love in a Dream), a work attributed to Dominican monk Francesco deColonna, was first published in Venice, Italy, in 1499 by Aldus Manutius. Its text and its beautiful woodcut illustrationsinfluenced Renaissance art and architecture. This illustration shows the book’s protagonist, Poliphilus, asleep under a tree.The Pierpont Morgan Library/Art Resource, NY The first illustrated book with a text printed from movable type was pro...

• Pan-Africanism.

  (in New York City). These congresses were attended by increasing numbers of representatives from the United States, Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean. Severalimportant factors affected the growing popularity of the congresses. First, many delegates were sponsored by international labor movements, which were growing insize and power in the 1920s. A second factor was the growth of the black nationalist movement of Marcus Garvey. The Garvey movement was important in the UnitedStates as a popular ex...

• Scramble for Africa - history.

  Sir Henry Morton StanleyAnglo-American explorer Sir Henry Morton Stanley was a key figure in the Scramble for Africa. His late 19th-century exploration anddevelopment of the lower Congo River in the name of Belgian king Leopold II led to the creation of the huge Congo Free State asLeopold’s personal property.THE BETTMANN ARCHIVE European competition over African territory in the 1870s heightened once Belgian king Leopold II got involved. Merchants under French government protection had beenadvan...

• Pan-Africanism - history.

  Edward Wilmot BlydenEdward Wilmot Blyden (1832-1912) was an early proponent of Pan-Africanism and a leading black intellectual and scholar of Africanculture. Born in the Virgin Islands, Blyden moved to the West African nation of Liberia in 1851 and promoted the repatriation of freeAmerican blacks to Liberia. He hoped that Liberia, as an independent black-ruled nation, would become a beacon of Pan-Africanism,displaying the great achievements of Africans and people of African descent.Library of Co...

• Santa Claus I INTRODUCTION Santa Claus, legendary bringer of gifts at Christmas.

  included such details as the names of the reindeer; Santa Claus's laughs, winks, and nods; and the method by which Saint Nicholas, referred to as an elf, returns up thechimney. (Moore's phrase “lays his finger aside of his nose” was drawn directly from Irving's 1809 description.) The American image of Santa Claus was further elaborated by illustrator Thomas Nast, who depicted a rotund Santa for Christmas issues of Harper's magazine from the 1860s to the 1880s. Nast added such details as Santa'...

• Sumer - History.

  In the late 19th century, a series of excavations was undertaken at Lagash by French archaeologists working under the direction of the Louvre and at Nippur byAmericans under the auspices of the University of Pennsylvania. The French excavations at Lagash were conducted from 1877 to 1900 by Ernest de Sarzec; from 1903to 1909 by Gaston Cros; from 1929 to 1931 by Henri de Genouillac; and from 1931 to 1933 by André Parrot. The excavations at Nippur were conducted (1889-1900)by John Punnett Peters, J...