627 résultats pour "before"

• Roman Mythology.

  Her temple on the Aventine Hill in Rome was a center for organizations of skilled craftspeople. According to tradition, in 509 BC the dynasty of Etruscan kings ended and the Roman Republic was founded. The republic was ruled by two chief magistrates, called consuls, who were elected by the people to one-year terms. During the time of the republic, the Capitoline temple became the most important public shrine of theRoman people and the focus of public worship. Each January, the new consuls offer...

• Supernova - astronomy.

  The term hypernova has been proposed for an extremely massive core-collapse supernova—possibly more than 100 times the mass of the Sun. A hypernova is thought to form a black hole. Just before it explodes, a hypernova may release a huge burst of gamma rays in a jet from the rotating black hole at its center. These jets mayexplain the so-called long gamma-ray bursts detected by astronomers. According to some researchers, massive stars with over 40 solar masses may sometimescollapse directly int...

• Syria - country.

  D Education Primary education is free and compulsory for all children aged 6 through 12. Some 78 percent of the adult Syrian population was estimated to be literate in 2005.Primary schools enrolled 2.8 million pupils in the 2000 school year, and 1.1 million students attended secondary schools and vocational institutes. In 1998, 94,110 Syrian students were enrolled in institutes of higher education. Syria has universities in Damascus, Ḩalab, Ḩim ş, and Al L ādhiq īyah. Also in Damascus isthe Ar...

• Alcoholism.

  Although a consensus is growing among health professionals that alcohol dependence is a disease, society’s attitudes toward individuals with drinking problems remainambivalent and confused. Until the mid-20th century, the typical picture of the alcoholic was of someone without steady employment, unable to sustain familyrelationships and most likely in desperate financial straits. But this stereotype was largely dispelled when highly respected people publicly admitted their alcoholdependence and...

• Spread of Islam - History.

  Muhammad died in 632 and was succeeded by Abu Bakr, the father of Muhammad’s favorite wife, Aisha. Abu Bakr was the first caliph ( khalifah, Arabic for “successor”) of Islam. Like Muhammad, Abu Bakr was a member of the Quraysh clan. While neither Abu Bakr nor any subsequent caliph claimed the role of prophet, they wereleaders of this new religious enterprise that was quickly becoming a political entity as well. The first four caliphs, all of whom were selected by some form of council ofMuslims,...

• Maya Civilization.

  destruction was directed mostly at temples in the ceremonial precincts; it had little or no impact on the economy or population of a city as a whole. Some city-states didoccasionally conquer others, but this was not a common occurrence until very late in the Classic period when lowland civilization had begun to disintegrate. Until thattime, the most common pattern of Maya warfare seems to have consisted of raids employing rapid attacks and retreats by relatively small numbers of warriors, most o...

• Maya Civilization - History.

  destruction was directed mostly at temples in the ceremonial precincts; it had little or no impact on the economy or population of a city as a whole. Some city-states didoccasionally conquer others, but this was not a common occurrence until very late in the Classic period when lowland civilization had begun to disintegrate. Until thattime, the most common pattern of Maya warfare seems to have consisted of raids employing rapid attacks and retreats by relatively small numbers of warriors, most o...

• Mexican Revolution.

  growing economic and social difficulties. Although Madero called for free and democratic elections, and a ban on reelection at all levels of government, he offered little tourban workers seeking higher wages and better working conditions, or to indigenous people seeking the restoration of their traditional lands. Madero’s intention was tolead a political rebellion, not a social revolution. Despite the political nature of the plan, it became a rallying point for poor and working-class Mexicans, m...

• Butterflies and Moths - biology.

  The smallest butterflies are certain blues that have wingspans of a mere 0.7 cm (0.25 in). The largest are the female giant birdwings of Papua New Guinea, whichmeasure up to 30 cm (12 in) across. Moths range in size from tiny Microlepidoptera, several groups of small moths with wings no more than 0.16 cm (0.06 in) across, togiant silk moths, such as the atlas moth, which may exceed 30 cm (12 in) in wingspan. IV REPRODUCTION AND LIFE CYCLE Butterflies locate potential mates by sight, identifyin...

• Census.

  Prior to any census, a census agency must develop an accurate list of addresses and maps to ensure that everyone is counted. The U.S. Census Bureau obtainsaddresses primarily from the United States Postal Service and from previous census address lists. It also works closely with state, local, and tribal governments tocompile accurate lists. Finally, census agencies often conduct an extensive marketing campaign before Census Day to remind the general population about theimportance of responding t...

• Sporting News Sportsman of the Year This award was first presented in 1968 and was known as the Sporting News Man of the Year before 1993.

• The Record Jump.

  circuit in the United States before retiring from competition. Eventually he would complete a degree in sociology and go on to be a coach and educator. It tookanother 15 years before his successors even reached the 8.53 m (28 ft) mark. And until 1991, when Mike Powell of the United States jumped 8.95 m (29 ft 4 1/2 in),Bob Beamon's extraordinary record had stood unsurpassed. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

• Johnson Knocks Out Jeffries.

  Through the fight's first three rounds the boxers—picking, jabbing, and feigning—proceeded slowly. Even at this cautious pace Johnson scored several shatteringblows, smiling or laughing several times during the early rounds. By the fourth round Johnson was in control, and he continued to batter Jeffries for ten more rounds. In the 15th, Johnson knocked down Jeffries with a left. Theformer champion rose groggily to his feet only to be met by another left from Johnson to the jaw. This punch pr...

• Excerpt from Coriolanus - anthology.

  For that, “Forgive our Romans.” O, a kissLong as my exile, sweet as my revenge!Now, by the jealous queen of heaven, that kissI carried from thee, dear, and my true lipHath virgined it e'er since. You gods! I pray,And the most noble mother of the worldLeave unsaluted. Sink my knee i'th'earth;He kneels Of thy deep duty more impression showThan that of common sons. VOLUMNIA. O, stand up blest!He rises Whilst with no softer cushion than the flintI kneel before thee, and unproperlyShow duty as mistak...

• From Bulfinch's Mythology: Adventures of Aeneas - anthology.

  out of his way. Hearing the oars, Polyphemus shouted after them, so that the shores resounded, and at the noise the other Cyclopses came forth from their caves andwoods and lined the shore, like a row of lofty pine trees. The Trojans plied their oars and soon left them out of sight. Æneas had been cautioned by Helenus to avoid the strait guarded by the monsters Scylla and Charybdis. There Ulysses, the reader will remember, had lost six of hismen, seized by Scylla while the navigators were wh...

• Eukaryote - biology.

  The waste is then expelled through a hole in the fused membrane. In complex animals, cells generate wastes such as urea when nutrients are broken down within cells.These wastes are transported by blood to the kidneys. The kidneys process the waste and produce urine, which is removed from the body through the bladder.Undigested food travels through the tubelike intestines and is eliminated through the digestive system. V EVOLUTIONARY ORIGINS Eukaryotes evolved much later than prokaryotes, whose...

• Jackie Robinson Breaks the Barrier.

  Leagues. The crowd of fans at the Negro Leagues' annual East-West Classic All-Star Game in 1944 outnumbered the major league All-Star Game 46,247 to 29,589. Another barrier to black players fell when baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, an adamant opponent of desegregation, died in office in 1944 and wasreplaced by A. B. “Happy” Chandler. Chandler was known to support integration, but it took Branch Rickey, who had built the St. Louis Cardinals' farm system intothe finest in baseba...

• US Beats USSR in Hockey.

  The two sides once again exchanged goals during the first period. Sergei Makarov briefly gave the Soviets a lead when he beat Craig. The goal outraged many in thecrowd who felt that referee Karl Kaisla of Finland missed a holding violation by a USSR player in front of the net. Controversy also played a role in the Americans'game-tying goal at the end of the period. With a few seconds left on the clock, Ken Morrow unleashed an 80-foot slap shot that ricocheted to center Mark Johnson,who deposited...

• Sir Charles Tupper.

  campaign, Macdonald asked him to become minister of finance. He was then sent to Washington, D.C., as leader of the Canadian delegation to settle a fisheries disputewith the United States. A treaty was worked out and signed, but the U.S. Senate refused to ratify it. Tupper had already become a Knight Commander of St. Michaeland St. George in 1879, and he received the Knight Grand Cross of St. Michael and St. George in 1886. For his services in Washington he was given the hereditary titleof baron...

• Sir Charles Tupper - Canadian History.

  campaign, Macdonald asked him to become minister of finance. He was then sent to Washington, D.C., as leader of the Canadian delegation to settle a fisheries disputewith the United States. A treaty was worked out and signed, but the U.S. Senate refused to ratify it. Tupper had already become a Knight Commander of St. Michaeland St. George in 1879, and he received the Knight Grand Cross of St. Michael and St. George in 1886. For his services in Washington he was given the hereditary titleof baron...

• Excerpt from The Merry Wives of Windsor - anthology.

  MISTRESS FORD. O sweet Sir John! FALSTAFF. Mistress Ford, I cannot cog, I cannot prate, Mistress Ford. Now shall I sin in my wish: I would thy husband were dead. I'll speak it before the best lord, Iwould make thee my lady. MISTRESS FORD. I your lady, Sir John? Alas, I should be a pitiful lady. FALSTAFF. Let the court of France show me such another. I see how thine eye would emulate the diamond. Thou hast the right arched beauty of the brow thatbecomes the ship-tire, the tire-valiant, or any tir...

• Domestic Violence.

  socialization teaches boys and girls a belief system that devalues women—especially unmarried women—and creates a sense of female responsibility for themaintenance of the family. Women who believe that the end of a relationship or of a marriage represents a personal failure are less likely to leave abusive relationships. V TREATMENT AND PREVENTION A variety of programs and services, both for victims and offenders, exist to treat and prevent domestic violence. Since 1964, more than 1800 shelters...

• From The Sound and the Fury - anthology.

  'You'd better slip on your pants and run,' he said. He went out. I got up and moved about, listening to him through the wall. He entered the sitting-room, toward the door. 'Aren't you ready yet?' 'Not yet. Run along. I'll make it.' He went out. The door closed. His feet went down the corridor. Then I could hear the watch again. I quit moving around and went to the window and drew thecurtains aside and watched them running for chapel, the same ones fighting the same heaving coat-s...

• Jane Austen.

  years later.) Mansfield Park is Jane Austen’s most ambitious novel—in length, in variety of characterization, and in the scope of its theme. It centers on the effects of upbringing on personal morality in three families—the middle-class Bertrams, the fashionable Crawfords, and the impoverished Prices. Austen has been praised for her presentation ofthe complex relations between the members of the families, but as in Sense and Sensibility, she frustrates the expectations of her readers that the...

• From Bulfinch's Mythology: Charlemagne - anthology.

  The titles of some of Archbishop Turpin's chapters will show the nature of his history. They are these: 'Of the Walls of Pampeluna, that fell of themselves.' 'Of theWar of the holy Facundus, where the Spears grew.' (Certain of the Christians fixed their spears, in the evening, erect in the ground, before the castle; and found them,in the morning, covered with bark and branches.) 'How the Sun stood still for Three Days, and the Slaughter of Four Thousand Saracens.' Turpin's history has perhap...

• Mark Twain.

  father, who keeps him prisoner in an isolated cabin. The boy escapes and, together with a runaway slave, Jim, sails down the Mississippi on a raft. During their trip,Huck and Jim encounter many unusual characters, including two families involved in a senseless feud and a pair of scoundrels who swindle innocent townspeople. Theirexperiences bring about a strong friendship between the boy and the slave, but their adventures end when Jim is captured and held at the farm of Tom Sawyer’s AuntSally. W...

• Mark Twain I INTRODUCTION Mark Twain, pseudonym of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910), American writer and humorist, whose best work is characterized by broad, often irreverent humor or biting social satire.

  father, who keeps him prisoner in an isolated cabin. The boy escapes and, together with a runaway slave, Jim, sails down the Mississippi on a raft. During their trip,Huck and Jim encounter many unusual characters, including two families involved in a senseless feud and a pair of scoundrels who swindle innocent townspeople. Theirexperiences bring about a strong friendship between the boy and the slave, but their adventures end when Jim is captured and held at the farm of Tom Sawyer’s AuntSally. W...

• Mark Twain - USA History.

  father, who keeps him prisoner in an isolated cabin. The boy escapes and, together with a runaway slave, Jim, sails down the Mississippi on a raft. During their trip,Huck and Jim encounter many unusual characters, including two families involved in a senseless feud and a pair of scoundrels who swindle innocent townspeople. Theirexperiences bring about a strong friendship between the boy and the slave, but their adventures end when Jim is captured and held at the farm of Tom Sawyer’s AuntSally. W...

• Memory (psychology).

  memory span —how many items people can correctly recall in order. Researchers would show people increasingly long sequences of digits or letters and then ask them to recall as many of the items as they could. In 1956 American psychologist George Miller reviewed many experiments on memory span and concluded that peoplecould hold an average of seven items in short-term memory. He referred to this limit as “the magical number seven, plus or minus two” because the results of thestudies were so consi...

• Hundred Years' War.

  knowledge of English tactics. Du Guesclin became Constable of France (head of the army) in 1370, and when he died in 1380, Clisson succeeded him. Charles also reorganized the French military, developing a full-time, professional army for the first time, and established a regular system of taxation to pay for it. Inaddition, France gained an important ally on the throne of the Spanish kingdom of Castile, Henry II, who had pledged support for Charles V. When the Caroline war began in 1369, the Eng...

• Hundred Years' War .

  knowledge of English tactics. Du Guesclin became Constable of France (head of the army) in 1370, and when he died in 1380, Clisson succeeded him. Charles also reorganized the French military, developing a full-time, professional army for the first time, and established a regular system of taxation to pay for it. Inaddition, France gained an important ally on the throne of the Spanish kingdom of Castile, Henry II, who had pledged support for Charles V. When the Caroline war began in 1369, the Eng...

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

  including the sacred style of church music and the so-called galant (courtly) idiom. The elegant though often superficial galant style dominated much instrumental music of the 1760s and 1770s. Mozart’s mastery often demonstrates itself in an ability to expand and deepen the stylistic possibilities of the time. The manner in which heextended the character and form of the concerto, for instance, owes much to his experience in writing operatic arias. A Musical Expressiveness In the masterful Je...

• Blood.

  substances. For example, a person who is blood type A positive will not make antibodies against the A or Rh markers, but will make antibodies against the B marker,which is not on that person’s own red blood cells. If blood containing the B marker (from types B positive, B negative, AB positive, or AB negative) is transfused into thisperson, then the transfused red blood cells will be rapidly destroyed by the patient’s anti-B antibodies. In this case, the transfusion will do the patient no good a...

• Neandertals.

  Neandertals made stone tools by striking flakes from rock “cores.” The cores were carefully selected and prepared so that only a single blow was normally required todetach a flake. A number of relatively standardized flakes were sometimes produced from a single core. These sharp flakes served as “blanks” that were further workedand shaped into the desired tools. Suitable stone was sometimes rare, and often tools were sharpened and resharpened to make new tools, yielding a whole variety ofshapes...

• Kuwait (country) - country.

  Oil revenues have allowed Kuwait to build an extensive educational system, yielding a literacy rate of 84 percent. Public school is free and compulsory from the age of 6to 13, and several private schools also teach this age group. Kuwait University (founded in 1966) is also free and offers programs in a wide range of professional andscientific fields at several campuses. Both the extensive library system at Kuwait University and the collection at Kuwait National Museum (1957) were heavily damage...

• Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam - anthology.

  That just divides the desert from the sown,Where name of Slave and Sultán is forgot—And Peace to Mahmúd on his golden Throne! 12A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread—and ThouBeside me singing in the Wilderness—Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow! 13Some for the Glories of This World; and someSigh for the Prophet’s Paradise to come;Ah, take the Cash, and let the Credit go,Nor heed the rumble of a distant Drum! 14Look to the blowing Rose about us—”Lo,Laughing,” she say...

• Andrew Johnson.

  As senator, Johnson continued to work for a homestead law, and he was disappointed when President James Buchanan vetoed the homestead act of 1860. On theslavery issue, Johnson still followed the orthodox Southern line, but with no great enthusiasm. He voted for the resolutions proposed in 1860 by Senator Jefferson Davisof Mississippi to implement the Dred Scott Decision of 1857, which stated that Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories of the United States. C1 Presidential Electio...

• Andrew Johnson

  As senator, Johnson continued to work for a homestead law, and he was disappointed when President James Buchanan vetoed the homestead act of 1860. On theslavery issue, Johnson still followed the orthodox Southern line, but with no great enthusiasm. He voted for the resolutions proposed in 1860 by Senator Jefferson Davisof Mississippi to implement the Dred Scott Decision of 1857, which stated that Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories of the United States. C1 Presidential Electio...

• Indo-Pakistani Wars - History.

  wrest Jammu and Kashmīr from India through the use of force. This effort failed as India held its ground, and the war ended in a stalemate after almost two months ofarmed conflict. Although the second war over the territory was shorter than the first, the increased firepower of the two nations resulted in a more deadly war, with atotal of about 6,800 battle casualties. A Events Before the War A number of factors precipitated the second conflict over Jammu and Kashm īr. In the wake of a border w...

• Volcano.

  before eruption. Very violent explosive eruptions are called Plinian eruptions, after Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder. These eruptions can last for several hours to daysand eject a large amount of pyroclastic material. Some volcanoes can produce much more energetic eruptions that eject materials farther from the vents because oftheir andesitic and dacitic composition. Andesitic and dacitic lava is generally thicker than basaltic lava. Stiff lava generally produces more-explosive eruptions. B No...

• Republican Party.

  the reaction to the depression that the Republican Party controlled Congress for only 4 of the 48 years between 1932 and 1980. The Republicans did win the presidencyfour times during that period—in 1952, 1956, 1968, and 1972—when the Democratic Party split or when some unusual combination of circumstances occurred. Fromthe 1930s through the 1970s, however, the Democratic Party was the dominant party in the United States. The response of the Republicans to this new situation was confusion, anger,...

• Nuclear Weapons.

  Regardless of the method used to attain a supercritical assembly, the chain reaction proceeds for about a millionth of a second, liberating vast amounts of heat energy.The extremely fast release of a very large amount of energy in a relatively small volume causes the temperature to rise to tens of millions of degrees. The resultingrapid expansion and vaporization of the bomb material causes a powerful explosion. VI PRODUCTION OF FISSILE MATERIAL Much experimentation was necessary to make the p...

• Pyramids (Egypt) - geography.

  limestone debris left over from the construction work. When the workers had completed the pyramid and installed the pyramidion, or cap stone, ramps still covered the surface of the pyramid. As the workers dismantled the ramps from the top down, they slowly exposed the pyramid’s stone surface, which stonemasons smoothed and polished. When the ramp was gone, the pyramid wasdisplayed in its full majesty. B Interior The interior of the Great Pyramid is complex, with a series of passages leading t...

• Pyramids (Egypt) - History.

  limestone debris left over from the construction work. When the workers had completed the pyramid and installed the pyramidion, or cap stone, ramps still covered the surface of the pyramid. As the workers dismantled the ramps from the top down, they slowly exposed the pyramid’s stone surface, which stonemasons smoothed and polished. When the ramp was gone, the pyramid wasdisplayed in its full majesty. B Interior The interior of the Great Pyramid is complex, with a series of passages leading t...

• Native Americans of Middle and South America.

  A line that snakes across central Mexico near the Tropic of Cancer forms the northern boundary of Mesoamerica; north of this line rainfall sharply declines and theclimate is much drier. The ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica all arose and developed in the area between this line and the Guatemalan highlands far to the south. Richvolcanic soils are found throughout much of the region. A2 People and Languages Mesoamerica was a great melting pot, home to many peoples and interrelated cultures. In...

• Uruguay (country) - country.

  Freedom of religion is guaranteed by the constitution of Uruguay. Three-quarters of the people belong to the Roman Catholic Church. There are also sizable Protestantand Jewish congregations. The official language is Spanish, which in Uruguay has been influenced by Italian vocabulary and pronunciation. C Education Uruguay has one of the highest rates of literacy in Latin America, at 98.2 percent of the adult population. Six years of primary education is compulsory, and Uruguay isone of the few n...

• World War I .

  and troops to Europe from the United States and other overseas sources. In 1914 Britain implemented a sea blockade of Germany to prevent the delivery of importssuch as food and war materials. The same year, Germany began using submarines to disrupt Allied seaborne traffic and prevent supplies from reaching Britain. In 1915Germany instituted a submarine blockade around Britain. From February 1915 to September 1915 and again in 1917, Germany used unrestricted submarine warfare,sinking ships withou...

• George Bush.

  1986 it was folded into Harken Energy Corporation, another Texas petroleum company. Bush served as a consultant and a member of Harken’s board of directors. In 1987 Bush relocated his family to Washington, D.C., to assist his father in his bid to become president. He worked as a campaign adviser at his father’s nationalcampaign headquarters, serving as a liaison to the media and to conservative and Christian leaders. He was a trusted confidant of his father and mother, whosometimes dispatched Bu...

• George Bush - USA History.

  1986 it was folded into Harken Energy Corporation, another Texas petroleum company. Bush served as a consultant and a member of Harken’s board of directors. In 1987 Bush relocated his family to Washington, D.C., to assist his father in his bid to become president. He worked as a campaign adviser at his father’s nationalcampaign headquarters, serving as a liaison to the media and to conservative and Christian leaders. He was a trusted confidant of his father and mother, whosometimes dispatched Bu...

• American Civil War.

  free state to keep the balance in the Senate. It also provided that slavery would be excluded from the still unorganized part of the Louisiana Territory. A line was drawnfrom Missouri’s southern boundary, at the latitude of 36°30’, and slavery would not be allowed in the territory north of that line,with the exception of Missouri. B Compromise of 1850 Agitation against slavery continued in the North. The South reacted by defending it ever more strongly. The Mexican War, by which the United Stat...