938 résultats pour "madi"

• Badminton.

  Once play has started, players tend to hit straight, low-flying shots called drives. When the shuttle remains close to the center of the court, net shots can be a goodoption. Net shots can be hard-hit or delicate. They are aimed at the front area of the opponent’s court, forcing the opponent to play the shot close to the net. If the opponent manages to return a net shot, the return must be hit high to clear the net. This gives the player a chance for a smash—the deadliest attacking stroke inbadm...

• Feudalism I INTRODUCTION Feudalism, contractual system of political and military relationships existing among members of the nobility in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages.

  lord”; thus, it was not rebellion for a subvassal to fight against his lord’s lord. In England, however, William the Conqueror and his successors required their vassals’vassals to take oaths of fealty to them. B Duties of a Vassal Military service in the field was basic to feudalism, but it was far from all that the vassal owed to his lord. When the lord had a castle, he might require his vassals togarrison it, a service called castle-guard. The lord also expected his vassals to attend his cour...

• Charles Dickens.

  The Old Curiosity Shop broke hearts across Britain and North America when it first appeared. Later readers, however, have found it excessively sentimental, especially the pathos surrounding the death of its child-heroine Little Nell. Dickens’s next two works proved less popular with the public. Barnaby Rudge, Dickens’s first historical novel, revolves around anti-Catholic riots that broke out in London in 1780. The events in Martin Chuzzlewit become a vehicle for the novel’s theme: selfishne...

• Franklin Pierce.

  At the end of the war, Pierce returned home to his wife and six-year-old son. His law partnership had been dissolved, and he took a new partner. The new firm, like theold one, was highly successful. D Elder Statesman Pierce was by nature a politician. Although still in his early forties, as a retired U.S. senator he became New Hampshire's elder statesman and head of a group of lawyer-politicians called the Concord Clique, or the Regency. The group controlled the state's Democratic Party. Pierce...

• Franklin Pierce

  At the end of the war, Pierce returned home to his wife and six-year-old son. His law partnership had been dissolved, and he took a new partner. The new firm, like theold one, was highly successful. D Elder Statesman Pierce was by nature a politician. Although still in his early forties, as a retired U.S. senator he became New Hampshire's elder statesman and head of a group of lawyer-politicians called the Concord Clique, or the Regency. The group controlled the state's Democratic Party. Pierce...

• Lester Pearson.

  a vacant seat. The by-election followed a major Liberal victory in September, and as a Liberal Party candidate, Pearson won by a comfortable margin in Algoma East,Ontario. He was reelected to the House of Commons in elections between 1949 and 1965. He was immediately made secretary of state for external affairs in the cabinetof Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent. In this post, Pearson set a new standard of frank exchange and cooperation that brought him respect and esteem. However, manyCanadians w...

• Political Parties in the United States.

  quickly enabled the Republican Party to overpower the Know-Nothings. Although the Republicans lost their first campaign for the presidency in 1856, they triumphed in1860 with former congressman Abraham Lincoln. The Republican victory resulted in part from the division of the Democratic Party into Northern and Southern factions,each of which ran its own presidential candidate, and in part from their success at attracting Whigs and Know-Nothings who had opposed the Republicans in 1856.During the C...

• Peter the Great I INTRODUCTION Peter the Great or Peter I (1672-1725), tsar and, later, emperor of Russia (1682-1725), who is linked with the Westernization of Russia and its rise as a great power.

  V LATER REIGN Before long, however, these and other reform measures had to cede center stage to the prosecution of the Great Northern War (1700-1721) against Sweden. Peter’sjourney west did not result in a great alliance against the Ottomans, but it led to one against Sweden. Russia fought together with Denmark and the union of Polandand Saxony against Sweden to win the Baltic coastline, the 'window into Europe,' and to break Swedish dominance over the northern part of the continent. At the tim...

• Peter the Great.

  V LATER REIGN Before long, however, these and other reform measures had to cede center stage to the prosecution of the Great Northern War (1700-1721) against Sweden. Peter’sjourney west did not result in a great alliance against the Ottomans, but it led to one against Sweden. Russia fought together with Denmark and the union of Polandand Saxony against Sweden to win the Baltic coastline, the 'window into Europe,' and to break Swedish dominance over the northern part of the continent. At the tim...

• Lester Pearson - Canadian History.

  a vacant seat. The by-election followed a major Liberal victory in September, and as a Liberal Party candidate, Pearson won by a comfortable margin in Algoma East,Ontario. He was reelected to the House of Commons in elections between 1949 and 1965. He was immediately made secretary of state for external affairs in the cabinetof Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent. In this post, Pearson set a new standard of frank exchange and cooperation that brought him respect and esteem. However, manyCanadians w...

• Benito Mussolini.

  Mussolini threatened to order his tens of thousands of armed Black Shirts to occupy Rome if he were not asked to form the new government. Bands of Fascists beganmoving towards the capital in what would become known as the March on Rome. King Victor Emmanuel III at first leaned towards declaring a state of emergency andsending the army against the Fascists, but powerful interest groups, state officials, and army leaders convinced him that Mussolini should be given the chance to endwhat they consi...

• Benito Mussolini .

  Mussolini threatened to order his tens of thousands of armed Black Shirts to occupy Rome if he were not asked to form the new government. Bands of Fascists beganmoving towards the capital in what would become known as the March on Rome. King Victor Emmanuel III at first leaned towards declaring a state of emergency andsending the army against the Fascists, but powerful interest groups, state officials, and army leaders convinced him that Mussolini should be given the chance to endwhat they consi...

• Iran-Iraq War - History.

  The Iranian offensives of 1982 set a pattern that continued for the rest of the war. Exploiting their superiority in numbers, Iran sent its Revolutionary Guard on theattack, supported by regular military forces. Outnumbered Iraqi forces inflicted heavy losses on the Iranians but ultimately fell back. As soon as the initial Iranian thrusthad exhausted itself, however, the Iraqi army exploited Iranian disorganization and lack of equipment to retake much of the lost territory. As the war continued,...

• Herbert Hoover.

  E Postwar Work Even after the armistice, the Allies continued their blockade around Germany. Hoover, in Europe again, worked to have it relaxed. He was appointed chairman of theAmerican Relief Administration to assist in the economic restoration of Europe, receiving from the U.S. Congress $100 million to fight famine and plague. In this officialrole, and afterward as a private citizen, Hoover oversaw the distribution of 46 million tons of food to people in 30 countries. He controlled shipping,...

• Herbert Hoover

  E Postwar Work Even after the armistice, the Allies continued their blockade around Germany. Hoover, in Europe again, worked to have it relaxed. He was appointed chairman of theAmerican Relief Administration to assist in the economic restoration of Europe, receiving from the U.S. Congress $100 million to fight famine and plague. In this officialrole, and afterward as a private citizen, Hoover oversaw the distribution of 46 million tons of food to people in 30 countries. He controlled shipping,...

• 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...

• Alphabet I INTRODUCTION Bengali Script India developed a number of different writing systems over the course of its history.

  A Pictographic and Ideographic Systems Early systems of writing used pictures to represent things and then to represent the sounds of those things. Pictographic writing, in which a simplified picture of the sunstood for the word sun, was probably the first step toward a written language. Chinese began as a pictographic language. To represent abstract ideas, the Chinese writing system combined pictographs. For example, the pictographs for sun and tree were combined to represent the concept of...

• Honduras - country.

  A Principal Cities The capital and largest city of Honduras is Tegucigalpa (2006 estimate, 1,324,000), located in the south-central highlands region. The country’s second largest city isSan Pedro Sula (549,498). The principal city and commercial center in the north, it lies in the heart of the vast banana plantations on the Caribbean Sea. La Ceiba(127,590) and Puerto Cortés (90,161) are among the leading Caribbean ports. B Language and Religion Spanish is the official language and is spoken by...

• Human Nutrition.

  is one of the most preventable types of cancer. Nutritionists caution that most Americans need to eat more complex carbohydrates. In the typical American diet, only 40 to 50 percent of total calories come fromcarbohydrates—a lower percentage than found in most of the world. To make matters worse, half of the carbohydrate calories consumed by the typical American comefrom processed foods filled with simple sugars. Experts recommend that these foods make up no more that 10 percent of our diet, bec...

• Comet - astronomy.

  may exceed the planet Jupiter in size, however. Observations from telescopes on Earth and in space indicate that most of the gases in the coma and tail of a comet are fragmentary molecules, or radicals, of the mostcommon elements in space: hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. The radicals, for example, of CH, NH, and OH may be broken away from the stable molecules CH 4 (methane), NH 3 (ammonia), and H 2O (water), which may exist as ices or more complex, very cold compounds in the nucleus. Al...

• Prison.

  Furthermore, experts disagree about whether imprisoning criminals actually prevents further crime. Some critics charge that American prisons simply warehouseviolence—meaning that U.S. prison inmates are confined and incapacitated in large numbers, with little or no effort made to rehabilitate them. Critics have labeled theresult of this process turnstile justice, referring to the fact that most inmates are chronic and persistent offenders and return to prison following conviction for new crime...

• DUCHAMP Suzanne : Le Ready-Made malheureux de Marcel

  DUCHAMP Suzanne Le Ready-Made malheureux de Marcel Née à Blainville, 1889 Morte à Neuilly-sur-Seine, 1963 La famille Duchamp a marqué le XXe siècle de toute une génération d'artistes. Gaston, l'aîné, qui choisit le pseudonyme de Jacques Villon, s'est qualifié lui-même "cubiste-impression­ niste". Raymond Duchamp-Villon, sculpteur, a exploité avec audace le cubisme dans le domaine plastique. Marcel est l'inventeur d'ex­ pressions nouvelles, r...

• This republic made a unilateral declaration of independence in 1991 and was recognized by the EEC and the UN in 1992.

• POLYNÉSIE FRANÇAISE, SESSION DE JUIN 1995 LANGUE VIVANTE 2 - SÉRIE L

  25 "What's so funny?" 1 finally said. It occurred tome that perhaps she was laughing at me, at my life. Maybe she had listened through the wall and heard nothing, the stagnant silence of our unhappy bouse. "Why are you laughing?" 1 demanded. "My mother kicked me out," she finally said. She talked with a 30 swaggerl, seeming to be proud of this fact. And then she snickered 6 a little and said, "We had this fight and she pushed me out th...

• 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...

• Nixon's Checkers Speech Under attack for having used a secret campaign fund for his personal expenses, Richard M.

  The first way is to be a rich man. I don't happen to be a rich man so I couldn't use that. Another way that is used is to put your wife on the payroll. Let me say, incidentally, my opponent, my opposite number for the Vice Presidency on the Democraticticket, does have his wife on the payroll. And has had her on his payroll for the ten years—the past ten years. Now just let me say this. That's his business and I'm not critical of him for doing that. You will have to pass judgment on that particul...

• 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...

• Arte griego.

  El estilo de la cerámica decorada se modificó aproximadamente en el siglo VII a.C., debido a la creciente colonización griega del Mediterráneo y al comercio con los feniciosy otros pueblos orientales. En las vasijas de este periodo, conocido como periodo oriental de la cerámica decorada, los diseños abstractos geométricos se reemplazaron porlos motivos de inspiración naturalista propios del arte oriental, como la flor de loto, la palmeta, los leones y las esfinges. La ornamentación aumentó en ca...

• Arte griego - historia.

  El estilo de la cerámica decorada se modificó aproximadamente en el siglo VII a.C., debido a la creciente colonización griega del Mediterráneo y al comercio con los feniciosy otros pueblos orientales. En las vasijas de este periodo, conocido como periodo oriental de la cerámica decorada, los diseños abstractos geométricos se reemplazaron porlos motivos de inspiración naturalista propios del arte oriental, como la flor de loto, la palmeta, los leones y las esfinges. La ornamentación aumentó en ca...

• Art Nouveau I INTRODUCTION Detail of Art Nouveau Decoration This detail of a door decoration from a building constructed in the early 20th century in Milan, Italy, illustrates the stylistic themes associated with art nouveau.

  Wallpaper by William MorrisIn the early 19th century manufacturers began to mass-produce wallpaper, and the quality of designs suffered. WilliamMorris, a British artist who had become interested in the design of household furnishings and items for everyday use,began to create handmade wallpapers that he integrated into the overall design of the home. This artichoke design isbased on stylized plant motifs, a common theme in art nouveau designs.Art Resource, NY Art nouveau in Britain evolved out o...

• República Democrática del Congo - geografía.

  Elefante africanoLos grandes elefantes africanos (Loxodonta africana), cuyos colmillos por sí solos pueden llegar a pesar más de 45 kg, son notablesno solo por su tamaño sino también por su singular medio de comunicación. Los adultos pueden "hablar" entre ellos a distancias decientos de kilómetros, utilizando sonidos de baja frecuencia, análogos a las canciones de las ballenas, que están por debajo del límitedel oído humano. En otros tiempos los elefantes ocupaban la mayor parte del África subsa...

• Rembrandt.

  myth that the painting was rejected by those who commissioned it, and led to a decline in Rembrandt's reputation and fortune, it was actually well received. Many of Rembrandt's landscapes in this middle period are romantic and based on his imagination rather than recording specific places. The inclusion of ancient ruins androlling hills, not a part of the flat Dutch countryside, as in River Valley with Ruins (Staatliche Gemäldegalerie, Kassel), suggests a classical influence derived from Italy...

• Galaxy - astronomy.

  Astronomers have obtained images of young galaxies using the Keck Telescope in Hawaii and the Hubble Space Telescope, which resides in an orbit high above Earth’satmosphere and thus avoids atmospheric interference. Photos from the HST show galaxies that are as far as 13 billion light-years away from Earth, which means theyformed soon after the universe formed about 13.7 billion years ago. The galaxies appear to be spherical in shape, and may be early precursors of elliptical and spiralgalaxies....

• Leonardo da Vinci I INTRODUCTION Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo da Vinci was known not only as a masterful painter but as an architect, sculptor, engineer, and scientist.

  and conservation program made use of the latest technology to reverse some of the damage. Although much of the original surface is gone, the majesty of thecomposition and the penetrating characterization of the figures give a fleeting vision of its vanished splendor. The Virgin of the RocksThe Virgin of the Rocks by Leonardo da Vinci was actually painted twice. The first version, done in 1485, wascommissioned to be an altarpiece but was evidently rejected. That painting now hangs in the Louvre,...

• From Bulfinch's Mythology: Theseus - anthology.

  One of the most celebrated of the adventures of Theseus is his expedition against the Amazons. He assailed them before they had recovered from the attack ofHercules, and carried off their queen Antiope. The Amazons in their turn invaded the country of Athens and penetrated into the city itself; and the final battle inwhich Theseus overcame them was fought in the very midst of the city. This battle was one of the favourite subjects of the ancient sculptors, and is commemorated inseveral works of...

• Aerospace Medicine - astronomy.

  medically as aeroembolism and popularly as the bends, leads to confusion, paralysis, or neurocirculatory collapse. The most characteristic symptoms of the bends arepain in the large joints resulting from pressure of the gas on tendons and nerves, together with spasm of the blood vessels. Preflight inhalation of pure oxygen toeliminate nitrogen from the system has proved valuable as a preventive measure. Rapid decompression, resulting from accidental failure at high altitudes of thepressure withi...

• From McCulloch v.

  our system shall exist. In discussing these questions, the conflicting powers of the General and State Governments must be brought into view, and the supremacy oftheir respective laws, when they are in opposition, must be settled. If any one proposition could command the universal assent of mankind, we might expect it would be this—that the Government of the Union, though limited in itspowers, is supreme within its sphere of action. This would seem to result necessarily from its nature. It is th...

• Homer I INTRODUCTION Homer According to tradition, the Greek poet Homer is believed to be the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two great epics of ancient Greek literature.

  The Return of OdysseusAfter the Greek warrior Odysseus returns from the Trojan War to his home in Ithaca, he kills the uninvited and unwantedsuitors of his wife, Penelope, who believed him to be dead. Odysseus’s astonishing skill with the bow convinces Penelopethat he is indeed her long-absent husband. This anonymous engraving is of an unknown date.Corbis The Odyssey narrates the return of the Greek hero Odysseus from the Trojan War. The opening scenes depict the disorder that has arisen in Ody...

• Martial Arts.

  These movements are based on stylized renditions of ancient kung fu arm and foot blows. C Tae Kwon Do Tae kwon do (Korean for 'way of hands and feet') was founded in 1955 by a group of masters led by Korean general Choi Hong Hi. It is the national sport and pastimeof Korea and is also popular throughout the world. Often referred to as Korean karate, tae kwon do is reputedly based on ancient Korean and modern Japanesemethods of combat. Basic to tae kwon do are many spectacular kicks, particularl...

• Ancient Greece - history.

  Palace of KnossosThe ancient city of Knossos was a center of the Minoan civilization, an advanced society on Crete named after Minos, a legendaryCretan king. Skilled in such fields as engineering and architecture, the Minoans constructed the palace at Knossos in 1700 bc. Aserious fire at least three centuries later caused the collapse of the palace and foreshadowed the subsequent decline of the city.Wolfgang Kaehler Settlers had begun sailing from Asia Minor to Crete about 6000 BC because the i...

• Senegal - country.

  Although most of the population works in agriculture, Senegal has a growing industrial sector, one of the largest in West Africa. Nevertheless, two cash crops remain atthe foundation of the economy—peanuts and cotton. Important technical and economic assistance has been provided by France and other countries of the EuropeanUnion and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank). In 2006 the gross domestic product (GDP) was $9.2 billion, or $760.90 a person. A Agriculture...

• Yukon Territory - Geography.

  Tourism is the second most important private sector industry in the Yukon. Visitors come to fish, hunt, enjoy the rugged scenery, and see the historic buildings andcreeks associated with the gold rush. Some marten, lynx, muskrat, wolverine, and other fur-bearing animals are still trapped, but the Yukon plays a minor role in Canadian fur production. The Yukon’s manufacturing industries consist almost exclusively of some mineral refining, printing, and sawmilling. Several hydroelectric plants gene...

• Yukon Territory - Canadian History.

  Tourism is the second most important private sector industry in the Yukon. Visitors come to fish, hunt, enjoy the rugged scenery, and see the historic buildings andcreeks associated with the gold rush. Some marten, lynx, muskrat, wolverine, and other fur-bearing animals are still trapped, but the Yukon plays a minor role in Canadian fur production. The Yukon’s manufacturing industries consist almost exclusively of some mineral refining, printing, and sawmilling. Several hydroelectric plants gene...

• ?stanbul - geography.

  İstanbul hosts a number of annual cultural events. The İstanbul Cultural Festival, held in the summer, offers music and dance performances in more than 50 venuesthroughout the city, including outdoors at Rumelihisar ı. The city also hosts a summer jazz festival. Turkey is one of the world’s largest producers of motion pictures, anda highly regarded international film festival takes place in İstanbul during the early months of the year. V RECREATION With increasing modernization, recreation is...

• Lewis and Clark Expedition.

  took a small detachment into present-day north central Montana, thinking that the course of the Marias River might provide an American claim to fur-rich country inwhat is now the Canadian province of Alberta. In August the groups reunited on the Missouri River, near the mouth of the Yellowstone. They arrived in St. Louis onSeptember 23, 1806. C Relations with the Native Americans and Spanish The Lewis and Clark Expedition made a journey through the homelands of native people. What American expl...

• Lewis and Clark Expedition - explorer.

  took a small detachment into present-day north central Montana, thinking that the course of the Marias River might provide an American claim to fur-rich country inwhat is now the Canadian province of Alberta. In August the groups reunited on the Missouri River, near the mouth of the Yellowstone. They arrived in St. Louis onSeptember 23, 1806. C Relations with the Native Americans and Spanish The Lewis and Clark Expedition made a journey through the homelands of native people. What American expl...

• Igneous Rock.

  As a magma cools, the first crystals to form will be of minerals that become solid at relatively high temperatures (usually olivine and a type of feldspar known asanorthite). The composition of these early-formed mineral crystals will be different from the initial composition of the magma. Consequently, as these growing crystalstake certain elements out of the magma in certain proportions, the composition of the remaining liquid changes. This process is known as magmatic differentiation.Sometime...

• Tobacco - biology.

  quality cigars are made entirely by hand, most cigars are manufactured by machine. Chewing tobaccos are generally made from thick grades of leaves to which binders and flavorings are added. Chewing tobacco is formed by pressing the tobacco intoblocks known as plugs. Snuff is made by grinding tobacco into fine powder, which is then allowed to ferment for a long period of time. Frequently, snuff is scented withspices, such as jasmine or cloves. V TOBACCO INDUSTRY Over 6 million tons of commercial...

• D-Day Invasion.

  The Allied planners focused on the beaches around Caen and the Cotentin Peninsula in northern France rather than those of Calais, even though it meant the forcewould be crossing at a wider part of the English Channel. That disadvantage was far outweighed by what the site offered: comparatively scanty defensive fortificationsand beachhead ideally suited for successful exits. The clincher was an isolated battlefield that the Germans would have difficulty reinforcing. The date was set for May 1, 19...

• Electronics.

  electronic circuits. The resistors are made from carbon mixtures, metal films, or resistance wire and have two connecting wires attached. Variable resistors, with anadjustable sliding contact arm, are often used to control volume on radios and television sets. E Capacitors Capacitors consist of two metal plates that are separated by an insulating material ( see Capacitor). If a battery is connected to both plates, an electric charge will flow for a short time and accumulate on each plate. If th...