Penal Colony

Distant or overseas settlement established for punishing criminals by forced labour and isolation from society. Although a score of nations in Europe and Latin America transported their criminals to widely scattered penal colonies, such colonies were developed mostly by the English, French, and Russians. England shipped criminals to America until the American

Wu Hsing

The Wu hsing cycle served as a broad explanatory

Mukhtar Ibn Abu 'ubayd At-thaqafl, Al-

In his call for revolt, Mukhtar appealed to the pro-Shi'ite sentiments of Iraq's Arab tribesmen. He also rallied the mawali, non-Arab (mainly

San Ignacio

Formerly �El Cayo, or Cayo, � town, west-central Belize (formerly British Honduras). It lies along the Belize River, near the Guatemalan border. With Benque Viejo del Carmen, which is about 8 miles (13 km) southwest, it traditionally dealt in chicle and lumber, but these products have now largely been replaced by cattle and corn (maize), beans, and rice. Some trade is carried on with Guatemala. Its inhabitants

Sayf Ad-dawlah

Sayf ad-Dawlah began his career as lord of the city of Wasit in Iraq and became involved in the struggles of the 'Abbasid caliph (the titular leader of the

San Francesco

Franciscan monastery and church in Assisi, Italy, begun after the canonization in 1228 of St. Francis of Assisi and completed in 1253. The crypt was added in 1818, when the tomb of St. Francis was opened. The lower church is where the saint is buried, and it has frescoes by Giunta Pisano, Cimabue, Giotto, Pietro Lorenzetti, Simone Martini, and Andrea da Bologna. The upper church has frescoes

Sayers, Dorothy L.

Sayers received a degree in medieval literature from the University of Oxford in 1915; she was one of the first

Sayers, Dorothy L.

Sayers received a degree in medieval literature from the University of Oxford in 1915; she was one of the first

Rio Grande

Spanish �R�o Grande del Norte, �or (in Mexico) �R�o Bravo, �or �R�o Bravo del Norte, � fifth longest river of North America, and the 20th longest in the world, forming the border between the U.S. state of Texas and Mexico. Rising as a clear, snow-fed mountain stream more than 12,000 feet (3,700 metres) above sea level in the Rocky Mountains, the Rio Grande descends across steppes and deserts, watering rich agricultural regions as it flows on its way to the Gulf of Mexico. The

Challis, James

Elected a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1826 and ordained in 1830, Challis became Plumian professor of astronomy and director of the Cambridge Observatory in 1836. He contributed 225 mathematical,

Faenza

Latin �Faventia, � city, Ravenna provincia, in the Emilia-Romagna regione of northern Italy, on the Lamone River, southeast of Bologna. In the 2nd century BC it was a Roman town (Faventia) on the Via Aemilia, but excavations show Faenza to have had a much earlier origin. It was later subject to many barbarian attacks, became an independent commune at the beginning of the 12th century, and withstood

Mellencamp, John

Growing up in southern Indiana - with which he is strongly identified - Mellencamp began playing in rock bands as a teenager. His first two albums, released in the late 1970s, disappeared without

Hinton

City, seat (1871) of Summers county, southeastern West Virginia, U.S., on the New River, near the mouth of the Greenbrier River. Laid out in 1831, it became a railway maintenance facility and rail-shipping point in 1871 with the arrival of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. The early 20th century was the boom time for Hinton; the railroad had at one time about 1,000 employees. However, this volume of activity

Laibach, Congress Of

(Jan. 26 - May 12, 1821), meeting of the Holy Alliance powers (all European rulers except those of Britain, the Ottoman Empire, and the papacy) at Laibach (now Ljubljana, Slovenia) that set the conditions for Austrian intervention in and occupation of the Two Sicilies in action against the Neapolitan revolution (July 1820). As such, it was a triumph for antiliberal Austrian policy, and also,

Aydin

City, southwestern Turkey, near the Menderes River (the ancient Maeander). It is an important trading centre on the Afyon-Izmir highway and rail line. Nearby is the site of ancient Tralles, said to have been founded by the Argives. Aydin was called G�zelhisar (�Beautiful Castle�) under the Turkmen Mentese emirs in the 13th century. Renamed for the 14th-century ruling dynasty of

Qabbani, Nizar

Syrian poet and diplomat (b. March 21, 1923, Damascus, Syria--d. April 30, 1998, London, Eng.), was one of the most widely read Arab poets of the 20th century. Written in simple but eloquent language, his verses, some of which were set to music, won him the hearts of countless Arabic speakers throughout the Middle East and Africa. Qabbani, who was born into a middle-class merchant family, was also the

Indian Ocean, Upwelling

Upwelling is a seasonal phenomenon in the Indian Ocean because of the monsoon regime. During the southwest monsoon, upwelling occurs off the Somali and Arabian coasts and south of Java. It is most intense between 5� and 11� N, with replacement of warmer surface water by water of about 57� F (14� C). During the northeast monsoon, strong upwelling occurs along the western coast of India.

Yust, Walter

A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Yust began his journalism career with the Philadelphia Evening Ledger in 1917 and later worked for newspapers in New Orleans and for other

Quantz, Johann Joachim

Quantz obtained posts at Radeberg and Dresden and in 1717 studied counterpoint in Vienna with Johann Zelenka and Johann Fux. In 1718 he became oboist in the Polish court

Vishnu

Vishnu was not a major deity

Alexander

The only child of Prince (later King) Milan (reigned 1868 - 89) and his consort, Natalie, Alexander ascended the Serbian throne on March 6 (Feb. 22), 1889, after his father had abdicated and named a regency

Argentina, Finance

Economic troubles in the 1970s and '80s caused the near

Chilpancingo, Congress Of

(September - November 1813), meeting held at Chilpancingo, in present Guerrero state, Mex., that declared the independence of Mexico from Spain and drafted a constitution, which received final approval (Oct. 22, 1814) at the Congress of Apatzing�n. Jos� Mar�a Morelos y Pav�n, who called the congress at Chilpancingo, had assumed leadership of the Mexican independence movement after

Chilpancingo, Congress Of

(September - November 1813), meeting held at Chilpancingo, in present Guerrero state, Mex., that declared the independence of Mexico from Spain and drafted a constitution, which received final approval (Oct. 22, 1814) at the Congress of Apatzing�n. Jos� Mar�a Morelos y Pav�n, who called the congress at Chilpancingo, had assumed leadership of the Mexican independence movement after

Hyatt, Alpheus

He studied at Harvard (1858 - 62) under the Swiss - U.S. naturalist

Rurales

Federal corps of rural police established on May 6, 1861, by the Mexican president Benito Ju�rez to combat the banditry that threatened travel and commerce throughout Mexico. Such a force had been planned four years earlier but could not be established during the War of Reform. In 1869, after the overthrow of the empire of Maximilian, it was reconstituted under the Ministry

Pacheco, Francisco

Moving to Sevilla (Seville)

Atheriniform

Most beryciforms, zeiforms, and lampridiforms are inhabitants of the open oceans, usually living at considerable depth, and little is known of their natural history. All appear to produce numerous small eggs. The best known of the beryciform groups are the squirrelfishes and soldierfishes (family Holocentridae), abundant around coral reefs in warm seas. Typical

Tall Oil

Dark, odorous liquid by-product of the sulfate (kraft) process of paper manufacture, used after refining to make coatings, sizing for paper, paint, varnish, linoleum, drying oils, emulsions, lubricants, and soaps. Tall oil is principally a mixture of resin acids, such as abietic acid, and fatty acids, such as oleic and linoleic acids, with some sterols and other compounds. It

Abu Nidal

Palestinian militant (b. 1937, Jaffa, Palestine - d. Aug. 16?, 2002, Baghdad, Iraq), was believed to have masterminded countless deadly attacks for nearly two decades, from the early 1970s to the 1990s. Abu Nidal (he took the nom de guerre in the early 1960s) was originally a member of Yasir Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization, but he broke with the PLO in 1974 to form the more radical Fatah Revolutionary