Nahavand, Battle Of

At Nahavand some 30,000 Arab troops, under the command of Nu'man, attacked a Sasanian army alleged to number 150,000 men. The Sasanian troops, commanded

Bread

Baked food product made of flour or meal that is moistened, kneaded, and sometimes fermented. A major food since prehistoric times, it has been made in various forms using a variety of ingredients and methods throughout the world. The first bread was made in Neolithic times, nearly 12,000 years ago, probably of coarsely crushed grain mixed with water, with the resulting dough

Porphyrin

Any of a class of water-soluble, nitrogenous biological pigments (biochromes), derivatives of which include the hemoproteins (porphyrins combined with metals and protein). Examples of hemoproteins are the green, photosynthetic chlorophylls of higher plants; the hemoglobins in the blood of many animals; the cytochromes, enzymes that occur in minute quantities

Mon Kingdom

Also called �Hanthawaddy Kingdom, � kingdom of the Mon people, who were powerful in Myanmar (Burma) from the 9th to the 11th and from the 13th to the 16th century and for a brief period in the mid-18th century. The Mon migrated southward from western China and settled in the Chao Phraya River basin (of southern Thailand) about the 6th century AD. Their early kingdoms, Dvaravati and Haripunjaya (qq.v.), had ties with the ancient

Caber, Tossing The

A Scottish athletic event consisting in throwing a �caber,� a straight, approximately 17-foot- (5-metre-) long log (from which the bark has been removed) so that it turns over in the air and falls on the ground with its small end pointing directly opposite the tosser. See Highland Games.

France, History Of, The Grand Empire

Napoleon now had a free hand to reorganize Europe and numerous relatives to install on the thrones of his satellite kingdoms. The result was known as the Grand Empire. Having annexed Tuscany, Piedmont, Genoa, and the Rhineland directly into France, Napoleon placed the Kingdom of Holland (which until 1806 was the Batavian Commonwealth) under his brother Louis, the Kingdom

Furniture, France

The Neoclassical style, sometimes called Louis Seize, or Louis XVI, began in the 1750s. Tiring of the Rococo style, craftsmen of the 18th century turned for inspiration to classical art. The movement was stimulated by archaeological discoveries, by travel in Italy, Greece, and the Near East, and by the publication, all over Europe, of works on the classical monuments. The Neoclassical

Angola, Resources

Angola's resources are considerable in comparison to those of most African countries, and they are particularly suited to the development of an industrial economy. There are large reserves of oil and natural gas, concentrated in the maritime zones off the Cabinda exclave and the Congo estuary. Total proven recoverable reserves of crude oil stood at more than 2 billion

Metachromatic Leukodystrophy

Rare inherited metabolic disease in which the lack of a key enzyme causes loss of the protective myelin sheath from the white matter of the brain, resulting in psychological disturbances, mental deterioration, and sensory and motor defects. The absence of the enzyme cerebroside sulfatase (arylsulfatase A) allows certain specialized lipids (sphingolipids) to

Pachacamac

Creator deity worshipped by the pre-Inca maritime population of Peru; it was also the name of a pilgrimage site in the Lur�n Valley (south of Lima) dedicated to the god and revered for many centuries. After the Incas conquered the coast, they did not attempt to replace the ancient and deeply rooted worship of Pachacamac but instead incorporated him into their own pantheon.

Poza Rica

Poza Rica was the scene of a major air pollution disaster in 1950, in which 22 persons

Sankt Wolfgang

Also called �Sankt Wolfgang Im Salzkammergut, � town, Ober�sterreich Bundesland (federal state), central Austria. It lies on the east shore of Wolfgang (Aber) Lake in the Salzkammergut lake region, west of Bad Ischl. A cog, or rack, railway ascends the Schafberg (5,850 feet [1,783 m]) from the town. The Late Gothic-style Pilgrimage Church (1430 - 77) has a magnificent carved wooden altar (1481) by the sculptor Michael Pacher. The town's Zum Weissen Rossl

Thompson, Edward Herbert

Though lacking formal training in archaeology, Thompson was an enthusiastic antiquarian. In 1879 he published a paper suggesting that Mayan civilization may have originated

Biblical Literature, The life of Jesus

Though the fact that Jesus was a historical person has been stressed, significant, too, is the fact that a full biography of accurate chronology is not possible. The New Testament writers were less concerned with such difficulties than the person who attempts to construct some chronological accounts in retrospect. Both the indifference of early secular historians

Burgess Shale

Fossil formation containing remarkably detailed traces of soft-bodied biota of the Middle Cambrian Epoch (520 to 512 million years ago). Collected from a fossil bed in the Burgess Pass of the Canadian Rockies, the Burgess Shale is one of the best preserved and most important fossil formations in the world. Since it was discovered in 1909, over 60,000 specimens have been retrieved from

Burgess Shale

Fossil formation containing remarkably detailed traces of soft-bodied biota of the Middle Cambrian Epoch (520 to 512 million years ago). Collected from a fossil bed in the Burgess Pass of the Canadian Rockies, the Burgess Shale is one of the best preserved and most important fossil formations in the world. Since it was discovered in 1909, over 60,000 specimens have been retrieved from

Brer Rabbit

Trickster figure originating in African folklore and transmitted by African slaves to the New World, where it acquired attributes of similar native American tricksters (see trickster tale); Brer, or Brother, Rabbit was popularized in the United States in the stories of Joel Chandler Harris (1848 - 1908). The character's adventures embody an idea considered to be a universal

Red Oak

Any member of a group or subgenus (Erythrobalanus) of North American ornamental and timber shrubs and trees of the genus Quercus, in the beech family (Fagaceae), that have bristle-tipped leaves, acorns with hairy shell linings, and bitter seeds that mature in two seasons. Black oak, live oak, willow oak (including water oak, laurel oak, shingle oak), and pin

Nephridium

Nephridia occur in two

Ben Nevis

Highest mountain of the British Isles, in the Highland council area, Scotland. Its summit, reaching an elevation of 4,406 feet (1,343 metres), is a plateau of about 100 acres (40 hectares), with a slight slope to the south and a sheer face to the northeast. Snow lies in some parts all year, and permafrost conditions are almost reached. The mountain consists of a superstructure of volcanic rocks

Sungari River

The Sungari rises in the Ch'ang-pai Mountains in the border area between Kirin and North Korea. Its upper course runs north through rugged

Khon Kaen

Town, northeastern Thailand, on the Khorat Plateau. It is a rice-trading centre on the railway between Nakhon Ratchasima and Udon Thani. Khon Kaen University was founded in 1965; the Rajamangala Institute of Technology, Khon Kaen Campus (1963) is also there. Khon Kaen lies in a region drained by the Chi and the Phong rivers. A dam was built on the Phong in 1966 for irrigation and hydroelectricity.

Ram, Jagjivan

Ram was born into an untouchable family and was among the first of his caste to receive a higher education. He attended Benares Hindu University and Calcutta University (B.Sc., 1931), becoming a member of Mohandas K. Gandhi's Congress Party in 1931. He played

Valenciennes Lace

The

Levn�, Abd�lcelil

He went as a young man to Constantinople, where he studied at the academy of painting at the Topkapi Palace. He later became chief court painter to the Ottoman sultan Mustafa II, and he probably held the same post under the successor

Hesychius Of Miletus

Byzantine historian and literary biographer whose chronicle of world history influenced later Byzantine historical accounts and provided singular data on the history of Constantinople. His works are also a valuable source for the history of Greek literature. A native of Miletus during the reign (527 - 565) of the Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I, Hesychius

Van Hise, Charles Richard

From 1879 Van Hise taught at the University of Wisconsin

Vitamin, Vitamin K group

Vitamin K1 (20) is synthesized by plants; the members of the vitamin K2 (30) series are of microbial origin. Vitamin K2 (20) is the important form in mammalian tissue; all other forms are converted to K2 (20) from vitamin K3. Since vitamin K3 does not accumulate in tissue, it does not furnish any dietary vitamin K. Vitamins K4, K5, K6, and K7 have been synthesized and have vitamin K activity, but they are