Mason, Charlotte

Mason was born into a wealthy family. She married a prominent physician and socialized with dignitaries and dilettantes.

French Literature, Bourgeois drama

Yet Beaumarchais himself espoused the drame bourgeois (�bourgeois drama,� or �middle-class tragedy�) in his Essai sur le genre dramatique s�rieux (1767). He wrote several drames, among them the sequel to Le Mariage in L'Autre Tartuffe, ou La M�re coupable (1792). The growing importance of sentiment on the stage had proved as inimical to Classical comedy as to Classical tragedy. More

Savings And Loan Association

A savings and home-financing institution that makes loans for the purchase of private housing, home improvements, and new construction. Formerly cooperative institutions in which savers were shareholders in the association and received dividends in proportion to the organization's profits, savings and loan associations are mutual organizations that now

Performing Arts, Jazz.

Though no new trends or fads appeared and only one new star emerged, jazz and related musics at last crossed a final frontier in 2002. The jazz idiom, originally created by African Americans, had been played on six continents, but in 2001 - 02 guitarist Henry Kaiser spent two months in Antarctica, the last continent. Kaiser, with extensive experience playing free improvisations

Alder

An alder may be distinguished from a birch by its usually stalked winter buds and by cones that remain on the branches

Mole Cricket

Any member of the orthopteran insect family Gryllotalpidae (about 65 species), sometimes considered part of the family Gryllidae. This cricket lives underground, its common name deriving from its molelike appearance and habits. The mole cricket has forelegs modified for shovelling, a cylindrical body, a pointed head, and a velvety coat of hairlike setae.

La Chalotais, Louis-ren� De Caradeuc De

La Chalotais became advocate general in the Breton Parlement at Rennes in 1730 and attorney general in 1752. In

Tepic

City, capital of Nayarit estado (�state�), west-central Mexico, lying at 3,002 feet (915 m) above sea level along the Tepic River, at the foot of extinct Sangang�ey volcano. Founded in 1542, much of the city retains its colonial atmosphere. The cathedral, municipal palace, and Amado Nervo Theatre especially reflect Spanish influence. Shops offer Indian handicrafts, and Huichol and Cora

Rabulist Riots

The riots, named for a derogatory designation for Swedish radicals, occurred in the summer of 1838, following the conviction of M.J. Crusenstolpe, a liberal journalist, for libel against

Dagda

Also called �Eochaid Ollathair (�Eochaid the All-Father�)�, or �In Ruad Ro-fhessa (�Red [or Mighty] One of Great Wisdom�)� in Celtic religion, one of the leaders of a mythological Irish people, the Tuatha D� Danann (�People of the Goddess Danu�). The Dagda was credited with many powers and possessed a caldron that was never empty, fruit trees that were never barren, and two pigs - one live and the other perpetually roasting. He also had a huge club that had the power both to kill men and to restore

Usumacinta River

The Usumacinta River flows northwestward, receiving the Lacantum River and forming the border between

Yenisey River

The peoples of the Yenisey valley are diverse. Around the western headwaters (Great and Little Yenisey) Tuvans predominate in the rural areas, but they are joined by significant numbers of Russians in Kyzyl, the capital of Tuva. To the north of Tuva the Krasnoyarsk kray (territory) of Russia extends down the entire valley northward to the Kara Sea; its population comprises

Bailey, Donovan

At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga., Canadian sprinter Donovan Bailey won the 100-m dash in 9.84 sec to earn the appellation "the world's fastest man." Then he ran the last leg of the 4 �100-m relay and helped the Canadian team win a gold medal in that event. These were impressive accomplishments for a man who had emerged as a factor in international track only in 1994 and did not set a world record

Discus Fish

Two species of the genus Symphysodon of fishes in the family Cichlidae (order Perciformes), characterized by a compressed, disk-shaped body. The two species (S. discus and S. aequifasciata) occur naturally in tributaries of the Amazon River in South America. Discus fish have an unusual form of parental care: the adults secrete a mucuslike substance onto their skin that

Cojedes

Inland state, northwestern Venezuela, surrounded by the states of Yaracuy and Carabobo on the north, Gu�rico on the east, Barinas on the south, and Portuguesa on the west. Since colonial days cattle raising has dominated the local economy. The state, which has an area of 5,714 sq mi (14,800 sq km), lies mainly in the Llanos (plains), with no elevation above 700 ft (210 m). Drained by secondary tributaries

Port De Bras

The position of the dancer's head and shoulders (�paulement) is important to

Hyvink�

Swedish �Hyvinge, � city, Uudenmaan l��ni (Uusimaa province), southern Finland, north of Helsinki. It is the centre of Finland's woollen industry, and is an important rail junction with direct lines to the ports of Hang� (Hanko, the southernmost in Finland), Helsinki, and Porvoo (Borg�). The city also has railway workshops, a granite quarry, and a rubber-products plant. Because of its fine climate

Aesthetics, Form

Expression and representation form part of the content of a work of art. Nonetheless, it is not only content that is understood (or misunderstood) by the attentive recipient. There is also form, by which term we may denote all those features of a work of art that compose its unity and individuality as an object of sensory experience. Consider music. In most cases when a

Kom�rom-esztergom

Megye (county), northwestern Hungary. The megye extends southward from the Danube River and the Slovakian frontier. It has a mixed agricultural-industrial economic base. Sugar beets and peaches are important crops, and there is a sugar beet mill at �cs. Tatab�nya (q.v.), the megye seat, is Hungary's chief mining (lignite) centre. Considerable industrial activity is concentrated

Afghanistan, Mohammad Zahir Shah (1933 - 73)

The first 20 years of Mohammad Zahir Shah's reign were characterized by cautious policies of national consolidation, an expansion of foreign relations, and internal development using Afghan funds alone. World War II brought about a slowdown in development processes, but Afghanistan maintained its traditional neutrality. The �Pashtunistan� problem regarding

Factorial

Factorials are commonly encountered in the evaluation of permutations and combinations and in the coefficients of terms of binomial

Akshak

Ancient city of Mesopotamia on the northern boundary of Akkad, identified by some authorities with the Babylonian city of Upi (Opis). About 2500 BC Akshak was conquered by Eannatum, king of Lagash. About a century later Akshak temporarily established its hegemony over Sumer and Akkad. The location of Akshak is uncertain, although the Mari letters (from the royal archives

Morris

County, northern New Jersey, U.S., bounded by the Musconetcong River and Lake Hopatcong to the west, the Pequannock and Pompton rivers to the north, and the Passaic River to the east. It consists largely of a piedmont and upland region, with swampy lowlands in the southeast, and is drained by the Black, Rockaway, and Raritan (south branch) rivers. Among its numerous lakes are

Corbusier, Le

Byname of �Charles-�douard Jeanneret� internationally influential Swiss architect and city planner, whose designs combine the functionalism of the modern movement with a bold, sculptural expressionism. He belonged to the first generation of the so-called International school of architecture and was their most able propagandist

Wellington

Capital city, port, and major commercial centre of New Zealand, located in the extreme south of North Island. It lies on the shores and hills surrounding Port Nicholson, an almost landlocked bay that is ranked among the world's finest harbours. Mount Victoria rises 643 feet (196 metres) near the centre of the city. Wellington is in a fault zone and has survived several

Anniston

City, seat (1899) of Calhoun county, eastern Alabama, U.S. It lies in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, about 60 miles (95 km) east of Birmingham. Founded in 1872 by Samuel Noble, Daniel Tyler, and Tyler's sons as a private industrial community (opened to the public in 1883), it was originally named for the Woodstock Iron Company; to avoid confusion with another Woodstock in Alabama, it was

Dominica Channel

Marine passage in the Lesser Antilles, West Indies, connecting the Caribbean Sea with the open Atlantic Ocean to the east. It flows between the island of Dominica (north) and the French island and overseas d�partement of Martinique (south) and is about 25 miles (40 km) wide.

Hesburgh, Theodore M(artin)

Hesburgh, who said he knew he wanted to be a priest from early childhood, joined the Order of

Moradabad

City, administrative headquarters of Moradabad district, Uttar Pradesh state, northern India, on a ridge along the Ramganga River. Moradabad was founded in 1625 by Rustam Khan (a Mughal general), who built the fort north of the city as well as the Jami' Masjid, a large mosque. Located at a major road and rail junction, it is a trade centre for agricultural products. Industries include cotton