Tuesday, April 05, 2005

Earthenware

Pottery that has not been fired to the point of vitrification and is thus slightly porous and coarser than stoneware and porcelain. The body can be covered completely or decorated with slip (a liquid clay mixture applied before firing) or it can be glazed. For both practical and decorative reasons, earthenware is usually glazed. To overcome its porosity

Sachs, (ferdinand Gustav) Julius Von

Sachs became an assistant to the physiologist Jan Evangelista Purkinje at the University of Prague, where he received the Ph.D. in 1856. In 1859 he was appointed

Monday, April 04, 2005

Qabis

Also spelled  Gabès,  Latin  Tacapa,   town, southeastern Tunisia. The town is located at the mouth of the Qabis River, which has its source 6 miles (10 km) upstream at the Ras al-Oued (springs), the town's main water source. Situated on a Mediterranean oasis along the Gulf of Gabes, Qabis was founded as the Roman trading centre of Tacapa. Declining somewhat under Turkish rule, it experienced a modest revival during the

Sunday, April 03, 2005

Lennoaceae

The sand food family, composed of three genera and four to six species of curious, parasitic plants, which send out rootlike structures (haustoria) that penetrate the roots of other plants for food. Once the parasite's haustoria have entered the host roots, the parasite develops its aboveground portions, usually club-shaped, fleshy, yellowish or brownish stems on which

Saturday, April 02, 2005

Wells-barnett, Ida Bell

Ida Wells was the daughter of slaves. She was educated at Rust University, a freedmen's school in her native Holly Springs, Mississippi, and at age 14 began teaching in a country school. She continued to teach after moving to Memphis, Tennessee,

Polo, Marco

Sometime around 1292 (1290 according to Otagi), a Mongol princess was to be sent to Persia to become the consort of Arghun Khan, and the Polos offered to accompany her. Marco wrote that Kublai had been unwilling to let them go but finally granted permission. They were anxious to leave, in part, because Kublai was nearly 80, and his death (and the consequent change in regime) might have

Friday, April 01, 2005

Qantas Airways Limited

Australian airline, the oldest in the English-speaking world, founded in 1920 as Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Ltd. (from which the name Qantas was derived). Its first operations were taxi services and joy flights. By the late 20th century, however, its scheduled air routes extended throughout Australasia and farther termini of San Francisco and Vancouver;

France, History Of, The grandsons of Clovis

At the death of Chlotar I (561) the Frankish kingdom, which had become the most powerful state in the west, was once again divided, this time between his four sons. The partition agreement, based on that of 511, dealt with more extensive territories. Guntram received the eastern part of the former kingdom of Orléans, enlarged by the addition of Burgundy. Charibert I's share was fashioned

Thursday, March 31, 2005

Bahram Ii

Soon after becoming king, he was forced to defend his position against a brother, Hormizd, viceroy of the eastern provinces. In 283, exploiting Bahram's preoccupations, the Roman emperor Carus invaded Mesopotamia unopposed and entered Ctesiphon, the Sasanian capital. Carus' sudden death, however, forced the Romans

Wednesday, March 30, 2005

Frederick Ii

Frederick settled his disputes with the Bohemian followers of Jan Hus, church reformer and condemned heretic, in 1432, and relations were cemented in 1464, when

Interest

Interest may also be viewed as the income derived from the possession of contractual promises from others to pay sums in the future. The question may be asked, “What is the value today of a promise to pay $100 a year from now?” If the answer is $100, then no interest income is generated.