Ram Raiya

Member of a group of dissenters within Sikhism, a religion of India. The Ram Raiyas are descendants of Ram Rai, the eldest son of Guru Har Rai (1630 - 61), who was sent by his father as an emissary to the Mughal capital at Delhi. There he won the confidence of the emperor Aurangzeb but the displeasure of his own father, who when choosing the next Sikh Guru passed over Ram Rai in favour of his younger brother

Alzira

Also spelled �Alcira, � city, Valencia provincia, in the comunidad aut�noma (�autonomous community�) of Valencia, eastern Spain. It lies in the Ribera district, south of the city of Valencia. It originated as the Iberian settlement of Algezira Sucro (�Island of Sucro�), so named because of its insular position between two branches of the Sucro (J�car) River. It became the Saetabicula of the Romans

Earth, Earth dimensions - diameter, mass, density

As previously noted, terrestrial arc measurements are capable of yielding a value of the equatorial radius of the Earth, but satellite measurements are greatly superior for determining the flattening. After 10 years of satellite observations the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics adopted the Geodetic Reference System 1967, defining aequatorial, MG, and J2, o. Minor

Tendinitis

Also spelled �tendonitis� inflammation of the sheaths of the tendons. These sheaths are composed of thin, filmy tissue that permits the sliding motion of tendons within them. The cause of inflammation is irritation of the sheaths by prolonged or abnormal use of the tendons. Less often it may follow invasion of the tendon sheaths by bacteria with subsequent infection. It is in many instances

Holocaust Remembrance Days

Although Jews were the first group to seek a fitting commemoration

Calabazilla

Also called �Missouri Gourd, or Wild Pumpkin� (Cucurbita foetidissima), perennial prostrate vine of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae), native to southwestern North America. A calabazilla has triangular, long-stalked, finely toothed leaves, yellow flowers about 6.3 to 10.2 cm (2.5 to 4 inches) wide, and inedible, orange-shaped, predominantly green fruits with yellow stripes and markings. Although an unattractive plant with a

France, History Of, The Wars of Religion

Guise forces occupied Paris and took control of the royal family, while the Huguenots rose in the provinces, and their two commanders, Louis I de Bourbon, Prince de Cond�, and Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, established headquarters at Orl�ans. The deaths of the opposing leaders - the Protestant Antoine de Bourbon, King Consort of Navarre, and the Catholic marshal Jacques

Aphrodite

Ancient Greek goddess of sexual love and beauty, identified by the Romans with Venus (q.v.). Because the Greek word aphros means �foam,� the legend arose that Aphrodite was born from the white foam produced by the severed genitals of Uranus (Heaven), after his son Cronus threw them into the sea. Aphrodite was, in fact, widely worshiped as a goddess of the sea and of seafaring; she

Aphrodite

Ancient Greek goddess of sexual love and beauty, identified by the Romans with Venus (q.v.). Because the Greek word aphros means �foam,� the legend arose that Aphrodite was born from the white foam produced by the severed genitals of Uranus (Heaven), after his son Cronus threw them into the sea. Aphrodite was, in fact, widely worshiped as a goddess of the sea and of seafaring; she

Talambo Affair

Following the attack at Talambo, the Spanish government sent an investigator, whom it called a viceroy (the title of the

Andalusia

City, seat (1841) of Covington county, southern Alabama, U.S., near the Conecuh River, about 85 miles (135 km) south of Montgomery. It originated in 1841 as New Site, when the county seat of Montezuma relocated to higher ground because of floods, at a point along the Three Notch Trail (used by Andrew Jackson on his way to New Orleans in 1813). Renamed Andalusia in 1844, probably for the Spanish province, it

Libya, Drainage

There are no perennial rivers in Libya. The numerous wadis that drain the uplands are filled by flash floods during the rains and quickly dry up or are reduced to a trickle. The largest wadi systems are the Wadi Zamzam and Wadi Bayy al-Kabir, both of which reach the western coast of the Gulf of Sidra. Other large wadis drain the interior basins of Surt, Zaltan, and the Fezzan.

Biblical Literature, Form criticism

Form criticism has become one of the most valuable tools for the reconstruction of the preliterary tradition. This discipline classifies the literary material according to the principal �forms� - such as legal, poetic, and other forms - represented in its contents, and examines these in order to discover how they were handed down and what their successive life settings

New Hampshire

Constituent state of the United States of America. One of the 13 original U.S. states, it is located in New England at the extreme northeastern corner of the nation. With an area of 9,279 square miles (24,032 square km), it is bounded on the north by the Canadian province of Quebec, on the east by Maine and a 16-mile (25-km) stretch of the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by Massachusetts, and on the west by

Ear Disease

The labyrinth of the inner ear contains the nerve endings of the vestibular nerve - the nerve of equilibrium - and the auditory nerve, which are branches of the vestibulocochlear, or eighth cranial, nerve. The vestibular nerve ends supply the semicircular canals and the otolithic membranes in the vestibule. The auditory nerve supplies the cochlea. Diseases of the

Anai Peak

Hindi �Anai Mudi� peak in eastern Kerala state, southwestern India. Located in the Western Ghats range, it rises to 8,842 feet (2,695 m) and is peninsular India's highest peak. From this point radiate three ranges - the Anaimalai to the north, the Palni to the northeast, and the Cardamom Hills to the south. Several rivers, including the Periyar and Amaravati, rise in the surrounding ranges.

Henie, Sonja

Henie began skating when she was six years old. At age 10 she won the Norwegian national figure-skating championship, and

Amamba� Mountains

Extending south-southwest initially as the Maracaju Mountains for approximately 200 miles (320 km) from Campo Grande, the capital of Mato Grosso do Sul, they form the western side of the Brazilian Highlands and mark the divide between the tributaries of the Paraguay River and those of the Paran�

Graciosa Island

Portuguese �Ilha Graciosa, � volcanic island, northernmost of the central Azores, east-central Atlantic Ocean. The 23-square-mile (60-square-kilometre) island reaches a height of 1,338 feet (408 m) at the summit of Enx�fre Caldera, a volcanic crater. Dense vegetation is supported by the volcanic soils, and wine grapes, fruit, cereals, and cattle are raised. They are marketed through the principal settlements, Santa

Dress, Ancient Greece

The long period of Greek culture is customarily classified into three segments. Up to about 500 BC is described as the Archaic period. This was the time when the several different civilizations of mainland and island Greece, Anatolia, and North Africa coexisted, the arts and costume of each influencing the others. The Dorians had invaded the Minoan kingdoms in Crete and

Ejmiadzin

Originating in the 7th century BC as the town of Vardkesavan, it was renamed Vagarshapat about AD 140, when the Parthian king Vologases III made it his capital. Upon the conversion of Armenia to Christianity

Roba'i

The most famous example of this genre known in the Western world

Henry I

Henry was crowned at Westminster, on Aug. 5, 1100, three days after his brother, King William II, William the Conqueror's second son, had been killed in a hunting accident. Duke Robert Curthose, the eldest of the three brothers, who by feudal custom had succeeded to his father's inheritance, Normandy, was returning from the First Crusade and could not assert his own claim to the English

Zanzibar Treaty

The

China, General works

Overviews of China's physical and human geography may be found in Keith Buchanan, The Transformation of the Chinese Earth (1970); Ping-chia Kuo, China, 3rd ed. (1970); T.R. Tregear, China: A Geographical Survey (1980); Albert Kolb, East Asia: China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam: Geography of a Cultural Region (1971, reprinted 1977; originally published in German, 1963); Brian Hook (ed.), The Cambridge Encyclopedia of China (1982); Robert L. Worden, Andrea Matles Savada, and Ronald E. Dolan (eds.), China, a Country Study, 4th ed. (1988); and Information China, 3 vol. (1989), an encyclopaedic work prepared under the auspices of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and ed. by C.V. James.

Ba'al Shem

Also spelled �Baalshem, or Balshem (Hebrew: �master of the name�), �plural �Ba'ale Shem, Baaleshem, or Baleshem, � in Judaism, title bestowed upon men who reputedly worked wonders and effected cures through secret knowledge of the ineffable names of God. Benjamin ben Zerah (11th century) was one of several Jewish poets to employ the mystical names of God in his works, thereby demonstrating a belief in the efficacy of the holy name long before certain rabbis and Kabbalists (followers

Barakzay Dynasty

Ruling family in Afghanistan in the 19th and 20th centuries. The Barakzay brothers seized control of Afghanistan and in 1826 divided the region between them. Dost Mohammad Khan gained preeminence and founded the dynasty about 1837. Thereafter his descendants ruled in direct succession until 1929, when the reigning monarch abdicated and his cousin Mohammad Nader Khan was elected

Strangler Fig

Of the 150 or so species of New World figs, most are stranglers, including F. obtusifolia and F. nymphaeifolia. Beginning life as a sticky