CleanToe: December 2004

Friday, December 31, 2004

Welf Dynasty

The origin of the �Elder House� of Welf is a matter of controversy, since Welf in the Carolingian period seems

Thursday, December 30, 2004

Tuareg

The northern Tuareg live mainly in true desert country, whereas the southerners

Wednesday, December 29, 2004

Stringed Instrument

The violin family at present comprises the violin, viola, violoncello, and double bass; it forms the backbone of the modern symphony orchestra. In addition, the violin and viola are widely used in the music of South India and North Africa, in modern Greek and Arab music, in European and American folk music, and by Romany musicians. The term violin, a diminutive of viola (itself

Tuesday, December 28, 2004

Bradford, William

As a boy in England, he was caught up in the fervour of the Protestant

Monday, December 27, 2004

Ziyarah

(Arabic: �visit�), in Islam, a visit to the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad in the mosque at Medina, Saudi Arabia; also a visit to the tomb of a saint or a holy person. The legitimacy of these latter visits has been questioned by many Muslim religious authorities, particularly by the Wahhabiyah, who consider ziyarah a bid'ah (innovation) that should be condemned by all true believers. The

Sunday, December 26, 2004

Sea Turtle

Any of the marine turtles of the families Dermochelyidae (leatherback turtle) and Cheloniidae (green turtle, loggerhead, hawksbill, and ridley). Sea turtles, in adaptation to an aquatic life, have limbs modified into flippers for efficient swimming. They generally leave the water only during the breeding season, when the female emerges to dig

Saturday, December 25, 2004

Horace

Latin in full �Quintus Horatius Flaccus � outstanding Latin lyric poet and satirist under the emperor Augustus. The most frequent themes of his Odes and verse Epistles are love, friendship, philosophy, and the art of poetry.

Friday, December 24, 2004

Bohemond I

The son of Robert Guiscard (the Astute) and his first wife, Alberada, Bohemond was christened Marc but nicknamed after a legendary giant named Bohemond. The nickname proved well taken because physically Bohemond was the ideally

Thursday, December 23, 2004

Malvaceae

The mallow family, a large group of flowering plants, in the order Malvales, containing about 95 genera of herbs, shrubs, and trees. Representatives occur in all except the coldest parts of the world but are most numerous in the tropics. Economically, the most important member of the family is cotton (q.v.; Gossypium). Several species of Hibiscus produce fibres that are of lesser

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

Sangster, Margaret Elizabeth Munson

Margaret Munson was an avid reader from an early age. She turned easily to writing, and her first published story, �Little Janey� (1855), won her a commission to write 100 juvenile stories to accompany a series of illustrations.

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

Macdonagh, Donagh

MacDonagh was the son of Thomas MacDonagh, a poet and leader of the Easter Rising (1916). After attending the National University of Ireland, Dublin, MacDonagh practiced law (1936 - 46) and was a district judge (1946 - 68). His varied literary career includes comedies such

Monday, December 20, 2004

Abzug, Bella (bella Savitzky)

American lawyer and politician (b. July 24, 1920, New York, N.Y.--d. March 31, 1998, New York), variously identified as "Battling Bella" and "Mother Courage," was a quintessential progressive known for her groundbreaking roles as peace activist, feminist, environmentalist, and early advocate for gay rights. Abzug was the daughter of Russian- Jewish immigrants. She earned degrees from Hunter

Sunday, December 19, 2004

Ikeda Hayato

Born into a sake brewer's family, he graduated from Kyoto Imperial University law school in 1925 and began his career in the Ministry of Finance. After rising to the position of vice minister

Saturday, December 18, 2004

Ganassa, Zan

Ganassa, who took his name from that of a character he invented, was perhaps the first to take a commedia company beyond the borders of Italy. Evidence exists of his appearances at Mantua (1568) and Ferrara (1570), and a performance by him and his company in Paris in 1571 was perhaps

Friday, December 17, 2004

Narrator

A work may have more than one narrator, as in an epistolary novel such as Samuel Richardson's

Thursday, December 16, 2004

Earth, Geologic History Of

Evolution of the continents, oceans, atmosphere, and biosphere. The layers of rock at the Earth's surface contain evidence of the evolutionary processes undergone by these components of the terrestrial environment during the times at which each layer was formed. By studying this rock record from the very beginning, it is thus possible to trace their development

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

Craft Guild

Also called �Mystery� (from Latin ministerium, �occupation�), a European medieval occupational association, usually comprising all the artisans - and often the suppliers, retailers, and wholesale merchants - concerned with a specific branch of industry or commerce. A weavers' guild is recorded at Mainz as early as 1099 and in London and other cities of England during the reign of Henry I (1100 - 35); but the

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

Bacillite

In geology, a type of crystallite (q.v.).

Monday, December 13, 2004

Armstrong, Henry

Armstrong fought as an amateur from 1929 to 1932. Early in his career he boxed under the name Melody Jackson. He first won the featherweight (126-pound) title by knocking out Petey Sarron in

Sunday, December 12, 2004

Palamas, Saint Gregory

Orthodox monk, theologian, and intellectual leader of Hesychasm, an ascetical method of mystical prayer that integrates repetitive prayer formulas with bodily postures and controlled breathing. He was appointed bishop of Thessalonica in 1347. In 1368 he was acclaimed a saint

Saturday, December 11, 2004

Culture System

According to the system, a villager should provide land rent to the government by setting aside one-fifth

Friday, December 10, 2004

Argentina, The return to democracy

The subsequent process of democratization is discussed in Philip O'Brien and Paul Cammack (eds.), Generals in Retreat: The Crisis of Military Rule in Latin America (1985); Jimmy Burns, The Land that Lost its Heroes: The Falklands, the Post-War, and Alfons�n (1987); M�nica Peralta-Ramos and Carlos H. Waisman (eds.), From Military Rule to Liberal Democracy in Argentina (1987); Colin M. Lewis and Nissa Torrents (eds.), Argentina in the Crisis Years, 1983 - 1990: From Alfons�n to Menem (1993); and Peter Calvert, �Argentina: Decline and Revival,� in Jan Knippers Black (ed.), Latin America, Its Problems and Its Promise: A Multidisciplinary Introduction, 3rd ed. (1998).

Thursday, December 09, 2004

Ards

Irish �An Aird� district, Northern Ireland. Formerly within County Down, in 1973 Ards was established as a district with an area of 139 sq mi (361 sq km). It extends northward from just south of the village of Killinchy along the western shoreline of Strangford Lough (inlet of the sea) to the town of Newtownards and encompasses the peninsula of land east of Strangford Lough. Bordered by North Down

Wednesday, December 08, 2004

Spanish Lime

(Melicoccus bijugus), tree, of the soapberry family (Sapindaceae), native to the West Indies. It grows to about 15 metres (50 feet). The flowers are small, greenish white, and fragrant. The green fruit is a drupe (a single stony seed covered by soft, fleshy tissue) with yellow or white tasty, juicy flesh.

Tuesday, December 07, 2004

Constantine

Also called (after 1981) �Qacentina�, Arabic �Blad el-Hawa�, Phoenician �Cirta� city, northeast Algeria. A natural fortress, the city occupies a rocky, diamond-shaped plateau that is surrounded, except at the southwest, by a precipitous gorge through the eastern side of which flows the Rhumel River. The plateau is 2,130 feet (650 m) above sea level and from 500 to 1,000 feet (150 to 300 m) above the riverbed in the gorge. The cliffs of the gorge, at its narrowest, are 15 feet (4.5 m) apart and

Monday, December 06, 2004

Amicus Curiae

An amicus curiae normally may not participate except by

Sunday, December 05, 2004

Brazil, Drainage

Brazil is drained by the Amazon River, which is the centrepiece of the most extensive river system in the world, and by other systems that are notable in their own right - the Tocantins-Araguaia in the north, the Paraguay-Paran�-Plata in the south, and the S�o Francisco in the east and northeast. Numerous smaller rivers and streams drain directly eastward to the Atlantic

Saturday, December 04, 2004

Benedetto Da Majano

He was greatly influenced by the Florentine sculptors Desiderio da Settignano and Antonio Rossellino. His earliest surviving work is the shrine of S. Savino (1468 - 72) in the Faenza cathedral. Between 1470 and 1475 he was engaged on the

Friday, December 03, 2004

Wairau River

Together

Thursday, December 02, 2004

Latent Heat

For

Wednesday, December 01, 2004

Mauritius, Flag Of

Like many other islands in the Indian Ocean and elsewhere, Mauritius was long under colonial rule by both the British and the French. The unique culture that resulted is reflected in the national flag, one of only two in the world with four equal horizontal stripes (the Central African Republic has a four-striped flag that is bisected by a vertical red bar). This flag

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