1588 résultats pour "year"

• Johann Sebastian Bach.

  from his duties, and even tossed him into jail for “too obstinately requesting his dismissal.” But after several weeks the duke saw it was of no use and let him go. E Köthen: 1717-1723 Bach’s new employer, Leopold, loved and understood music and could play the violin, viola da gamba, and harpsichord as well as sing bass. The prince held Bach in highregard and stood as godfather for his seventh child. Bach, in turn, named the child Leopold August in his employer’s honor. Bach later said that the...

• Extinction (biology) - biology.

  III ROLE OF MASS EXTINCTION IN EVOLUTION Historically biologists—most famous among them British naturalist Charles Darwin—assumed that extinction is the natural outcome of competition between newlyevolved, adaptively superior species and their older, more primitive ancestors. These scientists believed that newer, more highly evolved species simply drove less well-adapted species to extinction. That is, historically, extinction was thought to result from evolution. It was also thought that this...

• Archaeology.

  Prehistoric archaeology is practiced by archaeologists known as prehistorians and deals with ancient cultures that did not have writing of any kind. Prehistory, a term coined by 19th-century French scholars, covers past human life from its origins up to the advent of written records. History—that is, the human past documented insome form of writing—began 5000 years ago in parts of southwestern Asia and as recently as the late 19th century AD in central Africa and parts of the Americas. Becaus...

• Giant Panda - biology.

  In 2007 conservationists announced that a parasitic roundworm was responsible for a significant number of the panda deaths reported in the wild since 1990. Theparasite Baylisascaris schroederi causes the disease visceral larval migrans, which results in bleeding in the lungs, the liver, and the intestines, and can also affect the brain. It is not known if other recent pandas deaths were caused by the same parasite or by a different contagious disease. Loss of habitat from deforestation is forc...

• Coins and Coin Collecting.

  U.S. coins dates from 1909, when the first Lincoln Cents appeared during the centennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. George Washington’s profile was used on thequarter-dollar of 1932, a coin originally intended as a one-year commemorative to honor the 200th anniversary of his birth. The design quickly became so popular thatit was retained for regular-issue quarters and is still being used today. Thomas Jefferson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Dwight D. Eisenhower are theother Americ...

• Antarctica - Geography.

  The maximum area of sea ice surrounding Antarctica each winter varies from year to year. A marked decline during the 1970s appears to have reversed in more recentdecades, except in the Antarctic Peninsula area. This area has lost almost 40 percent of its sea ice since the start of the 1980s. Sea ice is important to marine life. Krillfeed on algae that live under the sea ice and are released when the ice melts in spring and summer. In turn, many marine animals feed on krill. Emperor penguinsbreed...

• Jaguar (animal) - biology.

  scientists have speculated that the jaguar’s robust canine teeth and enormously powerful bite developed specifically to pierce the armor of these reptiles. After killing a large animal, a jaguar will usually drag the carcass into dense cover before beginning to eat. If the kill is made in an open area, jaguars often drag theirprey for considerable distances. On one occasion, a jaguar killed a cow on the edge of a river and swam 790 m (2,600 ft) across the river carrying the cow. Unlike the other...

• Johann Sebastian Bach I INTRODUCTION Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), German composer and one of the world's greatest musical geniuses.

  Bach served nine years at the Weimar court, first as organist and then, from 1714, as concertmaster as well. His employer, Wilhelm Ernst, duke of Weimar, was a greatadmirer of the organ, and spurred by the duke’s enthusiasm Bach proceeded to compose a vast number of unprecedented works for the instrument: the Orgelbüchlein (“Little Organ Book”), a collection of small chorale preludes for the church year; the so-called Great Eighteen Chorales of larger size; and a series of dramatic preludes a...

• Africa.

  The highest elevations in Africa are found in the various ranges of East Africa. After Kilimanjaro, the next highest peaks are Mount Kenya (5,199 m/17,057 ft), north ofKilimanjaro in central Kenya; Margherita Peak (5,109 m/ 16,762 ft) in the Ruwenzori Range on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo(DRC); Ras Dashen (4,620 m/ 15,157 ft) in the Ethiopian Highlands of northern Ethiopia; Mount Meru (4,565 m/ 14,977 ft), close to Kilimanjaro in Tanzania; and MountElgon (4,...

• Ocean and Oceanography.

  of sediment. When studied in sedimentary core samples, which can represent many millions of years of deposits, they provide a detailed and continuous history of theearth’s environmental changes. The record is particularly informative for the most recent 2 million to 5 million years, during which major fluctuations in global climatehave occurred. Successive ice ages can be traced by the relative scarcity or abundance of the shells of warm-water and cold-water diatoms in various layers of asedimen...

• Ocean and Oceanography - Geography.

  of sediment. When studied in sedimentary core samples, which can represent many millions of years of deposits, they provide a detailed and continuous history of theearth’s environmental changes. The record is particularly informative for the most recent 2 million to 5 million years, during which major fluctuations in global climatehave occurred. Successive ice ages can be traced by the relative scarcity or abundance of the shells of warm-water and cold-water diatoms in various layers of asedimen...

• Democratic Party.

  At the beginning of the 20th century the Democrats’ minority position among voters remained central to their existence. The Progressive split in Republican rankshelped elect Woodrow Wilson twice, but the entry of the United States into World War I ended that. The war, popular at first, backfired against the Wilsonadministration when large numbers of German Americans and Irish Americans protested with their votes against U.S. involvement on England’s side. The result wasanother Republican landsli...

• Elephant - biology.

  B Trunk An elephant's nose and upper lip are combined in a long, limber trunk, an exceptionally supple appendage with an estimated 150,000 muscles. The versatile trunk actslike a hand for grasping low-growing shrubs and other food and placing it into the mouth; an arm for breaking off tree branches; or a snorkel for breathing when theelephant's body is submerged. Elephants also use their trunks to suck up water and squirt it into their mouths for drinking or over their bodies for bathing. Nostr...

• Astronaut - astronomy.

  Every operation during a flight is important and interesting, but many might be boring to an observer. Much of an astronaut’s job is entering computer instructions,preparing samples, making measurements, recording data, fixing what breaks, and adjusting the checklist when something unexpected happens. Sometimes astronautsretrieve or repair satellites, rendezvous or dock with other spacecraft, and do important emergency repairs. The adaptability of the human crew is crucial to the successof missi...

• Intelligence.

  education. Teachers had no way of knowing which of the “slow” students had true learning problems and which simply had behavioral problems or poor prior education.In 1904 the French Ministry of Public Instruction asked Binet and others to develop a method to objectively identify children who would have difficulty with formaleducation. Objectivity was important so that conclusions about a child’s potential for learning would not be influenced by any biases of the examiner. The governmenthoped tha...

• California - geography.

  The Basin and Range province is an arid area of mountain ranges, basins, and deserts. In California it is represented primarily by parts of the Great Basin and SonoranDesert sections. Within the Great Basin lies Death Valley, whose lowest elevation, 86 m (282 ft) below sea level, is the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere. TheSonoran Desert section is characterized by numerous flat plains separated by low but rugged ranges. It includes the extensive Mojave, or Mohave, Desert. Also in thisprov...

• California - USA History.

  The Basin and Range province is an arid area of mountain ranges, basins, and deserts. In California it is represented primarily by parts of the Great Basin and SonoranDesert sections. Within the Great Basin lies Death Valley, whose lowest elevation, 86 m (282 ft) below sea level, is the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere. TheSonoran Desert section is characterized by numerous flat plains separated by low but rugged ranges. It includes the extensive Mojave, or Mohave, Desert. Also in thisprov...

• Congress of the United States.

  senator, a person must be at least 30 years old, a citizen for nine years, and a resident of the state from which he or she is elected. Most members of Congress haveserved in state legislatures, city councils, or other elected bodies. See United States Senate: Campaigning for the Senate ; United States House of Representatives: Campaigning for the House. The 435 House seats are divided among the states in proportion to each state’s population. Every state is guaranteed at least one seat. State...

• Aboriginal Australians - History.

  Until Europeans began to settle in Australia in 1788, the Aboriginal way of life was supported by hunting, gathering, and fishing. Like other hunting and gatheringpeoples, Aboriginal people had an extremely detailed knowledge of their environment, especially plant ecology and animal behavior. The deep connection betweenAboriginal people and the natural world influenced every part of their culture, including their food gathering, tools, trade, religion, art, music, language, and socialorganizatio...

• Puerto Rico - geography.

  the length of the day remains fairly constant throughout the year. San Juan has a mean July temperature of 28°C (83°F) and a mean January temperature of 25°C (77°F). The average temperature of the seawater surrounding theisland is 27°C (81°F), with little variation during the course of the year. The entire island is cooled by the trade winds from the northeast. This air also contains much water vapor. As the air is forced to rise over the mountains, it becomescooler and the water vapor condenses...

• Africa - history.

  Africa’s other major mountainous regions occur at the northern and southern fringes of the continent. The Atlas Mountains, a system of high ranges, extend for 2,200 km(1,400 mi) across Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, roughly parallel to the northern coast. These ranges enclose a number of broad inland basins and plateaus. In the west, theHigh (or Grand) Atlas contains Toubkal (4,165 m/ 13,665 ft), the highest peak of the system. Toward the east, the Atlas consists of two parallel ranges: the Tell...

• Aging - biology.

  Different theories have been proposed to explain how SF works. One theory is based on the assumption that aging, and diseases that occur more frequently withadvancing age, are caused by structural damage to cells. This damage accumulates in tiny amounts each time the cell divides, eventually preventing the cell fromcarrying out normal functions. One cause of this damage may be free radicals, which are chemical compounds found in the environment and also generated by normal chemical reactions in...

• Africa.

  The highest elevations in Africa are found in the various ranges of East Africa. After Kilimanjaro, the next highest peaks are Mount Kenya (5,199 m/17,057 ft), north ofKilimanjaro in central Kenya; Margherita Peak (5,109 m/ 16,762 ft) in the Ruwenzori Range on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo(DRC); Ras Dashen (4,620 m/ 15,157 ft) in the Ethiopian Highlands of northern Ethiopia; Mount Meru (4,565 m/ 14,977 ft), close to Kilimanjaro in Tanzania; and MountElgon (4,...

• Africa - Geography.

  The highest elevations in Africa are found in the various ranges of East Africa. After Kilimanjaro, the next highest peaks are Mount Kenya (5,199 m/17,057 ft), north ofKilimanjaro in central Kenya; Margherita Peak (5,109 m/ 16,762 ft) in the Ruwenzori Range on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo(DRC); Ras Dashen (4,620 m/ 15,157 ft) in the Ethiopian Highlands of northern Ethiopia; Mount Meru (4,565 m/ 14,977 ft), close to Kilimanjaro in Tanzania; and MountElgon (4,...

• George Frideric Handel I INTRODUCTION Handel's Water Music In addition to his popular operas and oratorios, German-born composer George Frideric Handel wrote music in the 1700s for the church and for royal celebrations.

  During the 1720s and 1730s Handel worked primarily as a composer and producer of operas for the London stage. This extremely productive phase of his career beganwith the opening of the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1719. The Royal Academy was founded with the support of the king and aristocratic subscribers for theproduction of Italian operas. Its directors sent Handel to continental Europe to hire some of the world’s greatest singers. Handel was not the only composer writingoperas for Aca...

• Golf. I INTRODUCTION Golf, outdoor game in which individual players use specially designed

  caddie or caddy. (Caddies, once an integral feature of the game, have now been replaced on many courses by motorized carts and pull carts.) In England the game was made popular by the attention given it by James VI of Scotland, later James I of England, and his son Charles I. In the 18th century the first golf associations were established. They included the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers (founded 1744) in Edinburgh, Scotland;the Saint Andrews Society of Golfers (1754) in Saint Andrew...

• Hong Kong - geography.

  higher than China’s average standard of living. In 2006 Hong Kong’s per capita gross domestic product (GDP) was $27,679.20, although much of the wealth isconcentrated into relatively few hands. IV ECONOMY Hong Kong’s position as one of the world’s most important economic centers is based on several factors. It is located midway between Japan and Singapore, and it liesastride the main shipping and air routes of the western Pacific. It also has long served as a major port of entry and trade for...

• Easter.

  Many Easter traditions originated long before the beginning of the Christian era. Like Christmas, which is related to pre-Christian winter festivals, Easter is connected inmany ways with early pagan rituals that accompanied the arrival of spring. Easter is also associated with the Jewish festival of Passover. A Easter Eggs The Easter egg is associated with beliefs of particularly ancient origin. The egg was an important symbol in the mythologies of many early civilizations, including those ofIn...

• Coral - biology.

  Soft corals lack a distinct skeleton. Although they live in colonies, the individual polyps are fused into a complex body, usually strengthened by small lumps or spikesknown as sclerites, which are made of protein and calcite. Soft corals come in a variety of shapes, including undulating sheets, upright mushroomlike shapes, andbeautiful shapes that form branches. A number of other octocorals have skeletons made from a hard or horny protein, sometimes strengthened with more brittle calcareous dep...

• Dentistry.

  Together with dentists, dental hygienists and dental assistants make up the team that provides dental care to patients. Hygienists record patient medical histories, suchas blood pressure and pulse. They clean teeth, apply sealants and fluoride treatments, teach patients sound oral hygiene practices, and often assist with X rays. Manyhygienists receive a two-year associate degree, while others may choose to enroll in a four-year program at a university or in a master’s degree program. There are25...

• New France - Canadian History.

  the colony now consisted of a governor-general, an intendant , and a Sovereign Council, all located at Québec, with local governors at Trois-Rivières and Montréal, and law courts for all three districts. The senior official was the governor-general, responsible for military matters and for relations with the indigenous nations and theEnglish colonies. The intendant, a noble trained in law, was the official responsible for civil affairs: justice, law enforcement, and the maintenance of the colon...

• Flower - biology.

  insects. The sepals unfurl as the flower opens and often resemble small green leaves at the flower’s base. In some flowers, the sepals are colorful and work with thepetals to attract pollinators. E Variations in Structure Like virtually all forms in nature, flowers display many variations in their structure. Most flowers have all four whorls—pistil, stamens, petals, and sepals. Botanists callthese complete flowers. But some flowers are incomplete, meaning they lack one or more whorls. Incomplet...

• Zebra - biology.

  C Life Span Captive zebras have lived into their late 30s. Life expectancy in the wild, where predators abound, is probably not much more than 12 years. IV SOCIAL BEHAVIOR Like horses, zebras have large brains and a wide variety of social behaviors. Although they cannot match the overall intelligence of mammals that hunt, zebras interactwith each other in complex ways. Zebras usually live in groups known as herds, but the social structure of these groups depends on the species. The plains zeb...

• Kansas - geography.

  at the adjoining cities of Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri. Its chief headstreams are the Republican and Smoky Hill rivers, which join to form the KansasRiver at Junction City. Each of the headstreams has numerous tributaries. The Kansas River proper is only 270 km (170 mi) long, but the Smoky Hill River has a lengthof 870 km (540 mi), and the Republican River has a length of 720 km (450 mi). The main tributary flowing into the Kansas River is the Big Blue River. The Arkansas Rive...

• Kansas - USA History.

  at the adjoining cities of Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri. Its chief headstreams are the Republican and Smoky Hill rivers, which join to form the KansasRiver at Junction City. Each of the headstreams has numerous tributaries. The Kansas River proper is only 270 km (170 mi) long, but the Smoky Hill River has a lengthof 870 km (540 mi), and the Republican River has a length of 720 km (450 mi). The main tributary flowing into the Kansas River is the Big Blue River. The Arkansas Rive...

• Kenya - country.

  threatens fish and other water life in the lake by depriving them of oxygen. Kenya is well known for its game parks—including Masai Mara Game Park and Tsavo National Park in the south, and Marsabit National Reserve in the north—whichattract large numbers of tourists and much revenue. Conservation of wildlife within reserves has thus received high priority. About 13 percent (2007) of Kenya’s totalland is protected. There are 229 (2004) threatened species in Kenya. Threatened habitats include the...

• North Korea - country.

  IV EDUCATION AND CULTURAL ACTIVITY Education and culture in North Korea are under state control and are utilized by the governing Korean Workers’ Party regime to indoctrinate and foster its ideology. A Education Education is free and compulsory in North Korea for the first ten years of schooling. In the late 1980s, some 1.5 million pupils were enrolled annually in elementaryschools, and another 2.8 million students attended vocational and secondary schools. Statistics for subsequent years are...

• Supreme Court of Canada.

  whether the leave to appeal will be granted and the case heard by the Court. The Court has no specified criteria by which it determines whether to grant leave, and the Court does not give reasons for its decision. The key factor appears to be acase’s degree of national importance. Other factors might include the impact of uncertainty in the challenged law, the case’s appropriateness for developing the law torespond to changing social needs, and the presence of a split decision at the court of ap...

• "A Modest Proposal" - anthology.

  I SHALL now therefore humbly propose my own Thoughts; which I hope will not be liable to the least Objection. I HAVE been assured by a very knowing American of my Acquaintance in London; that a young healthy Child, well nursed, is, at a Year old, a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome Food; whether Stewed, Roasted, Baked, or Boiled; and, I make no doubt, that it will equally serve in a Fricasie, or Ragoust. I DO therefore humbly offer it to publick Consideration, that of...

• Sun - astronomy.

  A The Sun’s Place in the Milky Way The Milky Way Galaxy contains about 400 billion stars. All of these stars, and the gas and dust between them, are rotating about a galactic center. Stars that arefarther away from the center move at slower speeds and take longer to go around it. The Sun is located in the outer part of the galaxy, at a distance of 2.6 × 10 17 km (1.6 × 10 17 mi) from the center. The Sun, which is moving around the center at a velocity of 220 km/s (140 mi/s), takes 250 million y...

• Djibouti (country) - country.

  l’Unité et de la Démocratie (FRUD; Front for the Renewal of Unity and Democracy) represents the Afar minority. The Parti National Démocratique (PND; Democratic National Party) and the Parti du Renouveau Démocratique (PRD; Democratic Renewal Party) are both small opposition parties favoring democratic reforms. VI HISTORY Djibouti lies at a major global crossroads where, some 100,000 years ago, early humans migrated from Africa to the Middle East. Livestock herding, which remainsimportant...

• Native Americans of North America.

  addition to smallpox and measles, explorers and colonists brought a host of other diseases: bubonic plague, cholera, typhoid fever, scarlet fever, pleurisy, mumps,diphtheria, pneumonia, whooping cough, malaria, yellow fever, and various sexually transmitted infections. Despite the undisputed devastation wreaked on Indian populations after European contact, native populations showed enormous regional variability in their response todisease exposure. Some peoples survived and, in some cases, even...

• Native Americans of North America - Canadian History.

  addition to smallpox and measles, explorers and colonists brought a host of other diseases: bubonic plague, cholera, typhoid fever, scarlet fever, pleurisy, mumps,diphtheria, pneumonia, whooping cough, malaria, yellow fever, and various sexually transmitted infections. Despite the undisputed devastation wreaked on Indian populations after European contact, native populations showed enormous regional variability in their response todisease exposure. Some peoples survived and, in some cases, even...

• Abortion.

  Intact dilation and extraction, also referred to as a partial birth abortion, consists of partially removing the fetus from the uterus through the vaginal canal, feet first,and using suction to remove the brain and spinal fluid from the skull. The skull is then collapsed to allow complete removal of the fetus from the uterus. III SOCIAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES Abortion has become one of the most widely debated ethical issues of our time. On one side are pro-choice supporters—individuals who favor a...

• Seal (mammal) - biology.

  remote lakes by swimming thousands of kilometers up rivers from the Arctic Ocean. A few other species such as ringed seals and harbor seals have been found livingyear-round in lakes and rivers near the coasts of Russia, Canada, and Alaska. IV DIET OF SEALS Most seals eat fish and sometimes squid. The leopard seal, an Antarctic species, may have the most diverse diet of all, commonly hunting penguins and other seabirds,smaller seals, as well as fish, squid, krill (small shrimplike crustaceans),...

• Oliver Cromwell I INTRODUCTION Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658), leader in the English Revolution (1640-1660) and the first commoner to rule England.

  as well as to the abolition of the House of Lords. He was an active member of the High Court of Justice set up for the king’s trial and boldly signed the king’s deathwarrant. For Cromwell, Charles’s execution was a divine judgment against a tyrant. Following the king’s execution, the Commonwealth of England was formed, ruled bya Council of State that included members of the Rump Parliament. For the next two years Cromwell remained a soldier in service to the state. The new Commonwealth had power...

• Oliver Cromwell.

  as well as to the abolition of the House of Lords. He was an active member of the High Court of Justice set up for the king’s trial and boldly signed the king’s deathwarrant. For Cromwell, Charles’s execution was a divine judgment against a tyrant. Following the king’s execution, the Commonwealth of England was formed, ruled bya Council of State that included members of the Rump Parliament. For the next two years Cromwell remained a soldier in service to the state. The new Commonwealth had power...

• Québec (city) - Geography.

  rotates between the mayors of small, medium, and core municipalities. The QUC is responsible for zoning, regional development, property valuation, waste disposal, andtourism promotion. City planning and public transit are handled in collaboration with the municipalities. Other municipal functions such as public works, libraries, water,parks, fire and police services, street repair, and traffic control are left to the municipalities. VII CONTEMPORARY ISSUES In recent years the St. Lawrence Rive...

• William Shakespeare I INTRODUCTION William Shakespeare (1564-1616), English playwright and poet, recognized in much of the world as the greatest of all dramatists.

  Shakespeare’s reputation today is, however, based primarily on the 38 plays that he wrote, modified, or collaborated on. Records of Shakespeare’s plays begin toappear in 1594, when the theaters reopened with the passing of the plague that had closed them for 21 months. In December of 1594 his play The Comedy of Errors was performed in London during the Christmas revels at Gray’s Inn, one of the London law schools. In March of the following year he received payment for two playsthat had been per...

• William Shakespeare.

  Shakespeare’s reputation today is, however, based primarily on the 38 plays that he wrote, modified, or collaborated on. Records of Shakespeare’s plays begin toappear in 1594, when the theaters reopened with the passing of the plague that had closed them for 21 months. In December of 1594 his play The Comedy of Errors was performed in London during the Christmas revels at Gray’s Inn, one of the London law schools. In March of the following year he received payment for two playsthat had been per...