Pippin

Given the title of king of Italy in 781, Pippin took part in campaigns against Duke Tassilo III of Bavaria from 787 and led an army against the Avars in 796. His Venetian campaign (809 - 810) enabled Charlemagne later to come to favourable terms with the Byzantine Empire. As early as 806, Charlemagne, in planning the division

Costanoan

Any of several dialectally related California Indian peoples speaking a Penutian language and originally living in an area stretching from the San Francisco Bay region southward to Point Sur. The people were scattered in villages, and groupings were only later identified on the basis of proximity to the Franciscan missions established among them (see Mission

General Store

Retail store in a small town or rural community that carries a wide variety of goods, including groceries. In the United States the general store was the successor of the early trading post, which served the pioneers and early settlers. Located at a crossroads or in a village, it served the surrounding community and farmers from the neighbouring countryside and carried

Maastrichtian Stage

Also spelled �Maestrichtian, � uppermost of six main divisions in the Upper Cretaceous Series, representing all those rocks on a global basis deposited during the Maastrichtian Age (74.5 to 66.4 million years ago). The stage's name is derived from the city of Maastricht in the southeastern Netherlands, whose surrounding area serves as the classic type district for rocks of this age. The Maastrichtian Stage

Novelty Song

Popular song that is either written and performed as a novelty or that becomes a novelty when removed from its original context. Regardless of which of these two categories applies, the assumption is that the song is popular because of its novelty, because it sounds different from everything else being played on the radio or jukebox. It follows that novelty hits

Azerbaijan, Flag Of

Prior to the Russian Revolution, when Azerbaijan was part of the tsar's domain, the leading Azerbaijani nationalist, 'Ali bay Huseynzada, exhorted his followers to �Turkify, Islamicize, Europeanize� in order to emphasize ethnic pride, religious devotion, and modernization. The colours associated with those principles were light blue (a traditional Turkish flag colour),

Indiana, Flag Of

In 1916, the centennial of Indiana statehood, the Daughters of the American Revolution held a flag design competition. The winning design, by Paul Hadley, was approved as the �state banner� on May 31, 1917. The flag is defined by law as having design elements in either gold or buff, although in practice gold (actually golden yellow) is almost always used. The torch, symbolic of enlightenment

Insurance, Perils insured

In homeowner's policies, of which there are several types, coverage can be �all risk� or �named peril.� All-risk policies offer insurance on any peril except those later excluded in the policy. The advantage of these contracts is that if property is destroyed by a peril not specifically excluded the insurance is good. In named-peril policies, no coverage is provided unless

United States, The coming of the war

Faced with a fait accompli, Lincoln when inaugurated was prepared to conciliate the South in every way but one: he would not recognize that the Union could be divided. The test of his determination came early in his administration, when he learned that the Federal troops under Major Robert Anderson in Fort Sumter, South Carolina - then one of the few military installations in the South still in Federal hands - had to be promptly supplied or withdrawn. After agonized consultation with his cabinet, Lincoln determined that supplies must be sent even if doing so provoked the Confederates into firing the first shot. On April 12, 1861, just before Federal supply ships could reach the beleaguered Anderson, Confederate guns in Charleston opened fire upon Fort Sumter, and the war began.

Jewett, Sarah Orne

Jewett was often taken by her physician father on visits to the fishermen and farmers of her native Maine, and she developed a deep and abiding love of their way of life and of the sights and sounds of her surroundings. These experiences, and reading in her

Plaice

(Pleuronectes platessa), commercially valuable European flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae. The plaice, like others of its family, normally has both eyes on the right side of the head. It also has about four to seven bony bumps near its eyes. It reaches a maximum length of about 90 centimetres (36 inches) and is strikingly coloured, with red or orange

Kohima

Town, capital of Nagaland state, northeastern India. The town lies in the Naga Hills, 30 miles (48 km) southeast of the railroad at Dimapur. Kohima was the point of the farthest Japanese advance into British India during World War II; it was held briefly by Japanese troops in 1944 until retaken by the British. Pop. (1991 prelim.) 53,122.

River, Deltas and time

The most significant effect is that the site of deposition shifts dramatically with time.

Earth, Geometry and rates of plate movement

The plates range in size from about 400 by 2,500 kilometres to 10,000 by 10,000 kilometres. Some Earth scientists believe that the plates are equal in thickness to the lithosphere (see above). If this is so, the plates would be between 70 and 225 kilometres thick. Other investigators hold that the lithosphere moves along with the asthenosphere (the relatively plastic layer underlying the lithosphere)

Eyre, Edward John

Emigrating from England for reasons of health, Eyre reached Australia in March 1833. As a sheep farmer he became a pioneer �overlander,� driving stock from Sydney

Paracas

Culture centred on the peninsula of the same name, located in present-day southern Peru in the vicinity of Ica, during the Early Horizon and the Early Intermediate periods (c. 900 BC - AD 400). The Paracas culture's earlier phase, called Paracas Cavernas, is related to the Chav�n culture (c. 1000 - 400 BC). The pottery of the period is not well-fired and was sometimes painted after firing. The Paracas cultures

Coin, Switzerland

The coinage of Switzerland illustrates its varying fortunes. First there was the gold money of the Merovingian kings, among whose mints were Basel, Lausanne, St. Maurice-en-Valais, and Sitten (Sion). The silver deniers that Charlemagne made the coinage of the empire were issued by fewer mints. The dukes of Swabia began to strike at Z�rich in the 10th century, and the empire

Quail

Any of 130 species of small, short-tailed game birds of the family Phasianidae (order Galliformes), resembling partridges but generally smaller and less robust. The 95 species of Old World quail are classified in either of two subfamilies, Phasianinae or Perdicinae. New World quail - some 36 species, constituting the subfamily Odontophorinae - more nearly resemble Old World

Nizam-ul-mulk

(Arabic: �Governor of the Kingdom�), title borne by various Indian Muslim princes. The term has also been translated as �Deputy for the Whole Empire.� In 1713 it was conferred on Chin Qilich Khan (Asaf Jah) by the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah and was held by his descendants, the rulers of the princely state of Hyderabad, until the mid-20th century. The head of a ruling family was commonly known as

Nemours, Jacques De Savoie, Duc De, (duke Of), Comte (count) De Genevois, Marquis De Saint-sorlin

He won a military reputation in the French royal service on the eastern frontier and in Piedmont in the 1550s and against the Huguenots and their German allies in the 1560s. His amorous exploits at the Valois court were also admired; the chronicler Pierre de Brant�me characteristically

Urticaceae

The nettle family comprising about 45 genera of herbs, shrubs, small trees, and a few vines, distributed primarily in tropical regions. The family is typical of the nettle order (Urticales). Many species, especially the nettles (Urtica; see photograph) and Australian nettle trees (Laportea), have stinging hairs on the stems and leaves. The leaves are varied and

Omaha

North American Plains Indian people of the Dhegiha branch of the Siouan language stock. With the other members of this subgroup (the Osage, Ponca, Kansa, and Quapaw [qq.v.]), the Omaha migrated westward from the Atlantic coast. An early settlement was in Virginia and the Carolinas. After a time they moved to the Ozark Plateau and the prairies of what is now western Missouri.

Lemur

Generally, any of the more primitive primates except the tree shrews. In this sense, the term covers not only the typical lemurs (family Lemuridae) but also the avahi, indri, sifaka, aye-aye, loris, potto, and galago (qq.v.). All these animals are characterized by a naked, moist tip to the muzzle; comblike, forward-directed lower front teeth; and a clawlike nail on the second toe of

Mona Island

Spanish �Isla Mona, � island lying west of Puerto Rico. It is in the centre of the Mona Passage about 45 miles (70 km) west of Mayag�ez. About 6 miles (10 km) long, 4 miles (6.5 km) wide, and 20 square miles (52 square km) in area, the island is a limestone plateau. There is little vegetation, though there has been some reforestation. Despite the island's excellent beaches and fishing, attempts by the Puerto Rican government

Bartholin, Caspar Berthelsen

At the University of Padua (1608 - 10) Bartholin conducted anatomical studies under the famed Italian anatomist Hieronymus Fabricius ab Aquapendente. These formed the basis for his manual Anatomicae Institutiones Corporis

Roman Catholicism, History Of

As both its critics and its champions would probably agree, Roman Catholicism has been the decisive spiritual force in the history of Western civilization. There are more Roman Catholics in the world than there are believers of any other religious tradition - not merely

Vratya

Wandering ascetic, member of either an ethnic group or a sect, located principally in the Magadha (South Bihar) region of ancient India. The vratyas lived outside the fold of the dominant Aryan society and practiced their own forms of austerity and esoteric rites. Much speculation regarding the vratyas has left unsettled the question of whether they were forerunners

Alcuin

Anglo-Latin poet, educator, and cleric who, as head of the Palatine school established by Charlemagne at Aachen, introduced the traditions of Anglo-Saxon humanism into western Europe. He was the foremost scholar of the revival of learning known as the Carolingian Renaissance. He also made important reforms in the Roman

All-star Game

In American professional baseball, a game between teams of outstanding players chosen from National and American league teams who oppose each other as league against league. Arch Ward, a Chicago Tribune sports editor, is credited with promoting the first All-Star Game, which was held in Chicago in 1933 in conjunction with the Century of Progress Exposition. The All-Star

Ryle, Sir Martin

British radio astronomer who developed revolutionary radio telescope systems and used them for accurate location of weak radio sources. With improved equipment, he observed the most distant known galaxies of the universe. Ryle and Antony Hewish shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1974, the first Nobel prize