Sorus

Plural �Sori, � in botany, brownish or yellowish cluster of spore-producing structures (sporangia) on the lower surfaces of fern leaves. A sorus may be protected during development by a scale or film of tissue called an indusium. In rust and smut fungi, a sorus is a spore mass produced on the leaf of an infected plant. Reproductive structures called sori also occur in various species

Cambyses I

Ruler of Anshan c. 600 - 559 BC. Cambyses was the son of Cyrus I and succeeded his father in Anshan (northwest of Susa in Elam) as a vassal of King Astyages of Media. According to the 5th-century-BC Greek historian Herodotus, Cambyses married a daughter of Astyages, by whom he became the father of Cyrus II the Great.

Baga

People who inhabit the swampy coastal region between Cape Verga and the city of Conakry in Guinea. They speak a language of the Atlantic branch of the Niger-Congo family. The women cultivate rice; the men fish and tend palm and kola trees. Some Baga are employed as wage labourers in the bauxite mines of the Los Islands off Conakry. Houses are typically cylindrical mud

Andong

City, North Kyongsang do (province), east-central South Korea. It lies 215 miles (345 km) from the mouth of the Naktong River, at the terminus of its navigable section, near a multipurpose dam. The city has been in existence since the Three Kingdoms period (beginning c. 57 BC) under various names, and since the Koryo period (935 - 1392) it has been known by its present name. Until the end of the Choson (Yi) dynasty

Sabaean

Member of a people of South Arabia in pre-Islamic times, founders of the kingdom of Saba' (q.v.), the biblical Sheba.

Sudan, The, Muslim peoples

A major cleavage exists between the northern and the southern parts of the country. The north is dominated by Muslims, most of whom speak Arabic and identify themselves as �Arabs,� while the people of the south are �Africans� (i.e., blacks) who for the most part follow traditional African religions, though there are also some Christians among them. Those who identify themselves

Skelton Glacier

Antarctic glacier situated on the Hillary Coast of Victoria Land, to the northeast of the Cook Mountains, near McMurdo Sound. It flows sluggishly southward into the Ross Ice Shelf. The greatest known thickness of ice along its 39-mi (62-km) length occurs at a point about 30 mi from the tip of its floating terminus. There the ice is about 4,760 ft (1,450 m) thick. The east side of the glacier is covered

France, Flag Of

Under the ancien r�gime, France had a great number of flags, and many of its military and naval flags were elaborate and subject to artistic variations. The royal coat of arms, a blue shield with three golden fleurs-de-lis, was the basis for the state flag. After the Bourbons came to power, this shield was generally displayed against a background of the Bourbon dynastic

Mammal, The evolution of the mammalian condition

Mammals were derived in the Triassic Period from members of the reptilian order Therapsida. The therapsids, members of the subclass Synapsida (sometimes called the mammal-like reptiles), generally were unimpressive in relation to other reptiles of their time. Synapsids were present in the Carboniferous Period (about 280,000,000 to 345,000,000 years ago) and are one of the earliest known

Ibrahim Pasa

Ibrahim's first military expedition was to Egypt (1524), where he reestablished order and introduced administrative and fiscal measures that solidified Ottoman authority there.

Arigb�

As commander of the Mongol homeland when the great khan Mangu died in 1259, Arigb�ge had himself proclaimed the chief Mongol leader. Meanwhile, his elder brother, Kublai, returned from his campaigns in China and also assumed the title. A series of battles ensued, and

Dumesnil, Mademoiselle

She made her Paris debut in 1737 at the Com�die-Fran�aise as Clytemnestre in Racine's Iphig�nie en Aulide. A fiery actress who scorned tradition, she played Cl�op�tre in Corneille's Rodogune and played Racine's Ph�dre, Athalie,

N�fels, Battle Of

(April 9, 1388), major victory for the Swiss Confederation in the first century of its struggle for self-determination against Habsburg overlordship. Though the catastrophic defeat of the Austrians at Sempach in 1386 had been followed by a truce, hostilities against the Habsburgs were subsequently continued by the rebellious men of Glarus, a district that had adhered to the

Abbott, Grace

Abbott graduated from Grand Island College in 1898 and for eight years thereafter taught high school in her hometown. During that period she undertook graduate studies at the University of Nebraska

Malapropism

Verbal blunder in which one word is replaced by another similar in sound but different in meaning. Although William Shakespeare had used the device for comic effect, the term derives from Richard Brinsley Sheridan's character Mrs. Malaprop, in his play The Rivals (1775). Her name is taken from the term malapropos (French: �inappropriate�) and is typical of Sheridan's practice

Schelling, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Von

German philosopher and educator, a major figure of German idealism, in the post-Kantian development in German philosophy. He was ennobled (with the addition of von) in 1806.

Korolyov, Sergey Pavlovich

Korolyov was educated at the Odessa Building Trades School, the Kiev Polytechnic Institute, and the Moscow N.E. Bauman Higher Technical School, where he studied aeronautical engineering under the celebrated designers Nikolay Yegorovich Zhukovsky and Andrey

Obi

The contemporary, wide obi evolved in the early 18th century. It is frequently

Ringed Seal

(species Pusa, or Phoca, hispida), nonmigratory, earless seal (family Phocidae) of North Polar seas and a few freshwater lakes in Europe and on Baffin Island. Named for the characteristic pale rings on its grayish or yellowish coat, the ringed seal grows to about 1.5 m (5 feet) in length and 90 kg (200 pounds) in weight. It lives near the pack ice and feeds on crustaceans, mollusks, and some

London, Other spectator sports

June brings international tennis stars to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club at Wimbledon in southern London. An earlier highspot of the sporting calendar is the spring boat race between the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, rowed up the turbulent waters of the tideway from Putney to Mortlake. Since the closure of the racecourse at Alexandra Park

Burford

Town (�parish�), West Oxfordshire district, administrative and historic county of Oxfordshire, southern England, on the River Windrush, in the Cotswolds. The town was acquired by Robert FitzHamon, earl of Gloucester, who granted it a market in 1088 and England's earliest datable merchant guild. Sir Lawrence Tanfield, a local landowner, successfully challenged the town's civic

Leveler

The Leveler movement originated in 1645 - 46 among radical supporters of Parliament in and around London. The Civil War had been waged in the name

'abd Allah Ibn Al-'abbas

In the early struggles for the caliphate, Ibn 'Abbas supported 'Ali and was rewarded with the governorship of Basra. Subsequently he defected and withdrew to Mecca. During the reign of Mu'awiyah he lived in the Hejaz, but frequently travelled to Damascus,

Europe

Second smallest of the world's continents (after Australia), composed of the westward-projecting peninsulas of Eurasia and occupying nearly one-fifteenth of the world's total land area. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the south (west to east) by the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, the Kuma-Manych Depression, and the

Arruza, Carlos

Born in Mexico of Spanish parents, he began as a professional torero at the age of 14 in Mexico City. He went to Spain in 1944 billed as �El Cicl�n� and soon was ranked as the most serious contender to challenge Manolete's preeminence

Molar Gas Constant

(symbol R), fundamental physical constant arising in the formulation of the general gas law. For an ideal gas (approximated by most real gases that are not highly compressed or not near the point of liquefaction), the pressure p times the volume V of the gas divided by its absolute temperature T is a constant. When one of these three is altered for a given mass of gas, at least

Ravalomanana, Marc

Throughout 2002 the African island nation of Madagascar continued to reel from the disputed presidential elections of December 2001. A court-ordered recount was required for decision to be reached on the close contest between challenger Marc Ravalomanana, mayor of the capital city of Antananarivo, and Didier Ratsiraka, the sitting president for more than two decades.

Floor Covering

Material made from textiles, felts, resins, rubber, or other natural or man-made substances applied or fastened to, or laid upon, the level base surface of a room to provide comfort, durability, safety, and decoration. Such materials include both handmade and machine-made rugs and carpets and smooth-surfaced floor coverings. Although the words carpet and rug are frequently

Anomalous Water

Also called �Orthowater, or Polywater, � liquid water generally formed by condensation of water vapour in tiny glass or fused-quartz capillaries and with properties very different from those well established for ordinary water; e.g., lower vapour pressure, lower freezing temperature, higher density and viscosity, higher thermal stability, and different infrared and Raman spectra. For a few years after