CommonBall

Thursday, September 30, 2004

Sundanese

Historically they were first recorded under the Indo-Javanese Brahmanical states

Monday, September 27, 2004

Táchira

State, western Venezuela, bounded on the west by Colombia. The territory of 4,300 square miles (11,100 square km) lies in the southwestern reaches of the Andean Cordillera de Mérida. Agriculture dominates the state's economy; coffee and sugarcane are the leading commercial crops. Rural industry, closely related to agriculture, is usually carried on in the local homes. Relatively

Sunday, September 26, 2004

Afonso V

The son of King Edward (Duarte) and Queen Leonor, daughter of King Ferdinand I of Aragon, Afonso succeeded to the throne at the age of six. In 1440 his mother was deprived of the regency by his uncle Pedro, Duke de Coimbra, whose daughter Isabella Afonso married. The regent was in turn

Thursday, September 23, 2004

Dado

In Classical architecture, the plain portion between the base and cornice of the pedestal of a column and, in later architecture, the paneled, painted, or otherwise decorated lower part of a wall, up to 2 or 3 feet (60 to 90 cm) above the floor. Internal walls were so treated between the 16th and the 18th century, though toward the close of that period the dado was left plain and merely defined

Tuesday, September 21, 2004

Lippe River

River, a right-bank tributary of the Rhine, that flows through North Rhine-Westphalia Land (state) in Germany. Rising near Bad Lippspringe on the western edge of the Teutoburger Wald, the Lippe follows a westerly course of 155 miles (250 km) and flows into the Rhine near Wesel. The river lies along the northern border of the Ruhr industrial region. By the aid of locks it is navigable

Sunday, September 19, 2004

Argyll, Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess And 8th Earl Of, Lord Campbell, Lord Lorne, Lord Of Kintyre

He was the eldest son of Archibald, 7th Earl of Argyll, and took over the management of the family estates in 1619 after his father had

Friday, September 17, 2004

Tagalog Language

Member of the Central Philippine branch of the Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian) language family and the base for Pilipino, an official language of the Philippines, together with English. It is most closely related to Bicol and the Bisayan (Visayan) languages—Cebuano, Hiligaynon (Ilongo), and Samar. Native Tagalog speakers form the second largest linguistic and cultural

Thursday, September 16, 2004

Vision Quest

Among the American Indian hunters of the eastern woodlands and the Great Plains, an essential part of a young boy's (or, more rarely, a girl's) initiation into adulthood. The youth was sent out from the camp on a solitary vigil involving fasting and prayer in order to gain some sign of the presence and nature of his guardian spirit (q.v.). The specific techniques varied from

Monday, September 13, 2004

Rowan

A deciduous tree, Sorbus aucuparia; it is also called the European mountain ash, or quickbeam. See mountain ash.

Saturday, September 11, 2004

Radetzky, Joseph, Count (graf)

Radetzky joined the Austrian army in 1784 and served in the Turkish War of 1787–92 and in the Low Countries in the first years of the French Revolutionary Wars. His courage and enterprise were conspicuous

Thursday, September 09, 2004

Arabia, History Of, Yemen

Imam Yahya had to virtually conquer Yemen, in the Zaydi interest, after the Ottoman departure; by stern measures he established security. He refused to recognize the British-backed border between the Aden protectorates and Yemen. The British in the later 1930s pacified and, to a limited degree, developed their protectorates.

Tuesday, September 07, 2004

Dietz, Robert S.

Dietz was educated at the University of Illinois (B.S., 1937; M.S., 1939; Ph.D., 1941). After serving as an officer in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, he became a civilian scientist with the U.S. Navy. In this capacity, he supervised the oceanographic research on

Monday, September 06, 2004

Lauenburg

A duchy under the Ascanian dynasty from the 13th century, Lauenburg was acquired by George William, the Welf duke

Saturday, September 04, 2004

Race

Although their numbers are dwindling, some scientists continue to believe that it is possible to divide Homo sapiens into discrete populations called races. They believe that the physical differences manifest in wide geographic regions are more than superficial; they reflect innate intellectual, moral, emotional, and other behavioral differences among human

Thursday, September 02, 2004

Paean

Solemn choral lyric of invocation, joy, or triumph, originating in ancient Greece where it was addressed to Apollo in his guise as Paean, physician to the gods. Paeans were sung at banquets following the boisterous dithyrambs, at the festivals of Apollo, and at public funerals. It was the custom for them to be sung by an army on the march and before going into battle, when