Wapentake

An administrative division of the English counties of York, Lincoln, Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, and Rutland, first clearly referred to at the end of the 10th century and corresponding to the �hundred� in other parts of England. The term wapentake is of Scandinavian origin and meant the taking of weapons; it later signified the clash of arms by which the people assembled

Binghamton

City, seat (1806) of Broome county, south-central New York, U.S. It lies at the confluence of the Chenango and Susquehanna rivers, near the Pennsylvania border, 75 miles (121 km) south of Syracuse. With Johnson City and Endicott, it forms the Triple Cities. Settled in 1787 at the site of an Iroquois village (Ochenang), it was first known as Chenango Point and was later named for William Bingham,

Number Game, The brakeman, the fireman, and the engineer

The names, not necessarily respectively, of the brakeman, fireman, and engineer of a certain train were Smith, Jones, and Robinson. Three passengers on the train happened to have the same names and, in order to distinguish

Gnetales

Only order of plants in the subdivision Gnetopsida, a group with characteristics of both angiosperms and gymnosperms. The order contains three families: Ephedraceae, Gnetaceae, and Welwitschiaceae, each with a single genus. See also Ephedra; Gnetaceae; Welwitschiaceae.

Naqadah

Also spelled �Nakada, � town, Upper Egypt. It lies on the west bank of the Nile, in the great bend of the river, opposite Qus, in Qina muhafazah (governorate). One of the oldest regions of Egypt, it is the site of a Neolithic town and burial grounds of the Predynastic period (before c. 2925 BC). It was first excavated by the British archaeologist Sir Flinders Petrie, and the cultures found are referred to by scholars

Skikda

Formerly �Philippeville, � town, Mediterranean port, northeastern Algeria, situated on the Gulf of Stora. Founded by French Marshal Sylvain-Charles Val�e in 1838 as the port of Constantine, it has an artificial harbour. Skikda occupies the site of ancient Rusicade, port of 4th-century Cirta, and has the largest Roman theatre in Algeria (used as a quarry, this has been greatly depleted). Roman artifacts

Tigris-euphrates River System, Agriculture and irrigation

The rivers are high at the wrong time of year for most crops (except rice), so that cultivation by direct inundation generally cannot be practiced. The initiation of massive irrigation projects in Turkey heralds unprecedented change for the piedmont area of southeastern Anatolia. Historically, the agriculture of this zone, as well as of northern Iraq and Syria, has

Forced Labour

Forced labour has existed in various forms throughout history, but it was a peculiarly prominent feature

Kofoid, Charles Atwood

Kofoid graduated from Harvard University (1894) and in 1900 began a long affiliation with the University of California at Berkeley. He became a full professor there in 1910, and for most

Balaklava, Battle Of

Balaklava also spelled �Balaclava� (Oct. 25 [Oct. 13, Old Style], 1854), indecisive military engagement of the Crimean War, best known as the inspiration of the English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson's �Charge of the Light Brigade.� In this battle, the Russians failed to capture Balaklava, the Black Sea supply port of the British, French, and Turkish forces in the southern Crimea; but the British lost control of their best supply

Tzutujil

Also spelled �Zutuhil, or Tzutuhil, � Mayan Indians of the midwestern highlands of Guatemala. The Tzutujil language is closely related to those of the neighbouring Cakchiquel and Quich� (qq.v.). The Tzutujil, like the neighbouring Mayan peoples, are agricultural, growing the Indian staple crops - corn (maize), beans, and squash. They also keep a few domestic animals such as sheep, pigs, and chickens. The people

Madhumati River

Tributary of the Padma (Ganges) River, flowing through southwestern Bangladesh. It leaves the Padma just north of Kushtia and flows 190 miles (306 km) southeast before turning south across the Sundarbans to empty into the Bay of Bengal. In its upper course it is called the Garai; in its lower course it is known as the Baleswar; and its 9-mile- (14-kilometre-) wide estuary mouth is called

Draco

The six junior archons (thesmotetai), or magistrates, are said by Aristotle to have been instituted in Athens after 683 BC to record the laws. If this is correct, Draco's code,

Earth

More than 90 percent of the Earth's mass is composed of iron, oxygen, silicon, and magnesium, elements that can form the crystalline minerals known as silicates. However, in terms of chemical and mineralogical composition, as in physical properties, the Earth is far from homogeneous. Apart from the superficial lateral heterogeneities near the surface (i.e., in the compositions

Crab Spider

The body of the crab spider is gray or brown in colour and is about 12 mm (0.5 inch) long. Members of Misumena

Qaddafi, Muammar Al-

The son of an itinerant Bedouin farmer, Qaddafi was born in a tent in the Libyan desert. He proved a talented student and graduated from the University of Libya in 1963. A devout Muslim and ardent Arab nationalist, Qaddafi early began

Qaddafi, Muammar Al-

The son of an itinerant Bedouin farmer, Qaddafi was born in a tent in the Libyan desert. He proved a talented student and graduated from the University of Libya in 1963. A devout Muslim and ardent Arab nationalist, Qaddafi early began

Discount Store

In merchandising, retail store that sells products at prices lower than those asked by traditional retail outlets. Some, like department stores, offer wide assortments of goods; others specialize in such merchandise as jewelry, electronic equipment, or electrical appliances. Food stores also have been operated on the discount principle. Stores that are open only

Milyukov, Pavel Nikolayevich

As a contributor to a clandestinely circulated journal, Osvobozhdeniye (�Liberation�), founded in 1902, Milyukov did much to swing the moderate members of the zemstvos (local government bodies) to the left. During the revolutionary year 1905, he was active in forming the Union of Unions, a broad alliance of professional associations, and subsequently the Constitutional Democratic,

Buick, David Dunbar

Buick was taken to the United States in 1856. His first independent business venture was a company that made plumbing equipment, started in 1884. In about 1899 he became interested in gasoline engines for agricultural and marine purposes, and

Austria, The accession of the Habsburgs

As the German princes had not cared to give Rudolf adequate support against Otakar, he did not feel bound to them and set out to acquire the former Babenberg lands for his own house. In 1281 he made his eldest son, Albert (later Albert I, king of Germany), governor of Austria and Styria; on Christmas, 1282, he invested his two sons, Albert and Rudolf II, with Austria, Styria, and Carniola,

Szolnok

Town and seat of J�sz-Nagykun-Szolnok megye (county), east-central Hungary, at the confluence of the Zagyva and Tisza rivers. Under the �rp�d kings (c. 890 - 1301) Szolnok was a market town and distributing centre for rock salt from the Maramures Mountains (now in Romania). Later in the European Middle Ages it was a strategic settlement fiercely contested by Magyars and Turks. In modern

Chandler

City, Maricopa county, south-central Arizona, U.S. Founded in the 1890s, the city was named for veterinarian and real-estate developer A.J. Chandler, who built an extensive agricultural canal system in the area. Chandler is a winter resort in a cotton, alfalfa, citrus fruit, pecan, sugar beet, and cattle-raising region of the irrigated Salt River valley. The city emerged in the late

Quad Cities

An industrial complex at the Iowa - Illinois border, on the Mississippi River, U.S., which includes Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline (qq.v.), Ill., and Davenport (q.v.), Iowa.

Quad Cities

An industrial complex at the Iowa - Illinois border, on the Mississippi River, U.S., which includes Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline (qq.v.), Ill., and Davenport (q.v.), Iowa.

Colepeper (of Thoresway), John Colepeper, 1st Baron

Elected member for Kent in the Long Parliament, he took the popular side, supporting the Earl of Strafford's attainder and receiving an appointment to the Parliamentary committee of defense in 1641. He separated, however, from the popular party on the church

Biblical Literature, Arabic versions

There is no reliable evidence of any pre-Islamic Arabic translation. Only when large Jewish and Christian communities found themselves under Muslim rule after the Arab conquests of the 7th century did the need for an Arabic vernacular Scripture arise. The first and most important was that of Sa'adia ben Joseph (892 - 942), made directly from Hebrew and written in Hebrew script,

Aschelminth, Behaviour

Although their nervous systems are simple, aschelminths can respond to a range of environmental stimuli by, for example, attraction, avoidance, feeding, or copulation. They respond to touch, temperature gradients, chemicals, and light. Some species in each class have two or more pairs of simple eyes capable of indicating the direction and intensity of light but unable

Bahonar, Mohammad Javad

Bahonar studied in the Shi'ite holy city of Qom, where he was a student of noted cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and later taught religion at the University of Tehran. Bahonar was a vocal critic

Bahonar, Mohammad Javad

Largest trade-union federation in India. INTUC was established in 1947 in cooperation with the Indian National Congress, which favoured a less militant union movement than the All-India Trade Union Congress. INTUC is largely anticommunist; it is affiliated with the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions.