Wrought Iron

One of the two forms in which iron is obtained by smelting; the other is cast iron (q.v.). Wrought iron is a soft, ductile, fibrous variety that is produced from a semifused mass of relatively pure iron globules partially surrounded by slag. It usually contains less than 0.1 percent carbon and 1 or 2 percent slag. It is superior for most purposes to cast iron, which is overly hard and

Dorris, Michael Anthony

American writer whose best-known book, the 1989 National Book Award-winning The Broken Cord, chronicled the struggle his adopted son faced as a result of fetal alcohol syndrome; suffering from chronic depression, separated from his wife, writer Louise Erdrich, and facing legal difficulties, Dorris took his own life (b. Jan 30, 1945--found dead April 11, 1997).

Biblical Literature, The Armenian version

The Armenian version is an expression of a nationalist movement that brought about a separation from the rest of the Church (mid-5th century), the discontinuance of Syriac in Greek worship, and the invention of a national alphabet by St. Mesrob, also called Mashtots (c. 361–439/440). According to tradition, St. Mesrob first translated Proverbs from the Syriac. Existing manuscripts

Haedo Range

Also called  Haedo Ridge,  or  Haedo Hills,  Spanish  Cuchilla de Haedo,  range of hills, north-central Uruguay. With the Grande Range (Cuchilla Grande) to the east, it defines the basin of the Negro River, Uruguay's major river. The range extends southward from a rugged highland area near the Brazilian border for approximately 125 miles (200 km) and terminates at the confluence of the Negro and Uruguay rivers, the Rincón de las Gallinas. It separates

Charles, Ray

When Charles was an infant his family moved to Greenville, Florida, and he

Religion

The year 2002 saw an explosion of scandals involving accusations of sexual abuse and cover-ups in the Roman Catholic Church in countries including Australia, Ireland, Poland, and the U.S. (See Sidebar.) The developments spurred resignations and expulsions of some prominent church leaders and led the pope to say in April that there was “no place in the priesthood and religious

Respiration

The process by which animal organisms take up oxygen and discharge carbon dioxide in order to satisfy their energy requirements. In the living organism, energy is liberated, along with carbon dioxide, through the oxidation of molecules containing carbon. The term respiration also denotes the exchange of the respiratory gases (oxygen and carbon dioxide) between

Hyundai Group

Hyundai began as a construction firm founded by Chung Ju Yung in 1947. The company operated within South Korea until 1965, when it initiated a road building project in Thailand that marked the beginning of

The Anti-suffragist

In July 1908 the New York State Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage published the first issue of The Anti-Suffragist. The quarterly magazine echoed the views of the antisuffragism movement, which began in Massachusetts

Kaminaljuyú

Historic centre of the highland Maya, located near modern Guatemala City, Guat. The site was inhabited from the Formative Period (1500 BC–AD 100) until its decline after the Late Classic Period (c. AD 600–900). About 200 burial sites from the Late Formative Period (300 BC–AD 100) have been uncovered. From the Early Classic Period (c. AD 100–600), a number of more elaborate tombs containing Teotihuacán-style pottery have been

Main River

Latin  Moenus,   river, an important right- (east-) bank tributary of the Rhine in Germany. It is formed, near Kulmbach, by the confluence of the Weisser (White) Main, which rises in the Fichtel Mountains, and the Roter (Red) Main, which rises on the eastern slope of the Fränkische Mountains (Franconian Jura). The Main River flows southwesterly around the northern end of the Fränkische Mountains

Sibelius, Jean

Sibelius studied at the Finnish Normal School, the first Finnish-speaking school in Russian-held Finland, where he came into contact with Finnish literature and in particular with the Kalevala, the mythological epic of Finland, which remained for him a constant

African American Literature, The Black Arts movement

The assassination of Malcolm X, eloquent exponent of black nationalism, in 1965 in New York and the espousal of “Black Power” by previously integrationist civil rights organizations such as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) helped to galvanize a generation of young black writers into rethinking the purpose

Trafford

Metropolitan borough in the southwest of the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, England. Most of the borough's area, including towns such as Sale and Altrincham, lies south of the River Mersey in the historic county of Cheshire, but the historic county of Lancashire encompasses the urban core of the borough north of the Mersey, including Stretford, the Trafford

Xyz Affair

Diplomatic incident that, when made public in 1798, nearly involved the United States and France in war. Pres. John Adams dispatched three ministers to France in 1797 to negotiate a commercial agreement to protect U.S. shipping. In Paris the ministers were approached by three French agents who suggested a bribe of $250,000 to Talleyrand, the French foreign minister, and a loan of $10,000,000 to France

Deficit Financing

Practice in which a government spends more money than it receives as revenue, the difference being made up by borrowing or minting new funds. Although budget deficits may occur for numerous reasons, the term usually refers to a conscious attempt to stimulate the economy by lowering tax rates or increasing government expenditures. The influence of government

Euro

The euro's origins lay in

Ghat

Also spelled  Gat,   oasis, southwestern Libya, near the Algerian border. Located on an ancient Saharan caravan route, it was a slave-trading centre and the object of European exploration in the 19th century. Ghat lies west of the Wadi (watercourse) Tanezzuft in hilly sandstone country, near the Jibal Akakus (mountains) and the Tadrart plateau. A nearby offshoot of the mountains, Idinen, is a legendary

Dubbo

City, east-central New South Wales, Australia, on the Macquarie River. Visited in 1818 by the explorer John Oxley, the district received its first settlers in 1824. Founded in 1841, Dubbo was an established village by 1849. It became a municipality in 1872 and a city in 1966. It is the trade centre of an area producing wheat, livestock, timber, and fruits and vegetables. Dubbo has slaughterhouses, flour

Barb

Also called  Barbel  (genus Barbus), any of numerous freshwater fishes belonging to a genus in the carp family, Cyprinidae. The barbs are native to Europe, Africa, and Asia. The members of this genus typically have one or more pairs of barbels (slender, fleshy protuberances) near the mouth and often have large, shining scales. The species vary widely in size; certain barbs are only about 2.5–5 cm (1–2 inches)

La Flesche, Susette

La Flesche was the daughter of an Omaha chief who was the son of a French trader and an Omaha woman. The father was familiar with both cultures, and though he lived as an Indian he sent his children to a Presbyterian mission school

Hertfordshire

Administrative and historic county of southern England, adjoining Greater London to the south. The administrative county and the historic county cover slightly different areas. The administrative county comprises 10 districts: East Hertfordshire, North Hertfordshire, Three Rivers, and Welwyn Hatfield; the boroughs of Broxbourne, Dacorum, Hertsmere, Stevenage

Jane

Chicago-based women's collective that provided more than 11,000 safe albeit illegal abortions between 1969 and 1973. The underground clinic, a small branch of the Chicago Women's Liberation Union, strove to strengthen the pro-choice movement and abolish expensive, unsafe, and callously performed abortion services. They did so by providing medically sound, low-cost abortions at

Fernández De Moratín, Leandro

The son of the poet and playwright Nicolás Fernández de Moratín, he was an apologist of the French Encyclopaedists, a translator of Molière and William Shakespeare, and a satirist of contemporary society. The two predominant

Buyid Dynasty,

'Ali, appointed governor of Karaj about 930 by the Daylamite leader Mardaviz ebn Zeyar, seized Isfahan and

Table Bay

Bay of the Atlantic Ocean near the southern tip of Africa forming the harbour of Cape Town. Extending north from Cape Town to Melkbosstrand, the bay is 12 mi (19 km) long and 8 mi wide; it contains Robben Island (q.v.) and is overlooked by Table Mountain. Portuguese navigators were the first Europeans to see the bay (c. 1500). Although it was less well sheltered than other bays along the coast,

Cynegils

With his son Cwichelm (d. 636), Cynegils defeated the advancing Britons at Bampton in Oxfordshire in 614, and Cwichelm sought to arrest the growing power of the Northumbrian king Eadwine by procuring his assassination. The attempt, however, failed, and in 626 the West Saxons were defeated

Alabama, Industry

Industrial development in Alabama has long been based on the iron and steel industry of Birmingham, the development of which was facilitated by accessible deposits of iron ore, coal, and limestone. Other minerals include the state's well-known white marble. Oil production in commercial quantities dates from 1944, and there are a number of wells in the coastal regions.

Siljan, Lake

Also spelled  Silja,   lake in the administrative län (county) of Dalarna, central Sweden. Covering an area of 112 square miles (290 square km; including Orsa and In lakes, 137 square miles [354 square km]), it is Dalarna's largest lake and Sweden's third. After receiving the Österdal River at Mora, the lake stretches for a length of 25 miles (40 km) toward the southeast and extends into two bays, the wide Rätt to the northeast

Salamis

Modern Greek  Salamís,   island and town, nomós (department) of Attikí, Greece. The island lies in the Saronic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, west of the city of Piraeus. The town (the present combined municipality of Salamís-Naústathmos) is a port on the west coast of the island. On the east, between the island and the mainland, are the straits in which the Greeks won a decisive naval victory over the Persians