Gama, Vasco Da, 1er Conde (1st Count) Da Vidigueira

Portuguese navigator whose voyages to India (1497 - 99, 1502 - 03, 1524) opened up the sea route from western Europe to the East by way of the Cape of Good Hope and thus ushered in a new era in world history. He also helped make Portugal a world power.

Biblical Literature, Astrology

There were elements in the Greek world that may have come from the East, partly Egyptian and Babylonian, which gave rise to astrology. The basic conviction of astrology was that the heavenly bodies were deities that in a direct way control life and events on earth. An older idea of tyche, or �fate,� originally signified the chance element in the universe, a capriciousness

Puerto Princesa

City, east-central Palawan, Philippines. It is an important port on a sheltered inlet of the Sulu Sea, south of Honda Bay, and it has an airport. The city was formerly called Cuyo. The site of a penal colony during the Spanish regime, Puerto Princesa has become one of several resettlement sites on the island for migrants from Luzon and the western Visayan region. Copra, lumber,

Beast Fable

A prose or verse fable or short story that usually has a moral. In beast fables animal characters are represented as acting with human feelings and motives. Among the best-known examples in Western literature are those attributed to the legendary Greek author Aesop. The best-known Asian collection of beast fables is the Pa�ca-tantra of India.

Arundel, Thomas Fitzalan, 5th Earl Of, 11th Earl Of Surrey

King Richard II made him a ward of John Holland, duke of Exeter, from whose keeping he escaped about 1398 and joined his uncle, Archbishop Thomas Arundel, at Utrecht, returning to England in 1399 with Henry of Lancaster, afterward King Henry IV. In October 1400 he was restored to

Ben-hadad I

Assyrian �Adad-idri � king of Damascus who led a coalition against the invading forces of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III, repulsing them at Karkar in 853. In a battle with him King Ahab of Israel was killed (I Kings 22:29 - 36). Ben-hadad was murdered by the usurper Hazael.

Dzhalal-abad

Also spelled �Dzalal-abad, � city, western Kyrgyzstan. Though made a city in 1877, it remained essentially a large village. Given city status again in 1927, it now is a regional centre for food processing and other light industries and has a theatre and a museum. Pop. (1991 est.) 75,900.

Porres, Saint Mart�n De

Born of a liaison between a Spanish grandee and a free black woman, Mart�n de Porres became a Dominican oblate, or lay monastic, in 1601. Although it was not customary then to receive a mulatto into a religious order in Peru, Mart�n was considered an exception and became a Dominican lay

Chemical Bonding

Any of the interactions that account for the association of atoms into molecules, ions, crystals, and other stable species that make up the familiar substances of the everyday world. When atoms approach one another, their nuclei and electrons interact and tend to distribute themselves in space in such a way that the total energy is lower than it would be in any alternative

Computers, Handheld computers

The origins of handheld computers go back to the 1960s, when Alan Kay, a researcher at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center, promoted the vision of a small, powerful notebook-style computer that he called the Dynabook. Kay never actually built a Dynabook (the technology had yet to be invented), but his vision helped to catalyze the research that would eventually make his dream

Pack, Otto Von

Pack, a Saxon nobleman, studied law at the University of Leipzig, after which he entered the service of George, duke of Saxony. By 1519 most important governmental matters in Saxony were entrusted to him, and he represented his

Olympic Games, Antwerp, Belgium, 1920

The city, plagued by bad weather and economic woes, had a very short time to clean up the rubble left

Pacific Islands, Interaction with Western societies

During almost five centuries of contact with, first, Europeans and, then, Americans and Asians, island societies fluctuated between change and disorganization on the one hand and stability and reintegration on the other. Relatively balanced ecosystems of prehistoric times were disrupted when islanders, reacting to the novelty and authority of Western civilization,

Western Africa, History Of, Francophone countries

In Senegal, L�opold Senghor, with strong French support, maintained power until his resignation in 1980 by balancing conflicting factions and promising controlled political liberalization. His nominated successor, Abdou Diouf, continued these general policies together with the link to France. In the 1980s Senegal experienced budget deficits and agreed to a program

Earth Sciences, Probes, satellites, and data transmission

In the 1920s the radio replaced the telegraph and telephone as the principal instrument for transmitting weather data. By 1936 the radio meteorgraph (radiosonde) was developed, with capabilities of

Cyrene

Ancient Greek colony in Libya, founded c. 631 BC by a group of emigrants from the island of Thera in the Aegean. Their leader, Battus, became the first king, founding the dynasty of the Battiads, whose members, named alternately Battus and Arcesilaus, ruled Cyrene for eight generations (until c. 440 BC). Under their rule, the city prospered economically and expanded, establishing its

United States, Animal life

The mammals of the two coasts are strikingly different, though true seals (the harbour seal and the harp seal) are found on both. The sea lions, with longer necks and with projecting ears, are found only in the Pacific - the California sea lion, the more northern Steller's sea lion, and the fur seal. On the East Coast the larger rivers of Florida are inhabited by the Florida manatee, or sea cow, a close relative of the more widespread and more distinctively marine West Indian species.

Aerospace Industry, The advent of jets and missiles

Jet power rendered piston-engine

Mormaer

Also spelled �Mormaor� (from Gaelic mor, �great�; maer, or maor, �steward,� or �bailiff�), ruler of any of seven provinces into which Celtic Scotland (i.e., the part of the country north of the Forth and the Clyde) was divided. This Celtic title was rendered jarl by the Norsemen and after the 12th century, under Anglo-Norman influence, �earl.� The seven mormaerships, or original �earldoms,� of Scotland were Angus, Atholl

Sabin, Florence Rena

Sabin was educated in Denver, Colorado, and in Vermont and graduated from Smith College in Massachusetts, in 1893. After teaching in Denver and at Smith to earn tuition money, she entered

Adam, Adolphe

Adam wrote 71 operas, the best of which are generally considered to be Le Postillon de Longjumeau (1836) and Giralda (1850). In his ballets - which he composed for production in London, Berlin,

Merapi, Mount

Indonesian �Gunung Merapi� volcanic mountain peak located near the centre of the island of Java, Indonesia. The volcano is about 20 miles (32 km) north of Yogyakarta and somewhat farther south of Semarang. Merapi (�Mountain of Fire�) rises to 9,551 feet (2,911 m) and has steep slopes with dense vegetation on its lower flanks. It is the most active of Indonesia's 130 active volcanoes. One of its largest eruptions occurred

Watercress

Also called �Cress� (Nasturtium officinale), perennial plant, of the mustard family (Brassicaceae), native to Eurasia and naturalized throughout North America in cool, flowing streams where it grows submerged, floating on the water, or spread over mud surfaces. Watercress often is cultivated in tanks for its young shoots, which are used in salads. The plant bears four-petalled, white flowers

Wairau River

Together

Hookworm Disease

Also called �ancylostomiasis�, or �uncinariasis� a parasitic infestation of humans, dogs, or cats caused by bloodsucking worms (see photograph) living in the small intestine - sometimes associated with secondary anemia. Several species of hookworm can cause the disease. Necator americanus, which ranges in size from 5 to 11 millimetres (0.2 to 0.4 inch), is responsible for about 90 percent of human hookworm infections

Devil's Advocate

Latin �Advocatus Diaboli, � in the Roman Catholic church, the promoter of the faith, who critically examines the life of and miracles attributed to an individual proposed for beatification or canonization. He is popularly called the devil's advocate because his presentation of facts includes everything unfavourable to the candidate. Pope Leo X, in the early 15th century, seems to have introduced

Toamasina

Formerly �Tamatave, � town, eastern Madagascar. The town lies along the Indian Ocean. It was rebuilt after destruction by hurricane in 1927, with the modern sector centring on the tree-lined avenue Poincar�. Toamasina is Madagascar's commercial hub and foremost port, handling much of the island's foreign trade. It exports coffee, vanilla, pepper, cloves, and graphite and imports machinery, textiles,

Wu Ching

Pinyin �Wu Jing� (Chinese: �Five Classics�), five ancient Chinese books whose prestige is so great that in the fourfold classification of Chinese writings the ching (�classics�) are placed before shih (�history�), tzu (�philosophy�), and chi (�literature�). For 2,000 years these classics, all associated in some way with the name of the ancient sage Confucius (551 - 479 BC), were invoked as norms for Chinese society, law,

Vena Cava

In air-breathing vertebrates, including humans, either of two major trunks, the anterior and posterior venae cavae, that deliver oxygen-depleted blood to the right side of the heart. The anterior vena cava, also known as the precava, drains the head end of the body, while the posterior vena cava, or postcava, drains the tail, or rear, end. In humans these veins are respectively

Adwa

Also spelled �Adowa�, Italian �Adua� town, northern Ethiopia. Adwa lies on the east-west highway between Aksum and Adi Grat at its junction with the road north to Asmara (Asmera), in Eritrea. Adwa is a market centre (grains, honey, hides, coffee) for the Tigray people. The town is located 10 miles (16 km) west of an area of fantastic volcanic formations. On March 1, 1896, Emperor Menilek II defeated an Italian force there. Nearby

France, History Of, France from 1715 to 1789

Alexis de Tocqueville, The Old R�gime and the French Revolution (1955, reprinted 1978; originally published in French, 1856), is still a basic source for the study of the period. Comprehensive histories include C.B.A. Behrens, The Ancien R�gime (1967, reprinted 1976); Pierre Goubert and Daniel Roche, Les Fran�ais et l'Ancien R�gime, 2 vol. (1984); Albert Soboul, La France � la veille de la R�volution, 2nd rev. ed. (1974), a Marxist interpretation; Alfred Cobban, Old R�gime and Revolution, 1715 - 1790 (1957, reprinted 1969), vol. 1 in his A History of Modern France; Hubert M�thivier, L�Ancien R�gime en France: XVIe - XVIIe - XVIIIe si�cles (1981); and Norman Hampson, The Enlightenment (1968, reprinted 1982). For discussions of social classes and economic issues, see Robert Forster, The Nobility of Toulouse in the Eighteenth Century (1960, reprinted 1971); Elinor G. Barber, The Bourgeoisie in 18th Century France (1955, reprinted 1970); Franklin L. Ford, Robe and Sword: The Regrouping of the French Aristocracy After Louis XIV (1953, reprinted 1965); Henri S�e, Economic and Social Conditions in France During the Eighteenth Century (1927, reissued 1968; originally published in French, 1925); and Steven Laurence Kaplan, Provisioning Paris: Merchants and Millers in the Grain and Flour Trade During the Eighteenth Century (1984). Economic histories make much use of the 18th-century travelogue of Arthur Young, Travels During the Years 1787, 1788,