Heidelberg Catechism

The Heidelberg Catechism was prepared

Shahadah

(Arabic: �testimony�), the Muslim profession of faith: �There is no god but Allah; Muhammad is the prophet of Allah.� The shahadah is the first of the five Pillars of Islam (arkan al-Islam). It must be recited by every Muslim at least once in a lifetime, aloud, correctly, and purposively, with a full understanding of its meaning and with an assent of the heart.

Peter The Venerable

Peter joined Bernard of Clairvaux in supporting Pope Innocent II, thereby weakening the position of the antipope, Anacletus II. After Peter Abelard's

Hebrew Literature, Formative influences

The first formative influences on 20th-century Hebrew literature belong to the late 19th century. The middle classes of eastern European Jewry that read Hebrew books turned to Jewish nationalism, and Zionist activity, coupled with the movement for speaking Hebrew, widened the circle of Hebrew readers. Hebrew daily papers began to appear in 1886. Writers borrowed extensively

Carteret, Sir George, Baronet

A British naval officer and lieutenant governor of Jersey, Carteret made the island a Royalist stronghold during the English Civil Wars and privateered in the Stuart cause, thereby winning a knighthood (1644) and a baronetcy (1645). After the capture

Insurance, Conditions

Homeowner's policies may include the following conditions: (1) Owners are required to give immediate written notice of loss to the insurer or the insurer's agent. (2) The insured must provide proof of the amount of loss. This suggests that owners should keep accurate records of the items in a building and of their original cost. (3) The insured must cooperate with the insurer

Min Mountains

Wade - Giles romanization �and Pinyin Min Shan, � range in southwestern Kansu and northwest Szechwan sheng (provinces), China. The Min Mountains are a branch of the Kunlun Mountains and have a roughly northwest to southeast axis. The range is made up of extremely rugged limestone, with an average elevation of 8,200 feet (2,500 m) above sea level; individual peaks reach much higher elevations. In the western section of the range,

Narayanan, Kocheril Raman

Despite his family's poverty and social status, Narayanan's intellect won him a government-sponsored scholarship. After graduating

Beas River

Also spelled �Bias�, ancient (Greek) �Hyphasis�, Sanskrit �Vipasa� river in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab states, northwestern India. It is one of the five rivers that give the Punjab (�Five Rivers�) its name. It rises at an elevation of 14,308 feet (4,361 m) in the Rohtang Pass in the Punjab Himalayas, in central Himachal Pradesh. From there it flows south through the Kulu valley, receiving tributaries from the flanking mountains, and then turns west to flow

Pacific Islands

Ron Crocombe, The South Pacific (1983); and Frederica M. Bunge and Melinda W. Cooke (eds.), Oceania, a Regional Study, 2nd ed. (1985), provide comprehensive information. Large-scale maps are found in Atlas of the South Pacific, 2nd ed. (1986), published by the New Zealand government. Herold J. Wiens, Atoll Environment and Ecology (1962), explores the physical characteristics of Pacific Islands environments. The classic demographic study is Norma McArthur, Island Populations of the Pacific (1967, reprinted 1983); see also Vern Carroll (ed.), Pacific Atoll Populations (1975). On physical anthropology, see William Howells, The Pacific Islanders (1973). F.R. Fosberg (ed.), Man's Place in the Island Ecosystem (1963); and Douglas L. Oliver, Oceania: The Native Cultures of Australia and the Pacific Islands, 2 vol. (1989), survey aspects of Pacific Islands societies. University of the South Pacific, Institute of Pacific Studies, Pacific Tourism, as Islanders See It (1980), analyzes the impact of tourism. Current writings about the area are found in Pacific Islands Business (monthly, Fiji); Pacific Magazine (bimonthly, Hawaii); and Pacific Islands Monthly (Australia). John Carter (ed.), Pacific Islands Yearbook, 15th ed. (1984), is a detailed reference work on contemporary conditions and events. For further research, see C.R.H. Taylor, A Pacific Bibliography: Printed Matter Relating to the Native Peoples of Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia, 2nd ed. (1965); and Bibliographie de l'Oc�anie, published irregularly by the Soci�t� des Oc�anistes in Paris.

Saint Albans Raid

On Oct. 19, 1864, about 25 Confederate soldiers based in Canada raided the town of St. Albans, Vt., killed one man, robbed three banks, and then retreated to Canadian territory. A U.S. posse

Port Sudan

Arabic �Bur Sudan, � city, principal seaport of The Sudan on the Red Sea coast, 295 miles (475 km) by rail northeast of the Nile River valley at 'Atbarah. Built between 1905 and 1909 to replace Sawakin (Suakin) - the historic, coral-choked Arab port - Port Sudan has a petroleum refinery, an international airport, and modern docking facilities that handle the bulk of the country's external trade. The harbour is in the

Earnhardt, Dale

Ralph Earnhardt, Dale's father, raced stock cars in the American southeast during the 1960s and helped to foster his son's passion for the sport. The younger Earnhardt dropped

Ashmolean Museum Of Art And Archaeology

One of the four museums of the University of Oxford and the oldest public museum of art, archaeology, and natural history in Great Britain. It was established to house collections donated to the university in 1677 by Elias Ashmole (1617 - 92), an antiquarian who had inherited the bulk of the collections from a friend, John Tradescant (1608 - 62). The museum was opened to the public in 1683 in a building

Volsci

Knowledge of the Volsci depends largely upon Roman accounts of their mutual

Nitrogen Fixation

Under ordinary conditions nitrogen does not react with other elements. Yet nitrogenous compounds are found in all fertile soils,

Alleghenian Orogeny

A mountain-building event that affected the Appalachian Geosyncline in late Paleozoic (Permian) time, from about 300 million to 250 million years ago. The term Appalachian Revolution formerly was applied to this event. The Alleghenian orogeny is most pronounced in the central and southern Appalachians and produced the compressional folding and faulting of the Ridge

Affective Fallacy

Those who support the affective criterion

Aranjuez

Ancient (Latin) �Ara Jovis� town, Madrid provincia and comunidad aut�noma (�autonomous community�), central Spain, on the southern bank of the Tagus River near its confluence with the Jarama. The town, which has existed since Roman times, was the headquarters of the Knights of Santiago (1387 - 1409) and became the seat of a royal summer residence and hunting lodge in the 17th century. It was rebuilt in about 1750 by Ferdinand

Ribe

City, seat of Ribe amtskommune (county commune), southwestern Jutland, Denmark, on the Ribe River, 4 miles (6 km) from the North Sea. One of Denmark's oldest towns, it was first mentioned in 862 and became a bishopric in 948. In the Middle Ages it was a thriving port and favourite royal resort, centred on Riberhus (a castle founded in the early 12th century and destroyed by the Swedes in 1658). The

Television And Radio

The new rules contained many

Art And Architecture, Anatolian, Early Bronze Age

In the Early Bronze Age the further development of military architecture is best illustrated at Troy, where parts of a fortress were uncovered. The most convincingly reconstructed plan dates from the second phase of the Early Bronze Age (c. 2700 - c. 2500 BC). It shows a polygonal enclosure, hardly 300 feet in diameter, surrounded by heavy mud-brick walls on a stone substructure. There

Oaxaca

Estado (�state�), southern Mexico, bounded south by the Pacific Ocean, west by Guerrero, north by Puebla, northeast by Veracruz, and east by Chiapas. The state's territory, with an area of 36,275 square miles (93,952 square km), includes most of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec on its Pacific side. The Sierra Madre del Sur ends at the isthmus, which is low, hot, and arid. The Atlantic lowlands near Veracruz

Uzziah

During the period of Uzziah's

Hooch, Pieter De

Hooch was a pupil of Claes Berchem at Haarlem. From 1653 he was in the service of Justus de Grange and lived in Delft, The Hague, and Leiden. From 1654 to 1657 he was a member of the painters' guild of Delft, but after that date there are no traces of his career until about 1667, when

Ear Squeeze

The middle ear, the cavity behind the eardrum membrane, is connected with the nasal cavity (nasopharynx) by

Endangered Species

A number of agencies, both international and national, work to maintain lists of endangered species, to protect and preserve natural habitats, and to promote programs for recovery and reestablishment of these species. One such international agency is the Survival Service Commission of the International

Esquipulas

Town, southeastern Guatemala, in the central highlands near the borders of Honduras and El Salvador at an elevation of 3,018 feet (920 m). The town itself is not large; it derives its great importance from its magnificent colonial church, now Central America's greatest pilgrimage centre, built in 1737 by the archbishop of Guatemala to house the spectacular Black Christ. The figure,

Kashgar

Wade-Giles romanization �K'a-shih�, Pinyin �Kashi� oasis city in the Uighur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang, China. Kashgar lies at the far western end of the Tarim Basin, in a fertile oasis of loess (silt deposited by the wind) and alluvial soils watered by the K'a-shih-ka-erh (Kashgar) River and by a series of wells. The climate of the area is extremely arid, with variable rainfall averaging about 3 inches (75 mm) a year; most of the rain

Quincea�era

Also called �quince a�os � Mexican celebration of a girl's 15th birthday, marking her passage from childhood to adulthood. The traditional quincea�era is both a religious and a social event that emphasizes the importance of the family and society in the life of young people. The celebration begins with a mass attended by the girl and her family and godparents. This is followed by a reception,

Auction

The buying and selling of real and personal property through open public bidding. The traditional auction process involves a succession of increasing bids or offers by potential purchasers until the highest (and final) bid is accepted by the auctioneer (who is usually an agent of the seller). At a so-called Dutch auction, however, the seller offers property at successively