Ay

Ay began his career either owing to his prestige as a son of the parents of Queen Tiy, wife of Amenhotep III, or else with the aid of his own wife, who was the nurse of Nefertiti, Akhenaton's queen. As Akhenaton's

Chardin, Jean

In August 1671 he again set out for Persia. Traveling through

Middle America Trench

Submarine depression in the Pacific Ocean off the western coast of Central America. Extending northwest-southeast for more than 1,700 miles (2,750 km) from central Mexico to Costa Rica, the trench reaches a maximum depth of 21,880 feet (6,669 m) and covers a total area of 37,000 square miles (96,000 square km). The shallower northern section of the trench tends to curve along the coast of Mexico, paralleling

Cartilage

Dense connective tissue forming the skeleton of mammalian embryos before bone formation begins and persisting in parts of the human skeleton into adulthood. Cartilage is the only component of the skeletons of certain primitive vertebrates, including lampreys and sharks. It is composed of a dense network of collagen fibres embedded in a firm, gelatinous ground

Econometrics

The statistical and mathematical analysis of economic relationships, often serving as a basis for economic forecasting. Such information is sometimes used by governments to set economic policy and by private business to aid decisions on prices, inventory, and production. It is used mainly, however, by economists to study relationships between economic

Actin

Protein that is an important contributor to the contractile property of muscle and other cells. It exists in two forms: G-actin (monomeric globular actin) and F-actin (polymeric fibrous actin), the form involved in muscle contraction. In muscle, two long strands of beadlike actin molecules are twisted together to form a thin filament, bundles of which alternate and interdigitate

Joyeuse, Anne, Duke (duc) De

The eldest son of Guillaume, Viscount de Joyeuse, Anne when very young was admitted to the royal court, where he carried the title of Marquis d'Arques (after one of his father's lands). King Henry III,

Accounting

The systematic development and analysis of information about the economic affairs of an organization. This information may be used in a number of ways: by the organization's managers to help them plan and control the organization's operations; by owners and legislative or regulatory bodies to help them appraise the organization's performance and make decisions

Arts, East Asian, The formative period

Sporadic Chinese influence on Korean culture began in the late Neolithic Period, but the influence

Forbes (of Culloden), Duncan

Trained in law, Forbes entered local politics and in 1715 aided the Hanoverian cause during the unsuccessful Jacobite rebellion of that year. Forbes was elected

Clisson, Olivier De

Brought up in England, Clisson fought on the English side for the Breton duke John IV (or V; John of Montfort) against the French-supported Charles of Blois

S�te

Formerly �(until 1827) Cette, � town and a principal French Mediterranean commercial port, lying in H�rault d�partement, Languedoc-Roussillon r�gion, southern France, southwest of Montpellier. It occupies the lower slopes and foot of the isolated Mont Saint-Clair, which lies on a tongue of land between the Mediterranean and the large marshy Thau Lagoon. A network of canals links the town with

Sable Antelope

(Hippotragus niger), handsome antelope, family Bovidae (order Artiodactyla), that lives in herds in forests of southern Africa. Like the related roan antelope (H. equinus), the sable antelope is a graceful animal with an erect mane, long ears, long hair on the throat, and long, parallel, sickle-shaped horns. It stands up to 137 centimetres (54 inches) at the shoulder.

Dubcek, Alexander

Dubcek received his early education in Kirgiziya (Kyrgyzstan) in Soviet Central Asia, where his father, Stefan Dubcek, a member of

Balboa, Vasco N��ez De

Spanish conquistador and explorer, who was head of the first stable settlement on the South American continent (1511) and who was the first European to sight the Pacific Ocean (on Sept. 25 [or 27], 1513, from �a peak in Dari�n�).

Gambia, The, History Of

Gambian history before the arrival of Europeans is speculative. The Malinke and Wolof kingdoms, fully established by the 19th century, were still in the formative stages when the Portuguese explorer Alvise Ca' da Mosto (Cadamosto) arrived in 1455. The Malinke were the westernmost peoples of the old Mali empire. The Wolof probably migrated from the Songhai regions, and the

Spaghetti

Long, cordlike form of pasta (q.v.).

Alc�ntara

Town, C�ceres provincia, in the Extremadura comunidad aut�noma (�autonomous community�), western Spain, on a rock above the southern bank of the Tagus (Tajo) River just east of the Portuguese frontier. The walled town was named by the Moors after the six-arched Roman bridge Al-Qantarah (Arabic: �The Bridge�), which there spans the Tagus. Built in AD 105 - 106 in honour of the emperor Trajan,

Yugoslavia

Three federations have borne the name Yugoslavia (�Land of the South Slavs�). The Kingdom of Yugoslavia (Kraljevina Jugoslavija), officially proclaimed in 1929 and lasting

Irish Yew

Ornamental evergreen of the yew family. See English yew.

Jordan, Biblical associations

Biblical accounts of the area, dating from the Middle Bronze Age onward, mention kingdoms such as Gilead in the north, Moab in central Jordan, and Midian in the south. At the time of the Exodus, the Israelites tried to pass through Edom in southern Jordan but were refused permission. They were at first repelled by the Amorites, whom they later defeated. The Israelite tribes

Kara Koyunlu

The Kara Koyunlu were vassals of the Jalayirid dynasty of Baghdad and Tabriz from about 1375, when the head of their leading tribe, Kara Muhammad Turmush (reigned c. 1375 - 90), ruled Mosul. The federation secured its independence with the seizure of Tabriz (which became its capital) by Kara Yusuf (reigned 1390 - 1400; 1406 - 20). Routed by the

China, Struggles within the two-party coalition

After Sun's death the KMT went through a period of inner conflict, although it progressed steadily, with Russian help, in bringing the Kwangtung base under its control. The conflict was caused primarily by the radicalization of the party under the influence of the Communists. They organized labour unions and peasant associations and pushed class struggle and the

Coney Island

Amusement area in the southern part of the borough of Brooklyn in New York, N.Y., U.S., fronting the Atlantic Ocean. Formerly an island, it was known to Dutch settlers as Konijn Eiland (�Rabbit Island�), which was presumably Anglicized as Coney Island. It became part of Long Island after Coney Island Creek silted up to form a sandbar (about 5 miles [8 km] long and 0.25 - 1 mile [0.4 - 1.6 km] wide) between

Ob River

Politically, most of the Ob basin is within Russia, but its southern portion forms the northernmost part of Kazakhstan. Russians and other Slavs constitute the majority of the population, but there also are numerous non-Slavic peoples. These include the Kazakhs in the south, the Altay and Shor peoples of the mountains, the Tatars of the Irtysh basin, the Khanty (Ostyak)

Ottonian Art

Painting, sculpture, and other visual arts produced during the reigns of the German Ottonian emperors and their first successors from the Salic house (950 - 1050). As inheritors of the Carolingian tradition of the Holy Roman Empire, the German emperors also assumed the Carolingian artistic heritage, the conscientious revival of late antique and Early Christian art forms

Europe

Second smallest of the world's continents, composed of the westward-projecting peninsulas of Eurasia and occupying nearly one-fifteenth of the world's total land area. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the south (west to east) by the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, the Kuma and Manych rivers, and the Caspian Sea. The

Abbott, Bud; And Costello, Lou

Bob Furmanek and Ron Palumbo, Abbott and Costello in Hollywood (1991); Stephen Cox and John Lofflin, The Abbott and Costello Story: Sixty Years of Who's on First? (1997).