Ghats

Two mountain ranges forming the eastern and western edges, respectively, of the Deccan (q.v.) plateau of peninsular India. In Hindi ghat means �river landing stairs� or �mountain pass� and has been extended in its Anglicized plural form (formerly �ghauts�) to include the mountains themselves. The word refers as well to riverbanks that have been artificially terraced for bathing

Cranko, John

His basic dance training was at the Cape Town University Ballet School, where he performed as well as choreographed his first ballet, The Soldier's Tale (1942). In 1946 he joined the Sadler's Wells Ballet (later called the Royal Ballet) and continued to choreograph.

Cranko, John

The first regionwide Asia-Pacific multilateral forum for official consultations on peace and security issues. An outgrowth of the annual ministerial-level meeting of members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the states serving as ASEAN's �dialogue partners,� the ARF provides a setting for discussion and diplomacy and the development of

Gisborne

City (�district�) and port on Poverty Bay, Gisborne unitary authority, east coast of North Island, New Zealand. The city is located where the Waimata and Taruheru rivers join to form the Turanganui. It was the first area in New Zealand visited (1769) by Captain James Cook. It received its first permanent European settlers in 1852 and was surveyed in 1870 and given the name Gisborne for then

Great Hall

Main apartment in a medieval manor house, monastery, or college, in which meals were taken. In large manor houses it also served other purposes: justice was administered there, entertainments given, and often at night the floor was strewn with rushes so that many of the servants could sleep there.

Grand Guignol

Short plays popular in Parisian cabarets in the 19th century, especially at the Th��tre du Grand Guignol. The plays emphasized violence, horror, and sadism. Although Grand Guignol was introduced into England about 1908, it remained essentially a Parisian theatrical form.

Pendleton, Edmund

In 1751 Pendleton

Texas, Revolution and the republic

Unrest throughout Mexico, including Texas, resulted in a coup by Antonio L�pez de Santa Anna, who assumed the presidency in 1833. Texans, hopeful for relief from restrictive governmental measures, supported Santa Anna. Austin expected a friendly hearing about these grievances but instead was imprisoned in Mexico City for encouraging insurrection. He was freed in 1835 and

Rashi

Acronym �of Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaqi � renowned medieval French commentator on the Bible and Talmud (the authoritative Jewish compendium of law, lore, and commentary). Rashi combined the two basic methods of interpretation, literal and nonliteral, in his influential Bible commentary. His commentary on the Talmud was a landmark in Talmudic exegesis, and his work still serves

Furrer, Jonas

A doctor of jurisprudence and lawyer of national renown, Furrer became, after 1839, leader of the Z�rich liberals but only reluctantly aspired to political office. In the cantonal assembly, he rose to the vice presidency (1842) and later the presidency (1846), serving also in 1846 as

Bothnia, Gulf Of

Swedish �Bottniska Viken, �Finnish �Pohjan Lahti, � northern arm of the Baltic Sea, between Sweden (west) and Finland (east). Covering an area of about 45,200 square miles (117,000 square km), the gulf extends for 450 miles (725 km) from north to south but only 50 to 150 miles (80 to 240 km) from east to west; it is nearly closed off by the �land (Ahvenanmaa) Islands (south). Its maximum depth is 965 feet (295 m) in the west-central portion; its average depth is only about 200 feet (60 m). Because

Ibn Al-'arabi

Ibn al-'Arabi was born in the southeast of Spain, a man of pure Arab

Monadhliath Mountains

Also called �Grey Hills � mountain range in the Highland council area, Scotland, between Loch Ness in the northwest and the River Spey in the southeast. The range has several summits with elevations greater than 3,000 feet (900 metres), the highest being Carn Mairg at 3,087 feet (941 metres), the haunt of eagles and wild cats. The River Findhorn rises on the northwestern slopes of Carn Mairg and flows northward to

Gastein, Convention Of

Also called �Convention Of Badgastein, � agreement between Austria and Prussia reached on Aug. 20, 1865, after their seizure of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein from Denmark in 1864; it temporarily postponed the final struggle between them for hegemony over Germany. The pact provided that both the emperor of Austria and the king of Prussia were to be sovereign over the duchies, Prussia administering Schleswig

Gastein, Convention Of

Also called �Convention Of Badgastein, � agreement between Austria and Prussia reached on Aug. 20, 1865, after their seizure of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein from Denmark in 1864; it temporarily postponed the final struggle between them for hegemony over Germany. The pact provided that both the emperor of Austria and the king of Prussia were to be sovereign over the duchies, Prussia administering Schleswig

Malanggan Style

Malanggan carvings take the form of friezes, masks, and sculpture,

Celestina, La

Originally published in 16 acts as the Comedia de Calisto y Melibea (1499; �Comedy of Calisto and Melibea�) and shortly thereafter in an expanded version with 21 acts as the Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea (1502), the work

Maxwell, Robert

Virtually all of the young Hoch's Jewish family living in Czechoslovakia and Budapest died in the Nazi Holocaust, but he was able to make

Waterfall

Area where flowing river water drops abruptly and nearly vertically (see video). Waterfalls represent major interruptions in river flow. Under most circumstances rivers tend to smooth out irregularities in their flow by processes of erosion and deposition. In time, the long profile of a river (the graph of its gradient) takes the form of a smooth curve, steepest toward

Kadoma

City, Osaka fu (urban prefecture), Honshu, Japan, bordering Osaka city. The city is located on the left bank of the Yodo River and is known for its cultivation of lotus flowers. After the establishment of a railway connection to Osaka in 1909, industrialization was rapid. The Matsushita Electric Industrial Company moved to Kadoma in 1933 to establish factories producing electrical

Barahona De Soto, Luis

After completing his education in Antequera and service as a soldier, Barahona began practicing

Augustine, Saint

Augustine was born in Tagaste, a modest Roman community in a river valley 40 miles (64 km) from the African coast. It lay just a few miles short of the point where the veneer of Roman civilization thinned out in the highlands of Numidia in the way the American West opens before a traveler leaving the Mississippi River valley. Augustine's parents were of the respectable class

Palencia

Inland provincia, in the Castile-Le�n comunidad aut�noma (�autonomous community�), northern Spain. It is bounded by the autonomous community (and province) of Cantabria (north) and by the provinces of Burgos (east), Valladolid (south), and Valladolid and Le�n (west). It was formed in 1833. The north is traversed by the Cantabrian Mountains, rising to 8,268 feet (2,520 m) at Curavacas peak. The remainder

West Hartford

Urban town (township), Hartford county, central Connecticut, U.S. Founded in 1679 as an agricultural community, it was known as West Division Parish or West Society. It became a wealthy residential suburb of Hartford, was named West Hartford in 1806, and was separately incorporated in 1854. Industry is restricted to a relatively small zone in the south end. The town is the birthplace

Saavedra Fajardo, Diego De

After studying law at the University of Salamanca, Saavedra went to Rome, where he served under the

Salem

City, seat (1694) of Salem county, southwestern New Jersey, U.S. It lies along the Salem River near the latter's confluence with the Delaware River, 34 miles (55 km) southwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was established in 1675 by John Fenwick, an English Quaker. The Friends (Quakers) Burial Ground in Salem has the Salem Oak - a tree 80 feet (25 metres) high that is said to be more than 500 years old - under

Davenant, Sir William

Shakespeare was apparently Davenant's godfather, and gossip held that the famous playwright

Ukraine

Ukrainian �Ukrayina� country located in eastern Europe, after Russia the second largest on the continent. It is bordered by Belarus on the north, Russia on the east, the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea on the south, Moldova and Romania on the southwest, and Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland on the west; in the far southeast, Ukraine is separated from Russia by the Kerch Strait, which connects the Sea of

Antarctica, Birds

About 45 species of birds live south of the Antarctic Convergence, but only three - the emperor penguin (see photograph), Antarctic petrel, and South Polar (McCormick's) skua - breed exclusively on the continent or on nearby islands. An absence of mammalian land predators and the rich offshore food supply make Antarctic coasts a haven for immense seabird

Baranovichi

Also spelled �Baranovici, � town, Brest oblast (province), Belarus, on the southern edge of the Novogrudok Hills. It developed from a small village in the late 19th century into a major railway junction, with lines to Moscow, Warsaw, and other eastern European centres. It has cotton, food-processing, and machine construction industries. Pop. (1991 est.) 166,700.

Insurance, Ocean marine insurance

Ocean marine contracts are written to cover four major types of property interest: (1) the vessel or hull, (2) the cargo, (3) the freight revenue to be received by the ship owner, and (4) legal liability for negligence of the shipper or the carrier. Hull insurance covers losses to the vessel itself from specified perils. Usually there is a provision that the marine hull should be covered