Karachi, Transportation

Karachi is the terminus of Pakistan's railway

Augustana College

Private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Rock Island, Ill., U.S. The college is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Augustana offers only Bachelor of Arts degrees and has a curriculum of education, business, and the liberal arts and sciences. It operates study-abroad programs in Latin America, Asia, Israel, and Europe. The campus

Turin, Shroud Of

Also called �Holy Shroud�, Italian �Santa Sindone� a length of linen that for centuries was purported to be the burial garment of Jesus Christ; it has been preserved since 1578 in the royal chapel of the Cathedral of San Giovanni Battista in Turin, Italy. Measuring 14 feet 3 inches long and 3 feet 7 inches wide, it seems to portray two faint brownish images, those of the back and front of a gaunt, sunken-eyed, 5-foot 7-inch man - as if a body had

Tasmania, Cultural life

For the smallness and dispersion of its population, Tasmania has a remarkably vigorous cultural life. At the amateur level, there are many musical groups, ranging from the full orchestra to the ensemble, as well as choral societies and repertory companies. The University of Tasmania has a conservatorium of music and a school of art. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation,

Bahuti, Al-

Little is known about al-Bahuti except that he spent nearly all of his life teaching and practicing Hanbali law. His legal writings, although not original, are noted for their clarity and are still used in Egypt.

Haddington

The

Davila, Arrigo Caterino

About 1583 Davila became a page in the service of Catherine de M�dicis, wife of King Henry II of France. He subsequently became a soldier and fought in the French civil wars until the peace in 1598. He then returned to Padua, where he

Baldness

Also called �alopecia� the lack or loss of hair. Two primary types of baldness can be distinguished: permanent hair loss arising from the destruction of hair follicles, and temporary hair loss arising from transitory damage to the follicles. The first category is dominated by male pattern baldness, which occurs to some degree in as much as 40 percent of some male populations. The hair loss

Yurt

Also spelled �yurta�, Mongol �ger� tentlike Central Asian nomad's dwelling, erected on wooden poles and covered with skin, felt, or handwoven textiles in bright colours. The interior is simply furnished with brightly coloured rugs (red often predominating) decorated with geometric or stylized animal patterns. The knotted pile rug, first known from a nomad burial at the foot of the Altai Mountains

Fiscal Policy

The usual goals of both fiscal and monetary policy are to achieve or maintain full employment, to achieve or

Yung-cheng

As the fourth son of the previous emperor, Yung-cheng was not immediately in line for the throne; but when the designated heir apparent became mentally deranged, the future emperor

Black Stone Of Mecca

Arabic �Al-hajar Al-aswad, � Muslim object of veneration, built into the eastern wall of the Ka'bah (small shrine within the Great Mosque of Mecca) and probably dating from the pre-Islamic religion of the Arabs. It now consists of three large pieces and some fragments, surrounded by a stone ring and held together with a silver band. According to popular Islamic legend, the stone was given to Adam on his

Aral Sea

Uzbek �Orol�

Ear Disease, External otitis

Infection of the outer-ear canal by molds or various microorganisms occurs especially in warm, humid climates and among swimmers. The ear canal itches and becomes tender; a small amount of thin, often foul-smelling material drains from it. If the canal becomes clogged by the swelling and drainage, hearing will be impaired. Careful and thorough cleaning of the outer-ear

Cronj�, Pieter Arnoldus

Cronj� was born in the Cape Colony but was taken in early life to the Transvaal, during the Great Trek. In the Transvaal, in November 1880, he began a rebellion against British rule, leading resistance to the distraint

Atyrau

Kazak �Atyrau�, also spelled �Aterau�, formerly (until 1992) �Guryev�, also spelled �Gurev, �Guriev�, or �Gurjev� city, western Kazakstan. It is a port on the Ural (Zhayyq) River near its mouth on the Caspian Sea. Founded as a fishing settlement in the mid-17th century by the fishing entrepreneur Mikhail Guryev, it soon became a fort on the Ural fortified line manned by the Ural Cossacks. Fishing and trade were the main economic activities until Soviet times. Now, in addition to a large

Ogee Clock

Also called �og clock� clock design that originated in the United States in the 1830s, distinguished by a case the outer edges of which are curved into an S-shape (ogee). This shape is formed by the union of a convex and a concave line. A mass-produced variant of the shelf clock, the ogee clock stood about 30 inches (75 centimetres) high, was weight-driven, and was operated by gears. The earlier version of the

Han River

Korean �Han-gang� river, northern South Korea, rising in the western slopes of the T'aebaek-sanmaek (mountains) and flowing generally westward across the peninsula through the provinces of Kangwon, Kyonggi, and North Ch'ungch'ong and through the city of Seoul to the Yellow Sea. Of its 319-mile (514-kilometre) length, 200 miles (320 km) are navigable, and it has been a valuable river transportation route since

Kea

New Zealand parrot species of the subfamily Nestorinae. See parrot.

Puerto La Cruz

City, northeastern Anzo�tegui estado (�state�), northeastern Venezuela, situated along the Caribbean Sea. The former fishing village has become a busy, thriving, populous port city with the development of the petroleum industry since the 1930s in the eastern Llanos (plains). Pipelines running from the Anzo�tegui fields and from fields in neighbouring Gu�rico and Monagas

Factor, Max, Jr.

(FRANCIS FACTOR), U.S. cosmetician who, with his father, developed Pan-Cake makeup so actors would not appear green in colour motion pictures and, when it began to be worn offscreen as well, mass-produced it and built their company into an international cosmetics empire (b. Aug. 18, 1904--d. June 7, 1996).

Azerbaijani

Any member of a Turkic people living chiefly in the Republic of Azerbaijan and in the region of Azerbaijan in northwestern Iran. At the turn of the 21st century there were some 7,500,000 Azerbaijani in the republic and neighbouring areas and more than 15,000,000 in Iran. They are mainly sedentary farmers and herders, although some of those in the republic have found employment in various

Modernism

In Roman Catholic church history, a movement in the last decade of the 19th century and first decade of the 20th that sought to reinterpret traditional Catholic teaching in the light of 19th-century philosophical, historical, and psychological theories and called for freedom of conscience. Influenced by non-Catholic biblical scholars, Modernists contended that the

Tsumeb

In 1851 Sir Francis Galton, a British explorer, made note of copper ore deposits in the vicinity of what later became the town of Tsumeb. An Anglo-German company acquired

Argun River

Chinese (Pinyin) �Ergun He� or �(Wade-Giles) �O-erh-ku-na Ho�

Rouen

Known to the Romans as Rotomagus, the town first became important in the 3rd century AD, when Christianity was brought there by St. Mellon, who was its first bishop. Invaded by the Normans in 876, it became subject to the English crown after

Korolyov

Also spelled �Korolev�, formerly (1938 - 96) �Kaliningrad� city, Moscow oblast (province), Central federal district, western Russia. It lies just northeast of the city of Moscow. The area, known as Kalininsky, developed after 1928 as an industrial satellite, particularly for weapons manufacture, and dormitory town of the capital. It achieved city status and was renamed Kaliningrad in 1938. In 1996 the city was renamed in honour of the scientist

Oberbayern

English �Upper Bavaria� Regierungsbezirk (administrative district), southeastern Bavaria Land (state), southern Germany. Oberbayern is bordered by Austria to the east and south and the Regierungsbezirke of Schwaben (Swabia) to the west, Mittelfranken (Middle Franconia) and Oberpfalz (Upper Palatinate) to the north, and Niederbayern (Lower Bavaria) to the northeast. It is the largest of seven