Halmahera, largest island of the Moluccas, in Indonesia; administratively, it is part of the propinsi (or provinsi; province) of North Maluku (Maluku Utara). The island, located between the Molucca Sea (west) and the Pacific Ocean (east), consists of four peninsulas enclosing three great bays

Zoltán Halmay was a swimmer from Hungary who won seven Olympic medals and was the first world record holder in the 100-meter freestyle. At the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris, Halmay won silver medals in the 200-meter and 4,000-meter freestyle events and a bronze in the 1,000-meter freestyle. At the

Halmstad, town and port, capital of the län (county) of Halland, southwestern Sweden, on the eastern shore of the Kattegat, at the mouth of Nissan River. The town was founded at the beginning of the 14th century and often served as the meeting place of the rulers and delegates of the three northern

Halo, first-person shooter (played from the point of view of the shooter) electronic game developed by Bungie Studios and released in 2001 by the Microsoft Corporation for its Xbox console. Using state-of-the-art graphics, sophisticated genre improvements, and an array of weapons and vehicles,

halo, in art, radiant circle or disk surrounding the head of a holy person, a representation of spiritual character through the symbolism of light. In Hellenistic and Roman art the sun-god Helios and Roman emperors often appear with a crown of rays. Because of its pagan origin, the form was avoided

halo, any of a wide range of atmospheric optical phenomena that result when the Sun or Moon shines through thin clouds composed of ice crystals. These phenomena may be due to the refraction of light that passes through the crystals, or the reflection of light from crystal faces, or a combination of

coronal mass ejection: Properties: …launched toward Earth are called halo CMEs because as they approach Earth, they appear larger than the Sun, making a “halo” of bright coronal emission completely around it.

coordination compound: Halo complexes: Probably the most widespread class of complexes involving anionic ligands is that of the complexes of the halide ions—i.e., the fluoride, chloride, bromide, and iodide ions. In addition to forming simple halide salts, such as sodium chloride and nickel difluoride (in which the…

halo effect, error in reasoning in which an impression formed from a single trait or characteristic is allowed to influence multiple judgments or ratings of unrelated factors. Research on the phenomenon of the halo effect was pioneered by American psychologist Edward L. Thorndike, who in 1920

Milky Way Galaxy: Principal population types: …from the nearly spherical “halo Population II” system to the very thin “extreme Population I” system. Each subdivision was found to contain (though not exclusively) characteristic types of stars, and it was even possible to divide some of the variable-star types into subgroups according to their population subdivision. The…

galactic halo, in astronomy, nearly spherical volume of thinly scattered stars, globular clusters of stars, and tenuous gas observed surrounding spiral galaxies, including the Milky Way—the galaxy in which the Earth is located. The roughly spherical halo of the Milky Way is thought to have a radius

Demeter: …Demeter were the following: (1) Haloa, apparently derived from halōs (“threshing floor”), begun at Athens and finished at Eleusis, where there was a threshing floor of Triptolemus, her first priest and inventor of agriculture; it was held in the month Poseideon (December). (2) Chloia, the festival of the grain beginning…

archaea: Characteristics of the archaea: Halophilic archaeans, which include Haloarcula marismortui, a model organism used in scientific research, are thought to have acquired the unique set of genes for the methylaspartate pathway via a process known as horizontal gene transfer, in which genes are passed from one species to another.

bacteria: 16S rRNA analysis: The only photosynthetic archaeon, Halobacterium, has a completely different type of photosynthesis that does not use chlorophyll in large protein complexes to activate an electron, as in plants and bacteria. Rather, it uses a single protein, bacteriorhodopsin, in which light energy is absorbed by retinal, a form of vitamin…

butyl rubber: …BIIR or CIIR (known as halobutyls). The properties of these polymers are similar to those of IIR, but they can be cured more rapidly and with different and smaller amounts of curative agents. As a result, BIIR and CIIR can be cocured more readily in contact with other elastomers making…

halocarbon, any chemical compound of the element carbon and one or more of the halogens (bromine, chlorine, fluorine, iodine); two important subclasses of halocarbons are the chlorocarbons, containing only carbon and chlorine, and the fluorocarbons, containing only carbon and fluorine. Examples of

halocline, vertical zone in the oceanic water column in which salinity changes rapidly with depth, located below the well-mixed, uniformly saline surface water layer. Especially well developed haloclines occur in the Atlantic Ocean, in which salinities may decrease by several parts per thousand

crustacean: Annotated classification: Order Halocyprida Silurian to present; 5 pairs of postoral appendages; maxilla leglike; no eyes; marine. Suborder Cladocopina Silurian to present; only 3 pairs of postoral appendages; marine. Subclass Podocopa Order

carbene: Formation.: Other haloforms, compounds conforming to the formula HCX3, in which X equals an atom of chlorine, bromine, or iodine, react in an equivalent way to form the corresponding dihalocarbenes.

aldehyde: α-Halogenation: This reaction is called the haloform reaction, because X3C− ions react with water or another acid present in the system to produce compounds of the form X3CH, which are called haloforms (e.g., CHCl3 is called chloroform).

halogen, any of the six nonmetallic elements that constitute Group 17 (Group VIIa) of the periodic table. The halogen elements are fluorine (F), chlorine (Cl), bromine (Br), iodine (I), astatine (At), and tennessine (Ts). They were given the name halogen, from the Greek roots hal- (“salt”) and -gen

halogen, any of the six nonmetallic elements that constitute Group 17 (Group VIIa) of the periodic table. The halogen elements are fluorine (F), chlorine (Cl), bromine (Br), iodine (I), astatine (At), and tennessine (Ts). They were given the name halogen, from the Greek roots hal- (“salt”) and -gen

halogen lamp, Incandescent lamp with a quartz bulb and a gas filling that includes a halogen. It gives brilliant light from a compact unit. The halogen combines with the tungsten evaporated from the hot filament to form a compound that is attracted back to the filament, thus extending the

nitrogen group element: Variations in bonding capacity: The phosphorus oxyhalides, of general formula POX3, appear to be examples of this; their phosphorus–oxygen bonds are observed to be shorter and stronger than expected for ordinary single bonds.

halocarbon, any chemical compound of the element carbon and one or more of the halogens (bromine, chlorine, fluorine, iodine); two important subclasses of halocarbons are the chlorocarbons, containing only carbon and chlorine, and the fluorocarbons, containing only carbon and fluorine. Examples of

aldehyde: α-Halogenation: An α-hydrogen of an aldehyde can be replaced by a chlorine (Cl), bromine (Br), or iodine (I) atom when the compound is treated with Cl2, Br2, or I2, respectively, either without a catalyst or in the presence of an acidic catalyst.

Halogeton: One species, known as halogeton or saltlover (H. glomeratus), was introduced into Nevada about 1930 and is considered a noxious weed throughout much of the western United States. It is confined to salty semidesert lands, primarily in disturbed areas such as abandoned fields, abused ranges, and roadsides. The high…

Halogeton, genus of nine species of weedy plants in the amaranth family (Amaranthaceae), native to southwestern Siberia and northwestern China. Halogeton species are mostly annual plants and are known for their ability to tolerate saline soils. Several are considered invasive species in areas

Xerox, major American corporation and brand that was a pioneer in office technology, notably being the first to manufacture xerographic plain-paper copiers. Headquarters are in Norwalk, Connecticut. The company was founded in 1906 as the Haloid Company, a manufacturer and distributor of

Xerox, major American corporation and brand that was a pioneer in office technology, notably being the first to manufacture xerographic plain-paper copiers. Headquarters are in Norwalk, Connecticut. The company was founded in 1906 as the Haloid Company, a manufacturer and distributor of

halon, chemical compound formerly used in firefighting. A halon may be any of a group of organohalogen compounds containing bromine and fluorine and one or two carbons. The effectiveness of halons in extinguishing fires arises from their action in interrupting chain reactions that propagate the

carbon tetrachloride, a colourless, dense, highly toxic, volatile, nonflammable liquid possessing a characteristic odour and belonging to the family of organic halogen compounds, used principally in the manufacture of dichlorodifluoromethane (a refrigerant and propellant). First prepared in 1839 by

Tarja Halonen is a Finnish politician who served as president of Finland (2000–12), the first woman elected to that office. As a student at the University of Helsinki, Halonen served (1969–70) as social affairs secretary and general secretary of the National Union of Finnish Students. After earning

antipsychotic drug: This led to the compound haloperidol, a more powerful antipsychotic with relatively fewer side effects.

archaea: Characteristics of the archaea: For example, halophilic archaea appear to be able to thrive in high-salt environments because they house a special set of genes encoding enzymes for a metabolic pathway that limits osmosis. That metabolic pathway, known as the methylaspartate pathway, represents a unique type of anaplerosis (the process of…

archaea: Characteristics of the archaea: For example, halophilic archaea appear to be able to thrive in high-salt environments because they house a special set of genes encoding enzymes for a metabolic pathway that limits osmosis. That metabolic pathway, known as the methylaspartate pathway, represents a unique type of anaplerosis (the process of…

Caryophyllales: Other families: …family, and many species are halophytes (adapted to areas with high salt content).

Saxifragales: Major families: Haloragaceae, or the water milfoil family, comprises 8 genera and 145 species of land, marsh, and water herbs with small leaves and small flower clusters. The flowers are unisexual, generally wind-pollinated, with a three- to four-chambered ovary and a similar number of styles (pollen-receptive parts…

Saxifragales: Major families: Haloragaceae, or the water milfoil family, comprises 8 genera and 145 species of land, marsh, and water herbs with small leaves and small flower clusters. The flowers are unisexual, generally wind-pollinated, with a three- to four-chambered ovary and a similar number of styles (pollen-receptive parts…

annelid: Annotated classification: …of genera: Aphrodita (sea mouse), Halosydna (common scale worm), Arctonoe. Order Amphinomida Free-moving; prostomium with 1 to 5 antennae, 2 palpi, and a caruncle (posterior ridge) deeply set into anterior segments; parapodia with 2 lobes and branchiae (gills); size, 0.5 to 35 cm; examples of genera: Eurythoe (fireworm),

halothane, nonflammable, volatile, liquid drug introduced into medicine in the 1950s and used as a general anesthetic. Halothane rapidly achieved acceptance and became the most frequently used of the potent anesthetics, despite its substantially higher cost than ether and chloroform and its

halotrichite, a sulfate mineral containing aluminum and iron [FeAl2(SO4)4·22H2O]. If more than 50 percent of the iron has been replaced by magnesium, the mineral is called pickeringite. These minerals are usually weathering products of sedimentary rocks that contain aluminum and metallic sulfides

Hungarian literature: Earliest writings in Hungarian: …the Hungarian language is the Halotti beszéd, a short funeral oration written in about 1200, moving in its simplicity. Many translations from Latin were made in the 13th and 14th centuries, but the only one that has survived, and also the oldest extant poem written in Hungarian, is a free…

Anatolia: The neo-Hittite states from c. 1180 to 700 bce: …contemporary of Shalmaneser III was Halpa-Runtiyas of Patina, whose name has also been found in the Hieroglyphic Luwian texts of Tell Tayinat and has helped in the dating of that site. It seems likely that Assyria’s contacts with Que, Hilakku, and Tabal, though a threat to their independence, may also…

American literature: Critics of society: …Land of Plenty (1934), and Albert Halper’s Union Square (1933), The Foundry (1934), and The Chute (1937), as well as some grim evocations of the drifters and “bottom dogs” of the Depression era, such as Edward Anderson’s Hungry Men and Tom Kromer’s Waiting for Nothing (both 1935). The radical movement,…

Yiddish literature: Yiddish theater: H. Leivick (pseudonym of Leyvick Halpern), who was born in Belorussia (now Belarus), spent several years imprisoned for political activities and immigrated to the United States in 1913. While he worked as a wallpaper hanger in New York, he was associated with the avant-garde literary…

Moyshe Leyb Halpern was an American poet whose unsentimental and psychologically complex free verse in Yiddish extols socialism, individual rights, and social justice. (Read George Bernard Shaw’s 1926 Britannica essay on socialism.) Sent to Vienna at age 12 to study sign painting, Halpern learned

World Youth Alliance: The WYA was founded by Anna Halpine, a 21-year-old Canadian music student who in 1999 attended a special session of the United Nations (UN) held to review the implementation of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development. Halpine believed that the session had been dominated by activists who favoured…

La Goulette, town located in northern Tunisia and an outport for Tunis. Situated on a sandbar between Lake Tūnis and the Gulf of Tunis, La Goulette (its Arabic name, Ḥalq al-Wādī, means “river’s throat”) is linked to the capital by a canal 7 miles (11 km) long. The main commercial port in Tunisia,

education: Education under the East India Company: Thomason’s ḥalqabandī system attempted to bring primary education within easy reach of the common people. In each ḥalqah (circuit) of villages, a school was established in the most central village so that all the villagers within a radius of two miles might avail themselves of it.…

education: Organization of education: …contained several study circles (ḥalqah), so named because the teacher was, as a rule, seated on a dais or cushion with the pupils gathered in a semicircle before him. The more advanced a student, the closer he was seated to the teacher. The mosque circles varied in approach, course…

Frans Hals was a great 17th-century portraitist of the Dutch bourgeoisie of Haarlem, where he spent practically all his life. Hals evolved a technique that was close to Impressionism in its looseness, and he painted with increasing freedom as he grew older. The jovial spirit of his early work is

William F. Halsey, Jr. was a U.S. naval commander who led vigorous campaigns in the Pacific theatre during World War II. He was a leading exponent of warfare using carrier-based aircraft and became known for his daring tactics. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., in 1904, Halsey

William F. Halsey, Jr. was a U.S. naval commander who led vigorous campaigns in the Pacific theatre during World War II. He was a leading exponent of warfare using carrier-based aircraft and became known for his daring tactics. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., in 1904, Halsey

Helsingborg, city and seaport, Skåne län (county), southern Sweden. Situated at the narrowest part of The Sound (Öresund), opposite the Danish town of Helsingør (Elsinore), it is the most convenient place for motor traffic to cross to and from the European continent. Because of its situation,

Hälsinge Runes, greatly abbreviated runic alphabet, found mainly in inscriptions dating from the 10th to the 12th century in the Hälsingland region of Sweden. Probably developed near Lake Malar, the runes seem to be a simplification of the Swedish-Norwegian Rök runes and lack vertical strokes. See

Hälsingland, landskap (province), east-central Sweden, in the southern part of Norrland region. It is bounded on the east by the Gulf of Bothnia, on the south by the landskap of Gästrikland, on the west by those of Dalarna and Härjedalen, and on the north by that of Medelpad. It is included in the

Werner von Siemens: …persuaded a young mechanic named Johann Georg Halske to start a telegraph factory with him in Berlin. In 1848, during hostilities with Denmark at Kiel, Siemens laid a government telegraph line from Berlin to the National Assembly of Frankfurt, and supervised the laying of lines to other parts of Germany.…

Joseph Yoakum: His greatest champions were Whitney Halstead, a professor of art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), and a group of artists schooled at SAIC known as the Imagists (Roger Brown, Art Green, Philip Hanson, Gladys Nilsson, Jim Nutt, Ed Paschke, Christina Ramberg, Suellen Rocca, Barbara…

William Stewart Halsted was an American pioneer of scientific surgery who established at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, the first surgical school in the United States. After graduating in 1877 from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York City, Halsted studied for two years in Europe,

Halston was an American designer known for his elegant, streamlined fashions. He was widely considered the first superstar designer in the United States, and his clothing defined 1970s American fashion. Halston studied at Indiana University and the Art Institute of Chicago and operated a store for

London 1908 Olympic Games: …deliberately impeding the path of Wyndham Halswelle of Great Britain. A new race was ordered, but the other qualifiers, both American, refused to run. Halswelle then won the gold in the only walkover in Olympic history. (See also Sidebar: Dorando Pietri: Falling at the Finish.) Henry Taylor of Great Britain…

Elam, ancient country in southwestern Iran approximately equivalent to the modern region of Khūzestān. Four prominent geographic names within Elam are mentioned in ancient sources: Awan, Anshan, Simash, and Susa. Susa was Elam’s capital, and in classical sources the name of the country is sometimes

Diptera: Wings: The hind wings, modified into halteres, have a stalk and a knob, or club, that may be large and heavy relative to the size of the fly. The halteres vibrate up and down in time with the wings and act as gyroscopes in flight. If the fly yaws, rolls, or…

oligotrich: The species Halteria grandinella is a common freshwater representative of the order. Small and spherical, it has seven groups of three cirri set in small grooves along the middle of the cell. The action of the cirri causes the cell to bounce through the water.

Mount Halti, highest mountain in Finland, rising to 4,357 feet (1,328 metres) at the extreme northwestern tip of Finnish Lapland on the Norwegian border. The peak is located in Finland’s only true mountain range, the Haltia (Halddia in

haltia, a Balto-Finnic domestic spirit who oversees the household and protects it from harm. The word haltia is derived from the Germanic haldiaz, originally from Gothic haldan referring to the ruler or master of a given area. In Finland the haltia was usually the spirit of the first person to lay

Mount Halti, highest mountain in Finland, rising to 4,357 feet (1,328 metres) at the extreme northwestern tip of Finnish Lapland on the Norwegian border. The peak is located in Finland’s only true mountain range, the Haltia (Halddia in

Mount Halti, highest mountain in Finland, rising to 4,357 feet (1,328 metres) at the extreme northwestern tip of Finnish Lapland on the Norwegian border. The peak is located in Finland’s only true mountain range, the Haltia (Halddia in

flea beetle, (subfamily Alticinae), any member of a subfamily of leaf beetles found worldwide. Flea beetles are important pests of cultivated plants: the adults feed on the leaves and the larvae on the roots. Some flea beetles carry plant diseases such as early potato blight. They are unrelated to

plant bug: The garden fleahopper (Halticus bractatus) is a small, shiny black jumping bug about 2 mm long. The forewings of this short-winged leaf bug lack a membrane and resemble the hard forewings of a beetle. The fleahopper sucks the juices from garden plants. There are usually five…

computational complexity: …unsolvable algorithmic problem is the halting problem, which states that no program can be written that can predict whether or not any other program halts after a finite number of steps. The unsolvability of the halting problem has immediate practical bearing on software development. For instance, it would be frivolous…

Halton, unitary authority, geographic county of Cheshire, northwestern England. The unitary authority comprises Widnes and surrounding suburban areas, on the north shore of the River Mersey in the historic county of Lancashire, and Runcorn and its suburbs, on the south shore of the Mersey in the

Sundanese: …styles, or registers: kasar (informal), halus (deferential), and panengah (a middle style).

halvah, any of several confections of Balkan and eastern Mediterranean origin, made with honey, flour, butter, and sesame seeds or semolina, pressed into loaf form or cut into squares. Halvah is made with a variety of colourings and flavourings. Its texture is characteristically gritty and crisp.

20th-century Norwegian literature: After World War II: …high praise for Halvbroren (2001; The Half Brother), a novel chronicling a family’s fate over several generations; its style successfully combined realistic narration with the fantastic. Jan Kjærstad’s breakthrough novel Homo Falsus; eller, det perfekte mord (1984; “Homo Falsus; or, The Perfect Murder”) exhibits postmodern features; his three-part “biography” of…

rigging: …into the lifts, jeers, and halyards (haulyards), by which the sails are raised and lowered, and the tacks and sheets, which hold down the lower corners of the sails. The history of the development of rigging over the centuries is obscure, but the combination of square and fore-and-aft sails in…

Kızıl River, river, the longest wholly within Turkey. It rises in the Kızıl Mountains (kızıl, “red”) in north-central Anatolia at an elevation of about 6,500 feet (1,980 m) and flows southwest, past the towns of Zara and Sivas. It then turns northward in a great crescent-shaped bend, where it

Halysites, extinct genus of corals found as fossils in marine rocks from the Late Ordovician Period to the end of the Silurian Period (461 million to 416 million years ago). Halysites is also known as the chain coral from the manner of growth observed in fossilized specimens; the genus is colonial,

Ham, the first chimpanzee, or “astrochimp,” in space. His mission on January 31, 1961, paved the way for the first American to enter space later that year. Ham’s ascent into space was prompted by the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. The U.S.S.R. had made history in 1957

Noah: …of Noah’s three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, ancestors for three of the races of mankind and to account in some degree for their historic relations; and third, by its censure of Canaan, it offers a veiled justification for the later Israelite conquest and subjugation of the Canaanites. Noah’s drunkenness…

ham, the rear leg of a hog prepared as food, either fresh or preserved through a curing process that involves salting, smoking, or drying. The two hams constitute about 18–20 percent of the weight of a pork carcass. In the United States, shoulder portions of pork carcasses are frequently processed

Ham, town, upper valley of the Somme River, Somme département, Hauts-de-France région, France, southwest of Saint-Quentin. Its medieval fortress, used for centuries as a state prison, was destroyed by German forces in 1917. Among the fortress’s prisoners in the 15th century was Joan of Arc, patron

Sikhism: The 18th and 19th centuries: The pamphlet Ham Hindu Nahin (1898; “We Are Not Hindus”), by the Tat Khalsa writer Kahn Singh Nabha, provided an effective slogan for the movement. Other radical adherents, influenced by Western standards of scholarship, set out to revise and rationalize the rahit-namas (the manuals containing the Rahit),…

Ham Nghi was the emperor of Annam (now Vietnam) in 1884–86 who rejected the role of a figurehead in the French colonial regime. Ung Lich was a nephew of the emperor Tu Duc, whose death in 1883 led to a disputed succession. After several equally legitimate heirs had been assassinated or deposed, Ung

Charles Bukowski: Office (1971), Factotum (1975), and Ham on Rye (1982). Hollywood (1989), also a novel, took as its subject the filming of the 1987 motion picture Barfly, a semiautobiographical comedy about alcoholic lovers on skid row for which Bukowski wrote the screenplay (published 1984). The novel Pulp was published posthumously in…

amateur radio, noncommercial two-way radio communications. Messages are sent either by voice or in International Morse Code. Interest in amateur radio arose around the turn of the 20th century, shortly after Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi successfully sent the first transatlantic wireless

Bhaktipada was an American religious leader who led the American branch of the Hare Krishna movement before a criminal investigation resulted in his expulsion and subsequent imprisonment. Ham was raised a Baptist. He earned a B.A. (1959) from Maryville College, Maryville, Tennessee, but he failed

Hama, city, central Syria, on the banks of the Orontes River. It was an important prehistoric settlement, becoming the kingdom of Hamath under the Aramaeans in the 11th century bce. It fell under Assyrian control in the 9th century bce and later passed under Persian, Macedonian, and Seleucid rule,

Hama, city, central Syria, on the banks of the Orontes River. It was an important prehistoric settlement, becoming the kingdom of Hamath under the Aramaeans in the 11th century bce. It fell under Assyrian control in the 9th century bce and later passed under Persian, Macedonian, and Seleucid rule,

Shehu Ahmadu Lobbo was a Fulani Muslim leader in western Africa who established a theocratic state in the Macina region of what is now Mali. Influenced by the teachings of the Islamic reformer Usman dan Fodio, he began a holy war (jihad) in 1818 or possibly as early as 1810. He defeated the forces

Hamada Shōji was a Japanese ceramist who revitalized pottery making in Mashiko, where ceramic arts had flourished in ancient times. Hamada was designated a Living National Treasure by the Japanese government in 1955. Hamada studied ceramics at the Tokyo Industrial College (now the Tokyo Institute

Hamadan, city, capital of Hamadān province, west-central Iran. It is situated at the northeastern foot of Mount Alvand (11,716 feet [3,571 metres]). Itself at an elevation of 6,158 feet (1,877 metres), the city dominates the wide fertile plain of the upper Qareh Sū River. There is a sizable

Hamadan, city, capital of Hamadān province, west-central Iran. It is situated at the northeastern foot of Mount Alvand (11,716 feet [3,571 metres]). Itself at an elevation of 6,158 feet (1,877 metres), the city dominates the wide fertile plain of the upper Qareh Sū River. There is a sizable

Hamadan rug, any of several handwoven floor coverings of considerable variety, made in the district surrounding the ancient city of Hamadan (Ecbatana) in western Iran and brought there for marketing. Several generations ago, many of these rugs were traded through Mosul and consequently were known

al-Hamadānī was a mystic Persian theologian responsible for the propagation of the Kubrāwīyah order of Sufis (Islamic mystics) in Kashmir. A scion of a famous Persian family of Sayyids (descendants of the Prophet Muhammad), he became a dervish (itinerant holy man) and traveled extensively

al-Hamadhānī was an Arabic-language author famed for the introduction of the maqāmah (“assembly”) form in literature. Al-Hamadhānī achieved an early success through a public debate with Abū Bakr al-Khwarizmī, a leading savant, in Nīshāpūr. He subsequently traveled throughout the area occupied today

Djibouti: Balancing ethnic tensions: Barkat Gourad Hamadou, an Afar serving as prime minister since 1978, was reappointed in 1987. Power appeared to be shared, with ministry appointments following a formula designed to maintain ethnic balance.

dryad, in Greek mythology, a nymph or nature spirit who lives in trees and takes the form of a beautiful young woman. Dryads were originally the spirits of oak trees (drys: “oak”), but the name was later applied to all tree nymphs. It was believed that they lived only as long as the trees they

king cobra, (genus Ophiophagus), reptile genus containing the world’s largest venomous snakes. King cobras are found predominantly in forests from India through Southeast Asia to the Philippines and Indonesia. The snake’s maximum confirmed length is 5.6 metres (18 feet), but most do not exceed 3.6