Moravian Karst

Czech  Moravský Kras  karst in Jihomoravský kraj (region), eastern Czech Republic. It is a limestone area containing a labyrinth of swallow holes, underground passages and lakes, caverns, and calcareous formations. One of several small, disconnected karst areas, it is situated north of Brno, along the eastern bank of the Svitava River, and eastward along the latter's underground tributaries,

Gumma

Soft, granulomatous, tumourlike mass, sometimes appearing during the late stages of syphilis, that occurs most often beneath the skin and mucous membranes but that may also be found in the bones, nervous system, and other organs and tissues. See also syphilis.

Bazzaz, 'abd Al-rahman Al-

From 1955 to 1956 Bazzaz was dean of the Baghdad Law School. Following the coup that overthrew the Hashimite monarchy of Faysal II in 1958, he became president of the Court of Cassation. In 1960 he fell afoul of the president, General 'Abd al-Karim Qasim, and was briefly imprisoned before

China, Civil war (1945–49)

In a little more than four years after Japan's surrender, the CCP and the People's Liberation Army (PLA) conquered mainland China, and, on Oct. 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China was established, with its capital at Peking. The factors that brought this about were many and complex and subject to widely varying interpretation, but the basic fact was a Communist military triumph

Irkutsk

City and administrative centre of Irkutsk oblast (province), east-central Russia. The city lies along the Angara River at its confluence with the Irkut River. It was founded as a wintering camp in 1652, during the first Russian colonization of the area; a fort was built in 1661, and Irkutsk rapidly became the main centre of Cisbaikalia and of the Russian trade route to China and

Lentulus, Publius Cornelius

In 81 Lentulus was quaestor to Lucius Cornelius Sulla. When Sulla later accused him of having squandered public funds, Lentulus scornfully held out the calf of his leg, a gesture normally used by ball-playing boys inviting punishment for an error. He was praetor in 74 and consul

Biblical Literature, Early stages

The beginnings of biblical exegesis are found in the Old Testament itself, where earlier documents are interpreted in later documents, as in the recasting of earlier laws in later codes, or the Chronicler's reworking of material in Samuel and Kings. In addition, even before the Babylonian Exile (586 BC) there is evidence of the kind of midrashic exposition (nonliteral interpretations)

Beilstein, Friedrich Konrad

In 1866 Beilstein was appointed professor of chemistry at the Imperial Technological Institute, St. Petersburg. The first edition of his Handbuch gave a full account of the physical

Lomonosov, Mikhail Vasilyevich

Russian poet, scientist, and grammarian who is often considered the first great Russian linguistic reformer. He also made substantial contributions to the natural sciences, reorganized the St. Petersburg Imperial Academy of Sciences, established in Moscow the university that today bears

Gabon, History Of

Little is known about the history of the Gabon region prior to the arrival of the first Portuguese navigators in the Gabon Estuary in 1472, for the Bantu-speaking peoples inhabiting the region lacked writing. At that time portions of southern Gabon were loosely linked to the state of Loango, which in turn formed a province of the vast Kongo kingdom. From the offshore islands