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oban: (from the article "coin") ...coins. Unlike China, Japan has had a gold and silver coinage since the 16th century. The gold coins are large flat pieces in the shape of rectangles with rounded corners, ...
Obando, Jose Maria: Colombian president (1853-54), whose violent character and career were representative of the political and military leaders of 19th-century Colombia.
Obasanjo, Olusegun: Nigerian general, politician, and diplomat, who was the first military leader in Africa to hand over power to civilian rule. He served as ruler of Nigeria (1976-79) and as president ... [11 Related Articles]
Obasi, Godwin: (from the article "The Environment") ...24 in Dubai at the end of the four-day Dubai International Conference on Atmospheric Pollution. Winners in three categories were chosen. The prize of $500,000 for global leadership went to ...
obbligato: (Italian: "obligatory"), in music, essential but subordinate instrumental part. For example, in an 18th-century aria with trumpet obbligato, the trumpet part, although serving as accompaniment to the voice, may be ... [1 Related Articles]
obedience: (from the article "Judaism") ...second of the biblical passages that form the core of this liturgical statement (Deuteronomy 11:13-21). Here, in the language of its agricultural setting, the community is promised reward for obedience ...
Obelerio: (from the article "Venice") ...strife among various settlements vying for supremacy and between pro- and anti-Byzantine factions; also involved were attempts by church authorities to acquire temporal influence. Finally the doge Obelerio and his ...
Obelia: genus of invertebrate marine animals of the class Hydrozoa (phylum Cnidaria). The genus, widely distributed in all the oceans, is represented by many species. The animal begins life as a ... [1 Related Articles]
obelisk: tapered monolithic pillar, originally erected in pairs at the entrances of ancient Egyptian temples. The Egyptian obelisk was carved from a single piece of stone, usually red granite from the ... [4 Related Articles]
Oberammergau: (from the article "Passion play") The most famous of the Passion plays to survive into the 20th century is that performed at Oberammergau, in the Bavarian Alps. According to tradition, the play has been presented ...
oberek: (from the article "mazurka") ...Chopin (1810-49) reflects the dance's popularity in his day. The varsoviana is a 19th-century couple dance that evolved from a simple mazurka step. The smooth kujawiak and the energetic oberek ...
Obergfoll, Christina: (from the article "Track and Field Sports") ...the crossbar on her way down, but it stayed up. Menendez launched her javelin out to 71.70 m (235 ft 3 in) on her first throw, a 16-cm (6-in) improvement ...
Oberkampf, Christophe-Philippe: (from the article "wallpaper") ...new and varied styles became available-chintz patterns, satin grounds, and stripes, to mention but a few-and technical advances were making wallpaper more widely accessible. In 1785 Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf invented the ...
Oberkasseler Bridge: (from the article "bridge") ...the Stromsund Bridge in Sweden (1956), used just two cables fastened at nearly the same point high on the tower and fanning out to support the deck at widely separated ...
Oberkommando der Wehrmacht: (from the article "German Chain of Command in Western Europe, June 1944") ...Fuhrer and supreme commander of the armed forces, Adolf Hitler, as well as the rigidity of the Nazi state. All military operations in the western theatre were placed under the ...
Oberkommando des Heeres: (from the article "World War II") ...the time for carrying out the invasion of the U.S.S.R. and was to prove the more serious because in 1941 the Russian winter would arrive earlier than usual. Nevertheless, Hitler ...
Oberland: (from the article "Reuss") two former German principalities, merged into Thuringia in 1920. In their final years they comprised two blocks, separated by part of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. The southern and larger block, or Oberland, with ...
Oberlandesgericht: (from the article "appeal") ...primarily with a unified interpretation of the law, and there is a separate Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court) to deal with constitutional questions. The court of appeals (Oberlandesgericht) retries cases both ...
Oberlin: city, Lorain county, northern Ohio, U.S., about 35 miles (56 km) west-southwest of Cleveland. In 1833 John J. Shipherd, a Presbyterian minister, and Philo P. Stewart, a former missionary to ...
Oberlin College: private coeducational institution of higher learning at Oberlin, Ohio, offering programs in liberal arts and music. It was founded by Presbyterian minister John J. Shipherd and Philo P. Stewart in ... [4 Related Articles]
Oberlin, Johann Friedrich: Lutheran pastor and philanthropist, who spent his life transforming desperately poor parishes in the Vosges region of France into materially as well as spiritually flourishing communities. [4 Related Articles]
Obermaier, Sebastian: (from the article "Education") ...religious education from the nation's schools. Patzi said that making the schools secular meant that "there is no monopoly on religious teaching&elipsis;no indoctrination." In response, Sebastian Obermaier, a Catholic priest ...
Obermeier, Otto: (from the article "relapsing fever") Borrelia spirochetes were the first microbes to be associated clearly with serious human disease. German bacteriologist Otto Obermeier observed the organisms in the blood of relapsing-fever patients ...
Oberoi, Mohan Singh: Indian hotelier (b. Aug. 15, 1898, Bhaun, Punjab, India [now in Pakistan]-d. May 3, 2002, New Delhi, India), built an international chain of luxury hotels; he was the first Indian ...
Oberon: king of the fairies in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Oberon's conflict with his wife, Titania, sets the play's action in motion. The character of Oberon was ... [1 Related Articles]
Oberon: outermost of the five major moons of Uranus and the second largest of the group. Oberon was discovered in 1787 by the English astronomer William Herschel, who had found Uranus ... [2 Related Articles]
Oberon: king of the elves, or of the "faerie," in the French medieval poem Huon de Bordeaux. In this poem Oberon is a dwarf-king, living in the woodland, who by magic ... [1 Related Articles]
Oberon, Merle: British and American film actress who appeared in more than 30 motion pictures. Her most notable portrayal was that of the beautiful Cathy, who tormented and rejected Heathcliff (Laurence Olivier) ...
Oberosterreich: Bundesland (federal state), northern Austria. It borders Germany and the Czech Republic on the west and north and is bounded by Bundeslander Niederosterreich (Lower Austria) on the east and Steiermark ... [1 Related Articles]
Oberpfalz: (from the article "Palatinate") ...a title held by a leading secular prince of the Holy Roman Empire. Geographically, the Palatinate was divided between two small territorial clusters: the Rhenish, or Lower, Palatinate and the ...
Oberpfalzerwald Mountains: (from the article "Bohemian Forest") ...cover more than a third of the range, and the population is sparse. There are some mineral deposits and stone quarries. To the northwest, the much lower range of the ...
Oberprokuror: (from the article "Eastern Orthodoxy") ...(1721) and transformed the central administration of the church into a department of the state, which adopted the title of "Holy Governing Synod." An imperial high commissioner (Oberprokuror) was to ...
Obersalzberg: (from the article "Berchtesgaden") On the Obersalzberg, 1,640 feet (500 metres) above the town (linked by a cable railway), were the chalets of Adolf Hitler, Hermann Goring, Martin Bormann, and other Nazi leaders, with ...
Oberst, Walter: (from the article "1938: Other Winners") ...WarnerHonorary Award: Walt Disney for Snow White and the Seven DwarfsHonorary Award: Jan Domela, Farciot Edouart, Loyal Griggs, Dev Jennings, Gordon Jennings, Louis H. Mesenkop, Harry Mills, Walter Oberst, Irmin ...
Oberstadt: (from the article "Freiberg") ...parts: the oldest, the Civitas Saxonum, a maze of alleys around the Nikolai (St. Nicholas) church; the Untermarkt (Lower Market), a merchant district with the modern cathedral at its centre; ...
Oberstolz, Christian: (from the article "Bobsleigh, Skeleton, and Luge") Christian Oberstolz and Patric Gruber of Italy captured the 2004-05 overall World Cup luge doubles title. A win in the eighth race of the season gave them enough total points ...
Oberth, Hermann: German scientist who is considered to be one of the founders of modern astronautics. [5 Related Articles]
Oberto I: marquis of eastern Liguria and count of Luni, powerful feudal lord of 10th-century Italy under King Berengar II and the Holy Roman emperor Otto I. His descendants, the Obertinghi, founded ...
obesity: excessive accumulation of body fat, usually caused by the consumption of more calories than the body can use. The excess calories are then stored as fat, or adipose tissue. Overweight, ... [15 Related Articles]
Obey River: river in north-central Tennessee, U.S., formed by the East Fork Obey and West Fork Obey rivers in southern Pickett county. It flows north and west to join the Cumberland River ...
obi: wide sash or belt made of satin or a stiff silk material, worn since ancient times in Japan to secure the kimono. A woman's obi is about 12 feet (370 ... [2 Related Articles]
Obi Islands: group of the northern Moluccas, Maluku Utara (North Moluccas) provinsi (province), Indonesia. They lie south of Halmahera Island, north of Ceram Island, and east of the Sula ...
obia: in west African folklore, a gigantic animal that steals into villages and kidnaps girls on the behalf of witches. In certain cultures of the Caribbean, the term denotes forms of ...
Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Teodoro: (from the article "Equatorial Guinea") Area: 28,051 sq km (10,831 sq mi) | Population (2007 est.): 507,000 | Capital: Malabo | Chief of state: President Brig. Gen. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo | Head of government: ...
Obidos: town and river port, west-central Para estado (state), northern Brazil. It was founded in 1697 as a fortified town. Obidos overlooks the left (north) bank of the ... [1 Related Articles]
Obihiro: city, southern Hokkaido, Japan, on the Tokachi River. Founded in 1883, it became a regional administrative centre in 1897. The arrival of two railway lines in the early 1900s made ...
Obilic, Milos: (from the article "Kosovo, Battle of") At first, victory appeared to be on the side of the Serbs when the sultan was killed by a Serbian noble, Milosh Obilic (or Kobilic), who made his way into ...
Obizzo I: (from the article "Este, House of") ...Hanover. Another son, Ugo, tried without success to establish in France, while a third son, Folco I (died c. 1136), became second in line in the House of Este. Neither ...
Obizzo II: (from the article "Este, House of") In 1264 Azzo's heir, Obizzo II (1264-93), was created perpetual lord by the people of Ferrara under the pressure of Guelf strength. The Pope, lawful lord of the Ferrarese territory, ...
object: (from the article "Uralic languages") The widespread use of separate subjective and objective conjugations among the Uralic languages (as in Mordvin, Ugric, and Samoyedic) are the result of an original system for singling out the ...
object language: in semantics and logic, the ordinary language used to talk about things or objects in the world-as contrasted with metalanguage, an artificial language used by linguists and others to analyze ... [2 Related Articles]
object permanence: (from the article "human behaviour") ...or object that is not currently present. A major advance in recall memory occurs between the 8th and 12th months and underlies the child's acquisition of what Piaget called "the ...
object-oriented database: (from the article "database") ...and multiple relations can be mathematically associated to yield desired information. Various iterations of SQL (Structured Query Language) are widely employed in DBMS for relational databases. Object-oriented databases store and ...
object-oriented language: (from the article "computer programming language") Object-oriented languages help to manage complexity in large programs. Objects package data and the operations on them so that only the operations are publicly accessible and internal details of the ...
object-oriented programming: use of predefined programming modular units (objects, classes, subclasses, and so forth) in order to make programming faster and easier to maintain. Object-oriented languages help to manage complexity in large ...
object-relations theory: (from the article "Klein, Melanie") ...play to be a symbolic way of controlling anxiety, she observed free play with toys as a means of determining the psychological impulses and ideas associated with the early years ...
objective correlative: (from the article "Eliot, T.S.") Also in The Sacred Wood, Hamlet and His Problems sets forth Eliot's theory of the objective correlative:The only way of expressing emotion in the ...
objective function: (from the article "linear programming") The solution of a linear-programming problem reduces to finding the optimum value (largest or smallest, depending on the problem) of the linear expression (called the objective function):operations research
objective idealism: (from the article "dialectical materialism") ...of truth. This theory of knowledge is opposed equally to the subjective idealism according to which individuals can know only sensible appearances while things-in-themselves are elusive, and to the objective ...
objective lens: (from the article "microscope") The optics of the microscope objective are defined by the focal length, N.A., and field of view. Objectives that have been corrected for aberrations are further defined by the wavelength ...
Objective Spirit: (from the article "philosophy, Western") ...beings (habit, appetite, judgment) representing "Subjective Spirit."Human laws, social arrangements, and political institutions (the family, civil society, the state) expressing "Objective Spirit."Human art, religion, and philosophy embodying "Absolute Spirit."
objectivism: the theory or practice of objective art or literature. The term was used by the poet William Carlos Williams in the 1930s to describe a movement in which emphasis was ... [4 Related Articles]
objectivism: (from the article "Rand, Ayn") Russian-born American writer who, in commercially successful novels, presented her philosophy of objectivism, essentially reversing the traditional Judeo-Christian ethic.opposition by Existentialism
objet trouve: (from the article "Cesar") ...blended elements of the Arte Povera movement of Italy-which emphasized raw and unprocessed materials-and the French Matieristes, who focused on "found objects" (objets trouves). His first solo art show was ...
oblate: (from Latin oblatus, "one offered up"), in Roman Catholicism, a lay person connected with a religious order or institution and living according to its regulations; a minor dedicated by his ...
oblate spheroid: (from the article "ellipsoid") ...is an ellipsoid of revolution, or spheroid (see the figure), the figure formed by revolving an ellipse about one of its axes. If a and b are greater than c, ...
oblation: (from the article "Roman Catholicism") ...two sacraments most clearly found in the New Testament, and along with baptism and confirmation it is one of the sacraments of initiation. The Roman Catholic Church distinguishes the Eucharist ...
Obligado, Rafael: (from the article "Latin American literature") ...Gaucho Martin Fierro). It was the best of the gaucho literature genre, inaugurated unwittingly by Sarmiento's Facundo-a body of literature that included Rafael Obligado's
obligate aerobe: (from the article "bacteria") ...(O₂). Whereas essentially all eukaryotic organisms require oxygen to thrive, many species of bacteria can grow under anaerobic conditions. Bacteria that require oxygen to grow are called obligate aerobic bacteria. ...
obligate anaerobe: (from the article "aerobe") ...presence of free oxygen (e.g., certain bacteria and certain yeasts). Organisms that grow in the absence of free oxygen are termed anaerobes; those that grow only in the absence of ...
obligate carnivore: (from the article "nutrition") ...are also able to utilize animal fat. If their prey is small, they can chew and swallow bones, which serve as a source of calcium. Some carnivores, particularly cats (family ...
obligate parasite: (from the article "bacteria") Some bacteria are obligate parasites and grow only within a living host cell. Rickettsia and Chlamydia, for example, grow in eukaryotic cells, and
obligate psychrophile: (from the article "bacteria") ...is not unexpected, since the average subsurface temperature of soil in the temperate zone is about 12 °C (54 °F) and 90 percent of the oceans measure 5 °C (41 ...
obligate self-pollination: (from the article "Fabales") ...enforcing) either outcrossing or self-pollination-e.g., Trifolium (clover), Medicago (alfalfa), and Lotus corniculatus (bird's-foot trefoil). The most effective kind of obligate self-pollination, however, is that of cleistogamous flowers, which do not ...
obligate terrestrial bipedalism: (from the article "human evolution") ...life. The development of bipedalism enabled hominins to establish new niches in forests, closed woodlands, open woodlands, and even more open areas over a span of at least 4.5 million ...
obligation: (from the article "property law") ...Roman legal thought focused on the interests of the owner of a thing to the expense of those of others, but also in the fundamental separation that Roman law made ...
obligationes: (from the article "logic, history of") ...13th century, special treatises were devoted to insolubilia (semantic paradoxes such as the liar paradox, "This sentence is false") and to a kind of disputation called "obligationes," the exact purpose ...
Obligations, Code of: (from the article "civil law") Shortly after German law was codified, Switzerland followed suit. The Swiss Civil Code of 1907, together with a separate Code of Obligations, went into effect in 1912. These new federal ...
obligative mutualism: (from the article "mutualism") Intestinal flagellated protozoans and termites exhibit obligative mutualism, a strict interdependency, in which the protozoans digest the wood ingested by the termites; neither partner can survive under natural conditions without ...
obligatory referendum: (from the article "referendum and initiative") The referendum may be obligatory or optional. Under the obligatory type, a statute or constitution requires that certain classes of legislative action be referred to a popular vote for approval ...
obligee: (from the article "insurance") ...which always excludes losses from persons in a position of trust. A bond involves three contracting parties instead of two. The three parties are the principal, who is the person ...
oblique fracture: (from the article "fracture") ...broken ends of the bone are shattered into many pieces. Fractures can also be classified by their configuration on the bone: a transverse fracture is perpendicular to the axis of ...
oblique order: (from the article "tactics") ...BC), the phalanx became somewhat more articulated. This permitted the introduction of elementary tactical maneuvers such as massing one's forces at a selected point, outflanking the enemy, and the oblique ...
oblique projection: (from the article "drafting") Figures 2A, 2C, 3 , 4A , and 5 illustrate the pictorial representation achieved by oblique projection, in which the principal surface of the object is considered to be in ...
oblique syllogism: (from the article "logic, history of") ...standard conceptions of the syllogism and immediate inference. Of special interest is his treatment of quantified relational arguments, then called "oblique" syllogisms because of the oblique (non-nominative) case that is ...
oblique wing: (from the article "airplane") ...(i.e., the angle of a wing with respect to the plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the craft) of their wings in flight. These two types have primarily military ...
obliquely striated muscle: (from the article "muscle") Muscles differ in the arrangement of their myofilaments. The principal types of muscles are striated muscle, in which the filaments are organized in transverse bands as in Figure 2; obliquely ...
obliquity: (from the article "Pleistocene Epoch") ...three orbital parameters that have cyclic frequencies: (1) the eccentricity of the Earth's orbit (i.e., its departure from a circular orbit), with a frequency of about 100,000 years, (2) the ...
Oblivion, Act of: (from the article "Clarendon, Edward Hyde, 1st earl of, Viscount Cornbury") As lord chancellor, Hyde pressed for a generous Act of Oblivion, which spared most republicans from royalist vengeance, and for speedy provision of royal revenue. He hastened the disbanding of ...
oblomovshchina: (from the article "Goncharov, Ivan Aleksandrovich") ...Oblomov, a generous but indecisive young nobleman who loses the woman he loves to a vigorous, pragmatic friend, is a triumph of characterization. From this character derives the Russian term ...
oblong number: (from the article "number game") Oblong numbers are the numbers of dots that can be placed in rows and columns in a rectangular array, each row containing one more dot than each column. The first ...
obnuntiatio: (from the article "ancient Rome") ...a magistrate holding a legislative assembly could be prevented from passing a bill on religious grounds by another magistrate claiming to have witnessed unfavourable omens in a procedure called obnuntiatio. ...
Obo Festival: (from the article "Inner Mongolia") Besides the temple festivals, there is the Obo (shrine) Festival, held in the fifth month of every year. Toward the end of the ceremonies the festival takes a joyful course ...
Obodrite: member of a people of the Polab group, the northwesternmost of the Slavs in medieval Europe. The Obodrites (sometimes called the Bodryci, from bodry, "brave") inhabited the lowland country between ... [1 Related Articles]
oboe: treble woodwind instrument with a conical bore and double reed. Though used chiefly as an orchestral instrument, it also has a considerable solo repertoire. [5 Related Articles]
Oboe: (from the article "air warfare") From late 1943 the RAF used two radar-beam systems called Gee and Oboe to guide its Lancaster and Halifax bombers to cities on the Continent. In addition, the bombers carried ...
oboe d'amore: (from the article "oboe") There are several large varieties of oboe. The English horn, or cor anglais, is pitched in F, a fifth below the oboe, and is believed to resemble J.S. Bach's oboe ...
oboe da caccia: (from the article "English horn") ...shape it then had, but the origin of "anglais" ("English") remains a mystery. The curved form, which survived locally to 1900, was nearly identical to the 18th-century oboe da caccia ...
oboe family: (from the article "wind instrument") ...activated by the vibrations between the two parts of a double reed or those between a single reed and the mouthpiece. In the Sachs-Hornbostel system, all double reeds are generically ...
Oboi: (from the article "Kangxi") Because the new emperor was not yet quite seven years old, his government was first administered by Sonin, Suksaha, Ebilun, and Oboi-four conservative Manchu courtiers from the preceding reign. One ...
obole: (from the article "coin") ...defeated the Lombards in 774 and entered Rome, becoming king of Lombardy as well. His deniers were later made wider and still heavier (about 25 grains), and he introduced the ...