San Francisco

City and port, coextensive with San Francisco county, northern California, U.S., located on a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay. It is a cultural and financial centre of the western United States and one of the country's most cosmopolitan cities. Area 46 square miles (120 square km). Pop. (1990) city, 723,959; San Francisco PMSA, 1,603,678; San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose CMSA, 6,277,523; (1999 est.) city,

Javorníky

Mountains in central Czechoslovakia, on the western fringe of the Carpathian Mountains and forming part of the boundary between Moravia and Slovakia. The ridge of the Javorníky peaks—the highest, at 3,514 feet (1,071 m), is Velký Javorník, overlooking the village of Velké Karlovice—divides the Becva-Oder river systems to the north and west from the Váh River to the east. Climate

Paleoanthropology

Also spelled  Palaeoanthropology,  also called  Human Paleontology,   interdisciplinary branch of anthropology concerned with the origins and development of early humans. Fossils are assessed by the techniques of physical anthropology, comparative anatomy, and the theory of evolution. Artifacts, such as bone and stone tools, are identified and their significance for the physical and mental development of early humans interpreted

Chile, Political uncertainty, 1920–38

In the decade following World War I, falling saltpetre sales and rising inflation fueled dissatisfaction among the middle and working classes. They supported the election of the reformist president Arturo Alessandri Palma in 1920. When the legislature blocked his initiatives, discontent spread to middle-class army officers. They intervened in 1924 to force parliamentary

Nature Worship, Earth

Although in polytheistic religions the earth is usually represented as a goddess and associated with the god of heaven as her spouse, only rarely is there an elaborate or intensive cult of earth worship. There are in many religions mother goddesses who have elaborate cults and who have assumed the function of fertility for land and man, but they hardly have a chthonic

Aristarchus Of Samos

Aristarchus' advanced ideas on the movement of the Earth are known from Archimedes and Plutarch; his only extant work is a short treatise, “On the Sizes and Distances of the Sun and Moon.” The values

Arabia, History Of, Arabian and Islamic expansion

In the 6th century Quraysh—the noble and holy house of the confederation of the Hejaz controlling the sacred enclave (haram) of Mecca—contrived a chain of agreements with the northern and southern tribes that opened the highways of Arabia to commerce. Under Quraysh aegis, caravans moved freely from the southern Yemen coast to Mecca and thence northward to Byzantium

Mammal, Skeleton

The mammalian skeletal system shows a number of advances over that of lower vertebrates. The mode of ossification of the long bones is characteristic. In lower vertebrates each long bone has a single center of ossification, the diaphysis, and replacement of cartilage by bone proceeds from the center toward the ends, which may remain cartilaginous, even in adults.

Cornucopia

Also called  Horn Of Plenty,   decorative motif, dating from ancient Greece, that symbolizes abundance. The motif originated as a curved goat's horn filled to overflowing with fruit and grain. It is emblematic of the horn possessed by Zeus's nurse, the Greek nymph Amalthaea (q.v.), which could be filled with whatever the owner wished.

African Popular Music

In common with the rest of the world, Africa was strongly affected by the instrumentation, rhythms, and repertoire from the Americas during the 1920s and '30s, as radio and

Schacht, Hjalmar

Appointed vice director of the Dresdner Bank in 1908, Schacht served