American soldiers taking up defensive positions in the Ardennes
The Battle of the Bulge was the last major Germanoffensive on the Western Front in World War II. It was intended that the German forces would split the Allied line in half, capture Antwerp, sweep north and encircle and destroy four Allied armies, thus forcing them to negotiate for peace. Although unsuccessful, it nevertheless tied down huge amounts of Allied resources, and a slow response to the resulting gap in their lines erased months from their timetable. An alternative analysis is that the offensive allowed the Allies to severely deplete the cream of German army outside the defenses of the Siegfried Line and in poor supply state, greatly easing the assault on Germany afterward. In numerical terms, it is the largest battle the United States Army has ever fought. (more...)
sedimentary formations that dip very gently to the east. This means that the oldest strata are exposed along the Virgin River in the Zion Canyon part of the park and the youngest are exposed in the Kolob Canyons section. The plateau is bounded on the east by the Sevier Fault Zone, and on the west by the Hurricane Fault Zone. Weathering and erosion along north-trending faults and fractures influence the pattern of landscape features associated with canyons in this stream-incised plateau region. (more...
A villa from Book IV of Palladio's I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura
Villa Capra and Villa Foscari and many churches in the Veneto. To explain fully the term Palladian as used outside of Italy one must first understand true Palladian as designed by the master architect (more...
Criminal Code from May 15, 1871 to March 10, 1994, which made male homosexual sex a crime. The statute was amended numerous times. Nazi Germany greatly exacerbated its severity in 1935. East Germany reverted to the old version of the law in 1950, limited its effect to sex with youths under 18 in 1968, and abolished it entirely in 1988. West Germany retained the Nazi-era statute until 1969, when it was limited to "qualified cases"; it was further attenuated in 1973 and finally revoked entirely after German reunification in 1994. In some of its forms, the law also addressed zoophilia. (more...
supporters for mainly the same reasons. Though it is commonly known in English as the flag of Taiwan (as the ROC is often referred to as "Taiwan"), this term is not commonly used in Chinese as some of the current symbolism and controversy can only be understood if one realizes that it is not officially the "flag of Taiwan" but of a Republic that only acquired Taiwan in 1945 and moved its government there in 1949.
goods are traded in a market at a price where consumers demand more goods than firms are prepared to supply, this shortage will tend to increase the price of the goods. Those consumers that are prepared to pay more will bid up the market price. Conversely, prices will tend to fall when the quantity supplied exceeds the quantity demanded. This price/quantity adjustment mechanism causes the market to approach an equilibrium point, a point at which there is no longer any impetus to change. (more...
100 Greatest British Television Programmes of the 20th century drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, voted for by industry professionals, Doctor Who was placed third. (more...
Pierre-Simon Laplace, who devised his namesake Demon
Free will is the philosophicaldoctrine that our choices are, ultimately, "up to us." Consequently, an unfree action must be somehow "up to" something else. The phrase "up to us" is vague and, just like free will itself, admits of a variety of interpretations. Determinism holds that each state of affairs is necessitated (determined) by the states of affairs that preceded it. Indeterminism holds that determinism is false, and that there are events which are not entirely determined by previous states of affairs. The idea of determinism is sometimes illustrated by the story of Laplace's demon, who knows all the facts about the past and present and all the natural laws that govern our world, and uses this knowledge to foresee the future, down to every detail. Some philosophers hold that determinism is at odds with free will, a doctrine known as incompatibilism. (more...)
In the Holy Roman Empire, the prince-electors were the members of the electoral college, having the function of electing the king of Germany before his accession as the next emperor. During and after the fifteenth century they often merely made formal what was in fact a dynastic succession. Formally, they elected a King of the Romans, who became Holy Roman Emperor only when crowned by the pope. Charles V was the last to be actually crowned; all of his successors were merely "Emperors-Elect." Electors were among the princes of the Empire, but they had several privileges (in addition to electoral ones) which were disallowed to their non-electoral brethren. (more...)
The negative of the first photo taken of the Shroud of Turin
The
Turin, Italy. Some believe it is the cloth that covered Jesus when he was placed in his tomb and that his image was somehow recorded on its fibers. Skeptics contend it is a medieval hoax or forgery. It is the subject of intense debate among some scientists, believers, historians and writers regarding where, when and how the shroud and its image were created. (more...
The Palace of Westminster, with the House of Lords on the left
The
House of Commons. The House of Lords is an unelected body, consisting of senior clerics of the Church of England (the "Lords Spiritual"), as well as certain members of the Peerage (the "Lords Temporal"). Lords Spiritual serve as long as they continue to occupy their ecclesiastical positions, but Lords Temporal serve for life. Members of the House of Lords are known as "Lords of Parliament". The House of Lords evolved at some point during the fourteenth century and has been in almost continuous existence since. It was abolished in 1649 by the revolutionary government that came to power during the English Civil War, but was restored in 1660. The House of Lords (the "Upper House") was once more powerful than the elected House of Commons (the "Lower House"). Since the nineteenth century, however, the powers of the House of Lords have been steadily declining; now, the Upper House is far weaker than its parliamentary counterpart. Under the Parliament Act 1911, most legislation passed by the House of Commons can be delayed, but cannot be rejected, by the House of Lords. (more...
opaque, hydrated, blue-to-green copperaluminiumphosphatemineral. It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been enjoyed as a gem and ornamental stone for thousands of years owing to its unique hue. In recent times turquoise—like most other opaque gems—has had its popularity undermined by the introduction of treatments, imitations, and synthetics onto the market, some difficult to detect even by experts. The word "turquoise" is very old and of uncertain origin, derived from the Frenchpierre turquoise, meaning "Turkish stone." This is thought to have arisen from a misconception: turquoise does not occur in Turkey but was traded there, and the gem became associated with the country in the West. (more...
