the tiny details of everyday life

  • 41Europe, history of — Introduction       history of European peoples and cultures from prehistoric times to the present. Europe is a more ambiguous term than most geographic expressions. Its etymology is doubtful, as is the physical extent of the area it designates.… …

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  • 42pre-Columbian civilizations — Introduction       the aboriginal American Indian (Mesoamerican Indian) cultures that evolved in Meso America (part of Mexico and Central America) and the Andean region (western South America) prior to Spanish exploration and conquest in the 16th …

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  • 43performing arts — arts or skills that require public performance, as acting, singing, or dancing. [1945 50] * * * ▪ 2009 Introduction Music Classical.       The last vestiges of the Cold War seemed to thaw for a moment on Feb. 26, 2008, when the unfamiliar strains …

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  • 44Western sculpture — ▪ art Introduction       three dimensional artistic forms produced in what is now Europe and later in non European areas dominated by European culture (such as North America) from the Metal Ages (Europe, history of) to the present.       Like… …

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  • 45Computers and Information Systems — ▪ 2009 Introduction Smartphone: The New Computer.       The market for the smartphone in reality a handheld computer for Web browsing, e mail, music, and video that was integrated with a cellular telephone continued to grow in 2008. According to… …

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  • 46Spain — /spayn/, n. a kingdom in SW Europe. Including the Balearic and Canary islands, 39,244,195; 194,988 sq. mi. (505,019 sq. km). Cap.: Madrid. Spanish, España. * * * Spain Introduction Spain Background: Spain s powerful world empire of the 16th and… …

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  • 47Southeast Asian arts — Literary, performing, and visual arts of Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines. The classical literatures of Southeast Asia can be divided into three major regions: the Sanskrit region of… …

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  • 48photography, history of — Introduction       method of recording the image of an object through the action of light, or related radiation, on a light sensitive material. The word, derived from the Greek photos (“light”) and graphein (“to draw”), was first used in the… …

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  • 49Christianity — /kris chee an i tee/, n., pl. Christianities. 1. the Christian religion, including the Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox churches. 2. Christian beliefs or practices; Christian quality or character: Christianity mixed with pagan elements; …

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  • 50computer — computerlike, adj. /keuhm pyooh teuhr/, n. 1. Also called processor. an electronic device designed to accept data, perform prescribed mathematical and logical operations at high speed, and display the results of these operations. Cf. analog… …

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