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Ashikaga Yoshimasa ... Asiatic black bear

Ashikaga Yoshimasa shogun (hereditary military dictator) who helped promote one of Japan's greatest cultural eras. His attempts to select an heir, however, brought on a dispute that caused the great Onin War (1467-77). This conflict not only laid waste the area around the capital at Kyoto and destroyed many of its great ... Ashikaga Yoshimitsu shogun (hereditary military dictator) of Japan, who achieved political stability for the Ashikaga shogunate, which had been established in 1338 by his grandfather, Ashikaga Takauji. The period of this shogunate's rule (until 1573) subsequently became known as the Muromachi period after the district of Kyoto in which Yoshimitsu lived. Ashir min Ramadan, Madinat al- city, western Al-Isma'iliyyah muhafazah (governorate), east of the Nile River delta, Lower Egypt. Construction of this industrial centre began in 1977 as part of the Egyptian government's program to shift population and industry away from Cairo and the cultivable lands of the Nile River valley. Industries that have been established ... Ashiya city, Hyogo ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan. It is surrounded by the Rokko Mountains and faces Osaka Bay. Located on railway lines and highways between Kobe (west) and Osaka (east), it has been known for its beauty since the Heian period (794-1185), when court nobles and men of letters lived there. ... Ashkenazi member of the Jews who lived in the Rhineland valley and in neighbouring France before their migration eastward to Slavic lands (e.g., Poland, Lithuania, Russia) after the Crusades (11th-13th century) and their descendants. After the 17th-century persecutions in eastern Europe, large numbers of these Jews resettled in western Europe, where ... Ashkenazy, Vladimir Russian-born Icelandic pianist and conductor whose extensive piano repertoire included works by W.A. Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Frederic Chopin, Franz Liszt, and Sergey Rachmaninoff. Ashland city, Boyd county, northeastern Kentucky, U.S. It lies along the Ohio River just below the mouth of the Big Sandy River. The city of Ashland forms a tristate industrial complex with Ironton, Ohio, and Huntington, West Virginia. Ashland city, Jackson county, southwestern Oregon, U.S. It lies along Bear Creek, in the southern reaches of the Rogue River valley, at the base of the Siskiyou Mountains, just southeast of Medford. Settled in 1852 (during a gold rush) and laid out in 1860, it was named for both Ashland county, ... Ashland city, seat (1860) of Ashland county, extreme northern Wisconsin, U.S. It is a port on Chequamegon Bay of Lake Superior, about 60 miles (100 km) southeast of the city of Superior. Several different Native American tribes lived in the area, notably the Ojibwa. About 1659, French fur traders arrived, and ... Ashley, Lady Brett fictional character, one of the principal characters of Ernest Hemingway's novel The Sun Also Rises (1926). An expatriate Englishwoman in Paris during the 1920s, she is typical of the Lost Generation of men and women whose lives have no focus or meaning and who therefore wander aimlessly from one party ... Ashley, Laura British designer known for her traditional, Victorian-style prints on natural fabrics, which she used to create household furnishings, linens, and women's clothing. By the time of her death there were more than 220 Laura Ashley shops worldwide. Ashley, Maurice first African American to earn an International Grandmaster chess title. Ashley, Merrill American ballerina who served as principal dancer for the New York City Ballet (NYCB) in the last quarter of the 20th century. Ashley, William Henry U.S. congressman and fur trader who revolutionized the fur trade and hastened exploration of the American West when he introduced the rendezvous system as a substitute for traditional trading posts. Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology one of the four museums of the University of Oxford and the oldest public museum of art, archaeology, and natural history in Great Britain. It was established to house collections donated to the university in 1677 by Elias Ashmole (1617-92), an antiquarian who had inherited the bulk of the collections ... Ashmore and Cartier Islands external territory of Australia, in the Indian Ocean. The islands lie 200 miles (320 km) northwest of Western Australia state and some 105 miles (170 km) southwest of the island of Roti, Indonesia. The Ashmore Islands, comprising Middle, East, and West islands, are coral islets within a reef. Cartier Island, ... Ashoka last major emperor in the Mauryan dynasty of India. His vigorous patronage of Buddhism during his reign (c. 265-238 BCE; also given as c. 273-232 BCE) furthered the expansion of that religion throughout India. Following his successful but bloody conquest of the Kalinga country on the east coast, Ashoka renounced ... Ashqelon city on the coastal plain of Palestine, since 1948 in southwestern Israel. The modern city lies 12 miles (19 km) north of Gaza and 1.25 miles (2 km) east-northeast of the ancient city site. Because of its location on the Mediterranean coast, Ashqelon was traditionally the key to the conquest ... ashrama in Hinduism, any of the four spiritual abodes, or stages of life, through which the "twice-born" Hindu ideally will pass. The stages are those of (1) the student (brahmacari), marked by chastity, devotion, and obedience to one's teacher, (2) the householder (grihastha), requiring marriage, the begetting of sons, work toward ... Ashrawi, Hanan nee Mikhail Palestinian educator and spokeswoman for the Palestinian delegation to Middle East peace talks in the early 1990s. Ashta Pradhan administrative and advisory council set up by the Indian Hindu Maratha leader Shivaji (died 1680), which contributed to his successful military attacks on the Muslim Mughal Empire and to the good government of the territory over which he established his rule. Ashtabula city, Ashtabula county, northeastern Ohio, U.S. It lies along Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Ashtabula River, about 54 miles (87 km) northeast of Cleveland. The site was settled in 1801; its name, of Algonquian origin, possibly means "river of many fish" and was applied to the township (1808). ... Ashtadhyayi Sanskrit treatise on grammar written in the 6th to 5th century BCE by the Indian grammarian Panini. This work set the linguistic standards for Classical Sanskrit. It sums up in 4,000 sutras the science of phonetics and grammar that had evolved in the Vedic religion. Panini divided his work into ... Ashton, Catherine, Baroness Ashton of Upholland British politician who served as leader of the House of Lords (2007-08) and as European Union (EU) trade commissioner (2008-09). She became high representative for foreign affairs and security policy for the EU in 2009. Ashton, Sir Frederick principal choreographer and director of England's Royal Ballet, the repertoire of which includes about 30 of his ballets. Ashton-Warner, Sylvia New Zealand educator and writer of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. In the field of education, she became known for her innovative work in adapting traditional British teaching methods to the special needs of Maori children. Her aim was peace and communication between two radically different cultures, and most of her ... Ashur ancient religious capital of Assyria, located on the west bank of the Tigris River in northern Iraq. The first scientific excavations there were conducted by a German expedition (1903-13) led by Walter Andrae. Ashur was a name applied to the city, to the country, and to the principal god of ... Ashur in Mesopotamian religion, city god of Ashur and national god of Assyria. In the beginning he was perhaps only a local deity of the city that shared his name. From about 1800 BC onward, however, there appear to have been strong tendencies to identify him with the Sumerian Enlil (Akkadian: ... Ashur-uballit I (reigned c. 1365-30 BC), king of Assyria during Mesopotamia's feudal age, who created the first Assyrian empire and initiated the Middle Assyrian period (14th to 12th century BC). With the help of the Hittites he destroyed the dominion of the Aryan Mitanni (a non-Semitic people from upper Iran and Syria ... Ashura' Muslim holy day observed on the 10th of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic year (Gregorian date variable). 'Ashura' was originally designated in AD 622 by Muhammad, soon after the Hijrah (Hegira), as a day of fasting from sunset to sunset, probably patterned on the Jewish Day of Atonement, ... Ashurbanipal last of the great kings of Assyria (reigned 668 to 627 BC), who assembled in Nineveh the first systematically organized library in the ancient Middle East. Ashurnasirpal I king of Assyria 1050-32 BC, when it was at a low ebb in power and prosperity caused by widespread famine and the pressure of western desert nomads, against whom Ashurnasirpal warred constantly. His father, Shamshi-Adad IV, a son of Tiglath-pileser I, was placed on the throne of Assyria by the ... Ashurnasirpal II king of Assyria 883-859 BCE, whose major accomplishment was the consolidation of the conquests of his father, Tukulti-Ninurta II, leading to the establishment of the New Assyrian empire. Although, by his own testimony, he was a brilliant general and administrator, he is perhaps best known for the brutal frankness with ... Ashvaghosha philosopher and poet who is considered India's greatest poet before Kalidasa (5th century) and the father of Sanskrit drama; he popularized the style of Sanskrit poetry known as kavya. Ashvalayana author of the Ashvalayana-shrauta-sutra, a Vedic manual of sacrificial ceremonies composed for the use of the class of priests called hotar, or hotri, whose main function was to invoke the gods. Belonging to the "forest tradition" of hermits and wandering holy men rather than to that of the priesthood, Ashvalayana ... ashvamedha grandest of the Vedic religious rites of ancient India, performed by a king to celebrate his paramountcy. The ceremony is described in detail in various Vedic writings, particularly the Shatapatha Brahmana. An especially fine stallion was selected and was allowed to roam freely for a year under the protection of ... Ashwell, Lena British actress and theatrical manager well known for her work in organizing entertainment for the troops at the front during World War I. In 1917 she was awarded the Order of the British Empire. Asia the world's largest and most diverse continent. It occupies the eastern four-fifths of the giant Eurasian landmass. Asia is more a geographic term than a homogeneous continent, and the use of the term to describe this vast area always carries the potential of obscuring the enormous diversity among the the ... Asia ancient Roman province, the first and westernmost Roman province in Asia Minor, stretching at its greatest extent from the Aegean coast in the west to a point beyond Philomelium (modern Aksehir) in the east and from the Sea of Marmara in the north to the strait between Rhodes and the ... Asia Society Museum American museum in New York, N.Y., established in 1978 with a gift from the philanthropist John D. Rockefeller III, founder of the Asia Society (1956). The museum displays fine art and artifacts of Asian origin in order to forward the organization's larger mission of furthering American-Asian relations. Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation organization that seeks to promote free trade and economic cooperation throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Established in 1989 in response to the growing interdependence of Asia-Pacific economies and the advent of regional economic blocs (such as the European Union and the North American Free Trade Area) in other parts of the ... Asian brown cloud a large atmospheric brown cloud that occurs annually from about November through May over eastern China and southern Asia. The Asian brown cloud is caused by large amounts of aerosols (such as soot and dust) produced in the combustion of fossil fuels and biomass across the region. It has been ... Asian carp any of several species of fish belonging to the carp family (Cyprinidae) that are native to eastern Asia, particularly China and Russia, and naturalized in some American waterways. The grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella), bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis), black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus), and silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix), following their accidental introduction ... Asian Cup Asian football (soccer) competition that takes place every four years and is that continent's premier football tournament. The Asian Cup is governed by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and was first held in 1956, with South Korea winning the inaugural title. Asian Development Bank organization that provides loans and equity investments for development projects in its member countries. The bank also provides technical assistance for projects and programs, and it promotes the investment of capital for development. It was established in August 1966 under the auspices of the United Nations organization now known as ... Asian financial crisis major global financial crisis that destabilized the Asian economy and then the world economy at the end of the 1990s. Asian flu of 1957 outbreak of influenza that was first identified in February 1957 in East Asia and that subsequently spread to countries worldwide. The 1957 Asian flu was the second major influenza pandemic to occur in the 20th century; it followed the influenza pandemic of 1918-19 (also known as Spanish flu) and preceded ... Asian Games regional games sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) for men and women athletes from Asian countries affiliated with the IAAF. The International Olympic Committee also grants its patronage. Asian tree mouse any of three species of small rodents found only in a few tropical forests of India and continental Southeast Asia. Asian Women United American organization dedicated to reflecting and shaping public perceptions of Asian culture, particularly of Asian women. Asiatic black bear member of the bear family (Ursidae) found in the Himalayas, Southeast Asia, and part of eastern Asia, including Japan. The Asiatic black bear is omnivorous, eating insects, fruit, nuts, beehives, small mammals, and birds, as well as carrion. It will occasionally attack domestic animals. It has a glossy black (sometimes ...