Karen Ann Burns, age 13, of Freeport, Ill., for her question:

WHEN WERE DELFT CERAMICS FIRST MADE?

Since the start of the 17th century, a famous ceramics pottery called delftware has been manufactured in a western Netherlands city named Delft. Delft is in the South Holland province, on the Schie River near Rotterdam.

The city was founded in the 11th century but it took 600 years for the citizens to get around to creating ceramics. The town, incidentally, was heavily damaged by fire in 1536 and by the explosion of a powder magazine in 1654.

Principal manufacturers in Delft now include those who still make ceramics as well as chemicals, carpets, cloth, soap, mathematical instruments and leather. The ceramic ware today is called new delft.

The city of Delft is intersected by canals.

Located in the city, which has a population nearing 100,000, is the Delft University of Technology, a leading engineering school of the Netherlands.