Georg Büchner
Büchner, Georg (1813–37), German dramatist, forerunner of expressionism.
21st Century Webster's Family Encyclopedia - Bounty, Mutiny on the to Buffalo Bill
Mutiny on the Bounty
Bounty, Mutiny on the See: Bligh, William; Nordhoff and Hall.
Bourbon
Bourbon, powerful family that for generations ruled France, Naples and Sicily (the Two Sicilies), Parma, and Spain; named for the castle of Bourbon northwest of Moulins.
Bourgeoisie
Bourgeoisie See: Communism.
Habib Ben Ali Bourguiba
Bourguiba, Habib Ben Ali (1903– ), Tunisian nationalist politician and Tunisia's first president (1957–87).
Margaret Bourke-White
Bourke-White, Margaret (1906–71), U.S. photographer and war correspondent who covered World War II and the Korean War for Time-Life, Inc.
Nathaniel Bowditch
Bowditch, Nathaniel (1773–1838), self-taught U.S. mathematician and astronomer remembered for his New American Practical Navigator (1802), “the seaman's bible,” later made standard in the U.S. navy.
James Bowdoin
Bowdoin, James (1726–90), U.S. revolutionary leader.
Sir Mackenzie Bowell
Bowell, Sir Mackenzie (1823–1917), Canadian prime minister (1894–96).
Elizabeth Bowen
Bowen, Elizabeth (1899–1973), English-Irish novelist, whose works are distinguished by their meticulous style and emotional sensitivity.
Bowerbird
Bowerbird, forest-dwelling bird (family Ptilonorhynchidae) native to Australia and New Guinea that builds “bowers” of sticks decorated with bones, shells, berries, and flowers.
Bowfin
Bowfin, large freshwater fish (Amia calva) of eastern North America, also known as the grindle, mudfish, or freshwater dogfish.
James Bowie
Bowie, James (1796–1836), Kentucky-born frontier hero who reputedly invented the bowie hunting knife.
Paul Bowles
Bowles, Paul (1910– ), U.S. author and composer living in Morocco.
Samuel Bowles
Bowles, Samuel (1826–78), U.S. newspaper editor and political leader.
Bowling
Bowling, indoor sport that involves rolling a ball to knock down wooden pins.
Boxelder
Boxelder, or ash-leaf maple (Acer negundo), deciduous tree native to North America.
Boxer
Boxer, medium-sized dog first bred in Germany in the 1800s.
Boxer Rebellion
Boxer Rebellion, violent uprising in China in 1900 directed against foreigners and instigated by the secret society “Harmonious Fists” (called Boxers by the Europeans).
Boxing
Boxing, sport of skilled fist-fighting. Two contestants wearing padded gloves attack each other by punching prescribed parts of the body, while avoiding or blocking their opponent's punches. Boxing contests are arranged between opponents in the same weight division or class; there are 10 classes ranging from flyweight to heavyweight. Fights take place in a square roped-off ring and consist …
Boxwood
Boxwood, or box, several species of evergreen shrubs and trees (genus Buxus), native to tropical and subtropical parts of the Old World and Central America, but widely introduced elsewhere.
Boy Scouts
Boy Scouts, international boys' organization founded in 1908 by Sir Robert Baden- Powell to develop character, initiative, and good citizenship. The organization is nonsectarian, nonpolitical, and nonmilitary. The Boy Scouts are organized in about 100 countries, and worldwide membership is approximately 8 million. Scouting emphasizes outdoor knowledge and skills, including nature lore and w…
Belle Boyd
Boyd, Belle (1843–1900), Confederate spy in the American Civil War.
Robert Boyle
Boyle, Robert (1627–91), British natural philosopher, often called the father of modern chemistry for his rejection of the theories of the alchemists and his espousal of atomism.
Battle of the Boyne
Boyne, Battle of the, battle on the River Boyne in East Ireland on July 12, 1690, which ended James II's attempt to regain the English throne.
Boys Town
Boys Town, village near Omaha, Neb., founded in 1917 as a community for homeless and abandoned boys by Father Edward J.
Boysenberry
Boysenberry, variety of blackberry (Rubus ursinus) that grows on a trailing plant.
Bozeman Trail
Bozeman Trail, route between Wyoming, and Montana used as a short-cut during the 1860s to reach gold fields in Montana and Idaho.
Charles Loring Brace
Brace, Charles Loring (1826–90), U.S. social reformer who worked to improve conditions for poor children and helped organize the Children's Aid Society in New York City in 1853.
Braces
Braces See: Orthodontics.
Ray Bradbury
Bradbury, Ray (1920– ), U.S. science-fiction writer, whose short stories deal with moral dilemmas.
Edward Braddock
Braddock, Edward (1695–1755), commander-in-chief of British forces in North America, who was disastrously defeated in the French and Indian Wars.
Bradford
Bradford, family name of prominent U.S. printers and editors.
Bradford
Bradford (pop. 477,500), city and parlimentary borough of Yorkshire, England, in the Aire valley, 9 mi (14 km) from Leeds.
William Bradford
Bradford, William (1590–1657), Pilgrim Father who helped to establish Plymouth Colony and governed it most of his life (reelected 30 times from 1621).
James Bradley
Bradley, James (1693–1762), British astronomer.
Omar Nelson Bradley
Bradley, Omar Nelson (1893–1981), U.S. general.
Thomas Bradley
Bradley, Thomas (1917– ), U.S. public official, mayor of Los Angeles.
Anne Dudley Bradstreet
Bradstreet, Anne Dudley (c.1612–72), English-American colonial poet.
Mathew B. Brady
Brady, Mathew B. (1823–96), U.S. photographer of historic events and eminent people, including 18 U.S. presidents.
Braxton Bragg
Bragg, Braxton (1817–76), Confederate Civil War general.
Sir William Henry Bragg
Bragg, Sir William Henry (1862–1942), British physicist who shared the 1915 Nobel Prize in physics with his son, Sir William Lawrence Bragg (1890–1971), for the deduction of the atomic structure of crystals from their X-ray diffraction patterns (1912).
Tycho Brahe
Brahe, Tycho (1546–1601), Danish astronomer, the greatest exponent of naked-eye positional astronomy.
Brahmanism
Brahmanism, Indian religion based on belief in Brahma.
Brahmans
Brahmans See: Hinduism.
Brahmaputra River
Brahmaputra River, river that rises in the Himalayas and flows about 1,800 mi (2,897 km) through Tibet, northeastern India, Bangladesh, and south to the Ganges, forming the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta on the Bay of Bengal.
Johannes Brahms
Brahms, Johannes (1833–97), major German Romantic composer.
Braille
Braille, system of writing for the blind developed by Louis Braille, employing patterns of raised dots that can be read by touch.
Louis Braille
Braille, Louis (1809–52), French inventor of braille.
Brain
Brain, complex organ coordinating nerve activity and responsible for thought in higher animal forms. Invertebrates have only a rudimentary brain, most highly developed in the octopus. Vertebrates have brains more fully differentiated, consisting of forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain. In highly developed vertebrate animals, the forebrain has developed into a large and highly differentiated cerebrum…
Brainwashing
Brainwashing, manipulation of an individual's will, generally without his or her knowledge and against his or her wishes.
Brake
Brake, device for slowing or halting motion, usually by conversion of kinetic energy into heat energy via the medium of friction.
Donato Bramante
Bramante, Donato (1444–1514), Italian architect who developed the classical principles of High Renaissance architecture.
Bramble
Bramble, any of a genus (Rubus) of prickly shrubs of the rose family.
Bran
Bran, husk of cereal grains (e.g., wheat, rye, or corn), removed from the flour during milling.
Constantin Brancusi
Brancusi, Constantin (1876–1957), Romanian sculptor famous for his simple, elemental, polished forms.
Brand name
Brand name See: Trademark.
Louis Dembitz Brandeis
Brandeis, Louis Dembitz (1856–1941), U.S. jurist, influential in securing social, political, and economic reforms, especially while an associate justice of the Supreme Court (1916–39).
Brandenburg
Brandenburg, historic region in eastern Germany.
Marlon Brando
Brando, Marlon (1924– ), U.S. stage and screen actor.
Willy Brandt
Brandt, Willy (Karl Herbert Frahm; (1913–92), Social Democratic chancellor of West Germany 1969–74, whose Ostpolitik (Eastern policy) marked a major step towards East-West detente in Europe.
Brandy
Brandy, alcoholic drink of distilled wine, usually matured in wood casks.
Battle of Brandywine
Brandywine, Battle of, British victory in the American Revolutionary War.
Brant
Brant, any of several North American wild geese (genus Branta) which breed in the Arctic and fly southward to Eurasia and North America for the winter.
Joseph Brant
Brant, Joseph (Thayendanegea; 1742–1807), Mohawk chief, Episcopal missionary, and British army colonel.
Georges Braque
Braque, Georges (1882–1963), French painter and sculptor.
Brasília
Brasília (pop. 1,596,300), federal capital of Brazil since 1960, located on the Paraná River, 600 mi (966 km) northwest of the old coastal capital, Rio de Janeiro.
Brass
Brass, alloy of copper and zinc, known since Roman times and widely used in industry and for ornament and decoration.
Bratislava
Bratislava (pop. 446,600), capital of Slovakia.
Walter Houser Brattain
Brattain, Walter Houser (1902–87), U.S. physicist who helped invent the transistor.
Eva Braun
Braun, Eva (1912–45), mistress (from 1930) and later wife of Adolf Hitler.
Wernher von Braun
Braun, Wernher von (1912–77), German-American rocket pioneer.
Carter Braxton
Braxton, Carter (1736–97), American political leader during the Revolutionary War period.
Brazil
Brazil, fifth largest country in the world and largest in South America, constituting nearly half the continent's land area. Brazil shares borders with all South American countries except Ecuador and Chile. It is the only Latin American country whose official language is Portuguese. Most of Brazil falls within 2 major geographical regions: the lowlands of the Amazon River system and the pla…
Brazil nut
Brazil nut, South American tree (genus Bertholletia) of the Amazon and Negro rivers.
Brazilwood
Brazilwood, heavy wood of various trees (genus Caesalpinia).
Brazzaville
Brazzaville (pop. 596,200), river port and capital of the Republic of the Congo, situated below the Stanley Pool on the right bank of the Congo River.
Bread
Bread, one of humanity's earliest and most important foods, made of baked dough—a mixture of flour and water.
Breadfruit
Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis), tree of the mulberry family, whose fruit is the staple diet in the South Pacific.
Breakbone fever
Breakbone fever See: Dengue.
Breakwater
Breakwater, timber, masonry, or stone barrier constructed to give protection from heavy seas.
Bream
Bream, any of a variety of European freshwater fishes of the carp family, growing up to 17 lb (8 kg).
Breast
Breast, front of the chest; especially in female mammals, the modified cutaneous, glandular structure it bears—the mamma or mammary gland. In humans, each breast consists of 15 to 20 branching ducts surrounded by connective tissue that acts as a supporting framework. The larger partitions between the lobes form strands that extend from the skin to the underlying deep fascia. At puberty in t…
Breast cancer
Breast cancer, malignant growth in the breast or mammary gland.
James Henry Breasted
Breasted, James Henry (1865–1935), U.S. archaeologist and historian, who advanced archaeological research in Egypt and western Asia.
Bertolt Brecht
Brecht, Bertolt (Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht; 1898–1956), German Marxist playwright and poet, who revolutionized modern theater with his production techniques and concept of epic theater.
John Cabell Breckinridge
Breckinridge, John Cabell (1821–75), congressman and vice-president of the United States, and major-general and secretary of war of the Confederate States of America.
Sophonisba Breckinridge
Breckinridge, Sophonisba (1866–1948), U.S. pioneer teacher of social work.
Breed's Hill
Breed's Hill See: Bunker Hill, Battle of.
Craig Breedlove
Breedlove, Craig (1937– ), U.S. racing-car driver.
Bremen
Bremen (pop. 552,300), city in northwest Germany, situated on the Weser River, 38 mi (61 km) from Bremerhaven on the estuary.
Saint Brendan
Brendan, Saint (c.A.D. 484–c.578), Irish monk, founder of Clonfert and other monasteries.
William Joseph Brennan Jr.
Brennan, William Joseph, Jr. (1906– ), U.S.
Brenner Pass
Brenner Pass, important pass across the Alps, in the Tyrol, linking Innsbruck in Austria with Bolzano in Italy.
Breslau
Breslau See: Wroclaw.
Robert Bresson
Bresson, Robert (1907– ), French film director, noted for the austere, penetrating quality of his work.
Brest
Brest (pop. 153,100), seaport and naval station in Finistère department, northwest France.
Children of the Brethren
Brethren, Children of the, Baptist sect organized in Germany in 1708.
André Breton
Breton, André (1896–1966), French poet and critic, a founder of surrealism.
Bretton Woods Conference
Bretton Woods Conference, international gathering at Bretton Woods, N.H., in July 1944, at which 44 members of the United Nations planned to stabilize the international economy and national currencies after World War II.
Marcel (Lajos) Breuer
Breuer, Marcel (Lajos) (1902–81), Hungarian-born U.S. architect.
Brewing
Brewing, process of making beer from cereal grains, usually barley.
William Brewster
Brewster, William (1567–1644), leader of the Plymouth Colony in New England.
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev
Brezhnev, Leonid Ilyich (1906–82), USSR political leader, who became first secretary of the Communist Party and effective head of the Soviet government in 1964.
Brian Boru
Brian Boru (941–1014), king of Ireland from 1002.
Aristide Briand
Briand, Aristide (1862–1932), French politician, lawyer, and socialist leader who was 11 times premier of France.
Briar
Briar See: Brier.
Briard
Briard, sheepdog first bred in France in the twelfth century.
Fanny Brice
Brice, Fanny (Fannie Borach; 1891–1951), U.S. popular singer and performer of musical comedy.
Brick
Brick, building material made of clay, sometimes reinforced with straw, shaped into rectangles and hardened by heat. Sun-dried bricks were used as a building material at least 6,000 years ago in Mesopotamia. The discovery of the technique of firing clay in kilns enabled hard durable bricks to be made. Examples of fired bricks have been found in excavations at the city of Ur that are at least 5,000…
Bridge
Bridge, card game developed from whist.
Bridge
Bridge, structure that spans an obstacle and permits traffic across it. The beam (or girder) bridge consists of a rigid beam resting at either end on piers. A development of this is the truss bridge, with a metal framework designed for greatest strength at those points where the load has greatest moment around the piers. Where piers are impracticable, a cantilever bridge may be built on beams (can…
Bridge of Sighs
Bridge of Sighs, landmark bridge in Venice, Italy.
Bridgeport
Bridgeport (pop. 141,686), city in southwestern Connecticut, about 65 mi (105 km) from New York City.
James Bridger
Bridger, James (1804–81), U.S. trader, explorer, and army scout.
Harry Bridges
Bridges, Harry (Alfred Bryant Renton Bridges; 1901–90), U.S. labor leader, Australian- born.
Bridgetown
Bridgetown (pop. 7,500), capital and only port of Barbados.
Laura Dewey Bridgman
Bridgman, Laura Dewey (1829–89), first blind and deaf child to be successfully educated in the United States.
Brier
Brier, shrubby plant (Erica arborea) of the heath family, known for its fragrant, white, globe-shaped flowers.
Richard Bright
Bright, Richard (1789–1858), English physician who first identified the kidney disorder known as Bright's Disease, now called nephritis.
Brighton
Brighton (pop. 143,000), popular English seaside resort on the south coast, 51 mi (82 km) south of London.
Brisbane
Brisbane (pop. 1,301,700), city and seaport in eastern Australia, capital of the state of Queensland.
Bristlecone pine
Bristlecone pine, evergreen tree (Pinus aristata) native to the Rocky Mountains of the United States.
Bristol
Bristol (pop. 396,600), large city and port in southwestern England, situated at the confluence of the Avon and Frome rivers, 6 mi (9.7 km) from the mouth of the Avon.
Bristol Channel
Bristol Channel, inlet of the Atlantic Ocean between Wales and southwestern England.
Britain
Britain, modern form of the ancient name for the island now comprising England, Scotland, and Wales.
Battle of Britain
Britain, Battle of, air battle of World War II from Aug. 8 to Oct. 31, 1940, between the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and the German Luftwaffe.
British Broadcasting Corporation
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), publicly financed company that runs all radio and 2 of the 3 television networks in Britain.
British Cameroons
British Cameroons, former UN trust territory on the west coast of Africa in what is now Nigeria and Cameroon.
British Columbia
British Columbia, westernmost of Canada's provinces, bordered by Alberta on the east, Montana, Idaho, and Washington on the south, the Pacific Ocean and Alaska on the west, and the Yukon and Northwest Territories on the north.
British Commonwealth of Nations
British Commonwealth of Nations See: Commonwealth of Nations.
British Empire
British Empire See: Great Britain.
British Guiana
British Guiana See: Guyana.
British Honduras
British Honduras See: Belize.
British Indian Ocean Territory
British Indian Ocean Territory, British dependency in the Indian Ocean, about 1,180 mi (1,900 km) northeast of Mauritius.
British Isles
British Isles, island group bounded by the English Channel, the Strait of Dover, the North Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean.
British Library
British Library, national library of Great Britain, one of the largest research libraries in the world.
British Museum
British Museum, national museum of antiquities and ethnography in London.
British North America Act
British North America Act, act passed by the British Parliament in 1867 to create the Dominion of Canada, uniting Canada (Quebec and Ontario), New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia under a federal government.
British thermal unit
British thermal unit (BTU), quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water 1°F at, or near, its point of maximum density (39.1°F).
British West Indies
British West Indies, collective name for islands in the Caribbean Sea that are or have been dependencies of Great Britain, including Anguilla, the Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Grenada, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the British Virgin Islands.
Brittany
Brittany, breed of hunting dog with a short, thick coat, white with orange or red-brown markings.
Brittany
Brittany (French: Bretagne), historic penninsular region of northwestern France.
Benjamin Britten
Britten, Benjamin (1913–76), British composer.
Brittle star
Brittle star, marine invertebrate (class Ophiuroidea), 5-armed relative of starfish found in seas all over the world.
Brno
Brno (formerly Brünn; pop. 388,300), city in the eastern part of the Czech Republic, chief city of Moravia.
Broad bean
Broad bean, Windsor bean, or horse bean (Vicia faba), annual plant producing seed pods up to 1 ft (30 cm) long, containing large edible beans.
Broadcasting
Broadcasting See: Journalism; Radio; Television.
Broccoli
Broccoli, form of cabbage, a branching cauliflower (Brassica oleracea botytis), grown for the immature flowers.
Louis Victor Broglie Prince de
Broglie, Louis Victor, Prince de (1892–1987), French physicist, awarded the 1929 Nobel Prize in physics for his suggestion that subatomic particles would display wave-like properties under appropriate conditions.
Bromegrass
Bromegrass, any of about 60 kinds of grass of genus Bromus, found mostly in the Northern Hemisphere and including both weed grasses and grasses valuable as pasturage and soil binders.
Bromeliad
Bromeliad, large family of tropical plants, mostly native to the Americas, including the pineapple and epiphytes (air plants) such as Spanish moss.
Bromide
Bromide, salt of hydrobromic acid, especially potassium bromide, that acts as a depressant of brain function and the heart and is used in medicine as a sedative and a hypnotic.
Bromine
Bromine, chemical element, symbol Br; for physical constants see Periodic Table.
Bronchitis
Bronchitis, inflammation of the bronchi, the main branches of the windpipe, caused by viruses or bacteria or by the inhalation of smoke.
Brontë sisters
Brontë sisters, 3 English novelists and poets, daughters of an Anglican clergyman.
Brontosaurus
Brontosaurus, large, plant-eating, four-legged dinosaur whose fossilized skeletons have been found in the western United States.
The Bronx
Bronx, The, one of the 5 boroughs of New York City, the only one situated on the mainland, separated from Manhattan Island by the Harlem River.
Bronze
Bronze, corrosion-resistant alloy of copper and tin, used for machine parts, marine hardware, and casting statues.
Bronze Age
Bronze Age, phase of history in which metal was first used to make tools and weapons.
Brook Farm
Brook Farm (1841–47), Utopian community, founded at West Roxbury, Massachusetts, by Unitarian minister George Ripley.
Rupert Brooke
Brooke, Rupert (1887–1915), English poet whose patriotic war sonnets were widely popular during World War I, author of Poems (1911) and 1914 and Other Poems (1915).
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Brookhaven National Laboratory, center for nuclear research in Upton, Long Island, N.Y.
Brookings Institution
Brookings Institution, public service corporation founded in 1927 in Washington, D.C., for research and information on government and economic issues.
Brooklyn
Brooklyn, one of the 5 boroughs of New York City, situated at the southwest extremity of Long Island.
Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge, world's first steel-wire suspension bridge.
Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks
Brooks, Gwendolyn Elizabeth (1917– ), U.S. poet.
Van Wyck Brooks
Brooks, Van Wyck (1886–1963), U.S. critic.
Broom
Broom, any of various European and Asian leguminous shrubs with yellow flowers that “explode” when bees land on them.
Robert Broom
Broom, Robert (1866–1951), Scottish anatomist and paleontologist, discoverer of fossils of the humanlike Australopithecus.
Heywood Campbell Broun
Broun, Heywood Campbell (1888–1939), U.S. journalist.
Earl Russell Browder
Browder, Earl Russell (1891–1973), U.S.
Jim Brown
Brown, Jim (1936– ), U.S. football player.
John Brown
Brown, John (1800–59), U.S. abolitionist.
Brown lung
Brown lung, or byssinosis, lung disease caused by inhaling of cotton dust.
Brown recluse
Brown recluse, poisonous spider (Loxosceles reclusa) of the southern United States, member of the family of brown spiders (Loxoscelidae).
Robert Brown
Brown, Robert (1773–1858), Scottish physician and botanist.
Sir Arthur Whitten Brown
Brown, Sir Arthur Whitten See: Alcock and Brown.
Brown-tail moth
Brown-tail moth (Nygmia phaeorrhoea), member of the family of tussock moths (Liparidae, which also includes the gypsy moth), native to the northeastern United States, whose caterpillar is a serious pest to fruit and shade trees.
Brown thrasher
Brown thrasher (Toxostoma rufum), bird of the mockingbird family (Mimidae), of the eastern United States and Canada.
Brown University
Brown University, private coeducational school in Providence, R.I., established 1764.
Brownian motion
Brownian motion See: Brown, Robert; Einstein, Albert.
Brownie
Brownie, in British folklore, small creature that lives with a household and helps with chores while a family sleeps.
Brownies
Brownies See: Girl Scouts and Girl Guides.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Browning, Elizabeth Barrett (1806–61), English lyric poet best known for Sonnets from the Portuguese (1850), inspired by her husband, Robert Browning, who had “rescued” her from illness and family tyranny in 1846.
Robert Browning
Browning, Robert (1812–89), English poet.
Brownsville
Brownsville (pop. 260,120), city in southern Texas near the mouth of the Rio Grande River.
Dave Brubeck
Brubeck, Dave (1920– ), U.S. pianist and composer in the classical and jazz idioms.
Blanche Kelso Bruce
Bruce, Blanche Kelso (1841–98), public official, the first African American to serve a full term as a U.S. senator (1875–81).
Robert the Bruce
Bruce, Robert the (1274–1329), claimant to the Scottish throne, which Edward I of England awarded to John de Baliol instead.
Sir David Bruce
Bruce, Sir David (1855–1931), British physician and bacteriologist, specialist in tropical diseases.
Brucellosis
Brucellosis, undulant fever, or Malta fever, infectious diseases of vertebrate animals, caused by any of a genus (Brucella) of bacteria.
Max Bruch
Bruch, Max (1838–1920), German composer and conductor.
(Josef) Anton Bruckner
Bruckner, (Josef) Anton (1824–96), Austrian composer, noted for his 9 symphonies and his choral music—Masses in D Minor (1864), E Minor (1866), and F Minor (1867–71).
Bruegel
Bruegel, family of Flemish painters.
Brugge
Brugge, or Bruges (pop. 116,700), well-preserved medieval city in northwestern Belgium.
Erik Bruhn
Bruhn, Erik (1928–86), Danish ballet dancer.
Étienne Brulé
Brulé, Étienne (1592?–1633), French-born Canadian explorer.
Beau Brummell
Brummell, Beau (George Bryan Brummell; 1778–1840), English dandy, friend of the Prince of Wales (later George IV), and an arbiter of fashion in Regency society.
Brunei
Brunei, sultanate on the north coast of the island of Borneo, on the South China Sea.
Sir Marc Isambard Brunel
Brunel, Sir Marc Isambard (1769–1849), French-born British engineer and inventor who built the world's first underwater tunnel (Thames Tunnel, 1825).
Filippo Brunelleschi
Brunelleschi, Filippo (1377–1446), first great Italian Renaissance architect.
Brunhild
Brunhild, Brünnehilde, or Brynhild, heroine of German and Scandinavian mythology dating back to A.D. 400.
Giordano Bruno
Bruno, Giordano (1548–1600), Italian philosopher.
Brunswick
Brunswick (German: Braunschweig), descendants of the Wolf family.
Brussels
Brussels (pop. c. 134,800), Belgian capital city, headquarters of the European Common Market and NATO.
Brussels griffon
Brussels griffon, breed of toy dog developed in 19th-century Belgium.
Brussels sprouts
Brussels sprouts, variety of cabbage first grown on the outskirts of Brussels.
Marcus Junius Brutus
Brutus, Marcus Junius (85?–42 B.C.), Roman statesman who led the assassination plot against Julius Caesar.
William Jennings Bryan
Bryan, William Jennings (1860–1925), U.S. political leader, orator, and lawyer.
Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant
Bryant, Paul ‘Bear’ (1913–83), U.S. football coach.
William Cullen Bryant
Bryant, William Cullen (1794–1878), U.S. poet and journalist.
Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park, area of 5,835 acres in southwest Utah, created as a park in 1924.
James Bryce t Viscount (1s)
Bryce, James, 1st Viscount (1838–1922), British politician and historian.
Bryophyte
Bryophyte, most primitive division of land plants, including liverworts and mosses.
Bryozoan
Bryozoan, freshwater and marine moss animals living in colonies encrusting seaweeds, stones, or the hulls of ships and sometimes forming lacy fans.
Zbigniew Brzezinski
Brzezinski, Zbigniew (1928– ), Polish-born U.S. political scientist and national security adviser (1977–81), who advocated more vigorous anticommunist policies.
BTU
BTU See: British thermal unit.
Bubble chamber
Bubble chamber, device invented by Donald Glaser (1952) to observe the paths of subatomic particles.
Martin Buber
Buber, Martin (1878–1965), Jewish philosopher, born in Austria.
Bubonic plague
Bubonic plague, disease transmitted to humans by fleas from infected rats.
John Buchan t Baron Tweedsmuir (1s)
Buchan, John, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (1875–1940), Scottish author and politician.
James Buchanan
Buchanan, James (1791–1868), 15th president of the United States. Buchanan held office during the years of mounting crisis that led up to the Civil War. The bitter divisions between North and South over the issue of slavery intensified during Buchanan's administration. When he left office in Mar. 1861, 7 slave states had already seceded from the Union and the nation was on the verge …
Bucharest
Bucharest (pop. c. 2,064,500), capital of Romania, on the Dîmbovita River.
Buchenwald
Buchenwald, Nazi concentration camp set up near Weimar, Germany in 1937 to hold political and “non-Aryan” prisoners.
Frank Nathan Daniel Buchman
Buchman, Frank Nathan Daniel (1878–1961), evangelist and founder of the Moral Re-Armament movement (1938), commonly known as the MRA, an anticommunist grouping that grew rapidly and spread to over 50 countries.
Art Buchwald
Buchwald, Art (1925– ), U.S. political columnist.
Frank Buck
Buck, Frank (1884–1950), U.S. wild-animal authority and collector.
Pearl Sydenstricker Buck
Buck, Pearl Sydenstricker (1892–1973), U.S. author.
Buckeye
Buckeye See: Horse chestnut.
George Villiers Buckingham t Duke of (1s)
Buckingham, George Villiers, 1st Duke of (1592–1628), English nobleman whose influence over James I and Charles I inflamed antimonarchical feeling.
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, London residence of the British royal family since 1837, built in 1703 and bought by George III from the Duke of Buckingham in 1761.
William F(rank) Buckley Jr.
Buckley, William F(rank), Jr. (1925– ), U.S. author, editor, and lecturer.
Simon Bolivar Buckner
Buckner, Simon Bolivar (1823–1914), U.S. politician and Confederate general.
Bucktails
Bucktails, political group active in New York (1816–30).
Buckthorn
Buckthorn, common name for thorny shrub (Rhamnus cathartica) of the family Rhamnaceae.
Buckwheat
Buckwheat, any of a genus (Fagopyrum) of common weeds, including dock and sorrel and a few tropical trees.
Budapest
Budapest (pop. c. 1,992,300), capital of Hungary, on the Danube River.
Lanny Budd
Budd, Lanny See: Sinclair, Upton.
Gautama Buddha
Buddha, Gautama (c.563–c.483 B.C.), founder of Buddhism.
Buddhism
Today the world of Buddhism has 2 main divisions, Theravada, the Southern School, covering Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, and Cambodia, and Mahayana, the Northern School, covering Nepal, Korea, China, and Japan. In the 2 schools can be counted 300–500 million followers, and there are many millions more who practice the teaching alone, for Buddhism has no service, ritual, or church in the Weste…
Donald Budge
Budge, Donald (1915– ), U.S. tennis player.
Budget
Budget, document designed to estimate income and expenditures over a certain period of time, usually 1 year.
Budgie
Budgie See: Parakeet.
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires (pop. 2,908,000), capital of Argentina.
Buffalo
Buffalo, any of several humpbacked fishes (genus Ictiobus) of the sucker family.
Buffalo
Buffalo, any of several species of wild ox, members of the bovid family.
Buffalo
Buffalo (pop. 323,400), second largest city in the state of New York, situated at the eastern end of Lake Erie near Niagara Falls, in western New York.
Buffalo Bill
Buffalo Bill (William Frederick Cody; 1846–1917), U.S. scout and showman.