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The History Channel - Encyclopedia Category: History and Culture > History Date & country: 02/12/2007, UK Words: 25833

Ides
In the Roman calendar, the 15th day of March, May, July, and October, and the 13th day of all other months (the word originally indicated the full moon); Julius Caesar was assassinated on the Ides...

Idfu
Alternative spelling of Edfu, the town in Upper Egypt. ...

idolatry
In Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, the turning away from God to other objects of religious devotion. In the Hebrew Bible it is specifically forbidden in the second of the Ten Commandments....

Idris
In Welsh mythology, a giant whose seat was Cader Idris, a mountain ridge in Snowdonia. He was supposed to have the power of conferring poetic inspiration, and of inducing madness or death. ...

Ifugao
An indigenous people of northern Luzon in the Philippines, numbering approximately 70,000. In addition to practising shifting cultivation on highland slopes, they build elaborate terraced rice...

Iggdrasil
Alternative spelling of Yggdrasil, the world tree of Scandinavian mythology. ...

igloo
Temporary Inuit dwelling constructed of blocks of ice piled high in a dome. The entranceway is long and narrow. ...

Ignatius of Antioch, St
(died c. 110) Christian martyr. Traditionally a disciple of St John, he was bishop of Antioch, and was thrown to the wild beasts in Rome. He wrote seven epistles, important documents of the early Christian...

Ignatius, Father
(1837-1908) English religious leader, who devoted his life to an attempt to revive the Benedictine life in the Church of England. In 1870 he founded a community at Llanthony Abbey, near Abergavenny, Wales, but...

Ignatow, David
(1914-1997) US poet. In 1932 he became a journalist for the Works Progress Administration (WPA). He taught at the New School for Social Research 1962-64, Vassar College 1967-68, Columbia University in 1968,...

Ik Onkar
Sikh statement that `God is one`. It is formed from two letters in Gurmukhi script, and is often used as a symbol. It is the first statement of the `Mool Mantra`, which sums up Sikh belief...

ikebana
Japanese art of flower arrangement. It dates from the 6th-7th century when arrangements of flowers were placed as offerings in Buddhist temples, a practice learned from China. In the 15th century,...

Ikeda, Hayato
(1899-1965) Japanese politician and economist, prime minister 1960-64. He introduced an `income doubling policy` of economic growth and higher living standards. He was a supporter of the US-Japan...

Ikhnaton
Another name for Akhenaton, pharaoh of Egypt. ...

Il Giogo Pass
Pass in the Apennine mountains northwest of Florence, on a twisting road leading to Imola and the Lombardy plain. ...

Ilf, Ilya Arnoldovich
(1897-1937) Russian humorous writer. He worked in collaboration with a fellow native of Odessa, Evgeni Petrov. They began their literary partnership in 1927, producing two satirical novels, Dvenadsat...

Iliad
Greek epic poem, product of an oral tradition; it was possibly written down by 700 BC and is attributed to Homer. The title is derived from Ilion, the Greek name for Troy. Its subject is the wrath...

Iliescu, Ion
(1930) Romanian president 1990-96, and 2000-04. A former member of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR) and of Nicolae Ceausescu's government, Iliescu swept into power on Ceausescu's fall as head of...

Ilithyia
Alternative spelling of Eilithyia, Greek goddess. ...

Ilium
In classical mythology, an alternative name for the city of Troy, taken from its founder Ilus. ...

illegitimacy
In law, the status of a child born to a mother who is not legally married; a child may be legitimized by subsequent marriage of the parents. The nationality of the child is usually...

Illia, Arturo (Umberto)
(1900-1983) Argentine moderate politician and president 1963-66. Elected president as a candidate for the People's Radical Civic Union, his administration inherited a nation with severe economic problems....

Illinois
Member of an association of American Indian people who inhabited Illinois and adjacent parts of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Missouri from the mid 1600s to the 1830s. The largest of the groups were the...

illuminato
Member of a group of people claiming to be particularly enlightened. Religious sects and secret societies have at various times called themselves illuminati, and there are persistent myths about...

illusion
Generally, a delusion, deception, or false perception. Illusion is, like appearance, usually contrasted with reality. The concept is often used in the philosophy of perception and in epistemology....

illusionism
In art, the two-dimensional representation of a subject in such a way that it seems to exist as a real object in three dimensions. Techniques include the careful use of perspective and shading. A...

Illyés, Gyula
(1902-1983) Hungarian writer, poet, and translator. He was a leading figure of the Populist writers' movement in the 1930s. Puszták népe/People of the Puszta 1936 is a partly autobiographical evocation of the...

Illyria
Ancient name for the eastern coastal region of the Adriatic, north of the Gulf of Corinth. Its three constituent districts were Dalmatia, Iapydia, and Liburnia. It later formed the Roman province of...

Illyricum
Roman province in the northwestern Balkans formed AD 9 from the three districts of Illyria, Dalmatia, Iapydia, and Liburnia. Illyricum was important because of the presence of gold mines in the...

Imagism
Movement in Anglo-American poetry that flourished from 1912 to 1914 and affected much US and British poetry and critical thinking thereafter. A central figure was Ezra Pound, who asserted the...

imam
In a mosque, the leader of congregational prayer, but generally any notable Islamic leader. Shiite Muslims accept the imam as empowered to intervene between God and humans, whereas Sunni Muslims...

Imber, Naphtali Herz
(1856-1909) Itinerant Hebrew poet. A Zionist and champion of the restoration of Hebrew as a modern spoken language, he wrote Hatikva/The Hope (1878), which became the Zionist anthem in 1897 and the Israeli...

IMF
Abbreviation for International Monetary Fund. ...

Imhotep
(born c. 2630 BC) Egyptian physician, architect, and vizier (chief adviser) of King Zoser (3rd dynasty). He is thought to have designed the step pyramid at Sakkara, the first pyramid ever constructed. Reputedly King...

Imlay, Gilbert
(c. 1754-c. 1828) US adventurer and soldier. He was a lieutenant in the American Revolution and a deputy surveyor in Kentucky 1783-85, but he fled when his land dealings got him in trouble with the law. He next...

Immaculate Conception
In the Roman Catholic Church, the belief that the Virgin Mary was, by a special act of grace, preserved free from original sin from the moment she...

immediatist
US abolitionist who sought an immediate ban on slavery in the USA. Like the gradualist faction of the abolitionist movement, which campaigned to abolish slavery through gradual and legal means,...

Immelmann, Max
(1890-1916) German fighter ace in World War I. He developed the `Immelmann Turn`, a manoeuvre in which, pursued, he would climb suddenly in a half-loop, roll, and then dive back at his pursuer. Decorated...

Immermann, Karl Leberecht
(1796-1840) German dramatist, poet, and novelist. He wrote the historical tragedies Das Trauerspiel in Tirol 1827 and Kaiser Friedrich II 1828, and the mystic poem Merlin 1831. Of his novels, Die Epigonen 1836...

Immigration Act 1924
Legislation that limited the number of immigrants into the USA from outside the Western hemisphere to around 150,000 per year. The act took effect...

immigration and emigration
Movement of people from one country to another. Immigration is movement to a country; emigration is movement from a country. Immigration or emigration on a large scale is often f ...

immortality
In religious belief, a state of perpetual or eternal life attributed to divine beings, mythical or angelic. A belief in immortality is common to many religions, though each has its own conception of...

impasto
In painting, surface texture achieved by a combination of thickly applied paint (usually oil) and bold work with a brush or palette knife. Van Gogh was a master of impasto. ...

impeachment
Judicial procedure by which government officials are accused of wrongdoing and brought to trial before a legislative body. In the USA the House of Representatives may impeach offenders to be tried...

imperator
Title given to a victorious general by his troops, during the time of the Roman Republic, and later the official title of the emperor. Under the republic, when a general won a victory his troops...

imperfect competition
Competition between firms that supply branded products. Firms therefore compete not just on price, as in perfect competition, but on the type of good they supply. In an oligopoly, the market is...

imperial preference
Programme of tariff reform within the British Empire, advocated by Joseph Chamberlain at the turn of the 20th century. Colonial products would receive preference in Britain's domestic market while...

Imperial War Cabinet
In World War I, inner circle of British cabinet ministers and officials directing both war matters and domestic affairs 1916-19. The idea of a war cabinet was devised by Sir Maurice Hankey largely...

Imperial War Museum
British military museum, founded in 1917 and opened in 1920. It includes records of all operations fought by British forces since 1914. It opened in the Crystal Palace, London, and was then housed...

imperialism
Policy of extending the power and rule of a government beyond its own boundaries. A country may attempt to dominate others by direct rule and settlement - the establishment of a colony- or by...

imperialism, 19th-century European
The empires of Europe, including those of the UK, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, and Russia, reached their greatest extent in the 19th century. Although partly a...

imperialism, Soviet
From 1945, policy of the USSR to control and influence countries outside Soviet territory during the Cold War 1945-89, allegedly to promote the spread of communist ideology throughout the world....

imperialism, US
From 1945, alleged policy of the USA to dominate countries outside US territory. Since the end of World War II the USA has often been accused of engaging in a policy similar to...

imperium
In ancient Rome, the legal and military power granted to certain magistrates, for example, consul, praetor, or dictator. The term also extends to command over a province (proconsul). Repeated grants...

Imphal, Battle of
In World War II, Allied operation in 1944 to hold Japanese forces back from an important road junction in the Manipur district of northeast India, 600 km/375 mi northwest of Kolkata (formerly...

import
Product or service that one country purchases from another for domestic consumption, or for processing and re-exporting (Hong Kong, for example, is heavily dependent on imports for its export...

import control
Control that limits the number of imports entering the country. One type of import control is an import quota. ...

Importance of Being Earnest, The
Romantic stage comedy by Oscar Wilde, first performed in 1895. The courtships of two couples are comically complicated by confusions of identity and by the overpowering Lady Bracknell. ...

Impressionism
Movement in painting that originated in France in the 1860s and had enormous influence in European and North American painting in the late 19th century. The Impressionists wanted to depict real...

impressment
System of forced conscription, often of the poor or destitute, into the armed forces, particularly the Royal Navy, employed in the 18th and 19th centuries. In effect it was a form of kidnapping...

impropriation
The transfer following the dissolution of the monasteries in 1536 of the tithes and advowsons of parish churches to either the Crown or powerful lay persons. Tithes became a source of private...

improvisation
Creating a play, a poem, or any other imaginative work, without preparation. The term is used in GCSE English for the unprepared piece of drama most students undertake as part of...

Imru'-al-Qays
(died c. 550) Arab poet. He is regarded as the greatest poet of pre-Islamic times and one of the founders of Arabic poetry. He is the author of one of the seven Mu'allaqat collections...

In Cold Blood
Non-fiction novel (1965) by US writer Truman Capote. Subtitled `A True Account of a Multiple Murder and its Consequences`, it was based on interviews and tells of the murder of a Kansas...

in vitro fertilization
Allowing eggs and sperm to unite in a laboratory to form embryos. The embryos (properly called pre-embryos in their two- to eight-celled state) are stored by cooling to the temperature of...

INA
Abbreviation for Indian National Army. ...

Inácio da Silva, Luiz
(1945) Brazilian politician and trade-union activist, president of Brazil from 2002. In 1980 he founded the Partido de Trabalhadores (PT; Worker's Party), the first independent labour party associated...

Inari
In Shinto, the god(dess) of rice, food, and prosperity. Often represented as a bearded old man with foxes as his messengers, Inari displays gender changes, and is also frequently shown as a woman...

Inbau, Fred E
(1909-1998) US criminologist and scholar. A criminal law researcher and trainer of police legal advisers, he taught at Northwestern University School of Law 1945-77. He founded Americans for Effective Law...

Inc.
Abbreviation for Incorporated. ...

Inca
Ancient Peruvian civilization of Quechua-speaking American Indians that began in the Andean highlands about AD 1200. By the time the Spanish conquered the region in the 1530s, the Inca ruled an...

Incan art
See pre-Columbian art. ...

incantation
The use of a set form of words, spoken or sung, with the intention of producing a magical effect. Incantations are used in most religions; for example, certain uses of the `Hail Mary` prayer by...

incarnation
Assumption of living form (plant, animal, human) by a deity; for example, the gods of Greece and Rome, Hinduism, and Christianity (Jesus as the second person of the Trinity). ...

incendiary bomb
Bomb containing inflammable matter. Usually dropped by aircraft, incendiary bombs were used in World War I and incendiary shells were used against Zeppelin aircraft. Incendiary bombs were a major...

incense
Any resin, gum, balsam, or other substance that, when burned, gives off aromatic smoke. It is used in religious ceremonies, as air freshener, or to deter insects. In a Taiwanese study published in...

incentive
In economics, a measure that persuades economic agents to adopt a particular course of action. For example, it can be argued that lower income-tax rates provide an incentive for people to work...

Inchbald, Elizabeth
(1753-1821) English writer and actor. She used her experience as a dramatist in writing two serious novels in which high-spirited heroines struggle against society's restraints on women:A Simple Story 1791,...

Inchon, Battle of
In the Korean War, successful US Marines amphibious operation on 15 September 1950 at Inchon, 32 km/20 mi west of Seoul, South Korea. The Marines secured the city within two weeks and broke the...

income
Earnings of an individual or business organization over a period of time. Gross earnings are earnings before tax and other deductions, while net earnings are earnings after tax. Earned...

income support
In the UK, social security benefit payable to people who are unemployed or who work for less than 24 hours per week and whose financial resources fall below a certain level. It replaced...

income tax
Direct tax levied on personal income, mainly wages and salaries, but which may include the value of receipts other than in cash. It is one of the main instruments for achieving a government's income...

incomes policy
Government-initiated exercise to curb inflation by restraining rises in incomes, on either a voluntary or a compulsory basis; often linked with action to control...

incorporation
In law, the formation of an association that has corporate personality and is therefore distinct from its individual members, who have no liability for its debts. Corporations (such as companies)...

incubus
In the popular belief of the Middle Ages in Europe, a male demon who had sexual intercourse with women in their sleep. Supposedly the women then gave birth to witches and demons. Succubus is the...

indemnity
In law, an undertaking to compensate another for damage, loss, trouble, or expenses, or the money paid by way of such compensation - for example, under fire-insurance agreements. An act of...

Indemnity and Oblivion, Act of
In England, act of the Convention Parliament 1660 implementing the amnesty outlined in the Treaty of Breda as a precursor to the Restoration of Charles II. Participants in the events of the previous...

indenture
In law, a deed between two or more people. Historically, an indenture was a contract between a master and apprentice. The term derives from the practice of writing the agreement twice on paper or...

indentured labour
Work under a restrictive contract of employment for a fixed period in a foreign country in exchange for payment of passage, accommodation, and food. Indentured labour was the means by which many...

indentured retainers
In the later middle ages, a person bound in service to a lord on the basis of a contract rather than on the granting of land, as had been the case in the feudal system. The document of indenture was...

Independence Day
Public holiday in the USA commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, 4 July 1776. ...

Independence Hall
Building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, where, on 4 July 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by Congress and read to the people. The Continental Congress met there. It is now a...

Independent Labour Party
British socialist party, founded in Bradford in 1893 by the Scottish politician Keir Hardie. In 1900 it joined with trades unions and Fabians in founding the Labour Representation Committee, the...

Independents
In the 16th and 17th centuries in England, nonconformists who espoused total autonomy for local congregations from both the state and any established church. Independents rejected episcopacy...

index
In economics, an indicator of a general movement in wages and prices over a specified period. For example, the retail price index (RPI) records changes in the cost of living. The Financial Times...

Index Librorum Prohibitorum
The list of books formerly officially forbidden to members of the Roman Catholic Church. The process of condemning books and bringing the Index up to date was carried out by a congregation of...

index number
In economics, way of showing changes in a series of variables by picking one value as the base value, calling it 100, and then adjusting the other values in proportion to the base value. For...

India
Country in southern Asia, bounded to the north by China, Nepal, and Bhutan; east by Myanmar and Bangladesh; northwest by Pakistan and Afghanistan; and southeast, south, and southwest...

India Acts
Legislation passed in 1858, 1919, and 1935 which formed the basis of British rule in India until independence in 1947. The 1858 Act abolished the administrative functions of the British India of the Princes
The 562 Indian states ruled by princes during the period of British control. They occupied an area of 1,854,347 sq km/715,967 sq mi (45% of the total area of pre-partition India) and had a...