Copy of `The History Channel - Encyclopedia`
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The History Channel - Encyclopedia
Category: History and Culture > History
Date & country: 02/12/2007, UK
Words: 25833
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Rice, Condoleezza(1954) US politician, national security advisor 2001-04 and secretary of state from 2005. As secretary of state, she launched a diplomatic initiative aimed at finding regional solutions to problems such...
Rice, Edmund Ignatius(1762-1844) Irish philanthropist and educator. He founded a number of schools for the destitute, which were officially sanctioned as a holy order by the pope in 1820, under the title `Institute of the...
Rice, Elmer(1892-1967) US dramatist. His works include The Adding Machine 1923 and Street Scene 1929, which won a Pulitzer Prize and was made into an opera by Kurt Weill. Many of his plays deal with such economic and...
Rice, Grantland(1880-1954) US sports journalist. Gaining a reputation for vivid sports writing, he worked for the New York Herald Tribune 1914-30. After 1930 he wrote the column `The Sportlight`, setting the standard...
Rice, Henry Mower(1816-1894) US pioneer and senator. He was a Minnesota territorial delegate to Congress 1853-57 and served as one of the new state's first two US senators (Democrat) 1858-63. He was a US commissioner in...
Rice, James(1843-1882) English writer. He collaborated with Walter
Besant on a series of novels, beginning with...
Rice, Peter(1935-1992) Northern Irish structural engineer. He was responsible for erecting some of the most exciting buildings of the 1970s and 1980s: the Sydney Opera House, the Pompidou Centre in Paris, and the Lloyd's...
Rich, Adrienne(1929) US radical feminist poet, writer, and critic. Her poetry is both subjective and political, concerned with female consciousness, peace, and gay rights. Her works include On Lies, Secrets and Silence...
Rich, Barnabe(1542-1617) English writer. His romances include Rich, his Farewell to the Military Profession (1581) (which provided the plot for Shakespeare's Twelfth Night), The Strange and Wonderful Adventures of Don...
Rich, Claudius James(1787-1820) British Orientalist and traveller. He wrote memoirs on the ruins of Babylon and a narrative on the site of Nineveh. His collection of Oriental manuscripts, Greek and Oriental coins and gems, and...
Rich, John(c. 1692-1761) English pantomimist and theatre manager. He built the first Covent Garden Theatre in London in 1732 and managed it until his death. He was a famous
Harlequin, and developed the pantomime into a...
Richard (I) the Lion-Heart(1157-1199) King of England 1189-99. He spent all but six months of his reign abroad. He was the third son of Henry II, against whom he twice rebelled. In the Third
Crusade 1191-92 he won victories at...
Richard II(1367-1400) King of England from 1377 (effectively from 1389), son of Edward the Black Prince. He reigned in conflict with Parliament; they executed some of his associates in 1388, and he executed a number of...
Richard III(1452-1485) King of England from 1483. The son of Richard, Duke of York, he was created Duke of Gloucester by his brother Edward IV, and distinguished himself in t ...
Richard, Gabriel(1767-1832) French-born US missionary. In 1817 he cofounded the University of Michigan in Detroit (which moved to Ann Arbor in 1837). From 1808 he published a newspaper and various books, and he also imported...
Richard, Ivor Seward(1932) British Labour politician, leader of the opposition in the House of Lords 1992-97, Lord Privy Seal and leader of the House of Lords 1997-98. A former Europe ...
Richards, Ann(1933-2006) US Democrat politician, governor of Texas 1991-95. She came to national attention when she made rousing speeches at the Democratic National Conventions of 1988 and 1992, to elect presidential...
Richards, Audrey(1899-1984) English social anthropologist. She published her first study of primitive tribal life in 1932 without carrying out any fieldwork, but later undertook firsthand studies among primitive societies in...
Richards, Frank(1876-1961) English writer. He wrote for the children's papers Magnet and Gem and invented Greyfriars public school and the fat boy Billy Bunter. ...
Richards, I(vor) A(rmstrong)(1893-1979) English literary critic. He collaborated with C K Ogden on two books and wrote Principles of Literary Criticism (1924). With Ogden, he founded the simplified form of English known as Basic English....
Richards, Lloyd(1923-2006) Canadian-born US stage director and actor. He directed the Great Lakes Drama Festival, Detroit, A Raisin in the Sun 1959 in New York, and a number of television productions. He served as artistic...
Richardson, Dorothy (Miller)(1873-1957) English novelist. Her sequence of 12 autobiographical novels was published together as Pilgrimage in 1938. It began with Pointed Roofs (1915), in which she was one of the first English novelists to...
Richardson, Elliot (Lee)(1920-2000) US cabinet member. After serving as secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare 1970-73, he served briefly as secretary of defence in 1973. He became attorney general in 1973, but resigned in...
Richardson, Henry Handel(1870-1946) Australian novelist. She was the first Australian writer to win a reputation abroad. Her works include The Getting of Wisdom (1910), based on her schooldays and filmed in 1977. She left Australia...
Richardson, Henry Hobson(1838-1886) US architect. He was distinguished for his revival of the
Romanesque style, and had a strong influence on Louis
Sullivan. His buildings include Sever Hall (1878) and Austin Hall (1881) at Harvard...
Richardson, Ian William(1934-2007) Scottish actor. He joined the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre (later the Royal Shakespeare Company) in 1960. At the RSC his many performances included Richard II (1973). He also acted in films and...
Richardson, James Montgomery(1858-1925) US representative. He was editor of the Glascow Times, Kentucky 1878-1900. After serving as congressman (Democrat, Kentucky) 1905-07, he returned to his paper and the...
Richardson, Samuel(1689-1761) English novelist. He was one of the founders of the modern novel. Pamela (1740-41), written in the form of a series of letters and containing much dramatic conversation, was sensation ...
Richardson, Tony (Cecil Antonio)(1928-1991) English director and producer. With George
Devine he established the English Stage Company in 1955 at the Royal Court Theatre, London, with such productions as John Osborne's Look Back in Anger...
Richberg, Donald (Randall)(1881-1960) US lawyer and government official. A supporter of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, he served as general counsel of the National Recovery Administration in 1933, and was director of the...
Riche, Barnaby(c. 1540-1617) English soldier and author. He is remembered for his Riche his Farewell to Military Profession 1581, a collection of eight tales. It includes `Apollonius and Silla`, which provided Shakespeare...
Richier, Germaine(1904-1959) French sculptor. She gained a major reputation after World War II with her febrile, expressionist sculptures based on animal life, for example The Ant...
Richier, Ligier(c 1500-1567) French sculptor. He worked for the dukes of Lorraine, but later, having become a Protestant, he moved to Geneva. He produced tombs and religious works, his style realistic and sometimes macabre. One...
Richler, Mordecai(1931-2001) Canadian journalist and novelist. His novels, written in a witty, acerbic style, include The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1959, filmed 1974) and St Urbain's Horseman (1971). Later works include...
Richmond, George(1809-1896) English painter. With Samuel
P ...
Richmond, Herbert
(1871-1946) British admiral and naval historian. In his naval career he reached eminence on the technical side as a torpedo officer, and later became recognized as a leading authority not only on naval history...
Richmond, Ian Archibald
(1902-1965) British archaeologist. Writer of works on Roman history including articles which focus particularly on Roman military antiquities, his publications include City Walls of Imperial Rome 1930 and Roman...
Richter, Gisela (Marie Augusta)
(1882-1972) English-born US art historian. She was an influential curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City 1906-48. Her publications include Roman Portraits 1948, Archaic Greek Art 1949,...
Richthofen, Manfred, Freiherr von
(1892-1918) German aviator. In World War I he commanded the 11th Chasing Squadron, known as Richthofen's Flying Circus, and shot down 80 aircraft before being killed in action. Originally a cavalryman (Lancer)...
Rickenbacker, Edward Vernon
(1890-1973) US racing-car driver, aviator, and airline executive. A racing-car driver in his youth, by 1917 he had established a land speed record of 134 mph/216 kph. He was a leading US fighter pilot...
Ricketts, Charles
(1866-1931) English painter, illustrator, printer, and writer. In 1888 he started the Vale Press, publishing a series of reprints for which he designed the type founts known as Vale, Avon, and King's, and...
Rickman, Alan
(1946) English actor. He proved his talent in a range of roles but often plays a cultured villain. His films include Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves (1991, BAFTA award), Truly, Madly, Deeply (1991), Close My...
Rickover, Hyman George
(1900-1986) Russian-born US naval officer. During World War II, he worked on the atomic-bomb project, headed the navy's nuclear reactor division, and served on the Atomic Energy Commission. He was...
Ricoeur, Paul
(1913-2005) French philosopher. Under the influence of existentialism and Sigmund Freud, he reflected at length on the nature of language and interpretation, subjectivity, and the will. His works include Le...
riddleVerbal puzzle or question that offers clues rather than direct aids to solving it, and often involves unlikely comparisons. Riddle poems were common in Old English poetry. In ancient literature,...
Rider, (Arthur) Fremont(1885-1962) US editor, publisher, and librarian. His Rider Press (1914-32) published various periodicals, including the International Military Digest 1915-18. He also produced a series of guide books to New...
Ridge, Tom(1945) US Republican politician, secretary of homeland security 2001-04. He was a representative in Congress 1982-95 and governor of Pennsylvania 1995-2001, before becoming the first secretary at the...
Ridgeway, theGrassy track dating from prehistoric times that runs along the Berkshire Downs in southern England from White Horse Hill to near Streatley. ...
Riding, Laura(1901-1991) US poet. She was a member of the Fugitive Group of poets that flourished in the southern USA 1915-28. She went to England in 1926 and worked with the writer Robert Graves. Having published her...
Ridley, Clarence Eugene(1891-1979) US city manager. He earned a national reputation as the progressive city manager of Bluefield, West Virginia 1921-25 and was the first director of the International City Managers' Association...
Ridley, Nicholas(c. 1500-1555) English Protestant bishop. He became chaplain to Henry VIII in 1541, and bishop of London in 1550. He took an active part in the
Reformation and supported Lady Jane Grey's claim to the throne....
Ridley, Nicholas(1929-1993) British Conservative politician, cabinet minister 1983-90. After a period in industry he became active as a `dry` right-winger in the Conservative Party. He served under Harold Macmillan,...
Ridolfi PlotConspiracy of 1571 led by the Italian banker Roberto Ridolfi with Spanish and papal backing to replace
Elizabeth I with
Mary Queen of Scots. Spanish troops in the Netherl ...
Rie, Lucie(1902-1995) Austrian-born potter. She worked in England from the 1930s. Her pottery, exhibited all over the world, is simple and pure in form, showing a debt to English potter Bernard
Leach. ...
Riebeeck, Johan Anthoniszoon van(1619-1677) Dutch colonizer and ship's surgeon, chosen by the Dutch East India Company to found a settlement at Table Bay, South Africa. He landed in April 1652 and proceeded to establish and extend Cape Colony...
Riel, Louis(1844-1885) French-Canadian rebel, born at St Boniface, Manitoba, a champion of the Métis (an Indian-French people). He established a provisional government in Winnipeg in an unsuccessful revolt 1869-70...
Riemenschneider, Tilman(c. 1460-1531) German sculptor. He was the head of a large and successful workshop in Würzburg from 1483 and an active participant in the political and religious struggles of his time. He is best known for his...
Rievaulx AbbeyRuined Cistercian foundation situated near Helmsley, North Yorkshire, England. It dates from 1131, and has a magnificent chancel date from around 1230 and extensive remains...
Rifbjerg, Klaus(1931) Danish novelist, poet, and dramatist. He is a versatile and productive writer, primarily a modernist. His works include the poetry collection Konfrontation (1960) and the novels Den kroniske...
RiffA
Berber people of northern Morocco, who under
Abd al-Karim long resisted the Spanish and French. ...
Riff revoltMoroccan revolt against French and Spanish invaders. See
Abd al-Karim. ...
Rifkind, Malcolm Leslie(1946) British lawyer and Conservative politician. As defence secretary 1992-95, his incisive intellect enabled him to manage the `peace dividend`, with its inevitable rundown of parts of the armed...
rifleFirearm that has spiral grooves (rifling) in its barrel. When a bullet is fired, the rifling makes it spin, thereby improving accuracy. Rifles were first introduced in the late 18th century. ...
rifle grenadeSee
grenade. ...
Rig-VedaOldest of the
Vedas, the chief sacred writings of Hinduism. It consists of hymns to the Aryan gods, such as Indra, and to nature gods. ...
Rigaud, Hyacinthe(1659-1743) French baroque painter. He was court painter to Louis XIV from 1688. His portrait of Louis XIV 1701 (Louvre, Paris) is characteristically majestic, with the elegant figure of the king enveloped in...
Rigg, Diana(1938) English actor. Her stage roles include Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew (1961), Cordelia in King Lear (1964), Héloïse in Abelard and Héloïse (1970), and the title roles in Medea (1993-94) and...
Riggs, Elias(1810-1901) US linguist and missionary. His extensive missionary career took him to Greece 1832-38, Turkey 1838-44 and 1859-62, Armenia 1844-53, and Constantinople 1853-56. He translated the...
right livelihoodIn Buddhism, aspect of the
Eightfold Path that concerns earning one's living appropriately. A Buddhist's livelihood should...
right of wayThe right to pass over land belonging to another. Other rights of way are licences (where personal permission is given) and
easements. In English law public rights of way are acquired...
right wingThe more conservative or reactionary section of a political party or spectrum. It originated in the French national assembly in 1789, where the nobles sat in the place of honour on the president's...
rightsAn individual's automatic entitlement to certain freedoms and other benefits, usually, in liberal democracies such as the USA and UK, in the context of the individual's relationship with the...
rights issueIn finance, new shares offered to existing shareholders to raise new capital. Shareholders receive a discount on the market price while the company benefits from not having the costs...
rights, naturalDoctrine, deriving from medieval philosophy but articulated by John
Locke, that human beings as individuals have certain absolute moral claims or entitlements. Locke identified three natural rights:...
Riis, Jacob August(1849-1914) Danish-born US journalist, photographer, and reformer. As police reporter for the New York Evening Sun 1888-99, he was exposed to the grim realities...
RijksmuseumNational gallery of the Netherlands, in Amsterdam. All the Dutch masters are abundantly represented, Rembrandt's Night Watch and Jan Vermeer's The Letter and The Little Street being among its...
Riley (or Ryley), John(1646-1691) English portrait painter. Charles II, James II, and Samuel Pepys were among his sitters and, with Godfrey Kneller, he became court painter to William and Mary. He occasionally painted minor domestic...
Riley, Bridget (Louise)(1931) English painter. She is known primarily as a pioneer of
op art. After brief experimentation with
pointillism and
colour-field painting, she developed her characteristic style in the early 1960s,...
Riley, James Whitcomb(1849-1916) US poet. His first collection of poems, The Old Swimmin' Hole, was published 1883. His later collections include Rhymes of Childhood 1890...
Riley, William Bell(1861-1947) US evangelist. A leader of the fundamentalist movement, he spoke out against divorce, dancing, Darwinian biology, New Deal social programmes, and communism. The Northwestern Bible Training School,...
Rilke, Rainer Maria(1875-1926) Austrian writer. His prose works include the semi-autobiographical Die Aufzeichnungen des Malte Laurids Brigge/The Notebook of Malte Laurids Brigge (1910). His verse is characterized by a form of...
Rimbaud, (Jean Nicolas) Arthur(1854-1891) French Symbolist poet. His verse was chiefly written before the age of 20, notably Les Illuminations (published 1886). From 1871 he lived with the poet Paul
Verlaine. Although the association ended...
Rimington, Stella(1935) British public servant and director general of the counter-intelligence security service (MI5) 1992-96. She was the first head of MI5 to be named publicly, and in July 1993 published a booklet...
Rimini, Francesca da(died c. 1288) Italian noblewoman. Francesca, daughter of Guido da Polenta, Lord of Ravenna, was betrothed to Gianciotto Malatesta da Rimini. Their match was supposed to reconcile the two families but Gianciotto...
RimmonIn Assyrian mythology, the thunder god. He is identified with Hadad, the national god of Syria. ...
rímurIcelandic metrical romance, popular from the 15th century onwards. Composed in a variety of more or less complex verse forms blending native and foreign influences, the rímur can be combined into...
Rincón de Gautier, Felisa(1897-1994) Puerto Rican mayor who was the first woman mayor of San Juan 1946-69. Her weekly open-houses at her official residence and such gestures as flying snow to San Juan for children's Christmas...
Rinehart, Mary Roberts(1876-1958) US novelist. Her detective novels include The Circular Staircase 1908 and The Man in Lower Ten 1909. The Breaking Point 1922 and This Strange Adventure 1929 are more serious novels. She also...
ringCirclet, usually of precious metal, sometimes set with gems, worn on a finger as a decoration or token. The origin of the wedding ring is uncertain, but betrothal rings were bestowed in Roman times....
Ringgold, Faith(1930) US painter, soft sculptor, performance artist, and social activist. A strong feminist, she stated that her art had `taken its direction` from her awareness of herself as a woman artist. From the...
Ringgold, Samuel(1800-1846) US soldier. At the head of a corps of `flying artillery`, he advanced his guns to within 100 yards of the Mexican lines at Palo Alto on 8 May 8 1846; mort ...
Ringling, Charles(1863-1926) US circus promoter. With its three rings and large cast, the Ringlings' circus was touted as the `Greatest Show on Earth,` the byword still most associated with the modern Ringling Brothers and...
Ringuet(1895-1960) French-Canadian novelist. In Trente arpents/Thirty Acres 1938, he turned away from the traditional rural idyll of closeness to the land and portrayed the real-life facts and concerns of his...
Rinpoche, Guru(lived 8th century) Buddhist missionary and
bodhisattva (an enlightened one who remains to help others). He helped to establish Buddhism in Tibet, and his birthday is commemorated by Buddhists in July. Observances...
RinzaiSchool of Zen Buddhism introduced to Japan from China in the 12th century by the monk
Eisai and others. It emphasizes rigorous monastic discipline and sudden enlightenment by meditation on a koan...
RiomTown on the River Ambène, in the Puy-de-Dôme département of central France; population (1990) 19,300. It was the scene in World War II of the `war guilt` trials of several prominent...
RioniRiver in Transcaucasia, which flows 327 km/203 mi from the southern slopes of the Caucasus Mountains to Poti on the Black Sea. The river's course lies entirely within the republic of Georgia; the...
Riopelle, Jean-Paul(1923-2002) Canadian artist. He was active in Paris from 1946. He moved from automatism in the 1950s to an abstract expressionist style, producing colourful thickly painted canvases. He also produced...
Ríos Montt, Efraín(1927) Guatemalan soldier and right-wing politician, president 1982-83. He launched a crackdown against corruption and guerrilla and left-wing activity, with thousands of native Indians being killed...
riotDisturbance caused by a potentially violent mob. In the UK, riots formerly suppressed under the Riot Act are now governed by the Public Order Act 1986. Methods of riot control include plastic...
