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

Beecher, Harriet
Unmarried name of US author Harriet Beecher Stowe who wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin. ...

Beecher, Henry Ward
(1813-1887) US Congregational minister and militant opponent of slavery, son of the pulpit orator Lyman Beecher and brother of the writer Harriet Beecher Stowe. He travelled to Britain and did much to turn...

Beecher, Lyman
(1775-1863) US Congregational and Presbyterian minister, one of the most popular pulpit orators of his time. He was the father of Harriet Beecher Stowe and Henry Ward Beecher. As pastor from 1847 of Plymouth...

Beechey, Frederick William
(1796-1856) English admiral and geographer. He accompanied Buchan and Franklin on the North Polar expedition...

Beeding, Francis
Pseudonym adopted jointly by Hilary Saunders and John Leslie Palmer (1885-1944) as co-authors of thrillers. Their best known work is The House of Dr Edwardes (1927), the basis for Alfred...

beehive house
In archaeology, a building made of unhewn stones without mortar. Resembling a beehive in shape, it consists of long stones laid down in a circle, each course being overlapped by the one immediately...

Beelzebub
In the New Testament, the leader of the devils, sometimes identified with Satan and sometimes with his chief assistant (see ...

beer-hall putsch
Unsuccessful uprising at Munich led by Adolf Hitler, attempting to overthrow the government of Bavaria in November 1923. More than 2,000 Nazi demonstrators were met by armed police, who opened fire,...

Beer, Patricia
(1924-1999) English writer, best known as a poet. Her work appears to deal with simple material in a simple manner, but with such precision and sensitivity that it...

Beerbohm, (Henry) Max(imilian)
(1872-1956) English caricaturist and author. A perfectionist in style, he contributed to The Yellow Book (1894); wrote a novel of Oxford undergraduate life, Zuleika Dobson (1911); and published volumes of...

Beets, Nikolaas
(1814-1903) Dutch poet and writer. His collection of humorous sketches Camera Obscura (1839) was first published under the pseudonym Hildebrand. He also wrote critical essays, the best of which are contained in...

BEF
Abbreviation for British Expeditionary Force. ...

Befana
In Italian folklore, a legendary old woman who brings gifts for good children on Twelfth Night (6 January) and ashes for naughty children. The name is also applied to a rag doll hung...

begging
Soliciting, usually for money and food. It is prohibited in many Western countries, and stringent measures were taken against begging in the former USSR. In the Middle East and Asia, almsgiving is...

Begin, Menachem
(1913-1992) Israeli politician. He was leader of the extremist Irgun Zvai Leumi organization in Palestine from 1942 and prime minister of Israel 1977-83, as head of the right-wing Likud party. Following...

begum
In Muslim countries, a woman ruler of high social rank, such as a princess or the widow of a prince. ...

Behaim (or Boheim), Martin
(1459-1506) German navigator and geographer. In 1484 he accompanied the fleet of the Portuguese Diogo Cam on a journey of exploration along...

Beham
German artist brothers, both painters and engravers. Bartel studied with his brother Hans, and from 1527 was court painter to Duke William IV of Bavaria, executing a series of portraits of the ducal...

behemoth
In the Old Testament (Job 40), an animal cited by God as evidence of his power; usually thought to refer to the hippopotamus. It is used proverbially to mean any giant and powerful creature. ...

Behn, Aphra
(1640-1689) English novelist and dramatist. She was the first woman in England to earn her living as a writer. Her works were criticized for their explicitness; they frequently present events from a woman's...

Behrens, Peter
(1868-1940) German architect. A pioneer of the Modern Movement and of the adaptation of architecture to industry. He designed the AEG turbine factory in Berlin (1909), a landmark in industrial architecture, and...

Behring, Emil (Adolph von)
(1854-1917) German physician who was awarded the first Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, in 1901, for his discovery that the body produces antitoxins, substances able to counteract poisons released by...

Behrman, S(amuel) N(athaniel)
(1893-1973) US playwright, screenwriter, and journalist. Behrman's first sophisticated comedy, The Second Man was a hit in 1927. He cofounded the Playwrights' Company in 1938 and was subsequently a Hollywood...

Beidler, John Xavier
(1831-1890) US vigilante. Born in Mountjoy, Pennsylvania, Beidler was a saloon owner, a ruthless vigilante, and the collector of customs for Montana and Idaho. He was present at the apprehension and the hanging...

being
In philosophy, the basic state of existence shared by everything and everybody. Being is a fundamental notion in ontology and metaphysics generally, but particularly...

Beissel, Johann Conrad
(1690-1768) German-born religious leader and composer. Fleeing persecution, Beissel emigrated to America in 1720. He founded the Solitary Brethren of the Community of Seventh Day Baptists and wrote many...

Beit Guvrin
Village in Israel, west of Hebron. The nearby churches of Sandahanna are examples of Roman technique applied to Christian buildings. A fine Roman mosaic of the 3rd century...

Beith, John Hay
Real name of Ian Hay, English novelist. ...

Beja
A nomadic people of northern Ethiopia and eastern Sudan, including the Adabda, the Hadendoa, and the Bisharin. Most speak Cushitic languages and are descendants of peoples who have lived in the area...

Bek, Antony
(died 1311) English prelate, bishop of Durham from 1283. In 1296 he took part in Edward I's expedition against Scotland, and received the Scottish king John de Baliol's submission. Clement V made him patriarch...

Bekker, Balthazar
(1634-1698) Dutch Protestant theologian. His critical study of comparative theology Die Betooverde Wereld/The World Bewitched (1691) expresses disbelief in sorcery, magic, and even the existence of the devil....

Bekker, Elizabeth
(1738-1804) Dutch poet and novelist. She showed vivacity and independent wit in her Economische liedjes/Economic Ditties 1780. The epistolary novel Sara Burgerhart (1782) was modelled on the work of the English...

Bekynton, Thomas
(c. 1393-1465) English cleric, bishop of Bath and Wells from 1443. He was for a time secretary to Humfrey, Duke of Gloucester; he later served as a royal diplomat and compiled a collection of documents, proving...

Bel
God of Babylonian and Assyrian mythology. He was known to the Hebrews as Baal, the name signifying `lord` in both languages. ...

Belafrej, Ahmed
(1908-1990) Moroccan nationalist and politician, prime minister in 1958. Minister in charge of foreign affairs 1955-58, he became prime minister May-December 1958; his government was brought down because of...

Belaid, Abdessalem
(1928) Algerian politician, prime minister 1992-93. Appointed minister of industry and energy 1966-77, he opposed the self-management system and almost single-handedly chose and carried out a...

Belarus
Country in east-central Europe, bounded south by Ukraine, east by Russia, west by Poland, and north by Latvia and Lithuania. Government The 1994 constitution provided for a democratic-pluralist,...

Belasco, David
(1859-1931) US dramatist and producer. His works include Madame Butterfly (1900) and The Girl of the Golden West (1905), both of which Puccini used as libretti for operas. ...

Belaúnde Terry, Fernando
(1913-2002) Peruvian politician and president 1963-68 and 1980-85. He championed land reform and the construction of roads to open up the Amazon valley. He fled to the USA in 1968 after being deposed by a...

Belcher, John
(1841-1913) English architect born in London. His chief designs were The Institute of Chartered Accountants, Moorgate Street (1890); Colchester Town Hall (1902); Electra House, Finsbury (1902); Mappin and Webb,...

Belding, Don
(1898-1969) US advertising executive. Belding worked in the Los Angeles branch of the advertising agency Lord and Thomas, which he took over with Emerson Foote and Fax Cone, renam ...

Belfast Castle
Victorian Scottish-style baronial castle in Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It was built in 1870 on the lower slopes of Cave Hill for the 3rd Marquess of Donegall and his daughter and...

Belfast, HMS
Largest and most powerful cruiser built for the British Royal Navy with a displacement of 11,874 tonnes/11,684 tons, now a permanent Royal Navy museum, moored on the south bank of the River Thames,...

belfry
A term originally applied to a tower used in medieval warfare, later to a watch-tower (or one from which an alarm bell was rung), and finally to a bell-tower,...

Belgae
Name given by Roman authors to people who lived in Gaul, north of the Seine and Marne rivers. They were defeated by Caesar in 57 BC. Many of the Belgae settled in southeastern England during the 2nd...

Belgian and Dutch Architecture
The architecture of Belgium and the Netherlands. The present state of Belgium only dates from 1830, when it was separated from the kingdom of the Ne ...

Belgian literature
There are three literary traditions in the area now called Belgium: Flemish, French, and Walloon. For the Flemish tradition see Flemish literature. The French includes the 12th-century novella...

Belgic Confession
Articles of faith drawn up in 1561 for the reformed churches of the southern Netherlands. A moderate statement of Calvinist doctrine, it was widely influential, and between 1566 and 1581 it was...

Belgium
Country in Western Europe, bounded to the north by the Netherlands, to the northwest by the North Sea, to the south and west by France, and to the east by Luxembourg and Germany. Government A...

Belgrade, Battles of
Three major battles of Christian forces against the Turks around Belgrade, for centuries an outpost of the West as a bastion against the Turks and other forces from the East. Mehmet II besieged the...

Belgrano, Manuel
(1770-1820) Argentine revolutionary. He was a member of the military group that led the 1810 revolt against Spain. Later, he commanded the revolutionary army until he was replaced by José de San Martín 1814. ...

belief
Assent to the truth of propositions, statements, or facts. In philosophy, belief that something is the case is contrasted with knowledge, because we only say we believe that something is the case...

Belinski, Vissarion Grigorievich
(1811-1848) Russian literary critic and journalist. He was one of the leaders of the Westernists and a representative of a new generation of radical intelligentsia in Russia. He founded the sociological...

Belisarius
(c. 505-565) East Roman general who led Rome's reconquest of the West. Though given inadequate resources by the jealous emperor Justinian I, Belisarius achieved notable victories against the Persians, Huns,...

Belize
Country in Central America, bounded north by Mexico, west and south by Guatemala, and east by the Caribbean Sea. Government The 1981 constitution provides for a parliamentary government on the...

Belkacem, Krim
(1922-1970) Algerian nationalist and politician. He was vice-president of the Gouvernement Provisoire de la République Algérienne (GPRA) until independence. He participated as a member of the delegation...

Belkin, Samuel
(1911-1976) Polish rabbi and educator. Belkin emigrated to the USA in 1929. He became president of the Yeshiva University, New York City, in 1940 and chancellor in 1975. He was a member of a number of academic...

Belknap, Robert
(lived late 14th century) English jurist. He was chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas from 1374 to 1388, when he was removed for having, unwillingly, signed an affirmative to the question of Edward III:`Whether I...

Bell, Alexander Graham
(1847-1922) Scottish-born US scientist and inventor. He was the first person ever to transmit speech from one point to another by electrical means. This invention - the telephone - was made in 1876, when...

Bell, Andrew
(1753-1832) British educationist. In 1789 he became superintendent of the Madras Male Orphan Asylum, India, founded by the East India Company for the education of the sons of military men, where he developed a...

Bell, Charles
(1870-1945) English civil servant and traveller. He is remembered as a champion of Tibetan independence and the author of several works on Tibet. He was present at the Tibet Conference 1913-14 and conducted a...

Bell, George Kennedy Allen
(1883-1958) English Anglican prelate and ecumenical leader. He served as chaplain to Archbishop Randall Davidson 1914-24, dean of Canterbury 1924-28, bishop...

Bell, Griffin B(oyette)
(1918) US lawyer, judge, and US attorney general. Appointed to the US Court of Appeals, 1961-76, Bell ruled on many school desegregation cases and was generally regarded as a moderate. He was a...

Bell, John
(1811-1895) English sculptor. His works include statues of Lord Falkland and Robert Walpole commissioned for the Houses of Parliament, and a memorial to the Crimean War in Waterloo Place, London. ...

Bell, John
(1797-1869) US senator and cabinet officer. A prominent Tennessee lawyer, Bell served in the US House of Representatives, 1827-41, first as a Democrat, then as a Whig. In 1860 he was presidential candidate...

Bell, John
(1745-1831) British publisher. Defying the combination of some 40 London publishers who joined in bringing out Dr Johnson's edition of the poets, Bell published The British Poets in his own edition of over 100...

Bell, John
(1691-1780) Scottish traveller. In 1714 he went to St Petersburg, Russia, where he joined an embassy to Persia (Iran), and was later appointed to Peking. In 1737 he undertook another mission for Russia to...

Bell, John Joy
(1871-1934) Scottish novelist. His Wee MacGreegor (1902), humorous sketches in Glasgow dialect, sold 250,000 copies and was followed by Mistress McLeerie (1903), Wee MacGreegor Again (1904), Oh Christina...

Bell, Martin
(1938) UK journalist, politician, and ambassador for humanitarian emergencies for UNICEF UK from 2001. As a BBC foreign correspondent, he reported on many of the world's most important and difficult news...

Bell, Sam Hanna
(1909-1990) Scottish-born writer and broadcaster. Bell moved to Strangford Lough, County Down, Northern Ireland, as a child and then to Belfast in 1921. Opposed to traditional Unionism, he co-founded the...

Bell, Thomas Montgomery
(1861-1941) US representative. Bell was a teacher, a salesman, and a superior court clerk (1898-1904) before going to the US House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1905. He became majority whip. ...

Bell, Vanessa
(1879-1961) English painter and designer. She was one of the first English artists to paint abstracts, but most of her work was in a post-Impressionist style. She was...

Bellamy, David James
(1933) English naturalist and environmental campaigner who has presented many television programmes. He has also published several books, including The Mouse Book (1993), The Queen's Hidden Garden (1984),...

Bellamy, Edward
(1850-1898) US author and social critic. His utopian novel Looking Backward: 2000-1887 (1888), was a huge best-seller and inspired wide public support for his political programme of state socialism. He...

Bellamy, George Anne
(c. 1727-1788) English actor. She appeared mainly with David Garrick at Drury Lane, London, and was at her best in romantic and tragic roles. She was the illegitimate daughter of Lord Tyrawley. Educated at a...

Bellamy, Joseph
(1719-1790) US Protestant theologian. Bellamy became a pastor in Bethlehem, Connecticut, in 1738 and remained there for the rest of his life. His influential True Religion Delineated (1750) was both a defence...

Bellany, John
(1942) Scottish painter and printmaker. He is best known for large expressionistic figure compositions, brightly coloured and vigorously handled, for example The Obsession (1966) and Time and the Raven...

Belleau Wood
In World War I, US victory over the Germans, June 1918, during the Allied drive to expel the Germans from northern France. After their success at Château-Thierry, US Marines attacked German...

Belleau, Rémy
(c. 1528-1577) French poet, a member of the Pléiade group. The poems in Amours et nouveaux eschanges des pierres précieuses/Love Poems and New Exchanges of Precious Stones (1576) describe the properties of...

Belleforest, François de
(1530-1583) French author and courtier. His Histoires Tragiques/Tragic Stories (1559-82) is a collection of tales, most of them translations from the Italian collection Novelle/Tales (1554) by the Italian...

Bellegambe, Jean
(c. 1470-c. 1535) Flemish painter, architect, and designer. One of the most successful artists of his day in the Netherlands, he employed a style that combined Flemish and French influences. Among his works is the...

Bellerophon
In Greek mythology, a victim of slander who was sent against the monstrous chimera, which he killed with the help of Belli, Giuseppe Giocchomo
(1791-1863) Italian poet. He wrote more than 2,000 sonnets in the Roman dialect which provide a brilliantly observed satiric account of early 19th-century papal Rome. ...

Belli, Melvin M(ouron)
(1907-1996) US lawyer. Belli was a flamboyant defence lawyer, using dramatic gestures and graphic exhibits to sway juries, and he won record damages and set legal precedents in many cases. He was best known to...

Bellingshausen, Fabian Gottlieb von
(1778-1852) Russian Antarctic explorer, the first to sight and circumnavigate the Antarctic continent 1819-21, although he did not realize what it was. ...

Bellini
Venetian family of artists, founders of the Venetian School in the 15th and early 16th centuries. Jacopo Bellini (c. 1400-1470/71) worked in Venice, Padua, Verona, and Ferrara. Gentile Bellini (c....

Bellman, Carl Michael
(1740-1795) Swedish songwriter and poet. His reputation rests on his lyrics, which he set to music, especially Fredmans Epistlar/Epistles of Fredman and Fredmans SÃÂ¥nger/Songs of Fredman, mostly written...

Bello, Andrés
(1781-1865) Venezuelan poet and polymath. Regarded as the intellectual father of Latin America, a friend and teacher of the patriot Simón Bolívar, he translated the Romantics Byron and Hugo but defended...

Belloc Lowndes, Marie Adelaide
(1868-1947) English novelist, the sister of Hilaire Belloc. She established her reputation as a teller of stories combining exciting incident with psychological interest; among them are Barbara Rebell (1905)...

Bellona
In Roman mythology, the goddess of war; wife or sister of Mars, god of war. During the Third Samnite War between Rome and the Samnites of northern Italy in 296 BC, the Sabine aristocrat Appius...

Bellot, Joseph René
(1826-1853) French Arctic explorer who reached the strait now named after him in 1852, and lost his life while searching for English explorer John Franklin. ...

Bellotto, Bernardo
(1720-1780) Italian topographical painter. He was the nephew and pupil of Canaletto, whose name he adopted. From 1747 to 1766 he was court painter in Dresden, Germany, and from 1767 he was employed by King...

Bellow, Saul
(1915-2005) Canadian-born US novelist. From his first novel, Dangling Man (1944), Bellow typically set his naturalistic narratives in Chicago and made his central character an anxious, Jewish-American...

Belluschi, Pietro
(1899-1994) US architect. Belluschi designed more than 1,000 buildings, mostly churches, educational and commercial buildings, in the late International style. He was dean of the architecture school at the...

Belmont, August
(1816-1890) German-born US financier, who became the Rothschilds' exclusive representative in the USA when he established a private bank in New York 1837. Belmont was a leading member of New York City...

Belo, Carlos F(ilipe) X(imines)
(1948) Timorese bishop. Bishop Belo was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1996 with Timorese freedom fighter JoséRamos-Horta for their work on behalf of peace in East Timor. In 1975, Indonesia had...

Beloff, Max, Baron Beloff
(1913-1999) British historian. From 1974 to 1979 he was principal of the University College at Buckingham, the UK's first independent institution at university level. ...

Belorussian
Member of an eastern Slav people closely related to the Russians (Great Russians) and Ukrainians, who live in Belarus and the surrounding area. Belorussian, a Balto-Slavic language belonging to...

Belsen
Site of a Nazi concentration camp in Lower Saxony, Germany. Established 1943 it was not officially an extermination camp, but an outbreak of typhus 1945 caused thousands of deaths. When captured by...

Belshazzar
In the Old Testament, the last king of Babylon, son of Nebuchadnezzar. During a feast (known as Belshazzar's Feast) he saw a message, interpreted by Daniel as prophesying the fall of Babylon and...