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

bridging loan
Loan, typically for the purchase of a house, to cover the period between the purchase of a new house and the sale of the old house. Most home buyers try to avoid taking out a bridging loan, because...

Bridgwater Three
Three victims of a miscarriage of justice who spent 18 years in prison for the murder of Carl Bridgwater. The convictions were declared unsafe in February 1997. Following the discovery...

bridle path
Public footpath on which horse riding is also permitted. On most bridle paths cycling is allowed, but motor traffic is barred. The law relating to bridle paths in the UK is set out in the Highways...

Bridlington agreement
In UK industrial relations, a set of principles agreed in 1939 at a Trades Union Congress conference in Bridlington, Humberside, to prevent the poaching of members of one trade union by another, and...

brief
In law, the written instructions sent by a solicitor to a barrister before a court hearing. Traditionally, in the UK, briefs are tied with red tape and the barrister writes the outcome of the case...

Brierley, Benjamin
(1825-1895) English writer. He wrote in Lancashire dialect. In 1869 he started Ben Brierley's Journal, a weekly, which continued until 1891. He wrote several works under the pseudonym...

Brieux, Eugène
(1858-1932) French dramatist. He was an exponent of the naturalistic problem play attacking social evils. His most powerful plays are Les Trois Filles de M Dupont 1897;Les Avariés/Damaged Goods 1901, long...

brigade
Military formation consisting of a minimum of two battalions, but more usually three or more, as well as supporting arms. There are typically about 5,000 soldiers in...

Briggs, Charles Augustus
(1841-1913) US clergyman, educator, and professor of Hebrew. Conservative Presbyterians objected to his scholarly Old Testament work, found him guilty of heresy, and suspended him from the ministry. He was...

Briggs, Raymond Redvers
(1934) English writer and illustrator of children's books including Father Christmas (1973) and The Snowman (1979), both of which use his hallmark comic-strip format and have been made into successful...

Brighouse, Harold
(1882-1958) English dramatist. Born and bred in Lancashire, in his most famous play, Hobson's Choice 1916, he dealt with a Salford bootmaker's courtship, using the local idiom. ...

Bright, John
(1811-1889) British Liberal politician. He was a campaigner for free trade, peace, and social reform. A Quaker mill-owner, he was among the founders of the Anti-Corn Law League in 1839, and was largely...

Brightman, Edgar Sheffield
(1884-1953) US philosopher. His philosophy, systematically presented in the posthumous Person and Reality (1958), was an empirically oriented development of Borden Parker Bowne's personalistic theism. He is...

Brightman, Frank Edward
(1856-1932) English liturgist and historian. His reputation as the foremost liturgical scholar of his day in England was established by his Liturgies, Eastern and Western, and English Rite (1915). The...

Brighton Pavilion
Alternative name for the Royal Pavilion, Brighton. ...

Brighton Rock
Novel by Graham Greene published in 1938. Seventeen-year-old Pinkie, seeking distinction through crime, commits a squalid murder. He marries Rose, a fellow Roman Catholic, to prevent her giving...

Brigit
In Celtic mythology, goddess of crafts and divination, poetry, fertility, and healing, daughter of the Dagda, probably adopted by Christianity as St Bridget. As Brigantia she was the tribal goddess...

Brimmer, Andrew Felton
(1926) US economist and educator. As a member of the Federal Reserve Board 1966-76, he followed a moderate course on monetary policy, especially on issues involving taxation,...

Brindley, James
(1716-1772) English canal builder. He was the first to employ tunnels and aqueducts extensively, in order to reduce the number of locks on a direct-route canal. His 580 km/360 mi of canals included the...

Brink, André P(hilippus)
(1935) South African novelist, dramatist, and critic. One of the most talented and prolific of modern Afrikaner writers, Brink has published in Afrikaans and in English and has received international...

Brinton, (Clarence) Crane
(1898-1968) US historian and teacher. A brilliant, cosmopolitan scholar and author, he was a popular teacher at Harvard 1923-68. An authority on revolutions and a proponent of `intellectual history`, his...

Brinton, Daniel Garrison
(1837-1899) US physician and cultural anthropologist. He retired from medical practice in 1887 to pursue anthropological research full time. His American Race (1891) was...

Brisbane, Thomas Makdougall
(1773-1860) Scottish soldier, colonial administrator, and astronomer. After serving in the Napoleonic Wars under Wellington, he was governor of New South Wales 1821-25. Brisbane in Queensland is named after...

Briseis
In Greek mythology, a captive of Achilles. Agamemnon stole her from him, thus starting the feud which is the central theme of the Iliad. She became the unfaithful heroine of several poems, the name...

Bristow, Benjamin Helm
(1832-1896) US lawyer and public official. As a post-war US attorney for Kentucky, he helped suppress illicit distilling and Ku Klux Klan activity. As President Ulysses S Grant's treasury secretary in 1874,...

Bristow, Joseph (Little)
(1861-1944) US senator. A progressive Republican, his most notable achievement was to help write what became the Seventeenth Amendment, providing for the direct election of senators, while serving a term in the...

brit milah
In Judaism, the covenant of male circumcision (removal of all or part of the foreskin of the penis). It is a sign of God's covenant with the Jewish people, made through Abraham (Genesis 17:9-14)....

Britain
Island off the northwest coast of Europe, one of the British Isles. It comprises England, Scotland, and Wales (together officially known as Great Britain), and is part of the United Kingdom. The...

Britain, ancient
Period in the British Isles (excluding Ireland) extending through prehistory to the Roman occupation (1st century AD). Settled agricultural life evolved in Britain during the 3rd millennium BC. A...

Britain, Battle of
World War II air battle between German and British air forces over Britain from 10 July to 31 October 1940. The height of the battle occurred 30-31 August. At the outset the Germans had the...

Britannia
The Roman name for Britain, later a national symbol of Great Britain in the form of a seated woman with a trident. Also the name of the royal yacht, decommissioned in 1997. ...

Britart
Term used for work produced by an informal movement of young British artists during the 1990s, characterized by unusual and controversial media and subject matter inspired by popular culture....

British Broadcasting Corporation
The UK state-owned broadcasting network. It operates television and national and local radio stations, and is financed by the sale of television (originally radio) licences. It is not permitted to...

British Commonwealth of Nations
Former official name of the Commonwealth. ...

British Council
Semi-official organization set up in 1934 (royal charter 1940) to promote a wider knowledge of the UK, excluding politics and commerce, and to develop cultural relations with other countries. It...

British East India Company
Commercial company (1600-1873) chartered by Queen Elizabeth I and given a monopoly of trade between England and the Far East. In the 18th century, the company became, in effect, the ruler of a...

British Empire
The colonies of the British Empire sent more than 2.5 million men to fight for Britain's cause during World War I. India was the largest single provider, contributing nearly 1.3 million men. It is...

British Empire
Empire covering, at its height in the 1920s, about a sixth of the landmass of the Earth, all of its lands recognizing the United Kingdom (UK) as their leader. It consisted of the Empire of India,...

British Empire, Order of the
British order of knighthood (see knighthood, orders of) instituted in 1917 by George V. There are military and civil divisions, and the ranks are GBE,...

British Expeditionary Force
During World War I (1914-18) the term commonly referred to the British army serving in France and Flanders, although strictly speaking it referred only to the forces sent to France in 1914; during...

British Honduras
Former name (to 1973) of Belize. ...

British Institute of Management
Former name of the Institute of Management. ...

British Legion
Organization to promote the welfare of British veterans of war service and their dependants. Established under the leadership of Douglas Haig in 1921 (royal charter 1925) it became the Royal British...

British Library
National library of the UK. Created in 1973, it comprises a reference division, lending division, bibliographic services division (incorporating the British National Bibliography), and the National...

British Museum
Largest museum of the UK. Founded in 1753, it opened in London in 1759, devoted to human cultures. Rapid additions led to the construction of the present buildings (1823-47). In 1881 the Natural...

British Somaliland
British protectorate 1884-1960 comprising over 176,000 sq km/67,980 sq mi of territory on the north Somali coast of East Africa, opposite its base at Aden. In 1960 British Somaliland united with...

British Technology Group
UK corporation exploiting inventions derived from public or private sources, usually jointly with industrial firms. It was set up in 1967 under the Development of Inventions Acts 1948-65 and known...

Britomartis
Originally a mother goddess of eastern Crete; a later myth identified her with Dictynna, a similar goddess of western Crete. Pursued by Minos for nine months, she flung herself into the sea, was...

Brittain, Vera (Mary)
(1893-1970) English socialist writer. During World War I, she was a nurse to troops overseas from 1915 to 1919, as told in her book Testament of Youth (1933);Testament of Friendship (1940) commemorates English...

Brittan, Leon
(1939) British Conservative politician and lawyer. He was chief secretary to the Treasury 1981-83, home secretary 1983-85, secretary for trade and industry 1985-86 (resigning over his part in the...

Britton, Alison
(1948) English potter. Her unique handbuilt, high-fired earthenware, often with hand-painted and inlaid patterns, broke new ground in an era when many of the traditional values of wheelmade pottery...

broach spire
In architecture, a form of spire chiefly used in English Gothic churches of the 13th and 14th centuries, especially in Northamptonshire. A broach spire is an octagonal spire which rises from a...

broad arrow
Mark resembling an arrowhead on British government stores. Of doubtful origin, the broad arrow came into general use in the 17th century and is still used to mark government property, such as...

broad church
Term used to describe Anglicans who accept the legitimacy of both Protestant and Catholic traditions within the Established Church. See also Tractarianism. ...

Broad, Charles Dunbar
(1887-1971) British philosopher who appreciated the importance of science and psychology. His books include Perception, Physics and Reality 1914 and Lectures on Psychic Research 1962, discussing scientific...

Broadcasting Standards Council
Former UK body concerned with handling complaints on treatment of sex and violence. It was replaced by the Broadcasting Standards Commisssion in 1997. ...

Broadmoor
Special hospital (established in 1863) in Crowthorne, England, for those formerly described as `criminally insane`. Patients are admitted if considered by a psychiatrist to be both mentally...

Broadway
Codename given to a British base formed by the British Chindit forces east of Mohnyin, Burma (now Myanmar) March 1944. A supply dump and airstrip were set up inside a defended perimeter, and...

Broadway
Major avenue in New York running northwest from the tip of Manhattan and crossing Times Square at 42nd Street, at the heart of the theatre district, where Broadway is known as `the Great White...

brocade
Rich woven fabric, produced on a Jacquard loom. It is patterned, normally with more than two colours. Today brocade may be produced from artificial fibres, but it was traditionally made from silk,...

broch
Scottish Iron Age stone tower. These circular structures often stand within an enclosure which contained round or oval huts and probably acted as strongholds, refuges, or possibly strategic...

Broch, Hermann
(1886-1951) Austrian novelist. He used experimental techniques in Die Schlafwandler/The Sleepwalkers (1932), Der Tod des Vergil/The Death of Virgil (1945), and Die Schuldlosen/The Guiltless (1950), a novel in...

Brock, Thomas
(1847-1922) English sculptor who created the memorial to Queen Victoria in front of Buckingham Palace. He built a successful career as a portraitist, executing...

Brockway, Zebulon Reed
(1827-1920) US penologist. An acclaimed prison reformer, he introduced courses and manual training at many of the institutions he served. He also campaigned for legislation that lightened prison sentences. He...

Brod, Max
(1884-1968) Czech novelist, composer, and biographer. He was a close friend of Franz Kafka, whose work he promoted and published; he also wrote a biography of the latter. He himself wrote 20 novels, including...

Broder, David S (Salzer)
(1929) US journalist, highly respected Washington political reporter, and syndicated columnist. He became an associate editor of the Washington Post in 1975...

broderie anglaise
Embroidered fabric, usually white cotton, in which holes are cut in patterns and oversewn, often to decorate lingerie, shirts, and skirts. ...

Brodhead, John Romeyn
(1814-1873) US historian. He wrote a history of early New York 1856-86 and a History of the State of New York 1853-71, covering the years 1609-64 and 1664-91. ...

Brodie, William
(1815-1881) Scottish sculptor. He was active in Edinburgh and specialized in portrait busts; Queen Victoria was among his many sitters. ...

Brodsky, Joseph Alexandrovich
(1940-1996) Russian poet. He emigrated to the USA in 1972. His work, often dealing with themes of exile, is admired for its wit and economy of language, particularly in its use of understatement. Many of his...

Broederbond
White South African secret society formed after the Boer War to protect Afrikaner interests. Its exact membership and power remains uncertain, but it was rumoured to have been highly influential...

Broederlam, Melchior
(c. 1355-c. 1411) Netherlandish painter of the Franco-Flemish School. He became court painter and valet de chambre to the Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Bold, in 1385. His principal remaining works are the p ...

broker
Former name (to October 1986) for an intermediary who arranges the sale of financial products (shares, insurance, mortgages, and so on) to the public for a commission or brokerage fee. The broker's...

bromacetone
Lachrymatory (tear) gas, the most widely used tear gas in World War I and one of the most effective. It produces intolerable irritation of the eyes in concentrations of 0.01 mg/l and in heavy...

Brome, Richard
(c. 1590-1652) English dramatist. He wrote for the Globe and Blackfriars theatres, and for the Cockpit in Drury Lane, London. His comedies include The Northern Lasse 1632, The Sparagus Garden 1635, The City Witt,...

Bromfield, Louis Brucker
(1896-1956) US novelist. Among his books are The Strange Case of Miss Annie Spragg (1928), The Rains Came (1937), and Mrs Parkington (1943), dealing with the golden age of New York society. ...

Bromley, Thomas
(1530-1587) English judge. As crown counsel he prosecuted the Duke of Norfolk for treason. He succeeded Francis Bacon as lord high chancellor and signed the warrant for the execution of Mary Queen of Scots. ...

bromo-benzyl-cyanide
Powerful lachrymatory (tear) gas introduced by the French as `Camite` July 1918. With an odour of spoiled fruit, BBC produces a burning sensation in the nose and throat, together with a severe...

Broneer, Oscar (Theodore)
(1894-1992) Swedish-born US archaeologist who emigrated to the USA in 1913. His study of Corinthian terracotta lamps produced the first systematic typology of ancient terracotta lamps. He is best known for...

Brontë
Three English novelists, daughters of a Yorkshire parson. Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855), notably with Jane Eyre (1847) and Villette (1853), reshaped autobiographical material into vivid narrative....

Brontë, Anne
(1820-1849) English novelist and member of the Brontë family. Although considered to have a more modest talent than her sisters Charlotte Brontë and Emily Brontë, her works include the fiction Agnes Grey...

Brontë, Charlotte
(1816-1855) English novelist and member of the Brontë family. Her most famous novels are Jane Eyre (1847) and Villette (1853). After the early death of her mother, Charlotte attended a school for clergymen's...

Brontë, Emily
(1818-1848) English novelist and member of the Brontë...

bronze
In sculpture, a work cast in bronze. An alloy of copper and tin, bronze is harder than copper and, therefore, more suitable for casting. Ancient bronzes develop a patina, a thin green coating caused...

Bronze Age
Stage of prehistory and early history when copper and bronze (an alloy of tin and copper) became the first metals worked extensively and used for tools and weapons. One of the classifications of the...

Brook, Peter Stephen Paul
(1925) English theatre director with a particularly innovative avant-garde style. His work with the Royal Shakespeare Company (which he joined in 1962) included a production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer...

Brooke, Charlotte
(c. 1740-1793) Irish translator and anthologist. Her Reliques of Irish Poetry (1789) is a primary anthology, with extensive notes and introductory comments, of poems and songs that she translated from Irish into...

Brooke, Henry
(c. 1703-1783) Irish novelist and poet. The only one of his works now read is the novel The Fool of Quality (1766-70). His poem Universal Beauty (1735) was admired by the satirist Alexander Pope, and is said to...

Brooke, James
(1803-1868) British administrator who became rajah of Sarawak, on Borneo, in 1841. In 1838 he headed a private expedition to Borneo, where he helped to suppress a revolt, for which the sultan gave him the...

Brooke, Peter Leonard
(1934) British Conservative politician, a member of Parliament from 1977. Appointed chair of the Conservative Party by Margaret Thatcher in 1987, he was Northern Ireland secretary 1989-92 and national...

Brooke, Rupert (Chawner)
(1887-1915) English poet. He stands as a symbol of the World War I `lost generation`. His five war sonnets, including `The Soldier`, were published after his death. Other notable poems are...

Brooke, Stopford Augustus
(1832-1916) English cleric and scholar. He became chaplain-in-ordinary to Queen Victoria in 1875, but left the Church of England in 1880 and until 1895 was Unitarian minister at Bedford Chapel. He...

Brookner, Anita
(1928) English novelist and art historian. She was Reader at the Courtauld Institute 1977-88, and Slade Professor of Fine Art at Cambridge 1967-68, the first woman to hold the post. Her novel Hotel du...

Brooks, Cleanth
(1906-1994) US literary critic. He was the leading New Critic of the 1940s-1950s, recognized for his critical acuity in close readings of modern literature in `The Well Wrought Urn` (1947) and other...

Brooks, Gwendolyn (Elizabeth)
(1917-2000) US poet and novelist. In 1950 her verse narrative Annie Allen (1949) won the first Pulitzer Prize awarded to a black American woman. Other works include the volumes of verse A Street in Bronzeville...

Brooks, Maria
(c. 1794-1845) US writer. She published Judith, Esther and other Poems (1820); an epic poem Zophiel (1834); and Idomen, or the Vale of Yumuri (1843), an autobiographical novel. She was a friend of the English poet...

Brooks, Noah
(1830-1903) US journalist. A close adviser to President Abraham Lincoln, he later became editor of the New York Tribune and New York Times 1871-84. He also wrote two of the earliest boys' novels about...

Brooks, Van Wyck
(1886-1963) US literary critic and biographer. His five-volume Makers and Finders: A History of the Writer in America, 1800-1915 (1936-52) was an influential series of critical works on US literature. The...

Brophy, Brigid (Antonia)
(1929-1995) English writer. Opera is a frequent element in her work, for example in the novel The Snow Ball (1964). The narrator of In Transit (1969) is in the predicament of having forgotten his or her sex as...

Brophy, John
(1899-1965) English novelist. His works include The Bitter End (1928) and Waterfront (1934), both set in his native Liverpool; the war stories Immortal Sergeant (1942) and Spearhead (1943); and a novel about...