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

deed
Legal document that passes an interest in property or binds a person to perform or abstain from some action. Deeds are of two kinds: indenture and deed poll. Indentures bind two or more parties in...

Deeping, (George) Warwick
(1877-1950) English novelist. He won recognition with the best-selling Sorrell and Son (1925), which was followed by several other novels, including Old Pybus (1928) and Roper's Row (1929). ...

Deer Park
Buddhist site at Sarnath, near Benares, India, where the Buddha gave his first sermon under a bodhi tree. It used to have a large monastic complex, a centre of the arts, religion, and learning, but...

Dees, Morris Seligman, Jr
(1936) US lawyer and activist. He became chief trial counsel of the Southern Poverty Law Center, Montgomery, Alabama and was an active fundraiser for the Democratic Party. His autobiography, A Season for...

Deetz, James John Fanto
(1930) US anthropologist, archaeologist, and museum administrator. He gained a PhD and his early work focused on American Indians. He participated in the research that led to Plimouth Plantation,...

Deevy, Theresa
(1894-1963) Irish playwright whose works were staged at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, in the 1930s. Despite original rejections, the Abbey successfully produced her first full-length drama, Reapers, in 1930....

defamation
In law, an attack on a person's reputation by libel or slander. In the UK legal aid is not available...

defence
In law, collective term for the defendant (the person accused of having committed a crime or wrong) and his or her legal advisors and representatives. It is also the case made in answer to the...

Defence of the Realm Act
Act granting emergency powers to the British government August 1914. The Act, popularly known as DORA, was revised several times in World War I and allowed the government to requisition raw...

Defence Research Agency
UK military organization set up 1991 to make the Ministry of Defence's non-nuclear research and development institutions more profitable. It incorporates the Admiralty Research Establishment, the...

Defence, Ministry of
UK government department created in 1964 from a temporary Ministry of Defence established after World War II together with the Admiralty, Air Ministry, and War Office. It is responsible for defence...

Defender of the Faith
One of the titles of the English sovereign, conferred on Henry VIII in 1521 by Pope Leo X in recognition of the king's treatise against the Protestant Martin Luther. It appears on coins in the...

Defenders
Irish Catholic secret society that emerged in County Armagh in the mid-1780s in opposition to the Protestant Peep o'Day Boys. In 1795 a large Defender force drawn from several counties was...

Defenestration of Prague
An incident in Prague in 1618 that sparked off the Thirty Years' War. When Ferdinand (1578-1637), Archduke of Styria, was elected king of Bohemia in 1617 and chosen to succeed Matthias as emperor,...

Defenestration of Prague
An incident in Prague in 1419 that marked the beginning of the Hussite revolution in Bohemia. Because of popular support for the religious leader Jan Huss following his execution in 1415, King...

deferred share
On the stock market, a share that typically warrants a dividend only after a specified dividend has been paid on the ordinary shares; it may, however, be entitled to a dividend on all the profits...

Deffand, Marie de Vichy-Chamrond
(1697-1780) French letter-writer, one of the most brilliant of the 18th century. Her salon in the Rue St Dominique was frequented by the most celebrated literary figures of the day, and she made herself a...

Defferre, Gaston Paul Charles
(1910-1986) French socialist politician. As interior minister 1981-86 he introduced a major decentralization and regionalization package (the `Defferre Laws`), breaking with the French Left's Jacobin...

defiance campaign
In South Africa, the joint action of non-violent demonstrations and civil disobedience organized by the African National Congress and the Indian Congress Party 1952. Police and press were given...

deficit financing
In economics, a planned excess of expenditure over income, dictated by government policy, creating a shortfall of public revenue which is met by borrowing. The decision...

deflation
In economics, a reduction in the level of economic activity, usually caused by an increase in interest rates and reduction in the money supply, increased taxation, or a...

Defoe, Daniel
(1660-1731) English writer. His Robinson Crusoe (1719), though claiming to be a factual account of shipwreck and solitary survival, was influential in the development of the novel. The fictional Moll Flanders...

Degenerate Art
Art condemned by the Nazi regime in Germany from 1933. The name was taken from a travelling exhibition mounted by the Nazi Party in 1937 to show modern art as `sick` and `decadent`- a view...

Degoutte, Jean Marie Joseph
(1866-1938) French general in World War I. In June 1918 he commanded the 6th Army at the Battle of Chateau-Thierry and at the second Battle of the Marne, and played an important part in...

Dehaene, Jean-Luc
(1940) Belgian politician, prime minister 1992-99. In 1993 he successfully negotiated constitutional changes to make Belgium a federal state. His centre-left coalition was re-elected in 1995. Born in...

Deheubarth
Southern Welsh kingdom which resisted English domination until the reign of Edward I. Its name derives from the Latin dextralis pars (i.e. `the right-hand side`)...

Dehmel, Richard
(1863-1920) German poet. With Detlev von Liliencron, he represents the transition from the naturalistic school to more flexible poetic forms. His poetry has a strong metaphysical bias, and owes much to the...

Deianira
In Greek mythology, wife of Heracles, who won her in combat against the river god Achelous; and mother of his sons, considered ancestors of the Dorian Greeks. She killed Heracles by accident, giving...

deification
The path or process whereby an individual can become a god. For example, in ancient Egypt and Rome, some rulers were made gods after their death. Deification was common in the ancient world,...

Deighton, Len (Leonard Cyril)
(1929) English author of spy fiction. His novels include The Ipcress File (1962), Funeral in Berlin (1964), An Expensive Place to Die (1967), and the trilogy Berlin Game, Mexico Set, and London Match...

deindustrialization
Decline in the share of manufacturing industries in a country's economy. Typically, industrial plants are closed down and not replaced, and service industries increase. ...

Deioces (or Dajaukku)
(lived 7th century BC) First king of the ancient southwest Asian country Media. According to the historian Herodotus, he reigned 699-647 BC, but this may include the years of the reign of his son Phraortes. ...

Deiotarus
(died 40 BC) Roman tetrarch (ruler of one of four divisions) of the territory of Galatia, in central Asia Minor. In return for help during the third war against ...

Deira
6th-century Anglo-Saxon kingdom in central and eastern Yorkshire, stretching from the Tees to the Humber. It was powerful enough for Pope Gregory I to know of its king Aelle c. 560. It was...

Deirdre
In Celtic mythology, the beautiful intended bride of Conchobar, king of Ulster. She eloped with Noísi, and died of sorrow when Conchobar killed him and his two brothers. The Exile of the Sons of...

deism
Belief in a supreme being. The term usually refers to a movement in the 17th and 18th centuries characterized by the belief in a rational `religion...

Dekanawida
(c. 1550-c. 1600) Huron prophet. With Hiawatha, he is credited with founding the Iroquois league. Considered the theoretician of the two leaders, he was also one of the first of the Pine Tree Chiefs, chosen by merit...

Dekker, Eduard Douwes
(1820-1887) Dutch writer. He wrote the novel Max Havelaar (1860) and Minnebrieven/Love Letters (1861), fictional correspondence between the author, his wife, and his inspiration (Fancy). Miscellaneous essays,...

Dekker, Thomas
(c. 1572-c. 1632) English dramatist and pamphleteer. He wrote mainly in collaboration with others. His play The Shoemaker's Holiday (1600) was followed by collaborations with Thomas Middleton, John Webster, Philip...

Del Monte, Pietro
(c. 1400-1457) Venetian cleric, author of papalist, legal, and humanist works. During the Council of Basel, he wrote in support of papal power. Pope Eugenius IV employed him as a diplomat, sending him to England...

del Sarto, Andrea
Italian Renaissance painter; see Andrea del Sarto. ...

Delafield, E M
(1890-1943) English writer. Her amusing Diary of a Provincial Lady (1931) skilfully exploits the foibles of middle-class life. This was so successful that she followed it with three sequels, the last being...

DeLancey, James
(1703-1760) American Colonial official and judge. He was the chief justice of the New York Supreme Court and the lieutenant-governor of New York. He became unpopul ...

Deland, Margaretta Wade
(1857-1945) US novelist. Her works, mainly set in a small Pennsylvania town and involving tormented characters, include John Ward, Preacher (1888), The Awakening of Helen Richie (1906), and...

Delane, John Thadeus
(1817-1879) British journalist. As editor of The Times 1841-77, he gave the newspaper international standing. He pioneered the first newspaper war reports. ...

Delaney, Shelagh
(1939) English dramatist. She came to prominence at the age of 19 with her play A Taste of Honey (1958), a graphic depiction of working-class life in the industrial northwest of England. The film version...

Delano, Jane Arminda
(1862-1919) US nurse. During the Spanish-American War 1898 she became interested in Red Cross work, and from 1911 devoted her life to its organization. Towards the end of World War II, in 1918 she was made...

Delany, Martin Robison
(1812-1885) US journalist and black American activist. He was involved in the publication of black literature and abolitionist material, and was nominated for lieutenant governor of South Carolina on an...

Delaroche, Paul (Hippolyte)
(1797-1856) French historical artist. His melodramatic, often sentimental, historical paintings achieved great contemporary popularity. An example is Lady Jane Grey 1833 (National Gallery, London). Delaroche...

Delaunay-Terk, Sonia
(1885-1979) French painter and textile designer. Born in Russia, she was active in Paris from 1905. With her husband Robert Delaunay, she was a pioneer of abstract art. ...

Delaunay, Robert
(1885-1941) French painter. He was a pioneer of abstract art. With his wife Sonia Delaunay-Terk, he developed a style known as Orphism, an early variation...

Delavigne, Jean François Casimir
(1793-1843) French poet and dramatist. His tragedies deal with national and historical themes. His comedy L'Ecole des vieillards 1823 was a great popular success in his day. He was a transitional figure between...

Delavrancea, Barbu
(1858-1918) Romanian writer and dramatist. His short stories, collected in Sult&acaron;nica (1885) and Paraziţii/Parasites (1893), reflect contemporary Romanian society, which he regarded as decadent and...

Delaware
Member of an American Indian people who lived along the Delaware Valley and northeast Atlantic coast (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia) until pushed westwards from the 18th...

DeLay, Tom
(1947) US Republican politician, House of Representatives majority leader 2003-06. A member of the House from 1984, representing a seat in Texas. Nicknamed `the hammer` for his enforcement of party...

Delbrück, Hans Georg Ludwig
(1848-1929) German historian. He was appointed professor at Berlin University in 1896. His works include a History of the Art of War 1900, lives of Frederick (II) the Great, Napoleon, Helmuth von Moltke, and...

Delcassé, Théophile
(1852-1923) French politician. He became foreign minister 1898, but had to resign 1905 because of German hostility; he held that post again 1914-15. To a large extent he was responsible for the Deledda, Grazia
(1875-1936) Italian novelist. Her novels describe with sympathy the life of the peasants of her native Sardinia. Common themes are the family in decadence and the preoccupation with, and expiation of, sin. A...

delegated legislation
In Britain, detailed legislation made by government ministers by means of, for example, statutory instruments and orders, under the authority of acts of Parliament. If a minister acts outside his or...

Deleuze, Gilles
(1925-1995) French philosopher and critical theorist. He was a major figure in French delftware
Term used in England for a once-fired pottery object dipped in a slurry made up of a glossy lead glaze made opaque by the addition of tin oxide. A design is painted on in blue, yellow, and other...

Delhi sultanate
Period 1206-1526 of early Muslim rule in northern and central India. It saw Delhi become the political capital of northern India, the building of a chain...

Delhi, Siege of
In the Indian Mutiny, temporary capture of...

Delian League
Alliance formed by the Athenians 477 BC at the request of the Ionian Greeks. Originally intended to liberate the Greeks from the Persians and with a treasury on the Aegean island of Delos, it...

Delilah
In the Old Testament, the Philistine mistress of Samson. Following instructions from the lords of the Philistines she sought to find the source of Samson's great strength. When Samson eventually...

Delille, Henriette
(1813-1862) US Catholic religious founder. In 1842, she co-founded and directed the Sisters of the Holy Family, black American Catholic nuns devoted to charitable work among the poor. She was...

DeLillo, Don
(1936) US novelist. His dark and highly complex novels examine images of American culture, power, conspiracy, and obsession. They include Americana (1971), White Noise (1985, National Book Award) Libra...

Delisle, Guillaume
(1675-1726) French scientist; one of the founders of modern geography. He was a pupil of his father, a renowned historian and geographer, and of the Italian astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini. Before Delisle...

Delium
Ancient Greek town situated on the coast of Boeotia, about 40 km/25 mi north of Athens. It was the scene of a battle 424 BC in which the Athenians were defeated by the Boeotians. ...

Deliyiannis, Theodoros
(1826-1905) Greek politician; five times prime minister 1885-86, 1890, 1895-97, 1902-03, and 1904-05. His political career was based on attempting to recover Greek provinces from Turkey. He was...

Dell, Edmund
(1921-1999) British Labour politician. Between 1966 and 1970 he was successively parliamentary under-secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, minister of st ...

Dell, Ethel M(ary)
(1881-1939) British writer of romantic fiction. Her commercially successful novels usually included a hero who was ugly:Way of an Eagle (1912), The Keeper of the Door (1915), and Storm Drift (1930). ...

Dell, Floyd James
(1887-1969) US author, editor, and social critic. He wrote for newspapers in Iowa and Chicago before moving to New York City's Greenwich Village where he wrote left-wing plays and novels about those who...

Della Cruscan
Member of a group of English poets resident in Florence, Italy, in the latter part of the 18th century who took the name from the Italian Accademia della Crusca, which was founded 1582 with the...

della Porta, Giacomo
(c. 1537-1602) Italian architect. One of the leading exponents of Mannerism in Rome during the late 16th century, he is best known for completing works by Michelangelo. These include the Palazzo dei C ...

della Porta, Guglielmo
(c. 1500-1577) Italian sculptor. In 1537 he went to Rome, where he became the principal sculptor to Pope Paul III. He was appointed to the office of the papal seal (piombatore) in 1547 and executed busts of the...

della Robbia
Italian family of artists; see Robbia, della. ...

Dellinger, David
(1915-2004) US pacifist, peace activist, editor, and author. He was jailed for draft resistance during World War II and was an outspoken opponent of US involvement in Vietnam. He published widely, promoting...

Dellums, Ronald Vernie
(1935) US representative. In Congress, he championed civil liberties and opposed military aggression while serving on the Armed Services and Intelligence Committees. As a black American, he was often a...

Deloney, Thomas
(c. 1543-1600) English novelist and poet. His works portray the everyday life of middle-class citizens and artisans. The narratives are episodic in structure, but they employ humour and irony and often have a...

Deloria, Ella Cara
(1889-1971) Yankton Sioux scholar and writer. She worked with Franz Boas on a study of Siouan language. Her most important books are Dakota Texts (1932), Speaking of Indians (book), and...

Delors, Jacques Lucien Jean
(1925) French socialist politician, economy and finance minister 1981-84 under François Mitterrand's presidency, and president of the European Commission, 1985-94. In the latter role, he oversaw...

Delphi
City of ancient Greece, situated in a rocky valley north of the gulf of Corinth, on the southern slopes of Mount Parnassus, site of a famous oracle in the temple of Apollo. The site was supposed to...

Delson, Eric
(1945) US physical anthropologist. A college professor, he made major contributions to the comparative evolution of fossil African, Asian, and European monkeys. He is a specialist in primate classification...

Delta Force
US antiguerrilla force, based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and modelled on the British Special Air Service. ...

Delvaux, Paul
(1897-1994) Belgian surrealist painter. He is renowned for his unearthly canvases portraying female nudes in settings of ruined, classical architecture. He was initially influenced by Dalí, de Chirico, and...

demand
In economics, the quantity of a product or service that customers want to buy at any given price. Also, the desire for a commodity, together with ability to pay for it. ...

demand curve
In economics, a curve on a graph that shows the relationship between the quantity demanded for a good and its price. It is typically downward-sloping, showing that as the price of the good goes...

demand-pull inflation
Rise in prices (inflation) caused by excess aggregate demand (total demand for goods and services) in the economy. For example, when the economy is in boom, aggregate demand tends to be rising...

Demaratus
(lived 6th/5th centuries BC) King of Sparta from 510. Deposed 491 BC by his fellow king Cleomenes I, he took refuge at the Persian court. The Persian king Darius I gave him Pergamum and other cities, where his descendants still...

demarcation
In British industrial relations, the practice of stipulating that particular workers should perform particular tasks. The practice can be the source of industrial disputes. ...

Dembinski, Henryk
(1791-1864) Polish patriot and general. He served in the army of the Napoleonic Duchy of Warsaw 1809-13 and distinguished himself at the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig in 1813. He became a general in the...

deme
In ancient Greece, the district inhabited by a group that formed an independent community. These small communities gradually became joined together into larger ones, and the word came to signify a...

demesne
In the Middle Ages in Europe, land kept in the lord's possession, not leased out but, under the feudal system, worked by villeins to supply the lord's household. ...

Demeter
In Greek mythology, the goddess of agriculture, especially corn (Roman Ceres); daughter of the Titans Kronos and Rhea; and mother of Persephone by Zeus. Demeter and her daughter were worshipped in a...

Demetrius (or Dmitry)
(1350-1389) Grand prince of Moscow from 1363. In 1380 he achieved the first Russian victory over the Tatars on the plain of Kulikovo, next to the River Don (hence his nickname). ...

Demetrius I
(c. 337-283 BC) King of Macedonia 294-288 BC, son of Antigonus I and Stratonice. In the struggles for power over the Macedonian empire which followed the death of Alexander the Great (the Wars of the Diadochi),...

Demetrius II
(c. 161-125 BC) King of Syria about 147-141 and 129-125 BC, son of the Seleucid king, Demetrius Soter. He remained in exile for several years after his father's death, and then landed in Cilicia and defeated...

Demirel, Süleyman
(1924) Turkish politician, prime minister seven times and president 1993-2000. Leader from 1964 to 1980 of the Justice Party, and from 1987 of its successor, the True Path Party, he was prime minister...

demiurge
The supernatural maker of the world who is subordinate to the Supreme Being or God. The term comes from the ancient Greek philosopher Plato's myth in the Timaeus about the divine creation of the...