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

Fianna Fáil
Republic of Ireland political party, founded by the Irish nationalist Éamon de Valera in 1926, and led since 1994 by Bertie Ahern. A broad-based party, it is conservative socially and...

Fichandler, Zelda
(1924) US theatre producer and director. A cofounder of the Arena Stage in Washington, DC, premiere performances under her auspices include The Great White Hope (1967). She was given a special Tony award...

Fichte, Immanuel Hermann von
(1797-1879) German philosopher. He lectured on philosophy at the University of Bonn 1836-42, and was afterwards appointed to a chair in Tübingen. His works include System der Ethik (1850-53) and...

Fichte, Johann Gottlieb
(1762-1814) German philosopher who developed a comprehensive form of subjective idealism, expounded in The Science of Knowledge (1794). He was an admirer of Immanuel Kant. In 1792, Fichte published Critique of...

Ficino, Marsilio
(1433-1499) Italian philosopher. He created an influential synthesis of Platonism and medieval theology. He assigned to the human soul the central place in the hierarchy of...

fiction
In literature, any work in which the content is completely or largely invented. The term describes imaginative works of narrative prose (such as the novel or the short story), and is distinguished...

Fidei Defensor
Latin for the title of `Defender of the Faith` (still retained by British sovereigns) conferred by Pope Leo X on Henry VIII of England in 1521 to reward his writing of a treatise against the...

Fidenae
Ancient town in the Italian region of Latium, 8 km/5 mi north of Rome. The territory was disputed in early times by the Romans and the inhabitants of Veii, a city about 14 km/9 mi north of Rome, and...

Fides Publica
In ancient Rome, a goddess personifying the honour of the people. Each year, on 1 October, the three flamines majores (see flamen) offered sacrifice in her honour on the Capitol. ...

Fiedler, Leslie Aaron
(1917) US literary critic and educator. He analysed US fiction in terms of its embodiment of archetypes and cultural myths and he later located such myths in popular art. He joined the faculty of the State...

fief
Estate of lands granted to a vassal by a lord after the former had sworn homage, or fealty, promising to serve the lord. As a noble tenure, it carried with it rights of jurisdiction. In the later...

Field Day Theatre Company
Informal coalition of Irish artists created in 1980 who addressed the political situation in Ireland using artistic works, without being propagandist. The original members were playwright Brian...

field marshal
The highest rank in many European armies. A British field marshal is equivalent to a US general (of the army). It was introduced to Britain from Germany by George II 1736. ...

Field of the Cloth of Gold
Site between Guînes and Ardres near Calais, France, where a meeting took place between Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France in June 1520, remarkable for the lavish clothes worn and tent...

field survey
Examination of the ground surface for evidence of archaeological remains, without recourse to excavation. Surveys can be carried out unsystematically:field walking takes place over areas suspected...

Field, David Dudley
(1805-1894) US legal scholar A leading legal reformer, he chaired a New York State commission that wrote a Code of Civil Procedure which was adopted by other states and countries. His Outlines of an...

Field, Erastus Salisbury
(1805-1900) US painter. He was a student of Samuel F B Morse and became an itinerant portrait painter. He is most famous for the mystical architectural towers in his last major work, Historical Monument of the...

Field, Frank
(1942) UK Labour Party politician, member of Parliament for Birkenhead from 1979. He was appointed minister for welfare reform 1997-98 in Tony Blair's first government, having been an anti-poverty...

Field, Michael
English writers. Aunt and niece, they lived together and worked very closely on many poetic tragedies and eight volumes of verse, including Long Ago 1889, Sight and Song 1892, Poems of Adoration...

Field, Nathan
(1587-1633) English actor and dramatist. He was one of the comedians of the company called the Children of the Queen's Revels, and wrote two plays, A Woman...

Field, Stephen Johnson
(1816-1899) US Supreme Court justice. He served on California's state legislature and supreme court, before President Lincoln called him to the US Supreme Court (1863-97). A staunch conservative, he...

Field, Winston Joseph
(1904-1969) English-born Rhodesian politician. He went to Rhodesia in 1921 and, in 1958, entered politics, becoming prime minister in 1962. In 1964, he was succeeded by the more militant Ian Smith. He was...

Fielding, Helen
(1960) English writer who achieved great popular success with the best-selling comic novels Bridget Jones's Diary (1997; filmed 2001) and its sequel Bridget Jones: The Edge of...

Fielding, Henry
(1707-1754) English novelist. His greatest work, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1749) (see Tom Jones), which he described as `a comic epic poem in prose`, was an early landmark in...

Fielding, Sarah
(1710-1768) English novelist. She wrote several novels, including The Adventures of David Simple in Search of a Faithful Friend 1744, The Governess 1749, and The Countess of Dellwyn 1759,...

Fields, James Thomas
(1817-1881) US author and publisher. He became head of the Ticknor & Fields publishing firm and was editor of The Atlantic Monthly (1861-70). His own literary works include Poems (1849) and Yesterdays With...

fieldwork
In anthropology, the gathering and analysis of first-hand information through direct observation of a society or social group. It was developed by William Rivers and Bronislaw Malinowski as a more...

Fiennes, Celia
(1662-1741) English writer. She recorded vivid descriptions of her extensive journeys throughout England and Scotland, mostly between 1685 and 1703. Travelling on horseback and by coach, staying at inns or with...

Fiennes, Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham
(1944) British explorer who made the first surface journey around the world's polar circumference between 1979 and 1982. In 1992 he attempted, with Dr Michael Stroud, the first unsupported crossing of the...

Fifteen, the
Jacobite rebellion of 1715, led by...

Fifteenth Amendment
See Amendment, Fifteenth. ...

Fifth Amendment
See Amendment, Fifth. ...

fifth column
Group within a country secretly aiding an enemy attacking from without. The term originated in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War, when General Mola boasted that Franco supporters were attacking...

Fifth Monarchy Men
17th century millenarian sect, particularly strong in Wales, which believed that the rule of Christ and his saints was imminent. The sect's name derives from a prophesy in the Book of Daniel that...

Figaro
Character of dramatic fiction. He made his first appearance in Pierre de ...

Figl, Leopold
(1902-1965) Austrian politician. He joined the People's party and was Austrian chancellor 1945-53 and foreign minister 1953-59. He became the National Assembly's president in 1959, and governor of Lower...

Figueres Ferrer, José
(1906-1990) Costa Rican social-democrat politician, leader of the democratic revolution of 1948-49 and president 1953-58 and 1970-74. In 1948 he founded Democratic Action, from which the...

Figueres Olsen, José María
(1954) Costa Rican politician, president 1994-98. Standing as the candidate of the centre-left National Liberation Party (PLN), he won the February 1994 presidential election, narrowly defeating Miguel...

Figueroa, Francisco de
(c. 1536-1620) Spanish poet. His comedies and pastorals reveal Italian influence, including the use of blank verse, which he was the first to use, in Spanish poetry. ...

figurative art
Another term for representational art, applied to recognizable images from the real world. ...

Fiji Islands
Country comprising 844 islands and islets in the southwest Pacific Ocean, about 100 of which are inhabited. Government The 1990 constitution provides for a parliamentary system of government with a...

filament
Single long fibre used to produce yarn for different types of fabric. Synthetic fibre is initially produced as single filaments, made when liquid polymer is forced through fine holes in a device...

Filarete
(c. 1400-1469) Italian sculptor and architect. His masterpiece is the huge west door of St Peter's, Rome, cast in bronze, with enamelled and gilded decoration, about 1445. He is also remembered for his imaginative...

Filchner, Wilhelm
(1877-1957) German explorer who travelled extensively in Central Asia, but is remembered for his expedition into the Weddell Sea of Antarctica 1911, where his ship became ice-bound for a whole winter. He...

Filene, Edward Albert
(1860-1937) US store owner who introduced innovative retailing methods. One of his most imaginative merchandising ideas was the `bargain basement`, where prices were dramatically lowered on certain goods....

filioque
(Latin `and the Son`) a disputed term in the Christian creeds from the 8th century, referring to the issue of whether the Holy Spirit proceeds from God only or from God the Father and Son. Added...

Filipino
Inhabitant of the Philippines. The majority are Tagalog. ...

Fillan, St
(died 777) Irish churchman. The son of a Munster prince, he became abbot of the monastery on the Holy Loch in Argyll, Scotland, but withdrew to Upper Glendochart (Strathfillan). In 1318 Robert (I) the Bruce...

Fillmore, Charles
(1854-1948) US Protestant religious leader and businessman. He had a business background before he turned to religion and launched the Unity movement. Based on a practical Christian doctrine, he and his wife...

Fillmore, Millard
(1800-1874) 13th president of the USA 1850-53, a Whig. He was Zachary Taylor's vice-president from 1849, and succeeded him on Taylor's death. Fillmore supported the Compromise of 1850 on slavery to...

Filmer, Robert
(c. 1589-1653) English political writer. An ardent Royalist, his house was pillaged by the Parliamentarians. His Patriarcha (1680) and other pamphlets expanded and emphasized the theory of the...

Filson, John
(c. 1747-c. 1788) American explorer and author. To attract settlers to Kentucky, he wrote Discovery, Settlement, and Present State of Kentucke (1784), and the alleged `autobiography` of Daniel Boone first...

final solution
(To the Jewish question; German Endlosung der Judenfrage) euphemism used by the Nazis to describe the extermination of Jews (and other racial groups and opponents of the regime) before and during...

Finance Act
In Britain, the annual act of Parliament which implements the proposals made by the chancellor of the Exchequer in the Budget. Preliminary approval is given to certain changes in taxation, mainly...

finance, sources of
Sources from which business organizations obtain money to start up and pay for the business, and for new capital goods. The most important source of finance in the UK is internal finance, the...

financial institution
Business organization that has as its core business activity the management of money. Banks, building societies, and insurance and assurance companies are all examples of financial institutions. ...

Financial Times
London newspaper, a morning daily which first appeared in 1888. Incorporated with the Financial News (founded in 1884), it contains detailed news of business...

Financial Times Index
Indicator measuring the daily movement of 30 major industrial share prices on the London Stock Exchange, issued by the UK Financial Times newspaper. Other FT indices cover government securities,...

financial year
Another term for fiscal year. ...

Fine Gael
Republic of Ireland political party founded in 1933 by William Cosgrave and led by John Bruton from 1990. It has been socially liberal in recent years but fiscally conservative. Though it formed a...

Fine, Anne
(1947) English writer of books for children and teenagers who won the Carnegie Medal with Goggle Eyes (1989) and Flour Babies (1992), and whose Madame Doubtfire (1988) was filmed as Mrs Doubtfire (1994). ...

fingerprint
Ridge pattern of the skin on a person's fingertips; this is constant through life and no two are exactly alike. Fingerprinting was first used as a means of identifying crime suspects in India, and...

Finian, St
Irish churchman. His birthplace is thought to be Idrone, in County Carlow. He founded the monastery of Clonard, in County Meath, and chronicles relate that he taught 3,000 pupils there. ...

Fink, Mike
(c. 1770-1823) US frontier figure. A masterful scout, marksman, and wrestler, he became the `king of the keelboatmen`. He died on a trapping expedition to the Rocky Mountains, but his popularity as a folk hero...

Finkelstein, Louis
(1895-1991) US rabbi and educator. A professor of theology at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, he then became its chancellor. A member of many Jewish religious and cultural organizations, he wrote a...

Finland
Country in Scandinavia, bounded to the north by Norway, east by Russia, south and west by the Baltic Sea, and northwest by Sweden. Government Finland is a republic that combines a parliamentary...

Finlandization
Political term for the tendency of a small state to shape its foreign policy so as to accommodate a much more powerful neighbour, taken from the example of Finland's former foreign policy with...

Finley, Robert
(1772-1817) US Presbyterian clergyman and educator. He served his New Jersey parish with great devotion and success. He conducted a much-admired boys' school, was trustee of the College of New Jersey (now...

Finn
Group of people spread over northern and eastern Europe who speak Finno-Ugric languages. They migrated into the area from central Russia in the 1st and 2nd centuries and today live in Estonia,...

Finney, Albert
(1936) English stage and film actor. He created the title roles in Keith Waterhouse's stage play Billy Liar (1960) and John Osborne's Luther (1961), and was associate artistic director of the Royal Court...

Finney, Charles Grandison
(1792-1875) US Protestant religious leader and educator. After his ordination, an eight-year revival campaign took him through New York, New England, and the mid-Atlantic states. He held various pastorships...

Finnish architecture
The earliest Finnish architecture was wooden and hence little survives although some ecclesiastical buildings (Turku Cathedral, Lohja Church) date from the 15th century. Following a classical...

Finnish literature
Some fragments of Finnish literature survive from the 12th century; the first book was a primer published 1544. A complete Bible in Finnish was issued in Stockholm 1642. But the predominance of the...

Fioravanti, Aristotele
(c. 1415-c. 1485) Italian architect and engineer. He worked in Italy and Hungary, and in 1475 was summoned to Russia to build the Cathedral of the Assumption (Uspenskii Sobor) in the Kremlin in Moscow. His design...

Firbank, (Arthur Annesley) Ronald
(1886-1926) English novelist. His work, set in the Edwardian decadent period, has a malicious humour and witty sophistication. It includes Caprice (1917), Valmouth (1919), and the bizarre fantasy Concerning the...

fire
Symbol of purity, purification, or divinity in many religions and cultures, in which sacrifice is or has been a central ritual. In Christianity, however, the fires of hell are traditionally opposed...

Fire of London
Fire 2-5 September 1666 that destroyed four-fifths of the City of London. It broke out in a bakery in Pudding Lane and spread as far west as the Temple. It destroyed 87 churches, including St...

firearm
Weapon from which projectiles are discharged by the combustion of an explosive. Firearms are generally divided into two main sections:artillery (ordnance or cannon), with a bore greater than 2.54...

Firefly
British tank destroyer of World War II. Until the Comet appeared it was the only tank in British service capable of taking on the German Tiger and Panther tanks with a...

Firenzuola, Agnolo
(1493-1543) Florentine monk and author. He translated works both from Latin (the Golden Ass of Apuleius) and, in the Discorsi degli animali/Discourses on Animals (written in 1541, printed in 1548), from a...

Firestone, Harvey Samuel
(1868-1938) US industrialist who established a tyre-manufacturing firm, the Firestone Tire and Rubber Co., in Akron, Ohio, in 1900. He pioneered the principle of the detachable rim and, from 1906, was the...

firestorm
Fire which rapidly grows out of control by sucking in surrounding air and so feeds itself in an accelerating cycle. The phenomenon is capable of causing immense devastation in urban areas and is...

firework
Device that produces a display of colour, smoke, noise, or a combination of these three; examples include bangers, Catherine wheels, and Roman candles. They always generate heat. Fireworks were...

firing
In ceramics, the process that `bakes` the pottery clay hard, and fixes colours and glazes to pottery surfaces. The pottery is fired in a kiln, an ovenlike enclosure where the pieces undergo...

firm, theories of the
Economic analysis of units of production, usually in the private sector. There are varying theories of firms in different market structures:perfect competition, where no firm can influence the...

First Amendment
See Amendment, First. ...

first cause
In philosophy, an argument for the existence of God as creator or cause of the world. The First Cause argument - a version of the cosmological argument- turns on the idea that everything...

First Folio
The first collected edition of Shakespeare's plays, published in 1623. It was edited by his friends, the actors Henry Condell and John Hemings, and appeared seven years after Shakespeare's death. It...

first fruits and tenths
In England, a form of tax on clergy taking up a benefice. They had to pay a portion of their first year's income (known as annates) and a tenth of their revenue annually thereafter. Originally the...

First World
Former term for the industrialized capitalist, or free-market, countries of the West. It was used during the Cold War, along with the classifications Second World (industrialized communist...

First World War
Another name for World War I, 1914-18. ...

First, Ruth
(1925-1982) South African journalist and opponent of apartheid. In her youth she joined the South African Communist Party and was secretary of the Progressive Youth Council. She worked as a journalist from...

Firth, Charles Harding
(1857-1936) English historian. He was regius professor of modern history at Oxford University where his principal field of study was the English Civil War period. His works include Scotl ...

fiscal policy
That part of government policy concerning taxation and other revenues,...

fiscal year
A year as defined by a company or government for financial accounting purposes. A company can choose any 12-month period for its accounting year and in exceptional circumstances may determine a...

Fischer von Erlach, Johann Bernhard
(1656-1723) Austrian architect, sculptor and architectural historian, leader of the Austrian baroque. He created a new style which was a remarkable synthesis of a wide range of influences. His masterpiece is...

Fischer, Carl
(1849-1923) German-born US music publisher. His music store in New York City sold instruments and other firms' scores. He spotted a market for reproducing music and the Carl Fischer firm went on to become a...

fiscus
In ancient Rome, a fund or treasury. Under the Roman empire, the word came to denote the emperor's funds (hence the word `fiscal`), as distinct from the aerarium or public treasury, which...

Fish, Hamilton
(1808-1893) US public figure and diplomat. He held office in the US Senate 1851-57, by which time he had become a member of the Republican Party. As secretary of state under President Grant 1869-77, his...

Fishbein, Morris
(1889-1976) US physician, journal editor, and author. A Chicago-based doctor, he became editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association. He advocated the public's right to basic medical knowledge,...