• bargello work

    bargello work, kind of embroidery exemplified in the upholstery of a set of 17th-century Italian chairs at the Bargello Museum in Florence and practiced from the 17th century until modern times. It consists of flat vertical stitches laid parallel with the canvas weave rather than crossing the

  • Barger, George (British scientist)

    histamine: English scientists George Barger and Henry H. Dale first isolated histamine from the plant fungus ergot in 1910, and in 1911 they isolated the substance from animal tissues. Plants that produce histamine include stinging nettles; the histamine in the hairlike structures on nettle leaves is partly responsible…

  • Barger, Ralph (American Hells Angels member)

    Hells Angels: His qualified admiration of Ralph (Sonny) Barger, long-term president of the Oakland chapter, helped turn Barger into the club’s public face and national spokesman.

  • Barger, Sonny (American Hells Angels member)

    Hells Angels: His qualified admiration of Ralph (Sonny) Barger, long-term president of the Oakland chapter, helped turn Barger into the club’s public face and national spokesman.

  • Bargest (British folklore)

    Barghest, in folklore of northern England (especially Yorkshire), a monstrous, goblin dog, with huge teeth and claws, that appears only at night. It was believed that those who saw one clearly would die soon after, while those who caught only a glimpse of the beast would live on, but only for some

  • Barghash (sultan of Zanzibar)

    Barghash was the sultan of Zanzibar (1870–88), a shrewd and ambitious ruler, who, for most of his reign, looked to Britain for protection and assistance but eventually saw his domains divided between Germany and his former protector. Although not the first heir to the throne of his father, Saʿīd

  • Barghash ibn Saʿīd (sultan of Zanzibar)

    Barghash was the sultan of Zanzibar (1870–88), a shrewd and ambitious ruler, who, for most of his reign, looked to Britain for protection and assistance but eventually saw his domains divided between Germany and his former protector. Although not the first heir to the throne of his father, Saʿīd

  • Barghash, Khālid ibn (sultan of Zanzibar)

    Anglo-Zanzibar War: Context: However, a defiant Prince Khālid ibn Barghash occupied the palace in response; he based his own claim on being the only son of the late Barghash and on being ignored after Barghash’s death, despite the fact that Zanzibari succession laws did not make the title of sultan hereditary. British…

  • Barghawāṭah (Berber confederation, Morocco)

    Barghawāṭah, Amazigh (Berber) tribal confederation that created a religio-political state in Morocco (8th–12th century). The Barghawāṭah, members of the Maṣmūdah family inhabiting the plain between the Middle Atlas (Moyen Atlas) mountain range and the Atlantic, had joined the Miknāsah and Ghumārah

  • Barghest (British folklore)

    Barghest, in folklore of northern England (especially Yorkshire), a monstrous, goblin dog, with huge teeth and claws, that appears only at night. It was believed that those who saw one clearly would die soon after, while those who caught only a glimpse of the beast would live on, but only for some

  • Barghouti, Marwan (Palestinian activist and politician)

    Marwan Barghouti is a Palestinian political activist and politician who rose to prominence as a youth leader in the years leading up to the first Palestinian uprising, or intifada, (1987–93). Barghouti, who was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council in 1996, built a strong rapport with his

  • bargueño (furniture)

    vargueno, wooden cabinet of mixed Spanish and Oriental origin that first appeared in Europe in the late Middle Ages and became a common article of furniture in the Spanish colonial empire from the late 16th century onward. Its major component is a chest with a drop front. The interior is divided

  • Barguest (British folklore)

    Barghest, in folklore of northern England (especially Yorkshire), a monstrous, goblin dog, with huge teeth and claws, that appears only at night. It was believed that those who saw one clearly would die soon after, while those who caught only a glimpse of the beast would live on, but only for some

  • Bargut (people)

    Hailar: …local Mongol population, particularly the Bargut, began a series of rebellions, with Russian encouragement, that forced the Chinese to restore some measure of autonomy. After many Chinese had settled along the railway to the east of Hailar, the Chinese government again canceled (1919) the Bargut’s autonomy and incorporated the whole…

  • Barguzin Nature Reserve (region, Russia)

    Barguzinsky Nature Reserve, natural area set aside for research in the natural sciences, extending from the northeastern shore of Lake Baikal to the western slopes of the Barguzinsky Mountains, southeastern Russia. The reserve was established (1916) to protect the habitat of the Barguzin sable and

  • Barguzinsky Mountains (mountains, Russia)

    Barguzinsky Nature Reserve: …the western slopes of the Barguzinsky Mountains, southeastern Russia. The reserve was established (1916) to protect the habitat of the Barguzin sable and has an area of 650,380 acres (263,200 hectares). It covers 37 miles (60 km) of the Lake Baikal shoreline and adjacent lake waters, and part of the…

  • Barguzinsky Nature Reserve (region, Russia)

    Barguzinsky Nature Reserve, natural area set aside for research in the natural sciences, extending from the northeastern shore of Lake Baikal to the western slopes of the Barguzinsky Mountains, southeastern Russia. The reserve was established (1916) to protect the habitat of the Barguzin sable and

  • barheaded goose (bird)

    anseriform: Locomotion: …metres (10,000 feet), and the barheaded goose (Anser indicus), breeding in Tibet and wintering in India, must fly at 6,000 metres (20,000 feet) to get through the Himalayan passes.

  • barhis (Iranian religion)

    ancient Iranian religion: Cultic practices, worship, and festivals: …was called the barhish (Avestan barzish, “cushion”), while in Zoroastrianism a cognate word, Avestan barəsman (Iranian barzman), is used for a bundle of sticks—later thin metal rods—that is manipulated by the priest.

  • Bari (people)

    Bari, people living near Juba in South Sudan. They speak an Eastern Sudanic language of the Nilo-Saharan language family. They live in small villages scattered across the hot, dry, flat countryside in the Nile valley. Their staple crop is millet, and they also keep cattle. Their culture and

  • Bari (Italy)

    Bari, city, capital of Puglia (Apulia) regione, southeastern Italy. It is a port on the Adriatic Sea, northwest of Brindisi. The site may have been inhabited since 1500 bce. Greek influence was strong, and under the Romans, who called it Barium, it became an important port, the harbour being

  • Bāri Doab (region, Pakistan)

    Indus River: Irrigation of the Indus River: …the irrigation system of the Bari Doab and the Sutlej Valley Project—originally designed as one scheme—into two parts. The headwork fell to India while the canals ran through Pakistan. That led to a disruption in the water supply in some parts of Pakistan. The dispute that thus arose and continued…

  • Bari language

    Nilo-Saharan languages: Morphology: Bari, a Nilotic language of South Sudan, demonstrates one widespread morphological property whereby either the singular or the plural form of a noun is expressed by the basic, morphologically simplex, form, as in rima’ ‘blood,’ rima-tat ‘a drop of blood’; nyɔmɔt ‘seeds,’ nyɔmɔt-ti; ‘seed’; Bari…

  • Bari, Council of (Italian history)

    St. Anselm of Canterbury: Appointment as archbishop of Canterbury: Anselm attended the Council of Bari (Italy) in 1098 and presented his grievances against the king to Urban II. He took an active part in the sessions, defending the doctrine of the Filioque (“and from the Son”) clause in the Nicene Creed against the Greek church, which had…

  • Bari, Joe (American singer)

    Tony Bennett was an American popular singer known for his smooth voice and interpretive abilities with songs in a variety of genres. He is considered one of the greatest vocal stylists in jazz and popular music. His distinctive way with a song is best heard on his biggest hit, “I Left My Heart in

  • Bari, Siege of (Italian history)

    Siege of Bari, (1068–71), three-year blockade by Norman forces under Robert Guiscard that resulted (April 1071) in the surrender of the last important Byzantine stronghold in southern Italy. It brought an end to Byzantine domination on the Italian peninsula. An Adriatic seaport and trading centre

  • Baria (Spain)

    Spain: Phoenicians of Spain: …found at Almuñécar, Trayamar, and Villaricos, equipped with metropolitan goods such as alabaster wine jars, imported Greek pottery, and delicate gold jewelry. Maritime bases from the Balearic Islands to Cádiz on the Atlantic were set up to sustain commerce in salted fish, dyes, and textiles. Early Phoenician settlements are known…

  • Bariba (people)

    Benin: Ethnic groups: The Bariba, the fourth largest ethnic group, comprise several subgroups and make up about one-tenth of Benin’s population. They inhabit the northeast, especially towns such as Nikki and Kandi that were once Bariba kingdoms. The Somba (Ditamari) are found in Natitingou and in villages in the…

  • Baribault, Jean (French trapper)

    Baraboo: …established by the French trapper Jean Baribault, who lived along the river that was named (the spelling changed over time) for him. The community developed as a lumbering centre through use of the abundant waterpower there; it later became a distribution centre for dairy and other agricultural products from the…

  • Baric languages

    Sino-Tibetan languages: Baric languages: The Baric, or Bodo-Garo, division consists of a number of languages spoken in Assam and falls into a Bodo branch (not to be confused with Bodic-Tibetic, and Bodish, a subdivision of Tibetic) and a Garo branch.

  • Barīd Shāhī dynasty (Muslim dynasty)

    Barīd Shāhī dynasty, the rulers of the small state of Bidar (now in Karnataka state in southwestern India) from about 1487 until 1619. The Barīd family were ministers of the Muslim Bahmanī sultans of the Deccan, who in 1430 made their capital at Bidar. About 1492 the Bahmanī kingdom disintegrated,

  • Bariloche (Argentina)

    San Carlos de Bariloche, resort town, Río Negro provincia (province), southwestern Argentina. It lies on the southeastern shore of Lake Nahuel Huapí, in the Andean lake district. Chalet-type building construction, introduced in 1905 by Swiss immigrants, provides an appropriate setting for skiing in

  • Bariloche, Declaration of (Argentine history)

    San Carlos de Bariloche: …Argentina that resulted in the Declaration of Bariloche, a pledge of friendship between the two countries. Pop. (2001) 89,092; (2010 est.) 108,300.

  • Barīm Island (island, Yemen)

    Perim Island, island in the Strait of Mandeb off the southwestern coast of Yemen, to which it belongs. A rocky volcanic island, lying just off the southwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, Perim is 5 square miles (13 square km) in area and rises as high as 214 feet (65 m). It has a harbour on the

  • Barin, Roland-Michel (commandant-general of New France)

    Roland-Michel Barrin, marquis de La Galissonnière was a mariner and commandant general of New France. La Galissonnière was the son of a naval lieutenant-general and studied at the College of Beauvais in Paris. He became a midshipman in the French navy in 1710 and, in the following year, made the

  • Barinas (state, Venezuela)

    Barinas, estado (state), western Venezuela. It is bounded on the north by Trujillo, Portuguesa, and Cojedes states, east by Guárico, south by Apure, and west by Táchira and Mérida. It lies mainly in the Llanos (plains), although there are highlands in the northwest. In the early 17th century the

  • Barinas (Venezuela)

    Barinas, city, capital of Barinas estado (state), western Venezuela. The city lies along the Santo Domingo River and is situated on the Llanos (plains) at the foot of the Cordillera de Mérida in the northwestern part of the state. Barinas’s cathedral, museums, and other cultural and educational

  • Barind (region, Asia)

    Barind, geographic region in parts of northwestern Bangladesh and north-central West Bengal state, India. It lies northwest of the confluence of the upper Padma (Ganges [Ganga]) and Jamuna (the name of the Brahmaputra in Bangladesh) rivers and is bordered by the floodplains of the Mahananda River

  • Barind Tract (region, Asia)

    Barind, geographic region in parts of northwestern Bangladesh and north-central West Bengal state, India. It lies northwest of the confluence of the upper Padma (Ganges [Ganga]) and Jamuna (the name of the Brahmaputra in Bangladesh) rivers and is bordered by the floodplains of the Mahananda River

  • Baring Brothers and Company (British company)

    Baring family: …family banking firm, originally named John & Francis Baring & Company, in London in 1763. He built it into a large and successful business, and from 1792 the house of Baring was instrumental in helping to finance the British war effort against Revolutionary and then Napoleonic France. In 1803 the…

  • Baring family (British bankers and merchants)

    Baring family, British family whose banking and commercial house played a principal role in British overseas lending for two centuries. John Baring emigrated from Bremen to England and started a small wool business near Exeter in 1717. His son, the future Sir Francis Baring, lst Baronet

  • Baring, Alexander (British diplomat)

    Robert Peel: Prime minister and Conservative leader: …settled by the mission of Alexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton, in 1842 and the Oregon treaty of 1846. The same combination of firmness and conciliation was followed in Ireland. Once the threatening campaign for repeal of the union had been brought to a halt in 1843 with O’Connell’s trial for…

  • Baring, Edward Charles (British merchant)

    Baring family: …of Thomas Baring in 1873, Edward Charles Baring (1828–97), son of Henry Baring and grandson of Sir Francis Baring, became head of Baring Brothers, and in 1885 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Revelstoke. The house of Baring then stood at the height of its prosperity. During the…

  • Baring, Maurice (British author)

    Maurice Baring was a man of letters, scion of a family long prominent in the financial ventures of the British Empire, who was representative of the social culture that flourished in England before World War I. The fourth son of the 1st Baron Revelstoke (a director of the Bank of England and a

  • Baring, Sir Evelyn (British diplomat)

    Evelyn Baring, 1st earl of Cromer was a British administrator and diplomat whose 24-year rule in Egypt as British agent and consul general (1883–1907) profoundly influenced Egypt’s development as a modern state. Born of a family distinguished in politics and banking, Evelyn Baring received his

  • Baring, Sir Francis Thornhill (British statesman)

    Baring family: His elder brother, Sir Francis Thornhill Baring (1796–1866), was a member of Parliament from 1826 to 1865 and also served as chancellor of the Exchequer (1839–41) and first lord of the Admiralty (1849–52). In 1866 he was created Baron Northbrook, the barony being converted in 1876 into an…

  • Baring, Sir Francis, 1st Baronet (British financier and merchant)

    Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet was a British financier who established one of the most influential business firms in the history of the United Kingdom. The third son of a German immigrant, he went to London, where he gained experience in two mercantile firms and, in 1763, set up the partnership of

  • Baring, Thomas (British merchant)

    Baring family: …the house were managed by Thomas Baring (1799–1873), a grandson of Sir Francis. Thomas Baring was a managing partner of the firm from 1828 and was also a member of Parliament from 1844 until his death. His elder brother, Sir Francis Thornhill Baring (1796–1866), was a member of Parliament from…

  • Baring, Thomas George, 1st earl of Northbrook (British statesman)

    Thomas George Baring, 1st earl of Northbrook was a British statesman who served as viceroy of India. The son of Sir Francis Baring, Baring studied at Christ Church, Oxford. He was private secretary to several British officials and became a Liberal member of Parliament for Falmouth and Penryn

  • Baringo, Lake (lake, Kenya)

    Lake Baringo, lake in west-central Kenya. It is situated 3,200 feet (975 m) above sea level in the Great Rift Valley, east of the Kamasia (Ilkamasya) Hills. The lake has an area of 50 square miles (129 square km), is 11 miles (18 km) long and 5 miles (8 km) wide, and has an average depth of 17 feet

  • Barings Bank (British company)

    bankruptcy of Barings Bank: …of Barings Bank, collapse of Barings Bank, Britain’s oldest merchant bank, on February 27, 1995, when a single employee committed the bank to losses of roughly £830 million, from which it could not recover.

  • Barings Bank, bankruptcy of (corporate scandal [1995])

    bankruptcy of Barings Bank, collapse of Barings Bank, Britain’s oldest merchant bank, on February 27, 1995, when a single employee committed the bank to losses of roughly £830 million, from which it could not recover. Barings had been founded in 1762 by Francis Baring and overseen by generations of

  • Barings PLC (British company)

    bankruptcy of Barings Bank: …of Barings Bank, collapse of Barings Bank, Britain’s oldest merchant bank, on February 27, 1995, when a single employee committed the bank to losses of roughly £830 million, from which it could not recover.

  • Baripada (India)

    Baripada, city, northeastern Odisha (Orissa) state, eastern India. It is situated in the Utkal Plains along the Burhabalang River, about 30 miles (48 km) north-northwest of Baleshwar. Baripada was founded in about 1800. The city is a trade centre for rice, sugarcane, and timber and has some

  • Barisal (Bangladesh)

    Barisal, city, south-central Bangladesh. It lies in the delta of the Padma (Ganges [Ganga]) and Jamuna (Brahmaputra) rivers on the Kirtonkhola, an offshoot of the Arial Khan River. Incorporated as a municipality in 1876, it is a trade centre, most notably for rice, jute, and fish. It is linked by

  • Barisal guns (natural phenomenon)

    Barisal: …natural phenomenon known as the Barisal guns, thundering noises heard in the delta and apparently coming from the sea. The sounds have not been satisfactorily explained. Pop. (2001) 192,810; (2011) 328,278.

  • Barisan Mountains (mountains, Indonesia)

    Indonesia: Islands of the Sunda Shelf: …plain along the west; the Barisan Mountains, which extend the length of the island close to its western edge and include a number of active volcanoes; an inner nonvolcanic zone of low hills grading down toward the stable platform of the Asian mainland; and the broad alluvial lowland, lying no…

  • Barisan Nasional (political coalition, Malaysia)

    Malaysia: Political process: …the late 2010s by the National Front (Barisan Nasional; BN), a broad coalition of ethnically oriented parties. Among the oldest and strongest of these parties are the United Malays National Organization (UMNO; long the driving force of the National Front), the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC),…

  • Barisan Sosialis (political party, Singapore)

    Lee Kuan Yew: Early life and political beginnings: …the party to form the Barisan Sosialis (“Socialist Front”), and Lee subsequently cut his remaining ties with the communists. Henceforth Lee and his fellow moderates within the PAP would dominate Singaporean politics.

  • Barisan, Pegunungan (mountains, Indonesia)

    Indonesia: Islands of the Sunda Shelf: …plain along the west; the Barisan Mountains, which extend the length of the island close to its western edge and include a number of active volcanoes; an inner nonvolcanic zone of low hills grading down toward the stable platform of the Asian mainland; and the broad alluvial lowland, lying no…

  • Barish, Barry C. (American physicist)

    Barry C. Barish is an American physicist who was awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and the first direct detection of gravity waves. He shared the prize with American physicists Rainer Weiss and Kip S. Thorne.

  • Barishal (Bangladesh)

    Barisal, city, south-central Bangladesh. It lies in the delta of the Padma (Ganges [Ganga]) and Jamuna (Brahmaputra) rivers on the Kirtonkhola, an offshoot of the Arial Khan River. Incorporated as a municipality in 1876, it is a trade centre, most notably for rice, jute, and fish. It is linked by

  • barite (mineral)

    barite, the most common barium mineral, barium sulfate (BaSO4). Barite occurs in hydrothermal ore veins (particularly those containing lead and silver), in sedimentary rocks such as limestone, in clay deposits formed by the weathering of limestone, in marine deposits, and in cavities in igneous

  • barite group (mineralogy)

    mineral: Sulfates: Members of the barite group constitute the most important and common anhydrous sulfates. They have orthorhombic symmetry with large divalent cations bonded to the sulfate ion. In barite (BaSO4), each barium ion is surrounded by 12 closest oxygen ions belonging to seven distinct SO4 groups. Anhydrite (CaSO4) exhibits…

  • baritone (vocal range)

    baritone, (from Greek barytonos, “deep-sounding”), in vocal music, the most common category of male voice, between the bass and the tenor and with some characteristics of both. Normally, the baritone parts are written for a range of A to f ′, but this may be extended in either direction,

  • baritone (saxhorn)

    baritone, valved brass instrument pitched in B♭ or C; it is a popular band instrument dating from the 19th century and was derived from the cornet and flügelhorn (valved bugle). It resembles the euphonium but has a narrower bore and three, rather than four or five, valves. Its range extends three

  • baritone clef (music)

    clef: The once common baritone clef set F at the middle line:

  • baritone oboe (musical instrument)

    oboe: The hautbois baryton, or baritone oboe, resembles a larger, lower voiced cor anglais in both tone and proportions. The heckelphone, with a larger reed and bore than the hautbois baryton, has a distinctive tone that is rather heavy in the low register. Instruments in other sizes…

  • barium (chemical element)

    barium (Ba), chemical element, one of the alkaline-earth metals of Group 2 (IIa) of the periodic table. The element is used in metallurgy, and its compounds are used in pyrotechnics, petroleum production, and radiology. atomic number 56 atomic weight 137.327 melting point 727 °C (1,341 °F) boiling

  • Barium (Italy)

    Bari, city, capital of Puglia (Apulia) regione, southeastern Italy. It is a port on the Adriatic Sea, northwest of Brindisi. The site may have been inhabited since 1500 bce. Greek influence was strong, and under the Romans, who called it Barium, it became an important port, the harbour being

  • barium carbonate (chemical compound)

    barium: Compounds: About 75 percent of all barium carbonate (BaCO3) goes into the manufacture of specialty glass, either to increase its refractive index or to provide radiation shielding in cathode-ray and television tubes. The carbonate also is used to make other barium chemicals, as a flux in ceramics, in the manufacture of…

  • barium chloride (chemical compound)

    barium: Compounds: Barium chloride (BaCl2·2H2O), consisting of colorless crystals that are soluble in water, is used in heat-treating baths and in laboratories as a chemical reagent to precipitate soluble sulfates. Although brittle, crystalline barium fluoride (BaF2) is transparent to a broad region of the electromagnetic spectrum and…

  • barium nitrate (chemical compound)

    barium: Compounds: Barium nitrate, formed with the nitrogen-oxygen group NO3−, and chlorate, formed with the chlorine-oxygen group ClO3−, are used for this effect in green signal flares and fireworks.

  • barium oxide (chemical compound)

    optics: Dispersion: …1884 it was discovered that barium oxide had the effect of raising the refractive index without increasing the dispersion, a property that proved to be of the greatest value in the design of photographic lenses known as anastigmats (lenses devoid of astigmatic aberration). In 1938 a further major improvement was…

  • barium peroxide (chemical compound)

    barium: Compounds: The oxygen compound barium peroxide (BaO2) was used in the 19th century for oxygen production (the Brin process) and as a source of hydrogen peroxide. Volatile barium compounds impart a yellowish green color to a flame, the emitted light being of mostly two characteristic wavelengths. Barium nitrate, formed…

  • barium selenide (chemical compound)

    crystal: Ionic bonds: …oxide (BaO), calcium sulfide (CaS), barium selenide (BaSe), or strontium oxide (SrO). They have the same structure as sodium chloride, with each atom having six neighbours. Oxygen can be combined with various cations to form a large number of ionically bonded solids.

  • barium sulfate (chemical compound)

    contrast medium: …extensively used opaque medium is barium sulfate. Stirred into water and usually flavoured, this insoluble heavy metal salt is swallowed by the patient for examination of his esophagus and stomach; it is also used as a barium enema to examine the rectum, colon, and terminal ileum. Iodized organic compounds are…

  • barium sulfide (chemical compound)

    lithopone: …precipitates upon mixing solutions of barium sulfide and zinc sulfate. The precipitate is recovered by filtration, then calcined (roasted) at temperatures above 600° C (1,112° F). Although lithopone has been replaced in many applications by titanium dioxide, introduced after World War I, it is still widely used in a number…

  • barium titanate (chemical compound)

    ceramic composition and properties: Crystal structure: However, in barium titanate (BaTiO3), shown in the figure, the central Ti4+ cation can be induced to move off-centre, leading to a noncubic symmetry and to an electrostatic dipole, or alignment of positive and negative charges toward opposite ends of the structure. This dipole is responsible for…

  • Barjelūnah (Spain)

    Barcelona, city, seaport, and capital of Barcelona provincia (province) and of Catalonia comunidad autónoma (autonomous community), northeastern Spain, located 90 miles (150 km) south of the French border. It is Spain’s major Mediterranean port and commercial centre and is famed for its

  • bark (plant tissue)

    bark, in woody plants, tissues external to the vascular cambium (the growth layer of the vascular cylinder); the term bark is also employed more popularly to refer to all tissues outside the wood. The inner soft bark, or bast, is produced by the vascular cambium; it consists of secondary phloem

  • bark (sailing craft)

    bark, sailing ship of three or more masts, the rear (mizzenmast) being rigged for a fore-and-aft rather than a square sail. Until fore-and-aft rigs were applied to large ships to reduce crew sizes, the term was often used for any small sailing vessel. In poetic use, a bark can be any sailing ship

  • bark beetle (insect)

    bark beetle, any of more than 2,000 species of bark beetles classified in the subfamily Scolytinae (along with certain ambrosia beetles; order Coleoptera) that exist worldwide and are cylindrical, usually less than 6 mm (0.25 inch) long, brown or black in colour, and often very destructive. The

  • bark canoe (watercraft)

    boat: Bark and skin craft: Bark canoes developed in a few areas, ranging in design from craft having only the most elementary framing to the highly developed birchbark canoes of the North American Indians. The birchbark canoes had a thin plank lining held against the inside of the bark cover…

  • bark cloth (art)

    bark painting, nonwoven fabric decorated with figurative and abstract designs usually applied by scratching or by painting. The basic clothlike material, produced from the inner bark, or bast, of certain trees (see bast fibre), is made by stripping off the bast, soaking it, and beating it to make

  • bark painting (art)

    bark painting, nonwoven fabric decorated with figurative and abstract designs usually applied by scratching or by painting. The basic clothlike material, produced from the inner bark, or bast, of certain trees (see bast fibre), is made by stripping off the bast, soaking it, and beating it to make

  • bark-gnawing beetle (insect family)

    bark-gnawing beetle, (family Trogossitidae), any of some 500 species of beetles (order Coleoptera) that are found under bark, in woody fungi, and in dry plant material, mostly in the tropics. Bark-gnawing beetles range from 5 to 20 mm (0.2 to 0.8 inch) and are dark-coloured. The species

  • Barka River (river, Africa)

    Eritrea: Drainage: …highlands of Eritrea are the Baraka and the Anseba. Both of these rivers flow northward into a marshy area on the eastern coast of Sudan and do not reach the Red Sea. Several seasonal streams that flow eastward from the plateau reach the sea on the Eritrean coast.

  • Barka, Mehdi Ben (Moroccan politician)

    Mehdi Ben Barka was a Moroccan revolutionary politician exiled to Paris whose abduction and presumed murder in October 1965 caused a political crisis for the government of French President Charles de Gaulle and led to ruptured diplomatic relations between France and Morocco for almost four years.

  • Barkashov, Aleksandr (Russian politician)

    fascism: Russia: …organization founded in 1990 by Aleksandr Barkashov, claimed to have an extensive network of local branches, but its electoral support was significantly less than that of the LDPR. Barkashov, a former commando in the Russian army, touted his blackshirts as a reserve force for the Russian army and the Ministry…

  • barkentine (ship)

    barkentine, sailing ship of three or more masts having fore-and-aft sails on all but the front mast (foremast), which is square rigged. Because of the reduction of square sails, it required fewer crew members and was popular in the Pacific after its introduction about

  • Barker lever (music)

    keyboard instrument: Stop and key mechanisms: …builder Aristide Cavaillé-Coll employed the Barker lever almost exclusively from 1840 on.

  • Barker’s mill (waterwheel)

    energy conversion: Waterwheels: …device, commonly known as a Barker’s mill, water flowed into a rotating vertical tube before being discharged through nozzles at the end of two horizontal arms. These directed the water out tangentially, much in the way that a modern rotary lawn sprinkler does. A rope or belt wound around the…

  • Barker, Anthony (English medical physicist)

    transcranial magnetic stimulation: …introduced by English medical physicist Anthony Barker in 1985 as a tool for neuropsychology and later was used therapeutically, primarily in the treatment of psychiatric disorders.

  • Barker, Arizona Donnie (American criminal)

    Ma Barker was the matriarch of an outlaw gang of brothers and allies engaged in kidnapping and in payroll, post-office, and bank robberies in the 1920s and ’30s. The activities of the gang, which included her sons the “Bloody Barkers”—Herman (1894–1927), Arthur, known as “Doc” (1899–1939), and Fred

  • Barker, Arthur (American criminal)

    Ma Barker: “Bloody Barkers”—Herman (1894–1927), Arthur, known as “Doc” (1899–1939), and Fred (1902–35)—ranged throughout the Midwestern United States from Minnesota to Texas. All met violent deaths. Ma Barker and Fred were killed at a Florida resort in a gun battle with the FBI, Arthur was killed in an attempted escape…

  • Barker, Bob (American game show host)

    Bob Barker was a fixture on daytime television as the longtime host (1972–2007) of the game show The Price Is Right. Barker also was a noted animal rights activist. During World War II, Barker trained as a U.S. Navy fighter pilot. After graduating from Drury College (now Drury University; B.A.,

  • Barker, Charles Spackman (British organ maker)

    keyboard instrument: Stop and key mechanisms: …developed in the 1830s by Charles Spackman Barker, an Englishman. It consisted of a series of small, high-pressure pneumatic bellows or motors, one attached to each key of the main manual at the console. When a key was depressed, compressed air was admitted to the motor, which, in turn, operated…

  • Barker, Doc (American criminal)

    Ma Barker: “Bloody Barkers”—Herman (1894–1927), Arthur, known as “Doc” (1899–1939), and Fred (1902–35)—ranged throughout the Midwestern United States from Minnesota to Texas. All met violent deaths. Ma Barker and Fred were killed at a Florida resort in a gun battle with the FBI, Arthur was killed in an attempted escape…

  • Barker, Frances Dana (American social reformer and writer)

    Frances Dana Barker Gage was an American social reformer and writer who was active in the antislavery, temperance, and women’s rights movements of the mid-19th century. Gage began her public involvement in the three prominent reform causes of the time—the abolition of slavery, temperance, and