Black Hundreds, reactionary, antirevolutionary, and anti-Semitic groups formed in Russia during and after the Russian Revolution of 1905. The most important of these groups were the League of the Russian People (Soyuz Russkogo Naroda), League of the Archangel Michael (Soyuz Mikhaila Arkhangela),

AC/DC: …Billboard number one album with Black Ice (2008). The band reached another milestone in 2010 when it collected its first Grammy Award (in the category of best hard rock performance) for the single “War Machine.”

Juneteenth, holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, observed annually on June 19. (Read Charles Blow’s Britannica essay on the Juneteenth holiday.) In 1863, during the American Civil War, Pres. Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared more than

Europop: …generally considered Los Bravos’ “Black Is Black,” a million-seller in 1966. Los Bravos was a Spanish group with a German lead singer and a British producer. Their success was a model for both cross-European collaboration and commercial opportunism. The skill of the Europop producer (and this is a producer-led…

Jack Brabham was an Australian race-car driver, engineer, and team owner who won the Formula One (F1) Grand Prix world drivers’ championship three times (1959, 1960, and 1966) and the automobile constructors’ championship twice (1966 and 1967). In 1966 he became the first man to win a world driving

John J. Pershing was a U.S. Army general who commanded the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in Europe during World War I. Pershing graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1886. He was commissioned a second lieutenant and assigned to the 6th Cavalry, which was

C.L.R. James: His most notable work was The Black Jacobins (1938), a Marxist study of the Haitian slave revolution of the 1790s, which won him widespread acclaim.

black panther, colloquial term used to refer to large felines classified in the genus Panthera that are characterized by a coat of black fur or large concentrations of black spots set against a dark background. The term black panther is most frequently applied to black-coated leopards (Panthera

black varnish: In coachbuilders’ black japan, only the purest grades of asphalt or pitch are used, together with a hard gum, such as copal. Berlin black has a matte or eggshell finish, achieved by incorporating a proportion of vegetable or other carbon black. See also japanning.

Earl Monroe is an American basketball player who is regarded as one of the finest ball handlers in the sport’s history. In 1967 Monroe entered the National Basketball Association (NBA) as an urban legend, a high-scoring virtuoso with fabled one-on-one moves. He retired 13 years later, after he

Cochin Jews: …groups—the Paradesis (White Jews), the Malabaris (Black Jews), and the Meshuchrarim (Brown Jews). Whereas they once numbered in the thousands, only about 50 Cochin Jews remained on the Malabar Coast in the early 21st century.

Judaism: Judaism in other lands: …in this article; and the Black Jews of the United States, whose place in and relation to the rest of the community remains unclear.

Tony Brown: …educator, and filmmaker who hosted Tony Brown’s Journal (1968–2008; original name Black Journal until 1977), the longest-running Black news program in television history.

Nikki Giovanni: …Black Feeling Black Talk (1968), Black Judgement (1968), and Re: Creation (1970), her content was urgently revolutionary and suffused with deliberate interpretation of experience through a Black consciousness.

Sand Creek Massacre: …army and the Indigenous peoples, Black Kettle, White Antelope, and some 30 other Cheyenne and Arapaho chiefs and leaders had brought their people, as “Friendly Indians of the Plains,” to the site along the Sand Creek near Fort Lyon in accordance with instructions issued by Colorado Territorial Gov. John Evans…

Yelü Dashi: …first emperor (1124–43) of the Xi (Western) Liao dynasty (1124–1211) of Central Asia.

Gary Player is a South African who was one of the world’s best professional golfers in the post-World War II era. He was the third man (after Gene Sarazen and Ben Hogan, both of the United States) to win the four major tournaments composing the modern golf Grand Slam. In 1955 Player entered

black knot, serious and progressive fungal disease of wild and cultivated Prunus species in North America. Black knot is caused by the fungus Apiosporina morbosa (formerly Dibotryon morbosum), which can spread both sexually and asexually. Plums, cherries, apricots, chokecherries, and other species

Quinta Brunson: Early comedy career: …first season (2019) of HBO’s A Black Lady Sketch Show.

Rebecca West: …visited Yugoslavia and later wrote Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, 2 vol. (1942), an examination of Balkan politics, culture, and history. In 1946 she reported on the trial for treason of William Joyce (“Lord Haw-Haw”) for The New Yorker magazine. Published as The Meaning of Treason (1949; rev. ed., 1965),…

lancewood: The black lancewood, or carisiri, of the Guianas, Guatteria virgata, grows to a height of about 50 feet (15 m) and has a remarkably slender trunk that is seldom more than 8 inches (20 cm) in diameter. The yellow lancewood tree (Duguetia quitarensis), or yari-yari, of…

Llewelyn Powys: His finest works were Black Laughter (1924), a collection of essays reflecting his experiences in Kenya from 1914 to 1919; Skin for Skin (1925), a philosophical narrative of his confrontation with tuberculosis (from which he suffered until his death); Impassioned Clay (1931), an exploration of spirituality; and Love and…

graphite, mineral consisting of carbon. Graphite has a greasy feel and leaves a black mark, thus the name from the Greek verb graphein, “to write.” Graphite has a layered structure that consists of rings of six carbon atoms arranged in widely spaced horizontal sheets. Graphite thus crystallizes in

Kobus: …some forms, among them the black and Nile lechwes (K. leche smithemani and K. megaceros), the male is dark blackish brown and the female reddish brown. Markings on these antelopes include patches of white, such as a white ring on the rump of the common waterbuck and black markings on…

Black Legend, term indicating an unfavourable image of Spain and Spaniards, accusing them of cruelty and intolerance, formerly prevalent in the works of many non-Spanish, and especially Protestant, historians. Primarily associated with criticism of 16th-century Spain and the anti-Protestant

lemur: Lemur diversity: …related genus Eulemur include the black lemur (E. macaco), in which the male is black and the female is reddish brown. The rare black-and-white or black-and-red ruffed lemurs (genus Varecia) live in rainforests on the eastern side of Madagascar. The gentle lemurs, or lesser bamboo lemurs (genus Hapalemur), and the…

black panther, colloquial term used to refer to large felines classified in the genus Panthera that are characterized by a coat of black fur or large concentrations of black spots set against a dark background. The term black panther is most frequently applied to black-coated leopards (Panthera

black letter, in calligraphy, a style of alphabet that was used for manuscript books and documents throughout Europe—especially in German-speaking countries—from the end of the 12th century to the 20th century. It is distinguished by a uniform treatment of vertical strokes that end on the baseline

Black life on Martha’s Vineyard, a community residing on Martha’s Vineyard, the Massachusetts island known as a summertime haven for white, so-called “coastal elites” that is also the home of a thriving Black community. Since the turn of the 20th century, the year-round Black population and the

ultraviolet radiation: …UVA (400–315 nm), also called black light; UVB (315–280 nm), responsible for the radiation’s best-known effects on organisms; and UVC (280–100 nm), which does not reach Earth’s surface.

subbituminous coal, generally dark brown to black coal, intermediate in rank between lignite and bituminous coal according to the coal classification used in the United States and Canada. In many countries subbituminous coal is considered to be a brown coal. Subbituminous coal contains 42 to 52

John Howard Griffin: …racism in the best seller Black like Me (1961). The book—which detailed countless incidents of hatred, suspicion, and hostility toward Griffin, who was by all appearances African American—sold more than a million copies and later became a motion picture (1964). Griffin’s story was detailed in Robert Bonazzi’s Man in the…

Lisu: The Chinese distinguish between Black Lisu, White Lisu, and Flowery Lisu, terms that seem to relate to their degree of assimilation of Chinese culture. In the 1960s the Black Lisu, living highest up in the Salween River valley, were least assimilated; they wore coarse clothes of homespun hemp, while…

Black Lives Matter (BLM), international social movement, formed in the United States in 2013, dedicated to fighting racism and anti-Black violence, especially in the form of police brutality. The name Black Lives Matter signals condemnation of the unjust killings of Black people by police (Black

locust: …cultivated as ornamentals, especially the black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), often called false acacia, or yellow locust. A number of species are also useful for erosion control and as timber trees.

black lung, respiratory disorder, a type of pneumoconiosis caused by repeated inhalation of coal dust over a period of years. The disease gets its name from a distinctive blue-black marbling of the lung caused by accumulation of the dust. Georgius Agricola, a German mineralogist, first described

Russell Coutts: …poised to lead the yacht Black Magic to the first-ever America’s Cup defense by non-Americans, but, instead of setting a personal record, Coutts had another surprise for the sailing world. In the fifth race of the best-five-of-nine series, he yielded command of the Black Magic to his backup helmsman, 26-year-old…

sorcery, the practice of malevolent magic, derived from casting lots as a means of divining the future in the ancient Mediterranean world. Some scholars distinguish sorcery from witchcraft by noting that it is learned rather than intrinsic. Other scholars, noting that modern witches claim to learn

Orson Welles: Films of the later 1940s: The Stranger, The Lady from Shanghai, and Macbeth: …few scenes) in Gregory Ratoff’s Black Magic (1949). He starred in other films, including Henry King’s Prince of Foxes (1949), as a colourful Cesare Borgia, and most famously Carol Reed’s classic thriller The Third Man (1949), as the amoral Harry Lime. Welles would spend much of the next 25 years…

black mamba, (Dendroaspis polylepis), species of mamba snake known for its large size, quickness, and extremely potent venom. It lives in sub-Saharan Africa and is one of the continent’s most dangerous snakes. The average black mamba is 2–2.5 metres (6.6–8.2 feet) long, with a maximum length of 4.3

John Oliver Killens: …his 1965 collection of essays Black Man’s Burden, which addressed the African American experience in the United States and denounced the nonviolent approach to facing oppression.

mangabey: The black mangabey (L. aterrimus) has long curved gray whiskers on the cheeks and a coconut-like crest on the crown; it replaces the gray-cheeked species south of the Congo River. A little-known subspecies of the black mangabey, Opdenbosch’s mangabey (L. aterrimus opdenboschi) has a shorter crest,…

Avicennia, genus comprising at least eight species of trees or shrubs in the family Acanthaceae. Avicennia has a wide geographical distribution, with members found in intertidal estuaries along many of the world’s tropical and warm temperate coasts. Their fleshy, leathery leaves are opposite and

bittern: Somewhat larger is the black mangrove bittern (I. flavicollis), of southeastern Asia and Australia. This species shows plumelike development of the crown and neck feathers and is sometimes separated as Dupetor. For information on tiger bitterns, or tiger herons, see heron.

Manhattan: Ingredients and varieties: The Black Manhattan uses amaro (a bitter Italian liqueur) in place of vermouth, and the Revolver substitutes coffee liqueur for vermouth. Further, Manhattans may be made with other liquors in lieu of whiskey, including brandy, rum, and tequila. In addition, orange or lemon peels are sometimes…

mezzotint, a method of engraving a metal plate by systematically and evenly pricking its entire surface with innumerable small holes that will hold ink and, when printed, produce large areas of tone. The pricking of the plate was originally done with a roulette (a small wheel covered with sharp

maple syrup: …sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and black maple (Acer nigrum). Some botanists consider the second to be a subspecies of the first, but in any event the flavour of their syrups is nearly indistinguishable, with a rich, hearty taste that is not overwhelmingly sweet. The black maple, however, is less abundant…

black market, trading in violation of publicly imposed regulations such as rationing laws, laws against certain goods, and official rates of exchange among currencies. Rationing is common in wartime in order to equalize the distribution of scarce goods and services; black-market activity may

marlin: The black marlin (Istiompax indica) grows as large or larger than the blue. It is known to reach a weight of more than 700 kg (1,500 pounds). An Indo-Pacific species, it is blue or blue-gray above and lighter below; its distinctive stiff pectoral fins are set…

Marsha P. Johnson was a Black American drag queen and activist who was dedicated to social justice for the gay and transgender communities. She was a pioneer of the gay rights movement in the late 1960s and spent the following two decades advocating for equal rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual,

Whitey Bulger: … portrayed him in the biopic Black Mass (2015). His exploits were also chronicled in multiple television shows and documentaries, including Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger (2014), which proved controversial for featuring Bulger’s claim that he was never an informant despite a wealth of evidence otherwise.

black mass, in the Roman Catholic church, a requiem mass during which the celebrant wears black vestments. The term is more commonly used, however, for a blasphemous and usually obscene burlesque of the true mass performed by satanic cults. The naked back of a woman often serves as an altar, and a

shamrock: Black medic (Medicago lupulina) is also sometimes referred to as a shamrock.

Haki R. Madhubuti: …Afrikan Minds and Institutions (1973), Black Men: Obsolete, Single, Dangerous?: Afrikan American Families in Transition: Essays in Discovery, Solution, and Hope (1990), and Tough Notes: A Healing Call for Creating Exceptional Black Men: Affirmations, Meditations, Readings, and Strategies (2002). The memoir YellowBlack: The First Twenty-One Years of a Poet’s Life…

Cimarron River: …the Cimarron flows east past Black Mesa, a peak 4,973 feet (1,516 meters) high, through the northern Oklahoma Panhandle and bends northward through the southeastern corner of Colorado and the southwestern corner of Kansas. The riverbed in this area is dry except during spring and early summer or during occasional…

pipeline: Slurry pipelines: …longest coal-slurry pipeline is the Black Mesa pipeline in the United States. Built in 1970, this 18-inch pipeline transports 4.8 million tons of coal per year from Black Mesa, Ariz., to southern Nevada, over a distance of 273 miles. This coal pipeline has been highly successful. Many other long-distance slurry…

biotite, a silicate mineral in the common mica group. It is abundant in metamorphic rocks (both regional and contact), in pegmatites, and also in granites and other intrusive igneous rocks. For chemical formula and detailed physical properties, see mica (table). Biotite is regarded as a mixture

Daniel Kaluuya: …the dystopian sci-fi anthology series Black Mirror. His attempts at breaking into movies yielded small parts in the crime drama Welcome to the Punch and the crime comedy Kick-Ass 2 (both 2013).

Black Mischief, satiric novel by Evelyn Waugh, published in 1932. The book skewers attempts to impose European customs and beliefs upon so-called primitive peoples. The story is set in the fictional empire of Azania, an island off the coast of Africa. Upon the death of the emperor of Azania, rule

sooty mold, plant disease characterized by splotchy black stains or coatings on leaves, stems, and fruit. The black residue of sooty mold is composed of dark fungal threads of a number of ascomycetes, including species of Alternaria, Capnodium, Cladosporium, Fumago, and Scorias. These fungi grow in

Black Monday, global stock market crash that occurred on October 19, 1987. There have been several Black Mondays in history that are connected to stock market collapses, but what is arguably the worst of them arrived in 1987. October 19 was the day when global stock markets went into collective

Don Cheadle: …cast in another dark comedy, Black Monday (2019– ), centred on the stock market crash of October 19, 1987, and his performance earned him his 9th and 10th Emmy nominations. In 2021 he and Benicio Del Toro starred as small-time criminals in Soderbergh’s No Sudden Move, a drama set in…

stock market crash of 1929: The panic began again on Black Monday (October 28), with the market closing down 12.8 percent. On Black Tuesday (October 29) more than 16 million shares were traded. The Dow lost another 12 percent and closed at 198—a drop of 183 points in less than two months. Prime securities tumbled…

The Black Monk, short story by Anton Chekhov, first published in Russian as “Chorny monakh” in 1894. “The Black Monk,” Chekhov’s final philosophical short story, concerns Kovrin, a mediocre scientist who has grandiose hallucinations in which a black-robed monk convinces him that he possesses

David Rabe: … (1998); The Dog Problem (2002); The Black Monk (2004), based on a Chekhov short story; An Early History of Fire (first performed 2012); and Visiting Edna (2016).

Marcus Garvey was a charismatic Black leader who organized the first important American Black nationalist movement (1919–26), based in New York City’s Harlem. Largely self-taught, Garvey attended school in Jamaica until he was 14. After traveling in Central America and living in London from 1912 to

Spanish moss, (Tillandsia usneoides), epiphyte (a nonparasitic plant that is supported by another plant and has aerial roots exposed to the humid atmosphere) of the pineapple family (Bromeliaceae). It is found in southern North America, the West Indies, and Central and South America. The

sooty mold, plant disease characterized by splotchy black stains or coatings on leaves, stems, and fruit. The black residue of sooty mold is composed of dark fungal threads of a number of ascomycetes, including species of Alternaria, Capnodium, Cladosporium, Fumago, and Scorias. These fungi grow in

Black Mountain College, experimental liberal arts college in Black Mountain, North Carolina, U.S. (about 20 miles [32 km] east of Asheville), founded in 1933 by scholars John Andrew Rice and Theodore Dreier. In little more than two decades, the college proved a wide-reaching influence on the larger

Black Mountain poets, a loosely associated group of poets that formed an important part of the avant-garde of American poetry in the 1950s, publishing innovative yet disciplined verse in The Black Mountain Review (1954–57), which became a leading forum of experimental verse. The group grew up

Black Mountain Range, southern spur of the Assam Himalayas in Bhutan. It lies between the Sankosh River (west) and the Mangde (Tongsa) River (east), and tributaries of the two rivers run through deep ravines down its steep slopes. The road between Punakha and Tongsa Dzong (a fortified monastery)

Black Mountain poets: …innovative yet disciplined verse in The Black Mountain Review (1954–57), which became a leading forum of experimental verse.

Black Mountains, plateau in Powys county, Wales, lying east of the River Usk and extending between Abergavenny and Hay-on-Wye. Waun Fach (2,660 ft [811 m]) is the highest

Black Mountains, mountain range in Yancey and Buncombe counties in western North Carolina, U.S., part of the Appalachian Mountains extending north from the Blue Ridge. The range includes Mount Mitchell (6,684 feet [2,037 meters]), the highest point east of the Mississippi River. Since the Black

mulberry: Major species: Black mulberry (M. nigra), the most common species, is a native of western Asia that spread westward in cultivation at an early period. Up to the 15th century it was extensively grown in Italy for raising silkworms, but it has since been superseded by white…

Nation of Islam, African American movement and organization, founded in 1930 and known for its teachings combining elements of traditional Islam with Black nationalist ideas. The Nation also promotes racial unity and self-help and maintains a strict code of discipline among members. Islam was

Deborah Kerr: …role of Sister Clodagh in Black Narcissus (1947), for which she won her first New York Film Critics’ Circle Award (her subsequent awards were for Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison [1957] and The Sundowners [1960]). Black Narcissus became an international hit and led to an MGM contract and the opportunity to…

Jim Broadbent: …priest in the TV miniseries Black Narcissus, an adaptation of a novel by Rumer Godden.

Rumer Godden: Black Narcissus (1939; filmed 1946), her first novel to achieve popular success, concerns a group of English nuns who surmount physical and emotional difficulties to establish a mission in the Himalayas. Underlying the plot are the issues of cultures in conflict and obsessive love, both…

Black nationalism, political and social movement prominent in the 1960s and early ’70s in the United States that gained popularity among Black Americans. The movement sought to acquire economic power and to infuse among Black people a sense of community and group feeling. The roots of Black

Mary J. Blige: Acting career: … (2012), Betty and Coretta (2013), Black Nativity (2013), and Mudbound (2017). For her work in the latter movie, a drama about racism in 1940s Mississippi, Blige earned an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress. In addition, “Mighty River,” which she cowrote and sang for the film’s soundtrack, received an…

Langston Hughes: Documenting African American culture and posthumous works: Black Nativity (1961; film 2013) is a gospel play that uses Hughes’s poetry, along with gospel standards and scriptural passages, to retell the story of the birth of Jesus. It was an international success, and performances of the work—often diverging substantially from the original—became a…

nightshade: The black nightshade (S. nigrum) is also generally considered poisonous, but its fully ripened fruit and foliage are cooked and eaten in some areas.

Rome: People of Rome: …such Romans are the “black nobility,” families with papal titles who form a society within high society, shunning publicity and not given to great intimacy with the “white nobility,” whose titles were conferred by mere temporal rulers. The inhabitants who consider themselves the most nobly Roman of them all…

Nossob River: …the White Nossob and the Black Nossob, both of which rise northeast of Windhoek (the national capital). Their confluence is north of Leonardville, which is located near the tropic of Capricorn. The Nossob then follows a southeasterly course, passing through the thick, porous sands of the semiarid western Kalahari (Desert).…

black oak, (Quercus velutina), North American timber tree belonging to the red oak group. The tree is distributed throughout the eastern United States. It grows on exposed slopes and ridges, as it cannot tolerate shade. Black oak usually grows to about 25 meters (80 feet) tall and may grow to 45

Black Obelisk, Assyrian monument of King Shalmaneser III (reigned 858–824 bc). The most complete Assyrian obelisk yet discovered, it is decorated with cuneiform inscriptions and reliefs recording military campaigns and other triumphs, including payment of tribute by King Jehu of Israel (reigned

opal: Black opal, with a very dark gray or blue to black body colour, is particularly rare and highly prized. White opal, with light body colours, and fire opal, characterized by yellow, orange, or red body colour, are much more common.

Tyra Banks: Early life and modeling career: …videos including Michael Jackson’s “Black or White” (1991), Tina Turner’s “Love Thing” (1992), and George Michael’s “Too Funky” (1992). In 1992 she returned from Paris, and in 1993 she was featured in a recurring role on several episodes of the television comedy series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990–96),…

Kevin Costner: Open Range, Hidden Figures, and Molly’s Game: …raise his biracial granddaughter in Black or White. The next year he starred as a high-school cross-country running coach in McFarland, USA.

Coelogyne: The black orchid (C. pandurata) has black velvety markings on its fiddle-shaped central labellum (modified petal); it bears from 5 to 15 greenish yellow flowers.

Neil Gaiman: Background and Black Orchid: …Comics, and the result was Black Orchid, a miniseries that helped establish the atmosphere for the DC renaissance of the late 1980s. Along with Alan Moore’s work on Watchmen (1986–87) and Swamp Thing (1983–87) and Frank Miller’s gritty interpretation of Batman in The Dark Knight Returns (1986), the success of…

Hudsonian orogeny: …Mazatzal orogeny in Arizona, the Black orogeny in South Dakota, and the Penokean orogeny in the southern part of the Lake Superior region may represent the Hudsonian event in the United States. Precambrian rocks in the Southern Province, which extends south-southwest of Lake Superior into the mid-continental United States, also…

Orpheus: …Brazilian director Marcel Camus’s film Black Orpheus (1959).

Es’kia Mphahlele: … of the influential literary periodical Black Orpheus (1960–64), published in Ibadan, Nigeria; founder and director of Chemchemi, a cultural centre in Nairobi for artists and writers (1963–65); and editor of the periodical Africa Today (1967). He received a doctorate from the University of Denver in 1968. In 1977 he returned…

Gertrude Atherton: Her controversial novel Black Oxen (1923), the story of a woman revitalized by hormone treatments and based on Atherton’s own experience, was her biggest popular success.

oystercatcher: The black oystercatcher (H. bachmani), of western North America, and the sooty oystercatcher (H. fuliginosus), of Australia, are dark except for the pinkish legs.

Sun Temple, temple in Konark, Odisha state, India, that is dedicated to the Hindu sun god Surya. It was built of stone in the 13th century. The Sun Temple is the pinnacle of Hindu Orissan architecture and is unique in terms of its sculptural innovations and the quality of its carvings. Textual

Hitching a Ride: …bright orange fruits of the black palm (Astrocaryum standleyanum), for example, comprise a seed covered by a tough woody layer forming a nut, or stone, which is in turn covered by a layer of pulp. When the fruit ripens and drops to the forest floor, many animals come to eat…

Black Panther: Black Panther in film and other media: Director Ryan Coogler helmed Black Panther (2018), a dazzling spectacle that saw Boseman return to the screen in the role of T’Challa. Perhaps the MCU’s best-reviewed film to date, Black Panther examined race, gender, and power issues through an Afrofuturist lens and featured an ensemble cast that included Michael…