• Bunter (geology)

    geochronology: Completion of the Phanerozoic time scale: …three distinct lithostratigraphic units, the Bunter Sandstone, the Muschelkalk Limestone, and the Keuper Marls and Clays, as constituting the Trias or Triassic System.

  • Bunter (fictional character)

    Bunter, fictional character, the perfect valet in the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries of Dorothy L. Sayers. Bunter served bravely as a sergeant under (then Captain) Wimsey during World War I, and he remained in Wimsey’s service after the war. A knowledgeable bibliophile, an expert photographer, and a

  • Bunter Sandstone (geological region, Germany)

    Germany: Southern Germany: …are farmed, but the massive Bunter Sandstone fringing the Black Forest and the Keuper scarp are mainly wooded. West of the Rhine there are again wide stretches of forested Bunter Sandstone, with more open country in the Saar region and along the foot of the Hunsrück upland.

  • Bunter, Billy (fictional character)

    Billy Bunter, fictional character, a fat English schoolboy at Greyfriars School who, though an antihero, is the best-known character in a much-loved series of stories by Frank Richards (Charles Hamilton), published in the English boys’ weekly paper the Magnet (1908–40) and in hardbound books (from

  • Bunter, William George (fictional character)

    Billy Bunter, fictional character, a fat English schoolboy at Greyfriars School who, though an antihero, is the best-known character in a much-loved series of stories by Frank Richards (Charles Hamilton), published in the English boys’ weekly paper the Magnet (1908–40) and in hardbound books (from

  • bunting (cloth)

    gauze: …for dustcloths and the like; bunting, made of cotton or wool, dyed and used for flags and decorations; scrim, made of cotton and used for curtains; and tobacco cloth, used as shade covering for tobacco plants. The main differences between them are in the finishing (for example, cheesecloth that is…

  • bunting (bird)

    bunting, any of about 50 species of seed-eating birds of the families Emberizidae and Cardinalidae, in the Old World genus Emberiza and also a number of American species in two other genera, Passerina and Plectrophenax. In some species, males are very brightly coloured. The Old World buntings are a

  • Bunting, Basil (British poet)

    English literature: Poetry: Basil Bunting’s Briggflatts (1966) celebrates his native Northumbria. The dour poems of R.S. Thomas commemorate a harsh rural Wales of remote hill farms where gnarled, inbred celibates scratch a subsistence from the thin soil.

  • Buntline, Ned (American writer)

    E.Z.C. Judson was an American adventurer and writer, an originator of the so-called dime novels that were popular during the late 19th century. Judson’s earlier stories were based on the exploits of his own picaresque career, which began as a cabin boy in the U.S. Navy. He rose to the rating of

  • Bunton, Emma Lee (British entertainer)

    Spice Girls: …and Baby Spice (byname of Emma Lee Bunton; b. January 21, 1976, London, England).

  • Bunton, Jaleel (American musician)

    TV on the Radio: February 27, 1973, Pennsylvania), drummer Jaleel Bunton (in full Jaleel Marcus Bunton; b. October 24, 1974, California), and bassist-keyboardist Gerard Smith (in full Gerard Anthony Smith; b. September 20, 1974, New York, New York—d. April 20, 2011, Brooklyn, New York).

  • Bunton, Jaleel Marcus (American musician)

    TV on the Radio: February 27, 1973, Pennsylvania), drummer Jaleel Bunton (in full Jaleel Marcus Bunton; b. October 24, 1974, California), and bassist-keyboardist Gerard Smith (in full Gerard Anthony Smith; b. September 20, 1974, New York, New York—d. April 20, 2011, Brooklyn, New York).

  • Buñuel, Luis (Spanish director)

    Luis Buñuel was a Spanish filmmaker who was a leading figure in Surrealism, the tenets of which suffused both his life and his work. An unregenerate atheist and communist sympathizer who was preoccupied with themes of gratuitous cruelty, eroticism, and religious mania, he won early fame with

  • Bunurrunha (mountain, Western Australia, Australia)

    Mount Bruce, mountain in the Hamersley Range, northwestern Western Australia, southwest of Wittenoom Gorge. The second highest peak in the state, it rises to 4,052 feet (1,235 metres) and constitutes one of the main attractions of Karijini National Park. Known to the Aborigines as Punurrunha or

  • bunya bunya (plant)

    bunya pine, (Araucaria bidwillii), large evergreen conifer of the family Araucariaceae, native to humid areas in southeastern Queensland, Australia. The saplings are sold as houseplants in many areas, and the cream-coloured wood is used for veneers, plywood, and boxes. The tree’s large sweet seeds

  • Bunya Mountains (mountains, Australia)

    Kingaroy: The nearby Bunya Mountains, which rise to 3,727 feet (1,136 metres) at Mount Kiangarow, were important to Aboriginal people as a source of bunya pine nuts and have now been included within Bunya Mountains National Park. Pop. (2006) local government area, 12,222; (2011) urban centre, 9,587.

  • bunya pine (plant)

    bunya pine, (Araucaria bidwillii), large evergreen conifer of the family Araucariaceae, native to humid areas in southeastern Queensland, Australia. The saplings are sold as houseplants in many areas, and the cream-coloured wood is used for veneers, plywood, and boxes. The tree’s large sweet seeds

  • Bunyan (typeface)

    Eric Gill: …for machine use and renamed Pilgrim in 1953.

  • Bunyan, John (English author)

    John Bunyan was a celebrated English minister and preacher, author of The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678), the book that was the most characteristic expression of the Puritan religious outlook. His other works include doctrinal and controversial writings; a spiritual autobiography, Grace Abounding

  • Bunyan, Paul (legendary character)

    Paul Bunyan, giant lumberjack, mythical hero of the lumber camps in the United States, a symbol of bigness, strength, and vitality. The tales and anecdotes that form the Paul Bunyan legend are typical of the tradition of frontier tall tales. Paul and his companions, Babe the Blue Ox and Johnny

  • Bunyaviridae (virus group)

    bunyavirus, any virus belonging to the family Bunyaviridae. Bunyaviruses have enveloped virions (virus particles) that are about 80–120 nm (1 nm = 10−9 meter) in diameter. The nucleocapsid (consisting of a protein shell, or capsid, and viral nucleic acids) is helical and elongated. The bunyavirus

  • bunyavirus (virus group)

    bunyavirus, any virus belonging to the family Bunyaviridae. Bunyaviruses have enveloped virions (virus particles) that are about 80–120 nm (1 nm = 10−9 meter) in diameter. The nucleocapsid (consisting of a protein shell, or capsid, and viral nucleic acids) is helical and elongated. The bunyavirus

  • bunyip (mythological creature)

    bunyip, in Australian Aboriginal folklore, a legendary monster said to inhabit the reedy swamps and lagoons of the interior of Australia. The amphibious animal was variously described as having a round head, an elongated neck, and a body resembling that of an ox, hippopotamus, or manatee; some

  • Bunyoro (people)

    Nyoro, an Interlacustrine Bantu people living just east of Lake Albert (also called Lake Mobutu Sese Seko), west of the Victoria Nile, in west central Uganda. In precolonial times, the Nyoro formed one of the most powerful of a number of kingdoms in the area. Until the 18th century the Bunyoro

  • Bunyoro (historical kingdom, East Africa)

    Bunyoro, East African kingdom that flourished from the 16th to the 19th century west of Lake Victoria, in present-day Uganda. Bunyoro was established by invaders from the north; as cattle keepers, the immigrants constituted a privileged social group that ruled over the Bantu-speaking

  • bunyoro rabbit (mammal)

    rabbit: Diversity and conservation status: The bunyoro rabbit (Poelagus majorita) has a broad range in Central Africa, while the three species of rockhares (genus Pronolagus) are all found in Southern Africa. Each is locally common and inhabits rocky areas associated with grass or woodlands. The riverine rabbit (Bunolagus monticularis) is endemic…

  • Bunyoro-Kitara (historical kingdom, East Africa)

    Bunyoro, East African kingdom that flourished from the 16th to the 19th century west of Lake Victoria, in present-day Uganda. Bunyoro was established by invaders from the north; as cattle keepers, the immigrants constituted a privileged social group that ruled over the Bantu-speaking

  • Buol-Schauenstein, Karl Ferdinand, Graf von (foreign minister of Austria)

    Karl Ferdinand, count von Buol-Schauenstein was the foreign minister (1852–59) of the Habsburg Austrian Empire, whose policies led to the estrangement of Russia and the disintegration of the conservative Holy Alliance among Austria, Prussia, and Russia. Entering the Austrian diplomatic service in

  • buon fresco (painting)

    painting: Buon fresco: Buon’, or “true,” fresco is the most-durable method of painting murals, since the pigments are completely fused with a damp plaster ground to become an integral part of the wall surface. The stone or brick wall is first prepared with a brown trullisatio…

  • Buon Me Thuot (Vietnam)

    Buon Me Thuot, largest city in the central highlands of southern Vietnam. It lies at an elevation of 1,759 feet (536 metres) at the southern end of the Dac Lac Plateau, 55 miles (89 km) north-northwest of Da Lat. It has teacher-training and vocational schools, hospitals, and a commercial airport.

  • buona figliuola, La (opera by Piccinni)

    Niccolò Piccinni: …years was the opera buffa La buona figliuola, or La cecchina (1760), on a libretto by Goldoni based on Richardson’s novel Pamela. It was written in the new style, later epitomized in the operas of Mozart, that incorporated serious or sentimental subject matter into the flexible musical style of the…

  • Buonanni, Filippo (French writer)

    lacquerwork: Europe: …rules of a treatise by Filippo Buonanni (1722), a great originality was achieved by the informal spacing of bouquets of flowers around gracefully posed figures set against delicate hues of yellow and bluish green.

  • Buonaparte family (French history)

    Bonaparte Family, a family made famous by Napoleon I, emperor of the French (1804–1814/15). The French form Bonaparte was not commonly used, even by Napoleon, until after the spring of 1796. The original name was Buonaparte, which was borne in the early Middle Ages by several distinct families in

  • Buonaparte, Carlo Maria (father of Napoleon)

    Carlo Maria Buonaparte was the father of Napoleon I. Buonaparte took a law degree at the University of Pisa and, after the French conquest of Corsica in 1769, became assessor to the royal court for Ajaccio and the neighbouring districts. His restless and dissatisfied nature led him to press or

  • Buonaparte, Giuseppe (king of Spain and Naples)

    Joseph Bonaparte was a lawyer, diplomat, soldier, and Napoleon I’s eldest surviving brother, who was successively king of Naples (1806–08) and king of Spain (1808–13). Like his brothers, Joseph embraced the French republican cause and, with the victory of Corsican patriot Pasquale Paoli, was forced

  • Buonaparte, Letizia (mother of Napoleon)

    Letizia Buonaparte was the mother of Napoleon I by Carlo Maria Buonaparte, whom she married in 1764. Simple and frugal in her tastes and devout in thought, she helped to bind her children to the life of Corsica. Although, during her son’s ascendance, she was endowed with immense wealth and

  • Buonaparte, Luciano (French politician)

    Lucien Bonaparte was Napoleon I’s second surviving brother who, as president of the Council of Five Hundred at Saint-Cloud, was responsible for Napoleon’s election as consul on 19 Brumaire (Nov. 10, 1799). Educated in France, Lucien returned to Corsica in 1789 and became an outspoken speaker in the

  • Buonaparte, Luigi (king of Holland)

    Louis Bonaparte was a French soldier and Napoleon I’s third surviving brother. As king of Holland (1806–10), he guarded the welfare of his subjects. His unwillingness to join the Continental System brought him into conflict with the emperor. After attending military school at Châlons, France, Louis

  • Buonaparte, Maria Anna Elisa (sister of Napoleon)

    Élisa Bonaparte was Napoleon I’s eldest sister to survive infancy. She was married on May 1, 1797, to Félix Baciocchi, a member of a Corsican noble family. Napoleon gave her the principality of Piombino in March 1805 and the principality of Lucca in the following June and finally, in March 1809,

  • Buonaparte, Maria Letizia (mother of Napoleon)

    Letizia Buonaparte was the mother of Napoleon I by Carlo Maria Buonaparte, whom she married in 1764. Simple and frugal in her tastes and devout in thought, she helped to bind her children to the life of Corsica. Although, during her son’s ascendance, she was endowed with immense wealth and

  • Buonaparte, Maria Nunziata Carolina (queen of Naples)

    Caroline Bonaparte was the queen of Naples (1808–15), Napoleon’s youngest sister and the wife (1800) of Joachim Murat. As a result of her ambitious and intriguing nature, her husband became governor of Paris, marshal of France (1804), grand duke of Berg and of Cleves (1806), lieutenant of the

  • Buonaparte, Maria Paola (sister of Napoleon)

    Pauline Bonaparte was the second sister of Napoleon to survive infancy, and was the gayest and most beautiful of his sisters. She married Gen. C.V.E. Leclerc (1772–1802), a staff officer of Napoleon, in 1797 and accompanied him to San Domingo. When Leclerc died of yellow fever she returned to

  • Buonaparte, Napoleone (emperor of France)

    Napoleon I was a French general, first consul (1799–1804), and emperor of the French (1804–1814/15), one of the most celebrated personages in the history of the West. He revolutionized military organization and training; sponsored the Napoleonic Code, the prototype of later civil-law codes;

  • Buonaparte, Roland (king of Westphalia)

    Jérôme Bonaparte was Napoleon I’s youngest brother, who became king of Westphalia and marshal of France. It was through Jérôme that the Bonaparte line extended into the United States; his eldest son, Jerome, grew up in Maryland with his American mother. The Bonaparte family had endured poverty and

  • Buonarroti Simoni, Michelangelo di Lodovico (Italian artist)

    Michelangelo was an Italian Renaissance sculptor, painter, architect, and poet who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art. Michelangelo was considered the greatest living artist in his lifetime, and ever since then he has been held to be one of the greatest artists of

  • Buonarroti, Filippo Michele (Italian-born French revolutionary)

    Napoleon I: The Directory of Napoleon I: …of Italian “patriots” led by Filippo Buonarroti had to be shelved when Buonarroti was arrested for complicity in François-Noël Babeuf’s conspiracy against the Directory. Thereafter, Bonaparte, without discarding the Italian patriots altogether, restricted their freedom of action. He set up a republican regime in Lombardy but kept a close watch…

  • Buonarroti, Philippe (Italian-born French revolutionary)

    Napoleon I: The Directory of Napoleon I: …of Italian “patriots” led by Filippo Buonarroti had to be shelved when Buonarroti was arrested for complicity in François-Noël Babeuf’s conspiracy against the Directory. Thereafter, Bonaparte, without discarding the Italian patriots altogether, restricted their freedom of action. He set up a republican regime in Lombardy but kept a close watch…

  • Buonaventura, Segna di (Italian painter)

    Duccio: Last years: …followers is known, his nephew Segna di Buonaventura.

  • Buoncompagni, Ugo (pope)

    Gregory XIII was the pope from 1572 to 1585, who promulgated the Gregorian calendar and founded a system of seminaries for Roman Catholic priests. Educated at the University of Bologna, he taught jurisprudence there from 1531 to 1539. Because of his expertise in canon law, he was sent by Pope Pius

  • Buoniconti, Nick (American football player)

    New England Patriots: …quarterback Vito (“Babe”) Parilli, linebacker Nick Buoniconti, and wide receiver Gino Cappelletti. The Patriots posted a winning record in their second season and advanced to the AFL championship game in their fourth. However, after a second place divisional finish in 1966, the team recorded seven consecutive losing seasons. The Patriots…

  • buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il (film by Leone [1966])

    The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Italian western film, released in 1966, that was the third and arguably best installment in director Sergio Leone’s Dollars trilogy, which starred Clint Eastwood as the iconic Man with No Name. The movie is widely regarded as the definitive “spaghetti western.” The

  • Buono, Victor (American actor)

    The Silencers: …dispatched to investigate Tung-Tze (Victor Buono), the mastermind of an international criminal organization known as Big O. Along the way, Helm meets a number of beautiful women, including Gail Hendricks (Stella Stevens), a bumbling agent whose “help” in the case often leads to unintended disasters. Helm infiltrates Tung-Tze’s enormous…

  • Buononcini, Giovanni (Italian composer)

    Giovanni Bononcini was a composer, chiefly remembered as Handel’s rival in England. He studied with his father, composer and theoretician Giovanni Maria Bononcini, and later at Bologna. Precocious musical gifts won him his first appointment, as a cellist, in 1687, and he soon became maestro di

  • Buontalenti, Bernardo (Italian stage designer)

    Bernardo Buontalenti was a Florentine stage designer and theatre architect. Buontalenti entered the service of the Medici as a youth and remained with them the rest of his life. In the Uffizi Palace, Florence, he built a great court stage, where, during the winter of 1585–86, splendid fetes were

  • buoy (flotation device)

    buoy, floating object anchored at a definite location to guide or warn mariners, to mark positions of submerged objects, or to moor vessels in lieu of anchoring. Two international buoyage systems are used to mark channels and submerged dangers. In both systems, buoys of standardized colours and

  • buoyancy (physics)

    buoyancy, tendency of an object to float or to rise in a fluid when submerged. This fluid can be either a liquid or a gas. A popular story suggests that the concept of buoyancy was discovered by the Greek mathematician Archimedes while he was taking a bath. He knew that some materials floated in

  • buoyancy, centre of (physics)

    fluid mechanics: Archimedes’ principle: …a point known as the centre of buoyancy, is the centre of mass of the displaced water. The distributed forces acting on the prism are equivalent to its weight acting downward through C and to the equal weight of the displaced water acting upward through B. In general, therefore, the…

  • Buphagus (bird)

    oxpecker, (genus Buphagus), either of the two bird species of the African genus Buphagus, of the family Buphagidae, formerly Sturnidae (order Passeriformes). Both species—the yellow-billed (B. africanus) and the red-billed (B. erythrorhynchus)—are brown, measure 20 cm (8 inches) long, and have wide

  • Buphagus africanus (bird)

    oxpecker: Both species—the yellow-billed (B. africanus) and the red-billed (B. erythrorhynchus)—are brown, measure 20 cm (8 inches) long, and have wide bills, stiff tails, and sharp claws. They perch on and cling to cattle, zebras, rhinoceroses, and other ungulates to remove ticks,

  • Buphagus erythrorhynchus (bird)

    oxpecker: africanus) and the red-billed (B. erythrorhynchus)—are brown, measure 20 cm (8 inches) long, and have wide bills, stiff tails, and sharp claws. They perch on and cling to cattle, zebras, rhinoceroses, and other ungulates to remove ticks, flies, and maggots from their hides; when alarmed, the

  • Buphaya pagoda (historical Buddhist shrine, Pagan, Myanmar)

    Pagan: The whole of the Buphaya pagoda, for nine centuries a landmark for riverboatmen, tumbled into the Irrawaddy and was carried off by the waters. The village also has a school for lacquer ware, for which the region is noted.

  • Buprestid beetle (insect)

    metallic wood-boring beetle, (family Buprestidae), any of some 15,000 species of beetles (insect order Coleoptera), mostly distributed in tropical regions, that are among the most brilliantly coloured insects. These beetles are long, narrow, and flat, with a tapering abdomen. The wing covers

  • Buprestidae (insect)

    metallic wood-boring beetle, (family Buprestidae), any of some 15,000 species of beetles (insect order Coleoptera), mostly distributed in tropical regions, that are among the most brilliantly coloured insects. These beetles are long, narrow, and flat, with a tapering abdomen. The wing covers

  • Buprestoidea (insect superfamily)

    coleopteran: Annotated classification: Superfamily Buprestoidea Antenna short, serrate; abdomen weakly hardened. Family Buprestidae (metallic wood-boring beetles). Brightly coloured, metallic sheen; inhabit various hot, moist forests; about 15,000 species, mostly tropical; examples Agrilus, Sphenoptera, Chrysobothris. Superfamily Byrrhoidea Forecoxae

  • bupropion (drug)

    bupropion, drug that is used to treat depression, to prevent depression in persons with seasonal affective disorder, or sometimes to aid in smoking cessation. Bupropion typically is taken orally in the form of bupropion hydrochloride. Bupropion was developed in 1966 and patented in 1974 by

  • Buqayq (Saudi Arabia)

    Abqaiq, town, eastern Saudi Arabia, about 25 miles (40 km) west of the Persian Gulf. It is situated in the southern end of the Abqaiq oil field, one of the largest and most productive in the kingdom. Abqaiq grew rapidly following the discovery of the oil field in 1940. By 1950 the town was the

  • bur cucumber (plant)

    bur cucumber, (genus Sicyos), genus of about 60 species of prostrate or climbing vines in the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae). Bur cucumbers often have sticky hairy stems and feature sharply lobed leaves and forked vining tendrils. Clusters of five-petaled unisexual flowers are typically borne at the

  • Būr Fuʾād (Egypt)

    Port Said: …a new quarter, now named Būr Fuʾād (Port Fuad), was built opposite the city proper on the eastern shore between the canal and the eastern extension of Lake Manzala.

  • bur gherkin (plant)

    gherkin, (Cucumis anguria), annual trailing vine of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae), grown for its edible fruit. The plant is likely native to southern Africa and is grown in warm climates around the world. Gherkin fruits are served raw, cooked, or pickled, though the “gherkins” sold in commercial

  • bur oak (tree)

    bur oak, (Quercus macrocarpa), North American timber tree belonging to the white oak group, distributed primarily throughout the central United States. It has become a popular ornamental and shade tree in urban areas because of its resistance to insect and fungal attack, drought, and air pollution.

  • bur reed (plant)

    reed: Bur reed (Sparganium) and reed mace (Typha) are plants of other families.

  • Būr Saʿīd (Egypt)

    Port Said, port city located in northeastern Egypt, at the northern end of the Suez Canal. It also constitutes the bulk of the urban muḥāfaẓah (governorate) of Būr Saʿīd. Situated largely on reclaimed land, the city was founded in 1859 on a low sandy strip separating the Mediterranean from Lake

  • Bur Sudan (Sudan)

    Port Sudan, city, principal seaport of Sudan, located on the Red Sea coast 295 miles (475 km) by rail northeast of the Nile River valley at ʿAṭbarah. Built between 1905 and 1909 to replace Sawākin (Suakin)—the historic, coral-choked Arab port—Port Sudan has a petroleum refinery, an international

  • Būr Tawfīq (Egypt)

    Suez Canal: Communications and towns: …Suez, with its west-bank outport, Būr Tawfīq. Water for irrigation and for domestic and industrial use is supplied by the Nile via the Al-Ismāʿīliyyah Canal.

  • bur-marigold (plant genus)

    Bidens, cosmopolitan genus of weedy herbs in the family Asteraceae, consisting of about 230 species. Bidens plants are variously known as bur marigold, sticktights, and tickseed sunflowers. They are characterized by fruits with two to four barbed bristles that become attached to animal coats or to

  • Bura Mabang (African language)

    Maban languages: Maba (also called Bura Mabang) is the largest Maban language in terms of number of speakers (more than 250,000). Other members of the group include Karanga, Kibet, Massalat, Masalit (Massalit), Marfa, and Runga. Maban also includes two languages known by the names of their first…

  • buraambur (style of poetry)

    African literature: Somali: …and dealing with war, the buraambur, composed by women, the heello, or balwo, made up of short love poems and popular on the radio, and the hees, popular poetry. Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan (Mohammed Abdullah Hassan) created poetry as a weapon, mainly in the oral tradition. Farah Nuur, Qamaan Bulhan, and…

  • Buraida (Saudi Arabia)

    Buraydah, town, Najd (Central) region, north-central Saudi Arabia. It has long been a commercial rival of ʿUnayzah to the south, at one time controlling the export of Arab horses and monopolizing the camel caravan trade of Arabia. Now a principal oasis and agricultural centre, it has extensive

  • Buraimoh, Jimoh (Nigerian artist)

    Mbari Mbayo Club: Jimoh Buraimoh was known for his mosaic compositions made with local beads, potsherds, or stones. Samuel Ojo worked in appliqué with cutout and embroidered fantasy-like figures. Ashiru Olatunde’s aluminum panels are found on Nigerian banks, churches, and bars and in private collections in Europe and…

  • Buraku Kaihō Domei (Japanese organization)

    burakumin: …active organization was formed: the Buraku Kaihō Zenkoku Iinkai (All-Japan Committee for Buraku Liberation), which in 1955 was renamed Buraku Kaihō Dōmei (Buraku Liberation League). Its leftist orientation, however, alienated more conservative burakumin leaders. Thus in 1960 a rival national organization, Dōwakai (Society for Integration), was founded; it came to…

  • Buraku Kaihō Zenkoku Iinkai (Japanese organization)

    burakumin: …active organization was formed: the Buraku Kaihō Zenkoku Iinkai (All-Japan Committee for Buraku Liberation), which in 1955 was renamed Buraku Kaihō Dōmei (Buraku Liberation League). Its leftist orientation, however, alienated more conservative burakumin leaders. Thus in 1960 a rival national organization, Dōwakai (Society for Integration), was founded; it came to…

  • burakumin (Japanese social class)

    burakumin, (“pollution abundant”), outcaste, or “untouchable,” Japanese minority, occupying the lowest level of the traditional Japanese social system. The Japanese term eta is highly pejorative, but prejudice has tended even to tarnish the otherwise neutral term burakumin itself. Although the

  • Buran (Russian spacecraft)

    Buran, Soviet orbiter similar in design and function to the U.S. space shuttle. Designed by the Energia aerospace bureau, it made a single unmanned, fully automated flight in 1988, only to be grounded shortly thereafter due to cost overruns and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Approval was given

  • Buranello, Il (Italian composer)

    Baldassare Galuppi was an Italian composer whose comic operas won him the title “father of the opera buffa.” His nickname derives from his birthplace, Burano. Galuppi was taught by his father, a barber and violinist, and studied under A. Lotti in Venice. After producing two operas in collaboration

  • buranji (Indian chronicle)

    Assamese language: Prose texts, notably buranjis (historical works), began to appear in the 16th century. In the late 20th century, speakers of Assamese numbered more than 15 million.

  • Burano (Italy)

    Burano, northeastern suburb of Venice, northeastern Italy, comprising four islets in the Laguna Veneta (Venice Lagoon). The settlement is thought to have been founded in the 5th century by refugees from nearby Altino, fleeing in the path of Attila. The 16th-century church of S. Martino has

  • Burano lace (lace)

    Burano lace, needle lace made on the island of Burano, a few miles from Venice in the Venetian lagoon. Burano has a long-established tradition of needle-lace making, though precise historical records are lacking. The fine 18th-century form died out in the early 19th century but was revived in 1872,

  • Buranunu (river, Middle East)

    Euphrates River, river, Middle East. The longest river in southwest Asia, it is 1,740 miles (2,800 km) long, and it is one of the two main constituents of the Tigris-Euphrates river system. The river rises in Turkey and flows southeast across Syria and through Iraq. Formed by the confluence of the

  • Burāq (Islamic legend)

    Burāq, in Islāmic tradition, a creature said to have transported the Prophet Muḥammad to heaven. Described as “a white animal, half-mule, half-donkey, with wings on its sides . . . ,” Burāq was originally introduced into the story of Muḥammad’s night journey (isrāʾ) from Mecca to Jerusalem and

  • Buraydah (Saudi Arabia)

    Buraydah, town, Najd (Central) region, north-central Saudi Arabia. It has long been a commercial rival of ʿUnayzah to the south, at one time controlling the export of Arab horses and monopolizing the camel caravan trade of Arabia. Now a principal oasis and agricultural centre, it has extensive

  • Buraymī, Al- (oasis, Arabia)

    Saudi Arabia: Foreign affairs: …forces occupied the oasis of Al-Buraymī, which Britain felt belonged to Oman and the emirate of Abu Dhabi (Abū Ẓabī)—both of which enjoyed British protection. In July 1954 the British and Saudi governments agreed to submit the dispute to an arbitration tribunal. It convened in Geneva in September 1955, but…

  • Burbage, James (British actor)

    Globe Theatre: The second best playhouse: facility, Blackfriars Theatre, that James Burbage (the father of their leading actor, Richard Burbage) had built in 1596 for it inside the city. The elder Burbage had a long history as a theatrical entrepreneur. In 1576 he had built the first successful amphitheatre, known as The Theatre, in a…

  • Burbage, Richard (English actor)

    Richard Burbage was an English actor, known as the first player of Shakespeare’s Richard III, Romeo, Henry V, Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, and Lear. The son of the actor and theatre manager and owner James Burbage, Richard had attained wide popularity as an actor by age 20. He was a member of the Earl

  • Burbank (California, United States)

    Burbank, city, Los Angeles county, California, U.S., in the San Fernando Valley. It was once part of Rancho San Rafael and La Providencia, which were originally formed from land grants made by the Spanish government. The city is named for David Burbank, a Los Angeles dentist who had established a

  • Burbank, Luther (American plant breeder)

    Luther Burbank was an American plant breeder whose prodigious production of useful varieties of fruits, flowers, vegetables, and grasses encouraged the development of plant breeding into a modern science. Reared on a farm, Burbank received little more than a high school education, but he was

  • Burberry (British company)

    Angela Ahrendts: …a number of fashion companies—notably Burberry Group PLC, where she served as CEO (2006–14)—before becoming vice president of retail and online stores (2014–19) at computer giant Apple Inc.

  • Burberry Group PLC (British company)

    Angela Ahrendts: …a number of fashion companies—notably Burberry Group PLC, where she served as CEO (2006–14)—before becoming vice president of retail and online stores (2014–19) at computer giant Apple Inc.

  • Burbidge, Eleanor Margaret (British astronomer)

    Margaret Burbidge was an English-born American astronomer who was the first woman to be appointed director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory. She made notable contributions to the theory of quasars (quasi-stellar sources), to measurements of the rotation and masses of galaxies, and to the

  • Burbidge, Margaret (British astronomer)

    Margaret Burbidge was an English-born American astronomer who was the first woman to be appointed director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory. She made notable contributions to the theory of quasars (quasi-stellar sources), to measurements of the rotation and masses of galaxies, and to the

  • burbot (fish)

    burbot, (Lota lota), elongated fish of the family Lotidae that inhabits cold rivers and lakes of Europe, Asia, and North America. A bottom dweller found in both fresh and brackish waters, it descends as deep as 700 metres (about 2,300 feet). It is a mottled greenish or brown fish and may grow as