Knutsford, town (parish), Cheshire East unitary authority, historic county of Cheshire, northwestern England. It is located on the Cheshire Plain southwest of the city of Manchester. Knutsford received a market, free burgage (tenure from the crown), and power to elect a mayor from a charter of

Charles VIII Knutsson was the king of Sweden (1448–57, 1464–65, 1467–70), who represented the interests of the commercially oriented, anti-Danish Swedish nobility against the older landowning class of nobles who favoured a union with Denmark. He was twice removed from office by his opponents. His

Sweden: Civil wars: …the archbishop was that of Erik Knutsson in 1210. The church also gave its sanction to the “crusades” against Finland and the eastern Baltic coast; the action combined an attempt at Christianization with an attempt at conquering the areas.

children’s literature: National and modern literature: …of the supergirl Pippi Longstocking; Gösta Knutsson, with her well-liked Pelle svanslös (1939; Eng. trans., The Adventures of the Cat Who Had No Tail). The psychological realistic novel, delving deeply into the inner lives of children, has been developed by Maria Gripe, whose Hugo and Josephine trilogy may become classic;…

doggerel: The German version, called Knüttelvers (literally “cudgel verse”), was popular during the Renaissance and was later used for comic effect by such poets as J.W. von Goethe and Friedrich von Schiller. Doggerel verse is still commonly heard in limericks and nonsense verse, popular songs, and commercial jingles.

Andrei Alexandrovich, prince of Russia , was the grandson of Tsar Alexander III of Russia who narrowly escaped death after the Russian Revolution and was freed by German troops shortly before the World War I armistice. The prince fled to Paris with his father, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhaylovich, and

opera: Russian opera: Borodin’s incomplete Knyaz Igor (Prince Igor, his own libretto; completed and edited by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov and Aleksandr Glazunov) was staged posthumously in St. Petersburg in 1890. Resembling the style of French grand opera, the work is notable for its use of an idiom based on Russian folk song and…

Wilhelm, baron von Knyphausen was a German soldier who after 1777 commanded “Hessian” troops on the British side in the American Revolution. A lieutenant general with 42 years of military service, Knyphausen went to North America in 1776 as second in command (under General Leopold von Heister) of

Slavic religion: Principal divine beings: …by Helmold and in the Knytlinga saga (a Danish legend that recounts the conquest of Arkona through the efforts of King Valdemar I of Denmark against the pagan and pirate Slavs) Zcerneboch (or Chernobog), the Black God, and Tiarnoglofi, the Black Head (Mind or Brain). The Black God survives in…

xiao, in Confucianism, the attitude of obedience, devotion, and care toward one’s parents and elder family members that is the basis of individual moral conduct and social harmony. Xiao consists in putting the needs of parents and family elders over self, spouse, and children, deferring to parents’

Ko, one of the four major schools of floral art in Japan. Dating from the Tokugawa period (1603–1868), the Ko school developed the shōka style of the earlier Ikenobō school into a more naturalistic type of arrangement. Calling the arrangements seika rather than shōka, the Ko school retained the

Ko Hŭi-dong was a Korean artist who pioneered in the application of Western techniques to traditional painting styles. After World War II, he became a member of the South Korean government of Syngman Rhee. Born into a high-ranking aristocratic family, Ko in 1908 became the first Korean student to

Ge Hong was a figure in Chinese Daoism, perhaps the best-known alchemist, who tried to combine Confucian ethics with the occult doctrines of Daoism. In his youth he received a Confucian education, but later he grew interested in the Daoist cult of physical immortality (xian). His monumental work,

Oumou Sangaré: With the album Ko Sira (1993), Sangaré stretched the boundaries of wassoulou music by drawing more heavily from internationally popular styles—such as rock, funk, and soul—while maintaining a distinctly African sound. Several songs on Worotan (1996), for instance, featured soul-influenced wind arrangements led by American saxophonist Pee Wee…

Ko Un is a prolific Korean poet who gained an international readership with verse informed by both his political activism in Korea and a broader concern for humanity. Ko was born in a farming village, and his schooling took place under Japanese authorities who were intent on suppressing Korean

Ge kiln, kiln known for the wares it produced during the early Song dynasty (960–1162), probably in the Zhejiang province in China. Scholars are uncertain of the kiln’s exact location. Legends recorded in documents of the Ming dynasty suggest that the kiln was named after the elder brother of the

Gejiu, city, southern Yunnan sheng (province), China. It lies near the Vietnamese border and is the site of China’s most important tin-mining operation. Gejiu was originally a small mining settlement called Gejiuli; mining of silver was begun there under the Yuan (1206–1368) and Ming (1368–1644)

top: …game known for centuries as Ko-en-gen was introduced in Europe as diablo and became the rage. A spool (“devil”) was whipped up by a cord, tossed up by the player, and caught again on the cord. The hexagonal teetotum (known to the ancient Greeks and Romans), marked distinctively on each…

Golmud, city, central Qinghai sheng (province), western China. Golmud is an important highway centre, standing at the intersection of two ancient routes that more recently have become highways. One links Xining in Qinghai and Lanzhou in Gansu province in the east with the western Qaidam Basin area;

Fleischer brothers: …was rotoscoped into the character Ko-Ko the Clown, who starred in the Out of the Inkwell series (1919–29), produced and distributed by the Bray Studio in New York City. The basic premise for the series is a live-action Max Fleischer dipping a pen in an ink bottle and drawing Ko-Ko…

Yama-no-kami: Another prominent mountain deity is Ko-no-hana-saku-ya-hime—wife of the divine grandchild Ninigi and mother of two mythological princes, Fireshade and Fireshine—who resides on Fuji-yama. A widespread tradition connected with the worship of Yama-no-kami is the offering of a salt-sea fish called okoze.

tsuzumi: …commonly used tsuzumi are the ko-tsuzumi and the ō-tsuzumi, found in the music of Noh and Kabuki theatres. Although the ko-tsuzumi and the ō-tsuzumi are quite similar in appearance, the manner in which they are played and the sound and tone they produce are quite distinct. Both heads of the…

koala, (Phascolarctos cinereus), tree-dwelling marsupial of coastal eastern and southern Australia classified in the family Phascolarctidae (suborder Vombatiformes). Due to the animal’s superficial resemblance to a small bear, the koala is sometimes referred to, albeit erroneously, as the koala

koala, (Phascolarctos cinereus), tree-dwelling marsupial of coastal eastern and southern Australia classified in the family Phascolarctidae (suborder Vombatiformes). Due to the animal’s superficial resemblance to a small bear, the koala is sometimes referred to, albeit erroneously, as the koala

Kōami Family was a group of Japanese lacquerware artists who were eminent for 19 generations in the Muromachi, Azuchi-Momoyama, and Tokugawa periods. Michinaga (1410–78) was a personal attendant to the military ruler Ashikaga Yoshimasa and excelled in two techniques of lacquer design. The

Kōami Family: Michinaga (1410–78) was a personal attendant to the military ruler Ashikaga Yoshimasa and excelled in two techniques of lacquer design. The takamaki-e technique consists of building decorative motifs with a mixture of lacquer putty, white lead, lampblack, camphor, and gold or silver foil in relief…

Kōami Family: …member of the 10th generation, Nagashige (1599–1651), made what is deemed by some the finest piece of Japanese lacquerware in existence: a set of stands presented as a wedding gift to the daughter of the military ruler Tokugawa Iemitsu.

koan, in Zen Buddhism of Japan, a succinct paradoxical statement or question used as a meditation discipline for novices, particularly in the Rinzai sect. The effort to “solve” a koan is intended to exhaust the analytic intellect and the egoistic will, readying the mind to entertain an appropriate

koan, in Zen Buddhism of Japan, a succinct paradoxical statement or question used as a meditation discipline for novices, particularly in the Rinzai sect. The effort to “solve” a koan is intended to exhaust the analytic intellect and the egoistic will, readying the mind to entertain an appropriate

kob, (Kobus kob), small, stocky African antelope (tribe Reduncini, family Bovidae) that occurs in large numbers on floodplains of the northern savanna. The kob ranges from Senegal in the west to the Ethiopian border in the east and southward into western Uganda and eastern Democratic Republic of

Martin Amis: …subject of both the nonfiction Koba the Dread (2002) and the novel House of Meetings (2006). In his novel The Pregnant Widow (2010), Amis examined the sexual revolution of the 1970s and its repercussions on a group of friends who lived through it. The pop culture indictment Lionel Asbo: State…

coin: Japan: …being ōban and the smaller koban. Other gold pieces are the small rectangular pieces of one and two bu issued from time to time; round gold is rare and usually of provincial mints. Silver was originally in the form of stamped bars called long silver; these were supplemented by small…

Denakil Plain: The Kobar Sink, a huge basin in the northern part of the plain, drops to 381 feet (116 m) below sea level. The Denakil Plain was formed by the evaporation of an inland sea. About 450 square miles (1,200 square km) is covered by salt; salt…

Battle of Caporetto, (October 24–December 19, 1917), Italian military disaster during World War I in which Italian troops retreated before an Austro-German offensive on the Isonzo front in northeastern Italy, where the Italian and Austrian forces had been stalemated for two and a half years. In the

Kobayashi Hideo was one of the most influential critics in the Japanese cultural world. Kobayashi studied French literature at Tokyo Imperial University (now the University of Tokyo) and graduated in 1927. In the early 1930s he was associated with the novelists Kawabata Yasunari and Yokomitsu

Tōhō Motion Picture Company: …was founded in 1936 by Kobayashi Ichizō, a former businessman who was the creator of an all-girl “opera troupe.” In 1932 he had organized the Tokyo Takarazuka Theatre Corporation, subsequently acquiring several established theatres and building new and larger ones. His structures housed three or more separate theatres, a model…

Issa was a Japanese haiku poet whose works in simple, unadorned language captured the spiritual loneliness of the common man. As a boy, Issa found relations with his stepmother so difficult that in 1777 he was sent by his father to Edo (present-day Tokyo), where he studied haikai under the poet

Kobayashi Kiyochika was a Japanese printmaker who adopted the effects of Western lithography and engraving, especially in his wood-block prints. Kobayashi first studied Japanese painting and later oil painting as well as photography. Initially under the influence of such masters of Ukiyo-e

Kobayashi Kokei was an artist who greatly contributed to modern Japanese painting. Orphaned early in life, Kobayashi went to Tokyo when he was 17 and studied traditional Japanese painting with Kajita Hanko (1870–1917). He joined the Restored Japan Academy of Art and became one of its most prominent

Kobayashi Makoto is a Japanese scientist who was a corecipient, with Yoichiro Nambu and Maskawa Toshihide, of the 2008 Nobel Prize for Physics. Kobayashi and Maskawa shared half the prize for their discovery of the origin of broken symmetry, which created at least six quarks moments after the big

Kobayashi Masaki was a Japanese motion-picture director whose 9 12-hour trilogy, Ningen no joken (The Human Condition: No Greater Love, 1959; Road to Eternity, 1959; A Soldier’s Prayer, 1961), a monumental criticism of war, constitutes the best example of his films of social concern. Drafted into

Issa was a Japanese haiku poet whose works in simple, unadorned language captured the spiritual loneliness of the common man. As a boy, Issa found relations with his stepmother so difficult that in 1777 he was sent by his father to Edo (present-day Tokyo), where he studied haikai under the poet

Kobayashi Kokei was an artist who greatly contributed to modern Japanese painting. Orphaned early in life, Kobayashi went to Tokyo when he was 17 and studied traditional Japanese painting with Kajita Hanko (1870–1917). He joined the Restored Japan Academy of Art and became one of its most prominent

Kobayashi Takiji was an outstanding writer of the proletarian literary movement in pre-World War II Japan. Kobayashi attended Otaru (Hokkaido) Higher Commercial School, where he showed literary promise. On graduation in 1924 he took a position with a bank in Otaru, while his interest in literature

Issa was a Japanese haiku poet whose works in simple, unadorned language captured the spiritual loneliness of the common man. As a boy, Issa found relations with his stepmother so difficult that in 1777 he was sent by his father to Edo (present-day Tokyo), where he studied haikai under the poet

Kaigetsudō Ando: …by late 20th-century art critic Tadashi Kobayashi, the typical “Kaigetsudō beauty” was drawn against a flat, or neutral, background, standing in a boldly coloured, beautifully patterned kimono with her stomach thrust forward and her head and shoulders angled back. This pose, together with a small head and delicate facial features…

CP violation: …confirm detailed predictions of the Kobayashi-Maskawa theory, but the effects are very small. CP violation is expected to be more prominent in the decay of the particles known as B-mesons, which contain a bottom quark instead of the strange quark of the K-mesons. Experiments at facilities that can produce large…

kobdas, magic drum used for trance induction and divination by the Lapp shaman, or noiade. The drum consisted of a wooden frame, ring, or bowl over which a membrane of reindeer hide was stretched. The hide was usually covered with figures of deities, tutelary spirits of the noiade, and otherworld

Hovd, town, administrative headquarters of Hovd aymag (province), western Mongolia, in the northern foothills of the Mongol Altayn Nuruu (Mongolian Altai Mountains) at an elevation of 4,260 ft (1,300 m). Har Us Nuur (lake) lies to the east and is fed by the Hovd Gol (river). Founded in 1731 as a

Mongolia: Drainage: …Mongolian interior are the Khovd (Hovd), which rises from the glaciers of the Mongolian Altai Mountains, and the Zavkhan (Dzavhan), which runs off the southern slopes of the Khangai Mountains. Other rivers east of the Zavkhan end in salt lakes or disappear in the Gobi. Generally, Mongolian rivers are swift…

Kōbe, city, capital of Hyōgo ken (prefecture), west-central Honshu, Japan. Kōbe, its neighbouring city Ōsaka, and nearby Kyōto are the centres of the Keihanshin Industrial Zone, the second largest urban and industrial agglomeration in Japan, and the city and its surroundings constitute the western

Kobe beef, highly prized Wagyu beef from the Kōbe region of Honshu island, Japan. What foie gras is to liver, Kobe beef is to steak. It comes from any of four related breeds of native Japanese cattle, known collectively as Wagyu, and the terms Wagyu and Kobe have come to be used almost

Kōbe earthquake of 1995, (Jan. 17, 1995) large-scale earthquake in the Ōsaka-Kōbe (Hanshin) metropolitan area of western Japan that was among the strongest, deadliest, and costliest to ever strike that country. The earthquake hit at 5:46 am on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 1995, in the southern part of Hyōgo

Kōbe Steel, Ltd., major Japanese manufacturer of iron and steel, nonferrous metal products, and machinery. Headquarters are in Kōbe with offices in Tokyo and Ōsaka. Founded in 1905, the company by the late 1960s was one of Japan’s largest steel producers. The company produces pig iron, milled and

industrial design: Design in the 21st century: technology and democracy: Tim Kobe of the San Francisco architectural firm Eight Inc. designed the standard Apple computer stores from the earliest establishments in San Francisco (2001) to shopping malls and renovated buildings across the United States (2001–04), including larger new structures in Chicago (2003) and New York…

the Guess Who: The principal members were Chad Allan (original name Allan Kobel; b. c. 1945), Randy Bachman (b. September 27, 1943, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada), Garry Peterson (b. May 26, 1945), Jim Kale (b. August 11, 1943, Winnipeg), Burton Cummings (b. December 31, 1947, Winnipeg), Kurt Winter (b. April 2, 1946; d.…

Copenhagen, capital and largest city of Denmark. It is located on the islands of Zealand (Sjælland) and Amager, at the southern end of The Sound (Øresund). A small village existed on the site of the present city by the early 10th century. In 1167 Bishop Absalon of Roskilde built a castle on an

Copenhagen University Botanical Garden, one of the notable botanical gardens of Europe. Founded in 1759 on part of the ancient fortifications of Copenhagen, the garden occupies more than 9 hectares (24 acres) and has about 15,000 kinds of plants, both under glass and outdoors. The outdoor plantings

Copenhagen Zoo, zoological garden founded in 1859 in Copenhagen. Though privately owned, the zoo receives financial support from the Danish government. More than 2,000 specimens of about 250 species are exhibited on the 10-hectare (25-acre) grounds. Included are many rare species, such as the musk

history of publishing: Early printer-publishers in Germany: …lead in the book trade, Anton Koberger operated on a large, international scale. At his peak, he ran 24 presses and had links with Basel, Strassburg, Lyon, Paris, and many other cities. He could be called the first great businessman publisher and the first publisher to rise socially—to membership in…

Samuel Kobia is an African religious leader, theologian, and ecumenist who served as general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) from 2004 to 2009. Kobia earned a degree in theology from St. Paul’s United Theological College in Limuru, Kenya; a diploma in urban ministry from McCormick

Battle of Kosovo: …killed by a Serbian knight, Miloš Obilić, in the immediate aftermath of the battle, although historians consider this a later legend. Although both sides suffered huge losses, the Ottomans possessed the resources to raise another army, and Serbia became part of the Ottoman Empire.

Brian K. Kobilka is an American physician and molecular biologist whose research on the structure and function of cell-surface molecules known as G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs)—the largest family of signal-receiving molecules found in organisms—contributed to profound advances in cell biology

Brian K. Kobilka is an American physician and molecular biologist whose research on the structure and function of cell-surface molecules known as G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs)—the largest family of signal-receiving molecules found in organisms—contributed to profound advances in cell biology

Koblenz, city, Rhineland-Palatinate Land (state), western Germany. It lies at the junction of the Rhine and Moselle (Mosel) rivers (hence its Roman name, Confluentes) and is surrounded by spurs from the Eifel, Hunsrück, Westerwald, and Taunus mountains. A Roman town founded in 9 bce, it was a

Kūkai was one of the best-known and most-beloved Buddhist saints in Japan, founder of the Shingon (“True Word”) school of Buddhism that emphasizes spells, magic formulas, ceremonials, and masses for the dead. He contributed greatly to the development of Japanese art and literature and pioneered in

kobold, in German folklore, mischievous household spirit who usually helps with chores and gives other valuable services but who often hides household and farm tools or kicks over stooping persons. He is temperamental and becomes outraged when he is not properly fed. He sometimes sings to children.

tapir: bairdii), the little black, or Kobomani, tapir (T. kabomani), and the South American lowland tapir (T. terrestris). This geographic distribution, with four species in Central and South America and one in Southeast Asia, is peculiar. Fossil remains from Europe, China, and North America show that tapirs were once widespread, but…

Kobuk Valley National Park, large wilderness area in northwestern Alaska, U.S. It is part of a vast region of national parks, monuments, and preserves located north of the Arctic Circle that stretches for hundreds of miles from west to east. It is bordered to the north by Noatak National Preserve

Yi Sun-shin: …supplies, and developing the renowned kŏbuksŏn (“turtle ship”). The kŏbuksŏn is thought to have been the first ironclad battleship in history. Its upper deck was covered with armored plates to protect its crew, and spikes and knives were attached to the plates to discourage enemies from boarding. The ship’s bow…

Jinshin-no-ran: …the throne as the emperor Kōbun through the efforts of the aristocratic clans that had resisted Tenji’s centralization measures. Prince Ōama, brother of the deceased emperor, gathered together his own military forces and defeated Ōtomo at his capital in Ōmi province (modern Shiga prefecture). Ōama then succeeded to the throne…

yakuza: …the followers are known as kobun (“protégés,” or “apprentices”; literally “child status”). The rigid hierarchy and discipline are usually matched by a right-wing ultranationalistic ideology. Kobun traditionally take a blood oath of allegiance, and a member who breaks the yakuza code must show penance—historically through a ritual in which the…

Coburg, city, northern Bavaria Land (state), central Germany. It lies on the Itz River, in the foothills of the Thuringian Forest, some 80 miles (130 km) west of the Czech border. Coburg was an imperial possession in the 10th century, and it was first mentioned in a document of 1056. The counts of

Kobus, genus of antelopes, family Bovidae (order Artiodactyla), containing about six species—the waterbucks and lechwes, the kob, and the puku. Members of this genus are native to Africa south of the Sahara. They usually live in herds and are generally found near water, in such places as plains,

Kobus: ellipsiprymnus) and defassa (K. defassa) waterbucks. Males of all species have long, heavily ridged horns that curve backward and then upward.

artiodactyl: Reproduction: …season of the waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus) is continuous in Uganda, but in Zambia its breeding season shows a sharp peak at the height of the rains.

kob, (Kobus kob), small, stocky African antelope (tribe Reduncini, family Bovidae) that occurs in large numbers on floodplains of the northern savanna. The kob ranges from Senegal in the west to the Ethiopian border in the east and southward into western Uganda and eastern Democratic Republic of

kob: …are three distinct subspecies: the western kob (Kobus kob kob), the Uganda kob (K. kob thomasi), and the white-eared kob (K. kob leucotis) of eastern South Sudan.

bovid: Natural history: …possibly hundreds of thousands of white-eared kob and tiang on the floodplains of South Sudan. Over a million saiga lived in Kazakhstan and Kalmykia until the early 1990s, when the breakup of the Soviet Union left them largely unprotected, and the unsettled steppe of eastern Mongolia still supports an estimated…

artiodactyl: Social behaviour: At the other extreme, male Uganda kob antelopes (Kobus kob) hold territories, for breeding only, that are as small as 15 to 30 metres (50 to 100 feet) in diameter. There are 30 to 40 territories on the breeding ground of a herd, and groups of females and young move…

lechwe: …two species of lechwes: the common lechwe (Kobus leche) and the Nile lechwe (K. megaceros). The three subspecies of the common lechwe—the red lechwe (K. leche leche), the Kafue lechwe (K. leche kafuensis), and the black lechwe (K. leche smithemani)—inhabit floodplains bordering marshes and swamps of the southern savanna, from

lechwe: leche leche), the Kafue lechwe (K. leche kafuensis), and the black lechwe (K. leche smithemani)—inhabit floodplains bordering marshes and swamps of the southern savanna, from southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo through Zambia and northern Botswana to Angola. The Nile lechwe lives on the Nile floodplain bordering Al-Sudd…

lechwe: …subspecies of the common lechwe—the red lechwe (K. leche leche), the Kafue lechwe (K. leche kafuensis), and the black lechwe (K. leche smithemani)—inhabit floodplains bordering marshes and swamps of the southern savanna, from southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo through Zambia and northern Botswana to Angola. The Nile lechwe lives…

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…

Kobus: …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 the legs,…

puku, antelope species of the genus Kobus

Romanov dynasty: Descendants of Andrey Ivanovich Kobyla (Kambila), a Muscovite boyar who lived during the reign of the grand prince of Moscow Ivan I Kalita (reigned 1328–41), the Romanovs acquired their name from Roman Yurev (died 1543), whose daughter Anastasiya Romanovna Zakharina-Yureva was the first wife of Ivan IV…

bandura, a stringed instrument of the psaltery family considered the national musical instrument of Ukraine. It is used chiefly to accompany folk music. The bandura has an oval wooden body; a short, fretless neck attached to the soundboard in an off-centre position; 4 to 8 bass strings running from

bandura: …to the bandura was the kobza, a three- to eight-string instrument mentioned in Greek literature of the 6th century. During the Middle Ages it was prominent in eastern European courts, where it was used to accompany singing and dancing. Additional strings were added to the kobza in the 14th or…

Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko: …first collection of poems, entitled Kobzar (1840; “The Bard”), expressed the historicism and the folkloristic interests of the Ukrainian Romantics, but his poetry soon moved away from nostalgia for Cossack life to a more sombre portrayal of Ukrainian history, particularly in the long poem “The Haidamaks” (1841). When the secret…

bandura: …bandura had been adopted by kobzari, professional musicians—many of whom were blind—who used the instrument as an accompaniment for epic ballads (dumy) that recounted the exploits of the Ukrainian Cossacks. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries kobzari were persecuted for expressing nationalistic sentiments in their music, and in…

history of Arabia: Postwar Arabia, to 1962: The Kuwait Oil Company, a joint Anglo-American enterprise, began production in June 1946. Thereafter oil was discovered in many other places, mostly in the Persian Gulf. Vast petroleum revenues brought enormous changes to Saudi Arabia and transformed the gulf states. The market for labour brought migrants…

Kocaeli, il (province), northwestern Turkey. It is bounded to the north by the Black Sea and to the west by the Sea of Marmara. The province is drained by the lower course of the Sakarya River. İzmit, lying on the Gulf of İzmit, is the capital and chief city. Kocaeli was once part of the kingdom of

İzmit, city, northwestern Turkey. It lies near the head of İzmit Gulf of the Sea of Marmara. The city spreads across several hills and over a narrow plain that contains its commercial and industrial sections. Originally a Megarian city founded in the 8th century bce and called Astacus (or Olbia),

İzmit earthquake of 1999, devastating earthquake that struck near the city of İzmit in northwestern Turkey on August 17, 1999. Thousands of people were killed, and large parts of a number of mid-sized towns and cities were destroyed. The earthquake, which occurred on the northernmost strand of the

Slovene literature: …the finest of Slovene writers, Edvard Kocbek, had been ruined because he dared to portray the Partisans of World War II objectively, in his masterpiece Strah in pogum (1951; “Fear and Courage”). Powerful currents from Europe and America—including existentialism, the absurd, stream of consciousness, magic realism, neoexpressionism, modernism, and postmodernism—soon…

Koch, ethnic group dispersed over parts of India (mainly Assam and West Bengal states) and Bangladesh. While their original language is a Tibeto-Burman dialect, large sections of the group in the 21st century spoke Bengali or other Indo-Aryan languages. In the 16th century a Koch chief established

Cooch Behar, town, eastern West Bengal state, northeastern India. It lies just east of the Torsa River. The town is an agricultural market centre, has major road and rail connections, and is linked by air with Kolkata. Leather-goods manufacture is an important industry. Once the seat of a princely

Koch: …chief established the state of Koch Bihar, and they now call themselves Rajbanshi (“Of Royal Blood”), resent being called by the old tribal name, and follow Hindu customs. But their claim to the high status of the Kshatriya class of Hindus is not generally admitted, and many of the endogamous…

Charles and David Koch were American brothers who were majority co-owners of the energy conglomerate Koch Industries, Inc., and major financial supporters of libertarian and conservative causes in the United States in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Through the success of their company, one