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ENCYCLOPÆDIA
Britannica
ALMANAC
2008 E N C Y C L O P Æ D I A ®
Britannica Jacob E. Safra, Chairman of the Board Jorge Aguilar-Cauz, President Chicago · London · New Delhi · Paris · Seoul · Sydney · Taipei · Tokyo
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
EDITORIAL Thad King Susana Darwin Charles P. Trumbull Patricia Bauer Charles Cegielski Robert M. Lewis Kenneth Pletcher Michael Ray Barbara Schreiber Melinda C. Shepherd Karen Jacobs Sparks Anita Wolff PRODUCTION CONTROL Marilyn L. Barton WORLD DATA Stephen Neher Mary Kasprzak CARTOGRAPHY Michael Nutter
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TABLE
OF
CONTENTS
3
Year in Review
Civil Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Features
Life on Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
One Day in Iraq. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 by Michael Duffy, Brian Bennet, and Mark Kukis, TIME
Animals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 Geology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
The Virtual World of Online Gaming . . . . . . . . 7 by Michael Ray
Health. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
The US 2006 Midterm Elections. . . . . . . . . . . 8 by David C. Beckwith Outsourcing War: The Surge in Private Military Firms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 by Peter Saracino Chronology, July 2006–June 2007 Month by Month. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Disasters, July 2006–June 2007 Month by Month. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Preserving Nature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 Diet and Exercise. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
World China: Dawn of a New Dynasty . . . . . . . . . . . 217 by Michael Elliott, TIME Countries of the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
FLAGS ...............................481–486 MAPS ...............................487–496
People The TIME 100, 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Celebrities and Newsmakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Rulers and Regimes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564 Populations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 578 Languages of the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 580 Scholarship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583
Awards TIME’s Top 100 Films . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
The 2007 Annual Megacensus of Religions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584
TIME’s Person of the Year, 1927–2006 . . . . . 90
Law & Crime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590
The Nobel Prizes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Military Affairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593
Special Achievement Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Science Honors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
United States American History: Jamestown at 400 . . . . . . 595 by Richard Brookhiser for TIME
Nature, Science, Medicine, & Technology
History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597
Environment: Global Warming . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 by Jeffrey Kluger, TIME
United States Chronology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597 Important Documents in US History . . . . . 600
Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612
The Universe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
The Presidency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612 The Supreme Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 640 The Congress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643 The Senate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643 The House of Representatives. . . . . . . . 646
Cosmogony. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Constellations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 Astronomical Phenomena for 2008 . . . . . 135 Measurements and Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 Applied Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 Aerospace Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Space Exploration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Space Exploration Firsts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Air Travel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 Meteorology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 Geologic Disasters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Military Affairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 654 Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661 The States and Other Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669 State Government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 698 Cities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 703 Law and Crime. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 705 Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 712 Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 712 Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 715
TABLE
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OF
Business
CONTENTS
Sport
World Economy: India, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 717 by Michael Elliott and Alex Perry, TIME
Golf: Women on the Verge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 799 by Kristina Dell, TIME
US Economy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 719
Golf: Teeing Up a New Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800 by Kristina Dell, TIME
Energy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 721 Travel and Tourism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 722 Employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 725 Consumer Prices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 735 US Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 737 US Taxes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 740
Sporting Codes for Countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801 The Olympic Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 803 Special Olympics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 865 Automobile Racing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 866 Baseball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 868 Basketball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 872 Billiard Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 877
Arts, Entertainment, & Leisure
Bowling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 878
Theater: Girls, Girls, Girls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 743 by Richard Zoglin, TIME
Chess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 880
Cinema: Boys Who Like Toys . . . . . . . . . . . . . 744 by Rebecca Winters Keegan, TIME
Curling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 881
Motion Pictures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 745
Cycling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 882
Academy Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 745
Football . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 884
Television . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 762
US . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 885 Canadian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 891 Australian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 892 Rugby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 892 Association Football (Soccer) . . . . . . . . . . . 893
Emmy Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 762 Theater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 765 Tony Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 765 Encyclopædia Britannica’s 25 Notable US Theater Companies . . . . 768
Cricket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 880
Golf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 896 Horse Racing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 903
Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 768
Ice Hockey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 912
Grammy Awards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 768 Encyclopædia Britannica’s 25 World-Class Orchestras . . . . . . . . . . . 774 Encyclopædia Britannica’s Top 25 Opera Companies. . . . . . . . . . . . 775
Marathon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 915
Pageants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 775 Arts and Letters Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 777 Pulitzer Prizes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 777 Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 797 Special Honors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 798
Rodeo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 918 Skiing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 918 Sled Dog Racing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 923 Swimming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 924 Tennis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 929 Track & Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 944 Volleyball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 952 Weight Lifting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 953
INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 954
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
One Day in Iraq by Michael Duffy, Brian Bennet, and Mark Kukis, TIME s of Independence Day 2007, more than 3,500 Americans had died in Iraq since the war began in 2003. That’s two per day, a rate that has increased with the “surge” of 30,000 US troops into Baghdad that began early in 2006. The number of US casualties increased since the buildup began, as Pres. George W. Bush predicted they would. So has the frequency of grievous single days when multiple service members were killed. One such day was 16 April 2007: six Americans died in Iraq on that day. Here are the stories of five of them.
A
THE BROTHER WHO DIDN’T COME HOME Scherry, Daniel Age 20. Lance corporal, US Marine Corps. 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force Nonhostile accident, Anbar province Leaving home in Rocky River OH was hard for Daniel Scherry. His mother and two sisters were in tears when his Marine Corps recruiter, Staff Sgt. Eric Evans, went to pick him up for basic training in the spring of 2006. Soon Scherry was crying too. “His sisters were his world,” says Evans. Their names, Kacie and Lauren, were tattooed on the inside of his arms. To console Scherry, Evans told the young Marine the recruiter would be there for the sisters while he was away. Scherry’s mother Marianne had tried to talk him out of joining the Marines, at least until he finished college. In 2004, when the Marines were assaulting Fallujah and suffering heavy casualties, she showed the newspaper to her only son. Look, she said, they are so young-—just 19 and 20-—and they’re dying. But Scherry replied that the Marines who died there must have been proud to do so for their country. “He looked at the Marines as being the best, and that’s what he wanted to be—the best,” says Marianne. “He knew it was the hardest boot camp. He knew it was the toughest training. That’s what he wanted. He wanted to push himself.” Scherry’s mentor in the Marines was Evans, who felt closer to Scherry than to other recruits he had signed up; he reminded Evans of himself as an eager young recruit. Evans talked with Scherry for a long time that first night, assuring him he was embarking on a noble calling. And Evans stayed in touch with Scherry as he went through training, offering congratulations when Scherry became a mortarman, the same job Evans held when he first joined the Marine Corps. Scherry was deployed to Anbar province in March 2007. He died after only about a month there. The Marines who broke the news to his mother said there had been an accident. Scherry had been riding in the turret of a Humvee when he reached to get a low-hanging wire out of the way. Electric current killed him. In the days after Scherry’s death, Marianne asked the Marines who had come to her house if they could
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
please send Evans, who had never helped a family grieve before. Scherry is the first of Evans’ recruits to die in Iraq. “You find yourself lying awake at night looking for some magical words that can help the family ease their pain, and there are no magical words to be had,” says Evans. “You can’t bring their son back for them.” A MARINE FATHER’S LAMENT De La Torre, Jesse Age 29. Lance corporal, US Marine Corps. 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force Hostile fire, Anbar province Aureliano De La Torre didn’t want his son Jesse to join the Marines. “It was his own idea,” Aureliano says. “I didn’t agree, but there was nothing I could do.” As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan unfolded, Jesse grew determined to get involved as he mulled his future and the state of the world from his hometown of Aurora IL. He told his father that someone had to do something to stop al-Qaeda. Jesse was a gifted saxophone player; until he joined the military, jazz had been one of his main passions. But he always seemed in search of a larger purpose. When he was about 12, he asked his father to take him to a nondenominational Bible-study group. Jesse had found it on his own and wanted to go because he was curious about religion. For two years father and son went together to Bible discussions, where Jesse was easily the youngest person. Jesse’s initial curiosity grew into a deeply felt sense of spirituality that stayed with him throughout his life. He carried a Bible to school. After graduating from high school in 1998, Jesse put jazz aside and pursued computer engineering in community-college classes in Aurora, where he also worked at an insurance company. But he abandoned the college path in 2005 to enlist in the Marines. The decision took his family by surprise. Jesse told his father only after he had arrived in California for training. Soon after, Jesse left for Iraq, where word from him came rarely. Jesse went home over Christmas in 2006 for two weeks of leave. About five weeks after returning to duty in Anbar province, he sent his father a short message saying he was OK. Aureliano never heard from his son again. At 10 AM on 16 April, four Marines arrived at his house. When Aureliano asked if they were there about his son, the Marines didn’t speak, but after a moment, they explained: Jesse had died in Iraq about seven hours earlier, killed by hostile fire. “Our lives will never be the same,” says Aureliano, whose grief is colored by the anger he feels over losing a son to a war he does not support. “Now that my son is gone, there is a vacancy in Iraq. Maybe the president would like to send one of his daughters over there to continue to fight in Jesse’s place.”
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“HE WANTED TO FIGHT” Blue, Shaun Age 25. 1st lieutenant, US Marine Corps. 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force Hostile fire, Anbar province Before he left for Iraq, Shaun Blue never talked about the war with his friends. He didn’t need to. “We all knew where each other stood,” says Mike Bell, a fellow Marine who attended the University of Southern California with Blue. They were juniors when the war began. “All of us wanted to go. All of us wanted to be there.” Blue had considered dropping out of college to enlist in the Marines rather than finishing school and entering as an officer. He was a voracious reader, a philosophy major whose interests ranged from hard sciences to Roman architecture. (His mother says he asked for a copy of Moby Dick as a Christmas present in second grade.) In college he was as serious about conditioning his body as he was his mind. He played pickup basketball in some of LA’s toughest neighborhoods. Once, late at night, after drinking beer with Bell, Blue told Bell he was going for a run. He donned a flak jacket for added weight and ran the darkened LA streets alone for hours, finally returning to the house shortly before dawn. Blue set off for his first deployment to Iraq on 4 Jul 2005. He joined the Marine campaign in Anbar province, leading a platoon in the Fallujah area. Even in the desert reaches of Iraq, Blue found ways to call Bell and his younger sister Amy Blue, who was living in Ireland at the time. “Those phone calls from him were the highlights of my days,” says Amy. “Hearing him across all those miles, it was like he was right there with me.” He was killed halfway through a second tour in Anbar, while riding in the passenger seat of a Humvee that was hit by a roadside bomb. “Twenty-five years is so short,” his sister says, “but I am very lucky that I could call him a brother and a true best friend for that long.” “He wanted to fight,” says Bell of his fallen friend. “He really, really did. He couldn’t wait.” A KNACK FOR WATCHING OUT FOR OTHERS Genevie, Aaron Age 22. Private first class, US Army. 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division IED blast, Baghdad As a gunner in a scout unit, Aaron Genevie often rode through Baghdad popped up out of the top of his Humvee, manning a belt-fed automatic machine gun. Gunners are the eyes and ears of the driver, constantly scanning the horizon for threats. In Baghdad’s congested streets, they are also traffic cops—waving cars out of the way, shouting at drivers who get too close. That’s what Genevie was doing the day he died, telling his driver to maneuver around an Iraqi national-police checkpoint when a roadside bomb went off and killed him instantly. A scout in the 1st Infantry Division of Fort Riley KS, Genevie had to fight to get into the army. Military doctors told him he couldn’t enlist with his history of asthma and shoulder problems. But Genevie knew he could handle the training. He videotaped himself doing rigorous 20-minute workouts to show that he wouldn’t slow down his unit. He even drafted a letter to President Bush asking him to intervene. Genevie
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
REVIEW never sent it, as the army eventually let him in. His mother Patricia found the letter among his things a few days after he died. Like many other parents of service members, she had tried her best to persuade him not to join. “You don’t want to go over there,” she remembers telling him. Genevie idolized his mother. He listed her as his “biggest inspiration” in his 2003 senior yearbook. But joining the military was one thing he had to do on his own, with or without his mother’s blessing. Before he left for basic training, Patricia remembers telling him, “I support you 100%.” His mother has tried to make sense of Genevie’s death by holding tight to the notion that he was watching over his fellow soldiers in his last moments. It was a familiar role. “He was real big on Superman,” she says. Genevie tattooed a red and gold S on his chest. When his parents separated a few years ago, Genevie stayed with his mom and “took over the fatherly role,” she recalls, helping them work through their problems and get back together. That’s why, when he died, she wanted him to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery. “That’s where heroes go,” she says. “He was my hero.” A NEW FAMILY’S LIFE CUT SHORT De Leon, Mario Age 26. Sergeant, US Army. 1st Battalion, 18th Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division Sniper fire, Baghdad When Mario De Leon returned home to the rolling hills of Petaluma CA for the last time, dozens of well-wishers, firefighters, and police officers lined the streets and stood on overpasses to see the black hearse go by. A group of teenage girls held a sign that read WE LOVE YOU. For De Leon’s mother Barbara, the show of respect was in part a salve for an old wound. De Leon’s father had served two tours in Vietnam. When he returned to the US, “they treated him like crap,” she says. The motorcades and hand-painted signs that honored Mario’s death were in stark contrast to the reprehensible way returning soldiers were treated in the last unpopular war. “America is trying to make up for that,” she says. Mario was shy when it came to praise and gratitude. Strangers stopped him and said thank you, but he didn’t know how to react. Barbara had worried that she would lose him to gangs and drugs in high school. But he cleaned up and enlisted in the army after graduation. It wasn’t long before De Leon was shouldering a heavy SAW (squad automatic weapon) gun on his broad 1.9-m (6-ft 2-in) frame through the rugged passes of Afghanistan. When he finished his tour in 2002, he left the army and used the GI Bill to enroll at a local junior college. That’s where he charmed his wife Erika with his handsome face, his goofy grin and a boyish obsession with ThunderCats cartoons and X-Men comic books. But by 2006, with a new baby boy named Keoni in the house, he decided to reenlist. He hoped a career in the military would provide a stable income for his family. He arrived in Baghdad in October 2007 and was promoted to sergeant and squad leader. Two weeks later, Mario De Leon came into an enemy sniper’s sights in Baghdad while leading a patrol. His squad fights on without him. “I wish to hell,” Barbara says, “they’d get them home.”
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The Virtual World of Online Gaming by Michael Ray irtual worlds generated billions of real dollars in 2006–07 as millions of players around the world fought, bought, crafted, and sold in a variety of online environments. The most populous, Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft, drew seven million subscribers (with more than five million in China alone). This total represented more than half of the massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) community in 2006, and it brought in more than $1 billion in retail sales and subscription fees for Blizzard. MMOGs differed from traditional PC games in a number of important ways. First, Internet connectivity was a prerequisite for all MMOGs, as the games could be played only after one logged in to the server that hosted the game world (popular MMOGs required dozens of such servers to accommodate their larger player bases). Second, the social aspect of interacting with thousands of players worldwide frequently overshadowed the game content itself. A 2006 study found that almost a third of female players and nearly 10% of male players had dated someone they met in a game. Third, most MMOGs operated on a subscription basis, charging a monthly fee in addition to the initial purchase price of the game software. Some companies offered frequent downloadable “patches” of new game content to make these monthly fees more palatable to players, while others offered their games free of charge to players who were willing to tolerate a stream of ingame advertisements. Though World of Warcraft and other MMOGs utilized the advanced graphics and high-end processing power typical of the current generation of PC games, online gaming had its roots in some of the earliest computing technologies. By the late 1970s, many universities in the US were linked by ARPANET, a precursor to the Internet. The structure of ARPANET allowed users to connect their computers to a central mainframe and interact in what was close to real time. In 1980 ARPANET was linked to the University of Essex, Colchester, England, where two undergraduate students had written a text-based fantasy adventure game that they called MUD, or “multiuser dungeon.” When the first outside users connected to MUD through ARPANET, online gaming was born. Soon other programmers expanded on the original MUD design, adding graphic flourishes, chat functions, and player groups (or guilds). These basic features, as well as the fantasy setting, carried over into the next generation of online games, which were the first true MMOGs. The first wave of MMOGs included such games as Ultima Online (debuted in 1997), the South Korean blockbuster Lineage (1998), and Sony’s EverQuest
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(1999). Growth for these early games was relatively slow but steady with the exception of Lineage, the explosive popularity of which was mainly due to the early and widespread availability of high-speed Internet connections in South Korea. This popularity did not come without a price, however. A number of Korean players died of exhaustion after marathon gaming sessions, and a 2005 South Korean government survey showed that more than half a million Koreans suffered from “Internet addiction.” Game companies funded dozens of private counseling centers for addicted gamers in an effort to forestall legislation, such as that passed by China in 2005, that would force designers to impose in-game penalties for players who spent more than three consecutive hours online. By the time World of Warcraft debuted in November 2004, the global gaming market was ready for a change. With the notable exceptions of EVE Online, a game of interstellar corporate intrigue, and the superhero-themed City of Heroes, the market was saturated with “swords and sorcery” fare. World of Warcraft’s attention to humor and team play and its shallow learning curve brought in millions of casual gamers who had never before tried an MMOG. This widespread success brought its own challenges for Blizzard, however, when the company temporarily suspended the account of a transsexual player over freedom of speech issues. While that incident seemed to have been the result of a terrible miscommunication on Blizzard’s part, it did open a dialogue on the nature of online worlds. Were they like private clubs, where the management could restrict both membership and speech? Or did they fall under the scope of a public accommodation, where discrimination was expressly prohibited by US law? Another issue that game publishers had to face was the rise of secondary economies outside their game worlds. Ultima Online designers were the first to observe this phenomenon at work when a castle in their game world sold for several thousand dollars on the online auction site eBay. This was the beginning of a market valued at more than $1 billion in 2006. Players spent hours earning in-game wealth, hunting for rare weapons, and gaining power and prestige for their characters so that the fruits of their virtual labors could be exchanged for real cash. The buyer and seller would agree on a purchase price; the funds would be transferred electronically; and the two would then meet in the game world to complete the transaction. Some Chinese companies turned this into serious business, employing hundreds of “gold farmers,” who played the game in an effort to hoard resources that would be sold to players in South
Many groups were eager to target one of the fastest-growing communities on the Internet— Second Life’s population topped 8 million in July 2007, and its numbers were increasing by some 10,000 a day.
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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Korea or the United States. Most MMOG companies sought to control this behavior by banning the accounts of suspected gold farmers (Blizzard closed 18,000 such accounts in October–December 2005). Sony co-opted the secondary market when it launched Station Exchange, a service designed to facilitate the buying and selling of virtual goods in its EverQuest games. Thus far, however, Linden Lab was the only company to design a game around a virtual economy. That game was Second Life. In many ways similar to The Sims, the top-selling PC game of all time, Second Life was less a game and more a virtual world. Though The Sims Online was a relative failure when it launched in late 2002, Second Life became a runaway success. The difference was in the economic models adopted by the two games. Whereas The Sims Online was criticized for its lack of any clear goals for players, Second Life offered players the opportunity to use the game world and their own talents to make as much money as they possibly could. For a monthly subscription fee, players received an allowance of Lindens (the in-game currency) that officially exchanged with US
REVIEW dollars at a rate of approximately 250:1. Players could then purchase in-game items, customize those items by using 3D-imaging software, and resell them at a profit. For some, crafting items and managing virtual real estate in Second Life became a “first life” business. A German couple, acting through their in-game persona Anshe Chung, earned almost $200,000 in 2006 by developing and marketing property within Second Life. Many groups were eager to target one of the fastest-growing communities on the Internet—Second Life’s population topped 8 million in July 2007, and its numbers were increasing by some 10,000 a day. Starwood Hotels built a resort on a virtual desert island; BBC Radio 1 created a concert venue for online music festivals; Sweden opened a virtual embassy; and Virginia politician Mark Warner conducted a town-hall interview with a Second Life reporter. The city of Vancouver established a police department complete with custom uniforms and badges, as a recruiting tool for its technology-related crimes unit. As the game became more like reality, some players joked that they were in need of a “third life.”
Michael Ray is a freelance writer and a Research Editor at Encyclopædia Britannica.
The US 2006 Midterm Elections by David C. Beckwith n a stinging rebuke to Pres. George W. Bush and his party, voters swung decisively to Democrats in 2006 US congressional and state elections. The Republicans’ 12-year control of Congress was abruptly ended, and recent GOP gains in state legislatures and governorships were reversed in a nationwide Democratic surge. On the federal level, Democrats captured 31 new seats in the US House of Representatives, for a prospective 233–202 advantage in the new Congress. More surprisingly, Democrats effectively gained 6 US Senate seats, turning a 55–45 deficit into narrow 51–49 control. That meant that a divided government (one party controlling the executive branch, the other the legislative branch), mandated by US voters for 26 of the past 38 years, would return again in 2007. A series of serious ethical controversies bedeviled the Republican majority during the year, allowing Democrats to decry “a culture of corruption” in Washington. Investigations of officials who dealt with convicted GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff led indirectly to the resignation of Tom DeLay, a senior Texas congressman, and a taint on several other Republicans. GOP problems ran even deeper, however. In 1994, when Republicans captured the US House after 40 years in the minority, they relied on a “Contract with America” that promised 10 specific reforms. One was a curb on earmarking, spending on projects pushed by an indi-
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vidual congressman, usually at the behest of a lobbyist who reciprocated with campaign contributions. By 2006, however, many of the reforms had been eroded, and earmarking was back with a vengeance. A second-rank GOP legislator was imprisoned in March for trading earmarks for bribes, and in September a six-term representative, Bob Ney of Ohio, admitted to criminal acts associated with bribes and gift giving. Later that month Mark Foley, another senior Republican, was forced to resign after publication of sexually suggestive e-mails he had written to former House pages. Although some Democrats were accused of ethical improprieties as well, the year’s multiple ethics charges only intensified voter demand for change. Sen. George Allen of Virginia, a potential 2008 Republican presidential candidate, used the term macaca (the definition of which was variously a monkey, a town in South Africa, or a racial slur against African immigrants) when referring to a Democratic campaign worker of Indian descent who was recording campaign-rally remarks for Internet use. Allen urged followers to “give a welcome to macaca, here.” Though he later apologized, Allen lost a close reelection battle. Public dissatisfaction with the war in Iraq topped 65% by year’s end, negating President Bush’s efforts to assist individual Republican candidates in their reelection bids and spilling into Democratic politics as well. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, his party’s 2000 vice
The Republicans’ 12-year control of Congress was abruptly ended, and recent GOP gains in state legislatures and governorships were reversed in a nationwide Democratic surge.
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presidential nominee and Bush’s strongest Democratic ally in the war on terrorism, lost his August primary to an antiwar opponent. He won reelection as an independent in November only with substantial Republican support. In contrast to 1994, the out-ofpower party did not publish a clear, detailed alternate blueprint for the future, in part because of internal Democratic divisions over key issues.
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Democrats did promise early action on several bills, including ones to raise the minimum wage and void recent tax concessions to unpopular oil companies. Democrats mainly concentrated on criticizing numerous Republican missteps in Iraq and in their management of Congress. The strategy worked, but the direction that the Democrats would take was anything but clear.
David C. Beckwith is a freelance writer.
Outsourcing War—The Surge in Private Military Firms by Peter Saracino he conflict in Iraq focused renewed attention on the role played by private military firms (PMFs) in modern war. In 2006 more than 60 firms employing 20,000 armed personnel were estimated to be operating in Iraq, which made PMFs the second largest foreign military contingent, after the United States. These firms conduct vital security duties, ranging from escorting convoys of freight to protecting key facilities and leaders. The industry even has its own lobby group, the Private Security Company Association of Iraq, with nearly 50 international corporate members. PMFs have also attracted unwanted attention, however, including allegations that contractors working in 2003 as military interrogators and translators at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq were involved in the abuse of prisoners. In March 2006 a jury found the PMF Custer Battles guilty of having defrauded the US government of millions of dollars for work done while under contract in Iraq.
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wrong, however, to conclude that PMFs are newcomers to warfare. Prior to the 19th century, it was common for states to contract for military services, including combat. The word soldier itself is derived from the Latin solidus, meaning a gold coin. During the 3rd century BC, Alexander the Great employed mercenary forces to help conquer Asia, and Britain hired German soldiers called Hessians to fight the colonists during the American Revolution (1775–83). In the 17th and 18th centuries, the British East India Company and its Danish, Dutch, and French rivals all had private armies to help defend their government-sanctioned business interests in Asia.
In 2006 more than 60 firms employing 20,000 armed personnel were estimated to be operating in Iraq, which made private military firms the second largest foreign military contingent, after the United States.
THE EVOLUTION OF PMFs The term PMF—also private security company and military services provider—is a catch-all expression that includes traditional security firms employing armed guards, companies shipping defense matériel, consultants offering advice on strategy, and military trainers. Unlike traditional defense industries, PMFs operate in combat zones and other areas where violence may be imminent. States, private industry, and humanitarian aid agencies all employ the services of PMFs. The modern PMF is a product of the end of the Cold War; in the early 1990s many countries slashed defense budgets following the demise of the Soviet Union. This coincided with the growing trend of governments to outsource services to private industry. As a consequence armed forces were left to carry out their missions with fewer ships, aircraft, and personnel, leaving more support and rear-area functions (e.g., repairing tanks, training pilots, and preparing meals) to be outsourced to contractors. It would be
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
EFFECTS ON MILITARY The growth of the modern privatized military industry has had an effect on the armed forces that they were intended to assist. With PMFs offering daily wages of up to $1,000 to attract highly trained staff, there has been an exodus of soldiers from many special forces. Britain’s Special Air Service, the US Army’s Special Forces, and the Canadian Army’s Joint Task Force 2 have all acknowledged problems retaining personnel and are offering special bonuses and pay increases in an effort to compete with lucrative wages in the private sector. When a military organization has no organic capability, it becomes dependent on private industry to provide it. In 2000, for example, the Canadian navy had no logistics ships, and the government contracted a shipping company to take 580 vehicles and 390 sea containers full of equipment back to Canada following the completion of NATO operations in Kosovo. Owing to a dispute over unpaid bills, the ship loitered in international waters for two weeks until Canadian military personnel boarded the ship and forced it to dock in a Canadian port. Despite these problems, PMFs are now called upon to deliver services previously considered the domain of military personnel. Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR) runs the only permanent US base in Africa (Camp Lemonier in Djibouti, at the mouth of the Red Sea). KBR has more than 700 employees who do laundry,
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clean buildings, and prepare meals for 1,500 military personnel. PMFs have even been employed by governments to handle domestic emergencies, such as the initial response to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005. Since the 11 Sep 2001 attacks in the US, the war on terrorism has provided new opportunities for PMFs. Spy agencies now use PMFs to collect and analyze intelligence from around the world. At times contractors have outnumbered employees at the CIA’s offices in both Iraq and Pakistan. LEGAL ISSUES International humanitarian law (which includes the Geneva Conventions) applies to every person in a war zone, even though the status of PMFs is not specifically defined. Hence PMF employees are considered civilians and must not be targeted for attack unless they form part of the armed forces of a state. If these employees participate directly in hostilities, however, they lose this legal protection. Furthermore, PMF employees participating directly in hostilities are not entitled to protection as prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions, and they can be tried as “unlawful combatants” (in other words, as mercenaries). The distinction between combatants and civilians who are merely defending themselves becomes complicated when PMF staff wear military clothing and carry government-issued or privately owned weapons. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, when a state outsources military functions to a PMF, the state remains legally responsible for the firm’s acts. Another legal problem is that PMF employees are usually exempt from the military laws that govern how troops behave in a conflict. Although soldiers from several coalition members in Iraq have been convicted of crimes against civilians, for example, not a single military contractor has been charged with a crime there since the US-led invasion in March 2003. Although most states publish statistics on the numPeter Saracino is a freelance defense journalist.
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
REVIEW bers of their military casualties, the fate of PMF personnel goes largely unreported in the news media. With few exceptions—such as the horrific public display of murdered contractors in the Iraqi city of Fallujah in March 2004—there has been little news coverage of the nearly 650 civilian contractors working for the US government who were reportedly killed in Iraq between March 2003 and September 2006. Safety is another area of concern, especially when the responsibility for the safety of PMF employees working in war zones is undefined. The families of four employees who were killed in Colombia in 2003 when two surveillance aircraft crashed are suing California Microwave Systems, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman, for negligence. Colombian guerrillas held three more employees as hostages. California Microwave Systems had been contracted by the US government to conduct dangerous aerial reconnaissance missions as part of the war on Colombia’s cocaine industry. Although some countries prohibit their citizens from joining the armed forces of a foreign country at war, very few prevent them from joining foreign PMFs. In 2006 the South African Parliament introduced legislation to prevent any of its citizens from participating in a foreign conflict. The bill had its genesis in the 2004 coup attempt against the president of Equatorial Guinea. Mark Thatcher, the son of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and a resident of South Africa at the time, helped fund the PMF allegedly hired to conduct the coup, and it in turn hired 70 South Africans to do the fighting. Globally, the use of PMFs has grown dramatically since the 1990–91 Gulf War, when there was an estimated one contractor for every 50 military personnel involved. By the time of the Iraq invasion in 2003, the ratio had grown to one in 10. With PMFs operating on nearly every continent and generating an estimated $100 billion in revenue annually, they are certain to remain important actors in military affairs for the foreseeable future.
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Chronology, July 2006–June 2007 A day-by-day listing of important and interesting events, adapted from Britannica Book of the Year. See also Disasters.
July 2006 1 Jul The presidency of the European Union rotates from Austria’s chancellor, Wolfgang Schüssel, to the prime minister of Finland, Matti Vanhanen. With the start of the World Bank’s fiscal year, the International Development Association debt of 19 of the world’s poorest countries is canceled. 2 Jul The presidential election in Mexico results in a razor-thin margin between leftist Andrés Manuel López Obrador and conservative Felipe Calderón that is too close to call. 3 Jul A bomb kills seven people near a military checkpoint in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka. US federal prosecutors report that a recently discharged army private has been arrested and will be charged with having raped a woman in Iraq and having killed her and three members of her family. 4 Jul Robert Fico takes office as prime minister of Slovakia. 5 Jul In oil trading in the US, the price reaches a record high of $75.40 per barrel, passing the previous mark set on 21 April. North Korea test-fires a number of missiles over the Sea of Japan/East Sea, including an intercontinental ballistic missile, which evidently fails. 6 Jul Election officials in Mexico declare Felipe Calderón the winner of the presidential election. 7 Jul Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz resigns as prime minister of Poland. The World Conservation Union announces that the West African black rhinoceros is thought to be extinct. 8 Jul As Israeli troops pull out of northern Gaza, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya calls for a truce. The General Synod of the Church of England for the first time agrees to allow women to serve as bishops. Frenchwoman Amélie Mauresmo takes the All-England (Wimbledon) women’s tennis championship; the following day Roger Federer of Switzerland wins the men’s title. 9 Jul In Berlin, Italy defeats France in a penalty shootout to win the World Cup in association football (soccer). The day after a car bomb in front of a ShiCite mosque kills at least 12 people, gunmen rampage through a Sunni neighborhood in Baghdad, pulling people from cars and homes and killing them. 10 Jul José Ramos-Horta is inaugurated as prime minister of East Timor. 11 Jul During the evening rush hour, seven trains carrying commuters from Mumbai (Bombay) to suburbs are bombed within a few minutes, and an eighth bomb goes off at a train station; some 200 people are killed. Indonesia’s legislature passes a law intended to grant significant autonomy to Aceh province in accordance with the terms of a peace agreement. 12 Jul Hezbollah fires two rockets into northern Israel and in an attack over the border kills three Israeli soldiers and captures two others, which prompts Israel to make air attacks against Hezbollah bases and bridges in southern Lebanon and send in ground forces.
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
13 Jul Israel attacks Beirut’s airport and establishes a naval blockade of its port, while Hezbollah continues rocket attacks against Israel; Lebanon says 53 of its civilians have been killed. The Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline, which carries oil from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean, is officially opened. 14 Jul Israeli planes bomb Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut as Hezbollah continues to shell northern Israel. In a match-fixing scandal, the governing body of Italian association football (soccer) metes out penalties to a number of top teams. 15 Jul Meeting in Russia, US Pres. George W. Bush and Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin are unable to reach an agreement that would allow Russia to join the World Trade Organization. 16 Jul A large missile launched by Hezbollah strikes a railroad maintenance building in Haifa, Israel, killing 8 people; Israel responds by bombing Beirut and southern Lebanon, killing at least 45 people. 17 Jul Gunmen open fire in a crowded ShiCite market area in Mahmudiyah, Iraq, killing at least 48 people. The space shuttle Discovery safely returns to Earth after a successful 13-day mission. 18 Jul A suicide car bomber lures day laborers with the offer of work and then detonates his weapon, killing at least 53, in Kufah, Iraq. 19 Jul Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora calls a meeting of foreign diplomats seeking help in dealing with Israeli attacks against Hezbollah in the country. QUOTE OF THE MONTH
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The country has been torn to shreds.... Is this the price we pay for aspiring to build our democratic institutions?
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—Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, at a meeting of foreign diplomats over the crisis between Israel and Lebanon, 19 July
For the first time in his administration, US Pres. George W. Bush exercises his right to veto legislation passed by Congress; the bill he vetoes is one that would expand research into possible medical uses of embryonic stem cells. 20 Jul US Marines enter Beirut to help evacuate American citizens from the beleaguered country. It is reported that Ethiopian troops have entered Baidoa, Somalia, where the interim government is based, after fundamentalist Muslim militias approached within 35 km (22 mi) of the city. 21 Jul A government spokesman announces that King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand has approved a plan to hold a general election in the country on 15 October; the election held on 2 April was invalidated. 22 Jul Israel sends ground forces into southern Lebanon, and its airplanes bomb television and cell phone towers, while Hezbollah rockets continue to rain on northern Israel.
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23 Jul A suicide bomber at a market in Baghdad kills at least 35 people, while a car bomb outside the courthouse in Kirkuk, Iraq, kills at least 22; 11 other bodies are found in the Tigris River. After an astounding comeback in which he made up in the Alps the eight minutes that he had fallen behind, American cyclist Floyd Landis wins the Tour de France. Tiger Woods wins the British Open golf tournament. 24 Jul Pascal Lamy, director general of the World Trade Organization, formally suspends the Doha Round of trade talks. 25 Jul Israel announces that it intends to occupy a strip of southern Lebanon until an international force that can take control has been convened; an Israeli air strike hits a UN observation post in Lebanon, killing four unarmed UN observers. 26 Jul A meeting between the US and European and Arab countries fails to agree on a plan to stop the fighting in the Middle East; in continuing fighting 9 Israeli soldiers, at least 23 Gaza Palestinians, and dozens of Lebanese people are killed. 27 Jul In Moscow, Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin and Venezuelan Pres. Hugo Chávez announce an agreement to allow Venezuela to import military technology, including fighter jets and helicopters, from Russia. Cyclist Floyd Landis is suspended when a test taken after his comeback to win Stage 17 and, ul-
timately, the Tour de France shows an abnormally high level of testosterone. 28 Jul The new UN Human Rights Committee issues a report calling on the US to close its secret prisons and to allow Red Cross access to all the prisoners it has detained in connection with the war on terrorism. 29 Jul The US Department of Defense extends for a period of up to four months the tours of duty of 4,000 troops who had been scheduled to leave Iraq in the next few weeks. 30 Jul Legislative and presidential elections are held in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; they are the first multiparty elections in the country in 46 years. Israeli bombing of Qana, Lebanon, causes the collapse of an apartment building that kills nearly 60 civilians; hours later Israel agrees to suspend air strikes for 48 hours. 31 Jul Pres. Fidel Castro of Cuba announces that while he recovers from surgery, he is temporarily turning power over to his brother, Defense Minister Raúl Castro. Just 12 hours after having agreed to a 48-hour cessation of the air war on Lebanon, Israel resumes air strikes. The UN Security Council passes Resolution 1696 (2006), which demands a verifiable cessation of uranium enrichment by Iran.
August 2006 1 Aug A roadside bomb near Tikrit, Iraq, kills 23 Iraqi soldiers on a bus transferring them from Mosul to Baghdad, and in Baghdad a suicide car bomb near a bank kills 10 people; a total of at least 44 people are killed in attacks in the country. 2 Aug Forces of the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam continue fighting after several days of conflict over an irrigation channel; at least 49 people are killed. 3 Aug In Panjwai, Afghanistan, near Kandahar, a suicide car bomber kills at least 21 people at a bazaar; 7 NATO soldiers are killed in the area in other attacks. 4 Aug Four bridges along the main north-south highway north of Beirut are destroyed by Israeli shelling, and more than 30 people are killed; Hezbollah continues to shell Israel, killing 4. 5 Aug The Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton OH inducts quarterbacks Troy Aikman and Warren Moon, linebacker Harry Carson, tackle Rayfield Wright, defensive lineman Reggie White, and coach John Madden. 6 Aug Hezbollah rockets kill 12 Israeli reservists and 3 civilians in northern Israel as Israel continues its assault on Lebanon. At the Buick Open golf tournament, Tiger Woods wins his 50th Professional Golfers’ Association of America Tour title; also, American Sherri Steinhauer wins the women’s British Open golf tournament. 7 Aug Somalia’s transitional government in Baidoa dissolves the cabinet; several cabinet members had quit in recent weeks. 8 Aug In Baghdad three bombs near the Interior Ministry kill 9 people, two bombs in a market claim 10 lives, and gunmen robbing a bank kill 5 others. Roger Goodell is elected commissioner of the National Football League. 9 Aug Israel’s cabinet approves a plan to deploy thousands of ground troops to move farther and more
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
quickly into Lebanon in order to push Hezbollah rocket launchers farther away from Israel. 10 Aug British authorities say that they have arrested 24 men who planned to blow up airplanes heading to the US by using liquid explosives that they intended to carry on board and mix into lethal explosives during the flight; governments of both the UK and the US immediately ban all liquids in carry-on luggage. A suicide bomber’s weapons detonate as he is being frisked at a checkpoint outside the Shrine of Ali, an important ShiCite pilgrimage site, in Najaf, Iraq; at least 35 people are killed. 11 Aug The UN Security Council unanimously adopts a resolution calling for hostilities between Israel and Lebanon to stop, peacekeeping troops to go to southern Lebanon, and armed groups—meaning Hezbollah—to be disarmed. 12 Aug Fighting in Lebanon between Hezbollah and Israeli troops intensifies as Lebanon approves the UN cease-fire resolution; the following day Israel also accepts the cease-fire. 13 Aug Five bombings that occur in two waves kill at least 63 people in a ShiCite neighborhood of Baghdad. 14 Aug A cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah goes into effect as tens of thousands of people return to their homes in southern Lebanon, and Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, declares victory. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam say that Sri Lankan government forces bombed a school compound, killing 61 girls. 15 Aug A US federal judge rules that insurance companies do not have to pay victims of Hurricane Katrina for damage from flooding associated with wind damage but do have to pay for wind damage associated with flooding. 16 Aug An American teacher and apparent pedophile, John M. Karr, is arrested in Thailand for the unsolved murder of child beauty queen JonBenet
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Ramsey, who was killed at the age of six in 1996; charges are later dropped when DNA evidence excludes him as a suspect. 17 Aug A US federal judge rules that the National Security Agency’s warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional and should be shut down; it continues, however, pending an appeal. 18 Aug The Lebanese army enters southern Lebanon, reaching the border with Israel for the first time in nearly 40 years. 19 Aug New Zealand defeats Australia to win the Rugby Union Tri-Nations title. 20 Aug As thousands of pilgrims wend their way through Baghdad to a ShiCite shrine, snipers and mortar fire from Sunni neighborhoods kill 20 people and injure 300. Tiger Woods wins the Professional Golfers’ Association of America championship. 21 Aug A bomb in a crowded Moscow market kills at least 10 people. Tuheitia Paki is crowned king of the Maori in New Zealand. 22 Aug The UN sends peacekeepers to Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and brokers a cease-fire after three days of deadly violence has left at least 15 people dead. 23 Aug The port of Mogadishu, Somalia, is opened for the first time in more than 11 years; the city’s international airport, closed for the past decade, had reopened a month previously. In Vienna, Natascha Kampusch, who was kidnapped in 1998 at the age of 10, escapes her captor and tells police she has been kept locked in a cellar under a garage for eight years. 24 Aug The International Astronomical Union decides on a definition of planets that classifies Pluto, Ceres, and Eris as dwarf planets. 25 Aug The UN Security Council votes to establish a new peacekeeping force for East Timor. 26 Aug The leaders of the Lord’s Resistance Army, a rebel militia in Uganda, announce that they will lay down their arms and end their war after signing a peace treaty with the Ugandan government in Juba, Sudan.
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27 Aug A suicide car bomb goes off in the parking lot of Al-Sabah, Iraq’s main newspaper, killing two people; 50 more people are killed in various acts of violence throughout the country. The Emmy Awards are presented in Los Angeles. 28 Aug A gun battle between the Mahdi Army, the militia of radical ShiCite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, and the Iraqi army in Al-Diwaniyah, Iraq, leaves at least 20 combatants and 8 civilians dead; in Baghdad a car bomb outside the Interior Ministry kills 13. A bomb kills three people in the resort town of Antalya, Turkey; the previous day three bombs had gone off in Marmaris, another tourist town, injuring 21 people. 29 Aug Oaxaca, Mexico, is shut down by a general strike to protest violence as representatives of striking teachers and civic groups who seek the removal of the state’s governor fail to reach an agreement in talks with state officials and federal mediators. 30 Aug In Al-Hillah, Iraq, a bicycle rigged with explosives kills at least 12 people at an army recruiting center; later, in a market in Baghdad, a bomb in a vendor’s cart kills at least 24 people; the death toll throughout the country for the day is 65. 31 Aug A deadline set by Western countries for Iran to stop its enrichment of uranium passes with no action from Iran. In the province of Yala in Thailand, bombs triggered by signals from cell phones explode nearly simultaneously in 22 banks; only one person is killed. QUOTE OF THE MONTH
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I may go down in history as the guy who killed Pluto.
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—Michael Brown, the astronomer whose discovery of 2003 UB-313 (Eris) prompted the International Astronomical Union’s decision on the definition of a planet that excludes both Pluto and Xena, 24 August
September 2006 1 Sep A US Department of Defense assessment of the state of security in Iraq indicates that in the period since the establishment of Iraq’s new government, the number of Iraqi casualties has increased by more than 50%. 2 Sep A nine-hour sea battle between forces of the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) takes place off the country’s north coast; the government reports that it sank 12 LTTE boats and killed at least 80 rebels. 3 Sep A major battle takes place between NATO forces and Taliban insurgents in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan; four Canadian soldiers and, according to a NATO spokesman, some 200 Taliban fighters are killed. 4 Sep After two days of talks in The Sudan, the government of Somalia and the fundamentalist Muslim group that controls most of the country’s southern regions agree to form a unified army and a peace committee to work out details of the plan. 5 Sep Nine boats carrying 898 African migrants arrive at the Canary Islands, setting a record for arrivals on a single day; some 20,000 migrants have
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traveled to the Canary Islands so far in 2006, and hundreds have died in the attempt. 6 Sep US Pres. George W. Bush announces that 14 prominent terrorism suspects who have been held in heretofore secret CIA prisons in undisclosed locations have been transferred to the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. 7 Sep Tony Blair declares his intention to step down as British prime minister within the next year. 8 Sep The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield MA inducts as members players Charles Barkley, Dominique Wilkins, and Joe Dumars, men’s coach Sandro Gamba of Italy and women’s coach Geno Auriemma of the US, and college coach and executive Dave Gavitt. 9 Sep Mariya Sharapova of Russia wins the women’s US Open tennis championship; the following day Roger Federer of Switzerland takes the men’s title. The Detroit Shock wins the women’s national basketball championship. 10 Sep Montenegro holds its first legislative elections. Sam Hornish, Jr., wins the overall IndyCar championship, his third.
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11 Sep Palestinian Authority Pres. Mahmoud Abbas announces that he and Prime Minister Ismail Haniya have tentatively agreed to form a government of national unity. 12 Sep Remarks by Pope Benedict XVI in a speech in Regensburg, Germany, ignite a storm of criticism and protest in Muslim countries. 13 Sep Iraqi authorities report that 60 bodies have been found in Baghdad in the past 24 hours, and dozens more people are killed by several car bombs. 14 Sep US health officials tell consumers not to eat any bagged fresh spinach after an outbreak of a virulent strain of E. coli bacteria has sickened at least 50 people. 15 Sep An Iraqi government spokesman announces a plan to ring Baghdad with trenches so that all traffic into and out of the city must pass through one of 28 planned checkpoints; the scheme is intended to reduce violence in the city. 16 Sep In Côte d’Ivoire—in connection with the illegal dumping of toxic black sludge in several areas of Abidjan on 19 August that killed 7 people and sickened some 15,000 others—the ministers of transportation and environment are replaced. 17 Sep In a referendum in the secessionist province of Transnistria in Moldova, voters choose overwhelmingly to secede from Moldova and attach the province to Russia; the referendum is not internationally recognized. 18 Sep A suicide bomber on a bicycle kills 4 Canadian soldiers in Char Kota, Afghanistan; another kills 11 people in Herat; and a suicide car bomber in Kabul kills 4 policemen. A suicide car bomber fails in his attempt to kill Somalia’s transitional president, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, in Baidoa, Somalia, but does kill at least eight other people in the presidential convoy. 19 Sep Military leaders led by Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratkalin seize power in Thailand, suspending the constitution and all government bodies. 20 Sep CAli CAbdallah Salih resoundingly wins reelection as president of Yemen. At the UN General Assembly, Pres. Hugo Chávez of Venezuela makes an incendiary anti-American speech. 21 Sep The British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson pledges to invest $3 billion in expected profit from his businesses in developing energy sources that do not increase global warming. 22 Sep Hundreds of thousands of people gather in the southern suburbs of Beirut to hear Hassan Nasrallah speak at what he calls a victory rally for Hezbollah over Israel.
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And the devil came here yesterday. Yesterday the devil came here. Right here. And it smells of sulfur still today.
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—Hugo Chávez on 20 September in a speech to the UN General Assembly, referring to US Pres. George W. Bush, who addressed the assembly the previous day
23 Sep It is reported that the most recent National Intelligence Estimate in the US has concluded that the war in Iraq is stoking Islamic radicalism and increasing the threat of terrorism. A bomb in Baghdad kills at least 35 people, mostly women and children, in a line to receive cooking fuel; also, in Baiji, 9 people, including some policemen, are beheaded at a checkpoint. 24 Sep A sea battle between Sri Lankan naval forces and those of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) takes place off Sri Lanka’s east coast; government spokesmen say 70 of the LTTE forces have been killed and 11 LTTE ships sunk. 25 Sep Security forces in Fraijanes, Guatemala, storm and take over Pavón prison, which had been under the control of the inmates for a decade. 26 Sep Shinzo Abe is installed as prime minister of Japan. The leader of the military junta that has seized power in Thailand, Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, announces that a civilian prime minister will be appointed soon but that the junta will remain in an advisory capacity. 27 Sep After many postponements, Iran’s negotiator for nuclear issues, Ali Larijani, meets for talks with the head of foreign policy for the European Union, Javier Solana, in Berlin. 28 Sep Levy Mwanawasa is elected to a second term as president of Zambia. A Thai official discloses that Surayud Chulanont, an adviser to the king, has been chosen to serve as the country’s interim prime minister. 29 Sep US Rep. Mark Foley of Florida resigns from the House of Representatives after the revelation of a number of sexually explicit e-mails that he sent to teenage pages; Foley was head of a caucus on missing and exploited children. 30 Sep A suicide bomber approaches the headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior in Kabul and detonates a device, killing at least 12 people.
October 2006 1 Oct Gun battles break out in Gaza between FatahalIslam-led protesters demonstrating their anger over unpaid government salaries and Hamas forces; six Palestinians are killed. Tiger Woods wins the world golf championship in London. 2 Oct In violence in Baghdad, eight US soldiers are killed; the following day violence throughout the country kills 51 civilians. A gunman invades an Amish schoolhouse in Nickel Mines PA and, after sending all the boys and adults out of the building, begins shooting the girls, killing four and wounding seven; he kills himself afterward.
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The Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine is awarded to Americans Andrew Z. Fire and Craig C. Mello. 3 Oct The Nobel Prize for Physics is awarded to American astronomers George F. Smoot and John C. Mather. 4 Oct The Nobel Prize for Chemistry is awarded to Roger D. Kornberg of the US. 5 Oct With its expansion into the east of the country, NATO officially takes charge of all peacekeeping and security in Afghanistan from the US military. 6 Oct The UN Security Council issues a statement to North Korea warning it not to engage in a nuclear
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test and pressing it to return to the six-party talks it abandoned in 2005. 7 Oct A suicide bomber kills 14 people at an Iraqi army checkpoint in Tal Afar, Iraq; in addition, 51 bodies are found in Baghdad. Anna Politkovskaya, a prominent, outspoken, and independent journalist, is shot dead at her home in Moscow. 8 Oct French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin announces that smoking will be banned in most public places in France beginning on 1 Feb 2007. 9 Oct North Korea successfully tests a small nuclear weapon in the mountains above Kilju. The Nobel Memorial Prize for Economic Science goes to American Edmund S. Phelps. The search engine company Google agrees to buy the popular video-sharing Web site YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock. 10 Oct Three bombs in a single neighborhood in Baghdad kill a total of 17 people, and at least 50 bodies are found in various places in the city. The Man Booker Prize for Fiction goes to Anglo-Indian writer Kiran Desai for her novel The Inheritance of Loss. 11 Oct In a battle between the Sri Lankan army and forces of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam near Jaffna, at least 129 Sri Lankan soldiers are killed; it is the army’s highest death toll since the start of the 2002 cease-fire. 12 Oct The Nobel Prize for Literature is awarded to Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk. France’s National Assembly passes a bill that makes it a crime punishable by jail and a heavy fine to deny that Armenians were subject to genocide by Turkey in 1915. 13 Oct The UN General Assembly appoints South Korea’s foreign minister, Ban Ki-moon, the next secretary-general of the UN. QUOTE OF THE MONTH
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In too many places could I feel the dismay over inaction of the UN, or action that was too little or came too late.… I am determined to dispel the disillusionment. —Ban Ki-moon, accepting his appointment as UN secretary-general, 13 October
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The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus and the institution he founded, Grameen Bank. 14 Oct The UN Security Council, in response to North Korea’s nuclear test, votes to impose strict sanctions on North Korea, including giving all countries the right to inspect all cargo going into or out of the country. 15 Oct A suicide truck bomber attacks a convoy of unarmed navy personnel in central Sri Lanka; at least 94 people are killed. After an investigation, police in Israel recommend that the attorney general file charges of rape and sexual assault against Israeli Pres. Moshe Katsav. Lorena Ochoa of Mexico wins the Ladies Professional Golf Association world championship.
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16 Oct Scientists in California and Russia report that they have produced a new superheavy atom, element 118. 17 Oct The population of the United States reaches 300 million. US Pres. George W. Bush signs into law legislation that sets up new rules for interrogating and prosecuting terrorism suspects that differ from the rules for criminal suspects. 18 Oct The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam detonate suicide boats near a navy base at Galle in southern Sri Lanka. 19 Oct A spokesman for the US military command in Iraq reports that the 12-week campaign to regain control of Baghdad has resulted in an increase in violence and a sharp rise in US combat deaths. 20 Oct Fighting breaks out in Al-CAmarah, Iraq, between members of the Mahdi Army and members of the Badr Organization, both ShiCite militias; at least 25 people are left dead. 21 Oct Somali government troops retake the town of Buurhakaba from the Islamist forces that have occupied much of the country. 22 Oct Voters in Panama resoundingly approve a plan to enlarge the Panama Canal so that it will be able to handle modern ships; its capacity will be doubled. 23 Oct The Ford Motor Co. reports its biggest quarterly loss in 14 years. 24 Oct Government officials in Chad report that rebels seeking the overthrow of Pres. Idriss Déby have overrun the town of Goz Beida. 25 Oct For the first time in a month, battles take place between Taliban fighters and NATO troops; some 48 Taliban are killed near Kandahar, Afghanistan, and NATO bombing reportedly kills some 30 civilians in the village of Zangabad. 26 Oct A law that for the first time provides women with protection against domestic abuse from their husbands or partners goes into effect in India. 27 Oct Iran announces that it has begun enriching uranium in a second cascade of centrifuges, effectively doubling its capacity for nuclear enrichment. The St. Louis Cardinals defeat the Detroit Tigers 4–2 in St. Louis in the fifth game of the World Series to win their 10th Major League Baseball championship. 28 Oct Mexican Pres. Vicente Fox orders federal troops to end the crisis in Oaxaca, which has been riven by protests for five months; thousands of troops move into the area the following day. 29 Oct In runoff presidential elections, incumbent presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Georgi Purvanov of Bulgaria are victorious. In a nationwide vote in Serbia, the new constitution, which among other things asserts Serbia’s claim to UN-administered Kosovo, is approved. 30 Oct A British report predicts cataclysmic effects from global warming and indicates the need for urgent action to forestall disaster. A bomb goes off in the morning near food stalls in Baghdad, killing 33 ShiCite day laborers; five other bombs in the city bring the death toll to 46. 31 Oct North Korea agrees to return to nuclear disarmament talks.
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November 2006 1 Nov The UN Security Council extends the mandate of the transitional government in Côte d’Ivoire for a further year, until 31 October 2007. 2 Nov The UN reports that militia attacks in the Darfur region of The Sudan in the past week have killed scores of civilians, including 27 young children. Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, resigns as head pastor of the New Life megachurch in Colorado Springs CO after a former male prostitute says that he had a three-year affair with Haggard, who has publicly opposed gay sex and same-sex marriage. At the Latin Grammy Awards in New York City, Colombian singer Shakira wins four awards, including song of the year and record of the year. 3 Nov A study is published in the journal Science showing that if no adjustments are made in current fisheries practices, the entire marine ecosystem is likely to collapse by 2048. 4 Nov In ceremonies at the National Cathedral in Washington DC, Katharine Jefferts Schori is formally installed as the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, USA. 5 Nov Deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein is found guilty by an Iraqi court for the death of 148 people in Dujail in 1982; he is sentenced to be hanged. Voters go to the polls in Nicaragua to choose among five candidates for president; the winner is Daniel Ortega of the Sandinista National Liberation Front. 6 Nov Imomali Rakhmonov is reelected president of Tajikistan in elections that are boycotted by the main opposition and that fail to meet international standards. 7 Nov In legislative elections in the US, the Democratic Party gains control over the House of Representatives, with 233 of the 435 seats; with the aid of two independents, Democrats will also have a narrow majority in the Senate. The delivery company FedEx cancels its order for 10 Airbus A380s because of production delays for the giant plane, instead ordering 15 Boeing 777 freighters. Australian Prime Minister John Howard calls a meeting to address the country’s worsening drought, the worst in 1,000 years. 8 Nov US Pres. George W. Bush announces the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld as secretary of defense and names Robert Gates, a former CIA director, as his successor. 9 Nov Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert apologizes for the killing of 18 Palestinian civilians in Beit Hanun, Gaza, the previous day and offers to meet the Palestinian Authority president. 10 Nov In the Pakistani town of Shakai in South Waziristan, a roadside bomb kills pro-government tribal chief Malik Khajan and eight other people. 11 Nov The US vetoes a UN Security Council resolution taking Israel to task for disproportionate violence in Gaza and calling on Palestinians to take action to end rocket fire into Israel. 12 Nov The Houston Dynamo wins the Major League Soccer title. 13 Nov The US House of Representatives votes down a measure to grant permanent normal trade relations with Vietnam that is favored by US Pres. George W. Bush. 14 Nov In Baghdad, armed men in Iraqi police uniforms and driving trucks with Interior Ministry markings in-
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vade the Ministry of Higher Education, kidnapping at least 55 and possibly as many as 150 people. South Africa’s legislature passes a bill that legalizes same-sex marriage, though it does not require officials to perform such marriages. 15 Nov As the UN climate conference opens in Nairobi, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in his opening speech, decries the lack of leadership on the issue of climate change. QUOTE OF THE MONTH
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The impact of climate change will fall disproportionately on the world’s poorest countries, many of them here in Africa. Poor people already live on the front lines of pollution, disaster, and the degradation of resources and land.
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—UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, addressing the UN conference on climate change in Nairobi, 15 November
16 Nov The much-anticipated Sony PlayStation 3 gaming system goes on sale at midnight throughout the US. 17 Nov Russia’s State Duma (lower legislative house) approves new election laws that eliminate minimum turnout rules, allow the government to ban candidates, and forbid criticism of electoral opponents. The US Food and Drug Administration rescinds a 14-year-old ban on the use of silicone-gel breast implants, allowing them to be used for breast reconstruction and, for women over the age of 21, for cosmetic augmentation. 18 Nov In Madagascar, one day after Gen. Andrianafidisoa issued leaflets announcing a military coup, he is greeted by gunfire at a military base where he was seeking support; in an exchange of gunfire between his supporters and government forces, one government soldier is killed. 19 Nov The sudden illness of Alexander V. Litvinenko, a former KGB operative and outspoken opponent of the Russian government living in exile in Great Britain, attracts the attention of the British police because it appears to be a case of poisoning. The BC Lions capture the 94th Canadian Football League Grey Cup. 20 Nov Iraq and Syria reestablish diplomatic relations, which Syria had severed in 1982. The US Mint unveils four new one-dollar coins, each bearing the likeness of one of the first four US presidents. 21 Nov In Kathmandu, Nepali Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and Maoist rebel leader Prachanda sign a peace agreement that will bring the Maoists into the transitional government, taking 73 seats in the country’s legislature. 22 Nov In legislative elections in The Netherlands, the center-right Christian Democratic Party of Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende retains its majority. Pres. Vicente Fox of Mexico inaugurates the Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT), situated atop Sierra Negra in Puebla state. 23 Nov A judge in France calls for Pres. Paul Kagame of Rwanda to be tried in a UN court for complicity in the plane crash that killed Pres. Juvénal Habyari-
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mana in 1994, igniting 100 days of genocide; some 25,000 Rwandans rally in protest. 24 Nov Authorities in London say they have determined that Russian opposition figure Alexander V. Litvinenko was killed by poisoning with the very rare radioactive substance polonium 210. 25 Nov Palestinian Authority Pres. Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agree to a full cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. At least 47 Sunni insurgents are killed in gun battles with Iraqi security forces in BaCqubah; 21 corpses are found in Balad Ruz and 17 in Baghdad, and the US military reports that it killed 22 insurgents and a civilian in battles north of Baghdad. 26 Nov A runoff presidential election in Ecuador is won by leftist candidate Rafael Correa.
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27 Nov In a speech, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert offers a prisoner release, the release of embargoed moneys, and further negotiations if Palestine achieves a national unity government and releases the Israeli soldier captured earlier in the year. 28 Nov Pope Benedict XVI arrives in Turkey for a fourday visit. 29 Nov At the last minute, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki cancels a planned dinner meeting with US Pres. George W. Bush and King Abdullah II of Jordan in Amman, Jordan; a breakfast meeting does take place the following day, however. 30 Nov Palestinian Authority Pres. Mahmoud Abbas announces that negotiations for a national unity government in Palestine have failed.
December 2006 1 Dec In a very brief ceremony accompanied by fisticuffs and catcalls in the Chamber of Deputies, Felipe Calderón is sworn in as president of Mexico. Hundreds of thousands of people turn out in the streets of Beirut to demand the resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora; demonstrations continue through the end of the year. 2 Dec Three car bombs explode in rapid succession in Baghdad, killing at least 51 people, while some 20 other people are killed throughout the city. 3 Dec Hugo Chávez wins reelection as president of Venezuela in a landslide. In an interview with the BBC, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan says that Iraq is in a state of civil war. The annual Kennedy Center Honors are presented in Washington DC to film director Steven Spielberg, theater composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, orchestra conductor Zubin Mehta, and singers Dolly Parton and Smokey Robinson. 4 Dec A merger between the Bank of New York and Pittsburgh’s Mellon Financial is announced; the new financial services giant is to be called Bank of New York Mellon Corp. John R. Bolton resigns as US ambassador to the UN. 5 Dec Military chief Frank Bainimarama announces that the military has taken over the government in Fiji in the country’s fourth coup in 19 years. 6 Dec The bipartisan Iraq Study Group delivers its report to US Pres. George W. Bush; the blue-ribbon panel recommends moving toward a policy of disengagement. Joseph Kabila is sworn in as the first democratically elected president in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in over 40 years. 7 Dec At least 23 people are killed in various bombings and shootings in Iraq, and 35 bullet-riddled bodies are found in Baghdad. Gen. Bantz John Craddock of the US Army is sworn in as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, replacing Gen. James L. Jones of the US Marines. 8 Dec The US House of Representatives passes a bill favored by Pres. George W. Bush permitting the sale of civilian nuclear reactors and fuel to India. The Commonwealth suspends Fiji’s membership. 9 Dec In Darfur unidentified gunmen on horseback attack a truck carrying medical and aid supplies and kill about 30 civilians, some shot and some burned alive. 10 Dec Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet dies in Santiago.
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11 Dec The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons grants the US and Russia a five-year extension, to 2012, of the deadline for destroying their stockpiles of chemical weapons under the Chemical Weapons Convention. 12 Dec At the end of a 12-year case in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian High Court finds former dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam and 70 others guilty of genocide. 13 Dec The UN General Assembly unanimously adopts an international convention for civil and political rights of the disabled, including accessibility rights. 14 Dec South Korean Ban Ki-moon is sworn in as secretary-general of the United Nations. Israel stops Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya from returning to the Gaza Strip from Egypt for seven hours until he agrees to leave behind the large amounts of cash he is carrying; cash brought in from other countries is the only means now open to the Palestinian Authority to pay government expenses. 15 Dec US Pres. George W. Bush awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Ruth Johnson Colvin, Norman C. Francis, Paul Johnson, B.B. King, Joshua Lederberg, David McCullough, Norman Y. Mineta, Buck O’Neil, William Safire, and Natan Sharansky. 16 Dec King Jigme Singye Wangchuk of Bhutan abdicates, two years earlier than previously announced, in favor of his son, Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuk, in order that his son may gain experience ahead of the country’s first-ever legislative elections. 17 Dec Seven parishes in Virginia vote to secede from the Episcopal Church, USA, and affiliate themselves with the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, which is presided over by the conservative archbishop of Nigeria. 18 Dec Representatives of China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Russia, and the US meet in Beijing in renewed negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear program. An arrest is made in the death of five prostitutes near Trimley St. Martin, Suffolk, England, in a case that has riveted the country; later a different man is charged with the murders. 19 Dec For the second time, five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor are sentenced to death in Libya for having deliberately infected children in a hospital in Benghazi with HIV; experts have suggested that the 1998 outbreak of HIV in the hospital predated the arrival of the defendants. Battles between masked gunmen from Fatah and Hamas leave five people dead in Gaza City, in spite
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of public pleas from both Pres. Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniya of Palestine. 20 Dec In a ceremony Al-Najaf becomes the third Iraqi province transferred to Iraqi control from US control; in Baghdad at least 114 people are killed or found dead. 21 Dec Saparmurad Niyazov, Turkmenistan’s capricious and autocratic president, dies unexpectedly. The US Marine Corps charges four Marines with murder in the killing of 24 civilians in the Iraqi village of Haditha in November 2005; also, four officers are charged with dereliction of duty. 22 Dec Six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear program end with no discernible progress, owing largely to intransigence on the part of both North Korea and the US. 23 Dec The UN Security Council approves a limited program of sanctions against Iran intended to stop its program of uranium enrichment. 24 Dec Although it has been involved for some time, Ethiopia now massively enters the war against the forces of the Islamic Courts Union in Somalia. 25 Dec British and Iraqi forces storm a police station in Basra, Iraq, killing seven people and rescuing 127 prisoners who had been tortured and faced likely execution; the police unit had been infiltrated by death squads. 26 Dec An appeals court in Iraq upholds the death sentence against deposed president Saddam Hussein and rules that it must be carried out within 30 days. Former US president Gerald R. Ford (1974–77) dies in Rancho Mirage CA at the age of 93. 27 Dec The US Department of the Interior proposes listing polar bears as a threatened species; the proposal is the first step in a formal designation for which the final determination must be made within a year. 28 Dec Forces of Somalia’s transitional national government, backed by the Ethiopian military, re-
take Mogadishu from the forces of the Union of Islamic Courts. QUOTE OF THE MONTH
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We always knew these Islamists weren’t all they were cracked up to be. And now we are where they used to be, in control of Mogadishu—well, as much as anyone can be in control of Mogadishu.
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—Abdirizad Adam Hassam, chief of staff for Somalia’s transition president, after national forces retake the capital, 28 December
A wave of violent attacks by drug gangs in Rio de Janeiro leaves at least 19 people dead. 29 Dec The Medicaid Commission established in 2005 by Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael O. Leavitt to find ways to modernize the US health care system delivers its final report. 30 Dec Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein is hanged before dawn. Three car bombs in Baghdad kill 36 people, while another car bomb, in Kufah, kills 31. 31 Dec A video taken on a cell phone of the hanging of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein is widely circulated; the execution has the look of a ShiCite lynching, which causes international controversy. The death toll of American troops in Iraq since March 2003 reaches 3,000 with the death of Dustin Donica of Texas; estimates of total Iraqi deaths range from 30,000 (Pres. George W. Bush in December 2005) to 655,000 (Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, October 2006).
January 2007 1 Jan With the beginning of the new year, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany assumes the presidency of the European Union. Bulgaria and Romania officially accede to the European Union, bringing the number of member states to 27; celebrations are held in Sofia and Bucharest, the respective capitals of the new members; Slovenia, meanwhile, becomes the 13th member of the European Union to adopt the euro as its official currency. 2 Jan The annual Hajj to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, ends without incident. In Australia, the Aborgine Githabul tribe reaches an agreement with the state government of New South Wales that gives the Githabul joint ownership with the government over an area of 6,000 sq km (2,300 sq mi), including national parks and forests. Oprah Winfrey officially opens the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in Henley-on-Klip, South Africa; with an initial class of 152 girls, the eventual enrollment is planned to be 450. 3 Jan The US government announces that John D. Negroponte will resign as director of national intelligence in order to become deputy secretary of state, filling a post that has been vacant since the resignation of Robert B. Zoellick. Kenya closes its border with Somalia in an attempt to prevent fundamentalist Muslim militia members from entering the country.
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4 Jan In Fiji, coup leader Frank Bainimarama restores Pres. Ratu Josefa Iloilo to power and dismisses Jona Senilagakali, whom Bainimarama had appointed interim prime minister; the following day Bainimarama is sworn in as interim prime minister. Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California becomes speaker of the US House of Representatives; she is the first woman to hold the post. Two bombs go off at a gas station in Baghdad, killing 13 people; in various other places in the city, the mutilated bodies of 47 people are found. 5 Jan US Pres. George W. Bush names Zalmay Khalilzad, currently US ambassador to Iraq, as his choice to become UN ambassador. 6 Jan A bomb on a passenger bus near Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka, kills 11 people. Government officials in India say that a series of attacks by the United Liberation Front of Assam over the past two days has left at least 55 people dead. 7 Jan The US Air Force conducts a raid in Somalia, us ing a gunship against suspected al-Qaeda operatives. On the occasion that he was to be enthroned as Roman Catholic archbishop of Warsaw, Bishop Stanislaw Wielgus instead resigns after having admitted collaboration with the Polish secret police during the communist era; Jozef Cardinal Glemp is reappointed archbishop.
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8 Jan Russia shuts down its oil pipeline that runs through Belarus, accusing Belarus of siphoning off fuel intended for other European countries; the cutoff affects supplies in Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. The University of Florida defeats Ohio State University 41–14 to win college football’s Bowl Championship Series title game in Glendale AZ as well as the national Division I-A championship. 9 Jan Hundreds of American and Iraqi troops fight insurgents in a daylong battle in downtown Baghdad. At the Macworld Expo trade show in San Francisco, Steven P. Jobs introduces the novel touch-screenbased iPhone, combining music player, camera, Web functions, and phone with other innovations. Cal Ripken, Jr., who played in 2,632 consecutive games, and Tony Gwynn are elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame; slugger Mark McGwire is rejected. 10 Jan In a televised speech to the country, US Pres. George W. Bush acknowledges difficulties in Iraq and announces that he is sending 20,000 more US troops to Iraq in what he calls a “surge” to end the violence in Baghdad. China reports a record trade surplus for 2006 of $177.47 billion. Pres. Omar Hassan al-Bashir of The Sudan and leaders of several rebel groups in Darfur agree to a 60-day cease-fire in a truce brokered by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. 11 Jan Alfred Gusenbauer is sworn in as chancellor of Austria at the head of a coalition government. Bangladeshi Pres. Iajuddin Ahmed declares a state of emergency, postpones elections, and resigns as caretaker prime minister. The Los Angeles Galaxy announces that it has signed Real Madrid star David Beckham to play Major League Soccer in the US starting in the summer. 12 Jan Pres. Iajuddin Ahmed of Bangladesh names Fakhruddin Ahmed head of the interim government ahead of elections and relaxes some controls imposed under the state of emergency. 13 Jan Meeting at Cebu, Philippines, the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agree to create a free-trade zone in the region by 2015 and approve the outline of a governing charter. 14 Jan Nicolas Sarkozy, French minister of the interior, is chosen as its presidential candidate by the ruling centre-right Union for a Popular Movement Party in Paris. 15 Jan A temporary constitution that makes the prime minister, rather than the king, head of state is approved in Nepal, and 83 Maoist rebels take seats in the interim legislature that the document grants them. Rafael Correa is sworn in as president of Ecuador and orders that a referendum be held on 18 March on amending the constitution to decrease the power of traditional parties. 16 Jan Two car bombs and a suicide bomber kill at least 70 people at Mustansiriyah University in Baghdad, and other assorted acts of violence kill 15 others throughout the city. 17 Jan In a speech to the European Parliament as president of the European Union, German Chancellor Angela Merkel states her goals of reviving the drive to pass the union’s constitution and completing the Doha round of trade talks. 18 Jan US government officials reveal that China carried out a successful test of an antisatellite weapon some days ago, destroying an old weather satellite;
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it was the first antisatellite test since the mid1980s, when the US conducted such tests. 19 Jan After reports that United Nations Development Programme moneys may be being misused in North Korea, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calls for systemwide outside auditing of all UN activities. Prominent ethnic Armenian newspaper editor Hrant Dink is shot to death outside his office in Istanbul. 20 Jan A US helicopter crashes north of Baghdad, possibly shot down, killing all 13 aboard, and five American soldiers are killed in battle in Karbala. 21 Jan Sébastien Loeb, three-time world champion of automobile rally racing, wins the Monte Carlo Rally. 22 Jan Two car bombs in a market in Baghdad explode at noon, a very busy time, and kill at least 88 people. In fighting between antigovernment protesters and security forces in Conakry, Guinea, 17 people are killed. In the field of children’s literature, the Newbery Medal is awarded to Susan Patron for The Higher Power of Lucky, a somewhat controversial book, and David Wiesner wins the Caldecott Medal for illustration for his book Flotsam. In Thoroughbred horse racing’s 2006 Eclipse Awards, Invasor is named Horse of the Year. 23 Jan US Pres. George W. Bush delivers his sixth State of the Union address; he asks for support for his strategy in Iraq and makes modest health care proposals and plans to reduce gasoline consumption. QUOTE OF THE MONTH
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Ladies and gentlemen, on this day, at this hour, it is still within our power to shape the outcome of this battle. Let us find our resolve and turn events toward victory.
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—US Pres. George W. Bush, asking for support for his planned troop “surge” in the Iraq war in his State of the Union Address, 23 January
Government figures show that in 2006 Macau became the world’s biggest gambling center, with gaming revenue exceeding that in Las Vegas. 24 Jan For the second time this month, US military forces conduct an air strike in Somalia. 25 Jan Charles Rabemananjara is sworn in as prime minister of Madagascar. A committee of the Knesset approves the request of Pres. Moshe Katsav to be suspended; Dalia Itzik is named acting president. The Ford Motor Co. announces a loss of $12.7 billion for 2006, its largest single-year loss ever. 26 Jan UN mediator Martti Ahtisaari presents his proposals for the future of the enclave of Kosovo in Serbia; the plan would allow Kosovo to declare independence but ensure international supervision to protect the rights of the Serbian minority in the region. 27 Jan Two car bombs go off at a busy market in Baghdad where crowds had gathered for a preparatory ritual for the ShiCite holy day of CAshura; at least 15 people are killed. A suicide bomber kills 14 people, mostly police officers, just before a planned religious procession in Peshawar, Pakistan. American Serena Williams defeats Mariya Sharapova of Russia to win the Australian Open tennis
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tournament for the second successive year; the following day Roger Federer of Switzerland defeats Chilean Fernando González to win the men’s title. 28 Jan A battle takes place outside Al-Najaf, Iraq, between Iraqi and American forces and a group of militants apparently intent on disrupting observations of the holy day CAshura; at least 250 people are killed. As violence between Hamas and Fatah that has claimed more than 20 lives in the past four days continues in Gaza, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia invites both factions to hold reconciliation talks in Mecca in February; both sides say they will accept the invitation. 29 Jan China announces a plan to lend $3 billion in preferential credit to countries in Africa without placing political or other conditions on the loans.
Meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the African Union chooses Pres. John Kufuor of Ghana to assume the organization’s rotating presidency, rebuffing The Sudan’s bid for the second consecutive year because of worsening violence in Darfur. 30 Jan In violence connected with the observance of CAshura in Iraq, some 50 people are killed, at least 23 of them by a bomb in Karbala. Vice Pres. Cassim Chilumpha of Malawi goes on trial for treason; he is accused of having hired hit men to attempt to assassinate Pres. Bingu wa Mutharika. Vista, Microsoft’s new Windows operating system, and its software suite Office 2007 go on sale. 31 Jan Venezuela’s National Assembly grants Pres. Hugo Chávez the power to govern by decree for the next year and a half.
February 2007 1 Feb Two suicide bombers kill at least 60 people in a crowded market in Al-Hillah, Iraq, while at least 46 people die in assorted violent incidents in Baghdad. Taliban forces sack the town of Musa Qala, Afghanistan, which had been turned over to local control by British forces in October 2006 in an effort to end fighting. 2 Feb The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change releases the first section of its four-part report; it says that global warming is “unequivocal” and that human activity is almost certainly the cause and cites scientific evidence for these conclusions. In the Gaza Strip, 17 people are killed in fighting between adherents of Fatah and Hamas, and Fatah members attack the Islamic University in Gaza City. 3 Feb A suicide truck bomber detonates an estimated one ton of explosives in a crowded Shi!ite market in Baghdad, killing at least 130 people. British officials confirm that the H5N1 strain of avian flu has been found on a poultry farm in eastern England. 4 Feb Two days after a police officer was killed in rioting following an association football (soccer) match between Catania and Palermo in Sicily, the Italian Olympic Committee suspends all further matches. In Miami the Indianapolis Colts defeat the Chicago Bears 29–17 to win the National Football League’s Super Bowl XLI. 5 Feb The computer company Apple Inc. and Apple Corps Ltd., which licenses Beatles music and related products, announce a new agreement whereby Apple Inc. will own all trademarks but license some of them back to Apple Corps; a dispute arose when Apple Computer began selling music through iTunes in 2003. Astronaut Lisa Nowak is arrested in Orlando FL after a bizarre attack on a perceived rival in a romantic triangle. 6 Feb US Pres. George W. Bush and Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates announce that the United States Africa Command will be established by 30 Sep 2008; responsibility for Africa is now divided between three commands. For the second time in two days in England, a letter bomb explodes in a motoring-related company, this one in the offices of an accounting firm in Wokingham; the first was in a building near Scotland Yard headquarters in London.
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7 Feb A Marine transport helicopter is shot down near Baghdad; it is the sixth helicopter to crash in combat in three weeks. A letter bomb explodes at the main British motor vehicle agency in Swansea, Wales; it seems to be of an incendiary nature, as were the ones that preceded it. British author Stef Penney wins the Costa (formerly Whitbread) Book of the Year Award for her first novel, The Tenderness of Wolves. Despite a loss in the final game to the host team (the Carolina Giants [Gigantes] of Puerto Rico), the Cibao Eagles (Águilas) from the Dominican Republic win baseball’s Caribbean Series with a tournament record of 5–1. Sweden’s Ministry of Agriculture gives the country’s reindeer herders some $5.3 million in emergency aid to keep their animals from starving; thick ice has made it impossible for the reindeer to eat the lichen that is their usual diet. 8 Feb A paper published in Nature magazine describes an experiment by a team of researchers led by Lene Vestergaard Hau that used Bose-Einstein clouds to stop a pulse of light and reconstitute it in another location, where it continued on its way. 9 Feb Jim Samples resigns as general manager of the cable television Cartoon Network after a guerrilla marketing campaign involving electronic advertisements placed in unexpected places in several major cities caused a bomb scare in Boston. 10 Feb Gen. David H. Petraeus assumes responsibility for US troops in Iraq, replacing Gen. George W. Casey, Jr. 11 Feb Acting president Gurbanguly Berdymukham medov wins the presidential election in Turkmenistan. Harvard University names Drew Gilpin Faust, dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, university president; she will be the first woman to serve in the post. At the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, the top winner is the country music trio Dixie Chicks, who win five awards, including album of the year, for Taking the Long Way, and both record of the year and song of the year, for “Not Ready To Make Nice”; the best new artist is country singer Carrie Underwood. 12 Feb Four bombs at two markets in Baghdad leave at least 67 people dead and scores more injured. The World Health Organization for the first time approves a vaccine against rotavirus, which causes
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diarrhea and kills some 600,000 children a year; the approval means UN agencies can use it in mass-vaccination campaigns. 13 Feb In the six-country talks about North Korea’s nuclear program, an agreement is reached that will give North Korea fuel oil and financial aid in exchange for starting to dismantle its nuclear facilities and for allowing UN inspectors back into the country. The US Department of Commerce reports that the country’s trade deficit in 2006 reached $763.3 billion, a 6.5% increase over the previous year and a new record for the sixth consecutive year. Felicity’s Diamond Jim, an English springer spaniel, wins Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club’s 131st dog show. 14 Feb In the first major sweep by US and Iraqi forces through several Baghdad neighborhoods, very little resistance is encountered as the forces implement a new security plan for the city. In Zahedan, Iran, a car bomb explodes in front of a bus carrying Revolutionary Guard members; at least 11 people are killed. At the Brit Awards for popular music, the Arctic Monkeys win for best British group and best British album, and the Killers win best international group and best international album. 15 Feb The Hamas-led government of the Palestinian Authority resigns, and Pres. Mahmoud Abbas immediately asks the prime minister, Ismail Haniya, to form a new government. The US National Endowment for the Arts grants its inaugural International Literature Awards to Archipelago Books of Brooklyn, which is to publish Amaia Gabantxo’s translation of Vredaman by Basque writer Unai Elorriaga; to Dalkey Archive Press of Champaign IL, which is to publish Karen Emmerich’s translation of the short-story collection I’d Like by Amanda Michalopoulou of Greece; and to Etruscan Press of Wilkes-Barre PA, which is to publish Diane Thiel’s translation of Amerikaniki Fouga by Greek writer Alexis Stamatis. 16 Feb A court in Italy brings indictments against 26 Americans, most of them alleged CIA officers, as well as the former head of Italy’s spy agency, in connection with the disappearance of Egyptian cleric Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, who says he was kidnapped and sent to Egypt, where he was tortured; this is the first case ordered to trial involving the US program of “extraordinary renditions.” 17 Feb In Quetta, Pakistan, a suicide bomber detonates his weapon in a small district courtroom, killing 15 people, including a senior judge. The Chinese film Tuya de hun shi (Tuya’s Marriage), directed by Wang Quanan, wins the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. 18 Feb Two bombs explode shortly before midnight just outside Diwana, India, on the Attari Express train traveling from Delhi to the border between India and Pakistan; at least 66 people are killed. Shortly after a US and Iraqi military patrol has passed through, two car bombs go off in rapid succession in a market in Baghdad; at least 60 people are killed. In Daytona Beach FL, Kevin Harvick wins the 49th Daytona 500, the premier NASCAR race, by an exceptionally close 0.02 second. In London, Sunday in the Park with George wins five Laurence Olivier Awards—outstanding musical production, best actor in a musical (Daniel Evans), best actress in a musical (Jenna Russell), best lighting design, and best set design.
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19 Feb At the Anglican church gathering in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the Anglican Communion directs the Episcopal Church, USA, to ban the blessing of same-sex unions within eight months and establishes a council and vicar to address the concerns of conservative American congregations. The rival satellite radio companies XM and Sirius announce a merger; the combined company, with 14 million subscribers, will have Mel Karmazin of Sirius as CEO and will be called Project Big Sky by XM. 20 Feb Nigeria’s Court of Appeal rules that the fact that Vice Pres. Atiku Abubakar is a presidential candidate for a political party not in power is not a valid reason for Pres. Olusegun Obasanjo to dismiss him. 21 Feb The $100,000 A.M. Turing Award for excellence in computer science is granted to Frances E. Allen for her work on optimizing compiler performance at IBM; she is the first woman to win the prize, which has been awarded since 1966. 22 Feb The International Atomic Energy Agency reports that Iran is steadily and quickly increasing its ability to enrich uranium, defying the United Nations. A federal jury orders Microsoft to pay $1.52 billion in royalties to Alcatel-Lucent for patents involved in the development of the MP3 audio file format. Executives of the All England Club announce that henceforth the prize money for men and women competing at the Wimbledon tennis tournament will be equal. 23 Feb The Supreme Court of Canada strikes down a law permitting the indefinite detention of foreignborn terrorism suspects; the ruling is suspended for a year so that the parliament may draft a law consistent with the ruling. Margaret M. Chiara is dismissed as US attorney in Grand Rapids MI; she is the eighth US attorney to be removed by the Department of Justice in the past few months in what is becoming a political scandal. 24 Feb A truck bomb goes off near a Sunni mosque, a school, an Iraqi police station, and a public market in Habbaniyah, Iraq, killing at least 36 people; in addition, US forces briefly detain Amar al-Hakim, son of a Shi!ite leader, provoking an international furor. 25 Feb Presidential elections are held in Senegal; voters reelect Pres. Abdoulaye Wade, who bests 14 challengers. At the 79th Academy Awards presentation, hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, Oscars are won by, among others, The Departed (best picture) and its director, Martin Scorsese, and actors Forest Whitaker, Helen Mirren, Alan Arkin, and Jennifer Hudson. Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, gives what he intends to be his final major address, in Detroit. QUOTE OF THE MONTH
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Our lips are full of praise but our hearts are far removed from the prophets we all claim. That’s why the world is in the shape that it’s in.
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—Louis Farrakhan, in his last public address as head of the Nation of Islam, in Detroit, 25 February
26 Feb Opening ceremonies are held in Washington DC, London, and Strasbourg, France, for the Inter-
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national Polar Year, a two-year project undertaken by scientists from more than 60 countries to learn as much as possible by studying the North and South poles. Hold Me Close, a memorial to the victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004 by artist Louise Bourgeois, is unveiled in Hat Nopparat National Park in Thailand. Iraq’s cabinet approves a draft law that will allow oil revenues to be distributed to regions on the basis of population and that will permit foreign companies to develop oil fields. Pres. Lansana Conté of Guinea appoints Lansana Kouyate prime minister; Kouyate was on a list of candidates deemed acceptable by union leaders.
The PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction is granted to Philip Roth for his novel Everyman; Roth has won the award for a record third time. 27 Feb A sudden sell-off of stocks in the Shanghai market triggers a worldwide landslide in stock markets; in the US the Dow Jones industrial average suffers its biggest one-day point loss since 2001, the S&P 500 its largest drop in nearly four years, and the Nasdaq its biggest slide since 2002. A suicide bomber explodes outside the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, killing some 23 people; US Vice Pres. Dick Cheney is inside the base at the time. 28 Feb The NASA spacecraft New Horizons, launched in January 2006, reaches Jupiter; the craft will gather data on the planet and four of its moons until June, when it will continue on to Pluto.
March 2007 1 Mar Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin appoints Ramzan A. Kadyrov president of the republic of Chechnya; Kadyrov heads a security force that is believed to have been responsible for a number of atrocities. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declares that there is no evidence to show that the country’s military forced foreign women into sexual servitude during World War II; this contradicts the position held by the Japanese government since 1993. 2 Mar US Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates dismisses Francis J. Harvey as army secretary over Harvey’s response to revelations of poor care of soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and Lieut. Gen. Kevin Kiley is replaced as temporary head of the hospital by Maj. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker; Kiley is removed as army surgeon general on 12 March. Negotiators for the US and the European Union reach a preliminary agreement on a so-called “open skies” treaty that would eliminate almost all restrictions on cross-Atlantic air travel routes; full agreement is reached on 22 March. 3 Mar At the 20th Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (Fespaco) in Burkina Faso, Africa’s biggest film festival, the Golden Stallion goes to Nigerian director Newton I. Aduaka for his film Ezra. 4 Mar After a suicide car bombing near Jalalabad, Afghanistan, US troops open fire on a highway, killing at least 16 civilians; also, in response to a rocket attack, US forces in Afghanistan carry out an air strike on a compound near Kabul, reportedly killing 9 civilians, all members of a single family. Members of the Cherokee Nation in the US vote to deny membership in the tribe to African American descendants of slaves once owned by Cherokee. 5 Mar A car bomb goes off in Baghdad’s historic literary quarter, leaving at least 20 people dead. The day after Australian forces struck at the stronghold of rebel leader Alfredo Reinado in East Timor, triggering massive demonstrations in support of Reinado, Timorese Pres. Xanana Gusmão declares a state of emergency. 6 Mar In various incidents in Iraq, at least 113 Shi!ite pilgrims preparing for the celebration of Arbaeen are killed, including at least 77 killed by back-toback suicide bombers in Al-Hillah. Abu Dhabi signs an agreement with France to pay $520 million for use of the name of the Louvre Museum and $747 million more for art loans and management advice; the Louvre Abu Dhabi, de-
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signed by architect Jean Nouvel, is scheduled to open after 2012. Fireworks and dancing in the streets as well as a recitation of the speech made in 1957 by Kwame Nkrumah, the country’s first leader, mark the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Ghana’s independence. 7 Mar At least 70 people are killed in assorted incidents in Iraq, 30 of them by a suicide bombing at a café in Ba!qubah. A scandal involving the murders of four Guatemalan police officers results in the resignation of the interior minister and police chief; the police officers, themselves in custody for the killing on 19 February of three Salvadoran lawmakers and their driver, were suspected of having ties to drug gangs. In comic books that arrive in stores today, the Marvel Entertainment superhero Captain America, who first appeared in 1941, is killed. 8 Mar The winners of the annual $100,000 TED Prize announce the projects that they intend to use the money for: former US president Bill Clinton has a foundation that is building a rural health-care system in Rwanda, biologist Edward O. Wilson is creating an Internet database to catalog all species of living things, and photographer James Nachtwey is creating a display of photographs about an unknown “big story.” In New York City the winners of the National Book Critics Circle Awards are announced as Kiran Desai for The Inheritance of Loss (fiction), Simon Schama for Rough Crossings (nonfiction), Julie Phillips for James Tiptree, Jr. (biography), Daniel Mendelsohn for The Lost (autobiography), Troy Jollimore for Tom Thomson in Purgatory (poetry), and Lawrence Weschler for Everything That Rises (criticism); John Leonard is granted the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award. 9 Mar The European Union approves an agreement to reduce greenhouse gases by 20% from 1990 levels, obtain one-fifth of its energy from renewable resources, and run 10% of its vehicles on biofuels by 2020. 10 Mar Hundreds of thousands of people gather in Madrid to protest the granting of house arrest to José Ignacio de Juana Chaos, a leader of the Basque militant organization ETA who had been in prison. 11 Mar The energy services company Halliburton announces that it is moving its corporate headquarters to Dubai, though it will maintain its incorporation in the US.
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12 Mar The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland inducts singer Patti Smith and the groups Van Halen, the Ronettes, R.E.M., and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (the first hip-hop act to be inducted). 13 Mar Pres. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed of Somalia moves for the first time to Mogadishu, the capital, from the government stronghold of Baidoa; within hours a mortar attack is made on the presidential palace. Lance Mackey wins the 1,820-km (1,131-mi) Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, crossing the Burled Arch in Nome AK after a journey of 9 days 5 hours 8 minutes 41 seconds; Mackey’s father and brother are previous winners of the race. 14 Mar The fruit company Chiquita Brands International agrees to pay a $25 million settlement in a case in which it was accused of having hired a rightwing militia to protect banana plantations in Colombia. Charles Taylor, a Canadian professor of law and philosophy, is named the winner of the Templeton Prize for Progress Toward Research or Discoveries About Spiritual Realities. 15 Mar A new Palestinian government composed of a unity coalition of Hamas and Fatah ministers is announced; led by Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, it fails to recognize Israel’s right to exist or to promise not to use or support violence against Israel. In Athens the heads of state of Russia, Greece, and Bulgaria sign an agreement to build an oil pipeline that will run from Burgas, Bulgaria, to Alexandroupolis, Greece, bypassing the Bosporus strait in Turkey. In Bijapur in India’s Chhattisgarh state, Maoist rebels attack a remote police post staffed largely by anti-Maoist counterinsurgents, slaughtering 49 police officers. NASA scientists announce that a radar instrument on the European Space Agency’s Mars Express spacecraft has indicated huge ice deposits some 3.7 km (2.3 mi) thick at Mars’s south pole. 16 Mar A five-year rebuilding plan for Iraq, called the International Compact with Iraq, is launched by Iraqi Vice Pres. Adil !Abd al-Mahdi at the United Nations. A new law permitting same-sex civil unions goes into effect in Mexico City. 17 Mar Several brands of gravy-style pet food are recalled by manufacturer Menu Foods after the foods are linked to deaths from kidney failure of a number of dogs and cats. With its 46–19 defeat of Scotland, France wins the Six Nations Rugby Union championship, having achieved a won-lost record of 4–1. 18 Mar The coach of Pakistan’s cricket team, Bob Woolmer, is found dead in his hotel room in Kingston, Jamaica, the day after Pakistan’s ignominious defeat by Ireland in World Cup play; on 22 March the police report that he was murdered, but it is later reported that he died of natural causes. In his first race driving for Ferrari, Kimi Räikkönen of Finland wins the Australian Grand Prix, the inaugural event of the Formula One auto-racing season. 19 Mar US and Iranian officials report that Russia has told Iran that it must suspend uranium enrichment as demanded by the UN before Russia will deliver nuclear fuel for the nuclear power plant being built at Bushehr. Pres. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran and Pres. Robert Kocharyan of Armenia ceremonially open the first section of a natural-gas pipeline that will deliver gas from Iran as far as Yerevan, Armenia.
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20 Mar Pakistani officials report that fighting in the South Waziristan region between foreign al-Qaeda adherents and local tribesmen has killed some 58 people in the past few days; by the following day the death toll has risen to 110. 21 Mar Bishops of the Episcopal Church USA, meeting outside Houston TX, reject an order from the Anglican Communion to accept a parallel leadership to serve conservative congregations who object to the Episcopal Church’s stand on homosexuality. The US Food and Drug Administration announces new rules that will prevent advisers who receive substantial money from drug manufacturers from voting on whether to approve products made by those manufacturers. Musician Paul McCartney announces that he will be the first artist to sign with Hear Music, the record label of the coffee chain Starbucks. 22 Mar China ends six-nation talks on North Korea’s nuclear program because funds that all agree are due to North Korea have not been transferred into the appropriate bank account. News Corp. and NBC Universal announce a new venture in which they will distribute videos, such as episodes of TV shows, on AOL, Yahoo!, MSN, and MySpace as well as on a new video site that the companies plan to launch. The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters awards its annual Abel Prize for outstanding work in mathematics to American mathematician Srinivasa Varadhan for his work on calculating the probability of rare events. 23 Mar Fifteen British sailors and Marines on patrol in the Persian Gulf are seized by Iranian sailors, who say that the British personnel were in Iranian national waters; British authorities maintain that their naval forces were in Iraqi territory. 24 Mar In Iraq a truck bomb kills at least 20 people at a police compound in Baghdad; another suicide truck bomber in Haswah destroys a Shi!ite mosque and kills at least 11 people; three suicide car bombers kill 8 people in Al-Shuhadah; and a further 8 people are killed by a suicide bomber in Tal Afar. 25 Mar In a runoff presidential election, Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi wins 53% of the vote to become Mauritania’s first elected president. The European Union celebrates the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome, which created the European Economic Community, the forerunner of the EU. QUOTE OF THE MONTH
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In short, European unification must be striven for and secured time and time again. That is our guiding mission for the future.
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—German Chancellor and EU Pres. Angela Merkel, observing the 50th anniversary of the union, 25 March
26 Mar In their first direct talks ever, Ian Paisley of the Democratic Unionist Party and Gerry Adams of Sinn Féin agree to form a power-sharing government for Northern Ireland in a move that will return self-rule to the province for the first time since 2002. David Hicks, an Australian citizen who has been incarcerated in the US military base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, since he was captured in Afghanistan in
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2001, is the first detainee to appear before a military tribunal under a law passed by the US Congress in fall 2006; after the military judge disallows two of his lawyers, he pleads guilty to having provided material support to a terrorist organization. 27 Mar A suicide truck bomb at a Shi!ite market in Tal Afar, Iraq, kills some 152 people. Pres. Laurent Gbagbo of Côte d’Ivoire agrees to appoint rebel leader Guillaume Soro prime minister as part of a new reunification plan. 28 Mar Portugal inaugurates a solar power plant in Serpa believed to be the world’s most powerful one at 11 megawatts with 52,000 photovoltaic modules expected to produce 20 gigawatt hours annually; it eclipses the previous most powerful solar plant opened in Benejama, Spain, on 22 March. 29 Mar Ethiopian troops enter central Mogadishu, Somalia, provoking a violent reaction; more than 30 people, many of them civilians, are killed. Kurmanbek Bakiyev, the embattled president of Kyrgyzstan, names opposition figure Almaz Atambayev prime minister.
British architect Richard Rogers is named winner of the 2007 Pritzker Architecture Prize; he is best known for his work on the Pompidou Centre in Paris, completed in 1977. 30 Mar US Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez announces that the US will begin imposing tariffs on imports from China; the US maintains that China illegally subsidizes some exports. Fighting between local tribesmen and Uzbek militants living in Pakistan’s South Waziristan region begins anew; some 52 people are killed. 31 Mar US Pres. George W. Bush meets with Pres. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil at Camp David to discuss world trade negotiations and cooperation in ethanol development. At the swimming world championships in Melbourne, American swimmer Michael Phelps breaks his own world record in the 400-m individual medley to win a record seventh gold medal. Invasor, 2006 Horse of the Year, wins the Dubai World Cup, the world’s richest horse race.
April 2007 1 Apr In an unusually brazen and deadly ambush, Sudanese rebels attack an African Union peacekeeping contingent that was traveling to provide a guard for a water source in Darfur; five peacekeepers are killed. 2 Apr The US Supreme Court rules that the Environmental Protection Agency is required by the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gases in automobile emissions unless the agency can prove that such gases do not contribute to global warming. Negotiators for the US and South Korea announce that they have concluded a bilateral free-trade agreement that will eliminate tariffs on more than 90% of the categories of goods traded between the countries. In a complex financial transaction, real-estate tycoon Sam Zell becomes the owner of the Tribune Co., a media firm that includes several major newspapers, more than 20 television stations, and the Chicago Cubs baseball team. The music company EMI announces that it will begin offering songs that are free of copyright-protection software on Apple Inc.’s iTunes online music store. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship in men’s basketball is won for the second consecutive year by the University of Florida, which defeats Ohio State University 84–75; the following day the University of Tennessee defeats Rutgers University 59–46 to win the women’s NCAA title. 3 Apr The French TGV bullet train, running three double-decker cars, reaches 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph) in a demonstration of its capabilities, setting a new world speed record for conventional trains. 4 Apr Reanne Evans of England wins her third consecutive women’s world snooker championship in Cambridge, England. 5 Apr The 15 members of the British Royal Navy who had been held captive in Iran since they were seized in the Persian Gulf on 23 March are released; Iranian Pres. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad characterizes the move as a “gift” to the UK. 6 Apr The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change releases the second of its three reports; this one details the effects of global warming, de-
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scribing changes already occurring and warning that action to cope with future changes, which will have a disproportionate impact on the world’s poorest regions, is imperative. A suicide bomber driving a fuel tanker loaded with chlorine gas detonates a bomb on his truck in a residential area of Al-Ramadi, Iraq, killing some 30 people. 7 Apr Martin Strel of Slovenia becomes the first known person to swim the length of the Amazon River when he reaches Belem, Brazil, after having taken 66 days to complete an exceptionally challenging swim of 5,265 km (3,272 mi). 8 Apr The Roman Catholic bishops of Zimbabwe issue an Easter message that calls on Pres. Robert Mugabe to step down and demands a new constitution. Six NATO soldiers, all of them Canadian, are killed by a roadside bomb near Kandahar, Afghanistan. Zach Johnson wins the Masters golf tournament in Augusta GA by two strokes for his second PGA Tour victory. 9 Apr Donald Tsang is officially appointed to a second term as Hong Kong’s chief executive by China after winning the first election for the post held since Hong Kong came under Chinese rule. In Al-Najaf, Iraq, tens of thousands of supporters of ShiCite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr rally to demand that the US military leave Iraq. 10 Apr The US files two official complaints against China with the World Trade Organization, saying China tolerates trademark and copyright violation and unfairly limits the importation of books, films, and music. The winners of the annual Avery Fisher Career Grants for classical musicians are announced; they are violinist Yura Lee, double bassist DaXun Zhang, and the Borromeo String Quartet. 11 Apr Pak Pong Ju is removed from office as prime minister of North Korea; he is replaced by Kim Yong Il, who had been minister of transport. A suicide car bomb severely damages the Governmental Palace in Algiers, and a second car bomb destroys a police station in the suburb of Bab Ezzouar; at least 23 people are killed and 160 in-
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jured; an al-Qaeda-affiliated organization is thought responsible. US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announces that tours of duty for most active-duty members of the US Army serving in Afghanistan and Iraq will be extended by 3 months, to 15 months. NBC News cancels its simulcasts of shock jock Don Imus’s radio talk show in response to public outrage over Imus’s gratuitous racist and sexist insults of the women’s basketball team of Rutgers University; the following day CBS cancels the show altogether. 12 Apr The US Postal Service begins selling the “forever” stamp at the new rate of 41 cents per stamp; unlike any previous stamp, this one will remain valid in the event of future postal rate increases. 13 Apr The computer search company Google reaches an agreement to acquire the online advertising company DoubleClick. The opening ceremonies for the Museo Alameda, a new museum to showcase Latino culture, take place in San Antonio TX. 14 Apr In a market near a bus station in Karbala, Iraq, a suicide car bomber kills at least 37 people in the worst event of the day’s carnage in Iraq. Up to 300,000 people turn out in Ankara, Turkey, to protest growing official Islamization in the country. 15 Apr The 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s major league baseball debut, which introduced racial integration to the sport, is observed by players throughout the league wearing Robinson’s number, 42, on their uniforms, including the entire roster of the Los Angeles Dodgers; Robinson played for the Brooklyn Dodgers. 16 Apr A deranged and well-armed student methodically guns down 32 people, most of them in classrooms, at Virginia Polytech Institute (Virginia Tech) in Blacksburg before killing himself. QUOTE OF THE MONTH
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He didn’t say, ‘Get down.’ He didn’t say anything. He just came in and started shooting.
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—Virginia Tech sophomore Trey Perkins, describing the campus attack on a classroom Perkins was in, 16 April
ShiCite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr orders the six ministers in the Iraqi government who are members of his political bloc to withdraw from the government. In New York City the winners of the 2007 Pulitzer Prizes are announced: the top journalistic award goes to The Wall Street Journal, which is the only newspaper to win more than one award; winners in letters include Cormac McCarthy in fiction and Lawrence Wright in nonfiction, while Ornette Coleman wins in music. The 111th Boston Marathon is won for the second consecutive year by Robert K. Cheruiyot of Kenya, with a time of 2 hr 14 min 13 sec; the top woman finisher is Lidiya Grigoryeva of Russia, with a time of 2 hr 29 min 18 sec. 17 Apr For the first time the UN Security Council takes up the issue of global warming. A technical glitch disconnects more than 5,000 users of Blackberry personal digital assistants from e-mail; service is restored after 10 somewhat frantic hours.
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The pound sterling reaches an exchange rate of $2, its highest rate against the US dollar since 1992. 18 Apr A powerful car bomb in Baghdad near the Sadr City neighborhood kills at least 140 people; four other explosions in the city bring the death toll for the day to 171. In an ongoing pet-food crisis, melamine is found in rice protein concentrate imported from China, expanding the list of pet foods that must be recalled to some 100 brands in all; previously the toxic ingredient had been found only in wheat gluten from China. Officials in the US state of Georgia report that two wildfires are threatening the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and have necessitated the evacuation of more than 1,000 people. 19 Apr Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi is sworn into office as Mauritania’s first democratically elected president; the following day he names Zeine Ould Zeidane prime minister. Joseph Nacchio, former CEO of Qwest Communications International, is convicted in Denver on 19 out of 42 counts of insider trading. 20 Apr Bollywood superstars Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan marry in a Hindu ceremony in Mumbai (Bombay); thousands of fans outside the service strain for a glimpse of the couple. 21 Apr Chaotic and possibly flawed presidential elections take place in Nigeria; the ruling party’s candidate, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, is later declared the winner. 22 Apr Sunni Arabs in Mosul, Iraq, execute 23 members of the Yazidi religious sect; a car bomb kills 18 people in Baghdad; and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki orders a halt to construction on a wall being built by the US military around a predominantly Sunni neighborhood in Baghdad. Martin Lel of Kenya wins the London Marathon, with a time of 2 hr 7 min 41 sec, and Zhou Chunxiu of China is the fastest woman in the race, with a time of 2 hr 20 min 38 sec. 23 Apr The Dutch banking giant ABN AMRO reaches an agreement to be acquired by Barclays of Great Britain and to sell LaSalle Bank to Bank of America. A suicide car bomb in Iraq’s Diyala province kills nine US soldiers, and a suicide bomber kills several people in a popular restaurant in the International Zone (Green Zone) in Baghdad. The US Department of Veterans Affairs, faced with a lawsuit, agrees to add the pentacle, which is used in the Wiccan religion, to the list of symbols that may be engraved on the headstones of veterans. 24 Apr Rebel gunmen attack a Chinese-run oil field in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia, killing more than 70 people, 9 of whom are Chinese, and kidnapping 7 Chinese and 2 African workers. Japanese carmaker Toyota overtakes the American company General Motors to become the largest carmaker in the world, with sales of 2,348,000 vehicles in the first quarter of 2007. Astronomers led by Stéphane Udry of the Geneva Observatory say that a planet has been found orbiting the dim red star Gliese 581 about 20 lightyears away in the constellation Libra; the new planet is within a distance from its sun called the habitable zone, which means that conditions on the planet could be such that life is possible. 25 Apr The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 13,000 for the first time. 26 Apr Pres. Vladimir Putin of Russia in his annual address to the legislature announces that Russia is
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suspending its compliance with the 1990 Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), signed by members of NATO and the Warsaw Pact. 27 Apr In the first round of presidential voting in Turkey’s legislature, the sole candidate, Abdullah Gul, who is associated with political Islam, fails to win enough votes to be confirmed because of a boycott of the vote by members of secular parties. The euro reaches a record high against the US dollar, with an exchange rate of $1.3682 to the euro. 28 Apr In the controversial final of the cricket World Cup in Barbados, Australia dominates Sri Lanka to win its third successive title; bowler Glenn McGrath,
with a record 26 wickets in the final match of his career, is named Player of the Tournament. 29 Apr In the Nascar Nextel Cup race series, Jeff Gordon wins the Aaron’s 499 in Talladega AL, passing the late Dale Earnhardt’s career victory total on the anniversary of Earnhardt’s birth, to the displeasure of Earnhardt loyalists among the fans. 30 Apr Morocco and the Polisario Front agree to hold direct talks on the future of Western Sahara. Deutsche Börse, operator of the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, acquires the US-based International Securities Exchange, the world’s second largest options exchange.
May 2007 1 May It is reported that Rupert Murdoch, head of the international media empire the News Corp., has made an unsolicited offer to buy Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal. The Caribbean country of Saint Lucia restores diplomatic relations with Taiwan, which it broke in 1997, and ends relations with China. At the National Magazine Awards in New York City, the big winner is New York magazine, which wins five awards, including one for general excellence; other winners include National Geographic, Rolling Stone, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Wired, and, in the online category, Belief.net. 2 May The day after Turkey’s highest court annulled the Grand National Assembly’s vote for president, the assembly votes to hold national elections on 22 July. An Afghan government investigation into the recent aerial bombardment of a valley in western Afghanistan by US military forces finds that the action left at least 42 civilians dead. 3 May The China National Petroleum Corp. announces that the oil field recently discovered in Bohai Bay has a reserve of some 7.35 billion bbl; it is the largest oil deposit found in the country in more than 40 years. Results of the 29 April presidential election in Mali are released; Amadou Toumani Touré was reelected. 4 May Hubert Ingraham is sworn in as prime minister of The Bahamas, replacing Perry Christie, two days after the opposition Free National Movement won legislative elections. A large tornado nearly destroys the small town of Greensburg KS, killing at least 10 people and injuring 63. In Las Vegas challenger Floyd Mayweather defeats fellow American Oscar De La Hoya to become the World Boxing Council super welterweight (junior middleweight) champion. 5 May Over the objections of Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, Archbishop Peter J. Akinola of Nigeria installs Martyn Minns as bishop of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, a branch of the conservative Nigerian church, in Virginia. Street Sense wins the Kentucky Derby, the first race of Thoroughbred horse racing’s US Triple Crown, before a crowd that includes Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. 6 May Nicolas Sarkozy is elected president of France in a runoff election against Ségolène Royale. 7 May Two car bombs kill some 25 people near Al-Ramadi, Iraq.
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8 May Ian Paisley of the Democratic Unionists and Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin are sworn in as leader and deputy leader of Northern Ireland’s new executive government. QUOTE OF THE MONTH
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We cannot undo our sad and turbulent past. And none of us can forget the many victims of the Troubles. But we can, and are, shaping our future in a new and better way.
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—Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, on the inauguration of a new power-sharing government in Northern Ireland, 8 May
Findings by geneticists that suggest that there was a single human migration to Australia and Papua New Guinea some 50,000 years ago and that that population remained in isolation until recent times are published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 9 May Former Nobel Peace Prize winner José RamosHorta easily wins the runoff elections for president of East Timor; he takes office on 20 May. The first pages of the Encyclopedia of Life, a Webbased compilation of all that is known about all the world’s species of living things, are shown in Washington DC; it will take 10 years to finish the database. Officials in Afghanistan say that US air strikes during a battle against Taliban fighters in the village of Sarban Qala the previous day killed 21 civilians. 10 May Turkey’s Grand National Assembly approves a constitutional amendment to allow the direct popular election of the president, presently chosen by the assembly; Pres. Ahmet Necdet Sezer vetoes the legislation on 25 May. The European Commission announces that its deal to produce a large satellite navigation system called Galileo in partnership with a consortium of private companies is off after the consortium missed the last of a number of important deadlines for management of the project. NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr., announces that he will leave his late father’s team, Dale Earnhardt Inc., at the end of the season, essentially making himself stock-car racing’s first superstar free agent. 11 May In state elections in India’s Uttar Pradesh state, the opposition Dalit-led Bahujan Samaj Party wins a majority of seats; the party leader, Mayawati, becomes chief minister.
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12 May Competing rallies in Karachi held by supporters of the Pakistani government and supporters of the suspended chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, on the occasion of a planned speech by Chaudhry, result in violence in which at least 39 people die. Afghanistan’s foreign minister is ousted by a noconfidence vote in the legislature, as was the minister of refugees earlier in the week; this is in response to the forcible repatriation of some 50,000 Afghans by Iran in the past three weeks. In Helsinki the Serbian singer Marija Serifovic wins the Eurovision Song Contest with her rendition of “Molitva.” 13 May Government officials in Afghanistan report that the leading Taliban military commander, Mullah Dadullah, was killed in a joint operation by Afghan, US, and NATO forces in Helmand province. Nigeria launches Africa’s first communications satellite; both satellite and launch service are provided by China. Canada defeats Finland 4–2 to win the gold medal in the ice hockey men’s world championship tournament in Moscow. 14 May The automobile company DaimlerChrysler AG announces that the private equity company Cerberus Capital Management will buy Chrysler (including its health and pension obligations) from what will become Daimler AG. 15 May Serbia’s legislature approves a new powersharing government headed by Vojislav Kostunica as prime minister four months after inconclusive elections. A suicide bomber kills at least 22 people in a crowded restaurant in Peshawar, Pakistan. Officials in Nigeria say that protesters have taken over an oil hub in the Niger Delta, contributing to a 30% reduction in Nigeria’s output in the wake of its recent election. 16 May At least 19 Palestinians are killed in Gaza on the fourth day of renewed violence between gunmen loyal to Fatah and those attached to Hamas. The Spanish association football (soccer) club Sevilla FC defeats RCD Espanyol of Barcelona to win the Union des Associations Européennes de Football (UEFA) Cup in Glasgow, Scotland; Sevilla is only the second side in the cup’s history to have won the trophy in two consecutive years. 17 May Paul D. Wolfowitz resigns as president of the World Bank; his controversial tenure had been capped by a furor over a promotion package he arranged for his partner, Shaha Ali Riza, who also worked for the World Bank. Alex Salmond of the separatist and opposition Scottish National Party is sworn in as first minister of Scotland after his party’s victory in elections for the Scottish Parliament on 3 May. Estonian Minister of Defense Jaak Aaviksoo declares that the devastating cyberattacks on the country’s government and corporate Web sites over the past two weeks seem to have originated with the government of Russia. For the first time since the Korean War, two passenger trains traveling in opposite directions cross the border between North and South Korea. 18 May Officials in Panama say that some 6,000 tubes of toothpaste recently found to contain the poison diethylene glycol appear to have originated in China; in 2006 diethylene glycol from China that was mixed into mislabeled cough medicine killed at least 100 people in Panama.
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A bomb kills 11 people when it explodes in the historic Mecca Masjid mosque in Hyderabad, India; in resulting fighting between Muslims and government security forces, 5 more people die. 19 May In the Iraqi village of Hamid Shifi, men in Iraqi army uniforms, after having been waved through a checkpoint, pull 15 Shi!ite Kurds onto the street and kill them. Curlin noses out Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense to win the Preakness Stakes, the second event in US Thoroughbred horse racing’s Triple Crown. In Durban, South Africa, the Bulls (Pretoria) defeat the Sharks (Durban) 20–19 to win the Super 14 rugby union tournament. 20 May Violence between Lebanese security forces and members of the group Fatah breaks out in the vicinity of a Palestinian refugee camp in Tripoli, Lebanon; 22 Lebanese soldiers and 17 militants die on the first day, and the death toll increases over the following days. 21 May The conglomerate General Electric agrees to sell its large plastics division to the Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (Sabic). 22 May Researchers report that a hammerhead shark born at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha NE in 2001 to an isolated female has been found to be the result of a form of asexual reproduction called parthenogenesis, which had not previously been seen in sharks. Invitations to the Anglican Communion’s Lambeth Conference scheduled for 2008 are sent out; neither openly gay bishop V. Gene Robinson nor conservative Martyn Minns, who was installed as bishop by Archbishop Peter J. Akinola of Nigeria, is invited. The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars reports that diplomats attempting to visit one of its directors, Haleh Esfandiari, who was arrested in Iran while on a visit to her mother, have been denied access, as have her lawyers and her family members. 23 May A law is passed in Japan to fund the reorganization of US forces in the country and to pay $6 billion toward the movement of 8,000 US Marines from Okinawa to the US territory of Guam; the US will contribute $4 billion for the transfer. In association football (soccer), AC Milan defeats Liverpool to win the UEFA Champions League championship in Athens. The Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize is presented in Chicago to Lucille Clifton; Clifton is the first African American winner of the prize. 24 May In Fallujah, Iraq, a Sunni tribal leader who was working in opposition to al-Qaeda is assassinated, and hours later a car bomb kills at least 27 people when it explodes in a crowd of mourners for the slain leader. The US Congress passes a law raising the minimum hourly wage from $5.15 to $7.25 in three stages over two years; the wage was last increased in 1997. 25 May Shi!ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr makes his first public appearance in months, making a speech in Kufah, Iraq, in which he exhorts Iraqis to stop fighting each other and concentrate on driving out US forces. 26 May Israel bombs several Hamas buildings and camps in Gaza; at least five Palestinians are killed. 27 May After days of jockeying for control of security forces, Ukrainian Pres. Viktor Yushchenko and
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Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich agree to hold early elections on 30 September. Pres. Bashar al-Assad of Syria is elected to a second seven-year term with 97.6% of the vote; he is the only candidate on the ballot. The 91st Indianapolis 500 auto race, delayed and shortened by 34 laps because of rain, is won by Dario Franchitti of Scotland. At the Cannes Festival, Romanian director Cristian Mungiu’s film 4 luni, 3 saptamini, si 2 zite (4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days) wins the Palme d’Or; the Grand Prix goes to Japanese director Naomi Kawase’s Mogari no mori (The Mourning Forest). 28 May Japanese Minister of Agriculture Toshikatsu Matsuoka commits suicide; he has been under investigation in scandals involving expense padding and bid rigging. Wildlife experts report that they have found a population of hundreds of wild elephants on an island
south of The Sudan, an area that they had been unable to access until the end of the civil war in the region. 29 May Umaru Yar’Adua is sworn in as president of Nigeria. Zheng Xiaoyu, who was head of China’s food and drug safety agency from its inception in 1998 to 2005, is sentenced to death after pleading guilty to corruption. 30 May The Standard & Poor’s 500 index closes at a record high of 1,530.23, eclipsing its former record of 1,527.36, set on 24 Mar 2000; in addition, the Dow Jones Industrial Average sets a new record close of 13,633.08. 31 May The government of Niger falls after losing a no-confidence vote occasioned by an embezzlement scandal. Latvia’s parliament chooses Valdis Zatlers to be the country’s next president.
June 2007 1 Jun The Lebanese army attacks Fatah positions outside the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp; at least 18 people are killed. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reports that it has found the poison diethylene glycol in several brands of toothpaste made in China and warns consumers not to use Chinese-made toothpaste. British artist Damien Hirst unveils For the Love of God, an 18th-century human skull cast in platinum and encased in diamonds and valued at US$100 million, as part of a solo exhibition at London’s White Cube gallery. 2 Jun The Derby, in its 228th year at Epsom Downs in Surrey, England, is won by favorite Authorized, ridden by Frankie Detorri; the following day Detorri wins the French Derby (Prix du Jockey Club) in Chantilly, France, aboard Lawman. 3 Jun A suicide truck-bomb attack on the Mogadishu residence of Somalia’s transitional prime minister, Ali Muhammad Ghedi, kills six of his bodyguards and a civilian. 4 Jun China issues a national plan for addressing global warming; it sets a target of a 20% increase in efficiency by 2010, which would slow but not reverse the increase of greenhouse-gas emissions. 5 Jun Police in Nairobi crack down on the Mungiki, a murderous Kikuyu sect inspired by the Mau Mau movement of the 1950s, killing 22 and arresting 100. I. Lewis (“Scooter”) Libby, former chief of staff to US Vice Pres. Dick Cheney, is sentenced to 30 months in prison for having lied to investigators looking into the exposure of the name of a covert CIA operative. 6 Jun The US FDA calls for the makers of the diabetes drugs Avandia and Actos to place black-box warnings onto packaging about the heart risks associated with the drugs. The Group of Eight industrialized countries’ summit meeting begins in Heiligendamm, Germany, as thousands of people stage protests against US policy and against globalization. The Anaheim Ducks defeat the Ottawa Senators 6–2 to win the franchise’s first Stanley Cup, the National Hockey League championship. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wins the Orange Broadband Prize, an award for fiction written by women and published in the UK, for her novel Half of a Yellow Sun.
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7 Jun At the Group of Eight summit meeting, Pres. Vladimir Putin of Russia proposes a joint US-Russian missile defense system based in Azerbaijan in place of the systems that the US planned to place in the Czech Republic and Poland to the great displeasure of Russia. The organizers of the Tour de France bicycle race announce that Bjarne Riis of Denmark is no longer the winner of the 1996 race, which is now considered to have had no winner; Riis has admitted that he used performance-enhancing drugs during that race. 8 Jun In Iraq suicide bomb attacks kill at least 19 people in Daquq and at least 15 people in Al-Qurnah, while 14 people are killed in an attack on the home of a police chief in Kanaan. A report from an investigation for the Council of Europe is released; it gives detailed descriptions of secret prisons run by the US Central Intelligence Agency in Poland and Romania. The 2007 winners of the Kyoto Prize are announced: Hiroo Inokuchi (advanced technology), Hiroo Kanamori (basic sciences), and the choreographer Pina Bausch (arts and philosophy). 9 Jun In a daylong battle between Lebanese military forces and those of the militant group Fatah alIslam at the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, 11 Lebanese soldiers are killed. Boeing Co. announces that it has signed a cooperation agreement with Russia’s state-owned Unified Aircraft Corp. and that Aeroflot has purchased 22 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, with delivery scheduled to begin in 2014. Justine Henin of Belgium defeats Ana Ivanovic of Serbia to win her third consecutive women’s French Open tennis title; the following day Rafael Nadal of Spain defeats Roger Federer of Switzerland to capture the men’s championship for the third year in a row. After stumbling out of the gate, Rags to Riches wins the Belmont Stakes, the last event in Thoroughbred horse racing’s US Triple Crown, by a head; she is the first filly to win the race in 102 years. 10 Jun The 61st annual Tony Awards are presented in New York City; winners include the productions The Coast of Utopia (which wins seven Tonys), Spring Awakening (with eight), Journey’s End, and Company and the actors Frank Langella, Julie White, David Hyde Pierce, and Christine Ebersole.
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The 52nd Venice Biennale opens and for the first time features a pavilion for African art and another for Roma (Gypsy) art; the Malian photographer Malick Sidibé is awarded the festival’s Golden Lion for lifetime achievement. Suzann Pettersen of Norway wins the Ladies Professional Golf Association championship. 11 Jun Guy Verhofstadt resigns as prime minister of Belgium the day after his party lost in legislative elections. 12 Jun Pres. Omar Hassan al-Bashir of The Sudan agrees to allow a combined United Nations and African Union force of some 20,000 troops to be deployed in the Darfur region. Chinua Achebe of Nigeria is named winner of the Man Booker International Prize, which is awarded every two years for a body of fictional work. 13 Jun Bombs destroy the golden minarets of the Askariya shrine in Samarra, Iraq, known as the Golden Mosque and revered by ShiCites; an attack that destroyed the shrine’s dome in February 2006 had set off greatly increased levels of violence. Walid Eido, a prominent anti-Syrian member of Lebanon’s legislature, is assassinated in Beirut by a bomb that kills nine other people as well. 14 Jun As Hamas consolidates its control over Gaza, Palestinian Authority Pres. Mahmoud Abbas dissolves the government, dismisses Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, and declares a state of emergency. QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“
This is the beginning of the separation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. This is the lowest point in our struggle. We Palestinians are writing the final chapters of our national enterprise.
”
—Mkhaimar Abusada, Palestinian political scientist, on the Hamas takeover of Gaza, 14 June
The San Antonio Spurs defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 83–82 in game four of the best-of-seven tournament to secure the team’s fourth National Basketball Association championship. 15 Jun Samoa’s legislature elects former prime minister Tuiatua Tupua Tamasese Efi head of state to replace Malietoa Tanumafili II, who died on 11 May. Bob Barker makes his final appearance as host of the CBS television game show The Price Is Right; he hosted the show for 35 years. 16 Jun A Sunni mosque in downtown Basra, Iraq, is blown up; it is the second Sunni mosque in the area destroyed in as many days. 17 Jun In Ram Allah in the West Bank, Palestinian Authority Pres. Mahmoud Abbas swears in an emergency government headed by Salam Fayyad as prime minister; Hamas declares the new government illegal. A bomb destroys a police bus in Kabul, killing at least 24 people, 22 of them police instructors. Angel Cabrera of Argentina bests Americans Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk to win the US Open golf tournament in Oakmont PA. Swimmer Kate Ziegler sets a new world record of 15 min 42.54 sec for the 1,500-m race, eclipsing the record 15 min 52.10 sec set in 1988 by fellow American Janet Evans.
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18 Jun The US drops its embargo of the Palestinian Authority, freeing up financial aid for the new Fatah government in the West Bank, and the European Union (EU) announces that it will resume direct aid to the Palestinian Authority. The Japanese Geographical Survey Institute changes the official name of the island of Iwo Jima to Iwo To, its name before World War II. 19 Jun A suicide truck bomb is detonated in a large ShiCite mosque in Baghdad; at least 87 people are killed. The government of Nicaragua files criminal charges against Enrique Bolaños, accusing him of having covered up human trafficking during his presidency of the country (2002–07). At a fire at a furniture warehouse in Charleston SC, the roof collapses; nine firefighters are killed in the deadliest event for firefighters in more than 30 years, aside from the events of 11 Sep 2001. The Samuel Johnson Prize, the most important award for nonfiction in the UK, goes to Imperial Life in the Emerald City by Rajiv Chandrasekaran; the book describes life in Baghdad’s Green Zone during the time of the Coalition Provisional Authority (2003–04). 20 Jun The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency finds that China has surpassed the US in carbon dioxide emissions; carbon dioxide is the most significant greenhouse gas. 21 Jun A US federal judge finds that three major pharmaceutical companies had illegally inflated wholesale prices of their drugs paid for by Medicare, insurers, and patients and must pay damages. The World Health Organization releases a plan for a global campaign against drug-resistant tuberculosis. A rebel attack on a remote army base in Niger kills 13 soldiers; the rebels take at least 47 soldiers prisoner. Sammy Sosa of the Texas Rangers hits his 600th career home run against his former team, the Chicago Cubs; he is the fifth player in Major League Baseball history to reach that milestone. 22 Jun In a battle between Taliban militants and NATO forces in Kunjak, Afghanistan, some 30 Taliban and at least 25 civilians are killed. 23 Jun Drew Weaver becomes the first American since 1979 to win the British amateur golf championship, finishing ahead of Tim Stewart of Australia at Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club in Lancashire, England. 24 Jun In southern Lebanon near the border with Israel, an apparent car bombing kills six UN peacekeepers. Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as “Chemical Ali” because of his guidance of poison gas attacks against Kurds in northern Iraq during the late 1980s, is found guilty of genocide in an Iraqi courtroom and is sentenced to be hanged. In Chicago the US defeats Mexico 2–1 to win the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup in association football (soccer). In the 148th running of the Queen’s Plate Thoroughbred horse race in Toronto, Emma-Jayne Wilson becomes the first female jockey to win the race when her mount, long shot Mike Fox, wins by half a length. 25 Jun North Korea promises to shut down its main nuclear plant now that it has received the money pledged in the agreement made with the US, South Korea, Russia, China, and Japan on 13 February.
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In a hotel in Baghdad, a suicide bomber detonates his weapon in the lobby, killing 12 people, among them 4 Sunni sheikhs from Anbar province who were fighting against al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia and 2 ShiCite sheikhs who were meeting with them; also, the leader of the US offensive to establish security in the Iraqi town of BaCqubah says that more than half of the insurgents there have eluded US forces. Robert Zoellick is confirmed as president of the World Bank by that organization’s executive board. 26 Jun The US Central Intelligence Agency releases to the public 702 pages of documents detailing illegal activities engaged in by the agency during the 1960s and ‘70s; these documents have long been known as the “family jewels.” 27 Jun Tony Blair steps down as British prime minister; he is replaced by former chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown. 28 Jun Pres. Álvaro Uribe of Colombia says that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) killed 11 legislators the guerrilla group kidnapped in 2002; FARC had claimed that the hostages died in the cross fire during a rescue attempt, but Uribe says no attempt was made, as the location of the hostages was unknown. The US Supreme Court rules that a manufacturer may dictate minimum prices that dealers must
charge for its products, overturning a 1911 ruling forbidding such a practice; in addition, it rules that public school systems may not consider race in admission policies, which have attempted to ensure diversity. The US Department of the Interior announces that the bald eagle is being removed from the list of animals requiring protection under the Endangered Species Act; there are now nearly 10,000 mating pairs in the US. 29 Jun Two Mercedes sedans that had been packed with explosives to make them into car bombs are discovered in London and defused by police. As a plane carrying Prime Minister Guillaume Soro of Côte d’Ivoire lands in Bouaké, it is attacked by heavy gunfire; three people are killed, but Soro escapes unharmed. The new Apple iPhone goes on sale throughout the US, to the elation of customers who stood in line for hours or, in some cases, days to make sure they were able to acquire the new gadget. 30 Jun Two men drive a burning SUV through the doors of the Glasgow, Scotland, airport; the men are arrested and no one at the airport is injured (though one of the men in the SUV later dies from his burns), but it is assumed that this incident is connected with the discovery the day before of car bombs in London.
Disasters Listed here are major disasters between July 2006 and June 2007. The list includes natural and nonmilitary mechanical disasters that claimed 25 or more lives and/or resulted in significant damage to property.
July 2006 3 Jul Off the coast of Western Sahara. A boat carrying African migrants trying to reach the Canary Islands sinks, and bodies begin washing onshore; 30 corpses are found, but 40 additional people are thought to have drowned. 3 Jul South Asia. Mumbai (Bombay) is shut down by flooding caused by monsoon rains, and authorities report that landslides and collapsed houses in Orissa and Jharkand states have killed at least 30 people, while a further 17 deaths are reported from Pakistan. 3 Jul Valencia, Spain. A subway train derails while speeding on a curve; at least 41 passengers are killed. 5 Jul China. Storms and rain in China’s Jiangsu and Anhui provinces have left at least 30 people dead; some 40,000 people have had to be evacuated. 6 Jul Shanxi province, China. An explosion at the home of a resident of the village of Dongzhai results in the death of at least 49 people; unlicensed explosives are a likely cause. 7 Jul Uttaranchal state, India. A bus skids off the road near Uttarkashi, causing the death of at least 26 people. 9 Jul Irkutsk, Siberia. After landing at the airport, an S7 Airlines Airbus A310 airplane arriving from Moscow crashes into a concrete wall and a row of buildings, breaking apart and catching fire; at least 122 of those aboard are killed. 10 Jul Multan, Pakistan. A Pakistan International Airlines plane bound for Lahore crashes shortly after takeoff, killing all 45 aboard; the dead include two judges, two army brigadiers, and a university vice-chancellor.
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11 Jul Northern Bangladesh. At an unmanned railroad crossing, a train hits a passenger bus, knocking it into a ditch; at least 33 of the bus passengers perish. 14 Jul North Korea. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies reports that flooding and landslides have left more than 100 people dead; later estimates of the death toll range from 549 to 55,000. 15 Jul Kaski district, Nepal. A landslide sweeps away houses; 17 bodies are recovered, but some 15 people are still missing. 17 Jul Java. Under the seabed of the Indian Ocean, a magnitude-7.7 earthquake sets off a 1.8-m (6-ft) tsunami that inundates the southern coast, with most of the damage centered on Pangandaran; though agencies in the US and Japan issued warnings, nearly 600 people are killed. 18 Jul Lagos, Nigeria. A four-story apartment building collapses, killing at least 43 people; the building consisted of 36 apartments, a penthouse, and shops. 21 Jul Hunan province, China. It is reported that 346 people have died in flooding resulting from Tropical Storm Bilis over several days, raising the death toll from that storm to 482; by the following day the death toll has reached 523, and it is reported that six provinces suffered major damage; the final toll passes 600. 25 Jul Southern China. Typhoon Kaemi hits the southern coast of China, leaving at least 25 people dead and more than 50 missing, mostly in Jiangxi province.
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26 Jul France. Health officials say that the heat wave that has affected most of Europe for the past two weeks has claimed 64 lives in France, and the number is likely to rise. 27 Jul California. State authorities say that a heat wave that has seen temperatures of well over 38 °C (100 °F) over the past several days has left at least 100 people as well as some 16,500 dairy cows dead; the following day the human death toll climbs to 126.
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27 Jul France and Italy. Authorities declare that the two-week heat wave has resulted in 80 deaths, and the French weather office says that this July has been the hottest month on record in the country. 28 Jul Jiangsu province, China. An explosion at a chemical plant producing the highly volatile liquid fluorobenzene kills at least 22 people, with 28 missing, and causes the evacuation of some 7,000 people.
August 2006 5 Aug Mardan, Pakistan. A bridge crowded with pedestrians and vehicles collapses; 39 bodies are pulled from the river below. 6 Aug Kenya. Heavy rains cause the Dechatu River to burst its banks, sweeping away homes and factories in Dire Dawa and leaving at least 250 people dead and 300 missing. 8 Aug South Asia. Indian officials report that flooding in Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh states has left some 300 people dead and hundreds of thousands stranded; some 140 people have died in flooding in Pakistan. 10 Aug China. Typhoon Saomai strikes the coastal provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang, leaving nearly 500 people dead; with winds of 216 km (134 mi) per hour, Saomai is the strongest storm to hit China in 50 years. 12 Aug India. It is reported that monsoon rains in the south and west have left more than 350 people dead and more than four million homeless; parts of Mumbai have been submerged. 13 Aug Southern Ethiopia. The Omo River floods, drowning at least 364 people and leaving tens of thousands stranded or homeless. 16 Aug Poura, Burkina Faso. In a long-closed gold mine, walls softened by rain collapse, killing some 50 of the people who continued to search for gold in the mine. 16 Aug Ethiopia. Officials say that after 11 days of heavy rains, the death toll from flooding has reached 626 and is likely to rise as the rains continue.
21 Aug Qalyub, Egypt. A train rams into another train stopped at the station; at least 58 people lose their lives, most of them commuters on their way to work in Cairo. 22 Aug Donetsk, Ukraine. A Pulkovo Airlines TU-154 flying from the Russian Black Sea resort of Anapa to St. Petersburg crashes north of Donetsk in bad weather; all 170 aboard are killed. 27 Aug Lexington KY. A small Comair jet takes off from the wrong runway at Blue Grass Airport, one that was also too short for the aircraft, and crashes into a field; 49 of the 50 people aboard the craft are killed. 27 Aug Rajasthan state, India. At a wrestling match in Bharatpur, a water tank onto which some 200 people had climbed for a better view collapses; at least 48 spectators are killed. 28 Aug Iraq. In Al-Diwaniyah residents begin siphoning gasoline from a government pipeline left unguarded because of a battle in the town; one of the residents lights a cigarette, igniting an explosion that incinerates at least 67 people. 28 Aug Rajasthan state, India. It is reported that unusually heavy rains have swept away almost all of the village of Malwa and killed at least 135 people. 29 Aug Karnataka state, India. A bus carrying passengers home from a pilgrimage site swerves to avoid a collision on a bridge near the Almatti reservoir and plunges into the Krishna River; at least 27 passengers drown.
September 2006 1 Sep Meshed, Iran. An Iran Air TU-154 flying from Bandar-e CAbbas, Iran, slides off the runway as it is landing and catches fire; 29 of the 148 passengers die. 7 Sep Jharkand state, India. After an explosion and gas leak in a coal mine, 30 miners are found dead, with 23 still trapped inside and feared dead. 12 Sep Ibb, Yemen. At an election rally for Pres. CAli CAbdallah Salih in a stadium, the crowd rushes the stage for a better view, which leads to a stampede in which at least 51 people are killed, most crushed under an iron fence that collapses under the force of the crowd. 20 Sep Kazakhstan. A methane explosion and fire kill at least 41 coal miners in the Karaganda region. 20 Sep South Asia. Officials report that a tropical depression in the Bay of Bengal has left more than 31 people dead, mostly from drowning and house collapses, in Andhra Pradesh state, at least 12 dead
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in West Bengal state, and 18 fishermen drowned and more than 80 missing in Bangladesh. 22 Sep Germany. A high-speed maglev Transrapid train on a test run on an elevated track in northwestern Germany collides with a service train that had not left the track; though the maglev train does not derail, 25 people are killed. 24 Sep Near Quito, Ecuador. A bus overturns on a steep mountain road; at least 47 passengers, including 17 children, are killed. 28 Sep Philippines. Typhoon Xangsane roars through the central and northern provinces, leaving at least 63 people dead. 29 Sep Mato Grosso state, Brazil. A Boeing 737 airplane run by the low-cost Brazilian Gol Airlines nicks a smaller plane and crashes into the jungle; all 155 aboard perish. 29 Sep Near Greenville, Ghana. An overloaded canoe sinks in the Sinoe River; it is feared that some 45 passengers drowned.
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October 2006 6 Oct Panama. After 19 people have mysteriously died of kidney failure, the government begins pulling a generic drug used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure that is believed to be connected with the deaths; it is learned that the deaths were caused by contamination of cough syrup and other medications with diethylene glycol, an ingredient of antifreeze, and the death toll later rises to 34. 9 Oct Guatemala. A passenger bus leaving Huehuetenango in foggy weather falls into a 90-m (300-ft) ravine; 42 passengers are killed. 12 Oct Southeast Asia. Severe flooding in Thailand and Myanmar (Burma) leaves at least 57 people dead despite widespread evacuation. 18 Oct The Nile River. Two steamboats carrying soldiers from the former Sudan People’s Liberation Army from Malakal, Sudan, to their new post in the national army, in accordance with a 2005 peace treaty, collide in the Nile and sink; as many as 75 soldiers die.
23 Oct Meghna River, Bangladesh. A ferry carrying passengers home to celebrate AId al-Fitr collides with a cargo vessel and sinks; at least 15 people are killed, and a further 35 are missing. 25 Oct Sikkim state, India. A passenger bus carrying more than 60 people from Jorethang to Gangtok falls into the Teesta River; at least 21 people are killed. 28 Oct Russia. Authorities say that alcohol poisoning has broken out across the country, killing dozens and hospitalizing hundreds; the worst outbreak is reported to be in the Irkutsk region of Siberia, where 27 people have died. 29 Oct Abuja, Nigeria. A Boeing 737 crashes immediately after takeoff in bad weather, killing 96 of the 105 aboard; one of the dead is the sultan of Sokoto, the spiritual leader of Muslims in Nigeria. 31 Oct Ethiopia. Officials report that days of rain and the flooding of the Shebeli River in the past four days have left at least 67 people dead near the eastern border.
November 2006 5 Nov Shanxi province, China. A gas explosion in the Jiaojiazhai coal mine kills at least 17 miners, with a further 30 still missing; a day later the Chinese government reports that an astonishing 345 people died in mining accidents in October. 7 Nov Madhya Pradesh state, India. Near Hoshangabad a truck carrying farm workers falls into a ditch; 29 of the farm workers lose their lives. 13 Nov Near Cape Town. A trailer full of farm workers being pulled by a truck across an unmarked rail crossing is hit by a commuter train; 27 workers are killed.
25 Nov China. A gas explosion in a coal mine at Jixi, Heilongjiang province, kills at least 21 miners; a few hours later another explosion at a mine in Fuyuan, Yunnan province, kills 32. 27 Nov Tehran, Iran. A military plane crashes immediately after takeoff from Mehrabad Airport; all 39 aboard, 30 of them members of the Revolutionary Guards, die. 30 Nov Philippines. Typhoon Durian roars across the islands, triggering landslides, mostly on the slopes of Mt. Mayon, that sweep away entire villages and leave more than 1,000 people dead or missing.
December 2006 9 Dec Moscow. A nighttime fire breaks out at a drugtreatment facility; though some 160 people escape, 45 women die, mostly from smoke inhalation, when they are unable to escape because of locked doors and window grilles. 16 Dec Jhok Utra, Pakistan. In a wedding tent, heat from high-intensity lights ignites a fire, which triggers a stampede that results in the destruction of a newly built brick wall; 27 women and children, including the bride, are killed by the fire, the stampede, or the falling wall. 16 Dec Senegal. A wrecked boat carrying people who had been trying to get to the Canary Islands washes up on the coast of Senegal; it is believed that dozens of people died in the wreck. A similar disaster had occurred three days earlier.
24 Dec Southeast Asia. Indonesian officials report that flooding on the island of Sumatra has caused at least 87 people to perish, with dozens still missing; in neighboring Malaysia, 7 fatalities have been reported. 26 Dec Lagos, Nigeria. An oil pipeline breached by thieves explodes as people gather to siphon the leaking oil; the resultant fire incinerates at least 260 people. 27 Dec Off the coast of Yemen. Two boats filled with would-be refugees and being chased by Yemeni patrol boats capsize; at least 140 people are missing. 29 Dec Indonesia. A ferry nearing the completion of a 48-hour journey from Borneo to Java encounters bad weather that causes the boat to break apart; some 400 people are lost.
January 2007 1 Jan Indonesia. An Adam SkyConnection Airlines Boeing 737 flying from Java island to Sulawesi carrying 102 people disappears from radar screens and crashes; there are no survivors. 4 Jan Bangladesh. Government officials report that 40 deaths in poor areas during a cold snap bring the death toll for the week to at least 56. 6 Jan Comilla, Bangladesh. A speeding bus attempt-
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ing to pass another vehicle goes off the road and catches fire; at least 40 passengers are burned to death. 9 Jan Near Balad, Iraq. A chartered Moldovan Antonov-26 airplane carrying 35 people from Adana, Turkey, crashes while attempting to land in the fog; at least 30 people aboard are killed. 15 Jan US. An ice storm shuts down large parts of Ok-
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lahoma, Missouri, Texas, Iowa, and New York and is responsible for the deaths of at least 39 people. 15 Jan Sri Lanka. Landslides resulting from heavy rains kill at least 16 people. 17 Jan Australia. Steve Bracks, the premier of the state of Victoria, warns that the state is experiencing its worst fire conditions ever; close to 2.5 million acres have been burned. 18 Jan Andhra Pradesh, India. An overcrowded ferry carrying people to a religious festival capsizes on the Krishna River; at least 60 people drown.
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18 Jan Europe. A ferocious storm, with winds in excess of 61 km/h (100 mph), sweeps through the British Isles and northern Europe; there are at least 47 storm-related deaths. 22 Jan Central Peru. Flooding and mud slides after days of heavy rainfall leave at least 16 people dead and thousands homeless. 25 Jan Angola. The minister of the interior reports that a weeklong storm in the country has resulted in at least 71 deaths, 65 of them in Luanda, and that thousands of people have been rendered homeless.
February 2007 2 Feb Central Florida. Thunderstorms and tornadoes leave at least 19 people dead and hundreds of homes destroyed. 2 Feb Indian-administered Kashmir. A minibus falls into a gorge near Dabhar, killing at least 18 people. 3 Feb Near Sardinata, Colombia. Explosions in a coal mine kill 32 miners; poisonous gases make rescue attempts difficult. 4 Feb Indonesia. Flooding from heavy rain traps hundreds of people in Jakarta, leaving at least 44 people dead as some 340,000 are forced to flee the floodwaters that inundate 40–70% of the city. 7 Feb Central and southern Somalia. Health officials report that a cholera outbreak that resulted from flooding has left at least 115 people dead in the past month. 12 Feb Off the coast of Yemen. A boat carrying refugees from Somalia and Ethiopia capsizes, and at least 112 migrants drown. 13 Feb Mozambique. Relief officials report that unusually catastrophic flooding of the Zambezi River has forced more than 68,000 people to evacuate and left at least 20 people dead. 14 Feb Mokambo, Democratic Republic of the Congo. A train accident in Katanga province leaves 22 people dead, 7 of them Zambian. 22 Feb Jakarta, Indonesia. A passenger ferry catches
fire, killing at least 42 of those aboard; days later the wreckage sinks, killing 4 investigators and journalists. 23 Feb Alsunga, Latvia. A large fire, possibly caused by faulty wiring, destroys a home for the disabled, leaving 25 people dead or missing. 23 Feb Mediterranean Sea. African migrants rescued from a rubber dinghy traveling from Tunisia to Sicily say that 19 people died on the trip. 23 Feb Guatemala City, Guatemala. A sinkhole 100 m (330 ft) deep opens, swallowing several houses and killing at least two people. 25 Feb Bolivia. It is reported that the worst flooding in 25 years has left at least 35 people dead and thousands of homes as well as crops and roads destroyed. 25 Feb Northwestern Nigeria. A truck carrying traders and domestic animals from a local market suffers a burst tire and goes into a ditch; at least 40 of the passengers die. 26 Feb Punjab province, Pakistan. At the end of the annual two-day kite festival, 11 people have been killed, 2 of them cut by sharpened kite strings, 5 hit by celebratory gunfire, 2 electrocuted by kites tangled in power lines, and 2 fallen off roofs. 28 Feb Off the coast of Haiti. A sail-powered freighter catches fire and sinks; 52 people die.
March 2007 1 Mar US. A large storm system spawns tornadoes that leave at least 20 people in three states dead, among them 8 students at a high school in Enterprise AL who are killed when the roof collapses. 2 Mar Atlanta GA. A bus carrying members of the baseball team of Bluffton University in Bluffton OH to a series of games in Florida misses a turn on an elevated exit ramp and drives off an overpass onto the highway below; the bus driver, his wife, and five baseball players are killed. 5 Mar Chittagong, Bangladesh. A fire guts dozens of huts in a slum and leaves at least 21 people, mostly women and children, dead. 6 Mar Indonesia. Two earthquakes, with magnitudes of 6.3 and 6.1, occur near Solok, on Sumatra; at least 52 people perish. 6 Mar Zimbabwe. A bus is struck by a freight train at a crossing; 27 people on the bus perish. 7 Mar Yogyakarta, Indonesia. A Garuda Air Boeing 737 crashes upon landing and breaks apart; at least 22 of the passengers are killed. 7 Mar New York City. A fire started by a frayed cord on a space heater in a house in the Bronx leaves 10 members of an extended family from Mali, 9 of them young children, dead.
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12 Mar Uttarakhand state, India. A road caves in after heavy rains, plunging a bus carrying wedding guests some 180 m (60 ft) into a ravine; at least 18 people aboard are killed. 19 Mar Siberia, Russia. A methane explosion at the Ulyanovskaya coal mine in Novokuznetsk kills at least 108 workers, including the mine’s chief engineer, who was checking a hazard-monitoring system at the time; it later emerges that a device to detect methane had been deliberately disabled. 20 Mar Kamyshevatskaya, Russia. A fire at a home for the elderly and the disabled kills at least 62 people; numerous safety violations contribute to the high death toll. 20 Mar Koudou, Guinea. A truck traveling to a market goes off a bridge into a lake; 65 passengers die. 20 Mar Pakistani-administered Kashmir. Massive landslides caused by torrential rains kill at least 40 people in an area where many survivors of the destructive earthquake of October 2005 live in temporary tent shelters. 22 Mar Maputo, Mozambique. Intense heat causes an old Soviet-built arms depot to catch fire, igniting rockets and ammunition in a massive explosion that kills at least 117 people.
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26 Mar Katugal, Nigeria. After an oil tanker rolls over while attempting to park, people rush to loot the truck’s cargo; it explodes, killing at least 89 people. 26 Mar Gulf of Aden. After smugglers taking illegal migrants from Somalia to Yemen force them over-
board in order to evade security forces, 31 bodies are found with a further 90 migrants reported missing. 29 Mar Guinea. An open boat traveling from Forecariah capsizes off the coast near Conakry; at least 60 people are drowned.
April 2007 2 Apr Solomon Islands. An earthquake of magnitude 8.1 occurs well below the sea floor, triggering a tsunami that damages property in the towns of Gizo and Munda and inundates several villages; at least 52 people lose their lives. 14 Apr Yemen. Officials report that at least 62 migrants from Somalia are believed to have drowned when the boat they were being smuggled in overturned; survivors say they were forced to jump into the sea when the smugglers saw the Yemeni coast guard. 16 Apr China. An explosion at the Wangzhuang coal mine in Henan province traps 33 miners under-
ground, and in Zhouzhou in Hunan province 12 miners are trapped in a flooded pit. 18 Apr Liaoning province, China. In a metal factory, a huge ladle breaks, spilling molten steel across the floor; at least 32 workers die. 18 Apr Egypt. On the highway between Cairo and Assuit, a truck trying to pass another vehicle collides head-on with a school bus; at least 18 students are killed. 24 Apr Indian-administered Kashmir. An overloaded minibus goes off the road near Kalai and falls down a hillside; at least 30 passengers die.
May 2007 2 May Himachal Pradesh state, India. A bus leaves the road and tumbles into a deep gorge near Kothkhai; at least 22 passengers perish. 4 May Greensburg KS. The town of Greensburg is demolished by an exceptionally large tornado; 10 people die and at least 63 are injured. 4 May Off the Turks and Caicos Islands. A boat full of Haitian migrants capsizes under disputed circumstances; some 90 people are drowned. 5 May Cameroon. A Kenya Airways Boeing 737 en route to Nairobi crashes near the village of Mbanga Pongo shortly after takeoff from Douala; 114 people were on board and no survivors are found. 7 May Lesotho. Near the village of Haramarupi, a speeding bus carrying workers from a textile factory collides with a truck; at least 45 of the occupants are killed.
11 May Uttar Pradesh state, India. A storm causes the collapse of buildings in the town of Sultanpur, crushing 24 people, while 3 are killed by lightning in Pratapgarh. 13 May Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Three passenger buses are involved in a traffic accident and one of them catches fire; at least 25 people are killed. 21 May Liaoning province, China. A three-wheeled vehicle towing a trailer carrying women returning home after a day spent picking herbs overturns on a mountain road; 20 women are killed. 23 May Tiruppur, India. A dividing wall for a factory under construction collapses into an adjacent bar, crushing 27 bar patrons. 24 May Siberia. In the Yubileinaya coal mine in the town of Novokuznetsk, Russia, a methane explosion kills at least 38 miners.
June 2007 3 Jun Sierra Leone. A helicopter carrying Togolese sports officials and journalists crashes on the way to Lungi International Airport outside Freetown after an association football (soccer) game; 22 people, among them Togo’s minister of sports, are killed. 5 Jun Victoria, Australia. A truck crashes into a Melbourne-bound passenger train at a crossing near Kerang; at least 11 of the train passengers are killed. 6 Jun Oman. Cyclone Gonu passes down the coast, forcing evacuations and shutting down oil installations; at least 32 people are killed and some 30 are missing. 10 Jun Southern China. Officials in China report that days of torrential rain produced flooding in which at least 66 people died. 11 Jun Bangladesh. Mud slides caused by heavy rains leave some 119 people dead in Chittagong; elsewhere in the area rain and lightning kill roughly 16 more. 22 Jun Off Malta. The captain of an Italian fishing trawler reports that a dinghy carrying African migrants capsized and 24 of its occupants drowned;
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on 1 June at least 18 decomposing bodies were found in the same area. 24 Jun Karachi. A provincial health minister reports that unusually strong monsoon storms have caused the deaths of 228 people as well as flooding and extensive power failures. 24 Jun Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. A Bougainville Health Department boat carrying 15 people on a return trip to Buka from Nissan Island disappears. 25 Jun Southern Cambodia. A PMT Air An-24 airplane flying from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville crashes in the mountains; all 22 aboard lose their lives. 25 Jun India. In three days of monsoon rains, at least 144 people lose their lives: some 41 in Andhra Pradesh, 52 in Kerala, 39 in Karnataka, and 15 in Maharashtra. 26 Jun Europe. It is reported that a heat wave with temperatures as high as 46 °C (115 °F) has caused the deaths of 23 people in Romania, 7 people in Serbia, and 5 people in Greece; numerous wildfires in Greece and Italy are also blamed on the heat; later a death toll of 42 in Italy and the Balkans is reported.
The TIME 100, 2007 t the turn of the millennium in 2000, TIME selected 100 individuals as the most influential people of the 20th century. The resulting list provided such a revealing perspective on history that the magazine has now begun naming a TIME 100 each year, designating influential individuals in five categories. As with TIME’s annual Person of the Year designation, the list includes both heroes and villains; inclusion reflects the power of an individual’s impact on history, whether for good or for ill. The entries with bylines below are excerpts from articles commissioned for the TIME 100 issue.
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LEADERS & REVOLUTIONARIES Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud The Saudi king’s 2007 Arab peace initiative made him a dominant player in the troubled region. Archbishop Peter Akinola Nigeria’s top Episcopal prelate, a harsh critic of the American church, may lead a schism over gays in the pulpit. Omar Hassan al-Bashir Clinging to power, The Sudan’s dictator has devastated Darfur—and his nation. Queen Elizabeth II At 81, Britain’s monarch is willing to effect reforms without compromising her identity. Osama bin Laden As long as al-Qaeda’s leader remains at large, he remains a serious threat. Michael Bloomberg New York City’s billionaire mayor has presided brilliantly over the city’s renaissance. Raúl Castro Fidel’s younger brother is in position to lead Cuba into the future. Hillary Clinton New York’s senator is the Democrats’ frontrunner for ’08. But Obama is gaining. Sonia Gandhi The leader of India’s Congress Party is an Italian—and her adopted nation’s kingmaker. Hu Jintao China’s president, a tough technocrat, is riding an economic tiger. Can he control it? Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Iran’s Supreme Leader obstructs reform but also holds radicals in check. Liu Qi The boss of the ’08 Beijing Olympics is whipping his city into shape so the Games can begin. Tzipi Livni “Tzipi [Israel’s foreign affairs minister] has not been just a colleague; she has become my friend.” —Condoleezza Rice Angela Merkel Germany’s chancellor is helping revive stagnant European integration. Pope Benedict XVI After John Paul II’s Slavic sentiment, he brings German rigor to the papacy. Barack Obama The Illinois senator’s fresh face and ideas have roused Democrats’ hopes for ’08. Nancy Pelosi “…the first woman ever to become Speaker of the House—and she earned it.” —Newt Gingrich General David Petraeus The warrior-scholar took on the toughest job on the planet: heading up the lastditch US “surge” in Iraq. Condoleezza Rice The US secretary of state handles a demanding job with grit and grace. John Roberts Now 52, the conservative chief justice may head the Supreme Court for decades. Arnold Schwarzenegger California’s green governor is battling his own party over conserving resources and establishing new hydrocarbon emissions caps.
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HEROES & PIONEERS Maher Arar The Syrian-born Canadian, accused by US agents of being a terrorist, was sent to Syria and tortured. After his release, Canada found he was innocent. Wesley Autrey New York City’s “subway hero” claimed to be only an average citizen, yet he risked his life in saving the life of a stranger. Tyra Banks The supermodel has become an advocate for women of all shapes, sizes, and races. Warren Buffett America’s oracle of investment has become a leader in a new approach to philanthropy that stresses strong oversight and clear results. Youk Chhang The director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia is chronicling the genocide of the Khmer Rouge regime of the 1970s. George Clooney The actor deploys his Hollywood wattage to shed light on the misery in Darfur. Tony Dungy The coach of the Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts has a teacher’s mentality and a strong faith in his mission. Elizabeth Edwards The wife of presidential aspirant John Edwards became a courageous role model for millions of people diagnosed with cancer. Drew Gilpin Faust Harvard University’s first female president is setting an example for all women. Roger Federer “…he’s the best [tennis] player of his time and one of the most admirable champions on the planet.” —Rod Laver Michael J. Fox The great comic actor, afflicted at 30 with Parkinson disease, has become a strong voice for stem-cell research. Timothy Gittins TIME selected the decorated US Army captain to represent the one million Americans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thierry Henry The French soccer star is heading up efforts to combat strains of ugly, persistent racism in Europe’s favorite game. Garry Kasparov The chess great is leading calls for reform in Vladimir Putin’s corrupt modern Russia. Amr Khaled At 39, the Egyptian commentator is a welcome voice for moderation in an Islamic world too often filled with the voices of extremists. Judith Mackay The British-born Hong Kong doctor has taken a lead role in informing the world of the dangers of tobacco. Chien-Ming Wang The New York Yankees pitcher is helping erode cultural barriers around the world. Oprah Winfrey The girls’ school she founded in South Africa “will change the trajectory of … lives.” —Nelson Mandela Zeng Jinyan The Chinese blogger has built a global following by detailing the regime’s injustices. SCIENTISTS & THINKERS Paul Allen Microsoft’s cofounder has stimulated research science with his thoughtful philanthropy. Chris Anderson The editor and physicist’s 2006 book The Long Tail charted a new paradigm in accessing ideas. Elizabeth Blackburn The California biologist is developing promising new ways to treat cancer. Richard Dawkins Britain’s evolutionary biologist explored religion and culture in The God Delusion.
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Frans de Waal The Dutch-born primatologist studies apes to illuminate human behavior. Al Gore The former vice president has led the way in putting global warming on the global agenda. Monty Jones The native of Sierra Leone is creating a green revolution in Africa with new strains of rice. John Mather The NASA scientist is building history’s most powerful telescope, now scheduled to launch into Earth orbit in 2013. Douglas Melton The codirector of Harvard’s Stem Cell Institute has become a powerful, outspoken advocate for his field. Steven Nissen The heart specialist is a respected, candid advocate for safer drugs and therapies. Tullis Onstott The Princeton geosciences professor has found life forms two miles inside the Earth. Svante Pääblo The Swedish genetics guru has decoded segments of the Neanderthal genome. Lisa Randall The first female theoretical physicist to earn tenure at Harvard is now exploring gravity. Klaus Schwab The German-born founder of the annual World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, nurtures global understanding and action. Kari Stefansson The biologist is fighting disease and illuminating heredity by charting the genetic code of his fellow Icelanders. Alan Stern The new head of NASA’s unmanned missions program has ambitious plans for the future. Neil deGrasse Tyson The astronomer, director of New York City’s Hayden Plantarium, is a Carl Sagan for the 21st century, guiding us through the stars. J. Craig Venter After helping map the human genome, he is charting biodiversity in the planet’s oceans. Nora Volkow The director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse showed how drugs and addiction change the workings of the brain. ARTISTS & ENTERTAINERS Cate Blanchett A grown-up actress, she radiates natural aristocracy and a warm, alert intelligence. Sacha Baron Cohen The British comic has created uniquely outrageous characters for our uniquely outrageous times. Leonardo DiCaprio “He [is] the actor among a generation of gifted young actors.” —Martin Scorsese Alber Elbaz The onetime Israeli soldier is now one of fashion’s most admired and influential designers. America Ferrera The Honduran-American star of TV hit Ugly Betty is spunky, driven, and real. Tina Fey The force behind TV’s witty 30 Rock is a rising player in what has always been a man’s game, the world of network comedy. Simon Fuller The Briton behind the Spice Girls and American Idol is the P.T. Barnum of our times. Brian Grazer The highly successful veteran film and TV producer is one of Hollywood’s quickest-witted denizens. John Mayer The white singer-songwriter explores the blues with sincerity, technique, and truth. David Mitchell With Cloud Atlas and Black Swan Green, the British novelist is reinventing fiction. Kate Moss Beauty may not be truth, but this longtime supermodel makes it very, very persuasive. Youssou N’Dour Senegal’s gifted pop singer uses his voice of gold to promote African progress. Anna Netrebko The stunning Russian soprano blends vocal splendor with dramatic intensity. Bravo! Rosie O’Donnell “... a fine actress, a great storyteller, and a woman of conviction.” —Barbara Walters Brad Pitt The pretty-boy actor has developed into a thoughtful, provocative producer and activist.
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Shonda Rhimes Overnight, the force behind TV hit Grey’s Anatomy went from screenwriter and single mom to Hollywood eminence—with style and grace. Nora Roberts The world’s leading romance writer has the key to millions of gals’—and guys’—hearts. Rick Rubin The top record producer “has the ability and patience to let music be discovered, not manufactured.” —Natalie Maines, Dixie Chicks Martin Scorsese The director finally won an Oscar for The Departed—but that won’t slow him down. Justin Timberlake The onetime teen idol is now an accomplished entertainer, writer, and producer. Kara Walker The artist’s installations and films trace the twisted trajectories of race in America. Brian Williams The NBC news anchor is a traditional journalist with an appreciation for hard news. BUILDERS & TITANS Bernard Arnault The French tycoon unites the competing interests of art and commerce with a businessman’s skill and an artist’s eye. Richard Branson Britain’s highest-flying entrepreneur is going even higher with his latest venture, Virgin Galactic, a foray into commercial spaceflight. Rhonda Byrne She sold 2 million DVDs of her uplifting The Secret in a year—and 4 million books in six months. Steven Cohen The billionaire head of hedge-fund phenomenon SAC Capital merges a deliberately low profile with earnings averaging 40% a year. Clara Furse The CEO of the London Stock Exchange is bringing the world’s business to Britain. Ho Ching In four years, she doubled the equity of Temasek Holdings, the investment arm of Singapore’s government, while raising accountability. Chad Hurley & Steve Chen The YouTube founders fostered a community around sharing video, building a revolutionary platform for creative expression. Steve Jobs The innovator did it again, turning the cell-phone industry upside down with the iPhone. Ken Lewis While other big banks were letting workers go and fighting decline, the CEO of Bank of America saw ’06 earnings surge by 28%. Erik Lie The University of Iowa business professor led the investigations that revealed illegal stock-option transactions in US boardrooms. Pony Ma The young visionary behind the monster online kids’ community QQ and its 100 million users is shaping China’s future. Lakshmi Mittal The Indian steel magnate is the world’s fifth-richest man and a noted philanthropist. Shigeru Miyamoto With the Wii system, Nintendo’s grand-master designer reinvented video games. Michael Moritz The Welsh-born venture capitalist and his Sequoia Capital helped Apple, Oracle, Yahoo!, and Google start up; now he’s going global. Indra Nooyi PepsiCo’s new boss knows the world is her market; she promotes sustainability in multiple arenas: human, talent, and environment. Cyril Ramaphosa South Africa’s noted union leader has left politics—but may be his nation’s future. Philip Rosedale The inventor of the online game Second Life helped millions connect in his cyberspace alternate world. Stephen Schwarzman The cofounder of Wall Street’s Blackstone Group uses his private equity firm to turn losing corporations into winners. Katsuaki Watanabe Toyota’s boss has invested in local communities in the US, creating jobs, being a good neighbor, and caring for the environment.
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Celebrities and Newsmakers These mini-biographies are intended to provide background information about people in the news. See also the Obituaries (below) for recently deceased persons. Mahmoud (Ridha) Abbas (nom de guerre Abu Mazen; 1935, Zefat, Palestine), Palestinian politician; secretary general of the PLO executive committee and cofounder (with Yasir Arafat) of the Fatah movement; he served as the first prime minister of the Palestine Authority and was its president from 2005. Sidi Muhammad Ould Cheikh Abdallahi (1938), Mauritanian politician; president from 2007. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam; 15 Oct 1931, Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu state, British India), Indian aeronautical engineer; president of India, 2002–07. Abdullah (AAbdallah ibn AAbd al-AAziz Al Saud; 1923, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia), Saudi royal and king of Saudi Arabia from 2005. Abdullah II (Abdallah ibn al-Hussein al-Hashimi; 30 Jan 1962, Amman, Jordan), Jordanian royal and king from 1999. Shinzo Abe (21 Sep 1954, Tokyo, Japan), Japanese politician (Liberal Democratic); prime minister of Japan from 2006. Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin ibni al-Marhum Sultan Mahmud (22 Jan 1962, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia), Malaysian politician; yang di-pertuan agong (head of state) in 2001 and again from 2006. John (Philip) Abizaid (1 Apr 1951, Coleville CA), American military officer (lt. general, US Army) who was commander of the US Central Command and supreme commander of occupation forces in Iraq, 2003–07. Jack A. Abramoff (28 Feb 1958, Atlantic City NJ), disgraced American lobbyist. Aníbal Acevedo Vilá (13 Feb 1962, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico), American politician; governor of Puerto Rico from 2005. Chinua Achebe (1930, Nigeria), Nigerian novelist and poet who won the second Man Booker International Prize for fiction in 2007. Joe Ackermann (Josef Ackermann; 7 Feb 1948, Mels, Sankt Gallen, Switzerland), Swiss corporate executive and CEO of Deutsche Bank AG from 1997. Valdas V. Adamkus (Valdas V. Adamkevicius; 3 Nov 1926, Kaunas, Lithuania), Lithuanian politician and president, 1998–2003 and again from 2004. Gerry Adams (Gerard Adams; 6 Oct 1948, Belfast, Northern Ireland), Northern Irish resistance leader; president of Sinn Féin, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army. John (Coolidge) Adams (15 Feb 1947, Worcester MA), American composer. Scott Adams (8 Jun 1957, Windham NY), American cartoonist, creator of Dilbert. Thomas Adès (27 Jun 1971, London, England), English composer, pianist, and conductor. Ben Affleck (Benjamin Geza Affleck; 15 Aug 1972, Berkeley CA), American actor, director, and writer. Isaias Afwerki (2 Feb 1946, Asmara, Ethiopia [now in Eritrea]), Eritrean independence leader, secretarygeneral of the Provisional Government, and first president of Eritrea from 1993. Andre (Kirk) Agassi (29 Apr 1970, Las Vegas NV), American tennis player. Christina (Maria) Aguilera (18 Dec 1980, Staten Island NY), American pop singer. Bertie Ahern (Bartholomew Patrick Ahern; 12 Sep
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1951, Dublin, Ireland), Irish politician; prime minister (taoiseach) of Ireland from 1997. Iajuddin Ahmed (1 Feb 1931, Nayagaon, Bengal state, British India [now in Bangladesh]), Bangladeshi scientist and educator; president of Bangladesh from 2002. Clay Aiken (Clayton Grissom Aiken; 30 Nov 1978, Raleigh NC), American entertainer. Akihito (original name Tsugu Akihito; era name Heisei; 23 Dec 1933, Tokyo, Japan), Japanese royal; emperor of Japan from 1989. Akil Akilov (1944, Tajikistan?), Tajik politician and prime minister from 1999. Albert II (Albert Félix Humbert Théodore Christian Eugène Marie of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha; 6 Jun 1934, Brussels, Belgium), king of Belgium from 1993. Albert II (Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre; 14 Mar 1958, Monaco), Monegasque prince who became ruler of Monaco upon the death of his father, Rainier III, in 2005. Karl (1920, Germany) and Theo Albrecht (28 Mar 1922, Germany), German business executives who founded the Aldi supermarket chain. Alan Alda (Alphonso Joseph D’Abruzzo; 28 Jan 1936, New York NY), American film and TV actor. Sherman J. Alexie, Jr. (7 Oct 1966, Wellpinit, Spokane Indian Reservation, Washington), American poet and novelist who writes of his Native American upbringing. Alexis II (Aleksey Mikhaylovich Ridiger; 23 Feb 1929, Tallinn, Estonia), Russian religious leader; Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, the 15th primate of Russia, from 1990. Monica Ali (20 Oct 1967, Dacca, Pakistan [now Dhaka, Bangladesh]), Bangladesh-born British writer. Muhammad Ali (Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., until 1964; 17 Jan 1942, Louisville KY), American boxer, the first to win the heavyweight championship three separate times. Samuel A. Alito, Jr. (1 Apr 1950, Trenton NJ), American jurist; associate justice of the US Supreme Court from 2006. Ilham Aliyev (Ilham Geidar ogly Aliev; 24 Dec 1961, Baku, USSR [now in Azerbaijan]), Azerbaijani politician; prime minister from 2003. Ayad Allawi (31 May 1944, Baghdad, Iraq), Iraqi neurologist and prime minister, 2004–05. Paul G. Allen (21 Jan 1953, Mercer Island WA), American corporate executive who cofounded Microsoft Corp. (1975) and owned several professional sports teams. Woody Allen (Allen Stewart Konigsberg; 1 Dec 1935, Brooklyn NY), American filmmaker, actor, and comedian. Isabel Allende (2 Aug 1942, Lima, Peru), Chilean writer in the magic realist tradition, considered one of the first successful women novelists in Latin America. Kirstie Alley (12 Jan 1951, Wichita KS), American film and TV actress. Pedro Almodóvar (24 Sep 1949, Calzada de Calatrava, Spain), Spanish film director specializing in melodrama. Marin Alsop (1957?, New York NY), American conductor.
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Amadou (Amadou Bagayoko; 24 Oct 1954, Bamako, French West Africa [now in Mali]), Malian guitarist (of Amadou and Mariam). Anastacia (Newkirk) (7 Sep 1973, Chicago IL), American pop singer, songwriter, dancer, producer, and breast cancer activist. Pamela (Denise) Anderson (1 Jul 1967, Ladysmith, BC, Canada), Canadian-born model and actress. Tadao Ando (13 Sep 1941, Osaka, Japan), Japanese architect; recipient of the 1995 Pritzker Prize. Marc Andreessen (July 1971, New Lisbon WI), American computer innovator, cofounder (1994) of Mosaic Communications Corp., and developer of Netscape, a software system for browsing the Internet. Andrew (19 Feb 1960, Buckingham Palace, London, England), British prince; duke of York, the second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, duke of Edinburgh. Maya Angelou (Marguerite Annie Johnson; 4 Apr 1928, St. Louis MO), American poet. Jennifer Aniston (Jennifer Linn Anistassakis; 11 Feb 1969, Sherman Oaks CA), American TV and film actress. Kofi (Atta) Annan (18 Apr 1938, Kumasi, Gold Coast [now Ghana]), Ghanaian diplomat; UN secretarygeneral, 1997–2006; corecipient, with the UN, of the 2001 Nobel Prize for Peace. Anne (Elizabeth Alice Louise; 15 Aug 1950, Clarence House, London, England), British princess, the daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, duke of Edinburgh. Andrus Ansip (1 Oct 1956, Tartu, USSR [now in Estonia]), Estonian politician; prime minister from 2005. Marc Anthony (Marco Antonio Muñiz; 16 Sep 1968, Spanish Harlem, New York NY), American salsa singer. Louise Arbour (10 Feb 1947, Montreal, QC, Canada), Canadian judge; UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2004. Denys Arcand (25 Jun 1941, Deschambault, QC, Canada), Canadian film director and screenwriter known first for his documentary films and later for gritty intellectual fare. Martha Argerich (5 Jun 1941, Buenos Aires, Argentina), Argentine concert pianist. Oscar Arias Sánchez (13 Sep 1941, Heredia, Costa Rica), Costa Rican statesman; president of Costa Rica, 1986–90 and from 2006; recipient of the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize. Alan Arkin (Alan Wolf Arkin; 26 Mar 1934, Brooklyn NY), American film and TV actor. Billie Joe Armstrong (17 Feb 1972, Rodeo CA), American punk-rock vocalist and guitarist (of Green Day). Lance Armstrong (18 Sep 1971, Plano TX), American cyclist who won the Tour de France seven years in succession, 1999–2005. Gerald Arpino (14 Jan 1928, Staten Island NY), American ballet choreographer, a cofounder and leader of the Joffrey Ballet from its founding in 1956 and its artistic director from 1988. Courteney Cox Arquette (15 Jun 1964, Birmingham AL), American TV and film actress. Owen Seymour Arthur (17 Oct 1949, Barbados), Barbadian politician and prime minister from 1994. Ashanti (Ashanti S. Douglas; 13 Oct 1980, Glen Cove NY), American hip-hop singer. Hanan Ashrawi (8 Oct 1946, Ram Allah, Palestine), Palestinian academic and spokeswoman for Palestine.
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Bashar al-Assad (11 Sep 1965, Damascus, Syria), Syrian statesman and president from 2000. Azali Assoumani (1959, Grand Comoro Island, Comoros), Comoran politician who was president, 1999–2002, and a second time, 2002–06. Alaa Al Aswany (1957, Egypt), Egyptian dentist and popular writer. Abdul Rahman ibn Hamad al-Attiyah (1950, Qatar), Qatari international official; secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council from 2002. Margaret (Eleanor) Atwood (18 Nov 1939, Ottawa, ON, Canada), Canadian poet, novelist, and critic. Robert John Aumann (8 Jun 1930, Frankfurt am Main, Germany), American Israeli mathematician; corecipient of the 2005 Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (19 Jun 1945, Rangoon, Burma [now Yangôn, Myanmar]), Burmese human rights activist and opposition leader; recipient in 1991 of the Nobel Prize for Peace. Geno Auriemma (Luigi Auriemma; 1954, Montella, Italy), Italian-born American women’s basketball coach. Dan Aykroyd (1 Jul 1952, Ottawa, ON, Canada), Canadian-born comic actor. Hank Azaria (25 Apr 1964, Forest Hills NY), American actor best known for comic film roles and for providing voices for TV’s The Simpsons. B-Real (Louis Freese; 2 Jun 1970, Los Angeles CA), American Latino rap artist. AAbd al-Qadir al-Ba Jamal (1946, Yemen?), Yemeni politician; prime minister, 2001–07. Michelle Bachelet (Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria; 29 Sep 1951, Santiago, Chile), Chilean politician (Socialist); president from 2006. Kevin Bacon (8 Jul 1958, Philadelphia PA), American film and theater actor. Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (26 Nov 1939, Penang state, Malaysia), Malaysian politician; prime minister from 2003. Erykah Badu (Erica Wright; 26 Feb 1972, Dallas TX), American singer-songwriter appreciated for the phrasing and emotive qualities of her smooth, jazzinflected vocals. Bob Baffert (13 Jan 1953, Nogales AZ), American trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses. Jerry D. Bailey (29 Aug 1957, Dallas TX), American jockey. Anita Baker (26 Jan 1958, Toledo OH), American singer. Kurmanbek Bakiyev (1 Aug 1949, Masadan, Kirghiz SSR, USSR [now Teyyit, Kyrgyzstan]), Kyrgyz politician; president of Kyrgyzstan from 2005. John Elias Baldacci (30 Jan 1955, Bangor ME), American Democratic politician and governor of Maine from 2003. Alec Baldwin (Alexander Rae Baldwin III; 3 Apr 1958, Massapequa NY), American film and TV actor. Jan Peter Balkenende (7 May 1956, Kapelle, Netherlands), Dutch Christian-Democratic politician and prime minister from 2002. Steven A. Ballmer (24 Mar 1956, Detroit? MI), American corporate executive; CEO of Microsoft Corp. from 2000. Ed(ward) Balls (25 Feb 1967, Norwich, England), British public official; chief economic adviser to the treasury. David Baltimore (7 Mar 1938, New York NY), American microbiologist, corecipient of the 1975 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, and president of the California Institute of Technology, 1997–2006.
PEOPLE Ban Ki-moon (13 Jun 1944, Umsong, Japanese-occupied Korea [now in South Korea]), Korean government and international official; secretary-general of the United Nations from 2007. Antonio Banderas (José António Domínguez Banderas; 10 Oct 1960, Málaga, Spain), Spanish actor and director. Tyra Banks (4 Dec 1973, Los Angeles CA), American model, actress, and TV show host. Patricia Barber (8 Nov 1955, Lisle IL), American jazz singer and pianist. Haley Barbour (22 Oct 1947, Yazoo City MS), American Republican politician and governor of Mississippi from 2004. Daniel Barenboim (15 Nov 1942, Buenos Aires, Argentina), Israeli pianist and conductor. José Manuel Durão Barroso (23 Mar 1956, Lisbon, Portugal), Portuguese politician; prime minister, 2002–04; and president of the European Commission from 2004. John D. Barrow (John David Barrow; 29 Nov 1952, London, England), British cosmologist, a specialist in the anthropic principle; recipient of the 2006 Templeton Prize. Dave Barry (3 Jul 1947, Armonk NY), American humorist, syndicated newspaper columnist, and author of multiple best sellers. Drew Barrymore (Andrew Blythe Barrymore; 22 Feb 1975, Culver City CA), American film actress. Frederick Barthelme (10 Oct 1943, Houston TX), American writer of short stories and novels. Richard Barton (2 Jun 1967, New Canaan CT), American Internet entrepreneur (Expedia.com, Zillow.com). Mikhail Baryshnikov (28 Jan 1948, Riga, USSR [now Latvia]), Soviet-born American ballet dancer and director. Traian Basescu (4 Nov 1951, Basarabi, Romania), Romanian politician; president from 2004. Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir (1944, Hosh Bannaga, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan [now The Sudan]), Sudanese military leader and president from 1989. Angela Bassett (16 Aug 1958, New York NY), American film actress. Beatrix (31 Jan 1938, Soestdijk, Netherlands), Dutch royal and queen of The Netherlands from 1980. (Henry) Warren Beatty (30 Mar 1937, Richmond VA), American film actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. Beck (Beck Hansen; 8 Jul 1970, Los Angeles CA), American singer and songwriter. Margaret Beckett (Margaret Mary Jackson; 15 Jan 1943, Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, England), British politician (Labour); foreign secretary of the UK from 2006. David Beckham (2 May 1975, Leytonstone, England), British association football (soccer) player. Victoria Beckham (Victoria Caroline Adams; 7 Apr 1975, Goff’s Oak, England), British pop singer (“Posh Spice” of the Spice Girls) and wife of David Beckham. Kate Beckinsale (26 Jul 1973, London, England), British actress. Mike Beebe (Michael Dale Beebe; 28 Dec 1946, Amagon AR), American politician (Democrat); governor of Arkansas from 2007. Kenenisa Bekele (13 Jun 1982, near Bekoji, Ethiopia), Ethiopian cross-country runner. Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo (3 Feb 1948, Wailacama, Portuguese Timor [now East Timor]), Timorese
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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Roman Catholic bishop and advocate of independence for East Timor; corecipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize for Peace. Arden L. Bement, Jr. (22 May 1932, Pittsburgh PA), American materials scientist; director of the National Science Foundation from 2004. Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali (3 Sep 1936, HammamSousse, Tunisia), Tunisian politician and president from 1987. Benedict XVI (Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 Apr 1927, Marktl am Inn, Bavaria, Germany), German Roman Catholic churchman; pope from 2005. Luciano Benetton (13 May 1935, Treviso, Italy), Italian retailer and cofounder (1965) of the Benetton company. Annette Bening (29 May 1958, Topeka KS), American film actress. Alan Bennett (9 May 1934, Leeds, England), British dramatist and writer. Óscar Berger Perdomo (11 Aug 1946, Guatemala City, Guatemala), Guatemalan politician and president from 2004. Sali Berisha (Sali Ram Berisha; 15 Oct 1944, Tropojë, Albania), Albanian cardiologist and politician (Democratic Party); president, 1992–97, and prime minister from 2005. Silvio Berlusconi (29 Sep 1936, Milan, Italy), Italian businessman and politician; prime minister of Italy, 1994–95 and again, 2001–06. Ben S. Bernanke (Benjamin Shalom Bernanke; 13 Dec 1953, Augusta GA), American economist and professor; chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 2006. Tim Berners-Lee (Timothy J. Berners-Lee; 8 Jun 1955, London, England), British inventor of the World Wide Web and director of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) from 1994. Halle (Maria) Berry (14 Aug 1968, Cleveland OH), American actress and model. Guy Berryman (12 Apr 1978, Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland), British rock bassist (of Coldplay). Liliane Bettencourt (October 1922, France), French daughter of the founder of the L’Oreal cosmetics company. Beyoncé (Knowles) (4 Sep 1981, Houston TX), American R&B singer. Jeffrey P. Bezos (12 Jan 1964, Albuquerque NM), American corporate executive; founder and CEO of Amazon.com from 1995. Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX; 5 Dec 1927, Cambridge MA), Thai royal; king of Thailand from 1946. Joseph R(obinette) Biden, Jr. (20 Nov 1942, Scranton PA), American Democratic politician and senator from Delaware from 1973. Big Boi (Antwan Andre Patton; 1 Feb 1975, Savannah GA), American hip-hop artist and a member of the duo OutKast. James H(adley) Billington (1 Jun 1929, Bryn Mawr PA), American cultural historian; librarian of Congress from 1987. Osama bin Laden (10 Mar 1957, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia), Saudi Arabian–born terrorist and leader of the al-Qaeda organization. Pat Binns (8 Oct 1948, Weyburn, SK, Canada), Canadian politician; premier of Prince Edward Island from 1996. Juliette Binoche (9 Mar 1964, Paris, France), French film actress. Harrison Birtwistle (15 Jul 1934, Accrington, Lancashire, England), British composer of operas, chamber music, and orchestral music.
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PEOPLE
Paul Biya (13 Feb 1933, Mvomeka’a, Cameroon), Cameroonian politician; president from 1982. Jonas Bjorkman (23 Mar 1972, Vaxjo, Sweden), Swedish tennis player best known for doubles play, especially with Todd Woodbridge. Ole Einar Bjørndalen (27 Jan 1974, Drammen, Norway), Norwegian biathlete and cross-country skier. Conrad (Moffat) Black (25 Aug 1944, Montreal, QC, Canada), Canadian financier and press baron. Jack Black (28 Aug 1969, Hermosa Beach CA), American TV and film actor and comic rock bandleader. Rubén Blades (16 Jul 1948, Panama City, Panama), Panamanian salsa singer and songwriter, actor, and politician. Rod R. Blagojevich (10 Dec 1956, Chicago IL), American Democratic politician and governor of Illinois from 2003. David Blaine (David Blaine White; 4 Apr 1973, Brooklyn NY), American magician known for his endurance stunts. Tony Blair (Anthony Charles Lynton Blair; 6 May 1953, Edinburgh, Scotland), British politician, Labour Party leader, and prime minister of the UK, 1997–2007. Robert Blake (Michael James Vijencio Gubitosi; 18 Sep 1933, Nutley NJ), American film and TV actor. Cate Blanchett (Catherine Elise Blanchett; 14 May 1969, Melbourne, VIC, Australia), Australian film actress. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (15 Dec 1942, Coteau LA), American Democratic politician and governor of Louisiana from 2004. Mary J. Blige (11 Jan 1971, New York NY), American hip-hop soul singer. Harold (Irving) Bloom (11 Jul 1930, New York NY), American literary critic. Orlando Bloom (13 Jan 1977, Canterbury, Kent, England), British film actor. Michael R. Bloomberg (14 Feb 1942, Medford MA), American businessman, philanthropist, and Republican politician; mayor of New York City from 2002. Matt Blunt (20 Nov 1970, Springfield MO), American Republican politician and governor of Missouri from 2005. Andrea Bocelli (22 Sep 1958, Lajatico, Italy), Italian operatic tenor, blind from childhood. Steven Bochco (16 Dec 1943, New York NY), American writer, producer, and creator of TV series. Samuel Wright Bodman (26 Nov 1938, Chicago IL), American chemical engineer, corporate leader, and official; US secretary of energy from 2005. Enrique Bolaños Geyer (13 May 1928, Masaya, Nicaragua), Nicaraguan politician and president from 2002. Sir Haji Hassanal Bolkiah MuAizzadin Waddaulah (15 Jul 1946, Brunei Town [now Bandar Seri Begawan], Brunei), sultan of Brunei from 1967. Barry (Lamar) Bonds (24 Jul 1964, Riverside CA), American baseball player who tallied a record 73 home runs in 2001 and broke the all-time home run record in 2007. Omar Bongo Ondimba (Albert-Bernard Bongo; 30 Dec 1935, Lewai, Gabon), Gabonese politician and president from 1967. Yayi Boni (Thomas Yayi Boni; 1952, Tchaourou, French Dahomey [now Benin]), Beninois politician (independent); president from 2006. Bono (Paul David Hewson; also known as Bono Vox; 10 May 1960, Dublin, Ireland), Irish lead singer and songwriter of the rock band U2; also a human rights activist and mediator.
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Cherie Booth (23 Sep 1954, Bury, Lancashire, England), British barrister, the wife of former prime minister Tony Blair. Umberto Bossi (19 Sep 1941, Cassano Magnano, Italy), Italian politician and leader of the separatist Northern League from 1991. Bouasone Bouphavanh (3 Jun 1954, Ban Tao Poun, Salavan province, French Indochina [now in Laos]), Laotian politician and prime minister from 2006. Lucien Bouchard (22 Dec 1938, Saint-Coeur-deMarie, QC, Canada), French Canadian politician, an advocate of the separation of Quebec from the rest of Canada. Ray Bourque (28 Dec 1960, Montreal, QC, Canada), American ice hockey defenseman and five-time James Norris Trophy winner. Abdelaziz Bouteflika (2 Mar 1937, Tlemcen, Algeria), Algerian politician, diplomat, and president from 1999. T. Coraghessan Boyle (Thomas John Boyle; 2 Dec 1948, Peekskill NY), American short-story writer and novelist. François Bozizé (14 Oct 1946, Mouila, French Equatorial Africa [now in Gabon]), Central African Republic politician; president from 2003. Ray (Douglas) Bradbury (22 Aug 1920, Waukegan IL), American author of science-fiction short stories and novels, nostalgic tales, poetry, radio drama, and TV and film screenplays. Tom Brady (Thomas Brady; 3 Aug 1977, San Mateo CA), American professional football quarterback. Lakhdar Brahimi (1 Jan 1934, Algeria), Algerian statesman, diplomat, and international official. Kenneth (Charles) Branagh (10 Dec 1960, Belfast, Northern Ireland), British theater and film actor, director, and writer. Brandy (Brandy Norwood; 11 Feb 1979, McComb MS), American R&B singer and TV actress. Richard (Charles Nicholas) Branson (18 Jul 1950, Shamley Green, Surrey, England), British entrepreneur who founded the Virgin empire in 1973. Benjamin Bratt (16 Dec 1963, San Francisco CA), American TV and film actor. Anthony Braxton (4 Jun 1945, Chicago IL), American avant-garde reed player and composer. Toni Braxton (7 Oct 1968, Severn MD), American R&B singer. Phil Bredesen (Philip Norman Bredesen; 21 Nov 1943, Oceanport NJ), American Democratic politician; governor of Tennessee from 2003. Thierry Breton (15 Jan 1955, Paris, France), French businessman and politician; executive chairman of France Télécom, 2002–05, and French economic minister from 2005. Stephen (Gerald) Breyer (15 Aug 1938, San Francisco CA), American jurist; associate justice of the US Supreme Court from 1994. Jeff Bridges (4 Dec 1949, Los Angeles CA), American actor. Sergey Brin (21 Aug 1973, Moscow, USSR [now in Russia]), Russian-born computer scientist and Internet entrepreneur who cofounded (with Lawrence Page) in 1998 the Google Internet search engine. Matthew Broderick (21 Mar 1962, New York NY), American comic actor of stage and screen. Adrien Brody (14 Apr 1973, New York NY), American film actor. Edgar M. Bronfman (20 Jun 1929, Montreal, QC, Canada), Canadian-born American businessman; chairman of the Seagram Co. Ltd. and, from 1981, president of the World Jewish Congress.
PEOPLE Garth Brooks (Troyal Garth Brooks; 7 Feb 1962, Tulsa OK), American country-and-western singer. Kix Brooks (Leon Eric Brooks; 12 May 1955, Shreveport LA), American country-and-western singer in the duo Brooks & Dunn. Pierce (Brendan) Brosnan (16 May 1953, Navan, County Meath, Ireland), Irish actor. Dan Brown (22 Jun 1964, Exeter NH), American novelist (The Da Vinci Code). Gordon Brown (20 Feb 1951, Glasgow, Scotland), British politician, chancellor of the Exchequer, 1997–2007, and prime minister from 2007. Jerry Bruckheimer (21 Sep 1945, Detroit MI), American film and TV producer. Kobe Bryant (23 Aug 1978, Philadelphia PA), American basketball player. Bill Bryson (1951, Des Moines IA), American-born British journalist and travel writer. Michael Bublé (9 Sep 1975, Burnaby, BC, Canada), Canadian pop singer. Patrick J(oseph) Buchanan (2 Nov 1938, Washington DC), American conservative journalist. Jon Buckland (11 Sep 1977, London, England), British rock guitarist (of Coldplay). Christopher (Taylor) Buckley (1952, New York NY), American satiric novelist and magazine editor. Warren (Edward) Buffett (30 Aug 1930, Omaha NE), American investor; CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. from 1965. Sandra (Annette) Bullock (26 Jul 1964, Arlington VA), American film actress. Gisele Bündchen (Gisele Caroline Nonnenmacher Bündchen; 20 Jul 1980, Horizontina, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil), Brazilian fashion model. Mark Burnett (17 Jul 1960, Myland, East London, England), English-born American reality-TV-show producer. Ken Burns (Kenneth Lauren Burns; 29 Jul 1953, Brooklyn NY), American documentary filmmaker. Gary Burton (23 Jan 1943, Anderson IN), American jazz vibraphonist and composer. Tim Burton (Timothy William Burton; 25 Aug 1958, Burbank CA), American director and writer known for offbeat, imaginative films. Steve Buscemi (13 Dec 1957, Brooklyn NY), American film actor. Barbara Bush (Barbara Pierce; 8 Jun 1925, Rye NY), American first lady; wife of Pres. George H.W. Bush (married 6 Jan 1945). Barbara Bush (25 Nov 1981, Dallas TX), American personality; daughter of Pres. George W. Bush. George Herbert Walker Bush (12 Jun 1924, Milton MA), American statesman, vice president, 1981–89, and 41st president, 1989–93; he is the father of Pres. George W. Bush. George Walker Bush (6 Jul 1946, New Haven CT), American statesman and 43rd president, from 2001; he is the son of Pres. George H.W. Bush. Jeb Bush (John Ellis Bush; 11 Feb 1953, Midland TX), American Republican politician, governor of Florida, 1999–2007, and brother of Pres. George W. Bush. Jenna Bush (25 Nov 1981, Dallas TX), American personality; daughter of Pres. George W. Bush. Laura Bush (Laura Lane Welch; 4 Nov 1946, Midland TX), American first lady; wife of Pres. George W. Bush (married 5 Nov 1977). Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi (27 Aug 1928, Mahlabatini, Natal [now KwaZulu Natal] province, South Africa), South African Zulu chief, the founder (1975) and leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party. Norbert Leo Butz (St. Louis MO), American actor.
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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A.S. Byatt (Antonia Susan Drabble; 24 Aug 1936, Sheffield, England), English scholar, literary critic, and novelist. James Caan (26 Mar 1939, New York NY), American actor. Nicolas Cage (Nicholas Kim Coppola; 7 Jan 1964, Long Beach CA), American film actor. Santiago Calatrava (28 Jul 1951, Valencia, Spain), Spanish architect noted for his soaring designs for bridges and public buildings. Felipe Calderón (Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa; 18 Aug 1962, Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico), Mexican politician (National Action Party); president from 2006. Félix Pérez Camacho (30 Oct 1957, Camp Zama, Japan), American Republican politician and governor of Guam from 2003. David Cameron (David William Donald Cameron; 9 Oct 1966, London, England), British politician and leader of the Conservative Party from 2005. Camilla, duchess of Cornwall (Camilla Parker Bowles; Camilla Shand; 17 Jul 1947, London, England), English celebrity, the wife, from 9 Apr 2005, of Charles, prince of Wales. Louis C. Camilleri (1955, Alexandria, Egypt), American corporate executive; president and CEO of Altria Group from 2002. Sir Menzies Campbell (22 May 1941, Glasgow, Scotland), British politician, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party from 2006. Naomi Campbell (22 May 1970, London, England), British runway and photographic model. Fabio Cannavaro (13 Sep 1973, Naples, Italy), Italian association football (soccer) player who led his country’s team to victory in the 2006 World Cup. Jennifer Capriati (29 Mar 1976, New York NY), American tennis player, the youngest US player to turn professional (1989, at age 13). Don Carcieri (16 Dec 1942, East Greenwich RI), American banker and Republican politician; governor of Rhode Island from 2003. Drew (Allison) Carey (23 May 1958, Cleveland OH), American comic TV actor. Mariah Carey (27 Mar 1970, Huntington, Long Island, NY), American pop singer. Peter (Philip) Carey (7 May 1943, Bacchus Marsh, VIC, Australia), Australian author. Carl XVI Gustaf (Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus; 30 Apr 1946, Stockholm, Sweden), king of Sweden from 1973. Lennart Carleson (Lennart Axel Edvard Carleson; 18 Mar 1928, Stockholm, Sweden), Swedish mathematician, a specialist in harmonic analysis; recipient of the 2006 Abel Prize. Richard H. Carmona (22 Nov 1949, Harlem NY), American physician; surgeon general of the US, 2002–06. Robert A. Caro (30 Oct 1935, New York NY), American biographer. Caroline (Caroline Louise Margaret Grimaldi; 23 Jan 1957, Monte Carlo, Monaco), Monegasque princess, the elder daughter of Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace. Jim Carrey (James Eugene Carrey; 17 Jan 1962, Newmarket, ON, Canada), Canadian-born American comic actor. Edwin W. Carrington (1938, Tobago), Trinidadian international official; secretary-general of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) from 1992. Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.; 1 Oct 1924, Plains GA), American statesman and 39th presi-
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PEOPLE
dent of the US, 1977–81; recipient of the 2002 Nobel Prize for Peace. Marsh Carter (Marshall N. Carter; 1940, Washington DC?), American corporate executive; chairman of the New York Stock Exchange from 2005. Rosalynn Carter (Eleanor Rosalynn Smith; 18 Aug 1927, Plains GA), American first lady (1977–81), the wife of Pres. Jimmy Carter, and mental health advocate. David Caruso (7 Jan 1956, Forest Hills NY), American actor, mostly in TV. James Carville, Jr. (25 Oct 1944, Carville LA), American political strategist and commentator. Steve Case (Stephen McDonnell Case; 21 Aug 1958, Honolulu HI), American corporate executive; founder (1991) and former CEO of America Online and chairman of AOL Time Warner (2001–03). Rosanne Cash (24 May 1955, Memphis TN), American country-and-western singer. Fidel Castro Ruz (13 Aug 1926, near Birán, Cuba), Cuban revolutionary and leader of Cuba from 1959; he became a symbol of communist revolution in Latin America. Raúl Castro (Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz; 3 Jun 1931, near Birán, Cuba), Cuban revolutionary leader and politician; acting president of Cuba from 2006. Helio Castroneves (10 May 1975, São Paulo, Brazil), Brazilian race-car driver. Kim Cattrall (21 Aug 1956, Liverpool, England), British-born film and TV actress. Aníbal Cavaco Silva (Aníbal António Cavaco Silva; 15 Jul 1939, Boliqueime, Algarve, Portugal), Portuguese politician; prime minister, 1985–95, and president from 2006. Jim Caviezel (James Patrick Caviezel; 26 Sep 1968, Mount Vernon WA), American film actor. Riccardo Chailly (20 Feb 1953, Milan, Italy), Italian orchestra conductor; music director of the Leipzig Opera from 2005. John T. Chambers (23 Aug 1949, Cleveland OH), American corporate executive; president and CEO of Cisco Systems, Inc., from 1997. Will Champion (31 Jul 1978, Southampton, England), British rock drummer (of Coldplay). Jackie Chan (Chan Kwong-Sang; 7 Apr 1954, Hong Kong), Chinese actor and director of martial arts films. Margaret Chan (1947, Hong Kong), Hong Kong–born public health officer; director general of the World Health Organization from 2006. Elaine Chao (26 Mar 1953, Taipei, Taiwan), American government official; US secretary of labor from 2001. Manu Chao (Oscar Tramor; 26 Jun 1961, Paris, France), French-born Spanish international rock musician noted for his politics and his unstructured approach to the business side of music. David Chappelle (24 Aug 1973, Washington DC), American film and TV comedian and actor who starred in TV’s Chappelle’s Show. Jean Charest (John James Charest; 24 Jun 1958, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada), French Canadian politician; leader of the Quebec Liberal Party from 1998 and premier of Quebec from 2003. Charles (Prince of Wales; 14 Nov 1948, Buckingham Palace, London, England), British royal, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, duke of Edinburgh, and heir apparent to the throne. Yves Chauvin (10 Oct 1930, Menin, Belgium), French chemist; corecipient of the 2005 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for the development of the metathesis method in organic synthesis.
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Hugo Chávez Frías (28 Jul 1954, Sabaneta, Venezuela), Venezuelan military leader, politician, and president of Venezuela from 1999. Don Cheadle (29 Nov 1964, Kansas City MO), American film and TV actor. Chen Shui-bian (Ch’en Shui-pian; 18 Feb 1951, Hsichuang village, Tainan county, Taiwan), Taiwanese politician and president from 2000. Dick Cheney (Richard Bruce Cheney; 30 Jan 1941, Lincoln NE), American politician, secretary of defense, 1989–93, and vice president from 2001. Lynne V. Cheney (Lynne Ann Vincent; 14 Aug 1941, Casper WY), American political commentator; she is the wife of Vice Pres. Dick Cheney (married 1964). Cher (Cherilyn Sarkasian LaPier; 20 May 1946, El Centro CA), American pop singer and film actress. Taïeb Chérif (29 Dec 1941, Kasr El Boukhari, Algeria), Algerian international official; secretary-general of the International Civil Aviation Organization from 2003. Michael Chertoff (28 Nov 1953, Elizabeth NJ), American attorney, judge on the US Court of Appeals, and secretary of homeland security from 2005. Robert Cheruiyot (Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot; 26 Sep 1978, Eldoret, Kenya), Kenyan long-distance runner who won the Boston and Chicago marathons in 2006. Kenny Chesney (26 Mar 1968, Luttrell TN), American country-and-western singer. Judy Chicago (Judy Cohen; 20 Jul 1939, Chicago IL), American artist. Dale Chihuly (20 Sep 1941, Tacoma WA), American glassblower and glass artist known for his vibrantly colored organic sculptures designed for large spaces. Michael Chiklis (30 Aug 1963, Lowell MA), American TV actor; star of the TV series The Shield from 2002 and the Fantastic Four movies. Jacques (René) Chirac (29 Nov 1932, Paris, France), French politician; prime minister of France, 1974–76 and 1986–88, and president, 1995–2007. Fujio Cho (1937, Tokyo, Japan), Japanese corporate executive; chairman of Toyota Motor Corp. from 2005. (Avram) Noam Chomsky (7 Dec 1928, Philadelphia PA), American linguist, writer, educator, and political activist; one of the founders of transformational, or generative, grammar. Deepak Chopra (22 Oct 1946, New Delhi, British India), Indian-born American endocrinologist, alternative-medicine advocate, and best-selling author. Choummaly Sayasone (6 Mar 1936, Attapu province, French Indochina [now in Laos]), Laotian political official; general secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party from 2006 and president from 2006. Chow Yun-Fat (Zhou Runfa; 18 May 1955, Lamma Island, Hong Kong), Hong Kong actor. Perry (Gladstone) Christie (21 Aug 1943, Nassau, Bahamas), Bahamian politician and prime minister, 2002–07. Steven Chu (28 Feb 1948, St. Louis MO), American physicist; recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize for Physics. Chang Chun-Hsiung (1938, Chia-i, China [now in Taiwan]), Taiwanese politician; president of the Executive Yuan (premier), 2000–02 and again from 2007. Ralph J(ohn) Cicerone (2 May 1943, New Castle PA), American electrical engineer and atmospheric scientist; president of the National Academy of Sciences from 2005. Aaron Ciechanover (1 Oct 1947, Haifa, Israel), Israeli biochemist; corecipient of the 2004 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
PEOPLE Sandra Cisneros (20 Dec 1954, Chicago IL), American short-story writer and poet. Tom Clancy (Thomas L. Clancy, Jr.; 12 Apr 1947, Baltimore MD), American best-selling writer on military-tinged current affairs topics. Eric Clapton (Eric Patrick Clapp; 30 Mar 1945, Ripley, Surrey, England), British guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Helen Clark (26 Feb 1950, Hamilton, New Zealand), New Zealand Labour politician and prime minister from 1999. Mary Higgins Clark (24 Dec 1931, New York NY), American writer of best-selling books. Victoria Clark (10 Oct 19??, Dallas TX), American stage actress. Kelly Clarkson (24 Apr 1982, Burleson TX), American celebrity; winner of Fox TV’s American Idol competition in 2002. John (Marwood) Cleese (27 Oct 1939, Weston-superMare, England), British comic actor. Van Cliburn (Harvey Lavan Cliburn, Jr.; 12 Jul 1934, Shreveport LA), American pianist. Kim Clijsters (8 Jun 1983, Bilzen, Belgium), Belgian tennis player. Bill Clinton (William Jefferson Blythe IV; 19 Aug 1946, Hope AR), American statesman and 42nd president of the US, 1993–2001. Hillary Rodham Clinton (Hillary Diane Rodham; 26 Oct 1947, Chicago IL), American politician; wife of Pres. Bill Clinton; Democratic senator from New York from 2001. George Clooney (6 May 1961, Lexington KY), American film and TV actor. Chuck Close (Charles Thomas Close; 5 Jul 1940, Monroe WA), American painter best known for his large-scale, Photo-realist portraits. Glenn Close (19 Mar 1947, Greenwich CT), American actress. Paulo Coelho (August 1947, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), Brazilian novelist. Ethan (21 Sep 1958, St. Louis Park MN) and Joel Coen (29 Nov 1955, St. Louis Park MN), American filmmakers. J(ohn) M(axwell) Coetzee (9 Feb 1940, Cape Town, South Africa), South African novelist and critic noted for his novels about the effects of apartheid; recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize for Literature. Leonard Cohen (21 Sep 1934, Montreal, QC, Canada), Canadian singer and songwriter. Sacha Baron Cohen (Sacha Noam Baron Cohen; 13 Oct 1971, Hammersmith, London, England), British comedian and actor. Stephen Colbert (13 May 1964, Charleston SC), American TV commentator and satirist, host of The Colbert Report from 2005. Natalie (Maria) Cole (Stephanie Natalie Maria Cole; 6 Feb 1950, Los Angeles CA), American pop singer. Pierluigi Collina (13 Feb 1960, Bologna, Italy), Italian association football (soccer) referee. Billy Collins (1941, New York NY), American poet; poet laureate of the US, 2001–03. Marva Collins (Marva Delores Knight; 31 Aug 1936, Monroeville AL), American educator. Alan Colmes (24 Sep 1950, Long Island NY), American liberal radio and TV journalist and commentator. Sean Combs (Puffy; Puff Daddy; P. Diddy; 4 Nov 1970, Harlem, New York, NY), American rap artist, impresario, fashion plate, and TV actor. Blaise Compaoré (1951, Ziniane, Upper Volta [now Burkina Faso]), Burkinabe politician and president of Burkina Faso from 1987.
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Philip M. Condit (2 Aug 1941, Berkeley CA), American aerospace engineer and corporate executive; chairman and CEO of the Boeing Co., 1997–2003. Bill Condon (22 Oct 1955, New York NY), American screenwriter and film director. Jennifer Connelly (12 Dec 1970, Catskill Mountains NY), American fashion model and film actress. Sir Sean Connery (Thomas Connery; 25 Aug 1930, Edinburgh, Scotland), Scottish film actor known for portrayals of rugged leading men, including James Bond; he is also active in Scottish nationalist politics. Lansana Conté (1934, Moussayah Loumbaya, French West Africa [now in Guinea]), Guinean military leader and president from 1984. Cynthia Cooper (14 Apr 1963, Chicago IL), American collegiate, Olympic, and professional basketball player and coach. Francis Ford Coppola (7 Apr 1939, Detroit MI), American film director, writer, and producer. Sofia Coppola (14 May 1971, New York NY), American film actress, designer, writer, and director. Chick Corea (Armando Anthony Corea; 12 Jun 1941, Chelsea MA), American jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader. John Corigliano (16 Feb 1938, New York NY), American composer of lyrical, tonal, expressive works in orchestral music, opera, chamber music, and film scores. Patricia Cornwell (Patricia Daniels; 9 Jun 1956, Miami FL), American author of mystery novels. Rafael Correa (Rafael Vicente Correa Delgado; 6 Apr 1963, Guayaquil, Ecuador), Ecuadorian politician; president from 2007. Jon Corzine (Jon Stevens Corzine; 1 Jan 1947, Willey’s Station IL), American politician (Democrat); senator from New Jersey, 2001–06, and governor from 2006. Bill Cosby (William Henry Cosby, Jr.; 12 Jul 1937, Philadelphia PA), American comedian and actor beloved for the groundbreaking TV series The Cosby Show (1984–92). Bob Costas (Robert Quinlan Costas; 22 Mar 1952, New York NY), American TV sportscaster and host. Kevin (Michael) Costner (18 Jan 1955, Lynwood CA), American film actor and director. Ann (Hart) Coulter (8 Dec 1961, New Canaan CT), American attorney, political columnist, and author. David Coulthard (27 Mar 1971, Twynholm, Scotland), Scottish Formula 1 race-car driver. Katie Couric (7 Jan 1957, Arlington VA), American TV talk-show host and news anchor. Simon Cowell (Simon Phillip Cowell; 7 Oct 1959, Brighton, East Sussex, England), British record producer and TV personality; a judge on the American Idol “reality TV” show. Christopher Cox (16 Oct 1952, Saint Paul MN), American politician (Republican); chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission from 2005. John Craddock (Bantz John Craddock; 1949, Doddridge county WV), American military official; Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR) from 2006. (John) Michael Crichton (23 Oct 1942, Chicago IL), American best-selling writer and director who specializes in novels on scientific themes. Charlie Crist (Charles Joseph Crist, Jr.; 24 Jul 1956, Altoona PA), American politician (Republican); governor of Florida from 2007. Walter (Leland) Cronkite, Jr. (4 Nov 1916, St. Joseph MO), American TV journalist, commentator, and TV news anchor.
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Stanley Crouch (14 Dec 1945, Los Angeles CA), American journalist and critic. Sheryl Crow (11 Feb 1962, Kennett MO), American singer-songwriter. Russell (Ira) Crowe (7 Apr 1964, Wellington, New Zealand), New Zealand-born Australian film actor. Tom Cruise (Thomas Cruise Mapother IV; 3 Jul 1962, Syracuse NY), American actor, one of the highestpaid film stars in the world. Gastão Cruz (20 Jul 1941, Faro, Portugal), Portuguese poet and literary critic. Nilo Cruz (1962?, Matanzas, Cuba), Cuban-born American playwright. Penélope Cruz (Sánchez) (28 Apr 1974, Madrid, Spain), Spanish film actress. Branko Crvenkovski (12 Oct 1962, Sarajevo, Yugoslavia [now in Bosnia and Herzegovina]), Macedonian politician and prime minister, 1992–98, and again, 2002–04, after which he took over as president. Billy Crystal (14 Mar 1947, Long Beach NY), American comedic actor popular for light dramatic comedies. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1934, Fiume, Italy), American psychologist and sociologist who specializes in studies of creativity, especially in art, and social behavior and socialization. Jamie Cullum (20 Aug 1979, Essex, England), British pop, jazz, and rock pianist and vocalist. Chet Culver (Chester John Culver; 25 Jan 1966, Washington DC), American politician (Democrat); governor of Iowa from 2007. Joan Cusack (11 Oct 1962, New York NY), American film and TV actress. John Cusack (28 Jun 1966, Evanston IL), American film actor known for his intelligent, humorous characters. Willem Dafoe (William Dafoe, Jr.; 22 Jul 1955, Appleton WI), American actor known for his complex, passionate portrayals. Dalai Lama (the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, birth name Lhamo Dhondrub; 6 Jul 1935, Takster, Amdo province, Tibet [now Tsinghai province, China]), Tibetan spiritual leader (enthroned in 1940) and ruler-in-exile; head of the Tibetan Buddhists; recipient of the 1989 Nobel Prize for Peace. Richard M. Daley (24 Apr 1942, Chicago IL), American Democratic politician; mayor of Chicago from 1989. Matt Damon (Matthew Paige Damon; 8 Oct 1970, Cambridge MA), American film actor. Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. (7 Apr 1949, Monongahela PA), American businessman and politician; director of the US Office of Management and Budget, 2001–03; Republican governor of Indiana from 2005. Edwidge Danticat (19 Jan 1969, Port-au-Prince, Haiti), Haitian-born American author. Mahmoud Darwish (13 Mar 1942, Birwa, Palestine), Palestinian nationalist poet. Larry David (2 Jul 1947, Brooklyn NY), American actor and writer. Mario Davidovsky (4 Mar 1934, Médanos, Buenos Aires, Argentina), Argentine-born American composer best known for his electronic and electroacoustic works. Shani Davis (13 Aug 1982, Chicago IL), American speed skater. Patrick Day (13 Oct 1953, Brush CO), American jockey, the all-time top North American money winner with more than 8,000 career victories. Carl R. de Boor (3 Dec 1937, Stolp, Germany), German-born American mathematician and computer
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
scientist who specializes in numerical analysis, especially spline functions. Inge De Bruijn (24 Aug 1973, Barendrecht, Netherlands), Dutch swimmer. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer (Jakob Gijsbert de Hoop Scheffer; 3 Apr 1948, Amsterdam, Netherlands), Dutch international official; secretary-general of NATO from 2004. John P. deJongh Jr. (13 Nov 1957, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands), American politician (Democrat); governor of the Virgin Islands from 2007. Robert De Niro (17 Aug 1943, New York NY), American film actor famous for his uncompromising portrayals of violent and abrasive characters. Dominique (Galouzeau) de Villepin (14 Nov 1953, Rabat, Morocco), French diplomat; foreign minister, 2002–05, and prime minister from 2005. Idriss Déby Itno (1952, Fada, Chad, French Equatorial Africa [now in Chad]), Chadian politician and president from 1990. Ruby Dee (Ruby Ann Wallace; 27 Oct 1924, Cleveland OH), American film and TV actress. Ellen DeGeneres (26 Jan 1958, Metairie LA), American comedian and TV personality. Carla Del Ponte (9 Feb 1947, Lugano, Switzerland), Swiss jurist who has served as prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) from 1999. Benicio Del Toro (19 Feb 1967, San Turce, Puerto Rico), American film actor. Bertrand Delanoë (30 May 1950, Tunis, Tunisia), French politician and mayor of Paris from 2001. Michael S. Dell (23 Feb 1965, Houston TX), American businessman, founder and CEO of Dell Computer Corp., 1984–2004, and again from 2007, and noted philanthropist. Yelena Dementyeva (also spelled Elena Dementieva; 15 Oct 1981, Moscow, USSR [now in Russia]), Russian tennis player. Patrick Dempsey (13 Jan 1966, Lewiston ME), American film and TV actor. Dame Judi Dench (Judith Olivia Dench; 9 Dec 1934, York, England), British actress known for her powerful stage, TV, and screen roles. Brian Dennehy (9 Jul 1938, Bridgeport CT), American TV, film, and stage actor known for serious dramatic roles. Carl Dennis (17 Sep 1939, St. Louis MO), American poet. Gérard Depardieu (27 Dec 1948, Châteauroux, France), French film actor. Johnny Depp (John Christopher Depp II; 9 Jun 1963, Owensboro KY), American film and TV actor known for eccentric, brooding roles. Kiran Desai (3 Sep 1971, New Delhi, India), Indianborn American novelist; recipient of the 2006 Booker Prize. Frankie Dettori (Lanfranco Dettori; 15 Dec 1970, Milan, Italy), Italian-born English jockey. Danny DeVito (Daniel Michaeli; 17 Nov 1944, Neptune NJ), American actor, director, and producer specializing in supporting comic roles. Cameron M. Diaz (30 Aug 1972, San Diego CA), American model and actress. Kate DiCamillo (25 Mar 1965, Philadelphia PA), American author of children’s books. Leonardo (Wilhelm) DiCaprio (11 Nov 1974, Los Angeles CA), American film actor. Dido (Florian Cloude de Bourneville Armstrong; 25 Dec 1971, Islington, London, England), British pop singer.
PEOPLE Vin Diesel (Mark Vincent; 18 Jul 1967, New York NY), American film actor. Matt Dillon (18 Feb 1964, New Rochelle NY), American film actor. Fatou Diome (1968, Niodior island, Senegal), Senegalese French-language novelist. Céline Dion (30 Mar 1968, Charlemagne, QC, Canada), French Canadian pop singer. El Hadj Diouf (15 Jan 1981, Dakar, Senegal), Senegalese association football (soccer) star for French clubs and the Senegalese national team. Waris Dirie (1967?, Somalia), Somali supermodel and women’s rights activist. Domenico Dolce (13 Aug 1958, Polizzi Generosa, near Palermo, Italy), Italian fashion designer who famously collaborates with partner Stefano Gabbana. Plácido Domingo (21 Jan 1941, Madrid, Spain), Spanish-born Mexican operatic tenor. Mary Donaldson (5 Feb 1972, Hobart, TAS, Australia), Australian-born marketing executive who wed Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark in 2004. Sam Donaldson (Samuel Andrew Donaldson; 11 Mar 1934, El Paso TX), American TV newsman. William Henry Donaldson (1931, Buffalo NY), American banker and corporate executive; chairman of the Security and Exchanges Commission from 2003. Vincent D’Onofrio (30 Jul 1959, Brooklyn NY), American TV actor. José Eduardo dos Santos (28 Aug 1942, Luanda, Angola), Angolan statesman and president from 1979. James H. Douglas (21 Jun 1951, Springfield MA), American Republican politician; governor of Vermont from 2003. Michael Douglas (25 Sep 1944, New Brunswick NJ), American film actor and producer. Philippe Douste-Blazy (1 Jan 1953, Lourdes, France), French medical doctor and minister of foreign affairs from 2005. Rita (Frances) Dove (28 Aug 1952, Akron OH), American writer and teacher; poet laureate of the US, 1993–95. Jim Doyle (23 Nov 1945, Washington DC), American attorney and Democratic politician; governor of Wisconsin from 2003. Kimberly Dozier (6 Jul 1966, Honolulu HI), American TV journalist and foreign correspondent. Dr. Dre (Andre Young; 18 Feb 1965, Los Angeles CA), American rap musician and impresario, considered the pioneer of gangsta rap. Stacy Dragila (25 Mar 1971, Auburn CA), American pole vaulter. E. Linn Draper, Jr., American energy engineer and corporate executive; chairman, president, and CEO of American Electric Power, Inc., 1992–2003. Deborah Drattell (1956, Brooklyn NY), American composer of operas. Dré (Andre Benjamin; Andre 3000; 27 May 1975, Atlanta GA), American hip-hop artist and a member of the duo OutKast. Paquito D’Rivera (Francisco Dejesus Rivera; 4 Jun 1948, Havana, Cuba), Cuban-born American jazz reed player and Afro-Cuban bandleader. Janez Drnovsek (17 May 1950, Celje, Yugoslavia [now Slovenia]), Slovene politician, prime minister, 1992–2000 and 2000–02, and president from 2002. Matt Drudge (27 Oct 1967, Maryland), American Internet journalist, editor of the Drudge Report. Andres Duany (7 Sep 1949, New York NY), American urban planner and a leading exponent of New Urbanism who collaborates with his wife, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk.
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Nicanor Duarte Frutos (11 Oct 1956, Coronel Oviedo, Paraguay), Paraguayan politician and president from 2003. David Duchovny (David William Ducovny; 7 Aug 1960, New York NY), American TV and film actor. Hilary Duff (28 Sep 1987, Houston TX), American TV and film actress. Avery Robert Cardinal Dulles (24 Aug 1918, Auburn NY), American Roman Catholic Jesuit theologian; cardinal from 2001. (Dorothy) Faye Dunaway (14 Jan 1941, Bascom FL), American actress known for her tense, absorbing performances. Tim Duncan (Timothy Theodore Duncan; 25 Apr 1976, St. Croix, US Virgin Islands), American basketball player (San Antonio Spurs). Ronnie Gene Dunn (1 Jun 1953, Coleman TX), American country-and-western singer, a member of the duo Brooks & Dunn. Kirsten Dunst (30 Apr 1982, Point Pleasant NJ), American film actress. Robert Duvall (5 Jan 1931, San Diego CA), American actor, producer, and screenwriter. Bob Dylan (Robert Allen Zimmerman; 24 May 1941, Duluth MN), American singer and songwriter. Esther Dyson (14 Jul 1951, Zürich, Switzerland), American economist and journalist specializing in computer and cyberspace issues. Freeman (John) Dyson (15 Dec 1923, Crowthorne, Berkshire, England), British-born American physicist and educator best known for his speculative work on extraterrestrial civilizations. (Ralph) Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (10 Oct 1974, Concord NC), American NASCAR race-car driver. Michael F. Easley (23 Mar 1950, Nash county NC), American Democratic politician; governor of North Carolina from 2001. Clint Eastwood (Clinton Eastwood, Jr.; 31 May 1930, San Francisco CA), American film actor and moviemaker, originally famous for tough-guy roles. Shirin Ebadi (1947, Hamadan, Iran), Iranian lawyer, writer, and advocate for democracy and human rights; recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize for Peace. Roger Ebert (18 Jun 1942, Urbana IL), American film critic. Umberto Eco (5 Jan 1932, Alessandria, Italy), Italian literary critic, novelist, and semiotician. Marian Wright Edelman (6 Jun 1939, Bennettsville SC), American attorney and civil rights advocate who founded the Children’s Defense Fund. Edward (Edward Anthony Richard Louis; 10 Mar 1964, Buckingham Palace, London, England), British prince; third son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, duke of Edinburgh; and earl of Wessex. John Edwards (10 Jun 1953, Seneca SC), American Democratic politician; senator from North Carolina, 1999–2005. Tuiatua Tupua Tamasese Efi (1 Mar 1938), Samoan royal, O le Ao o le Malo (elective monarch) from 2007. Edward Michael Cardinal Egan (2 Apr 1932, Oak Park IL), American Roman Catholic church leader; archbishop of New York from 2000 and cardinal from 2001. Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. (25 Nov 1957, Arbutus MD), American Republican politician and governor of Maryland from 2003. Michael D(ammann) Eisner (7 Mar 1942, Mount Kisco NY), American corporate executive; CEO and chairman of the Walt Disney Co., 1984–2004. Hicham El Guerrouj (14 Sep 1974, Berkane, Morocco), Moroccan distance runner.
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Mohamed ElBaradei (Muhammad al-Baradei; 17 Jun 1942, Cairo, Egypt), Egyptian international official; director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency from 1997. Carmen Electra (Tara Leigh Patrick; 20 Apr 1972, Sharonville OH), American model, TV and film actress, and celebrity. Danny Elfman (29 May 1943, Los Angeles CA), American pop musician (of Oingo Boingo) and composer of scores for films and TV, known especially for his collaborations with director Tim Burton. Elizabeth II (21 Apr 1926, London, England), British royal; queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from 1952. Missy Elliott (Melissa Elliott; 1 Jul 1971, Portsmouth VA), American rapper, singer, and songwriter. George F.R. Ellis (George Francis Rayner Ellis; 11 Aug 1939, Johannesburg, South Africa), South African applied mathematician and professor; recipient of the 2004 Templeton Prize. Lawrence J. Ellison (17 Aug 1944, Chicago IL), American corporate executive; founder and CEO of Oracle Corp. from 1977. James Ellroy (Lee Earle Ellroy; 4 Mar 1948, Los Angeles CA), American mystery writer. Ernie Els (Theodore Ernest Els; 17 Oct 1969, Johannesburg, South Africa), South African golfer. Eminem (Marshall Bruce Mathers III; 17 Oct 1973, St. Joseph MO), American hip-hop artist. Emmanuel III Delly (Emmanuel-Karim Delly; 6 Oct 1927, Telkaif, Iraq), Iraqi churchman, patriarch of Babylonia and the Chaldeans (leader of the Chaldean Catholic Church) from 2003. Robert F(ry) Engle (November 1942, Syracuse NY), American mathematical economist; corecipient of the 2003 Nobel Memorial Prize for Economic Science. Nambaryn Enhbayar (1 Jun 1958, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia), Mongolian politician; prime minister of Mongolia, 2000–04, and president from 2005. Miyeegombo Enkhbold (1964, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia), Mongolian politician; prime minister from 2006. Enya (Eithne Ní Bhraonáin; 17 May 1961, Gweedore, Ireland), Irish New Age singer. Recep Tayyip Erdogan (26 Feb 1954, Istanbul, Turkey), Turkish politician, the leader of the Justice and Development Party, and prime minister from 2003. Patricia Espinosa Cantellano (21 Oct 1958, Mexico City, Mexico), Mexican diplomat; secretary of foreign affairs of Mexico from 2006. Gloria Estefan (Gloria Maria Milagrosa Fajardo; 1 Sep 1957, Havana, Cuba), Cuban-born American singer and lyricist. Melissa Etheridge (29 May 1961, Leavenworth KS), American rock singer and songwriter. Robin Eubanks (25 Oct 1955, Philadelphia PA), American jazz trombone player. Jeffrey Eugenides (8 Mar 1960, Detroit MI), American novelist. Sara Evans (5 Feb 1971, Boonville MO), American country-and-western musician. Eve (Eve Jihan Jeffers; “Eve of Destruction”; 10 Nov 1979, Philadelphia PA), American rapper. Richard D. Fairbank (18 Sep 1950, Menlo Park CA), American corporate executive; the founder, chairman, and CEO of Capital One Financial Corp. from 1988. Edie Falco (Edith Falco; 5 Jul 1963, Brooklyn NY), American film and TV actress. Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Charles Leslie Falconer; 19 Nov 1951, Edinburgh, Scotland), Scottish lord high chancellor and keeper of the great seal, the last to hold the office.
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
William J. Fallon (William Joseph Fallon; 30 Dec 1944, East Orange NJ), American military leader; commander of the US Central Command from 2007. Sean Faris (25 Mar 1982, Parma OH), American film and TV actor. Paul (Edward) Farmer (1959, North Adams MA), American medical anthropologist and physician. Louis (Abdul) Farrakhan (Louis Eugene Walcott; 11 May 1933, Bronx NY), American leader of the Nation of Islam (Black Muslims) from 1978. Colin (James) Farrell (31 May 1976, Dublin, Ireland), Irish actor. Suzanne Farrell (Roberta Sue Ficker; 16 Aug 1945, Cincinnati OH), American ballet dancer. Roger Federer (8 Aug 1981, Basel, Switzerland), Swiss tennis player. Marc Feldmann (1944, Poland), Polish-born Australian immunologist; recipient of a 2000 Crafoord Prize and the 2003 Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award. Felipe (Felipe de Borbón y Grecia; 30 Jan 1968, Madrid, Spain), royal, prince of Asturias, and heir to the Spanish throne. Eddie Fenech Adami (7 Feb 1934, Birkirkara, Malta), Maltese politician; prime minister, 1987–96 and 1998–2004, and president from 2004. Craig Ferguson (17 May 1962, Glasgow, Scotland), Scottish film and TV actor; host of TV’s The Late Late Show from 2005. Sarah (Margaret) Ferguson (15 Oct 1959, London, England), British royal, duchess of York after her marriage (23 Jul 1986) to Prince Andrew; they divorced in 1996. Lawrence Ferlinghetti (Lawrence Ferling; 24 Mar 1919, Yonkers NY), American poet, one of the founders of the Beat movement. Leonel Fernández (26 Dec 1953, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic), Dominican politician; president, 1996–2000 and again from 2004. Gil de Ferran (11 Nov 1967, Paris, France), Frenchborn Brazilian race-car driver. Will Ferrell (16 Jul 1967, Irvine CA), American comedian and actor. Robert Fico (15 Sep 1964, Topolcany, Czechoslovakia [now in Slovakia]), Slovak politician (Social Democrat) and prime minister from 2006. Ralph (Nathaniel) Fiennes (22 Dec 1962, Suffolk, England), British dramatic actor known for intense roles. Harvey (Forbes) Fierstein (6 Jun 1954, Brooklyn NY), American playwright and actor. 50 Cent (Curtis Jackson; 6 Jul 1976, Jamaica, Queens, NY), American hardcore rapper. Luis (Filipe Madeira Caeiro) Figo (4 Nov 1972, Almada, Portugal), Portuguese association football (soccer) player; FIFA player of the year, 2001. François Fillon (4 Mar 1954, Le Mans, France), French politician; prime minister from 2007. Harvey V. Fineberg (15 Sep 1945, Pittsburgh PA), American public-health physician and medical administrator; president of the Institute of Medicine from 2002. Andrew Z. Fire (Andrew Zachary Fire; 27 Apr 1959, Palo Alto CA), American geneticist; corecipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Heinz Fischer (9 Oct 1938, Graz, Austria), Austrian Social Democratic politician and president of Austria from 2004. Allison Fisher (24 Feb 1968, Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, England), British pocket-billiards champion. Benigno Fitial (Benigno Repeki Fitial; 27 Nov 1945,
PEOPLE Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands), American politician (Covenant Party); governor of the Northern Marianas Islands from 2006. Patrick Fitzgerald (22 Dec 1960, New York NY), American special prosecutor in a number of highprofile cases. Renée Fleming (14 Feb 1959, Indiana PA), American operatic soprano. Ernie Fletcher (12 Nov 1952, Mt. Sterling KY), American physician; Republican governor of Kentucky from 2003. Carlisle Floyd (11 Jun 1926, Latta SC), American opera composer and librettist. Larry (Claxton) Flynt (1 Nov 1942, Magoffin county KY), American publisher of Hustler magazine and freedom of the press advocate. William H(erbert) Foege (12 Mar 1936, Decorah IA), American epidemiologist and director of various disease eradication initiatives. Ken Follett (also published as Zachary Stone and Simon Myles; 5 Jun 1949, Cardiff, Wales), Welsh author of political thrillers. Phil Fontaine (Larry Phillip Fontaine; “Buddy”; 20 Sep 1944, Fort Alexander Reserve, MB, Canada), Canadian Ojibway first-nations activist, grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, 1989–97, and national chief of the Assembly of First Nations from 1997. Harrison Ford (13 Jul 1942, Chicago IL), American film actor, a strong leading man, known especially for his work in action films. Tom Ford (27 Aug 1961, Austin TX), American fashion designer. William Clay Ford, Jr. (3 May 1957, Detroit MI), American corporate executive; chairman and CEO of Ford Motor Co. from 2001. William Forsythe (1949, New York NY), American ballet dancer, choreographer, and director; artistic director of The Forsythe Company from 1984. Steve Fossett (22 Apr 1944, Jackson TN), American commodities trader and adventurer who was the first to circle the globe solo in a hot-air balloon (2002), made the fastest transatlantic sailboat crossing (2001), and was the first to circle the globe solo in an airplane without refueling (2005). Jodie Foster (Alicia Christian Foster; 19 Nov 1962, Los Angeles CA), American actress widely respected for her intense performances. Sir Norman (Robert) Foster (1 Jun 1935, near Manchester, England), British architect; recipient of the 1999 Pritzker Prize and a 2002 Japanese Praemium Imperiale award. Vicente Fox Quesada (2 Jul 1942, Mexico City, Mexico), Mexican businessman and politician; president, 2000–06. Jamie Foxx (Eric Bishop; 13 Dec 1967, Terrell TX), American actor and comedian. Mikhail Fradkov (1 Sep 1950, near Kuybyshev, USSR [now Samara, Russia]), Russian politician and prime minister, 2004–07. Don Francisco (Mario Kreutzberger; 28 Dec 1940, Talca, Chile), Chilean-born American TV personality; host of the popular show Sábado Gigante. Al Franken (21 May 1951, New York NY), American comedian and writer. Dennis Franz (Dennis Schlachta; 28 Oct 1944, Maywood IL), American TV actor. Jonathan Franzen (17 Aug 1959, Western Springs IL), American author. Charles Frazier (1950, Asheville NC), American novelist. Frederik (Frederik André Henrik Christian; 26 May 1968, Copenhagen, Denmark), Danish crown prince.
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Morgan Freeman (1 Jun 1937, Memphis TN), American theater and film actor. Dawn French (11 Oct 1957, Holyhead, Wales), British actress, comedian, and writer. Lucian Freud (8 Dec 1922, Berlin, Germany), German-born British painter renowned for his portraits and nudes. Dave Freudenthal (12 Oct 1950, Thermopolis WY), American attorney and Democratic politician; governor of Wyoming from 2003. Benjamin M. Friedman, American political economist and expert on economic policy. Thomas L. Friedman (20 Jul 1953, Minneapolis MN), American journalist and author, prominent foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times. Akira Fujishima (3 Aug 1941, Tokyo, Japan), Japanese biologist, educator, and codeveloper of a photosynthetic method to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Takeo Fukui (28 Nov 1944, Tokyo, Japan), Japanese corporate executive; president and CEO of Honda Motor Co. from 2003. Toshihiko Fukui (7 Sep 1935, Japan), Japanese banker; governor of the Bank of Japan from 2003. Richard S. Fuld, Jr. (26 Apr 1946), American corporate executive; CEO of Lehman Brothers Holdings from 1993. Nelly (Kim) Furtado (2 Dec 1978, Victoria, BC, Canada), Canadian singer and songwriter. Stefano Gabbana (14 Nov 1962, Milan, Italy), Italian fashion designer who famously collaborates with partner Domenico Dolce. Neil (Richard) Gaiman (10 Nov 1960, Portchester, England), British author of the multiple-award-winning Sandman series and of other graphic novels. John (Charles) Galliano (28 Nov 1960, Gibraltar), British fashion designer and designer in chief at Christian Dior. Christopher B. Galvin (21 Mar 1950, Chicago IL), American corporate executive; CEO of the Motorola Corp. from 1997. Sonia Gandhi (Sonia Maino; 9 Dec 1947, Turin, Italy), Italian-born widow of Rajiv Gandhi and political force in India. James Gandolfini (18 Sep 1961, Westwood NJ), American TV and film actor, star of the TV series The Sopranos from 1999. Gao Xingjian (Kao Hsing-chien; 4 Jan 1940, Ganzhou, Jiangxi province, China), Chinese-born French novelist, playwright, critic, stage director, and artist; recipient of the 2000 Nobel Prize for Literature. Mario Garcia (1947?, Cuba), Cuban-born American newspaper designer. Gael García Bernal (30 Oct 1978, Guadalajara, Mexico), Mexican actor. Gabriel García Márquez (6 Mar 1928, Aracataca, Colombia), Colombian novelist and short-story writer, a central figure in the magic realism movement in Latin American literature; recipient of the 1972 Neustadt Prize and the 1982 Nobel Prize for Literature. Alan García Pérez (23 May 1949, Lima, Peru), Peruvian politician; president of Peru, 1985–90 and again from 2006. Rulon Gardner (16 Aug 1971, Afton WY), American Greco-Roman wrestler. Jennifer (Anne) Garner (17 Apr 1972, Houston TX), American TV actress. Kenny Garrett (9 Oct 1960, Detroit MI), American jazz alto saxophone player. Ivan Gasparovic (27 Mar 1941, Poltar, Czechoslovakia [now in Slovakia]), Slovak politician; president from 2004.
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Bill Gates (William Henry Gates III; 28 Oct 1955, Seattle WA), American computer programmer, businessman and cofounder of the Microsoft Corp., and philanthropist; he is usually considered the richest person in the world. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (“Skip”; 16 Sep 1950, Keyser WV), American scholar of African American studies. Melinda Gates (Melinda French; 15 Aug 1964, Dallas TX), American philanthropist, cofounder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Robert M. Gates (Robert Michael Gates; 25 Sep 1943, Wichita KS), American government official; CIA director, 1991–93, and secretary of defense from 2006. Jean-Paul Gaultier (24 Apr 1952, Arcueil, France), French fashion designer known for his unusual and extravagant creations. Maumoon Abdul Gayoom (29 Dec 1937, Malé, Maldives), Maldive politician and president from 1978. Laurent Gbagbo (31 May 1945, Gagnoa, French West Africa [now in Côte d’Ivoire]), Ivorian politician and president of Côte d’Ivoire from 2000. Haile Gebrselassie (18 Apr 1973, Assela, Ethiopia), Ethiopian runner and world-record holder in the 5,000-m and 10,000-m distances. Frank O. Gehry (Frank Owen Goldberg; 28 Feb 1929, Toronto, ON, Canada), Canadian-born American architect and designer whose original, sculptural, often audacious work won him worldwide renown; recipient of the 1989 Pritzker Prize. Sir Bob Geldof (5 Oct 1954, Dublin, Ireland), Irish musician (of the Boomtown Rats) who was knighted for his humanitarian work, notably arranging largescale rock events for the benefit of the world’s poor. Murray Gell-Mann (15 Sep 1929, New York NY), American physicist who discovered that particles, including neutrons and protons, are composed of smaller, more fundamental building blocks that he named “quarks”; recipient of the 1969 Nobel Prize for Physics. Sarah Michelle Gellar (14 Apr 1977, New York NY), American TV actress. Francis (Eugene) Cardinal George (16 Jan 1937, Chicago IL), American Roman Catholic churchman; archbishop of Chicago from 1997 and cardinal from 1998. (Susan) Elizabeth George (26 Feb 1949, Warren OH), American mystery writer. Richard Gephardt (31 Jan 1941, St. Louis MO), American Democratic politician, congressman from Missouri (1977–2005), and House Democratic leader (1989–2003). Richard (Tiffany) Gere (31 Aug 1949, Philadelphia PA), American film actor. Valery Gergiev (2 May 1953, Moscow, USSR [now in Russia]), Russian conductor, the director of the Kirov Opera from 1998. Mordicai Gerstein (1935, Los Angeles CA), American painter, designer, and writer and illustrator of children’s books. Ricky Gervais (25 Jun 1961, Reading, Berkshire, England), British comedian and actor who was the star of the British TV hit The Office (2001–03). Mohamed Ghannouchi (18 Aug 1941, Al-Hamma, Tunisia), Tunisian politician and prime minister from 1999. Jamal al-Ghitani (1945, Suhag, Egypt), Egyptian writer. Riccardo Giacconi (6 Oct 1931, Genoa, Italy), Italianborn American X-ray astronomer; corecipient of the 2002 Nobel Prize for Physics.
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Mossimo Giannulli (4 Jun 1963 California), American fashion designer known for his Mossimo line of sportswear and casual clothing for Target stores. Jim Gibbons (James Arthur Gibbons; 16 Dec 1944, Sparks NV), American politician (Republican); governor of Nevada from 2007. Mel Gibson (Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson; 3 Jan 1956, Peekskill NY), Australian American actor, producer, and director. H.R. Giger (Hans Rudi Giger; 5 Feb 1940, Chur, Switzerland), Swiss illustrator, painter, sculptor, and film designer. Gilberto Gil (Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira; 26 Jun 1942, Salvador, Bahia state, Brazil), Brazilian pop singer and songwriter; minister of culture from 2003. Melissa Gilbert (8 May 1964, Los Angeles CA), American film and TV actress and president of the Screen Actors Guild from 2002. João Gilberto (do Prado Pereira de Oliveira) (10 Jun 1931, Juazeiro, Bahia state, Brazil), Brazilian bossa-nova singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Vince Gill (Vincent Grant Gill; 12 Apr 1957, Norman OK), American country and progressive-bluegrass instrumentalist and singer. Ruth Bader Ginsburg (15 Mar 1933, Brooklyn NY), American jurist and associate justice of the US Supreme Court from 1993. Vitaly L(azarevich) Ginzburg (21 Sep [4 Oct, New Style] 1916, Moscow, Russia), Russian theoretical physicist; corecipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize for Physics. Dana Gioia (24 Dec 1950, Los Angeles CA), American poet and critic; chairman of the US National Endowment for the Arts from 2003. Nikki Giovanni (Yolande Cornelia Giovanni, Jr.; 7 Jun 1943, Knoxville TN), American poet whose writings range from calls for violent revolution to poems for children and intimate personal statements. Ira Glass (3 Mar 1959, Baltimore MD), American radio broadcaster, creator and host of This American Life on public radio and cable TV. Philip Glass (31 Jan 1937, Baltimore MD), American composer of minimalist instrumental, vocal, and operatic music. Roy J. Glauber (1 Sep 1925, New York NY), American quantum physicist; corecipient of the 2005 Nobel Prize for Physics. Danny (Lebern) Glover (22 Jul 1947, San Francisco CA), American film and TV actor mostly cast in supporting roles. Savion Glover (19 Nov 1973, Newark NJ), American dancer and choreographer known for a style of dance called “hitting,” a combination of hip-hop music and tap dancing. Louise (Elisabeth) Glück (22 Apr 1943, New York NY), American poet and poet laureate of the US, 2003–04. Faure (Essozimna) Gnassingbé (Eyadéma) (6 Jun 1966, Afagnan, Togo), Togolese politician; president in February 2005 and again from May 2005. Jean-Luc Godard (3 Dec 1930, Paris, France), French film director. Whoopi Goldberg (Caryn Elaine Johnson; 13 Nov 1955, New York NY), American comedian and film actress. Ralph E. Gonsalves (8 Aug 1946, Colonarie, Saint Vincent), St. Vincent politician and prime minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines from 2001. Alberto R. Gonzales (4 Aug 1955, San Antonio TX), American attorney and judge who was White House counsel, 2001–05, and attorney general, 2005–07. Alejandro González Iñárritu (15 Aug 1963, Mexico City, Mexico), Mexican film director.
PEOPLE Lawrence Gonzi (1 Jul 1953, Valletta, Malta), Maltese politician, leader of the Nationalist Party, and prime minister from 2004. Roger Goodell (19 Feb 1959, Jamestown NY), American sports executive; commissioner of the National Football League from 2006. Cuba Gooding, Jr. (2 Jan 1968, Bronx NY), American film actor. John Goodman (20 Jun 1952, Affton MO), American film and TV actor. Doris Kearns Goodwin (4 Jan 1943, Brooklyn NY), American historian, biographer, and TV commentator. Al Gore (Albert A. Gore, Jr.; 31 Mar 1948, Washington DC), American Democratic politician, vice president of the US, 1993–2001, and environmental advocate. Louis Gossett, Jr. (27 May 1936, Brooklyn NY), American film, stage, and TV actor. Jorie Graham (9 May 1951, New York NY), American poet whose abstract, intellectual verse is known for its visual imagery, complex metaphors, and philosophical content. (Allen) Kelsey Grammer (21 Feb 1955, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands), American TV actor, writer, and producer especially known for the TV series Frasier (1993–2004). Clive W(illiam) J(ohn) Granger (4 Sep 1934, Swansea, Wales), Welsh economist; corecipient of the 2003 Nobel Memorial Prize for Economic Science. Jennifer Granholm (5 Feb 1959, Vancouver, BC, Canada), Canadian-born American attorney and Democratic politician; governor of Michigan from 2003. Hugh Grant (9 Sep 1960, London, England), British film actor. Günter (Wilhelm) Grass (16 Oct 1927, Danzig, Germany [now Gdansk, Poland]), German poet, novelist, playwright, sculptor, and printmaker; recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize for Literature. Michael Graves (9 July 1934, Indianapolis IN), American architect and housewares designer in the Postmodernist style, known for his signature creations for Target stores. Tom Green (30 Jul 1971, Pembroke, ON, Canada), Canadian comedian. Richard Greenberg (1958, Long Island NY), American playwright. Brian Greene (9 Feb 1963, New York NY), American physicist and expert on string theory. Alan Greenspan (6 Mar 1926, New York NY), American monetary policymaker and chairman of the Board of Governors of the US Federal Reserve Bank, 1987–2006. Colin (26 Jun 1969, Oxford, England) and Jonny Greenwood (Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood; 5 Nov 1971, Oxford, England), British rock bassist and guitarist, respectively, of Radiohead. Christine Gregoire (24 Mar 1947, Auburn WA), American politician and Democratic governor of Washington from 2005. Grégoire III Laham (Lutfi Laham; 15 Dec 1933, Daraya, Syria), Syrian church leader; patriarch of Antioch in the Greek Melkite Catholic Church from 2000. Kate Grenville (14 Oct 1950, Sydney, NSW, Australia), Australian writer. Brad Grey (1958?, Bronx NY), American talent agent, producer, and film executive; chairman and CEO of Paramount Motion Picture Group from 2005. Michael Griffin (Michael Douglas Griffin; 1 Nov 1949, Aberdeen MD), American aerospace engineer and businessman; administrator of NASA from 2005. Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson (14 May 1943, Ísafjördhur, Iceland), Icelandic politician and president from 1996.
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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John Grisham (8 Feb 1955, Jonesboro AR), American lawyer and best-selling novelist. Matt Groening (Matthew Abram Groening; 15 Feb 1954, Portland OR), American cartoonist and creator (1989) of TV’s The Simpsons. David J. Gross (19 Feb 1941, Washington DC), American quantum physicist; corecipient of the 2004 Nobel Prize for Physics for studies of quantum chromodynamics. Gilbert M. Grosvenor (1933?), American executive; chairman of the board of the National Geographic Society. Andrew S. Grove (Andras Grof; 2 Sep 1936, Budapest, Hungary), Hungarian-born American corporate executive; CEO of Intel Corp. from 1997. Robert H. Grubbs (27 Feb 1942, Calvert City KY), American chemical engineer; corecipient of the 2005 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Jon Gruden (17 Aug 1963, Sandusky OH), American professional football coach. Nikola Gruevski (31 Aug 1970, Skopje, Yugoslavia [now in Macedonia]), Macedonian politician (VMRODPMNE) and prime minister from 2006. Armando (Emílio) Guebuza (20 Jan 1943, Marrupula, Portuguese Mozambique), Mozambican politician, secretary-general of the Frelimo political party from 2002, and president of Mozambique from 2005. Ismail Omar Guelleh (27 Nov 1947, Diré-Dawa, Ethiopia), Djibouti politician and president from 1999. Guillaume (Guillaume Jean Joseph Marie, Prince of Nassau and Bourbon-Parma; 11 Nov 1981, Château de Betzdorf, Luxembourg), Luxembourgian grand duke and heir to the throne. Gilbert Guillaume (4 Dec 1930, Bois-Colombes, France), French jurist; president of the International Court of Justice from 2000. Ozzie Guillen (Oswaldo José Guillen Barrios; 20 Jan 1964, Ocumare del Tuy, Venezuela), Venezuelan professional baseball manager (Chicago White Sox). Kenny C. Guinn (24 Aug 1936, Garland AR), American Republican politician; governor of Nevada from 1999. Abdullah Gul (29 Oct 1950, Kayseri, Turkey), Turkish economist and politician who was prime minister, 2002–03, and president from 2007. James Edward Gunn (21 Oct 1938, Livingstone TX), American cosmologist; corecipient of the 2005 Crafoord Prize for research into the evolution of the universe. Alfred Gusenbauer (8 Feb 1960, Sankt-Pölten, Austria), Austrian politician (Social Democrat); chancellor from 2007. Xanana Gusmão (José Alexandre Gusmão; 20 Jun 1946, Laleia, Portuguese Timor [now East Timor]), Timorese independence leader who was first president of independent East Timor, 2002–07, and prime minister from 2007. António (Manuel de Oliveira) Guterres (30 Apr 1949, Lisbon, Portugal), Portuguese Socialist politician; prime minister of Portugal, 1995–2002, and UN High Commissioner for Refugees from 2005. David Guterson (4 May 1956, Seattle WA), American novelist. Carlos M. Gutierrez (1953, Havana, Cuba), Cubanborn American corporate executive, former chairman and CEO of Kellogg Company, and US secretary of commerce from 2005. Buddy Guy (George Guy; 30 Jul 1936, Lettsworth LA), American traditional guitarist and singer in the Delta blues tradition. Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (7 Jul 1947, Kathmandu, Nepal), Nepalese king, 1950–51 and again from 2001.
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Jake Gyllenhaal (Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal; 19 Dec 1980, Los Angeles CA), American film actor. Ferenc Gyurcsány (4 Jun 1961, Pápa, Hungary), Hungarian multimillionaire, politician, and prime minister from 2004. Haakon (Haakon Magnus; 20 Jul 1973, Oslo, Norway), Norwegian crown prince (heir to the throne). Geir Haarde (Geir Hilmar Haarde; 8 Apr 1951, Reykjavík, Iceland), Icelandic politician and prime minister from 2006. Jürgen Habermas (18 Jun 1929, Düsseldorf, Germany), German philosopher, sociologist, and originator of the theory of communication ethics; he won a 2004 Kyoto Prize. Charlie Haden (6 Aug 1937, Shenandoah IA), American jazz bass player. Zaha Hadid (31 Oct 1950, Baghdad, Iraq), Iraqi-born architect; recipient of the 2004 Pritzker Prize. Michael W. Hagee (1945, Hampton VA), American US Marine Corps general; commandant of the USMC from 2003. Ted Haggard (Ted Arthur Haggard; Pastor Ted; 27 Jun 1956, Delphi IN), American evangelical church leader who resigned from his church position amidst a sexual scandal in 2006. Hilary Hahn (27 Nov 1979, Lexington VA), American violinist. Jörg Haider (26 Jan 1950, Bad Giosern, Austria), Austrian ultra-right-wing politician. Zoltán Haiman (8 May 1971, Budapest, Hungary), Hungarian-born American cosmologist working on the early history of the universe. Stelios Haji-Ioannou (14 Feb 1967, Athens, Greece), Greek entrepreneur and corporate executive (easyJet and easyGroup). Donald Hall (Donald Andrew Hall, Jr.; 20 Sep 1928, New Haven CT), American poet, essayist, and critic; US poet laureate from 2006. John L. Hall (John Lewis Hall; 21 Aug 1934, Denver CO), American physicist; corecipient of the 2005 Nobel Prize for Physics. Tarja (Kaarina) Halonen (24 Dec 1943, Helsinki, Finland), Finnish politician and president from 2000. Sam Hamill (1943, northern California?), American poet, editor, translator, and essayist; founder of Copper Canyon Press and catalyst of the Poets Against the War movement in 2003. Mia Hamm (Mariel Margaret Hamm; 17 Mar 1972, Selma AL), American association football (soccer) player. Herbie Hancock (Herbert Jeffrey Hancock; 12 Apr 1940, Chicago IL), American jazz keyboardist and composer. Daniel Handler (pen name Lemony Snicket; 28 Feb 1970, San Francisco CA), American children’s book author. Ismail Haniya (1962, Shati refugee camp, Gaza, Palestine), Palestinian politician (Hamas); prime minister of the Palestine Authority from 2006. Tom Hanks (9 Jul 1956, Concord CA), American film actor and director. Daryl (Christine) Hannah (3 Dec 1960, Chicago IL), American film actress, director, and producer. Hans Adam II (14 Feb 1945, Vaduz, Liechtenstein), prince of Liechtenstein from 1989. Theodor W. Hänsch (Theodor Wolfgang Hänsch; 30 Oct 1941, Heidelberg, Germany), German physicist; corecipient of the 2005 Nobel Prize for Physics for work in laser spectroscopy. Harald V (21 Feb 1937, Skaugum, Norway), king of Norway from 1991.
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Marcia Gay Harden (14 Aug 1959, La Jolla CA), American film actress. Roy Hargrove (16 Oct 1969, Waco TX), American jazz trumpeter. Joy Harjo (9 May 1951, Tulsa OK), American poet, musician, and Native American (Muskogee) activist. Nikolaus Harnoncourt (6 Dec 1929, Berlin, Germany), Austrian conductor, cellist, and viol player; cofounder in the 1950s of the Concentus Musicus Wien, an early-music group. Stephen (Joseph) Harper (30 Apr 1959, Toronto, ON, Canada), Canadian Conservative politician and prime minister from 2006. Ed Harris (Edward Allen Harris; 28 Nov 1950, Englewood NJ), American film and stage actor and director. Emmylou Harris (2 Apr 1947, Birmingham AL), American folk and country singer. William B. Harrison, Jr. (1943, Rocky Mount NC), American corporate executive; CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. from 2001. Harry (Henry Charles Albert David; 15 Sep 1984, London, England), British prince; son of Charles and Diana, prince and princess of Wales; and third in line to the British throne. Mary Hart (Mary Johanna Harum; 8 Nov 1950, Madison SD), American actress and TV personality, the co-host of Entertainment Tonight from 1982. Dominik Hasek (29 Jan 1965, Pardubice, Czechoslovakia [now in the Czech Republic]), Czech icehockey goalie. Robert Hass (1 Mar 1941, San Francisco CA), American poet and translator; US poet laureate, 1995–97. Abdiqasim Salad Hassan (1942, Somaliland?), Somali politician and head of the Transitional National Government of Somalia from 2000. J(ohn) Dennis Hastert (2 Jan 1942, Aurora IL), American politician, Republican congressman from Illinois, and speaker of the House, 1999–2007. Tony Hawk (Anthony Frank Hawk; 12 May 1968, San Diego CA), American professional skateboarder. Stephen W. Hawking (8 Jan 1942, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England), British theoretical physicist, a specialist in cosmology and quantum gravity. Issa Hayatou (9 Aug 1945, Garoua, French Cameroun [now Cameroon]), Cameroonian sports executive, president of the African Football Confederation, vice president of FIFA from 1988, and member of the IOC from 2001. Michael Hayden (Michael Vincent Hayden; 17 Mar 1945, Pittsburgh PA), American USAF general; director of the National Security Agency, 1999–2005, and director of the CIA from 2006. Salma Hayek (Salma Hayek-Jiménez; 2 Sep 1966, Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico), Mexican-born actress. Roy Haynes (13 Mar 1926, Roxbury, Boston MA), American jazz drummer and bandleader. Seamus (Justin) Heaney (13 Apr 1939, near Castledáwson, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland), Irish poet whose works evoke events in Irish history and allude to Irish myths; recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize for Literature. Chad Hedrick (17 Apr 1977, Spring TX), American speed skater, a champion inline (wheels) skater before switching to ice skating. George H(arry) Heilmeier (22 May 1936, Philadelphia PA), American electronics engineer who led the team that developed the liquid-crystal display (LCD) screen. Dave Heineman (12 May 1948, Falls City NE), Ameri-
PEOPLE can politician and Republican governor of Nebraska from 2005. Heloise (Ponce Kiah Marchelle Heloise Cruse Evans; 15 Apr 1951, Waco TX), American newspaper columnist who writes the “Hints from Heloise” syndicated column. Justine Henin (1 Jun 1982, Liège, Belgium), Belgian tennis player. Jill Hennessy (Jillian Hennessy; 25 Nov 1969, Edmondton, AB, Canada), Canadian-born American TV actress. Henri (16 Apr 1955, Château de Betzdorf, Luxembourg), grand duke of Luxembourg from 2000. Brad Henry (10 Jun 1963, Shawnee OK), American attorney and Democratic politician; governor of Oklahoma from 2003. Thierry (Daniel) Henry (17 Aug 1977, Châtillon, near Paris, France), French association football (soccer) player. Seymour M(yron) Hersh (8 Apr 1937, Chicago IL), American investigative reporter and writer. Avram Hershko (31 Dec 1937, Karcag, Hungary), Hungarian-born Israeli biochemist; corecipient of the 2004 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Mohamud Muse Hersi (“Adde”), Somali president of the secessionist republic of Puntland from 2005. Jacques Herzog (19 Apr 1950, Basel, Switzerland), Swiss architect; corecipient of the 2001 Pritzker Prize. Lleyton Hewitt (24 Feb 1981, Adelaide, SA, Australia), Australian tennis player. Tommy Hilfiger (Thomas Jacob Hilfiger; 24 Mar 1951, Elmira NY), American fashion designer. Faith Hill (Audrey Faith Perry; 21 Sep 1967, Jackson MS), American country singer. Julia “Butterfly” Hill (18 Feb 1974, Mount Vernon MO), American environmental activist. Lauryn Hill (25 May 1975, South Orange NJ), American hip-hop singer and actress. Tony Hillerman (27 May 1925, Sacred Heart OK), American mystery writer. Paris Hilton (17 Feb 1981, New York NY), American heiress and socialite. Gertrude Himmelfarb (8 Aug 1922, Brooklyn NY), American historian and biographer who most often focuses on Victorian England and contemporary moral and cultural history. Gordon B(itner) Hinckley (23 Jun 1910, Salt Lake City UT), American church official; president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1995. Sam Hinds (1943), Guyanese politician; president in 1997 and prime minister, 1992–97, 1997–99, and again from 1999. Damien Hirst (1965, Bristol, England), British artist. Stanley Ho (Ho Hung-sun; 25 Nov 1921, Hong Kong), Macanese gaming magnate and multibillionaire. Susan Hockfield (1951, Chicago IL), American neuroscientist; the first woman president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, from 2004. John Hoeven (13 Mar 1957, Bismarck ND), American Republican politician who was governor of North Dakota from 2001. James P. Hoffa (19 May 1941, Detroit MI), American labor leader; head of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters from 1999. Dustin Hoffman (8 Aug 1937, Los Angeles CA), American film and stage actor. Philip Seymour Hoffman (23 Jul 1967, Fairport NY), American film actor. Hulk Hogan (Terry Gene Bollea; 11 Aug 1953, Augusta GA), American professional wrestler and actor.
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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Katie (Noelle) Holmes (18 Dec 1978, Toledo OH), American TV and film actress. Evander Holyfield (19 Oct 1962, Atmore AL), American boxer and four-time heavyweight champion. Kenichi Honda (23 Aug 1925, Tokyo, Japan), Japanese biologist, educator, and codeveloper of a method of artificial photosynthesis. Gerardus ’t Hooft (5 Jul 1946, Den Helder, Netherlands), Dutch physicist; corecipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize for Physics. Sir (Philip) Anthony Hopkins (31 Dec 1937, Margam, West Glamorgan, Wales), British film and stage actor often in intense roles. H. Robert Horvitz (8 May 1947, Chicago IL), American cell biologist, corecipient of the 2002 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Whitney (Elizabeth) Houston (9 Aug 1963, Newark NJ), American pop singer and film actress. John Winston Howard (26 Jul 1939, Sydney, NSW, Australia), Australian politician, Liberal Party chairman, and prime minister from 1996. Michael Howard (7 Jul 1941, Llanelli, Wales), British Conservative leader who served as home secretary, 1993–97, and shadow chancellor, 2001–05. Ron Howard (1 Mar 1954, Duncan OK), American TV and film actor and director. Hu Jintao (25 Dec 1942, Jixi, Anhui province, China), Chinese statesman; general secretary of the Communist Party of China, president of China from 2003, and vice chairman of the Military Commission. Allan B. Hubbard (8 Sep 1947, Jackson TN), American economist; assistant to the president for economic policy and director of the National Economic Council from 2005. Jan Huber (Johannes Huber; 1947?, The Netherlands), Dutch foreign ministry official; first executive secretary of the Antarctic Treaty system, from 2004. Mike Huckabee (24 Aug 1955, Hope AR), American Republican politician; governor of Arkansas, 1996–2007. Jennifer Hudson (Jennifer Kate Hudson; 12 Sep 1981, Chicago IL), American soul and gospel singer and film actress. Dolores Huerta (Dolores Fernández; 10 Apr 1930, Dawson NM), American labor leader and activist whose work on behalf of migrant farmworkers led to the establishment of the United Farm Workers of America. Arianna Huffington (Ariana Stassinopoulos; 1953?, Athens, Greece), Greek-born American political commentator, syndicated newspaper columnist, and author. Robert (Studley Forrest) Hughes (28 Jul 1938, Sydney, NSW, Australia), Australian art critic and author. Sarah Hughes (2 May 1985, Great Neck NY), American figure skater. H. Wayne Huizenga (29 Dec 1939, Evergreen Park IL), American corporate executive and owner of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins John Hume (18 Jan 1937, Londonderry, Northern Ireland), Northern Ireland politician, corecipient of the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1998, and winner of the Gandhi Peace Prize in 2002. Hun Sen (4 Apr 1951, Kompong Chom province, Cambodia), Cambodian politician and leader of the government from 1985. Helen (Elizabeth) Hunt (15 Jun 1963, Culver City CA), American film and TV actress. Holly Hunter (20 Mar 1958, Conyers GA), American film actress. Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. (Jon Meade Huntsman, Jr.; 26 Mar 1960, Palo Alto CA), American businessman
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(Huntsman Family Holdings), Republican politician, and philanthropist; governor of Utah from 2005. Lubomyr Cardinal Husar (26 Feb 1933, Lwow, Poland [now Lviv, Ukraine]), Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church leader, patriarch of Lviv from 2000, and cardinal from 2001. Nicholas Hytner (7 May 1956, Didsbury, near Manchester, England), British theater director who took over as artistic director of the Royal National Theatre in 2003. Ice Cube (O’Shea Jackson; 15 Jun 1969), American rapper, songwriter, and actor. Ice-T (Tracy Morrow; 16 Feb 1958, Newark NJ), American hip-hop artist, a founder of gangsta rap, and TV and film actor. Nobuyuki Idei (22 Nov 1937, Tokyo, Japan), Japanese corporate executive; CEO of Sony Corp. from 1998 and chairman from 2000. Eric Idle (29 Mar 1943, South Shields, Durham, England), British TV actor and author, a founding member of the Monty Python Flying Circus troupe. Toomas Hendrik Ilves (26 Dec 1953, Stockholm, Sweden), Estonian diplomat; president from 2006. Iman (Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid; 25 Jul 1955, Mogadishu, Somalia), Somali fashion model, actress, and cosmetics executive. Natalie (Jane) Imbruglia (4 Feb 1975, Sydney, NSW, Australia), Australian pop singer. Jeffrey R. Immelt (19 Feb 1956, Cincinnati OH), American corporate executive and CEO of the General Electric Co. from 2001. India.Arie (India Arie Simpson; 3 Oct 1976, Denver CO), American singer and songwriter. Hubert Alexander Ingraham (4 Aug 1947, Pine Ridge, Grand Bahama), Bahamian politician; prime minister, 1992–2002 and again from 2007. Daisuke Inoue (10 May 1940, Osaka, Japan), Japanese pop drummer and inventor (1971) of the karaoke machine. Shinya Inoué (5 Jan 1921, London, England), Japanese American cell biologist who developed techniques of microscopy to study intracellular structures. José Miguel Insulza (2 Jun 1943, Santiago, Chile), Chilean Socialist government official; secretarygeneral of the Organization of American States from 2005. Kathy Ireland (8 Mar 1963, Glendale CA), American fashion model, designer, and actress. Bill Irwin (11 Apr 1950, Santa Monica CA), Tony Award-winning American actor and choreographer. Walter Isaacson (20 May 1952, New Orleans LA), American corporate executive; chairman and CEO of the Cable News Network (CNN) from 2001. Riduan Isamuddin (Encep Nurjaman; “Hambali”; 4 Apr 1966, Pamokolan, Indonesia), Indonesian militant and leader of the Jemaah Islamiya group. Shintaro Ishihara (30 Sep 1932, Kobe, Japan), Japanese author and nationalist politician; governor of Tokyo from 1999. Allen (Ezail) Iverson (7 Jun 1975, Hampton VA), American basketball player. James (Francis) Ivory (7 Jun 1928, Berkeley CA), American film director famous for his collaboration with producer Ismail Merchant. Ja Rule (Jeffrey Atkins; 29 Feb 1976, Queens NY), American rap performer. Ibrahim (al-Eshaiker) al-Jaafari (1947, Karbala, Iraq), Iraqi ShiAite politician and prime minister, 2005–06. Alan (Eugene) Jackson (17 Oct 1958, Newnan GA), American country-music singer and guitarist.
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Alphonso Jackson (Texas), American politician; secretary of housing and urban development from 2004. Janet (Damita Jo) Jackson (16 May 1966, Gary IN), American singer and film and TV actress. Jesse (Louis) Jackson (8 Oct 1941, Greenville SC), American civil rights leader, Baptist minister, and politician. Michael (Joseph) Jackson (29 Aug 1958, Gary IN), American singer, songwriter, and dancer. Peter Jackson (31 Oct 1961, Pukerua Bay, New Zealand), New Zealand film director and producer who directed the Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001–03). Phil Jackson (Philip Douglas Jackson; 17 Sep 1945, Deer Lodge MT), American basketball player and coach. Samuel L(eroy) Jackson (21 Dec 1948, Washington DC), American film actor. Marc Jacobs (9 Apr 1963, New York NY), American fashion designer known for his sartorial interpretations of trends in contemporary art and modeling. Jadakiss (Jason Phillips; 25 May 1975, Yonkers NY), American rapper. Bharrat Jagdeo (23 Jan 1964, Unity village, Demarara, Guyana), Guyanese politician and president from 1999. Sir Mick Jagger (Michael Philip Jagger; 26 Jul 1943, Dartford, Kent, England), British rock musician and lead singer of the Rolling Stones. Helmut Jahn (4 Jan 1940, Nürnberg, Germany), German-born architect known especially for his use of light and color. Zsuzsanna Jakab (17 May 1951, Hungary), Hungarian epidemiologist; the first director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in Stockholm, from 2005. LeBron James (30 Dec 1984, Akron OH), American professional basketball player. Judith Jamison (10 May 1944, Philadelphia PA), American dancer and choreographer who became artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1989. Yahya Jammeh (Alphonse Jamus Jebulai Jammeh; 25 May 1965, Kanilai village, Gambia), Gambian politician and president from 1994. Janez Jansa (Ivan Jansa; 17 Sep 1958, Ljubljana, Yugoslavia [now in Slovenia]), Slovene dissident, defense official, politician (Social Democrat), and prime minister from 2004. Mariss Jansons (14 Jan 1943, Riga, Latvia), Latvianborn American director; conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam from 2004. Jim Jarmusch (22 Jan 1953, Akron OH), American avant-garde filmmaker. Keith Jarrett (8 May 1945, Allentown PA), American jazz pianist, composer, and saxophonist. Neeme Järvi (7 Jun 1937, Tallinn, Estonia), Estonian conductor and music director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra from 1990. Jay-Z (Shawn Corey Carter; 4 Dec 1970, Brooklyn NY), American rap performer. Michaëlle Jean (6 Sep 1957, Port-au-Prince, Haiti), Haitian-born Canadian journalist; governor-general of Canada from 2005. Katharine Jefferts Schori (26 Mar 1954, Pensacola FL), American church leader; presiding bishop of the US Episcopal Church from 2006. Elfriede Jelinek (20 Oct 1946, Mürzzuschlag, Austria), Austrian playwright, novelist, and poet; recipient of the 2004 Nobel Prize for Literature. Elwood V(ernon) Jensen (13 Jan 1920, Fargo ND),
PEOPLE American endocrinologist; corecipient of the 2004 Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research. Jewel (Kilcher) (23 May 1974, Payson UT), American pop singer and songwriter. Steven (Paul) Jobs (24 Feb 1955, San Francisco CA), American corporate executive, cofounder of Apple Computer, and CEO of Apple Computer, Inc., from 1997. Billy Joel (William Joseph Martin Joel; 9 May 1949, Hicksville NY), American pop singer, pianist, and songwriter. Mike Johanns (18 Jun 1950, Osage IA), American Republican politician who was governor of Nebraska, 1999–2005, and US secretary of agriculture from 2005. Scarlett Johansson (22 Nov 1984, New York NY), American film actress. Sir Elton John (Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 Mar 1947, Pinner, Middlesex, England), British singer, composer, and pianist. Jasper Johns (15 May 1930, Augusta GA), American painter and graphic artist, a pioneer of Pop art. Robert L. Johnson (8 Apr 1946, Hickory MS), American entrepreneur; creator (1980), chairman, and CEO of BET (Black Entertainment Television). Stephen L. Johnson (21 Mar 1951, Washington DC), American government official; director of the US Environmental Protection Agency from 2005. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (29 Oct 1938, Monrovia, Liberia), Liberian government and international official; president of Liberia from 2006. Angelina Jolie (Angelina Jolie Voight; 4 Jun 1975, Los Angeles CA), American film actress. Cherry Jones (21 Nov 1956, Paris TN), Tony Awardwinning American stage actress. James Earl Jones (17 Jan 1931, Arkabutla MS), American actor. Norah Jones (30 Mar 1979, New York NY), American jazz-pop vocalist and pianist. Quincy Jones (Quincy Delight Jones, Jr.; 14 Mar 1933, Chicago IL), American jazz and pop arranger, composer, and producer. Tommy Lee Jones (15 Sep 1946, San Saba TX), American actor. Michael (Jeffrey) Jordan (17 Feb 1963, Brooklyn NY), American basketball player; he was voted ESPN’s Athlete of the Century and is believed by many to be the best basketball player in history. Juan Carlos I (Juan Carlos Alfonso Victor María de Borbón y Borbón; 5 Jan 1938, Rome, Italy), king of Spain from 1975. Juanes (Juan Estebán Aristizábal Vásquez; 9 Aug 1972, Medellín, Colombia), Colombian singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Ashley Judd (Ashley Tyler Ciminella; 19 Apr 1968, Granada Hills CA), American film actress. Wynonna Judd (Christina Claire Ciminella; 30 May 1964, Ashland KY), American country-and-western singer. Sir Anerood Jugnauth (29 Mar 1930, Mauritius), Mauritian politician; prime minister, 1982–95 and again 2000–03, and president from 2003. Jean-Claude Juncker (9 Dec 1954, Rédange-sur-Attert, Luxembourg), Luxembourgian politician and prime minister from 1995. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah (16 Feb 1932, Pendembu, Sierra Leone), Sierra Leonean politician and president, 1996–97 and again from 1998. Martinho Ndafa Kabi (1958?), Guinea-Bissau politician; prime minister from 2007. Joseph Kabila (4 Jun 1971, Sud-Kivu province, Dem.
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Rep. of the Congo), Congolese politician and president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2001. Jaroslaw Kaczynski (18 Jun 1949, Warsaw, Poland), Polish politician (Law and Justice); prime minister from 2006. Lech Kaczynski (18 Jun 1949, Warsaw, Poland), Polish politician (Law and Justice); president from 2005. Ismail Kadare (28 Jan 1938, Gjirokastër, Albania), Albanian novelist and poet; recipient of the first Man Booker International Prize, in 2005. Paul Kagame (October 1957, Gitarama, RuandaUrundi [now Rwanda]), Rwandan politician and president from 2000. Dahir Riyale Kahin (1952), Somali politician; president of the secessionist Republic of Somaliland from 2002. Daniel Kahneman (5 Mar 1934, Tel Aviv, British Palestine [now in Israel]), Israeli-born American economist; corecipient of the 2002 Nobel Memorial Prize for Economic Science. Tim Kaine (Timothy Michael Kaine; 26 Feb 1958, St. Paul MN), American politician (Democrat); governor of Virginia from 2006. Michiko Kakutani (9 Jan 1955, New Haven CT), American journalist; book critic at the New York Times from 1983. Aivars Kalvitis (27 Jun 1966, Riga, USSR [now in Latvia]), Latvian politician and prime minister from 2004. Dean Kamen (1951, Rockville Centre NY), American engineer and inventor of the Segway Human Transporter. Ingvar Kamprad (1926, Småland province, Sweden), Swedish businessman and founder of the homefurnishing company IKEA. Radovan Karadzic (19 Jun 1945, Petnjica, Yugoslavia [now in Montenegro]), Bosnian Serb politician and president of Republika Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina), 1992–96; he was wanted as a war criminal and was still at large in 2007. Konstantinos Karamanlis (Kostas; 14 Sep 1956, Athens, Greece), Greek conservative politician; prime minister from 2004. Donna Karan (Donna Faske; 2 Oct 1948, Forest Hills NY), American fashion designer known for the simplicity of her mostly black- and neutral-colored designs. Islam Karimov (30 Jan 1938, Samarkand, Uzbek SSR, USSR [now Uzbekistan]), Uzbek politician and president from 1990. Mel Karmazin (Melvin Alan Karmazin; 24 Aug 1943, New York NY), American media executive; president and CEO of CBS and president and COO of Viacom from 2000. Hamid Karzai (24 Dec 1957, Karz, Afghanistan), Afghan statesman; head of the interim administration following the ousting of the Taliban; president of Afghanistan from 2001. Garry Kasparov (Garri Kimovich Kasparov; original name Garri Weinstein or Harry Weinstein; 13 Apr 1963, Baku, USSR [now in Azerbaijan]), Azerbaijani-born Russian chess champion of the world, 1985–2000. Moshe Katsav (1945, Iran), Iranian-born Israeli politician and president of Israel, 2000–07. Jeffrey Katzenberg (21 Dec 1950, New York NY), American film producer and a cofounder (1994) of DreamWorks SKG. Yoriko Kawaguchi (14 Jan 1941, Tokyo, Japan), Japanese politician and foreign minister from 2002. Nobuhiko Kawamoto (3 Mar 1936, Tokyo, Japan), Japanese corporate executive; president of Honda Motor Co., Ltd., from 1990.
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Alan (Curtis) Kay (1940, Springfield MA), American computer scientist who was instrumental in developing the personal computer, the local area network (LAN), and the graphical user interface (GUI), among other innovations. Keb’ Mo’ (Kevin Moore; 3 Oct 1951, Los Angeles CA), American blues musician. Garrison Keillor (Gary Edward Keillor; 7 Aug 1942, Anoka MN), American humorist and writer best known for his long-running radio variety show, A Prairie Home Companion. Toby Keith (Toby Keith Covel; 8 Jul 1961, Clinton OK), American country-and-western singer. Bill Keller (18 Jan 1949), American journalist; managing editor of the New York Times, 1997–2001, and executive editor from 2003. David E. Kelley (4 Apr 1956, Waterville ME), American TV producer and screenwriter. Ellsworth Kelly (31 May 1923, Newburgh NY), American painter and sculptor. R. Kelly (Robert S. Kelly; 8 Jan 1969, Chicago IL), American R&B performer. Yashar Kemal (Kemal Sadik Gogceli; 1922, Hemite, Turkey), Turkish novelist of Kurdish descent. Dirk Kempthorne (29 Oct 1951, San Diego CA), American Republican politician; governor of Idaho, 1999–2006; and US secretary of the interior from 2006. Thomas (Michael) Keneally (also published as William Coyle; 7 Oct 1935, Sydney, NSW, Australia), Australian novelist. Anthony (McCleod) Kennedy (23 Jul 1936, Sacramento CA), American jurist; associate justice of the US Supreme Court from 1988. Charles Kennedy (25 Nov 1959, Inverness, Scotland), British politician and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party from 1999. Edward M(oore) Kennedy (22 Feb 1932, Brookline MA), American Democratic politician and senator from Massachusetts from 1962. John F. Kerry (11 Dec 1943, Fitzsimons Army Hospital [now in Aurora CO]), American Democratic politician and senator from Massachusetts from 1985; the Democratic candidate for president in 2004. Alicia Keys (Alicia Augello Cook; 25 Jan 1981, New York NY), American R&B singer. Cheb Khaled (Khaled Hadj Brahim; 29 Feb 1960, Sidi-El-Houri, near Oran, French Algeria), Algerian rai performer. Hamad ibn AIsa al-Khalifah (28 Jan 1950, Bahrain), Bahraini sheikh; emir and chief of state from 1999; he proclaimed himself king in 2002. Zalmay Khalilzad (1951, Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan), Afghan-born American diplomat; US ambassador to Afghanistan, 2003–05, and to Iraq from 2005. Hojatolislam Sayyed Ali Khamenei (15 Jul 1939, Meshed, Iran), Iranian ShiAite clergyman and politician who served as president, 1981–89, and as that country’s rahbar, or leader, from 1989. Abdul Qadeer Khan (1935, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, British India), Pakistani nuclear engineer, “the father of the Islamic bomb.” Mikhail (Borisovich) Khodorkovsky (26 Jun 1963, Moscow, USSR [now in Russia]), Russian businessman, imprisoned former billionaire head of Yukos Oil Co. Abbas Kiarostami (22 Jun 1940, Tehran, Iran), Iranian director and writer known for experimenting with the boundaries between reality and fiction.
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Mwai Kibaki (15 Nov 1931, Gatuyaini village, Central province, Kenya), Kenyan politician and president from 2002. Sue Monk Kidd (1949?, South Carolina), American author of best-selling novels about what she calls the “sacred feminine.” Angelique Kidjo (14 Jul 1960, Ouidah, Dahomey [now Benin]), Beninese pop singer. Nicole (Mary) Kidman (20 Jun 1967, Honolulu HI), American-born Australian leading actress. Anselm Kiefer (8 Mar 1945, Donaueschingen, Germany), German painter in the Neo-Expressionist movement known for works that deal ironically with 20th-century German history. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete (7 Oct 1950, Msoga, British Tanganyika [now in Tanzania]), Tanzanian military officer and government official; president from 2005. Val (Edward) Kilmer (31 Dec 1959, Los Angeles CA), American film actor. Jeong H. Kim (1961?, Seoul, South Korea), Koreanborn American electronics industry executive who was founder (1992) of Yurie Systems, Inc., and president of Lucent Technologies’ Bell Labs from 2005. Kim Jong Il (16 Feb 1941, near Khabarovsk, USSR [now in Russia]), North Korean leader and successor to his father, Kim Il-Sung, as general secretary of the Central Committee of the Worker’s Party of Korea (North Korea) from 1997. Kim Soon Kwon (1 May 1945, Ulsan, Korea [now in South Korea]), Korean agricultural scientist specializing in developing high-yield, disease-resistant strains of corn; prominent for his work in aiding Korean reunification. Kim Woo Choong (19 Dec 1936, Taegu, Korea [now in South Korea]), Korean businessman; founder and chairman of the Daewoo Group; chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries from 1998. Jimmy Kimmel (13 Nov 1967, Brooklyn NY), American comedian and TV talk-show host. Mick Kinane (22 Jun 1959, County Tipperary, Ireland), Irish jockey with a highly successful career in European Thoroughbred racing. Jamaica Kincaid (Elaine Potter Richardson; 25 May 1949, St. Johns, Antigua), Antiguan American writer whose essays, stories, and novels are evocative portrayals of family relationships and her native country. B.B. King (Riley B. King; 16 Sep 1925, Itta Bena, near Indianola MS), American guitarist and singer, a principal figure in the development of blues. Carole King (Carole Klein; 9 Feb 1942, Brooklyn NY), American pop singer and songwriter. Larry King (Lawrence Harvey Zeigler; 19 Nov 1933, Brooklyn NY), American TV journalist, longtime host of CNN’s Larry King Live interview program. Stephen (Edward) King (pseudonym Richard Bachman; 21 Sep 1947, Portland ME), American writer; author of novels combining horror, fantasy, and science fiction. Galway Kinnell (1 Feb 1927, Providence RI), American poet whose poems examine the effects of personal confrontation with violence and inevitable death, attempts to hold death at bay, the plight of the urban dispossessed, and the regenerative powers of love and nature. Michael Kinsley (9 Mar 1951, Detroit MI), American political commentator and editor; originator (1996) of the online magazine Slate and its editor 1996–2002.
PEOPLE Néstor Kirchner (25 Feb 1950, Río Gallegos, Argentina), Argentine politician and president from 2003. Gediminas Kirkilas (30 Aug 1951, Vilnius, USSR [now in Lithuania]), Lithuanian politician and prime minister from 2006. Vaclav Klaus (19 Jun 1941, Prague, Czechoslovakia [now in the Czech Republic]), Czech politician who served as prime minister, 1992–97, and president for one month in 1993 and again from 2003. Calvin (Richard) Klein (19 Nov 1942, Bronx NY), American fashion designer. Ralph Klein (1 Nov 1942, Calgary, AB, Canada), Canadian politician and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party from 1992. August Kleinzahler (1949, Jersey City NJ), American poet. Heidi Klum (1 Jun 1973, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany), German supermodel. Evel Knievel (17 Oct 1938, Butte MT), American motorcycle stunt performer. Bobby Knight (Robert Montgomery Knight; 25 Oct 1940, Massillon OH), American collegiate basketball coach. Gladys Knight (28 May 1944, Atlanta GA), American R&B singer. Keira Knightley (26 Mar 1985, Teddington, London, England), British film actress. Alfred G(eorge) Knudson, Jr. (9 Aug 1922, Los Angeles CA), American geneticist and cancer researcher who developed the theory of tumor-suppressor genes; he received a 2004 Kyoto Prize. Samuel Kobia (20 Mar 1947, Miathene, Kenya), Kenyan minister of the Methodist Church; general secretary of the World Council of Churches from 2004. Robert (Sedraki) Kocharyan (31 Aug 1954, Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh, USSR [now in Azerbaijan]), Armenian politician and president from 1998. Horst Köhler (22 Feb 1943, Skierbieszow, Poland), German international economic official; president of Germany from 2004. Jun’ichiro Koizumi (8 Jan 1942, Yokosuka, Kanagawa prefecture, Japan), Japanese politician and prime minister, 2001–06. Willem J. Kolff (14 Feb 1911, Leyden, Netherlands), Dutch-born American biomechanical engineer and physician, a pioneer in artificial organ technology who invented the artificial kidney, devised the clinical membrane oxygenator, and helped develop the artificial heart. Yusef Komunyakaa (29 Apr 1947, Bogalusa LA), American poet. Alpha Oumar Konaré (2 Feb 1946, Kayes, French West Africa [now in Mali]), Malian statesman; president of Mali, 1992–2002; and chairman of the Commission of the African Union from 2003. Tim Koogle (1951?, Alexandria VA), American corporate executive and CEO of Yahoo! Inc. from 1995. Rem Koolhaas (17 Nov 1944, Rotterdam, Netherlands), Dutch architect known especially for his concepts of large-scale structures; recipient of the 2000 Pritzker Prize. Jeff Koons (21 Jan 1955, York PA), American Pop-art painter and sculptor. Dean (Ray) Koontz (9 Jul 1945, Everett PA), American writer of novels often with a grotesque or sciencefiction atmosphere. Ted Kooser (Theodore Kooser; 25 Apr 1939, Ames IA), American poet known for his deft use of images
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in describing rural Nebraska; US poet laureate, 2004–06. Roger David Kornberg (24 Apr 1947, St. Louis MO), American chemist; recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his studies of the molecular basis of eukaryotic transcription. Michael Kors (Karl Anderson, Jr.; 1959, Merrick, Long Island NY), American fashion designer, creator of his own signature lines and artistic director for Celine. Janica Kostelic (“The Croatian Sensation”; 5 Jan 1982, Zagreb, Yugoslavia [now in Croatia]), Croatian Alpine skier. Vojislav Kostunica (24 Mar 1944, Belgrade, Yugoslavia [now in Serbia]), Serbian politician; president of Yugoslavia, 2000–03, and prime minister of Serbia from 2004. Lansana Kouyaté (1950, Koba, Guinea), Guinean diplomat and statesman; prime minister from 2007. Vladimir Kramnik (25 Jun 1975, Tuapse, USSR [now in Russia]), Russian chess grand master. Alison Krauss (23 Jul 1971, Decatur IL), American bluegrass fiddle player and singer. Lenny Kravitz (26 May 1964, Brooklyn NY), American rock performer. Gidon Kremer (27 Feb 1947, Riga, USSR [now in Latvia]), Latvian-born violinist and conductor. Léon Krier (1946, Luxembourg), Luxembourgian architect and urban planner in the New Urbanism style. William Kristol (23 Dec 1952, New York NY), American editor and columnist. Dennis J. Kucinich (8 Oct 1946, Cleveland OH), American Democratic politician; mayor of Cleveland, 1977–79; congressman from Ohio from 1996. John (Kofi Agyekum) Kufuor (8 Dec 1938, Kumisi, Gold Coast [now Ghana]), Ghanaian politician and president from 2001. Ted Kulongoski (5 Nov 1940 Missouri), American Democratic politician and governor of Oregon from 2003. Harumi Kurihara (7 Mar 1947, Shimoda, Japan), Japanese chef, lifestyle celebrity, and cookbook author. Raymond Kurzweil (12 Feb 1948, Queens NY), American computer scientist and visionary, a specialist in pattern recognition, whose work resulted in inventions of flatbed scanners, speech-recognition devices, and reading machines for the blind. Tony Kushner (16 Jul 1956, New York NY), American playwright. Michelle Kwan (Kwan Shan Wing; 7 Jul 1980, Torrance CA), American figure skater. Finn E. Kydland (December 1943, Ålgård, near Stavanger, Norway), Norwegian economist; corecipient of the 2004 Nobel Memorial Prize for Economic Science. Patti LaBelle (Patricia Louise Holt; 4 Oct 1944, Philadelphia PA), American soul and rock singer. Andrew Lack (16 May 1947, New York NY), American communications executive; chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment Corp. from 2003. Emeril (John) Lagasse (15 Oct 1959, Fall River MA), American chef, restaurateur, and media personality known for his energetic TV cooking shows. Karl Lagerfeld (10 Sep 1938, Hamburg, Germany), German-born French fashion designer known for his highly feminine creations for the houses of Chloé and Chanel. Émile Jamil Lahoud (12 Jan 1936, Baabdat, Lebanon), Lebanese politician and president from 1998. Guy Laliberté (1959, Quebec City, QC, Canada),
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Canadian circus performer and founder of Cirque de Soleil. Edward S. Lampert (1963?), American business executive and chairman of ESL Investments and Kmart Holding Corp. who engineered the takeover of Sears in 2005. Pascal Lamy (8 Apr 1947, Levallois-Perret, Paris, France), French financial and government official; EU trade commissioner, 1999–2004; and directorgeneral of the World Trade Organization from 2005. Nathan Lane (Joseph Lane; 3 Feb 1956, Jersey City NJ), American comedic actor of stage and screen. Helmut Lang (10 Mar 1956, Vienna, Austria), Austrian fashion designer. k.d. lang (Kathryn Dawn Lang; 2 Nov 1961, Consort, AB, Canada), Canadian singer and songwriter. Jessica Lange (Jesse Lange; 20 Apr 1949, Cloquet MN), American actress. Sherry Lansing (Sherry Lee Heimann; 31 Jul 1944, Chicago IL), American actress and film executive. Anthony M. LaPaglia (31 Jan 1959, Adelaide, SA, Australia), Australian film and TV actor. Lewis H. Lapham (8 Jan 1935, San Francisco CA), American liberal political commentator, author, and editor of Harper’s Magazine from 1983. Lyndon (Hermyle) LaRouche, Jr. (8 Sep 1922, Rochester NH), American economist, populist politician, and presidential candidate. John Larroquette (25 Nov 1947, New Orleans LA), American film and TV actor. Mark Latham (28 Feb 1961, Sydney, NSW, Australia), Australian Labor politician and party leader. Matt(hew Todd) Lauer (30 Dec 1957, New York NY), American TV journalist and news anchor; host of the Today show from 1997. Ralph Lauren (Ralph Lipschitz; 14 Oct 1939, New York NY), American fashion designer known for his ready-to-wear collections and his use of unconventional materials. Paul C. Lauterbur (6 May 1929, Sidney OH), American chemist and a pioneer of magnetic resonance imagery (MRI); corecipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Avril (Ramona) Lavigne (27 Sep 1984, Napanee, ON, Canada), Canadian pop singer. Sergey (Viktorovich) Lavrov (21 Mar 1950), Russian politician and foreign minister from 2004. Jude Law (29 Dec 1972, Blackheath, London, England), British stage and screen actor. Martin Lawrence (16 Apr 1965, Frankfurt am Main, West Germany [now in Germany]), American TV and film actor and comedian. Nigella (Lucy) Lawson (6 Jan 1960, London, England), British cook and author of food-related books. John H. Lawton (24 Sep 1943), British ecologist, head of the Natural Environment Research Council, and recipient of a 2004 Japan Prize for his studies and preservation of biodiversity. John Le Carré (David John Moore Cornwell; 19 Oct 1931, Poole, Dorset, England), English novelist; author of suspenseful, realistic spy novels based on a wide knowledge of international espionage. Ursula K. Le Guin (Ursula Kroeber; 21 Oct 1929, Berkeley CA), American author best known for tales of science fiction and fantasy distinctive for their character development and use of language. Richard (Erskine Frere) Leakey (19 Dec 1944, Nairobi, Kenya), Kenyan physical anthropologist, paleontologist, conservationist, and politician. Matt LeBlanc (25 Jul 1967, Newton MA), American TV actor.
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Ang Lee (23 Oct 1954, P’ing-Tung county, Taiwan), Taiwanese-born film director. Spike Lee (Shelton Lee; 20 Mar 1957, Atlanta GA), American filmmaker known for his uncompromising, provocative approach to controversial subject matter. Stan Lee (Stanley Lieber; 1922, New York NY), American comic-book artist and creator of Spider-Man and other superheroes. Lee Hsien Loong (10 Feb 1952, Singapore), Singaporean politician and economic expert; prime minister from 2004. Lee Kun Hee (9 Jan 1942, Uiryung, Korea [now in South Korea]), Korean corporate executive and chairman of the Samsung Group from 1987. Anthony J(ames) Leggett (26 Mar 1938, London, England), British physicist; corecipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize for Physics. John Leguizamo (22 Jul 1964, Bogotá, Colombia), Colombian-born American comedian and actor. Jim Lehrer (James C. Lehrer; 19 May 1934, Wichita KS), American TV journalist and author. Annie Leibovitz (Anna-Lou Leibovitz; 2 Oct 1949, Westbury CT), American photographer and photojournalist known for her intense, often intimate portraits of celebrities. Jean Lemierre (6 Jun 1950, Sainte Adresse, France), French international banking executive and president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development from 2000. Jay Leno (James Douglas Muir Leno; 28 Apr 1950, Short Hills NJ), American comedian; host of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno from 1992. Robert Lepage (12 Dec 1957, Quebec, QC, Canada), Canadian actor, director, and playwright. Letsie III (David Mohato; 17 Jul 1963, Morija, Lesotho), king of Lesotho, 1990–95 and again from 1996. David (Michael) Letterman (12 Apr 1947, Indianapolis IN), American TV personality; host of the Late Show with David Letterman from 1993. Simon Asher Levin (22 Apr 1941, Baltimore MD), American biologist who specializes in the application of mathematics to problems in ecology; recipient of a 2005 Kyoto Prize for his role in establishing the field of spacial ecology. James Levine (23 Jun 1943, Cincinnati OH), American conductor and pianist; principal conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 2004. Bernard-Henri Lévy (5 Nov 1948, Béni-Saf, French Algeria), Algerian-born French media darling and author of best-selling “enhanced nonfiction” books. Eugene Levy (17 Dec 1946, Hamilton, ON, Canada), Canadian comedian and writer. Kenneth D. Lewis (9 Apr 1947, Meridian MS), American corporate executive, CEO of the Bank of America Corp. from 1999. Lennox (Claudius) Lewis (2 Sep 1965, West Ham, London, England), British heavyweight boxer. (Diane) Monique Lhuillier (1971, Cebu, Philippines), American couturier known for her bridal gowns for the stars. Jet Li (Li Lian Jie; 26 Apr 1963, Beijing, China), Chinese-born wushu (acrobatic martial arts) champion who has starred in numerous martial arts films in China and the West. Li Hongzhi (7 Jul 1952, Jilin province, China), Chinese religious leader who developed the Falun Dafa system. Li Ka-shing (13 Jun 1928, Chaozhou, Guangdong province, China), Chinese (Hong Kong) corporate executive, chairman of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. and Cheung Kong Holdings.
PEOPLE Li Ruigang (June 1969, Shanghai, China), Chinese business executive; president of Shanghai Media Group. Li Zhaoxing (October 1940, Shandong province, China), Chinese politician and foreign minister from 2003. Daniel Libeskind (12 May 1946, Lodz, Poland), Polish-born Israeli-American architect. Joseph I. Lieberman (24 Feb 1942, Stamford CT), American Democratic/Independent politician, US senator from Connecticut, vice-presidential contender in 2000, and presidential candidate in 2004. Lil Jon (Jonathan Smith; 1970, Atlanta GA), American “crunk” rapper and producer. Lil’ Kim (Kimberly Denise Jones; 11 Jul 1975, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn NY), American hip-hop performer. Rush Limbaugh (12 Jan 1951, Cape Girardeau MO), American radio talk-show host and conservative commentator. Linda Lingle (4 Jun 1953, St. Louis MO), American Republican politician; governor of Hawaii from 2002. John Lithgow (19 Oct 1945, Rochester NY), American comic and dramatic film and TV actor. Lucy (Alexis) Liu (2 Dec 1968, Jackson Heights, Queens NY), American TV and film actress. Nicholas (Joseph Orville) Liverpool (1934, Dominica?), West Indian politician and president of Dominica from 2003. Kenneth Livingstone (17 Jun 1945, Lambeth, London, England), British Labour politician and mayor of London from 2000. Tzipi Livni (5 Jul 1958, Tel Aviv, Israel), Israeli politician (Kadima); foreign minister from 2006. LL Cool J (James Todd Smith; 14 Jan 1968, Queens NY), American hip-hop artist and actor. Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber (22 Mar 1948, London, England), British composer whose eclectic stage musicals such as Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cats, and The Phantom of the Opera blended pop, rock, and classical forms. Keith Alan Lockhart (7 Nov 1959, Poughkeepsie NY), American conductor of the Boston Pops from 1993. Lindsay (Morgan) Lohan (2 Jul 1986, New York NY), American actress and film starlet. Bjørn Lomborg (6 Jan 1965, Copenhagen, Denmark), Danish statistician and controversial environmentalist. Jonah Tali Lomu (12 May 1975, Auckland, New Zealand), New Zealand rugby winger of Tongan heritage. Jennifer Lopez (24 Jul 1970, Bronx NY), American pop singer, actress, and fashion designer. Andrés Manuel López Obrador (13 Nov 1953, Tepetitán, Mexico), Mexican politician and mayor of Mexico City; unsuccessful candidate for president in 2006. Bernard Lord (27 Sep 1965, Moncton?, NB, Canada), Canadian politician and premier of New Brunswick from 1999. Trent Lott (9 Oct 1941, Grenada MS), American Republican politician, senator from Mississippi from 1989, and Senate minority whip from 2006. Joe Lovano (29 Dec 1952, Cleveland OH), American jazz tenor saxophone player, bandleader, and composer. Courtney Love (Love Michelle Harrison; 9 Jul 1964, San Francisco CA), American pop-rock singer and actress. Patty Loveless (Patricia Lee Ramey; 4 Jan 1957, Pikeville KY), American country-and-western singer. Lyle (Pierce) Lovett (1 Nov 1957, Klein TX), American country-and-western singer.
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Rob Lowe (17 Mar 1964, Charlottesville VA), American actor. Henri Loyrette (31 May 1952, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France), French director of the Louvre museum in Paris from 2001. George Lucas (George Walton Lucas, Jr.; 14 May 1944, Modesto CA), American film producer. Susan Lucci (23 Dec 1947, Scarsdale NY), American TV soap opera star; she has played Erica Kane on All My Children since its premiere in 1970. R. Duncan Luce (16 May 1925, Scranton PA), American cognitive scientist specializing in mathematical psychology and psychometrics. Baz Luhrmann (Bazmark Anthony Luhrmann; 17 Sep 1962, near Sydney, NSW, Australia), Australian film and stage director and producer. Alyaksandr (Hrygorevich) Lukashenka (30 Aug 1954, Kopys, Vitebsk oblast, Belorussian SSR, USSR [now Belarus]), Belarusian politician and president from 1994. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (“Lula”; 27 Oct 1945, Garanhuns, Pernambuco state, Brazil), Brazilian labor leader and socialist politician; president from 2003. Sidney Lumet (25 Jun 1924, Philadelphia PA), American film, TV, and stage director. Hilary Lunke (7 Jun 1979, Edina MN), American golfer. Uri Lupolianski (1951, Haifa, Israel), Israeli politician; mayor of Jerusalem from 2003. Yury (Mikhaylovich) Luzhkov (21 Sep 1936, Moscow, USSR [now in Russia]), Russian politician and mayor of Moscow from 1992. John Lynch (25 Nov 1952, Waltham MA), American businessman and Democratic politician; governor of New Hampshire from 2005. Yo-Yo Ma (7 Oct 1955, Paris, France), American cellist noted for impeccable technique, the large number of commissions of new works he has attracted, and the breadth of his musical interests. Wangari (Muta) Maathai (1 Apr 1940, Nyeri, British Kenya), Kenyan environmental activist who campaigned against the deforestation of Africa. Lorin Maazel (6 Mar 1930, Neuilly, France), Frenchborn American conductor and violinist; music director of the New York Philharmonic from 2002. Bernie Mac (Bernard Jeffrey McCollough; 5 Oct 1958, Chicago IL), American TV and film entertainer. Gloria (Macaraeg) Macapagal Arroyo (5 Apr 1947, San Juan, Philippines), Philippine politician and president from 2001. Peter MacKay (27 Sep 1965, New Glasgow, NS, Canada), Canadian politician (Conservative Party); foreign minister from 2006. Roderick MacKinnon (19 Feb 1956, Burlington MA), American chemist; corecipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Alistair MacLeod (1936, North Batteford, SK, Canada), Canadian writer. Elle Macpherson (Eleanor Gow; 29 Mar 1964, Cronulla, Sydney, NSW, Australia), Australian fashion model, actress, and lingerie designer. Madonna (Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone; 16 Aug 1958, Bay City MI), American singer, songwriter, actress, and entrepreneur. Martie Maguire (Martha Elenor Erwin; Martie Seidel; 12 Oct 1969, York PA), American country musician and a member of the Dixie Chicks. Tobey Maguire (Tobias Vincent Maguire; 27 Jun 1975, Santa Monica CA), American film actor known for playing unconventional leads. Bill Maher (20 Jan 1956, New York NY), American satirist and host of controversial TV talk shows.
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Roger Michael Cardinal Mahony (27 Feb 1936, Hollywood CA), American Roman Catholic churchman; archbishop of Los Angeles from 1985 and cardinal from 1991. Natalie Maines (14 Oct 1974, Lubbock TX), American country musician; member of the Dixie Chicks. Sir Ravinder N. Maini (1937, Ludhiana, Punjab, British India), Indian-born British immunologist and rheumatologist; corecipient of the 2000 Crafoord Prize and the 2003 Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award. Mohammed ibn Rashid al-Maktum (1949, Dubai? [now in United Arab Emirates]), UAE sheikh; crown prince of Dubai from 1995 and prime minister from 2006; he is also a noted horse breeder and runs Godolphin Stables with his brothers. Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi (14 Apr 1945, Lepa, Samoa), Samoan politician and prime minister from 1998. Nuri al-Maliki (Nuri Kamal al-Maliki; Jawad al-Maliki; Abu Isra; 1 Jul 1950, near Karbala, Iraq), Iraqi politician (ShiAite); prime minister of Iraq from 2006. John (Gavin) Malkovich (9 Dec 1953, Christopher IL), American film actor and filmmaker. David (George Joseph) Malouf (20 Mar 1934, Brisbane, QLD, Australia), Australian poet and novelist; recipient of the 2000 Neustadt Prize. David (Alan) Mamet (30 Nov 1947, Chicago IL), American playwright, director, and screenwriter noted for his often desperate working-class characters and for his distinctive, frequently profane dialogue. Joe Manchin III (24 Aug 1947, Farmington WV), American businessman and Democratic politician; governor of West Virginia from 2005. Nelson (Rolihlahla) Mandela (18 Jul 1918, Umtata, Cape of Good Hope, Union of South Africa), South African black nationalist leader and statesman; he was a political prisoner, 1962–90, president of South Africa, 1994–99, and corecipient of the 1993 Nobel Prize for Peace. Winnie Madikizela Mandela (original name Nomzamo Winifred, original Xhosa name Nkosikazi Nobandle Nomzamo Madikizela; 26 Sep 1934/36?, Pondoland district, Transkei, British South Africa), South African social worker and black nationalist leader; second wife of Nelson Mandela. Peter (Benjamin) Mandelson (21 Oct 1953, London, England), British Labour politician, cabinet minister, and international official; EU commissioner for trade from 2004. Barry Manilow (Barry Alan Pincus; 17 Jun 1946, Brooklyn NY), American pop singer and songwriter. Patrick (Augustus Merving) Manning (17 Aug 1946, San Fernando, Trinidad), Trinidadian politician and prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, 1991–95 and again from 2001. Preston Manning (10 Jun 1942, Edmonton, AB, Canada), Canadian politician and leader of the Reform Party. Sir Peter Mansfield (9 Oct 1933, London, England), British physicist and a pioneer of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); corecipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Marilyn Manson (Brian Hugh Warner; 5 Jan 1969, Canton OH), American shock-rock performer who styles himself the “Antichrist Superstar.” John H. Marburger III (1941?, Staten Island NY), American physicist; presidential science adviser and head of the Office of Science and Technology Policy from 2001.
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Geoffrey W. Marcy (29 Sep 1954, St. Clair Shores MI), American astronomer; discoverer of planetary systems outside the solar system. Brice Marden (15 Oct 1938, Bronxville NY), American painter and printmaker who combines the techniques of Abstract Expressionism with the philosophies of Minimalism. Margrethe II (Margrethe Alexandrine Thorhildur Ingrid; 16 Apr 1940, Copenhagen, Denmark), Danish royal, queen from 1972. Mariza (Mariza Nunes; 1974?, Mozambique), Portuguese fado singer. Mary Ellen Mark (20 Mar 1940, Philadelphia PA), American photojournalist whose compelling, empathetic images document the lives of marginalized people in the US and other countries. Andranik Markaryan (12 Jun 1951, Yerevan, USSR [now in Armenia]), Armenian politician and prime minister, 2000–07. Svetozar Marovic (31 Mar 1955, Kotor, Yugoslavia [now in Montenegro]), Montenegrin politician and president of Serbia and Montenegro, 2003–06. Branford Marsalis (26 Aug 1960, Breaux Bridge LA), American jazz saxophonist and bandleader. Wynton Marsalis (18 Oct 1961, New Orleans LA), American jazz trumpeter. Barry J. Marshall (30 Sep 1951, Kalgoorlie, WA, Australia), Australian clinician; corecipient of the 2005 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Yann Martel (1963, Spain), Spanish-born Canadian novelist; recipient of the 2002 Man Booker Prize. Chris Martin (2 Mar 1977, Exeter, Devon, England), British vocalist, guitarist, and pianist (of Coldplay). Kevin Martin (14 Dec 1966, Charlotte NC), American politician and chairman of the Federal Communications Commission from 2005. Paul Martin (28 Aug 1938, Windsor, ON, Canada), Canadian lawyer and businessman; prime minister of Canada, 2003–06. Steve Martin (14 Aug 1945, Waco TX), American comedic actor, screenwriter, playwright, and author. Masako (Masako Owada; 9 Dec 1963, Tokyo, Japan), Japanese royal, princess consort of Crown Prince Naruhito. Master P (Percy Miller; 29 Apr 1970, New Orleans LA), American gangsta rap performer and producer. Mary Matalin (19 Aug 1953, Chicago IL), American conservative political commentator and activist. John C. Mather (John Cromwell Mather; 27 Aug 1946, Roanoke VA), American astrophysicist; corecipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physics. Mathilde (Mathilde d’Udekem d’Acoz; 21 Jan 1973, Uccle, Belgium), Belgian royal, princess consort of Prince Philippe (married 4 Dec 1999), and heir to the throne. Hideki Matsui (12 Jun 1974, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan), Japanese baseball outfielder known for his hitting. Koichiro Matsuura (1937, Tokyo, Japan), Japanese international official; director-general of UNESCO from 1999. Dave Matthews (David John Matthews; 9 Jan 1967, Johannesburg, South Africa), South African–born American rock musician and songwriter, the leader of the Dave Matthews Band. Amélie Mauresmo (5 Jul 1979, Saint-Germain-enLaye, France), French tennis player. Máxima (Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti; 17 May 1971, Buenos Aires, Argentina), Argentine-born Dutch investment banker and princess consort of Crown Prince Willem-Alexander (married 2 Feb 2002).
PEOPLE Maxwell (23 May 1973, Brooklyn NY), American R&B and soul singer. John (Dayton) Mayer (1979, Fairfield CT), American singer and songwriter. Thom Mayne (19 Jan 1944, Waterbury CT), American architect, a cofounder (1972) of the architectural studio Morphosis, which specializes in schools and commercial buildings; recipient of the 2005 Pritzker Prize. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (1954?, Bangalore, India), Indian business executive and founder (1978) of Biocon India, India’s first biotechnology company. Thabo (Mvuyelwa) Mbeki (18 Jun 1942, Idutywa, Transkei, South Africa), South African politician and president from 1999. Mary Patricia McAleese (27 Jun 1951, Belfast, Northern Ireland), Irish politician, president from 1997. Martina McBride (Martina Maria Schiff; 29 Jul 1966, Sharon KS), American country singer. John McCain (John Sidney McCain III; 29 Aug 1936, Panama Canal Zone), American Republican politician and senator from Arizona. Theodore Edgar Cardinal McCarrick (7 Jul 1930, New York NY), American Roman Catholic churchman; archbishop of Washington DC, 2001–06, and cardinal from 2001. Cormac McCarthy (Charles McCarthy, Jr.; 20 Jul 1933, Providence RI), American writer in the Southern Gothic tradition whose novels about the rural American South are noted for their dark violence. Sir Paul McCartney (James Paul McCartney; 18 Jun 1942, Liverpool, England), British singer, songwriter, and member of the Beatles. Stella (Nina) McCartney (13 Sep 1971, London, England), British fashion designer for Chloé and for her own signature line. Delbert McClinton (4 Nov 1940, Lubbock TX), American country-and-western singer and harmonica player, a pioneer of the Texas roots music revival. Mike McConnell (John Michael McConnell; 26 Jul 1943, Greenville SC), American military intelligence officer; director of the National Security Agency, 1992–96, and director of national intelligence from 2007. Eric McCormack (18 Apr 1963, Toronto, ON, Canada), American TV actor. David McCullough (7 Jul 1933, Pittsburgh PA), American best-selling biographer and historian. Audra (Ann) McDonald (3 Jul 1970, Berlin, Germany), Tony Award-winning American actress and singer on Broadway, on TV, and in classical music. Frances McDormand (23 Jun 1957, Chicago IL), American film actress. Malcolm McDowell (Malcolm Taylor; 13 Jun 1943, Leeds, England), British film actor. John McEnroe (John Patrick McEnroe, Jr.; 16 Feb 1959, Wiesbaden, West Germany [now in Germany]), American tennis player and TV sportscaster. Reba McEntire (28 Mar 1954, McAlester OK), American country singer and TV and film actress. Ian (Russell) McEwan (21 Jun 1948, Aldershot, England), British novelist. Daniel L. McFadden (29 Jul 1937, Raleigh NC), American economist; corecipient of the 2000 Nobel Memorial Prize for Economic Science. Phil McGraw (Phillip C. McGraw; “Dr. Phil”; 1 Sep 1950, Vinita OK), American talk-show host, author, and psychologist-educator. Tim McGraw (Samuel Timothy McGraw; 1 May 1967, Delhi LA), American country-and-western singer.
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Dalton McGuinty (19 Jul 1955, Ottawa, ON, Canada), Canadian Liberal politician, premier of Ontario from 2003. Mark (David) McGwire (1 Oct 1963, Pomona CA), American baseball player considered one of the most powerful hitters in the history of the game. Dan Peter McKenzie (21 Feb 1942, Cheltenham, England), British geophysicist; recipient of the 2002 Crafoord Prize. Kevin McKenzie (29 Apr 1954, Burlington VT), American ballet dancer, choreographer, and director who danced with the American Ballet Theatre, 1979–91, and became its artistic director in 1992. Don McKinnon (Donald Charles McKinnon; 27 Feb 1939, Greenwich, England), New Zealand international official and secretary-general of the Commonwealth from 2000. Sarah McLachlan (28 Jan 1968, Halifax, NS, Canada), Canadian singer and songwriter; she was the organizer and headliner of Lilith Fair, a traveling summer concert tour featuring female performers. Beverley McLachlin (7 Sep 1943, Pincher Creek, AB, Canada), Canadian Supreme Court justice from 1989 and chief justice from 2000. Vince McMahon (Vincent Kennedy McMahon, Jr.; 24 Aug 1945, Pinehurst NC), American wrestling promoter; owner of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., from 1982. Larry McMurtry (3 Jun 1936, Wichita Falls TX), American writer noted for his novels set on the frontier, in contemporary small towns, and in increasingly urbanized and industrial areas of Texas. Marian McPartland (Margaret Marian Turner; 20 Mar 1918, Slough, England), English-born American jazz pianist and composer; host of Piano Jazz, a weekly show on National Public Radio, from 1978. James M. McPherson (11 Oct 1936, Valley City ND), American historian of slavery and the antislavery movement. Ian McShane (29 Sep 1942, Blackburn, Lancashire, England), British film and TV actor. Russell (Charles) Means (10 Nov 1939, Pine Ridge SD), American Lakota Sioux activist who was a leader of the American Indian Movement (AIM); he is best known for leading a 71-day siege at Wounded Knee SD to focus attention on rights for Native Americans. Brad Mehldau (23 Aug 1970, Jacksonville FL), American jazz pianist and composer. Zubin Mehta (29 Apr 1936, Bombay [now Mumbai], British India), Indian-born orchestral conductor; music director of the Israel Philharmonic from 1968. John Mellencamp (Johnny Cougar; John Cougar Mellencamp; 7 Oct 1951, Seymour IN), American singer-songwriter who became popular in the 1980s by creating folk-inflected rock and presenting himself as a champion of small-town values. Craig C. Mello (19 Oct 1960, New Haven CT), American geneticist; corecipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Sam Mendes (Samuel Alexander Mendes; 1 Aug 1965, Reading, England), British film director. Paulo Mendes da Rocha (25 Oct 1928, Vitória, Espírito Santo state, Brazil), Brazilian architect and professor; recipient of the 2006 Pritzker Prize. Fradique de Menezes (1942), São Tomé and Príncipe politician; president of São Tomé and Príncipe from 2001 to 2003 and again from 2003. Angela Merkel (Angela Dorothea Kasner; 17 Jul 1954, Hamburg, West Germany [now in Germany]),
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German politician; leader of the Christian Democratic Union and chancellor of Germany from 2005. W.S. Merwin (William Stanley Merwin; 30 Sep 1927, New York NY), American poet and translator. Matthew Stanley Meselson (24 May 1930, Denver CO), American molecular biologist; the recipient of the 2004 Albert Lasker Special Achievement Award. Stipe Mesic (Stjepan Mesic; 24 Dec 1934, Orahovica, Yugoslavia [now in Croatia]), Croatian politician and president from 2000. Debra Messing (15 Aug 1968, Brooklyn NY), American TV and film actress. Pat Metheny (12 Aug 1954, Lee’s Summit MO), American jazz guitarist and bandleader. Mette-Marit (Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby; 19 Aug 1973, Kristiansand, Norway), Norwegian royal, princess consort of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway. Pierre de Meuron (8 May 1950, Basel, Switzerland), Swiss architect; corecipient of the 2001 Pritzker Prize. Michael (Michael Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen; ruled as Mihai I; 25 Oct 1921, Sinaia, Romania), Romanian king, 1927–30 (under regency) and 1940–47. Lorne Michaels (Lorne Michael Lipowitz; 17 Nov 1944, Toronto, ON, Canada), Canadian-born TV and film producer who was the originator and executive producer of TV’s Saturday Night Live. James (Alix) Michel (16 Aug 1944, Mahe Island, Seychelles), Seychelles politician and president from 2004. Michiko (Michiko Shoda; 20 Oct 1934, Tokyo, Japan), Japanese empress, consort of Emperor Akihito. Midori (Midori Goto; 25 Oct 1971, Osaka, Japan), Japanese-born American violinist. Dennis Miller (3 Nov 1953, Pittsburgh PA), American TV comedian and writer. (Samuel) Bode Miller (12 Oct 1977, Easton NH), American Alpine skier. Shannon (Lee) Miller (10 Mar 1977, Rolla MO), American gymnast. Ming-Na (Wen) (20 Nov 1963, Macau), Macaneseborn American TV actress. Anthony Minghella (6 Jan 1954, Ryde, Isle of Wight, England), Academy Award-winning British film director and screenwriter. Ruth Ann Minner (17 Jan 1935, Milford DE), American Democratic politician and governor of Delaware from 2001. Kylie (Ann) Minogue (28 May 1968, Melbourne, VIC, Australia), Australian actress and pop singer. Dame Helen Mirren (Ilyena Lydia Mironoff; 26 Jul 1945, Chiswick, London, England), British stage and film actress. Joni Mitchell (Roberta Joan Anderson; 7 Nov 1943, Fort MacLeod, AB, Canada), Canadian singer, songwriter, and painter. Keith (Claudius) Mitchell (12 Nov 1946, Grenada), Grenadan politician and prime minister from 1995. Lakshmi Mittal (15 Jun 1950, Sadulpur, Rajastan state, India), Indian-born British steel magnate; owner of the LMN Group, the world’s largest steel producer, and major shareholder in Ispat International. Jun’ichiro Miyazu, Japanese corporate executive and CEO of Nippon Telephone & Telegraph from 2002. Ratko Mladic (12 Mar 1943, Kalinovik village, Yugoslavia [now in Bosnia and Herzegovina]), Bosnian Serb military officer who led the Bosnian Serb army during the breakup of Yugoslavia and who was sought as a war criminal in the 1990s and 2000s. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka (3 Nov 1955, Claremont, Natal [now KwaZulu Natal] province, South Africa),
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South African politician, deputy president from 2005—the first woman to hold the position. Festus (Gontebanye) Mogae (23 Jul 1939, Kanye, Botswana), Botswanan politician, president from 1998. Alfred (Spiro) Moisiu (1 Dec 1929, Shkodër, Albania), Albanian military engineer, government official, and president, 2002–07. N(avarre) Scott Momaday (27 Feb 1934, Lawton OK), American author of many works centered on his Kiowa heritage. Sir Mark Moody-Stuart (1941, Antigua, West Indies), British corporate executive and CEO of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group (UK). Alan Moore (18 Nov 1953), British author and creator of graphic novels such as the Watchmen series (1987), with intellectual, adult-oriented content. Julianne Moore (Julie Anne Smith; 3 Dec 1960, Fayetteville NC), American film actress. Lorrie Moore (Marie Lorena Moore; 13 Jan 1957, Glens Falls NY), American short-story writer and novelist. Mandy Moore (Amanda Leigh Moore; 10 Apr 1984, Nashua NH), American pop singer and actress. Michael Moore (23 Apr 1954, Davison MI), American film director and author. Evo Morales (Juan Evo Morales Ayma; 26 Oct 1959, Orinoca, Bolivia), Bolivian farm-union leader; president of Bolivia from 2006. Jason Moran (21 Jan 1975, Houston TX), American jazz pianist and bandleader. Airto Moreira (5 Aug 1941, Itaiopolis, Santa Catarina state, Brazil), Brazilian jazz percussionist. Luis Moreno Ocampo (4 Jun 1952, Buenos Aires, Argentina), Argentine lawyer; the first chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, from 2003. Rhodri Morgan (29 Sep 1939, Cardiff, Wales), Welsh Labour politician, first minister of Wales from 2000. Manny Mori (1948), Micronesian politician; president from 2007. Alanis Morissette (1 Jun 1974, Ottawa, ON, Canada), Canadian-born American pop singer and songwriter. Mark Morris (29 Aug 1956, Seattle WA), American dancer and leading choreographer for several international dance companies; founder of the Mark Morris Dance Group in 1980. Toni Morrison (Chloe Anthony Wofford; 18 Feb 1931, Lorain OH), American novelist noted for her examination of the black experience (particularly the black female experience) within the African American community; recipient of the 1993 Nobel Prize for Literature. Viggo (Peter) Mortensen (20 Oct 1958, New York NY), American film actor. Walter Mosley (12 Jan 1952, Los Angeles CA), American writer of science-fiction and mystery novels interwoven with a progressive voice on social matters. Kate Moss (16 Jan 1974, Croydon, Surrey, England), British fashion model known for her work for Calvin Klein and for introducing the “waif” look to fashion. Andrew Motion (26 Oct 1952, London, England), English poet, teacher, editor, and biographer; poet laureate of England from 1999. Alonzo Mourning (8 Feb 1970, Chesapeake VA), American basketball player. Bill Moyers (Billy Don Moyers; 5 Jun 1934, Hugo OK), American TV journalist, government official, and author. Ms. Dynamite (Niomi McLean-Daley; 1982, London, England), British R&B singer. Mswati III (19 Apr 1968, Swaziland), Swazi royal; king of Swaziland from 1986.
PEOPLE (Muhammed) Hosni Mubarak (4 May 1928, Al-Minufiyah governorate, Egypt), Egyptian politician and president from 1981. Lisel Mueller (Lisel Neumann; 8 Feb 1924, Hamburg, Germany), German-born American poet. Robert S(wan) Mueller III (7 Aug 1944, New York NY), American government official; FBI director from 2001. Robert (Gabriel) Mugabe (21 Feb 1924, Kutama, Southern Rhodesia [now Zimbabwe]), Zimbabwean politician; the first prime minister (1980–87) of the reconstituted state of Zimbabwe and president from 1987. Muhammad VI (Muhammad ibn al-Hassan; 21 Aug 1963, Rabat, Morocco), king of Morocco from 1999. Ali Muhammad Mujawar (1953), Yemeni politician; prime minister from 2007. Paul Muldoon (20 Jun 1951, Portadown, Northern Ireland), Irish-born American poet known for his ingenious verses and flashy wordplay. Marcia Muller (28 Sep 1944, Detroit MI), American mystery writer; author of a series of novels (from 1977) featuring a female detective, Sharon McCone. Alice Munro (10 Jul 1931, Wingham, ON, Canada), Canadian short-story writer who gained international recognition with her exquisitely drawn stories, usually set in southwestern Ontario. (Keith) Rupert Murdoch (11 Mar 1931, Melbourne, VIC, Australia), Australian-born British newspaper publisher and media entrepreneur, founder of the global media holding company News Corporation Ltd. Eddie Murphy (3 Apr 1961, Brooklyn NY), American comedian and film actor. Cormac Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor (24 Aug 1932, Reading, Berkshire, England), British church leader; archbishop of Westminster (leader of the Roman Catholic church in the UK) from 2000 and cardinal from 2001. Bill Murray (21 Sep 1950, Wilmette IL), American comedian and film actor known for eccentric characterizations. Said Musa (19 Mar 1944, San Ignacio, British Honduras [now Belize]), Belizean politician and prime minister from 1998. Yoweri Museveni (15 Aug 1944, Mbarra district, Uganda), Ugandan politician and president from 1986. Pervez Musharraf (11 Aug 1943, New Delhi, British India), Pakistani military leader and politician; head of Pakistan’s government, 1999–2001, and president from 2001. Bingu wa Mutharika (24 Feb 1934, Thyolo district, British Nyasaland [now Malawi]), Malawian politician; president from 2004. Riccardo Muti (28 Jul 1941, Naples, Italy), Italian conductor of both opera and the symphonic repertory; principal conductor of La Scala Orchestra in Milan from 1987. Halil Mutlu (Huben Hubenov; “Little Dynamo”; 14 Jul 1973, Postnik, Bulgaria), Bulgarian-born Turkish weightlifter in the 54/56-kg class who has set more than 20 world records during his career. Anne-Sophie Mutter (29 Jun 1963, Rheinfelden, West Germany [now in Germany]), German violinist known for her striking onstage appearance, impeccable technique, and idiosyncratic interpretations of the standard repertoire. Levy Mwanawasa (3 Sep 1948, Mufulira, Southern Rhodesia [now Zambia]), Zambian politician and president from 2002. Mike Myers (25 May 1963, Scarborough, ON,
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Canada), Canadian comedian and actor famous for offbeat comedy. Youssou N’Dour (1 Oct 1959, Dakar, French West Africa [now in Senegal]), Senegalese singer and songwriter. James Nachtwey (14 Mar 1948, Syracuse NY), American photojournalist known for his award-winning work typically in zones of war and other turmoil. Ralph Nader (27 Feb 1934, Winsted CT), American social activist and politician; he was a presidential candidate in 2000 and 2004. Ray Nagin (Clarence Ray Nagin, Jr.; 11 Jun 1956, New Orleans LA), American politician (Democrat); mayor of New Orleans from 2002. Parminder K. Nagra (5 Oct 1975, Leicester, Leicestershire, England), British film and TV actress. V.S. Naipaul (Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul; 17 Aug 1932, Chaguanas, Trinidad), Trinidadian-born British writer known for his pessimistic novels about exile and alienation among postcolonial peoples; recipient of the 2001 Nobel Prize for Literature. Mira Nair (15 Oct 1957, Bhubaneshwar, Orissa state, India), Indian film director and screenwriter. Giorgio Napolitano (29 Jun 1925, Naples, Italy), Italian politician (Communist) and president from 2006. Janet Napolitano (29 Nov 1957, New York NY), American Democratic politician and governor of Arizona from 2003. Murthy Narayana (20 Aug 1946, Karnataka state, British India), Indian international business executive and pioneer in India’s high-tech industry; cofounder and CEO of Infosys Technologies Ltd., a technology and consulting firm. Robert Louis Nardelli (17 May 1948, Old Forge PA), American corporate executive and CEO of the Home Depot, Inc., from 2000. Naruhito (23 Feb 1960, Tokyo, Japan), Japanese crown prince. Milton Nascimento (1942, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), Brazilian pop singer and songwriter. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah (31 Aug 1960, Borj Hammoud, Beirut, Lebanon), Lebanese Islamist military leader and secretary-general of Hezbollah from 1992. Taslima Nasrin (25 Aug 1962, Mymensingh, Bangladesh), Bangladeshi Islamic feminist writer. S.R. Nathan (Sellapan Ramanathan Nathan; 3 Jul 1924, Singapore?), Singaporean diplomat and president from 1999. Nursultan Nazarbayev (6 Jul 1940, Chemolgan, USSR [now in Kazakhstan]), Kazakh statesman and president of Kazakhstan from 1990. Liam Neeson (William Neeson; 7 Jun 1952, Ballymena, Northern Ireland), British film actor. John D(imitri) Negroponte (21 Jul 1939, London, England), British-born American diplomat; US representative to the United Nations, 2001–04, and US ambassador to Iraq, 2004–05; the first director of national intelligence, 2005–07. Nelly (Cornell Haynes, Jr.; 2 Nov 1978, Austin TX), American rap artist. Willie (Hugh) Nelson (30 Apr 1933, Fort Worth TX), American songwriter and guitarist. Nerses Bedros XIX (Boutros Tarmouni; 17 Jan 1940, Cairo, Egypt), Armenian churchman and patriarch of the Catholic Armenians from 1999. Randy Newman (Randall Stuart Newman; 28 Nov 1943, Los Angeles CA), American composer, songwriter, singer, and pianist known for character-driven, ironic, and often humorous compositions.
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(Carson) Wayne Newton (3 Apr 1942, Roanoke VA), American pop singer. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (1942, Acoacan, Río Muni [now Equatorial Guinea]), Equatorial Guinean politician and president of Equatorial Guinea from 1979. Ngugi wa Thiong’o (James Thiong’o Ngugi; 5 Jan 1938, Limuru, Kenya), Kenyan novelist. Nguyen Minh Triet (8 Oct 1942, Ben Cat district, French Indochina [now in Vietnam), Vietnamese politician and president from 2006. Nguyen Tan Dung (17 Nov 1949, Ca Mau, French Indochina [now in Vietnam]), Vietnamese politician and prime minister from 2006. Mike Nichols (Michael Igor Peschkowsky; 6 Nov 1931, Berlin, Germany), American film and stage director whose productions focus on the absurdities and horrors of modern life as revealed in personal relationships. Jim Nicholson (R. James Nicholson; 4 Feb 1938, near Struble IA), American army officer and lawyer; chairman of the Republican National Committee, 1997–2000; ambassador to the Vatican, 2001–04; and secretary of veterans affairs from 2005. Uichiro Niwa (c. 1941, Aichi prefecture, Japan), Japanese corporate executive who was CEO and president of Itochu Corp. from 1998. Pierre Nkurunziza (18 Dec 1963, Ngozi province, Burundi), Burundian Hutu rebel leader; president of Burundi from 2005. Christopher (Jonathan James) Nolan (30 Jul 1970, London, England), British film director known for his psychologically challenging pictures. Donald A. Norman (25 Dec 1935, New York NY), American cognitive scientist specializing in problems of systems and design. Norodom Sihamoni (14 May 1953, Phnom Penh, Cambodia), Cambodian prince trained in classical dance and filmmaking; king from 2004, following the abdication of his father, King Norodom Sihanouk. Norodom Sihanouk (Preah Baht Samdach Preah Norodom Sihanuk Varman; 31 Oct 1922, Phnom Penh, Cambodia), Cambodian king, 1941–55 and again 1993–2004; head of state, 1960–70 and again in 1991–93. Elwood “Woody” Norris (1942?), American inventor of HyperSonic Sound (a device to focus sound waves), the AirScooter, and other devices. Deborah Norville (8 Aug 1958, Dalton GA), American TV anchor. Kessai Note (1950, Ailinglaplap atoll, Marshall Islands), Marshallese politician and president from 2000. Richard C. Notebaert (1948?, Montreal, QC, Canada), Canadian-born corporate executive; chairman and CEO of Ameritech Corp., 1993–99, and of Qwest Communications International Inc. from 2002. Chris Noth (13 Nov 1954, Madison WI), American film and TV actor. Lynn Nottage (1971?, Brooklyn NY), American playwright. Robert Novak (26 Feb 1931, Joliet IL), American newspaper and TV journalist. Conan O’Brien (18 Apr 1963, Brookline MA), American TV personality; host of Late Night with Conan O’Brien from 1993. Ed O’Brien (Edward John O’Brien; 15 Apr 1968, Oxford, England), British rock guitarist and member of Radiohead. Mark O’Connor (5 Aug 1961, Seattle WA), American country fiddle player. Sandra Day O’Connor (26 Mar 1930, El Paso TX),
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
American jurist and associate justice of the US Supreme Court, 1981–2005, the first woman appointed to the court. Rosie O’Donnell (Rosanne O’Donnell; 21 Mar 1962, Commack NY), American TV personality. Martin O’Malley (Martin Joseph O’Malley; 18 Jan 1963, Washington DC), American politician (Democrat); mayor of Baltimore, 1999–2007; governor of Maryland from 2007. Sean Patrick O’Malley (29 Jun 1944, Lakewood OH), American Roman Catholic churchman; archbishop of Boston from 2003. Shaquille (Rashaun) O’Neal (6 Mar 1972, Newark NJ), American professional basketball center who won NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000–02 and with the Miami Heat in 2006. Bill O’Reilly (William James O’Reilly, Jr.; 10 Sep 1949, New York NY), American TV journalist and talk-show host; anchorman of The O’Reilly Factor on cable TV’s Fox News Channel from 1996. David J. O’Reilly (January 1947, Dublin, Ireland), Irish-born American corporate executive; chairman and CEO of ChevronTexaco Corp. from 2001. P.J. O’Rourke (Patrick Jake O’Rourke; 14 Nov 1947, Toledo OH), American political satirist. Peter (Seamus) O’Toole (2 Aug 1932, Connemara, County Galway, Ireland), British stage and film actor. Joyce Carol Oates (16 Jun 1938, Lockport NY), American novelist, short-story writer, and essayist noted for her depictions of violence and evil in modern society. Thoraya Obaid (2 Mar 1945, Baghdad, Iraq), Iraqiborn Saudi Arabian civil servant; executive director of the UN Population Fund from 2001. Barack Obama (4 Aug 1961, Honolulu HI), American Democratic politician; senator from Illinois from 2005. Olusegun Obasanjo (5 Mar 1937, Abeokuta, Nigeria), Nigerian military leader, politician, and president, 1999–2007. Piermaria J. Oddone (26 Mar 1944, Arequipa, Peru), Peruvian-born American experimental particle physicist and administrator; director of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory from 2005. Kenzaburo Oe (31 Jan 1935, Ose, Ehime prefecture, Japan), Japanese novelist whose works express the disillusionment of his post-World War II generation; recipient of the 1994 Nobel Prize for Literature. Sadaharu Oh (20 May 1940, Tokyo, Japan), Japanese baseball player who holds the world record for most professional career home runs (868) and holds the Japanese single-season home-run record (55). Paul Okalik (26 May 1964, Pangnirtung, NWT [now in Nunavut], Canada), Canadian politician and premier of Nunavut from 1999. Claes (Thure) Oldenburg (28 Jan 1929, Stockholm, Sweden), Swedish-born Pop-art sculptor, best known for his giant soft sculptures of everyday objects. Sharon Olds (19 Nov 1942, San Francisco CA), American poet best known for her powerful, often erotic, imagery of the body and her examination of the family. Jamie Oliver (27 May 1975, Essex, England), British chef and TV personality who is known by the title of his TV program, The Naked Chef, and for his hip, down-to-earth, and fun style of food preparation. Ehud Olmert (30 Sep 1945, near Binyamina, Palestine [now in Israel]), Israeli politician; prime minister of Israel from 2006. Ashley (Fuller) and Mary-Kate Olsen (13 Jun 1986, Sherman Oaks CA), American twin child stars and a marketing phenomenon in modeling, films, TV, and music videos.
PEOPLE Omarion (Omari Ishmael Grandberry; 12 Nov 1984, Los Angeles CA), American soul-pop singer, originally of the group B2K but beginning in 2005 also a successful solo act. (Philip) Michael Ondaatje (12 Sep 1943, Colombo, Ceylon [now Sri Lanka]), Canadian novelist and poet whose musical prose and poetry are created from a blend of myth, history, jazz, memoir, and other forms. Ong Keng Yong (1954), Singaporean diplomat and international official; secretary general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations from 2003. Ami Onuki (18 Sep 1973, Tokyo, Japan), Japanese pop singer, of the pop group Puffy AmiYumi. Makoto Ooka (16 Feb 1931, Mishima, Shizuoka prefecture, Japan), Japanese poet and literary critic, a prolific writer largely responsible for bringing contemporary Japanese poetry to the attention of the Western world. Suze Orman (5 Jun 1951, Chicago IL), American financial adviser and best-selling author. Daniel Ortega Saavedra (José Daniel Ortega Saavedra; 11 Nov 1945, La Libertad, Nicaragua), Nicaraguan guerrilla leader and politician; president, 1984–90 and again from 2007. Yury (Sergeyevich) Osipov (7 Jul 1936, Tobolsk, USSR [now in Russia]), Russian mathematician and computer scientist; president of the Russian Academy of Sciences from 1991. Joel Osteen (5 Mar 1963, Houston TX), American evangelist; head of the Lakewood Church in Houston. Albert Osterhaus (1949?, The Netherlands), Dutch virologist famed for his knack for isolating and identifying pathogenic human and animal viruses, including, in 2003, the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus. Butch Otter (Clement Leroy Otter; 3 May 1942, Caldwell ID), American politician (Republican); governor of Idaho from 2007. Michael Ovitz (14 Dec 1946, Encino CA), American entertainment executive; cofounder (1975) of the Creative Artists Agency. Amos Oz (4 May 1939, Jerusalem, British-mandated Palestine), Israeli novelist, short-story writer, and essayist. Cynthia Ozick (17 Apr 1928, New York NY), American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. Makoto Ozone (25 Mar 1961, Kobe, Japan), Japanese jazz pianist known for his performances with vibraphonist Gary Burton as well as for his solo work. Peter Pace (1945, Brooklyn NY), American Marine Corps general; chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 2005–07. Rajendra K. Pachauri (20 Aug 1940, Nainital, Uttar Pradesh [now in Uttaranchal] state, British India), Indian businessman and head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change from 2002. Al Pacino (Alfredo James Pacino; 25 Apr 1940, New York NY), American film actor known for intense, explosive roles. Lawrence Page (1972, East Lansing MI), American computer scientist and Internet entrepreneur who cofounded (1998) the Google Internet search engine. Ian Paisley (6 Apr 1926, Armagh, Northern Ireland), Northern Irish politician; first minister for Northern Ireland from 2007. Michael Palin (5 May 1943, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England), British comedian and actor; a founding member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Sarah Palin (Sarah Heath; 11 Feb 1964, Sandpoint ID), American politician; governor of Alaska from 2006.
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Eddie Palmieri (15 Dec 1936, New York NY), American jazz-salsa pianist. Samuel J. Palmisano (29 Jul 1951), American corporate executive; president and CEO of the International Business Machines (IBM) Corp. from 2002. Gwyneth Paltrow (28 Sep 1972, Los Angeles CA), American film and stage actress. Orhan Pamuk (7 Jun 1952, Istanbul, Turkey), Turkish novelist; recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize for Literature. Paola (Paola dei Principi Ruffo di Calabria; 11 Sep 1937, Forte dei Marmi, Italy), Italian-born Belgian queen consort of King Albert II (married 2 Jul 1959). Tassos Papadopoulos (7 Jan 1934, Nicosia, Cyprus), Greek Cypriot lawyer, politician, and government official; president of the Republic of Cyprus from 2003. Karolos Papoulias (4 Jun 1929, Ioannina, Greece), Greek PASOK politician and president from 2005. Anna (Helene) Paquin (24 Jul 1982, Winnipeg, MB, Canada), New Zealand film actress. Sara Paretsky (8 Jun 1947, Ames IA), American mystery writer who created the detective VI Warshawski. Nick Park (Nicholas Wulstan Park; 6 Dec 1958, Preston, Lancashire, England), Academy Award-winning British film animator. Sir Alan (William) Parker (14 Feb 1944, Islington, London, England), British advertising copywriter and film director. Eugene N(ewman) Parker (10 Jun 1927, Houghton MI), American physicist and astronomer; recipient of the 2003 Kyoto Prize in the basic science section for his prediction of the existence of the solar wind. Mary-Louise Parker (2 Aug 1964, Fort Jackson SC), American actress successful in equal measure on stage, in film, and on TV. Sarah Jessica Parker (25 Mar 1965, Nelsonville OH), American TV and film actress and model who starred in TV’s Sex and the City (1998–2004). Trey Parker (Randolph Severn Parker III; 19 Oct 1969, Conifer CO), American animator and cocreator (with Matt Stone) of South Park, an animated TV show. Bradford W. Parkinson (1935, Wisconsin), American aerospace engineer and developer of the NAVSTAR global positioning system; corecipient of the 2003 Charles Stark Draper Prize of the National Academy of Engineering. Suzan-Lori Parks (10 May 1963, Fort Knox KY), American playwright. Richard D(ean) Parsons (4 Apr 1949, BedfordStuyvesant, Brooklyn NY), American corporate executive; CEO of AOL Time Warner from 2002 and chairman from 2003. Timothy (Richard) Parsons (1 Nov 1932, Colombo, Ceylon [now Sri Lanka]), Canadian oceanographer; recipient of the 2001 Japan Prize for his work in fisheries management. Arvo Pärt (11 Sep 1935, Paide, Estonia), Estonian composer whose works display a simplicity and a medieval liturgical sound. Dolly (Rebecca) Parton (19 Jan 1946, Locust Ridge TN), American country-and-western singer, songwriter, and actress. Amy Pascal (1959, Los Angeles CA), American film executive; president of Turner Pictures from 1994 and, from Turner’s merger in 1996 with Time Warner, president of Sony Corp.’s Columbia Pictures. George E. Pataki (24 Jun 1945, Peekskill NY), American Republican politician and governor of New York, 1995–2007.
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Ann Patchett (2 Dec 1963, Los Angeles CA), American novelist. Pratibha Patil (19 Dec 1934, Jalgaon, British India), Indian politician; first female president, from 2007. Deval Patrick (Deval Laurdine Patrick; 31 Jul 1956, Chicago IL), American politician (Democrat); governor of Massachusetts from 2007. Arnall Patz (14 Jun 1920), American ophthalmologist and researcher on the causes and treatment of eye disease, especially among children. Sean Paul (Sean Paul Henriques; 8 Jan 1973, St. Andrew, Jamaica), Jamaican reggae musician. (Margaret) Jane Pauley (31 Oct 1950, Indianapolis IN), American TV personality. Henry M. Paulson (Henry Merritt Paulson, Jr.; 28 Mar 1946, Palm Beach FL), American corporate executive; CEO of Goldman Sachs Group; secretary of the treasury from 2006. Tim Pawlenty (Timothy James Pawlenty; 21 Nov 1960, St. Paul MN), American Republican politician and governor of Minnesota from 2003. Peaches (Merrill Nisker; 1968, Toronto, ON, Canada), Canadian electro-techno rapper known for her brash, sexually explicit material. Claudia Pechstein (22 Feb 1972, East Berlin, East Germany [now Berlin, Germany]), German speed skater. Amanda Peet (11 Jan 1972, New York NY), American film and TV actress. Harvey Pekar (1939, Cleveland OH), American file clerk and alternative comic-book artist. Pelé (Edson Arantes do Nascimento; 23 Oct 1940, Três Corações, Minas Gerais state, Brazil), Brazilian soccer (association football) inside-forward who was revered as much for his sportsmanship as for his extraordinary skill and innovative style; in his time he was probably the most famous and possibly the best-paid athlete in the world. David Pelletier (22 Nov 1974, Sayabec, QC, Canada), Canadian pairs figure skater (with Jamie Salé). Cesar Pelli (12 Oct 1926, Tucumán, Argentina), Argentine architect known for the lightweight, almost tentlike, appearance of his buildings, which are often surfaced in glass or with a thin stone veneer. Nancy Pelosi (Nancy D’Alesandro; 26 Mar 1940, Baltimore MD), American Democratic politician; congresswoman from California from 1987, House Democratic leader from 2003, and speaker of the House from 2007 (the first woman to hold the post). Leonard Peltier (12 Sep 1944, Grand Forks ND), American Ojibwa and Lakota activist and a leader in the American Indian Movement; his conviction in 1977 and imprisonment for the murder of two FBI agents at South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation in 1975 became a cause célèbre. Sean (Justin) Penn (17 Aug 1960, Santa Monica CA), American film actor and director known for his intense, brooding roles. Murray Perahia (19 Apr 1947, New York NY), American concert pianist. Sonny Perdue (20 Dec 1946, Perry GA), American agribusinessman, Republican politician, and governor of Georgia from 2003. Grigory Perelman (Grigory Yakovlevich Perelman; 13 Jun 1966, Leningrad, USSR [now St. Petersburg, Russia]), Russian-born mathematician who offered a solution to the famous Poincaré conjecture. Shimon Peres (2 Aug 1923, Wieniawa, Poland [now Vishniev, Belarus]), Israeli statesman, prime minister, 1984–86 and 1995–96, and president from
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2007; he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 for his efforts to work with the PLO. Kieran Perkins (14 Aug 1973, Brisbane, QLD, Australia), Australian swimmer who held 12 world records in distance freestyle events. Grayson Perry (24 Mar 1960, Chelmsford, Essex, England), British artist; recipient of the 2003 Turner Prize for ceramic pots decorated with his drawings. Matthew Perry (19 Aug 1969, Williamstown MA), American TV and film actor. Rick Perry (4 Mar 1950, West Texas), American Republican politician and governor of Texas from 2000. Joe Pesci (9 Feb 1943, Newark NJ), American film actor best known for roles in gangster movies and comedies. Bernadette Peters (Bernadette Lazzaro; 28 Feb 1948, Queens NY), American singer and actress on Broadway, on TV, and in films. Jürgen Peters (17 Mar 1944, Bolko, Germany [now Oppeln, Poland]), German trade union leader and chairman of IG Metall, the most powerful German trade union, from 2003. Mary E. Peters (Arizona), American transportation official; secretary of transportation from 2006. David Petraeus (David Howell Petraeus; 7 Nov 1952), American military leader; commander of Multinational Force Iraq (MNF-I) from 2007. Tom Petty (20 Oct 1953, Gainesville FL), American singer and songwriter whose roots-oriented guitar rock arose in the late 1970s and resulted in a string of hit singles and albums. Madeleine Peyroux (1973, Athens GA), American jazz singer. Michelle Pfeiffer (29 Apr 1958, Santa Ana CA), American film actress. Liz Phair (Elizabeth Clark Phair; 17 Apr 1967, New Haven CT), American rock singer and songwriter. Michael Phelps (30 Jun 1985, Baltimore MD), American swimmer, holder of numerous records. Regis (Francis Xavier) Philbin (25 Aug 1934, New York NY), American TV personality. Philip (Prince Philip of Greece; 3rd Duke of Edinburgh; 10 Jun 1921, Corfu, Greece), British royal; consort of Queen Elizabeth II (married 20 Nov 1947). Philippe (Philippe Leopold Louis Marie; 15 Apr 1960, Brussels, Belgium), duke of Brabant and crown prince of Belgium. Stone Phillips (2 Dec 1954, Texas City TX), American TV host and anchorman for Dateline NBC from 1992. Renzo Piano (14 Sep 1937, Genoa, Italy), Italian architect; recipient of the 1998 Pritzker Prize and the 2002 UIA Gold Medal for Architecture. Heinrich von Pierer (26 Jan 1941, Erlangen, Germany), German corporate executive and CEO of Siemens AG from 1992. DBC Pierre (Peter Finlay; June 1961, Australia), Australian-born British novelist; winner of the Man Booker Prize. Laffit Pincay, Jr. (29 Dec 1946, Panama City, Panama), Panamanian-born American jockey. Pink (Alecia Moore; 8 Sep 1979, Doylestown PA), American pop vocalist. Robert Pinsky (20 Oct 1940, Long Branch NJ), American poet and critic; poet laureate of the US, 1997–2000. Harold Pinter (10 Oct 1930, London, England), English playwright regarded as one of the most complex and challenging post-World War II dramatists; recipient of the 2005 Nobel Prize for Literature.
PEOPLE Pedro Pires (April 1934, Ilha do Fogo, Cape Verde), Cape Verdean politician and president from 2001. Bernd Pischetsrieder (15 Feb 1948, Munich, West Germany [now in Germany]), German corporate executive and CEO of Volkswagen AG from 2001. Brad Pitt (William Bradley Pitt; 18 Dec 1963, Shawnee OK), American actor and one of the biggest box-office draws in America. Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk (20 Dec 1950, Bryn Mawr PA), American urban planner who collaborates with her husband, Andres Duany. Yevgeny (Viktorovich) Plushchenko (also written Evgeni Plushenko; 3 Nov 1982, Solnechny, USSR [now in Russia]), Russian figure skater. Norman Podhoretz (16 Jan 1930, Brooklyn NY), American political commentator and editor of the journal Commentary, 1960–95. Sylvia Poggioli (194?, Providence RI), American foreign correspondent for National Public Radio. Hifikepunye (Lucas) Pohamba (18 Aug 1935, Okanghudi, South West Africa [now Namibia]), Namibian independence leader and politician; president from 2005. Sidney Poitier (20 Feb 1927?, Miami FL), Bahamian American stage and film actor and director. Roman Polanski (Raimund Liebling; 18 Aug 1933, Paris, France), Polish film director, scriptwriter, and actor. Judit Polgar (23 Jul 1976, Budapest, Hungary), Hungarian chess player. H. David Politzer (31 Aug 1949, New York NY), American quantum physicist; corecipient of the 2004 Nobel Prize for Physics. Sigmar Polke (13 Feb 1941, Oels, Germany [now Olesnica, Poland]), German painter, one of the founders of Capitalist Realism, a movement that depicts popular and mundane cultural artifacts with ironic seriousness. John (Charlton) Polkinghorne (16 Oct 1930, Westonsuper-Mare, Somerset, England), British Anglican priest and particle physicist; recipient of the 2002 Templeton Prize. Natalie Portman (Natalie Hershlag; 9 Jun 1981, Jerusalem, Israel), Israeli-born American film actress. Rob Portman (Robert Jones Portman; 19 Dec 1955, Cincinnati OH), American politician (Republican); director of the Office of Management and Budget from 2006. John E. Potter (195?), American corporate executive; CEO and postmaster general of the US Postal Service from 2001. Earl A. (“Rusty”) Powell III (24 Oct 1943, Spartanburg SC), American museum official; director of the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC from 1992. Samantha Power (1970, Ireland), Irish-born American writer. Velupillai Prabhakaran (26 Nov 1954, Jaffna, Sri Lanka), Sri Lankan secessionist, the founder and leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil Tigers) from the early 1970s. Miuccia Prada (1949, Milan, Italy), Italian fashion designer whose clothing, footwear, and accessories designs are characterized by casual luxury. John M(ichael) Prausnitz (1928, Berlin, Germany), German-born American applied physical chemist who specialized in the design of industrial-scale chemical separation processes to make them more efficient and environmentally sound. Azim Hasham Premji (24 Jul 1945, Bombay [now Mumbai], British India), Indian corporate executive; chairman of the Wipro Corp. of Bangalore from 1977.
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Edward C. Prescott (26 Dec 1940, Glens Falls NY), American economist; corecipient of the 2004 Nobel Memorial Prize for Economic Science. René Préval (René García Préval; 17 Jan 1943, Port-auPrince, Haiti), Haitian politician; president from 2006. André (George) Previn (6 Apr 1929, Berlin, Germany), German-born American pianist, composer, and conductor; music director of the Oslo Symphony Orchestra from 2002. Prince (Prince Rogers Nelson; 7 Jun 1958, Minneapolis MN), American singer and songwriter. Richard B. Priory (15 May 1946, Lakehurst NJ), American energy engineer, corporate executive, and CEO of Duke Energy from 1997. Romano Prodi (9 Aug 1939, Scandiano, Italy), Italian politician and prime minister, 1996–98 and again from 2006. E(dna) Annie Proulx (22 Aug 1935, Norwich CT), American writer whose darkly comic yet sad fiction is peopled with quirky, memorable individuals and unconventional families. Stanley Ben Prusiner (28 May 1942, Des Moines IA), American biochemist who discovered the prion; recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Georgi Purvanov (28 Jun 1957, Kovachevtsi, Bulgaria), Bulgarian politician and president from 2002. Vladimir (Vladimirovich) Putin (7 Oct 1952, Leningrad, USSR [now St. Petersburg, Russia]), Russian intelligence officer, politician, and president from 1999. (Sayyid) Qabus ibn SaAid (18 Nov 1940, Salalah, Oman), sultan of Oman from 1970. Muammar al-Qaddafi (also spelled Muammar Khadafy, Moammar Gadhafi, or MuAammar alQadh-dhafi; spring 1942, near Surt, Libya), Libyan military leader and Arab statesman; de facto chief of state from 1969. Dennis Quaid (9 Apr 1954, Houston TX), American film actor. Thomas Quasthoff (9 Nov 1959, Hildesheim, Germany), German bass-baritone who overcame being severely disabled to become one of the world’s preeminent classical music artists. Queen Latifah (Dana Elaine Owens; 18 Mar 1970, Newark NJ), American rap musician, film actress, and TV personality. Anna Quindlen (8 Jul 1953, Philadelphia PA), American political commentator and author. Daniel Radcliffe (23 July 1989, London, England), British actor who played the title character in the Harry Potter series of films from 2001. Paula Radcliffe (17 Dec 1973, Northwich, Cheshire, England), British long-distance runner. Aishwarya Rai (1 Nov 1973, Mangalore, Karnataka state, India), Indian beauty queen and film actress. Sam Raimi (Samuel M. Raimi; 23 Oct 1959, Franklin MI), American cult filmmaker who struck it big with the Spider-Man movies. Franklin D. Raines (14 Jan 1949, Seattle WA), American corporate executive and CEO of Fannie Mae from 1999. Konrad Raiser (25 Jan 1938, Magdeburg, Germany), German church official and general secretary of the World Council of Churches from 1993. Bonnie Raitt (8 Nov 1949, Burbank CA), American blues and R&B singer and bottleneck guitarist. Mahinda Rajapakse (18 Nov 1945, British Ceylon [now Sri Lanka]), Sri Lankan politician who was prime minister, 2004–05, and president from 2005. Imomali Rakhmonov (5 Oct 1952, Dangara, Tadzhik
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SSR, USSR [now Tajikistan]), Tajik politician and president from 1992. Samuel Ramey (28 Mar 1942, Colby KS), American operatic bass. José Ramos-Horta (26 Dec 1949, Dili, Portuguese Timor [now East Timor]), Timorese nationalist leader and prime minister from 2006; corecipient of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize. Rania, al-Abdullah (Rania al-Yaseen; 31 Aug 1970, Kuwait), Kuwaiti-born Jordanian royal, queen consort of King Abdullah II. Ian Rankin (28 Apr 1960, Cardenden, Fife, Scotland), Scottish author, one of the top-selling crime writers in the UK and creator of Inspector John Rebus. Anders Fogh Rasmussen (26 Jan 1953, Ginnerup, Denmark), Danish politician and prime minister from 2001. Aleksei Ratmansky (1968, Leningrad, USSR [now St. Petersburg, Russia]), Russian dancer, choreographer, and director; artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet from 2003. Rodrigo de Rato y Figaredo (18 Mar 1949, Madrid, Spain), Spanish government and international official; managing director and chairman of the International Monetary Fund from 2004. Sir Simon (Denis) Rattle (19 Jan 1955, Liverpool, England), British orchestra conductor; principal conductor and artistic director of the Berlin Philharmonic from the 2002–03 season. Marc Ravalomanana (1949, near Atananarivo, French Madagascar), Malagasy politician and president of Madagascar from 2002. Rachael (Domenica) Ray (25 Aug 1968, Cape Cod MA), American TV cook and cookbook author. Lee R. Raymond (1938, Waterstown SD), American corporate executive; chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil Corp. from 1994. Giovanni Battista Cardinal Re (30 Jan 1934, Borno, Italy), Italian Roman Catholic churchman and official of the Roman Curia; cardinal from 2001. Nancy Davis Reagan (Anne Frances Robbins; 6 Jul 1921, New York NY), American first lady; second wife and widow of Pres. Ronald Reagan. Robert Redford (18 Aug 1937, Santa Monica CA), American film actor and director and founder of the Sundance Institute and Film Festival. Lynn Redgrave (8 Mar 1943, London, England), British stage, screen, and TV actress. Vanessa Redgrave (30 Jan 1937, London, England), British stage and screen actress and political activist. Joshua Redman (1 Feb 1969, Berkeley CA), American jazz-saxophone player. Sumner Redstone (Sumner Rothstein; 27 May 1923, Boston MA), American corporate executive; chairman of the board (from 1987) and CEO (from 1996) of Viacom Inc. David Rees (1973?), American comic artist, creator (2001) of the topical, profane Get Your War On comic strip on the Internet. Sir Martin J(ohn) Rees (23 Jun 1942, Shropshire, England), British astronomer royal whose controversial book Our Final Century (2003; published in the US as Our Final Hour) argued that the pace of technological change threatened to outstrip the ability of humans to control it. Keanu (Charles) Reeves (2 Sep 1964, Beirut, Lebanon), American actor. Harry Reid (2 Dec 1939, Searchlight NV), American Democratic politician, senator from Nevada (from 1987), Senate minority whip (1998–2005), and Democratic leader from 2005.
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Tara Reid (8 Nov 1975, Wyckoff NJ), American film actress. Rob Reiner (6 Mar 1947, Bronx NY), American actor, director, writer, and producer. Fredrik Reinfeldt (John Fredrik Reinfeldt; 4 Aug 1965, Österhaninge, Sweden), Swedish politician (Moderate Party); prime minister of Sweden from 2006. M(argaret) Jodi Rell (16 Jun 1946, Norfolk VA), American Republican politician and governor of Connecticut from 2004. Tommy Remengesau, Jr. (1956), Palauan politician and president from 2001. Edward Gene Rendell (5 Jan 1944, New York NY), American Democratic politician, mayor of Philadelphia, 1992–2000, and governor of Pennsylvania from 2003. Ruth Rendell (Baroness Rendell of Babergh; pseudonym Barbara Vine; 17 Feb 1930, London, England), British mystery novelist and creator of Chief Inspector Wexford. Yasmina Reza (1 May 1959, Paris, France), French playwright best known for her play Art. Busta Rhymes (Trevor Smith, Jr.; 20 May 1972, Brooklyn NY), American rap performer. Anne Rice (Howard Allen O’Brien; pseudonyms A.N. Roquelaure and Anne Rampling; 4 Oct 1941, New Orleans LA), American Gothic novelist known especially for her six-volume Vampire Chronicles. Condoleezza Rice (14 Nov 1954, Birmingham AL), American academic and government official; national security adviser, 2001–05, and US secretary of state from 2005. Adrienne (Cecile) Rich (16 May 1929, Baltimore MD), American poet, scholar, teacher, and critic. Denise (Lee) Richards (17 Feb 1971, Downers Grove IL), American model and TV and film actress. Keith Richards (18 Dec 1943, Dartford, Kent, England), British guitarist and singer with the Rolling Stones. Maxwell Richards (1931, San Fernando, Trinidad), Trinidadian chemical engineer and university professor; president of Trinidad and Tobago from 2003. Bill Richardson (15 Nov 1947, Pasadena CA), American government official; governor of New Mexico from 2003. Lionel B. Richie, Jr. (20 Jun 1949, Tuskegee AL), American R&B songwriter and singer. Nicole Richie (15 Sep 1981, Berkeley CA), American celebrity entertainer. Gerhard Richter (9 Feb 1932, Dresden, Germany), German artist and cofounder of the movement known as Capitalist Realism, in which ordinary objects such as furniture and food, and sometimes the artists themselves, are depicted as art. Kai-Uwe Ricke (Oct 1961, Krefeld, West Germany [now in Germany]), German corporate executive and CEO of Deutsche Telekom from 2002. Sally K(risten) Ride (26 May 1951, Encino CA), American astronaut and astrophysicist who was the first American woman to fly in space (1983). Robert R. Riley (3 Oct 1944, Ashland AL), American Republican politician and governor of Alabama from 2003. LeAnn Rimes (28 Aug 1982, Jackson MS), American country-and-western singer. Bill Ritter (August William Ritter, Jr.; 6 Sep 1956, Denver CO), American politician (Democrat); governor of Colorado from 2007. Rivaldo (Vitor Borba Ferreira; 19 Apr 1972, Recife, Brazil), Brazilian association football (soccer) player. Geraldo (Miguel) Rivera (4 Jul 1943, Brooklyn NY), American TV journalist and talk-show host.
PEOPLE Tim Robbins (16 Oct 1958, West Covina CA), American actor. Cecil E(dward) Roberts, Jr. (31 Oct 1946, Kayford WV), American labor leader; president of the United Mine Workers of America from 1995. John G(lover) Roberts (27 Jan 1955, Buffalo NY), American trial lawyer and federal appeals court judge; chief justice of the US from 2005. Julia Roberts (Julie Fiona Roberts; 28 Oct 1967, Smyrna GA), American film actress. Nora Roberts (Eleanor Marie Robertson; 10 Oct 1950, Silver Spring MD), American author of bestselling novels that blur the distinction between the romance, fantasy, and suspense genres. Smokey Robinson (William Robinson, Jr.; 19 Feb 1940, Detroit MI), American R&B singer and songwriter. Emily Robison (Emily Burns Erwin; 16 Aug 1972, Pittsfield MA), American country musician, a member of the Dixie Chicks. Chris Rock (7 Feb 1966, Georgetown SC), American stand-up comedian and actor known for his brash style. Kid Rock (Robert James Ritchie; 17 Jan 1971, Romeo MI), American rap-rock artist. The Rock (Dwayne Douglas Johnson; 2 May 1972, Hayward CA), American professional wrestler turned actor. Andy Roddick (30 Aug 1982, Omaha NE), American tennis player. Alex Rodriguez (27 Jul 1975, New York NY), American baseball shortstop and third baseman. Narciso Rodríguez (1961, New Jersey), American fashion designer. Oscar Andrés Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga (29 Dec 1942, Tegucigalpa, Honduras), Honduran Roman Catholic churchman; archbishop of Tegucigalpa from 1993 and cardinal from 2001. Robert G. Roeder (1942, Boonville IN), American biochemist; recipient of the 2003 Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research for his investigations into DNA/RNA transcription. Jacques Rogge (2 May 1942, Ghent, Belgium), Belgian Olympic yachtsman, surgeon, and sports executive; president of the International Olympic Committee from 2001. Roh Moo Hyun (6 Aug 1946, near Pusan, Korea [now in South Korea]), Korean politician; president of the Republic of Korea from 2003. Sonny Rollins (Theodore Walter Rollins; 7 Sep 1930, Harlem, New York NY), American jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist. Holmes Rolston III (19 Nov 1932, Staunton VA), American Presbyterian minister and environmental ethicist; founder of the journal Environmental Ethics (1979); recipient of the 2003 Templeton Prize. Ray Romano (21 Dec 1957, Queens NY), American comic actor best known for the award-winning TV series Everybody Loves Raymond (1996–2005). Mitt Romney (12 Mar 1947, Bloomfield MI), American businessman, sports executive, and Republican governor of Massachusetts, 2003–07. Ronaldo (Ronaldo Luiz Nazario de Lima; 22 Sep 1976, Itaguai, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil), Brazilian association football (soccer) player. Andy Rooney (14 Jan 1919, Albany NY), American TV journalist. Charlie Rose (5 Jan 1942, Henderson NC), American TV journalist and interviewer; host of The Charlie Rose Show since 1991.
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Irwin A. Rose (16 Jul 1926, Brooklyn NY), American biochemist; corecipient of the 2004 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Roseanne (Roseanne Cherrie Barr; Roseanne Arnold; 3 Nov 1952, Salt Lake City UT), American TV, film, stage, and nightclub comedian and actress. Wilbur Ross (28 Nov 1937, North Bergen NJ), American financier and turnaround specialist; chairman of International Steel Group, Inc. Philip (Milton) Roth (19 Mar 1933, Newark NJ), American novelist and short-story writer whose works are characterized by an acute ear for dialogue, a concern with Jewish middle-class life, and the painful entanglements of sexual and familial love. Mike Rounds (24 Oct 1954, Huron SD), American Republican politician and governor of South Dakota from 2003. Karl Rove (25 Dec 1950, Denver CO), American rightwing political operative; chief strategist for Pres. George W. Bush and deputy chief of staff, 2005–07. J.K. Rowling (Joanne Rowling; 31 Jul 1965, Chipping Sodbury, near Bristol, Gloucestershire, England), British author, creator of the Harry Potter series of novels about a young sorcerer in training. Patrick Roy (5 Oct 1965, Quebec City, QC, Canada), Canadian ice-hockey goalie. Donald (Henry) Rumsfeld (9 Jul 1932, Chicago IL), American government official who was US secretary of defense, 1975–77, and again 2001–06. Erkki Ruoslahti (16 Feb 1940, Helsinki, Finland), Finnish-born American cell biologist and distinguished professor at the Burnham Institute, La Jolla CA; corecipient of the 2005 Japan Prize in Cell Biology. Ed Ruscha (Edward Joseph Ruscha; 16 Dec 1937, Omaha NE), American artist known for his deadpan take on American pop culture. Geoffrey Rush (6 Jul 1951, Toowoomba, QLD, Australia), Australian film actor. (Ahmed) Salman Rushdie (19 Jun 1947, Bombay [now Mumbai], British India), Anglo-Indian novelist who was condemned to death by leading Iranian Muslim clerics in 1989 for allegedly having blasphemed Islam in his novel The Satanic Verses (1988). Tim Russert (7 May 1950, Buffalo NY), American TV talk-show host and moderator of Meet the Press from 1991. Patricia F(iorello) Russo (12 Jun 1952, Trenton NJ), American business executive and CEO of Lucent Technologies from 2002. Burt Rutan (Elbert L. Rutan; 17 Jun 1943, Portland OR), American test pilot, aerospace engineer, and designer of specialized aircraft. John A. Ruthven (1927, Cincinnati OH), American wildlife artist. John Rutter (24 Sep 1945, London, England), British composer and conductor; founder (1981) and leader of the Cambridge Singers. Kay Ryan (11 Sep 1945, San Jose CA), American poet. Meg Ryan (Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra; 19 Nov 1961, Fairfield CT), American film star. Winona Ryder (Winona Laura Horowitz; 29 Oct 1971, Winona MN), American film actress. Mikheil Saakashvili (21 Dec 1967, Tbilisi, USSR [now in Georgia]), Georgian politician; president from 2004. Charles Saatchi (9 Jun 1943, Baghdad, Iraq), Iraqiborn British advertising executive; cofounder of the Saatchi & Saatchi firm in London; art collector and patron and owner of the Saatchi Gallery. Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jabir Al Sabah (1929?, Kuwait), Kuwaiti sheikh; emir from 2006.
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Antonio Saca (Antonio Elías Saca González; 9 Mar 1965, Usulután, El Salvador), Salvadoran communications executive and politician; president of El Salvador from 2004. Jeffrey D. Sachs (Jeffrey David Sachs; 5 Nov 1954, Detroit MI), American economist. Oliver (Wolf) Sacks (9 Jul 1933, London, England), British-born American neurologist and best-selling author. Sade (Helen Folasade Adu; 16 Jan 1959, Ibadan, Nigeria), Nigerian-born British singer and songwriter. Muqtada al-Sadr (1974?, Baghdad, Iraq), Iraqi Muslim cleric, a charismatic figure in the anti-American and anti-Western insurrection in Iraq following the US-led occupation of March 2003. Keith J. Sainsbury (22 Feb 1951, Christchurch, NZ), New Zealand–born ecologist who researched marine-shelf ecosystems and their sustainable use; recipient of a Japan Prize in 2004. Yves Saint Laurent (Yves-Henri-Donat-Mathieu Saint Laurent; 1 Aug 1936, Oran, Algeria), French fashion designer noted for his popularization of women’s trousers for all occasions. Jamie Salé (21 Apr 1977, Calgary, AB, Canada), Canadian pairs figure skater (with David Pelletier). Sebastião (Ribeiro) Salgado (8 Feb 1944, Aimorés, Minas Gerais state, Brazil), Brazilian photographer whose work powerfully expresses the suffering of the homeless and downtrodden. AAli AAbdallah Salih (21 Mar 1942, Beit al-Ahmar, Yemen), Yemeni politician; president of Yemen (SanAa), 1978–90, and of the unified Yemen thereafter. Esa-Pekka Salonen (30 Jun 1958, Helsinki, Finland), Finnish conductor and musical director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1992. Ahmed Abdallah Sambi (5 Jun 1958, Mutsamudu, Anjouan, French Comoro Islands), Comoran Muslim religious leader and president from 2006. Ivo Sanader (8 Jun 1953, Split, Croatia, Yugoslavia), Croatian scholar, politician, and prime minister from 2003. Pedro A. Sánchez (1940, Havana, Cuba), Cuban-born American soil scientist; recipient of the 2002 World Food Prize. Adam Sandler (9 Sep 1966, Brooklyn NY), American comic actor. Mark Sanford (15 Jan 1960, Fort Lauderdale FL), American Republican politician and governor of South Carolina from 2003. Carlos Santana (20 Jul 1947, Autlán de Navarro, Mexico), Mexican-born guitarist and bandleader. Alejandro Sanz (Alejandro Sánchez Pizarro; 18 Dec 1968, Madrid, Spain), Spanish pop singer-songwriter and flamenco-pop artist. Cristina Saralegui (29 Jan 1948, Havana, Cuba), Cuban-born American Spanish-language TV talkshow host. José Saramago (16 Nov 1922, Azinhaga, Portugal), Portuguese novelist and man of letters; recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize for Literature. Susan Sarandon (Susan Abigail Tomalin; 4 Oct 1946, New York NY), American film actress. Serzh Sarkisyan (30 Jun 1954, Stepanakert, Armenia [now Xankändi, Azerbaijan]), Armenian politician; prime minister from 2007. Nicolas Sarkozy (Nicolas Paul-Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa; 28 Jan 1955, Paris, France), French conservative politician; interior minister from 2005 and president from 2007. Mikio Sasaki (1937?), Japanese corporate executive;
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president and CEO of Mitsubishi Motors Corp. from 1998. Denis Sassou-Nguesso (1943, Edou, French Equatorial Africa [now in the Republic of the Congo]), Congolese politician and president of the Republic of the Congo, 1979–92 and again from 1997. Jennifer Saunders (6 Jul 1958, Sleaford, Lincolnshire, England), British TV actress and comedienne. Michael Savage (Michael Alan Weiner; 31 Mar 1942, Bronx NY), American nutrition expert. Diane K. Sawyer (Lila Sawyer; 22 Dec 1945, Glasgow KY), American TV journalist. Antonin Scalia (11 Mar 1936, Trenton NJ), American jurist and associate justice of the US Supreme Court from 1986. Dame Marjorie Scardino (Marjorie Morris; 25 Jan 1947, Flagstaff AZ), American-born British CEO (from 1997) of the media firm Pearson PLC, which owns the Financial Times newspaper among others. Thomas C. Schelling (Thomas Crombie Schelling; 14 Apr 1921, Oakland CA), American economist; corecipient of the 2005 Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences. Claudia Schiffer (25 Aug 1970, Düsseldorf, West Germany [now in Germany]), German fashion model. Eric E. Schmidt (1955?), American computer scientist and corporate executive; CTO of Sun Microsystems, Inc., chairman and CEO of Novell, Inc., and chairman and CEO of Google, Inc., from 2001. Christoph Cardinal Schönborn (22 Jan 1945, Skalsko, Czechoslovakia [now in the Czech Republic]), Austrian Roman Catholic churchman, archbishop of Vienna from 1995, bishop of Austria for the Faithful of Eastern Rite (Byzantine) from 1995, and cardinal from 1998. Peter J. Schoomaker (12 Feb 1946, Detroit MI), American military officer; chief of staff of the US Army from 2003. Daniel Schorr (31 Aug 1916, New York NY), American TV and radio journalist and political commentator. Richard Royce Schrock (4 Jan 1945, Berne IN), American chemist; corecipient of the 2005 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for the development of the metathesis method in organic synthesis. Dieter Schulte (13 Jan 1940, Duisberg, Germany), German labor leader and head of the German Trade Union Federation from 1994. Henning Schulte-Noelle (26 Aug 1942, Essen, Germany), German corporate executive and CEO of Allianz AG from 1991. Howard Schultz (19 Jul 1953, Brooklyn NY), American businessman, CEO of Starbucks Corp. from 1987, and principal owner of the Seattle SuperSonics professional basketball team from 2001. Michael Schumacher (3 Jan 1969, Hürth-Hermülheim, West Germany [now in Germany]), German Formula 1 race-car driver who dominated Grand Prix racing in the early 2000s. Wolfgang Schüssel (7 Jun 1945, Vienna, Austria), Austrian politician and chancellor from 2000. Susan Schwab (Susan Carol Schwab; 23 Mar 1955, Washington DC), American trade official; US trade representative from 2006. Arnold (Alois) Schwarzenegger (30 Jul 1947, Thal bei Graz, Austria), Austrian-born American bodybuilder, Hollywood film star, and governor of California from 2003. Christian Schwarz-Schilling (19 Nov 1930, Innsbruck, Austria), German politician and diplomat; International High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2006.
PEOPLE Brian Schweitzer (4 Sep 1955, Havre MT), American politician and Democratic governor of Montana from 2005. David Schwimmer (2 Nov 1966, Astoria, Queens NY), American TV and film actor. John Scofield (26 Dec 1951, Dayton OH), American jazz electric guitarist, composer, and bandleader. Martin Scorsese (17 Nov 1942, Flushing, Long Island NY), American film director, writer, and producer known for harsh, violent depictions. H. Lee Scott, Jr. (1949?, Joplin MO), American executive; president and CEO of Wal-Mart Stores from 2000. Sir Ridley Scott (30 Nov 1937, South Shields, Durham, England), British film director and producer known for visual style and rich details. Kristin Scott Thomas (24 May 1960, Redruth, Cornwall, England), British actress. Ludwig Scotty, Nauruan politician and president, 2003 and again from 2004. Vincent J. Scully, Jr. (New Haven CT), American architectural historian and critic. Seal (Sealhenry Olusegun Olumide Samuel; 19 Feb 1963, Kilburn, London, England), British soul singer. Son Seals (13 Aug 1942, Osceola AR), American blues singer. John (Rogers) Searle (31 Jul 1932, Denver CO), American philosopher of language. Kathleen Sebelius (15 May 1948, Cincinnati OH), American Democratic politician and governor of Kansas from 2003. Alice Sebold (1963, Madison WI), American author. David Sedaris (26 Dec 1956, Johnson City NY), American writer and humorist. Ivan G. Seidenberg (1947?, Bronx NY), American corporate executive and CEO of Verizon Communications from 2002. Jerry Seinfeld (29 Apr 1954, Brooklyn NY), American comic and TV personality made famous by his series Seinfeld (1990–98). Bud Selig (Allan H. Selig; 30 Jul 1934, Milwaukee WI), American sports executive; Major League Baseball commissioner from 1998 (and de facto commissioner for six years before that). Tom Selleck (29 Jan 1945, Detroit MI), American film and TV actor. Phil Selway (23 May 1967, Hemingford Grey, Cambridgeshire, England), British rock drummer (of Radiohead). Amartya (Kumar) Sen (3 Nov 1933, Santiniketan, Bengal state, British India), Indian economist; recipient of the 1998 Nobel Memorial Prize for Economic Science for his contributions to welfare economics. Senait (Senait G. Mehari; 3 Dec 1976, Asmara, Ethiopia [now Eritrea]), Eritrean-born German singer who was a child soldier during the Eritrean war of independence before becoming a pop star in Germany. Paul Sereno (11 Oct 1957, Aurora IL), American paleontologist credited with a number of significant dinosaur finds. Jean-Pierre Serre (15 Sep 1926, Bages, France), French mathematician, a specialist in algebraic topology; recipient of the 1954 Fields Medal and the first winner (2003) of the Abel Prize. Vikram Seth (20 Jun 1952, Calcutta [now Kolkata], India), Indian poet, novelist, and travel writer. Ahmed Necdet Sezer (13 Sep 1941, Ayfon, Turkey), Turkish politician and president from 2000. Nasrallah Pierre Cardinal Sfeir (Nasrallah Boutros Pierre Sfeir; 15 May 1920, Reyfoun, Lebanon), Lebanese (Maronite Catholic) Patriarch of Antioch
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and All the East and Roman Catholic cardinal from 1994. Shaggy (Orville Richard Burrell; 22 Oct 1968, Rae Town, Kingston, Jamaica), Jamaican reggae artist. Gil Shaham (19 Feb 1971, Champaign-Urbana IL), American violinist. Shakira (Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll; 2 Feb 1977, Barranquilla, Colombia), Colombian-born pop singer. Tony Shalhoub (9 Oct 1953, Green Bay WI), American TV and film actor best known for his work in the detective show Monk, from 2002. Gene Shalit (25 Mar 1932, New York NY), American film critic. John Patrick Shanley (1950, Bronx NY), American screenwriter and playwright. Mariya Sharapova (19 Apr 1987, Nyagan, USSR [now in Russia]), Russian tennis player. Ariel Sharon (Ariel Sheinerman; 26 Feb 1928, Kefar Malal, Palestine [now in Israel]), Israeli politician and prime minister, 2001–06. Al Sharpton (3 Oct 1954, New York NY), American Democratic political activist, civil rights leader, and presidential candidate. William Shatner (22 Mar 1931, Montreal, QC, Canada), Canadian TV actor, author, and personality. Charlie Sheen (Carlos Irwin Estevez; 3 Sep 1965, New York NY), American film and TV actor. Martin Sheen (Ramon Estevez; 3 Aug 1940, Dayton OH), American stage, film, and TV actor. Judith Sheindlin (21 Oct 1942, Brooklyn NY), American TV judge (Judge Judy). Sam Shepard (Samuel Shepard Rogers; 5 Nov 1943, Fort Sheridan IL), American playwright and actor whose plays adroitly blend images of the American West, Pop motifs, science fiction, and other elements of popular and youth culture. Cindy Sherman (Cynthia Morris Sherman; 19 Jan 1954, Glen Ridge NJ), American photographer known for her elaborately disguised self-portraits that comment on social role-playing and sexual stereotypes. Vandana Shiva (1952, Dehra Dun, Uttar Pradesh [now in Uttaranchal] state, India), Indian biologist and social activist against the “biological theft” of the resources of poor countries by the richer ones; director of the Research Foundation on Science, Technology, and Ecology in India. Martin Short (26 Mar 1950, Hamilton, ON, Canada), Canadian actor and comedian. Will Shortz (1952), American “enigmatologist” and “puzzlemaster”; crossword-puzzle editor at the New York Times. Etsuhiko Shoyama (c. 1937), Japanese corporate executive and CEO of Hitachi, Ltd., from 1999. Maria (Owings) Shriver (6 Nov 1955, Chicago IL), American TV journalist and wife of actor and California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. M. Night Shyamalan (6 Aug 1970, Pondicherry, India), Indian-born American film director and screenwriter. John W. Sidgmore (1950?), American corporate executive; CEO of WorldCom, Inc., from 2002. Thomas M. Siebel (February 1953, Chicago IL), American corporate executive, the founder and CEO of Siebel Systems from 1993. Alicia Silverstone (4 Oct 1976, San Francisco CA), American film and TV actress. Silvia (Silvia Renate Sommerlath; 23 Dec 1943, Heidelberg, Germany), Swedish royal and social activist, queen consort of King Carl XVI Gustaf (married 19 Jun 1976).
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Charles Simic (9 May 1938, Belgrade, Yugoslavia [now in Serbia]), Yugoslav-born American poet who evoked his Eastern European heritage and his childhood experiences during World War II to comment on the dearth of spirituality in contemporary life. Russell Simmons (“Rush”; 4 Oct 1957, Queens NY), American hip-hop impresario and cofounder of Def Jam Records. Paul Simon (13 Oct 1941, Newark NJ), American singer and songwriter known first for his folk-rock albums with partner Art Garfunkel and later for his innovative solo work. Ashlee Simpson (3 Oct 1984, Dallas TX), American singer and TV and film actress, the younger sister of Jessica Simpson. Jessica Simpson (10 Jul 1980, Dallas TX), American dance-pop singer. Portia (Lucretia) Simpson Miller (12 Dec 1945, Wood Hall, St. Catherine parish, Jamaica), Jamaican politician; prime minister, 2006–07 (the country’s first female prime minister). Manmohan Singh (26 Sep 1932, Gah, Punjab, British India [now in Pakistan]), Indian Sikh economist, professor, and government official; prime minister from 2004. Fouad Siniora (1943, Sidon, Lebanon), Lebanese banker and Sunni politician; prime minister from 2005. Gary Sinise (17 Mar 1955, Blue Island IL), American TV and film actor and director. (Sayyid) Ali (Hussaini) al-Sistani (4 Aug 1930?, near Meshed, Iran), Iranian ShiAite Muslim cleric, a grand ayatollah, and one of the top two religious and legal authorities in ShiAi Islam. Ricky Skaggs (18 Jul 1954, Cordell KY), American bluegrass and country musician. Antonio Skármeta (7 Nov 1940, Antofagasta, Chile), Chilean novelist and screenwriter. Jeffrey S. Skoll (16 Jan 1965, Montreal, QC, Canada), Canadian entrepreneur, a cofounder of eBay and, from 1999, the president of the philanthropic Skoll Foundation. Leonard (Edward) Slatkin (1 Sep 1944, Los Angeles CA), American conductor; music director of the National Symphony Orchestra from 1996. Carlos Slim Helú (1940, Mexico?), Mexican investor; head of Grupo Carso, SA de CV, and longtime owner of the national telephone monopoly, Teléfonos de México (Telmex). Irina Slutskaya (9 Feb 1979, Moscow, USSR [now in Russia]), Russian figure skater. Lawrence M. Small (14 Sep 1941, New York NY), American businessman, president and COO of Fannie Mae, and secretary of the Smithsonian Institution from 2000. Tavis Smiley (13 Sep 1964, Gulfport MS), American advocacy journalist on radio and TV. Marc (Kelly) Smith (“Slampapi”; 195?, Chicago IL), American poet and originator of the “poetry slam”— performance-poetry competition—in the mid-1980s. Michael W. Smith (7 Oct 1957, Kenova WV), American Christian singer. Patti Smith (30 Dec 1946, Chicago IL), American musician, poet, and visual artist. Vernon L. Smith (1 Jan 1927, Wichita KS), American economist; corecipient of the 2002 Nobel Memorial Prize for Economic Science. Will Smith (Willard Christopher Smith, Jr.; 25 Sep 1968, Philadelphia PA), American rapper and actor on TV and in films. Zadie Smith (Sadie Smith; 1975, Willesden Green,
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
London, England), British novelist whose work is acclaimed for its eccentric characters, savvy humor, and snappy dialogue. Jimmy Smits (9 Jul 1955, Brooklyn NY), American TV and film actor. George F. Smoot (George Fitzgerald Smoot III; 20 Feb 1945, Yukon FL), American astrophysicist; corecipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physics for work concerning cosmic background radiation. Wesley Snipes (31 Jul 1962, Orlando FL), American film actor, principally in action movies. Snoop Dogg (Calvin Broadus; 20 Oct 1972, Long Beach CA), American gangsta rap musician. Gary (Sherman) Snyder (8 May 1930, San Francisco CA), American poet early identified with the Beat movement and a spokesman for the concerns of communal living and ecological activism. Solomon Halbert Snyder (26 Dec 1938, Washington DC), American neuroscientist who discovered opiate receptors in the brain and determined that gases can serve as neural messengers. José Sócrates (Carvalho Pinto de Sousa) (6 Sep 1957, Vilar de Maçada, Portugal), Portuguese civil engineer and Socialist politician; prime minister from 2005. Angelo Cardinal Sodano (23 Nov 1927, Isola d’Asto, Italy), Italian Roman Catholic churchman who became secretary of state of the Vatican in 1991 and was elevated to cardinal in the same year. Steven Soderbergh (14 Jan 1963, Atlanta GA), American film director. Sofia (Princess Sophie of Greece; Sofia de Grecia y Hannover; 2 Nov 1938, Athens, Greece), Spanish royal, queen consort of King Juan Carlos I of Spain (married 12 May 1962). Javier Solana Madariaga (14 Jul 1942, Madrid, Spain), Spanish statesman, NATO secretary-general, 1995–99, and secretary-general of the Council of the European Union from 1999. Susan Solomon (19 Jan 1956, Chicago IL), American photochemist specializing in the chemistry of the stratosphere, especially the science of the Antarctic ozone hole. László Sólyom (3 Jan 1942, Pécs, Hungary), Hungarian jurist; president from 2005. Sir Michael Somare (9 Apr 1936, Rabaul, Australianmandated New Guinea [now Papua New Guinea]), politician who was the first prime minister of independent Papua New Guinea, 1975–80, served a second time, 1982–85, and again from 2002. Stephen (Joshua) Sondheim (22 Mar 1930, New York NY), American composer and lyricist for musical theater. Sonja (Sonja Haraldsen; 4 Jul 1937, Oslo, Norway), Norwegian royal, queen consort of King Harald V (married 29 Aug 1968). Sophie, countess of Wessex (Sophie Helen RhysJones; 20 Jan 1965, Oxford, England), British royal, the wife of Prince Edward, earl of Wessex. Annika Sörenstam (9 Oct 1970, Stockholm, Sweden), Swedish golfer. Aaron Sorkin (9 Jun 1961, Scarsdale NY), American screenwriter, playwright, and TV producer. Guillaume Soro (8 May 1972, Kofiplé, Côte d’Ivoire), Ivorian politician; prime minister from 2007. Mira Sorvino (28 Sep 1967, Tenafly NJ), American film actress. Sammy Sosa (Samuel Sosa Peralta; 12 Nov 1968, San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic), Dominican baseball outfielder for the Texas Rangers. David H(ackett) Souter (17 Sep 1939, Melrose MA),
PEOPLE American jurist and associate justice of the US Supreme Court from 1990. Wole Soyinka (Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka; 13 Jul 1934, Abeokuta, Nigeria), Nigerian playwright, poet, novelist, and critic; recipient of the 1986 Nobel Prize for Literature. Kevin Spacey (Kevin Matthew Fowler; 26 Jul 1959, South Orange NJ), American stage and film actor. James (Todd) Spader (7 Feb 1960, Boston MA), American film and TV actor. Nicholas Sparks (31 Dec 1965, Omaha NE), American author of best-selling novels. Britney (Jean) Spears (2 Dec 1981, Kentwood LA), American pop singer and celebrity. Margaret Spellings (30 Nov 1957, Michigan), American political adviser, education expert, and US secretary of education from 2005. Sir Baldwin Spencer (8 Oct 1948), West Indian politician and prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda from 2004. Steven Spielberg (18 Dec 1947, Cincinnati OH), American film director and producer, one of the foremost of all time. Nikola Spiric (4 Sep 1956, Drvar, Yugoslavia [now in Bosnia and Herzegovina]), Bosnia and Herzegovinian politician; chairman of the Council of Ministers (prime minister) from 2007. Eliot Spitzer (10 Jun 1959, Riverdale, Bronx NY), American attorney and Democratic politician; governor of New York from 2007. Jerry Springer (Gerald N. Springer; 13 Feb 1944, London, England), American TV personality and politician. Timothy A. Springer (23 Feb 1948, Fort Benning GA), American pathologist. Bruce Springsteen (“The Boss”; 23 Sep 1949, Freehold NJ), American rock singer and songwriter who became the archetypal rock performer of the 1970s and ’80s. Sylvester Stallone (Michael Sylvester Enzio Stallone; “Sly”; 6 Jul 1946, New York NY), American film actor and director best known for macho acting roles. Sergey Stanishev (Sergey Dmitriyevich Stanishev; 5 May 1966, Kherson, USSR [now in Ukraine]), Bulgarian politician (Socialist); prime minister from 2005. Mavis Staples (1940, Chicago IL), American gospel vocalist, the lead singer of the Staples Singers. Danielle Steel (Danielle Fernande Schuelein-Steel; 14 Aug 1947, New York NY), American romance novelist. Shelby Steele (1 Jan 1946, Chicago IL), American critic and scholar of race issues who has opposed quota-based affirmative action. Gwen Stefani (3 Oct 1969, Fullerton CA), American rock vocalist who led the group No Doubt from 1987 and established herself as a successful solo artist. Frank-Walter Steinmeier (5 Jan 1956, Detmold, Germany), German government official; foreign minister of Germany from 2005. Frank P(hilip) Stella (12 May 1936, Malden MA), American painter, a leading figure in the Minimal art movement, known for paintings that are austere yet monumental in the simplicity of their design. Stephanie (Stéphanie Marie Elizabeth Grimaldi; 1 Feb 1965, Monaco), Monegasque princess, the youngest child of Prince Rainier III and Grace Kelly. George Stephanopoulos (10 Feb 1961, Fall River MA), American journalist, political commentator, and presidential adviser. Stéphanos II (Amba Andraos Ghattas; Stéphanos Cardinal Ghattas; 16 Jan 1920, Cheikh Zein-elDine, Egypt), Egyptian churchman, patriarch of
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Alexandria of the Coptics from 1986; Roman Catholic cardinal from 2001. Howard Stern (12 Jan 1954, Roosevelt NY), American radio and TV “shock jock,” actor, and author. John Paul Stevens (20 Apr 1920, Chicago IL), American jurist; associate justice of the US Supreme Court from 1975. Ted Stevens (18 Nov 1923, Indianapolis IN), American Republican politician, senator from Alaska, and president pro tempore of the Senate, 2003–2007. Jon Stewart (Jonathan Stewart Leibowitz; 28 Nov 1962, New York NY), American actor, writer, and comedian; anchor of TV’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart from 1999. Martha Stewart (Martha Helen Kostyra; 3 Aug 1941, Nutley NJ), American homemaking adviser, TV personality, and entrepreneur. Rod(erick) (David) Stewart (10 Jan 1945, London, England), British singer whose soulful, raspy voice has graced rock and pop hits since the late 1960s. Joseph E. Stiglitz (9 Feb 1943, Gary IN), American economist; corecipient of the 2001 Nobel Memorial Prize for Economic Science. Ben Stiller (30 Nov 1965, New York NY), American comedian, actor, and film director. Sting (Gordon Matthew Sumner; 2 Oct 1951, Wallsend, Newcastle upon Tyne, England), British musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. Jens Stoltenberg (16 Mar 1959, Oslo, Norway), Norwegian economist, politician (Norwegian Labor Party), and prime minister, 2000–01 and again from 2005. Joss Stone (Joscelyn Eve Stoker; 11 Apr 1987, Dover, Kent, England), English soul singer. Matt Stone (26 May 1971, Houston TX), American cocreator (with Trey Parker) of South Park, an animated TV show. Oliver (William) Stone (15 Sep 1946, New York NY), American director, writer, and producer of films with often politically controversial content. Sharon (Vonne) Stone (10 Mar 1958, Meadville PA), American fashion model and film actress. Sir Tom Stoppard (Tomas Straussler; 3 Jul 1937, Zlin, Czechoslovakia [now in the Czech Republic]), British playwright and screenwriter whose work is marked by verbal brilliance, ingenious action, and structural dexterity. Mark Strand (11 Apr 1934, Summerside, PE, Canada), Canadian writer whose poetry, noted for its surreal quality, explores the boundaries of the self and the external world. Meryl Streep (Mary Louise Streep; 22 Jun 1949, Summit NJ), American film actress. John F. Street (1943, Norristown PA), American Democratic politician; mayor of Philadelphia from 2000. Barbra Streisand (Barbara Joan Streisand; 24 Apr 1942, Brooklyn NY), American singer, actress, and film director. Ted Strickland (4 Aug 1941, Lucasville OH), American politician (Democrat); governor of Ohio from 2007. Sir Howard Stringer (19 Feb 1942, Cardiff, Wales), Welsh-born business executive; chairman and CEO of Sony Corp. from 2005. Susan Stroman (17 Oct 1954, Wilmington DE), American theater director. (Christopher) Ruben Studdard (12 Sep 1978, Frankfurt am Main, West Germany [now in Germany]), American singer. Zeljko Sturanovic (31 Jan 1960, Niksic, Yugoslavia [now in Montenegro]), Montenegrin politician; prime minister from 2006. Su Tseng-chang (28 Jul 1947, Ping-Tung, China [now
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in Taiwan]), Taiwanese politician; prime minister, 2006–07. Raman Sukumar (3 Apr 1955, Madras [now Chennai], India), Indian animal ecologist who studies Asian elephants in the wild in an effort to preserve the species. John E. Sulston (27 Mar 1942, Cambridge, England), British cell biologist; corecipient of the 2002 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr. (22 Sep 1951, Mt. Kisco NY), American newspaper executive, publisher of the New York Times from 1992 and CEO from 1997. Pat Summitt (Patricia Head; 14 Jun 1952, Henrietta TN), American basketball coach; longtime coach of the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers teams and the winningest coach in Division I basketball. Surayud Chulanont (28 Aug 1943, Phetchaburi province, Thailand), Thai politician and prime minister from 2006. Kiefer Sutherland (William Frederick Dempsey George Sutherland; 21 Dec 1966, London, England), Canadian film and TV actor. Ichiro Suzuki (22 Oct 1973, Kasugai, Aichi prefecture, Japan), Japanese baseball player, right fielder for the American League Seattle Mariners. Hilary Swank (30 Jul 1974, Lincoln NE), American film actress. John J. Sweeney (5 May 1934, New York NY), American labor leader and president of the AFL-CIO from 1995. Azadeh Tabazadeh (1965?, Iran), Iranian-born American atmospheric scientist whose work was instrumental in proving that naturally produced materials cannot be responsible for the degradation of the Earth’s ozone layer. Keiji Tachikawa (27 May 1939, Ogaki, Gifu prefecture, Japan), Japanese communications executive; president of DoCoMo, a wireless provider. Paul Tagliabue (24 Nov 1940, Jersey City NJ), American sports executive and commissioner of the National Football League, 1989–2006. Masatoshi Takeichi (27 Nov 1943, Nagoya, Japan), Japanese developmental biologist, professor, and director of the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology; corecipient of the 2005 Japan Prize in Cell Biology. Jalal Talabani (1933, Kalkan, Iraq), Iraqi Kurdish politician who created (1976) and led the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and was the first democratically elected president of Iraq, from 2005. Mehmet Ali Talat (6 Jul 1952, Girne, Cyprus), Turkish Cypriot politician, prime minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, 2004–05, and president from 2005. Koichi Tanaka (3 Aug 1959, Toyama, Toyama prefecture, Japan), Japanese chemist; corecipient of the 2002 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Mamadou Tandja (1938), Nigerois politician and president of Niger from 1999. Quentin (Jerome) Tarantino (27 Mar 1963, Knoxville TN), American film director. Calin Popescu Tariceanu (14 Jan 1952), Romanian industrial engineer, politician, and prime minister from 2004. Vasile Tarlev (9 Oct 1963, Bascalia, Moldavian SSR, USSR [now Moldova]), Moldovan politician and prime minister from 2001. Audrey Tautou (9 Aug 1978, Beaumont, France), French film actress. Sir John Tavener (28 Jan 1944, London, England), British composer whose works were inspired by sacred and spiritual texts and drew from Russian, Byzantine, and Greek influences.
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Charles (McArthur Ghankay) Taylor (27 Jan 1948, Athington, Liberia), Liberian coup leader and president of Liberia from 1997 until 2003, when he stepped down and went into exile. Elizabeth Taylor (27 Feb 1932, London, England), American film actress of great distinction noted for emotionally volatile characters. Studs Terkel (Louis Terkel; 16 May 1912, New York NY), American author, radio host, and oral historian. Adnan Terzic (1960, Zagreb, Croatia, Yugoslavia [now in Croatia]), Bosnian and Herzegovinian politician and chairman of the Council of Ministers (prime minister), 2002–07. Dionigi Cardinal Tettamanzi (14 Mar 1934, Renate, Italy), Italian Roman Catholic churchman; archbishop of Milan from 2002 and cardinal from 1998. Bal (Keshav) Thackeray (23 Jan 1927), Indian political cartoonist, newspaper publisher, and politician; founder (1966) and president of the ultra-Hindu-nationalist Shivsena party. John A. Thain (1955?), American financial official; CEO of the New York Stock Exchange from 2004. Hamad ibn Khalifah al-Thani (1950, Doha, Qatar), Qatari sheikh; emir from 1995. Twyla Tharp (1 Jul 1941, Portland IN), American dancer, director, and choreographer noted for her innovation and her humor. Charlize Theron (7 Aug 1975, Benoni, South Africa), South African actress. Thich Nhat Hanh (1926, central Vietnam), Vietnamese Buddhist monk, pacifist, and teacher. Clarence Thomas (23 Jun 1948, Pinpoint community, near Savannah GA), American jurist; associate justice of the US Supreme Court from 1991. Michael Tilson Thomas (21 Dec 1944, Hollywood CA), American conductor and composer; music director of the San Francisco Symphony from 1995. Emma Thompson (15 Apr 1959, London, England), British film actress known especially for serious dramatic roles and period pieces. Jenny Thompson (26 Feb 1973, Danvers MA), American swimmer. James Thomson (20 Dec 1958, Chicago IL), American cell biologist and stem-cell researcher, the first person to isolate stem cells from human embryos. Robert Thomson (11 Mar 1961, Echuca, VIC, Australia), Australian journalist; editor of The Times of London from 2002. Billy Bob Thornton (4 Aug 1955, Hot Springs AR), American director and actor. Ian Thorpe (“The Thorpedo”; 13 Oct 1982, Sydney, NSW, Australia), Australian swimmer. Uma (Karuna) Thurman (29 Apr 1970, Boston MA), American film actress often cast in sultry roles. Justin (Randall) Timberlake (31 Jan 1981, Memphis TN), American singer, a member of the group *NSYNC and, after 2001, a solo artist. Claire Tomalin (Claire Delavenay; 20 Jun 1933, London, England), English biographer and journalist. Anote Tong (1952), Kiribati politician and president from 2003. Bamir Topi (24 Apr 1957, Tiranë, Albania), Albanian biologist and politician; president from 2007. Mirek Topolánek (15 May 1956, Vsetin, Moravia, Czechoslovakia [now in Czech Republic]), Czech industrial engineer and businessman, politician, and prime minister of the Czech Republic from 2006. Martín Torrijos Espino (18 Jul 1963, Panama City, Panama), Panamanian politician and president from 2004. Linus (Benedict) Torvalds (28 Dec 1969, Helsinki,
PEOPLE Finland), Finnish-born computer scientist who developed the Linux operating system. Amadou Toumani Touré (4 Nov 1948, Mpoti, French Sudan [now in Mali]), Malian politician and president, 1991–92 and again from 2002. Randy Travis (Randy Traywick; 4 May 1959, Marshville NC), American country-and-western singer, songwriter, and actor. John (Joseph) Travolta (18 Feb 1955, Englewood NJ), American actor known for TV roles and trendsetting films. Jean-Claude Trichet (20 Dec 1942, Lyons, France), French banker, two-term governor of the Banque de France, and president of the European Central Bank from 2003. Calvin Trillin (5 Dec 1935, Kansas City MO), American author, commentator, and occasional poet. (William) David Trimble (15 Oct 1944, Belfast, Northern Ireland), Northern Irish politician and first minister of Northern Ireland, 1998–2002; corecipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize for Peace. Travis Tritt (9 Feb 1963, Marietta GA), American country-and-western singer who found great success from 1990 onward with a blues- and rock-tinged style. Garry Trudeau (21 Jul 1948, New York NY), American cartoonist, creator of the durable Doonesbury syndicated comic strip. Donald (John) Trump (14 Jun 1946, New York NY), American real-estate developer known for his highprofile real-estate developments; he also starred in a reality-TV series, The Apprentice, from 2004. Kostya Tszyu (Konstantin Tszyu; “The Thunder from Down Under”; 19 Sep 1969, Serov, USSR [now in Russia]), Russian-born Australian boxer, the undisputed junior welterweight (super-lightweight) champion from 2001. Togiola Tulafono (28 Feb 1947, American Samoa), American Democratic politician and governor of American Samoa from 2003. Tommy Tune (28 Feb 1939, Wichita Falls TX), American musical comedy dancer and actor noted especially for his work on Broadway. Christy Turlington (2 Jan 1969, Oakland CA), American fashion model. Ted Turner (Robert Edward Turner III; 19 Nov 1938, Cincinnati OH), American TV executive, the founder of Turner Broadcasting System and owner of Cable News Network (CNN), a pioneer in the use of satellite and cable technology; he is also a sports club owner (Atlanta Braves and others), a noted yachtsman, and a philanthropist. Scott Turow (12 Apr 1949, Chicago IL), American bestselling novelist, the author of crime and suspense novels dealing with law and the legal profession. John Turturro (27 Feb 1957, Brooklyn NY), American stage, film, and TV actor, often cast as disturbed or eccentric characters. Desmond (Mpilo) Tutu (7 Oct 1931, Klerksdorp, South Africa), South African Anglican cleric who in 1984 received the Nobel Prize for Peace for his role in the opposition to apartheid in South Africa. Shania Twain (Eileen Regina Edwards; 28 Aug 1965, Windsor, ON, Canada), Canadian country singer. Cy Twombly (Edwin Parker Twombly, Jr.; 25 Apr 1928, Lexington VA), American abstract artist and sculptor. Anne Tyler (25 Oct 1941, Minneapolis MN), American novelist and short-story writer whose comedies of manners are marked by compassionate wit and precise details of domestic life. Liv Tyler (Liv Rundgren; 1 Jul 1977, Portland ME), American actress and model.
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Steven Tyler (Steven Tallarico; 26 Mar 1948, New York NY), American rock vocalist (of Aerosmith). (Alfred) McCoy Tyner (later Sulaimon Saud; 11 Dec 1938, Philadelphia PA), American jazz pianist and composer. João Ubaldo Ribeiro (João Ubaldo Osório Pimentel Ribeiro; 23 Jan 1941, Itaparica, Bahia state, Brazil), Brazilian novelist. Robert J. Ulrich (Minneapolis MN), American corporate executive and CEO of Target Corp. from 1994. Carrie Underwood (10 Mar 1983, Muskogee OK), American country singer. John (Hoyer) Updike (18 Mar 1932, Shillington PA), American writer of novels, short stories, and poetry, known for his careful craftsmanship and realistic, subtle depiction of American, Protestant, smalltown, middle-class life. Álvaro Uribe Vélez (4 Jul 1952, Medellín, Colombia), Colombian politician and president from 2002. Joseph J. Urusemal (19 Mar 1952, Woleai, Yap, Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands [now in the Federated States of Micronesia]), Micronesian politician and president of the Federated States of Micronesia, 2003–07. Greg Urwin (1947?, Lithgow, NSW, Australia), Australian diplomat and international official; secretarygeneral of the Pacific Islands Forum from 2004. Usher (Usher Raymond IV; 14 Oct 1978, Chattanooga TN), American R&B singer. Jørn Utzon (9 Apr 1918, Copenhagen, Denmark), Danish architect best known for his dynamic, imaginative, but problematic design for the Sydney Opera House, Australia; recipient of the 2003 Pritzker Prize. Jochem Uytdehaage (9 Jul 1976, Utrecht, Netherlands), Dutch speed skater. Ely Ould Mohamed Vall (1953, Nouakchott, French West Africa [now in Mauritania]), Mauritanian military officer and coup leader; chairman of the Military Council for Justice and Democracy (head of state), 2005–07. Dick Van Dyke (13 Dec 1925, West Plains MO), American actor and comedian. Martine Van Hamel (16 Nov 1945, Brussels, Belgium), Belgian dancer and leading choreographer for the American Ballet Theatre. Gus van Sant (24 Jul 1952, Louisville KY), American film director. Matti Vanhanen (4 Nov 1955, Jyväskylä, Finland), Finnish politician and prime minister from 2003. (Jorge) Mario (Pedro) Vargas Llosa (28 Mar 1936, Arequipa, Peru), Peruvian-born Spanish novelist and presidential candidate; recipient of the Cervantes Prize in 1994. Harold (Eliot) Varmus (18 Dec 1939, Oceanside NY), American virologist; corecipient of 1989 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine; director of the National Institutes of Health, 1993–99; and president of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City from 2000. Tabaré (Ramón) Vázquez Rosas (17 Jan 1940, Barrio La Teja, Montevideo, Uruguay), Uruguayan physician and Socialist politician; president from 2005. Jeroen van der Veer (1947, Utrecht, Netherlands), Dutch corporate executive; CEO of Royal Dutch/Shell Group (Netherlands). Jaci Velasquez (Jacquelyn Davette Velasquez; 15 Oct 1979, Houston TX), American Latin and gospel singer. Ann M. Veneman (29 Jun 1949, Modesto CA), American government official; US secretary of agriculture, 2001–05; and executive secretary of UNICEF from 2005.
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(Runaldo) Ronald Venetiaan (18 Jun 1936, Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana [now Suriname]), Surinamese politician; president, 1991–96 and again from 2000. Maxim Vengerov (20 Aug 1974, Novosibirsk, USSR [now in Russia]), Russian-born concert violinist known for his mastery of technique and his ardent, lyrical playing. J. Craig Venter (14 Oct 1946, Salt Lake City UT), American geneticist and researcher into the human genome; he was the founder of Celera Genomics. Guy Verhofstadt (11 Apr 1953, Dendermonde, Belgium), Belgian politician and prime minister from 1999. Donatella Versace (2 May 1955, Reggio di Calabria, Italy), Italian fashion designer; creative director at the Versace design house from 1997. Ben Verwaayen (Feb 1952), Dutch corporate executive and CEO of British Telecommunications PLC from 2002. Jack Vettriano (Jack Hoggan; 17 Nov 1951, St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland), British painter of realistic natural scenes, sometimes with erotic overtones. Victoria (Victoria Ingrid Alice Desirée; Duchess of Västergötland; 14 Jul 1977, Stockholm, Sweden), Swedish crown princess. João Bernardo Vieira (27 Apr 1939, Bissau, Portuguese Guinea [now Guinea-Bissau]), Guinea-Bissau politician; president, 1973–84, 1984–99, and again from 2005. Vaira Vike-Freiberga (1 Dec 1937, Riga, Latvia), Canadian Latvian folklorist and politician; president of Latvia, 1999–2007. Antonio Villaraigosa (Antonio Villar; 23 Jan 1953, East Los Angeles CA), American Democratic politician and mayor of Los Angeles from 2005. Lars von Trier (30 Apr 1956, Copenhagen, Denmark), Danish film director and cinematographer known for his avant-garde approach to filmmaking. Vladimir Voronin (25 May 1941, Corjova, Moldavian SSR, USSR [now Moldova]), Moldovan politician and president from 2001. Filip Vujanovic (1 Sep 1954, Belgrade, Yugoslavia [now in Serbia]), Montenegrin politician and president of the republic of Montenegro, before and after its independence, 2002–03 (acting) and again from 2003. Rem (Ivanovich) Vyakhirev (23 Aug 1934, Bolshaya Chernigovka, USSR [now in Russia]), Russian billionaire head (1992–2001) of Gazprom, the largest company in Russia, and chairman of Siberia Oil Co. from 1996. Norio Wada (17 Nov 1949, Osaka, Japan), Japanese corporate executive; president and CEO of Nippon Telegraph & Telephone from 2002. Abdoulaye Wade (29 May 1926, Kébémer, French West Africa [now in Senegal]), Senegalese politician and president from 2000. G. Richard Wagoner, Jr. (9 Feb 1953, Wilmington DE), American corporate executive and CEO of General Motors Corp. from 2000. Rufus Wainwright (22 Jul 1973, Rhinebeck NY), American-born Canadian singer and songwriter. Ted Waitt (18 Jan 1963, Sioux City IA), American computer executive and philanthropist; cofounder of Gateway Inc. in 1985 and chairman and CEO of the charitable Waitt Family Foundation from 1993. Derek (Alton) Walcott (23 Jan 1930, Castries, Saint Lucia), Saint Lucian poet and playwright noted for works that explored the Caribbean cultural experience; recipient of the 1992 Nobel Prize for Literature.
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Jimmy (Donal) Wales (7 Aug 1966, Huntsville AL), American Internet publisher and founder of Wikipedia. Lech Walesa (29 Sep 1943, Popowo, near Wloclawek, Poland), Polish labor activist; president of Poland, 1990–95; recipient of the 1983 Nobel Prize for Peace. Al-Walid ibn Talal ibn Abdulaziz al-Saud (1954, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia), Saudi Arabian prince and billionaire businessman. Alice (Malsenior) Walker (9 Feb 1944, Eatonton GA), American writer whose novels, short stories, and poems are noted for their insightful treatment of women and African American culture. Mike Wallace (Myron Leon Wallace; 9 May 1918, Brookline MA), American TV journalist, interviewer, and coeditor of CBS’s 60 Minutes. Immanuel Wallerstein (28 Sep 1930, New York NY), American sociologist of systems theory. Mark J. Walport (1953, England), British immunologist and specialist in lupus and other autoimmune diseases; director of the Wellcome Trust from 2003. Barbara Walters (25 Sep 1931, Boston MA), American broadcast journalist known especially as an interviewer. Alice L. (c. 1949), Helen R. (c. 1920), and Jim C. (c. 1948) Walton, American heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune left by Sam Walton, who died in 1992. Michael Waltrip (30 Apr 1963, Owensboro KY), American NASCAR race car driver. Vera Wang (27 June 1949, New York NY), American fashion designer known for her elegant and luxurious wedding gowns. Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuk (21 Feb 1980, Thimphu, Bhutan), king of Bhutan from 2006. Shane Keith Warne (13 Sep 1969, Ferntree Gully, VIC, Australia), Australian cricketer, a spin bowler named one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Century. J. Robin Warren (11 Jun 1937, Adelaide, SA, Australia), Australian pathologist; corecipient of the 2005 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Rick Warren (1954, San Jose CA), American evangelist minister. Denzel Washington (28 Dec 1954, Mount Vernon NY), American film and TV actor. (Chaudhry) Wasim Akram (3 Jun 1966, Lahore, Pakistan), Pakistani cricketer, called the greatest lefthanded fast bowler, pioneer of “reverse swing” bowling. John Waters (22 Apr 1946, Baltimore MD), American filmmaker. Charlie Watts (2 Jun 1941, Islington, England), British rock drummer (of the Rolling Stones). Naomi Watts (28 Sep 1968, Shoreham, Kent, England), Australian film actress. Keenen Ivory Wayans (8 Jun 1958, New York NY), American TV and film actor, writer, director, and producer. George Weah (George Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah; 1 Oct 1966, Monrovia, Liberia), Liberianborn association football (soccer) star who in 1995–96 was elected European, African, and FIFA World Footballer of the Year. Sigourney Weaver (Susan Alexandra Weaver; 8 Oct 1949, New York NY), American film actress. Hugo Weaving (4 Apr 1960, Austin, Nigeria), Nigerian-born Australian film actor. Karrie Webb (21 Dec 1974, Ayr, QLD, Australia), Australian golfer. Andrew Thomas Weil (8 Jun 1942, Philadelphia PA), American physician and champion of alternative medicine.
PEOPLE Sandy Weill (Sanford I. Weill; 16 Mar 1933, Brooklyn NY), American corporate executive; CEO of Travelers Group and, after its merger in 1998 with Citicorp, CEO of Citigroup. Harvey (19 Mar 1952, Queens NY) and Bob (1954, Queens NY) Weinstein, American film executives; cofounders of Miramax Films. Alek Wek (16 Apr 1977, Wau, Sudan), Sudanese fashion model. Gillian Welch (1967, New York NY), American folk and country-and-western singer. Rachel Weisz (7 Mar 1971, London, England), British film actress. Wen Jiabao (September 1942, Tianjin, China), Chinese geologist and party and state official; premier of China from 2003. Jann S. Wenner (7 Jan 1946, New York NY), American journalist, originator (1967), and publisher of Rolling Stone magazine. Kanye West (8 Jun 1977, Atlanta GA), American rapper and music producer. Randy Weston (Randolph Edward Weston; 6 Apr 1926, Brooklyn NY), American jazz pianist and composer. Vivienne Westwood (Vivienne Swire; 8 Apr 1941, Tintwistle, Derbyshire, England), British fashion designer whose radical, antiestablishment creations started the 1970s punk fashion trend. Christopher Wheeldon (22 Mar 1973, Yeovil, Somerset, England), British dancer and choreographer with the New York City Ballet. Forest Whitaker (Forest Steven Whitaker; 15 Jul 1961, Longview TX), American film actor and director. Shaun White (3 Sep 1986, San Diego CA), American snowboarder who won a 2006 Olympic gold medal in halfpipe. Meg Whitman (Margaret C. Whitman; 4 Aug 1956, Cold Spring Harbor NY), American corporate executive and president and CEO of eBay from 1998. John Edgar Wideman (14 Jun 1941, Washington DC), American writer regarded for his intricate literary style in novels about the experiences of black men in contemporary urban America. Carl E. Wieman (26 Mar 1951, Corvallis OR), American physicist; corecipient of the 2001 Nobel Prize for Physics for work in the creation of the Bose-Einstein condensate. Richard (Purdy) Wilbur (1 Mar 1921, New York NY), American poet associated with the New Formalist movement; poet laureate of the US, 1987–88. Frank A. Wilczek (15 May 1951, New York NY), American quantum physicist; corecipient of the 2004 Nobel Prize for Physics. George F(rederick) Will (4 May 1941, Champaign IL), American conservative political commentator. Willem-Alexander (27 Apr 1967, Utrecht, Netherlands), Dutch crown prince. William (William Arthur Philip Louis; 21 Jun 1982, London, England), British prince; son of Charles and Diana, prince and princess of Wales; and second in line to the British throne. C(harles) K(enneth) Williams (4 Nov 1936, Newark NJ), American poet. John Williams (24 Apr 1941, Melbourne, VIC, Australia), Australian-born classical guitarist. John (Towner) Williams (8 Feb 1932, Queens NY), American conductor and composer; conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, 1980–93, known especially for composing scores for blockbuster films.
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Lucinda Williams (26 Jan 1953, Lake Charles LA), American contemporary folk and country singer and songwriter. Montel (Brian Anthony) Williams (3 Jul 1956), American TV personality. Robbie Williams (Robert Peter Maximillian Williams; 13 Feb 1974, Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England), British singer. Robin Williams (21 Jul 1952, Chicago IL), American comedian and actor known for his eccentricity, rapid-fire wit, and energy. Rowan Williams (14 Jun 1950, Swansea, Wales), Welsh-born Anglican clergyman; archbishop of Canterbury from 2003. Serena Williams (26 Sep 1981, Saginaw MI), American tennis player. Treat Williams (Richard Williams; 1 Dec 1951, Rowayton CT), American TV and film actor who starred in the TV series Everwood, 2002–06. Venus Williams (17 Jun 1980, Lynwood CA), American tennis player, the sister of Serena Williams, with whom she has also won doubles titles. Bruce Willis (Walter Willison; 19 Mar 1955, Idar-Oberstein, West Germany [now in Germany]), American actor. August Wilson (27 Apr 1945, Pittsburgh PA), American playwright. Cassandra Wilson (4 Dec 1955, Jackson MS), American jazz singer who applies her wide-ranging “smoky contralto” voice to jazz standards, folk songs, Delta blues, and pop classics. Lanford Wilson (13 Apr 1937, Lebanon MO), American playwright, a pioneer of the Off-Off-Broadway and regional theater movements. Robert Wilson (4 Oct 1941, Waco TX), American avant-garde theater director. William Julius Wilson (20 Dec 1935, Derry township, Westmoreland county PA), American sociologist of race and urban society; government adviser. Oprah Winfrey (29 Jan 1954, Kosciusko MS), American TV personality; host and producer of The Oprah Winfrey Show from 1985. Kate Winslet (5 Oct 1975, Reading, England), British film actress. Anna Wintour (3 Nov 1949, London, England), British-born fashion magazine editor, editor in chief of American Vogue from 1988. Reese Witherspoon (Laura Jean Reese Witherspoon; 22 Mar 1976, Baton Rouge LA), American film actress. Patricia A. Woertz (Patricia Ann Woertz; 17 Mar 1953, Pittsburgh PA), American corporate executive; CEO of Archer Daniels Midland from 2006. Carl R. Woese (15 Jul 1928, Syracuse NY), American microbiologist; recipient of the 2003 Crafoord Prize for his discovery of archaea, a third domain of life (besides eukaryotes and prokaryotes). Girma Wolde-Giorgis (December 1924, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), Ethiopian military officer and president from 2001. Tom Wolfe (Thomas Kennerly Wolfe, Jr.; 2 Mar 1930, Richmond VA), American novelist, journalist, and social commentator, a leading critic of contemporary life, and a proponent of New Journalism (the application of fiction-writing techniques to journalism). Tobias (Jonathan Ansell) Wolff (19 Jun 1945, Birmingham AL), American writer primarily known for his short stories. Paul Wolfowitz (22 Dec 1943, New York NY), American deputy secretary of defense, 2001–05; president of the World Bank, 2005–07.
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Stephen Wolfram (29 Aug 1959, London, England), British-born American physicist who has attacked the inadequacy of math-based science and proposed “cellular automata” as a better key to understanding the patterns of nature. Lee Ann Womack (19 Aug 1966, Jacksonville TX), American country singer. Stevie Wonder (Steveland Judkins; Steveland Morris; 13 May 1950, Saginaw MI), American pop composer, singer, and pianist. Elijah (Jordan) Wood (28 Jan 1981, Cedar Rapids IA), American film actor. Fiona Wood (1958, Yorkshire, England), Australian plastic surgeon who invented “spray-on skin.” Todd Woodbridge (2 Apr 1971, Sydney, NSW, Australia), Australian tennis player best known for doubles play, especially with Jonas Bjorkman. Tiger Woods (Eldrick Woods; 30 Dec 1975, Cypress CA), American golfer, perhaps the greatest of all time. Bob Woodward (Robert Upshur Woodward; 26 Mar 1943, Geneva IL), American journalist and author of nonfiction political best sellers. Stephen Wozniak (11 Aug 1950, San Jose CA), American electrical engineer, cofounder of Apple Computer Corp., and youth leader. William A. Wulf (8 Dec 1939, Chicago IL), American computer scientist who was president of the National Academy of Engineering from 1997. Kurt Wüthrich (4 Oct 1938, Aarberg, Bern canton, Switzerland), Swiss chemist; corecipient of the 2002 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his work in the study of macromolecules. Aleksey (Konstantinovich) Yagudin (18 Mar 1980, Leningrad, USSR [now St. Petersburg, Russia]), Russian figure skater. Viktor (Fedorovych) Yanukovych (9 Jul 1950, Yenakiyevo, USSR [now in Ukraine]), Ukrainian politician; prime minister, 2002–05 and again from 2006. Yao Ming (12 Sep 1980, Shanghai, China), Chinese basketball player. Umaru Musa Yar’Adua (1951, Katsina, Nigeria), Nigerian politician; president from 2007. Yury (Fyodorvich) Yarov (2 Apr 1942, Leningrad, USSR [now St. Petersburg, Russia]), Russian international official and executive secretary of the Commonwealth of Independent States from 1999. Catherine Yass (1963, London, England), British photographic artist whose work often combines positive and negative photographic images to eerie effect. Trisha Yearwood (Patricia Lynn Yearwood; 19 Sep 1964, Monticello GA), American country singer. Michelle Yeoh (Yang Zi Chong or Yeoh Chu-keng; 6 Aug 1962, Ipoh, Malaysia), Malaysian-born film actress. Gloria Yerkovich (1942), American founder of CHILDFIND, an organization that helps locate missing children. Frances Yip (Frances Yip Lai Yee; 1948, Hong Kong), Hong Kong popular singer. Dwight (David) Yoakam (23 Oct 1956, Pikesville KY), American country-and-western singer, songwriter, and actor. Thom Yorke (7 Oct 1968, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England), British vocalist (of Radiohead). Banana Yoshimoto (Yoshimoto Mahoko; 24 Jul 1964, Tokyo, Japan), Japanese writer of best-selling fiction. Yumi Yoshimura (30 Jan 1975, Osaka, Japan), Japanese pop singer (of Puffy AmiYumi). Will Young (William Robert Young; 20 Jan 1979, Hungerford, Berkshire, England), British rock singer. Yu Miri (22 Jun 1968, Yokohama, Japan), Japanese writer of Korean ancestry.
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (9 Sep 1949, Pacitan, East Java, Indonesia), Indonesian military officer and politician; president from 2004. Muhammad Yunus (28 Jun 1940, Chittagong, East Bengal, British India [now Bangladesh]), Bangladeshi economist (microcredit) and founder of the Grameen Bank; winner of the 1994 World Food Prize and corecipient of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. Viktor (Andriyovych) Yushchenko (23 Feb 1954, Khoruzhivka, USSR [now in Ukraine]), Ukrainian banker and politician; prime minister, 1999–2001, and president from 2005. Sadi Yusuf (1934, near Basra, Iraq), Iraqi-born poet. Raúl Yzaguirre (22 Jul 1939, south Texas), American Hispanic rights activist; president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza from 1974. Adam Zagajewski (21 Jun 1945, Lwow, Poland [now Lviv, Ukraine]), Polish poet, novelist, and essayist; recipient of the 2004 Neustadt Prize. Paula Zahn (24 Feb 1956, Omaha NE), American TV anchorwoman and journalist. José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (4 Aug 1960, Valladolid, Spain), Spanish politician and prime minister from 2004. Valdis Zatlers (22 Mar 1955), Latvian politician; president from 2007. Ayman al-Zawahiri (19 Jun 1951, Maadi, Egypt), Egyptian-born physician and militant Islamist leader. Manuel Zelaya (José Manuel Zelaya Rosales; 20 Sep 1952, Catacamas, Honduras), Honduran politician (Liberal Party) and president from 2006. Renée (Kathleen) Zellweger (25 Apr 1969, Katy TX), American actress. Robert Zemeckis (14 May 1952, Chicago IL), American director and producer of popular mainstream films. Meles Zenawi (8 May 1955, Adoua, Ethiopia), Ethiopian politician and prime minister from 1995. Elias (Adam) Zerhouni (1 Apr 1951, Nedroma, Algeria), Algerian-born American radiologist and medical administrator; director of the National Institutes of Health from 2002. Catherine Zeta-Jones (Catherine Jones; 25 Sep 1969, Swansea, West Glamorgan, Wales), Welshborn American actress. Zhang Yimou (14 Nov 1951, Xi’an, Shaanxi province, China), Chinese film director. Zhang Ziyi (9 Feb 1979, Beijing, China), Chinese actress. Zhou Guangzhao (May 1929, Changsha, Hunan province, China), Chinese mechanical engineer; president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1987–97; and chairman of the China Association of Science and Technology from 1996. Zinedine Zidane (23 Jun 1972, Marseille, France), French association football (soccer) player. Mary (Alice) Zimmerman (23 Aug 1960, Lincoln NE), American stage director. Robert B. Zoellick (25 Jul 1953, Evergreen Park IL), American businessman and government official; US Trade Representative, 2001–05, deputy secretary of state, 2005–06, and president of the World Bank from 2007. Mortimer B. Zuckerman (4 Jun 1937, Montreal, QC, Canada), Canadian-born American publisher, columnist, and editor in chief of U.S. News & World Report. Jacob (Gedleyihlekisa) Zuma (12 Apr 1942, Inkandla, British South Africa), South African politician.
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Obituaries Death of notable people since 1 Jul 2006 Abbé Pierre (Henri-Antoine Grouès; the “ragpickers’ saint”; 5 Aug 1912, Lyons, France—22 Jan 2007, Paris, France), French Roman Catholic priest and social activist, founder of the Emmaus movement, who championed the cause of the homeless in France and throughout the world. Ladislav Adamec (10 Sep 1926, Frenstat pod Radhostem, Moravia, Czechoslovakia [now in Czech Republic]—14 Apr 2007, Prague, Czech Republic), Czech politician who witnessed the end of communist rule in his country as federal prime minister (1988–89); during the 1989 Velvet Revolution, Adamec opened the country’s borders and refused to authorize military intervention; he stepped down as Communist Party leader in 1990 but remained a member of the new Czech parliament until 1992. Lloyd Alexander (30 Jan 1924, Philadelphia PA—17 May 2007, Drexel Hill PA), American author who transported readers to a world of fantasy with a five-book series that was known as the Prydain Chronicles, the second novel of which, The Black Cauldron (1965), was chosen as a Newbery Honor Book in 1966, and the last installment of which, The High King (1968), received the Newbery Medal; Alexander also received the National Book Award in 1971 and in 1982. Robert Altman (20 Feb 1925, Kansas City MO—20 Nov 2006, Los Angeles CA), American filmmaker, an unconventional and independent director whose works emphasized character and atmosphere over plot in exploring themes of innocence, corruption, and survival. William Robert Anderson (17 Jun 1921, Bakerville TN—25 Feb 2007, Leesburg VA), commander, US Navy, and American politician who piloted the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine, the Nautilus, beneath the North Pole in August 1958; in 1964 he was elected to the US House of Representatives, and he became a staunch critic of the Vietnam War. Michelangelo Antonioni (29 Sep 1912, Ferrara, Italy—30 Jul 2007, Rome, Italy), Italian film director, cinematographer, and producer who eschewed “realistic” narrative and traditional plots in favor of character study and poetic visual imagery that used film as a metaphor for human experience; his most successful motion picture was the Englishlanguage Blowup (1966), which won the Golden Palm at the Cannes Festival and came to epitomize “swinging ‘60s” London. Hassan Gouled Aptidon (15 Oct 1916, Garissa, Lughaya district, French Somaliland [now Djibouti]— 21 Nov 2006, Djibouti, Djibouti), Djibouti politician who was founding president for 22 years, from 1977, when Djibouti gained independence from France, until ill health compelled him to step down in 1999. Paul Arizin (“Pitchin’ Paul”; 9 Apr 1928, Philadelphia PA—12 Dec 2006, Philadelphia PA), American basketball player, a jump-shot specialist who was hailed in 1996 as one of the 50 greatest players in the National Basketball Association. Duygu Asena (19 Apr 1946, Istanbul, Turkey—30 Jul 2006, Istanbul, Turkey), Turkish feminist writer who fought for women’s rights in her native Turkey, both as a journalist and through her novels, notably Kadinin adi yok (1987; “Woman Has No Name”). Lucie Aubrac (Lucie Bernard) (29 Jun 1912, Mâcon,
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France—14 Mar 2007, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France), French Resistance heroine who was hailed for her courageous actions in the underground network Libération Sud in southern France during World War II; she was awarded the Legion of Honour for her wartime activities, and her somewhat fictionalized memoir, Ils partiront dans l’ivresse (1984; Outwitting the Gestapo, 1993), served as the inspiration for Lucie Aubrac (1997). Red Auerbach (Arnold Jacob Auerbach; 20 Sep 1917, Brooklyn NY—28 Oct 2006, Washington DC), American basketball coach who led the Boston Celtics to nine NBA championships and 1,037 wins against 548 losses. Robert Austrian (12 Apr 1916, Baltimore MD—25 Mar 2007, Philadelphia PA), American physician and educator who devoted his life to identifying the various strains associated with pneumococcal infections; his 10-year (1952–62) groundbreaking study led to his development of a vaccine in 1977 that treated antibiotic-resistant strains of pneumonia. Warren Edward Avis (4 Aug 1915, Bay City MI—24 Apr 2007, Ann Arbor MI), American businessman who was the pioneering founder in 1946 of Avis Rent-a-Car, which became the first car-rental agency to be based at an airport and within a few years established itself as the second largest carrental company worldwide. John Warner Backus (3 Dec 1924, Philadelphia PA— 17 Mar 2007, Ashland OR), American computer scientist who led the team at IBM that during the 1950s designed FORTRAN (formula translation), the first important algorithmic language for computers, the development of which was instrumental in paving the way for modern software; Backus received the 1977 Turing Award and the 1975 National Medal of Science. Alan James Ball (12 May 1945, Farnworth, Lancashire, England—25 Apr 2007, Warsash, Hampshire, England), British association football (soccer) player and manager who represented his country in 72 matches from 1965 to 1975 and was, at age 21, the youngest player on the team that won the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup for England in 1966; he was appointed MBE in 2000. Joseph Barbera (Joseph Roland Barbera; 24 Mar 1911, New York NY—18 Dec 2006, Los Angeles CA), American film animator who collaborated for more than half a century with William Hanna; the two created some of the most beloved characters on the big and small screen, including Tom (the cat) and Jerry (the mouse), Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, the Flintstones, and the Jetsons. Syd Barrett (Roger Keith Barrett; 6 Jan 1946, Cambridge, England—7 Jul 2006, Cambridge, England), British singer-songwriter and guitarist who was an original creative force behind the rock group Pink Floyd. Jean Baudrillard (29 Jul 1929, Reims, France—6 Mar 2007, Paris, France), French sociologist and cultural theorist who imparted theoretical ideas of “hyperreality” and “simulacrum” that influenced academia and spread into popular culture through the 1999 film The Matrix; Baudrillard espoused an account of postmodern society in which consumer and electronic images have become more real (hy-
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perreal) than physical reality and in which simulations of reality (simulacra) have displaced their originals, leaving only “the desert of the real.” Hank Bauer (Henry Albert Bauer; 31 Jul 1922, East St. Louis IL—9 Feb 2007, Shawnee Mission KS), American baseball player and manager who, as an outfielder and slugger for the New York Yankees in 1948–59, helped the team win nine American League pennants and seven World Series championships; he also managed the Baltimore Orioles when they won their first World Series in 1966. Edward Samuel Behr (7 May 1926, Paris, France—26 May 2007, Paris, France), British journalist and author who covered wars in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, as well as such international emergencies as the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, in his role as a foreign correspondent for Reuters news agency (1950–54) and Time (1957–63), The Saturday Evening Post (1963–65), and Newsweek (1965–87); Behr’s The Last Emperor (1987) was released in conjunction with a film of the same name. Carey Bell (Harrington) (14 Nov 1936, Macon MS—7 May 2007, Chicago IL), American blues harmonica player who was a fixture on the Chicago blues scene; after perfecting his playing under the tutelage of such masters as “Little Walter” Jacobs and “Big Walter” Horton, he toured and recorded with stars including Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon. Louise Bennett-Coverly (“Miss Lou”; 7 Sep 1919, Kingston, Jamaica—26 Jul 2006, Toronto, ON, Canada), Jamaican folklorist, poet, and radio and TV personality who was regarded by many as the “mother of Jamaican culture” for her efforts to popularize Jamaican patois and to celebrate the lives of ordinary Jamaicans. Trevor Berbick (1 Aug 1954, Port Antonio, Jamaica— 28 Oct 2006, Norwich, Jamaica), Jamaican-born Canadian boxer who defeated Muhammad Ali on 12 Dec 1981 in a unanimous decision in a fight that would end Ali’s career. Patty Berg (Patricia Jane Berg; 13 Feb 1918, Minneapolis MN—10 Sep 2006, Fort Myers FL), American professional golfer who won more than 80 tournaments, including a record 15 major women’s championships, and was the first president of the Ladies Professional Golf Association. Heinz Berggruen (5 Jan 1914, Berlin, Germany—23 Feb 2007, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France), German-born art collector who amassed a collection of 20th-century art, the core of which consisted of some 130 works by Pablo Picasso, with whom Berggruen had become friends in 1949; in 2000 he sold 165 works to the Berggruen Museum for a fraction of their true value. (Ernst) Ingmar Bergman (14 Jul 1918, Uppsala, Sweden—30 Jul 2007, Fårö, Sweden), Swedish writerdirector who achieved worldwide fame for creating films that examine issues of morality by exploring man’s relationship to himself, to others, and to God and were noted for their versatile camera work and fragmented narrative style; though Bergman never won an individual Academy Award (despite nine nominations), three of his movies won Oscars for best foreign language film—Jungfrukällan (1960; The Virgin Spring), Såsom i en spegel (1961; Through a Glass Darkly), and Fanny och Alexander (1983; Fanny and Alexander), and in 1971 the Academy presented him with a lifetime achievement award; the trilogy he made in the 1960s—Through a Glass Darkly, Nattsvardsgästerna (1962; Winter Light), and Tystnaden (1963; The Silence)—was regarded by many
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
as his crowning achievement. In 1977 he received the Swedish Academy of Letters Great Gold Medal, and in the following year the Swedish Film Institute established a prize in his name. Lesley Blanch (6 Jun 1904, London, England—7 May 2007, Menton, France), British writer and traveler who delighted readers with many books that, like her life, were full of romance and adventure; her best-known book was The Wilder Shores of Love (1954), in which she recounted the real-life exotic adventures of four 19th-century women; she was appointed MBE in 2001. Isabella Blow (Isabella Delves Broughton; 19 Nov 1958, London, England—7 May 2007, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England), British fashion editor who discovered and promoted fashion designers (Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, Jun Takahashi, and Hussein Chalayan) and models (Stella Tennant, Honor Fraser, and Sophie Dahl) while becoming memorable for her own flamboyant style of dress. Bo Yibo (Bo Shucun; 17 Feb 1908, Jiang village, Dingxiang county, China—15 Jan 2007, Beijing, China), Chinese political leader, the last surviving member of the Eight Immortals, the highly influential group of Chinese Communist Party leaders who had been purged during Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution (1966–76) but brought back to assert power under the country’s de facto leader, Deng Xiaoping, in the 1980s and ’90s. Egon Bondy (Zbynek Fiser) (20 Jan 1930, Prague, Czechoslovakia [now in Czech Republic]—9 Apr 2007, Bratislava, Slovakia), Czech writer who produced dozens of surrealist novels, poems, and philosophical treatises, most of which were disseminated through underground samizdat publications, but whose veiled criticisms of Czechoslovakia’s communist government reached a wider audience. P.W. Botha (Pieter Willem Botha; “Die Groot Krokodil”; “The Great Crocodile”; 12 Jan 1916, Paul Roux, Orange Free State, Union of South Africa—31 Oct 2006, Wilderness, near George, Western Cape, South Africa), South African politician who, as prime minister (1978–84) and president (1984–89), was fully committed to white supremacy, but who sought to find middle ground between those who supported apartheid and the increasingly frustrated and militant nonwhite population. Edward Francis Boyd (27 Jun 1914, Riverside CA—30 Apr 2007, Los Angeles CA), American business executive who was the trailblazing creator of advertisements for Pepsi-Cola that, rather than containing caricatures of blacks, featured middle-class African American consumers in fun-loving scenarios, introducing niche marketing and helping Pepsi to overtake Coke in the cola wars for the first time. Gerald Boyd (Gerald Michael Boyd; 3 Oct 1950, St. Louis MO—23 Nov 2006, New York NY), American journalist who rose from serving as a political reporter for the New York Times to become in 2001 the newspaper’s first black managing editor. Clete Boyer (Cletis Leroy Boyer; 9 Feb 1937, Cassville MO—4 Jun 2007, Atlanta GA), American baseball player who helped the New York Yankees professional baseball team capture five consecutive pennants (1960–64) and two World Series (1961 and 1962) as the team’s acrobatic third baseman. Peter Boyle (Peter Lawrence Boyle; 18 Oct 1935, Norristown PA—12 Dec 2006, New York NY), American actor who showcased his comedic talents in a series of films, notably as the creature in Mel Brooks’s Young Frankenstein (1974) and as the
OBITUARIES curmudgeonly Frank Barone (1996–2005) in the TV sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. Ed Bradley (Edward Rudolph Bradley, Jr.; 22 Jun 1941, Philadelphia PA—9 Nov 2006, New York NY), American broadcast journalist who was affiliated with CBS news for more than three decades and was rewarded with 19 Emmy Awards, most of them for his insightful reporting as a roving correspondent for the CBS news magazine program 60 Minutes. Jean-Claude Brialy (30 Mar 1933, Aumale, French Algeria [now Sour el-Ghozlane, Algeria]—30 May 2007, Paris, France), French actor who epitomized New Wave (Nouvelle Vague) cinema in such classics of the genre as Claude Chabrol’s Le Beau Serge (1958; Handsome Serge) and Les Cousins (1959; The Cousins); he was inducted into the Legion of Honor in 1986. Herman Brix (Bruce Bennett; 19 May 1906, Tacoma WA—24 Feb 2007, Los Angeles CA), American athlete and actor who, after winning the silver medal in shot put at the 1928 Olympic Games went on to appear in more than 100 movies and dozens of TV shows. Peter Brock (“Brocky”; 26 Feb 1945, Australia—8 Sep 2006, near Perth, WA, Australia), Australian racecar driver who dominated the Australian Touring Car circuit over a career of almost 40 years. James Brown (James Joseph Brown, Jr.; 3 May 1933, Barnwell SC—25 Dec 2006, Atlanta GA), American singer, songwriter, arranger, and dancer, one of the most important and influential entertainers in 20th-century popular music; his remarkable achievements earned him description as “the hardest-working man in show business.” Roscoe Lee Browne (2 May 1925, Woodbury NJ—11 Apr 2007, Los Angeles CA), American character actor who had a regal bearing and a sonorous voice that he used to memorable effect in a string of films, in Broadway plays, and as the narrator of films; he won an Obie Award in 1965 for his role in Benito Cereno and an Emmy Award in 1986 for his guest role on an episode of The Cosby Show. Lothar-Günther Buchheim (6 Feb 1918, Weimar, Germany—22 Feb 2007, Starnberg, Germany), German art collector and author who wrote the autobiographical novel Das Boot (1973; The Boat, 1974); he served on the German submarine U-96 in 1941 and photographed and wrote about the experience in several fiction and nonfiction works. Art Buchwald (Arthur Buchwald; 20 Oct 1925, Mount Vernon NY—17 Jan 2007, Washington DC), American humorist who wrote a newspaper column of observational satire that was an institution for some 40 years. Susan Butcher (Susan Howlet Butcher; 26 Dec 1954, Boston MA—5 Aug 2006, Seattle WA), American sled-dog racer and trainer who dominated her sport for more than a decade and won the challenging 1,770-km (1,100-mi) Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Alaska four times. Red Buttons (Aaron Chwatt; 5 Feb 1919, New York NY—13 Jul 2006, Los Angeles CA), American actor and comedian who performed in burlesque before fronting his own TV show (1952–55) and creating a cast of unforgettable characters—notably Rocky, a punch-drunk boxer; he won an Academy Award for best supporting actor for a dramatic role in the film Sayonara (1957). Bebe Moore Campbell (Elizabeth Moore; 18 Feb 1950, Philadelphia PA—27 Nov 2006, Los Angeles CA), American novelist who examined race relations in the US in a series of fact-based novels; her debut novel, Your Blues Ain’t Like Mine (1992), fol-
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lowed the killing of a black Chicago boy by a white man in Mississippi and the killing’s aftermath. Kitty Carlisle (Catherine Conn; Kitty Carlisle Hart) (3 Sep 1910, New Orleans LA—17 Apr 2007, New York NY), American actress who was an effervescent entertainer onstage and in films but was best remembered as a guest panelist on the TV game shows What’s My Line? and To Tell the Truth; in 1991 she was awarded the National Medal of Arts. Alfred DuPont Chandler (15 Sep 1918, Guyencourt DE—9 May 2007, Cambridge MA), American business historian who won the Pulitzer Prize for history in 1978 for his groundbreaking study The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business, in which he stressed the importance of professional managers in the rise of modern-day corporations. Jagjit Singh Chauhan (1927, Tanda, Punjab, British India—4 Apr 2007, Tanda, Punjab state, India), Indian Sikh separatist leader who, as a prominent figure in the movement for an independent Sikh state (called Khalistan) in Punjab, organized a government-in-exile in London, appointing a cabinet, issuing passports and currency, and opening embassies in several countries. Don Chipp (Donald Leslie Chipp; 21 Aug 1925, Melbourne, VIC, Australia—28 Aug 2006, Melbourne, VIC, Australia), Australian politician who founded (1977) the left-wing Australian Democrats as a reaction to policies of the ruling Liberal Party that he considered too conservative. Choi Kyu Hah (16 Jul 1919, Wonju, Kangwon province, Japanese-occupied Korea [now in South Korea]—22 Oct 2006, Seoul, South Korea), South Korean politician who briefly served as president (October 1979–September 1980) of South Korea during the tumultuous period after Pres. Park Chung Hee was assassinated. Dorothea Towles Church (26 Jul 1922, Texarkana TX—7 Jul 2006, New York NY), American model who found stardom in the 1950s as the first black model on the runways of Paris, where she was hired by Christian Dior. Liz Claiborne (Anne Elisabeth Jane Claiborne; Elisabeth Claiborne Ortenberg; 31 Mar 1929, Brussels, Belgium—26 Jun 2007, New York NY), American fashion designer who revolutionized the women’s apparel industry as the head designer and cofounder in 1976 of the company that bears her name (the first Fortune 500 company to be headed by a woman); at a time when career women were looking for an alternative to suits, her line of casual and colorful sportswear separates allowed customers to mix and match elements of their wardrobe at realistic prices. Paul Joseph Cohen (2 Apr 1934, Long Branch NJ—23 Mar 2007, Stanford CA), American mathematician who was awarded the Fields Medal in 1966 for his proof of the independence of the continuum hypothesis from the other axioms of set theory (the first problem on David Hilbert’s influential 1900 list of important unsolved problems); his publications included Set Theory and the Continuum Hypothesis (1966). Alice Coltrane (Alice McLeod; Turiya Sagittinanda; 27 Aug 1937, Detroit MI—12 Jan 2007, Los Angeles CA), American jazz keyboard artist who played bop piano with Detroit musicians and with Terry Gibbs (1962–63) and impressionist piano with her husband John Coltrane’s combos (1965–67). Betty Comden (Basya Cohen; Betty Comden Kyle; 3 May 1919, Brooklyn NY—23 Nov 2006, New York NY), American lyricist who collaborated with Adolph
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Green, and the two made up a musical-comedy team that wrote scripts—and often the lyrics—for many Broadway shows and Hollywood film musicals; they were paired longer than any other writing team in the history of Broadway. Diego Corrales (25 Aug 1977, Sacramento CA—7 May 2007, Las Vegas, NV), American boxer fighting mainly at the junior lightweight (130-lb) weight class who accrued a record of 40 wins (33 knockouts) and 5 losses; he variously held the International Boxing Federation and the World Boxing Organization junior lightweight title (1999–2000) and the World Boxing Council lightweight title (2005–06). Mullah Dadullah (Dadullah Akhund; 1966?, Uruzgan province, Afghanistan—12 May 2007, Helmand province, Afghanistan), ethnic Pashtun Afghan guerrilla commander who was a notoriously ruthless senior leader of the Taliban insurgency; he fought against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s and rose to prominence in the 1990s with the Taliban army that conquered most of the country; he was killed by US-led coalition forces. Iva Toguri D’Aquino (Ikuko Toguri; “Tokyo Rose”; 4 Jul 1916, Los Angeles CA—26 Sep 2006, Chicago IL), American broadcaster who was stranded in Japan when the US entered World War II and was forced to make propagandist broadcasts to US troops; she was one of 13 women announcers, all native speakers of American English, who came to be collectively known as Tokyo Rose. James Bodie Davis (6 Jun 1916, Greenville SC—17 Apr 2007, Philadelphia PA), American gospel singer who was a founding member of the Dixie Hummingbirds, an a cappella group that influenced Little Richard, James Brown, and others and who pioneered a style called “trickeration,” in which one vocalist would pick up a note where another left off; the Hummingbirds scored a hit in 1973 with their interpretation of Paul Simon’s “Loves Me Like a Rock,” for which they won a Grammy Award. Mary Day (25 Jan 1910, Washington DC—11 Jul 2006, Washington DC), American dance teacher and artistic director who cofounded (with Lisa Gardiner) in 1944 the Washington School of Ballet, which attracted students from throughout the country and turned out such illustrious talents as Kevin McKenzie, Amanda McKerrow, and Virginia Johnson. Yvonne DeCarlo (Margaret Yvonne Middleton; “Peggy”; 1 Sep 1922, Vancouver, BC, Canada—8 Jan 2007, Woodland Hills CA), Canadian-born American actress who appeared in a string of B-Westerns; she was best remembered on the big screen for her role as the wife of Moses in The Ten Commandments (1956) and on TV as Lily Munster, the vampirelike matriarch of The Munsters (1964–66). Brad Delp (Bradley E. Delp) (12 Jun 1951, Danvers MA—9 Mar 2006, Atkinson NH), American guitarist and singer who was the lead singer for the rock group Boston, whose unique hard-rock–pop sound was created by Delp’s distinctive high-register vocals and Tom Scholz’s soaring guitar and whose eponymous first album was for years the biggestselling debut in rock history. Jupp Derwall (Josef Derwall; 10 Mar 1927, Würselen, Germany—26 Jun 2007, Sankt Ingbert, Germany), German association football (soccer) manager who during his tenure as national coach (1978–84) guided West Germany to 45 wins (including a record 23 straight), the 1980 European championship title, and the final of the 1982 World Cup. Michael John Dibdin (21 Mar 1947, Wolverhampton,
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Staffordshire [now in West Midlands], England—30 Mar 2007, Seattle WA), British crime novelist who delighted fans of detective fiction with a series of novels featuring idiosyncratic Italian police inspector Aurelio Zen; his third novel, Ratking (1988), introduced the cerebral, world-weary Zen and won the Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger for Fiction. Hrant Dink (15 Sep 1954, Matalya, Turkey—19 Jan 2007, Istanbul, Turkey), Turkish journalist who campaigned for the rights of ethnic Armenians; he was shot dead outside the offices of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos, which he edited. Floyd Dixon (Jay Riggins, Jr.; 8 Feb 1929, Marshall TX—26 Jul 2006, Orange CA), American R&B musician who was one of the principal exponents of the West Coast jump blues style. Denny Doherty (Dennis Doherty; 29 Nov 1940, Halifax, NS, Canada—19 Jan 2007, Mississauga, ON, Canada), Canadian singer, a member with John Phillips, Michelle Phillips, and “Mama” Cass Elliot of the original Mamas and the Papas vocal quartet, whose intricate harmonies brought them to the forefront of the folk rock movement of the 1960s. Mike Douglas (Michael Delaney Dowd, Jr; 11 Aug 1925, Chicago IL—11 Aug 2006, Palm Beach Gardens FL), American TV personality and singer, the laid-back host of the daytime The Mike Douglas Show (1961–82), which featured musical acts, top celebrities of the day, and politicians, including seven US presidents. Charlie Drake (Charles Edward Springall; 19 Jun 1925, Elephant and Castle, London, England—23 Dec 2006, Twickenham, Middlesex, England), British comedian and actor who delighted audiences with his slapstick comic antics in stage variety shows and on TV for more than 50 years, often playing a downtrodden “everyman” who failed at everything he tried. Thomas F. Eagleton (Thomas Francis Eagleton; 4 Sep 1929, St. Louis MO—4 Mar 2007, Richmond Heights MO), American politician who was Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern’s running mate in the 1972 election but was asked to step down after it became known that he had been voluntarily hospitalized for a nervous condition in the early 1960s and treated with electroshock therapy. Bulent Ecevit (28 May 1925, Constantinople [now Istanbul], Turkey—5 Nov 2006, Ankara, Turkey), Turkish poet, journalist, and politician who intermittently served as prime minister of Turkey (1974, 1977, 1978–79, and 1999–2002). Ahmet Ertegun (31 Jul 1923, Constantinople [now Istanbul], Turkey—14 Dec 2006, New York NY), Turkish-born American music magnate, a jazz enthusiast who together with Herb Abramson founded (1947) Atlantic Records in New York City. David Walter Ervine (21 Jul 1953, East Belfast, Northern Ireland—8 Jan 2007, Belfast, Northern Ireland), Northern Irish Protestant militant and politician who abandoned the illegal loyalist paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force to join its political wing, the Progressive Unionist Party, which he headed from 2002. Vilma Espín Guillois (7 Apr 1930, Santiago, Cuba—18 Jun 2007, Havana, Cuba), Cuban revolutionary and women’s rights activist who, as the wife of Raúl Castro, longtime Cuban leader Fidel Castro’s younger brother, was regarded as the unofficial first lady of Cuba and the most politically powerful woman in the country; she held key positions in the
OBITUARIES Cuban Communist Party and the country’s influential Council of State, founded the Cuban Federation of Women, and frequently represented Cuba at the UN General Assembly. Bob Evans (30 May 1918, Sugar Ridge OH—21 Jun 2007, Cleveland OH), American farmer and restaurateur who parlayed a 12-stool restaurant into a popular nationwide chain of more than 500 restaurants that bore his name and featured home-style meals and by 2007 had revenue of $1.6 billion annually. Ray Evans (Raymond B. Evans; 4 Feb 1915, Salamanca NY—15 Feb 2007, Los Angeles CA), American lyricist who, in collaboration with Jay Livingston, created songs for some 80 motion pictures, including three songs that won Academy Awards—“Buttons and Bows,” “Mona Lisa,” and “Que Sera, Sera.” Jerry (Laymon) Falwell, Sr. (11 Aug 1933, Lynchburg VA—15 May 2007, Lynchburg VA), American religious leader who was a charismatic televangelist who, as the founder in 1979 of the Moral Majority, a political organization for the promotion of conservative social values, was largely responsible for making American Christian conservatives politically active; the pro-family, pro-American organization, which quickly grew to several million members, was credited with playing an important role in the election of Republican Ronald Reagan as president in 1980, and it remained a force in American politics until it was disbanded in 1989; in 1956 Falwell started broadcasting sermons on a radio program, the Old-Time Gospel Hour, which later began appearing on a local television network, eventually going into international syndication and claiming more than 50 million regular viewers; he opposed abortion, feminism, and gay rights. Freddy Fender (Baldemar G. Huerta; 4 Jun 1937, San Benito TX—14 Oct 2006, Corpus Christi TX), American country and Tex-Mex rock singer and guitarist who scored number one hits on the country charts in 1975 with “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights” and “Before the Next Teardrop Falls,” which also reached number one on the pop charts. Gianfranco Ferré (15 Aug 1944, Legnano, Italy—17 Jun 2007, Milan, Italy), Italian fashion designer who earned the nickname “L’Architteto” (“Architect of Fashion”) after he applied his architecture degree to the design of sculptural, carefully constructed couture, ready-to-wear, and fashion accessories. Len Fitzgerald (17 May 1929—17 Apr 2007), Australian rules football player who was one of Australia’s finest “footy” players in the era before the separate state leagues evolved into the national Australian Football League (AFL); he was an inaugural inductee into the AFL Hall of Fame (1996). Eugene Bennett Fluckey (5 Oct 1913, Washington DC—29 Jun 2007, Annapolis MD), rear admiral (ret.), US Navy, who was the commander during World War II of the submarine USS Barb and earned the nickname the “Galloping Ghost” because of his ability to move undetected through enemy-laden waters; he was awarded four Navy Crosses and a Medal of Honor for his exploits during the war, and he later became an aide to Navy Secretary James Forrestal and to Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, the chief of naval operations. Gerald R. Ford (Leslie Lynch King, Jr.; Gerald Rudolph Ford; 14 Jul 1913, Omaha NE—26 Dec 2006, Rancho Mirage CA), American statesman; 38th president of the US, 1974–77 (see full biography at Presidents). Glenn Ford (Gwyllyn Samuel Newton Ford; 1 May
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1916, Sainte-Christine, QC, Canada—30 Aug 2006, Beverly Hills CA), Canadian-born American actor who portrayed strong-willed yet soft-spoken characters in more than 80 films during a career that spanned some 50 years. Charles Forte, Baron Forte of Ripley (Carmine Monforte; 26 Nov 1908, Mortale [later renamed Monforte], Italy—28 Feb 2007, London, England), British entrepreneur who expanded a tiny London snack bar, which he opened in 1934, into Trusthouse Forte PLC, a vast international enterprise that included highway service centers, restaurants, airport caterers, breweries, wine merchants, a motel chain, and luxury hotels. Bill France, Jr. (4 Apr 1933, Washington DC—4 Jun 2007, Daytona Beach FL), American sports executive who served as chairman (1972–2003) of NASCAR (the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) and oversaw its growth from a relatively small regional attraction into a multibillion-dollar racing circuit with a nationwide following; in 1979 he persuaded CBS to air live coverage of the Daytona 500; by 2001 NASCAR commanded a $2.4-billion multinetwork television contract and generated another $2 billion annually in merchandise sales. Freddie Francis (Frederick William Francis) (22 Dec 1917, London, England—17 Mar 2007, Isleworth, Middlesex, England), British cinematographer and director who won two Academy Awards during a 60year career (1937–96) in the film industry, for the black-and-white classic Sons and Lovers (1960) and the American Civil War drama Glory (1989); in 1997 he earned a lifetime achievement award from the British Society of Cinematographers. Leonard Freed (23 Oct 1929, Brooklyn NY—29 Nov 2006, Garrison NY), American photojournalist who joined the Magnum Photos cooperative agency in 1972 and was renowned for the gripping magazine photo-essays he produced, especially those that documented the lives of African Americans and the injustices they suffered. Alan Freeman (Alan Leslie Freeman; “Fluff”; 6 Jul 1927, Melbourne, VIC, Australia—27 Nov 2006, Twickenham, Middlesex, England), Australian-born British radio personality who, as the host (1961–72, 1989–93, 1997–2000), of BBC radio’s Pick of the Pops, made that musical chart program required listening across Britain. Milton Friedman (31 Jul 1912, Brooklyn NY—16 Nov 2006, San Francisco CA), American laissez-faire economist, professor at the University of Chicago, and one of the leading conservative economists in the 20th century; he was awarded the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize for Economic Science for work in the fields of economic consumption, monetary history and theory, and stabilization policy. Harold Edward Froehlich (“Bud”; 13 Jul 1922, Minneapolis MN—19 May 2007, Maplewood MN), American engineer who led the team at General Mills that designed Alvin, a three-person submersible built to withstand pressures in the deep sea; launched in 1964, Alvin was used to map the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (the underwater mountain chain in the center of the Atlantic Ocean), to recover an errant hydrogen bomb, and to find the wreckage of the Titanic. Ernest Gallo (18 Mar 1909, Jackson CA—6 Mar 2007, Modesto CA), American winemaker and marketer who, together with his older brother, Julio, founded (1933) E.&J. Gallo Winery in Modesto CA and built an empire by shaping American drinking tastes with inexpensive nonvintage wines.
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David Gemmell (1 Aug 1948, London, England—28 Jul 2006, Udimore, East Sussex, England), British novelist who wrote more than 30 historic fantasy stories, notably his first novel, Legend (1984), and its sequels Waylander (1986) and the Drenai saga. Pierre-Gilles de Gennes (24 Oct 1932, Paris, France— 18 May 2007, Orsay, France), French physicist, described as “the Isaac Newton of our time,” who was awarded the 1991 Nobel Prize for Physics for his discoveries about the behavior of molecules in liquid crystals and polymers during the transition from order to disorder; his findings are used in liquid-crystal displays. Ralph Ginzburg (28 Oct 1929, New York NY—6 Jul 2006, New York NY), American publisher, author, and photojournalist who was at the center of two highly publicized 1960s court cases involving freedom of speech rights. Merv Griffin (Mervyn Edward Griffin; 6 Jul 1925, San Mateo CA—12 Aug 2007, Los Angeles CA), American television personality and producer who was the congenial host of The Merv Griffin Show (1962–63, 1965–86) and the creator of two of television’s most successful game shows, Jeopardy! (1964–75, 1984–) and Wheel of Fortune (1975–); he sold Merv Griffin Enterprises for $250 million in 1986, becoming one of the richest entertainers in Hollywood history; in 2005 he was honored with a Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award. David Halberstam (10 Apr 1934, New York NY—23 Apr 2007, Menlo Park CA), American journalist and author who received a Pulitzer Prize in 1964 for his penetrating coverage of the Vietnam War as a staff reporter (1960–67) for the New York Times and went on to become the best-selling author of 21 meticulously researched books, including The Best and the Brightest (1972), War in a Time of Peace: Bush, Clinton, and the Generals (2001), and Playing for Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World He Made (1999). Mark Harris (Mark Harris Finkelstein; 19 Nov 1922, Mount Vernon NY—30 May 2007, Santa Barbara CA), American novelist who was the author of a baseball tetralogy; the second novel in the series, Bang the Drum Slowly (1956), was hailed as one of the 100 greatest sports novels of all time and was adapted in 1956 as a television play with Paul Newman and in 1973 as a film starring Robert De Niro. Johnny Hart (John Lewis Hart) (18 Feb 1931, Endicott NY—7 Apr 2007, Nineveh NY), American cartoonist who created a formidable following of more than 100 million readers as the creator in 1958 of the comic strip B.C., which focused on prehistoric cave dwellers and anthropomorphic animals and plants while being laced with puns and clever satire about modern society. Ryutaro Hashimoto (29 Jul 1937, Soja, Okayama prefecture, Japan—1 Jul 2006, Tokyo, Japan), Japanese politician who served (1996–98) as prime minister but left office after having failed in his attempts to end a long-lasting economic recession in Japan. Sir Wally Herbert (Walter William Herbert; 24 Oct 1934, York, England—12 June 2007, Inverness, Scotland), British polar explorer who led the British Transarctic Expedition that crossed the Arctic Ocean via the North Pole on an epic 15-month trek covering more than 5,800 km (3,600 mi); his books included The Noose of Laurels (1989), in which he determined that American explorer Robert Peary,
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famed for being the first man to reach the North Pole, had actually fallen short in his attempt. María Julia Hernández (30 Jan 1939, Honduras—30 Mar 2007, San Salvador, El Salvador), El Salvadoran human rights activist who devoted her life to chronicling and investigating the abuses and massacres committed by right-wing paramilitary death squads during El Salvador’s civil war (1980s and early ’90s) as the founder (1983) of Tutela Legal, a Roman Catholic-based human rights group. Arthur Edward Spence Hill (1 Aug 1922, Melfort, SK, Canada—22 Oct 2006, Pacific Palisades CA), Canadian-born American actor who appeared in some 50 TV series but was best remembered for his starring role in Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law (1971–74) and as George in the play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962). Don Ho (Donald Tai Loy Ho) (13 Aug 1930, Honolulu, HI—14 Apr 2007, Honolulu), American singer who became an icon of the relaxed Hawaiian lifestyle with his rich baritone in songs such as “Tiny Bubbles,” a hit single in 1967 that became his signature tune; his success on the mainland sparked the TV variety program The Don Ho Show (1976–77). Martha Louise Holmes (7 Feb 1923, Louisville KY—19 Sep 2006, New York NY), American photographer who specialized in taking intimate portraits of celebrities, politicians, and sports figures while working for 35 years as a freelancer for Life magazine. F(rancis) Clark Howell (27 Nov 1925, Kansas City MO—10 Mar 2007, Berkeley CA), American anthropologist who established paleoanthropology as a multidisciplinary science in the study of early human origins and founded the Human Evolution Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley; Howell was also a recipient of the Charles Darwin Award for Lifetime Achievement in Physical Anthropology and an adviser for Encyclopædia Britannica. Elias Hrawi (4 Sep 1925, Hawch Al-Umara, Lebanon— 7 Jul 2006, Beirut, Lebanon), Lebanese politician who, as president of Lebanon (1989–98), helped bring stability to the country after its prolonged civil war and the 1982–85 occupation by Israel. Huang Ju (September 1938, Jiashin, China—2 Jun 2007, Beijing, China), Chinese politician who served as vice-premier of China from 2003 until his death and was responsible for reforms to China’s banking and financial systems; he was a protégé of Jiang Zemin, a Shanghai party boss who became president of China. Barnard Hughes (Bernard Hughes; 16 Jul 1915, Bedford Hills NY—11 Jul 2006, New York NY), American character actor, a veteran who appeared in more than 400 plays and in dozens of films and TV shows. E. Howard Hunt (Everette Howard Hunt, Jr.; 9 Oct 1918, Hamburg NY—23 Jan 2007, Miami FL), American spy who spent 33 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to wiretapping and conspiracy in the 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate complex, Washington DC. Lamar Hunt (2 Aug 1932, El Dorado AR—13 Dec 2006, Dallas TX), American sports executive who was the founder in 1959 of the upstart American Football League, which rivaled the National Football League in influence before the two agreed to merge in 1966. Saddam Hussein (Saddam Hussein al-Majid al-Tikriti; 28 Apr 1937, near Tikrit, Iraq—30 Dec 2006, Baghdad, Iraq), Iraqi military leader and politician, the despotic president of Iraq from 1979 until 2003, when he was deposed by the invasion of Iraq by US-
OBITUARIES led coalition forces; he was tried by the Iraqi High Tribunal, convicted of crimes against humanity, and condemned to death by hanging. Marmaduke James Hussey, Baron Hussey of North Bradley (29 Aug 1923, London, England—27 Dec 2006, London, England), British newspaper and TV executive who was appointed (1986) BBC chairman by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, reportedly in order to “sort out” the corporation, which the Thatcher administration accused of leftist antigovernment programming. William Ian deWitt Hutt (2 May 1920, Toronto, ON, Canada—27 Jun 2007, Stratford, ON, Canada), Canadian theatrical actor and director who became a member of the Stratford Festival of Canada during its inaugural season (1953) and earned international acclaim in the title roles of such Shakespearean tragedies as King Lear, Titus Andronicus, Macbeth, and Richard II; among his many accolades were a Companion of the Order of Canada (1969). Vernon Martin Ingram (Werner Adolf Martin Immerwahr; 19 May 1924, Breslau, Germany [now Wroclaw, Poland]—17 Aug 2006, Boston MA), American biochemist who was hailed as the father of molecular medicine for having discovered in the mid-1950s the amino acid in the oxygen-carrying molecule called hemoglobin responsible for sickle-cell anemia. Steve Irwin (Stephen Robert Irwin; “The Crocodile Hunter”; 22 Feb 1962, Essendon, VIC, Australia—4 Sep 2006, off the coast of Port Douglas, QLD, Australia), Australian wildlife conservationist and TV personality who achieved worldwide fame as the exuberant host of The Crocodile Hunter (1992–2006) TV series; Irwin shared with his audiences a passion for preserving wildlife and emphasized the beauty in some not-so-popular animals, such as venomous snakes and spiders. Molly Ivins (Mary Tyler Ivins; 30 Aug 1944, Monterey CA—31 Jan 2007, Austin TX), American political satirist who wrote a newspaper column from a staunchly liberal point of view that mercilessly and humorously skewered politicians in both her home state of Texas and the federal government. Dennis Wayne Johnson (“D.J.”; 18 Sep 1954, Compton CA—22 Feb 2007, Austin TX), American basketball player who, in a 13-year career as an exceptional defensive guard, on three occasions helped two different teams capture the National Basketball Association championships. Lady Bird Johnson (Claudia Alta Taylor; 22 Dec 1912, Karnack TX—11 Jul 2007, Austin TX), American first lady who was the wife of Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th president of the United States (1963–69), and was a noted environmentalist; she married Johnson on 17 Nov 1934, just a few months after their first meeting, and she gave birth to two daughters, Lynda Bird in 1944 and Luci Baines in 1947; following her husband’s 1964 election she concentrated on Head Start, a program aimed at helping preschool children from disadvantaged backgrounds, but she was most closely identified with an environmental program, called “beautification,” that sought to encourage people to make their surroundings more attractive, and she urged Congress to pass the Highway Beautification Bill, which was strenuously opposed by billboard advertisers. After the Johnsons retired to their ranch in Texas, she established the National Wildflower Research Center (now the Lady Bird Johnson Wildlife Center); in 1977 she was awarded the Medal of Freedom for her conservation efforts.
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Duke Jordan (Irving Sidney Jordan; 1 Apr 1922, New York NY—8 Aug 2006, Valby, Denmark), American jazz pianist who first became noted during the heyday of bebop as a member of Charlie Parker’s classic late 1940s quintet and then enjoyed a long career as a lyrical soloist. Winthrop Donaldson Jordan (11 Nov 1931, Worcester MA—23 Feb 2007, Oxford MS), American historian, educator, and author who explored the nature of race in meticulously researched works that included White over Black: American Attitudes Toward the Negro, 1550–1812 (1968), which won a National Book Award, and The White Man’s Burden: Historical Origins of Racism in the United States (1974). Ghulam Ishaq Khan (20 Jan 1915, Ismail Khel, NorthWest Frontier Province, British India [now in Pakistan]—27 Oct 2006, Peshawar, Pakistan), Pakistani politician who served as president (1988–93). Benedict Kiely (15 Aug 1919, near Dromore, County Tyrone, Ireland [now in Northern Ireland]—9 Feb 2007, Dublin, Ireland), Irish novelist and short-story writer who explored everyday life in Ireland, especially after partition in the 1920s, in a rich narrative voice that drew on Irish oral tradition; he was elected Saoi of Aosdána, Ireland’s highest artistic honor, in 1996. Pete Kleinow (“Sneaky”; 1934, South Bend IN—6 Jan 2007, Petaluma CA), American pedal-steel guitarist, an original member of the Flying Burrito Brothers, a popular musical group of the late 1960s and ’70s that was one of the chief influences on the development of country rock. Lars Korvald (29 Apr 1916, near Nedre Eiker, Norway—4 Jul 2006, Oslo, Norway), Norwegian politician who was the first Christian Democratic prime minister of the country, at the head of a three-party minority coalition (1972–73). Bowie Kent Kuhn (28 Oct 1926, Takoma Park MD—15 Mar 2007, Jacksonville FL), American sports executive who strove to uphold the integrity of Major League Baseball (MLB) while serving as its commissioner (1969–84); during his tenure five MLB work stoppages occurred, but he was at the forefront of the movement to bring night games to the World Series, an action that resulted in millions of dollars in TV advertising revenue, and he was also noted for the many fines and suspensions he imposed. Mazisi Kunene (Mazisi Raymond Fakazi Mngoni Kunene; 12 May 1930, Durban, Union of South Africa—11 Aug 2006, Durban, South Africa), South African–born poet and educator whose verse explored the culture and history of the Zulu people; he was named poet laureate of Africa by UNESCO in 1993 and in 2005 was appointed the first poet laureate of South Africa. Frankie Laine (Francesco Paolo LoVecchio; 30 Mar 1913, Chicago IL—6 Feb 2007, San Diego CA), American singer who had a string of hit songs in the 1950s but was perhaps best remembered for recording the theme song to the long-running TV show Rawhide (1959–66). Paul Christian Lauterbur (6 May 1929, Sidney OH— 27 Mar 2007, Urbana IL), American chemist who won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2003, together with British physicist Sir Peter Mansfield, for the development of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); Mansfield transformed Lauterbur’s research on nuclear magnetic resonance, the selective absorption of radio waves by certain atomic nuclei subjected to a strong, nonuniform magnetic field, into a practical medical tool that was noninva-
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sive and lacking the harmful side effects of X-ray and computed tomography (CT) examinations. Kenneth Lay (Kenneth Lee Lay; 15 Apr 1942, Tyrone MO—5 Jul 2006, Aspen CO), American business executive and CEO of Enron Corp. until his resignation in 2002; he was indicted by a federal jury in Houston in 2004 for his role in the catastrophic crash of the company in 2001. Gerald Levert (13 Jul 1966, Philadelphia PA—10 Nov 2006, Cleveland OH), American singer, a powerful and soulful vocalist whose string of R&B hits included “I Swear,” “I’d Give Anything,” and “Baby Hold on to Me,” a duet with his father, Eddie Levert, Sr. Sol LeWitt (Solomon LeWitt) (9 Sep 1928, Hartford CT— 8 Apr 2007, New York NY), American sculptor, printmaker, and draftsman who was credited with helping to usher in conceptual art and minimalism as major movements of the post-World War II era with wall drawings that featured basic geometric forms and four basic colors (red, yellow, blue, and black). Alexander Litvinenko (Aleksandr Valterovich Litvinenko; 4 Dec 1962, Voronezh, near Moscow, USSR [now in Russia]—23 Nov 2006, London, England), Russian security agent who investigated domestic organized crime in his role as a member (1988–99) of the KGB (from 1994 the FSB); his death by plutonium-210 poisoning under suspicious circumstances was a cause célèbre in 2006. Robert Lockwood, Jr. (Robert Jr. Lockwood; 27 Mar 1915, Turkey Scratch AR—21 Nov 2006, Cleveland OH), American blues musician who was perhaps best known for his relationship with blues legend Robert Johnson. Lobby Loyde (John Baslington Lyde; 18 May 1951, Longreach, QLD, Australia—21 Apr 2007, Melbourne, VIC, Australia), Australian rock musician who championed the loud, aggressive musical style that dominated Australian pub rock and influenced such heavy metal bands as AC/DC; a member of the Aztecs, Loyde was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association Hall of Fame in 2006. Muhammadu Maccido (Alhaji Muhammadu Maccido Abubakar; 20 Apr 1926, Sokoto, Nigeria—29 Oct 2006, near Abuja, Nigeria), Nigerian religious figure, the 19th sultan of Sokoto, head of the Sokoto caliphate, and the spiritual leader of about 70 million Muslims in Nigeria. Alan Graham MacDiarmid (14 Apr 1927, Masterton, New Zealand—7 Feb 2007, Drexel Hill PA), New Zealand-born American chemist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2000 (together with Alan J. Heeger and Hideki Shirakawa) for the discovery that certain plastics can be chemically modified to conduct electricity almost as readily as metals. Naguib Mahfouz (11 Dec 1911, Cairo, Egypt—30 Aug 2006, Cairo, Egypt), Egyptian novelist and screenwriter noted for works dealing with social issues involving women and political prisoners; he was awarded the 1988 Nobel Prize for Literature, the first Arabic writer to be so honored. Theodore Harold Maiman (11 Jul 1927, Los Angeles CA—5 May 2007, Vancouver, BC, Canada), American physicist who constructed the first laser, which found numerous practical uses, ranging from delicate surgery to measurement of the distance between the Earth and the Moon; his autobiography, The Laser Odyssey, was published in 2000. Malietoa Tanumafili II (4 Jan 1912—11 May 2007, Apia, Samoa), Samoan head of state who was the world’s oldest reigning monarch and the third longest serving, having succeeded to the chiefly
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title Malietoa in 1939; he was appointed (1940) an adviser to the New Zealand colonial administration and played a large role in the independence negotiations with New Zealand. Bernard John Manning (13 Aug 1930, Manchester, England—18 Jun 2007, Manchester, England), British comedian who was as well known for the inflammatory invective with which he pilloried other races and nationalities as he was for his pointed satire and bawdy jokes; he was named National Club Comedian of the Year in 1982 and 1985. Bob Mathias (Robert Bruce Mathias; 17 Nov 1930, Tulare CA—2 Sep 2006, Fresno CA), American athlete, the youngest to win a gold medal in the decathlon in Olympic competition; after his victory in 1948, at the age of 17, he returned to win a second Olympic gold medal in 1952. Robert McFerrin, Sr. (19 Mar 1921, Marianna AR—24 Nov 2006, St Louis MO), American opera singer who became the first black male to solo at the Metropolitan Opera when he made his 1955 debut as Amonasro in Aida. Enolia Pettigen McMillan (20 Oct 1904, Willow Grove PA—24 Oct 2006, Stevenson MD), American civil rights leader who served (1984–89) as the first woman president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Barbara McNair (Barbara Joan McNair; 4 Mar 1934, Racine WI—4 Feb 2007, Los Angeles CA), American singer and actress who starred (1969–71) in the TV variety program The Barbara McNair Show as well as movies and stage shows and was a recording artist during the 1960s and early 1970s. Josefina Méndez (8 Mar 1941, Havana, Cuba—26 Jan 2007, Havana, Cuba), Cuban ballerina regarded as one of the “four jewels” of the National Ballet of Cuba (together with Loipa Araújo, Aurora Bosch, and Mirta Plá) and who enjoyed a 35-year career as a dancer and as the company’s ballet mistress. William Morris Meredith, Jr. (9 Jan 1919, New York NY—30 May 2007, New London CT), American poet who was awarded (1988) a Pulitzer Prize for Partial Accounts: New and Selected Poems (1987), a collection that showcased his formal and unadorned verse, which was compared to that of Robert Frost; from 1978 to 1980 he was the poetry consultant to the Library of Congress (now the poet laureate consultant in poetry). Tammy Faye Messner (Tammy Faye LaValley; Tammy Faye Bakker; 7 Mar 1942, International Falls MN— 20 Jul 2007, near Kansas City MO), American televangelist who was best remembered as the diminutive wife of Jim Bakker and as his cohost on the televised Jim and Tammy Show, which was syndicated on the Praise the Lord Network, founded by the couple in 1974; the couple built a $125 million empire that included Heritage USA, a religious theme park, and were often criticized for their lavish spending; in 1987 they lost their TV ministry following a series of sex and money scandals, and she and Bakker divorced after he was convicted in 1989 of having bilked followers of $158 million. Joseph Metcalf III (20 Dec 1927, Holyoke MA—2 Mar 2007, Washington DC), vice admiral in the US Navy who commanded the US military invasion of Grenada in October 1983, after a bloody Marxist coup resulted in the execution of the country’s prime minister and 15 of his supporters. Stanley Miller (7 Mar 1930, Oakland CA—20 May 2007, National City CA), American chemist who designed the first experiment to produce organic mol-
OBITUARIES ecules from some of the inorganic components of the Earth’s prebiotic atmosphere; Miller’s procedure (which was known as the Miller-Urey experiment) was a groundbreaking moment for research into the origin of life on Earth and gave rise to the term prebiotic soup. Parren James Mitchell (29 Apr 1922, Baltimore MD— 28 May 2007, Baltimore MD), American politician who as a liberal Democrat from Maryland spent eight terms (1971–87) in the US House of Representatives and was the first African American since 1898 to be elected to Congress from a state below the Mason-Dixon Line. Kiichi Miyazawa (8 Oct 1919, Tokyo, Japan—28 Jun 2007, Tokyo, Japan), Japanese politician who served (1991–93) as prime minister of Japan but was unable to implement promised anticorruption measures; in 1953 he was elected to the Diet (parliament), and along with other senior politicians, he was tainted by bribery scandals—he was forced to resign as finance minister in December 1988; he soon returned to power, however, and became prime minister on 5 November. Sheridan Robert Morley (5 Dec 1941, Ascot, Berkshire, England—16 Feb 2007, London, England), British theater critic and biographer who was nearly ubiquitous in the theater scene in London, writing reviews for an assortment of newspapers and magazines and appearing on several TV and radio shows. Byron Nelson (John Byron Nelson, Jr.; 4 Feb 1912, near Waxahachie TX—26 Sep 2006, Roanoke TX), American golfer who dominated the sport in the late 1930s and ‘40s; known for his fluid swing, he won a record 11 consecutive professional tournaments in 1945. David Nicholson (“The Duke”; 19 Mar 1939, Epsom, Surrey, England—27 Aug 2006), British steeplechase jockey and trainer who, as one of England’s finest jump trainers (1968–99), saddled 1,499 winning horses and was named champion National Hunt trainer in 1993–94 and 1994–95. Joe Niekro (Joseph Franklin Niekro; 7 Nov 1944, Martins Ferry OH—27 Oct 2006, Tampa FL), American baseball player who won 221 games in 22 seasons as a major league pitcher after making his bigleague debut in 1967 with the Chicago Cubs. Saparmurad (Atayevich) Niyazov (“Turkmenbashi”; 19 Feb 1940, Kipchak, near Ashkhabad [now Ashgabat], USSR [now in Turkmenistan]—21 Dec 2006, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan), Turkmen politician, the despotic and idiosyncratic ruler of Turkmenistan for more than 15 years, from 1991 when the former Soviet republic declared independence from the USSR. (William) Parry O’Brien (28 Jan 1932, Santa Monica CA—21 Apr 2007, Santa Clarita CA), American shotputter who won two gold and one silver Olympic medal and developed a style that revolutionized the event (the maneuver called for the athlete to turn 180° before the release of the shot); he was inducted into the US Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1974 and the US Olympic Hall of Fame in 1984. Robin Olds (14 Jul 1922, Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands— 14 Jun 2007, Steamboat Springs CO), brigadier general (ret.), US Air Force, who was an ace fighter pilot who flew 107 combat missions during World War II and 152 combat missions during the Vietnam War; he was perhaps best known for commanding the air force wing over North Vietnam in the war’s biggest air battle; he later served as commandant of cadets at the US Air Force Academy (1967–71). Buck O’Neil (John Jordan O’Neil, Jr.; 13 Nov 1911,
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Carrabelle FL—6 Oct 2006, Kansas City MO), American baseball player who starred as a first baseman and manager in the Negro leagues. Antonio Ortíz Mena (16 Apr 1907, Parral, Mexico—12 Mar 2007, Mexico City, Mexico), Mexican politician who was credited with fueling Mexico’s phenomenal growth (the “Mexican miracle” that elevated millions of Mexicans into the middle class) while serving as the country’s finance minister (1958–70); from 1971 to 1988 he led the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and was responsible for increasing its lending from $4 billion to $40 billion and its membership from 23 countries to 44. Aden Abdullah Osman (1908, Belet Weyne, Italian Somaliland [now in Somalia]—8 Jun 2007, Nairobi, Kenya), Somali politician who served as independent Somalia’s first president (1961–67) and was the first post-colonial African head of state to voluntarily step down after losing an election. Jack Palance (Volodymyr Palanyuk; Walter Jack Palance; 18 Feb 1919, Lattimer Mines PA—10 Nov 2006, Montecito CA), American actor who was often typecast in menacing roles but won the Oscar for best supporting actor for a comedic self-parody as Curly in City Slickers (1991). Valentín Paniagua (23 Sep 1936, Cuzco, Peru—16 Oct 2006, Lima, Peru), Peruvian politician who, as caretaker president of Peru (2000–01), was instrumental in guiding the country back to democracy following the collapse of the autocratic government of Pres. Alberto Fujimori. Maurice-Arthur-Jean Papon (3 Sep 1910, Gretz-Armainvilliers, France—17 Feb 2007, Paris, France), French official (1942–44) under the collaborationist Vichy government, who authorized the arrest and deportation of more than 1,600 Jews, most of whom died in concentration camps. Luciano Pavarotti (12 Oct 1935, Modena, Italy—6 Sep 2007, Modena, Italy), Italian operatic lyric tenor who, as one of the “Three Tenors” (with Plácido Domingo and José Carreras), was one of the most popular singers of his time. Willie Pep (Guglielmo Papaleo; 19 Sep 1922, Middletown CT—23 Nov 2006, Rocky Hill CT), American boxer who reigned (1942–48 and 1949–50) as featherweight champion of the world and compiled a remarkable 230–11–1 record (65 wins by knockout). Robert Einar Petersen (10 Sep 1926, Los Angeles CA—23 Mar 2007, Santa Monica CA), American publisher who established a multimillion-dollar publishing empire, starting with his founding of Hot Rod (1948) and Motor Trend (1949) magazines and later, titles such as Car Craft, Guns & Ammo, and Photographic; Petersen helped establish the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Augusto Pinochet (Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte; 25 Nov 1915, Valparaíso, Chile—10 Dec 2006, Santiago, Chile), Chilean dictator, leader of the military junta that overthrew the socialist government of Pres. Salvador Allende on 11 Sep 1973, and head of Chile’s military government (1974–90). Anna Politkovskaya (Anna Stepanovna Mazepa; 30 Aug 1958, New York NY—7 Oct 2006, Moscow, Russia), Russian investigative journalist who denounced the government of Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin for corruption and human rights abuses, particularly during the Chechen war of secession; she was found shot in the elevator of her apartment building. Carlo Ponti (Carlo Fortunaro Pietro Ponti; 11 Dec 1912, Magenta, near Milan, Italy—10 Jan 2007, Geneva, Switzerland), Italian film producer who was
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responsible for producing (or co-producing) more than 150 films, including the Oscar-winning La strada (1954), War and Peace (1955), Doctor Zhivago (1965), and Blowup (1966). Tom Poston (Thomas Gordon Poston; 17 Oct 1921, Columbus OH—30 Apr 2007, Los Angeles CA), American actor who was best remembered for TV roles in which he portrayed a bumbling funnyman, including his Emmy Award-winning role as one of the interviewees on The Steve Allen Show (1956–60), befuddled drunkard Franklin Delano Bickley on Mork and Mindy (1978–82), and inept handyman George Utley on Newhart (1982–90). Warren Eversleigh Preece (17 Apr 1921, Norwalk CT—11 Apr 2007, Philadelphia PA), American encyclopedist who was general editor of Encyclopædia Britannica in the creation of the 15th edition (1974), which consists of 30 volumes in three parts (the Propædia, the Micropædia, and the Macropædia); after publication of the 15th edition he resigned as editor, but he continued to serve as a member of the board of editors (vicechairman, 1975–79). Ivica Racan (24 Feb 1944, Ebersbach, Germany—29 Apr 2007, Zagreb, Croatia), Croatian politician who, as prime minister (2000–03), moved the country away from the nationalistic authoritarianism of Pres. Franjo Tudjman, the country’s first leader (1991–99) after independence, and toward a more liberal Western-oriented future, introducing economic reforms such as the privatization of state monopolies and political reforms that increased the power of the legislature and cut down on the pervasive corruption of the previous regime. Fons Rademakers (Alphonse Marie Rademakers; 5 Sep 1920, Roosendaal, Netherlands—22 Feb 2007, Geneva, Switzerland), Dutch filmmaker, the first from The Netherlands to win an Academy Award for best foreign-language film, for his poignant drama De Aanslag (1986; The Assault). Charles Nelson Reilly (13 Jan 1931, New York NY—25 May 2007, Los Angeles CA), American actor who won a Tony Award in 1962 for his portrayal of Bud Frump in How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1961) and was nominated for a Tony in 1997 for directing The Gin Game; he was best remembered for his comic double entendres while appearing as a fixture on the television game show The Hollywood Squares (1965–82). Ann W. Richards (Dorothy Ann Willis; 1 Sep 1933, Lakeview TX—13 Sep 2006, Austin TX), American politician who served (1991–95) as the governor of Texas and was the first woman to gain the office in her own right (rather than as a surrogate for a husband). Ian Richardson (Ian William Richardson; 7 Apr 1934, Edinburgh, Scotland—9 Feb 2007, London, England), British actor who was an accomplished actor and a founding member (1960–75) of the Royal Shakespeare Company; he gained international recognition for his performance in the BBC TV trilogy House of Cards (1990), To Play the King (1993), and The Final Cut (1995). Eddie Robinson (Edward Gay Robinson) (13 Feb 1919, Jackson LA— 3 Apr 2007, Ruston LA), American collegiate football coach who set the record for most career wins (the mark was surpassed in 2003 by John Gagliardi of St. John’s University); Robinson spent his entire head-coaching career (1941–97) at Grambling (LA) State University, where his Tigers recorded 3 perfect seasons and captured 17 conference titles; he retired with a record of
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
408–165–15 and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1997. Joe Rosenthal (Joseph John Rosenthal; 9 Oct 1911, Washington DC—20 Aug 2006, Novato CA), American photographer who captured the Pulitzer Prizewinning image of five Marines and a navy corpsman hoisting an American flag on Mt. Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima near the end of World War II. Baron Guy de Rothschild (Guy Édouard Alphonse Paul de Rothschild; 21 May 1908, Paris, France—12 Jun 2007, Paris, France), French banker who, as the scion of the French branch of the Rothschild international banking dynasty, restored his family’s fortunes after their holdings were confiscated during the Nazi occupation of France; he was also a successful breeder of Thoroughbred racehorses and was involved in the family’s wine interests in Bordeaux. Bo Schembechler (Glenn Edward Schembechler; 1 Apr 1929, Barberton OH—17 Nov 2006, Southfield MI), American football coach who was head coach (1969–89) at the University of Michigan and had an impressive lifetime record of 234–65–8. Wally Schirra (Walter Marty Schirra, Jr.; 12 Mar 1923, Hackensack NJ—3 May 2007, La Jolla CA), US astronaut, the only one to fly in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space programs, who manned the Mercury Sigma 7 (1962) and was command pilot of Gemini 6 (1965), which made the first rendezvous in space; Schirra was one of the original seven astronauts named in 1959 and the fifth to go into space. Arthur Meier Schlesinger, Jr. (Arthur Bancroft Schlesinger) (15 Oct 1917, Columbus OH—28 Feb 2007, New York NY), American historian, educator, and public official who reinterpreted the American era of Jacksonian democracy in the Pulitzer Prizewinning The Age of Jackson (1946); he was an adviser to Adlai Stevenson and John F. Kennedy during their presidential campaigns, and Kennedy appointed him a special assistant for Latin American affairs—Schlesinger’s study of the Kennedy administration, A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House (1965), also won a Pulitzer Prize. Melvin Schwartz (2 Nov 1932, New York NY—28 Aug 2006, Twin Falls ID), American physicist and entrepreneur who was the corecipient of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1988 for research concerning neutrinos (subatomic particles that have no electric charge and virtually no mass). Ousmane Sembène (1 Jan 1923, ZiguinchorCasamance, French West Africa [now in Senegal]— 9 Jun 2007, Dakar, Senegal), Senegalese writer and film director who was the first internationally known African filmmaker and whose La Noire de ... (1966; Black Girl) is considered the first major motion picture produced by a sub-Saharan African filmmaker; his Moolaadé (2004; “Protection”) received the Prix Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Festival. Sidney Sheldon (Sidney Schechtel; 11 Feb 1917, Chicago IL—30 Jan 2007, Rancho Mirage CA), American writer of award-winning film and TV screenplays and, later, best-selling novels. Beverly Sills (Belle Miriam Silverman; 25 May 1929, Brooklyn NY—2 Jul 2007, New York NY), American operatic soprano and administrator; she made her operatic debut in 1947 with the Philadelphia Civic Opera, and in 1955 she became a member of the company of the New York City Opera; besides serving (1979–89) as director of that company, Sills was chairman of the board of New York’s Lincoln Center (1994–2002) and of the Metropolitan Opera (2002–05).
OBITUARIES Anna Nicole Smith (Vickie Lynn Hogan; married name Marshall; 28 Nov 1967, Mexia TX—8 Feb 2007, Hollywood FL), American model and Playboy magazine’s Playmate of the Year 1993; known for her brief marriage (1994–95) to aged billionaire J. Howard Marshall, her reality-based TV series in 2002–04, and other aspects of her flamboyant lifestyle that kept her prominent in the tabloids. Tom Snyder (12 May 1936, Milwaukee WI—29 Jul 2007, San Francisco CA), American TV newsman who served as host of The Tomorrow Show (1973–82) and The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder (1995–99) and helped to establish the popularity of the late-night talk-show format; he was best known for his ability to connect with audiences and for his unusual questions and no-nonsense style of interviewing an array of guests. Mickey Spillane (Frank Morrison Spillane; 9 Mar 1918, Brooklyn NY—17 Jul 2006, Murrells Inlet SC), American writer who flouted literary taste in detective fiction that was characterized by violence and sexual licentiousness, vigorous narrative, and captivating central characters. Darryl Floyd Stingley (18 Sep 1951, Chicago IL—5 Apr 2007, Chicago), American football player whose career was ended during a preseason game in 1978, after what many believed to have been an intentionally brutal tackle by Oakland Raiders safety Jack (“The Assassin”) Tatum; Stingley was left a quadriplegic, and his injuries prompted the NFL to institute rules to protect receivers and to penalize overly aggressive tacklers. Alfredo Stroessner (Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda; 3 Nov 1912, Encarnación, Paraguay—16 Aug 2006, Brasília, Brazil), Paraguayan military leader who became president of Paraguay after leading an army coup in 1954 and was one of Latin America’s longestserving rulers before he was overthrown in 1989. William Styron (William Clark Styron, Jr.; 11 Jun 1925, Newport News VA—1 Nov 2006, Martha’s Vineyard MA), American novelist noted for his treatment of tragic themes and his use of a rich, classical style. Ta Mok (c. 1926, Takeo province, French Indochina [now in Cambodia]—21 Jul 2006, Phnom Penh, Cambodia), Cambodian guerrilla leader who, as a senior leader of the Khmer Rouge, was believed to have been responsible for many of the worst atrocities of that bloody regime. Adelaide Tambo (Adelaide Frances Tshukudu; 18 Jul 1929, near Vereeniging, Union of South Africa—31 Jan 2007, Johannesburg, South Africa), South African political activist who was a prominent figure in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa; she was married to nationalist leader Oliver Tambo. Dame Te Atairangikaahu (Princess Piki Mahuta; Princess Piki Paki; Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu; Dame Te Ata; 23 Jul 1931, Waahi Marae Huntly, New Zealand—15 Aug 2006, Ngaruawahia, New Zealand), Maori queen, the sixth and longest-serving monarch of the Kingitanga movement and the Maori people’s first reigning queen. Marie Tharp (30 Jul 1920, Ypsilanti MI—23 Aug 2006, Nyack NY), American oceanographic cartographer who pioneered ocean-floor mapping, which provided crucial support for acceptance of the theories of seafloor spreading and continental drift. Bob Thaves (Robert Lee Thaves; 5 Oct 1924, Burt IA— 1 Aug 2006, Torrance CA), American comic-strip artist who sketched the award-winning nationally syndicated Frank and Ernest, a one-panel comic feature that followed the adventures of the pun-
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cracking tramps as they delivered their wry commentary, usually from a park bench. Billy Thorpe (William Richard Thorpe; 29 Mar 1946, Manchester, England—28 Feb 2007, Sydney, NSW, Australia), British-born Australian rock icon who, as front man for the Aztecs, was regarded as the father of Australian pub rock; he was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association Hall of Fame in 1991. Tomasi Kulimoetoke II (26 Jul 1918, Mata-Utu, Wallis [Uvea] Island—7 May 2007, Mata-Utu, Wallis and Futuna), Wallisian monarch who, as the 50th lavelua (paramount chief, or king, of Wallis), was the longest-serving traditional leader in the French South Pacific island dependency Wallis and Futuna (1959 until his death). Henry Townsend (27 Oct 1909, Shelby MS—24 Sep 2006, Grafton WI), American blues musician who was one of the principal figures of the St. Louis blues scene and the last blues musician known to have recorded in the 1920s. Tupou IV (King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV; 4 Jul 1918, Nuku’alofa, Tongatapu island, British-protected Tonga—10 Sep 2006, Auckland, New Zealand), Tongan monarch, the absolute ruler of Tonga for 41 years; he expanded Tonga’s contact with the outside world and guided the 170-island territory’s emergence as a fully independent country in 1970. Jack Joseph Valenti (5 Sep 1921, Houston TX—26 Apr 2007, Washington DC), American public figure who was a longtime lobbyist and publicist for the Motion Picture Association of America, of which he was president (1966–2004), and the brainchild behind the creation of the film-rating system that assigned labels for audience suitability (currently G, PG, PG-13, R, or NC-17). Marais Viljoen (2 Dec 1915, Robertson, Cape province, Union of South Africa—4 Jan 2007, Pretoria, South Africa), South African politician; the fifth president (1979–84) of independent South Africa and the last to serve as a purely ceremonial head of state before the revised constitution of 1984 gave presidents greater power. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (11 Nov 1922, Indianapolis IN—11 Apr 2007, New York NY), American novelist who was noted for his pessimistic and satiric novels that used fantasy and science fiction to highlight the horrors and ironies of 20th-century civilization; Vonnegut was captured by the Germans while serving in the US Air Force in World War II, and he was a survivor of the fire bombing of Dresden, Germany, in February 1945—his Slaughterhouse-Five; or, The Children’s Crusade, a Duty-Dance with Death (1969), used that bombing raid as a symbol of the cruelty and destructiveness of war; The Sirens of Titan (1959) was a quasi-science-fiction novel in which the entire history of the human race is considered an accident attendant on an alien planet’s search for a spare part for a spaceship; his other novels included Cat’s Cradle (1963), Mother Night (1961), and Breakfast of Champions (1973); he also wrote plays, nonfiction, and collections of short stories, and in 2005 he published A Man Without a Country, a collection of essays and speeches. Kurt Josef Waldheim (21 Dec 1918, Sankt AndräWördern, Austria—14 Jun 2007, Vienna, Austria), Austrian diplomat and statesman who served two terms as the fourth UN secretary-general (1972–81) and one as president of Austria (1986–92) before an international scandal concerning his alleged complicity in Nazi atrocities during World War II
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ended his career; at the UN he oversaw effective relief efforts in Bangladesh, Nicaragua, the SudanSahel area of Africa, and Guatemala. Bill Walsh (30 Nov 1931, Los Angeles CA—30 Jul 2007, Woodside CA), American football coach who was the architect of the “West Coast offense,” which featured short passes and quick slanting pass routes by receivers, and helped build the San Francisco 49ers into a powerhouse NFL team— under Walsh the 49ers won Super Bowls XVI (1981), XIX (1985) and XXIII (1989) and registered a record of 102–63–1; he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993. Wang Guangmei (26 Sep 1921, China—13 Oct 2006, Beijing, China), Chinese first lady who was renowned for her beauty and her bourgeois lifestyle as the fifth wife of Liu Shaoqi, chairman (1959–68) of the People’s Republic of China. Nina Wang (“Little Sweetie”; 29 Sep 1937, Shanghai, China—3 Apr 2007, Hong Kong, China), Chinese businesswoman who became Asia’s richest woman after she inherited the estate of her husband, Teddy Wang, the founder of Chinachem Group, a private property firm, and built it into a multinational empire; at the time of her death, the eccentric Wang reportedly had a fortune of $4.2 billion. Jack Warden (John H. Lebzelter; 18 Sep 1920, Newark NJ—19 Jul 2006, New York NY), American actor who specialized in gruff character roles on the large and small screen. Bradford Washburn (Henry Bradford Washburn, Jr.; 7 Jun 1910, Cambridge MA—10 Jan 2007, Lexington MA), American mountaineer, pioneer of aerial photography, cartographer, and museum director who mapped the Grand Canyon during the 1970s and made Boston’s Museum of Science a leading institution of its kind. Kate Webb (Catherine Merrial Webb; 24 Mar 1943, Christchurch, New Zealand—13 May 2007, Sydney, NSW, Australia), New Zealand-born journalist who, in her role as a reporter (1967–71) and Phnom Penh bureau chief (1971–77) for United Press International news agency, was one of the few women war correspondents to cover the Vietnam War; she later reported on wars, coups, and other civil strife in such places as Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Nepal, Iraq, Indonesia, and East Timor. Sandy West (Sandy Pesavento; 1959, Los Angeles CA—21 Oct 2006, San Dimas CA), American musician who used her powerful drumming to ignite the influential all-female rock band the Runaways, which she founded in 1975 with Joan Jett. Milan B. Williams (28 Mar 1948, Okolona MS—9 Jul 2006, Houston TX), American keyboard player who was a founding member in 1968 of the soul-funk band the Commodores and scored the group’s first hit after writing the instrumental “Machine Gun” (1974). Ellen Jane Willis (14 Dec 1941, New York NY—9 Nov 2006, Queens NY), American feminist and journalist who agitated for women’s rights, especially abortion rights, as the author of numerous articles; as a founder in 1969 of the short-lived Redstockings, an influential radical feminist group; and as a founder of No More Nice Girls, a street-theater group. Bertha Wilson (Bertha Wernham; 18 Sep 1923, Kirkcaldy, Scotland—28 Apr 2007, Ottawa, ON, Canada), Canadian jurist who was appointed the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court of Canada (1982–91), after having been appointed the first woman on the Ontario Court of Appeal in
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1975; she was the author of the 1988 Supreme Court decision that overturned Canada’s restrictions on abortion, and she wrote the judgment in 1990 that recognized the battered-wife syndrome as a valid self-defense. Ian Edmund Wooldridge (“Woolers”) (14 Jan 1932— 4 Mar 2007, London, England), British writer who was considered one of England’s best sports journalists, writing with wit and a passionate enthusiasm for sports in a career that lasted almost 60 years (1948–2007); he was employed in 1961 by the Daily Mail, where he covered the cricket beat before being named sports editor in 1972; he was named Sportswriter of the Year four times and was appointed OBE in 1991. Bob Woolmer (14 May 1948, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India—18 Mar 2007, Kingston, Jamaica), English cricketer and coach whose sudden death, the night after the Pakistani cricket team that he coached was eliminated from the World Cup, made international news after a local medical examiner initially indicated that death had occurred by strangulation (it was later ruled that Woolmer died of natural causes); at the Test level he coached South Africa (1994–99) before taking over the Pakistani team in 2004. Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1 Feb 1931, Sverdlovsk [now Yekaterinburg], Russia, USSR—23 Apr 2007, Moscow, Russia), Russian politician who, as independent Russia’s first popularly elected president (1991–99), guided the country through a stormy decade of political and economic retrenching but was plagued by an ongoing war with the breakaway republic of Chechnya and the failure of his freemarket reforms to spur economic growth; Yeltsin joined the Communist Party in 1961, and after Mikhail Gorbachev came to national power, he chose Yeltsin to clean out the corruption in the Moscow party organization, and the next year he elevated Yeltsin to the Politburo. As the mayor of Moscow, Yeltsin began condemning the slow pace of reform, challenging party conservatives, and criticizing Gorbachev, and he was forced to resign from the Moscow party leadership (1987) and from the Politburo (1988); in May 1990 the parliament of the Russian SFSR elected him president of the republic against Gorbachev’s wishes, and Yeltsin took steps to give the Russian republic more autonomy, declared himself in favor of a market-oriented economy and a multiparty political system, and quit the Communist Party. His victory in the first direct popular elections for the presidency of the Russian republic (June 1991) was seen as a mandate for economic reform; when the Soviet Union collapsed on Christmas, the Russian government under his leadership assumed many of the former superpower’s responsibilities. Mohammad Zahir Shah (15 Oct 1914, Kabul, Afghanistan—23 Jul 2007, Kabul, Afghanistan), Afghan monarch who, as Afghanistan’s last reigning king (1933–73), provided an era of stable government while maintaining a neutral position for his country in international politics; he established a constitutional monarchy, prohibited royal relatives from holding public office, and undertook a number of economic-development projects, including irrigation and highway construction, but in a bloodless coup on 17 Jul 1973, he was deposed, and he went into exile in Italy soon after; following the US overthrow of the Taliban, he returned to Afghanistan in 2002, and he was later given the honorary title Father of the Nation.
TIME’s Top 100 Films here’s nothing like a list to stimulate a strong discussion, so in the hopes of striking a few sparks among movie lovers, TIME asked its longtime film critics Richard Corliss and Richard Schickel to compile a list of the 100 greatest films ever made. Of course, the discussions that followed between the two critics were entirely civil at all times. Below, the films and the year they were released.
T
A–C Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972) The Apu Trilogy (1955, 1956, 1959) The Awful Truth (1937) Baby Face (1933) Bande à part (1964) Barry Lyndon (1975) Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) Blade Runner (1982) Bonnie and Clyde (1967) Brazil (1985) Bride of Frankenstein (1935) Camille (1936) Casablanca (1942) Charade (1963) Children of Paradise (1945) Chinatown (1974) Chungking Express (1994) Citizen Kane (1941) City Lights (1931) City of God (2002) Closely Watched Trains (1966) The Crime of Monsieur Lange (1936) The Crowd (1928) D–F Day for Night (1973) The Decalogue (1989) Detour (1945) The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) Dodsworth (1936) Double Indemnity (1944) Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) Drunken Master II (1994) E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) 8 1/2 (1963) The 400 Blows (1959) Farewell My Concubine (1993) Finding Nemo (2003) The Fly (1986) G–J The Godfather, Parts I and II (1972, 1974) The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966) Goodfellas (1990) A Hard Day’s Night (1964) His Girl Friday (1940) Ikiru (1952) In a Lonely Place (1950) Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) It’s a Gift (1934) It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
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K–M Kandahar (2001) Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) King Kong (1933) The Lady Eve (1941) The Last Command (1928) Lawrence of Arabia (1962) Léolo (1992) The Lord of the Rings (2001, 2002, 2003) The Man with a Camera (1929) The Manchurian Candidate (1962) Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) Metropolis (1927) Miller’s Crossing (1990) Mon oncle d’Amérique (1980) Mouchette (1967) N–P Nayakan (1987) Ninotchka (1939) Notorious (1946) Olympia, Parts 1 and 2 (1938) On the Waterfront (1954) Once upon a Time in the West (1968) Out of the Past (1947) Persona (1966) Pinocchio (1940) Psycho (1960) Pulp Fiction (1994) The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) Pyaasa (1957) Q–S Raging Bull (1980) Schindler’s List (1993) The Searchers (1956) Sherlock, Jr. (1924) The Shop Around the Corner (1940) Singin’ in the Rain (1952) The Singing Detective (1986) Smiles of a Summer Night (1955) Some Like It Hot (1959) Star Wars (1977) A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) Sunrise (1927) Sweet Smell of Success (1957) Swing Time (1936) T–Z Talk to Her (2002) Taxi Driver (1976) Tokyo Story (1953) A Touch of Zen (1971) Ugetsu (1953) Ulysses’ Gaze (1995) Umberto D (1952) Unforgiven (1992) White Heat (1949) Wings of Desire (1987) Yojimbo (1961)
AWARDS
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TIME’s Person of the Year, 1927–2006 very year since 1927, TIME has named a Person of the Year, identifying the individual who has done the most to affect the news in the past twelve months. The designation is often mistaken for an honor, but the magazine has always pointed out that inclusion on the list is not a recognition of good works (like the Nobel Peace prize, for example), but rather a reflection of the sheer power of one’s actions, whether for good or for ill. Hence, both Adolf Hitler and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini were chosen Person of the Year at the time when their actions commanded the attention of the world. Below, the complete list of Persons of the Year.
E
1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960
1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967
Charles Lindbergh Walter Chrysler Owen Young Mahatma Gandhi Pierre Laval Franklin Delano Roosevelt Hugh Johnson Franklin Delano Roosevelt Haile Selassie Wallis Simpson Chiang Kai-Shek and Soong Mei-ling Adolf Hitler Joseph Stalin Winston Churchill Franklin Delano Roosevelt Joseph Stalin George Marshall Dwight Eisenhower Harry Truman James F. Byrnes George Marshall Harry Truman Winston Churchill (“Man of the Half-Century”) The American Fighting-Man (representing US troops fighting in the Korean War; first abstract chosen) Mohammed Mossadegh Queen Elizabeth II Konrad Adenauer John Foster Dulles Harlow Curtice Hungarian Freedom Fighter (representing the citizens’ uprising against Soviet domination) Nikita Khrushchev Charles De Gaulle Dwight Eisenhower US Scientists (represented by Linus Pauling, Isidor Rabi, Edward Teller, Joshua Lederberg, Donald A. Glaser, Willard Libby, Robert Woodward, Charles Draper, William Shockley, Emilio Segrè, John Enders, Charles Townes, George Beadle, James Van Allen, and Edward Purcell) John F. Kennedy Pope John XXIII Martin Luther King, Jr. Lyndon Johnson William Westmoreland The Generation Twenty-Five and Under (representing American youth) Lyndon Johnson
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975
1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990
1991 1992 1993
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
2003 2004 2005 2006
Apollo 8 astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders The Middle Americans (representing the American electorate’s turn to the right) Willy Brandt Richard Nixon Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger John Sirica King Faisal American Women (represented by Betty Ford, Carla Hills, Ella Grasso, Barbara Jordan, Susie Sharp, Jill Conway, Billie Jean King, Susan Brownmiller, Addie Wyatt, Kathleen Byerly, Carol Sutton, and Alison Cheek) Jimmy Carter Anwar el-Sadat Deng Xiaoping Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini Ronald Reagan Lech Walensa The Computer (first non-human abstract chosen; termed “Machine of the Year”) Ronald Reagan and Yuri Andropov Peter Ueberroth Deng Xiaoping Corazon Aquino Mikhail Gorbachev Endangered Earth (“Planet of the Year”) Mikhail Gorbachev (“Man of the Decade”) George H.W. Bush (termed “The Two George Bushes”; commended for his role in international affairs and criticized for his management of domestic affairs) Ted Turner Bill Clinton The Peacemakers (represented by Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk of South Africa and Yasir Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin of the Middle East) Pope John Paul II Newt Gingrich David Ho Andy Grove Bill Clinton and Kenneth Starr Jeffrey P. Bezos George W. Bush Rudolph Giuliani The Whistleblowers (represented by Cynthia Cooper of Worldcom, Sherron Watkins of Enron, and Coleen Rowley of the FBI) The American Soldier (representing US troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan) George W. Bush The Good Samaritans (represented by Bono [Paul Hewson], Bill Gates, and Melinda Gates) You (representing the new age of usergenerated Internet content)
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The Nobel Prizes he Alfred B. Nobel Prizes are widely regarded as the world’s most prestigious awards given for intellectual achievement. They are awarded annually from a fund bequeathed for that purpose by the Swedish inventor and industrialist Alfred Bernhard Nobel and administered by the Nobel Foundation. Nobel’s 1895 will established five of the six prizes: those for physics, chemistry, literature, physiology or medicine, and peace. The prize for economic sciences was added in 1969. Each year thousands of invitations are sent out to members of scholarly academies, scientists, university professors, previous Nobel laureates, members of parliaments and other
T
assemblies, and others, requesting nominations for the various prizes. The country given is the citizenship of the recipient at the time that the award was made. Prizes may be withheld or not awarded in years when no worthy recipient can be found or when the world situation (e.g., World Wars I and II) prevents the gathering of information needed to reach a decision. Prizes are announced in mid-October and awarded in December in Stockholm and Oslo. A cash award of SEK 10 million (about $1,450,000), a personal diploma, and a commemorative medal are given for each prize category. Web site: <nobelprize.org>
Physics YEAR
WINNER(S)
COUNTRY
ACHIEVEMENT
1901 1902
Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen Hendrik Antoon Lorentz Pieter Zeeman Henri Becquerel Marie Curie Pierre Curie John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh (of Terling Place) Philipp Lenard Sir J.J. Thomson A.A. Michelson Gabriel Lippmann Ferdinand Braun Guglielmo Marconi Johannes Diederik van der Waals Wilhelm Wien Nils Dalén
Germany Neth. Neth. France France France UK
discovery of X rays investigation of the influence of magnetism on radiation discovery of spontaneous radioactivity investigations of radiation phenomena discovered by Becquerel discovery of argon
Germany UK US France Germany Italy Neth.
research on cathode rays researches into electrical conductivity of gases spectroscopic and metrological investigations photographic reproduction of colors development of wireless telegraphy research concerning the equation of state of gases and liquids discoveries regarding laws governing heat radiation invention of automatic regulators for lighting coastal beacons and light buoys investigation into the properties of matter at low temperatures; production of liquid helium discovery of diffraction of X rays by crystals analysis of crystal structure by means of X rays discovery of characteristic X-radiation of elements discovery of the elemental quanta discovery of Doppler effect in positive ion rays and division of spectral lines in electric field discovery of anomalies in alloys
1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
Heike Kamerlingh Onnes Max von Laue Sir Lawrence Bragg Sir William Bragg Charles Glover Barkla Max Planck Johannes Stark Charles Édouard Guillaume Albert Einstein Niels Bohr Robert Andrews Millikan Karl Manne Georg Siegbahn James Franck Gustav Hertz Jean Perrin Arthur Holly Compton C.T.R. Wilson Sir Owen Willans Richardson Louis-Victor, 7e duc (duke) de Broglie
Germany Sweden Neth. Germany UK UK UK Germany Germany Switz. Switz. Denmark US Sweden Germany Germany France US UK
work in theoretical physics investigation of atomic structure and radiation work on elementary electric charge and the photoelectric effect work in X-ray spectroscopy
UK
discovery of the laws governing the impact of an electron upon an atom work on discontinuous structure of matter discovery of wavelength change in diffused X rays method of making visible the paths of electrically charged particles work on electron emission by hot metals
France
discovery of the wave nature of electrons
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Physics (continued) YEAR
WINNER(S)
COUNTRY
ACHIEVEMENT
1930
Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman
India
1932 1933
1938
Werner Heisenberg Germany P.A.M. Dirac UK Erwin Schrödinger Austria Sir James Chadwick UK Carl David Anderson US Victor Francis Hess Austria Clinton Joseph Davisson US Sir George Paget Thomson UK Enrico Fermi Italy
1939 1943 1944
Ernest Orlando Lawrence US Otto Stern US Isidor Isaac Rabi US
1945 1946 1947 1948
Wolfgang Pauli Percy Williams Bridgman Sir Edward V. Appleton Patrick M.S. Blackett
Austria US UK UK
1949 1950
Hideki Yukawa Cecil Frank Powell
Japan UK
1951
Sir John D. Cockcroft Ernest T.S. Walton Felix Bloch E.M. Purcell Frits Zernike Max Born Walther Bothe Polykarp Kusch Willis Eugene Lamb, Jr. John Bardeen Walter H. Brattain William B. Shockley Tsung-Dao Lee Chen Ning Yang Pavel Alexeyevich Cherenkov Ilya Mikhaylovich Frank Igor Yevgenyevich Tamm Owen Chamberlain Emilio Segrè Donald A. Glaser Robert Hofstadter Rudolf Ludwig Mössbauer Lev Davidovich Landau
UK Ireland US US Neth. UK W.Ger. US US US US US China China USSR
work on light diffusion; discovery of Raman effect, light wavelength variation that occurs when a light beam is deflected by molecules creation of quantum mechanics introduction of wave equations in quantum mechanics discovery of the neutron discovery of the positron discovery of cosmic radiation experimental demonstration of the interference phenomenon in crystals irradiated by electrons disclosure of artificial radioactive elements produced by neutron irradiation invention of the cyclotron discovery of the magnetic moment of the proton resonance method for registration of various properties of atomic nuclei discovery of the exclusion principle of electrons discoveries in the domain of high-pressure physics discovery of Appleton layer in upper atmosphere discoveries in the domain of nuclear physics and cosmic radiation prediction of the existence of mesons photographic method of studying nuclear processes; discoveries concerning mesons work on transmutation of atomic nuclei by accelerated particles discovery of nuclear magnetic resonance in solids method of phase-contrast microscopy statistical studies of atomic wave functions invention of coincidence method measurement of magnetic moment of electron discoveries in the hydrogen spectrum investigations on semiconductors and invention of the transistor discovery of violations of the principle of parity, the symmetry between phenomena in coordinate systems discovery and interpretation of the Cherenkov effect, which indicates that electrons emit light as they pass through a transparent medium at a speed higher than the speed of light in that medium confirmation of the existence of the antiproton development of the bubble chamber determination of shape and size of atomic nucleons discovery of the Mössbauer effect, a nuclear process permitting the resonance absorption of gamma rays contributions to the understanding of condensed states of matter development of shell model theory of the structure of the atomic nuclei principles governing interaction of protons and neutrons in the nucleus work in quantum electronics leading to construction of instruments based on maser-laser principles work in quantum electrodynamics, which describes mathematically all interactions of light with matter and of charged particles with one another discovery of optical methods for studying Hertzian resonances in atoms discoveries concerning the energy production of stars work with elementary particles, discovery of resonance states classification of elementary particles and their interactions
1935 1936 1937
1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958
1959 1960 1961 1962
USSR USSR US US US US W.Ger. USSR
1963
J. Hans D. Jensen Maria Goeppert Mayer Eugene Paul Wigner
W.Ger. US US
1964
1966
Nikolay G. Basov Aleksandr M. Prokhorov Charles Hard Townes Richard P. Feynman Julian Seymour Schwinger Shin’ichiro Tomonaga Alfred Kastler
USSR USSR US US US Japan France
1967 1968
Hans Albrecht Bethe Luis W. Alvarez
US US
1969
Murray Gell-Mann
US
1965
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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Physics (continued) YEAR
WINNER(S)
COUNTRY
ACHIEVEMENT
1970
Hannes Alfvén Louis-Eugène-Félix Néel Dennis Gabor John Bardeen Leon N. Cooper John Robert Schrieffer Leo Esaki Ivar Giaever Brian D. Josephson
Sweden France UK US US US Japan US UK
Antony Hewish Sir Martin Ryle Aage N. Bohr Ben R. Mottelson James Rainwater Burton Richter Samuel C.C. Ting Philip W. Anderson Sir Nevill F. Mott John H. Van Vleck Pyotr L. Kapitsa Arno Penzias Robert Woodrow Wilson Sheldon Lee Glashow Abdus Salam Steven Weinberg James Watson Cronin Val Logsdon Fitch Nicolaas Bloembergen Arthur L. Schawlow Kai M.B. Siegbahn Kenneth G. Wilson Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar William A. Fowler
UK UK Denmark Denmark US US US US UK US USSR US US US Pakistan US US US US US Sweden US US
Simon van der Meer Carlo Rubbia Klaus von Klitzing
Neth. Italy W.Ger.
Gerd Binnig Heinrich Rohrer Ernst Ruska J. Georg Bednorz Karl Alex Müller Leon Max Lederman Melvin Schwartz Jack Steinberger Hans Georg Dehmelt Wolfgang Paul Norman Foster Ramsey Jerome Isaac Friedman Henry Way Kendall Richard E. Taylor Pierre-Gilles de Gennes Georges Charpak Russell Alan Hulse Joseph H. Taylor, Jr. Bertram N. Brockhouse Clifford G. Shull Martin Lewis Perl Frederick Reines David M. Lee Douglas D. Osheroff Robert C. Richardson Steven Chu Claude Cohen-Tannoudji William D. Phillips
W.Ger. Switz. W.Ger. W.Ger. Switz. US US US US W.Ger. US US US Canada France France US US Canada US US US US US US US France US
work in magnetohydrodynamics and in antiferromagnetism and ferrimagnetism invention of holography development of the theory of superconductivity, the disappearance of electrical resistance in various solids when they are cooled below certain temperatures experimental disoveries in tunneling in semiconductors and superconductors predictions of supercurrent properties through a tunnel barrier work in radio astronomy work on the atomic nucleus that paved the way for nuclear fusion discovery of new class of elementary particles (psi, or J) contributions to understanding the behavior of electrons in magnetic, noncrystalline solids research in magnetism and low-temperature physics discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation, providing support for the big-bang theory contributions to the theory of the unified weak and electromagnetic interactions of subatomic particles demonstration of simultaneous violation of both charge-conjugation and parity-inversion symmetries applications of lasers in spectroscopy development of electron spectroscopy analysis of continuous phase transitions contributions to understanding the evolution and devolution of stars studies of nuclear reactions key to the formation of chemical elements discovery of subatomic particles W and Z, which supports the electroweak theory discovery of the quantized Hall effect, permitting exact measurements of electrical resistance development of the scanning tunneling electron microscope development of the electron microscope discoveries of superconductivity in ceramic materials research in subatomic particles development of methods to isolate atoms and subatomic particles for study development of the atomic clock discovery of atomic quarks discovery of general rules for behavior of molecules invention of detector that traces subatomic particles identification of binary pulsars development of neutron-scattering techniques discovery of tau subatomic particle discovery of neutrino subatomic particle discovery of superfluidity in isotope helium-3 process of cooling and trapping atoms with laser light
1971 1972 1973
1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983
1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
US
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AWARDS—NOBEL PRIZES
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Physics (continued) YEAR
WINNER(S)
COUNTRY
ACHIEVEMENT
1998
Robert B. Laughlin Horst L. Störmer Daniel C. Tsui
US US US
1999
Gerardus ’t Hooft Martinus J.G. Veltman Zhores I. Alferov Herbert Kroemer Jack S. Kilby Eric A. Cornell Wolfgang Ketterle Carl E. Wieman Raymond Davis, Jr. Masatoshi Koshiba Riccardo Giacconi
Neth. Neth. Russia Germany US US Germany US US Japan US
Alexei A. Abrikosov Vitaly L. Ginzburg Anthony J. Leggett David J. Gross H. David Politzer Frank Wilczek Roy J. Glauber John L. Hall Theodor W. Hänsch
US/Russia Russia UK/US US US US US US Germany
John C. Mather George F. Smoot
US US
discovery of fractional quantum Hall effect, demonstrating that electrons in a powerful low-temperature magnetic field can form a quantum fluid whose particles have fractional electric charges study of quantum structure of electroweak interactions development of fast semiconductors for use in microelectronics development of the integrated circuit (microchip) achievement of Bose-Einstein condensation in dilute gases of alkali atoms, and for early fundamental studies of the properties of the condensates pioneering contributions to astrophysics, in particular for the detection of cosmic neutrinos pioneering contributions to astrophysics, which have led to the discovery of cosmic X-ray sources pioneering contributions to the theory of superconductors and superfluids discovery of asymptotic freedom in the theory of the strong interaction contributions to quantum theory of optical coherence contributions to the development of laser-based precision spectroscopy, including the optical frequency comb technique discovery of the blackbody form and variability of cosmic microwave background radiation
2000 2001 2002
2003 2004 2005
2006
Chemistry YEAR
WINNER(S)
COUNTRY
ACHIEVEMENT
1901
Jacobus H. van ’t Hoff
Neth.
1902 1903 1904
Emil Fischer Svante Arrhenius Sir William Ramsay
Germany Sweden UK
1905 1906 1907 1908
Adolf von Baeyer Henri Moissan Eduard Buchner Ernest Rutherford
Germany France Germany UK
1909
Wilhelm Ostwald
Germany
1910 1911 1912 1913 1914
Otto Wallach Marie Curie Victor Grignard Paul Sabatier Alfred Werner Theodore W. Richards
Germany France France France Switz. US
1915 1918 1920 1921
Richard Willstätter Fritz Haber Walther Hermann Nernst Frederick Soddy
Germany Germany Germany UK
1922 1923 1925
Francis William Aston Fritz Pregl Richard Zsigmondy
UK Austria Austria
1926 1927 1928
Theodor H.E. Svedberg Heinrich Otto Wieland Adolf Windaus
Sweden Germany Germany
1929
Hans von Euler-Chelpin Sir Arthur Harden
Sweden UK
discovery of the laws of chemical dynamics and osmotic pressure work on sugar and purine syntheses theory of electrolytic dissociation discovery of inert gas elements and their places in the periodic system work on organic dyes, hydroaromatic compounds isolation of fluorine; introduction of Moissan furnace discovery of noncellular fermentation investigations into the disintegration of elements and the chemistry of radioactive substances pioneer work on catalysis, chemical equilibrium, and reaction velocities pioneer work in alicyclic combinations discovery of radium and polonium; isolation of radium discovery of the Grignard reagents method of hydrogenating organic compounds work on the linkage of atoms in molecules accurate determination of the atomic weights of numerous elements research in plant pigments, especially chlorophyll synthesis of ammonia work in thermochemistry investigation into the chemistry of radioactive substances and the occurrence and nature of isotopes work with mass spectrograph; whole-number rule method of microanalysis of organic substances elucidation of the heterogeneous nature of colloidal solutions work on disperse systems research into the constitution of bile acids research into the constitution of sterols and their connection with vitamins investigations in the fermentation of sugars and the enzyme action involved
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
AWARDS—NOBEL PRIZES
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Chemistry (continued) YEAR
WINNER(S)
COUNTRY
ACHIEVEMENT
1930 1931
Hans Fischer Friedrich Bergius Carl Bosch Irving Langmuir Harold C. Urey Frédéric and Irène Joliot-Curie Peter Debye
Germany Germany Germany US US France
hemin, chlorophyll research; synthesis of hemin invention and development of chemical high-pressure methods discoveries and investigations in surface chemistry discovery of heavy hydrogen synthesis of new radioactive elements
Neth.
1932 1934 1935 1936
Sir Norman Haworth Paul Karrer Richard Kuhn (declined) Adolf Butenandt (declined) Leopold Ruzicka Georg Charles von Hevesy Otto Hahn Artturi Ilmari Virtanen John Howard Northrop Wendell M. Stanley James B. Sumner Sir Robert Robinson Arne Tiselius
UK Switz. Germany Germany
work on dipole moments and diffraction of X rays and electrons in gases research on carbohydrates and vitamin C research on carotenoids, flavins, and vitamins carotenoid and vitamin research work on sexual hormones
Switz. Hungary
work on polymethylenes and higher terpenes use of isotopes as tracers in chemical research
Germany Finland US US US UK Sweden US W.Ger. W.Ger. US US UK UK W.Ger. US US UK USSR UK
1958 1959
William Francis Giauque Kurt Alder Otto Paul Hermann Diels Edwin M. McMillan Glenn T. Seaborg A.J.P. Martin R.L.M. Synge Hermann Staudinger Linus Pauling Vincent du Vigneaud Sir Cyril N. Hinshelwood Nikolay N. Semyonov Alexander Robertus Todd, Baron Todd (of Trumpington) Frederick Sanger Jaroslav Heyrovsky
discovery of the fission of heavy nuclei invention of fodder preservation method preparation of enzymes and virus proteins in pure form discovery of enzyme crystallization investigation of alkaloids and other plant products research on electrophoresis and adsorption analysis; discoveries concerning serum proteins behavior of substances at extremely low temperatures discovery and development of diene synthesis discovery of and research on transuranium elements development of partition chromatography work on macromolecules study of the nature of the chemical bond first synthesis of a polypeptide hormone work on the kinetics of chemical reactions work on nucleotides and nucleotide coenzymes
1960 1961
Willard Frank Libby Melvin Calvin
UK Czechoslovakia US US
1962
1964
Sir John C. Kendrew Max Ferdinand Perutz Giulio Natta Karl Ziegler Dorothy M.C. Hodgkin
UK UK Italy W.Ger. UK
1965 1966
R.B. Woodward Robert S. Mulliken
US US
1967
Manfred Eigen Ronald G.W. Norrish Sir George Porter Lars Onsager
W.Ger. UK UK US
Sir Derek H.R. Barton Odd Hassel Luis Federico Leloir
UK Norway Argentina
Gerhard Herzberg Christian B. Anfinsen Stanford Moore William H. Stein
Canada US US US
1937 1938 1939 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957
1963
1968 1969 1970 1971 1972
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
determination of the structure of the insulin molecule discovery and development of polarography development of radiocarbon dating study of chemical steps that take place during photosynthesis determination of the structure of hemoproteins structure and synthesis of polymers in the field of plastics determination of the structure of biochemical compounds essential in combating pernicious anemia synthesis of sterols, chlorophyll, and other substances work concerning chemical bonds and the electronic structure of molecules studies of extremely fast chemical reactions studies of extremely fast chemical reactions work on theory of thermodynamics of irreversible processes work in determining actual three-dimensional shape of molecules discovery of sugar nucleotides and their role in the biosynthesis of carbohydrates research in the structure of molecules fundamental contributions to enzyme chemistry fundamental contributions to enzyme chemistry
AWARDS—NOBEL PRIZES
96
Chemistry (continued) YEAR
WINNER(S)
COUNTRY
ACHIEVEMENT
1973
1976 1977 1978
Ernst Otto Fischer Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson Paul J. Flory Sir John W. Cornforth Vladimir Prelog William N. Lipscomb, Jr. Ilya Prigogine Peter Dennis Mitchell
W.Ger. UK US UK Switz. US Belgium UK
1979
Herbert Charles Brown
US
Georg Wittig
W.Ger.
1990
Paul Berg Walter Gilbert Frederick Sanger Kenichi Fukui Roald Hoffmann Aaron Klug Henry Taube Bruce Merrifield Herbert A. Hauptman Jerome Karle Dudley R. Herschbach Yuan T. Lee John C. Polanyi Donald J. Cram Jean-Marie Lehn Charles J. Pedersen Johann Deisenhofer Robert Huber Hartmut Michel Sidney Altman Thomas Robert Cech Elias James Corey
US US UK Japan US UK US US US US US US Canada US France US W.Ger. W.Ger. W.Ger. US US US
1991
Richard R. Ernst
Switz.
1992
Rudolph A. Marcus
US
1993
Kary B. Mullis Michael Smith George A. Olah
US Canada US
Paul Crutzen Mario Molina F. Sherwood Rowland Robert F. Curl, Jr. Sir Harold W. Kroto Richard E. Smalley Paul D. Boyer John E. Walker Jens C. Skou
Neth. US US US UK US US UK Denmark
1998
Walter Kohn John A. Pople
US UK
1999
Ahmed H. Zewail
Egypt/US
2000
Alan J. Heeger Alan G. MacDiarmid Hideki Shirakawa William S. Knowles Ryoji Noyori K. Barry Sharpless John B. Fenn Koichi Tanaka
US US Japan US Japan US US Japan
organometallic chemistry studies of long-chain molecules work in stereochemistry studies on the structure of boranes widening the scope of thermodynamics formulation of a theory of energy transfer processes in biological systems introduction of compounds of boron and phosphorus in the synthesis of organic substances introduction of compounds of boron and phosphorus in the synthesis of organic substances first preparation of a hybrid DNA development of chemical and biological analyses of DNA structure orbital symmetry interpretation of chemical reactions determination of structure of biological substances study of electron transfer reactions development of a method of polypeptide synthesis development of a way to map the chemical structure of small molecules development of methods for analyzing basic chemical reactions development of molecules that can link with other molecules discovery of structure proteins needed in photosynthesis discovery of certain basic properties of RNA development of retrosynthetic analysis for synthesis of complex molecules improvements in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy explanation of how electrons transfer between molecules invention of techniques for gene study and manipulation development of techniques to study hydrocarbon molecules explanation of processes that deplete Earth’s ozone layer discovery of new carbon compounds called fullerenes explanation of the enzymatic conversion of adenosine triphosphate discovery of sodium-potassium-activated adenosine triphosphatase development of the density-functional theory development of computational methods in quantum chemistry study of the transition states of chemical reactions using femtosecond spectroscopy discovery of plastics that conduct electricity work on chirally catalyzed hydrogenation reactions work on chirally catalyzed oxidation reactions development of soft desorption ionization methods for mass spectrometric analyses of biological macromolecules
1974 1975
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1994 1995 1996 1997
2001 2002
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Chemistry (continued) YEAR
WINNER(S)
COUNTRY
ACHIEVEMENT
2002 (cont.)
Kurt Wüthrich
Switz.
2003
Peter Agre Roderick MacKinnon Aaron Ciechanover Avram Hershko Irwin Rose Yves Chauvin Robert H. Grubbs Richard R. Schrock Roger D. Kornberg
US US Israel Israel US France US US US
development of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy for determining the three-dimensional structure of biological macromolecules in solution cell membrane channel discoveries discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation development of the metathesis method in organic synthesis studies of the molecular basis of eukaryotic transcription
2004 2005 2006
Physiology or Medicine YEAR
WINNER(S)
COUNTRY
ACHIEVEMENT
1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906
Emil von Behring Sir Ronald Ross Niels Ryberg Finsen Ivan Petrovich Pavlov Robert Koch Camillo Golgi Santiago Ramón y Cajal Alphonse Laveran Paul Ehrlich Élie Metchnikoff Emil Theodor Kocher Albrecht Kossel Allvar Gullstrand Alexis Carrel Charles Richet Robert Bárány
Germany UK Denmark Russia Germany Italy Spain France Germany Russia Switz. Germany Sweden France France AustriaHungary Belgium Denmark UK Germany Canada UK Neth. Denmark Austria France
work on serum therapy discovery of how malaria enters an organism treatment of skin diseases with light work on the physiology of digestion tuberculosis research work on the structure of the nervous system discovery of the role of protozoa in diseases work on immunity work on aspects of the thyroid gland researches in cellular chemistry work on dioptrics of the eye work on vascular suture; transplantation of organs work on anaphylaxis work on vestibular apparatus
Neth. UK
discovery of the antineuritic vitamin discovery of growth-stimulating vitamins
US Germany UK
discovery of human blood groups discovery of nature and action of respiratory enzyme discoveries regarding function of neurons
UK
discoveries regarding function of neurons
US US US US Germany UK Germany Hungary Belgium
discoveries concerning chromosomal heredity functions discoveries concerning liver treatment for anemia discovery of the organizer effect in embryos work on chemical transmission of nerve impulses work on biological combustion discovery of role of sinus and aortic mechanisms in respiration regulation discovery of the antibacterial effect of Prontosil
1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1919 1920 1922 1923 1924 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932
1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
Jules Bordet August Krogh A.V. Hill Otto Meyerhof Sir Frederick G. Banting J.J.R. Macleod Willem Einthoven Johannes Fibiger Julius Wagner-Jauregg Charles-Jules-Henri Nicolle Christiaan Eijkman Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins Karl Landsteiner Otto Warburg Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian (of Cambridge) Sir Charles Scott Sherrington Thomas Hunt Morgan George Richards Minot William P. Murphy George H. Whipple Hans Spemann Sir Henry Dale Otto Loewi Albert Szent-Gyorgyi Corneille Heymans Gerhard Domagk (declined)
Germany
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
work on immunity factors in blood serum discovery of capillary motor-regulating mechanism discoveries concerning heat production in muscles work on metabolism of lactic acid in muscles discovery of insulin discovery of electrocardiogram mechanism contributions to cancer research work on malaria inoculation in dementia paralytica work on typhus
AWARDS—NOBEL PRIZES
98
Physiology or Medicine (continued) YEAR
WINNER(S)
COUNTRY
ACHIEVEMENT
1943
Henrik Dam Edward Adelbert Doisy Joseph Erlanger Herbert S. Gasser Sir Ernst Boris Chain Sir Alexander Fleming Howard Walter Florey, Baron Florey Hermann J. Muller Carl and Gerty Cori Bernardo A. Houssay
Denmark US US US UK UK Australia
discovery of vitamin K discovery of chemical nature of vitamin K researches on differentiated functions of nerve fibers discovery of penicillin and its curative value discovery of penicillin and its curative value
US US Argentina
production of mutations by X-ray irradiation discovery of how glycogen is catalytically converted discovery of the pituitary hormone function in sugar metabolism discovery of properties of DDT discovery of therapeutic value in leucotomy for psychoses discovery of function of interbrain research on adrenal cortex hormones, their structure and biological effects yellow fever discoveries
1944 1945
1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972
Paul Hermann Müller António Egas Moniz Walter Rudolf Hess Philip Showalter Hench Edward Calvin Kendall Tadeus Reichstein Max Theiler Selman A. Waksman Sir Hans Adolf Krebs Fritz Albert Lipmann John Franklin Enders Frederick C. Robbins Thomas H. Weller Axel H.T. Theorell André F. Cournand Werner Forssmann Dickinson W. Richards Daniel Bovet George Wells Beadle Edward L. Tatum Joshua Lederberg Arthur Kornberg Severo Ochoa Sir Macfarlane Burnet Sir Peter B. Medawar Georg von Békésy Francis H.C. Crick James Dewey Watson Maurice Wilkins Sir John Carew Eccles Sir Alan Hodgkin Sir Andrew F. Huxley Konrad Bloch Feodor Lynen François Jacob André Lwoff Jacques Monod Charles B. Huggins Peyton Rous Ragnar Arthur Granit Haldan Keffer Hartline George Wald Robert William Holley Har Gobind Khorana Marshall W. Nirenberg Max Delbrück A.D. Hershey Salvador Luria Julius Axelrod Ulf von Euler Sir Bernard Katz Earl W. Sutherland, Jr. Gerald M. Edelman Rodney Robert Porter
Switz. Portugal Switz. US US Switz. South Africa US UK US US US US Sweden US W.Ger. US Italy US US US US US Australia UK US UK US UK Australia UK UK US W.Ger. France France France US US Sweden US US US US US US US US US Sweden UK US US UK
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
discovery of streptomycin discovery of coenzyme A citric acid cycle in metabolism of carbohydrates cultivation of the poliomyelitis virus in tissue cultures discoveries concerning oxidation enzymes discoveries concerning heart catheterization and circulatory changes production of synthetic curare discovery of the genetic regulation of chemical processes discoveries concerning genetic recombination work on producing nucleic acids artificially discovery of acquired immunity to tissue transplants discovery of functions of the inner ear discoveries concerning the molecular structure of DNA study of the transmission of impulses along a nerve fiber discoveries concerning cholesterol and fatty-acid metabolism discoveries concerning regulatory activities of the body cells research on causes and treatment of cancer discoveries about chemical and physiological visual processes in the eye deciphering of the genetic code research and discoveries concerning viruses and viral diseases discoveries concerning the chemistry of nerve transmission discoveries concerning the action of hormones research on the chemical structure of antibodies
AWARDS—NOBEL PRIZES
99
Physiology or Medicine (continued) YEAR
WINNER(S)
COUNTRY
ACHIEVEMENT
1973
Karl von Frisch Konrad Lorenz Nikolaas Tinbergen Albert Claude Christian René de Duve George E. Palade David Baltimore Renato Dulbecco Howard Martin Temin Baruch S. Blumberg D. Carleton Gajdusek Roger C.L. Guillemin Andrew Victor Schally Rosalyn S. Yalow Werner Arber Daniel Nathans Hamilton O. Smith Allan M. Cormack Sir Godfrey N. Hounsfield Baruj Benacerraf Jean Dausset George Davis Snell David Hunter Hubel Torsten Nils Wiesel Roger Wolcott Sperry Sune K. Bergström Bengt I. Samuelsson John Robert Vane Barbara McClintock Niels K. Jerne Georges J.F. Köhler César Milstein
Austria Austria UK US Belgium US US US US US US US US US Switz. US US US UK US France US US Sweden US Sweden Sweden UK US Denmark W.Ger. UK/ Argentina US US US Italy Japan UK US US US US US US Germany Germany US US UK US US US US Germany
discoveries in animal behavior patterns research on structural and functional organization of cells discoveries concerning the interaction between tumor viruses and the genetic material of the cell studies of origin and spread of infectious diseases research on pituitary hormones development of radioimmunoassay discovery and application of enzymes that fragment DNA development of the CAT scan investigations of genetic control of the response of the immune system to foreign substances discoveries concerning the processing of visual information by the brain discoveries concerning cerebral hemisphere functions discoveries concerning the biochemistry and physiology of of prostaglandins discovery of mobile plant genes that affect heredity theory and development of a technique for producing monoclonal antibodies discovery of cell receptors relating to cholesterol metabolism discovery of chemical agents that help regulate the growth of cells study of genetic aspects of antibodies development of new classes of drugs for combating disease study of cancer-causing genes called oncogenes development of kidney and bone-marrow transplants discovery of how cells communicate, as related to diseases discovery of class of enzymes called protein kinases discovery of “split,” or interrupted, genetic structure discovery of cell signalers called G-proteins identification of genes that control the body’s early structural development discovery of how the immune system recognizes virus-infected cells discovery of the prion, a type of disease-causing protein discovery that nitric oxide (NO) acts as a signaling molecule in the cardiovascular system discovery that proteins have signals governing cellular organization discovery of how signals are transmitted between nerve cells in the brain
1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984
1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Michael S. Brown Joseph L. Goldstein Stanley Cohen Rita Levi-Montalcini Susumu Tonegawa Sir James Black Gertrude Belle Elion George H. Hitchings J. Michael Bishop Harold Varmus Joseph E. Murray E. Donnall Thomas Erwin Neher Bert Sakmann Edmond H. Fischer Edwin Gerhard Krebs Richard J. Roberts Phillip A. Sharp Alfred G. Gilman Martin Rodbell Edward B. Lewis Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard Eric F. Wieschaus Peter C. Doherty Rolf M. Zinkernagel Stanley B. Prusiner Robert F. Furchgott Louis J. Ignarro Ferid Murad Günter Blobel Arvid Carlsson Paul Greengard Eric Kandel
US Australia Switz. US US US US US Sweden US US
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
AWARDS—NOBEL PRIZES
100
Physiology or Medicine (continued) YEAR
WINNER(S)
COUNTRY
ACHIEVEMENT
2001
Leland H. Hartwell R. Timothy Hunt Sir Paul M. Nurse Sydney Brenner H. Robert Horvitz John E. Sulston Paul C. Lauterbur Sir Peter Mansfield Richard Axel Linda B. Buck Barry J. Marshall J. Robin Warren Andrew Z. Fire Craig C. Mello
US UK UK UK US UK US UK US US Australia Australia US US
discovery of key regulators of the cell cycle discoveries concerning how genes regulate and program organ development and cell death discoveries concerning magnetic resonance imaging discoveries of odorant receptors and the organization of the olfactory system discovery of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its role in peptic ulcer disease and gastritis discovery of RNA interference: gene silencing by double-stranded RNA
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Although he is remembered as the “Rebel General,” Robert E. Lee was a disbeliever in slavery and was devoutly attached to the republic that his father and kinsmen had helped bring into being. Moreover, he rejected war as a means of resolving political conflict. In late 1860 he wrote, “[If] strife and civil war are to take the place of brotherly love and kindness, I shall mourn for my country and for the welfare and progress of mankind.”
Literature YEAR
WINNER(S)
COUNTRY
FIELD
1901 1902 1903 1904
Sully Prudhomme Theodor Mommsen Bjørnstjerne Martinus Bjørnson José Echegaray y Eizaguirre Frédéric Mistral Henryk Sienkiewicz Giosuè Carducci Rudyard Kipling Rudolf Christoph Eucken Selma Lagerlöf Paul Johann Ludwig von Heyse Maurice Maeterlinck Gerhart Hauptmann Rabindranath Tagore Romain Rolland Verner von Heidenstam Karl Gjellerup Henrik Pontoppidan Erik Axel Karlfeldt (declined) Carl Spitteler Knut Hamsun Anatole France Jacinto Benavente y Martínez William Butler Yeats Wladyslaw Stanislaw Reymont George Bernard Shaw Grazia Deledda Henri Bergson Sigrid Undset Thomas Mann Sinclair Lewis Erik Axel Karlfeldt (posthumous award) John Galsworthy Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin Luigi Pirandello Eugene O'Neill Roger Martin du Gard Pearl Buck Frans Eemil Sillanpää
France Germany Norway Spain France Poland Italy UK Germany Sweden Germany Belgium Germany India France Sweden Denmark Denmark Sweden Switz. Norway France Spain Ireland Poland Ireland Italy France Norway Germany US Sweden
poetry history prose fiction, poetry, drama drama poetry prose fiction poetry poetry, prose fiction philosophy prose fiction poetry, prose fiction, drama drama drama poetry prose fiction poetry prose fiction prose fiction poetry poetry, prose fiction prose fiction prose fiction drama poetry prose fiction drama prose fiction philosophy prose fiction prose fiction prose fiction poetry
UK USSR Italy US France US Finland
prose fiction poetry, prose fiction drama drama prose fiction prose fiction prose fiction
1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1936 1937 1938 1939
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AWARDS—NOBEL PRIZES
101
Literature (continued) YEAR
WINNER(S)
COUNTRY
FIELD
1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966
Johannes V. Jensen Gabriela Mistral Hermann Hesse André Gide T.S. Eliot William Faulkner Bertrand Russell Pär Lagerkvist François Mauriac Sir Winston Churchill Ernest Hemingway Halldór Laxness Juan Ramón Jiménez Albert Camus Boris L. Pasternak (declined) Salvatore Quasimodo Saint-John Perse Ivo Andric John Steinbeck George Seferis Jean-Paul Sartre (declined) Mikhail A. Sholokhov S.Y. Agnon Nelly Sachs Miguel Ángel Asturias Yasunari Kawabata Samuel Beckett Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn Pablo Neruda Heinrich Böll Patrick White Eyvind Johnson Harry Martinson Eugenio Montale Saul Bellow Vicente Aleixandre Isaac Bashevis Singer Odysseus Elytis Czeslaw Milosz Elias Canetti Gabriel García Márquez Sir William Golding Jaroslav Seifert Claude Simon Wole Soyinka Joseph Brodsky Naguib Mahfouz Camilo José Cela Octavio Paz Nadine Gordimer Derek Walcott Toni Morrison Kenzaburo Oe Seamus Heaney Wislawa Szymborska Dario Fo José Saramago Günter Grass Gao Xingjian Sir V.S. Naipaul Imre Kertész J.M. Coetzee Elfriede Jelinek Harold Pinter Orhan Pamuk
Denmark Chile Switz. France UK US UK Sweden France UK US Iceland Spain France USSR Italy France Yugoslavia US Greece France USSR Israel Sweden Guatemala Japan Ireland USSR Chile W.Ger. Australia Sweden Sweden Italy US Spain US Greece US Bulgaria Colombia UK Czechoslovakia France Nigeria US Egypt Spain Mexico South Africa St. Lucia US Japan Ireland Poland Italy Portugal Germany France UK Hungary South Africa Austria UK Turkey
prose fiction poetry prose fiction prose poetry, criticism prose fiction philosophy prose fiction poetry, prose fiction, drama history, oration prose fiction prose fiction poetry prose fiction, drama prose fiction, poetry poetry poetry prose fiction prose fiction poetry philosophy, drama prose fiction prose fiction poetry prose fiction prose fiction prose fiction, drama prose fiction poetry prose fiction prose fiction prose fiction prose fiction, poetry poetry prose fiction poetry prose fiction poetry poetry prose prose fiction, journalism, social criticism prose fiction poetry prose fiction drama, poetry poetry, prose prose fiction prose fiction poetry, prose prose fiction poetry prose fiction prose fiction poetry poetry drama prose fiction prose fiction prose fiction, drama prose fiction prose fiction prose fiction prose fiction, drama drama prose fiction
1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
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AWARDS—NOBEL PRIZES
102
Peace YEAR
WINNER(S)
1901 Henri Dunant Frédéric Passy 1902 Élie Ducommun Charles-Albert Gobat 1903 Sir Randal Cremer 1904 Institute of International Law 1905 Bertha, Freifrau von Suttner 1906 Theodore Roosevelt 1907 Ernesto Teodoro Moneta Louis Renault 1908 Klas Pontus Arnoldson Fredrik Bajer 1909 Auguste-Marie-François Beernaert Paul-H.-B. d’Estournelles de Constant 1910 International Peace Bureau 1911 Tobias Michael Carel Asser Alfred Hermann Fried 1912 Elihu Root 1913 Henri-Marie Lafontaine 1917 International Committee of the Red Cross 1919 Woodrow Wilson 1920 Léon Bourgeois 1921 Karl Hjalmar Branting Christian Lous Lange 1922 Fridtjof Nansen 1925 Sir Austen Chamberlain Charles G. Dawes 1926 Aristide Briand Gustav Stresemann 1927 Ferdinand-Édouard Buisson Ludwig Quidde 1929 Frank B. Kellogg 1930 Nathan Söderblom 1931 Jane Addams Nicholas Murray Butler 1933 Sir Norman Angell 1934 Arthur Henderson 1935 Carl von Ossietzky 1936 Carlos Saavedra Lamas 1937 Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil (of Chelwood) 1938 Nansen International Office for Refugees 1944 International Committee of the Red Cross 1945 Cordell Hull 1946 Emily Greene Balch John R. Mott 1947 American Friends Service Committee Friends Service Council (FSC) 1949 John Boyd Orr, Baron BoydOrr of Brechin Mearns 1950 Ralph Bunche 1951 Léon Jouhaux 1952 Albert Schweitzer 1953 George C. Marshall 1954 Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 1957 Lester B. Pearson
COUNTRY
YEAR
Switzerland France Switzerland Switzerland UK (founded 1873)
1958 Dominique Pire 1959 Philip John Noel-Baker, Baron Noel-Baker (of the City of Derby) 1960 Albert John Luthuli 1961 Dag Hammarskjöld 1962 Linus Pauling 1963 International Committee of the Red Cross League of Red Cross Societies 1964 Martin Luther King, Jr. 1965 United Nations Children’s Fund 1968 René Cassin 1969 International Labour Organisation 1970 Norman Ernest Borlaug 1971 Willy Brandt 1973 Henry Kissinger Le Duc Tho (declined) 1974 Seán MacBride Eisaku Sato 1975 Andrey Dmitriyevich Sakharov 1976 Mairéad Corrigan
Austria-Hungary US Italy France Sweden Denmark Belgium France (founded 1891) Netherlands Austria-Hungary US Belgium (founded 1863) US France Sweden Norway Norway UK US France Germany France Germany US Sweden US US UK UK Germany Argentina UK (founded 1931)
1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988
US US US US
1989 1990 1991 1992 1993
UK
1994
UK 1995 1996 1997 1998 Canada
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
COUNTRY
Belgium UK South Africa Sweden US (founded 1863)
US (founded 1946) France (founded 1919) US West Germany US North Vietnam Ireland Japan USSR
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Amnesty International (founded 1961) Menachem Begin Israel Anwar el-Sadat Egypt Mother Teresa India Adolfo Pérez Esquivel Argentina Office of the United Nations (founded 1951) High Commissioner for Refugees Alfonso García Robles Mexico Alva Myrdal Sweden Lech Walesa Poland Desmond Tutu South Africa International Physicians for (founded 1980) the Prevention of Nuclear War Elie Wiesel US Oscar Arias Sánchez Costa Rica United Nations Peacekeeping Forces Dalai Lama Tibet Mikhail Gorbachev USSR Aung San Suu Kyi Myanmar Rigoberta Menchú Guatemala F.W. de Klerk South Africa Nelson Mandela South Africa Yasir Arafat Palestinian Shimon Peres Israel Yitzhak Rabin Israel Pugwash Conferences (founded 1957) Joseph Rotblat UK Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo East Timor José Ramos-Horta East Timor International Campaign to (founded 1992) Ban Landmines Jody Williams US John Hume Northern Ireland Betty Williams
(founded 1863)
US France France US (founded 1951)
WINNER(S)
AWARDS—NOBEL PRIZES
103
Peace (continued) YEAR
WINNER(S)
COUNTRY
YEAR
David Trimble
Northern Ireland (founded 1971) South Korea Ghana (founded 1945) US
2003 Shirin Ebadi 2004 Wangari Maathai 2005 Mohamed ElBaradei International Atomic Energy Agency 2006 Muhammad Yunus Grameen Bank
1999 Doctors Without Borders 2000 Kim Dae Jung 2001 Kofi Annan United Nations 2002 Jimmy Carter
WINNER(S)
COUNTRY
Iran Kenya Egypt (founded 1957) Bangladesh Bangladesh
Economics YEAR
WINNER(S)
COUNTRY
ACHIEVEMENT
1969
Ragnar Frisch Jan Tinbergen Paul Samuelson Simon Kuznets Kenneth J. Arrow Sir John R. Hicks Wassily Leontief Friedrich von Hayek Gunnar Myrdal Leonid V. Kantorovich Tjalling C. Koopmans Milton Friedman
Norway Neth. US US US UK US UK Sweden USSR US US
1980
James Edward Meade Bertil Ohlin Herbert A. Simon Sir Arthur Lewis Theodore W. Schultz Lawrence Robert Klein
UK Sweden US UK US US
1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986
James Tobin George J. Stigler Gerard Debreu Sir Richard Stone Franco Modigliani James M. Buchanan
US US US UK US US
1987 1988
Robert Merton Solow Maurice Allais
US France
1989
Trygve Haavelmo
Norway
1990
Harry M. Markowitz Merton H. Miller William F. Sharpe Ronald Coase Gary S. Becker Robert William Fogel Douglass C. North John C. Harsanyi John F. Nash Reinhard Selten Robert E. Lucas, Jr.
US US US US US US US US US Germany US
James A. Mirrlees William Vickrey Robert C. Merton Myron S. Scholes Amartya Sen Robert A. Mundell
UK US US US India Canada
James J. Heckman Daniel L. McFadden George A. Akerlof A. Michael Spence Joseph E. Stiglitz
US US US US US
work in econometrics work in scientific analysis of economic theory extensive research on the economic growth of nations contributions to general economic equilibrium theory and welfare theory development of input-output analysis pioneering analysis of the interdependence of economic, social, and institutional phenomena contributions to the theory of optimum allocation of resources work in consumption analysis, monetary theory, and economic stabilization contributions to theory of international trade decision-making processes in economic organizations analyses of economic processes in developing nations development and analysis of empirical models of business fluctuations portfolio-selection theory of investment studies of economic effects of governmental regulation mathematical proof of supply and demand theory development of national income accounting system analyses of household savings and financial markets public-choice theory bridging economics and political science contributions to the theory of economic growth contributions to the theory of markets and efficient use of resources development of statistical techniques for economic forecasting study of financial markets and investment decision making application of economic principles to the study of law application of economic theory to social sciences contributions to economic history development of game theory incorporation of rational expectations in macroeconomic theory contributions to theory of incentives under conditions of asymmetric information method for determining the value of stock options and other derivatives contribution to welfare economics analysis of optimum currency areas and of policy under different exchange-rate regimes development of methods of statistical analysis of individual and household behavior analyses of markets with asymmetric information
1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
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AWARDS—TEMPLETON PRIZE
104
Economics (continued) YEAR
WINNER(S)
COUNTRY
ACHIEVEMENT
2002
Daniel Kahneman
US/Israel
Vernon L. Smith
US
Robert F. Engle
US
Clive W.J. Granger
UK
2004
Finn E. Kydland Edward C. Prescott
Norway US
2005
Robert J. Aumann Thomas C. Schelling Edmund S. Phelps
Israel/US US US
integration of psychological research into economics, particularly concerning decision-making under circumstances of uncertainty establishment of laboratory experiments for empirical economic analysis, particularly in the area of alternative market mechanisms methods of analysis of economic time series with time-varying volatility methods of analysis of economic time series with common trends macroeconomic analysis of time consistency of economic policy and the driving forces behind business cycles enhancement of the understanding of conflict and cooperation through game-theory analysis analysis of intertemporal tradeoffs in macroeconomic policy
2003
2006
Special Achievement Awards Templeton Prize Winners ormerly the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, the Templeton Prize for Progress Toward Research or Discoveries About Spiritual Realities was established in 1972 by American-born British businessman and philanthropist Sir John Templeton. It recognizes the diversity of and rewards
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advancement in the ideas and perceptions of divinity. Each year an international interfaith group of judges chooses a winner from any of the world’s religions. Award amount: £800,000 (about $1.6 million). Templeton Prize Web site: <www.templetonprize.org>
YEAR
NAME
FIELD
1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986
Mother Teresa Brother Roger Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Leon Joseph Cardinal Suenens Chiara Lubich Thomas F. Torrance Nikkyo Niwano Ralph Wendell Burhoe Dame Cicely Saunders Billy Graham Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Michael Bourdeaux Sir Alister Hardy James McCord
1987 1988 1989
Stanley L. Jaki Inamullah Khan Lord George MacLeod Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker Baba Amte L. Charles Birch Lord Immanuel Jakobovits Kyung-Chik Han Charles W. Colson Michael Novak Paul Charles William Davies William R. Bright Pandurang Shastri Athavale Sir Sigmund Sternberg Ian Graeme Barbour Freeman J. Dyson Arthur Peacocke John C. Polkinghorne Holmes Rolston III George Ellis
founder, Missionaries of Charity founder, Taizé Community president of India, 1962–67 pioneer, Charismatic Renewal Movement founder, Focolare Movement educator, writer on religion and science founder, Rissho Kosei-Kai founder and editor, Zygon, Journal of Religion and Science founder, Hospice and Palliative Care Movement Christian evangelist writer, dissident scholar, religious freedom activist scientist, educator chancellor, Center of Theological Inquiry; president, Princeton Theological Seminary Benedictine monk, professor of astrophysics interfaith peace activist; founder, Modern World Muslim Congress founder, Iona Community physics and theology scholar social activist, philanthropist natural scientist Chief Rabbi of Great Britain and the Commonwealth, 1967–91 founder, Young Nak Presbyterian Church prison ministry founder theologian, writer on theology and economics mathematical physicist founder, Campus Crusade for Christ founder, swadhyaya self-study philanthropist, businessman technology ethicist physicist, social activist founder, Society of Ordained Scientists Anglican priest, mathematical physicist Presbyterian minister, environmental ethicist cosmologist, scholar of the relationship between science and faith
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
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AWARDS—KENNEDY CENTER HONORS
105
Templeton Prize Winners (continued) YEAR
NAME
FIELD
2005
Charles Townes
physicist, proponent of exploring commonalities between science and religion cosmologist, scholar of multidisciplinary perspectives integrating astronomy, physics, mathematics, and philosophy philosopher, advocate for inclusion of spiritual considerations in public policy discussions and in the humanities and social sciences
2006
John D. Barrow
2007
Charles Taylor
Congressional Gold Medal ndividuals, institutions, or events of distinguished achievement are honored by the Congressional Gold Medal. The medal was first awarded in 1776, and 132 others have since been given out. Early medals went primarily to military figures; beginning in the mid-19th century, they were given to a wide variety of people. Past recipients include George Washington, Zachary Taylor, the Wright Brothers,
I
inventor Thomas Edison, entertainer Bob Hope, singers Marion Anderson and Frank Sinatra, Queen Beatrix I of The Netherlands, human rights activist Elie Wiesel, South African President Nelson Mandela, cartoonist Charles M. Schulz, and the Navajo code talkers of World War II. In 2007 Congress awarded the medal to the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African American flying unit in the US military.
The Kennedy Center Honors he Kennedy Center Honors are bestowed annually by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC. First conferred in 1978, the honors salute five artists each year for life-
time achievement in the performing arts and are celebrated by a televised gala in December. Web site: <www.kennedy-center.org/programs/specialevents/ honors/>.
YEAR
FIELD
YEAR
opera singer dancer, actor choreographer composer pianist composer singer actor dancer, choreographer playwright conductor actor dancer, choreographer actress opera singer jazz pianist actor actress dancer, choreographer pianist theater producer, director, writer actress swing musician dancer, actor conductor dancer, choreographer theater and film director singer, actor actor composer, music critic singer, actress actor, comedian composer playwright violinist dancer, choreographer actress
1985 Bob Hope (cont.) Alan Jay Lerner Frederick Loewe Beverly Sills 1986 Lucille Ball Ray Charles Hume Cronyn Jessica Tandy Yehudi Menuhin Antony Tudor 1987 Perry Como Bette Davis Sammy Davis, Jr.
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NAME
1978 Marian Anderson Fred Astaire George Balanchine Richard Rodgers Arthur Rubenstein 1979 Aaron Copland Ella Fitzgerald Henry Fonda Martha Graham Tennessee Williams 1980 Leonard Bernstein James Cagney Agnes de Mille Lynn Fontanne Leontyne Price 1981 Count Basie Cary Grant Helen Hayes Jerome Robbins Rudolf Serkin 1982 George Abbott Lillian Gish Benny Goodman Gene Kelly Eugene Ormandy 1983 Katherine Dunham Elia Kazan Frank Sinatra James Stewart Virgil Thomson 1984 Lena Horne Danny Kaye Gian Carlo Menotti Arthur Miller Isaac Stern 1985 Merce Cunningham Irene Dunne
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
NAME
FIELD
entertainer, actor playwright, lyricist composer opera singer actress soul musician actor actress violinist choreographer singer actress singer, dancer, entertainer Nathan Milstein violinist Alwin Nikolais choreographer 1988 Alvin Ailey dancer, choreographer George Burns actor, comedian Myrna Loy actress Alexander Schneider violinist, conductor Roger L. Stevens arts administrator 1989 Harry Belafonte folk singer, actor Claudette Colbert actress Alexandra Danilova ballet dancer Mary Martin actress, singer William Schuman composer 1990 Dizzy Gillespie jazz musician Katharine Hepburn actress Risë Stevens opera singer Jule Styne composer Billy Wilder film director 1991 Roy Acuff country musician Betty Comden theater and film writer Adolph Green theater and film writer Fayard Nicholas dancer Harold Nicholas dancer Gregory Peck actor Robert Shaw choral and orchestral conductor
AWARDS—NATIONAL MEDAL OF ARTS
106
The Kennedy Center Honors (continued) YEAR
NAME
1992 Lionel Hampton Paul Newman Joanne Woodward Ginger Rogers Mstislav Rostropovich Paul Taylor 1993 Johnny Carson Arthur Mitchell George Solti Stephen Sondheim Marion Williams 1994 Kirk Douglas Aretha Franklin Morton Gould Harold Prince Pete Seeger 1995 Jacques d’Amboise Marilyn Horne B.B. King Sidney Poitier Neil Simon 1996 Edward Albee Benny Carter Johnny Cash Jack Lemmon Maria Tallchief 1997 Lauren Bacall Bob Dylan Charlton Heston Jessye Norman Edward Villella 1998 Bill Cosby Fred Ebb and John Kander Willie Nelson André Previn
FIELD
YEAR
swing musician actor actress dancer, actress musician, conductor
1999 Jason Robards (cont.) Stevie Wonder 2000 Mikhail Baryshnikov Chuck Berry Plácido Domingo Clint Eastwood Angela Lansbury 2001 Julie Andrews Van Cliburn Quincy Jones
dancer, choreographer television entertainer dancer, choreographer conductor composer, lyricist gospel singer actor soul singer composer theater director, producer folk musician dancer, choreographer opera singer blues musician actor playwright playwright jazz musician country musician actor ballet dancer actress singer, songwriter actor opera singer dancer, choreographer actor, comedian lyricist and composer
country musician pianist, composer, conductor Shirley Temple Black actress 1999 Victor Borge pianist, comedian Sean Connery actor Judith Jamison dancer, choreographer
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
NAME
FIELD
actor musician dancer musician opera singer actor, director actress actress pianist music producer, composer Jack Nicholson actor Luciano Pavarotti opera singer James Earl Jones actor James Levine conductor Chita Rivera musical theater performer Paul Simon singer Elizabeth Taylor actress James Brown musician Carol Burnett actress Loretta Lynn musician Mike Nichols director Itzhak Perlman musician Warren Beatty film actor, director Ossie Davis actors, writers, and Ruby Dee producers Elton John musician Joan Sutherland opera singer John Williams composer Tony Bennett singer Suzanne Farrell dancer, teacher Julie Harris actress Robert Redford film actor, director, producer Tina Turner singer, actress Zubin Mehta conductor Dolly Parton singer, actress Andrew Lloyd Webber composer Steven Spielberg film director, producer William “Smokey” singer Robinson
The National Medal of Arts he National Medal of Arts, awarded annually since 1985 by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the president of the United States, honors artists and art patrons for remarkable contributions to American arts. As many as 12
medals may be given out each year. Both the NEA and the president choose candidates for the award, and the winners are selected by the president. Web site: <www.nea.gov/honors/medals/ medalists_year.html>.
YEAR
FIELD
YEAR
composer writer actor dancer, choreographer sculptor painter opera singer patron
1986 Marian Anderson Frank Capra Aaron Copland Willem de Kooning Agnes de Mille Eva Le Gallienne
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NAME
1985 Elliott Carter, Jr. Ralph Ellison José Ferrer Martha Graham Louise Nevelson Georgia O’Keeffe Leontyne Price Dorothy Buffum Chandler Lincoln Kirstein Paul Mellon Alice Tully Hallmark Cards, Inc.
patron patron patron patron
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
NAME
Alan Lomax Lewis Mumford Eudora Welty Dominique de Menil Exxon Corporation Seymour H. Knox
FIELD
opera singer film director composer painter dancer, choreographer actress, theater producer ethnomusicologist architectural critic, historian writer patron patron patron
AWARDS—NATIONAL MEDAL OF ARTS
107
The National Medal of Arts (continued) YEAR
NAME
1987 Romare Bearden Ella Fitzgerald Howard Nemerov Alwin Nikolais Isamu Noguchi William Schuman Robert Penn Warren J.W. Fisher Armand Hammer Sydney and Frances Lewis 1988 Saul Bellow Helen Hayes Gordon Parks I.M. Pei Jerome Robbins Rudolf Serkin Virgil Thomson Sydney J. Freedberg
FIELD
YEAR
painter singer writer, scholar choreographer sculptor composer writer patron patron patrons
1992 Marilyn Horne James Earl Jones Allan Houser Minnie Pearl
writer actress photographer, writer architect dancer, choreographer pianist composer, music critic art historian, museum curator Roger L. Stevens arts administrator Brooke Astor patron Francis Goelet patron Obert C. Tanner patron 1989 Leopold Adler historic preservationist, civic leader Katherine Dunham dancer, choreographer Alfred Eisenstaedt photojournalist Martin Friedman museum director Leigh Gerdine civic leader, patron Dizzy Gillespie jazz musician Walker K. Hancock sculptor 1 Vladimir Horowitz pianist Czeslaw Milosz writer Robert Motherwell painter John Updike writer Dayton Hudson Corp. patron 1990 George Abbott theater producer, director, writer Hume Cronyn actor, director Jessica Tandy actress Merce Cunningham dancer, choreographer Jasper Johns painter, sculptor Jacob Lawrence painter B.B. King blues musician Beverly Sills opera singer Ian McHarg landscape architect Harris & Carroll Ster- patrons ling Masterson David Lloyd Kreeger patron Southeastern Bell patron Corporation 1991 Maurice Abravanel conductor, music director Roy Acuff country musician Pietro Belluschi architect J. Carter Brown museum director Charles “Honi” Coles tap dancer John O. Crosby opera director, conductor Richard Diebenkorn painter Isaac Stern violinist Kitty Carlisle Hart actress, singer R. Philip Hanes, Jr. patron Pearl Primus choreographer, anthropologist Texaco Inc. patron
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
NAME
Robert Saudek Earl Scruggs Robert Shaw
1993
1994
1995
1996
FIELD
opera singer actor sculptor Grand Ole Opry performer television producer, museum director banjo player choral and orchestral conductor jazz pianist architects
Billy Taylor Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown Robert Wise film director AT&T patron Lila Wallace– patron Reader’s Digest Fund Cabell “Cab” Callojazz musician way Ray Charles soul musician Bess Lomax Hawes folklorist, musician Stanley Kunitz poet Robert Merrill opera singer Arthur Miller playwright Robert Rauschenberg painter Lloyd Richards theater director William Styron writer Paul Taylor dancer, choreographer Billy Wilder film director, producer, writer Walter and Leonore patrons Annenberg Harry Belafonte folk singer, actor Dave Brubeck jazz musician Celia Cruz salsa singer Dorothy DeLay violin instructor Julie Harris actress Erick Hawkins dancer, choreographer Gene Kelly dancer, actor Pete Seeger folk musician Wayne Thiebaud painter Richard Wilbur poet Young Audiences arts organization Catherine Filene patron Shouse Licia Albanese opera singer Gwendolyn Brooks poet Ossie Davis and actors Ruby Dee David Diamond composer James Ingo Freed architect Bob Hope entertainer Roy Lichtenstein painter Arthur Mitchell dancer, choreographer William S. Monroe bluegrass musician Urban Gateways arts education organization B. Gerald and patrons Iris Cantor Edward Albee playwright Sarah Caldwell opera conductor, producer Harry Callahan photographer Zelda Fichandler theater founder, director Eduardo “Lalo” Chicano musician Guerrero Lionel Hampton swing musician
AWARDS—NATIONAL MEDAL OF ARTS
108
The National Medal of Arts (continued) YEAR
NAME
1996 Bella Lewitzky (cont.) Robert Redford Maurice Sendak Stephen Sondheim Boys Choir of Harlem Vera List 1997 Louise Bourgeois Betty Carter Daniel Urban Kiley Angela Lansbury James Levine Tito Puente Jason Robards Edward Villella Doc Watson MacDowell Colony Agnes Gund 1998 Jacques d’Amboise Antoine “Fats” Domino Ramblin’ Jack Elliott Frank O. Gehry Agnes Martin Gregory Peck Roberta Peters Philip Roth Gwen Verdon Steppenwolf Theatre Company Sara Lee Corporation Barbara Handman 1999 Aretha Franklin Michael Graves Odetta Norman Lear Rosetta LeNoire Harvey Lichtenstein Lydia Mendoza George Segal Maria Tallchief The Juilliard School Irene Diamond 2000 Maya Angelou Eddy Arnold Mikhail Baryshnikov Benny Carter Chuck Close Horton Foote Claes Oldenburg Itzhak Perlman Harold Prince Barbra Streisand Lewis Manilow NPR Cultural Pro-gramming Division
FIELD
YEAR
dancer, choreographer actor, film director illustrator, writer composer, lyricist youth performance group patron sculptor jazz singer landscape architect actress opera conductor, pianist jazz and mambo musician actor dancer, choreographer folk and country musician artists’ colony patron dancer, choreographer rock-and-roll musician
2001 Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation Rudolfo Anaya Johnny Cash Kirk Douglas Helen Frankenthaler Judith Jamison Yo-Yo Ma Mike Nichols
folk musician architect painter actor opera singer writer actress, dancer arts organization patron patron soul singer architect, designer folk singer television producer, writer actress, theater founder arts administrator Tejano musician sculptor ballet dancer performing arts school patron poet, writer country musician dancer, dance company director jazz musician painter dramatist sculptor violinist theater director, producer singer, actress, film director patron broadcaster
1
Awarded posthumously.
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
NAME
2002 Florence Knoll Bassett Trisha Brown Philippe de Montebello Uta Hagen Lawrence Halprin Al Hirschfeld1 George Jones Ming Cho Lee William “Smokey” Robinson, Jr. 2003 Austin City Limits Beverly Cleary Rafe Esquith Suzanne Farrell Buddy Guy Ron Howard
FIELD
modern dance company and school writer country musician actor painter dancer, choreographer cellist theater and film director designer, architect dancer, choreographer museum director actress, educator landscape architect artist, caricaturist singer, songwriter painter, stage designer singer, songwriter television show children's book author arts educator dancer, artistic director, arts educator blues musician actor, director, writer, producer choir
The Mormon Tabernacle Choir Leonard Slatkin conductor George Strait singer, songwriter Tommy Tune director, actor 2004 Andrew W. Mellon arts patron Foundation Ray Bradbury writer Carlisle Floyd opera composer 1 Frederick “Rick” Hart sculptor 1 Anthony Hecht poet John Ruthven painter Vincent Scully architectural historian Twyla Tharp dancer, choreographer 2005 Louis Auchincloss writer James DePreist conductor Paquito D'Rivera musician Robert Duvall actor Leonard Garment arts advocate Ollie Johnston animator, artist Wynton Marsalis musician, educator Pennsylvania Academy arts academy of the Fine Arts Tina Ramirez dancer, choreographer Dolly Parton singer, songwriter 2006 William Bolcom composer Cyd Charisse dancer Roy R. DeCarava photographer Wilhelmina C. Holladay patron Interlochen Center music school for the Arts Erich Kunzel conductor Preservation Hall Jazz Band Gregory Rabassa translator Viktor Schreckengost industrial designer Dr. Ralph Stanley bluegrass musician
AWARDS—SPINGARN MEDAL
109
American Academy of Arts and Letters he American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 250-member organization founded in 1898. Members elected in 2007 were: Art: Robert Irwin, Billie Tsien;Literature: Deborah Eisenberg, Mary Gordon, Allan Gurganus, Jim Harrison, Harper Lee, Annie Proulx;Music: Steven Stucky. The academy also confers 26 awards for excellence. The Academy Awards in each field are the most prestigious. Winners receive $7,500; music winners receive an additional $7,500 to be used for the recording of a musi-
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cal piece. Recipients for 2007 were: Architecture: Wes Jones, Tom Kundig, Lebbeus Woods; Art: Jackie Gendel, Julian Hatton, Bryan Hunt, Sarah Oppenheimer, Dana Schutz;Literature: Joan Acocella, Charles D’Ambrosio, Barbara Ehrenreich, David Markson, Robert Morgan, Joan Silber, William T. Vollmann, Dean Young;Music: Leonardo Balada, Mason Bates, Chester Biscardi, Ben Johnston. Web site: <www.artsandletters.org>
National Humanities Medal he National Humanities Medal (originally known as the Charles Frankel Prize, 1988–96) is awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities for notable contributions to Americans’ understanding of and involvement with the humanities. As many as 12 medals may be conferred each year. The recipients for 2006 were Fouad Ajami, scholar; James Buchanan, economist; Nickolas
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Davatzes, historian; Robert Fagles, translator and classicist; Mary Lefkowitz, classicist; Bernard Lewis, scholar; Mark Noll, historian; Meryle Secrest, biographer; Kevin Starr, historian; and the Hoover Institution. Web site: <www.neh.gov/whoweare/awards.html>
The Spingarn Medal The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) presents the medal for distinguished achievement among African Americans. The medal is named for early NAACP activist Joel E. Spingarn. YEAR
NAME
FIELD
NAME
1942 A. Philip Randolph
1916 1917 1918
1943 William H. Hastie 1944 Charles Richard Drew
1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941
zoologist, marine biologist Charles Young army officer Harry Thacker Burleigh singer, composer William Stanley Braith- poet, literary critic waite Archibald Henry Grimké lawyer, diplomat, social activist W.E.B. Du Bois (William sociologist, social Edward Burghardt Du activist Bois) Charles S. Gilpin actor Mary Burnett Talbert civil rights activist George Washington agricultural chemist Carver Roland Hayes singer, composer James Weldon Johnson writer, diplomat, anthologist Carter G. Woodson historian Anthony Overton businessman Charles W. Chesnutt writer Mordecai W. Johnson minister, university president Henry Alexander Hunt educator, government official Richard B. Harrison actor Robert Russa Moton educator, civil rights leader Max Yergan civil rights leader William T.B. Williams educator Mary McLeod Bethune educator, social activist John Hope educator Walter White civil rights leader no medal awarded Marian Anderson opera singer Louis T. Wright surgeon, civil rights leader Richard Wright writer
YEAR
1915 Ernest Everett Just
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1945 Paul Robeson 1946 Thurgood Marshall 1947 1948 1949 1950
FIELD
labor and civil rights leader lawyer, judge surgeon, research scientist actor, singer, social activist lawyer, US Supreme Court justice chemist civil rights leader diplomat, scholar lawyer
Percy L. Julian Channing H. Tobias Ralph Bunche Charles Hamilton Houston 1951 Mabel Keaton Staupers nurse, social activist 1952 Harry T. Moore civil rights activist, educator 1953 Paul R. Williams architect 1954 Theodore K. Lawless dermatologist, philanthropist 1955 Carl Murphy journalist, civil rights activist 1956 Jackie Robinson (Jack baseball player Roosevelt Robinson) 1957 Martin Luther King, Jr. civil rights leader 1958 Daisy Bates and the school integration Little Rock Nine activists 1959 Duke Ellington (Edward jazz musician Kennedy Ellington) 1960 Langston Hughes writer 1961 Kenneth Bancroft Clark educator 1962 Robert C. Weaver economist, government official 1963 Medgar Evers civil rights activist 1964 Roy Wilkins civil rights leader 1965 Leontyne Price opera singer 1966 John H. Johnson publisher 1967 Edward W. Brooke III lawyer, US senator
AWARDS—FIELDS MEDAL
110
The Spingarn Medal (continued) YEAR
NAME
FIELD
YEAR
FIELD
1989 Jesse Jackson
1969 1970 1971
1990 L. Douglas Wilder 1991 Colin Powell
1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988
singer, dancer, entertainer Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. civil rights lobbyist Jacob Lawrence painter Leon H. Sullivan minister, civil rights activist Gordon Parks photographer, writer Wilson C. Riles educator Damon Keith lawyer, judge Hank Aaron baseball player Alvin Ailey dancer, choreographer Alex Haley writer Andrew Young politician, civil rights leader Rosa Parks civil rights activist Rayford W. Logan educator, writer Coleman A. Young labor activist, politician Benjamin E. Mays educator, minister Lena Horne singer, actress Thomas Bradley politician Bill Cosby actor, comedian Benjamin L. Hooks civil rights leader, government official Percy Ellis Sutton civil rights activist, politician Frederick Douglass educator Patterson
NAME
1968 Sammy Davis, Jr.
1992 1993 1994 1995 1996
Barbara Jordan Dorothy I. Height Maya Angelou John Hope Franklin A. Leon Higginbotham
1997 Carl T. Rowan 1998 Myrlie Evers-Williams 1999 Earl G. Graves 2000 Oprah Winfrey 2001 Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. 2002 John Lewis 2003 Constance Baker Motley 2004 Robert L. Carter 2005 Oliver W. Hill 2006 Benjamin S. Carson 2007 John Conyers, Jr.
minister, politician, civil rights leader politician army general, government official lawyer, politician social activist poet historian, educator lawyer, judge, scholar journalist, commentator civil rights activist publisher television host, media personality lawyer, civil rights activist politician, civil rights activist judge, lawyer, civil rights activist judge, lawyer, civil rights activist lawyer, civil rights activist physician politician
Science Honors Fields Medal The Fields Medal, officially known as the International Medal for Outstanding Discoveries in Mathematics, is granted every four years to between two and four math-
ematicians for outstanding or groundbreaking research. It is traditionally given to mathematicians under the age of 40. Prize: Can$15,000 (about US$13,000).
YEAR
NAME
BIRTHPLACE
PRIMARY RESEARCH
1936
Lars Ahlfors Jesse Douglas Laurent Schwartz Atle Selberg Kunihiko Kodaira Jean-Pierre Serre Klaus Roth René Thom Lars Hörmander John Milnor Michael Atiyah Paul Cohen Alexandre Grothendieck Stephen Smale Alan Baker Heisuke Hironaka Sergey Novikov John Thompson Enrico Bombieri David Mumford Pierre Deligne Charles Fefferman Gregory Margulis Daniel Quillen Alain Connes William Thurston Shing-Tung Yau
Helsinki, Finland New York NY Paris, France Langesund, Norway Tokyo, Japan Bages, France Breslau, Germany Montbéliard, France Mjällby, Sweden Orange NJ London, England Long Branch NJ Berlin, Germany Flint MI London, England Yamaguchi prefecture, Japan Gorky, Russia Ottawa KS Milan, Italy Worth, Sussex, UK Brussels, Belgium Washington DC Moscow, Russia Orange NJ Darguignan, France Washington DC Swatow, China
Riemann surfaces Plateau problem functional analysis number theory algebraic geometry algebraic topology number theory topology partial differential equations differential topology topology set theory algebraic geometry topology number theory algebraic geometry topology group theory number theory algebraic geometry algebraic geometry classical analysis Lie groups algebraic K-theory operator theory topology differential geometry
1950 1954 1958 1962 1966
1970
1974 1978
1983
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AWARDS—JAPAN PRIZE
111
Fields Medal (continued) YEAR
NAME
BIRTHPLACE
PRIMARY RESEARCH
1986
Simon Donaldson Gerd Faltings Michael Freedman Vladimir Drinfeld Vaughan Jones Shigefumi Mori Edward Witten Jean Bourgain Pierre-Louis Lions Jean-Christophe Yoccoz Yefim Zelmanov Richard Borcherds William Gowers Maksim Kontsevich Curt McMullen Laurent Lafforgue Vladimir Voevodsky Andrei Okounkov Grigory Perelman (declined) Terence Tao Wendelin Werner
Cambridge, UK Gelsenkirchen, West Germany Los Angeles CA Kharkov, Ukraine, USSR Gisborne, New Zealand Nagoya, Japan Baltimore MD Ostend, Belgium Grasse, France France Khabarovsk, USSR Cape Town, South Africa Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK Khimki, Russia Berkeley CA Antony, France USSR Moscow, USSR USSR Adelaide, Australia Germany
topology Mordell conjecture Poincaré conjecture algebraic geometry knot theory algebraic geometry superstring theory analysis partial differential equations dynamical systems group theory mathematical physics functional analysis mathematical physics chaos theory number theory and analysis algebraic geometry algebraic geometry Ricci flow prime numbers, nonlinear equations mathematics of critical phenomena
1990
1994
1998
2002 2006
Japan Prize he Science and Technology Foundation of Japan awards the Japan Prize annually to living individuals or small groups whose achievements in science and technology have advanced knowledge and
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promoted human peace and prosperity. A cash award of ¥50 million (about $420,000), a certificate of merit, and a commemorative medal are also given for each prize category. Web site: <www.japanprize.jp>.
YEAR
LAUREATE
COUNTRY
AREA OF ACHIEVEMENT
1985
John R. Pierce Ephraim Katchalski-Katzir David Turnbull Willem J. Kolff Henry M. Beachell Gurdev S. Khush Theodore H. Maiman Georges Vendryes Donald A. Henderson Isao Arita Frank Fenner Luc Montagnier Robert C. Gallo Frank Sherwood Rowland Elias James Corey Marvin Minsky William Jason Morgan Dan Peter Mckenzie Xavier Le Pichon Jacques-Louis Lions
US Israel US US US India US France US Japan Australia France US US US US US UK France France
electronics and communications technologies basic theory of immobilized enzymes new materials technology such as amorphous solids artificial organs high-yield rice hardy rice lasers fast-breeder reactor technology
John Julian Wild Gerhard Ertl Ernest John Christopher Polge
US Germany UK
Frank Press Kary B. Mullis William Hayward Pickering Arvid Carlsson Nick Holonyak, Jr. Edward F. Knipling Charles K. Kao Masao Ito Takashi Sugimura Bruce N. Ames Joseph F. Engelberger Hiroyuki Yoshikawa
US US US Sweden US US Hong Kong Japan Japan US US Japan
1986 1987 1988
1989 1990
1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
eradication of smallpox discovery of HIV isolation of HIV and development of AZT stratospheric ozone depletion by chlorofluorocarbons syntheses of prostaglandins and related compounds artificial intelligence plate tectonics analysis and control of distributed systems, applied analysis ultrasound imaging chemistry and physics of solid surfaces cryopreservation of semen and embryos in farm animals seismology and disaster science polymerase chain reaction space travel and unmanned space exploration dopamine's role in mental and motor functions light-emitting diodes and lasers pest management wide-band, low-loss optical fiber communications cerebellum function cancer robotics
AWARDS—NATIONAL MEDAL OF SCIENCE
112
Japan Prize (continued) YEAR
LAUREATE
COUNTRY
1998
Leo Esaki Jozef S. Schell Marc C.E. Van Montagu W. Wesley Peterson Jack L. Strominger Don C. Wiley Ian L. McHarg Kimishige Ishizaka John B. Goodenough
Japan Belgium Belgium US US US US Japan US
1999 2000 2001
Timothy R. Parsons 2002
2005
Timothy John Berners-Lee Anne McLaren Andrzej K. Tarkowski Benoit B. Mandelbrot James A. Yorke Seiji Ogawa Kenichi Honda Akira Fujishima Keith Sainsbury John H. Lawton Makoto Nagao
2006
Masatoshi Takeichi Erkki Ruoslahti Sir John Houghton
2003 2004
2007
Albert Fert Peter Grünberg Peter Shaw Ashton
AREA OF ACHIEVEMENT
man-made superlattice crystals transgenic plants
algebraic coding theory human histocompatibility antigens and their bound peptides ecological city planning and land-use evaluation immunoglobulin E and IgE-mediated allergic reactions environmentally benign electrode materials for rechargeable lithium batteries Canada fishery resources and marine environment conservation UK World Wide Web UK study and manipulation of earlyPoland stage mammalian embryos France fractals US concept of chaos in complex systems Japan magnetic resonance imaging Japan photochemical Japan catalysis New Zealand sustainable usage of seabed-shelf ecosystems UK conservation of biodiversity Japan contributions to natural language processing and intelligent image processing Japan contributions to clarifying the molecular mechanisms US of cell adhesion UK research of atmospheric structure based on satellite observation technology and promotion of transglobal assessments of climate change France discovery of Giant MagnetoGermany Resistance (GMR) UK conservation of tropical forests
National Medal of Science he National Medal of Science was established by Congress in 1959. Awarded annually since 1962 by the National Science Foundation and the president of the United States, it recognizes notable achievements in mathematics, engineering, and the physical, natural, and social sciences. A presidentially appointed committee selects the winners
from a pool of nominees. Medals have been given out in the second year after the date of the award: e.g., 2005 medals were awarded in May 2007. For more information, see the National Science Foundation Web site at <www.nsf.gov/nsb/od/nms/medal.htm>.
YEAR
YEAR
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NAME
FIELD
1962 Theodore von Karman aerospace engineering 1963 Luis W. Alvarez physics Vannevar Bush electrical engineering John Robinson Pierce communications engineering Cornelius Barnardus biology van Niel Norbert Wiener mathematics 1964 Roger Adams chemistry Othmar Herman civil engineering Ammann Theodosius Dobzhan- genetics sky Charles Stark Draper aerospace engineering Solomon Lefschetz mathematics Neal Elgar Miller psychology H. Marston Morse mathematics Marshall Warren biochemistry Nirenberg
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
NAME
1964 Julian Seymour (cont.) Schwinger Harold C. Urey Robert Burns Woodward 1965 John Bardeen Peter J.W. Debye Hugh L. Dryden Clarence L. Johnson
FIELD
physics chemistry chemistry
physics physical chemistry physics aerospace engineering Leon M. Lederman physics Warren K. Lewis chemical engineering Francis Peyton Rous pathology William W. Rubey geology George Gaylord Simp- paleontology son Donald D. Van Slyke chemistry Oscar Zariski mathematics 1966 Jacob A.B. Bjerknes meteorology Subrahmanyan Chan- astrophysics drasekhar Henry Eyring chemistry
AWARDS—NATIONAL MEDAL OF SCIENCE
113
National Medal of Science (continued) YEAR
NAME
1966 Edward F. Knipling (cont.) Fritz Albert Lipmann John Willard Milnor William C. Rose Claude E. Shannon John H. Van Vleck Sewall Wright Vladimir Kosma Zworykin 1967 Jesse W. Beams Francis Birch Gregory Breit Paul Joseph Cohen Kenneth S. Cole Louis P. Hammett Harry F. Harlow Michael Heidelberger George B. Kistiakowsky Edwin Herbert Land Igor I. Sikorsky Alfred H. Sturtevant 1968 Horace A. Barker Paul D. Bartlett Bernard B. Brodie Detlev W. Bronk J. Presper Eckert, Jr. Herbert Friedman Jay L. Lush Nathan M. Newmark Jerzy Neyman Lars Onsager B.F. Skinner Eugene Paul Wigner 1969 Herbert C. Brown William Feller Robert J. Huebner Jack Kilby Ernst Mayr Wolfgang K.H. Panofsky 1970 Richard Dagobert Brauer Robert H. Dicke Barbara McClintock George E. Mueller Albert Bruce Sabin Allan R. Sandage John C. Slater John Archibald Wheeler Saul Winstein 1971 no awards given 1972 no awards given 1973 Daniel I. Arnon Carl Djerassi Harold E. Edgerton
FIELD
YEAR
entomology biochemistry mathematics biochemistry mathematics, electrical engineering physics genetics electrical engineering
1973 John Wilder Tukey (cont.) Richard T. Whitcomb
physics geophysics physics mathematics biophysics chemistry psychology immunology chemistry physics aircraft design genetics biochemistry chemistry pharmacology biophysics engineering, computer science astrophysics livestock genetics civil engineering mathematics, statistics chemistry psychology mathematical physics chemistry mathematics virology electrical engineering biology physics mathematics physics genetics physics medicine, vaccine development astronomy physics physics chemistry
biochemistry chemistry electrical engineering, photography Maurice Ewing geophysics Arie Jan Haagen-Smit biochemistry Vladimir Haensel chemical engineering Frederick Seitz physics Earl W. Sutherland, Jr. biochemistry
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
NAME
Robert Rathbun Wilson 1974 Nicolaas Bloembergen Britton Chance Erwin Chargaff Paul J. Flory William A. Fowler Kurt Gödel Rudolf Kompfner James Van Gundia Neel Linus Pauling Ralph Brazelton Peck Kenneth Sanborn Pitzer James Augustine Shannon Abel Wolman 1975 John W. Backus Manson Benedict Hans Albrecht Bethe Shiing-shen Chern George B. Dantzig Hallowell Davis Paul Gyorgy Sterling Brown Hendricks Joseph O. Hirschfelder William Hayward Pickering Lewis H. Sarett Frederick Emmons Terman Orville Alvin Vogel Wernher von Braun E. Bright Wilson, Jr. Chien-Shiung Wu 1976 Morris Cohen Kurt Otto Friedrichs Peter C. Goldmark Samuel Abraham Goudsmit Roger Charles Louis Guillemin Herbert S. Gutowsky Erwin W. Mueller Keith Roberts Porter Efraim Racker Frederick D. Rossini Verner E. Suomi Henry Taube George Eugene Uhlenbeck Hassler Whitney Edward O. Wilson 1977 no awards given 1978 no awards given 1979 Robert H. Burris Elizabeth C. Crosby Joseph L. Doob
FIELD
statistics aerospace engineering particle physics physics biophysics biochemistry physical chemistry nuclear astrophysics mathematics physics genetics chemistry geotechnical engineering physical chemistry physiology sanitary engineering computer science nuclear engineering theoretical physics mathematics mathematics physiology medicine, vitamin research chemistry chemistry physics chemistry electrical engineering research agronomy aerospace engineering chemistry physics materials science mathematics communications engineering physics physiology chemistry physics cell biology biochemistry chemistry meteorology chemistry physics mathematics biology biochemistry neuroanatomy mathematics
AWARDS—NATIONAL MEDAL OF SCIENCE
114
National Medal of Science (continued) YEAR
NAME
1979 Richard P. Feynman (cont.) Donald E. Knuth Arthur Kornberg Emmett N. Leith Herman F. Mark Raymond D. Mindlin Robert N. Noyce Severo Ochoa Earl R. Parker Edward M. Purcell Simon Ramo John H. Sinfelt Lyman Spitzer, Jr. Earl Reece Stadtman George Ledyard Stebbins Victor F. Weisskopf Paul Alfred Weiss 1980 no awards given 1981 Philip Handler 1982 Philip W. Anderson Seymour Benzer Glenn W. Burton Mildred Cohn F. Albert Cotton Edward H. Heinemann
1983
1984 1985 1986
FIELD
YEAR
theoretical physics computer science biochemistry electrical engineering chemistry mechanical engineering computer science biochemistry materials science physics electrical engineering chemical engineering astrophysics biochemistry botany, genetics
1986 Hans Wolfgang (cont.) Liepmann T.Y. Lin Carl S. Marvel Vernon B. Mountcastle Bernard M. Oliver George Emil Palade Herbert A. Simon Joan A. Steitz Frank H. Westheimer Chen Ning Yang Antoni Zygmund 1987 Philip Hauge Abelson Anne Anastasi Robert Byron Bird Raoul Bott Michael E. DeBakey Theodor O. Diener Harry Eagle Walter M. Elsasser Michael H. Freedman William S. Johnson Har Gobind Khorana Paul C. Lauterbur Rita Levi-Montalcini George E. Pake H. Bolton Seed George J. Stigler Walter H. Stockmayer Max Tishler James Alfred Van Allen Ernst Weber 1988 William O. Baker Konrad E. Bloch David Allan Bromley Michael S. Brown Paul C.W. Chu Stanley N. Cohen Elias James Corey Daniel C. Drucker
physics biology
biochemistry physics molecular biology genetics biochemistry chemistry aerospace engineering Donald L. Katz chemical engineering Yoichiro Nambu theoretical physics Marshall H. Stone mathematics Gilbert Stork organic chemistry Edward Teller nuclear physics Charles Hard Townes physics Howard L. Bachrach biochemistry Paul Berg biochemistry E. Margaret Burbidge astronomy Maurice Goldhaber physics Herman H. Goldstine computer science William R. Hewlett electrical engineering Roald Hoffmann chemistry Helmut E. Landsberg climatology George M. Low aerospace engineering Walter H. Munk oceanography George C. Pimentel chemistry Frederick Reines physics Wendell L. Roelofs chemistry, entomology Bruno B. Rossi astrophysics Berta V. Scharrer neuroscience John Robert Schrieffer physics Isadore M. Singer mathematics John G. Trump electrical engineering Richard N. Zare chemistry no awards given no awards given Solomon J. Buchsphysics baum Stanley Cohen biochemistry Horace R. Crane physics Herman Feshbach physics Harry Gray chemistry Donald A. Henderson medicine, public health Robert Hofstadter physics Peter D. Lax mathematics Yuan Tseh Lee chemistry
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NAME
Milton Friedman Joseph L. Goldstein Ralph E. Gomory Willis M. Hawkins Maurice R. Hilleman George W. Housner Eric Kandel Joseph B. Keller Walter Kohn Norman Foster Ramsey Jack Steinberger Rosalyn S. Yalow 1989 Arnold O. Beckman Richard B. Bernstein Melvin Calvin Harry G. Drickamer Katherine Esau Herbert E. Grier Viktor Hamburger Samuel Karlin
FIELD
aerospace engineering civil engineering chemistry neurophysiology electrical engineering cell biology social science molecular biology chemistry theoretical physics mathematics physical chemistry psychology chemical engineering mathematics heart surgery plant pathology cell biology physics mathematics chemistry biochemistry chemistry neurology research, physics civil engineering economics chemistry chemistry physics electrical engineering chemistry biochemistry physics molecular genetics physics genetics chemistry engineering education economics molecular genetics mathematics, research aerospace engineering vaccine research earthquake engineering neurobiology mathematics physics physics physics medical physics chemistry chemistry biochemistry chemistry, physics botany aerospace engineering biology mathematics
AWARDS—NATIONAL MEDAL OF SCIENCE
115
National Medal of Science (continued) YEAR
NAME
1989 Philip Leder (cont.) Joshua Lederberg Saunders Mac Lane Rudolph A. Marcus Harden M. McConnell Eugene N. Parker Robert P. Sharp Donald C. Spencer Roger Wolcott Sperry Henry M. Stommel Harland G. Wood 1990 Baruj Benacerraf Elkan R. Blout Herbert W. Boyer George F. Carrier Allan MacLeod Cormack Mildred S. Dresselhaus Karl August Folkers Nick Holonyak, Jr. Leonid Hurwicz Stephen Cole Kleene Daniel E. Koshland, Jr. Edward B. Lewis John McCarthy Edwin Mattison McMillan David G. Nathan Robert V. Pound Roger R.D. Revelle John D. Roberts Patrick Suppes
FIELD
YEAR
genetics genetics mathematics chemistry chemistry theoretical astrophysics geology mathematics neurobiology oceanography biochemistry pathology, immunology chemistry biochemistry, genetics mathematics physics
1992 Howard E. (cont.) Simmons, Jr. Maxine F. Singer
physics chemistry electrical engineering economics mathematics biochemistry developmental genetics computer science nuclear physics
pediatrics physics oceanography chemistry philosophy, statistics education E. Donnall Thomas medicine 1991 Mary Ellen Avery pediatrics Ronald Breslow chemistry Alberto P. Calderon mathematics Gertrude B. Elion pharmacology George H. Heilmeier electrical engineering Dudley R. Herschbach chemistry G. Evelyn Hutchinson zoology Elvin A. Kabat immunology Robert W. Kates geography Luna B. Leopold hydrology, geology Salvador Luria biology Paul A. Marks hematology, cancer research George A. Miller psychology Arthur L. Schawlow physics Glenn T. Seaborg nuclear chemistry Folke K. Skoog botany H. Guyford Stever aerospace engineering Edward C. Stone physics Steven Weinberg nuclear physics Paul C. Zamecnik molecular biology 1992 Eleanor J. Gibson psychology Allen Newell computer science Calvin F. Quate electrical engineering Eugene M. Shoeplanetary geology maker
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
NAME
FIELD
chemistry
biochemistry, administration virology electrical engineering electrical engineering chemistry particle physics chemistry mathematics microbiology astronomy molecular genetics civil engineering computer science chemical ecology chemistry sociology biochemistry physics geophysics, administration 1995 Thomas Robert Cech biochemistry Hans Georg Dehmelt physics Peter M. Goldreich astrophysics Hermann A. Haus electrical engineering Isabella L. Karle chemistry Louis Nirenberg mathematics Alexander Rich molecular biology Roger N. Shepard psychology 1996 Wallace S. Broecker geochemistry Norman Davidson chemistry, molecular biology James L. Flanagan electrical engineering Richard M. Karp computer science C. Kumar N. Patel electrical engineering Ruth Patrick limnology Paul Samuelson economics Stephen Smale mathematics 1997 William K. Estes psychology Darleane C. Hoffman chemistry Harold S. Johnston chemistry Marshall N. Rosentheoretical plasma bluth physics Martin Schwarzschild astrophysics James Dewey Watson genetics, biophysics Robert A. Weinberg biology, cancer research George W. Wetherill planetary science Shing-Tung Yau mathematics 1998 Bruce N. Ames biochemistry, cancer research Don L. Anderson geophysics John N. Bahcall astrophysics John W. Cahn materials science Cathleen Synge mathematics Morawetz Janet D. Rowley medicine, cancer research Eli Ruckenstein chemical engineering George M. Whitesides chemistry William Julius Wilson sociology 1999 David Baltimore virology, administration Felix E. Browder mathematics Ronald R. Coifman mathematics Howard Martin Temin John Roy Whinnery 1993 Alfred Y. Cho Donald J. Cram Val Logsdon Fitch Norman Hackerman Martin D. Kruskal Daniel Nathans Vera C. Rubin Salome G. Waelsch 1994 Ray W. Clough John Cocke Thomas Eisner George S. Hammond Robert K. Merton Elizabeth F. Neufeld Albert W. Overhauser Frank Press
AWARDS—INTEL SCIENCE TALENT SEARCH
116
National Medal of Science (continued) YEAR
NAME
1999 James Watson Cronin (cont.) Jared Diamond Leo P. Kadanoff Lynn Margulis Stuart A. Rice John Ross Susan Solomon Robert M. Solow Kenneth N. Stevens 2000 Nancy C. Andreasen John D. Baldeschwieler Gary S. Becker Yuan-Cheng B. Fung Ralph F. Hirschmann Willis Eugene Lamb, Jr. Jeremiah P. Ostriker Peter H. Raven John Griggs Thompson Karen K. Uhlenbeck Gilbert F. White Carl R. Woese 2001 Andreas Acrivos Francisco J. Ayala George F. Bass Mario R. Capecchi Marvin L. Cohen Ernest R. Davidson Raymond Davis, Jr. Ann M. Graybiel Charles D. Keeling Gene E. Likens Victor A. McKusick Calyampudi R. Rao Gabor A. Somorjai
FIELD
YEAR
particle physics physiology theoretical physics microbiology chemistry chemistry atmospheric science economics electrical engineering, speech psychiatry chemistry
2001 Elias M. Stein (cont.) Harold Varmus
economics bioengineering chemistry physics astrophysics botany mathematics mathematics geography microbiology chemical engineering molecular biology nautical archaeology genetics materials science chemistry chemistry, astrophysics neuroscience oceanography ecology medical genetics mathematics, statistics chemistry
NAME
2002 Leo L. Beranek John I. Brauman James E. Darnell Richard L. Garwin James G. Glimm W. Jason Morgan Evelyn M. Witkin Edward Witten 2003 J. Michael Bishop G. Brent Dalrymple Carl R. de Boor Riccardo Giacconi R. Duncan Luce John M. Prausnitz Solomon H. Snyder Charles Yanofsky 2004 Kenneth J. Arrow Norman E. Borlaug Robert N. Clayton Edwin N. Lightfoot Stephen J. Lippard Phillip A. Sharp Thomas E. Starzl Dennis P. Sullivan 2005 Jan D. Achenbach Ralph A. Alpher Gordon H. Bower Bradley Efron Anthony S. Fauci Tobin J. Marks Lonnie G. Thompson Torsten N. Wiesel
FIELD
mathematics virology, administration engineering chemistry cell biology physics mathematics, statistics geophysics genetics mathematical physics microbiology geology mathematics astrophysics cognitive science chemical engineering neuroscience molecular biology economics agriculture geochemistry engineering chemistry molecular biology, biochemistry medicine mathematics mechanical engineering astronomy psychology statistics immunology chemistry glaciology neurobiology
The National Inventor of the Year Award he National Inventor of the Year Award is given by the Intellectual Property Owners Association, a trade organization established in 1972. Patented American inventions from the preceding four years are eligible for nomination annually; runners-up receive recognition as Distinguished Inventors. The winner for 2007 was physician Raymond Damadian, honored for his development of the Upright MRI scanner, which allows magnetic reso-
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nance imaging of patients in standing, sitting, or other positions other than the standard prone position, greatly increasing the patients’ comfort level as well as making possible images of tissue and bone while the patients are approximating the weight-bearing effects of normal circumstances. Award amount: $25,000. Web site: <www.ipo.org>.
Intel Science Talent Search he Intel Science Talent Search encourages American high school seniors to pursue careers in the sciences by awarding scholarships for outstanding science projects. Created in 1942 by Science Service, a nonprofit organization devoted to public appreciation of science, and Westinghouse Electric Corporation, the contest brings 40 finalists each year to exhibit their projects at the Science Talent Institute in Washington DC and compete for the top prizes. Since 1998 the talent search has been sponsored by Intel Corp. The highest-place winners for 2007 were Mary Masterman of Oklahoma City OK (first prize, $100,000), John Pardon
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© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
of Chapel Hill NC (second prize, $75,000), and Dmitry Vaintrob of Eugene OR (third prize, $50,000). Masterman designed and built an accurate spectrograph, a machine that identifies specific characteristics of different kinds of molecules. Pardon solved a classical open problem from differential geometry related to making a closed curve convex in a continuous manner. Vaintrob investigated ways to associate algebraic structures to topological spaces. Web site: <www.sciserv.org/sts>.
Environment: Global Warming by Jeffrey Kluger, TIME t was probably always too much to believe that human beings would be responsible stewards of the planet. We may be the smartest of all the animals, endowed with exponentially greater powers of insight and abstraction than the rest, but we’re animals all the same. That means that we can also be shortsighted and brutish, hungry for food, resources, land—and heedless of the mess we leave behind trying to get them. And make a mess we have. If droughts and wildfires, floods and crop failures, collapsing climate-sensitive species, and the images of drowning polar bears didn’t quiet most of the remaining global-warming doubters, the hurricane-driven destruction of New Orleans did. Dismissing a scientist’s temperature chart is one thing. Dismissing the death of a major American city is something else entirely. What’s more, the heat is only continuing to rise. The year 2006 was the hottest on record in the US. The deceptively normal average temperature in the winter of 2006-07 masked record-breaking highs in December and record-breaking lows in February. That’s the sign not of a planet keeping an even strain but of one thrashing through the alternating chills and night sweats of a serious illness. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a report on the state of planetary warming in February 2007 that was surprising only in its utter lack of hedging. “Warming of the climate system is unequivocal,” the report stated. What’s more, there is “very high confidence” that human activities since 1750 have played a significant role by overloading the atmosphere with carbon dioxide (CO2), hence retaining solar heat that would otherwise radiate away. The report concludes that while the long-term solution is to reduce the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, for now we’re going to have to dig in and prepare, building better levees, moving to higher ground, abandoning vulnerable floodplains altogether. Some lingering critics still found wiggle room in the UN panel’s findings. “I think there is a healthy debate ongoing, even though the scientists who are in favor of doing something on greenhouse gases are in the majority,” says Republican Rep. James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin. But when your last good position is to debate the difference between certain and extra certain, you’re playing a losing hand. “The science,” says Christine Todd Whitman, former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “now is getting to the point where it’s pretty hard to deny.” Indeed it is. Atmospheric levels of CO2 were 379 parts per million (ppm) in 2005, higher than at any time in the past 650,000 years. Of the 12 warmest years on record, 11 occurred between 1995 and 2006.
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© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
So if the diagnosis is in, what’s the cure? A crisis of this magnitude clearly calls for action that is both bottom-up and top-down. Though there is some debate about how much difference individuals can make, there is little question that the most powerful players—government and industry—have to take the lead. Still, individuals too can move the carbon needle, but how much and how fast? Different green strategies, after all, yield different results. You can choose a hybrid vehicle, but simply tuning up your car and properly inflating the tires will help too. Buying carbon offsets can reduce the impact of your cross-continental travel, provided you can ensure where your money’s really going. Planting trees is great, but in some parts of the world, the light-absorbing color of the leaves causes them to retain heat and paradoxically increases warming. Even the most effective individual action, however, is not enough. Cleaning up the wreckage left by our 250-year industrial bacchanal will require fundamental changes in a society hooked on its fossil fuels. Beneath the grassroots action, larger tectonic plates are shifting. Science is attacking the problem more aggressively than ever. So is industry. So are architects and lawmakers and urban planners. The world is awakened to the problem in a way it never has been before. Says Carol Browner, onetime administrator of the EPA: “It’s a sea change from where we were on this issue.” The Scientists’ Solutions. If the Earth is choking on greenhouse gases, it’s not hard to see why. Global carbon dioxide output in 2006 approached a staggering 32 billion tons, with about 25% of that coming from the US. Turning off the carbon spigot is the first step, and many of the solutions are familiar: windmills, solar panels, nuclear plants. All three technologies are part of the energy mix, although each has its issues, including noise from windmills and radioactive waste from nukes. Biofuels, however, are the real growth science, particularly after Pres. George W. Bush, in his 2007 state of the union address, called for the US to quintuple its production of biofuels, primarily ethanol. That was good news to American corn farmers, who produce the crop from which the overwhelming share of domestic ethanol is made. But the manufacture of corn ethanol is still inefficient: the process burns up almost as much energy as it produces. A better answer is sugarcane ethanol, which yields eight times the energy it takes to make and provides 40% of all the fuel sold in Brazil. But such ethanol causes environmental problems of its own, as forests are cleared for cane fields. Better still would be to process ethanol from agricultural waste like wood
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NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY
chips or the humble summer grass called switchgrass. The cellulosic ethanol they produce packs more energy than corn ethanol, but it also takes more energy to manufacture. “If you make ethanol by burning coal, you defeat the purpose,” says Sarah Hessenflow Harper, an analyst for the advocacy group Environmental Defense. Until we can dial down our carbon emissions, a more immediate strategy might be to find somewhere to put it all—to sequester it underground. In the same way we store radioactive waste from nuclear reactors, so too could we collect the gaseous CO2 from power plants. The earth is full of safe, stable places to store gases we don’t want, and scientists know precisely where they are. The natural gas that heats homes, fires stoves, and runs factories is found in deep, saline-rich limestone and sandstone cavities, where spongelike pores store gas and help keep it from leaking away. When the energy industry pumps a deposit clean, the chambers stand empty. Not only are the shape and capacity of the cavities mapped, but also in many cases drilling equipment is still on hand that could easily be repurposed from extraction to injection. The US Department of Energy is funding seven research partnerships to test sequestration technologies. In the summer of 2007, one of those projects is prepared to inject a modest 2,000 metric tons of CO2 into the sandstone subsurface beneath a spread of tomato fields near Thornton CA, where it would stay, in effect, forever. Would that be safe? Carbon dioxide can be lethal, a fact grimly illustrated in 1986 when a giant surge of the stuff bubbled up from Lake Nyos in Cameroon, asphyxiating 1,700 people as they slept. Nonetheless, investigators involved in the Thornton project insist there is little cause for worry. “The fields held oil and gas for millennia,” says Larry Myer, an earth scientist with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley CA and the project’s director, “so geologically we know they’re going to hold CO2.” Even if researchers master the mechanics of sequestration, they must still develop a way to separate CO2 from power-plant exhaust so that there will be something to stash in the cavities in the first place. There are two promising methods. One is to gasify coal before it’s burned, reducing it to a high-pressure synthetic gas that can be stripped of its carbon, leaving mostly hydrogen behind. The alternative is to pulverize coal as power-plant operators do now but then rely on new hardware to separate the CO2 after burning. Both methods are at least 20 years away from being fully developed, predicts Ernest Moniz, codirector of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Laboratory for Energy and the Environment and a former under secretary of the Department of Energy. “We’re very early in the process,” he says. The Twin Elephants. While legislators in Washington debate the urgency of global warming, states and cities aren’t waiting for Congress to act. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger committed the state to a 25% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020; he was promptly sued by carmakers that would have to increase fuel efficiency to sell there. If California prevails, the size of its market could turn its regulations into a de facto national standard. States are also joining hands to curb emissions from power plants—the coal burned in Pennsylvania,
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after all, doesn’t pause at the New Jersey state line. In 2003 then governor George Pataki of New York launched the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a confederation of northeastern and mid-Atlantic states that has created its own cap-and-trade program, with the goal of reducing emissions 10% below the current level by 2019. Ten states are now part of the group; in 2007 five Western states embraced a similarly ambitious goal. And New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has proposed strong measures to make his metropolis greener. Yet no matter how aggressively the US tackles its carbon problem, the global outlook hinges on the coal-fired economies of the world’s two looming giants: China and India. Between 1990 and 2004, energy consumption rose 37% in India and 53% in China. Beijing is building new coal-fired power plants at the rate of one every week. While the most technologically sophisticated coal plants operate at almost 45% efficiency, China’s top out at just 33%. But China and India are hardly energy hogs—not if you consider the amount of emissions that any single person living there generates. Americans’ per capita emission of carbon dioxide is about 21.75 tons. In China it’s just 4.03; in India it’s an even smaller 1.12. Yet that is going to change. Up to 50% of the Indian population lives almost entirely off the grid, and the government is determined to bring them aboard. The Chinese economy has been growing at the rate of 10% a year, and Beijing is not inclined to slow down. China is expected to pass the US in total greenhouse emissions before 2010. Not all is bleak. The American-based Natural Resources Defense Council is trying to help the Chinese clean up, working with their businesses to audit energy consumption and developing a fund to bankroll the installation of more efficient equipment in factories. Barbara Finamore of the China Clean Energy Program estimates that this could eliminate the need for 3,000 new power plants over the next few decades. China also imposes higher taxes on large cars than on small ones; subsidizes wind, solar and other renewables; and has passed a law that aims to make 15% of the country’s power come from renewables by 2020. India is further behind China in developing renewable-energy sources, but the need for power is spurring innovation. India has an aggressive solar and wind industry, with one company, Suzlon, generating US$1.5 billion in wind-turbine revenue in 2006. But India, with its less-developed economy, cannot as easily afford the cost of going green—or at least greener. “The Indian government has not taken the problem seriously,” says Steve Sawyer, a policy adviser for Greenpeace International. It sometimes seems that the same can be said for the entire world. It’s not surprising that faced with a problem of this magnitude, people will yield to the impulse to lay blame. Voters blame politicians. Politicians blame industry. Industry blames an overweening government. Prius owners blame Hummer drivers. But never mind who caused the problem, its very enormity means that all of the finger pointers will have to assume a role in cleaning it up. It took generations to foul the planet as badly as we have, and it will surely take generations to reverse things. The difference is we had the leisure of beginning our long industrial climb whenever we wanted to. We don’t have the leisure of waiting to clean up after it.
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Time Measuring Time he measurement of time is an ancient science. The Cro-Magnons recorded the phases of the Moon some 30,000 years ago—but the first minutes were counted accurately only 400 years ago, and the atomic clocks that allow us to track time to the billionth of a second are less than 50 years old. Timekeeping has been both a lens through which humanity has observed the heavens and a mirror reflecting the progress of science and civilization. Our millennia-long struggle to define and calibrate time through calendars and clocks has meant trying to bring the register of human affairs in line with natural cycles—of the Earth, Sun, Moon, and stars, of the physics of matter—but always cycles. What vary are the cultural values and goals that dictate which cycles are significant. With a religious culture dominated by gods of the Sun and sky and a civilization dependent on the annual cycle of a river, the ancient Egyptians were expert astronomers who studied the Sun’s recurrent movements and their effects on the Earth very closely. By plotting the beginning of the Nile’s flood each year, a reliable harbinger of seasonal change, they measured a cycle 365 days long—a reasonable approximation of the duration of the solar year. Observations of the star Sirius eventually allowed Egyptian astronomers to adjust the solar year to 365.25 days. Astronomic studies by the Mayan civilization of the first millennium AD underlay a complex calendrical system involving an accurately determined solar year (18 months of days, plus an unlucky 5-day period) and a sacred year of 260 days (13 cycles of 20 named days). About 127 BC the Greek astronomer Hipparchus further refined the year. His adjustments centered on the equinoxes—which he discovered to be shifting to the west at the barely perceptible rate of two degrees in 150 years. Because of this discovery Hipparchus realized that the solar year was slightly shorter than the accepted 365.25 days. His calculation of 365.242 days was remarkably close to the present calculation of 365.242199 days. Unfortunately for people of the next 1,600 years, Hipparchus’s discoveries were virtually ignored by calendar makers. Julius Caesar’s calendrical reforms in 46 BC left the calendar year at 365.25 days—more than 11 minutes too long. By the 1500s the Julian calendar was 10 days behind the solar year. The shortfall alarmed Christian religious leaders because it meant that holy days, including Easter, were being observed at the wrong times. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII officially revised the accepted length of the year to 365.2422 days, adjusted the leap-year rule, and lopped off the 10 extra days, creating in the process the calendar in most widespread use today. Meanwhile, the quest to measure time accurately
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on a much smaller scale was still in its early phases. The invention of the weight-driven mechanical clock some 200 years earlier had revolutionized timekeeping, making it possible to count equal units of time and radically changing the way people thought about time and the best ways to measure it. Calendars are deemed accurate according to how well they accommodate the variations in larger celestial cycles. Clocks, on the other hand, have historically been judged accurate in relation to the average duration of the Earth’s rotation around the Sun—that is, by how well they keep “mean time.” While calendrical standards have remained fairly stable, the clock’s units of measure have gradually shifted away from using the Earth-Sun relationship as a norm. With the introduction of mechanical clocks, clock time became increasingly removed from cyclical events in the sky, for the cycles on which mechanical clocks base their measures are independent of Earth and Sun. A pendulum clock, for example, measures only the beat of its pendulum, not any part of a “real” day. The pendulum clock kicked off the modern search for the perfect clock, a timepiece governed by a naturally cycling period that operated free from mechanical friction and fatigue. In 1927 W.A. Marrison invented a clock that operated via a tiny quartz crystal. The crystal vibrated at an ultrasonic frequency when exposed to an electric field. These vibrations were constant and delivered a virtually frictionless beat to the counting mechanism of the clock. Accurate to thousandths of a second, quartz clocks led scientists to make the belated discovery that the Earth was not a reliable clock to begin with. Disparities between the measurements of quartz clocks and the rotation of the Earth revealed unpredictable irregularities in the rotation, which had to that point defined the duration of a second (1/86,400 of the mean solar day). In 1967 the definition of a second was officially divorced from the Earth’s rotation when the 13th General Conference of Weights and Measures redefined the second as “9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium133 atom.” Cesium atoms are superior to quartz crystals because they do not wear out and have cycles that comprise oscillations between precisely defined energy states that can oscillate forever without any distortion. Furthermore, each atom of cesium oscillates at exactly the same frequency as all others, making each one a perfect timekeeper. To keep solar time and atomic time from drifting too far apart, the two were combined in 1964 to form Coordinated Universal Time, which is based on the atomic second and kept within 0.9 second of solar time by adding a leap second as needed.
The liger is the offspring of a lion and a tigress, whereas the tigon is the result of mating a tiger with a lioness. Both are zoo-bred hybrids, and it is probable that neither occurs in the wild, as differences in the behavior and habitat of the lion and tiger make interbreeding unlikely. The liger and the tigon possess features of both parents, in variable proportions, but are generally larger and darker than either.
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Time Zone Map
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Daylight Saving Time lso called summer time, daylight saving time is a system for uniformly advancing clocks, especially in summer, so as to extend daylight hours during conventional waking time. In the Northern Hemisphere, clocks are usually set ahead one hour in late March or in April and are set back one hour in late September or in October; most Southern Hemisphere countries that observe daylight saving time set clocks ahead in October or November and reset them in March or April. Equatorial countries do not observe daylight saving time because daylight hours stay about the same from season to season in the lower latitudes. The practice was first suggested in a whimsical essay by Benjamin Franklin in 1784. In 1907 an Englishman, William Willett, campaigned for setting the clock ahead by 80 minutes in four moves of 20 minutes each during the spring and summer months. In 1908 the House of Commons rejected a bill to advance the clock by one hour in the spring and return
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to Greenwich Mean (standard) Time in the autumn. Several countries, including Australia, Great Britain, Germany, and the United States, adopted summer daylight saving time during World War I to conserve fuel by reducing the need for artificial light. During World War II, clocks were kept continuously advanced by an hour in some nations—e.g., in the US from 9 Feb 1942 to 30 Sep 1945; and England used “double summer time” during part of the year, advancing clocks two hours from the standard time during the summer and one hour during the winter months. In 2005 the US Congress changed the law governing daylight saving time, moving the start of daylight saving time from the first Sunday in April to the second Sunday in March, while moving the end date from the last Sunday in October to the first Sunday in November starting in 2007. In most of the countries of Western Europe, daylight saving time starts on the last Sunday in March and ends on the last Sunday in October.
Julian and Gregorian Calendars he Julian calendar, also called the Old Style calendar, is a dating system established by Julius Caesar as a reform of the Roman republican calendar. Caesar, advised by the Alexandrian astronomer Sosigenes, made the new calendar solar, not lunar, and he took the length of the solar year as 365¼ days. The year was divided into 12 months, all of which had either 30 or 31 days except February, which contained 28 days in common (365-day) years and 29 in every fourth year (a leap year, of 366 days). Because of misunderstandings, the calendar was not established in smooth operation until AD 8. Further, Sosigenes had overestimated the length of the year by 11 minutes 14 seconds, and by the mid-1500s, the cumulative effect of this error had shifted the dates of the seasons by about 10 days from Caesar’s time. This inaccuracy led Pope Gregory XIII to reform the Julian calendar. His Gregorian calendar, also called
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the New Style calendar, is still in general use. Gregory’s proclamation in 1582 restored the calendar to the seasonal dates of AD 325, an adjustment of 10 days. Although the amount of regression was some 14 days by Pope Gregory’s time, Gregory based his reform on restoration of the vernal equinox, then falling on 11 March, to the date (21 March) it had in AD 325, the time of the Council of Nicaea. Advancing the calendar 10 days after 4 Oct 1582, the day following being reckoned as 15 October, effected the change. The Gregorian calendar differs from the Julian only in that no century year is a leap year unless it is exactly divisible by 400 (e.g., 1600, 2000). A further refinement, the designation of years evenly divisible by 4,000 as common (not leap) years, will keep the Gregorian calendar accurate to within one day in 20,000 years.
Jewish Calendar he Jewish calendar is lunisolar—i.e., regulated by the positions of both the Moon and the Sun. It consists usually of 12 alternating lunar months of 29 and 30 days each (except for Heshvan and Kislev, which sometimes have either 29 or 30 days), and totals 353, 354, or 355 days per year. The average lunar year (354 days) is adjusted to the solar year (365¼ days) by the periodic introduction of leap years in order to assure that the major festivals fall in their proper season. The leap year consists of an additional 30-day month called First Adar, which always precedes the month of (Second) Adar. (During leap year, the Adar holidays are postponed to Second
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Adar.) A leap year consists of either 383, 384, or 385 days and occurs seven times during every 19-year period (the so-called Metonic cycle). Among the consequences of the lunisolar structure are these: (1) The number of days in a year may vary considerably, from 353 to 385 days. (2) The first day of a month can fall on any day of the week, that day varying from year to year. Consequently, the days of the week upon which an annual Jewish festival falls vary from year to year despite the festival’s fixed position in the Jewish month. The months of the Jewish calendar and their Gregorian equivalents are as follows:
JEWISH MONTH
GREGORIAN MONTH(S)
JEWISH MONTH
GREGORIAN MONTH(S)
Tishri Heshvan, or Marheshvan Kislev Tevet Shevat Adar
September–October October–November November–December December–January January–February February–March
Nisan Iyyar Sivan Tammuz Av Elul
March–April April–May May–June June–July July–August August–September
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Muslim Calendar he Muslim calendar (also called the Islamic calendar, or Hijrah) is a dating system used in the Muslim world that is based on a year of 12 months. Each month begins approximately at the time of the New Moon. The months of the Muslim calendar are: Muharram, Safar, Rabi I, Rabi II, Jumada I, Jumada II, Rajab, Sha’ban, Ramadan, Shawwal, Dhu al-Qa’dah, and Dhu al-Hijjah. In the standard Muslim calendar the months are alternately 30 and 29 days long except for the 12th month, Dhu al-Hijjah, the length of which is varied in a 30-year cycle intended to keep the calendar in step with the true phases of the Moon. In 11 years of this cycle, Dhu al-Hijjah has 30 days, and in the
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other 19 years it has 29. Thus the year has either 354 or 355 days. No months are intercalated, so that the named months do not remain in the same seasons but retrogress through the entire solar, or seasonal, year (of about 365.25 days) every 32.5 solar years. There are some exceptions to this calendar in the Muslim world. Turkey uses the Gregorian calendar, while the Iranian Muslim calendar is based on a solar year. The Iranian calendar still begins from the same dating point as other Muslim calendars (that is, some 10 years prior to the death of Muhammad in AD 632). Thus, the Gregorian year AD 2008 corresponds to the Hijrah years of AH 1428–30.
Chinese Calendar he Chinese calendar is a dating system used concurrently with the Gregorian (Western) calendar in China and Taiwan and in neighboring countries (e.g., Japan). The calendar consists of 12 months of alternately 29 and 30 days, equal to 354 or 355 days, or approximately 12 full lunar cycles. Intercalary months have been inserted to keep the calendar year in step with the solar year of about 365 days. Months have no names but are instead referred to by numbers within a year and sometimes also by a series of 12 animal names that from ancient times have been attached to years and to hours of the day. The calendar also incorporates a meteorologic cycle that contains 24 points, each beginning one of the periods named. The establishment of this cycle required a fair amount of astronomical understanding of the Earth as a celestial body. Modern scholars acknowledge the superiority of pre-Sung Chinese astronomy (at least until about the 13th century AD) over that of other, contemporary nations.
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SOLAR TERMS—CHINESE (ENGLISH EQUIVALENTS)
GREGORIAN DATE (APPROXIMATE)
Lichun (spring begins) Yushui (rain water) Jingzhe (excited insects) Chunfen (vernal equinox) Qingming (clear and bright) Guyu (grain rains) Lixia (summer begins) Xiaoman (grain fills) Mangzhong (grain in ear) Xiazhi (summer solstice) Xiaoshu (slight heat) Dashu (great heat) Liqiu (autumn begins) Chushu (limit of heat) Bailu (white dew) Qiufen (autumn equinox) Hanlu (cold dew) Shuangjiang (hoar frost descends) Lidong (winter begins) Xiaoxue (little snow) Daxue (heavy snow) Dongzhi (winter solstice) Xiaohan (little cold) Dahan (severe cold)
5 February 19 February 5 March 20 March 5 April 20 April 5 May 21 May 6 June 21 June 7 July 23 July 7 August 23 August 8 September 23 September 8 October 24 October 8 November 22 November 7 December 22 December 6 January 20 January
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The 24 points within the meteorologic cycle coincide with points 15° apart on the ecliptic (the plane of the Earth’s yearly journey around the Sun or, if it is thought that the Sun turns around the Earth, the apparent journey of the Sun against the stars). It takes about 15.2 days for the Sun to travel from one of these points to another (because the ecliptic is a complete circle of 360°), and the Sun needs 365¼ days to finish its journey in this cycle. Supposedly, each of the 12 months of the year contains two points, but, because a lunar month has only 29½ days and the two points share about 30.4 days, there is always the chance that a lunar month will fail to contain both points, though the distance between any two given points is only 15°. If such an occasion occurs, the intercalation of an extra month takes place. For instance, one may find a year with two “Julys” or with two “Augusts” in the Chinese calendar. In fact, the exact length of the month in the Chinese calendar is either 30 days or 29 days—a phenomenon that reflects its lunar origin. LUNAR MONTH (CORRESPONDENCE OF LUNAR AND SOLAR MONTHS APPROXIMATE)
1—tiger 2—rabbit/hare 3—dragon 4—snake 5—horse 6—sheep/ram 7—monkey 8—chicken/rooster 9—dog 10—pig/boar 11—rat 12—cow/ox
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Chinese Calendar (continued) CHINESE NEW YEAR
GREGORIAN DATE
ANIMAL
CHINESE NEW YEAR
GREGORIAN DATE
ANIMAL
4698 4699 4700 4701 4702 4703 4704
5 Feb 2000 24 Jan 2001 12 Feb 2002 1 Feb 2003 22 Jan 2004 9 Feb 2005 29 Jan 2006
dragon snake horse sheep/ram monkey chicken/rooster dog
4705 4706 4707 4708 4709 4710 4711
18 Feb 2007 7 Feb 2008 26 Jan 2009 14 Feb 2010 3 Feb 2011 23 Jan 2012 10 Feb 2013
pig/boar rat cow/ox tiger rabbit/hare dragon snake
Popcorn king Orville Redenbacher developed a hybrid popcorn with his partner, Charles Bowman. The hybrid produced plumper and more tender kernels, but no company would buy the product because it was so expensive to produce. Redenbacher went into business for himself, promoting his “gourmet” popcorn as “The World’s Most Expensive,” a marketing ploy that made Redenbacher’s product an enormous success starting in the 1970s.
Religious and Traditional Holidays The word holiday comes from “holy day,” and it was originally a day of dedication to religious observance; in modern times a holiday may be of either religious or secular commemoration. All dates in this article are Gregorian. Jewish holidays—The major holidays are the Pilgrim Festivals: Pesach (Passover), Shavuot (Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost), and Sukkot (Tabernacles); and the High Holidays: Rosh Hashana (New Year) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). Pesach commemorates the Exodus from Egypt and the servitude that preceded it. As such, it is the most significant of the commemorative holidays, for it celebrates the very inception of the Jewish people—i.e., the event that provided the basis for the covenant between God and Israel. The term Pesach refers originally to the paschal (Passover) lamb sacrificed on the eve of the Exodus, the blood of which marked the Jewish homes to be spared from God’s plague. Leaven (se’or) and foods containing leaven (hametz) are neither to be owned nor consumed during Pesach. Aside from meats, fresh fruits, and vegetables, it is customary to consume only those foods prepared under rabbinic supervision and labeled “kosher for Passover.” The unleavened bread (matzo) consists entirely of flour and water. On the eve of Pesach families partake of the Seder, an elaborate festival meal. The table is bedecked with an assortment of foods symbolizing the passage from slavery (e.g., bitter herbs) into freedom (e.g., wine). Pesach will begin at sundown on 19 April and end on 27 April in 2008. (All Jewish holidays begin at sundown.) A distinctive Rosh Hashana observance is the sounding of the ram’s horn (shofar) at the synagogue service. Symbolic ceremonies, such as eating bread and apples dipped in honey, accompanied by prayers for a “sweet” and propitious year, are performed at the festive meals. In 2008 Rosh Hashana will begin at sundown on 29 September and will end on 1 October. Yom Kippur is a day when sins are confessed and expiated and man and God are reconciled. It is the holiest and most solemn day of the Jewish year. It is marked by fasting, penitence, and prayer. Working, eating, drinking, washing, anointing one’s body, engaging in sexual intercourse, and don-
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ning leather shoes are all forbidden. Yom Kippur begins at sundown on 8 October in 2008. Though not as important theologically, the feast of Hanukka has become socially significant, especially in Western cultures. Hanukka commemorates the rededication (164 BCE) of the Second Temple of Jerusalem after its desecration three years earlier. Though modern Israel tends to emphasize the military victory of the general Judas Maccabeus, the distinctive rite of lighting the menorah also recalls the Talmud story of how the small supply of nondesecrated oil—enough for one day—miraculously burned in the Temple for eight full days until new oil could be obtained. During Hanukka, in addition to the lighting of the ceremonial candles, gifts are exchanged and children play holiday games. The festival occurs 4 through 12 Dec 2007, subsequently spanning 21 through 29 Dec 2008. Christian holidays—The major holidays celebrated by nearly all Christians are Easter and Christmas. Easter celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus on the third day after his Crucifixion. In the Christian liturgical year, Easter is preceded by the period of Lent, the 40 days (not counting Sundays) before Easter, which traditionally were observed as a period of penance and fasting. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, a day devoted to penitence. Holy Week precedes Easter Sunday and includes Maundy Thursday, the commemoration of Jesus’ last supper with his disciples; Good Friday, the day of his Crucifixion; and Holy Saturday, the transition between Crucifixion and Resurrection. Easter shares with Christmas the presence of numerous customs, some of which have little to do with the Christian celebration of the resurrection but clearly derive from folk customs. In 2008 the Western churches (nearly all Christian denominations) will observe Ash Wednesday on 6 February and Easter on 23 March. For Eastern Orthodox Christians, Lent begins on 10 March and Easter will be observed on 27 Apr 2008. Christmas commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ. Since the early part of the 20th century, Christmas has also become a secular family holiday, observed by non-Christians, devoid of Christian elements, and marked by an increasingly elaborate exchange of gifts. In this secular Christmas celebration, a mythical
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figure named Santa Claus plays the pivotal role. Christmas is held on 25 December in most Christian cultures but occurs on the following 7 January in some Eastern Orthodox churches.
to their homes to visit with their family. The traditional food is moon cakes, round pastries stuffed with food such as red bean paste. The Moon Festival will occur on 14 September in 2008.
Islamic holidays—Ramadan is the holy month of fasting for Muslims. The Islamic ordinance prescribes abstention from evil thoughts and deeds as well as from food, drink, and sexual intercourse from dawn until dusk throughout the month. The beginning and end of Ramadan are announced when one trustworthy witness testifies before the authorities that the new moon has been sighted; a cloudy sky may therefore delay or prolong the fast. The end of the fast is celebrated as the feast of AId al-Fitr. Ramadan begins on 1 September in 2008 and AId al-Fitr falls on 1 October of that year (all Islamic holidays begin at sundown). The Muslim New Year, Hijra, is on 9 January in 2008. After AId al-Fitr, the second major Islamic festival is AId al-Adha. Throughout the Muslim world, all who are able sacrifice sheep, goats, camels, or cattle and then divide the flesh equally among themselves, the poor, and friends and neighbors to commemorate the ransom of Ishmael with a ram. This festival falls at the end of the hajj, the pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, which every adult Muslim of either sex must make at least once in his or her lifetime. AId al-Adha will be observed on 7 December in 2008. Ashura was originally designated in AD 622 by Muhammad as a day of fasting from sunset to sunset, probably patterned on the Jewish Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. Among the ShiAites, Ashura is a major festival that commemorates the death of Husayn (Hussein), son of Ali and grandson of Muhammad. It is a period of expressions of grief and of pilgrimage to Karbala (the site of Husayn’s death, now in present-day Iraq). Ashura is on 18 January in 2008.
Japanese holidays—The Japanese celebrate 3-5-7 day (Shichigosan no hi), in which parents bring children of those ages to the Shinto shrine to pray for their continued health. This day is held on 15 November. In mid-July (or mid-August, in some areas) the Japanese celebrate Obon (also known as Bon Matsuri, or Urabon). The festival honors the spirits of deceased householders and of the dead generally. Memorial stones are cleaned, community dances are performed, and paper lanterns and fires are lit to welcome the dead and to bid them farewell at the end of their visit. The Shinto New Year, Gantan-sai, is celebrated on 1–3 January.
Buddhist holidays—Holidays practiced by a large number of Buddhists are uposatha days and days that commemorate events in the life of the Buddha. The four monthly holy days of ancient Buddhism continue to be observed in the Theravada countries of Southeast Asia. These uposatha days—the new moon and full moon days of each lunar month and the eighth day following the new and full moons— have their origin, according to some scholars, in the fast days that preceded the Vedic soma sacrifices. The three major events of the Buddha’s life—his birth, Enlightenment, and entrance into final nirvana—are commemorated in all Buddhist countries but not everywhere on the same day. In the Theravada countries the three events are all observed together on Vesak, the full moon day of the sixth lunar month, which usually occurs in May. In Japan and other Mahayana countries, the three anniversaries of the Buddha are observed on separate days (in some countries the birth date is 8 April, the Enlightenment date is 8 December, and the death date is 15 February). Chinese holidays—The Chinese New Year is celebrated with a big family meal, and presents of cash are given to children in red envelopes. In 2008 the Chinese New Year will be on 7 February. During the Chinese Moon Festival, on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar, people return
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Hindu holidays—Dussehra celebrates the victory of Rama over Ravana, the symbol of evil on earth. In 2008 Dussehra falls on 9 October. Diwali is a festival of lights devoted to Laksmi, the goddess of wealth. During the festival, small earthenware lamps filled with oil are lighted and placed in rows along the parapets of temples and houses and set adrift on rivers and streams. Diwali is on 28 October in 2008. Sivaratri, the most important sectarian festival of the year for devotees of the Hindu god Shiva, occurs on 6 March in 2008. Holi is a spring festival, probably of ancient origin. Participants throw colored waters and powders on one another, and, on this day, the usual restrictions of caste, sex, status, and age are disregarded. It will be on 22 March in 2008. Sikh holidays—Sikhs observe all festivals celebrated by the Hindus of northern India. In addition, they celebrate the birthdays of the first and the last Gurus and the martyrdom of the fifth (Arjun) and the ninth (Tegh Bahadur). In 2008 Guru Nanak Dev Sahib’s birthday is celebrated on 13 November, and that of Guru Gobind Singh Sahib is celebrated on 5 January. On 16 June Arjun’s martyrdom is observed. Kachi lassi (sweetened milk) is offered to passersby to commemorate his death. On 24 November the martyrdom of Tegh Bahadur is observed. BahaBi holidays—The BahaBi New Year (Naw Ruz) in 2008 will fall on 20 March (all BahaBi holidays begin at sundown). Other important observances include the declaration of the Bab on 22 May, the Baha AUllah’s birth (11 November), and Ascension (28 May). Zoroastrian holidays—Noruz (New Day) is on 21 March for 2008, and the 26th of that month is Khordad Sal, the birth of the prophet Zarathustra. The African American holiday of Kwanzaa (Swahili for “First Fruits”) is celebrated each year from 26 December to 1 January and is patterned after various African harvest festivals. Maulana Karenga, a blackstudies professor, created Kwanzaa in 1966 as a nonreligious celebration of family and social values. Each day of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of seven principles: unity (umoja), self-determination (kujichagulia), collective responsibility (ujima), cooperative economics (ujamaa), purpose (nia), creativity (kuumba), and faith (imani).
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Perpetual Calendar table, first find the proper dominical letter (one of the letters A through G) for the year in the upper table. Leap years have two dominical letters, the first applicable to dates in January and February, the second to dates in the remaining months. Then find the same dominical letter in the lower table, in whichever column it appears opposite the month in question. The days then fall as given in the lowest section of the column.
he perpetual calendar is a type of dating system that makes it possible to find the correct day of the week for any date over a wide range of years. Aspects of the perpetual calendar can be found in the Jewish religious and the Julian calendars, and some form of it has appeared in many proposed calendar reforms. To find the day of the week for any Gregorian or Julian date in the perpetual calendar provided in this
T
YEAR
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56
57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84
CENTURY
85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99
0 700 1400
100 800 1500*
DC B A G FE D C B AG F E D CB A G F ED C B A GF E D C BA G F E DC
ED C B A GF E D C BA G F E DC B A G FE D C B AG F E D CB A G F ED
JULIAN CALENDAR 200 300 400 900 1000 1100
FE D C B AG F E D CB A G F ED C B A GF E D C BA G F E DC B A G FE
GF E D C BA G F E DC B A G FE D C B AG F E D CB A G F ED C B A GF
MONTH
January, October February, March, November April, July May June August September, December 1 18 15 22 29 2 19 16 23 30 3 10 17 24 31 4 11 18 25 5 12 19 26 6 13 20 27 7 14 21 28
AG F E D CB A G F ED C B A GF E D C BA G F E DC B A G FE D C B AG
500 1200
600 1300
1500**
BA G F E DC B A G FE D C B AG F E D CB A G F ED C B A GF E D C BA
CB A G F ED C B A GF E D C BA G F E DC B A G FE D C B AG F E D CB
… F E D CB A G F ED C B A GF E D C … … … … … … … … … … C B AG
GREGORIAN CALENDAR 1600 1700 1800 2000 2100 2200
BA G F E DC B A G FE D C B AG F E D CB A G F ED C B A GF E D C BA
C B A G FE D C B AG F E D CB A G F ED C B A GF E D C BA G F E DC
E D C B AG F E D CB A G F ED C B A GF E D C BA G F E DC B A G FE
1900 2300
G F E D CB A G F ED C B A GF E D C BA G F E DC B A G FE D C B AG
DOMINICAL LETTER
A D
B E
C F
D G
E A
F B
G C
G B E C F
A C F D G
B D G E A
C E A F B
D F B G C
E G C A D
F A D B E
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday
Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday
Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday
Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
*On and before 1582, 4 October only. **On and after 1582, 15 October only. Source: Smithsonian Physical Tables, 9th edition, rev. 1956.
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NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—CIVIL HOLIDAYS
Civil Holidays DAY
EVENT
1 January 20 January 26 January
New Year’s Day, the first day of the modern calendar (various countries) Inauguration Day, for quadrennial inauguration of US president Australia Day, commemorates the establishment of the first British settlement in Australia Martin Luther King Day, for birth of US civil rights leader New Year, for Chinese lunar year, inaugurating a 15-day celebration
3rd Monday in January 2nd new moon after winter solstice (at the earliest 21 January and at the latest 19 February) 6 February 11 February 14 February 3rd Monday in February 8 March 17 March 21 or 22 March 25 March 4th Sunday in Lent 1 April 5 April 7 April 22 April 25 April 29 April 30 April 1 May 3 May 5 May 5 May 8/9 May 2nd Sunday in May Monday on or preceding 25 May 30 or last Monday in May 2 June 5 June 6 June 10 June 14 June 3rd Saturday in June 3rd Sunday in June 23 June 23–24 June last Sunday in June 1 July 4 July 12 July 14 July 21 July 1 August 6 August full-moon day of 8th lunar month 1st Monday in September 15 September 16 September 23 or 24 September
Waitangi Day, for Treaty of Waitangi, granting British sovereignty (New Zealand) National Foundation Day, for founding by first emperor (Japan) St. Valentine’s Day, celebrating the exchange of love messages and named for either of two 3rd-century Christian martyrs (various) Presidents’ Day, Washington-Lincoln Day, or Washington’s Birthday, for birthdays of US Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln International Women’s Day, celebration of the women’s liberation movement St. Patrick’s Day, for patron saint of Ireland (Ireland and various) Vernal Equinox Day, for beginning of spring (Japan) Independence Day, for proclamation of independence from the Ottoman Empire (Greece) Mothering Day (UK) April Fools’ Day, or All Fools’ Day, day for playing jokes, falling one week after the old New Year’s Day of 25 March (various) Qingming, for sweeping tombs and honoring the dead (China) World Health Day, for founding of World Health Organization Earth Day, for conservation and reclaiming of the natural environment (various) ANZAC Day, for landing at Gallipoli (Australia/New Zealand/Samoa/Tonga) Green Day, national holiday for environment and nature (Japan) Queen’s Birthday, for Queen Beatrix’s investiture and former queen Juliana’s birthday (The Netherlands) May Day, celebrated as labor day or as festival of flowers (various) Constitution Memorial Day, for establishment of democratic government (Japan) Children’s Day, honoring children (Japan/South Korea) Cinco de Mayo, anniversary of Mexico’s victory over France in the Battle of Puebla (Mexico) V-E Day, or Liberation Day, for end of World War II in Europe (various) Mother’s Day, honoring mothers (US) Victoria Day, for Queen Victoria’s birthday (Canada) Memorial Day, or Decoration Day, in honor of the deceased, especially the war dead (US) Anniversary of the Republic, for referendum establishing republic (Italy) Constitution Day (Denmark) National Day, for Gustav I Vasa’s ascension to the throne and adoption of Constitution (Sweden) Portugal’s Day, or Camões Memorial Day, anniversary of Luis de Camões’s death Flag Day, honoring flag (US) Queen’s Official Birthday, for Queen Elizabeth II (UK/New Zealand) Father’s Day, honoring fathers (US) National Day, for Grand Duke Jean’s official birthday (Luxembourg) Midsummer Eve and Midsummer Day, celebrating the return of summer (various European) Gay and Lesbian Pride Day, final day of weeklong advocacy of rights of gay men and lesbians (international) Canada Day (formerly Dominion Day), for establishment of dominion Independence Day, for Declaration of Independence from Britain (US) Orangemen’s Day, or Orange Day, anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne (Northern Ireland) Bastille Day, for fall of the Bastille and onset of French Revolution (France) National Day, for separation from The Netherlands (Belgium) National Day, anniversary of the founding of the Swiss Confederation (Switzerland) Hiroshima Day, for dropping of atomic bomb (Japan) Chusok, harvest festival (Korea) Labor Day, tribute to workers (US/Canada) Respect-for-the-Aged Day, for the elderly (Japan) Independence Day, for independence from Spain (Mexico) Autumnal Equinox Day, for beginning of autumn; in honor of ancestors (Japan)
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Civil Holidays (continued) DAY
EVENT
two weeks ending on 1st Sunday in October 3 October 5 October 12 or 2nd Monday in October
Oktoberfest, festival of food and drink, formerly commemorating marriage of King Louis (Ludwig) I (Germany) Day of German Unity, for reunification of Germany Republic Day, for founding of the republic (Portugal) Hispanic Day, Columbus Day, Discovery Day, or Day of the Race, for Christopher Columbus’s discovery of the New World on behalf of Spain (Spain and various) Thanksgiving Day, harvest festival (Canada) United Nations Day, for effective date of UN Charter (international) National Day, for end of postwar occupation and return of sovereignty (Austria) Halloween, or All Hallows’ Eve, festive celebration of ghosts and spirits, on eve of All Saints’ Day (various) Guy Fawkes Day, anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot to blow up the king and Parliament (UK) Armistice Day, Remembrance Day, or Veterans Day, honoring participants in past wars and recalling the Armistice of World War I (various) Labor Thanksgiving Day, honoring workers (Japan) Thanksgiving Day, harvest festival (US) Day of Reconciliation, for promoting national unity (South Africa) Emperor’s Birthday, for birthday of Emperor Akihito (Japan) Boxing Day, second day of Christmas, for giving presents to service people (various) New Year’s Eve, celebration ushering out the old year and in the new year (various)
2nd Monday in October 24 October 26 October 31 October 5 November 11 November 23 November 4th Thursday in November 16 December 23 December 26 December 31 December
The Universe Cosmogony (Theories of the Origin of the Universe) hree great ages of scientific thinking about the universe can be distinguished. The first began in Greece in the 6th century BC when the Pythagoreans introduced the concept of a spherical Earth and postulated a universe in which the motions of heavenly bodies were governed by natural laws. The infinite atomist universe of Leucippus and Democritus followed, wherein countless worlds, teeming with life, were the result of chance aggregations of atoms. The geocentric Aristotelian universe arose in the 4th century BC. It consisted of a central Earth surrounded by revolving, translucent spheres to which were attached the Sun and the planets; the outermost sphere supported the fixed stars. The Copernican revolution ushered in the second great age. In the 16th century, Nicolaus Copernicus revived ancient ideas and proposed a heliocentric universe, which during the following century was transformed into the mechanistic, infinite Newtonian universe that flourished until the early 1900s. In the mid-18th century, Thomas Wright proposed the influential notion of a universe composed of numerous galaxies, and William Herschel, followed by many other astronomers, made rapid strides in the study of stars and of the Milky Way Galaxy, of which the Earth is a component. The third great age began in the early years of the 20th century, with the discovery of special relativity and its development into general relativity by Albert Einstein. These years also saw momentous developments in astronomy: extragalactic redshifts were detected by Vesto Slipher; extragalactic nebulae were shown to be galaxies comparable with the Milky Way; and Edwin Hubble began to estimate the distances of these galactic systems. Such discoveries and the application of general relativity to cosmology eventually gave rise to the view that the universe is expanding. The basic premise of modern thinking on the universe is the principle that asserts that the universe is
T
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
homogeneous in space (on the average all places are alike at any time) and that the laws of physics are everywhere the same. Two theories of the origin of the universe have been the most influential during the last century—the steady state theory and the big bang theory. The steady state theory posits that the universe is always expanding but maintains a constant average density, matter being continuously created to form new stars and galaxies at the same rate that old ones become unobservable as a consequence of their increasing distance and velocity of recession. A steady-state universe has no beginning or end in time; and from any point within it the view on the grand scale—i.e., the average density and arrangement of galaxies—is the same. Galaxies of all possible ages are intermingled. Observations since the 1950s have produced much evidence contradictory to the steady-state picture and supportive of the big-bang model. The essential feature of the widely-held big bang theory is the emergence of the universe from a state of extremely high temperature and density—the so-called big bang that occurred at least 10,000,000,000 years ago. Although this type of universe was proposed by Alexander Friedmann and Abbé Georges Lemaître in the 1920s, the modern version was developed by George Gamow and colleagues in the 1940s. One current problem that scientists are studying is the amount of matter in the universe. Based upon such things as the rate of the motion of galaxies, scientists realized that there is some 90% more matter in the universe than can be seen. Scientists refer to the matter that can be observed as “bright matter” and this other 90% is called “dark matter.” Whether dark matter is of a different and exotic nature from the matter with which we are familiar, or whether dark matter is just like luminous matter (and for some reason we cannot detect it), is something a large number of scientists are studying.
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NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—ASTRONOMICAL CONSTANTS
Astronomical Constants QUANTITY
SYMBOL
astronomical unit
AU
VALUE
length of the semimajor axis of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun—149,597,870 km (92,955,808 mi) measures large distances in space; equals the average distance from the Earth to the Sun
parsec pc one parsec equals 3.26 light-years measures the distance at which the radius of the Earth’s orbit subtends an angle of one second of arc 12
12
light-year ly 9.46089 x 10 km (5.8787 x 10 mi) measures the distance traveled by light moving in a vacuum in the course of one year solar parallax 8.79414 seconds of arc quantifies the angular difference in direction of the Sun as seen from the Earth’s center and a point one Earth radius away lunar parallax 57 minutes 02.608 seconds of arc quantifies the angular difference in direction of the Moon as seen from the Earth’s center and a point one Earth radius away general precession 50.29 seconds of arc per year measures the cyclic wobbling in the orientation of the Earth’s axis of rotation with a period of almost 26,000 years constant of aberration about 20.49 seconds of arc the maximum amount of the apparent yearly aberrational displacement of a star or other celestial body, resulting from the Earth’s orbital motion around the Sun constant of nutation 9.202 seconds of arc a small irregularity in the Earth’s axial precession of that occurs over a period of 18.6 years 10
speed of light (in a vacuum)
c
2.99792458 x 10 cm per sec (186,282 mi per sec)
radius of the Sun
Sun R .
6.96 x 10 m (109 times the radius of Earth)
mass of the Sun
Sun M .
1.989 x 10 kg (330,000 times the mass of the Earth)
Earth’s mean radius
8
30
6,378 km (3,963 mi)
sidereal day (on Earth) 23 h 56 min 4.10 sec of mean solar time defined by the period between two successive passages of a star across the same meridian; it is the time required for the Earth to rotate once relative to the distant stars mean solar day (on Earth) 24 h 3 min 56.55 sec of mean sideral time the interval between two successive passages of the Sun across the same meridian is a solar day; in practice, since the rate of the Sun’s motion varies with the seasons, use is made of a fictitious Sun that always moves across the sky at an even rate tropical (or solar) year (on Earth) 365.242 days the time required for the Earth’s orbital motion to return the Sun’s position to the spring equinoctial point sidereal year (on Earth) 365.256 days the time required for the Earth in its orbit to return to the longitude of a distant star synodic month (on Earth) 29.53 days the time required for the Moon to pass through one complete cycle of phases sidereal month (on Earth) 27.32 days the time required for the Moon to return to the same place in relation to distant stars
The speed of steamboats increased dramatically over the years; the run from New Orleans to Louisville KY, which took 25 days in 1816, required only 4 days by 1853. The average life span of a steamboat was only four to five years because of poor construction and maintenance, exploding boilers, and sinkings due to river construction. Spontaneous races were common and contributed greatly to the approximately 4,000 deaths in steamboat disasters between 1810 and 1850.
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Definitions of Astronomical Positions conjunction is an apparent meeting or passing of two or more celestial bodies. For example, the Moon is in conjunction with the Sun at the phase of new Moon, when it moves between the Earth and Sun and the side turned toward the Earth is dark. Inferior planets—those with orbits smaller than the Earth’s (namely, Venus and Mercury)—have two kinds of conjunctions with the Sun. An inferior conjunction occurs when the planet passes approximately between Earth and Sun; if it passes exactly between them, moving across the Sun’s face as seen from Earth, it is said to be in transit (see below). A superior conjunction occurs when Earth and the other planet are on opposite sides of the Sun, but all three bodies are again nearly in a straight line. Superior planets, those having orbits larger than the Earth’s can have only superior conjunctions with the Sun. When celestial bodies appear in opposite directions in the sky they are said to be in opposition. The Moon, when full, is said to be in opposition to the Sun (the Earth is then approximately between them). A superior planet (one with an orbit farther from the Sun than Earth’s) is in opposition when Earth passes between it and the Sun. The opposition of a planet is a good time to observe it, because the planet is then at its nearest point to the Earth and in its full phase. The inferior planets, Venus and Mercury, can never be in opposition to the Sun. When a celestial body as seen from the Earth makes a right angle with the direction of the Sun it is said to be in quadrature. The Moon at first or last quarter is said to be at east or west quadrature, respectively. A superior planet is at west quadrature when its position is 90° west of the Sun. The east–west coordinate by which the position of a celestial body is ordinarily measured is known as the right ascension. Right ascension in combination with declination defines the position of a celestial object. Declination is the angular distance of a body north or south of the celestial equator. North declination is considered positive and south, negative. Thus, +90° declination marks the north celestial pole, 0° the celestial equator, and −90° the south celestial pole. The symbol for right ascension is the Greek letter α (alpha) and for declination the lowercase Greek letter ∆ (delta). The angular distance in celestial longitude separating the Moon or a planet from the Sun is known as elongation. The greatest elongation possible for the two inferior planets is about 48° in the case of Venus and about 28° in that of Mercury. Elongation may also refer to the angular distance of any celestial body from another around which it revolves or from a particular point in the sky; e.g., the extreme east or west position of a star with reference to the north celestial pole. The point at which a planet is closest to the Sun is called the perihelion, and the most distant point in that planet’s orbit is the aphelion. The term helion
A
refers specifically to the Sun as the primary body about which the planet is orbiting. Occultation refers to the obscuring of the light of an astronomical body, most commonly a star, by another astronomical body, such as a planet or a satellite. Hence, a solar eclipse is the occultation of the Sun by the Moon. From occultations of stars by planets, asteroids, and satellites, astronomers are able to determine the precise sizes and shapes of the latter bodies in addition to the temperatures of planetary atmospheres. For example, astronomers unexpectedly discovered the rings of Uranus during a stellar occultation on 10 Mar 1977. A complete or partial obscuring of a celestial body by another is an eclipse; these occur when three celestial objects become aligned. The Sun is eclipsed when the Moon comes between it and the Earth; the Moon is eclipsed when it moves into the shadow of the Earth cast by the Sun. Eclipses of natural or artificial satellites of a planet occur as the satellites move into the planet’s shadow. When the apparent size of the eclipsed body is much smaller than that of the eclipsing body, the phenomenon is known as an occultation (see above). Examples are the disappearance of a star, nebula, or planet behind the Moon, or the vanishing of a natural satellite or space probe behind some body of the solar system. A transit (see above) occurs when, as viewed from the Earth, a relatively small body passes across the disk of a larger body, usually the Sun or a planet, eclipsing only a very small area: Mercury and Venus periodically transit the Sun, and a satellite may transit its planet. When an object orbiting the Earth is at the point in its orbit that is the greatest distance from the center of the Earth, this point is known as apogee; the term is also used to describe the point farthest from a planet or a satellite (as the Moon) reached by an object orbiting it. Perigee is the opposite of apogee. The difference in direction of a celestial object as seen by an observer from two widely separated points is termed parallax. The measurement of parallax is used directly to find the distance of the body from the Earth (geocentric parallax) and from the Sun (heliocentric parallax). The two positions of the observer and the position of the object form a triangle; if the base line between the two observing points is known and the direction of the object as seen from each has been measured, the apex angle (the parallax) and the distance of the object from the observer can be determined. An hour angle is the angle between an observer’s meridian (a great circle passing over his head and through the celestial poles) and the hour circle (any other great circle passing through the poles) on which some celestial body lies. This angle, when expressed in hours and minutes, is the time elapsed since the celestial body’s last transit of the observer’s meridian. The hour angle can also be expressed in degrees, 15° of arc being equal to one hour.
Constellations onstellations are certain groupings of stars that were imagined—at least by those who named them—to form conspicuous configurations of objects or creatures in the sky. Constellations are useful in tracking artificial satellites and in assisting astronomers and navigators to locate certain stars.
C
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
From the earliest times the star groups known as constellations, the smaller groups (parts of constellations) known as asterisms, and, also, individual stars have received names connoting some meteorological phenomena or symbolizing religious or mythological beliefs. At one time it was held that the constellation
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NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—CONSTELLATIONS
Constellations (continued) names and myths were of Greek origin; this view has now been disproved. It is now thought that the Greek constellation system and the cognate legends are primarily of Semitic or even pre-Semitic origin and that they came to the Greeks through the Phoenicians. The Alexandrian astronomer Ptolemy lists the names and orientation of the 48 constellations in his Almagest, and, with but few exceptions, they are idenNAME
GENITIVE
tical with those used at the present time. The majority of the remaining 40 constellations that are now accepted were added by European astronomers in the 17th and 18th centuries. In the 20th century the delineation of precise boundaries for all the 88 constellations was undertaken by a committee of the International Astronomical Union. By 1930 it was possible to assign any star to a constellation.
MEANING
Constellations described by Ptolemy: the zodiac Aries Taurus
Arietis Tauri
Ram Bull
Gemini
Geminorum
Twins
Cancer
Cancri
Crab
Leo Virgo Libra Scorpius
Leonis Virginis Librae Scorpii
Lion Virgin Balance Scorpion
Sagittarius
Sagittarii
Archer
Capricornus Aquarius Pisces
Capricorni Aquarii Piscium
Sea-goat Water-bearer Fishes
Other Ptolemaic constellations Andromedae Andromeda
Aquila Ara Argo Navis
Aquilae Arae Argus Navis
Andromeda (an Ethiopian princess of Greek legend, daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia) Eagle Altar the ship Argo
Auriga
Aurigae
Charioteer
Herdsman Greater Dog Smaller Dog Cassiopeia was a legendary queen of Ethiopia Centaur (possibly Centauri Centaurus represents Chiron) Cepheus (legendary Cephei Cepheus king of Ethiopia) Whale Ceti Cetus Corona Austrina Coronae Austrinae Southern Crown Northern Crown Corona Borealis Coronae Borealis Raven Corvi Corvus Cup Crateris Crater Swan Cygni Cygnus Boötes Canis Major Canis Minor Cassiopeia
Boötis Canis Majoris Canis Minoris Cassiopeiae
Delphinus
Delphini
Dolphin
Draco
Draconis
Dragon
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
NOTES
(First-magnitude stars are given in italics in this column) Aldebaran is the constellation’s brightest star. Taurus also contains the Pleiades star cluster and the Crab Nebula. The brightest stars in Gemini are Castor and Pollux. Cancer contains the well-known star cluster Praesepe. Regulus is the brightest star in Leo. Spica is the brightest star in Virgo. Antares is the brightest star of Scorpius, which also contains many star clusters. The center of the Milky Way Galaxy lies in Sagittarius, with the densest star clouds of the galaxy.
The constellation’s most notable feature is the great spiral galaxy Andromeda (also called M31).
The brightest star in Aquila is Altair. Argo Navis is now divided into smaller constellations that include Carina, Puppis, Pyxis, and Vela. The brightest star in Auriga is Capella. The constellation also contains open star clusters M36, M37, and M38. Arcturus is the brightest star in Boötes. Sirius is the brightest star in Canis Major. Procyon is the brightest star in Canis Minor. Tycho’s nova, one of the few recorded supernovae in the Galaxy, appeared in Cassiopeia in 1572. Alpha Centauri in Centaurus contains Proxima, the nearest star to the Sun. Delta Cephei was the prototype for cepheid variables (a class of variable stars). Mira Ceti was the first recognized variable star.
Cygnus contains the asterism (grouping of stars) known as the Northern Cross; the constellation’s brightest star is Deneb. Delphinus contains the asterism known as Job’s Coffin. Draco contains the star Thuban, which was the polestar in 3000 BC.
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Constellations (continued) NAME
GENITIVE
MEANING
Other Ptolemaic constellations (continued) Equuleus Equulei Little Horse Eridanus Eridani River Eridanus or river god Hercules Herculis Hercules (Greek hero) Hydra Hydrae Water Snake Lepus Leporis Hare Lupus Lupi Wolf Lyra Lyrae Lyre Ophiuchus
Ophiuchi
Serpent-bearer
Orion
Orionis
Hunter
Pegasus
Pegasi
Perseus
Persei
Piscis Austrinus
Piscis Austrini
Pegasus (winged horse) Perseus (legendary Greek hero) Southern Fish
Sagitta Serpens Triangulum
Sagittae Serpentis Trianguli
Arrow Serpent Triangle
Ursa Major
Ursae Majoris
Great Bear
Ursa Minor
Ursae Minoris
Lesser Bear
Southern constellations, added c. 1600 Bird of Paradise Apodis Apus Chameleon Chamaeleontis Chamaeleon Swordfish Doradus Dorado Grus Hydrus Indus Musca Pavo Phoenix
Gruis Hydri Indi Muscae Pavonis Phoenicis
Triangulum Australe Tucana
Trianguli Australis
Crane Water Snake Indian Fly Peacock Phoenix (mythical bird) Southern Triangle
Tucanae
Toucan
Volans
Volantis
Flying Fish
Constellations of Bartsch, 1624 Camelopardalis Camelopardalis Columbae Columba Monoceros
Monocerotis
Constellations of Hevelius, 1687 Canes Venatici Canum Venaticorum Lacertae Lacerta Leonis Minoris Leo Minor Lyncis Lynx Scuti Scutum Sextans Vulpecula
Sextantis Vulpeculae
Giraffe Dove
NOTES
Achernar is the brightest star in Eridanus. Hercules contains the great globular star cluster M13.
The brightest star in Lyra is Vega. In some 10,000 years, Vega will become the polestar. Lyra also contains the Ring Nebula (M57). When the Zodiac was conceived of, Ophiuchus was not in the Sun’s path, but the Sun does now pass through Ophiuchus each December. Rigel is the brightest star in Orion, followed closely by Betelgeuse; M42 (the Great Nebula) resides in Orion. The constellation contains stars of the Great Square of Pegasus. The brightest star in Piscis Austrinus is Fomalhaut. The constellation contains M33, a nearby spiral galaxy. The seven brightest stars of this constellation are the Big Dipper (also called the Plough). Ursa Minor contains Polaris (the north polestar).
The most notable object in Dorado is the Large Magellanic Cloud.
The most notable object in Tucana is the Small Magellanic Cloud.
The constellation was formed by Petrus Plancius in the early 1600s.
Unicorn Hunting Dogs Lizard Lesser Lion Lynx Shield Sextant Fox
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The constellation contains M51 (the Whirlpool Galaxy).
Scutum contains the Scutim star cloud in the Milky Way. Vulpecula contains M27 (the Dumbbell Nebula).
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Constellations (continued) NAME
GENITIVE
MEANING
NOTES
Ancient asterisms that are now separate constellations Carina Carinae Keel [of the legendary ship the Argo] Coma Comae Berenices Berenice’s Hair Berenices Crux Puppis Pyxis
Crucis Puppis Pyxidis
Vela
Velorum
The brightest star in Carina is Canopus. The constellation contains both a coma (star cluster) and the north galactic pole (a point that lies perpendicular to the Milky Way).
[Southern] Cross Stern [of the Argo] Compass [of the Argo] Sails [of the Argo]
Southern constellations of Lacaille, c. 1750 Pump Antliae Antlia [Sculptor’s] Chisel Caeli Caelum Drawing Compasses Circini Circinus [Chemical] Furnace Fornacis Fornax Clock Horologii Horologium Table [Mountain] Mensae Mensa Microscope Microscopii Microscopium Square Normae Norma Octans contains the south celestial pole. Octant Octantis Octans Painter’s [Easel] Pictoris Pictor Reticle Reticuli Reticulum Sculptor’s [WorkSculptor contains the south galactic pole. Sculptoris Sculptor shop] Telescope Telescopii Telescopium
Astrology: The Zodiac Signs of the zodiac are popularly used for divination as well as for designation of constellations. NAME
SYMBOL
Aries the Ram Taurus the Bull Gemini the Twins Cancer the Crab Leo the Lion Virgo the Virgin Libra the Balance Scorpius the Scorpion Sagittarius the Archer Capricorn the Goat Aquarius the Water Bearer Pisces the Fish
DATES
SEX/NATURE
TRIPLICITY
HOUSE
EXALTATION
21 Mar–19 Apr 20 Apr–20 May 21 May–21 Jun 22 Jun–22 Jul 23 Jul–22 Aug 23 Aug–22 Sep 23 Sep–23 Oct 24 Oct–21 Nov 22 Nov–21 Dec 22 Dec–19 Jan 20 Jan–18 Feb
masculine/moving feminine/fixed masculine/common feminine/moving masculine/fixed feminine/common masculine/moving feminine/fixed masculine/common feminine/moving masculine/fixed
fire earth air water fire earth air water fire earth air
Mars Venus Mercury Moon Sun Mercury Venus Mars Jupiter Saturn Saturn
Sun (19°) Moon (3°)
19 Feb–20 Mar feminine/common
water
Jupiter
Jupiter (15°) Mercury (15°) Saturn (21°) Mars (28°) Venus (27°)
Classification of Stars he spectral sequence O–M represents stars of essentially the same chemical composition but of different temperatures and atmospheric pressures. Stars belonging to other, more rare types of spectral classifications differ in chemical composition from O–M stars. Each spectral class is additionally subdivided into 10 spectral types. For example, spectral class A is subdivided into spectral types A0–A9 with 0 being the hottest and 9 the coolest. (Spectral class O is
T
unusual in that it is subdivided into O4–O9.) Between two stars of the same spectral type, the more luminous star will also be larger in diameter. Thus the Yerkes system of luminosity also tells something of a star’s radius, with Ia being the largest and V the smallest. Approximately 90% of all stars are main sequence, or type V, stars. Based upon these systems, the Sun would be a G2 V star (a yellow, relatively hot dwarf star).
SPECTRAL CLASS
COLOR
APPROXIMATE SURFACE TEMP (°C)
EXAMPLES
O B A F
blue blue-white white yellow-white
30,000 or greater 20,000 to 30,000 10,000 to 20,000 7,000 to 10,000
These stars are relatively rare Rigel, Alpha Crucis, Beta Crucis Sirius, Vega, Fomalhaut Canopus, Procyon
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—THE 20 BRIGHTEST STARS
133
Classification of Stars (continued) SPECTRAL CLASS
COLOR
APPROXIMATE SURFACE TEMP (°C)
EXAMPLES
G K M
yellow orange red
6,000 to 7,000 4,500 to 6,000 3,000 to 4,500
Sun Arcturus, Aldebaran Betelgeuse, Antares
LUMINOSITY CLASSES (BASED UPON THE YERKES SYSTEM)
Ia Ib II III IV V
most luminous supergiants luminous supergiants bright giants normal giants subgiants main sequence stars (dwarfs)
The 20 Brightest Stars in the Night Sky his table lists the stars in descending order from brightest to least bright, based on apparent visual magnitude. Formal names of stars, such as Alpha Carinae, refer to the constellation in which the star appears (Carina) and to which star appears the brightest in that constellation; the second highest would be designated Beta, etc. Some anomalies exist within the naming convention: Betelgeuse, for example, is the Alpha star of Orion, though Rigel appears brighter. On the scale of brightness, negative magnitudes are brightest, and one magnitude difference corresponds to a difference in brightness of 2.5 times; e.g., a star
T
STAR
APPARENT VISUAL MAGNITUDE
of magnitude −1 is 10 times brighter than one of magnitude +1.5. Apparent magnitude is a measure of how bright a star appears to a viewer on Earth. Absolute magnitude, another designation used by astronomers, represents the brightness one would perceive if all stars were located 10 parsecs (about 32.6 lightyears; one light-year equals about 9.46 × 1012 km) from Earth. The Sun, for purposes of comparison with the stars in the table, has an apparent magnitude of −26.8; it is a yellow dwarf star that is 8.3 light-minutes (one light-minute equals about 18 million km) from Earth.
DISTANCE FROM THE SOLAR SYSTEM (LIGHT-YEARS)
CONSTELLATION
Sirius (Alpha Canis −1.44 8.6 Canis Major Majoris, or Dog Star) Sirius is a blue-white dwarf with a white-dwarf companion; among the ancient Romans, the hottest part of the year was associated with the time in which the Dog Star rose just before dawn; this connection survives in the expression “dog days.” Canopus (Alpha Carinae) −0.73 (reported 312.0 (reported Carina values vary) values vary) A yellow-white supergiant, Canopus is sometimes used as a guide in the attitude control of spacecraft because of its angular distance from the Sun and the contrast of its brightness among nearby celestial objects. Arcturus (Alpha Boötis) −0.05 36.7 Boötes An orange-colored giant, Arcturus lies in an almost direct line with the tail of Ursa Major (the Great Bear), hence its name, derived from the Greek words for “bear guard.” Alpha Centauri 0.00 4.4 Centaurus (Rigel Kentaurus) Alpha Centauri is a triple star—a binary yellow dwarf circled by a red dwarf with a much smaller red dwarf; the faintest of Alpha Centauri’s three stars, Proxima, is the star closest to the Sun. Vega (Alpha Lyrae) +0.03 25.3 Lyra A blue dwarf, Vega will become the northern polestar by about AD 14,000 because of the precession of the equinoxes. Capella (Alpha Aurigae) +0.08 42.2 Auriga Capella is actually four stars, two yellow giants and two red-dwarf companion stars. Scientists are studying Capella to determine why it emits more X-rays than other stars of its type. Rigel (Beta Orionis)
+0.18 (reported 773.0 Orion values vary) Rigel is a blue-white supergiant with two smaller companion stars. The name Rigel derives from an Arabic term meaning “the left leg of the giant,” referring to the figure of Orion.
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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The 20 Brightest Stars in the Night Sky (continued)
STAR
APPARENT VISUAL MAGNITUDE
DISTANCE FROM THE SOLAR SYSTEM (LIGHT-YEARS)
CONSTELLATION
Procyon +0.40 11.4 Canis Minor (Alpha Canis Minoris) Procyon is a yellow-white subgiant with a faint white-dwarf companion. The name Procyon apparently derives from Greek words for “before the dog,” as in northern latitudes the star rises just before Sirius, the Dog Star. Achernar (Alpha Eridani) +0.45 144.0 Eridanus Achernar is a blue dwarf. The name Achernar probably derives from an Arabic phrase meaning “the end of the river,” in which the river referred to is the constellation. Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis)
+0.45 (reported 427.0 Orion values vary) A red supergiant, Betelgeuse has a diameter that varies between 430 and 625 times the diameter of the Sun over a period of 5.8 years. Beta Centauri (Hadar) +0.58 526.0 Centaurus Beta Centauri is a blue-white supergiant with two smaller companion stars; the constellation Centaurus most likely is meant to represent the centaur Chiron. In Greek mythology Chiron was renowned for his wisdom and knowledge of medicine. He renounced his immortality to escape a painful wound, and Zeus placed him in the Southern sky. Altair (Alpha Aquilae) +0.76 16.8 Aquila A blue dwarf, Altair spins nearly 760,000 km/h (470,000 mph), as compared with Earth, which spins some 1,600 km/h (1,000 mph). This rapid spinning flattens Altair from a spherical into an oblate shape. Aldebaran (Alpha Tauri) +0.87 65.1 Taurus A red giant, Aldebaran has a name derived from the Arabic for “the follower,” perhaps because it rises after the Pleiades cluster of stars. Spica (Alpha Virginis) +0.98 262.0 Virgo A binary blue-white dwarf with a nonvisible companion, Spica has a name derived from the Latin for “ear of wheat”; the star is said to represent the wheat being held by the Virgin/fertility goddess (for whom Virgo is named). Antares (Alpha Scorpii)
+1.06 (reported 604.0 Scorpio values vary) Antares is a red supergiant. The name Antares seems to come from a Greek phrase meaning “rival of Ares” (i.e., rival of the planet Mars) and was probably given because of the star’s color and brightness. Pollux (Beta Geminorum) +1.16 96.7 Gemini A red giant, Pollux is named for one of the twins of ancient Greek mythology (the other is Castor). Fomalhaut +1.17 25.1 (Alpha Piscis Austrini) The blue-white dwarf Formalhaut’s name is derived from the Arabic for “mouth of the fish.”
Piscis Austrinus
Becrux (Beta Crucis, or Mimosa)
Crux (The Southern Cross)
+1.25
352.0
A blue-white giant, Becrux forms the eastern tip of the Southern Cross. Deneb (Alpha Cygni) +1.25 3,230.0 Cygnus A blue-white supergiant, Deneb gained its name from an Arabic word meaning “tail,” as it is considered the tail of the swan Cygnus. Acrux (Alpha Crucis)
+1.40
321.0
Acrux is a double star that stands at the foot of the Southern Cross. *Data for apparent visual magnitudes taken from Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Crux (The Southern Cross)
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Astronomical Phenomena for 2008 Source: The Astronomical Almanac 2008. MONTH
January
February
March
DAY
HOUR (GMT)
1 3 5 5
18 00 06 10
7 8 11
02 12 01
13 15 19 20 22
01 20 09 00 05
22 24 25 28 30 30 31
14 15 06 07 05 21 04
1 1 4 4 6
13 18 06 12 18
7 9 11
04 10 02
14 14 16 18 20
01 04 08 16 15
21 21 21 24 26 28 29 29
00 04 12 10 03 01 02 03
3 3
01 11
5 5 5
14 19 22
6 7 8
20 17 20
9
03
10 14 15 19 19
22 11 03 08 15
HOUR (GMT)
EVENT
MONTH
DAY
Ceres statonary Earth at perihelion Venus 7° N of Moon Antares 0°.05 N of Moon1 Venus 7° N of Antares new moon Neptune 0°.04 N of Moon1 Uranus 3° S of Moon first quarter Moon at perigee Mars 1°.1 S of Moon1 Mercury greatest elongation E (19°) full moon Regulus 0°.7 N of Moon1 Saturn 3° N of Moon Mercury stationary last quarter Mars stationary Moon at apogee
March
20 21 23 26 27 29 30
06 19 10 20 10 22 00
30
17
2
09
2 4 5 6 7 12 12 15 15 16
09 10 01 04 19 06 19 14 18 07
18 20 23 23 27 28 28 29
14 10 10 17 05 14 20 19
1 3 5 6 6 9 10
23 13 12 03 22 15 06
10 12 12 13 14
14 04 19 00 04
20 20 20 24 26 26 27
02 14 23 11 21 22 03
28 29
03 09
3 3 7
13 19 15
8 9
02 04
9
09
Venus 0°.6 N of Jupiter Antares 0°.6 N of Moon1 Jupiter 4° N of Moon Venus 4° N of Moon Mercury in inferior conjunction new moon3 Uranus 3° S of Moon Neptune in conjunction with Sun Moon at perigee first quarter Mars 1°.6 S of Moon Mercury stationary Vesta in conjunction with Sun Regulus 0°.7 N of Moon1 full moon2 Saturn 3° N of Moon Saturn at opposition Mercury 1°.3 N of Venus Moon at apogee last quarter Antares 0°.6 N of Moon1 Jupiter 4° N of Moon Mercury greatest elongation W (27°) Mercury 0°.2 N of Moon1 Venus 0°.2 N of Moon1 Neptune 0°.2 N of Moon1 Venus 0°.6 S of Neptune new moon Uranus in conjunction with Sun Mercury 0°.9 S of Neptune Moon at perigee first quarter Mars 1°.7 S of Moon Regulus 0°.8 N of Moon1 Saturn 3° N of Moon
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
April
May
June
EVENT
equinox full moon Mercury 1°.0 S of Venus Moon at apogee Antares 0°.5 N of Moon1 last quarter Pallas in conjunction with Sun Jupiter 3° N of Moon Neptune 0°.002 S of Moon1 Pluto stationary Uranus 3° S of Moon Venus 5° S of Moon new moon Moon at perigee Mars 1°.2 S of Moon1 first quarter Regulus 0°.9 N of Moon Saturn 3° N of Moon Mercury in superior conjunction Juno stationary full moon Moon at apogee Antares 0°.3 N of Moon1 Jupiter 3° N of Moon last quarter Mars 5° S of Pollux Neptune 0°.3 S of Moon1 Uranus 3° S of Moon Saturn stationary new moon Moon at perigee Mercury 3° S of Moon Jupiter stationary Mercury 8° N of Aldebaran Mercury 0°.2 S of Moon1 first quarter Regulus 1°.2 N of Moon1 Saturn 3° N of Moon Mercury greatest elongation E (22°) full moon Moon at apogee Antares 0°.2 N of Moon1 Jupiter 2° N of Moon Mercury stationary Neptune stationary Neptune 0°.6 S of Moon1 last quarter Uranus 4° S of Moon Moon at perigee new moon Mercury in inferior conjunction Mars 1°.1 N of Moon1 Venus in superior conjunction Saturn 3° N of Moon
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Astronomical Phenomena for 2008 (continued) MONTH
June
July
August
September
DAY
HOUR (GMT)
EVENT
MONTH
first quarter Juno at opposition Moon at apogee Antares 0°.2 N of Moon1 full moon Mercury stationary Jupiter 2° N of Moon Pluto at opposition Solstice Neptune 0°.8 S of Moon1 Uranus 4° S of Moon last quarter Uranus stationary Ceres in conjunction with Sun
September
10 12 16 17 18 19 20 20 21 23
15 16 18 05 18 15 13 20 00 09
25 26 27 28
16 12 08 17
1 1 1
04 15 18
1 3 4 6 6 9 10 11 14 14 17 18 20
21 02 08 18 22 08 05 06 04 12 12 08 13
22 25 29
22 19 20
29 31
23 05
1 3 4 5 8 10 10
10 14 12 20 20 02 05
10 10 13 13 15 16 16 16 19 23 24 26 30
19 20 14 19 08 00 19 21 02 05 00 04 20
new moon3 Saturn 4° N of Moon Mars 4° N of Moon Venus 1°.1 N of Regulus first quarter Juno stationary Mercury 1°.1 N of Regulus Antares 0°.4 N of Moon1 Moon at apogee Jupiter 3° N of Moon Venus 0°.2 S of Saturn Neptune at opposition Mercury 0°.7 S of Venus Neptune 0°.8 S of Moon1 full moon2 Uranus 4° S of Moon Mercury 1°.2 S of Venus last quarter Moon at perigee new moon
1 1 2
21 23 08
Venus 5° N of Moon Mercury 3° N of Moon Mars 5° N of Moon
Mars 0°.7 N of Regulus Mercury 8° S of Moon Mercury greatest elongation W (22°) Moon at perigee new moon Earth at aphelion Mars 3° N of Moon Saturn 3° N of Moon Jupiter at opposition first quarter Mars 0°.7 S of Saturn Moon at apogee Antares 0°.3 N of Moon1 Jupiter 3° N of Moon full moon Neptune 0°.9 S of Moon1 Uranus 4° S of Moon last quarter Mercury in superior conjunction Moon at perigee Ceres 0°.9 N of Moon1
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
October
November
DAY
HOUR (GMT)
4
02
7
03
7 7 8 9 11
14 15 03 20 04
11 11 12 12 13
05 21 21 22 02
13 15 15 18 19 20 22 22 23 24 27 29
02 08 09 09 05 03 05 16 19 05 20 08
1 2 4
04 02 11
5 6
11 21
7 7 10
07 09 10
12 14 15 17 21 22
16 20 05 06 12 10
25 26 27 28 29 30 30 31
08 13 18 23 09 02 20 18
1 2 2 3 6 6
08 05 07 22 04 19
9 13 14
01 06 10
EVENT
Saturn in conjunction with Sun Antares 0°.3 N of Moon1 first quarter Moon at apogee Jupiter stationary Jupiter 3° N of Moon Mercury greatest elongation E (27°) Mercury 4° S of Moon Venus 0°.3 N of Mars Mercury 3° S of Mars Vesta stationary Neptune 0°.8 S of Moon1 Uranus at opposition Uranus 4° S of Moon full moon Venus 3° N of Spica Mercury 4° S of Mars Moon at perigee last quarter Equinox Mars 2° N of Spica Mercury stationary Saturn 5° N of Moon new moon Mars 5° N of Moon Venus 5° N of Moon Antares 0°.1 N of Moon1 Moon at apogee Mercury in inferior conjunction Jupiter 2° N of Moon first quarter Neptune 0°.9 S of Moon1 Uranus 4° S of Moon full moon Mercury stationary Moon at perigee last quarter Mercury greatest elongation W (18°) Saturn 5° N of Moon Venus 3° N of Antares Mercury 7° N of Moon new moon Pallas stationary Vesta at opposition Mercury 4° N of Spica Antares 0°.06 S of Moon1 Venus 3° N of Moon Moon at apogee Neptune stationary Jupiter 1°.9 N of Moon first quarter Neptune 1°.1 S of Moon1 Uranus 4° S of Moon full moon Moon at perigee
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—METEORS AND METEORITES
137
Astronomical Phenomena for 2008 (continued) MONTH
DAY
HOUR (GMT)
November 19 21 25
22 18 17
27 28 29
17 00 17
1 1 1 4
01 15 16 03
4 5 5
17 21 22
6 12 12
09 17 22
December
MONTH
last quarter Saturn 6° N of Moon Mercury in superior conjunction new moon Uranus stationary Moon at apogee
December 19 19 19 21 22
03 10 20 12 09
25
07
26 27
18 02
27 29
12 04
29
09
Venus 2° S of Jupiter Jupiter 1°.3 N of Moon Venus 0°.8 S of Moon1 Neptune 1°.4 S of Moon Pallas at opposition first quarter Mars in conjunction with Sun Uranus 4° S of Moon full moon Moon at perigee
DAY
HOUR (GMT)
EVENT
31
06
31 31
11 21
EVENT
Saturn 6° N of Moon last quarter Vesta stationary solstice Pluto in conjunction with Sun Antares 0°.09 S of Moon1 Moon at apogee Venus 1°.5 S of Neptune new moon Mercury 0°.7 S of Moon1 Jupiter 0°.06 N of Moon1 Mercury 1°.3 S of Jupiter Neptune 1°.7 S of Moon Venus 3° S of Moon
1
Occultation. 2Eclipse. 3Penumbral eclipse.
Morning and Evening Stars This table gives the morning and evening stars for autumn 2007 through 2008. The morning and evening stars are actually planets visible to the naked eye during the early morning and at evening twilight. PLANET
MORNING STAR
EVENING STAR
Mercury
November 2007; 13 Feb–8 Apr, 17 Jun–22 Jul, 14 Oct–10 Nov 2008
2–31 Jan, 24 Apr–29 May, 8 Aug– 30 Sep, 13–31 Dec 2008
Venus
October 2007–3 May 2008
16 Jul–31 Dec 2008
Mars
October–December 2007
1 Jan–16 Oct 2008
Jupiter
5 Jan–9 Jul 2008
October–4 Dec 2007; 9 Jul–31 Dec 2008
Saturn
October 2007–24 Feb 2008 22 Sep–31 Dec 2008
24 Feb–17 Aug 2008
Uranus
late March–September 2008
January–mid-February 2008 late December 2008
Neptune
early March–August 2008
early January 2008 mid-November–31 Dec 2008
Meteors, Meteorites, and Meteor Showers meteor (also called a shooting star or falling star) is a streak of light in the sky that results when a particle or small chunk of stony or metallic matter enters the Earth’s atmosphere and vaporizes. The term is sometimes applied to the falling object itself, but the latter is properly called a meteoroid. The vast majority of meteoroids burn up in the upper atmosphere, but occasionally one of relatively large mass survives its fiery plunge and reaches the surface as a solid body. Such an object is known as a meteorite. On any clear night in the countryside beyond the bright lights of cities, one can observe with the naked eye several meteors per hour as they streak through the sky. Quite often they vary in brightness along the path of their flight, appear to emit “sparks” or flares,
A
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
and sometimes leave a luminous train that lingers after their flight has ended. These meteors are the result of the high-velocity collision of meteoroids with the Earth’s atmosphere. Nearly all such interplanetary bodies are small fragments derived from comets or asteroids. The brightest meteor (possibly of cometary origin) for which historical documentation exists—called the Tunguska event—struck on 30 Jun 1908 in central Siberia and rivaled the Sun in brightness. The energy delivered to the atmosphere by this impact was roughly equivalent to that of a 10-megaton thermonuclear explosion and caused the destruction of forest over an area of about 2,000 sq km (772.2 sq mi). The geologic record of cratering attests to the impact of much more massive meteoroids. Fortunately, impacts
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NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—METEORS AND METEORITES
of this magnitude occur only once or twice every 100 million years. It is hypothesized that large impacts of this kind may have played a major role in determining the course of biological evolution by causing simultaneous mass extinctions of many species of organisms, possibly including the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago. If so, the replacement of reptiles by mammals as the dominant land animals, the eventual consequence of which was the rise of the human species, would be the result of a grand example of a phenomenon observable every clear night. The visibility of meteors is a consequence of the high velocity of meteoroids in interplanetary space. Before entering the region of the Earth’s gravitational influence, their velocities range from a few kilometers per second up to as high as 72 km (44.7 mi) per second. As they approach the Earth, the Earth’s gravitational field accelerates them to even higher velocities. This great release of energy destroys meteoroids of small mass—particularly those with relatively high ve-
locities—very quickly. Numerous meteors end their observed flight at altitudes above 80 km (49.7 mi), and penetration to as low as 50 km (31 mi) is unusual. “Showers” of meteors have been known since ancient times. On rare occasions, these showers are very dramatic, with thousands of meteors falling per hour. More often, the background hourly rate of roughly 5 observed meteors increases up to about 10–50. Some of the best-known meteor showers are listed below, with their average date of maximum strength and associated comet, if known: Quadrantid (3 January); Lyrid (22 April; 1861 I [Thatcher]); Eta Aquarid (3 May; Halley); S. Delta Aquarid (29 July); Capricornid (30 July); Perseid (12 August; Swift-Tuttle); Andromedid (3 October; Biela); Draconid (9 October; Giacobini-Zinner); Orionid (21 October; Halley); Taurid (8 November; Encke); Leonid (17 November; Temple-Tuttle); Germinid (14 December; 3200 Phaeton [this body exhibits no cometary activity and may be of asteroidal rather than cometary origin]).
Auroras uroras are luminous phenomena of the upper atmosphere that occur primarily in high latitudes of both hemispheres; auroras in the Northern Hemisphere are called aurora borealis, or northern lights; in the Southern Hemisphere, aurora australis, or southern lights. Auroras are caused by the interaction of energetic particles (electrons and protons) from outside the atmosphere with atoms of the upper atmosphere. Such interaction occurs in zones surrounding the Earth’s magnetic poles. During periods of intense solar activity, auroras occasionally extend to the middle latitudes; for example, the aurora borealis has been seen at latitudes as far south as 40° in the US. Auroras take many forms, including luminous curtains, arcs, bands, and patches. The uniform arc is the most stable form of aurora, sometimes persisting for hours without noticeable variation. In a great display, however, other forms appear, commonly under-
A
going dramatic variation. The lower edges of the arcs and folds are usually much more sharply defined than the upper parts. Greenish rays may cover most of the sky poleward of the magnetic zenith, ending in an arc that is usually folded and sometimes edged with a lower red border that may ripple like drapery. The display ends with a poleward retreat of the auroral forms, the rays gradually degenerating into diffuse areas of white light. The mechanisms that produce auroral displays are not completely understood. It is known, however, that charged particles arriving in the vicinity of Earth as part of the solar wind are captured by the Earth’s magnetic field and conducted downward toward the magnetic poles. They collide with oxygen and nitrogen atoms, knocking away electrons to leave ions in excited states. These ions emit radiation at various wavelengths, creating the characteristic colors (red or greenish blue) of the aurora.
Eclipses n eclipse is a complete or partial obscuring of one celestial body by another; this event occurs when three celestial objects become aligned. The Sun is eclipsed when the Moon comes between it and the Earth. (Hence, a solar eclipse can only occur during a new moon.) The Moon’s shadow sweeps across the Earth, darkening the sky, while the Moon blocks out some portion of the view of the Sun. During a total eclipse of the Sun, the Moon’s elliptical orbit brings the satellite closer to Earth and causes it to appear larger than the Sun. When the Moon’s orbit places it at its farthest distance from Earth, the Moon appears smaller than the Sun and the eclipse will appear as a ring or “annulus” of bright sunlight around the Moon.
A
Solar eclipses
Lunar eclipses
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the shadow of the Earth cast by the Sun. A lunar eclipse can only occur during a full moon. Lunar eclipses can be penumbral, partial, or total. The first type is of interest to astronomers but is difficult to detect because the Moon’s dimming is so slight. With the next two types either a portion of the Moon or the entire Moon passes through Earth’s umbral shadow. It is safe to watch a lunar eclipse, but solar eclipses must be viewed via a projection onto another surface or through protective filters designed specially for eclipses. The eclipses for 2008 are given in the table below.
DATE
TYPE
VISIBLE IN
7 February
annular eclipse
1 August
total eclipse
21 February
total eclipse
16 August
partial eclipse
Antarctica, eastern Australia, and the southwestern Pacific the Arctic, northern Europe, and northern Asia eastern Asia, Africa, Europe, the Arctic, and the Americas western Asia, eastern Europe, Africa, and Antarctica
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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139
Characteristics of Celestial Bodies Mean orbital velocity indicates the average speed with which a planet orbits the Sun unless otherwise specified. Inclination of orbit to ecliptic indicates the angle of tilt between a planet’s orbit and the plane of the Earth’s orbit (essentially the plane of the solar system). Orbital period indicates the planet’s sidereal year (in Earth days except where noted). Rotation period indicates the planet’s sidereal day (in Earth days except where noted). Inclination of equator to orbit indicates the angle of tilt between a planet’s orbit and its equator. Gravitational acceleration is a measure of the body’s gravitational pull on other objects. Escape velocity is the speed needed at the surface to escape the planet’s gravitational pull. Sun diameter (at equator): 1,390,000 km (863,705 mi) mass (in 1020 kg): 19.8 billion density (mass/volume, in kg/m3): 1,408 mean orbital velocity: the Sun orbits the Milky Way’s center at around 220 km/sec (136.7 mi/sec) orbital period: the Sun takes approximately 250 million Earth years to complete its orbit around the Milky Way’s center rotation period: 25–36 Earth days gravitational acceleration: 275 m/sec2 (902.2 ft/sec2) escape velocity: 618.02 km/sec (384.01 mi/sec) mean temperature at visible surface: 5,527 °C (9,980 °F) probes and space missions: US—Pioneer 5-9, launched 1959–87; Skylab, launched 1973; Ulysses, 1990; Genesis, 2001; Japan—Yohkoh, 1991; US/European Space Agency (ESA)—SOHO, 1995. Mercury average distance from Sun: 58 million km (36 million mi) diameter (at equator): 4,879 km (3,032 mi) mass (in 1020 kg): 3,300 density (mass/volume, in kg/m3): 5,427 eccentricity of orbit*: 0.205 mean orbital velocity: 47.9 km/sec (29.7 mi/sec) inclination of orbit to ecliptic: 7.0° orbital period: 88 Earth days rotation period: 58.6 Earth days inclination of equator to orbit: probably 0° gravitational acceleration: 3.7 m/sec2 (12.1 ft/sec2) escape velocity: 4.3 km/sec (2.7 mi/sec) mean temperature at surface†: 167 °C (333 °F) satellites: none known probes and space missions: US—Mariner 10, 1973; Messenger, 2004. Venus average distance from Sun: 108.2 million km (67.2 million mi) diameter (at equator): 12,104 km (7,521 mi) mass (in 1020 kg): 48,700 density (mass/volume, in kg/m3): 5,243 eccentricity of orbit*: 0.007 mean orbital velocity: 35.0 km/sec (21.8 mi/sec) inclination of orbit to ecliptic: 3.4° orbital period: 224.7 Earth days rotation period: 243.0 Earth days (retrograde) inclination of equator to orbit: 177.4° gravitational acceleration: 8.9 m/sec2 (29.1 ft/sec2) escape velocity: 10.4 km/sec (6.4 mi/sec) mean temperature at surface†: 464 °C (867 °F) satellites: none known probes and space missions: USSR—Venera 1–16, 1961–83; Vega 1 and 2, 1984; US—Mariner 2, 5, and 10, 1962, 1967, and 1973; Pioneer Venus 1 and 2, 1978; Galileo, 1989; Magellan, 1989.
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Earth average distance from Sun: 149.6 million km (93 million mi) diameter (at equator): 12,756 km (7,926 mi) mass (in 1020 kg): 59,700 density (mass/volume, in kg/m3): 5,515 eccentricity of orbit*: 0.017 mean orbital velocity: 29.8 km/sec (18.5 mi/sec) inclination of orbit to ecliptic: 0.00° orbital period: 365.25 days rotation period: 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds of mean solar time inclination of equator to orbit: 23.5° gravitational acceleration: 9.8 m/sec2 (32.1 ft/sec2) escape velocity: 11.2 km/sec (7.0 mi/sec) mean temperature at surface†: 15 °C (59 °F) satellites: 1 known—the Moon. Moon (of Earth) average distance from Earth: 384,401 km (238,855.7 mi) diameter (at equator): 3,475 km (2,159 mi) mass (in 1020 kg): 730 density (mass/volume, in kg/m3): 3,340 eccentricity of orbit*: orbital eccentricity of Moon around Earth is 0.055 mean orbital velocity: the Moon orbits Earth at 1.0 km/sec (0.64 mi/sec) inclination of orbit to ecliptic: 5.1° orbital period: the Moon revolves around the Earth in 27.32 Earth days rotation period: the Moon rotates on its axis every 27.32 Earth days (synchronous with orbital period) inclination of equator to orbit: 6.7° gravitational acceleration: 1.6 m/sec2 (5.3 ft/sec2) escape velocity: 2.4 km/sec (1.5 mi/sec) mean temperature at surface†: daytime: 107 °C (224.6 °F); nighttime: −153 °C (−243.4 °F) probes and space missions: USSR, US, ESA, Japan— collectively about 70 missions since 1959, including 9 manned missions by the US. On 20 Jul 1969 humans first set foot on the Moon, from NASA’s Apollo 11. Mars average distance from Sun: 227.9 million km (141.6 million mi) diameter (at equator): 6,794 km (4,222 mi) mass (in 1020 kg): 6,420 density (mass/volume, in kg/m3): 3,933 eccentricity of orbit*: 0.094 mean orbital velocity: 24.1 km/sec (15 mi/sec) inclination of orbit to ecliptic: 1.9° orbital period: 687 Earth days (1.88 Earth years) rotation period: 24.6 Earth hours inclination of equator to orbit: 24.9° gravitational acceleration: 3.7 m/sec2 (12.1 ft/sec2) escape velocity: 5.0 km/sec (3.1 mi/sec) mean temperature at surface†: −65 °C (−85 °F) satellites: 2 known—Phobos and Deimos
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probes and space missions: US—Mariner 4, 6, 7, and 9, 1964–71; Viking 1 and 2, 1975; Mars Global Surveyor, 1996; Mars Pathfinder, 1996; 2001 Mars Odyssey, 2001; Mars Exploration Rovers, 2003; USSR—Mars 2–7, 1971–73; Phobos 1 and 2, 1988; ESA—Mars Express, 2003. asteroids (several hundred thousand small rocky bodies, about 1,000 km [610 mi] or less in diameter, that orbit the Sun primarily between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter) distance from Sun: between approximately 300 million km (190 million mi) and 600 million km (380 million mi), with notable outlyers estimated mass: 2.3 x 1021 kg probes and space missions: US—Galileo, 1989; Ulysses, 1990; NEAR Shoemaker, 1996; Deep Space 1, 1998; Stardust, 1999; US/ESA/Italy— Cassini-Huygens, 1997; ESA—Rosetta, 2004; Japan—Hayabusa, 2003. Jupiter average distance from Sun: 778.6 million km (483.8 million mi) diameter (at equator): 142,984 km (88,846 mi) mass (in 1020 kg): 18,990,000 density (mass/volume, in kg/m3): 1,326 eccentricity of orbit*: 0.049 mean orbital velocity: 13.1 km/sec (8.1 mi/sec) inclination of orbit to ecliptic: 1.3° orbital period: 11.86 Earth years rotation period: 9.9 Earth hours inclination of equator to orbit: 3.1° gravitational acceleration: 23.1 m/sec2 (75.9 ft/sec2) escape velocity: 59.5 km/sec (37.0 mi/sec) mean temperature at surface†: −110 °C (−166 °F) satellites: more than 60 moons—including Callisto, Ganymede, Europa, and Io—plus rings probes and space missions: US—Pioneer 10 and 11, 1972–73; Voyager 1 and 2, 1977; Galileo, 1989; Ulysses, 1990; US/ESA/Italy—Cassini-Huygens, 1997. Saturn average distance from Sun: 1.433 billion km (890.8 million mi) diameter (at equator): 120,536 km (74,897 mi) mass (in 1020 kg): 5,680,000 density (mass/volume, in kg/m3): 687 eccentricity of orbit*: 0.057 mean orbital velocity: 9.7 km/sec (6 mi/sec) inclination of orbit to ecliptic: 2.5° orbital period: 29.43 Earth years rotation period: 10.7 Earth hours inclination of equator to orbit: 26.7° gravitational acceleration: 9.0 m/sec2 (29.4 ft/sec2) escape velocity: 35.5 km/sec (22.1 mi/sec) mean temperature at surface†: −140 °C (−220 °F) satellites: more than 45 moons—including Titan—plus rings probes and space missions: US—Pioneer 11, 1973; Voyager 1 and 2, 1977; US/ESA/Italy—Cassini/Huygens, 1997. Uranus average distance from Sun: 2.872 billion km (1.784 billion miles)
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diameter (at equator): 51,118 km (31,763 mi) mass (in 1020 kg): 868,000 density (mass/volume, in kg/m3): 1,270 eccentricity of orbit*: 0.046 mean orbital velocity: 6.8 km/sec (4.2 mi/sec) inclination of orbit to ecliptic: 0.8° orbital period: 84.01 Earth years rotation period: 17.2 Earth hours (retrograde) inclination of equator to orbit: 97.8° gravitational acceleration: 8.7 m/sec2 (28.5 ft/sec2) escape velocity: 21.3 km/sec ( 13.2 mi/sec) mean temperature at surface†: −195 °C (−320 °F) satellites: at least 27 moons, plus rings probes and space missions: US—Voyager 2, 1977. Neptune average distance from Sun: 4.495 billion km (2.793 billion mi) diameter (at equator): 49,528 km (30,775 mi) mass (in 1020 kg): 1,020,000 density (mass/volume, in kg/m3): 1,638 eccentricity of orbit*: 0.009 mean orbital velocity: 5.4 km/sec (3.4 mi/sec) inclination of orbit to ecliptic: 1.8° orbital period: 164.79 Earth years rotation period: 16.1 Earth hours inclination of equator to orbit: 28.3° gravitational acceleration: 11.0 m/sec 2 (36.0 ft/sec2) escape velocity: 23.5 km/sec (14.6 mi/sec) mean temperature at surface†: −200 °C (−330 °F) satellites: at least 13 moons, plus rings probes and space missions: US—Voyager 2, 1977. Pluto average distance from Sun: 5.910 billion km (3.67 billion mi); Pluto lies within the Kuiper belt and can be considered its largest known member. diameter (at equator): 2,344 km (1,485 mi) mass (in 1020 kg): 125 density (mass/volume, in kg/m3): about 2,000 eccentricity of orbit*: 0.249 mean orbital velocity: 4.72 km/sec (2.93 mi/sec) inclination of orbit to ecliptic: 17.2° orbital period: 248 Earth years rotation period: 6.4 Earth days (retrograde) inclination of equator to orbit: 122.5° gravitational acceleration: 0.6 m/sec2 (1.9 ft/sec2) escape velocity: 1.1 km/sec (0.7 mi/sec) mean temperature at surface†: −225 °C (−375 °F) satellites: 1 known—Charon. Charon (moon of Pluto) average distance from Pluto: 19,600 km (12,178.8 mi) diameter (at equator): 1,250 km (777 mi) mass (in 1020 kg): 19 density (mass/volume, in kg/m3): about 1,700 eccentricity of orbit*: 0 mean orbital velocity: Charon orbits Pluto at 0.23 km/sec (0.142 mi/sec) inclination of orbit to Pluto’s equator: close to 0° orbital period: 6.3873 Earth days rotation period: 6.3873 Earth days gravitational acceleration: 0.21 m/sec2 (0.69 ft/sec2) escape velocity: 0.58 km/sec (0.36 mi/sec) mean temperature at surface†: as low as −240 °C (−400 °F).
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—SOLAR SYSTEM SUPERLATIVES Comet 1P Halley distance from Sun at closest point of orbit is 87.8 million km (54 million mi). Farthest distance from Sun is 5.2 billion km (3.2 billion mi). diameter (at equator): 16 x 8 x 8 km (9.9 x 4.9 x 4.9 mi) density (mass/volume, in kg/m3): possibly as low as 200 eccentricity of orbit*: 0.967 inclination of orbit to ecliptic: 18° orbital period: 76.1 to 79.3 Earth years. The next appearance will be 2061. The comet’s orbit is retrograde. rotation period: 52 Earth hours probes and space missions: ESA—Giotto, 1985; USSR—Vega 1 and 2, 1985; Japan—Sakigake and Suisei, 1985. Comet 2P Encke distance from Sun at closest point of orbit is 50 million km (31 million mi). Farthest distance from Sun is 658 million km (408 million mi). eccentricity of orbit*: 0.847 orbital period: 3.3 Earth years (shortest known for a comet); next closest pass of Sun is on 19 Apr 2007. Comet 9P Tempel 1 distance from Sun at closest point of orbit is 225 million km (140 million mi). Farthest distance from Sun is 708 million km (440 million mi). eccentricity of orbit*: 0.52 orbital period: 5.52 Earth years; next closest pass of Sun is in January 2011. rotation period: 41 Earth hours probes and space missions: US—Deep Impact, 2005 Comet 81P Wild 2 distance from Sun at closest point of orbit is 236.8 million km (147.1 million mi). Farthest distance from Sun is 10 billion km (6.2 billion mi). eccentricity of orbit*: 0.54 orbital period: 6.39 Earth years; next closest pass of Sun is in February 2010. probes and space missions: US—Stardust, 1999.
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Comet Hale-Bopp distance from Sun at closest point of orbit is 136 million km (84.5 million mi). Farthest distance from Sun is 74.7 billion km (46.4 billion mi). eccentricity of orbit*: 0.995 orbital period: 4,000 Earth years; last closest pass of Sun was on 31 Mar 1997. Comet Hyakutake distance from Sun at closest point of orbit is 34 million km (21 million mi). Farthest distance from Sun is 344 billion km (213 billion mi). eccentricity of orbit*: 0.9998 orbital period: about 40,000 Earth years; last closest pass of Sun was on 1 May 1996. Kuiper belt (a huge flat ring located beyond Neptune containing residual icy material from the formation of the outer planets) average distance from Sun (main concentration): 4.5–7.5 billion km (2.8–4.7 billion mi) mass: Scientists estimate there may be as many as 100,000 icy, cometlike bodies of a size greater than 100 km in the Kuiper belt; the belt is estimated to have a mass of 6,000 x 1020 kg. Oort cloud (an immense, roughly spherical cloud of icy, cometlike bodies inferred to orbit Sun at distances roughly 1,000 times that of the orbit of Pluto) average distance from Sun: 3–7 trillion km (1.9–4.3 trillion mi) mass: some trillions of the cloud’s icy objects have an estimated total mass of at least 600,000 x 1020 kg (10 times the mass of Earth).
*Eccentricity of orbit measures circularity or elongation of an orbit; 0 indicates circular orbits, and closer to 1 more elliptical ones. †For planets with no surface, temperature given is at a level in the atmosphere equal to 1 bar of pressure.
Solar System Superlatives Largest planet in solar system: Jupiter (142,984 km [88,846 mi] diameter); all of the other planets in the solar system could fit inside Jupiter. Largest moon in the solar system: Jupiter’s moon Ganymede (5,270 km [3,275 mi]). Smallest planet in solar system: Mercury (4,879 km [3,032 mi] diameter). Smallest moons in the solar system: Saturn and Jupiter both have numerous satellites that are smaller than 10 km (6 mi) in diameter. Planet closest to the Sun: Mercury (average distance from the Sun 58 million km [36 million mi]). Planet farthest from the Sun: Neptune (average distance from the Sun 4.50 billion km [2.80 billion mi]); Pluto, demoted to the status of dwarf planet in 2006, was the farthest planet from the Sun for all but 20 years of its 248-year orbital period.
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Planet with the most eccentric (least circular) orbit: Mercury (eccentricity of 0.206). Moon with the most eccentric orbit: Neptune’s moon Nereid (eccentricity of 0.75). Planet with the least eccentric orbit: Venus (eccentricity of 0.007). Moon with the least eccentric orbit: Saturn’s moon Tethys (eccentricity of 0.00000). Planet most tilted on its axis: Uranus (axial tilt of 98° from its orbital plane). Planet with the most moons: Jupiter (more than 60). Planets with the fewest moons: Mercury and Venus (no moons). Planet with the longest day: Venus (1 day on Venus equals 243 Earth days). Planet with the shortest day: Jupiter (1 day on Jupiter equals 9.9 hours).
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Planet with the longest year: Neptune (1 year on Neptune equals 165 Earth years). Planet with the shortest year: Mercury (1 year on Mercury equals 88 Earth days). Fastest orbiting planet in the solar system: Mercury (47.9 km per second [29.7 mi per second] average orbital speed). Slowest orbiting planet in the solar system: Neptune (5.48 km per second [3.40 mi per second] average orbital speed). Hottest planet in solar system: Venus (464 °C [867 °F] average temperature); although Mercury is closer to the Sun, Venus is hotter because Mercury has no atmosphere, whereas the atmosphere of Venus traps heat via a strong greenhouse effect. Coldest planet in the solar system: Neptune (–220 °C [–364 °F] average temperature). Brightest visible star in the night sky: Sirius (–1.46 apparent visual magnitude). Brightest planet in the night sky: Venus (apparent visual magnitude –4.5 to –3.77). Densest planet: Earth (density of 5,515 kg/m3).
Least dense planet: Saturn (density of 687 kg/m3); Saturn in theory would float in water. Planet with strongest gravity: Jupiter (more than twice the gravitational force of Earth at an altitude at which 1 bar of atmospheric pressure is exerted). Planet with weakest gravity: Mars (slightly more than 1 ⁄3 the gravitational force of Earth). Planet with the largest mountain: Mars (Olympus Mons, an extinct volcano, stands some 21 km [13 mi] above the planet’s mean radius and 540 km [335 mi] across). Planet with deepest valley: Mars (Valles Marineris, a system of canyons, is some 4,000 km [2,500 mi] long and from about 2 to 9 km [1 to 5.6 mi] deep). Largest known impact crater: Valhalla, a crater on Jupiter’s moon Callisto, has a bright central area that is about 600 km (370 mi) across with sets of concentric ridges extending about 1,500 km (900 mi) from the center. For contrast, the largest crater on Earth believed to be of impact origin is the Vredefort ring structure in South Africa, which is about 300 km (190 mi) across.
The Sun he Sun is the star around which the Earth and the other components of the solar system revolve. It is the dominant body of the system, constituting more than 99% of the system’s entire mass. The Sun is the source of an enormous amount of energy, a portion of which provides the Earth with the light and heat necessary to support life. The geologic record of the Earth and Moon reveals that the Sun was formed about 4.5 billion years ago. The energy radiated by the Sun is produced during the conversion of hydrogen atoms to helium. The Sun is at least 90% hydrogen by number of atoms, so the fuel is readily available. The Sun is classified as a G2 V star, where G2 stands for the second hottest stars of the yellow G class—of surface temperature about 5,500 °C (10,000 °F)—and V represents a main sequence, or dwarf, star, the typical star for this temperature class (see also “Classification of Stars”). The Sun exists in the outer part of the Milky Way Galaxy and was formed from material that had been processed inside other stars and supernovas. The mass of the Sun is 743 times the total mass of all the planets in the solar system and 330,000 times that of the Earth. All the interesting planetary and interplanetary gravitational phenomena are negligible effects in comparison to the gravitational force exerted by the Sun. Under the force of gravity, the great mass of the Sun presses inward, and to keep the star from collapsing, the central pressure outward must be great enough to support its weight. The Sun’s core, which occupies approximately 25% of the star’s radius, has a density about 100 times that of water (roughly 6 times that at the center of the Earth), but the temperature at the core is at least 15 million °C (27 million °F), so the central pressure is at least 10,000 times greater than that at the center of the
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Earth. In this environment atoms are completely stripped of their electrons, and at this high temperature the bare nuclei collide to produce the nuclear reactions that are responsible for generating the energy vital to life on Earth. The temperature of the Sun’s surface is so high that no solid or liquid can exist; the constituent materials are predominantly gaseous atoms, with a very small number of molecules. As a result, there is no fixed surface. The surface viewed from Earth, the photosphere, is approximately 400 km (250 mi) thick and is the layer from which most of the radiation reaches us; the radiation from below the photosphere is absorbed and reradiated, while the emission from overlying layers drops sharply, by about a factor of six every 200 km (124 mi). While the temperature of the Sun drops from 15 million °C (27 million °F) at the core to around 5,500 °C (10,000 °F) at the photosphere, a surprising reversal occurs above that point; the temperature begins to rise in the chromosphere, a layer several thousand kilometers thick. Temperatures there range from 4,200 °C (7,600 °F) to 100,000 °C (180,000 °F). Above the chromosphere is a comparatively dim, extended halo called the corona, which has a temperature of 1 million °C (1.8 million °F) and reaches far past the planets. Beyond a distance of around 3.5 million km (2.2 million mi) from the Sun, the corona flows outward at a speed (near the Earth) of 400 km/sec (250 mi/sec); this flow of charged particles is called the solar wind. The Sun is a very stable source of energy. Superposed on this stability, however, is an interesting 11year cycle of magnetic activity manifested by regions of transient strong magnetic fields called sunspots. The largest sunspots can be seen on the solar surface even without a telescope.
Mercury ercury is the planet closest to the Sun, revolving around it at an average distance of 58 million km (36 million mi). In Sumerian times, some 5,000 years ago, it was already known
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in the night sky. In classical Greece the planet was called Apollo when it appeared as a morning star and Hermes, for the Greek equivalent of the Roman god Mercury, when it appeared as an evening star.
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—EARTH Mercury’s orbit lies inside the orbit of the Earth and is more elliptical than those of most of the other planets. At its closest approach (perihelion), Mercury is only 46 million km (28.5 million mi) from the Sun, while its greatest distance (aphelion) approaches 70 million km (43.5 million mi). Mercury orbits the Sun in 88 Earth days at an average speed of 48 km per second (29.8 mi per sec), allowing it to overtake and pass Earth every 116 Earth days (synodic period). Because of its proximity to the Sun, the surface of Mercury can become extremely hot. High temperatures at “noon” may reach 400 °C (755 °F) while the “predawn” lowest temperature is −173 °C (−280 °F). Mercury’s equator is almost exactly in its orbital plane (its spin-axis inclination is nearly zero), and thus Mercury does not have seasons as does the Earth. Because of its elliptical orbit and a peculiarity of its rotational period (see below), however, certain longitudes experience cyclical variations in temperatures on a “yearly” as well as on a “diurnal” basis. Mercury is about 4,879 km (3,032 mi) in diameter, the smallest of the planets. Mercury is only a bit larger than the Moon. Its mass, as measured by the gravitational perturbation of the path of the Mariner 10 spacecraft during close flybys in 1974 and 1975, is about one-eighteenth of the mass of the Earth. Escape velocity, the speed needed to escape from a planet’s
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gravitational field, is about 4.3 km per second (2.7 mi per second)—compared with 11.2 km per sec (7 mi per sec) for the Earth. The mean density of Mercury, calculated from its mass and radius, is about 5.43 grams per cubic cm, nearly the same as that of the Earth (5.52 grams per cubic cm). Photographs relayed by the Mariner 10 spacecraft showed that Mercury spins on its axis (rotates) once every 58.646 Earth days, exactly two-thirds of the orbital period of 87.9694 Earth days. This observation confirmed that Mercury is in a 3:2 spin-orbit tidal resonance—i.e., that tides raised on Mercury by the Sun have forced it into a condition that causes it to rotate three times on its axis in the same time it takes to revolve around the Sun twice. The 3:2 spin-orbit coupling combines with Mercury’s eccentric orbit to create very unusual temperature effects. Although Mercury rotates on its axis once every 58.646 Earth days, one rotation does not bring the Sun back to the same part of the sky, because during that time Mercury has moved partway around the Sun. A solar day on Mercury (for example, from one sunrise to another, or one noon to another) is 176 Earth days (exactly two Mercurian years). Mercury’s low escape velocity and high surface temperatures do not permit it to retain a significant atmosphere.
Venus enus is the second planet from the Sun and the planet whose orbit is closest to that of the Earth. When visible, Venus is the brightest planet in the sky. Viewed through a telescope, it presents a brilliant, yellow-white, essentially featureless face to the observer. The obscured appearance results because the surface of the planet is hidden from sight by a continuous and permanent cover of clouds. Venus’s orbit is the most nearly circular of that of any planet, with a deviation from perfect circularity of only about 1 part in 150. The period of the orbit—that is, the length of the Venusian year—is 224.7 Earth days. The rotation of Venus is unusual in both its direction and speed. Most of the planets in the solar system rotate in a counterclockwise direction when viewed from above their north poles; Venus, however, rotates in the opposite, or retrograde, direction. Were it not for the planet’s clouds, an observer on Venus’s surface would see the Sun rise in the west and set in the east. Venus spins on its axis very slowly, taking 243 Earth days to complete one rotation. Venus’s spin and orbital periods are nearly synchronized with the Earth’s orbit such that Venus presents almost the same face toward the Earth when the two planets are at their closest approach.
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Venus is nearly the Earth’s twin in terms of size and mass. Venus’s equatorial diameter is about 95% of the Earth’s diameter, while its mass is 81.5% that of the Earth. The similarities to the Earth in size and mass also produce a similarity in density; Venus’s density is 5.24 grams per cubic cm, as compared with 5.52 for the Earth. In terms of its shape, Venus is more nearly a perfect sphere than are most planets. A planet’s rotation generally causes a slight flattening at the poles and bulging at the equator, but Venus’s very slow rotation rate allows it to maintain its highly spherical shape. Venus has the most massive atmosphere of all the terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars). Its atmosphere is composed of 96.5% carbon dioxide and 3.5% nitrogen. The atmospheric pressure at the planet’s surface varies with the surface elevation but averages about 90 bars, or 90 times the atmospheric pressure at the Earth’s surface. This is the same pressure found at a depth of about one kilometer in the Earth’s oceans. Temperatures range between a minimum temperature of –45 °C (–49 °F) and a maximum temperature of 500 °C (932 °F); the average temperature is 464 °C (867 °F).
Earth he Earth is the third planet in distance outward from the Sun. It is the only planetary body in the solar system that has conditions suitable for life, at least as known to modern science. The average distance of the Earth from the Sun— 149.6 million km (93 million mi)—is designated as the distance of the unit of measurement known as the AU (astronomical unit). The Earth orbits the Sun at a speed of 29.8 km (18.5 mi) per second, making one complete revolution in 365.25 days. As it
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revolves around the Sun, the Earth spins on its axis and rotates completely once every 23 hr 56 min 4 sec. The Earth has a single natural satellite, the Moon. The fifth largest planet of the solar system, the Earth has a total surface area of roughly 509.6 million sq km (197 million sq mi), of which about 29%, or 148 million square km (57 million square mi), is land. Oceans and smaller seas cover the balance of the surface. The Earth is the only planet known to have liquid water. Together with ice, the liquid water con-
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stitutes the hydrosphere. Seawater makes up more than 98% of the total mass of the hydrosphere and covers about 71% of the Earth’s surface. Significantly, seawater constituted the environment of the earliest terrestrial life forms. The Earth’s atmosphere consists of a mixture of gases, chiefly nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (21%). Argon makes up much of the remainder of the gaseous envelope, with trace amounts of water vapor, carbon dioxide, and various other gases also present. The Earth’s structure consists of an inner core of nearly solid iron, surrounded by successive layers of molten metals and solid rock, and a thin layer at the surface comprising the continental crust.
The Earth is surrounded by a magnetosphere, a region dominated by the Earth’s magnetic field and extending upward from about 140 km (90 mi) in the upper atmosphere. In the magnetosphere, the magnetic field of the Earth traps rapidly moving charged particles (mainly electrons and protons), the majority of which flow from the Sun (as solar wind). If it were not for this shielding effect, such particles would bombard the terrestrial surface and destroy life. High concentrations of the trapped particles make up two doughnut-shaped zones called the Van Allen radiation belts. These belts play a key role in certain geophysical phenomena, such as auroras.
The Moon he Moon is the sole natural satellite of the Earth. It revolves around the planet from west to east at a mean distance of about 384,400 km (238,900 mi). The Moon is less than one-third the size of the Earth, having a diameter of only about 3,475 km (2,159 mi) at its equator. The Moon shines by reflecting sunlight, but its albedo—i.e., the fraction of light received that is reflected—is only 0.073. The Moon rotates about its own axis in about 27.32 days, which is virtually identical to the time it takes to complete its orbit around the Earth. As a result, the Moon always presents nearly the same face to the Earth. The rate of actual rotation is uniform, but the arc through which the Moon moves from day to day varies somewhat, causing the lunar globe (as seen by a terrestrial observer) to oscillate slightly over a period nearly equal to that of revolution. The surface of the Moon has been a subject of continuous telescopic study from the time of Galileo’s first observation in 1609. The Italian Jesuit astronomer Giovanni B. Riccioli designated the dark areas on the Moon as seas (maria), with such fanciful names as Mare Imbrium (“Sea of Showers”) and Mare Nectaris (“Sea of Nectar”). This nomenclature continues to be used even though it is now known that the Moon is completely devoid of surface water. During the centuries that followed the publication of these early studies, more detailed maps and, eventually, photographs were produced. A Soviet space probe photographed the side of the Moon facing away from the Earth in 1959. By the late 1960s the US Lunar Orbiter missions had yielded close-up photographs of the
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entire lunar surface. On 20 Jul 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin (“Buzz”) Aldrin set foot on the Moon. The most striking formations on the Moon are its craters. These features, which measure up to about 200 km (320 mi) or more in diameter, are scattered over the surface in great profusion and often overlap one another. Meteorites hitting the lunar surface at high velocity produced most of the large craters. Many of the smaller ones—those measuring less than 1 km (0.6 mi) across—appear to have been formed by explosive volcanic activity, however. The Moon’s maria have relatively few craters. These lava outpourings spread over vast areas after most of the craters had already been formed. Various theories for the Moon’s origin have been proposed. At the end of the 19th century, the English astronomer Sir George H. Darwin advanced a hypothesis stating that the Moon had been originally part of the Earth but had broken away as a result of tidal gravitational action and receded from the planet. This was proved unlikely in the 1930s. A theory that arose during the 1950s postulated that the Moon had formed elsewhere in the solar system and was then later captured by the Earth. This idea was also proved to be physically implausible and was dismissed. Today, most investigators favor an explanation known as the giantimpact hypothesis, which postulates that a Mars-sized body struck the proto-Earth early in the history of the solar system. As a result, a cloud of fragments from both bodies was ejected into orbit around the Earth, and this later accreted into the Moon.
Moon Phases, 2007–2008 s the Moon orbits the Earth, more or less of the half of the Moon illuminated by the Sun is visible on Earth. During the lunar month the Moon’s appearance changes from dark (the new moon) to being illuminated more and more on the right side (waxing crescent, first quarter, and waxing gibbous) to the full disc being illuminated (the full moon). The phases of the Moon are completed by the Moon being illuminated less and less on the left side (waning gibbous, last quarter, and waning crescent) and end with another new moon. The cycle of the Moon takes place over a period of around 29 days; the time from new moon to new moon is referred to as a lunation.
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The phases of the Moon are caused by the positions of the Sun in relationship to the Moon. Thus, when the Sun and Moon are close in the sky a dark new moon is the result (the Sun is lighting the half of the Moon not visible to Earth). When the Sun and Moon are at opposition (in opposite parts of the sky) the full moon occurs (the Sun illuminates fully the half of the Moon seen on Earth). When the Sun and Moon are at about a 90-degree angle, one sees either a first quarter or last quarter moon. The dates for the new moon, first quarter, full moon, and last quarter for June 2007–December 2008 are given in the table below.
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—MARS
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Moon Phases, 2007–2008 (continued) June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008
NEW MOON
FIRST QUARTER
FULL MOON
LAST QUARTER
15 14 12 11 11 9 9 8 7 7 6 5 3 3 1 (30 August) (29 September (28 October) (27 November) 27
22 22 20 19 19 17 17 15 14 14 12 12 10 10 8 7 7 6 5
1/30 30 28 26 26 24 24 22 21 21 20 20 18 18 16 15 14 13 12
8 7 5 4 3 1 1/31 30 29 29 28 28 26 25 23 22 21 19 19
Moon’s Apogee and Perigee, 2008 he distance between the centers of mass of the Earth and the Moon varies rather widely due to the combined gravity of the Earth, the Sun, and the planets. For example, during the period 1969–2000, apogee (when the Moon is at the greatest distance from Earth) varied from 404,063 to
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406,711 km (251,073 to 252,719 mi), while perigee (when the Moon is closest to Earth) varied from 356,517 to 370,354 km (221,529 to 230,127 mi). Tidal interactions have braked the Moon's spin so that presently the same side always faces the Earth. Dates are Universal Time/GMT.
Moon at apogee
Moon at perigee
DATE
OCCURS
DATE
OCCURS
3 January 31 January 28 February 26 March 23 April 20 May 16 June 14 July 10 August 7 September 5 October 2 November 29 November 26 December
between last quarter and new moon between last quarter and new moon between full moon and last quarter between full moon and last quarter between full moon and last quarter at full moon between first quarter and full moon between first quarter and full moon between first quarter and full moon at first quarter between new moon and first quarter between new moon and first quarter between new moon and first quarter between last quarter and new moon
19 January 14 February 10 March 7 April 6 May 3 June 1 July 29 July 26 August 20 September 17 October 14 November 12 December
between first quarter and full moon at first quarter between new moon and first quarter between new moon and first quarter between new moon and first quarter at new moon between last quarter and new moon between last quarter and new moon between last quarter and new moon between full moon and last quarter between full moon and last quarter between full moon and last quarter at full moon
Mars ars is the fourth planet in order of distance from the Sun and the seventh in order of diminishing size and mass. It orbits the Sun once in 687 Earth days and spins on its axis once every 24 hr 37 min. Owing to its blood-red color, Mars has often been associated with warfare and slaughter. It is named for the Roman god of war; as far back as 3,000 years ago, Babylonian astronomer-astrologers called the planet Nergal for their god of death and pestilence. The Greeks called it Ares for their god of battle; the planet’s two satellites, Phobos (Fear) and Deimos (Terror), were later named for the two sons of Ares and Aphrodite. Mars moves around the Sun at a mean distance of approximately 1.52 times that of the Earth from
M
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the Sun. Because the orbit of Mars is relatively elongated, the distance between Mars and the Sun varies from 206.6 to 249.2 million km (128.4 to 154.8 million mi). Mars completes a single orbit in roughly the time in which the Earth completes two. At its closest approach, Mars is less than 56 million km (34.8 million mi) from the Earth, but it recedes to almost 400 million km (248.5 million mi). Mars is a small planet. Its equatorial radius is about half that of Earth, and its mass is only one-tenth the terrestrial value. The axis of rotation is inclined to the orbital plane at an angle of 24.9°, and, as for the Earth, the tilt gives rise to the seasons on Mars. The Martian year consists of 668.6 Martian solar days (called sols). The orientation and eccentricity of the orbit (eccen-
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NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—MARS
tricity denotes how much the orbit deviates from a perfect circle, the more elongated the more eccentric) leads to seasons that are quite uneven in length. The Martian atmosphere is composed mainly of carbon dioxide. It is very thin (less than 1% of the Earth’s atmospheric pressure). Evidence suggests that the atmosphere was much denser in the remote past and that water was once much more abundant at the surface. Only small amounts of water are found in the lower atmosphere today, occasionally forming thin ice clouds at high altitudes and, in several localities, morning ice fogs. Mars’s polar caps consist of frozen carbon dioxide and water ice. Intriguing spacecraft observations confirm that water ice also is present under large areas of the Martian surface and hint that liquid water may have flowed in geologically recent times. The characteristic temperature in the lower atmosphere is about −70 °C (−100 °F). Unlike
that of Earth, the total mass (and pressure) of the atmosphere experiences large seasonal variations, as carbon dioxide “snows out” at the winter pole. The surface of Mars shows some of the most dramatic variation in the solar system: the massive extinct volcano Olympus Mons stands some 21 km (13 mi) above the planet’s mean radius and is 540 km (335 mi) across, and Valles Marineris, a system of canyons, is some 4,000 km (2,500 mi) long and from about 2 to 9 km (1 to 5.6 mi) deep. The two satellites of Mars—Phobos and Deimos— were discovered in 1877 by Asaph Hall of the United States Naval Observatory. Little was known about these bodies until observations were made by NASA’s orbiting Mariner 9 spacecraft nearly a century later. The moons of Mars cannot be seen from all locations on the planet because of their small size, proximity to the planet, and near-equatorial orbits.
Small Celestial Bodies mall bodies are defined as all the natural objects in the solar system other than the Sun and the major planets and their satellites. The solar system is populated by vast numbers of these small bodies, which can be grouped as asteroids, comets, and meteoroids (at times, however, the distinctions between these groupings can be somewhat blurred). Small bodies in stable orbits are found in several regions of the solar system. Most asteroids reside in a belt between Mars and Jupiter at approximately 300–600 million km (190–380 million mi). Others, called Trojan asteroids, are found at gravitationally stable points near the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The trans-Neptunian objects (considered comets) are located outside the orbit of Neptune, from around 4.5–7.5 billion km (2.8–4.7 billion mi) in the area known as the Kuiper belt. A spherical cloud known as the Oort cloud also contains comets at a distance of some 3–15 trillion km (1.8–9 trillion mi). Other small bodies travel in unstable paths which cross planetary orbits. These include: all observed comets; near-Earth asteroids, whose orbits either cross or closely approach Earth’s orbit; and other planet-crossing objects (a mixture of both asteroids and icy cometlike bodies). All objects on planet-crossing orbits will eventually collide with the Sun or a planet or be permanently ejected from the solar system, although some of these objects do survive for long periods of time due to stabilizing orbital resonances. Comets originate, and most are still located, in
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the Kuiper belt and Oort cloud. Even though comets are brief visitors to the inner solar system, their population is constantly replenished through perturbations of the comets in these areas. There are several characteristics that traditionally have distinguished asteroids, comets, and meteoroids. These are based upon origin, orbital, and physical differences. An object is classified as a comet when it displays a coma or tail (or any evidence of gas or dust coming from it). In addition, the icy objects found in the Kuiper belt (and the Oort cloud, though none of these are observable) are also considered to be comets. They do not display cometary activity because of their great distance from the Sun. Nevertheless, they are believed to be made up of the same volatile material—primarily water and carbon dioxide—as the nuclei of observed comets, and it is the presence of these volatiles on the surface that is responsible for cometary activity. Finally, objects on parabolic or hyperbolic (nonreturning) orbits are generally considered to be comets. Meteoroids are defined as any small object in space, especially one less than a few tens of meters in size. When a meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere, the heat of friction creates a glowing trail of hot gases called a meteor. Should any part of a meteoroid reach the ground without being completely vaporized, that object is termed a meteorite. The term asteroid is traditionally reserved for the larger rocky bodies in solar orbit, which range up to nearly 1,000 km (600 mi) in size.
Asteroids and the Asteroid Belt steroids are any of a host of small rocky bodies, about 1,000 km (600 mi) or less in diameter, that orbit the Sun. About 95% of the known asteroids move in orbits between those of Mars and Jupiter in an area known as the asteroid belt. The orbits of the asteroids, however, are not uniformly distributed within the asteroid belt, but
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exhibit “gaps.” Known as Kirkwood gaps, these asteroid-less areas are maintained by the gravitational force exerted by Jupiter upon asteroids in certain orbits. The vast majority of asteroids have orbital periods between three years and six years—i.e., between one-fourth and one-half of Jupiter’s orbital
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—JUPITER period. These asteroids are said to be main-belt asteroids. Within the main belt are asteroids that share certain traits. Known as families, about 40% of all known asteroids belong to such groupings. Families are usually assigned the name of the lowest numbered (first discovered) asteroid in the family. The three largest families (Eos, Koronis, and Themis) have been determined to be compositionally homogeneous; each is thought to comprise fragments from a larger parent body that broke apart in a collision. Besides the few asteroids in highly unusual orbits, there are a number of groups that fall outside the main belt. Those that have orbital periods greater than one-half that of Jupiter are called outer-belt asteroids. There are four such groups: the Cybeles, Hildas, Thule, and Trojan groups. There is only one known group of inner-belt asteroids—namely, the Hungarias. The Hungaria asteroids have orbital periods that are less than one-
147
fourth that of Jupiter. Finally, asteroids that pass inside the orbit of Mars are said to be near-Earth asteroids. There are two groups of near-Earth asteroids that deeply cross the Earth’s orbit on an almost continuous basis. The first of these to be discovered were the Apollo asteroids. The other group of Earth-crossing asteroids is named Atens. A third group, the Amors, comprises part-time Earth crossers. Asteroids are thought to be made of the same rocky (stony, metallic, and carbon-rich) material that formed the planets. Scientists believe that at the time the planets were forming the gravitational influence of what became Jupiter kept the asteroids from aggregating into a single planet. Since that time they have been evolving through ongoing collisions so that most of the present-day asteroids are remnants or fragments of larger bodies. As of 2007 astronomers had detected and numbered more than 90,000 asteroids.
Jupiter upiter is the most massive of the planets and is fifth in distance from the Sun. When ancient astronomers named the planet Jupiter for the ruler of the gods in the Greco-Roman pantheon, they had no idea of the planet's true dimensions, but the name is appropriate, for Jupiter is larger than all the other planets combined. It has a narrow ring system and at least 63 known satellites, 3 larger than the Earth's Moon. Jupiter also has an internal heat source— i.e., it emits more energy than it receives from the Sun. This giant has the strongest magnetic field of any planet, with a magnetosphere so large that, if it could be seen from Earth, its apparent diameter would exceed that of the Moon. Jupiter's system is the source of intense bursts of radio noise, at some frequencies occasionally radiating more energy than the Sun. Of special interest concerning Jupiter's physical properties is the low mean density of 1.33 grams per cubic cm—in contrast with Earth's 5.52 grams/cm3—coupled with the large dimensions and mass and the short rotational period. The low density and large mass indicate that Jupiter's composition and structure are quite unlike those of the Earth and the other inner planets, a deduction that is supported by detailed investigations of the giant planet's atmosphere and interior. Jupiter has no solid surface; the transition from the atmosphere to its highly compressed core occurs gradually at great depths. The close-up views of Jupiter from the Voyager spacecraft revealed a variety of cloud forms, with a predominance of elliptical features reminiscent of cyclonic and anticyclonic storm systems on the Earth. All these systems are in motion, appearing
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and disappearing on time scales dependent on their sizes and locations. Also observed to vary are the pastel shades of various colors present in the cloud layers—from the tawny yellow that seems to characterize the main layer, through browns and blue-grays, to the well-known salmoncolored Great Red Spot, Jupiter's largest, most prominent, and longest-lived feature. Because Jupiter has no solid surface, it has no topographic features, and latitudinal currents dominate the planet's large-scale circulation. The lack of a solid surface with physical boundaries and regions with different heat capacities makes the persistence of these currents and their associated cloud patterns all the more remarkable. The Great Red Spot, for example, moves in longitude with respect to Jupiter's rotation, but it does not move in latitude. The Voyager 1 spacecraft verified the existence of a ring system surrounding Jupiter when it crossed the planet's equatorial plane. Subsequently, images from the Galileo spacecraft revealed that the ring system consists principally of four concentric components whose boundaries are associated with the orbits of Jupiter's four innermost moons. The ring system is comprised of large numbers of micrometer-sized particles that produce strong forward scattering of incident sunlight. The presence of such small particles requires a source, and the association of the ring boundaries with the four moons makes the source clear. The particles are generated by impacts on these moons (and on still smaller bodies within the main part of the ring) by micrometeoroids, cometary debris, and possibly volcanically produced material from Jupiter's moon Io.
With the exception of snakes and bees, scorpions cause more deaths than any other nonparasitic group of animals. It is thought that more than 5,000 people die each year from scorpion stings. A long curved tail with a venomous stinger and grasping, fingerlike first appendages are typical scorpion features.
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Jovian Moons he satellites orbiting Jupiter are numerous; there are at least 63 Jovian moons and likely additional ones to be discovered. The first objects in the solar system discovered by means of a telescope (by Galileo in 1610) were the four brightest moons of Jupiter. Now known as the Galilean satellites, they are (in order of increasing distance from Jupiter) Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. Each is a unique world in its own right. Callisto and Ganymede, for example, are as large or larger than the planet Mercury, but, while Callisto’s icy surface is ancient and heavily cratered from impacts, Ganymede’s appears to have been extensively modified by internal activity. Europa may still be geologically active and may harbor an ocean of liquid water, and possibly even life, beneath its frozen surface. Io is the most volcanically active body in the solar system; its surface is a vividly colored landcape of erupting vents, pools and solidified flows of lava, and sulfurous deposits. Data for the first 16 known Jovian moons (discovered 1610–1979) are summarized below. The orbits of the inner eight satellites have low inclinations (they are not tilted relative to the
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NAME (DESIGNATION)
Metis (JXVI) Adrastea (JXV) 1
Amalthea (JV) Thebe (JXIV) Io (JI)1 1
Europa (JII)
1
Ganymede (JIII) Callisto (JIV)1 Leda (JXIII) Himalia (JVI) Lysithea (JX) Elara (JVII) Ananke (JXII) Carme (JXI) Pasiphae (JVIII) Sinope (JIX)
MEAN DISTANCE FROM JUPITER
DIAMETER
128,000 km (79,500 mi) 129,000 km (80,000 mi) 181,000 km (112,500 mi) 222,000 km (138,000 mi) 422,000 km (262,000 mi) 671,000 km (417,000 mi) 1,070,000 km (665,000 mi) 1,883,000 km (1,170,000 mi) 11,127,000 km (6,914,000 mi) 11,480,000 km (7,133,000 mi) 11,686,000 km (7,261,300 mi) 11,737,000 km (7,293,000 mi) 21,269,000 km (13,216,000 mi) 23,350,000 km (14,509,000 mi) 23,500,000 km (14,602,000 mi) 23,700,000 km (14,726,500 mi)
40 km (25 mi) 20 km (12 mi) 189 km (117 mi) 100 km (62 mi) 3,630 km (2,256 mi) 3,130 km (1,945 mi) 5,268 km (3,273 mi) 4,806 km (2,986 mi) 10 km (6 mi) 170 km (106 mi) 24 km (15 mi) 80 km (50 mi) 20 km (12.5 mi) 30 km (18.6 mi) 36 km (22.3 mi) 28 km (17.3 mi)
1
planet’s equator) and low eccentricities (their orbits are relatively circular). The orbits of the outer eight have much higher inclinations and eccentricities, and four of them are retrograde (they are opposite to Jupiter’s spin and orbital motion around the Sun). The innermost four satellites are thought to be intimately associated with Jupiter’s ring and are the sources of the fine particles within the ring itself. Beginning in 1999 some 47 tiny moons (including one seen in 1975 and then lost) were discovered photographically in observations from Earth. All have high orbital eccentricities and inclinations and large orbital radii; nearly all of the orbits are retrograde. Rough size estimates based on their brightness place them between 2 and 8 km (1.2 and 5 mi) in diameter. They were assigned provisional numerical designations on discovery; many also have received official names. In the table, “sync” denotes that the orbital period and rotational period are the same, or synchronous; hence, the moon always keeps the same face toward Jupiter. “R” following the orbital period indicates a retrograde orbit. Unspecified quantities are unknown.
MASS (1020 KG)
ORBITAL PERIOD (EARTH DAYS)
ROTATIONAL PERIOD (EARTH DAYS)
0.001
0.295
sync
0.0002
0.298
sync
0.075
0.498
sync
0.008
0.675
sync
893.2
1.769
sync
480.0
3.551
sync
1,482.0
7.155
sync
1,076.0
16.689
sync
0.00006
234
0.095
251
0.4
0.0008
258
0.5
0.008
256
0.5
0.0004
634 R
0.4
0.001
729 R
0.4
0.003
735 R
0.0008
758 R
0.5
Densities are known for these moons. They are: Amalthea (0.86 grams/cm3), Io (3.53 grams/cm3), Europa (3.01 grams/cm3), Ganymede (1.94 grams/cm3), Callisto (1.83 grams/cm3).
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NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—SATURNIAN MOONS
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Jovian Ring upiter’s complex ring was discovered and first studied by the twin Voyager spacecraft during their flybys of the giant planet in 1979. It is now known to consist of four main components: an outer gossamer ring, whose outer radius coincides with the orbital radius of the Jovian moon Thebe (222,000 km; 138,000 mi); an inner gossamer ring bounded on its outer edge by the orbit of Amalthea (181,000 km; 112,500 mi); the main ring, extending inward some
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6,000 km (3,700 mi) from the orbits of Adrastea (129,000 km; 80,000 mi) and Metis (128,000 km; 79,500 mi); and a halo of particles with a thickness of 25,000 km (15,500 mi) that extends from the main ring inward to a radius of about 95,000 km (59,000 mi). For comparison, Jupiter’s visible surface lies at a radius of about 71,500 km (44,400 mi) from its center. The four moons involved with the ring are believed to supply the fine particles that compose it.
Saturn aturn is the sixth planet in order of distance from the Sun and the second largest of the planets in mass and size. Its dimensions are almost equal to those of Jupiter, while its mass is about a third as large; it has the lowest mean density of any object in the solar system. Both Saturn and Jupiter resemble stellar bodies in that the light gas hydrogen dominates their bulk chemical composition. Saturn’s atmosphere is 91% hydrogen by mass and is thus the most hydrogenrich atmosphere in the solar system. Saturn’s structure and evolutionary history, however, differ significantly from those of its larger counterpart. Like the other giant planets—Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune—Saturn has extensive satellite and ring systems, which may provide clues to its origin and evolution. The planet has at least 56 moons, including the second largest in the solar system. Saturn’s dense and extended rings, which lie in its equatorial plane, are the most impressive in the solar system. Saturn has no single rotation period. Cloud motions in its massive upper atmosphere can be used
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to trace out a variety of rotation periods, with periods as short as about 10 hours 10 minutes near the equator and increasing with some oscillation to about 30 minutes longer at latitudes higher than 40°. The rotation period of Saturn’s deep interior can be determined from the rotation period of the magnetic field, which is presumed to be rooted in an outer core of hydrogen compressed to a metallic state. The “surface” of Saturn that is seen through telescopes and in spacecraft images is actually a complex layer of clouds. The atmosphere of Saturn shows many smallerscale time-variable features similar to those found in Jupiter, such as red, brown, and white spots, bands, eddies, and vortices. The atmosphere generally has a much blander appearance than Jupiter’s, however, and is less active on a small scale. A spectacular exception occurred during September–November 1990, when a large white spot appeared near the equator, expanded to a size exceeding 20,000 km (12,400 mi), and eventually spread around the equator before fading.
Saturnian Moons t least 56 natural satellites are known to circle the planet Saturn. Data for the first 18 Saturnian moons (discovered 1655–1990) are summarized below. As with the other giant planets, those satellites closest to Saturn are mostly regular, meaning that their orbits are fairly circular and not greatly inclined (tilted) with respect to the planet’s equator. All of the satellites in the table except distant Phoebe are regular. Titan is Saturn’s largest moon and the only satellite in the solar system known to have clouds and a dense atmosphere (composed mostly of nitrogen and methane). The moon is also enveloped in a reddish haze, which is thought to be composed of complex organic compounds that are produced by the action of sunlight on its clouds and atmosphere. That organic molecules may have been settling out of the haze onto Titan’s surface for much of its history has encouraged some scientists to speculate on the possibility that life may have evolved there. Observations by the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft showed Titan to have a varied surface sculpted by rains of hydro-
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NAME (DESIGNATION)
Pan (SXVIII) Atlas (SXV)
MEAN DISTANCE FROM SATURN
DIAMETER
133,580 km (83,000 mi) 137,670 km (85,540 mi)
20 km (12 mi) 28 km (17 mi)
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
carbon compounds, flowing liquids, wind, impacts, and possibly volcanic and tectonic activity. Saturn’s second largest moon is Rhea, followed by Iapetus and Dione. An unusual Saturnian satellite is Hyperion. Owing to its highly irregular shape and eccentric orbit, it does not rotate stably about a fixed axis. Unlike any other known object in the solar system, Hyperion rotates chaotically, alternating unpredictably between periods of tumbling and seemingly regular rotation. Between 2000 and 2005 about 30 additional tiny moons occupying various (mostly distant) orbits were discovered. Like the numerous outer moons of Jupiter, nearly all of the recent finds around Saturn belong to the irregular class, meaning that their orbits are highly inclined and elliptical. More than half of them, plus Phoebe, are in retrograde orbits (they move opposite to Saturn’s spin and orbital motion around the Sun). In the table, “sync” denotes that the orbital period and rotational period are the same, or synchronous. Unspecified quantities are unknown.
MASS (1020 KG)
DENSITY (GRAMS/CM3)
ORBITAL PERIOD (EARTH DAYS)
0.00003
0.63
0.5750
0.0001
0.63
0.6019
ROTATIONAL PERIOD (EARTH DAYS)
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NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—SATURNIAN MOONS
Saturnian Moons (continued) NAME (DESIGNATION)
MEAN DISTANCE FROM SATURN
DIAMETER
Prometheus (SXVI) 139,350 km (86,590 mi) Pandora (SXVII) 141,700 km (88,050 mi) Epimetheus (SXI) 151,420 km (94,090 mi) Janus (SX) 151,470 km (94,120 mi) Mimas (SI) 185,520 km (115,280 mi) Enceladus (SII) 238,020 km (147,900 mi) Tethys (SIII) 294,660 km (183,090 mi) Telesto (SXIII)* 294,660 km (183,090 mi) Calypso (SXIV)* 294,660 km (183,090 mi) Dione (SIV) 377,400 km (234,510 mi) Helene (SXII)† 377,400 km (234,510 mi) Rhea (SV) 527,040 km (327,490 mi) Titan (SVI) 1,221,830 km (759,210 mi) Hyperion (SVII) 1,481,100 km (920,310 mi) Iapetus (SVIII) 3,561,300 km (2,212,890 mi) Phoebe (SIX) 12,952,000 km (8,048,000 mi)
92 km (57 mi) 92 km (57 mi) 114 km (71 mi) 178 km (111 mi) 392 km (244 mi) 520 km (323 mi) 1,060 km (659 mi) 30 km (19 mi) 26 km (16 mi) 1,120 km (696 mi) 32 km (20 mi) 1,530 km (951 mi) 5,150 km (3,200 mi) 286 km (178 mi) 1,460 km (907 mi) 220 km (137 mi)
MASS (1020 KG)
DENSITY (GRAMS/CM3)
ORBITAL PERIOD (EARTH DAYS)
ROTATIONAL PERIOD (EARTH DAYS)
0.0033
0.63
0.6130
0.002
0.63
0.6285
0.0054
0.60
0.6942
sync
0.0192
0.65
0.6945
sync
0.375
1.14
0.94
sync
0.7
1.0
1.37
sync
6.27
1.0
1.88
sync
0.00007
1.0
1.88
0.00004
1.0
1.88
11
1.5
2.73
0.0003
1.5
2.73
23.1
1.24
4.51
1,350
1.881
15.94
sync
0.2
1.50
21.27
chaotic
16
1.02
79.33
sync
0.004
1.3
550.5 (retrograde)
0.4
sync
sync
*Telesto and Calypso occupy the same orbit as Tethys but about 60° ahead and behind, respectively. †Helene occupies the same orbit as Dione but about 60° behind.
Saturnian Rings aturn’s rings rank among the most spectacular phenomena in the solar system. They have intrigued astronomers ever since they were discovered telescopically by Galileo in 1610, and their mysteries have only deepened since they were photographed and studied by Voyagers 1 and 2 in the early 1980s. The particles that make up the rings are composed primarily of water ice and range from dust specks to car- and house-sized chunks. The rings exhibit a great amount of structure on many scales, from the broad A, B, and C rings visible from Earth down to myriad narrow component ringlets. Odd structures resembling spokes, braids, and spiral waves are
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RING (OR DIVISION)
D ring (Guerin division) C ring (Maxwell division) B ring (Cassini division, Huygens gap) A ring
also present. Some of this detail is explained by gravitational interaction with a number of Saturn’s 56 moons (the orbits of well more than a dozen known moons, from Pan to Dione and Helene, lie within the rings), but much of it remains unaccounted for. Numerous divisions or gaps are seen in the major ring regions. A few of the more prominent ones are named for famous astronomers who were associated with studies of Saturn. The major rings and gaps, listed outward from Saturn, are given below. For comparison, Saturn’s visible surface lies at a radius of about 60,300 km (37,500 mi).
RADIUS OF RING’S INNER EDGE
WIDTH
66,900 km (41,600 mi)
7,500 km (4,700 mi)
74,500 km (46,300 mi)
17,500 km (10,900 mi)
also called Crepe ring
92,000 km (57,200 mi)
25,500 km (15,800 mi)
122,200 km (75,900 mi)
14,600 km (9,100 mi)
brightest ring Cassini division is the largest ring gap the outermost ring visible from Earth
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
COMMENTS
faint, visible only in reflected light
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—URANIAN MOONS AND RINGS
151
Saturnian Rings (continued) RING (OR DIVISION)
RADIUS OF RING’S INNER EDGE
WIDTH
(Encke division) F ring G ring E ring
140,200 km (87,100 mi) 30–500 km (20–300 mi) 165,800 km (103,000 mi) 8,000 km (5,000 mi) 180,000 km (111,800 mi) 300,000 km (186,400 mi)
COMMENTS
located within the A ring, near its outer edge faint, narrowest major ring faint faint
Uranus ranus is the seventhth planet in order of distance from the Sun and the first found with the aid of a telescope. Its low density and large size place it among the four giant planets, all of which are composed primarily of hydrogen, helium, water, and other volatile compounds and which thus are without solid surfaces. Absorption of red light by methane gas gives the planet a blue-green color. The planet has at least 27 satellites, ranging up to 789 km (490 mi) in radius, and 10 narrow rings. Uranus spins on its side; its rotation axis is tipped at an angle of 98° relative to its orbit axis. The 98° tilt is thought to have arisen during the final stages of planetary accretion when bodies comparable in size to the present planets collided in a series of violent events that knocked Uranus onto its side. Although Uranus is nearly featureless, extreme contrast enhancement of images taken by the Voyager spacecraft reveals faint bands oriented parallel to circles of constant latitude. Apparently the rotation of the planet and not the distribution of absorbed sunlight controls the cloud patterns. Wind is the motion of the atmosphere relative to the rotating planet. At high latitudes on Uranus, as on the Earth, this relative motion is in the direction of the planet’s rotation. At low (that is, equatorial) latitudes, the relative motion is in the opposite direction. On the Earth these directions are called east and west, respectively, but the more general terms are prograde and retrograde. The winds that exist on Uranus are several times stronger than are those of the Earth. The wind is 200 m (656 ft) per second (prograde) at a latitude of 55° S and 110 m (360.8 ft) per second (retrograde) at the equator. Neptune’s equatorial winds are also retrograde, although those of Jupiter
U
and Saturn are prograde. No satisfactory theory exists to explain these differences. Uranus has no large spots like the Great Red Spot of Jupiter or the Great Dark Spot of Neptune. Since the giant planets have no solid surfaces, the spots represent atmospheric storms. For reasons that are not clear, Uranus seems to have the smallest number of storms of any of the giant planets. Most of the mass of Uranus (roughly 80%) is in the form of a liquid core made primarily of icy materials (water, methane, and ammonia). Uranus was discovered in 1781 by the English astronomer William Herschel, who had undertaken a survey of all stars down to eighth magnitude—i.e., those about five times fainter than stars visible to the naked eye. Herschel suggested naming the new planet the Georgian Planet after his patron, King George III of England, but the planet was eventually named according to the tradition of naming planets for the gods of Greek and Roman mythology; Uranus is the father of Saturn, who is in turn the father of Jupiter. After the discovery, Herschel continued to observe the planet with larger and better telescopes and eventually discovered its two largest satellites, Titania and Oberon, in 1787. Two more satellites, Ariel and Umbriel, were discovered by the British astronomer William Lassell in 1851. The names of the four satellites come from English literature—they are characters in works by Shakespeare and Pope— and were proposed by Herschel’s son, John Herschel. A fifth satellite, Miranda, was discovered by Gerard P. Kuiper in 1948. The tradition of naming the satellites after characters in Shakespeare’s and Pope’s works continues to the present.
Uranian Moons and Rings ranus has 27 known satellites forming three distinct groups: 13 small moons orbiting quite close to the planet, 5 large moons located somewhat farther out, and finally another 9 small and much more distant moons. The members of the first two groups are in nearly circular orbits with low inclinations with respect to the planet. The densities of the four largest satellites, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon, suggest that they are about half (or more) water ice and the rest rock. Oberon and Umbriel are heavily scarred with large impact craters dating back to the very early history of the solar system, evidence that their surfaces probably have been stable since their formation. In contrast, Titania and Ariel have far fewer large craters, indicating relatively young surfaces shaped over time by internal geological activity. Miranda, though small compared with the other major moons, has a unique jumbled patchwork of varied surface terrain revealing surprisingly extensive past activity. Data for the major satellites are summarized below.
U
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The 5 major moons were discovered telescopically from Earth between 1787 and 1948. Eleven of the 13 innermost moons, with diameters of about 40–160 km (25–100 mi), were found in Voyager 2 images. The rest of the moons, with diameters of 10–200 km (6–120 mi), were detected in Earthbased observations between 1997 and 2003; the orbital motion of nearly all of the outermost moons is retrograde (opposite to the direction of Uranus’s spin and revolution around the Sun). Ten very narrow rings are known to encircle Uranus, with radii from 41,800 to 51,100 km (26,000 to 31,800 mi), for the most part within the orbits of the innermost moons. For comparison, Uranus’s visible surface lies at a radius of about 25,600 km (15,900 mi). The ring system was first detected in 1977 during Earth-based observations of Uranus when the planet was passing in front of a star. Subsequent observations from Earth and images from Voyager 2 clarified the number and other features of the rings.
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NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—URANIAN MOONS AND RINGS
Uranian Moons and Rings (continued) NAME (DESIGNATION)
Miranda (V) Ariel (I) Umbriel (II) Titania (III) Oberon (IV)
MEAN DISTANCE FROM URANUS
DIAMETER
129,390 km (80,400 mi) 191,020 km (118,690 mi) 266,300 km (165,470 mi) 435,910 km (270,860 mi) 583,520 km (362,580 mi)
472 km (293 mi) 1,158 km (720 mi) 1,169 km (726 mi) 1,578 km (981 mi) 1,523 km (946 mi)
MASS (1020 KG)
DENSITY (GRAMS/CM3)
ORBITAL PERIOD/ ROTATIONAL PERIOD (EARTH DAYS)*
0.66
1.2
1.41
13.5
1.67
2.52
11.7
1.4
4.14
35.3
1.71
8.71
30.1
1.63
13.46
*The orbital period and rotational period are the same, or synchronous, for the listed moons.
Neptune eptune is the eighth planet in average distance from the Sun. It was named for the Roman god of the sea. The sea god’s trident serves as the planet’s astronomical symbol. Neptune’s distance from the Sun varies between 29.8 and 30.4 astronomical units (AUs). Its diameter is about four times that of the Earth, but because of its great distance Neptune cannot be seen from the Earth without the aid of a telescope. Neptune’s deep blue color is due to the absorption of red light by methane gas in its atmosphere. It receives less than half as much sunlight as Uranus, but heat escaping from its interior makes Neptune slightly warmer than the latter. The heat released may also be responsible for Neptune’s stormier atmosphere, which exhibits the fastest winds seen on any planet in the solar system. Neptune’s orbital period is 164.8 Earth years. It has not completely circled the Sun since its discovery in 1846, so some refinements in calculations of its orbital size and shape are still expected. The planet’s orbital eccentricity of 0.009 means that its orbit is very nearly circular; among the planets in the solar system, only Venus has a smaller eccentricity. Neptune’s seasons (and the seasons of its moons) are therefore of nearly equal length, each about 41 Earth years in duration. The length of Neptune’s day, as determined by Voyager 2, is 16.11 hours. As with the other giant planets of the outer solar system, Neptune’s atmosphere is composed predominantly of hydrogen and helium. The temperature of Neptune’s atmosphere varies with altitude. A minimum temperature of about −223 °C (−369 °F) occurs at pressure near 0.1 bar. The temperature
N
increases with altitude to about 477 °C (891 °F) at 2,000 km (1,240 mi, which corresponds to a pressure of 10−11 bar) and remains uniform above that altitude. It also increases with depth to about 6,730 °C (12,140 °F) near the center of the planet. As with the other giant planets of the outer solar system, the winds on Neptune are constrained to blow generally along lines of constant latitude and are relatively invariable with time. Winds on Neptune vary from about 100 m/sec (328 ft/sec) in an easterly (prograde) direction near latitude 70° S to as high as 700 m/sec (2,300 ft/sec) in a westerly (retrograde) direction near latitude 20° S. The high winds and relatively large contribution of escaping internal heat may be responsible for the observed turbulence in Neptune’s visible atmosphere. Two large dark ovals are clearly visible in images of Neptune’s southern hemisphere taken by Voyager 2 in 1989, although they are not present in Hubble Space Telescope images made 2 years later. The largest, called the Great Dark Spot because of its similarity in latitude and shape to Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, is comparable to the entire Earth in size. It was near this feature that the highest wind speeds were measured. Atmospheric storms such as the Great Dark Spot may be centers where strong upwelling of gases from the interior takes place. Neptune’s mean density is about 30% of the Earth’s; nevertheless, it is the densest of the giant planets. Neptune’s greater density implies that a larger percentage of its interior is composed of melted ices and molten rocky materials than is the case for the other gas giants.
Neptunian Moons and Rings eptune has at least 13 natural satellites, but Earth-based observations had found only 2 of them, Triton in 1846 and Nereid in 1949, before Voyager 2 flew by the planet. The spacecraft observed 5 small moons orbiting close to Neptune and verified the existence of a 6th that had been detected from Earth in 1981. Data for these 8 moons are summarized in the table below. In 2002–03, 5 additional small moons (diameters roughly 30–60 km [20–40 mi]) were discovered telescopically from Earth; they all occupy highly inclined and elliptical orbits that are comparatively far from Neptune.
N
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Triton is Neptune’s only large moon and the only large satellite in the solar system to orbit its planet in the retrograde direction (opposite the planet’s rotation and orbital motion around the Sun). Thus, as is also suspected of the solar system’s other retrograde moons, Triton likely was captured by its planet rather than formed in orbit with its planet from the solar nebula. Its density (2 grams/cm3) suggests that it is about 25% water ice and the rest rock. Triton has a tenuous atmosphere, mostly of nitrogen. Its varied icy surface, imaged by Voyager 2, contains giant faults and dark markings that have been interpreted as the product of geyserlike
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—PLUTO
153
Neptunian Moons and Rings (continued) “ice volcanoes” in which the eruptive material may be gaseous nitrogen and methane. Nereid has the most elliptical orbit of any planet or moon in the solar system; it also is probably a captured object. Neptune’s system of six faint rings, with radii from about 42,000 to 63,000 km (26,000–39,000 mi), straddles the orbits of its 4 innermost moons. (Neptune’s visible surface lies at a radius of 24,800 km, or 15,400 mi.) The outermost ring, named Adams, is
unusual in that it contains several clumps, or concentrations of material, that before Voyager 2’s visit had been interpreted incorrectly as independent ring arcs. What created and has maintained this structure has not yet been fully explained; it has been suggested that the clumps resulted from the relatively recent breakup of a small moon and are being temporarily held together by the gravitational effects of the nearby moon Galatea.
NAME (DESIGNATION)
MEAN DISTANCE FROM NEPTUNE
DIAMETER
Naiad (III)
48,230 km (29,970 mi) 50,070 km (31,110 mi) 52,530 km (32,640 mi) 61,950 km (38,490 mi) 73,550 km (45,700 mi) 117,640 km (73,100 mi) 354,800 km (220,460 mi) 5,509,100 km (3,423,200 mi)
58 km (36 mi) 80 km (50 mi) 148 km (92 mi) 158 km (98 mi) 192 km (119 mi) 416 km (258 mi) 2,700 km (1,678 mi) 340 km (211 mi)
Thalassa (IV) Despina (V) Galatea (VI) Larissa (VII) Proteus (VIII) Triton (I)* Nereid (II)
MASS (1020 KG)
ORBITAL PERIOD (EARTH DAYS)
0.002
0.294
0.004
0.311
0.02
0.335
0.04
0.429
0.05
0.555
0.5
1.122
214
5.877 (retrograde) 359.632
0.2
*Among the rotational periods of Neptune’s moons, only Triton’s has been established; it is the same as (synchronous with) the orbital period.
Pluto luto is named for the god of the underworld in Roman mythology. It was long considered the planet normally farthest from the Sun, but on 24 Aug 2006, the International Astronomical Union announced that it was downgrading the status of Pluto to a dwarf planet. The key criterion in this classification was that Pluto, which orbits in the cluttered, icy Kuiper belt, had not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit. This was a controversial decision sure to be revisited. Pluto has three natural satellites, Charon, Hydra, and Nix. Because Charon’s diameter is more than half the size of Pluto’s and they orbit around a common center of gravity, it was common to speak of the Pluto-Charon system as a double planet. Charon, named for the boatman in Greek mythology who carried the souls of the dead across the river Styx, was discovered in 1978, while Hydra and Nix were both first seen in 2005. The New Horizons spacecraft, launched in January 2006 and scheduled to arrive at Pluto in 2015, will search for yet more new satellites. Pluto is so distant (its average distance from the Sun is 39.6 astronomical units, or AU) that sunlight traveling at 299,792 km/sec (186,282.1 mi/sec) takes more than five hours to reach it. An observer standing on the dwarf planet’s surface would see the Sun as an extremely bright star in the dark sky, providing Pluto with only 1/1600 the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth. Pluto has a diameter less than half that of Mercury; it is about two-thirds the size of the Moon. Pluto’s physical characteristics are unlike those of any of the planets. Pluto resembles most closely Neptune’s icy satellite Triton, which implies a similar origin for these
P
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two bodies. Most scientists now believe that Pluto and Charon are large icy planetesimals left over from the formation of the giant outer planets of the solar system. Accordingly, Pluto can be interpreted to be the largest known member of the Kuiper belt (which, as discussed, includes the outer part of Pluto’s orbit). Observations of Pluto show that it appears slightly red, though not as red as Mars or Io. Thus, the surface of Pluto cannot be composed simply of pure ices. Its overall reflectivity, or albedo, ranges from 0.3 to 0.5, as compared with 0.1 for the Moon and 0.8 for Triton. The surface temperature of Pluto has proved very difficult to measure. Observations made from the Infrared Astronomical Satellite suggest values in the range of −228 to −215 °C (−379 to −355 °F), whereas measurements at radio wavelengths imply a range of −238 to −223 °C (−397 to −370 °F). The temperature certainly must vary over the surface, depending on the local reflectivity and solar zenith angle. There is also expected to be a seasonal decrease in incident solar energy by a factor of roughly three as Pluto moves from perihelion to aphelion. The detection of methane ice on Pluto’s surface made scientists confident that it had an atmosphere before one was actually discovered. The atmosphere was finally detected in 1988 when Pluto passed in front of a star as observed from the Earth. The light of the star was dimmed before disappearing entirely behind Pluto during the occultation. This proved that a thin, greatly distended atmosphere was present. Because that atmosphere must consist of vapors in equilibrium with their ices, small changes in temperature will have a large effect on the amount of gas in the atmosphere.
154
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—COMETS
Comets omets are a class of small bodies orbiting the Sun and developing diffuse gaseous envelopes. They also often form long luminous tails when near the Sun. The comet makes a transient appearance in the sky and is often said to have a “hairy” tail. In fact, the word comes from the Greek kometes, meaning “hairy one,” a description that fits the bright comets noticed by the ancients. Despite their name, many comets do not develop tails. Moreover, a comet is not surrounded by nebulosity during most of its lifetime. The only permanent feature of a comet is its nucleus, which is a small body that may be seen as a starlike object in large telescopes when tail and nebulosity do not exist, particularly when the comet is still far away from the Sun. Two characteristics differentiate the cometary nucleus from a rocky body such as an asteroid or meteoroid—its orbit and its chemical nature. A comet’s orbit is more eccentric (less circular); therefore, its distance to the Sun varies considerably. Its material contains more volatile components, with water ice the predominant compound. They have been described as “dirty snowballs” or “icy mudballs.” When far from the Sun, however, a comet remains in its pristine state for eons without losing any volatile components because of the deep cold of space. For this reason, astronomers believe that pristine cometary nuclei may represent the oldest and best-preserved material in the solar system. During a close passage near the Sun, the nucleus of a comet loses water vapor and other more volatile compounds, as well as dust dragged away by the sublimating gases. It is then surrounded by a transient dusty “atmosphere” that is steadily lost to space. This feature is the coma, which gives a comet its nebulous appearance. The astronomer Edmond Halley, a friend of Isaac Newton, endeavored to compute the orbits of 24
C
comets for which he had found fairly accurate historical documents. Applying a method Newton had developed, Halley predicted that the comet that now bears his name would return to Earth in 1758, and that proved correct. Since its prediction by astronomers and its appearance in 1758/59, Comet Halley has reappeared three times—in 1835, 1910, and 1986. Each century, a score of comets brighter than Comet Halley have been discovered. Many are periodic (returning) comets like Comet Halley, but their periods are extremely long (millennia or even scores or hundreds of millennia), and they have not left any identifiable trace in prehistory. Bright Comet Bennett (1970) will return in 17 centuries, whereas the spectacular Comet West (1976) will reappear in about 500,000 years. Among the comets that can easily be seen with the unaided eye, Comet Halley is the only one that returns in a single lifetime. About 200 comets whose periods are between 3 and 200 years are known, however. Unfortunately, they are or have become too faint to be readily seen without the aid of telescopes. For faraway objects that contain volatile ices, the distinction between asteroids and comets becomes a matter of semantics because many orbits are unstable; an asteroid that comes closer to the Sun than usual may become a comet by producing a transient atmosphere that gives it a fuzzy appearance and that may develop into a tail. Some objects have been reclassified as a result of such occurrences. For example, asteroid 1990 UL3, which crosses the orbit of Jupiter, was reclassified as Comet P/Shoemaker-Levy 2 late in 1990. Conversely, it is suspected that some of the Earth-approaching asteroids (Amors, Apollos, and Atens) could be the extinct nuclei of comets that have now lost most of their volatile ices.
Measurements and Numbers The International System of Units (SI) apid advances in science and technology in the 19th and 20th centuries fostered the development of several overlapping systems of units of measurements as scientists improvised to meet the practical needs of their disciplines. The General Conference on Weights and Measures was chartered by international convention in 1875 to produce standards of physical measurement based upon an earlier international standard, the meter-kilogram-second (MKS) system. The convention calls for regular General Conference meetings to consider improvements or modifications in standards, an International Committee of Weights and Measures elected by the Conference (meets annually), and several consultative committees. The International Bureau of Weights and Measures (Bureau International des Poids et Mesures) at Sèvres, France, serves as a depository for the primary international standards and as a laboratory for certification and intercomparison of national standard copies. The 1960 International System (universally abbreviated as SI, from système international) builds upon the MKS system. Its seven basic units, from which other units are derived, are currently defined as
R
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follows: the meter, defined as the distance traveled by light in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 second; the kilogram (about 2.2 pounds avoirdupois), which equals 1,000 grams as defined by the international prototype kilogram of platinum-iridium in the keeping of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; the second, the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of radiation associated with a specified transition of the cesium-133 atom; the ampere, which is the current that, if maintained in two wires placed one meter apart in a vacuum, would produce a force of 2 × 10−7 newton per meter of length; the candela, defined as the intensity in a given direction of a source emitting radiation of frequency 540 × 1012 hertz and that has a radiant intensity in that direction of 1/683 watt per steradian; the mole, defined as containing as many elementary entities of a substance as there are atoms in 0.012 kilogram of carbon-12; and the kelvin, which is 1/273.16 of the thermodynamic temperature of the triple point (equilibrium among the solid, liquid, and gaseous phases) of pure water. International Bureau of Weights and Measures Web site: <www.bipm.fr>.
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—CONVERSIONS
OF
UNITS
155
Elemental and Derived SI Units and Symbols Quantity
SI Units UNIT
FORMULA/EXPRESSION IN BASE UNITS
SYMBOL
elemental units length mass time electric current luminous intensity amount of substance thermodynamic temperature
meter kilogram second ampere candela mole kelvin
— — — — — — —
m kg s A cd mol K
derived units acceleration area capacitance charge Celsius temperature density electric field strength electrical potential energy force frequency illumination inductance kinematic viscosity luminance luminous flux magnetic field strength magnetic flux magnetic flux density plane angle power pressure resistance solid angle stress velocity viscosity volume
meter/second squared square meter farad coulomb degree Celsius kilogram/cubic meter volt/meter volt joule newton hertz lux henry square meter/second candela/square meter lumen ampere/meter weber tesla radian watt pascal (newton/square meter) ohm steradian pascal (newton/square meter) meter/second newton-second/square meter cubic meter
m/s2 m2 A × s/V A×s K kg/m3 V/m W/A N×m kg × m/s2 s−1 lm/m2 V × s/A m2/s cd/m2 cd × sr A/m V×s Wb/m2 m × m−1=1 J/s N/m2 V/A m2 × m−2=1 N/m2 m/s N × s/m2 m3
F C °C V J N Hz lx H lm Wb T rad W Pa Ω sr Pa
Conversion of Metric Weights and Measures The International System of Units is a decimal system of weights and measures derived from and extending the metric system of units. Adopted by the 11th General Conference on Weights and Measures in 1960, it is abbreviated “SI” in all languages. Below are common equivalents and conversion factors for US customary and SI systems. approximate common equivalents 1 inch 1 foot 1 yard 1 mile 1 square inch 1 square foot 1 square yard 1 acre 1 cubic inch 1 cubic foot 1 cubic yard 1 quart (liq) 1 gallon 1 ounce (avdp)3 1 pound (avdp)3 1 horsepower 1 millimeter 1 meter
= 25 millimeters = 0.3 meter = 0.9 meter = 1.6 kilometers = 6.5 sq. centimeters = 0.09 square meter = 0.8 square meter = 0.4 hectare2 = 16 cubic centimeters = 0.03 cubic meter = 0.8 cubic meter = 1 liter2 = 0.004 cubic meter = 28 grams = 0.45 kilogram = 0.75 kilowatt = 0.04 inch = 3.3 feet
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
conversions accurate within 10 parts per million inches × 25.41 feet × 0.30481 yards × 0.91441 miles × 1.60934 square inches × 6.45161 square feet × 0.0929030 square yards × 0.836127 acres × 0.404686 cubic inches × 16.3871 cubic feet × 0.0283168 cubic yards × 0.764555 quarts (liquid) × 0.946353 gallons × 0.00378541 ounces (avdp)3 × 28.3495 pounds (avdp)3 × 0.453592 horsepower × 0.745700 millimeters × 0.0393701 meters × 3.28084
= millimeters = meters = meters = kilometers = square centimeters = square meters = square meters = hectares = cubic centimeters = cubic meters = cubic meters = liters = cubic meters = grams = kilograms = kilowatts = inches = feet
156
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—CONVERSIONS
OF
UNITS
Conversion of Metric Weights and Measures (continued) 1 meter 1 kilometer 1 square centimeter 1 square meter 1 square meter 1 hectare2 1 cubic centimeter 1 cubic meter 1 cubic meter 1 liter2 1 cubic meter 1 gram 1 kilogram 1 kilowatt
= 1.1 yards = 0.6 mile (statute) = 0.16 square inch = 11 square feet = 1.2 square yards = 2.5 acres = 0.06 cubic inch = 35 cubic feet = 1.3 cubic yards = 1 quart (liq) = 264 gallons = 0.035 ounce (avdp)3 = 2.2 pounds (avdp)3 = 1.3 horsepower
meters × 1.09361 kilometers × 0.621371 square centimeters × 0.155000 square meters × 10.7639 square meters × 1.19599 hectares × 2.47105 cubic centimeters × 0.0610237 cubic meters × 35.3147 cubic meters × 1.30795 liters × 1.05669 cubic meters × 264.172 grams × 0.0352740 kilograms × 2.20462 kilowatts × 1.34102
= yards = miles (statute) = square inches = square feet = square yards = acres = cubic inches = cubic feet = cubic yards = quarts (liq) = gallons = ounces (avdp)3 = pounds (avdp)3 = horsepower
1
Exact. 2Common term not used in SI. 3avdp = avoirdupois. Source: National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Tables of Equivalents: Metric System Units and Prefixes base unit* QUANTITY
NAME OF UNIT
SYMBOL
length area
meter square meter are (100 square meters) cubic meter stere (1 cubic meter) gram metric ton (1,000,000 grams) liter degree Celsius
m square m, or m2 a cubic m, or m3 s g t l °C
volume mass capacity temperature
prefixes designating multiples and submultiples PREFIX
SYMBOL
FACTOR BY WHICH UNIT IS MULTIPLIED
EXAMPLES
exapetateragigamegakilohecto-, hectdeca- dec-
E P T G M k h da
1018 1015 1012 109 106 103 102 10
= = = = = = = =
megaton (Mt) kilometer (km) hectare (ha) decastere (das)
decicenti-, centmillimicro-, micrnanopicofemtoatto-
d c m µ n p f a
10−1 10−2 10−3 10−6 10−9 10−12 10−15 10−18
= = = = = = = =
1,000,000,000,000,000,000 1,000,000,000,000,000 1,000,000,000,000 1,000,000,000 1,000,000 1,000 100 10 1 0.1 0.01 0.001 0.000001 0.000000001 0.000000000001 0.000000000000001 0.000000000000000001
decigram (dg) centimeter (cm) milliliter (ml) microgram (µg)
*The metric system of bases and prefixes has been applied to many other units, such as decibel (0.1 bel), kilowatt (1,000 watts), and microhm (one-millionth of an ohm).
The US was an independent nation for 13 years before the Constitution was signed in 1789, the same year George Washington was elected the country's first president. In 1781, American Revolutionary leader John Hanson was elected by the Continental Congress “President of the United States in Congress Assembled.” Hanson is thus referred to by some as the first US president, but he was a congressional presiding officer and had none of the presidential powers that would be granted under the Constitution.
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NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—BRITISH/US MEASUREMENTS
157
British/US system (ft-lb-second, fps) length 1 statute mi 1 nautical mi 1 furlong 1 chain (Gunter’s) 1 rod 1 fathom 1 yd 1 ft 1 link (Gunter’s) 1 hand 1 mil
= 5,280 ft = 6,076 ft = 660 ft = 66 ft = 16.5 ft = 6 ft = 3 ft = 12 in = 0.66 ft = 4 in = 0.001 in
= 1,760 yd = 1.151 mi = 220 yd = 22 yd = 5.5 yd = 72 in = 36 in
area 1 sq mi
= 640 acres
1 acre 1 sq ft
= 10 sq chains = 144 sq in
volume 1 cu ft 1 cu in 1 acre-ft 1 board ft 1 cord (US)
= 1/27 cu yd = 1/46,656 cu yd = 43,560 cu ft = 144 cu in = 128 cu ft
capacity 1 cu ft
= 7.481 gal (US)
= 6.229 gal (British)
liquid measure (US) 1 barrel, oil 1 gal 1 quart 1 pint 1 gill 1 fl oz
= 42 gal (US) = 0.833 gal (British) = 1/4 gal = 1/8 gal = 1/32 gal = 1/128 gal
= 34.97 gal (British) = 4 quarts = 2 pints = 1/2 quart = 1/4 pint = 1/16 pint
dry measure (US) 1 bushel 1 peck 1 quart 1 pint
= 0.97 bushel (British) = 4 pecks = 1/4 bushel = 8 quarts = 1/32 bushel = 2 pints = 1/64 bushel = 1/2 quart
liquid and dry measure (British) 1 bushel = 1.03 bushels (US) 1 peck = 0.25 bushel 1 gal = 1.20 gal (US) 1 quart = 0.30 gal 1 pint = 4.80 gills (US) 1 gill = 1.20 gills (US) 1 fl oz = 0.96 fl oz (US) weight 1 short ton (US) 1 long ton (British) 1 short cwt* (US) 1 long cwt* (British) 1 stone (person) 1 lb 1 oz avdp† 1 oz troy 1 grain
= 0.89 long ton = 1.12 short tons = 0.05 short ton = 0.05 long ton = 0.14 short cwt* = 0.07 stone (British) = 437.50 grains = 480.00 grains
*cwt = hundredweight.
= 320 rods
= 8 furlongs
= 40 rods = 100 links = 25 links
= 1/8 mi = 4 rods
= 102,400 sq rods = 160 sq rods
= 3,097,600 sq yd = 4,840 sq yd
= 27,878,400 sq ft
= 12 board ft = 1/1,728 cu ft = 1,613 cu yd = 1/12 cu ft
= 1,728 cu in
= 7.92 in
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
= 1 super ft (lumber)
= 231.00 cu in = 57.75 cu in = 28.88 cu in = 7.22 cu in = 1.80 cu in
= 128 fl oz = 32 fl oz = 16 fl oz = 4 fl oz
= 2,150.4 cu in = 537.6 cu in = 67.2 cu in = 33.6 cu in
= 1.24 cu ft = 0.31 cu ft = 1/8 peck
= 8 gal = 2 gal = 4 quarts = 2 pints = 4 gills
= 4 pecks = 8 quarts
= 2,000 lbs = 2,240 lbs = 100 lbs = 112 lbs = 14 lbs
= 20 short cwt* = 22.4 short cwt*
= 1/8 peck
= 2,219.36 cu in = 554.84 cu in = 277.42 cu in = 69.36 cu in = 34.68 cu in = 8.67 cu in = 1.73 cu in
= 1/16 lb = 0.911 oz troy = 1/12 lb = 1.097 oz = 0.0023 oz = 0.0021 oz troy
†avdp = avoirdupois.
= 43,560 sq ft
= 1.284 cu ft
= 20 fl oz = 5 fl oz
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—ELECTRICAL UNITS
158
Electrical Units UNIT
SYMBOL
ATTRIBUTE MEASURED
EXPRESSION IN OTHER UNITS (S = SECOND)
ampere A current C/s or V/Ω the basic electrical unit of the International System of Units (SI), since 1948 defined by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures as the constant current which, if maintained in two straight parallel conductors of infinite length, of negligible circular cross section, and placed one meter apart in a vacuum, would produce between these conductors a force equal to 2 × 10−7 newton per meter of length. One ampere is equal to a flow of one coulomb of electricity per second; or, the flow produced in a conductor with a resistance of one ohm by a potential difference of one volt. farad F capacitance (ability to hold a charge) A × s/V or C/V the ability of two parallel, oppositely charged plates (a capacitor) to hold an electric charge equals one farad when one coulomb of electricity changes the potential between the plates by one volt. coulomb C charge A×s the quantity of electricity transported in one second by a current of one ampere. Approximately equal to 6.24 × 1018 electrons. watt W power J/s or V × A one joule of work performed per second; or, the power dissipated in an electrical conductor carrying one ampere current between points at one volt potential difference. ohm Ω resistance V/A or W/A2 resistance of a circuit in which a potential difference of one volt produces a current of one ampere; or, the resistance in which one watt of power is dissipated when one ampere flows through it. volt V potential W/A or A × Ω the difference in potential between two points in a conductor carrying one ampere current when the power dissipated between the points is one watt; or, the difference in potential between two points in a conductor across a resistance of one ohm when one ampere is flowing through it.
Temperature Equivalents nstructions for converting °F into °C or K*, and °C into °F: Find the figure you wish to convert in the second column. If this figure is in °F, the corresponding temperature in °C and K will be found in the third and fourth columns; if the figure is in °C, the cor-
responding temperature in °F will be found in the first column. To convert a temperature range between two scales, rather than finding equivalent temperatures, see the temperature conversion instructions, below.
°FAHRENHEIT (°F)
°FAHRENHEIT (°F)
I
FIGURE °CELSIUS TO BE (°CENTIGRADE) CONVERTED (°C)
KELVIN (K)
…
−459.67
−273.15
… … −459.67
−400 −300 −273.15
−240.00 −184.44 −169.53
+33.15 +88.71 +103.62
−328.0 −148.0
−200 −100
−128.89 −73.33
+144.26 +199.82
−130.0 −112.0 −94.0 −76.9 −58.0 −40.0 −22.0 −4.0 +14.0
−90 −80 −70 −60 −50 −40 −30 −20 −10
−67.78 −62.22 −56.67 −51.11 −45.56 −40.00 −34.44 −28.89 −23.33
+205.37 +210.93 +216.48 +222.04 +227.59 +233.15 +238.71 +244.26 +249.82
+32.0 +33.8 +35.6 +37.4 +39.2 +41.0 +42.8 +44.6
0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7
−17.78 −17.22 −16.67 −16.11 −15.56 −15.00 −14.44 −13.89
+255.37 +255.93 +256.48 +257.04 +257.59 +258.15 +258.71 +259.26
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
FIGURE °CELSIUS TO BE (°CENTIGRADE) CONVERTED (°C)
KELVIN (K)
+46.4 +48.2
+8 +9
−13.33 −12.78
+259.82 +260.37
+50.0 +68.0 +86.0 +89.6 +104.0 +122.0 +140.0 +158.0 +176.0 +194.0
+10 +20 +30 +32 +40 +50 +60 +70 +80 +90
−12.22 −6.67 −1.11 0.00 +4.44 +10.00 +15.56 +21.11 +26.67 +32.22
+260.93 +266.48 +272.04 +273.15 +277.59 +283.15 +288.71 +294.26 +299.82 +305.37
+212.0 +392.0 +572.0 +752.0 +932.0 +1112.0 +1292.0 +1472.0 +1652.0
+100 +200 +300 +400 +500 +600 +700 +800 +900
+37.78 +93.33 +148.89 +204.44 +260.00 +315.56 +371.11 +426.67 +482.22
+310.93 +366.48 +422.04 +477.59 +533.15 +588.71 +644.26 +699.82 +755.37
+1832.0 +3632.0 +5432.0
+1000 +2000 +3000
+537.78 +810.93 +1093.33 +1366.45 +1648.89 +1922.05
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—COOKING MEASUREMENTS
159
Temperature Equivalents (continued) All systems of measuring temperature in degrees or units (kelvins) on a scale are based on the interval between the freezing and boiling points of water and differ only in the number of degrees or units into which this interval is divided. Fahrenheit: interval is divided into 180 degrees (32° to 212°); 0° is at 32° below the freezing point of water. Rankine: degree is the same as the Fahrenheit degree; 0° is at absolute zero (the theoretical point at which a thermodynamic system has the lowest energy, −459.67 °F). Once common in engineering applications in the US, the Rankine scale is now rarely used. Celsius: interval is divided into 100 degrees; 0° is at the freezing point of water. Kelvin: interval is the same as the Celsius degree; 0 K is at absolute zero (the theoretical point at which a thermodynamic system has the lowest energy, −273.15 °C). Réaumur: interval is divided into 80 degrees; 0° is at the freezing point of water. One of the earliest (1730) temperature scales in widespread use, the Réaumur scale had been supplanted by other scales by the late 19th century. temperature conversion instructions:** °Fahrenheit into °Celsius subtract 32, divide by 1.8** °Celsius into °Fahrenheit multiply by 1.8, add 32** °Celsius into kelvin add 273.15 *Because a kelvin is itself a unit of measurement, it is incorrect to use “degree” or the ° symbol with it, as is necessary with the units of the Rankine, Fahrenheit, Celsius, and Réaumur scales. One kelvin is equal to one degree Celsius. **Instructions are for finding equivalent temperatures; to find the equivalent number of degrees in a temperature range (e.g., tomorrow’s temperature will be 11.0 °F, or 6.1 °C, warmer than today’s temperature), omit the step of adding or subtracting 32.
Cooking Measurements MEASURE
CONVENTIONAL EQUIVALENTS*
METRIC EQUIVALENT
1 60
0.08 ml 0.62 ml 4.93 ml 14.79 ml 28.35 g 29.57 ml 236.59 ml 453.6 g 473.18 ml 946.36 ml 3.785 l 7.57 l 30.28 l
⁄ teaspoon ⁄ teaspoon 8 dashes; 1⁄3 tablespoon; 1⁄6 fluid ounce 3 teaspoons; ½ fluid ounce 1⁄16 pound 2 tablespoons 8 fluid ounces; 16 tablespoons; ½ pint 16 ounces 16 fluid ounces; 2 cups; ½ quart 32 fluid ounces; 4 cups; 2 pints; 1⁄4 gallon 128 fluid ounces; 16 cups; 8 pints; 4 quarts 2 gallons 8 gallons; 4 pecks
drop dash teaspoon tablespoon ounce (weight) fluid ounce (volume) cup pound pint quart gallon peck bushel
18
*All ounce measurements are in US ounces or fluid ounces.
°F
160 170 200 212 221 225 230 250 275 284 300 302 320 325 350
°C
71 77 93 100 105 107 110 121 135 140 149 150 160 163 177
OVEN TEMPERATURE EQUIVALENTS AMERICAN OVEN FRENCH OVEN TEMPERATURE TEMPERATURE TERMS AND THERMOSTAT TERMS SETTINGS
BRITISH “GAS MARK” OVEN THERMOSTAT SETTINGS
#1 très doux; étuve very slow
#2 doux #3
#1⁄4 (241 °F)
slow
moyen; modéré
#½ (266 °F) #1 (291 °F)
#4 #2 (313 °F) moderate
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
assez chaud; bon four
#3 (336 °F)
160
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—COOKING MEASUREMENTS
Cooking Measurements (continued)
°F
°C
356 375 390 400 410 425 428 437 450 475 500 525 550
180 190 200 205 210 218 220 225 232 246 260 274 288
OVEN TEMPERATURE EQUIVALENTS (CONTINUED) AMERICAN OVEN FRENCH OVEN TEMPERATURE TEMPERATURE TERMS AND THERMOSTAT TERMS SETTINGS
BRITISH “GAS MARK” OVEN THERMOSTAT SETTINGS
#4 (358 °F) #5 #5 (379 °F) #6 (403 °F) hot
chaud #6
very hot
très chaud; vif #7 #8 #9
#7 (424 °F) #8 (446 °F) #9 (469 °F)
Spirits Measure Many specific volumes have varied over time and from place to place, but the proportional relationships within families of measures have generally remained the same. All ounce measures are in US fluid ounces. MEASURE
pony shot/ounce/finger jigger double triple noggin/imperial gill/drink (whiskey) pint quarter yard bottle (champagne or other wine) fifth quart half yard magnum magnum yard jeroboam gallon/double magnum rehoboam imperial gallon ale/beer gallon methuselah salmanazar barn gallon balthazar half keg nebuchadnezzar firkin keg anker runlet/rundlet/rudlet octave British bottle aum barrel (wine) barrel (ale/beer) tierce British hogshead (ale/beer) puncheon (ale/beer) British hogshead (wine) puncheon (wine) butt/pipe (ale/beer) butt/pipe (wine) tun (ale/beer) tun (wine)
CONVENTIONAL EQUIVALENTS
METRIC EQUIVALENT
0.75 oz = 3⁄4 shot= 1⁄2 jigger 22.17 ml 1 oz = 11⁄3 ponies = 2⁄3 jigger 29.57 ml 1 1.5 oz = 2 ponies = 1 ⁄2 shots 44.36 ml 2 oz = 2 shots 59.15 ml 3 oz = 3 shots 88.72 ml 4.8 oz 142.1 ml 16 oz = 5⁄8 fifth = 1⁄2 quart 473.2 ml 20 oz = 11⁄4 pints 591.5 ml about 25.5 oz or 1⁄6 imperial gallon 750 ml (industry standard) 4 1 25.6 oz = ⁄5 quart = ⁄5 gallon 757.1 ml 32 oz = 1⁄2 magnum = 1⁄4 gallon 946.3 ml 1 40 oz = 2 ⁄2 pints 1.182 l 2 bottles (champagne or other wine) 1.5 l 64 oz = 2 quarts = 1⁄2 gallon 1.893 l 80 oz = 5 pints 2.365 l 4 bottles (champagne or other wine) 3l 128 oz = 4 quarts = 5 fifths = 2 magnums 3.785 l 6 bottles (champagne or other wine) 4l 1.20 gallons = 2⁄5 barn gallon = 1⁄10 anker 4.546 l 1.22 gallons 4.620 l 8 bottles (champagne or other wine) 6l 12 bottles (champagne or other wine) 9l 21⁄2 imperial gallons = 1⁄4 anker 11.37 l 16 bottles (champagne or other wine) 12 l 5 gallons (type varies) varies 20 bottles (champagne or other wine) 15 l 9 gallons 34.07 l 10 gallons (type varies) varies 60 bottles = 10 imperial gallons = 4 barn gallons 45.46 l 144 pints = 72 quarts = 18 gallons = 2 firkins 68.14 l 15.75 imperial gallons = 1⁄8 butt (wine) 71.60 l 126 bottles = 21 imperial gallons 95.47 l 120 quarts = 30 gallons 113.6 l 1 3 126 quarts = 31 ⁄2 gallons = ⁄4 tierce 119.2 l 144 quarts = 36 gallons = 1⁄2 puncheon (ale/beer) 136.3 l 1 168 quarts = 42 gallons = ⁄2 puncheon (wine) 159.0 l 54 imperial gallons = 1⁄2 butt (ale/beer) = 1⁄4 tun (ale/beer) 245.5 l 72 gallons = 2 barrels (ale/beer) 272.5 l 63 imperial gallons = 1⁄2 butt (wine) = 1⁄4 tun (wine) 286.4 l 84 gallons = 2 tierces 318.0 l 1 108 imperial gallons = ⁄2 tun (ale/beer) 491.0 l 126 imperial gallons = 1⁄2 tun (wine) 572.8 l 216 imperial gallons = 4 British hogsheads (ale/beer) = 982.0 l 2 butts (ale/beer) 252 imperial gallons = 12 British bottles = 2 butts (wine) 1,146 l
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—ANCIENT MEASURES
161
Playing Cards and Dice Chances Blackjack Number of two-card combinations in a 52-card deck (where aces equal 11 and face cards equal 10) for each number between 13 and 21
Approximate chances of various hands reaching or exceeding 21
TOTAL WITH TWO CARDS
POSSIBLE COMBINATIONS FROM 52 CARDS
21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13
64 136 80 86 96 86 96 102 118
TOTAL IN HAND BEFORE DEAL (TWO OR MORE CARDS)
CHANCE OF REACHING A COUNT OF 17 TO 21 (%)
16 15 14 13
38 42 44 48
CHANCE OF EXCEEDING 21 ANY ONE NUMBER CARD OF CARDS (%) (%)
62 54 46 38
62 58 56 52
Poker Number of ways to reach and odds of reaching various five-card combinations on a single deal (52-card deck, no wild cards) HAND
NUMBER OF COMBINATIONS
ODDS OF RECEIVING ON A SINGLE DEAL
royal flush straight flush four of a kind full house flush straight three of a kind two pairs one pair
4 36 624 3,744 5,108 10,200 54,912 123,552 1,098,240
1 in 649,740 1 in 72,193 1 in 4,165 1 in 694 1 in 509 1 in 255 1 in 47 1 in 21 1 in 2
Dice Probabilities of two-die totals TWO-DIE TOTAL
NUMBER OF COMBINATIONS
PROBABILITY (%)
TWO-DIE TOTAL
NUMBER OF COMBINATIONS
PROBABILITY (%)
2 3 4 5 6 7
1 2 3 4 5 6
2.78 5.56 8.33 11.11 13.89 16.67
8 9 10 11 12 total
5 4 3 2 1 36
13.89 11.11 8.33 5.56 2.78 1001
1
Detail does not add to total because of rounding.
Ancient Measures The standard unit of measure is listed first, with a rough modern equivalent in parentheses. Often, standard units varied over time, so a range is sometimes given. The subdivisions below relate to the standard unit of measure given first. CULTURE
LENGTH
WEIGHT
LIQUID
Egyptian
cubit (524 mm; 20.62 in)
kite (4.5–29.9 g; 0.16–1.05 oz) deben (10 kites) sep (10 debens)
cubic cubit (0.14 cubic m; 37 gal)1 khar hekat hin ro
digit ( ⁄ of a cubit) palm (4 digits) hand (5 digits) small span (12 digits, or 3 palms) large span (14 digits, or 1⁄2 cubit) t’ser (16 digits, or 4 palms) small cubit (24 digits, or 6 palms) Babylonian kus2 (530 mm; 20.9 in) mina (640–978 g; 23–34 oz) 2 foot ( ⁄3 kus) shekel 1 shusi ( ⁄30 kus) 1 28
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
ka (99–102 cubic mm; 3.9–4.0 cubic in) gur (300 ka)
162
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—ANCIENT MEASURES
CULTURE
LENGTH
Hebrew3
Greek Roman
Chinese5
finger (19.3 mm; 0.76 in) foot (16 fingers) Olympic cubit (24 fingers) foot (subdivided into the uncia [plural unciae; 1⁄12 ft]) pace, or double step (5 ft) mille passus (1,000 paces) chih (25 cm; 9.8 in) chang (3 m; 9.8 ft)
WEIGHT
LIQUID
sacred mina (60 shekels) sacred talent (3,000 shekels, or 50 sacred minas) Talmudic mina (25 shekels) Talmudic talent (1,500 shekels, or 60 Talmudic minas) talent (25.8 kg; 56.9 lb)
bat4 hin log
metretes (39.4 l; 10.4 gal)
libra (327.45 g; 11.55 oz)
sextarius (0.53 l; 0.14 gal)
uncia ( ⁄ lb)
amphora (48 sextarii)
1 12
shih, or tan (60 kg; 132 lb)
1
Measures given below the cubic cubit run from small to large. 2Also called the Babylonian cubit. 3The Hittites, Assyrians, Phoenicians, and Hebrews derived their systems from the Babylonians and Egyptians. Hebrew standards were based on the relationship between the mina, the talent (the basic unit), and the shekel. 4Volumes are not definitely known but are listed from largest to smallest. 5The Chinese system of measurement exhibited all the principal characteristics of the Western. It was, however, fundamentally chaotic in that there was no relationship between different types of units, such as those of length and those of volume. It also fluctuated from region to region. The first emperor of China, Shi Huangdi (221–210/09 BC), fixed the basic units given here.
Roman Numerals Seven numeral-characters compose the Roman numeral system. When a numeral appears with a line above it, it represents the base value multiplied by
1,000. However, because Roman numerals are now seldom utilized for values beyond 4,999, this convention is no longer in use.
ARABIC
ROMAN
ARABIC
ROMAN
ARABIC
ROMAN
ARABIC
ROMAN
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 10 11 12 13 14
I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 30 40 50 60
XV XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX XXI XXII XXIII XXIV XXX XL L LX
170 180 190 100 101 102 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
LXX LXXX XC C CI CII CC CCC CD D DC DCC DCCC CM
1,000 1,001 1,002 1,003 1,900 2,000 2,001 2,002 2,100 3,000 4,000 5,000
M MI MII MIII MCM MM MMI MMII MMC MMM _ MMMM or MV _ V
Mathematical Formulas The ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter is π (3.141592653589793238462643383279…, generally rounded to 22⁄7 or 3.1416). It occurs in various mathematical problems involving the lengths of arcs or other curves, the areas of surfaces, and the volumes of many solids. ACTION
circle
multiply diameter by π
FORMULA
circumference
SHAPE
area
circle rectangle sphere surface square trapezoid
multiply radius squared by π multiply height by length multiply radius squared by π by 4 length of one side squared parallel side length A + parallel side length B multiplied by height and divided by 2 multiply base by height and divide by 2
πr2 hl 4πr2 s2
triangle volume
cone cube cylinder pyramid sphere
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
multiply base radius squared by π by height and divide by 3 length of one edge cubed multiply base radius squared by π by height multiply base area by height and divide by 3 multiply radius cubed by π by 4 and divide by 3
πd
(A+B)h/2 hb/2 br2πh/3 a3 br2πh hb/3 4πr3/3
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—EQUIVALENTS
OF
FRACTIONS
163
Large Numbers he American system of numeration for denominations above one million was modeled on a French system, but subsequently the French system changed to correspond to the German and British systems. In recent years, British usage reflects widespread and increasing use of the values of the American system. In the American system each of the denominations above 1,000 millions (the American billion) is 1,000 times the preceding one (one trillion
T
AMERICAN NAME
VALUE IN POWERS OF TEN
NUMBER OF ZEROS
billion trillion quadrillion quintillion sextillion septillion octillion nonillion decillion undecillion duodecillion tredecillion quattuordecillion quindecillion sexdecillion septendecillion octodecillion novemdecillion vigintillion centillion
109 1012 1015 1018 1021 1024 1027 1030 1033 1036 1039 1042 1045 1048 1051 1054 1057 1060 1063 10303
9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30 33 36 39 42 45 48 51 54 57 60 63 303
= 1,000 billions; one quadrillion = 1,000 trillions). In the British system the first denomination above 1,000 millions (the British milliard) is 1,000 times the preceding one, but each of the denominations above 1,000 milliards (the British billion) is 1,000,000 times the preceding one (one trillion = 1,000,000 billions; one quadrillion = 1,000,000 trillions). Source: Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, Merriam-Webster, Inc., 2003.
BRITISH NAME
VALUE IN POWERS OF TEN
NUMBER OF ZEROS
milliard billion trillion quadrillion quintillion sextillion septillion octillion nonillion decillion undecillion duodecillion tredecillion quattuordecillion quindecillion sexdecillion septendecillion octodecillion novemdecillion vigintillion centillion
109 1012 1018 1024 1030 1036 1042 1048 1054 1060 1066 1072 1078 1084 1090 1096 10102 10108 10114 10120 10600
9 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 66 72 78 84 90 96 102 108 114 120 600
Decimal Equivalents of Common Fractions 4THS
8THS
16THS
1 1
2 3
1
2
4 5
3
6 7
2
4
8 9
5
10 11
3
6
12 13
7
14
32NDS
DECIMAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
0.015625 0.03125 0.0625 0.09375 0.125 0.15625 0.1875 0.21875 0.25 0.28125 0.3125 0.34375 0.375 0.40625 0.4375 0.46875 0.5 0.53125 0.5625 0.59375 0.625 0.65625 0.6875 0.71875 0.75 0.78125 0.8125 0.84375 0.875 0.90625
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
4THS
4
8THS
16THS
32NDS
DECIMAL
15
0.9375 0.96875 1
8
16
30 31 32
3RDS
6THS
12THS
DECIMAL
6
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
0.833334 0.166667 0.25 0.333334 0.416667 0.5 0.583333 0.666667 0.75 0.833333 0.916667 1
5THS
DECIMAL
7THS
DECIMAL
1 2 3 4 5
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
0.142857 0.285714 0.428571 0.571428 0.714285 0.857142 1
1 1
2 3
2
4 5
164
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—PERIODIC TABLE
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
OF
ELEMENTS
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—WEIGHT, MASS, AND DENSITY
165
Applied Science Chemistry hemistry is the science that deals with the properties, composition, and structure of substances (defined as elements and compounds), the transformations that they undergo, and the energy that is released or absorbed during these processes. Every substance, whether naturally occurring or artificially produced, consists of one or more of the hundred-odd species of atoms that have been identified as elements. Although these atoms, in turn,
C
are composed of more elementary particles, they are the basic building blocks of chemical substances; there is no quantity of oxygen, mercury, or gold, for example, smaller than an atom of that substance. Chemistry, therefore, is concerned not with the subatomic domain but with the properties of atoms and the laws governing their combinations and with how the knowledge of these properties can be used to achieve specific purposes.
Common Alloys ALLOY
COMPOSITION
ALLOY
COMPOSITION
brass bronze cast iron
55% copper, 45% zinc copper, tin iron, carbon, silicon, manganese, trace impurities copper, nickel
pewter solder stainless steel steel sterling silver
tin, antimony, copper tin, lead iron, carbon, chromium, nickel iron, carbon silver, copper
cupronickel
Physics hysics is the science that deals with the structure of matter and the interactions between the fundamental constituents of the observable universe. The basic physical science, its aim is the discovery and formulation of the fundamental laws of nature. In the broadest sense, physics (from the Greek physikos) is concerned with all aspects of nature on both the macroscopic and submicroscopic levels. Its scope of study encompasses not only the
P
behavior of objects under the action of given forces but also the nature and origin of gravitational, electromagnetic, and nuclear force fields. Its ultimate objective is the formulation of a few comprehensive principles that bring together and explain all such disparate phenomena. Physics can, at base, be defined as the science of matter, motion, and energy. Its laws are typically expressed with economy and precision in the language of mathematics.
Weight, Mass, and Density ass, strictly defined, is the quantitative measure of inertia, the resistance a body offers to a change in its speed or position when force is applied to it. The greater the mass of a body, the smaller the change produced by an applied force. In more practical terms, it is the measure of the amount of material in an object, and in common usage is often expressed as weight. However, the mass of an object is constant regardless of its position, while weight varies according to gravitational pull. In the International System of Units (SI, the metric system), the kilogram is the standard unit of mass, defined as equaling the mass of the international prototype of the kilogram, currently a platinum-iridium cylinder kept at Sèvres, near Paris, France; it is roughly equal to the mass of 1,000 cubic centimeters of pure water at the temperature of its maximum density. In the US customary system, the unit is the slug, defined as the mass which a one pound force can accelerate at a rate of one foot per second per second, which is the same as the mass of an object weighing 32.17 pounds on the earth’s surface.
M
Weight is the gravitational force of attraction on an object, caused by the presence of a massive second object, such as the Earth or Moon. Weight is the prod-
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
uct of an object’s mass and the acceleration of gravity at the point where the object is located. A given object will have the same mass on the Earth’s surface, on the Moon, or in the absence of gravity, while its weight on the Moon would be about one sixth of its weight on the Earth’s surface, because of the Moon’s smaller gravitational pull (due in turn to the Moon’s smaller mass and radius), and in the absence of gravity the object would have no weight at all. Weight is measured in units of force, not mass, though in practice units of mass (such as the kilogram) are often substituted because of mass’s relatively constant relation to weight on the Earth’s surface. The weight of a body can be obtained by multiplying the mass by the acceleration of gravity. In SI, weight is expressed in newtons, or the force required to impart an acceleration of one meter per second per second to a mass of one kilogram. In the US customary system, it is expressed in pounds. Density is the mass per unit volume of a material substance. It offers a convenient means of obtaining the mass of a body from its volume, or vice versa; the mass is equal to the volume multiplied by the density, while the volume is equal to the mass divided by the density. In SI, density is expressed in kilograms per cubic meter.
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Communications Introduction to the Internet he Internet is a dynamic collection of computer networks that has revolutionized communications and methods of commerce by enabling those networks around the world to interact with each other. Sometimes referred to as a “network of networks,” the Internet was developed in the United States in the 1970s but was not widely used by the general public until the early 1990s. By early 2007 approximately 1.1 billion people, or roughly 17% of the world’s population, were estimated to have access to the Internet. It is widely assumed that at least half of the world’s population will have some form of Internet access by 2010 and that wireless access will play a growing role. The Internet is so powerful and general that it can be used for almost any purpose that depends on the processing of information, and it is accessible by every individual who connects to one of its constituent networks. It supports human communication via electronic mail (e-mail), real-time “chat rooms,” instant messaging (IM), newsgroups, and audio and video transmission and allows people to work collaboratively at many different locations. It supports access to information by many applications, including the World Wide Web, which uses text and graphical presentations. Publishing has been revolutionized, as whole novels and reference works are available on the Web, and periodicals, including data prepared daily for an individual subscriber (such as stock market reports or news summaries), are also common. The Internet has
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attracted a large and growing number of “e-businesses” (including subsidiaries of traditional “brickand-mortar” companies) that carry out most of their sales and services over the Internet. While the precise structure of the future Internet is not yet clear, many directions of growth seem apparent. One is the increased availability of wireless access, enabling better real-time use of web-managed information. Another future development is toward higher backbone and network access speeds. Backbone data rates of 10 billion bits (10 gigabits) per second are readily available today, but data rates of 1 trillion bits (1 terabit) per second or higher will eventually become commercially feasible. At very high data rates, high-resolution video, for example, would occupy only a small fraction of available bandwidth, and remaining bandwidth could be used to transmit auxiliary information about the data being sent, which in turn would enable rapid customization of displays and prompt resolution of certain local queries. Communications connectivity will be a key function of a future Internet as more machines and devices are interconnected. Since the Internet Engineering Task Force published its 128-bit IP address standard in 1998, the increased number of available addresses (2128, as opposed to 232 under the previous standard) allowed almost every electronic device imaginable to be assigned a unique address. Thus the expressions “wired” office, home, and car may all take on new meanings, even if the access is really wireless.
Growth of Internet Use Sources: International Telecommunications Union, Yearbook of Statistics; ICT Statistics Database. YEAR
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
US USERS
WORLD USERS
YEAR
13,000,000 25,000,000 45,000,000 60,000,000 84,587,000 102,000,000
22,000,000 28,700,000 70,000,000 116,000,000 171,587,000 275,518,600
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
US USERS
WORLD USERS
124,000,000 142,823,000 159,000,000 161,632,400 185,000,000 197,800,000
390,251,600 489,924,200 618,434,100 718,772,300 851,804,400 980,386,700
Worldwide Cellular Mobile Telephone Subscribers, 2005 Source: International Telecommunication Union, ICT Statistics Database.
COUNTRY
China United States Russia Japan India Brazil Germany Italy United Kingdom France Mexico
SUBSCRIBERS
SUBSCRIBERS PER 1,000 RESIDENTS
393,406,000 213,000,000 120,000,000 96,484,000 90,000,000 86,210,000 79,200,000 72,200,000 65,500,000
299 714 836 753 82 463 958 1,243 1,098
48,099,000 47,141,000
795 440
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COUNTRY
SUBSCRIBERS
SUBSCRIBERS PER 1,000 RESIDENTS
Indonesia Turkey Spain South Korea Philippines South Africa Poland Thailand Taiwan Argentina Colombia Malaysia
46,910,000 43,609,000 41,327,900 38,342,300 34,779,000 33,960,000 29,166,400 27,378,700 22,171,000 22,156,400 21,850,000 19,545,000
211 596 968 794 413 716 757 430 974 574 479 752
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Growth of Cell Phone Use in the US Estimated number of cellular mobile telephone subscribers in the US, 1995–2006. Source: CTIAThe Wireless Association’s Annualized Wireless Industry Survey Results December 1985–December 2006. YEAR
SUBSCRIBERS
YEAR
SUBSCRIBERS
YEAR
SUBSCRIBERS
YEAR
SUBSCRIBERS
1995 1996 1997
33,786,000 44,043,000 55,312,000
1998 1999 2000
69,209,000 86,047,000 109,478,000
2001 2002 2003
128,375,000 140,767,000 158,722,000
2004 2005 2006
182,140,000 207,896,000 233,041,000
Aerospace Technology Space Exploration hree men were the first scientists to conceive pragmatically of spaceflight: the Russian Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the American Robert Goddard, and the German Hermann Oberth. Technology in the early 20th century, however, was a long way from the level required for rocket-powered flight. Nonetheless, the theory and dynamics of such flights were rigorously studied. By the end of World War II, the German development of rocket propulsion for aircraft and guided missiles (notably the V-2) had reached a high level. With the German surrender in 1945, the US and its Allies fell heir to the technical knowledge of rocket power developed by the Germans. The technical director of the German missile effort, Wernher von Braun, and some 150 of his top aides surrendered to US troops. Most emigrated to the US, where they assembled and launched V-2 missiles that had been captured and shipped there. The USSR carried out an unpublicized but extensive and likely similar program; Britain and France conducted smaller programs. In both the US and the USSR the development of military missile technology was essential to the achievement of satellite flight. Preparations for the International Geophysical Year (IGY, 1957–58) stimulated discussion of the possibility of launching artificial Earth satellites for scientific investigations. Both the US and the USSR became determined to prepare scientific satellites for launching during the IGY. While the US was still developing a space launch vehicle, the USSR startled the world by placing Sputnik 1 in orbit on 4 Oct 1957. This was followed a month later by Sputnik 2 carrying a live dog. The failure by the US to launch its small payload on 6 Dec 1957 heightened that nation’s political discomfiture in view of its supposed advanced status in science. Following debates on the necessity of achieving parity, the US government established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1958. Since that time, NASA has conducted virtually all major aspects of the US space program. The first successful US satellite, Explorer 1, was launched about 4 months after Sputnik 1. During the next decades the two nations participated in a space race, conducting thousands of successful launches of spacecraft of all varieties including scientific-research,
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communications, meteorological, remote-sensing, military-reconnaissance, early-warning, and navigation satellites, lunar and planetary probes, and manned craft. The USSR launched the first human, Yury Gagarin, into orbit around Earth on 12 Apr 1961. On 20 July 1969, the US landed two men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin (“Buzz”) Aldrin, on the surface of the Moon as part of the Apollo 11 mission. On 12 Apr 1981, the 20th anniversary of manned space flight, the US launched the first reusable manned space transportation system, the space shuttle. From the 1960s the European nations, Japan, India, and other countries have formed their own agencies for space exploration and development. The European Space Agency (ESA) consists of 15 member nations. Private corporations, too, offer space launches for communications and remotesensing satellites. In the post-Apollo decades, while the US focused much of its manned space program on the shuttle, the USSR concentrated on launching a series of increasingly sophisticated Earth-orbiting space stations, beginning with the world’s first in 1971. Station crews, who were carried up in two- and three-person spacecraft, carried out mostly scientific missions while gaining experience in living and working for long periods in the space environment. After the USSR was dissolved in 1991, its space program was continued by Russia on a much smaller scale owing to economic constraints. The US launched a space station in 1973 using surplus Apollo hardware and conducted shuttle missions to a Russian station, Mir, in the 1990s. In 1998, at the head of a 16-nation consortium and with Russia as a major partner, it began in-orbit assembly of the International Space Station (ISS), using the shuttle and Russian expendable launch vehicles to ferry the facility’s modular components and crews into space. In addition to manned and unmanned lunar exploration, space exploration programs have included deep-space robotic missions to the planets, their moons, and smaller bodies such as comets and asteroids. Also important has been the development of unmanned space-based astronomical observatories, which allow observation of near and distant cosmic objects above the filtering and distorting effects of Earth’s atmosphere.
Significant space programs and missions:
Vanguard Years launched: 1958–59. Country or space agency: US. Designation: 1 through 3. Not manned. Events of note: The first attempted Vanguard launch, hastily mounted in December 1957 after the USSR’s Sputnik successes, failed with the launch vehicle’s explosion.
Sputnik (Russian for “fellow traveler”) Years launched: 1957–58. Country or space agency: USSR. Designation: 1 through 3 (first series). Not manned. Events of note: Sputnik 1 was the first satellite to be successfully launched into space; Sputnik 2 carried a small dog named Laika (“Barker”); Sputnik 3 became the first multipurpose space-science satellite.
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Explorer Years launched: 1958–75. Country or space agency: US. Designation: 1 through 55. Not manned. Events of note: Explorer 1, the first successful US satellite,
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discovered Earth’s inner radiation belt. Other Explorers in this long series conducted pioneering studies over a broad spectrum of Earth and space sciences. Pioneer Years launched: 1958–78. Country or space agency: US. Designation: 1 through 13. Not manned. Events of note: Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to travel through the asteroid belt, to fly by Jupiter, and to escape the solar system; Pioneer 11 was the first to visit Saturn. Complementary Pioneer 12 and 13 spacecraft (also called Pioneer Venus) explored Venus, one conducting radar mapping of the planet’s cloud-shrouded surface from orbit while the other dropped atmospheric probes. Luna (Russian for “Moon”) Years launched: 1959–76. Country or space agency: USSR. Designation: 1 through 24. Not manned. Events of note: Luna 2 was the first spacecaft to crash-land on the lunar surface; Luna 3 took the first photographs of the Moon’s far side; three Lunas (16, 20, and 24) returned with samples of lunar soil. Mercury Years launched: 1961–63 (manned missions). Country or space agency: US. Designation: Mercury spacecraft had program designations, but they became better known by the individual names bestowed on them, such as “Freedom,” followed by a “7” to honor the seven NASA astronauts chosen for the program. Events of note: Some 20 preliminary unmanned Mercury missions took place between 1959 and 1961. Of the six manned missions, Freedom 7 was launched in 1961 with Alan Shepard (the first American in space) aboard; Liberty Bell 7 in 1961 with Virgil “Gus” Grissom; Friendship 7 in 1962 with John Glenn (the first American to orbit Earth); Aurora 7 in 1962 with Scott Carpenter; Sigma 7 in 1962 with Walter Schirra; and Faith 7 in 1963 with Gordon Cooper. Vostok (Russian for “east”) Years launched: 1961–63. Country or space agency: USSR. Designation: 1 through 6. Manned. Events of note: The first man in space and to orbit Earth was Soviet cosmonaut Yury Gagarin in Vostok 1, launched on 12 April 1961. Vostok 2 was launched with Gherman Titov in 1961, Vostok 3 with Andriyan Nikolayev in 1962, Vostok 4 with Pavel Popovich in 1962, Vostok 5 with Valery Bykovsky in 1963, and Vostok 6 with Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, in 1963. Venera (Russian for “Venus”) Years launched: 1961–83. Country or space agency: USSR. Designation: 1 through 16. Not manned. Events of note: Venera 1 carried out the first Venus flyby. Venera 3 was the first spacecraft to impact on another planet, and Venera 7 was the first to softland on another planet. Venera 9 and 10 sent back the first close-up pictures of Venus’s surface. Ranger Years launched: 1961–65. Country or space agency: US. Designation: 1 through 9. Not manned. Events of note: Ranger 4 was the first US spacecraft to crashland on the Moon; the last three Rangers returned thousands of images of the lunar surface before impacting the lunar surface as planned.
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Mariner Years launched: 1962–73. Country or space agency: US. Designation: 1 through 10. Not manned. Events of note: Various Mariners in the program flew by Venus, Mercury, and Mars. Mariner 9 mapped Mars in detail from orbit, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit another planet. Mariner 10 is the only spacecraft to have visited the vicinity of Mercury. Voskhod (Russian for “sunrise” or “ascent”) Years launched: 1964–65. Country or space agency: USSR. Designation: 1 and 2. Manned. Events of note: Voskhod 1 was the first spacecraft to carry more than one person; Aleksey Leonov performed the first space walk, from the Voskhod 2 spacecraft, on 18 Mar 1965. Gemini Years launched: 1965–66. Country or space agency: US. Designation: 1 through 12. Manned. Events of note: Ten two-person manned missions followed two unmanned test flights. Gemini 8 was the first spacecraft to dock with another craft, an unmanned launcher stage. The Gemini program showed that astronauts could carry out rendezvous and docking maneuvers and could live and work in space for the time needed for a round-trip to the Moon. Lunar Orbiter Years launched: 1966–67. Country or space agency: US. Designation: 1 through 5. Not manned. Events of note: Five consecutive spacecraft made detailed photographic surveys of most of the Moon’s surface, providing the mapping essential for choosing landing sites for the manned Apollo missions. Soyuz (Russian for “union”) Years launched: 1967–present. Country or space agency: USSR. Designation: 1 through 40 (first series). Three subsequent series of upgraded spacecraft received the additional suffix letters T, TM, or TMA and were renumbered from 1. Manned. Events of note: On 24 Apr 1967 cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov conducted the inaugural test flight (Soyuz 1) of this multiperson transport craft but died returning to Earth after the parachute system failed, becoming the first fatality during a spaceflight. Soyuz 11 ferried the crew of the first space station, Salyut 1. Soyuz TM-2 made the inaugural manned flight of this TM upgrade while transporting the second crew of the Mir space station. Soyuz TM-31 carried up the International Space Station’s first three-man crew. An automated unmanned cargo ferry, called Progress, was derived from the Soyuz design. High-resolution remote observations of Earth were made possible in 2006 with the launch of the Resurs–DK1 satellite. Apollo Years launched: 1968–72. Country or space agency: US. Designation: 7 through 17. Manned. Events of note: Several unmanned test flights preceded 11 manned Apollo missions, including two in Earth orbit (7 and 9), two in lunar orbit (8 and 10), one lunar swingby (13), and six lunar landings (11, 12, and 14–17) in which a total of 12 astronauts walked on the Moon. Apollo 11, crewed by Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin, was the first mission to land humans on the Moon, on 20 Jul 1969. Apollo 13, planned as a lunar landing mission, experienced an onboard explosion en route to the Moon; after a swing around the Moon, the crippled spacecraft made a harrowing but safe return journey to Earth
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—SPACE EXPLORATION with its crew, James Lovell, John Swigert, and Fred Haise. The six landing missions collectively returned almost 382 kg (842 pounds) of lunar rocks and soil for study on Earth. Salyut (Russian for “salute”) Years launched: 1971–82. Country or space agency: USSR. Designation: 1 through 7 (two designs). Manned. Events of note: Salyut 1, launched 19 Apr 1971, was the world’s first space station; its crew, cosmonauts Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov, and Viktor Patsayev, died returning to Earth when their Soyuz spacecraft depressurized. Salyut 6, the first of an improved design, operated as a highly successful scientific space platform, supporting a series of crews and international visitors over a four-year period. Skylab Year launched: 1973. Country or space agency: US. Manned. Events of note: Skylab, based on the outfitted and pressurized upper stage of a Saturn V Moon rocket, was the first US space station. Three successive astronaut crews carried out solar astronomy studies, materials-sciences research, and biomedical experiments on the effects of weightlessness. Apollo-Soyuz Year launched: 1975. Countries or space agencies: US and USSR. Manned. Events of note: As a sign of improved US-Soviet relations, an Apollo spacecraft carrying three astronauts docked in Earth orbit with a Soyuz vehicle carrying two cosmonauts. It was the first cooperative multinational space mission and the last use of an Apollo craft. Viking Year launched: 1975. Country or space agency: US. Designation: 1 and 2. Not manned. Events of note: Both space probes traveled to Mars, released landers, and took photographs of large expanses of Mars from orbit. The Viking 1 lander transmitted the first pictures from the Martian surface; both landers carried experiments designed to detect living organisms or life processes but found no convincing signs of life. Voyager Years launched: 1977. Country or space agency: US. Designation: 1 and 2. Not manned. Events of note: Both Voyager spacecraft flew past Jupiter and Saturn, transmitting measurements and photographs; Voyager 2 went on to Uranus in 1986 and then to Neptune. Both craft continued out of the solar system, with Voyager 1 overtaking Pioneer 10 in 1998 to become the most distant human-made object in space. space shuttle (Space Transportation System, or STS) Years launched: 1981–present. Country or space agency: US. Designation: Individual missions were designated STS with a number (and sometimes letter) suffix, although the orbiter spacecraft themselves were reused. Manned. Events of note: The first flight of a manned space shuttle, STS-1, was on 12 Apr 1981 with the orbiter Columbia. Other original operational orbiters included Challenger, Discovery, and Atlantis. During shuttle mission STS-51-L, Challenger exploded after liftoff on 28 Jan 1986, killing all seven astronauts aboard, including a private citizen, Christa McAuliffe; the orbiter Endeavour was built as a replacement vehicle. Space shuttle missions were used to deploy satellites, space observatories, and planetary probes; to carry out in-space
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repairs of orbiting spacecraft; and to take US astronauts to the Russian space station Mir. Beginning in 1998 a series of shuttle missions ferried components, supplies, and crews to the International Space Station during its assembly and operation. In 2003 the orbiter Columbia disintegrated while returning from a space mission, claiming the lives of its seven-person crew, including Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut to go into space. Giotto (named for the Italian artist) Year launched: 1985. Countries or space agency: ESA. Not manned. Events of note: This first deepspace probe launched by ESA made a close flyby of Halley’s Comet, collecting data and transmitting images of the icy nucleus. It was then redirected to a second comet, using a gravity-assist flyby of Earth, the first time that a spacecraft coming back from deep space had made such a maneuver. Mir (Russian for “peace” and “world”) Years launched: 1986–96. Country or space agency: USSR/Russia. Manned. Events of note: The core of this modular space station was launched on 20 Feb 1986; five additional modules were added over the next decade to create a large, versatile space laboratory. Although intended for a five-year life, it supported human habitation between 1986 and 2000, including an uninterrupted stretch of occupancy of almost 10 years, and it hosted a series of US astronauts as part of a Mir–space shuttle cooperative endeavor. In 1995, Mir cosmonaut Valery Polyakov set a space endurance record of nearly 438 days. Magellan Year launched: 1989. Country or space agency: US. Not manned. Events of note: Magellan was the first deep-space probe deployed by the space shuttle. During four years in orbit above Venus, it mapped some 98% of the surface of the cloud-covered planet with radar at high resolution. At the end of its mission, it was sent on a gradual dive into the Venusian atmosphere, where it measured various properties before burning up. Galileo Year launched: 1989. Country or space agency: US. Not manned. Events of note: En route to Jupiter, Galileo took the first detailed pictures of two asteroids and returned unique images of a comet as it impacted Jupiter’s atmosphere. Near the Jovian system, it released an atmospheric probe and then went into orbit around Jupiter for an extended study of the giant planet and its Galilean moons. Among many discoveries, Galileo found evidence of a liquid-water ocean below the moon Europa’s icy surface. Ulysses Year launched: 1990. Countries or space agency: US and ESA. Not manned. Events of note: Ulysses traveled first to Jupiter in order to use the giant planet’s gravity to sling the probe out of the plane of the planets. Ulysses successively passed over the Sun’s south and north poles, studying properties of the corona, solar wind, and interplanetary space at high solar latitudes. Clementine Year launched: 1994. Country or space agency: US. Not manned. Events of note: This probe was designed to test new imaging sensors in space for
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defense applications. It mapped the Moon in various wavelengths from lunar orbit, determining mineral content of the surface and producing tantalizing hints of the existence of frozen water in permanently shadowed craters near the Moon’s south pole. NEAR Shoemaker (Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous Shoemaker) Year launched: 1996. Country or space agency: US. Not manned. Events of note: This spacecraft was the first to orbit a small body (the Earth-approaching asteroid Eros) to touch down on its surface. It studied Eros for a year with cameras and instruments, then made a slow descent and a soft landing and transmitted gamma-ray data from the surface for more than two weeks. Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Year launched: 1996. Country or space agency: US. Not manned. Events of note: MGS conducted longterm mapping from Martian orbit of the planet’s entire surface and studies of its magnetic, atmospheric, and internal properties. Close-up images suggested, controversially, that liquid water may have flowed on or near the planet’s surface in geologically recent times and still may exist in protected areas. They also showed that the “face on Mars” formation first photographed by Viking 1 was of natural origin and not a product of alien intelligence, as some had purported. Mars Pathfinder Year launched: 1996. Country or space agency: US. Not manned. Events of note: The first spacecraft to land on Mars since the 1976 Viking missions, Pathfinder descended to the Martian surface using a novel combination of parachutes, rockets, and air bags. The lander and its robotic surface rover, Sojourner, which together successfully collected 17,000 images and other data, added to evidence that ancient Mars was much more Earth-like than it is today. Cassini-Huygens Year launched: 1997. Country or space agency: US, ESA, and Italy. Not manned. Events of note: Consisting of an orbiter (Cassini) and a descent probe (Huygens), the spacecraft traveled seven years to the Saturnian system. En route it flew by Jupiter and returned detailed images. At Saturn, Cassini established an orbit around the planet for several years of studies, while the Huygens probe parachuted through the atmosphere of the moon Titan, transmitting pictures and other data for about three hours during its descent and once on the moon's surface. Lunar Prospector Year launched: 1998. Country or space agency: US. Not manned. Events of note: Equipped with radiation- and particle-measuring equipment to assay the geochemistry of the Moon’s surface from orbit, the probe strengthened the evidence for water (first found by Clementine) in the south polar region. It later was deliberately crashed into a permanently shadowed crater at the south pole in an unsuccessful attempt to liberate water vapor, which could be detected from Earth. International Space Station (ISS) Years launched: 1998–present. Countries or space agencies: US, Russia, ESA, Canada, Japan, and Brazil. Manned. Events of note: A large modular complex of habitat modules and laboratories powered by
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solar arrays, the ISS continued to be assembled in Earth orbit by means of space-shuttle and Proton and Soyuz rocket flights that ferried components, crews, and supplies between Earth and the station. The first component, a US-funded, Russian-built module called Zarya, was launched on 20 Nov 1998. The ISS received its first resident crew on 2 Nov 2000. Chandra X-Ray Observatory Year launched: 1999. Country or space agency: US. Not manned. Events of note: The world’s most powerful X-ray telescope, it revolves in an elliptical orbit around Earth, delivering roughly 1,000 observations annually of the universe. To scientists, the stunning images of the universe’s outer limits (including images of black holes and distant galaxies) help clarify its origin and evolution. 2001 Mars Odyssey Year launched: 2001. Country or space agency: US. Not manned. Events of note: This spacecraft was launched to study Mars from orbit and serve as a communications relay for future US and multinational landers. Its instruments mapped the distribution of various elements on or near the surface; some of its data suggested the presence of huge subsurface reservoirs of frozen water in both polar regions. Mars Express Year launched: 2003. Country or space agency: ESA. Not manned. Events of note: Carrying instruments to study the atmosphere, surface, and subsurface from Mars orbit, the spacecraft detected vast fields of water ice as well as carbon-dioxide ice at the planet’s south pole. Its lander, Beagle 2, which was designed to examine the rocks and soil for signs of past or present life, failed to establish radio contact after presumably reaching the Martian surface. Mars Exploration Rover Mission Year launched: 2003. Country or space agency: US. Designation: Spirit and Opportunity. Not manned. Events of note: Twin six-wheeled robotic rovers, each equipped with cameras, a microscopic imager, a rockgrinding tool, and other instruments, landed on opposite sides of Mars. Both rovers found evidence of past water; particularly dramatic was the discovery by Opportunity of rocks that appeared to have been laid down at the shoreline of an ancient body of salty water. Deep Impact Year launched: 2005. Country or space agency: US. Not manned. Events of note: Deep Impact was the first spacecraft designed to study the interior composition of a comet. As it traveled past Comet Tempel 1, it released a 370-kg (820-lb) instrumented impactor into the path of the comet's icy nucleus. A high-resolution camera and other apparatuses on the flyby portion of the probe studied the impact and the resulting crater and excavated debris. The collision occurred at a relative speed of about 37,000 km/hr (23,000 mi/hr). Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Year launched: 2005. Country or space agency: US. Not manned. Events of note: It carries the most powerful camera ever flown on a space mission. The Orbiter is expected to be an important communications link between other spacecraft, Mars, and Earth.
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Space Exploration Firsts EVENT
DETAILS
earliest known person to write about spaceflight earliest appearance of rocket propulsion technology first person to study in detail the use of rockets for spaceflight first launch of a liquid-fueled rocket first launch of the V-2 ballistic missile, the forerunner of modern space rockets first artificial Earth satellite first animal launched into space first spacecraft to hard-land on another celestial object (the Moon) first pictures of the far side of the Moon first applications satellite launched first recovery of a payload from Earth orbit
Lucian, in True History, which includes a visit to the Moon recorded use of gunpowderpropelled arrows in battle Konstantin Tsiolkovsky Robert Goddard Wernher von Braun Sputnik 1 dog Laika aboard Sputnik 2 Luna 2
COUNTRY OR AGENCY
DATE ACCOMPLISHED
ancient Greece China
by 13th century
Russia
2nd century
US Germany
late 19th–early 20th centuries 16 Mar 1926 3 Oct 1942
USSR USSR USSR
4 Oct 1957 3 Nov 1957 14 Sep 1959
Luna 3 USSR 7 Oct 1959 TIROS 1 (weather observation) US 1 Apr 1960 Discoverer 13 (part of Corona US 11 Aug 1960 reconnaissance satellite program) first piloted spacecraft to orbit Earth Yury Gagarin on Vostok 1 USSR 12 Apr 1961 first US citizen in space Alan Shepard on Freedom 7 US 5 May 1961 first piloted US spacecraft to orbit Earth John Glenn on Friendship 7 US 20 Feb 1962 first active communications satellite Telstar 1 US 10 July 1962 first data transmitted to Earth from vicinity Mariner 2 US 14 Dec 1962 of another planet (Venus) first woman in space Valentina Tereshkova on Vostok 6 USSR 16 Jun 1963 first satellite to operate in geostationary Syncom 2 (telecommunications US 26 Jul 1963 orbit satellite) first space walk Aleksey Leonov on Voskhod 2 USSR 18 Mar 1965 first spacecraft pictures of Mars Mariner 4 US 14 Jul 1965 first spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon Luna 9 USSR 3 Feb 1966 first death during a space mission Vladimir Komarov on Soyuz 1 USSR 24 Apr 1967 first humans to orbit the Moon Frank Borman, James Lovell, and US 24 Dec 1968 William Anders on Apollo 8 first human to walk on the Moon Neil Armstrong on Apollo 11 US 20 Jul 1969 first unmanned spacecraft to carry lunar Luna 16 USSR 24 Sep 1970 samples back to Earth first soft landing on another planet (Venus) Venera 7 USSR 15 Dec 1970 first space station launched Salyut 1 USSR 19 Apr 1971 first spacecraft to orbit another planet Mariner 9 US 13 Nov 1971 (Mars) first spacecraft to soft-land on Mars Mars 3 USSR 2 Dec 1971 first spacecraft to fly by Jupiter Pioneer 10 US 3 Dec 1973 first international docking in space Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft US/USSR 17 Jul 1975 during Apollo-Soyuz Test Project first pictures transmitted from the Viking 1 US 20 Jul 1976 surface of Mars first spacecraft to fly by Saturn Pioneer 11 US 1 Sep 1979 first reusable spacecraft launched and space shuttle Columbia US 12–14 Apr 1981 returned from space first spacecraft to fly by Uranus Voyager 2 US 24 Jan 1986 first spacecraft to make a close flyby of Giotto at Halley’s Comet European 13 Mar 1986 a comet’s nucleus Space Agency first spacecraft to fly by Neptune Voyager 2 US 24 Aug 1989 first large optical space telescope Hubble Space Telescope US/European 25 Apr 1990 launched Space Agency first spacecraft to orbit Jupiter Galileo US 7 Dec 1995 first confirmed case of a large black hole Chandra X-Ray Observatory US 28 Oct 1999/ outside of the nucleus of a galaxy 20 Jan 2000 first resident crew to occupy the William Shepherd, Yury Gidzenko, US/Russia 2 Nov 2000 International Space Station Sergey Krikalev first spacecraft to orbit and land on NEAR Shoemaker at the asteroid Eros US 14 Feb 2000/ an asteroid 12 Feb 2001 first piloted Chinese spacecraft to orbit Shenzhou 5, piloted by Yang Liwei China 15 Oct 2003 Earth first privately funded human spaceflight SpaceShipOne, piloted by US 21 Jun 2004 (to 100 km [62 mi]) Michael W. Melvill (private venture) first spacecraft to strike a comet's nucleus Deep Impact at Comet Tempel 1 US 4 Jul 2005 and study its interior composition
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NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—FLIGHT HISTORY
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Air Travel Flight History umanity has been fascinated with the possibility of flight for millennia. The history of flight began at least as early as about AD 400 with historical references to a Chinese kite that used a rotary wing as a source of lift. Other toys using the principle of the helicopter—in this case a rotary blade turned by the pull of a string—were known during the Middle Ages. During the latter part of the 15th century, Leonardo da Vinci made drawings pertaining to flight. In the 1700s experiments were made with the ornithopter, a machine with flapping wings. The history of successful flight begins with the hotair balloon. In southwestern France, two brothers, Joseph and Étienne Montgolfier, papermakers, experimented with a large cell contrived of paper in which they could collect heated air. On 19 Sep 1783 the Montgolfiers sent aloft a balloon with a rooster, a duck, and a sheep, and on 21 November the first manned flight was made. Balloons gained importance as their flights increased into hundreds of miles, but they were essentially unsteerable. A former military man, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, spent much of his life after retiring in 1890 working with balloons, particularly on the steering problem. As his experimentation continued, hydrogen and illuminating gas were substituted for hot air, and a motor was mounted on a bag filled with gas that had been fitted with propellers and rudders. It was Zeppelin who first saw clearly that maintaining a steerable shape was essential, so he created a rigid but light frame. On 2 Jul 1900 Zeppelin undertook the first experimental flight of what he called an airship. The development of the dirigible went well until the docking procedure at Lakehurst NJ on 6 May 1937, when the Hindenburg burst into flames and exploded, with a loss of 36 lives. Public feeling about the craft made further development futile. It should be remembered, however, that neither balloons nor dirigibles had produced true flight: what they had done was harness the dynamics of the atmosphere to lift a craft off the ground, using what power (if any) they supplied primarily to steer. The first scientific exposition of the principles that ultimately led to the successful flight with a heavier-than-air device came in 1843 from Sir George Cayley, who is also regarded by many as the father of fixed-wing flight. It was Cayley who built the successful man-carrying glider that came closest to permitting real flight. Cayley’s work was built upon in the experiments and writings on gliders from the late 1800s by aviation pioneers Otto Lilienthal of Germany and Octave Chanute of the United States. The works of
H
Cayley, Lilienthal, and Chanute would eventually inspire and form the basis of the Wright brothers’ work. The Americans Wilbur and Orville Wright by 1902 had developed a fully practical biplane glider that could be controlled in every direction. Fitting a small engine and two propellers to another biplane, the Wrights on 17 Dec 1903 made the world’s first successful flight of a man-carrying, engine-powered, heavier-than-air craft at a site near Kitty Hawk NC. The Wright brothers’ success soon inspired successful aircraft designs and flights by others, and World War I (1914–18) further accelerated the expansion of aviation. Though initially used for aerial reconnaissance, aircraft were soon fitted with machine guns to shoot at other aircraft and with bombs to drop on ground targets; military aircraft with these types of missions and armaments became known, respectively, as fighters and bombers. By the 1920s the first small commercial airlines had begun to carry mail, and the increased speed and range of aircraft made nonstop flights over the world’s oceans, poles, and continents possible. In the 1930s more efficient monoplane aircraft with an all-metal fuselage and a retractable undercarriage became standard. Aircraft played a key role in World War II (1939–45), developing in size, weight, speed, power, range, and armament. The war marked the high point of piston-engined propeller craft while also introducing the first aircraft with jet engines, which could fly at higher speeds. Jet-engined craft became the norm for fighters in the late 1940s and proved their superiority as commercial transports beginning in the ’50s. The high speeds and low operating costs of jet airliners led to a massive expansion of commercial air travel in the second half of the 20th century. The next great aviation innovation after the jet engine was aircraft able to fly at supersonic speeds. The first was a Bell XS-1 rocket-powered research plane piloted by Maj. Charles E. Yeager of the US Air Force on 14 Oct 1947. The XS-1 broke the sound barrier at 1,066 km/hr (662 mph) and attained a top speed of 1,126 km/hr (700 mph). Thereafter many military aircraft capable of supersonic flight were built. The first supersonic, passenger-carrying, commercial airplane, the Concorde, was built jointly by aircraft manufacturers in Great Britain and France and was in regular commercial service between 1976 and 2003. In the 21st century aircraft manufacturers strove to produce larger planes. A huge new passenger airliner, the double-decker Airbus A380, with a passenger capacity of 555 (40% greater than the next largest airplane), was scheduled to begin commercial flights in late 2007.
Airlines in the US: Best On-Time Arrival Performance Source: US Department of Transportation, July 2007. AIRLINE
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
% OF ALL FLIGHTS
Hawaiian Airlines Aloha Airlines AirTran Airways Delta Air Lines Pinnacle Airlines Southwest Airlines SkyWest Airlines Mesa Airlines
92.8 88.4 85.5 84.0 83.6 83.2 80.9 80.1
AIRLINE
% OF ALL FLIGHTS
9 Atlantic Southeast Airlines 10 JetBlue Airways 11 Frontier Airlines 12 ExpressJet Airlines 13 Comair 14 Alaska Airlines 15 United Airlines
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
78.8 78.2 77.1 76.8 76.5 76.2 75.7
AIRLINE
% OF ALL FLIGHTS
16 Continental Airlines 17 Northwest Airlines 18 American Eagle Airlines 19 American Airlines 20 US Airways
75.1 74.6 73.4 71.0 67.9
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—WORLD’S BUSIEST AIRPORTS
173
US Aviation Safety, 1987–2006 2006 data are preliminary. Source: US National Transportation Safety Board.
YEAR
1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
NO. OF ACCIDENTS
34 30 28 24 26 18 23 23 36 37 49 50 51 56 46 41 54 30 40 31
US AIRLINES1 NO. OF ACCIDENTS WITH TOTAL NO. FATALITIES OF DEATHS
5 3 11 6 4 4 1 4 3 5 4 1 2 3 6 0 2 2 3 2
232 285 278 39 62 33 1 239 168 380 8 1 12 92 531 0 22 14 22 50
US GENERAL AVIATION
HOURS FLOWN
ALL ACCIDENTS
FATAL ACCIDENTS
TOTAL FATALITIES
HOURS FLOWN
10,645,192 11,140,548 11,274,543 12,150,116 11,780,610 12,359,715 12,706,206 13,124,315 13,505,257 13,746,112 15,838,109 16,816,555 17,555,208 18,299,257 17,814,191 17,290,198 17,467,700 18,882,503 19,390,029 19,560,000
2,494 2,388 2,242 2,242 2,197 2,111 2,064 2,021 2,056 1,908 1,845 1,905 1,905 1,837 1,727 1,715 1,740 1,619 1,669 1,515
446 460 432 444 439 451 401 404 413 361 350 365 340 345 325 345 352 314 321 303
837 797 769 770 800 867 744 730 735 636 631 625 619 596 562 581 633 559 563 698
26,972,000 27,446,000 27,920,000 28,510,000 27,678,000 24,780,000 22,796,000 22,235,000 24,906,000 24,881,000 25,591,000 25,518,000 29,246,000 27,838,000 25,431,000 25,545,000 25,998,000 24,888,000 23,168,000 22,800,000
1
Scheduled and nonscheduled service.
World’s Busiest Airports Ranked by total aircraft movement (takeoffs and landings), 2006. Source: Airports Council International (preliminary statistics). Web site: <www.airports.org>. RANK AIRPORT
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport O’Hare International Airport Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Los Angeles International Airport McCarran International Airport George Bush Intercontinental Airport Denver International Airport Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport Philadelphia International Airport Charlotte Douglas International Airport Frankfurt Airport Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport Heathrow Airport Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport Newark Liberty International Airport Amsterdam Airport Schiphol Madrid Barajas International Airport Salt Lake City International Airport Toronto Pearson International Airport Munich International Airport Boston Logan International Airport LaGuardia Airport Van Nuys Airport Miami International Airport Memphis International Airport Washington Dulles International Airport Beijing Capital International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport Long Beach Airport
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
LOCATION
AIRPORT CODE
Atlanta GA
ATL
TOTAL MOVEMENTS
976,447
Chicago IL Dallas/Fort Worth TX Los Angeles CA Las Vegas NV Houston TX Denver CO Paris, France Phoenix AZ Philadelphia PA Charlotte NC Frankfurt, Germany Detroit MI London, UK Minneapolis/St. Paul MN Newark NJ Amsterdam, Netherlands Madrid, Spain Salt Lake City UT Toronto, ON, Canada Munich, Germany Boston MA New York NY Los Angeles CA Miami FL Memphis TN Washington DC Beijing, China New York NY Long Beach CA
ORD DFW LAX LAS IAH DEN CDG PHX PHL CLT FRA DTW LHR MSP EWR AMS MAD SLC YYZ MUC BOS LGA VNY MIA MEM IAD PEK JFK LGB
958,643 700,409 656,842 619,486 602,672 597,290 541,566 541,273 515,809 509,559 489,406 481,740 477,029 475,600 444,075 440,163 435,018 420,643 418,244 411,335 406,119 399,036 394,915 385,538 384,823 379,280 376,340 375,377 369,708
174
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—GLOBAL TEMPERATURES
Meteorology Global Temperatures and Precipitation Listed in alphabetical order by city. For more information see <www.weatherbase.com>. OCT
AVERAGE ANNUAL PRECIPITATION LEVELS IN INCHES (MM)
27 (−2) 49 (9) 69 (20) 52 (11) 26 (−3) 57 (13) 79 (26) 57 (13) 75 (23) 62 (16) 50 (10) 61 (16) 57 (13) 71 (21) 83 (28) 75 (23) 55 (12) 60 (15) 73 (22) 66 (18) 63 (17) 54 (12) 44 (6) 53 (11) 81 (27) 84 (28) 83 (28) 82 (27) 63 (17) 80 (26) 96 (35) 85 (29) 62 (16) 76 (24) 86 (30) 78 (25) 71 (21) 76 (24) 82 (27) 78 (25) 46 (7) 59 (15) 73 (22) 66 (18) 69 (20) 61 (16) 52 (11) 64 (17) 44 (6) 68 (19) 89 (31) 64 (17) 74 (23) 71 (21) 64 (17) 65 (18) 51 (10) 58 (14) 73 (22) 64 (17) 39 (3) 46 (7) 62 (16) 51 (10) 69 (20) 69 (20) 68 (20) 69 (20) 16 (−8) 42 (5) 63 (17) 39 (3) 48 (8) 55 (12) 74 (23) 62 (16) 17 (−8) 25 (−3) 45 (7) 31 (0) 77 (25) 87 (31) 77 (25) 78 (26) 31 (0) 37 (2) 52 (11) 40 (4) 38 (3) 47 (8) 63 (17) 52 (11) 70 (21) 59 (15) 47 (8) 58 (14) 74 (23) 70 (21) 63 (17) 69 (20) −16 (−26) −69 (−56) −74 (−58) −58 (−50) 72 (22) 65 (18) 53 (11) 64 (17) 42 (5) 57 (13) 77 (25) 64 (17) 21 (−6) 44 (6) 70 (21) 48 (8) 23 (−5) 41 (5) 62 (17) 42 (6)
13.6 (346) 25.1 (630) 38.5 (970) 1 (25) 16.1 (400) 25.5 (640) 87.8 (2,230) 3.2 (80) 66.2 (1,682) 48.2 (1,225) 23 (580) 28.7 (720) 7.4 (180) 0.3 (7.6) 27.9 (708) 29.7 (750) 35.3 (890) 23.6 (590) 32.4 (820) 23.9 (600) 40.4 (1,027) 32.2 (810) N/A 13.4 (340) 53.2 (1,350) 0.1 (2.5) 44.5 (1,130) 60.2 (1,520) 30.1 (760) 26.3 (669)
CITY
JAN
Ankara, Turkey Beijing, China Buenos Aires, Argentina Cairo, Egypt Casablanca, Morocco Christchurch, New Zealand Colombo, Sri Lanka Doha, Qatar Hanoi, Vietnam Havana, Cuba Jerusalem, Israel Johannesburg, South Africa Kandahar, Afghanistan Lima, Peru Lisbon, Portugal London, UK Mbarara, Uganda Moscow, Russia Nice, France Nuuk, Greenland Pala, Chad Reykjavík, Iceland Rotterdam, The Netherlands Santiago, Chile São Paulo, Brazil South Pole, Antarctica Sydney, Australia Tokyo, Japan Toronto, ON, Canada Vilnius, Lithuania
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE °F (°C) APR JUL
N/A: not available.
World Temperature Extremes highest recorded air temperature REGION
PLACE (ELEVATION)
Africa
Al-AAziziyah, Libya (112 m [367 ft]; 13 Sep 1922) Antarctica Vanda Station, Scott Coast (15 m [49 ft]; 5 Jan 1974) Asia Tirat Zevi, Israel (−220 m [−722 ft]; 21 Jun 1942) Australia Cloncurry, Queensland (190 m [622 ft]; 16 Jan 1889) Europe Seville, Spain (8 m [26 ft]; 4 Aug 1881) North America Greenland Ranch, Death Valley, California (−54 m [−178 ft]; 10 Jul 1913) South America Rivadavia, Argentina (206 m [676 ft]; 11 Dec 1905) Tropical Pacific Tuguegarao, Philippines (22 m [72 ft]; 29 Apr 1912)
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
lowest recorded air temperature
°F
°C
136.0
57.8
59.0
15.0
129.0
53.9
128.0
53.3
122.0
50.0
134.0
56.7
120.0
48.9
108.0
42.2
PLACE (ELEVATION)
°F
°C
Ifrane, Morocco −11.0 −23.9 (1,635 m [5,364 ft]; 11 Feb 1935) Vostok, 78° 27″ S, −129.0 −89.4 106° 52″ E (3,420 m [11,220 ft]; 21 Jul 1983) Oymyakon, Russia (806 m −90.0 −67.8 [2,625 ft]; 6 Feb 1933) Charlotte Pass, New −9.4 −23.0 South Wales (1,755 m [5,758 ft]; 29 Jun 1994) Ust-Shchuger, Russia (85 m −67.0 −55.0 [279 ft]; exact date unknown) Snag, Yukon (646 m −81.4 −63.0 [2,120 ft]; 3 Feb 1947) Colonia, Sarmiento, Argentina (268 m [879 ft]; 1 Jun 1907) Haleakala, Hawaii (2,972 m [9,750 ft]; 17 May 1979)
−27.0 −32.8 12.0 −11.1
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—TEMPERATURE/PRECIPITATION
175
Normal Temperatures and Precipitation for Selected US Cities Statistics from city airports, 1971–2000. Alphabetical by state. Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Climatic Data Center, Asheville NC. CITY
Montgomery AL Anchorage AK Phoenix AZ Little Rock AR Los Angeles CA San Francisco CA Denver CO Hartford CT Wilmington DE Miami FL Atlanta GA Honolulu HI Boise ID Chicago IL1 Indianapolis IN Des Moines IA Topeka KS Louisville KY New Orleans LA Portland ME Baltimore MD Boston MA Detroit MI Minneapolis MN Jackson MS St. Louis MO Missoula MT Lincoln NE Las Vegas NV Concord NH Newark NJ Albuquerque NM New York NY2 Charlotte NC Fargo ND Cleveland OH Tulsa OK Portland OR Philadelphia PA Providence RI Charleston SC Rapid City SD Memphis TN Dallas TX3 Salt Lake City UT Burlington VT Richmond VA Seattle WA Charleston WV Milwaukee WI Casper WY
MEAN TEMPERATURE (°F) APR JUL
JAN
46.6 15.8 54.2 40.1 57.1 49.4 29.2 25.7 31.5 68.1 42.7 73.0 30.2 22.0 26.5 20.4 27.2 33.0 52.6 21.7 32.3 29.3 24.5 13.1 45.0 29.6 23.5 22.4 47.0 20.1 31.3 35.7 31.8 41.7 6.8 25.7 36.4 39.9 32.3 28.7 47.9 22.4 39.9 44.1 29.2 18.0 36.4 40.9 33.4 20.7 22.3
1
Data from O’Hare International Airport. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
64.3 36.3 70.2 61.4 60.8 56.2 47.6 48.9 52.4 75.7 61.6 75.6 50.6 47.8 52.0 50.6 54.5 56.4 68.2 43.7 53.2 48.3 48.1 46.6 63.4 56.6 45.2 51.2 66.0 44.6 52.3 55.6 50.1 60.9 43.5 47.6 60.8 51.2 53.1 48.6 64.2 44.7 62.1 65.0 50.0 43.5 57.1 50.2 54.3 45.2 42.7 2
81.8 58.4 92.8 82.4 69.3 62.8 73.4 73.7 76.6 83.7 80.0 80.8 74.7 73.3 75.4 76.1 78.4 78.4 82.7 68.7 76.5 73.9 73.5 73.2 81.4 80.2 66.9 77.8 91.2 70.0 77.2 78.5 74.8 80.3 70.6 71.9 83.5 68.1 77.6 73.3 81.7 71.7 82.5 85.0 77.0 70.6 77.9 65.3 73.9 72.0 70.0
OCT
ANNUAL PRECIPITATION (IN)
65.4 34.1 74.6 63.3 66.9 61.0 51.0 51.9 55.8 78.8 62.8 80.2 52.8 52.1 54.6 52.8 56.6 58.5 70.0 47.7 55.4 54.1 51.9 48.7 64.4 58.3 44.4 53.5 68.7 47.8 56.4 57.3 56.5 61.7 45.3 52.2 62.6 54.3 57.2 53.0 66.2 48.2 63.8 67.2 52.5 47.7 58.3 52.7 55.1 51.4 45.7
54.77 16.08 8.29 50.93 13.15 20.11 15.81 46.16 42.81 58.53 50.20 18.29 12.19 36.27 40.95 34.72 35.64 44.54 64.16 45.83 41.94 42.53 32.89 29.41 55.95 38.75 13.82 28.37 4.49 37.60 46.25 9.47 42.46 43.51 21.19 38.71 42.42 37.07 42.05 46.45 51.53 16.64 54.65 34.73 16.50 36.05 43.91 37.07 44.05 34.81 13.03
Data from John F. Kennedy International Airport.
3
Data from
The oldest detected meteorite impact on Earth occurred 3.47 billion years ago. The meteor left geochemical evidence of its impact in southern Africa and Australia and is thought to have been about 20 km (12 mi) wide. It would have taken less than two seconds to pass through the atmosphere and slam into the surface of the planet, causing immense tsunamis and devastating erosion to the ocean floor and small continents.
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—WIND CHILL TABLE
176
Indexes Wind Chill Table The wind chill index is based upon a formula that determines how cold the atmosphere feels by combining the temperature and wind speed and applying other factors. For more information, see <www.nws.noaa.gov/om/windchill/index.shtml>. CALM
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60
36 34 32 30 29 28 28 27 26 26 25 25
31 27 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 19 18 17
25 21 19 17 16 15 14 13 12 12 11 10
19 15 13 11 9 8 7 6 5 4 4 3
13 9 6 4 3 1 0 –1 –2 –3 –3 −4
7 3 0 –2 –4 –5 –7 –8 –9 –10 –11 –11
1 –4 –7 –9 –11 –12 –14 –15 –16 –17 –18 –19
WIND SPEED (MPH)
TEMPERATURE (°F) 5 0 –5
–5 –10 –13 –15 –17 –19 –21 –22 –23 –24 –25 –26
–11 –16 –19 –22 –24 –26 –27 –29 –30 –31 –32 –33
–16 –22 –26 –29 –31 –33 –34 –36 –37 –38 –39 –40
–10
–15
–20
–25
–30
–22 –28 –32 –35 –37 –39 –41 –43 –44 –45 –46 –48
–28 –35 –39 –42 –44 –46 –48 –50 –51 –52 –54 –55
–34 –41 –45 –48 –51 –53 –55 –57 –58 –60 –61 –62
–40 –47 –51 –55 –58 –60 –62 –64 –65 –67 –69 –69
–46 –53 –58 –61 –64 –67 –69 –71 –72 –74 –75 –76
Heat Index The Heat Index shows the effects of the combination of heat and humidity. Apparent temperature is the temperature as it feels to your body. For more information see <www.jeonet.com/heat.htm>. AIR TEMPERATURE (°F)
relative humidity 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
70
75
80
85
64 65 66 67 68 69 70 70 71 71 72
69 70 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80
73 75 77 78 79 81 82 85 86 88 91
78 80 82 84 86 88 90 93 97 102 108
90 95 100 apparent temperature 83 87 91 85 90 95 87 93 99 90 96 104 93 101 110 96 107 120 100 114 132 106 124 144 113 136 157 122 150 170 133 166
105
110
115
120
95 100 105 113 123 135 149
99 105 112 123 137 150
103 111 120 135 151
107 116 130 148
HEAT INDEX/HEAT DISORDERS
Heat Index 130°F or higher 105°–130°F 90°–105°F 80°–90°F
Possible heat disorders for people in higher risk groups* Heatstroke/sunstroke highly likely with continued exposure. Sunstroke, heat cramps, or heat exhaustion likely, and heatstroke possible with prolonged exposure and/or physical activity. Sunstroke, heat cramps, and heat exhaustion possible with prolonged exposure and/or physical activity. Fatigue possible with prolonged exposure and/or physical activity.
*Small children, the elderly, the chronically ill, those on certain medications or drugs (especially tranquilizers and anticholinergics), and persons with weight and alcohol problems are particularly susceptible to heat reactions, especially during heat waves in areas where moderate climate usually prevails.
Ultraviolet (UV) Index he Ultraviolet (UV) Index predicts the intensity of the sun’s ultraviolet rays. It was developed by the National Weather Service and the US Environmental Protection Agency to provide a daily forecast of the expected risk of overexposure to the sun. The Index is calculated on a next-day basis for dozens of cities across the US. Other local conditions, such as cloud cover, are taken into account in determining the UV Index number. UV Index numbers are: 0–2 (minimal exposure); 3–4 (low exposure); 5–6 (moderate exposure); 7–9 (high exposure); and 10 and over (very high exposure).
T
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Some simple precautions can be taken to reduce the risk of sun-related illness: limit time in the sun between 10 AM and 4 PM, when rays are generally the strongest; seek shade whenever possible; use a broad spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15; wear a wide-brimmed hat and, if possible, tightly woven, full-length clothing; wear UV-protective sunglasses; avoid sunlamps and tanning salons; and watch for the UV Index daily. The UV Index should not be used by seriously sun-sensitive individuals, who should consult their doctors and take additional precautions regardless of the exposure level.
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—DEADLIEST HURRICANES
177
Hurricanes Hurricane and Tornado Classifications The Saffir/Simpson Hurricane Scale1 is used to rank tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic Ocean and the eastern North Pacific. Category 1. Barometric pressure: 28.91 in or more; wind speed: 74–95 mph; storm surge: 4–5 ft; damage: minimal. Category 2. Barometric pressure: 28.50–28.91 in; wind speed: 96–110 mph; storm surge: 6–8 ft; damage: moderate. Category 3. Barometric pressure: 27.91–28.47 in; wind speed: 111–130 mph; storm surge: 9–12 ft; damage: extensive. Category 4. Barometric pressure: 27.17–27.88 in; wind speed: 131–155 mph; storm surge: 13–18 ft; damage: extreme. Category 5. Barometric pressure: less than 27.17 in; wind speed: 155 mph or more; storm surge: 18 ft or more; damage: catastrophic.
Tornado classifications. Tornado intensity is commonly estimated after the fact by analyzing damaged structures and then correlating the damage with the wind speeds known to produce various degrees of damage. Tornadoes are assigned specific values on the Fujita Scale, or F-Scale, of tornado intensity established by meteorologist T. Theodore Fujita. Categories: F0. Wind speed: 40–72 mph; damage: light. F1. Wind speed: 73–112 mph; damage: moderate. F2. Wind speed: 113–157 mph; damage: considerable. F3. Wind speed: 158–206 mph; damage: severe. F4. Wind speed: 207–260 mph; damage: devastating. F5. Wind speed: 261–318 mph; damage: incredible.
1
Published by permission of Herbert Saffir, consulting engineer, and Robert Simpson, meteorologist.
Hurricane Names Source: National Hurricane Center. n 1953, the National Hurricane Center developed a list of given names for Atlantic tropical storms. This list is now maintained by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Until 1979 only women’s names were used, but since then men’s and women’s names have alternated. There are six lists
I
currently in rotation, so names can be reused every six years. Any country affected by a hurricane, however, can request its name be retired for ten years. Also, if a storm has been particularly destructive, the WMO can remove it from the list and replace it with a different name.
Deadliest Hurricanes in the US Listed below, in order of number of deaths, are the 30 deadliest hurricanes to hit the US mainland 1900–2006. Hurricane names are given in parentheses after the location, when applicable. The list HURRICANE LOCATION
11 Galveston TX 12 Lake Okeechobee FL 3 southeast LA; MS; FL (Katrina) 14 New Orleans LA 15 southwest LA; north TX (Audrey) 16 Florida Keys 7 northeast US 18 FL; MS; AL 9 Grand Isle LA 10 south TX; Florida Keys 11 Galveston TX 12 MS; LA; VA (Camille) 12 New England 14 northeast US (Diane) 15 southeast FL 16 FL; MS; AL
YEAR CATEGORY
includes Atlantic/Gulf Coast hurricanes only. Source: National Hurricane Center. Web site: <www.nhc. noaa.gov/Deadliest_Costliest.shtml>.
DEATHS
HURRICANE LOCATION
1900 1928 2005
4 8,0001 4 2,5002 3 1,500
1915 1957
4 4
3
600 416
1935 1944 1926 1909 1919 1915 1969 1938 1955
5 3 4 3 4 4 5 3 1
408 3904 372 350 287 275 256 256 184
1906 1906
3 2
164 134
17 FL; northeast US (Agnes) 18 SC; NC (Hazel) 19 southeast FL; southeast LA (Betsy) 20 northeast US (Carol) 21 eastern US (Floyd) 22 southeast FL; LA; MS 23 FL; eastern US (Donna) 23 GA; SC; NC 25 TX (Carla) 26 Velasco TX 26 east Texas; southeast US (Allison) 28 Freeport TX 29 south TX 30 LA (Hilda)
1
YEAR CATEGORY
1
122
1954 1965
4 3
95 75
1954 1999 1947
3 2 4
60 56 51
1960
4
50
1940 1961 1909 2001
2 4 3 TS5
50 46 41 41
1932 1933 1964
4 3 3
40 40 38
Death toll may actually have been as high as 12,000. 2Death toll may have been as high as 3,000. of these lost on ships at sea. 4326 of these lost on ships at sea. 5Tropical storm.
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
DEATHS
1972
3
325
178
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—COSTLIEST HURRICANES
Costliest Hurricanes in the US This table shows cyclones that caused the most damage on the US mainland. For more information see <www.nhc.noaa.gov/Deadliest_Costliest.shtml>. Note: ranking numbers 19 and 30 on the list are repeated due to the equal damage amount in dollars of multiple separate hurricanes.
RANK
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
ESTIMATED DAMAGE ($), NOT ADJUSTED
DAMAGE IN CONSTANT 2006 DOLLARS
3 5
81,000,000,000 26,500,000,000
84,645,000,000 48,058,000,000
2005 2004 2004 2005 2004 1989 2004 2001 1999
3 4 3 3 2 4 3 TS1 2
20,600,000,000 15,000,000,000 14,200,000,000 11,300,000,000 8,900,000,000 7,000,000,000 6,900,000,000 5,000,000,000 4,500,000,000
21,527,000,000 16,322,000,000 15,541,000,000 11,808,000,000 9,684,000,000 13,480,000,000 7,508,000,000 6,414,000,000 6,342,000,000
2003 1996 1995 1979 2005 1972 1983 1991 1985 1969 1965
2 3 3 3 3 1 3 2 1 5 3
3,370,000,000 3,200,000,000 3,000,000,000 2,300,000,000 2,230,000,000 2,100,000,000 2,000,000,000 1,500,000,000 1,500,000,000 1,420,700,000 1,420,500,000
3,985,000,000 4,979,000,000 4,758,000,000 6,922,000,000 2,330,000,000 12,424,000,000 4,825,000,000 2,853,000,000 3,417,000,000 9,781,000,000 11,883,000,000
1985 1998 1985 2002 1955 1998 1998 1989 1998
3 2 32 1 1 2 2 TS1 TS1
1,250,000,000 1,155,000,000 900,000,000 860,000,000 831,700,000 720,000,000 700,000,000 500,000,000 500,000,000
2,848,000,000 1,645,000,000 2,050,000,000 1,249,000,000 7,700,000,000 1,025,000,000 997,000,000 962,857,000 712,143,000
1998 1992 1995 1989
3 3–4 2 4
1,800,000,000 1,800,000,000 1,500,000,000 1,000,000,000
2,276,000,000 2,576,000,000 1,900,000,000 1,502,000,000
HURRICANE (LOCATION)
YEAR
CATEGORY
Katrina (southeastern LA; MS; FL) Andrew (southeastern FL; southeastern LA) Wilma (southern FL) Charley (southwestern FL) Ivan (northwestern FL; AL) Rita (southwestern LA; TX; FL) Frances (FL) Hugo (SC) Jeanne (FL) Allison (northern TX) Floyd (mid-Atlantic US; northeastern US) Isabel (NC; eastern US) Fran (NC) Opal (northwestern FL; AL) Frederic (AL; MS) Dennis (northwestern FL) Agnes (FL; northeastern US) Alicia (northern TX) Bob (NC; northeastern US) Juan (LA) Camille (MS; southeastern LA; VA) Betsy (southeastern FL; southeastern LA) Elena (MS; AL; northwestern FL) Georges (Florida Keys; MS; AL) Gloria (eastern US) Lili (LA; MS) Diane (northeastern US) Bonnie (NC; VA) Erin (northwestern FL) Allison (northern TX) Frances (TX)
2005 1992
non-Atlantic or non–Gulf Coast systems 19 Georges (USVI; Puerto Rico) 19 Iniki (Kauai, Hawaii) 19 Marilyn (USVI; Puerto Rico) 25 Hugo (USVI; Puerto Rico) 1
Of tropical storm intensity but included because of high damage.
2
Moving more than 30 mph.
Geologic Disasters Measuring Earthquakes The seismologists Beno Gutenberg and Charles Francis Richter introduced measurement of the seismic energy released by earthquakes on a magnitude scale in 1935. Each increase of one unit on the scale represents a 10-fold increase in the magnitude of an earthquake. Seismographs are designed to measure
different components of seismic waves, such as wave type, intensity, and duration. This table shows the typical effects of earthquakes in various magnitude ranges. For further information, see <www.seismo.unr.edu/ftp/pub/louie/class/100/ma gnitude.html>.
MAGNITUDE
EARTHQUAKE EFFECTS
Less than 3.5 3.5–5.4 Less than 6.0
Generally not felt, but recorded. Often felt, but rarely causes damage. At most, slight damage to well-designed buildings. Can cause major damage to poorly constructed buildings over small regions. Can be destructive in areas up to about 100 km (61 mi) across where people live. Major earthquake. Can cause serious damage over larger areas. Great earthquake. Can cause serious damage in areas several hundred km across.
6.1–6.9 7.0–7.9 8 or greater
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—MAJOR EARTHQUAKES
179
Major Historical Earthquakes Magnitudes given for pre-20th-century events are generally estimations from intensity data. When no magnitude was available, the earthquake’s maximum intensity, written as a Roman numeral from I to XII, is given. YEAR (AD)
365 526 844 847 847 856 893 893 893 1042 1138 1201 1268 1290 1556 1667 1668 1693 1703 1727 1730 1731 1739 1755 1780 1783 1811 1835 1857 1868 1883 1905 1905 1906 1906 1906 1907 1908 1912 1915 1920 1923 1927 1932 1933 1935 1939
AFFECTED AREA
MAGNITUDE OR INTENSITY
DEATHS
Knossos, Crete, XI 50,000 Greece Antioch, Syria unknown 250,000 Damascus, Syria VIII 50,000 Damascus, Syria X 70,000 Mosul, Iraq unknown 50,000 Qumis, Damghan, unknown 200,000 Iran Daipur, India unknown 180,000 Ardabil, Iran unknown 150,000 Caucasus unknown 82,000 Palmyra, Baalbek, X 50,000 Syria Ganzah, Aleppo, unknown 230,000 Syria Upper Egypt or IX 1,100,000 Syria Cilicia, Anatolia, unknown 60,000 Turkey Chihli, China unknown 100,000 Shaanxi province, 8.0 830,000 China Shemakha, unknown 80,000 Azerbaijan Shandong province, XII 50,000 China Sicily, Italy 7.5 60,000 Jeddo, Japan unknown 200,000 Tabriz, Iran unknown 77,000 Hokkaido, Japan unknown 137,000 Beijing, China unknown 100,000 China X 50,000 Lisbon, Portugal; 8.7 70,000 Spain; Morocco Tabriz, Iran unknown 100,000 Calabria, Italy unknown 50,000 New Madrid MO 8.6 unknown northern Japan 7.6 28,300 Tejon Pass 8.3 unknown (Palmdale) CA Ecuador; Colombia 7.7 70,000 Java, Indonesia unknown 100,000 Calabria, Italy 7.9 2,500 Kangra, India 7.5 19,000 off the coast of Ecuador 8.8 1,000 Valparaíso, Chile 8.2 20,000 San Francisco CA 7.8 c. 3,000 southwestern Tajikistan 8.0 12,000 Calabria, Italy 7.2 70,000– 100,000 Sea of Marmara, Turkey 7.8 1,950 Abruzzi, Italy 7.0 29,980 Gansu province, 7.8 200,000 China Tokyo; Yokohama, Japan 7.9 143,000 Qinghai province, China 7.9 200,000 Gansu province, China 7.6 70,000 Sanriku, Japan 8.4 2,990 Quetta, Pakistan 7.5 30,000 Erzincan, Turkey 7.8 32,700
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
YEAR (AD)
1939 1944 1944 1945
AFFECTED AREA
MAGNITUDE OR INTENSITY
DEATHS
Chillán, Chile Nankaido, Japan San Juan, Argentina off the coast of Pakistan Tonankai, Japan Ashgabat, Turkmenistan China-India border, near Myanmar (Burma) Puerto Montt, Chile Agadir, Morocco
7.8 8.1 7.8 8.0
28,000 1,223 c. 8,000 4,000
8.1 7.3 8.6
1,330 110,000 1,526
9.5 5.7
1964 Prince William Sound AK 1968 Khorasan, Iran
8.3 7.3
1970 northern Peru 1970 southern Yunnan province, China 1972 Fars, Iran 1972 Managua, Nicaragua 1974 Yunnan province, China 1974 North-West Frontier, Pakistan 1975 Liaoning province, China 1976 Mindanao, Philippines 1976 Tangshan, China 1976 Guatemala City, Guatemala 1976 Turkey-Iran border 1977 Bucharest, Romania 1978 Khorasan, Iran 1979 Colombia; Ecuador 1980 El-Asnam, Algeria 1980 southern Italy 1985 Michoacán, Mexico
7.9 7.7
5,700 10,000– 15,000 131 12,000– 20,000 66,000 10,000
7.1 6.2 6.8 6.2
5,054 5,000 20,000 5,300
7.0 7.9 7.5 7.5
10,000 8,000 255,000 23,000
7.3 7.2 7.8 7.9 7.7 6.9 8.0
1988 Leninakan (Kumayri), Armenia 1990 Luzon, Philippines 1990 Rasht, Iran
5,000 1,581 15,000 579 5,000 3,114 9,500– 30,000 25,000
7.8 7.7
1946 1948 1950 1960 1960
1991 1992 1993 1995 1995 1997 1998 1999 1999 2001 2001 2003 2003 2004
6.8
northern India 7.1 Flores Island, Indonesia 7.5 Latur, India 6.2 Sakhalin Island, Russia 7.5 Kobe, Japan 6.9 eastern Iran 7.1 Feyzabad, Afghanistan 6.6 Taiwan 7.7 Golcuk, Turkey 7.6 El Salvador 7.7 Gujarat, India 7.6 northern Algeria 6.8 Bam, Iran 6.6 off the west coast of 9.1 northern Sumatra, Indonesia 2005 northern Sumatra, 8.6 Indonesia 2005 Kashmir, Pakistan 7.6 2006 Bantul, Indonesia 6.3
1,621 40,000– 50,000 2,000 2,500 9,748 2,000 5,502 1,560 4,000 2,400 17,118 844 20,085 2,266 26,200 283,106 1,313 80,361 5,749
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NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—TSUNAMI
Tsunami tsunami is a catastrophic ocean wave, usually caused by a submarine earthquake occurring less than 30 mi (50 km) beneath the seafloor, with a magnitude greater than 6.5. Underwater or coastal landslides or volcanic eruptions also may cause a tsunami. The often-used term tidal wave is a misnomer: the wave has no connection with the tides. After the earthquake or other generating impulse, a train of simple, progressive oscillatory waves is propagated great distances at the ocean surface in everwidening circles, much like the waves produced by a pebble falling into a shallow pool. In deep water, the wavelengths are enormous, about 60 to 125 mi (100 to 200 km), and the wave heights are very small, only 1 to 2 ft (0.3 to 0.6 m). The resulting wave steepness is extremely low; coupled with the waves’ long periods that vary from five minutes to an hour, this enables
A
normal wind waves and swell to completely obscure the waves in deep water. Thus, a ship in the open ocean experiences the passage of a tsunami as an insignificant rise and fall. As the waves approach the continental coasts, friction with the increasingly shallow bottom reduces the velocity of the waves. The period must remain constant; consequently, as the velocity lessens, the wavelengths become shortened and the wave amplitudes increase, coastal waters rising as high as 100 feet (30 m) in 10 to 15 minutes. By a poorly understood process, the continental shelf waters begin to oscillate after the rise in sea level. Between three and five major oscillations generate most of the damage; the oscillations cease, however, only several days after they begin. Occasionally, the first arrival of a tsunami at a coast may be a trough, the water receding and exposing the shallow seafloor.
Deadly Volcano Eruptions Casualty figures are approximate. VOLCANO (LOCATION)
Tambora (Indonesia) Krakatoa (Indonesia) Pelée (Martinique) Ruiz (Colombia) Etna (Italy) Unzen (Japan) Kelud (Indonesia) Laki (Iceland) Kelud (Indonesia) Vesuvius (Italy) Awu (Indonesia) Raung (Indonesia)
YEAR CASUALTIES
92,0001 36,0001 30,000 25,0002 20,000 15,000 10,000 9,000 5,000 3,360 3,200 3,000
1815 1883 1902 1985 1669 1792 1586 1783 1919 79 1711 1638
1
Includes tidal wave triggered by eruption.
VOLCANO (LOCATION)
YEAR CASUALTIES
Raung (Indonesia) Lamington (Papua New Guinea) Awu (Indonesia) Taal, Luzon (Philippines) Taal, Luzon (Philippines) Etna (Italy) Paricutín (Mexico) Purace (Colombia) Pinatubo (Philippines) El Chichón (Mexico) St. Helens (Washington, US)
2
Includes mudflow triggered by eruption.
1730 1951 1856 1906 1911 1536 1949 1949 1991 1982 1980
3,000 3,000 2,800 1,500 1,300 1,000 1,000 1,000 350 100 663
3
Includes persons missing.
Civil Engineering The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World he seven wonders of the ancient world were considered to be the preeminent architectural and sculptural achievements of the Mediterranean and Middle East. The best known are those of the 2nd-century-BC writer Antipater of Sidon. Some early lists included the Walls of Babylon or the Palace of King Cyrus of Persia, but the established list usually contained the following: Pyramids of Giza. The oldest of the wonders and the only one substantially in existence today, the pyramids of Giza were erected c. 2575–c. 2465 BC on the west bank of the Nile River near Al-Jizah in northern Egypt. The designations of the pyramids—Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure—correspond to the kings for whom they were built. Khufu (also called the Great Pyramid) is the largest of the three, the length of each side at the base averaging 230 m (755 ¾ ft). Its original height was 147 m (481.4 ft); none of the pyramids reach their original heights because they have been almost entirely stripped of their outer casings of smooth white limestone. According to Herodotus, the Great Pyramid took 20 years to construct and demanded the labor of 100,000 men.
T
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Hanging Gardens of Babylon. A series of landscaped terraces ascribed to either Queen Sammu-ramat (810–783 BC) or King Nebuchadrezzar II (c. 605–c. 561 BC), the gardens were built within the walls of the royal palace at Babylon (in present-day southern Iraq). They did not actually “hang” but were instead “up in the air”—that is, they were roof gardens laid out on a series of ziggurat terraces that were irrigated by pumps from the Euphrates River. Although no traces of the Hanging Gardens have been found, classical authors related that the terraces were roofed with stone balconies on which were layered various materials, such as reeds, bitumen, and lead, so that the irrigation water would not seep through them. Statue of Zeus. A large, ornate figure of Zeus on his throne, this wonder was made around 430 BC by Phidias of Athens. It was placed in the huge Temple of Zeus at Olympia in western Greece. The statue, almost 12 m (40 ft) high and plated with gold and ivory, represented the god sitting on an elaborate cedarwood throne ornamented with ebony, ivory, gold, and precious stones. On his outstretched right hand was a statue of Nike (Victory), and in the god’s left hand was
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—TALLEST BUILDINGS a scepter on which an eagle was perched. The statue, which took eight years to construct, may have been destroyed along with the temple in AD 426, or in a fire at Constantinople (Istanbul) about 50 years later. Temple of Artemis. The great temple was built by Croesus, king of Lydia, in about 550 BC and was rebuilt after being burned by a madman named Herostratus in 356 BC. The artemesium was famous not only for its great size (over 110 by 55 m [350 by 80 ft]) but also for the magnificent works of art that adorned it. It was destroyed by invading Goths in AD 262 and was never rebuilt. Little remains of the temple, but excavation has revealed traces of it, and copies survive of the famous statue of Artemis. A mummylike figure, this early representation of the goddess stands stiffly straight, with her hands extended outward. The original statue was made of gold, ebony, silver, and black stone, the legs and hips covered by a garment decorated with reliefs of animals and bees and the head adorned with a high-pillared headdress. Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. Monumental tomb of Mausolus, the tyrant of Caria in southwestern Asia Minor, the mausoleum was built between about 353 and 351 BC by Mausolus’ sister and widow, Artemisia. The architect was Pythius (Pytheos), and the sculptures that adorned the building were the work of four leading Greek artists. According to the description of Pliny the Elder, the monument was almost square, with a total periphery of 125 m (411 ft). It was bounded by 36 columns, and the top formed a 24-step pyramid surmounted by a four-horse marble chariot. Fragments of the mausoleum’s sculpture are preserved
181
in the British Museum. The mausoleum was probably destroyed by an earthquake between the 11th and 15th century AD, and the stones were reused in local buildings. Colossus of Rhodes. This huge bronze statue was built at the harbor of Rhodes in ancient Greece in commemoration of the raising of the siege of Rhodes (305–304 BC). The sculptor was Chares of Lyndus, and the statue was made of bronze, reinforced with iron, and weighted with stones. The Colossus was said to be 70 cubits (32 m [105 ft]) high and stood beside Mandrákion harbor. It is technically impossible that the statue could have straddled the harbor entrance, and the popular belief that it did so dates only from the Middle Ages. The Colossus took 12 years to build (c. 294–282 BC) and was toppled by an earthquake about 225 BC. The fallen Colossus was left in place until AD 654, when Arabian forces raided Rhodes and had the statue broken up and the bronze sold for scrap. Pharos of Alexandria. The most famous lighthouse of the ancient world, it was built by Sostratus of Cnidus, perhaps for Ptolemy I Soter, but was finished during the reign of his son, Ptolemy II of Egypt, about 280 BC. The lighthouse stood on the island of Pharos off Alexandria and is said to have been more than 100 m (350 ft) high; the only taller man-made structures at the time would have been the pyramids of Giza. It was a technological triumph and is the archetype of all lighthouses since. According to ancient sources, a broad spiral ramp led to the top, where a fire burned at night. The lighthouse was destroyed by an earthquake in the 1300s. In 1994 a large amount of masonry blocks and statuary was found in the waters off Pharos.
25 Tallest Buildings in the World Building height equals the distance from the sidewalk level of the main entrance to the structural top of the building, including spires. Source: Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. RANK
BUILDING
CITY
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Taipei 101 Petronas Tower 1 Petronas Tower 2 Sears Tower Jin Mao Building Two International Finance Centre CITIC Plaza Shun Hing Square Empire State Building Central Plaza Bank of China Emirates Tower One Tuntex Sky Tower Aon Centre The Center John Hancock Center Shimao International Plaza Q1 Burj Al Arab Chrysler Building Nina Tower I Bank of America Plaza US Bank Tower Menara Telekom Headquarters Emirates Tower Two
Taipei, Taiwan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Chicago IL Shanghai, China Hong Kong, China Guangzhou, China Shenzhen, China New York NY Hong Kong, China Hong Kong, China Dubai, UAE Kaohsiung, Taiwan Chicago IL Hong Kong, China Chicago IL Shanghai, China Gold Coast, QLD, Australia Dubai, UAE New York NY Hong Kong, China Atlanta GA Los Angeles CA Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Dubai, UAE
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
YEAR COMPLETED
HEIGHT IN FT/M
STORIES
2004 1998 1998 1974 1999 2003 1996 1996 1931 1992 1989 1999 1997 1973 1998 1969 2006 2005 1999 1930 2006 1993 1990 1999 2000
1,667/508 1,483/452 1,483/452 1,451/442 1,381/421 1,362/415 1,283/391 1,260/384 1,250/381 1,227/374 1,205/367 1,165/355 1,140/348 1,136/346 1,135/346 1,127/344 1,093/333 1,058/323 1,053/321 1,046/319 1,046/319 1,039/317 1,018/310 1,017/310 1,014/309
101 88 88 110 88 88 80 69 102 78 70 54 85 83 73 100 60 78 60 77 80 55 73 55 56
182
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—LONGEST BRIDGES
World’s Longest-Span Structures by Type Bridges SUSPENSION
LOCATION
Akashi Kaikyo Kobe–Awaji Island, Japan part of eastern link between islands of Honshu and Shikoku Store Baelt (Great Belt) Zealand–Funen, Denmark part of link between Copenhagen and mainland Europe Nancha Zhenjiang, China world’s third longest suspension bridge Humber near Hull, England crosses Humber estuary between Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Jiangyin Jiangsu province, China crosses Chang Jiang (Yangtze River) near Shanghai Tsing Ma Hong Kong, China connects Hong Kong city with airport on Landao Island Verrazano-Narrows New York NY spans New York Harbor between Brooklyn and Staten Island Golden Gate San Francisco CA spans entrance to San Francisco Bay Höga Kusten (High Coast) Kramfors, Sweden crosses Angerman River on scenic coastal route in northern Sweden Mackinac Mackinaw City–St. Ignace MI spans Mackinac Straits between upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan
YEAR OF COMPLETION
MAIN SPAN (M)
1998
1,991
1998
1,624
2005
1,490
1981
1,410
1999
1,385
1997
1,377
1964
1,298
1937
1,280
1997
1,210
1957
1,158
1999
890
CABLE-STAYED (STEEL)
Tatara Onomichi–Imabari, Japan part of western link between islands of Honshu and Shikoku Normandie near Le Havre, France crosses Seine estuary between upper and lower Normandy Nanjing Yangtze Sanqiao Nanjing, China world’s third longest cable-stayed bridge Nancha Nanjing, China southern span of Second Nanjing Yangtze Bridge Wuhan Baishazhou Hubei province, China provides third crossing of Chang Jiang (Yangtze River) in city of Wuhan Rion–Antirion near Patrai, Greece (Gulf of Corinth) world’s second largest cable-stayed bridge Millau Viaduct Tarn Gorge, France world’s highest bridge (270 m) and longest cable-stayed bridge (2,460 m)
1995
856
2005
648
2001
628
2000
618
2004
560
2004
342
ARCH
steel Lupu Shanghai, China 2003 crosses Huangpujiang (Huang-p’u River) between central Shanghai and Pudong New District New River Gorge Fayetteville WV 1977 provides road link through scenic New River Gorge National River area Bayonne Bayonne NJ–New York NY 1931 spans the Kill Van Kull between New Jersey and Staten Island Sydney Harbour Sydney, NSW, Australia 1932 links the City of Sydney with North Sydney concrete Wanxian Sichuan province, China 1997 crosses Chang Jiang (Yangtze River) in Three Gorges area Krk I Krk Island, Croatia 1980 links scenic Krk Island with mainland Croatia Jiangjiehe Guizhou province, China 1995 spans gorge of Wujiang (Wu River)
550 518 504 503 420 390 330
CANTILEVER
steel truss Pont de Québec Quebec City, QC, Canada provides rail crossing over St. Lawrence River Forth Queensferry, Scotland provides rail crossing over Firth of Forth Minato Osaka–Amagasaki, Japan carries road traffic across Osaka’s harbor Commodore John J. Barry Bridgeport NJ–Chester PA provides road crossing over Delaware River
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1917
549
1890 1974
2 spans, each 521 510
1974
501
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—LONGEST BRIDGES
183
World’s Longest-Span Structures by Type (continued) CANTILEVER (CONTINUED)
prestressed concrete LOCATION Shibanpo-2 Chongqing, China world’s longest prestressed-concrete box girder bridge Stolmasundet Austevoll, Norway links islands of Stolmen and Sjelbörn south of Bergen Raftsundet Lofoten, Norway crosses Raft Sound in arctic Lofoten Islands Sundøy Leirfjord, Norway links Alsten Island to mainland Norway
YEAR OF COMPLETION
MAIN SPAN (M)
2006
336
1998
301
1998
298
2003
298
BEAM
steel truss Ikitsuki Ohashi Nagasaki prefecture, Japan 1991 connects islands of Iki and Hirado off northwest Kyushu Astoria Astoria OR 1966 carries Pacific Coast Highway across Columbia River between Oregon and Washington Francis Scott Key Baltimore MD 1977 spans Patapsco River at Baltimore Harbor Oshima Yamaguchi prefecture, Japan 1976 links Yanai City and Oshima Island steel plate and box girder Presidente Costa e Silva Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil 1974 crosses Guanabara Bay between Rio de Janeiro and suburb of Niterói Neckartalbrücke-1 Weitingen, Germany 1978 carries highway across Neckar River Valley Brankova Belgrade, Serbia 1956 provides road crossing of Sava River between Old and New Belgrade Ponte de Vitória-3 Espírito Santo state, Brazil 1989 provides road link to state capital on Vitória Island
400 376 366 325 300 263 261 260
MOVABLE
vertical lift Arthur Kill Elizabeth NJ–New York NY 1959 provides rail link between port of Elizabeth and Staten Island Cape Cod Canal Cape Cod MA 1935 provides rail crossing over waterway near Buzzard’s Bay Delair Delair NJ–Philadelphia PA 1960 provides rail link across Delaware River between Philadelphia and South Jersey shore Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial New York NY 1937 carries road traffic over mouth of Jamaica Bay between Brooklyn and the Rockaways, Queens swing span Al-Firdan (El-Ferdan) Suez Canal, Egypt 2001 provides road and rail link between Sinai Peninsula and eastern Nile Delta region Santa Fe Fort Madison IA–Niota IL 1927 provides road and rail crossing of Mississippi River
170 166 165 165 340 160
BASCULE
South Capitol Street/Frederick Washington DC Douglass Memorial carries road traffic over Anacostia River Sault Sainte Marie Sault Sainte Marie MI–Ontario, Canada connects rail systems of United States and Canada Charles Berry Lorain OH carries road traffic over Black River Market Street/Chief John Ross Chattanooga TN carries road traffic over Tennessee River
1949 1941
102
1940
101
1917
94
Causeways (fixed link over water only) Lake Pontchartrain-2 Metairie–Mandeville LA 1969 carries northbound road traffic from suburbs of New Orleans to north lakeshore Lake Pontchartrain-1 Mandeville–Metairie LA 1956 carries southbound road traffic from north lakeshore to suburbs of New Orleans King Fahd Causeway Bahrain–Saudi Arabia 1986 carries road traffic across Gulf of Bahrain in Persian Gulf Confederation Bridge Borden-Carleton, PE–Cape Jourimain, NB, 1997 carries road traffic over Canada Northumberland Strait
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118
38,422 38,352 24,950 12,900
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NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—TYPES
OF
BRIDGES
COMPLETED
USE
The World’s 25 Longest Tunnels TUNNEL
LOCATION
LENGTH IN KM (MI)
Seikan Japan 53.9 (33.5) 1988 railway passes under the Tsugaru Strait between islands of Honshu and Hokkaido Channel Tunnel (Eurotunnel) UK–France 50.5 (31.4) 1994 railway passes under English Channel between Folkestone (UK) and Sangatte (France) Lötschberg Base Switzerland 34.6 (21.5) 2007 railway world’s longest land tunnel (under Alps between Frutigen and Raron) Guadarrama Spain 28.4 (17.6) 2007 railway on high-speed rail line between Madrid and Valladolid Iwate-Ichinohe Japan 25.8 (15.7) 2002 railway carries Tohoku high-speed line through mountains between Tokyo and northern Honshu Lærdal Norway 24.5 (15.3) 2000 highway carries main cross-country highway through mountains in central Norway Dai-Shimizu Japan 22.2 (13.8) 1982 railway on Joetsu “Bullet” Line across Honshu between Tokyo and Niigata Wushaoling I and II (dual-bore) China 21.0 (13.1) 2006 railway between Lanzhou and Wuwei Simplon I Italy–Switzerland 19.8 (12.3) 1906 railway Simplon II Italy–Switzerland 19.8 (12.3) 1922 railway rail links under Simplon Pass, traditional divide between northern and southern Europe Vereina Switzerland 19.1 (11.9) 1999 railway rail link under Flüela Pass between upper Rhine and lower Engadin valleys Shin-Kanmon Japan 18.7 (11.6) 1975 railway carries Sanyo high-speed line under Kanmon Strait between islands of Honshu and Kyushu Great Apennine Italy 18.5 (11.5) 1934 railway rail link through mountains between Bologna and Florence Qinling China 18.5 (11.5) 2001 railway traverses Qinling (Tsinling) Mountains, historic barrier between northern and southern China Zhongnanshan China 18.0 (11.2) 2007 highway world’s longest double-tube four-lane highway tunnel St. Gotthard Switzerland 16.9 (10.5) 1980 highway links Uri and Ticino cantons under St. Gotthard Pass Rokko Japan 16.3 (10.1) 1972 railway carries Sanyo high-speed line through Rokko Mountains near Kobe Furka Switzerland 15.4 (9.6) 1982 railway carries scenic Glacier Express Line under Furka Pass Haruna Japan 15.4 (9.6) 1982 railway on Joetsu “Bullet” Line across Honshu between Tokyo and Niigata Severomuyskiy Russia 15.3 (9.5) 2001 railway on the Baikal–Amur Line to the northeast of Lake Baikal
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NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—LARGEST DAMS
185
The World’s 25 Longest Tunnels (continued) TUNNEL
LOCATION
LENGTH IN KM (MI)
COMPLETED
Gorigamine Japan 15.2 (9.4) 1997 on the Hokuriku high-speed line between Takasaki and Nagano Monte Santomarco Italy 15.0 (9.3) 1987 tunnel in Calabria between Paola and Cosenza St. Gotthard Switzerland 15.0 (9.3) 1882 carries Luzern–Milan line under St. Gotthard Pass between Uri and Ticino cantons Nakayama Japan 14.9 (9.2) 1982 on Joetsu “Bullet” Line across Honshu between Tokyo and Niigata Mount MacDonald BC, Canada 14.7 (9.2) 1988 longest tunnel in Western Hemisphere; in Canada’s Glacier National Park
USE
railway railway railway railway railway
World’s Largest Dams Source: International Water Power and Dam Construction Yearbook (1996). NAME
TYPE*
DATE OF COMPLETION
RIVER
COUNTRY
by height Nurek Grand Dixence Inguri Vaiont1 Chicoasen Tehri Mauvoisin
E G A A ER ER A
1980 1961 1980 1961 1980 20022 1957
Vakhsh Dixence Inguri Vaiont Grijalva Bhagirathi Drance de Bagnes
Tajikistan Switzerland Georgia Italy Mexico India Switzerland
by volume Syncrude Tailings New Cornelia Tailings Tarbela Fort Peck Lower Usuma Tucurui Ataturk
by size of reservoir Owen Falls Kakhovsk Kariba Bratsk Aswan High Akosombo Daniel Johnson Guri (Raúl Leoni)
by power capacity Itaipú Guri (Raúl Leoni) Grand Coulee Sayano-Shushenskoye Krasnoyarsk Churchill Falls La Grande 2 Three Gorges
E E ER E E EGR ER
G EG A EG ER ER M EGR
EGR EGR G GA G E R G
N/A 1973 1976 1937 1990 1984 1990
1954 1955 1959 1964 1970 1965 1968 1986
1983 1986 1942 1989 1968 1971 1979 2003
height (m) 300 285 272 262 261 261 250 volume (’000 cubic m) 540,000 209,500 106,000 96,050 93,000 85,200 84,500
…3 Ten Mile Wash Indus Missouri Usuma Tocantins Euphrates
Canada US Pakistan US Nigeria Brazil Turkey
Victoria Nile Dnieper Zambezi Angara Nile Volta Manicouagan Caroní
reservoir capacity (’000 cubic m) Uganda 2,700,000,0004 Ukraine 182,000,000 Zimbabwe–Zambia 180,600,000 Russia 169,270,000 Egypt 168,900,000 Ghana 153,000,000 Canada 141,852,000 Venezuela 138,000,000
Paraná Caroní Columbia Yenisey Yenisey Churchill LaGrande Yangtze
Brazil–Paraguay Venezuela US Russia Russia Canada Canada China
power capacity (megawatts) 13,320 10,055 6,809 6,400 6,000 5,428 5,328 4,970
*Key: A, arch; B, buttress; E, earth fill; G, gravity; M, multi-arch; R, rock fill. N/A indicates “not available.” 1Vaiont Dam was the scene of a massive landslide and flood in 1963 and no longer operates. Diversion tunnels closed and reservoir filling begun December 2002. 3Near Fort McMurray AB. 4Most of this reservoir is a natural lake.
2
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186
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—CIVIL ENGINEERING PROJECTS
Notable Civil Engineering Projects (in progress or completed as of December 2006) YEAR OF COMPLETION
NAME
LOCATION
airports Beijing Capital (Terminal 3) New Doha International
terminal area (sq m) northeast of Beijing 904,000 near Doha, Qatar 140,000
Heathrow (new Terminal 5)
southwest of London 70,000
bridges
length (main span; m) near Jiaxing, China– 2,600 near Cixi, China
Hangzhou Bay I-95 (Woodrow Wilson #2) Sutong Stonecutters buildings Burj (“Tower”) Dubai Freedom Tower
Alexandria VA– 1,829 Maryland suburbs each of Washington DC Nantong, China 1,088 (100 km from Yangtze mouth) Hong Kong 1,018 height (m) Dubai, United Arab 805 Emirates New York City 541 (1,776 ft)
Shanghai World Financial Center
Shanghai
492
Union Square Phase 7
Hong Kong
474
dams and hydrologic projects crest length (m) Three Gorges (3rd phase) west of Yichang, 1,983 China Sardar Sarovar (Narmada) Project
Narmada River, 1,210 Madhya Pradesh, India Bakun Hydroelectric Project Balui River, Sarawak, 740 Borneo, Malaysia Caruachi (3rd of 5-dam Lower Caroní River, northern 360 Caroní Development scheme) Bolívar, Venezuela Belo Monte Xingù River, Pará state, ? Brazil Project Moses (floodprotection plan)
lagoon openings near Venice
highways Golden Quadrilateral superhighway
length (km) Mumbai– 5,846 Chennai–Kolkata– Delhi, India Annaba–Tlemcen, 1,216 Algeria Kabul–Kandahar– 1,048 Herat, Afghanistan
East–West Highway Highway 1
land reclamation The Palms (“Jumeirah, Jebel Ali, and Deira islands”)
—
area (sq km) in the Persian Gulf, 20, 44, near Dubai, UAE and 94
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
NOTES
2007 to be world’s largest terminal 2009 first airport built for Airbus A380-800 (world’s largest passenger plane) 2008 biggest construction project in the UK from 2002
2008 to be world’s longest transoceanic bridge/ causeway; begun 2003 2006–08 2 bascule spans forming higher inverted V shape for ships; begun 2000 2008 to have world’s longest cablestayed main span 2008 to be world’s longest cablestayed bridge 2008
to be the world’s tallest building 2011 to be tallest building in North America 2007 begun 1997, resumed 2003; to be the world’s 2nd tallest building 2007 begun 2002; 16-building complex 2008 to create world’s largest reservoir (620 km long) beginning 2003 and 1⁄9 of national total generated power 2007 largest dam of controversial 30-dam project; drinking water for Gujarat 2008 to be world’s largest concretefaced rockfill dam 2003–06 hydroelectric generation began 28 Feb 2003 2008 to be 3rd largest dam in the world in terms of electricity output 2011 rows of 79 20-m-wide submerged gates in three lagoon openings will rise in flood conditions 2007
upgrade to 4 lanes; Mumbai–Delhi (2005), Delhi–Kolkata (2007) 2009 to facilitate trade across North Africa 2007 final, 556-km Kandahar–Herat section 80% complete in November 2006 2007–09
3 date-palm-tree-shaped arrays of ultraexclusive islands
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—CIVIL ENGINEERING PROJECTS
187
Notable Civil Engineering Projects (in progress or completed as of December 2006) (continued) NAME
YEAR OF COMPLETION
LOCATION
land reclamation (continued) area (sq km) The World in the Persian c. 56 Gulf,near Dubai, UAE railways (heavy) Trans-Kazakhstan Qinghai–Tibet Xi’an–Nanjing
length (km) Dostyq (Druzhba), 3,943 Kazakhstan– Gorgan, Iran China: Golmud, 1,142 Qinghai–Lhasa, Tibet China: Xi’an, Shaanxi– 1,129 Nanjing, Jiangsu
NOTES
2008
300 private artificial islands arrayed as a map of the world
2008
China to Europe link, bypassing Russia and Uzbekistan; 3,083 km in Kazakhstan world’s highest railway (5,072 m at summit); 86% above 4,000 m for economic growth in interior; 954-km Xi’an-Hefei section finished 2003 for agricultural exports from Mato Grosso (Brazil interior)
2007 2007
Ferronorte (extension to Rondonópolis)
Alto Araguaia– Rondonópolis, Brazil
270
2007
railways (high speed) Spanish high speed (second line)
length (km) Madrid, Spain–France 719 (via Barcelona)
2009
Italian high speed
Turin–Naples, Italy
844
2009
Korea Train Express (KTX)
Seoul–Pusan, South Korea
412
2008
Taiwan high speed
Hsi-chih–Tso-ying, Taiwan
345
2007
Eastern France high speed
eastern outskirts of Paris–near Metz, France near Folkestone, England–central London
300
2007
109
2007
74-km section (Folkestone– north Kent) opened 16 Sep 2003
2010
9-line system planned
Channel Tunnel Rail Link
subways/metros/light rails Guangzhou Metro (including suburbs) Shanghai Metro
length (km) Guangzhou (Canton), 313.9 China Shanghai 147.4
Shenzhen Metro
Shenzhen, China (adjacent to Hong Kong) Dubai, UAE
Dubai Metro (Red and Green Lines) Barcelona Metro (Line 9) tunnels Apennine Range tunnels (9) Lötschberg #2 Guadarrama
airport–northeast Barcelona Bologna–Florence, Italy (high-speed railway) Frutigen–Raron, Switzerland 50 km northnorthwest of Madrid
1 m=3.28 ft; 1 km=0.62 mi
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
...
78.1
2010
69.7
2010
47.0
2011
length (m) 73,400
2008
34,577
2007
28,377
2007
to reach Barcelona in 2007; Madrid–Lleida corridor opened 11 Oct 2003 high- speed route to link the major cities of Italy from north to south will connect largest and 2nd largest cities; to Taegu as of 1 Apr 2004 links Taiwan’s two largest cities; opened January 2007 106-km extension to Strasbourg in planning stage
18-line system planned; 9 lines under construction in 2007 construction of Lines 2 and 3; extension of Lines 1 and 4 to be world’s longest fully automated driverless transport system connects to other metro lines and future high-speed rail longest tunnel (Vaglia, 18.6 km); tunnels to cover 93% of railway to be world’s 3rd longest rail tunnel; France–Italy link to be world’s 4th longest rail tunnel; Valladolid highspeed link
188
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—TAXONOMY
Life on Earth Taxonomy axonomy is the classification of living and extinct organisms. The term is derived from the Greek taxis (“arrangement”) and nomos (“law”) and refers to the methodology and principles of systematic botany and zoology by which the various kinds of plants and animals are arranged in hierarchies of superior and subordinate groups. Popularly, classifications of living organisms arise according to need and are often superficial; for example, although the term fish is common to the names shellfish, crayfish, and starfish, there are more anatomical differences between a shellfish and a starfish than there are between a bony fish and a human. Also, vernacular names vary widely. Biologists have attempted to view all living organisms with equal thoroughness and thus have devised a formal classification. A formal classification supports a rel-
T
Kingdom Phylum/Division Class Order Family Genus Species
atively uniform and internationally understood nomenclature, thereby simplifying cross-referencing and retrieval of information. Carolus Linnaeus, who is usually regarded as the founder of modern taxonomy and whose books are considered the beginning of modern botanical and zoological nomenclature, drew up rules for assigning names to plants and animals and was the first to use binomial nomenclature consistently, beginning in 1758. Classification since Linnaeus has incorporated newly discovered information and more closely approaches a natural system, and the process of clarifying relationships continues to this day. The table below shows the seven ranks that are accepted as obligatory by zoologists and botanists and sample listings for animals and plants.
ANIMALS
PLANTS
Animalia Chordata Mammalia Primates Hominidae Homo Homo sapiens (human)
Plantae Tracheophyta Pteropsida Coniferales Pinaceae Pinus Pinus strobus (white pine)
Animals Period of Gestation and Longevity of Selected Mammals ANIMAL
AVERAGE GESTATION (DAYS)
AVERAGE LONGEVITY (YEARS)
219 225 240 63 61 645 52 68 238
18 25 20 12 12 40 7 4 25–30
bear (black) bear (grizzly) bear (polar) cat (domestic) dog (domestic) elephant (Asian) fox (red) guinea pig hippopotamus
ANIMAL
horse human (worldwide)
AVERAGE GESTATION (DAYS)
AVERAGE LONGEVITY (YEARS)
330 266–70
20 Men: 64.7; Women: 68.9 15 3 10 5 12 9–10
monkey (rhesus) mouse (domestic white) pig (domestic) rabbit (domestic) sheep (domestic) squirrel (gray)
164 19 112 31 154 44
Names of the Male, Female, Young, and Group of Animals ANIMAL
MALE
FEMALE
YOUNG
GROUP
ape bear camel cattle chicken
male boar bull bull rooster
female sow cow cow hen
deer donkey elephant ferret fox giraffe goat gorilla
buck, stag jack, jackass bull hob reynard bull buck, billy male
doe jennet, jenny cow jill vixen doe doe, nanny female
baby cub calf calf chick, pullet (hen), cockrell (rooster) fawn colt, foal calf kit kit, cub, pup calf kid, billy infant
shrewdness sleuth, sloth flock drift, drove, herd, mob flock, brood (hens), clutch & peep (chicks) herd drove, herd herd, parade business, fesynes skulk, leash herd, corps, tower, group herd, tribe, trip band
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—THE WORLD’S FORESTS
189
Names of the Male, Female, Young, and Group of Animals (continued) ANIMAL
MALE
FEMALE
YOUNG
GROUP
hamster hippopotamus horse
buck bull stallion, stud
doe cow mare, dam
human
man
woman
pup calf foal, colt (male), filly (female) baby, infant, toddler
lion louse mouse ostrich pig quail rhinoceros seal sheep turkey turtle whale wolf zebra
lion male buck cock boar cock bull bull buck, ram tom male bull dog stallion
lioness female doe hen sow hen cow cow ewe, dam hen female cow bitch mare
cub nymph pup, pinkie, kitten chick piglet, shoat, farrow chick calf pup lamb, lambkin, cosset poult hatchling calf pup, whelp colt, foal
horde herd, bloat stable, harras, herd, team (working) string or field (racing) clan (related), crowd, family (closely related), community, gang, mob, tribe, etc. pride lice, colony, infestation horde, mischief flock drove, herd, litter (of pups), sounder bevy, covey, drift crash herd, pod, rookery, harem drift, drove, flock, herd, mob, trip rafter bale gam, grind, herd, pod, school pack, rout herd, crossing
Plants World’s Oldest Trees and Flowering Plants MAXIMUM AGE IN YEARS ESTIMATED VERIFIED
trees Bristlecone pine Sierra redwood Swiss stone pine common juniper European larch Norway spruce flowering plants bo tree English oak linden European beech English ivy dragon tree dwarf birch
4,000 1,200 2,000 700 1,200 2,000–3,000 2,000 900 440 200
4,900 2,200–2,300 750 544 417 350–400
1,500 815 250 80
LOCATION
Wheeler Peak, Humboldt National Forest, Nevada northern California Riffel Alp, Switzerland Kola Peninsula, northeastern Russia Riffel Alp, Switzerland Eichstätt, Bavaria, Germany Bodh Gaya, India; Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka Hasbruch Forest, Lower Saxony, Germany Lithuania Montigny, Normandy, France Ginac, near Montpellier, France Tenerife, Canary Islands eastern Greenland
The World’s Forests This table shows the 50 countries that either lost or gained the most forest area between 1990 and 2000 as well as forest losses or gains by continent. Source: State of the World’s Forests 2001. 1 hectare (ha) = x .01 sq km, .004 sq mi. Web site: <www.fao.org/forestry>.
COUNTRY/AREA
Burundi Haiti Micronesia El Salvador Saint Lucia Comoros Rwanda Niger Togo Côte d’Ivoire Nicaragua
LAND AREA (’000 HA)
TOTAL FOREST IN 1990 (’000 HA)
TOTAL FOREST IN 2000 (’000 HA)
PERCENTAGE OF LAND AREA IN 2000 (%)
2,568 2,756 69 2,072 61 186 2,466 126,670 5,439 31,800 12,140
241 158 24 193 14 12 457 1,945 719 9,766 4,450
94 88 15 121 9 8 307 1,328 510 7,117 3,278
3.7 3.2 21.7 5.8 14.8 4.3 12.4 1 9.4 22.4 27
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
% CHANGE 1990–2000
−61.00 −44.30 −37.50 −37.31 −35.71 −33.33 −32.82 −31.72 −29.07 −27.12 −26.34
190
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—THE WORLD’S FORESTS
The World’s Forests (continued) LAND AREA (’000 HA)
TOTAL FOREST IN 1990 (’000 HA)
TOTAL FOREST IN 2000 (’000 HA)
PERCENTAGE OF LAND AREA IN 2000 (%)
Sierra Leone Mauritania Nigeria Malawi Zambia Belize Benin Samoa Liberia Uganda Yemen Nepal Ghana Guatemala
7,162 102,522 91,077 9,409 74,339 2,280 11,063 282 11,137 19,964 52,797 14,300 22,754 10,843
1,416 415 17,501 3,269 39,755 1,704 3,349 130 4,241 5,103 541 4,683 7,535 3,387
1,055 317 13,517 2,562 31,246 1,348 2,650 105 3,481 4,190 449 3,900 6,335 2,850
14.7 0.3 14.8 27.2 42 59.1 24 37.2 31.3 21 0.9 27.3 27.8 26.3
−25.49 −23.61 −22.76 −21.63 −21.40 −20.89 −20.87 −19.23 −17.92 −17.89 −17.01 −16.72 −15.93 −15.85
Greece The Gambia China Swaziland Cuba Azerbaijan Armenia Bangladesh Algeria Libya Liechtenstein Portugal Guadeloupe Iceland Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan United Arab Emirates Ireland Belarus Egypt Cyprus Israel Uruguay Kuwait Cape Verde
12,890 1,000 932,743 1,721 10,982 8,359 2,820 13,017 238,174 175,954 15 9,150 169 10,025 267,074 19,180 8,360 6,889 20,748 99,545 925 2,062 17,481 1,782 403
3,299 436 145,417 464 2,071 964 309 1,169 1,879 311 6 3,096 67 25 9,758 775 243 489 6,840 52 119 82 791 3 35
3,599 481 163,480 522 2,348 1,094 351 1,334 2,145 358 7 3,666 82 31 12,148 1,003 321 659 9,402 72 172 132 1,292 5 85
27.9 48.1 17.5 30.3 21.4 13.1 12.4 10.2 0.9 0.2 46.7 40.1 48.5 0.3 4.5 5.2 3.8 9.6 45.3 0.1 18.6 6.4 7.4 0.3 21.1
9.09 10.32 12.42 12.50 13.38 13.49 13.59 14.11 14.16 15.11 16.67 18.41 22.39 24.00 24.49 29.42 32.10 34.76 37.46 38.46 44.54 60.98 63.34 66.67 142.86
2,978,394 3,084,746 2,259,957 2,136,966 849,096 1,754,741 13,063,900
702,502 551,448 1,030,475 555,002 201,271 922,731 3,963,429
649,866 547,793 1,039,251 549,304 197,623 885,618 3,869,455
21.8 17.8 46 25.7 23.3 50.5 29.6
−7.5 −0.7 0.9 −1.0 −1.8 −4.0 −2.4
COUNTRY/AREA
Africa Asia Europe North and Central America Oceania South America World
% CHANGE 1990–2000
In 17th-century Holland a speculative frenzy erupted over the sale of tulip bulbs. Tulips had been introduced into Europe from Turkey shortly after 1550. Demand for new varieties soon exceeded the supply, and prices rose to astonishing heights. The craze, known as the tulip mania, reached its peak in Holland in 1633–37. Homes, estates, and industries were mortgaged so that bulbs could be purchased; bulbs of rare varieties sold for the equivalent of hundreds of dollars each. The crash came in 1637, when almost overnight the price structure collapsed, sweeping away fortunes and leaving behind financial ruin for many Dutch families.
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—EARTH’S INTERIOR LAYERS
191
Geology The Continents Figures given are approximate. Area and population as of 2004. Lowest points listed are all below sea level. CONTINENT
% OF TOTAL LAND AREA1
POPULATION
AREA
852,637,200
30,263,037 sq km 11,684,711 sq mi
20.2
N/A
14,000,000 sq km 5,400,000 sq mi
9.4
3,879,428,240
44,887,537 sq km 17,331,069 sq mi
30.0
Europe
691,509,155
9,859,691 sq km 3,806,906 sq mi
6.6
North America
509,198,900
24,238,486 sq km 9,358,532 sq mi
16.2
32,813,267
8,514,986 sq km 3,287,656 sq mi
5.7
364,018,500
17,822,497 sq km 6,881,304 sq mi
11.9
Africa
Antarctica Asia
Oceania South America
1
HIGHEST/LOWEST POINT
Mt. Kilimanjaro (Tanzania): 5,895 m (19,340 ft) Lake Assal (Djibouti): −157 m (−515 ft) Vinson Massif: 4,897 m (16,066 ft) Bentley Subglacial Trench: −5,538 m (−8,327 ft) Mount Everest (China, Nepal): 8,848 m (29,028 ft) Dead Sea (Israel, Jordan): −400 m (−1,312 ft) Mt. Elbrus (Russia): 5,642 m (18,510 ft) Caspian Sea (Russia): −27 m (−90 ft) Mt. McKinley (Alaska): 6,194 m (20,320 ft) Death Valley (California): −86 m (−282 ft) Mt. Wilhelm (Papua New Guinea): 4,509 m (14,793 ft) Lake Eyre: −15 m (−50 ft) Mt. Aconcagua (Argentina): 6,959 m (22,831 ft) Valdés Peninsula (Argentina): −40 m (−131 ft)
Together, the continents make up about 29.2% of the Earth’s surface.
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
192
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—ATMOSPHERIC STRUCTURE
Wall Street, which was recognized even before the Civil War as the financial capital of the US, is narrow and short, extending only about seven blocks across part of southern Manhattan in New York City. It was named for an earthen wall built by Dutch settlers in 1653 to repel an expected English invasion.
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE 193
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
194
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—LARGEST ISLANDS
Largest Islands of the World AREA* NAME AND LOCATION
CONTINENT
Greenland New Guinea, Papua New Guinea–Indonesia Borneo, Indonesia–Malaysia–Brunei Madagascar Baffin, Nunavut, Canada Sumatra, Indonesia Honshu, Japan Victoria, Northwest Territories–Nunavut, Canada Great Britain Ellesmere, Nunavut, Canada Celebes, Indonesia South Island, New Zealand Java, Indonesia North Island, New Zealand Newfoundland, Canada Cuba Luzon, Philippines Iceland Mindanao, Philippines Ireland, Ireland–UK Hokkaido, Japan Sakhalin, Russia Hispaniola, Haiti–Dominican Republic Banks, Northwest Territories, Canada Sri Lanka, Ceylon Tasmania, Australia Devon, Nunavut, Canada
North America Oceania Asia Africa North America Asia Asia North America Europe North America Asia Oceania Asia Oceania North America North America Asia Europe Asia Europe Asia Asia North America North America Asia Oceania North America
SQ MI
SQ KM
822,700 309,000 283,400 226,658 195,928 167,600 87,805 83,897 83,698 75,767 69,100 58,676 49,000 44,204 42,031 40,519 40,420 39,699 36,537 32,589 30,144 29,500 29,418 27,038 25,332 24,868 21,331
2,130,800 800,000 734,000 587,041 507,451 434,000 227,414 217,291 216,777 196,236 179,000 151,971 126,900 114,489 108,860 104,945 104,688 102,819 94,630 84,406 78,073 76,400 76,192 70,028 65,610 64,409 55,247
*Area given may include small adjoining islands. Conversions for rounded figures are rounded to nearest hundred.
Highest Mountains of the World “I” in the name of a peak refers to the highest in a group of numbered peaks of the same name. HEIGHT IN M
HEIGHT IN FT
YEAR FIRST CLIMBED
Africa Kilimanjaro (Kibo peak), Tanzania Mt. Kenya (Batian peak), Kenya Margherita, Ruwenzori Range, Zaire–Uganda Ras Dashen, Simen Mtns., Ethiopia
5,895 5,199 5,119 4,620
19,340 17,058 16,795 15,157
1889 1899 1906 1841
Antarctica Vinson Massif, Sentinel Range, Ellsworth Mtns. Tyree, Sentinel Range, Ellsworth Mtns. Shinn, Sentinel Range, Ellsworth Mtns.
4,897 4,852 4,801
16,066 15,919 15,751
1966 1967 1966
8,848
29,028
1953
8,611
28,251
1954
8,586
28,169
1955
8,516 8,463
27,940 27,766
1956 1955
Caucasus Elbrus, Russia Dykh–Tau, Russia Koshtan–Tau, Russia Shkhara, Russia–Georgia
5,642 5,204 5,151 5,068
18,510 17,073 16,900 16,627
1874 1888 1889 1888
Europe Mont Blanc, Alps, France–Italy Dufourspitze (Monte Rosa), Alps, Switzerland–Italy
4,807 4,634
15,771 15,203
1786 1855
NAME AND LOCATION
Asia Everest, Chomolungma), Himalayas, Nepal–Tibet, China K2 (Godwin Austen) (Chogori), Karakoram Range, Pakistan–Sinkiang, China Kanchenjunga I (Gangchhendzonga), Himalayas, Nepal–India Lhotse I, Himalayas, Nepal–Tibet, China Makalu I, Himalayas, Nepal–Tibet, China
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—MAJOR CAVE SYSTEMS
Highest Mountains of the World (continued) NAME AND LOCATION
HEIGHT IN M
HEIGHT IN FT
YEAR FIRST CLIMBED
4,545 4,505
14,911 14,780
1858 1861
Europe (continued) Dom (Mischabel), Alps, Switzerland Weisshorn, Alps, Switzerland North America McKinley, Alaska Range, Alaska Logan, St. Elias Mtns., Yukon, Canada Citlaltépetl (Orizaba), Cordillera Neo-Volcánica, Mexico St. Elias, St. Elias Mtns., Alaska–Canada
6,194 5,951 5,610
20,320 19,524 18,406
1913 1925 1848
5,489
18,009
1897
Oceania Jaya (Sukarno, Carstensz), Sudirman Range, Indonesia Pilimsit (Idenburg), Sudirman Range, Indonesia Trikora (Wilhelmina), Jayawijaya Mtns., Indonesia Mandala (Juliana), Jayawijaya Mtns., Indonesia
5,030 4,800 4,750 4,700
16,5001 15,7501 15,5801 15,4201
1962 1962 1912 1959
South America Aconcagua, Andes, Argentina–Chile Ojos del Salado, Andes, Argentina–Chile Bonete, Andes, Argentina Tupungato, Andes, Argentina–Chile
6,959 6,893 6,872 6,800
22,831 22,615 22,546 22,310
1897 1937 1913 1897
1
Conversions rounded to the nearest 10 ft.
Major Caves and Cave Systems of the World by Continent DEPTH1 NAME AND LOCATION
LENGTH2 MILES
FEET
M
N/A 279 3,802 N/A N/A
N/A 85 1,159 N/A N/A
11.2 7.5 1 9.4 11.4
18.1 12.1 1.6 15.1 18.4
Asia Air Jernih, Malaysia Faouar Dara, Lebanon Kap-Kutan/Promezhutochnaya, Uzbekistan Kiev, Uzbekistan Oreshnaya, Russia
1,165 2,041 N/A 3,248 623
355 622 N/A 990 190
32.1 1.5 31.3 1.1 25.5
51.6 2.5 50.3 1.8 41
Europe Hölloch, Switzerland Jean Bernard, France Optimisticheskaya, Ukraine Trave, Spain Vyacheslav Pantyukhin, Georgia
2,844 5,036 N/A 4,528 4,948
867 1,535 N/A 1,380 1,508
82.7 11.1 102.5 1.8 N/A
133.1 17.9 165 2.9 N/A
Oceania Atea, Papua New Guinea Bulmer, New Zealand H.H. Hole, New Zealand Muruk, Papua New Guinea Nettlebed, New Zealand
1,148 2,388 2,044 2,090 2,917
350 728 623 637 889
21.4 6.8 N/A 2.9 15.2
34.5 11 N/A 4.6 24.4
North America Cuicateca, Mexico Friars Hole, West Virginia Guixani Ndia Guinjao, Mexico Jewel, South Dakota Mammoth–Flint Ridge, Kentucky
4,035 617 3,084 443 360
1,230 188 940 135 110
5.8 42.8 1.2 76.9 329.3
9.3 68.8 2 123.8 530
Africa Ambatoharanana, Madagascar Apocalypse Pothole, South Africa Ifflis, Algeria Sof AUmar, Ethiopia Tafna (Bou Ma’za), Algeria
KM
Antarctica: no significant caves
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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196
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—MAJOR CAVE SYSTEMS
Major Caves and Cave Systems of the World (continued) DEPTH1 NAME AND LOCATION
South America Aonda, Venezuela Auyantepuy Norte, Venezuela Kaukiran, Peru San Andrés, Peru São Mateus–Imbira, Brazil
FEET
M
1,188 1,050 1,335 1,096 N/A
362 320 407 334 N/A
LENGTH2 MILES
N/A N/A 1.3 N/A 12.7
KM
N/A N/A 2.1 N/A 20.5
1
Below highest entrance. 2Explored portion of cave. Source: Paul Courbon et al., Atlas of the Great Caves of the World (1989).
Major Deserts of the World by Continent DESERT (LOCATION)
Africa Sahara, northern Africa Libyan, Libya, Egypt, and Sudan Kalahari, southwestern Africa Namib, southwestern Africa Asia Arabia, southwestern Asia Rub‘al-Khali, southern Arabian Peninsula Gobi, Mongolia and northeastern China Kyzylkum, KazakhstanUzbekistan Takla Makan, northern China Karakum, Turkmenistan Kavir, central Iran Syrian, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq Thar, India and Pakistan Lut, eastern Iran
AREA SQ KM
SQ MI
8,600,000 3,320,000 N/A N/A 930,000
360,000
135,000
52,000
2,330,000 650,000
900,000 250,000
1,300,000
500,000
300,000
115,000
270,000
105,000
350,000 260,000 260,000
135,000 100,000 100,000
200,000 52,000
77,000 20,000
AREA SQ KM
DESERT (LOCATION)
Australia Great Victoria, Western and South Australia Great Sandy, northern Western Australia Gibson, Western Australia Simpson, Northern Territory North America Great Basin, southwestern US Chihuahuan, northern Mexico Sonoran, southwestern US and Baja California Colorado, California and northern Mexico Yuma, Arizona and Sonora, Mexico Mojave, southwestern US South America Patagonian, southern Argentina Atacama, northern Chile
SQ MI
647,000
250,000
400,000
150,000
N/A 145,000
N/A 56,000
492,000
190,000
450,000
175,000
310,000
120,000
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
65,000
25,000
673,000
260,000
140,000
54,000
Major Volcanoes of the World by Continent VOLCANO, LOCATION
ELEVATION M
FT
FIRST RECORDED ERUPTION
MOST RECENT ERUPTION
Africa Kilimanjaro, Tanzania1 Cameroon, Cameroon Teide (Tenerife), Canary Islands Nyiragongo, Dem. Rep. of the Congo Nyamuragira, Dem. Rep. of the Congo
5,895 4,095 3,715 3,470 3,058
19,340 13,435 12,188 11,384 10,033
N/A 1650 N/A 1884 1882
N/A 2000 1909 2007 2006
Antarctica Erebus, Ross Island Darnley, Sandwich Islands
3,794 1,100
12,447 3,609
1841 1823
2007 N/A
Asia, Oceania, and the Pacific Klyuchevskaya, Kamchatka, Russia2 Mauna Kea, Hawaii Mauna Loa, Hawaii Kerinci, Sumatra, Indonesia Fuji, Honshu, Japan Rinjani, Lombok, Indonesia Tolbachik, Kamchatka, Russia Semeru, Java, Indonesia
4,835 4,205 4,170 3,800 3,776 3,726 3,682 3,676
15,863 13,796 13,681 12,467 12,388 12,224 12,080 12,060
1697 N/A 1750 1838 1050 BC 1847 1740 1818
2007 c. 2460 BC 1984 2004 1708 2004 1976 2007
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—OCEANS AND SEAS
197
Major Volcanoes of the World (continued) ELEVATION M
VOLCANO, LOCATION
FT
FIRST RECORDED ERUPTION
MOST RECENT ERUPTION
Europe and the Atlantic Etna, Italy Askja, Iceland Hekla, Iceland Vesuvius, Italy Stromboli, Italy
3,350 1,516 1,491 1,281 924
10,991 4,974 4,892 4,203 3,031
N/A 1875 1104 N/A N/A
2007 1961 2000 1944 2007
North America Citlaltépetl, Mexico Popocatépetl, Mexico Rainier, Washington Shasta, California Colima, Mexico St. Helens, Washington
5,675 5,426 4,392 4,317 3,850 2,549
18,619 17,802 14,409 14,163 12,631 8,363
N/A 1347 N/A 1786 1576 N/A
1846 2007 1894 1786 2007 2007
South America Guallatiri, Chile Tupungatito, Chile Cotopaxi, Ecuador Láscar, Chile Nevado del Ruiz, Colombia
6,071 6,000 5,911 5,592 5,321
19,918 19,685 19,393 18,346 17,457
1825 1829 1532 1848 1595
1960 1987 1940 2007 1991
1
2
Includes three dormant volcanoes (Kibo, Mawensi, and Shira) that have not erupted in historic times. est active volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula.
High-
Oceans & Seas AREA
Pacific Ocean without marginal seas with marginal seas Atlantic Ocean without marginal seas with marginal seas Indian Ocean without marginal seas with marginal seas Arctic Ocean Australasian Central Sea Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea Mediterranean and Black Seas Bering Sea Sea of Okhotsk Hudson Bay North Sea Baltic Sea Irish Sea English Channel
VOLUME
SQ KM
SQ MI
CU KM
CU MI
165,250,000 179,680,000
63,800,000 69,370,000
707,600,000 723,700,000
169,900,000 173,700,000
82,440,000 106,460,000
31,830,000 41,100,000
324,600,000 354,700,000
77,900,000 85,200,000
73,440,000 74,920,000 14,090,000
28,360,000 28,930,000 5,440,000
291,000,000 291,900,000 17,000,000
69,900,000 70,100,000 4,100,000
8,140,000 4,320,000
3,140,000 1,670,000
9,900,000 9,600,000
2,400,000 2,300,000
2,970,000
1,150,000
4,200,000
100,000
2,304,000 1,583,000 1,230,000 570,000 420,000 100,000 75,000
890,000 611,000 470,000 220,000 160,000 40,000 29,000
3,330,000 1,300,000 160,000 50,000 20,000 6,000 4,000
80,000 30,000 40,000 10,000 5,000 1,000 1,000
AVERAGE DEPTH M
Pacific Ocean without marginal seas with marginal seas Atlantic Ocean without marginal seas with marginal seas Indian Ocean without marginal seas with marginal seas Arctic Ocean
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
FT
DEEPEST POINT
4,280 4,030
14,040 13,220
Mariana Trench (11,034 m; 36,201 ft)
3,930 3,330
12,890 10,920
Puerto Rico Trench (8,380 m; 27,493 ft)
3,960 3,900 1,205
10,040 12,790 3,950
Sunda Deep of the Java Trench (7,450 m; 24,442 ft) (5,502 m; 18,050 ft)
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NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—OCEANS AND SEAS
Oceans & Seas (continued) AVERAGE DEPTH M
Australasian Central Sea Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea Mediterranean and Black Seas Bering Sea Sea of Okhotsk Hudson Bay North Sea Baltic Sea Irish Sea English Channel
FT
1,210 2,220
3,970 7,280
1,430
4,690
1,440 838 128 94 55 60 54
4,720 2,750 420 310 180 200 180
DEEPEST POINT
N/A Cayman Trench (7,686 m; 25,216 ft) Ionian Basin (4,900 m; 16,000 ft) Bowers Basin (4,097 m; 13,442 ft) Kuril Basin (2,499 m; 8,200 ft) (867 m; 2,846 ft) Skagerrak (700 m; 2,300 ft) Landsort Deep (459 m; 1,506 ft) Mull of Galloway (175 m; 576 ft) Hurd Deep (172 m; 565 ft)
Major Natural Lakes of the World Conversions for figures have been rounded, thousands to the nearest hundred and hundreds to the nearest ten. AREA SQ MI SQ KM
NAME
LOCATION
Caspian Sea Superior Victoria Huron Michigan Aral Sea1 Tanganyika Great Bear
Central Asia 149,200 Canada-US 31,700 eastern Africa 26,828 Canada-US 23,000 US 22,300 Central Asia 13,000 eastern Africa 12,700 Northwest 12,028 Territories, Canada
386,400 82,100 69,485 59,600 57,800 33,800 32,900 31,153
NAME
AREA SQ MI SQ KM
LOCATION
Nyasa (Malawi) eastern Africa Great Slave Northwest Territories, Canada Erie Canada-US Winnipeg Manitoba, Canada Ontario Canada-US
11,430 11,031
29,604 28,570
9,910 9,417
25,667 24,390
7,340
19,010
1
Salt lake.
Longest Rivers of the World This list includes both rivers and river systems. Conversions of rounded figures are rounded to nearest 10 or 100 miles or kilometers. LENGTH NAME
OUTFLOW
MI
Africa Nile Congo Niger Zambezi Kasai
KM
Mediterranean Sea South Atlantic Ocean Bight of Biafra Mozambique Channel Congo River
4,132 2,900 2,600 2,200 1,338
6,650 4,700 4,200 3,500 2,153
Asia Yangtze Yenisey-Baikal-Selenga Huang Ho (Yellow) Ob–Irtysh Amur–Argun
East China Sea Kara Sea Gulf of Chihli Gulf of Ob Sea of Okhotsk
3,915 3,442 3,395 3,362 2,761
6,300 5,540 5,464 5,410 4,444
Europe Volga Danube Ural Dnieper Don
Caspian Sea Black Sea Caspian Sea Black Sea Sea of Azov
2,193 1,770 1,509 1,367 1,162
3,530 2,850 2,428 2,200 1,870
North America Mississippi–Missouri–Red Rock Mackenzie–Slave–Peace Missouri–Red Rock St. Lawrence–Great Lakes Mississippi
Gulf of Mexico Beaufort Sea Mississippi River Gulf of St. Lawrence Gulf of Mexico
3,710 2,635 2,540 2,500 2,340
5,971 4,241 4,090 4,000 3,770
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—US NATIONAL PARKS
199
Longest Rivers of the World (continued) LENGTH NAME
OUTFLOW
MI
Oceania Darling Murray Murrumbidgee Lachlan Cooper Creek
KM
Murray River Great Australian Bight Murray River Murrumbidgee River Lake Eyre
1,702 1,609 981 922 882
2,739 2,589 1,579 1,484 1,420
South America Amazon–Ucayali–Apurimac Paraná Madeira–Mamoré–Guaporé Jurua Purus
South Atlantic Ocean Río de la Plata Amazon River Amazon River Amazon River
4,000 3,032 2,082 2,040 1,995
6,400 4,880 3,350 3,283 3,211
Preserving Nature US National Parks Dates in parentheses indicate when the area was first designated a park, in most cases under a different name. Web site: <www.nps.gov/parks.html>. PARK
LOCATION
DESIGNATION DATE
SQ MI
SQ KM
Acadia American Samoa Arches Badlands Big Bend Biscayne Black Canyon of the Gunnison Bryce Canyon Canyonlands Capitol Reef Carlsbad Caverns Channel Islands Congaree Crater Lake Cuyahoga Valley Death Valley Denali Dry Tortugas Everglades Gates of the Arctic Glacier Glacier Bay Grand Canyon Grand Teton Great Basin Great Sand Dunes Great Smoky Mountains Guadalupe Mountains Haleakala Hawaii Volcanoes Hot Springs Isle Royale Joshua Tree Katmai Kenai Fjords Kobuk Valley Lake Clark Lassen Volcanic Mammoth Cave Mesa Verde Mount Rainier North Cascades Olympic
Bar Harbor ME American Samoa Moab UT southwestern South Dakota curve of the Rio Grande river, Texas near Miami FL near Montrose CO
1929 (1916) 1993 (1988) 1971 (1929) 1978 (1939) 1944 1980 (1968) 1999 (1933)
74 14 120 379 1,252 270 43
192 36 311 982 3,243 699 112
Bryce Canyon, Utah near Moab UT near Torrey UT near Carlsbad NM Ventura CA Hopkins SC Crater Lake OR near Cleveland and Akron OH Death Valley, California central Alaska Key West FL southern Florida Bettles AK northwest Montana Gustavus AK Grand Canyon, Arizona Moose WY near Baker NV Mosca CO Tennessee and North Carolina Salt Flat TX Kula, Maui HI near Hilo HI Hot Springs AR Houghton MI near Palm Springs CA near King Salmon AK Seward AK Kotzebue AK Port Alsworth AK Mineral CA Mammoth Cave, Kentucky near Cortez and Mancos CO near Ashford WA near Marblemount WA near Port Angeles WA
1928 (1923) 1964 1971 (1937) 1930 (1923) 1980 (1938) 2003 1902 2000 (1974) 1994 (1933) 1980 (1917) 1992 (1935) 1947 1980 (1978) 1910 1980 (1925) 1919 (1908) 1950 (1929) 1986 (1922) 2000 (1932) 1934 1972 1960 (1916) 1961 (1916) 1921 (1832) 1940 (1931) 1994 (1936) 1980 (1918) 1980 (1978) 1980 (1978) 1980 (1978) 1916 (1907) 1941 1906 1899 1968 1938
56 527 379 73 75 34 286 51 5,219 9,492 101 2,358 13,238 1,584 5,130 1,902 484 121 132 815 135 47 328 9 893 1,591 7,385 1,047 2,672 6,297 166 83 81 368 1,069 1,442
145 1,366 982 189 194 88 741 133 13,518 24,584 262 6,107 34,287 4,102 13,287 4,927 1,255 313 343 2,110 350 121 849 22 2,314 4,120 19,128 2,711 6,920 16,309 430 214 211 954 2,769 3,734
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—US NATIONAL PARKS
US National Parks (continued) PARK
LOCATION
Petrified Forest Redwood Rocky Mountain
Arizona Crescent City CA near Estes Park and Grand Lake CO Tucson AZ near Three Rivers CA near Luray VA Medora ND (south unit); near Watford City ND (north unit) St. John, US Virgin Islands International Falls MN near Hot Springs SD Vienna VA near Copper Center AK Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming in the Sierra Nevada, California Springdale UT
Saguaro Sequoia & Kings Canyon Shenandoah Theodore Roosevelt Virgin Islands Voyageurs Wind Cave Wolf Trap Wrangell–St. Elias Yellowstone Yosemite Zion
DESIGNATION DATE
SQ MI
SQ KM
1962 (1906) 1994 1915
146 172 415
379 445 1,076
1994 (1933) 1940 (1890) 1935 1978 (1947)
143 1,351 311 110
370 3,498 805 285
1956 1975 1903 2002 (1966) 1980 1872 1890 (1864) 1919 (1909)
23 341 44 130 acres 20,587 3,468 1,189 229
59 883 115 53,320 8,983 3,081 593
On 13 May 1864, a Confederate prisoner who died in a local hospital became the first soldier laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. Dead from every war in which the US has participated have since been buried there. More than 300,000 people are interred at Arlington, and the Fields of the Dead, with their seemingly endless lines of plain stones, follow a pattern adopted in 1872 for use in all national cemeteries.
Health Worldwide Health Indicators Column data as follows: Life expectancy in 2003; Doctors = persons per doctor1; Infant mortality per 1,000 births in 2003; Water = percentage (%) of population with access to safe drinking water (2000); Food = percentage (%) of the FAO recommended minimum (2004)2. REGION/BLOC
LIFE EXPECTANCY MALE FEMALE
DOCTORS
INFANT MORTALITY
World
65.5
WATER
FOOD
69.5
730
39.6
82
118
Africa Central Africa East Africa North Africa Southern Africa West Africa
51.0 45.7 45.1 66.4 44.1 49.2
53.2 49.1 46.5 70.4 45.3 50.6
2,560 12,890 13,620 890 1,610 6,260
78.1 102.1 93.6 42.6 64.1 81.7
64 46 50 87 85 65
103 80 86 125 119 109
Americas Anglo-America3 Canada United States Latin America Caribbean Central America Mexico South America Andean Group Brazil Other South America
71.0 74.6 76.4 74.4 68.9 67.1 66.9 71.9 68.4 68.9 67.2 71.5
77.3 80.4 83.4 80.1 75.4 71.4 70.9 77.6 75.7 75.0 75.3 78.9
520 370 540 360 690 380 950 810 710 830 770 410
18.8 6.6 5.0 6.8 26.1 29.3 29.5 17.4 27.9 26.5 31.8 17.7
91 100 100 100 86 79 88 88 86 86 87 82
129 140 136 141 123 118 106 134 122 108 132 120
Asia Eastern Asia China Japan South Korea Other Eastern Asia
66.6 70.9 70.1 78.4 71.7 71.3
69.7 74.6 73.3 85.3 79.3 76.9
970 610 620 530 740 500
41.8 23.4 26.4 3.0 7.3 14.1
81 78 75 97 92 94
116 121 123 110 123 93
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—CAUSES
OF
DEATH
201
Worldwide Health Indicators (continued) REGION/BLOC
LIFE EXPECTANCY MALE FEMALE
DOCTORS
INFANT MORTALITY
Asia (continued) South Asia India Pakistan Other South Asia Southeast Asia Southwest Asia Central Asia Gulf Cooperation Council Iran Other Southwest Asia
WATER
FOOD
62.3 62.9 61.3 60.0 66.1 66.4 62.0 68.5 68.0 66.9
63.7 64.4 63.2 60.3 71.0 70.5 68.7 72.2 70.7 70.8
2,100 1,920 1,840 5,080 3,120 610 330 620 1,200 690
63.4 59.6 76.6 73.7 36.2 43.1 55.9 39.3 44.2 39.1
85 84 90 85 78 85 82 95 92 82
108 112 100 97 123 118 99 117 131 119
Europe European Union (EU) France Germany Italy Spain United Kingdom Other EU Non-EU4 Eastern Europe Russia Ukraine Other Eastern Europe
70.0 74.8 75.6 75.5 76.5 75.7 75.7 72.8 77.2 61.3 58.5 61.1 67.2
78.3 81.3 83.1 81.6 82.5 83.1 80.7 79.7 82.6 72.7 71.9 72.2 74.8
300 290 330 290 180 240 720 320 480 290 240 330 370
9.2 5.2 4.4 4.2 6.2 3.6 5.3 6.2 4.2 16.4 13.3 20.8 20.1
98 100 100 100 100 99 100 100 100 95 99 98 84
130 137 142 131 151 138 137 133 131 119 117 120 121
Oceania Australia Pacific Ocean Islands
73.4 77.0 67.7
79.1 83.1 72.7
480 400 770
15.0 4.8 31.3
87 100 67
117 116 118
1
Latest data available for individual countries. 2The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) calculates this percentage by dividing the caloric equivalent to the known average daily supply of foodstuffs for human consumption in a given country by its population, thus arriving at a minimum daily per capita caloric intake. The higher the percentage, the more calories consumed. 3Includes Canada, the US, Greenland, Bermuda, and St. Pierre and Miquelon. 4Western Europe only; includes Andorra, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Iceland, Isle of Man, Jersey, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, and Switzerland.
Causes of Death, Worldwide, by Sex Global estimates for 2002 as published in the World Health Organization World Health Report 2003. Data are percentages of total deaths in each category. Ranking is based on categories defined by the InterLEADING CAUSES OF DEATH
1
2
3
4 5
Major cardiovascular diseases Ischemic heart diseases Cerebrovascular diseases Hypertensive heart disease Infectious and parasitic diseases HIV/AIDS Diarrheal diseases Tuberculosis Childhood diseases Malaria Malignant neoplasms Trachea, bronchus, and lung Stomach Colon, rectum, and anus Liver Respiratory infections Respiratory diseases Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
national Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision. All other causes of death (mostly residual) make up approximately 3.7 percent of all deaths.
ALL CATEGORIES (%)
MALES (%)
FEMALES (%)
29.2 12.6 9.6 1.6 19.5 4.9 3.1 2.8 2.4 2.1 12.5 2.2 1.5 1.1 1.1 6.7 6.5 4.8
27.0 12.6 8.5 1.4 19.9 5.1 3.1 3.5 2.3 2.0 13.2 3.0 1.7 1.1 1.4 6.4 6.4 4.7
31.7 12.5 10.9 1.8 19.0 4.8 3.1 2.0 2.5 2.4 11.6 1.3 1.2 1.1 0.7 7.1 6.6 4.9
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OF
DEATH
Causes of Death, Worldwide, by Sex (continued) ALL CATEGORIES (%)
LEADING CAUSES OF DEATH
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Accidents (unintentional injuries) Road traffic injuries Falls Perinatal conditions Digestive diseases Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis of the liver Neuropsychiatric disorders Alzheimer and other dementias Diabetes mellitus Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis Intentional injuries Intentional self-harm (suicide) Violence (assault)
6.2 2.1 0.7 4.3 3.4 1.4 1.9 0.7 1.7 1.2 2.9 1.5 1.0
MALES (%)
FEMALES (%)
7.7 2.9 0.8 4.6 3.6 1.7 1.9 0.5 1.5 1.2 3.9 1.8 1.5
4.6 1.2 0.6 4.0 3.2 1.0 2.0 0.9 2.0 1.2 1.7 1.2 0.4
Causes of Death, Worldwide, by Region Global estimates for 2001 as published in the World Health Organization (WHO) World Health Report 2002. Regions are as defined by the WHO. Numbers are in thousands (’000).
LEADING CAUSES OF DEATH
ALL CATEGORIES (%)
1 Ischemic heart disease 2 Cerebrovascular disease 3 Lower respiratory infections 4 HIV disease 5 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 6 Perinatal conditions 7 Diarrheal diseases 8 Tuberculosis 9 Road traffic accidents 10 Trachea, bronchus, lung cancers 11 Malaria 12 Diabetes mellitus 13 Hypertensive heart disease 14 Stomach cancer 15 Self-inflicted injuries 16 Cirrhosis of the liver 17 Measles 18 Nephritis and nephrosis 19 Liver cancer 20 Colon and rectum cancers 21 Congenital anomalies 22 Violence 23 Breast cancer 24 Esophagus cancer 25 Drowning 26 Alzheimer's and other dementias 27 Poisoning 28 Mouth and oropharynx cancers 29 Whooping cough 30 Tetanus 31 Prostate cancer 32 Cervix uteri cancer 33 War
ALL CATEGORIES
AFRICAN
AMERICAN
7,181
333
967
12.7
REGION EASTERN MEDITEREURO- SOUTHEAST RANEAN PEAN ASIAN
523
2,423
WESTERN PACIFIC
1,972
963
9.6
5,454
307
454
218
1,480
1,070
1,926
6.8
3,871
1,026
225
383
298
1,355
586
5.1 4.7
2,866 2,672
2,197 116
88 222
58 88
26 285
445 614
53 1,347
4.4 3.5 2.9 2.1
2,504 2,001 1,644 1,194
577 703 336 179
167 76 46 141
313 326 133 103
70 21 77 125
1,023 802 701 353
353 74 351 292
2.1
1,213
23
227
30
371
162
399
2.0 1.6 1.5
1,124 895 874
963 55 54
1 230 131
55 52 91
0 141 175
95 238 138
10 179 285
1.5 1.5 1.4 1.3 1.1
850 849 796 745 625
37 28 70 426 80
76 65 104 0 95
21 35 60 85 61
172 168 166 6 77
65 234 214 193 155
480 318 183 32 157
1.1 1.1
616 615
64 27
39 108
14 15
64 235
65 58
371 174
0.9 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.7
507 500 479 438 403 368
67 116 38 27 92 5
62 150 90 31 24 94
75 22 28 13 27 10
38 70 154 50 37 97
149 77 90 80 91 100
116 65 79 236 132 62
0.6 0.6
343 326
37 34
17 22
18 21
104 52
95 144
73 54
0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.4
285 282 269 258 230
157 110 45 59 122
7 0 77 30 11
59 53 8 12 59
0 0 95 27 16
60 101 26 99 20
2 18 19 33 3
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—CAUSES
OF
DEATH (US)
203
Ten Leading Causes of Death in the US, by Age Preliminary data for 2003. Numbers in thousands. Rates per 100,000 population. Numbers are based on weighted data rounded to the nearest individual, so category percentages and rates may not add to totals. Source: National Vital Statistics Report, <www.cdc.gov/nchs>. CAUSE
NUMBER RATE 1–4 YEARS
%
1 Accidents 1,679 10.6 34.2% Motor vehicle accidents 591 3.7 12.0% All other accidents 1,088 6.9 22.2% 2 Congenital malformations, 514 3.3 10.5% deformations, and chromosomal abnormalities 3 Malignant neoplasms 383 2.4 7.8% 4 Assault (homicide) 342 2.2 7.0% 5 Diseases of heart 186 1.2 3.8% 6 Influenza and pneumonia 151 1.0 3.1% 7 Septicemia 82 0.5 1.7% 8 Conditions of perinatal origin 76 0.5 1.5% 9 Nonmalignant/unknown 53 0.3 1.1% neoplasms 10 Chronic lower respiratory 47 0.3 1.0% diseases All other causes 1,398 8.9 28.5% All causes, 1–4 years 4,911 31.1 100.0% 5–14 YEARS
1 Accidents 2,561 6.3 Motor vehicle accidents 1,592 3.9 All other accidents 970 2.4 2 Malignant neoplasms 1,060 2.6 3 Congenital malformations, 370 0.9 deformations, and chromosomal abnormalities 4 Assault (homicide) 310 0.8 5 Intentional self-harm 255 0.6 (suicide) 6 Diseases of heart 252 0.6 7 Influenza and pneumonia 77 0.2 8 Chronic lower respiratory 134 0.3 diseases 9 Septicemia 107 0.3 10 Nonmalignant/unknown 76 0.2 neoplasms All other causes 1,728 4.2 All causes, 5–14 years 6,930 16.9
37.0% 23.0% 14.0% 15.3% 5.3% 4.5% 3.7% 3.6% 1.1% 1.9% 1.5% 1.1% 24.9% 100.0%
15–24 YEARS
1 Accidents 14,966 Motor vehicle accidents 10,857 All other accidents 4,109 2 Assault (homicide) 5,148 3 Intentional self-harm 3,921 (suicide) 4 Malignant neoplasms 1,628 5 Diseases of heart 1,083 6 Congenital malformations, 425 deformations, and chromosomal abnormalities 7 Influenza and pneumonia 216 8 Cerebrovascular diseases 204 9 Chronic lower respiratory 172 diseases 10 HIV disease 171 All other causes 5,088 All causes, 15–24 years 33,022 27,844 13,582
NUMBER
RATE
%
16.9 11.1% 22.6 14.8% 19.3 12.6% 13.4 8.7% 8.7 8.2 3.9
5.7% 5.3% 2.6%
3.6
2.3%
3.2 1.6
2.1% 1.0%
35.6 23.2% 153.0 100.0%
45–64 YEARS
1 Malignant neoplasms 2 Diseases of heart 3 Accidents Motor vehicle accidents All other accidents 4 Diabetes mellitus 5 Cerebrovascular diseases 6 Chronic lower respiratory diseases 7 Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis 8 Intentional self-harm (suicide) 9 HIV disease 10 Septicemia All other causes All causes, 45–64 years
144,936
211.0 33.2%
101,713 23,669 9,891
148.0 23.3% 34.5 5.4% 14.4 2.3%
13,778 16,326 15,971
20.1 23.8 23.2
3.2% 3.7% 3.7%
15,409
22.4
3.5%
13,649
19.9
3.1%
10,057
14.6
2.3%
5,917 5,827 83,584 437,058
8.6 1.4% 8.5 1.3% 121.7 19.1% 636.1 100.0%
65 YEARS AND OVER
36.3 26.3 10.0 12.5 9.5
45.3% 32.9% 12.4% 15.6% 11.9%
4.0 2.6 1.0
4.9% 3.3% 1.3%
0.5 0.5 0.4
0.7% 0.6% 0.5%
0.4 0.5% 12.3 15.4% 80.1 100.0%
25–44 YEARS
1 Accidents Motor vehicle accidents
CAUSE
All other accidents 14,261 2 Malignant neoplasms 19,041 3 Diseases of heart 16,283 4 Intentional self-harm 11,251 (suicide) 5 Assault (homicide) 7,367 6 HIV disease 6,879 7 Chronic liver disease 3,288 and cirrhosis 8 Cerebrovascular 3,004 diseases 9 Diabetes mellitus 2,662 10 Influenza and 1,337 pneumonia All other causes 29,968 All causes, 25–44 128,924 years
33.1 22.0% 16.1 10.5%
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1 Diseases of heart 564,204 1570.8 31.3% 2 Malignant 387,475 1078.7 21.5% neoplasms 3 Cerebrovascular 138,397 385.3 7.7% diseases 4 Chronic lower 109,199 304.0 6.1% respiratory diseases 5 Alzheimer disease 62,707 174.6 3.5% 6 Influenza and 57,507 160.1 3.2% pneumonia 7 Diabetes mellitus 54,770 152.5 3.0% 8 Nephritis, nephrotic 35,392 98.5 2.0% syndrome, and nephrosis 9 Accidents 26,597 94.6 1.5% Motor vehicle 7,379 20.5 0.4% accidents All other accidents 26,597 74.0 1.5% 10 Septicemia 26,609 74.1 1.5% All other causes 333,895 929.6 18.5% All causes, 65 years 1,804,131 5022.8 100.0% and over
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—CAUSES OF DEATH (US)
204
Twenty Leading Causes of Death in the US for All Ages Data for 2003. Rates per 100,000 population. Source: National Vital Statistics Report, <www.cdc.gov/nchs>. NUMBER
RATE
TOTAL %
1 Diseases of heart 685,089 Ischemic heart diseases 480,028 Heart failure 57,448 2 Malignant neoplasms 556,902 Neoplasms of the trachea, 158,086 bronchus, and lung Neoplasms of the colon, 55,958 rectum, and anus Neoplasms of the breast 42,000 3 Cerebrovascular diseases 157,689 4 Chronic lower 126,382 respiratory diseases Emphysema 14,861 5 Accidents 109,277 Motor-vehicle accidents 44,757 Accidental poisoning and 19,457 exposure to noxious substances Falls 17,299 6 Diabetes mellitus 74,219 7 Influenza and pneumonia 65,163 Pneumonia 63,371 8 Alzheimer disease 63,457 9 Nephritis, nephrotic 42,453 syndrome, and nephrosis 10 Septicemia 34,069 11 Intentional self-harm (suicide) 31,484 12 Chronic liver disease and 27,503 cirrhosis 13 Essential (primary) 21,940 hypertension and hypertensive renal disease 14 Parkinson disease 17,997 15 Assault (homicide) 17,732 16 Pneumonitis due 17,335 to solids and liquids 17 Aortic aneurysm and 14,810 dissection 18 Conditions of perinatal origin 14,378 19 HIV disease 13,658 20 Benign and in situ neoplasms 13,563
CAUSE
235.3 165.0 19.7 191.3 54.3
28.0 19.6 2.3 22.7 6.5
% MALE (RANK)
19.2
2.3
2.3
2.2
14.4 54.2 43.4
1.7 6.4 5.2
0.03 5.1 (4) 5.1 (5)
3.3 7.7 (3) 5.3 (4)
5.1 37.5 15.4 6.7
0.6 4.5 1.8 0.8
0.6 5.9 (3) 2.6 1.1
0.6 3.1 (7) 1.1 0.5
5.9 25.5 22.4 21.8 21.8 14.6
0.7 3.0 2.7 2.6 2.6 1.7
0.7 2.9 (6) 2.4 (7) 2.3 1.5 (10) 1.7 (9)
0.7 3.1 (6) 2.9 (8) 2.8 3.6 (5) 1.8 (9)
11.7 10.8 9.4
1.4 1.3 1.1
1.2 (12) 2.1 (8) 1.5 (11)
1.5 (10) 0.5 (17) 0.8 (12)
7.5
0.9
0.7 (18)
1.1 (11)
6.2 6.1 6.0
0.7 0.7 0.7
0.8 (14) 1.2 (13) 0.7 (17)
0.6 (15) 0.3 (21) 0.7 (13)
5.1
0.6
0.7 (16)
0.5 (19)
4.9 4.7 4.7
0.6 0.6 0.6
0.7 (19) 0.8 (15) 0.6 (20)
0.5 (18) 0.3 (22) 0.6 (16)
28.0 (1) 20.5 1.9 24.0 (2) 7.5
% FEMALE (RANK)
28.0 (1) 18.8 2.8 21.6 (2) 5.5
HIV/AIDS cquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, or AIDS, is a fatal transmissable disorder of the immune system that is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). HIV was first isolated in 1983. In most cases, HIV slowly attacks and destroys the immune system, leaving the infected individual vulnerable to malignancies and infections that eventually cause death. AIDS is the last stage of HIV infection, during which time these diseases arise. An average interval of 10 years exists between infection with HIV and development of the conditions typical of AIDS. Pneumonia and Kaposi’s sarcoma are two of the most common diseases seen in AIDS patients. HIV is contracted through semen, vaginal fluid, breast milk, blood, or other body fluids containing blood. Health care workers may come into contact with other body fluids that may transmit the HIV virus, including amniotic and synovial fluids. Although it is a transmissable virus, it is not contagious and it cannot be spread through coughing, sneezing, or casual physical contact. Other STDs, such as genital herpes, may increase the risk of contracting AIDS through sexual contact.
A
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
The main cellular target of HIV is a special class of white blood cells critical to the immune system known as T4 helper cells. Once HIV has entered a helper T cell, it can cause the cell to function poorly or it can destroy the cell. A hallmark of the onset of AIDS is a drastic reduction in the number of helper T cells in the body. Two predominant strains of the virus, designated HIV-1 and HIV-2, are known. Worldwide the most common strain is HIV-1, with HIV-2 more common primarily in western Africa; the two strains act in a similar manner, but the latter causes a form of AIDS that progresses much more slowly. Diagnosis is made on the basis of blood tests approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that may be administered by a doctor or at a local health department. Alternately, a home collection kit may be purchased at many pharmacies. No vaccine or cure has yet been developed that can prevent HIV infection. Several drugs are now used to slow the development of AIDS, including azidothymidine (AZT). Protease inhibitors, such as ritonavir and indinavir, have been shown to block the development of AIDS, at least temporarily. Protease
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—SAFER SEX DEFINED inhibitors are most effective when used in conjunction with two different reverse transcriptase inhibitors—the so-called “triple-drug therapy.” HIV/AIDS is a major problem in developing countries, particularly sub-Saharan Africa. At the end of 2006, as many as 47 million people were estimated to have contracted HIV (as many as 6.6 million in 2006 alone),
205
with 95% of those living in the developing world. For information on prevention, see “Safer Sex Defined,” below. For confidential information on HIV/AIDS, call 1-800-342-AIDS. Internet resources: <www.cdc.gov/hiv>
Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) sexually transmitted disease (STD) is usually passed from person to person by direct sexual contact. It may also be transmitted from a mother to her child before or at birth or, less frequently, may be passed from person to person in nonsexual contact. STDs usually initially affect the genitals, the reproductive tract, the urinary tract, the oral cavity, the anus, or the rectum but may mature in the body to attack various organs and systems. Following are some of the major STDs: Syphilis was first widely reported by European writers in the 16th century, and a virtual epidemic swept Europe around the year 1500. Syphilis is spread through direct contact with a syphilis sore (chancre); development of this sore is the first stage of the disease. The second stage manifests itself as a rash on the palms and the bottoms of the feet. In the last stage, symptoms disappear, but the disease remains in the body and may damage internal organs and lead to paralysis, blindness, dementia, and even death. For individuals infected less than a year, a single dose of penicillin will cure the disease. Larger doses are needed for those who have had it for a longer period of time. Gonorrhea, a form of urethritis (an infection and inflammation of the urethra), is one of the most common STDs. Although spread through sexual contact, the gonorrhea infection can also be spread to other parts of the body after touching the infected area. Men manifest symptoms, which include discharge and a burning sensation when urinating, more often than women. If gonorrhea is left untreated, women may develop pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and men may become infertile. The disease can also spread to the blood or joints and is potentially life threatening.
A
Chlamydia, another form of urethritis, can be transmitted during vaginal, anal, or oral sex. Since there are frequently no symptoms, most infected individuals do not know they have the disease until complications develop. Untreated chlamydia can cause pain during urination or sex in men and PID in women. Antibiotics can successfully cure the disease. Genital herpes, a disease that became especially widespread in the 1960s and 1970s, often presents minimal symptoms upon infection. The most common sign, however, is blistering in the genital area; outbreaks can occur over many years but generally decrease in severity and number. Genital herpes is caused by the herpes simplex viruses type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2). The former causes infections on and around the mouth but may be spread through the saliva to the genitals; the latter is transmitted during sexual contact with someone who has a genital infection. The HSV-2 infection can cause problems for people with suppressed immune systems and for infants who contract the disease upon delivery. Herpes can also leave individuals more susceptible to HIV infection and make those carrying the disease more infectious. A variety of treatments, including antiviral medications, have been used to help manage genital herpes, but currently there is no cure for the disease. Almost all STDs have reasonably effective drug cures. For information on STD prevention, see below, “Safer Sex Defined.” For information on HIV disease, see individual entry. Internet resources: <www.cdc.gov/nchstp/od/nchstp.html>
Safer Sex Defined efining risky sexual behavior. Any activity involving the exchange of body fluids—vaginal secretions, semen, or blood—could result in the transmission of AIDS and other STDs. Unprotected vaginal and anal intercourse present the highest risks for contraction of STDs. Women are at greater risk than men of developing an infection as a result of heterosexual intercourse, though many STDs present fewer symptoms in women than in men. Men and women of all sexual orientations should practice safer sex to reduce their risk of contracting an STD. HIV testing. It can take years to develop symptoms of HIV disease, so it is important to be tested for HIV after any behavior that might have resulted in infection. The CDC recommends undergoing two separate HIV-antibody tests, six months apart. If the second test is negative, there is a reasonable certainty that HIV is not present. STD testing. It is important to get checked for other STDs at least once a year. Do not assume that STD testing is part of a routine checkup.
D
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Abstinence. Refraining from any sexual activity that would allow the exchange of body fluids is by far the most effective method of birth control and disease prevention. Monogamous intercourse. Sexual intercourse with only one partner can be as effective as abstinence in preventing disease transmission, if both partners have been properly tested for AIDS and other STDs. Most health professionals, however, recommend continuing to practice safer sex, even in monogamous relationships, as there is no way to be sure a partner is being faithful. Condoms. Using a latex or female condom correctly and consistently significantly reduces the chance of unplanned pregnancy. Condoms also reduce the risk of transmission of HIV, vaginitis, chlamydia, honeymoon cystitis, syphilis, pelvic inflammatory disease, chancroid, and gonorrhea. Condoms may be less effective in preventing genital warts, herpes, and hepatitis B. Male and female condoms should not be worn simultaneously.
206
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—SAFER SEX DEFINED pill, should be used only when necessary and not relied upon as a regular method of birth control. Withdrawal and family planning are not recommended forms of birth control.
Birth control. There are many methods of birth control that can help prevent unwanted pregnancy, including birth-control pills, Norplant, Depo-Provera, condoms, diaphragms, and cervical caps. However, of these, only condoms protect against STDs. Emergency contraception, including the “morning-after”
Internet resources: <www.sexualhealth.com>
Contraceptive Use by US Women Percent distribution by age. Source: Fertility, Family Planning, and Reproductive Health of U.S. Women: Data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth (CDC/National Center for Health Statistics). Using contraception Pill Condom Female sterilization Male sterilization Implant or patch1 Injectable2 Intrauterine device (IUD) Diaphragm Periodic abstinence (rhythm) Natural family planning Withdrawal Other3 Total using contraception4 Not using contraception Surgically sterile female or male Nonsurgically sterile female or male Pregnant or postpartum Seeking pregnancy Other Never had intercourse No intercourse in last 3 months Had intercourse in last 3 months Total not using contraception4 — None.
AGE 15–44
15–19
20–24
25–29
AGE 30–34
35–39
40–44
19.0 11.1 16.7 5.7 0.8 3.3 1.3 0.2 0.7 0.2 2.5 0.6 61.9
16.7 8.5 — — 0.4 4.4 0.1 — — — 0.8 0.6 31.5
31.8 14.0 2.2 0.5 0.9 6.1 1.1 0.1 0.8 — 3.1 0.2 60.7
25.6 14.0 10.3 2.8 1.7 4.4 2.5 0.3 0.3 0.4 5.3 0.4 68.0
21.8 11.8 19.0 6.4 0.9 2.9 2.2 0.1 0.9 0.2 2.6 0.4 69.2
13.2 11.1 29.2 10.0 0.5 1.5 1.0 — 1.1 0.3 2.4 0.5 70.8
7.6 8.0 34.7 12.7 0.2 1.1 0.8 0.4 1.2 0.4 1.0 1.1 69.1
1.5 1.6 5.3 4.2
— 0.7 3.5 1.2
... 0.7 9.5 2.8
0.4 0.9 8.4 5.5
0.9 1.4 6.9 7.0
2.1 1.2 3.8 5.1
4.9 4.4 0.8 3.3
10.9 7.2 7.4 38.1
49.5 6.7 6.9 68.5
11.4 6.6 8.4 39.3
2.7 6.2 8.0 32.0
1.5 6.1 7.0 30.8
1.6 7.5 7.7 29.2
1.1 9.7 6.7 30.9
... Less than 0.05.
Includes Lunelle™. 2Depo-Provera™. 3Includes female condom, cervical cap, Today™ sponge, and other methods. 4Includes other categories not listed. Totals may not add to 100% because of rounding.
1
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—VITAMINS
207
Diet and Exercise The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) The FDA is a division of the US Department of Health and Human Services. FDA Web site: <www.fda.gov>. Mission: To promote and protect the public health by helping safe and effective products reach the market in a timely way and monitoring products for continued safety after they are in use. History: The FDA celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2006, having been created by the passing of the Food and Drugs Act, or Wiley Act, in 1906. The Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938 then brought cosmetics and medical devices under the authority of the FDA. The Food and Drug Administration Act of 1988 officially established the body as an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, with a commissioner of food and drugs appointed by the president with the consent of the Senate. Location: Rockville MD (with a transfer to Silver Spring MD in progress and scheduled to be completed in 2012). Commissioner of Food and
Drugs: Andrew C. von Eschenbach. Budget: FY 2008 (requested) $2.1 billion. Functions: The FDA is the agency of the US federal government authorized by Congress to inspect, test, approve, and set safety standards for foods and food additives, drugs, chemicals, cosmetics, and household and medical devices. Generally, the FDA is empowered to prevent untested products from being sold and to take legal action to halt sale of undoubtedly harmful products or of products which involve a health or safety risk. Through court procedure, the FDA can seize products and prosecute the persons or firms responsible for legal violation. FDA authority is limited to interstate commerce. The agency cannot control prices nor directly regulate advertising except of prescription drugs and medical devices.
Vitamins, with Daily Recommendations itamins are organic substances that are usually divided into two types: water-soluble and fat-soluble. Small quantities are necessary for normal health and growth in higher forms of animal life, as they work to regulate reactions that occur in metabolism (in contrast to macronutrients such as fats, carbohydrates, and proteins, which are the compounds utilized in the reactions regulated by vitamins). Absence of a vitamin blocks one or more specific metabolic reactions in a cell; thus, vitamin deficiency
V
may result in specific diseases. As they generally cannot be synthesized by humans, vitamins must be obtained from the diet or from a synthetic source. The name of each vitamin is followed by its alternative name and usual pharmaceutical preparation, respectively. Amounts shown indicate recommended daily consumption. Abbreviations—mg: milligram; mcg: microgram; RAE: retinol activity equivalent; IU: international unit; N/A: not applicable.
Water-soluble vitamins Thiamin (vitamin B1; thiamine hydrochloride) Purpose: energy metabolism and initiation of nerve impulses. Dietary sources: pork, nuts, peas. Men over 13: 1.2 mg; women over 18: 1.1 mg; pregnant women: 1.4 mg; lactating women: 1.4 mg. Riboflavin (vitamin B2; riboflavin) Purpose: release of energy from carbohydrates, fats, and proteins; maintaining integrity of red blood cells. Dietary sources: milk, eggs, kidney, liver, peas, soybeans, leafy vegetables. Men over 13: 1.3 mg; women over 18: 1.1 mg; pregnant women: 1.4 mg; lactating women: 1.6 mg. Niacin (nicotinic acid; nicotinamide or niacinamide) Purpose: release of energy from carbohydrates and fats; red-blood-cell formation; metabolism of proteins. Dietary sources: cereal grains, nuts, green vegetables, liver, kidney. Men over 13: 16.0 mg; women over 18: 14.0 mg; pregnant women: 18.0 mg; lactating women: 17.0 mg. Pantothenic acid (vitamin B5; calcium pantothenate) Purpose: metabolism of carbohydrates; synthesis and degradation of fats; synthesis of sterols and other compounds. Dietary sources: liver, kidney, eggs, avocados, bananas. All adults: 4.0–7.0 mg.
The celebrated “four-color map problem,” framed in 1850 and publicized in 1878, bears little relation to cartography. The question is mathematical: how many colors are needed to color any map so that no two regions sharing a common border will have the same color? The proof, in 1977, that four colors are always sufficient occupied 170 pages of text and diagrams derived from more than 1,000 hours of calculations on a large computer.
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—VITAMINS
Vitamins, with Daily Recommendations (continued) Water-soluble vitamins (continued) Vitamin B6 (pyroxidine; pyroxidine hydrochloride) Purpose: amino acid, carbohydrate, and fat metabolism. Dietary sources: bananas, cereal grains, fish, nuts, spinach. Men 14–50: 1.3 mg; men over 50: 1.7 mg; women 19–50: 1.3 mg; women over 50: 1.5 mg; pregnant women: 1.9 mg; lactating women: 2.0 mg. Biotin (N/A; biotin) Purpose: carbohydrate and fat metabolism. Dietary sources: beef liver, yeast, oatmeal. Adults: 30 mcg; pregnant women: 30 mcg; lactating women: 35 mcg. Folate (folacin or vitamin B9; folacin or folic acid) Purpose: cellular metabolism, including synthesis of DNA components; normal red-blood-cell formation. Dietary sources: chicken, liver, green leafy vegetables, wheat bran and germ, citrus fruits, cereals, beans, asparagus. Adults: 400 mcg; pregnant women: 600 mcg; lactating women: 500 mcg. Vitamin B12 (cobalamin; cyanocobalamin or hydroxocobalamin) Purpose: proper functioning of many enzymes involved in carbohydrate, fat, and protein metabolism; synthesis of the insulating sheath around nerve cells; cell reproduction and normal growth; red-blood-cell formation. Dietary sources: eggs, meat, milk, nutritional yeast, fortified cereals. Adults: 2.4 mcg; pregnant women: 2.6 mcg; lactating women: 2.8 mcg. Vitamin C (ascorbic acid; ascorbic acid) Purpose: prevention of oxidative damage to DNA, membrane lipids, and proteins; synthesis of collagen, hormones, transmitters of the nervous sytem, lipids, and proteins; proper immune function. Dietary sources: citrus fruits, green peppers, broccoli, cantaloupe, green leafy vegetables. Men over 18: 90 mg; women over 18: 75 mg; pregnant women: 80–85 mg; lactating women: 115–120 mg. Fat-soluble vitamins Vitamin A (retinol; retinol) Purpose: functioning of the retina; growth and maturation of epithelial cells; growth of bone; reproduction and embryonic development. Dietary sources: fish and fish-liver oils, liver, butter, orange vegetables and fruits, dark green leafy vegetables; tomatoes. Men over 13: 900 RAE; women over 13: 700 RAE; pregnant women: 750–770 RAE; lactating women: 1,200–1,300 RAE. Vitamin D (vitamins D2 and D3; [ergo] calciferol) Purpose: promotes formation of bone by increasing the blood levels of calcium and phosphorus. Dietary sources: fish-liver oils, eggs, milk enriched with Vitamin D. All adults: 200–600 IU. Vitamin E (N/A; tocopherol) Purpose: protection of cell membranes and prevention of damage to membrane-associated enzymes. Dietary sources: nuts, vegetable oils, margarine, cereal grains. Adults: 15 mg; pregnant women: 15 mg; lactating women: 19 mg. Vitamin K (N/A; vitamin K1) Purpose: formation of several blood clotting factors. Dietary sources: green leafy vegetables, vegetable oils. Men over 18: 120 mcg; women over 18: 90 mcg; pregnant women: 75–90 mcg; lactating women: 75–90 mcg.
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NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—FOOD GUIDE PYRAMID
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—DIETARY GUIDELINES
Individuals Meeting Dietary Guidelines 1977–78 and 1994–96. Percentages of US population that meet or exceed the minimum dietary guidelines given in Nutrition and Your Health: Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 5th edition (2000), a joint publication of the depart-
ments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture. To view the complete publication or to order a print copy, visit <www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines>. Next update: 2005. 1977–78
AGE AND GENDER
CALORIES
TOTAL FAT
SATURATED FAT
CHOLESTEROL
SODIUM
FIBER
CALCIUM
IRON
33 23 29 18 26
14 13 12 17 13
N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
37 15 11 4 22
39 43 66 40 42
39 34 30 54 35
39 20 26 35 25
37 21 16 6 25
59 60 77 56 59
Children (2–17) Adults (18 and over) Males 60 and over Females 60 and over All individuals 2 and over
1994–96 AGE AND GENDER
Children (2–17) Adults (18 and over) Males 60 and over Females 60 and over All individuals 2 and over
38 27 28 18 30
37 37 36 41 37
31 43 43 49 40
77 69 65 79 71
N/A indicates data not available.
Nutrient Composition of Selected Fruits and Vegetables Values shown are approximations for 100 grams (3.57 oz.). Foods are raw unless otherwise noted. Source: USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory. kcal: kilocalorie; g: gram; mg: milligram; IU: international unit. ENERGY (KCAL)
Fruits Apple Apricot Avocado Banana Blackberries Blueberries Cantaloupe Cherries (sweet) Grapes Grapefruit Kiwi Lemon Lime Mango Nectarine Orange Peach Pear Pineapple Plum Raspberries Strawberries Tangerine Watermelon Vegetables Artichoke1 Asparagus1 Beans (snap, green) Beet Broccoli Brussels sprout Cabbage Carrot Cauliflower
CARBOWATER HYDRATE PROTEIN (G) (G) (G)
FAT (G)
59 48 161 92 52 56 35 72 67 32 61 29 30 65 49 47 43 59 49 55 49 30 44 32
83.93 86.35 74.27 74.26 85.64 84.61 89.78 80.76 81.30 90.89 83.05 88.98 88.26 81.71 86.28 86.75 87.66 83.81 86.50 85.20 86.57 91.57 87.60 91.51
15.25 11.12 7.39 23.43 12.76 14.13 8.36 16.55 17.15 8.08 14.88 9.32 10.54 17.00 11.78 11.75 11.10 15.11 12.39 13.01 11.57 7.02 11.19 7.18
0.19 0.36 1.40 0.39 1.98 15.32 1.03 0.48 0.72 0.39 0.67 0.38 0.88 0.28 1.20 0.96 0.63 0.35 0.63 0.10 0.99 0.44 1.10 0.30 0.70 0.20 0.51 0.27 0.94 0.46 0.94 0.12 0.70 0.09 0.39 0.40 0.39 0.43 0.79 0.62 0.91 0.55 0.61 0.37 0.63 0.19 0.62 0.43
50 24 31 43 28 43 25 43 25
83.97 92.20 90.27 87.58 90.69 86.00 92.15 87.79 91.91
11.18 4.23 7.14 9.56 5.24 8.96 5.43 10.14 5.20
3.48 2.59 1.82 1.61 2.98 3.38 1.44 1.03 1.98
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
0.16 0.31 0.12 0.17 0.35 0.30 0.27 0.19 0.21
RIBOVITAMIN A VITAMIN C THIAMINE FLAVIN NIACIN (IU) (MG) (MG) (MG) (MG)
53 2,612 61 81 165 100 3,224 214 100 124 175 29 10 3,894 736 205 535 20 23 323 130 27 920 366
5.7 10.0 7.9 9.1 21.0 13.0 42.2 7.0 4.0 34.4 98.0 53.0 29.1 27.7 5.4 53.2 6.6 4.0 15.4 9.5 25.0 56.7 30.8 9.6
0.017 0.030 0.108 0.045 0.030 0.048 0.036 0.050 0.092 0.036 0.020 0.040 0.030 0.058 0.017 0.087 0.017 0.020 0.092 0.043 0.030 0.020 0.105 0.080
0.014 0.040 0.122 0.100 0.040 0.050 0.021 0.060 0.057 0.020 0.050 0.020 0.020 0.057 0.041 0.040 0.041 0.040 0.036 0.096 0.090 0.066 0.022 0.020
0.077 0.600 1.921 0.540 0.400 0.359 0.574 0.400 0.300 0.250 0.500 0.100 0.200 0.584 0.990 0.282 0.990 0.100 0.420 0.500 0.900 0.230 0.160 0.200
177 539 668 38 1,542 883 133 28,129 19
10.0 10.8 16.3 4.9 93.2 85.0 32.2 9.3 46.4
0.065 0.123 0.084 0.031 0.065 0.139 0.050 0.097 0.057
0.066 0.126 0.105 0.040 0.119 0.090 0.040 0.059 0.063
1.001 1.082 0.752 0.334 0.638 0.745 0.300 0.928 0.526
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—NUTRITIONAL VALUE
OF
FOODS
211
Nutrient Composition of Selected Fruits and Vegetables (continued) ENERGY (KCAL)
CARBOWATER HYDRATE PROTEIN (G) (G) (G)
Vegetables (continued) Celery 16 94.64 Collards1 26 91.86 Corn (sweet, 108 69.57 yellow)1 Cucumber 13 96.01 Eggplant1 28 91.77 Lettuce (iceberg) 12 95.89 Mushroom1 27 91.08 Okra1 32 89.91 Onion1 44 87.86 Pepper (sweet, 27 92.19 green) Pepper (sweet, red) 27 92.19 Potato2 93 75.42 Spinach 22 91.58 Sweet potato2 103 72.85 Tomato (red) 21 93.76 1
Boiled.
FAT (G)
RIBOVITAMIN A VITAMIN C THIAMINE FLAVIN NIACIN (IU) (MG) (MG) (MG) (MG)
3.65 4.90 25.11
0.75 2.11 3.32
0.14 0.36 1.28
134 3,129 217
7.0 18.2 6.2
0.046 0.045 0.323 0.040 0.106 0.575 0.215 0.072 1.614
2.76 6.64 2.09 5.14 7.21 10.15 6.43
0.69 0.83 1.01 2.17 1.87 1.36 0.89
0.13 0.23 0.19 0.47 0.17 0.19 0.19
215 64 330 0 575 0 632
5.3 1.3 3.9 4.0 16.3 5.2 89.3
0.024 0.076 0.046 0.073 0.132 0.042 0.066
0.022 0.020 0.030 0.300 0.055 0.023 0.030
0.221 0.600 0.187 4.460 0.871 0.165 0.509
6.43 21.56 3.50 24.27 4.64
0.89 1.96 2.86 1.72 0.85
0.19 0.10 0.35 0.11 0.33
5,700 0 6,715 21,822 623
190.0 12.8 28.1 24.6 19.1
0.066 0.105 0.078 0.073 0.059
0.030 0.021 0.189 0.127 0.048
0.509 1.395 0.724 0.604 0.628
2
Baked.
Nutritional Value of Selected Foods Values shown are approximations. Source: Home and Garden Bulletin No. 72, USDA. kcal: kilocalorie; g: gram; mg: milligram; oz: ounce; fl oz: fluid ounce.
FOOD
Beverages Beer Cola, regular Cola, diet (w/aspartame and saccharine) Coffee, brewed Orange juice, canned Tea, instant, prepared, unsweetened Wine, table, red
SATUCARBOTOTAL RATED ENERGY HYDRATE PROTEIN FAT FAT CALCIUM IRON SODIUM AMOUNT GRAMS (KCAL) (G) (G) (G) (G) (MG) (MG) (MG)
12 fl oz 12 fl oz 12 fl oz
360 369 355
150 160 0
13 41 0
1 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
14 0.1 11 0.2 14 0.2
18 18 32
6 fl oz 8 fl oz 8 fl oz
180 249 241
0 105 0
0 25 1
0 1 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
4 0 20 1.1 1 0
2 5 1
3.5 fl oz
102
75
3
8 0.4
5
113 28.35
810 105
0 0
1 6
92 57.1 9 5.6
27 0.2 174 0.1
933 406
28.35 28.35 28.35 210 28.35 15 230 46 50 61 133 244 244 245 250 227
115 80 105 215 100 20 495 90 75 100 270 150 120 85 210 145
0 1 1 6 1 1 10 1 1 1 32 11 12 12 26 16
7 6 8 26 2 0 7 6 6 7 5 8 8 8 8 12
9 6 8 9 10 2 48 7 5 7 14 8 5 0 8 4
6 3.7 5 6 6.2 1.1 30 1.9 1.6 2.2 8.9 5.1 2.9 0.3 5.3 2.3
204 147 272 126 23 16 268 25 25 44 176 291 297 302 280 415
0.2 0.1 0 0.3 0.3 0 0.1 0.7 0.6 0.7 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.6 0.2
176 106 74 850 84 6 123 162 62 171 116 120 122 126 149 159
13 14
115 100
0 0
0 0
13 11
5.1 2.2
0 4
0 0
0 132
Dairy Butter, salted 4 oz Cheese, American (pasteurized, 1 oz processed) Cheese, cheddar 1 oz Cheese, mozzarella (whole milk) 1 oz Cheese, swiss 1 oz Cottage cheese, small curd 8 oz Cream cheese 1 oz Cream, half and half 0.5 oz Cream, sour 8 oz Eggs, cooked, fried 1 egg Eggs, cooked, hard-cooked 1 egg Eggs, cooked, scrambled 1 egg Ice cream, vanilla, 11% fat 8 oz Milk, whole, 3.3% fat 8 oz Milk, low fat, 2% fat 8 oz Milk, skim 8 oz Milk, chocolate 8 oz Yogurt, plain, low fat 8 oz Fats, oils Lard Margarine, hard, 80% fat
0.5 oz 0.5 oz
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NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—NUTRITIONAL VALUE
OF
FOODS
Nutritional Value of Selected Foods (continued)
FOOD
Fats, oils (continued) Olive oil Vegetable shortening
SATUCARBOTOTAL RATED ENERGY HYDRATE PROTEIN FAT FAT CALCIUM IRON SODIUM AMOUNT GRAMS (KCAL) (G) (G) (G) (G) (MG) (MG) (MG)
0.5 oz 0.5 oz
14 13
125 115
0 0
0 0
14 13
1.9 3.3
0 0
0 0
0 0
135 28 85 240 85 85 85
135 70 185 160 140 200 175
1 4 7 8 0 11 0
23 6 16 20 21 16 21
3 3 11 4 5 10 9
0.5 0.8 2.6 1.4 1.2 2.5 4.1
61 11 31 226 26 61 26
1.1 0.3 1.2 15.6 0.5 2 1
1350 53 138 175 55 384 122
85
135
30
1
0.3
17 0.6
468
110 255
65 195
16 51
0 0
0 0
0.1 0.1
4 0.1 10 0.9
0 8
106 114 144 145 120 50
50 105 75 80 40 35
12 27 18 20 10 9
1 1 1 1 1 0
0 1 1 1 0 0
0 0.2 0.2 0 0 0.1
15 7 46 9 14 6
0.6 0.4 0.8 0.2 0.1 0.1
1 1 0 9 0 1
131 87 166 255
60 35 100 200
15 10 25 52
1 1 1 1
0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0
52 0.1 4 0.1 18 0.4 36 1
0 0 0 3
66 49 145 149 482
35 115 435 45 155
9 31 115 10 35
1 1 5 1 3
0 0 1 1 2
0 0 0.2 0 0.3
3 25 71 21 39
0.1 1.2 3 0.6 0.8
0 2 17 1 10
68 25 25 25 28 28.35 28.35 28.35 28.35 71
200 65 65 65 70 110 110 110 85 260
38 12 12 12 13 20 24 23 21 42
7 2 2 2 3 4 2 3 3 3
2 1 1 1 1 2 0 1 1 9
0.3 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.3 0 0.2 0.1 2.1
29 20 32 32 20 48 1 32 13 33
1.8 0.7 0.9 0.7 1 4.5 1.8 4.5 4.5 1
245 175 138 129 180 307 351 201 185 176
92 42
280 180
26 28
5 2
18 9
9.9 2.9
52 0.4 13 0.8
204 140
122
435
90
11
5
0.5
24 2.2
1
50 57 234
210 140 145
24 27 25
3 5 6
12 1 2
2.8 0.3 0.4
22 1 96 1.7 19 1.6
192 378 374
130 45
190 140
39 22
7 3
1 5
0.1 1.4
14 2.1 15 0.9
1 225
27
60
8
2
2
0.5
36 0.7
160
158
405
60
3
18
4.6
13 1.6
476
Fish Crabmeat, canned 8 oz Fish sticks, frozen 1 piece Ocean perch, breaded, fried 1 piece Oysters, raw 8 oz Salmon, baked, red 3 oz Shrimp, fried 3 oz Trout, broiled, w/butter and 3 oz lemon juice Tuna, canned, white, in water 3 oz Fruits, fruit products Apples, peeled, sliced 8 oz Applesauce, canned, 8 oz sweetened Apricots 3 apricots Bananas 1 banana Blackberries 8 oz Blueberries 8 oz Grapefruit, pink ½ grapefruit Grapes, European, 10 grapes Thompson Oranges 1 orange Peaches 1 peach Pears, Bartlett 1 pear Pineapple, canned, heavy 8 oz syrup 1 Plums, 2 ⁄8-in. diam. 1 plum Prunes, dried, large 5 prunes Raisins 8 oz Strawberries 8 oz Watermelon 1 piece Grains Bagels, plain 1 bagel Bread, rye, light 1 slice Bread, wheat 1 slice Bread, white 1 slice Bread, whole wheat 1 slice Cereal, Cheerios 1 oz Cereal, Kellogg’s Corn Flakes 1 oz Cereal, Lucky Charms 1 oz Cereal, Post Raisin Bran 1 oz Cake, white, w/white 1 piece frosting, commercial Cheesecake 1 piece Chocolate chip cookies, 4 cookies commercial Cornmeal, whole-ground, 8 oz dry Doughnuts, cake, plain 1 doughnut English muffins, plain 1 muffin Oatmeal, instant, cooked, 8 oz w/salt Macaroni, cooked, firm 8 oz Muffins, blueberry, 1 muffin commercial mix Pancakes, plain, 1 pancake commercial mix Pie, apple 1 piece
© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
NATURE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & TECHNOLOGY—NUTRITIONAL VALUE
OF
FOODS
213
Nutritional Value of Selected Foods (continued)
FOOD
SATUCARBOTOTAL RATED ENERGY HYDRATE PROTEIN FAT FAT CALCIUM IRON SODIUM AMOUNT GRAMS (KCAL) (G) (G) (G) (G) (MG) (MG) (MG)
Grains (continued) Popcorn, air-popped, 8 oz unsalted Pretzels, stick 10 pieces Rice, brown, cooked 8 oz Rice, white, instant, cooked 8 oz Saltines 4 pieces Spaghetti, cooked, tender 8 oz Waffles, from commercial 1 waffle mix Meat, poultry Bacon, regular, cooked 3 slices Beef, chuck, lean, cooked 2.2 oz Chicken, breast, roasted 3 oz Chicken, drumstick, floured, 1.7 oz fried Ground beef, broiled 3 oz Ham, roasted, lean and fat 3 oz Hamburger 4-oz patty Lamb chops, braised, lean 1.7 oz Turkey, roasted, light and 8 oz dark Veal cutlet, med. fat, braised 3 oz or broiled
8
30
6
1
3 195 165 12 140 75
10 230 180 50 155 205
2 50 40 9 32 27
0 5 4 1 5 7
0 1 0 1 1 8
0 0.3 0.1 0.5 0.1 2.7
1 23 5 3 11 179
0.1 1 1.3 0.5 1.7 1.2
48 0 0 165 1 515
19 62 86 49
110 170 140 120
0 0 0 1
6 19 27 13
9 9 3 7
3.3 3.9 0.9 1.8
2 8 13 6
0.3 2.3 0.9 0.7
303 44 64 44
85 85 174 48