Britannica Concise 2005

dating; URANIUM-234-URANIUM-238 dating; uranium-thorium-lead dating.

Daubenton \do-ba n -'to n \, Louis-Jean-Marie (b. May 26, 1716, Montbard, Cote d’Or, Fr.—d. Jan. 1, 1800, Paris) French naturalist. A prolific scientist, he completed many zoological descriptions and dissec¬ tions and undertook productive studies in the comparative anatomy of recent and fossil animals, plant physiology, and mineralogy. He intro¬ duced Merino sheep to France.

Daubigny \do-ben-'ye\, Charles-Francois (b. Feb. 15, 1817, Paris, Fr.—d. Feb. 19, 1878, Paris) French landscape painter of the Barbizon school. He was trained by his father, also a painter. He began by paint¬ ing historical and religious works but soon turned to landscapes, painting rivers, beaches, and canals from a boat. His images were notable for their uncrowded composition and accurate depiction of natural light. One of the earliest proponents of painting directly from nature, he is considered the link between mid-19th-century naturalism and Impressionism.

Daudet \do-'de\, Alphonse (b. May 13, 1840, Nimes, France—d. Dec. 16, 1897, Paris) French short-story writer and novelist. Daudet wrote his first novel at age 14. Unable to finish his schooling after his parents lost all their money, he took a position in a duke’s household. He later joined the army but fled the terrors of the Paris Commune of 1871. His health was long undermined by poverty and by the venereal disease that eventually cost him his life. He is remembered for his humorous, senti¬ mental portrayals of the life and characters of southern France, inspired by his experiences at several social levels. His many works include the

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Daughters of the American Revolution ► David I 515

story collection Monday Tales (1873), the play L’Arlesienne (1872), the novels The Nabob (1877) and Sappho (1884), and several volumes of memoirs. His son, Leon Daudet (1867-1942), edited with Charles Mau- rras the reactionary review L’Action Frangaise and was a virulent sati¬ rist and polemicist on the subjects of medicine and psychology as well as public affairs.

Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) U.S. patriotic society for direct descendants of soldiers or others who aided the cause of independence. It was organized in 1890 and chartered by Congress in 1895. Its historical division stresses the study of U.S. history and preservation of Americana. Its educational division provides scholarships and loans, helps support schools for underprivileged youth and for Americanization train¬ ing, sponsors prizes, and publishes manuals. Its patriotic division publishes the Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine and The National Defense News. It was long known for its conservatism; its refusal in 1939 to let the black singer Marian Anderson perform at Washington’s Consti¬ tution Hall led to her famous concert at the Lincoln Memorial.

Daumier \dom-'ya\, Honore (-Victorin) (b. Feb. 20/26, 1808, Marseille, Fr.—d. Feb. 11, 1879, Valmondois) French painter, sculptor, and caricaturist. He was bom into a family of artists. From age 13 he worked for a bailiff in a law court and later as a clerk in a bookstore, where he observed and analyzed the appearance and behaviour of people of different social classes. In 1829, after studying lithography, he began contributing cartoons and drawings satirizing 19th-century French poli¬ tics and society to periodicals and came to enjoy a wide reputation. He produced more than 4,000 lithographs and 4,000 illustrative drawings. His paintings, drawing upon literary themes and documenting contemporary life and manners, were executed in a vigorous, sketchy style; they were rarely exhibited, and he remained unknown as a painter. In sculpture he specialized in caricature heads and figures; some 15 small clay busts occupy an important place in the history of sculpture.

dauphin Vdo-fonV Title of the eldest son of a king of France, the heir apparent to the French crown, from 1350 to 1830. Derived from a per¬ sonal name, dauphin was originally used as a title in the 12th century by French counts in Auvergne and Vienne. The title came to the French crown through the purchase of lands known as the Dauphine in 1349 by Philip VI, who bestowed it on his grandson, the future Charles V. Dauphin came to designate the heir apparent during the reign of Charles V, who gave his son, Charles VI, the title and the Dauphine.

Dauphine \,do-fe-'na\ Historic region and former province, southeast¬ ern France. Occupied by Burgundians and later by Franks, it formed part of the Middle Kingdom of Lothar I after the division of the Carolingian empire in 843 and was part of the kingdom of Arles. It was sold to Philip VI of France and ultimately became an appanage of the eldest son of the French king, who assumed the title (dauphin) attached to the land. The area had a quasi-independent status until it was annexed to France in 1457. Dauphine encompasses portions of the modern administrative regions of Rhone-Alpes and Province-Alpes-Cote d’Azur.

Davao \'da-,vau\ City (pop., 2000: metro, area, 1,147,116), southeast¬ ern Mindanao Island, Philippines. Located at the mouth of the Davao River on Davao Gulf, it is an international port and the leading commer¬ cial centre in the region. It developed as a Japanese colony. Razed dur¬ ing World War II, the rebuilt city is a blend of Spanish, American, and Moorish influences. Largely rural outside its urban core, it is one of the world’s largest cities in area, covering 854 sq mi (2,212 sq km). It is the site of the University of Mindanao (1946).

Davenant Vdav-o-nontX, Sir William or William D'Avenant (b.

1606, Oxford, Eng.—d. April 7, 1668, London) British poet, playwright, and theatre manager. Early works include the comedy The Witts (licensed 1634) and a volume of poems, Madagascar (1638). He was made poet laureate in 1638. Involved in intrigues during the English Civil Wars, he was imprisoned at the Tower of London, where he worked on his verse epic Gondibert (1651). Later he made the first attempt to revive English drama (banned under Oliver Cromwell) and brought the first opera, painted stage sets, and female actress-singer to the English public stage. After the Restoration he continued playwriting and founded a playhouse.

Davenport, John (b. April 1597, Coventry, Warwickshire, Eng.—d. c. March 15, 1670, Boston, Mass.) British-American Puritan clergyman. A vicar in London, he moved to Amsterdam in 1633 and served there as co-pastor of the English Church. In 1637 he left for America with Theo-

philus Eaton (c. 1590-1658) and their followers. They founded a colony at Quinnipiac (New Haven) in 1638; Davenport became pastor of the New Haven church, and Eaton was chosen governor. After failing to prevent New Haven’s union with the Connecticut colony, Davenport left in 1667 to lead the First Church in Boston.

David (b. Bethlehem, Judah—d. c. 962 bc, Jerusalem) Second of the Israelite kings (r. c. 1000-c. 962 bc). David was an aide at the court of Saul until the monarch’s jealousy forced him into outlawry. He became king of Israel on Saul’s death. He captured Jerusalem from the Jebusites and made it his capital, defeated the Philistines, and gained control of many bordering kingdoms. He faced several revolts, including one by his third son, Absalom. He unified all Israel into one kingdom and made Jerusalem both the religious and political centre. He made the name Yahweh the supreme name for the god of Israel, who was worshiped in Jerusalem, and ruled that all other names for God were mere titles or attributes of Yahweh. Though the kingdom split under David’s son and successor Solomon, religious unity endured, and the house of David symbolized the bond between God and Israel. The word MESSIAH comes from hameshiach, the title of kings of the line of David.

David I (b. c. 1082 —d. May 24, 1153, Carlisle, Cumberland, Eng.) King of the Scots (1124-53). The youngest of six sons of Malcolm III Canmore, he became king of Scotland on the death of his brother Alexander I. He created a rudimentary central administration, issued the first Scottish royal coinage, and admitted into Scotland an influential Norman aristocracy. David also reorganized Scottish Christianity to conform with European and English usages and founded many religious communities. He had obtained lands in central England through his marriage to the daughter of an English earl in 1113, and he won title to Northumberland from the future Henry II in 1149.

David II known as David the Builder (b. 1073—d. 1125) King of Georgia (1089-1125). Sometimes known as David III, he became coruler with his father, Giorgi II, in 1089. David defeated the Turks in the Battle of Didgori (1122) and captured Tbilisi. Under his leadership Georgia became the strongest state in Caucasia.

David II (b. March 5, 1324, Dunfermline, Fife, Scot.—d. Feb. 22, 1372, Scotland) King of the Scots from 1329. In keeping with an Anglo-Scottish peace treaty, he was married at age four to the sister of Edward III of England. His reign was marked by conflict with England and a decline in the prestige of the monarchy. He went into exile in France in 1334 after Edward III supported a rival for the throne, and he fought against Edward for the French king Philip VI. David returned to Scotland in 1341 and carried out raids against the English, who captured him in 1346. He was released in 1357 on the promise of ransom, and his offer to trade the Scottish throne for forgiveness of the ransom money was repudiated in Scotland.

David Vda-v3t\, Gerard (b. c. 1460, Oudewater, Neth.—d. Aug. 13, 1523, Bruges) Netherlandish painter. He worked mainly in Bruges, where he entered the painters’ guild in 1484 and became dean in 1501. He

"Virgin and Child with Saints and Donor," panel painting by Gerard David, c. 1505; in the National Gallery, London

COURTESY OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON; PHOTOGRAPH, J.R. FREEMAN & CO. LTD.

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516 I David ► Davis

became the city’s leading painter after the death of Hans Memling. Most of his works are altarpieces and other panels featuring traditional religious themes, but his best-known paintings, The Judgment of Cambyses and The Flaying of Sisamnes (1498), deal with the theme of justice; they origi¬ nally hung in the town hall of Bruges. His works are among the earliest Flemish paintings to feature the Italian Renaissance iconography of putti (male child angels) and garlands.

David \da-'ved\, Jacques-Louis (b. Aug. 30, 1748, Paris, France—d. Dec. 29, 1825, Brussels) French painter. At 18 he entered the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture.

In 1775 he went to Rome and became a proponent of the Neoclas¬ sical style, but also studied the work of such 17th-century painters as Nicolas Poussin and Caravaggio. His work came to epitomize the late 18th-century Neoclassical reaction against the ornate Rococo style.

Among his subjects were classical, historical, and mythological themes; he was also a great portraitist. He became the unchallenged painter of the French Revolution, and later was appointed official portraitist to Napo¬ leon. He was also a founding mem¬ ber of the new Institut de France, which replaced the Royal Academy, and produced commemorative med¬ als and other revolutionary propa¬ ganda. Among his masterpieces is The Death of Marat (1793), an expression of universal tragedy as well as a portrayal of a key event of the French Revolution. His influence on European art was pervasive; his pupils included Antoine-Jean Gros and J.-A.-D. Ingres.

David, Star of Hebrew Magen David (“Shield of David”). Jewish symbol composed of two overlaid equilateral triangles that form a six- pointed star. It appears on synagogues, tombstones, and the flag of Israel. An ancient sign not much used by Jews before the Middle Ages, it was popularized by Kabbalists for protection against evil spirits. The Jewish community of Prague adopted it as an official symbol and its use became widespread in the 17th century. Though it has neither biblical nor Talmu¬ dic authority, it became a nearly universal emblem of Judaism in the 19th century. The Nazis’ use of it to identify Jews invested it with the sym¬ bolism of martyrdom and heroism.

David ap Llywelyn Vda-vith-ap-hb-'we-linX (b. c. 1208 —d. Feb. 25, 1246, Aber, Gynedd, Wales) Welsh prince, ruler of the state of Gwynedd in northern Wales (1240-46). His father, Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, had made Gwynedd the centre of Welsh power. David, the rightful heir, fought his half brother for power and imprisoned him in 1239. He was forced to cede part of his territory to Henry III of England (1241) and later went to war against Henry. The first Welsh ruler to declare himself prince of Wales, he fell ill and died while the war was in progress.

David of Tao \'tau\ (d. 1000) Georgian prince of the Bagratid family of Tao, a region between Georgia and Armenia. A just ruler and a friend of the church, he allied with Basil II to defeat the rebel Bardas Skleros (976-979) and was rewarded with extensive lands that made him the most important ruler in Caucasia. In 987-989 he supported Bardas Phokas against Basil but was defeated and agreed to cede his lands to Basil on his death. Despite this setback, David’s heir, Bagrat III (978-1014), was able to become the first ruler of a unified Georgian kingdom.

Davidson, Bruce (b. Sept. 5, 1933, Oak Park, Ill., U.S.) U.S. photog¬ rapher and filmmaker. After studying at the Yale University School of Design he worked briefly at Life magazine and in 1958 joined the pho¬ tographers’ cooperative Magnum Photos. He produced numerous out¬ standing photo-essays, the most important being East 100th Street (1970), 123 photographs shot with a large-format camera in East Harlem, New York. He also made several short films.

Davidson, Donald (b. March 6, 1917, Springfield, Mass., U.S.—d. Aug. 30, 2003, Berkeley, Calif.) U.S. philosopher. He taught at various universities before settling at the University of California at Berkeley in 1981. In a series of seminal papers, he developed strikingly original and

unusually systematic positions on a wide range of traditional philosophi¬ cal problems. According to his doctrine of anomalist monism, although mental events are identical to physical events (in the brain) under appro¬ priate descriptions, there are no psychophysical laws (in the strict sense) that relate the two; it follows that reduction of the mental to the physical is impossible (see also supervenience). He argued that a formal require¬ ment for any adequate theory of linguistic meaning is that it generate theo¬ rems that express the truth conditions of sentences in the “object language” in terms of sentences in a metalanguage. He also developed sophisticated arguments against the possibility of conceptual relativism (the view that there are mutually unintelligible “conceptual schemes”) and global skepticism (the view that most if not all of one’s beliefs about the world may be false).

Davidson College Private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina, U.S., founded in 1837. It is affiliated with the Presbyterian church, though its approach to learning is nonsectarian. Women were first admitted in 1972.

Davies, Sir Peter Maxwell (b. Sept. 8, 1934, Manchester, Eng.) British composer. He studied in England, Italy, and the U.S. He cofounded the contemporary ensemble The Fires of London and was its musical director (1970-87); he wrote many of his works for the group. Since 1970 he has lived and composed primarily in the remote Orkney Islands. He has written many musical theatre works and has conducted orchestras worldwide. His most famous compositions are Eight Songs for a Mad King (1969) and An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise ; his other works include Vesalii leones (1969), Miss Donnithorne’s Maggot (1974), and Ave maris Stella (1975); the operas Taverner (1968), The Martyrdom of St. Magnus (1976), and Le Jongleur de Notre Dame (1978); and seven symphonies.

Davies, (William) Robertson (b. Aug. 28, 1913, Thamesville, Ont., Can.—d. Dec. 2, 1995, Orangeville, Ont.) Canadian novelist and play¬ wright. Educated at the University of Oxford, Davies for many years edited the Peterborough (Ont.) Examiner and taught at the University of Toronto. He is best known for three trilogies: the Deptford trilogy con¬ sists of Fifth Business (1970), The Manticore (1972), and World of Won¬ ders (1975), novels examining the intersecting lives of three men from a small Canadian town; the Salterton trilogy, three comedies of manners set in a provincial university town; and the so-called Cornish trilogy— The Rebel Angels (1981), What’s Bred in the Bone (1985), and The Lyre of Orpheus (1988). Davies’s novels are notable for satirizing bourgeois pro¬ vincialism and exploring the relationship between mysticism and art.

Davis, Angela (Yvonne) (b. Jan. 26, 1944, Birmingham, Ala., U.S.) U.S. political activist. She was a doctoral candidate at the University of California at San Diego, studying under Herbert Marcuse. Because of her radical political views, her position as lecturer in philosophy at UCLA was not renewed. A champion of the cause of black prisoners, she grew particularly attached to George Jackson, a member of the so-called Soledad Brothers (after Soledad Prison). After an abortive courtroom escape and kidnapping attempt in August 1970 in which four people, including Jackson’s brother and the trial judge, were killed, Davis was suspected of involvement, and she became one of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s most-wanted criminals. Arrested in New York City in October, she was acquitted of charges of murder, kidnapping, and con¬ spiracy by an all-white jury. In 1980 she ran unsuccessfully for vice presi¬ dent on the Communist Party ticket. In 1991 Davis became a professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Davis, Benjamin O(liver), Jr. (b. Dec. 18, 1912, Washington, D.C., U.S.—d. July 4, 2002, Washington, D.C.) U.S. pilot and administrator, the first African American general in the U.S. Air Force. He graduated from West Point and in 1941 was admitted to the Army Air Corps. He organized the 99th Fighter Squadron, the first all-black air unit, and in 1943 he organized and commanded the Tuskegee Airmen. He flew 60 com¬ bat missions. In 1948 Davis helped plan the desegregation of the Air Force, and he later commanded a fighter wing in the Korean War. After retiring as lieutenant general in 1970, he was named director of civil avia¬ tion security in the U.S. Department of Transportation (1971-75). In 1998 he was awarded his fourth general’s star, attaining the highest order in the U.S. military.

Davis, Bette in full Ruth Elizabeth Davis (b. April 5, 1908, Low¬ ell, Mass, U.S.—d. Oct. 6, 1989, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France) U.S. film actress. She played small parts onstage before going to Hollywood in

Jacques-Louis David, self-portrait, oil painting, 1794; in the Louvre, Paris

AUNARI—ART RESOURCE/EB INC.

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Davis ► Dawes i 517

After a series of minor roles, she established her reputation with Of Human Bondage (1934) and Dangerous (1935, Academy Award). Known for her intense characterizations of strong women, she gave electrifying performances in films such as The Petrified Forest (1936), Jezebel (1938, Academy Award), Dark Victory (1939), The Little Foxes (1941), Now, Voyager (1942), and All About Eve (1950). Her later films include What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) and The Whales of August (1987).

Davis, Sir Colin (Rex) (b. Sept. 5, 1927, Weybridge, Surrey, Eng.) British conductor. Self-taught as a conductor, he first earned acclaim with a 1958 production of Mozart’s opera The Abduction from the Seraglio. His reputation was established when he filled in for Otto Klemperer the next year. He was music director of Co vent Garden (1971-86) and prin¬ cipal conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony (1983-92); he was appointed principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra in 1995. He has a special affinity for the music of Hector Berlioz and Jean Sibelius.

Davis, David (b. March 9, 1815, Cecil county, Md., U.S.—d. June 26, 1886, Bloomington, Ill.) U.S. jurist. He earned a law degree from Yale in 1835 and established a law practice in Bloomington the following year. He was elected to the Illinois legislature in 1844. As a state circuit-court judge (1848-62) he became a close friend of Abraham Lincoln, and he worked assiduously for Lincoln’s election as president in 1860. In 1862 Lincoln appointed him to the Supreme Court of the United States (1862— 77). He resigned his seat on the court to accept election to the U.S. Sen¬ ate (1877-83).

Davis, Jefferson (b. June 3, 1808, Christian county, Ky., U.S.—d. Dec. 6, 1889, New Orleans, La.) U.S. political leader, president of the Confederate States of America (1861-65). He graduated from West Point and served as a lieutenant in the Wisconsin Territory and later in the Black Hawk War. In 1835 he became a planter in Mississippi. Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives (1845-46), he resigned to serve in the Mexican War, in which he distinguished himself at the Battle of Buena Vista. A national hero, he served in the U.S. Senate (1847-51) and as Pres. Franklin Pierce’s secretary of war (1853-57). He returned to the Senate in 1857, where he advocated states' rights but tried to discourage secession. After Mississippi seceded in 1861, he resigned and was chosen president of the Confederacy. He conducted the South’s war effort despite short¬ ages of manpower, supplies, and money and opposition from radicals within his administration. After Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered without Davis’s approval in April 1865, Davis fled Richmond, Va., the Confed¬ erate capital, hoping to continue the fight until he could secure better terms from the North. Captured and indicted for treason, he was never tried. After two years imprisonment, he was released in poor health in 1867. He retired to Mississippi. His citizenship was restored posthumously in 1978.

Davis, Miles (Dewey) (b. May 26, 1926, Alton, Ill., U.S.—d. Sept. 28, 1991, Santa Monica, Calif.) U.S. trumpeter and bandleader. Davis grew up in East St. Louis, Mo., and began study at the Juilliard School in New York City in 1944. He worked with Charlie Parker (1946-48). His early efforts as a bandleader resulted in recordings known as Birth of the Cool (1949), in which a relaxed aes¬ thetic replaced the more frenetic bebop with the “cool jazz” of the 1950s. From 1955 Davis’s groups framed his spare, lyrical approach in contrast to the dense complexity of saxophonists such as John Coltrane and Wayne Shorter. His dark, brooding tone, logically paced improvisa¬ tions, and frequent use of the metal mute were major influences on jazz trumpet soloists. The 1959 album Kind of Blue was a pioneering example of modal harmonic jazz. His music became more aggressive during the 1960s, and his use of electronic instruments by the end of the decade (.Bitches Brew, 1969) gave rise to the jazz-rock fusion of the 1970s. Davis was one of the most original and influential jazz musicians.

Davis, Stuart (b. Dec. 7, 1894, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.—d. June 24, 1964, New York, N.Y.) U.S. abstract painter. His father was a graphic art¬ ist who encouraged his interest in art. He studied in New York City with Robert Henri (1909-12), made drawings for the periodical The Masses,

associated with the Ash Can school, and exhibited in the Armory Show. A visit to Paris in 1928-29 inspired his own version of Cubism; he began rearranging natural forms from everyday life into flat posterlike patterns with sharp outlines and contrasting colours—the dissonant colours and repetitive rhythms reflecting his interest in jazz—in a style that eventu¬ ally led to totally abstract patterns. He is considered the outstanding U.S. artist who worked in the Cubist style.

Davis Cup Trophy awarded to the winning team of an international ten¬ nis tournament for men. It was donated in 1900 by Dwight F. Davis, him¬ self a player in the first two matches (called ties), for a competition between teams from the U.S. and Britain. Since then, the tournament has developed into a truly international event. More than 100 nations have participated, but winners have been largely confined to the U.S, Austra¬ lia, France, Britain, and Sweden.

Davis Strait Strait, northern Atlantic Ocean. Lying between southeast¬ ern Baffin Island and southwestern Greenland, it separates Baffin Bay to the north from the Labrador Sea to the south, and forms part of the Northwest Passage. About 400 mi (650 km) north to south and 200-400 mi (325-650 km) wide, it was explored in 1585 by the English navigator John Davis. Along the coast of Greenland, the Greenland Current carries relatively warm water northward, while the cold Labrador Current trans¬ ports icebergs southward along Baffin Island’s eastern shore.

Davos \da-‘vos\ Commune (pop., 2000: 11,417), eastern Switzerland. It consists of two villages, Davos-Platz and Davos-Dorf, located in a val¬ ley of the Alps. First inhabited by Romansh-speaking people, it was settled in the 13th century by German speakers. It became the capital of the League of Ten Jurisdictions (or Courts) in 1436 and was ruled by Austria from 1477 to 1649. After the 1860s it became a fashionable health resort, and in the 20th century it developed into a centre for skiing and other winter sports. In the 1990s Davos became famous for hosting the World Economic Forum, an annual gathering of international politicians and fin¬ anciers who represented a transnational elite.

Davout \da-'vii\, Louis-Nicolas, Prince d'Eckmuhl Ndek-'mlelX (b. May 10, 1770, Annoux, France—d. June 1, 1823, Paris) French gen¬ eral in the Napoleonic Wars. Despite his noble origins, in 1790 he led his regiment in a pro-Revolutionary revolt, and he performed with merit in the Belgian campaign of 1792-93. He accompanied Napoleon to Egypt (1798-99) and was promoted to division general. As a coips commander, he had a significant impact on the victories at Austerlitz (1805), Auerstedt (1806), Jena (1806), Eylau (1807), Eckmtihl (1809), and Wagram (1809). Created a duke (1808) and prince (1809) by Napoleon, Davout served as minister of war during the Hundred Days.

Davy, Sir Humphry (b. Dec. 17, 1778, Penzance, Cornwall, Eng.—d. May 29, 1829, Geneva, Switz.) English chemist. By his early 20s his work on gases had established his reputation. His discovery of the anesthetic effect of nitrous oxide in 1799 was a major contribution to surgery. He also did early research on voltaic cells and batteries, tanning, electrolysis, and mineral analysis. In Elements of Agricultural Chemistry (1813) he became the first to apply chemical principles systematically to farming. He was the first to isolate potassium, sodium, barium, strontium, magnesium, and cal¬ cium; he also discovered boron and studied chlorine and iodine extensively. He analyzed many pigments and proved that diamond is a form of carbon. He was one of the greatest exponents of the scientific method. His research on mine explosions and flame and his invention of the safety lamp brought him great prestige, and in 1820 he was made president of the Royal Soci¬ ety of London.

daw See jackdaw

Dawenkou culture \'da-wen-,ko\ or Ta-wen-k'ou culture Chi¬ nese Neolithic culture of c. 4500-2700 bc. It was characterized by the emergence of delicate wheel-made pots of various colours; ornaments of stone, jade, and bone; walled towns; and high-status burials involving ledges for displaying grave goods, coffin chambers, and the burial of ani¬ mal teeth, pig heads, and pig jawbones. See also Erlitou culture; Hong- shan culture; Longshan culture; Neolithic Period.

Dawes, Charles G(ates) (b. Aug. 27, 1865, Marietta, Ohio, U.S.—d. April 23, 1951, Evanston, Ill.) U.S. politician. He practiced law in Nebraska before being appointed U.S. comptroller of the currency (1897— 1902). In World War I he headed supply procurement for the American Expeditionary Force in France. In 1923 he chaired the Allied Reparations

Miles Davis, 1969.

\OTAVAFOTO FROM LONDON DAILY EXPRESS/PICTORIAL PARADE

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

518 I Dawes General Allotment Act ► Day-Lewis

Commission and arranged the Dawes Plan. He served as vice president (1925-29) under Calvin Coolidge. He shared the 1925 Nobel Prize for Peace with Sir Austen Chamberlain.

Dawes General Allotment Act or Dawes Severalty Act

(1887) U.S. land-distribution law proposed by Sen. Henry L. Dawes (1816-1903) of Massachusetts as a way to “civilize” and make farmers of the American Indians. Grants of 80 to 160 acres were offered to each Indian head of household, though actual ownership was withheld for 25 years to guard against sales to speculators. The unintended result was a weakened tribal structure, the inability of many nomadic Indians to adjust to an agrarian existence, and a reservation life of poverty, disease, and despondency. Under the provision that made available for public sale any “surplus” reservation land, whites had acquired two-thirds of the Indian land by 1932.

Dawes Plan (1924) Arrangement for Germany’s payment of repara¬ tions to the Allies after World War I, produced by a committee of experts presided over by Charles Dawes. The total amount of reparations was not determined, but payments were to begin at 1 billion gold marks in the first year and rise to 2.5 billion by 1928. The plan, which also provided for the reorganization of the Reichsbank and for an initial foreign loan of 800 million marks to Germany, was later replaced by the more lenient Young Plan.

dawn redwood Coniferous, nonevergreen tree {Metasequoia glyp- tostroboides), the only living species of the genus Metasequoia, of the family Taxodiaceae, native to remote valleys of central China. Both branchlets and leaves grow out in pairs from points along the stem. The bright green, feathery leaves turn reddish brown in autumn. Though Metasequoia fossils are abundant, the tree was thought to be extinct until living specimens were discovered in the 1940s. Only a few thousand are known to have survived, in central China. Since these stands were dis¬ covered, seeds and cuttings have been planted throughout the world.

Dawson, George Geoffrey orig. George Geoffrey Robin¬ son (b. Oct. 25, 1874, Skipton-in-Craven, Yorkshire, Eng.—d. Nov. 7, 1944, London) English journalist, influential editor of The Times of Lon¬ don. While in civil service in South Africa, he became editor of the Johan¬ nesburg Star as part of an effort to promote support for official policies. As editor of The Times in the years 1912-19 and 1923—41, he was asso¬ ciated with a group that sought to shape national policy through personal exchanges with leading statesmen; he saw himself as the “secretary- general of the Establishment.” A firm believer in appeasement, he was instrumental in the policy that led to the Munich agreement of 1938.

Daxue \'da-'shwe\ or Ta hsiieh Chinese "Great Learning" Short Chinese text generally attributed to Confucius and his disciple Zengzi. For centuries it existed only as a chapter of the Liji (see Five Classics); it gained renown when republished as one of the Four Books. It states that world peace is impossible unless a ruler first regulates his own country, but that no ruler can do this without first setting his own household in order, which requires personal virtue. Zhu Xi’s preface explains that the text is a means to personal development, instructing each individual to cultivate benevo¬ lence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom.

day Time required for a celestial body to turn once on its axis; espe¬ cially, the period of the Earth’s rotation. The sidereal day (see sidereal period) is the time required for the Earth to rotate once relative to the background of the stars (i.e., the time between two observed passages of a star over the same meridian of longitude). The apparent solar day is the time between two successive transits of the Sun over the same meridian. Because the orbital motion of the Earth makes the Sun seem to move slightly eastward each day relative to the stars, the solar day is about four minutes longer than the sidereal day. The mean solar day is the average value of the solar day, which changes slightly in length during the year as the Earth’s speed in its orbit varies. See table opposite.

Day, Doris orig. Doris von Kappelhoff (b. April 3, 1924, Cincin¬ nati, Ohio, U.S.) U.S. singer and actress. She worked as a band vocalist in the 1940s and went on to great success as a solo recording artist. She made her film debut in 1948 and starred in musicals such as Calamity Jane (1953), Young at Heart (1955), and The Pajama Game (1957). Playing a sunny, wholesome girl-next-door type, she embodied the idealized Ameri¬ can woman of the 1950s. She played dramatic roles in Love Me or Leave Me (1955) and The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) before starring in

bedroom comedies such as Pillow Talk (1959) and That Touch of Mink (1962). She also hosted The Doris Day Show on television (1968-73).

Day, Dorothy (b. Nov. 8, 1897, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. Nov. 29, 1980, New York City) U.S. journalist and social reformer. While a schol¬ arship student at the University of Illinois (1914-16), she read widely among socialist authors and soon joined the Socialist Party. In 1916 she returned to New York to work for the radical journals The Call and The Masses. With the birth of her daughter (1927), she broke her ties with radicalism and converted to Roman Catholicism. After writing for the lib¬ eral Catholic journal Commonweal, in 1933 she and Peter Maurin (1877— 1949) cofounded The Catholic Worker, which expressed her view of “personalism.” She sought to aid the poor by establishing urban “hospi¬ tality houses” as part of the Catholic Worker movement. After Maurin’s death, she continued to publish the paper and manage the hospitality houses. Although her outspoken pacifist views were criticized by Catho¬ lic conservatives, she influenced Catholic liberals such as Thomas Merton and Daniel and Phiup Berrigan.

Day-Lewis, C(ecil) (b. April 27, 1904, Ballintubbert, County Leix, Ire.—d. May 22, 1972, Hadley Wood, Hertfordshire, Eng.) Irish-born British poet. Son of a clergyman, Day-Lewis studied at the University of Oxford and in the 1930s became part of a circle of left-wing poets cen¬ tred on W.H. Auden, though he later turned to an individual lyricism expressed in traditional forms. His works include translations of Virgil’s Georgies (1940), Aeneid (1952), and Eclogues (1963) and the verse col¬ lections The Room (1965) and The Whispering Roots (1970). He also wrote the autobiography The Buried Day (1960) and several detective novels under the pseudonym Nicholas Blake. He became poet laureate of England in 1968. He was the father of actor Daniel Day-Lewis.

Days

Day

Derivation

Sunday

from Old English translation of Latin solis dies ("sun's day")

Monday

from Old English translation of Latin lunae dies ("moon's day")

Tuesday

from Old English tlwesdaeg ("Tyr's day")*

Wednesday

from Old English wodnesdaeg ("Woden's da/')*

Thursday