Kadesh Vka-,desh\ Ancient city, western Syria. Located just southwest of modern Hims, it was seized by the Egyptian king Thutmose III in the 15th century bc. It remained an outpost of Egypt until it came under Hit- tite rule in the mid-14th century bc. The Egyptian king Seti I captured the city, and in 1275 bc it was the scene of a battle between Ramses II and the Hittite Muwatallis. After invasion by the Sea Peoples c. 1185 bc, Kadesh disappeared from history.
Kadesh-barnea or Kadesh City of ancient Palestine. Its precise location is unknown, but it was situated in the country of the Amalekites, southwest of the Dead Sea and on the western edge of the wilderness of Zin. It twice served as an encampment for the Israelites.
Kadet See Constitutional Democratic Party
Kaduna River \ka-'du-na\ River, central Nigeria. The main tributary of the Niger River, it rises on the Jos Plateau, flowing northwest and then southwest before completing its 340-mi (550-km) course at the Niger in Mureji. The Kaduna (meaning “crocodiles” in the Hausa language) is navigable only part of the year.
Kael Ykal\, Pauline (b. June 19, 1919, Petaluma, Calif., U.S.—d. Sept. 3, 2001, Great Barrington, Mass.) U.S. film critic. She managed an art- film theatre (1955-60) in Berkeley, Calif., while writing film reviews for magazines and broadcasting her reviews on network radio. After a col¬ lection of her reviews and essays, I Lost It at the Movies (1965), gained her national attention, she moved to New York and became film critic for
The New Yorker (1968-91). Her witty, biting, highly opinionated, and sharply focused reviews (of which five more collections were eventually published) made her arguably the most influential American film critic of her time.
Kafka Vkaf-ka\, Franz (b. July 3, 1883, Prague, Bohemia, Austria- Hungary—d. June 3, 1924, Kierling, near Vienna, Austria) Czech writer who wrote in German. Bom into a middle-class Jewish family, he earned a doctorate and then worked successfully but unhappily at a gov¬ ernment insurance office from 1907 until he was forced by a case of tuberculosis to retire in 1922. The disease caused his death two years later. Hypersensitive and neurotic, he reluctantly published only a few works in his lifetime, including the symbolic story The Metamorphosis (1915), the allegorical fantasy In the Penal Colony (1919), and the story collection A Country Doctor (1919).
His unfinished novels The Trial (1925), The Castle (1926), and Amerika (1927), published posthu¬ mously against Kafka’s wishes, express the anxieties and alienation of 20th-century humanity. His visionary tales, with their inscrutable mixture of the normal and the fantastic, have provoked a wealth of inter¬ pretations. Kafka’s posthumous reputation and influence have been enor¬ mous, and he is regarded as one of the great European writers of the 20th century.
Kafue \ka-'fii-a\ National Park National park, south-central Zam¬ bia. Located west of Lusaka, it was established in 1950. It occupies an area of 8,650 sq mi (22,400 sq km) and consists of a vast plateau, situ¬ ated along the middle reaches of the Kafue River. The park is noted for its lush vegetation and abundant wildlife, including hippopotamuses, zebras, elephants, black rhinoceroses, and lions. Safaris are conducted on foot.
Kafue River River rising on the Democratic Republic of the Congo- Zambia border. It meanders south and eventually flows southeast to join the Zambezi River near Chirundu, Zimbabwe, after a course of 600 mi (960 km). It cuts through the plateau of central Zambia, and its basin contains Kafue National Park. It is one of Zambia’s major rivers, and its waters are used for irrigation and hydroelectric power.
Kagame \ka-'ga-ma\, Paul (b. October 1957, Rwanda) President of Rwanda from 2000. An ethnic Tutsi, Kagame grew up in exile in Uganda, where in 1986 he helped overthrow Milton Obote in favour of Yoweri Museveni. In 1990 he helped direct an unsuccessful coup in Rwanda, and following the 1994 genocide that left almost one million Rwandans dead (most of them Tutsi), he assumed control of the joint Tutsi-Hutu opposition forces that soon controlled all of Rwanda. In July 1994 he was named vice president and minister of defense under Hutu president Pasteur Bizimungu. After Bizimungu resigned in 2000, Kagame was named president. In 1997 he was instrumental in the overthrow of Mobutu Sese Seko in neighbouring Zaire (Congo) and the installation of Laurent Kabila as president.
Kaganovich \k9-g9-'no-vich\, Lazar (Moiseyevich) (b. Nov. 22, 1893, Kabany, near Kiev, Ukraine, Russian Empire—d. July 25, 1991, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.) Soviet political leader. He joined the Bolshe¬ viks in 1911 and became head of the Soviet government of Tashkent in 1920. As head of the Moscow party organization (1930-35), he brought it firmly under Joseph Stalin’s control and with Vyacheslav Molotov formed the core of Stalin’s “post-purge” Politburo (see purge trials). Until 1953 he was largely responsible for heavy industry in the Soviet Union. Under Nikita Khrushchev, he held administrative posts, but he opposed de-Stalinization and joined the unsuccessful attempt to depose Khrush¬ chev in 1957, as a result of which he lost all his offices.
Kagera River \ka-'ga-ra\ River, northwestern Tanzania. The most remote headstream of the Nile River and the largest tributary of Lake Vic¬ toria, it rises in Burundi near the northern tip of Lake Tanganyika and flows north, constituting the boundary between Tanzania and Rwanda. Turning
1883, Prague, Bohemia, Austna-
Kafka
ARCHIV FUR KUNST UND GESCHICHTE, BERLIN
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
1010 I kagura ► Kakinomoto Hitomaro
east, it forms the boundary between Tanzania and Uganda before empty¬ ing into Lake Victoria. It is about 250 mi (400 km) long.
kagura \'ka-gu-,ra\ In Shinto, a traditional style of music and dancing used in religious ceremonies. Kagura dances dedicated to native deities are a reenactment of the propitiatory dance that lured the sun goddess Amaterasu from her cave in ancient myth. Largely unchanged for the past 1,500 years, the dances are performed to the accompaniment of chants, drums, brass gongs, and flutes. The music is of two types: one to praise the spirits or seek their aid, the other to entertain the gods.
Kahlo Vka-lo\ (y Calderon de Rivera), (Magdalena Carmen) Frida (b. July 6, 1907, Coyoacan,
Mex.—d. July 13, 1954, Coyoacan)
Mexican painter. The daughter of a German Jewish photographer, she had polio as a child and at 18 suffered a serious bus accident. She subse¬ quently underwent some 35 opera¬ tions; during her recovery, she taught herself to paint. She is noted for her intense self-portraits, many reflecting her physical ordeal. Like many artists working in post-revolutionary Mexico, Kahlo was influenced by Mexican folk art; this is apparent in her use of fantastical elements and bold use of colour, and in her depic¬ tions of herself wearing traditional Mexican, rather than European-style, dress. Her marriage to painter Diego Rivera (from 1929) was tumultuous but artistically rewarding. The Surre¬ alists Andre Breton and Marcel Du¬ champ helped arrange exhibits of her work in the U.S. and Europe, and though she denied the connection, the dreamlike quality of her work has often led historians to identify her as a Surrealist. She died at 47. Her house in Coyoacan is now the Frida Kahlo Museum.
Kahn, Albert (b. March 21, 1869, Rhaunen, Westphalia—d. Dec. 8, 1942, Detroit, Mich., U.S.) German-bom U.S. industrial architect. In 1904 he received a commission for the Packard Motor Car Co. auto factory; his design, with its reinforced concrete frame, represented an innovative departure from traditional masonry factory construction. Kahn was the principal architect for most of the large American automobile companies for 30 years. His firm designed more than a thousand projects for Ford, among them the fabrication and assembly plant in River Rouge, Mich., which was one of the largest industrial complexes in the world. By 1937 his firm was producing 19% of all architect-designed industrial buildings in the U.S., and he received commissions for factories, foundries, and ware¬ houses from all continents. Kahn’s firm designed 521 factories in the U.S.S.R. and trained more than a thousand Soviet engineers during the 1930s.
Kahn, Herman (b. Feb. 15,1922, Bayonne, N.J., U.S.—d. July 7,1983, Chappaqua, N.Y.) U.S. physicist and strategist. He studied at the California Institute of Technology and joined the RAND Corp., where he studied the application to military strategy of new analytic techniques such as game theory, operations research, and systems analysis. He won public notice with On Thermonuclear War (1960), in which he contended that thermo¬ nuclear war differs only in degree from conventional war and ought to be analyzed and planned in the same way. In 1961 he established the Hudson Institute for research into matters of national security and public policy.
Kahn, Louis l(sadore) (b. Feb. 20, 1901, Osel, Estonia, Russian Empire—d. March 17, 1974, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Estonian-born U.S. architect. He came to the U.S. as a child and graduated from the Univer¬ sity of Pennsylvania. One of the century’s most original architects, Kahn turned from the International Style to a timeless, elegant Brutalism evoca¬ tive of ancient ruins. His Richards Medical Research Building (1960-65) at the University of Pennsylvania isolated “servant” spaces (stairwells, elevators, vents, and pipes) in four towers distinct from “served” spaces (laboratories and offices). His fortresslike National Assembly Building in Dhaka, Bangl. (1962-74), utilized geometric shapes to admit light to its
inner domed mosque. Like R. Buckminster Fuller, Kahn was concerned about wasteful use of natural resources; his urban-planning schemes pro¬ posed geodesic skyscrapers and huge car “silos.” He taught at Yale Uni¬ versity (1947-57) and the University of Pennsylvania (1957-74), where appreciation for his intellect gained him a cult status.
Kahneman, Daniel (b. March 5, 1934, Tel Aviv, Israel) Israeli-born psychologist. He attended Hebrew University (B.A., 1954) in Jerusalem and the University of California, Berkeley (Ph.D., 1961). He later taught at such institutions as Princeton University and was on the editorial board of several academic journals. In the late 1960s he began conducting research to increase understanding of how people make economic decisions. His work with Amos Tversky on decision making under uncertainty resulted in the formulation of a new branch of economics, prospect theory. Using sur¬ veys and experiments, Kahneman showed that people were incapable of analyzing complex decision situations when the future consequences were uncertain. Instead, they relied on heuristic, or rule-of-thumb, shortcuts. In 2002 he shared the Nobel Prize for Economics with Vernon L. Smith.
Kaibara Ekiken \'kl-ba-ra-e-'ke- 1 ken\ (b. Dec. 17, 1630, Fukuoka, Japan—d. Oct. 5, 1714, Japan) Japanese philosopher, travel writer, and pioneer botanist. Trained as a physician, he left the medical profession in 1657 to study the Neo-Confucian writings of Zhu Xi. He wrote about 100 philosophical works, which stressed the hierarchical nature of society and translated Confucian doctrine into terms understood by Japanese of all social classes. His writings include The Great Learning for Women , a tract on obedience long considered the most important ethical text for Japa¬ nese women. He is regarded as the father of botany in Japan.
Kaieteur VkI-9-,tur\ Falls Cataract on the Potaro River, west-central Guyana. After a sheer drop of 741 ft (226 m), the falls pass into a gorge 5 mi (8 km) long, which descends another 81 ft (25 m). The falls are 300 to 350 ft (90 to 105 m) wide at the top and are the central feature of Kai¬ eteur National Park (1930).
Kaifeng Vkl-'foqN or K'ai-feng City (pop., 2003 est.: 594,887), north¬ ern Henan province, China. In the 4th century bc it became the capital of the state of Wei, and the first of its canals was built. It was destroyed by the Qin dynasty in the late 3rd century bc, and until the 5th century ad it was only a market town. It became an important commercial centre in the 7th century, enriched by traffic along the Grand Canal, and it was the capital of the Five Dynasties and the Song dynasty. Kaifeng was the site of China’s only well-documented Jewish community (12th-16th centuries).
Kaikei Vkl-,ka\ (fl. 1183-1236, Japan) Japanese sculptor who helped establish the traditional pattern of Buddhist sculpture. His technique, known as the Anami style, is noted for its gentleness and grace. Together with his teacher, Kokei, and his colleague Unkei, he made statues for the temples of Kofuku and Todai in Nara, Japan’s ancient capital. He later became a monk and assumed the name Anami Butsu.
Kairouan \ker-'wan\ or Al-Qayrawan City (pop., 1994: 102,600), northeastern Tunisia. A religious centre of Islam, it was founded in 670 by the Arab general Sid! ‘Uqbah and became the first Arab city in the Ma¬ ghrib. It was chosen as the Maghrib capital by the Aghlabid dynasty c. 800. It served as an administrative, commercial, religious, and intellectual cen¬ tre under the Fatimid and Zlrid dynasties. The rise of Tunis, the new capi¬ tal, led to Kairouan’s decline and its devastation by Bedouin in the 11th century. It is the site of the 9th-century Great Mosque of the Qayrawan, one of the city’s 150 mosques.
Kaiser Vkl-zoiA, Henry J(ohn) (b. May 9, 1882, Sprout Brook, N.Y., U.S.—d. Aug. 24, 1967, Honolulu, Hawaii) U.S. industrialist and founder of more than 100 companies, including Kaiser Aluminum, Kaiser Steel, and Kaiser Cement and Gypsum. He undertook his first public-works projects beginning in 1914, eventually building dams in California, levees on the Mississippi River, and highways in Cuba. Between 1931 and 1945 he organized combinations of construction companies to build the Hoover, Bonneville, and Grand Coulee dams and other large public projects. Dur¬ ing World War II he ran seven shipyards, making steel in an integrated steel mill and using assembly-line production to build ships in less than five days. He established the first health maintenance organization, the Kaiser plan, for his shipyard employees; it served more than a million people and became a model for later federal programs. In the postwar era he dealt profitably in aluminum, steel, and automobiles.
Kakinomoto Hitomaro Vka-ke-no-.mo-to- 'he-t6-,ma-r6\ known as Hitomaro (d. 708, Japan) Japanese poet. He entered the service of the
"Diego and I," oil on masonite, self- portrait (with forehead portrait of Diego Rivera) by Frida Kahlo, 1949; in the gallery of Mary-Anne Martin/Fine Art, New York City
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Kalacuri dynasty ► Kali I 1011
imperial court and later became a provincial official. Japan’s first great literary figure, he lived when Japan was moving from a preliterate to a literate, civilized society. His writings, on a wide range of subjects, bal¬ ance the homely qualities of primitive song with sophisticated interests and literary techniques. All 77 poems accepted as indisputably his, and many others attributed to him, appear in the Man ’yoshu, the first and larg¬ est of Japan’s anthologies of native poetry.
Kalacuri \,ka-l3-'ku-re\ dynasty or Kalachuri dynasty Any of
several dynasties in Indian history. Apart from the dynastic name and per¬ haps a belief in common ancestry, there is little in known sources to con¬ nect them. The earliest known Kalacuri family ruled c. 550-620 in central and western India; its power ended with the rise of one branch of the Calukyas. The rise of another Kalacuri dynasty (1156-81), centred in Kar¬ nataka, coincided with the rise of the Lingayat, or Virashaiva, Hindu sect. The best-known Kalacuri family ruled in central India with its base at the ancient city of Tripuri (modern Tewar); it originated in the 8th century, expanded significantly in the 11th century, and declined in the 12th—13th centuries.
Kalahari Desert \,ka-la-'ha-re\ Desert region, southern Africa. It cov¬ ers an area of 360,000 sq mi (930,000 sq km) and lies mostly in Botswana but also occupies portions of Namibia and South Africa. It was crossed by the British explorers David Livingstone and William C. Oswell in 1849. Although the region has no permanent surface water apart from the Boteti River, it supports trees, low scrub, and grasses as well as abundant wild¬ life. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park and the Gemsbok National Park.
kalam \k3-'lam\ Islamic speculative theology. It arose during the Umayyad dynasty over varying interpretations of the Qur’an and over ques¬ tions the Qur’an provoked, including those on predestination, free will, and the nature of God. The most prominent early school was the 8th- century Mu'tazilah, which asserted the supremacy of reason, championed free will, and rejected an anthropomorphic characterization of God. The 10th-century school of Ash'ariyyah moved kalam back toward traditional faith, accepting, for example, the eternal, uncreated nature of the Qur’an and its literal truth. The school also represented the successful adaptation of Hellenistic philosophical reasoning to Muslim orthodox theology.
Kalamukha See Kapalika and Kalamukha
kalanchoe \,ka-l9n-'ko-e\ Any of several species of succulent plants that make up the genus Kalanchoe in
the stonecrop family(Crassulaceae). popular for their easy indoor culture.
Potted K. blossjcliliana plants are marketed widely for their winter-
blooming bright red and orange (• ^ j *
llowers. which may remain fresh for j£r $7 ’■ *'■
as long as eight weeks. As suceu- - mh[SS /
lents. kalanchoes require little care. ■ '' 4 V . , A - * i'4' •. *
needing only considerable direct
sunlight (or at least bright indirect Kalanchoe blossfeldiana.
light) and occasional watering. On ©Sydneykarp : photo/nats _
some species, young plants grow in
notches on the leaves of parent plants, then drop to the soil below and begin root growth.
Kalaupapa Xka-.la-ii-'pa-paV Peninsula Peninsula on the northern shore of Molokai island, Hawaii, U.S. Occupying a 5-sq-mi (13-sq-km) plateau, it is isolated from the rest of the island by 2,000-ft (600-m) cliffs. Kalawao village, now abandoned, was the site of the original leper colony (see leprosy) established by King Kamehameha V in 1866; Father Damien ministered to the lepers there 1873-89. The entire peninsula was occu¬ pied by the state leprosarium until 1969, when Hawaii’s isolation laws were abolished.
Kalb \kalp,\ English \'kalb\, Johann (b. June 29, 1721, Hiittendorf, near Erlangen—d. Aug. 19, 1780, Camden, S.C., U.S.) German army officer who fought in the American Revolution. He served in a German regiment of the French infantry from 1743. In 1768 the French sent him on a secret mission to the American colonies to determine their attitude toward Britain. In 1776 he obtained a commission in the Continental Army. He reached Philadelphia in July 1777 and was eventually appointed a major general by the Continental Congress. He became a strong admirer of Gen. George Washington and served with him at Valley Forge. In 1780
he joined Gen. Horatio Gates at Camden, S.C., in an abortive attack on British forces. After Gates was driven from the field, Kalb fought on and was mortally wounded.
kale Loose-leafed, edible plant ( Brassica oleracea, Acephala group) derived from the cabbage, in the mus¬ tard family. Common (or Scotch) and Buda kale have stems up to 2 ft (60 cm) long that carry a rosette of elon¬ gated, dark bluish green, wavy or frilled leaves. Grown mainly for autumn and winter harvest because cold weather improves the quality of this hardy vegetable, kale is usually served cooked. It is highly nutritious.
See also coliard.
kaleidoscope Optical device consisting of mirrors that reflect images of bits of coloured glass or other objects in a symmetrical geo¬ metric design through a viewer. The design may be changed endlessly by rotating the section containing the loose fragments. A simple kaleido¬ scope consists of two thin, wedge- shaped mirror strips touching along a common edge. The mirrors are enclosed in a tube with a viewing eyehole at one end. At the other end is a thin, flat box that can be rotated; it is made from two glass disks, the outer one ground to act as a diffusing screen. In this box are pieces of coloured glass, beads, etc. When the box is turned, the objects inside tumble into an arbitrary grouping, and when the diffusing screen is illu¬ minated, the sixfold or eightfold multiplication creates a striking sym¬ metrical pattern. The kaleidoscope was invented by Sir David Brewster c. 1816.
Ka leva la Yka-la-,va-la\ Finnish national epic. It was compiled by Elias Lonnrot from the songs and ballads of Finland’s oral tradition and pub¬ lished in complete form in 1849. Kalevala, the dwelling place for the poem’s chief characters, is also a poetic name for Finland, meaning “land of heroes.” The epic contains a creation story and adventures of legend¬ ary heroes. The main character is Vainamoinen, a musician and seer of supernatural origins. Other characters include Ilmarinen, a smith who forged the lids of heaven; Lemminkainen, a warrior-adventurer and charmer of women; and Louhi, the female ruler of a land in the north. Though the Kalevala depicts conditions during the pre-Christian era, it also seems to foretell the decline of the old religions.
Kalf \'kalf\, Willem or Willem Kalff (b. Nov. 3, 1619, Rotterdam, Neth.—d. July 31, 1693, Amsterdam) Dutch painter. He is among the best-known Dutch painters of still lifes. His early works depict kitchen interiors, with such elements as gourds and pots strewn on the floor.
His later paintings feature luxurious, expensive objects such as Venetian glass and Chinese porcelain, painted with restraint and richness of texture.
Though his still lifes followed an established formula, Kalf greatly enriched the genre with his use of simple composition, dark back¬ ground, and acutely perceived high¬ lights. In restraint and richness of texture, Kalf’s still lifes were sel¬ dom, if ever, matched. Works such as Still Life with a Nautilus Cup (c.
1660) were popular among Amster¬ dam’s wealthy.
Kali Destructive and devouring Hindu goddess. She is a terrifying aspect of Devi, who in other forms appears as peaceful and benevolent.
Kali is commonly associated with
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1012 I Kalidasa ► Kamehameha IV
death, violence, sexuality, and, paradoxically, with motherly love. Noted for killing the demon Raktavija, she is usually depicted as a hideous, black-faced hag smeared with blood. In her four hands she holds, vari¬ ously, a sword, a shield, the severed head of a giant, or a noose for stran¬ gling. Nearly naked, she wears a garland of skulls and a girdle of severed hands. She is often shown standing or dancing on her husband, Shiva. Until the 19th century the thugs of India worshiped Kali and offered their vic¬ tims to her. In the late 20th century she became a symbol of feminine empowerment in some circles.
Kalidasa \,ka-le-'da-sa\ (fl. c. 5th century) Indian poet and dramatist. Little is known about him; his poems suggest that he was a Brahman (priest). Many works are traditionally ascribed to him, but scholars have identified only six as genuine and one more as likely. The Sanskrit drama The Recognition of Shakuntala, his most famous creation, is traditionally judged the major Indian literary effort of any period, and Kalidasa is regarded as perhaps the greatest of all Indian writers.
Kalinga Ancient kingdom, northeastern India. It corresponds to the area of modem northern Andhra Pradesh, most of Orissa, and a portion of Chhattisgarh. It was conquered by Mahapadma, the founder of the Nanda dynasty, in the 4th century bc. Beginning in the mid-11th century ad, the Eastern Ganga dynasty assumed control. The temple of the sun-god at Konarak was built in the 13th century by Narasimha I. The dynasty col¬ lapsed when the sultan of Delhi invaded Kalinga from the south in 1324.
Kalinin Vko-'le-nyonV Mikhail (Ivanovich) (b. Nov. 19, 1875, Verkhnyaya Troitsa, Russia—d. June 3, 1946, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.) Russian communist leader and statesman. An early supporter of the Bol¬ sheviks, he participated in the Russian Revolution of 1905 and cofounded Pravda. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 he served as mayor of Petro- grad (St. Petersburg). In 1919 he became chair of the central executive committee of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, and thus titular head of the Soviet state, a position he kept until his death. From 1925 he was a member of the Politburo and supported Joseph Stalin in crucial votes, thus retaining his high party office.
Kaliningrad \k3-'le-nin-,grat \formerly Konigsberg Vkoe-niks-.berkV City (pop., 1999 est.: 427,200), western Russia, situated on the Pregolya River. Founded in 1255 as Konigsberg, it was the capital of the dukes of Prussia and later the capital of East Prussia. In 1724 it absorbed the nearby cities of Lobenicht and Kneiphof. Virtually destroyed by Soviet forces during World War II, it came under the sovereignty of the U.S.S.R. and was rebuilt in 1946 as Kaliningrad. It is the seat of the University of Kaliningrad and the birthplace of Immanuel Kant.
Kalliope See Calliope
Kalmar \'kal-,mar\ Union (1397-1523) Scandinavian union that joined the kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark under the rule of a single monarch. Margaret I had become regent of the three kingdoms by 1388; she chose her grandnephew Erik of Pomerania to become their king, and he was crowned at Kalmar, Swed., in 1397. Each country kept its own laws, customs, and administration. Sweden rebelled and claimed inde¬ pendence under Gustav I Vasa in 1523, and Norway became a Danish province in 1536.
Kaloyan \'ka-lo-yan\ or Kalojan (d. Oct. 1207, near Thessaloniki) Tsar of Bulgaria (1197-1207). The younger brother of the founders of the Second Bulgarian Empire, Kaloyan sought to maintain Bulgarian inde¬ pendence. Although he recognized papal authority and was crowned by papal legates in 1204, Kaloyan reverted to Orthodoxy not long after his coronation. He proposed an alliance with the armies of the Fourth Cru¬ sade but then led a Bulgarian-Greek uprising in the Balkan Peninsula that defeated the Crusaders at Adrianople (1205) and resulted in the capture of Baldwin I, the Latin emperor. Kaloyan’s success against the Crusaders contributed to the ultimate demise of the Latin empire of Constantinople. He died besieging Thessaloniki during his continuing struggle to expanded the empire.
Kama In Indian mythology, the god of love. In the Vedic age he per¬ sonified cosmic desire or the creative impulse, and he was called the first¬ born of primeval chaos. He was later often depicted as a handsome youth attended by heavenly nymphs, who shot love-producing flower arrows from a sugarcane bow. He was once killed by Shiva, who was enraged when Kama disturbed his meditation on a mountaintop, but the great god later relented and brought Kama back to life.
Kama River River, west-central Russia. The largest tributary of the Volga River, it rises in Udmurtiya and flows for 1,122 mi (1,805 km) until it enters the Volga below Kazan. Navigation is possible for about 955 mi (1,535 km). It is one of the most important rivers of Russia, historically as the route to the Urals and Siberia and economically as part of the vast Volga system of waterways.
Kamakura \,ka-ma-'kur-a\ period (1192-1333) Period of Japanese history marked by the country’s first era of military government. The Kamakura shogunate was established by Minamoto Yoritomo after his 1185 defeat of a rival warrior family, the Taira (see Taira Kiyomori); its headquarters was in Kamakura. To assert his authority, Yoritomo had jito (stewards) assigned to all the estates ( shOen ) in the land to collect taxes, and shugo (protectors) assigned to one or more provinces to lead them in times of war. This system was improved by the Hojo family, which took control of the shogunate on Yoritomo’s death. The creation of the Kamakura shogunate marks the start of Japan’s medieval or feudal period, characterized by a warrior ethic of duty, loyalty, and stoicism. Many ele¬ ments of Japanese culture that Westerners now associate with the country—including Zen Buddhism, samurai (warriors), seppuku (ritual dis- embowelment), and the tea ceremony —date from this period. The True Pure Land and Nichiren sects of Buddhism, which emphasized salvation through faith alone, provided solace to the masses, while tales of warrior exploits provided them with entertainment. See also BUSHIDO.
Kamchatka \k3m-'chat-k3\ Peninsula Peninsula, eastern Russia. It lies between the Sea of Okhotsk on the west and the Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea on the east. It is 750 mi (1,200 km) long and 300 mi (480 km) across at its widest point, and it has an area of 140,000 sq mi (370,000 sq km). Mountain ranges extend along it; of its 127 volcanoes, 22 are active, including Klyuchevskaya Volcano (15,584 ft [4,750 m]), the high¬ est peak in Siberia.
i orig.
Paiea known as Kame-
Kamehameha \ka-'ma-ha-'ma-ha\ hameha the Great (b. Novem¬ ber 1758?, Kohala district, Hawaii island—d. May 8, 1819, Kailua)
Hawaiian conqueror and king who united all the Hawaiian Islands. His birth came soon after the return of Halley’s Comet (1758), whose appearance led seers to prophesy the coming of a great conqueror. As a young man, he fought his cousin over control of the island of Hawaii; by 1795 he had defeated his cousin and conquered all but two of the Hawaiian Islands, and in 1810 the remaining islands were ceded to him.
He retained the harsh traditional legal system but protected the com¬ mon people from the brutality of powerful chiefs and outlawed human sacrifice. He enriched his kingdom through a government monopoly on the sandalwood trade and through port duties imposed on visiting ships and maintained its independence throughout the difficult period of European discovery and exploration of the islands. He founded the most enduring and best-documented line of rulers of Hawaii.
Kamehameha I, detail of a coloured lithograph by D. Veelward, 1822, after an engraving by Louis Choris, 1816
BERNICE PAUAHI BISHOP MUSEUM, HONOLULU
Kamehameha IV orig. Alex¬ ander Liholiho (b. Feb. 9, 1834, Ewa, Oahu, Hawaiian Islands—d. Nov. 30, 1863, Honolulu, Oahu) Hawaiian ruler (1855-63). Adopted as a child by his uncle, Kamehameha III (1813-54), he was educated by Protestant missionaries. As king, he sought to curb the power of the U.S. missionaries. He expanded trade with other countries and, to offset U.S. influence, invited the Church of England to establish itself in the
Kamehameha IV, c. 1862-1863.
BERNICE PAUAHI BISHOP MUSEUM, HONOLULU; PHOTOGRAPH H.L. CHASE
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Kamenev ► Kandy I 1013
islands. A popular and benevolent ruler, he improved harbours to accom¬ modate Hawaii’s growing whaling industry and provided free medical care for Hawaiians. He resolutely opposed the annexation of Hawaii by the U.S.
Kamenev Vka-myo-.nyefV Lev (Borisovich) orig. Lev Borisov¬ ich Rosenfeld (b. July 18, 1883, Moscow, Russia—d. Aug. 24, 1936, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.) Russian political leader. A member of the Bol¬ sheviks from 1903, he worked with Vladimir Ilich Lenin in Europe (1909-14), then returned to Russia, where he was arrested and sent to Siberia. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, he served as head of the Moscow soviet (1919— 25). When Lenin became seriously ill in 1922, Kamenev joined Joseph Sta¬ lin and Grigory Y. Zinovyev to form the ruling triumvirate, attacking Leon Trotsky. In 1925 Stalin shifted his attack to Kamenev and Zinovyev, removng Kamenev as Moscow party head. In 1926 Kamenev was expelled from the party after conspiring with Zinovyev and Trotsky against Stalin. In 1936 he was tried in the first of the purge trials and confessed to fabricated charges, hoping to save his family. He was executed, and his wife, Trotsky’s sister, perished in the Gulag.
Kamerlingh Onnes N.ka-mor-liq-'o-nosX, Heike (b. Sept. 21, 1853, Groningen, Neth.—d. Feb. 21, 1926, Leiden) Dutch physicist. He taught at the University of Leiden (1882-1923), and in 1884 he founded the Cryogenic Laboratory (now known by his name) that established Leiden as the world’s principal research centre for low-temperature physics. He was the first to produce liquid helium (1908), and he discovered super¬ conductivity. He also investigated the equations describing the states of matter and the general thermodynamic properties of fluids over a wide range of temperatures and pressures. He was awarded the 1913 Nobel Prize for Physics.
kamikaze \,ka-mi-'ka-ze\ Any of the Japanese pilots in World War II who made deliberate suicidal crashes into enemy targets, usually ships. The word means “divine wind,” a reference to a typhoon that dispersed a Mongol invasion fleet threatening Japan from the west in 1281. The prac¬ tice was most prevalent in the final year of the war. Most kamikaze planes were ordinary fighter aircraft or light bombers, usually loaded with bombs or extra gasoline tanks before their suicidal dive. Such attacks sank 34 ships and damaged hundreds of others; at Okinawa they inflicted the greatest losses ever suffered by the U.S. Navy in a single battle, killing almost 5,000 men. See also Zero.
Kammu \'ka-mu\ (b. 737, Nara, Japan—d. April 9, 806, Heian-kyo [Kyoto]) Emperor of Japan (781-806). To curb the power of the Buddhist temples located in Nara, he moved the capital from Heijo-kyo (Nara) to Nagaoka in 784 and then to the city of Heian-kyo in 794. The establish¬ ment of the capital in Heian-kyo marked the start of the Heian period.
Kamo Chomei \'ka-mo-'ch6-ma\ (b. 1155, Japan—d. July 24, 1216, Kyoto) Japanese poet and critic. He is best known for An Account of My Hut (1212), a poetic diary describing his life in seclusion written after he left a court office to take Buddhist orders and become a hermit. His poetry is representative of the best of an age that produced many poets of the first rank. His Nameless Notes (1208/09) is an extremely valuable collec¬ tion of critical comments, anecdotes, and poetic lore.
Kampala \kam-'pa-la\ City (pop., 1998: 1,154,000), capital of Uganda. The country’s largest city, it is in southern Uganda, north of Lake Victo¬ ria. It was selected in 1890 by Capt. Frederick Lugard as the headquar¬ ters of the British East Africa Company. Lugard’s fort on Old Kampala Hill remained the Ugandan colonial administrative headquarters until 1905. In 1962 Kampala became the capital of independent Uganda. It is the site of the headquarters of most of Uganda’s large firms and of Mak- erere University (1922) and the Uganda Museum.
Kampuchea See Cambodia
Kampuchean See Khmer Kan River See Gan River Kanarese language See Kannada language Kanawa, Kiri Te See Kiri Te Kanawa
Kanawha \k9-'n6-w3\ River River, West Virginia, U.S. Formed by the confluence of the New and Gauley rivers, it flows northwest for 97 mi (156 km), entering the Ohio River at Point Pleasant. It has dams and locks and is navigable to Kanawha Falls, located 30 mi (48 km) above Charleston, W.Va. The Kanawha River valley has extensive deposits of salt brines and natural gas and oil wells.
Kanchenjunga V.kon-chan-'jsq-goX Peak in the Himalayas. The world’s third highest mountain, it reaches 28,169 ft (8,586 m). It is located on the border between Nepal and Sikkim state, India, northwest of Darjiling. Rinzin Namgyal, a 19th-century explorer, made the first map of the peak. In 1955 a British expedition led by Charles Evans made the first success¬ ful climb.
Kandel, Eric (b. Nov. 7, 1929, Vienna, Austria) Austrian-born U.S. neurobiologist. He received his M.D. from New York University. Kan- del’s research revealed the role of synaptic transmission in learning and memory. He showed that weak stimuli give rise to certain chemical changes in synapses, forming the basis for short-term memory, and that stronger stimuli cause different synaptic changes, which result in a form of long-term memory. Along with Paul Greengard and Arvid Carlsson, Kandel was awarded a Nobel Prize in 2000. The findings of the three men resulted in the development of new drugs for parkinsonism and other dis¬ orders.
Kander, John (b. March 18, 1927, Kansas City, Mo., U.S.) U.S. song¬ writer. He studied music at Oberlin College and Columbia University and later wrote arrangements for plays. With lyricist Fred Ebb, a native New Yorker who also studied at Columbia and wrote lyrics for revues, he wrote the scores for some of Broadway’s most successful musicals, including Cabaret (1966; film, 1972), Zorba (1968), Chicago (1975; film, 2002), and Kiss of the Spider Woman (1992), and for films such as Funny Lady (1975) and New York, New York (1977).
Kandinsky \kan-'din-ske\, Vasily (Vasilievich) (b. Dec. 4, 1866, Moscow, Russia—d. Dec. 13, 1944, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France) Russian painter, a pioneer of pure abstraction in modern painting. Trained in the law and offered a law professorship, he chose painting instead and set out for Germany. After art studies in Munich, by 1909 he began his lifelong pursuit: a kind of painting in which colours, lines, and shapes, freed from the distracting business of depicting recognizable objects, might evolve into a visual “language” capable of expressing general ideas and evoking deep emotions. In his book Concerning the Spiritual in Art (1912) he set forth these ideas, comparing the expressiveness of forms and colour to qualities in music. In 1911 he and Franz Marc founded an informally organized group of like-minded artists called Der Blaue Reiter (“The Blue Rider”). From 1921 to 1933 he taught at the influential Bauhaus in Weimar; during this period Kandinsky continued to evolve in the general direction of geometric abstraction, but with a dynamism and a taste for detail. When the Nazis closed the Bauhaus, he immigrated to Paris. During this final period his painting became a synthesis of the organic manner of the Munich period and the geometric manner of the Bauhaus period. The visual language that he had been aiming at since at least 1910 turned into collections of signs that look like almost-decipherable messages written in pictographs and hieroglyphs. His influence on 20th-century art and abstract art in general was profound.
Kandler \'ken-dler\, Johann Joachim (b. 1706, Fischbach,
Saxony—d. May 18, 1775, Meissen)
German Baroque sculptor. In 1731 he was engaged to reorganize the modeling department of the porce¬ lain factory at Meissen; he held the position of chief modeler there from 1733 until his death. It was largely through Kandler’s genius that Meis¬ sen porcelain gained world renown.
Among his best-known works are his commedia dell’arte figurines, largely done between 1736 and 1744.
Kandy Important independent monarchy in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) at the end of the 15 th century and the last Sinhalese kingdom to be subju¬ gated by a colonial power. Kandy survived the predations of the Portu¬ guese by allying with the Dutch and survived the Dutch by seeking Brit¬ ish aid; when the British took over Ceylon in 1796, Kandy was left on its own. The first British attack on
Harlequin, Meissen hard-paste porce¬ lain figure from the commedia dell'arte modeled by Johann Joachim Kandler, c. 1738; in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
COURTESY OF THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, LONDON; PHOTOGRAPH, EB INC.
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
1014 I Kane ► Kano school
Kandy in 1803 failed; in 1815 Kandyan chiefs invited the British to over¬ throw a tyrannical king, and in 1818 those chiefs’ rebellion against the Brit¬ ish was suppressed.
Kane, Paul (b. Sept. 3, 1810, Mallow, Ire.—d. Feb. 20, 1871, Toronto, Ont., Can.) Irish-born Canadian painter. His family immigrated to Canada in 1819. He worked mainly in Toronto but traveled as far as the Pacific coast depicting landscapes, Native American subjects, fur traders, and missionaries; he published an account of his adventures in Wanderings of an Artist (1859). Half of his paintings are portraits, works of great his¬ torical value in which he recorded the dress and ornaments of his subjects in accurate detail. He excelled at composing large figurative groups in a style similar to contemporary European genre painting.
Kanem-Bornu Yka- I nem- , bor-nu\ Former African empire around Lake Chad. It was ruled by the Sef dynasty in the 9th-19th century. Its terri¬ tory at various times included what is now southern Chad, northern Cam¬ eroon, northeastern Nigeria, eastern Niger, and southern Libya. Probably founded in the mid-9th century, it became an Islamic state at the end of the 11th century. Its location made it a trading hub between North Africa, the Nile Valley, and the sub-Saharan region. From the 16th century Kanem-Bornu, sometimes called simply Bornu, was extended and con¬ solidated. The Sef dynasty died out in 1846.
Kang Vkaq-'yo-'waV Youwei or K'ang Yu-wei (b. March 19, 1858, Guangdong province, China—d. March 31, 1927, Qingdao, Shandong) Chinese scholar, a key figure in the intellectual development of modem China. In 1895 Kang led hundreds of provincial graduates to protest the humiliating terms of China’s treaty with Japan after the Sino-Japanese War and to petition for reforms to strengthen the nation. In 1898 the Qing emperor launched a reform program that included streamlining the gov¬ ernment, strengthening the armed services, promoting local self- government, and opening Beijing University. The empress Cixi annulled the reforms and had six reform leaders executed, and Kang had to flee the country. In exile, he opposed revolution; instead, he favoured rebuilding China through science, technology, and industry. He returned in 1914 and participated in an abortive restoration of the emperor. His fears of a divided country led him to oppose the government of Sun Yat-sen in southern China. Kang is also known for his reappraisal of Confucius, whom he saw as a reformer.
kangaroo Most specifically, any of six large Australasian marsupials of the family Macropodidae. The term is also used to refer to any of the family’s 54 species. Most kangaroos graze on the Australian plains, but tree kangaroos are arboreal; they climb trees and leap from branch to branch. Kangaroos generally have long, powerful hind legs and feet and a long tail, thickened at the base. The hind legs enable their spectacular leaps and are also useful for self- defense; the tail is used for balance.
The head is small, the ears large and rounded, and the fur soft and woolly.
Females have one young (called a joey) annually; it is suckled in its mother’s pouch for six months and often returns to be carried in the pouch later as well. The gray kanga¬ roo, the best-known and second- largest species, can leap more than 30 ft (9 m). The red kangaroo is the largest species; the male may stand 6 ft (1.8 m) tall and weigh 200 lbs (90 kg). Millions are killed annually for their meat and hides and because they compete with livestock for forage. See also wallaby; wallaroo.
Kangaroo Island Island (pop., 1996: 4,118), South Australia. Located at the entrance to the Gulf St. Vincent, southwest of Adelaide, Kangaroo Island is 90 mi (145 km) long with an area of 1,680 sq mi (4,350 sq km). Visited in 1802 by the English explorer Matthew Funders, it was named for its many kangaroos. Nepean Bay was the site of the state’s first settle¬ ment in 1836.
kangaroo rat Any of about 25 species (genus Dipodomys, family Heteromyidae) of rodents that leap about on their hind legs; found in dry regions of North America. They have large heads, large eyes, short fore¬ limbs, long hind limbs, and fur-lined external cheek pouches that open alongside the mouth. They are 4-6.5 in. (10-16 cm) long without the long tail, which usually ends in a furry tuft. They are pale buff to brown above and white below, with a white stripe on each hip. They forage by night for seeds, leaves, and other vegetation, carrying food in their cheek pouches to store in their burrows, but seldom drink water.
KaNgwane \kaq-'gwa-na\ Former black enclave, eastern Transvaal, South Africa. It was created under the apartheid system in 1977 as a homeland for those Swazi people not residing in Swaziland. The 1994 constitution of South Africa abolished the black enclaves created under the apartheid system, and it is now part of Mpumalanga province.
Kangxi \'kaq-'she\ emperor or K'ang-hsi emperor (b. May 4,
1654, Beijing, China—d. Dec. 20, 1722, Beijing) Second emperor of the Qing dynasty. His personal name was Xuanye. One of China’s most capable rulers, Kangxi (r. 1661-1722 ) laid the foundation for a long period of political stability and prosperity. Under his reign, the Treaty of Nerchinsk was signed with Russia, parts of Outer Mongolia were added to China’s territory, and control was extended over Tibet. Domestically, Kangxi’s reign was a time of large-scale public works, such as repairing the Grand Canal to permit transportation of rice to feed the northern population, and dredging and banking the Huang He (Yellow River) to prevent destructive flooding. Kangxi reduced taxes many times and opened four ports to foreign ships for trade. Though an ardent proponent of Neo-Confucianism, he also welcomed Jesuit missionaries, whose accomplishments led him to permit the propagation of Roman Catholi¬ cism in China. He commissioned many books, including the Kangxi dic¬ tionary and a history of the Ming dynasty. See also Dga'l-dan; Manchu; Qianlong emperor.
Kaniska Vko-'nish-koX or Kanishka (fl. 1st century ad) Greatest king of the Kushan dynasty that ruled over the northern part of the Indian sub¬ continent, Afghanistan, and possibly regions north of Kashmir in Central Asia. He is thought to have taken the throne between ad 78 and 144 and to have ruled for 23 years. Kaniska is noted for having convened a Bud¬ dhist council that marked the beginnings of Mahayana Buddhism. He was a tolerant king who honoured the Zoroastrian, Greek, and Brahmanic dei¬ ties as well as Buddha. During his reign, trade with the Roman Empire increased significantly, and contact between him and the Chinese in Cen¬ tral Asia may have inspired the transmission of Buddhism to China.
Kannada Vka-no-doV language formerly Kanarese \,ka-n3-'rez\ language Dravidian language, the official language of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is spoken by more than 33 million people in Karnataka; an additional 11 million Indians may speak it as a second language. The earliest inscriptional records in Kannada are from the 6th century. Kannada script is closely akin to Telugu script in origin. Like other major Dravidian languages, Kannada has a number of regional and social dia¬ lects and marked distinctions between formal and informal usage.
Kan non See Avalokitesvara
Kano \'ka-no\ City (pop., 1991: 2,166,554), northern Nigeria. Its tradi¬ tional founder was Kano, a blacksmith of the Gaya people who in ancient times came to Dalla Hill in search of iron. It became the capital of the Hausa state of Kano in the early 12th century. It was the capital of an emirate in the 19th century before being captured by the British in 1903. Modem Kano is a major commercial and industrial centre. The old city is enclosed by a massive city wall dating from the 15th century; the cen¬ tral mosque there is Nigeria’s largest.
Kano school Japanese painting style of the 15th—19th centuries. It was practiced by a family of artists that served the Ashikaga shoguns of the Muromachi period and also Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and the shoguns of the Tokugawa period. Bold, large-scale designs were executed on the folding screens and sliding panels that acted as space dividers in
Western gray kangaroo [Macropus fuliginosus).
WARREN GARST/TOM STACK AND ASSOCIATES
Kangaroo rat ( Dipodomys ).
ANTHONY MERCIECA FROM ROOT RESOURCES
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Kanphata Yogi ► Kao-hsiung I 1015
the castles of the day. Chinese-style ink painting was blended with poly¬ chromatic Yamato-e (“Japanese painting”); some artists used a back¬ ground of gold leaf for even more striking effects.
Kanphata Yogi Member of an order of religious ascetics that vener¬ ate the Hindu god Shiva. They are followers of Gorakhnath, a master yogi of the 12th century or earlier. Their ideology incorporates elements of magic, mysticism, and alchemy absorbed from both Hindu and Buddhist esoteric systems. Members focus on acquiring supernatural powers rather than following the more orthodox practices of meditation and devotion. They are distinguished by large earrings worn in the hollow of the ear.
Kanpur \'kan-,pur\ or Cawnpore City (pop., 2001 prelim.: 2,532,138), Uttar Pradesh, northern India. The British acquired it in 1801 and made it one of their frontier stations. In 1857, during the Indian Mutiny, it was the site of the massacre of British troops and civilians by native forces. One of the largest cities in India, it is a hub of road and rail trans¬ portation and a major commercial and industrial centre. Its educational institutions include a university and the Indian Institute of Technology.
Kansas State (pop., 2000: 2,688,418), central U.S. Bordered by Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Colorado, it covers 82,282 sq mi (213,110 sq km); its capital is Topeka. It is located on the Great Plains, rising more than 3,000 ft (915 m) from its eastern prairies to the high plains of the west. The region was occupied by the Kansa, Osage, Paw¬ nee, and Wichita Indians before European settlement. The first European explorer was Francisco Vazquez de Coronado, who came from Mexico in 1541 in search of gold. La Salle claimed the region for France in 1682. Kansas was acquired by the U.S. as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. In the early 19th century the federal government relocated displaced east¬ ern Indians to Kansas. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 created the Kan¬ sas Territory and opened it to white settlement. It was the site of conflicts over slavery, including one spurred by John Brown (see Bleeding Kansas). It entered the Union as the 34th state in 1861. After the Civil War, the coming of the railroads promoted the growth of cow towns; Texas cattle¬ men drove herds to Wichita and Abilene to reach the railheads. Agricul¬ ture became important as farmers worked on the Great Plains. During and following World War II, airplane production expanded, and farm products remained strong.
Kansas, Bleeding See Bleeding Kansas
Kansas City City (pop., 2000: 441,545), western Missouri, U.S., on the Missouri River. The city is contiguous with Kansas City, Kan. First settled by French fur traders in 1821, it was known as Westport, prosper¬ ing as a river port and as the terminus for the Santa Fe Trail and the Oregon Trail. Chartered in 1850 as the town of Kansas and as a city in 1853, it was renamed Kansas City in 1889 to distinguish it from the territory. The state’s largest city, it is an important marketing and shipping centre for a vast agricultural region and has extensive grain-storage and food¬ processing facilities. It is the seat of the University of Missouri at Kan¬ sas City and the world headquarters for the Church of the Nazarene.
Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) Legislation that organized the terri¬ tories of Kansas and Nebraska according to the doctrine of popular sov¬ ereignty. Introduced by Sen. Stephen A. Douglas to stop the sectional division over slavery, the act was criticized by antislavery groups as a capitulation to proslavery advocates. Groups on both sides rushed to settle Kansas Territory with their adherents, leading to the chaotic Bleeding Kan¬ sas period. Passage of the act led to the formation of the Republican Party as a political organization opposed to the expansion of slavery to any U.S. territory.
Kansas River or Kaw River River, northeastern Kansas, U.S. It flows east and empties into the Missouri River at Kansas City. It is 169 mi (272 km) long, and it drains an area of 61,300 sq mi (158,770 sq km), including northern Kansas and parts of southern Nebraska and eastern Colorado.
Kansu See Gansu
Kant \'kant\, Immanuel (b. April 22, 1724, Konigsberg, Prussia—d. Feb. 12, 1804, Konigsberg) German philosopher, one of the foremost thinkers of the Enlightenment. The son of a saddler, he studied at the uni¬ versity in Konigsberg and taught there as privatdocent (1755-70) and later as professor of logic and metaphysics (1770-97). His life was unevent¬ ful. His Critique of Pure Reason (1781) discusses the nature of knowl¬ edge in mathematics and physics and demonstrates the impossibility of
knowledge in metaphysics as it was traditionally conceived. Kant argued that the propositions of mathematics and physics, but not those of meta¬ physics, are “synthetic a priori,” in the sense that they are about objects of possible experience (synthetic) but at the same time knowable prior to, or independently of, experience (a priori), thus making them also neces¬ sarily true, rather than merely contingently true (see necessity). Mathemat¬ ics is synthetic and a priori because it deals with space and time, both of which are forms of human sensibility that condition whatever is appre¬ hended through the senses. Similarly, physics is synthetic and a priori because in its ordering of experience it uses concepts (“categories”) whose function is to prescribe the general form that sensible experience must take. Metaphysics in the traditional sense, understood as knowledge of the existence of God, the freedom of the will, and the immortality of the soul, is impossible, because these questions transcend any possible sense experience. But though they cannot be objects of knowledge, they are nevertheless justified as essential postulates of a moral life. Kant’s eth¬ ics, which he expounded in the Critique of Practical Reason (1788) and the earlier Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (1785), was based on the principle known as the “categorical imperative,” one formulation of which is, “Act only on that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.” His last great work, The Critique of Judgment (1790), concerns the nature of aesthetic judgment and the existence of teleology, or purposiveness, in nature. Kant’s thought represents a turning point in the history of philosophy. In his own words, he effected a Copernican revolution: just as the founder of modern astronomy, Nicolaus Copernicus, had explained the apparent movements of the stars by ascribing them partly to the movement of the observers, so Kant had accounted for the existence of a priori synthetic knowledge by demonstrating that in knowing, it is not the mind that conforms to things but instead things that conform to the mind. See also analytic- synthetic distinction; deontological ethics; idealism; Kantianism.
Kantianism Vkan-te-o-.ni-zom, kan-te-o-.ni-zomV System of critical philosophy created by Immanuel Kant and the philosophies that have arisen from the study of his writings. Kantianism comprises diverse philosophies that share Kant’s concern to explore the nature and limits of human knowledge in the hope of raising philosophy to the level of a science. Each submovement of Kantianism has tended to focus on its own selec¬ tion and reading of Kant’s many concerns. In the 1790s there emerged in Germany the so-called semi-Kantians, who altered features of Kant’s sys¬ tem they viewed as inadequate, unclear, or even wrong; its members included Friedrich Schiller, Friedrich Bouterwek (1766-1828), and Jakob Friedrich Fries (1773-1843). The period from 1790 to 1835 was the age of the post-Kantian idealists (see idealism). A major revival of interest in Kantian philosophy began c. 1860. See also Johann Gottlieb Fichte; G.W.F. Hegel; Neo-Kantianism; Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelung.
Kantorovich \ I kan-t3- , ro-vich\ / Leonid (Vitalyevich) (b. Jan. 19, 1912, St. Petersburg, Russia—d. April 7, 1986, U.S.S.R.) Soviet math¬ ematician and economist. A professor at Leningrad State University (1934-60), he developed the linear prograaaming model as a tool of eco¬ nomic planning. He used mathematical techniques to show how decen¬ tralization of decision making in a planned economy ultimately depends on a system in which prices are based on the relative scarcity of resources. His nondogmatic critical analyses of Soviet economic policy often clashed with the views of his orthodox Marxist colleagues. His most notable work is The Best Use of Economic Resources (1959). In 1975 he and Tjalling Koopmans (1910-85) shared the Nobel Prize for their work on optimal allocation of scarce resources.
Kanuri \k9-'nur-e\ People of northeastern Nigeria and southeastern Niger, with smaller numbers in Chad, Cameroon, and Sudan. They num¬ ber about four million. Their language, Kanuri, is one of the Nilo-Saharan languages. The Kanuri developed the powerful empire of Kanem-Bornu, which reached its peak in the 16th century. They have been Muslims since the 11th century. The Kanuri economy is based on millet agriculture and trade with the Fulani and Arab herders.
Kao-hsiung Vkau-'shyuqV Port city (pop., 2002 est.: 1,504,061), south¬ western Taiwan. It is Taiwan’s leading port and a major industrial centre. Settled late in the Ming dynasty, it became a treaty port in 1863 and a customs station in 1864. It grew in importance during the Japanese occu¬ pation (1895-1945) and served as the southern terminus of the main north-south railway line. The city was named Takao by the Japanese and was made a municipality in 1920. It came under Chinese rule in 1945.
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
1016 i kaolinite ► Karajan
kaolinite Vka-3-b- 1 nIt\ Group of common clay minerals that are hydrous aluminum silicates and constitute the principal ingredients of kaolin (china clay). The group includes kaolinite, dickite, nacrite, halloysite, and allophane. They are natural alteration products of feldspars, feldspathoids, and other silicates.
Kapalika and Kalamukha \ka-'pa-h-k9... , ka-la- 1 mu-k3\ Members of either of two groups of extreme Hindu ascetics, prominent in India in the 8th—13th century. They were an offshoot of the Shaivites (see Shaivism), who worshiped Shiva, and their notorious practices included human sac¬ rifice. After sacrificing a Brahman or other high-ranking person, they embraced a 12-year vow of self-abnegation that included eating and drink¬ ing from the skull of the sacrificed person and following tantric practices such as going about naked, eating the flesh of the dead, and smearing themselves with the ashes of corpses. Their modern successors are the Aghoris, or Aghorapanthis.
Kapila Vko-pe-lsX (fl. 550 bc?) Founder of the Samkhya school of Vedic philosophy in India. Legend says he was a descendant of Manu, the pri¬ mal human being, and a grandson of the creator god, Brahma. He has also been thought of as an incarnation of Vishnu. In Buddhist sources he was a well-known philosopher whose students built Kapilavastu, the birth¬ place of Buddha Gautama. He lived as a hermit, and his ascetic regimen was said to have given him an inner store of such intense heat that he was capable of reducing 60,000 men to ashes.
Kaplan, Mordecai Menahem (b. June 11, 1881, Svencionys, Lithu.—d. Nov. 8, 1983, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Lithuanian-born U.S. theologian. He came to the U.S. with his family in 1889. Ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary, he later taught there for 50 years. In 1916 he organized the Jewish Center in New York as a secular community organization with a synagogue as its nucleus. In 1922 he founded the Society for the Advancement of Judaism, which became the core of Reconstructionism. Denying the literal accuracy of the Bible, he called for a new conception of God in an attempt to adapt Judaism to the modem world. He founded the journal The Reconstructionist in 1935; his books include Judaism as a Civilization (1934) and Judaism without Supersti¬ tion (1958).
kapok \'ka-,pak\ Fibre obtained from the large, tropical silk cotton, or kapok, tree ( Ceiba pentandra, family Bombacaceae), which bears hun¬ dreds of seedpods filled with fibrous seeds. The tree is grown chiefly in Asia and Indonesia. Sometimes called silk cotton or Java cotton, this moisture-resistant, quick-drying, resilient, buoyant fibre has been used in life preservers and other water-safety equipment. Kapok is also used to stuff pillows, mattresses, and upholstery, as insulation, and as a cotton substitute in surgery. However, it is highly flammable, and the fibres are too brittle for spinning. Its importance has decreased with the develop¬ ment of foam rubber, plastics, and man-made fibres.
Kapoor, Raj (b. Dec. 14, 1924, Peshawar, India—d. June 2, 1988, New Delhi) Indian film actor and director. In the 1930s Kapoor worked as a clapper boy for Bombay Talkies and as an actor for Prithvi Theatres, two companies owned by his father. Kapoor’s first major screen role was in Aag (1948; “Fire”), which he also produced and directed. In 1950 he formed his own Bombay (now Mumbai) film studio, RK, and the next year he achieved romantic stardom in Awara (1951; “The Vagabond”). He wrote, produced, directed, and starred in many successful films. Although he portrayed romantic leads in his early movies, his best-known characters were based on Charlie Chaplin’s tramp. His use of sexual imag¬ ery often challenged traditionally strict Indian film standards, and many of his film songs became musical hits.
Kaposi \'ka-po-se\ sarcoma Usually lethal cancer appearing as red- purple or blue-brown spots on the skin and other organs. It has been linked to one of the herpes viruses, and there is considerable debate about how it should be classified. When described in 1872 by Moritz Kaposi, it was extremely rare, confined to specific Mediterranean and African popula¬ tions. Since c. 1980 it has become common in AIDS patients. More homo¬ sexual male HIV patients have developed it than heterosexual intravenous- drug-using HIV patients. Remissions have occurred, but there is no known cure.
Kapp Putsch \'kap-'puch\ (1920) In Germany, a coup d’etat that attempted to overthrow the fledgling Weimar Republic. Its immediate cause was the government’s attempt to demobilize two Freikorps brigades. One of the brigades took Berlin, with the cooperation of the Berlin army dis¬
trict commander. Wolfgang Kapp (1858-1922), a reactionary member of the Reichstag, formed a government with Erich Ludendorff, and the legiti¬ mate republican regime fled to southern Germany. Within four days, a general strike by labour unions and the refusal by civil servants to follow Kapp’s orders led to the coup’s collapse.
Kara Koyunlu or Qara Qoyunlu \ , ka-ra- I k6-yun-Tii\ Turkish "Black Sheep" Turkmen tribal federation that ruled Azerbaijan and Iraq (c. 1375-1468). Their second leader, Kara Yusuf (r. 1390-1400, 1406-20), secured their independence by seizing Tabriz, the capital of the Jalayrid dynasty. He was beaten back by the armies of Timur but regained Tabriz in 1406. He captured Baghdad in 1410. His successor, Jihan Shah, died in battle against a rival Turkmen federation, the Ak Koyunlu, in 1466, and the empire fell in 1468.
Karachi \ka-'ra-che\ City (pop., 1998: 9,269,265), Pakistan. Located in southern Pakistan on the Arabian Sea northwest of the mouth of the Indus River, it was a small fishing village when traders arrived in the early 18th century. It was captured by the British in 1839 and was a major port of the British Empire by 1914. The provincial capital of Sind from 1936, it was also the first capital of independent Pakistan (1947-59). It is Paki¬ stan’s principal seaport and a major industrial and commercial centre, and it is one of the world’s most populous cities. It is the seat of the Univer¬ sity of Karachi and the terminus of Pakistan’s railway system.
Karadjordjevic \ l kar-9- , jor-j3- l vich\ dynasty Rulers descended from the Serbian rebel leader Karadjordje (1762-1817). It rivaled the Obrenovic dynasty for control of Serbia during the 19th century and ruled that country and its successor state, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia), in 1842-58 and 1903-45. See also Alexander I; Peter I; Peter II.
Karadzic \ka-'ra-jet y ,\ English \ka-'rad-zich\, Radovan (b. June 19, 1945, Petnijca, Yugos.) Bosnian Serb politician. He trained as a psychia¬ trist and also wrote poetry and children’s books. In 1990 he helped found the Serbian Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1992, when the Bosnian Serbs declared an independent state, he became its president. With the support of Yugoslav Pres. Slobodan Milosevic and with Bosnian Serb military leader Gen. Ratko Mladic, Karadzic undertook a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Bosnia to purge it of non-Serbian peoples. In 1995 he was indicted by a UN war crimes tribunal. He was pressured into sign¬ ing the Dayton peace accords and forced to resign as state president and party head in 1996. However, he continued to influence the Serb- controlled part of Bosnia and Herzegovina from a mountain hideaway outside Sarajevo. Despite attempts to arrest him, he was able to evade capture through the 1990s and into the early 21st century.
Karadzic \ka-'ra-jet y ,\ English \ka-'rad-zich\, Vuk Stefanovic (b. Nov. 6, 1787, Trsic, Serbia, Ottoman Empire—d. Feb. 6, 1864, Vienna) Serbian language scholar and folklorist. He was largely self-taught as a writer. After the failure of a Serb revolt against Turkish rule, he left for Vienna (1813), where he was introduced to formal scholarship by the Slavist Jernej Kopitar. In 1814 he published a grammar of Serbian (see Serbo-Croatian language) and in 1818 a dictionary; both promulgated a reformed Cyrillic alphabet and a new literary language based on colloquial Serbian rather than the prevailing literary language, which mixed archaic Serbian with Russian Church Slavic (see Old Church Slavonic language). After decades of resistance and polemicizing, the renascent Serbian state accepted his reforms in 1868.
Karaganda See Qaraghandy
Karaism or Qaraism Vkar-o-.i-zsirA Jewish religious movement that denied the authenticity of the oral law and defended the Hebrew Bible as the only basis of doctrine and practice. It originated in 8th-century Per¬ sia, where its members were called Ananites after Anan ben David, who worked out a code of life independent of the Talmud. Members later adopted the name Karaites from the Hebrew qara (“to read”), emphasiz¬ ing their reliance on a personal reading of the Bible. The movement spread through Egypt and Syria, winning only small numbers of followers and enduring many schisms. It still has about 10,000 members in Israel.
Karajan Vkar-3-,yan\, Herbert von (b. April 5, 1908, Salzburg, Austria—d. July 16, 1989, Anif, near Salzburg) Austrian conductor. A child prodigy on the piano, he attended Salzburg’s Mozarteum. He took his first conducting post in Ulm in 1929. In 1933 he joined the Nazi Party, and under the Third Reich his reputation grew swiftly. After World War II he initially was not allowed to conduct, but in 1947 he began record-
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Karak ► Karloff I 1017
ing with the Vienna Philharmonic, the start of a legacy of some 800 recordings. His U.S. debut in 1955 was attended by controversy over his Nazi-era activities. That same year he became Wilhelm Furtwangler’s suc¬ cessor at the Berlin Philharmonic, and he headed the Salzburg Festival from 1964 until his death.
Karak See Kaya
Karakoram Range Mountain system, south-central Asia. Extending 300 mi (480 km) from eastern Afghanistan to the Kashmir region, it is one of the highest mountain systems in the world; its loftiest peak is K2, at 28,251 ft (8,611 m), the world’s second highest peak. Surrounded by other steep mountain ranges, the Karakorams are virtually inaccessible, although the completion of the Karakoram Highway in 1978 improved transportation in the region. Because of the harsh environment, the area is thinly populated.
Karakorum \,ka-ra-'kor-3m\ Ancient capital, Mongol empire. Its ruins lie on the upper Orhon River in north-central Mongolia. It was settled c. 750. Genghis Khan established his headquarters there in 1220. In 1235 his son and successor, Ogodei, enclosed the city with walls and built a palace. Chinese forces invaded Mongolia and destroyed Karakorum in 1388. It was later partially rebuilt but was abandoned by the 16th century. The ruins are included in a regional UNESCO World Heritage site designated in 2004.
Karakul Vkar-o-kolX Breed of sheep that originated in central or west¬ ern Asia. They are raised chiefly for the skins of very young lambs, which have a glossy, tightly curled black coat (the “Persian lamb” of the fur trade). The wool of mature Karakul sheep, classified as carpet wool, is a mixture of coarse and fine fibres 6-10 in. (15-25 cm) long and varies from black to brown and gray.
Karakum Desert or Kara-Kum Desert \ l kar-3-'kum\ Desert area, Central Asia. Located in Turkmenistan, it is bounded to the east by the Amu Darya valley. It can be divided into three major regions: the elevated and wind-eroded Trans-Unguz in the north, the low-lying central plain, and the salt marshes of the southeast. It is populated by formerly nomadic Turkmen, who live by fishing in the Caspian Sea or raising livestock.
Karamanlis \,kar-9-man-Tes\, Konstantinos or Constantine Caramanlis (b. March 8, 1907, Proti, near Serrai, Macedonia, Otto¬ man Empire—d. April 23, 1998, Athens, Greece) Greek prime minister (1955—63, 1974-80) and president (1980-85, 1990-95). In various cabi¬ net posts after World War II (1946-55), he helped rebuild Greece’s war- torn economy. Chosen prime minister in 1955, he formed a government and a new conservative party, the National Radical Union. In 1960 he established an independent republic on Cyprus to ease tensions with Brit¬ ain and Turkey over the island. He resigned in 1963 and lived in exile in Paris until 1974. Recalled as prime minister, he subordinated the military to civilian authority to restore democracy, averted war with Turkey over Cyprus, and oversaw the adoption of a new constitution that strengthened the presidency. In 1975 he held a referendum that resulted in the aboli¬ tion of the monarchy. In 1980 he resigned as prime minister and was elected president. He helped effect Greece’s entry into the European Com¬ munity in 1981. He resigned in 1985, then was reelected president in 1990.
karaoke \,kar-e-'o-ke\ Japanese "empty orchestra" Use of a device that plays instrumental accompaniments to songs with the vocal tracks removed, permitting the user to sing the lead. Karaoke apparently first appeared in the amusement quarter of Kobe, Japan, where it became popular among businessmen in the late 1970s. It gained widespread popu¬ larity in the U.S. in the late 1980s. It is usually featured at bars, where patrons can perform on a stage and sing popular hits by reading lyrics elec¬ tronically displayed on a monitor. A video film often accompanies the music.
karate Martial art in which an attacker is disabled by crippling kicks and punches. Emphasis is on concentration of as much of the body’s power as possible at the point and instant of impact. Striking surfaces include the hand (particularly the knuckles and the hand’s outer edge), ball of the foot, heel, forearm, knee, and elbow. In sporting matches (usu¬ ally lasting about three minutes) and in sparring, blows and kicks are stopped short of contact. Performances are scored by a panel of judges. Karate evolved in East Asia over a period of centuries, becoming sys¬ tematized in Okinawa in the 17 th century, probably by people forbidden to carry weapons. It was imported into Japan in the 1920s and spread from there to other countries. See also tae kwon do.
Karbala’ N.kar-ba-'laV Battle of (Oct. 10, 680) Brief engagement in which an Ummayad army sent by Yazid I killed al-HuSAYN ibn 'Au and a small group of his family and followers. Al-Husayn, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, was on his way to Al-Kufah, where he had been invited to press his claim to the caliphate, when he and his party were attacked and killed near the town of Karbala 5 , Iraq. Most Shl'ites regard the anniversary of the battle as a holy day of mourning, and on that day they ritually reenact al-Husayn’s death; his tomb in Karbala 5 is likewise considered a place of great sanctity. See also 'AlI; fitnah; Mu'awiyah I.
Kardelj Vkar-.delA, Edvard (b. Jan. 27,1910, Ljubljana, Slvn., Austria- Hungary—d. Feb. 10,1979, Ljubljana) Yugoslav revolutionary and admin¬ istrator. He joined the outlawed Communist Party in 1926, was imprisoned from 1930 to 1932, and fled to the Soviet Union in 1934. Returning to Yugoslavia in 1937, he helped organize resistance to the German occupa¬ tion in World War II and joined Tito in much of the Partisans’ fighting. In 1946 he drew up the Soviet-inspired constitution after Tito became pre¬ mier, and he directed the creation of all succeeding constitutions. He was the main architect of socialist self-management, which distinguished Yugoslavia’s political and economic system from the Soviet system. In for¬ eign affairs, he pioneered the concept of Yugoslav nonalignment.
Karen \ko-'ren\ Any member of a variety of tribal peoples of southern Myanmar (Burma). Constituting the second largest minority in Myanmar, the Karen are not a unitary group in any ethnic sense, as they differ among themselves linguistically, religiously, and economically. Rather, they have defined themselves in terms of their common distrust of political domi¬ nation by Myanmar, which has persisted since the country attained inde¬ pendence in 1948.
Karisimbi \,ka-re-'sim-be. Mount Peak, Virunga Mountains, east- central Africa. The highest peak in the Virungas, at a height of 14,787 ft (4,507 m), it lies on the boundary between Rwanda and Congo (Kinshasa) in Virunga National Park. It is the habitat of gorillas and is known for its exotic plants.
Karkar or Qarqar \'kar-,kar\ Ancient fortress on the Orontes River, western Syria. A strategic outpost, it was attacked by the Assyrians in 853 bc. It was defended by Aramaeans, led by Ben-hadad I of Damascus, and their allies, including King Ahab of Israel. In 720 bc it was the scene of a battle in which Sargon II of Assyria captured and burned it.
KarkGk\kir-'kiik\ 0 /- Kirkuk City (pop., 2003 est.: 750,000), northeast¬ ern Iraq. Located north of Baghdad in the Kurdistan region, it is situated in one of the first areas in the Middle East where oil was discovered. Karkuk is a trade and export centre as well as a centre of Iraq’s petroleum industry, with oil pipeline connections to Tripoli and to Yumurtahk on the Turkish coast. The city has traditionally had a Kurdish and Turkmen majority, but a large number of Arabs were resettled there in the late 20th century.
Karl Franz Josef See Charles I (Austria)
Karl-Marx-Stadt See Chemnitz
Karlfeldt Vkarl-felt\, Erik Axel (b. July 20, 1864, Folkarna, Swed.—d. April 8, 1931, Stock¬ holm) Swedish poet. His strong ties to the peasant culture of his rural homeland remained a dominant influence on his writing all his life.
His essentially regional, tradition- bound poems, some published in English in Arcadia Borealis (1938), were very popular. He was elected to the Swedish Academy in 1904 and made its permanent secretary in 1912. He refused the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1918 but was awarded it posthumously in 1931.
Karloff, Boris orig. William Henry Pratt (b. Nov. 23, 1887,
London, Eng.—d. Feb. 2, 1969,
Midhurst, West Sussex) British-U.S. actor. He immigrated to Canada from England in 1909 and acted with tour¬ ing companies before moving to Boris Karloff.
Hollywood, where he played minor ap/wide world photos
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
1018 I Karlovy Vary ► Karsh
roles in films from 1919. His tender, sympathetic performance in Holly¬ wood’s first important monster film, James Whale’s Frankenstein (1931), received so much critical praise that he became an overnight sensation. He acted in more than 100 films, specializing in horror pictures such as The Mummy (1932), The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932), Bride of Franken¬ stein (1935), and Son of Frankenstein (1939), and his name became syn¬ onymous with the horror genre. He returned to the stage for highly acclaimed performances on Broadway in Arsenic and Old Lace (1941) and as Captain Hook in Peter Pan (1950). His most famous television performance was in the animated special How the Grinch Stole Christ¬ mas (1966), for which he provided the voices of both the Grinch and the narrator.
Karlovy Vary \'kar-l6-ve-'var-e\ German Karlsbad or Carlsbad
City (pop., 2001 prelim.: 53,857), western Czech Republic. A health resort with sulfur springs, it was developed in 1358 by Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV. The Carlsbad Decrees were drawn up there in 1819.
Karlowitz, Treaty of See Treaty of Carlowitz
karma In Indian philosophy, the influence of an individual’s past actions on his future lives or reincarnations. It is based on the conviction that the present life is only one in a chain of lives (see samsara). The accumulated moral energy of a person’s life determines his or her character, class sta¬ tus, and disposition in the next life. The process is automatic, and no interference by the gods is possible. In the course of a chain of lives, people can perfect themselves and reach the level of Brahma, or they can degrade themselves to the extent that they return to life as animals. The concept of karma, basic to Hinduism, was also incorporated into Bud¬ dhism and Jainism.
Karma-pa See Dge-lugs-pa
Karman \'kar-man\, Theodore von (b. May 11, 1881, Budapest—d. May 6, 1963, Aachen, W.Ger.)
Hungarian-bom U.S. engineer. After directing the Aeronautical Institute at Aachen, Germany (1912-30), he immigrated to the U.S., where he taught at the California Institute of Technology (1930-44) and later headed NATO’s Advisory Group for Aeronautical Research and Develop¬ ment (1951-63). His pioneering work in aeronautics and astronautics included important contributions to fluid mechanics, turbulence theory, supersonic flight, mathematics in engineering, and aircraft structures.
His jet-assisted takeoff (JATO) rocket provided the prototype for engines used in present-day long- range missiles. He contributed to the first assisted takeoff of U.S. aircraft with solid- and liquid-propellant rockets, the flight of aircraft with rocket propulsion alone, and the development of spontaneously igniting liquid propellants (later used in the Apollo modules). In 1963 he was awarded the first National Medal of Science.
Karnak Village, Upper Egypt. Its name has been given to the northern part of the ruins of Thebes on the Nile River’s eastern bank (the southern part is called Luxor). Among its many religious buildings stood the larg¬ est of all Egyptian temples, the Temple of Amon. Itself a complex of temples, added to and altered many times, it reflects the fluctuating for¬ tunes of the Egyptian empire. There are no fewer than 10 pylons, sepa¬ rated by courts and halls. The most striking feature is the vast hypostyle hall commissioned by Ramses I (r. 1292-90 bc), with an area of some 54,000 sq ft (5,000 sq m). Twelve enormous columns, some 80 ft (24 m) high, raised the roofing slabs of the central aisle to produce a clerestory. Karnak is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site (designated 1979) cen¬ tred on Thebes.
Karnali River See Ghaghara River
Karnataka \kar-'na-t3-k3\ formerly Mysore \mI-'sor\ State (pop., 2001 prelim.: 52,733,958), southwestern India. Lying on the Arabian Sea, it is bordered by the states of Goa, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. It has an area of 74,051 sq mi (191,791 sq km); its capital is Bangalore. It occupies the plateau region of the southern Dec¬
can and the hill region of the Western Ghats. The area was ruled by a series of Hindu dynasties before coming under British control in 1831. Mysore returned to native rule in 1881 as a princely state. Its name was changed to Karnataka (“lofty land”) in 1973. About 80% of the popula¬ tion is engaged in agriculture. Rice and sugarcane are cultivated on the coastal plain, and coffee and tea are grown in the hill region. The popu¬ lation is largely Dravidian, and the Kannada language is widely spoken.
Karnten \'kemt- 3 n\ or Carinthia State (pop., 2004 est.: 559,078), southern Austria. Bordered by Italy and Slovenia, it occupies an area of 3,682 sq mi (9,536 sq km) and has its capital at Klagenfurt. Originally inhabited by Celts, it became part of the Roman province of Noricum. Made a separate duchy in 976, it was a crown land of the Habsburgs in 1335. After World War I, parts were claimed by Yugoslavia and Italy.
Karo \'ka-ro\, Joseph ben Ephraim (b. 1488, Spain—d. March 24, 1575, Safed, Palestine) Spanish-born Jewish scholar. When the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, he and his parents settled in Turkey. Around 1536 he emigrated to Safed in Palestine, where he studied the Talmud and systematized the vast body of material produced by post-Talmudic writ¬ ers. He was the author of the last great codification of Jewish law, the House of Joseph, which was later condensed as The Well-Laid Table and is still authoritative for Orthodox Judaism.
Karolyi Vka-rol-ye\, Mihaly, Count (b. March 4, 1875, Fot, Hung., Austria-Hungary—d. March 20, 1955, Vence, France) Hungarian states¬ man. A member of one of the wealthiest families of the Hungarian aris¬ tocracy, he entered parliament in 1910 and tried to advance radical ideas in a conservative state, advocating universal suffrage, concessions to Hun¬ gary’s non-Magyar subjects, and a policy of friendship with states other than Germany. After World War I he served as prime minister in 1918— 19, and he tried unsuccessfully to gain a favourable peace settlement from the Allies. After two months as president of the short-lived Hungarian republic in 1919, he resigned and was replaced by Bela Kun. He fled abroad, but he returned to Hungary in 1946 and served as ambassador to France (1947-49).
Karpov Vkar-,p6f\, Anatoly (Yevgenyevich) (b. May 23, 1951, Zlatoust, U.S.S.R.) Russian chess master. His first great success was win¬ ning the 1969 World Junior (under 20) Championship. Karpov was declared world champion in 1975 when the reigning champion Bobby Fi¬ scher and the International Chess Federation (FIDE) could not agree on conditions for their title match. Karpov defended the title several times before losing it in 1985 to Garry Kasparov. Karpov regained the FIDE championship in 1993 after Kasparov was stripped of the title. In 1999 Karpov refused to defend his FIDE title, which was won by Alexander Khalifman of Russia.
Karsavina \kar-'sa-v3-n3\, Tamara (Platonovna) (b. March 9/10, 1885, St. Petersburg, Russia—d. May 26, 1978, Beaconsfield, Bucking¬ hamshire, Eng.) Russian-born British dancer. She trained at the Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersburg and joined the Mariinsky Theatre company in 1902. She joined the Ballets Russes at its formation in 1909; dancing with Vaslav Nijinsky until 1913, she created most of the leading roles in Michel Fokine’s neo-Romantic repertoire, including Les Sylphides, Car- naval, Le Spectre de la rose, and The Firebird. She settled in London, where she helped found the Royal Academy of Dancing in 1920 and the Camargo Society in 1930 and later coached Margot Fonteyn.
Karsh, Yousuf (b. Dec. 23, 1908,
Mardin, Tur.—d. July 13, 2002, Bos¬ ton, Mass., U.S.) Turkish-born Cana¬ dian photographer. As an Armenian in Turkey, he endured persecution before emigrating at 16 to Canada, where he joined his photographer uncle. He worked for a Boston por¬ trait photographer (1928-31) then returned to Canada and soon opened his own studio in Ottawa. In 1935 he was appointed official portrait pho¬ tographer of the Canadian govern¬ ment. His portrait of Winston Churchill (1941) brought him inter¬ national fame. “Karsh of Ottawa” Karsh, self-portrait, 1988. went on to photograph hundreds of 1988 OF ottawa/woodfin camp & assoc.
Theodore von Karman.
COURTESY OF THE CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, PASADENA
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Karter ► Katsina I 1019
the world’s most prominent figures, including royalty, statesmen, artists, and writers, employing dramatic lighting techniques to produce idealized likenesses.
Karter or Kartir (fl. 3rd century ad, Iran) Persian high priest of Zoro¬ astrianism. Under the protection of a series of Persian kings, he restored the purity of Zoroastrianism and tried to purge the kingdom of all other religions. His chief rival was the prophet Mani, founder of Manichaeism. At Karter’s instigation, Mani was put in prison, where he eventually died. After Karter’s death a degree of religious tolerance returned to Persia.
karting Driving and racing miniature, skeleton-frame, rear-engine auto¬ mobiles called karts or GoKarts. The sport originated in the U.S. in the 1950s after the first kart had been assembled from unwanted lawn-mower parts. It thereafter developed into an international sport in Europe. Speeds of 100 mph (160 kph) are not uncommon.
Karun \ka-'run\ River River, southwestern Iran. A tributary of the Shatt al-Arab, it rises in the Bakhtlarl Mountains and flows through moun¬ tains for 515 mi (829 km). The Haffar Channel, dug in 986, changed its course, causing frontier disputes between Iran and the Ottoman Empire; Iran gained the right to the waterway by treaty in 1847.
Kasai River \ka-'s!\ River, central Africa. It is the chief southern tribu¬ tary of the Congo River, measuring 1,338 mi (2,153 km) from its source in Angola to its confluence with the Congo. It runs east for its first 250 mi (400 km), then turns north to form the border between Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire). It is unnavigable in the north, but water traffic is heavy from Kinshasa to Ilebo. After the Kasai is joined by the Kwango River, it is known as the Kwa.
Kasanje \ka-'san-ja\ Historical African kingdom, on the upper Kwango River in what is now Angola. Founded in 1620 by a group from Lunda, its people became known as the Imbangala. By the mid-17th century, it had a thriving trade with the states of the interior and with Portuguese traders. Its monopoly of inland Portuguese-African trade lasted until 1850, when Ovimbundu opened alter¬ native routes and markets. Occupied by the Portuguese, Kasanje was incorporated into Portuguese Angola in 1910-11.
Kasavubu Nka-sa-'vu-buX, Joseph (b. 1910?, Tshela, Belgian Congo—d. March 24, 1969, Boma)
First president (1960-65) of inde¬ pendent Congo (Kinshasa). He held a variety of administrative posts before agreeing to serve as president in Patrice Lumumba’s government.
When Katanga province under Moise Tshombe seceded a few days after independence, Kasavubu threw his support to Tshombe and, together with Col. J. Mobutu (see Mobutu Sese Seko), ousted Lumumba. Four years later a split between Kasavubu and Tshombe enabled Mobutu to seize control.
Kashmir Region of the northwest¬ ern Indian subcontinent. It is bounded to the northeast and east by China, to the south by India, to the west by Pakistan, and to the north¬ west by Afghanistan. The land is predominantly mountainous and includes K2 and other peaks of the Karakoram Range. India and Pakistan have dis¬ puted over the region since India’s partition in 1947. Pakistan occupies the northern and western portions, and India administers the largest area,
in the south and southeast, organized as the state of Jammu and Kashmir. In addition, China has held portions of the northeastern section since 1962.
kashruth \ka-'shriit, 'ka-shruth\ In Judaism, the rules forbidding the eat¬ ing of certain foods and requiring that other foods be prepared in a spe¬ cific way. These rules determine which foods can be called kosher. Most information regarding kashruth is found in the Hebrew Bible in the books of Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Genesis, and Exodus. Jews observing kashruth may eat only fish with scales and fins and animals that chew the cud and have cloven feet; shellfish and pork are thus forbidden. Animals and birds must be slaughtered according to ritual and with prayer. Meat and dairy products must be strictly separated; they may not be eaten at the same meal or from the same set of dishes. No restrictions apply to the use of fruits and vegetables. During Passover, bread and other baked goods must be made without leaven.
Kaskaskia \kas-'kas-ke-o\ River River, Illinois, U.S. Rising near Urbana, it flows southwest to enter the Mississippi River after a course of 320 mi (515 km). The village of Kaskaskia, located near the junction of the river with the Mississippi, is near the site of a town founded by Jesuit missionaries in 1703. It was the capital of Illinois Territory (1809) and of the state (1818-20). It was severely damaged by floods several times.
Kasparov \kas-'par-6A, Garry (b. April 13, 1963, Baku, Azerbaijan, U.S.S.R.) Russian chess master. He became an international grandmaster following his victory in the 1980 World Junior (under 20) Championship. In 1984-85 Kasparov met world champion Anatoly Karpov in a match that was aborted after five months of play; in late 1985, Kasparov won a 24-game return match 13-11. The International Chess Federation (FIDE) stripped him of his title in 1993 in a conflict over the venue for a cham¬ pionship match, but the rest of the chess world still accepted him as champion. In 1996 Kasparov defeated IBM’s custom-built chess com¬ puter Deep Blue in a match that attracted worldwide attention. In a 1997 rematch, an upgraded Deep Blue prevailed. In 2000 Kasparov lost a 16-game championship match to Vladimir Kramnik of Russia.
Katagum Xko-'ta-gomV Traditional emirate, northern Nigeria. The emir¬ ate became part of Katagum province under British rule in 1903. Its seat, also named Katagum, was transferred to Azare in 1916. The emirate became part of Bauchi state in 1926.
Kathiawar \,ka-te-3-'war\ Peninsula Peninsula, southwestern Gujarat state, west-central India. Occupying an area of 23,000 sq mi (60,000 sq km), it is bounded by the Arabian Sea on the southwest. It was first occupied in prehistoric times and was settled in the 3nd-2nd millen¬ nium bc by Harappan peoples. It was ruled by many great dynasties beginning with the Mauryan empire in the 3rd century bc. The area came under Muslim rule in the 13th century and became part of the Mughal Empire in the 16th century. Many of its small princely states came under British protection after 1820. Made a part of Gujarat state in 1960, it is the site of a national park that contains the last wild Asiatic lions in India.
Kathmandu or Katmandu V.kat-man-'diA City (pop., 2000 est.: 701,499), capital of Nepal. Situated near the confluence of the Baghmati and Vishnumati rivers at an elevation of 4,344 ft (1,324 m), it was founded in 723. Its name refers to a temple (kath, “wood”; mandir, “temple”) said to have been built from the wood of a single tree in 1596. The seat of the ruling Shah family of the Gurkha people since 1768, it is Nepal’s most important business and commercial centre and the site of Tribhuvan Uni¬ versity.
Katmai \'kat-,ml\ National Park and Preserve National park, southwestern Alaska, U.S., at the head of the Alaska Peninsula. Occupy¬ ing an area of 4,090,000 acres (1,655,000 hectares), it was proclaimed a national monument in 1918 after the eruption of Novarupta in 1912. The eruption converted the valley into a wasteland known as the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, and the volcanic crater later became a lake. The park abounds in wildlife, including large numbers of brown and grizzly bears.
Katowice \,ka-t6-'vet-s9\ City (pop., 2000 est.: 340,539), south-central Poland. Located in the midst of the coalfields of Upper Silesia, it was settled by 1598. It became a city in 1865, when coal mining began in the region. It became part of Poland in 1922 and has since incorporated sur¬ rounding villages. It is a centre of mining and heavy industry and an important rail junction.
Katsina \'kat-se-na\ City (pop., 1991: 259,315), northern Nigeria. Prob¬ ably founded c. 1100, it was the capital of the kingdom of Katsina, one
Dam on the Karun River, Iran
DENNIS BRISKIN/TOM STACK & ASSOCIATES
Kasavubu
AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS
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1020 I Katsura Imperial Villa ► Kawabata
of the earliest Hausa states, and an ancient centre of learning. The city’s Fulani emirs retain traditional and advisory roles. It is a market for local agricultural products as well as a centre for traditional crafts and indus¬ try.
Katsura Vkat-su-ra\ Imperial Villa Estate constructed in 1620-24 on the southwestern edge of Kyoto, Japan. It was an outstanding attempt to integrate the styles of the Heian period with the architectural innovations spurred by the development of the tea ceremony. Carefully planned mean¬ dering paths lead to and from the central structures and through gardens dotted with small pavilions and tea huts offering orchestrated views. The main buildings, set into a landscape created for them, include three attached structures in a typical shoin-zukuri style.
Kattegat Arm of the North Sea, between Sweden and Jutland, Den¬ mark. Its maximum width is 88 mi (142 km). It is connected with both the North and Baltic seas. o Chief ports on its shores are Goteborg and Halmstad in Sweden and Arhus in Denmark. It is an important commer¬ cial navigation passage and a popular summer vacation area.
katydid Any of numerous species in several subfamilies of the long¬ horned grasshopper family (Tettigo- niidae). Generally green with long wings, katydids live on trees, bushes, or grasses, and many species resemble leaves. They are powerful jumpers; many species do not fly but merely flutter their wings during leaps. They feed chiefly on plant matter, though some also eat other insects. The true katydids of eastern North America are considered great singers; each species has its own repetitive song, which is produced only at night.
Katyn \ka-'tin\ Massacre Mass killing of Polish military officers by the Soviet Union in World War II. After the German-Soviet Nonaggres¬ sion Pact (1939) and Germany’s defeat of Poland, Soviet forces occupied eastern Poland and interned thousands of Polish military personnel. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union (1941), the Polish government- in-exile agreed to cooperate with the Soviets against Germany, and the Polish general forming the new army asked to have the Polish prisoners placed under his command, but the Soviet government informed him in December 1941 that most of those prisoners had escaped to Manchuria and could not be located. In 1943 the Germans discovered mass graves in the Katyn forest in western Russia. A total of 4,443 corpses were recovered; the victims had apparently been shot from behind and then piled in stacks and buried. The Soviet government claimed the invading German army had killed them, but it refused Polish requests to have the Red Cross investigate. In 1992 the Russian government released docu¬ ments proving that the Soviet secret police were responsible for the execu¬ tions and cover-up.
Kauffmann \'kauf-,man\ / (Ma¬ ria Anna) Angelica (Catha¬ rine) (b. Oct. 30, 1741, Chur,
Switz.—d. Nov. 5, 1807, Rome,
Papal States) Swiss-born Italian painter. She began studying art in Italy as a child, showing great pre¬ cocity, and in 1766 her friend Joshua Reynolds took her to London. There she became known for her decora¬ tive work with architects such as Robert Adam. Her pastoral composi¬ tions incorporate delicate and grace¬ ful depictions of gods and goddesses; though her paintings are Rococo in tone and approach, her figures are Neoclassical (see Classi¬ cism and Neoclassicism). Her portraits of female sitters are among her fin¬ est works. After marrying the painter Antonio Zucchi (1726-95), she returned to Italy in 1781.
Kaufman, George S(imon) (b. Nov. 16, 1889, Pittsburgh, Pa., U.S—d. June 2, 1961, New York, N.Y.) U.S. playwright and director. He was drama critic for The New York Times (1917-30). Known for his caus¬ tic wit and talent for brilliant satire, he wrote many plays in collabora¬ tion with other writers, including Marc Connelly, Morrie Ryskind (1895— 1985), and Edna Ferber. His most memorable collaboration was with Moss Hart, with whom he wrote Once in a Lifetime (1930), You Can’t Take It with You (1936, Pulitzer Prize), and The Man Who Came to Dinner (1939).
Kaunas Vkau-n9s\ Russian Kovno Vkov-no\ City (pop., 2001: 378,943), southern Lithuania. Founded as a fortress in 1030, it passed to Russia in 1795 after the third partition of Poland. It was the capital of independent Lithuania (1920-40), then it was annexed by the Soviet Union. Many historic buildings survive in the Old Town. In addition to being an important industrial centre, it is an educational and cultural cen¬ tre, with polytechnic, medical, and agricultural institutes.
Kaunda \ka-'iin-d9\, Kenneth (David) (b. April 28, 1924, Lubwa, near Chinsali, Northern Rhodesia)
Political leader and first president (1961-91) of Zambia. Kaunda came to prominence in 1959-60 in the movement to stop Britain from establishing a federation of North and South Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
As the first president of independent Zambia, he helped avert a civil war in the late 1960s but ended up impos¬ ing single-party rule. From the 1970s he led other southern African nations in confronting the white-minority governments of Rhodesia and South Africa. He increased Zambia’s dependence on copper exports and on foreign aid, allowing agriculture, education, and social services to lan¬ guish and poverty and unemploy¬ ment to increase. Several attempted coups in the early 1980s were crushed; in 1990 he was forced to legalize opposition parties, and in 1991 he was voted out of office.
Kautsky \'kaut-ske\, Karl (b. Oct. 16, 1854, Prague, Bohemia—d. Oct. 17, 1938, Amsterdam, Neth.) German Marxist theorist and leader. He was the author of the Erfurt Program adopted by Germany’s Social Democrat Party in 1891, which committed the party to an evolutionary form of Marxism that rejected both the radicalism of Rosa Luxemburg and the evo¬ lutionary socialism of Eduard Bernstein. He founded the Marxist review Neue Zeit in 1883, which he edited in various European cities until 1917, and wrote several books about Marx’s doctrines and about St. Thomas More. He joined the Independent Social Democrats in opposing World War I.
kava or kava kava Vka-v9\ Nonalcoholic, yellow-green, somewhat bitter beverage made from the root of the pepper plant (mainly Piper meth- ysticum ) in most South Pacific islands. It is traditionally consumed in the kava ceremony, which includes the ritual making and drinking of kava and a ceremonial feast. It is taken to relieve stress and anxiety and as a mood elevator.
Kavaratti \,k9-v9-'r9-te\ Island Island of the Lakshadweep union terri¬ tory of India. Located in the Amindivi Islands in the Arabian Sea, off the Malabar Coast of southern India, it is 3.5 mi (5.6 km) long and has a maximum width of 0.75 mi (1.2 km). Its only town, Kavaratti (pop., 2001: 10,119), is the administrative centre of Lakshadweep. The town is noted for the ornately carved pillars and roofs of its mosques.
Kaveri River Vka-v9-re\ or Cauvery River Vko-v9-re\ River, south¬ ern India. Rising in southwestern Karnataka state, it flows southeast some 475 mi (765 km) to enter the Bay of Bengal. East of the city of Mysore it forms the island of Sivasamudram, on either side of which are scenic falls that descend about 320 ft (100 m). The river is the source for an exten¬ sive irrigation system and of hydroelectric power. It is considered one of India’s sacred rivers.
Kaw River See Kansas River
Kawabata \'ka-wa-,ba-ta\ Yasunari (b. June 11, 1899, Osaka, Japan—d. April 16, 1972, Zushi) Japanese novelist. His writing echoes
Fork-tailed bush katydid (Scudderia furcata).
E.S. ROSS
Self-portrait, painting on canvas by Angelica Kauffmann; in the Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Ber-
COURTESY OF THE STAATUCHE MUSEEN PREUSSISCHER KULTURBESITZ GEMALDEGALERIE, BERUN/ART RESOURCE, NEW YORK
Kaunda.
CAMERA PRESS
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Kawasaki ► Kazakhstan I 1021
ancient Japanese forms in prose influenced by post-World War I French lit¬ erary currents such as Dadaism (see Dada) and Expressionism. His best- known novel is Snow Country (1948), the story of a forlorn geisha. His other major works (published together in 1952) are A Thousand Cranes and The Sound of the Mountain. The loneliness and preoccupation with death in many of his mature works may derive from his losing all his near relatives while he was young. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968. He committed suicide shortly after his friend Mishima Yukio.
Kawasaki \,ka-wa-'sa-ke\ City (pop., 2000 prelim.: 1,249,851) and port, Honshu, Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, between Tokyo and Yokohama. Almost completely destroyed in World War II, it has since been rebuilt. It is a major industrial centre for machinery and chemicals manufactur¬ ing and has large shipbuilding facilities. It is the site of a 12th-century Buddhist temple.
Kawatake Mokuami \ I ka-wa- , ta-ka- l mo-kii- , a-me\ orig. Yoshimura Yoshisaburo (b. March 1, 1816, Edo, Japan—d. Jan. 22, 1893, Tokyo) Japanese playwright. He apprenticed with the kabuki play¬ wright Tsuruya Namboku V and became chief playwright of the Kawarasaki Theatre (1843). He was noted for domestic plays that fea¬ tured ordinary townspeople and picaresque plays that portrayed the lives of thieves. After 1868 he wrote historical plays that emphasized factual accuracy and pioneered the production of domestic plays that described the modernization and Westernization of early Meiji period society. He retired in 1881 but continued to write dance dramas. He wrote more than 360 plays, and his works account for half the current kabuki repertory.
Kay, Alan (b. 1940, Springfield, Mass., U.S.) U.S. computer scientist. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Utah. In 1972 he joined Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center and continued work on the first object- oriented programming language (Smalltalk) for educational applications. He contributed to the development of Ethernet, laser printing, and client- server architecture. He left Xerox in 1983 and became a fellow at Apple Computer in 1984. His design of a graphical user interface was used in Apple’s Macintosh and later in Microsoft’s Windows operating system. He was a fellow at the Walt Disney Co. (1996-2001) and the Hewlett- Packard Co. (from 2002).
Kay, John (b. July 16, 1704, near Bury, Lancashire, Eng.—d. 17647, France) British machinist and engineer. In 1733 he received a patent for a “New Engine or Machine for Opening and Dressing Wool” that incor¬ porated his flying shuttle, an important step toward automatic weaving. Kay’s invention so increased yarn consumption that it spurred the inven¬ tion of spinning machines (including the spinning jenny and spinning mule), but its true importance lay in its adaptation in power looms.
Kay, Ulysses (Simpson) (b. Jan. 7, 1917, Tucson, Ariz., U.S.—d. May 20, 1995, Englewood, N.J.) U.S. composer. A nephew of jazz cor- netist King Oliver, he was an all-around musician from childhood. After graduating from the University of Arizona he went on to study at the Eastman School and with the composer Paul Hindemith at Yale. He taught principally at the City University of New York, earning a reputation as a distinguished teacher. His music—Neoclassical in style but characterized by verve and warmth—received many awards; mostly orchestral or cho¬ ral, it includes five operas and several film and television scores.
Kaya or Karak Yka-rak\ Japanese Mimana Tribal league formed sometime before the 3rd century ad in southern Korea and lasting until its subjugation to Silla in the 6th century. The people of Kaya are thought to have been closely related to the groups that crossed over from Korea to Japan a century or two earlier, and Kaya often enlisted Japan in its feuds with neighbouring Silla and Paekche. The Kaya people invented a unique 12-stringed zither, the kayagum.
kayak Vkl-.akV Type of canoe covered by a deck except for a cockpit in which the paddler sits. It has a pointed bow and stem and no keel; the paddler faces forward, grasping a double-bladed paddle and dipping the blades alternately on either side. Usually built for one occupant, it can be designed for two or three. Kayaks were traditionally used for fishing and hunting by Eskimos, who stretched seal or other animal skins over a drift¬ wood or whalebone frame and rubbed the skins with animal fat for water¬ proofing. The paddler wore an overlapping shield to allow the kayak to be righted without taking on water if it rolled over. Now often made of molded plastic or fiberglass, kayaks are widely used for recreation.
Kaye, Danny orig. David Daniel Kaminski (b. Jan. 18, 1913, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. March 3, 1987, Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. actor
and comedian. He worked as a comic busboy in Catskills resorts from age 13 and later worked in vaudeville and nightclubs, developing his trademark pantomimes, rapid-fire nonsense songs, and physical antics. He was a suc¬ cess on Broadway in The Straw Hat Revue (1939) and Lady in the Dark (1940), in which he upstaged the legendary Gertrude Lawrence. His movie debut in Up in Arms (1944) was followed by starring roles in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947), The Inspector General (1949), Hans Christian Andersen (1952), and White Christmas (1954). He starred on television in The Danny Kaye Show (1963-67). Much of his comedy material was writ¬ ten by his wife, Sylvia Fine. Kaye was awarded an honorary Academy Award in 1955. He began his long association with UNICEF in 1953 and logged thousands of miles (frequently piloting his own plane) on behalf of the organization. He was awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1982 and the French Legion of Honour in 1986.
Kaysone Phomvihan \ka-'so-ne-'p6m-ve-han\ (b. Dec. 13, 1920, Na Seng, Laos—d. Nov. 21, 1992, Vientiane) Laotian revolutionary, prime minister (1975-91), and president (1991-92). Son of a Lao mother and a Vietnamese father, Kaysone met Ho Chi Minh while studying law in Hanoi and returned to Laos to become the leader of the Pathet Lao, an anti- French revolutionary movement. In 1975 the Pathet Lao overthrew Laos’s 600-year-old monarchy, and Kaysone became prime minister of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. He kept the country closely allied with Vietnam and isolated from Western influence until the end of the Cold War, when he first looked to France and Japan for financial aid. As presi¬ dent, he relaxed some government controls and released most political prisoners.
Kazakhstan or Kazakstan \k9-,zak-'stan\ officially Republic of Kazakhstan Country, Central Asia. Area: 1,052,090 sq mi (2,724,900 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 15,186,000. Capital: Astana. Kazakhs, a
Turkic-speaking people who are the region’s original inhabitants, make up more than half of the population; Russians con¬ stitute nearly one-third, as do small minori¬ ties of Ukrainians, Uzbeks, Germans, and others. Languages: Kazakh (official), Russian. Religions: Islam (mostly Sunni), Christianity. Currency: tenge. From the steppe and desert lands of western and central Kazakhstan, the terrain rises to high mountains in the southeast along the border with Kyrgyzstan and China. Its highest point is Mount Khan-Tengri, 22,949 ft (6,995 m) high. The country is inten¬ sively developed agriculturally, but much of the land area is used for pas¬ ture, with sheep and goats as the main livestock. Manufacturing includes cast iron and rolled steel; mining and oil drilling are also important. Kazakhstan is a republic with a parliament consisting of two chambers; its head of state and government is the president, assisted by the prime
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
1022 I Kazan ► Keats
minister. The area came under Mongol rule in the 13th century. The Ka¬ zakhs consolidated a nomadic empire in the 15th—16th century. Under Russian rule by the mid-19th century, it became part of the Kirgiz Autono¬ mous Republic formed by the Soviets in 1920, and in 1925 its name was changed to the Kazakh Autonomous S.S.R. Kazakhstan obtained its inde¬ pendence from the Soviet Union in 1991. After several years of economic troubles, it began a period of sustained growth.
Kazan \ko-'zan y \ City (pop., 2001 est.: 1,090,200), capital of the Tatar¬ stan republic, western Russia. Located at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka rivers, it was founded in the 13th century by Mongols of the Golden Horde; it became the capital of an independent khanate in the 15th century. In 1552 Ivan IV (the Terrible) captured Kazan and subjugated the khanate. The city was burned in a revolt (1773-74), but after its reconstruc¬ tion it grew in importance as a trading centre, and by the beginning of the 20th century it was one of the chief manufacturing cities of Russia.
Kazan \k9-'zan\, Elia orig. Elia Kazanjoglous (b. Sept. 7, 1909, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire—d. Sept. 28, 2003, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. stage and film director. At age four he immigrated to the U.S. with his family. An actor with the Group Theatre (1932-39), he became a noted Broadway director with plays such as The Skin of Our Teeth (1942), A Streetcar Named Desire (1947; film, 1951), Death of a Salesman (1949, Tony Award), J.B. (1958, Tony Award), and Sweet Bird of Youth (1959). In 1947 he cofounded the Actors Studio. He was praised for his natural¬ istic style in movies such as A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), Gentle¬ man’s Agreement (1947, Academy Award), On the Waterfront (1954, Academy Award), and East of Eden (1955). Though bitterly attacked for his cooperation with the House Un-American Activities Committee in the early 1950s, in which he turned over names of suspected communists, he received an honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievement in 1999.
Kazan River \ko-'zan\ River, central Canada. Rising in Nunavut, it flows through several lakes to empty into Baker Lake after a course of 455 mi (732 km). It is one of the main streams of the Barren Grounds, an area northwest of Hudson Bay that has treeless plains marked by many swamps and lakes.
Kazantzakis \ka-zant-'za-kes\, Nikos (b. Dec. 2, 1885, Iraklion, Crete, Ottoman Empire—d. Oct. 26, 1957, Freiburg im Breisgau, W.Ger.) Greek writer. Educated in law and philosophy, he traveled widely and finally settled on the island of Aegina before World War II. He is best known for his widely translated novels, including Zorba the Greek (1946; film, 1964), The Greek Passion (1954), and The Last Temptation of Christ (1955; film, 1988). His works also include essays, travel books, tragedies, and translations of classics such as Dante’s Divine Comedy and Goethe’s Faust.
Kazembe \ka-'zem-be\ Largest and most organized kingdom of the Lunda empire (see Luba-Lunda states) in central Africa. At the height of its power (c. 1800), Kazembe occupied the territory now included in the Shaba region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in northern Zambia. Created c. 1740 by explorers from western Lunda, it grew more powerful by annexing neighbouring states and became an important cen¬ tre of trade between the African interior and the Portuguese and Arabs on the eastern coast. Civil war erupted in 1850, and the kingdom was destroyed c. 1890.
Kazin \'ka-zon\, Alfred (b. June 5, 1915, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.—d. June 5, 1998, New York, N.Y.) U.S. literary critic. His sweeping histori¬ cal study of modern American literature, On Native Grounds (1942), won him instant recognition. Much of his criticism appeared in Partisan Review, The New Republic, and The New Yorker. His books include Start¬ ing Out in the Thirties (1965), New York Jew (1978), A Writer’s America (1988), and God and the American Writer (1997).
KazvTn See Qazvin
kea Vke-3\ Large, stocky parrot {Nestor notabilis, subfamily Nestorinae) of New Zealand. It lives in mountain habitats and is known for its curi¬ ous and playful character. However, the kea occasionally tears into sheep carcasses to get at the fat around the kidneys; sometimes it attacks live sheep.
Kean, Edmund (b. March 17?, 1789, London, Eng.—d. May 15, 1833, London) British actor. He acted with a touring stage company from 1805, and in 1814 he won acclaim in London with his innovative portrayal of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. He went on to specialize in other
Shakespearean villains, including Richard III, Iago, and Macbeth. He also excelled at playing Othello and Hamlet, as well as Barabas in Chris¬ topher AAarlowe’s The Jew of Malta.
Though praised for his passionate and sensational stage portrayals, he became unpopular for his ungovern¬ able behaviour offstage, marked by excessive drinking and a suit for adultery (1825). His son Charles (1811-68) was an actor-manager noted for his revivals of Shakespear¬ ean plays.
Kearny \'kar-ne\, Stephen Watts (b. Aug. 30, 1794, Newark,
N.J., U.S.—d. Oct. 31, 1848, St.
Louis, Mo.) U.S. Army officer. He served in the War of 1812 and later on the western frontier. At the out¬ break of the Mexican War, he was ordered to seize New Mexico and California. Using diplomacy to per¬ suade Mexican troops to withdraw, he marched unopposed to Santa Fe, where in 1846 he proclaimed a civil government for the province. Heading to California, he was informed that the conquest had already been com¬ pleted by Robert F. Stockton and John C. Fremont. He arrived to discover that Mexican rebels had retaken most of the province. He then joined forces with Stockton to defeat the rebels in 1847. After initial opposition from Fre¬ mont, who had persuaded Stockton to appoint him governor, Kearny paci¬ fied the rest of California and established a stable civil government. He was then sent to Mexico, where he died of yellow fever.
Keaton, Buster orig. Joseph Francis Keaton IV (b. Oct. 4, 1895, Piqua, Kan., U.S.—d. Feb. 1,1966, Woodland Hills, Calif.) U.S. film actor and director. He acted with his parents in vaudeville (1899-1917), where he developed his mastery of comic falls and subtle timing and his trade¬ mark deadpan expression. His film debut in Fatty Arbuckle’s The Butcher- Boy (1917) was followed by several short films (1917—19). As head of his own production company (1920-28) he directed and starred in classic silent movies such as The Navigator (1924), Sherlock, Jr. (1924), The General (1927), and Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928). For MGM he made The Cameraman (1928), but he was denied artistic control over his films, and his career declined. He later appeared in Sunset Boulevard (1950) and Limelight (1952). From the late 1940s his comedies were gradually revived, and he is now regarded as one of the greatest silent comedy stars.
Keaton, Diane orig. Diane Hall (b. Jan. 5, 1946, Los Angeles, Calif., U.S.) U.S. film actress. She acted on Broadway in Hair (1968) and with Woody Allen in Play It Again, Sam (1969), reprising her role in the movie version (1972). She played a supporting role in The Godfather (1972) and its sequels. She starred in various Allen movies, including Sleeper (1973), Annie Hall (1977,
Academy Award), Interiors (1978), and Manhattan (1979). Her other films include Looking for Mr. Good- bar (1977), Reds (1981), Mrs. Soffel (1984), First Wives Club (1996), and The Other Sister (1999). Initially noted for her quirky comic roles, she developed into one of Hollywood’s most respected dramatic actresses.
Keats, John (b. Oct. 31, 1795,
London, Eng.—d. Feb. 23, 1821,
Rome, Papal States) English Roman¬ tic poet. The son of a livery-stable manager, he had a limited formal education. He worked as a surgeon’s apprentice and assistant for several years before devoting himself entirely to poetry at age 21. His first mature work was the sonnet “On First Looking into Chapman’s
. \
Edmund Kean, detail of a pencil draw¬ ing by Samuel Cousins, 1814; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, LONDON
Keats, detail of an oil painting by Joseph Severn, 1821; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Keb > Kellogg I 1023
Homer” (1816). His long Endymion appeared in the same year (1818) as the first symptoms of the tuberculosis that would kill him at age 25. Dur¬ ing a few intense months of 1819 he produced many of his greatest works: several great odes (including “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” “Ode to a Night¬ ingale,” and “To Autumn”), two unfinished versions of the story of the titan Hyperion, and “La Belle Dame Sans Merci.” Most were published in the landmark collection Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems (1820). Marked by vivid imagery, great sensuous appeal, and a yearning for the lost glories of the Classical world, his finest works are among the greatest of the English tradition. His letters are among the best by any English poet.
Keb See Geb
Kediri \ka-'dir-e\ City (pop., 1995 est.: 253,760), eastern Java, Indone¬ sia. It is located in the valley of the Brantas River, southwest of Surabaya. In the 11th to 13th centuries it lay at the heart of a powerful Hindu king¬ dom, also named Kediri; after 1830 it became the capital of a residency under Dutch administration. The modern city is a trading centre for local agricultural products, including sugar, coffee, and rice.
Keeling Islands See Cocos Islands
Keen, William (Williams) (b. Jan. 19, 1837, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.—d. June 7, 1932, Philadelphia) First U.S. brain surgeon. He received his M.D. from Jefferson Medical College. He was one of the first to suc¬ cessfully remove a brain tumour (1888) and assisted in the removal of Pres. Grover Cleveland’s left upper jaw (1893), which contained a malig¬ nant tumour. In addition to his teaching and medical work, he edited Sur¬ gery: Its Principles and Practice (8 vol., 1906-13).
Kegon \'ka-gon\ Buddhist philosophy introduced into Japan from China in the 8th century. The name Kegon (meaning “flower ornament”) is a translation of the Sanskrit avatamsaka, after the school’s chief text, the Avatamsaka-sutra, which deals with the buddha Vairocana. The school was founded in China as Huayan in the late 6th century and reached Japan c. 740. Kegon taught that all living things are interdependent and that the universe is self-creating, with Vairocana at its centre. Though the Kegon school is no longer an active faith teaching a separate doctrine, it contin¬ ues to administer the famous Todai Temple monastery at Nara.
Keillor \'ke-br\, Garrison (Edward) (b. Aug. 7, 1942, Anoka, Minn., U.S.) U.S. radio entertainer and writer. He began writing for The New Yorker in college and worked as a staff writer there until 1992. In 1974 he created and hosted the public-radio humour and variety show A Prairie Home Companion, about the fictional Minnesota town Lake Wobegon. He then created a new program. The American Radio Com¬ pany (1987-91), but revived A Prairie Home Companion in 1993. His books include Lake Wobegon Days (1985), Leaving Home (1987), The Sandy Bottom Orchestra (1996), and Me (1999).
Keino \'ka-no\, Kip orig. Hezekiah Kipchoge Keino (b. Jan. 17, 1940, Nandi Hills, Kenya) Kenyan distance runner. He was originally a goatherd and trained for distance running in the hill country. At the high- altitude 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, he won a silver medal in the 5,000-m race and, in one of running’s greatest upsets, a gold medal in the 1,500-m race, beating Jim Ryun of the U.S. At the 1972 Olympics, Keino won a silver medal in the 1,500-m and a gold in the 3,000-m steeple¬ chase.
Keita Vka-ta\, Modibo (b. June 4, 1915, Bamako, French Sudan—d. May 16, 1977, Bamako, Mali) First president of Mali (1960-68). Keita was instrumental in obtaining independence for Mali (then called French Sudan) from France (1960). As president, he nationalized key sectors of the economy and established close ties with communist countries. Dur¬ ing an economic crisis in 1967 he launched an unpopular Maoist-inspired cultural revolution, and in 1968 he was overthrown and imprisoned for life.
Keitel \kl-'tel\, Harvey (b. May 13, 1939/41, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. film actor. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps and then studied at the Actors Studio. He made his film debut in Who’s That Knocking at My Door? (1968) under Martin Scorsese, with whom he often worked there¬ after. Known for his signature accent and the intensity of his perfor¬ mances, he played supporting or starring roles in films such as Mean Streets (1973), Taxi Driver (1976), Bad Timing (1980), Bugsy (1991), Thelma and Louise (1991), Reservoir Dogs (1991), The Piano (1993), and Red Dragon (2002).
Keitel Vki-fTV Wilhelm (b. Sept. 22, 1882, Helmscherode, Ger.—d. Oct. 16, 1946, Nurnberg) German field marshal. After serving in World War I, he held administrative posts from 1918 to 1933, after which he became minister of war (1935) and head of the German armed forces high command (1938). Although one of Adolf Hitler’s most trusted lieutenants, he was generally regarded as a weak officer and served chiefly as Hitler’s lackey. He signed the act of Germany’s military surrender in 1945. After the war he was convicted at the Nurnberg trials and executed as a war criminal.
Keizan Jokin Vka-zan-'jo-kenV (b. Nov. 13, 1268, Echizen province, Japan—d. Sept. 22, 1325, Noto province) Japanese Buddhist priest and founder of the Soji Temple, one of the two head temples of the Soto sect of Zen Buddhism. He joined the priesthood at age 12; after completing his studies, he taught the Soto doctrine for 10 years. He was named head priest at Shogaku Temple, which he affiliated with the Soto sect in 1321. It was destroyed by fire in 1898 and later rebuilt on its present site at Yokohama. Keizan devoted himself to building temples and spreading Soto teachings to all parts of Japan. Now called Taiso (“Great Master”), he is revered as the restorer of the Soto sect.
Kekri Vke-kre\ In ancient Finnish religion, a feast day marking the end of the agricultural season and coinciding with the time when cattle were brought in from pasture for the winter. It originally fell on September 29 but was later moved to November 1, or All Saints' Day. It was a time when the ancestor spirits visited their former homes and the living held feasts honoring the dead. Usually a family celebration, it was sometimes marked by a communal sacrifice of a sheep.
Kekule von Sfradonitz Vka-ku-la-fon-^htra-do-nitsV (Friedrich) August orig. (Friedrich) August Kekule (b. Sept. 7, 1829, Darm¬ stadt, Hesse—d. July 13, 1896, Bonn) German chemist who laid the groundwork for modern structural theory in organic chemistry. His early training in architecture may have helped him conceive his theories. In 1858 he showed that carbon has a valence of four and that its atoms can link together to form long chains. He is said to have dreamed in 1865 of a benzene molecule as a snake biting its own tail and thus conceptualized the six-carbon benzene ring; the facts of organic chemistry known up to that time then fell into place. He also did valuable work on mercury com¬ pounds, unsaturated acids, and thio acids and wrote a four-volume text¬ book.
Keller, Helen (Adams) (b. June 27, 1880, Tuscumbia, Ala., U.S.—d. June 1, 1968, Westport, Conn.) U.S. author and educator who was blind and deaf. Deprived by illness of sight and hearing at the age of 19 months,
Keller soon became mute as well.
Five years later she began to be instructed by Anne Sullivan (1866—
1936), who taught her the names of objects by pressing the manual alphabet into her palm. Eventually Keller learned to read and write in Braille. She wrote several books, including The Story of My Life (1902). Her childhood was drama¬ tized in William Gibson’s play The Miracle Worker (1959; film, 1962).
Kellogg, Frank B(illings) (b.
Dec. 22, 1856, Potsdam, N.Y.,
U.S.—d. Dec. 21, 1937, St. Paul,
Minn.) U.S. lawyer and diplomat. He represented the U.S. government in antitrust cases before serving in the U.S. Senate (1917-23) and as U.S. ambassador to Britain (1923-25). Appointed U.S. secretary of state (1925-29) by Pres. Calvin Coolidge, he negotiated the multinational Kellogg-Briand Pact, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1929. He later served on the Permanent Court of International Justice
(1930-35).
Kellogg, John Harvey and W(ill) K(eith) (respectively b. Feb. 26, 1852, Tyrone, Mich., U.S.—d. Dec. 14, 1943, Battle Creek; b. April 7, 1860, Battle Creek—d. Oct. 6, 1951, Battle Creek) U.S. breakfast- cereal manufacturers. John was a physician and vegetarian who in 1876 helped found a Seventh-Day Adventist sanitarium in Battle Creek, Mich.
Helen Keller at age 66.
COURTESY OF THE AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR THE BLIND
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
1024 I Kellogg-Briand Pact ► Kempton
There he developed various nut and vegetable products, including a flaked-wheat cereal to serve to patients, one of whom was C.W. Post. John’s younger brother, W.K., founded the W.K. Kellogg Co. in 1906 to manufacture dry breakfast cereals, cornflakes being its sole product in the early years. It soon became a leading U.S. producer of these and other convenience foods; its current annual sales exceed $9 billion. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation is one of the country’s largest philanthropic institu¬ tions.
Kellogg-Briand Pact Vkel-.ag-bre-'aA or Pact of Paris (1928) International agreement not to use war as an instrument of national policy. It was conceived by Aristide Briand, who hoped to engage the U.S. in a system of protective alliances to guard against aggression from a resur¬ gent Germany. The U.S. secretary of state, Frank Kellogg, proposed a general multilateral treaty, and the French agreed. Most states signed the treaty, but its lack of enforceability and exceptions to its pacifist pledges rendered it useless. See also Pact of Locarno.
Kelly, Ellsworth (b. May 31, 1923, Newburgh, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. painter and sculptor. In 1948 the G.I. bill allowed him to travel to Paris, where he was exposed to various avant-garde developments. By 1949 he made his first completely abstract painting; he would create abstract work throughout his career. Kelly moved back to the U.S. in 1954. By the end of the decade he became a leading exponent of the hard-edge style of painting, in which abstract contours and large areas of flat colour are sharply and precisely defined. Influenced by the biomorphic abstractions of Jean Arp and the paper cutouts of Henri Matisse, he used the clean geo¬ metric lines of his paintings in painted, cut-out sheet-metal sculptures. Kelly refined his pursuit of pure style throughout the late 20th century, eventually also pursuing printmaking and large-scale public sculpture.
Kelly, Gene orig. Eugene Curran Kelly (b. Aug. 23, 1912, Pitts¬ burgh, Pa., U.S.—d. Feb. 2, 1996, Beverly Hills, Calif.) U.S. dancer, cho¬ reographer, actor, and movie director. After training at his mother’s dance school in Pittsburgh, he moved to New York in 1938 and danced in Broad¬ way musicals, creating the title role in Pal Joey in 1940. Beginning in 1942, his athletic style and carefree acting—exemplified in the popular Anchors Aweigh (1945), On the Town (1949), An American in Paris (1951), and Singin’ in the Rain (1952), which he also helped choreograph and direct—became hallmarks of the movie musical. His achievements earned him a special Academy Award in 1951. He later choreographed and directed numerous other movies and created a ballet for the Paris Opera (1960).
Kelly, George orig. George Kelly Barnes, Jr., known as Machine Gun Kelly (b. 1897?, Memphis, Tenn., U.S.—d. July 17, 1954, Leavenworth, Kan.) U.S. gangster. He became notorious for com¬ mitting a series of robberies and slayings in the Midwest. In 1933 he kid¬ napped the millionaire Charles F. Urschel; arrested soon afterward, he spent the rest of his life in prison. Though designated “Public Enemy No. 1,” he was by no means the most dangerous criminal of his day.
Kelly, Grace later Princess Grace of Monaco (b. Nov. 12, 1929, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.—d. Sept. 14, 1982, Monte Carlo, Monaco) U.S. film actress. She studied acting and made her Broadway debut in 1949. Her movie debut came in Fourteen Hours (1951). She gained critical and popular praise with her performances in High Noon (1952), Mogambo (1953), and The Country Girl (1954, Academy Award). Alfred Hitchcock saw “sexual elegance” in her and put her in three of his films— Dial M for Murder (1954), Rear Window (1954), and To Catch a Thief (1955). She made her last movie. High Society (1956), before marrying Prince Rainier III of Monaco. She died in a car accident after suffering a stroke on a winding mountain road in the Cote d’Azur.
Kelly, Walt(er Crawford) (b. Aug. 25, 1913, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.—-d. Oct. 18, 1973, Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. cartoonist. From 1935 he produced animation drawings for Walt Disney Productions, and in the 1940s he worked as a commercial artist in New York. His best-known character, the opossum Pogo, first appeared in a comic book c. 1943. In 1948 Pogo began to be published as a daily comic strip in the New York Star , and it was soon appearing in many other newspapers. Skillfully drawn, with witty and literate text, it featured Pogo and his winning ani¬ mal friends in Okefenokee Swamp, characters Kelly often used to sati¬ rize prominent political figures.
Kelly, William (b. Aug. 21, 1811, Pittsburgh, Pa., U.S.—d. Feb. 11, 1888, Louisville, Ky.) U.S. ironmaster. He purchased ironworks in
Eddyville, Ky., and began experiments with an air blast to prepare pig for conversion to wrought iron. Because of the similarity of his apparatus to the first form of Bessemer converter (see Bessemer process), he was awarded a U.S. patent on the pneumatic steel process. There is no evi¬ dence that he made steel in any of his trials.
kelp Any of about 30 genera of large seaweeds that make up the order Laminariales (brown algae), found in colder seas. Laminaria, abundant along the Pacific coasts and the British Isles, is a source of commercial iodine. Its stipe (stemlike structure) is 3-10 ft (1-3 m) long. The largest known kelp, Macrocystis, grows up to 215 ft (65 m) long. Its body, which has a large rootlike holdfast, a hollow stipe, and branching blades with hollow gas bladders, resembles that of higher plants. It is rich in miner¬ als and algin, a complex carbohydrate used as an emulsifier to prevent crystal formation in ice cream. Species of kelp are widely eaten in East Asia.
Kelvin (of Largs), William Thomson, Baron known as Lord Kelvin (b. June 26, 1824, Belfast, County Antrim, Ire.—d. Dec. 17, 1907, Netherhall, Ayrshire, Scot.) British physicist. He entered the Uni¬ versity of Glasgow at 10, published two papers by 17, and graduated from Cambridge University at 21. The next year he was awarded the chair of natural philosophy at the University of Glasgow, where he remained until retiring in 1899. He helped develop the second law of thermodynamics, and in 1848 he invented the absolute temperature scale named after him (see absolute zero). He served as chief consultant for the laying of the first Atlantic cable (1857-58). His patent for a mirror galvanometer for receiv¬ ing telegraph signals (1858) made him wealthy. His work in electricity and magnetism led ultimately to James Clerk Maxwell’s theory of electro¬ magnetism. He also contributed to the determination of the age of the Earth and the study of hydrodynamics. He was raised to the peerage in 1892. He published more than 600 scientific papers and received dozens of honorary degrees.
Kemal, Yashar or Yasar Kemal orig. Kemal Sadik Gogceli
(b. 1922, Hemite, Tur.) Turkish novelist of Kurdish descent. At age five Kemal saw his father murdered in a mosque and was himself blinded in one eye. He was arrested several times for his political activism. He is best known for his stories of village life and for his outspoken advocacy on behalf of the dispossessed. His novel Memed, My Hawk was translated into 20 languages and was filmed in 1984. Other works include The Wind from the Plain (1960), The Undying Grass (1968), and To Crush the Ser¬ pent (1976).
Kemeny Vkem-3-ne\, John George (b. May 31, 1926, Budapest, Hung.—d. Dec. 26, 1992, Hanover, N.H., U.S.) Hungarian-born U.S. mathematician and computer scientist. He emigrated to the U.S. with his family at 14. He took a year off from his undergraduate studies at Prince¬ ton University to work on the Manhattan Project and was later a research assistant to Albert Einstein. He received a Ph.D. in 1949 and joined the Dartmouth College faculty in 1953, where he worked to develop the mathematics department. In the mid 1960s he and Thomas E. Kurtz (b. 1928) developed the BASIC computer programming language. He was a pioneer in the promotion of “new math” and the use of computers in edu¬ cation. He served as president of Dartmouth (1970-91).
Kemp, Jack (French) (b. July 13, 1935, Los Angeles, Calif., U.S.) U.S. politician. He played professional gridiron football with the Buffalo (N.Y.) Bills. As a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representa¬ tives (1971-89), he championed conservative causes but also strongly supported civil rights legislation. After a failed presidential bid in 1988, he was appointed secretary of housing and urban development by Pres. George Bush (1989). In 1996 he ran unsuccessfully for vice president on a ticket with Republican Bob Dole.
Kempe \'kemp\, Margery (b. c. 1373—d. c. 1440) English mystic. She had 14 children before beginning a series of pilgrimages to Jerusa¬ lem, Rome, Germany, and Spain in 1414. Apparently illiterate, she dic¬ tated her autobiography, Book of Margery Kempe, describing her travels and her religious ecstasies in an unaffected style (c. 1432-36). It is one of the earliest autobiographies in English literature.
Kempton, (James) Murray (b. Dec. 16, 1917, Baltimore, Md., U.S.—d. May 5, 1997, New York, N.Y.) U.S. journalist. Educated at Johns Hopkins University, he was a reporter and then columnist with the New York Post from the 1940s. His political and social commentaries, noted for their uniquely rich and elegant style, moral insight, and sense of fair
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Kenai ► Kennedy I 1025
play, touched on many subjects, especially current affairs. Excepting two periods when he left the Post, he continued there until 1981; thereafter he wrote for News day, winning a Pulitzer Prize in 1985. His books include Part of Our Time (1955), on 1930s radical movements in the U.S.; and The Briar Patch (1973, National Book Award), on New York’s prosecu¬ tion of the Black Panthers.
Kenai \'ke-,nl\ Fjords National Park National park, southern Alaska, U.S. Located on the southern coast of the Kenai Peninsula and established as a national monument in 1978, it became a national park in 1980. Its area of 670,000 acres (271,100 hectares) includes the Harding Icefield and its outflowing glaciers as well as coastal fjords. The park’s wildlife includes sea otters, seals, and seabirds.
kendo Japanese sport of fencing with bamboo swords. Derived from the fighting methods of the ancient samurai, it was introduced in the 18th century. Contestants wear traditional protective garments, and the sword (shinai) is held with both hands. Points are awarded for blows delivered to various parts of the upper body. The first combatant to score two points wins the match.
Kendrew, Sir John Cowdery (b. March 24, 1917, Oxford, Oxford¬ shire, Eng.—d. Aug. 23, 1997, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire) British bio¬ chemist. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge and as a Cambridge fellow (1947-75) went on to study the structure of proteins. He determined the structure of the muscle protein myoglobin, which stores oxygen for use by the muscles. Using X-ray diffraction techniques and computers, he devised a three-dimensional model of the arrangement of the amino acid units in the myoglobin molecule, an achievement for which he shared a 1962 Nobel Prize with Max Ferdinand Perutz.
Kennan, George F(rost) (b. Feb. 16, 1904, Milwaukee, Wis., U.S.—d. March 17, 2005, Princeton, N.J.) U.S. diplomat and historian. After graduating from Princeton University in 1925, he entered the U.S. foreign service, studied Russian language and culture at the University of Berlin (1929-31), and was assigned to the U.S. embassy in Moscow (1933-35). He served in Vienna, Prague, Berlin, and Lisbon, returning to Moscow during and after World War II. His concept of containment was presented in a highly influential article, signed “X,” that appeared in For¬ eign Affairs magazine in July 1947. Kennan questioned the wisdom of conciliatory U.S. policy toward the Soviet Union, which he considered appeasement, and advocated instead U.S. counterpressure wherever the Soviets threatened to expand; this approach became the basis of U.S. policy toward the Soviet Union during the first decades of the Cold War. After brief service as an adviser to the State Department, he joined the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton as professor of historical stud¬ ies (1956-74); his tenure there was interrupted by a stint as U.S. ambas¬ sador to Yugoslavia (1961-63). He won simultaneous Pulitzer Prizes and National Book Awards for Russia Leaves the War (1956) and Memoirs,
1925-50 (1967).
Kennebec River River, west-central Maine, U.S. It rises from Moose- head Lake and flows south for about 150 mi (240 km) to the Atlantic Ocean. It was explored by Samuel de Champlain in 1604-05. With its main tributary, the Androscoggin River, it forms Merry meeting Bay, which extends 16 mi (26 km) to the Atlantic.
Kennedy, Anthony M(cLeod) (b. July 23, 1936, Sacramento, Calif., U.S.) U.S. jurist. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he practiced law in San Francisco and Sacramento before being appointed to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 1975. He was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1988 by Pres. Ronald Reagan. His record generally reflected his con¬ servative outlook, and he consistently voted against policies such as affir¬ mative action and abortion rights. His episodic departure from conservative jurisprudence stemmed from his civil libertarian perspective on certain individual rights.
Kennedy, Edward M(oore) known as Ted Kennedy (b. Feb. 22, 1932, Brookline, Mass., U.S.) U.S. senator. He is the youngest son of Joseph P. Kennedy and the brother of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. He graduated from Harvard University in 1956 and received a law degree from the University of Virginia in 1959. In 1962 he was elected to the former U.S. Senate seat of his brother John, who became president in 1960. Elected Democratic majority whip in 1969, he was considered a front-runner for the 1972 Democratic presidential nomination. In 1970 he was involved in a car accident on Chappaquiddick Island, near Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., in which a companion in his car was drowned. Kennedy
was found guilty of leaving the scene of an accident. Though he was reelected to the Senate in 1970, he decided against seeking the presidency in 1972. He won a third full term in 1976 and was again a serious con¬ tender for the Democratic nomination in 1980, but he withdrew during the convention. In subsequent years his presidential prospects were lim¬ ited by memories of the Chappaquiddick incident and by his somewhat raffish personal life. In the 1980s and ’90s he continued to represent Mas¬ sachusetts in the Senate, where he was a forceful spokesman for liberal causes, including civil rights, consumer protection, and national health insurance.
Kennedy, John F(itzgerald) (b. May 29, 1917, Brookline, Mass., U.S.—d. Nov. 22, 1963, Dallas,
Texas) 35th president of the U.S.
(1961-63). The son of Joseph P.
Kennedy, he graduated from Harvard University in 1940 and joined the navy the following year. He com¬ manded a patrol torpedo (PT) boat in World War II and was gravely injured in an attack by a Japanese destroyer; he was later decorated for heroism. Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1946 and the U.S. Senate in 1952, he supported social-welfare legislation and became increasingly committed to civil rights; in foreign affairs, he sup¬ ported the Cold War policies of the Truman administration. In 1960 he won the Democratic nomination for president, beating out Lyndon B.
Johnson, who became his running mate. In his acceptance speech Kennedy declared, “We stand on the edge of a New Frontier”; thereafter the phrase “New Frontier” was associated with his programs. After a vig¬ orous campaign managed by his brother Robert F. Kennedy and aided finan¬ cially by his father, he narrowly defeated the Republican candidate, Richard Nixon. He was the youngest person and the first Roman Catholic elected president. In his inaugural address he called on Americans to “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your coun¬ try.” His legislative program, including massive income-tax cuts and a sweeping civil-rights measure, received little support in the Congress, though he did win approval of the Peace Corps and the Alliance for Progress. In 1961 he committed the U.S. to land a man on the Moon by the end of the decade. In foreign affairs he approved a plan drawn up during the Eisenhower administration to land an invasion force of Cuban exiles on their homeland, but the Bay of Pigs invasion (1961) was a fiasco. Determined to combat the spread of communism in Asia, he sent military advisers and other assistance to South Vietnam. During the Cuban missile crisis (1962) he imposed a naval blockade on Cuba and demanded that the Soviet Union remove its nuclear missiles from the island. In 1963 he suc¬ cessfully concluded the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty with Britain and the Soviet Union. In November 1963, while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, he was assassinated by a sniper, allegedly Lee Harvey Oswald. The killing is con¬ sidered the most notorious political murder of the 20th century. Kennedy’s youth, energy, and charming family brought him world adulation and sparked the idealism of a generation, for whom the Kennedy White House became known as “Camelot.” Revelations about his powerful family and his personal life, especially concerning his extramarital affairs, tainted his image in later years. See also Jackie Kennedy Onassis.
Kennedy, Joseph P(atrick) (b. Sept. 6, 1888, Boston, Mass., U.S.—d. Nov. 18, 1969, Hyannis Port, Mass.) U.S. businessman and fi¬ nancier. He graduated from Harvard University in 1912. He was a bank president by age 25 and a millionaire at age 30. He became a shipbuilder, a motion-picture tycoon, and a large contributor to the Democratic Party. During the 1920s he acquired a large fortune by speculating in the stock market; he is also alleged to have traded in bootleg liquor during Prohi¬ bition. Later, as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (1934-35), he outlawed the speculative practices, including insider trad¬ ing and stock manipulation, that had made him rich. He was the first Irish American to serve as ambassador to Britain (1937—40). With his wife, Rose, he encouraged academic and athletic competitiveness in his chil¬ dren and expected the boys in the family—including John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Edward Kennedy —to pursue careers in public ser-
May 29, 1917, Brookline, Mass.,
John F. Kennedy, 1961.
AP/WIDE WORLD
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
1026 I Kennedy ► Kenya
vice. His role in John Kennedy’s narrow victory over Richard Nixon in the 1960 presidential election has long been the subject of controversy.
Kennedy, Robert F(rancis) (b. Nov. 20, 1925, Brookline, Mass., U.S.—d. June 6, 1968, Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. politician. The son of Joseph P. Kennedy, he interrupted his education at Harvard University to serve in World War II; he was graduated from Harvard in 1948 and received a law degree from the University of Virginia in 1951. He man¬ aged the U.S. Senate campaign of his brother John F. Kennedy in 1952. In 1957 he became chief counsel to the Senate committee investigating labour racketeering; he resigned the post in 1960 to manage his brother’s presidential campaign. As U.S. attorney general (1961—64), he led a drive against organized crime that resulted in the conviction of labour leader Jimmy Hoffa. In 1964 he was elected to the U.S. Senate from New York. He became a spokesman for liberal Democrats and a critic of the Viet¬ nam policy of Lyndon B. Johnson. In 1968, while campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination in Los Angeles, he was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan, a Palestinian immigrant.
Kennedy, William (b. Jan. 16, 1928, Albany, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. nov¬ elist and journalist. He worked as a journalist in New York and Puerto Rico before returning in 1963 to his native Albany, N.Y., which he con¬ sidered the source of his literary inspiration. His novels, which are set in Albany and contain elements of local history and the supernatural, include The Ink Truck (1969), Legs (1975), Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game (1978), and Ironweed (1983, Pulitzer Prize; film, 1987).
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Huge cultural com¬ plex (opened 1971) in Washington, D.C., with a total of six stages, designed by Edward Durell Stone. The complex, surfaced in marble, makes use of the ornamental facade screens for which the architect was known. The three main theaters are entered from the Grand Foyer, which faces the Potomac River. The Concert Hall, the largest auditorium, has been designated a national monument; its acoustics are considered exceptional, and its embossed ceiling and crystal chandeliers have been much admired.
Kenneth I or Kenneth MacAlpin (d. c. 858, Forteviot, Scot.) First king of the united Scots of Dalriada and the Picts. He inherited (834?) the Scottish kingdom of Dalriada from his father, Alpin, who is thought to have been killed by the Picts. He also gained control over Pictavia, and from 843 the two kingdoms were gradually joined, an important step in the making of a unified Scotland. The union was probably accomplished both by intermarriage and by conquest.
Kent Administrative (pop., 2001: 1,329,653), geographic, and historic county, southeastern England. It lies along the English Channel. The Romans ruled the area from ad 43, using Canterbury as a base. It was invaded by Jutes and Saxons in the 5th century and became one of the kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon Britain. The king of Kent welcomed St. Augus¬ tine’s Christian mission in 597; St. Thomas Becket was murdered in Can¬ terbury cathedral in 1170. It has long been known as the “Garden of England,” and such crops as apples, cherries, barley, and wheat are widely grown.
Kent, Earl of See Odo of Bayeux
Kent, Janies (b. July 31, 1763, Fredericksburgh, Putnam county, N.Y.—d. Dec. 12, 1847, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. jurist who helped shape common law in the U.S. A lawyer at Poughkeepsie, N.Y., from 1785 and a New York state legislator from 1790, he taught law at Columbia University (1793-98, 1823-26) and later served as chief justice of the New York Supreme Court (1804-14) and chancellor of the Court of Chan¬ cery (1814-23), then the state’s highest judicial office. As chancellor, he is said to have made U.S. equity jurisprudence effective for the first time. His Commentaries on American Law (1826-30) proved influential both in the U.S. and in England.
Kent, Rockwell (b. June 21, 1882, Tarrytown Heights, N.Y., U.S.—d. March 13, 1971, Plattsburgh, N.Y.) U.S. painter and illustrator. He stud¬ ied architecture at Columbia University but later chose to study painting with William Merritt Chase and Robert Henri. He worked variously as an architectural draftsman, lobsterman, and ship’s carpenter in Maine and traveled in Tierra del Fuego, Newfoundland, Alaska, and Greenland, gath¬ ering material for his paintings and travel books. His dramatic pen-and- ink drawings, strongly resembling woodcuts, appeared in many books by contemporary and classic writers and made him one of the most popular artists in the U.S., despite harassment for his radical leftist politics.
Kenton, Stanley Newcombe) (b. Feb. 19, 1912, Wichita, Kan., U.S.—d. Aug. 25, 1979, Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. pianist, composer, arranger, and leader of one of the most popular and controversial big bands in jazz. Kenton formed his first band in 1941. The group exhibited the influence of Jimmy Lunceford’s precise brass and gained a reputation for a bombastic orchestral approach. His players included saxophonist Art Pepper (1925-82), trumpeter Maynard Ferguson, drummer Shelly Manne (1920-84), and singers Anita O’Day (b. 1919) and June Christy (1925- 90). His efforts to organize the training of student musicians represent some of the earliest instances of formal jazz education.
Kentucky officially Commonwealth of Kentucky State (pop., 2000: 4,041,769), southeastern central U.S. Bordered by Ohio, West Vir¬ ginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, it covers 40,411 sq mi (104,664 sq km); its capital is Frankfort. Among its geographical features are the Appalachian Mountains of the east, the interior lowlands, including the Bluegrass region, and the rich lowlands along the Mississippi River. Before the arrival of white settlers, the region was a hunting ground for Indian tribes, including the Shawnee, Iroquois, and Cherokee. Daniel Boone, among the first white settlers, arrived in 1769; a wave of immi¬ gration followed the American Revolution. Settlements began as part of a district of Virginia, but in 1792 Kentucky entered the Union as the 15th state. It was a border state during the American Civil War, remaining in the Union but providing troops to both sides. The opening of rail lines into the eastern coal country and the introduction of a tobacco economy spurred growth in the late 19th century. In the 1970s a nationwide energy shortage created a demand for coal, from which Kentucky prospered, but demand dropped in the 1980s and many jobs were lost. Manufacturing is the leading source of income, while tobacco is the chief crop. Kentucky is known for its bourbon whiskey and Thoroughbred horses; the Kentucky Derby is run annually at Churchill Downs.
Kentucky Derby One of the classic U.S. Thoroughbred horse races. It was established in 1875 and run annually on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs track in Louisville, Ky. With the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, it makes up U.S. racing’s coveted Triple Crown. The field is limited to three-year-olds. The track distance is 1.25 mi (2,000 m).
Kentucky Lake Reservoir, western Kentucky and western Tennessee, U.S. One of the world’s largest manmade lakes, it is 184 mi (296 km) long and has more than 2,300 mi (3,700 km) of shoreline. It was created in 1944 when the Kentucky Dam was built on the Tennessee River. The dam is the largest in the Tennessee Valley Authority system, and it regulates the flow from the Tennessee River into the Ohio River.
Kentucky River Tributary of the Ohio River in north-central Kentucky, U.S. It is formed by the confluence of North, Middle, and South forks, which originate in the Cumberland Mountains. It is navigable along its 259-mi (417-km) course by means of locks. It empties into the Ohio River at Carrollton.
Kenya officially Republic of Kenya Country, eastern Africa. Area: 224,961 sq mi (582,646 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 33,830,000. Capi¬ tal: Nairobi. With a small group of European settlers’ descendants, there are dozens of ethnic groups, including the Kikuyu, Luhya, Luo, Kamba, Kalenjin, and Masai. Languages: Swahili, English (both official), Kikuyu, Luhya, Luo, others. Religions: Christianity (Roman Catholic, Protestant, other Christians); also traditional beliefs, Islam. Currency: Kenya shilling. Kenya can be divided into five regions: the Lake Victoria basin in the southwest; the vast plateau of eastern Kenya; the 250-mi- (400-km-) long coastal belt along the Indian Ocean; the highlands of the Mau Escarpment on the western side of the Great Rift Valley in western Kenya; and the highlands and mountains of the Aberdare Range on the eastern side of the Rift Valley, including Mount Kenya. It is noted for such wildlife as lions, leopards, elephants, buffalo, rhinoceroses, zebras, hippopotamuses, and crocodiles. About one-tenth of the land is arable, and more than one-third is used for grazing cattle, goats, and sheep. Agriculture employs much of the workforce, and tea and coffee are the leading exports. Kenya is a republic with one legislative house; its head of state and government is the president. The coastal region was dominated by Arabs until it was seized by the Portuguese in the 16th century. The Masai people held sway in the north and moved into central Kenya in the 18th century, while the Kikuyu expanded from their home region in south-central Kenya. The interior was explored by European missionaries in the 19th century. After the British took control, Kenya was established as a British protectorate (1895) and a crown colony (1920). The Mau Mau rebellion of the 1950s
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Kenya ► Kerensky I 1027
elected. In 1992 Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi allowed the country’s first multiparty elections in three decades; however, the government continued to be marked by corruption and mis¬ management.
Kenya, Mount Swahili Kirinyaga Extinct volcano, central Kenya. Lying just south of the Equator and rising to 17,058 ft (5,199 m), it is the highest mountain in Kenya. The first European to discover the mountain was Johann Ludwig Krapf in 1849. Mount Kenya National Park, occu¬ pying an area of 277 sq mi (718 sq km), contains a variety of large ani¬ mals, including elephants and buffalo. The town of Nanyuki lies at the mountain’s northwestern foot and is the chief base for ascents.
Kenyatta \ken-'ya-t9\, Jomo (b. c. 1894, Ichaweri, British East Africa—d. Aug. 22, 1978, Mom¬ basa, Kenya) First prime minister (1963-64) and then president (1964- 78) of independent Kenya. Of Kikuyu descent, Kenyatta left the East Afri¬ can highlands c. 1920 to become a civil servant and political activist in Nairobi. He opposed a union of the British colonial territories of Kenya,
Uganda, and Tanganyika. In 1945 he helped organize the sixth Pan- African Congress, attended by such figures as W.E.B. Du Bois and Kwame Nkrumah (see Pan-African move¬ ment). In 1953 he was sentenced to a seven-year prison term for directing the Mau Mau rebellion, though he denied the charges. In 1962 he nego¬ tiated the constitutional terms lead¬ ing to Kenya’s independence. As its leader he headed a strong central government, rejected calls to nation¬ alize property, and made Kenya one of the most stable and economically dynamic African states. Critics com¬ plained of the dominance of his Kenya African National Union (KANU) party and the creation of a political and economic elite. Many of his poli¬ cies were continued under his successor, Daniel arap Moi.
Keokuk \ , ke-3-,kok\ (b. 1790?, along Rock River [near present-day Rock Island, Ill., U.S.]—d. 1848?, [in present-day Franklin county, Kan.]) Sauk Indian orator and politician. He engaged in a lifelong struggle for power with rival leader Black Hawk, who advocated resistance to white settlement on tribal lands. Keokuk instead urged accommodation and con¬ cession. Many Indians, witnessing the showering of gifts and honours on Keokuk by U.S. Indian agents and military leaders, turned to him for leadership. In 1832 Black Hawk led a short-lived resistance effort against white encroachments; Keokuk counseled peace and surrender, and he even provided advance warning to the U.S. of Black Hawk’s intentions. For this assistance, the U.S. government named Keokuk leader of the Sauk nation in 1837. Keokuk responded by ceding the Illinois lands of his tribe and moving his people to Iowa. He continued to give away tribal land until his people were forced to settle on a reservation in Kansas, where he died in disgrace, despite the wealth and power he had accumulated.
Kepler, Johannes (b. Dec. 27, 1571, Weil der Stadt, Wiirttemberg—d. Nov. 15, 1630, Regensburg) German astronomer. Bom into a poor fam¬ ily, he received a scholarship to the University of Tubingen. He received an M.A. in 1594, after which he became a mathematics teacher in Aus¬ tria. He developed a mystical theory that the cosmos was constructed of the five regular polyhedrons, enclosed in a sphere, with a planet between each pair. He sent his paper on the subject to Tycho Brahe, who invited Kepler to join his research staff. In attempting to understand atmospheric refraction of light, he became the first to explain accurately how light behaves within the eye, how eyeglasses improve vision, and what hap¬ pens to light in a telescope. In 1609 he published his finding that the orbit of Mars was an ellipse and not the perfect circle hitherto presumed to be the orbit of every celestial body. This fact became the basis of the first of Kepler’s three laws of planetary motion. He also determined that planets move faster as they near the Sun (second law), and in 1619 he showed that a simple mathematical formula related the planets’ orbital periods to their distance from the Sun (third law). In 1620 he defended his mother from charges of witchcraft, thereby preserving his own reputation as well.
Kerala \'ker-3-b\ State (pop., 2001 prelim.: 31,838,619), southwestern India. Lying on the Arabian Sea, it is bordered by Karnataka and Tamil Nadu states, and it surrounds the coastal enclave of Mahe (part of Pondicherry union territory). It has an area of 15,005 sq mi (38,863 sq km), and its capital is Trivandrum. During the 3rd century bc, it was an independent Dravidian kingdom known as Keralaputra. The Kulashekhara dynasty ruled the region in the 9th-12th centuries, when the regional Malayalam language took hold; it is still the dominant language. Portu¬ guese intervention from 1498 was followed by Dutch rule in the 17th century. The Dutch were ousted in 1741 by the princely state of Travan- core, which itself in the 1790s came under British protectorate status. It was given its present name in 1956. Kerala is one of India’s most densely populated states.
keratin Vker-o-tonN Fibrous structural protein of hair, nails, hooves, wool, feathers, and skin. A quarter of the amino acids in keratin are cys¬ tine, whose ability to form strong bridging (disulfide) bonds with other cystine units accounts for keratin’s great stability. Keratin does not dis¬ solve in cold or hot water and does not easily undergo proteolysis. Its fibres are 10-12% longer at maximum water content (about 16%) than when dry. The sulfurous smell of burning keratin is distinctive.
keratitis X.ker-o-'tl-tosX Inflammation of the cornea (see eye). The con¬ junctiva may also be inflamed (keratoconjunctivitis). Depending on the cause, including dryness of the eye (from low tear production or inabil¬ ity to close the eye), chemical or physical injury, or certain diseases, it may or may not cause pain, visual-field defects (including blindness), and damage to the eye.
Kerensky Vke-ryon-skeA English \ker-'en-ske\, Aleksandr (Fyo¬ dorovich) (b. May 2, 1881, Simbirsk, Russia—d. June 11, 1970, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Russian political leader. A prominent lawyer, he joined the Socialist Revolutionary Party and was elected to the fourth Duma (1912), where he became a noted orator. After the start of the Russian Revolution of 1917, he held posts in both the Petrograd soviet and the provisional government and became a popular figure. He became minis¬ ter of war in May and prime minister in July. A moderate socialist, he sought to unify the factions but lost the support of the moderates and officers by dismissing the army commander in chief, Lavr Kornilov, and of the left by refusing to implement their radical programs. When the Bol¬ sheviks seized power in October, he was unable to gather forces to defend
Kenyatta
JOHN MOSS—BLACK STAR
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1028 I Kerguelen Islands ► Kesselring
his government. He went into hiding, then emigrated to western Europe in 1918. In 1940 he moved to the U.S., where he lectured at universities and wrote books on the revolution.
Kerguelen Vksr-gs-lsnV Islands Archipelago, southern Indian Ocean. It consists of the island of Kerguelen (also called Desolation Island) and about 300 islets, which together cover about 2,400 sq mi (6,200 sq km). Kerguelen Island, about 100 mi (160 km) long, has active glaciers and peaks up to 6,445 ft (1,965 m) high. Discovered in 1772 by the French navi¬ gator Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen-Tremarec, the archipelago was annexed to France in 1893 and became part of the French Southern and Antarctic Ter¬ ritories in 1955. Port-aux-Fran^ais is a scientific base on the main island.
Kermadec \kor-'ma-dek\ Islands Volcanic island group, South Pacific Ocean. Located northeast of Auckland, N.Z., it includes Raoul, Macau- ley, and Curtis islands and l’Esperance Rock, and it has a total land area of 13 sq mi (34 sq km). Explored in the late 18th century by the British and the French, the islands were annexed to New Zealand in 1887. A meteorological communications station was built on Raoul, the largest island, in 1937, but permanent settlement is discouraged.
Kern, Jerome (David) (b. Jan. 27, 1885, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. Nov. 11, 1945, New York City) U.S. composer, one of the major U.S. creators of the musical. Kern studied music in his native New York City and in Heidelberg, Ger., and he later gained theatrical experience in Lon¬ don. Returning to New York, he worked as a pianist and salesman for music publishers and wrote new numbers for European operettas. In 1912 he composed The Red Petticoat, the first musical to contain only his own music; its success was surpassed by Very Good Eddie (1915). Subsequent musicals include Oh, Boy! (1917) and Sally (1920). In 1927 his Show Boat, based on Edna Ferber’s novel and with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein, became the first American musical with a serious plot drawn from a lit¬ erary source; it represents a landmark in the history of musical theatre. It was followed by The Cat and the Fiddle (1931), Music in the Air (1932), and Roberta (1933). After 1933 he composed for Hollywood. Kern’s classic songs include “The Song Is You,” “All the Things You Are,” “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” and “OP Man River.”
kerogen Vker-o-jonX or kerogen shales or kerogenites
Vker-o-jo-.nltsV Complex mixture of compounds with large molecules con¬ taining mainly hydrogen and carbon but also oxygen, nitrogen, and sul¬ fur. Kerogen is a precursor of petroleum and the organic component of oil shales. It is waxy and insoluble in water; upon heating, it breaks down into recoverable gaseous and liquid substances resembling petroleum. It consists of compacted organic material, such as algae and other low plant forms, pollen, spores and spore coats, and insects.
kerosene or kerosine Organic compound, a clear, oily, highly flam¬ mable liquid with a strong odour, distilled from petroleum (10-25% of total volume). It is a mixture of about 10 different types of fairly simple hydro¬ carbons, depending on its source. It is less volatile than gasoline, boiling at 285-610 °F (140-320 °C). It is burned in lamps, heaters, and furnaces and is used as a fuel or fuel component for diesel and tractor engines, jet engines, and rockets and as a solvent for greases and insecticides.
Kerouac Vker-o-.wakV Jack orig. Jean-Louis Lebris de Ker- ouac (b. March 12, 1922, Lowell, Mass., U.S.—d. Oct. 21, 1969, St. Petersburg, Fla.) U.S. poet and novelist. Bom to a French-Canadian family, he attended Columbia University, served as a merchant seaman, and roamed the U.S. and Mexico before his first book appeared. At Columbia he met Allen Ginsberg and other kindred spirits, and he became a spokes¬ man of what would be dubbed the Beat movement (a term he coined). He celebrated its code of poverty and freedom in On the Road (1957); his best- known novel, and the first written in the nonstop, unedited style that he advocated, it enjoyed a huge success among young people, for whom Ker¬ ouac became a romantic hero. All his novels, including The Dharma Bums (1958), The Subterraneans (1958), and Desolation Angels (1965), are auto¬ biographical. His death at age 47 resulted from alcoholism.
Kerr Vkar, 'kor\, Deborah orig. Deborah Jane Kerr-Trimmer
(b. Sept. 30, 1921, Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire, Scot.) Scottish actress. After performing in British films such as Major Barbara (1940) and Black Narcissus (1947), she moved to Hollywood, where she was often cast in prim roles, though her part in From Here to Eternity (1953) was a depar¬ ture from her ladylike image. Known for the poise and serenity she exhib¬ ited in portraying complex characters, she appeared in later films including The King and I (1956), Tea and Sympathy (1956), Heaven
Knows, Mr. Allison (1957), Separate Tables (1958), The Sundowners (1960), and The Night of the Iguana (1964). She retired from the screen in 1969. She received a special Academy Award in 1994.
13th century, Java) Last king
Kertanagara X.ker-to-'na-go-roN (fl (1268-92) of Tumapel (Singhasari) in Java. His birth reunited the two halves of the Javanese kingdom, and his name means “Order in the Realm.” To bolster his kingdom against Kublai Khan, he expanded it, marrying a princess of Champa (cen¬ tral Vietnam), sending envoys to Malayu (Sumatra), and conquering Bali. He refused to pay homage to Kublai Khan but was killed by a vas¬ sal before Kublai’s armed forces arrived to punish him. Two early Jav¬ anese chronicles give contradictory pictures of the king: one describes him as drunken and incompetent; the other depicts him as a wise king and zealous follower of Tantric Bud¬ dhism. He is still venerated as one of Java’s greatest rulers.
Kertesz \ker-'tesh\, Andre (b.
July 2, 1894, Budapest, Austro- Hungarian Empire—d. Sept. 27,
1985, New York, N.Y., U.S.)
Hungarian-born U.S. photographer and photojournalist. He moved from Budapest to Paris in 1925 in search of opportunity and became a major contributor to European illustrated periodicals. He became friendly with many influential artists, including Marc Chagall and Piet Mondrian; his access to such figures allowed him to create a definitive portrait of the Parisian cultural milieu of the period.
In 1928 he bought a Leica, a small
handheld camera. The lightweight camera gave him the freedom to move about the streets of Paris and capture spontaneous moments of urban life, a subject that would fascinate him throughout his career. He arrived in New York City in 1936 intending to work for a commercial studio for a year, but stayed on, doing largely fashion photography for major U.S. magazines. He returned to his pursuit of urban life c. 1962, and in 1964 the Museum of Modem Art gave an exhibition of his works. His spontaneous, unposed pictures exerted a strong influence on magazine photography.
Stone sculpture thought to be Kertana¬ gara in the form of hari-hara ardha- nari, c. early 14th century; acquired by the Museum fur Volker Kunde, Berlin, in 1865.
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kerygma and catechesis Vko-'rig-mo, , kir-ig-m3...,ka-t3- , ke-s3s\ In Christian theology, literally, preaching and teaching. Kerygma means the proclamation of the Gospel, especially by the Apostles as recorded in the New Testament. In the early church, catechesis referred to the oral instruc¬ tion (geared to the general absence of literacy) given before baptism to those who had accepted the message of salvation. As the practice of infant baptism spread, a shift took place to teaching the already baptized in preparation for full adult membership, and churches developed statements of basic doctrine called catechisms.
Kesey Vke-ze\, Ken (Elton) (b. Sept. 17, 1935, La Junta, Colo., U.S.—d. Nov. 10, 2001, Eugene, Ore.) U.S. writer. He attended Stanford University and later served as an experimental subject and aide in a hos¬ pital, an experience that led to his novel One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1962; film, 1975), which in the U.S. became one of the most widely read books of the 1960s. It was followed by Sometimes a Great Notion (1964) and several works of nonfiction that detailed Kesey’s transformation from novelist to guru of the hippie generation. They recount psychedelic, fancy- free travels on a brightly painted bus with a group of friends, relatives, and fans who called themselves the Merry Pranksters. Their story is recounted in Tom Wolfe’s Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1968), itself a minor classic of the era.
Kesselring, Albert (b. Nov. 20, 1885, Marktstedt, Bavaria, Ger.—d. July 16, 1960, Bad Nauheim, W.Ger.) German field marshal. He became
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kestrel ► Keynes I 1029
chief of the German air staff in 1936 and commanded early air attacks on Poland, France, Britain, and the Soviet Union. In 1941 he was appointed commander in chief, south, to bolster Italy’s efforts in North Africa and against Malta. He codirected the Axis campaign in North Africa with Erwin Rommel. After the Allied invasions of Sicily and Italy in 1943, he fought an effective defensive action that prevented an Allied victory in that theatre until 1944. Appointed commander in chief, west, in 1945, he was unable to stop the Allies’ drive into Germany and surrendered the southern half of the German forces in May 1945. He was imprisoned for war crimes (1947-52).
kestrel Vkes-troA Any of several birds of prey (genus Falco) known for hovering while hunting. Kestrels prey on large insects, birds, and small mammals. The male is more colourful than the female. Kestrels are mainly Old World birds, but one species, the American kestrel ( F. sparverius), often called the sparrow hawk in the U.S., is common throughout North and South America. It is about 12 in. (30 cm) long, white or yellowish below, and reddish brown and slate-gray above with colourful markings on the head.
The common kestrel ( F. tinnunculus ) of the Old World is larger and less colourful. See also falcon.
Ket See Siberian peoples
ketone \'ke-,ton\ Any of a class of organic compounds containing a car¬ bonyl group (—C=0; see func¬ tional group) bonded to two carbon atoms. Ketones can participate in many chemical reactions, though to a lesser extent than the related aldehydes. Many more complex organic com¬ pounds have ketones as building blocks. Their chief industrial use is as solvents and in the manufacture of explosives, lacquers, paints, and tex¬ tiles. Acetone is the most important ketone; several sugars and some natu¬ ral and synthetic steroids are ketones. In ketosis, ketones produced by lipid metabolism accumulate in the blood and urine in abnormal amounts, usu¬ ally because of starvation or a metabolic disease such as diabetes mellitus.
Kettering, Charles F(ranklin) (b. Aug. 29, 1876, Loudonville, Ohio, U.S.—d. Nov. 25, 1958, Dayton, Ohio) U.S. engineer. In 1904 he developed the first electric cash register. With Edward Deeds he founded Delco c.. 1910; in 1916 Delco became a subsidiary of General Motors Corp., and Kettering served as vice president and director of research for GM (1920-47). Many of his inventions were instrumental in the evolu¬ tion of the modem automobile, including the first electric starter (1912), antiknock fuels, leaded gasoline, quick-drying lacquer finishes (with Tho¬ mas Midgley, Jr.), the high-speed, two-cycle diesel engine, and a revolu¬ tionary high-compression engine (1951). He later cofounded the Sloan- Kettering Institute for Cancer Research in New York City.
kettledrums See timpani
Kevlar Trademarked name of poly-para-phenylene terephthalamide, a nylonlike polymer first produced by Du Pont in 1971. Kevlar can be made into strong, tough, stiff, high-melting fibres, five times stronger per weight than steel; it is used in radial tires, heat- or flame-resistant fabrics, bul¬ letproof clothing, and fibre-reinforced composite materials for aircraft panels, boat hulls, golf-club shafts, and lightweight bicycles.
Kevorkian, Jack (b. May 26, 1928, Pontiac, Mich., U.S.) U.S. pathologist, advocate and practitioner of physician-assisted suicide. He expressed early interest in experimentation on death-row inmates who had been rendered unconscious rather than executed; his ideas negatively affected his medical career. In the 1980s he devised his “suicide machine,” with which a person could commit suicide by merely pushing a button, and in the 1990s he assisted in the deaths of over 100 terminally ill per¬ sons. His actions provoked furious controversy and led to legislation and referenda; he was tried, convicted twice, and jailed, and his medical license was revoked. In 1998 he was convicted of murder for adminis¬ tering a lethal injection himself and was sentenced to 10-25 years in jail.
Kew Gardens officially Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Botanic garden located at Kew, site of a former royal estate in the London bor¬ ough of Richmond upon Thames. In 1759 Augusta, dowager princess of Wales and mother of George III, laid out a portion of her estate as a botanic garden. It became an eminent scientific institution under the unofficial directorship of Joseph Banks. In 1840 the gardens were donated to the nation. Under Sir William Jackson Hooker (1785-1865), they became the world’s leading botanical institution. Today they are home to 50,000 dif¬ ferent types of plants, a herbarium of more than 5 million dried specimens, and a library of more than 130,000 volumes. The three museums at Kew are devoted largely to economic plant products and a laboratory of plant genetics and classification.
key In music, system of PiTCHes and harmonies generated from a scale of seven tones, one of which is predominantly important. Keys are a basic element of tonality and represent an outgrowth of modal music (see church mode). When a given piece is “in C,” C is its “tonic,” or central tone. Most Western music after c. 1600 is written in either a major or a minor key. The major scale consists of the interval pattern tone-tone-semitone-tone- tone-tone-semitone. The minor scale consistently differs from it by begin¬ ning with the pattern tone-semitone-tone, producing a minor third rather than a major third above the tonic.
key, cryptographic Secret value used by a computer together with a complex algorithm to encrypt and decrypt messages. Since confidential messages might be intercepted during transmission or travel over public networks, they require encryption so that they will be meaningless to third parties in order to maintain confidentiality. The intended recipient, and only the recipient, must also be able to decrypt them. If someone encrypts a message with a key, only someone else with a matching key should be able to decrypt the message. See also data encryption.
Key, David M(cKendree) (b. Jan. 27, 1824, Greene county, Tenn., U.S.—d. Feb. 3, 1900, Chattanooga, Tenn.) U.S. politician. Admitted to the bar in 1850, he practiced law in Chattanooga and became active in Democratic Party politics. He opposed secession by the South but served in the Confederate army during the American Civil War, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. After the war he worked to heal sectional griev¬ ances and restore the Union. He was appointed to the U.S. Senate (1875), succeeding former president Andrew Johnson, but two years later was defeated in a bid to retain the seat. When the disputed 1876 presidential election was turned over to a special Electoral Commission, the Republi¬ can candidate, Rutherford B. Hayes, secured the support of Southern Democrats by promising, among other things, to appoint a Southerner to his cabinet. Key was thus appointed postmaster general in 1877. From 1880 to 1894 Key was a U.S. district judge in Tennessee.
Key, Francis Scott (b. Aug. 1, 1779, Frederick county, Md., U.S.—d. Jan. 11, 1843, Baltimore, Md.) U.S. lawyer, author of “The Star Spangled Banner.” After the burning of Washington, D.C., in the War of 181 2 he was sent to secure the release of a friend from a British ship in Chesa¬ peake Bay. He watched the British shelling of Fort McHenry during the night of Sept. 13-14, 1814; when he saw the U.S. flag still flying the next morning, he wrote the poem “Defense of Fort M’Henry.” Published in the Baltimore Patriot, it was later set to the tune of an English drinking song, “To Anacreon in Heaven.” The song was adopted as the U.S. national anthem in 1931.
Key West City (pop., 2000: 25,478), southwestern Florida, U.S. The southernmost city of the continental U.S., it lies on an island about 4 mi (6.5 km) long and 1.5 mi (2.4 km) wide in the western Florida Keys. The name is an English corruption of Cayo Hueso (“Bone Islet”), as it was called by Spanish explorers who found human bones there. In 1822 a U.S. naval depot was set up on Key West as a base of operations against pirates. Now a winter resort, Key West is also a tourist destination. Many writers and artists have lived there, and the homes of Ernest Hemingway and John James Audubon have been preserved.
Keynes \'kanz\, John Maynard, Baron Keynes of Tilton (b.
June 5, 1883, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, Eng.—d. April 21, 1946, Firle, Sussex) British economist, known for his revolutionary theories on the causes of prolonged unemployment. The son of the distinguished econo¬ mist John Neville Keynes (1852-1949), he served in the British treasury during World War I and attended the Versailles Peace Conference. He resigned in protest over the Treaty of Versailles, denouncing its provisions in The Economic Consequences of the Peace (1919), and he returned to teaching at the University of Cambridge. The international economic crisis
Male common kestrel (Falco tinnuncu¬ lus).
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1030 I Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park ► Khatami
of the 1920s and ’30s prompted him to write The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (1935-36), the most influential eco¬ nomic treatise of the 20th century. It refuted laissez-faire economic theo¬ ries, arguing that the treatment for economic depression was either to enlarge private investment or to cre¬ ate public substitutes for private investment. Keynes argued that in mild economic downturns, monetary policy in the form of easier credit and lower interest rates might stimulate investment. More severe crises called for deliberate public deficits (see defi¬ cit financing), either in the shape of public works or subsidies to the poor and unemployed. Keynes’s theories were put into practice by many West¬ ern democracies, notably by the U.S. in the New Deal. Interested in the design of new international financial institutions at the end of World War II, Keynes was active at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944.
John Maynard Keynes, detail of a watercolour by Gwen Raverat, about 1908; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park Nature conservation area in the Kalahari Desert. It lies on the border of South Africa and Botswana and occupies an area of 14,668 sq mi (37,991 sq km), with about three-quarters of it contained in Botswana. Its wildlife includes gemsboks, gnu (wilde¬ beests), springbok, lions, jackals, and ostriches. It was officially estab¬ lished in 2000 by merging Kalahari Gemsbok National Park in South Africa with Gemsbok National Park in Botswana. Both parks were origi¬ nally established in the 1930s to protect migratory animal populations that cross the border between the two countries.
KGB Russian Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti
(“Committee for State Security”) Soviet agency responsible for intelli¬ gence, counterintelligence, and internal security. It was the descendant of earlier agencies. The Cheka was established in 1917 to investigate coun¬ terrevolution and sabotage. Its successor, the GPU (later OGPU), was the new Soviet Union’s first secret-police agency (1923); it also administered corrective labor camps and oversaw the forcible collectivization of Rus¬ sia’s farms. By 1931 it had its own army and its spies and informers were ubiquitous. In 1934 it was absorbed into the NKVD, which carried out extensive purges. In 1941 the state-security and espionage functions were combined in the MGB. In 1954 the KGB was created. At its peak, it was the world’s largest secret-police and espionage organization. It lost power under Mikhail Gorbachev, especially after leading a failed coup d’etat (1991). It was renamed after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and its internal-security functions were segregated from its espionage and coun¬ terespionage operations.
Khabur Vka-,bur\ River Turkish Habur River, southeastern Turkey and northeastern Syria. It rises in the mountains of southeastern Turkey and flows southeast to Syria, where it is joined by the Jaghjagh River; it then meanders south and empties into the Euphrates River after a course of 200 mi (320 km). It is an important irrigation source for northeastern Syria.
Khachaturian \,ka-ch9-'tur-e-3n\, Aram (Ilyich) (b. June 6, 1903, Tbilisi, Georgia, Russian Empire—d. May 1, 1978, Moscow, U.S.S.R.) Soviet (Armenian) composer. He studied with Reinhold Gliere (1875— 1956) and Nikolay Myaskovsky (1881-1950). He gained international notice when Sergey Prokofiev recommended one of his pieces for a Paris concert. Active in the composer’s union, Khachaturian (along with Dmitry Shostakovich and Prokofiev) was criticized by the government in 1948 for “formalist tendencies,” though his music was in fact always conservative and accessible. After Joseph Stalin’s death (1953), Khachaturian published a call for greater artistic freedom. His ballet scores include Masquerade (1944) and Spartacus (1954); Gayane (1943) contains the well-known “Sabre Dance.” Other popular pieces include his piano and violin con¬ certos.
Khadafy, Muammar al- See Muammar al-QADDAFi Khafaje See Tutub Khalil, Al- See Hebron Khalkis See Chalkis
Khama III (b. c. 1837, Mushu, Bechuanaland—d. Feb. 21, 1923, Serowe) South African chief. In 1885 he had Bechuanaland (now Botswana) declared a protectorate of the British Empire. He lent rein¬ forcements to the British expedition that crushed Lobengula in 1893. His grandson Sir Seretse Khama (1921-80) was the first president of inde¬ pendent Botswana (r. 1966-80).
Khambhat Vkom-botV, Gulf of or Gulf of Cambay \kam-'ba\ Inlet, Arabian Sea, on the western coast of India, southeast of the Kathi¬ awar Peninsula. It is 120 mi (190 km) wide at its widest but narrows rap¬ idly. It receives many rivers, including the Tapti and Mahi. Its orientation to the southwestern monsoon winds produces a high tidal range. All its ports have suffered from silting caused by tides and flood torrents. On its eastern side are Bharuch, one of India’s oldest ports, and Surat. At the gulfs head is the city of Khambhat (Cambay; pop., 2001: 80,452), which was mentioned by Marco Polo as a busy port.
khan Historically, the ruler or monarch of a Mongol tribe. Early on a distinction was made between the title of khan and that of khdkan, or “great khan.” Later the term khan was adopted by the Seuuq and Khwarezm-Shah dynasties as a title for the highest nobility. Gradually it became an affix to the name of any Muslim property owner. Today it is often used as a surname.
Khanka Vkan-ko\, Lake Chinese Xingkai Hu or Hsing-K'ai Hu
Vshirj-'kl-'hiiV Lake on the boundary between Siberia and China. Most of the lake is in Russian territory while the northern shore is in China’s Heilongjiang province. It varies in area from 1,500 to 1,700 sq mi (4,000 to 4,400 sq km), and much of its shore is swampland. Its outlet is a tribu¬ tary of the Ussuri River.
Khanfy See Siberian peoples
Kharijite Vkar-i-jlt\ Member of the earliest Islamic sect, which emerged in the mid-7th century during conflicts over the succession of the caliph¬ ate (see caliph). The Kharijites (“separatists”) took sides against c Au, the Prophet’s son-in-law (whose followers later made up the ShCite branch of Islam), and led a series of uprisings, assassinating ‘All and harassing his rival Mu'awiyah. They later caused further disruptions for the Umayyad caliphs. Their constant attacks on Muslim governments were based on their belief that the caliph should be chosen by the entire Muslim com¬ munity. They called for a literal interpretation of the Qur’an and were harsh and puritanical in the exercise of their religion. The movement’s Tbadiyyah subsect survived into the 20th century in North Africa, Oman, and Zanzibar.
Kharj, Al- \ ,al-'karj\ Oasis, east-central Saudi Arabia. It lies southeast of Riyadh and is administered with that city. Situated around a series of deep¬ water pools, it was chosen as the site of a government experimental farm in 1938. Its traditional dairy industry was greatly expanded in 1981 with inauguration of a meat and dairy combine.
Kharkiv \'kar-kof\ City (pop., 2001: 1,470,000), northeastern Ukraine. Founded in 1655 as a military stronghold to protect Russia’s southern borderlands, it became a seat of provincial government in 1732. It served as the capital of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (1921-34). The second largest city in Ukraine, it is a heavy industry centre, manufactur¬ ing agricultural machinery and electrical equipment.
Khartoum \kar-'tiim\ City (pop., 2000 est.: 3,949,000), capital of The Sudan. Located just south of the confluence of the Blue and White Nile rivers, it was originally an Egyptian army camp (1821). The Mahdists besieged and destroyed the town in 1885, killing Charles George Gordon, the British governor-general. Reoccupied by the British in 1898, it served as the seat of the Anglo-Egyptian government until 1956, when it became the capital of the independent republic of The Sudan. A major trade and communications centre, it is the seat of several universities.
khat \'kat\ Slender, straight, East African tree {Catha edulis; family Celastraceae). Reaching a height of 80 ft (25 m), the khat tree has large, oval, finely toothed, bitter-tasting leaves. Its best-known relatives are the ornamentals euonymus and bittersweet. Khat leaves are chewed for the stimulants they contain, and the drug is central to social life in some countries.
Khatami \ka-ta-'me\, Mohammad or Muhammad Khatami
(b. Sept. 29, 1943, Ardakan, Iran) President of Iran (1997-2005). After studying at a traditional madrasah in the holy city of Qom, he began political activities while studying philosophy at Esfahan University. He
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Khayr al-DTn ► Khorasan I 1031
headed the Islamic Centre Hamburg in Germany during the Iranian Revo¬ lution (1979) and returned home to seek election to the Majles (parlia¬ ment) in 1980. He served in government posts during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-90), as cultural adviser to Pres. Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, and as head of the National Library (1992-97) before winning the presidency on a platform of social and economic reform. He was reelected by an overwhelming margin in 2001.
Khayr al-DTn See Barbarossa Khayyam, Omar See Omar Khayyam
Khazar \k3-'zar\ Any member of a confederation of Turkic-speaking tribes that established a commercial empire in European Russia in the late 6th century. A people of the northern Caucasus region, the Khazars allied with the Byzantines against the Persians in the 7th century and warred with the Arabs until the mid-8th century. Their empire extended west¬ ward along the Black Sea, and they controlled trade routes and exacted tribute from their neighbors. The ruling class adopted Judaism and main¬ tained close relations with the Byzantine emperors. The Khazar empire began to decline in the 10th century and was crushed by Kiev in 965.