Encyclopædia Britannica Australia -

Encyclopedias since 1768

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Bel and the Dragon ... Belin, Edouard

Bel and the Dragon: Greek apocryphal addition to the biblical Book of Daniel. It is a deuterocanonical work in that it is accepted in the Roman canon but not by Jews or Protestants. It tells of the Jewish hero Daniel, who refuses to worship ...
bel canto: (Italian: "beautiful singing"), style of operatic singing that originated in Italian singing of polyphonic (multipart) music and Italian courtly solo singing during the late 16th century and that was developed in Italian opera in the 17th, 18th, and early 19th ...
bel fruit: (species Aegle marmelos), fruit of the bel tree of the family Rutaceae, found wild or cultivated throughout India. The trees bear strong spines; alternate, compound leaves, each with three leaflets; and panicles of sweet-scented white flowers. The tree is valued ...
Bela III: king of Hungary (1173-96) under whom Hungary became the leading power of south-central Europe.
Bela IV: king of Hungary (1235-70) during whose reign the Mongol invasions left three-quarters of Hungary in ruins. He was the son of Andrew II.
Belafonte, Harry: American singer, who was a key figure in the 1950s popularity of folk music, and an actor and film producer as well.
Belain, Pierre, sieur d'esnambuc: French trader who in 1635 established the first colony for the Compagnie des Iles d'Amerique on the Caribbean island of Martinique, the first permanent French colony in the West Indies.
Belalcazar, Sebastian de: Spanish conqueror of Nicaragua, Ecuador, and southwestern Colombia. He captured Quito and founded the cities of Guayaquil in Ecuador and Popayan in Colombia.
Belarus: country of eastern Europe. Until it became independent in 1991, it was the smallest of the three Slavic republics that formed part of the Soviet Union. It covers an area of 80,153 square miles (207,595 square kilometres). On the northwest ...
Belarusian language: East Slavic language that is historically the native language of most Belarusians. Many 20th-century governments of Belarus had policies favouring the Russian language, and, as a result, Russian is more widely used in education and public life than Belarusian. Belarusian ...
Belarusian Ridge: upland region in Belarus. From northeastern Poland the ridge runs southeast into western Belarus and then swings northeast. Its total length is 320 miles (520 km). The ridge, covered by marine sands and clays, is in reality a series of ...
Belasco, David: American theatrical producer and playwright whose important innovations in the techniques and standards of staging and design were in contrast to the quality of the plays he produced.
Belaunde Terry, Fernando: statesman, architect, and president of Peru (1963-68, 1980-85), known for his efforts at democratic reform and his pro-American stance.
Belawan: the most important port in northeastern Sumatra, Indonesia, located on Belawan Island at the estuary of the Deli and Belawan rivers in Sumatera Utara provinsi ("province"). The port was originally dredged and constructed by the Dutch in the first two ...
Belaya River: river in Bashkortostan republic, west-central Russia. The Belaya is the largest tributary of the Kama River, which is itself an important tributary of the Volga. The Belaya rises in the southern Urals at the foot of Mount Iremel, and after ...
Belchatow: city, Lodzkie wojewodztwo (province), south-central Poland, forming part of the industrial triangle of Belchatow, Szczercow, and Kamiensk. Belchatow is 30 miles (50 km) south-southwest of Lodz, the provincial capital. The surrounding farmlands produce rye and potatoes.
Belcher Islands: archipelago in southeastern Hudson Bay, north of the mouth of James Bay, Baffin region, Nunavut territory, Canada. The islands, low-lying and striated, cover a total area of about 5,000 square miles (13,000 square km), of which 1,118 square miles (2,896 ...
Belcher, Jonathan: colonial governor and merchant who was an early patron of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University).
Belcher, Sir Edward: naval officer who performed many coastal surveys for the British Admiralty.
Belcredi, Richard, Count: statesman of the Austrian Empire who worked for a federal constitution under the Habsburg monarchy, taking the Swiss constitution as his model. His "Ministry of Counts" (July 27, 1865-Feb. 3, 1867) advocated conservative federalism under which the Slavs' historic rights ...
Belem: freguesia (parish) within the western limits of the city of Lisbon, Portugal. A former royal residence, Belem (Bethlehem) is known for its Manueline (early 16th-century) architecture, notably the Jeronimos monastery, founded by Manuel I in 1499 in ...
Belem: city and port, capital of Para estado (state), northern Brazil, on the Baia do Guajara (Guajara Bay), part of the vast Amazon River delta, near the mouth of the Rio Guama, about 80 miles (130 km) up ...
belemnoid: member of an extinct group of cephalopods, animals related to the modern squid and octopus but possessing a large internal shell, that first appeared about 345 million years ago, during the Early Carboniferous Period, and became extinct during the Eocene ...
Belen: city, Valencia county, central New Mexico, U.S. Reserved for genizaros, or people of mixed ethnicity, the original village, located in fertile bottomlands along the Rio Grande, was destroyed during the Pueblo Rebellion of 1680. In 1740 Diego ...
Belenus: (Celtic: possibly, Bright One), one of the most ancient and most widely worshipped of the pagan Celtic deities; he was associated with pastoralism. A great fire festival, called Beltane (or Beltine), was held on May 1 and was probably originally ...
Belep, Iles: coral island group in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia, southwestern Pacific Ocean. Comprising Ile Pott and Ile Art (the largest, 10 miles [16 km] by 3 miles) and several islets, they lie within the northern continuation of the ...
Belfast: city, seat (1827) of Waldo county, southern Maine, U.S., on the Passagassawakeag River where it empties into Penobscot Bay on the Atlantic coast opposite Castine, 34 miles (55 km) south-southwest of Bangor. Settled in 1770 and named for Belfast, Ireland, ...
Belfast: city, district, and capital of Northern Ireland, on the River Lagan, at its entrance to Belfast Lough (inlet of the sea). It became a city by royal charter in 1888. After the passing of the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, ...
Belfast Lough: inlet of the North Channel that connects the Irish Sea with the Atlantic, 12 mi (20 km) long and 3 to 5 mi (4.8 to 8 km) wide, indenting the northeastern coast of Ireland. Its sheltered harbour facilitated the growth ...
Belfort: town, capital of the Territoire de Belfort, Franche-Comte region, eastern France, on the Savoureuse River, southwest of Mulhouse. Inhabited in Gallo-Roman times, Belfort was first recorded in the 13th century as a possession of the counts of ...
belfry: bell tower, either attached to a structure or freestanding. More specifically, it is the section of such a tower where bells hang, and even more particularly the timberwork that supports the bells.
Belgae: any of the inhabitants of Gaul north of the Sequana and Matrona (Seine and Marne) rivers. The term was apparently first applied by Julius Caesar. Evidence suggests that the Romans penetrated into those areas about 150 BC.
Belgaum: city, northwestern Karnataka (formerly Mysore) state, southern India. It is located in the Western Ghats at an elevation of 2,500 feet (760 m) above sea level. The city dates from the 12th century. It later exercised strategic control over the ...
Belgian Congo: former colony (coextensive with the present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo) in Africa, ruled by Belgium from 1908 until 1960. It was established by the Belgian parliament to replace the previous, privately owned Congo Free State, after international outrage over ...
Belgian horse: breed of heavy draft horse descended from the Flemish "great horse," the medieval battle horse native to the Low Countries. An old breed, Belgians were considerably improved after 1880. In 1866 the first Belgian was taken to the United States, ...
Belgian literature: the body of written works produced by Belgians and written in standard Netherlandic (called Dutch when it is spoken in The Netherlands and Flemish in Belgium), in standard French, or in Walloon dialects. While Flemish and French are the two ...
Belgian sheepdog: working dog developed in the village of Groenendaal, Belgium, in 1885. A long-haired black dog, the Belgian sheepdog has a relatively pointed muzzle and erect, triangular ears. It is valued for its intelligence and working ability; in addition to herding ...
Belgic Confession: statement of the Reformed faith in 37 articles written by Guido de Bres, a Reformer in the southern Low Countries (now Belgium) and northern France. First printed in 1561 at Rouen, it was revised at a synod in Antwerp in ...
Belgica: one of the four provinces of Gaul under the Roman Empire. As established by Augustus (27 BC), Belgica stretched from the Seine River eastward to the Rhine and included the Low Countries in the north and the Helvetian territory in ...
Belgioioso: town, Pavia provincia, Lombardia (Lombardy) regione, northern Italy. It lies on the left bank of the Po River. Situated in an area of well-irrigated plateaus, the town is the agricultural and commercial centre for an area producing grain, cheese, and ...
Belgium: country of northwestern Europe. One of the smallest and most densely populated European countries, it has been, since its birth in 1830 and 1831, a hereditary, representative, and constitutional monarchy. Its area is 11,787 square miles (30,528 square kilometres). The ...
Belgium, history of: history of the Belgian territories after 1579. For information concerning the period prior to that date, see Low Countries, history of .
Belgorod: city and administrative centre of Belgorod oblast ("region"), western Russia. Located near the Russia-Ukraine border, Belgorod lies along the upper Donets River where it is crossed by the Moscow-Kharkiv (Ukraine) and Sumy-Donets Basin railways. Archaeological finds indicate ...
Belgorod: oblast ("region"), western Russia. It lies chiefly in the basins of the upper Vorskla, Donets, and Oskol rivers. The region, formed in 1954 and centred on Belgorod city, is situated in a forest-steppe with rich soils. The ...
Belgrade: city, administrative centre of Serbia and Montenegro and capital of the component republic of Serbia. It lies at the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers. Belgrade is located at the convergence of three historically important routes of travel between ...
Belgrade, Treaty of: (September 1739), either of two peace settlements achieved by the Ottoman Empire that ended a four-year war with Russia and a two-year war with Austria.
Belgrano, Manuel: military leader in the Argentine war for independence.
Belgravia: neighbourhood in the London borough of Westminster. It lies east of Chelsea, south of Hyde Park, and southwest of the gardens of Buckingham Palace. Part of London's fashionable West End, it has many residential squares featuring large 19th-century houses. Belgravia ...
Belidor, Bernard Forest de: military and civil engineer and author of a classic work on hydraulics.
belief: a mental attitude of acceptance or assent toward a proposition without the full intellectual knowledge required to guarantee its truth. Believing is either an intellectual judgment or, as the 18th-century Scottish Skeptic David Hume maintained, a special sort of feeling ...
Belin, Edouard: French engineer who in 1907 made the first telephoto transmission, from Paris to Lyon to Bordeaux and back to Paris, using an apparatus of his own invention. The first transatlantic transmission was made in 1921 between Annapolis, Md., and Belin's ...