Encyclopædia Britannica Australia -

Encyclopedias since 1768

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Jayapura ... Jehovah's Witness

Jayapura: city and capital of Papua propinsi (province), eastern Indonesia, on the northern coast of the island of New Guinea. It is a port on Jos Sudarso (Humboldt) Bay at the foot of Mount Cycloop (7,087 feet [2,160 metres]). During World ...
Jayavarman II: posthumous name Paramesvara (literally, Supreme Lord) founder of the Khmer, or Cambodian, Empire and outstanding member of the series of rulers of the Angkor period (802-1431). Among Jayavarman II's accomplishments were the deification of the Cambodian monarchy, the establishment of ...
Jayavarman VII: one of the most forceful and productive kings of the Khmer (Cambodian) Empire of Angkor (reigning 1181-c. 1215). He expanded the empire to its greatest territorial extent and engaged in a building program that yielded numerous temples (including Angkor Thom; ...
Jayawijaya Mountains: eastern section of the Maoke Mountains (q.v.), part of the central highlands of New Guinea. Located in the Indonesian part (Irian Jaya) of New Guinea, the range extends for 230 miles (370 km) east of the Sudirman Range to the ...
Jayewardene, J.R.: lawyer and public official who served as president of Sri Lanka from 1978 to 1989.
Jazeera, al-: Arabic-language cable news television network founded by the emir of Qatar in 1996. It was transmitted from Doha, Qatar, and from bureaus around the world, beginning continuous programming in 1999. Al-Jazeera provided a mix of news, talk shows, and educational ...
Jazirah, Al-: region, east-central Sudan. Al-Jazirah lies just southeast of the confluence of the Blue and White Nile rivers; the Blue Nile runs northwestward through the central part of the region, and the White Nile lies to the west. The Blue Nile ...
Jazirah, Al-: (Arabic: "Island"), the northern reaches of Mesopotamia, now making up part of northern Iraq and extending into eastern Turkey and extreme northeastern Syria. The region lies between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and is bounded on the south by a ...
jazz: musical form, often improvisational, developed by African Americans and influenced by both European harmonic structure and African rhythms. It was developed partially from ragtime and blues and is often characterized by syncopated rhythms, polyphonic ensemble playing, varying degrees of improvisation, ...
jazz dance: any dance to jazz accompaniments, composed of a profusion of forms. Jazz dance paralleled the birth and spread of jazz itself from roots in black American society and was popularized in ballrooms by the big bands of the swing era ...
jazz poetry: poetry that is read to the accompaniment of jazz music. Authors of such poetry attempt to emulate the rhythms and freedom of the music in their poetry. Forerunners of the style included the works of Vachel Lindsay, who read his ...
jazz-rock: popular musical form in which modern jazz improvisation is accompanied by the bass lines, drumming styles, and instrumentation of rock music, with a strong emphasis on electronic instruments and dance rhythms.
Jean Bernard: the world's deepest known cave, located in the Alps near the town of Samoens, Haute-Savoie departement, Rhone-Alpes region, southeastern France. The highest of the limestone cave's eight entrances is located above Samoens at an elevation of 7,428 feet (2,264 m). ...
Jean de Meun: French poet famous for his continuation of the Roman de la rose, an allegorical poem in the courtly love tradition begun by Guillaume de Lorris about 1225.
Jean Le Bel: the forerunner of the great medieval Flemish chroniclers and one of the first to abandon Latin for French.
Jean Paul: German novelist and humorist whose works were immensely popular in the first 20 years of the 19th century. His pen name, Jean Paul, reflected his admiration for the French writer Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Jean Paul's writing bridged the shift in literature ...
Jeannel, Rene: French biologist best remembered for his work on the subterranean coleopterans of the family Anisotomidae. His exploration of the caves of the Pyrenees and Carpathian mountains yielded many species of these small, shiny, round fungus beetles that were hitherto unknown. ...
Jeannette: city, Westmoreland county, southwestern Pennsylvania, U.S., in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains. Built on six hills, it developed after the Pennsylvania Railroad came through in 1852 providing an outlet for local farm produce. The discovery of natural gas in ...
Jeannin, Pierre: statesman who served as one of King Henry IV's most influential advisers in the years after the French civil wars (ended 1598).
jeans: trousers originally designed in the United States by Levi Strauss in the mid-19th century as durable work clothes, with the seams and other points of stress reinforced with small copper rivets. They were eventually adopted by workingmen throughout the United ...
Jeans, Sir James: English physicist and mathematician who was the first to propose that matter is continuously created throughout the universe. He made other innovations in astronomical theory but is perhaps best known as a writer of popular books about astronomy.
Jebb, John: British political, religious, and social reformer who championed humanitarian and constitutional causes far in advance of his time.
Jebba: town, Kwara state, western Nigeria. It lies on the south bank and at the natural head of navigation of the Niger River, 550 miles (885 km) from the sea. It is populated by the predominantly Muslim Nupe people, whose kingdom, ...
Jedburgh: royal burgh (town), Scottish Borders council area, historic county of Roxburghshire, southeastern Scotland. It is situated on Jed Water, a tributary of the River Teviot, within 10 miles (16 km) of the English border.
jeep: outstanding light vehicle of World War II. It was developed by the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps and was an important item in lend-lease shipments to the Soviet Union and other allies. The jeep weighed 1 14 tons, was powered by ...
Jefferies, Richard: English naturalist, novelist, and essayist whose prophetic vision was unappreciated in his own Victorian age but has been increasingly recognized and admired since his death. By combining detailed observation with a mystic apprehension of nature, he was a master both ...
Jeffers, Robinson: one of the most controversial U.S. poets of the 20th century, for whom all things except his pantheistically conceived God are transient, and human life is viewed as a frantic, often contemptible struggle within a net of passions.
Jefferson: county, west-central Pennsylvania, U.S., bordered by the Clarion River to the north. It consists of a hilly region on the Allegheny Plateau drained by numerous streams, including North Fork, Little Mill, Sandy Lick, Little Sandy, and Redbank creeks. Parklands include ...
Jefferson: county, northern New York state, U.S., mostly comprising a lowland region bounded by Lake Ontario to the west and Ontario, Can., to the northwest, the St. Lawrence River constituting the boundary. It is linked by bridge to Ontario and features ...
Jefferson Airplane, the: American psychedelic rock band best known for its biting political lyrics, soaring harmonies, and hallucinogenic titles such as Surrealistic Pillow and White Rabbit. The Jefferson Airplane was an important standard-bearer for the counterculture in the 1960s, but ...
Jefferson City: capital of Missouri, U.S., and seat of Cole county, on the Missouri River, near the geographic centre of the state. The site for the state capital was selected in 1821. The land had been donated under an act of the ...
Jefferson Memorial: monument to Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, situated in East Potomac Park on the south bank of the Tidal Basin, in Washington, D.C. Authorized in 1934 as part of a beautification program for the nation's capital, ...
Jefferson River: river, most westerly of the Missouri River's three headstreams, rising in the Gravelly Range in southwestern Montana, U.S., near the Continental Divide and Yellowstone National Park (where it is known as Red Rock River). It flows west through Red Rock ...
Jefferson, Blind Lemon: American country blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter, one of the earliest black folk-blues singers to achieve popular success.
Jefferson, Joseph: U.S. actor whose name became identified with the character of Rip Van Winkle.
Jefferson, Martha: the wife of Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States (1801-09). She was never a first lady because she died 19 years before her husband became president.
Jefferson, Thomas: draftsman of the Declaration of Independence of the United States and the nation's first secretary of state (1789-94), second vice president (1797-1801), and, as the third president (1801-09), the statesman responsible for the Louisiana Purchase. An early advocate of total ...
Jeffersonian Republican: member of the early U.S. political party known as the Democratic-Republican Party, active mainly between 1801 and 1825.
Jeffersonville: city, seat (1802-10; 1873) of Clark county, southern Indiana, U.S. It lies along the Ohio River (there bridged) at the head of the Falls of the Ohio, opposite Louisville, Ky. Built on land occupied by old Fort Steuben, it was ...
Jeffrey, Edward Charles: Canadian-American botanist who worked on the morphology and phylogeny of vascular plants.
Jeffrey, Francis Jeffrey, Lord: literary critic and Scottish judge, best known as the editor of The Edinburgh Review, a quarterly that was the preeminent organ of British political and literary criticism in the early 19th century.
Jeffreys, George Jeffreys, 1st Baron: English judge notorious for his cruelty and corruption. He presided over the "Bloody Assizes" of 1685 following the failure of the duke of Monmouth's rebellion and was in charge of executing the unpopular religious policy of the Roman Catholic king ...
Jeffreys, Sir Harold: British astronomer and geophysicist noted for his wide variety of scientific contributions.
Jeffries, James Jackson: American boxer who was the world heavyweight champion from June 9, 1899, when he knocked out Bob Fitzsimmons in 11 rounds at Coney Island, New York City, until 1905, when he retired undefeated. Among his six successful title defenses were ...
Jehoiachin: in the Old Testament (II Kings 24), son of King Jehoiakim and king of Judah. He came to the throne at the age of 18 in the midst of the Chaldean invasion of Judah and reigned three months. He was ...
Jehoiakim: in the Old Testament (II Kings 23:34-24:17; Jer. 22:13-19; II Chron. 36:4-8), son of King Josiah and king of Judah (c. 609-598 BC). When Josiah died at Megiddo, his younger son, Jehoahaz (or Shallum), was chosen king by the Judahites, ...
Jehol Uplands: region of extremely complex and rugged topography in southwestern Liaoning province, northeastern Hopeh province, and southeastern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China. The area is mostly composed of Precambrian granites, gneiss, and crystalline shales, with some later (Mesozoic) sedimentary rocks. Extensively ...
Jehoram: one of two contemporary Old Testament kings.
Jehoshaphat: king (c. 873-c. 849 BC) of Judah during the reigns in Israel of Ahab, Ahaziah, and Jehoram, with whom he maintained close political and economic alliances. Jehoshaphat aided Ahab in his unsuccessful attempt to recapture the city of Ramoth-gilead, joined ...
Jehovah: Judeo-Christian name for God, derived from Yahweh (q.v.).
Jehovah's Witness: an adherent of a millennialist sect that began in the United States in the 19th century and has since spread over much of the world; the group is an outgrowth of the International Bible Students Association founded in Pittsburgh, Pa., ...