Jack the Ripper Pseudonymous murderer of at least five women, all prostitutes, in or near London’s Whitechapel district, from Aug. 7 to Nov. 10, 1888. The throat of each victim was cut, and usually the body was mutilated in a manner indicating the murderer had considerable knowl¬ edge of human anatomy. Authorities received a series of taunting notes from a person calling himself Jack the Ripper and purporting to be the murderer. Although strenuous efforts were made to identify and trap the killer, he remained unknown. The unsolved case retained its hold on the popular imagination, becoming the subject of several motion pictures and more than 100 books, as well as a macabre tourist industry in London.
jackal Any of three canine species of the genus Canis. They inhabit open country and live alone, in pairs, or in packs. They hunt at night, feeding on small animals, plant material, or carrion. A pack can bring down larger prey. The golden, or Asiatic, jackal (yellowish) is found from eastern Europe and North Africa to South Asia. The black-backed jackal (rusty red with a black back) and side-striped jackal (grayish with a white-tipped
Black-backed jackal mesomelas).
LEONARD LEE RUE III
(Canis
Jackdaw (Corvus monedula)
tail and an indistinct stripe on each side) are found in southern and east¬ ern Africa. Jackals are 34-37 in. (85-95 cm) long, including the 12-14-in. (30-35-cm) tail, and
weigh 15-24 lbs (7-11 kg).
jackdaw or daw Crowlike black bird ( Corvus monedula) with gray nape and pearly eyes. About 13 in. (33 cm) long, jackdaws breed in colonies in treeholes and on cliffs and tall buildings; their flocks fly in formation around the site. Their cry sounds like their name: “chak.” The species ranges from the British Isles to central Asia. See also crow,
jackrabbit Any of sev¬ eral large, common North American species of hares (e.g., Lepus townsendii, L. californicus). Jackrabbits have very long ears and long hind legs. They are
widespread, particularly in JOHNMARKHAM _
the West, but are found most often in prairie and plains environments.
Jackson City (pop., 2000: 184,256), capital of Mississippi, U.S. It lies along the Pearl River in the west-central part of the state. Settled in 1792 by Louis Le Fleur, a French Canadian trader, it was a trading post called Le Fleur’s Bluff until settlers began arriving in 1820. It was made the state capital in 1822 and was named for Andrew Jackson. During the American Civil War it was burned by Union forces (1863). The state’s largest city, it is a railroad and distribution centre. It is the seat of Jack- son State University (1877) and other educational institutions.
Jackson, A(lexander) Y(oung) (b. Oct. 3, 1882, Montreal, Que., Can.—d. April 5, 1974, Kleinburg, Ont.) Canadian landscape painter. He traveled to every region of Canada, including the Arctic; from 1921 on, he returned every spring to a favourite spot on the St. Lawrence River, where he produced sketches that he later executed in paint. Over a long career he became a leading artistic figure in his country. His easy style, featuring rolling rhythms and rich, full colour, exerted a strong influence on Canadian landscape painting.
Jackson, Andrew (b. March 15,1767, Waxhaws region, S.C.—d. June 8, 1845, the Hermitage, near Nash¬ ville, Tenn., U.S.) Seventh president of the U.S. (1829-37). He fought briefly in the American Revolution near his frontier home, where his family was killed in the conflict. In 1788 he was appointed prosecuting attorney for western North Carolina.
When the region became the state of Tennessee, he was elected to the U.S.
House of Representatives (1796-97) and the Senate (1797-98). He served on the state supreme court (1798—
1804) and in 1802 was elected major general of the Tennessee militia.
When the War of 1812 began, he offered the U.S. the services of his 50,000-man volunteer militia. Sent to the Mississippi Territory to fight the Creek Indians, who were allied with the British, he defeated them after a short campaign (1813-14) at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. After cap¬ turing Pensacola, Fla., from the
Andrew Jackson, detail of an oil paint¬ ing by John Wesley Jarvis, c. 1819; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
972 I Jackson, C. ► Jackson, R.
British-allied Spanish, he marched overland to engage the British in Loui¬ siana. A decisive victory at the Battle of New Orleans made him a national hero; he was dubbed “Old Hickory” by the press. After the U.S. acquired Florida, Jackson was named governor of the territory (1821). One of four candidates in the 1824 presidential election, he won an electoral-vote plu¬ rality, but the House of Representative instead selected John Quincy Adams as president. Jackson’s victory over Adams in the 1828 presidential elec¬ tion is commonly regarded as a turning point in U.S. history. Jackson was the first president from west of the Appalachian Mountains, the first to be born in poverty, and the first to be elected through a direct appeal to the mass of voters rather than through the support of a recognized political organization. The era of his presidency has come to be known as “Jackso¬ nian Democracy.” Upon taking office he replaced many federal officials with his political supporters, a practice that became known as the spoils sys¬ tem. His administration acquiesced in the illegal seizure of Cherokee land in Georgia and then forcibly expelled the Indians who refused to leave (see Trail of Tears). When South Carolina claimed a right to nullify a federally imposed tariff, Jackson asked for and received Congressional authority to use the military to enforce federal laws in the state (see nullification). His reelection in 1832 was partially the result of his controversial veto of a bill to recharter the Bank of the United States, which was unpopular with many of his supporters (see Bank War). The intensity of the political struggles during his tenure led to the strengthening of the Democratic Party and to the further development of the two-party system.
Jackson, Charles Thomas (b. June 21, 1805, Plymouth, Mass., U.S.—d. Aug. 28, 1880, Somerville, Mass.) U.S. physician, chemist, geologist, and mineralogist. He graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1829. Known for his contentiousness and litigiousness, he took credit for the first demonstration of surgical anesthesia with ether by a dental surgeon he had advised on it, and he claimed to have told Samuel F.B. Morse the basic principles of the telegraph. He worked many years as a geologist for the U.S. Geological Survey.
Jackson, Glenda (b. May 9, 1936, Birkenhead, Cheshire, Eng.) Brit¬ ish stage and film actress. Discovered by Peter Brook, she was cast in his Theatre of Cruelty revue and soon appeared as the mad Charlotte Corday in his celebrated production of Peter Weiss’s Marat/Sade (1964; film, 1967). She became known for her tense portrayals of complex women, gaining international acclaim in the film Women in Love (1969, Academy Award) and later successes such as Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), A Touch of Class (1973, Academy Award), and the television series Eliza¬ beth R. Her screen career continued until 1992, when she won a seat in the House of Commons.
Jackson, Jesse (Louis) orig. Jesse Louis Burns (b. Oct. 8, 1941, Greenville, S.C., U.S.) U.S. civil rights leader. He became involved with the civil rights movement as a col¬ lege student. In 1965 he went to Selma, Ala., to march with Martin Luther King, Jr., and began working for King’s Southern Christian Leader¬ ship Conference (SCLC). In 1966 he helped found the Chicago branch of Operation Breadbasket, the SCLC’s economic arm; he was its national director from 1967 to 1971.