Joplin, Jams (Lyn) (b. Jan. 19,
1943, Port Arthur, Texas, U.S.—d.
Oct. 4, 1970, Los Angeles, Calif.)
U.S. rock and blues singer. Born to a middle-class family, she ran away from home at age 17 and began singing in Austin, Texas, and later in Los Angeles. She joined the band Big Brother and the Holding Company in San Francisco in 1966 and soon became famous for her raw, powerful, emotional blues style. The album Cheap Thrills (1968) contains some of her best-known recordings. After leaving the band, she continued to record hit songs, including “Me and Bobby McGee.” She died from an overdose of heroin at age 27.
Joplin, Scott (b. Nov. 24, 1868, Bowie county, Texas, U.S.—d. April 1, 1917, New York, N.Y.) U.S. pianist and composer, the outstanding exponent of ragtime music. Joplin was a classically trained pianist and composer. His compositions, including “Maple Leaf Rag” (1899), rag¬ time’s first hit, and “The Entertainer” (1902), show an acute logic that transcends the sometimes mechanical dimension of the genre. He also wrote a ballet and two operas, including Treemonisha (1911), as well as several didactic works. He suffered a nervous collapse in 1911 and was institutionalized in 1916.
Jordaens Yy6r-,dans\, Jacob (b. May 19, 1593, Antwerp, Spanish Netherlands—d. Oct. 18, 1678, Antwerp) Flemish painter active in Ant¬ werp. He was admitted to the painters’ guild in 1615 and by the 1620s
Jordan officially Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Country, Middle East, southwestern Asia, lying east of the Jordan River. Jordan has 16 miles (26 km) of coastline on the Gulf of Aqaba. Area: 34,495 sq mi (89,342 sq
km). Population (2005 est.): 5,389,000.
Capitaclass="underline" Amman. The vast majority of the population are Arabs, about one-third of whom are Palestinian Arabs who fled to Jor¬ dan from neighbouring Israel and the West
Bank as a result of the Arab-Israeli wars. Language: Arabic (official). Reli¬ gion: Islam (official; predominantly Sunni). Currency: Jordan dinar. Four- fifths of the country is desert; less than one-tenth of the land is arable. The
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Jordan ► Josephine I 999
highest point of elevation, Mount Ramm (5,755 ft [1,754 ml), rises in the uplands region on the east bank of the Jordan River. The Jordan Valley region contains the Dead Sea. Jordan’s economy is based largely on manu¬ facturing and services (including tourism); exports include phosphate, pot¬ ash, pharmaceuticals, fruits and vegetables, and fertilizers. Jordan is a constitutional monarchy with two legislative houses; the head of state and government is the king, assisted by the prime minister. Jordan shares much of its history with Israel, since both occupy parts of the area known his¬ torically as Palestine. Much of present-day Jordan was once part of the king¬ dom of Israel under David and Solomon (c. 1000 bc). It fell to the Seleucids in 330 bc and to Muslim Arabs in the 7th century ad. The Crusaders extended the kingdom of Jerusalem east of the Jordan River in 1099. The region became part of the Ottoman Empire during the 16th century. In 1920 the area comprising Jordan (then known as Transjordan) was established within the British mandate of Palestine. Britain recognized Transjordan’s partial independence in 1923, although the British mandate did not end until 1948. In 1950, after the end of hostilities with the new State of Israel, Jordan annexed the West Bank and east Jerusalem, administering the terri¬ tory until Israel gained control of it in the Six-Day War of 1967. In 1970-71 Jordan was wracked by fighting between the government and guerrillas of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), a struggle that ended with the PLO being expelled from Jordan. In 1988 King Hussein renounced all Jor¬ danian claims to the West Bank in favour of the PLO. In 1994 Jordan and Israel signed a full peace agreement.
Jordan, Barbara C(harline) (b. Feb. 21, 1936, Houston, Texas, U.S.—d. Jan. 17, 1996, Austin, Texas) U.S. lawyer and politician. She earned a law degree from Boston University in 1959, served in the Texas state senate (1966-72), and then won election to the U.S. House of Rep¬ resentatives (1973-79), becoming the first African American congress- woman to be elected from the Deep South. She became a national figure in 1974, when she participated in televised hearings of the House Judi¬ ciary Committee on the possible impeachment of Pres. Richard Nixon. Her keynote address at the 1976 Democratic National Convention confirmed her reputation as a commanding and articulate public speaker. She retired from the House to teach at the University of Texas.
Jordan, David Starr (b. Jan. 19, 1851, near Gainesville, N.Y., U.S.—d. Sept. 19, 1931, Stanford, Calif.) U.S. educator and ichthyolo¬ gist. He studied at Cornell University and taught at universities in Indi¬ ana until 1885, when he became president of Indiana University. In 1891 he became the first president of Stanford University, and served until 1913. His extensive field trips led to his naming 1,085 genera and more than 2,500 species of fishes. He was coauthor (with B.W. Evermann) of The Fishes of North and Middle America (1896-1900) and author of Manual of the Vertebrates of the Northern United States (13 editions, 1876-1929). He devoted his later career mainly to the cause of interna¬ tional peace, acting as chief director of the World Peace Foundation.
Jordan, Michael (Jeffrey) (b. Feb. 17, 1963, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. basketball player. As a freshman in 1982, he helped the University of North Carolina win the collegiate national championship. Drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 1984, he won 10 scoring titles and 5 Most Valuable Player awards while leading the Bulls to six championships (1991-93, 1996-98). He was also part of the 1984 and 1992 U.S. Olympic basketball teams that won gold medals. He retired briefly in 1993, hoping to play professional baseball, but returned to the Bulls in 1995. He retired again in 1999, but, after a stint as an owner and general manager of the Washington Wizards, Jordan returned to play for that team in 2001. Known as “Air Jordan” for his exceptional leaping ability, he combined acrobatic play with a fierce competitive spirit and was considered among the game’s greatest players. His success on the court and in the business world made him one of the most popular and recognized athletes of all time.
Jordan River River, Middle East. It rises in Syria, flows through the Lake Tiberias (Sea of Galilee), and then receives its main tributary, the Yarmuk River. It drains into the Dead Sea at 1,312 ft (400 m) below sea level after a total course of 223 mi (360 km). In Christianity it is known as the place where John the Baptist baptized Jesus.
joruri See bunraku
Jose Bonifacio See Jose Bonifacio de Andrada e Silva
Joseph In the Old Testament, the son of the patriarch Jacob and his wife, Rachel. He was favoured by his father, and his brothers became bitterly jealous when he was given a resplendent “coat of many colors” (literally,
coat with flowing sleeves). They sold him into slavery in Egypt, telling Jacob he had been killed by a wild beast. In Egypt Joseph gained favour with the pharaoh and rose to high office, owing to his ability to interpret dreams, and his acquisition of grain supplies enabled Egypt to withstand a famine. When famine forced Jacob to send his sons to Egypt to buy grain, the family was reconciled with Joseph and settled there. The story of Joseph, told in Genesis 37-50, depicts the preservation of Israel and begins the history of the Israelites in Egypt that is continued in Exodus.
Joseph II (b. March 13, 1741, Vienna—d. Feb. 20, 1790, Vienna) Holy Roman emperor (1765-90). He suc¬ ceeded his father, Francis I, and ini¬ tially coruled with his mother, Maria Theresa (1765-80). After his mother’s death he tried to continue her work of reform. Considered a practicioner of “enlightened despotism,” he abol¬ ished serfdom, established religious equality before the law, granted free¬ dom of the press, and emancipated the Jews. He came into conflict with the Roman Catholic church by attempting to impose state controls over it, and traditional countries such as the Austrian Netherlands and Hun¬ gary resisted his far-reaching reforms. His foreign policies were generally failures; he tried to exchange the Austrian Netherlands for Bavaria but was stopped by Prus¬ sia. An alliance with Catherine II of Russia engaged Austrian troops in a war with Turkey, but Joseph had to return home to head off revolutionary unrest in Hungary and the Austrian Netherlands.