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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