Kesselring, Albert (b. Nov. 20, 1885, Marktstedt, Bavaria, Ger.—d. July 16, 1960, Bad Nauheim, W.Ger.) German field marshal. He became
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kestrel ► Keynes I 1029
chief of the German air staff in 1936 and commanded early air attacks on Poland, France, Britain, and the Soviet Union. In 1941 he was appointed commander in chief, south, to bolster Italy’s efforts in North Africa and against Malta. He codirected the Axis campaign in North Africa with Erwin Rommel. After the Allied invasions of Sicily and Italy in 1943, he fought an effective defensive action that prevented an Allied victory in that theatre until 1944. Appointed commander in chief, west, in 1945, he was unable to stop the Allies’ drive into Germany and surrendered the southern half of the German forces in May 1945. He was imprisoned for war crimes (1947-52).
kestrel Vkes-troA Any of several birds of prey (genus Falco) known for hovering while hunting. Kestrels prey on large insects, birds, and small mammals. The male is more colourful than the female. Kestrels are mainly Old World birds, but one species, the American kestrel ( F. sparverius), often called the sparrow hawk in the U.S., is common throughout North and South America. It is about 12 in. (30 cm) long, white or yellowish below, and reddish brown and slate-gray above with colourful markings on the head.
The common kestrel ( F. tinnunculus ) of the Old World is larger and less colourful. See also falcon.
Ket See Siberian peoples
ketone \'ke-,ton\ Any of a class of organic compounds containing a car¬ bonyl group (—C=0; see func¬ tional group) bonded to two carbon atoms. Ketones can participate in many chemical reactions, though to a lesser extent than the related aldehydes. Many more complex organic com¬ pounds have ketones as building blocks. Their chief industrial use is as solvents and in the manufacture of explosives, lacquers, paints, and tex¬ tiles. Acetone is the most important ketone; several sugars and some natu¬ ral and synthetic steroids are ketones. In ketosis, ketones produced by lipid metabolism accumulate in the blood and urine in abnormal amounts, usu¬ ally because of starvation or a metabolic disease such as diabetes mellitus.
Kettering, Charles F(ranklin) (b. Aug. 29, 1876, Loudonville, Ohio, U.S.—d. Nov. 25, 1958, Dayton, Ohio) U.S. engineer. In 1904 he developed the first electric cash register. With Edward Deeds he founded Delco c.. 1910; in 1916 Delco became a subsidiary of General Motors Corp., and Kettering served as vice president and director of research for GM (1920-47). Many of his inventions were instrumental in the evolu¬ tion of the modem automobile, including the first electric starter (1912), antiknock fuels, leaded gasoline, quick-drying lacquer finishes (with Tho¬ mas Midgley, Jr.), the high-speed, two-cycle diesel engine, and a revolu¬ tionary high-compression engine (1951). He later cofounded the Sloan- Kettering Institute for Cancer Research in New York City.
kettledrums See timpani
Kevlar Trademarked name of poly-para-phenylene terephthalamide, a nylonlike polymer first produced by Du Pont in 1971. Kevlar can be made into strong, tough, stiff, high-melting fibres, five times stronger per weight than steel; it is used in radial tires, heat- or flame-resistant fabrics, bul¬ letproof clothing, and fibre-reinforced composite materials for aircraft panels, boat hulls, golf-club shafts, and lightweight bicycles.
Kevorkian, Jack (b. May 26, 1928, Pontiac, Mich., U.S.) U.S. pathologist, advocate and practitioner of physician-assisted suicide. He expressed early interest in experimentation on death-row inmates who had been rendered unconscious rather than executed; his ideas negatively affected his medical career. In the 1980s he devised his “suicide machine,” with which a person could commit suicide by merely pushing a button, and in the 1990s he assisted in the deaths of over 100 terminally ill per¬ sons. His actions provoked furious controversy and led to legislation and referenda; he was tried, convicted twice, and jailed, and his medical license was revoked. In 1998 he was convicted of murder for adminis¬ tering a lethal injection himself and was sentenced to 10-25 years in jail.
Kew Gardens officially Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Botanic garden located at Kew, site of a former royal estate in the London bor¬ ough of Richmond upon Thames. In 1759 Augusta, dowager princess of Wales and mother of George III, laid out a portion of her estate as a botanic garden. It became an eminent scientific institution under the unofficial directorship of Joseph Banks. In 1840 the gardens were donated to the nation. Under Sir William Jackson Hooker (1785-1865), they became the world’s leading botanical institution. Today they are home to 50,000 dif¬ ferent types of plants, a herbarium of more than 5 million dried specimens, and a library of more than 130,000 volumes. The three museums at Kew are devoted largely to economic plant products and a laboratory of plant genetics and classification.
key In music, system of PiTCHes and harmonies generated from a scale of seven tones, one of which is predominantly important. Keys are a basic element of tonality and represent an outgrowth of modal music (see church mode). When a given piece is “in C,” C is its “tonic,” or central tone. Most Western music after c. 1600 is written in either a major or a minor key. The major scale consists of the interval pattern tone-tone-semitone-tone- tone-tone-semitone. The minor scale consistently differs from it by begin¬ ning with the pattern tone-semitone-tone, producing a minor third rather than a major third above the tonic.
key, cryptographic Secret value used by a computer together with a complex algorithm to encrypt and decrypt messages. Since confidential messages might be intercepted during transmission or travel over public networks, they require encryption so that they will be meaningless to third parties in order to maintain confidentiality. The intended recipient, and only the recipient, must also be able to decrypt them. If someone encrypts a message with a key, only someone else with a matching key should be able to decrypt the message. See also data encryption.
Key, David M(cKendree) (b. Jan. 27, 1824, Greene county, Tenn., U.S.—d. Feb. 3, 1900, Chattanooga, Tenn.) U.S. politician. Admitted to the bar in 1850, he practiced law in Chattanooga and became active in Democratic Party politics. He opposed secession by the South but served in the Confederate army during the American Civil War, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. After the war he worked to heal sectional griev¬ ances and restore the Union. He was appointed to the U.S. Senate (1875), succeeding former president Andrew Johnson, but two years later was defeated in a bid to retain the seat. When the disputed 1876 presidential election was turned over to a special Electoral Commission, the Republi¬ can candidate, Rutherford B. Hayes, secured the support of Southern Democrats by promising, among other things, to appoint a Southerner to his cabinet. Key was thus appointed postmaster general in 1877. From 1880 to 1894 Key was a U.S. district judge in Tennessee.
Key, Francis Scott (b. Aug. 1, 1779, Frederick county, Md., U.S.—d. Jan. 11, 1843, Baltimore, Md.) U.S. lawyer, author of “The Star Spangled Banner.” After the burning of Washington, D.C., in the War of 181 2 he was sent to secure the release of a friend from a British ship in Chesa¬ peake Bay. He watched the British shelling of Fort McHenry during the night of Sept. 13-14, 1814; when he saw the U.S. flag still flying the next morning, he wrote the poem “Defense of Fort M’Henry.” Published in the Baltimore Patriot, it was later set to the tune of an English drinking song, “To Anacreon in Heaven.” The song was adopted as the U.S. national anthem in 1931.