Ala.; the following year he received a doctorate from Boston University.
He was selected to head the Mont¬ gomery Improvement Association, whose boycott efforts eventually ended the city’s policies of racial seg¬ regation on public transportation. In 1957 he formed the Southern Chris¬
tian Leadership Conference and began lecturing nationwide, urging active nonviolence to achieve civil rights for African Americans. In 1960 he returned to Atlanta to become copastor with his father of Ebenezer Bap¬ tist Church. He was arrested and jailed for protesting segregation at a lunch counter; the case drew national attention, and presidential candi¬ date John F. Kennedy interceded to obtain his release. In 1963 King helped organize the March on Washington, an assembly of more than 200,000 protestors at which he made his famous “I have a dream” speech. The march influenced the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and King was awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize for Peace. In 1965 he was criticized from within the civil-rights movement for yielding to state troopers at a march in Selma, Ala., and for failing in the effort to change Chicago’s housing segregation policies. Thereafter he broadened his advocacy, addressing the plight of the poor of all races and opposing the Vietnam War. In 1968 he went to Memphis, Tenn., to support a strike by sanita¬ tion workers; there on April 4, he was assassinated by James Earl Ray. A U.S. national holiday is celebrated in King’s honour on the third Mon¬ day in January.
King, Rufus (b. March 24, 1755, Scarborough, Mass.—d. April 29, 1827, Jamaica, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. diplomat. He was a delegate to the Con¬ tinental Congress (1784-87), where he called for a new constitution. He helped frame the Constitution of the United States and effected its ratifi¬ cation by Massachusetts. In 1788 he moved to New York, where he was elected one of the state’s first U.S. senators (1789-96, 1813-25). He became a strong leader of the Federalist Party and introduced the antislav¬ ery provision of the 1787 document that formed part of the Northwest Ordinances. He served as ambassador to Britain from 1796 to 1803 and from 1825 to 1826.
King, Stephen (Edwin) (b. Sept. 21, 1947, Portland, Maine, U.S.) U.S. writer. Educated at the University of Maine, he wrote a number of enormously popular books, which made him one of the world’s best¬ selling writers. His books blend horror, the macabre, fantasy, and science fiction. Carrie (1974; film 1976), his first published novel and an imme¬ diate success, was followed by a long string of popular books, including The Shining (1977; film, 1980; television miniseries, 1997), The Dead Zone (1979; film, 1983), Pet Sematary (1983; film, 1989), and Misery (1987; film, 1990). Most of his novels have been adapted for television or film, and most have been translated into many languages.
King, W(illiam) L(yon) Mackenzie (b. Dec. 17, 1874, Berlin, Ont., Can.—d. July 22, 1950, Kingsmere, Que.) Prime minister of Canada (1921-26, 1926-30, 1935-48). The grandson of William L. Mackenzie, he was deputy minister of labour (1900-08) before being appointed Cana¬ da’s first minister of labour (1909-11). Reelected to the Canadian Parlia¬ ment (1919), he became leader of the Liberal Party. As prime minister, he favoured social reform without socialism; he led the government with support from an alliance of Liberals and Progressives. He effected a more independent relationship between the Commonwealth nations and Brit¬ ain. During and after World War II he unified a country often divided between English and French constituents.
King, William Rufus de Vane (b. April 7, 1786, Sampson county, N.C., U.S.—d. April 18, 1853, Cahaba, Ala.) U.S. politician. A member of the U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina from 1811, he resigned from the House in 1816 to serve as secretary of legation to Wil¬ liam Pinkney, the U.S. minister plenipotentiary to Russia. Upon his return, he moved to Alabama and became one of the state’s first U.S. senators (1819-44, 1848-52). As minister to France from 1844 to 1846, he con¬ vinced the French government not to interfere with the U.S. annexation of Texas. In 1852 he was elected U.S. vice president under Franklin Pierce, but he died shortly after taking the oath of office.
King Cotton Phrase used before the American Civil War to denote the economic importance of Southern cotton production. The concept first appeared in the book Cotton Is King (1855) and was echoed by Southern politicians, who believed that cotton’s economic and political power would bring victory if secession led to war. The South expected support from Britain, a major cotton importer, but Britain instead developed alter¬ native sources of cotton within its empire. The South’s dependence on cotton contributed to its economic weakness after the Civil War.
king crab or Alaskan king crab or Japanese crab Marine decapod ( Paralithodes camtschatica), an edible crab. It is found in the shallow waters off Japan and along the Alaska coast; it also inhabits the
Billie Jean King.
COLORSPORT
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
1038 I King George Sound ► Kingston upon Hull
Bering Sea. One of the largest crabs, it often weighs 10 lbs (4.5 kg) or more. Its size and tasty flesh make it a valued food, and large numbers are fished commercially each year.
King George Sound Inlet of the Indian Ocean, southern coast of Western Australia. It has an area of 35 sq mi (91 sq km). Its harbours are Oyster Harbor and Princess Royal Harbor (the site of the port for the city of Albany). It was charted in 1791 by Capt. George Vancouver and was first used as a whaling base.
King George's War (1744—48) Inconclusive struggle between France and Britain for mastery of North America. Also called the American phase of the War of the Austrian Succession, the war involved disputes over boundaries of Nova Scotia and northern New England and control of the Ohio Valley. After bloody border raids by both sides, aided by their Indian allies, they signed the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), which restored conquered territory but failed to resolve colonial issues. See also French and Indian War.
King Philip's War (1675-76) Bloodiest conflict between American colonists and Indians in 17th-century New England. By 1660 colonial settlers, no longer dependent on Indians for survival, had pushed into Indian territory in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. To pro¬ tect their lands, the Wampanoag chief King Philip (Metacom) organized a federation of tribes, which in 1675 destroyed several frontier settle¬ ments. In retaliation the colonial militia burned Indian villages and crops. After Philip’s death in 1676, Indian resistance collapsed. An estimated 600 settlers and 3,000 Indians were killed in the conflict.
king salmon See chinook salmon
king snake Any of seven species of snake (genus Lampropeltis, fam¬ ily Colubridae) found in numerous habitats from southeastern Canada to Ecuador. They kill by constriction; named for their practice of eating other snakes, they also take small mammals, amphibians, birds, and birds’ eggs. They are mainly terres¬ trial and relatively slow-moving.
Strikingly marked and smooth- scaled, they have a small head and are usually less than 4 ft (1.2 m) long, though some specimens may approach 7 ft (2 m). The common king snake, found throughout the U.S. and in northern Mexico, is usu¬ ally black or dark brown, variously blotched, ringed, or speckled with yellow or white.
King William's War (1689-97) Battle for North American territory between Britain, under King William III, and France. The war, which was the North American extension of the War of the Grand Alliance, involved French Canadians and New England colonists and their Indian allies. The British captured Port Royal, Acadia (later Nova Scotia), but failed to take Quebec. The French, under the count de Frontenac, won skirmishes at Schenectady, N.Y., and in New England but failed to take Boston. The war ended with the Treaty of Rijswijk (1697). See also French and Indian War.