Kitchener City (pop., 2001: 190,399), southeastern Ontario, Canada. It is situated in the Grand River valley, southwest of Toronto. Founded by Bishop Benjamin Eby and settled by German immigrants c. 1807, it was incorporated as a city in 1912. It was known successively a Sand Hill, Eby town, and Berlin before being renamed in honour of H.H. Kitchener in 1916. The boyhood home of W.L. Mackenzie King is now preserved in Woodside National Historic Park.
Kitchener, H(oratio) H(erbert) later Earl Kitchener (of Khar¬ toum and of Broome) (b. June 24, 1850, near Listowel, Co. Kerry, Ire.—d. June 5, 1916, at sea off Orkney Islands) British field marshal and imperial administrator. Trained as a military engineer, Kitchener served in posts in the Middle East and Sudan before being appointed commander in chief of the Egyptian army in 1892. In 1898 he crushed the rebellious Mahdist movement in the Battle of Omdurman and forced concessions from France in the Fashoda Incident. He entered the South African War as chief of staff in 1899, becoming commander in chief a year later. In the last 18 months of the war, he resorted to brutal methods, burning Boer farms and herding Boer women and children into concentration camps. He was later sent to India to reorganize the army there. A clash with Lord Curzon over control of the army resulted in Curzon’s resignation in 1905. In 1911 Kitchener returned to Khartoum as proconsul of Egypt and the Sudan. As secretary of state for war during World War I, he organized armies on a scale unprecedented in British history and became a symbol of the national will to victory. He died on a mission to Russia when his ship was sunk by a German mine.
kite Light frame covered with paper or cloth, often provided with a bal¬ ancing tail, and designed to be flown in the air at the end of a long string; it is held aloft by wind. Its name comes from the kite, a member of the hawk family. Kites have been in use in Asia from time immemorial, and religious significance is still connected to some ceremonial kite-flying there. In a famous experiment in 1752, Benjamin Franklin hung a metal key from a kite line during a storm to attract electricity. Kites were used to carry weather-recording devices aloft before the advent of balloons and airplanes. Types of kite commonly in use today include the hexagonal (or three-sticker), the malay (modified diamond), and the box kite, invented in the 1890s. Newer wing-like kites, with pairs of controlling strings for superior maneuverability, are also flown.
kite Any of numerous lightly built birds of prey that have a small head, partly bare face, short beak, and long, narrow wings and tail. They are found worldwide in warm regions.
Some live on insects; others are pri¬ marily scavengers but also eat rodents and reptiles; a few eat only snails. In flight, kites slowly flap and then glide with wings angled back.
Kites belong to three subfamilies of the family Accipitridae: Milvinae (true kites and snail kites), Elaninae (including the white-tailed kite, one of the few North American raptors increasing in number), and Perninae (including the swallow-tailed kite of the New World). See also hawk.
kithara Vki-tho-roX Large lyre of Classical antiquity, the principal stringed instrument of the Greeks and later of the Romans. It had a box¬ shaped resonating body from which extended two parallel arms connected by a crossbar to which 3-12 strings were attached. It was held vertically and plucked with a plectrum; the left hand was used to stop and damp the strings. It was played by singers of the Greek epics, as well as by later professional accompanists and soloists.
kittiwake or black-legged kittiwake White oceanic gull (Rissa tridactyla ) with pearl-gray mantle, black-tipped wings, black feet, and yellow bill. Kittiwakes nest on narrow cliff ledges along the North and South Atlantic coasts. The red-legged kittiwake ( R. brevirostris ) is found in the Bering Sea region.
kiva \'ke-v9\ Underground chamber of the Pueblo Indian villages of the southwestern U.S., notable for the murals that decorate its walls. A small hole in its floor, the sipapu, serves as the symbolic place of origin of the tribe. Though the kiva’s primary purpose is for ritual ceremonies, men also use it for political meetings or casual gatherings. Women are almost always excluded from the kiva. The traditional round slope of the earli¬ est kiva, in contrast to the otherwise square or rectangular Pueblo archi¬ tecture, recalls the circular pit houses of the prehistoric basket-weaving culture from which these tribes, primarily Hopi and Zuni, descend.
Kivu \ke-vu\, Lake Lake, central East Africa. Located between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), it occupies 1,040 sq mi (2,700 sq km), is 55 mi (90 km) long and 30 mi (48 km) wide, and has a maximum depth of 1,558 ft (475 m). Containing many islands, it was part of a larger body of water until volcanic outpourings along its northern shore created a dam that separated it from Lake Edward.
kiwi Any of three species (genus Apteryx ) of chicken-sized, grayish brown ratite birds, found in New Zealand. Their Maori name refers to the male’s shrill call. Kiwis have vestigial wings hidden within the plumage; nostrils at the tip (rather than the base) of the long flexible bill; soft, hairlike feathers; and stout, muscular legs. Each of the four toes has a large claw. Kiwis live in for¬ ests, where they sleep by day and forage for worms, insects and their larvae, and berries at night. They run swiftly and use their claws in defense when cornered.
kiwi fruit Edible fruit of the vine Actinidia chinensis (family Actinid- iaceae), native to China and Taiwan and grown commercially in New Zealand and California. It became popular in the nouvelle cuisine of the 1970s. It has a slightly acid taste and is high in vitamin C. Kiwi can be eaten raw or cooked, and the juice is sometimes used as a meat tender- izer.
Kiyomori See Taira Kiyomori
KiziI \ki-'zil\ River ancient Halys River River, central and north- central Turkey. The longest river wholly within Turkey and the largest in Anatolia, it rises in north-central Turkey and flows southwestward. It turns north and empties into the Black Sea after a total course of 734 mi (1,182 km). Unsuitable for navigation, it is a source of irrigation and hydroelec¬ tricity for the region.
KKK See Ku Klux Klan
Klaipeda Vkll-po-doX German Memel Vma-moH City (pop., 2001: 192,954) and port, Lithuania. It lies on the channel that connects the Neman River with the Baltic Sea. A fortress built on the site in the early 13th century was destroyed in 1252 by the Teutonic Order, who built a new fortress called Memelburg. It came under Prussian control in the 17th century, and the town (Memel) was settled by Germans. In 1923 Memel became part of Lithuania and was renamed Klaipeda. Seized by Germany in 1939, it passed to the Soviet Union in 1945. Klaipeda became part of the newly independent Lithuania in 1991. The modem city has major shipbuilding yards and is the base for a large deep-sea fishing fleet.
Klamath Vkla-mothX North American Plateau Indian people living mainly in Oregon, U.S. The name Klamath may be a variant of their name for the region (spelled Clemmat or Tlamath); it is the name by which they were known to the Chinook. They called themselves Maqlaq, meaning “The People,” usually with an adjective (such as Ewksikni, “of the Lake”). They were primarily fishers and hunters of waterfowl. The Klamath were divided into relatively autonomous villages, each with its own leaders and medicine man; the villages would ally for war, and members of different villages often intermarried. Families lived in earth-covered lodges in win¬ ter and domed houses of poles and matting in summer. Sweat lodges
Swallow-tailed kite (Elanoides forfica- tus).
JAMES A. KERN
Common kiwi (Apteryx australis)
PICTORIAL PARADE
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1042 I Klamath River ► Kline