Kodiak Island Island (pop., 2000: 13,913), Alaska, U.S. Lying in the Gulf of Alaska, it is 100 mi (160 km) long and 10-60 mi (16-96 km) wide and has an area of 3,588 sq mi (9,293 sq km). The Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge covers 75% of the island and is the habitat of the Kodiak bear. Discovered in 1763 by a Russian fur trader, the island, known as Kikhtak, became the site in 1784 of the first Russian colony in America. Russian control ended in 1867; the island was renamed Kodiak in 1901. In 1964 a destructive earthquake lowered the island by 5-6 ft (1.5-1.8 m).
Koehler, Ted See Harold Arlen
Koestler \'kest-br\, Arthur (b. Sept. 5, 1905, Budapest, Hung.—found dead March 3, 1983, London, Eng.) Hungarian-British novelist, journal¬ ist, and critic. He is best known for Darkness at Noon (1940); a political novel examining the moral danger in a totalitarian system that sacrifices means to an end, it reflects the events leading to his break with the Com¬ munist Party and his experience as a correspondent imprisoned by the fascists in the Spanish Civil War. He also wrote of his disillusionment with
Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus).
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1046 I Koguryo ► kola nut
communism in the essay collection The God That Failed (1949). His later works, mostly concerning science and philosophy, include The Act of Creation (1964) and The Ghost in the Machine (1967). Suffering from leukemia and Parkinson’s disease and believing in voluntary euthanasia, he died with his wife in a suicide pact.
Koguryo \,k6-gur-'yo\ Largest of the three kingdoms into which ancient Korea was divided until 668. Tradition sets its founding at 37 bc, but modern historians believe the tribal state was formed in the 2nd century bc. Eventually the northern half of the Korean peninsula, the Liaodong Peninsula, and much of Manchuria were under Koguryo’s rule. Bud¬ dhism, Confucianism, and Daoism all influenced the kingdom, which fell to the allied forces of China’s Tang dynasty and the southern Korean king¬ dom of Silla in 668. Numerous surviving tomb paintings give a good pic¬ ture of the life, ideology, and character of Koguryo’s forceful, horse-riding northern people. See also Parhae.
Koh-i-noor \'ko-9-,nur\ Famous Indian diamond with a history dating perhaps as far back as the 14th century. Originally a 191-carat stone that lacked fire (flashes of colour), it was recut to 109 carats in 1852 in an attempt to enhance its fire and brilliance. The Koh-i-noor (Hindi for “mountain of light”) was acquired by the British in 1849 and became part of the crown jewels of Queen Victoria. It was incorporated into the state crown fashioned for Queen Elizabeth, consort of George VI, at her coro¬ nation in 1937.
kohen See cohen
Kohima Vko-hs-msV Town (pop. 2001 prelim.: 78,584), capital of Nagaland state, northeastern India. It lies near the northern border of Manipur state in the Naga Hills. It marked the farthest point of the Japa¬ nese advance into British India during World War II. It was held briefly by Japanese troops during the Manipur campaign in 1944 but was retaken by the British. It is the site of Nagaland University.
Kohl \'kol\, Helmut (b. April 3, 1930, Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Ger.) Chancellor of West Germany (1982-90) and of reunified Germany (1990- 98). After earning a doctorate at the University of Heidelberg, he was elected to the Rhineland-Palatinate legislature and became the state’s min¬ ister president (1969). In 1973 he was elected chair of the Christian Demo¬ cratic Union, and in 1982 he became Germany’s chancellor. Kohl’s centrist policies included modest cuts in government spending and strong support for West German commitments to NATO. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Kohl concluded a treaty with East Germany that uni¬ fied the two countries’ economic systems. Absorption of the moribund East German economy proved difficult, and Kohl’s government had to increase taxes and cut government spending after unification. In 1998 his coalition government with the Free Democratic Party was defeated by the Social Democrats under Gerhard Schroder. Revelations of serious finan¬ cial irregularities during Kohl’s chancellorship soon emerged, tainting his reputation and weakening his party.
Kohler, Kaufmann (b. May 10, 1843, Fiirth, Bavaria—d. Jan. 28, 1926, New York, N.Y., U.S.) German-born U.S. rabbi. He was brought up in Orthodox Judaism but soon came under the influence of Reform leader Abraham Geiger. His early writings approached biblical texts criti¬ cally and led to his exclusion from the German rabbinate. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1869 and served Reform congregations in Detroit, Chicago, and New York City. In 1885 he was the driving force in formulating the Pittsburgh Platform. He served as president of Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati 1903-21. His chief work was Jewish Theology (1918).
Kohler Vkoe-brV Wolfgang (b. Jan. 21, 1887, Tallinn, Estonia, Rus¬ sian Empire—d. June 11, 1967, Enfield, N.H., U.S.) German-U.S. psy¬ chologist. His studies of problem solving by chimpanzees ( The Mentality of Apes, 1917), in which he examined learning and perception as struc¬ tured wholes, led to a radical revision of existing theory, and Kohler became a key figure in the development of Gestalt psychology. He con¬ tinued his research during the 1920s and early ’30s at the University of Berlin, publishing Gestalt Psychology (1929, rev. 1947), but emigrated from Germany to the U.S. after the Nazi takeover and taught at Swarth- more College (1935-55). His other writings include Dynamics in Psy¬ chology (1940), The Place of Values in a World of Facts (1938), and The Task of Gestalt Psychology (1969).
kohlrabi \kol-'ra-be\ Form of cabbage ( Brassica oleracea, Gongylodes group) of the mustard family, which originated in Europe. Its most distinc¬ tive feature is the greatly enlarged, globular to slightly flattened stem that
grows just above the soil. Its flesh resembles that of a turnip but is sweeter and milder. Low in calories, kohlrabi is an excellent source of vitamin C, minerals, and dietary bulk. The young tender leaves may be eaten as greens; the thickened stem is served raw or cooked.
Though not widely grown commer¬ cially, it is popular in some regions.
koine \koi-'na\ Newly formed compromise language that usually arises from a leveling of features dis¬ tinguishing dialects of a common base language, or of features distin¬ guishing several closely related languages. The new language is hence deregionalized and does not reflect social or political dominance of any one group of speakers. The classical example of a koine (as well as the source of the term) is Hellenistic Greek, which developed from Attic Greek through replacement of the most distinctively Attic features by features of Ionic or other dialects. A koine may serve as a lingua franca and often forms the basis of a new standard language.
Koizumi Jun'ichird (b. Jan. 8, 1942, Yokosuka, Kanagawa prefecture, Japan) Third-generation Japanese politician who became prime minister in 2001. Both Koizumi’s father and grandfather served in the Diet (par¬ liament). He ran unsuccessfully for his father’s seat after the latter’s death in 1969 but was elected in 1971. He held ministerial posts in 1988-89, 1992-93, and 1996-98. After unsuccessful bids for the presidency of the Liberal-Democratic Party in 1995 and 1998, he won in April 2001 and was soon confirmed as prime minister. An unconventional advocate of reform, Koizumi appointed a cabinet that included a record five women. His eco¬ nomic policies included privatizing the country’s postal savings system, reducing government spending, and ending the practice of supporting failing businesses.