Kornberg, Arthur (b. March 3, 1918, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. bio¬ chemist and physician. He studied at the University of Rochester. In 1959 he joined the faculty at Stanford University. While studying how living organisms manufacture nucleotides, his research led him to the problem of how nucleotides are strung together to form DNA molecules. Adding radio¬ active nucleotides to an enzyme mixture prepared from cultures of E. cou, he found evidence of a reaction catalyzed by the enzyme that adds nucle¬ otides to a preexisting DNA chain. He was the first to accomplish the cell- free synthesis of DNA. He shared a 1959 Nobel Prize with Severo Ochoa.
Korngold, Erich Wolfgang (b. May 29, 1897, Briinn, Austria- Hungary—d. Nov. 29, 1957, Hollywood, Calif., U.S.) U.S. composer of Austro-Hungarian birth. Son of a music critic, he had his childhood com¬ positions praised by Gustav Mahler and Artur Schnabel. He solidified his reputation with his operatic masterpiece, Die tote Stadt (1920). In 1934 he moved to Hollywood, and he became best known for his film scores, his broadly Romantic style proving very suitable to swashbuckling sto¬ ries such as Anthony Adverse (1936, Academy Award) and The Adven¬ tures of Robin Hood (1938, Academy Award), as well as 17 others. His violin concerto (1946) has been frequently recorded.
Kornilov \kor-'nye-l6f\, Lavr (Georgiyevich) (b. Aug. 30, 1870, Karkaralinsk, Western Siberia, Russian Empire—d. April 13, 1918, near Ekaterinodar, Russia) Imperial Russian general. A career army officer, he was a divisional commander in World War I. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, he was appointed army commander in chief by Aleksandr Ker¬ ensky. Conflicts developed because of their opposing views on politics and the role of the army, and, when Kornilov sent troops toward Petrograd, Kerensky interpreted the move as an attempted coup and dismissed him. After being arrested, he escaped to command an anti-Bolshevik White army and was killed in battle.
Korolyov \k3-r3l-'yof\, Sergey (Pavlovich) (b. Jan. 12, 1907, Zhi¬ tomir, Russia—d. Jan. 14, 1966, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.) Soviet designer of guided missiles, rockets, and spacecraft. In 1933 he and F.A. Tsander launched the Soviet Union’s first liquid-propellant rocket. Dur¬ ing World War II Korolyov designed and tested liquid-fuel rocket boost¬ ers for military aircraft. After the war he improved the German V-2 missile and supervised test firing of captured missiles. His work led to the world’s first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). He directed systems engi¬ neering for Soviet launch vehicles and spacecraft, including design, test¬ ing, construction, and launching of manned and unmanned spacecraft, and was the guiding genius behind the Soviet spaceflight program.
Koror Vkor-.orV Island (pop., 2000: 13,303), Palau, western Pacific Ocean. Lying southwest of Babelthuap island, the island of Koror has a land area of 3 sq mi (8 sq km). The town of Koror on the island was the administrative capital of all Japanese mandated islands in the Pacific from 1921 to 1945. Devastated during World War II, it was later developed as a commercial and tourist centre and served as the provisional capital of Palau. After the bridge between Koror and Babelthuap collapsed in 1996, a new bridge was built (opened 2002) while a new capital was under con¬ struction at Melekeok on Babelthuap.
Korsakoff syndrome or Korsakoff psychosis or Korsakoff disease Neurological disorder marked by severe amnesia despite clear perception and full consciousness, resulting from chronic alcoholism, head injury, brain illness, or thiamin deficiency. Persons with the syndrome typically cannot remember events in the recent or even immediate past; some retain memories only a few seconds. Longer periods—up to 20 years—may also be forgotten. Confabulation (recounting detailed, con¬ vincing “memories” of events that never happened) sometimes coexists with the syndrome, which may be transient or chronic.
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Korsakov > Kosygin I 1051
Korsakov, Nicolay Rimsky- See Nicolay Rimsky-Korsakov
Koryd \'kor-yo\ Korean kingdom ruled by a dynasty of the same name from 935 to 1392. During this period Korea began to form a distinctively Korean cultural tradition. The dynasty was formed by Gen. Wang Kon of Later Koguryo, who defeated the kingdoms of Silla and of Later Paekche to create a unified Korean peninsula in 936. In the late 10th century, a centralized bureaucratic system replaced the old aristocratic tribal system. The kingdom saw a flowering of the arts, particularly ceramics (Koryo celadon), and Buddhism and Confucianism were influential. In the 13th century Koryo endured a series of Mongol invasions, and in 1392 Yl Song-gye overthrew the shaky dynasty and founded the Choson dynasty.
Kosala Vko-S3-l3\ Ancient kingdom, northern India. Roughly corre¬ sponding to the historical region of Oudh, in what is now south-central Uttar Pradesh state, it extended into present-day Nepal. In the 6th century bc it rose to become one of the dominant states in northern India. The Buddha was born there. The kingdom of Magadha conquered Kosala by c. 459 bc, and it became known as Northern Kosala to distinguish it from a larger kingdom to the south known variously as Kosala, Southern Kos¬ ala, or Great Kosala.
Kosciusko V.ka-ze-'os-koV Mount Peak, southeastern New South Wales, Australia. Located in the Snowy Mountains of the Australian Alps, Mount Kosciusko is the highest mountain in mainland Australia, reaching 7,310 ft (2,228 m). It is located in Kosciusko National Park, which has an area of 2,498 sq mi (6,469 sq km); it is near Mounts Townsend, Twynam, North Ramshead, and Carruthers, whose melting snows feed the rivers and reservoirs that make up the Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Scheme. The mountain was named in 1 840 in honour of Tadeusz Kosciuszko.
Kosciuszko \kosh-'chush-ko,\ English \,ka-se-'3s-ko\, Tadeusz (b. Feb. 4, 1746, Mereczowszczyzna, Pol.—d. Oct. 15, 1817, Solothum, Switz.) Polish patriot who fought in the American Revolution. He studied military engineering in Paris and went to America in 1776, where he joined the colonial army. He helped build fortifications in Philadelphia, Pa., and at West Point, N.Y. As chief of engineers, he twice rescued the army of Gen. Nathanael Greene by directing river crossings. He also directed the block¬ ade of Charleston, S.C. At the war’s end he was awarded U.S. citizenship and made a brigadier general. He returned to Poland in 1784 and became a major general in the Polish army. In 1794 he led a rebellion against occu¬ pying Russian and Prussian forces, during which he defended Warsaw for two months, directing residents to build earthworks. He was jailed in Rus¬ sia from 1794 to 1796, returned to the U.S. in 1797, and then left for France, where he continued efforts to secure Polish independence.
kosher See kashruth
Kosi River \'ko-se\ River, Nepal and northern India. Rising from sev¬ eral tributaries in eastern Nepal, it runs south through the great plain of northern India. It empties into the Ganges River after a course of 450 mi (724 km).
Kosice Vko-shet-soV City (pop., 2003 est.: 235,281), eastern Slovakia. Settled in the 9th century and chartered in 1241, it served as a trading settlement during the late Middle Ages. It developed rapidly after becom¬ ing part of Czechoslovakia in 1920. Occupied in 1938 by Hungary, it was liberated in 1945 and became the first seat of the postwar Czechoslova¬ kian government. A part of independent Slovakia since 1993, it is the political, economic, and cultural centre of southeastern Slovakia.
Kosinski \k6-'sin-ske\, Jerzy (Nikodem) (b. June 14, 1933, Lodz, Pol.—d. May 3, 1991, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Polish-born U.S. writer. He claimed that his horrific experiences as a Jew in World War II Poland and Russia caused him to be mute for much of his childhood. He studied politi¬ cal science and became a professor of sociology before immigrating to the U.S. in 1957. His novel The Painted Bird (1965) is a graphic, surrealistic tale of the horrors surrounding the war. Other successful novels were Steps (1968) and the satiric fable Being There (1970; film, 1979). After his sui¬ cide, it was revealed that much of his past had been fabricated.