Lancaster, Burt(on Stephen) (b. Nov. 2, 1913, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. Oct. 20, 1994, Century City, Calif.) U.S. film actor. He toured with circuses as an acrobat in the 1930s and served in North Africa and Italy during World War II. He first appeared in movie houses in The Kill¬ ers (1946), which made him a star. He was noted for his portrayals of physically tough, emotionally sensitive characters. Lancaster’s many films include Come Back, Little Sheba (1952), From Here to Eternity (1953), The Rose Tattoo (1955), Sweet Smell of Success (1957), Elmer Gantry (1960, Academy Award), The Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), The Leopard (1963), Atlantic City (1981), Local Hero (1983), and Field of Dreams (1989).
Lancaster, house of Cadet branch of the house of Plantagenet that pro¬ vided three kings of England in the 15th century (Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI). The family name first appeared in 1267, when the title of earl of Lan¬ caster was granted to Henry Ill’s son Edmund (1245-96). Edmund’s grand¬ son Henry (d. 1361) became the 1st duke of Lancaster, and the inheritance fell to his youngest daughter, Blanche, and to her husband, John of Gaunt. His son, Henry of Lancaster, became King Henry IV, and the duchy of Lan¬ caster was merged in the crown. The Lancaster dynasty ended after the defeat of Henry VI by Edward IV of the house of York (see Wars of the Roses), and the Lancaster claims were passed on to the house of Tudor.
lancelet See amphioxus
Lancelot or Launcelot Vlan-so-.lat, , lan-s9- i lst\ One of the greatest knights in Arthurian legend, the lover of Guinevere and the father of Galahad. He first appeared in a 12th-century romance by Chretien de Troyes, and he is a major character in Sir Thomas Malory’s Morte Dart- hur. His full name, Sir Lancelot du Lac, refers to his upbringing by the Lady of the Lake, the enchantress who carried him off in infancy and trained him to be a model of chivalry before sending him to Arthur’s court. There he became the favorite of King Arthur and the lover of Queen Guinevere. His adultery with Guinevere caused him to fail in the quest for the grail and set in motion the events that led to the destruction of Camelot. He was displaced as the model knight by Galahad, his son by the grailkeeper’s daughter Elaine.
Lancet, The British medical journal established in 1823, published weekly from New York and London. Its founder and first editor, Thomas Wakley, considered at the time a radical reformer, stated that the intent of the new journal was to report on hospital lectures and describe impor¬ tant cases of the day. It has since played a significant role in medical and hospital reform movements in Britain and has become a highly presti¬ gious medical journal around the world.
Lanchester Vlan-chos-torN, Frederick William (b. Oct. 23, 1868, London, Eng.—d. March 8, 1946, Birmingham, Warwickshire) British automobile and aeronautics pioneer. Lanchester produced the first British automobile, a one-cylinder, five-horsepower model, in 1896. After he successfully produced improved models, financial backing enabled him to produce several hundred cars over the next few years, vehicles notable for a relative freedom from vibration, a graceful appearance, and a lug¬ gage rack. He published an important paper (1897) on the principles of heavier-than-air flight and later major texts on aeronautics.
Lancisi \lan-'che-ze\, Giovanni Maria (b. Oct. 26, 1654, Rome, Papal States—d. Jan. 20, 1720, Rome) Italian anatomist and epidemiolo¬ gist. He related the prevalence of malaria in swampy areas to the presence of mosquitoes and recommended swamp drainage to prevent it. He linked an increase in sudden deaths in Rome to causes such as hemorrhagic stroke, cardiac enlargement and dilation, and growths on heart valves and explored causes of heart enlargement. He also provided the first descrip¬ tion of syphilitic aneurysms.
land In economics, the resource that encompasses the natural resources used in production. In classical economics, the three factors of production are land, labour, and capital. Land was considered to be the “original and inexhaustible gift of nature.” In modern economics, it is broadly defined to include all that nature provides, including minerals, forest products, and water and land resources. While many of these are renewable resources, no one considers them “inexhaustible.” The payment to land is called rent. Like land, its definition has been broadened over time to include payment to any productive resource with a relatively fixed supply.
Land, Edwin (Herbert) (b. May 7, 1909, Bridgeport, Conn., U.S.—d. March 1, 1991, Cambridge, Mass.) U.S. inventor and physicist. After briefly attending Harvard University, he cofounded the Land-Wheelwright Laboratories in Boston in 1932. Interested in light polarization, in 1932 he developed the polarizer (which he called the Polaroid J sheet), for which he envisioned numerous uses. By 1936, Land began to use types of Polaroid material in sunglasses and other optical devices. It was later used in camera filters and other optical equipment. In 1937 Land founded the Polaroid Corp. in Cambridge, Mass. In 1947 he demonstrated the revolutionary Polaroid Land Camera, which produced a finished print in 60 seconds; he introduced colour Polaroid film in 1963. His interest in light and colour resulted in a new theory of colour perception. He received more than 500 patents.
Land-Grant College Act of 1862 or Morrill Act Act of the U.S. Congress (1862) that provided grants of land to states to finance the establishment of colleges specializing in “agriculture and the mechanic arts.” Named for its sponsor, Vermont Congressman Justin Smith Morrill (1810-98), it granted each state 30,000 acres (12,140 hectares) for each of its congressional seats. Funds from the sale of the land were used by some states to establish new schools; other states turned the money over to existing state or private colleges to create schools of agriculture and mechanic arts (known as “A&M” colleges). The military training required in the curriculum of all land-grant schools led to the establishment of the Reserve Officers Training Corps, an educational program for future army, navy, and air force officers. The second Morrill Act (1890) initiated regu¬ lar appropriations to support land-grant colleges, which came to include 17 predominantly African American colleges and 30 American Indian colleges.
land mine Explosive charge buried just below the surface of the earth, used in military operations against troops and vehicles. It may be fired by the weight of vehicles or troops on it, the passage of time, or remote con¬ trol. Though improvised land mines (buried artillery shells) were used in World War I, they only became important in warfare during World War II and have been widely used since. Most early mines had metal cases; later models were sometimes made of other materials to prevent magnetic detection. They are typically used to disrupt or prevent the massed attack of tanks or infantry, but in post-World War II conflicts they have also been used to render land useless to enemy civilian populations. A treaty banning land mines—not signed by the U.S., Russia, and China—went into effect in 1997. See also submarine mine.
land reform Deliberate change in the way agricultural land is held or owned, the methods of its cultivation, or the relation of agriculture to the rest of the economy. The most common political objective of land reform is to abolish feudal or colonial forms of landownership, often by taking land away from large landowners and redistributing it to landless peas-
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1072 I land tenure ► landscape gardening
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ants. Other goals include improving the social status of peasants and coordinating agricultural production with industrialization programs. The earliest record of land reform is from 6th-century-BC Athens, where Solon abolished the debt system that forced peasants to mortgage their land and labour. The concentration of land in the hands of large landowners became the rule in the ancient world, however, and remained so through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The French Revolution brought land reform to France and established the small family farm as the cornerstone of French democracy. Serfdom was abolished throughout most of Europe in the 19th century. The Russian serfs were emancipated in 1861, and the Russian Revolution of 1917 introduced collectivization of agriculture, attended by loss of capital and devastating famines. Land reform was instituted in a number of other countries where communists came to power, notably China. It remains a potent political issue in many parts of the world. See also absentee ownership.