land tenure, feudal See feudal land tenure
Landau \lan-'dau. Lev (Davidovich) (b. Jan. 22, 1908, Baku, Azer¬ baijan, Russian Empire—d. April 1, 1968, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.) Soviet physicist. After graduating from Leningrad State University, he studied at Niels Bohr’s institute in Copenhagen. He is known for his work in low-temperature physics, atomic and nuclear physics, and solid-state, stellar-energy, and plasma physics. For explaining the phenomenon of liquid helium, he was awarded a 1962 Nobel Prize. For his work in many areas of physics, his name is applied to Landau diamagnetism, Landau levels, Landau damping, the Landau energy spectrum, Landau cuts, and the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics in Moscow.
Landers, Ann orig. Esther Pauline Friedman (b. July 4, 1918, Sioux City, Iowa, U.S.—d. June 22, 2002, Chicago, Ill.) U.S. newspaper columnist. She took over an advice column in the Chicago Sun-Times in 1955, adopting her now-familiar pseudonym, and made it into the most widely syndicated advice column in the U.S.; by the early 21st century her column appeared in more than 1,200 newspapers and had some 90 million readers. Her twin sister, Pauline, has written the competitive and equally well-known “Dear Abby” advice column (originally for the San Francisco Chronicle) since 1956.
Landini \lan-'de-ne\, Francesco or Francesco Landino (b. c.
1335, Fiesole, near Florence—d. Sept. 2, 1397, Florence) Italian com¬ poser, organist, and poet. Blinded by smallpox as a child, he took up the study of music and the organ. He later became an organ builder as well as a composer, lyricist, and performer of more than 150 beautifully melodic two- and three-part songs. Landini’s works represent about a quarter of the music that survives from the Italian Ars Nova (14th cen¬ tury).
Landis, Kenesaw Mountain (b. Nov. 20, 1866, Millville, Ohio, U.S.—d. Nov. 25, 1944, Chicago,
Ill.) U.S. federal judge and first com¬ missioner of professional baseball.
Landis was named for a Georgia mountain where his father had been wounded as a Civil War soldier. He practiced law in Chicago (1891—
1905) before being appointed a U.S. district judge (1905-22). In 1907 he presided over a famous case in which Standard Oil Co. was found guilty of granting unlawful freight rebates and fined $29 million (his decision was later reversed). He was named base¬ ball commissioner in 1920 in the aftermath of the Black Sox scandal and became noted for his uncompro¬ mising measures to preserve the game’s integrity. Though widely dis¬ liked for his stem, autocratic rule, he kept the post until his death.
I a (idler Vlent-lorV Traditional couple dance of Austria and Bavaria.
A gliding and turning dance to music in 3 A time, it was popular in the 18th-19th century in Vienna and influ¬ enced the later development of the waltz. Composers such as Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart, Franz Schubert, Anton Bruckner, and Gustav Mahler wrote landlers and landler- inspired works.
landlord and tenant Parties to the leasing of real estate, whose rela¬ tionship is bound by contract. The landlord, or lessor, is the owner; the tenant, or lessee, supplies payment in order to enjoy possession and use of the property for a specified period. Important forms of tenancy include tenancy for a fixed period, periodic (seasonal) tenancy, tenancy at will, and holdover tenancy (whereby a tenant remains after the contract has ended). See also real and personal property, rent.
London, Alf orig. Alfred Mossman London (b. Sept. 9, 1887, West Middlesex, Pa., U.S.—d. Oct. 12, 1987, Topeka, Kan.) U.S. politi¬ cian. He received a law degree from the University of Kansas in 1908 and entered the oil business in 1912. He became active in Progressive Party politics and campaigned in Kansas for the party’s 1912 presidential can¬ didate, Theodore Roosevelt. He was elected governor of Kansas in 1932 and again in 1934, the only incumbent Republican governor to be reelected that year. As the Republican candidate in the presidential elec¬ tion of 1936 he lost in a landslide to Democratic incumbent Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Landor, Walter Savage (b. Jan. 30, 1775, Warwick, Warwickshire, Eng.—d. Sept. 17, 1864, Florence, Italy) British writer. He was educated at Rugby School and Oxford but left both over disagreements with the authorities. A classicist, he originally wrote many of his works in Latin. Though he wrote lyrics, plays, and heroic poems, he is best remembered for his multivolume Imaginary Conversations, prose dialogues between historical personages (1824-53). He spent much of his life in France and Italy.
Landowska Man-'dof-skoV Wanda (Louise) (b. July 5, 1879, War¬ saw, Pol., Russian Empire—d. Aug. 16, 1959, Lakeville, Conn., U.S.) Polish-born U.S. harpsichordist and pianist. After establishing herself as a pianist and devoting much energy to musicological research, she had a harpsichord made for her by Pleyel in Paris. She first performed on this instrument at the Breslau Bach Festival in 1912, thus beginning the 20th- century revival of the instrument and sparking a new international inter¬ est in authentic performance practice. Her many recordings include the first recording of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg Variations, and she commissioned works such as Manuel de Falla’s Harpsichord Concerto and Francis Poulenc’s Concert champetre. As a Jew she was forced to flee the Nazis, and after 1940 she lived and taught in the U.S.
Landrum-Griffin Act (1959) Legislation in the U.S. designed to counter labour-union corruption. Officially called the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act, it instituted federal penalties for labour officials who misused union funds or prevented union members from exercising their legal rights. The legislation was passed in response to Senate investigations that uncovered connections between labour and organized crime. Provisions included a strict ban on secondary boycotts (union efforts to stop one employer from dealing with another employer who is being struck or boycotted) and greater freedom for individual states to set the terms of labour relations within their borders.
Land's End Westernmost peninsula, Cornwall, England. Its tip is the southwestemmost point of England and lies about 870 mi (1,400 km) from John o' Groats, traditionally considered the northernmost point of Brit¬ ain. Off its coast lie dangerous reefs, one group of which, a mile from the mainland, is marked by the Longships lighthouse.
Landsat officially Earth Resources Technology Satellites Any
of a series of unmanned U.S. scientific satellites. The first three were launched in 1972, 1975, and 1978. They were designed mainly to collect information about Earth’s natural resources. They were also equipped to monitor atmospheric and oceanic conditions and to detect variations in pollution levels and other ecological changes. Three more Landsat satel¬ lites were launched successfully, in 1982, 1984, and 1999; radio commu¬ nication with Landsat 6 was lost immediately after its launch in 1993.
landscape gardening Process of arranging land, plants, and objects for human use and enjoyment, usually with long and close-up views. Cyclical growth and seasonal changes provide a continuous sense of time and natural rhythms that is absent in buildings and sculptures. Gardens and designed landscapes fill in the open areas in cities and create conti¬ nuity between urban structures and open rural lands beyond. Landscape¬ gardening areas may be of any size, from small urban courtyards and suburban gardens to many thousands of acres in regional, state, or national