majolica Vmo-'ja-li-koV Italian maiolica Vmo-'ya-li-koV Tin-glazed earthenware introduced from Moorish Spain by way of the island of Majorca and produced in Italy from the 14th century. Majolica is usually restricted to five colours: cobalt blue, antimony yellow, iron red, copper green, and manganese purple; the purple and blue were used, at various periods, mainly for outline. White tin enamel was used also, for highlights or alone on the white tin glaze. The most common shape of the pottery was a display dish, decorated in the istoriato style, a 16th-century Italian nar¬ rative style that uses the pottery body solely as support for a purely pic¬ torial effect. See also delftware; Faenza majolica; faience; Urbino majolica.
Major, John (b. March 29, 1943, London, Eng.) British politician and prime minister (1990-97). He was elected to the House of Commons as a member of the Conservative Party in 1979 and rose quickly through the party ranks. In 1989 Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher appointed him for¬ eign secretary and then chancellor of the Exchequer. After Thatcher’s reisgnation as prime minister and party leader in 1990, Major was elected as party leader, and in 1992 he led the party to a general election victory. Major’s first years in office coincided with a long economic recession (1990-93). His government became increasingly unpopular, and Major
Miroku (Maitreya) in meditation/ gilt bronze figure, Japanese, Asuka period, 7th century; in the Cleveland Museum of Art
THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART, JOHN L. SEVERANCE FUND, 50.86
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Majorca ► Malabar Coast I 1173
himself was perceived as a colourless and indecisive leader. In 1997 the Conservatives lost by a landslide to the Labour Party, and Major was suc¬ ceeded as prime minister by Tony Bair.
Majorca \ma-'jor-k3, ma-'yor-koV Spanish Mallorca Nma-'lyor-koV ancient Balearis Major Island, Balearic Isands (Baleares) autonomous community, Spain. The largest of the Balearic Islands, it lies in the west¬ ern Mediterranean Sea and occupies an area of 1,405 sq mi (3,640 sq km). Palma, the capital of the autonomous community, is located on the island. The kingdom of Majorca was established by James I of Aragon in the 13th century and was united with Aragon in the 14th century. During the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), it was a base for Italian aid to the Nation¬ alists. Now a popular tourist centre, it was a favourite destination of Frederic Chopin, who wrote some of his finest mazurkas and preludes there.
Majorelle \ma-y6-'rel\, Louis (b. 1859, Toul, France—d. 1926, Nancy) French artist, cabinetmaker, and furniture designer. The son of a cabinet¬ maker, he was trained as a painter and studied under Jean-Francois Millet at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. After his father’s death in 1879, he returned home to take charge of the family workshop. He moved from 18th-century reproductions to the developing Art Nouveau style and became one of its leading exponents. In his furniture he incorporated a flowing line into polished woods, highlighted by Art Nouveau bronze mounts.
Majuro \ma-'ju-r6\ Atoll (pop., 1999: 23,676) in the Ratak (eastern) chain of the Marshall Islands and capital of the Republic of the Marshall Isands, in the western Pacific Ocean. The atoll comprises 64 islets on a 25-mi (40-km) reef and has a total land area of 4 sq mi (10 sq km). It has the largest population of any of the Marshall Islands. The main settlement on Majuro is situated on three connected islands—Dalap, Uliga, and Darrit.
majuscule Vma-jos-.kyiil, mo-'jos-.kyuF Uppercase, capital, or large let¬ ter in calligraphy, in contrast to the minuscule, lowercase, or small letter. All the letters in a majuscule script are contained between a single pair of real or theoretical horizontal lines. The earliest known Roman majus¬ cule letters are in the style known as square capitals, distinguished by downstrokes that are heavier than upstrokes and by serifs (short strokes at right angles to the top and bottom of a letter). Square capitals were used mainly in inscriptions on Roman imperial monuments. Rustic capi¬ tals, used in books and official documents, formed a freer, more elliptical script. Roman cursive capitals, a running-hand script used for notes and letters, were a forerunner of the minuscule scripts that appeared later.
Makalu Vmo-ko-.liA Peak in the Himaayas, on the Nepalese-Tibetan bor¬ der. Located east-southeast of Mount Everest, it reaches 27,766 ft (8,463 m), making it one of the world’s highest mountains. Attempts to ascend its steep, glacier-covered sides did not begin until 1954. On May 15,1955, two French climbers—Jean Couzy and Lionel Terray—reached the summit, and seven more members of their party arrived within two days.
Makarios \ma- , kar-e-,os\ III orig. Mikhai Khristodolou Mous-
kos (b. Aug. 13, 1913, Pano Panayia, Cyprus—d. Aug. 3, 1977,
Nicosia) Archbishop and primate of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus and president of Cyprus (1959-77). Son of a poor shepherd, he was ordained in 1946; he became bishop in 1948 and archbishop in 1950. A supporter of Cyprus’s union with Greece, opposing both independence and par¬ tition, he negotiated with the British governor of Cyprus (1955-56) but was arrested for sedition and exiled.
In 1959 he accepted independence for Cyprus and was elected president, with a Turkish vice president. Twice reelected, he fled Cyprus following an attempted coup by the Greek Cyp¬ riot National Guard (1974). Despite a subsequent invasion by Turkey and the establishment of a separate Turk¬ ish Cypriot state in the north, he resisted partition of the country.
Makarova \ma-'kar-9-v3\, Natalia (Romanovna) (b. Oct. 21, 1940, Leningrad, Russia, U.S.S.R.) Russian ballerina. She trained in Len¬
ingrad (St. Petersburg) and joined the Kirov (now Mariinsky) Ballet in 1959 to become a leading ballerina. In 1970 she defected while on tour in London and soon joined American Ballet Theatre. She performed as a guest artist with the Royal Ballet and other companies and is best known for her leading role in Giselle.
Makassar \m9- , ka-s3r\ Strait Narrow passage of the west-central Pacific Ocean, Indonesia. Located between Borneo and Celebes (Sulawesi), it connects the Celebes Sea to the Java Sea. It is 500 mi (800 km) long and 80-230 mi (130-370 km) wide. It contains numerous islands, the largest of which are Laut and Sebuku. In 1942, during World War II, it was the scene of naval and air battles as the Allies tried to prevent the Japanese from occupying Borneo.
makeup In the performing arts, material used by actors for cosmetic purposes and to help create the characters they play. Not needed in Greek and Roman theatre because of the use of masks, makeup was used in the religious plays of medieval Europe, in which the angels’ faces were painted red and those of God and Christ white or gold. In Elizabethan England, crude makeup methods included powdering the face with chalk (to play ghosts and murderers) or blackening it with burnt cork (to play Moors). As stage lighting improved in the 19th century, theatrical makeup became more artistic; stick greasepaint, invented by Ludwig Leichner in the 1860s, enabled actors to create more subtle characterizations. Stage makeup proved too heavy for motion pictures; in 1910 Max Factor cre¬ ated semiliquid greasepaint makeup suitable for early filmmaking, and in 1928 he created panchromatic makeup to keep pace with the develop¬ ment of incandescent lighting and more sensitive film. Makeup was later further modified for colour filmmaking and for television. See also cos¬ metics.
Makkah, Al- See Mecca
mako shark \'ma-ko\ Any of certain potentially dangerous sharks (genus Isurus) in the mackerel shark family (Isuridae). Two species are generally recognized: the Atlantic I. oxyrinchus and the Indo-Pacific /. glaucus. Makos range throughout tropical and temperate seas. Blue-gray, with a white belly, they are about 13 ft (4 m) long and weigh about 1,000 lbs (450 kg). They prey on fishes such as herring, mackerel, and sword¬ fish. Outstanding game fish, they are prized for their fighting qualities and their spectacular repeated leaps out of the water.