millennium Period of 1,000 years. The Gregorian calendar, put forth in 1582 and subsequently adopted by most countries, did not include a year 0 in the transition from bc (years before Christ) to ad (those since his birth). Thus, the 1st millennium is defined as spanning years 1-1000
and the 2nd years 1001-2000. Although numerous popular celebrations marked the start of the year 2000, the 21st century and 3rd millennium ad began on Jan. 1, 2001.
millennium bug See Y2K bug
miller or owlet moth Any of the more than 20,000 moth species in the lepidopteran family Noctuidae, common worldwide. Some species have a 1-ft (30-cm) wingspan, the largest of any moth, but most species have a wingspan of 1.5 in. (4 cm) or less. The wings are usually dull-coloured. Both larvae and adults of most species feed at night. Adults feed on fruits, sap, and nectar. The larvae of many species are agricultural pests (e.g., cutworm, bollworm) that feed on foliage and seeds, bore into stems and fruits, and eat or sever roots. A few species prey on scale insects.
Miller, Arthur (b. Oct. 17, 1915, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. Feb. 10, 2005, Roxbury, Conn.) U.S. playwright. He began writing plays while a student at the University of Michigan. His first important play, All My Sons (1947), was followed by his most famous work, Death of a Sales¬ man (1949, Pulitzer Prize), the tragedy of a man destroyed by false val¬ ues that are in large part the values of his society. Noted for combining social awareness with a searching concern for his characters’ inner lives. Miller wrote many other plays, including The Crucible (1953), which uses a plot about the Salem witch trials to attack McCarthyism, A View from the Bridge (1955), After the Fall (1964), The Last Yankee (1992), and Resurrection Blues (2002). He also wrote short stories, essays, and the screenplay for The Misfits (1961), which starred his second wife, Marilyn Monroe.
Miller, George A(rmitage) (b. Feb. 2, 1920, Charleston, W.Va., U.S.) U.S. psychologist. He taught at Harvard, Rockefeller, and Prince¬ ton universities. He is known for his work in cognitive psychology, par¬ ticularly communication and psycholinguistics. In Plans and the Structure of Behavior (with Eugene Galanter and Karl Pribram, 1960), Miller exam¬ ined how knowledge is accumulated and organized into a practical “image” or plan. His other works, including Language and Communica¬ tion (1951) and The Science of Words (1991), focus on the psychology of language and communication. He received the National Medal of Science in 1991.
Miller, (Alton) Glenn (b. March 1, 1904, Clarinda, Iowa, U.S.—d. Dec. 16, 1944, at sea) U.S. trombonist and leader of one of the most popular dance bands of the swing era. Miller formed his band in 1937. His music was characterized by the precise execution of arrangements that featured a clarinet leading the saxophone section. Miller disbanded in 1942 to join the war effort by leading a military band. He was traveling from London to Paris by plane when the craft disappeared over the English Channel and was never recovered. His recordings of numbers such as “Moonlight Sonata,” “Chattanooga Choo-Choo,” “In the Mood,” and “String of Pearls” are classics of the era.
Miller, Henry (Valentine) (b. Dec. 26, 1891, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. June 7, 1980, Pacific Pali¬ sades, Calif.) U.S. writer and peren¬ nial bohemian. Miller wrote about his Brooklyn, N.Y., childhood in Black Spring (1936). Tropic of Can¬ cer (1934), a monologue about his life as an impoverished expatriate in Paris, and Tropic of Capricorn (1939), which draws on his earlier New York phase, were banned as obscene in the U.S. and Britain until the 1960s. The Air-Conditioned Nightmare (1945) is a critical account of a tour of the U.S. He settled on the California coast, where he became the centre of a colony of admirers and wrote his Rosy Cruci¬ fixion trilogy, Sexus, Plexus, and Nexus (U.S. ed., 1965).
Miller, Jonathan (Wolfe) (b.
July 21, 1934, London, Eng.) British director, writer, and actor. After earning a medical degree at Cambridge University, he made his profes¬ sional stage debut at the Edinburgh Festival in the hit satirical revue Beyond the Fringe (1960). As a director of plays, he gained notoriety for
The Blind Girl, oil painting by Sir John Everett Millais, 1856; in the Birming¬ ham City Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham, Eng.
COURTESY OF THE BIRMINGHAM MUSEUMS AND ART GALLERY
Henry Miller.
CAMERA PRESS
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Miller ► Milne I 1259
his controversial interpretations of classic works. His innovative opera productions, such as Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin , for the English National Opera and other groups have become internationally celebrated. He wrote the BBC medical series The Body in Question (1977) and States of Mind (1982).
Miller, Neal E(lgar) (b. Aug. 3, 1909, Milwaukee, Wis., U.S.—d. March 23, 2002, Hamden, Conn.) U.S. psychologist. He earned his Ph.D. from Yale University and remained at Yale’s Institute of Human Rela¬ tions to continue his experiments on learning. In Social Learning and Imitation (1941) and Personality and Psychotherapy (1950), he and John Dollard presented a theory of motivation based on the satisfaction of psy¬ chosocial drives, combining elements of earlier reinforcement theories of behaviour and learning. Miller suggested that behaviour patterns were produced through the modification of biologically or socially derived drives by conditioning and reinforcement. He taught at Rockefeller Uni¬ versity (1966-81).
Millerand \mel-'ra n \, Alexandre (b. Feb. 10, 1859, Paris, France—d. April 7, 1943, Versailles) French politician. He was an editor of socialist journals (1883-98) and served in the Chamber of Deputies from 1885 to 1920. He implemented reforms while serving in various governments as minister of commerce (1899-1901), public works (1909-10), and war (1912-15). He became premier in 1920, and, as leader of a moderate coa¬ lition, was elected president of France (1920-24). After advocating a revision of the constitution to strengthen the power of the presidency, he was forced to resign by the Cartel des Gauches. He served in the Senate from 1927 to 1940.
millet Any of various grasses (family Poaceae, or Gramineae), that pro¬ duce small edible seeds used as forage crops and as food cereals. Most millets range in height from 1 to 4 ft (0.3 to 1.3 m). Except for pearl mil¬ let ( Pennisetum glaucum , or P. americanum), seeds remain enclosed in hulls after threshing. Cultivated in China since at least the 3rd millennium bc, millets are today an important food staple in much of Asia, Russia, and western Africa. High in carbohydrates, they are somewhat strong in taste and cannot be made into leavened bread, so they are consumed mainly in flatbreads and porridges or prepared and eaten much like rice. In the U.S. and western Europe they are used chiefly for pasture or to produce hay.
millet \mo-Tet\ Turkish term referring to an autonomous religious com¬ munity under the Ottoman Empire (c. 1300-1923). Each millet was respon¬ sible to the central government for obligations such as taxes and internal security and also had responsibility for social and administrative func¬ tions not provided by the state. Beginning in 1856, a series of secular legal reforms known as the Tanzimat (“Reorganization”) eroded much of their administrative autonomy.
Millet \me-'ya,\ English \mi-'la\, Jean-Francois (b. Oct. 4, 1814, Gruchy, France—d. Jan. 20, 1875, Barbizon) French painter. Born to a peasant family, he studied with a painter in Paris, but when one of his two submissions to the Salon was rejected (1840), he returned to Cherbourg, where initially he painted mostly portraits. His first success came with The Milkmaid (1844), and in 1848 another peasant scene. The Winnower, was shown at the Salon. In 1849 he settled in the village of Barbizon. Because he continued to exhibit peasant scenes that emphasized the labours of rustic life, he was accused of being a socialist, but his aims were not political. His Angelus (1859) became one of the most popular paintings of the 19th century. In his later life he was linked with the Bar¬ bizon SCHOOL.