Minsk Capital (pop., 2001 est.: 1,699,000) and largest city of Belarus. Settled before 1067, it became the seat of a principality in 1101. It passed to Lithuania in the 14th century and later to Poland. Annexed by Russia in the second partition of Poland in 1793, it became a provincial centre. Minsk was occupied by French troops in 1812. It grew in importance as an industrial centre after the arrival of the railways in 1870. During World War I it was occupied first by the Germans and then by the Poles. It was almost entirely destroyed in World War II, especially during the Soviet advance in 1944. Once the capital of the Belorussian S.S.R., it remained the capital when Belarus gained independence in 1991. It is the country’s administrative and industrial centre.
Minsky, Marvin (Lee) (b. Aug. 9, 1927, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. computer scientist. He received a Ph.D. from Princeton University and joined the faculty at MIT, where he remained for his entire career. His research contributed to advances in artificial intelligence, cognitive psy¬ chology, neural networks (he built the first neural-network simulator in 1951), and the theory of Turing machines. A pioneer in robotics, he built some of the first mechanical hands with tactile sensors, visual scanners, and accompanying software and computer interfaces. He influenced many robotic projects outside MIT and worked to build into machines the human capacity for commonsense reasoning. In his The Society of Mind (1987), 270 interconnected one-page ideas reflect the structure of his theory. He received the Turing Award in 1969.
minstrel Wandering musician of the Middle Ages, often of low status. The term (and equivalents such as Latin ioculator and French jongleur) was applied in medieval times to people ranging from singing beggars to traveling musicians hired by towns for special occasions to court jesters. The modem folksinger is a descendant. See also minstrel show.
minstrel show Form of entertainment popular in the U.S. in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It originated in the 1830s with the popular white performer Thomas D. Rice, known as “Jim Crow,” who wore the stylized makeup called blackface and performed songs and dances in a stereotyped imitation of African Americans. Blackfaced white minstrel troupes were particularly popular in the U.S. and England in 1840-80 and included groups such as the Christy Minstrels, who played on Broadway for 10 years and had songs composed for them by Stephen Foster. The minstrel show included an opening chorus and frequent exchanges of jokes between the emcee, Mr. Interlocutor, and the end men, Mr. Tambo (who played the tambourine) and Mr. Bones (who rattled the bones), inter¬ spersed with ballads, comic songs, and instrumental numbers (usually on the banjo and violin), as well as individual acts, soft-shoe dances, and specialty numbers. Minstrel troupes composed of African Americans were formed after the Civil War; in general, minstrel shows were the only the¬ atrical medium in which black performers of the period could support themselves. Minstrel shows had effectively disappeared by the early 20th century, but the effects of their racial stereotyping persisted in perfor¬ mance mediums well into mid century.
mint' In botany, any strong-scented herb of the genus Mentha , composed of about 25 species of perennial herbs, and certain related genera of the mint family (Lamiaceae, or Labiatae), which contains about 3,500 spe¬ cies of flowering plants in about 160 genera. Mints are important to humans as herb plants useful for flavour, fragrance, and medicinal prop-
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erties. True mints have square stems, oppositely arranged aromatic leaves. Small flowers usually pale purple, pink, or white, are arranged in clus¬ ters, either forming separate whorls or crowded together in a terminal spike. All Mentha species contain volatile oil in resinous dots in the leaves and stems. Included in this genus are peppermint, spearmint, marjoram, rose¬ mary, and thyme; other members of the mint family include lavender, hys¬ sop, and catnip.
mint In economics, a place where coins are made according to exact compositions, weights, and dimensions, usually specified by law. The first state mint was probably established by the Lydians in the 7th century bc. The art spread through the Aegean Islands into Italy and other Mediter¬ ranean countries, as well as to Persia and India. The Romans laid the foundations of modern minting standards. Coining originated indepen¬ dently in China in the 7th century bc and spread to Japan and Korea. In medieval Europe, mints proliferated as every feudal authority—kings, counts, bishops, and free cities—exercised the mint privilege; the wide variation in coinage that resulted often handicapped commerce. Most countries now operate only one mint, though the U.S. has two active mints, in Philadelphia and Denver. Proof sets of coins for coin collectors are minted in San Francisco. Countries not large or prosperous enough to establish a national mint have their coins struck in foreign mints. Many mints perform functions other than minting, notably refining precious metals and manufacturing medals and seals. See also currency, money.
minuet N.min-yo-'weA Dignified couple dance derived from a French folk dance, dominant in European court ballrooms in the 17th—18th cen¬ tury. Using small, slow steps to music in 3 A time, dancers often performed choreographed figures combined with stylized bows and curtsies. The most popular dance of the 18th-century aristocracy, it fell from favour after the French Revolution in 1789. It was of great importance in art music; commonly incorporated into the suite c. 1650-1775, it was the only dance form retained in the symphony, sonata, string quartet, and other multimovement art-music genres up to c. 1800.
Minuit Vmin-yo-wotV Peter (b. c. 1589, Wesel, Kleve—d. June 1638, Caribbean Sea) Dutch colonial governor of New Netherland. In 1626 the Dutch West India Co. named him director general of the colony on Man¬ hattan Island. According to legend, to legitimize Dutch occupation of the island he persuaded the Indians to sell it for a handful of trinkets worth about 60 guilders ($24). At the island’s southern tip he founded New Amsterdam. He was recalled to Holland (1631) and later was sent to establish the colony of New Sweden on Delaware Bay, where he again purchased land from the Indians and built Fort Christina (later Wilming¬ ton, Del.) in 1638.
minuscule Vmi-nos-.kyiil, mi-'nos-.kyulV Lowercase letters in calligra¬ phy, in contrast to majuscule, or uppercase letters. Unlike majuscules, minuscules are not fully contained between two real or hypothetical lines; their stems can go above or below the line. Developed by Alcuin in the 8th century, it allowed the division of writing into sentences and para¬ graphs by beginning sentences with capital letters and ending them with periods. The script was originally rounded, but gradually the strokes became heavier until it became what is now known as Gothic or black letter script.
minuteman Colonial soldier of the American Revolution. Minutemen were first organized in Massachusetts in September 1774, when revolu¬ tionary leaders sought to eliminate Tories, or British sympathizers, from the militia by replacing all officers. One-third of the members of each new regiment was to be ready for military duty “at a minute’s warning.” Their first great test took place at the Battles of Lexington and Concord. On July 18 the Continental Congress recommended that other colonies organize minuteman units.