Morse, Carlton E. (b. June 4, 1901, Jennings, La., U.S.—d. May 24, 1993, Sacramento, Calif.) U.S. radio writer and producer. He worked as a newspaper reporter before joining NBC radio as a writer in 1930. Morse wrote, directed, and produced many radio programs, including the highly popular soap opera One Man’s Family (1932-59; television, 1949-52), the drama I Love a Mystery (1939—44, 1949-52), and the soap opera The Woman in My House (1951—59).
Morse, Samuel F(inley) B(reese) (b. April 27, 1791, Charlestown, Mass., U.S.—d. April 2, 1872, New York, N.Y.) U.S. painter and inven¬ tor. The son of a distinguished geographer, he attended Yale University and studied painting in England (1811-15). He returned home to work as an itinerant painter; his portraits still rank among the finest produced in the U.S. He cofounded the National Academy of Design and served as its first president (1826—45). Independent of similar efforts in Europe, he developed an electric telegraph (1832-35), believing his to be the first. He developed the system of dots and dashes that became known internation¬ ally as Morse code (1838). Though denied support from Congress for a transatlantic telegraph line, he received congressional support for the first U.S. telegraph line, from Baltimore to Washington; on its completion in 1844 he sent the message “What hath God wrought!” His patents brought him fame and wealth.
Morse code System for representing letters, numerals, and punctuation marks by a sequence of dots, dashes, and spaces. It is transmitted as elec¬ trical pulses of varied lengths or analogous mechanical or visual signals, such as flashing lights. The original system was invented by Samuel F.B. Morse in 1838 for his telegraph; the International Morse Code, a simpler and more precise variant with codes for letters with diacritic marks, was devised in 1851. With minor changes, this code has remained in use for certain types of radiotelegraphy, including amateur radio.
mortar Short-range artillery piece with a short barrel and low muzzle velocity that fires an explosive projectile in a high-arched trajectory. Large mortars were used against fortifications and in siege operations from medieval times through World War I. Since 1915, small portable models have been standard infantry weapons, especially for mountain or trench warfare. Medium mortars, with a caliber of about 3^4 in. (70-90 mm), a range of up to about 2.5 mi (4 km), and a bomb weight of up to 11 lbs (5 kg), are now widely used.
William Morris, drawing by C.M. Watts.
THE MANSELL COLLECTION
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mortar Material used in building construction to bond brick, stone, tile, or concrete blocks into a structure. The ancient Romans are credited with its invention. Mortar consists of sand mixed with cement and water. The resulting substance must be sufficiently flexible to flow slightly but not collapse under the weight of the masonry units. Before the 19th-century invention of Portland cement, masons used thin joints of lime mortar, which required greater precision than the thicker joints of portland-cement mortar and were not as strong. For tilework, a very thin mortar called grout is used. Pointing is the process of finishing a masonry joint.
mortgage In Anglo-American law, the method by which a debtor (mortgagor) conveys an interest in property to a creditor (mortgagee) as security for the payment of a money debt. The modern mortgage has its roots in medieval Europe. Originally, the mortgagor gave the mortgagee ownership of the land on the condition that the mortgagee would return it once the mortgagor’s debt was paid off. Over time, it became the prac¬ tice to let the mortgagor remain in possession of the land; it then became the mortgagor’s right to remain in possession of the land so long as there was no default on the debt.
Morton, James Douglas, 4th earl of (b. c. 1516—d. June 2,1581, Edinburgh, Scot.) Scottish nobleman. Appointed chancellor by Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1563, he conspired with other Protestant nobles to murder Mary’s adviser David Riccio and probably was involved in the murder of Lord Darnley. He led the nobles that drove Mary’s husband, the earl of Bothwell, from Scotland and forced her to abdicate in favour of her infant son, James (later James I of England). He became regent for James in 1572 and restored the rule of law to Scotland. Resented by the other nobles, he was forced to resign in 1578; he was later charged with complicity in Darnley’s murder and executed.
Morton, Jelly Roll orig. Ferdinand Joseph La Menthe (b. Oct. 20, 1890, New Orleans, La., U.S.—d. July 10, 1941, Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. pianist and the first important composer in jazz. In his youth Mor¬ ton was apparently active as a gambler, pool shark, and procurer. A pio¬ neer ragtime piano player, he toured the country as a pianist from 1904, making his first recordings in Chicago in 1923 with his ensemble the Red Hot Peppers. An exponent of the New Orleans tradition, Morton achieved success integrating elements of ragtime with improvised and arranged ensemble passages, often on his own compositions such as “King Porter Stomp.” By the early 1930s Morton’s fame had been overshadowed by that of Louis Armstrong and other emerging innovators.
Mosaddeq Vmos-ad-.dekX, Mohammad (b. 1880, Tehran, Safavid Persia—d. March 5, 1967, Tehran, Iran) Iranian politician and nationalist leader. After law school in Switzerland, he served in the government until Reza Khan became shah (1925). After Reza Shah was deposed in 1941, Mosaddeq was reelected to the parliament (1944). Following Mosaddeq’s successful nationalization of the British-owned Anglo-Iranian Oil Com¬ pany, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi (r. 1941-79) was virtually forced to appoint him premier (1951). Tension between the monarch and the pre¬ mier crested, however, and the shah attempted to dismiss him in 1953. The resulting unrest forced the shah to flee the country until a coup, backed by British and U.S. intelligence services, drove Mosaddeq from power. Convicted of treason, he spent three years in prison and the rest of his life under house arrest.
mosaic Surface decoration of small coloured components—such as stone, glass, tile, or shell—closely set into an adhesive ground. Mosaic pieces, or tesserae, are usually small squares, triangles, or other regular shapes. Mosaics cannot create the variations of light and shadow that paintings can, but glass tesserae can achieve a greater brilliance, espe¬ cially those to which gold and silver foil have been applied. This tech¬ nique was responsible for the great shimmering mosaics of the Byzantine period. The earliest known mosaics date from the 8th century bc and were made of pebbles, a technique refined by the Greeks in the 5th century. The Romans used mosaics widely, particularly for floors. Pre-Columbian Americans favoured mosaics of garnet, turquoise, and mother-of-pearl, which usually encrusted shields, masks, and cult statues.
Mosby Vmoz-beV John Singleton (b. Dec. 6, 1833, Edgemont, Va., U.S.—d. May 30, 1916, Washington, D.C.) U.S. guerrilla leader. He joined the Confederate cavalry in the American Civil War and was a scout with Jeb Stuart’s troops. He led guerrilla units, called Mosby’s Rangers, on raids on Union outposts in northern Virginia and Maryland, disrupt¬ ing supply and communication lines. His capture of a Union general and 100 of his men behind federal lines (1863) earned him promotion to colo¬