Norodom Vnor-o-doirA orig. Vody (b. 1834, Cambodia—d. April 24, 1904, Phnom Penh) King of Cambodia (r. 1860-1904). Cambodia had been under the joint vassalage of Vietnam and Siam (Thailand) since 1802. After the death of Norodom’s father in 1860, the Siamese asserted sole dominion over Cambodia by refusing to allow the Vietnamese to participate in Noro¬ dom’s crowning. France opposed Siamese claims on the country and forced Norodom to accept French protection. He was crowned in 1864, and during his reign France dominated Cambodian affairs.
Norfolk Island pine (Araucaria excelsa).
ROBERT C. HERMES-THE NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY COLLECTION/PHOTO RESEARCHERS
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Norodom Sihanouk ► North Carolina I 1377
Norodom Sihanouk X.se-a-'niikA in full Preah Bat Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk (b. Oct. 31, 1922, Phnom Penh, Camb.) Cambodia’s king (1941-55 and 1993-2004); he also held other posts. He abdicated in favour of his father in 1955, becoming his father’s prime minister; he became head of state on his father’s death in 1960. During the Vietnam War he steered a neutral course between the radical right and left in both his foreign and internal policies. Overthrown by Lon Nol in 1970, he campaigned for the Khmer Rouge but was imprisoned after they came to power, and most of his family was killed. Released in the face of a Vietnamese invasion (1979), he denounced both the Vietnamese and the Khmer Rouge. In 1982 he became president of a fragile coalition of resistance groups. Following UN-sponsored elections in 1993, Cambo¬ dia’s National Assembly voted to restore the monarchy, and Sihanouk again became king. He abdicated on Oct. 7, 2004, and his son Norodom Sihamoni, chosen to succeed him, was crowned king on October 29.
Norris, (Benjamin) Frank(lin) (b. March 5, 1870, Chicago, Ill., U.S.—d. Oct. 25, 1902, San Francisco, Calif.) U.S. novelist and short- story writer. Norris initially worked as an overseas correspondent and in publishing. He became the first important American author to embrace naturalism. McTeague (1899) is a portrait of an acquisitive society. He adopted a more humanitarian ideal beginning with his masterpiece. The Octopus (1901), the first novel of a projected trilogy dealing with the eco¬ nomic and social forces involved in the wheat industry. The second part, The Pit, appeared in 1903, but the third was unwritten at his death. Despite romanticizing tendencies, his works present a vivid, authentic picture of life in California in his day.
Norris, George W(illiam) (b. July 11, 1861, Sandusky, Ohio, U.S.—d. Sept. 2, 1944, McCook, Neb.) U.S. politician. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1903 to 1913. In the U.S. Senate (1913-43) he drafted the 20th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which abolished the so-called lame-duck session of Congress. He also worked for the introduction of presidential primaries and for direct election of U.S. senators. He introduced the bill establishing the Tennes¬ see Valley Authority and coauthored the Norris-La Guardia Act, which restricted the use of injunctions in labour disputes. An independent Repub¬ lican, he said he “would rather be right than regular.”
Norsemen See Vikings
North, Alex (b. Dec. 4, 1910, Chester, Pa., U.S.—d. Sept. 8, 1991, Pacific Palisades, Calif.) U.S. film composer and conductor. North stud¬ ied at the Curtis Institute and Juilliard. In the early 1930s he traveled to Moscow and became the sole American member of the Union of Soviet Composers. He composed ballet scores for Martha Graham and others and later studied and conducted in Mexico City. North’s score for A Street¬ car Named Desire (1951), the first jazz-based film score, brought him to prominence. His dozens of films over 30 years include Spartacus (1960), Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), and Prizzi’s Honor (1985).
North (of Kirtling), Frederick, Lord later earl of Guilford (b.
April 13, 1732, London, Eng.—d. Aug. 5, 1792, London) English prime minister (1770-82). Elected to Parliament at age 22, he served as lord of the treasury (1759-65) and as chancellor of the Exchequer (1767-70). As prime minister, he gave vacillating support to both harsh and conciliatory measures toward the American colonies before the American Revolution. Although only a halfhearted supporter of the war, he was a pliant agent of George III. He resigned on hearing the news of Charles Cornwallis’s defeat at the Siege of Yorktown. In 1783 he formed a brief coalition with his former Whig opponent Charles James Fox.
North, Simeon (b. July 13, 1765, Berlin, Conn., U.S.—d. Aug. 25, 1852, Middletown, Conn.) U.S. firearms manufacturer. He supplied pis¬ tols and rifles to the U.S. government from 1799. He developed the use of interchangeable parts in manufacturing (see armoury practice; mass pro¬ duction) and the first-known milling machine. In 1825 he built a breech¬ loading rifle with fully interchangeable parts.
North Africa campaigns (194CM3) Battles in World War II for control of North Africa. After the 1940 victory by Italian troops in Egypt, the Italians were driven back into Libya by British troops. German rein¬ forcements led by Erwin Rommel forced the British to retreat into Egypt after the defense of Tobruk. In 1942 the British under Bernard Law Mont¬ gomery counterattacked at the Battles of El Alamein and pushed the Ger¬ mans west into Tunisia. In November 1942 U.S. and British forces under Dwight D. Eisenhower landed in Algeria and Morocco, then moved east
into Tunisia. In May 1943 the Allies, advancing from east and west, defeated the Axis forces and forced the surrender of 250,000 Axis troops.
North America Continent, Western Hemisphere. The third-largest con¬ tinent on earth, it lies mostly between the Arctic Circle and the Tropic of Cancer. It is almost completely surrounded by bodies of water, including the Pacific Ocean, the Bering Strait, the Arctic Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. Area: 9,361,791 sq mi (24,247,039 sq km). Population (2001 est.): 454,225,000. Shaped like an inverted triangle. North America was apparently the first continent to achieve its current approximate size and shape. Its geologic structure is built around a stable platform of Precambrian rock called the Canadian Shield. To the southeast are the Appalachian Mountains and to the west are the younger and much taller Cordilleras. These mountains extend the length of the continent and occupy about one-third of the total land area. The Rocky Mountains constitute the eastern Cordillera. The highest point is Mount McKinley. The Mississippi River basin, including its major tributaries, the Missouri and Ohio, occupies more than one-eighth of the continent’s total area. Generally temperate climatic conditions prevail. Arable land accounts for about one-eighth of the land area and forests for about one- third. English, the primary language of the U.S., predominates, followed by Spanish; French is spoken in parts of Canada. Most of the continent’s popu¬ lation of European descent is found in the U.S. and Canada. Intermarriage between whites and Indians was common in Mexico, and mestizos consti¬ tute about three-fifths of the Mexican population. North America has a mix¬ ture of developed, partly developed, and developing economies, adequate reserves of most metallic resources, and the world’s largest reserves of cad¬ mium, copper, lead, molybdenum, silver, and zinc. It is the world’s leading food producer, largely because of mechanized and scientific farming in the U.S. and Canada. Among the continent’s democratically governed states are Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, and the U.S. The nations of North America have sought hemispheric unity as members of the Organization of American States, which also includes South American countries. They also sought stronger economic ties, and in 1992 Canada, the U.S., and Mexico signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which called for the elimination of most tariffs and other trade barriers between the three countries. The first inhabitants were American Indians, who migrated from Asia about 20,000 years ago. The greatest pre-Columbian civilizations were in Mesoamerica (see Mesoamerican civilization) and included the Olmec, Maya, Toltec, and Aztec, who were conquered by the Spanish. The continent long remained sparsely settled and undeveloped. Beginning in the 17th century it underwent a profound transformation with the coming of Europeans and the Africans they introduced as slaves. The style of life became Latin American south of the Rio Grande and Anglo-American to the north, with enclaves of French culture in Canada and Louisiana. Sla¬ very, practiced in the 16th-19th centuries, added a significant minority cul¬ ture of African origin, especially in the U.S. and the Caribbean (see West Indies). The huge industrial economy of the U.S., its abundant resources, and its military strength give the continent considerable global influence. See map on following page.