Balaton Vbo-lo-.tonX, Lake Lake, Hungary. Southwest of Budapest, it is the largest lake in central Europe, covering 231 sq mi (598 sq km), with a maximum depth of about 37 ft (11 m). It contains two wildlife reserves. While agriculture remains important in the area, the tourist industry has become significant, and resorts, including Siofok and Balatonfiired, have been developed.
Balbo, Italo (b. June 6, 1896, near Ferrara, Italy—d. June 28, 1940, Tobruk, Libya) Italian aviator and politician. He led the fascist Blackshirts in the March on Rome (1922) and served under Benito Mussolini as gen¬ eral of militia (1923) and air minister (1929-33). Balbo developed Ital¬ ian military and commercial aviation and became famous for promoting mass international flights to demonstrate Italy’s air power. He was appointed governor of Libya in 1933 and died when his plane was acci¬ dentally shot down by Italian guns over Tobruk.
Balboa, Vasco Nunez de (b. 1475, Badajoz, Extremadura province, Castile—d. Jan. 12, 1519, Acla, near Darien, Pan.) Spanish conquistador and explorer. In 1500 he explored the coast of modern Colombia, then settled in Hispaniola. Forced to flee creditors, he joined an expedition to assist a colony in Colombia. He persuaded the settlers to move across the Gulf of Uraba to Darien, where in 1511 they founded the first stable settlement on the South American continent. In 1513 he became the first European to see the Pacific Ocean and took possession of the Mar del Sur (South Sea) and adjacent lands for Spain. He became governor of the Mar del Sur and of the provinces of Panama and Coiba but remained subject to a rival, Pedro Arias Davila, or Pedrarias (14407-1531). Fearing Bal¬ boa’s influence, Pedrarias had him seized and charged with rebellion, treason, and other misdeeds. After a farcical trial, Balboa was beheaded.
Balch Vbolch\, Emily Greene (b. Jan. 8, 1867, Jamaica Plain, Mass., U.S.—d. Jan. 9, 1961, Cambridge, Mass.) U.S. sociologist and peace
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
154 I bald cypress ► Baldwin II Porphyrogenitus
activist. She studied at Bryn Mawr College and taught at Wellesley Col¬ lege from 1896. She founded a settlement house in Boston and served on state commissions on industrial relations (1908-09) and immigration (1913-14). She lost her professorship in 1918 because of her opposition to U.S. entry into World War I. In 1919 she helped found, with Jane Add- ams, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. In 1946 she shared the Nobel Prize for Peace with John R. Mott (1865-1955).
bald cypress Either of two large swamp trees ( Taxodium distichum and T. ascendens\ family Taxodiaceae) of the southern U.S. that are related to the sequoias. The hard red wood of cypress is often used for roofing shingles. The so-called deciduous cypress family (see deciduous tree) com¬ prises 10 genera with 15 species of ornamental and timber evergreen trees, native to eastern Asia, Tasmania, and North America. The leaves on a single tree may be scalelike, needlelike, or a mixture of both. Both male and female cones are borne on the same tree. The Tasmanian cedar ( Ath- rotaxis), Japanese cedar ( Cryptomeria japonica), China fir (Cunning- hamia lanceolata ), umbrella pine ( Sciadopitys verticillata), big tree, redwood, dawn redwood, and bald cypress are economically important timber trees in this family.
bald eagle Species of sea eagle (. Haliaeetus leucocephalus) that occurs inland along rivers and large lakes.
Strikingly handsome, it is the only eagle native solely to North America, and it has been the U.S. national bird since 1782. The adult, about 40 in.
(1 m) long with a wingspan of 6.5 ft (2 m), is dark brown with white head and tail and yellow beak, eyes, and feet. Bald eagles snatch fish at the water surface, rob osprey of fish, and eat carrion. They nest in lone trees, often on river islands. Though still protected in the U.S., the bald eagle is no longer considered an endan¬ gered species.
baldachin Vbol-do-konV Free¬ standing canopy of stone, wood, or metal over an altar or tomb. The Ital¬ ian term baldacchino originally referred to brocaded material from Baghdad hung as a canopy over an altar or throne. The characteristic architectural form consists of four columns supporting entablatures, which carry miniature colonnades topped by a pyramidal or gabled roof. Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s famous bronze baldachin (1624-33) stands at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
Balder Vbol-dor, ‘bal-dorV In Norse mythology, the just and beautiful son of Odin and Frigg. He could be harmed by nothing except mistletoe.
Knowing he was invulnerable, the gods amused themselves by throw¬ ing things at him. Deceived by Loki, the blind god Hod hurled mistletoe at Balder and killed him. The giant¬ ess Thokk, probably Loki in disguise, refused to weep the tears that would have released Balder from the underworld.
baldness or alopecia X.al-o-'pe-shoX Lack or loss of hair, either per¬ manent (from destruction of hair follicles) or temporary (from short-term follicle damage). Male pattern baldness is inherited and affects up to 40% of men; treatments are transplanting of follicles from areas where hair still grows and application of drugs (e.g., minoxidil) to the scalp. Other causes of permanent baldness are skin diseases and injuries, inborn lack of hair development, and severe follicle injury. Temporary hair loss may follow high fever or come from X rays, drugs, malnutrition, or endocrine disorders. Alopecia areata, with sharply outlined patches of sudden com¬ plete baldness, is also usually temporary.
Baldovinetti X.bal-do-ve-'nat-teV, Alesso (b. Oct. 14, 1425?, Florence—d. Aug. 29, 1499, Flo¬ rence ) Italian artist active in Flo¬ rence. Little is known of his early training, but his style shows the influence of Fra Angelico and Domenico Veneziano. Both his mas¬ terpiece, The Nativity (1460-62), a fresco in the church of the Santis- sima Annunziata, Florence, and his Madonna and Child (1460s) in the Louvre depict views of the Arno River valley in the background; they are among the earliest European paintings of landscapes. His work, though seldom innovative, exempli¬ fied the careful modeling of form and the accurate depiction of light char¬ acteristic of the most progressive style of Florentine painting during the last half of the 15 th century. He also designed the mosaic decoration over Lorenzo Ghiberti’s doors on the Baptistery in Florence (1453-55) and produced designs for stained glass and intarsia.
Baldung Vbal-duqV Hans or Hans Baldung Grien \'gren\ (b. c. 1484, Schwabisch Gmtind, Wiirttemberg—d. 1545, Imperial Free City of Strasbourg) German painter and graphic artist. He was assistant to Albre¬ cht Durer in Ntimberg and was active in Strasbourg as official painter to the episcopate. He is best known for the high altar of the cathedral at Freiburg, where he lived in 1512-17. His output was varied and exten¬ sive, encompassing religious paintings, allegories, mythologies, portraits, designs for stained glass, tapestry, and book illustration. His paintings are equaled in importance by his drawings, engravings, and woodcuts, fre¬ quently depicting the themes of the “dance of death” and “death and the maiden.” In his taste for the gruesome, Baldung is close in style and spirit to Matthias GrOnewald.
Baldwin I (b. 1172, Valenciennes—d. 1205) First Latin emperor of Constantinople (1204-05). Count of Flanders and Hainaut, he was a leader of the Fourth Crusade, which was directed against the Byzantine Empire. He helped install a pro-Latin emperor (1203). When the Crusad¬ ers in Constantinople seized power, he was elected emperor (1204) and recognized by the pope. He created a government on the western Euro¬ pean model, granting Greek lands to his knights, but was defeated, taken prisoner, and executed by invading Bulgars.